Sister Kiera Davis

Im so sorry Mr. Jackson

BUENAAAAAS

Aloha amigos. Comin to you HOT from the jungles of Arraijan. This week has been quite chevere, if I do say so myself. It has been so off schedule and hectic but thats practically the Davis lifestyle yk.

First off, it was p day and we got to call our families. However, there's a three hour time difference for me and my homies so I just chilled while Reyes talked to her family for a long time. And about halfway through, she just started crying... like some real intense water works. And I was thinkin somebody died or something from the way it sounded. But no. I went to go check on her after mmm perhaps an hour and a half and she was just like "oh no sometimes I just like to cry. But I mean, nothings actually wrong!" Sorrows, sorrows, prayers type vibe yk. I already dont know how to handle other peoples emotions, dont play with me like that Rey Rey. Later, I called Alana and found out they're getting a PUPPY. Hopefully this one doesn't die after a month lol. RIP Kanani girl. Alana told me that the dog their getting already has a name too. And its name is CJ Crystal??? Its impossible to say it without saying it like DJ KHALED!! I talked to her until we got to this mall in Chorrera, home of🎉 ¡chicheme! 🎉 and it was actually super cute. It had sea turtles and sea horses and ocean decorations everywhere. Made me miss my surfing days frfr. Anyways, we went bowling and I was winning the whole entire time until my last two turns. I soooold, so freakin Elder Christiansen won instead. Three thumbs down for that one. Oh well, you know what they say. Also, they were blasting Adele's greatest hits the entire time!!! Lets gooo. It was quite touching to hear all my old cry songs from last year, but now in a bowling alley with random missionaries... they were jammin hard to it too. And of course Elder Caldwell told me a three hour story about him and the girl hes in love with back home. #timothyandzoe4eva

Tuesday was INTERCAMBIOS. I was shaking in my baby seal leather boots for this one guys. I did not want my mom to leave me and I absolutely did not want to be in charge of our area for 24 hours. But, I was paired with THE Hermana Basham!! It was a nail biter kind of a day, but it actually showed me that I lowkey know how to survive around here... crazy. We didnt get lost (gracias a Dios) and I led some lessons!! Not being with a native spanish speaker for a sec helped me realize that, for una gringita, my spanish is actually chillin! Me and Basham are actually super similar too. We talked about marine bio, BYUH lots 😭❤️, our bucket lists, and all that kinda stuff. Our number one bucket list destination is Baliiiii. Maybe we'll just have to go together. But yeah, she sent me some pictures she had of Laie and I've just been looking at them everyday like a desperate ex thats obsessed with her old boyfriend yk. Slightly pathetic. We taught a lesson that day to a random lady who was super nice but... como se dice YAPPER?? Dude she talked forever about little tiny questions we asked her and we didnt even get through the entire lesson before we had to discreetly get outta there to our next appointment. And immediately after I said the closing prayer, she also said a prayer, a very sweet loooooong prayer. Me and Basham just had our eyes open in confusion for a hot momentito there. Ay ay ay. We were bookin it to our next peeps fs. One of the other houses we went to was playing a K drama... I couldnt understand nada but I think that I might have to watch it after the mish. Just another one added to the list. One lowlight of the day was walking to Bishops house while these guys were fumigating their street. Just clouds of white smoke that we had to walk through, without masks or anything. It was like that one scene in the Bee Movie where theyre all dying in that fake beehive thing. The guys that were spraying had some heavy duty masks too, so just know if I drop dead, it is definitely the white smokes fault. Worst part of the day was finding out that the boy me and Hermana Basham both went out with is engaged to a blondie from Utah now😭😭

Wednesday I was reunited with my mamacita and no longer the boss (hallelujah). It made me realize just how good of a trainer she is and that I should probably exploit her more for the sake of her spanish. I think that maybe I was taking it slightly for granted, but no más. We finna be solo español up in here. We've done some solo español days in the past, and we lowkey have some funny conversations. I cant remember exactly how we got into it, but she was telling me about how she thought Bambi was hilarious cause the mom dies??? And my responses were mainly: "Cómo?!?! Que triste!!" Another thing that happened Wednesday was finding out who our new mission president will be. Yayyyy. The whole entire time we were on that facetime, the Forsbergs were picking on our zone hard. Almost every single one of us had to answer a question or do something and maybe two people from other districts got called. Not to sound like a missionary or anything but what. The. Fetch. Another thing I found out is that out of the hermanas, we might have one of the smallest if not the smallest house on the mission, besides the islands. Apparently everybody else has houses that consist of more than just a bedroom and a bathroom.... and here I thought we were living it up. Not complaing tho, I love our little house. Also best quote from that day was one of the elders, who is learning english and is pretty good at it, was trying to quote the "im sorry miss Jackson, I am for realssss" But instead he kept saying "I am so sorry Mr. Jackson." Me and Elder Caldwell were dyingggg.

