Templo

Hola friends and family.
Good news. These last 10 days have been sooooo much better than the week before!
Today I am writing you from a stinky internet café in San Jose where the space button doesn´t always work! Why you ask? TODAY WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!!!!!!!!
First time IN the Costa Rican temple, and who forgets their recommend? THIS HERMANA! Que verguenza! My excuse is we left the house at 4 am this morning.  We bused to San Jose, and then took a train to Belen, which is actually where the Temple is. Such a pretty area. Perfect mixture of city and countryside. I am super jealous of the missionaries in this area.
First thing cool about this temple, its only one level. I have never been to another temple like it. Its so crazy that the baptistery and all the ordinance rooms are on THE SAME LEVEL. Weird. But I think I like it!  It was pretty cool to see so many other missionaries from other areas. And I have missed the temple so much. There have been so many times in these 4 months (wooo! Tomorrow is my 4 month mark! Can you believe that you have lived without me this long? Haha) I have wished I could just sit in the temple and feel the peace of the spirit that is so strong there.  We did the session in Spanish (obvi!) which was cool. I was happy with how much I understood, so that is a blessing right there.  Me and my companion spent so much time just sitting in temple, enjoying it that we actually got kicked out for the workers lunch break. It was awesome.  It was also a little bit sad because I was hoping to buy a couple of things in the distribution center at the temple, but it was also closed when we left. Super bummed.  Maybe next time.
This week has been crazy preparing for 3 baptisms. 3!!! This Saturday! I don´t want to give too much information on who because I need something to keep you coming back each week. Consider this your cliff hanger!
We had a multi-zone conference last week on pride. Wow. I got a spiritual thrashing. If any of you haven´t read the talk by President Ezra Taft Benson Beware of pride . Read it. Read it right now. I have done some serious repenting and will continue to repent forever and ever.  Its amazing the different forms pride can take, and we don’t even realize it. Life. CHANGER.
I have been #hashtagging in my mind lately, and I want to start writing them down in my planner and share them with you when I feel like it. #letsstartnow

#superhispterecofarm

 #dontpooponmebabychicken

#mycompanionlovesme   #shethinksimcrazy   #dyai
#allweeatisbread   #breadmakesyoufat
#goingtothetemple

 #alexisisaboynameapparently 

Apparently Alexis is a boy name here. RUDE. 

 #obsessedwithdyai
Im tired of typing. This space bar is the worst. But I hope you all have a superb day!
Love, Hna. Pat.

Costa Rica Screamin'

Hola todos!

I am not even sure where to start. If life on a mission is an emotional roller coaster, then I would name this week California Screaming. Okay, no, Costa Rica Screamin'. It started out peacefully. We had a goal of 30 (¡!!) lessons this week. We were nervous, but we had faith it could happen. As we started out we thought, ´´Now this isn´t so bad, I can totally handle this¨. Then just like California Screamin', we shot off and we couldn´t really breathe because we were moving so fast.

The ups-

We had another baptism this week. It was an easy one.

An 8 year old who has gone to church all his life with his grandma and was just waiting to turn eight.  It was fun to teach the lessons in ¨kid form¨. I passed the interview with FLYING colors. He´s a totally sweet kid named Isaac, and it was fun to spend time with him this week. He was so excited. His grandma told us he was informing EVERYONE on the bus ¨this Sunday I am getting baptized¨ and really I am not surprised. The kid is a HOOT.

Also we worked out tails off this week. All day ér day. We had a mission goal to hit 30 lessons this week. We prayed and went forward with faith. Um…. No big deal or anything but we ended the week with 43. HOLY MIRACLE. I am a little worried that we started out so strong, and it might be a little unrealistic to have that many every week, but we were so happy! We worked so hard for it, and we BLEW IT OUT OF THE WATER. Awwww yeeeeeeea  boooooi.

Also we have a solid 6 investigators with secure baptismal dates. I am optimistic that almost all will be baptized.

The Downs- 

This week was the most frustrating yet. We were working out tails off, but it felt like everyone in the world needed to tell us we weren´t good enough. We weren´t working hard enough. The Elders are better than the Hermanas (Machimso, male chauvinism, is a problem in CR. Sadly, even in the church) and much much more. We got a load of criticism this week when we were having the most success. Ironic isn´t it? We were seeing more miracles and hearts changing in one week, and I guess Satan just needed to try and stop us. TOO BAD SATAN. THIS ROLLERCOASTER HAS ONLY GOTTEN STARTED. We spent more that one night in tears, comforting each other, praying for strength and asking for advice from our Zone leaders (Who are awesomely protective).  They are absolutely LIVID. Hopefully things change this week.

Also, Isaacs baptism was…. interesting. Okay, it was so sad. The pool decided to give us more issues than ever. The most it would give us was half and it was full of cold hose water, like usual. The poor kid could not get his entire body under water. He kept kicking his legs up. He was freezing, embarrassed and started to cry. Finally they kicked everyone but the two witnesses and his grandma out. He was not a happy camper after. Poor kid will always remember his baptism as a trauma.  The part that makes you want to throw up-  

Knowing that you need another 30 lessons this week. Also, you have 10 or more days until your next Pday. Gulp. Let the prayers begin.

