BAUTISMO EN BELÉN

Well this week was a good one! Remeber Kassandra? The girl I was talking about last week? Well I told you I would keep you all posted and I have good news! SHE WAS BAPTIZED THIS SATURDAY. After her baptism there was a light just radiated from her and she was so happy :) She came out of the water with THE biggest smile. 

This week we had our week of miracles again! On Friday we spent ALL DAY in Ojo De Agua inviting people to take a tour of the church and to watch a short video... Lets just say me and my companion witnessed a miracle :) We were out on the street inviting people to come in and NO ONE was interested. hahah Thats when we decided to go knock on a random door. We chose a street and a house and ended up finding a younger woman with three young kids. She said she didnt have time but we shared a short message with her and she promised to come back later in the night. We left and about five hours later were inside the church helping with the tour when she showed up... the very last minute. We were so excited... we showed her the video and then talked to her about the gospel. We told her God was listening to her prayers and that he loved her and she burst into tears... and we did too. We had THE most spiritual lesson and I know she felt it :) She isnt in our area but we introduced her to the Elders and they just informed us that she came to church yesterday with her whole family :) Folks... Heavenly Father really is there and he really does listen to us and know us :) 

Like I said.. it was a good week :) 

Miss you all so much and love you all! Thanks for still reading my letters after 13 months  #EndureToTheEnd

Hermana Bass

Photos:

1. WE FOUND A BANANA TREE 

2. Costa Rica San Jose Temple 

3. BAPTISM

VALENTINES DAY AND LOTS OF MIRACLES

Well this week we saw miracles folks! We have been teaching a girl named Kassandra. She is 22 and her boyfriend is a member of the church. She has been coming to church for awhile but said she wanted to wait to talk to the missionaries. Her boyfriend left to Guatemale for three months and we thought for sure she would stop coming without him... HOWEVER she ended up coming by herself and we ended up meeting with her in front of the temple on Monday. We talked about baptism and asked if she was interested. She went on to tell us an amazing story about how she recieved an answer and how she knows the church is true. We asked if she would like to wait to be baptized until May when her boyfriend (member) gets back but she said she made up her mind and wants to be baptized this coming week. We were so shocked! But it was a definitely a miracle :) I will keep you posted. 

Also a little story I would like to share... We were visiting a family and one of them brought out a poem that he had written and asked us to read it... just looking at the page I could tell that it wasnt a poem that had very good words... or a good message. I didnt want to make things awkward but I had to say something.. so I told him that as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we dont read things like that. He then went on to say that it wasnt a big deal and if you have a strong foundation in the church, it shouldnt matter what you read or watch or listen to. While he was talking I realized that to have ´´a strong foundation´´ you have to watch out for things like that..and refrain from watching or listening to things that take away the spirit. He didnt agree. hahahah but we got home and I was thinking about the experience and put on some aweseome church music and I was just laying in bed listening to the peaceful music and HOLY COW was hit with the spirit SOO strong telling me that it was true what I had said.. that if we want the spirit in our lives we have to be careful what we watch and listen to and read... I know its obvious and I have heard it a million times before in all my sunday school classes and in all my seminary years... but I defintely gained a testimony of that this week! There is a reason missionaries can only listen to church music or can only watch church movies.. because without the spirit we are just teaching in vain. And without the spirit in our lives we can get lost or make wrong decisions. Geezo Im grateful to have a Heavenly Father that constantly helps me to grow and become a better person... :) 

LOVE YOU ALL AND HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT WEEK! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY 

Hermana Bass 

PHOTOS

1. The cutest twins EVER 

2. Some gringos in our ward invited us over to eat CAFE RIO... oh my goodness I was the happiest person ever 

3. I FOUND SOMEONE FROM SOUTH JORDAN WHO WENT TO BINGHAM. HERMANA FINN! And of course we had to take a picture. we definitely went to school together for two years but never ran into each other! We do have some friends in common though! #CodyMoyes 

STAYING IN BELEN WOOOO!!

FOTOS

1. COOKING WITH WALKIRIA 

2. Pupusas with Jose and Marlen! #WelovePupusas 

3. the view from my front porch  I know you are all jealous. 

Well it was a good week! I dont have much time to write so sorry for the short letter! This week we had transfers.... but dont worry I get to stay in Belen folks ;) My mission no longer is the Costa Rica Oeste Mission... it is now the Costa Rica Belen Mission. After almost seven months here I know its going to be hard to leave #WeLoveBelen #UnCambioMas 

The week was filled with old men trying to flirt with me, lots of traffic, and a whole bunch of awesome people... Amo a mis Ticos  

I promise next week i will write more! Have a great week and thanks for your letters and for your support! 

