Sounds like Hawaii was amazing, I hope I get the chance to visit myself someday. I hope everything back home is okay.
This week was okay. We worked hard but we´re still struggling to find new investigators. We´re going to be trying some new things this week with members to get some references for once. I pray something happens to turn things around quick.
Thursday we went on divisions with the members, I was with the branch president Pres. Reynier. We went to visit our investigator Robin and his mom (por fin). We´ve been trying to talk with the mom forever, but we´re still at a stalemate with Robin. The mom doesn´t have a problem with Robin getting baptized, as long as it´s Robin who says something about...and he hasn´t said anything to her...there´s really no communication in this family whatsoever. It´s just kind of a brickwall in that arena until Robin has the desire to take things into his own hands. We can only do so much with where we´re at right now.
Saturday we threw together a youth activity for the 2 branches. We were planning on about 20 youth or so, so you can imagine our surprise when 50 YOUTH showed up at the church. We had very little leaders to begin with, 6 from my branch and only 2 from the other, but we made due. =P We had a ton of games planned, but it took so long to organize all the teams that we were only able to do a few. Human wheelbarrel race (I don´t remember what it´s called in english), tug-o-war, and then the water balloon toss were just a few we were able to do. We end with scripture trivia, and if you answered wrong you got a pie to the face. Overall a lot of fun and then leaders were really impressed with all we were able to do with very little money. =P
Poor Elder Zuñiga, he was pretty much incharge of the whole thing, and trying to control 50 kids was just fatal. It was a lot of fun though and with the amount of youth that came (both members and investigators) we definately accomplished our goal. We even found a few new investigators, which helps us out a lot. Elder Zuñiga and I knocked all week long and only 2 people let us in. It´s hard when I´m knocking everything for the 3rd or 4th time, and finding new people to teach through knocking just isn´t helping us out right now.
Today is my 11 month mark. Crazy how fast time is actually passing by. Weird to think I´ve been in this area for 5 months, going for 6. I just want to leave the area with one more baptism at the very least, and I know we can do it. Between Robin and this Jehovah Witness girl we´re teaching (Hazel) we´re SO close. Just need to keep working hard and with everything we have, and sooner or later it´ll all pay off.
Anyways, I hope you´re all doing well back home. I can´t believe you guys go back to school this week. Where did the summer go??? Well, when the end of summer you know what that means? BIRTHDAY TIME! 10 days till 21...freak I´m old. =P
I love you all and I can´t wait to hear from you next week!
Cuidense mucho y disfrute el nuevo año de escuela!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Monday, August 24, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Zona Canas: Resucitado
This week was very, VERY confusing. I hope you have time, because it´s quite the story.
Sunday was nuts. We had to figure out what house we were living in and then take EVERYTHING out of the La Union house and move it all into the Cañas house. That meant I needed to pack as well. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was spent visiting people for Maradiaga to say his goodbyes and take fotos. Wednesday afternoon we left for San José and spent the night in the mission house. There was quite the party going on there for the new missionaries, complete with piña coladas, shishkubabs (spelling???), and yeah...it was pretty crazy.
Thursday was Changes Meeting, and Elder Litchfield and I recieved our new companion Elder Stevens from Mississippi...never could spell that state. =P Anyway we made the 4 hour bus ride back to Cañas, unpacked our stuff and made it home. At 9 p.m. we started planning for Friday when the phone rang.
It was Pres. Gálvez. And he wanted to talk to me.
Saturday morning I had to move all my things BACK into the La Union house.
Saturday morning I had to infrom the branch president of La Union that he has missionaries to work with.
Saturday morning I recieved my junior companion.
I´m back and going on 6 months in Rama La Union. I´m with Elder Zuñiga, who is also from Costa Rica. He served 9 months in the Guatamala North Mission, but some things went down back home (he´s the only member in his family) and he came back to Costa Rica to try and help. Pres. Gálvez met with Elder Zuñiga and told him he should finish his mission. That´s when Pres. Gálvez called me.
For the first time since I came to this area, I feel like my companion has the same drive to work as I do. Elder Zuñiga is a great teacher, he´s great with members, and we work great together. Finally, we can start to change the mentality of the area. Finally we can show the mission that you CAN baptize in Cañas. I´ve got good feelings about this change. We have a good amount of people who can easily make it to the waters of baptism, and a companionship ready to do it. I feel reanimated and I couldn´t be happier.
