Carnival! Lots of Pictures 2-11-13

Baptism 1-28-13

So this week´s story happened on Saturday. We had great plans for the day like everyday.... but this day went a little different. We called around and finally got a woman member to come teach with us.  It was perfect. She was supposed to have left already for work. she asked me what time we´d be there and we were like now and I asked her when she needs to be at work and she said at 9am... well that was 15 minutes ago... haha. so she came! ended up that they know each other. it was a beautiful lesson and he came to church yesterday! he knew tons of people! including the man we baptized yesterday. wow. does the Lord know exactly what needs to happen or what!?! that wasn´t the only thing like that that happened on Saturday but it was definitely my favorite. I love this work.  pretty much everything this weekend went perfectly. our baptism was amazing. The members did like everything and the room was filled! it was pretty legit. I love this area and the work that´s here to do!

I have 7 months in my mish! can you believe that! in march I´ll be 22 years old and I´ll be half way! what in the world?!?!?!

Apostle Visit! 1-21-13

The fam we live with is just a g'mom, mom and daughter. They´re pretty great. We saw Elder Christofferson and all. We all shook his hand and he said all of our names as we went by. His Spanish is amazing! Soooo beautiful. I want Spanish like that.... one day, maybe if I´m diligent. He was amazing and we had 4 other general authorities with us. plus! he went to one area in Panama to talk to the people and guess where he went..... that´s right... my stake. God has blessed me so much to let me be in this area right now and with this comp. This is like the best time I´ve ever had in my mish. I know hard times will come... so I´m just enjoying my time as it lasts. I´m gaining more hope about going to San Blas.  Woohoo! We are getting like 100 new mish in the next year! It´s like doubling our mish. Right now we have like 30 something sisters... we´re going to have like 70-80! we´re going to be 1/3rd of the mish! SO exciting.
Love you all!
Hna Schumacher

Not too sure what they are doing, but this is during a Mission President visit to their area. Subway was on the menu though!

Mish Work and Life 1-14-13

This week was a little less exciting. We have some amazing investigators. Maria is a lady who went to church the Sunday after we started visiting her. It took one visit and she's come both these weeks! she's amazing. She's all set to get bap this month! And she invited all these 17 to 19 year old boys that are friends of her son to come listen to us. It's awesome. We taught them the word of wisdom this week. sooooo great. They confessed to drinking and all and wow. They were just so honest and awesome and maria is such a strong women and loves the word of God. Also, when we asked for references from her, she just walked outside and yelled over at her neighbor who was sitting outside and was like hey! listen to these muchachas. listen to la palabra! haha. She cracks me up. I love her. I love these people.

So Elder Christofferson is coming this week to Panama. He's speaking to us mish on like sat and my stake on Sunday. We're stoked. Should be great. I hope so. Seeing an apostle here is way cooler than any other time in my life cause like..... um well like I'm teaching the importance of apostles and prophets in the church of Jesus Christ and one is going to come talk to us! How cool is that! haha.

Sooooo. I saw a huge cockroach in the kitchen this morning.... that was fun and I'm enjoying watching the process of decay of dead dogs along our path every day and talking birds are pretty fun. Especially ones that sing about Jesus in evangelical praises. Note to family.... the praying Mantis here are AMAZING and huge and very bright yellow. Takes me back to good old times.... and even if I don't love Chihuahuas... puppy Chihuahuas are sooooo much fun and tiny! those are my animal stories of the day....

so yeah, peace out home flies! love you!

hna. shumachair

Catching Papayas¨ the name of our b rated band. 1-7-13

(Warning: In Sasha style, some parts are, well, gross!)

So I decided I could make a good living catching papayas here in Panama. I´m tall and I never miss (knock on wood).

I could do well as a dead animal picker-upper. I always notice the dead frogs, mice, dogs, birds on the street cause I walk looking down. (needless to mention the situation with the kittens and puppies in my first area) my comp is starting a foto collection of dead animals; it´s pretty ¨classy´´.

