Baptizing At One Year

Wow this week flew by. Where to start, where to start. Well, to answer your question, the church meetings are held in spanish, but about 40% of the ward are gringos and a good 30% of them don´t speak spanish, so they have translators for them. Weird stuff.

You´re totally right , this last year HAS gone by fast. I really don´t believe I´ve been out here for a year, it really doesn´t feel like it.

First off, Friday we had interviews with Pres. Gálvez. I love President Gálvez, he puts such a personal feeling to everything he does and with 150 some missionaries under his direction it´s nice to feel like he actually knows who I am. It was cool to talk with the rest of the zone, especially my zone leader Elder Shoemake. His from Tri-Cities and he goes home at the end of October. It was so funny talking to him. Also Elder Maradiaga is in my zone too. I talked with him for a bit about what he´s been up to the last month and what was happening in Cañas when I left. I don´t know if you heard about this, but the church finally released a new spanish bible like the english King James Version we use. I´m debating about buying it or not in the mission. I talked to President Gálvez and he said to hold off a bit until he can talk to the area seventies for a missionary discount. That´d be really helpful. I´m willing to bet we´ll be seeing the new missionaires coming in with the new bible.

Sunday we had the baptism of our investigator Janiel. He was so stoaked it was amazing. A lot of members were at the service which made it even better, and everything went smoothly. We had been visiting Janiel every day during the week to make sure nothing happened to keep him from getting baptized. I had a feeling problems might arise, but everything went perfectly fine.

The raining season has FINALLY come. Supposedly the raining season starts in May, but it´s been a really dry Costa Rican "winter". Really hot too (especially in Cañas). Over the last few weeks the rains have finally come. When I first got into the country, an older missionary told me there were only 2 season in Costa Rica: Rain, and Less Rain. We´ve been getting torn apart by the rain these last few days. Power thunderstorms that just turn the roads to rivers when we´re higher up in the mountains of Escazú. Just insane. Luckily the only thing I´ve found Ticos REALLY DO know how to make are umbrellas. I swear they make the best umbrellas in the world, that is if you go with the Penguino brand. =P

My ONE YEAR mark was pretty fun. My comp treated us to McDonalds for lunch (Mmmmmm Big Mac) and then he bought me a cake Thursday night. It was super funny. All day Elder Muñoz was asking me stuff like:
"What were you doing at this time a year ago?"
"...Ummm...I was just arriving at the MTC."
"WOW!"
Every hour was like that, I just laughed. So weird to think I´ve been away for a year. That´s just crazy. Doesn´t feel like it at all. That´s super weird about the jury duty thing. They didn´t really ask if I could come home, did they? What the freak??? Normally I would say they pulled a Tico, but I guess people like that aren´t only found in Costa Rica, I just found a way to ignore them in the states. =P

Alright well I don´t have much else to say about the week. The work continues and time keeps flying. My companion Elder Muñoz wants to marry Ashely, just thought I´d let her know that. =P

I love you all and I hope you all have a great week. I´ll talk to you next week!

Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie

Bienvenidos a Utah

I have a lot to tell you guys about this last week so bear with me on this one. It´s really been a packed week.

First off I feel like I found a small Utah-oasis here in Costa Rica. The bishop´s name here is Dave Pattey. He and his family moved down here when they´re neighbors, the Acostas, were called to be the mission president 6 years ago, before Pres. Arbizú. Our ward mission leader (I actually have a ward mission leader for once!) is Rand Layton from Utah as well. There are a ton of gringos here, so I won´t take the time to list them all, but another notable family is the Baker Family. Sister Baker is from Moscow. Small world huh?
Anyways yeah, it´s super crazy here. This has to be the most NORMAL ward I´ve seen in Costa Rica, but that´s also cause it´s run by gringos I suppose. Costa Ricans kind of do things their own special way I´ve come to realize. They are so many english speakers in the ward they actually have translators for the church meetings, how crazy is that? I gave a talk yesterday in sacrament meeting, 1st time in 10 months. I´m really happy with my spanish. I still need to tackle that freaking past-subjunctive bit, but I can speak well enough now that a lot of people didn´t believe me when I told them I was from the States. =P
When I tell people I spent 6 months in Cañas, Guancaste they´re all like "Yeah, you sound Guanacasteco." ...Cool...I can start telling people I´m Tico now for real. =P
With so many gringos in the ward I can definately feel the pressure they put on the missionaries. They have their expectations for the missionaries, but I´m trying not to think too much on what they think. If I just keep doing what I need to be and working hard, it shouldn´t matter if I meet the members expectations or not. Missionaries aren´t perfect, we have our faults. It just depends on whether we´re working or not.

