BIG NEWS and a few photos!!!!

Howdy Yall

So last week we weren't able to send and photos because where we went to use the internet didn't work with our cameras so I wanted to send some photos because I know its been a while since I last sent some. Perdon if I send some that I have already sent.

I am going to place the pictures and then explain them a little bit. I do however have some things to say before.

Embarrassing moment: So we went to visit an old investigator yesterday. One that has a crush on me... oh yeah... way fun. haha but nah its all good. So anyhow we went to go visit him and he lives with his family on this big orchard thing.... im not quite sure what you could call it other than a finca.... but whatever. So we went to go visit him so we can start visiting him again and we were talking and a bunch of his friends came to play soccer so they got upset that he was talking to us and not playing soccer and I told them that if I could make a goal they had to leave him alone... bad decision.. a bunch of 16-20 year old latin dudes vs. 1 gringa. oh yeah... it didn't go so well. Needless to say I didn't make the goal. But it was a fun experience. haha

​So this was the day of Keishan's baptism. He is super great. It was the first time that our district leader Elder Dale got to baptize someone so it was pretty special for him too. Hermana Jenny is super great. She is a single mom and a rockstar at taking care of her kids.

​This was our first Sunday together outside the church

I made tamales! I know that this will be a Christmas tradition in my family from now on. Like when I am married and have kids and what not... and probably before then too. Costa Rican tamales are soooo good. They aren't just masa y carne. They have a whole bunch of other things too. It is really exhausting making them. Yesterday we made 150ish of them and then today someone wants us to help them but I don't think that we can but tomorrow we are going to be helping. I dont know what we are going to do. We have like 10 tamales in the fridge. Here they are huge and you can barely eat 2. In the states we eat Mexican tamales and yeah they are super tasty but you could eat like 8 and be full here I can barely eat 2. Haha

​

​With President and Sister Wilkinson. They are the BEST and I love them both so much! THEY WILL be part of my family forever! Okay here is some important news!!!!!! Seriously everyone cried and I might cry just typing it.

COSTA RICA HAS 2 MISSIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay so honestly that was the coolest announcement ever. They are dividing the mission. It will start in June or July when we change mission presidents and they are going to send 2! They will be announced in January. There will be the mission Costa Rica West and Costa Rica East. How freaking cool! I can really see the hand of The Lord in his work here in this country. I love this country so much and the people here. Something super cool is that the quorum of the 12 are going to assign us to which mission we will go to. Im super excited. But yeah lets be real... how cool is that? I know that this is the lords work. Right now we are about 280 missionaries here is Costa Rica and we are going to be 500 and something. Imagine how much it is going to change this country. Ahhhh..... Okay Im done.

Merry Christmas! Remember the real reason for the season

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:11, 14).

Christmas is a time that has been set aside to celebrate the birth of Jesus; however, the true meaning of Christmas is often lost in the holiday shuffle. People get caught up in who can afford such-and-such gift or who can throw the best party—and they forget to give of themselves. God’s intense love for us prompted Him to give His Son, the greatest gift ever given, that we may enjoy an abundant, God-kind of life. As Believers, we must shift our focus from decorating and shopping, and instead place it on the season’s true meaning by sharing the gift of Jesus with others.

Jesus said all men would know we are His disciples by observing the love we show each other. Listed below are ways to help your family, friends, and co-workers regain perspective on the season and reach out to others in love.

1.Make Jesus’ birth the focus of your family’s holiday celebration. Before you open a present or bite into a turkey leg, sit down with your family and read the account of Jesus’ birth in Matthew 1:18-25, Matthew 2:1-12, and Luke 2:1-20. Let this be the foundation for everything you do during this season. You could even make a birthday cake for Jesus!

2.Celebrate the Savior’s birth by attending Christmas Eve or Christmas Day services at your local church.

3.Give the gift of song and spread joy to others by caroling in your neighborhood, local hospitals, orphanages and nursing homes. A variation to this idea might be to bake cookies for those who are ill or shut-in and deliver your holiday cheer in person!

4.Instill the “it’s better to give than to receive” attitude into your children by volunteering at homeless shelters.

5.Take the spirit of giving to another level by serving your community. Get involved in food drives by putting together gift baskets of food for families in need. Collect new coats, clothes and shoes for these families as well.

6.Fulfill a child’s Christmas wish by delivering donated toys to children’s hospitals (Matthew 19:14).

