April 21, 2014 It was a great week kids!

Happy Easter everyone! 

We had a great week here in Aserri. 

This last week the mission recieved new missionaries from the MTC (we recieve and send home missionaries every 6 weeks). My companion was excited because she doesn´t feel like a baby anymore! There are missionaries in the field who have less time than her. Haha. I remember feeling that way too. On tuesdays we always have district meetings. Hna Bay and Hna Roundy (The Sister training leaders who share an area with us) couldn´t make it to the meeting, because they were going to bring some new girls to our area to work for a day. While at the district meeting, the office called us too, letting us know that we would be taking some of them to our area as well. It turned out that we each got a new sister missionary, including my companion. She was nervous, but did GREAT. I was with Hna Holbrook from Alpine, Utah (no relation to Alee) and I am sad now that I am realizing that I didn´t take a single picture with her.... booooo. They all looked so overwhellmed and tired, I totally remember my first few days in Costa Rica, and I am sure I looked even MORE worn out.  All the gringas actually had pretty great spanish for being so new, but it helped me remember how far I´ve come. I felt especially bad when our last lesson together was with a very intelligent youth pastor of another church who asked a lot of profound questions. Lets just say I did most of the talking, but at the end, she shared a very sweet testimony that he appreciated a lot. 

This week our ¨mom¨ Aura (A member who cooks and does laundry for us) Was on vacation for Semana Santa (Holy Week.... observations to come) in Nicaragua. We ended up eating with a  different family in the ward every day. It was really fun! We got to know a lot more families and it was a good experience for everyone. This is the first place in my mission that the members get excited and have a sign up list to feed us! How we love the members in Aserri!

On friday, we had a ward missionary work BBQ. It had a great turn out and quite a few investigators came and got to know members of the ward. SUCCESS! One of our investigators even asked someone he met at the BBQ to be the one to baptize him! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAayeeeeaaaa.  Also, Jose (with the jacket on his face.... goober), Kelli (Ricks future wife), and Limber came. They are some of my new favorite investigators. WE have a lot of fun teaching them because they are very spiritual people. Their whole lives they have been trying to do what god wants for them. They read the bible AND apply to thier lives (They DO exist! haha). They always have very thoughtful and deep questions which shows us that they are really understanding and applying the things we are teaching them. Lets just fill up the font now, shall we? 

 We had our first baptism yesterday! What a relief! Its been kind of a crazy ride, but it finally happened. Her name is Dayana. Her family was all baptized in Nicaragua about 7 years ago, when she was little. They were all very active and were even preparing to enter the temple to be sealed as a family. Before they could go through, they moved to Costa Rica and lost contact with the church, so they have been inactive for their entire time here. W really love their whole family. Its fun to watch the parents re-learn the gospel principles they already knew and apply them to their lives again.  

Our first week here in Aserri, we decided to sing. All 4 of us like to, sOo it seemed like a good idea. Now, we have become the ward choir singing almost every week. (Ain´t no body got time for dat) and each time feeling the need to be prettier than the week before. This week we tried to get a little fancy and Hna Bay was singing the tenor line an octive higher of How great thou art. We ended up going way flat.... awkward. Thats what happens when you ask sister missionaries who dont have time to practice to sing. haha. NO, we love it. It always brings the spirit, and its fun to invite people to come to church to see you sing. 

On Sunday morning, at 6:30 am on the dot, there was a loud knock at the door. Being in the middle of my morning prayer, it honestly scared me. I went to go open the door, and this is what the Easter bunny left..... 

Hna Roundys grandma sent her a package last week with all sorts of Easter surprises for us. She was kind enough to share with us. It was fun because I almost forgot that it was Easter! 

Easter in Costa Rica has honestly surprised me. First of all, the big occasion isn´t actually Easter in itself, it´s the week leading up to Easter. Everything shuts down and everyone goes on vacation. They party ALL week long and if they aren´t members they drink the week away (way to celebrate the resurrected Christ guys.....). I was just excited to have Reeses peanut butter cups! I forgot how GOOD those things are! American candy come back!

The best part of my Easter was getting to church and finding CLAUDIA!  Her mom drove her all the way from Escazu to come suprise me and bring me a cupcake for my birthday and a m&m Easter egg for Easter! I was so excited I almost started crying! I love her so much! Thanks for the surprise Clau! I am so excited to spend the fall semester at BYU with you! 

