Last letter (week 93)

I can't believe it...My Benjamin gets home a week from today.  Too many emotions.  Sad for him but so happy for us. 1 more week and I just don't know how to get there...I am so proud and happy for my son.

Hey Friends and family, 

Wow, this is probably going to be my last letter.  I took so much time thinking about what to write this week…won’t be fantastic by any means haha whoops sorry.  Wow, wow, wow, it’s been such a ride and I'm freaking out a little about my mission ending.  I have so many emotions, feelings and thoughts about it.  Just trying to hold it all together hahaha and I’m gripping on to every last minute I have here.  Last week was awesome and this week will be even better.  Love my comp and area and I’ve been giving it my all these past weeks.  I know in my head I'm going home next Wednesday but it really doesn't feel very real.  It's just a thought that hasn't been turned into a true fact yet.  I don't even know how to explain it.  I hope to baptize this last week to end my amazing time here.  I hope to maintain everything I have learned on the mission and to progress even more spiritually after I return home.  I hope my converts are all ok and that they stay active.  I pray all day and all night for my wonderful converts and everyone I have met on my mission.  I pray for all of you too. Thanks for all of your support, notes, and prayers.  I will make sure to have a great last week and as I get home I’ll make sure to remember who I am.  Love you all so much and see you all real soon!

Love, Elder Call

Happy December! (week 92)

Hello Friends and Family! 

Happy first week of December! I love the holidays and even here in panama there's a little bit of holiday fever. I didn't know what to expect, due to the fact that last Christmas I was in San Blas, but there's some lights up in front of some houses here and there's some new Christmas chocolates in the lil stores...OK panama!   This week was pretty awesome even though this area is pretty hard compared to other areas I've served in.  A part of me is grateful I'm not going to be here for another change but the other side of me loves the challenge.  But the lord continues to bless my life with miracles every day…we found an AMAZING family...a mother and her two sons.  One is a little special needs and the other is super sick and is on the whole dialysis thing.  He was so sick he had to go to the states with his family to get treatment at a hospital back-east and were living with a family of MORMONS (oops I mean family of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints).  Soo clutch that they went to church every week while there and even though they didn't understand it at all they said they always felt good which we told them was the Spirit!  So that's awesome and they accepted their baptismal date and are preparing to be baptized.  They also came to church yesterday which is super dope!  Two more experiences this week real quick.  First is about the conference we had this week with the new area president for Central America, Elder Uceda from Peru .  He is a truly inspired leader and it was probably my favorite conference I have ever had in my mission.  He talked about turning others into disciples of Jesus and not just baptising them. Then he talked about the scriptures and there’s sooo many things I learned that I will tell you all one day.  Wow, the other experience is I shared my testimony at church, during testimony meeting on Sunday, and I realized mid-way thru that it would be the last time I’d ever do that in Panama .   I was crying soo hard and trying to hold it together in front of a bunch of Panamanians who definitely thought I was crazy…what can I say other than I'm a Call!  Well, so that's all I got for you this week folks.  Such an awesome week and I'm excited for an amazing upcoming week also.

Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Elder Call

Thanksgiving (week 91)

Hey Friends and Family! 

 Well been a great week out here in Arraijan and super fortunate to be here again. My companion Elder Garcia is 23 and a convert to the church of about 4 years and was baptized without his family support. He still managed to get on a mission thanks to a branch president. He's from a little city in Colombia called Armenia . He's very humble and a great worker and has a nice little lazy eye to top it off. Great guy and great person to end my mission with. Area is by far the richest I've been in.  I'm sure that its nothing like the states rich, but they are living perfectly fine. That means two things- people are hard to contact and prideful, but when you find them the right ones they are soooo nice and 2- Awesome members. So its been a different kind of work with more with member references and incomplete families but its been good so far. Miracle happened this week  when a girl walked by and asked if we could go to her house. So we went the next day and she's 19 years old and said that she had gone to church for three years but couldn't get baptized before because her mom wouldn't give her permission until she turned 18. So sadly she stopped going until she felt the impression to talk to us this last week and now we will be having her baptism shortly. So that was awesome and  we are also waiting on a family of five to get baptized in the upcoming weeks.. Hopefully before I leave! They are soooooooooo awesome and just in the marriage process and when they do the parents and the kids ages of 20, 17, 14 will also join them. I'm sooo excited and I'm praying and fasting that they will do it before I'm outtie. But ya that's all for now.  Love you all have a great week!

Elder Call 

Happy Thanksgiving (week 90)

Hey Friends and Family! 