Hermana Bass 

HERMANA BASS OTRA VEZ

OKAY STORY TIME. (I know you all love my stories) ;)

About two weeks ago me and my companion needed to find new people to teach. We have a huge map of our area in our apartment and we decided to pray and then choose a street to visit. After choosing the street we left to knock on doors. and on this WHOLE street only one older man opened the door. He told us he wasnt interested but that he sells pupusas (A type of food from El Salvador) so he gave us his number if we ever wanted to eat Pupsusas.  Flash forward to about a week ago. We didnt have somewhere to go for lunch so we called this guy up and asked for Pupusas. He seemed really surprised that we called. We headed over to his house and ended up meeting his wife and sitting down to eat with them. We left them a pamphlet and casually talked a little about our message. Flash forward to this past Friday. We decided to celebrate my one year anniversary with Pupusas so we called this guy up AGAIN. This time we ate with them and while were all laughing and joking and eating when this man got serious and said, ´´hermanas. I am really sick. I dont know how much time I have left here. I have made a lot of mistakes... I have no idea where I will go when I die. I dont believe in Religion´´ and we all sat there in a heavy silence... not knowing what to tell him. We finally broke the silence and shared a little bit about a plan that Heavenly Father created for us. A plan that makes its possible for us to all make it back to him...We invited him to pray about it. After eating delicious pupusas we left to visit other people. That same night we got a call from this man... and oh my goodness you guys should have seen me and my companion... HE´S CALLING US. WHAT DO WE DO! YOU ANSWER IT! NO YOU ANSWER IT! hahahahah   I ended up answering it and this guy says, ´´Hermanas! Do you guys have lunch tomorrow?? If not come and eat with us here! FREE´´ hahah oh my goodness we were so excited. We headed over to eat lunch with him and his wife on Saturday and ended up sharing more with him. He has so many doubts and doesnt believe in Jesus Christ or the Bible... let alone our story about prophets and latter day revelation But I just cant help but hope that maybe he can change and become a better person...  That maybe we were sent there for a reason and maybe.. JUST MAYBE... we can help him :) But he definitely needs a lot of prayers his way! #PrayForJose

As for this week it was a good one! Other than the fact that I got a bloody nose while walking in the street and literally had nothing but my sciptures in my backpack and DEFINITELY wasnt going to use those ;) so I ended up ripping off some leaves from a nearby tree to try to get it to stop. Lets just say it didnt work out to well and I looked like I had killed someone with blood all down my face and all over my hands. That was a great experience. hahahah

But all in all it was a good week :) Love you all. And just so you all know I am know as the missionary who gets the most mail in my whole mission... so thanks for being the best family and friends a missionary could ask for . And thanks for not forgetting about me over here in Costa Rica  hahah! Love you all and hope you have a great week!

Hermana Bass

 

PHOTOS

1. Our neighbor gave us donuts to celebrate one year in the mission :) 

2. COSTA RICA TRAIN TRACKS 

3. SERVICE. 

ONE YEAR IN THE MISSION #Vieja

​Well sorry I am writing on a Tuesday... Its weird for me too ;) Yesterday my daughter in the mission reached her one month mark so all of the trainers and newbies went to our President´s house to eat food and talk about how its going so far. We left at five in the morning on a train and it was the coolest thing ever! And also didnt get home until around 6:30... so we got permission to write home today :)

But It was good week! We are teaching the best investigator ever! Her name is Allison and she is 18 years old. She told us that missionaries kept knocking on her door and she kept hearing about the church everywhere she went, so she felt like she finally needed to listen. She is so great and we are so excited that she is progessing :) I keep you updated on what happens :) 

AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST  

ITS MY MISSION BIRTHDAY THIS WEEK  This friday I have officially been gone a whole year and only have 1/3 of my mission left :(

 Yesterday I was talking to one of the new sister missionaries that has only been here for a few weeks... she starting crying telling me how hard its been and how she wants to go home. She said it wasnt fair because nobody tells you that a mission is so hard and that all of the returned missionaries just talk about how amazing it was. As she was talking I couldnt help but think that there is not a single returned missionary that EVER says it was easy either... They only ever say it was worth it. A mission is probably the hardest thing you will ever do... but it is also the best and most wonderful thing! I shared a few experiences with her and told her that things would get better... That nobody ever said it was easy, only worth it. I love that phrase and I think its my new life motto. It has been a year of lots of ups and downs and I couldnt be more grateful for ´´the downs´´ because they have made me the missionary I am today! Guys I love being a missionary... 

Love you all and have a great week! 

Hermana Bass 

YOUR FAVORITE EMAIL OF THE WEEK ;)

PHOTOS

1. Me and My bff Hazel! We met Hazel while knocking on doors back in September... She is a great human being :) 

2. FAMILIA BELEN (my awesome zone!) 

3. A christmas package that my family sent came a little late so I got to set up a Christmas tree for my birthday :) MERRY CHRISTMAS IN JANUARY 

I feel like every week my emails are shorter and shorter  But anyways this week was filled with teaching people, teaching people, and teaching people some more ;) Also I just thought I would let you all know that this week I found a cockroach the size of my hand. That was great.

And i am starting to read the Book of Mormon over again so I can finish reading it before I come home! If any of you would like to start it with me you are all invited ;) I have been thinking a lot about the promise that Moroni gives us that whoever reads this book with real intent and prays to know if its true WILL recieve an anwswer! And im not quite sure why but I feel the need to invite all of you (whether you have read the book or not) to start reading with me! So that you can know for yourself if it is true or not... its worth a shot right?? ;) 

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2011-11-018-a-book-of-mormon-story?lang=eng

Love you all so much and hope you have a great week! #JustKeepSwimming

Hermana Bass