Summer is kicking in, I´m as red tanned as I´ve ever been before. do we have native american blood, cause that would make sense (sorry, if that sounds racist, latinos are super easy going about calling people black, fula (white), chino, fat, skinny... it´s norm, but in the states we always tiptoe around this kind of stuff. (Just a culture note.) so one of our investigators has a fantastic herb garden. well, an everything garden. I LOVE plants (I think I give thanks to my mom for that) so she gave me a branch of her aloe plant to rub the goo all over my face and body. it´s pretty awesome. haha

so, I have tons to write... but have no energy whatsoever. I just want to go sleep for days. This morning we got up at 5 to go to the temple. I didn´t feel well but I headed out. well, it got worse on the diablo rojo (crazy school bus) to panama. I about threw up! so the bus ride sucked. I jumped out of my seat to race to the front of the bus and handed my money to my comp. I DID NOT want to throw up out the window... which about happened. I rushed to the bathroom in the transit center in Albrook and I´ll just let you imagine. But I wanted to go to the temple with my zone, so off we went. Waiting at the temple, I asked the elders from our ward to give me a blessing. Elder Castillo gave me a great blessing. I´m so grateful for the Priesthood, the authority and power of God. Not feeling tons better, I entered the temple session that was PACKED. they added 11 extra chairs in the room. I felt crappy, but kept feeling better and better. I know that the Lord blessed me. I know that he knows me. When I left the temple, once again, I felt terrible as we walked to the bottom of the hill to catch a bus. well... while walking with the whole zone I stepped off the path and puked.... in front of everyone. it was really dumb. luckily my comp knows me well enough to ward off the zone and tell them to stop gathering around and watching.... ummm... duh! haha but they just all wanted to help I´m sure.... remember the time I got sick with my mom of the mish (1st companion).... well, one of the mish was worried that I hadn´t gone to the clinic or taken anything.... But I´m more of the person to just hide out by myself until it passes.... unless it gets bad... then, yes mom, yes dad... Ill do something about it. and plus my comp is the nurse. no worries I´m so grateful that the Lord blessed me with health while I was in the temple and everything was all clear on the buses. he knows what we want. he knows what we need. He knows what we can handle. He knows that we need hard experiences to grow and learn and trust in Him. So now I´m just supper week and thirsty.... hopefully I get back from the internet cafe all clear. love you all... and I hope you enjoy my Panamanian TMI experiences... I tried to edit it. really I did.

I´m SO happy. the happiest I´ve ever been on my mish. Hna Cooper is amazing! We love being together and we are learning an incredible amount from this time that we have together. She is going to be an even more incredible mish by the end of her time.  We are learning about going for it and what it means to have faith.
I so excited to be here every day. Even when I'm sick. Even when I´m dying of heat. Even when the dirt road seems to go nowhere. I´m loving my mish.
Love you all!!!
Hna Schumacher

The little things in life make us happy! 12-31-12

We worked sooooo hard this week. We are on fire! We work awesome together and the Lord blessed us more than we hoped for. We have a family that is prolly going to get married to get baptized! I´m so excited. we´ll both be here for the baptism cause this is a 9 week change. SOO exciting!

------Yesterday in church The Lord assured us that we are doing something right here in our area.  He blessed us with a 35 person higher attendance in church of menos activos and 7 investigators! It was amazing and over whelming! Church was work! We were running around trying to greet and take care of EVERYONE. It was amazing... I think I already wrote that, but it was! We were so happy. What joy is given us as we work in la obra del Señor!

While I was sitting in church next to an investigating 80 year old man who is fantastic, I wrote this in my journal: Ive never been so sure that I´m supposed to be where I´m at. It´s like a place in this seat in this time was carved out just for me. There´s no where else I am needed more in the whole world! If I came on my mission just to point at which word and line we´re on in the hymn to this old man in church today, I´m satisfied. I am perfectly happy and nothing in the world matters more that this.¨ 

I love this work. I love this people. I love this area. I love my comp. I love my God.----------

Transfers and Christmas Eve 12-24-2012

Sis Mish and their beautiful Christmas Tree

SO... so leaving my area was hard. I´m now in Arraijan (ar-ray-han, accent on the han). Caceres, or Nuevo Chorrillo, if you can find that. I´m super close to where I was, but it´s way different. I´m with another GRINGA! can you believe it. I was pretty upset for about 5 minutes and then I got over myself. She´s Hna. Cooper. She´s the new nurse. She´s from Minnesota. She has one less transfer than I do! so we´re both new in the mish! crazy right! Pres Ward always talks about some of the weird companionships that he´s prompted to put together... I´m pretty sure we´re one of them now.... She´s way cool. I love her already.

My comp and I love our Christmas tree that grandma sent me, with lights and everything! It was amazing! I loved it. and I found ornaments in my house to put on it! My comp has a ton of Christmas music too. It almost feels like Christmas  and since she´s the nurse, we´re heading to Panama tonight to eat Christmas eve dinner with pres and sister ward! They had just invited all elders and Hermana Ward was like, it´s all boys, we need some girls, so she was like, lets call the sisters! So we are going :) I´m pretty happy about that....

Christmas Eve Dinner with Senior Mish and ???

