Semana 23 (I'm a Tosca Member)

This week was insane! We put in work that's for sure. We are absolutely exhausted, but there's no greater joy than working hard. I saw a lot of miracles from God this week. Literally I can't do anything on my own. God just makes everything work.

First of all, the mission Panamá is the best mission ever. This may be bragging a bit, but I love Panamá, so it's fine. Basically what happened is that a new mission president came in July. He set a new plan in action for Panamá and the mission is taking off. We have the most baptisms in all of Central America and everything is progressing like crazy. God is truly blessing Panamá. This week the mission wanted to get a total of 800 'news.' And so our zone wanted each companionship to get 10. Everyone worked like crazy!!! And Elder Buhler and I got 28 'news' this week which was crazy! This coming week the plan is to get a bunch of baptism dates from those 28. We already got a few on first contacts. The spirit truly is what converts people. Convincing someone to switch their church and be baptized into another the first time you meet them just doesn't work unless you've got God on your side which thankfully we do.

Our neighbors asked us to do service pretty much every morning. So we were getting up at 6 to go help them. It was kinda exhausting, but it was fun! I have no idea what they are doing, but destroying and hammering concrete is pretty fun!! HaHa!

We had a Noche De Grupo with the ward. It was super cool! This was the first time, but so many people showed up! Then Elder Buhler and I led a game of charades, and boy oh boy did the people go crazy. Panamanians get super competitive so it was really funny to watch.

We had intercambios this week too! I was with my beloved Zone Leader Elder Tarbet. He's a super cool guy and very diligent.  I learned a lot this intercambio! It was fun, especially because we are good friends!

I saw a river couch, a gang of cats, and we also were doing Cosechas with our cosecha hats.

Spiritual thought today is about obedience. We got a new rule that we can't teach women unless there is a man in the house. We used to be able to teach women outside their house, but now nothing. One day we found this lady, and she was excited to listen to us... but no man = no lesson. We were debating whether or not to teach her, but ultimately decided to be obedient. As we walked away we met this guy Kaldir. We taught him, and he was super excited! He was telling us that he was looking for a religion, and felt that our church was true. Then he said he didn't actually live here, but lived in Chepo - some area in Panama. Then he was telling us that missionaries had never visited him or his people because their village is a bit hidden. Oh also this dude is a chief of his people in Tosca which is the name of his village. He wanted the missionaries to come visit them all and teach them. He even sent a video to his village group chat with us in it saying that we were coming. And now I'm I'm honorary member of his tribe. So basically we found a village chief who wants all his people to get baptized into our church. It was pretty crazy! This was a testimony to me about obedience. If we had not been obedient to the rules, to God's rules, we wouldn't have met this man. I truly testify that obedience brings miracles. It's an act of faith, but faith always brings miracles.

I love you all! Thank you always for everything! Keep me and my people in your prayers! And you're always in mine!

-Elder Lutze

E. Buhler & E. Lutze in their Cosecha Hats

E. Buhler & E. Lutze with the River Couch

E. Buhler & E. Lutze in Samaria

E. Lutze and E. Buhler working hard

The River Couch

The Cat Gang

Semana 23

Dear Elder Lutze,

Another crazy week at work. I taught in Simulation three days straight. This week is also going to be busy! I went ice skating with the youth on Tuesday and took Cami out for her birthday on Thursday. Friday I want to the temple and visited with Mollie. She’s slowly improving. Tonight we had a family dinner for Natalie and Cami’s birthdays. 

I’ve been in Esther this week. I love this story!

From the story of Esther 

Esther 4:14

We don't know how important the things we do and say will be for a long time. It is so important to pray for guidance each day so we are prepared to be an instrument in His hands.

"You can't impact something you don't touch. The world marches on and to have input in the direction it goes you have to join the parade. You've got to work with the instruments you're given. If you wait for the perfect time most often it ends up you waited too long. Sometimes God puts a new path under your feet not because you think you're ready to walk it but because he knows that's the way you need to go. " Lisa Wingate

Esther 10:3

Mordecai’s (Esther’s cousin who raised her) situation is parallel in some ways to that in which modern followers of Jesus finds themselves. For Mordecai, Babylon was a physical reality. He was forced to function in the midst of an alien society. Today, Babylon, or the world, is a spiritual reality. The standards of the modern world are increasingly alien to the values held by the disciples of the Savior. The challenge is to keep the values intact and yet find ways, as did Mordecai, to be of service both to society and to Christ. Mordecai could not have done what he did if he had compromised his standards. Because he had prepared himself and was willing to become involved, he eventually became the chief minister of the king.

