I finally met one of my Costa Rican goals...Sloth sighting!!

Hey everyone!!

This week flew by and there are just a few highlights to share!

This past Tuesday we had a family home evening with a member couple, and Maria and Andres. We focused on the temple and eternal families. This lesson is always special for me. I have such a strong testimony of eternal families. It was a really powerful lesson full of testimony. I really felt the Spirit there as we read scriptures and watched videos about the importance of families in Gods eternal plan. The members, Andreina and Jose, were married before they got baptized also. They were a special witness for Maria and Andres of how great this decision is to follow Christ. I was really glad that our investigators could have friends in the ward and good examples to support them.

This past Friday, President and Hermana Hayes stopped by to check in on us for a little bit. Hermana Hayes is an angel and baked homemade chocolate chip cookies for us. I was beyond thrilled. Chocolate chip cookies aren't a thing here. Yes, chips ahoy exists but no one bakes cookies. President Hayes was able to answer some of my long list of doctrinal questions. I'm thankful for a president who really just knows everything about the scriptures. He always says that the scriptures are his life, 50 years of scripture study for the church and for work. I was amazed at his answers and I have applied his teachings in my own.

Later that night, we had a ward mission activity. We planned this activity with the Elders and with our ward mission leader. It turned out to be a success!! We had 7 of our own investigators there and the Elders had some too! Then, members brought family and friends who are interested in the gospel. The theme of the activity was NOE. That's Noah in Spanish. Like the prophet Noah and the ark. It stands for Noche de hogar (family home evening) Oracion (prayer) and Estudio de las escrituras (study the scriptures). Each department had a different theme and we had groups that rotated to learn about the themes. For example, primary taught about prayer and young womens' taught about the scriptures. I was impressed with how all of the members did there part really well and prepared little lessons for the investigators to learn about important principles of the church. I could really see the group effort. In the end, we ate picadillo. I had no clue what that was until I saw it. Picadillo is anything that you chop up really tiny and cook. We had picadillo of potato and meat and green papaya. Just a whole lot of picadillo!Haha You eat it with tortillas. It delicious and everyone ate and enjoyed. The activity was a hit and I hope to have more activities like it in the future!

Yesterday we had a really awesome lesson with our investigator named Carolina. She's the ex-Jehovah's Witness and she has a whole lot of enthusiasm to learn. She actually has a whole lot of enthusiasm in general. Shes a lot of fun. We taught a lesson and then after, I helped her with her English study! It was really funny answering questions from her and Hermana Tejeda about English sounds and verbs. Their pronunciation was the best part! I now understand why people chuckle a little when I try to say words I don't know. We laughed and ate ice cream and coca cola with condensed milk! Yes, I drank it and it was good...haha. It was kinda like a root beer float. People here are OBSESSED with condensed milk! They put it in and on everything!

Another thing for the week...i finally met one of my Costa Rican goals. I SAW A SLOTH. IN A TREE!!! I WAS SO EXCITED. I WAS JUMPING UP AND DOWN AND EVERYTHNG.....I also saw chickens in a tree but its just chickens:)

Well thats this week. I'm really happy to be here. Keep going strong everyone.

I love you and like my dad always says, "keep on keepin' it real Karen"

Pura Vida,

Hermana Zerilli

I got a little too much sun!!

I forgot to mention that Saturday night the Elders told me that they had a package for me. I was so excited!! I went to go get it and the package said Lehi, Utah. Instant tears. The Horsleys sent me the best surprise. It had cards from each one of them and a surprise one from Parker haha. The box was FILLED with goodies. I love them so so much! Please thank them for me in person when you head to Utah. That package was too much!!