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!

A Principle with a Promise

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Hey ya´ll!!! I´ve learned that the Ticos celebrate football slash soccer. That’s all… seriously lame. Halloween doesn’t exist here L

For Christmas all I want are letters from each of you please. 

Hope you´re having a fantastic week. Can´t believe we´re about to enter November.

As we strolled around the city, a lot of people stopped and asked us who we are and what we believe. There truly is a difference between the city and farm here. A cool experience we had came as we got in our taxi to go to our bus stop. We got in and in English the cab driver said, “you´re missionaries. I was LDS too.” He´s probably the first person I´ve met in this country to speak such good English and know what LDS is. He told us he knows the church is true, but can´t go back because he likes partying. We gave him the Word of Wisdom pamphlet that talks about how to overcome addictive substances. He seemed interested in that. We both bore testimony about how our interaction was not a coincidence. That it happened for a reason and it’s never too late to turn to our Heavenly Father who always has open arms. I hope our 10 minutes with him helped.   

A less active member made a wise observation that I found important enough to put here:  Imagine going your entire life cooking without salt. Then one day someone appears in your house inviting you to cook with salt. Will it kill them? No. It just makes the food better. That´s what we´re inviting others to do-take your delicious food and try some salt with it. Take all that is good in your life and see if the gospel of Jesus Christ can add hope, joy, and peace. 

Anyways today we worked hard. (It´s amazing how motivating a good umbrella is!) The last time we´d visited with a less active and she´d pulled out iced tea and started drinking it. “Is this bad?” she asked. uhh...yes. So we decided to go over the Word of Wisdom with her. We read all of section 89 of D&C and talked about the blessings of following this principle with a promise. And I learned something. These wonderful saints and souls are teaching me so much. The word of wisdom has many blessings that aren´t written. It can even help you have an eternal family. That´s true! I know that we´re blessed both temporarily and spiritually when we keep the commandments. I will one day have the opportunity blessing and privilege of being the vessel for Heavenly Father´s elect spirits to come to Earth. I know I must obey the word of wisdom. 

One of the coolest moments of the week happened when we visited with another less active member. He´d had a lot of questions about the BOM. As we were about to start, I heard something in my head remind me to invite everyone to listen to the message. For about 30 seconds my natural woman tried arguing and justifying-no its okay, the next time. But I just knew I needed to follow the prompting. We invited his wife, to join us and she accepted. We explained the BOM and how we have it today. I want all of you to know that I know Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw. I know God the Father and Jesus Christ showed themselves unto a boy with a question and that through him, the Church of Jesus Christ was restored. As my companion shared the first vision, I looked over at his wife who appeared to have tears in her eyes. I know the Spirit was strong. I pray that she acts on the spiritual confirmations received.

We finally were able to visit a 12 year old girl. The first thing she told when we sat down was, "Hermanas! I’ve been waiting for you. I want to be baptized.” This is a miracle. She´s a very typical 12 year old: boys, music, hair, and clothes. We really had to word our lesson to teach to her needs.

Wednesday was a really bad day for missionary work but a great day for missionaries. We had a district meeting-Elder O´s last one. And then we made pumpkin cookies and they turned out delicious. We then went to a member´s house where they also had real pumpkin so we made more cookies! I came home to a pumpkin hangover. We walked through the door whereour neighbors who remind me of gma and gma Workman had stayed up to give us food. Best neighbors ever award! 

I feel like we walked all over. I am serving in a beautiful country. I looked out at the sunset and saw a volcano. How blessed am I?! 2 different people served us pinto today-apparently I just cry out-I love pinto! haha

The rain here seriously handicaps people. We had a ward activity this week and the members didn´t show up until after the rain. They had an Arepa cook off. They´re pretty much pancakes-but with a Latin twist. It was fun, silly and crazy-but that´s Ticoland. I enjoyed walking around with my umbrella. I actually wanted to ask the heavens-is that all you got? To prove how great and giant she is. I´m sorry I´m talking about an umbrella...We walked home tonight with a lot of fog and it was awesome. I´m serving in the most awesome place. I love it. I´m grateful for this ward and my friends here. I´m so grateful for my calling. I’m grateful for the Lord´s trust in me-for Him allowing me to help His chosen children here.

I am a million percent grateful for my companion who keeps me laughing; through the rain, shut doors and cancelled appointments. As we sat down to plan the other night, we heard our neighbors above us moving. We went upstairs and asked if we could help them move. It felt really good to do something Christ would do. Service just makes me feel good. 

I learned that if we´re thinking about we´re going to say next, we don´t have time to listen. So, this week I tried a little more to worry less about what I should say and more about what they’re saying. 

Thank Elder S for the inspiring letter this week. So, I´ve been thinking for a bit about what it means to be an eternal family. God doesn´t promise us that we´ll live in this life. Sometimes tragedies happen. My deepest condolences to the Paige family in North Carolina (The missionary that was tragically killed in California) and to the Chipman family (mom’s cousin). God does however promise us that we can live after this life. That we can live together with our loved ones. This I know is true. As painful as it is now, I know it is not the end. It just can´t be. I know that this is made possible through the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful for this gift. I know that the authority to seal (bind on earth and heaven) is on the Earth.

Family I love you. So much. Each of you. Like Elder S, I love each of you reading this. Thank you for your support.

This week, please pray for an opportunity to share this knowledge with someone who doesn´t have the joy or the hope of the gospel.

I love you all! Take Care!

LOVE YOU!

