The start of a new change...

Hey family!!!
So this week has been pretty crazy. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I got to play mini-ZL with Elder Howell until I got my new comp on Thursday. Tuesday I also got my residency! YAY! No worries about getting thrown out of the country now. =P

Thursday was a pretty good day. Changes meeting was crazier than usual, the APs made some mistakes here and there...like not telling 2 companionships they had changes...yeah...that was bad. But, my new companion is awesome! His name is Elder Tagliaferri from Las Vegas. Funny thing is, he´s only been in the country for 6 months and he went from junior companion to what we call a potty-trainer and a district leader. (A potty-trainer is a newbie´s 2nd companion.) But yeah, I showed him around the area Thursday and then Friday he had to go to Moravia and give his first baptismal interview. Saturday morning we had to meet at the stake center for the district leaders meeting aaaand this week is going to be the only week my companion will be in our area every day. We´ve got like 6 divisions this change and since I know the area and Tagliaferri doesn´t, he´ll be leaving the area and I´ll be staying here in Garabito every time. Sooo yeah, it´ll take a while for my comp to learn the area since he´s pretty much never gonna be here. =( But he´s a cool guy and we´ve been having fun these first few days.

When Elder Campbell went home he left me his old bag, so I´m using that for the time being. I bought a new Biblia on Saturday and this girl in my ward gave me a new Libro de Mormón, so I´m good for now. I still need a new himnario but I´m working on that.

Other than that nothing much is new. Más o menos I´m training Elder Tagliaferri on how to be a DL, which has been pretty funny since he has 3 months more than me in the country. But then again, he only has 3 months more than me in the country and he´s a District Leader. =P
My spanish continues to improve little by little. I´m still struggling with casual conversation a little bit, but I can hold my own alright for the most part. I practice trying to tell stories in spanish, that helps a lot. Me and one of the elders in my district, Elder Bonn, have been deemed the story-tellers of the Zone. I´ve lost count of how many stories I´ll told in these last 3 months, but apparently I´m good at it. =D

Oh yeah so here are some details on the soccer stuff here. There are 2 major teams that most everyone are split on: Saprissa and La Liga (I think that´s how you spell it). Missionaries here choose their team within the first month in the country. Well, my first area is in Saprissa territory, so I went Saprissa. Helps that Saprissa Staduim is in my area. =P Elder Tagliaferri is for La Liga but hey, nobody´s perfect. =

How is Derek doing with school and stuff? How are Ashley and Logan doing with school and all that jazz? How´s work? That´s tough that Dad may be off work till May, that puts things in a tight spot. How´s he handling it?

I love you all and I hope things are going well stateside. Just know that I´m having fun and working hard. I can´t believe I´ve been gone for 5 months! That´s nuts. Seems like just yesterday I was watching How I Met Your Mother back home. =P The time is flying but I still have a lot of work to do. No time to just sit around! Take care and and tune in next week for more news!
...yeah I´m a dork...meh, it´s all good. ¡Pura Vida!
Your Son,
Elder Núñez

Last Week with Depriet

Glad to hear that everything has been pretty tranquilo this last week. My week was pretty good too. =) Tuesday, I went on divisions with my other zone leader Elder Howell, which was pretty fun. He was a little scared of getting robbed so he didn`t take much with him when we were out working, but it was a decent work day. Thursday I was with another elder in my district, Elder Clark, because Elder DePriest is district leader and needed to do a baptismal interview. I was a little worried about working with Elder Clark just because he gave the impression of being a Negative Nancy, but we had a good time working together and it was definatly a blast to have in lessons. Elder DePriest started packing on Saturday. I can`t say enough about how much he`s helped me out in my first 3 months here. I dropped DePriest off at the mission home this morning, and Elder Howell dropped of Elder Campbell as well. I`m gonna miss them both, they`ve been so cool, but it`s part of the mission. For the next 3 days I`m gonna be with Elder Howell until Thursday, and then I`ll get my new comp. My guess, my next comp will be a latino, but we`ll see what happens.
One of the investigators Elder DePriest and I have been teaching over the past 2 months has been on my mind lately. His name is Eric, and he`s a really cool guy, knows the doctrine way too well, but he over-thinks things a bit and has a lot of doubts. More or less I can use some prayers on this one, he`s a great guy but the trick is getting him to feel. =)
In other news, I forgot to mention that Elder Madsen (from the MTC) went home 2 weeks ago. His eardrum blewout in the MTC and then here in Costa Rica he just got ridiculously ill. They couldn`t figure out what`s wrong with him here, so they sent him home. If they can fix him, Madsen might be sent back here or sent stateside, but either way it`s a sad story. =(
Reading over one of Tylan`s last emails I couldn`t help but laugh about his new fettish for ties. That comes with the mission. When the tie is the only thing you can change day after day after day, you learn to love ties. Elder DePriest had some 40 ties, half of which are now mine since he`s homeward bound. The favorite brand of tie here is called a Wembley. There`ll all polyester, which is necessary in Costa Rica cause silk ties get owned in the rain, and most of them look pretty cool. My collection isn`t that big, I have maybe 20 some ties, which is more or less what I had back home. Elder Clark has 138 ties, but none of them are really that good. If anything I`ve learned 3 ways to be remembered in the mission. 1) Baptize like crazy, 2) Be inicuo as dump, or 3) Have really nice ties. =D ¿Qué mas?
Have I mentioned anything about the fruit here? There are some pretty different fruits, and me being a fruity kinda guy am enjoying the variety. Guanabana is my favorite by far. I wish we had this in the states. Picture a pineapple without the green leafy stuff on top and the outside is a dark green. The inside is white and it`s SO GOOD. I love me some guanabana smooties. =D Mangos are pretty good here too. Whenever I pass through San José centro I grab a mango for the bus ride home. Mmmmm...mango... I had sugar cane for the first time Wednesday. It looks like a long wooden stick, not gonna lie. You don`t eat the stuff, you just chew on it and all this sweet, SWEET juice comes out. It`s ridiculously sweet, but it was quite the treat.
Oh yeah, you`ll find this funny. DePriest was breaking out some US money last night and he found some quarters. He threw one to me and I was like "FREAK! Why is it so small? Why did I use to think quarters were big???" A quarter is like the size of a 10 colones coin here. It definately weirded me out for a moment.
All right well I better jet. Thank you thank you thank you thank you for sending the insoles! =D =D =D =D =D =D And no worries about the package, emails and snail mail are blessings enough. Tell everyone I love them and that I miss them. And thank you for sending the words to the song...not gonna lie I kinda teared up as I read it...
Your Son,
Elder Núñez