“The Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants tells us to be anxiously engaged in good causes. This suggests we can’t respond to all causes. We must be selective in the things we seek to do in terms of community and civic chores. But it also suggests we ought to devote a measure of our time and talent to do these things, for they do count on the scales of action as God sees it.

“The world is full of fads. The world is full of the marches of lemmings to the sea. The world is full of causes that lead into conceptual cul-de-sacs. Our task, therefore, is to be wise in the selection of good causes, using the scriptures and the modern prophets as our guide.

“Anne Morrow Lindbergh, in her book Gift from the Sea, says: ‘My life cannot implement in action all the demands of all the people to whom my heart responds.’ You will care for more things than you will be able to do things about. Wise selection of causes is one of the highest forms of the use of free agency that there is, and, really, one of the ways God tests our basic wisdom and our capacity to love.” (Neal A. Maxwell, speech delivered at Catalina Young Adult Conference, 23 Oct. 1972.)

I love you and you are definitely using your free agency wisely! Keep working hard!

 Mom

Semana 22 (Cat in Carcel)

This week was super good! The area is a bit slow, but we be working like crazy! Especially with the members.

We had a zone conference this week which was super good! Literally just free revelation. It's always fun to see other missionaries. All the focus was on just working with members. So the mission Panamá is gonna be going crazy! (It already is!)

We got some fun opportunities to serve. which we don't get very often here which is lame. I love service and it's always super fun!

Something really cool happened this week when we did a cosecha. We prayed for guidance and revelation for where to go and who to find. Elder Buhler thought of a blue house with a mom and a kid. I thought of the number 6. So we set off. The last house we found in the most random place was blue, had a mom and her kid, and had 6 identical mariposas (butterflies) on the wall. It was crazy!!

Hermana Bapp always puts her cat in 'carcel' when we eat at her home. It's pretty funny - "Cat in carcel." Hermana Bapp is literally crazy! I love her so much. She just shows up to church with random children. We don't know who they are or where they come from.

I also finished another book and started another one. The one I'm reading now is the biography of President Oaks. It's so good! That man worked!!

Other cool things would be that a young boy named Diego went to 'SOY' which is 'FSY' in Panama. By the last day he said, "I want to be baptized." He was baptized this week which was super spiritual!! 

We saw a massive trash pile which was a bit sad. It's also kinda funny because it looks like a river of trash!

I went on an intercambios with Elder Fabián this week! He's Latino. Super cool. We had a lot of fun, but we did not work at all. I went over to their area and just followed him around. The Elderes there are a bit apostate. It was fun, but no work occurred. A random dog followed us the entire day, literally waiting for us everywhere.

Speaking of intercambios, I went on one during our last transfer and I found these people with Elder Wutckee in Don Bosco. They got baptized this week too! It's so crazy how the Lord works and how His timing works!! I was really happy to be even a small part of that baptism.

My spiritual thought has to do with what happened to Diego. The missionaries initially never could get him to listen or be baptized. He was only baptized because of the friends he met at SOY. Missionaries are good and all, but truly the best conversions I ever see are through others - the members. Every single person has the opportunity to be a missionary at any moment - with a plaque or without one. The Lord truly is counting on every single one of us. This work is so important. I truly testify that each and every one of you can make THE difference in another's life. We have been given great knowledge, but that also means we have been given a great responsibility. If you even have the slightest desire, then let it grow, and let the Lord work in your life. Better yet, let the Lord work through your life to help others. That is where true joy comes from. I promise you will receive so many blessings.

I love you all! Thanks for all the support! Now go work hard! I'm praying for all of you! Panamá is the best mission! I love it here so much! And I love the people so much too! Even when they are insane!

-Elder Lutze

Hermana Babb's Cat in Carcel

E. Buhler & E. Lutze Zone Conference

Zone Conference

E. Buhler & E. Lutze Service

Look familiar fellow Ecuadorian HEFY?

E. Fabian & E. Lutze

Random Dog that Followed Us Everywhere

E. Wutckee's Baptisms

River of Trash

Semana 22

Dear Elder Lutze, 

We hope this finds you well. We continue to pray for you, your companion, and your investigators. We made it home late Tuesday night after our fast and furious 5 days in Colorado. Once again we were truly blessed with many miracles including strength to do all that was necessary and direction. There were miracles every day. The rest of the week for me was catching up on work Wed to Friday. (Natalie actually came and sat down in my office on Friday. This is a first.) We celebrated Natalie and Cami's birthdays on Friday night. Natalie didn't want to go out, so we had Domino's pizza and Red 8 sushi followed by rootbeer floats. Cami hadn't seen Tommy Boy, so we watched that. She loves it and wants Amy to watch it. (I'd like to watch Amy watch it.) I went to the temple on Saturday and saw one of my college roommates. We talked about setting Rachael up on a date with her son. ;)

My thoughts for this week...

