Well, let's just say going to the beach today was so worth waking up
early, and this dang sunburn. We were there for about 3 hours, and I
put sunblock on every hour, and still got burnt. Welcome to Costa Rica
where you'll be black before ya know it. But honestly, there are a lot
of great things to do close to the beach, and there are a ton of
beaches. it's really touristy. A lot of gringos here, and everybody is
gettin robbed. Haha just outta no where your stuff is gone. Gotta have
somebody watching it every second while your sittin on the beach. I
could live on the beach forever. It never gets old. And I put
sunscreen on EVERYDAY. And have freckles. I don't get burned, I just
get freckles, they come outta no where...
So the first of last week, we had 3 other sisters in our house because
they were opening an area and they didn't have a house... let's just say
how much dirty people make me mad. Like can't you clean up after
yourself and not eat like a pig? It's not that hard, right?
MY FEET ARE SO SWOLLEN. and it's not just an excuse for being a little
bit chubbier... it's so hot here and I drink water like no other, and
still, I have fat feet. I was like, ok where did this come from, I've
always had kankles, but not 6 of them.....
Everybody here is like, "and the other hermana" welp she aint
comin back, just have to deal with me now. Haha nah it's totally fine,
I understand, I'm sure errybody in Conce is like, "and hermana.....
como se llama?" "Boer" oh oh yeah her... hahah they just forget your
name. But it's all good, I would die happy here... like ending the
mission here, I'm totally ok with that. So everybody will remember me.
I'm not selfish and want everybody to myself. At all. hahah I'm kidding.
But this one investigator told her son, who's a member, she was like,
"Yeah they changed comps, it's another gringa, but alot prettier." That
makes me feel better.
Haha and these people have fruit trees up the
whazoo. No joke, it's like, here, take a bag of mangos home with you,
after eating 6. Here have some bananas off my tree here, and some
limes, ok and a loofa. YEAH DID YOU KNOW THE LOOFAS YOU BATHE WITH
COME OFF OF TREES!?!?!?!? yeah, Blew. My. Mind. But the thing that
blows my mind most, is that I shower with cold water, and don't hate
it. Everyday I now look forward to a cold shower. never thought I'd
adjust to that, now did ya??
Ok, now that all my crazy thoughts are outta the way, on to the spiritual stuff.
We are working a lot with the less actives, and me and my comp were
talking about how we can strengthen their testimony... well my comp
said something really interesting. It applies to all of us. Maybe
we have a testimony, and we say "oh I know it's true" but do we really
know how strong our testimony is? Maybe we need to rethink about our
testimony, and re strengthen it. It's like our covenants. We take the
sacrament every sunday to renew them. So how can we "renew" our
testimony? SHARE IT. LISTEN TO THE MISSIONARY DISCUSSIONS AGAIN. ASK
GOD FOR AN ANSWER. Just like we share how to gain a testimony to our
investigators, we should do the same. We should always trust in our
testimony and never let it weaken.
One of the people that we talked to on the bus one day, invited us to
her house. She's a 16 year old who lives with her mom and 2 sisters. We
were talking about English class with a different lady on the bus and
she was listening, so I asked her if she wanted to learn and of course
she did, her name is Jocelyn. I was like hey! me too! but you can
call me Hermana Boer. Anyways, after we got off the bus we visited a
few different people and then went to her house. Her mom was
really accepting. They said that Jocelyn went in to the house and said
these missionaries are going to come visit us! So the mom said "the
spirit can't dwell in unclean places" so they cleaned the house before
we came! I was like, wow, that's really neat.... They were REALLY
attentive and really animated. They have had a lot of crazy
experiences in their lives but they trust so much in God. We were
talking a little bit about faith, and asked if they have ever seen
God. They were like no, but the mom was like, YES. Everybody
was in shock... like can I be here right now? hahah no but she said
she has seen God in the way he works in her life. so that was really
eye opening, that she recognizes Gods hand in her life. We should
too.... But anyways, we invited them to be baptized.. there was
silence for like 3 minutes... no body said ANYTHING. And then the mom
lifts her head, and was like, yes, I know God will straighten out all
the doubts I have, I will get baptized, I'm even going to ask for an
answer in prayer, but I know I've already recieved it. WOW. like
seriously, this just happens talking to people about english classes
on the bus. It's amazing how the Lord works in our lives.
Another one... a less active youth in the branch was riding his bike
up to his friends and he was like hi Hermanas. And we just kept
walking after saying hi, but I felt like we NEEDED to talk to his
friends, so I was like, Hermana, we are gonna talk to them. So we went
over there, and the less active left, like he didn't want anything to
do with us, but his friends kept talking with us, and one of them just
happened to visit with the missionaries before, but in a different
part of Costa Rica, and he almost got baptized, but they had to move,
so it never happened. So we were like, well we can teach ya again, and
he was like, "yeah I would like that, I really enjoyed the mormon
church". So we taught them the next day, him and his cousin, and we
also invited them to be baptized, and Darwen, the kid who already
talked to the missionaries before, was like, I know it's true, so let's
give it another shot, and his cousin, Javier was like yeah, I wanna
learn more. He even came to church yesterday and watched the
baptism of Elias,(yes, we had a baptism) and he was like, is that how
they will baptize me? haha yes of course... it's so amazing how open
the hearts are here in Guanacaste.
So I taught english for the first time to latinos on saturday. let's
just say, I never want it to happen again. It was AWFUL. I forget
english words, and suck at explaining everything. And there are Latinos
here that know more english than me! haha its so embarrassing. I was
like, well next time they are gonna teach it... but there was a
contact in the street that some missionaries did there, she speaks
really good english, but just wants to freshen it up a bit. So she
came, and she even said a prayer in english. It was so cute... we
showed her around the church and explained what we do and how on
Sundays. And she was like, why don't you have Jesus on the cross, and
so we explained to her, that we don't focus on the death of Christ, and
that's what the sacrament is for, to remember that sacrifice, but that
we know He lives. She was like, that makes sense, I like the way
this church is organized.... well darlin, it's the only true one, and
exactly how Jesus organized it when he was on the earth :)
My comp has epilepsy. she doesn't seize or anything like that, thank
goodness, but she just blanks out. Her mind just goes black, and her
eyes clear over, for like 4 or 5 seconds. It's amazing how stong she
is, and how she is overcoming this sickness. It makes her mad and
depressed sometimes, and she gets down on herself like she's not doing
the best she can because she has this sickness. But I look up to her
so much. And her testimony is so strong as well. There are a lot of
people here as well that struggle with epilepsy, and so she shares her
experience, and it really touches people. We all have something in life
we are trying to overcome, but having our focus on Christ, is really
what matters. he will help us through ANYTHING. Absolutely anything.
Just trust in the Lord.
I am so grateful that the Lord wants us to succeed. In my Mothers
words, just today. "God lives, and is very much aware of each of us
as individuals. He wants us to live in a way to return to him, and
will help us any way we ask. Remember you are a child of God, always
remember who you are, and live for nothing less" MY MOM IS #1. She's my
example. Thanks for your inspiring words maaaam. :) And she thinks I'm
still funny. xoxoxoox chaaaoooo
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