12/17/12 Pics

Nativity on the temple grounds. Note that there´s no baby Jesus... cause he wasn´t born yet!!! they don´t put it out till Christmas Eve haha

A little nativity set that Rosa and Cesar got for me. They have one and I was like oh my gosh! I want one and I showed up yesterday and they had one for me!!! I LOVE them! haha

This is how I feel sometimes.... our little furry friend that we found in the ditch! I thought they didn´t move fast! but he slapped the ground and I jumped so bad. he was soooo scary and random! haha love it.

Mission Christmas Party

12-10-12

okay, so, I have so much to write and so little time! that reminds me of when I only had 30 min in the CCM. sucked! anyway... so random little things first... Elder Christopherson is coming in January. we may be getting 2 new sisters in our house next week! yay! that means that I almost def stay in this area! I hope so! I can't handle leaving right now! transfers are next week... For Mother's Day we had a mariachi band in the church! way fun. 2 trumpets and a bass and reg guitar. I got my package at the Christmas party last Tuesday. came right in time. but I'm not going to open all of it. I already grabbed my shirt and shorts. they were poking out so I knew it was from you. the address was ripped off I think by the mish. but I won't open it till our phone call! promise! haha. (No she did not wait, haha) next week we have to figure out what time to call....

Christmas here... we had lights on our house already, so we bought an extension chord! and WE have LIGHTS! yay! haha it's great! it's weird that everyone's got everything all decorated and it's so hot... haha. everyone here is obsessed with the nativity scene. haha they're huge. Christmas trees are everywhere... but it's not like ours. lots of fake trees too.

My comp goes home the next change. not this one. so in feb i think. I want to stay, but Pres Ward's letters sound like I'll be leaving.... it's all good. I'm ready. I'm just going to miss these people soooo much! I have to make sure I take pics!

And Christmas is big. I've heard that the 24th is bigger! and 25th is lazy and you sleep in all day haha. I'm looking forward to it. just another day working as a mish, but it'll all good.

the rains are pretty much gone until May now... I'm going to miss it. I LOVE the rain so much.

fyi, today isn't p-day. we're going to the temple tomorrow, well our zone is anyway... we have a wedding to do in the morning. so we might not go. it was our idea too!!! and they're planning on going to the canal again and I haven't gone yet.... so o well, I'll find another time. I hope we make it to the temple though... I haven't gone for a while and we're so close and who knows where I'll be next change! haha

so some stories this week...

creepy lady. seriously... super creepy... we were headed all the way up into progreso 4 and this older lady (again) was standing there on a hill in front of us. waving us to come. so we come forward and she´s like¨I´ve been waiting for you....¨okay, so we don´t even know this lady! haha. she doesn´t even greet us. she just waves us on and says pasen pasen. haha. so we followed her up to her little house and she contude on into her garden. she took us to the end and pointed to flowers... er regular plants and had us admire them. I then looked over and saw this figure sitting on the ground. it looked like the back of a head with real long hair streaming down but nasty looking like it was tacked onto the head. I then remembered that it´s normal to have life sized dolls for the year cause they burn them for the new year. I looked over and sure enough it was that. it´s like a big scarecrow. but with real hair tacked to the top of it. CREEPY! haha. more happened, but that´s the jist. later during and after the hymn she was like laughing hysterically and yeah... and she said she was pregnant last time. not sure if that´s true. she´s crazy! but I love her anyways... hahaha

so like 2 weeks ago, it was just pouring down rain. It was pday, and I was crossing a river of rain water flowing down the street. I came out of it really wet and without a shoe! one of my flip flops got stuck in the water and I assumed it washed down the hill and flowed into this 2 and a half foot big hole that all the water was rushing into. I was searching for a while shoeless, while the men in the market were all laughing with me. it was hilarious! really... haha later, this lady was like joven joven! I looked up and she was pointing the area that I lost my shoe. I walked up and it got loose! and I chased it down the hill a little while and jumped on it and stopped it! I succeeded and then... a car passed and slashed water all over me. It was the most fun I´d had in a long time! haha I raised my shoe in the air and waved at the men and people standing in the market! yay!! success! haha

12-3-12

Flooding
A huge like super store was completely under water close to where we live. soooo scarey. our water was super muddy for a few days. we were only out of water for a day. I can´t believe how much water there was. I guess some one waroking at the gate just desided to open it and it came rushing out. there were a few deaths. the bridge was the worst part. since the super store was under water, ALL the merchandise was ruined. the familia juarez went to check it out cause they were just giving all the merchandize away. they came home with big huge black bags filled with stuff. the store and clean up poeple s just like bagged up what ever in bags. they got high heals, tons of ponchos, tons of barbies and dolls (which is aweome for their little girl) and an awsome tonka truck. tons more like christmas stuff and rugss and clothes too. like early christmas! haha it was awesme. tons of familias came home all muddy and with bags of stuff that day. I guess there were just tons and tons of people there to get free stuff. petty awesome. I want free stuff! haha

Are you learning a lot by studying the scriptures?

