GRIT

I'm going down to my grave...

Hello!

I cant believe this is my last email as a set apart missionary. :) This has been the most incredible adventure of my life.

This last week was amazing and we gave it all our hearts. Now I'm in San Jose with los otros muertos (the other dead, that's what they call the missionaries who are going home!  hahaha.) These next few days we can go work in other areas and we have a special dinner and testimony meeting, and we get to go to the temple on Wednesday.

I usually write a novel because sometimes its really hard to express all the feelings that you're feeling in one email but I'd like to just write my simple testimony because in the end, all I have is my testimony and a whole country full of lifelong friends.

I know with all my heart that God lives and is our loving Heavenly Father. He knows us and He is our Creator. I know that Jesus Christ is the son of God and our Redeemer. I know that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ restored through Joseph Smith, and the fullness of the gospel and His priesthood authority is here in His church. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God. The priesthood is real. Faith is the key to everything. Even in the times that we feel that the world is ending, at that last moment, God comes and rescues us. I know this is true.

I love my mission with all my heart. I love this country and these people. I will miss them dearly. Its going to be weird that I'm going to be Erika instead of Hermana Hubler. Oh how I love being called Hermana. 

A mission is not easy, but I will never ever regret serving because it is the most sacred and special thing I've ever done.  I KNOW that everything will be okay. I really feel happy because happiness is a choice. The Lord gives us a beautiful life of service in every season of our lives. Maybe my time in Costa is ending, but I have given my heart and I will keep going. 

You know what the key to success is? (I learned this the other day in a leadership council with president) GRIT. Just taking life head on with happiness and perseverance. I will miss walking with the name of Jesus Christ on my chest, but the truth is that I will always wear his name because it is a covenant I've made to serve him and take upon His name when I was baptized.

Yesterday I said a prayer that I would be able to say goodbye to everyone, and that I would be strong and the Lord answered my prayer. I got to hug each person and express my love. You know one thing I am going to miss? Tico hugs. They give tight hugs to everyone. It was a pleasant experience, and I didn't cry because I know that we will keep in touch.

 Today in the morning Yazmin made us baleadas for breakfast and it was really speciall. And now I'm in San Jose with my best friends! I had my interview with president - I'll have to fill you in because he gave me some incredible advice.  

I want to thank you for writing me, supporting me, praying for me. I hope you know that I have prayed for you as well. I am so happy to return and hug you all and continue the journey! 

DAME ESTE MONTE! CON FE EN CADA PASO!!!!!!!

Give me this mountain! With Faith in Every Footstep!

Los amo.

Alvaro Alvarex got baptized on Saturday.

This is my family here in Tejar.
They will be sealed together forever
in August 2016

A Tropical Christmas
(Yes, that is a palm tree with Christmas lights!) :o)

JOY

Thanksgiving sounds like it was a blast! For thanksgiving I had tortillas with ham! haha. 

So it's snowing? Wow! Its really, really hot here.

That is a hilarious story about Max! Poor thing. I really wanted Kelly and Mark to be at the airport but I know that they are going to be there for christmas so it gives me comfort. I can't wait to see the babieeees!

Remember how last week I kind of had a mix of emotions and was confused about coming home and wondering if I had done all that was asked of me? Well, this week I just felt a lot of joy. I feel like Heavenly Father has accepted my service and that I have done what He has called me to do. Even though I'm not a perfect missionary and there are a lot of mistakes I've made, he has seen my effort and my repentance and I feel really happy! I've accepted that I'm coming home and I'm happy about it. I feel really privileged to serve a mission and I'm going to work hard until the very end. Then on to my life long mission!

We are teaching an adorable old man named Alvaro Alvarez. Is that not the best name you've ever heard? He's getting baptized on saturday. At first his family was shocked that he was going to be baptized because he has studied with Jehovahs Witnesses, he's Catholic, and he has a lot of different influences. Also that he's almost 80 years old. But he loves the church and wants to get baptized! I'll send a pic. 

Love you!

Alvaro Alvarez

Adreina's wedding.

Francis. She is amazing and so funny!

On divisions with Hermana Haacke

Happy Thanksgiving To All!

Hi!

I know this is crazy, but I completely forgot what day Thanksgiving is.....MY BAD! Thank you for reminding me! hee hee. What are you going to do for thanksgiving this year? 