My new comp Elder Muñoz is a super sick kid. He only has 8 months in the mish but he knows what he´s doing. He reminds me of myself when I first got to Cañas, kind of unsure if I knew what I was doing. I´ve been trying to help him with a confidence boost the last few days. We started singing a hymn before Companionship Study Tuesday and Elder Muñoz told me he´s in love with my voice. I don´t know if it´s been the singing hymns 8 times a day or what, buuuuut apparently I can sing for like real now. =P I dunno know, just thought it was funny.

After 6 long months of hard work in Cañas I´m started to see the blessings of diligence here. Thursday we put a baptismal date with a 17 year old kid named Janiel. In the last month he´s gone from smoking 40 cigarettes a day to ZERO. He understands everything really well, and seeing how he´s been going to church consistently for the last month we put the fecha for the 27th. I have a feeling Satan´s gonna be working extra hard to keep Janiel from getting baptized, so we´re putting a lot of effort into this week to help Janiel focus and stay on the straight and narrow. I could use some prayers over the next week.
We have another guy named Juan Carlos who we´re hoping to put a baptismal date with this week as well. He´s 30 something, I can´t remember exactly how old he is, but he´s super receptive and has a really good understanding of the doctrine. The trick is getting him to church, since he´s really poor and lives a good distance from church. We just need to help him have such a desire that the distance won´t mean anything. =D

Oh yeah, my area is freaking HUGE!!!! Holy freaking cow, it´s big. I´m pretty much on the outskirts of San José, at the foot of the surrounding mountains. When I was in my first area I could always see this cross WAY far away in the mountains and I always thought "Hmmm, I want to climb that cross." Well, that very cross is now part of my area. =P We´re gonna go climb that mountain next week with some of the youth and hopefully my district. =D

Oh yeah, Sunday at church there was this guy from Arizona who was visiting due to business. He offered to take and send the package I´ve been holding on to since last Christmas. =P Haven´t just gotten back into the city and with no time to look, I didn´t have the chance to send Dad or Derek anything yet (Cañas had ZERO stores from which to buy trinkets and the like). Tell Dad and Derek I´ll be sending them jerseys from the Costa Rica national soccer team ASAP. =D

Wow, a year has come really quick. I still don´t feel like I got time in the mission, I feel like there´s still so much I need to learn. I can only pray that The Man Upstairs can help me make up for what I lack.

Alright well I better jet. I hope all is well back home and everyone is doing fine. Tell everyone I say hi and I´m loving life as usual. Take care and I´ll talk to ya next week! I love you!

Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie

P.S.- Ugh, I hate changing areas. Mainly because the missionaries that leave never leave any plata to make through to the end of the month. I´m gonna need to pull out some personal funds tomorrow or else I won´t be eating anything for a week or so. Sorry. =(
Really $20 is all I need. Thank you!

Un Cumpleanos en Ticolandia

Whew, talk about a busy week. I definately saw the fruits of my being here in Cañas for 6 months, that is to say the members really love me here. =D

Monday (Aug 31) night one of my favorite member families, Hna. Arelis and her 3 kids, brought me and Elder Zuñiga lasagna and Tres Leches as an "early" birthday surprise. Having not eaten lasagna in a year, it was really, REALLY good. =P
Wednesday (Sep 2) my baptism Andres and his family invited us over for hamburgers (REAL hamburgers, where there´s more meat than there is bread, as it SHOULD be), and gave me a few small gifts. =D
Thursday (Sep 3) was insane. First Hna. Arelis and her kids called me in the morning and sang "Feliz Cumpleaños", and then Elder Litchfield and Elder Stevens did the same. We had lunch with Hna. Arelis and her family (mondongo en salsa), the kids had bought me chocolates and then they brought out the real surprise: FLAN! ...yeah...I was really happy with that... =D
After lunch Elder Zuñiga and I decided to head out to a little pueblito called Sandillal, since we weren´t having any success in Cañas. It was a beautiful half hour walk out there, and contacted and few people, knock a couple doors, and for the first time in months people actually invited inside to teach them! I´m pretty sure missionaries haven´t even touched Sandillal before, no one there has talked to missionaries before. =D
After a 20 minute walk back we visited one of our menos activo families, Jeisson and Leidy Flores. We shared a short message with them and then they broke out the CHEESECAKE they had made for me! I wasn´t expecting that, but it was a welcomed surprise.
Next stop was the Elders Quroum President, Don Tomás, and his family. Now I´ve never been too sure if this family really liked me or not, and when they invited us over for my birthday I wasn´t sure what to think about it. But, after a full meal of chicken, rice, and salad I realized no one would do so much for someone they didn´t like. =P But when they turned out the lights and brought out a HUGE cake complete with candles, singing "Feliz Cumpleaños" I definately felt...loved by the members here. I´ve spent 6 months out here for a reason, that´s for sure. =)
Our last cita for the night was with Familia Zuñiga, another menos activo family. They´re also the coolest people in the branch along side the Branch President. Has a heads up, it´s a tradition here in Costa Rica to throw eggs at people on their birthdays. Think about that.
Well...Elder Zuñiga and I showed up at the house and my district leader Elder Stevens was there too. The alarms started going off when I realized Litchfield was no where in sight, ni tampoco the oldest son of the family, Roycito. Long story short, Litchfield jumped out a bush and cracked 2 eggs on my head yelling "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!". Roycito followed jumping from behind the gate and cracking 2 more eggs one my head and neck. When I thought all was said and done, Hno. Zuñiga, the father of the family, walked over beside me, out his arm around me, and said "Feliz Cumpleaños, Nuñez. Disfrutelo." And then he crack yet ANOTHER egg on my head.
...it smelled HORRIBLE...to say the least.
I spent a good 10 minutes trying to clean the egg out of my hair, it was so digusting. =P Hna. Zuñiga had fixed Tres Leches for us, we played around with them for a while, and then made for home. I tried cracking an egg on Litchfield buuuuuuut he ran for the hills when he realized what was happening. =P

