Week 43: Just Another Day In Paradise

Hello my beloved family!

 

Here I am loving life and loving the mission. Even though I am in paradise, don´t yáll think that there ain´t no trials, no sweat, no work, and it´s all play....haha, but even though we come home dead tired each night, I cannot think of a better place to be right now, than serving the Lord in a full-time mission. I know that this is where the Lord wants me, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.

This week we had a mission meeting that was with every single missionary here in Costa Rica, President and Sister Wilkinson, Elder Duncan (president of the Central America area) and his wife, and one of the presidents of the Seventy, Elder Maynes.... It was super neat to be with every single missionary, and to hear the words of inspired leaders. I forgot to bring my notebook, so I will let yáll know what I learned next time...it was amazing. The sneak peek is that he told us, that instead of teaching us and lecturing us about how to teach better, or how to be more organized, more obedient, work harder, work with members, find new investigators, etc. etc. etc., he wanted to teach us doctrine, and how we can understand the doctrine of the plan of salvation and the atonement better so that we can explain it to our investigators. so until next time....

So I am in San Carlos now. It is gorgeous. Well, I think that every area is gorgeous, but I am talking mountains, green vegetation everywhere, great views. this is the life, haha. We found a lot of new investigators this week even though we had to travel to San Jose two times this week which took a lot of our proselyting time. So, San Carlos is enormous. Like, HUGE. You can travel 3 hours in bus and still be in our area....so yeah. There is me and my comp, and Elder Pratt (our district leader) and Elder Orellana (from El Salvador) in this area. One ward. a huge church building, but very few members come each Sunday. So we are going to reactivate and baptize so that we fill up this gigantic chapel. bring it on.

Today was p-day....yup. we went to a waterfall. yup. gorgeous, and very tempting, i wanted to jump in. one day. one day. haha. There is a part of the creek that is very deep and has a slip and slide made of rock to enter it. sweet. but for now, I could only watch Greivin jump in and swim around while us missionaries watched and envied. haha.

I love you so much. I LOVE being a missionary. I know that this is the Lord´s church. I am so thankful to be a part of it. Now go out and share the gospel with someone. Hoy mismo, this week, tomorrow, today. just do it. peace out

 

Love,

 

Hermana Flake

Pictures Week 40:

 

 

 

Week 42: Climb Every Mountain

Hey fam!!!

I cannot believe it!!! Jessica is going to the Dominican Republic!!!! what in the world?!?!! I am so excited for her!!!! She is amazing. Keep the Flake Legacy going strong, and remember that when we decide to serve the Lord now, He will serve us for the rest of our lives. Faithful service is the example that Christ gave. Start now, every single one of us, to be a truly devoted disciple of Christ.
 

I am not in Coronado anymore ....Now I am in San Carlos of Alajuela.  I am going to miss those people that I have come to love so much in Coro... my goodness, I was there for 6 months, and the members there have become family. It is so hard to leave them. My comp, Hermana Rubio is now with Hermana Lovell, who entered the MTC the same day as me. My new companion is Hermana Vasquez (she is also from Guatemala, the fourth Guatemalteca that I´ve had as a companion). She came in the same group of missionaries as me to Costa Rica but she goes home a transfer after me because she didn´t have a month and a half in the MTC. It is amazingly beautiful here in San Carlos. I thought that it was amazingly beautiful in Coronado, and it was, but it was the terrestrial kingdom and it is the celestial here. my goodness. The only thing is that there are 600 members, and only an attendance of about 70 each Sunday.....a ton of inactive members. We are going to be reactivating a ton. Just reminds me how important it is to remember that we are disciples of Christ until the end of our lives, not just when we´re baptized, or when we have time, or when we feel like it. This life is short, and Satan works on us especially once we´ve come to the knowledge of the truth, through laziness, pride, or putting other things first. 

So, my comp, the zone leaders, and my district leader and his comp and the Corrales Family did a surprise party for me. Our p-day was filled with interviews with President Wilkinson, so we were getting back from San Jose at about 5pm, hadn´t eaten more than saltine crackers for breakfast and lunch, and we hadn´t really had a p-day. I open the door and they all start singing feliz cumpleaños :) We had hamburgers and cake. Couldn´t ask for more  Seriously, I am going to miss them so much. My companion cried. I love her so much. We´ve been through a ton together, as well as some of the hardest parts of the mission, pretty much every single holiday (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, new years day, valentines day....etc.) and we´ve both grown a ton. 

In my interview with President, he asked me if I had any questions. I asked him how he always kept such a positive, go get ém, attitude. He told me, being happy is a choice, a decision. We have to make it every morning when we wake up. It is so true. He has been through so many trials. I´ve been through nothing in comparison. He lost both his parents, he just had his hip replaced, just to name a couple things. He is amazing. So is his wife. HIs whole family is such a light and example to the missionaries, Costa Ricans, and especially to me. 

San Carlos is amazingly beautiful. I am already in love. We are writing right now from the church building. It is amazingly beautiful as well, and huge! My companion, Hermana Vazquez says that it is way too empty on Sundays. We are going to have a go at reactivating, reactivating, and maybe a bit more of reactivating. The members need to feel an urgency, for their own salvation as well as that of others. 

