Another Week

Rain, rain go away, come again another day...

So I'm just going to answer mom's questions (nobody else asks me anything!!!)

So the musical number last week, I played the piano and a member and Elder Garrett sang. The song was "I Know that my Redeemer Lives".  Today for P-day we just went and played soccer and basketball, and then went to Pizza Hut.  Transfers will be this Thursday and we won't know until Wednesday night. I still haven't gotten the package, they only go to the office the first Friday of every month.

So this week... I got a lot of excercise. We had a several appointments that fell through, but that's ok! It's been super rainy, so we got soaked and I just decided to start playing in the rain. Finally on Saturday we had a fantastic day. We were able to teach 7 lessons. We visited with Mayra and Beyanira (whose kids now are unsure about baptism...) And then we went and visited Sonya (she just had her first baby last Monday) and her husband has started to listen to us more! We went and visited Jimena and Sofia (daughters of a member, but still haven't been baptized and are unsure about it...) And then we went to Flavio's, and he's going through hard times (that's what always happens to recent converts). So we have so many possibilities here, we are just really working on trying to get these people excited. Yesterday we went and visited with Karen again, and we asked what she had read (I was expecting an answer like 2 pages of a pamphlet), she sighs and says, "...only 2 pamphlets" And we freaked out, we were so happy, that's the first person that I've had that has actually read all of a pamphlet... and she read 2!!! So we were able to talk with her a lot, and at the end of the lesson we asked her to pray. And she, naturally, said, "I don't know how, I don't feel ready..." but in the end we explained to her and she ended up doing it perfectly. Right when she finished she just sat there thinking and said, "I feel... something... I don't know how to explain it... it feels, good. I've never felt this before." She continued to talk to us about this feeling and asked if we felt the same the first time that we prayed. It was really nice to know that we were able to help someone feel something through something so simple as a prayer. I was really happy to have been a part of that.

That was my week, though rough at the beginning, we ended with a miracle. We just had to have a trial of our faith to be able to see the blessings.

Love you all,

-- Elder Black

   Elder Hunter Black   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                              

 Costa Rica San José   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                

sdfas2013-20142014

Week 42

This is a moth!  Or is it a clown...? 

Cow tongue, yum!

Mondongo (cow stomach), cow tongue, oysters,pig blood taco, octupus, clams and mango smoothie, all for lunch!

There is a leak in our shower...

So we made the "best" of it and had some fun.

Hey everybody, thanks for tuning in. We are going to go to the Q&A segment of this letter.

Questions and Answers: Transfers are next week, we will see what happens. I am not in San Jose, I am in San Rafael de Heredia. What did I eat interesting this week... I ate a pig blood taco, mondongo (cow stomach), cow tongue, oysters, clams, octopus, and a mango smoothie with coconut milk (that was all on saturday at lunch). My favorite fruit? I still like Manzanas de Agua.

So this week we had some very hard days. Tuesday, nothing. Wednesday we had a good day. We were able to have 5 lessons, all with investigators. We put baptismal dates with Jimena (an 11 year-old girl whose dad is a member) and we were able to put a new date with Carla (girlfriend of a member) and also get Flavio ready for his confirmation... but we found out that he had smoked again =( It's rough, but we just keep praying for him. On Thursday... another normal day. But on Friday we got up early to go to a multi-zone conference with Elder Amado (of the seventy) we had to be somewhere at 7...and we didn't end up getting back until 6:40. It was a really good conference and I was able to learn alot. He was really funny and a great experience too. We were there for a while to because we also got our cell phones! Oosh!! Finally! But the instant we got them everyone freaked out and was going crazy... Saturday, we had a great lesson with Flor (an investigator that has been investigating for months...) and we finally found out what her problems were with the church. It was a great lesson and will definitely help us to help her. Then, on Sunday we (me, Elder Garrett, and a member) perfomed a musical number in church. And it went over well especially considering how little we had practiced. And then that night I went and met a reference, Karen. She is the niece of a less active member. Well, Karen speaks english, asked perfect questions, already had a Book of Mormon, wants to know a lot, and immediately asked when we could come back. She's awesome!!! And then today, we went and played laser tag and I had the highest score on my team, second overall =) it was so freaking fun!

And that was my week. I would just like to make a shout out to my brother Cooper, happy birthday dude! Tune in next week for more in the life of Black.

Later,

-- Elder Black

Week 41?

Baptism!

This is what a missionary's fridge looks like, Yikes!

Calzone!

Monte de la Cruz?

Cathedral in Monte de la Cruz

So this week we didn't have very many lessons, but we had 9 investigators go to church, and we had a baptism!!! Ush, ush, ush!!!

