Two Posts Today (Second One is All Pictures)

Maybe this week I`ll try to do a little update on each of the days of the week....we`ll see how this goes. 

Monday: We cleaned our house, which really wasn't that big of a deal because we keep our house pretty clean. One of the Hermanas does our laundry which is an absolute BLESSING. I`m very grateful for her. We just have to pay for the laundry soap. We planned to go to "zona libre" with the other Hermanas from Puerto Pilon but plans changed at the last minute and we ended up going to El Costo which is a store that sells things for SUPER cheap. Before we went there we went to Pizza Hut...we had to wait an hour for our food but it was super good. Hermana Wilson and I split a Caesar Salad and we got a family-size supreme pizza to share between the four of us. In El Costo, I bought a bag for 6 dollars. There's a new rule in the mission...which I`m not sure if I told you or not or if you know...where we can`t use backpacks. President Carmack approved my backpack type bag that has one strap but its nottt very good for my back. So I got a bag to balance it out :D I`m putting my hymn book, agenda, and our cellphone in the colorful bag that I bought. I`ll include a picture that I took of the bags that I use. At night we went to visit our "Parents." The first day that I met them the father said that he wants us to call him and his wife our parents because the missionaries changed their lives and now the missionaries are like their family. So we visited them in the evening.

Tuesday: We had our District Meeting in the morning. Afterwards we had lunch with the hermana that does our laundry. We took our laundry to the house and then went to visit our Mom. She hasn`t been coming to church and we wanted to share a message with her. Then we had some other appointments, including a family that I adoreeee but they haven`t come to church yet :( THIS WAS MY CUMPLEMES DAY!!! I have now officially been here for 6 months. 

Wednesday: We had interviews with President Carmack!! It was soooo great to get to know him more. I recieved a lot of advice from a lot of different people: My zone leader, my district leader, and the president all gave inspired advice to me. It was a learn-filled day and I was super tired afterwards. One of the things that I was taught is that regretting doesn't help anything. Just keep moving forward! 

Thursday: We had our normal studies in the morning and then we had lots of appointments. We also did some contacting...aka tracting...I think that's what its called in English...haha. We had a family home evening in the evening. MIRACLES members that gave us rides soooo wonderful...I miss cars. So we haven`t had running water in our bathroom all week  long. Thursday morning our little bucket of water was pretty much empty soooo I used a little plastic container full of water and a hand towel to bathe myself....gross I know but we do what we must....also this day I killed a black bee thing with Raid...I`m thankful for Raid. In my studies I read Alma 25:17 and Mosiah 23:10, and Alma 17:9 anddd a bunch more but I really like those scriptures a lot. Also this day I learned that the big lizards that we see all the time bite and are ugly. Also I learned that I've eaten cow intestine and pig tail...sometimes it's better to not know. 

Friday: We had weekly planning!! And a lot of appointments and then at night I taught piano from five to six, then English from six to seven, and then we had our usual group night from seven to eight. Only two members showed up but it was great all the same. My English class was kind of funny. I was trying to teach pronunciation but I had to write things on the board, and then erase, and then write again. So while I was writing I had everyone practice the alphabet, and then the other Hermana from the US explained the definitions of the words I was writing on the board, and then I helped everyone with the pronunciation...and then we repeated the process all over again. The night was a little bit dramatic because I woke up in the middle of the night freaked out of my mind with this horrible worried feeling. Well my companion wasn't in her bed!!! But I found her in the living room and all is well. I learned that I talk in my sleep...in Spanish haha.

Saturday: In the morning we went to the church to fill the baptismal font. There was a primary activity going on and we helped them with preparing and serving the food to the kids. This morning I opened the fridge in our house and there was a lizard inside!! I freaked out...but Hermana Chavez was freaking out even more so I had to take care of it. How did I take care of it?? I used a paper plate to scare it out of the fridge...I wasn't about to kill a lizard!!! They`re gross but they`re kind of cute but they`re poisonous but they`re harmless...conflicting feelings. Also ants ate through my ziplock bag to get to my oatmeal...so my oatmeal had ants inside it everywhere...so I threw that away and bought cereal. We had a night of baptisms!! It was super organized and wonderful and spiritual. Two of the kids of a family we`re teaching got baptized. The mom really wants to get baptized too but her husband doesn't want to get married. So we`re hoping the kids will be an example and a light to their family. It was a very special night. There were six baptisms in total.  

Sunday: We had church in the morning like always. I was very happy to see that some less active members showed up. The kids that got baptized the day before showed up late but they showed up and were able to be confirmed. It was really special. I love how you can see a difference in people after they receive the Holy Ghost. The youngest is going to turn 12 next Sunday and he`ll be able to receive the priesthood! His sister is 14. 

