American Football!! :)

Hola everyone,

    So this week was great, going to be  short email because I wrote you guys pretty much everything on Wednesday. But yeah tomorrow Carol is getting married so she can be baptized and she also came to church this week. We are just really happy in the work right now. Speaking of work, wanna know what we did for the past week??? We have been walking and walking and walking like no other. We had a zone goal to get 120 lpes, which are basically talking to 120 people about the góspel that we find in the Street or in there houses. Just 120 people we can share a message with. But as a district we had the goal of 200. So this week we did 204. We were working so hard to get these 200 people that we didnt even eat haha. It was sooo much fun. We also stood up on a bus and taught the gospel to all 48 people that were there. Most of them didnt want to listen but there was some that did. Maybe we will get a call this week from someone that wants to learn more about the gospel.

So today we got to play American football... it was the best thing ever. We were like pros compared to the latins in our zone haha. It felt like home!

So yeah this week was great and Im really greatful to be a missionary. The mission has really changed my life and I hope that it can change my Little brothers as well. I miss you all and love you so much. Have a great week and remember to read the Book of Mormon EVERYDAY!!! It will change your life! Like really!!!! It is the greatest book in the whole world.

Well have a great night yall!! :)

With love

Hermana Patrick

                                           She reminds me of annissa!! haha

                                             Hermana Anderson and I with Elder Taylor from Texas!! :)

                                                Elder Castillo and I

                                          favorite and most humble family here in Colon!!

                                        when we played soccer with the Elders last week... Im the one in the pink in the middle. yes I know you cant see me but its because I fell down haha... I was the one that took the pictures on everyones camera on self timer haha.. So when I ran back to be in the picture i fell over haha

                                           carol when she got her ring!!

                                             carol and her family

                                                      Another cool bus here

Las Mujeres!!!! :)

Hola everyone,

   So this week was very interesting so lets just start with a few points...

1. So Im going to start off with a wonderful story that gave me a panic attack the other day.. So here we are coming home at about 9:30pm from one of our citas that we had with some investigators of ours. When we got home our neighboors were having a party and asked if we wanted to play soccer with them and there kids. We told them we couldnt because we had to go to bed in a little while. They begged and begged and we finally just said yes but only for 10 mins. They were fine with that and so we started to play with them. After we were done playing with them we went back into our house to take showers and to plan for the next day. I grabbed my towel and headed for the bathroom. When I turned on the light something came sprinting out of the bathroom and around the corner. I screamed and ran out of the room. It was the biggest "cockroach" I had ever seen in my whole entire life. It was like 6 inches long. I HATE COCKROACHES!! I told my comp to go and kill it and she walks in the room with some spray to kill it. She goes in and sees how big it is and comes out and is freaking out as well. So we ran to the neighboors and asked for some of the little boys to come and kill it. One of the boys is walking to our house when he looks at me and says "I catch cockroaches for fun"...... ummmmmm gross!!! So anyways, we all walk into the house and go toward the room and then the kids start to freak out and they scream when they see it. They all jump on the bed and are screaming and then I run outside and scream. My comp is laughing soooo hard and then the "cockroach" starts to come out of the house towards me... I run! Then its out of the house and into the street. The boys come outside and they all look at me and say, "that wasnt a cockroach." I asked them what it was and they all scream "IT WAS A MOUSE." Funny story... yeah after that I couldnt breath for like 20 mins. CRAZY!!! 

2. So we were contacting this guy while waiting for a bus and ALL he had to say was LAS MUJERES!! He was like woman are the best thing in the world. If we didnt have woman we would be lost. Every time we tried to talk about something else he would just find a way to turn it back to woman. He was very interesting!!