Crazy times in the mission and wow another week down down here in my wonderful country of panama. Well last week was awesome and Elder Jackman and I finished well with a baptism! Super awesome and her name is Lindsey and she is an awesome girl and super good times cus our recent convert, Christian, baptized her. He had tried memorizing the prayer last minute because i made him do it cus I didn't wanna get wet hahaha. So he got in there and forgot the prayer and it was probably the funniest baptism ever.. had to repeat the prayer like 6 times and baptize her 3 different times...soo funny. So ya that evening I got changes.. and as I expected I came back to the city.  I had like 30 minutes to pack, just threw everything in my suitcases and left to the terminal to catch the chiva at 7 to David.  So I left with my comp and got to David at about midnight.  Then right away got on a bus and got to the city at like 7 in the morning.. My seat was sooo uncomfy and I was ticked and cold and I had a wonderful all-nighter. Got to the city and met my comp- Elder Garcia from Colombia, and left to my area.... Arriajan Vista Alegre... third time being in this zone.. my favorite zone (besides San Blas) and have been here more than anywhere else in my mission.. seems only fit to spend my last 4 weeks here with a Colombian that only has like 6 months in the mission. But I really am sooooo sad to have left Bocas del toro.  I invested my heart and soul into that area and i knew EVERYBODY.  I freaking LOVE Changuinola and I really did wanna end my mission there.. but Arriajan is the next best place.  Going to be a little harder to stay motivated though not going to lie because I am out in 4 weeks in an area I don't  know and i would have liked to stay in Changuinola where I invested so much working with the branch.  But i will keep working hard till the day i die because i'm trying get that beautiful spouse hahaha.  My comp is good and the area is good, although honestly now that I have been in Panama all the areas I would be happy to be in.  Also Vista Alegre has a ton of Kunas which is classic for Arraijan and that is just who I want to teach before I go home.  I love them!  Also my comp told me they are just finishing getting a couple married so i think this week or next week we are going to have three baptisms...dope.  So wow. I love the mission and I cry when I think about leaving so soon but I will cherish these last moments forever.  Well that's pretty much it.  Thanks family and friends for your support... Love you all have a great Thanksgiving!  For me it will be just a normal day but for all of you enjoy it!!!!!
Love, Elder Call

Love you! (week 89)

Hey Friends and Fam!

 

    Wow crazy week but don't have all the time in the world to write about it.  Wow, this weekend was sooooooo tiring but was highly anticipated and well-worth the long drive....so my week was good.  On Friday we left at 6pm for a 12 hour drive to Panama City. So I tried sleeping on the bus but didn't do well because of the freaking winding roads and it was soo cold on the bus.  But we got to the city in great time and got off the bus early at like 5am to stay the night with the zone leaders from the city. It was cool because they live in the first chapel that was built in Panama in a place, right by the Puente de Las Americas, called Balboa.  It’s no longer a ward but was awesome and I did a couple baptism interviews for them in two different areas that day. 

 

     The first was in an area that I have always wanted to go - a straight ghetto called Chorrillo...suuuper dangerous and I always wanted to see the area since it’s notorious in our mission - just huuuge apartment complexes that are straight trash - pretty gross area and must admit it made me a lil nervous.  I was with another gringo but it was cool. Then I went to the Vera Cruz area which is a suuuper cool place a little ways outside of the city- touristy and mostly Kunas with beautiful beaches.  It's my dream area but due to disobedience in the past Elders can’t serve there.  Then at 3pm we had the mission conference - it was sooo cool and Elder Soares is the freaking man!!  His testimony was awesome and the sprit was soooo strong...such a humble guy and the first ever Latino apostle!

 

     Then we rushed back to Albrook (the huge city bus terminal) and tried catching the direct bus to Bocas del Toro, but it had already left...was completely devastating because we were just a little late and missed it.  So we ended up having to take a bus to David then a chiva at 3 in the morning to Bocas…was sooo tiring because I didn't sleep much then either.  Yea, so I was nice and tired and pretty sleep deprived and we got to church late yesterday.  But we ended the week strong and I slept like a baby last night so it's all good.   Awesome weekend and I'm looking forward to finishing up this change strong…then I’ll be on to my last change in the mission...so crazy!!  I talked to pres a lil and he told me he was probably going to send me to end a little closer to the city because I’ll only have four weeks left when changes happen.  I really want to end my mission here but if I get changed I won't be too sad because experiencing another area of Panama would a fun adventure too.  I’m so excited to hit it hard these last weeks here! 

 

    It was pretty crazy in the mission conference seeing my couple of comps that still remain in the mission…sad stuff if I think too hard about it.  That was the first time in my entire mission that all of the missionaries were in one conference together.  When Elder Cook visited the mission the San Blas and Bocas del Toro zones didn't attend…so it was super special that we were able to be there to hear from Elder Soares.  

 

Love you all have a good week!!!!!

Elder Call

Grandpa's Call's Funeral (week 88)

Hey friends and fam! 

 

Wow, was just informed of grandpa’s passing.  Nobody had told me anything about it until now when Nick wrote me.  I know it’s a very sad time but at the same time what an amazing joy he feels now with grandma.  I am a firm believer of God and of his plan of salvation. I love Grandpa Call so much what an honor to be his grandkid.  He is an example to all and a down right amazing person…blessed to carry on his legacy here in Panama !   He lived an amazing life and he’s going straight to lo alto. 

 

Wow great week out here in Changuinola, better than ever out here. Also freaking pumped and praying and getting prepared extra hard because Elder Soares is coming to panama this saturday to talk to us!  I'm soo pumped and it will be the second time attending a mission conference with an apostle of the lord.  Awesome stuff but the drive is guna be suuuuch a drag.  We are about 13 hours from the city and we have to take a the night bus to not miss too much time teaching. I'm trying to convince pres to let us return here in a plane cus there's a litttle airport here but I doubt it will happen hahaha.

 

We had a baptism this weekend of that kid Mosiah and I feel sooo awesome and am so excited and happy because his family now has a goal of going on the bocas del toro temple trip in just a few weeks.. so we re-activated the heck out of the family!  So ya seeing a lot of success and working a lot with recent converts because man sometimes the recent converts get baptized and left by the missionaries and stop getting love and I hate that.  Pres is stressing the importance of working with them too.  Man All good out here though and these weeks have been so amazing and I've been working especially hard and with more happiness. Week was super special and I'm so honored to be a missionary.