So that's a summary of my week. 

Oh there was also a dramatic incident on Sunday morning when I found little poops in my dresser and I have no idea what they`re from. So I've started living out of my suitcases. 

Okay that really is all now. 

I love youuu!! 

Hermana Hannah

Hannah with her mission president and companion.

Images From Hannah

Hermana Naranjo- Para ti :D

Mom- Hermana Naranjo wants me to send her these photos and so I`m sending them to you too :D

Another Week in Colon (Updated a few hours after original posting)

This week was super crazy busy. We were going to have three baptisms on Saturday, but there ended up being a three day stake mutual activity (as in young men/young women's activity). So we took two of our investigators that are in that age group to the talent show which was on Friday. It was really fun and really neat to see all the different wards with their talent. I`m getting to know the ward and the members and the area. It's definitely strange to start over in a new area. 

My companion and I are getting along really well. She`s an absolute sweetheart. In every companion prayer that we have together she prays to God to give me the gift of tongues. She's always praying for me. She`s told me that she's here for me whatever I need. It's really wonderful to have such a loving, sweet, social companion.  

Funny story today...so it didn't happen today, it actually happened a while ago, but whatever right? So some members give us a LOT of food. The other day we had dinner with the other two hermanas that are in our ward. They had told us on Tuesday in our district meeting that she gives a LOT of food and that we neeeeed to tell her, "I don't eat a lot." So I definitely wasn't thinking about that when we got to the member's house. I sat down at the table when one of the other hermanas whispered forcefully, "Go to the kitchen," (in Spanish of course)...I was like ¨What?¨And she said, ¨Remember what I said on Tuesday...go in the kitchen and tell her that you don't eat a lot!!" And I was like uhhh....so I followed the member into the kitchen and started casually talking to her about her family...and when she started serving my dish I said, "Oh by the way I don't eat a lot," (In Spanish of course). And then she asked me, "And your companion?" and I said, "The same I think..." So she ended up giving her more than me....and my companion wasn't too happy...but I tried!! 

Alright now I`m going to send some pictures. One of the pictures will be of my new favorite fruit. It tastes like a strawberry and looks really cool. Its called Momochino or something like that. I cant remember what the other pictures I was going to send are but we`ll see shortly!

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So I think that this computer just erased all of the photos that I had on this memory card....blargh
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Okay so when I put my memory card into the computer the antivirus program installed on this computer decided that my photos were a virus and deleted all of them. I saw the popup for the virus protection program but didn't have time to close it before it deleted all of my photos. Why? Because there were only four on there so the program worked really fast :P Sooo I`ll have to take another picture of my favorite fruit and show it to you another day...sorry about that.

On other notes, I`m happy, all is good, its absolutely beautiful here and I`m going to take pictures of my area one day to show you. 

Today we`re having a little get together with the other hermanas in our ward. We`re going to have lunch together and get to know each others houses and areas a little. Its weird to not have Elders in the ward but its fun to have other missionaries. 

The ward is pretty small. The attendance was 98 people this past Sunday. Unfortunately that means that 26 people didn't show up this week that showed up last week. Our goal by the end of this transfer is to have 145 people attending the church. We`re fasting once a week and praying a lot for the attendance. And of course working like crazy to invite all of the inactive members and less active members. 

This Sunday we had another activity to rescue the inactive members. It was really different this time because the missionaries in charge had a husband and a wife take a sister and an elder...so I was companions with a member and I was with an Elder who was companions with the member's husband. It was a bit strange and I was glad that there was also a young man that came with us so it wasn't like...as awkward and uncomfortable as it could be. The area was supposedly more of a ghetto area than our area but it seemed pretty tranquilo to me. We were in Margarita. 

The first of September we`re going to have the rescue activity in our ward. We`re preparing for that. This ward needs a LOT of help from the missionaries. I`m really hoping to be able to help the ward be stronger before I leave here. 

Send my love to everyone! 

Hermana Hannah

[Since the upload didn't work, I (Hannah's mom) looked around the internet a little and found this fruit. Wikipedia says that in Panama and Costa Rican Spanish they call it, "mamón chino ('Chinese Sucker') due to its Asian origin and the likeness of the edible part with Melicoccus bijugatus." It is related to lychee.]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rambutan

First Week in Colon

I think that it's really important to count the blessings that we have in our lives!! I`m learning more about seeing the positive side of things rather than viewing things negatively. Really the same thing goes for people...we should always look for the positive aspects of people and forget the negative. One of my companions told me that we should try to see people as God sees them: see only the good. I don`t know if God really only sees the good in us but I think that he always sees our potential. 

