Dearest Familia...
Happy Late Easter Guys :)
I love Easter! It’s probably the most important and least celebrated holiday of all of them. Here in Costa Rica they don’t celebrate Easter like we do. The Catholic tradition is to spend the whole week remembering the last week of the Savior’s life. As for me, I like to focus my celebration on the Resurrection of our Lord and King and give a little les emphasis to His death. Yes He died, He died for you and for me, but the greatest miracle is that He lived again for you and for me. And it’s because of this miracle that we all can have hope; hope to be freed from the saddnesses, pain, sufferings and trials that are part of this world. But the best part is that were not from this world, therefore these things will be for but a small moment. The greatest hope that we have because of the Savior is that of progress, eternal progress. Try a little harder to be a little better.
So anyways, happy birthday tomorrow Jesse! Are you for reals 26??? Wow. espero que tengas un dia muy muy especial y feliz, aunque talvez lo pasaras en el hospital. mama me conto que tienes una fea bacteria o algo asi, tu y tu familia eastan en mis oraciones. les amo!
Also, cambios....:( The time has come, they took Hermana Mazariegos away from me.... sad day. The good news is that I already know and love my new companion! Hermana Chavez from Argentina! If you can remember back to gravilias we lived together for about 5 months even though we were never companions, how crazy is that! I’m super excited. So my first and now my last companions will both be from Argentina, bookends, as mom would put it. It will be a super change with her!
Before Hermana Mazariegos left we got to celebrate one more baptism together. Jaime:) awh he is so special for us. What a beautiful day it was! It was literally the perfect baptism. When we went to visit him afterwards he was o happy. He just felt so relieved that he could be forgiven of ALL his past. Also before leaving Hermana Marvin threw a farewell for Hermana Mazariegos and we got to roast about 100 marshmallows (over a real fire this time and not just the stove). It was my first Costa Rica style bonfire:) it felt sort of like home.
Well, I gotta run. Love you guys! Lots of prayers for you all.
All my love,
Hermana Kugath
3.28.2016
3.21.2016
Semana Santa (The Holy Week)
Dearest Loved Ones....
Hi:) What a happy week I have had! Are you guys ever just happy and you don’t know why? That’s pretty much my companion and I all the time. Maybe its because were hilarious, Hermosa, and exquisite cooks but who knows.... I know that the true fountain of happiness is found in our Lord and Savior Jesús Christ. Yesterday began a very important Tradition for Costa Rica, and well Christians. Its called Semana Santa (the Holy Week). For some its an excuse to go to the beach and do lots of things that are the opposite of Holy, but for us its a reminder of the last week of our Saviors Mortal ministry, his sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane and Calvary, His death and his triumph over death and sin. Lots to think about in only 7 short days. I invite you all to take the time to read Luke 21-24 it’s my personal favorite account of our Lords last week in mortality.
This week I got a package from my mommy! Oh if you only knew what a Little letter on an envelope and a few chocolates can do for a misionera:):):) and I finally got my fit bit back! I can know now how much I’m walking these days; I’ve been dying of curiosity. And its purple! My mom is the best thing that’s ever happened. Okay well I have just a few stories to share with you all from this last week.
1. Our Jaime has caught the baptism bug! He is one of my very favorite investigators. He always makes us laugh and is such a goof ball. I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone like him. He’s an older man of almost 70 years. He likes to write poems about Jesús Christ and he even wrote one for us. Last week he told us that he felt a Little bicho (that means bug) in his heart, this gusanito (Little worm) was telling him he needed to be baptized. Haha isn’t it so interesting how people learn to feel and describe the influence of the Holy Ghost in their lives? Anyways, he’s going to be baptized on Friday, viernes Santo (holy Friday). Is there a better way to remember the day our Savior died for us the celebrating the baptism of one of his choicest children? Yay Jaime!
2. About a month ago Adrian was baptized. If I had only come on my misión to find and help him it would be worth it. Now I know what Paul was referring to in thes. 2:20 when he says that his converts are his glory and joy!! He and Carmen are planning on getting married in just a few weeks and within the year will be able to go to the temple:):):) Hermana Mazariegos will still be here in Costa Rica and I may just have to scrape up the money to be able to come too. Anyways, we taught him about the great apostasy and how apostasy can be in general or personal. We helped him set goals and make plans to protect himself, and his future family from personal apostasy and also to help his son learn the góspel as well. Yay Adrian!
