Week #41 in Panama!

Hi!!

So much has happened within the past few days. We got to the city on Saturday. Its been kind off strange for me to be here after having been out there for almost three months. It messes with your head a little bit remembering what this life in the city is like hahaa. It'll be good for me to get back to the island I think, Im not ready to be in the city again yet, thats for sure. Anyway, we had our baptisms on Saturday night! It was perfect. D., D., and G. were all baptized and confirmed by President Carmack, and pretty much their entire extended family was there to see it. Hna M., a hermana from the ward there, and I all sung I Stand All Amazed in Kuna. It was pretty cool. D.'s husband also came in from the island to be there for the baptism. He is VERY Baptist, D. wants him to take the discussions so bad. So after the baptism he told us that he's actually already been baptized into the church, when he was little. He had forgotten. That happens a lot on the island. So that was crazy. We are going to look for the records, and double check, but if thats true than this just turned into a reactivation effort. We know that someday, possibly in as soon as one year, they will all enter into the temple and be sealed together. They are all so amazing!

Then yesterday we went to Arraijan to visit M.'s old area and have her say goodbye to everyone out there. It was cool, I really liked the members there and they fed us SO well. It was heavenly. I also really liked going to Spanish church again. We as the missionaries can't really receive a ton of spiritual nourishment from church in Kuna haha. Then last night we went back to C. in the city to stay with the hermanas there and also because M. will be saying goodbye to everyone here, too, since she also served here. We received permission from the APs to write at a members house, too, so Im writing right now from a gringos house and Im writing on a HUGE apple desktop. Its amazing. Such a change to our san blast computer. Im going to get to send pictures, so that'll be great! Expect a lot! 

Tomorrow we find out changes. I am SO nervous because your comp on Blas is so critical. They're literally all you have out there, so Im just hoping and praying that my new comp and I make a good fit! I know that if its difficult, though, its just because the Lord needs me to learn something from it! Changes are nerve-racking!! 

Thats about it for last week. It has been crazy! I love and miss you all and I hope you all have a great week!!

Hna Anderson

Week #40 in Panama!

Hey!

So last week was a good week for us. D. and her daughters had
their baptismal interviews and did wonderfully. Our DL actually told
us that of all of the interviews that hes done, hes never interviewed
someone so prepared. The Lord has been preparing them for such a long
time! So that night we also contacted everyone we needed to contact in
Panama to get the baptism all planned out. We called her daughter, the
one who is a member and is sealed in the temple to our branch
presidents son, and she and her brother both talked to us and bore
powerful and tearful testimonies to us as we were on the phone with
them. They talked about the many years of faithful and hopeful prayers
that one day her mom would accept the gospel and the joy they feel
that that day has finally come. They were on speaker and D. cried
as she listened to them. It was amazing and a moment that I will never
forget. So the next day, D. and the girlas all headed off to
Panama and now are just waiting for us to get there this Saturday and
we will have their baptisms. Its going to be an amazing day, we cant
wait for it to get here. The elders from her daughters ward in panama
are going to visit them this week, too, so that they can still have
contact with missionaries. Its going to be so great. I cant even
express how happy and grateful I am to the Lord for having blessed me
to be a part of this experience with them. I love them so much and am
so happy that they have chosen to follow the Saviors example by being
baptized.

So now we are just continuing to find more investigators this week for
when my new comp and I get back to the island next weekend. Im (sending)
my comp (home) for the second time in the mission, which is a stange
experience honestly haha. Knowing that she will be in her house in
florida next week is crazy. Shes ready though and has served an
incredible mission. This should be my last time (sending) someone though
because after this next change thats coming Im pretty (sure) H.,
P. and I are the next hermanas to go home so all of my comps from
here on out will probably have less time on the mission than me.
Insane. Its also because there was a good while before our group came
to panama when no hermanas came to the mission. My mission is going so
fast. I cant believe it most days.

So when we got to church yesterday we found out about Elder L. Tom
Perry. That made me so sad! He lived an amazing and long life though!
Did you guys find out right away?

Also, this morning we went to the river to pick mangos and explore
with some members. Its where they go to get all of their food. And
also to bury people who have passed away. Its like a giant cemetery.
It was pretty cool. Lots of fun for sure.

I hope you all have an amazing week this week! I love and miss you all tons!

Herm. Anderson

Week #39 in Panama!

