Monkey's, Lion's and Turkeys! Happy Thanksgiving!

November 25, 2013

HAPPY THANKSGIVING! What are you all going to do? Today I saw a Turkey. And I feel like that was the extent of my celebrations. ha-ha. Kidding. Sort of.... 

I was LITERALLY just hanging out in the jungle today. Did I touch a monkey´s hand for the first time today? Yes. Yes I did.  Did it feel exactly like ours? Yes. Yes it did. And that scared me!  Planet of the Apes anyone?  AMAZING!!!!!!!!!  We wanted to go to the waterfalls, but it was overcast. Which could be dangerous for a hike. Instead we went to a zoo. But cooler than Hogle, trust me. They just roam around there. It was awesome. Then on the ride home, we stopped off at someone’s house and asked to see the river. So we hiked down a ways and found the most beautiful river I’ve ever seen!!!!! It was fun!

Yes you stinker. You opened your Christmas gift WAY EARLY! haha Feliz Navidad. Don´t open the cards until next week.  I LOVE YOU!  Don´t feel bad at all. It´s a gift, you should feel good! Just know I searched and searched for the perfect nativity thing. I´m glad you got it! I thought I´d need to send it a month early. You got it really fast!

God put my companion and I together again for a reason. Last Monday I just totally lost it.  We called our district leader and they came over right away. We talked for a long time. They´re amazingly sensitive, for which I´m grateful. They gave me a blessing and truly the word ¨afflicted¨ stood out. I’ve never been more afflicted in my life. After all this, they told me to pick something fun to do.  We “cliche-ly” went and got ice cream. Then went to the chapel and played the piano and sang songs.  Remember the song: “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” from the Lion King? I´d only ever thought of two lions rolling around, but this night it was a question in which I looked around and saw all the people that really love me. 

Yesterday was our Zone Conference with president and I lOVED it. My Heavenly Father is always preparing me for what He has to say.  He worked miracles. We went from cita to cita (appointment to appointment) and it felt good. I enjoyed looking into their eyes and remembering that they´re my brother or sister. I felt charity fill my being because I had a desire to help them no matter how they looked, what faith they already belonged to, how far away they’ve fallen, etc. I just loved them. God loves us. I know we are His children and He wants the best for us. 

This morning we did service. I wish my Dad and my brothers were there, usually they´re there to save me. Haha! They would’ve loved to see how we mixed and poured cement and cut and made the frames. I´m exhausted!!! I put on my big girl pants and got ‘er done! Ha ha ya´ll should be so proud. 

ITS POURING RAIN HERE AND THUNDER! MOM YOU´D LOVE IT!  AND IM SUPER HAPPY, NO WORRIES. I LOVE YOU ALL! 

Thank you for your sacrifices. All of them. 

Take care!

Okay. g2g. I love you!! 

Love,

Meg

No Good, Dirty Rotten, Awful Day! Thank Goodness!!

November 18, 2013

I asked Megan a couple of questions that are finally answered here. First, I wanted to know if she is dreaming in Spanish. I’ve asked her this question for months. I told her about Brayden needing a bike for his mission.  Also, I asked if she really ate the pig tail. Then, asked what the worst thing she ate was… Her reply was right. I really don’t want to know that! 

“I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving (to reach the port of heaven) we must sail sometimes with the wind and against it-but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.” -Oliver Wendall Holmes Sr.

Hola! Strangely the highlight of my week happened on Wednesday: It truly was one of those no good dirty rotten, awful days. Some days you trudge through and try not to drown. This was truly one of those days where I felt like I was swallowing buckets of water, coughing, bobbing up and down, waving my hands frantically above me seeking for any type of relief, and just ready to give in to the storm. 

 We did all the things we should. Good personal study. We had a good companionship study, verified-confirmed as many appointments as we could. We headed out and got to work. Oh man. What a smoldering hot sun. It was just beaming right down on us. I felt like the ant being abused by the kid with a magnifying glass. 

First appointment: Not home. 

Second appointment: Not home. 

Third appointment: Not home. 

Okay, let´s look for a less active...look....ask...look...Not home. 

