#thisisPURAVIDA

I over heard President talking with one of the Assistants, saying, "I only send the best to Guanacaste" IM IN GUANACASTE. No, not because I'm one of the best, I could care less,  I don't need to be a trainer, or sister training leader. I am here to be the missionary THE LORD wants me to be. That's the only thing I care about with "being the best" I am here to help the Branch grow into a Ward, and to get us a Stake here! This area baptizes EVERY week. they have more people in sacrament meeting than the WARD in Conce. The people here are SO willing to hear the gospel, I can just feel the spirit walking down the street. And their hearts are so open to accept our message. I'm SO blessed to be here to hasten the work of the Lord. 

Let's just say... IT'S HOT here. I'm pretty sure it's hotter than the sahara desert, no big deal. I'm just gonna be skinny once I'm outta here. And blonde. and black.....;) and they eat good food here! I'm surprised. Iv'e laid off the rice for the most part, which is good, cause that's what made me sick most of the time anyways. AND I actually get to use my sunscreen here!! woot woot. hate it..... but no skin cancer for meeeee :) AND the zone and district here are SO united. We get along, and they all go and support baptisms in their districts and do a whole bunch of activities to help the branches grow. I love it. so much. 

My new comp, is Hna Muñoz. she is from Colombia. She is SO humble and so willing to work as well. She only has 6 months in the mission, but she is going to be such a great leader throughout her life. her family is all members minus her parents. But they are working on getting baptized, but satan works so hard, and has stopped them so many times. But they have a date :) and she is so excited to be sealed to her family once she gets back home. She is 20 years old, and we are like the same person... well I don't know, but we just get along SO WELL. She wants to meet the family. big step right?? hahahaha :)

Anyways, we got to go to the temple FINALLY. SO AMAZING. I loved it. I don't like how we are only able to go every 3 months (or 4) but it's the best day during the week when we are able to go. I love how strong the spirit is there. we are blessed. :)

Funny story, so we got back to our place Monday night when I was still in my old area, and we didn't have water... so we just thought they were doings something with it, but when we talked to our neighbor, she was like, no I have water, but she told us that the water company came and were taking out meters from people that didn't pay their water and they tried to take hers out but she showed them that she payed, so they were like, well it must be the nieghbors. so they took our meter out... BUT the owner of our apartment has 3 apartments right next to each other... it was the last one.. not us ,cuase we HAVE to pay or it gets cut fast. hahaha so they came at like 9 at night Tuesday to put our meter back in so that would could shower.... gross...

Sooo Elder Cook came. And guess who shook his hand, twice. yup me. 3 cheers for front row! :) Only because we had to sing a song. But we definitley had a spiritual interview, twice. I'm good. hahaahha it was a REALLY short conference, but SO powerful. He only talked for like 10 or 15 mins. but he made some really great promises for us, if we just open our mouths and teach the gospel with the power and authority that we have. The spirit was so strong, and you could feel a special love that he has for us. 

Well, not much more to say... just remember to be a missionary yourself, and put yourself in the shoes of an investigator or a new convert, and welcome them into the ward with loving arms and hearts, cause it's really weird for them. 

And remember that I love you.

And remember to smile. happy is better.

And my eyebrows are turning yellow, thanks to a little girl that asked me why they are yellow.

And remember, in Guanacaste, its always summer. 

And remember... hahah nahh ok I'm done.

xoxoxoxo laterrrrrrrrrr gaterrrrrrr

Reeaallll Liiifffeee!!!

Yeah, so gettin all the info about real life and everybody and their plans, makes me glad I'm here and don't have to deal with that for another 8ish months. maybe I'll never have to deal with it. it's so overrated.

So just throwing this out there right now.... SATAN HAS HIS WAYS. honestly, he works in the slyest of ways. Better be careful or he will catch ya. Like this one lady that was a reference from a member, she was like, to be honest I don't like your church because the way they break the bread for the sacrament. IS IT REALLY THAT IMPORTANT!?!? No. It's not. It's not the bread and water that matters, it's the symbolism of the sacrament, and what it is. Don't worry about that, we could be usin' marshmallows and cheerwine for all I care. (which would be SWEET. cause I love my cheerwine) it's sad how hard satan is working. and it's just gonna get worse. Gotta be strong and be ready to share our testimonies. Jakey wrote me an email asking how my testimony is, and how crazy it is how I'm here to help others gain one, but I just make mine stronger. It's so true. IT'S MIND BLOWING. Like, hey, where did that testimony boost come from? oh yeah, missionary work. it happens.

