(week 43)

Hey fam and friends! Wow super sorry for the internet and everything it’s been a crazy time out here.  Ok, so yea last week was changes and I had changes. So they called me and my comp Elder Cac Sunday night and told us that we didn’t have changes so Monday and Tuesday we worked like normal.  So then Tuesday night the zls called us at like 9 at night and said our mission pres received revelation and had a change of plans for us.  So they said they were closing the freaking island ticantiki where I was living for a bit and are later going to send hermanas because there are no girl missionaries on all of San Blas.  So at 9 at night they told us we had to pack all of our stuff and leave in the morning in a boat to an island called Playon Chico.  So that night we packed up basically the whole house lol…stove, gas, all of our stuff, hammocks, food and in the morning we left at like 11. So that was kind of sad because I didn’t have time to say bye to like anyone not even my converts but that’s just the way the mission is.  So the zls, who were arriving with all of the food for the missionaries on the islands, pick us up in their boat and take us to our new area.  Holy cow the ride was nuts.  Huge waves and it was super rainy and stormy and I’m happy we made it to Playon Chico alive!  Even the freaking motor broke down on our way so we had to stop on a different island to get it repaired.  So we got to Playon Chico and then took a canoe, with a good old 1.5 hp motor, loaded with all of our stuff and 5 other people, to a teeny little pueblo.  So the president’s news is that we we’re going to be opening up a bunch of pueblos along the coast that have never really received missionaries before.  So an Elder talked to the sylas (chiefs) who said we could live in Aidirgandi and travel to other pueblos along the coast with the permission of the other sylas.  So we get in the canoe with these people and went to this little coastal pueblo and we didn’t even have a house or anything there to live in.  So on our way I asked the passengers if they knew of a little house we could live in the pueblo and thank the heavens one of them said that her family was in the city so we can live in their house.  So we get to the pueblo and clean out this gross little hut, hang up our hammocks, and set up shop with our stove too cook on.  So another elder arrived the next day named Elder Garfias, he’s from a Bolivia, and is an awesome guy.  So now I’m in a trio with him and elder Cac.  So basically they put us in a trio because obviously there isn’t any priesthood out here so we need another elder to be a witness for the baptisms.  So yea, that’s pretty much it for now.  We have just been in Aidirgandi working but we plan on leaving to another pueblo along the coast on Tuesday to see how it is.  So this morning we ran about 45 min along the beach to use the internet in a little pueblo called Okupa where there’s a small branch, missionaries, and an internet connection.  So idk how much I will be able to write because if we don’t come here every week we won’t have internet lol so I will try to come here when I can.  So yea that’s pretty much it and these pueblos are by far the most uncivilized places that I have ever been to in my life.  Everyone walks around naked and no one has toilets so we just poop on the beach lol and wipe with sea water.  There’s only one little pipe with clean water that comes from the river so we shower with that because it empties onto the beach and is always running.  So we have just been drinking that water and showering with like 10 other people on the beach…yea, I think y’all get the jest of how I’m living right now.  I’ll write you more stories these coming weeks but I’ve got to go now.  Love you all and thanks for all the support and love!!

Love, Elder Call

Happy Halloween (week 42)

Hey fam and friends!  Wow, alright well another week down here and I can’t
believe it but today is the end of this transfer.  I can hardly believe
I’ve been in San Blas for 1 and a half months…its crazy! The weeks go bye
freaking fast here hahaha and its crazy.  Sorry but this letter can’t be too long
because the internet is soo slow and apparently they up the speed of it
on the weekends and that’s why I’m writing today and not tomorrow.  So this week the work was a little slower than the other weeks have been.  The success we had this week wasn’t huge and we have been getting rejected more because the island is small and we had already visited every house by here like week 2 of this change hahaha.  But we are still managing to baptize alright and are having many miracles. I think this next change we are going to be working with this island and another little village on the shore like 30 min away that has
accepted missionaries.  But we will have to see if president Current gives us permission. So this week I don’t have that much to write about except for one
spiritual experience I had.  So today was fast Sunday.  We have been
teaching three less active young girls between the ages of 16 and
19 and they are great and the all have new born
babies (sounds crazy but here they get married at like 16 and it’s kind of sad but I’ve seen 13 year olds with babies).   So we reactivated
them and they have been coming to church.  So today at church me and my comp had the opportunity of giving their babies a baby blessing in sacrament meeting.  So I had this newborn little Kuna baby in my arms and I blessed it and the spirit just came over me so freaking hard. It was the craziest thing and such an honor to be blessing these little babies.  The spirit has only been
that strong and notable on a couple of other occasions in my entire life.
So after we blessed their babies I just went and sat behind everyone in the
meeting, its kind of weird to tell you all this but I just sat there and cried like a freaking baby. I felt so much peace and love and I was just overcome. I’m so
honored to be serving the Lord and I’m so honored that he has blessed
me with being here in San Blas with such an amazing people. I know this church is true and I know that god lives and jesus is our savior.  I love him so
much and am so grateful for everything he has given me. Love you all so
much…haha…that’s all I’ve got for you this week…peace fam.  -Elder Call