Robbed Again!!

Holy smokes you guys have been busy this week. We´ve been working pretty hard to. Elder DePriest and I did get robbed again this past week. Not that I had anything on me but a bag I borrowed from another elder (oops) and some pass-along Books of Mormon. They didn´t get anything off DePriest since his bag of 2 years is literally in shreds, and they didn´t want the scriptures. I still don´t have new scriptures or even a new bag yet. Hopefully by this Saturday or Sunday, but we´ll see.
Other than that it´s been a lax week. The son of the less active family is getting baptized this Saturday, but other than that we don´t have anyone really progressing right now. I´m praying for a family, it´s been a while since we´ve had the chance to even teach a family but, who knows. As long as we have people to teach I´m happy. =)
Tell Spencer congrats on the state championship, that´s awesome! I bet dad is losing his mind being benched like that, but it happens. I hope he finds something he can do in his condition. I´m glad work is going well for you, mom. I always wonder what new bit of craziness might arise form that job of yours. =P Tell dad I´ve had that song he use to sing to us kids when we were little in my head for a few days now. I don´t know why but I find myself humming it whenever we´re out working. Humming because I don´t remember all the words. =P
Alright well I better go. Oh, but before I forget for the 3rd straight week, can you guys send me some shoe insoles??? The insoles in the Docs are so thin that I had to switch the insoles from the boots to the shoes and throw away that paper thin, hole riddled remains of the shoe insoles. I just need regular insoles, nothing special, just regular old insoles. We´ve tried looking for them here but every Zapataría we´ve hit doesn´t have them.
Anyways, I love you all and I hope all is well in the Valley. I´m sending some fotos (now that I found my cable). Enjoy!
Your Son, Elder Núñez

Robbed!!

Wow, a lot has happened this past week with you guys. What mission in Spain is Randal going to? I have a few friends from the MTC who are there, so I´d like to know where he´s headed. =) And you should find out what mission in Argentina Cristian is going to! Is it Neoquen? That´s where Andy Call is so that´s why I´m wondering.
Alright well news this week is as follows:
I was robbed! Thursday we had divisions and I was with Elder Campbell in my area. Now, Elder DePriest has been in this area for almost 6 months and nothing has ever happened to him, and in the 2 months I´ve been here nothing has happened either. But, lo and behold, on Campbell´s first day ever in our area we got jacked. They took both our bags, our spanish sciptures, Himnos, one of the little flashlights you gave me before leaving, our coin pouches (I only had like 1 mil five hundred colones on me...so like 3 bucks) and they got Campbell´s watch too. But the weird thing is it was 4:30 in the afternoon! Broad daylight! One woman who saw what happened called us over and gave us a glass of water. We ended up consolling her she was so scared. Another guy gave us 3 mil and then gave us a ride back to our house too. It was quite the adventure. I´m borrowing a bag from another elder in the zone for the time being, and Elder Campbell is using one of his old comp´s bags (which I´m going to inherit from him when he leaves). S ad day, but hey! I have a story to tell! =)
On the flip side I got to baptize Jackie yesterday! Numero dos! It was a pretty good day all around. It was weird going through the last couple of days without a bag or anything to carry around with me. I still need new scriptures but I´m not worried about it.
So yeah. That´s what´s happened this week. ... ... =P
No worries about me I´m doing fine, even with the whole robbery. =P I hope dad is feeling better and the boredom hasn´t driven him completely crazy! I bet Derek is freezing, Lewiston doesn´t get real cold. Glad to hear Logan is feeling better and that Ashley is turning her focus back to her studies. I hope work is going okay with you and that nothing too crazy has been happening with the budget cuts.
I love you all and I´ll talk to you next week! Take care!
Your Son, Elder Núñez

