As for me this week was interesting. I had to travel to Panama City for immigracions which wasn't much fun. We left at 3 am from here, arrived at 9 something, went straight to immigracion, waited there forever, ate really quick and got back on a bus for another 9 hour ride. We finally got home at about 9 and needless to say I hope by the time my card expires again I'm back closer to Panama City.
But despite my trip, my companion and I worked really hard this weekend and found 20 new people to teach. Hopefully a few of them will want to change their lives for the better. This week we had a lesson with a lady we have been teaching that has a baptismal date for the 13th of March. It was kind of cool because she is the mom of one of the members here and came up to us and basically said she wanted to get baptized because her grand daughter who is 4 asked her why she was going to the church of Satan, which got her to thinking and ended up with us. Yesterday we were teaching her a lesson and went over the baptismal interview questions to make sure she is ready. However, due to some past mistakes she has to interview with the stake president. As she talked about her past sin she said it was something she did to find a answer to her problem but after a few months the same problem came back. That really the answers of the world are not lasting and never really help us. It made me so grateful that I have known since a young age that the answers from God are so much better than those of the world and that I know where to find these answers. I am so grateful for the atonement, for the ability we have to change and grow and repent of our sins.
Anyways, I love you all and I am so grateful for your prayers, letters and support.
Always choose the right and, remember who you are.
Love, Hermy
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Craving the Spirit February 7, 2010
Kara and her companion, Hermana Castro from Honduras
>
> The food here is the same as Panama City, but I only eat with the members for lunch so I'm not getting fed as much. The members we live next to, rarely make us food but they often give us fruits or vegetables.
> My area that I live in is flat, completely flat. I have definitely walked more than a thousand miles and my shoes have huge holes in the bottom of them. I finally gave in and bought new shoes this past week because my feet were burning from the concrete. The nicest shoe store they have here is Payless, but you don't really pay less, but its the best quality they have here, so I bought 2 pairs of shoes. Less comfy than my old ones, but they'll do for the next 10000 miles. I don't need any clothes or anything here.
>
> I still haven't gotten your packages or pics, the mail is a lot slower in this area. I'm pretty sure it sits in the mission office a few weeks before they get around to sending it down here. But I'll get it at some point...
>
> Changes are today and I am getting a new companion. I'm still waiting for her to arrive from the 8 hr bus ride so I'm not sure who it will be... but I'm staying in the same area and things are great. Cecilia got baptized this past Saturday and the baptism despite a few obstacles was AWESOME. I am so blessed to be here helping people find the true happiness that we all crave.
> The biggest obstacle for me I think right now is the fact that I'm blond and mas o menos attractive, that is what the men tell me. I am trying to figure out if the men I'm teaching are really interested in the gospel or just interested in me. I refuse to baptize anyone that doesn't have a true testimony but figuring out if they have a testimony or not leaves me boggled. I am just going to have to rely on the Lord. I am so grateful for the gift of the spirit, half the time I don't even know I'm being guided but the things like the baptism of Cecilia happen. I know that I was being guided. It is interesting how as a missionary I crave the spirit and feel lost and muddled when I don't have it with me strongly. I hope this craving never leaves me.
> I love you all so much and my prayers are always with you.
>
> Les amo!
> Hermy
Sacrifice February 3, 2010
One of my favorite quotes by Joseph Smith is that without sacrifice we will never have the faith sufficient for eternal life.
Things were a little tough this week, but it ended up good. My investigator that threw out her coffee had her baptismal interview yesterday and is all set to go for this Saturday. She cant wait. We baptized a girl this Thursday who went directly after on a temple trip with the ward. It was so cool to see all of my converts here drive all night 8 hours in a bus to go to the temple. LOVE IT.
Right now we are teaching a guy who had a car accident 8 years ago and now his legs don't work. A lot has changed since then, his wife left him, he could do his job and was left all alone. Now he is a taxi driver - he uses a stick to drive. He is super awesome, I know he can be healed through the atonement and I am enjoying helping him. He has a baptismal date for the 20th and can't wait.
Changes are this next Monday, I'm not sure what will happen, I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here, but you never know.