So I am now in Colon in Puerta Pilon 1. I was called to be the senior companion this change. Super strange!! My companion is Hermana Chavez...maybe you`ll remember her? She was my companion in the airport! I sent some pictures with her in one of my first emails. She`s from Guatemala and I absolutely love her. She is a very loving fun person. She is super talkative and she`s super social. I think I`m going to learn how to socialize more with her.

The area is right by the Atlantic Ocean. Our area is really hilly. We have so many beautiful views. As we go up one hill we can see the ocean. The way the trees surround almost all of the water makes it look kind of like a lake. It reminds me of New York. Absolutely beautiful. 

We are helping a family get baptized on Saturday!! Well three of the kids...it's a little bit complicated because the Mom is ready to get baptized but they aren't married and her husband isn't really interested in the church at this point. It's kind of crazy because this family has already had all of the lessons but I`m the one that will be helping them get baptized with my companion. It's the first time where instead of doing the sowing I`m doing the reaping.

We've been running outside in the mornings which has been really interesting. There are a lot of dirt roads here...and it rains...a lot. So my shoes have gotten veryyy muddy. The other day my shoe got stuck in the mud...that had never happened to me before. 

Our house is smaller than the last one that I was in and we've had problems with not having running water sometimes. We have water from 10 at night to about 10 in the morning...but sometimes we have water all the time. So we keep water bottles in the fridge (which freezes everything so its more like a freezer) and we have a huge bucket in the shower which we fill up every night just in case we need it to shower in the morning.

  

Our house doesn't have as many problems with bugs which is definitely a blessing. 

At this point I am super confident in my Spanish. I've gotten to the point where I`m focusing more on helping my companion learn English than on me learning Spanish. It's been really fun. Today is English Day!!! I`m only speaking in English to her. It's been super fun and super hard at the same time. It's more natural for me to speak in Spanish here. I've slipped up a few times. 

I've been eating fish more here...I guess since we`re right next to the ocean it's more popular. I've learned I really like fish!! Before the mission all I really had was tilapia...no idea how to spell that. The other day a member gave me only the end sides of the fish. The members like messing with us here they`re pretty funny. But I ate those tails!! (not the very end that's gross but the rest of it). The members are super nice here. The Sundays are a little crazy because we share our church building with another ward. The chapel and the Sunday school  room are separated by a room divider thing so with the microphone its impossible to hear the teacher in Sunday school and relief society...which is definitely interesting. 

Yesterday we went to a service where we were rescuing inactive members (taking the contact list and dividing it among missionaries and members to find people and have a lesson in an effort to get them to come back to church...we also try to get to know them and find out why they aren't coming to church anymore). So we went to Colon Central...it was kind of scary. It's the most ghetto ghetto of Panama and the saddest place I have ever seen. The apartment buildings that were there are literally falling apart. We passed the rubble of a house that had fallen down. Two of the houses that we went to visit weren't there anymore because of a fire. The members that we were with told us that these people are so poor that they literally cant pay to live anywhere so  they live in these ancient houses. It was really crazy. As we were walking back there were tons of kids rollerblading in the street. In the street where all the cars and buses pass through..the main road. INNN the street. NOT on the side of the road. REALLY dangerous but I guess when you have fifty of your friends with you you can get away with it.

So here I am in Colon. I`m really happy here. There's a lot of natural beauty and the members and people are really laid back and nice. 

I LOVE YOUUU!!!! I`m going to send some pictures now. 

Hermana Hannah

 Oh and I made pancakes this morning. And then later Hermana Chavez threw on a taco. Haha. Worth taking a picture of...for sure!! 

Short E-mail Before Transfers

So I have news...I have changes! My companion, Hermana Naranjo is going to train! So that means that I will be going to a new area. So it's time to say goodbye to everyone and pack my bags! 

This week has been a little crazy, but we have been able to have some really wonderful moments. This transfer has been service-filled. I've been learning how to do a lot! This week I learned how to make cement and turn it into a patio! Pretty awesome! It`s pretty hard work....I`m definitely not going into construction...but definitely fun. 

I`m going to keep this email fairly short but I promise I`ll have more to say next week...especially seeing as I`ll have a new companion and a new area!!

Something cool...today we went to Cosway again and this time we went to a different area where you can look down into the water which was clear anddd I saw a lobster!! In the wild!! It was HUGE...there were also lots of fish...one of them looked like a sword fish. I just had to share that...super cool right?? 

I love you! 

Hermana Hannah

Picture

Hannah's Mom here. We're looking forward to hearing from her later today or tomorrow. I was just looking at her new mission president's photo blog and found this picture. She still looks happy! She's on the front row far left.