News from the Jungle

I thought it might have been my email because I was at 99% full last week... =P Anyway you'll need to send me fotos of the new carpet and stuff. We've had blue down there for so long I can't even picture it anyother way. How has this last week gone? What's new in the family? Things are going well here. We have 2 more baptisms lined up, one for this week and the other for next week. That girl we've been teaching for the last month and a half, Jackie, is getting baptized!!! And also the son of a inactive family, his name is Jason, is getting baptized. This kid is so cool! But yeah, life here has stayed pretty consistant. Elder DePriest is now District Leader, that's a change. A new elder came into the mission early, so our zone got changed around a bit. So for his last month here, Elder DePriest gets to play the boss. =P We've been having fun this last week and surprisingly getting a lot of lessons in a day, despite our actual appointments ditching out on us. =P I'm loving every minute of it though. =D
Okay so I learned this week Ticos cannot give directions. They just can't. Here's an example of the kinds of directions we get:
"Follow this dirt until you come to a big rock. There'll be a 3-legged dog lying next to it, and then a 4-legged dog will pop out of the bushes and they'll start fighting. When the 4-legged dog wins just follow him to the house. But, if the 3-legged dog wins you haven't gone far enough, and further down the road there'll be another rock and another 3-legged dog and when THAT 4-legged dog wins THAT fight, just follow him."
...yeah...try finding a house with that...=P It's all good though, I get a good laugh when we get something like that. If we weren't on the Lord's time I'd try to see if I could actually find the place, but we are and there's no way we'd find a house like that. =P Still pretty funny though.
Oh, yeah, almost forgot, how much money do I have in my account? None of the machines let me check here and 2 weeks ago I took out something like $60. I was going to take out some more today but I'm not sure how much is even in there soooo yeah. Anyway I still haven't found anything to send my Christmas gifts in. When we go into center today I'm going to look one more time before I just make a box myself. =D
So what's the scam at home? I hope things are alright and that everyone is doing well. I love you and I'll talk to ya next week!
Your Son,
Elder Núñez

Earthquake!

YEAH EARTHQUAKE! Haha, San José really didn´t get hit too hard by the quake. I was at lunch with my Zone when it hit, and all of us gringos were just like "Oh, hey, earthquake, cool." But all the ticos in the restaruant were freaking and running out of the building. One of the elders, Elder Bonn, was on his feet heading for the door when my district leader, Elder Jones, started laughing at him and was like "Dang it Bonn, sit down!" We all started laughing. The northern part of Costa Rica got hit the hardest. And yeah, houses outside San José are just tin shacks. The only place you see houses like that in the city are here in Garabito by the river, where all the Nicaraguans live. Our baptism is this Saturday. Everything is going smooth, the odds of things falling through are real thin. I´m super excited.
Requests for a package? Hmmm...I´m gonna have to say any CD that has "Come Thou Fount" on it. I just really want that song. =P Pictures from home are always welcome in packages as well. =)
I can see Derek making that threat to his roomies, and I can see him just cleaning EVERYTHING like a madman. I know it´s gonna be a tough change for him but hey, he´s just going to school. Nothing too hard. At least everyone there speaks english. =P
I want pictures of Winter Ball! Hahaha...bumble bee...haha... I´m glad to hear Spencer has been helping Dad at the bank. Way to step up to the plate as the boyfriend. Tell him I say thanks for helping the family. =) I can believe Logan hasn´t slept in the attic much since I left, I really didn´t expect him to. Hopefully the change of rooms will help him. Is Ashley still working a rediculous amount of hours? Connie might be coming to Costa Rica? I really don´t know what she could bring with her. Oh wait! Suave, PEANUT BUTTER OREOS!!! Haha, you know me, my needs are simple. =P
Anyway not much else to report from Garabito. Changes meeting last week was CRAZY. Elder Madsen fom my MTC district is in my district here now. Our first district meeting Thursday was hilarious. We´re all gringos! And then Elder DePriest said: "When I got into this district, 5 months ago, I was the ONLY gringo!" One more month and the man goes home, that´s nuts!
Alrighty, I gotta bail. I love you and tell everyone I say hi and I´m loving it here. I´ll talk to you next week!
Your Son,

Elder Núñez

Fecha Set!