All these activities can make Christmas a significant time for you, your family and those who may not otherwise experience the love of God throughout the year. If you find these programs are not available in your community, sponsor them yourself with the aid of other Christians. Remember, the holiday season is not the only time people are in need. Show love and be a giver all year long so the world may know you are a true disciple of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

I love you all! Merry Christmas!

Love always,

Brooke

Every week I get frustrated because I start writing in spanish and get halfway through and have to start over. haha

Well... this week was a pretty good week. Its still raining. Its been raining for a long time now. I used to think it was way cool when it rained in the states because it never happens where I lived but then I got here and it's just kind of sucks, it never stops. haha everyone goes inside and nobody wants to talk to anyone much less the missionaries. (Insert sad face here) I have so much I want to share with everyone. My heart is bursting from the love of Jesus Christ!

Well, this week I had a moment of embarrassment when I forgot that it was one of my converts birthdays and I talked to him in the street and didn't say anything to him... oops. thank goodness I remembered when we were in a lesson with his mom. After the lesson we went to buy him something from the corner store. it was super great. I love all of my converts, however, I super love Kevin. My goal in life is to send him on a mission and then he can become mission president one day.

I don’t have much time today, I don't have anytime really but I wanted to share something that I have been thinking a lot about here recently.

Respect yourself and others. Its not really that hard. There are a ton of people that dont go to church or don't do things they should because of other people. While yes, I remember what I said about not putting your salvation in the hands of others, we should also remember to not do anything stupid that has the potential to impede the progress of someone. It doesnt matter what you think of them, it doesn't matter when they have done to you. Be nice. Its not hard. If you dont like someone that doesn't mean that you have to go over the top to be nice to them. Just smile, say hello, and move on with life. If they need help and you can, help them. Dont do anything to hurt peoples feelings on purpose. It makes absolutely no sense. Love everyone and just work hard so that people don't feel like they are less than you. It doesnt matter how much money you have or don't have. It doesnt matter what calling you have in the church. It doesn't matter where you live or what car you drive or what illness you may have or what other people may think. We are all sons and daughters of God and whether you like it or not, He does not love you any more than He loves the next person. He loves us all more than we can possibly imagine, but He loves all of us the same.

I love you all!

Brooke

Meet my new Companion! =)

So this week was rather crazy. First of all.... Bridget was baptized! She is the daughter of Karen who was baptized in October but she couldn't get baptized because she was only 7. Well she turned 8 on the 4th and had her baptism on Saturday. We had a really rough experience with her family the night of her baptism and we were convinced that there was no way she would be at church to be confirmed on Sunday but when we got to church there she was. Not her whole family but her and her sister Brittany were there and she was confirmed. We haven't been back to her house yet but we are going there today and honestly I love this family so so much and I just hope that they will accept us.

We had a lot of eating to do because everyone knew that it is the last sunday for Hermana Corrales and she was here for 9 months so everyone and their brother loves her. I love her a ton too. So the way that ticos show their love is por medio de comida.

Sunday night we went to the Christmas devotional and it was super great. I loved it. Honestly the first time I ever saw it was last year and I honestly love it so so much. I was super happy. The rule was that if we brought an investigator we could come

While we were on our way to Guapiles to watch it they called us and gave us the changes. Hermana Corrales went to Belin, the area where the Temple is here and my new companion's name is Hermana Martinez. She is from Honduras and she is 23. She is super strong in the gospel to be here. She has only been a member for 2 years and she has been on her mission for a almost a year now. I am going to place a photo here... but remember that this is after a LONG day of travel and playing soccer in the rain and we were both really tired. haha

Next, watch this video. I love it.

Preview YouTube video He is the Gift – Christmas Video – #ShareTheGiftHe is the Gift – Christmas Video – #ShareTheGift

I love you all a whole bunch and I am super excited because we get to go to the Temple next week. Have a great week and dont forget that you are always always more powerful than Satan.

Love

Hermana Gibson

Lots to say but forgot my camera, don't hate me.

Hey Y'all!

First I just wanted to say that I forgot to bring my camera so I don't have any pictures this week either. Okay, yes I have them but I just can't send them!

This week was crazy. We had to go on emergency splits so I had to pack in like 30 seconds and then we had to go take a bus. Then we went to part of our area call bosque which is about an hour and a half walking and there is only 1 bus to go and 1 bus to come back so we had to walk every day. haha It was actually great fun.