“Light Cleaveth to Light” Elder Timothy Dyches page 3

 

“Life presents challenges and setbacks, and we all must face some dark days and storms. Through it all, if we “let God prevail in our lives,” the light of the Holy Ghost will reveal that there is purpose and meaning in our trials, that they will ultimately transform us into better, more complete individuals with a firmer faith and brighter hope in Christ, knowing that God was there with us in our dark days all along. As President Russell M. Nelson has counseled, “The increasing darkness that accompanies tribulation makes the light of Jesus Christ shine ever brighter.”

 

Christ: The Light That Shines in Darkness – Sharon Eubank May 2019 page 1

 

“Seeing darkness where I expected to see light reminded me that one of the fundamental needs we have in order to grow is to stay connected to our source of light—Jesus Christ. He is the source of our power, the Light and Life of the World. Without a strong connection to Him, we begin to spiritually die. Knowing that, Satan tries to exploit the worldly pressures we all face. He works to dim our light, short-circuit the connection, cut off the power supply, leaving us alone in the dark. These pressures are common conditions in mortality, but Satan works hard to isolate us and tell us we are the only one experiencing them.”

The KEY

 

“What is the key to reconnecting to the power of Jesus Christ when we are flickering? President Russell M. Nelson said it very simply: “The key is to make and keep sacred covenants. … It is not a complicated way.”²⁴ Make Christ the center of your life.²⁵” Sister Eubanks

I love you! Keep working hard! I might not be able to talk much in the morning. I will already be at work.

Love, 

Mom

Semana 21 (Quexopa)

Buenas!!!

This week was good! If I'm being honest I don't remember much, but it was good!

We met a blind guy named Daniel, and he is the funniest guy ever! He used to live in Florida, but he was so stoked to talk to us. He found out my last name is German and then immediately said "Hail Hitler" He is just a wild, wild man.

This week was also Elder Buhler's 20th birthday! It was fun to celebrate with the district! Just had some cake and good times.

The rain definitely got us this week. Haha! We don't have paraguas so we just kinda embrace the rain when it comes. It's a lot of fun honestly. But when it rains, it rains hard. It's funny though, because everyone just laughs at the two gringos sprinting in the rain.

We had an intercambios this week which was pretty fun too!

Overall it was a really good week! We be working hard. We are always doing something to keep us busy which is good. But the work is fun! And I find myself enjoying it more and more every day!

Lastly I just wanted to testify that God always blesses us when we do what he wants. We always are trying to do the work the way God wants us to, and that's when the miracles come. Whether we meet someone or whatever it is, God always provides something. It may take time, but the miracles do come. So keep working hard in the way of Christ!

Love you all! Keep me and my people in your prayers!! Until next week!

-Elder Lutze

Semana 21

Dear Elder Lutze,

What a week!  I worked 40 hours in the first 4 days of the week! Lots of projects at work. I enjoyed my time with the YW on Tuesday and we saw The Little Mermaid at the Hale Theater on Thursday. We flew out Friday to Colorado to help with mom and transition her into The Palisades. I fasted last Sunday and I’ve been praying for direction all week. We asked family on both sides to pray for us. When we arrived on Friday, the facility had people there and she wouldn’t go with them. No surprise there! The next day was super intense! I had to make sure that dad and Bob were committed to carrying her out to the car if I couldn’t convince her. Jakob it was a miracle! I literally saw her change in front of me as I talked to her. I told her she had two choices. She could go without dad and we would carry her out or she could go with dad and she could walk out. The words were literally put into my mouth by the Spirit. She walked out! I’ve been thinking a lot about this experience. Because in the same room in 2005, she was very hurtful and mean to me. This experience would not have been, if I had not forgiven her and turned the other cheek. She told me she loves me. I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard those words in that way from her. 

I’ve been reading in Daniel this week, and I’m super impressed with his integrity! He lived the word of wisdom and was highly favored of the Lord for it. And also the integrity of Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego. They all lived up to their beliefs and acted with integrity. Meshach, Shadrach, and Abednego would not worship an idol while Daniel continued to pray when he was told not to. They remind me of many Book of Mormon prophets but especially Ammon. Daniel served 5 kings and his example had a far reaching influence. 

Daniel 2

20 Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his:

21 And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

22 He revealeth the deep and secret things: he knoweth what is in the darkness, and the light dwelleth with him.

23 I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee: for thou hast now made known unto us the king’s matter.

We should always turn to the source of all truth!