Hola Mamá!
This week has been...well I was going to say different but it´s pretty much been the same. I got sick New Year´s Day though, stomach flu. I didn´t enjoy that at all and going out to work that night, although the choice itself wasn´t hard, but the feeling in my gut made it hard to stay on my feet. I got through the night though just as I told Elder DePriest I would. I did ask my comp for a blessing, and the next 2 days I felt better but not able to eat a whole lot. I´m a ton better now, so no worries here. =)

The girl Jackie that we´ve been teaching has hit a brick wall. She was baptized in the evangelical church some time ago and more or less just doesn´t want to understand why that baptism didn´t count. I´ve been wracking my brain, praying, and studying for some way to explain it better, but I´m drawing blanks. It´s a really simple concept: After the Apostles died, the authority to baptize and officiate in the church was lost. But she was taught that the Apostles did pass on the authority...which isn´t what happened. It´s discouraging but we´re trying. On the flip side, we have a fecha! The Tibas Ward has had an investigator coming to church for over a month now, and since that ward has no missionaries they called us! Her name is Fabiola, she´s 21, and she has 2 small boys. She knows a ton about the church, it´s been a blessing teaching her! The baptism is set for Jan. 17th, and that leaves us with 3 more lessons with her to cover everything not involved in the first 3 lessons. Time is short, but she´s golden. =)
I´m glad to hear Dad is feeling better and is back to work. If Dad gets bed-ridden by something I can only imagine how bad it was. I´m sure once Derek gets out to school things will start to fall into place. He just needs to relax and not worry about it so much. I found that when you worry, things just get worse. Or so it seems. Ashley´s going to burn herself out if she keeps it up. The body can only take so much! I hope she realizes this and takes things easy at work this new year. I´m glad to hear Derek and Logan have gotten a little closer since I´ve been gone. I´m happy Derek stepped up to the plate on that. =) I know it´s hard for you to focus at home with so much going on and in disarray. I hope things will start to slow down and you can get some much needed and well deserved rest. This is usually the down time for the family, so hopefully nothing too crazy happens to throw that off.
Whew, well Changes are this week. One of my Zone Leaders, Elder Evans, is getting swtiched out and then all 3 latinos in the zone are getting moved too. I´m still with Elder DePriest in his LAST change! The man is dying! Going home! Returning to the Land of the Restoration in 6 weeks! Haha, I´m trying not to bring that up much since my other Zone Leader, Elder Campbell, who is leaving in 6 weeks as well, is already bringing that up a lot. I don´t want my trainer getting trunky while I´m still here! =P
Alright Mom, I better go. Tell everyone hi for me and that I love them. I still haven´t sent off my package yet, I haven´t found anything trust worthy to send the items in yet. I did get your package when I went to the temple. Elder DePriest and I have been enjoying the change of music, since before all we had was the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. =P Thank you for that! =)
I love you and I´ll talk to you in a week. Take care and don´t worry about me, I´m loving it here!
Your Son,

Elder Nunez

One month check up...

Hey! So Christmas wasn´t anything special, but it wasn´t bad either. It was great to talk to everyone, that really made my day. Saturday was great though. I understood everything in the temple! I was worried I´d have a problem with that, but after so many visits to the temple in the MTC I just knew what was being said along with translating it. It was pretty cool. I´m going to test the waters for sending photos next week. Not sure how fast these computers are for uploading fotos, so we´ll see. For New Years Elder DePriest and I are planning on going tie hunting for a bit, hit the shops in San José Central, that sort of thing. Not a whole lot else is planned.

I feel bad for one of our investagators, Jackie, the 14 year old girl we´ve been teaching. We stopped by yesterday to teach her and we found out her dad had run off! Like left with another woman! And this wasn´t the first time apparently. Her mom went off for a half hour bashing on the guy, and poor Jackie was SUPER embaressed with some of the things the mom was saying. Poor girl, we´re praying especially hard for her right now. I got letters from Andy Call and Hermano Crane! Ah, both their letters made Saturday all the better. Good times, good times. Call hasn´t changed anything, still has blunt as ever. =P Anyway not much else has happend. We had 1 Month Check-Up today, so I got to see the MTC crew again. It´s so funny talking about the crazy things in our areas, everyone has a story to tell. =P I probably won´t get to see a lot of them until changes in February, when Elder DePriest goes off and dies on me. ;) That is unless DePriest gets swtiched out with 6 weeks left. ...I really hope that doesn´t happen...but, if it does, what happens happens. I´ll just roll with it. =)
Anyway I better get going. I love you all! I hope everyone enjoys their New Years! Take care, tell everyone I say hi, and I´ll talk to you next week! ¡Pura Vida!
Your Son,

Elder Núñez

Christmas

Potlatch is no longer Potlatch...that´s so weird to me. That´s gonna be strange coming home to. I can´t believe the basement flooded AGAIN! Hasn´t it been a while since that last happened to us?

Things here in Garabito are going okay. Friday and Saturday were long and uneventful, mainly due to a major soccer tournament that was being held in San José central. But, Sunday brought some great blessings. =) Elder Depriest and I just went up a talked to this man who was sitting on his porch and started teaching him. His name was Carlos and what started out as an ordinary contact ended in the best lesson of the day and a return appointment. Most of our contacts never go that well, or we were estastic as we were leaving. Our longtime investigators Adrian y Alejandra have continued on their downhill slide. They haven´t even let us in the house for about a week and a half. But, the two families we started teaching about that time have made up the difference! Alan y Sandra are keeping their reading commitments and we´re hoping to get them to church next week. Gravin and his wife Mila are an amazing find and they´re so cool! We´re trying to get them to church next week too. A last but not least is our best investigator, Jackie. She´s 14 and her parents are members but haven´t been to church since they lived in California (10 years ago). Jackie and her dad found us and asked us over. Nothing makes a missionaries day more than when that happens. =) We started teaching Jackie and her older sister Victoria last week and it´s been great. Jackie was at our ward´s Christmas dinner Saturday and was at church yesterday too. Before the end of this week we hope to set a fecha with her. It´s great!

