One Year

"It's been One year since you looked at me. Threw your arms in the air and said I'm crazy. About five months since you talked me, I can't wait to call back, I hope soon, please. Three days since the Interview, I've realized it's not been too long, nor a moment too soon. Yesterday you forgotten me, But I've still got one year to finish, Oh Golly."

Yup, Peace, Chao. I've hit one year and as a present, I'm taking the week off a writing. See you in a week. Nah, Bromas. Did I just throw in a Barenaked Ladies reference? Absolutely! I am proud of that? Yup! Do I have regrets? Only that I didn't go out and eat Chinese chicken.

So what happened this week? Well firstly, I don't know if you remember, but every 45 days we have an interview with President Current. Normally because we are out in the boonies we have to travel five hours on a bus to David. Well, normally he just puts the conference and the interviews together, but something fell through the last time. So, for the second time this month we got to go down to David! That’s like 10 hours in a bus, without traffic. But I always love interviews with President Current! I always end up learning so much. This time we talked a little bit and I learned what I needed to do to as he says, not just finish your mission, but get your Master’s degree. So, I'm excited to make this next year even better than the first.

We had divisions and I went off with Elder Daffer in our area. I actually learned quite a lot from him. He teaches with a lot of energy and so that has recently rubbed off on me and I'm loving it.

I finally met Elder and Sister Johnson the Senor couple. They are amazing! But they are in charge of finances and housing. And well, they gave us the award for the hottest house they've been too. Woo!! 

As a tradition here in the mission, I burnt my completed one year mark shirt!! However, it was the same night we were traveling to David. My companion and I slept the night at Elder Daffer and Elder Hernandez house. We beat them home and we knew how to get in so we are anxiously waiting for them to get home for around ten minutes. I felt like a kid on Christmas night man. We surprised them and then we set everything up. I lite up my shirt on fire while spinning my shirt in the air and dancing around like it was a party. Out of nowhere my shirt gets caught. Surprised, I look up and well... I accidentally set their clothesline on fire. We all just sit there as it lite up like the introduction to a James Bond movie and then caught a part of their ceiling on fire. (Luckily, there was no explosion). We ran frantically to put it all out. I'm beating it with a plank my comp runs in for water, but we're in Bocas where there isn't good water pressure so it takes a while for the water to fill up. We did get it all taken care of, thankfully. Phew nothing bad happened. The house is still good, nobody died and we were able to go to sleep peacefully. Then the next morning we woke up at two in the morning to leave in this bus and I went to go looking in my bag for a shirt. Not just a shirt for your normal day. No, a shirt for my interview with the President of the Mission... And yeah, I left it on the desk. I burnt the only shirt I brought to have interviews with President. Luckily they had a spare one.

So...how am I doing after one year?  Well, I don't have time to write all that but I will give you a brief overview. 

Physically- My legs are whiter and my arms and face are significantly tanner. I have lost all of the callouses on my hands and now have them on my feet. I have a weird addiction to rice and don't feel full unless I eat a little bit. 

Socially- I have recently gotten to be rather social. Before I had a side of me that was a little more reserved. I use to hold back my thoughts and only said them when I needed to. I was only open when I felt comfortable. But being put in a foreign country when you have to learn a new language kind of opens you up. Also being a missionary makes you talk. As my confidence grew I became more open with strangers and in Spanish. As of only the past few months I have been able to open up a really exciting and new side of me.

Emotionally- I have been torn emotionally quite a few times. It is rough when you are doing everything you should be and are going the extra mile and things still don't go your way.  I have had my share of people who want to get baptized, but at the last minute their parents change their minds, or they get afraid of commitment, or just remember they don't like water. I have learned how to make sacrifices and how to turn to the Lord for comfort.

Intellectually- Well, my Spanish has improved drastically since day one, but there is always room for improvement. I have found that as I put confidence in my Spanish people seem to listen more. I have as of this month been taking my scripture study to a new level. I have never enjoyed reading the scriptures more as I study them, treasure up their meaning, and see how their message applies to my life and the life of my investigators. I know I have like the worst memory in all the world. But as I pray and study the scriptures I am finding that I remember them in times of need.

