I have such amazing family here in Costa Rica and I am beyond grateful for Milena♥

I am so blessed and felt so loved when Milena traveled all the way to Paraiso to visit me before I leave Costa Rica and return home from my mission♥ -Love you Milena

Happy P day!!! 

Are we all feeling the Christmas spirit?? I know I am!! We only have 13 days left until Christmas!! Fa la la la lahhhh!!!! I'm so excited!!

So this week Hermana Martinez and I looked for more service opportunities!! It's good to serve all year long but something about the holidays makes it that much more fun!! We have been praying for opportunities and we had a few this week. 

First off, we were able to help one of the hermanas in the ward move into her house by decorating her Christmas Tree!! That was way fun!! I miss being able to help decorate with my family, so this was a good replacement. It just so happens that that day, I had bought 4 packets of hot chocolate mix (yes you can buy them individually here), so we drank hot chocolate and decorated the tree! It was a good time and we think that the tree turned out really good. 

Decorating the Christmas Tree!

We were also able to help another hermana from the ward with her roosters. Yes. Roosters!! This hermana's name is Eduarda. She's the one who lives on the mountain. We got to her house just in time to see that she was buying 6 roosters! 6!! So we were able to get to work with her and Lesdy (her grandson) building the coops. Honestly, our main responsibility was seeing that the roosters didnt take off running hahaha! We named them and everything! I love the country in this area. It's beautiful and so out of the ordinary from what I'm used to. haha:) 

December is just full of surprises. This week Milenna messaged me saying that her friend Laura was going to be in Paraiso and she wanted to send chocolates with her to give to me. So Thursday we recieved another message saying that Milena's friend Laura was in the park waiting for us. She was wearing red. Hermana Martinez and I left quickly to go find her. We didn't think much of what was going on (we literally just brushed our teeth and ran out the door) because we were expecting to be recieving chocolates from Laura! When we got to the corner of the street, I knew that it wasn't "Laura". Milena was there waiting for us. Oh my gosh!! If I was crying that much to see someone who isn't even blood related, I am not ready for the 29th!!! hahahaha! I was ecstatic to see her! I just cried and cried, and hugged Milena. She invited us to go eat pizza with her. We talked and ate, and I was just really really happy:) I have such amazing family here in Costa Rica. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity that I have had to meet incredible people like Milena. I couldn't believe that she came all the way out here to Paraiso to see me. She is the best!

The Mexican candy that Milena gave us.

Yesterday was great!! After church we had the opportunity to go to the Stake Center to listen to the choir program. Every ward choir had the chance to sing. Almost all of the other missionaries were there too. I absolutely loved it!! There are so many talented people here in Cartago. This up coming week we are going to have more activities so that will be fun! 

Okay. So the weirdest thing happened to me this week. I went to my table to start my studies and I saw that there were a few ants on my table. I brushed them away but kept on finding more. I finally found the source when I knocked over my English scriptures. OH MY WORD THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF TINY WHITE ANTS IN MY SCRIPTURES. I threw them on the ground (reverently set them on the ground) and tons more came out. I brought them outside and just didn't know what to do. My companion and I were swatting ants for a long time. Then we realized that in the binding of my Book of Mormon, there were more...and they had laid eggs! (vomits) I had to do surgery on my scriptures to clean them all out. The saddest part...this is the 2nd time that ants have attacked my scriptures. The first time was in Pococi, but it was way less of a problem. This time, the ants had literally infested my scriptures!! It was strange because there were only ants in my scriptures, no where else on my table. Then I got to thinking. How many "ants" have I met during my mission who only want to attack the scriptures or more specifically The Book of Mormon. As much as we clean up (testify, teach of doctrine) they keep attacking the same place (point. The Book of Mormon) What a bazarr experience!

THE THOUSANDS OF ANTS THAT ATTACKED MY SCRIPTURES!

I love you all. I'm gonna keep working hard! I want to finish these next 2 weeks out well!! 

Have a great week!

Love,

Hermana Zerilli♥

I am going to miss gallo pinto!

"The fridge started moving and the metal roof was clashing...we all knew that we were in an earthquake."

