Semana 86 (Banana Chefs)

Buenas!!!

Great week! On Saturday our recent convert Ismael followed us around. So we ended up having a ton of lessons with a member! It was so awesome! Ismael is gonna be such a good missionary some day!

My new companion, Elder Ence, is super awesome! He is a really happy guy and hardworking! We are gonna have a super fun transfer together full of miracles!

We helped someone steal a bike... we saw a guy struggling with two bikes, so we went to help him. We held one bike while he ran to stash the other bike somewhere. Then he came back and rode away. Well, about 10 minutes later a guy comes up to us crying. He was telling us how someone stole his bike and he couldn't get home. We then realized that we helped someone steal a bike! We felt kinda bad. But we offered him a prayer!

Church was super good this week! We got there. Set everything up. Waited. Waited. Waited. Then 9 o'clock rolled around which is when church starts. There were a total of 5 people there. Me, Elder Ence, 2 members, and a friend of ours.

We were a little worried. Ok a lot worried. But, 5 minutes later EVERYONE showed up! We ended up having 33 people at church and it was super good! Our 3 friends there also loved church! Super big miracle!

Sunday night was super fun too! We went over to la familia Morales house, and we learned to cook Hojaldras! And naturally we asked them to turn on the music from Ratatouille. After all, anyone can cook! There was a lot of food! We were kinda focused on just making the food, we didn't really think ahead to the fact that whatever we cooked, we would have to eat. My comp is a champ tho! He ate 12 Hojaldras!!! That's insane!

Anyways. Love you all lots! Have a great week! Keep praying for my people! Until next week!

- E. Lutze

E. Lutze & E. Long - We LOVE our Zone!

If you build it.... they will come!

E. Ence & E. Lutze eating Hojaldras!

Hojaldras!!!!

Semana 85 (The Banana Flood of 2024)

Buenas!!

First of all, CONFERENCE WAS SO GOOD!!!! Second of all, LEHI IS GETTING A TEMPLE!!! LETS GOOOOOOOO!!!!

This week was really good! Last week of the transfer!

*We did a CPEC in Almirante which was fun! And really far away jaja

*Saw a monkey and became friends with the monkey. They are surprisingly very kind!

*I destroyed a kid in soccer and megged him 3 times 

*We were looking for a shortcut to go to Tehobroma. We couldn't find one. But we did find a random kid playing Titanic on his flute! It was pretty funny! It was even funnier when he asked us to sing the song. How could we refuse that? So to some interesting flute playing, we sang the Titanic song.

*We got new bed frames!!! I'm no longer sleeping on bricks!!

*Saw a very purple dog

*Transfer week! I'm staying! And training a new ZL, Elder Ence! I'm excited for this transfer, it is gonna be super fun!

*Fun fact, cats can get dizzy

*Cows invaded our home

*I discovered how Nephi was so large in stature

As far as the title goes, it went from being extremely hot to pouring rain!!! Our house almost flooded! The other Elders house did flood! All of Banana town was just flooding! It was insane!

There are so many good thoughts from Conference! I invite you all to reread your notes or rewatch the talks! I promise you will find something of worth to apply to your life!

I love the thought of preparing for the temple! As missionaries we cant go to the temple. And the members here live very far from the temple. But, that does not prevent us from still receiving the blessings from the temple! The way we prepare to go to the temple is as if we are preparing to go live in Heaven with God!

So I invite you to always think of your actions, and what you do with your time. And to reflect on whether or not that is helping you prepare to go to the temple. I love and miss the temple a lot, but I know, the more I prepare myself to go, the better experience I will have!

Anyways. Love y'all lots! Have a great week! Keep praying for my people and my zone! Until Next Week!

- E. Lutze

Cow Invasion at our House

Flooding in Banana Land

Homemade Weights for E. Lutze's Six Months to Sexy

Monkey Friend

Some Serious Yard Art

Our New Beds - No More Bricks

Preaching the Gospel with E. Long

The Very Purple Dog

Semana 84 (A Banana Easter)

Buenas!!

HAPPY EASTER!!!! I may not have seen any bunnies or eggs, but I sure saw lots of bananas! 

What a great week! Full of inviting everyone to come to church on the most special day there is!

On Tuesday we had our Zone Conference! It was a good time! Very spiritually uplifting!

We are teaching a bartender named Lujan! He is so awesome! His son is super awesome too! They are just two guys, happy to be learning something new.

We had exchanges this week! I went with Elder Vasquez! Super fun time! It was funny though, he is the second missionary to come to our area and say to me after, "Wow, I thought the Ngobes in my area were not receptive. But the ones here are on a whole different level!"

In the end, he told me that Las 30 is an area meant to perfect a missionary. In other words, I am learning A LOT of patience. But that's good! I'm learning a lot of really good things here!

We had some other super good lessons this week with some friends! Yorlenis, the cousin of Ismael, is progressing super well!

Our friend Armando is also progressing a lot! He speaks pretty good English too! We had taught, and invited him in English to be baptized, but I think the translation got a little lost there. He told us, "I think I already was baptized."

