"My camera fell into a cup of horchata."

Yes, it's true, and I'm super sad about it.  We were making a funny video in our apartment when all of a sudden my camera fell into a cup full of horchata and now it doesn't work. I'm not really sure what to do. Maybe I can buy another one here but I am poor! Right now I just have Faride, my neighbor take pictures. The camera of Hermana Bram got stolen.....

Thank you for all the pics! I loved them! You all should be models. Okay? Also everytime I show someone pictures of my family they say that my parents look so young. Also Im so glad that parker went through the temple! What date does he leave again?

This week was really nice. We had a zone conference and interviews with President Wilkinson. I got to play my uke and sing for it. It was really fun! Im so happy I have a ukey. The interview went really well! I truly love President Wilkinson. His presence is super strong and I feel like he sees into our souls which is a little intimidating but good.

We also had lots of adventures. We are still getting to know Pococi and so one day we were walking and got lost for two hours!!!!! But hey it was fun. Today we had a really fun P day with our district. We got permission to wear normal clothes and we played soccer and ate tons of pizza! I love my district. They are a bunch of crazies.

Last but not least, Mariana got baptized yesterday!! It was super special and we had a ton of support from the members and her family even came too. My favorite part was when she bore her testimony afterward. Wow I just feel so happy! They are feelings that are hard to explain. Oh and Hermana Bram and I sang with the uke too. 

We have changes this coming week so I will keep you updated. I have no idea what is going to happen, but I know it will be okay. There is always so much to say, but if you have any specific questions I will tell you everything. 

2 funny things.

1. No one can say my name and everyone makes up names for me. I just laugh and laugh. But a lot of people call me Hermana Hitler which is terrible! 

2. I talk in my sleep every single night and yesterday I was apparently yelling super loud the name of our neighbor, Faride. FARIDE!! Poor Hermana Bram can never sleep. 

"Everyone is freaking out and saying that I have Dengue Fever."

Well, I have a fever today.  Everyone is freaking out and saying that it is Dengue Fever but i honestly dont think it is. I rested this morning and if it gets worse or continues, i will get help and medicine. I got a blessing from the elders today and i know everything will be okay so dont worry. I wear repellent every night too. But I know that you are always praying hard. Please dont worry.

 Its a cultural thing but If someone is a little bit sick, they take the whole day off and go the hospital pretty much. But I am fine. Im glad youve had a productive day! I forgot my camera so I will have to send photos next week. Im so sorry!

But this week was a week of miracles! Remember M? She is getting baptized this sunday. I can not believe how prepared she is. She seems to know everything already. What I love about our relationship with her is that we are not just her teachers, we are her friends. We go out for ice cream, and paint our nails, and talk about girl things. She draws super well and she gave me one of her drawings and I have it on my wall. But last night we had a super lesson with her and she told us that everything changed since she met us that one night. its so weird, i can see her as a missionary. She even told us that she wants to! Whew!

I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting and said absolutely everything I wanted to in spanish. The gift of tongues is real! I understand a ton and every day is better. I love you! Im sorry, I have to go, but please give my love to everyone!

Im sure my fever will get better. My body aches and my head too but its better than this morning. 

"Who doesn't like Mac and Cheese? Ticos."

Monday, October 6, 2014

Hahaha! I love your emails and the little details! They make me smile like you wouldn’t believe! I’m really glad you had a great conference weekend. It was amazing! I had the opportunity to watch half of it in English, and half in Spanish. I actually understood most of the Spanish which was so cool! I really liked how some of the speakers could speak in their own language! 

