Week 4 in Panama

I`m so glad that your headache is gone now! That sounds like it was really scary. I don`t  remember if I answered the question that you asked about what is okay to tell me. Please keep telling me things! Like about Dad`s possible job termination, how Grandpa is doing, or anything else like that. I haven`t been having any problems dealing with things and I would hate to find out later. I want to know. Of course if it's something realllllly awful you should probably talk to the President so I can find out on the phone. 

Speaking about talking on the phone, on Mother's Day we`ll be able to Skype!!! The only problem is I don`t remember my Skype name and email so I`ll have to use a new account. Soooo I`ll need your Skype information so I can add you as a friend and be able to Skype with you! I`m really excited for that :D I copied that quote that you sent me in my notebook. I've learned to always have a pencil and paper ready when I check my email. You always have something inspiring to say! 

I copied down: 

"Elder D. Todd Christofferson explained what he learned from a personal trial: 'Though I suffered then, as I look back now, I am grateful that there was not a quick solution to my problem. The fact that I was forced to turn to God for help almost daily over an extended period of years taught me truly how to pray and get answers to prayer and taught me in a very practical way to have faith in God. I came to know my Savior and my Heavenly Father in a way and to a degree that might not have happened otherwise or that might have taken me much longer to achieve. … I learned to trust in the Lord with all my heart. I learned to walk with Him day by day.'" [From Elder Neil L. Andersen's October 2012 General Conference talk, "Trial of Your Faith."]

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"I also think that sometimes trials prepare us to receive or help us to recognize some of the greatest blessings of life. They humble us, give us empathy, teach us things about ourselves, allow others to serve us, allow us to serve others, and give us blessings or opportunities we might not have had otherwise. Having an eternal perspective makes trials more bearable. Trials can be seen as blessings."

and then I thought it was funny that you said, "Having said all this, I hope you are not experiencing heavy trials right now.¨

Soooo I haven`t been experiencing any terrible awful trials buttttt story time!! So we've been trying to contact a lot...like a lot a lot and the other day we talked to this man on the bus. Well Hermana Molina talked to him more than I did. She was sitting closer to him and so it was much much easier for them to communicate. Still, he couldn't hear very well, or really at all,and so she wrote down the church`s address and what time church would be on a pamphlet and then gave it to him. 

So he showed up to church yesterday!! The only problem is he can`t really hear, like hardly at all. So he couldn't hear the entire church service. So we set up an appointment with him to meet with him later that day. Hermana Molina got a very vague address...he said that he lived by a certain store and told us his house was green, pink, and yellow. So we knew where the store was and started walking around there. Miraculously we walked past his house and he`d been waiting for us and he came out and called us over to him.

So we tried to have a lesson with him...I say tried because he really couldn't hear us and he talks so quiet and even Hermana Molina couldn't understand him and she speaks Spanish! We tried writing on a notebook so that he could read what we were trying to say buttt he can`t read very well either. 

So our trial is we have been given this man from God, he came to church and we were miraculously able to get to his house, but we have no idea how we can teach him because he can`t hear us, he can`t read very well, and we can`t understand him when he talks.... I think that we really have to be able to trust in the Lord on this one. 

So another story. Yesterday night it was really dark. There`s this road that we have to take to get to our house. Part of the road is really obscure, dark, and potentially dangerous. So we've walked back to the house on that road before. But last night we felt realllly nervous about walking there. We decided that we wouldn't walk but we had no idea how we would get home because taxi`s don`t usually pass by on that road at night and we don`t really have money left (we get more money at the beginning of each month). But we decided that we were going to follow the Spirit. Just then a taxi, which we called the taxi sent from heaven, came by. As we drove past the dark area there was a man there. When we got to our road the taxi driver told us it was no charge and we were able to walk the rest of the way to our house. I`m so glad that we listened to the Spirit instead of finding out why we were told not to walk on that road. 

So last Monday after I had emailed you guys I had a little incident with a pizza. We cooked pizza at the church for Pday and I was trying to hold one of the pizzas up for a picture. So it slipped out and the sauce got all over my legs. It was hot out of the oven. I was burnt pretty bad. All I thought was "water!" and I ran to the bathroom. The other hermanas ran in after me. My companion started putting water on my legs but the water was warm (there isn't any hot or cold water just lukewarm) so they got some water from the drinking fountain in a little cup and used that to help me. So this week I had a huge blister on one of my knees and a little one on my foot and I have red splotches on my legs. Thankfully it hasn't been painful since the first day. I took a picture of the nasty blister...which I later popped so that I would be able to sleep on my stomach. 

