Changes

Hola guys, 

      So sorry I didnt get to email yesterday. My companion and I were getting ready to go to the city and we had to go to the Elders island because we took a plane into the city and they have a small airport on there island. 

So like I said we arrived in the city at about 8:00am and we have been getting ready for the upcoming change. Changes are this week and my companion Hna. Hall (my MTC comp) has changes. She is going to be here in the city with another Hermana and I just recieved my new comp today. She is Hna. Casco from Ecuador. She goes home here pretty soon so we will only have 2 months together. This change is going to be pretty hard because she is a latina and she has been kind of hard these past couple of hours I have known her haha. But we will do great work and I am looking foward to working with her. I also am off of Ticantiki (my island) and now on Carti a different island with my new comp. This island will be quite an adventure because there is no light in the house and they use the bathroom outside. (Just like the Kunas). Im kind of sad to be off my island and with a new comp but I know that God has a plan and its what he wants, not me. 

When I found out that I had Hna Casco I was actually really sad because she hasnt been the nicest Hermana in the mission. She is just very foward and kinda makes fun of you for little things. I had so many negative thoughts of her but then I read the scriptures. I just opened it up to a chapter that talked about how Christ suffered everything for us and that all the problems that we have, he understands them. I also read about love and how I could love my new companion. This will be hard but I know that Heavenly Father knows that I can do it. 

So this last week in our island we did some good work. We had a date for someone to get baptized but backed out at the last min. It was really sad but I know one day he will be ready to hear the gospel. 

Well guys I have been pretty sick this week on the island. Im not actually sure what I have because there is no doctor haha. But I talked to the nurse and she gave me some medication so I should be feeling good here soon. Its really hard being on Blas because there is no fruits and veggies. Your body doesnt always get everything it needs so you start to feel a bit weak at times. I have been very tired latley but I know that if I work hard Heavenly Father will provide me with all the strength I need. We are truly blessed to know the gospel and to have it in our lives. I invite you all to really ponder on our savior Jesus Christ and his suffering for us. He is our savior and loves us all.

So do I... I love you all and miss you more then you know. I am super excited to get back home and see the changes that the ward is having. Good luck!! Have a great week

Hna. Patrick

San Blas!!

Hola everyone,

      How is everything going in the United States?? I hope all is well because we have plenty of people that want to come to the states haha. They always ask my companion and I to take them with us when we leave haha. So sorry mom, if I come back home with 5 new Kuna kids thats why.

So this week has been very very very interesting. So let me just start off by saying that my companion and I are going to be the best members of the church when we get home. We now see how important the members are to the missionaries. Here on the Island it is very hard to get things running. So let me just break everything down for you guys.....

(warning... you may be overwhelmed). So we have our branch. We have a branch president that doesnt have any counselors, so it is just him.

There is no young womans class or young mens. No teacher for primary.

Well there is but she doesnt come to church. Basically we have very few classes and very few people that come to church. So yesterday we had our branch president come and knock on our door a 6 in the morning to tell us that he couldnt direct sacrament meeting because he had to go to work. He also told us that the other guy that could take his place had to work as well. We ran around the whole island looking for someone to direct the meeting. We had no luck. Finally the branch president said we were just going to have church at 7pm. Who has church at 7pm??? We do haha... So thats what happend. So we had 1 hour of church yesterday. We also ran around the island looking for someone to give a talk as well but no one wanted to do it so my comp. and I had to give the talks.

Here on the island its A LOT different then anything I have ever seen before. They are soooooo into their culture that church comes 2nd or 3rd to them. The men have this thing called Congreso (congress) that they have to go to about 4 times a week. They meet in the huge stick house and they have these 3 guys called the silas. They sit in their hammocks and talk about the problems that they island is having. So basically these 3 guys are in charge of the whole island and all the people. So anyways, they sing and pray and talk about what everyone needs to do to make the island better. The woman dont go but if they would like they are allowed to sit it. The men here have FULL control.

