Semana 18 (Officially Merry Christmas!)

So if you remember my last email, I said something along the lines of `This was my Christmas week, it can't be more Christmas full than this week`..... yea, I lied. Because this week was definitely more Christmas full!!! It was a pretty hype week!

It started off with a good old white elephant gift exchange with the Zone on PDay. That was a lot of fun! We also had a really big water balloon fight which was epic! I never thought I would have a water balloon fight for Christmas.

We had intercambios again this week which was pretty fun! Nothing too exciting there.

We had a Noche de Hogar with my favorite family this week too! La Familia Mela. They are so awesome. It was a really fun time! Food, music, games, and of course spiritual messages. We brought an investigator with us (Angel), and it was really awesome! He really liked it, and we are hoping to get him on date soon.

However, the biggest Christmas event was our Christmas Zone Conference!!! Man was that fun! We got to see the temple and take pictures with it! We weren't allowed to go in though. In fact, we aren't ever allowed to go... kinda lame... Then we listened to some messages, got to watch people perform their talents, and ate Chinese food! It was so much fun! Then we got to watch Encanto! I really love that movie, and it was cool to watch it in Spanish. The music goes hard, and it was definitely stuck in my head for the rest of the week. We got some gifts, and that took up pretty much that whole day. Super, super fun!

The other highlight of the week was our baptism!!! Angela Pinto. This was super special for me. I baptized her nietos, and we have been working hard to get Angela baptized. And finally, we did. I wanted Elder Hansen to baptize her, and I confirmed her. It made me so happy to help put this family together. Said and Rosemary (her nietos) were so happy that their grandma (she takes care of them too) got baptized. So, so special.

Other fun Christmas times ~ jamming out to music, obviously. We decorated the inside of our house for Christmas! I messed around with my new Etch-a-Sketch. And I did a tiny puzzle. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day it was literally impossible for us to set up lessons. So, Elder Hansen and I just enjoyed each other's company. We played card games, shared some of our past Christmas memories, read our books (I'm obsessed with reading, gotta get that knowledge! I've read 4 books already, not including scriptures), E. Hansen and I had a little date night with food-made gingerbread houses and spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day together. It was a lot of fun, and it made me happy!

Also fireworks go crazy here for Christmas!! And music too! Literally so loud that our house was practically shaking! I didn't think I would be able to sleep! But then, after 5 minutes of trying, I was out like a light!!!

Another fun thing was Christmas caroling! We went with our district, and I thought it would be kinda lame, but it honestly was so much fun! It was fun to see the joy on people's faces as we sang to them, and it was fun to just sing. I love singing so much, and I really miss being a part of Skyridge Singers. I'm glad I had the opportunity to sing to others, and I'm glad I was able to do choir in high school!

That was pretty much my holiday! Pretty fun times!

Other updates. Transfers are happening this week! I'm staying in Samaria for another transfer and Elder Hansen is leaving. So I'll have a new companion ~ Elder Buhler. I'm actually super excited for this transfer. Elder Buhler and I are pretty good friends, so it will be fun times. Hopefully we will work hard.

I also want to include what happened on this fine PDay as my spiritual thought. Today we went to what we call "The Egg." It is a temple of another religion (Budahai) that looks like an egg. It was pretty dang cool not gonna lie. I don't have any pictures of it because they are on a different phone, but hopefully I will get them soon. Anyways. The area this temple  is located in is beautiful. Super high up and away from everything. It was the quietest place I've been to in a long time. It was really peaceful. This reminded me of our own temples. Temples are places we can go to for peace and to get away from the world. They are God's house. They literally are to help separate us from the world. I miss the temple a lot. I know that when we get out of the world and spend time with God that we find happiness and peace. I encourage you all to find time to go to the temple at least once a week, and I know the blessings will be innumerable.

Love you all! I'm happy to be a Samarian for a little bit longer! Pray that we can do good work here! Thanks for all the support and prayers!