So I have five minutes left and four emails. haha.

Love you!!!

Hermana Koehler

Week 3 in Panama

Hermana Hannah and her companion in Chitre. 






And the "awkward family photo" with her "dad" and district leader Elder Slater who is from her aunt and uncle's ward in Maryland.

That`s crazy that Sister Young and Elder Perez haven`t been able to get their visas yet! I bet that is really frustrating. At the same time it`s really good that they`ll have the time to be able to teach in English! I think that if I could teach in English I`d be a much better missionary. Actually I have had some opportunities because of my English. One of the taxi drivers that we encountered this week spoke English! I was able to talk to him in English and set up an appointment and everything in English! My companion was so proud of me afterwards. She said that I didn't forget to do anything. We haven`t had the chance to visit him yet but I`m looking forward to that. I've had many other opportunities to talk with people because I speak English. There`s a lot of people that want help with their English. We`re going to try to teach English every week or every other week. We`re also going to have music classes!

I`m learning how to teach! My companion is a great example of how to teach. The other day she taught a family about praying about specific things by using an object lesson. She asked one of the daughters, "Hand me that," and the daughter said, "This?" and she said, "No, hand me that!"...this continued for a while. Then she talked about how this is like our prayers. That we need to pray for specific things in order to get the answer that we want. We then invited them to pray to know if the Church is true, and to pray specifically using the name of the Church. Really cool.

That`s great that the missionaries have been encouraging you to talk to people! We NEED to work with members here in order to have success. We've decided that we`re going to work through the members...our goal is to only work using referrals. 

I love the idea of dividing hard things into smaller pieces! I think that I can apply that to so many things here. I think it`s important to take things one step at a time. Same goes for my investigators! Everyone should start with what they have and build on it. That reminds me of President Uchtdorf`s talk in conference! I can`t wait to be able to read the Conference Ensign!

I`m glad that Grandpa continues to get better. It is frustrating how long our bodies take to heal. I`m sure that Grandma and Grandpa are enduring this well. Everyone has hard days but I think that they`re good patient people. 

I still have four emails to read and I don`t know if I`ll be able to get through all of them! haha. 

Lots of love, 

Hermana Koehler 

Before her mission, she was looking forward to experiencing the fruit. Looks like mango. 

Two Weeks in Panama

Hermana Hannah with her Guatemala MTC companion and her district.

[By way of explanation: Hannah's aunt and uncle live in Aberdeen, Maryland. A family in their ward has a son serving in Panama. They told their son to say hi to Hermana Hannah from her aunt and uncle if he happened to see her. It turns out he's her district leader.]

Haha yeah so Elder Slater told me that he knew my uncle and I kind of looked at him all confused and then he explained. It really is a small world! So here they call your first district leader your "Dad." It`s super funny. We took an awkward family photo. I left my backpack at the church because I didn't want to carry it but I don`t think there`s any way that I could upload the photo anyways but you`ll be able to see it eventually. Maybe when I work in a big city there will be a place where I can use a computer that can upload things. So yeah, small world. 

That`s awesome about Owen winning a bike!! I really wish that we had bikes here. It`s not hilly at all and it takes so long to walk anywhere. We`re actually taking a lot of buses because its impossible to get to our area otherwise. Right now we live in our area but we`re changing that next week. The place that we`re staying is wonderful but it`s not a good missionary house. My experience with moving and being involved in the decision making process really helped because my companion and I had to decide where we would be living. We`re not moving for another week. It was a hard decision to make but it really feels like the right thing. I think everything will work out. The new house will be closer to the bus stations, the church, and the other missionaries. I think it will make missionary work easier. It`s been strange here because we haven`t really been teaching, we've more been preparing the area so that other missionaries can teach. I guess that`s what opening an area is all about. 

I know that everything will work out with Dad's work. We've always been able to get through hard things in the past so I think everything will be okay.
[Explanation time again: They are having layoffs at Hermana Hannah's dad's work this week. We are hoping he will keep his job. Was that a bad thing to e-mail her? Probably. :( But I did tell her we know Heavenly Father helped him get that job and if he loses it, Heavenly Father will help him get another one.]

So after I told my companion about Grandpa last week she was really concerned and said that my family can`t tell me things like that through email. Apparently if anything bad happens like a family member dies or is in the hospital you guys need to contact the mission president. That way I don`t find out through email and I can stay updated. I guess there`s been bad experiences in the past where missionaries found things out through email and had a really hard time. I`m glad that he`s doing better. It seems like the worst is over.

