Week 2 in Arraijan

Jaden's email 1/23/2017:

"Hey everyone! Well this week has been pretty good. Being a zone leader isn't that bad. We have to answer a lot of phone calls though. I really like my area here in Arraijan. It's called the Loma Coba. Its full of Kuna people and I always like to teach them. They understand the gospel really well. Our area has a ton of hills and one of our most successful areas is actually on the side of a mountain. No joke. We spend a lot of time walking through thick brush and going up and down the side of the mountain over dirt staircases carved into the side of the mountain. Some places are actually kind of sketchy and you have to watch your step. There sure are some amazing views though. That area is called las nubes which translates to..the clouds. Its high up.. This week I've decided I'm not messing around anymore. I have the contact that helped me to get the last family (Martinez family)  I visited married for free and I'm using it. I'm not going to waste my time on these people that aren't willing to get married and fight going to church. We come to their homes as representatives of Jesus Christ and preach the importance of getting married then baptized..even offer to help them get married for free. We get the dumbest excuses. The guys will straight up say they don't know if the woman is the person they want to marry. Wake up call buddy..you have 6 kids and if you just get up and leave your entire family (like many of the men do here) YOU WILL BE JUDGED BY GOD. The worst part is that the woman just put up with it. I find it funny the Panamanians just start living together and call the person their husband or wife. Your not husband and wife until you married...There was even a guy that tried arguing me and telling me I was wrong. Some people are so lost. We try to help them but if they don't accept, they have free agency. There are other people searching for the gospel and we need to find them. We taught the law of chastity lesson 4 times out of the 7 lessons we did yesterday. They were people visited numerous times by my comp (Elder Senden) and his last comp. We've dropped a few of their old investigators. We're going to find those that are willing to follow gods commandments and helped them get all the blessings god has waiting for them. I don't really have a whole bunch else to say. I'm kind of pressed on time right now. I hope all of you have a good week. Love you guys!!! Have a good week

I know I've sent this Blas pic before. I just felt it would be fitting with this email. haha!"

- "A view from my area called las nubes"

- "Some stairs carved into the dirt. These are up and down the whole mountain"

- "Old Bay meets Panamanian patacones...perfection"

- "leaving Veracruz"

- "spent my last night in Veracruz writting up the best notes I could for the next missionaries. They have to learn my old area. Lucky for them the area book is clean"

- "Here is a picture of me with my comp and some other friends. To the far left, that is my friend Elder Ricks. We were in Carti Tupile together. Hes now in Colon as a zone leader with one of my other friends named Elder Cerrato. My comp is Elder Senden. Hes on the far right"

- "Me walking down this big hill we also have to walk up to start walking up the mountain to get to las nubes (where we then go up even steeper parts)"

- "this crazy looking flower I saw"

Transfer to Arraijan

Jaden's email 1/16/2017:

"Hey everyone! plot twist..So this week we had emergency changes and my comp got sent off to a different area before we even knew what hit us. Hes off somewhere else and I'm not even sure well. Sometimes they pull missionaries out of their areas to fill in spots where other missionaries had to be changed. That was a real bummer. I will really miss that guy. Well..we got our changes this week. Dad you were right. First district leader..next zone leader. I got a call from president Current last night and he called me to be a zone leader in Arraijan (not exactly sure how to spell it). Its the biggest zone in the Panama mission. I believe it has about 24 missionaries and covers a lot of Panama. My companion is one of my good friends named Elder Sendon. I got to know him in San Blas while I was living in Ukupa. He lived in Irgandi and we did divisions/hung out on Pdays sometimes since it was only a 40 min walk through the jungle. I've heard a lot of good things about this zone. They have the highest baptismal statistics in the mission and the zone is full of friends that I've gotten to know. Its crazy to see that many of the guys that I came with are now leaders as well. Looking back on my time in Veracruz, its been great. We had 4 baptisms and helped to reactivate a good number of people. I made a goal when I got to Veracruz to search out many of the less active return missionaries in Veracruz and help them get back on the path. I'm so grateful to say that out of the 4 I found, we helped to reactivate 3. For those that have taught less active return missionaries its not easy. They themselves have searched for less actives as well and can be kind of stubborn feeling as though there is little we can teach them. Luckily, the lord helped us to find the message they needed and we could help them get back in the game. They're now helping the branch to grow and taking on leadership roles again. I had an especially great experience with the Almengore family. The husband had served a mission and had fallen away from the church a little. He married a non member. This family was our next door neighbors. Knowing that a countless number of missionaries had went and visited there I decided to take a hit and started visiting more with them. They opened up to us about how they had nearly lost a little child in the hospital since he was born in the hospital premature. That he was born with a whole in his heart and suffered from breathing problems. I felt prompted to share the same experience that my own family has experienced with my little brother Gavin. How he fought and survived against all odds as god protected him. The husband then bore his own testimony bout how doctors had told them the baby wouldn't live and missionaries went to the hospital to give their child a blessing. He too survived against all odds and is with them today. He testified of how he too had given blessings and knew without a doubt the truth of this church. The spirit was so strong his wife burst into tears and decided she wanted to gain a testimony as those that had been shared with her. We put a baptism date with here for this upcoming month and I challenged her husband to prepare to perform it. Its interesting the way god works. He puts us through difficult situations though we don't know why these things happen to us. What I've learned from this experience is that we need to push forward with firmness in Christ..never looking back, and remember that each trial we face has been placed in our way to help us grow. We are fighting for our salvation in this life and we must do the things that help give us strength. This includes family prayer. scripture study, church and temple attendance, and doing all that we can to follow the example of Christ. I have little time but want to invite all of you to think of a challenge you've had and how you were able to overcome..If you struggle with current trials..use the past to your advantage and analyze what god helped you do to overcome it. We are never alone. I love you guys and I will be doing the best I can to be a focused missionary to help make our mission vision come true."

