New Family!!

Hola,

  So I gave food to a homeless man this week. My comp and I were walking down the set of stairs to get to the other side of the street when we saw a homeless guy sleeping. We went to our dinner that we had and then we bought some Mcdonalds. We went to were he was laying at and tried to get his attention but he was sleeping. So we left it next to the carboard box that he was sleeping in. I hope he got to eat it, :) 

So this week was the most amazing part of my mission! Well for now haha.... So my comp and I were looking through the area book when we noticed that not one missionary ever worked in a part of our very large area. So we decided that we were going to go contact so people in that area and see who we could find. So we get in one a bus and realized that we are on the wrong one so we get off. Then we wait for another to come by but it was SO HOT and after about 15 mins we couldnt take it anymore. So we took a taxi instead. The taxi driver had taken us to the first house in the area and we thanked him. We said a quick prayer and walked up to the door. A little boy that was 10 years old answered. We asked if his parents were home and he said yes. He ran inside and got his mom. His mom came to the window and said "digame" which is like talk to me in English. So we told her that we were missionaries and sharing a message about Christ. We asked her if we could share a message. She looked for a minute and then said yes. She let us in a gave us a glass of cold water. Then, like a mother, told us that we needed to stay out of the sun because we were really red. She took our glasses and then we all sat down and started to share a message about the restoration of the gospel. We told her that the same church that Christ established while here on the Earth was the same church that we have today. She really liked the message and then told us to wait. She went back to her room and came out with a really old copy of a Liahone. She asked if our church was the one that made it. We told her yes and she started to say how she loved it and that she always wanted to come to our church. So we invited her to church on Sunday and she accepted. She said that her husband would love the church as well. So we left the house VERY happy and the family with a fress copy of the Book of Mormon. We knew that Heavenly Father answered our prayer. So on Friday we were around that area and decided to stop by the her house..... by the way her name is Elisabeth. So we stopped by and she was outside with her 10 year old son planting things. We asked if we could help and we talked to her for a while. Then we all sat down at the table and she tells my comp and I that she read a little bit of the Book of Mormon and really liked it. We talked for about 10 more mins and the her husband came home from work. We met him and  he was super awesome and nice. His name is William. He also speaks English!! So hes even cooler haha. He said that he wanted to go to church so that we would see him there. Their whole family took us home and we told them we would see them Sunday. So Sunday came around in which I had to give a talk at church. I told a story about my dad and everyone laughed.... sorry dad haha.... Anyways, so after the first 20 mins they didnt show up, but right in the middle of the song they came in. The whole time in church they talked about eternal marriage and it was great! After church we went a visited the family, we asked them how they liked church and they both said they loved it. After the lesson that we had with them in which they both said they believed that Jose Smith was a prophet, they looked at their watch and said "oh no, we are late". They were on their way to a activity at the church that we were having that night. They are the best. So we plan to see them again next Sunday! I just love them soooo much. 

So yeah this week we also had Jose come to church. He gets off of work at 5 in the morning and goes to church at 9am. He wants to be baptized sooo bad. Hes the best. So in the coming weeks we plan to have his baptism at well! :) 

So this week has just been great we are working hard. I love you all and miss you soooo sooooo much!! See you soon!! 

Oh and happy 13 months in the mission to me!! I hit 13 months yesterday. How fast time goes! 

Remember to pray always!!!

Hermana Patrick

So the pictures are DQ that we got with the Elders, The picture with the Kids (the one in the yellow green shirt is the Elisabeth and Williams son), and the kid thats sitting in the chair is a kid that is in the hospital. The Elders and us went to see him today. He is in our ward. 

Michelle Got Baptized!!! :) Demons.... say what???

Hola, 

    What a woderful adventure this week has been. :) I have so many things to tell you guys so lets get started.