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

I would like the nature to just stop! Hahahah, Last week a hurricane, this week an earthquake! I think the Lord might come before the 29th!hehe:)

Bueno! So this week was a crazy one. That's why there are about a thousand pictures this week (and many more that you will have to wait to see....if I don't accidentally delete them first :P) 

This week started off with a really good district meeting. I've come to love district meetings and I've had really good leaders during my mission who have inspired me to be better. Being week 6 of the change, it was the last one that we would all have together. We talked about goals and about the baptisms that we are planning for December. We are excited for this month and for the Spirit of Christmas! It's soooo much fun teaching others about The Birth of The Savior. Seriously, I loved it last year and I'm already loving it this year! 

District Paraiso and Turrialba

We were able to help Hermana Rocio decorate for Christmas a little this day and that was really fun. Then we had our last lesson with Antonio. Yes LAST! I told you all that Antonio was here for 3 months because of an accident that happened in El Salvador in which he was shot. It was awful and he had to come here to live to recover. Well Paraiso is very cold and his wounds were just not healing. It was extremely painful for him. So, in this lesson he let us know that Wednesday he was going to have to return home to his country where it is warmer. We were devastated, honestly, but we knew that it was for the best. We know that if he had just a little more time, he would have been baptized. This is one of the situations where we planted a seed, and luckily this time we saw it really grow. We know that he has a testimony and that he will keep investigating the church more back at home. 

Our last day with Antonio

Wednesday was a great day!! We were able to visit many people in Santiago which is the farthest part of our area. At night we were able to visit Hermana Eduarda and her grandson Lesdy. We had promised Lesdy that we would bring marshmallows to make smores, so we had a family home evening and roasted marshmallows. It was so fun!! I felt like I was camping hahaha! 

At about 6:30 in the evening, I was washing dishes and instantly all of the dishes started shaking and rattling! The fridge started moving and the metal roof was clashing. I looked at Hermana Eduarda, Hermana Martinez and Lesdy and said "What is happening?!" We all knew that we were in an earthquake. Eduarda just said "Lets leave!" So we headed towards the door. I can't explain to you exactly how awful it felt for those 5/6 seconds! Yeah it was a long earthquake!!! and Strong! The pictures in the room fell from the walls. I had never been in an earthquake like that before. It tuns out, the earthquake hit about 20 minutes from where we were so we were very close. It was a 5.7 magnitude eathquake, strong enough to separate the earth. We immediately checked with all of the other hermanas and the only ones that were freaking out were us!! hahaha, Hermana Hayes was in contact with us making sure that we got off of the mountain and home safely. We were a little nervous going home but everything was okay. What an adventure!

Friday Hermana Martinez and I had leadership counsel in the office!! It was my last one!! I was just so happy to see everyone again!! And Yes, I am going to finish my mission with Hermana Martinez (hallelujah!) 

Saturday, we had our Zone Christmas Service Project. Oh my gosh! We cleaned a cemetery! I had never done that either!! Unfortunately, no one brought cleaning supplies so we cleaned with our hands. I spent the majority of the 3 hours picking weeds and singing Christmas carols haha! Even though is was a strange service project, I felt happy to be doing something that no one normally thinks of doing. It was great to be with everyone too. It's not every day that we all get together to do a service project. It was a good experience, showing those who have passed some love and sharing the Christmas Spirit!

Los "Muertos" (dead) in the the mission, or those who go home in these next few weeks...Yes, I will "die" in Cartago Costa Rica. But who wouldn't want to "die" in Paradise!

This one is for my Roseville 9th Ward Fam...Elder Abel:)

The Zone Christmas Service Project!

Who watched the Christmas devotional?? I did!! I absolutely LOVED IT!!! You all know that I'm obsessed with Christmas. I just loved how they approached and are approaching Christmas this year. It's so important to remember the birth of Christ but not just that. Also his life, teachings, atonement and resurrection. We need to be more like Him and strive to share what we have with others. I am loving the new Christmas initiative. 25 days to light the world and 25 ways to do so!! My companion and I are looking for new things that we can do every day to be better and more like Christ. I invite each and every one of you do join in and if you haven't already, PLEASE watch this video!!

https://youtu.be/mJmAV0gTp_Qs://y

I love you all and wish you the merriest of days during this beautiful time of the year!! 

