Unusual week and experiences

Well this week has been one for the books. I have had so many crazy, weird, interesting experiences this last week, hopefully I can remember them all. I'll just start with Saturday. We have been teaching a cool 14 year old named A. He has been really open to our lessons and everything, and we got to teach his mom once and she only kind of paid attention to us. Well Saturday night we stopped by to teach the family a lesson. When we knocked on the door the Mom answered and told us to come in. So we followed her in the house. As we entered, the house looked totally different. There was a huge painting of some hooded figure with runes and the star of david and a menorah on his forehead and a weird altar set up in the corner with strange bottler and candles. I thought it was kind of strange, but we started off our lesson. Right after the prayer she said to us, "Just to let you guys know, I'm not interested in changing my religion. I am interested in the truth. All truth. You have truth. I have truth. We are all truth." I was kind of confused by her comment so I started asking her question about what she meant. She started telling me that she was an Agnostic Rose Cross follower and that she believed in the hidden truths of the bible. She also told us about her own spiritual journey and how we can reach higher levels of spirituality. She said, "If you ask any of our neighbors what we do here, they will say that it is black magic.... but it's not. It's white magic. The level of spirituality that we have reached has enabled us to do things..." She said she couldn't tell us anymore because of an oath of secrecy that she had sworn. At this point I was creeped out but extremely curious so I kept asking her questions trying to get more information from her. She didn't say much more, but showed me a wall sized painting that her husband (who is a cultist priest) had painted. It depicted a huge black swan feeding 7 baby birds its own flesh from its stomach. Behind it was a big cross with all sorts of other symbols. She said if we ever decided to join her we too could know the meaning behind the picture. She said she feels an energy from us that tells her that we are ready to learn the deeper truths and she invited us to go to a Eucharist next week. (We won't be going.) After all of that we shared a very brief lesson about Joseph Smith and ran away.

On another note, remember Elder J? The sick elder that was with us for a couple days? He didn't get any better... we had to send him home yesterday. It was really sad. He only had about 3 months left in the mission and really wanted to finish. Wednesday night we stopped by Presidents house so that he could have his last interview and we had cookies and ice cream there. After that we had to wake up bright and early to drop him off a the airport.

After that saddish morning we had to set up for a leadership meeting with all of the Zone Leaders here in the office. It was a pretty big meeting because we are going to have a new Assistant. Elder Hansen, He was my zone leader when I was in Siquirres. Im excited to get to work with him!
 

Two of the sisters that came up for the leadership meeting couldn't get back to their area because it is Holy Week and there weren't any busses to get to their area 3 hours away. So president told us that we had to go drop them off in the car. So all day yesterday we spent 7 hours in the car driving down to Perez Zeledon, Cartago. It was actually a really pretty drive. You go up this really tall mountain through some really windy roads. It was really foggy and rainy so sometimes you could only see like 10 feet in front of you. Funny story. On the way back I was really tired so I bought a huge coke to stay awake. Well, naturally after drinking a huge coke, I had to use the bathroom. So I pulled off the side of the road up to the border of this dark rainforest to go to the bathroom. As I commence doing my business I realize that it doesn't sound like I'm hitting plants. I squint and see that I'm peeing on a huge cross!! I peed on somebody's grave!! In the middle of the rainforest! I think I might be cursed now.

So those were just some of the highlights of my week... Next week are changes and we are getting 3 gringos, 5 latinos, and 2 senior missionaries. I'll finally have some work to keep me busy in the office! We are also going to the temple as a mission next week! That should be a lot of fun!

Thanks for all your emails and prayers!

Housing the sick and getting to drive.

Hello!

This week was a lonnnng one. Not because of all the work I had to do, but because of how long I sat around doing nothing!! I don't know why but all of a sudden all of the missionaries are getting sick! This last week we have had two missionaries that have had to go to the hospital. And guess what that means. All the sickies get to stay with us and we have to take them to their appointments..... yay.