Love you all,
LES AMO!!
Things were a little tough this week, but it ended up good. My investigator that threw out her coffee had her baptismal interview yesterday and is all set to go for this Saturday. She cant wait. We baptized a girl this Thursday who went directly after on a temple trip with the ward. It was so cool to see all of my converts here drive all night 8 hours in a bus to go to the temple. LOVE IT.
Right now we are teaching a guy who had a car accident 8 years ago and now his legs don't work. A lot has changed since then, his wife left him, he could do his job and was left all alone. Now he is a taxi driver - he uses a stick to drive. He is super awesome, I know he can be healed through the atonement and I am enjoying helping him. He has a baptismal date for the 20th and can't wait.
Changes are this next Monday, I'm not sure what will happen, I'm pretty sure I'll be staying here, but you never know.
Love you all,
LES AMO!!
Obedience,washing our sins down the sink! January 25. 2010
Hey mom!!!
This week was an interesting week. One of the 70's came and taught all day in our Zone Conference this week which was AMAZING. I learned so much and felt so uplifted. It was like being in the MTC all over again.
Thursday, the day after I worked the hardest and most intense than I have since I got here, I was so fired up from the conference. I contacted 60 people, taught 9 lessons and it was amazing. I love being a missionary and being guided by the spirit.
Also this week I had an awesome experience with my investigator that is preparing to get baptized. We taught her the word of wisdom last week and she told us she drinks coffee everyday all morning long, so we challenged her to stop drinking so she could get baptized. This week when we got there, I asked her how she was doing with dropping her coffee addiction and she said she was still drinking her coffee and that she didn't want to stop drinking and was asking what would happen with her baptism if she decided not to change. I began to share with her an experience where I knew the right thing I had to do but chose to follow my own will and do what I wanted and how I suffered until I chose to follow the Lords will and then taught her about obedience. At the end of the lesson she was unusually quiet and I was kind of worried, so I asked how she felt, what she was thinking and she got up and walked into the kitchen and said come here. So I followed her into the kitchen and she proceeded to dump her coffee, all the coffee grinds everything into the sink and washed it all down and then threw her coffee pot in the garbage and said, I want to follow Gods will. No one in this house will drink coffee ever again. Its been 3 days and she hasn't had any coffee. It was such an example to me, she immediately cast away her sins without even looking back. It definitely humbled me. How many times do we hold on to old sins because we don't want to change. I challenge all of you to think about your own lives, is there anything you need to wash down the sink?
I am teaching a lot or people right now who are incredible examples. The Lord is truly blessing me in finding the people prepared here.
I miss you all and love you but I may never come home.
Cuidanse mucho
hasta la proxima semana, todo de mi amor
Hermana Bloomfield
This week was an interesting week. One of the 70's came and taught all day in our Zone Conference this week which was AMAZING. I learned so much and felt so uplifted. It was like being in the MTC all over again.
Thursday, the day after I worked the hardest and most intense than I have since I got here, I was so fired up from the conference. I contacted 60 people, taught 9 lessons and it was amazing. I love being a missionary and being guided by the spirit.
Also this week I had an awesome experience with my investigator that is preparing to get baptized. We taught her the word of wisdom last week and she told us she drinks coffee everyday all morning long, so we challenged her to stop drinking so she could get baptized. This week when we got there, I asked her how she was doing with dropping her coffee addiction and she said she was still drinking her coffee and that she didn't want to stop drinking and was asking what would happen with her baptism if she decided not to change. I began to share with her an experience where I knew the right thing I had to do but chose to follow my own will and do what I wanted and how I suffered until I chose to follow the Lords will and then taught her about obedience. At the end of the lesson she was unusually quiet and I was kind of worried, so I asked how she felt, what she was thinking and she got up and walked into the kitchen and said come here. So I followed her into the kitchen and she proceeded to dump her coffee, all the coffee grinds everything into the sink and washed it all down and then threw her coffee pot in the garbage and said, I want to follow Gods will. No one in this house will drink coffee ever again. Its been 3 days and she hasn't had any coffee. It was such an example to me, she immediately cast away her sins without even looking back. It definitely humbled me. How many times do we hold on to old sins because we don't want to change. I challenge all of you to think about your own lives, is there anything you need to wash down the sink?
