new haircut :)

Aloe Vera masks for beauty... They worked!! 

... and you've heard "Running around like a chicken with it's head cut off?" 

Why did the chicken cross the road? 

My beautiful friend! I love her!

SUNRISE! My brother's birthday!!

Car Loads of Fun in Costa Rica!

February 24, 2014 – Loads of Fun in Costa Rica (Car Loads)

Hey there!

Wed 2.19.14  Today was a girlie day.

Today we had a cool charla-chat with Carla by candlelight. She lives in a place without electricity and we went later than usual. She really opened up about her fears about this gospel. Change really is hard. It was hard for me to change countries. It was hard for me to wake up early and move muscles that are so content doing nothing. (still doing that LGN diet) But what I’m learning is that a little sacrifice is well worth eternal happiness. (mom, this week I studied 4th Nephi, all of it, haha it´s only 1 chapter and I noticed the key to happiness and the key to misery. Can you find it?? Go through it and mark all the things that will bring us happiness.) Carla asked us if we´ve gained anything from our missions. I answered her yes so quickly. 2 things immediately went through my head: 1. Brayden´s last letter he wrote me. He told me it was mandatory for me to come so that he´d be able to. 2. M, A, and B. (This is the family that Megan wants to come back and see sealed in the temple in the summer) And 3. All of the other people that follow them. And also those who I don´t even know about yet. I´m so grateful I came and stayed. (P.S my heart will always be right here in San Carlos.) 

We stopped by to visit *Mary and checkup on her. She said that since her priesthood blessings, she hasn´t had a headache. She then asked if she could make us dinner: rice, beans, and Natilla  (delicious sour creme.) She said it really is a blessing for her to be able to feed us. I need to always be GIVING AND GLAD! 

To end the day, my comp and I bought strawberries and ice cream and gave ourselves facials. Girlie day! *Photo

Saturday;  Today was just a really bad day. I think it all started when I forgot my hair tie. That´s the worst here. Super hot. A lot of wind. Blah. So buckle up and hang in there, it´s going to be a bumpy ride. 

1. We were finally able to get us an appointment with M. She´s a miracle. (Showed up at church one day. With a member. Apparently we made a good impression because she cried and told us she wants to receive the lessons, etc.) But lives pretty far away. So we had to go to the bus terminal super early. So-getting lost and confused is all part of the experience. You know me-PURA VIDA. But today the bus drivers wouldn´t let us on the bus. I seriously had one of those moments where the boat was going down, and I was a ¨d¨class passanger-or Leonardo DiCaprio if you will. (Titanic joke for all you rookies out there.) The two of us seriously could not figure out why we were not allowed to get on. What does all of this have to do with tea in china? Nothing really. Just know that I got put in awkward and uncomfortable and confusing situations and somehow managed to survive. Anyways we didn´t get on that bus until 2 hours later. Part of me wanted to yell, slapp, kick, someone. But I’m here to be more like Christ. So I sat down, tried the best I could to calm down by singing ¨when there´s love at home¨ and reading the Ensign. It also required $3 worth of ice cream and a $14 shirt. (Retail/Chocolate therapy. Totally works.) 

2. We made it to the appointment. Where it seriously was HOTTER THAN HADES. I was so physically uncomfortable. But we´d gone through so much to get there. And truly our purpose is to do all we can to help others come unto Christ. The lesson was good and we saw miracles. But this lady would. 

not. 

    stop. 

       talking. 

Burning hot+spanish lady who doesn´t stop talking even to breathe =unhappy Meg. 

I better stop here. Today was a kick-in-the-pants-day. As I reflect back, something that truly brings me peace is the fact that if I’m asking-inviting my investigators to do hard things, why shouldn´t I expect the same of myself? Salvation is not a cheap experience. Gethsemane. At some point we all must walk a little ways into that garden. Today was bitter to enjoy the sweet. 

Sunday; We found some members that could help us pick up our investigators. (NOTHING HAPPENDS IN MISSIONARY WORK WITHOUT MEMBERS!) We really did see a ton of miracles. It was hilarious running around in the rain and getting people ready and finding a way to fit us all into the car. We worked so hard. I couldn´t hold back the laughter. There were 9 of us in a 4 seater. Lap to lap. We turned the corner and BAM. Speed trap. Every car had to pull over. I´ve NEVER seen a car get pulled over. Costa Rica is just PURA VIDA that nobody cares! That´s why when it happened I was like: no way. This can´t be! Not on a day like this!  There was definitely waaaay too many people in the car. I couldn´t breathe. What were we going to do? Silent prayer. F, the car driver, looked at the cop and smiled. He bashfully told the cop we were on our way to church and smiled. Without another word, the cop let us go. That my friends was a miracle. I was just so shocked. God loves us. God is so good.

