P-day again! ☺

January 4, 2009

Hi, its P-day again. Guess what. My comp has emergency changes. He is going to Belen, where the Temple is. Elder Lanza from the other area in our district (Flores) has emergency changes as well. He is going to LaRita in Limon. I don't know why all of a sudden but they told us a couple days ago. What's even wierder is that they are going to put me and Elder Hanson (the Elder who remains in Flores) together as comps and we will have to work in both our areas (3 wards) for the rest of the change (2 weeks). Its going to be crazy because we have two apartments, two cocineras, and we have to work in both areas and try to even it out, coordinate citas, not to mention the money problems we'll have. What a headache. But it should be fun. Anyway we have to go to San Jose today to drop off my comp at the office at 3. I think we're going to take the train again.

As you know Patricia and her family are in Nicaragua, because her daughter that lives there had a baby boy. It was born on Christmas and they named him Anthony. What a great name. ♡ Anyway we always have Noches de Hogar (Family Home Evening) on Sunday nights with Hna Itz'a Family and Hna Patricia's Family and sometimes Daniela, Lucrecia, David, etc.. Last Sunday we had Noche de Hogar at Pablo's house. Patricia, Arellys, Cecilene, Aaron, Itza, Carlos, Juan Carlos, Daniel, Gladys, Daniela, Lucrecia, Pablo, y Eric estaban alli. Enseñamos sobre como el fundamento de nuestros familias debe ser Cristo Helaman 5:12 y la manera de hacerlo asi es orando, leyendo las escrituras, y llendo a la Iglesia como manera personal y en familias. Al final tratamos de hacer el juego donde se adivina donde alguien tocó la escoba *Ü* were there. We taught about how the foundation of our families should be build upon Jesus Christ and the way to do it is by praying, reading the scriptures and going to Church, at the end we tried the game to guess where somebody touch the broom...but even though we practiced, my comp screwed it up, so it didn't work out very well. But at the end it was a fun NdH (FHE) and we ate treats too.

Yesterday, we had a NdH with Hna Itza and Hno Restrepo, and Hna Glady's, and Daniel. We read Alma 37:38-45 and talked about how our Liahona today are the scriptures. We also talked about how the Book of Mormon is important because it supports the bible and clarifies doctrine. We used the example of two pieces of paper. One being the true gospel and doctrine of Jesus Christ and the other man's understanding or beliefs of that doctrine. With just one pin (The Bible) placed on the top left corner connecting the two pieces of paper, the top piece (man's beliefs) can be twisted and turned and the position changed. Although it is still connected and has some of the basics, its still touching the corner of the truth, some things have been changed or moved. But when you connect the papers with a second pin (Book of Mormon) in the top right corner, the top paper is immovable and the doctrine is clear and its exactly on the truth, not just a part. I don't know if you understand the demonstration but its hard to explain without seeing. It was a good Noche de Hogar and we played the card game I gave them for Christmas for a little while.

I am sending home a disk with my mission pics from 2009 and I've been trying to respond to letters. I hope you all have a great week. bye.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year everyone!

January 1, 2010

Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo! ☆ Wow, its 2010 today. Anyway, it was great being able to see and talk to you on Christmas. I love you all and I hope you had an awesome Christmas, Dad's Birthday, and New Years.

On December 23, we had a Multi-Zone Christmas "Activity". Usually when they say "activity" it means "activity" but this time it meant a long Christmas Capacitation or Zone Conference. At the end we ate a large lunch. I also recieved my new Mini-missionary comp, Elder Brenes (also from Costa Rica). Elder Cervantes stayed with us that day and night so I was with two tico mini-missionaries. It was pretty crazy.