April 14, 2014

 Dearly Beloved,

Hope you all had a good week, and remembered to wish my sister Lauren a Happy birthday! WAH! All grown up and 20 years old! 

 Carmen made us Gallo Pinto! Yuuum!
Every week is such a whirlwind of emotion and miracles in the mission. I NEED to become better at sharing them with you all, but when it comes time to write at the computer, they all slip my mind. But let me take a few mintues to think of some from this week:

-I went on divisions with Hna Roundy this week, because she and her companion Hna Bay (who live next door to us) are ¨Sister training leaders¨. I was great. She is so patient and kind and uplifting. I learned so much from her and I have some great goals to work at. I am so grateful that we have them so close. Not only do they teach my example, but its also nice to have shoulders to cry on when you and your companion ABSOLUTELY fall apart and bawl for 2 hours straight. They are so nice to us! Poor girls.... 

 I love being in the same stake as Los Santos (my first area!) especially because we are in the stake center while our building is being remodeled. I love it because every once in a while I run into the people I love! President arias, susetty (!), and the Jimmenez family .

-We found 14 new investigators this week, I think that is my personal record. The best part is that a lot of these people show REAL potential!

-Marcelo is back in the wagon!

-Sara, who basically told us that she would NEVER come to church, came! And enjoyed it! She is one of those people that reasonably speaking, you should drop, but something about her says that you can´t. We are getting her in the water if it kills me. 

-We invited a contact that my companion made on a bus to chruch. Not only did he come to church, but he accepted a baptismal date. The best part is that I am SURE that if we had told him to be baptized right then and there, he would have. The spirit was THAT strong! Thanks for your help Deniese! I love you Guatamala! I love you Columbia!

-Dayna has been interviewed and will be baptized this saturday. Weeeeee! 

And now, some funny questions from Kaylie Crowley: (Submit your own funny questions at alexis.patterson@myldsmail.net)

How many square feet is your apartment? 

I dont know if I even know how to calculate that kind of thing, but its small. A space for studying, our bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Thats it :) 

Have you tried Milo or Ecco?

I dont know what EITHER of those things are..... sorry. 

Have you cut your hair at all on the mish?

Just trimmed the dead ends becuase the mission DESTROYS YOUR HAIR. Aussie deep conditioner come baaaaack!

Are there any cute Elders in your area?

Ew. No. Also, Not even thinking about that. Also, all the elders on missions are like 14 or something now. 

What's the hardest thing about Spanish hoy, or is it all easy now?

I am almsot there. I feel pretty confident. I rarely need to repeat myself. 

Tell me about the saddest, ugliest stray dog you've seen there.

I once saw a black stray that had his eye cut out and and broken leg. Poor little guy. 

Have you seen those crazy yellow and black spiders that form their webs right in the middle of paths and in between houses? The ones where the HUGE one is the female and the tiny one that hangs out with her is the male? 

Um, YES. But, I dont think we get them as big as they do in Limon, or closer to the beach. 

Cockroaches, right? Best cockroach story?

Funny enough, this is the first area with a real Cockroach problem. I am just over it by now. Costa Rica= some sort of bug problem ALWAYS. My poor companion got a little irritated with me the first few times I refused to kill the bugs for her. I just said ¨Sorry hun, welcome to costa rica!¨ Ok, but then when I could tell it was really stressing her out, I killed them. 

TELL me you've tried to drink water out of some huge-o leaf like they do in Avatar. I totally did that when I was in Costa Rica. 

Can´t say that I have. Remember that I rarely get to see or experience much touristy type things. I do love drinking pipa coconut water! 

How many wards are you 'over'?

Just one :) And we share with with two other sisters,. which I LOVE 

When was the last time you held a baby?

More than 14 months ago.... and all you people (minus my sister.... thank you very much) that are having babies are KILLING me! 

Does your companion snore?

Luckily no! Teder mercies from the lord! 

Hope you all have a good week! 

typical costa rica grub! 

Conference Week!

My old companion Hna Garcia sent me a birthday package with all sorts of thoughtful things. My favorite was the head massager thing because she knows that I LOVE when people play with my hair!

Hermana Roundy hit her year mark, so we celebrated and bought pizza and a tres leches!

One of my favorite things in Costa Rica is La Feria ¨The fair¨, where we do our produce shopping EARLY saturday morning. Everything is so cheap and fresh and you can buy exactly what you need.

