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
3.21.2016
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
2.15.2016
Happy Day
Querida Familia....
Happy Day of love and friendship!!! haha thats what its called here in Costa Rica! its not just about couples but about Friends too and I think that's sweet. I love you guys! Well another cambio has come, but Hermana Mazariegos and I aren't going anywhere:) lucky us we get to stay here in our beautiful Turrialba another transfer, yay!
Well this last week was pretty cool. Our favorite Investigator Adrian got baptized!!! yay yay yay. On Thursday we went over to Hermana Carmen's house with him to watch the movie "the Testament" and it was awesome! The spirit was so powerful and when Jesús came to visit America he had tears rolling out of his eyes. it was the sweetest thing. So Saturday finally came and he got his chance to dress in white! it was like the perfect baptism. The Elders brought one of their investigators, Marcos, who is like a real famous guitar player. He had only heard the song I Feel My Savior's Love 2 times and he already knew how to play it!! so he played for us while we sang and it was so sweet. I'm hoping that they will get married before we have changes again so we both can be here!! Adrian was confirmed on Sunday and also ordained to be a priest:) Yay.
Alfonzo was also confirmed on Sunday. He is just the sweetest old guy! he came to the Adrian's baptism because Adrian had come to his last week and "that's what brothers do". After the baptism he came with us to teach a different recent convert who has been having some problems with café. He encouraged him and cheered him up so much and it was beautiful to see. He said that he's going to make it a priority to come help us teach at least 2 times a week. He also told us about a miracle that happened in his life last week. Last Sunday we told him that he needed to wear a white shirt and tie to church to be confirmed and he said okay. A few days later he was talking on the pone with his daughter and asking her if she had a long sleeved white shirt he could borrow because he had white shirts but they were all old and short sleeved and he wanted to look just right to receive the Holy Ghost. As he was talking to her he turned around and there on his bed was a brand new, long sleeved white dress shirt:) He says he has no idea where it came from and it was just spread out over his pillow. How aware is the Lord of each of his beloved children! This sweet gentleman has really helped me to become a more compassionate person. He told us that he used to be a drunk and would wander around all night in the streets drinking and doing other things like that.... It made me think of all the guys like that we pass everyday. Sometimes they're stinky or dirty or whatever and it makes me a little sick. but knowing that our Alfonzo was like that, and seeing how he is now gives me hope and a new visión for each of the guys we see in the street now.
Lots of love and prayers for you my dearest family and Friends. youre always in my thoughts and in my heart!
All my love,
Hermana Kugath
Happy Day of love and friendship!!! haha thats what its called here in Costa Rica! its not just about couples but about Friends too and I think that's sweet. I love you guys! Well another cambio has come, but Hermana Mazariegos and I aren't going anywhere:) lucky us we get to stay here in our beautiful Turrialba another transfer, yay!
Well this last week was pretty cool. Our favorite Investigator Adrian got baptized!!! yay yay yay. On Thursday we went over to Hermana Carmen's house with him to watch the movie "the Testament" and it was awesome! The spirit was so powerful and when Jesús came to visit America he had tears rolling out of his eyes. it was the sweetest thing. So Saturday finally came and he got his chance to dress in white! it was like the perfect baptism. The Elders brought one of their investigators, Marcos, who is like a real famous guitar player. He had only heard the song I Feel My Savior's Love 2 times and he already knew how to play it!! so he played for us while we sang and it was so sweet. I'm hoping that they will get married before we have changes again so we both can be here!! Adrian was confirmed on Sunday and also ordained to be a priest:) Yay.
