Dust In The Wind

This week we have been trying to ask more specifically to find people in need of a blessing from God. As we were trying to strengthen our faith in the power of prayer we said a specific prayer to find a woman who was single and who had kids who was pondering about God. I feel at times it would just be easier to ask God directly for the people who are ready and who are in need of a blessing, but I have been praying to strengthen my testimony and that I can find the people I was sent here to find. After the prayer, we were walking and walking and were feeling nothing so we kept going, then all of a sudden in synchronization we both turned our head and saw the little dirt trail that ventured off behind a house. We followed the promptings of the spirit and continued on this little dirt trail that lead to a neighborhood of about 25 homes. As we followed the spirit we stopped when we felt prompted to stop. A lady opened the door just a little dazed and we explained that we are missionaries and that God sent us here to bless her and her family. She said, okay give me one minute. She ran off and so we started talking with the kids. At this point we were thinking did she go out the back door or is she actually coming back? After a little bit, she came back, with different clothes on (a lot of times Panamanians will walk out with just a towel on or something less on) and in her hands, she had a bullet. Apparently, last night there were some gunshots going off and one ricocheted and ended up in their house. All that morning she was pondering and praying about death and what was to come. She had a need for protection because she is a single mother. It is hard to describe the sweet spirit that overcame me during the lesson.  A sense of humility renewed as I realized I was only being used as an instrument in order to help others and that I would have never found her house without the guidance of the spirit. I previously had been a little stubborn to listen to the promptings in the past and the idea that the Lord knows each one of his children and their needs. Over experiences like this in the past week, my faith has grown in the power of prayer and God’s knowledge and love for his children.

This week we went to Aldea again, there are two different tribes that live over the river. One is focused on tourism and we haven’t gone there yet. We have spent a lot of time in the Embera-Quera tribe that live on the upper side of the river. We have been trying to plan activities there for all of Aldea for a little while now. This week we were planning a baptism but they sometimes get backflow tourism there. They had to make last minute preparations which meant they would be busy all day. We had to postpone the baptism until next week, but we had the chance to help out with the preparations. All the young men and boys went out that evening to cut sugar cane. They came back and started feeding them into this handmade juicer. Occasionally they would call out switch, and the boys on the sides cranking would take a break. As soon as we saw that they were rotating we hopped in and helped to get all of the sugarcane through the press. Oh, man was that a work out, but I have never tasted a better tasting natural juice, it was fresh and cold.

Also, in Aldea, the kids are fascinated by my camera. One of the best decisions I have ever made was to let them use my camera and just go around taking pictures. Of course, a lot of the pictures are not great, but some of them are priceless. I’m just going to start giving my camera to little kids wherever I go. They just take pictures of everything. Look a duck! "Click," Hey Grandma! "Click," A peach pit! "Click." I think the next time I’m there I’ll tell them to go around taking pictures of people and the houses, because I can’t just go around and take picture of everything. 

With this new year, we have a new time that we meet at church, we recently got a new bishop and will have a new prophet soon. In case you haven’t heard our prophet, Thomas S. Monson passed away this week. Just as in the primitive church, we believe in its same organization of Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, Teachers, Evangelist, and so forth and since the gospel has been restored entirely, we have been blessed to have a Prophet, a divinely chosen representative who can receive revelation for the whole church and the whole world. In the following few days, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will unite and through inspiration reorganize the Quorum and receive revelation of who is the next acting prophet. What a glorious time we live in where we have a prophet of God that walks the earth and directs the people according to the will of God. We appreciate their service and willingness to whole heartedly serve in this calling and all the service Thomas S. Monson provided. May he be at rest and reunite with his wife in heaven. Now, this last Sunday we had the highest attendance in a while. I don’t know if it was because of the new year, the setting of new goals, the new bishop, or in part the work we’ve been doing. However, and for whatever reason, the ward is slowly growing once again. The hearts of the people are becoming softened and there is a confidence of trust within the ward.

This week my companion was just a little bit distracted. As missionaries normally your mind is going a million miles per hour. You’re constantly thinking about where to go next, what our investigators need to hear, what do we need to do to bring them to Christ, how we can teach better, how can our investigators keep commitments?  He had an ex-girlfriend write him something sappy this week. It’s hard enough to worry about the people, let alone your family and friends. Trying to deal with girls or ex-girlfriends is the icing on the cake. Nobody sane eats the icing. They cut it off and just eat the cake and give the icing to a little kids. That’s what we did. I told him to tell me every girl he ever dated or had a crush on, and then I wrote them down. He was obviously a little confused, but he said okay your next. On the same note card, I went through all the names I could remember going back to middle school. It was actually kind of funny because neither he or I could remember all the names so we took turns making up new names. At the end, we rolled up the list, doused it with rubbing alcohol and set it on fire. I told him, unlike Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego all your past love life has died in a fiery furnace. They are no longer important to you and no longer exist. All they are, are dust in the wind. Your mind won’t sing the same old song and will now be at rest. Now let’s get to work!

On our P-Day we found a waterfall!