Okay let´s see if we can find one of our old investigators...found the house! But wouldn´t you know it, she wasn´t home. Okay let´s try and find another old investigator...I prayed and prayed-help us find it! We walked up and down in blazing heat and as we were about to give up, I thought, let´s just try one more street. So we did and when we found it, I was so happy, I wanted to cry. But, again she wasn´t home either. We walked away from that house about 3:30 p.m. feeling completely empty. All my energy had left. I wanted to just plop down in the street. It was awful. We made our way to the park and just sat down. 

I had ganas to cry but also laugh at the insanity of the day. How could this be?! What was wrong?! And out of the blue, a man showed up. He had about 3 teeth, messy hair, etc. I had to try hard not to laugh because he sat down right in front of us and started preaching the good word to us!  Naturally. We couldn´t find anyone to listen to our message, so a preacher would come to us. He told us about his ongoing battle with drugs, etc. I was trying to figure out what he wanted-but nothing really. He told us how wonderful we are for doing what we´re doing, even though we didn´t even say we were missionaries. He said that although we’re young and could easily choose to go to pizza hut, we choose to help people. That what we, the Lord really, offers is gold. He told us not to loose the faith-to just keep going on and then he shook our hands and left. Know what? I needed to hear that. I think it was my encounter with the fourth Nephite....  I´m not sure. But my 5 min encounter with E made my day brighter. 

I wish I could tell you that grand miracles happened after that. I wish I had an experience like the Sons of Mosiah or Alma. But the truth is, it was just one of those bitter suffer days so that maybe tomorrow we can appreciate the sweet. (Remind me never to pray for patience.) 

I think the greatest miracle of today is that we ended the day laughter and feeling happy.

I´m grateful for my Savior, who figuratively speaking, went through 1,000 houses where nobody was home so I´d only have to suffer 5 or 6. I´m grateful for the hope this gospel gives. I know that trials do not last forever. I know that my Heavenly Father is mindful of my needs and loves me. 

On Friday, our investigator said she didn´t want to meet with us anymore. And naturally it hurts. But I kept trying to tell myself that I wasn´t sad. But really I was super sad. My companion looked at me and said, “Are you okay? What´s in your heart?” I just couldn’t hold in my tears in any longer. I said that I know my Heavenly Father loves me. He´s happy with the work I´m doing. And she reminded me that sometimes the outside voices are so loud that we can´t hear our own heart. She confirmed to me that more investigators will come. First we must have the tribulation and then the blessings. 

This brings me to the little youth we met yesterday. A. He´s 15 and we just got to know him. We told him we were missionaries and you know what he said? He said that one day he wanted to be a missionary. I told him we could teach him a few things and show him how to be a real missionary and he gladly accepted the invitation. It made me feel really good inside. Hope. I really hope we can help him meet his goal. 

The point in talking about A is that the blessings always come usually in unexpected ways. By doing what we´re supposed to be doing. 

I´m so grateful for my mission. I´m being allowed to feel just a tiny portion of how our Heavenly Father feels about his children. Sometimes we make really dumb decisions-completely off route. Some of those take us far away from Heavenly Father. I´m sure He´s sad but, always loving and ready to take us into His arms.  And then my companion reminded me of a meeting we had a long time ago. 

Not in Guanacaste. Not even on this planet. In the pre-mortal council. God presented His plan and one of His sons left Him. How painful and bitter that experience must have been. And then to watch 1/3 more of His children leave Him too. Agonizing. When I feel sad when an investigator decides to leave us, it´s only natural because we love them. And as God´s heirs, we´ve inherited a desire for their souls too. But ultimately I know that I need not feel sad forever. Jesus Christ took upon Himself all our sorrows. Ultimately, I´m grateful for this opportunity to learn and grow. 

So there´s a slice of what´s going on down here. It´s been a rough week. But that´s good because this next one can only get better! Thank you for all of your love and support. I love you all so much!

Take Care!  

Hermana Megan Workman

Wow. Brayden. Lucky boy. I watched a video of missionaries on their bikes and I thought about how beautiful that would be....sigh.