Halloween next week (week 41)

Hey fam and friends!  Wow, first of all I apologize for not writing and
replying to all your letters…having tech difficulties here on the
islands
and i haven’t written anyone in like a month. Thanks for your letters and
support hahaha.  Wow, as for me this has definitely been one of the craziest
months of my life. I don’t have much time to explain stories so I’m sorry
about not being able to can’t write anything from before like last week. But ok so one story is that this Saturday the zone leaders called us in the morning and asked if we could help out some elders that are in the main land of San Blas in a
pueblo called Okupa.  So we sad yes and we headed off at like 1pm. So the
thing with San Blas and the mission right now is the 14 missionaries that
are here are all trying to open up pueblos in san blas and open up the
church because most of the people don’t know the gospel. So we are trying to
get into to all of the pueblos but the culture of the Kunas is super
strict and the laws are hard to deal with. But little by little we are
entering in and baptizing people and introducing the church.  So yesterday
we went to help the missionaries with baptisms and sacrament meetings. So
we left in a little freaking 8 hp motor cayuko with some guy we didn’t know
and traveled like an hour in the middle of the freaking ocean with big old freaking waves (and thats a normal everyday thing). So we get to this to little town barely alive and are warmly welcomed by all the kids who hold your hands and bring you in.  So this guy totally ripped us off for the ride so we had absolutely zero
money and neither did the other elder who we met there. So we get to this town with our hammocks on our backs, no where to sleep, no money, and no food.  So we start talking to people and teaching people.  There was so many people that they already had that wanted to be baptized.  So we hadn’t eaten all that day and that night we were praying for who in the heck can give us food and a miracle happened when these kids randomly gave us a little fish. So we made a fire and fried those bad puppies up…suuuch a miracle.  So Sunday morning we had a tiny little sacrament meeting with like 15 or 20 people in a little house where they make alcohol…lol…kind of ironic.  I gave a talk, blessed the sacrament, and
lead the hyms... typical for out here hahah.  So after church we had the baptisms and then we were off to another pueblo.  So the thing is we couldn’t find a
boat and no one could take us so we ended walking with nothing but
hammocks and a little water because we heard there was a path to the next pueblo through the jungle.  I wish i could send pics because we were in the
middle of freaking nowhere like jungle jungle.   We walked along a beach that lead us to a tiny path.  The path was super muddy and the mud was up to our shins and we were wearing flip flops.  Holy cow that hike was sooo nuts with us 4 clueless missionaries in the middle of the freaking jungle that was filled with monkeys and toucans and we were just trying to get to the next town. So after like 2 hours of the craziest hike ever we got to the other town.  So we had another sacrament meeting of like 15 people and then we had some more baptisms.  We had no idea how we were going to get back home to tikantaki to have more
baptisms that we had planned.  So another miracle happened…this guy that we baptized had a friend with a tiny boat that we didn’t know about.  So we basically begged him to take us back to our island.  We almost had to hike to Okupa to stay the night but thank the heavens that this guy said yes and took us on like a three hour boat ride back to our island.  That was just this weekend but all I will say is it really was just another weekend here in San Blas…haha.
So yea its crazy out here but I’m so blessed and so honored to be introducing the gospel to all of these people.  I pray that one day churches can be built here in every pueblo and one day these people that have never even left their villages can make it to the temple of the lord.  Well yea, that’s all I have time for but just know I’m staying healthy and doing alright here…all is well!

Love you all and i pray for you all daily! - Elder Call

Wish I could send pics but the internet is too slow.  

Benjamin on San Blas (week 39)

Hey friends and fam! 