And now begins the part where you exit the roller coaster, a little dizzy, giggling with joy and trying to decide if you would do it all over again. Lets pray that this week is more mild with only sunshine and roses. Ha. No way a mission is that easy.  

And now, Questions from our readers:

How are you doing? Good. Very good. I am happy. Basically healthy (minus a mild cold) and loving Costa Rican life.

Are you sick of your companion yet? Depends on the day. Its hard to be with anyone for 24/7, but I am lucky to have her. I know she is DEFINITELY one of the easiest companions I will have. We are besties. We laugh and cry together. We have never had an actual FIGHT, (knock on wood) and I will be super sad when our time together ends in a few weeks.

 Are you sick of rice and beans?  Sigh…. Getting there.

Any new things that you've discovered and love? Oh ho ho yes. I have a running list that I am saving for my 100^th day in CR.

Any monkeys yet? Bitter bitter bitter…. No.

Favorite scripture lately? 

I find myself quoting this part of 1 Sam. 2 :30

30 Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the ^ahouse of thy father, should ^bwalk before me for ever: but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me; for them that^chonour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly^desteemed.

Snail out!

Hermana Patterson 

Ps one of our investigators was sending dollars to their family in Nicaragua. We took a picture and I think Bernal's face is funny in this one... haha.  

He knows I will follow him, Give all my life to him

This is where I live. NBD.

Hey kids.
I´m going to be honest up front. This weeks letter is a short one.  I have a few good reasons:
1.       I only get so much time on the computer each week. Last weeks epistle took so long to write that I didn´t get to all my emails. I fully intend to read each email this week. (Also, if you are interested, I would love to hear from you alexis.patterson@myldsmail.net)
2.       Not nearly as much happened this week as last week
3.       I got the pictures from my sisters wedding this week and I will look at every. Single. One.

Sorry not sorry. Okay, that wasn’t very missionary like. I’m sorry if you are offended.

This week we sent our Emilia (Yes, it is spelt like that) off to Panama. It was tough. We had her as our next door neighbor for 5 quick days. What fun they were! We laughed, we cried, we laughed some more. We saw a silly side to Emilia that we did not think existed. Oh…. But it does.  She left Thursday, at FOUR in the morning. Oh what fun. Worst part. We didn’t even get to say goodbye.  Maximo told us to wait for him in the grocery store parking lot (I’d like to remind you, this is at 4 am) because a friend of his was driving them to the bus station in San Jose. We waited for about  30 minutes, got anxious, and decided to leave Emilia and run home to call Maximo to make sure we hadn’t missed anything. Of coarse, when we called, he said he had Emilia in the car with him, and that they were leaving and didn’t have time to wait. QUE TRAUMA as my companion always says. We said our good byes over the phone.  It was indeed traumatic. We both have a little hole in our hearts. We both randomly will say to the other, “I miss our Indigina!” and we will feel sad, and try to go on with our day.  We miss our best friend and Nicanor like crazy!
This week we learned a big lesson. DO WHAT THE LORD WANTS. Okay, we try to always do what the Lord wants, but this week was pretty incredible. To be honest, working with the members in this area has been a little tough. We think it’s because the branch is so small (about  50 people each week in church) and EVERYONE is a convert, and I think that this area has had some issues with “bad” missionaries in the past. We began to realize that the members just did not trust us. One day I decided to read a section about members in PMG and it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. This was the answer! This week we worked crazy hard to gain the trust of more members and the branch president. I can’t believe how quickly the work is hastening. We were grasping at straws to get people to help us out, and now we have more referrals than ever before. What a miracle. The Lord is the best. 
And now, Questions from our readers (my mom)

Why didn’t Emilia and Maximo just get married officially? Because Emilia has ZERO documents. Zero. Like I said, she doesn’t even really know how old she is. You can’t be married legally, if you don’t…. really exist legally.

Will Emilia and Maximo ever see one another again? Yes. Maximo is the one taking Emilia down to Panama because she can’t be pregnant, with a two year old, all her bags, in a bus for a day and a half. He will get her settled and then return to Costa Rica. Now that she is officially a member of the church, we have something to work with to get them married (in the temple) in a year.

What is their future plan? She lives in Panama for a year while he works. Hopefully after a year they can be married in the temple and he will probably move to panama with her.

Can you contact the missionaries in Panama to find Emilia and keep her fellowshipped?  Oh ho ho. We are ALLLLLLL OVER DAT. Trust me. We are workin hard to help her out. Our mission president is in contact with the mission president in panama and they are trying to figure something out.

Can she take lessons to learn to read and write? Yes. Maximo taught to to write her name, and she is trying to learn. Its super great.

How will this saga end?? I might not know until the Spirit world, but I what a happy reunion it will be!

Also, if anyone is interested, this week is going to be a doozie. We have a new goal from the President of the mission to have 30 LESSONS THIS WEEK. You might not realize it, but that is soooooo much. The most we have EVER had is 25 in one week and that was incredible. It’s the new mission standard and we are SO NERVOUS. But we have faith! SI SE PUEDE!
Love you all!
Hermana Patterson