Alfonzo was also confirmed on Sunday. He is just the sweetest old guy! he came to the Adrian's baptism because Adrian had come to his last week and "that's what brothers do". After the baptism he came with us to teach a different recent convert who has been having some problems with café. He encouraged him and cheered him up so much and it was beautiful to see. He said that he's going to make it a priority to come help us teach at least 2 times a week. He also told us about a miracle that happened in his life last week. Last Sunday we told him that he needed to wear a white shirt and tie to church to be confirmed and he said okay. A few days later he was talking on the pone with his daughter and asking her if she had a long sleeved white shirt he could borrow because he had white shirts but they were all old and short sleeved and he wanted to look just right to receive the Holy Ghost. As he was talking to her he turned around and there on his bed was a brand new, long sleeved white dress shirt:) He says he has no idea where it came from and it was just spread out over his pillow. How aware is the Lord of each of his beloved children! This sweet gentleman has really helped me to become a more compassionate person. He told us that he used to be a drunk and would wander around all night in the streets drinking and doing other things like that.... It made me think of all the guys like that we pass everyday. Sometimes they're stinky or dirty or whatever and it makes me a little sick. but knowing that our Alfonzo was like that, and seeing how he is now gives me hope and a new visión for each of the guys we see in the street now.
Lots of love and prayers for you my dearest family and Friends. youre always in my thoughts and in my heart!
All my love,
Hermana Kugath
2.14.2016
I Lava You from Volcano Land
Dearest Family......
Where do i even start? what a busy wonderful week! well go chronologiccally i guess. IM AN AUNTIE!!!!!:) yay for beautiful sweet new babby lizzy! what a wonderful gift stright from heaven. i love you already sweetie pie! you to jesse sam and char bar, congratulations to your family for your new addition!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHIE!!!!! man are you seriously 18 today? youre like huge. it doesnt matter how old you get (or how much more advanced you are in college then i am:P) youll always be my Little bubby who makes me pink milk and likes to watch the mummy until 4am. Love you so much brother and hoping that you have a great birthday! love you, Georgia and baby annie too:)
So its been kind of a party week here too. On Saturday Alfonzo was baptized!! yay:) We were so happy and so proud of him. The New Family in our Ward, the Weavers (we call them la familia gringa) let us use their house and their pool for our baptism! It was much more private and spiritual experience and it was so beautiful! Its still a Little bit far away so not a whole lot of members could come, but enough made the trip that it truly was a celebration. We even made brownies:) you wouldnt believe it but theyre a rare comodidty here in Costa Rica. During the baptism i was talking to Adrian and his fiance Carmen. He looked semi sad semi happy and I asked him what he was feeling. He said he wished that he too could be baptized right that minute but he knew he couldnt because he didnt have white clothes.......awh:) he is the best! good thing his baptism is on Saturday!
But the woes of not having a chapel always seem to continue. On Sunday Turrialba was all a flurry of political propaganda and things because it was the day to vote. They use all the schools here as the voting centers and nothing else is allowed to go on in them. if you remember weve been meeting in a highschool gym the past few week and so this was kind of a problema for us... But thanks to the restored góspel and really awesome organization the Ward was allowed to bless and partake of the Sacrament in various houses all accross Turrialba. I just miagined like 100 mini sacrament meetings going on and it was actually really beautiful experience. We live right next to the Elders and a few other members so we all got together and had a sweet Little reunión at home. That was the first time ive ever had the sacrament out of normal church. it was cool! Yay for the priesthood and worthy preisthood holders who bless the lives of their family and Friends wherever they are!
Id also like to share a quick miracle that we had this week. On wednesday we went out to this área pretty far from the center and a place we didnt know really well. while we were there i kinda sort of accidentally lost/left our cell phone on the bench at the bus stop. we didnt realize it until we were already all the way back in the center. we went all the way back out there hoping and praying that miracle of miracles it would be there...... it wasnt. we searched and called it and prayed but no luck. the next day the elders came over and told us they had found it! A lady had picked it up and brought it home and later called them to tell them that she had found it. It meant another trip way out there the next day but that was 100 times better then having to go all the way to san jose and facing the shame of telling the secretaries why we needed a new phone haha. Good people are all over the world and i am so grateful and so blessed by their kind and honest actions! this week were going to go and visit the lady who picked up and returned our phone:)
just one last thing. My whole misión ive never had to eat anything weird. Nothing! i hear horror stories of people like my daddy eating baby bird soup or iguana or intestines and pretty much the only thing ive ever eaten is chicken with bones haha.But this week i was super brave and i tried just a Little tiny piece of mondongo (cow tummy) AND octopus tentacle. It was gross. thank heavens we were with two members that love us and so i didnt have to eat much of it, but on the bright side i now have at least 1 story about crazy food to tell my grandchildren. well, i love you guys lots! please be praying for Adrian and Alfonzo this week as they prepare to be baptized and confirmed. Also pray that Hermana Mazariegos and I can have a super stellar, obedient and awesome week since it might be our last week together:( lots of prayers from Costa Rica!
