Cinnamon... Machetes and life

okay so Monday after internet we went to Nicoya.. an area in our district and we used the oven they have in their chapel to make homemade cinnamon rolls... can i just say one- how jealous i am that they have an oven because in Santa Cruz almost no one has an oven. and two- how excited i was to bake.. anyways. they turned out really good and were really delicious... and then i stayed in Nicoya to do divisions with Hna Lang. So that was a blast. and it really pumped up my confidence because Monday and Tuesday i was in a different area with different people and i could still understand their Spanish and they could still understand mine. hah. its not just that ´people in santa cruz are used to me but that i really do know Spanish haha. and also i was able to work in a real companionship and not a trio.. which was also different and really helped my confidence because i was able to teach and it flowed and it was awesome. ha. I laugh because she made me sing a solo in every lesson because no one can sing in Guanacaste and her other comp cant sing either so it was really funny to have to "perform" every lesson. ha. then we changed back to normal at the district meeting which was a really spiritual pump me up too because we got to share our testimonies.. and well it was the day of transfers and I can officially say that I'm going to be in Santa Cruz until Dec 10th and that Ill have 7.5 months in this area.. im hoping for 9 but well see what Pres and the Lord think. hah.

Okay so ready for a funny story so on Thursday we're running late from an appointment to go to the chapel for classes of English. so I am thinking smart and i'm like lets take our short cut through the woods and cross the football field and then we'll get their faster.. so we start our walk through the woods... and i'm just singing and joking with everyone and we're just walking normal when two men with their nice huge sharp machetes start walking toward us... my heart is beating so fast i hear the scary music in my head and with an announcers voice i hear "three sister missionaries were murdered in the santa cruz by two locos"-.--haha no really my heart was freaking out and my brain said.. hmm,they must be off to cut the grass... because that's what people use to cut the grass. ha. It was great, but hna villalobos little worry wort started running and walking super fast so we ended up running through the woods and almost interrupting the soccer game as we ran across the soccer fields ha. it was so funny we couldn't stop laughing and then hna medina almost had an asthma attack because we were running and laughing ha. it was great. so that night Pres Sancho took us out to our lessons and then for pizza.. i love that guy. So we have an investigator se llama Edith. she's the happiest brightest lovingest person alive and she's accepting everything and changing and becoming more and more happy everyday. She told us she's never going to a church because she doesn't believe in them but she said as soon as we showed her the book of mormon she knew this had to be right and she came to church on Sunday!! it was incredible. 
then Saturday we're getting ready to fast and the world decided to give us food so we end up eating tomales, arroz con leche, tortillas and queso, bread, and  juice out the wazooo. it was super fun and we were super full and it made us laugh because we couldn't say no and so we had to start our fast super late hah. then saturday Ana- finally did it. she finally said she wants to be married!!!! So as soon as she said that i SCREAMED super loud... i haven't changed i'm still a screamer. and she was like okay okay i'm never telling you guys again. So now we just have to make her legal... because she's not legal.. ha. and This week hna Villalobos is leaving so were going to be a great duo me and hna medina. its going to be  really fun i'm excited to see what its like. I'm just so pumped because I get my 6 weeks more in Santa Cruz. hah.

Anyways. I love you all so much! Have a great week!!  

