(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.