Email: Sept. 28

Hey everybody
I am doing really well, this week was really awesome. Tuesday night we started divisions with the missionaries in Aserrí and I went there to be with our district leader, a gringo. It was a great break. Speaking in English all the time was awesome. That area is a little bit richer and more educated and thus the people actually know how to speak Spanish, not hick-spanish. Nobody there believed that I only have 2 months in Costa Rica because all the other missionaries are awful with Spanish in the beginning (and many for longer). People asked me where I learned spanish and I told them ´San Miguel, for the past 2 months´. I also told a lot of them that my mother is Mexican and that made them less surprised that I can speak Spanish. In their area is a place called Jardín, we went to teach some of their inv. con recién conversos. They were alittle bit poorer and it was raining and there were about 10 other people there besides us. So we sat on the ground to teach them while rain dripped on me. We almost had to shout when the rain picked up. It was good to learn from our DL; mostly learned what not to do. Haha. Good missionary, bad habits. What more. I have a sorta funny story. There is a little community of old people between our chapel and the street so we had contacted them a bit ago. We went to talk with them again this week, and found Octavio, and 80 year old man, with bright orange swimming goggles on, on his front porch with tupperware bowls of dirt and liquid. We asked him what he was doing and he told us that he likes to experiment with things of the earth and sciences, but that what he was doing was way scientific and had big words that we wouldn't understand. Words like hydroperoxide and nitrogen. Haha. He had some gold coins and was stripping off the metal etc. It reminded me of Grandpa Lofgren a ton, except that grandpa is smart and not crazy. What more.. we didnt have our baptism, the mom of the girl thinks LDS´s are satanic because we know that he is a spiritual son of God too and that makes us satanic. We got references from our zone leaders for two families that live together. They are golden. They have been going to church with their boss in another area so we are teaching them. The dads are brothers and they all live together. But with every good thing comes some kind of conflict. This week was the end of the month and when you can really see what numbers you need to meet your goals. So, these families were going to come to our church to meet the bishop of our area etc, but the ZL´s called them Saturday night to set up an appt. In their church with their boss. So, that was a good boost for their numbers.. What a shame. So we need to call them and get on their cases. These families are super interested, told us they have prayed and received their answers (woot), and we put a date for their baptisms and marriages for the end of October. Sweet eh? We only have to deal with our ZL´s and its a smooth ride for their key the the kingdom of God, baptism. OUr other investigators are good too. We are hoping to have 6 baptisms this month. Those 4 and 2 others. The max would be like 8, but that would need a few miracles, so we are praying. Also, we contacted some other people yaddayadda and got to know them a bit and them us and they were guessing where we were from and they thought I was from Colombia or Peru. UYSH! One of the first to think that I'm not American. Fun stuff. Good week all in all. Hope everyone is doing fantastic.
Harrison

9-21-09 Email.

Hey> >
Tough week. It seems like almost all of our work is falling through the cracks. We had about 8 accepted dates for baptism two weeks ago, and now none of them are gonna be accomplished. Two of them (the brother and sister of the pretty girl) will need to be moved to October, we are going to cut off two others(the DJ in our complex and the older man that reads the BoM a lot) because they havent been able to come to church for 1.5 and 3 months, respectively. Three others (the parents and a niece of some recent converts) are going to have to be moved to October as well. The parents want baptism, but dont want to leave the catholic church tradition, the alcohol and the coffee. The niece doesnt live with them but comes to church and wants baptism, its just a heck of a time trying to teach her. She doesnt live with them, we dont yet have permission to teach in her house, she doesnt have a phone, and there isnt a male in her house too. So we are trying to teach her sundays and when we have appointments with her grandparents. The one last date that we had fro baptism was a for sure go until today. We filled out her register papers last night but she took them home to get them signed and her mom wont do it. Wow, eh? So, we´re struggling with those. We have some other references, some good contacts as well. So, things arent moving slow, just hard. Really, this is tough stuff. But the blessings that I know will help the people helps me move forward. I can teach, testify, and do all I can, but the people will Always have the ability to choose.> As for me, Im doing great. I got a great package from my lovely mother on Wednesday with oreos, hershey kisses, Reisen, and starbursts. The oreos were finished friday morning, there are like 5 kisses and reisens left, and a bunch of starbursts. So Im feeling a lil sick and fat, but it was worth it. Real american food is the best, especially chocolate. I worked out my legs Saturday morning and every step feels like my butt and inner thighs are ripping apart. My testimony is strong as ever. Almost every moment I see how having the gospel helps people be happy, and even more how not having, or even worse not living, the gospel really can ruin a family, home and a person. The spanish is fine. Its an obstacle that I am slowly climbing over. My companion is awesome. He speaks spanish without a latino accent so people think he is American. I think that is one of the reasons I have trouble with understanding the poeple here. I understand everything he says, but when the accent is thrown in its almost a whole new language.> Everything is good. Hope you all are too.> Harrison>ps Nils is going to England or Washington

09-14-09 Email.