SO much! I´ve never known so much! simple gospel topics on steroids and then more complicated things like transfiguration and translation and the celestial kingdom and things... haha but that´s just for free time. seriously, I read the scriptures just for fun. I want to read Jesus the Christ when I get home. I could read it here, but I just want to focus on the scriptures for a year and half. Maybe I´ll change my mind later. but yeah, I´m learning so much! I have really realized how much I don´t know! like I feel like I know nothing!!!

 Yeah! I got our trees up, but not decorated. I sure am missing you when it comes to home decorating.  The boys just don't really care much.

I miss that too! shoot! I wish I could be there... but then again, I want to be here! I´ll be back home next year though, so no worries! haha only have to suffer 1 christmas without me :)

I made a wonderful turkey soup for dinner. Lots of work boiling the carcass and picking off the meat. Made me think of how they would do that in Panama; eat it all up!

It´s so true. I´ve pealed lots of meat off bones here.

And how is your Spanish?

better, better, harder with a gringa comp. we have been speaking too much English... but it´s nice to chat in English. it´s refreshing, so I think I´ll enjoy it while I can.

My comp is completely into the work. she´s awesome. we still make fun of ourselves being with 2 gringas in front of the members and people. haha it´s terrible and awesome at the same time. I want nachos!!!!! (An American dish I guess.)

That´s all I have to say! I want pictures! I want to see pics of Christmas and all!

LOVE YOU ALL

Dia de Accion de Gracias 11-26-12

We bought a chocolate cream pie and took it to Hna Yorgina´s. She´s the best cook in Panama so, pretty much our dia de accion de gracias was great. Never had rice for Thanksgiving dinner before. a first for everything. If I have to be with a gringa comp, it´s not so bad to be with a gringa for a holiday that´s only celebrated in our country. We kept asking each other what we were grateful for all day.

I am excited to hear about your new comp.

So my comp is amazing! she knows how to be a mish. she really does. she is teaching me so much. this transfer (sorry, I always call it a change cause that´s what it is in Spanish, cambio) is going to fly by cause we´re working way hard. love it. She´s the 3rd of 6 girls in her family. She´s way cool. Of course there are quirks but what comp doesn´t have something. I´d prolly be my own worse comp! hahaha. Love her already, even if she is a gringa...

How are the people in your ward? who feeds you? how is your Bishop there? and do you teach lessons on Sunday?

We don´t have a bishop cause it´s a branch. Just a branch pres. he´s been the pres for about 2 and a half months. they switched right after I was here. he´s cool. the second counselor helps us a ton. the pres doesn´t have a car, so I think that´s why the 2nd counselor helps us with more stuff. it´s just easier. Pres is great. the ward members are nice. the church isn´t as strong in Panama as it is in the other Central American countries. Hna Yorgina (I´ve written about her before, her name is Georgina in English) feeds us when she can.  She´s the best cook in all of Panama. NO JOKE. when we have cena with her, that´s all I can think about between citas. we have our cocinera (Hna Vicky) for lunch every day during the week. we have dinner with a fam Saturday night, lunch with another fam on sunday and I think we´re going to start getting more dinners during the week. today Hna Yorgina invited us over for breakfast. SOOOO good. I love her, and her food, and her house, and I love her family the most. tomorrow we have dinner with her too! yum. last night she made tacos. shoot. so good. I don´t teach on Sunday. we just got a lider misional this last week, so he´s been teaching gospel principles. at least we have a lider misional now. and someone who wants to do a lot and work hard and has energy. our church building is just a big, like you know, the mobile home materiel. like that. with a wood pulpit in the chapel. it´s pretty different. our stake center is casi normal though. when I see like The District videos, I remember how church buildings look in the states... haha weird.

so yesterday there was MAJOR floods in Panama. you have to look it up online. it´s terrible. and I´m pretty sure it´s where the mish in that area live. at 6am to 8am it filled with water. you have to look for films of the dam that released all the water. they said it was from rain... but it hasn´t been raining that much

some of what I experience: the music on the streets... look up aventura and prince royce. the flood means roads are closed, an entire super market was covered with water. and we don´t have any water in the house for three days! we have a tank in the back yard though. fast showers and no way to clean our clothes! yikes!

my battle wound is almost gone from the accident. pains only lasted a week. it´s almost just a faint memory in the past! haha

Nitzia is a convert of about 10 months. guess what, she´s the relief society pres! it´s amazing! she´s amzing! seriously, church members in the states are crazy. we don´t need to be perfect. just full of love. we´re so freaking judgmental! arg.....

