Sometimes I feel more Latin than Gringa.

I had changes!!! Guess where I'm going and who I'm with?! I'm going to....GUANACASTE. I am going to be a sister training leader there with...........HERMANA FOWLER! She is one of my best, best friends here and its pretty much a dream come true. We are still in awe because we are such good friends and we have the same goals and we want to work SO HARD. She likes to walk fast and I like to walk fast so it rocks. :) haha! But seriously its like having a sister.

Guanacaste is really far away and the hottest part of Costa Rica...the people there are humble and simple and they love dancing and playing music and it's close to the beach! And guess what? There are monkeys all over the place. I'm going to send you pics when I see them. 

Right now my hands are all shaky because we just hauled my huge suitcases around San Jose taking a ton of buses, and the handles are broken so we looked like two grannies struggling there....that was really fun. Also I had an embarrassing moment on the bus because I passed the sensor 4 times without knowing and he charged me double. That was not cool.  And we also got a little lost. We are staying in San Jose for tonight because we have a meeting. I'm exhausted because I said goodbye to everyone and had to wake up super early to pack.

Last night our Cocinera Yazmin was so sweet and planned a surprise goodbye family night for me. She invited our converts and they came and we ate baleadas which are burritos from Hondurus. It was so sad to say goodbye to them. I know they are in good hands.  Fabio ordained the Priesthood to Cristofer on Sunday, and Claudia and Jairo told me that its not goodbye because they'll see me in one year when they go through the temple to be sealed! I hope with all my heart I can be there.

Surprise family night and goodbye party.
I will truly miss them. 

I also went to Womens Conference. We brought M for the first time. She is an amazing investigator very preguntona. That means she asks a lot of questions. When we read the Book of Mormon with her, the Spirit is so strong.  I know little by little she will learn. She does want to be baptized.

I really like the new tradition of watching Women's Conference together. I'm glad you got to watch it with Grammy!  I loved the messages. It made me tear up because I feel at home when I see it. I love that it doesn't matter where you are in the world, the messages are the same and the spirit is just as strong. I feel united with the world when I see general conference.

Do you want to know something? Sometimes I feel more latin than gringa! I was looking at the choir and they are all blonde and then I looked around at all the dark haired people in the room and felt at home in Costa Rica too. 

I was sad to hear the news of Richard G. Scott this week. :( 3 of the apostles have died which is really sad. I have learned so much from each one of them. 

Oh!! I got the package of clothes!! THANK YOU. I will be able to give them to people in my new area.

kel is going to have the baby?!!!  I can't even tell you how happy I am for her!!  So are you going to be with her this week? I'm going to send her a little message. I will be praying for her!!! Im so excited!!! 

ps. I liked the email Uncle Joe sent. So funny.

Love you all!

The scary clouds. Yee Haw!

Divisions with Hermana Samayoa. Love her!
This is a toronja tree. They are like giant limes.

Isn't Hermana Maria so cute in her rain poncho!?

One of our last days together.

Our lovely investigators, Jonathan and Karen. 

Yay!

The creatures in our house.

We found a mother and a daughter this week and it was the first lesson with them. We sang a hymn with them, and afterwards I asked if it was okay if I said a prayer. And then out of nowhere I started counting 1...2.. and then I caught myself. I was like..uh. sorry about that. haha. And then I said the prayer. Hermana Flores started laughing but covered it up with a cough. (Why are coughs such good ways to cover things up? just saying.) So that was that!

This week we got caught in a storm. But I'm talking STORM. We were walking and then a few huge drops of water started falling but we hardly felt them and it was still sunny. Then all of a sudden it started pouring like in the movies and then the lightning lit up the whole sky and there were huge cracks of thunder and then Hermana Flores and I looked at each other and just started running. we ran into Popeyes. :) Hehe. So we ate mashed potatoes until the rained stopped. That was fun.

Have you ever thought about what is the greatest gift that we can give God? I learned this week that the greatest gift that we could give Him is our agency, our own will. Just let Him take us and do what He would have us do. If we let Him control our lives, He will make us a million times better than we could ever be by doing what WE want. One thing that I felt this week is that all the glory and success is because of Him. Everything good that happens is because He made it happen. We really don't do anything. :)

I feel happy because our sweet investigator told us yesterday that she has truly felt her faith grow. She kept the Word of Wisdom this week and is saying her prayers and reading the Book of Mormon and she found work this week because of it. She also said that she is learning things that she has never learned before. I love seeing changes in people. Guess who is getting the Priesthood next week? Jairo and Fabio, and Fabio is going to be able to ordain his son Cristofer!! Miracles. 

Well I love you all!

The creatures in our house.

Singing in the rain!

Heyyyyyyyyyyyyy there. :) I'm alive don't worry!

I didn't write on Monday because our p-day was today because we went to the temple!! 

Business first hahaha. ;) SHOES. Please tell Sister Glover thank you for buying me some good shoes!! That is seriously so generous and kind of her!! 