On Christmas Eve we packed all the presents we had bought for people and the ones you sent in the package. I was stressed all week trying to think of who to give presents to and what to give. We didn't have much time to prepare those things. We bought a sweet bike for recent convert Johan and his sister Genesis. We had overheard that one of them wanted a bike for Christmas (couldn't remember which) but their parents weren't going to be able to buy them anything for Christmas, so we decided that would be awesome to give them. We had been looking for the right bike all week but couldn't find one the right size for them. All the bikes were already taken in all the stores and I thought we weren't going to be able to get one. But on the 22nd at night while we were rushing home I saw the perfect bike in front of a store, so we rushed over and bought it and went home happily relieved. On the 23rd in the night we called a taxi and set everything up so that the taxista would drop off the bike and not tell them who it was from, but when we got to the house, Jessica and Norberto and Fam weren't home so we went home. Mission failed! But on the 24th in the morning we tried it again. We watched from the bushes about 200 m away as the taxista knocked on their gate to give them the bike. At first Jessica wouldn't come out so we called her and told her to come outside with a disguised voice. Even though Elder Cervantes fake voice was pathetic, she came out and we saw her and her kids happily take the bike. It was awesome. *Ü*

At about noon, Elder Cervantes's mom came to pick him up and take him home. That was weird. The rest of the day Elder Brenes and I worked like normal, without much success, until the night. Then we went to Patricia's house to go with them to her brother Pablo's house. Pablo is an inactive member. When we got to Patricia's house however, we found out she was getting her hair done, so we sat and waited. After waiting for like 1 hour and a half, we decided just to go to Pablo's house. We ate some food and Pablo's sons birthday cake and ice cream. Patricia finally showed up and soon after, we had to go home.

On Christmas morning I tried to call home many times without success. After awhile we just left and started visiting people. We went to Gladys and Itzas house and threw Daniels secret present on the Balcony. We gave him two of those toys you sent in the package. The robot ball that comes with a magnetic card and open up into a robot. Daniel really liked them because when we came back later his mom said of all the things he got he only played with those even though they didn't even know who they were from.*Ü* After some failed attempts of throwing the package on the balcony and finally succeeding we walked over to Daniela and Lucrecias house to give them presents. I gave them some teddy bears that light up in the dark and gave their family a Toblerone to share. After that we went to Jessica, Norberto, Johan and Genesis house and gave Johan the other two robot things and gave Genesis the two fairy dolls you sent. We gave Norberto and Jessica a Toblerone. Next we went to Hna Adilias house and spent some time with Hna Adilia and her grown kids Huskell, Gendry, another daughter (don't know), and Caprina (17). We ate tamales with them ♥ and put together a puzzle. I also gave them a Toblerone. Then we went to Hna Patricias house and gave them some small bears and light up glasses to her son Aaron (he loves glasses, he tried to steal mine) After that we went back to our apartment and kept trying to call, with no success. After talking with Hna Patricia we set up the whole Skype thing and obviously thats when we went back to Hna Patrticias house and talked with all of you. It was pretty crazy day. And if you remember, I did all of this in sandals, mind you.

After that we went home got all cleaned up and met President Galvez at the Stadium (Palacio de Los Deportes). We went and did Elba's interview and got everything ready for the baptism. President agreed Elba is an "escojida" and the interview went great. He also checked our apartment (Luckily we had cleaned it the night before). After he went home we finished the baptismal preparations. It was a pretty sweet Christmas. During the week we also gave Itza's family a card game and a Toblerone. We gave Hna Gladys a Toblerone as well. We bought David a little model Lamborgini car. Also gave Bryan, Ray, and Carmen a Toblerone and Hna Adriana Perez, Marcelo, and Gabriel a Toblerone as well. We gave the Bishop, you guessed it, a Toblerone too.*Ü* They sell Toblerones in Hypermas. By the way we gave Norma, Jerson, and James a Toblerone as well. I think thats it. I would have liked to have bought more and given more but I had a lot of other things to worry about. Its been a crazy time of year.