Hi all! So we had a really interesting week this past week because we
spent the entire week outside of our island. First, on Tuesday and
Wednesday we were in the island of Nargana for Zone Conference.
President Carmack came and we watched Meet the Mormons as a Zone. It
was so fun and I LOVED the movie. I really want to own it when I get
home. It was great. I cried when they were taking the son to the
airport to leave on his mission haha. Brought back a lot of memories!!
Not something you could pay me to ever do again haha. After Zone
Conference, we went to Carti Tupile, which is the only other island
out here with hermanas on it. Hna P. and Hna C. are the
missionaries on that island, which was fun because now all of the hnas
on Blas have been my comp at one point during the mission haha. Being
on Carti was really fun, mostly because Hna. P. and I always have a
good time together. Shes the best. Her and Hna H. and I have become
SO close since the MTC. They are such a wonderful blessing to me! We
also really started to appreciate our island more after being on
Carti. They rarely have water. Like any water at all. We showered the
first day we were there, on Thursday, but then the water ran out and
never came back so we didnt shower again until we got home on
Saturday. I was losing my mind. I like to be clean, I dont know if you
guys knew that about me. So on Friday it started to rain really hard
and Im like guys get me some shampoo quick Im going to wash my hair.
Then I actually found a rain gutter coming off the church building
that was putting out a ton of water so I washed my hair in that. It
was great. The rain only lasted long enough for me to get done washing
it, so I know the Lord was helping me out a bit there! =) Ill send you
guys pics when we get back in the city. We also ran into 3 gringos
there, two women and a man. One of the women came right up to us and
was like Hi! I served my mission on this island 10 years ago. So that
was really cool. She shared a lot of her mission stories with us. It
was really fun to hear about what it was like on the island 10 years
ago. She was really cool. We gave her our parents numbers to text you
guys a picture of us, but she wasnt getting signal on the island so
she said shed try when she gets back to panama. Hopefully you guys get
it. Thats about it for this past week. I now love my island more than
ever, we live REALLY well here, especially compared to other
missionaries. So blessed to be on Ustupu! I love you all so much and I
hope you have a fantastic week!!

Hna Anderson

Week #38 in Panama!

Hi all!

This week was a really good one for us, mostly because President
Carmack had a really successful visit to the island. He came in on
Friday just for that day and was able to interview a lot of people in
the branch. Those interviews were much needed and we already are
seeing lots of positive results. He also went on a visit with us. We
took him to a cita with D. and the girls. We taught them about
the Family Proclamation and had a really awesome lesson. D. also
asked if President could baptize her and her daughters and he said he
would love to! So he will be baptizing them in Panama on June 6th. Its
going to be awesome. President said hes only ever baptized one other
person the entire 2 yrs that hes been mission president. Its going to
be amazing.

Thats about it for this past week. Plus this computer is super slow so
its a short email  this week. I hope you all have a great week! Miss
and love you all!

Herm. Anderson

Week #37 in Panama!

Hi!

I absolutely loved being able to see and talk to everyone yesterday.
Click HERE for Skype video!  It was wonderful, and like Corson, it gave me a boost of energy to
work harder than ever this next part of my mission!! You all seem to
be doing so well, and Im so glad to see that. I loved hearing from the
family in IL as well! Such a special surprise!

This past week was a really good one for us. Our golden family, the
familia M. (D. and her daughters) continue to progress!!
This past week we placed a baptisimal fecha with them for June 6th. It
worked out perfectly because when we invited them to be baptized we
actually asked them for May 23rd since they have received all of the
lessons and havent missed a sunday going to church in over a month.
But D. told us that she still wants to be baptized in Panama
because her daughter who is a member lives in Panama and she wants her
to be there. She has told us this before and the last time she told us
that she said  she wouldnt have vacations from work to be able to go
again until January. But then this time she told us that she actually
has vacation along with her daughters, the first week in June. Its
perfect because since my comp is going home on June 11th, we had
already planned on going into the city on the 6th so she could go say
bye to all of her areas. So we got really excited when we realized how
perfect it was and told her and she got really excited, too, so they
all accepted the fecha for June 6th to be baptized in Panama. So we
are visiting them 2-3 times a week from now until then to make sure
they continue to progress towards that day. Its sooo great. They have
been so prepared. I cant wait to read you guys my journal entries from
after our lessons with her. Every lesson is so powerful and the spirit
is always so strong.

Thats the news I had to share with you guys from this past week! I
hope you all have a fantastic week!! I love and miss you all tons!!

Herm. Anderson

Week #36 in Panama!

Hey!

