Week 37 (Jan. 30, 2017)

So this week was pretty great. Me and my comp, who is from mexico, are working hard and really getting the job done out here.

This week we had the worldwide mission conference, They announced a change in the schedule of the missionaries worldwide. They did it so we can get more sleep, which I absolutely love and we now only report 4 of the 9 key indicators which will hopefully focus our efforts on those 4, which are baptisms and confirmations, investigators in sacrament, New investigators, and Baptismal Dates that we have. Our mission had already changed to do that before the conference, which just shows that our mission president is receiving revelation here in Panama. 

This week we also taught a bunch of lessons and found 9 new people to teach, and my goal is to baptize at least two of them in the next 2 weeks. One of them is an old lady, all of her kids are members and we are just working with her to change her deep catholic roots. 

The other one is a kid who lives with two members with his parents. He is so anxious to hear the gospel that when we didn't have a Book of Mormon to give him during our first visit with him he just said that he would read the bible until he got a Book of Mormon. It was crazy sweet!! 

Also this week we saw what I think is an incredible thing in our ward. So the last 2 baptisms that we had live very far away from the church and don't have enough money to pay to get there. So a few members in the ward have offered to donate money each week to pay for the bus that they have to take to get here. It is awesome!!! Such an experience to be a part of. 

As for my comp, he is doing a lot better. I told him he is only allowed to cry 3 times last week, he cried 3 times. So this week we will move forward and he will only cry twice. We are setting goals and really moving forward. 

Also my rash is finally gone. I'm so glad!! But now I am getting sick. I think the branch president got me sick. It sucks, I just cough and I'm super thirsty all the time. Terrible. 

Anyway that's it for my week. Lessons and heat and baptisms in a couple weeks. My Spanish is getting a lot better. People always think that I have like a year and a half in my mission so it is fun to tell them that I am actually just getting started!! We had one guy tell us when we met him at the store that he knew I was the senior comp and that my comp was new. He could just see it in the way we walked up and talked to him. So that was pretty cool. Although my comp does act pretty new. Yesterday he completed one month in the mission. It was a big accomplishment for him. I'm at the point where I have enough time that I don't really keep track. 

Anyways love you all!!  

Elder Hamblin