Favorite Scripture

Doctrine and Covenants: 35

13 Wherefore, I call upon the aweak things of the world, those who are bunlearned and despised, to thresh the cnations by the power of my dSpirit;

14 And their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their ashield and their buckler; and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully for me; and their benemies shall be under their feet; and I will let cfall the dsword in their behalf, and by the efire of mine indignation will I preserve them.

15 And the apoor and the bmeek shall have the gospel preached unto them, and they shall be clooking forth for the time of my coming, for it is dnigh at hand—

Monday, August 26, 2013

Lost of Studying!

Heredia

19 Years Old!  August 15, 2013

Bowling...  Look how nifty and matchy! :)

Bowling for Style!
Well, this is going to be a super short letter.

First for questions, the apartment is cleaner than the last, but it's smaller, cause it's just that, an apartment, last time I was in a house. We have to separate bedrooms, and it's nicer living with four. It's more fun, you have someone other than your comp to talk to, and more to help relieve the stress. Yes, I did see the coupon you bought for dad, I'm sure he cried a little when he saw it =)

How on earth did Brielle manage to get on the roof?! Oh, and Carter has the pinewood derby, not Cooper, right? Oh, and congrats to grandma... yeah, that's weird...

Well, now to what I did this week. Turns out Elder Elvira has a hereditary kidney problem, so the doctors told him to rest 5 days, so I played babysitter for 5 days. I studied a ton. I finished Doctrine and Covenants =) Umm, I only went out one day when we had divisions and somebody else babysat my comp. And yeah, that's it. He goes to the hospital... again, on Thursday.

Yep, so that's my super boring week...

Later,
-- Elder Black

Monday, August 19, 2013

This and That

Hey everyone!

So to answer questions... I had another bad birthday =( Long story short, my comp was mad (I didn't know why) so he didn't even talk to me (not even to say "happy birthday"). And we didn't do anything else... just argue. And that was our ward mission leader that bought the cake (for Elder Revell and I, if you remember it was Elder Revell's birthday the 14th)... Yeah, it was a pretty rough day, but that's all behind now. And yeah, we're all getting along good now, they are all awesome. And I can't believe that you are already going to start school again, and what the heck? Parker in high school?! I'm glad I won't be there =) Oh, and congrats on all that stuff you guys have done, and mom, just tell them to stop being so lazy and just do something.

Anyways, we didn't do that much on Wednesday or Thursday because of... stuff that happened. Then on Friday, the 16th, we had a party for Mother's Day (here it's always on August 15 if you didn't remember, so we had it a day later). Everyone in the church was invited, and also investigators and more. They had asked that we, the missionaries, participate. They had put us to be the last ones. Well, we saw everyone singing hymns, or they had made videos, or played instruments, and it was all spiritual. We even had an investigator that recited 2 poems that she wrote. So Elder Luna and I were getting kinda nervous, cause we had just planned something to entertain. (the 4 of us elders are assigned to the same ward, remember, Elder Elvira is my comp). Well, we got up and got ready to do... the midget act (Elder Luna did the arms, and me the head and legs) while dancing to the song "Book of Mormon style" a parody of gangnam style. Everyone was dying laughing their heads off. It was pretty awesome. Then on Saturday my comp had some pain in his lower stomach. But we just worked like normal. We were actually able to find some new people by knocking doors, Elder Elvira told me it's not possible here, but I told him that within 30 minutes we were going to find 2 people... and we did =) Then on Sunday we went to church and Elder Elvira had a lot more pain, so we called the nurse and she told him to wait one more day, but told him to rest all day... so that was boring, we played UNO for about 3 hours. Then today, I got somebody to stay with my comp cause he doesn't feel good, and I went bowling. I made everyone laugh a lot, it was fun. I was bowling with much style. We decided to make "The District 3 - P-Day's" it was hilarious. And then I came here, and just now found out that my comp is going to the hospital to find out what's wrong... and they hadn't even called me to ask... so now I'm stuck here with the other 2 elders, not knowing what's going on...

