Semana 40 (I Love to See the Temple!)

Buenas!

Two Pdays within 4 days! That's what I like to call a win!

Monday was very strange without Pday. All the things we planned fell through. Monday is the sacred preparation day for a reason I guess.

Tuesday the Zone Leaders came to do a "Cpec"! Not really sure how you spell that one. Basically they just came to make sure that we were up on time and doing the things we need to be doing. It was pretty fun! We all just worked out together. Well, the Zone leaders only worked out for 7 minutes, but it was a good morning!

Wednesday we went to the baptism of La Hermana Daira! She is super cool! So that was fun! Elder Garrett and I also cleaned the chapel. We just jammed out to the Youth Album and cleaned like crazy!

Thursday we had Zone Conference! It was so fun to see everyone! And the spirit was very strong! I'm also happy to know that my reputation lives on in Samaria! The Elders were asking "Who the freak started doing magic!?" Then my trainer Elder Bray pointed at me. To clarify, I wasn't the one who started it. However, I was asked enough to do it that I learned, and then it got worse. The Elders of Samaria proceeded to say one of the funniest things I've ever heard which was, and I quote, "You wrecked our lives." You are welcome future Elders of Samaria!

Then we got to Pday #1 which was Friday! We had Pday on Friday because we went to the temple! My first time going in like 8 months! It was literally the most amazing experience! The temple is so beautiful, and the spirit is even more beautiful. The session was in Spanish which was a bit of a bummer. I understood all of it which was cool! But, I always enjoy spiritual learning in my own language. It was also very cool to see how much I've grown spiritually since the start of my mission! The temple was seriously so amazing, peaceful, joyful, and every good thing possible. Be grateful for them! And go often! So many people don't have that blessing!

Saturday we had a church service activity, and also the sports activity! Proud to say I destroyed in soccer. I literally dribbled 4 guys, and then proceeded to score. All the Latinos call me some strange name. I'm pretty sure it's just a soccer player that's gringo but is good. I love soccer so much!

Sunday was also amazing! The Barkers, who are Senior Missionaries here from Arizona, came to church with us! They usually do, but they had to go back to the states for a wedding. But that just means they brought things back from the states. Reeses and nerds. Oh how I miss crappy American junk food. We also taught a girl named Alexandra and put her on date to be baptized, so that was hype!

The spiritual thought is obviously about the temple. I know that temples are the house of God. I know that temples are where we can feel the spirit the strongest. To feel peace, comfort, and love. I know that going to the temple frequently can change who we are and draw us closer to Christ. That temples themselves are apart from the world, and can in turn help us become apart from the world too. Temples have so much significance to them, and I could testify and talk about them all day, but there is no replacing personal experience. If you have any desire to feel peace, joy, comfort, love, to be better, to change, or anything of the sort, I strongly encourage you to go to the temple frequently. It will change your lives forever, I promise. I love the temples with all my heart, and I wish I had the opportunity to go more here on my mission. But since I can't, each of you has to make it up for me! So the goal for

is to go at least twice in this next month of June! 

I love you all so much! Thank you for all your support and love! Please keep praying for my people! Until Next week!

-Elder Lutze

Hna Daira's Baptism

E. Lutze with President and Sister Forsberg

District at the Panama City Temple

E. Lutze at the temple (Did your pants shrink?)

Zone Conference

Semana 39 (11 Days of Work, Work, Work!)

Buenas!

Well my Pday got moved to Friday (today) because we are going to the temple! 11 days without a Pday is a wee bit brutal, but hey going to the temple is a huge win in my book. I have been wanting to go for so long!

This email will all be about last week, and I will write another one on Monday about what happened this week.

Pday was super dope! We went with the District to the Zoo. Saw lots of cool animals. We almost got an alligator to eat a chicken! But it wasn't super hungry I guess. 

Tuesday we taught the family Caceres. They are all members except for one daughter. We have been wanting to put her on date, but there are always a million kids running around so it's hard to teach. I told Elder Garrett I was good at distracting kids and he didn't think it was possible with these kids. Oh how I proved him wrong. Elder Garrett taught Alicia a lesson/put her on date to baptized, all while I distracted 8 kids in the corner. Elder Garrett was baffled because the kids were completely silent the whole time which has never happened. He asked me what I did and I just told him "I bribed the kids by saying you would buy them cookies." It was pretty funny. Team work makes the dream work.

This week we put 5 people on date to be baptized in June! Trino, Alicia, Leisy, Gabriel, and Milka. We are super excited for all of them! It's gonna be tough for lots of them, but they are all so amazing! So please pray lots for them!

