Yendry and Erika = Yerika

Saludos de COSTA! 

Im here sweating my little face off. :) Its so hot!  But I like it. My friends have been sending me pictures of the snowy utah mountains and I forgot that its snowy and cold! :) Its completely opposite here. Its green and there are palm trees everywhere and mosquitos still eating me alive at night. But dont worry Mom, I wear repellent. Another random thing that made me smile this week was we were waiting for the bus and there was this groovy salsa music playing. (There is always bachata or salsa playing in the street in el centro) Then I looked across the street and some people gathering together to dance. They were so good! And I was so tempted to just go DANCE!  But it made my whole day to hear and watch street salsa.

BTW, My new email day is Tuesday - But my P-Days are still on Mondays.

Anywho, this week was real nice. We had an AWESOME multi zone conference with president wilkinson and wow....the spirit was so strong and I learned so much. I just felt like jumping out of my seat and putting everything into practice. He taught us how to teach better and emphasized really strongly that teaching is not talking. Its truly listening and discerning and asking inspired questions. And another thing is to simplify. Even teaching simply that God is a loving father in heaven and thats all is more than enough if they feel the spirit testify of truth. I love our president and this mission. Every day I wake up grateful to be here.

I have a confession. I am crazy in my sleep. My poor mom, Hermana B, wakes up every night to my wild things I do. She told me the other night that I said (In spanish always) Im going to sing you a song. Its called: Te quiero. And then I started singing super loud TE QUIEROOOO TE QUIEROOO! And then after I said. Did you like my song? I wrote it for you. Te quiero mucho. And then I woke up to her saying: Hermana. Now is not the time to be singing. And I said, okay. And then we both went back to sleep. But its every night!! Hahaha. 

We have the best ward in the entire world. They always feed us and mess around with us and our bishop is crazy and amazing. We call him obipo (instead of obispo) and we are planning on taking a selfie with himtomorrow. We are so lucky. Also Hermana B and I have been assigned to be in charge of the retention for the zone. So we call everyone in the zone to see how the recent converts are doing and if they are coming to church. And we also work muy fuerte with the recent converts and less active members.

This week we had a miracle. We are good friends with a less active member, C. We have been talking to him and he went to church again for the first time in 4 years and we are planning on helping him get married because he has a girlfriend. And also we were messing around with him and took out his earring and Hermana Bram is wearing it right this second. Haha! But its a miracle! 

K hasn't had her baby yet, but we are hoping today! Did I already tell you that they are naming their baby Yerika? It is a mix of my name and hna B's name. Yendry and Erika. Yerika. At first we were just messing with them that they should name the baby Yerika, but they are serious! And its so sweet! Im so happy. She told us she is going to call us as soon as she has her. :)

The pictures of max are priceless. And I like what you did to my room!  Its weird to see my room have a boyish twist but it rocks. It's perfect for Maxwell while they are in Tonga. I wish I could hold him! When Kelly and Mark skype, what does he do? 

Also your poor eyes Mom! Please try not to strain them and rest them because Im worried. Ill be praying! And for grandmama and Grammy as well. And youre not going to continue driving right? You're such a strong person. I love you soooo much.

Yes I am still playing my uke a lot! I play for almost every baptism and wedding. :) Its really fun and Im happy to do it. YES I GOT ALL THE LETTERS! I was going to tell you. I loved it so much. Thank you to everyone.

Been wearing my glasses lately
 because I have a little eye infection..
But don't worry, Mom! I have eye drops.

Well, I love you all so much and thank you for everything always. I pray for you everyday and I love hearing about everything. And all the pictures too! 

"She can't do anything because she's Gringa!"

Four months on THE Mission!

Hola todos :)) How is everyone doing? Are you excited for the holiday season? People have already started putting up Christmas decorations here and a huge tree in the park and everything! I cant believe its almost here. The time really does fly! Where does the time go? (I sound a little like a granny but its true. :)

Today I am really really happy. This week was a great week and the Lord is always blessing us and helping us endure. We are continuing to work with J and K and B. They are going to get married this weekend and right after, K and B are going to be baptized. :) They are such cool people. They are really humble and live in this teeny house, but they are so nice to us and receptive. We always like to mess around with them. She is the one that is 9 months pregnant. Its kind of crazy, but possible. We have been trying to convince them to name her ¨Yerika¨ because its the name of Hermana B and I. They actually like it! Haha I really hope they name her that. Thats on my bucket list as of now. Today after we write, we are going to make cupcakes to sell for their wedding. 