One missionary had pneumonia and showed up at our house at midnight. We shipped him off the the hospital with President and babysat his companion all day in the office and in our area. After two days of that, they both got to go back to their own areas. Two days ago another sick elder stayed with us who has some major muscle problems. The doctor diagnosed him with gastritis and muscle contractions but I really don't think that's what it is... he can hardly stand up and walk. But anyways, we were in charge of taking him to the hospital because President was 8 hours away visiting a far away zone with the assistants. Because it was an emergency President gave me permission to drive to the hospital! Yeah that's right, I got to drive! President is really frustrated that we can't get licenses here and he said that I can drive with my US license and passport if it's an emergency. He said if I get a ticket, maybe it will let the area office know that they need to find out an easier way for us to get licensed here. haha Hopefully that doesn't happen!

This week was also Sister Hayes birthday so the assistants, my comp and I went and bought cupcakes and some lilies for her! It was a nice little surprise for her before our staff meeting! I'll try to attach a video if the email lets me.

I dont really have much else to update you guys on... We´ve got a biggish group coming in in two weeks so hopefully that will keep me a little busier here. Everything is shutting down this week for Holy Week and all of the Catholics are starting their holy week traditions. It's going to be really hard to find people to teach this week because everybody is going out of town!

Love you all!

 

Mom note- Chase's video he talks about is on my FB page if you would like to see it.

Chase happy about driving!
 

 

Painted a house and made Dad's famous Chocolate Chip cookies amongst other things.

This week was kind of.... interesting. I feel like I did a lot and a little at the same time.

I sat around the office and did a whole bunch of studying again because my companion had a lot of financial stuff to do and I had nothing from migration to do. If you´ve never really sat down and watched the mormon messages on LDS.org, I invite you to check some out. After almost watching all 100+ of them I can guarantee that there will be one that you will like! haha

This week was kind of frustrating because we did all that we possibly could to find new people to teach, but had no success. Being in the city is like that. At least the people that we are teaching are moving along really well! With Eduardo we started teaching about the word of wisdom and he agreed to live most of it EXCEPT the coffee part. He decided to make a pact with God. He said that once God gives him a job he will stop drinking coffee. I told him that it doesn't work like that... but we will see what happens!

We have been teaching this realllly evangelical lady named Karol. She is really interested in our beliefs but doesn't want to change her religion. Every time we end a lesson I also remind them that we don't just share messages with people, we are called to serve the people in whatever way we can. Well usually people just laugh and say that everything is good, but this time Karol took us up on the offer and asked us if we could paint her moms house! I rounded up the two other elders and two sisters that are serving in our ward and we went out early one morning to start painting. We ended up painting for 8 hours!!! It was quite the day! I was kind of annoyed at how long it was taking and was starting to feel like we were just wasting our time, but when we finished Karol said that she wanted to have all of the missionaries over to her house one night so that we could get to know her and her family better! It was a huge step of progress for her! Just through a simple act of service she was able to see that we are normal people that like to serve others! While we were working we talked about gospel topics and about the mission and I think Karol really liked what she heard.

Other than that... I don't think I have much more to report on... Next Monday the new missionaries are having the month check up and that means that I get to go and "help out"(which really just means eat a really nice barbecued American meal. Being in the office has its perks;))

Pics:
1. I gave Sister Hayes(Presidents Wife) Dads cookie recipe and we made cookies together!! They almost tasted as good as he made them:)

2. One of the Elders decided to get cheeky and throw a bunch of paint on me... Don't worry I took the higher road and didn't get him back too badly. (even though I reallllly wanted to!)

 

Bible appreciation and new questionable hair cut (gangster style)

Hello,

This week I actually got to relax! It was kind of weird, because usually I have a mountain of things to do in the office, but I got caught up! This last group of missionaries that came in were only from three different countries so I didn't have a lot of individual stuff to do! My companion always has a ton of financial things to accomplish. This week I really just got to hang out and read. Before the mission I hated reading. I would rather be doing literally anything else. The mission has taught me how important reading is. I wish I would have read more looking back at it now, especially the bible. There is so much amazing information written in that book!