-Elder Lutze

Apartment Christmas Decorations

E. Lutze & E. Hansen enjoying some Christmas food

E. Hansen & E. Lutze with Angela Pinto

E. Lutze and his tiny Christmas puzzle

E. Lutze's little Etch-a-Sketch of Utah

El Noche de Hogar con la familia Mela

La Zona San Miguelito at the Panama City Temple

Zone White Elephant Christmas Gift Exchange

Semana 17 (Christmas! Christmas! Christmas!)

CHRISTMAS!!!!! I love Christmas so much!! And I'm just considering this entire week as our Christmas. Unless next week is full of more Christmas.... then I'll just have two!

This week the highlight was definitely the Christmas party on Friday. There were a ton of kids! Idk who they were or where they came from, but I'm pretty sure they got word that there would be presents, so they showed up. But, the party was fun! Lots of singing and yelling. And Elder Hansen and I got some pretty solid new people which was the best present we could ask for, besides baptisms of course. We will get that present this coming Friday!

Other highlights would be chilling in hammocks at the end of the night when we are going to write in our journals. We just go outside, put on some music, and lay in hammocks. It really is the life!

We also bought bread for this one dude Daniel because he was really hungry and then we invited him to church. And he showed up. He stayed for the meetings. Then he started demanding food. He was yelling, crying, complaining, and it was really ridiculous honestly. He was getting mad and lying to the members saying "The white boys promised me a bag of food." Apparently this isn't the first time this dude has done this. The most ridiculous part was that a member bought him breakfast that morning, and another member bought him more food before all of this. So, not only was he not grateful for that, but he was also demanding more money and food. It was quite the event.

We also had a big service project this week that was fun! We had the whole zone there, and we just partied it up while cleaning. 

Other than that, not much else happened. So here's my spiritual thought for the week.

This week's thought came after we visited with a "hater." We taught this guy, and he was pretty cool. He had accepted the Book of Mormon, and said that he would read it. Well, the next time we were teaching this guy, he suddenly started bashing on the church. He said a bunch of crap about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. And he refused to even listen to anything we were trying to say. He also said that the Book of Mormon meant nothing to him and that he was just going to throw it away. Everything he said, honestly made no sense at all and was ridiculous. The thing is though, the Book of Mormon is the most precious gift. So, Elder Hansen and I took it back. We decided that if someone is just going to disrespect what is most precious to us it's better to take it back. Idk if that's right or wrong. But, it was definitely the first time I've ever taken a Book of Mormon from someone instead of giving it to them.

My spiritual thought is this. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and a great man. I know that the Book of Mormon is key to this religion and it brings us closer to God. I know that the Book of Mormon brings joy and happiness into our lives. It is the most precious gift we have. My invitation to each of you is if you don't know if the Book of Mormon is true, then read it, ponder its words, and pray to know if it is true. If you have done that, and you don't know it's true, then do it again because it is true. Study it. Find out for yourself if it is true. Truth is truth, and it can't change. Once you do find out that it's true, the blessings you will receive from the Book of Mormon are immeasurable. For those that already know that it's true, then study it everyday. It will fill you with the spirit, and bring so much joy to you.

I love you all so much. I can't express the gratitude I have for all of you. And I can't express how much I desire for all of you to know that this gospel is true, and to see the blessings it brings. Take the opportunity in front of you. You are 100% responsible. I can testify all I want, but until you search for yourself, you will never know. Keep praying for me and my people. But more importantly, pray for knowledge and a testimony of the Book of Mormon for yourselves. Love you all!

Oh! And I also got a pretty dope heart tie for Christmas!!

~ Elder Lutze

Christmas Party

E. Hansen & E. Lutze at the Christmas Party

E. Lutze & E. Hansen in Samaria

E. Lutze chilling in his hammock

E. Lutze sporting his heart tie Christmas gift

Zone Service Party

Semana 16 (Happy Panamanian Mother's Day!)