M is doing so well! I always admire her so much because she is an example to her family, and strong through everything. Ever since her baptism, she has come to church every single sunday. We see her everyday and always have so much fun. Everybody asks why our nails are always cool and painted, and we just say....M. She is our best friend and I am going to miss her like crazy when we leave this area. Maybe I just wont leave. That would be the best. 

Hermana B and I are continuing to have adventures. We have this joke that I cant do anything because Im gringa. (Cookin? Dont even ask.) Yesterday we were with Faride and Cellso (Our neighbors) and they asked me to make tortillas with cheese. Really simple right? And Faride was trying to explain it to me how to make them and I told her that I know how to do it but they had their doubts. So I was a little jokingly mad, and I had to wash the thingy to cook with but I couldnt disconnect it, so I pulled really hard and knocked down a huge thing of rice alllllll over the floor! They laughed and laughed and then said SHE CANT DO ANYTHING BECAUSE SHES GRINGA! It was so funny. Oh wow. 

This week was stake conference and we had 8 invesigators come to church! It was the best!! Also we sang in choir. I love singing in church here because people SING their hearts out. This morning for P day we played soccer with the elders and it was so funny. Then we did a bunch of cartwheels and drank coke. haha. :) 

I know the Lord answers our prayers and in mysterious ways. We just need to look for the blessings and see the positive in everything because its everywhere. The people here are amazing. I wish you could meet them all. 

"This place rocks. I love seeing how people change."

I am so happy to hear from you!  I GOT YOUR PACKAGE, Kel!!! And I loved it!!! It was just what I needed to bring me sunshine. Thanks for being the best sister ever and not forgetting about me. :)) Also guess what? I ate the gum in like a week.........thats my life. My companion literally thinks Im addicted. And maybe I am....haha. NICE story bin with the numbers on the watch......hahaha!  P days go by so fast. Today we had a really fun P day with the whole zone. We played soccer and ate arroz con pollo and it was the best. I am planning on sending a really cool package for christmas so look for it!!! 

Love the pictures!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It looks like your halloween was the best ever. I laughed out loud at your pictures, Mom!!! And the lobster bisque guy was perfect! 

I know what you mean when you say the week is a blur. I feel like that every week. HOW CRAZY!! Pococi is great. I love my zone and I love my ward. We have a ton of help and support from the members which is awesome. Right now we have some amazing investigators.

We are teaching a lovely sweet woman, named Kyla. She is 20 years old and has two kids. We have visited with her two times and both times were super excellent. She is very receptive and wants her children to grow up in the gospel. The only thing is that she is living with someone right now and they need to get married before she can be baptized. We haven't been able to meet her boyfriend yet, but we are praying really hard to be able to teach him too so they can get married and have the same goals.

We also have a family that is going to get married on the 15th! He is a member and she and her daughter are not. But she is also 9 months pregnant but wants to get baptized and married before her baby is born on the 22nd. Kind of crazy but possible! Also we have an 18 year old named Paula. Her boyfriend is on a mission and she has the goal to get married in the temple with him when he returns. So she is getting baptized!! Whoooooo! This place rocks. 

I am learning a ton here. A mission has brought out every single flaw and weakness that I have and up to this point, I have been so focused on the things that go wrong or how hard it is or how Im feeling and MY comfort and have had moments of hard anxiety. Its kind of intense sometimes. In those moments I have seen that I have been so self centered, when really this mission is completely for God and to focus completely outward like the Savior would. A mission is about truly letting yourself go and thinking completely about others, Its a little hard to explain but I am truly learning how to not be such a perfectionist and see the positive in absolutely everything, see the best in my companion, see the best in everything. The time fliiiiiiiiies. And this is just a time to completely be dedicated to the Lord. 

I love you and I love this gospel. Keep doing so much good and know that this gospel truly changes lives and its a gospel of peace and happiness. I love seeing how people change.