So this week we were walking down the street going to an appointment when m comp stops and says "oh hey hermana". She was talking to this lady that was standing on the other side of the street. We walked up to her and my comp said that her and her last comp were trying to visit her but couldnt find her house. (so just fyi, here in Panama when you ask someone where they live they all say, over there with all the houses). So yeah problem. Anyways we told her that we wanted to come and visit her on Tuesday and she said it was okay. We got the best directions that we could and the came back to her house on Tuesday. So my companions last comp and her contacted this lady in the street before and told her they would come back but could never find her house. So anyways, we get to her house and they clean up really fast and let us in. We walked in and the whole house smelled like pee. It was gross, but we sat down and started to talk to this family. There was the mom and she had 4 daughters. So after getting to know them for a little bit we asked them if they attended a different church. The mom says yes and said they were all baptized in that church as well. Of course the Catholic church... So we asked them if they ever went to our church and they said yes but were never baptized. So we asked if they would like to sing a hymn and afterwards say a prayer. She said yes and so we picked a hymn. Number 41 to be exacted. Im not sure what that is in English so your gonna have to look it up. So as we are singing one of the daughters runs into the room and comes back with a hymn book. One from our church, my comp and I start laughing during the hymn but calm down and finish the song. After the song we ask the lady where she got a hymn book from. She then tells us that she got it from the other missionaries that used to come to her house. Then she says that 3 of her daughters were baptized in our church. We were sooooooo confused. She had just told us that they werent baptized. The youngest daughter is 8 so she wasnt baptized at the time because she was to young. So then we ask her again if she was baptized like her daughters in our church she says no like 5 times and says she was baptized in a different church. So we were like okay cool. So we ask her if we could say a prayer and she said yes and then we asked who she would like to say the prayer. She asked one of her daughters but they were all very angry. When I finish the story you guys will know why. So after the daughters said no the mom said she would say the prayer. So as she is saying the prayer she asked Heavenly Father to help her with her sickness that she has. She said Amen and then we talked a little more. My comp asked her what her sickness was so that we could try and help her out. She then said something that I will never forget. Demons............. I knew the word in Spanish but I thought I was hearing wrong. I looked at my comp and she was like I dont think its that either. So we ask her what the word means and she says "you know, like the devil...demons". So first off this lady was already a liitle strange so my comp is trying sooo hard not to die. I jump in and tell her that the Elders can help her and give her a blessing and bless her house as well. She says okay and we go on with the lesson. Then after all this she tells us that she is a member and was baptized in our church..... We were like dude, what the heck haha. So we toughted them a lesson and told them we would come back this Tuesday with the Elders. We left the house and were just like...... okayyyyy... So we went back to our house and looked in the Area book for the name of the lady and her daughters. Sure enough she was there. She was baptized 2 years ago but was never confirmed. So the rule is is that you have 6 months to be confirmed a member of the church to make your baptism valid. So since it has been 2 years the whole family has to be baptized again. So we will be working with this family and gettin them baptized. Fun times!!!!

So in other news... My comp got proposed to. He said he was gonna go to the states with her and marry her. What a weird guy. 

Not done yet.... So we were walking down the street and this guy sees us and just about dies. He said that he was praying to god to send him angles to help him and then we came down the street. He said he wanted to talk to us but not at the moment. Then he told us we were God. Then he left.... So hopfully we see him again haha. 

So my comp had to go to the hospital this week. Im not sure what it is but I think im like bad luck or something. My last two comps had to go to the hospital. But my comp is doing better after some sleep and meds. Pictures to come... 

So the BEST PART OF THE EMAIL!!! We had a baptism this week. Michelle got baptized. The 21 year old that I told you guys about last week got baptized yesterday. She is soo soo amazing. I love her. She has such a great testimony and knows that this is the true church. She makes my testimony so much stronger. She wants to be married in the temple and raise her children in the gospel. Shes so great. 

Well guys thats all for now. As you can see, Colon has tons of adventures. I love you all and hope yall have a wonderful week. I know without a doubt that this gospel is true and that we have a loving Father. I love yall and will see you soon!!

With love,

Hermana Patrick

So the pictures are... my comp and I on top of a mountain thing..... our zone sitting on the bench haha..... Michelle at her baptism.... My comp was playing with my hair and made it all big and told me to go outside like that.... and my comp in the hospital. 

Pictures

Colon!!!

Hola buenas tardes,

   

    Pues this week has been sooo great! I had changes and I am no longer a San Blas sister. They actually took out all the sisters on Blas and now there are all Elders. We are really running low on sister missionaries here on Panama so we have had to close a lot of sister areas. So my comp,Hermana Anderson and I were the last sister missionaries on Blas. Kinda cool. 5 months on an island was the best but I was glad for changes. 

Now I have a new companion Hermana Garcia and also a new area. I am now in the area of Colon which by the way is the best ever. We live in the ghetto haha.. Here in colon is where we take the diablo rojos which in English would be red devil. They are buses that play really loud music and they have lights and crazy people. Its a school bus on steroids to say the least. Its so AMAZING! The people here are great. There are a ton of black people and they all speak spanish, which I thought was very weird but cool at the same time. My companion is Hermana Garcia and she is from Cali. Although her name sounds latin she is not. Her Grandmother was from cuba so thats where she gets her last name from. Hermana Garcia is awesome!! We get along great, she is pretty much me but different haha. So yeah shes great. 