LOVE,

Meg

"I don't remember His face, but I remember He loves me."

I don’t remember His face, but I remember He loves me….

Costa Rica Mission: My mission has gone modern, I found out through text. ha-ha we have cell phonesª uuuushª hahaª is now and exclamation point. sorryª haha. (New keyboard) so I’m now so hip!!! We´re doing a lot of great things collectively as a mission. I used to knock fences. But there’s just such a better way to do missionary work. So we don’t do that anymore. We get the members involved – it’s through the members that missionary work, WORKS. We´ve been working pretty closely with them and finally yesterday we met 7 new investigators. Finally. I´m pretty excited about them. Naturally we´re working on retention too; keeping the members and getting them back. My personal area has been full of drama for a long time. 

We're getting festive!! Found Christmas lights and pumpkin decorations! 

Highlight: We got permission to go to bed early to wake up at 4 to go to the Elder Amado, from the 70, conference. The bus ride there was awesome. I love my district. We share camp stories, Chuck Norris jokes, and BYU vs U of U jokes. (Please send me BYU burn jokes.)

Elder Amado was great. Three hours of spirit and Spanish. He started off talking about the importance of getting married and having babies when you get home. Naturally that made all of us a little squirmy and giggly. But it was great. I really liked the way he taught what the Spirit would have him teach. I received a lot of personal revelation for how I can improve and really help our investigators.

The Work: Yesterday all of our appointments fell through. We were like, well what a bummerª But I know that when we÷re out doing what we should be, miracles happen.  We felt like we should visit a member’s house. We haven÷t seen the dad at church for a while. We shared a Mormon Message about how forgiveness alleviates our burdens about a man named...Chris Williams. It÷s an amazing message about a man who forgave when it was not easy. We turned off the clip and almost everyone had watery eyes. My comp was like, you talk firstª And as I started to testify, I felt such a strong spirit. I thought I÷d share a little piece of that with you all: (insert Megan’s voice here) “I know that when Jesus Christ walked into Gethsemane, He did it for you and me. I know that when He was nailed to the cross, He did it for you and me. And when He hung there, He openly forgave, even though it was not easy. I know we don÷t have to carry our burdens alone. I know that God lives and loves us. I know God wants us to be happy. I know that there never is anything that can÷t be undone. I love my mission. I’m so grateful I can share this great news with whoever wants to hear it.”  As it turns out, someone had offended the dad. He told us that he’s been fighting the devil and now knows he’s got to go back. It was a great lesson. I’m glad we followed the prompting.

 Hna V and I taught the message of the restoration to a beautiful lady and her and her 10-year-old son yesterday. I felt like I was in my head screaming out a prayer, Please Heavenly Father. Help her to remember. Please. I really truly hope she can act. I hope she can pray to know the truthfulness of this message.

Tender Mercy: The other day the gringo missionary couple serving here, called and wanted to take us out for dinner. They bought us dinnerªªª  We then told her that we were craving pumpkin. Days later she shows up with pumpkin bread and two cans of Libby’s pumpkin. I was soooooooooooooooooooo grateful. She’s amazing. I love youªªª and love the tender mercies.

Pizza....mmmmmmmmm

Goals: Its been super rainy and were running out of people to teach. Remember that family we found last week question mark, why is this keyboard nuts. Well, I called to see when we could go back and the wife was like whenever you want as long as you don’t talk about religion. So that’s awkward....its kind of my job lady. Anyways that really rattled me. We weren’t even being given a chance. But through a lot of prayer and scripture study I think it would be best to give her a dose of King Lamoni. We’re going to serve her. Were going to serve her goodª Step one: make pancakes. Step two: sweep and mop the floor. Step three: slyly throw in a question about religion then bamª you remember the goodness of the gospelª mwahahhahahaha its brilliant I tell you. Genius, Emperors New Groove.

Miracle:  is that I was able to translate for the gringo couple that just moved into our ward. I sat by her in Relief Society and translated word for word. That, my friends, was a miracle. How did that happen++ªª

PDAY:  We went to Pricemart, which is like Costco, trust me its a big deal, and I bought a real mans umbrella, so I finally can stop getting wet, and a big bag of Marshmallow Mateys. I also ate Costo pizza. mmmmmm!

me and my mommy

Me and my mom on my baptism day. 

Brayden, Me and My daddy. Sept 25, 1999

My baby bro Ryley on my big day! 

Daddy and I dressed in white! Ready for my baptism!

My Dad and I on my baptism day!

Connor on my baptism day

Cuidad Quesada: Scenery...its like rolling hills of the Sound of Music with cows and rain everywhere. It’s beautiful. It’s as beautiful as the post cards portray, but hotter than an oven. Also it’s a lot rainier. Which really sucks. Sometimes it gets cold, but I think cold here means...70 degrees? In all forms, I need a sweater. Haha. I never thought I´d need a sweater here. 

Me: Just know that I’m happy. And I know some of the best people in the world. I love that I’ve made so many amazing friends. We keep ourselves laughing by playing 20 questions with Disney characters. My ears are fine. My emotions are fine. Fear not about my health. All is well! 

My Testimony: I love my Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I love my Heavenly Father. I don’t remember His face, but I remember He loves me. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth. That we need not walk in darkness. That we can find peace. I know that the Lord is mindful of each of our needs and blesses us with what we need, when we need it.

Pretty much the best companion EVER! 

Thank you all for all of your prayers and sacrifices. I truly truly appreciate it.

Para siempre Dios este con vos.

Con Amor,

Hermana Workman