Your question: Is Hermana Flores a sassy one.....allow me to sum that up in one word. YES. But I do love her a lot. She is super honest and likes to point out my faults. hahaha. But don't worry, the Latins have toughened me up and it doesn't even affect me anymore. haha. But we love each other. We love to sing together hymns on the uke every night. I tried to send a video but it wouldn't send. She is practicing her English and its really funny because I speak to her in English but with the Spanish accent that we always do!! She gets sooooo mad but she loves it. I love to tease her and all the missionaries.

What can I say? My brain is on fire from a ton of learning that we had this week! We had a leadership meeting that was AMAZING. They talked about the highest levels of obedience in Conduct, Conversations, and Cleanliness in our houses, and even how we dress and wear our makeup and do our hair and all that. The missionaries like to tease me for one thing....my hair. They always tease me and say I'm despeinada. That means I have messy hair. hee hee. but I'm putting more effort and trying to manage it. 

We also had some crazy adventures with President Laboriel. He took us home from the meeting because he had to do an interview, and we got stuck in traffic for 2 hours! And then we went to the interview with him but he took a wrong turn and we almost died because he starting driving towards the cars instead of with them! Ohh man such adventures. Then after he took us to McDonalds. oh the joys.

M is doing really good! She didn't want to pray, so we wrote like 4 little notes and put them around the house to remind her to pray. And she did!! She is still having some doubts but as we've been reading the Book of Mormon with her, she loves it. We read 3 Nephi 11 with her, and I was watching her to see if she was liking it, and she knew exactly where we were and loved it! 

 I know I say this every time, but there is POWER in reading the Book of Mormon.  We had a family night with all of our investigators at the church and it was a success! The bishop gave an awesome talk about families and we were able to meet members and neighbors. It was super special. :)) I love this ward so much and this area. The Lord is blessing us with finding families who are adorable and ready to learn. 

Until next week!!

"The District"

Singing in the rain!

HOLA!

LOVE my CR Family

God is protecting us.

Upe Buenas!

After a few scares this week, I just have to say that God truly
protects his missionaries and I feel peace. We never ever need
to be scared, because fear is a tool of Satan that he uses so that we
don't carry on God's work. :)

This week we had a lot of scary moments.

Two men followed us on Thursday, and  fear was entering into

us. But then we called President Laboriel and he gave us council.
After taking the sacrament, I feel completely filled with peace and we
feel safe. Now we just have to be home at 8 instead of 9 every night
and we are working with members at night so that nothing happens to
us.

This is not to freak you out or anything but
we were robbed on Friday. We weren't harmed at all. 

We were walking home and a man jumped out of nowhere and acted like he had a gun behind his back but he really didn't. And he said...the phone the

phone... and I told him that we were missionaries. When he saw that we were missionaries he started to shake and tremble and then asked for our money. He took both mine and Hermana Flores' wallets. 

But here is the miracle. MY WALLET WAS FOUND. It had my drivers license and my bank cards and some documents but he didn't take them, just the little bit of money that was inside. It was a miracle. I know that God is protecting me.

Something happened this week that gave me so much joy. Laura's sister
Maria came to live with her. Laura is one of our recent converts. I
adore this family. The first thing that I thought when I saw Maria is
that I felt like I knew her. She is 19 and very fun. We started
teaching her and that whole lesson the Spirit was so strong. My hairs
on my arms were standing straight up the whole time. We asked her how
she felt and she said that she couldn't explain it. We talked about the
fruits of the Spirit and she was super excited and
said....I feel that! I feel that! 

 We invited her to be baptized and I was going to say the baptism date for
October, when all of a sudden the date September 19 popped out of my
mouth. Her eyes kind of bugged out of her head but she said she would
do it. She said that something was driving her to say yes. Such a miracle! A
special part of this experience was that Laura was sharing her
testimony and how it was so special to receive the Holy Ghost. We gave
her something to read, and when we came back, she not only had read
it, but took notes. And what impressed me is that Laura explained the
Great Apostasy! That took me like my whole life to understand that!
haha. Such happiness. I have seen such changes in her in such a short
time. God is a God of miracles! He truly touches peoples hearts and
helps them find peace and understanding. They went to church this week
and loved it.

We had an awesome testimony meeting in church. There is a hermano
that we have been working with that has been inactive for years and
years and he got up to bear his testimony. He is a rapper and his
testimony sounded like a rap. It was so heartfelt and special and I
wanted to dance and cry. 

All in all, I felt so full of joy!
I love missions because you get to love so many people and you feel
like jumping for joy at any progress big or small. It makes me think
about how happy Heavenly Father is when we choose the right. :) 

This week we met an awesome
Jewish family who explained their culture and religion and it was so
interesting. At the end of the lesson, they gave us a special Hebrew
prayer and I thought it was so beautiful.

My heart had problems yesterday. I couldn't
sit down because I felt really antsy. But today I feel good. My feet hurt a lot 
and I can't find those inserts to put in my shoes...all my shoes broke. The shoes here a soooo expensive. 

ps. We moved houses again. haha. 3rd house I've lived in here in Tejar!

ps. I had a dream that we were in a big mission meeting and they told
me I was going to train. I was sooo excited and then they told me i
would be training an ELDER!! haha it was horrible. 

