This last week was better in some ways and the same in others. Tuesday after district meeting we found and taught this black guy named Jefferson. We were really super pumped because he´s really humble and just a cool guy. The rest of Tuesday followed with appointments falling through and getting rejected, but it happens. Wednesday we went to the temple. I just remembered my first time going to the temple here during my first month in the country and how I couldn´t understand ANYTHING that was being said. Now it´s just like, "hey...I understand everything...when the freak did that happen???"
It was nice to be in the temple again. I can´t wait to live somewhere so I can visit the temple at least once week. Pretty sure I´d go insane without that.
On the way back from San José I was talking to Elder Nelson, who was part of my MTC district. He got me super hyped to go to BYU-Idaho. The thought of it just feels right. =)
Friday some of the secretaries came an ransacked our house. =P We had some extra matresses, an extra fridge, and a ton of tables lying around. Some new areas are getting opened up this next change, so they´re getting things ready to rent out apartments and what not.
I figured out where all the disánimo was coming from. After days and now a week of "bad days" Elder Logan and I just got really discouraged with it all. Our attitudes took a dive for a bit. I was looking over some of my notes from the MTC, and I found one of the last counsels Hermano Crane gave us the day we were leaving to enter the mission:
"Bad days don´t exist, only bad moments. But you can´t let those
moments bring you down. That´s Satan talking."
No matter how people may offend us, which they do try to do every day, all we can do is laugh, brush it off, and keep on keeping on. The work is going to keep moving forward, and the escogidos are going to be found and baptized no matter what. Who cares how many times we get rejected? It´s part of the job. We knew when we first made the decision to come what we were getting ourselves into, and we accepted it. And it´s not the people you need to get mad at. Only the false traditions of their fathers.
We ended the week on a mixed note. We had 88 people attend church, almost double than normal. It was incredible. We were pulling out seats from classrooms and squeezing them in where we could just to fit everyone. They even had to bless the water for the sacrament twice because 2 trays wasn´t enough. =P
On the flip side we brought our new "investigator" Jefferson to church...only to find out he was baptized when he was a kid. He just didn´t remember. Go figure. =P
Alright I don´t have much else to tell you guys, nor do I have a lot of time left to write. I´m in Puerto Limón right now, we´re going to play some real american football with some tico gangsters. =P This should be fun. ;)
I love you all. Take care and have a great week. I´ll write back, as always, next week. Oh yeah, Changes are next week. I don´t think anything is going to happen with me, but we´ll see. Ciao!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
I don´t see myself havign changes any time soon. I actually expect to be out here until July since things have changed around here. 6 months in an area has become the new norm. There are changes on March 1st, and Elder Logan could be getting changed out, but we really don´t know.
This last week was a hard one. After our interviews with Pres. Gálvez Sunday we were way hyped to get out there a work even harder than before. Tuesday seemed like we were headed in the right direction, or so we thought. Wednesday we had our Zone Conference in San José and I had the chance to talk with the elders who are now in Escazú. It´s good to know there are some solid elders there taking care of my old area.
After Pres. Gálvez´s capacitation Wednesday in the conference we had even more ánimo to just go all out. We pulled out the member directory (it´s a miracle we have one in the first place) and came up with a new plan to work Siquirres: Contact all the inactive members, looking for those who are ready to come back. We started this Wednesday, and it seemed like we were on to something.
The next 4 days killed any and all ánimo we had.
Investigators going AWOL, people rejecting us to the point that there´s no time to even say hi, it´s just been a mess. We tried to make some root beer floats to animate ourselves, but tico ice cream is more cream than ice...yeah that really didn´t work out for us either. =P
Elder Logan and I decided if things are this bad right now it just means something good is on the way. We did manage to contact an old family of investigators, and Elder Logan feels they could be what turns things around. We visit them tomorrow, and I pray things start picking up soon.
This Wednesday we´re headed to the temple with the zone. It´s been 6 months since I last went, and I´ve been needing this for a while. I hate not being able to go to the temple as often as I want, I´m going to take full advantage of that when I get home. I´m just hurting for some inspriation on what to do in the area that hasn´t already been done. I´m hoping to receive some answers Wednesday.
Nothing else really happened this week. Hopefully this coming week is a bit more eventful. Today we´re taking a bus out to another part of the area to locate some members who recently moved out here. They´re strong members from one of Elder Logan´s old areas, and exactly what the branch here is hurting for right now. I´m hoping this week is just a week of miracles, because we need them right now.
