SURPRISE

Hola Familia,

How´s everything going? So i´m here on Monday, and there is no email from the family! I´m thinking it´s probably because you were waiting until Tuesday or Wednesday to write. No worries. It turns out we write on Monday, even though Tuesday is our Preparation Day. This week Preparation day is the 24th though (Wednesday). Elder Lanham wanted me to tell you sorry for telling you the wrong day! No worries though!

Can I just tell you how lucky I am? I think i´m the luckiest missionary in the mission, not even kidding. My companion is awesome(Oh, i found out Panamanians speak INCREDIBLY fast... whew!), I´m living in an awesome house with awesome missionaries, and because these missionaries have cars, we get rides every now and then! Elder Lanham and Elder Meza (his companion, from Honduras, who is awesome by the way) drive a Toyota HiLux (A weird looking Toyota Tacoma) and the secretaries have a van. Alright, that´s not important, lets get to the good stuff!

Yesterday was my first day with the ward we attend, it was pretty crazy! The churches here are really nice. Some even have air conditioning! Everyone was REALLY nice in the ward. A little too nice, because everyone wanted to have nice long fluent Spanish conversations, and I´ve learned so much it´s been a miracle, but I still don´t know THAT much. That was a little overwhelming, but it was still really great. They wanted mi companiero, myself and Elder Lanham to speak too, so I prepared a talk in spanish, but it turns out they didn´t need us yesterday, so next week we´re on!

I met this guy who doesn´t have a right hand, just a nub. He is the nicest, coolest guy ever. When he introduced himself he grabbed my left hand and stuck his nub into the back of my hand, and you know me, not being used to that whole deal was a little weirded out. It was really an awesome opportunity to meet him though!

We had an investigator there who supposedly has been going a lot, his name is Pablo. He is twenty-two and lives with his 15 year old girlfriend and her mom, who are both members. He has been having lessons for a while, but needs to either marry his girlfriend, or move out. They want to get married but he doesn´t have the money. They live in a one room cinderblock house inside this little community. It is VERY humble, the people share bathrooms and everything else. It has been very fun to meet them and be able to share the gospel with Pablo.

Mom, You´re going to LOVE this. So, it was my companion´s birthday the other day and this family gave us some cake! The lady dishes up the cake from a corner of their one room house, and hands me my plate. I look down and there is a big piece of cake with an ant on the plate! Don´t worry though, I flicked the ant off of the plate before I ate the cake. It´s just an ant, I can´t wait to see what else is in store! haha.

So the other day we went on companion exchanges because my companion is the district leader and had a meeting. My companion was from Chile, and didn´t speak english. I was a little nervous before, but can I just tell you that the gift of tongues is real! We didn´t even have any problems communicating! I know my Heavenly Father knows and loves me and is helping me through the spirit every single day. We found this BIG family who lives in a BIG complex with their family only, and they have been REALLY receptive the 2 times we´ve contacted talked to him. I´m hoping and praying this will somehow work out!

I´ve had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Lanham twice already, and I´m going on another with him today! We share the same area, so it´s normal for the companionship who lives with the Assistants to go on exchanges with them! I LOVE going with Elder Lanham... He is one of the most amazing missionaries I´ve ever met, and i´m so thankful for him. Together we´ve contacted full buses(I let him do most of the work on that one, That was tough!), had such a good time trying to find families to contact (at one point we saw a family go past, looked at eachother, and just turned around and ran to catch up to them, leaving the member who was going with us back in the dust all confused... hah oops!), and we visited a member family last night, had an incredibly spiritual lesson about missionary work, and the lady stopped and started to cry, and the dad asked us to give his little baby a blessing who had been sick. I LOVE THIS WORK!

I´ve fallen in love with our area, El Carmen. We live in a place called Boca de Monte, and walk to our area each day, but it´s not too far. I LOVE contacting and teaching in the evening, because we climb up this big hill to where people live, and we can see all over the city, and see all the lights. It´s perfect right after the sun has set because you can see the amazing city lights, and on the other side of the city you can see this HUGE volcano. It´s definitely a site to behold. Once I figure out the whole picture thing i´ll be sure to send some pictures!

K, so I´m already starting to get sick of the music on my iPod, and I´m wondering if you could, when you get a chance, burn a few CD´s to send in the next package. I don´t want ANY music that even comes close to breaking the rules, but I´m thinking there have to be some songs by Josh Groban, Michael Buble, or SOMEONE that doesn´t break the rules... haha Here is the rule straight out of the white handbook:

¨Listen only to music that is consistent with the sacred spirit of your calling. Music should invite the spirit, help you focus on the work, and direct your thoughts and feelings to the Savior. Do not listen to music that pulls your thoughts away from your work, merely entertains, has romantic lyrics or overtones, or dulls your spiritual sensitivity by its tempo, beat, loudness, lyrics, or intensity.´´

I got a box of Ritz Bitz with Cheese from Heather, and I got the letter from Grandpa, as well as a package from yáll! I haven´t opened the package yet don´t worry. Thanks a ton for these gifts! You all are awesome. I decided I wasn´t going to spend the money on me from grandpa, and i´ve already put half of it to a good cause! Thanks a million for everything!

I love you all so much, thanks for all of the support! I got an email from Uncle Nathan, and Grandma! Thanks for the emails and letters and everything, It really is a big help.

I know that what I´m doing is right, the Church is true, and Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. I´m so thankful for him.

Talk to you in a few days!

Elder Melville