Wow, a new big change for Chase and his resposibilities! Crazy last 3 days.

Wow, my mind is going 1000 miles per hour right now. First off, I would like to say how great that Christmas video call was. It was so nice talking to you all. I'm not going to lie... I got a little homesick when I saw all of the pictures from Christmas at the house, but I'll be home soon enough to enjoy Christmas with you all again.

Okay, so all of what I'm about to tell you happened in the last 3 days. Try to read it all, it's going to be a long one. I'll start with the morning the day after Christmas.

Remember George? That American that lives here in Costa Rica but is really really sick and I've been translating for him? Well the day after Christmas I got a phone call from Dania (The lady from my ward who has been taking care of George while he's been sick) and she said that she is caught up in a legal problem with George. George got really sick and almost died, and when Dania walked into his room and found him lying on the ground, she called 911 and the ambulance came and took him to the hospital. When he left for the hospital, he forgot his money and his passport in the hotel room that he was staying in. So Dania took them to keep them safe.... Well one of Georges friends is a lawyer and she accused Dania of using George to steal his passport and she wanted to throw Dania in jail.

Dania wanted me to go with her to the island that George lives on to personally deliver his items and record it with me being the translator. So a couple hours after, my companion, Dania, and I headed out to an island called Parismina.  First we took an hour and a half bus ride to a port, then we got on a little boat and headed off into the ocean for about half an hour until we reached Parismina. Its a tiny little island that has it's own little civilization. It's so cool! I'll make sure to send pics, it's so pretty there! So anyways, we get to the shack that George lives in and give him back all of his stuff and now things are all good.

Okay... so if that wasn't enough, as we are returning from the island the zone leaders call me... They tell me that I need to bring my white clothes to the church in 30 minutes because I'm going to baptize. The Zone leaders have been prepping a little girl named Tania for baptism and as district leader, I do the interviews for all of the investigators to make sure that they are ready to be baptized. well last week I interviewed Tania and I guess she thought I was pretty cool, because the day of her baptism she asked if I could baptize her! hahaha Tania's family is really interesting, the parents are really young and they have 6 kids. I have become really close to all of them and the 10 year old says that I'm his best friend. I love how loving all the people are here.

Okay and the last crazy thing. Last night we got home and started planning for the next day and our phone was on silent. After we finished planning I picked up the phone and we have a missed call and message. I first check the missed call and it's from PRESIDENT HAYES (the mission president) and I'm like... ohhhhh shoooot what happened? Because he only calls missionaries for important matters. then I check the message and it says "Elder Abel, call me" and then I know that I'm in trouble. So, I call him back as soon as possible and he answers and tells me that it isn't for anything bad, in fact it's for something really important. He asked me if I could serve him in the office for the next couple of months as the secretary of immigration! He said that as secretary I am going to know everything that goes on in the mission. I am going to be responsible for buying airplane tickets, helping with missionary changes, dealing with passports, the new missionaries, and a whole bunch of other stuff. I'll also get my own truck to travel to different places around the mission. I'm really excited, but really nervous, because it is a big responsibility. Tomorrow I have to be in the office super early and have to leave at 4 in the morning... Also, I think my P day is going to change, so I'll be writing home on a different day.

Annnnd I think thats enough for now. Congrats to you who read the whole thing, sorry if it was long and is hard to read.

I'll keep you updated on this new assignment, and keep me in your prayers por favor:) Love you all!

They made friends with this man who wanted to be a missionary for a day.  They dressed him up and hit the town.  Chase said it was a lot of fun for all involved.