So me and my companion went a couple days ago. It was all in Kuna so we didnt understand much but we had a guy translate it in Spanish for us so we could understand. They said that there are people on other islands drinking horse blood because there is no water on there island. Which we are also running low on water as well. So here we all get our water from the river and if it dosnt rain for a while then the water in the river starts to go down. So that is whats happening right now. Anyways, they talked about that and about how the men need to work harder and what not. It was really interesting. So the people here on the island think that that is there church. They put that before anything else. Its really hard to help them when they dont want help.

The kids here have babies really really young. Im talking 14 years old. If you are a girl and you have a baby they shave your head in congreso and the girl and boy have to get married. So we know this girl that is 14 and is having a baby and he husband is 21 years old.

So they shaved her head and now shes married. Sad but thats what they do hear.

We had an Hermano tell us that he doesnt care and that he believes in God so he will be saved...... I dont think thats how it works but we tried as best as we could to help him. One day he will know that truth.

I am just very great for the church this week. Here on the island is a lot different from how the church is in the states. I am sooooo greatful for EVERYTHING that we have in the states. I think sometimes we dont realize how good we have it. I know I didnt. But I am also great for all the experiences  that I am having here. I am learning and growing alot.

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week!!!!

Sorry for all the grammer and spelling mistakes. No time to fix them haha.

Love

Hna. Patrick

Phone email... AGAIN

Hola everyone

so this week we dont have a computer again. Being out here on the island is a bit hard at times. We get up on pdays to email but no computer. So they use solar energy here. I guess there wasnt any sun today so it didnt work. Which I dont believe because it was REALLY hot today. So sorry in advance for the short email.


so this week we had a pretty good teaching week. We had a ton of lessons with members. We plan to have 2 people baptized this week so we are praying for that. The work is moving along.

So i realized that I told you guys that i was going to attach a picture in the last email and.... nothing haha. Sorry. I have just been really tired latley. Haha. So next week if we have a computer I will send it.


Love you guys... have a great week.

Hna. Patrick :) 

General Conference and WAIT YOUR NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT THAT!

Hola everyone, 

   

        So this week has been crazy. So many things to do and so little time. As everyone knows, this week was General Conference. It was amazing. S many great talks! The way General Conference works on the island is a bit strange. First off we haven't had a computer since I've been here so we have been traveling by boat to the Elders island to email every morning.  So finally we got a guy come in a set up a new computer for us. We get it all set up and plug the computer into the TV in the chapel for everyone to watch. We push start conference and little by little we watch. The connection is VERY slow here so want was supposed to be a 2 hour session, ended up being a 3. BUT on the bright side, we watched General Conference. It was amazing to hear the prophet as a missionary. Something about being a missionary just makes conference so much better haha. I am becoming so much closer to my Savior Jesus Christ. 

So on our island we have these people from Columbia come in and sell stuff like hammocks, blankets, bowls, spoons,etc. So as we were walking around looking at everything they had we had a Colombian guy come up to us and ask what church we belong to. As we talked with him he had several questions and really liked what we had to say. He was super nice! (he kinda looked like my dad haha) Anyways we told him that we would go to the house and get a Book of Mormon for him to read on his trips. We came back gave him the book and talked a little while with him about the Plan of Salvation. He was super positive. Afterwards we asked if he had an friends that would like to hear the message as well. He came back with the whole boat haha. So we set an appointment at 7 pm to teach them all about out message. It was super fun! Now they are all going back to Columbia with a copy of the Book of Mormon. 

So funny story... So this week as we are walking along our island my companion points towards 2 ladies sitting in a chair. First off let me say that EVERYONE on the island has lice. So as the two ladies were sitting one was picking lice out of the others hair. Then she did the unthinkable. SHE ATE IT!! What??? Your not supposed to eat that. So guys, its not only in movies its real life. Throughout the rest of the week as we watch people get lice picked out of their hair someone ALWAYS eats it. Eww! haha. Just a fun little story for you guys. This place is AWESOME!! haha

So also this week we got to dress up as Kunas. It was super fun. All the people on the island loved it. Picture included. 