 

The whole country of Panama is going crazy right now because these weeks are independence weeks which are huuuuge holidays for panama.  Everybody basically goes wild, and it ain't your average wild, because Panamanians are normally pretty wild but during these holidays they’re even more wild than normal hahaha.  So it was crazy here and there was a huge parade here and everyone was hammered and doing naughty stuff.  I felt so separated from it all but just looking at it from a spiritual viewpoint it was a nightmare haha…saw one or two naked people and other things that I can’t say over emails hahahaha.  Last year at this time I was still in san blas and I reflect more on that time of my mission than any other time. Even the kunas went crazy for this freaking holiday.

 

Wow speaking of kunas, I feel like God has blessed me with a gift. I can literally smell kunas…hahaha…I can just feel when they are around and when see then I just get talking in their language and they love it.  So we are literally teaching the only kuna families in the entire province and its been awesome.  One of the families is progressing and I hope they meet their baptism goal in two weeks.  So ya, Jackman is a good comp, super different and an interesting chap, but all is well.  Patience is the key with every comp (something I have worked on my whole mission and still struggle with haha) but I promise I have gotten more patient fam!  

 

Well, that's all I got... sooo many funny stories but man i just don't remember them all.   Animal stories- I just feel like I have been in panama so long that these crazy animals don't get to me like they used to. Before the mission I would of freaked out seeing these animals…hahaha.  For example the GIANT possum that walked right outside our front door, or the red and yellow giant poisonous frog that during church came in and everyone was freaking out and I had to be the one to get it.  Or the turtles that swam in the rain water in front of our house. Yup good stuff.  Man, also as a side note, we walked through this crappy are (where we always work) and there was like a gay indian volleyball association that we walked by and I have never received that much crap from anyone in all my mission hahaha.  Good stuff!  Well thanks friends and fam...Jesus loves you all, do the right!

 

Bye, Love Elder Call

Happy Halloween (week 87)

Hey friends and family!

 

Wow what a week out here in Changuinola.  It's still awesome out here and continues to be one of my favorite areas in my entire mission. Idk what Pres is going to do with me next change because I’m leaving two weeks early for school.  It will be weird if I’m here till the end of my mission because of what a pain sending a new missionary here mid change would be.  This area is so far from any other area in the mission and I don’t think pres will want to close this area for two weeks after I leave.  Who knows what will happen but I would really like to finish my mission out here.  Wow, the weather has been brutal this week.  So Bocas del toro has a way different climate than the rest of Panama and it honestly feels even hotter and more humid here sometimes.  In Panama City right now summer is starting so rainy season is over but out here this week its been raining soo much which is a drag to work in but I'm used to it by now…lol!   We found some awesome people this week and we are seeing miracles happen like the baptism we are having this weekend.  Mosiah is 9 and didn't get baptized because his family went completely inactive.  But activating families is my specialty and we activated the family and they came to church for the first time in 5 years this Sunday!!  I was blessing the sacrament and when I saw their family walk in I was put to tears.  They put the natural man behind them and came back to church after five years!!  So dope and I’m so happy for them.  So Mosiah will be a dope baptism next week and the best part is his family will be reactivated because of him.  My comp Elder Jackman is good too…we are very different in personality but he's cool.  So all is well and loving life!!  Love you friends and fam!   My camera is still broken so I haven't taken a pic in like 4 months sorry fam!

 

Love,

Elder Call

Celebrating 28 years! (week 86)

Hey friends and wonderful family, 

Wow so it was another exciting week just like every week out here in the best place in the world.  Changuinola is the bees knees and the cats pajamas at the same time.  People are so awesome and the branch sucks but some members I freaking love and are so down to help. The more time you have in the mission the better relationship you build with the members and the more willing they are to help you.  So yesterday we went with an awesome member named Hermano Piti to do visits all afternoon.  I haven't been driven in a car for that long in a while and we got to know sooo many people.   It also taught me a lot of principles that are really important for me like we talked a lot about the quote by Jesus that "its easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter into heaven". It was interesting to hear his remarks and concepts on the story and it really made me think about the importance of not being selfish. Man the mission just teaches so much and yet there is sooo much I need to learn haha.  Wow so update is that these scabies are not going away!  I think its because of all the contact I have with these nbobes, who tend to be dirtier than kunas (which is really hard to imagine). So one guy was saying that the best cure for scabies is to get this type of leaf called "matarata" (not the best name hahha) and to boil a bunch of the leaves and rub them on my body. So I was in the shower last night probably looking like a crazy person rubbing bright green leaves on my skin. At the end I turned literally a tint of green haha and I pray these freaking things go away. I had to hunt the "matarata" down in the jungle for like 20 min so it better be worth it.  So finally we had a freaking BAPTISM!! his name is Christian and he's 17 years old. We found him living by himself in a house basically on house arrest. He had just gotten out of prison in David for gang violence and robbery, yup.. so it was a loong call with pres and it took a lot of convincing on my part but pres has a lot of confidence in me though so he got baptized yesterday. It was sooo awesome and in two weeks he's turned his life around...he hadn't abused drugs or been out doing things in a while before we met him.  He fully repented and it was soo awesome to see his changes and now we are talking about him going on a mission.  Only prob is he has gang tattoos still and there are a great number of people trying to kill him.  But he has really become a disciple of Jesus and I'm so happy for him and I will always write and support that kid...such a good friend of mine. Ya so all is well...love life and the mission and couldn't be happier. The people here are awesome as ever so ya that's all I got.  Love you all have an awesome week!!