Love,

Hermana Zerilli

Just because Hermana Moon goes home this week and I am going to miss her so so much!!! Sh has been such a big part of my mission...A great example, missionary, and friend!! Love her!

Elder Tibbs is going home!! His last words for me were, "Hermana, when you are brushing your teeth at 10:30 on December 24th in the mission, I'm goin got be at a party!" hahaha, he's not wrong!

Elder Vasquez is heading to Zone Sur!!!! We are going to miss him, he's the best!!

outu.be/mJmAV0gTp_Q

Even In The Midst Of Worry, My Heart Was Full Of Thanks-

Hey everyone,

Honestly, I don’t even know where to start. I think first off, I just want to thank every single person that prayed and fasted that those who live in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama could be protected from Hurricane Otto! This week was a mix of emotions but mainly I’m just grateful, and with it being the week of Thanksgiving, I think that it is fitting!

This week we had a lot of firsts…

Starting off, we had our district meeting in Turrialba for the first time which is another area here in Cartago. Remember the volcano that was exploding? Yeah, that is in Turrialba! To get there, we had to take a bus up in the mountains on a REALLY WINDY ROAD! The trip is a little more than an hour and we did it standing up! Oh my gosh, Hemana Martinez and I were going to throw up! Haha, But we got there safely and felt better. The district meeting was great but after we had to return home and it was really late. We got back with only enough time to visit one person. So, we were able to go visit Lidieth, Yudiet, Junior and Dayana. That was when we saw Otto for the first time! We got to their house and they were watching the news. We were really shocked to see a hurricane on its way to Costa Rica! I’ve never been in a hurricane so to be completely honest, I don’t think I processed exactly what was happening. Ahhhh! Yeah, I was totally calm...for the moment:)

Wednesday, we visited people as normal and we were able to serve in a lot of ways. I cooked cannelloni!!! Whoo for being Italian! They actually eat cannelloni a lot here but they put different things in them. We put tuna in these ones! I had never eaten tuna cannelloni before but it was good!! Then, when we were with Rocio and Alejandro we saw that the Hurricane had gotten a lot worse. They were saying that the hurricane was going to hit Costa Rica at 11 in the morning on Thanksgiving Day. We were able to share a message with them which was Helaman 5:12. Honestly, we were really worried at this point. Not because we live in an area close to where the hurricane was going to hit but because it was going to do a lot of destruction to the country and we worried for the people. We went to the store immediately after and bought candles and made sure that we had water. We wanted to make sure that we were prepared for any emergency. 

Thursday (Thanksgiving) came and we were totally okay!! We had a moment where we were a little nervous. The wind was really strong in the morning and the tree in front of our house, the branches started breaking. However, after about 30 minutes, everything was okay. No wind, rain or fog. It was all clear! However, we kept receiving messages from the news channels saying that we needed to be careful all day. We were mostly worried about the other missionaries in dangerous areas and our converts. I was so worried about Pococi, my last area. That’s when I received a phone call from a special person. Milenna called me!!! I recognized her voice from the minute I heard it! She told me that my Mom was worried and that she had been talking with her. I was SO grateful for that! Then she told me that so many at home who had missionaries in the field had been fasting their Thanksgiving for the protection of their children. I started bawling! No joke my heart broke! I couldn’t believe what was happening. I partially felt selfish that I was okay and others were suffering. We continued praying all day that things would be ok. Especially when we heard of the earthquake that took place in El Salvador, my companion’s home. It was so strong that many in Costa Rica felt it, and the coast was put on tsunami warning.

We ate lunch with the Wilkinson family which was awesome. We were able to speak English for a while and eat good yummy stuffing, potatoes, and hamburgers!! Then at night, Sabrina invited us over for a yummy dinner! I was so happy to be eating ham!! Hahaha, I am so beyond grateful for my “family” here that looks out for us. Emotionally, physically, spiritually...I felt so loved all day! Even in the midst of worry, my heart was full of thanks-

Well, Friday we woke up with mixed emotions. We saw the destruction that caused the death of 9 people and the loss of possessions, and we felt awful. This is my second home! I couldn’t believe what had happened. However, immediately my Ward started collecting food that they could send to the people who were affected. I love the church’s focus on helping and serving! We also had a baptism this day!!