We returned another day, and taught the Restoration. After he said, "I asked my mom if I was baptized, she said no. So can I be baptized?"

We kinda sat there surprised. It was more us trying to process what just happened. Because that never happens here. After about 15 seconds of a bit of an awkward silence, we happily agreed, and set a goal with him!

Miracle Moment! Easter Sunday came around, and what an amazing Sunday! 10 of our friends came to church!!! Literally half of the attendance of our little group! It was so awesome! All of our friends that really needed to come, came! And it was such a spiritual Sunday! Huge miracle!

We also planned a last minute family home evening with some members. So Sunday we went and invited a bunch of members, and some friends! It turned out to be a big success! Some friends came, and it was a super spiritual time!

Spiritual Thought

I only get to be a representative of Jesus Christ for these two years, meaning 2 Easters. Easter is a very special time of the year! So I'll make the most of it! As a representative of Jesus Christ I testify that Jesus lives! That He overcame death. I know that He suffered all our pain, sadness, weakness, and more than we could ever imagine. I know that Jesus loves and knows each one of us personally. I know these things to be true because I've read the scriptures, and I have asked God in prayer if these things are true. I know and promise each one of you that if you have a desire to know, and ask God in prayer, He will answer you. As His representative I testify and promise these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

- E. Lutze

Cool Looking Wood People

A Cute Puppy

El Bano with Mickey

La Finca 30

Zone Conference

Semana 83 (Banana Drug Deal)

Buenas!!

I hope everyone is doing well! And that y'all had a good week!

One of the biggest highlights this week is that I got a Chiquita shirt! All the workers go to the Banana Fields with their Chiquita shirts. So I've been asking every person I see wearing one, where I can get my own. We met a random guy, and when I asked him my favorite question he left for about 3 minutes. When he came back, I had a brand new shirt! I was so hyped!

We did a Book of Mormon jeopardy in District Council which was super fun!

As a zone we also played a game called "Bang!" It's a card/dice game. Basically I was the bad guy, trying to kill the Sheriff. The funny thing was that some Elders weren't completely sure how to play. So me, just playing my role, took advantage and tricked them all into killing the Sheriff, even though they were his deputies. Most of you are probably really confused now, but it was really funny!

I helped make la masa de maíz. Basically I spun a machine to smash up some corn.

I made a banana drug deal! A guy came up to us all suspiciously and asked "Hey, hey you. Need some bananas? I can get you some"

We replied saying, "Yea we need bananas, how many?"

He said, "I can get you as many as you need." 

Off he went! We were still in the area working, and about 2 hours later our friend returned. He had a TON of bananas!!

"How much?", we asked.

"A dollar", he replied

We gave him a dollar, got our bananas, and walked our separate ways. Honestly, we aren't really sure where he got the bananas. It was funny though because this guy genuinely acts like a drug dealer, but with bananas.

We had exchanges with Almirante. I went with Elder De Leon! It was an odd, but very good experience! He is 26 years old! But we had a really good day!

Puré de Guineo is DISGUSTING!! I highly recommend staying far away from that.

Saw a huge tree full of Marañon!!

ISMAEL GOT BAPTIZED!!!!! It was such a good day! I'm super happy for him! He is super special!! And he was so happy!

We traveled yesterday to David! My bed is my hammock, and it's awesome! Something I love about Panama is that everyone always uses hammocks! So why not us too?

DC 6:33 "Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward."

I feel that the scripture speaks for itself! But it's so true! When we sow good, we reap good! That good being love, more faith, the Spirit, etc. Blessings from God! Temporal as well as spiritual! So don't be afraid to do something good today! However big or small it be, the reward will be good!

Anyways. Love you all lots! Have a great week! Keep praying for my zone and my people! Until Next Week!

- E. Lutze

A Barn?

Banana Drug Deal

Ismael's Baptism

Marañon

Chiquita Banana Shirt with or without the Hat?

Pure de Guineo Disgusting!

Spider in the Sink

Splits with E. De Leon

Semana 82 (Banana Port)

Buenas!!

*We taught our friend Ismael a few times this week which was good! He is still going strong on his baptism goal! Funny enough, he came to 2 random lessons with us just because he wanted to!

*We saw 2 people being real sus. So we walked over and gave them a law of chastity pamphlet! Then we proceeded to talk to them about God, the church, and what we do! I don't think I've ever seen two 17 year olds feel so uncomfortable before 

*CPEC!!!! Lets goooooooo!! The early mornings continue!! We went over to Empalme and spent the morning with the Elders there, and it was a good time!

*We got what is called a "Duritico." It was DELICIOUS! It was a key lime pie flavor! It's kinda just flavored ice, but better! Not really sure how to describe it other than just delicious!

*Went to go try and get a member to come to a lesson with us. He said "No, I have to catch a chicken to give it medicine."

So we were like, "Just come to the lesson for 15 minutes, we need another man to be there."

And he was like, "No, I gotta catch the chicken!"

He was being super lame honestly. But then we were like "Fine. We will catch the chicken, and then you won't have an excuse!"

So we proceeded to chase a chicken for 10 minutes. But I caught it! By some miracle we were able to get the chicken! Then we had an awesome lesson, and put our friend on date to be baptized!

