Monday, May 27, 2013 - Happy Memorial Day

Monday, May 27, 2013

Ok....

We had an incredible week. We finally have gotten over our fear of setting baptismal dates. I always worry - I never want to push the church on anyone and we don't. But we have had some experiences and those that we have taught have had experiences that have caused them to accept baptism into the church. We have 8 or 9 that are working towards baptism. Things are good. We are working so hard. At times, we get a little bit stressed with the thought of divisions and still maintaining our area.  Next week, we have to do three divisions which we are kind of overwhelmed about but eh...what can we do. Just trusting in Heavenly Father, right? We had a meeting with the sisters and President and his wife on Wednesday to talk about all the details. It’s so new so we are all trying to work out the kinks. But so far things are fine. We will be working with sister partnerships to help them and set a good example for the sisters. We are showing how Gringas and Latinos should work together. To help them feel and teach by the spirit and to see what it is like to have success in their area. We are planning an activity for the sisters where they can do a get to know their companion and learn to have charity within their companionship. We’ll see. We are just helping and serving all we come in contact with.

My comp is absolutely incredible. She helps me out so much and we really work together as a team. We are both super focused and obedient but also have fun. We can hardly get anything done in study time because we are stuck talking about one principle. Ha-ha. She’s excellent! I'm enjoying working with her a ton!

We had some excellent lessons with our investigators this week. We taught a young woman named Sofia who is 18. Our first lesson was amazing! We explained why we were there and then just talked about God's love for each of us and how important she is to Heavenly Father. She started to cry and of course I did too. I just looked into her eyes and said that she's a princess of a king and that God has a plan for her. Then my comp explained about covenants we make with Heavenly Father to show our love for Him. Then we committed her to baptism. She said yes. My comp said that it was like my spirit was talking with her spirit. It was amazing! A really cool experience. Then last night, we talked with a woman named Marta from Nicaragua who explained her problems and started to cry. I felt a need to just give her a hug. So weird considering I hardly know her and she doesn't know me. But I felt a strong impression to hug her. So I did and then we committed her to baptism and a date. It was so awesome. I have learned so much about myself this week. I love the people here. I just can't help it. I have a huge desire to talk with people and help them learn God's love for them. We are also teaching two other families right now. One is so much fun because they have such interesting questions about the Book of Mormon. They are reading it but just want to understand more. It’s just fun with them. We have some great members in the ward who are helping us out and motivating their neighbors. We have an activity this Wednesday that we came up with called movie night! We are going to show the movie the testaments. We hope they will take time afterwards to pray to know if the things expressed in the movie are true. We’ll see how it goes. We are going to make popcorn and have drinks for everyone. We are just trying to spark energy here. I got so excited my comp wanted to do an activity too. We are always on the same page! We are broadcasting it like crazy and have made a movie poster even of it to invite people. It’s just a lot of fun.

The work is going forth strong in this area. I am working harder now than I have worked in my entire mission. How sad is that. I wish I could start my mission over.  I just love missionary work! It is so much fun! Yeah, there are days where all the appointments fall through, but things just seem to work out for the best. Other things fall into place.

 Lots of Hermanas!

 Two Seasons - Wet and Dry....back to WET!!!!

Study and eating at the same time.

I love what we are doing and feel so lucky to be here. Yesterday, we were walking on a new street we didn't know and paused to look around. We looked at each other and said...wow we are in Costa Rica. It’s amazing. I wish everyone could come here and see what we are doing and experiencing the wonderful people here. Well...I have to head out. We have two FHE’s tonight. I love you guys. Miss you and pray for you! You guys are so important to me. Have a good week. Have a fun week. Tell Grandma and Papa Jones I love them and pray for them and Grandma Stansfield, too. Have fun! Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo – Hope Megan is feeling better with her back and that Jordan and Brett are safe – and get back to their families soon.

Hna. Jones