Luckily it was just general conference last week so
they fixed the internet at the church but it is a dead slow connection.  So wow, this week was pretty
crazy to say the least. The island life is way different than the
mission life in Panama City.  Really mellow but we still work super hard in finding people
but its week two for me here and I pretty much know everyone on the island who
can speak Spanish hahaha.  Wow, from the Colombian pirates to these
crazy Kunas to fresh lobster and fish every day my mind is just totally
confused.  I’m living in the middle of the freaking ocean hahaha.  So as far as
the work goes it’s been awesome!  The Kuna people are so loving and kind
and so open to the gospel which is awesome.  So we had three baptisms
that were awesome this week.  The baptisms were kids of 12, 11, and 10 years old.
They’re super great kids and were super open to the church.  The hardest part
is their parents aren’t members and it gets rough when the parents don’t
want the gospel but the kids do.  So a member helped us talk to them in their
native tongue and everything worked out.  So wow it feels like I’m
starting my mission over again.  The language aspect is a little rough
because there’s not much Spanish on the island.  Around 60 percent of the people only
speak Kuna and so communicating is pretty hard.  So right now were are
trying to open up an island that’s like 30 minutes away in a canoe from our island.
Its called Tigre and the church hasn’t been established there.  So we
have been going to talk to the sylas (chiefs) and they are chill but there
is one secretary who is baptized who is corrupt and hates us.  So its
frustrating because the sylas are like 90 and say its chill but this young
guy is telling everyone that we are breaking traditions and we are
killing their culture and we shouldn’t be let on their island so we will see what
happens.  All this week they are having a festival because the head syla (chief)
just died so they have a week long straight where they drink chicha
fuerte (homemade alcohol) and smoke the pipa de paz…lol.  So I’m telling you
about this island because I want you to all pray for me because if we get
accepted to work on this island we will be able to baptize hundreds
because they all are new to the church and want to get baptized.  So
pray for me and I’m praying that a miracle happens.  Today was chill
because we went fishing with the kunas and I’m about to go back to the hut and eat it
along with some fresh lobster some members caught for us today too.  Hammock sleeping is so far
so good, and drinking river water hasn’t gotten me sick yet.  I have a
rash the size of Nevada on both my legs.  Some of you know about firey bung hole
and it suuuucks but I’ve got to grind through it though lol.  I’m going to Carti and
Nargana this week (other islands) so I’m pumped…taking the lancha por
alli!!!   So many details about the islands that I wish I could share but I’m out of time.  I really wish I could write a
better email but I’ve got to go eat some fresh fish and fresh lobster right now!    

Love you all and please remember to pray for me…I’ll pray for you.  Love, Elder Call

 oh and my comp is chill. hes been hear for 6 months and u can tell.
hes super tranquilo. lol imma come back dang tranqilo from here. and
patient lol these kunas aare the best people in the world but dang
slow to teach hahaha.

Benjamin goes to San Blas (week 38) He couldn't write last week...

Hey friends and fam!

Wow…first wanna say sorry for not writing anyone lol I don’t have
internet really and I only have like 20 min right now to write.  Last
week was changes and I’m now in San Blas ayyyy…sooo awesome!! When I got
the call changes night I honestly just went to my bed in tears and sat
and thanked the Lord for a solid hour.  This has been a dream of mine
ever since I could think for myself.  I will never forget my dad
telling me about San Blas and his mission here and showing me pictures
and telling me all about the people.  What an honor to be where my dad and
grandpa were before. 

So it’s been pretty crazy this past week and so much has happened.
So long story short; I packed a little garbage bag with like 4 shirts, 3
pairs of pants and literally nothing else, not even shoes, and I headed
out here to San Blas.  First we had to cut through the whole Panama jungle in a 4 wheel

drive vehicle and then I got on a tiny little boat that took me to my island hahaha…so sketch. 

The island where I am is called Tikantaki and it’s in the middle of nowhere
and was like a 2 and a half hour boat ride from shore.  It’s sooo
beautiful but the boat ride was sketch…that thing was not even a boat…just
like a tiny little trunk with a motor lol.  On my island I’m living in a
hut and sleeping in a hammock.  My companions name is Elder Cak…lol his
name always gets me…but he’s from Guatemala and speaks Kecchi (dont know
how to spell it) but yea he had to learn Spanish.  He’s like a Kuna but from some indigenous tribe in Guatemala.  So the downside about being on San Blas is that I have to learn the Kuna language.  On my island right now very few speak good Spanish so I’m going to have to learn another language which is rough.  I will probably be in San Blas for a really long time too because you have to learn the language and culture and
everything that goes with that.  So this place is a straight grind.  I washed my clothes for the first time yesterday with a seat and a bucket of water.  I shower with a
bucket of water every night and there’s no bathroom…gotta poop on the beach in an outhouse over the water…lol you can’t have pena out here baby and all the fish eat your poop after.

Sorry I can’t send pics right now but if I could you would just see me with my rolled up
pants, flip flops, and a bucket hat looking skinnier already hahaha.  The
islands have tropical blue water and there’s all different tropical fish that you can always see.  The water is so clear you can see the bottom of the ocean easily like 20 feet
or more down.  Well, that’s the life I’m living and we’re going to baptize a ton out here so I’m pumped.  In my area we also have other islands we can visit by canoe
like Isla Tigre and a couple of other islands that are close by.  I’ve got to go now but love you all and thanks for the b-day wishes hahaha.  For my birthday I just celebrated by sitting in my hammock and drinking a coke…didn’t have time to do anything nor do they have anything to eat out here.  Well, I love you all and I’m 20 now…growing up fast!

