Lincoln Mission August 13-19 2024

It was a good first transfer here in Narganá and now we're on to round 2. I believe that I won round 1, so now we'll see if I can survive these upcoming 6 weeks and come out on top.

Good bye to Elder Griffiths

This exchange was one of the best I've had. We ended our time together by using something called "sabdur." It's a traditional fruit-looking plant that kunas use to paint themselves. You cut the fruit in half, take out all the seeds, smash them up to get out all the juice, and then apply it to your body. The catch is that it doesn't immediately paint your skin. It takes hours for it to take effect and start showing up. Us, being non-believers in the powers of sabdur, started messing around with it and got it everywhere. The next morning when we woke up we were dark blue. Worth it. All the kunas thought we were awesome and would come up out of the blue and talk to us in rapid dulegaya.

Hello to Elder Hulme. Again.

On wednesday, my good friend Elder Hulme arrived and it was a happy reunion. Our second time being comps because one wasnt enough. It should be a super fun transfer.

Baptism

Our friend Joinel got baptized! He's awesome. A super patient, mature kid. We went to the island and were able to help him make his first covenant with God. Here, the kids we baptize wear one of our shirts because good condition baptisimal clothing is scarce here. Joinel was super happy and gave us a huge hug afterwards.

Culture week

This week is culture week, meaning that there will be a bunch of cultural presentations, dances, food, etc. We already saw a huge parade of little kids walking around in their traditional clothing. We're super excited and hoping to do everything possible to immerse ourselves in the culture. We got out the sabdur again and painted our noses this time. The kunas went crazy for it.

Mowing the lawn

Well, our grass may have gotten out of hand and the neighbors complained. The chiefs of the island told us that we were going to get fined if we didn't cut it, so we broke out the machetes and spent hours trying to get the lawn to look somewhat decent. Kinda cool.

More highlights:

- got water again

- played more chess with the kids

- ate more fish

- saw some flute dances

- found some more people to teach

Well, thats basically it. Sorry it's long, but that's what the popular opinion (my mom) is asking for. It's wild out here, but I love it so much. Kunas are the best. Their culture is amazing. 

Also, I decided that half way through my mission I would create a google photos album to share. Don't judge.