3. This week we’ve been visiting some Friends of one of our favorite members. Ricardo and Marlene. They’re great! They have a lot of questions and doubts and the góspel has the answer for each one! Between Marta and Anna (two members who live close to them) we’ve been secretly bombarding them with love and opportunities to learn the góspel. We invited them to Ward activities, gave them books of Mormon, invited them to watch church movies, and attend the church. These ladies are awesome! ayways, its going well and they are happy:) yay family!
Anyways, everything is so wonderful here in Turri. I love love love the people. My neighbors the members, basically everyone I see! Its hard because everyone keeps says "were going to miss you so much when you guys leave us....." and it doesn’t help at all the my companion is having changes next week:( it makes me so sad thinking about all the people we will be leaving behind. But again we try not to think much about it.....Well I’ve run out of words. Love you guys so much!! Prayers from Turri,
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
Hi:) What a happy week I have had! Are you guys ever just happy and you don’t know why? That’s pretty much my companion and I all the time. Maybe its because were hilarious, Hermosa, and exquisite cooks but who knows.... I know that the true fountain of happiness is found in our Lord and Savior Jesús Christ. Yesterday began a very important Tradition for Costa Rica, and well Christians. Its called Semana Santa (the Holy Week). For some its an excuse to go to the beach and do lots of things that are the opposite of Holy, but for us its a reminder of the last week of our Saviors Mortal ministry, his sacrifice in the Garden of Gethsemane and Calvary, His death and his triumph over death and sin. Lots to think about in only 7 short days. I invite you all to take the time to read Luke 21-24 it’s my personal favorite account of our Lords last week in mortality.
This week I got a package from my mommy! Oh if you only knew what a Little letter on an envelope and a few chocolates can do for a misionera:):):) and I finally got my fit bit back! I can know now how much I’m walking these days; I’ve been dying of curiosity. And its purple! My mom is the best thing that’s ever happened. Okay well I have just a few stories to share with you all from this last week.
1. Our Jaime has caught the baptism bug! He is one of my very favorite investigators. He always makes us laugh and is such a goof ball. I don’t know if I’ve ever met anyone like him. He’s an older man of almost 70 years. He likes to write poems about Jesús Christ and he even wrote one for us. Last week he told us that he felt a Little bicho (that means bug) in his heart, this gusanito (Little worm) was telling him he needed to be baptized. Haha isn’t it so interesting how people learn to feel and describe the influence of the Holy Ghost in their lives? Anyways, he’s going to be baptized on Friday, viernes Santo (holy Friday). Is there a better way to remember the day our Savior died for us the celebrating the baptism of one of his choicest children? Yay Jaime!
2. About a month ago Adrian was baptized. If I had only come on my misión to find and help him it would be worth it. Now I know what Paul was referring to in thes. 2:20 when he says that his converts are his glory and joy!! He and Carmen are planning on getting married in just a few weeks and within the year will be able to go to the temple:):):) Hermana Mazariegos will still be here in Costa Rica and I may just have to scrape up the money to be able to come too. Anyways, we taught him about the great apostasy and how apostasy can be in general or personal. We helped him set goals and make plans to protect himself, and his future family from personal apostasy and also to help his son learn the góspel as well. Yay Adrian!
3. This week we’ve been visiting some Friends of one of our favorite members. Ricardo and Marlene. They’re great! They have a lot of questions and doubts and the góspel has the answer for each one! Between Marta and Anna (two members who live close to them) we’ve been secretly bombarding them with love and opportunities to learn the góspel. We invited them to Ward activities, gave them books of Mormon, invited them to watch church movies, and attend the church. These ladies are awesome! ayways, its going well and they are happy:) yay family!
Anyways, everything is so wonderful here in Turri. I love love love the people. My neighbors the members, basically everyone I see! Its hard because everyone keeps says "were going to miss you so much when you guys leave us....." and it doesn’t help at all the my companion is having changes next week:( it makes me so sad thinking about all the people we will be leaving behind. But again we try not to think much about it.....Well I’ve run out of words. Love you guys so much!! Prayers from Turri,
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
3.16.2016
Though Hard To You This Journey May Appear
My Beloved Family....