3. So also in news we were standing on the sidewalk and were waiting for a taxi to come by when this 83 year old lady started talking to us in English. She was sooooo nice!! She was saying that she had a daughter that lived in the states and she learned English here in Panama. We talked for about 10 mins and then gave her a card with our info on it. When we were about to leave she tried handing us $2.00. We told her we couldnt take it and she just fought it haha. After a while she gave up and instead we told her we could give her a hug. She liked that idea! So we hugged her and went on our way. While crossing the street this lady stopped us and told started to yell at us and tell us that we were teaching false doctrine. She started to tell people all around her that we were bad and then we told her we were sorry that she felt that way and she yelled more. She then asked where it says in the Bible the stuff we were teaching people. We told her that it talks a lot about our religión in the Bible but she just yelled and said NO. We didnt want to fight her so we just walked away and told her to have a good day. Nice lady..

4. So the best part about this week was this story right here... So we have 2 families right now that need to be married to be baptized. We have been working a lot with one family and this coming week on Monday they will be getting married. They have been together for 14 years but have never gotten married. So we were at there house for a FHE and while sitting on there sofa the wife Hermana Carol came in and was in tears. We asked her what was wrong and she just showed us her left hand. It was a very pretty ring! We all jumped up and screamed and asked her when she got it. She said she had gotten it like 2 seconds before haha. She said she was cooking and her future husband came in the room and gave her a roll (bread). She said thanks and he walked to the said of the Wall and just waited. Carol took a bite and when she did she felt something hard so she spit it out. Inside was the ring. She turned around and came right out of the room in tears. Not even saying thanks to her future husband she came right to us and told us what happened. It was so amazing! After she told us she ran to him and gave him a Kiss. So cute!! So Monday they are getting married :) So so so excited!! :)

5. So I was sitting on the bus and trying to talk to this lady but she was not having it. I asked her how she was and she just acted like I wasnt even there. I asked her what her name was and same thing. I think she was just having a bad day. Or I was was just way to cute she couldnt stand it. I think the second one ;) haha.

So yeah this week was very fun. We also spent all Monday in the hot Panama heat playing soccer with the Elders. We got sooo sun burned. It was just my comp and I with 10 Elders haha. The other Hermanas didnt want to play.

I have learned so much this week and my testimony is becoming so much stronger. Im so greatful for my mission and for the chance I have to serve the people of Panama, even if its super hot here haha. Yo se que esa es la iglesia verdadero. Nosotros tenemos un salvador que nos ama mucho! Se que El Libro de Mormón es verdadero! Se que las familias pueden ser eternals!

xoxo

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Patrick

   

   

    

Blessing from the Lord! :)

So sorry in advance but this is going to be a really short email...

1. Bayron got baptized this week and his parents are next. Right after they get married! :) They didnt want to make their son wait for them to get married so they just said baptize him. Good parents! :)

2. I had a virus on my sd card so I couldnt send pictures but this really nice guy fixed it and was able to save all my pictures so now they are all backed up safe and sound on a USB. Great guy! Blessing of the Lord right there!

3. We had changes this week... but Im still the same and have the same comp. We are happy haha. :)

So yeah sorry for the short email guys. Just know that I love you all very much and that the Gospel is true! 

xoxo

Hermana Patrick

                                                 An activity that we had at church

               The following pictures are... Jose when he got baptized, A cute little girl that reminds me of Gwen, our wonderful investigator family that went to the temple with us, and me and my ZL that went home a couple days ago

                                               Bayron and his family

                                                  My fav. kid in Panama :)

                                                Saturday Bayron got baptized

                                                   After he gets out of the water!

                                                    Today with the Elders in our district

Fun foods and Temple!!

Hola,

     This week was full of spiritual things... I also have great food stories for you guys so lets get started!

