July 6, 2015: "A little rain never hurt anyone" "yea, but a lot can kill ya"

Hey fam!

Well, today my comp and I bought umbrellas AGAIN. they all get ruined because it down pours so often and the wind is super strong, but this time we are going to keep the receipts, so if they are ruined again before a month we can get free new ones..haha. This week only saturday it didn´t rain. San Carlos is famous for the downpours. At least we are up so high in the mountains that we don´t have flooding problems like other parts of Costa Rica where whole roads are lost and houses are destroyed because the rivers and ocean overflow....

So I am doing great here in San Carlos. We have a new bishop and mission leader and things are looking up. We found a few families that we are going to work on getting them to church, getting to know families in the ward, learning the doctrine of the gospel, and preparing to be married (nobody gets married here, they just live together, but we are going
to teach them and help them to become an eternal family, like ours. :) This sunday was fast and testimony meeting. I bore my testimony about how we are so blessed to know what is the purpose of life. Here in the mission I have noticed that that is the number one thing that people in the world are looking for...understanding of their purpose and who they are.

I cannot believe that Jessica is going to be in the Dominican Republic in a couple of weeks!!! time is flying by!

This week I was studying a bit about Zion´s camp, the one that Joseph Smith formed when God told him that he needed to form a band of men to be help the Saints in trouble from mobs. In Doctrine and Covenants section 105 verses 1-3, 6, 10, 19 explain how God called them to form this group of willing men to test their obedience and faith, not because He wanted them to fight. They were tested and tried in those difficult days and weeks i believe. It makes me think a lot about the mission...we are here to find people and prepare them to make and keep covenants, but we are also here to be tested, to see if we will be exactly obedient to the Lord´s servants and to build our faith. I studied this theme the same morning that we recieved a message from our Zone Leaders saying that our new Mission President prohibited Coca Cola, Root beer, Pepsi, etc (any carbonated drink that is black or brown in color). My companion is fanatic for Coca Cola, and I like a good root beer every now and then, but it just reminded me of my determination to be exactly obedient to those that are our leaders. I shared these thoughts with my comp and I think she has accepted the fact that now she cannot drink Coca Cola, haha. I encourage yall to study a bit about Zion´s camp, and apply it to us in latter days. Are we striving to be exactly obedient to our Prophet, the Apostles, Stake leaders, Bishops, etc.? do we trust that they are men called of God and hold specific Priesthood authority?

My time is already up....I am so happy to know that yall are happy and healthy. Keep on being awesome!

Con mucho amor,

Hermana Flake