All my Love,
Hermana Kugath
Where do i even start? what a busy wonderful week! well go chronologiccally i guess. IM AN AUNTIE!!!!!:) yay for beautiful sweet new babby lizzy! what a wonderful gift stright from heaven. i love you already sweetie pie! you to jesse sam and char bar, congratulations to your family for your new addition!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHIE!!!!! man are you seriously 18 today? youre like huge. it doesnt matter how old you get (or how much more advanced you are in college then i am:P) youll always be my Little bubby who makes me pink milk and likes to watch the mummy until 4am. Love you so much brother and hoping that you have a great birthday! love you, Georgia and baby annie too:)
So its been kind of a party week here too. On Saturday Alfonzo was baptized!! yay:) We were so happy and so proud of him. The New Family in our Ward, the Weavers (we call them la familia gringa) let us use their house and their pool for our baptism! It was much more private and spiritual experience and it was so beautiful! Its still a Little bit far away so not a whole lot of members could come, but enough made the trip that it truly was a celebration. We even made brownies:) you wouldnt believe it but theyre a rare comodidty here in Costa Rica. During the baptism i was talking to Adrian and his fiance Carmen. He looked semi sad semi happy and I asked him what he was feeling. He said he wished that he too could be baptized right that minute but he knew he couldnt because he didnt have white clothes.......awh:) he is the best! good thing his baptism is on Saturday!
But the woes of not having a chapel always seem to continue. On Sunday Turrialba was all a flurry of political propaganda and things because it was the day to vote. They use all the schools here as the voting centers and nothing else is allowed to go on in them. if you remember weve been meeting in a highschool gym the past few week and so this was kind of a problema for us... But thanks to the restored góspel and really awesome organization the Ward was allowed to bless and partake of the Sacrament in various houses all accross Turrialba. I just miagined like 100 mini sacrament meetings going on and it was actually really beautiful experience. We live right next to the Elders and a few other members so we all got together and had a sweet Little reunión at home. That was the first time ive ever had the sacrament out of normal church. it was cool! Yay for the priesthood and worthy preisthood holders who bless the lives of their family and Friends wherever they are!
Id also like to share a quick miracle that we had this week. On wednesday we went out to this área pretty far from the center and a place we didnt know really well. while we were there i kinda sort of accidentally lost/left our cell phone on the bench at the bus stop. we didnt realize it until we were already all the way back in the center. we went all the way back out there hoping and praying that miracle of miracles it would be there...... it wasnt. we searched and called it and prayed but no luck. the next day the elders came over and told us they had found it! A lady had picked it up and brought it home and later called them to tell them that she had found it. It meant another trip way out there the next day but that was 100 times better then having to go all the way to san jose and facing the shame of telling the secretaries why we needed a new phone haha. Good people are all over the world and i am so grateful and so blessed by their kind and honest actions! this week were going to go and visit the lady who picked up and returned our phone:)
just one last thing. My whole misión ive never had to eat anything weird. Nothing! i hear horror stories of people like my daddy eating baby bird soup or iguana or intestines and pretty much the only thing ive ever eaten is chicken with bones haha.But this week i was super brave and i tried just a Little tiny piece of mondongo (cow tummy) AND octopus tentacle. It was gross. thank heavens we were with two members that love us and so i didnt have to eat much of it, but on the bright side i now have at least 1 story about crazy food to tell my grandchildren. well, i love you guys lots! please be praying for Adrian and Alfonzo this week as they prepare to be baptized and confirmed. Also pray that Hermana Mazariegos and I can have a super stellar, obedient and awesome week since it might be our last week together:( lots of prayers from Costa Rica!
