Hahaha, sorry that's pretty inappropriate, but that's what I told Elder Wright, my new comp when he asked me what I thought of double dipping. I told him it didn't bother me at all, obviously, just thought I'd joke around with him a bit, like double dipping is a serious sin...which it is. Also, another funny thing that we said this week, we started singing the Men in Black song for us missionaries, because that's us, but it's "Here come the men in black......and white". Not as catchy I suppose.
So...changes... Elder Vance left but stuck around really close to end the mission, in the same zone, with another gringo. Guess how many gringos the Lord has blessed me with in this zone? Of the 12 of us that are in the whole zone, 8 are gringos, 6 guys and 2 girls, all gringos, and what perfect timing with America's birthday coming up this week :) My new comp is named Elder Levi Wright, one of the coolest names I've ever heard; Levi. Maybe I'll have my kid have that name; Levi Kniff, looks cool. He's from a little town called Pleasant Grove right next to Provo, said he lives like 8 minutes from the MTC, haha. He and I apparently look a lot alike, even though "all you gringos look the same", him and I actually do. Same color hair, skinny white gringos. I think one of these days soon I'm gonna lend him my other name tag so we can introduce ourselves as brothers just to really mess with people. One thing that is really cool about him is that he plays guitar, and well, not just some goober that buys a guitar and thinks that he's going to teach himself how to play, he actually plays, and apparently has for a few years. He's teaching me a bit how to play some songs, see what I can learn in at least a couple weeks with him. We're having fun together already so I'm looking forward to this change. And his Spanish is really good so I don't have to worry about teaching the whole lesson. The funny thing is that him and I were together in the same zone right before coming out here to David, in Chichemito.
When I went into the city and was at President Ward's last changes meeting, I realized that our group was the 2nd oldest group in the mission now, woah. That's a scary thought, that I only have one more changes meeting left and then on my way home. The next group to go is a huge group of over 20 people, losing some big mission heroes out here. Listening to President and Hermana Ward's last words was really sad and encouraging. A lot of people were tearing up listening to them. They have really changed the entire methodology of missionary work here in Panama in these last 3 years and have changed the lives of thousands of people because of their example. We've heard a lot about the new mission president, and being that it's July 1st now, it is his first day here, crazy. I'll get to meet him this week when we go travel to Panama on Wednesday, so that should be cool. The guy seems like he's gonna be loaded, like he made a big name for himself in the law business back in New Joisey (notice the spelling/pronunciation). I really hope that he has a strong New Jersey accent, that'd be fun.
A week ago there was a really important announcement that was shared in a big satellite broadcast about missionary work and the changes that will be implemented in the coming years and months. They talked all about how the chapels all around the world are going to start being open all the time so that people can visit them and see what the church buildings and classes look like. I think that's a great idea, as long as there's someone always there to make sure that no one vandalizes them or anything like that, because I can see how that could become a problem. They also mentioned that the missionaries in the coming years will start using Facebook and other internet programs to contact references and preach the cybergospel over the internet. That seems good as well, but the simple fact that missionaries hearing that they can now use Facebook will be a bad idea, just because a lot of people will abuse that privilege. I know that the apostles and the prophet know what they're doing before making an announcement like that. It has gone over careful consideration for much time, and guaranteed confirmation by God that what they're doing will benefit the world. I look forward to seeing how techno the church becomes in the coming years in respect to missionary work.
I had a crazy day this last week, going to a cemetery with a member because he was giving us a ride to the doctor for my comp, he wanted to make a stop there. The whole day was just crazy, from being there taking inappropriate Catholic looking pictures to spending hours in hospitals having my comp's allergic back looked at, etc. One of the funniest days in my mission though.
In recognition that this coming week is Independence Day in the greatest country in the world, I want to tell you all how grateful I am for our freedom. Being in this country is similar to the US in a few ways, but extremely different in many more ways. I love my country and tear up every time I sing patriotic songs. When we launch off our fireworks this Thursday, I'll be thinking of all of you and singing "God Bless America, land that I love".
Scriptures for this week are Omni 1:26 which is awesome, says that we will be saved if we do all of the things above listed in the scripture, enduring to the end, and 3 Nephi 16:2-3, the proof that there aren't just 2 nations that the Lord has visited, Jeruselum and the Americas, he has even "otras ovejas por las cuales no somos nosotros." I love you all very much, have a great week!
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