As latter day saints it is really easy to get caught up in just reading the Book of Mormon. And I'm not saying that its a bad thing... but we need to remember that we also believe in the Bible. We are Christians. We believe in Christ. Being out on the mission has made me realize why so many people don't think we are Christians. We spend so much time testifying about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, that we forget to talk about our similarities. We read the same bible. We believe in the same Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Thanks to the restored truths that have been revealed in this last Dispensation before the coming of Christ, we can know even more about Christ´s true doctrine. The Book of Mormon states this in its introduction, ¨The Book of Mormon is a volume of holy scripture comparable to the Bible." We need to always keep this in mind as we study the scriptures. This common ground is what enables us to share about these restored truths today.

Just a cool thought that came to my mind this week.... haha

Anyways, I have been keeping up with my investigators this week and they are all moving forward. We have plans to have 3 baptisms at the end of the month if all goes well! I have really started enjoying the lessons. I am slowly learning that I'm not the teacher when I'm in my lessons. My job is just to guide people to the truth and let the Holy Ghost take care of the rest. I´ve had some great experiences lately where I have really felt the power and authority of God when I teach. Sometimes I'll say something, or I'll share a scripture and I just feel some sort of power come over me and enter the room. I know this is the Lords work and all missionaries are His servants. He works through us and our job is just to do our part and study, invite, and be ready for anything.

On a different note... I got my hair cut today by some gangster. I told him to make me look good... so he spun me away from the mirror and went to town on my hair. He gave me a suuuper short fade and carved my sideburns up pretty high. I honestly kind of like it... but I'm nervous to see if president says anything this Monday when I see him!  haha we all make mistakes right? Lesson learned: never put full trust in a gangster to cut your hair. It could be worse though right? At least he didnt give me stars or lightning bolts like most of the gangsters have here!

Hope you all had a fantastic week! Keep on studying the scriptures and praying! Don't be afraid to ask Heavenly Father for miracles! He gives to people that seek him earnestly and with real intent.

 

 

Chase's new hair cut, gangster style.

Mission President's wife, senior missionary and old and new mission office elders.

Mission President and senior missionaries.

Trying to keep a good balance between working in the field and in the office.

Hello!

This week has been a really fun week! I have tried to think long and hard about my efforts as a missionary until now and I think I am pretty satisfied with what's happened so far. That doesn't mean that I don't have my regrets and I that I don't wish I would have done things a little differently in the past, but at least I'm learning from my experiences. Honestly, the mission has pushed me in a way that I never thought it would have. I've grown in so many ways and have seen and experienced so many things and I haven't even been out for a year yet! So anyways, right now I have to figure out how I can possibly maintain a high success level in the missionary field while still doing a good job in the office. This week I think I found a solution to this dilemma. I decided that I would try to get to know ALL of the members in our ward and work with them. Last Sunday I ran around like a crazy person setting up appointments with every member that I could see. This week I got to enjoy lots of nice dinners and really fun appointments because of it! In spite of the fact that I didn't get any references... I think it was definitely a good decision! They are more excited to work with the missionaries, we have more trust with the members, and I'm happier!

 I wish I could update you guys with a crazy story of something that happened... but nothing crazy really went down this week. We found a couple of good family that hopefully can progress. I ate at Johnny Rockets today and spend $7 on a tiny milkshake. I found out how to make buttons on EXCEL spreadsheets and wrote my own code to make the migration spreadsheet run better.... I think that's about it... hahaha

I hope you all enjoy my blogs.. I don't really know what to write about when I write them. If you want me to write about anything in specific let me know! I love getting emails and pictures from everybody! (and I know I'm a hypocrite because I haven't send pictures in a while... but I'll get better at that!!)

Always remember to pray and study your scriptures! And actually study them... not just read them because you have to!

Love you!!!

Chase helps puts investigator at ease after not wanting to get baptized because he heard you had to be naked. Oh my..

Bueno, you know how I always say how fast the weeks go by? This was not one of those weeks. It just dragged on and on and on and on. I´m usually not a very stressed out person, but my first time doing transfers by myself beat me up. It's not like it was that hard to do... and luckily it all went well. It's just a lot of stuff to keep track of. I think the stress got to me though and I got pretty sick with the flu to top it all off. Being sick on the mission is not fun at all. You feel so bad because you can't go out and serve. I remember being sick at home, and while its always terrible being sick, at least you can enjoy a day of just resting and doing nothing. On the mission you always have work to do, puking or not.