The other day we walked in our house and it had been cleaned and we had a new “table” (it’s more like an end table) for our burner/stove thing? Our "grandma" cleaned our house while we were out. I love her. We went up to her house to thank her and visit and I told her I felt like I was at home. And then she made us dinner. Pig tail, fried bananas, tortillas. Not that bad. We ate at a real table! Not the floor!!  And I told her once again, I feel like I´m at home! And then her husband walked in the kitchen and passed gas…. I laughed and said, I think my family is here. haha I love them. And I love you.

Worst thing I’ve eaten? chicharon. (the fatty part right under the pig skin… usually cooked with the pig skin attached)  And yes. I ate pigtail. And other pig parts....it´s best not to ask questions.....haha. Worst thing I’ve eaten...... brown soup with one hard boiled egg in it. For the four of us. haha we fought over the egg. NOT. haha. or pig brain. or......anything with tuna. Nasty! Strait up nasty. 

Yes I do dream in Espanol and in my dreams, I´m usually teaching the gospel. The other day, I dreamed we got to go home for Christmas and I actually wanted to be back in Costa Rica. In my dream, Bray made me laugh again. Out loud. I love him. It was nice to see my brothers. 

Swimming Thru the Rain

November 11, 2013

Dear family and friends,

I want to quickly share what I studied this morning. 

I had just gotten off the phone with the zone leaders. They wanted to know why our numbers were so bad. And obviously it makes me feel this big. - - I hung up the phone and complained to my companion. Then I realized that I needed a lot more humility. So I knelt down and opened up my scriptures. I looked up the definition for humility. 

To be humble is to recognize gratefully our dependence on the Lord—to understand that we have constant need for His support. Humility is an acknowledgment that our talents and abilities are gifts from God. It is not a sign of weakness, timidity, or fear; it is an indication that we know where our true strength lies. We can be both humble and fearless. We can be both humble and courageous.

But in the Spanish version I have, it mentions the word meekness. So I looked that up too. 

God-fearing, righteous, humble, teachable, and patient under suffering. The meek are willing to follow gospel teachings.

Or what I got out of both: Humility is recognizing that we need God. Meekness is accepting His will instead of our own. 

Anyway after that, I wanted to just read out of my BOM. I´m in Mosiah 28. King Mosiah taught me a great lesson about humility and meekness. (By the way, as I write this a little girl is petting my arm. her fingers are really cold so it feels good. I think I got sunburnt today. we played with my new pink shiny soccer ball and taught the Latinos how to play real football. it was fun (with our district ps.) 

So King Mosiah is a good family man. Great leader. The people love and respect him. One day his sons come up to him with a proposition. Dad, we want to go to a foreign land to teach people far away that want to kill us and our people. So...can we go? 

Poor Mosiah. What a difficult position as a parent to be in. Nobody could deny their request was noble. But these were his sons! What would happen to them? Among other concerns, I´m sure he was worried about who would take over the kingdom when he left? 

Vs 5 Says: 

And it came to pass that they did plead with their father many days that they might go up to the land of Nephi.

I assume Mosiah said something like, ¨Not a chance. No!¨ And I imagine they kept bugging him. Wanting to go. ¨Please dad?¨¨No.¨¨Come on!¨Haha. Yes this is Megan´s point of view. They asked him many times, throughout many days. I´m assuming they had to do this because Mosiah said no with the knowledge he had at the time. So finally, he humbles himself and decides to ask the Lord. 

And king Mosiah went and ^ainquired of the Lord if he should let his sons go up among the Lamanites to preach the word.

(Vs. 6) And then you know what happens next? Meekness. And the Lord said unto Mosiah: Let them go. 

 Can you imagine? Well I´m sure you parents out there can. For you missionaries or future mishies out there, I really love this part too. 

 for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life; and I will^adeliver thy sons out of the hands of the Lamanites.

I know that there will be many out there that will believe on our words. And I know that if we keep working hard we will have eternal life. And I know we´ll be okay. That the Lord is watching out for us. He did not send us out here to fail. 

You know what Mosiah did next? 

And it came to pass that Mosiah granted that they might go and do according to their request.