I love you! I pray for you and those you teach!

 Mom

Semana 20 (Magia)

Buenas!!! 

I'm just gonna get started with the title. One day long, long ago, who knows when, a missionary knew how to do magia (magic). He performed for the children, and now all the gangs of children believe that white people can do magia. So after all the little children were screaming at me to perform magia, I had finally had enough of it. So I learned one single trick. This week I have been performing it everywhere I go. And once more, the children believe that white people can do magia. It genuinely is probably the most hilarious thing. One kid even offered me his shirt. Literally just took it off himself and was trying to hand it to me. Let's just say if you see me on tik tok or something out there, don't be surprised, because I get filmed like everyday here. HaHa!

Other exciting things would be intercambios! That was a pretty fun time! I was with Elder Owens, and we became friends pretty quickly! But it kind of just felt like a sleep over. HaHa!

We had a tarde blanca this week too! The whole zone showed up to the church in Los Andes and there were a bunch of baptisms! My comp Elder Buhler was able to baptize some people from his last area which was pretty cool to be a part of! Oneil and Nakia are some of the coolest people I've met for sure.

Our Senior Missionaries came to our house this week. Elder and Hermana Barker. They were pretty cool! They just asked us a bunch of questions about our area and house. It was pretty funny because they were like "How safe is your area?" And Elder Buhler and I just looked at each other and laughed. It's safe enough!?

Elder Buhler and I had to spend a lot of time in Futuro this week. Futuro is just an area in Samaria. It is the most wicked place I've ever seen/been too. I don't really want to describe everything that goes on there, but you can imagine. I don't usually mind going there, but we were there for a really long time this week, especially on Tuesday. That night after we got back, we were just dead, depressed, and didn't feel good in the slightest. It felt as if the spirit was just sucked right out of us. So, what I'm saying here is that you should all spend as much time in holy places as you can because it truly makes all the difference in the world.

We also have a new best friend! His name is Christian. He is the grandson of the people we live with. And he got sent here to live with them for the summer. So you can imagine that he doesn't do much or really have friends. I'm pretty sure his parents were just like "Hey son! How do you feel about living with your grandparents the entire summer? Great! Have fun! There's nothing to do there! But we're sure you're gonna love it!"  Elder Buhler and I have been talking to him a lot. He always just sits there and watches us workout. We also play cards with him and just like to hang out with him. He is a lot more active in the church now! And I'm sure he will always remember the two strange white missionaries that became best friends with him during the summer! This just shows the importance of just being friends and loving people. We never tried to even teach Christian once, but he is coming to church because he just loves being around us!

The thought for this week is on humility. I'm really bad with this one if I'm being honest. But, I do testify that God answers our prayers. And so I encourage you all to pray at least twice a day. We should always bow, kneel, or sit in some way to show respect, and then just give all our gratitude to the Lord. Prayer has blessed my life in so many ways. I always feel peace, joy, and a love from God when I talk to my loving Father. Prayer isn't the only aspect to humility, but giving credit and gratitude to God is a good start. I know that growing a relationship with a loving Father will bring so much joy and peace to your lives!

I love you all! Thanks for the prayers and support! They are bringing miracles here to Samaria. Please keep praying for me, and my people!

-Elder Lutze

E. Buhler & E. Lutze in front of their apartment

E. Buhler & E. Lutze with Christian

E. Buhler & E. Lutze with H. & E. Barker

Oneil & Nakia with E. Buhler ~ Tarde Blanca

Tarde Blanca

Semana 20

Dear Elder Lutze, 

We love you and have been praying for you and your investigators. For us it's been a crazy week. We drove back on Tuesday from St. George with Cami in tow... ok she was sitting in the back seat. We dropped her off at BYU and headed home. I've been working hard to catch up at work and at home after being gone for over a week. I met with my emotional resiliency group on Wednesday. They are amazing women. We had a great discussion about healthy thinking patterns. We are working on thinking of one positive thing about ourselves each day. I sent the "Butterfly Circus" video to them. Do you remember that video? If you're able or allowed to watch that video, I'd love it if you would watch it again. Dad and I went to the temple on Saturday and did sealings. I loved what one of the patrons taught us. Women's role with God is to bring His children to the earth and men's role with God is to return His children to Him through the ordinances of the gospel. So cool! I'd never thought of it in that way. 

