July 5, 2010
My companion Elder Rivera got changed out of Cartago. He got sent to Puerto Limon. I still don't know who my new companion is because im training. My comp comes tomorrow night. No one else in the district had changes except for Hermana Roundy of course, because she is going home. The Hermana that takes her place is Hermana Vallecillo who i think is from Honduras. Tomorrow Elder Bonn (my trainer) , Elder Tagliaferi (my second DL), Elder Manning (Ex ZL and AP), Elder Shrock (my ZL and Joshua Chapel's cousin), Elder Holt (Ex-seceratary), Elder Sologuren (AP), Hermana Roundy, and others finish their missions and go home. That's crazy! Before changes i predicted two things. I predicted that Elder Belmont (who was in my district in Cariari) would be my new ZL, and that Elder Christensen (who was in the Mtc with me and the only Elder i came in with) would be the new AP. I was right. Elder Belmont is my new ZL and Elder Christensen is the new AP.
My comp was really sad to leave Cartago. He is especially close to our Dueñas family. The missionaries have lived in that house for more than 20 years. Hna Lijias son Bryan (like 24 years old) basically grew up with the missionaries and grew up in the church. I really don't understand why they aren't members. They know a lot of the members, they know a lot about the church. Bryan used to always go to primary and used to accompany the missionaries to the appointments to teach the lessons. Bryan's girlfriend Shirley and her cousin Stephanie have also met a lot of missionaries in the past as well. Bryan recently decided not to drink any more coffee because he realized it was staining his teeth. Even though im sure many missionaries have shared the gospel with them, im going to continue to get to know them and share little things with them all the time and see what happens.
To answer your questions, we helped unflood peoples houses with mops and brooms. We swept the water out of the house. Yes, Hna Roundy's parents (Mission Pres. in Colombia) are finishing the mission basically at the same time as her (right now). We are trying to teach Karen's dad.
I hope everyones doing fantastically well and meeting their summer goals.
Elder Tobler
