A New Family of 9 & A New Friend From California♥

We waited a good 40 minutes after our
district meeting because it was raining so hard! This is why my mission has been sponsored by Crocs, even rubber shoes can be cute!

Hey Everyone!!
Week 1 of this cambio, and 10 cambios already done! Holy cow time is flying. I think I have said that 500 times since I got here and will probably continue saying it until my mission ends! Sunday someone got up during testimony meeting at church and said, "I love this day...because I love Christmas, and August means that Christmas is SOON!" I was like "Hermana, what are you saying?!" I love Christmas too, but I'm not ready for December!!

This week I saw incredible miracles with Hermana Martinez. First off, I am so happy to be with her! She is fun and we are a lot alike too, so it makes things more enjoyable.

Tuesday, we went out looking for new investigators. I had a few families in mind that Hermana Pacay and I had never contacted but she had showed me where their houses were. Well, I worked with Hermana Pacay a good 3 1/2 weeks, so I can't really remember these houses that she showed me. Embarrassingly, we knocked doors asking for Rachel with no results. However, this one door we knocked, the people were really different. They were friendly and actually Rachel was their neighbor! They showed us where, and we talked with them about who we were. This family is HUGE! They invited us in and we had a lesson with 9 people. 9!!!!!!! They were friendly and really interested. We were amazed at the miracle that we had of finding 9 new investigators in 1 house!! Well, the next day they called asking if we wanted to go over to their house again for lunch!! Hahaha, That NEVER happens! We couldn't go but we planned another lesson for Friday. We went and they had invited over extended family that lived close by!!! 4 more people!! We were shocked!! I love meeting people who truly want us to come back and teach them but not just that, this family wants others to hear too! The first week normally sets the bar for the rest of the change and I am so excited to work with this family TAN GRANDE!!

Aside from that, we were on a roll with finding new investigators.

Another experience that I want to share took place while we were teaching a lesson with a young woman from the ward. Her name is Ester and her friend Alexia is really interested in the church. We went to visit her friend this past week and when we walked in the house, we knew immediately that the family is really Catholic. We sat down with the girls to start our lesson and the Mom came in to listen. We started to talk and honestly my companion and I had no clue where the lesson was going. Her mom just started saying things in general about prayer and we were just kind of testifying of what she was saying, LOL. I felt nervous so I actually said a prayer in my head and heart while the mom was talking, that the Lord would help us know what to say. I finally asked her if she had ever wondered why there are so many churches in the world. If there is one God, why are there so many different churches teaching different doctrine? It got her thinking. We used many examples from the Old Testament (which I'm reading and I love). Eventually, we got to talking about the ministry of Christ and how He established the church with a Prophet, Apostles, scriptures, revelation and the Priesthood. I have those parts in a puzzle to show how the church is "built". We explained it very simply to where no one could be confused. The mom, Alexia, and Ester were all listening very carefully. At one moment it got quiet. We had laid all the parts of the puzzle on the table and my companion looked at Alexia's mom and asked "Do you know of one church on this earth that has all of these pieces?" She quietly said, fighting tears "no". In that moment I looked at my companion and I said "I feel the Spirit so strong" and she told me that she did also. Literally shaking...with tears in my eyes too, I testified of the true church. The Church of Christ that has every single one of those pieces. My testimony was strengthened beyond belief! I felt the spirit so incredibly strong in that moment and I knew that they were feeling it too. No one could have denied that feeling. The lesson was perfect. The Lord was so good to us this week!

Not too many crazy things to tell you about this week. We visited a new friend Brenda this week. She is from OAKLAND CALIFORNIA!!! She lives near Caro and BF in the CUTEST HOME!! She has everything, like from home (California)...dishwasher, oven, Kitchen Aid!! Everything! She fed us after church, CHILI AND CORNBREAD; AND ICE CREAM SUNDAES! She lives alone. I love her and she hasn't gone to church in a few years, I want to help her!! She says that we can go over whenever we want! I'm stoked! Haha

Ok seriously...if you didn't know us, would you be able to guess which one of us is from California and which one is from El Salvador? Genes are so crazy!

Anyway, I am happy!! The mission isn't easy but I love it! All of my friends are heading home in these days! How crazy! Maddie (my bestie from BYU who has been serving her mission in Chile) and Spencer (another amazing friend from BYU) are heading home this Monday!!!! ALL of my missionary friends here in Costa Rica went home this change too!!

'Im enjoying every day, even when I'm tired and our house is growing mold hahahahaha! I am a little worried I HAVE ENLARGED LYMPH NODES!!! ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF MY THROAT AND IT HURTS SO BAD...it's like a big ball, my comp was like woah! It hurts and has gotten bigger. I think ITS THE MOLD...we ate with a gringa who i loveeeeee yesterday and she said it's probably from the mold in the house I am living in! Everyone says that they can see it!! The nurse said to take cataflam?? I am praying this problem gets better, because it's really painful.

On a happier note, I have a baptism in 2 weeks!!

Love you all! Be safe and keep smiling :)

♥Hermana Taylor Zerilli

Exercising on the equipment that they put in the park! free gym!!