1. So the highlight of my week.... This family that I have been telling you guys about is just amazing. They have been coming to church every week and right now are in the process of getting married so they can be baptized. But this week all the missionaries in my zone planned to go to the temple with our investigators. We rented out a bus and were all supposed to meet at this stop with all of our investigators. So we had 9 investigators that were going to go. Including this family (btw their name is the Alston family). So the Alston family waited for 45 mins with us at the stop and then we get a call from our Zone leader. He says that we couldnt go to the temple because it was closed and they werent letting anyone in the gates. But we had all of our investigators just standing there waiting. So we told our Zls that we were going to get on a bus and just go and walk the outside of the temple with our investigators. It wouldnt be the same but they would still be able to feel the spirit. They gave us permission and we headed on our way. An hour and a half car ride to the city. Our investigators had cars so we just took their cars instead of the bus. We arived at the temple and to our surprise the gates were open. We looked at each other and just decided to go in until they kicked us out. We we walked up to the doors gates of the temple there were people outside working. They just kept looking at us so we knew they werent going to let us in. So we were all about to leave when I got the prompting to just go and talk to them. I walked up to them and they spoke English. They were from the states and were here in Panama working on the temple. I explained to them that we wanted to give our investigators a tour of the temple on the outside and they said "sure why not?" They were so nice and understood everything. We thanked them and they let us all come in. It was such a great experience for this family. We explained the things we can do in the temple and how families can be together forever!! They LOVED that. After the tour the father whos name is William said something to me that I will never forget. He told me that if we didnt find him they would have never knew that the temple was here in Panama and there lives would be as happy as they are right now. He said that he really loves the church and cant wait to be baptized and then a year later enter into the temple. Then he starts talking about his 10 year old son and how he is going to serve a mission when he is 18 so he can help people like we helped them. When I look at William I see happy, peace, and also my dad. He is full of love and really loves the góspel. I see my dad when he joined the church and I looked at my dad before I left to serve a mission and how proud he was of me. I see that in Williams eyes and it stands as a strong testimony to me. When I look at the mother Elizabeth I see my mom as well. Se is always trying to take care of us and really loves us. She is like my mom away from home. Then I look at there son and see me. The same Little kid I was when I joined the church and see what this kid is going to be doing 8 years from now. He will be serving a mission. I hope in Texas so I can feed him haha. This family is sooooo amazing and they are why I came to Panama. I have found them. I have found the people I have came here for. They are sooo amazing!! I wish you guys could meet them. Yall would love them! Words cant describe how I feel about this family.

2. Also this week we walk in rain ALL DAY LONG!! It was fun but a big cold haha. Better then all the heat.

3. So yesterday we had this guy come to church and he stayed the whole time. Then when I walked up to him to see who he was he was like... "can you please baptize me?" He said he really liked the church and wanted to be baptized.. So we shall see what happens with that.

4. So my comp slipped and fell and did some special move to get up. She was really sore afterwards haha..

5. SO WHAT I HAVE BEEN WAITING TO TELL MY MOM ALL WEEK!!! So guess what.. This week I have eaten Pig tail, Clam, shrimp, Shell fish and some nasty soup. Pig tail is gross but everything else wasnt too bad. I try tons of new things here mom haha. Also here in Panama they have this fruit called Guanabana. Its sooooo good. They make really good juice out of it.

So yeah guys that has been my week. I love you all and like I say all the time miss yall tons!! :) Hope yall have a great week!!

With tons of love,

Hermana Patrick

Stranded! :)

Nuagambi!! 

   Havent said that in a while... Im miss San Blas..... But this week was a pretty hard week for my companion and I. Well for some reason we were both very upset this week. Lets just start off with a wonderful thing that happened to us this week.

