San Blas Islands Week #5 "I am a cat!"

Nuegambi!

Igi be oibosa?

That's my new phrase. It means how did you wake up this morning? Kinda strange, but it’s really common to say in Cuna.

The past two weeks have been great! We were in our neighbor's store and this guy was sitting there. He started calling us "gordas" and telling us we looked like old ladies and it was soooo funny! So we asked him if he was mormon and he is. So that day we went to Tarsico's house and his whole family wanted to be baptized! They are seriously my favorite family ever! It's him, his wife Dorineth, her mom Amelita, and her kids, Liseica and Eden and her sister who's name I forgot, whoops, haha.

The kids got baptized this week, and we are still teaching his wife, but we are sure she will be baptized soon. But we are really super excited about them because we are working with them to start getting ready to go to the temple! The branch started selling popcorn to save up money to go in December, and the family decided that they wanted to do it too! It's really fun teaching them because they don’t know too much Spanish, so they say funny stuff (like Tarciso, always calling us fat haha, but not really realizing how mean it is).​

Also, I can't remember if I told you, but we teach seminary, and when I got here, there were about five kids who attended, but now, we have tripled that number! All the youth have been inviting their friends and they all love seminary. We had the baptism of Olodieli last week, which he wanted at 4 in the morning and we told him no way. So we held his baptism at 6 in the morning and we were sooo tired hahah! But is was suuuuper pretty, so it was worth it. After his baptism (it was also his birthday) we made pancakes for seminary  and all the kids were legit dying of happiness! They've never had pancakes or syrup before.

Oh also something suuuuper cool about Olodieli is that he is a "neli", which is basically a shadowman only with good spirits. It’s a person who speaks with spirits and can see them and can tell you your future and stuff like that. Normally they are old guys, who work hard to develop the "gift", but Olodieli is 14 and was born with it. He's like super famous on all the islands because of

night. How cool is that?

This week I am a cat because I got pink eye. It's suuuuper bad! haha. I think it’s pretty funny, my eyes look like little  watermelons, they are bright red and the center is this super beautiful green color. No clue why pink eye makes my eye color fantastic, but whatevs. Anyways, they're super swollen so I look like a cat. Everyone calls me gatita. Also in Cuna culture, they think that if you even look at somebody in the eyes who has pink eye, you will get it. So nobody wants to look at me. Also they think that if you look in the mirror for too long with pink eye, you will get gusanos in your eyes. haha, oh Cunas! of

course, I haven’t been looking in the mirror too much, just in case!

Anyways, I think that's about it this week. We are going to have a couple baptisms today, we couldn’t do them yesterday because there was a super bad storm that ripped down the elementary! It was crazy! And later this week, we'll have some more. We found out this week that a lot of members are actual members because the old branch pres threw away all their baptism registros for some reason. So we're going to start baptizing all of them that are not in the system!  We are so

freaking busy haha.

Love you all soooo much!!!

Can't tell you how my testimony has grown by living out here with these people! You cant even doubt the BOM isnt true, because they have sooooo many evidences in their culture! I love it!

An beymar abege!! (???)

Buna Hallsted (Sister Hallsted in the Cuna Language)

Answers to Mom’s questions

• Haha, nobody in all of Panama knows what Pioneer day is haha!

• There are probs around 800 people who live on Ticantiki

• I am sure I am going to die of cold

• Baptize Now program is how we take a day to look for families who are part member families, and who have people who can be baptized within a week. It works super well. There are always inactive families who have kids who have gone to church a couple times who haven’t been baptized who want to be. Its  super great! In san blas we don't really need to use it because basically every family has at least one member. And also just about everyone has gone to church a couple of times, but a lot just weren’t baptized for some reason. There are only 3 churches, ours, the baptist church, and the catholic church. nobody goes to the catholic church, but there are a lot of baptists. But because the baptist religion conflicts with the nature of the Cuna religion, (their whole culture is basically a religion) the Silahs (like sigh-las) (they are the chiefs of the Islands.. oh and every island has 4 chiefs) are talking about getting rid of it haha. On our Island, all the silahs are mormon. That's why it's easier to baptize on San Blas, just a lot harder to keep everyone activated!

• It's 8 in the morning over here. We don't have internet on our Island (that's why we didn't write last week, because the modem broke) and Hna Canedo's sister was doing some medical tests this week, so she wanted to see how that went, so we went to a different Island called Nargana at 5 in the morning to write! The panga comes back at 10, so we'll be going back to our Island at that hour.

• There are only pangas in the morning haha. There is no way to travel to a different island after 10, so if we wanted to go and come back, we had to leave especially early! Nargana is a lot closer to our Island. It's the island of our district leader.

San Blas Islands Week #3: “Baptizing Islands"

Hello Familia!

Sooo this week, we have been finding, teaching, and inviting everyone to be baptized like you wouldn’t believe. It’s pretty easy because allll the youth and allll the kids want to be mormon, at first because their friends are mormon, also because everyone looooves the hermanas (us). Then we teach them and it’s super funny because everyone loves the Joseph Smith story. Also once we teach about the Book of Mormon, they reallly want to be baptized because there are so many things in the Cuna Culture that has so many evidences that the BOM is true. For example, all Cunas believe that a man ´Ibbi Orgu´ came here and taught all about God and temples and the stuff we do inside. That’s the name they have for him, so we just teach them that he is also ´bab massi´ or Jesus Christ, and that our Savior came here as well.

The problem we have been having is getting the parents to permit their children to be baptized. But we have got some crazy plans. We have visited all the parents, and they all love us, so we are going to try to get permission to baptize all the kids this Saturday! We are going to baptize all the parents after, because they still haven’t come to church.

Oh funny story about church. This week our President left to Panama, so he left us the keys and his notebook (we are kinda like his counselors haha). and because this week was Childrens week, and the Catholic Church invited our church to do tons of activities, President had changed to church to 2:00. BUT the real second counselor wanted it to be at 9, we told him no because nobody would come, but he was very certain about it. So we thought, whatever 9:00 is fine, but Pres had already told everyone at 2. But just whatever. BUT because we had the keys to the church in the morning, he got mad and didn’t show up to church. Cunas. So we were all waiting there with the two boys who were going to bless the santa cena, and a couple other members. Like nobody showed up, just like we thought, because of all the activities at the Catholic Church. Because he never showed up, we couldn’t start church because we didn’t have an Elder. SOooooo we told 4 people there, we were going to find and Elder and have church at 2 like we had planned. Then we found out that the 2nd counselor was telling everybody we wouldn't be having church that day, because he was mad at us, so we had to go and tell everyone we would have church. Then we found out we didn’t actually need an Elder haha, cuz D&C says if there isn’t an elder present, the sacerdocio menor can dirigir (Google translate = Minor priest can direct? Sounds like a priest can preside?). Soooooo then we did everything by ourselves and got church ready by 2. At 2, we blew the conch shell, and we had more than 30 people come, lots of investigators and it was great! Wow, that was a longer story than I thought. Just an example of some of the craziness that happens out here haha.

So to end, I love San Blas and my Island and I loioii0oooveevveee being a missionary!

Love you all!

Hna Hallsted

Answers to Mom’s questions:

Where are you writing from? The church on YOUR island? Or another island?

We are on a different Island. Everyone in our district is here right now on the Island of the Zona leaderes, called PLAYON CHICO. We are here for a district meeting, we only get one every change, and its always on Monday, so no pday today. And actually almost the whole zone is here because of the chicha fuerte which means they are allowed to drink (getting drunk is prohibited and only allowed on special days and everyone goes crazy). We’ll be going back to our island tomorrow though!

How many of the inhabited islands have missionaries on them?

Every missionary companionship has their own island, some have two or three islands. I think we are going to be opening up another island called Tigre soon. I would say around 10 islands have missionaries on them. It changes basically every day haha, because the chiefs keep kicking out missionaries and then accepting them again and so missionaries are coming and going. This week two elders went back to the city because they closed down their island, but two others opened up another island. Oh also another interesting fact is that we are the only hermanas in the whole Zone! How cool??!

So you've spelled Ticantiqui/Ti Cantiki/Tikantiki many different ways. What's the real way?