11/19/2012

Did you know that there are Lions Clubs here.... that was soooo weird for me when I saw that..... haha like I´m not even in the retirement communities.... so funny.

So have you used your multi-tool?

Yeah, love it. but you know what I´m more grateful for is my knife  that you bought me for my birthday last year. I totally brought it and I use it EVERYday. (It's a serrated cheese knife that is open on the blade.)

How is your towel working out there?

love my towel. love! (This is the xlarge REI microfiber camp towel.)

Has summer weather began? I hope it's dryer.

rain has slowed up, but I loved the rain.... now it´s going to start drying up. they said summer is cooler cause there´s more of a breeze.

Did you get some vinegar, hydrogen peroxide or alcohol to sterilize your shoes and feet?

yes, but I haven´t done it yet.

Do you have a phone?

no. just our home phone which looks like a reg home phone but it´s actually a cell

Do you get to eat much fruit?

yes. and it´s not normal fruit. I love love fruit

Do they have American food/grocery stores?

yeah, Panama has everything that a white person could want.

I hope you get to celebrate a little. I'm sure there's not Turkeys, huh? Maybe pumpkin pie? 

I hope so! my comp and I are both gringas, so we´re so going to do a thanksgiving! I WANT PIE! haha

Q'xopa, that means que so pa.... meaning que paso in real Spanish.... meaning what´s up.... haha

here´s the news... my new comp is a..... GRINGA! what the frik! okay  seriously ... that was my biggest fear! My one thing that I asked HF (Heavenly Father) for! NO GRINGAS! and look what he did! he put me with an amazing mish from south Utah. Her name is Hermana (Anne) Hurst. She´s blond and blue eyed. It´s soooooo awkward! seriously! like two white girls walking down this dirt road in the middle of Panama.... yikes, my friends. it´s not a pretty sight. it´s so embarrassing. we have already talked about how this is so not wanted. we constantly tell people and joke with people about being two gringas. seriously and that it sucks. I mean, we love each other... it´s like, like worse than a big bright flashing white light walking down the streets.... but we´re both tough though, I´m not too worried. THE GOOD NEWS. I´m going to learn how to be amish. She´s amazing. She´s only got this change and the next one left, but she´s on fire! So we´re going to be doing some major work here. She´s come from some of the best zones and districts with the highest numbers and she´s way disappointed with our zone and district animo and goals. so we´re going to do some kick butt work in my area this change.

so we were supposed to have 2 baps this Last Saturday... Rosa and Cesar, but they never showed up! We brought investigators to watch and everything and so did another pair of mish. But it turned out that Cesar went with his uncle to his work or something, but he never returned until almost 9 o'clock. We were there when he got home. He started crying. It was soooo sad! He was like, I told him that I had to be home at 4, I told him! I think and so does his other uncle (in law) that his tio(Aunt) kept him away to keep him from getting bap. sooo terrible right! the pòor thing! but, never fear! satan CAN´t win!!! they´re planning on getting bap on this saturday! I´m so excited! I friking LOVE these people!

A Vivid Personal Moment in Sasha's Life 11-6-12

READ FROM THE BOTTOM UP!

I have like 4 months in the mish... so weird. I can´t believe that happened yesterday and on my mish! haha, it´s not all the time you get to hear about crazy mish stories and now I´m part of one! woo! haha. I can´t believe Christmas is coming. at Christmas I´ll only have one year left. at my birthday I´ll be half way thru. wow.

We just met as a zone. this is our last week together so it was our last meeting. I feel such a connection with them. I´ll never ever be able to forget yesterday.