My favorite talk was one from the seventy I believe.  I don’t remember his name. It had the 8 steps for living a better, happier life. Remember that one? He spoke really fast, but every word he said was powerful! I have a bunch of notes and they are all in spanglish. :) I of course loved President Monson’s talk about the Savior and walking the steps he did by emulating his attributes. I thought it was interesting the theme of prophets and their importance. I also loved the talk about Joseph Smith and that we should all strengthen our testimony and be firm in the testimony that he was a prophet. Super powerful. Their words brought me so much peace. When you hear it, its just TRUE. It went by too fast! Oh and Elder Eyring’s talk when he talked about how when he came home late, his mom heard him and asked him to come in. That talk reminded me so much of you, Mom! I cried when I heard it. I thank Heavenly Father every night for the family that I have. I remember all the times I sat on your bed and told you stories about what happened. :)

How am I feeling? Well, its hard to explain, but sometimes I feel stressed about teaching, learning the language, and my biggest problem I have felt while being here is feeling down on myself. There is an idea in my mind of who I want to be, and I am just not there yet. I am still new and have much to learn. But little by little everything will be okay. I am happy to be here, and I am really growing a lot because a mission is not easy. One thing that Hermana Bram has taught me is to enjoy the journey. Sometimes its easy to let worry and stress take over instead of just laughing and doing what you can. And I realized that we really just need to have faith in the Savior, be the best we can, and enjoy and relax a little. And in my mind, instead of doubting myself, I started repeating positive affirmations and it works!  I really love her. She has taught me to have fun on the mission. We have had such good times together. This morning we did interpretive dancing to efy songs, we have good times with our investigators, and mess around with eachother. 

I love my new ward! It’s kind of weird because we were in such a small ward before and now its actually normal sized! The people are so nice!  Our neighbors are the ward mission leader and his wife and little baby daughter. They are the coolest people ever. 

Last night I cooked mac and cheese for them and they didn’t like it!! They were teasing me so much about it that I need to learn how to cook. It was soooo funny! My goal is to learn how to cook some good Tican food because it seriously is the best.

 Last night I played songs on the uke for them and they loved it! They also asked if I would dance for them so I did a little ballet and contemporary combo. It was so good to dance again! We laughed and laughed. It was such a fun night. I love the people here!!

 Also soon I am going to be teaching an English class. That was a surprise to me! We had just met a family and asked them if they wanted to learn English. Then without talking to me first Hna Bram said “MY companion is teaching a class and you’re invited!” And I just smiled and said yeah! So we will see what happens. HAHA!

On a sports note, soccer is huge here!! There are two super amazing teams here that are rivals- Saprisista y Ligista. I am for Saprisista. My companion is Tica and that is her team. She has taught me well.

PocoCi is the best. I love it already. Its so much different than Florencia, and a little more dangerous, but dont worry, we are safe. This zone is one of the best in the mission. I can really feel a feeling of unity and obedience and it feels good. Our zone leaders are the best. We are doing a 40 day fast as a zone for our investigators and our goals. One companionship fasts at a time until 40 days. Also, every morning at 7 am every missionary in the zone says a prayer of faith for every investigator by name. I feel like this is the place we need to be right now.

Okay....miracle time. We are both brand new to the area and still are gathering people to teach, so one night we didn’t have anyone to teach and we didn’t have the opportunity to study in the morning because of a meeting, so we went home a little early to study. Randomly, we got a call from a 17 year old girl who had a little paper of the phone numbers of the missionaries and wanted us to visit her. Hermana Bram starting to say that we could visit her tomorrow, but then we had a strong feeling to visit her that night. So we went to go find her. She lives close to the church, and when we were walking, she was already outside waiting for us. The moment I saw her, I felt the Spirit. She is the sweetest girl. She said that she has always been interested in the church, but her family is Catholic and its tradition, however, she isn’t Catholic. We gave her a little summary of what we believe, and then went to the chapel to talk for a bit. She has had a lonely life because she was always home alone while growing up. Her family situation is very complicated and sad. We were able to share with her about the Savior and that we are never alone, and the truth of the gospel. When we talked, her eyes got really big and she was listening. I had chills the entire time. Hermana Bram and I both had the feeling like we knew her before. She is so receptive and sweet. At the end, we prayed with her on our knees and it was so special. She told us, “thank you for coming to visit me tonight instead of tomorrow.”  It was a miracle. She also went to two sessions of conference! And we are visiting her again tonight. So I will keep you updated. 