I learned so much from Coronado. I learned a lot from the members, a lot from my companion, and from my leaders. I know now, that there is nothing worth getting me down. Who am I to think my load is hard? You impacted me with what you said in our interview, that being happy is a decision. I´ve always known it. But like teenagers who hear the advice of their parents and never quite ´get it´, I never really decided to be happy in the hard times. Clearly, there were times when I said enough, and started smiling despite the difficulties or the rejections, but it was not a daily decision. I´ve been relying too much on my own strength, my own wisdom (which is almost nothing...), my own abilities. But that will not do at all here in San Carlos. If I don´t rely completely on the Lord, nothing will change here. The members will keep staying in the own little world, and those looking for the gospel will stay lost, unless my companion and I rely on the Spirit and do whatever it takes to rely on miracles. 

I love this gospel. I know it is true. I am so thankful for the LDS family that I have in the world, the entire world. Time is short, and I have to let everyone know that I know it is true.
 

Love,

 

Hermana Flake

Week 41:

Hey fam!

Keitty, the daughter of a recent convert of ours, was supposed to be baptized this weekend, but she told us the day before her scheduled baptism, that she was nervous and didn´t feel ready to be baptized. So we were calling her, trying to visit her but she was with her aunt the whole weekend. She got sick too, and her aunt took her to Alejuela...basically everything was against her being baptized this weekend. Now we have to wait until the weekend after Stake Conference because the ward doesn´t want to mess with conference. But other than that, Keitty and her mom are doing fine. Grettel is starting to fill out her family history book and we are going to help her to go to the temple with the ward in two weeks. Kattia, our other convert is super excited to take the names of her dad and brother who were both murdered, to the temple with the ward. Tomorrow is her temple interview for her recommend :) It´s so exciting!

This week the elders from Ipis (super close to Coronado) baptized a family that we´ve also come to know. They were baptized this pday so we were invited and we sang a special number, all of us missionaries that came. IT was great. ALso because one of our investigators came.

The other day we found another atheist (the third one I´ve taught here in Costa Rica), but he promised to read the entire Book of Mormon. His mom is a believer, but is comfortable with believing that Jesus is in her heart and that is sufficient. But they are a great family and I am excited to keep teaching them and see the changes that the gospel wraughts in the hearts of every humble person.

I love being a missionary. I love Coronado. I love sharing the gospel. I know that if I serve God with all my heart, mind, might and strength now, that GOd with serve me for the rest of my life. I am thankful for all the experiences and trials and challenges and crazies that the mission brings. I pray that I can better confront them with faith and a positive attitude.

This week we had a multi zone meeting with President Wiklkinson and Elder ALonso. It was great, hopefully the next week I can write more about what they said. IT was great stuff.
Part of what }they said is that Satan works little by little with his poison. THe two most common poisions that he uses are pride and complacency. Read ALma 47:1-18. we cannot let him posion us at all. I know that we are capable of resisting everything he throws at us, with the help of our HEavenly Father.

Love,

Hermana Flake

                           Pictures Week 40:

Week 40: Onward Ever Onward

Hello family!!

This Sunday a lot of less active members arrived, but not so many investigators came with us...Only Marielos came, and stayed the first hour. Keitty came with her mom (Recent Convert) for the last hour of classes because her mom had to work. Laura and Robert came, but they are eternal investigators...But we were very happy because Lilia, the Cruz family, Maria Elena, and a few other people who almost never come to church, came! :) Lilia hasn´t been in 2 years...

My companion and I have been trying to have more lessons with members, and we´ve steadily increased that key indicator. We have been failing to put inspired baptismal dates with the new people that we find to teach...I know that it is a matter of keeping in mind the eternal perspective, and that if we don´t invite them to prepare to be baptized, we aren´t loving them enough to help them come to Christ through the restored gospel.

We have one investigator named Jose who is already in Alma of the Book of Mormon :) He is great, but there is only one little problem. He works from 7am Sunday until 7am Monday....so he can never come to church....He has come to the baptism of Camila as well as the baptism of Grettel....We have taught him the restoration in the home of a family who 8 years ago were also Catholic. I know that he has felt the spirit testify that the book of mormon is true...he always tells us about the last chapters he has read. We are praying that he can find a different job, or that at least he can have a different schedule.

John 14:27  Mosiah 4:3
I love you all so much!!!!!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Flake

                           Pictures Week 40:

Week 39: Do You Want to be Happy?

Hola beautiful family!!!

We had a great family home evening with the Familia Corrales where we watched the movie Jose Smith: la profeta de la restauracion. Hermana Corrales shared her testimony about the trials of being a new member (her and her family were baptized 8 years ago) and the importance of staying strong and keeping our testimony alive and growing. This was two days before her baptism. Saturday everything went well for Grettel´s baptism :) Even though not as many members showed up as we would´ve liked, those who did come showed tons of love and support.

We want to focus more and more on completing families here in Coronado, looking for those members of the families who are not baptized, or not active, and helping them to repent and come unto Christ.

I love Coronado. I love being a missionary, a representative of Jesus Christ. I will always strive to be a better representative of His name and try to be like Christ. It´s not easy. Sometimes I lose perspective. But when I remember why I am here, who is my example, what He has asked us to do, who I am here to find and teach, and who I want to become, I have greater motivation to serve with all my heart, might, mind, and strength.

“Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people. … Stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ.” --Pres. Gordon B. Hinkley

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Flake

                           Pictures Week 39: