January 14, 201
These couple weeks have been pretty crazy. As you know I've had to work with the Elder in the area next door, Elder Hansen, in both our areas. We work a couple days in Heredia and then we work a couple days over in San Joaquin (Barrios Aurora and Flores). We sometimes stay the night over there and sometimes here. Some days we eat here, other days over there. Its kinda frustrating to have to be away from your own area and having less time to work there. The Zone Leaders have also been doing a lot of divisions as well and tomorrow im going to be working in Alajuela with Elder Garcia while his comp Elder Williams goes with Elder Hansen to his area for a baptism interview, so no one will be working in Heredia. We've been trying to do divisions with some jovenes so we can work in both areas some days. I was here in Heredia with a RC (recent convert?) Priest named Bryan a couple days ago, and Elder Hansen was in San Juaquin with a joven from over there named Johan.
Anyway, even though its stinks being away from your own area, its been a cool experience as well. I've met some more people and places. A menos activo man in San Juaquin that I met a few months ago on divisions has changed a lot for the better. When we visited him a couple months ago he was always complaining about his life and he didn't see any of the blessings he had. But this week when we visited him he was completely different. He told us about how he had tried to change his attitude and instead of always asking for things in his prayers, he started thanking God more for all the blessings he has and he started to realize how blessed he is. He is comeing back to church now and it was just really cool the change people can make by changing there attitude (I know, you told me so *Ü*) and trusting God.
Yesterday we went to the Temple. It was really cool. Afterwards we played soccer for an hour and football (American) for an hour. It was really fun i scored and few goals and made a lot of touchdowns as well. This morning (here in Heredia) an Elderly hermana named Albertina called us and said, “I’m moving this morning.” I said, "ok." She said, "Do you know where I live"? I said, "no". (I didn't even know who she was). She said, "I live next to Ana." I said,"ok." She said, "I´ll see you in a little while" and she hung up. So we left the apartment and took the bus to Barva and found her house next to Ana Rodriguez. When we got there we realized they didn't have a truck or anything yet. All that there was was a helpless old lady, her daughter, a quiet friend, and some small guy with a big belly. Her daughter was one of those stuck up ladies and she made some rude comments about the church, in front of us. When the hermana Albertina didn't have the truck ready she asked her mom, “Why don’t they teach you to be prepared in your church?¬”. When we had barely arrived, she said, “What? Are you just going to sit there or are you going to start moving stuff. ¬” She treated us like animals or slaves.The quiet friend quietly started preparing the little stuff and Ana Rodriguez, the recent convert member, came to help as well. The short, panzon guy, acted all charged up and ready and said, ¬”Alright, lets get to work. Let´s do this. ¬” Then he grabbed a chair and took it outside. My comp and I were thinking, ¬”alright this guy is gonna help us out a bit¬”, but when we picked up some chairs and followed him outside we saw that he put down the rocking chair he was carrying..... and sat down in it. He just sat down and didn't lift anything else, and later disappeared completely. Elder Hansen and I just laughed in disbelief. Eventually, after we moved most of the heavy stuff outside, they got a truck and two old men to help us move. After loading the truck up the first time, we went in the truck with the old guy toward the new house, which luckily was only a couple streets over. As we were leaving, one of the dresser, bookcase things fell off the truck and shattered into pieces. The younger old man (Albertinas son i think) came running over and yelled at the older old man, who had been driving. The older old man just kept trying to reassure him saying, ¬”Oh, come on. That can be fixed. Yeah. We can fix it and make it good as new. ¬” ¬”Oh no you can´t¬”, I was thinking as elder Hansen and I dragged the dresser thing to the side of the road and it completely fell apart. After hearing few bad words in spanish, we continued onward. We moved everything to her new house in like 2.5 hours. There was a lot of stuff and it was quite an adventure. It was like a movie. There was the helpless old lady that needed help moving, there was the bossy lady there telling us what to do and dissing our church in our face, there was the quiet lady helping out quietly, there was the short guy with a big belly that pretends to help but really doesn't do anything (after he moved one chair outside and then sat down on it and then disappeared, we found him at the new house, chatting it up with the neighbors. I was like, ¬”what the heck¬”), there was the old man who can't really lift anything but wants to prove he still strong so he tries to run the show, and then there was the other guy who complains and tells you your doing everything wrong and thinks he could do better. Yeah, it was a pretty crazy move.
Bye
Elder Tobler
Just a thought! (M♡M)
Robert D. Hales said: "When we understand our baptismal covenant and the gift of the Holy Ghost, it will change our lives and will establish our total allegiance to the kingdom of God. When temptations come our way, if we will listen, the Holy Ghost will remind us that we have promised to remember our Savior and obey the commandments of God...Many members of the Church do not fully understand what happened when they went into the waters of baptism. It is very important for us to understand the marvelous gift of the remission of sins, but there is much more. Do you understand and do your children understand that when they are baptized they are changed forever? Adult converts to the Church often have a better understanding of this transformation because they feel the contrast as they come out of the world into the kingdom of God.
When we are baptized, we take upon ourselves the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Taking upon us His name is one of the most significant experiences we have in life. Yet sometimes we pass through that experience without having a full understanding...I urge all parents to prepare your children, and missionaries to prepare your converts, for the sacred baptismal ordinance. Teach of its significance so that their baptism will be impressed upon their spiritual memory for the rest of their lives.
I pray that each of us as members of His kingdom will understand that our baptism and confirmation is the gateway into His kingdom. When we enter, we covenant to be of His kingdom--forever! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." (October 2000)
When we are baptized, we take upon ourselves the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Taking upon us His name is one of the most significant experiences we have in life. Yet sometimes we pass through that experience without having a full understanding...I urge all parents to prepare your children, and missionaries to prepare your converts, for the sacred baptismal ordinance. Teach of its significance so that their baptism will be impressed upon their spiritual memory for the rest of their lives.
I pray that each of us as members of His kingdom will understand that our baptism and confirmation is the gateway into His kingdom. When we enter, we covenant to be of His kingdom--forever! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." (October 2000)