Come come ye saints no toil nor labor fear, but with joy wend your way... I love this hymn! It reminds me so much of my work as a missionary. It reminds me that every single day there are things to do, people to teach, miles to walk, testimonies to be borne and etc. every day! but it also teaches me that everyday, especially in the midst of our work and even sufferings we can be filled with joy! I know that each of us has different trials and tests in this life, so many things that try and break us either physically or spiritually but I just want to encourage you to remember the following line of the song. Why should we think to earn a great reward if we now shun the fight??? I know that the Lord gives the fiercest, most difficult trials and hardships to his most valiant and trusted children. In the midst of your sorrow you don’t need to ask why me, the answer is because you are one of the many noble and great ones :) -Aleena and her family will find out on Thursday if Cannon, her 6 year old brother, has juvenile diabetes, this would be 3rd sibling.
This week has been so funny and full of wonderful little miracles. This week we were in the store in the checkout line. Behind us was a gringo couple and I decided to talk to them. We just chatted about the states for a second and then they asked why I was in Costa Rica. I started by telling them I was a missionary and etc. etc. a Little bit about the church and everything. I don’t know why but when I started I was speaking English fine but by the end I was all tongue-tied. At last I tried to invite them to church. After struggling out the directions with help from my Guatemalan companion I told them "you’re invited all the Sundays, all the Sundays at 9".... all the Sundays... I was mortified haha. How embarrassing. Anyways, it was funny.
Another interesting story starts in our apartment. Every morning a man comes around selling pipa (peepa) it’s like baby coconut with coconut milk inside. he passes by every day at 11 saying "pipa, pipa fría, dulce and fría la pipa". well one really hot day last week we decided to buy some. Bad idea. I’ve become a pipa addict. Every day we wait for el hermano de la pipa to pass by so we can get our daily. One day we decided to give him a pamphlet about the plan of salvation. We chatted a bit telling him we were missionaries and everything and he went on his way. The next day he came back with questions about the Book of Mormon. We ran up to our apartment and brought one out to show him. We explained it a Little and let him look at it. As he was leaving we told him he could have it and you should have seen the look on his face! He was like a Little kid at Christmas he thanked us and left. Day after day he comes by always with a question, what do we believe about tithing, the holy ghost, the laying on of hands, who is Joseph Smith, what is the gift of tongues, why we don’t drink coffee, etc. he has such a desire to learn and it is so wonderful to see someone hungering and thirsting after light and knowledge and not having to forcé spoon feed it to them. He shared the Book of Mormon with his wife and at first she was really against it but now has begun Reading from it to. We haven’t been able to visit them in their house yet because he works all day but hopefully this week we can go by.
Also this last week we got to go visit Alfonzo our recent convert at his house. He always came to his daughter’s house for the lessons but he was sick and so we decided to go see him. We asked his daughter directions and she told us which bus to take and where to get off. Then she said you’ll see a dirt road in front of you and you just keep walking up and up and up and up and up...... I thought she was just exaggerating and so we set off. We found the dirt road and it was pleasant for a bit. Then the road took an upward turn. It was steep. I mean were talking more then the temple road steep. And every time we came around the curb it was even more up! We walked for like 40 minutes before his daughter (Marta) caught up to us in a taxi and took us the rest of the way. It was exhausting but it was so worth it to get to visit him. He was so, so happy and excited to see us! He had told his whole neighborhood that his daughter and his hermanitas were coming to visit him. He showed us his whole house and invited us to drink coke and eat little breads haha. he is the sweetest:) while we were there we taught about prophets and shared the scripture matthew23:37-38. It was the perfect scripture for him because he was raised in the country his whole life. He said "so the prophet is the hen and were the little chicks and to protect us and not let us get eaten he covers us with his wings, I get it!” Success!
Anyways, that’s all I’ve got time for today, sorry:) I love you guys so much and I am so grateful for the letters and notes of encouragement. Thank you for the prayers on me and my companion’s behalf, we’re still a little sick and coughing like a bunch of smokers so the prayers are very appreciated. Thanks guys, love you!!! Prayers from Costa Rica.
All my Love,
Hermana Kugath
Come come ye saints no toil nor labor fear, but with joy wend your way... I love this hymn! It reminds me so much of my work as a missionary. It reminds me that every single day there are things to do, people to teach, miles to walk, testimonies to be borne and etc. every day! but it also teaches me that everyday, especially in the midst of our work and even sufferings we can be filled with joy! I know that each of us has different trials and tests in this life, so many things that try and break us either physically or spiritually but I just want to encourage you to remember the following line of the song. Why should we think to earn a great reward if we now shun the fight??? I know that the Lord gives the fiercest, most difficult trials and hardships to his most valiant and trusted children. In the midst of your sorrow you don’t need to ask why me, the answer is because you are one of the many noble and great ones :) -Aleena and her family will find out on Thursday if Cannon, her 6 year old brother, has juvenile diabetes, this would be 3rd sibling.