I first would like to say "Happy Panamanian Mother's Day" to all you wonderful mothers out there! They go hard on that celebration here. For good reason too, because mothers are awesome!

This week was good! We started off with intercambios. I was with Elder Wutckee in Don Bosco. It was a pretty fun time! I had the best salchipapa yet! (Salchipapa is basically hotdogs and fries mixed together.) However, the true highlight of intercambios was a noche de hogar with La Familia Gutierrez. The Gutierrez house is the nicest house I've seen in Panama. Mostly because every house in Samaria is a concrete block with metal sheets for a roof.  I genuinely felt uncomfortable being inside their house because it was so nice. We had a good time and enjoyed some pretty dang good lasagna. In addition to being nice, their home was also full of the Spirit because they are a family centered on Christ. There's not a lot of that here in Panama which is sad. This experience strengthened my testimony on having a family centered on Christ because this family is happy! Genuinely happy!

Anyways. Food this week was interesting. It's summer here and the rain has ceased. But the sun, not so much. It's blazing hot outside and we walk all day which I really don't mind. We had a bunch of people offer us food this week, and I kid you not, every single one of them gave us the most scalding hot foods. We had soup, more soup, Crema, more soup and hot chocolate... which was very good... but still! The food was very appreciated. I just thought that it was funny that the only time I've had soup here I either puked it all up or it's the middle of a hot summer.

Other food highlights would be eggs. I love eggs and we have been eating a lot of them. However, we kinda get sketchy eggs from the chino. Well, we were cooking eggs this week and we opened one.... and uh... out came this liquid black goop. It smelled horrible! It was soooooo gross. But I can't stop laughing, because you would think that this would stop me from eating eggs from the chino. But no. I simply learned to put the eggs into a bowl before the pan.

We had more noche de hogares this week too! I always love to watch the birth of Christ video. It brings me so much joy and peace. I am so beyond grateful for my Savior. I love going to homes and sharing with them "Light the World." I encourage you to share it too!  We've been involved in lots of service this week and get to wear pretty dope shirts while doing it. We painted a house (a nice hot pink) and we put up Christmas lights at our house for Hermana Moran! Safe to say that the Christmas hype is going strong in Panama.

Spiritual thought this week came from listening to a talk by Elder David A Bednar. He talked a lot about deepening our conversion to God. There's a difference between having a testimony and being converted. I'll use myself as an example. I have had a testimony of God and Christ my whole life. I've always believed that they exist and are all powerful. I've always believed in this church. That's what a testimony is. But I never really did much. I didn't act on anything. This is conversion - when we act based on what we believe. We experiment upon the words of the scriptures. We experiment on the doctrine, in prayer, with faith, with everything. As we do this, we become more and more converted to God. It's no longer just a belief. It's a knowledge, a hope, and the faith that drives us to become saints through the Atonement of our Savior. The Atonement is the only way we can become anything. It enables us to be converted to God, and become what He wants us to be. I love God and Christ with all my heart and becoming more converted everyday is how I can show that love. I am nothing without them. I hope you all have a desire to draw closer to a loving Heavenly Father and I hope that desire will drive you to act on your beliefs.

I love you all! And I know God loves you all even more. Thank you for all the support! Keep enjoying the holidays! And keep praying for me and my people!

-Elder Lutze

Our Dope Service Shirts

Putting Up Christmas Lights

Painting a House PINK!

Semana 15 (Navidad y Monos)

Buenas!!! Another amazing week! Monday always starts the week off right. On Pdays we go to the mall in Los Andes to shop. I love it because they have all the Christmas stuff out and Christmas music playing. The music is also in English which is pretty funny. I finally understand why people listen to Christmas music year round. It brings me so much joy!!!

Some random things for you all. 

We were doing cosechas and were going to offer a prayer for a family, but there was this monkey freaking out at us, and we could not stop laughing.

Hermana Barbara fed us 5 potatoes each and she also gave us 2 whole fish. The fish were kinda just looking at us. But they tasted good! All part of the Panamanian diet.

