Let me start off by saying thank you to everyone that has sent me mail. I went without mail for 3 weeks for one reason or the other but ended up with about half the stack of mail in the zone last week haha. 3 from Nana, 3 from my mom, nuts, but it was super nice, lots of Easter cards :) I promise you all that you will get letters back, but it's just a matter of setting apart time in the week to actually sit down and calmly write letters. I want you all to get individual and sincere responses, without haste at all, so I WILL get back to you, even if it takes like a month and a half for the Panamanians to sort the mail in their post office with stray dogs and chicks wandering into their offices, haha.
This week and every week really, I would like to clue you all in with little Panamanian mannerisms or habitual things, like I did last week with the gesturing to things with the lips. That one is probably my favorite. This week's thing is; annoying and flirtatious girls...and the things they shout out at gringos such as myself and Elder Bradford. Not only to us though, a thing that the people do to one another here to try to get each other's attention in a flirty way and when you want them to come over, is make this ridiculous hissing noise, like a snake, it's really, really creepy. We just walk in the streets and then all of the sudden, out of nowhere, "HHHIIIIISSSSSSSS, eeehh papis, vengan acá" ehhh, "NO thank you disgusting girls, I thought you had a bit of standards until you starting hissing at me like a freaking snake!" So weird, it's just so uncommon at home, glad we don't do that in the U.S. Another thing is having like every girl, even the members in our branch, tell me how gorgeous my eyes are and how they want to steal them!...It's a nice compliment, but super creepy haha, like "Quiero robar tus ojos..." Uhh...pero los necesito a ver... :P Weird, but that's all to be expected being a white guy in a country of people who all look the same and have just brown eyes. They see blue eyes and freak out.
Last week's P-day was awesome, we went off to a touristy spot called Causeway, which is like a long strip with nice restaurants by the water. There are super nice boats and yachts and people (including us) rent bikes to ride in the middle of it. I'm sure you could find information on it on Google. It was really fun. I haven't used a bike for like 8 months and it felt so fun, like I was using a vehicle and had total control of it. Took lots of pictures and a couple videos.
This week we've focused a lot more on teaching the less-active people in our area, because there are literally millions of them. It's like they rely on someone to find them, seek them out, and get them and motivate them to come back to church, o sea, los misioneros. We taught this family of 11, yep you heard right, 11 people, who are ALL members and ALL inactive. Wow. We went by just to say hi and remind them about going to church, but I felt the strong impression to go in and share something with them. Didn't know what exactly, but something that would help them rekindle the fire of testimony in their family. We went in and sat down, and sang the hymn, "Teach Me to Walk in the Light", or, "Hazme Andar en la Luz", which I love in Spanish and English. Which is rare because I generally favor the English hymns over Spanish because they change the letra too much for the Spanish, because the majority are origionally written in English. Then we prayed and I just got the feeling that we should talk about the power of the Atonement, because they had mentioned that their family had been having a lot of trials and challenges lately, with temptations, or tentaciones as they said; Kuna family. It was really powerful as we shared a scripture in 2 Nephi that says that it had to be the Savior who would lay down his life for the sins of mankind, so that they could be resurrected as He also would be and was. Really great, and at least we got 2 of them to come to church, because we went and asked and committed them to it. Hopefully we can get more and more of them in the following weeks. It was a very little thing to do, just to visit their family, but it was great going to sleep at the end of the day knowing that we impacted that family´s day when we left their door, and I loved that!
This week I finished the Doctrine and Covenants all the way throught, oh yeah!!! It was amazing, the end it super powerful with the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum, I was just thinking of standing outside Carthage Jail when I read it because of that trip I went on with my family, so great. Now I'm on my way in the Pearl of Great Price and that is incredible also, so profound and deep doctrine.
Let me conclude with something cool that happened. We headed over to the church before dinner on Saturday and the gate was already open. We thought that was pretty strange because us and the branch president only have the keys, but we knew he was off at an activity, so we got a bit nervous. We walk into the church and we see a somewhat menos activo guy my age named Edwin, (Kuna), who is getting reactivated right now. He was in the Primary room teaching like 8 kids with pamphlets and pass-along cards and the Book of Mormon and everything, Wow! We talked to them for a bit and committed them to come to church the next day. We thought, that would be awesome if a couple of them came to church. Guess how many out of the 8 came? 6! WOAH! We had like 7 investigators at church yesterday, and they all stayed for the full 3 hours. So we got their names and we're going to visit them this week, that was amazing.
Things are all going well, working hard and loving the work. 2 scriptures this week, D&C 137:10, which is what I read to our friend Lincoln because he had a baby in the family die recently, a cousin I believe, and it talks about that all the children before the age of accountability that die will receive the glory of heaven. Also have Moses in the Pearl of Great Price, Moses 1:33-35, which says that the worlds that God creates are innumerable to the human eye and comprehension, but He knows and loves all of them because they are His creations.
Love you all very much, have a wonderful week. STUDY THOSE SCRIPTURES!
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