Oh, and to answer another question, mom, they have a pianist here (not that great) so I still don't play the piano.

Yep, anyways. Love you all!

--Elder Black

Monday, August 12, 2013

Changes!!!


But here are some answers, and comments. First of all, mom, I was who told you guys to go to Comedy Sportz, I went there on a blind-date... remember? Yes I got the package, and... yes, I opened it. It said on the box what was in it, so I didn't think it would matter... although, I didn't think mom would lie about what was in it either. . And Dad, I'm doing freaking awesome today! Also, that picture of Brielle doesn't look anything like how I remember her.

Anyways. Monday we played soccer with the youth again, and this time they actually let us play =) Then on Tuesday... we went to Milton's house... now he doesn't even read the scriptures, he just watches anti-mormon videos and then askes us questions that aren't at all important. Then on Wednesday we anxiously waited to know about our changes, or if we even had them. They weren't going to tell us until 9:30 at night (dumb) so we went all day saying good bye to everyone. We finally got to the house, and, well, like the title says, I had changes. I am now in my second area! I'm in the area of.......................................................................................................................................... Heredia 2!!!!! =) There are 4 of us working here in the area of Heredia. I'll tell you some things about this area. It is nice and flat here. It's also pretty cool (temperature). The 4 of us share an apartment (smaller than my last house, but still good). And I'm with a new comp from Guatemala, Elder Elvira! He only has 3 weeks more than me in the mission, but he's really good. The 4 of us all get along pretty good. The other 2 are our zone leaders, but they are really chill. They are Elder Luna, and Elder Revell (whose birthday is the 14th). All in all, I'm in an awesome WARD, awesome area, and with awesome elders. These last few days I've just been getting to know the area and it's freaking huge. The area has only existed for 3 or 4 changes, so we are still trying to open it up. Also, Heredia is known for the masks. On all of the road sign posts, there are masks. I'll be taking pictures this week to send to you guys.
Now, remind me next week to tell you about a super weird tradition that only happens in this one area of all of Costa Rica, my area is the only one that does this, I'll tell you more next week, cause that's when it will start.

¡Hasta Luego!
-- Elder Black

Monday, August 5, 2013

Pura Vida!




Waterfall in Grecia 


Pura Vida!
So this week was pretty average. But I'll get to that in a sec. First of all, I needed to make a correction, the person I found in the park 4 months ago, his name is Luis, I think I put Emanuel. Second, there are 6 months of wet season, 6 months of dry season. The wet season doesn't end until December, but luckily I am in a fairly dry área and it doesn't rain too much, but it's supposed to pick up again. Baptisms, we haven't had any, and the goals we do have are going to take a little extra time.
Also, sounds like I have some crazy siblings. Cooper, you are still so weird, way to go :) And Brielle sings the songs? I still can't really believe that. Also, Katarina... I still don't understand her... Good luck Dad with everything you're working on.
So this last week I finally played soccer =) But, I had 2 problems. 1, we played against a drunk who was pretty aggressive. 2, the Young men here are prideful, and didn't pass to me and my comp. So, yesterday, I was teaching the Young men in church, and like they say here I "corté la jupa". They don't involve other people very much, so that destroys any chance of our bringing new investigators to church. If they don't have friends, it's a lot harder to go to church. So I let them have it. And then on Tuesday we had interviews with Pres. Wilkinson and that went well. And then... yeah, pretty much everything else was normal.
The thing that was different this last week is that they had their celebrations of the Virgin of Los Angeles. For those who don't know, every Spanish country has a virgin. I don't remember the story here in Costa Rica, but they celebrate the whole week, but it centers on August 2. So everyone was partying and having fun, and we were trying to find people to teach, it was a little hard.
But yeah, that's about all that happened this week, sorry it's so boring, but that's the way it is sometimes.
Oh, random thing. Yesterday we found a tarantula in the street, so I killed it. Yup.
Love y'all,

-- Elder Black
   Elder Hunter Black   
                                                                                                               
                                                                                                              
 Costa Rica San José  
                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                
          2013-2014