Discovering the Rat's Nest 17 May 2010

Downtown Panama City

Thanks for the package and everything, hopefully it doesn't take too long to get here.

So this Sunday was the census here in Panama and no one was allowed to leave the house so that the government could count the people, it was weird not to have church but I guess our mission Pres. decided it would be a good day to clean the house, so even it though was Sunday my comp and I decided to clean the things we haven't had time to get to. Aka the huge pile of wood old dresser and crap under the stairs. While pulling everything out of there I found an exciting surprise. A rats nest. My companion and I have succeeded killing 6 rats during this week with poison and traps but it seems we hadn't gotten to the heart of the problem. In one of the dresser drawers I found the nest full of baby rats, I counted 6 but I'm not really sure how many there were. They were actually kind of cute and helpless so I wanted to keep them and take care of them but my comp wouldn't have any of that. She decided that the only way to dispose of them completely would be to burn the whole dresser. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn't budge. So yesterday we had a bonfire. I still feel kind of bad but its nice to know I won't wake up to rat poop on my scriptures anymore.

Work wise things went well this week, I put a baptismal date with a guy we found a few weeks ago and I am really excited to see him change and grow. We watched the Joseph Smith movie with him the other day and the spirit was super super strong, it was pretty awesome. I'm about halfway done with all the papers and everything for the marriage of Naidu so she will be getting baptized soon as well. It really goes to show that there is always opposition in all things because I have been experiencing a lot of rejection lately but I am also seeing many miracles so its all worth it. It is amazing how much the Lord blesses me and how happy I can be even though all day long people are rude to me. It just goes to show that real happiness is only found in the gospel.

I am so grateful to be here and for all I've learned.
All my love,
Kara

Mother's Day Phone call re-cap from Mom 10 May 2010

Kara said that she lives in the ghetto area and that they have seen shootings and hears shots all the time. While we were talking, her companion let out a scream as they caught a rat. They have about 7-10 rats running around their house. Kara said she has gotten to where they don't bother her so much, but she is tired of their poop on everything. When she emailed the day after we talked, she informed me they had caught 2 more, so a total of 3. Her land lord had set traps for them to catch them and then he comes and gets them when they are trapped. Kara said she knows that the Lord is protecting her as there is so much danger around her, but they leave her alone other than the cat calling that she gets. She is still having stomach issues and took the strongest parasite pill they had to see if that was what she had going on. But she like Kyle, said "I am so grateful I am hear and I thank the Lord for the opportunity everyday". Oh Kara has a pet duck that roams her house with the rats. One of the members in the ward gave it to her for her birthday. He brings her food each week to feed it. She said since she doesn't have floor in her place other than cement or dirt, it can't really hurt anything. She got it when it was a tiny chick and the deal is that she will give it back to the member when she gets transferred.

This is the pet duckling

Visit to the Temple 26 April 2010

So I think my week was about like yours. I definitely saw opposition in all things this week. I got to go to the temple on Wednesday which was absolutely, completely amazing. I learned so much in just a few hours. I realized everything in this life is a process as reflected in the temple and that I'm not just all of a sudden going to be perfect enough to be in the Lords presence, I have to change little by little everyday till I reach the celestial room. While I was in the celestial room I truly felt the presence of the Lord. I can't wait to return to his presence, to the peace and joy we will have there. Thank you for always having taught me the truth so that I am temple worthy, so that I know and understand why I am here. I love you so much. I did a session and initiatories and my companion basically had to drag me out of there because I did not want to leave. I met a lady that is serving a mission in the temple with her husband who is Japanese but lived in Orem and taught at BYU with her husband for 50 years. She was so cute and reminded me a lot of Grandma.

In order to make the 8:00am session, we had to get up at 4:00am.

