2 Months WooooHoooo

Hi hi hi. I love this time of the day but it is also like the most stressful time too. This week flew by I feel like I was sitting at this same computer like an hour ago. We did a lot of service this week. This member in our ward needed help painting her house so we literally painted the whole things. It was really fun. We painted the walls yellow orange and green. All the houses here are really bright. I love it! It’s like candy land.

Painting this week :)

Her house is in the back of her bakery so we got a lot of treats. One of our members is having a hard time with smoking and while we were at her house she was smoking secretly sooo I know I should never steel but I feel like it was for a good cause. So I stole them sorry. Oh and another thing, this week for lunch we were served a brownish drink and my companion said something about it but I obviously didn’t understand so I drank it and it was tea :/. So I drank tea and stole ahhh sorry mom!! It was an accident.

It rained an incredible amount this week. One day it didn’t stop from the time we left the house until we went back home. Ahh I love it. My area is the colder area so it does get a little chilly on cold days. I always want to jump in puddles and sing Taylor swift but I’m learning to be mature. So pray for me :) Just kidding but really I never want to use my umbrella but my companion says I have to. It’s for the best :)

We saw these people walking with trash bags while it was raining so I tried to get a picture without them noticing and it didn't work. So they yelled, "Sister photo!!!" Hahaha

On Wednesday this week we went to San José to get my finger prints for my visa and stuff so I got to see some of the people I came here with. It was so good to see them. We waited in line for 3 hours. It was like the first time I sat still without doing anything for a long time. One the way here we took a bus (we always either take a bus or a taxi) and I seriously kid you not it was like the bus of Harry Potter. Craaaazy. It never really ever stopped. I felt like I was on some ride in Disneyland. We had a good laugh trying to get off. 

The language is slowly coming. Ahh on Sunday they asked me to pray in English and I literally forgot how to speak English. It was the weirdest thing. So ya I don’t know English or Spanish haha!

I haven´t seen too many bugs here. Oh besides one day literally a cockroach ran at me out of nowhere and I almost sprained my ankle trying to dodge it. I need to not be such a girl with bugs. I’m working on it. My companion was sick one day this week. So she stayed in bed and I studied Spanish for 7 hours. I should be after that but no. But really I am starting to understand more what people are saying. I often feel like someone has put duct tape over my mouth and I have a really really really important thing to tell them. It’s getting better though. :)

Haha so this week we were contacting and we were at this one house and an older guy just kinda looked at us and then said to me are you Chinese or a gringo (white girl) my companion just laughed. It’s because I squint my eyes when I smile. So then the next person we saw I tried not to smile with my eyes and he looked at me like I was going to rob him. So ya Chinese gringo it is :)

I knocked on this door :)

Our investigators are incredible. We have a good about on date for baptism and I just hope so badly for them to not doubt themselves. One investigator says that she knows it in her heart but just not in her mind. The people here are very religious and feel like they need to know everything. I wish they could realize how much I have to learn so they can know that we never will know everything. One investigator (her name is Anna :)) has taught me so much. It’s crazy how much I have learned here and it’s not from their words but from their example and their spirit. I love all the people here in Costa Rica. They are all so kind and everyone is willing to make friends. Every person we meet is placed in our path for a reason which is why it’s so critical for us to talk to everyone. I love it. I love being a missionary. I could say that a million times and it still would not give justice to how I feel about serving in Costa Rica. I’m so grateful for my family and friends. I love  you all!!!! 

Ten random facts about Costa Rica :)

1. Dinner doesn’t exist here. You have a big lunch and then you just don’t eat until right before you go to bed. Not very healthy :/

2. In every house I go to they always offer a fresco. Which is really just fancy for tang drink or Kool-Aid. People are always willing to give stuff. Usually stuff they don’t want any more though haha.

3. No one shaves.

4. A very common food here is platano. It’s like a gigantic banana and then they grill it. IT’S SO GOOD!!!! I could eat it every day for the rest of my life and be happy.

5. It gets dark here around 6. And everyone goes to bed at like 8. So the streets are pretty empty at night but my companion is very very very cautious about anything semi unsafe so no worries there. Oh and she holds my hand crossing the street. 

6. All the stores here are wanna be American stores. Like quicksilver is quiksilver. So they just switch the name by like a letter or too.

7. A lot of the stores are owned by popular stores in the U.S. Like Costco owns this one store we went to today and they literally had berry smoothies and all that jazz, but it’s like 10 times more expensive. It’s ridiculous. 

8. The word Sass doesn’t exist in Spanish :(

9. There aren´t really trash cans. People just throw it in the gutter. I often will jump in the gutter and pick something’s up. I didn’t really realize how nasty that is until now. 

10. Lots of people drop the L bomb (I am in love with you) like none other.