All in all, my first birthday in the mission was great. Awesome actually. I felt so sick after all the food and deserts, but it was a really good day.

Friday we found some really sick investagators who invited us back for Sunday, and we ended the night with a dinner of T-Bone steak, mashed potatoes, and CARROT CAKE. It was just a good follow up to my b-day. =D
Yesterday at church members were giving me b-day cards they had made themselves, most of which had Spider-Man on them. =P And I talked with the Branch President, Pres. Reyneir, about what Elder Zuñiga and I could do in this week to help him most. Seeing how this could be my last week here, I want to go out with a bang.

Friday Elder Reyes, the financial secretary, called me up about some money issues since my companion doesn´t have a mission credit card. We found out the day of Changes has been changed from the 17th (Thursday next week) to the 14th (next Monday). That means we find out about Changes Saturday night, and take the bus for San José Sunday evening. Giving us no time to say goodbye to anyone. =(

It´ll be interesting to see how things play out. But, I have at least one more week here in Cañas. Time to finish out here strong.

I hope everything back home is going well. Tell everyone I love them, and tell Ashley that when I come home, her birthday will be a week away. ...I will egg her for her birthday... =D

I love you all!

Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie

P.S.-Has anyone found my old camera back home? Or how about that little white MP3 player? The CDs I have are getting scratched up, I need something that´s not a CD player or I´ll end up music-less in a matter of months.

Feliz Cumpleanos a Mi

In 3 days, I turn 21. At this time I feel both old and excited. Old because I´m the oldest in my district by at least 8 months, and yet we all have the same time in the mission. ;)
Excited because this is my 1st birthday in the mission, which is awesome. =D

This last week was a rough one. Having been in this area for almost 6 months now I have managed to contact everyone who lives within my boundaries, most of whom I somehow remember by name, and I´ve knocked every blasted door 3 times or more, depending on the neighborhood. I count my lucky stars that Elder Litchfield has been with me every step of the way these last 6 months. I would´ve lost my mind a long time ago were it not for him. =P

In other words, I think I might´ve killed my area...just maybe... =S

I talked with the ZLs and my district leader, Elder Stevens, and we all decided they just need to do what we call a "white wash": Throw 2 new guys into the area who know nothing about it. Zuñiga and I keep working hard every day, by some miracle or another, but nobody wants anything from us. It´s both sad and disappointing, but it happens. My patriarchal blessing told me straight out the mission wouldn´t be easy for me, but I just gotta keep on trying. We really need to find someone new to teach, the investagators we have are not progressing and are on the way to being dropped soon if we can´t help them keep at the very least one commitment.

This week holds promise to be exactly what I need to keep on going for the next 2 weeks or so. The good thing about being here in Cañas for 6 months is all the members love me, which means they all want to give me cake. =D

And I have absolutely NOOOOOO problem with that. ;)

(Side Note: Mom you should try to find the recipe for something that´s called Tres Leches. It´s the best desert in this country!)

We have B-DAY appointments Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday with a few of my favorite families. I will admit I am a little scared though...there´s a tradition here to throw eggs at people on their birthday...we did it to Elder Campbell before he went home. =P

Buuuuuut I´d rather that not happen to me until NEXT year. At least then they can ruin my clothes and I WON´T CARE, seeing how I´ll be going home 3 weeks later. =P

But I still have a year left. Which means, I need my clothes. =P

Alright well, not much else to say about this week. I´ve got quite a few fotos to send home, hope you like them. Thanks for sending the fotos from Hawaii! It was good to see some new fotos from the family. =D

I love you all, I hope all is well, and I can´t wait to hear from you again next week!

Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie