Colón Week #5 "1000 bautismos!!!"

Zona Colón

Hello Fam!

This week was another good mix of really great and really bad!

The bad first, my companion is really sick! We don't know what's wrong, but it's like she is fine for an hour and all of the sudden has a fever and throwing up. Stinks cuz it is her last week this week!

The good, or really the great, is that we had a gira misional with elder Ochoa, the District President of Centro America, and it was amazing! We also had leaddership meeting or whatever it is in English (it's called consejos in spaish) so I got to hear from him twice!

We talked about faith unto repentance, and how vital it is in the missionary work. I was thinking a lot about that, and figured there is faith to make miracles happen, faith to heal, faith to move mountains, and everyone knows these things. But how often do we talk about faith to repent? And isn't that just another miracle as well? I'll tell you what, when Christ was here he "realizo" (can't remember the word in inglesh) miracles, established his church, and forgave sins. How incredible that He can forgive us of our sins! And if we truly of faith in Jesus Christ, if we really believe in Him, then we understand how He died for us just so we can repent and be clean. What a great blessing it is that we can repent and be made whole!

Now the most AMAZING thing that happened is that in the mission Panama, we put a goal to get 1000 baptisms in 3 months. AND WE DID IT!!! As of today they say we've are 1028 baptisms. And there are suppose to be 7 more baptisms this next week in the days of October! We are suuuuper excited about that, it's the 2nd most baptisms there have ever been in Panama since 1970something! We are now the highest baptizing mission in Centro America!!!! I am sooooo blessed to be in this incredible mission!! I absolutely looove Panama! Mom, I'm sorry, I'm never coming home! (haha just jokes mother dearest)

Anyways, suuuuper pumped to be a missionary right now, ready to rock the month of November (which is filled with Panamanian fiestas that are crazy)! I loveee being a missionary!

Love you all sooooo much!

Love, Hermana Hallsted

Colón Week #4: “heyyyy 16 months is cool”

Doing the Lord's work selfie

taxi ride with the hermanas

My comp finished her 18 month mark this week and me my 16th month mark yesterday!! So we took a patriotic panamanian foto haha

In the bathroom selfie haha

Our special friend Alicia! She is super cute and always wants to sing with us. She lives on the street, poor thing!

a fun little house we found

Tracting hahaha CANAL DE PANAMA

The canal is in my area, suuuper close!!

This is a picture of a delicious sugar cane... Well, this one is actually old now, but sugar cane is delicious to the taste

This is our kitchen. Our house is by far the smallest house I've had in the mission!

Hola familia!

This week I did indeed complete 16 months in the mission. I cannot believe how fast time flies!!! I definitely don't feel like an old missionary. but alas, here I am.

Well, this week was a pretty interesting one, we had our miracle Edwin's baptism, it went super well, a little too well if you ask me. We didn't have to stress or anything, which has never happened before! We didn't have to look for witnesses or call people or run around for anything! It was the greatest baptism! And Edwin is soooo super happy! 

More news: I have to play the piano in church and, I'm just gonna state a classic: I wish I had learned to play hymns

Also we lost basically all our investigators this week, so it's gonna be interesting to see what we're gonna do haha. #missionarylyfe

Also we went to the letters of Colon today and took pictures with all the hermanas (there are only 4 of us). It was super fun!

Also the other Hermanas are the greatest! They are both new in the mission, gringas, and suppper cute haha!

And, that's about all I can think of! Hna Rodriguez is a little stressed out cuz this is her last 2 weeks of the mission. Which means I only have 8!!! Crazy!

Love you alll!!

Hermana Hallsted

HISTORY

The country of Colombia was named after Christopher Colmubus, as were the Costa Rican currency (the colón) and one of Panama's largest cities (Colón).

Since Christopher Columbus came from Spain, it should be obvious that Christopher Columbus wasn't the name he himself used.

In fact, his name in Spanish was quite different: Cristóbal Colón.

