Hi family!!

               Soo the rain season is definitely back. You’d think I’d learn my lesson by now but nope. Once again we got stuck in the rain for hours without an umbrella. I know I say this every time but really this week’s rainstorm was by far the worst. It’s different here in Guanacaste because the roads aren’t pavement they are dirt so it’s a little more interesting. But it got as high as our knees. I love when it rains though because it’s a great way of getting into houses :)

 

Hermana Hubler and I with Fernanda in this beautiful river.

               Hermana Hubler and I have been just enjoying life. It’s interesting because ever since we have gotten together we literally have had sooo many trials. But I love it because we look back and just laugh so hard. This week we were walking home and we had had a tougher day, one of our solid investigators said that he didn’t want to come back to church, then
Fernanda drank coffee and Jasinta didn’t show up to her baptismal interview. Oh and that was the day we got soaked.

               Anyway we were walking home and we were laughing for some reason and we just looked at each other and Hermana Hubler said to me, “how are we still so happy?” I really am so grateful for her. It’s nice being around someone that has the same humor and laughs at my not so smart moments.

               So with Fernanda and coffee... She is obsessed. We were able to do a fast with her and actually our whole district did it together for her and ever since she hasn’t drank. She is such a smart girl. When we teach her she really gives all her attention and it’s so amazing to be able to see the spirit work through her. She has had a really hard family life and so going to church makes her feel like she has a family.

               Two weeks ago we were talking to a guy while we were waiting for the bus. We invited him to church and he said he would come. And he did. Fun fact. Ticos are all soo chill but so chill that they almost always say they’ll do something but have a hard time keeping their word. But this time he really came :) And he loooved it. We weren’t able to visit him this week because we couldn’t get ahold of him and he lives so far away but this Sunday he came again. After we had a lesson with him and he told us how his whole life he has never been part of a church and has never ever wanted to be part of a church either. But know that he is attending this church we has never been so happy. He said how he wants to be a member and wants to get baptized soon. The Lord is preparing his children!! The field is white and ready to harvest :) I’ve got to go but I love you all and love this gospel!!!!

Hermana Fowler

    

Sacrifice week woohooo. So one time every month we now have something that is called sacrifice week. It’s awwwwesome! So what we do is at 5 we wake up then we get ready and study for one hour then at 7 we go out on the streets. From 7-9 we just talk to everyone!! During this time Hermana Hubler and I went to the Central Park and we sang for people. She mainly just sang and I lip-synced to not scare the people way. It actually worked really well and we found a lot of potential investigators. We also would go to bus stops and talk to people waiting for the bus or to construction sites.

               It was really fun to open our mouths more. We got rejected so much it was funny. This white man yelled at us so hard. But it was really interesting because as he was talking I just like shut out what he was saying and just smiled. Then it was really interesting because he then started mumbling his words and he couldn’t talk clearly. We decided to just walk away. I felt really bad for him but sometimes that’s what people need to be able to come to know the truth. So then from 9-12 we contacted. This was the hardest part for me. The sun felt like it was 2 feet away from my face. Soo hot. I always made fun of my companion because before she came to Guanacaste she asked me if we just randomly pour water on our heads. So I always made fun of her for that until this week when we actually did it.

               Then from 12-12:20 we ate lunch. Then from 12:20-4 we would pick an area each day and work in their area. We saw so many miracles!! Then from 4-9 we have our normal appointments. On Wednesday morning we woke up and my companion was soooo sick. Just kept throwing up and throwing up. So we got some medicine but it didn’t help at all. So she just suffered a ton and at 12 she said she wanted to leave the house so we did but once we got like a mile away she had to sit down on the road and just couldn’t do it. We went back to the house and couldn’t work that day. The members were so cute and kept asking how she was and bringing us food and stuff over. She didn’t want to eat anything but it was good for me :)

               That next day I got sick. But mine went by way faster and now we are all good. I was upset to be honest because things keep happening to us which restrict us from being able to work. First in San Jose for 3 days and then we both got sick. But everything worked out well and we saw sooo many miracles. One of them was with a family that we are teaching. They are so adorable and just members at heart. The husband has been a little shy but since we could work in the mornings we were able to visit him more. We ended up getting on the subject of forgiveness. He opened up a ton and told us how he really just wants to know why he has so many trials in his life. We listened to all he had to say but for some reason we both felt like we should answer the question. At the end of the lesson he
said the prayer. It was so cute to hear him pray for his future wife and for his baptismal date. On Sunday they came to church. The meeting was so good and I felt like all of his questions got answered.