We don´t have any plans for Christmas yet. Elder DePriest figured SOMEONE would´ve invited us over, but no one has. Oh well, I´m sure something will happen. No worries here. =) It´s great to hear that everyone really got involved this year with all the Christmas projects. That´s awesome!I will be calling Christmas Day, and no worries about money or anything. I haven´t even touched my home account yet since I haven´t really had a solid chance to rumage through the stores in San José central. We´re picking up phone cards today. I haven´t got the package yet, but I´m hoping to get it at One Month Check-Up next week. One month in Costa Rica! I can´t believe it! Alright well I better go. I love you all! I hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I´ll call you on the 25th! Probably around 2ish maybe...well 2 p.m. for me. I´m lost as to what the time difference is. =P
I love you all! !Pura Vida¡
-Elder Núñez

Hola!

That´s so cool Tío Moroni y Tía Cluadia are adopting a little girl soon! =D =D =D That makes me really happy to hear. How are you and Dad doing? How are the Christmas programs going along? Christmas time is always the craziest time of the year, I hope you two aren´t getting over loaded.
Time is passing fast and the work goes on. We do a LOT of street contacts, 20 a day, but only like 4 or 5 agree to met with us. And from those we teach 2. And then we spend a week trying to find them again cause they´re never home. =P It´s all good though, I´ve met some really cool people and we have some great people to teach. Right now we´re trying to set a fecha for a couple named Adrian y Alejandra. Elder DePriest and his old comp had been teaching them since mid September and they´re the closest we have to baptism. Pray for us! The trick is just getting them to church.
The thing with Ticos is it´s really hard to help them understand every church isn´t the same. But, it´s all part of the job. =) Another family we´re teaching is a man named Lombardo, his wife, son, and daughter. There are a really cool family to teach and they´re so friendly. We´re trying to get them to church as well, which is tricky but it´ll happen. It´s raining all the time here. We´ve had 3 days in a row of no rain, it´s been nice. =) I´ve made good use of the rain jacket though. That was a good find. It´s really not that hot in the city. It´s pretty cool actually. At night is especially nice when there are clear skies. There´s a star only visible in December, they call it La Estrella del Rey David (The Star of King David). It´s literally the brightest thing in the sky I´ve ever seen, this star rivals the moon. When no other stars can be since this thing is a beacon of hope. Or at least, that´s how I see it. =)
Anyway today was a prety lax P-Day. Played some basketball with the zone, and then we ate a Wendy´s. =D I ran into elders Litchfield and Nelson while I was there too, it was awesome! We were trading stories about our areas and our comps and what not. It was so great to see them, it´s funny how close you can get to people in the MTC. Anyway after that Edler DePriest y yo went to this little tourist shop like they have in Chile. I found quite a few things I´m gonna be sending home as Christmas gifts. I definately pulled some of Dad´s bartering skills for a new money pouch. They wanted 1500 colones, which is way too much for a little money pouch. I got them to drop it to un mil. My comp was like ¨Wow, that was pretty good.¨ My reply ¨You can thank my dad for that.¨
Anyway I better jet. I love you all and I hope everything is going well. And about the letters, give them to everyone. Don´t wait for Christmas, I don´t remember what I wrote about that but yeah, I wanted everything to read their letters when you got them. =)
Love you all! !Pura Vida¡

Almost end of week 1

Whew, talk about a crazy, crazy week. Not too many suprises here in Costa Rica, I´ve been adjusting pretty well. My mission president, President Arbizú, and his wife are awesome!!! They are so cool! My trainer is Elder DePriest from Boston. He´s way cool, we get along great. He´s been teaching me the ropes pretty well, I still get lost in neighborhoods here and there but he keeps me on track. My first area is in San José in Garrabito, Toyopan (area, zone). Pretty much I´m in the ghetto of San José. I haven´t seen anything crazy but it´s definately easy to tell this is the lesser side of town. We do TONS of street contacts, 20 a day is the goal, but we only get about maybe, MAYBE, 5 lessons a day. No one is ever home, or the Ticos give us lame excuses. It´s no big though, I´m having fun. There are a lot of Nicaraguans here in Garrabito. It´s weird cause I can follow their spanish better than I can the Ticos at times. Speaking of which, I´m doing okay with the spanish. Not the greatest, not even close, but I´m not dying for translation. I just need time, I´m trying not to get to overwhelmed by it. The food here isn´t that different from Chile. It´s different, but it´s nothing foreign to me by any means. Also, that Captain Animo video we found on YouTube before I left, was from last year. I saw number 3 at the Changes meeting Thursday. Oy, that was great. Our goal for the YEAR is 1000 baptizims. 1000!!! We´re sitting at about 730 some right now, I think. So we got a lot of work this last month!Anyway I don´t have much else to say right now, I´ve only been here so long. I´m not timed anymore so you can send Tylan´s emails to me. =)
Tell everyone I love them and I hope they´re doing well. By the way, did you get the package I had sitting at the MTC?
I love you all! ¡Pura Vida! (Tico saying)
P.S.- You need to send packages through regular mail. No UPS, FedEx or the like. If you go through anything other than regular post it goes through customs and we never see it. So Post Only! =) Snap, I forgot what the mission address is. I´ll email that to you next week, so you´ll have to hold out one more week before sending anything. I don´t want it to get lost or anything.