Spiritually- I have learned how to act on the promptings of the spirit, aun mas then before. I have never felt more of a need to be closer to the Lord or receive his revelation. Beforehand I relied on him, but almost in an obligatory way. Like I was only turning to pray and receive answers when I needed them and then less so looking for direction when my life was fine. It was almost as if I was praying, because my parents taught me or because the scriptures tell us so. I am learning currently how to receive personal revelation. Not just for my problems, but for also the smaller aspects of my life and as I am obedient and seek diligently, I receive what I need.

I mean as a missionary I have improved tenfold, but I still have a lot left to learn and not nearly enough time as I want. I'm very grateful for this time I have had in the mission. I honestly, don't know what type of person I would have become without these life-changing experiences. This is something I will treasure for the rest of my life. And something I will never take back.

 

What Luck!

We get one day every transfer where all the Elders can go out and hang on Monday. It happened to be last week and we went out this time to play soccer. I was able to do something incredibly fun, I twisted my ankle. I went to the clinic and they told me I couldn't walk on it for five days. (Umm, that’s not going to happen. First of all I would just be stir crazy and let alone there are a lot of people who we need to visit). The rest of Monday my ankle was swollen and I couldn't walk. On Tuesday, I was out of commission for about half of the day. It is great that we have really fun and motivating Elders in the district and they all were very positive and motivated me to leave the house and work for as long as I could and that if I would make sacrifices God would bless me. 

We came up with some plans where I could work where I wouldn't have to walk a whole lot and do you know what happened? Yeah, we were blessed. A very positive family we were teaching committed to go to church as a family. It happened, maybe it was just pity points as I was limping, but I believe full-heartedly it was God's work. Then we saw a handful of blessings that day with the biggest being at the end of the day. My foot healed surprisingly faster than the doctor said it should have, and I ended up being able to walk on it Wednesday without limping. 

At one of the Mini Super's there ended up being a live band. I taught my companion what the words meant and then shot a video.

I was able to play Donkey Kong for a service project. We helped a ward member roll barrels of oil from a friend’s house down the middle of the street to his house.

This week we've been looking at the people we've been interacting with and well I've been a little frustrated why we haven't had the success that we've wanted. However, I realize as missionaries, at times we are planting seeds of faith in people for other missionaries and members to harvest. We have to remember at the same time, there have been individuals before us that planted seeds for the harvest that we have experienced. I know that when we put our trust in the Lord, His plan is there to bless every single one of us. It may mean that we have to plant seeds and wait and later on this person and maybe their family, maybe a friend, or maybe their kids will be blessed with faith in Christ. I am happy I have the opportunity to teach people of Christ. 

One Love - Panama!

My companion and I had an interesting week as we have been trying to work more with the members. The young men are really motivated to help us out which has been helpful. We are finding better methods to bring investigators to the church.  

As we were taking a bus to district meeting, which is a 45-minute ride without traffic, about 30 minutes into the trip a big dump truck blocked the road. The bus driver decided that he didn’t want to move and he just drop us off early. Luckily I knew where we got off, just at the borders of El Empalme, and so we just started to get walking. We felt like Pioneers as we walked and walked and walked and walked.  It took us around two hours, in which we passed around five different roadblocks, but we did make it to the District meeting. When the meeting was over, we headed back. 

After walking in the blazing sun for hours I heard a man call out to us, “Hey, what’s going on?” We explained everything, as I stared at the passenger in the side seat. Wow, he looks a lot like my 1st bishop, Obispo Bravo, I thought. Just then he calls out, “Elder Irizarry, how you doing?!” It was really cool to run into him and talk for a little bit. I am not sure how it was that we crossed paths, but I can tell you that I felt as though it was meant to be. After pondering it more, and recounted how many things had to fall in place so I could run into him that day, I could not help but know that it was divinely planned for me to run into him. The day he had to travel there, the time he had to leave, the day we had district meeting, the time we got out, and the day they planned to work on the roads. The list goes on and on.  During that moment I did not know exactly why I was out there, but I do know how I felt. At the end it was like, heck I'd walk in the sun for four hours every day just to feel like I'm accomplishing God's errands. It was super cool.