We had our miracle baptism on Sunday... and guess what?? In the mission we had a goal of 200 baptisms and confirmations in November and Sunday afternoon we had 199 confirmations... but there is a church in guanacaste that has meetings in the night at like 6 for all of the people who work in tourism jobs and they confirmed the last one so we literally had exactly 200 confirmations in the month of november. Crazy huh? It was definitely a month where you could feel the spirit and the stress. haha

Embarrassing moment: Sooo I am sure you are all going to be very surprised but I don't actually remember one! I am sure that something happened but I don't remember what it was. Cool huh? I guess thats a step in the right direction.

I am super excited for monday. We have changes and I feel like a lot is going to happen. Our zone leader elder tai had emergency changes and went to be the assistant so he is in training with the assistants who are dying this change and the other zone leader elder lopez who is going to be the new assistant too. My district leader had emergency changes and went to be the zone leader in place of the elder lopez so now we have a mini missionary here for a week until changes and it is super cool. Hes a convert of about 6 months and is working on doing his papers so he can leave on a mission at his year mark. How strong of a testimony can you possibly have right? so cool. He was telling me that he parents are ticked that he is here on a mini mission and even more ticked that he is a member and that he wants to serve a mission. He was an atheist before so now he doesn't really have any friends and I was just thinking like woah what courage it would take to be in his position.

So yeah... lots of changes coming our way on monday and Im super excited.

I am learning lots of things here... and one thing that I have learned is the the mission changes you.. I learned that a while ago.. but what I learned recently... as in ohh about 45 minutes ago is that it doesn't always change you for the good and that whether you change for the bad or for the good you are going to change so you should do your best to make sure it is for the better. I honestly never thought that I would see someone change so quickly into a negative person but I promise it happens. I know that I am not the most positive person on planet earth but I am definitely working on it and I can tell that I am not as negative as I was before. If you are negative life is just harder. DONT MAKE LIFE HARD FOR YOURSELF. You have enough people throwing negative things at you and you don't need to add more to it. Be happy. Also, other people too, have enough negative people in their lives, the last thing they need is your smart comments and your negative remarks... again, be happy.

I have also been thinking about service. Then I saw this on lds.org

Its really a profound statement. It doesnt matter how much money you have, what matters is that you help the people who are in need.

Well, thats all for today!

I love you all a whole bunch!

Love,

Hermana Gibson

oops…. not much to say, sorry :/

Hey Y'all!

This week was pretty good. We saw lots of miracles and I learned a lot. I am honestly so so so happy and thankful that I have the opportunity to serve here in this country and in this area. Its getting hotter and hotter by the day. 

Thursday is thanksgiving but that doesn't exist here. I love thanksgiving. But its crazy because at this time last year I was getting ready to fly home and surprise me family. haha It is crazy how fast time flies and I have realized that more in the mission than ever before in my life. 

I don't really have much to say or very much time however you should all know that I love you and that I know that the savior loves each and every one of you.

Love y'all!

Brooke

PS I promise I am okay and nothing is wrong haha so y'all don't have to ask my momma ;)  

What time is it?!?! Tamale time!!!

Hola Familia.

So this week I am actually going to write quite a bit... okay well I have a lot that I want to write but that doesn’t mean that I will have time to write it all.

For starters... I killed a chicken, and then pulled the feathers out, and then cleaned it, and then the member cooked it and I ate it! And guess what... it was way tasty and SO COOL!

This week I wanted to share something about fasting, but first I wanted to get all of the other fun stuff out of the way because fasting is something that I take seriously... and I also have some other serious things to say. Soo...

Embarrassing moment of the week... well..so we were outside and we were walking and there were a ton of mosquitos and I had been talking to someone and hna corrales was behind me talking to the husband of this lady and I turned around and saw a mosquito on this person who I honestly didn’t even realize wasn’t my companion and I just smacked the heck out of this giant mosquito and it was this grown man... it definitely took some explaining... haha

Okay... does anyone know what time it is??? Tamale time! I am so so so excited and worried at the same time. But lets be real, tamales are soooo tasty.

Today is hna corrales' birthday, so we are going to crack eggs on her head here in just a little while. I’m actually very excited. Tomorrow we have to go to San Jose for a multi zone meeting so that will be fun. Today we went to this world wide university call La Earth and the only thing you can study there is agriculture... but it is honestly one of the most beautiful things I have seen since I got here. I mean yeah I live in arguably the most beautiful country in the world but today was crazy beautiful... there is a banana factory there and a bunch of sports courts, so we went and played soccer and volleyball and just kind of walked around for a while. It was great. We went as a district.