In spite of the fact that being sick was very tough, that doesn't mean that I didn't learn a lot from the experience. The Lord definitely blessed me through all of the difficulties. Our teachings have been going pretty well lately and we have found some pretty great people that are very interested in the church. One of our investigators is named Eduardo. He is 22 and we have been teaching him for about 2 months now. He is a good kid, but he's pretty stubborn. He's been going to church with us, but just "to make the Lord happy". He never wanted to be baptized or do anything in the church, he just needed somewhere to go to church so that God was happy with him. After teaching a good lesson about the Atonement and the love of Christ he asked me if he could go outside and talk to me. We went outside and he said, "You have promised me so many blessings if I read the scriptures and go to church. For the longest time I thought you were a liar. I thought I was doing all of these things for nothing. However, yesterday I found out that you were telling the truth. You know that I've been looking for a job for a while now, and yesterday I found one. And not only that, I feel more peace and happier in my life. And not to mention, I feel stronger when I work out." It was so nice to see that the Lord does bless those who seek after him.. and to hear that I wasn't a liar. haha After he told me that, I started to asking him to continue with the faith that he has received and follow the example of Christ and be baptized. His response was, "Well, I've honestly been thinking about that, and I've concluded that I would like to be baptized... BUT my friend told me that the mormons baptize naked. And I'm not doing that." I quickly reassured him that we do indeed baptize with clothes on and then he accepted to be baptized! It's still going to be a process to prepare him to be baptized, but at least its a huge step in the right direction! Moral of the story, you never know what holds somebody back from being interested in the church or being baptized, and you'll never find out unless you ask them! OPEN YOUR MOUTH AND SHARE! What's the worst that can happen? You get rejected? Oh well, at least we can do our part and invite.

Hope you all have a fantastic week!

 

Here is Chase's response to a picture I sent to him of my Mom, Dad, Madison and I eating a Costa Rican fruit that he has talked about.

 

"lol you guys ate mammon chinos? They are my favorite fruit here in Costa Rica. That or the huge mangos that they have here. But you missed out on the cool outside shell that they have. Peeling them is part of the experience!The people here eat a lot of strange fruit here. Look up nísparos or juplones. I really like nísparos but juplones are the hardest sourest thing I have ever eaten in my life. And they eat all their fruit here when its green and unripe. Like they have mandarins here, but they never eat them when they are orange, they have to be dark dark green!"

Chase is now on his own, no more training. Stress Level 1,0000!

Hello everybody!!

I would like to apologize in advance because this is going to be very short.

This week has been insanely crazy. My trainer left and now its just Elder Fuller and I in the office. This week we had Elder Ochoa come from the presidency of the area 70. I was in charge of prepping all of the sound equipment so that it would all go smooth. Luckily my nerdy side helped me out a lot and we got all the stuff hooked up no problem. After his meetings he complimented me on how nicely planned out the meetings were and said that I'm a great secretary. I felt pretty special. haha

The zone conferences with elder Ochoa took up three days and I couldn't leave the office because there was so much work to do here... I kind of feel bad because I feel like I completely abandoned my investigators. Oh well, luckily we are teaching some great people and I feel like we can pick up where we left off without a problem.

Changes are next week. STRESS LEVEL 1,000,000!!! This will be my first time bringing in new missionaries and sending home old ones all on my own. I've kind of been freaking out prepping all of that stuff, because I can't let anything go wrong. I think I have it under control... but we will find out! I should be going to driving school next Saturday if everything goes well, and I should have a licence the week after. Hopefully I can get all these dang Costa Rican laws figured out!

Thanks for all the emails! I love hearing from you all!

PS. I sang in one of the elder Ochoa's meetings with the elders and sisters from my ward. (there are 11 of us in this ward) I'll attach the recording. It sounded better in person. I blame the I-phone mic for the reason it doesn't sound too great. haha
   *I (Andrea) wasn't able to attach the audio to the blog. Sorry.  E-mail me if you want to hear it.