Elder Call

Caroline's wedding (week 85)

Hey Friends and Family!

 

Well another great week out here in bocas del toro! Conference was soooo freaking good and it was probably my favorite since being on the mission.  Every 2 hour session seemed to be five minutes for me and the spirit was insane for every talk that was given. Of course, I missed like 3 or 4 talks due to the fact that we were running around trying to get investigators.  In the end a lot of people we are teaching came to watch with us and it went super great!  I especially loved Holland ’s message about the power of forgiveness and the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ.  Also they highlighted a lot about the importance of the sacrament and the need to always "stay on the covenant path". I freaking loved it and some of the best lessons I have ever taught were in between sessions of conference.  I love and also sustain Russell Nelson as the prophet of the church, and also of course I thought it was insane the change to two hour meetings and the new "name change" of the church. He is truly an inspired man and a huge testimony to me about the revelation that our modern prophets receive. Baptisms will happen this weekend and I am super excited...about time!  My new companion is coming from the city and his name is Elder Jackman.  I'm excited to meet him.  It was the best being with Elder Amaya and his love and patience is sooo Christ-like.  Well I am pumped for this week!!  Have a great week everyone!

 

Elder Call

Track assignment (week 84)

Hey Friends and Family! 

Wow, it was a crazy week and I will tell you what, the mission, even with the time I have here, doesn't get easy! Every day provides new obstacles and challenges in finding the chosen people of God who are willing to accept his restored gospel.  Man, my birthday was good... 21 feels sooo old. Enjoyed it by having an amazing day working to help others come unto Christ.  I did however, change it up a little with my favorite lunch in panama (besides Dulemasi from san blas) of beef soup with extra yuka and special rice with a Vigor Malta to drink.  It was a super spiritual and special day and I'm so honored to have passed my 21st birthday here. Man had sooo many baptisms programmed but they all managed to fall.  Familia Luis pushed it back a week and the mother of 8, Maria Serrano, had some "women issues" and felt like she had to push it off for a time as well.  Not guna lie...I got down on myself Saturday afternoon when I realized the sudden and sad news about our baptisms but it didn't hinder my faith even a little. I know there are soo many chosen people of god in this area and we just gotta get more focused on being guided by the spirit. Man, so hoping for an amazing next week and I'm definitely guna enjoy general conference. It will be my 4th and last in panama :(  Next week is changes and most likely Elder Amaya and I have changes and he leaves because he's been here a while but man he has been the absolute best to me and I have learned sooo much from him.  Looking on the bright side though, I'll have a stable house to stay and sleep at with Elder Amaya's family when I come back and visit panama...grateful I won't just have to bum it with old converts and members hahaha. Wow, also special shout out to my cousin Nathan Doxey!!!! I literally cried when I found out you got your call here.  Just know you are coming to the best place and mission in the world.  Out of 10s of 1000s of missionaries you got called to the best mission where only 160 missionaries are blessed to serve.  You will also have a little time with the best mission pres ever, President Current.  

Love you all have a  good week!

Elder Call

 

Happy Birthday!!!!!!! (Week 83)

Hey friends and fam!

 

Wow, what a last couple of weeks and sorry for not writing last week. We had to go to the City of David, like 5 hours away on bus, for something and that took the whole pday.  Wow, so much has happened in just 2 short weeks haha. The week before last I already forgot and it all just seems like a blur hahaha.  This week was super cool in terms of the work and we are seeing more success than I think this area has ever seen before.  This area is known to not baptize a ton but we have been going super hard and it is all paying off. We had 10 investigators in church this Sunday and 5 of them have baptism dates for this weekend. I'm soo pumped and I know we can have them all.  It was a huge surprise but last week we felt an impression to go to a giant wood house and leave a blessing.  Come to find out that it's a family of literally 2000 people and one of their kids is serving a mission in Guatemala.  So that's soo dope because no one else in the family are members and we are going to make that missionary's dreams come true by helping his family.  So five of them went to church on Sunday, in spite of the fact that they are protestants, and we taught probably the most spiritual class yet on repentance...the spirit was soo strong.  We are visiting them today so i'm praying every minute that they can be baptized soon too.  Wow, we also got a text from some missionaries serving at temple square (didn't even think that was possible) and they said that they have been online chatting with a girl for the past month and the girl wants to get baptized.  Such a funny miracle, out of all places, chatting with a girl from Bocas del Toro, Panama haha.  So that will be fun and we are going to visit her tomorrow for the first time to see what's up.  Man time is just flying by and I just feel like there is not enough time in a day to visit everyone we need to. We are so busy up here and I have freaking loved this area sooo much. Comp is still the man and we get along great and I have no complaints about anything right now.  Also the week before last we had to go to David for the zone conference.  It was awesome and we all learned a ton about how to retain more converts and finding more families to teach.  Man, for lunch pres surprised us with super cheese pizzas from little ceasers...like idk where it even came from...haha...but it was actually so freaking good and I had almost a whole pizza to myself.  Man, then like an hour later we loaded up for the five hour trip back to the area and I was soooo sick...haha...I was still so full I could barely breath.  I was letting loose soo much gas that everyone on the whole bus was complaining...so grateful to my father in heaven that no one found out it was me hahaha.  Soo funny but yup sorry that's all I got.  Love u all have a good week as usual!  Big shout out to all my fam that has been celebrating their birthdays, Ella, Natali, Jared, and Grandma Brown in heaven. 