Colón (Spanish pronunciation: [koˈlon]) is a Panamanian city and sea port beside the Caribbean Sea, lying near the Atlantic entrance to the Panama Canal. It is the capital of Panama's Colón Province and has traditionally been known as Panama's second city. 

History[edit]

The city was founded by Americans in 1850 as the Atlantic terminal of the Panama Railroad, then under construction to meet the gold rush demand for a fast route to California. For a number of years early in its history, the sizable United States émigré community called the town Aspinwall after Panama Railroad promoter William Henry Aspinwall, while the city's Hispanic community called it Colón in honor of Christopher Columbus. The city was founded on the western end of a treacherously marshy islet known as Manzanillo Island. As part of the construction of the Panama Railroad, the island was connected to the Panamanian mainland by a causeway and part of the island was drained to allow the erection of permanent buildings.

Much of the city was destroyed in the Burning of Colón during the Colombian Civil War of 1885, and again during a massive fire in 1915. The Great Colon Fire of April 13–14, 1940 destroyed one third of the city.^[1]

Colon Week #1 & 2 Dios es Panameño and Hermana Rodriguez

foto Hermana Rodriguez!

Dios es Panameño

At least that's what they're saying here in Panama... This week was allllll about soccer! Panama lost bad to USA and then they beat Costa Rica, so USA isn't going to the World (what's is called in english??? ITs the mundial in spanish) and Panama is going for the first time hahaha! It was NUTZ over here when they won. I'm serious. We were walking in the road and all of the sudden the whole world started screaming their heads off and I was thinking somebody had died haha. Hna Rodriguez was all calm and told me that's what happens when your country makes a goal. And I thought that was pretty funny. But when they won, oh my goodness. Everyone ran outside screaming and crying, and they started a big kinda parade thing, with people walking and screaming and throwing water and cars hocking and even the police cars joined in too. We just stood off to the side and watched. It was great. Now everyone here tells us that God is in fact panamanian haha, this country is so darn humble, I love it.

ANywayyyys, as for Colon itself, it is big, smelly, black, and sassy. It's pretty great and pretty darn ghetto. And the sass, oh my goodness. Here its called raccatacca. I can hardly keep up with these giant black ladies! :) But really it was pretty hard to adjust. Mostly to walking so much. And shoes! Ugh, they are the worst haha. But I finally dont have blisters, so it's all good. And the spanish! I couldn't understand these panamanians with their  "chombo spanish"! They speak super slang out here, it's pretty funny. But im finally adjusted to everything, buses and all haha, so yup.

As for investigators, we got some pretty good potential, and a miracle on our hands. Let's start with Edwin. A member invited her Colombian friend to conference (oh and note about that, it was amazzzzing and Neil A Anderson gave the most amazing talk ever), and he heard Henry B Eyring's talk about the book of Mormon and what it is to be a Mormon. We met him and got his number, all chill and stuff. Then on Monday, we called him to see if we could visit him and he straight up told us "hermanas, I really liked to conference and I really could feel something. Well, this is something I think I want to do. I want to be a Mormon. Hermanas, I want to be baptized." WOOOWOWOOWWOWooww!!! Well, we told him he could definitely be baptized, we just had to teach him a little bit first. So he's getting baptized this week. Definitely a miracle! I can't even believe the Lord blessed me with an experience as cool as this one!

Thennnn We have Michel and Chadia and Ivan a family super great! And Yoeri. She is 18 and suuuuper ready to be baptized too. Sorry, I ran out of time again, but I'll tell you more about them haha!

Love you all sooo much!

Hermana Hallsted

Questions:

Is your Spanish is good enough now that you could understand conference in Spanish?  Everyone thinks im latina, its the best haha! Its harder to understand the people here in Colon cuz they are all black and even talk slang like black people in the states, but in Spanish! Crazy

Do you have a real shower again? i have a real shower And a real bed? and a real bed Do you have to wear real shoes again? i hate shoes, miss my sandals

Where is your new companion from? she's from Honduras, Hna Rodriguez, we met in Penonome, and she is suuuuuper amazing! I absolutely love her to death.