Now... I am going to start with a word of advice for all Latter Day Saints. Be careful the way that you act and represent yourself. You not only represent yourself but the church and the gospel in every moment. I promise you that people are watching. I personally know that I have a friend, who because of the way that I acted when I was younger wants nothing to do with the church. I promise you that it does not feel good. I know that I will have to answer for that when judgement day comes and the fact that she does not want to listen to the missionaries and the gospel that I know to be the only true and living gospel on the face of the earth because I was stupid kills me. So just be careful with the way you present yourself. When I was younger I thought that nobody was watching me and that even if they were it didn’t matter because I didnt have that strong of  a testimony but I promise you that it sucks and that it does matter. I wasn’t awful but bad enough to turn her off.

Next I wanted to talk about fasting and how much my testimony of that has grown in the past few months. We fast every week and I can honestly see the miracles every single time that we fast. Every day we have miracles but when we are fasting it is crazy evident that the Lord is helping us. If you can, I encourage you to fast every fast Sunday.

Also, I found a quote that I wanted to share with yall.

There is neither man nor woman in this church who is not on a mission. That mission will last as long as they live, and it is to do good, to promote righteousness, to teach the principles of truth, and to prevail upon themselves and everybody around them to live the principles that they may obtain eternal life. - Brigham Young

Love yall

Brooke

P.S. Noticia! We now will write on Tuesdays from now on. Just so everyone can know!

Fuzzy pic sorry! 

Tamale Time =)

Yes that's blood on my hand LOL

Nuestra Districto

No time this week sorry

Hey Ya'll, Brooke says she loves you all. That she is not dead just really busy this week and that she loves Costa Rica, the mission, and the gospel so so so much. The computer won't take her camera cord so no pictures either. 

Love, 
 HNA Gibson

Monday Nov 3, 2014 exciting title huh?! ;)

Buenas familia y amigos...este semana realmente no era super buena, pero vamos a orar y mejorar.

I am going to start with my embarrassing moments so that I can get them out of the way and get to the real things. haha but I did have 2 or 182394721 this week.. as normal... but i am only going to share 2.

So primero, we were walking and we have to do this thing where was talk to 20 people every day and share something small and invite them to do something. So normally you look for something to start a conversation and there was this lady who was a super cute pregnant lady, so I asked her how many months pregnant she is and it turns out that she isn't pregnant... yeah.. she wasnt to impressed and I was mortified. We had a good laugh and thank goodness she wasn’t mad. I’ll NEVER ask anyone that again!!!! Needless to say I didn't say anything else...

Next, we have a new missionary in our ward because Elder T is training and his name is Elder B,, however that is besides the point... he is from Guatemala and is a super cool person... but I went to say something to Hna C about how he does things like I used to 3 months ago and its crazy how much he is going to learn so quickly. He was right there so I said it in english and then she agreed and we continued the conversation... about 3 minutes later this dude starts taking straight up english like he was born and raised in the states and is the whitest person there ever was... yeah well he was born in Guatemala but lived in Arizona for 11 years so he speaks english better than I do. He learned english and spanish at the same time... oops. that was definitely not my brightest moment. I am pretty sure that my face was super red.

One other funny thing that was not funny in the moment that was just super frustrating was we were in a really important lesson with a new investigator and we brought a member with us to visit the investigator and the lady asked us why we don't drink coffee so we started to explain the word of wisdom to her and then this member jumps is and is like its for the caffeine that we don't drink it so if its de-caf then go for it and we are like uhh no and she goes on and on and on about it forever and i interrupt her and she is cuts in again and starts going off about how its fine if its pure coffee and you grind the beans yourself because it doesn't have caffeine in it and hna C jumps in and is like uhhh no and starts to explain why and this lady again cuts off hna corrales and at this point we are like okay really? you have been a member longer than i have been alive so we cut her off and we are like well we are going to talk more about this the next time we come is it cool if we have a prayer before we leave. because really there was NOTHING we could do to make her be quiet. So word of advice to members.. if you are going to go out with the missionaries please only share when they ask you too and what they ask you too. These people are children of our Heavenly Father and they need to hear the truth and not be confused.

