Sooooo I wrote my email and realized that it was just a ton of
spiritual stuff and I had a lot of people asking about regular day to
day stories, so I'm going to add some random updates here and you can read
my first email below:)
The rats: They are everywhere. On
garbage days people just throw their garbage in the streets and some
people and a big truck come by later to throw the garbage in the back of
the truck. This is not effective at all. When its windy the trash gets
blown all over the place and it never gets picked up. Its kind of sad...
but because of that there is a ton of food for stray dogs and rats. And
the rats here are HUGE. We have a hole in our floor and no matter how
many times we try to cover it, the rats always find a way to get in. We
always wake up at about 3 in the morning to the sound of our garbage
can being knocked over. We have set traps, but they don't phase the
monsters. I haven't ever seen them, but If they can wiggle out of a full
on rat trap, these guys mean business.
Also, we have
officially entered the rainy months. It rains like crazy here. pretty
much every day in the afternoon. My shoes and feet are pretty much
constantly wet(and before you send me emails saying how I need to take
care of my feet and keep them dry... I know.). But at least the rain is
warm sometimes...
I also got my birthday package and
letters from girls camp and the grandparents! I'm surprised that nothing
happened to any of them! The package came in about 2 and a half weeks
and the letters in about a week and a half. Not too shabby.
The
amount of miracles that one experiences in the mission is crazy. I
could spend hours writing about all of the miracles that I have witnessed
in the short four months that I have been on my mission. Last night I experienced such a moment.
This whole week my companion and I
have been struggling to fijar citas (I dont really know how to say that
in English... it means to have a for sure appointment) We have been
teaching a lot, but with people that we randomly run into, because all
of our existing appointments cancel on us. Well every night this week my
companion and I have ended up in the same neighborhood really close to
our house with about one our left in our day, and no appoinements to go
to. It was really frustrating because even when we had scheduled to work
in the complete opposite side of the city we somehow always ended up in
the same neighborhood at 8:00 at night. So last night we ended up in
Zetillal at 8 again... and my companion had to go to the bathroom(no
surprise there jaja). He decided to ask the closest house if he could
use their bathroom, but the person said no... which was weird because
people never say no to that. But the lady said to ask the house across
the street. Now we have knocked almost every door on this street about
three times each, and every time we would knock on this door, nobody would ever be home.
This time we knocked on the door and immediately a girl opened the door.
My companion asked if he could use the bathroom and she said yes and
let us in. As we walk in the house there are balloons everywhere,
presents, toys, and a ton of food. While my companion is in the
bathroom, the family immediately starts talking to me like we are best
friends. The dad is asking me all sorts of questions and he tells me
that his son turned 4 today. The son who had just turned four comes up
to me and shows me all of his presents and asks me to play with him, and
then the mom comes in and asks if I'm hungry. Without waiting for a
reply she hands me a HUGE plate of fried rice, beans, salad and a
ton of soda. Next thing I know Im talking with the whole family and they
are all so friendly. They acted like we were best friends and it all
felt so natural. After talking for about half an hour we got their
number and we will definitely be returning there next week.
The
crazy thing is that things like that happen all the time. The people
here are so trusting, open, and friendly to the missionaries. It is so
cool to have so many friends here! You can meet somebody and in 10
minutes feel such a strong connection with them. It's really hard to
describe the feelings that I feel while I'm in a lesson. If anybody
reading this is considering serving a mission... Do it. The things you
learn, and the experiences you have are better than anything else. I
wish I could put into words everything that I want to say, but I can't,
partly because my English is slowly slipping away...and partly because
it's just impossible to describe.
I am so thankful for this
gospel in my life. I am grateful for the opportunity that I have been
given to share it with the people here in Costa Rica. At times the work
is hard, really hard. But the ability to change somebody's life forever
is worth it all. My testimony has grown so much in these short four month's
that I have already been out here, and I am excited to see what happens
next.
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