Vista Alegre #12 “duhduhduhdudhudh BAT TREE!!!!”

Bautismo de Satornino

Bautismo de Jose

Feliz Navidad!!

A perfect representation of the two seasons of Panama 1: rain or 2: sun

We got to go to the mall again and eat some icecream woohoo!

Hno Cesar and Christine!

Said goodbye to hna Hernandez today. She's going to Brazil! So we will be in a threesome for this week until changes!

hola familia!!

This week was excellent as we had 2 baptisms this week.  Yes one was the one-eyed Hermano Satornino. He isn't actually crazy at all, just super funny. Also I showed him a picture of our family and because of the background in the photo, he thinks we are all from San Blas hahahaha! So funny! After his baptism he was literally singing praises to God and was soooo darn happy! It was amazing! The second was Jose who is the brother of Eduardo who we baptized a few weeks ago! Jose's mom wants me to marry her son soooo bad haha and last week  he told us if he was to go anywhere in the world, he would go to Utah to my house. Uh oh! But nah, it was really funny, poor guy!

Also I gave my first talk in church. It was awful and in Spanish. Nah it really wasnt that bad and I wasnt even that nervous! The Spirit does work miracles!

We also had a miracle! Our amazing family Gomez lost their dad this week. SO Sad!!! Butttt, we retaught the Plan of Salvation and I got the opportunity to see firsthand the blessings of the Gospel and knowing a family is forever! So now this family is really progressing! The Lord just knew what they needed and I know He loves them very much and sent us to them at the perfect time right when they needed it!

Cool story that isnt really fun: We have to walk down a certain road to get to our house every night that has this tree. ANd like a million bats live in this tree. Now I don't know what their deal is, but I guess they think my blonde hair is like a luz or something cuz every single night, they attack my head. Vanini always walks in front or behind laughing as I run away from the stinking bats, screaming my head off. They don't ever attack her, just me. Well, whatever, I guess I'm just special!

Love you all sooo much!!

DyC 18 is an amazing chapter about repentance and how it applies to missionary work

Mosiah 5:2 is a verse so simple about repentance and how it really is the desire to stop doing bad and do the good... So simply put!

"It's not about what you've done, it's who you've become"

Elder Alonzo

Love,

Hna Hallsted

Vista Alegre #11 “I felt a chill”

Me with this Cuna family who make mola for me!

My two favorite Cunitas, Keyra and Dayra in their pollera outfits

Hna Vanini lol

Better pictues of the pollera timblekes... SOoo beautifuL!

My investigator Hna Osiris has this mola jacket sooo nice

In the city and it was windy so my hair is everywhere…

Normal day of two misioneras

This week was rain rain rain, and I even felt cold once! Crazy! I haven't felt cold in 5 months haha. Speaking of 5 months, tomorrow is my 5 month mark!! Isn't that weird how fast time flies? Just 13 more to go!

This week was amazing!!!

Elder Alonzo frome the 70 visited us, and I will tell you what, I have never been more inspired in my life. It was amazing! And in Spanish and I understood every word! I think the gift of tongues was really working for everybody in that special reunion. The entire meeting he had people stand up and share their testimonies about parts of the Gospel (faith, repentance, the atonement, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, and enduring to the end), but share our personal testimonies. We weren't allowed to talk about how it related to missionary work, or what "we" can do, just use to word "I". It was amazing. I learned a lot about what I really feel and how the Gospel really is such a huge part of my life. How I can repent of my own sins and that my Saviour, Jesus Christ, suffered for me.

Well after that amazing meeting, we were all super inspired...

We got on a crowded bus for the hour long ride to our area, and sat down separated. After sitting down and introducing myself, I discovered that I was sitting next to a member and her nonmember mother. I talked with them with a lot more confidence than I ever had before. I noticed two things, one, I could feel the power of the authority I have as a missionary, and two, I could understand their Spanish (and their needs) perfectly. The member has a beautiful story and a strong testimony of the Church and we talked about how she can use technology to be an everyday missionary. Her mother told me she wasn't interested in having lessons, but after that powerful reunion with Elder Alonzo, I wasn't intimidated. Instead I taught her the Plan of Salvation, while causually talking about families. I invited to have the missionaries visit her again, and she accepted! She thanked me for being nice and told me I was different than other missionaries and wasn't pushy, which I thought was funny, since she was a rejection, but became a reference haha! I learned that opening your mouth really is not that hard, especially when you do it with confidence. All you have to do is introduce yourself, and apply the gospel. Because the gospel isn't just a religion, or just 6 lessons. It's an entire life, and a it's a life that people are looking for, they just don't know where to look. I know that the church is true and that the gospel is for everyone!

Also we met the one-eyed guy on our way to church again this week, and he came with us again haha! Our most active investigator! And he actually really wants to be baptized, so I think we actually will be doing that next week. You never know who the Lord has prepared! Oh and something super funny! He brought his umbrella to church and we had forgotten ours and after church we were walking down in the rain, and he opens up his umbrella, and it's not just an umbrella, it's one of those giant, colorful picnic umbrellas. He's a really tiny guy too, so it just looked hilarious. So we were walking on the side of him and his giant umbrella getting soaked, and laughing our heads off.

Anyways, Suuuuuure Love ya!

Love,

Hna Hallsted

Vista Alegre #10 ""Yes, I would love to get baptized in that church of yours""

Haha remember at the beginning I said nah the mosquitos aren't that bad? Welp, that was a lie. My legs are hideous! The thing that looks like a dog bite is especially ridiculous. We rode for an hour on a bus and when we came off, we found that the mosquitos had a little buffet on my leg. Just great.