Peace,

Elder Call

Fall is almost Here (Week 36)

Hey friends and fam! (the usual title every week lol) 

Well, this week was dope and this next week is the freakin last of changes which i can't even believe.  Life has been good this week and the mission is amazing hahaha. I'm learning so much every day and my testimony just gets stronger and stronger.  I also have 8 months in the mission today...hahaha...so crazy how time flies.  This week was another good one and we continue having so many miracles.  We had two baptisms this week which were dope.  We baptized a girl that's like 26 and we also baptized Ofelia's son.  Ofelia is the lady we baptized last week.  Super awesome stuff and we just continue to see blessing and miracles.  Well today was one of the dopest days that i have had here in Panama not guna lie.  So the 1st counselor of the stake presidency knows my comp cus my comp was in this same zone before.  So my comp talked to him and he said he'd take us in his car up to his house where there are amazing views.  So we talked to our mission leaders and asked if we could drive in his car up to his house.  It's a miracle that we got permission to go, and that it all worked out, and he took us in his car all the way up to his house which is in a place called Cerro Azul.  This guy, Pres Gahona, is the freekin man!  He took us exploring all over this huge mountain where he lives all of today.  It was soo dope...we got to see the view of both the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans together.  We also got to see a view of the whole city and all of the surrounding cities that border Panama City.  We also had a great view of the canal.  Soo awesome and we just chatted, laughed, and drove around up there.  One of the highlights is Pres Gahona was telling me that there are a bunch of sloths up there but we had't seen any.  So at the end of the trip we got out of his car and started looking in the trees for sloths when these gardeners pass by us and ask what we're doing.  We told them we were looking for sloths and they just drove off and left without saying anything.  About 15 min later the gardeners came back with a huge sloth in the back of their truck that they caught and brought back for us...hhahaha...it was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life.  That's why i love this place...some dirt broke Panamanians went wayyy out of their way to find a sloth, catch it, and then bring it back to us.  It totally made our day. The people are so humble and nice and are freekin hilarious...hahaha...these guys just had a freekin rope around this sloth in their crappy little truck and were just messing around with the sloth with us hahaha.  Well, love this freekin little country and love you all too.  The sad thing is I didn't have my camera with me during that part of the day but luckily my comp did and he's going to send me the pics later.  I'll try and send some pics of the sloth out to you next week.  Love, Elder Call  

Birthday month (week 35)

Hey friends and fam! 

Well this week was a little slower of a week but it's still awesome just being out here.  The mission is the freaking best and I'm still hanging in there hahaha.  My Comp is a really good guy and I can't believe it's almost the end of the change...only two weeks more to go.  Time is flying and I can't even believe I almost have 8 months here in the mission...so crazy.  Well, we had some baptisms this week.  We baptized a lady from Nicaragua who's been living here in Panama for like 10 years, she's in her mid 40's, and we also baptized one of her sons who is 9.   Her other son is going to get baptized next week, which should be exciting, and he's 12 years old.  We found her and her family in a tinnnnyyyy little shack in our area and I'm talking literally a shack.  My room is about as big as her house where she lives with her five small kids.  She's struggling toooooons and doesn't have work right now so she relies a lot on the neighbors for food.  So she only eats like beans and a little rice and her kids are always complaining about being hungry.  She literally doesn't have very much money at all.  So we found them and started teaching them the gospel and she was sooo humble and open to the church.  She has a lot of faith and is honestly just sooo awesome.  I love her and her family so much. So that's the big news that happened this week and not much else.  We're just working out here trying to serve and survive day by day hahaha.  I can't send photos right now but I will make sure to send a bunch out next week.  Love you all and thanks for the continual support!!!! 

Love, Elder Call

Carmel (week 34)

Hey Friends and Family!!

