Dearest Familia...:)
While I know everyone (me included) is suuuper stoked about me coming home in just a few weeks now, you'll all have to endure at least a few more letters from me because hey, I got stuff to tell ya:) we've been working like mad this week because well i do not fade out like the sunset, at least not yet. the last part of the race is when you have to run the hardest not start to walk!
So let me tell you all the super great, wonderful, happy new from this week! first of all, Carmen and Adrian got married on Friday:):):):):):) yay!!! i am so happy! i feel o great knowing that i leave them both in very capable hands. It makes me so happy that they are happy. i mean yes i am a little put out that we have to find someone else to wash our clothes since she went to live all the way on the other side of Turrialba, but I can sacrifice for their happiness. They didn't have anything planned in the party department but everyone knows you cant get married without at least a cake! luckily Hermana Emma is a secret cake boss so she helped us make a beautiful and delicious heart shaped dulce de leche filled wedding cake! we snuck in their house and left them the cake, a few decorations and my personal favorite, a framed family proclamation:) yay for love! and marriage! haha.
In other exciting news we got to use la Capilla (the church) for the first time yesterday! if were being honest, I felt like it was the first time I've gone to church in months haha. but the wait was definitely worth it! i cant even describe to you how gorgeous the building is:) I love love love love it. it so much easier to feel the spirit! everything is so simple, well done and clean. oh I love how clean it is. the paintings are beautiful. we have a sweet oven and even granite counter tops. its so nice that i could literally spend all day just in the bathroom and be feliz. the best part is that on the first day we filled it almost to capacity! 25 less actives came and 14 investigatores (between us and the elders), it was super splendid! My personal favorite part is the baptism font..... never in my life have I seen a font so pretty! I'll take pictures because I can't really describe it. and lucky me, I'll have the opportunity to use it twice in the next few weeks! Dariela will finally be baptized next Sunday after the dedication of the chapel and Fabian will be baptized may 6th!
Every week I love more and more Fabian! Yesterday he came to church and he started out by telling us that it was a special day because he had been coming to church for a month, we were in the new church and because he was using the tie we had given him for his birthday! later we showed him and Siloe the font and they were both so excited! he saw the picture in that room of Christ being baptized by John and he said. This is my picture, of all the pictures I like this one the most! We had a great sacrament meeting and Gospel Principles was fabulous. we talked about the Priesthood and Fabian and Ricardo both paid close attention. After the class Fabian came to ask us when his baptism was and when we told him the 6th of May he looked a little sad saying why couldn't we fill the font up and do it right then. He told us that he had been praying all week and had received an answer a few days earlier. He said that he now knew that the Church was true, that he had to be baptized soon. Then he told us how it was his goal/desire to see as many chapels and temples throughout the world as possible. he said that he and Siloe were already making plans to be able to visit Salt Lake City one day:) Ricardo also confessed to us that he felt that the church was true and that he's excited to keep preparing for his baptism on the 21st of May (as part of the open house!) Yay!
One last little happy notice, maybe many of you don't remember Karol but she's the girlfriend of one of the members back in Gravilias who we were teaching. Well yesterday I got the news that she was baptized on Sunday!!!! and that she and Jorge (the member) will be married on the 28th of May! ush, Yay team missionaries.
Well thats all I'll make you guys read for today. I love you all so much and you will always be in my thoughts and prayers, but hopefully not too much yet! Prayers from Costa Rica!
All my Love,
Hermana Kugath
4.26.2016
4.20.2016
Hermana Kung Fu
Dearest Familia :)
Have you ever asked the question what is my treasure? I was reading in 3rd Nephi this week and I found the most beautiful little verse. 3rd Nephi 13:21 " For where your treasure is there will your heart be also". (Matt. 6:21). Well I thought about it and as humans really we have two treasures, our time, energy and money. I invite you each to think about this question, if money, energy, and time are my treasures, what am I using them for? We can all do a little self-evaluation to see where our hearts truly lie as we evaluate these 3 things. If we spend our time, energy and money with our friends/sports team/video game/etc. our hearts are obviously found there, but if we spend it with our family and with our God we receive a true recompense of Joy and blessings. Yay family!
