"Hey everyone!!! This week has been pretty crazy. Me and Elder Perkes got permission to leave our area of Aguadulce to go to one of his old areas Bocas Del Torro (Mouth of the Bulls: in english). We had to leave our old area due to all the partying that is taking place there. Im sure many of you have head of a celebration called Carnival (really big in Brazil) well...its here in Panama as well. It lasts about 5 days and consist of alcohol, fornication, and nude women walking in the streets. Therefore..as a missionary we had two choices. Stay in the house and leave only for church 1 day or leave to another area where they dont celebrate it. There are very few that dont. Im not sure what exactly the people celebrate but Its pretty dumb. They close all of the stores and cut off the water supply to use all of it for Carnival. I think they essentially have a massive water battle or something while partying with little clothing if any. The members here tell me it is the holiday of the devil. The Catholic churches here tell the people that if they have party but assist church on wednesday they will be forgiven of their sins. They also say they need to draw a cross on their forehead the last day to cleanse them of the sins. I asked a catholic person to explain the holiday to me. The last time I checked, planning when to sin and repent wasnt ever acceptable to god. It makes me laugh. One person I asked told me that many of the people dont believe god can see them during the days so they sin as much as possible. I believe it too. A lot of people here say they know god and understand the Bible but actually know nothing at all. I had one women tell me she believes in the bible but doesnt believe in Jesus and God. What does that even mean. A bible is a freakn book. You read it. Anyways.If you cant tell..this frustrates me a little. Its just cultural hear to say people believe in god even though they dont know anything. Then because they say they believe, they say they dont need to do anything else. Well played Satan. We got permission to leave Aguadulce. I wasnt going to spend 5 days in a house that is literally an oven. The other 2 Elders decided to stay. Since Elder Perkes (my companion) finishes his mission the 18th, president gave us permission to visit his old area Bocas Del Torro. This area is 9 hours by bus from Aguadulce. Located at the very bottom of Costa Rica. Thats where I am right now. I have now nearly driven all the way across Panama. The bus ride was pretty amazing. I saw so much of the country. There are so many hills and mountains. The land here is so fertile and green. Some farmers get 4 harvests of corn every year. That is insane. Part of the bus ride took us up into the mountains. IT was the coolest ride I have ever been in. We spiraled our way up these massive mountains until we were literally in the clouds. We were in the clouds!!! The view was amazing and it was kind of scary with the bus driver going around turns so quick. Along the way, we pasts forrests that supposedly are full of Pumas, Jaguires, sloths, monkeys, and every other type of jungle creatures. I also saw a indian protest against the governnment. The area I am in right now is pretty cool. It is really far from the city. Probably one of the most jungle like areas in the mission. The water here is supposedly bad to drink but the Elders in my house still just drink it out of the tap. Nobody told me it was bad till today so I have drank it too. But I have been here since Friday and I havnt got sick. Another thing about this area, its the most mosquito infested area supposedly in the country. I dont doubt it either. Even with repelant, I had over 50 bites on my right arm alone. I took a 10 min shower the other day and walked out with 30 new bites on my back alone. Im not sure how many I have in total but I would bet money there is over 100. This is seriously not an exageration. I could send a pick of my arm but I would probably gross everyone out. Haha!! I hope I dont get Malaria or dhenge (not sure how to spell). Im pretty sure I will ge okay though. There are soo many bannanas here. The Chitique banana company gets a lot of its bananas from here. The poeple in this area are pretty cool. There are a lot of Nove Indians here. A good number of them dont even speak spanish. I communicated a little with this one women in Nove. Im learning a little. During my time here I have learned a little over 20 words and some basic expressions. But I cant find much to study for it. I have spanish down pretty good. Basic concepts are down. Im working on builing vocabulary. Today I went to see the bridge that crosses from Panama into Costa Rica. All I had to do was cross the bridge then I would have been there...but its against the mission rules so we just took pictures with Costa Rica in the background. I went to the Chinos and traded american/panamanian money for Costa Rican money. Also, there are these massive spiders here. I caught a small tarrantula in the church yesterday. Well I got to go. I hope everyone has a good week. Love you guys!! Panama is beautiful! The mission is hard..but it was the best decision I have ever made. Focusing on other people rather than ourself is something that is truly blessing my life. Learning to care for others first is helping me to become a better person. Love you guys! Sorry about the book I just wrote. Haha!"

-Elder Hawes

 (February 8, 2016)