I hope you've all had a wonderful week! It's been a good week here. Today began with a small parade around the island of all of the younger school kids. Today is a cultural day, so all of the school kids are in their mola, the traditional Kuna attire. They were adorable! Then we had a wonderful turn out for seminary, as we taught Alma 40. After teaching seminary in the morning I spent about 2 hours washing all of my clothes. Afterwards I was tired, hungry, and my knuckles were a little raw. However, my clothes are now all hanging to dry and smell like spring :) Then we went to visit Lily, who shared one of her fish with us. It was a good start to the day.
This past Saturday we visited Sugdup, a neighboring island to Tupile. The rule here in Blas is that if you can see it, it's in your area. Missionaries hadn't visited the other islands for a very long time. My comp and I decided to change that. Unfortunately, we do not have a boat, so I was left to use my persuasive skills to convince an hermano to lend us his canoe. When I asked him at first, he looked at me skeptically and asked me who would be going with us. I told him that it would just be us. He just raised his eyebrows. Fair enough . . . two gringas in a canoe by themselves could end badly. I could understand his thinking. However, we needed to get to the other island. After some smooth talking, and perhaps some help from the Spirit, we got him to say yes. Then we ended up convincing a youth to go with us, so he felt a little better about it.
We arrived with nothing but a list of names that we had found in the church system. We arrived and started asking around and exploring a bit. You'd think it'd be easier to find people on an island . . . false. Kunas aren't very helpful when it comes to such an endeavor. However, we were determined and persistent. We found many less-actives. We found an older woman who was one of the first Kunas to be baptized. She is rather ill and really enjoyed the visit. Then we found a younger woman who got baptized with two of her brothers when she was a teenager. She now has a family of her own. Nobody else in her family is baptized. We're really excited about working on the other islands. They are completely unexplored territory. Sounds like time for some adventures :)
Shortly after arriving to the island and coming up short with some people searching (it's like a treasure hunt really) we found ourselves standing in one of the little short-cuts of the island, debating what to do next. Out of nowhere a little girl comes up, stops, and looks up at me. I smiled at her and said hello. She grabbed onto my hand. I asked her if she had talked to missionaries before. She nodded yes. I asked if her family were members. She nodded yes. I asked her if she could take us to her house to visit them. Her hand still in mine she started walking, pulling me with her. We followed her around a few corners.
Then she stopped. I asked her if we were at her house. She shook her head no. I asked if we could go to her house. She shook her head no. I looked at my companion, both of us slightly confused. Hermana Niebla asked me if she had been guiding me or if we had just been walking together. I told her that she was definitely guiding me. The little girl then looked up at me, said goodbye, then skipped off. Perplexed, I looked around, we were on the other side of the island, next to an old library. We walked a few steps, then found an old man who ended up guiding us to the house of one of the members that we had been looking for.
Perhaps she was just a little girl who wanted to walk around with us, but I've learned here on the mission that coincidences don't exist. I told Hermana Niebla that I thought that the little girl was supposed to lead us. Whether it be toward the old man or away from some sort of danger, I know not, but it was a cool experience nonetheless.
Well, I just heard the call for the 'congreso' meeting, which means I must go. I hope that you all have a marvelous week. Remember to always search for the tender mercies of the Lord. I love you all!
Go Forward With Faith,
Hermana Falslev
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