Bring on the rain

Hey everybody! (Some times you just got to change things up)
How was your week? How did my keyboard switch magically back to Spanish? Haha.
This week FLEW. Flew so super fast.
Lets start with this.
I HAVE BEEN IN COSTA RICA FOR MORE THAN A MONTH. I HAVE OFFICIALLY HIT MY MONTH MARK! (And as Michael Buble often sings on my Ipod at home….) And Im feelin’ good!
Lets be honest. I am so glad this past month is behind me.  It was a bit of a doozie. Its really kind of hard to be thrown into a country expected to teach people something as important as their eternal salvation and not really know much of the language.( I must include a little “sorry” for my Dad. I’m sorry for all the times I wanted to watch the English Disney tapes instead of the Spanish. I’m sorry I wanted to transfer my second grade education back to Larsen Elementary instead of continuing in a Spanish Immersion program, I’m sorry I really only took one Spanish class in high school and ZERO in college.. I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry!)  I am excited that I have a months experience. Even though its definitely not much, its way better to say “I have been here in Costa Rica a month” than even saying “I have been here for 3 weeks”. I don’t know what, it just is. I feel much more accustomed (is that the word I am wanting to use? Yikes…. My English…..). I have the rountine down. I know where I buy my groceries and where I don’t. I know which streets to avoid at night, and which streets have the largest hills. I am slowly learning (okay, not really) the bus schedule. I have jokes with my companion and the Elders. All of these things make life much easier as a missionary.
And now for this week:
WHEEEEEW. What a crazy rollercoaster. Luckily, mostly ups.
Hna. Hernanadez and I have officially joined A.A. Yes. A.A. as in Alcoholics Anonymous. Now keep your panties on. This is actually, really funny.  Bernal. Has a smoking problem. This guy smokes like a pack a day. Luckily, he wants to quit, but after 35 years of smoking so much, it’s hard to do, ya know? Hna. Hernandez ‘s dad would take some of the youth in his ward to A.A. to help them out with their addictions and it really seemed to help.  We thought, “what do we have to lose”? And we took Bernal to A.A. WHAT A HOOT. You should have seen their faces when two missionaries (girls) walked in the door.  I was roaring with laughter on the inside. Someone was in the middle of their speech, and we totally stopped the whole meeting. We had to explain that we were not addicts of anything. We were simple there for moral support for Bernal. The thought that was just about the greatest thing and welcomed us with open arms. They told us that they all needed God to help them with their addictions and that maybe we could share something with them some time (Score!).  It’s great because every member of A.A. is called a “compenero” (aka- friend/ companion). After we walked in, every “testimonial” started with “Buenos noches Compeneros, compeneras”.  So great. We have a whole room of new friends and potential investigators.  They all want to change their lives through God, and here we are, ready to help.  We have been 2 times now (Wed and Sat) and both times I have felt the distinct impression that someone in that room needs the gospel.  It actually might be more than one person. It might be the whole room! So we are planning to keep going. It’s so great because now we will run into our “companeros” in the street and they always give us directions, free taxi rides and encouraging words to keep doing  Gods work. We are loving it. And can we talk about how this is LITTERALLY an experience you can only really have on your mission?
Something else this week: I’m not sure if you heard, but Obama came to Costa Rica this week. I am sure it didn’t even flash at the bottom of your screens in the US, but OH MAN was it a big deal here. I don’t have any idea what he came for, what he did or said, but the whole country was talking about him coming. Every newspaper and tv screen had his face on it. It’s kind of hard to dodge political talk (missionary rule) when your own president is making such a wave. I managed pretty well I think.
One of a few frustrating/sad things this week:
Rosa “broke up” with us Friday. Rosa, our “mom of the mission” who we spend so much time with, who feeds us regularly, who introduced us to HALF of our investigators. We (especially H. Hernandez) are super sad.  Oh and she didn’t just say “no more”. She had all sorts of anti-mormon information from the internet and even brought in a missionary from a different church to bible bash (which we did not).  It was frustrating, heartbreaking, and I only understood half of the things that were said so my poor companion was on her own. The spirit rocked it. She had a scripture for every question, doubt and problem the missionary and rosa brought up. She said that she hadn’t even seen some of the scriptures before, and they weren’t marked in her scriptures or anything. She would flip to a page, glance down, and there would be the PERFECT scripture to defend the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Awesome. The church is true! The Lord defends his missionaries.
Also- this month is the start of the rainy season here in CR. Oh man. It rains at least a little bit every day, and sometimes it rains all day long. I LOVE IT. I love the rain. The smell, the fact that I don’t bother doing my hair, wearing rainboots and rain jackets, the fact that it is not sweltering hot. ALL OF IT. The lord totally knew who he was sending to CR. Now, ask me in about 3 months if I still love it.
And now, Questions from our Readers (okay, My mom) :
How are your clothes? Too big. (Huzzah!) And Im getting pretty board of looking at the same things every day, but… I will live, and this is part of the mission. Learning not to buy new clothes every time I am board (Downeast…. You did this to me!)  Shoes?   Really good. I am super happy with the shoes I brought. If anyone is interested for future missionaries, Keen and clarks have been super great.

How are your feet?  Depends on the amount of rain, and how much walking I do, but so far so good. Band aid blister block has been a miracle worker!

Are your neighbors friendly or afraid of you? When I arrive we had 3 neighbors. Right now we only have one.  She is the cutest grandma. She takes care of her two grandgirls who both come to church with their aunt (also a member in the ward). She is not a member but takes good care of us. She is the one with the avocado trees! 

How far away is the mission office?  About 90 minutes by bus, and then about a 15 minute walk. Not too brutal. I know some parts of the mission are 7-8 hour bus rides. YESH!
How many missionaries are in your district?  8, us four in Los Santos, and 4 Elders in Cartago. We are the only Hermanas. (Which I secretly love because they are constantly calling us to make sure we are safe, and okay.)
Where are they from?
Elder Bacca- Orem Ut, Elder Lundburg- Arizona, Elder Hampton- (Laurens friend)Orem Utah, Elder Guiterrez- Mexico, Elder Roberts (Los Santos)- Missouri, Elder Morales- Panama Hermana Hernandez- El Salvador.
 Who is your district leader? Elder Hampton
  Zone leader? Elder Bacca and Lunburg- They are a hoot!
  How often do you have Zone conference. Ummmm so far we have only had one. But we have district meeting every week, and its super fun.
What do you usually do on P-day? CLEAN our house, clothes, grocery shopping, other errands, and sometimes do fun things like waterfalls, volcanos etc. (Although I have only been to one “fun activity”- last week our outing with Bernal and Rosa.
 What service do you do?  When ever anyone needs service we do it. Members sometimes have little things we can do. We also are starting to clean the church every week.
How often? At least once a week.
How many investigators? About 20! (Awwww yea.) But we only have about 6-8 (depending on the day, and how they feel) that are progressing. This is still really awesome.
Sorry not many photos this week kids!
I will be in the office a couple of times this month, so this is an awesome time to send me mail (hint hint, do it now…)
Send small mail to:
Sister Alexis Patterson
Mision Costa Rica, San Jose
Apartado Postal #249-2010
San Jose, Costa Rica C.A.
Also- Shout out to Alyssa Whipple, I got TWO pieces of mail from her last week, and Emmalee and Cord, I got your Invite! Love love love!
XOXO Hermana Patterson