All my Love,
Hermana Kugath
2.03.2016
New Investigator - Andres (A #5) ha ha
Dearest Family,
Happy Birthday Daddy!!!! Man can you guys believe that it’s February again?? I don’t know if you remember, but exactly a year ago today I came crutching down an escalator in the IF airport:) man how time flies! A year ago I wasn’t sure id ever even walk again haha and look I’m already a missionary again! This week has been a huge week of celebration, reflection and gratitude for me. It just amazes me all that our Heavenly Father can do for us in a few short months; he truly is a master creator.
Well not much time but here a quick update. Alfonzo had his Baptismal Interview last week is getting baptized this Saturday. Yay :) The new gringo family is even going to let us use their pool so it will be a little more private and a little more spiritual. Also Hermana Weaver is going to make him a cake! i love gringos:) Adrian has almost finished all the lessons and will be interviewed this weekend. He and Carmen (our laundry lady) got engaged last weekend!!!! yay:):):):):):):) he also invited his son Andres to come to church yesterday and he came! we started teaching him the lessons last night and hopefully his dads example will help him to progress rapidly. Aaron is doing great. He’s ready from the Book of Mormon and has a very sincere desire to know if its true. We watched the long version of the restoration with him, Roberto and Emma last week and it was a very powerful experience. he said that he didn’t know all the Joseph Smith had to go through and he was impressed because all the prophets have been persecuted throughout history too. We even had Elder Neider (an elder who was here with us last cambio) call on Skype and share his testimony with him. An international lesson! Cool. I think that’s pretty much all i have to up date y’all on.
Another thing really fast, this week we had the blessing and privilege to have Elder Cook come and speak to us. It was really incredible. He answered each of the questions I had in my heart and bore a powerful testimony of the reality and divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was a very spiritual experience for us. We all got home literally drained of energy from just listening to him!
Anyways I gotta run. Please pray for our investigators to receive and recognize answers to their prayers this week. Prayers from Costa Rica.
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
Happy Birthday Daddy!!!! Man can you guys believe that it’s February again?? I don’t know if you remember, but exactly a year ago today I came crutching down an escalator in the IF airport:) man how time flies! A year ago I wasn’t sure id ever even walk again haha and look I’m already a missionary again! This week has been a huge week of celebration, reflection and gratitude for me. It just amazes me all that our Heavenly Father can do for us in a few short months; he truly is a master creator.
Well not much time but here a quick update. Alfonzo had his Baptismal Interview last week is getting baptized this Saturday. Yay :) The new gringo family is even going to let us use their pool so it will be a little more private and a little more spiritual. Also Hermana Weaver is going to make him a cake! i love gringos:) Adrian has almost finished all the lessons and will be interviewed this weekend. He and Carmen (our laundry lady) got engaged last weekend!!!! yay:):):):):):):) he also invited his son Andres to come to church yesterday and he came! we started teaching him the lessons last night and hopefully his dads example will help him to progress rapidly. Aaron is doing great. He’s ready from the Book of Mormon and has a very sincere desire to know if its true. We watched the long version of the restoration with him, Roberto and Emma last week and it was a very powerful experience. he said that he didn’t know all the Joseph Smith had to go through and he was impressed because all the prophets have been persecuted throughout history too. We even had Elder Neider (an elder who was here with us last cambio) call on Skype and share his testimony with him. An international lesson! Cool. I think that’s pretty much all i have to up date y’all on.
Another thing really fast, this week we had the blessing and privilege to have Elder Cook come and speak to us. It was really incredible. He answered each of the questions I had in my heart and bore a powerful testimony of the reality and divinity of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It was a very spiritual experience for us. We all got home literally drained of energy from just listening to him!
