Semana 25 (Farewell Samaria!)

Well, as you can all guess from the title, I'm being transferred. My time here in Samaria was pretty dang good! I love the people here, and for sure will be sad to say goodbye. But I'm pretty excited about transfers!! I've spent all of my time in Panama here in San Miguelito, so I'm ready to go explore! I'll tell everyone about my week first, then I'll explain my new area, because it's pretty interesting.

My last week here was pretty good! We did quite a bit of exploring which was pretty fun. Samaria truly is just a maze. There's side paths everywhere. But I'd say by now I know this area better than the people who actually live here! Haha! We had a lot of lessons this week, and it was a good time!

Our members now absolutely love us. One of them keeps sending us anime clips and videos. It's pretty funny, except for the fact we can't watch it. She loves Demon Slayer and that's all she sends us which has my respect. It's a pretty fire anime!

We saw a dog on a roof. Not sure how it got up there, but it just about sums up the dogs here. They either try to murder us, or they just be straight chillin.

We saw some pretty cool decorations made from cans! All made from beer cans though. Haha! Which just about sums up Samaria!

We made Salchipapas this week because someone we are teaching gave us a massive bag of fries. Salchipapas are literally just French fries with meat and then sauce on top. It's super, super yummy. Definitely one of my favorite "Panamanian foods."  Also this guy Christian is pretty funny. He's just straight from the hood. He's been to jail 3 times, and somehow got out all 3 times. We aren't sure how. But, he has changed his life quite a bit, and we'll see how things go with him.

We got a picture in a bar and a chicken fight arena. Chicken fights go crazy here! 

The highlight this week is for sure Juan! I absolutely love this guy. He has already read over 100 pages of the Book of Mormon. He quit drinking coffee in like 4 days. And he walked to church by himself this week!! I'm so excited for him to be baptized! He's so amazing. I'm sad I won't get to be there with him, but I'm beyond happy. There are also some other pretty promising people that we are teaching!

Some other interesting things happened this week. Let's just say Samaria is Ghetto and we'll leave it at that.

Now of course, the moment everyone has been waiting for... I'm headed off to San Felix in David!! It's gonna be quite the wild adventure. It's a 10 hour bus ride to get there. Then I'll be 2 hours from the real world. But it's a really unique experience! It's an indigenous reserve. The people are called Nobes. It's just the jungle and mountain. The area is huge! And it's just kinda all over the place. But, I'll let you all know what it's like! Just pray for the area lots!! I'm really excited! But this is for sure gonna be rough! It do be in survival mode now.

Thanks for all your support! I love you all! I'll miss Samaria, but San Felix here I come!!!

-Elder Lutze

Samarian Dog on the Roof?

Samarian Chicken Fights

Samarian Bar

Demon Slayer Anime

E. Lutze...

Samarian Beer Bottle Decorations

E. Lutze & E. Buhler eating Salchipapas!

E. Buhler & E. Lutze in Samaria

Semana 24 (Juan Walks!)

Buenas!!!

Another great week here in Samaria! I hope everyone is doing well and not frozen to death quite yet! Panama is the complete opposite, if it snowed here that would mean the world is ending. This email will probably be pretty short!

Most of the week is just a blur honestly. It went by super fast! But it was a good week!! We got some more fechas, and now there is only one week left of this transfer! I'll probably be transferred out of Samaria and off to a distant land.

Two highlights of the week would be watermelon and cosecha money.

We walked a lot one day, and this random guy gave us some watermelon for free. It was the best thing I've ever tasted! It was super sweet, and the juiciest watermelon I've ever tasted!!

As far as cosecha money goes, I am officially paid as a missionary. This lady gave me and Elder Buhler each one dollar after I offered a prayer for her. We tried giving it back, but she refused to take it. And then she started getting mad, so we just took it. I'm rich now!

The biggest highlight is also the spiritual thought for the week! We have my favorite man Juan who has a baptismal date. He is progressing super well! We invited him to church last week and he couldn't go because he can't really walk. But this week we invited him again, and he was like "I. Will. Go. To. Church.". We went to get him, and he wasn't in his hammock. So we were a bit worried. But then, he walked out of the house fully dressed in pants and a shirt. And he started walking to church with us. Now it's a very steep slope to get down, and a pretty decent walk to get to the church for an old man like this. And he literally could barely walk. But the Lord gave him strength that's for sure. He was walking to the church and he was so happy! He was like "I'm walking! I'm walking!". And he had a good time at church, and is going to be baptized on the 25th of February. I seriously love this guy so much. The spiritual thought is that God always provides a way for us to keep his commandments. Always. We just have to be faithful, say prayers, and act. And God will give us strength.

Love you all so much! Pray for the people of Panama please! Bless them with a desire to change their lives!! I'm praying for all of you! Until next week!

-Elder Lutze

E. Lutze & E. Buhler Samaria is Dope!

E. Lutze & E. Buhler with Daniel the blind man

E. Lutze & E. Buhler with Marcos. He's hilarious!

E. Buhler & E. Lutze with their cosecha money

E. Lutze's amazing drawing on his Etch-a-Sketch

The new Antman movie "Quantumania"

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 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 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 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 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

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Lego Front Loader

New Year's Eve Dinner

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