There are so many things to be grateful for. Something that has been in my heart is the gratitude for the Savior. Lately Hermana Diaz and I have been showing the video Because Of Him to members and investigators to remember the Savior. It doesn't matter how many times I see that video, my heart is full of gratitude for Him and everything He has done for us. We don't need to worry or fear because of Him and we can become clean and start new. We can find strength in good times and in bad. We will all live again. What beautiful and amazing promises!

Well, being in Tejar again is such a blessing. I feel like it was the Lords way of letting me make sure my converts were okay and being able to learn more from these amazing people...including my companion. Hermana Diaz is very special. A mission is a good opportunity to learn how to get along with a lot of different people.

We have seen a lot of opposition this week and a few shocks, but we are going forward. One of our families doesn't want to get baptized now, because they don't want to get married. Its hard to accept when you want so badly to help someone, but that is part of Gods plan to let people have their agency. Jesus Christ walked with the people and showed them the way. The only thing that we can do is show them the treasure and teach them the truth. 

Kimberly and Alexander are doing really well. They have such a hunger to know the truth. When we teach, they drink in every word and ask so many questions. The other day we were teaching the restoration and all of a sudden Alexander told us that they weren't married! We thought that they were because we asked them and they said that they were married for 13 years, but I guess we weren't clear enough in asking. So they can't be baptized quite yet.

We met an awesome couple this week!  They are deaf, and I used the tiny, tiny bit of sign language that I knew! The whole time I was thinking....Marisa would love this. I learned new words and we invited them to church and they said they would come! It was really special to be able to share the gospel even though we couldn't communicate perfectly. There were lots of smiles shared and there was a special spirit there. 

There is also this hilarious older man that we are teaching who asks so many questions and has a hard time concentrating, but he has come to church 2 times, and his name is Alvaro. He is so brilliant! We have to study a lot to know how to answer all his questions. We taught in his family's house. He is the grandpa of a family of members. The lesson turned out really interesting because it turned into a family argument and so we had to calm that down! hahaha ohhhhh the experiences you see. 

We went on divisions this week! I went to Villahermosa with Hermana Santos and it was really special because the Lord blessed us to find many people and invite them to be baptized. 

Guess what? Jairo received the melquesedic priesthood. (I have no idea how to spell it.) With tears in my eyes, I realized that one of the reasons I am back in Tejar is to be able to see such happiness. Claudia and Jairo always talk about going to the temple! They are now one step closer!!

Well, that is my piece for today. Everybody over here is decking out for christmas! i am going to teach people how to bake! yay! (and obviously the gospel. hahaha) Thank you for everything. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father blessed me with the most amazing family and friends. I love you all and have a great week!

Best Family ever.

Christmas bows!

Divisions with Hermana Santos

Our cocinera's daughter

The view from our apartment.

SPIDER

A song and pancakes

Hello everyone.

I just want to say that it is a huge blessing to get sent back to an
area that I love so much. It was funny to see peoples reactions when i
saw them again. Everyone was so confused and I just said...IM BAACK!
It was so fun! I feel a peace being here. I know that the Lord is the
one who does the changes.

Even though its the same area, it feels a little different because 
I have a different companion and different investigators...but so cool! The
members are helping us a lot which is a huge blessing. We are working
with the cutest family whose names are Alexander and Kimberly and they
are so special! We have been putting our whole hearts into helping
them make this step to baptism. They have been to church various times
and are keeping the commandments, but right now its Alexander that
needs his testimony. We have a family night planned tonight with
another family and I know the Lord will help them!

Funny story....this Sunday we wanted to help everybody, I mean
everybody come to church. So what did we do? We woke up early and made
pancakes and brought the ukulele and serenaded everyone with hymns to
wake up and go to church. Some people were dead asleep but who can get
mad when you get a song and pancakes! 

Another hilarious incident. We went to go pass by an investigators house who
was going to go with his sister's 7 children who were ready for church.
and at the end, he had a fever and couldn't go. And the mom
didn't want to go. So what were we going to do? Yes the 7 children
came with us. And I got to be the babysitter in church! hahaha. Imagine me
trying to calm down 7 children in sacrament meeting. Every second
someone was asking me questions or trying to pull off my plaque or
rolling on the floor and the whole time I was just praying and finding
ways to keep them reverent. But it was really funny! Kids are
innocent. They really are. And they liked primary. Next week the mom and
the brother are coming. So that was something funny for y'all.

Today I was thinking a lot about grace. We are rescued and
strengthened only through God's grace. Grace is Divine
assistance from God. It strengthens us to do things that we never
thought were possible. We need to plead for it so that we can do 

all that is required.