This week has been so funny and full of wonderful little miracles. This week we were in the store in the checkout line. Behind us was a gringo couple and I decided to talk to them. We just chatted about the states for a second and then they asked why I was in Costa Rica. I started by telling them I was a missionary and etc. etc. a Little bit about the church and everything. I don’t know why but when I started I was speaking English fine but by the end I was all tongue-tied. At last I tried to invite them to church. After struggling out the directions with help from my Guatemalan companion I told them "you’re invited all the Sundays, all the Sundays at 9".... all the Sundays... I was mortified haha. How embarrassing. Anyways, it was funny.
Another interesting story starts in our apartment. Every morning a man comes around selling pipa (peepa) it’s like baby coconut with coconut milk inside. he passes by every day at 11 saying "pipa, pipa fría, dulce and fría la pipa". well one really hot day last week we decided to buy some. Bad idea. I’ve become a pipa addict. Every day we wait for el hermano de la pipa to pass by so we can get our daily. One day we decided to give him a pamphlet about the plan of salvation. We chatted a bit telling him we were missionaries and everything and he went on his way. The next day he came back with questions about the Book of Mormon. We ran up to our apartment and brought one out to show him. We explained it a Little and let him look at it. As he was leaving we told him he could have it and you should have seen the look on his face! He was like a Little kid at Christmas he thanked us and left. Day after day he comes by always with a question, what do we believe about tithing, the holy ghost, the laying on of hands, who is Joseph Smith, what is the gift of tongues, why we don’t drink coffee, etc. he has such a desire to learn and it is so wonderful to see someone hungering and thirsting after light and knowledge and not having to forcé spoon feed it to them. He shared the Book of Mormon with his wife and at first she was really against it but now has begun Reading from it to. We haven’t been able to visit them in their house yet because he works all day but hopefully this week we can go by.
Also this last week we got to go visit Alfonzo our recent convert at his house. He always came to his daughter’s house for the lessons but he was sick and so we decided to go see him. We asked his daughter directions and she told us which bus to take and where to get off. Then she said you’ll see a dirt road in front of you and you just keep walking up and up and up and up and up...... I thought she was just exaggerating and so we set off. We found the dirt road and it was pleasant for a bit. Then the road took an upward turn. It was steep. I mean were talking more then the temple road steep. And every time we came around the curb it was even more up! We walked for like 40 minutes before his daughter (Marta) caught up to us in a taxi and took us the rest of the way. It was exhausting but it was so worth it to get to visit him. He was so, so happy and excited to see us! He had told his whole neighborhood that his daughter and his hermanitas were coming to visit him. He showed us his whole house and invited us to drink coke and eat little breads haha. he is the sweetest:) while we were there we taught about prophets and shared the scripture matthew23:37-38. It was the perfect scripture for him because he was raised in the country his whole life. He said "so the prophet is the hen and were the little chicks and to protect us and not let us get eaten he covers us with his wings, I get it!” Success!
Anyways, that’s all I’ve got time for today, sorry:) I love you guys so much and I am so grateful for the letters and notes of encouragement. Thank you for the prayers on me and my companion’s behalf, we’re still a little sick and coughing like a bunch of smokers so the prayers are very appreciated. Thanks guys, love you!!! Prayers from Costa Rica.
All my Love,
Hermana Kugath
3.07.2016
Praying for Aleena
Just a brief request- Aleena sent me a personal note today asking for the family to pray for her- she has been feeling sick this last week and hopes it won't get worse. She is bitten daily by mosquitos and they are in the heart of Zika Dengue and Chikungunya Virus that are all mosquito borne (it is there summer down there) and the virus count in Costa Rica is up over 600% from last year :(
Dearest FAMILY...
HEY GUYS:) haha so I didn't realize it until Maddie pointed it out to me buts it seems like I've been sort of on a "letter strike" these past few weeks.. oops, sorry! Its not that I haven't wanted to write a group letter its just that I have a very limited amount of time to write and sometimes I like to respond personally to your letter so that you know I really do read and love receiving them! but heres a brief summary of these past few weeks in Turrialba...
