August 24, 2015 - Well... hair grows, right?

Hello incredible family!! It's so fun to read all your emails about the wedding and everything. I love love!!! and our family so so much. 

Her zone at the conference with Elder Duncan

So something cool this week, we had a big conference with President Russell M. Nelson!! He is so so great. When I am 93 I want to be just like him. We actually just watched it over broadcast because it was in Honduras, but it was just for Central America, and it was so cool to hear the words of a prophet and to feel the Spirit testify that he really is called by God to be a mouthpiece! He spoke a lot about getting less actives to the temple. He said that there are more males who are inactives here, who don't have the Priesthood, than who do, and that the Lord isn't pleased about that. He said honestly we should focus a lot on these people, getting these families to the temple...they don't care how many converts or baptisms we have, but on getting these families to the temple! And, it's really so true. The temple covenants are so so important--we shouldn't just be satisfied with getting people to baptism, but to endure to the end, to make it to the temple, so they can be with their families forever! 

Also, President Duncan, the area president spoke, and his wife. And I absolutely LOVED what she said in her cute Spanish. She said that everyday we should Elige Tener Gozo....Choose to have joy!! Because not every day is easy, and a lot of times it's easy to be discouraged--but we need to remember, it's not just the mission that's like this--there's hard parts in every stage of life, but we can always choose to have joy, in all the hard times of life. So yeah,that was super good to hear, and something that I need to work on! And it's not always easy to have joy, when rough things come, when we don't understand sometimes...it takes a lot of effort! But it's so worth it. And as a missionary, I'm always inviting...so I'd like to invite you all, to every day, through the hard times,to choose to have joy. :) 

before

after

Oh, yeah, in other news...haha, wellp, last Monday we were getting a hair cut and Hermana Geis said, You should cut it super short! So I did....haha. Well...hair grows, right? ;)

I love you all so much, and hope you all have an incredible week!! 

Love, Hermana Moon 

August 17, 2015 - And it's REAL!

Interesting fruits

2nd Mother's Day of year -- too bad she couldn't call !

Hi everyone!!!

So something from this week...we did divisions, and I went to a place called Turrialba! It was so warm and incredible there, I didn't even need to use my jacket once, when I have to wear it like all day here in Cartago..but haha, Cartago really is the coldest place in Costa Rica! But it´s okay, the cold is worth it because Cartago is the best. But anyway, so on divisions we were just walking in the street, and we ran into like a girl who was like 17 and she was wearing a Gryffindor shirt!!! And this was like the first time I'd seen any signs of Harry Potter since coming on the mission and I almost died haha.....all I wanted to do was ask her which book was her favorite, her favorite character, everything!! But then, I was thinking about it, and really, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is even more exciting and beautiful than Harry Potter!! And it´s REAL, and it blesses the lives of every single person who has lived and lives and will live! Sometimes I just start thinking about it, and my heart gets so full and happy--we have the knowledge that we can be with our families FOREVER, that we can return to live with Heavenly Father, which is the most beautiful message of all!

And something so great!! Andrea is so excited for her baptism. She keeps on talking about August 29, and asking who she can invite, what else she needs to learn, which chapters she should read in the Book of Mormon...she´s incredible!! She went to church again yesterday, and she loved it. We´re super excited for that day, and still so grateful for her friend in Utah who decided to start talking to her about the church and then call the reference office. We never know what one little conversation about the church can do!

And...I can´t really remember what else happened this week! Haha, time is so weird here--sometimes it just flies by and I don't really know what happened! But I love you all a whole whole lot, and hope everything is going great!!

SO MUCH LOVE, Hermana Moon. :)

Pic 1: Happy Tico Day of the Mothers!! You definitely deserve at least two days of the year, mom. :) It was so cute watching everyone celebrating it here...they go all out. There were a million vendors just walking through the streets selling flowers, like walking in between cars and stuff, and everyone had the whole weekend set aside for the day!

Pic 2: So much cool fruit here!!!

August 10, 2015 - Deja que el Espiritu te ensene

Sisters

There were so many cool miracles this week! It's really cool how the Lord has people prepared always, and leads us to the people who are ready to receive Him!! 

So, one amazing story happened with Andrea, the miracle reference that we had! So she went to church last week...and she really, really didn't like it. She had such a testimony before, and was so excited to go...but she just felt a little uncomfortable because it was different than her Evangelical church, and she was sick, and everything. We didn't get to visit with her for awhile, and then she texted us Wednesday saying thanks for everything, but I'm going to stay with my old church. And she wouldn't answer our calls or texts, so we went to her house that night and like sat on her porch for like a half hour, but she wasn't home. So we came back the next night, and it was so incredible. We had a member with us, and it was just a crazy experience...she totally has a testimony, and is completely willing to try going to church again! One thing I love that Elder Holland said in a video that we have that "Salvation is not a cheap experience." Something I've really learned is that really, salvation isn't easy, conversion isn't easy! It's something that takes sacrifice, daily effort, lots of praying, lots of reading the scriptures.  We thought that Andrea would get baptized really fast, be so ready to be a member, because she was a reference from Utah! But really, that's not how we should think of things, in terms of baptisms--these are children of Heavenly Father, and yes, He wants them in His church, but He wants people to be truly converted. 