I love you all. And Josie is so precious. Hugs for everyone!

Plot Twist

Welp,

My companion is alive. Thank goodness!  *I will tell you more about that in a minute. 

This week was sacrifice week and everything started out awesome. We worked hard all day and we saw some miracles that I want to share. Do you remember J? Well she is a very humble lady who we have been working with for some time. She was going to get baptized two weeks ago, but suddenly she shut down and said that she didn't want to and that she would not do it because her daughter didn't want her to.  It was out of the blue, and nothing that we shared or did to help her changed her mind. She had read almost the whole book of mormon and believed that it was the word of God, but she still didn't want to get baptized. So we left her a specific chapter and with the assignment to pray and ask God if she should be baptized, and if she got the answer that she would, she would come to church and be baptized. On the day of her baptism, she didn't show up and we didn't hear anything from her for the whole week. We called and went but she wasn't there. 

So we decided to fast. This past Tuesday, we went to her house praying she was there. SHE WAS! When we asked her how her prayer went and she said good. We asked if she was going to be baptized on Sunday, and she said of course. We were kind of in shock. She said that she didn't know what came over her but she wanted to do it. And she did. This Sunday she came and it was a miracle! Everything went smoothly except for the fact that she slipped and fell in the font and bonked her head.....poor thing! But it was amazing that the Lord completely changed her.

*Now for the plot twist. Poor Hermana Fowler had a horrible week. She had a parasite and had to go to the hospital in Guanacaste. They couldn't figure out how to help her there, so they sent us to San Jose. Thats 4 to 5 hours away by bus and she was dying. I looked at her and wondered how in the world we were going to make it. So we said a prayer right there in the crowded bus station, and the Lord strengthened her. She made it! 

They poked her a million times with the needles, and had to do a bunch of tests, but we did have some fun! I distracted her by dancing, playing american idol church song version, and we made friends with every single nurse. We were there from Wednesday to Saturday night. We ate gross hospital food, but then the Lord kept blessing us. We wanted ice cream, they brought us ice cream. She wanted to talk to her mom, and she got to talk to her mom! We didn't even ask! I even got to talk to her mom and she is so nice!  We needed a visit, and Hermana Laboriel came!! 

We made up jokes that I was being like the mom because the nurses made her drink two pitchers of a horrible drink to clear her system and she told me...I just cant. So I told the nurse...nurse? She can't drink that. And he said....umm she has to. hahaha! And then every time they were about to do something I asked if it was going to hurt her. Is this what being a mom is like because I did not want anybody to touch my companion!! It was so HARD to see her suffer. The good news is that everything worked out and she is so much better. I am so relieved for her. She has so much faith and Heavenly Father healed her. I know that Priesthood blessings are real and the atonement of Jesus Christ is real. We learn so much every time a trial happens. I love Him.

Well here is plot twist number 2.

IM IN TEJAR AGAIN! I will finish my mission here. I feel peace about it. It will be a wonderful opportunity to be in a place where I know the people and the area to be able to go crazzzzzzzzzzzy. I want to give every drop I have. And to be able to take care of the Lords converts. I'm with a sweet hermana named Hermana Diaz who is from Mexico!!!!! woot woot!!! we are going to work our little hearts out for the Lord. I love this mission. I will send a lot of pics next week! I love you!!!!!!!!!!!

2 ways to keep from laughing.

Well hello.

You may be wondering why I'm writing so late. Well Hermana Fowler has a parasite. She has been in so much pain! So we had to go to the hospital today to do some tests. We are hanging in there. Her pain is my pain! But I know she'll be okay. She's feeling good right now. Also she had a spiderweb in her ear because a bug flew in there and finally they got that out!  But we completely cracked up in the doctors office. We have this horrible habit of laughing at the worst times! I've learned a few tactics to keep me from laughing. 1. drawing flowers on a piece of paper. This is especially good if we are in a meeting and I need a quick distraction. 2. biting my lip. It helps!  And despite everything, we are laughing and pushing through! 

We had a baptism on Sunday! His name is Luis and he is the sweetest man! He reminds me of a child because he is so pure! We found him last sacrifice week. We were just waiting for the bus and Hermana Fowler started talking to him. He lives pretty far away, but he came to church that sunday and loved it! He came to church 3 times and then was ready to be baptized. He was drinking coffee, but the moment we taught him the word of wisdom, he stopped drinking it. He was so precious because he also told us that he got invited to a pig roast but didnt go because he thought that would be breaking the word of wisdom. aww! But literally he is a miracle! He has such a strong testimony even after only 3 weeks. 