I believe they were working on the roads because of protests about road conditions. I am just glad it wasn’t anything as bad as the protest that had happened before I was ever here.  Apparently, since this town is the farthest town away from the Panama City it is often times forgotten about every now and then by the government. Years ago there were riots where they filled up balloons with gas and started throwing fire (literalmente #EchandoFuego). The streets were in terrible condition, broken up and ruined. This was a day in which they were protesting but it was a lot tamer this time. We just had to walk a little bit more than usual.

For Mother's Day, I was able to travel to the zone leaders (45-minute bus ride) and we were able to Skype (call) home and talk with family which was great.  I had my last companion Elder Lopez talk in English with a blonde wig on for the family saying, "Hello, my name is Elder Irizarry, I got turned into a Latino." We all had a riot with six missionaries crammed into a small computer closest to call our families.   The next day happened to be our P-day de Eldere and we ended up staying the night with the zone leaders and playing soccer today and eating at a Bob Marley restaurant which was super good. The owner had dreadlocks that went down to his knees.

All in all, I loved seeing my family this week and I truly enjoy serving here in Almirante.  I am so blessed!

Right, Left, Right

In Almirante (which means Admiral) where I live; Sir Yes Sir! I'm just waiting to find anyone military here, but the closest I've gotten is a drunk who thinks he's a pirate and who happens to be missing some teeth. We did recently find a box of Captain Crunch. If I remember correctly he never did earn his promotion as a Captain and he's actually still an Admiral. I don't know if that counts, but I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'll find someone.

Now not a whole lot going on here in this small town. It has one strip that looks kind of nice, but that’s right where they have a small hotel and Taxi 25. The water taxis that send you off to one of the 20-something islands. Supposedly they're beautiful, but as missionaries, we are prohibited to go there. From what I have seen tourists come in at all hours of the day to go out to who-knows-where. Apparently, there are some islands where you can rent a personal island for a week and others that have high scale resort hotels. One that I have recently heard of is called something like the high heels. It has two islands and they have big volcanos sticking out of each island and from what I've heard it looks like a pair of high heels. 

Additional information looked up by my family: Almirante is a crop of stilted homes on the water.  It is a village of unkempt homes that have seen better days, but it remains the springboard for the Archipelago de Bocas del Toro so it is always busy.  As they talked about the Bocas del Toro Province, they mentioned that it consists of six densely forested islands, scores of uninhabited islets and the Parque Nacional Marino Isa Bastimentos, Panama’s oldest marine park.  It is the base of Chiquita Banana, home to diverse wildlife such as the elusive jaguar, the traditional Ngobe-Bugle settlements and the Naso, one of the few remaining American tribes with its own monarchs. They say it may be one of Panamas most beautiful corners. 

Some of the history that I thought was cool was, that Christopher Columbus visited Bocas in 1502. They actually have maps of this area that he made. He actually entered with his two vessels into a wide bay that the indigenous people used to call Carabaro which is now days called Almirante Bay.  He was so affixed by its beauty that many landmarks are named after him, including the Isla of Colon which is just a 30 min boat ride from where I am. 

In the 17^th century, it became a haven for pirates where they fed on sea turtles.  And despite the rumors, there has never been any lost treasure found there.  France settled there in the 17^th century, mainly Huguenots (Protestants) who were fleeing religious war.  The Spanish were later sent there to dislodge them.  They ended up bringing disease which virtually wiped out most of the indigenous population.  

