Chapter 16: It's all about that Bus

So this week most of my moments happened around a bus stop.

This week was good, the 15th of September came around again, but this time like a thief in the night. I almost forgot that it was the Costa Rica Independence day and I didn´t prepare anything! I felt sad but my companion isn´t one for celebrating anyway. We had some difficulty visiting some people just for that reason, but I wasn´t going to give up. We found a way to get in some quality visits during the worst hours due to a bit of inspiration from our friendly neighborhood Holy Ghost. :)

One moment I had this week is that while waiting in the bus station there was a small television where they were showing Avengers 2. We didn´t stay long because our bus came and I shouldn´t have been watching it, but it really showed that the world didn´t stop when I lef the USA but at the very least the new Star Wars will still be in theaters by the time I get back. :P

One cool thing that happened this week is that we were waiting for the bus yesterday and a car past by really fast. About 100 meters down the line it stops and goes into reverse all the way to where we were and offers us a ride! They were an LPE that I had done a long time back and I it was so nice of them to help us out.

Okay, funny story, while waiting for yet another bus I ran into a man that I had met in Zapote. We had given him an english lesson, Elder Hoover and I, and now he´s speaking English relatively well. :) We had a full conversation in English and I didn´t get lost in what he was saying. A great improvement in 7 or 8 months! :D

My most memorable lesson this week was the lesson with C and her family. We shared a small video and shared about it. It was actually the "living below your privileges" from Pte. Utchdorf. It was a strong spirit and I hope they felt edified. :)

My dad mentioned all the missionaries that spoke in stake conference about a principle that they learned and loved on their mission. He asked me what I would say. One principle that I have learned to love is the power of prayer. :) More on that later, I am out of time.

Elder VanswizzlemizzlederMeyden

Chapter 15: Frog Water

I am doing well this week. I absolutely love it here, don't want to be anywhere else! It was a rather boring week for me no big news or milagros. Right now I have a bit of a head ache because we were playing soccer as a district and it was so much fun. :) But I did get a ton of water in my eyes because of sweat and rain so they dried out. :P

For those of you who have missed my moments:

Foody moment: They have a drink here called "agua de sapo" Or Frog´s Water. It´s really good even if it doesn´t sound like it :P It's actually agua dulce with lime juice.

Oh crap moment: This week some missionaries from Guapiles wanted to borrow my Meet the Mormons DVD but I forgot to send it with a member so we had to send it through the bus system. Jaja a bit of a crazy thing. :P

Happy Moment: There was one day when things weren´t going so well but I decided to ask for references (following the spirit and I didn´t even know it) and they gave us 2 and told us that they might have more in the future! :)

Church was great, we had 54 people show up. That´s the 3rd time above 50 and two weeks in a row, especially considering that quite a few people didn´t show up because they had to work or something. :P

One of the most exciting things this week was the fact that we had the Mother´s day activity in the branch (it´s about a month late but better late then never) and I got to help with the cooking of the food and preparing of the salad so now when I get home I can make some Platos Ticos. :)

Each week we receive a message from Pte. Hayes telling us about a principle of the gospel. This week was this:

"We arrive at the 4th principle and 2nd ordinance of the Gospel according to the 4th article of faith. My favorite chapter of the entire Book of Mormon could possibly be chapter 19 of 3rd Nephi. This is where we watch the process of the sanctification of the Disciples of the Savior take place. This is the second day of the Saviors visit to the people of Bountiful. However, before he arrives the second day, the disciples have begun teaching the people the very same words the Savior taught the day before. That is when we read that the disciples pray.

“behold, they knelt again and prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus. And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them.” Verses 8 and 9.

These verses surely teach the importance of the Holy Ghost. Of everything that had been taught the day previous, (Chapters 11 thru 18) the disciples pray for that which they desired most, The Gift of the Holy Ghost. It causes me to realize the importance of that gift in my life. As you continue to read we find out why.

“ And it came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and with fire. And behold, they were encircled about as if it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness it, and did bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did minister unto them.” verses 13 and 14.

If this is the description of what happens when one receives the Holy Ghost, it is no wonder why the disciples prayed for it most. As you continue to read in chapter 19, it appears to be a necessary step to what happens next to the disciples of the Savior.