Okay 3 quick experiences from this last week to share:
1. This week was Fabian’s birthday! We bought him a tie, to help him start up a collection for Sundays;) he’s going to need a lot seeing as he will be baptized soon! We had a great experience with him and siloe. They were in Angela’s house when we passed by and so we started chatting about how their assignment to read Nephi 14 had gone. They both had really profound and well thought out ideas and questions about the chapter. We talked about the significance of the 2 churches and the prophecies. Fabian said his favorite part was in verse 12 because it says "and I looked and beheld..." it said to him that Nephi himself was seeing it. It wasn’t something he’d heard, or thought up but something he saw with his own eyes. While we were talking siloes sister, viviana, came in and sat down in the doorway. We’ve always tried to teach her to but she really never been interested. But as she listened to us talking with Fabian and siloe she pulled her chair closer and closer until she could be part of the conversation too. She expressed to us that she had many questions and doubts and wanted our help. She told us how she realized that she wasn’t living how God wanted her to and she needed to change but she didn’t know how. She also said that she knew her greatest responsibility in life was to lead her children in the right way and she expressed her need to know for herself what was the right way. It was a great opportunity to share our testimonies and offer her the chance to discover the right way through the book of Mormon. I am so excited for this family!!!!! Yay:)
2. This week we had a great idea to help Katherine and Gerardo. We asked hermano Marvin if he could sneakily take the girls out to an ice cream cone on a certain day and a certain time so we could come over and talk with them privately. It was a miracle! The house was quite and the spirit was obviously present. We had prayed all day to know what to say and it felt like the lord was giving us exactly what to say. We read with them helaman 5:10-11 and Alma 34:14-16 and talked about how Christ paid the price of our sins with the condition that we repent first of them. Hermano Gerardo surprised us by explaining exactly what is repentance and how to do it. They both expressed a desire to be clean from their sins but at the same time a fear that they had sins/habits that they didn’t know how to overcome or that they would fall into again. They are committed to reading 1 column of scripture every day and having their family prayer. They’re making progress, slowly, but its progress!!
3. This is my favorite of all. I wish you could know Jaime. He is such a special old man! He cracks me up and I really just love him so much. So we went to his house to watch the restoration and as usual he had invited his whole neighborhood to join us Haha. We began the movie with a running commentary from Hermana Jaime. He pointed out who joseph smith was and what he had seen and pretty much taught the restoration as we watched it. Later on he started passing out soda and slices of cake! (This man is the best host I’ve ever met. we never leave his house without eating). Well he finished and I told him to sit down in front so he could see and hear the movie. He whispered to me "I’m already saved, they’re the ones who really need to listen. Kungfu (he calls me that because its easier then saying Kugath) I saw the light, help them!” hahaha he is so cute and funny. Anyways, after the movie we took just a few minutes to talk about it and share our testimonies. As I was talking a was struck by the thought that this is really what my mission is all about. Exploring Costa Rica, learning Spanish, making lots of new friends, and eating bucket loads of rice and beans are all just extras while the real point of my being here is to testify that Jesus is the Christ and that his church has been restored through living prophets. The point is to help as many people as possible enjoy the blessings of the restored gospel while on Earth and then make it to our Celestial Home as Eternal Families. Isn’t being a missionary wonderful!:)
Well I hope you all know that I love you and miss you and pass my day praying for your health, happiness and testimonies! Prayers from Costa Rica!
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
PS just some great news, next week we will be able to use our brand new chapel for the first time!!!! bye bye high school gym and hello Hermosa Capilla! Dearest Familia :)
Have you ever asked the question what is my treasure? I was reading in 3rd Nephi this week and I found the most beautiful little verse. 3rd Nephi 13:21 " For where your treasure is there will your heart be also". (Matt. 6:21). Well I thought about it and as humans really we have two treasures, our time, energy and money. I invite you each to think about this question, if money, energy, and time are my treasures, what am I using them for? We can all do a little self-evaluation to see where our hearts truly lie as we evaluate these 3 things. If we spend our time, energy and money with our friends/sports team/video game/etc. our hearts are obviously found there, but if we spend it with our family and with our God we receive a true recompense of Joy and blessings. Yay family!