We had intercambios this week! It was good! I went with Elder Paz to Aguadulce. Penonome is ten times better, but Aguadulce is still pretty cool. They have a four man house tho which was fun! We all just talked and laughed. We had some good lessons and contacts. But we also had this awful lesson where the people were mad at the fact that we need recommends to enter the temple. We explained it very simply to them, but they just refused to hear anything else and were just bashing on us and the church. Kinda really sucked, and I just wanted to yell at them because they had 0 logic and were making no sense. But, I just smiled the whole time, waited for them to stop arguing, explained very clearly the Doctrine of Christ, used a fire analogy, and felt the spirit very strongly. They didn't really say too much after that. I wish them the best of luck! This gospel is true and temples are dope!

This whole week we, as a zone, had a competition of contacting! It was kinda dumb because there are much better ways to find people, but our pride took over. To sum it up quickly Elder Garrett and I contacted 100 people in a single day. We ended the week with contacting over 300 people.

Then we had Sunday which was amazing! We had District Conference. All of the members in Chitré met together for church! It is just stake conference, but we aren't a stake yet. But our mission President was there, and he spoke! So that was cool! And it's always fun to see my friends! 

Overall it was a super good week! Lots of work!

We are super busy today so no spiritual thought sorry! But I will definitely write one on Monday! Love you all! Thanks for all the prayers! Keep praying for my people! Until Monday!

- Elder Lutze

The Zoo

This is for you Foster!

District Conference

 

Semana 38 (Promised Land of Penonomé)

 Buenas!!!

What an amazing week! At 11:30 Monday night we were off to Albrook where all the transfer missionaries meet. Somehow, not sure how, I sat next to my guy Elder Richards on the bus! We came to David together, and we went to migrations together, and then we left David together. It was fun to see all the missionaries in Albrook!

Then me and my new comp Elder Garrett were off to Penonomé! Wow, there is a lot to say about my new area. I absolutely love it!

First of all, the house is nice. It's bigger than San Felix, and it has water which means nice. Taking showers is a wonderful luxury that I once again have access to.

The work in the area is also amazing! We work in Penonomé and Antón. We share a branch with the Hermanas which is dope too. We literally just see them and do stuff with them all the time.  Penonomé is a branch, and Antón is a group that just started last week. So, we have a lot of work to do! There are lots of recent converts, lots of members, and lots of baptisms! It's amazing. There are also lots of people who like to flirt with us - Chapter 14 do be coming in clutch.

We also get a ton of member meals...it's really awesome! I'm definitely gonna get fat in this area. The members are super awesome here!

My new comp, Elder Garrett, definitely didn't help with all the food this week. He is super cool! We have quite a bit in common and we already have a good friendship! He is also 'dying' this transfer. He has in total a year in this area. Crazy. This week was his birthday! Wow! The members went crazy. I'll just go by the days.

Saturday was his actual birthday. We went to a service project for a big chunk of the day. Then we got dressed and went to a baptism which was lit! After the baptism, we played soccer because we play soccer with the youth on Saturdays. Also super lit! Then the members threw a huge party for Elder Garrett! Literally, it was a ward party. Pizza, cake, pinata, soda, music, etc. They went hard!

Then we had Sunday. First of all, the branch is huge! So, church was amazing! Then we went to Antón for church and that was also good! A good group is starting! After church, we went to eat with the hermanas with members. They gave us arroz con pollo, tamales, and cake. I ate two massive plates of arroz con pollo and two pieces of cake with ice cream. This was still all for Elder Garrett's birthday. Well, we helped the members move some things; then we had to go to a different member's house. There, we also celebrated Elder Garrett's birthday with MORE arroz con pollo, MORE cake, MORE ice cream.

Ladies and gentlemen it was a wild, and amazing two days of basically extra Pdays. I was not kidding when I said I would be getting fat in this area. Now, there's a lot more to talk about, but that will have to wait till next week cause we are going to the zoo!

My spiritual thought has to do with 4 Nephi. I don't remember the scripture exactly but it says something along the lines of  "There never was a happier people." That's a pretty powerful statement! I took some time pondering why they were so happy and there are many reasons. That happiness is also easily available for us. The people heard Christ, and listened to Him. They had God in their hearts and the words of the gospel. Thus meaning that they lived by it. They were happy for many other reasons, but one reason I'm sure of is that they were grateful to God for what they had. Gratitude is so, so powerful. President Russell M. Nelson said that "Over my nine and a half decades of life, I have concluded that counting our blessings is far better than recounting our problems. No matter our situation, showing gratitude for our privileges is a fast-acting and long-lasting spiritual prescription." It heals our souls. It brings us happiness and helps us realize how much God loves us. I wish I could rant to y'all more, but I guess you're just gonna have to test it! Go a whole week of writing down everything you are grateful for everyday! See if you see a difference.