Now that that is over I have some things that I want to tell yall. More words of advice and things that I have learned. oohhh Brooke is now intelligent. haha pero no. serious time. ya.

I wanted to talk about 2 things in particular. The power of the priesthood and one more thing. So I just want to start with saying that the priesthood is real. I am more grateful now for the priesthood than I ever have been in my life. It is something that is a blessing in our lives and that we should not take for granted. God has given this power to worthy men and we as women in the church although we do not have this power have higher and more special privileges than any other women on the face of the planet.. however along with privileges come responsibilities and duties.. which means that we also have the highest responsibilities and duties in the world. It is important that we sustain those whole hold this sacred power and it is important that we give every opportunity to those who are around us to exercise their priesthood authority because in reality it is not something that they can use to bless themselves, this is impossible and any worthy priesthood holder will not want to. I don't honestly know how to describe my love for this gospel and my gratitude for the fact that I have the opportunity to make use of this amazing authority that is the priesthood, I have seen it bless more lives than I can count in only these 3 short months.

Next, this is something that I have been thinking about A TON these past few days. DO NOT PUT YOUR SALVATION IN THE HANDS OF OTHER PEOPLE!

I don't know how to stress this enough. The people here in my ward are great but a lot of them do not like to go to church because there are other people there who they dont like or they think are hypocrites or they don't think are worthy to take the sacrament or this or that or this or that. The point is that they don't go to church and the excuse they use is the people who do go to church. Im going to be real honest here. If you EVER use that as an excuse you need to rethink your logic. Leave the judgement to Christ on judgement day and go to church. The fact of the matter is that your salvation does not depend on anyone but yourself, just like the salvation of other people depends on them. I highly doubt although I can't say that I am certain because I haven't been there but I would say that when judgement day comes and Christ asks you why you didn't go to church that he isn't going to want to hear anything about the fact that you didn't think your neighbor was digno to partake of the sacrament or that your bishop was a hypocrite. Going to church is a commandment and 1, you are wasting blessings if you don't go, and 2, it is something that you are going to be asked about when you have to face Christ.

My salvation depends on me and me alone. Christ is not going to ask me about mistakes that my mother made or that the relief society president made. He will ask me about me. This is the same not just with church attendance but with everything. Your salvation depends on you and you alone. You WILL NOT have to answer for the wrongdoings of other people and just the same, these other people WILL NOT have to answer for yours.

Just something to think about.

I dont have my camera cord to upload photos but I do have them so I will send a ton next week!

I love all y'all!

Hna Brooke =)

The Church is true, the book is blue,

Oct 27, 2014, No time and I have so much to say.

Ahh... well.. we had changes.. and we survived again, I’m not quite sure why but this is what the lord wants and needs so we will be together for another 4 weeks. Honestly I am super grateful and I am definitely not complaining.

Okay moving on,

Karen was baptized! This is honestly the things that I have been waiting to say since we met her. We worked SO HARD for this baptism. Honestly. Her date fell twice and then she refused to accept another fecha and oh my gosh literal blood, sweat, and tears, all 3 went into getting her to the waters of baptism. I cried when she was baptized and it was honestly so great but she didn't want to take a picture with everyone so I have a nice selfire for yall.

Embarrassing moment of the week... I lost our cell phone. This isn't actually that embarrassing but the other one was pretty bad and I dont want to tell yall about it. haha So we were in a taxi and I left it in the taxi and I realized literally not even 5 minutes later that it was gone and yeah... no podemos encontrarlo. so I have to pay for another one. oops.

I am just going to send a bunch of pictures because I don't have any time.

I love all of yall so much! I love my Savior and I love my mission!

Pura Vida

Brooke

Howdy From Costa Rica! I love this place!!!

Bueno. Today's email is going to be rather short. I know I say that a lot but this time its true. haha 

Not much happened this week. 

