Spider In My Shoe!

Hey Family!

 

Glad to hear you guys are doing well, it is so good to hear from you guys every week!   So, everything here in Panama is going good!  This past week was actually really hard.  I get VERY frustrated all the time because of the language barrier.  I literally feel like I have learned nothing in Spanish since I left the MTC.  I know I have, but it is still really hard.  I prayed and asked the Lord that if I studied something about the language every day, that he would bless me to be able to not only speak it fluently, but understand the Panamanians as well.  I can understand my companion perfectly, and he speaks fluently, but it is soooo hard to understand native Panamanians because they speak so fast and cut their words!!!  But, I have made that promise and if I follow through, I will be blessed with it.  As you know, my hearing is terrible, you guys were right all along when you told me not to listen to my music too loud! That is one of the hardest things, I have trouble hearing people even when they talk in English!   But, I will be blessed.  I speak quite a bit more than most people that have to learn the language already. 

 

So, as you know, there are big spiders here in Panama.  I can deal with the small ones, they are all over our house.  And I hadn´t had to deal with a big one, until Saturday.   We went to the church in the morning to play soccer with some local kids in our branch, and while we were walking, it felt like there was something in my shoe, but I thought it was just my sock bunched up or something.   But when we got to the church, I took my shoe off, looked inside, and there was a GIGANTIC HUGE brown spider inside!!!  I threw the shoe, and everyone started laughing, until they saw the baseball sized beast crawl out.  I just about died!  But, I can laugh about it now... so, that was the scary/funny experience of the week!

 

Today for P Day, we just went to a church in our zone, and played some soccer and ate some lunch of rice, beans and chicken.  We do that a lot, it is kind of boring.  Price and I like going into the city for P Day, but all the Elders in our zone have already done all that stuff, and they don’t want to go again, so we are kind of stuck doing what they want, which usually involves sitting around in the church doing nothing.  But, it is good to have a break during the week, and the best part of P Day is when I get to hear from and write you guys!!!

 

It sounds like you guys have been pretty busy this last summer!  I´m glad it is finally starting to slow down a bit, and that you guys were able to go to the Behunin´s cabin. I´m actually kind of jealous, some of my favorite memories were made at that cabin, like scout trips, and the epic call of duty weekend with Skyler, Josh, Aaron, and Jesse! Dad, thanks for keeping me updated on the Mariners, no one here watches baseball, and when they do, all they watch are the Yankees, because Mariano Rivera is from Panama.  Everyone here watches soccer.  But, I´m starting to get into it actually, something I thought would never happen!  Panama played the USA in the Gold Cup Final yesterday, and, OF COURSE, the USA WON!!!  Panamanians are very arrogant, and will not admit that we actually beat them.  They always just claim that the other team gets lucky whenever Panama loses.  They hate to admit defeat.  It is hard to work when Panama is playing, so we usually ending up watching the games.  No one wants to listen when the game is on! 

 

Mom, that is crazy how much weight you have lost!  Congratulations, hopefully I will drop some more weight while I am out, and we can both look like new people when I come home!  Dad, I hope you can still get out and ride your bike a couple nights a week, I really wish I had a bike to ride here, but, we are just stuck to walking.  We probably walk between five to six miles a day!!!  It usually rains every day here, very hard, for about twenty five minutes, so we are lucky if we can get into someone´s house to teach them before the rain hits.  This last week, we got stuck in a really bad storm, and within 30 seconds, we were completely soaked! But, since it is so hot and humid here, it feels nice to get a little wet, it cools us off. 

 

So, we are working right now with a really cool 20 year old guy named Andy.  He is from the Dominican Republic, and he works in a hotel in Downtown Panama City.  We usually read the Book of Mormon with him, and he is VERY excited to read more!  He is my favorite investigator we have had so far, because he is a cool, hilarious guy, but also, he is genuinely excited to learn more, and he LOVES the Book of Mormon!!!  I really hope we can baptize him soon!  We might be getting transferred out of this area next Wednesday, because it is a VERY safe area, and they are thinking of putting Sister Missionaries here, because they want them in the safest areas.  I´m not sure yet if we are leaving, but if we do, I will be sad, because we have found a lot of really cool people here the last couple weeks!  Sadly, we actually ended up dropping Nicador as an investigator, because he told us he didn´t really want to change, and now whenever he sees us, he just tries to avoid us.  It was sad, but all we can do now is pray for him, and the Lord will do what he sees fit.