This last week we had a really awesome lesson with Katherine and Gerardo about The Family Proclamation. A miracle happened! Gerardo was there for the whole lesson! From opening prayer to closing! And he participated a lot in the lesson. We read most of it but really focused on the responsibilities of parents and children. It was a success to see them both understand that each member of the family has rules, responsibilities and rights. as each of us fulfill those 3 things we will find that we live in a happy, successful family. My favorite sentence from the proclamation says "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ." That is so important to remember. Our happiness comes from how closely we follow the Savior and do what he taught. What is it that he taught us? Unconditional love, forgiveness, patience, discipline, hard work, take time to teach and explain, etc. Its like Christ was the perfect Father even though his "children" were already grown-ups. Anyways, it was a great lesson and the Spirit was testifying very strongly about the family. I know that the family is ordained of God and that it is the ONLY way we will find true and lasting happiness. Im so grateful that I was born into a wonderful, loving, Christ centered family. I've also gotten to see how some of you have started your own families and I can see the same pattern of love and patience in your homes. Yay for families! We're the best:) love you guys.
Another awesome experience we had was with Angela and her daughter Siloe. Angela is our recent convert and we went to visit her. Her daughter who is very less active was there with her boyfriend who isn't a member. We've met them both a few times before but we haven't really been able to teach much. luckily we came prepared with a movie and popcorn to trap them! (I'll admit it's not like we casually showed up when they were home, we conspired a little with Angela..:)) Anyways, we watched the restoration and had a really great family night. This movie always moves someone to tears... this time it was all of us. Each of them expressed what was in their hearts. Sadness, pain, frustration and at last gratitude. Isn't it interesting how each of us have our own problems, pains, thoughts, personalities and needs but the restored gospel answers each and every aspect of our human suffering. There's only 1 place where we can receive the full blessing and comfort of our Savior. How blessed are we to have found it so early in our life!
well I gotta run, its not much I know but I'll get better! love you guys lots!!! Prayers from Costa Rica!
All my love,
Hermana Kugath
Dearest FAMILY...
HEY GUYS:) haha so I didn't realize it until Maddie pointed it out to me buts it seems like I've been sort of on a "letter strike" these past few weeks.. oops, sorry! Its not that I haven't wanted to write a group letter its just that I have a very limited amount of time to write and sometimes I like to respond personally to your letter so that you know I really do read and love receiving them! but heres a brief summary of these past few weeks in Turrialba...
This last week we had a really awesome lesson with Katherine and Gerardo about The Family Proclamation. A miracle happened! Gerardo was there for the whole lesson! From opening prayer to closing! And he participated a lot in the lesson. We read most of it but really focused on the responsibilities of parents and children. It was a success to see them both understand that each member of the family has rules, responsibilities and rights. as each of us fulfill those 3 things we will find that we live in a happy, successful family. My favorite sentence from the proclamation says "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ." That is so important to remember. Our happiness comes from how closely we follow the Savior and do what he taught. What is it that he taught us? Unconditional love, forgiveness, patience, discipline, hard work, take time to teach and explain, etc. Its like Christ was the perfect Father even though his "children" were already grown-ups. Anyways, it was a great lesson and the Spirit was testifying very strongly about the family. I know that the family is ordained of God and that it is the ONLY way we will find true and lasting happiness. Im so grateful that I was born into a wonderful, loving, Christ centered family. I've also gotten to see how some of you have started your own families and I can see the same pattern of love and patience in your homes. Yay for families! We're the best:) love you guys.
Another awesome experience we had was with Angela and her daughter Siloe. Angela is our recent convert and we went to visit her. Her daughter who is very less active was there with her boyfriend who isn't a member. We've met them both a few times before but we haven't really been able to teach much. luckily we came prepared with a movie and popcorn to trap them! (I'll admit it's not like we casually showed up when they were home, we conspired a little with Angela..:)) Anyways, we watched the restoration and had a really great family night. This movie always moves someone to tears... this time it was all of us. Each of them expressed what was in their hearts. Sadness, pain, frustration and at last gratitude. Isn't it interesting how each of us have our own problems, pains, thoughts, personalities and needs but the restored gospel answers each and every aspect of our human suffering. There's only 1 place where we can receive the full blessing and comfort of our Savior. How blessed are we to have found it so early in our life!
well I gotta run, its not much I know but I'll get better! love you guys lots!!! Prayers from Costa Rica!
All my love,
Hermana Kugath
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