So this last week was a little rough, I cook couldn't cook for us, so we had to eat out or make our own food. But I did learn from Elder Petlacalco (our district leader) how to make chilaquiles :) yeah, so I finally know how to make some food :) Also, one day we went and bought empanadas from Flavio, they were very good. Oh, Flavio, I went to tell him where Aunt Yamile was from, and he just says "I knew it, I knew that you were going to say that!!!" It was pretty funny. Oh, another random thing for those of you who speak spanish, Flavio prays in "Vos" haha Anyways, then on Wednesday we only taught two lessons, then at the end of the day we had to head to San José. We went to the mission home because at 3:30 they woke us up to go get fingerprints done so that we can get our residency here. We had to just wait around until 7... yeah, I was really tired, but at least I'm here legally now =) I also completed 9 months on Wednesday! Then on Thursday... another not so good day. Friday... another not so good day. Then on Saturday, I got to baptize an Argentino! And we taught some good lessons, had a good day =) Sunday, we had a good start to the week, taught some other good lessons, everything went very well. And then here I am today. Yep, that was the week.

Later!

-- Elder Black

   Elder Hunter Black   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                              

 Costa Rica San José   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                

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Conferencia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (EXCLAMATION POINT!!!!!!!!!!!) #exclamationpoint

Once again, a somewhat short letter. We had many fallen visits as the devil was trying to stop people from going to conference, so in other words, we just did a lot of walking.

So first of all... HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD, KATARINA, AND MCKENNA!!! And CONGRATS GRANDMA!!! Yep, that was it (exclamation points!!!)

So like I said, the devil was working pretty hard against us, so basically we didn't really have lessons this week. On Fridaynight we were able to leave with a member (finally!!!) and he was... AWESOME!!! He acted just like a missionary, he gave good examples, he really helped us out with the people we taught. We were able to put some baptismal dates with him and he gave us ideas of things we can do better (he's an ex-missionary) and then on Saturday we had conference. I'm not going to lie, I think that it was the first conference that got me excited enough to be able to stay awake the whole time (it helped that I watched it in English too) Between all the sessions, we were able to get 7 investigators to go (it's pretty hard to get them to go, so that was really good, one of the best numbers in the zone) So we were pretty excited about that. One of those seven was Flavio, the Argentino, and he is going to be able to get baptized this week!!! So things are going good, finally after a few months I'll be having a baptism!!! Oosh Oosh Oosh!!! (what we say here in the mission) So yeah, we're pretty excited.

And then today we went to "Monte de la Cruz", it was pretty cool and had a nice view of San José. And we were informed that we will all be getting cell phones tomorrow!!!! Finally!!! I'm so excited, it's going to make the work a lot easier.

So yeah, that was my week. Oh, and favorite conference talks... hmm. I liked one in particular!!! I hope you know which one! And then that of Elder Ballard, and of Edward Dube. I don't have my notes with me right now, but those were the ones I liked.

Anyway, thanks for reading everyone, hasta luego!!!

And again, HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND CONGRATS!!!

--Elder Black

   Elder Hunter Black   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                              

 Costa Rica San José   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                

sdfas2013-20142014    

P.S. I did get grandma's letter =) Just in case she's wondering, just got it this week.

It was an overall boring week this week... so this isn't going to be a very long letter.

Answers to questions: What do we do for Conference? Well, we have to go to our stake center to watch it, so I will have to go to Heredia to watch it. And no, I hadn't heard about the Priesthood Session being on TV, they don't have it on TV here so everyone has to watch it either in the church, or online. And yes, my MP3 still works =) Thanks to a tender mercy =) Oh, and mom, that one picture is of a LEGIT Costa Rican taco... yeah, it's not as good as yours =)

So this week we had a lot of appointments fall through, people didn't accept us, or just weren't home, etc. On Tuesday we were able to meet with a new investigator (the girlfriend of the less-active member that I talked about last week), and her name is Carla. Turns out she's only 17, she's really shy, but has a desire to change her life. We had two lessons with her this week, and they went over pretty well. We also met with Flavio on Tuesday, he has some Word of Wisdom problems, so we are hoping that he will be able to drop those soon... We also found a good new Nica family that will hopefully start progressing, but, I think it'll be a little harder with them. On Wednesday we had interviews with President Wilkinson, and that went really well, he helped motivate me to keep working hard, and to make good changes here in my area of San Rafael. He told me that I'm a good missionary and to keep up the good work. So I left my interview feeling very good. Thenon Friday, we taught piano lessons (we do every Friday...) and then did "divisions". I was going with the Young Men's president (Irving, 24, getting ready to go on a mission, recent convert) but it was the YM's turn to clean the church... the only 2 that even showed up didn't really help, so Irving and I cleaned the whole church!!! So by the time we finished that, we went to Irving's house and taught his mom, Flor (investigator) and that was it. But that lesson went over well and she did go to church =) And then today we went to a waterfall where it was very cold, we got all wet, it started raining (I was the only 1/6 that had an umbrella) and I had to cover everyone with my umbrella, we all started shivering, but then we came back to San Rafael and bought Calzones =) And I'm still here freezing, so my letter is done.