I am teaching a lot or people right now who are incredible examples. The Lord is truly blessing me in finding the people prepared here.
I miss you all and love you but I may never come home.
Cuidanse mucho
hasta la proxima semana, todo de mi amor
Hermana Bloomfield
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Learning from my Companion January 18, 2010
Okay so this week I experienced a heat like I have never felt before in all my life. I honestly thought I was going to melt away one day this week and the good news is that this is just the beginning of the summer. yipee!!!!!
But work wise things are great. I love my companion, I am definitely learning more patient with her as I often feel like I am working with a grandma, but she has such a pure heart. It's hard to get really frustrated with her. She is 25 and has quite the story. Her mom died when she was 4, so her dad took all the kids and gave them out to random families. The lady that raised her would beat her and was horrible to her, she had no friends. It is amazing to hear what a difference the mission has made in her life and it definitely humbles me everyday. For example the other day we passed by a little boat, nothing exciting and she kept pointing it out and talking about it and I was just kind of like yeah, a boat great, and I said, cool and then she began to explain that she had never seen a boat before and how much she wanted to ride in one and I felt horrible. Needless to say I am learning a ton from her.
The work is going well, teaching and working hard. It amazes me how many in actives there are here. It makes me so sad how easily people give up the gospel here. I can't imagine how my life would be with out it.
I love you all and miss you. !!!
But work wise things are great. I love my companion, I am definitely learning more patient with her as I often feel like I am working with a grandma, but she has such a pure heart. It's hard to get really frustrated with her. She is 25 and has quite the story. Her mom died when she was 4, so her dad took all the kids and gave them out to random families. The lady that raised her would beat her and was horrible to her, she had no friends. It is amazing to hear what a difference the mission has made in her life and it definitely humbles me everyday. For example the other day we passed by a little boat, nothing exciting and she kept pointing it out and talking about it and I was just kind of like yeah, a boat great, and I said, cool and then she began to explain that she had never seen a boat before and how much she wanted to ride in one and I felt horrible. Needless to say I am learning a ton from her.
The work is going well, teaching and working hard. It amazes me how many in actives there are here. It makes me so sad how easily people give up the gospel here. I can't imagine how my life would be with out it.
I love you all and miss you. !!!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Becoming Humble January 11, 2009
Things were the same old, same old this week. I am getting into the routine of working here. A member of the ward took us in his car to show us all of our area this week and it took an hour just to see everything. My area is HUGE. I don't know how I am every going to get to all of these people. I definitely have a lot of work to do.
This week I found a lady and put a baptismal date the second lesson, she came to church on Sunday and is really excited. Looks like we will be having another baptism soon.
The Lord has definitely shown me more of my weaknesses this week. It seems like every time I start to get comfortable the Lord just helps me humble again. I have so much to do, but I am so grateful for the Lords constant reminders. I know that he loves me and that he is truly shaping me into a better person daily. I can't even imagine how different my life would be without this experiences and the people I have met here. I am so grateful that the Lord knows best and that he guides us when we are humble.
This week I found a lady and put a baptismal date the second lesson, she came to church on Sunday and is really excited. Looks like we will be having another baptism soon.
The Lord has definitely shown me more of my weaknesses this week. It seems like every time I start to get comfortable the Lord just helps me humble again. I have so much to do, but I am so grateful for the Lords constant reminders. I know that he loves me and that he is truly shaping me into a better person daily. I can't even imagine how different my life would be without this experiences and the people I have met here. I am so grateful that the Lord knows best and that he guides us when we are humble.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Transfer December 29, 2009
December 29, 2009
Hey!!
So I got changed in cambios (transfers) yesterday. I am now in David, it was an 8 hour bus ride from Panama City that wasn't so great. It was cool to see all of Panama out the window when it was light, but most of our ride was in the dark. I did however see the canal. I don't know much about this area except it is HUGe and my new companion is from Peru and is half my height. Literally, Olivia is probably bigger than her. But she is super sweet and I really like her already.