Happy (late) Birthday to my Angel Mother!!! I love you soooo much!

Us with our third little missionary, Christin. She is so stinking cute!!

This spot of nature was just begging for a picture, so we obliged.

Caught in action, using my favorite weapon: deet! (ps, mom could you send me more haha)

Us with some Panamenian Polleras! This is their "typical" dress that everyone wears for celebrations

I started drinking this drink, thinking it was just some juice of something, and it was delicios! Then a member walks by and asks, "ahh, the Fula (that's gringa in Panama) likes rice and pineapple". I was like, wait, what? Yup, I am drinking rice in pineapple juice and it is actually really good! It is a Panamanian specialty!

A traditional dance of Panama. Also the hat the joven is wearing is the Panama Sombraro. Haha, I'm gonna get one for dad, they are so funny!

We live with a family, and their little girl Christin loves for us to put her to bed! Sooo stinkin cute!

Hola familia!

This week was great! And still rainy! (surprise, surprise)

We go on field trips to the city almost everyday for Vanini's therapy, so I am like basically a pro at the city life now, haha. No, it's actually kinda tough not being able to work hard, but I am learning a lot in a different way! So when we can start working hard again, I will be extra prepared!

This week we taught familia Gomez. They are Evangelicos, which usually means if they invite in your house, they just want to fight you. Like really Evangelicos are crazy. But this family we found by offering to bless their home, and after, they were so happy because the Spirit was so strong. The mama said, "That prayer was beautiful and there wasn't anything different about it than I would have said". So we went back and visited with them and found that the mama's sister has alzheimer's and her grandson is handicap, so life at home is a 24/7 job. But we had a lesson with the whole family, showing all the evidence in the scriptures, and at the end they just were so excited saying, "everything really makes sense now!". Anyways, we are really excited for them.

Oh and we visited with Magali twice this week, but we still aren't sure if she is crazy or not haha.

This week we also found a guy with one eye on our way to church and invited him to join us. Well, he did indeed join us, and at the end of church he told us he wants to be baptized in this church of ours. It is really cool to see how really everyone can feel the spirit at the church!

This past week me and Vanin talked a lot about how we can put in a lot more effort into being better missionaries. And because we are working together as a companionship, I have noticed how much better we are at following the Spirit. Because we are trying harder to be more obedient, we are also focusing a lot more on our investigators. We discuss their needs and plan for them. I have started to realize how focused missionary work is on the Atonement. When we talk about needs of investigators, I can feel the Spirit helping us know how the Savior can help them. Because really we are just doing His work. We are only here to invite others to come closer to Him, to feel His love through the Atonement, and to be cleansed through baptism. And not only are we helping others when we preach His gospel, but we also are bringing ourselves closer to Him. I love the Gospel!

Love  you all!,

Love Hna Hallsted

Vista Alegre #9 “And the rain rain rain came down down down”

There's this pole that says no hay agua "there's no water", which I think is pretty funny cuz it rains 24/7 over here.

Baptism de Hno Carlos!!

Divisions with my fav Tongan Hna Langi!!

Hola familia!

This week it rained. Surprise!

Rain kinda stinks when you are a missionary, because, first of all, you get soaked and it's not super comfy, but also because rain in Panama means nap time. Everyone goes to sleep. And the people who aren't sleeping can't hear when you call on them because it rains so hard. But other than that it's fun! Oh and also it was festival week in panama! It says in the Missionary Handbook that holidays are a really good opportunity for teaching because you can find families. Haha, this doesn't apply here in Panama. A holiday means everybody either leaves to visit family and gets drunk. This festival was this entire week, it's like their Independance from all these different countries celebration, so the entire week was just pretty difficult. What we did was focus on the less actives and recent converts a lot instead which is always great!

Oh on Wednesday, it rained so hard and also it was a lightning and thunder storm, which we found out after we started walking to an area especially far. Well, let me just tell ya, it was crazy. The lightning came down silent and was breaking telephone poles and cars all around us and then the thunder would come so loud it hurt our ears! I'm not kidding, both of our legs and arms were bright red after because the lightning had burned all of our hair off. Good news was I didn't have to shave the next day. It was so scary, we ran right out of the street and into a chino for protection (with a whole bunch of drunk guys, cuz you know, it's festival week) for about an hour. I know God sure loves us, cuz we almost died, but He really protected us in that moment.

We found an old blind lady who has two teeth and sings like an angel. She is the cutest thing ever. I can't remember her name, but I'll tell you when I see her again. She is really positive and loves us. I think we can really help her!

We met Osiris and her mama this week too, and they also came to church! They are super sweet and like to talk a whole lot, but I think we can really progress with them too!

Miracle of the week, we were walking home one night and saw a lady sitting on the ground crying. We thought Perfect, she's either crazy or needs help. Either way, the Gospel can help! We introduced ourselves but telling her we know that God has a plan for her and if she knew what that was. She just started bawling. Majali (her name) is from Nicuragua and has no job or money to get back home. She told us she was sitting out here thinking about the purpose of life and was praying God would send her some sign that He loves her and she has purpose. Well I am thinking that is cool, cuz we just happen to be missionaries with the fulness of the Gospel and a message about our purpose here on Earth. I'll tell you more of what happens when we see her again!

Love you!

Hna Hallsted