 

As for pictures,I keep on forgetting to take my cord to the place where we use internet, but I have it today, so I will try and send some home.  So, more about our area...there is garbage EVERYWHERE!!!  There is no waste management system in Panama, so everyone either burns their garbage, or throws it out in the street.  It kind of stinks here because of it, but the landscape is still very green and pretty.  It is getting into the rainier months here, so I can expect to be getting a little more wet every day!  The rainy season is from May to December, but the most rainy months are August to December.   As for the laundry situation, no, we just have to buy soap for her to use, and we can use our mission funds for that.  It is nice to have clean, nice smelling clothes!  When we had to wash them by hand, they didn´t get all that clean, and they didn´t smell that great.  I guess it was a good experience to have to do it though.  There are a lot of very humbling things I have seen here, that make me truly grateful for everything our family has. We have been truly blessed.  I thought carpet and washing machines were normal for everyone, but i have yet to see a house in Ciudad Bolivar with carpet.  We truly are such a blessed family. 

 

Well, time to get going.  I love you guys soooo much, and I pray for you every day and night!!! You are always in my thoughts, I can’t wait for that moment in 21 1/2 months when I step off that plane, ride down that escalator, and get to see you guys again!  I love it here though, and I think I will be sad to leave.  I know we had talked about doing a cruise through the canal after I get home, I definitely  want to come back here after the mission!  I love it here, even though it is so different from back home in the states!!!   Know that I do love this gospel.  This is still the hardest thing I have ever done in my entire life.  I feel alone some days, but I know that I can pray for strength.  Every time I do, the Lord buoys me up, and he can do the same for you.  He knows exactly what we are going through.  I don’t know why the Lord is giving me the trials he is at this time, but I am trying to be humble, and faithful, and look at each trial as a learning experience.  That has been a trial for me in itself, learning to be humble, and looking at trials as a blessing in disguise.  I want to thank you for everything you guys do for me, for your fasting, prayers, support, and your love for me.  I know you will be blessed as well from my service as a missionary . Please give everyone my love! I LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH!!!

 

Love,

Elder Austin Michael Kipp

Ciudad Bolivar

Mon, Jul 22, 2013 at 5:41 PM

5:41 PM

Message starred

Hola mi familia!

 

 This last week was good, it started to get a little easier and I found that I had a bit more of the correct desires to go out and share our message. It has been a very rainy week, and when it is rainy, it is super humid! But, that is all part of the fun, I guess... We had divisions this last Thursday, so I went with our Zone Leader, Elder M, and worked in his area of San Vicente. He is kind of a jerk, he talks bad behind Elder P’s back all the time, and just doesn’t treat people well in general.  But, it was a good experience to have to speak all Spanish for really the first time here!  It was super rainy the entire day, so we got completely SOAKED to the skin!  We just contacted the whole day, they didn’t have any appointments set up, so we just gave out a lot of pamphlets and shared our testimonies with lots of people. It was a good experience, and I felt really happy that day!   I slept at their house that night, and then the next morning Elder Price and I were working together in our area again.  We went out and taught one of our investigators the commandments that day, because she said she wanted to be baptized on Sunday! So, yesterday, I saw my first baptism in the mission!  It was really good, her name is Yamaly, she is 17, and she has been raised by her brothers and sisters, (who are into drugs and different things), because her mother has been in jail for the last seven years.  She said she did a lot of bad stuff in her life, but that she knew that she could change through Christ. It  has been amazing to watch that change!

  So, mom, we sleep in a house that is one big room, with a half wall between where we sleep, and where we hang all our clothes up.  Then, there is a small bathroom and shower too.  We have two beds, a small table, some shelves, and a sink in our room, but it is home.  There are no windows, just holes in the wall, so we have a fan to keep it cool in there. There are tons of bugs, like ants, cockroaches, and spiders, but I am starting to get used to them.  I haven’t seen any huge spiders yet, so I am surviving!