The doctrine is very clear. Baptism must first occur by the power and authority of the Aaronic Priesthood, and then by the power and authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood the Gift of the Holy Ghost can be given. In John of the New Testament chapter 20 verse 22, the Savior does the same to his Apostles in Jerusalem. They had been baptized three years previous. They do not receive the Holy Ghost immediately, as we can see from Acts 1:5-8. However 10 days later in Acts chapter 2, the Gift of the Holy Ghost is present.

The reception of the Holy Ghost is absolutely necessary in our progression to become Sons and Daughters of Jesus Christ. May we all live worthy to receive and use this wonderful Gift."

Have a great day! Pray for us missionaries!!

Elder VanderMeyden

Chapter 14: Sick and Soccer and Youth

This week was a good week with one exception. I got sick. But I'm better now. One thing that really helped me was the ability to sweat it out playing Soccer with my companion today. He´s really good and I´m not so I asked him to teach me a bit while we do exercise in the mornings before getting ready. The best part is that we live within 100 mts of the church now so we can use the chapel to practice.

This week was very good. We used much of it to visit some families that formerly didn´t receive us. I feel sad that someone who was touched by the gospel could turn 180 and forget the truths they had learned. One of the members that we visited, a very good man, told us outright that he knew that the Book of Mormon was false. What can we do? I can´t just say "No, you´re wrong." I felt like I couldn´t do anything to change his mind and I was frustrated inside. He still lets us visit him so I hope that our light will be able to reignite the fire that he had before.

One the other side, the joven (youth) that I mentioned last week came again to church. We visited him on Saturday and his brother was also there. We invited them both and they both came, as well as a joven that lives next door that is an inactive member that we met this week. I was very surprised that we had so many jovenes in the chapel. In addition to that there were 60 people! I was astounded. We´re going to be working with the youth to invite more friends to the activities and then to the church so that we can enter into more houses and bless people with the gospel.

Have a great day,

Elder VanderMeyden

ps - my return date home is officially December 30th. New Year's Eve Eve. 

Chapter 13: Sticking Around

I am sticking around and so is my companion, so we are hoping to see many miracles this next 6 weeks. :) I am super stoked about this. I have wanted to stay and I am! I really love this area and the people!

My mom asked me a bunch of questions and told me to answer a few of them. So here are the questions and my answers (maybe I will answer others on another day)

1. What has been your biggest challenge this week?

2. What has been your biggest concern?

3. What has been your biggest success? 
Biggest success is that we met and taught the aunt and uncle of the Hermana Susan this Friday and we made a real impression. On Saturday I felt that we should invite them to the church before we finished with our lesson at her house. And SUNDAY... THEY CAME! I shared with them the Book of Mormon and they said they would read it. I know the missionaries there in Pavas (I think it`s the other mission :P  ) will have some amazing new investigators this week. :)

4. Who has been your favorite person this week? Why? 
Favorite person? I`d say a joven that is called Miguel. He came to church for the first time since I`ve been here, is 16 years old, and his entire family is less active. I`d never even met him! And he wants to serve a mission! :D He came on the perfect Sunday too because they set apart the missionary that left from our branch that day. :) We`d met the family of him but never him, so we`ll be going back to his house this week. :)

5. What has been your most significant tender mercy?

6. What are you looking forward to this coming week?

7. Do you have a goal set for this coming week? Tell me about it.

8. Which scripture has had the biggest impact on you this week?

9. What service have your been performing this week? The service we performed today is a biggy. We cut down two trees so the owner could expand his house.We left the two big trees bald. My companion climbed the tree and macheted the branches and I took the branches (palm fronds) and moved them to the fence.:P It took a lot of work and time but we sacrificed our Preparation day to get it done. :)

Also, my mom told me that in Stake Standards Night last night, President Webb invited some recently returned missionaries to the stand and asked them some questions. My mom asked me some of the same questions. The one I will answer is 'What is one thing you wish you had done to prepare for a mission before you left': One thing that I wish I had done before my mission is read the bible and Preach My Gospel. If I had done these things the mission would have been much easier. :P

Also, new record this week with Lessons, the impossible 50 without divisions. Now that we`ve done that we`re going to back down to work on other key indicators (mainly LPEs and News). Don't worry, though. I am not in it for the numbers, but the people. It is pretty awesome, though that the miracles are falling in line with our goals.

