Adios to my first companion

May 13, 2019

Loma Coba, Arraijan
New companion: Elder Sosa from El Salvador.

Last Monday we woke up at 2:00am and caught a Taxi which took like 20 minutes.

Elder Chavez, my first trainer, left to Chitre which is like a five hour bus ride. After he left, I went to Elder Hadley's house to sleep until 6:00am.

My first companion in Panama, Elder Chavez from Honduras

Elder Hadley and I then waited for our new companions at a bus stop. My first impression of my new companion: I thought he was part of the army. hahaha!.

He had his pants tucked into his boots, a fanny pack, side bag, a back pack and a hat. He's from El Salvador. His name is Elder Sosa. He says his country is dangerous. He's got 9 months in the mission and is so funny! He's such a great Elder!

The first thing he did when we got to the house was pull out all of his Hot Wheels. They're all still in the package so that in 50 years he can sell them. hahaha! I still don't know if he is serious or not.

We looked at this new house with one of the senior couples. I had to translate because my comp doesn't know that much English. It was pretty rough. I thought we were going to get this new house. It's huge! But, we were having problems with the owner so we have to keep looking.

I'm the "leader" in our companionship now because I know the area more than Elder Sosa. But, we still get lost sometimes. I have the phone and keys to the house. The first day doing cosechas 10 dogs tried to attack us.

I have to plan and it was pretty rough the first couple days but now its all good. I still need to work on writing down the names of places, people, appointments, and like everything.

Its been raining a lot this week. The thunder and rain are so loud with the tin roofs. But, one of the member families gave us a huge bag of ties. Sweet!

This week we also went to the Panama City Temple. We met all of the missionaries who had been in the mission for 6 weeks or less. It was so pretty and a really good experience. Afterwards, we got homemade cookies and pizza. Then, President Current talked to all the new missionaries.

Typical "Diablo" ... the main rides around Panama

Then we took a Diablo home but it passed Loma Coba and went back to the city. That day we were on Diablos for like 6 hours! Worst thing ever but a really good memory.

I've been teaching these girls from the DR. I thought they were like in their 20s but they're like 13 and 17. They could be potential baptisms but they're lazy and need to come to church.

I had my first baptism on Sunday. His name is Marlon. He's 14 and super cool. He wants to go on a mission. His parents want him to go too even though they are not members. The baptism was a way different experience than in the temple. Marlon had no idea what to do. So I tried to explain but I don't think he understood. So, I said the prayer in Spanish. I practiced it a ton the night before. I was still kind of a struggle. Then, I just kinda dunked him. But, the most important part is that I think he felt the Spirit just as much as I did. A lot of members from the branch were there which was awesome.

A few other details about this week.....one time there were like 6 mean dogs blocking this road so we had to walk like an extra two miles to get to this house.

I still hate all dogs....funny because I didn't hate dogs before the mission. A tiny scorpion landed on my arm. I was really surprised. I just flicked it away. Sometimes mangos will fall off the trees in the middle of the night and wake me up.

Overall a great week!!

Elder Doxey

Apparently I have a separate blog so check that for pictures and updates.....

P.S. I tried loading the pictures from Marlo's baptism and it didn't work. Probably a bad Internet connection. I'll try again next week.

My first Companion, Elder Chavez from Guatemala