With the death of Elder Gonzalez (he ended the mission) and Elder Maradiaga getting changed out, Litchfield and I felt our "Zona Cañas" had died with them. But now? I´d say Zona Cañas is back and stronger than ever.
This week is going to be a little crazy. We have divisions with the Zone Leaders Thursday and Friday. Elder Zalava is still ZL and, drumroll please, Elder Jones has joined him. Elder Jones was my 1st district leader when I got into the country. =D
Saturday we have Zone Conference, but, we have to go to San José. Another change of Pres. Gálvez. We´ve got a lot to do and very little time to do it before Conference.
I hope everyone back home is safe and enjoying the end days of summer.
Mom and Ashley, have fun in Hawaii! Can´t wait for the pictures!
Dad, I hope your doing okay and enjoy your 2 weeks free of women. ;)
Logan, have fun and keep up with the exercise. You´ll be glad you did.
And Derek, take care of yourself and remember: Life after high school isn´t a walk in the park. Just roll with the punches and learn the best you can to make your mark in the world. I know you can do it.
I love you all and I can´t wait to hear from you next week! Hasta luego!
Su Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Sunday was nuts. We had to figure out what house we were living in and then take EVERYTHING out of the La Union house and move it all into the Cañas house. That meant I needed to pack as well. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday was spent visiting people for Maradiaga to say his goodbyes and take fotos. Wednesday afternoon we left for San José and spent the night in the mission house. There was quite the party going on there for the new missionaries, complete with piña coladas, shishkubabs (spelling???), and yeah...it was pretty crazy.
Thursday was Changes Meeting, and Elder Litchfield and I recieved our new companion Elder Stevens from Mississippi...never could spell that state. =P Anyway we made the 4 hour bus ride back to Cañas, unpacked our stuff and made it home. At 9 p.m. we started planning for Friday when the phone rang.
It was Pres. Gálvez. And he wanted to talk to me.
Saturday morning I had to move all my things BACK into the La Union house.
Saturday morning I had to infrom the branch president of La Union that he has missionaries to work with.
Saturday morning I recieved my junior companion.
I´m back and going on 6 months in Rama La Union. I´m with Elder Zuñiga, who is also from Costa Rica. He served 9 months in the Guatamala North Mission, but some things went down back home (he´s the only member in his family) and he came back to Costa Rica to try and help. Pres. Gálvez met with Elder Zuñiga and told him he should finish his mission. That´s when Pres. Gálvez called me.
For the first time since I came to this area, I feel like my companion has the same drive to work as I do. Elder Zuñiga is a great teacher, he´s great with members, and we work great together. Finally, we can start to change the mentality of the area. Finally we can show the mission that you CAN baptize in Cañas. I´ve got good feelings about this change. We have a good amount of people who can easily make it to the waters of baptism, and a companionship ready to do it. I feel reanimated and I couldn´t be happier.
With the death of Elder Gonzalez (he ended the mission) and Elder Maradiaga getting changed out, Litchfield and I felt our "Zona Cañas" had died with them. But now? I´d say Zona Cañas is back and stronger than ever.
This week is going to be a little crazy. We have divisions with the Zone Leaders Thursday and Friday. Elder Zalava is still ZL and, drumroll please, Elder Jones has joined him. Elder Jones was my 1st district leader when I got into the country. =D
Saturday we have Zone Conference, but, we have to go to San José. Another change of Pres. Gálvez. We´ve got a lot to do and very little time to do it before Conference.
I hope everyone back home is safe and enjoying the end days of summer.
Mom and Ashley, have fun in Hawaii! Can´t wait for the pictures!
Dad, I hope your doing okay and enjoy your 2 weeks free of women. ;)
Logan, have fun and keep up with the exercise. You´ll be glad you did.
And Derek, take care of yourself and remember: Life after high school isn´t a walk in the park. Just roll with the punches and learn the best you can to make your mark in the world. I know you can do it.
I love you all and I can´t wait to hear from you next week! Hasta luego!