The baptism was amazing but honestly crazy. We didn't have white pants for him, so a hermano was going to bring his pair. Turns out that they came...and didn't have the pants. So they ran home and couldn't find them....meanwhile we were all frantically running around. So finally Hermana Fowler and I ran home to get the jumpsuit we had and we brought it back and it didn't fit! So we were just praying and our bishop was getting really mad and so then it worked out because he just wore the pants and tucked in the top....but hey it all worked out! Thats why we dont even have a picture! But the most important thing is that he was able to take this very important step.

We saw so many miracles this week! We were entering a new area and we started talking to a youngish girl with a baby outside her house. After talking, she explained that she was going to baptize her baby this weekend. We were able to share with her in moroni 8 about how babies are pure and they don't need baptism but we do. She felt the Spirit and she said, I've always wanted to be baptized. So we set a baptismal date with her! She told us after that she had been feeling really sad that day but after talking to us she felt so much lighter in her heart. What a blessing to help lift people in times of sorrow!

We met the cutest couple this week! The hermano was so sweet and got so excited to play the marimba for us. So that is the video that I just sent. He plays in a band. 

The best family ever. So down to earth and kind!
Hermanas Tamara, Josefa, and Innocente.

I LOVE Costa. This is the most beautiful country. The more I'm here the more I realize that even though we are all from different backgrounds and cultures, God loves us all equally and we are all His children. He answers prayers ALL over the world. I am just so grateful to be here with the Ticos. I love them so much. I am so grateful for the family I have and I love you!!!!!!!!

(Hermana Hubler's new release date is December 10th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Cutest boys.

This is the same waterfall that David Archuleta sang at in that family history video!!This is me singing like him if you were wondering. 

My dream. Yes that is a camel. I was scared but I gave him a carrot.

7 days of learning.

Hi fam!

My mind is going crazy with this amazing week of learning that we had! Elder Duncan, who is a general authority and the area president of Central America came to speak to us missionaries. I was so impressed and he taught in such a way that was full of so much love. When he listens, he truly listens, and he shows his respect.

He taught us amazing principles that we have been taught before but just really hit me. Sometimes I feel so weak because how many times do I have to hear something before I put it into practice? It was inspiring. One thing that I loved that he said was that there are really 4 missions in Costa Rica. The West and the East, but also 2 more with angeles. He asked us if he thought we were the only ones working with our investigators and he said of course not. That's why we should work with old investigators of other missionaries because maybe at the time they weren't ready but now they are. There were soo many good things and I felt so thankful to be there. An elder read a poem that completely touched my heart. Its called I Was There Too if you want to look it up. 

We got to do a trio, Hermana Fowler, Hermana Cook, and I. We sang O Mi Padre to the tune of Come Thou Fount. Hermana Laboriel sent you a video, but I don't know if you got it. :) 

Can I just say that President Laboriel is the best person alive?! He is so funny and has so much energy. We were waiting to eat and he started telling us all his life secrets. He is a huge example to me and has made such a huge impact on my life. He pushes us because he wants EXCELLENCE. The Lord expects that from us. I really do feel like he is our dad. He is very personal with each one of us. 

Fernanda got baptized!! When I was watching her I was so touched because of her humility and how obedient and sweet she is. As you know, before her baptism, she had a very strong addiction to coffee and she was fighting it and couldn't get over it. We kept trying to help her the best we could, and she got a blessing, and then we did a fast with her. After that fast, she didn't drink even one cup and was able to be baptized the next week. Its amazing to see the change in her.

We were in San Jose this week so we called her every night for a few minutes to see how she was doing. She sounded so happy on the phone! Usually she is very calm and quiet but she sounded really happy. When I asked her why, she said: Because I feel like God is with me. Her friend Carlos went to her baptism and we asked if He wanted to get baptized too and he said yes! How do I prepare? (lets teach you!!!!!! do you drink coffee or drink or smoke? he doesn't.....getting baptized. now.)  He is 19 (future elder!) and has a very good spirit about him and it seems like he has been through a lot in his life. I feel so grateful to see these miracles that the Lord is blessing us with in His work.

A lovely day.

Our companionship is so funny. I love it. Guess what? Hermana Fowler talks in her sleep too! So every morning we have a new story to tell. Every morning we wake up and literally yell BUENOS DIAS! And give each other a high five. Tell me that is not the best way to wake up in the morning. hahaha. 

Well, I love you all so much. Until next week!

This is how we do.