Elder Rodriguez and I at the Panama Temple
Beautiful Panama
Our area
Black mold on my tie
Hello,
Otra Semana en Panama. First, I would like to thank everyone for all of your emails. They helped a lot :) Thank you for all of your words. I still have them in the house and read them often :) And second Mom, I don't know if you already do it, but you have to take all of the names out of the emails I send before putting them on the internet - members, missionaries, etc. Thank you!
I received your package last week but forgot to include it in the email. Thank you so much Mom! :) I love you. Thanks for sending me all of the things that you sent. :)
Okay, I would just like to say that this week was insane. This has probably been one of the best weeks of my mission. I have learned so much and seen so many miracles, it's insane! First of all, we have been having baptisms falling in our laps left and right. We set a fecha yesterday, and we are going to do another tomorrow, and tons more the rest of this week. How can this be?
Okay, so this week was great haha. I absolutely LOVE teaching lesson 1. I love teaching the gospel. I have studied in Preach my Gospel all this week and prepared for teaching even more than before. I have prayed more and learned a lot about prayer, faith and action. These things are essential. We first must pray for blessings and opportunities and then exercise our faith again by acting, and the Lord will provide. I know it - because He did it for me and for Elder Rodriguez.
On Thursday we were contacting because we had no appointments the whole day, because the one appt we had fell like what usually happens. So, we starting visiting and contacting. There was a whole row of events, but to make it short we were going back to a house where they told us to come later. We were walking and Elder Rodriguez decided to contact one last house before the visit. So we walked up to the gate and there was a lady sitting on her chair a distance away, and we greeted by saying 'Buenas'. RIght after we did that she pulled out a cigarette and started to smoke. We both looked at each other and had no idea what to do hahaha but she said, "Who are you?" So we introduced ourselves and she yells to someone in the house, Cynthia, telleman! or pretty much 'The door is for you.' in Utah language. So there came a woman with her baby and her other nino and we started to talk. We clicked right off, and wanted to come back and teach her. She said why couldn't we teach her right now. So we hurried and went to the appointment and hurried back to teach her The Restoration. :) When she was talking to us I had the impression to talk to her about families and the church's view on families and how they play a role in God's plan. She took it right to heart and wanted to hear the message.
She isn't married but has a union? Ya, and she is Catholic but not way Catholic. So, we started to teach and began the lesson. Everything went perfect - except for one thing. It was a panic attack when it happened. My companion started to talk about authority and explained it way too much for her. He got into only men can hold the Priesthood and kept going on and on. After he finished she said why can only men hold it. The only thing he could say is that women were better than us. Hahaha and she said why? In this moment I was trying to search for something. But right in the moment, an impression came to my mind right when I needed it and right when she needed it also. I never have thought of this before. I know it was a direct impression from the Spirit. I started to talk about matrimony and how the father and mother are both parents. But the mother carries the baby. Does that mean that the father is any less of a parent to the child that the mother carries? The Spirit descended and understanding filled our hearts. I continued by talking about how the Priesthood isn't to receive recognition or gain, but it is only to bless others. A man cannot give himself any blessing of the Priesthood which he holds. Jesus Christ did not use His power for gain, rather to bless all others. This is the Priesthood. I will never forget this experience.
I want to write so many more things but time is running out. I have another experience like this one and have it written in my journal, but I guess you will have to wait until I get home to hear it ;)
My health is well. The rash is pretty much gone. I have done some things to help it a lot. It seems as though I have lost weight in the last two weeks. I have gone down a whole belt loop. It's pretty crazy what happens when you forget yourself more and go to work!
The fecha that we put yesterday was a great experience. Her name is Yovanka and she is 9 years old. She and her mom showed up to church and it was the first time that I had seen them. After Sacrament Meeting she asked us for a Priesthood blessing. After the blessing, she told us that she wanted to get baptized. So we planned a lesson later that day and we went and taught The Restoration and put a fecha. She will be baptized the 14th of July.
Miracles happen if you forget yourself and exercise faith. God needs to trust us before He gives us His precious children who are ready to accept baptism. I know God provides and answers our prayers. I have felt His love so much this week. This week has changed my whole mission and has changed my life. Thank you all for all of your love and support that you send from home. Have a great 4th of July and watch some fireworks for me. :) Love you more than I could ever express in words! Be safe.
Love, Elder Bitter:)
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