March 18, 2013

congrats jacob and fernanda ha im glad your having a boy too many girls ha ha.
Hola here in panama the weather is nice not too hot we get a nice breeze.  Honestly i cant beileve im half way done with my mission i still have so much to learn but its an amazing adventure. This week was alright on tuesday my compainion lost her name tag in the street somewhere and never found it we traced our tracks and she asked many people in the streets. "have you seen a black name tag like my compainions "  ha i was so embarressed ha we didnt contact the rest of the night since she was so worried and very upset so that night we made a little piece of paper of her last name and covered my last name to put vasquez since i had another name tag,  We are doing our best to find more people and to have people progress we found a few familes the hardest part is having them commit to come to church.  mom where is amy zarbock going on her mission?  Michael and natalie this is my oppinion but i like oakely violet ericson. Its so great to here from you and good luck on selling the house im sure everything will be better for the best.  I wish i was there to help you but to make you feel better i do pray for you everyday say hi to grandma.  tell nate and marie to send pics of the baby wow i cant believe how many new babies there will be when i return in december lots together for christmas.  When times get tough try to remember this question what crist thinks of me?  pray for spiritual guidence, repent,obey all commandments, belive, and trust.  " If ye love me keep my commandments"  we may not be at our very best but if we are trying thats what matters.  Have the faith  all things are possible for those that believe.  Our savior is on our left and right side to lift us up in times that are most difficult.  i love you all and im loving the mission i have never been so happy so many different emotions but its an adventure im growing closer so my father n heaven and im so grateful for each and every one of you thanks for your support i have the best parents in the world and i have appreciated every moment i love you so much and siempre fuertes good luck on the house and pray for spititual guidence.  le quiero muchisimo hna ericson

March 11, 2013

This week was good and not so good The good is that we found more familes and poeple that are interested in our messages but the not so good is that we are not visiting 3 of our memers since they dont want to change their religion in other wise are not quite ready and prepared but its ok move we move on and focus on those that are ready.  We have one family that is progressing we just have to wait a month or so till the mom is divorced before we baptize locracia the daughter elin and the esposo eliezer.  So i got a call on saturday morning from my zone leaders telling me i didnt have emergencie changes but i had to give a talk in sacrement since i was the new missionary in the area of course i accepted so during my study i hurried and wrote a 10 min talk i was so nervous especially since i dont know the ward yet very well but i think it was a little better than my last talk since i can speak a little better spanish. I learned alot from a talk from Dieter F. Uchtdorf ¨ Of the things that matter most¨ In times we get distracted from the things that really matter most, slow down a little and see the things that matter most.  he talks about 4 key main points god, family, fellow men, and ourselves.  our lives are more stable and secure  greater peace and joy as we live and keep the commandments.  learn of him.  Family is a high priority do things together that are fun. He says that love is the main point in the family but really love is spelled TIME take time for eachother talk with the family NOt about the family appreciate our differences and lift others.  Fellow men-Serve, ourselves relationship with eachother take extra time to get to know yourself ponder the truths learn to see yourself as our heavenly father sees you. Be wise turn to the docterinas of the gospel, and refocus on what matters most.  Make The Changes!  i love you all and grateful for the support and the many wonderful things im learning love ya and i hope you all have a better week.  le quiero todos hna ericson

February 25, 2013

hola familia we had changes on tuesday and i am now in an area called chitre it is 4 hours now from the city not 8 but i have enjoyed this week getting to know the area and the people i thought it would be hard and all but you know me i like to talk and its alot easier for me now to carry on a conversation.  We had stake conference on sunday so the president was here for the weekend my companion is hna vasquez and she is from honduras she is 31 years old and is a little different but im going to try my best to have patience and to help her the best i know how. she had an interview with the president and  because im new i didnt know much about her but we all have problems so ill just say im trying my best to keep her here in the mission she only has 2 months in the mission and i have 8 now so everything i have learned im going to do the best i can.  ok our house mmmm where so i start first of all the first thing my compaion told me is that we have mice i said oh really nice well its a good thing im tired everynight i do wake up in the middle of the night around 4 and can hear them in the ceiling and another thing is there is alot of poop around our house so i try to clean what i can while my companion is showering i have not unpacked my clothes i think im just going to live out of my suitcases ha because if you can imagine the house smells like mice and my compaions clothes she finds poo and they stink ha ha ha its the mission im not complaining but i think ill just live out of my suit case for now. oh and in the morning while we do out excercises the mice run past us ha ha.this week there was alot of work to do we dont have many investigators and none that are progressing but i have faith that we can find more people they end of the week i was happy we had 15 investigators so we will see if they all progress.  some things i really liked in elder neil andersons talk in sep.  ¨pray for increased faith.  Thy faith shall fail not.  nourish as you go though a trial.  protect your faith, serve one another, share your testimony.  No trial is so large we cant overcome it , learn to be wise. trials will be trying, remember it is on our rock of the foundation. as we remain faithful we will be stronger.  witness follows your faith with faith comes trials of faith i really liked this talk if you get the time re read the talk or listen to it but i hope everything continues to get bellter i will keep samantha in my prayers i love you all and this week try to increase your faith love ya hna ericson