Embarrassing moment: We were in San José because I had to go there and do my fingerprints on miercoles so that I don't get deported and what not.. you know the basics... and anyhow we had to go to the office when i finished and then we were walking to the bus stop after the meeting in the office and i tried to walk one direction but hna corrales wanted me to walk with her and so i did and then boom, the next thing I know it my legs are going in 3 different directions and I cant grab on to anything because there was a brick wall next to me and hna corrales on the other side. I thought I got it and I wasn't going to fall but nope. haha. I fell pretty hard. It didn't even hurt because I was pretty embarrassed. There were 2 elders walking in front of us that I don't know that well and I guess they heard me scream and they come running back and are like hermana hermana are you okay and in my head I'm like yeah I'm fine... its only my pride that is hurt. haha so I get up and walk about 50 feet back to the office and I am covered in mud. I was wearing a long dress that is black and white and it was just covered in mud from head to toe, so I am like washing my dress in the sink outside the office... needless to say it was a bit embarrassing... right as I fall Elder Chub calls us to ask us to buy him something and hermana corrales tells him that I fell so we will call him back. Well when I call him back he asks me if I fell and I'm like well yeah... he then proceeded to ask me if it was my first time actually falling falling for real and I'm like well yeah.. and he says: Que Tuanies, felicidades Hermana, ya usted es una misionera... and I'm just like... thanks. fue super divertido. 

anyhow, I dont really have much else to say.

However, we are trying to get this film meet the Mormons to come to Costa Rica so if you could all click on the button thingy, that my lovely peach of a mother is going to make clickable I am absolutely sure of it ;) and request it to come to Costa Rica that would be great. where it says Zip Code you can put Límon or whatever other province. Or San José. or whatever. 

Thanks so much! You are all the greatest!
 https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v1/url?u=http://meetthemormons.com/request-it&k=wlPCrglRP6kzT4RbABWMaw%3D%3D%0A&r=L7Y%2F9ygBkrlT3xKQUWiNBJZKWPKM7Hmmc2TYiTxpKlY%3D%0A&m=QPnpV26W9zOcGCj2Ywr7LqgxQn9cGKBEmDltW9yUeMA%3D%0A&s=0040bff5c6cd57c181bfbcb0953b5a036372f435b391341731c7c65576a16e46

Okay, really I just want to say one more thing. I love my mission and I love this country. I had an interview with president this week and i told him that i honestly have so much fear for when i finish my mission and go home because I know things and I can feel things that I have never felt before. I feel so close to my savior and I never want this feeling to end. 

Also, I learned something this week. Everyone has a story. Everyone is who they are because of their story and their history. I am who I am because of my story, Hna Corrales is who she is because of her story, and the same goes for every single missionary but not just missionaries for every single person. So before you judge someone you should probably get to know them first.

I have pictures but I don't really feel like connecting my camera. In reality there is only one of me eating at Taco Bell. I didn't know how to say no sour cream because nobody knows how to say sour cream so needless to say it wasn't that tasty.

Pura Vida

1 Wedding, 3 Baptisms and a whole lot of eggs...

Okay so this week was absolutely crazy... Saturday was one of the craziest days of my mission so far... bueno... one of the craziest days of my life so far.. It was honestly a little bit hard to breath there for a little while, but rest assured it was great. I have a ton of photos to send so this may be a little bit short. 

For starters thank you all so much for the birthday wishes, they mean so much to me. I loved each and every one! Ya’ll are great 

Okay so I got a few questions this week that I want to answer real quick. 

We don't do a lot of tracting. In fact... we don’t do any. Haha we do these things called LPE while we are walking from appointment to appointment which is where we talk to people and share something real quick and invite them to do something, usually attend church or ask them if we can come and visit them sometime. It takes about 3 minutes per LPE and we have a meta of 20 per day. Other than that we work strictly off of references here in this area. The area is great. The members in our ward are amazing and are always giving us references. One day we had to knock doors and let me tell you, we did it because our district leader told us to but that was absolutely terrible and I dont ever want to do it again. The LPEs work really well and everyone here is so so so nice. 

Food... we eat rice, rice, and more rice. haha yes we get fed. not to worry. here in my area we are always being fed, however in other areas the missionaries are not so lucky and they have to work to find food. Every Sunday after church we have lunch with a member and they feed all of the missionaries in the ward. We have Hna Christy who is our cocinera so we have lunch every day and trust me there is plenty of other food to go around. 

My area is perfect. Bueno... not perfect but lets be real here it is pretty great. Sí, there are some areas we can't be in after dark, but you can get that anywhere. The people here are so accepting and loving and caring. 

Okay now to tell y'all about my week... I have to look at the photos to remember what happened to be honest... lets see... oh embarrassing moment of the week... lets see....oh right... we were in a lesson and I messed up something in Spanish... and I am not going to say what it was but it was rather embarrassing. It was and baptismal interview so the district leader was there and it was a FULL house of people. I didn’t know what I actually said until yesterday... yeah

oh just incase you were all wondering... I am not married. haha I had that question about 6 times this week too. 