Well guys I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love Always 

Hna. Patrick 

pictures

                   last picture is my old Zone in my last area. Us on a bus going on a 4 hour bus ride. 

 

                                                one of the islands

                                                           boat ride with my comp

                                                         Our beds

                                                               Bats in our house

                                              Kuna outfit

                                                  The metal thing is a different toilet

                                                            kuna kids

KUNA KIDS!!..... 

                                                        KUNA KIDS!!.....
 

                                         What school looks like here.

       The green things are what they call "mangoes"

                              Little bit of what the island looks like

      Dad you wanted to know what the boats look like so here you go haha.

                                The Elders came to spend a day on our island, and MTC companions again haha

                                                       LOBSTER!

                                                            LOBSTER! 

                                                      Baptism and MTC companions!! :)

                                                    Baptism and MTC companions!! :)

                                           Baptism and MTC companions!! :)

                                                          my comp is taller then the house haha

ANDERSON CAME TO BLAS!!!

Holla everyone,

    Short email this week... So this week my other MTC companion came out here to the Islands of San Blas. We are all together now!!! WOOHOO!!! We are soooo excited. 

This week has been a hard one as well but thanks to all the new skills that I have developed here on my mission I was able to puss through. We also had a baptism this week. I was really cool because our convert got baptized in the ocean. Really neat experience. 

I have been trying to learn more on the Kuna culture this week so next week (when we actually have a computer on our island) I will get back to you guys. There is however a Book of Mormon in Kuna. It only has parts of it but its still pretty cool. 

General Conference is coming soon and we are all excited about that down here in Blas. We love to hear the prophet. 

Well guys love you and miss you a ton!!! Have a great day and week!!

-Hermana Patrick

                                                              MTC companions
                                                        My MTC comps (Anderson and Hall)

  The missionaries

                                           
 

Lamanites or not??? :)

Nuegambi everyone,

      So this week has been the hardest of my mission thus far. I even cried.... The church here on the island is just really hard. The members are not very strong in the gospel, we only had 29 people at church this Sunday and only 8 of them were adults, the rest were kids.

We only had 45 mins of church and kids were running around everywhere while trying to take the sacrament. Our branch president doesn't have any counselors or any help with anything. There are only 2 worthy priesthood holders on the whole island which has been hard as well.

When people get sick we run around everywhere trying to find someone to give a blessing. We have tons of less actives and tons of work to do. It has been hard. We now realize how great the church is in the states haha. My companion and I said that when we get home we are going to be some much better church members. We realize that it is a ton of work. We have to type a book in Spanish on how to give blessing... The exact words because no one knows how to do it. My comp and I just cried because we know that this is there salvation and they are doing nothing about it. We know that the gospel is true and we really want them to know for themselves as well. We had a guy tell us this week that his religion is Kuna. He said that you cant be a Kuna and Mormon at the same time.

But you guys want to know something amazing???!!! So my comp and I believe that we are teaching the Lamanites. Just like in the Book of Mormon when it says that the Lamanites will have the gospel, well guess what!! We are giving it to them. So just a little Kuna history

for you guys......    So a long time ago as the Kunas would say there

was a man named Ibeorgun that came down to visit the Islands here.

They said that this man was a prophet and he preached to them and that he chose followers to teach the people. They said that he was with them for a while then he went back up into Heaven. Sound familiar???

We think that this guy was Christ. Christ came down to the people to teach them and chose followers. We just know that they have really bad traditions of there fathers so they are a bit lost right now. Me and my comp think that these people are the Lamanites. Its really cool to think about and helps us keep going.

Well thats all for this week guys.... We see that same people like 30 times a day because the island is so small haha... The Kuna is coming along and so is the Spanish. See you guys soon!! Love you!!

-Hermana Patrick

P.S congrats to my Uncle and Aunt that are getting sealed in the temple this week!!! :) Love you guys!!

                                                           

                                                                our restroom

                                                         My companion and I with the Kuna kids