Juan Carlos this week made a huge announcement. HE IS GOIN ON A MISH. They are already starting his papers and everything. It's so exciting how great a convert he is, and how true he knows this gospel is. I love those kind of converts.

We FINALLY got a new mission leader... honestly the last one we have had since I got here, in July, and we rarely had correlations. and he didn't help us one time with the work. But the Lord has something really nice planned for the new one, cause he has a lot of negative things to say about the leaders here, but he is about to realize that we don't mess around. The other one sure didn't realize that.

So more than nothing, all I've got today is some quotes and scriptures an stuff like that. Enjoy. Nothing big went on this week, other than my comp was sicker than a dog for a couple days, so I read like 7 liahonas... and Costa Rica has earthquakes like no other. We have felt 2 already while being in the internet cafe... it's great... hahaha

 D&C64:9-10 Forgiveness.

Alma 13:3-7 this is my calling and I chose this :) what ifs? what if I got married? what if I kept studying? what if I kept working? what if I took that nanny job in NYC? what if I didn't send in the acceptance letter? what if... what if.... THERE IS NONE! This is where I need to be, and where the Lord wants me. I have HIS name on my chest, nothing else could be better for me in my life right now :)   "The world is in need of your help, there are feet to steady, hands to grasp, minds to encourage, hearts to inspire and souls to save. The blessings of eternity await YOU." Presidente Monson.

So in my liahona study while my comp was pretty much dying, I read the priesthood talks from conference. They are really good. Anyways, Henry B Irying said, "Our human tendency is to be impatient with the person who cannot see the truth that is so plain to us" it's so true, it's so hard being patient. but thats what we need to do, we have to help them take those baby steps, and be patient. Moroni 7:46-48

Our thoughts turn into words, our words into actions, actions into habits, habits into character, and our character shapes our destiny. BE CAREFUL :)

Read, family and friends forever by Henry B Iyring. he is amazing I've decided. :)

and just re read those conference talks, I PROMISE you will find something that you didn't catch before, that you can apply to your life.

Welp. I love you all so much, even though I'm awful at writing ya personally. But just remember that I pray for you everyday, and that I miss you.

Don't you worry child, heavens got a plan for you. :) REMEMBER THAT.

PS. I drank that gross tea stuff today, that those weierdos put in a cup and drink it through a straw with a spoon at the end. It tastes like dirt. don't ever drink it.

oh, and  I wore a scarf. crazy right? yeah its cold.

And everybody is sad that changes are this week. I'm pretty sure I'm outta here, but we will see what happens.

Oh. Temple on Wednesday. WOOT WOOT. I love temple days.

THE CHRUCH IS TRUE.

LOVE YOU.

HERMANA BOERSHHHHHH LA MEJORSHHHH

sorry this email is kinda lame. enjoyyyyy

Just another day in Paradise

Hey y'all. Just in Costa Rica... no big deal. Bust the same as any other day while on the mission. big suprise right?? nahhhh, I love the mish, its great.

Today we went to the childrens museum, its open during vacations, so we took the opportunity to go. it WAS SICK MAN. I love museums, whether they be for children or not... love them. We went with our zone leaders and district leader. Our zone is no fun, except for us 6 but we had fun, it was pretty cool, I'll send some sweet pics. There was this shocking electricity thing there, that we all could feel it through eachothers hands, and my arms are still shaking hahahaha

So last week after I emailed, we went to the family Moro. They are soooo fun! We were just gonna have a FHE with them, but they invited a recent convert over, and he just happened to give the lesson, so it was stress free. It was about forgiveness. I dunno but I guess I needed to learn something about that again,so it was refreshing to know that errybody else has problems with that. haha we sang kareoke after, cause they are freaks about it. It was fun. 

My comp had to go do fingerprints, even though she has been here for 15 months... haha this whole visa immagration thing is CRAY CRAY. Seriously, we had to go to the sisters house that live close to the office, and slept there and woke up at like 4 cause there was 15 other sisters there. I was about to kill somebody,  the neighbor almost did too, she started screaming at us and everything. I was going out to say hi to Preston, and ran back in the house cause she was pretty much on fire.

We had a zone conference this past week, and we also get to sing for Elder Cook when he comes, so we practiced for that for about 2 hours. (it sounds AWFUL) hopefully the spirit fixes our voices or somethin for an apostle of God. hahaha we will practice more, we still have a week and a half. but anyways, the conference was super good. we learned alot about the faith, and confidence in not only ourselves, but our comp and the mission. we did trust falls... I mean like jumping off tables into the arms of the zone, kinda trust fall. yeah,,, I was one of them that did it, and I think I might have screamed like a little girl. 

One of the assistents was there, we got a nice shoutout, me and my comp for all the success we are having. I don't wanna sound prideful, but it was nice to hear that, and everyone has noticed the change in our area. The members, whoever, you name it. its so great to be here changing the area. but its the spirit, it is.

We ran into one of the bus drivers here, and he was like so what do you ladies really do here, so we told him and he was like, OH WOW THAT CHURCH IS THE BEST IN COSTA RICA. NO IN THE WORLD! I've never gone, but one day I will, and prove myself right. hahaha thats right. its the only true one too brotha!!

So we had 3 baptisms this week!! Azucena, Sheila, and Negarith, a family really humble and they have had such a change of heart. It's amazing. We have no priesthood that wants to help us prepare for the baptisms so we have to fill the font and everything. So we reach the church and the fire alarms are going off, we are DYING. Because we only have an 1 and a half to fill the sucker up, and so I go in there running and turn the water on, then finally a member comes and helps turn it off, and everything is great, but the ladies didn't show up till 5 45 when the baptism was at 5.... we were FREAKING OUT. But everything went well, except the crazy Silvia lady was there and telling everybody that Negarith is pregnant and shouldn't be baptized cause shes only 16. And we are like, are you serious?? She went through an interview, our leaders know, she's fine. Anyways, so at the end of everything, the font didn't happen to empty cause the plug was broken by somebody, so me, being the brave one, went in for it. IT WAS FREEZING. but I fixed it and it drained. thank goodness.

ROBERTO CAME TO CHURCH!!! the son of Claudia, that hasn't been to church in like 7 years.!! He was like, it's only for you cause if you get changed this next week, I'll feel bad that you won't ever see me at church. hahaha YES. nailed it. It was good to see him there, and he seemed happy and chill so that was a good sign. Hopefully he will keep attending, cause he knows its right. 

We were sitting in RS and a sister was making a comment and my comp was turned around to see her. and Silvia yelled, while the sister was talking, YOU LOOK SO UGLY WITH YOUR EYES LIKE THAT... ok,, yeah she was talking to my comp. you know what I said the last time about those Christlike attributes?? yeah, not happening with her. I was SO close to punching her and going back to the states.....get me outta here!! There's something I gotta learn for being here 7 months, I hope I've learned it. hahahaha I love it here, but I would like to get changed. but it's up the The big guy.

We had an FHE with the family Cantillo, with the new converts, it was reallly good, and everybody was really involved, and there is a lot of confidence between us all so it was really relaxing and nopbody was trying to impress anybody. I love those kind of families. haha but we learned about sacrifices, and how we should keep pressing forward no matter what comes our way.

Here's some quotes I heard this past week from some members. I'm sure they have been said before :)

"We have more beauty inside us than we have on the out. It only matters what's in your heart. God only cares about whats on the inside".

"They told me to follow the footsteps of Christ, but since he's not here, you're the example here.'

 Thanks mom and dad for the wonderful examples you have set for me. :) xoxoxo.

I love The Rica. Miss America seein all the gringos here, but it's whatev. it's nice and warm :) 

The Church is true, never doubt it. ever. 

LOVE YOU.

MIRACLES HAPPEN. HAVE FAITH.

HALF WAY DONEEEEEEEEEEE

Yeah, no big deal, i just have less than 9 months till im home again. I dunno where the time goes. 