Entonces, on Saturday we had 2 baptisms as 11 in the morning and then a wedding at 2 and another baptism right after... after our baptisms in the morning we asked the elders at what time was their baptisms and weddings and they told us at 2 and right after and we were like ummm no. So from then on it was pure craziness. 

When I woke up in the morning I went to the bathroom as usual and then I was walking back to my bed to grab my water bottle and I saw something on my desk and it was so cute! I have to say that I love my companion so much! 

Please excuse the fact that I am an absolute pig haha but it was way cute. Then I opened it and vea que chiva! 

The reason for this is because there are 2 soccer teams here in Costa Rica. It is very important what team you are, people will literally ask you what team you are and then slam the door in your face if you are the opposite of them. I was talking to a friend of mine who was in the MTC with me and she told me that they got kicked out of a taxi on the way to an appointment because she said that she is legista and the taxi driver is the sapresistia. Please please please forgive the spelling of both of those. haha anyhow, in my opinion the taxi driver was in the right but in all seriousness its very important. 

Anywho... the elders bought me a gift last Monday and I didn’t open it until Saturday and it is the cuitest little pillow I have ever seen and I love it so so so much. Honestly it means so much to me. vea, que feo. 

Okay, I have a ton left to say and only like 2 minutes. ahhh and I have to attach pictures. oh my word. okay 

I am going to send pictures of Yafet, and Daniel who were baptized at 11 on Saturday with Favian, a youth in the ward who baptized him. Favian is one of my favorite people and by far my favorite youth in our ward. He has 16 years and he will be going on his mission in 2. He is going to be the best missionary ever. 

After their baptism when we were decorating for the wedding they kept telling us to come to their house because they had a supprise for me and I was sure that they were going to crack eggs on my head because that is a birthday tradition here, but when we got there they told us to come inside and they told me to close my eyes and then when I opened it they had a cake for me and it was the cutest thing ever. Their mom and them had made it. It was super cute because honestly I don’t know them that well. They were the investigators of 2 elders but they closed that area and they became our investigators and they are seriously the greatest thing ever. The photo I have is so so so cute! Look at the face of Yafet. How cute??? 

Okay I am also going to send a picture of Louisa and Orlando who were married and Lousisa who was baptized. I love her so so so much. I am only a few months older than her and I feel such a strong connection with her. 

Sorry this is crazy unorganized, but I am also going to send a picture of me with another cake. We went to the house of Hna Ana our neighbor and the elders were on the porch fighting and I am like oh my gosh are you kidding me, in the house of a member? Seriously? then Elder Chub went inside and he was like Hna Gibson, come here, and I am like no. Hermana Gibson, come here. NO. Elder, es que no puedo porque mi compañera esta aya y tampoco no quiero porque estoy bien enojada con usted ya. and he started to laugh and then everyone started to sing happy birthday and they brought out a cake and then the zone leader walked out and was taking a video and I am like what they heck??? haha but it was funny. 

Last night we went to the house of another member who I love and her boyfriend Christofer had his birthday a few days ago and we asked for like 2 weeks if she would make us a tres leches and she was like no no no no no but yesterday we were having a lesson with chris because he is a recent convert and she brought out a tres leches. it was super great!  

Finally I am going to send a picture of me covered in eggs. I was sitting down and Nati,a recent convert who I absolutely love was playing with my hair so naturally I closed my eyes and started to die in peace and then BAM BAM BAM! 3 eggs on my head... and then I was sitting there and I asked... beuno, quien falta and there were 2 more. I was covered in eggs and smelled so gross. The elders told me that I need to take a shower.. but with bleach and everything. 

With all of this craziness I want to tell y'all something. I love my mission, but more importantly I love this gospel, and I am more than honored to have the opportunity to be a part of this great work and to share it with people who need what I have. The Lord does not need us to do this work, He is all powerful and He can do everything. I, and many others like me have the most amazing chance that HE LETS US BE A PART OF THIS. How cool is that? 

I know this church is true, and believe me when I say this, there is a difference in believe and know. I KNOW that this church is true and I want each and every one of you to know that too. I love my mission and my companion, I love my mission president and his family and I love the others who are out here serving. Lets be honest…I love Costa Rica! It’s beautiful and the people here are the best!

Love, 

 Hna Gibson