Overall, this church is true. This is where we have the fullness of truth and safety and peace in the world. I love you. :))))))))))))))))))))))

"I held an iguana tail. AY. AY. AY. Oh the things!"

With the beautiful bride!

Carolina's Baptism!

Hola Familia!!!                                   September 30, 2014

This week was so wonderful and crazy too!

Carolina and Juan Carlos got married!! And Carolina was also baptized! It was such a wonderful day. We went and picked up carolina and went with her to get her all dressed up with her hair and makeup and everything. She was so beautiful! Then we drove for an hour to the chapel where they were married! On the way there Angie asked me if I would play the uke while she walked down the aisle. So I did! I got to play Senor, te necesito. (I need thee every hour). It was super special. Its really exciting because in one year they can enter the temple and be sealed. Right afterward Carolina was baptized! She asked me to give the talk on baptism so that was really special. I felt the spirit super strong when she was baptized! She is such an amazing person and so willing to follow the savior. She was confirmed in the chapel. Afterward, I asked her how she felt after and she said that she feels clean and calm and happier than she has ever felt. It is during those moments that I just feel so grateful to be a part of this great work.

Some random things that you will be shocked about. During our district meeting, the district leader´s neighbor was just about to kill an iguana to eat. So they took a video on my camera!!! I did not watch! But I did hold the tail. And afterward it was moving around like crazy because of all the nerves kind of like a snake. Welcome to costa rica. They ate it but we had to leave. I also held a snake. Also Brother Jimenzez killed the family chicken to eat and made me hold the heart and guts in my hand!! AY AY AY. Oh the things.

Dinner.

um..hi.

AY! AY! AY!

Last of all, we are now in a new area. On sunday we were supposed to recieve calls if we were changing areas, but we didnt hear anything, so we just went to bed. In the morning at 8 we recieved the news that we are changing areas and so we packed up our whole house in 2 hours and left just like that! It was really sad and weird because we didnt really get to say goodbye. It was just like a blur. But my experience in florencia really was one of learning and crazy adventures and small miracles. We are now in poco ci for four more weeks until I finish my training. The time flies! I love the gospel and know that it is true. The Lord truly knows what we can become and helps us every step of the way. Often times we dont see the changes until one day we look back and realize how much help we truly had. I love you and keep me updated!!!

Our neighbors.
Going to miss those daily talks
and ice cream with Macho.

Con mis hermanas. 

  A tearful goodbye. Amo a mi mamita mucho.

Tanto amor.

"Tica Talk (straight talk)."

Plantains-my favorite! Granted, I burned the first batch but hey!

That there is a volcano behind us.

My New Ukey!

Mucho Rain! Matchy Matchy!

Little Daniella y Maggie the dog.

Bus riding along.

Yo y mis hermanas.

HOOOOOOOOOOLA!

Here one thing I've noticed is that Ticans don't say thank you a lot or gush. They just show their love in different ways. But you know they love you when they treat you like family and boss you around and tell you to clean your room and do things for you. They are the best people in the world. 

Also random, but if you ever need ideas for packages, office supplies and toiletries are the best. And peanut butter. I love pens and colored pencils for scriptures and just anything officy is the best. And maybe a pillow! Ha ha!

Right now I am writing and Prince Royce is in the backround at Angies house. Sorry it took so long for me to write. Today we were preparing all day for the wedding!  Carolina and Juan Carlos are getting married this saturday and carolina is going to be baptized right after. She is golden. She is so so sweet and wonderful and humble. They live in this tiny little house and their story is really interesting because they have been living together for 6 years and have a 4 year old daughter but they are so young. She is only 19. Juan carlos is a member of the church. They are both so excited to get married. They live really far away so we go to visit them with Hermana Angie every week. I will make sure to take lots of pictures! MY FIRST BAPTISM! She is the best. :) Sweetest, most beautiful girl. 