We also did intercambios this week which was awesome! Elder Rojas came here to Samaria to be with me.The funny thing is that he is brand new to the mission and I have been here for one transfer. So we had two people who couldn't speak Spanish going around. But it was a fun time! I love meeting and getting to know other missionaries. I enjoyed being a little bit like a trainer. Elder Rojas was a beast! He speaks better Spanish than me, and he's doing awesome for his first weeks. This was definitely a humbling experience for me which was a really good thing.

There is this one lady that we got as a reference. Her name is Edix. Wow, she might be the most chosen person I've met. We had one lesson with her that was super good. Then the second time we came to visit she was like "So I read, and I felt really good... so I think you should baptize me!" So she's on date now. 

Then there is also Angela. If you remember the picture of me with Said Y Rosemary, there was also an older lady that was with us. That was Angela. She is their grandma who has been to every lesson with them, and has gone to church with them every time. We have been trying hard to get her baptized, and this week she finally said yes! I'm so excited!!

My thought for this week occurred while I was at Edson's and Tania's. We had the rest of the night to be at their house and Edson brought out this big TV. He wanted us to watch a movie with him. Not just any movie tho... Black Panther...and I love Marvel and I want to see this movie soooooo bad. The worst part of this, is the fact that he turned it on in English too. He knew we weren't allowed to watch movies, especially that one, but he wanted us to do it anyway. If I'm being honest, I really wanted to, and it would have been really easy to do it. It would also have been really easy to justify it. But I knew that it was something I shouldn't do. So, I prayed in my heart, pulled out my scriptures, and I started to read in my head. I chose to read Helaman 5:12 which essentially says build your foundation on Christ and the devil won't have any power over you. Suddenly my thoughts were a lot more clear, and I recognized fully that I should always do what Christ wants me to do. I'm honestly disappointed in the fact I even had to fight myself not to watch the movie. Edson stopped the movie, and he and Tania just looked at me in confusion. They asked me why I didn't want to watch the movie and I explained to them that it was because it wasn't what God wanted me to do. They were still a little confused, but we then turned on a short video about the birth of Christ and experienced a spiritual and  meaningful moment with them. The prophets have invited us as members to be true disciples of Christ, and sometimes that means doing things that others think are weird. As Elder Rafael Pino of the Seventy said in General Conference, "What is normal for some may be odd for others..." Choose now to be a disciple. That way, when the time comes, you don't even have to hesitate like me to make the correct decision. Make Christ your foundation, and you will always make the right choice!

I love you all so much! I'm always praying for you! I hope things are going well! Thank you for all your support! Keep praying for me! And of course, keep praying for my people!

-Elder Lutze

Shopping in Los Andes with E. Hansen

El Mono ~ NO praying for you! (We were laughing too hard!)

Intercambios with E. Rojas in Samaria

The Two Fish and Five Potatoes Meal (Thanks Hna. Barbara!)

Semana 14 (Comfort is NOT Your Friend!)

Happy late Turkey Day everyone!!! I hope you all had fun spending time with friends, family, and of course eating the most amazing food! Thanksgiving here was different but still lots of fun! This week was really good! A little different, but good!

I finally was able to meet my new companion, Elder Hansen. He's pretty awesome! We get along really well, and it's been fun to become friends! I've been leading the area which has been interesting. But things are going well. At least we haven't gotten lost yet! Samaria was a bit of a shock to Elder Hansen. He didn't really like it too much at first, but I changed his mind. (Apparently it's fairly different from his other areas.)  I have helped him with many things, such as realizing that the massive hills are now part of 'leg' day, any loud bang is actually just a firework, and of course, how to fist bump/say 'Hi' to everyone, and be homies with kids. Then, of course, Elder Hansen is teaching me how to be a missionary!

Thanksgiving here was fun! We got to meet our new district. Then we ate our Thanksgiving meal at McDonalds. HaHa! That was about it for our festivities. But, it was fun to just remember the good times and to celebrate it as a district family. I did get to call my family and wish them a happy Thanksgiving! I loved seeing my cousin Brian that I've helped care for the last few years.