Panama mission vision

Helaman 3:

25 And so great was the prosperity of the church, and so many the blessings which were poured out upon the people, that even the high priests and the teachers were themselves astonished beyond measure.

26 And it came to pass that the work of the Lord did prosper unto the baptizing and uniting to the church of God, many souls, yea, even tens of thousands

"Have a good week everyone!"

-Elder Hawes

Week 12 in Veracruz

Jaden's email from 1/9/2017:

"Hey everyone!! I hope everyone had a pretty good week. This week has been okay. Not really a whole bunch to report on. To be completely honest, I find it kind of hard to write this weekly email sometimes. It gets boring sometimes. This week me and my comp have taken turns being sick. We had a baptism planned for one of our investigators (Hmna Ramírez). However, shes decided she prefers to wait 2 years until her sin gets home from mission to do baptism. I wanted to help them go to the temple together but she doesn't understand.. O well.. We will keep trying but less often. This week the other companionship had 2 baptisms from 2 people that the original 2 missionaries had set up (they both already left Veracruz). It was kind of funny that the two girls asked me to baptize them instead of the newer missionaries. It makes sense since I've known them longer. The other two weren't really happy about that. To solve the problem, I asked them if they would like their cousin Carlos to do the baptism and they agreed. That was good for Carlos because he's in the process of doing his misión papers. Even better, I told Carlos he could do the baptism if he cut his hair...haha! I cut his hair the day before the baptism. That also worked out for him because he needed a picture to send in with his misión application (his hair looked a lot better after. Not a bad haircut, just that he had dyed his hair and after cutting it kind of looked goofy. Another teen in the branch asked me to cut his hair the following morning. Its kind of a win..win situation. I practice and they get a free haircut. haha! My dad taught me how and has always cut my hair. Also, its a pretty easy service for people. I also did it in San Blas in Ukapa with my comp. We had this crappy haircutter that belonged to the misión. We often cut the hair of the Little kids when they asked us. haha! I'm started to get pretty calloused feet from walking all day every day. I can walk on rocks and I don't really feel it that much. ha! Its SUPER hot right now and its crazy how much the sun beats down on us. I feel as though my energy is drained sometimes. While walking this week I came across an abandoned chicken fighting ring. That was crazy. Supposedly they had this massive chicken fighting competition this past week. With banners, prices, and location given. They tell me its illegal here however, that banner wasn't taken down for nearly a week. Well..I cant think of much else to write. I hope all of you have a good week. Love you guys!!"

Elder Hawes

+ "chicken fight propaganda"

+ "silly Panamanian attempt in using English"

+ "abandoned chicken fighting ring"

" All three [pictures]....Carlos prepares to be a missionary"

"lizard week"

+ "A cool view I liked"

+ "Me and my comp with another return missionary. He was less active and me and my comp have help tp reactivate him. Hes cool. Even gives us dinners on Saturdays."

+ "The other youth that I helped with his hair. Before cutting, he had an afro. haha!"

+ "Me and my comp with another awesome member named Edwin. Hes already sent his mission papers and is just waiting for his call. He helped me and my comp a ton when we opened the área"

+ "The Evans family. I love this family. They're awesome. The mother at the far right is super faithful and her two daughters plan to serve missions. They have an older daughter that's currently in the mission and will be finishing in 2 months"

Week 11 in Veracruz

Jaden's email 1/2/2017:

