Dear all, As missionaries in Costa Rica we now spend most of our days huddled under umbrellas and we have experienced lots of rain these past few months. But after the biggest of rainstorms, you get the prettiest of rainbows! And so it is the same in the work. After the biggest rejections and most bitter trials, come the sweetest blessings and greatest miracles. So when the rain begins to fall, just remember where the rain falls from. Maybe the biggest miracle we've seen here in Belen, is Juan. About 4 weeks ago we were leaving the house and passed by the temple, as always. Right next to the temple there's a giant soccer field and you have the pass through a security booth to get into it. So I smile and waved and said hi to the security guy working outside. He was friendly and waved back so we decided to talk to him. We learned that his name is Juan and we gave him the articles of faith to read and asked if we could visit him one day. He said he worked every day from 11am to 11pm... except Sunday. So Sunday rolls around and we called Juan to see if we could stop by. He said that he had picked up another shift at work but maybe next Sunday... Another week passed by and when we were walking back home Saturday night to the apartment, we passed by Juan. And we decided to invite him to church. He said he would come! He's seen the temple and church for the past 6 years every day at work and has always wondered what the mormons are all about... So he came to church on Sunday, and absolutely loved it. We gave him a pamphlet of the restoration and told him to read it before our lesson on Tuesday. Even though he works sooo much, Juan got up early to be able to come to the church and have a lesson with us. After the opening hymn and prayer we asked him if he read the pamphlet and he said he couldn't remember much. So I'm thinking ok, no. He obviosusly didn't... But then he said well, I just have 3 questions for you guys. 1. Is the grand apostasy just a period of time or has it happened in different times through out history? 2. How come it says I have to pray in order to know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet called by God? 3. What is mormon, and how can I get a copy of this book that talks about Christ in the Americas? I want to read it. OKAY SO HE DEFINITELY READ THE PAMPHLET. We answered all is questions and had a great lesson and he accepted a baptismal date right then and there. We knelt in prayer he asked God if he should be baptized if this was the true church and if what we were teaching is true. It was so humble and so pure. Then when he ended the prayer we were all in tears because the spirit was just so strong. By the next Sunday at church he had already read all of 1st Nephi and told us how much he just loved reading it along with the bible. He told us how it was like a seed in his heart that kept growing and it was just delicious to him. Wow. He basically quoted scripture.... Alma 32 anyone??? So when we taught him the word of wisdom he told us what a blessing it was to be able to have this wisdom without paying money to a food specialist or doctor because we have health instructions directly from God. He said he would start living it right away. Not only did he stop drinking tea, but he wanted to make sure he wasn't eating too much meat or too many sweets. It's safe to say he lives this commandment better than I do! So then law of chastity, he told us how beautiful the pamphlet was with happy faithful looking couples. It's hard enough to get people to live the law, let alone get people to read the pamphlet, let alone be so grateful and so happy of the pictures inside! Golden investigator, I think yes. When we taught him tithing he told us it would be an honor and a pleasure to be able to help build the kingdom of God here on the earth. What?!! Juan you are awesome. He then broke down a little and told us about his family... He was adopted young and his parents have given him everything, including a religion. They are pastors of some strong evangelica church and he told us they would kick him out of the house if they knew he was going to get baptized. We told him to pray real hard and ask Heavenly Father what he should do, and right away he said, "no hermanas, I know all this is true. Im going to get baptized". And he did! It was the greatest moment. He was so happy. And he bore his testimony in church after the confirmation and cried tears of joy expressing his love for Christ, his baptism, the book of mormon, and us. Truly it has been the biggest blessing being able to teach someone like him and I will never forget it.
Another huge blessing this week was getting to have a zone conference with Elder Ochoa of the 70! I learned so much and it was an incredible experience. Then he suprised us all and showed up to our ward on Sunday and I got to hear him speak again! After the meeting, he congratulated us for finding Juan and said we are doing great work. Best. compliment. ever...
And today we went with a family in our ward to the coolest place in Costa Rica and I hope you all enjoy my pictures just as much as I enjoyed holding butterflies, frogs, and TOUCANS! It was the bessssstttt!
I love the work. I love CR. I love you all. Hermana Starke
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