Junior, Dayana and Yudiet were baptised Friday night. President, Hermana Hayes and their daughter Haley were able to attend it. Random fact, the only other time that President and Hermana Hayes have attended one of my baptisms was EXACTLY A YEAR AGO, in Aserri! Haley was here also to celebrate thanksgiving, that’s when I met her. When they came to this baptism, I felt that everything was right. Haha, The service was so spiritual! Priests that are going to be serving missions this next year were able to baptize them. (One of them named Daniel opened his mission call yesterday and will be heading to Spain in April!)  Dayana, Junior and Yudiet were nervous but excited. I am so proud of them and for their desires to follow Christ and keep learning about His gospel. I am very happy with the opportunity that we had to watch them enter the waters of baptism. 

Sunday morning, I found out about the loss of a member in Pococi whom I had truly come to love. I loved her and her family!  We visited them often. She lost her battle to cancer and this news hurt me so badly and still does. However, I am beyond happy to know that she was able to enter the Temple to be sealed with her family for time and all eternity on November 9th. That was her only desire, to go to the Tempe! I KNOW that she will be with her husband and their 4 children again. I know that is what calms my heart about everything that happened this week. Bad things may happen. We may have trials and challenges. We may lose a loved one. But the gospel still stands! God loves His children and He will live up to His promises. For that, we can always be happy in the end. 

This scripture sums it all up perfectly…

Helaman 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

I love you all and I am thankful for this past week. I am thankful for a specific day to be thankful! I am thankful for my knowledge that our Heavenly Father is in charge of everything! That we all can remember, that is my prayer♥  Let’s have a good week and start December right! 

With Love, Hermana Zerilli

The baptisms of Dayana, Junior and Yudiet, with President and Hermana Hayes...

We celebrated with caldosas!!! Caldosa = ceviche + picaritas (I like the shrimp and octopus ceviche the best)

My area, Cartago, Thanksgiving morning before Hurricane Otto hit Costa Rica.

The weather outside of our house the day after the hurricane

My 2 Thanksgiving meals. With the 2 combined, we had the entire thanksgiving feast going!

Us with Haley... I love all of the Hayes daughters!

Letter home from President Ron Sparks of the Costa Rica Temple

Good evening Sister Zerilli, 

I am Ron Sparks. I am a counselor in the Costa Rica Temple and my assignment takes me to different wards and stake conferences every week.  As you can see last Sunday my wife and I were in the Cartago Stake conference and we met your lovely daughter.  One of my pleasures in life is observing the young missionaries as they serve and it was a great pleasure for me to observe your daughter in action.  Her smile in the picture is not put on just for the picture, that is how she looked as she worked with the members and investigators in the conference.  I don't think I have ever seen more excitement and enthusiasm for the work than your daughter had.  She was everywhere talking with everyone, it was easy to see the love she has for the costa rican people and I assure you that they return that Iove to your daughter.  Her Spanish impressed me, she understood what they were saying and she freely expressed herself to them in a beautiful way.  Her command of the language is very good.

  
I know you love your daughter and are very proud of her and if you could have witnessed what I did Sunday your love and admiration for your daughter would multiply.
I know you are excited about her coming home in 2 months (she has mixed feelings) but she is not letting anything slow her down.  I believe she will work hard right up to the end.

Thanks for helping your daughter serve in the Costa Rica Mission.
President Ron Sparks,  Costa Rica Temple

"Missionaries are the Angels who begged The Lord to send them to Earth to share the Gospel"

Hey everyone!! 

Another great week!!! 

Hermana Martinez and I have overcome the cold that was holding us down!! So thankful for blessings!! I'm really happy about it because IT'S FREEZING!!! It's been raining every day!! I love sleeping to the sound of rain but walking every day out in the rain is a downer:( If I'm dying from the cold here I don't know what's going to happen when I get home!!

