Tuesday, October 28, 2014

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










Tuesday, October 21, 2014

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 Tuaniesfelicidades 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. 
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

Tuesday, October 14, 2014

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












Monday, October 6, 2014

I don't have a bunch to say...

Haha who I am I kidding. I always have something to say.
Anyhow this past week was great as usual. The funny thing is there are always the things that drive me crazy and make us stressed out of our minds but at the end of the week everything is fine and all we can remember to tell our loved ones is how much we love our missions, because it is true. I cannot imagine being anywhere else right now.
Anyhow so I have this gigantic fear of lizards right? I hate them and there are literally lizards everywhere. My district leader thinks it’s really funny. So one day we have a family home evening with them and some investigators and references and what not and when we got there he’s like ¨Hermana I have something for you and I’m just like if it is a lizard of any kind I am going to kill you. haha and he’s like I don’t have a lizard... well they left to go to the corner store thingy to buy something real quick for the refreshments and he comes back and opens his backpack with this huge grin on his face and hands me a sour gecko. It was funny.
Embarrassing momento of the week... we were walking in the Street with the elders on they way to contact a reference... well actually they were give us an investigator because she is a single lady and they cant go in her house... anyhow we were walking and it was raining and a member drove by and honked at us and of course I jumped sky high. Then I tripped and landed in a puddle in the middle of the Street and I was soaking wet so I had to go to this new investigators house absolutely drenched... yeah... oops.
We have a wedding and 3 baptisms this Saturday and it is my Birthday! Speaking of... thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! I appreciate and loved each one!!!
Alright... I wanted to talk about general conference because en serio era super chiva. Entonces my favorite quote from conference this year is by Henry B Eyring

Human judgment and logical thinking will never be enough to get answers to the questions that matter most in life.

I absolutely loved this conference. I watched 2 sessions in Spanish and 2 in English. I learned so much and I am so grateful for the fact the we have the opportunity to have a living prophet of God at the head of our church and I have such a strong testimony that Thomas S Monson is exactly that, a prophet of God.
Well, I don’t really have much else to say.
Oh also, I have made it a goal to remember to take photos this week. haha
Love y'all!


Hermana Gibson