Love u all, Elder Call

Ella's Birthday (week 82)

Hey Friends and fam! 

   Wow super good week out here in Changuinola, Bocas del Toro. Good time with my comp, Elder Amaya. This man is teaching me all sorts of patience, literally a hippie, bob marley missionary, which i really need sometimes out here when the people we teach litterally sometimes make me feel like teaching a wall would be more productive hahaha.  So we have been working a lot this week with an amazing couple ana and demetrio. They are super special and have now gone to church twice but man its been hard, they still feel like they aren't ready and are unsure about baptism and feel like we are pressuring too much. We found them a while ago and I would have dropped them by now but there is something special about them and their already married, 1 for 4583465234 families that we have contacted that are married and not going to church. Demetrio also drank a lot but he is transforming his life and dropped it, so im hoping they get baptized soon cus the branch needs some priesthood. also we had a super cool baptism this week of an 18 year old kid named albert. He's great and was a miracle we found someone so spiritually prepared for our message. Hes soo humble, really sarcastic, which got on my nerves but there was no water in the church so we had to go to the river and it was an awesome baptism. He leans over to us before and just said how happy he was and it made me feel the spirit so strong. So it was awesome and i got my camera working again so i will send pics of it all soon. This friday is multi-zone our conference in david so we gotta take a chiva for 5 hours thursday and sleep at another missionaries house to catch it but im excited to do the trip again hahaha. Well thats all I got, Love u friends and fam! have a great week!

Hello September (week 81)

Hey friends and wonderful family!

     Wow its been quite the week around here in Changuinola, getting to know the area, members, and my new comp.  Its really cool here and the people are soo humble and kind.  Pretty much everyone receives you but the trick is keeping them interested and helping them to understand. You gotta have a ton of energy here because the Ngobes are quiet and shy people.  We have had some awesome experiences and this week was such a tease for success.  We found soo many people who have gone to church including all the people that have been to church but have not been baptized.  I tried to use the convincing powers to help the people come unto christ and by Thursday we were planning on having 4 baptisms.  But in the end the people didn't have the desire they needed and I humbled myself and learned for the 1 millionth time that it has to be the spirit in the conversion and not me.  Super pumped though because we helped a young family get to church who are really interested.  Unfortunately, the dad drinks so he won’t be able to get baptized right now but the wife has a date for next weekend and we are hoping she will get baptized.  The kids are too young, but the family is awesome and i am praying Anna can make it strong to her baptism date.     Wow, so president had a conference with the leaders of the mission and he was telling us some new focuses in the mission.   There are soooo many recent converts in the mission and the new focus is using the converts to help baptize.   The mission of Panama has been the best baptizing mission in Latin Central America by like double every month and now there are soo many converts who are not getting the visits like they were before.   So we are hoping that changes and we can balance our time but still have the same success as before.      My comp Elder Amaya is freaking awesome and his humor is soo great.   Such a laid-back dry Panamanian sense of humor…it’s been a lot of fun. I’m super excited for the week and this new area is soo dope and I’m excited for the success we are going to have here.   Thanks everyone for your support and prayers…love you all have a good week! 
Elder Call 

Charlie's recovery (week 80)

Hey friends and family!! 

 

Wow, it was an absolutely crazy week hahaha and it ended even crazier. My last week with my companion Elder Ferrufino was freaking awesome, super motivated and ended the week with three baptisms!! --Juan and Anais Bonilla, and Ashly Cordoba . I was very fortunate to help them make that sacred covenant and i wish them the best and hope they can endure to the end. Wow, come to find out i had changes. I thought i was going to stay in the area but my comp stayed and is training and I am in Changuinola, Bocas del toro!!! Wow i was sooooooooooooo shocked when i got the call, I never thought i would make it this far haha. It is the furthest area in the mission and it was a 13 hour drive.  The area borders with costa rica …haha the border is actually in my area. My area is absolutely huge and the biggest by far i have ever been in. The drive yesterday was insane…took 8 hours to get to the terminal in David , Panama . I got to know pretty much all of the part we call the "interior" of panama. The culture and people are sooooo different…different food, music, etc. More livestock and farming and sooo much empty space.  Really was an awesome drive and literally I was glued to the window the whole time…getting to know as much as i can of my beloved country before my time to leave comes.  After 8 hours I had to wait in the David terminal and then took a little van "chiva" 5 hours through literally nothingness... straight jungle. The road was terrible and I thought i was going to puke like ten times haha, but the views were gorgeous and it was one of the most beautiful drives by far that I have made in my life. Got to the area, thought there would be less here, but its actually a city and there are a lot of people here and it seems suuuper cool. Have time to write right now cus we couldn't do anything but drive yesterday. Well, the people and culture are soo different here and even more different than in the interior.  the majority of the people are part of an indigenous group similar to kunas called ngobe. I worked with them a lot in the city too...including some of my favorite baptisms have been ngobes.  However, honestly I have never been the biggest fan of them haha because they’re a very reserved and interesting people. But I’m sure i will learn to love them cus 90 percent of the people here pertain to the group. My companion is named Elder Amaya and he has 14 months in the mission. He was in Nicaragua and got taken out and placed in our mission due to the political problems there, and has been here for about 3 months. He's panamanian and is from Arraijan and literally lives 5 min from my last area…i have been to his church and home ward numerous times. He's great so far and I’m actually very excited to be with a Panamanian…another opportunity to learn more about their culture and their way of being.  Well, that's all i got for now, good times and I’m expecting a lot of success from this area.  Where I am is definitely crazy…crappy jungle house, no clean water, lots of bugs, bucket showers…you know the regular.  This area is sooooo poor and all of the houses are an interesting wood with stilts built over like swamps…super weird and probably the closest to san blas i will get again in my mission. Not guna lie, when i got the call i just sat in my wonderful hammock and cried…hahaha…tears of joy and sadness.  I’m coming into the last stretch of my amazing journey and I’m pretty positive this will be my last area.  I’m so fortunate for my experiences and the things i have learned and the way I have grown these past two years.  I’m so excited for this change and to do absolute work out here in this wonderful area and country of panama. Love u all tons…have an amazing week!