Rain fight

Okay so this week what can i say. its been crazy and stressful and one of the most fun weeks I've ever had in my life. ha. I don't know what happened but this week something in my brain flipped... it decided that if I'm going to be on a mission I'm going to have to not just work hard and be happy and joyful with that, but that I should be having funny and fun experiences every day too. 
So Tuesday we went over to Ana and Lupe´s house and we convinced them about their marriage again. now its like officially going to happen. I am so stoked. then we went and talked to our new converts mom.. who isn't a member but we have been trying to talk to her for for like 2 months and it never works out but finally she let us in and as we were talking and the spirit was feeling strong she burst into tears. its was so incredible. I know we're going to help these parents because they're able to see the blessings and the joy in their kids. its amazing. then we talked to one of our menosactivos about being a missionary and he got so excited!
so Wednesday we asked him to come to a lesson with us at the church and he did and not only that but he brought his friend! it was incredible to see this change and to see how excited he was about spreading the gospel. The lesson was so awesome and we were able to teach someone new and teach santos who is only smoking one cig. a day! were so close to his baptism!!
Then on Thursday we went and saw hna magda..the mujer with the tumor and she got her operation and we got to see her and share a message with her and it was awesome. She looks so different I almost didn't recognize her. Then we taught a lady named Edith and she is the happiest person alive. We just read one scripture and she was like "oh my blessings, this is true." and literally we couldn't not leave with a smile on our faces. That night I made tortillas... by myself. and they were pretty good too! hahah. 
okay friday... we had a district meeting and got cake and ice cream because we've been working so hard and that was super fun! and then on our way to an appointment it started raining really hard and we were all a little bit wet and i decided we should be having fun especially because my comps were looking a little stressed so I started jumping in every puddle and splashing them. and we went through mud and water up to our calfs and we were soaked but it was awesome. hah. I had the best time of my life. 
And on saturday  oh my gosh. talk about the most spiritual experience of my life. We taught Yari about the temple and temple marriage and after reading D&C 132:15 she was like wow... i cant believe it.. wow. i feel it. i know that  this is true and now i really know the importance of marrying for the church. and then we read verse 19 and she was like i want this and I gave her a picture of the temple to put in her house and she called over her son whose 6 and she whispered  "kennet do you want to go here? and he whispered back mom i want to go there right now. and then she was like this is our goal.. we're going to make it there" and just then whispering was like the sweetest thing in my life. i almost cried. it was the purest and most sincere thing ever. and then we taught this little 12 yr old girl... who randomly asked for a book of mormon and we gave her one... and so this lesson we were talking to her and she was like i've been reading.. and reading with my mom. we like learning and feeling the peace it gives... and so that was just incredible because these people are so prepared we don't have to do anything. and then we...well.. i have been teaching english to this guy every week and he said that he didn't want anything to do with the church but this week he was like i want to talk bout the libro de mormon.. and then after wards he was like... yupp.. its all true. all of it just makes sense. nothing false would last this long and grow this fast. 

its been a great week and so fun and so busy because we now have too many investigators recent converts and menos activos than we can keep track of. i feel like i'm neglecting some of them. The work is crazy here. We have changes this week but i'm pretty sure were safe and we're staying here. 

I love you all so much!! 

okay love ya! 

Oh my stars

What a week what a week. 

Okay so you know I lost hna Alvarado to argentina.. well that night we went to the presidents house to do interviews with him and so she went in and was done within like 5 minutes. so i go in next and its like we just are talking and i'm asking him questions and he's asking me questions and then he's like and how was it being in a trio and I told him how much I loved it how I really just love how much I have to learn because i'm with two other people and it's just so fun. I told him how it'll be different with just one companion and then he was like... well what would you say if i could get you another companion and i was like please i'd love that haha. but i don't know how that would happen in the middle of a change and he was like well its happening. You'll get the details later. 

so then Tuesday I did changes with some people and i decided again that i never want to leave Santa Cruz for the city. never. give me anywhere "campo" and i'll take it but don't put me in the city. ha. 

then Wednesday we got up super early and I did some immigration stuff then we went to our meeting with  Elder Amado of the presidency of the 70. and I had to sing a solo in the musical number without zone for the zones that were there and for him... it was scary because hes so awesome and hes like a real high up there authority. ha. but it went fine! Then he talked and was incredible he really helped me realize how to be a better teacher how to learn from the spirit better and how to really help the people i'm teaching while helping myself. he also talked a lot about marriage and the importance and we all know how much i love that kind of stuff hah. i'm so baby and marriage hungry. hahah. and then we got... CELLPHONES! and so now i  really have to work like fuego in our area because now we have a cellphone and now we can talk to people on a more regular basis and appointments won't fall through as much and its just going to change the work. And during this conference hna Starke was there and its always such a tender mercy and a joy to see her and catch up with her and we got to eat TACO BELL. it sounds crazy but eating fast food was like a miracle hah that hasn't happened in 7.5 months. p.s. the conference was in alejuela which is where the airport is and now i have a picture like the one dad has (kinda- i had to take it fast so its not that great... hahha) and then i got a call to go pick up my new comp.. so her name is Hna Villalobos. she's from costa rica. shes been set apart but she hasn't gone to the mtc. she leaves for the mtc in Argentina in two weeks and so we get to have her for these next two weeks. so i have another comp newbie but like super newbie.. and she's awesome, but i'm having to train her from the ground up about all the little things and about really what a missionary life is like. She is like a munchkin.. seriously. shes like 4ft10 and teeeny tiny. And she doesn't know any English... so its me and two Latinos and my Spanish is getting better every day. 

