Hey everyone!
First of all, I really am sorry about the lack of information in the last few weeks. Especially last week. I know. Total rip off.
The whole thing was a
little amusing for me, because (not that I am a Costa Rican Historian or
anything but… ) Costa Rica was basically handed their independence on a silver
platter. Basically one day someone was like ¨Hey Costa Rica! You are your own
country now!¨ And everyone was like ¨Pura Vida.¨ End of Revolution story.
But it was still really fun. Basically Costa Rican flags everywhere. And we basically couldn’t get any work down for the parades and cultural activities goin down. That was a bummer, but, what could we do? The biggest event was that in our little town there was a HUGE parade that EVERYONE participates in. Basically people create a little house out of cardboard and put a candle on the inside so the light shines from the outside in. Then everyone with their houses walk in a big circle around the town. I didn’t really understand it, and when I asked my investigator why this parade happens every year, all she could tell me was that its ¨tradition¨. Hey, whatever! It was a cultural experience for sure.
We also went to the temple last week in Belen, which is why I wrote last Wednesday and didn’t have any time. I love the temple. It is in a REALLY beautiful part of the country with rolling green hills. Its warmer then my area in Belen but not super hot like Zona Sur or Guanacaste. The temple is so little and quaint. Its only one floor which is actually kind of cool. I always really love going to the temple. Especially in the chaos that can be the mission, its nice to have a day to chill out and reflect on the your own spiritual needs in the temple.
Who is Lorena, how did she get a testimony?
Lorena is…. Very interesting. We have been working with her for a little bit longer then Hermana Escobedo has been here (12 weeks). The first time my other companion Hna Hernandez went to go meet her … she was not doing so well. She has been struggling with depression and went we met her the first time she was at her lowest. At that time she barely left her bed, let alone the house. She didn’t have any purpose in life, and didn’t feel like anyone cared about her. In these 3 months she has changed a whole lot. She really likes church, and always says she feels the spirit and that her week always go better when she attends church. But she is funny because she sometimes AVOIDS us. Which is annoying. She doesn’t live that close to us, but we always try to make a big effort to go visit her every few days, but sometimes she just DOESN’T answer the door when we know she is home. Sigh. But she is real close to being baptized. She really just needs a testimony of Joseph Smith and The Book of Mormon. (And if she would give us some TIME she would probably have that by now…. )
Is it still rainy season? Hotter cooler? Drier?
OH HO HO HO HO HO YEEES!
It has been rainy more lately then before. Every single day for at LEAST 2 hours it just POURS. This always kind of stinks because its usually RIGHT after lunch, (So everyone is full of food) and people get sleepy and take naps. This makes our job a little difficult. People frequently sleep through our phone calls, our knocks at the door, so you know- that’s fun.
Describe your church meetings¨:
Our little branch is quite fun. We
usually have about 50 people in our sacrament meeting. I usually end up leading
the music, because not many people know how and the girl whose calling it is
usually comes a little late. One of my favorite things about Sacrament meeting
is that our branch president has two special needs kids. One of them is David-
who is eleven and is ALWAYS throwing kisses at us (What a flirt!). He is
much more chill and in his own little world then his sister- Sara- who is 7 and
a LOT more active. She often begins to sing ¨Called to serve¨ or the ¨Whenever
I feel the rain on my face¨ primary song in the middle of the sacrament or a
talk VERY loudly. Or sometimes she takes her shoes off and throws them at her
dad who is sitting on the ¨stand¨. Then she cracks up. I seriously LOVE her.
She is just so happy all the time. My favorite thing about Sara and David is
that they totally recognize me and my companion. We are buds. Like I said,
usually David starts making kissy faces and Sara starts exclaiming ¨Le GUSTA?¨
Over and over again.
Gospel Principles is always a little
interesting…
And Relief Society is always really uplifting
with our little group of woman.
Our branch covers 4 little villages. Anyone
who doesn’t live in San Marcos usually needs to take about a 15-20 minute bus
ride to get to church. This complicates getting investigators to church, but we
do okay.
Describe what you do while teaching
discussions.
Well we usually try to change each lesson
depending on the investigators needs. We have set lessons that each person
needs before they get baptized, but we can choose how to teach them, and what
to focus on. We usually decide these things depending on the Spirit. (See
Preach my Gospel- Chapter3)
Here I am with sons of a less active member that we are trying to get to
come back to church. AREN'T THEY THE CUTEST?
Love you all.
Hermana Patterson
.JPG){kind=link}