I’ve asked and nobody really is sure. Nobody can spell, so they just put basically what they feel like

(Google shows both but more often Ticantiki)

Also, is there no light on the island or what? Solar light or solar power?

No light, so my solar lamp is serving me soooooo well! Everybody wants it haha

How are you staying out of the sun?

I have my umbrella and wear a baseball cap! And sunglasses

Are we going to be able to see photos soon? Can you see photos we send?

I can receive photos, but to send is harder

is there an actual church building? Do you email from there?

The church building is pretty much destroyed, so they are coming in and making a new one!!

there is exactly one computer here with terrible internet. WE HAVE INTERNET on our island only saturdays and sundays, but our church is one of the only places that has power, so thats why its hard to write because the internet is suuuuper slow on Mondays. They might actually change Pday for us and we might write on Sundays instead, but we'll see!

Are there any other people living on the island except the indians?

nope, only cunas

So the toilet over the ocean...

Yup, its supér funny cuz when you poop you can watch all the little fishies come up and eat your poop

Did Hermana Canedo get called there too or was she already there and had just come to pick you up at the mission home?

Hna cAnedo was already there, she had one change there and now we’re together again!

Do any of the San Blas Islands have modern things or city life or are they all like yours?  

No city at all haha. Just bamboo made stick huts, but our house is actually made of concrete, it’s super fancy for san blas!

When you say “we go to the city”, is that Panama City?

city is just panama and if i say panama that means panama city. Idk why, but that’s how everyone says it here!

When you go to another island, is that by the same boat as before? Do you have your own boat or do you pay for it or who takes you?

OOOh normally we go in the little speed boats called PANGAS, but ours left us cuz we were late, so we hopped on the ship (and this one is like a real ship ship) of some Colombianos who were going the same way haha. I think we might be some of the first missionaries to do that!

do you have to pay them??

normally yeah, but the colombianos loooved us haha! So they even made us food and gave chairs to sleep in (we were there for a couple hours) and so they didn’t make us pay either! So nice! Everybody looves the hermanas hahaha

San Blas Islands Week #2 “Ti Cantiki (water that runs quickly)”

I think the biggest culture shock would be the bathroom. Ours is super fancy

because its made of cement. (Haley can't send photos yet but these are borrowed a sister missionary's blog who served on that same island and most likely lived in the same house - Thanks Alexis!)

the others are just made of bamboo sticks.
(Photos stolen from Google)

Noegambi Familia!

This week has been the best week of my life I think.

Monday till Friday Hna Canedo and I just chilled in the city. It was like we were on vacation, we just went to malls, and tourist sites and all kinds of stuff that normal missionaries cannot do. It was soooo fun! We tried going to San Blas on Wed, but they wouldnt let us in because we only had photo copies of our papers. haha oops. So that's

what led up to vacation time! Then Friday we finally got to the Island!

I sure felt like the weirdest missionary ever because we went on a 3 hour boat (they're called pangas) trip to get there. Our island is suuuuper tiny, it takes about 5 minutes to walk from one end to the other. In some parts you can even see the other end. 

I think the biggest culture shock would be the bathroom. Ours is super fancy because its made of cement, the others are just made of bamboo sticks. But its basically a hole that sticks out over the ocean. On Saturday I had to go poop, but there were a ton of children playing in the water and were coming under my toilet hole haha. I felt so weird and Hermana Canedo was screaming "just go! They're used to stuff like this". I was freaking out, but had to poop so bad! haha. Lets just say they had another amigo swimming around too about 5 minutes later.

This Sunday I had my first 3 baptisms! Neftali, Obiselio, Liselio. Three brothers, who always come to church, but never wanted to get batpized, even up to the baptism. Haha, it was too funny because Hna Canedo basically dragged them to the other Isla (its the baptism Island), but once they saw the clean white clothes, they were super pumped!

I am so excited to work in the Island, before I got here, everyone was telling me the work in this Island is basically dead and everyone is already baptist and things like that. President and the Assistants had a little talk with me and told me I cant think like that, because this is the only island that is not having success. I am so excited to try it out and change some things! No time to write it all, but we are already having wayyy more success than ever before! We are going to plan a baptism day out here and baptize todos!