Love y'all! Pray for my people of Penonomé and Antón!! Until next week!

Saturday Service

E. Lutze & E. Garrett - Chapter 14?

Saturday Baptism

E. Garrett's Branch Birthday Party

E. Lutze & E. Garrett with Las Hermanas

Semana 38

Elder Lutze, 

It sounds like you're doing really well. You know our week from your call last night. I've attached my lesson from yesterday. I'd love to know your thoughts. I'm so grateful for personal revelation. I'd prepared my lesson on Monday, but it didn't feel quite right. On Saturday morning, I was listening to a talk by E. Renlund about covenants and knew that's what I was to talk with the girls about. If you have time this week, it was the first talk in the Saturday afternoon session. Amazing! See all the blessings and promises!

Love you!

Semana 37 (Farewell San Felix!)

 Buenas!!

What an amazing last week of the transfer! This week we had Zone Conference! This means that Pday was a Super Pday! Basically the other zone (Changinola) came to our zone and we had a big massive Pday together. It was so lit! We played basketball, soccer, spikeball, and volleyball. I got to see lots of my friends, and the Latinos made Mexican food for everyone! Y'all missed out that's for sure.

The next day we had Zone Conference. I love Zone conference so much! Friends, food, and lots of revelation! They also asked me to sing at the last minute... But it was a super good day! Panama had the goal of 150 baptisms in the month of April. Then they changed the goal to 186. Well, in the month of April, we had 142 baptisms! We may not have reached the goal, but 142 souls saved is a huge miracle! This truly is the Lord's work!

The next day we had intercambios. It was good! Nothing too exciting happened.

But, the next day was amazing! We had dinner with La Familia HoHosh. They knew it was the last week of the transfer, and boy oh boy did they spoil us. They fed us roast beef, potatoes and gravy, a smoothie of mango and pineapple. Wow, it was good! The most American Meal I've had here in Panama. Then they also took us to the beach! So so so pretty!! Sadly we aren't allowed to swim... but it was still so much fun! Got to feel the breeze, smell the fresh air, enjoy the sunset, and be with HoHosh. 10/10 for sure!

Mountain day was good as always! La Familia Sanchez wanted to do stuff with us before the transfers ended. So, we just spent some good quality time with them. We talked, listened to music, ate food, and just had a good ol' party. It was lots of fun! Honestly, all the members here are kinda just like family to us.

Well, Sunday pulled up and we had a super good testimony meeting! The Bishop came for the second time in all of my 3 months here. After church, we went to do the sacrament in the jungle. And that was super good! Everyone refused to say bye to me because they think and want me to stay for at least another 6 months. But, I said bye to my friend William and we both started crying a bit. We were not 100% sure if I would be leaving or not, but the answer was most likely yes. Then Sunday night it was confirmed.

I'm headed off to Penonomé B, Chitre! I'm super excited! My new comp is Elder Garrett! Not sure what the area is like or what Elder Garrett is like. But, I'm excited for a new adventure! I love and will miss San Félix a lot. I am so grateful for my time there. Wish me luck in my new area!

I don't have much time, so the thought will be quick. In the Zone Conference, President said lots of missionaries are sad. He drew a picture of arrows pointing in at a sad person and then arrows pointing away from a happy person. This is to say that when we focus on ourselves we are sad and when we focus on others we are happy. Now it's not a bad thing to focus on ourselves a bit. But ultimately when we focus on others and helping them, we don't see our own problems as harshly, and we are happy. We don't make things worse by focusing in on our problems I should say. Well this reminded of a BYU speech that talks about Christ's ability to turn outward. No matter what the circumstance, Christ turned outward in love towards others. He suffered intensely in the Garden of Gethsemane, then literally healed a dude's ear. He always was focused on others in love. This is a short explanation of this, sorry. But, ultimately I believe that if Christ was perfect that would mean that He had a perfect joy. That He was perfectly happy. And the same is promised to us if we follow His example. So turn outward people! Think of others and help others and I promise you'll be happier!

Love you all! Have a great week! Pray for me lots! And my new area!! Penonomé B!! Until next week!

- E. Lutze

The BEST American Meal in Panama!

E. Fabian & E. Lutze - San Felix

E. Lutze & E. Fabian with Flia Hohosh

San Felix 

Missionary on a Beach

E. Lutze as a Lifeguard (Isn't that what missionaries do?)

E. Lutze - Panama, Panama City Mission

E. Lutze smolder

Yea, I'm transferring from San Felix to Penonomé B!

I'm so excited! I can't hide it!

Semana 37

Dear Elder Lutze,

I hope this finds you well! How did this week go for you? 