 

 Elder Call

Happy Birthday to me (week 79)

Hey friends and fam!  Wow, just want to give a shout out to my momma!  Happy bday momma hope u enjoy it love u!  This was a good week but we ran into a couple of problems with the baptisms we were going to have.  So we were baptizing a cool family, the mom and a couple kids, but at the end the mom confessed something so we couldn’t have the baptisms..  They were soo excited and prepared!  So the story is the mom is helping her sister in law’s son get a Panama visa because he is from the Dominican Republic .  So she told us they are going to get married so he can get a visa and they have to be together for three years.  Crazy thing is she already has a boyfriend and is just doing it to be nice…soo dumb!  So we obviously counseled her about the risks and possible effects of that decision and we are praying she changes her mind.  So if she does we are going to have the baptisms this weekend but if she doesn’t change her mind we are going to baptize the kids this weekend without her.  My comp is awesome and we have a ton of fun together and at the same time work really hard.  It’s my second comp from Honduras and he is a good kid; missionaries from Honduras usually seem to be pretty dope.  Man I don’t have that many great stories to tell.  A member invited us to a family home evening last night so we went and it was soo terrible.  He had prepared something but it was out of control haha we totally changed the theme and made it good but it was hilarious.  Wow, the downside is that I still don’t have a memory card for my camera so sorry for the lack of pics.  I need to buy a new memory card so I can start sending pics again.  Changes are next week so wow another change done... three more to go!  I'm sure i will stay here but will probably get a new comp as we were never supposed to be together in the first place.  Well that’s all I got love u all have another good week!  

Elder Call

One more Week of Summer (week 78)

hey friends and wonderful fam.

this week was a good week out here in the mission, lot of success and finding a lot of future members of the true church. Ended the week with two baptisms and i was pretty pleased but i have a great vision for this area and we have put a goal of 5 baptisms and judging by the amount of people we had in church this last week i know we can reach it. Comp is a great guy and the area is pretty dang big but we are balancing it fine just by working close to the church. Actually i think its big until i get reminded that their are areas in other missions were u have to be in a us for over an hour to cross them.. in min its a solid ten minutes haha. Panama is a tiny country. Man so the baptisms we had this week are a kid whose 12 named jocel and a girl that 16 named anyi. Both have connection with the church and helped reactivate some people in the process. the aunt of anyi wants to get baptized soo bad but as maybe yall know no one in panama is married. SO she has to get married first and her husband has to get divorced fist.. long story but he accidentally got married in san blas... typical kuna move. man i cant think of many stories except this week  i was having a kinda bad day and we were walking on a muddy pat in this jungle area and i fell in the mud and got super dirty. Then like a minute after i slipped in slippery grass and was soo mad haha but kinda kept it to myself while my comp was laughing. we then crossed a river like a minute after and there was a dog and we were like 6 feet from the river and i totally took my anger out o the dog and kicked the poor thing into the river as i was crossing. Haha a guy got soo ticked off at the side i crossed from he started cursing me out and threatening me and he was drunk so we had to high tail it haha that is about the only funny thing that stands out for this week. yup good times. Man but camera is having real technical problems so i got no pics im sad but will figure out the problem soo enough. have a good week and shout out to those that are starting school hahaha that stinks but make it happen! School is the best wish i woulda learned and applied myself more.. Bye take care love u all!! -Elder Call

Hebgen (week 77)

Hey friends and fam, 

    Wow so first off cant believe know one keeps me updated on life until the last moment. Gotta give my shout outs to Brady for the marriage, Mark and Annabelle for finally  going to get the four kids! Fams out here doing big stuff hahaha and im still out here in Burunga panama haha teaching about christ. Wow So much for me happened this week I cant even express how crazy it was. Wow so I was training and literally dragging the poor guy around, he really did not wanna be here. Had suuper bad culture shock and was talking about his fm all the time and was super depressed. Well i was helping him and helping his spanish and everything but he had a couple interviews with president and sure enough after one of em he came out and said he was going home. I honestly cried i felt terrible he doesn't know what hes missing out on and i tried to help him soo much. But long story short after a straight battle of dragging him around and helping him and trying to baptize he was sent home. We share a ward with two other missionaries who cover half the area and there was an elder named elder ferrufino from honduras who was training a guy from honduras. Well his comp ended up going home for worthiness issues and president put us together. Was meant to be cus hes freaking awesome but the area is huge and we are hoping to see a lot of success but it will be hard balancing it all out. But we have great goals and are going to see a ton of success this change. Super excited cus my comp is now the man but also eel bad for the both young missionaries who left. Well other quick story is while i was waiting for my new comp i got assigned to my area with a new missionary whose been "sick for a month" and was in the offices. Well poor kid i could tell right away that he was faking, apparently he says he has really bad stomach problems but the doctors cant find anything. So after dragging him around he begs me to use the bathroom and finally i give in and we go to n investigators house and hes in there for like an hour and im pretty mad knocking on the door telling him we gotta go. HE said he couldn't and that he was pooping blood and diarrhea and i said to save the poop for me cus i wanted to check it out. He said thats gross and no but i made him do it lol. Well like there is not much money round these parts so it was like a crap out house portapotty thing and i went in after and it was like a narrow tube and super shallow and at the bottom were just two diapers and not any diarrhea on top or toilet paper and i totally caught him in the lie. Lol so that was funny i felt terrible for the lengths that some missionaries take to go home. Sad stuff and out here u just gotta man up and bite the bullet. Good times and im so happy for the future and to do work this change love u all have a good week!