January 4, 2010
Hey!!!
Things here are great, I had a baptism on Saturday, we put the date of the baptism and baptized the kid all in the same week. His name is Ricardo, he is 14 and his mom and sister recently joined. When we asked him to be baptized in two weeks he said he wanted to be baptized this weekend, so we taught him everyday this week and dunked him on Saturday. It was awesome to see his whole family united in the church.
David is in the province Chiriqui and is close to Costa Rica. The sun here is INCREDIBLEY strong, my tan lines get worse and worse everyday. But most days there is a nice breeze that makes it almost bearable.
I really love it here, it has kind of a in a grandmas neighborhood feeling and the members are awesome. In the mold area that I just came from, none of the members were willing to help and the bishop was a joke. Here the bishop and his wife are awesome.
My companion is from Peru and definitely comes from a very different background, but she is a very hard worker which I am loving. We are hechando fuego aqui (making fire).
For the New Year many people here make a big scarecrow looking thing and burn it along with lots of fire works, so my companion and I made one as well and burnt it a midnight, it represents the leaving of the old year and entering the new.. Anyways we burned it at 12 and then hit the sack. I sent you guys a letter with pictures today.
This is Kara and her new companion Hermana Calderen from Peru and the scarecrow they made for New Years Eve to burn and send away all the old and welcome the new.
The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow burning.
This is a Hermano from the ward who helped them burn their Muneca (scarecrow). He is 83 years old and still Kicken (as Kara says). He told Kara he is looking for a wife. He works in the Temple but hasn't been sealed to anyone as his wife wasn't a member and passed away, so he will continue to search!!!
I am living on the side of some of the members here, so they invited us over for dinner for new years which was nice. I have to say I LOVE the tamales here, they are nothing like those nasty frozen things we used to eat...
.
Hey!!
So I got changed in cambios (transfers) yesterday. I am now in David, it was an 8 hour bus ride from Panama City that wasn't so great. It was cool to see all of Panama out the window when it was light, but most of our ride was in the dark. I did however see the canal. I don't know much about this area except it is HUGe and my new companion is from Peru and is half my height. Literally, Olivia is probably bigger than her. But she is super sweet and I really like her already.
January 4, 2010
Hey!!!
Things here are great, I had a baptism on Saturday, we put the date of the baptism and baptized the kid all in the same week. His name is Ricardo, he is 14 and his mom and sister recently joined. When we asked him to be baptized in two weeks he said he wanted to be baptized this weekend, so we taught him everyday this week and dunked him on Saturday. It was awesome to see his whole family united in the church.
David is in the province Chiriqui and is close to Costa Rica. The sun here is INCREDIBLEY strong, my tan lines get worse and worse everyday. But most days there is a nice breeze that makes it almost bearable.
I really love it here, it has kind of a in a grandmas neighborhood feeling and the members are awesome. In the mold area that I just came from, none of the members were willing to help and the bishop was a joke. Here the bishop and his wife are awesome.
My companion is from Peru and definitely comes from a very different background, but she is a very hard worker which I am loving. We are hechando fuego aqui (making fire).
For the New Year many people here make a big scarecrow looking thing and burn it along with lots of fire works, so my companion and I made one as well and burnt it a midnight, it represents the leaving of the old year and entering the new.. Anyways we burned it at 12 and then hit the sack. I sent you guys a letter with pictures today.
This is Kara and her new companion Hermana Calderen from Peru and the scarecrow they made for New Years Eve to burn and send away all the old and welcome the new.
The Scarecrow
The Scarecrow burning.
This is a Hermano from the ward who helped them burn their Muneca (scarecrow). He is 83 years old and still Kicken (as Kara says). He told Kara he is looking for a wife. He works in the Temple but hasn't been sealed to anyone as his wife wasn't a member and passed away, so he will continue to search!!!
I am living on the side of some of the members here, so they invited us over for dinner for new years which was nice. I have to say I LOVE the tamales here, they are nothing like those nasty frozen things we used to eat...
.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
+small.jpg)
