Hello everyone!
It has been a great week
out here in David! My companion and I
get along great. It is just a little
hard getting to know a new area that is so much bigger than my last area.
My comp wants to work, but it seems like he only wants to work with the
people we already have. He really
doesn't want to do anything to find new people, like contacting, so it can be a
little frustrating at times. We did
commit six youth to baptism this last week! They are between the ages of twelve
and seventeen, and are all excited. We just
need to get them to go to church now!
The work out here is
strong. Our ward is starting to support
us more. In this area before, there have
been some really disobedient missionaries who haven't done any work, and the
members lost trust in the missionaries after a while. But, when I got
here, I told my companion that the best way to have success is to work through
and with the members. So, we are doing
more activities with the ward now, and we always invite the investigators, so
we can teach them, and so that the ward can see that we are working, and so
that they can get to know our investigators. President Hinckley said that every new member
needs a friend, and I know the activities we do can help the investigators
make friends in the church. For our activities, we do
a Group Night activity every Wednesday, where we teach a short lesson, play a
game that relates to the lesson, then make a treat after. On Saturdays, we have started teaching English
classes. Have you ever tried to teach English? It is dang hard!!! But, it is important that the people learn it,
because it is the language most spoken in the world, and it will help the
people here get a leg up on competition for jobs. We are also opening the church every Saturday
after English classes to play soccer on the court outside. All the
churches here are enclosed with gates, and the church has the best court, so EVERYONE
in the town shows up on Saturday afternoons to play! I am starting to like soccer more, even though
I can't play it to save my life!
Another main focus here
is the less active members. In our
stake, we have 3,800 members, and guess how many are inactive???? 3,200!!!! So,
a big focus of the missionary efforts in all of Panama is to reactivate the
less actives. Being a region dominated
by the Catholic church, a lot of people join the church, and then stop going,
and start attending the Catholic church, because they have friends or family
that go there. It is frustrating, but it
has been interesting to learn about different religions as we teach people, and
understand their beliefs better. There
are a lot of Catholics, Evangelicals, Baptists, and surprisingly the Jewish
faith is very strong here as well!
Well, time is running
short! I am doing great out here in David, loving the area, the work, my house,
(it is bigger than the last one!) the members, my companion, my investigators,
everything! I am starting to learn how to love people for who they are, and for
who they can become. I love you
all so much!!!
Love,
Elder Austin Michael Kipp
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