So then with all the traveling and stuff we lost 4 days in our area and i wanted to CRY! but we got back and we worked our butts off and in 2 and a half days we got 17 lessons in so i was okay with that. We got Yanixi ready for her baptism and Santos is only smoking 2 a day and then we have some great new investigators.

Saturday this is what happened--we taught the nephew of Alonso and he has already been coming to church and he has been reading the book of mormon and he's only 11 and he's already on chapter three of Nephi and he read all the testimonies and everything and its just incredible and he's getting baptized next sunday.. miracle baptize that came out of no where. And so another crazy thing is that Guadalupe the husband of Ana has always been like no we are getting married in december. no ifs ands or buts, but then we were talking and i said what day in dec and he said the 20th and i was like ill be gone from santa cruz by then and he said... wait. well i have actually been talking with the lawyer and he said he can do it in three weeks. and i want to do it in three weeks along with Yari and Darling (his "sister in law" and her "husband") and so all i have to do is get permission from Ana. So that is a SUPËR HUGE super miracle. The work is like crazy fire and we keep getting 5-10 investigators in church ever Sunday so its just awesome. 

then on Sunday we had to leave again for san jose to have the monthly check for hna medina, so that's where we are right now and its great but i just want a pday at home hah. just relaxing and shopping and all. hah. 

Okay so now for the cleaning house stuff..

1. so my zone leader Elder Soza is great friends with Ethan Call right and he wants to know what ethans email is so he can talk to him. 

2. my address for letters should be 

san jose mission 

apartado postal 249-2010 

san jose 

costa rica 

and the address for packages is the one thats like corridabat. 

so idk how it is on my blog but if you could change it like that it'll make it so letters get to me faster and everything. 

3. you asked for a list of things i want or need for christmas... so here you go (do not feel obligated with any of this just know these are things that would come in handy or be great but don't even need to send me a christmas package just letters and picutres is great. :) )

peanut butter, cereal, goldfish, protein bars, no show socks, rain jacket like the kind dad uses for hiking slick and all, cheap ctr rings in spanish for all my sweet little converts, stickers, and individually wrapped candy or american candy to give them, teachings of the prophet Joseph Smith, and cds of good music efy, disney, and any musicals that are super lovey dovey.. im sick of the 100 songs i listen to every single day. hahh.

4.whats the perkins (karen and brad) and the other perkins addresses. 

and yeah. i love yall so much. yall are such great exaamples for me. 

HAPPPY BIRTHDAY STUART! HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFAN! 

love ya! 

hna coburn

Wowza!

Okay so this is whats up. 

Right now its super late but My comp Hna Alvarado got a call late last night that she has an interview in San Jose at 8 (right now) and that she's leaving Tuesday in the morning.. so we traveled all day and by tender mercy are able to write the family for a little bit. Okay so this weeeek. oh my gosh. and p.s. this internet cafe doesnt upload pictures... so that stinks. but next week ill have lots for you.

okay so first random fun facts:

1. Ive seen a bike with 5 people on it.. it was really impressive how well they know how to load people up.

2. I thought with just one gringo we´d have less cat calls... but now its worse then ever. every where i go its ¨"Machita" "gringita" "guapa" "the one in ____ (whatever color Im in..)" its funny but annoying but im hoping that i can help baptize these people at least.. i always yell back. Church at 9 the church is behind the supermarket. haha.

3. I ate pig face stewish thing.. it tasted like cat food.

4.costa rica chocolate tastes horrible... but their hard candy is awesome.

5. my zone leader was really good friends with Ethan Call and all the calls really. his name is elder soza... so thats cool. its a small world.

6. we´re getting another gringo family in our Branch!! well two more but i only know the official date for one of the families.