One of the things I have always seen, but never bought (until this week) is the fresh juice. This guy literally starts with sugar cane and fresh fruit, and JUICES it in front of you. It was so good that I bought a little bottle to keep in my fridge!

We also buy fresh bread in the bakery. YUM YUM YUM. I am not sure I can come home to shopping at walmart again.......

How great was Conference weekend? I can honestly say it was the best conference of my life. We had kind of a brutal weekend with 2 baptisms falling through (ugh, the WORST) and we were in real need of some spiritual
time. I LOVE LOVE LOVED Saturday mornings session specifically. WOW! So many life changing thoughts.  ELDER HOLLAND WHAT ARE YOU SO AMAZING????? 

For any friends that are reading this and have no idea was General Conference is, let me fill you in. 2 times a year, our world wide church holds a general conference for every member and non member of the church to have the opportunity to listen to the words of a living prophet and his apostles . It is.... AWESOME. I always tell people, Moses was a great prophet. The only problem is Moses, is that he didn´t know about all the problems that we have today. The best part of a living prophet is he knows what our world is going through. He received the revelation on what we need NOW. Here was his talk. 

Some of my other favorites:
Henry B. Eyring 

Russel M. Nelsen 

Richard G. Scott 

W. Craig Zwick

Dieter F. Uchdorf 

Gary E. Stevenson

David A. Bednar 

I have never had a list so long of favorites! I invite you to enjoy the messages that these servants of the Lord have for each of them, and pray that you can feel the same things I felt while hearing their powerful words.

We gringas, watched the first Saturday session on an ipad.

My baby girl hit her month mark in the mission field. There is a tradition that trainers buy their new companions ¨trits¨ on their month mark.

Today was my companions Month checkup at president Wilkinsons house. It was fun to see all the missionaries and see my hero, Hermana Wilkinson.

Let's make up for lost time

March 31, 2014

Okay friends and family,

I realize that I have a lot of apologizing to do. I have been awful at writing these letters lately. I realize how much you all enjoy them so I am making a diligent effort this week.

Lets start out with this picture:

In Costa Rica there is a stomach ache called ¨pega¨ which basically is just indigestion. The funny thing is that it really only exists here in Costa Rica. None of my Latina companions have every heard of or had pega until they got here, but its common. If you eat a lot you get pega. If you eat too quickly- pega. If you eat something with a lot of oil (easily done in the country) PEGA! Luckily (and knock on wood) it is something I haven´t experienced yet, but almost every single one of my companions has had. 

When people get pega, they get little balls of greese in their forarms. The only way to get rid of pega is to message these little balls out of your arms (And sometimes behind the knees). The thing is that this is a VERY PAINFUL PROCESS. Usually middle aged to older women are the only people who know how to do it correctly. Every person who has to do this eventually is crying because it hurts so bad. 

My poor companion has had some trouble with her stomach until we realized she had pega. She is feeling MUCH better, but as you can see, its not a very fun experience. 

This week my companion had to go do her fingerprints for government papers, so we spent the night in the ¨sister house¨ of the mission. My old companion Hermana Escobedo lives in this house full time and so it was fun to have a sleep over and we even bought pizza from a recent covert of hers! 

A new sign that I put next to my bed to help me stay focused when I wake up. 

I can´t actually remember what this fruit is called, but in my mind its called ¨frog egg fruit¨. The first time I saw an elder eating this fruit, I laughed because it looked so gross,but I actually like it a lot. One of my favorite things about Costa Rica is the produce. We do most of our grocery shopping in the farmers market (which i love, because unlike the states,its so cheap!) and there is so many fun and different fruits that I have never even HEARD of before. It keeps life interesting 

We totally planned to be matchy this day..... 

Alejandro and Denise,two youth from our ward who are anxious to get involved in missionary work!

How great was the Womans meeting? I LOVED IT! The only bummer is when the cute General Primary president tells you to look to your side and give your mom a hug,and you feel sad, because your mommy is far far away. My companion literally started crying. Some of my favorite notes:

-Do our children (or we) understand that when we are baptized that we change forever? That we can not go back to what we once were? 

- Don´t be too hard on yourself, relax and rejoice! 

- In the gospel there are no age barriors,so dont put any up!