Love you and thank

you for your prayers!!

NEWS.

This week I have a lot of news. Hold on to your chairs. :)

One morning we were studying and we got a call from Presidente Laboriel. After asking us about the Ten Commandments, prophets and Articles of Faith, he told me that I needed to make a decision to either stay until February or go home on December 10 and end my mission with 17 months and 5 days. He said it was completely up to me and the Lord, and to let him know as soon as possible. 

So I went to my room and asked God. I told him that I would do whatever He asked me to do and I just wanted to do His will. After praying, I opened my scriptures and read in D&C 88: 83-84 and then D&C 90: 12. It was so clear! I felt so good and my spirit felt renewed and so grateful to be here. So I am staying a month more. Until February. I feel very good about it and I know it's the Lords will for me. I promised him I would sacrifice everything to Him. Time, talents, and my very life if necessary. Really what is one month more? It's nothing compared to what I am indebted to him. And I know He will guide my life. 

Thank you for praying for my safety as we really needed it this week. Long story short, we have to move houses again for safety reasons. Heavenly Father really protects us. He performs miracles. Don't worry, just pray for us. :)

This week was really hard because some heartbreaking things happened. I wanted to cry because it is just so sad. But we also saw some grand miracles because the Lord brought us to a house and the woman said that we were her angels that answered her prayers. 

I love you and thank you for always supporting me!!!!

 Hermanas Flores y Hubler 

Welcome to church!

Peekaboo!

Word of the week: Power

HIIIIIIIIIIIIII!


Hi family :)

I loved the pics and kind words you sent me! Kel looks so cute! Marisi is homeeeeeeeee! 

Well this week had the ups and downs as life always does. The first part of the week I felt a lot of anxiety after my companion left. But the Lord helped me and it's all going to be ok. Hermana Flores is really nice! She is my fourth companion that is Mexicana so I'm on a streak! She brought like fifty hot sauces and eats everything with chile. Normal ordinary sandwiches are turning into hot and spicy creations that Dad would definitely appreciate. hee hee. And she brought a lot of Mexican candy! woot woot! Its delicious. She also likes to sing and dance and is a pro at doing accents from Argentina, Mexico, Russia and the Tico accent. I love it.

We had some miracles this week. We prayed to find a family one morning and that day after searching and talking to everyone, we found a family who accepted us and accepted to be baptized. The mom is really sick but she said she wants to change her life. At the end of the lesson we were able to say a prayer kneeling down and it was really special.

Also can I just say the Book of Mormon has power?? We went to go visit the family whose son suffers from depression. Remember them? The parents were expressing their concern for their son and were really worried, and we were able to share from the Book of Mormon with them in Mosiah 4 where it talks about parents teaching their children in righteousness. It really calmed them down and there was a literal peace in the room. There really is so much power in using the Book of Mormon.

We got to see a broadcast from Elder Nelson transmitted from Honduras for all the missionaries in Centro America. It was awesome!! He talked about the importance of helping people enter the temple and focusing on helping people who have a connection to the church. And there was a talk that I loved about choosing to have joy. Happiness really is a choice. Everyday we should choose to have joy and we WILL. :) 

I want to give you the challenge on helping less actives at church and inviting them to family night. It has POWER. It's the little things that make a difference.

Send me pics! 

I love you and thank you for your prayers and support always!!

Hello. Answers.

Hola y Pura Vida!

1. I'm not getting transferred. I'm still here in Tejar getting tan and working hard! I think I have at least 6 more weeks for the next change.

2. Yes, mi companera is going  home. :( I feel like a part of heart is breaking to be honest. We are completely opposite and we completely worked our tails off here. Last night the members threw Hermana Montoya a goodbye party and all our converts were there and it was so special to hear their testimonies. Our converts are truly converts! Its a miracle from God. I have just never seen so many miracles than with Hermana Montoya. I am seriously missing her already. My new companion is Hermana Flores from Mexico. It's going to be fun!

3. Yes, we have an amazing Cocinera. Her name is Yazmin. She is from Honduras and she feeds us really well. She served a mission and understands. 

4. I don't think I will be going home in January because there is not a change in January and so I'm pretty sure its December. I'm really confused and everyone here is asking so I will just keep you posted. But all I know is it's December or February and I'm pretty sure they won't have us extend a whole month! I'll let you know when I know for sure.

Please tell everyone thank you for the clothes! Our converts are going to be so happy! I'm serious. On sunday Jairo, our recent convert, put on a white shirt and tie and he looked so good. These people are so grateful for anything. Thank you! I cannot tell you thank you enough.

Thank you for all your prayers because I feel them. This week I got to go with my companion to the temple with all the people who are going home and our mission president. I was lucky because I was the only one who got to go with special permission! They were all like what are you doing here? But I enjoyed it. It was wonderful to be there.

(Hey, Dad, always remember the crunchy crunchy! Hahaha.)

ALAJUELA REPRESENT.

Goodbye party for Hermana Montoya.

Mi new companera, Hermana Flores.