Have a great week, stay safe, and know that I´m at the very least still alive and kicking. =P I love you all and I hope you had a great Valentine´s Day!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
This last week was a hard one. After our interviews with Pres. Gálvez Sunday we were way hyped to get out there a work even harder than before. Tuesday seemed like we were headed in the right direction, or so we thought. Wednesday we had our Zone Conference in San José and I had the chance to talk with the elders who are now in Escazú. It´s good to know there are some solid elders there taking care of my old area.
After Pres. Gálvez´s capacitation Wednesday in the conference we had even more ánimo to just go all out. We pulled out the member directory (it´s a miracle we have one in the first place) and came up with a new plan to work Siquirres: Contact all the inactive members, looking for those who are ready to come back. We started this Wednesday, and it seemed like we were on to something.
The next 4 days killed any and all ánimo we had.
Investigators going AWOL, people rejecting us to the point that there´s no time to even say hi, it´s just been a mess. We tried to make some root beer floats to animate ourselves, but tico ice cream is more cream than ice...yeah that really didn´t work out for us either. =P
Elder Logan and I decided if things are this bad right now it just means something good is on the way. We did manage to contact an old family of investigators, and Elder Logan feels they could be what turns things around. We visit them tomorrow, and I pray things start picking up soon.
This Wednesday we´re headed to the temple with the zone. It´s been 6 months since I last went, and I´ve been needing this for a while. I hate not being able to go to the temple as often as I want, I´m going to take full advantage of that when I get home. I´m just hurting for some inspriation on what to do in the area that hasn´t already been done. I´m hoping to receive some answers Wednesday.
Nothing else really happened this week. Hopefully this coming week is a bit more eventful. Today we´re taking a bus out to another part of the area to locate some members who recently moved out here. They´re strong members from one of Elder Logan´s old areas, and exactly what the branch here is hurting for right now. I´m hoping this week is just a week of miracles, because we need them right now.
Have a great week, stay safe, and know that I´m at the very least still alive and kicking. =P I love you all and I hope you had a great Valentine´s Day!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
A Sense of Urgency
Saturday night we had the baptism of Orlando, which went off without a hitch. Sunday we had the confirmation, and to everyone´s surprise we had some unsuspected visitors attend church with us: President Gálvez and his wife Hermana Gálvez.
President Gálvez came in part to make sure that Ulises, who we baptized not quite a month ago, and also Orlando, would be ordained to the priesthood. The branch president here wasn´t going to do it, but it got done and President Gálvez did the ordainations himself. Slowly but surely we´re getting some priesthood power in the branch, which is sorely needed. We also witnessed a son preparing for the mission ordain his dad as well, which kind of hit home for me.
Elder Logan and I had our interviews with President Gálvez on Sunday as well. I had a good and necessary talk with President, and I felt really good afterwards. I figured out something I´ve been faulting over the last few months: A Sense of Urgency. I was seeing the work one way, and missing something key to it all. I´ve been kind of against the way my district leader has been doing things, but I can now see what Pres. Gálvez has said and taught, and how other missionaries have miscontrued it. I have the idea now, and I can see the big change Pres. Gálvez is trying to bring about in his missionaries. I feel a whole new surge of power to start over here ion Siquirres. We have some okay people right now, but Elder Logan and I both decided it´d be best to drop the ones who aren´t progressing and find those who will. We can´t play a waiting game anymore like we sort of have been, we need more of a sense of urgency to get things moving faster than we ever thought they could.
Today was a pretty relaxed P-Day. We met up with the other Limón missionaries and went to the most beautiful beach I have seen on my mission: Playa Cauhita. It was just gorgeous. We climb out over a palm tree and took some funny pictures. I´ll sent you fotos when I can, I had some issues with my USB and Elder Litchfield needed to replace a lot of my fotos from Cañas. Oh yeah, Elder Litchfield says hi too. =P
Alright well I´m sadly out of time. I love you all and I hope this week stays pretty tranquilo like that last. I´m doing great and feeling fine. We have Zone Conference this Wednesday, but other than that we don´t have any big plans this week. We´re hoping to put another baptism date this week, so wish us luck!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
President Gálvez came in part to make sure that Ulises, who we baptized not quite a month ago, and also Orlando, would be ordained to the priesthood. The branch president here wasn´t going to do it, but it got done and President Gálvez did the ordainations himself. Slowly but surely we´re getting some priesthood power in the branch, which is sorely needed. We also witnessed a son preparing for the mission ordain his dad as well, which kind of hit home for me.