New years eve was ridic. We were visiting a bunch of our investigators and less actives, I HAVE NEVER EATEN SO MUCH IN A WEEK!!! I was dying. I was like, STOP FEEDING ME. Then at midnight they were lighting fireworks and bombs and stuff off RIGHT IN FRONT of our house. Our house was shaking cause there was so many. I was crying cause I was so tired and just wanted to sleep. They did it for like an hour straight... I wanted to punch somebody. But I'm over it. I'm just gonna be tired for the next 9 months anyways. haha

We also had baptism interviews for Azucena and Yamileth... Azucena wants to get baptized with her daughters, but they didn't have a date. BUT we invited them to be baptized, and they said yes. so we are planning for 4 baptisms this week alone! so exciting!! While we were waiting for the elders to get done with the interview, we were talking with the neighbors, they are from Nicaragua and they were making some freakin good dessert stuff, and of course I'm always up to try something new... haha not, but it was really good!!! It was made from uka, I dunno what its called in english, but they are called buñuelos, and then you soak them in lime honey... I'll make them when i get home. I always write down the recipes to the foods I like. hahaha but we also taught them a lesson, they are really confused about religion, we talked with the man before and he was always tryin to confuse us and cut us down with all his questions, but this time, he was really chill and open to listening, and he likes the spirit that we bring with us and wants to learn more. he isn't ready to go to church or get baptized, but we are still working with him. he will come around, I know it :)

We went and visited Elder Cordon and his family, and we were freakin out and everything, cause we wanted to make a good impression.. the elders were like, he's not part of the 70 or anything, just teach them lesson 1.... YEAH RIGHT. he's probably seen Joseph Smith and had a vision like him, don't even joke about that! hahaha but we decided to teach about Moroni and the banner of liberty, and we had a ripped up pillow case and we wrote our goals that we want for this year on it,  we made them look like a sick banner. It was sad, cause Elder Cordon wasn't there, but his family is so amazing and so humble and so fun! next time we will catch him :) but he said his family kept talking about the lesson we had, so thats good :)

I think I've developed more Christlike attributes than I give myself credit for, which is nice. We were eating lunch, and our cook was gone, and it just happens that our old cook was there ( THE CRAZY BIPOLAR LADY) cause her husband was helping rebuild the bishops house... and she was like, I'm your cook for today... CRAP.. I was sooooooo scared... but she was like, ok come here and tell me how much you want to eat.... she gave me a butt load, and I was like, I'm sick I can only eat a little, and she was like, ohhh sorryyyyy, didn't know that you were the one in charge... but she didn't just ask me how much I wanted... anyways,,, she was there for 3 days straight, and all I did was held my breath and smiled... my comp, not so much,,,, but I was kinda patient and didn't go red or anything... it's either those Christlike attributes, or I just didn't listen to anything she was saying. hahahah

So every night we have to give our numbers for the day to our leaders. and usually we have 9 or 10 LPE, which is lessons to find. just random people on the street... and we only had like 5 or 6 everyday this week, which was wierd. and the elders didnt believe us, hahaha but its because, and they told us this, that we are having the most success in the zone this transfer, which is a miracle for the area. Its' amazing the blessings and miracles we recieve when we are willing to work and bring others unto Christ. honestly, people from other zones are telling us to keep up the good work and people are super proud of us... I love it, I love seeing a change in the area, it took awhile to change things up to how they could work in this area, but to see the progress, is insane. the church is true.

Today we had an activity with the zone. we played water balloon volleyball and normal volleyball. crushed it. (THANK YOU LOGAN MOFFAT FOR YOUR TIPS hahaha;) I GOT SO BURNT. we also went and ate pizza at pricesmart, which is just costco here. but they have the best pizza....(this is why I'm fat) anyways, we have this really awkard funny elder in our zone,,,, and he just says what he thinks without thinking if he should say it or not, its a problem... but I was walking infront of him, and he makes hand signs saying that my calves are huge (which are now cows, thank you father) and he measures them, and then measures his, and hes like, THEYRE HUGE. hahahaha thank you elder, I know that I'm fat. thank you.

I'm reading, Worthy of Confidence, by Robert E Wells. ITS AMAZING. here's some stuff I've learned from the book... I could tell it all to ya, but that would take FOREVER. And I'm reading it in spanish...

"Dios, da me la gracia para aceptar con serenidad las cosas que no puedo cambiar, el valor para cambiar las cosas qu si puedo cambiar y la sabiduria para distinguir la diferencia" Reinhold Niebuhr.

Look at things with ambition and change what you can.... accept the things we can't change and show our trust in the Lord. 

We are here, to gain the confidence of God. So do it. 

