Week 31: Feliz Año Nuevo!!!

Feliz Navidad y Año Nuevo mi familia maravillosa y queridos amigos!!!!

So Christmas here is basically sleep all day...haha. December 24 is when families stay up until midnight to open their gifts, eat dinner, etc. Christmas day almost everyone sleeps in, unlike in the states where families with kiddos wake up in the wee hours of the morning, haha. But, the familia Corrales invited us to participate in their gift opening at 9ish (not every family waits until midnight, haha) and they also gave us a sweet gift :) So even though I wasn't with yall Christmas eve, I still was with family. Another family of members invited us Christmas afternoon to eat lunch with them, and they also opened gifts afterwards (the only family I know in Costa Rica that celebrates the gift opening on Christmas day). The family Monterosso are very special and they always have such love for the missionaries in Coronado.

A couple nights before Christmas, it was late and we ended the last planned lesson at around 8:30ish, and with 30 minutes more before we had to return to the apartment, we decided to knock on one door to sing Christmas carols for the family that receives us. We were in an area that has only one investigator that hardly progresses and a less active member that we had just finished visiting, so basically it´s an area that we hardly visit, but I remembered talking to a muchacha one time outside of her house, but that day she had been too busy to receive us. But I remembered where she lives...haha. So I decided to knock on her door. We asked them if we could sing a Christmas hymn for them, and they invited us in. We sang Venid Adoremos, and while we sang, the family trickled into the room. Jacqueline, the woman that I first talked to weeks ago, her mom, her brothers, her kids, etc. In total, about 15 people live in her house....after we sang, we told them who we are, that we share a message of Jesus Christ with everyone. They asked us to sing another song, so we sang Noche de Luz, and they filmed us (que verquenza..jjaja). Then we wished them all a merry Christmas and when I gave Jacqueline a hug, she told me to visit her whenever we wanted. So I took down her number. Anyway, yesterday we visited them again, and taught Jacqueline and her boyfriend as well as a brother who listened for curiosity. I am excited to keep teaching them. Jacqueline told us how ever since she first saw us and talked to us, she had a desire to learn more about us. I love being a missionary. :)

Yesterday we sacrificed most of our p-day to visit a reference that a member from another area gave us. His name is Sebastian and the member is Elsa. She even offered to visit him in our lesson with us. She came and brought a friend as well from her ward in Tibas (about 30 minutes in bus from our area). We taught him about how we are children of our Heavenly Father and our purpose as missionaries and basically what we ask that he do in order to learn for himself that the gospel is true. He also accepted a baptismal date for when he receives an answer that these things are true. We are excited to keep teaching him.

Basically these last couple of weeks have been pretty tough. But yesterday we had a couple of small miracles that reminded me just how important it is that we work and work no matter that we are rejected, our investigators don't always keep their compromisos, or do those things such as pray, read, obey the commandments, and go to church, or we don't always use our time as wisely as we should. Because, thanks to the Atonement, we can always repent, always change, improve, and grow. In the mission, we can never get discouraged because if so, we aren't exercising our faith. I know that God is preparing tons of people to hear and accept the gospel, we just have to be diligent and never lose hope that we will find them and help them to come to the waters of baptism and remain faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ for the rest of their lives. I am thankful for the trials and experiences that I've had in my 8 months as a missionary, and ready for those that come. Bring it on :) haha

Here is the poem that Nicole shared with me in a letter:
A mission is a strange experience
a trial and a test
a mission throws at you the worst
yet, teaches you the best.
I've never been so happy
I've never been so depressed
I've never felt so forsaken
I've never felt so blessed
I've never been so confused
Things have never been so clear
I've never felt my Heavenly Father so distant
He´s never been so near.
I've never been so discouraged
I've never been so full of hope
I feel I could go on forever,
I think I've come to the end of my rope.
I've never had it quite so easy,
I've never had it quite so tough.
Things have never been so smooth
Things have never been so rough.
I've never traveled through more valleys,
I've never ascended more peaks.
I've never met so many nice people,
I've  never met so many freaks!
I've never had so many ups,
I've never had so many downs,
I've never worn so many smiles,
I've never had so many frowns.
I've never been so lonely,
I've never had so many friends.
Boy, I hope this is over soon,
Gosh, I hope this never ends.

This new year, let us all remember that this life is a short period to learn and to progress, so we should always have goals that will help us to do so. Then we have to make a plan, a specific plan, of how we will accomplish our goals. Then put it into practice. Every day. The fact that we know who we are, children of our Heavenly Father, who loves us enough to give us the opportunity to learn and grown in families here on the earth, should encourage us to stretch ourselves to become a little better each day, each week, each month, and each year. Read and study more about the life of Christ. He showed us the perfect example of how we should be and what we should do. Put those characteristics, those of Jesus Christ, into practice in the little things we do each day. I know that by doing so, we will become better instruments in the Lord´s hands in bringing the world, one by one, to the truth and to come unto Christ. Primarily, we will receive salvation for ourselves, and we will help our families, and also other families, because the worth of every soul is great in the sight of God.

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Flake