Week 30 (Dec. 12, 2016)

Well I have officially hit the 7 month mark. It feels like it has gone really fast, yet at the same time it is taking forever!!! Also last Tuesday was mothers day in Panama so happy mothers day. My comp and I both gave a gift to our mother in the mission. Her name is Hermana Alicia. She is from Peru, and was inactive until we started visiting her. Now she goes to church every week, and gives us dinner on Tuesdays! We also helped her put up her Christmas lights!! We hung one strand on her window, and one in front of her front door, and that was it. We cant hang anything from the room because here we have rain not snow and that will ruin the lights. Her house looks pretty cool tho now. 

This week we had 3 investigators come to church!! Finally!! One of them has a baptismal date for December 29th. and her two younger siblings want to be baptized on Christmas!!!! The siblings are probably the smartest and best investigators we have had yet. They ask so many good questions and make sure that they really understand the principles we teach which is so great! It is so hard to teach someone who doesn't ask questions. I really do want them to be baptized on Christmas!! That would be so awesome! Best Christmas present ever, for everybody!!! 

This week I learned something about Panama. If the expiration date says the 12th, it really means two days before whatever it says. Most of the food that I bought, my milk, bread, and even a box of cereal went bad. I couldn't believe it. My milk went bad, actually it tasted bad the whole time that I had it. But still, milk. 

This week I will have divisions with my district leader. It will be the first time in my mission I will be with another elder who is from the united states. 😀it will be weird to see if we can both understand everything in Spanish, because even now, I still get a little lost. Latinos talk a ton, so when they talk for like 5 minutes straight I kind of just zone out and don't listen or understand anything. Its hard, so we will see how things go with another gringo. 

Also I finally got your Thanksgiving package, as well as your Christmas package. I love them both! I have enough of the Christmas ones left to open one a day until Christmas Eve, then for Christmas we can just talk in person. Also I don't know where that will be, or how, I am still working out the details, but I'm pretty sure the church will be available as well as I have the computer in the apartment building if everything falls through. The problem is that I don't know if I can Skype on the apartment computer, it is really old. But that isn't a big deal, we have the church to use. 

I think that's about it for my week. I got sick again. Actually I am still sick. I have like a cold or something but my nose is constantly runny and my throat has so much mucus in it I have a hard time breathing! Its crazy! I never got sick like this at home. Something about always being hot, and somehow I caught a cold!!!! 

Anyway love and miss you all!! Enjoy the cold, and I will soak up some heat for all of you!! Les quiero mucho!!!!

Elder Hamblin