Thanks for everything,

Love you,

Elder VanderMeyden

Chapter 12: Improv and Feeling Old

Yep - that's right. I´m felling a bit old in the mission but looking back, I´ve only had 3 companions with more time than me: Elders Saavedra, De Leon, and Hoover.  It's crazy to think that I only have 4 months left on my mission. I´ll ask president the actual day we head home. I think it´s still under thought but it may be before new years. I know we´ll be here at least until Christmas, so don´t worry you´ll have that last call ;) A bunch of our group wanted to make it back before school starts and some schools start a bit earlier than mine. so President changed our release date (sadly) from January 6 to end of December. But it does mean less time and I´ll be back home.  I still don´t feel like I should go to school right when I get back. I know it´s weird, but the 2 major points that keep running through my head are that 1 I want time with the family and 2 I want to work so that I can come back to Costa Rica (especially if I have some converts from this area that will be going through the temple after a year of being baptized). A third would be money for going on dates and being close to home for a bit to get some rest.

This week was amazing en cuanto a la obra (talking about the work). I was ASTOUNDED when I saw the 58 people in the chapel and 5 of them not being members. Does anyone remember the family that sent us a really awesome text at the beginning of my time here and then they dropped us out of nowhere? I took my companion to visit them and see how they are doing. THEY ACCEPTED US AGAIN, CAME TO CHURCH, AND ASKED US TO HAVE ANOTHER VISIT WITH THEM TO PLAN THEIR MARRIAGE AND BAPTISM! It was a simple thing that happened and Satan entered into their relationship. We explained that to them and everything changed! :D It just wasn´t their time before but NOW IS! I don´t know what a matter of 8 weeks can make, but God has it all planned out perfectly. :D

This week we also had a conference with a broadcasted conference in Honduras with the new President of the 12 Apostles, It was an amazing conference and I received multiple answers to my prayers. One thing that made me laugh is the fact that they were talking to over 1000 missionaries and they brought up MARRIAGE!!! I can only imagine all the groans going on ALL OVER Central America. :P It was an amazing conference though and I have a goal to study better for all of my investigators. We have multiple families progressing right now and they need my help! I´ll let ya´ll know if I have changes next week, but I´m not expecting them (unless we open Cariari 2).

And now for the improv comment: One  thing that was really funny about the church this week was that I was asked to give a talk 5 minutes before the services began and I gave a great improvised talk about the atonement and someone told me that I had given them a different perspective about the atonement! After that I was in charge (with my companion) of the Gospel Principles class (which was FULL by the way) which was about Pray and I only had 10 minutes of preparation. AND last, but not least, the teacher for Elders quorum was not there and the backup was a counselor of Pte Soto (branch president) and he told me to give the lesson because he "had to do something with Pte Soto." So I gave a lesson on filling out homes with light and truth based off a talk that I had NEVER read before. It turned out well! I´m so happy that I learned a bit of how to get participation and follow the spirit! :D

Love ya'll!

Elder VanderMeyden

Tortogeuro (turtle preserve)

Here are some pictures from our visit to the turtle preserve.

Turtle Nesting Grounds

Chapter 11: Field Trip

So last week we went on a field trip. It was super cool! A once in a lifetime thing. We went to Tortogeuro the Turtle Preserve. Finally I have been on both coasts of Costa Rica. My first area was on the West Coast and last week I made it to the East Coast beach. We had to ride boats through a lagoon to get there and we saw crocodile. Best part was the beach. We saw the tracks of the turtles as they came out of the water and walked across the beach to lay their eggs. It was awesome!

Today I am in San Jose.Yeah, they just wanted my help to clean up the desktop on Hna Burt´s computer and work on a few other projects in the google drive.

Next week is changes. I hope I do stay here. There is one family that I want to be here to baptize. They are AMAZING! It´s the Family of references that had a bunch of preguntas from a few weeks ago. :)

We are also hoping we will split my area. We have a large house now so we´re ready for more missionaries. :)

We had 46 lessons, 13 news and a family that is progressing told us to invite them to church. I don´t want to leave this area before they get baptized. This is my family to come back for in a year´s time. I really am glad to be working with Elder Garay and to see more on our Tortuguero adventures you´ll have to see the pictures, telling the story will not be enough to tell of the beauty of the week. :)

P.S. Happy Mothers day in Costa Rica (they celebrate it on the 15 of August) :) This is not just to my mom, but to all the moms on my email list! Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Elder VanderMeyden