Elder James VanderMeyden's Costa Rican Mission: Chapter 1 The Start of a Whole New World

Anyway, This week was crazy. I couldn´t sleep on the plane for some reason. It is hot and humid here but the breeze smells of fruit. My companion is Elder S and he is from Columbia. That´s right, a native speaker, so while I´m learning Spanish, I´ll be teaching English. My first area is called Nicoya and it is in the north. It´s actually an area that I´m just opening so... No baptisms yet. No investigators when I first arrived, and It´s been crazy ever since. The first day I didn´t have a bed until 11:25 at night. The branch has 350 members but only 50 are regulars. I am the only Gringo in town even though there are 4 missionaries. I wish I could share more this week but I still have to write the president, but here are the highlights:

Told a guy we believe in aliens (technically I said men from other worlds and this was a lesson where I could speak english)

Got hugged by a drunk guy
Woke up with a spider the size of my fist next to my head
Nearly kissed a giraffe
Had a lesson with creepy people (the spirit wasn't there at all, my companion thinks that the house was cursed)
Saw a cat die in front of me
Did tracting and much more

(we heard from the Mission President's wife, Sister Wilkinson, and she said 32 missionaries came in that day from North, South and Central America. The picture is the 32 missionaries with their trainers and the Mission President)