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Beautiful Costa Rica
Monday - April 22, 2013
Well....ok....here's my
email. Ha-ha. I’m sure you are all thinking...finally. Sorry. And again, sorry
about last week. It was kind of crazy. So...all your weeks just sound so busy!
Hna. Ponce and I said we
really need to get running in the morning. We are excited to start this week.
Hna. Noj doesn't really want to - but will do it anyway with us. I also can't
wait to talk with all of you for Mother’s Day. I think we can do Skype again.
We have members who have computers but because there's three of us....we might
just use the internet place. Plus in English, no one understands what I say
anyway but we'll see.
Me.......well.....where
to start. Made a list - ha-ha!
1. I was studying the
story of Nephi in the Book of Mormon this week when his bow breaks. He needs to
get food for his family and his bow breaks! He was doing everything right in
teaching them about Heavenly Father and being obedient in every way. How
frustrating for him when he's doing what he should but yet is faced with a
trail...a problem. His family chooses to sit around and complain about it. But
I love Nephi's reaction. He gets to work and tries to solve the problem. He
begins making a new bow. He didn't ask God to bless him with a new bow....he
worked to find the materials and make one. Then he prays and asks where he
should go to find food. I related this to us this week in that we are being
obedient and teaching people like we should. But we face rejection all the
time. We have two options....sit around and complain or get to work and find a
way to solve the problem. What can we do better? Who could we bring from the
ward to help us out? How can we reach more people through divisions? Miracles
still happen every day. I know they do because I have seen them. When we have
been faced with rejection and just feel as low as possible, we are blessed with
something small. I love what it says in the Book of Mormon in Ether....that
miracles still happen but according to our faith which includes action. It was
just really cool! We have some really neat discussions about the scriptures. I
love the insights my comps have. Hna. Ponce has learned so much from studying
with manuals and institute classes. Just a little something I learned this week
among many other things.
2. Hna. Ponce: SHE IS
AMAZING! I love her so much! We get along really really well. She's so
knowledgeable about the gospel. It's so cool because in lessons, she fills in
what I forget or adds more and same with her. In lessons, it is like she can
read my mind and me hers. We have great unity. We always talk about how we are
more friends than comps and how we definitely need to stay in touch after our
missions. We have the same personality which makes me laugh! When I stress out,
she stresses out and asks how she can help or what we can do better. We are so
similar in organization, perfectionists, friendly, outgoing, talkative, and
all! I am so grateful for her! We have a lot of fun. We did a practice this
week that was amazing. The spirit was so strong. I was pretending to be our
investigator and Hna. Ponce read my mind completely of what scripture to share.
So in tune with the spirit. We both were crying. It’s really cool how the
spirit can influence a practice.
3. Hna. Noj: She is
coming along just great. We celebrate the little accomplishments she makes. She
has been doing so much better in talking with people. We told her to practice
talking with the elders and less actives and members to help her feel
comfortable in talking more. She's really trying and I know she can do it. She
is so shy and is extremely homesick. We will see how things work out for her.
4. Investigators: we are
teaching a woman named Jaqueline that is Yeudi's cousin. She committed to
baptism May 25th! We are basically teaching everyone in Yeudi's family. Ha-ha -
no really. We contacted a family in the street in Cachi and found out it's
another cousin of Yeudi. Too funny. This family has started something great in
Cachi. Hna. Pricilla always cracks me up because she shares the gospel with
EVERYONE! Ha-ha. No fear and always defending. Only been a member for 2 weeks
and she's sharing like a missionary. Love her! Hna. Jaqueline is totally
prepared! She has opened up with us since day 1 about her problems and how she
wants this gospel. She reads what we say and prays about it. Can’t wait for
her! She's had a rough life. She really is looking for the truth and is right where
Joseph Smith was when he found it. We are also teaching Hna. Brenda. She is 66
and a gringa! Totally have been teaching her in English. So hard at first. I
messed up so many times. Ha-ha. I couldn't get my words right but then I got
into a rhythm. She wants to believe that what we are teaching is true. She’s
been taking lessons for a year now. Long story. But she always wants to know
why it has taken her so long to accept the gospel and find the truth. I said
that age doesn't matter at all. That we have experiences in life that help
guide us and remind us of God. Without these experiences, we aren't ready to
accept the truth. Her husband died a year ago and feels at peace. We’ve focused
our lessons on faith and prayer. That seems to be where she is really
struggling. She doesn't know how to pray and talk with God. We told her to read
Alma 32:25-28 about even having a desire to believe. Let this desire work in
you until it fully forms. We explained to her how to pray and the importance of prayer and had her read Enos
1:1-10 and have him do what Enos does...pray....talk with God. Start this
relationship again. Trust God. It doesn’t matter what has happened in the past.
We explained the story from the Bible about the prodigal son.
5. We went to teach in
Los Llanos (which don't worry, we aren't going again) but we had a lovely
experience there. So....Los Llanos isn't the best place. There are men on every
corner drinking and selling drugs. So fun. We’ve never had problems before but
this night was just creepy. We were eating at a little soda place of a member
and men were watching us and talking about us. This happens all the time in all
our areas but it's normal. Nothing happens. I promise. And nothing happened
this night. But we were creeped out. I was feeling bad all night from all that
had happened. Well...during the night, we each had really bad feelings. Just
dark feelings in our house. The next day
we had the elders come and blessed our home. We haven't had problems since at
all. I told Hna. Ponce that maybe because our home is behind a liquor store....it
may not be the best place to live. So we have stepped it up with finding a new
home. We gave an announcement in church so the members are helping us out.
Don’t want you all to freak out or worry. We actually split the areas with the
elders and the elders took all the more sketchy areas. :) So all is well. Plus...Hna.
Ponce is super smart and lives in a sketchy area in Honduras so she has
experience. She totally helps us out. Being smart.
Well.....this was pretty
well our week. It’s been fun and I’ve got to say that I am really loving Costa
Rica. I hear all about the states and things happening there. Thank you for
more info about it all. The more I hear, the more I want to stay here. Ha-ha. I
am trying to just stay focused and not think about home so much. Training 2 has
helped that as well. There are days where I don't ever want to leave. Ha-ha. I
am so grateful for my mission and the experiences that I have had. I can't
imagine my life without all of this. I have seen changes in myself. I am still
me but just....it's hard to explain. I am happy. Generally healthy. Thankfully,
Hna. Ponce can cook and is really healthy… And wants to run. I am enjoying
myself for when I return and can't eat or do all these things. Giving my all
these last 9 months. So excited to talk with you all. I really am happy and
having such a blast on my mission. Thank you for your emails and updates. I
love you guys so much. You are my true support team. So grateful for my family.
All is well. It’s like Dad said. All will be alright in the end and if it's not
alright, it's not the end. Sigan adelante! Les amo muchisimo. Lo
siento...aveces es mas facil hablar en español. Perdon! Yo espero que cuando
hablamos, yo puedo hablar en ingles. jaja. ESTE EVANGELIO ES VERDAD!!!! Translation below:
(Go ahead! I Love them a lot. Sorry...
sometimes is more easy to speak in Spanish. Excuse me! I hope that when we
talk, I can speak in English. haha. THIS GOSPEL IS TRUTH!)
Hna. Jones
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