25 Agosto 2014

¡Buenas tardes familia mia!

Well, to start things off, I am no longer in Carti Tupile. I received
news that I had changes at about 2 o´clock on Tuesday afternoon and
had to leave early on Wednesday morning. I spent all of Tuesday night
saying goodbye to my many loved ones on Tupile. I would be lying if I
didn´t say that it was one of the most difficult things I´ve ever
done. I consider Carti Tupile to be my second home and many there to
be my family. After institute on Tuesday many of the youth and other
members came to the church to see me. They were all upset that I was
going, but I explained (through many tears) that it was the will of
the Lord and that the next hermana could help them more than I can
now. It would be impossible to express through a mere email all that I
learned and the love that I had in Tupile, so I would prefer to not
attempt. The Kunas of Carti Tupile occupy a very large space in my
heart and will never be forgotten. I know that the Lord will watch
over them and that I did what I needed to do there.

I am now in (drum roll please) . . . . David Chiriquí! I am now in the
interior of Panamá, ironically the name of the areas furthest from the
city. That means that I´ve now hit every extreme of the mission. I
began in the ghetto, went to the city, headed to an island, and now
I´m in the middle of nowhere in the fields. Though each one has a
special place in my heart, it is very beautiful here. After two hours
of driving through the mountains from San Blas, I almost immediately
got onto a bus and travelled for 9 hours to Chiriquí. The changes are
done differently lately in order to save money, so I was travelling by
myself. I arrived in David at about 11:30 pm to be greeted by my new
companion, Hermana Rosales. Hermana Rosales is 23 years old and is
from Costa Rica. She has 8 months in the mission. She actually began
her mission in 2012, then returned home because of health problems,
and has recently returned to continue serving in Panamá. She is very
sweet, and I´m excited to be working with her. Unfortunately, we
believe that she has dengue. She recently recovered from a case of
dengue that kept her in bed for about a month. We are headed to the
hospital after we finish up here in the internet cafe to do the
medical tests. We´re hoping that it´s nothing too serious. We both
have desires to work really hard, so being stuck in a house may drive
us both insane. We´re hoping for the best.

Well, David is famous for two things . . . many nice people and lots
of food. The people here are incredible, I love many of them already.
The ward is very strong, and I have loved watching the Lord´s
organization in action. San Blas was wonderful, but the branch was
still being built, which made some things difficult. The members here
are wonderful and the bishop is fantastic. We serve in the ward with a
companionship of Elders who are wonderful as well. There are many good
things happening here, and I´m excited to be a part of it all. I feel
very comfortable in the area; I have met many people here that I feel
like I already know, perhaps in the premortality? And the food . . .
Panamá in general is known for eating lots of rice, then there is
David, which is on a whole other plane. The plates of food that they
give me here are enormous! It´s been a bit of a rough transition,
coming from San Blas, but I pray during each meal and the Lord helps
me to finish it. On the up side, the food is absolutely delicious.
After 6 months of tulemasi and fish I had forgotten what I was missing
here in Panamá.

The house that I live in is great. The man who rents it to us is a
police officer who takes really good care of us. They other day he
called us outside because he had just cut down a large group of pipa
from the tree in our backyard. He opened up a few for us with his
machete, then continued cutting until we ended up with a large bowl of
fresh pipa and coconut water. Very tasty!! On the downside, I was
studying the other day when I found a hand-sized spider right next to
me under the desk. I´ve dealt with many creatures here in Panamá, but
spiders continue to terrify me. I got up from my chair and was on the
other side of the room so fast that I scared my poor companion.
Fortunately, she already loves me and killed it for me. I promised her
I´d kill the next cockroach that we found in our room . . . it didn´t
take long to fulfill my promise. That same night there was a monster
under her bed. Don´t you know that killing monsters together is one of
the best ways to build unity in the companionship ;) . . . . we are
VERY unified!

I´m happy and healthy. I´m excited to be here in David, where I´ll
likely be finishing my mission. A personal goal that I´ve had for my
entire mission has been to take nothing and give everything. I try to
give all of myself in each area. The odd thing is that I often leave
feeling that the people have loved and taught me more than I did them.
The beautiful thing about love is that it is limitless. Each time I
feel like I´ve loved with all that I´ve got, the Lord blesses me with
more people to love. It just keeps growing. My heart is so full all
the time! I absolutely love being a missionary and representative of
Jesus Christ.

Well my dear family, I believe that is all for this week. It sounds
like a big thunder and rain storm is coming, so I think my companion
and I are headed out soon. I love you all so much and am grateful for
each one of you!

Go Forward With Faith!

Hermana Falslev :)