P-Day? Again?

January 16, 2012

Hello Family!

Just thought you all would like an English greeting for once! I have to say, it is always nice hearing from you all. Though at the same time, no offense, but this week sounded like you were all kind of bored at home. Though, I know that there are just those kind of weeks. Anyway, things are going well here in Panama. We get to hear from Russel M. Neilsen on Thursday! I know I already told you all, but it´s going to be awesome (I hope). So yeah, this week was fairly normal over here as well. I think my Companion is good and ready for transfers. He says nothing´s wrong, but I can tell he´s sick of me :) Transfers will be not this week, but the next week. I will be staying here in the San Vicente Area, and Elder Tauta will be going somewhere else. So yeah, I´ll be getting my first new Companion. I´ve had Elder Tauta since the beginning, so this is going to be different.

Well, unfortunately I don´t have all too much new to talk about. Well, I guess yesterday was kind of cool. We had a member named George take us all over the place, showing us where people lived out in the middle of nowhere. It was cool, cause we saw a lot of crazy things, like a Terrantula (spelled that wrong), a caterpillar that was bigger than my fingers, an iguana, crazy looking fruit, awesome scenery, and supposedly, there´s an area with a tree that glows at night like on the movie Avatar! All of this awesome stuff, and it was the one day that I didn´t bring my camera with me! So yeah, it´s a bit of a bummer. Also, Mik would have just melted, cause I got to hold 4 day old puppies that were so small they fit in the palm of my hand!

Anyway, none of you need to worry about me out here. The Mission work is going great, and the people here are just awesome. I think that we might have a baptism or two in the comming weeks. All we need is the people to come to Church! So if you wouldn´t mind praying for my investigators, that would be nice. They´re really great people, and I always hate to see good families reject the gospel cause of little things. Speaking of families, make sure you all go to church as well! I don´t want any of you to end up on the Less Active List for the Missionaries :) Also, I´ve been reading Jesus The Christ, and it is a great book. If you haven´t read it, do it, cause it´s really interesting the stuff you learn from it.

Well, I´m running out of time. I love you all!!! Make sure to have fun! Don´t have too many sleep overs, and make sure to take a break once in a while :) Well, Talk to you later!!!

Love Trevor

Russel M. Neilson is coming to speak with us on the 19th!!!!!! YEAH!!!!

January 9, 2012

Hola mi familia!

Well, this week has been a slow one, so I´m really glad that P-Day has finally come! It sounds like things have been crazy for all of you! Work, School, Friends, and everything else! Well, I just hope that you are are doing well. Like I said, things over here have been kind of slow. We´ve just had a hard time with appointments and lessons falling through. You think the work would go well in a nation where everyone believes in Jesus, but it´s the exact opposite! People don´t listen to you, because supposedly the Bible says that their religion is the only correct one, or because "feeling the spirit" is when The Holy Ghost posesses you and makes you speak rubbish! Sometimes the people here frustrate me! Though, at the same time, it´s the people that make this place any good. The Members here freakin rock! They help with the Mission work so much, and they are very strong people with strong testimonies! So yeah, sometimes Panama is really great, and at others it really stinks!
Anyway, things are going well. We don´t have changes until the 24th, I think. That, and Russel M. Neilson is coming to speak with us on the 19th!!!!!! YEAH!!!! It´s going to be awesome! I can´t wait for it! Also, Elder Tauta is very excited cause he gets to sing a Solo when Russel M. Neilson comes to speak. So yeah, that will be fun.
Well, all of you seemed to ask alot about my Spanish and how the New Year is going. First of all, my Spanish is okay. I´m still having a hard time understanding some things, but it will come. Spanish is difficult, but I´m getting used to it. Anyway, the New Years Eve was cool. It was just like Christmas, just with more fireworks and less presents! Over here, people love their fireworks! Luckily, the children don´t throw them at me! They do throw them at eachother though. Stupid Kids!
Well, I hope everything is going well for all of you! Make sure to keep yourselves busy! It´s much more fun when you have something to do!
So yeah, I don´t have much time left. I love you all!!! I look forward to hearing from you all next week!

Love Trevor

Short But Schweet!

January 2, 2012

FELIZ AÑO NUEVO!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!!!

Last Month in Training!

January 2, 2012

Hola,

Another great week here in Panama, and I find myself writing you all again! Wow, time is going by really fast! I found out the other day, that this is my last month in Training, and it got me both excited and nervous. The excited part, is because that means that I´m no longer going to be in Training, and I get another change in San Vicente! The Nervous part, is that President told me that I´m going to have a Latin Companion who doesn´t speak English! I know that it will be good for helping me learn Spanish, but I´m really nervous, because it´s going to be a whole different world living with someone who I can barely communicate with. Well, the Latin companions are supposedly the best teachers of the gospel in the Mission, but they aren´t as good with obeying the rules as the Amercans are. I know that sounds racist, but President even said that Latin Comps. are some of the best, and some of the laziest Missionaries in the Mission. So yeah, we will see!
Anyway, this week has been pretty good. It´s a little sad cause we had to drop a family this week because they weren´t keeping any of the commitments, but hopefully we will find more positive families to teach. Right now we have a few people who we are teaching who are really positive. We just need them to accept a baptismal date, and all will be great! We think that we might be able to set a baptismal date for 2 families, and 3 other people in the next week or two. So I´m really excited about that! On the other hand, we started contacting in a new neighborhood, and it´s a tough one. The people there are rock solid Catholics who know nothing about the Bible!!!! This one guy told us that we don´t believe in Christ, we preach evil, and that the Bible says that the Catholic Church is the only true Church. The word "Catholic" doesn´t ever appear in the Bible! Not even once!!! Well, I don´t like Bible Bashing, but I have to say, it´s not a hard thing to do here...
Well, sorry everyone, but I don´t have much time this week. I had some computer problems, so I have to cut it short this week. I hope you are all doing okay! Tell Cody and Kamille that I hope they get feeling better! I love hearing from all of you and can´t wait to hear from you next week! Love you all! Have fun! Til Next Time!