Something pretty funny this week involved a lady named Jeissy. We were trying to have a lesson with her and kept calling her. She kept telling us she was headed back from work. Eventually, she called us back and asked, "Are you on your way yet? Stop by the chino and buy me plátanos." So, we bought her plátanos and gave them to her. Then she criticized them and didn't even offer to pay us back. We are now official grocery boys! Ha!Ha!

Saturday was a super awesome day! We had a really fun ward party. There was tons of music, dancing, games, and food. It was really cool to experience more of the Panamanian culture, especially their 'ropa típico' which was very beautiful. However, what made Saturday awesome was our baptism of Tania Dixon after the party!! It was super special! God really blessed us on Saturday. We haven't had water here for a bit, so we were worried that we wouldn't be able to fill the font. But we did it! (On a side note, bucket showers honestly aren't that bad. You just gotta work out before and then they feel nice.) Anyways back to the story. Our next hurdle was her baptismal clothes. I was sure the jumper we had wouldn't fit her. Thankfully, after some work, we found a bigger jumper that she was able to squeeze into. I'm so happy that everything worked out.

Sunday was also pretty interesting. The awesome part ~ our two confirmations. The funny and yet hard part ~ Lucia's nietos. These are some of the kids we are currently teaching and they attended church on Sunday. The moment I walked into the chapel, they went absolutely crazy! They were screaming and hugging me, literally in the middle of the Sacrament meeting. I'm pretty sure the ward hates me by now. I'm a disturber of the peace. I've realized kids are difficult! I was trying to keep them all quiet during the meeting, but it was not working. Let's just say my respect for parents and specifically women has increased dramatically. I love these kids so much and I love teaching them. They are pretty special to me!!!

My spiritual thought today is related to leading the area since Elder Hansen doesn't know Samaria or the people. I've had to do pretty much everything and it has been a little uncomfortable. However, it has pushed me to work harder and improve my Spanish skills. I was thinking about this and I realized 'Comfort is bad.' I know that probably sounds super weird, but it's true! (I'm not talking about a comfortable home.) There's two aspects to comfort I want to talk about. The first point is that if we are comfortable, then we aren't improving. We stay exactly in the same spot without going anywhere and that's not good! We should continuously strive to improve, which means being uncomfortable. The second point is that comfort breeds destruction. When we become comfortable, that allows bad things to occur in our lives. Satan is constantly trying to get us and being comfortable makes it easier. I know in my life that being comfortable brought lots of problems. When I felt I was safe and didn't need to do anything more to avoid Satan's attacks was when I should have been doing the most to prepare. Sometimes, we find ourselves comfortable in sin. Once we get comfortable in sin, then we might go a little further. And then we get comfortable in that, so we go a little further. Comfort is what brings destruction. The only thing that should truly bring us comfort is that God loves us and makes everything possible for us. But, even then, we need to continuously work to keep a good relationship with Him and constantly grow in this gospel. I'm not saying that we shouldn't be happy or content. I'm just saying that in order to feel true comfort, we need to be uncomfortable which leads to constant improvement towards our goal of becoming like Him. I guess what I'm trying to say is that we should always prepare for Satan's attacks, and we should always strive to grow.

I love you all! Thank you so much for all your support! God loves you all so much! I truly can testify that this gospel is true and that it brings greater joy and peace than any other thing in life ever could. Keep praying for my people! Have a good week everyone!

-Elder Lutze

E. Lutze & E. Bray (Saying Good-bye to Dad)

E. Hansen & E. Lutze (Samarian Hills)

E. Lutze in his Panama Hat & E. Hansen in his Mola Tie

E. Hansen & E. Lutze with their district at McDonald's on Thanksgiving Day

Tania Dixon's Baptism

E. Lutze with Lucia's Nietos (His favorite kids)