Family, friends, loved ones...How are you all doing? :)
This is the half-week we come to, changes are this Wednesday, what will happen, what will happen??
It has been an interesting week, since the baptisms we had last Monday which went really well. I also had the pleasure of going out to a Cardenas baptism on Saturday, which is the first baptism in that area for like 10 months by the missionaries. Very difficult area with all the Americanos. Hutch has been working really hard, and it paid off, having a baptism there in his last change, last area, and on the 2-year mark of his mission, and it was a really powerful experience to see. The person who was supposed to give a talk on baptism also didn't show up, so Hutch asked me if I would be able to do it, and I said "Sure". Whipped together a little 3 or 4 minute talk and it was all good. It's getting easier and easier to do stuff like that on the fly, sin preparación, with all the talks I give in my branch unprepared and without notice, haha.
Also, let me talk about something, a food item, that they sell here in the streets of Panamá, called duros. There's a sign on like everyone's wall outside that says "Se vende duro" which are these little frozen ice treats in little plastic bags, and it's usually real fruit like piña or coco or whatever. Anyway the people always sell them for like 15 cents which is a nice little treat to get to cool off in the blazing heat. So we decided that we would make some ourselves, Bradford and I, but just for ourselves and not sell them! I had a bag of orange juice mix left so we mixed it all up and made ourselves some duros with the little plastic bags they sell in the chinos. We made like 15 of them, it was awesome and they taste amazing.
This week was also one of soccer, whether it be on grass, dirt, or cement, I played all 3 this week. One day of these we played soccer on our cement basketball cancha next to the chapel with our oldest recent convert, Kevin and a couple investigators and inactives. It was really fun, but playing in proselyting clothes is a bit dificult, haha. What's funny also is that a lot of the Latins, Panamanians are really good at soccer, fútbol really, but others aren't that good surprisingly. The game we played was to 5, and I ended up winning the game for us. Goal in the upper left corner from far away, it was great. We won glass bottle sodas off of the other team, haha so I would say that it was a success.
I've also been continuing with making my chakiras, pulseras whatever they're called, bracelets made of beads. I designed a sweet one this week with the BYU symbol, it looks really good and I'm repping the future school!
But on a more important note, I started the Old Testament this past week, and wasn't sure what I'd think of it, thought it might be a bit boring and a lot slower read that the Book of Mormon, which is incredible, literally. But I started it and I like it so far. I really do love the story of Noah and his family and the Ark, it's great, God's wrath on el pueblo inicuo, and floods the whole earth. If you really think about it, so that the Earth was cleaned of ALL of it's sins through repentance, the Earth itself was literally baptized and completely summerged by water. And God left His mark on the world and covenanted with Enoch, the father of Noah, that he would never flood the Earth again, and THAT is the reason why we have rainbows. Obviously I knew that all before about the rainbow, it's just a reaffirming testimony about the importance of it and sad how in this day and age we live in, people use the rainbow as a completely contrary symbol to what it really symbolizes. The rainbow is a covenant between God and His children, that is all it is, and we need to acknowledge it's importance I think. For that reason being also, I made a rainbow chakira, haha and I love it.
It really amazes me day by day how the littlest, tiniest, most microscopic things that happen around me as a missionary strengthen my testimony. Like at church, my best little buddy Abel, recent convert that is 9, was flipping through my Book of Mormon and came across the picture of the Salt Lake Temple, stopped, pointed at it and asked me what it was in admiration. I told him that it was a very important building, it's God's house, and a temple in Utah. But also that we have a temple here in Panamá too. He just looked and stared at it for a while, amazed at how beautiful it was, and then told me, "Quiero irme allá". That's what I do as a missionary. It made me reflect back on me as a Primary kid, why I loved the song, "I love to see the temple", SO much, and just didn't understand exactly what I was singing when I sung it. Kids can see a picture of the temple, have no clue what happens there, and just feel God's enormous love for each of His children, simply by looking at a picture of one of His temples. I know that he will grow up and someday enter into the temple here in Panamá, and feel and try to understand how much God really does love him and all of us individually.
It's amazing sometimes how little events seem and yet how strongly the Spirit testifies to me that what I'm doing is true and important. Like last night, we were riding the bus, and I got to talking to a drunk guy, which I usually avoid doing, but he spoke in English first. He was telling me that he couldn't stop drinking and was currently drinking what they call guado, which is vodka. I asked him specifically "Hermano, ¡ud cree que el Señor le puede ayudar?" to which he responded, "claro". And then I said, "Entonces hermano, confia en tu Padre Celestial y dejalo, porque no te sirve para nada y tu vida mejorará más que puedes imaginar, haz lo que el Señor quiere de ti". Then I left him the number of the missionaries in Cardenas because it was a bus there, shook his shaky hand and went on our way. Who knows what will happen to that man. I had people yelling at me while I was talking to him saying that he was a borracho and that he´ll never change, which granted, may be true. But I believe with all my heart that God knows His children, and He knows him and wants him to turn his life around. If I'm truly to be a servant of Jesus Christ, I need to love and respect all people equally, no matter how much they may bother me at times. I know that that drunk man is important to God, and that's why I helped in the littlest way that I could.
I leave you all with my testimony and genuine love for this Gospel, Church, my Savior, and my Heavenly Father. There is nothing in this world more important than obeying God, and for that reason I am here to go preach to anyone and everyone, no prejudice for anyone.
I leave you this week with 2 scriptures, para que las lean y las estudien. First is in D&C 58: 42-43 which is a great scripture about repentance and how the Lord remembers our sins no more when we confess them unto Him. And like I said earlier about the rainbow, Genesis 9: 12-14, the importance and significane of rainbows haha :)
I love you all very much, strive to love one another. We all make mistakes, but we are to cry with those who cry and support those that are in need of support. Do your best to help someone in need this week and open your mouth to someone you wouldn't normally talk to about the Gospel. Serán las palabras del Señor y no las palabras tuyas que compartes.
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