We had a noche de hogar... family home evening at the house of Ana and with her family it was so fun and I absolutely adore this family. Guadalupe is listening to the lesson and Anita and Kelvin are always bringing there friends to hear us teach them. ha. its awesome.  Then we talked with Santos! So we had that crazy incident with him running out on us during the baptismal interview but then we taught him on tuesday and he is incredible. Through him my testimony of the book of mormon is ten times stronger. He's been reading and using the foot  notes (which is something that people do when they're investigating the church) and he knows this is the true church because of this libro. its just incredible. he should be baptized in a few weeks.. we just are working on his addiction to smoking. and then we talked to the mom of a friend of little Anita. named Yanixi. and we found out that her mom is a member and her two sisters! They're just inactives. and we thought they wouldn't let us, but they are allowing Yanixi to be baptized this next sunday!! its so exciting. i wanted to cry. they told us flat out that they loved the church they just switched back to catholica because of tradition. Which is why the part of the book of mormon how its always saying convince them of the wrongness of their traditions is so true. Then we taught our menos activos Krystle and Javier and they had a friend over and I was just explaining who we were to the friend and Javier became the best missionary in the world. bearing testimony and inviting her to church and guess what... on sunday.. they brought her to church!! it was incredible! The work of the lord changes lives as the member missionary or the nonmember. hah.Oh my gosh and let me tell you about Cristian. I love this kid seriously. he's like my best friend. if he lived in the states we would be besties. So we have officially started his process of preparing for the MISSION! and hes doing so great with it all and reading and praying and sharing the gospel and coming to church and just such good work and i should be here when he goes through the temple! so thats exciting! Im really pumped for that. That gives me more smiles then anything seeing him change 180 degrees into someone so awesome. and then we have a bautismo and activity on friday it was so beautiful! Anita and Kelvin got baptized and there were so many people there and their dad afterwards said that he's ready to see his picture of his baptism next!! We freaked out because hes never said that before but seeing his kids get baptized he says he can feel the truth and he wants it too! along with their aunt Yari who should be getting married and baptized too in the next three weeks! its just soooooo expensive for them because they're not tican they're from nicaragua. so when Kelvin got up to bare his testimony,,, he was so nervous that his aunt Yari did it for him and it was so powerful she just testified of the veracidad de este evangelio and how this is the only true church.  okay the actividad was a culture appreciaiton so we brought food from all different regioins , the gringos brought spagehetti and chili and i brought some sick awesome mashed potatoes (if i say so myself) they were like going home. hah. and really the ward has helped the investigators feel so loved. its amazing. 

sunday i almost died of food overload. so we were fasting and then the gringo families brought us pb&j and corn bread so we broke our fast with this then we went to lunch and we are spagehetti and rice combo and then we had to go to this party for this member and she gave us more food and i threw more than 2/3 away because i was sooooooo fulll.

anyways i love ya sooooooo muchh!!! 

talk to you more later!!

Spiritual Pump me up!

okay so this weeeek On Tuesday our president fumiagated our house which was so nice of him.. i havent seen a cockroach in three days.. miracles do happen and dreams come true. hah. we had an interview for the baptism of alonso and he passed so that was super exciting. Then we packed and got ready to go to the temple on wednesday and then to do divisions that night in sanjose.  so we set our alarm for 1:50 so that we could take the bus at 3 am and idk what happened but my alarm didnt go off andjust by chance we work up at exactly 3am so I was frekaing out not sure what we could do because I just wanted to go to the temple and so we couldn't call anyone they were all asleep, but then I remembered the ZL were on a bus to san jose too so we called them and they were sweet and told us that we just need to take the next one and we can do the later session at the temple. So we go and get on the bus and head to san jose and get to the temple at like 9:30, we take a few pictures and then we go "shopping" in the little store by the temple. This distribution center is so tiny but so cheap I was able to buy the lds art book for 2 dollars. so that has been a great help. Then we go in and they ask if I want head phones.. I decided to go through in spanish and it was an amazing experience. I am so grateful for the opportunity to go through the temple and Im so grateful that I was able to feel so much the saviors love for me. I was then able to go shopping with my comps in san jose central. It was a fun day but we couldnt buy anyything because as soon as people saw me they raised the price. one guy said 5 i mean 7 dollars... hah. it was so obvious and we were like no thank you. Then we got to the offices to do divisions and I wanted to scream because Hna Ogletree was there to do divisions with me. what a sweet tender mercy. we talked about all the miracles and changes and we talked about how it was going for her in the city and it was just great because after 5 months together i really do feel like she's my bestie in the mish. 

Okay so then thursday we get back to santa cruz at like 5 and get to work. We taught Yaris (sister to Ana) and the silliest thing happened... her brother whois 34  likes me...and she keeps bringing up how good he is with kids and how hes single and all this just because one time I told her I want a bunch of kids. and So then anita came up to me and was like my tio likes you.. you're going to be a part of my family soon. haha. so now thats super awkward when we go and teach. hah. but theyre doing super great!