I´m sure this was no easy task for Mosiah, but He did it. I realized today from this personal study that I needed to ask God what I need to do to help this area grow. And I not only need to ask, but I need to meekly respond to what He desires. One of the hardest things in this life we´ll have to learn is how to put aside our own desires and accept the Lord´s. After this study and a nice personal prayer, I felt peace. I felt so much better. Scripture study is amazing. 

Anyways, that was a snip it on my personal study this morning. 

Tuesday 11-5-13

It poured rain today. I felt like I was swimming through it. My feet have blisters from rubbing against my rubber wet shoes. 

We ended the night with a FHE. It felt good being with a strong family in the gospel. We shared a message about the role Jesus plays in our lives. I felt the spirit and really enjoyed that. After we played the flour game and related it to the atonement. 

I´m grateful for this country. We walked home in a rainforest full of croaking frogs and mysterious night things. (Bray, picture the Garfield camping episode and the purple jaguar...I think I saw his eyes!) 

Wednesday 11-6-13

This week I´ve been able to feel and thus enjoy, the company of the Holy Ghost with me in almost every aspect of the work. I´ve been trying to figure out what changed. Ultimately the truth is, God views the desires of our heart. It truly is through small and simple things, and obedience, that God blesses us. 

We´ve definitely been in taking a lot of food and not been doing exercise. So today was the first day of breaking into the habit. We decided to run 2 min, walk 2. Seemed to work when Ash and I were doing it. My comp and I wondered if we could go work out at the stadium (giant futbol fans here.) we can! It was super fun actually. I´d like to return one day and film a zombie attack movie there-it´s the perfect set. And as you run, you catch glimpses of the rolling green hills, dark thundery sky, and the array of rainbow colored houses and chapels. This country is beautiful and I´m grateful I´m serving here. 

One of the ways I enjoyed the Holy Ghost today was studying for specific people. I had a good personal study and all throughout the day I could see that I´d studied that for a reason. I know that God knows each of our needs and truly answers us-usually through other people. We had plans to teach the law of chastity. I had a scripture come to mind-the one about putting on the armor of God and we connected it to chastity being our protection. We went to teach a menos activa. In her moms restaurant. I guess we got the time wrong because we ended up waiting a long time. Her mom gave us food, rice and noodles. Eventually we were able to teach her a very spiritual lesson. 

I love you!

Hi mom!

What a beautiful spiritual letter. I needed a little spiritual umph from you. You spoke about so many things that truly touch my heart and spirit. Thank you mom! About my bed. I had a smile on my face as I read that because you know what I´ve been doing lately? Making my bed. Everyday. Know why? Because it helps me to remember to pray. Real prayer. I´m working on not praying just to go through the motions but to have a real communication with my Father. It´s amazing how much he loves me. And you. And your diligence. 

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Hermana Meg. 

P.S. I was arguing about how English isn´t that hard. Yes it is, they said, all of your words sound the same! Like what?! I asked. Ice and eyes. haha

Say this sentence out loud. A bear with a beard drinking a beer. 

Alex, I'll take "Where is the Waterfall" for $200, please.

10-28-13   My Dearest Hermana V had to leave me. It was all so sudden-I´ve really enjoyed working with a gringa. It was absolutely refreshing. We´d stay up way too late just laying there talking. I usually did most of the talking. V would compassionately listen until she fell asleep. We´d sing English music. We´d talk in English on our way to lessons. We´d constantly laugh. I´m truly grateful for the mission and the opportunity I have to learn form unexpected friendships. She taught me how to testify with the heart. When she spoke, she spoke in a way that invited the spirit. She taught me how to be a little bit calmer during those awkward moments. She´s great and I´ll really miss that girl. 

Remember a little while ago in Nicoya when I said that my time with Hermana Flores from Guatemala was like a blink of an eye? Apparently God thought so too because we´re back together. What the what?! This mission is “cra cra” as mom would say. I definitely was not expecting that. The nice thing is, there´s not an awkward getting to know you stage. I know that God has a reason for putting us together again. Apparently we´re not done learning-though technically we never are. I feel like she´s just the spark this place needs. I remember working so hard reactivating menos activos in Nicoya. It will be fun to see what miracles the Lord allows us to be part of. Changes are at 11 pm the night before. Bus to some spot. Pick her up and go. haha. I do love her. It’s a blessing. I miss English though. 