The things that are the hardest to do are the things that truly make it worth it. Like we worked so hard to get so many people at church and it was something way more rewarding. If we truly want to see miracles, we really do have to get on our knees and ask with faith, then get out and work our butts off. God always comes through. I know God cares and hears and loves. He parted the Red Sea so His children could cross dry land. He´ll do these kind of miracles for us too, if we just ask. 

I love you all so much!!

Love,

Megan  

OH MAN SERIOUSLY SO EXCITED FOR YOUR PUMPKIN COOKIES!!!!!!!! I love you ya know?? I hope you have a wonderful week!

RY!!! OH YEAHHHHHHHHHH BOIIIIIIII! You brought an investigator to church?!!!!!!!!?? WHAT A BLESSING! People can change!!! YAYYYY! Oh man. Okay I’ll pray for him super much!!! (Spanish is killing my English.) Good luck at soccer tryouts! I was thinking the other day: why didn´t I make anything I tried out for in middle or high school? And I still don´t think I know the answer. But I think I was being prepared to handle rejection. I don´t know. But if things take a turn for the south, understand that it doesn´t mean you’re not accepted. The Savior ALWAYS accepts. It means you need to go in a different direction. I know that EVERYTHING works out for our good. EVERYTYHING. Even if that means waiting 2.5 flipping hours for a flipping bus in a flipping different country! hahaah I love you Ry. 

Connor, I love you! And I hope that you NEVER feel alone. 

I just thought of this Mormon message. Watch it. I love it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EpFhS0dAduc  (forsake can mean forgot.) I want you to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know exactly how you feel and how to take care of you. This trial of feeling alone is preparing you for when you need to walk out of a movie. And you are the only one. Alone. This trial is preparing you for your mission. When you are alone once again. It´s preparing you for when you´re a working boy. And your coworkers can´t always stand by you. When a loved one gets sick. And you´re totally alone. These moments when we feel bitterly alone are the moments in which we can turn to our heavenly father and seek HIM. To BE STILL and REMEMBER His love. His grace. His mercy. I promise you that he loves you so much and you really are never alone. 

I love you baby! 

One more video: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mx4zgTvnVh8   “Never Alone” by Lady Antebellum

OKay see you soon! (That is cra cra!)

Meg

PUMPKIN COOKIES! I´m most excited for that. You don´t even know!

I Feel My Saviors Love

Feb. 17, 2014

Hola Family!  I can honestly report that nothing too exciting has happened. My poor companion has been really sick. So we´ve just been hanging out. I´ve started a list of personal goals for my life, read a lot of scriptures, wrote some letters, etc. Just writing about this is boring to me. 

For P-day last week we just hit the town. We went into this little store with just about anything in it. MUNDO MAGICO. It was actually paradise for office supply junkies like myself. We hit up McDonalds, which was sweet relief because it´s probably the one place with AC. TODAY WAS SO HOT! My poor baby brother is dying cold with -3 to the point that they can´t even leave and I´m sticking to everything. NUTS. 

I had another “nightmare” In that I was home. (*Just what every mother wants to hear… Notice, I am not included in this nightmare) It was my first Sunday back and I was so awkward. I remember being super happy about the snow though- I actually picked it up and threw some on myself. I remember dad wanted to take me downtown SLC first. He got me a calumbola-starfruit to help make me happy and adjust. I just wanted to hug my brothers, but I woke up before then. Point of the dream was-it was super bitter sweet. I missed everything about Costa Rica. This journey is weird. 

To share a spiritual thought with you, in my personal studies yesterday I listened to an account in the BOM about when Jesus is teaching the inhabitants and He´s explaining that they are His lost sheep. Jesus explains that the Father never told Him to explain it to the Jews. This to me shows Jesus´ obedience. I want you to know I know the Book of Mormon truly is a testament of Jesus Christ. I know Jesus visited the American continents. 

We had a zone meeting on Tuesday. Our Zone is pretty big and San Carlos is pretty far. We traveled 3 hours in a bus (do missionaries in the states really have cars and bikes and all that jazz???!!) We left at 11:30 and got home at 9pm. Perhaps I wasn´t spiritually prepared but it was just SO boring! and so long!  I did get some things out of it though. (Side note: I think President McKay was once asked what he did during a boring sacrament meeting and he responded that he´d never been to one. I think this shows his spiritual maturity and how hard he must´ve truly prepared himself to always be uplifted. I should follow his example.) I learned that I need to focus on the blessings of paying tithing. There truly are so many powerful blessings-seriously the windows of heaven-that I need to show them how to receive them. And the Book of Mormon. I need to personally focus on presenting it better. It truly is the fullness of the gospel and evidence of everything. I truly am so very grateful for my LDM, it means everything to me! 