Su Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Monday, August 3, 2009
Weirdest Changes Ever
I can relate with the hot weather...the other day Litchfield and I were like "Wow, it´s a pretty fresco day." Then we saw what temp it was...90 degrees...I´m going to absolutely FREEZE to death when I get home. =P
Alright well, talk about one crazy week. With Elder Litchfield´s companion Elder Gonzalez "dying" as we call it (going home) members were inviting the four of us to dinner every night, which was fine with my comp because he was living off a mil for the week (that´s about $2). I ended the month pretty well off cash wise. I had $40, $20 of which I saved to pay for the temple trip/lunch/and all that jazz. I´m pretty proud of my money managing these days, I´m almost never hurting at the end of the month. =D
The temple trip was a little weird... For one it was suppose to be a zone activity, and the 4 of us made it JUST in time for the morning session. But when we got there, the rest of our zone was nowhere to be found... The temple president kept asking us where the rest of the zone was, but we had no idea. Only 2 other missionaires showed as we were leaving. None of us were too happy with the ZLs on that. Turns out they woke up late and decided they couldn´t make the half hour bus ride, which is nothing compared to our 4 hour viaje. Really poor planning on their part, and Elder Gonzalez wasn´t too happy about it because it was his last P-Day.
Other than that little mishap I enjoyed myself. The four of us missionaries helped out our branches doing baptisms for the dead (Maradiaga and Gonzalez confirming, Litchfield and I acting as witnesses), and afterwards we went to the mall in San Ramon and enjoyed some good ol´ McDonald´s icecream sundaes with my branch president and his family. Good times, good times. =)
Nothing too exciting happened throughout the week. Things were a lot better than they had been in previous weeks. Maradiaga realized the campo makes him lazy, and he´s been trying to change things up a bit. I feel really good about last week, we did the best we could and that´s all I can ask for. Tuesday and Friday I was on divisions with Elder Litchfield. He´s such a cool guy, just another guy I´m going to be chilling with after the mission. 2 months in the MTC together, and now 4 months here in Cañas. We´ve definately become brothers in Costa Rica and close friends. Haha, he even offered me his little sister...if I can afford her...=P It was pretty funny.
Wednesday night Maradiaga and I passed by our baptism Andres. That kid is so awesome, I´ve never seen such faith in someone so young. 14 years old, goes to church every Sunday without fail, reads the scriptures every day, and understands everything so clearly. It´s been a blessing to be part of his conversion. He told us about how he gained his testimony and the moment he knew the church was true. I have high hopes for that kid. Mission hopes more than anything else.
Well that brings us to, for me, the most important news of the week. *DRUMROLL* Changes! Well we had our many predictions of what was going to happen, and we came up with almost every possibility we could think of. Our final conclusion was this: Gonzalez was going home, nuff said. They would close La Union (sadly), I would be taking off for my 3rd area, and Litchfield & Maradiaga were going to be companions in Rama Cañas.
We were wrong.
Dead wrong.
La Union is going to be closed, we were right on that. However Elder Maradiaga is leaving after 2 and a half months, and I am going to my 3rd area after all...Rama Cañas...with Elder Litchfield! All of it seems more or less like what we were planning on, only with me and Maradiaga switched around. But there´s more to it, and this is where things get weird. Elder Litchfield is not only my new companion, but ONE of my new companions. They´re putting a TRIO in Cañas for the next 6 weeks (por la menos). Why? This is what the APs explained to us:
18 missionaries are going home Tuesday (Aug 4). We were suppose to be receiving 20 new missionaries...we´re only getting 10. On top of that, 6 missionaries are leaving 3 weeks early for school this next change. In other words the San José Costa Rica Misión is only getting smaller and smaller. There hasn´t been a change yet as far as I´ve been here where we´ve received more, let alone equal, new missionaires than there´s been missionaries going home. 6 areas are being closed, La Union being one of them.
This trio thing has been a pain for us because we had to move all our stuff into one house (La Union had one, Cañas another). Maradiaga and I lived with a great family, who have had missionaries living there for more than 25 years. But the apartment we had was hardly big enough for 2 missionaries. 3 would be impossible. It was heartbreaking to tell Hna. Odi and her family we couldn´t live there anymore, no matter how much we wanted to. We had direct orders from the APs that we had to live in the other house, and that wasn´t going to change. We all feel pretty bad... =(
Well that´s all the news I have for the week. I´m going to be comps with Elder Litchfield! And I´m getting yet ANOTHER new companion Thursday. I´ll write next week with the details of it all. I love you all and I hope everyone has a great week. Mom, have a safe trip to Hawaii and tell Ashley the same. Enjoy yourselves!
Your Son,
Elder Nunie
P.S.- Will you be able to write me while in Hawaii???
