Dear Family,
Well, I just realized on
Saturday that I was hitting my 18 month mark! So, we went to Hermano U's house to buy
some lobster for dinner. He is a diver, and caught us a mammoth three pound
lobster! It was pretty tasty! I
will send some pictures!
This last week,
everything just seemed to fall into place. I think it was one of the weeks where I saw
the most success and progress in my entire mission. It all started with our Zone Meeting. We went
the day before to do divisions with the two elders. It was a big party, those two elders are so
much fun, and we were able to work with them a bit. On Wednesday, everyone got there for the
conference, and we gave each companionship a topic, one of their strong points,
and had them share a fifteen minute lesson on that topic. It went really well, and the spirit was
definitely felt. It was the first San
Blas zone meeting ever, and we definitely saw success. Yesterday when we reported numbers, the zone
had some of the highest numbers we have ever had! I know numbers don't matter, but with high
numbers, it means the missionaries are working more and bringing more souls
unto Christ. We are really excited, the
mission has been in a baptism slump this year, and we really hope the San Blas
Zone can be the examples for the mission on how to work effectively.
We had a baptism
on Friday! R got baptized! We went out to a member's private island in
the canoe, and baptized him in the ocean. The water was crystal clear and he definitely
got the witness that what he was doing was right. He progressed really fast! And he is really excited to teach the gospel! So yesterday, we did divisions, and my companion
went with another member, and I went with R. He took me to a girl's house who I didn't
know, and she told us she wants to get baptized, so we set up a date with her and
she accepted! Then, he took me to his
uncle's house, where we found seven new really positive investigators, a whole
family that could be eternal someday! And then, he took me to his cousin's house,
where we taught her and her daughter, and they told us they wanted a Book of
Mormon. So we gave them one, taught them
the Restoration, and invited them to watch the Joseph Smith movie with us this
week. We ended the week with 17 new
investigators, thirteen baptismal dates set, and the highest church attendance
we have ever had, 74 people. We have
Hermano U's baptism coming up this weekend, and other baptisms planned up
through the end of the year.
This last week was
one of the most incredible of my life. I learned that the Lord truly does bless us when
we are obedient and exercise our faith. I learned, yet again, that this church and the
Lord's work are true, and that it truly is a privilege to be a missionary here
in Panama. I have less than six months,
and I want to give it my all so that I can hold my head high and say I did
everything I could to build up the Lord's kingdom here in Panama. I love
you all!
Love,
Elder Austin Michael
Kipp
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