Another cool experience was with Andrea's neighbor! The night that we sat on her porch forever but she wasn't home, after we walked down the road and there was a lady sitting on the side, and we just said Hello to her, but that was it. And then yesterday, we were trying to get a hold of Andrea, but she wasn't answering, so we were leaving, walking down the road. But then we felt like we should really turn back, and we knocked on her neighbor's door, asking if she knew when Andrea would be back! And she said she didn't really know Andrea, but we asked if we could share a message with her, and she said yes, and said that she was that lady we said hi to earlier in the week, and that she'd been thinking about us ever since!! And they were incredible, and super super willing to learn about the gospel! 

And then one final experience...like two months ago, on a Sunday night, we were super low on LPEs so I just did one fast one because we had to run catch a bus. His name was Ricardo, and his name had just been on my old agenda for these last two months, but I kept seeing his name, but we never called him to see if we could put an appointment. Finally yesterday afternoon we called, and he wanted to meet right then, and even though it'd been forever he still remembered who we were! And he said he's been looking for a church for like 2 years, and he and his two children were INCREDIBLE--also super willing to learn!! and he said, It's so good you were persistent in calling, because I've been in Nicaragua for the last two months and haven't had my phone with me!" The Spirit really guided us to just not call him for that time, because if we had called him and he didn't answer, we really would have just have given up, checked him off the Future Investigators list! 

The Spirit is super incredible, and really, missionaries could do nothing without it--and it's amazing that little things that I wouldn't have thought of are all really part of God's great plan--we were supposed to go sit on Andrea's porch that night so we could just say Hi to that one woman, we were supposed to not call Ricardo for months--because He has such love and a plan for all His children!! He really has people prepared everywhere, all the time, and we just have to follow the promptings of the Spirit to be able to find them! I love this gospel and this work so so much. :) 

Also, I LOVE my companion a whole whole lot. haha, people ask us at least like four times a week if we're sisters, and like once a week if we're twins! ha, I don't really see it, it's probably just because we're Gringas...but I'm totally fine with being twins with her! :) I'm trying really hard to pretend that transfers aren't coming up in two weeks. 

Sisters

August 3, 2015 - The Romeria

Graciela, Hna Geis, Hna Moon

It's been another great week here! :) These past couple days have been super sunny and warm and it has been so so nice!!! it's also a big blessing, it rains a lot here...but lately it has been in the hours when we're studying in the morning, and then when we go out to work it's a beautiful sunny day!! So that's been a tender mercy! Hermana Geis gets so happy because she's from San Diego, and it's a lot like that! 

So this weekend, the 1 and 2 of August, are kind of crazy here in Cartago! Costa Rica is super super Catolic, and Cartago is ike the center of all of the Catholics in Costa Rica! This weekend was like the big weekend to celebrate the Virgin, and so THOUSANDS and thousands of Catholics walk from wherever they are in Costa Rica to the giant Basilica here in Cartago that's like a half mile from our house!! So all week we've just seen so many people wearing super cute exercise clothes, walking from wherever they are--hours and hours and hours--here to Cartago! And really thousands of people. It's called the Romeria, and it didn't affect us too much except......the buses. So Saturday night, which is like the biggest night of it, we were at an investigator's house, and the buses weren't running, and our investigators were leaving to go walk with the Romeria (...even people who aren't Catholic just do it because it's like the coolest thing to do here). And soo...the only way we could get home was by walking with them too!! haha...so we felt a little sacriligeous walking to the Basilica because that was the way we had to go to get home.....but we had to! it was super funny, we laughed so hard. haha. I promise I'm still an LDS missionary. 

This week there was a cool miracle!! We try to do 140 LPEs (lessons to encounter new investigators) every week, and last Sunday we were super behind, so we just went to the park by our house to try to talk to families! And we talked to this one family, but a date to visit them for last Monday night, and they are incredible!!! Like ten years ago the missionaries met with them a bunch, they went to church for like a year in Lima, which is on the west coast here, but then they stopped going, and moved here!! And then it's incredible, the Lord's timing. The next night, Tuesday, the dad left the family. And the mom, Lorena, was just like, I know that you guys were supposed to find us right before this happened, I know this is part of the Lord's plan!! So we're really hopeful for them, because they loved church when they went in Lima, and still are in contact with the Elders from like ten years ago!! And everytying is super super sad with the Dad, but really God has a plan for them, and the Spirit really guided us to talk to them that night, and for them to accept to meet with us, because if we had met them later they probably would have said no! 

This gospel is incredible, the Book of Mormon is so true, and I know that God loves all His children so much, and really has a plan for everyone to be happy in this life!!! I love you all, hope you have an amazing week!! 

Love, Hermana Moon 

Staying hydrated