Okay so conference on saturday I have to admit I didnt get much out of it.. I had to watch it in spanish. and while I understand most of the talks I didnt feel very enlightened as I could've.. but its okay because I can read them in the ensign.. then we had the baptism of Alsono and it was usper beautiful and it was definitely his time Im so excited that hes finally a member.

Sunday conference we found a laptop and i got to watch it in english and it was amazing. I haven't felt more enlightened and i was able to get so much information for our investigators. The church is so perfect and so true and there is no denying it. 

Sunday night I got to preach and testify to Gilmar because hes been having alot of doubts and it was incredible. I felt the lord speaking through me and  testifying through me. We could've fought easily and bible bashed because he had lots of questions and doubts and love the bible, but the only way to help him was to bare my testimony. and stand strong. Def. One of the best experiences in my mission! 

I love you all so much! The Church is So true! and There is nothing or no ones opinion that can change it. there;s a byu speech by pres. kimball about this and its amazing its from like 1977 or something. but its about how these are eternal truths and the opinions of man dont change it at all. 

love Hna coburn

Holy Miracles

Okay so this week was crazy amazing! So first my comps are so amazing and so we've been able to work really hard and really efficently and it's been really fun too. My Spanish is jumping leaps and bounds with two latina comps but I miss speaking English a lot. Oh well, ok so we had some crazy stuff go down...so first off we set a goal this week to raise our lessons from 40 to 42 and to get 14 lessons with a member present. We decided that we were going to reach all of our goals and put forth the effort and the faith required.

Monday- So Monday night we were doing the interview with Santos so that he could get baptized... the district leader had to use his phone during this to make a phone call and so he borrowed Santos phone and was out of the room for like five minutes i walk out to answer some questions for my dl and i get called over by Santos. I go over and he's freaking out and saying that his phone is his property and that he doesn't want to do this anymore and that he believes it but that his phone is his and no one can take it away and crazy stuff like that and i was so shocked.  I didn't do anything to try and convince him to stay i just was mouth opened wide and freaking out in my brain.. so after his rant he just got up and left. I decided after he cools down a bit we're going to call him and see what happened. So that was the craziness of Monday.

Tuesday-We went and taught the familia de ana about prayer and faith and her sister Yaris who is amazing was just like yep. my faith is helping me do the things that let me know that this is the true church. And so we're stoked for her. She told us that part of her faith too is that she's decided to get married as soon as possible. So that was really awesome. So we always have three niñas with us in these lessons like little neighborhood kids so that's always fun because they're progressing too and we're able to help them recieve the truth and their parents are letting us. Everyone today has been asking about the end of the world and the rapture.  I am so sick of these quesitons. I'm like it doesn't matter as long as you're doing what the restored gospel tells you to do. And then they just go off about these crazy beliefs they have about the end of the world. hah. Oh silly latinos.

Wednesday- We had an awesome district meeting and hna Medina was able to feel a little more comfortalbe with being a missionary so that was really nice and we were able to learn about putting fechas for bautismo. And then we taught Cristian our recent convert how to do the baptism  because he's baptizing Josue. He was so excited and so nervous and it was just awesome. We were able to do divisions and I was able to work with just hna medina. She's slowly and steadily opening up and speaking more its so funny i never thought all greenies were the same.. but they are no importa if you know the language or not because its so different to be a missionary. Then we brought all our investigators to the ward activity and they loved it! So that was really awesome.

Jueves- we did some contacting in a new area and we were able to find the funniest most amazing person. She's a 50 something yr old lady who is super sold on the bible but not religious and so we just were explaining to her the purpose of a church and she was like you're right and I just need to find the right one. So I went in and started the Joseph Smith story and i did the first vision and it was super powerful and in the middle of it this lady jut pats her heart and is like oh my stars this is so beautiful this is so true. hah. and so that was really fun. We should see some great progress from her too. Then we were able to help and teach some more little joven boys and i just laugh because that's like our main teaching group.

