Semana 12 (THE Canal and Fish from THE Canal)

I'm not sure how long this email will be, but I have a feeling it will be long. So apologies in advance!

PDay definitely set the mood right for this week! I got to go to the canal and let me tell you... IT WAS LIT!!! I mean how many people get to say they went to the Panama Canal? Also, because I'm a citizen I got in for 3 dollars and not 10. I may have looked like a tourist, but I'm not! I wasn't sure what shocked me more though, the canal and boats, or how many people I saw. I was genuinely so confused. It didn't feel right! Haha! But it was a really cool experience! I bought a hat, a dope pen, and I drank canal water. How many people get to say that? So, so cool.

Another highlight of the week would definitely be the fish soup. Some lady fed us fish soup. Ah man. I thought the guancho was bad (blended up fish). But this soup literally tasted like she took a bucket, went to the canal, caught a fish in the bucket, then just served the fish with canal water. It was bad. But, we were able to eat it. And we enjoyed it so much that we wanted it again for breakfast the next morning if you know what I mean. Good times! Oh, also, one of our friends said he liked me a lot, so he bought me a mini bible. So now, I literally have the scriptures in the palm of my hand. ;)

We also had entrevistas this week with President Forsberg. While waiting, a bunch of us went and got some pizza, and it was pretty dang good. But I think I'm breaking... because there wasn't rice with my pizza and I was confused. And I am starting to crave rice. Not that I want it all the time. But if I don't have rice with my meals, then is it really a meal? Anyways back to the interviews. They were good. President said I'm adjusting super well. He also basically said that I was being transferred to a different area. We have transfers next week, and Elder Bray will probably be training some newbie in Samaria which means I'll be headed off somewhere else. Which brings me to my first thought for everyone.

I have been in Samaria for about 5 weeks. I can't understand anyone. I can't speak the language. But, I have such a love for the people here. And I'm not gonna lie, I'm a little sad to be leaving them. We have about 9 people that are pretty close to baptism and I want to help them. But, I know they will get there without me here too, so that makes me really happy. Bottom line of all this though is that if we have the ability to love others without really even knowing them, just think about how much your Savior loves you. He knows you so perfectly ~ everything about you. I promise you all that the Savior has a greater love for you than you can even imagine. And there's so much comfort, love, and hope in that.

Second thought. This week I had the thought "You can't receive answers if you don't have questions." Well, that seems pretty obvious right? But it's so true. The spirit can't give you answers, if you don't first have a question. Now I'm not saying to go questioning or doubting everything about the church because there's a difference between questioning and doubting. Doubting is wondering if something is false, while questioning is wondering if something is true. Questions are good. God wants to give us blessings. He wants to give us knowledge. But, he also wants us to work for those things. He for sure will help us find those things, but we have to do our part. But, you also need to know what you are working towards, hence why we need to have questions.

Now to the third thought. Elder Bray and I were teaching this couple ~ Edson and Tanhia. Edson is an inactive member and we are trying to get Tahnia to be baptized. Now Edson was fighting us a lot during this lesson. He just kept saying he wanted to do things his own way ~ have faith and just kinda be tranquilo. He was just being super stubborn. Now at Edson's house, I'm always laughed at a ton because I can't speak or understand Spanish. And it didn't help that I was beyond tired and it was 10 at night. (Very not allowed, especially in Samaria). Anyways. At one point, I felt so strongly in my heart to share some very personal things. So I just trusted God and went with it. I started to talk but didn't know what to say at first. And they kinda laughed at me, but I took a small second to just feel what to say and went for a second go. They were still laughing, but after 3 words they went completely silent and the spirit was so strong. On the way back home Elder Bray said to me "You just shook the house." And I'm happy to say that Tanhia came to church for the first time ever, after months of teaching. I hope she keeps going. But, the point of this story is that we need to trust God and the spirit. There is so much power that comes from trusting. I genuinely can't describe my thoughts about this experience, but take from it what you will.

Fourth thought because why not. I was thinking about trust and the thought came to me "Who do I trust more? A person I just met or the one who has been with me through everything?" Also another simple answer. We all have struggles. But the strongest relationships truly are built through hardships. When someone is right next to you in your hardest moments, there isn't a trust quite like it honestly. I promise you all that God is always there and by putting faith in Christ always, especially in your struggles, you will learn to trust in Him.

Which leads me to my fifth and final thought. With that faith and trust, we can have hope. Hope was the attribute of Christ that I studied this week. Let me first start by saying, wow it is crazy how connected everything is in this gospel. Like it blows my mind. Everything is connected. And truly the only way to learn is line upon line, because there is too much to learn at once. But hope was an absolutely amazing topic to study. And I'm not even close to finishing. But I can testify that hope is real. It truly is an anchor to our souls. It is what keeps us going. It makes us steadfast in Christ. Hope is basically trusting in God and His promises. But it's also more than that. It's the assurance that we will receive those blessings. Hope is the assurance that we will inherit the kingdom of God. And wow what a blessing that is. Idk about all of you, but I want that. And I want that for all of you too. In addition, when we have hope, it gives us a desire to do righteousness, because we hope for the things of God. And the only way to obtain the things of God are by doing the things of God. It is what allows us to persevere in faith. There are a lot of hard things going on right now for everyone, but I promise that there is always hope in Christ. Hope that if we keep strong in our faith that God will see us through. There is so, so, so much more to hope. I have a challenge for you all. In PMG there is the section Attributes of Christ. Every week I study one and work on it. There's so much to all these attributes, and I promise you they will change your life. So, I challenge you all to pick an attribute you want in your life, study it, learn what it is, how to obtain it, and pray for it.

Sorry if none of this makes sense. It's sometimes hard to put thoughts into words. But I love you all. Thank you so much for your support and prayers. I hope you are all doing well. Don't stop praying for me and my people! And I most certainly won't stop praying for all of you! Keep hoping! "And remember kids, God made you special, and He loves you very much!"

Much love,

Elder Lutze

The Canal was dope and so is my mini Bible!

Scriptures in the palm of my hand

THE Panama Canal!