Oh! PS   Yesterday randomly my companion asked me, “Is your mom super happy?” “yes.” I responded. “Why?” “That´s where you get it from. You´re so happy all the time!” And I thought about that. I really am the reflection of my mother. I love her and I´m so grateful she led me by example. My mom´s always been way cooler than me. I´m just super grateful to have such a good mom. (I’m super grateful too, but I’d beg to differ on the “cooler” part. This is my favorite part of the email tho… I love compliments from her!)

Wednesday I woke up with just a nasty sore throat and thus a kind of nasty attitude. I just wanted to stay under my covers all day until I felt better-but in la obra del señor, you can´t do that...so I decided to really show faith. I just want good health so I can get out there and help build the kingdom. Do you ever think Alma had the sniffles??  Yesterday I read the scripture that says whatever you ask God, in the name of Christ, if it be good, we shall receive. Anything we ask?? So I knelt down and begged my Heavenly Father to heal my sore throat so I could go out and work. I then took 2,000 mg of vitamin c and probably 2 gallons of water and got to work. I noticed that a little after lunch, it didn´t hurt quite as bad. God heard and answered my simple prayer. I gained a testimony that truly anything good we ask God will be granted us if we are faithful, obedient and act. I´m really grateful for prayers. 

My companion and I had a really successful day. She reminded me of the importance of calling these people to repentance through inviting them to keep commitments. So throughout all day we made sure to be really specific in what we wanted them to do and the specific blessings the lord would bless them with for their obedience. 

One of the most bold lessons we had today was with *Lili. She´s ¨juntadad¨ with some mae. They´re living together. We really feel like she´ll receive so many blessings if she A. marries him or B. Leaves him. (PS Ry she´s 17 and I showed her a photo of you. She says she thinks you’re SEXY! haha) I told her we loved her and were there to invite her to repent-to change. Don´t commit adultery-sexual sin-fornication (such a strong word.) 1 Corin 7:9 tells us that it´s better to get married then to live in sin. We were just so bold with her-but she didn´t get offended. It´s true that if we do things with love, people wont get offended. Also it’s true that you can´t love someone the way Christ does if you don´t know his or her name. 

I felt the most energetic about sharing the message of the restoration-BOM with people. The funniest part of the day was when *Carol just stood up and abandoned us. It was slightly really awkward. To her credit, she did have to cook dinner. (sarcasm.) 

It was a fantastic, and super hot, day. (I think I´m officially in winter. Which means not as much rain.) 

Hey there. It’s now Thursday! Sola para que sepas: how fue un dia TAN CALIENTE! It was just so hot! For lunch today Sonia served us one of her favorites: Baby Cow. (you wanna go, Bren??!) Surprise, surprise, my stomach rejected almost everything about it. It could just be the mentality of it: baby cow. Tell me that sounds appetizing. Anyways all day I´ve been working with alien stomach. (I like how Bray described it. Little Kung Fu man inside laughing. haha) 

I really enjoyed our lesson with *Liz and *Adam. He´s not a member, she´s less active. For some reason, they´re not going to church. So we thought we would share the importance of keeping the commandments with them. I thought we´d share the one about keep the Sabbath day holy-but my in tune comp suggested we talk about the very first one: thou shalt not have other Gods. Sometimes we forget to put God fist in our lives. Other things just easily slip in and suddenly we openly give them time and attention. Facebook, TV video games, a career, not going to church on Sunday, etc. These are all things that we sometimes allow to be our ¨false gods¨ that we worship. I´ve really enjoyed being real honest in inviting these people to repent. 

Later we visited Moma Eva. She told us how badly her feet hurt from her diabetes and to be honest, I heard a voice, or felt a desire to offer to take care of her. But my natural woman was like, now way. You´ve got your own aches and pains. I of course dismissed these thoughts instantly as I thought of how badly I would love to just take care of my Grandpa Tim´s feet just one more time. So I told her to go and get some lotion. I got on the floor and rubbed those puppies. They were perhaps some of the most dirty feet I´ve ever seen-I was getting dirt chunks all over me. But a couple of things ran through my head: 1. Jesus loves these feet so much. I should see everyone the way He does. 2. I am so grateful for my feet that work well and my hands that allow me to help others. I feel my Savior´s love as I try to do what He would do. I truly testify that when we are in the service of others, we are in the service of our God. 