Im soo excited for Sunday to get here! I cant believe its already time
for our second skype call. So exciting!

I dont have any stories as cool as eating puma meat for this past week
haha. However, yesterday my comp threw up haha. gross, right? I lead
the music for sacrament meeting (Ive actually done that a lot over the
course of my mission but still have never learned how to actually do
it so I just wave my hand around) and when I sat down after the
sacrament hymn she told me she was going to puke and that we needed to
go. So after they got done passing the sacrament we bailed and she
puked at the house. But now shes all better haha so now worries. It
was because she took a pain pill on an empty stomach. But thats about
as exciting as this week got for us.

However our investigator D. is continuing to progress, slowly but
surely. We taught her the word of wisdom this week and also the law of
chastity. She understood both very well and accepted them without
problem. The only problem with the word of wisdom is that the kunas
have a tradition of drinking chicha fuerte. I cant remember if Ive
already told you guys about this or not. But chicha fuerte means
strong juice and its juice that they put underground until it ferments
and then they drink it on special occasions, like when a girl gets her
period for the first time. Its a real problem for investigators and
even members here because its a tradition that theyve known all their
lives. So thats a challenge with D., but we are praying that she
will be able to understand it. But the cool thing was that after we
went back for our second lesson with her this week after we taught her
the first one which was the Word of wisdom, she told us that she told
her husband that she wouldnt be making him coffee anymore because it
was bad for him and also because she has to try it to know how much
sugar to add to it and she doesnt want to do that anymore. So thats
awesome. And then she said she made this crema, which is like a thick
cream drink, and her husband loved it so much that he told her if she
keeps making that he wont want to drink coffee either. Its awesome.
For our lesson with them this tuesday her husband finally said he
would join us too so we are so excited about that! They are the best.

Thats about it for this past week. Cant wait to skype on Sunday!! I
love and miss you all lots!!

Also one more thing. Has anyone sent any letters to me within the last
3 or 4 months? Because the mail changes hands a lot coming out to the
island and we got our mail last week and I got corsons package that he
sent, but no other mail so I wanted to make sure I wasnt missing
something.

I hope you all have a great week!

Herm. Anderson

Week #35 in Panama!

Hi!!

I hope everyone had a great week last week! Ours was a Little tough as far as the work is concerned. A ton of our citas fell pretty much every day this week which is always a bit of a downer. But on the brightside it allowed us the opportunity to do a lot of contacting and find a lot of new people to teach!

Okay now ill get to story time. So on Saturday night we were feeling kinda down because a lot of our citas were falling that day, so we stopped at a Little tienda to buy some bread. we ended up sitting down on the curb outside of the tienda window and the Little kuna ladies came and talked to us. they were so funny. kunas are seriously the best. i love them. so after a while they felt bad for us and also gave us mango haha so we were enjoying a Little bread and mango. then a guy from the family who we had our next cita with passed by and told as that the whole family was home for us to teach. then he said something in kuna to the ladies and desio, a member from our branch was passing by too and told us that that guy just told the ladies that someone in his family killed a tigre in the monte! tigre not really meaning tiger, but just some kind of big cat, and monte is the mountain where they all go to hunt their food. they have to ride in kayaks to get over there. so we got really excited and basically ran to their house to see. So we get there and the first thing we see are big cat paws and legs. then they showed us the face and tail. apparently the 21 year old kid who shot it was out their by himself and since it was so heavy he could only bring back the legs, head and tail and had to go back the next day for the body. they were all so excited, corson you wouldve loved it. they were all skinning it and cleaning it and the dad was sooo proud. i took a video of the kid telling the story of how he killed it corson so you can see it when you get home. it ended up being a puma. so they told us that they were using the bones and skin to sell for kuna medicine and throwing the meat out. so ive got to tell you that my comp has wanted to eat tigre meat the whole time shes been out here but hadnt yet so when she Heard they were just going to throw the meat out she asked if we could have it. they happily gave it to us. so we went to the tienda to get seasonings and then went home and cooked it up. then we ate it. hahaa we are true mountain women now. it was very tough meat haha which we expected and it made us gag a Little the first bite because we remembered that we were eating puma haha but it was lots of fun. then the next day after church our neighbors brought us shark. i really liked the shark. it tasted like chicken. the puma didnt really have a lot of flavor, but it smelled exactly like hamburger when it was cooking. so thats what we ate this weekend. Insane right? definitely something ill never forget haha. Im trying to send pics now! hopefully they load! I hope you all have a great week. I love and miss you all!

hna anderson