In the 19^thcentury, wealthy aristocrats brought in many slaves from the US and Columbia.  In 1850 when slavery had been abolished, former slaves became fishers and farmers.  In the 1900’s the Jamaican joined them in work. Chiquita Banana exports 750,000 tons of bananas annually.  The largest workforce in the province is also the most diverse nationwide, with West Indians, Latinos, Chinese and indigenous people in its employ.

Name Bocas Del Toro's origin: It is being said that Christopher Columbus when he landed at one of the paradisiacal beaches, saw various waterfalls in the form of “Bocas del Toro” (mouths of the bull). It is also said that Columbus distinguished a large rock on Bastimentos Island (easily to recognize nowadays) that has the form of a bull that is lying down. It is also being said that the sound of the immense waves that hit the large rock that has a volcanic origin and that you can find on Bastimentos Island, makes a sound similar to the roaring of a bull. On the other hand, there are people that assure that the last “cacique” (= chief) of the region was known as “Boka Toro”. And that’s why they call it Bocas!

Genuinely Almirante it’s just a small town. They have a bus port that goes to David Panama and Changuinola and it is really just like Winnemucca.  A Town that just gets used to get gas and pass through. (Well a pass through to get to the islands.) Surprisingly it has a bank, a lot of bars, a hand full of chinos, and a lot of parking garages.  By parking garage, I mean like gravel park with a big metal fence. If you ever played the board game Rush Hour as a kid it’s just like that. You have your one red car that needs to escape but someone parked three buses on the lot and you're just sitting here like who invited these buses into the parking garage?! Next time I'm just walking! Yeah, but aside from the strip, the houses are really cool. 

You have the area split up into three big quadrants. Guaymi, where all the Ngobes live. Barriada Francais, where all the Afro-Panamanians who speak Wari Wari live and, Seglas where all the Latinos live.  My favorite part is Guaymi because the Ngobes all have their traditional houses. They are all houses on stilts and just fun. Now Changuinola, as you remember, has a problem with water. That’s how I got Parasites and why we can't drink water without a filter. Here more so than El Empalme you see the problems and the curses of Black Water. That sounds a lot scarier in English, but yeah, it’s really bad. Our shower here doesn’t work so we use a bucket for a shower here. About 50% of the time the water isn't running or doesn't have pressure so we leave the bucket filled with water and yes, the worms grow in about 12 hours and you can see them in the bucket. In case you wanted to know. (And No, I do not have Parasites again.)

I genuinely never thought this would be the mission I signed up for it, but it has just been so much more of an adventure than I could have ever hoped for! I am so grateful that I can get a Boy Scouts of Central America trip of a lifetime.  Yeah and now that I mention it, I am probably going to be called as a scout leader after the mission and this experience.

Anyways, in Guaymi they have a lot of problems with their water. So, they build their houses in the middle of the lagoon. We walk on cut off planks of wood that are aged and look like they're going to fall any moment. Basically, it’s just practice to be a gymnast or a pirate. I'm just waiting for any moment that Jack Sparrow jumps out into a sword fight.

Oh, by the way, they do have some big bugs here in Panama!

We walk from house to house on these elevated platforms. It is apparently normal. It is like if you were to walk to the end of a port to go fishing. We have had to be careful for, at any moment, you could break through one of the planks and fall straight in. Or find out that they ran out of nails and didn't nail them in.

This week I decided to be more dedicated to my exercises.  As I was getting really into it, I found some old weights in the house. I used an old blanket as a workout mat. I was sweating and feeling great. I swear I must have put on like five pounds of muscle because that same exact day we were walking back from an investigator and talking and excited as she was preparing to be baptized. While I was waddling along these planks I put my left foot out onto the plank my companion just crossed seconds before me and SNAP! Yup, I broke it. Dove foot first into the lagoon of the cursed black water. I did clean my foot off, then I fixed the bridge, and continued on my day. Apparently, it happens a lot there. I'm just glad I didn't fall in head first. Moral of the story, don’t put on too much weight while exercising.