Anyways, life is good here in The Rica. Missionary work is great as well. don't you worry bout me. :)

trust in God.

Love yours truely.

Prospero Año! or happy new yearrrrrrrrr 2014!!!

Yup. In 2 days its just 2014... NBD that's cool and what not, but it's crazy. Because I'll be home in 2014. 

Christmas was awesome. I just ate tamales like no other, and ate my body weight in grilled meat and salad and tamales. It was so worth it. It was so good. But I miss our Christmas breakfast, and smoked turkey.. ahh freak I'm drooling.

Skype was pretty great. I didn't want to say goodbye to y'all. But it was great to see your faces and hear your voices... AND DYLAN HAS THE VOICE OF A MAN. It's so weird...I hope he grows, or else he is gonna have short man angry syndrome or whatever that is. I'm loosing my sense of humor slowly... it's killing me.

In our district meeting, our district leader bought us yogurt. Merry Christmas, that's what you get for being a missionary and having no money. Haha jk it was great, cause I was in a bad mood, like what the crap am I doing here missing all my family and missing opportunities in my life I could take right now. But then I realized I shouldn't be worrying about that. I have so much to look forward to for being a missionary. I'm only away from my family for 9 more months. I will have better opportunites when I get back and have returned with honor. I'm doing THE LORDS work, not mine, and I can't pay him back for what he did for me, even with this 18 month mission. But I can be with my family forever and help others be with theirs. The plan of salvation is my pick me up on those hard days. I don't need to be worrying, I just need to focus on the work.

We had the ward Christmas party this past Friday. Kareoke, tamales, and cake. it was actually really fun, besides all the ex missionaries telling us what we can and can't do. When OUR MISSION president told us we could sing and listen to songs as long as they don't have bad words in them. But I'm over it. I'm like "thanks but we have OUR mission president in the mission of COSTA RICA. not yours... move on with your life and get married for heaven sake! and stop worrying about what we do with our mission, as MISSIONARIES". They don't understand... but I'm still developing those Christlike attributes... and to make it even better, THE CAKE WAS HARD. but I'm over it. hahaha I'm done complaining. I'm still breathing. Don't worry bout me. Sometimes the red head rage comes out still. hahaha

So the cookies that you sent, we went to Claudias house and made them. It was so fun. We are trying to reactivate her son, Roberto, he's 25 and has made some bad decisions in his life, and we were talking about the second coming, like "these cookies are gonna be done when the second coming comes", and Roberto was like, "yeah I better change my life around, cause the second coming could come right now!" and he's like" I just wanna be excommunicated so i can just start over." hahah we were like, "uhhhh no you don't wanna do that, just talk to the bishop and make it easier." And I was like, "you should go back to church to start off!" haah and he has a friend that lives with them and he was like," I'm good, I was baptized when I was a baby." and we were all like, "uhhh yeah well tell ya what, nope. sorry dude". yeah we are still working on both of them. one day!! I hope, because they are amazing!

I had my interview with President yesterday after church. IT WAS SO GOOD. always is, but we talked more about the goals we have as a mission in 2014 and as well as a companionship, and how he wants us to have 130 or more people at chruch until changes the end of January. WE CAN DO THIS! just need a lot of work. he said he is pleased with the work we are doing in Concepcion and that he can see a change in my spanish and myself spiritually everything else, he can just see a change. It makes me a better person to hear that people can see a change in my. I want them to see the light of Christ that I have, so that makes a difference. My mission prez is the best.

Elder Cordon from the 70 gave a talk in the ward today, no big deal, just because he is in our ward... hahah anyways he talked about goals and how we should teach our family that goal making is serious, and we should complete them. fast, like internet speed fast. because at time we think 3 seconds and a page hasn't  loaded is slow, so think about that in life aspect, that if we want something done, we should do it, without waiting. and thinking about if we should do it or not. because we should do it. I dunno, it was kinda confusing, but it was still good. Just make goals and complete them this year. I've got a couple that I will be working on. Even though I don't know what I'm gonna do with my life,,, that's one of them.. to figure that out. hahahaha I should do that fast...

This is my joy. in ALMA 29:9

I love you all.

HAPPY 2014!! make it the best. 

blow things up for me. since I can't here. And eat a lot of shrimp and cheese balls with crackers. ahhhh delish....