"Hey everybody!! I hope everyone had a fun New Years. This week has been pretty good, Me and my comp had 3 baptisms this week. That was pretty sweet. 2 of them were the couple that we helped to get married (the Martinez family). The other was another of our investigators named Anelba from a part of our area called Chumical (its really far walking). We originally had another baptism planned for our investigator Alberto but I didn't feel he was ready so we pushed his date back. I feel he needs to attend church at least one more time. Another cool thing about the baptism, our mission president came. The assistants to the president are under my district and they told president that we would be having 3 baptisms. He and his wife showed up for the special event. That was pretty cool. It has honestly been a pleasure to help the Martinez family progress. We've had the privilege of helping to get them married as well as baptized. They talk often about their desire to become sealed together as an eternal family. They even talked about that following their baptism and having the opportunity to share their thoughts and a small testimony. It was great. Also, our investigator Anelba that got baptized is awesome. I actually found her old teaching record in the area book kept by past missionaries. It was nearly 2 years old and I felt the necessity to go there and see if we could teach her. I'm still surprised I felt as prompted as I did to find that house and teach her. The only information I had was a small picture the missionaries had drawn showing the home, nothing else except her name. The drawing just showed a small white house next to a catholic church and palm trees. haha!! Thnx..that didn't really help (All of panama is like that)However, we searched and somehow found the house and her . We found out that her father was actually sealed in the temple to his wife. However, his wife died when all of his kids very very young. The man became less active due to the loss of his wife and his children haven't had the opportunity to hear the gospel. We taught Anelba and she felt the need to listen and learn about the church that her mother was so faithful to. She had been taught by missionaries in the past but didn't accept the changes in her life. Luckily, she made those change as we taught her and she had the opportunity to get baptized. Were also visiting and teaching her father, Anelba's children, and Anelba's brothers and sisters. Its a HUGE family. Were hoping that a domino effect has been put into effect and that the rest of her family will fall in line with gods commandments and expectations as well. This work is amazing and we never know the good that we do. I imagine those past missionaries would be very happy to see the result of them having taught her so long ago in the past. Though they didn't see the fruit, they planted a good seed and in the seeds due time it has grown and become strong. She comes to church by herself each week and is helping her son to understand more so he can become a member as well. I hope the best for this family and we are doing all that we can to help them come together eternally. In addition, we have another baptism planned for this upcoming week. An investigator we've been teaching my whole time in Veracruz. Shes the hermana Ramirez and has a son in the mission. Shes came to church nearly without fail for 3 months however, hasn't accepted a baptismal date. I figured that she had planned to wait for the return of her son to baptized. Believing this to be the case, I took advantage of the opportunity that missionaries have to call home for Christmas. I had some friends of her son email him so that he could talk to her about baptism and its importance. That way he could tell her what he believed to be the best. Awaiting his arrival, or accepting and performing baptism now. He told her it would be best now. The day that we visited her I talked about the temple and how we can enter there to make further covenants. That following a year of church membership it would be possible to enter the temple with her son  when he returns home. She accepted a baptism date for this upcoming week. Hoping all goes well. We have a ton of investigators that have had all the lessons but that only need to go to church. New years in the mission isn't the same. This is the 2nd time now in the mission I've been through it. We didn't sleep nearly two days. Our neighbor loves blasting profane music all night and morning. Eh.. o well. Well that's pretty much it. I'm going to try sending some pics now. Love you guys!!!"

- Elder Hawes

- "Below are some pictures from the baptism. In one picture it has the 3 people that got baptized and me and my comp. Elder Slavarrieta baptized all 3. I felt it  would be a good experience for him since hes starting the mission. In his training were currently studying about the importance of inviting the people to become baptized and he invited the 3 to be baptized. I felt it was a really good motivator for him. He has a strong desire to work and this boosted it I think."

- "picture with new converts and mission president and wife (president and sister Current)"

- "A picture with the Martinez family. All of them except for one of their sons that was working (Big family). Their kids that were already old enough have been baptized"

- "Some pics from the Christmas party that we had. Couldn't send them last week when I tried."

- "The sister missionaries that were in our house left a blow dryer. I found a use for it when the terrential downpours hit. haha!! It works really well."

- "My Christmas tree with presents from awesome friends and family!! Love you guys!"

- "Some Christmas cards made by you in my ward (Thnx guys!)"

- "My family knows me so well (A tender mercy. I have not seen beef jerky in Panama)"

- "Some pictures of a cool sunset"

- "This crazy caterpillar I found as we walked up to a service project (probably poisonous..even had a stinger)"

- "An idea as to how big the caterpillar was"

- "Some pics of me and my comp following a service. We had to walk to Chumical to do a service and had planned a quick lesson following since we didn't have time to go to the house, clean up, them go all the way back to Chumical again. It sounds gross. However, I'm just as sweaty putting clothes on following a shower as I was then changing into church clothes from service clothes. Its hot here..I need to shower twice a day and am soaking in sweat 5 min after leaving shower."

- "In one of these service pics, you can see all the grass that me and my companion cut with machete by hand. towards the back you can see the longer gross. Be grateful for lawnmowers everyone. Its harder by hand. ha"

- "A new burger place I tried when I went on divisions with my zone leaders. The burger had egg salad on it. weird but not bad. I only got it because there was a special where it was half price that day. haha!!" 

- "One of the less actives that we visit brought us some cocoa from San Blas when he went and visited his family. This is some really cocoa"

- "Fireworks from New Years"

- "more fireworks"

- "me with some friends when we had a Christmas devotional with President"