Okay 3 quick experiences from this last week to share:
1. This week was Fabian’s birthday! We bought him a tie, to help him start up a collection for Sundays;) he’s going to need a lot seeing as he will be baptized soon! We had a great experience with him and siloe. They were in Angela’s house when we passed by and so we started chatting about how their assignment to read Nephi 14 had gone. They both had really profound and well thought out ideas and questions about the chapter. We talked about the significance of the 2 churches and the prophecies. Fabian said his favorite part was in verse 12 because it says "and I looked and beheld..." it said to him that Nephi himself was seeing it. It wasn’t something he’d heard, or thought up but something he saw with his own eyes. While we were talking siloes sister, viviana, came in and sat down in the doorway. We’ve always tried to teach her to but she really never been interested. But as she listened to us talking with Fabian and siloe she pulled her chair closer and closer until she could be part of the conversation too. She expressed to us that she had many questions and doubts and wanted our help. She told us how she realized that she wasn’t living how God wanted her to and she needed to change but she didn’t know how. She also said that she knew her greatest responsibility in life was to lead her children in the right way and she expressed her need to know for herself what was the right way. It was a great opportunity to share our testimonies and offer her the chance to discover the right way through the book of Mormon. I am so excited for this family!!!!! Yay:)
2. This week we had a great idea to help Katherine and Gerardo. We asked hermano Marvin if he could sneakily take the girls out to an ice cream cone on a certain day and a certain time so we could come over and talk with them privately. It was a miracle! The house was quite and the spirit was obviously present. We had prayed all day to know what to say and it felt like the lord was giving us exactly what to say. We read with them helaman 5:10-11 and Alma 34:14-16 and talked about how Christ paid the price of our sins with the condition that we repent first of them. Hermano Gerardo surprised us by explaining exactly what is repentance and how to do it. They both expressed a desire to be clean from their sins but at the same time a fear that they had sins/habits that they didn’t know how to overcome or that they would fall into again. They are committed to reading 1 column of scripture every day and having their family prayer. They’re making progress, slowly, but its progress!!
3. This is my favorite of all. I wish you could know Jaime. He is such a special old man! He cracks me up and I really just love him so much. So we went to his house to watch the restoration and as usual he had invited his whole neighborhood to join us Haha. We began the movie with a running commentary from Hermana Jaime. He pointed out who joseph smith was and what he had seen and pretty much taught the restoration as we watched it. Later on he started passing out soda and slices of cake! (This man is the best host I’ve ever met. we never leave his house without eating). Well he finished and I told him to sit down in front so he could see and hear the movie. He whispered to me "I’m already saved, they’re the ones who really need to listen. Kungfu (he calls me that because its easier then saying Kugath) I saw the light, help them!” hahaha he is so cute and funny. Anyways, after the movie we took just a few minutes to talk about it and share our testimonies. As I was talking a was struck by the thought that this is really what my mission is all about. Exploring Costa Rica, learning Spanish, making lots of new friends, and eating bucket loads of rice and beans are all just extras while the real point of my being here is to testify that Jesus is the Christ and that his church has been restored through living prophets. The point is to help as many people as possible enjoy the blessings of the restored gospel while on Earth and then make it to our Celestial Home as Eternal Families. Isn’t being a missionary wonderful!:)
Well I hope you all know that I love you and miss you and pass my day praying for your health, happiness and testimonies! Prayers from Costa Rica!
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
PS just some great news, next week we will be able to use our brand new chapel for the first time!!!! bye bye high school gym and hello Hermosa Capilla!
Have you ever asked the question what is my treasure? I was reading in 3rd Nephi this week and I found the most beautiful little verse. 3rd Nephi 13:21 " For where your treasure is there will your heart be also". (Matt. 6:21). Well I thought about it and as humans really we have two treasures, our time, energy and money. I invite you each to think about this question, if money, energy, and time are my treasures, what am I using them for? We can all do a little self-evaluation to see where our hearts truly lie as we evaluate these 3 things. If we spend our time, energy and money with our friends/sports team/video game/etc. our hearts are obviously found there, but if we spend it with our family and with our God we receive a true recompense of Joy and blessings. Yay family!
Okay 3 quick experiences from this last week to share:
1. This week was Fabian’s birthday! We bought him a tie, to help him start up a collection for Sundays;) he’s going to need a lot seeing as he will be baptized soon! We had a great experience with him and siloe. They were in Angela’s house when we passed by and so we started chatting about how their assignment to read Nephi 14 had gone. They both had really profound and well thought out ideas and questions about the chapter. We talked about the significance of the 2 churches and the prophecies. Fabian said his favorite part was in verse 12 because it says "and I looked and beheld..." it said to him that Nephi himself was seeing it. It wasn’t something he’d heard, or thought up but something he saw with his own eyes. While we were talking siloes sister, viviana, came in and sat down in the doorway. We’ve always tried to teach her to but she really never been interested. But as she listened to us talking with Fabian and siloe she pulled her chair closer and closer until she could be part of the conversation too. She expressed to us that she had many questions and doubts and wanted our help. She told us how she realized that she wasn’t living how God wanted her to and she needed to change but she didn’t know how. She also said that she knew her greatest responsibility in life was to lead her children in the right way and she expressed her need to know for herself what was the right way. It was a great opportunity to share our testimonies and offer her the chance to discover the right way through the book of Mormon. I am so excited for this family!!!!! Yay:)
2. This week we had a great idea to help Katherine and Gerardo. We asked hermano Marvin if he could sneakily take the girls out to an ice cream cone on a certain day and a certain time so we could come over and talk with them privately. It was a miracle! The house was quite and the spirit was obviously present. We had prayed all day to know what to say and it felt like the lord was giving us exactly what to say. We read with them helaman 5:10-11 and Alma 34:14-16 and talked about how Christ paid the price of our sins with the condition that we repent first of them. Hermano Gerardo surprised us by explaining exactly what is repentance and how to do it. They both expressed a desire to be clean from their sins but at the same time a fear that they had sins/habits that they didn’t know how to overcome or that they would fall into again. They are committed to reading 1 column of scripture every day and having their family prayer. They’re making progress, slowly, but its progress!!
3. This is my favorite of all. I wish you could know Jaime. He is such a special old man! He cracks me up and I really just love him so much. So we went to his house to watch the restoration and as usual he had invited his whole neighborhood to join us Haha. We began the movie with a running commentary from Hermana Jaime. He pointed out who joseph smith was and what he had seen and pretty much taught the restoration as we watched it. Later on he started passing out soda and slices of cake! (This man is the best host I’ve ever met. we never leave his house without eating). Well he finished and I told him to sit down in front so he could see and hear the movie. He whispered to me "I’m already saved, they’re the ones who really need to listen. Kungfu (he calls me that because its easier then saying Kugath) I saw the light, help them!” hahaha he is so cute and funny. Anyways, after the movie we took just a few minutes to talk about it and share our testimonies. As I was talking a was struck by the thought that this is really what my mission is all about. Exploring Costa Rica, learning Spanish, making lots of new friends, and eating bucket loads of rice and beans are all just extras while the real point of my being here is to testify that Jesus is the Christ and that his church has been restored through living prophets. The point is to help as many people as possible enjoy the blessings of the restored gospel while on Earth and then make it to our Celestial Home as Eternal Families. Isn’t being a missionary wonderful!:)
Well I hope you all know that I love you and miss you and pass my day praying for your health, happiness and testimonies! Prayers from Costa Rica!
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
PS just some great news, next week we will be able to use our brand new chapel for the first time!!!! bye bye high school gym and hello Hermosa Capilla! Dearest Familia :)
Have you ever asked the question what is my treasure? I was reading in 3rd Nephi this week and I found the most beautiful little verse. 3rd Nephi 13:21 " For where your treasure is there will your heart be also". (Matt. 6:21). Well I thought about it and as humans really we have two treasures, our time, energy and money. I invite you each to think about this question, if money, energy, and time are my treasures, what am I using them for? We can all do a little self-evaluation to see where our hearts truly lie as we evaluate these 3 things. If we spend our time, energy and money with our friends/sports team/video game/etc. our hearts are obviously found there, but if we spend it with our family and with our God we receive a true recompense of Joy and blessings. Yay family!
Okay 3 quick experiences from this last week to share:
1. This week was Fabian’s birthday! We bought him a tie, to help him start up a collection for Sundays;) he’s going to need a lot seeing as he will be baptized soon! We had a great experience with him and siloe. They were in Angela’s house when we passed by and so we started chatting about how their assignment to read Nephi 14 had gone. They both had really profound and well thought out ideas and questions about the chapter. We talked about the significance of the 2 churches and the prophecies. Fabian said his favorite part was in verse 12 because it says "and I looked and beheld..." it said to him that Nephi himself was seeing it. It wasn’t something he’d heard, or thought up but something he saw with his own eyes. While we were talking siloes sister, viviana, came in and sat down in the doorway. We’ve always tried to teach her to but she really never been interested. But as she listened to us talking with Fabian and siloe she pulled her chair closer and closer until she could be part of the conversation too. She expressed to us that she had many questions and doubts and wanted our help. She told us how she realized that she wasn’t living how God wanted her to and she needed to change but she didn’t know how. She also said that she knew her greatest responsibility in life was to lead her children in the right way and she expressed her need to know for herself what was the right way. It was a great opportunity to share our testimonies and offer her the chance to discover the right way through the book of Mormon. I am so excited for this family!!!!! Yay:)
2. This week we had a great idea to help Katherine and Gerardo. We asked hermano Marvin if he could sneakily take the girls out to an ice cream cone on a certain day and a certain time so we could come over and talk with them privately. It was a miracle! The house was quite and the spirit was obviously present. We had prayed all day to know what to say and it felt like the lord was giving us exactly what to say. We read with them helaman 5:10-11 and Alma 34:14-16 and talked about how Christ paid the price of our sins with the condition that we repent first of them. Hermano Gerardo surprised us by explaining exactly what is repentance and how to do it. They both expressed a desire to be clean from their sins but at the same time a fear that they had sins/habits that they didn’t know how to overcome or that they would fall into again. They are committed to reading 1 column of scripture every day and having their family prayer. They’re making progress, slowly, but its progress!!
3. This is my favorite of all. I wish you could know Jaime. He is such a special old man! He cracks me up and I really just love him so much. So we went to his house to watch the restoration and as usual he had invited his whole neighborhood to join us Haha. We began the movie with a running commentary from Hermana Jaime. He pointed out who joseph smith was and what he had seen and pretty much taught the restoration as we watched it. Later on he started passing out soda and slices of cake! (This man is the best host I’ve ever met. we never leave his house without eating). Well he finished and I told him to sit down in front so he could see and hear the movie. He whispered to me "I’m already saved, they’re the ones who really need to listen. Kungfu (he calls me that because its easier then saying Kugath) I saw the light, help them!” hahaha he is so cute and funny. Anyways, after the movie we took just a few minutes to talk about it and share our testimonies. As I was talking a was struck by the thought that this is really what my mission is all about. Exploring Costa Rica, learning Spanish, making lots of new friends, and eating bucket loads of rice and beans are all just extras while the real point of my being here is to testify that Jesus is the Christ and that his church has been restored through living prophets. The point is to help as many people as possible enjoy the blessings of the restored gospel while on Earth and then make it to our Celestial Home as Eternal Families. Isn’t being a missionary wonderful!:)
Well I hope you all know that I love you and miss you and pass my day praying for your health, happiness and testimonies! Prayers from Costa Rica!
All My Love,
Hermana Kugath
PS just some great news, next week we will be able to use our brand new chapel for the first time!!!! bye bye high school gym and hello Hermosa Capilla!
4.15.2016
Obeying My Stake President
Dearest Family...
Hey:) what a great week it has been! Can you guys believe it April already? I mean I know it has been for 11 days already but it still blows my mind. Well I'm running a little short on time here today so let me jump right in to it!
I have seen no shortage of miracles in the last week. Fabian is the boyfriend of Angela’s (recent convert from January) daughter, Siloe. We’ve seen him on and off the past few months because he’s always around when we go to see Siloe and Angela. We’ve given him a book of Mormon, we watched the restoration and we’ve chatted lots about the church. But last week Siloe invited him to go to conference with her and he went! The next day we went over to help them practice their English for an upcoming exam and Siloe greeted us saying, "I have news! Fabian wants to be baptized!"... I for one was shocked. We talked for a little while and laid out the requirements for baptism and he agreed to each one. Later in the week we returned to teach the restoration. Wed left him a pamphlet and told him to read the first few page. He told us that he had read the whole thing! And he only hadn’t answered the questions at the back because he didn’t have a bible to look up the references.:) As we talked about the restoration he made very personal and profound remarks. When we talked about what revelation meant he said, "So I’m looking to receive a revelation from God to tell me to be baptized?" yes! Later as we explained how the only question Joseph Smith had asked was which church was true he said " that interesting, now I’m asking the same question!” it was probably in my top 3 favorite lessons of all time. We asked him to offer the closing prayer and as he prayed he really poured out his heart in the most humble prayer I’ve heard someone say. He gave thanks for the Lord having opened the door to him to be able to find the true church and asked permission from God to join the church if it was his will, because he does want to. And that’s not all! But when we passed by just to say hi, we found him trying on the new white shirt and ties he’d bought especially for church this week:) I am dying he is so good! Yay!
In other news, Alfonzo, another recent convert spent 8 hours with us one day sharing his testimony and inviting everyone to listen to our message. He loves us so much, makes me think of the Lamanite converts of Ammon, what a privilege!
We are also currently working with all the recent converts in their family history so they will have names to take to the temple (hopefully sometime in April/early may! how I dream of seeing them in the temple!!)
Okay so I think I’ve told you how we don’t have a chapel right now because they’re rebuilding it. Well they’re just about done and its probably the mot beautiful church building I’ve ever seen. So every night on our way home we make it a point to pass by and look at it if we can. One night we were passing by and we aw lights inside. There was a guard at the gate and so we went and asked him if he could open it so we could see it.... well he said no:( but then we introduced ourselves as the missionaries of the church to whom the building belonged. He still said we couldn’t come in but asked about the church. We introduced ourselves and gave him a pamphlet of the plan of salvation and invited him to read it that night during his watch and if he wanted, to come to the church with us in the high school on Sunday. And he came! It was such a miracle. He came, stayed the 3 hours, and invited us to his house to explain more about the pamphlet and answer his questions. It was so cool! So that night we went to his house and we chatted about the plan of salvation and introduced the book of Mormon. His cousin came in and we gave them a copy to read. As we were teaching them the prophecy from Samuel the Lamanite in Helaman 15:11-16 came to my mind and I felt such a great joy at helping to bring the promise to pass.
Last thing, on Sunday I was so happy. There were so many good men that I’ve come to care for and worry about and love (like a missionary obviously) dressed in white shirts! Alfonzo, Jaime, Adrian, Fabian, Ricardo, José, Marvin, etc. it was beautiful! I love being a missionary and I love Turrialba!
But don’t be jealous, I love you all too! With all my heart and soul:) miss you lots and I’m really grateful for the notes, letters, videos and pictures you’ve sent me.
Prayers from Costa Rica!
All my love,
Hermana Kugath
Hey:) what a great week it has been! Can you guys believe it April already? I mean I know it has been for 11 days already but it still blows my mind. Well I'm running a little short on time here today so let me jump right in to it!
I have seen no shortage of miracles in the last week. Fabian is the boyfriend of Angela’s (recent convert from January) daughter, Siloe. We’ve seen him on and off the past few months because he’s always around when we go to see Siloe and Angela. We’ve given him a book of Mormon, we watched the restoration and we’ve chatted lots about the church. But last week Siloe invited him to go to conference with her and he went! The next day we went over to help them practice their English for an upcoming exam and Siloe greeted us saying, "I have news! Fabian wants to be baptized!"... I for one was shocked. We talked for a little while and laid out the requirements for baptism and he agreed to each one. Later in the week we returned to teach the restoration. Wed left him a pamphlet and told him to read the first few page. He told us that he had read the whole thing! And he only hadn’t answered the questions at the back because he didn’t have a bible to look up the references.:) As we talked about the restoration he made very personal and profound remarks. When we talked about what revelation meant he said, "So I’m looking to receive a revelation from God to tell me to be baptized?" yes! Later as we explained how the only question Joseph Smith had asked was which church was true he said " that interesting, now I’m asking the same question!” it was probably in my top 3 favorite lessons of all time. We asked him to offer the closing prayer and as he prayed he really poured out his heart in the most humble prayer I’ve heard someone say. He gave thanks for the Lord having opened the door to him to be able to find the true church and asked permission from God to join the church if it was his will, because he does want to. And that’s not all! But when we passed by just to say hi, we found him trying on the new white shirt and ties he’d bought especially for church this week:) I am dying he is so good! Yay!
In other news, Alfonzo, another recent convert spent 8 hours with us one day sharing his testimony and inviting everyone to listen to our message. He loves us so much, makes me think of the Lamanite converts of Ammon, what a privilege!
We are also currently working with all the recent converts in their family history so they will have names to take to the temple (hopefully sometime in April/early may! how I dream of seeing them in the temple!!)
Okay so I think I’ve told you how we don’t have a chapel right now because they’re rebuilding it. Well they’re just about done and its probably the mot beautiful church building I’ve ever seen. So every night on our way home we make it a point to pass by and look at it if we can. One night we were passing by and we aw lights inside. There was a guard at the gate and so we went and asked him if he could open it so we could see it.... well he said no:( but then we introduced ourselves as the missionaries of the church to whom the building belonged. He still said we couldn’t come in but asked about the church. We introduced ourselves and gave him a pamphlet of the plan of salvation and invited him to read it that night during his watch and if he wanted, to come to the church with us in the high school on Sunday. And he came! It was such a miracle. He came, stayed the 3 hours, and invited us to his house to explain more about the pamphlet and answer his questions. It was so cool! So that night we went to his house and we chatted about the plan of salvation and introduced the book of Mormon. His cousin came in and we gave them a copy to read. As we were teaching them the prophecy from Samuel the Lamanite in Helaman 15:11-16 came to my mind and I felt such a great joy at helping to bring the promise to pass.
Last thing, on Sunday I was so happy. There were so many good men that I’ve come to care for and worry about and love (like a missionary obviously) dressed in white shirts! Alfonzo, Jaime, Adrian, Fabian, Ricardo, José, Marvin, etc. it was beautiful! I love being a missionary and I love Turrialba!