Well, this week was another huge success and the mission is going great right now!  All is well and my comp continues to make me laugh.  This guy’s a character and I hope we have another change together but we’ll just have to wait to see what happens.  We work really great together and are having a ton of success.  We had some baptisms last Saturday which was awesome because we had been working with these two girls for quite a while.  There was an old lady who would always take the girls to her church and would give them food and stuff.  That old lady is the worst and it was quite a trick getting them to leave her church.  The old lady got so mad that we were teaching them and started saying to these poor girls that we worship Joseph Smith and a bunch of other stuff.  Then this old lady told the owner of their house not to let us in so we couldn’t go past the fence of the house to teach them.  So we had to teach them outside of the house in the freaking jungle and it was all crazy.  So we postponed their baptisms until this past Saturday because they were doubting.  So we told them pray about their doubts and we helped them work through their concerns.  Satan was working extra hard against us on these baptisms.  Originally we were going to have three baptisms this week but one fell through so we just had the two girls baptized.  Awesome though and the girls are real happy.  The only problems in the mission right now is that our ward is mad that we are baptizing too much…lol…I never thought I would hear anything so crazy as the missionaries are baptizing too many people.  They’re mad because it’s more work for them with visiting teaching and home teaching.  But we are trying to teach the ward that fellowshipping and integrating new members is the ward’s job lol.  The only bad thing that happened this week is the computer I was on last week gave my camera some type of virus and I lost all of my pics.  I’m in the process of trying to recover them all so hopefully that works out.  That’s all I’ve got for you this week. 

Love you all and miss you all tons!!! 

First pic – lol, we went to a wedding reception of some members in the ward and it was sooo fun.  They are from Nicaragua and they gave us huuuuge plates of a tradional Nicaraguan food.  It was chicharones, which is fried pig skin, with cabbage and yucca.  They gave us    soooo much pig skin that I almost threw up afterwards but it was super delicious…hahahaha. 

Second pic -  baptism of the two girls

Summer lives on (week 33)

Hey friends and fam!!

Wow, this week was nuts with tons of stress and lots of work but it was super awesome.  My comp is the absolute man and we die laughing together.  He’s so funny, like I don’t get it, but we also work really hard together and are having a ton of success.  So this week the highlight definitely was that we finally married a couple who has wanted to get baptized for a while.  So the guys name is Jimmy and he could only get off work one day.  So we had them married in the morning and then we baptized them that night which was followed by cake and a marriage and baptism celebration.  This couple is the absolute best and it’s a true honor to have made such an impact in their lives by sharing the gospel with them.  Sooo awesome…they are probably some of my favorite baptisms so far and I’m definitely going to keep in touch with them.  We’ve been grinding and I can’t believe it’s already the start of week three since changes.  Time is flying but the mission is still as hard as ever.  But it’s moments like this week’s baptisms that are priceless and I’ve never been this happy in my entire life.  Well, that’s like all I’ve got for you this week.  All is well and nothing has really changed with life in Panama.  Love you all and just remember to keep Jesus in your thoughts and to always look outward in helping others.

Peace fam!!

Much love, Elder Call

La La Land (week 32)

Hey freinds and fam!! Wow well this week was awesome and full of soo many amzing miracles and good times with the new comp. NEw comp is the man hahaha but somethings to note are---- This man thinks hes a good singer and always want to sing in lessons and hahaha he straight belts it out and it sounds soooo bad but he doesnt know it and its soo awkward with investigators hahaa ima break it to him soon. Allso apparently he plays pianoand he litterally has gone up to every member and asked if the ward needs someone to play piano when he knows darn well they have someone. Lol he looves talking about it cracks me up. Also wow this man is the grossest eater hahaha like when were with members this boy puts half the plate in his mouth and i swear u can here him chewing ffrom outside the house. But lol hes the man and we are killing it together. Super funny guy and we laugh a ton together. Also work really hard. Had two awesome baptisms this week and should be excpecting more to come next week. They are kuna and super humble (nothing changes) so ya thats that. Life is good and the mission is a grind as usual. Love it tho as hard as it is and everything is going along ok. BTw shout out to my momma on the big 48th bday! u dont look it momma dont u worry. Love u to death and ur the best person in the world dont u ever dout that. Well yeet thats it peace.---Elder Call

Pics_--- baptisms,

me, and the area hahaha

My Reunion(week 31)

Hey friends and fam!! Well i should start coming up with like catchy titles and stuff like the rest off missionaries hahaha but to be honestly thats too much work for me. This week was awesome, hahaha and my comp elder lefler is going home and it was changes today. So its been a craaazy day but i got my new comp elder Hernandez from nicuagua. Seems like an awesome guy so im pumped. Wow well this week was jam packed with sooo many things i cant even begin to tell yall nor do i have time. Well i had the honor of going on divisions this week with one of the assistants to the pres. Hes a great guy and working in his area and seeing how he does things was sooo dope i learned so much. Its cus elder lefler went to the temple cus it was his last week and i coulda easily gone on a trio but idk he wanted to work with me. His names Elder Thompson and there area is soo ghetto hahaha but we had soo many miricles in suuuch short time. I have aton of pics i will send over but i just wanna say the church is true. Theres no dout in my mind about that and my testimony is 100000 times stronger than it was before the mission. Well i gtg changes have been crazy but i will let u all know how my new comp is. Seems funny haahah and he has 18 months in the mission ya. Got a lot of pics i will send over right now.

