Hey fam, So much happened in the past week, I am going to tell you a little about every single day! Ready? Monday: Feliz cumpleaños! Monday night we celebrated the birthday of Nana and her son Lian. Nana turned 30 and Lian turned 3. I love them with all my heart. It was a fun night full of singing, cake, and........TEA! Dont worry, we will definitely be teaching the word of wisdom next week. Tuesday: The Lord is my light! Tuesday we decided to take the bus to a new place in our area called San Matteo. We were so excited to try to find some less actives and new investigators. But, our plans got slightly delayed because after stepping off the bus we realized we were in a lightning storm. With rain louder and harder than I have EVER experienced we ran for shelter under a little covering in the park. We met a new friend named Kenneth and he told us stay under the covering unless we wanted to get struck by lighting and die. Obviously, we stayed. And it's a good thing we did, because bright orange lighting struck in three different directions all around us. I'm talking like 8 feet away from us! It was insane! I'm sure Kenneth was holding back his laughter as 2 American girls hugged eachother tightly screaming for their lives. Wednesday: Two gringas in Costa Rica= LOTS of laughs We have a mission goal to get 30 lessons a week (which we met last week, hollaaaa!) and so we are always running to our next appointment. A little behind schedule, we decided to call a taxi. He comes and picks us up in a pick up truck and takes us safely to our destination. I get out first, and then my companion gets out behind me and shuts the door to the truck. With a little force, right? Because it's a truck. He yells our the window something about "gentle" Hermana Anderson hears him and thinks, "oh I shut it too softly, I need to shut it harder". So she re opens the door and SLAMS it shut. Turns out he was saying BE GENTLE! Hahahahaha oooops. Sorry bud. He drove off away angry but will be happy later when he sees the gift we left him in the back seat. A Plan of Salvation pamphlet. Oh yeahh :) Thursday: God bless America I woke up on Thursday the 4th of July ready to celebrate with my red, white and blue outfit, some fireworks, and some ice cream. Because this is one of my favorite holidays of the year! But then I realized something... I am not in America. And guess what? They don't celebrate the 4th of July here. Isn't that sad?! Dont worry, this American girl sang loud and proud as she walked through the streets of Costa Rica. Then that night we celebrated with some pineapple, coconut and papaya. It was a happy day after all :) Friday: Rejected with a side of cookies! On friday every single one of our 6 appointments fell through. And so did all our back up plans. People here are always sick, and always tired, and always showering, and always working. I don't like working around other peoples schedule! On the plus side, we made some chocolate chip cookies with one of our investigators and she loved them. Chocolate fixes everything. Saturday: Feliz Navidad! I literally had my own mini christmas here because the beautiful Jen Baron delivered an entire suitcase full of happy goodies from my amazing family. And also, a hug from my mom! No one will ever understand how much it meant to me!
Seriously it was wonderful and I just cried for 10 minutes before I could even look through every thing. It's all perfect. It was sucha blessing to be able to get that from Jen. Thank you guys sooo much.
From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU! Sunday: Rice for dayz We went to church and it was great. But sometimes I just get so frustrated because I just want to have a normal conversation with the members and express my love and gratitude for them and all that they do...but I can't. And it's hard. I just wish we could all speak one happy language. Haha is that too much to ask? It will come though. We were so blessed to be given 3 dinners. They all just happened to be the exact same thing. Large plates of RICE. I thought I was going to explode. As we were teaching a family later Sunday night we heard screaming and crying from the children next door. Their parents were fighting and arguing and it was almost impossible to ignore. We started out our lesson with a hymn, and as I sang the words I became overwhelmed with emotion and began to cry. I am a child of God And He has sent me here Has given me an earthy home With parents kind, and dear How grateful I am for the beautiful and special knowledge that I am a daughter of God. That this life has meaning and purpose. And my heart broke for the neighbors next door who didn't have that knowledge and who weren't as fortunate as me to have dear parents. I often find myself wondering what I did to deserve such an amazing family. But there is hope. Whatever our family circumstances, we are all children of kind and dear Heavenly parents. This week has really strengthened my testimony. Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, "Conversions are often achieved more readily by suffering and adversity than by comfort and tranqility." Before my mission, I had a testimony of the gospel. And I still do. But through the hardships I have faced here in Orotina, I truly have been "converted" to the gospel. Elder David A. Bednar said, "Testimony brings increased personal accountability and is a source of purpose, assurance, and joy." As my testimony continues to grow daily, I feel more assurance with my purpose in life and I feel more joy than I have ever experienced before. I am so grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me to help my testimony grow. I love you all and pray that you will have a wonderful week! Love, Hermana Starke P.s. Special shout of to my brother Sammy who FINALLY WROTE ME :) And also Happy birthday to Morgan Smith, I love you!!!!!!!!!!
"I am a Child of God"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riD6sNy4HsI
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