February 18, 2013

wow first off jacob im sorry i missed your birthday week so happy birthday and dad Happy birthday to you this week i hope you all had and are going to have a happy birthday.  CONGRATS fernanda im so excited for you let me know as soon as you find out if its a boy or girl.
wow this week was a little crazy first off my birthday was amazing my companion bought me a dress for my birthday and made me chocolate oatmeal pancakes sounds weird but seriouly delicious.  hna cruz made me little notes and put them all around my desk and a happy birthday sign she is so sweet but she tried so hard to surprise me with everything she we bought food to make a mexican dish not sure how you spell it but chiliquilas really good she had everyone in our zone meet at our ward in our area and all the elders thought it was a surprise well it was but i just pretended i dindnt know they were all coming so i acted all surprised ha ha it was fun.  but they bought me a sweet card and a chololate cake.  Fun morning but after we had went home for an hour then had a big spaghetti lunch delicious but i was so full i have been asking for smaller portions and it works when i say i dont feel very good so now i say my stomach is sick only a little bit thanks haha.  we visited a few famalies and put a date for an 18 year old to be baptized we had a big valentines party with the ward and investigators and less active members came,  we had to put on a skit me and my companion and 2 new elders in my area it was pretty funny ill try to send the video but anyways it was fun they all sang to me and tried to do it in english but then started over and sang in spanish but i had a wonderful birthday.ok now the sad news so sunday i had to give the mission munute and i just bore my testimony since i had a really good feeling i was going to leave the area around 4 we got a call and the elders told me i had changes i was expecting it but my sad its been 7 months in this same area i love it and i love the bishop`i love working with him but i know that the lord wants me in another area and i just need to be patient and take everything i have learned and move forward to my new area im not sure where im going or who my compaion is i will find out in changes tomarrow so we have to take the bus at 5 in the morning so yay not much sleep.  Thanks for the new pair of shoes shirt and 2 new pair of shorts. i hope you all have a wonderful week sorry this is short but i love you all and i hope things are changing for the better le quiero hna ericson

February 10, 2013

Thanks for the birthday wishes i think my companion has something planned for me this Friday and the bishop is having a BBQ for me on Saturday ha the first time in panama so I'm pretty excited.  thants great Aaron made it to Spain he is going to love it.  Well today for p day we went to the boarder of Costa Rica and i did buy a few things for my birthday a dress and a soccer shirt and don't worry I'm working on buying some shorts i have a few but yea ill just say I'm trying to loose some weight so that i can wear them, anyways this week was pretty long lots of work we went on divisions where i went to a different area with another companion and its gringo land ha ha i loved it its alot cooler and i can understand the people but it was weird because a couple people i contacted it was in english and its alot different when you are used to speaking Spanish and then contact in english i forget some of the words in english but it was a fun day we hiked up a huge loma a hill that was only a dirt road for about 35 min just to get to one house the family was baptized last week but i don't know them since they are not in my area but as we were hiking down we saw a little girl that was 11 years old carrying a 45 pound sac of potatoes for the families food we told her we wanted to help hna bustamente tried to lift the sac but couldn't so i tried and could pick it up but couldn't get very far with it since it was straight up a mountain so we both carried it together and the little girl thanked us but wow the ngobe people are very strong i felt so weak.  We found 4 families to teach but none came to church we had 4 other investigators attend which we were happy finally a little bit more success.  This week i read from the liahona the talk from Neil L. Andersen What thinks christ of me?  i like the part where he says ´´We may not be at our very best everyday, but if we are trying´´ everyday i have the desire to learn something new from a lesson or something from my compaion and i know that as i try to share my testimony and share the love that our savior has for us i know that he is helping me along this journey and i can feel the love me has for me.  in his talk he also says ´´  Together we can lift and strengthen one another in the great and important days ahead.  whatever the difficulties confronting us, the weaknesses confining us, or the impossibilities surronding us, let us have faith in the son of god, who declared´´  ´´All things are possible to him that believeth,´´mark 9:23 i love the talk he asks the question ´´ what would jesus do´´ ´´when our pain and fear are calmes only by the conviction thqat he loves us and keeps his promises.´´ trust in the savior , promised miracles will occur always remember to love him, trust him, believehim, and follow him, you will feel his love and approval. as you ask, ´´what thinks christ of me´´ i love you all and if you have the time or your feel  like everything is going wrong read your scriptures and ponder on the words ansewers will slowly come love you mom and dad stay strong and be patient with eachothe and with everytyhing that is going on love you so much and im so grateful to have this time to grow closer to my father in heaven im doing his work and im so happy le quiero talk to you next week. 