Well, que mas?? Well, there are 5 people in our branch. FIVE! Can you imagine! 
We had divisions this week which means that we change companions for two days and go and visit in their area. I went with one of the sister training leaders. It was such good experience. She is super super obedient and it was so great. I was soo happy and felt the spirit!! When I feel the spirit, I can speak and understand spanish and it is a miracle. She told me that I am probably going to train after my training and she told me she is going to write a good report to president. That made me really happy. 

I Iove being a missionary and being tired at night!! Yes I bought a ukey! I named it Yendry after my companion (my mom. she calls me baby haha) Mi Abuelita here wants to paint it for me because she is a painter. Yes I have used it with investigadores. Its really cute because a lot of people have never seen a ukelele before and they think it is a baby guitar. Which it is. I love it! We sing hymns and they love it. Funny random story. On the bus we always talk to people. I sat next to this viajito and he sang a song about my eyes to me! I laughed and laughed!

My hands are almost all the way better! Love you!

"We have trials to refine us. Anything worthwhile is hard."

Hi!!!

I want to thank you so much for your words of encouragment and love and concern. I want to calm your fears and tell you that I am doing so much better. First of all, my hands are looking a lot better. It is on both hands, but one is darker than the other. It is healing, and I dont have any pain and I am in San Jose and have an appointment tomorrow. So dont worry okay? The nurses looked at it and they said that it is not Lyme disease and probably just stress, allergy, or something like that. And I really have no pain so it is fine. ;) 

 We had a big meeting with President Wilkinson and he gave us the best talk. Everything he said calmed my fears and these feelings really are normal for new missionaries. 

My language is actually good, I just was letting Satan tell me I couldn't do it. I can understand a ton of things and especially in lessons, I understand my investigators and what is said. My family in Costa talked to me last night and told me that I just need to believe in myself more, that I don't have to be perfect, and that when I talk, people really listen. I think one of my biggest problems was that I was trying to be perfect. I care about people so much that I wanted to say and do the perfect thing, so I let my fear hold me back. But I just need to chill. 

And I feel the Spirit so much today. I can do this, because I was called of God. I truly feel so much better. Thank you for the prayers because honestly they help and I felt something lift off my shoulders. The most important thing about serving a misión is helping others and dedicating your life to God.

I love you!! Forever and ever. I love being a missionary and I love Costa Rica. The end. :) And the Lord really does give us trials to refine us. Anything worthwhile is hard. There are miracles here. We have a wedding in two weeks by the way!! And a baptism too! There are the best moments here! I love laughing with people and serving! You would not believe the things I have seen here. I would not trade it for the world.

[Erika saw the Dr. today and he said it is an allergic reaction to something. She will continue to heal over time and be good as new very soon. Prayer works!]

"Not gonna lie. This was a hard week."

To be completely 100% honest, this week was awful.  I don't want you to worry, but I have a rash on my hand that's pretty ugly. At first I thought it was a bug bite, but we sent pictures to the nurses and they told me that the doctor said it looks like Lyme Disease. They said it could also be an allergy to the new plants and weather. It doesn't hurt too much, and I think I am going to the dermatologist as soon a possible. Please don't worry too much. 

My otherwise health is so so. Being a missionary here is extremely stressful. I feel lost all the time, scared, and I am having a really hard time overcoming fears and worries. I have been having really bad feelings of anxiety and last night could not sleep at all. I also can't eat very much either. I always want to be hard working, diligent, kind, loving, and unafraid. But for some reason I am having a really hard time teaching. Even simple doctrine is hard to express and its just a huge, huge change. 

I want to be here, and I want to be a good missionary, but I have feelings of anxiety that is making it really,really hard for me to feel the Spirit. Thank you for all the prayers and I know it will be okay. Oh and Hellen doesn't want to be baptized anymore. We are trying to work with her but she feels like she doesn't have an answer. AH! Such stress.

I don't think I need anything. That package really did have so much good stuff. Thank you mom. I haven't had time to purchase a ukelele but when we go to San Jose I want to. :) And yes I will send pictures of the chapel so you can see. We try to keep it clean so it should be okay. I love you and I pray for you and thank you always for your prayers. 

I got to teach Sunday School. :) Cutest kids ever. I love them!