10-31-13  Happy Halloween! Today was unusually hot. So sunny. With Hermana Flores once again by my side, it felt like being back in Guanacaste-almost. 

Which by the way, I´ve been meditating for a long time about why President (The Lord) sent me there first. A lot of people joke around and say you did something wrong thus the punishment. But I was so new so things didn’t add up. I think I was sent there to be humbled. To let go of all the excess that was holding me back so that Heavenly Father could build me the way I needed to be. I had to struggle with the heat, the language, and the companion from el infierno...to just let it all go. I´m still learning and growing in each area. I think one of the great things about the mission is how custom fit the experiences are for our personal growth. 

Today we headed over to la familia C's house (members) so my comp can get to know them. We crossed a krickity bridge and hiked up a paved little mountain to get there. (I´m glad I found it! I´m still a little lost here.) When we finally arrived, she had to hand us rags to wipe our sweat off for the rest of the visit. I saw a glimpse of her beautiful view from her back window-pure mountain. Absolutely gorgeous. When she told us there was a waterfall down the way, I just couldn’t resist. This was probably my favorite part of the day. Hna C told us where the “trail” was and apparently it was even lined with llantas, tires. But it was so steep and dirty and green we pretty much just put one foot in front of the other and hoped for the best. I even at one point had to crab walk. I felt like we were watching animal planet because guess what we saw? An armadillo! For the first time in my life! Then we saw a cat trying to kill him. We continued on until we saw a snake. Then we both squealed like little girls and ran back up the mountain so fast! Maybe we´ll go back with boots and pants. 

We then visited S and her family. Little L. (2 yr old son) oh man. That annoying little child is actually growing on me. By that I mean I don’t want to strangle him when I´m with him. Now I just laugh and enjoy the ride. haha.  Anyways that´s how I spent Halloween this year; lost, sweaty, and screaming with armadillo killing-cats, deadly trails of the unknown containing snakes and a horrific baby crying! We did buy some candy to celebrate. We’ve already been invited to a Thanksgiving dinner. Can hardly wait!

Sunday 11-3-13   Church today. It was nice to see so many people get up to share what they believe. I felt the spirit testify to me that this truly is the Lord´s church. 

Elder O and his family came to church today. (He was released on Tuesday) His first time as an RM. It was great to see an old friend. Seeing his family reminded me that one day I´ll see mine again. And it will be grand. 

My companion came from serving 7 months in a ward of money-the richest part of Costa Rica. This means they feed you delicious food, the members take care of you, you don’t sit on the floor and you don’t have to walk as much. Her adjustment here has been hard on her. I found her in the bathroom just crying on the floor. (Man, have I really been in those shoes.) I crawled in, from under the door mind you, and tried to comfort her.

Today I did a little study on patience. Paul teaches us that we should rejoice in trials because that´s how we learn patience. She´s strong and I know she´ll make it through. 

Also today I found another thing Ticos celebrate, other than futbol. Horses. But let me back up a bit:   The Visiting Teacher of F, less active, (sounds like there’s a lot of less actives going on around the world!) wanted to throw her a baby shower. So we finally got to her house way far away. Eventually it was time to head back. My companion and I only brought our cellphone-not even one colon. We didn’t realize we´d have to walk home. Enter horses:

Apparently there´s a celebration for the 102^nd  anniversary for San Carolos. It was literally a horse parade. (Elder V compared it to a gringo car show....so picture that although with horses. seriously.) Horse poop, cigars, and drunken people EVERYWHERE shoot I think even the horses were tipsy. I felt like we were in Babylon and all I wanted was to get to the Promised Land. 

Eventually we made it to S´s house where she fed us. We ate way too much. (I’m grateful for the food!) 

I walk a lot. I mean, A LOT! If walking to the elementary school is one mile, using that as a measurement, I’d say...is 50 miles a day just too crazy??!! Because I believe it. 50 may be a stretch. I´ll pay more attention. You´d think I´d be skinnier! 

Saying goodbye to Elder O~

Love you all!! Hermana Walmart... More on this in her "TESTIMONY" page!