Hey everybody.> > Another good week of work. It seems like we are always tired, but that's what> t happens when you do things. Where to start.. We are always having good> experiences with members in our ward. A lot of the wards and branches here have small wards and no mission leader, but luckily we have one and a > lot of members. Almost every week we have had a member bring their friend> or cousin or someone who lives with them. (That happens a lot. Often the> re are like 10 people living in one very small house.)> But the work of members really a huge factor in conversion and retention. Even though our ward is great, we still ahve to do a lot of the teaching of less active and recent converts. I know missionaries are supposed to do> that, but here in San Miguel it feels like a loss of time because there > are a lot of poeple, mostly families, that are willing to listen and compromise. I wish we could get more home teachers, visiting teachers, etc.> As for our investigators, we are still finding newbs and having to cut a few out. We have two sure dates for baptism Set. 26th. And we have some who> accepted the challenge and hopefully we'll get them in the water. Mostly the biggest problems here are people getting to church and the Word> of Wisdom. We are teaching the parents of a recent convert, they are strongly catholic, and have said that they can feel the changes in their lives from our teaching and they have a testimony, but they don't want > to let go of their parents religion and tradition. It is super hard with > these two. We had a date with them for the 26th as well, but they didn't come to church so we have to postpone it and work with them more. Its really sad and discouraging when things like that happen. We are close to having to cut off 2 or 3 families because they havent progressed and we need> to move on to the ones who are actually ready. Also, the Lord has been able to use us in reactivating a lot of families, mostly part member families. Probably about 20 people in all have been turned from inactive or less active into coming 3 out of 4 times a month. Its awesome, and leads to opportunities to teach their family members who may not be members yet. > Our ward had a goal at the beginning of the year to have 20 convert baptisms in 2009. I think right now we are at about 17. My companion had 7 awesome converts in July, and we got 4 in August. This month will be a little lower but October has a lot of promise, and thats not counting the people we dont know yet. Costa Rica is still dirty as ever and every day I can seehow tight Satans grip is on the world. Immorality is everywhere here; that is probably one of the saddest things that I have come upon. Also,addiction is rampant. It's especially tough with coffee and tea. Its almost guaranteed that everyone we teach loves their coffee. Today was> changes, and luckily I get to keep my companion for another 6 weeks. We> are tearing San Miguel apart. Yesterday I had my first steak. It wasn't anything like steak. My favorite thing to eat is definitely fried platano. Super rico. I have learned more in 6 weeks about my life and what I > want in my future than I did my whole life. What things I want to do, and> things that I know I will never do(with family, work, friends, etc.)> We picked up a newb that came to church with members that has read a ton in> Gospel Principles and the intro pages of the Book of Mormon. He is interested and clearly sees something different about us, but he is stuck on his coffee. We gave him a powerful lesson and focused on Joseph Smith and > the truth of his calling and revelations. I am almost to the point where > I actually teach half of the time. We also had another reference this week of a part member family (only the mom) who has two daughters and a boyfriend. They have been together for 12 years! but dont want to marry yet. > We taught them lesson 1 and it was great. They have come to church two weeks in a row now!Hopefully we can receive the info we need to know what to teach and where to take them to lead to baptism. I really feel that San> Miguel is going to need a new ward soon, maybe within 2010. Anyway Im doing well and loving it. To all the gooders, you guys are awesome. Keep up> what you are doing, I know you guys are some of the best in your mission> s because of who you were before the mission. Thanks for your friendships, you guys are the bomb.> Elder Smith