HERMANA ERICSON

February 04, 2013

I hope you got my picture but this week was a little crazy, on Thursday we found out that 2 more missionaries would be serving in the same area as me and my comp.  They are elders which I’m sure will great . It is less stressful since we split the area, but it is still really big with and a lot of bus rides every day. We worked really hard this week and did have one baptism on Saturday and 3 investigators in church. I think I’ll have one more baptism before my next change on Feb 20.  Not much new has changed, just trying to show the elders the area and all that.  Today for p day we went to the beach again but it  was pretty boring , just sat around talked and then took the bus back to use the internet.  That is so great that Aaron finally got his eagle and everything worked out over skype .  Also, that is great that he is leaving for Spain this week. ha it is going to be a big change for him different food and weather everything. It has not rained for about 2 months now which I miss because it is so hot and I get headaches more often, but not too bad when I use my umbrella. Everything is good though and more families this week to teach.  I hope everything at home gets better for the good sometimes at the worst times of our trials we are being tested and we need to keep the faith and strength to push through it so that we can continue to be happy.  I know we all have different trials we go through every day but stay close to the lord and he will deliver the miracles. I love you all I know this is short but know that I miss you all and I hope you have a good week le quiero muchisimo hna ericson 

January 28, 2013

Happy birthday mckinsley last week love you¡

yes we did have investigators in chuch we had 4 which was amazing and we are baptizing maria magdalena on saturday so we are excited for that.  my p days are always on monday we have changed on feb 20 so im not sure if it will be the same.  i have not been sick for a long time but in jan and feb it is the hottest months in david chidiqui and i use an umbrella everyday to keep the sun off of me but it is hot prob 100 to 120 degrees i dont know but on saturday i had a really bad headache but we still worked in the afternoon then after my companion was really sick so we went home around 7 and both crashed in our beds and slept about 12 hours then got up and went to church i was so exhausted and didnt feel good all through chuch im sure its just the heat and i know i should be drinking more water but i was weird my legs hurt so bad like when i have my leg achs maybe im growing ha ha jk but then we have a correlation meeting with the bishop and are mission leader and it lasted 4 hours but it was so spirtiual the bishop is amazing we all have trials and dificulties but seriously he is like my dad in the mission. so he didnt know i was sick or anything and my comp asked him for a blessing and i didnt say anything so we started to walk out of the building and the bishop said he felt weird and that he wanted to give me a blessing so i said i guess ya thats fine he doesnt know english so it was all in spanish but i understood everything he blessed me that i would not have a fever and lots of stuff about my health it was so spiritual and amazing how the lord inspires him what exacly to say but that night yesterday was so weird for my i couldnt fall asleep my my whole body hurt and i dont know why but i was freezing and i was super hot my companion kept telling me i had a fever but i was just trying to sleep i took some pills then fell asleep around 2 for about an hour i was in the bathroom  every hour it was so weird but when i woke up around 7 seriously everything was better i didnt hurt and i didnt have a fever just a small headache but everything is good now dont worry.  ok so this week was good for us found more families to teach this area is just really hard since its huge and the church is so far away. ok story so saturday after we had lunch at the bishops house we were walking by the terminal where all the busses are and i get annoyed everyday by old men since im a gringa so this old man sees me and im looking down since we just got off the bus and with his dirty hands touches my chin and says hi baby i love you baby i love you freak i didnt look at him just kept walking then 2 min later another person sees me and says hi bonita and starts running toward me and my companion and i are just dieing laughing so hard wow really shut up ha ha then 30 min different person says hello baby baby baby i love ha its funny i get that from panimanions everyday but usually they wistle at me and they are far away i dont know.  im doing just fine im stuggling with the language its not easy i understand everything but its not easy teaching the lessons my companion hna cruz has helped me so much and im so grateful for her patience we have alot of fun together. i hope you all have a wonderful week i love and miss you all tonz keep you head up and have faith and more trust in the lord that is what im working on right now but love you and have a better week. le quiero hna ericson