So we have already had soooo many experiences this week...

1.  So here we are walking down the street contacting some houses when all of a sudden this guy from across the street starts to yell out... "Aye Barbie" and we are just really what?? So he just kept yelling it tell we looked at him. We walked across the street and he said that he wants to learn more about our church and wants us to come to his house right at that second. We could tell that he had been drinking so we told him that we would come back another day and he refused to tell us where he lived. Which I thought was strange being as he contacted us haha. So he walks us to the end of the street to where we meet his friend by the name of verde. Which if you know Spanish that means green. So his friends name is green (yes like the color) and he tells him that we are gonna come to his house. Then he asked my comp if she could come alone. My comp looked at me... now lets take a step back for a second. My comp only has 2 changes in the mission. This is her third and she is still learning spanish.... So back to the story. My comp looks at me as if she couldnt believe what she heard. She thought it was the Spanish but when she looked at me and saw my face she knew that thats what he had asked. So we explained that we have rules as missionaries and that we have to stay together all the time and he was like "its cool my grandma will be home". My comp and I looked at each other and started to laugh so hard. The guy then kept trying to flirt with my comp so me... being Hermana Patrick and all, asked him if he had a wife and kids. He said yes. Then I asked him why he was trying to flirt with my comp if he had a wife and kids. 9 kids by the way... He then said "look at my hand, do you see a ring? NO, So its okay". Then he said, "my wife doesnt have to know what I do". We were so sad but laughed because he was really drunk and couldnt even stand up. We then talk to him about eternal families and he didnt really want to listen. He just flirting with my comp. Then in the middle of me talk he puts his finger up to my face and tells me to hush. He then asked my comp if she was married. My comp looked at me and I shouted YES! haha. Then he walked away. So that was really fun! Actually really funny!! 

2. We had the BEST lesson ever!! So we have an investigator named Jose. He is this really tall black guy and his mom reminds me of my grandma Carol. She is soo soo sweet. She is a member but Jose is not. Jose is about 25 years old. His picture will be in the email. But we thought him about the restoration of the Gospel and he loved it. He will be baptized in the coming week but we have to finish teaching him the lessons. The problem with that is is that he lives in the ghetto ghetto so the Elders have to come with us to the lessons because we cant go by ourselves. But he is the best. Speaking of him, his mom just called and she wanted me to say hi to everyone so Hi haha. 

3. We had another great lesson with Michell. She is 21 and amazing. We were teaching her about the gospel of Jesus Christ and at the end of the lesson we asked if she wanted to be baptized by someone who hold the preisthood and she said "clearly I want to!!!!!" It was amazing. So she will actually be baptized this Sunday. She great!

So yeah that was all. I am also starting the Book of Mormon again but this time I am studying it so much better. I have tons of things marked and have learned many new things. It is really such a great book. My testimony is growing so much and I feel like such a different person. I know that Heavenly Father really does love each and everyone of us. The more I teach that to people the more I understand. I really love being a missionary. The work is great and so is Panama. (they beat USA in soccer the other day, that was sad but cool haha). I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!! Oh and make sure to take advantage of priesthood blessings. That was one thing I wish I would have done before the mission. They are amazing!! 

With love,

Hna. Patrick 

The pictures are of a diablo rojo and Jose and his family. As there is a picture with my new comp and I. She is the one on the left. The white one haha

American Food

Hola everyone,

    So this week has just gone by soo fast. I feel like when your in the city the mission just flies but when your on the islands its sooo slow haha. 

Well this week was fun... We are still in the city with the sisters here and there area is amazing. I got to go to church in almost ALL english. It was like a ward from the states. In this area there are tons of Americans because they all work in the embassy and things like that. So not everyone but a lot of people speak English here. It has been great to be here for the past week.

So church was amazing and not only that but the members here are from the states or are married to someone from the states so they all cook American food. IT IS AMAZING!! I have had sooo much food this week that I think I gained like 20 pounds haha. Which is good because everyone says I lost wait on San Blas. 

So fun things for this week...