Ella's almost home (week 76)

Hey friends and fam, 

    Wow so as you all know from last week is that im training. Wow so I was pretty anxious to be receiving my companion, there were like 9 new missionaries coming from the mtc. I was excited to be training a latino haha apparently all of them already spoke spanish which was a relief. Buuut im the only elder of nine that is training someone from the states who doesnt speak spanish haha what luck. So it bummed me out but i was excited to teach my new comp elder jardine how we do it here in panama. So tuesday i was in my old area loma coba- that was sooo weird and it was such a happy day but so weird cus its been over a year since i was there. Well Wednesday i went to the office by myself and got my comp. Hes suuuper quite and reserved and an interesting character. Unfortunately it was a hard week, but i have lerned a lot. He has depression apparently and it had has been a struggle to keep him motivated slash comfort him. He broke down a bunch of times and definitely has some culture shock cus i mean we aint in the states no more haha. I definitely had empathy with him but it was weird cus im so used to working so hard and I am so used to and in love with it here in panama. So finally he told me some of the stuff that was going on and we went to the offices sunday so he could talk to pres. He was thinking about going home and i talked him out of it and pres helped him with some of his more private issues. Its been hard having to do everything and drag him around but its been an amazing growing experience for me and im honored to be able to help someone who needs my help so much. So these next upcoming weeks will be very challenging but i plan to always be a hard working missionary and we will still baptize weekly. Im super grateful to my father in heaven for giving me the chance to progress even more spiritually before going home. Im grateful for the mission and for all ive learned, and the way it has impacted my life is astonishing. I know the church is true and this is the lords work, and im excited for a week of much success here. Have a good week!

Charlie turned 12 (week 75)

Hey fam and friends!

     wow it was a quite a week last week but definitely an amazing one for many different reasons. We found some amazing people and 2 of our baptisms yhonathan and arianly got confirmed sunday but unfortunately we had our first wee without a baptisms. Yhonathan is thirteen and one of my favorite baptisms in all my mission. Hes sooo mature and smart for his age and comprehends everything about the church and is guaranteed to be active and begging for the priesthood. Super awesome, I love the kid and we were at his house talking about mission work and he gave us 978634537 references of friends, family, and so on. He promised us he was guna serve a mission to so i hope he does it. Arianly is also really special and is so dirt poor, probably the poorest baptism I have ever had in my whole mission, in terms of temporal things. She barely has a metal shack and literally has nothing to eat and is struggling with 5 small children, shes super special tho and I know that the gospel and the relief society will help her a ton. Was so awesome with my comp this change, he wil be a valued friend for forever. I plan on visiting colombia fast after the mission haha he has talked it up soo much. He taught me so much and has such a great attitude, was really special buuuut we had changes. He had been in the area for a couple changes already so he left :( i was super sad but im pumped cus ima train haha. The missionary either comes tomorrow or Wednesday so im in a trio waiting to see if hes latino or gringo. Love the mission and this change We ended with 9 baptisms and i was happy but not satisfied. This change i want at least 15 so im guna work with the new missionary like never before. Love u all have an amazing week!!

Happy Fourth of July (week 74)

Hey Friends and wonderful family,

 

   Wow sorry I have been pretty spotty with writing this past month. Been really busy with college apps and I'm sure most of you all know how that is. Man these past weeks I have been feeling incredibly blessed for the life my father in heaven has given me. The mission has been the best opportunity that i have ever had and its so weird the happiness that can be found in helping others and working your guts out everyday. My companion is the man and we are seeing a ton of success out here in burunga arraijan. We have baptized every week and ended this last weekend with two more baptisms. The people are very humble in my area and are so open to the gospel. I am so fortunate to be in an area like this and to have been blessed with so much success. I cant believe I only have 4 changes left in my mission after this week and I cry when I think too much about it. I had an amazing interview with president Current, I know he is an inspired church leader, and I love him so much. We talked about my last 4 changes and setting spiritual goals to be able to overcome the temptations that a non-mission environment provides. Wow if I wrote about all the miracles that we have seen in these past couple of weeks I would be writing this letter all day. The lord has blessed us in sooo many ways and I know its been for our obedience and diligence. We have found so many people and  I am so pleased with the work here. We also are managing to have so much fun as my comp is one of the craziest people I have ever met. He's a little Colombian fireball hahaha man the hardest time we've had together is when Colombia lost their world cup game this past week. He didn't talk for like a solid hour...hahaha... it was hilarious. Ya so next week I will update you all more on some miracles but that's all I got for now. Love you all so much and love the mission. I love Jesus Christ and I am so grateful for his atoning sacrifice for me. Peace out fam! --Elder Call

Father's day (week 71)