Elder Logan and I had our interviews with President Gálvez on Sunday as well. I had a good and necessary talk with President, and I felt really good afterwards. I figured out something I´ve been faulting over the last few months: A Sense of Urgency. I was seeing the work one way, and missing something key to it all. I´ve been kind of against the way my district leader has been doing things, but I can now see what Pres. Gálvez has said and taught, and how other missionaries have miscontrued it. I have the idea now, and I can see the big change Pres. Gálvez is trying to bring about in his missionaries. I feel a whole new surge of power to start over here ion Siquirres. We have some okay people right now, but Elder Logan and I both decided it´d be best to drop the ones who aren´t progressing and find those who will. We can´t play a waiting game anymore like we sort of have been, we need more of a sense of urgency to get things moving faster than we ever thought they could.
Today was a pretty relaxed P-Day. We met up with the other Limón missionaries and went to the most beautiful beach I have seen on my mission: Playa Cauhita. It was just gorgeous. We climb out over a palm tree and took some funny pictures. I´ll sent you fotos when I can, I had some issues with my USB and Elder Litchfield needed to replace a lot of my fotos from Cañas. Oh yeah, Elder Litchfield says hi too. =P
Alright well I´m sadly out of time. I love you all and I hope this week stays pretty tranquilo like that last. I´m doing great and feeling fine. We have Zone Conference this Wednesday, but other than that we don´t have any big plans this week. We´re hoping to put another baptism date this week, so wish us luck!
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
Monday, February 1, 2010
Return of the Kidney Stone
Glad to hear the last week passed by pleasently. That´s always a good thing to hear.
This last week passed with the return of Elder Logan´s kidney stone. We made it a few days before the pain came back worse than before. We didn´t end up making it to interviews with Pres. Gálvez Friday morning, Elder Logan was bedridden and physically couldn´t move due to the pain. Pres. Gálvez had us buy shots to dull the pain, but sometimes they work, sometimes they don´t. It´s kind of sketchy in the first place that we have to do the injections ourselves...yay Costa Rica!
Saturday I was pleasently surprised though. We left to work and found a bunch of youth playing soccer at the church, along with 2 white kids you knew had to be missionaries. One of those guys was Elder Litchfield. It was a district youth activity, and since every branch needed a priesthood to accompany the kids, Elder Litchfield had to come down. I was nice change to talk with him for a little bit after being locked up in the house for so long.
Not much else going on. We have a baptism this weekend; Orlando, who´s the son of our wash lady. The work continues. We need to find some new people to teach though. I just hope we can pull through this month strong, because the more you work the faster time flies. It´s when you´re not doing anything that time drags on like an old lady crossing the street. =P
Well this letter isn´t very long, but like I said, my companion´s been dying from kidney stones. Not much can happen. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Take care, be safe, and tell Logan to KEEP READING! =P
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
This last week passed with the return of Elder Logan´s kidney stone. We made it a few days before the pain came back worse than before. We didn´t end up making it to interviews with Pres. Gálvez Friday morning, Elder Logan was bedridden and physically couldn´t move due to the pain. Pres. Gálvez had us buy shots to dull the pain, but sometimes they work, sometimes they don´t. It´s kind of sketchy in the first place that we have to do the injections ourselves...yay Costa Rica!
Saturday I was pleasently surprised though. We left to work and found a bunch of youth playing soccer at the church, along with 2 white kids you knew had to be missionaries. One of those guys was Elder Litchfield. It was a district youth activity, and since every branch needed a priesthood to accompany the kids, Elder Litchfield had to come down. I was nice change to talk with him for a little bit after being locked up in the house for so long.
Not much else going on. We have a baptism this weekend; Orlando, who´s the son of our wash lady. The work continues. We need to find some new people to teach though. I just hope we can pull through this month strong, because the more you work the faster time flies. It´s when you´re not doing anything that time drags on like an old lady crossing the street. =P
Well this letter isn´t very long, but like I said, my companion´s been dying from kidney stones. Not much can happen. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. Take care, be safe, and tell Logan to KEEP READING! =P
Tu Hijo,
Elder Nunie
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