But don’t be jealous, I love you all too! With all my heart and soul:) miss you lots and I’m really grateful for the notes, letters, videos and pictures you’ve sent me.
Prayers from Costa Rica!
All my love,
Hermana Kugath
4.05.2016
37 days 20 hours 48 minutes (says mom's countdown clock)
Dearest Familia.....
Man if you guys knew what an awesome week this was! It was super crazy and we had to travel far more then Id ever want to in a week (especially in these buses that make you want to throw up and/or pass out) but it was so worth it! Let me just give you a run down of the week.
Monday- Cambios. Spent the whole day dropping off Hermana Mazariegos and picking up Hermana Chavez! I think I’ve pretty much already told you guys a little about her. She’s 22, from Argentina, and we spent 5 months living in the same house. Basically its just like the same (minus that Hermana Olsen and Hermana Turner aren’t here too:() we get along really well and working together is super swell! She’s a great teacher and really motivated. I was afraid I was going to have a hard time with my last companion seeing as I’ve had it pretty easy in the companion department my whole mission, but no, the Lord is taking it easy on me I guess:)
Tuesday- District Meeting. Basically going to, having, and coming home from district meeting eats up all of our day so there’s not to much to say about this day. Basically everyone spends an hour reminding me that I have to go home soon haha. Sometimes missionaries are merciless.
Wednesday- this was the only normal day of the week! We spent the day working in our area and it was awesome! Its fun getting to show a new companion the area and introducing her to everyone. It’s got to be overwhelming for her, but she’s doing great and already gets along great with all our investigators and members! We went up to Santa Rosa to visit Angela because her missionary daughter came home!!! We were expecting everyone to be bouncing off the walls but when we walked up (a little late, oops) everyone was crying. The poor family just got the news that Angela’s mom had passed away. We spent the night how I hope the savior would have, mourning with those that mourn, comforting those that stand in need and teaching the hope filled message of the resurrection! We watched the churches 2-minute message called hallelujah (no idea how to spell that in English or Spanish) and we had the opportunity to testify that death really has no sting and the grave has no victory gracias al Salvador JesuCristo. We also asked the recently returned sister missionary Brenda to share her testimony and she said that her grandma began a new life and that as she had been testifying of forever families for a year and a half she knew with un shakable faith that it was a reality.
Thursday- we went to see Jaime today:) he really is my favorite man ever. I was a little worried that he might not accept Hermana Chavez because he loved Hermana Mazariegos so much, but he started joking with her right away and I knew that it would all be okay. We talked about the priesthood and he was honestly humbled and awed that he now holds the authority and has the right to baptize and bless the sacrament in our savior’s name. The only bad thing is we had to leave running because we had to get to Paraiso before 9 :(
Friday- today we went to the temple! We spent the night in Paraiso with the other sister missionaries so we could wake up early and go to the temple. When I say early I mean suuper early, like 2:30 type early. I mean first of all 4 girls have to shower and get ready and make it to Cartago before 5 am. The whole morning I was afraid that I would fall asleep in the session or get a headache from being awake so early, so before we started I prayed that I could make it through without being sleepy, hungry, grumpy, etc. haha. And I enjoyed the whole session! Later as we were sitting in the celestial room I received some of the most personal and direct answers to the questions id been praying about. The Lord really does hear us and answer!
Saturday/Sunday- Yay for general conference!!!!!!! Man I love conference so much. Aren’t we so blessed to have loving and inspired leader who, like elder Holland said, spend hours thinking about us and praying to know how to help us. I think there was a personal message for all of us in their words. Was it just me or did they say the phrase forever families/eternal families like 10000000000 times? I personally loved Elder Duncan, Elder Myrvn, Presidente Utchdorf and Elder Holland’s talks. If there’s one thing that stuck out to me, and has during my whole mission, it’s that opposition is necessary if we want to grow. It caught my attention that he said, the devil tells us that we can’t grow, learn or progress because he can’t! But if we remember our divine identity as other counseled us, if we really understand that we are literal children of God there is nothing we can’t achieve. The Lord blessed us to have 9 investigators accompany us to conference:) it was unforgettable! I invite you all to review the conference talks soon so that we can continually feel the peace of the spirit in our lives:)
Well that was my week:) I just want you all to know that I love being a missionary! I know that our families can and will be together forever, but that it depends on our obedience. I know that opposition is necessary to grow but I know that if we face our oppositions with Christ at our side they will help us learn and grow and help us to be perfected. If we face them alone they will break us and make us miserable. Our Loving Heavenly Father provided a savior, a healer and a counselor for us so that the opposition would benefit and not wreak us. I love you all so much, prayers from Costa Rica!