Love you all sooooo much!

Hna Hallsted

Answers to Mom's questions:

There is exactly one computer here, with terrible internet, so it   hardly works. It's in the church and there is only electrictiy on sunday and Monday and its only in the church. 

So basically we cook with a gas stove and eat our food that has to last for at least 6 weeks without a fridge haha

I'm sleeping amazing! My hammock is super cool, and super comfy. I dont think ill be able to go back to a bed! It gets a little cold at night, but i just put on some socks. 

The day time there is one or two hours of just raging heat, and super burning sun, so Im putting on plenty of sunscreen. 

The mosquitos are not bad at all, but the ants attacked me the other day, so my poor feet are covered in red welts haha. My fault, I walked in their pile, but it was nighttime and there's no light, so how was I suppose to know?? But basically I loooove it here! 

No impetigo problems, nada!

San Blas Islands Week #1: "Hammocks, and Sandals, and Islands... Oh My!"

Noegambi family!

Sooooo changes.... Drum Roll please...I have been called to serve in the San Blas Islands, well just to Ticantiki ♥, apparently it's this really tiny Island that takes about 4 minutes to walk across from one ocean to the other.

We're leaving tomorrow, but today was great because we had to buy my hammock (we sleep in those) and sandals (we only wear those), and a TON of food, enough for 6 weeks! It's crazy cuz there´s not a lot of electricity, so my comp says we just eat bread and cheese mostly! (no fruits or veggies on the island)

OH anddddd the best surprise in the world is that I AM COMPANIONS WITH THE ONE AND ONLY HERMANA CANEDO AGAIN!!!!!! Hahaha, we are sooooo excited to be together again!!! It's super fun cuz I trained her and now she will be training me! :) Anyway, I'm just a little bit excited!

With Hna Canedo again!!!!!

(Insert by Julie)

Haley has talked about her hope to go to the San Blas islands since early in her mission! She was worried she wouldn't get to because of her skin condition. Lots of prayers for Haley that it doesn't get worse and it stays away! This is where the CunaKuna Indians live that she has grown to love (met some families in her last areas), started to learn the language from, and gotten some of their traditional clothes given to her.

There is mostly only solar power there and not much electricity so we may not see photos for a while.

The San Blas Islands of Panama is an archipelago comprising approximately 365 islands and cays, of which only 49 are inhabited.^[1] They lie off the north coast of the Isthmus of Panama, east of the Panama Canal.^[2] A part of the comarca (district) Guna Yala (also spelled Kuna Yala) along the Caribbean coast of Panama is home to the Kuna Indians. San Blas and its surrounding area is a haven for ecotourists because of its pristine environs. 

​

Our last picture together!!!

For the last week in Penonome, it was great! Those little girls got baptized and, not only that, but the rest of their family wants to hear us now to!! I was so happy to leave with their baptisms haha! It really was a testimony builder because President promised us we would get baptisms in June. And even when it seemed impossible, we stayed super faithful, well we tried haha. I know that if you just keep pushing through and keep walking, keep talking, the Lord will provide the blessings. If you just keep trying, even when all hope seems lost, I know that the Lord really does know His timing. I know this is His work and I am so honored to be a part of that!!!

Baptism of the Familia Mendoza

Cleaning the baptismal font

The Familia Vernal!!!

Can you look up a way to get our missionary tags in Cuna? they told us that there is a site on internet that you have to order from Utah, can you look into that?

I honestly don't remember anything else from this week because I am just stoked to go to San Blas! Its funny because I told president last week that I wanted to stay in Penonome, and then he called us on Friday and we were freaking out like ¨why is pres calling us??¨and he told me he was reading my carta and that he received revelation that I had to leave Penonome go to a different area, but didn't tell me where haha. And then we were all soooo surprised because the day of changes I randomly was called to go to San Blas! I honestly thought they were playing a joke on me and didn't believe it for like 5 minutes!  haha. Sorry, long confusing story, but the point is that I am SOOOO stoked to be a part of the magic happening out there!

Love you all sooooo much!!!

Love, Hermana Hallsted