I´m here. wow, seriously mom, it´s like a dream... I wrote a ton in my journal, I might send it to you through the mail. it was so real though. the movies have got it right. just imagine a terrible accident in the movies and that it´s real and in the moment. but really, there´s no need to worry, it´s a witness of the power that we have as mish. the protection that we have. it was amazing. while we were tumbling I remember thinking to God, why, god, we´re missionaries, this can´t happen to us, you can´t let someone die. I really feel like the angels of our family were there with us. we were all very calm. and right now, the people in my zone are the best. there aren´t any other people I would have wanted to experience this with. they are all my friends and I have so much love and confidence in them. I can´t imagine going through this with my family, with you guys, it would be so terrible.

so we were on our way to Villas de Anton. it´s suposed to be gorgeous! our zone rented a chiva, or van like small bus for us 12 mish. the driver, the poor thing, was just some driver. and it was dry. the back right tire blew. we think that he filled it up too much and then as it heated up on the freeway, it blew. he swerved and the chiva did a 360 and then rolled on the road and then down the hill.

yeah, and the chivas (bus) are way easy to roll too. it was crazy.. pretty awesome story though... haha now I have something to compare to your accidents. haha we can laugh and enjoy the story now that it´s over, but never hope it happens again... to anyone.

we had to climb up and out of a broken window. yeah, a couple elders and the driver all broke windows out to get out. and Elder mahina helped us all down off from of the top of the bus which was actually the side of the bus. we´re still shaking pieces of glass out of our hair... haha. we sent off three mish to the hospital in a chiva that pulled off the road when they saw the accident before the aid cars came. 2 aid cars took the rest of us to the hospital. it was really crazy too because not one of us is from Panama, so we had to show documents to like 3 different people. the aid car was just like all the others I´ve been in, except they spoke Spanish  haha. the hospital wasn´t like a clean hospital... like the white washed perfect ones we have in the states. the dr just asked what hurt and sent us to x rays. weirdest dr check up I´ve ever had. and they prescribed medicine to everyone. it was weird to me. we were all asked our age and name and country by like 2 dif police men. one police man started harassing me and trying to get me to talk about Christ and what I thought was humility and stupid stuff in Spanish. and then was saying I couldsn´t understand Spanish, but sorry, buddy, I understood everything.  polocia. shoot! do your job and leave me alone. anyway... yikes... I was the last one out of the bus. I wasn´t in a hurry to get out. elder luciano and I also gathered up everything we could find in the bus too. like backpacks and food and stuff. I was was chill. I held the other sisters as they started to cry sitting on the side of the street. I´m grateful that I´m so calm in these kinds of things. I´m able to be a comfort to others. you know I´m not really a touch kind of person, but the first thing I did was grab my companion and hold her cause we were upset and then the other sister too. and then there´s me... the only hermana that´s like... chill. weird. but a blessing.

Can you believe that that happened yesterday... sometimes it just seems like it didn´t really happen, but then I lean back and feel the big bruise on my lower back. I think I hit a chair. who knows. after our lives are over and we get to watch the video playback of our lives, we´ll finally know what really happened. haha.

It was really terrible. So many things could have been the death of people. but 12 mish, 8 of which hold the priesthood, there´s no way. no seat belts, could have rolled down forever into a river. if there wasn´t a tree... if the seat belt of the mish in the front seat hadn´t broken, the tree would have crushed him. there were angels in that chiva. really. it was so ugly. the girls all cried. I´ve always wanted to know how I would act in such a situation and now I know. I was way calm. the only sister that didn´t cry. but that´s me, right.. I´ll cry at a stubbed toe and a bad day, but with real pain, it doesn´t phase me... ha. I don´t know how to explain this accident. m y comp and I feel like no one really understands the horror of it. I remember so many thing. my first though as the van spun in a circle on the road and flipped once on the road and twice more down the hill, was, o my gosh... we don´t have seat belts. I´ll tell you what, if any of you guys prayed for me or in general, missionaries yesterday, I´m here to tell you that we used all the pray saving juice from your prayers yesterday, so jeep them coming. We´re all really sore. I think we were so happy afterwards cause we were making up terrible stories of what could have happened like the gas tank blows and there's an explosion like in the movies or Elder Mahina how is a big Tongan mish picks up the van with all his adrenaline from the accident and throws it back onto the street and then a bus comes and runs into it. okay, maybe all of our stories we´re realistic... and maybe you shouldn´t post them on my blog, they might scare people... haha I had two x rays at the hospital. we all had to get checked out. today we´re super sore. I have some good bruises on my hand, back and legs and arms and a nice glass burn like clean rug burn on my leg. so now I have cool x ray pics of my right hand and my spine and pelvis. haha.

On Tue, Nov 6, 2012 at 1:21 AM, Tina Schumacher <schumacherfamily@msn.com> wrote:

I knew I shouldn't let you out of the house..... So me and your Dad were both trying to catch you online all day, over and over, like somehow we knew something was up. So weird. Now we know why you didn't show up online. What can I say, but I'm so glad Heavenly Father thinks you should still be here, in one piece even. Details please!! Sasha style. ~~Love you, Mom and Dad

From: Pres and Sis Ward,

Your missionary was in an accident today. All the missionaries are fine. It is a true miracle. Twelve

missionaries from the Chichemito Zone were on a p-day trip to Anton in a chiva (small bus). The back wheel blew flat and the chiva rolled 3 times. The rolling was stopped by a tree before it could go about 30 more feet into a river. After the rolling stopped, Elder Mahina broke out a window, climbed out and helped to lift out the other missionaries. All the missionaries survived. In fact no one needed stitches, no bones were broken. Most of them had many bruises but that was all. It was a true miracle.
Attached is a picture of the rolled over chiva and the zone together after the hospital checkup.