Friday- okay so this is the craziest day because we had weekly planning and so we were in the house til 3 but then we were still able to get 9 lessons in. We realized the best way to teach is direct and clear and you shouldn't beat around the bush and you should leave when the spirit is the most strong. So that's what we've been doing and we are cranking out the lessons. It's awesome!! We got to finally teach GUADALUPE! He's the spouse of Ana and it was great. They both gave us premission to baptize their kids before we baptize them. And then we were able to teach a new family that's super interested in knowing that we have a prophet today. its great to give people the hopé and the joy that we have someone to guide us and help us get to christ. So hopefully we see progress wit them this week. also I found out today that on WEDNESDAY WE'RE GOING TO THE TEMPLE! FINALLY!! And so thats super aweosmeeee.

Saturday- So today we needed 5 lessons with members so that we could reach our goals and so we were fasting and praying as a comp to meet all of our goals. Keep that in mind.Today was a day super crazy.  Okay so we got up at 4:30 and dropped off our laundry and started studying at 6:45 so that at 9 we could help serve a menosactivo. so we went there not knowing what she wanted and she said wash my clothes. so for the first time in my life i washed a whole set of laundry by hand... and it was fun and hard hah. im so grateful for the washingmachines. hah. and then we went and helped out at an activity at the church for the primary and then went and bought ingredients for no bake cookie s and made those for the baptism and then we went and taught two people and when we got back to the church there was an activity for the youth.. but there were some adults there it was 4:30 when we got there with the baptismat 6:30 so we got two people to come out with us and did divisions and I went out with hna Medina and a member names Magaly. So we went and taught this 21 yr old names milagro. she's awesome!  she's a hard worker and she's catholic but shes looking for the truth and says she feels it. It was such inspiration to have Magaly with us because they're the same person and Magaly had the same doubts when she was investigating the church so it's was just super super awesome. and then we were like oh know we have to go we have a baptism and milagro was like i wanna come... which doesnt ever happen. so we ran home to get cookies and when i say ran i mean we ran a mile to our house to get the cookies with all our books and bags in skirts and not running shoes and then we ran to the church getting there at 6:10 when we got there, 40 people were waiting which doesnt happen ... and then 5 more showed up. so its was so crazy to have that many poeple with the family of ana there and milagro and having cristian baptize josue. it was so beautiful and i oculdnt stop smiling. and neither coould josue or cristian. so then i asked hna alvarado how many lessons she got and she said three. so that was four lessons with a member and then thebpatism to make a grand totaly of the 5 that we needed! and then we had two more after that leaving the week with a grand totaly of 44 lessons!!!! CRAZY AMAZING MIRACLES!!! We met all of our goals!!

Sunday- was a great day we got 6 people in the capilla and ALONSO! One of the people we've worked so hard with - came! and this was his third time in the capilla and we asked how it's going with all the leys, the laws, and he said he's kept the ley de castidad for two weeks now! This was amzing because that's his biggest problem and after church i was like well when can we baptize you and he was like this weekend. I was just joking but when he answered this weekend I wanted to cry because we have a goal of one baptism a week and I've been praying and hoping we'd find someone who can be baptized and he did it. He answered that prayer!! And then last night Santos called us and said Satan was attacking his mind and that he misses us and wants to come back to our church because he knows it's true and that he misses feeling the spirit. So it's just amazing the prepared people we're meeting and the miracles that are happening right now! And then we found out something crazy... hna Alavardo is leaving on Thursday for Argentina... well thats what they're working toward... so that's going to be a crazy change!! Then my comps made me fooooddd mmmm yummmyyy.

Sorry this email is so long this weeeeek, lots happened, It's all happening by faith, obedience, and hard work. I know that fasting and prayer is one of the best ways to see miracles and I know without a doubt that this is the only true church with poder and autoridad on the face of the planet and I'm so grateful for this knowledge.  I love you all so much and I couldn't read your emails super thoroughly but i printed them out and I will talk to y'all in a week!! Just know that y'all are in my prayers always and I love ya so much and that I'm grateful for your emails and for your prayers! The church is true!

Love yaa!
Hna Coburn 

Cha cha changes

Okay so we had a great week starting off with the fun pday at the beach with the family Johnson and Blanchards, the two gringo families. They're so awesome and so nice then on Tuesday we just worked like normal but then we started getting a pit in the bottom of our stomaches because this week is transfers.. so on Tuesday night hna Ogletree got a call that shes going to be a sister training leader and that she's going to Tres Rios and will need to be in San Jose on Thursday to get together with her new comp. So I was super super sad because 5 months and 24-7 with someone you get kinda close. But its like she's moving on up so its okay and I knew I'd still have rockstar hna Alvarado and so i was okay with it.