The funniest part of my day was either 1. sweating to death waiting 1 hour for the bus, the wrong one, I might add, or 2. My companion bursting my bubble about what happened to the Nephites. I´ll save this joke for when I get home. It just doesn’t work on paper. Or...screen. 

Feb. 14. 2014  HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! I seriously think this has been the best Valentines Day - possibly ever! I can´t even begin to tell you how much God loves me, all of His children really. Today I felt my Savior´s love so close to me.  We decided to serve *Sally by painting her walls. I could see how something so small helped get rid of just a little stress. My comp started to feel just awful. Physically. So I decided to make her a concoction: 3 cups of pure lemon, honey, tabcin (not sure what the American equivalent is...but its cough and cold meds) crushed up and a little water. I promised her ice cream if she drank it all. Like a champ she drank every last drop. We finally were able to meet with *Troy, Mary´s son(17) aka The Trouble Maker. We sat him down and started talking to him about his goals. I told him that the church helped me think about my goals and how I could lograrlas. With God truly all things are possible. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted! I asked him why and he said it was because he´s made some stupid mistakes and wants to change, like his mom. (Mothers are AMAZING examples!) And I shared with him a scripture that really impacted me today, one I felt Heavenly Father wanted me to share with him: 

“And it shall come to pass that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled: and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at the day when I shall stand to judge the world. -3n27:16

Saturday was a good day! It was really fun! We got invited to a baby shower. We showed up and it was super dead. Like crickets were chirping in the background dead. But it instantly picked up. It was actually pretty fun and well planned. They played a crazy game in which 4 people got blindfolded. They race feeding the two sitting down. I was volunteered to be the Gerber baby food eater. Spoonful’s and spoonful’s of pear flavored baby food- ALL OVER ME. My forehead, my lap, my neck, my shirt, and man. Now I know why babies hate that crap. 

Eventually we had a meeting with *Val. She´s so awesome. I´m sure Heavenly Father is pleased with the amount of respect she´s showing for the baptismal covenant. She truly wants to make a decision that will affect her future and future family. She is just a little stuck because she hasn´t quite received the answer she´s expecting. I shared with her DyC9:7-9 about meditating, praying, and feeling. It promises us that if it be right, we´ll feel that things are okay. This Tuesday we´re going to fast for her with her. 

After that we went to a valentine’s activity with the youth. It was actually way fun. 

Sunday -What a cool day! But I have such paresa. Church was beautiful. Of all our investigators that said they were going to come, only 1 did: Adam. But man what joy to see him and his less active wife finally show up and stay!

Later

We were accompanied by 2 wonderful priesthood holders. My testimony grew today of the power of God´s priesthood. I saw worthy men call upon the powers of heaven to bless God´s children today-I am SO grateful for this authority that has been restored, never to be taken away again. Hno. M was like-I can´t put my hands on my own head to give myself a blessing because the priesthood is used to serve and bless others.  We finished our day with a great lesson with *Will and family. Will´s a smart 15 year old kid who actually did his homework in the BOM. 

I´m officially writing WAY too much. haha sorry. 

The church is true. I love you!

Meg

Hey mom! Want to hear a cool story??

Every now and again I pop into Young Woman’s to help out Sister Tucker translate for her classes. Yesterday we talked about the same thing: decisions and choices. Know what she talked about? When she was a young girl she always listened to this one song from this one show called My Turn on Earth. Maybe you´ve heard it? And she shared one song called My story, or History I can´t remember. I translated it into Spanish and I hope you know that OF COURSE I know you know what song I´m talking about. I thought of you. For a second you were pretty close to me. We were connected yo. 

It was a cute lesson, she had us make a literal book called: My History. One page was for our goals. One was for things that we would NEVER do. And the other page for things we would ALWAYS do. She´s SO in tune with the spirit. I really do love that woman. 

Hey Con! Last week you sent me some awesome self portraits and I wanted to return the favor so… know how much I love you!

Props to daddy-o! That is a beautiful letter to mommy. Maybe the best I’ve ever seen.

The beginning stages of Elephantitus! It got much worse!

Yes... I just got attacked by hundreds of red ants!! 

Photos of the New Groove

Another shot in the nalgas.

This BEaUTiFuL Country~

Chickens

My Sweet Sonia and I

Octopus!! They wanted me to eat this... It has suction cups for feet! Yikes!

Sonia teaching me to dance

My Companion... Sick but trying to work out!

So Blessed to be here!