All my Love,
Hermana Kugath
Man if you guys knew what an awesome week this was! It was super crazy and we had to travel far more then Id ever want to in a week (especially in these buses that make you want to throw up and/or pass out) but it was so worth it! Let me just give you a run down of the week.
Monday- Cambios. Spent the whole day dropping off Hermana Mazariegos and picking up Hermana Chavez! I think I’ve pretty much already told you guys a little about her. She’s 22, from Argentina, and we spent 5 months living in the same house. Basically its just like the same (minus that Hermana Olsen and Hermana Turner aren’t here too:() we get along really well and working together is super swell! She’s a great teacher and really motivated. I was afraid I was going to have a hard time with my last companion seeing as I’ve had it pretty easy in the companion department my whole mission, but no, the Lord is taking it easy on me I guess:)
Tuesday- District Meeting. Basically going to, having, and coming home from district meeting eats up all of our day so there’s not to much to say about this day. Basically everyone spends an hour reminding me that I have to go home soon haha. Sometimes missionaries are merciless.
Wednesday- this was the only normal day of the week! We spent the day working in our area and it was awesome! Its fun getting to show a new companion the area and introducing her to everyone. It’s got to be overwhelming for her, but she’s doing great and already gets along great with all our investigators and members! We went up to Santa Rosa to visit Angela because her missionary daughter came home!!! We were expecting everyone to be bouncing off the walls but when we walked up (a little late, oops) everyone was crying. The poor family just got the news that Angela’s mom had passed away. We spent the night how I hope the savior would have, mourning with those that mourn, comforting those that stand in need and teaching the hope filled message of the resurrection! We watched the churches 2-minute message called hallelujah (no idea how to spell that in English or Spanish) and we had the opportunity to testify that death really has no sting and the grave has no victory gracias al Salvador JesuCristo. We also asked the recently returned sister missionary Brenda to share her testimony and she said that her grandma began a new life and that as she had been testifying of forever families for a year and a half she knew with un shakable faith that it was a reality.
Thursday- we went to see Jaime today:) he really is my favorite man ever. I was a little worried that he might not accept Hermana Chavez because he loved Hermana Mazariegos so much, but he started joking with her right away and I knew that it would all be okay. We talked about the priesthood and he was honestly humbled and awed that he now holds the authority and has the right to baptize and bless the sacrament in our savior’s name. The only bad thing is we had to leave running because we had to get to Paraiso before 9 :(
Friday- today we went to the temple! We spent the night in Paraiso with the other sister missionaries so we could wake up early and go to the temple. When I say early I mean suuper early, like 2:30 type early. I mean first of all 4 girls have to shower and get ready and make it to Cartago before 5 am. The whole morning I was afraid that I would fall asleep in the session or get a headache from being awake so early, so before we started I prayed that I could make it through without being sleepy, hungry, grumpy, etc. haha. And I enjoyed the whole session! Later as we were sitting in the celestial room I received some of the most personal and direct answers to the questions id been praying about. The Lord really does hear us and answer!
Saturday/Sunday- Yay for general conference!!!!!!! Man I love conference so much. Aren’t we so blessed to have loving and inspired leader who, like elder Holland said, spend hours thinking about us and praying to know how to help us. I think there was a personal message for all of us in their words. Was it just me or did they say the phrase forever families/eternal families like 10000000000 times? I personally loved Elder Duncan, Elder Myrvn, Presidente Utchdorf and Elder Holland’s talks. If there’s one thing that stuck out to me, and has during my whole mission, it’s that opposition is necessary if we want to grow. It caught my attention that he said, the devil tells us that we can’t grow, learn or progress because he can’t! But if we remember our divine identity as other counseled us, if we really understand that we are literal children of God there is nothing we can’t achieve. The Lord blessed us to have 9 investigators accompany us to conference:) it was unforgettable! I invite you all to review the conference talks soon so that we can continually feel the peace of the spirit in our lives:)
Well that was my week:) I just want you all to know that I love being a missionary! I know that our families can and will be together forever, but that it depends on our obedience. I know that opposition is necessary to grow but I know that if we face our oppositions with Christ at our side they will help us learn and grow and help us to be perfected. If we face them alone they will break us and make us miserable. Our Loving Heavenly Father provided a savior, a healer and a counselor for us so that the opposition would benefit and not wreak us. I love you all so much, prayers from Costa Rica!
All my Love,
Hermana Kugath
3.28.2016
Felices Pascuas (Happy Easter)
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
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
3.21.2016
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
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