Ready to Leave

Alrighty then I'll call you around 9 or 10ish. I'm not 100% when I'm going to be at the airport, we're suppose to meet at the travel office at 8 p.m., but I don't have a clue when we go where. So I'll aim to call you around 9, that'd be 10 p.m. here. ...I think...I hate time differences. =P
I haven't been able to get a hold of a box to send anything home in!!! Elder Litchfield received a package yesterday so I'm gonna see if it's what I need. If not I'll just chilean an empty box from the book store. =D
I can't believe how fast time has flown by. S o much I've wanted to say I haven't really been able to because of this blasted time restraint on email. I'm hoping the letters I'm sending home will kinda suffice to show what I've been feeling, thinking, and learning these past 2 months. More or less my conclusions to any firesides or devotionals that really stood out to me. Which reminds me, guess who we heard from on Tuesday? ELDER HOLLAND!!! Elder Nelson and I were singing with the choir (I don't think I've mentioned I've been singing in the choir yet, just another little thing I've forgotten to mention) when Elder Holland entered the gym and we both looked at each other with these huge grins on our faces and were like "YES!!!!!!" Ever since week one my whole district has kinda been like "How cool would it be to hear from Elder Holland?" and it actually happened! My district has been so lucky with talks here. We've heard from 3 apostles for crying out loud! How many missionaires get to hear from Elders Scott, Perry, and Holland within a few short weeks of each other?
4 days left...it still hasn't sunk in that we're leaving AGAIN. I haven't even started packing yet! Yikes! We're all starting to get anxious as Monday pulls closer. I'm staying focused these last few days, no worries there, but I still have a lot to do before Monday.
Alright well I'm out of time...again. I love you all and I hope everything is going well and everyone is okay. I don't know when you sent that package out buuuut....yeah, I don't know if I'm gonna get it before I leave here. Whever you say I should get something on Saturday I don't get it until Monday, because our mailroom is closed here on Saturdays. So unless you overnight that puppy I don't know what happens.
I figured out what you can get me for Christmas though! Family photo for sure but also if you could find a CD with the hymn Come Thou Font I would love you till the end of time (not that I won't already). Since that song isn't in the new hymn book it's pretty much impossible to find here, so maybe you'll have better luck. I'd prefer instrumental but with how hard it is to find I'm game for anything. =D

I'll probably be sending Christmas presents home rather soon so I'll need you, Mom and Dad, to hide them until Christmas.
Okay now I'm really out of time. I love you all and I hope you all know that. I'm looking forward to hearing from you Monday night. ¡Les amo!

Flight Plans!

Hola! This past week has been crazy, sorry I haven´t had a chance to write much since last Tuesday. We got our flight plans on Friday. We fly out from Salt Lake at midnight Monday night (the 24th). We fly into Atlanta at 5:30 a.m., so 2:30 a.m. for you back home. When do you want me to call you? I was thinking I could call you before we flew out to Atlanta, around 9 or 10 p.m. for you. Would that work out? I'd feel bad calling you at 2 a.m. I was wondering if you could also talk to Tom's parents and get his number for me so I could call him while we're in Atlanta. We have a FOUR HOUR LAYOVER! And Lara's number too if that's not a problem. I'd really like to talk to both of them once more before I take off for good.
I'm going to try and send out a package either today or tomorrow. I just need to get a box first. I've been trying to decide what to do with that suit Grandpa Núñez made. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna need the pants buuuut...eh. I don't want to ruin them, you know? Especially if it's the dark grey suit. But I do need them. How many pairs of pants are there? If you can keep the suit jacket and one pair of pants back at home for when I get back, and send whatever pants there are to me. It that makes sense at all. I'm not sure it did. =P
I love you all and I can't wait to talk to you. Dear Elder me ASAP about calling times and the pants and I'll respond on Thursday. Be safe and tell everyone I miss them!

2 Weeks Left!

Hola! Cómo están? 2 weeks left! Can you believe that? It's so weird being the oldest district in the zone now, we no longer have anyone to look up to for guidance, we are the guidance! We're all starting to wrap things up here as the departure date gets closer. We get flight plans on Friday so I'll be emailing Tuesday with that info. I'm also gonna be sending a package home soon with stuff I don't need to take with me to Costa Rica and personal letters for all the family.

