Hey family!

It's been a weird week. I sort of feel like the world is ending because my companion is going home in two days. Ahhh!! Oh yeah, I can't remember if I told you all transfers are on Wednesdays now instead of Monday's so I don't know who my new companion is yet. I'll keep you posted. Man when I get transfered out of here I know I'm going to feel like I'm going to a new mission all over again because I'll have over a year in the mission and only 2 areas....weird huh? Welp, el Padre Celestial sabe lo que hace...

Last Monday after we checked our emails we went with two elders from our zone to visit this huge famliy we're teaching the. They're both fun and love music-one of them sings and plays the guitar so they busted out a quitar and started singing a bunch of songs they're written about Panama, about their area, the people, the mission, etc. It made me think of Jamison and Connor and Bubbly Toes on Christmas Eve. Awww. It was a lot of fun and the family loved seeing elders. The daughter of one of Aleyka, one of the sisters who came to church last week, was super sick with asthma that day and asked them to give her daughter a blessing. The elders did it and also prayed for the family and for their jobs, etc. After the blessing Emily (the little girl) already looked a little better and had more energy. When we went to visit them on Wednesday Aleyka told us it was a miracle because that same night she got better and she went to school the next day. Whenever she gets sick with asthma she normally needs 3 or 4 days to recover and Aleyka gained a big testimony of the power of the priesthood. Her husband also felt it and everything went really really well for him at work the next day after the elders prayed for his job. This family is awesome and they're definitely prepared. At least two of the 8 grown brothers and sisters already have testimonies and everyone else is progressing bit by bit. It's like a snowball because every time we come more and more of the family is there to listen to. They're never ending! haha. But it's awesome.

Welp, besides them I've pretty much just been thinking about how I'm going to miss my companion and about how to help the members so the ward doesn't get shut down or merged with another one. There are a few really awesome families that are active but there are way more inactive for the crazy things that've happened with the leadership here, for rumors and gossiping, and for pride and materialism...sometimes I wish there would be an earthquake or a huge storm only in this part of Panama to wake them up. In the meantime, we'll see what we can do as representatives of Jesus Christ.

I gotsta go but I love you all. Thanks for everything!!

Love, Natalie

New wave revolution

Hey family!

Ok ok so Thursday we had zone conference with the new president and we got to know him a little bit. They're awesome. I was going to send pictures but the computer isn't reading my memory card... :( next week... But anyways, they're the Wards, they're from California and he likes to surf. He's super happy and reminds me of a perfect cross between Dad, my BYU stake president President Childs, and my mission prep teacher. Heh. It's fun to see them together and how they love each other because los Madrigal were really cold in their affections for each other in front of us. It's interesting to see the differences. Presidente Ward served in Argentina with Elder Scott as his mission president and then at the end of his mission they sent him to open the mission in Spain-crazy huh?

Herm, life is weird these days. My compita is cool and scary at the same time but she's pretty much run out of steam and doesn't want to do very much or always has some sort of illness. I'm trying to be understanding but it's hard to be motivated when I feel like I have to work alone sometimes...but I'm still learning a lot from her and we have lots of fun.

Pretty much you all are the best family ever. just had to get that out there. This week we're still teaching the huge family with tons of grown kids, in-laws, and grandkids and we feel so much love for them. It's hard with the ward though because this family lives in one of the only poor areas within our boundaries and almost all the members live in the rich housing developments...Yesterday this family didn't come to church because they felt like they didn't have nice enough clothes to come... :( Arg sometimes I feel frustrated with how cold and proud and materialistic the members are. Oh and our bishop is inactive again. But we're working on things bit by bit...

Eek I gotsa go, love you all!

Hermana Dance
Mosiah 3:9

Derp, derp

Hey family,

Thanks for this pictures! I expect more next week since Jamison and Liz will be there too. My family is perty :) Yesterday I forgot it was a holiday and I didn't even miss it because I haven't been in the U.S. for 4th of July in...3 years now. Eek!

Life is good. We've found lots of people that have definitely been prepared by the light of Christ. One of them is a family of 8 brothers and sisters and who knows how many grandkids...it' awesome to see them all together and we have high hopes for them... : )

Sorry if this is super short but the computer is freaking out and refreshing the page every 2 minutes so it makes it complicated to write you all. I'm happy and I'm learning lots...Mi converso Alexander is the best and is super strong-after he got expelled from school for fighting and stopped coming to seminary and church for a week he's back again and stronger than ever. He doesn't have any support in his family but Hermana Diaz his seminary teacher and his YM leader are helping so much. I love when the members help us!

Our new president is here and we have zone conerence on Thursday. It'll be interesting to see how things in the mission change under his direction. Sometimes I forget how to spell in english...oops. Arg sorry, I ran out of time again....Ok ok I promise I'm going to write a real, more detailed letter today and mail it to you because I never have enough time to email good letters... :P

Love you all, thanks for writing me!!

Love,
Natalie