On Saturday, we had Elba's baptism. Like always, everyone showed up late, but the baptism was still awesome. The bishop baptized Elba. She did bend her knees but started going forward instead of laying back under the water. The bishop pulled her back and was able to put her immerse her and she was baptized. Elba is a really awesome lady and is going to be a strong member. She keeps reading and studying the Book of Mormon every day and is really happy about her decision to be baptized.

The rest of the week was pretty crazy as well. The AP's (Elder Lee and Elder Rogler) came and did divisions with us, we went to visit Ada Luz, mother of Jesenia, a member who just moved here from Nicaragua but she got out of work late so we went and taught Lucrecias mom Esmeralda. Then we went back to Ada Luz. The Aps left after meeting her and we then invited her to be baptized the 16th of this month. She is still unsure even though she says she knows its true. Right now we are out of really good investigators. This time of year its been hard to get people to listen because everyone is so "busy" …Sometimes when we read about people who could not see the Savior for who He was, we marvel at their blindness. But do we also let distractions obstruct our view of the Savior—during this Christmas season and throughout the year? Some are external distractions—the gifts we worry about, the decorations, or the clamorous advertising—but often it is what is inside us that blinds us from seeing the Christ. ~ Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Yesterday, we went around trying to find investigators and inactive recent converts with the Lider Misional Abraham (who came back from his mission in Honduras 7 months ago). Then we ate at Abrahams house, went to Daniela and Lucrecias house, a finished the night at Itza's house. Our neigbors made sure we were part of the New Year's fun by blasting their music all night so it was pretty sweet.

Today is Friday and P-day. On Monday is P-day so ill answer the questions you had then. By the way i marked a year in the mission on December 17th. Im going to try to send home pictures and respond to letters today. Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Feliz Cumpleaños papa!

December, 21 2009

I hope you have a happy birthday. Eat a lot of Chocolate cake for me but make sure to run it off later. JK. I´ll be back for your next B-day so make sure you take advantage of this one. *Ü*

Lucrecia was baptized On Saturday. My comp Elder Cervantes baptized her. My comp almost drowned her but it was a pretty sweet baptism. On Sunday Juan Carlos Restrepo confirmed her.

Yesterday we put a baptismal fecha for this Saturday, with a woman named Elba who really wants to be baptized. She has been to church a couple times and to a few activities. We also might invite a woman named Aurora to be baptized this Saturday as well. There are a few others that we are going to invite for baptism this week as well. Presidente Galvez is planning on coming with us to do Elba´s interview. We have a lot of work to this week.

Also this last Saturday, after the baptism we had the ward´s Actividad Navideño. There was food, clowns, juggling show, piñata, a cake tasting competition, music, and lots of fun. We contacted a lot of non-member people that came, spoke with some menos activos, recieved references, and had a good time with our recent converts and the members.

The Reyes family who sells shoes, gave me new shoes yesterday. I feel bad because i was about to buy some for myself and when i wanted to pay them they just gave them to me. I think Im going to burn my old shoes for my one year Anniversary, Christmas, and New Years. *Ü*

I am going to be calling on Christmas probably in the morning. Maybe at about 10 or 11. Just have the phone with you all day.

Feliz Navidad! ★

...I'll keep trying!

December 14, 2009

YEAR

This week we knocked a lot of doors. Some of the young men in the ward came out with us to work a few days this week. Jose Pablo and Marcelo (recent convert) came with us on Tuesday and Juan Carlos keeps coming with us to prepare for his mission as well. I´ve been giving classes to Juan Carlos and Elder Cervantes (mini-missionary) on how to teach each of the lessons and its been pretty cool to help all these young men get ready for their mission. A guy from the ward named Gilber, left on his mission to Honduras last week. This next week we are also going to go to work with Bryan and Gabriel (recent converts).

This week we cooked a lot but the stove and the microwave stopped working and so now we´ll probably starve to death. JK. Thank you again Grandma and Grandpa for the package. Everything I wanted was inside. thnx.

Yes, I know Elder Ash mom. He was in my district when I was in Moravia and he was in Tibas with Elder Tagliaferi. Elder Ash is awesome.