Grandma and Grandpa I miss you two a lot and I love you so much. I am so grateful to be a granddaughter of two such amazing people who truly have consecrated their lives to the Lord.
Also we had a baptism on Saturday which went really well. Once again it is amazing to see the change in peoples lives as they begin to turn to the Lord. The baptism was really nice and as Oliver said ( the guy who got baptized) it was full of the spirit.
Also yesterday I got the surprise of talking in church. 5 minutes before the meeting started the 1st counselor came up and told me that the person that was supposed to talk wasn't going to show up and that they wanted me to talk. I said okay, what would you like me to talk about and he said ummmmmmmmmmm prayer. So I prayed really hard but I felt really nervous because I was completely exhausted and my little brain felt all fried, I couldn't think of a single thing to say. But as I walked up to the front to give my talk I realized, Jesus was our example in everything and we are supposed to do what he did. So what exactly did he do? He followed the will of the father and prayer is how we figure out what exactly is the will of the father for us. From there I used the example of Enos and applied it to our lives and some how ended up filling the 15 minutes no problem. It was so amazing I truly felt the Lord fill my mouth with words. The things that I said I had never thought about before, I not only taught them but I taught myself as well. It was a talk I will never forget.
This week was super duper hard. It poured rain almost every single day, no one wanted to listen to us, we don't have anyone progressing and no one new to teach. I felt horrible because I basically didn't sleep all week and my stomach was really upset again. (I don't think I really have a stomach ulcer because my stomach still hurts from time to time, the medicine they gave me hasn't done anything, so I stopped taking it.) I felt really depressed and down hearted wondering why I am even here. But then I remember the amazing experiences I have had here. Focusing on the good things and having an eternal perspective all makes it worth it. So we keep pushing on.
Tell Darren I say that doubt and fear never come from the Lord.
Tell the kids hi and that I love them.
All my Love,
Hermy

P-Day at the Beach, but not in the water!! 19 April 2010

Hermana Golan, her companion from Nicaragua and Kara

So after almost nine months in Panama, I finally got to go to the beach today. We went with my whole zone and it was pretty fun. I enjoyed looking for shells while running away from the water.

First trip to the beach

This is the black sand from the beach. Also check out the tan lines on the feet!


Things this week were good, the same old same old. We had a baptism this weekend that went really well and it was kind of funny because as we were leaving the church some guys were shooting at one another, so the police showed up to take them all. It was kind of a crazy contrast, to go from a baptism full of the spirit back into the world again. I look forward to the day when we can stay in the environment with the spirit forever and don't have to return to the world.

So far I have had 8 baptisms which actually will be 9 this Saturday. Not counting the ones that I taught and got baptized after I got moved to another area. I am writing in my journal as much as I can because I think I have your disease of forgetfulness. I almost can't remember how to speak English anymore.

I really liked that talk you sent me about the way we think and the importance of our thoughts, you wouldn't believe how often I teach people that saying you always taught us, that our thoughts become our actions ect. I never realized how much you really taught me until I got here and started teaching other people. Thank you so much for always teaching me, even though at times it may have seemed that what you said went in one ear and out the other. I think most of it has stayed with me and helps me out a lot.

I am super excited that it is almost Mothers Day, I have church the same time as you guys so I think I'll just call you after wards. I can buy a calling card here again, I think in the end that was easier and cheaper.
Hey I haven't gotten any letters from home in a super long time, are you still sending them or have you stopped?
How are the kids doing?
Things are going well here, I'm not sure what to tell you about, I can't think of anything out of the ordinary.

OH, I'm going to the temple this Wednesday and I am super excited. President is rewarding me for all of my baptisms. Hopefully it'll give me a good jump start. I'm starting to feel like I'm falling into a routine...

My only complaint is that I really don't like my zone here, the other missionaries are all gossip mongers and even though they are missionaries they are always staring at me like a piece of meat. It gets kind of frustrating. But we have changes in 2 weeks so it should get changed up soon, hopefully.
Anyways I love you, you are amazing, thank you for all you do for me.
hermy

Be Good Examples April 12, 2010

Baptism of Joseph (left hand side)

MY birthday was good, basically felt like any other day but I got to listen to the prophet so that rocked.

This week was kind of hard, One of my investigators, a really cute old guy that is 80 yrs old, who was about to accept a baptism date now doesn't want to have anything to do with the church. We talked about him getting baptized the 1st of May and he said he wants to but wanted to see a baptism first, so I called the Zone Leaders and found out if someone would be having a baptism this weekend, luckily some Hermanas close by had a baptism planned for Saturday. So I told my investigator and got it all planned for us to go and he was super dooper excited. I called the Hermanas and they said the baptism would be at 5, but they didn't know the directions to their church so we planned to meet in front of a grocery store at 4:30. We got to the church at 4:40 and no one was there. NO ONE. They were still filling the font and there was no one. So we sat down to wait, and wait and wait and wait. Finally at 6:40 they started the baptism. And it was the most basura baptism I have ever seen, only one talk, Elders making fun, they messed up the baptism, no testimonies. Needless to say there was no spirit whatsoever. When it finally finished my investigator was really grumpy after waiting 4 hours for nothing. The next day when we passed by him to go to church, he said he couldn't come and wasn't sure when we could pass by to teach him again. I was pretty devastated but I remembered the parable of the sower with the different seeds in different soils, maybe he isn't good soil.