Alright well, talk about one crazy week. With Elder Litchfield´s companion Elder Gonzalez "dying" as we call it (going home) members were inviting the four of us to dinner every night, which was fine with my comp because he was living off a mil for the week (that´s about $2). I ended the month pretty well off cash wise. I had $40, $20 of which I saved to pay for the temple trip/lunch/and all that jazz. I´m pretty proud of my money managing these days, I´m almost never hurting at the end of the month. =D
The temple trip was a little weird... For one it was suppose to be a zone activity, and the 4 of us made it JUST in time for the morning session. But when we got there, the rest of our zone was nowhere to be found... The temple president kept asking us where the rest of the zone was, but we had no idea. Only 2 other missionaires showed as we were leaving. None of us were too happy with the ZLs on that. Turns out they woke up late and decided they couldn´t make the half hour bus ride, which is nothing compared to our 4 hour viaje. Really poor planning on their part, and Elder Gonzalez wasn´t too happy about it because it was his last P-Day.
Other than that little mishap I enjoyed myself. The four of us missionaries helped out our branches doing baptisms for the dead (Maradiaga and Gonzalez confirming, Litchfield and I acting as witnesses), and afterwards we went to the mall in San Ramon and enjoyed some good ol´ McDonald´s icecream sundaes with my branch president and his family. Good times, good times. =)
Nothing too exciting happened throughout the week. Things were a lot better than they had been in previous weeks. Maradiaga realized the campo makes him lazy, and he´s been trying to change things up a bit. I feel really good about last week, we did the best we could and that´s all I can ask for. Tuesday and Friday I was on divisions with Elder Litchfield. He´s such a cool guy, just another guy I´m going to be chilling with after the mission. 2 months in the MTC together, and now 4 months here in Cañas. We´ve definately become brothers in Costa Rica and close friends. Haha, he even offered me his little sister...if I can afford her...=P It was pretty funny.
Wednesday night Maradiaga and I passed by our baptism Andres. That kid is so awesome, I´ve never seen such faith in someone so young. 14 years old, goes to church every Sunday without fail, reads the scriptures every day, and understands everything so clearly. It´s been a blessing to be part of his conversion. He told us about how he gained his testimony and the moment he knew the church was true. I have high hopes for that kid. Mission hopes more than anything else.
Well that brings us to, for me, the most important news of the week. *DRUMROLL* Changes! Well we had our many predictions of what was going to happen, and we came up with almost every possibility we could think of. Our final conclusion was this: Gonzalez was going home, nuff said. They would close La Union (sadly), I would be taking off for my 3rd area, and Litchfield & Maradiaga were going to be companions in Rama Cañas.
We were wrong.
Dead wrong.
La Union is going to be closed, we were right on that. However Elder Maradiaga is leaving after 2 and a half months, and I am going to my 3rd area after all...Rama Cañas...with Elder Litchfield! All of it seems more or less like what we were planning on, only with me and Maradiaga switched around. But there´s more to it, and this is where things get weird. Elder Litchfield is not only my new companion, but ONE of my new companions. They´re putting a TRIO in Cañas for the next 6 weeks (por la menos). Why? This is what the APs explained to us:
18 missionaries are going home Tuesday (Aug 4). We were suppose to be receiving 20 new missionaries...we´re only getting 10. On top of that, 6 missionaries are leaving 3 weeks early for school this next change. In other words the San José Costa Rica Misión is only getting smaller and smaller. There hasn´t been a change yet as far as I´ve been here where we´ve received more, let alone equal, new missionaires than there´s been missionaries going home. 6 areas are being closed, La Union being one of them.
This trio thing has been a pain for us because we had to move all our stuff into one house (La Union had one, Cañas another). Maradiaga and I lived with a great family, who have had missionaries living there for more than 25 years. But the apartment we had was hardly big enough for 2 missionaries. 3 would be impossible. It was heartbreaking to tell Hna. Odi and her family we couldn´t live there anymore, no matter how much we wanted to. We had direct orders from the APs that we had to live in the other house, and that wasn´t going to change. We all feel pretty bad... =(
Well that´s all the news I have for the week. I´m going to be comps with Elder Litchfield! And I´m getting yet ANOTHER new companion Thursday. I´ll write next week with the details of it all. I love you all and I hope everyone has a great week. Mom, have a safe trip to Hawaii and tell Ashley the same. Enjoy yourselves!
Your Son,
Elder Nunie
P.S.- Will you be able to write me while in Hawaii???
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