Lucrecia is going to be baptized this Saturday. We found a lot of new investigators this week. We have recieved some references. They call someone a entrenador (trainer) when there companion is a greenie, although we don´t use greenie much here. Recently Elder Clark of the Seventy asked us to not speak with those nicknames because if someone is in a taxi, and a missionary says," I killed my father" (his trainer finished his mission when he was with him) what will the taxista think.*Ü* So we're going to have to break the habit even though I rarely speak like that, just in the emails.

I know that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and Redeemer. He is always there inviting us to come unto him. Although sometimes we don't listen, he is always there with his hand outstretched and if we take hold and follow him we can find true happiness and return with our Heavenly Father again. I know this church is the true church of Christ and his gospel and his doctrine. I Know that Joseph Smith was truly a prophet of God. I know that the Book of Mormon is the word of God and if we abide by its precepts we will get closer to God. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ is what everyone in the world needs and although sometimes they don't accept it or want to listen I'll keep trying, because I know that when the people do listen and accept the gospel, they are blessed greatly. ♥

Called to Serve

MTC Choir

That is why I dont like saying goodbye...

December 7, 2009

My comp Elder Perez had changes today. This last week he was sad because he was sure he would have changes, and he did. We spent all of yesterday saying goodbye to everyone. There were a few tears shed,and that is why I dont like saying goodbye. Elder Perez is really going to miss this area, because he really loved it here. The people here are like a family to him. I told him not to worry because he can love every one of his areas and the Lord really needs him elsewhere. Apparently the Lord needs him in Vizcaya, in Zona La Sabana because that is where he got sent.

My new comp is a mini-missionary named Elder Cervantes. A mini-missionary is like a temporary missionary that they call when they need more missionaries. Elder Cervantes is 18 years old and is preparing to go on a mission next September. He is from Concepcion, here in Costa Rica. He will be my comp until December 24th, and then they will send me another mini-missionary.

Daniela and David are still doing really well. They are attending church and mutuals and making friends. Lucrecia also goes to church and mutuals with her cousin and she is set to be baptized on the 19th of this month (December).

Mutual this last week was awesome. We were able to get Jerson and James (some recent convert jovenes) to go with us to mutual, because they usually don't go. We also helped Bryan (another recent convert joven), who's family is having financial problems, make it to mutual as well. The young mens mutual activity plans didn't work out, but we started an American Football game going. Elder Perez was captain of one team and I was captain of the other team. In the end i think we ended up at a tied game. It was awesome. We were supposed to play just two hand touch but everyone was tackling each other so that rule got thrown out. I sacked Elder Perez a few times and leveled him once on accident. His team took it out on me a few times (especially the two times i intercepted the ball, ouch) but couldnt stop my recievers from getting a few passes for touchdowns. James went long and caught two of my passes for touchdowns. David ran super fast and made two touchdowns running the ball. Elder Perez's team got us with a few trick plays, when they pretended to hand the ball off to someone and everyone followed that guy, the guy who actually had the ball ran it in for a touchdown. Everyone also had a good laugh when I dived on the hood of a parked car while trying to tackle the guy running for a touchdown. Although it didn't hurt, it sure made a loud sound. After the young woman finished their activity they came out and everyone ate hot dogs together. In the end it was an awesome mutual because a bunch of menos activo jovenes, recent convert jovenes, and investigator jovenes, were able to come and have a good time together. The recent converts Gabriel, Marcelo, Jerson, James, David, Daniela, Bryan, etc. came. Also Eric, a inactive joven, came and is coming back to church. Even some of the younger kids, like Joan were at church so we got to teach kids how to throw a football. I think everyone had a great time. *Ü*

I got a package from Grandma and Grandpa today. Thanks!

I hope everyones doing GRRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAT!

Peace.★

Thank you Grandma & Gradndpa for the Package...

Thank you Grandma for the cookies...

Gracias Abuelita por la corbata!