So, we had divisions with the hermanas this week!! I was able to work with Hermana Cook!! She's from Sacramento too!! She lives close to Stockton!! It was really fun. It was my second time working with another gringa and it's definitely an interesting experience. The people look at us like we are different and they always scream "hello!" but it's fun haha! 

So we received actually quite a few references this week which is AMAZING!! References rock. Seriously. One of them was particularly interesting and it came from the Elders. A lady named Paula texted them asking for our number. The Elders had given her a pass-along card with their number A YEAR AGO. This past week she texted them asking for our number because she now wants to receive the lessons and her brother too. What a miracle!! 

Sometimes we find pass-along cards thrown in the street. It's incredible that this hermana still has one that she received a year ago!!! So, Hermana Cook and I were in contact with Paula Friday and after a lot of bad communication, we made a plan to meet up in front of a taco restaurant so that she could show us where she lived at 7 pm. We went and waited...and waited..and waited. We were stood up!! Hahaha she didn't come and she didn't answer her phone!! We laughed and figured something happened. It was hilarious. We had looked at every lady that walked buy thinking, "Paula?" hahaha!  She ended up messaging us at 9 saying that she was held up in work and her phone died! It was a pretty funny experience though. We are still looking forward to meeting Paula. 

We ended the night eating ice cream for Hermana Cook's year in the mission!! I can't believe it! I remember when she got here!! That's when I trained Hermana Tejeda!! Time flies!!

Yesterday we had Stake Conference. It was the most spiritual Stake Conference of my mission!!! We were able to hear from the Stake Presidency, Elder and Hermana Sparks (Temple President and his wife), President and Hermana Hayes, the Patriarch, and our Bishop. Every single one of them exhorted us to change. We are to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, go to the temple, study the scriptures and do missionary work! It was the perfect setting. Even while singing the hymns, I felt the Spirit so strong. 

President Hayes left a huge impression on everyone. Once again he bore strong testimony about the Prophet, the scriptures and about our responsibility as missionaries. Just as he did 6 months ago, he had us all stand up where we were and he bore fervent testimony of the work that we are here to do. I just love the mission. What more can I say? I felt the Spirit so strong as he spoke for all of us and shared our love for the Savior and for his restored gospel...and I feel it now as I am thinking of what happened and as I'm typing these words. I want everyone in this area, the members, my investigators, everyone to know how much I love my Savior and that I am willing to do whatever it takes to bring this gospel to my Heavenly Father's children. The Patriarch, who helps all of us missionaries regularly, also testified and encouraged others to see us differently. He said that missionaries are the angels who begged The Lord to send them to the Earth to share the gospel. I'm honored and humbled to even hear him say that! The mission is a beautiful thing and a huge blessing in my life. We as missionaries are here to help the members receive the blessings of missionary work! I have seen amazing progress in my area in these past few weeks. I am excited for what more is to come! 

    

I hope everyone enjoys this week and has a very Happy Thanksgiving!! Along with a HUGE list of everything I'm thankful for all of you, and for your love and support!! 

Love,

Hermana Zerilli

Our Christmas tree!!! when it's all lit it's beautiful!!! We have our 2 little stockings on the tree.

The coolest thing ever is when you get to Stake Conference IN COSTA RICA and someone from from your actual home ward is there. It's always great to see cha(se)...uhh, Elder Abel. :)

Divisions this week, ice cream and celebrating Hermana Cook! 

Our Christmas Wonderland Mickey Mouse Clubhouse!

IT'S BEEN RAINING EVERY DAY!!! Honestly, dry doesn't exist mom...it's freezinggg!!!!!

I want to feel that my Heavenly Father is pleased with me and I know that if I give everything that I've got up until the end, I will.

Happy Monday!!! 

This week Hermana Martinez and I passed with a little bit of cough, stuffy nose, plugged ears and fever. Whoo!! Finally!! I have been blessed with good health the majority of my mission. It was about time. 'Im just happy that we are both feeling better. There is no kind of sorrow like when you enter someone's house to teach them about the gospel and you are sneezing and coughing the entire time. We are here to share messages, not germs! 