I'm glad Grandpa is doing better and I'm really glad you were able to go down and help take care of him. I'm not gonna lie, it really scared me at first when you wrote that Grandpa was sick. I'm really glad to hear he's gonna ba alright.
Aaaaand I just found out it's Veteran's Day. That's why there was no mail today. We were all wondering about that. =P Not a whole lot has happened in the past week, kinda the same routine. I banged up my elbow on Saturday pretty badly playing soccer. Lost feeling in it for a little bit, then got feeling back wishing I couldn't feel it anymore, it stiffened on me so that it hurt like a son of a gun to move, and so on and so forth. By Sunday morning it was fine and even now it's just slighty bruised, but I have to watch myself before something serious happens and I get delayed. That would be a heart breaker if ever there was one.
Tell the family I love them all and I think about them a lot. When I start sending things home I'll have letters for everyone. Take care and be safe! I'll write again Thursday night.

I'll make sure to keep Grandpa in my prayers, I hope he's going to be okay. =(
These past couple of days have been pretty good. Another district in my zone left last night, and my district was pretty close with them so it was kinda sad. The elders leaving have been kind of the leadership for us, and with them leaving it's starting to settle in more that we ONLY have 3 weeks left here. It's so nuts. The past couple of lessons from my teachers have made me think about things in a different light. About my friends and stuff like that. The way I teach is slowly changing the more I think about it. I wish you could meet Hermano Crane, he's such an incredible teacher. You'd be glad I've had the opportunity to learn from him.
I hope everything else back home is going okay, with Derek, Ashley, Logan and Dad. I'll try not to let Grandpa being sick distract me, but if you can try to Dear Elder me with updates on how he's doing. Please tell him I love him and how grateful I am for him, and that I'm praying for him as well. Please tell Grandpa I miss him.
Okay I gotta jet before I get too emotional writing this. I'll have some time to write later today after the Temple. I love you and please take care!
-Elder Nunie
p.s.- I'm sending a package home today with pictures and a few other items. I don't know how long it takes to get there, maybe Saturday since mail actually comes for you on Saturdays. They don't give us mail on weekends. =P

Feliz Jueves!

Hola! Feliz Jueves! So Elder Trost and I just finished teaching the first lesson in spanish again, and it was AWESOME! WAY better than our first time, I'm so happy right now I can't even explain it. Ah man it was a good lesson.
Tuesday night we heard from Elder L. Tom Perry of the Twelve. WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME AN APOSTLE USE TO BE IN THE BISHOPRIC IN LEWISTON????? I heard that and my whole district looked at me like "Hey, why didn't you know that?" =P
I FINALLY had my pictures developed, I get them tomorrow (Friday). I'll send them out on Tuesday, promise.
That's all I have right now. Have a great rest of the week and a great weekend. Send me pictures por favor! =)
-Elder Núñez

Elder Scott

I TOTALLY FORGOT TO MENTION THIS!!! Okay so maybe I've mentioned it before, but 2 weeks ago we got to hear from Elder Scott of the Twelve! I'll have to tell you about that more on Thursday. We're all about to get dressed, head to dinner, and then go to the Tuesday night devotional. Since my zone sets up for the meetings and stuff w usually get a heads up on who's speaking. We knew before everyone else last time that Elder Scott was speaking, and this time we didn't get a name but were told the speaker tonight is of the Twelve. I'll tell you about it Thursday! I love you!

Feeling Better

Hola mi familia! Cómo están? No need to fret about me anymore, I'm feeling ten times better than I did a week and a half ago. My district leader on the other hand, Elder Silva, has been sick since week 2, and every time it looks like he's getting better he gets hit with something else. Elder Litchfield and I gave him a blessing last night (Monday). I've been worrying about him all week but after last night, I know he's gonna get better. THANKS FOR SENDING ME THAT LETTER FROM TYLAN!!!!!! You have no idea how that made my day Monday. The morning started out a little rough, but that letter made up for it. I can't even explain how happy I was to get that. Thanks for sending the gym shorts and clothes! The sweaters I'll end up sending back before I leave the MTC, simply because I'm not gonna have any use for them in Costa Rica. But I'll make good use of them here. It was snowing here about a week ago, can you believe that! I'm use to seeing snow only after January! Next Monday Elder Trost and I will teach our first lesson in spanish. I'm gonna need a lot of prayers if we're gonna pull through. =P

SEND ME A FAMILY PHOTO PLEASE! Any photos of the Gator and the old garage would be great too, I'd love to see what Dad's been up to. Alright I'll try to write more a little later today. I love you!