09-07-09 Email. Subject: Eso

Whats up> Nothing too great this week. I really am not good at remembering things that don´t matter. As of now we have 4 dates for baptisms this month, but I really don´t have much faith in them. Maybe one or two, but they aren't progressing like we want them too. One is the older man that promises us he´ll come to church and never does, but he is always reading the book of Mormon. Another is the DJ that lives in our complex thing. I have a lot of hope for him, he reads and prays, likes us a lot, jsut cant really get Sundays off from work because his DJ team works Thursday to Sunday night. We´re trying to get him to church, he has a date for the 26th, well see if we have to delay it. THe other two are a brother and sister of the gorgeous girl who have a member inactive mom. They like us a ton and we are going to have to be more direct with them soon. The 14 year old reads and takes notes on every verse, the 12 yr old goes to mutual every week and wants to get baptized. The whole family drinks coffee and when we taught Word of Wisdom the girl said she doesnt care about anything anymore. Not a big deal because we dont think she has much interest in the church, just the white missionaries. But the brother has a little bit of hope. Their date is for the 19th; they´ve been to church like 3 times, but we dont know what the Lord wants us to do. We might baptise him and let him be the example to the rest, but we have to get the mother into it all too. She is a good commitment keeper with reading and all, they just dont seem to be able to findtheir answer. maybe they arent ready, but we´ll see. We are teaching the niece of our cocinera and she is awesome. Shell be baptized real quick. This ward is great with referrals and sharing the gospel. We have a few young people to teach that want to be baptized, and a husband of a inactive member taht came to church wit ha member. We are doing a noche de hogar with them tonight. They also have two daughters that arent members. Woot. Also, we are still waiting for the mom of our 4 baptisms to meet with a lawyer to get married so she can be baptized too. I hope we get some baptisms in this month and get some ready for next month.> As for the others, we have a big pool of investigators that dont really read or come to church, and we are going to be cutting them off soon, that will be hard. but there are always other ones that we contact and can teach and give a chance.> It´s awesome how powerful the truth of our message is. I feel really like we dont do much because of the truthfulness of what we say. We really are tools in the hands of the Lord. Those who are ready and have an open heart always will feel the spirit testifying of what we have to teach.> If any of you have friends or family who you think might have any chance or interest, teach them. Or send the missionaries to their house. There are no negative consequences of sharing what you know and feel.> As for me, things are well. I think the toe doctor didnt know what she was doing, but we go in tomorrow to see whats up with it. It doesnt hurt much, just is annoying. Understanding people when they speak is coming little by little, and Im trying to build my vocabulary. My comp is awesome. We have changes on the 14th, in a week, and he might be going. Actually we both mightt be going but he is more likely. I sure hope he doesnt go, that would blow. He has been awesome as a friend and trainer.> I dont have anything really cool to say or stories to tell. We helped build a hosue for one of our non progressing families. They are full of sin but love us. We pretty much build half of a house in like 1.5 hours with them. Wooden frame, tin outside, and plywood walls inside. What else.. > Hope school is going great for everyone. I love not having homework and being able to study and share the gospel every day. Woot. My life is so much better than yours :).> WIth love, -Harrison.

8-31-09 Email. Subject: 4 baptisms, woot

Hey all.> So this week was awesome. We are just doing all of the normal missionary stuff, and its going great. I cant really remember details of the week, but all four baptisms went through, no surprise. Now we are just working with the mother of the 4 to get her married and baptized too, hopefully this month. We also have like 4 other dates for baptisms this month too, so we spend a lot of time with those people (teaching, answering questions, staying friends, etc). One of them has been an investigator for a while. He is about 70 years old and lives with his catholic wife. He reads a ton, and eats up the lessons, he just doesn't seem to be able to come to church. So, we put a date with him to be baptized to push him a little. Jaja he is a little crazy. He doesn't have teeth, and is always moving his hands when we teach like its gonna help him learn. He reminds me of grandpa Lofgren, just Latino and not as smart. > But anyway, with the baptismal group we had, the star of the four that read a ton and had the most interest scared us on Friday. We were going through the 4th lesson and came to prophets and she absolutely refused to believe there was a modern prophet. Crazy eh? She knew the BoM was true, that Joseph Smith was a prophet, and that this church is the church of Christ but she kept on saying that there is no way she could believe there is a prophet today. So I was like Oh crap. What do we do with that? We taught them for like an hour more (because that is a serious doubt) about if the churc his on the earth, there sorta has to be a prophet and there has to be the authority to baptize. We told her that the only reason we were there as missionaries was because we were called by prophets. We threw every scripture at her about prophets and even her family started to teach and explain it to her. And then at the end of the lesson guess what happened? She still refused that there is a prophet and agreed to pray, but said that this time God wouldnt answer her. So, panicking because I knew she wouldn't be baptized without a testimony of this, remembered that we had left the conference issue of ensign at their house. I had the Mom go get it and I marked three of the talks by President Monson. She needed the fruits of the modern prophet to believe. We went back the next day and she was 180 degrees different. What a relief eh? So all went well.> Today for pday we had the "one month check" for the newbies. Oh yeah, also I went and got surgery this morning. How could I forget that. We had to wake up at 5:30 fr our appointment. Dad, remember how the first surgery on my toe I had like 5 shots of anesthetic and still almost yelled my lungs out from the pain? yeah they did the same thing except with no anesthetic. They cut a bit of it like 1cm in, then got a tool and jammed it all the way down the bed of my toenail. I almost died. There was another guy there for the same thing that passed out. Anyway, hope it heals up.> Back to the one month check- we went to the office that is an hour away and right by the foot doctor and talked with the president and the AP´s and then went up a mountain, took pictures, came back and ate at the presidents house. All in all it was a loss of time, but oh well. Now we are in San Jose, its been raining all day and neither of us had an umbrella so Im pretty wet. Everything is well though. Pura Vida.> -Harrison