Thank you thank you thank you for deciding to include what you said about discouragement. I wrote down what you said. I really have felt like I haven`t been progressing with Spanish and with this area. What I've come to realize is that I really am in this area to prepare it for other missionaries. I don´t think that my numbers will be a measure of the success here. What you said also applies to my Spanish. It seems like I`m not progressing. When I think about it though there are some important words that I hear so much that I remember them...like "Parada" which is stop. We have to say that in order for the bus to stop. We say that word sooo many times a day. We've been trying to not only get to know the area but see how long it takes to get from one place to another. 

A mission is a lot of work and it`s hard but not in the way that I expected. My companion and I have a lot of fun and she`s like my best friend here. The hard part is when I get frustrated. I get frustrated when I feel like I`m not progressing, when I feel like we`re not really teaching, and when I can`t communicate because of my Spanish. It`s also been hard because Hermana Molina and I keep getting sick. We joke that Thursday is sick day because the past two Thursdays we've been so sick. It`s been stomach problems, I haven`t thrown up but we had a lot of pain. Last Thursday was really sad. We were in so much pain just feeling like we were going to throw up and the President of the Branch had invited us over for dinner. They had talked to us before about what food we liked and we know that they´d gone through a lot of effort to make something that we would like. Sooo we went over to their house to eat even though we were sick. They gave us soo much food and we had to eat all of it because we didn't want them to feel like we didn't like their food. There was potatoes, and cheese, and chicken, and rice, and platinos (fried bananas that they put sugar on...I think...they`re really sweet not really sure how they make them). So afterwards I felt so sick but I was trying really hard to look like everything was okay. I saw the Hermana go to the freezer and I got scared so I asked if I could use there bathroom. I just sat in there in pain for a while waiting to feel better and hoping that I could avoid whatever it was they took out of the freezer. Unfortunately I wasn't so lucky. When I got back a full bowl of ice cream was in my place. So I had to eat all of that too. After dinner the President took us to see the potentially new apartment. Hermana Molina and I kept giving each other faces when he wasn't looking at us. We didn't get to see the apartment because the road was blocked off. Later we went to the church because it was Noche de Groupo which they have every week. We asked the Elders to give us as blessing. We were laughing and feeling sick and it was great...I hope that Thursday really isn't sick day. I´m not sure how well written that story is cause I was trying to write it fast. 

But yeah so things here have been crazy and funny and confusing and frustrating and I haven`t really been able to write in my Journal every night because I`m so tired by the end of the day. I guess that`s what being a missionary is all about! 

Really it`s been a cool experience and it`s only been two weeks!

Lots of love,

Hermana Koehler

First Letter From Panama

This computer doesn't have an automatic timer so I´m not sure how much time I have to write. First I want to say I am SO relieved to see that Grandpa Babcock is doing better! What a miracle. It was terrifying to read that he was in a deep coma. What a blessing that he´s healing so well! I didn't want to take the time to read all of the letter since it´s coming to me in a Dear Elder but from what I read it looks like there´s been some opportunities to teach because of this experience.

My first day in my first area I was sick. I had a fever, two degrees higher than my normal, I was dizzy, and I was having stomach issues. We don´t have a telephone in our little house yet so we needed to find a phone so we could cancel our plans and contact the nurse. The nurse didn't answer but because we needed to use someone´s phone we got to talk to them and maybe something will come of that. We don´t always understand what the Lord has planned for us! Good things can come from what seems to be a tough situation. 

Another experience I had with this is when we were stuck in the Guatemala airport for 12 hours. Our flight was majorly delayed because the plane had a mechanical problem. I woke up at 1 in the morning because we had to leave the CCM at 3. We got to the airport about 4:00 AM. When we finally left the airport in the plane to Panama it was 4:30 PM. This was a tough situation but because of it we were able to talk to many people about the gospel! One of the members of our ward in Utah gave me some cards that have the Articles of Faith on one side and a number and FREE book! on the other. One of the people I talked to couldn't speak Spanish so we couldn't give her a Libro de Mormon so instead I gave her one of those cards! I was so grateful to have those! And I´m wondering how I can get more but I don´t remember who gave them to me and I have no idea who´s on the other end of the number on the card??

So we arrived in Panama pretty late, had dinner with the President and everyone, and then had a little devotional. I didn't really understand what was said in the devotional...there was a fan that was loud, I was tired, and the President was speaking in Spanish...didn't really work out too well for my mind.

It was dark when we arrived but one of the first things I noticed was the palm trees! I was so happy to see those! For some reason I had come to believe that the only trees in Panama were like trees in a jungle. How I love palm trees! It was so cool to see Panama City at night. It´s such a big city and there were lots of beautiful lights. I was surprised to see that there was water right by the city. I didn't get a chance to see the canal but what I saw was really amazing and beautiful. 

