Well there is so much to tell you I don’t even know where to start. Last Tuesday it was so good to talk to the whole family including Sal!!After I talked to the family we had about 3 more hours left in the Texas airport before we left for Costa Rica. So Hermana Anderson and I decided to practice some contacting. She went and talked to an older man and I found an older lady from El Salvador. Her English wasn’t very that’s what i think she said, haha). Anyways, I gave my first book of Mormon in the Texas airport!
At about 8:00 that night 14 of us missionaries (including my companions) arrived in Costa Rica, best feeling ever! And then seeing my mission President and his wife brought tears to my eyes! President Wilkinson was truly called of God! Him and the mission assistant took us all to the San, Jose temple. He said we should be able to go to the temple at least every three months. At midnight, 6 of us sisters arrived at a member’s house to spend the night. She had a little a spare house that looked like a little playhouse where the elders threw in six single mattresses for us to sleep on. That night was when I learned to be ok with cold showers, no make-up, and pony tails always,haha. However, I learned my first couple of days in Costa Rica that everyone here is super nice! Ive already decided that I want to be a tica(costa ricans are called ticos).
Thursday afternoon, all of us new missionaries finally received our trainers and the name of our area that we would be serving in. My trainer was my big tender mercy last week! Her name is Hermana Potillo and hardly speaks any English. She is from El Salvador, which I was happy to relate with her and tell her that my brother served there! She is so good to talk slow and annunciate every letter for me. Hermana Portillo is a hard worker and all the people here love her! We were called serve in the northern part of Costa Rica about an hour away from San Jose. I love San Rafael de Ojo de agua! Instead of a big city it’s more of a country; with horses and cows and small buildings and houses.
The ward here is incredible as well. There are about 120 members in our ward and the people are kind to speak slow when speaking to me. It’s really hard to understand ticos cuz they talk really fast, slur their words, and talk quiet. Estaban is the ward mission leader and he actually served in El Salvador about a year ago. He adds energy to the missionary work here along with a few other people in the ward who are preparing for missions. Maria Jose is a 19 yr. old in the ward who is waiting for her papers to come. She has been coming to a lot of lessons with us and her testimony is awesome! Our district leader and his companion( Elder Keyser and Elder petlacalco) live close to us and we have lunch every day with them at Hermana Patricias house. We pay Hna. Patricia to cook every lunch for us...they are always super good! I think the Costa Ricans with a little bit more money usually hire someone to cook lunch for them.
I still don’t understand anything anyone says but It has been an awesome experience to be teaching as much as I can in Spanish. We have one girl right now with a baptismal date. Her name is Francini and she is 16 yrs. old. Some other sisters found her, but since she is in our area we get to teach her. She agreed with everything we taught her and we left her with the challenge to read and pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. So we can’t wait for our next lesson. We also found 3 new families just by knocking on their doors. We have hardly knocked on doors but the three that we have knocked on have all seemed to be very interested. Every one is always outside so we usually find new investigators by just talking to them while walking by.
Everyone in Costa Rica is very religious or at least have a strong belief in God, Whenever we ask if they believe in God they always say, “claro” (like clearly or of course). It’s funny watching people just stare at me because of my white skin and blond hair and green eyes. Whenever we are in a lesson and my companion asks who they want to say the prayer, they always pick me, haha. So I think I’m getting my prayers down pretty good haha. Everyone has gates around their houses (usually), so instead of knocking on doors, you knock on the metal gate and say, upe...buenas. It doesn’t have a meaning, but people here always respond to it and open their doors when they hear it.
Well my companion is waiting for me...so next week I will tell you more and hopefully be able to send more pictures. For P-day today we went to a waterfall and it was so beautiful!! I love you all! The gospel is true so don’t ever be afraid to share what you know! Love Hermana Pease
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