Then on Wednesday morning we got a call from the secretaries that hna Alvarado would need to get some papers while she was in San Jose on Thursday with us because she should be leaving in two weeks so again my heart was sad. But  I was still like  okay. I'll get a new comp and that's fine but i didn't let myself belief that i would be training. because only 4 sisters were coming in this transfer and they'd want the best of the best... and I hadn't gotten a call so it was fine. So then we went and visited like everyone we could on Wednesday so hna Ogletree could say her goodbyes and give her last strong lesson and testimony to these people. It was a really fun and sad and busy day. We went to buy our bus tickets for the 3 am bus to get in there early enough to get the paper work for hna Alvarado and the guy said it was sold out... so we had to buy tickets for that bus but for standing... so it was going to be three hours on the bus standing... or maybe sitting on the floor if we were luckyy. So we get home and start planning and everything and then the phone rings... and I answer and its my zone leaders and hes calling to tell me that I'm getting a baby.. a newbie and that I'll have a meetting with President Wilkinson at 8:30 in the morning the next day. I'm like freaking out and then the phone rings again and I'm like oh they're going to call and tell me its a joke... I answer and it's Pres. Wilkinson. He said he wanted to personally invite me to be a trainer. I was definitely freaking out now. I'm so not ready for this... but whatever.. just gotta take what I get and turn it in to something better. So we start cleaning because we wnat the house to make a good impression for the newbie and its now like 10:40 and we all still have to shower so we do that and its now like11:30 and then hna Ogletree who was packing is like... uh my clothes that I had to wash by hand are all still wet. (this is because our laundry lady couldnt do our laundry this week) and so we stayup til like 1 am with a hairdryer drying all her pieces of clothes one at a time. and by then its like no point in sleeping because we have to take a taxi at 2:15 to get to the bus station and so we get no sleep, hop on a bus try to sleep but I can't because its bumpy and just awesome and also because I'm super nervous. So I get to San Jose and go to my meeting and Just feel a little more at peace because Pres. Wilkinson is just so amaizng and so good about explaining what it means to be a trainer and how really He was inspired to choose us and then we get ready to go to pick up our babies from the Mission Home. So I get two letters and then I get to the house and Hna Wilkinson is Like OH MY YOURE HERE! I can give you your package. Oh your dad is just so sweet and I am so glad i could help you out. So I got my package plus my letters from Brynne Richards and another friend.  This make me calm down a lot alot. I got to eat some delicous breakfast chocolate chip pancakes and then get my new comp. Her name is Hna Medina. Shes from Mexico. Shes 23.. intimidating because I'm only 19... shes really awesome. She's a little timid but who isn't when they're new and so we got to go back to Santa Cruz and made it just in time for the Elders baptism. I walk in and they're like "oh yay you made it. youre singing the special number. thanks."  hah. So that was funny. and then we just started working. It's so different being the leader and training two people at once is intimidating but its fun! I have been able to grow So Much. William. who always is with us was like wow you've changed alot in just three days and I know it's because I've been put in the fire and the Lord is helping me become better. Okay so now on to investigators. Ana! so she's still super great and shes learning and progressing alot. She still doesn't want to set a date for her wedding but we're working on it. She's so willing to do what the lord wants and yesterday we taught the word of wisdom (coffee is a HUGE thing here its just the culture) and she was like yeah I believe it. I'll stop drinking. And now we are teaching her sister Yaris and her family and She came to church and it was amazing because shes like I'm  100% sure this is all true. I love the church and I love this new book and I prayed and felt it's true. So lets do this thing. hah. Its so amazing how prepared people are. And Santos our solo old man who smoked 10-12 every day is now only smoking 2 cigerates every day and he's going to stop completely by tomorrow! So that's amazing. I'm seeing the lords hand in every single investigators process of conversion. Josue the little brother of Ernesto (the recent convert) is going to be baptized on Sunday and he asked to have CRISTIAN do it! I am so so so excited for this!

oh and just so you know here are pictures from the baptism last week. and Kendry the 8 yr old. is HONEY BOO BOO but Latino! so yeah just look at her face in this picture and you'll agree. hah. 

 

Love you all so much! Thanks for my package, that dress is amazing . If there are different colors or styles i want them because it's perfect length and it is so light and just awesome. Anyway i really am so grateful for your prayers and your support and your love and everything - y'all are the best.

Love hna coburn