I found out who my trainer is in a church building right by the Panama Temple. There was a meeting only for the new people about finances, health, and other important things which I didn't understand because it was all in Spanish and people spoke fast or too quiet. Then the newbies were sent out of the room. When we went back about twenty minutes later the chapel was full of missionaries all standing up and singing "Called to Serve" in Spanish. It was really really cool to see that and to walk down the isle with missionaries standing and singing that song on either side of us newbies. A long meeting proceeded, followed by the announcements of who our trainers would be. When they called my name and the name of my "mom'" (trainer) nobody stood up to meet me. Later I found out that my trainer had no idea that she would be training! When she finally went up to hug me the president of this mission said "Merry Christmas" in Spanish. 

So later in a video that showed everyone's changes I found out that my trainer and I would be opening a new area. Why they sent a new norte that can speak Spanish but not really that well and can hardly understand anything into a new area I have no idea! 

So on the way to this area we talked to a man on the bus and because we talked to him he was more positive about the church and when his friend invited him to church he was extremely excited about it. That´s a short short way to tell that story but I´m starting to worry about time cause I have no idea how much I have left. 

So my trainer´s name is Hermana Molina and she´s from Ecuador. She speaks and understands English almost perfectly. This has been a blessing and a curse. It´s a blessing because she can help me understand exactly what´s going on, and it´s a curse because we have been having a hard time remembering to speak Spanish. We've set a new goal to only speak Spanish until we get back to the house at night. I have to say, Spanish was much easier in the CCM when people spoke slowly and loudly. Here people speak quietly and fast, they hardly even move their lips when they talk. 

The area that I´m in is Chitre. Apparently it´s one of the hottest parts of Panama. I haven´t gotten sunburned at all, which is really amazing because they confiscated my sunscreen at the Guatemala airport. Why I thought it would be a good idea to have a huge thing of sunscreen in my carry on I have no idea. 

Today was my first PDay. We (my zone) went to this river. It was beautiful. We took photos, talked, ate food, and just had a good time. 

I´m really excited to be here. 

This is really an interesting way to start my mission, opening a new area. The people here are absolutely amazing. So friendly and just wanting to help us in any way they can. 

Kind of a funny but embarrassing story..well I already have plenty of those, but the one that tops all so far...so a member was driving us home from the church on Sunday because we had just been given our area book, Books of Mormon, and a whole bunch of pamphlets...so he was talking really fast and I've learned to say "si" when I am asked a yes or no question or just a question in general. So he asked us a question really fast and I had no idea what he said but turns out "si" was the wrong answer. He stopped the car and got out and my companion started laughing really hard. I asked her what was going on and she said that he had asked if we wanted some hot dogs. So because I said yes he stopped to get us some hot dogs. My first week and I made someone break the Sabbath...when we go over to their house for dinner we have to explain what happened and talk about keeping the Sabbath day holy...not really sure how that´s going to go...

Alright so one thing that I need to mention is that I will only get letters once every two weeks and they won´t come this week so they´re coming next week. Also, since today was so busy and crazy I did not get a chance to write any letters so you won't be getting anything from me for a while so don´t be too anxious to hear from me. 

It´s really frustrating to not know what´s going on with everyone. 

Mom maybe you could forward me letters from others? I have an hour now that I´m in the field so I´ll have a little more time to read and respond to emails. As long as people keep them short I should be okay. 

I have five minutes left. 

Oh one other thing, you can email me photos!! Please do!!

I love all of you!! I hope I get your letters soon!! 

Love always, 

Hermana Hannah

[From Mom: Here is a map of Panama that shows the location of Chitre, pretty much in the middle of the map toward the bottom. From http://saints.sqpn.com/ncd06264.htm.]

Hermana Hannah's District in the Guatemala CCM (MTC)

Worth Many Words

I just received an e-mail from Sister Ward (wife of Hannah's mission president) with a LINK to the Panama Mission Blog. It's a picture blog for parents and friends. 

On the blog are these three pictures of Hermana Hannah.
If you go to the blog, you can click on the pictures and they will get bigger.
For some reason, they won't all do that on this blog.
We are thankful to see she made it safely to Panama. 

Waiting to Hear of Safe Arrival

Hermana Hannah left the Guatemala MTC either Tuesday or yesterday. We are eagerly awaiting news of her safe arrival in Panama. Yesterday, both her dad and I received brief messages from her mission president  (President and Sister Ward) just to test our e-mail addresses. It's difficult to wait for news, but they say sometimes "no news is good news."