  As for where we shop, we don’t have to buy much, because we eat with the members for every meal except on P-days, and we don’t ever eat breakfast.  We only have to buy hygiene stuff and snacks if we want them, and meals on P days. There are little stores all over Panama called chinos, because they are ALL owned by the Chinese population of Panama, which is rather large. They are like convenience stores, they are small, and have no doors, just big metal grates they close at night.  So, we buy everything we need there. There are four or five in our area. Our area is about a half hour out of the city, but with all the terrible traffic, (there are no driving laws, and Panamanians are crazy...) it takes between an hour to an hour and a half to get there.  It is probably the same distance from our house as downtown salt lake is from where you live.  At night, it takes us about two and a half hours to get back, because the traffic is terrible!  Luckily, we don’t have to go into the city much! 

 We don’t have a ward, it is a branch, and we have about sixty to seventy members every week. Our church is a ten minute walk away, on the main stretch of road that runs through Ciudad Bolivar. It is a small building, just a small chapel, which has no benches, and a couple rooms where classes are held. We use chairs in the chapel, and there is no piano, so we sing hymns a’capella. The church is divided into two separate parts.  The chapel is on one side, and the classrooms on the other.   It is a nice church, a little bit newer, just a whole lot different that a Utah church!!!  There is a concrete soccer field on one side, with goals, where the local people play almost every night!  It is fun to come and watch them, and sometimes play. I am definitely getting into soccer! Every time we go to someone´s house, soccer is on. The USA beat El Salvador yesterday 5-1, they are in first place in their division I think, and they are in the same division as Panama!   So, they might play each other soon!

So, not much time left, just know that I am feeling happier and happier each week!  It gets a little easier every day, but it is still the hardest thing I have ever done!  But, I can give up two years of my life so that I, and others, can have eternal life. I read your letters a lot, and the scriptures you share with me are always perfect for what I am going through. Dad, I particularly enjoy Mosiah Chapter 3, and mom, I loved the parable of the donuts you sent me last week!  Know that I have a strong testimony of this gospel, and I know we are all being blessed by the Lord at this time, as are the propel I am teaching. I love you guys, please keep me updated on the goings on in Riverton, sorry I can’t write more today, we are at a Mall called Los Andes, and our internet time is almost up!  I love you all so much, thank for your love, prayers, and support for me!  I love you all!

 

Love,

Elder Austin Michael Kipp

What a Week!

Hey Family!

 First of all, Dad, congrats on getting that job with American Express!!!  My companion and I prayed for you day and night, as I know you and Mom did, and the Lord blessed you guys!  That is so exciting that you get to stay with the company!

  Second of all, this past week was all right.  It was super hot and humid here!  It rains every day, pretty hard, for about twenty minutes to an hour, and then it usually sprinkles throughout the day.  The storms here are crazy!!!  And then after it rains, the sun comes out, and it gets REALLY SUPER humid!!!  And the humidity makes it seem so much hotter!  It makes me sweat a ton, but I am losing weight here!  We went to dinner on Tuesday & Saturday with a family we ate with during my first week, and they all told me I looked a lot smaller than the first time we ate there!  Mom, I am so excited that you have lost so much as well!  It is truly an answer to fasting and prayers!  I am excited for you too Dad, that you get out and ride your bike so much, and you´re starting to feel better!  I know I feel good after walking around all day!  Tired, but I feel better than I have in a while!  The air here is really clean too, so that helps a lot.  The air in Mexico was really dirty, and it actually made us sick!

 So, the food here is pretty normal. We eat a big plate of rice at every meal, with chicken, every single day.  Sometimes, they give us fried platanos, or "patacones" which are really good!  I haven´t eaten anything too weird here yet, the worst thing I had was a small piece of liver that was gross, but other than that, nothing bad.

  Work here is starting to pick up!  As of now, we have 16 baptismal dates, but I don’t think they all are really wanting to do it, they just said they would to make us happy.  There are some people who really want to though.  There is a family who has a son who is a member, and we have been teaching the parents the last three weeks!  They were super Catholic, but it has been cool to see the change come over them as we have taught of the Book of Mormon. The dad, I think, will be baptized this Sunday, but the mom will take a little more time. It will be my first baptism, because the two kids we were supposed to baptize yesterday aren’t ready yet. Kind of disappointing, but we will keep teaching them, and hope they continue to progress!