Dear friends and fam,

    I am working on college essays so I'm not guna have the most time to write this but man its been a heck of a two weeks. So i'm back in arraijan in an area called Burunga and man i forgot that this zone is straight jungle ahhaa. Its been  a crazy two weeks and it all just feels like a blur in my mission now. We have been doing soo much work haha and working the hardest i have in my whole mission. Last week we had two baptisms and this last sunday two more. We have been expecting an average of 5 every week but man the family we were supposed to baptize this week was having marriage problems and backed out saturday night!! day before their baptisms due to the marriage problems. They are soo cool, luisa is from Nicaragua and louis is Panamanian and they have 1 girl that's 9. They are getting a divorce as of now but man god sent us at the right time to them and we are working super hard with them so they don't do it. I will try to send pics too of the area and everything. Ok but man my comp is Elder Zalavarrieta from colombia and is the best comp i have ever had in my life haha. He is 25, and has had the craziest life in the world. Well we have soo much in common and it was an instant connection. We are literally best friends and man we work soo hard. He's soo motivated and has so much energy it's unreal. Little bit of anger-management but man i love the kid so much. So he was originally supposed to be going home in 2 changes but went home his second change in the mission. He was in love with a girl and was thinking about her all the time and talked to pres and decided it was best to go home to marry her. So he went home proposed and she said NO hahahaha. Sooo  sad.. So he called pres after and begged for days to come back to the mission and eventually got back after like 8 months. So he gets back and like a month later he gets a called from president saying that his mom had a stroke and is in a  coma and will probably die. Pres gave him the option of going home and HE SAID NO. He said that his mission here is more important in this moment and when he told me the story and i just about cried. His mom has been in a coma for like 5 months now and it straight motivates this guy to work soo hard. So ya lots of expectations this change and man its flying by in this area with him. Love the mission and i know without a single doubt that this is the work of the lord. My testimony has never been stronger and the miracles i see are un real. Chuso side note panama played its first game ever in the world cup today and lost and man the streets went from empty to after people walking around crying. haha super sad but good stuff.  love u fam bye!

pic 3- my trainer going home. prob one of the saddest moments in my life. this guy taught me sooo much.

 other pics... of comp and area etc. one of the baptism pics. Left my other memory at home or else i woulda sent the pics of my baptisms in other area.

Summer at Pear Cottage (week 70)

Hey friends and fam, 

   

Wow well it’s been quite the crazy time out here in the mission of elder call in panama. Last week was awesome and a ton happened. We went super hard the last week of the change and had two awesome baptisms...I was so pumped. One is named Yorlenis and is 19, and her niece got baptized with her too and she's eight.  It was sooo awesome and the other two sisters are for sure getting baptized this next weekend. I love their fam too and if i come to panama they will probably be the first fam i visit haha. But man we were busy and to top it all off today i had changes.  Now I’m in Arraigan. I started my mission in the zone here and i'm super excited to be back, always soo much success here and especially in the area i'm in now called Burunga.  Wow I’m new here but from what I've seen its sooo much different. I got used to the city and now I’m in pure jungle again haha its going to be awesome. My comp is elder Savarrieta from colombia. he's the only colombian in the mission and seems like a really good guy.  he's pretty old too haha 25. The area is cool though and i hear they baptize a lot so I’m excited.  But wow what a change I’m sad to have left san miguelito.  I got here and now i gotta change my slang cus holy cow i was talking ghetto not guna lie…used to talking to only gangsters and stuff haha I’m going to miss it... made soo many friends there.  Really sad, but life's about change so here i am.  Weird though too cus i just feel like I’ve only talked to like 5 people since I’ve been here and they just seems so much different. So I’m super excited and I forgot my old memory card so I can’t send pics of the baptisms but I will do it next week. I’ll never forget my times in the hood of san miguelito…so many memories and cherished moments.  I’ll let you know how it is here next week.

 

Love u all bye!!

Memorial Day! (Week 69)

Hey friends and fam, 

  Wow what a week hahaa ups and downs and honestly more downs than ups. So last monday we taught a kid named osvaldo, his dads side of the fam is all members of the church, but unfortunately his dad got shot and died and the moms side of the fam is catholic. But he had been to church with his cousin and liked it and we found where he lived after a good ole scavenger hunt (Panamanian directions Are soooooo bad hahaha) and we taught him and within seconds he accepted baptism for this last week. So we went everyday to his house to prepare him and he was totally ready. SO the problem was is hes 17 and was telling us everyday that his mom says its ok if he gets baptized and that he already talked to her. Its a rooky mistake to not talk to the mom but she works from like 6 in the morn to 8 at night so we never could find her. So sunday rolls around and we go to get him to church for his baptism and the mom was there and asked what we were doing and we told here we are here to get her son to church for his baptism, She was so confused and said that osvaldo never said anything. HE had lied to us a ton of times by saying he was talking to his mom about it. So we got the rest of our investigators to church and went back to their house to convince her. Like a good ole panameño would say i gave her un buen par de machetes but she was soo stubborn and straight apostasia so we could have it. I was sooo sad cus like 2 days before i went on divisions with some missionaries and my comp was supposed to visit him but didn't do it for some reason. So the next day we went and those baptisms fell so we were stuck with another  week without success. Man rough but besides that all is well and im doing good. Changes next week so we will see what happens. Love u all have a good week!

me, sao- the pig foot i explained last week, my city, comp fighting with all the rice we eat hahahha

classic panamanian sunset, son of the area (or the ghetto as we say now)