But needless to say, my message this week is that we always need to be good examples to everyone. We never know who is watching and the things we do will affect what they think of the church.

But in better news, I have a baptism this Saturday and another one the next Saturday, so the work is rolling on. I love my companion and I really like my area. Right now I'm in a branch of about 55 people, we meet in a small house. It's kind of fun, reminds me of living overseas. I am in Chorrera, it's about an hour from the capital and is a suburb, like always.

Love you all!!!!
hermy

Importance of Family April 6, 2010

I have some bad news for you, I decided I am going to stay my whole mission, this is more important than school so I will be here till February.

This week was good, it was so amazing to be able to listen to the Prophet and Apostles, I ate it all up. I don't have a lot of time today so I just want to spend what I have telling you all how much I love you all. I have come to realize in the mission the importance of my family and it truly can't be a "happily ever after" without you all. I know that the only way we can gain our "happily ever after" is in the prince of peace. Putting in practice the atonement in our lives. I know that my Savior lives, I know he loves us incredibly because he gave his life so that we can be with him again. I can not deny the evidence of his love and support in my life every moment. But it is up to us to decide whether or not we want our "happily ever after".

I am so grateful for the wonderful family I have been given, you are one of the greatest blessings I have received in this life. I am so grateful for all of the support and love I receive from each and every one of you. While listening to conference yesterday I felt very strongly the spirit testify to me that we are in the last days and that these calamities are just the beginning of the turbulence, that deaths will begin to occur more and reach us in our daily lives. We truly never know when our test in this life will be over. I beg each and everyone of you, turn to our Savior, live your life in such a manner that if your life was over tomorrow you would have no regrets and would be prepared. I don't want to get to heaven and not have all of you there with me. It is not easy but it is worth it.


I had a combined Birthday Party with the Branch Pres.. These are his daughters.

For the party we broke a pinata.

The Mermaid Pinata

All my love,
Hermy

Sweet Experience March 29, 2010

This week was amazing, I worked so I hard I literally crashed last night. I love my companion, her name is Hermana Galan. She is from Nicaragua. I love teaching with her as we really have the spirit together and I feel very unified in our work. We kind of a had a cool experience this week. We taught a family this week where the kids are members and the mom has been coming to church for years but hasn't been able to get baptized because the Dad won't get married with her - the biggest and most common challenge here in Panama. We watched a movie about Christ and I bore my testimony about his love for us and about the Savior and the spirit was incredible strong. Later that night, when we were planning my companion told me that as I was bearing my testimony she had a really sweet experience in which she felt that she knew me before this life, as she told me about it I felt the spirit confirm that it was true. It is amazing what we have accomplished in just one week together.

So this area has been quite a change. I am now a pro at bucket showers, we rarely have water so every time we use the bathroom, shower, wash, etc I have to bring in water from a little tank outside. I kind of feel like a pioneer. Also its definitely more dangerous here than my other areas but I know the Lord will protect me.

We are teaching a lot of people right now, and we have a baptism this Saturday. This is my companions third change and she hasn't had a baptism yet in the mission so she is really excited. We are going to do it in between conference session Saturday which should be pretty dang cool.

I am so excited for conference. I am counting down the days, I can't wait to hear what the prophet and every one will say.

I love what you said about love from Sunday. Really in the mission, I have learned that everything is about love. I have felt the love of the Lord for all of these people, and it amazes me how much he truly loves us. It is more than we can comprehend. But more difficult is to learn to love him back. This truly takes strength and action, keeping the commandments, etc.

Lucky this change my companion likes to exercise so we have been running in the mornings, I feel skinnier already. It is kind of funny because people here don't really exercise much, they don't know what to do, so I've been teaching my companion. We've been running sprints and stretching and all kinds of things. Now there is a lady that started talking to us and asked if she could run with us and a member too. I feel like a trainer or coach or something. The lady asked me if was an important athlete, it gave me a pretty good laugh. Gotta love all the crazy things that happen in the mission.

I can't believe I'm going to be 22 soon, it feels like I just left for the mission. I can't believe its almost been a year since I got my call and everything.
Everything is great with me, I love the members here, it is only a branch of 50 people so it has its challenges, but I love it here.

I love you all and I miss you a TON.
one more month and we can talk on the phone!!!
xoxoxox