Love Trevor

P.S. Sorry, no pics this week, I don´t have my SD card with me!

The work is good, and The Church is True!!!

December 26, 2011

Hola!

Well, this one´s probably going to be a little shorter cause I talked to you all yesterday. Yeah, it was really great being able to talk to all of you. I wish that I just had a lot of time to ask each of you questions! Despite talking for that long time, there´s still things I want to talk about. Though, it sounds like you are all doing well. Though after Chris´ comment about our friends, I´m kind of worried about all of them. The only friends I´ve heard from are Chris Abbott and John. So I only know a little bit of what´s going on with all of them. Luckily though, I get to talk to you all every week! So make sure to tell me how things are going! Also, if you ever have any questions, feel free to ask me about ANYTHING! So don´t be afraid to bug me with anything. I like to hear everything! Family events, stories, problems, concerns, new stuff, friends, ANYTHING! Plus, I just love hearing from you all! Well, I do have a few items of business to take care of. First of all, I need an E-mail address for Chris, cause I got a message that said that Chris´ email doesn´t exist or function anymore. So Chris, send me a new e-mail address please! Second, all of you feel free to use my stuff. I was kind of being picky before. Use the games, the technology, the 3DS (just don´t lose it or break it please), and whatever else you want to use. Third, tell everyone to write me! In the Mission, I´ve heard from John, Chris A, Uncle, Uncle Paul Petersen, Grandma, Sam Parker, and the Cards that were signed by the Family. So just tell everyone that I would love to hear from them. The only problem is that it´s not easy for me to respond to people...

Anyway, sorry for the list of things. So yeah, I hope you all have a good time! The work is good, and The Church is True!!! Also, if you ever have questions in life, the scriptures are a good place to look for answers! Well, I love you all! Talk to you later!

Love, Trevor

More Panama Pics!

December 26, 2011

Here are some Pics! Enjoy! Uh... I´m not sure if this computer is working properly, cause I don´t think that it actually attatched the photos... Tell me if you don´t get them!

PANAMA!!! Enjoy the Photos!

Hola mi familia!

Wow, we´ve got a whole lot of things going on this week! I´m not even sure what to write about, there´s just so much! First of all, Chris is going to be home this Wednesday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT´S JUST CRAZY!!!!! Wow!!!! I can´t believe he´s already going to be home. Chris, I can´t believe you´re already going to be home! Actually, when you read this, you will be home!!!! WOAH!!!! I´m just having way to much fun with this :) Well, that means that I only have 20 months left, which means I´ve already served 1/6 of my Mission! There´s just no way all of this is possible. I feel like a Greenie still. That, and my Spanish is HORRIBLE!!! Anyway, enough of the bold text and exclamation marks. How´s everything going at home? Sounds like you´ve all been preparing for Chris to come home, and for Christmas. Sounds like it´s going to be fun! Oh, by the way, sorry my e-mail is a day late, I wasn´t in the area yesterday. We went to an Island yesterday, and when we came back, there weren´t any buses back home. So we had to walk, and find someone to give us a ride back to the city. It was crazy. For this adventure, we left our house at 4 AM, and we didn´t get home until 9 PM. So we had a bit of a hard time with travels, but it was all cool. I´ll make sure to send you some pics with this e-mail. So yeah, we also had our Christmas Party today, and it was awesome! We had a lot of fun, and I got to talk with an Elder from my MTC District. It´s sad, cause I found out that Elder Hummel went home. He just couldn´t handle the mission and the spanish, so he went home. I hate it when Missionaries go home. The Mission is hard, but it´s definately worth it! The Mission is about serving the People, and serving the Lord. We are here as Missionaries to share something wonderful with these people, and to help them to receive the same blessings that we have as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, (or as they say in Panama, La Iglesia de Jesucristo de Los Santos de Los Ultimos Dias.)

Anyway, we already had our Christmas party, so there´s just one problem I have. I received one of your packages, so I took it to my house and the problem is that I find it staring at me all of the time. It´s kind of distracting having a package staring at you when you are trying to study, so I´m not sure if it will remain un-opened until Christmas, but we´ll see!

Time for answers for questions! I really like this part! First of all, yes Mik, it is Michael Mclain :) Second, I just want my friend´s email, so I can confirm with them when I get/send mail. That, and I might start my blog soon, so also to forward my blog message to them, so thanks Mik! Which leads to Mom´s questions, sure, you can put these on the blog if you want, but I will try to start writing a brief message for the blog each week. So look forward to that :) Also, my fridge still doesn´t work, but we don´t need one, cause I never eat at home anyway, so no worries okay? :) Okay Dad´s turn! Thanks for the Skype name, I will hopefully be Skyping you either Christmas or Christmas Eve. It depends on if a member has a computer or not. If not, we will have to Skype on Christmas Eve, cause I will have to go to an Internet Cafe in Albrook Mall. I will likely give you guys a phone call later this week to confirm our Skype time! So keep you´re phones on hand! So yeah, things are good here, but I´m a little concerned about some things at home, cause I heard that cousin James´ Dad died. Hopefully he´s okay. He´ll be in my prayers. Anyway, I hope you all have a great week, and a Merry Christmas! Also, Chris, have fun at home! I´m sure you´re going to have many things to catch up on (movies, sleep, etc). I´ll write you an RM Guide to Modern life! Well, I´ve got to go now. I love you all! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!! Enjoy the Pics! I´ll send more next time!

Love, Trevor