Anyways I gotta run. Please pray for our investigators to receive and recognize answers to their prayers this week. Prayers from Costa Rica.
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
1.26.2016
Four investigators who all start with A
Querida Familia :)
Hey guys! Sorry I didn’t write at all last week, someone (mom haha) distracted me. So now I get to tell you double about what’s happened these weeks:)
First of all Angela was baptized!!! It was super special. There were so many things going wrong that at first it seemed impossible, but with a Little bit of patience and a whole lot of prayer we got through it. We don’t have a chapel right now so we had to go to a public pol to have the baptism. When we arrived there was a huge wedding going on! Luckily we found a Little back room just big enough to have our meeting. A lot of people turned up, even people we weren’t expecting. So many people came that the brownies we had made weren’t enough! That was a huge blessing. My favorite part was when we got to take pictures with Angela and her family. We’d decorated a little table with pictures of Christ, brownies, and a picture of her daughter that’s on a misión in Chile. She grabbed the photo of her daughter off the table and held it in the picture so she could be in the photo too:) yay!!!
We have 2 other people who are preparing to be baptized in February. The first guy is named Alfonzo. He’s the father of a member of the church and has been receiving the missionaries for a long time, but this is the first time Hermanas have been able to visit him. His wife recently passed away and he told us that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to be baptized and be with her again. He’s already fought for 2 months to overcome smoking and drinking and when we told him he had to stop drinking coffee to he just said "okay Hermanas’ desde ya no mas" (okay from now on no more). He and his family went to the store and took a picture of him waving goodbye to alcohol haha with a caption that says "hasta nunca" or until never! He’s getting ready to be baptized the 6th of February.
The other investigator were preparing is named Adrian. He’s the boyfriend of one of my favorite members, hermana Carmen (she washes our clothes, like our misión mom haha). He is like my miracle investigator. He does EVERYTHING we tell him to do and MORE. He’s read all the pamphlets and the chapters of the Book of Mormon that we’ve left him. He decided to start Reading everyday from the book of Mormon and is already through 1st Nephi. He’s come to church 5 times in a row and always arrives early. He told us he looks forward to the day when he can take the sacrament as a member of the church. Hermana Carmen gave him a tie last week and he said that he didn’t have Sunday pants to go with his White shirt and tie. We told him jeans were fine and that he should just come in the best he had. But when we saw him on Sunday he came in a pair of new slacks that he’d bought especially for church:):):):):) we love him! He’s preparing for the 13th of February! Please pray for them. They need strength to overcome the obstacles that would keep them from being baptized and they need to be able to recognize the answers that our heavenly father will give them.
Something else awesome that happened is that a new family moved into our Ward. They’re gringos!!! The weaver family moved here for the next 4 or 5 months just to take a family break between moving their houses. They have 3 kids. Mitchell, 8- Kate, 6- and Jane, 4. They’re adorable! They don’t speak any Spanish except the mom who only semi speaks. But they’re a huge example to me of keeping the Sabbath day holy. Although they don’t understand anything of the meetings they come to take the sacrament every week. aaaaannnnddd... they have a pool in their house! Maybe we won’t have to use the public pool for baptisms anymore:)
One more fun experience from this week. Our Ward mission has a friend named Aaron. We’ve been waiting weeks to be able to teach him and finally this week we could! We had an fhe with Roberto and his mom and we watched The Testaments. Afterward we explained about the Book of Mormon and gave him one with chapter 22 of Alma marked (you know, where it talks about the missionary Aaron and how awesome he was!). A few days later we visited him again and asked how it was going with the B of M. he read the whole chapter and told us all about how the King had been converted and how he like the King, wanted to be able to know God better. We had a sweet lesson about the restoration and the spirit was really strong. You could just see it in his face that he was feeling and understanding that what we said was true!