1. So our area is HUGE! We were in one part of our area this week thats about an hour away and had to take the bus like always. So we went to that part of our area to visit an investigator that we have there. On the way back we took a bus.... not just any bus... the cursed bus. So the first time we took this bus the guy that was driving was drinking with his buddies and was driving like a mad man. The second time we took this bus we were on the bus for 3 hours because of an accident. Now third times the charm right?? So this week would be time number three. So we got on the bus and everything was fine... well until the guy kept grinding the gear shift. He just kept taking the stick and jerking it everywhere and the bus would make really bad sounds. Now I dont know much about cars or buses, nor do I know how to drive a stick shifts but I know one thing.... He wasnt doing it right. So after about 1000 times of this guy jerking the stick around the bus just broke. Yes the bus just broke. So we stayed on the bus with everyone else until after about 20 mins. the guys came out and told us to get off the bus because they couldnt fix it. So there we were.... all just on the side of the road without a bus. So let me just give some backround really quick, because we were in a part of our area that is so far away the last bus leaves at 6pm. So there we were 5:15 stranded on the side of the road. So we started to walk because well everyone else did as well. But one by one people had family members that came to get them and things like that. So after 45 mins of walking the bus passes by... Without us. We were trying to run after it but they just honked the horn and drove off. So yeah.... we had no ride. We started to call members with cars but no one could come and pick us up. If we kept walking we would have gotten home until about 12 in the morning. So when the bus passed by we were screaming because we were so mad. The only thing that was around us were trees and cows. We were in the middle of the country with no one and nothing in sight. So my companion... being soooo mad.. flipped off the bus driver as he passed by. Shh dont tell her I told you guys or she will get mad haha. I thought it was pretty funny but afterwards she was crying because she did that. Dont worry everyone she has repented... So yeah we just kept walking and walking and walking and walking........... Until we couldnt take it anymore. We just stuck our thumbs up and decided to hitch hike. So the black truck passed by and we were like well fine then, dont pick us up. But then they stopped in the middle of the street and started to back up... Then we almost passed out because we thought we were going to die. But this really nice guy and his family got out of the car and asked us where we were going. We told them and they said they were going the same way. So we road in the back of the truck with them and all was good. It was pretty fun. They were soo nice! So yeah that happened..

2. So also this week my companion and I were pretty sick. We both had fevers and it was just not fun. Times like those in the mission is when everyone wants their moms haha. But it was only for about 2 days so not too bad.

3. so this week we started an English class every Friday at 6pm. So we got to the chaple and guess who showed up????........No one!!! Woohooo!!! So yeah that was sad

4. Then this week we had an activity at the church with all the members and only 3 families showed up. That was sad... But we had sooooo much fun. They are so great. 

So during all these events this week I was pretty down. I just kept thinking about how I wanted to go home and was just like poor me all week. It was pretty hard but then something hit me that changed my attitude towards this week. Which leads me to point 5.

5. So José got baptized this week. He is our 30 year old guy that we have been teaching for a while. He turned my week all around. He got baptized yesterday and when I saw him in his white outfit I wanted to cry. He is the reason why I am hear. We are to help people come unto Christ by helping them recieve the restored gospel... through faith in Jesus Christ and baptism. We helped him do that. After he was baptized he got up to share his testimony with everyone. It was short but powerful. He said "Im a new man." And he is sooo right he is now a new person. He has the chance to be clean and start fresh. He was such a great example to me this week. He was soooo ready to get baptized. Pictures to be included.

So that was about it this week. I miss yall so much. I hope you are all loving school and having fun. Kane started his senior year, my cousin started college, and Gregory is in 3rd grade. Oh how the time just goes! I miss you all and will see you soon!! :) 

with lots of love,

Hermana Patrick

xoxo

P.S. Remember when I said that I was gonna send pictures??? Yeah well for some reason I have a virus soooo, I cant. Maybe next time haha. Love yall.

Hollalujah... Amen?? :)

Hola everyone,

   So this past week was a week I will never forget. So many different things happened so lets get started. 

1. So we were in a lesson with one of our investigators and she told us that she didnt have enough time to read the things we gave her because she was soooo busy. So as we talked to her about the importance of scripture study we told her to just open up the Book of Mormon and read the first scripture that her eyes see. So se did and it was Jacob 6:7-9 which says......

7 "For behold, after ye have been nourished by the goodword of God all the day long, will ye bring forth evil fruit, that ye must be hewn down and cast into the fire?

 8 Behold, will ye reject these words? Will ye reject the words of the prophets; and will ye reject all the words which have been spoken concerning Christ, after so many have spoken concerning him; and deny the good word of Christ, and the power of God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, and quench the Holy Spirit, and make a mock of the great plan of redemption, which hath been laid for you?

 9 Know ye not that if ye will do these things, that the power of the redemption and the resurrection, which is in Christ, will bring you to stand with shame and awful guiltbefore the bar of God?"