This past Tuesday we had our Zone Conference in the Mission Office. Honestly, it was such an inspiring experience. We were taught by our leaders and by Hermana and President Hayes. Hermana Martinez and I even had the opportunity to teach! We prayed a lot about our topic and we decided to teach about humility (yes I'm obsessed haha!) and unity within our companionships. When it was time to get up and teach preside'nt said "Hermanas please teach us and everyone is going to listen...even if you are sick." Haha we had to laugh! Im grateful for the chance that we had to teach about these topics and that this time, I taught with my companion. She is SO great! We were able to share many experiences from our own companionship because we wanted the zone to know that are testimonies are based off of our experiences. We hope that we were able to help the missionaries here in Cartago.

Now more than ever, I am determined to be even more obedient and consecrated to the work. President Hayes has been teaching us in these past few months about the blessings that we can receive if we are worthy and I know that he wants every missionary in the mission to receive these blessing. He made that point in the Zone Conference. At the end of the Zone Conference he looked at all of us and one by one called out a few of us telling us to stand up. He called my name and I was caught off guard. He told us that this was our LAST zone conference that we were ever going to have! Then as he looked us each in the eyes and challenged each of us to work as hard as we possibly can until our very last day. As I stood there, I felt a little bit everything. Desire to cry, throw up and the Spìrit that told me that that is exactly what I need to do with my last 6 weeks in the mission. Work as hard as I possibly can. I want to feel that my Heavenly Father is pleased with me and I know that if I give everything that I've got up until the end, I will.

I have been feeling extremely blessed in these past few weeks. My companion and I have been seeing miracles. Every week we have been having investigators in church with us and they truly are progressing to baptism. This past week we had another lesson with Antonio. We taught about the Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, and the Restoration of the Priesthood. After listening to us he said "Everything that you have shared with me has truth to it. I have been studying the Bible deeper since you have been teaching me, looking for answers and I have seen connections. The Priesthood is like in the times of  Aaron and Melkezidik. This church is doing everything right. It seems to me like it is the true church." I can't tell you the sense of peace and true joy that a missionary feels when they hear their investigator testifying with them. This man knows so incredibly much about the scriptures. He's studied them for years. He looked at the Book of Mormon, read 2 verses in Chapter 12 of 3 Nephi and accepted it. He's going to read it. I've had a good number of people reject the Book of Mormon during my mission. Who refuse to read it saying that it doesn't talk about Christ or that it contradicts the Bible. To them I say, you can't know that if you don't read it and if you read it you'll know that what you are saying isn't true! Miracles are happening everywhere in Paraiso!! I'm very happy! 

Oh and I never explained this photo!

So, I was studying in Preach My Gospel last week about how to find new investigators. One of the ideas is to go about doing good!! This means service! So, what happened is that we were coming back from a part of our area that is about an hour away by bus. We had had an amazing family home evening with members, they invited their friends and everything. We came back to Paraiso and got off the bus, 2 seconds later in front of our eyes we saw a huge accident! A tank truck went scraping a car at a stop sign as it went driving down the street. Basically, the car went out a little too far to see if someone was coming so that he could pass and this truck came strolling down. It was a loud sound as the truck tried to avoid the car, unsuccessfully, and metal went flying everywhere! It was an awful sight! When the truck stopped and everyone got out ok, we saw that the accident had caused a huge problem. The cars at this street could not see oncoming cars from the other side. The space on the street was incredibly small and we predicted more accidents as cars tried to pass. That's when I thought "This is my chance to serve" For a good 30 minutes I stood there directing traffic. Telling cars to wait as others passed and trying to make everything ok until the police showed up. Cars drove by screaming "gracias" and calling me the traffic director. It was fun and actually quite rewarding. I was scared to leave for safety of the other people but in the end everything was alright. I felt like I made my Dad proud, haha, and I mean how often do you see a Mormon Missionary directing traffic at the site of an accident? haha:)

I love you all so much and pray for you every day! Lets have another good and healthy week!!

♥Hermana Zerilli

Cartago Zone Conference...