Anyways, I love you guys so much! I feel so blessed to be a missionary and represent the Savior here in Turrialba. It’s such a sweet and special experience to get to testify of all the truths that we as a family hold so dear. Well I’m just about written out, have a great week fam! Lots of prayers from Costa Rica:)
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
Hey guys! Sorry I didn’t write at all last week, someone (mom haha) distracted me. So now I get to tell you double about what’s happened these weeks:)
First of all Angela was baptized!!! It was super special. There were so many things going wrong that at first it seemed impossible, but with a Little bit of patience and a whole lot of prayer we got through it. We don’t have a chapel right now so we had to go to a public pol to have the baptism. When we arrived there was a huge wedding going on! Luckily we found a Little back room just big enough to have our meeting. A lot of people turned up, even people we weren’t expecting. So many people came that the brownies we had made weren’t enough! That was a huge blessing. My favorite part was when we got to take pictures with Angela and her family. We’d decorated a little table with pictures of Christ, brownies, and a picture of her daughter that’s on a misión in Chile. She grabbed the photo of her daughter off the table and held it in the picture so she could be in the photo too:) yay!!!
We have 2 other people who are preparing to be baptized in February. The first guy is named Alfonzo. He’s the father of a member of the church and has been receiving the missionaries for a long time, but this is the first time Hermanas have been able to visit him. His wife recently passed away and he told us that he’s willing to do whatever it takes to be baptized and be with her again. He’s already fought for 2 months to overcome smoking and drinking and when we told him he had to stop drinking coffee to he just said "okay Hermanas’ desde ya no mas" (okay from now on no more). He and his family went to the store and took a picture of him waving goodbye to alcohol haha with a caption that says "hasta nunca" or until never! He’s getting ready to be baptized the 6th of February.
The other investigator were preparing is named Adrian. He’s the boyfriend of one of my favorite members, hermana Carmen (she washes our clothes, like our misión mom haha). He is like my miracle investigator. He does EVERYTHING we tell him to do and MORE. He’s read all the pamphlets and the chapters of the Book of Mormon that we’ve left him. He decided to start Reading everyday from the book of Mormon and is already through 1st Nephi. He’s come to church 5 times in a row and always arrives early. He told us he looks forward to the day when he can take the sacrament as a member of the church. Hermana Carmen gave him a tie last week and he said that he didn’t have Sunday pants to go with his White shirt and tie. We told him jeans were fine and that he should just come in the best he had. But when we saw him on Sunday he came in a pair of new slacks that he’d bought especially for church:):):):):) we love him! He’s preparing for the 13th of February! Please pray for them. They need strength to overcome the obstacles that would keep them from being baptized and they need to be able to recognize the answers that our heavenly father will give them.
Something else awesome that happened is that a new family moved into our Ward. They’re gringos!!! The weaver family moved here for the next 4 or 5 months just to take a family break between moving their houses. They have 3 kids. Mitchell, 8- Kate, 6- and Jane, 4. They’re adorable! They don’t speak any Spanish except the mom who only semi speaks. But they’re a huge example to me of keeping the Sabbath day holy. Although they don’t understand anything of the meetings they come to take the sacrament every week. aaaaannnnddd... they have a pool in their house! Maybe we won’t have to use the public pool for baptisms anymore:)
One more fun experience from this week. Our Ward mission has a friend named Aaron. We’ve been waiting weeks to be able to teach him and finally this week we could! We had an fhe with Roberto and his mom and we watched The Testaments. Afterward we explained about the Book of Mormon and gave him one with chapter 22 of Alma marked (you know, where it talks about the missionary Aaron and how awesome he was!). A few days later we visited him again and asked how it was going with the B of M. he read the whole chapter and told us all about how the King had been converted and how he like the King, wanted to be able to know God better. We had a sweet lesson about the restoration and the spirit was really strong. You could just see it in his face that he was feeling and understanding that what we said was true!
Anyways, I love you guys so much! I feel so blessed to be a missionary and represent the Savior here in Turrialba. It’s such a sweet and special experience to get to testify of all the truths that we as a family hold so dear. Well I’m just about written out, have a great week fam! Lots of prayers from Costa Rica:)
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
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