Thursday started out early cause we had to go to the city for interviews and such. It was too early for my eyes to be exposed to sunlight so I did a lot of my makeup in the dark, which Hermana Reyes thought was really funny. My batman era. Cut to the BUMPIEST bus ride of my life. I lowkey needed a sports bra for that one. Jokes, but kinda not. While we were walking to the metro, we saw this group of gringo backpackers and it made me realize just how weird it is to see white people here. I understand all the stares now for sure. We got chocolate croissants, I had to teach the rules to our district, and we had phone checks. Rules were chillin cause I mostly asked them questions and when they responded, I nodded my head and smiled. Pero, no entiendo nada muchachos! And phone checks are so scary. Like I dont have anything to hide, but still... Yikes. I think one of my friends may have tried to call me so hopefully the APs didnt see that one or else it would be veeeery awkward. The interview wit da prezzy was CLUTCH. He said exactly what I needed to hear so that guy is def in touch with the spirit. Then, our district got some pizza and we were yappin for forever. I always try so hard to be friends with Elder Christiansen because I dont think he likes me very much, as in this guy does not look at me. Ever. Even when we shake hands sometimes, this guy will not look at me. No clue what I did to him lol. But I asked him what his favorite movie was and brutha said SURFS UPPPP. Guys. Thats my favorite movie of all time. And then freakin Elder Banks joined the convo. Boooo. He said "It cant be your favorite movie, Hermana. Its my favorite movie." OK. Then at the same time, me and Elder Christiansen said "the soundtrack is the BEST." Well, Elder Banks looked at me and said "OK, name one of the artists from the soundtrack. Bet you cant!" Who the frick is this kid?? Send him back to Utah asap as possible. I proved him wrong tho dont worry. Después, we got churros from the pan van and taught a family home evening lesson to this Kuna family and when we got to the plan of salvation, this one girl kept asking "pero... el infierno? Donde esta???" Then she messed up reading one time and said "disculpe, mi disléxica." Im definitely using that one guys. My favorite part of that lesson was singing happy birthday, but with 4 verses. Spanish, the special Panamanian verse, english, and then in Kuna!!! I gotta learn that one. Last but not least, we took a taxi ride home and this guy was in love with me. He was trying to talk to me and stuff and he was telling us that he knows hes given us a ride before cause he remembers me. But the whole time I was like haha soy gringita... no hablo español my man.

Friday, I got mean mugged by a chihuahua. It looked like this 😑. But we also invited three kids to get baptized and they said yes!! One was named Lloyd hahaha. But he was not the Green Ninja and his dad was not Garmedon. I also unfortunately was able to see Celinda's hubby out of the corner of my eye. In his undies. Wish I could unsee that. He definitely thought that he was out of sight when he left his room to grab his clothes out of the bathroom, but nahhhh. Yk its probably my fault for even being in his country at all. Walking home, we heard this guy blasting Tupac!! I just know he was a G. Hermana Reyes had some comments about rap and that type of music that I will keep to myself but they were freakin hilarious. I asked her if she had ever heard of Eminem before and she said NO. Uhhh color me shocked. So naturally I rapped the entirety of the Real Slim Shady for her.

Ive had two conversations this week where the people have said my Spanish is great, which is amazing because it means all the headaches and frustration have a tiny it of meaning. I am finally starting to feel the tiniest bit like a missionary!! Yippeeee. I say that its going good, but trust me I get humbled a lot, especially when I talk to Bishop and I cant understand a thing. Saturday, we were looking for someone at a house that was also a barber shop and the guy in the chair with a half shaved head was just staring at us. And then he bit his lip. Como??? What reaction was he trying to get from us hahaha. But he just stayed staring for a good long while while we were just avoiding his eye contact like the plague. Ahhh boys, cant live with em and you cant shoot em. When we got home, we could hear music from the tienda on the corner and he was blasting Cant Fight the Moonlight by Leanne Rimes. Duuuuude when I tell you I was dancing on our little plastic tabletop I mean it. Then, a Christina Aguilera song played. THEN, Crazy in Love played and I did not know how much I needed Beyoncé in my life at that moment. Despite all the Diddy drama of course. Thats another thing. Hermana Reyes left on her mission before all that Diddy stuff came out so I got to explain it to her!! She does not believe me about the 1000 bottles of baby oil thing.

This spiritual thought comes from the heart because we havent had our hammocks this week and I now know what true sacrifice is. We chose to come to the earth knowing that life wouldn't be easy. We came knowing that we would go through trial after trial, but that it would all be worth it if we remain faithful. But having faith requires sacrifice, sometimes from the very depths of your soul. Without sacrifice there can be no faith. Without pain, we cannot understand what a wonderful thing it is to have joy. Sometimes when we reach out to our Heavenly Father, we do not get the answer we want and our burdens arent lifted at that exact moment we would like them to be. But we are always given what we need. Our Heavenly Father knows us better than we know ourselves and He will never give us something that He knows we can't handle. He will never leave us alone. Sometimes, He carries you. Other times, He walks beside you knowing that you are capable and faithful enough to endure to the end and receive all the blessing He has promised. Sacrifice is hard, especially when you are leaving something comfortable or something easy, but I know that God has a plan for you. A beautiful, amazing, wonderful plan. And if you just trust Him, it will ALL be worth it. Be happy, be grateful, and look for the hand of God in all things ❤️

1 Nephi 3:7