Crazy week for me! Too much to do and not enough time! I took Hannah out for her birthday on Saturday. We had a great time shopping watching a play and then eating out. Other than that I’ve just been working! 

A second miracle of the week, my battery  on my phone died Wednesday! So close to our trip! I’m extremely grateful my old one got me through! 

My thought this week is about the blind man Christ healed. I love seeing his testimony grow from a man Jesus to a prophet to the Messiah. The other part I love that when he is cast out for bearing testimony, Christ seeks him out and stands by him. This is the God we worship! One who will help us each gradually gain a testimony, one who will seek us out, and one who will always stand with us when we stand up for Him. 

Love you! 

Mom

Semana 36 (Lift One Another)

Buenas!!

I hope you are all doing very well! And, I hope you all had a great week!

I'll start off with Pday. Elder Fabian and I went to La Frontera which is the border between Panama and Costa Rica. Honestly, there wasn't much to do there. But hey, I've been to Costa Rica now! We did check out some cool stores there, but it was more of a nice relaxing day!

This week was pretty normal. Lots of lessons and lots of travel. Well, we did walk a ton this week. Tuesday we didn't have money so we had to walk to Las Lajas which took about 1.5 hours. Super far! Then on Wednesday we went to Tole, but we didn't know that the buses stopped coming at 4:30. So we walked a little over an hour from Tole to the big main road. There we waited 2 hours for a bus to pass by to take us to San Felix. 

But we got to see a lot of Tole! It's super pretty there! And we had a lot of fun with La Familia Carreira! Ate food, taught a lesson, and played some Monopoly Deal!

And of course, we had good old Mountain Day on Saturday! I got bored of hiking to Briguni. So I asked my good friend Wiliam where else we could go. He told me "I know a member that lives by Rio Santiago." I had no idea where that was. But it sounded like fun! So we left at 11. We literally walked through the jungle for an hour and a half. I believe through Aguacate. I don't remember, I was completely lost. But it was so lit! Climbed and descended several massive mountains. Crossed some rivers. Went in every direction possible. I'm not sure how William remembers where to go to get anywhere in La Comarca, but eventually we got to the family. We had a good lesson with them. Then we hiked another hour and a half to return. It was so exhausting! When we got to Guabo I literally fell asleep while sitting! But seriously, such an amazing experience! I love Mountain Day!

Well that's about all that happened this week. Jefri didn't come to church... but he's gonna do it! He is seriously so amazing, and understands everything so well! He always asks us how he can share the gospel. Satan for sure is working hard on him. So pray lots for Jefri!

As far as the spiritual thought, one learns a lot while walking through a jungle. First of all is the fact that you need a guide. You can aimlessly walk around hoping to get where you want to go, but trust me, you will get lost in the matter of 10 minutes. So if you really want to get to your destination, well you gotta follow the guide. The person who has been where you want to go, and who knows the paths to get there. Then you gotta have complete trust that they are taking you there. We walked 1.5 hours blindly following William. Let's just say that if we got lost, or if we lost William, we were never getting out! But, we also had complete trust that he knew where he was going. That teaches us to stay close to the guide, and to trust in the guide. Well, I'm sure you can all guess where this is going. But Jesus is our guide in life! He has been where we need to go, and He knows the paths to get there! All we have to do is stay close to Him, and have complete trust in Him! It is as simple as following Him where He leads you. And if you don't know where that is, or how to follow Him I should say that prayer and the scriptures are a great place to start!

The second thing one learns while walking through the Jungle is that every single person is a child of God. That everyone matters to Him. And that they should matter to us. Many of us are very blessed to have churches, temples, transportation, etc. Getting to church is a pretty simple task of driving 5 minutes. Well the people here aren't so fortunate, especially those we visit on Mountain Day. Getting to church is almost near impossible for most. If I'm being honest, I've thought to myself before "why do I completely exhaust myself to teach people that won't ever come to church?" Well, it's like I said above, everyone matters to God. Everyone is a child of God. I may not be able to get these people to church. But I can still lift them up higher than they were before! I can still love them! Give them hope! Truly the people we visit make Mountain Day worth it. Anything we do to help a child of God in any way, even if it be the smallest way possible, it is worth it.

I encourage all of you to develop a closer relationship with Christ, and to follow Him more closely. I also encourage you to give thanks to God for all the blessings you have. And lastly, I plead with you all to love the children of God. To lift them up a little bit higher. Everyone is in need of a little love.

Thank you for all your prayers! Please continue to pray for my people, and especially for Jefri! I love you all! I hope you have an amazing week!

- Elder Lutze 

Welcome to the Rich Coast

Costa Rica

La Comarca

Sleep Sitting after Mountain Day

Tolé