Service in the MTC

Hey! So I'm on P-Day make-up right now so I decided to write you before cena. I told you I'd explain my service stuff a little bit, didn't I?
Pretty much my zone sets up for the big firesides and devotionals every Saturday night and Tuesday afternoon. Pretty much the same stuff I was doing for Red Lion what with setting up chairs, platforms, and all that good stuff. Since Tuesday are our P-Day service cuts into that time, so they give us P-Day make-up on Thursday nights. I don't know why they do that, we don't get P-Day make-up in the field but that's what happens.
Anyway, I was wondering if you could do two things for me though. First, I want to write Tío Eric, Tío Moroni, Grandpa Núñez and everyone else down there, but I need their addresses. If you could dear elder those to me that would be awesome. Second, I'm dying for some music, so if you could send me my EFY CDs I would love you to no end (not that I don't already). A small CD player thingy wouldn't be bad either. You don't need to send these things they're just ideas, I don't want to be a hassle or anything.
That's about all I can think of right now. I haven't had a chance to take some of the pants to the seamtress yet but I will tomorrow for sure. I better get going. I love you all and I hope everything is okay.
-Elder Núñez
P.S. Thanks for the money in my account. Yeah, I had to buy another notebook and a few other study things earlier. I shouldn't need anything else for a while but who knows. I love you!

Hey family!!!

Hey! Thanks for the package, the meds helped A LOT! The chips and cheese dip were a big hit with my district too. I'm feeling much better today than I have been. My body is still making more snot than should be humanly possible, but I'm on the uphill. I didn't get a chance to see the doc about my hand last week. My thumb is still sore but it's healing. Slowly but surely. Just so you know I have been getting the Dear Elders, so no worries there. We have a seamtress here so I'm gonna see if she can widen the pants or not. I'll keep you updated on that. I should have tried those pants on again before leaving because I definatley gained some weight before leaving home. No bigge though, it'll work out. Pant wise I wear a 30/30 just as you guessed. I'm glad to hear you and Ashley were able to spend the day together, that makes me really happy. Keep me posted on homecoming for her, and make sure to send me pictures. Hard copy photos, none of this email attachment stuff. That doesn't work here and I don't like that anyway. Tell dad he'll have to send me those photos of the Gator by mail, I don't have time to look at them online. I only get a half hour to write and I'm already at 18 minutes. =P

I'm glad to hear Dad's able to keep busy and that he's made so much headway with the guest house. That's great! I hope you and dad are doing with and are able to keep up with everything. The elders in my district heading to Spain left this morning. It was pretty sad, since our district has gotten pretty close really fast. Elder Strickland was one of those elders to leave. He and I got to be pretty great friends these past few weeks. Sad thing is his grandfather in Spain passed away Sunday night, so he and I were talking about our families and the examples we've had in our lives. This past week we've been teaching the Plan of Salvation, so we got to talking about that too. We have so much in common it's pretty much ridiculous. I made sure to give him our home address and stuff for after the mish. I'm pretty sure I found another brother. =P There are two things I wanted to mention about this week in particular. One is every week our teachers have a progression interview with us. My teachers are Hermano Crane and Hermana Gallacher bytheway, both served in Argentina. They're both incredible teachers and I'm really blessed to have them. During my interview with Hermano Crane Thursday he told me some things that really hit home. He reminds me a lot of Chris Lee with the Spirit he has as he teaches and how he can just level with us at times. He sees in me the same things Chris always said he saw in me, and that really hit home. It was a big pick me up even though I didn't really need one. =) The other thing I wanted to mention, which I might not get to finish since I have 2 minutes left, is about the lessons. Teaching is so much fun!!! I can't even begin to describe how much I love teaching the lessons. Before I was afraid I wouldn't be able to do it but it comes so naturally (when I've prepared and prayed and ton before). =P I'll have to share more about that later. I'll try to write on Thursday during my P-Day make-up time (I'll explain that later too).
I love you all and I hope you're all okay!

Greetings from the MTC

The moment I signed on my District Leader Elder Silva plopped 2 letters in my lap. Thanks for sending my patriarchal blessing! Spanish is going pretty well right now. I might have said this before, but I remember a whole lot more than I thought I did. One of the elders going to Spain, Elder Strickland, and I have become pretty good friends. I might've told you this already, but he was in the same boat as me coming into the MTC. Both his parents are fluent in spanish, his dad having served in Spain and his mom being from Spain, but he only understood what he heard. Just like me it took him a while to figure out what he wanted to say in spanish. He's pretty cool though.
My companion said his grandpa works Thursdays at the Idaho Falls Temple. At least I think it was Thursdays. Maybe grandpa will meet up with Elder Trost's grandpa. =P
Just as a heads up I got sick Friday. I'm still dealing with a pretty bad runny nose and a slight cough, but I'm feeling ten times better than I did this weekend. Amazingly, I felt perfectly okay watching conference. I was pretty grateful for that. Beyond that I hurt my hand pretty badly playing volleyball on Monday. Not sure what I did but my thumb and half my right hand is swollen. I'm checking in with the doc today just to make sure I didn't do anything too bad.
Besides that I don't have much more to say. My district and I just got back from doing a session in the Provo Temple (which is amazing by the way). Oh! Could you send me the Carton's home address so I can write them? And if you could get Russ Moody's mailing address too that'd be great. How is everyone doing at home?
I hope everything is going well. Just as a heads up you should send letters via Dear Elder (unless you're sending photos). It's just faster and doesn't cost anything that I know of. If you could pass that message on to everyone else to Dear Elder me, that'd be great too. Getting letters is great, but waiting for mail is a drag. =P
I love you all. Take care and write me back!