1. We met a crazy black lady this week. She was AMAZING haha.. So we were contacting everyone and no one would let us in or take are cards. They all told us that they didnt want to listen and same old things that people tell you when they dont want to listen. So we knocked on this ladies door and she didnt want to listen so she told us to go talk to her neighbor. So we did. We knocked on the door and she swung it open and starts talking really ghetto spanish to us. She asked us where we were from and when she found out what church we went to she yelled "oh their Mormons" to the people inside the house. She asked is where we were from and then I told her the states. She asked where we lived at in the city and we told her. Then she said "so you walked all the way hear?" and we said yes, then she was like come in!! So we came in and she was like you have a few mins to tell me about what the Mormons are and thats it. She didnt want to read anything she just wanted to know why are church was sooo different then the others. So we explained the Restoration of the Gospel to her in 5 mins. We told her that we had apostles and prophets that still walk the earth today. She liked the message but then went to tell us about 20 other churchs and how they all believe in God so they are all good. We just explained that we are the only true church today and she understod that. So she gave us some juice which Im not really sure if it was tea or not. We asked and she just said juice but Im not to sure about that.. Anyways, we had a great lesson with her and right when we were about to leave she gave us $10. We told her that we couldnt take the money but she got really mad and yelled at us so we took the money and are going to put it in the fast offerings at church. Great time!!

2. We saw an alligator this week. Super cool.

3. My comp and I talk in Kuna to each other. Its great haha..

Well my faith has just been growing and growing so much here on the mission. Im sooo greatful for this 18 months that I have to learn and grow. I love you all and miss you sooo much. We are going to go each American food right now and speak in English with some members right now. Have a great week everyone. Oh and happy late Birthday to my mom!! Love you mom!!!

Love always,

Hna. Patrick

In the city!

Hola everyone,

     So this week has really been fillid with wonderful adventures!! So lets just start off with a few.

This week my comp was filling a little sick so we took it easy and let her rest. As the day went on she got sicker. She was having diarrea a lot and was not eating. She hadnt drunk anything that day and was filling really weak. She was looking really pale and was really  dehydrated from not eating or drinking all day with a mix of the diarrea. She was looking pretty bad so I gave the nurse a call.

The nurse said that I needed to get my comp to the hospital NOW! Well problema with that... we are on an island. I called our Zone Leaders and they talked to our misión president. He called me and told me to bring my comp to the city ASAP. So we tried everything to get her there but we couldnt. We ended up going to the Centro de Salud, a medical center on one of the islands. They gave her an IV as everyone sat and watched the soccer game. Very disfunctional doctor. My mom and dad would have been upset if they were there. So my comp didnt have her mom there with her so I played mom haha. I yelled at the doctors for not watching my comp and not being worried about her. So they got focused and helped her out.

She felt a little better the next day but was still really sick so we called our misión president and he told us to come into the city. We came in that next morning and went to the hospital. They took some samples of blood and other weird things and then gave her an IV as we waited for the results. They said it was a some type of infection but we knew that wasnt right. So today we went back to the doctor and got some more test. She ended up having a bacterial infection. She is doing much better today and has to drink LOTS of fluids. Just pray for her!

So now we are in the city and will be here for about 8 days or so until we know changes again.

I am also really happy that my little 8 year old brother got baptized this week. He is sooo big!! SO cute!! And So bad haha. I love him.

I miss you all and I know that this church is true!! This is the ONLY true church on the face of the earth!

with love,

Hna. Patrick

HOLA!!!

Hey everyone,

     So I realized that I start off all my email the same way haha...

Sorry I don't know how else to start.

The

So this week, as always has been filled with adventures. we had the chance to eat a hamburger and let me just say... it was AMAZING!

haha... I kept smelling this that smelled like chili dogs and pizza but I think something is just wrong with me haha.

So this week we ran out of water again so we missed a FHE that we had planned because the water came and we freaked out because we didn't have water to shower with or to wash clothes. So we kind of skipped the FHE to fill up this bucket that we have with water and to wash clothes. It was quite the adventure. The water came out looking pretty clean this time, not as brown as the other times. So all the people drunk the water. But I guess they are used to it so they wont get sick.Well actually almost everyone on the island is sick. They either have some type of infection or they have a cold or something. We are filling a little under the weather as well but nothing to bad.

This week was a very hard week for both my comp and I. We worked hard the whole week to only have 40 people show up to church. They all didn't even stay for all three hours. Just the first hour and they all left. By the end of church there were only 5 people. It was also a bit hard because it was the 4th of July and we had nothing to celebrate with because we are on an island. But we have been fasting and praying for help so we know that Heavenly Father hears us.

This week I have really submitted my will to the Lord. I have come to figure out may of things and I am so grateful for my savior Jesus Christ. My testimony is just growing and I don't want it to stop. I have learned a lot of Christ like things on my mission and hope to come home with these attributes.

You guys are great and I love and miss you all! Seen you soon!!

With love,

Hna. Patrick