Gracias,

Hermana Ward 

Catching Up 11-24-12

As you all might imagine, I have been distracted while contemplating the possibility of the sudden demise of my daughter. The week after her accident we received an update that indeed she was just fine. Although we obviously know she is in God's hands, in the back of one's mind you just can't believe she is really just fine after a 360' spin, 3 flips and a tree. We know now she really was and is just fine, and very grateful to be alive, as is the van load of missionaries who have all needed a moment to let this experience sink in. This has been a reminder of how precious life is and to never take those you love for granted. They are a gift from God.

Pics from 10-29-12

5150 with the best Hawaii pizza ever! it has amazing pineapple and cinnamon. with hmna robles and lafo-ou-kaho (dunno if that´s how she spells it... it´s Tongan...)

p-day up at Chica. gorgeous! heavenly! loved this pday my best one so far.

Rolling Bus 11-5-12

Sasha is safe as well as all the other mish, but was in an accident. Pics and info on her Facebook page.

10-29-12

I´ve filled an entire journal so far in my mish.... haha. I love writing in my journal.

I need to stop studing in english... I´ve been turnign to my comp and talking really fast in english to her all of the sudden and then quickly realizing that it was in english.... haha... yikes. my mind is still in frikin english. (quick note: everyone says frik and friking in spanish, hilare to me)

I´m like obsesded with brusha and flossing my teeth here.... they´ve never been so happy, guess that´s a good thing, cause I won´t be headed to a dentist any time soon.

I had a freak out moment yesterday with my comp... I just kinda freaked out about never being able to talk to anyone like I want to! like I´m stuckin a dreamworld where I can´t talk. like my mouth is sewn shut. 

My personal lesson on sunday this week was that it´s always better than we think. My comp and I have been a little downhearted because we have quite a few fechas and no progressing investigators cause they´re not going to church! We also worked really hard at inviting people to classes ingles this week and still... nadie. but on Sunday, we had one 11 year old investigator come to church and then to our surprise another investigator with 2 kids walked in after the 1st talk. As I looked around I realized how many recent/and non recent converts there were. I imagined the chapel without those people and my imagination was pretty empty. I´m so grateful for the people that we do have. I am grateful for those 2 investigators that came to church. sometimes it feels like we´re not doing anything but dying in the heat, but then the lord blesses me with moments of meditation like this, and then I see.

Hermana Schumacher

So many mish! 10-22-12

So many mish! It's so weird, and it´s so weird that these little boys are going on their mish at the same time as me... I feel so old.... haha

this week we had the most rain than ever! some days it never stopped! what´s nice is it´s cool. one day my comp left my umbrella in my bag and we just walked for an hour in the rain... it was pretty amazing. I love the rain soooooo much. I´m getting used to the heat. I don´t feel sticky. I´m working on my mish tan including my wacky tan lines on my feet... yikes!

right now I´m reading my comps english material.. it´s so interesting. I´m learning a ton about spanish from it and how to teach english to spanish speakers (i´d love to do that after my mish like esl, or tsol or what ever it´s called.) and about my comp and i´s communication issues haha. it´s way interesting.

okay, no mucho tiempo.... yikes! I have more to say! my blog is mucho mejor! Thank you blog slave! haha love you mom!

I miss warm and hot showers. so much. If you could send one through the mail, please do...

the more i study spanish the worse I realize I am at speaking it.... yikes, but isn´t that life? haha I can´t speak english anymore either! so much for communication in my life.... blah!

gotta go! I send much love and I have like 10 letters leaving in the next week for all you peoples! love you! and if you haven´t sent me a letter... I don´t have your address to write you and tell you I want to talk to you!!!! so write me!

con mucho amor, Hna Zapatera

Panama Mission Shipping

Straight from the horses mouth:

Brothers and Sisters,

Good afternoon my name is Elder Hawks and I´m in charge of receiving the mail for your sons and daughters here in the mission. It´s amazing to see how much love and support you all offer through letters and packages and I know that it helps to receive such letters and packages from home.