- We´ll build up his kingdom with earnest endevour 

- ¨Perfect¨ come from a ¨Complete¨

- We can not go through this mortal experience alone!  We receive help though the atonement, the spirit, and others.

- The best way to protect a current or future family is through keeping covenants

-Few of our Heavenly Fathers daughters have had the opportunity to know about and make covenants- what a blessing it is to live in the fullness of times! 

- As daughters of God, we are more alike than we are different. 

Okay, so remember that I had to translate some of that, so hopefully it all made since. This is a picture of all of the women in our ward who came. Afterwords we enjoyed Costco (Pricemart) Muffins! Yay comfort food from home! 

Hermana Xinthia and Hermana Mercado always give us so much love! 

Team Aserri-

Some of our favorite things:

- Shouting (and... in english!) ¨COME BACK!¨as desperately as the girl from Titanic when Jack dies.

-Teaching Hna Beltran funny things in english (including, but not limited too ¨Ain´t nobody got time for that!¨ ¨Whatever¨ ¨I´m going to beat you up¨ (and of coarse,as sister missionaries, said with the most love possible) ¨You can´t talk to me like that¨, ¨You´re grounded¨. ) 

- Eating churros from the churro place on Mondays

- Taking funny pictures

- Laughing and laughing when drunk men get ahold of our number.

 Because our chapel is being remodeled, the bishop rented a mini bus to take us all too and from the conference.

In this ward they LOOOOOVE having the missionaries over, which is great. There is a signup sheet and everything (Are we sure that I am in Costa Rica?). The Aburto Family had us over last night. They live close to us, so we looove visiting them. We always tell them all our funny stalker stories (which we seem to have a lot of these days..... but that´s for another time).









 Melanie and Niyeli came to church with us yesterday. It started out being a stressful experience because we got there late, but then it all was worth it because THEY LOOOOOOVED it!

Also, anyone who has ever seen The District videos (The missionary training videos) I always want to greet Niyeli like the sister in one of the videos ¨Niyeli! Hiiiiiiiii! ¨

March 24

 March 24, 2014

 Our District

Some good scriptures I found this week: 

But behold, I, Nephi, will show unto you thatthe tender ^cmercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hathchosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto thepower of ^ddeliverance. (1 Nephi 1:20)

And I rejoice in theday when my ^cmortal shall put on ^dimmortality, and shall standbefore him; then shall I see his face with pleasure, and he will sayunto me: Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a place prepared foryou in the ^emansions of my Father. (Enos 1:27) 

Hi everyone! I hope you all had a really good week. Time continues to fly and I can´t believe we are nearing April! Crazy.  

We had an investigator who invited us over for dinner to eat some traditional food. Soup, rice and tortillas. The thing is is that they gave each of us LITTERALLY a dutchoven pot of soup. We couldn´t finish it. 

Hermana Beltran and I continue to get along and we continue to see many miracles. I sometimes am blown away with how great the Lord has been to us. For only having 3 weeks in this area and knowing absolutely NOBODY, I am impressed with how many investigators the Lord has blessed us with. I give a lot of credit to my companion. Her rock solid faith keeps our expectations high.

Speaking of my companion, she got quite sick this last week. She suffers from Chronic Gastritis and is having a really hard time with the diet here of rice and beans. 

My first night in Aserri, Carlos, Carolina and Hermano Angulo (from Escazu) drove all the way to Aserri to say goodbye and to bring me a tres leches cake! I was basically crying! And.... of coarse.... I didn´t have my camera on me. ugh! But at least here is a picture of us enjoying the cake. 

My trainer went home this week :( She should have gone home one change before me (in June.... I think... ) but she has been having some horrible heath problems and finally decided it would unwise to keep going. Sad day. 

Okay. I blame the fact that i am FREAKING OUT about what I should be studying this fall semester as my excuse for shuch a short letter this week. .... okay... ever week. Im a slacker. 

Love you all. 

this picture is with me and our cocinera ¨Hermana Aura¨. She is like our mom here is Aserri. She takes care of us and her cooking is super good! 

The bishops family :) 

Okay i think the problem is that here the internet connection is slow, and apparently my pictures are too big. The internet lady just came over to chew me out for ¨using up too much internet¨ trying to upload pictures. rolling of eyes. She doesn't have any solutions for me other than something I need to change in my camera, but as for the pictures I have, i might be out of luck because she keeps giving me a stinky look.... oh brother.