               Marco and Dayan are sooo cute I loooove them!!! Fernanda is getting baptized this week :) She is such a cutie. She is 14 and so humble. She accepts correction and is very afraid of sinning.

               This week was Hermana Cook’s birthday. We decorated the house all cute for her and made her pancakes with ice cream. Everyone thought I was so weird when I told them we should eat them with ice cream but then they realized why once they ate them.

               I’m so grateful for this experience. Being a missionary is the biggest blessing. I love the people we are teaching right now and feel so privileged to learn from them and try to help them with their struggles. A quote that I really like is, "Spiritual confidence increases
when you accept that often trials and tribulations are allowed to come into your life because of what you are doing right." I love you all. I love this gospel. This is Christ’s true church. He loves us and knows us and wants us to become like him. He expects us to keep his commandments. And he rejoices when we apply his atonement in our lives. I love you!!! WELCOME HOME MY BEAUTIFUL BEST FRIEND!!!!!

Hermana Fowler

Hello again family! :) What a beautiful, funny, sleepless, exhausting week!!! After transfers we ended up staying in San Jose until Wednesday. So we returned on Wednesday way late, then on Friday at 3 in the morning we had to take bus to San Jose, but it was so good to talk with Hermana Hubler about everything. We are sooo similar. But something she is way good at doing is making decisions and I’m not, so I’m hoping that’ll rub off on me soon. There’s not enough time to write everything I have learned from Hermana Hubler this week.

Hermana Peters and I were companions again for 3 days. Every time I’m with her I learn something new. I’ve always prayed that if it was God’s will He would put us together as companions but even though we haven’t been companions for a complete transfer I feel so blessed that we have been able to work close by each other. I’m so grateful to have Hermana Peters here with me!

So here are some of the highlights of our week...

Leadership council was soooo amazing. It was so cool because we watched a talk from Elder Rasband and then the next day he got called as an apostle. The meeting was really focused on our callings as missionaries, and how the Lord has put us in this mission because we accepted this calling before we came to earth. My mission president always talks about how our mission is a school for leaders. He is very strict on our appearance, our neatness, and how well we know the scriptures. He is determined to mold us to become more mature leaders in the church. I’ve learned a lot from him. And love him soo soo much. 

We only got to work in our area for one whole day. But it was such a blessing to see the Lord put each person in our path. We knew we didn’t have much time so He helped us use our time wisely. We went to this new area and to be honest I was just acting like I knew where to get off the bus but I didn’t have a clue. So we just got off and we went to the first house we saw. Before we could even tell this Lady who we were she said come on in, so we knew she has had experience with missionaries. We found out that her four children are members but she isn’t because she doesn’t have money to get married. We talked with her about how God is a God of miracles and he will never give us a commandment that we cannot fulfill. Baptism is a commandment so we talked with her about sacrifice and about what sacrifice she can make to get married and baptized as soon as possible.

It’s been such a great adventure this week. I wish I had more time to tell you. I love this gospel and I love you.

Hermana Fowler

An excerpt from Hermana Hubler’s (Anna’s companion) blog entry on September 29^th. – Kendra

“I had changes!!! Guess where I'm going and who I'm with?! I'm going to....GUANACASTE. I am going to be a sister training leader there with...........HERMANA FOWLER! She is one of my best, best friends here and it’s pretty much a dream come true. We are still in awe because we are such good friends and we have the same goals and we want to work SO HARD. She likes to walk fast and I like to walk fast so it rocks. :) haha! But seriously it’s like having a sister.”