First two is a lil peak into where i worked in the city for divisions and the seconds lol is of a freaking dog bite. I got bit by a big old rot wyler (mom change that spelling) but its a crazy story and that pic doesn't do a justice. I have a huge freakin hole in my leg hahaha and i was bleeding everywhere and it freaking hurts honestly. I hate dogs ima be honest the mission has killed them for me. So ya 

one of my fave kuna fams lol sooo many of em

comp from guatemala that i was in a trio with for the past couple of weeks hes the man. And dangit i cant send the others cus i have a problems with my camera but i will send a pic of my comp next week hahaha

On our way home (week 30)

Hey Peeps,

Well this was a wayyy better week than last week.  It has been a lot of fun because I’ve been in a trio this past week and will be for this coming week too until changes happen.  The new Elder’s name is Elder Lopez and he’s from Guatemala.  He’s a funny guy and it is super fun being with a Latino again and its nice getting full time Spanish speaking in again... never spoke Spanish with Elder Lefler until Elder Lopez joined us this week hahaha.  So yeah, this little Elder Lopez is like 4 feet tall and is a great guy.  He’s been out on his mission the same time I have so we will be leaving the mission together in a year and a half.  We had “p-day of elders” today so we all got together and played soccer for a couple of hours.  It was a tooon of fun…man do I love soccer and I’m sooo much better than I used to be.  After soccer we all went to one of my favorite places in my area, Asados Leos, and got big old things of chicken with tons of sauce and yuka, plantains, and fries. So that was definitely the highlight of the week.  So changes are happening next week so Elder Lefler will be going home and I’ll be getting a new companion which will be fun.  So yea, that’s all I’ve got this week but I promise I’m going to tell you all some funny stories one of these days lol.  We’ve got some baptisms coming up this week which is great.  Peace out y’all wish me luck…I’m praying for all of you. 

Elder Call

Hebgen (week 29)

wow what a week friends and fam.. Well this week i was pretty sick for most of the week and had more than a few problems with bugs, but it was cool. Couldnt work as much as i would have liked which is a bummer cus i was in bed for 2 days but we still went and taught and tried to have some fun. Highlight is we are in the middle of marrying this couple together, they are young and she is pregnant with her second kid. Their names are jimmy and vivianna and they are nobey (a certian indiginous people like the kuna). They are soo awesome and it will be my first baptisms that i had to marry. So thats awseome and i will prob have the opportunity to go to the temple in like a year if they get sealed, which would be sooo sick cus we arent allowed to go to the temple unless we go with a fam we baptized who are now getting sealed. So yeah love them and they are going to be amazing converts. But yeah week was super hard cus i was so sick so i dont have anything else to share so im outtie sorry im boring now lol. Love yall -- Elder Call

pics

1. just to show u how close my area is to the airport... yeah so they are flying over constantly hahaha

2. nice lil view from jimmy and viviannas house

(week 28)

Hey friends and fam! Well another good week hahaha ive been doing alrite. I love my new area its more city like and like i actually am in more civilation. Loving the mission soo much, miss everyone and home, but itrs sooo worthit. Im pretty sick rightnow which sucks but im still hangin in there alrite. Had some baptisms this week which were nice and im still lovin panama as ever. I had some funny things to say but i honestly forget them. I have some pictures ima send out tho right now.

1. found a big ole crab just chilling in a stream hahaha so we caught it, i wanted to eat it but it was pretty much living in the serwer so we couldnt.

2. Classic kuna kid, i always give him a hard time for not brushing his teeth. Literally knowing brushes there teeth i swear and the just drink soda allll day.

3 went to the city little while ago, finally got to go to like a tourist part cus we had to walk this way to catch a bus. Its soooo nice and completely different than any other part of panama. I love the city sooo much. 

4.little part of our area its dope.  

I love summer (week 27)

Hey friends and fam! Wow cant believe another week down, it really does start picking up lil by lil faster and faster. Well this week was pretty awesome. Didn't have any baptisms but have a lot planned for this upcoming saturday which is really exciting as usual. I Loove my Comp Leder Lefler so much hes the freekin man we get along great. Since this is his last change he knows a ton and im learning so much from him. Love my area still and the ward is alot stronger than in loma coba. The members are cool and we have had a bunch of lessons with members. Tocumen is still an amazing area hahaha and i plan on being here for a solid amount of time. I kinda miss just the straight jungle from my last area but its whatever. This area has sooo many more people and alot more happens. Well this week too we had a zone conference so i headed off to the city. Always an adventure going to panama city i freekin love it. The drive is so awesome right along the coast, just like the type of views u would see if u typed in panama city on google. I didnt have a chance to take a ton of photos but i have a couple. This city is a lot bigger than u would think soooo manyy buildings. Well ya, still doing good and loving the mission so much. Love the people and where i am and its suuuper hard sometimes but wouldnt wanna be any where else. Only complain is the house im inh right now has a problem with cock roaches haha they are eeeveryyywherreee, which blows but u just gotta make the most of living in a dump with so many bugs. Well ya peace out fam love yall sorry my letters are so week hahaha.

Pics-

1. just my traditonal panamano breakfast, boiled plantain and lemon with chile hot sauce a kuna fam made me. Its litterally just chile and lemon... nothing else

2. went to a bday party other day lol i think last sunday, so funny they went all out spend like there whoole life saving on a lil three year olds birthday. Thats how they do it down here they go hard. 

3. little snip bit of the nice part of panama where the tourists go. Its sooo nice.

Happy Birthday Charlie! (week 26)

Hey friends and fam!

Well the first week in my new area was sooo awesome.  My new area is called Cabuya, Tocumen and my comp’s name is elder Lefler.  He’s the freaking man and we are killing the game out here.  We’re working like animals hahaha but I can tell y’all one thing and that is my Spanish is not improving with an American companion.  This area is still pretty ghetto, but has more money than loma coba, my last area, so we get food from members and they help us a lot more with the work which is a great thing.  I’m getting fat down here though, dear heavens lol, because we take the bus a lot now because its really convenient so we walk a lot less than we did in Loma Coba. Our area is literally right spanking next to the Panama international airport so there are millions of airplanes flying over head every day.  I thought the planes were pretty awesome at first, but when your trying to teach, sleep, or do anything lol it sucks, suuuper freaking loud.  I’m talking like right next to the airport so I get to see planes taking off like every 5 minutes so I guess that’s kind of cool.  I’m getting used to taking like 10 second pauses when airplanes are taking off and we are trying to teach hahaha.  We had a baptism this week which is always nice.  Young Kuna kid…he’s like thirteen and his family was mas o menos members before his mom got sick and died and before his dad dipped out of their lives and hooked up with another girl.  The dad has another family with this other girl…he’s a little bit of a loser haha.  So the kid  lives with his 4 other brothers and sisters and with some of his cousins and the dad only gives all 5 of them 20 bucks for food every fifteen days so they are sooo poor and its a struggle for them.  None of them are in school and none of them can read (story of panama) so we found him and he loves going to church so we got permission to baptize him to make a long story short. So yeah that was the week.  I don’t have any pics, because I forgot to take my camera to the baptism, but my comp took some pics and I’m going to get from him.  I’ve only taken one pic of the area hahaha and maybe I’ll send that pic next week. 

Peace fam and friends…love u all!

Happy Fourth of July (week 25)

Hey Fam and friends!

Thanks for all of the love and support through your emails!  Well this week was sooo awesome with so many miracles in the mission and in our area.  We Baptized 4 people this week and it was sooo awesome. My comp had the chance to baptize all of them lol but i confirmed 2 of them in sacrament meeting. It was huge pressure confirming them in front of everyone but the spirit was super strong and it was good.  

Well, the miracle of the week for the mission was in San Blas.  The zone leaders went to the house of one of the chiefs of an island to talk to him and convince him that he should allow missionaries on the island.  When they got to his house he was out fishing in the middle of the ocean and so they were just small talking with the fam. While the chief was out fishing a black butterfly landed on his hand and in the Kuna culture and beliefs that’s a direct sign that you are going to get pure wisdom from god soon.  So he flies back to shore in his boat right after the butterfly landed on him and went straight to his house and the missionaries were there unexpectedly.  It freaking turns out that this syla (chief) just got elected to be the head syla of all the islands in san blas (350).  So he talked with the missionaries and believed everything they said and now he’s convincing all of the other chiefs to allow missionaries on the islands that we couldn’t preach on before.  So that was dope and sooo many missionaries are now in San Blas and are baptizing like crazy….super dope.  

We also had changes this week and I’m now in Tocumen, Panama.  It’s an hour and a half outside of the city in some ghetto.  It’s actually an awesome area and I’m super excited for this fresh start but I’m going to miss my old comp a lot too…he was the man!  I’m a bit disappointed because I’m with an American comp now and I really wanted another Latino comp again for the Spanish but its alright.   My new companion leaves the mission this next change so in six weeks I will have a new comp.  My new comp seems like the man though and I’m super excited to work with him. 