Now, I have a very special story to share with you. I went into Seagull book to find you a couple of books to send in your package this week. Jamie, one of the workers, happened to walk up and I asked for help finding "The Infinite Atonement." She said it should have been where I was looking and they didn't have them. She then told me to wait a minute and she brought back the journal edition of it that she found in another location. I then asked her for suggestions. She recommended anything of Tad Callister. She said he was her husband's mission president and he always sends them a copy of his new books. As we continued to talk, she called her husband for his recommendations. He, of course, felt very strong about all four books from Tad Callister - the Infinite Atonement, A Case for the Book of Mormon, Teaching with Power, and The Building of Christ's Church. Suddenly, she's telling me she wants to buy the last two books I mentioned for you. I told her no a couple of times but she was persistent. After checking out, I asked if I could give her a hug and thanked her. I, of course, was crying and she said they would be praying for you as a missionary. I was stunned by the generosity of a complete stranger for you and me - someone she's never met. The Lord loves you! There are no coincidences!

I have a class tmr that starts at 0900. So I'll be in and out of our conversation. I'm not sure how long it will take for you to see this package. I might send two books now and two later.

Love you!

Mom 

Semana 19 (FELIZ ANO NUEVO)

Happy New Year everybody! I hope that everyone had a fun time, because Samaria sure did! To put it simply, Samaria basically became a war zone. Everyone was going absolutely crazy. It might have been the best night of my life! Really really loud bangs all night long! Some might have been gunshots... but most were fireworks! Also, it hadn't rained here in 3 or more weeks. So it's just been crazy hot. But, on New Year's Eve it rained a ton! This was definitely a huge blessing because Samaria would have for sure burned to the ground without it.

New Years was the highlight of this week. But some other fun things happened too! I got my new companion Elder Buhler on Tuesday! We were already friends because we have been in the same zone for my entire time here. We have just been working crazy hard! And yet, we are always just laughing and having a good time! One moment was especially funny to me...we walked for maybe 20 minutes around Samaria his first day here and he just said, "What the heck is this place!?". Let's just say Samaria is a very, very, verrrrry interesting place. But to me it is just normal, so I thought it was hilarious.

Our neighbor/member we live with taught us Karate! So now we are masters of the martial arts.

I built a Lego tractor.

We were told by a member to go to this one house to check on this random family. Apparently the son of the family was possessed by a demon. We got to the house, and yea no, the spirit was not there in the slightest. Then we were sitting on the couch, and suddenly the family got all concerned and made us move super quickly so the son could sit there. We aren't sure what was going to happen. We shared a message and left them with a prayer. We prayed with our eyes wide open and then got out quickly. Don't mess with that stuff.

There was also this one girl who found out I was 19 years old, and just lost her mind. She was just super confused. She was like "What do you eat!?" And I was like "Eggs and Rice? The same as you?" She thought I was like 25!

This week I have been really trying to focus on the Lord's love for me. I listened to a talk and he brought up the point of saying "What are the chances?" I just want you all to think about that for a moment. What are the chances? For all the amazing things we have in our lives. What are the chances? It really helps you realize that God's hand is in everything. Feeling God's love in your life is so important. For me it is really important because when I feel God's love in my life, it helps me love Him back. And when you love God, truly love Him, it gives you a desire to be like Him and do things for Him. So I challenge you all to find the love of God in your life, develop love for Him, and then let that guide you.

Love you all so much! I know God loves you all even more! This week please pray specifically for Edix Rodriguez and Angel Martinez that they will be able to get work off to come to church! You are all in my prayers, and I'm so grateful for all your support!

Elder Lutze

'

Lego Front Loader

New Year's Eve Dinner

E. Buhler & E. Lutze New Year's Eve Party

Semana 19

Dear Elder Lutze, 

So good to talk with you last night! Sounds like things are going well with you and Elder Bueller. Did I spell that right? 

We’ve been busy all week as you know in SG. The two biggest walls are up! We enjoyed Wendy’s Panda Express and Albertsons chicken and of course Amy’s cooking off and on. (You enjoyed the French Bakery with us.) Brent made prime rib for our New Years Eve dinner that was delicious. Rachael was a huge help physically and also our cheerleader to keep us working hard. Natalie’s been working a lot during the break and Hannah and Foster have been in Cali since before Christmas!

I’ve been thinking about the prophet recently and his charge to warn… see Ezekiel 33:1-9, 31-33. (See below) You as missionaries also have this charge and the people you teach the responsibility to do! May you have continued success this year in your ability to reach those that are prepared to receive your message and do! 

Love,

Mom

        Riding on the compressor to SG

Jake with Mom & Dad

Heading straight for the snacks

Playing cards with Cami (Dad accused you of cheating)

Riding in Rachael's backpack to the French Bakery

Enjoying your pastry

Food coma nap

OK, you did a little work!