With the Holiday Season coming I know that we are going to see an influx of mail and it´s an exciting time for all of us. However, I need to ask a favor from all of you that you DO NOT send any type of food to your sons and daughters through packages. Here in Panamá there is a law that indicates the illegality of sending such things and upon arriving to Panamá any package that has food is confiscated and we are unable to claim it and send it to your kids.

Address for sending packages:

Your missionary’s name

Misión Panamá

Carrasquilla Entrega General AP 0834

Panamá, Republica de Panamá

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE help us out here by not sending things in packages because it would be sad to never receive your packages. I appreciate you support and cooperation.

Sincerely

Elder Andrew Hawks

Secretario General

Mision Panama

Sasha's Mom is in trouble..... 10-15-12

Sasha says "so why aren't there posts on my blog? :( sad day... since September..."


Mom says "So as Sasha's personal secretary, I take full responsibility and profusely apologize for abandoning my duties as keeper of The Blog. ;P Enjoy this multitude of new mission experiences as only Sasha can tell them. Fortunately there are no dead or soon to be dead, cute kittens involved."

Assimilation 10-15-12

okay, I'm way lazy right now... and plus, my mother isn't posting my letters! sad day? I think so.... okay, so now I have 20 minutes.

This is my letter to my pres this week:

This week we visited with a woman who we haven't seen for many weeks. we only just met her the time before entnces, this week we actually taught a lesson on the plan of salvation. the last time we learned that her husband has left her and doesn't want to get back together but she does. they have a beautiful home and a 4 year old boy. when we knocked on her door the first day, it was the first time in my mish that I felt a prompting from the Spirit to knock on a door. when we did, Hermana Itsel cried during our time with her. afterwards, we were like... wow. the spirit was tan fuerte. this week after we taught about the first half of the plan of salvation including the life and example of the Savior, my companion felt VERY strongly that she should ask for baptism. she followed that prompting without looking back and our investigator replied without hesitation si! and to a fecha (deadline) all she wanted to ask was what time. as my comp and i left her home. we stopped in the street and offered our gratitude and astonishment at the milagros in our day and especially with this hermana to our Father in Heaven. the Spirit is here in this work! there's no doubt about it. may i just add that this night of milagros was proceeded with a really cruddy day... both my comp and i were emotionally and physically drained. it just goes to show that the Lord really can lighten our load in the end if we only trust in him.

we visited the temple yesterday with a couple. the wife is menos active and her husband isn't a member and they need to get married. needless to say... the temple was the most perfect plan ever for them. I called my mish pres and told him I was hoping for a miracle if he wasn't busy and he wasn't! so he came and picked us up at albrook (the big mall/bus terminal in Panama City, (I'm there right now) and we headed to the temple. pres is great. we talked about the temple and he basically just asks my comp and I questions the whole time and we teach by answering them. the spirit was so strong last night. I personally needed to visit the temple grounds. it's so peaceful and especially on Sunday because there's no one there.

yesterday a member in the ward filled a CD with like almost 70 songs of salsa music .. love it!!! don't worry, we'll be good. haha. maybe just for dancing in morning exercises haha. my comp about died when he gave it to us. haha love it. she loves loves loves dancing. my little sexy comp latina. we're good friends. she says that I know her life more than any other mish in the mish. which is saying something cause she has some good friends here. i think it's weird for her that I ask so many questions to get to know her... i don't know how to explain that. to me information and stories about someone's life are way important, to her it's more about quality time and laughing and showing you care on your face rather than words. I'm learning a lot from her. I hope to stay in touch with her after my mish, with Facebook, that's pretty easy. she heads home in Feb prolly. I've taught her some new things in English. she's working on reading the Book of Mormon in English. and she laughs at me when I say things like what the heck! whatever, fatty fat fatty, and especially yikes, yuck, and eww. hahaha love it.

Spanish is good. I think I finally feel like a mish. haha my coninera said that I look like a mish now. but I'm not sure if that's good or bad... I'm pretty sure that means I like a hot sweaty gringa that's more fat now than when she arrived and she doesn't seem to care about what see wears anymore or if her hair is nasty. yeah, I'm not sure yet if that's what she meant.

Okay, love you all!! I hope my mom posts this!!! haha (hint hint! haha)

I need my jean cut off shorts sooooo bad! but I'm looking for some here. need music. need pics. need pics of Cami's wedding .. tell her that.,.. seriously. I want pics from everyone.

ps. I dance like a gringa. like sooooo bad. I'm going to come back latina. bronceada, able to move my body, speak Spanish, and whatever else... prolly not shorter though... haha

love love love from panama! woot woot panama!

Missionary Life 10-8-12