After she read this she looked up at us and was like "wow Hermanas, I need to do what Im supposed to do otherwise I will be cast into the fire". We were just like Ha yeahhhhh..... So that was a great lesson with her. But she still didnt come to church on Sunday :( 

2. So my companion and I were walking down the street when these 6 drunk guys started to yell at us. They live kinda by our house and they yell at us every time we walk by, but we never talk to them. So this week we talked to them. We walked up to them (sitting infront of a bar) and started to talk with them about the gospel. We gave them some pamphlets about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and invited them to church. Then all the guys that were sitting around started to come up and they all wanted pamphlets. So we gave like 20 out to everyone that wanted one. We taught them all a quick lesson and then said a prayer... yes a prayer infront of the bar haha. We asked one of the guys to pray but he said he couldnt because he had been drinking so he made me say it. As I did I prayed for all of them and their families and said Amen. They thanked us and ever since then they respect us ALOT more. When we walk by instead of them yelling and saying bad things, they just say hi. Good guys... I hope one day they come to church.

3. Also this week we got rained on in the Ghetto with the Elders. We have one part of our area that we arent allowed to go to if the Elders arent with us because its a red zone. Seeing as 3 people have died in the last week I see why. But we only go to that area once a week or once every 2 weeks. One, because its far away and two, its crazy haha. So we were visiting one of our investigators in that area that is getting baptized soon. But on the way out of the lesson it was pouring down raining. The Elders, my companion and I just started to run. There was lighting and thunder everywhere and there was no bus. So we waited and waited and waited and waited until a bus came. Great times.... we were all soaking wet haha.

4. So this week was a contacting week because ALL of our appointments fell through. So we stopped at this house and this older lady came out. We started to talk to her about the gospel and the whole time she kept saying AMEN! No joke she was like Amen, Amen, Amen, Amen.... to everything we said. If we said we liked pizza she was like Amen. Then she was like Hollalujah!!! So we talked to her for a bit then said a prayer... She said the prayer and was like Hollalujah and Amen the whole time. We didnt know when to say Amen so we just waited until she stopped talking. It was quite fun!! :) Then we gave her a Book of Mormon and told her we would come back the next day to talk with her more about the Gospel. So we came back the next day and she told us she didnt want to learn anymore because she didnt like the Book of Mormon. She said she had the Bible and she didnt need another one that was different. So my companion just bore her testimony to her and I gave the lady 2 Nephi Chapter 29 to read. Then we left her house. If you dont know what 2 Nephi Chapter 29 says go read it.... its amazing. Im sure that lady read it and was like WHAT haha. 

5. So also this week we went contacting with this kid and his mother. We told the kid that it was his turn to contact and so he walked up to these 3 guys that were sitting outside. He walks up and says, "Hola, Bueno... We are inviting people to church.... you know.... over there... and yeah... we wanted to know if you guys wanted to come?....." The guys said "Yeah sure where and what time?" and the the kid says "I dont know.... like.... over there.... at like 9 or something... At Nuevo colon... you guys gonna come?" Then they laugh and say yeah haha. Funny kid. He was really nervous, but hes going to be a great missionary some day. 

6. So the last thing I wish to write about... so we were in this one part of our area thats about an hour and a half away. There was this drunk guy that came up to us and was like hi. We were like ummm okay... then he started to offer us a beer. We told him no and he was like why? Then we told him we were missionaries and we teach people about God. Then he was like "I used to be a pastor you know.." (as he is falling over because he is soooo drunk). Then we took out a Word of Wisdom pamphlet and he didnt want it. He kept trying to give it back to us but we just kept giving it to him. Finally we gave it to him and ran away. He just stayed there in the street and was looking at the pamphlet and walked away. WITH THE PAMPHLET haha... it was great. Hopefully he will change and go to church. 

So yeah that was my week. Full of fun things. I have been reading in the Book of Mormon and Im in Jacob right now. The Book of Mormon is really changing my life. You have no idea!! I cant even tell you guys how important this book is. You have to really read it and study it for yourselves. It will change your lives!!! I love this church and Im greatful for the Gospel in my life. See you guys soon. Oh and P.S. I got my flight plans everyone!! I will be coming home December 19th at 5:31pm... Times just going by so so fast. Well I love yall. Have a GREAT week!! 

With love,

Hermana Patrick

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.