"Sigua Adelante"

HOLA!!

This is Hermana Campos...the mini missionara from Costa Rica and all of us together... yes I'm the only gringaaaa!

 

Oh, a few more answers to random questions:)

 

Q.  Where do you send your emails from?

A.  We are currently in a computer store hahahah you pay by the hour. No one here really has computers so they come to these little stores.

 

 

Q.  Are things expensive there, or less expensive than at home?

A.  The cost of things isn't even bad because I'm used to high prices! The Latinas think EVERYTHING is expensive and I'm like um no...its normal. They really look at me at times like I'm a spoiled brat I think. I saw someone burning trash yesterday and freaked out! I explained the garbage trucks that we have at home, and they were like "because in the states you have money"... hahha, ok. and a drought!

 

 

Q.  Is your shower fixed?

A.  Our shower and water is fixed!!! This morning was a miracle. I had 3 minutes of hot water. I smiled.

 

 

Q.  What do you do on P-Days

A.  On P-Days we write...clean, rest, and hang out. We buy a tortilla de queso...its a cheese tortilla, at a shack next to our apartment. SO YUMMY!

 

 

Q.  Still eating mostly rice and beans?

A.  YES rice and beans...I'm learning to eat way less. No more rice pleaseeee.

 

 

Q.  How do you wash your laundry? Do you have to wash it by hand?

A.  We have a lady in the ward do our laundry. We pay her. It's great but I ran out of socks and she wasn't done. soooo yeah. haha:)

 

Wow,  so I survived my first transfer!! 11 more to go!! Luckily Hermana Perez and I are in this again for another 6 weeks! I am so, so grateful. I need her to help me throughout the entire 12 weeks of training! Hermana Mungaea is training a new Latina missionary so that will be fun. Just when I thought there was a possibility for another English speaker...nope haha. The Lord is challenging me but I don't think there's any better way to learn Spanish than to spend 24 hours a day with people who only speak Spanish. However, I do feel really lonely at times. Put someone who loves to talk in an environment where she doesn't know how and its slightly tough haha. I will continue to pray for patience and the gift of tongues!

 

Something however that keeps me going when things get tough, is the phrase "Sigua Adelante". Pretty much it means keep moving forward, better yourself, don't give up. My companion taught me it and I've been trying to remember everyday. Take things one step at a time. Also, smiling! Smiling is the most simple and yet impactful thing you can do. Its really hard to be sad on the inside when you are smiling on the outside. I have made the decision to continue to smile. There is so much to smile about!

 

This week I saw the impact that Satan can have in the lives of our investigators. Remember our investigator Augustin? This week we had another lesson with him and decided that since he had been progressing so much and had learned all of the lessons, we would ask him the baptismal interview questions to see what else he needed to know. As we asked these questions, he was so certain and had such a strong testimony. "Joseph smith was a prophet. We have a prophet today. The Book of Mormon is true". We felt inspired to ask him if he would like to move his baptismal date from Nov 7 to Oct 31. He accepted! After, we walked to something called Noche De Grupo...group night (haha) where members, recent converts, and investigators have a class; an activity and food of course. During the class, Augustin told us that he needs to think about baptism more because he's not sure. Our hearts dropped. After the class, we met with Augustin outside of the church and asked him how he was feeling. We knew that he had made some big mistakes in his life and that's why he wanted so badly to change. However, we watched as Satan put in his mind that changing wasn't an option. That he couldn't do it. He was very hesitant about everything and left us saying he just needs time. This was coming from someone who calls us every couple of days for a lesson. We couldn't hold back tears as we thought about how we could help him. These past few days we prayed really hard that Heavenly Father would strengthen Augustin and help him come to the realization that the gospel is what he needs in his life. Yesterday, Augustin called us about coming to church. We were ecstatic! Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. He loves his children and wants them to find happiness in this life just as Augustin is!

 

So everyone knows about my love for Christmas! Well what I didn't realize is that here, apparently Halloween isn't a big deal  here and there were no pilgrims in Costa Rica (so no Thanksgiving)! Ok, well what does that mean? It means that the people here already started putting up Christmas lights! No joke! And yes, I've started my countdown!! 74 days family, until I can talk with you on Christmas day!! Ahhh 10 more weeks! I'm so excited! I love Christmas and although it's going to be hard away from family, Its a time to celebrate the Savior,  something that I do everyday!

 

 

 This is the family of our Ward Mission Leader

and us after Stake Conference

 

 
 

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for your thoughts and prayers. I love you all so much. I couldn't do it without you! Until next week! Pura vida!

Hermana Zerilli