So that was my week.  I’m having a great time working my tail off.  It’s suupppeerrr hard work all of the time but its so worth it and I love it.  Moving to a new area in the mission is hard but I hear the people here in this area are great too.  

Much love and peace to all!

Pics-

1. new crib…its a dump (expected nothing less)

2. new comp (sorry only pic i took)

3. saying bye to last comp

4. Last Sunday dinner in area…by far my favorite members in Loma Coba…going to miss them sooo much love them to death.  If I come back to visit panama they will be some of the first people I visit.  Their other daughter just left on a mission last month to Honduras.

5. Family we baptized. super awesome love them too sooo much

6. girl we baptized…we reactivated the whole fam and baptized her…super inactive before

7. just your classic pic of me in front of the church

 

Summer is the best (week 24)

Hey fam and friends! How yall living? well as for me it was a grind of a week but wow another week down and learning more and more every day. Next week is changes dear heavens so crazy, feels like i have more time here but i have 4 months in the days in panama and in loma coba specifically. Well as for the week it was aite, lot of ups and downs. the down was that the baptism we had planned got pushed back to this friday, but the good news is we are going to baptize a fam this friday and like 2 other people. Lot of miracles are happening in the mission and my testimony just grows and grows. Im guna be honest the mtc my testimony freakin shot up sooo much, panama is different because ur not surrounded all day by amazing other people and u dont get general authority's every week. But it just grows and grows and im so honored to be a missionary in this time. Well highlight of the week was playing monopoly with my comp today haahah downer of the week is i was CRAVING a diet coke (i know im wierd, And my dads son) but i never found one and i was soo sad. But life is good, inv. are all good and my spanish is hanging in there. Ready to dip from this area hahaha love it but scenery here is old now. Hey maybe i will head to san blas like pops and grandpa early on in the mission (prob not). Well yeah thats all i have love u all and i will let u know if i leave this are or not, Peace out---Elder Call

only pic is of comp and i gamin monopoly today lol

It's Hot (week 23 )

Hey friends and fam!

Wow, my bad for not sending a group email last week.  I was super busy and our pdays got shortened for the month…we start working earlier on pdays now.  Life is good…hard but always good.  I’m still in Loma Coba and there is 2 weeks left in this change.  Time is flying and i can’t believe this change is almost over.  I just looked at the date and holy cow I’ve got 5 months in the mission as of yesterday.  

So this week was awesome and we had a baptism which is always good. The girl is only ten but soo special and I’m so excited for her. Her Dad is in prison and her mom left her to go back to the San Blas Islands, so she has been living with her grandparents.  They were really inactive so we reactivated them and had her grandpa baptize her.  So that was sooo awesome.  

Well today we had pday with our zone elders so we all played soccer and afterwards we had pizza (which is like the 2nd time in all of my mission).  Me and my comp Elder Gonzalez got lost on the way and we ended up walking around our zone for like an hour looking for the church where they were playing.  

This week we had divisions too.  Our district leader is on the “little slower” side and they ended up getting locked out of their house after divisions and had to sleep at our house hahah but it was a ton of fun.  Divisions were good and I’m doing alright.  Just grinding every day hahah every day is a new grind.  I loved hearing about my Warriors. 

That’s about it…love you all…I’m outtie! --Elder call 

--sorry pics are kinda weak first is of the baptsim obvi. and one of them is with one of my favorite members down here hermana erutina. Last is of this monkey i saw that was out of contol in his lil cage hahaha poor guy.

You are the Man! (week 21)

Good week out here and wow the 2nd week of this change went sooo much faster than the first.  My new comp is a good guy; but we are pretty opposite in all things especially interests and personality.  He’s a good guy though and we are working hard.  We should have a lot of success this month together so I’m looking forward to it.  We have some great new investigators and we dropped a lot of the oldies who didn’t want to progress.  The highlight of this week was definitely today.  I finally climbed to the top of the mountain in my area and it was sooo legit.  Straight jungle and sooo long of a hike…took us round trip about five hours total.  But it had such a good view at the top and you could see Panama City, the ocean and my area.  You can’t really see in my pics because it wasn’t the clearest of days but the view was awesome.  Of course at the very top of the mountain we still managed to find a bunch of drunk Panamanians…like where do they all come from?  hahaha But all is well with me, I still really love my area but our ward is still trash (sorry) but working hard to help fix that.  Sorry my letters are kind of trashy too but time is not what I have.  I’ve got some good pics to share this week. 

1. Start of the hike 

2. Big old spider we found up there hahaha

3. My area from like half way up the mountain

4. A little of the view…I have more of the city and stuff but they’re not clear enough to send

5. Funny sign outside of a members house…just your typical Kuna grandma hahaha.