  Also, there is this old guy who we have started teaching, named Nicador.  His wife is a member, but she is inactive, and he is a drunk.  He is almost always drunk.  But, we went over there last week to talk to him, and he said he had a dream about me the night before.  He had this weird voodoo doll thing that a lady gave him, and he dreamed that he was at a party, with the voodoo doll.  He was going to start drinking, but he saw me in the background, telling him not to drink.  After he told us the dream, he said that he thinks I am an angel sent from God to help him.  He said, "You´re not a Prophet, and you´re not Jesus Christ.  But, you are someone really special."  I know I told him I would teach him before I came to this earth.  Hopefully he stops drinking, he believes what we teach him, but he has to stop drinking to be baptized.

  We ended up not going to the canal last week, kind of disappointing, but we met a huge black guy last week who works down in the locks, and he said he can give us a private tour of the locks, where no one is allowed to go!  It’s going to be awesome!  We taught him about the restoration, and he agreed with everything we said.  He was a cool guy, but he is Adventist.  Adventists believe pretty much everything that all the Christian religions teach, so they are hard to convert.  But, we will continue to work with him, and hopefully he continues to progress!

  So, not as much baseball is played here as I thought.  It’s all about soccer where I´m at!  Baseball is still big, everyone is obsessed with the Yankees because Mariano Rivera is from Panama.  But, I have started to like soccer a little more!  Whenever a big game is on, it is hard to teach people, because everyone just wants to watch the game!!!  The world cup race is going on, and everyone is obsessed with it right now!!!  Dad, try and get me some updates on how the Mariners are doing!  I´m sure not a lot has changed, they probably still are terrible, but maybe I will be pleasantly surprised!!!

 Well, time is running short. I love you guys, I will continue to pray for you!!!  Please continue to pray for me, it is still pretty tough out here with the language and everything, but it is getting a little better every day!!! Love you guys, can’t wait to hear back from you next week!  Love you all!

Love,

Elder Austin Michael Kipp

Second Week in Panama

Hey mom and dad, Courtney and Ryan,

 I don't have that much time to write today, but I just want to say that it was AMAZING to be able to talk to you last Saturday. When you talked to me, I felt the spirit Stronger that I ever have before, that is the truth, and it COMPLETELY changed my outlook on the mission, and the feelings that I have been having. Thank you so much for listening to that spirit, and sharing your feelings with me. It is still hard, and very frustrating right now, but I know, that as I continue on in dedicated service to God, I will be blessed more than I can even imagine right now. Just know how thankful I am for what you shared with me that night, and your prayers and fasts on my behalf. Thank the ward as well please.

  So, Panama is as hot as ever!  My area is really hilly, and it is so tiring walking all day, and it is very humid, so I sweat a TON!! But, no one here cares, they all understand. We have been washing our clothes by hand the last two weeks in a sink behind our tiny house, but Hermana L has offered to wash them for us on P Days, if we provide the soap! That is going to be so nice!  I will send of a picture of her family in another email.

   Panama is different than I expected.  It is really jungley like I expected, but it is also really dirty!  They don't have a garbage system in my area, so everyone just throws their trash out on the sides of the streets, or burns it, which smells disgusting.  All the buildings and houses have their doors open ALWAYS, literally, so when we go to a house, we stand in the yard, and yell BUENAS, and they come out if they are there. Everyone here listens to us, unless they are busy, which is pretty cool!  I actually think we will have two baptisms this Sunday of two seventeen year old kids, a boy named Antony, and a girl named Yamaly.  I am so excited to see my first baptism in the mission!!!

  So, Elder P is my companion.  He is from Scottsdale, Arizona and his dad works for HP as well!  He was a two time letterman for baseball, he actually has played with Bryce H, and he played on a Rays scout team! He is a really good missionary, and he teaches with incredible power, and pretty much speaks PERFECT Spanish!!!  He has been a great trainer!!!

   So, President Carmack is one of my new favorite people. I have gotten to know him very well this past week, he truly has an amazing spirit about him, and he has been able to help me so much! He gave me one of the most amazing blessings I have ever received yesterday.  He told me that when the Savior comes again, he will call my name blessed.  It was an amazing blessing. 

