WEEK 41- FELIZ NAVIDAD!!

Feliz Navidad!!

I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas and that everyone was able to stay safe and enjoy time together as a family! It was so great to be able to skype home and talk to my family on christmas morning! Isn't christmas the best?!

Christmas here in Panama is mainly celebrated on Christmas Eve with lots of parties and loud music! At 12 in the morning Christmas they shoot of so many Fireworks and everyone goes from neighbor to neighbor sharing food and wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and then open their presents and eat there big meal as a family! It was really neat to be able to celebrate christmas here and to see such a difference in cultures! I loved it even if it wasn't exactly like home :)

We were able to find these 3 little Old ladies this past week! Carmen and Theodora are the daughters of Publia and they are just the sweetest! We left them a restoration paphlet and the read it and then we had an awesome discussion with them on Prophets and the Book of Mormon! It was so great! They are always to welcoming and want to talk with us and always pray for us and out families! Hna Publia sends her hellos to all the family! She is just so cute! 

Gissi decided to push her baptismal date back to the 16 of January so we are here praying that she continues to come and become strengthened enough to be self sufficient on how not to rely on going to church with her aunt!

Familia Vargas have their papers and are going to get their medical exams this week! Hopefully they will be baptized within the next week or so!! We also talked to their oldest son and he said that he wanted to be baptized with his family as well!! It is just going to be so beautiful! 

Thank you all for your love and support! I love you all so much and hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful New years!!

Les Quiero Mucho!

Hermana Garcia

Picture of me in a huge hole :) We started helping the Elders with this service project of digging two 10ft holes for a member. Thats me 7ft down picking aways at the dirt! So much fun! In the to Corner Elder Hernandez from Honduras.

The other picture is me saying goodbye to Patrick at the airport :) 

WEEK 40- Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!! 

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Holiday season and all that it brings! It is so great to be remember the birth of our Savior and all the blessings we have in our lives thanks to His birth! 

Bueno This week was a long one! But then again when you are working everyweek is! 

Wednesday we were able to go to the Temple with recent converts and investigators and The recent converts were able to do baptisms for the dead! Our Recent Convert (well from when we came to the area :) ) Danilo went to the temple for the first time and it was the greatest thing to see him enter the temple and feel the powerful spirit that is there! :) He absolutely loved it and man was it worth it going to watch him enter! :) 

Thrursday was fun because we got to celebrate Hermana Kofe's birthday and did a littler surprise for her! She is from Oakland California and it was really neat to do something like that for her! 

Yesterday something super awesome happened! One of the billions people we have talked to in the street and invited to come to church actually came to church! His name is Jorge and it was so amazing! He was asking so many questions and we were able to answer them and He even said that He had asked these questions before to other priests and no one has been able to answer them before!!! He was so positive and want to learn more! We are so excited to be able to teach him more!!

We were able to be apart of the Stake Christmas Devotional here and we as missionaries sang two songs and man was it rough! It was really neat though to see so many people come to see and hear and learn more of our Saviors birth! 

I would like to wish you all a very merry christmas and that you may also remember our Saviors birth among all the gifts and food. Remember that He came here to Save you and give you the chance at Eternal Life and to return and live with our Heavenly Father again. 

Feliz Navidad!! Les quiero mucho!

Hermana Garcia

WEEK 39- Oh But its HOT outside!!!

Hello! Buenas buenas buenas! 

I hope all is enjoying this Christmas season and the nice cool weather! I know it may not be super cool but por lo menos its not summer! 

This week was a week of very hot hot weather and lots and lots of walking! We have been getting to know the area a whole lot more and it has been fantaastic! Half way done with getting to know all our area!! 

La familia Vargas is so amazing!! They are so ready to get baptized and want to do so but the stinkin papers that they need to do to get married take a lot longer with the Christmas season and all the parties... They are so active though and help out so much and just want to learn so much more!! We are hoping to have their papers by friday! We are praying for this friday!! That way they can be baptized before the new year!

Another one of our investigators came to church with us as well this sunday! Her name is Gissi and she is about 22 years old! Her aunt is a member and she is a less active member but has been very helpful with teaching Gissi. She has acutally had the lessons about 2 years ago and we had lunch there one time and decided to teach her as well! Well the first lesson she didn't really want to be baptized because she was baptized in the Catholic church and she had a conection with her Godfather who passed away. Well everything was cleared up the second lesson when she said that she knows that this is the true church and we told her she wouldn't need a new Godfather! It was that easy and now we want to move it to be before The new years her baptism! She is so sweet!

 Welp lots of walking and talking and sharing about this glorious christmas season and the Birth of our Savior is something quite beautiful! I encourage you all to remember Why we celebrate Christmas and all that we have thanks to the birth of Christ! It will change your look of Christmas this year :)

I love you all so much and am so grateful for all your love and support! This church is true! Tengan a feliz navidad! 

Les quiero mucho,

Hermana Garcia

WEEK 38- Talking with EVERYONE (I really mean everyone)

Hey all!!

This week has been a great one full of walking and finding and getting to know the area! hahaha 

This ward is fantastic and really support us! We had a member


almost every single day this week come and leave with us to help us to know where members, less actives, recent converts, and even some investigators live! It was so great! We were able to do divisions this week with some of the young women and it was so adorable to see them contacting people and wanting to serve missions as well!

Yesterday we left the house with a goal to street contact 50 people and even then were very apprehensive to do that many... After lunch we asked one of the young women (Kimberly) If she would like to come with us and that our goal was 50 and the jokingly we said that we would do 100 because why not?? You want to know how many we did?! We did a 101 street contacts yesterday! We were talking to every single person we walked by on the street and invited them to the Christmas devotional last night! It was so great and man was it so amazing to see.

We worked so hard knocking doors and finding people that we could teach and see others that would progress to baptism. The Lords hand has been with us and helping us remember where everyone lives! We haven't gotten lost yet and We find the house everytime! 

This Christmas season remember the Lord more! remember His sacrifice for us and also that He was born just for us. He came to the world to save us and and because He was born we can be clean again. We have a Savior who loves us and knows us perfectly and we can remeber Him more this in this beautiful Christmas season! 

I love you all and thank you all for all you love, support and prayers!!! Merry Christmas!! o sea Feliz Navidad! 

Les quiero mucho,

Hermana Garcia

Also there is a young women here named Kimberly and she goes out with us a lot and we go contacting and what not! She is so great and so fun!!

My ZLs and the Elders we share a ward with! Elder Martinez next to me from Paraguay (Hes the one that gave me the really awesome blessing) Ane Elder Alejandre from Mexico...

    

Boyd carrying her laundry home after washing clothes this morning

Me and my scraped knee because I am a super clutz and fell hard playing soccer on concrete.... Don't post this picture I look high

Lunch today with some other missionaries from the Zone!! KFC hahaha