Love you all, thanks for all the support!

-- Elder Black

   Elder Hunter Black   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                              

 Costa Rica San José   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                

sdfas2013-20142014

A Great Week!

Hey everyone! Life just keeps going! Time just keeps on speeding up here in the work! Well, here are the answers to questions.

About my area: We have people that make us lunch everyday, and dinner... that's just if people choose to give us food or not. We have to wash our own laundry, but where we live there's a washing machine that we are allowed to use. What do our Mamas do? It's just that, they act like our moms... they give us food, talk to us, etc. The members in these last areas have been involved with the missionaries. We are always trying to get them to leave with us, and that's where they aren't as involved, but yes, there are members that just love the missionaries.

Well, this week was a pretty good week. It started out kind of slow with a lot of fallen appointments, some confusion, and other things. But, then on Tuesday we were able to get some new investigators, visit some good investigators, and have some good, unexpected successes =) We met a Nicaraguan (I don't think I've said that there are lots here) who seemed un-interested in our message, but when returned a later day, she was the only one who listened to us, told us the things that she doesn't like about her church, and asked questions about the Plan of Salvation... GOLDEN!!! Then, on Wednesday, we had a bad day... But then Thursday we met with Ivania, a new investigator from last week, and she turned out to be GOLDEN!!! She really wanted to know about repentance, and she committed to go to church right from the first lesson! Then on Friday... a bad day, except for one thing. We met with another daughter of Ivania, Ivi. I was talking to her while Elder Garrett helped some other people with english, and right there, from the first contact, I taught her about the Book of Mormon, and she already requested a copy. Once again... GOLDEN!!! Then on Saturday we taught a bunch of quick lessons because everyone said that they didn't have time for us... but then that night we went to Flavio's and we taught all of the Restoration, well, actually, he taught us! He already had a Book of Mormon, was reading it, and taught us about it... GOLDEN!!! Also, if I haven't said, he's from Argentina and makes really good food, he made us calzones =) Yeah, it was a great week. And then yesterday, Sunday, Ivania and her daugher, Aleani went to church, Flavio went to church, and the girlfriend of a less active member went to church too! We had an awesome week. We are working hard together and we are starting to see the fruits.

That was basically what happened this week. Now for some interesting/funny things that happened this week: So I had a lot of luck this week. I had somebody give me an old coin that they don't use here anymore (I have a collection), people gave us food, fruit, etc. I learned that there is a ping-pong table in our church, etc. But then, Thursday, my MP3 broke =( It didn't work at all. Then on Sunday we were commenting on how we had listened to Elder Garrett´s CD about 20 times, and I was like, "That's because my MP3 broke, but if God loves me, if God loves me it'll work!" Then I grabbed it and touched a button... and it worked! I was so shocked and just gasped and smiled. Elder Garrett said that my face was priceless. 

Yeah, that was a week in the life of Elder Black, thanks for listening, bye!

--Elder Black

   Elder Hunter Black   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                              

 Costa Rica San José   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                

sdfas2013-20142014    

Another Week in the Life of ME!

Elder Black and Elder Garrett (look at the phone cord! :) )

Package from home!

McKenna drew this awesome picture...

I'm not going to lie, I don't really remember what I did this week, I've been pretty out of it lately... 

To answer questions: Oh.. wait, nobody asked me any...

So this week, on Wednesday we did divisions. I went to Santo Domingo with Elder Perez (Mexican, has 3 months in the mission) and we taught some really weird people... one started asking us... inappropriate questions about the gospel, and another (a drunk) was trying to explain to us how according to the Bible, it's ok to drink wine... it was a very interesting day. Then, the following morning, we went to Heredia to help with a service project. We loaded more than 2,000 milk cartons into a truck (that took 3 processes, from the church to outside, from outside to next to the truck, and next to the truck to in the truck) My arms got so sore, and cut up (one of the elders was throwing the boxes with the cartons to/at me) and so I was really sore the next couple of days. Then on Thursday I came back and worked with Elder Garrett like normal. Yep... that's about it, except from Thursday, I don't remember a thing. I was so tired and crazy. And yeah, that's it.

Oh, actually we did have one cool experience. We taught a lesson to Flavio (Argentine, really good investigator) and we invited him to baptism. He said, "Of course! But I will have to go to church more and read more of the Book of Mormon." And we just sat there in shock. Why? For those of you that don't know, that is a response that we never hear. No one ever says that they have to read more, they normally just try to find an excuse not to do anything, so it was really cool, we will be working a lot with him.

Well, that was my week, tune in next week for more on the "Mission of Elder Black" Goodbye!

--Elder Black

   Elder Hunter Black   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                              

 Costa Rica San José   

                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                

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