*Theres a new place here called "Barriada Invasion.'' Basically, a bunch of Ngabes stole land from a guy and now everyone is building their tiny little houses out of anything they can find. It's quite interesting!

*Exchanges with Elder Hulme! Such a fun time! I went to Almirante! Saw the Banana Port! I got to do some baptismal interviews as well which was fun! Overall a fun day!

*Everyone looks for excuses not to go to church. We ask everyone "What are you doing on Sunday?"

They respond, "Nothing."

We say, "Great! We have church at 9! You're invited! Will you come?"

They give 1 of 2 responses

Response 1: "I can't promise anything, because if I promise and then don't go, that makes me look bad."

I mean, you could promise and then complete the promise!

Response 2: "I'll go if nothing else comes up."

If they aren't doing anything, they look for any reason not to come! It is just a really sad mindset. We shouldn't look for reasons not to go to church. We should in fact look for EVERY reason to go to church.

So after hearing those responses about a million times this week, we were very grateful to have some friends come to church on Sunday!

Anyways. Love you all lots! Keep praying for my people and my zone! Until Next Week!

- E. Lutze

Barriada Invasion

Broken - Too Much Use?

Chiquita Banana Decoration

CPECs with E. Hulme

Delicious Duritico!

We love our bananas!

A Pack of Dogs

I'm in heaven... Duriticos!!!

Semana 81 (Banana Plane)

Buenas!!

Started the week off with leadership conference! It was a lot of fun! Afterwards we got on a bus at 5:30 PM, and got home at 6:30 AM. It was kinda tough to figure out what day it was 

Had a "Tarde de Grupo" on Wednesday! It was fun! Just a simple Come Follow Me lesson given by the coolest missionaries of Banana Town.

Miracle Moment! We went to teach a friend of ours, but it was just her and her mom alone, which meant we couldn't teach them. So we quickly called a member, and they dropped everything they were doing and rushed over to the lesson! We then had a very spiritual lesson in which the member helped a lot! We were then able to put our friends on date to get baptized! The member literally saved the day!

Everyday we get to see the Banana Plane flying around! So that's pretty fun! What's funny is that the plane is yellow and blue which are the colors of the Banana Monopoly Company!

Ok, this next part I don't say to be rude. But just to explain what my experience is like with all the Ngäbes. It's like we are teaching Cavemen! It feels like I'm losing brain cells whenever I teach! They somehow just have an off button in their brain which causes them to just stare off into space. We have to ask them a question 5 times just for a simple "Yes" or "No." Or even a nod!

Example. Based on a true story.

Missionaries: "Hey! Do you like to read?"

Ngäbe: ...................

Missionaries: "Hey! You! Yes you! Hey! Over here! Do you like to read?"

Ngäbe: .......20 seconds later........ "Yes"

Missionaries: "Great! Here's a pamphlet!!!"

Proceeds to wait 10 seconds before taking it. Grabs it. And instead of reading it, starts smelling it! She was smelling it as if she was reading through her nose!! It was hilarious!!

The Ngäbes are honestly super funny to interact with! I love them to death! They just require a wee bit of patience sometimes. Which I'm honestly not the greatest with, but I guess God wants me to learn!

*Made another rock fire 

*Got more Yaniqueque 

*I was fed literally a MOUNTAIN of rice. Took me almost an hour to eat it all!

*Saw a funny looking chicken. It was just kind of a fluff ball.

*We get big gross spiders in our house all the time....but they dont bite! I think...

*We got big giant chiquita banana inflatables!

*Invited EVERYONE to church! Every living soul we saw, we invited.

*We saw a HUGE pile of bananas! Literally massive!! 

*We taught our friend Angel! He's a slave... well an indentured servant. But he will prolly get baptized! He's super awesome!

Another Miracle Moment! 4 of our friends came to church! It was super awesome! And even better was that the attendance in church was 40 people! It may not sound like a whole ton, but for a tiny group like this, that is a lot! We barely fit in the house! It was so awesome!

Spiritual Thought

I love D&C 4:3

"Therefore, if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work;"

All we need is a desire to serve God! A desire to help others. A desire to love others. A desire to follow God. Every single thing we can ever do starts with a desire. So we must let that desire work inside us! To bring us to action! If you have a desire to serve God and others, think of ways to do so! Then do it! We don't have to be perfect. We just need to have a desire, and then work towards fulfilling that desire.

Through faith, hope, charity, love, and an eye single to the glory of God, He qualifies us to do His work.

After all, His work shall be done by the weak and simple. And that's what we are!

So if you have a good desire to do something. Whatever it may be. Serve a mission, draw yourself closer to God, serve a friend, etc. Let that desire work in you until it brings you to action!

Love you all lots! Have a great week! Keep praying for my people! Until Next Week!

- E. Lutze

The biggest pile of bananas we've ever seen!

The 'Fluff Ball' Chicken

More Joni Cakey!

Wow, that's heavy!

Our Chiquita inflatable bananas

Spider control with hairspray and a lighter

The Chiquita Banana Plane - yes, it's blue and yellow!