  Well, I have to get going, we are going to see the PANAMA CANAL today!  Sorry i don't have more time to write, but I love you guys and I am so thankful for your love, support, and prayers on my behalf!  I love you ALL!!!!!

Love, 

Elder Austin Michael Kipp

Elder Kipp the 5th

Arrival in Panama

Hey mom and dad! 

So I am finally in Panama! It is so beautiful here!!!  It is SUPER SUPER humid though... and hot and, my companion, Elder P, and I walk about ten miles a day! In our area there are a TON of big huge hills to climb! But, we have found some good people to teach! We eat lunch with Sister L four days a week, and dinner with her on Sundays. I never know how poor it was out here in Panama, outside of the city.  The houses are literally made out of cinder blocks, with a tin roof.  It is pretty meager circumstances.  It has been an eye opener! AND.. I  have seen more spiders and bugs here that ever before! Huge ones! In our house, there are bugs EVERYWHERE! It is a gross house. It is really dirty on the inside, and the fridge is caked with mold and dirt on the inside, and there are bugs everywhere! Our bathroom is the same way. Plus, we have no hot water, so it is cold showers every day! What a joy! haha :) But, it hasn't been as bad as I am probably making it sound! 

The Panama temple is beautiful! Our first night here, we stayed in the building next to the temple, it was pretty much like a 5 Star hotel room, nice and cushy and comfy. I was in a room with Elders O, B, and W from the MTC. It was fun to hang out with them that day!!! We also got to go to the temple, another nice surprise! It was so beautiful on the inside, and I definitely can’t wait to go again!!! The surroundings of the temple are gorgeous too!!! Jungle and green all surrounding it! Right now, our area, Ciudad Bolivar, is about an hour or more away from the Temple, so I don't know when I will get to come again.

It was kind of a frustrating week. Actually, a VERY frustrating week! The language here is so different than any other Spanish I have ever heard!!  They speak so fast, and they cut their words!  But, everyone here is so friendly!  'They always greet you with a "buenas" (good day, morning, or night), and everyone here is really receptive to the missionaries. They believe it is a sin to reject anyone who carries the word and message of God. So, we have talked to a lot of people! I actually don't think we have been rejected once!!

So, the last day in the MTC was interesting.  We left for Panama on Tuesday, but every other missionary in the MTC, including the other Americans, left on Monday. So on Monday, the MTC was being moved to the New High School, the Benemarito. We were told by the President that we would be helping move in there, so in the morning, we helped pack up our branch presidency and the MTC presidents stuff in big vans. There wasn't room for us, so we waited with the Pres. and his wife for the vans to come back. But, they never did, and the President and his wife left, and we were literally stuck at the MTC all day with NOBODY except us Panama missionaries.!!!  The MTC was all cleared out, and we couldn’t go in. The Temple was closed, so we went and walked around the grounds and took pictures, but it was a strange day….OHHHH!! We did find one of those nacho libre three wheeled bikes, so we rode that around forever, and then we packed up all our stuff. We were literally alone the whole day. At dinner time, we had to go into the eating area, and search for our dinner. We finally found it in the freezer, then we had scripture study and went to bed.  When we woke up at three-thirty, no one was there to pick us up!!! Finally someone showed up, and took us to the wrong gate at the airport!
They finally realized and took us to the right gate, but it was crazy! We got to the plane on time though, and I slept pretty much the whole flight there.  We got to the airport, went through immigration and everything smoothly, and met the ZLs and APs with President and his wife. They took us on a bus through the city, which is SUPER COOL!  It is all high rise buildings! Then, we went to the temple, ate, and had some training. Then, we went through the temple, and went to dinner, then bed. It was a pretty crazy couple of days though!

Know that i have a testimony of this gospel. I know Jesus is my savior. And he loves us, that is why he made the sacrifice for us, so that we could return to his presence after this life. Know that I love you all so much, and that I pray and want the best for you!  Mom, I am so excited to hear how much weight you have lost! it is an answer to my prayers! I love you all so much!

Love, 

Elder Austin Michael Kipp