This week has been rough but great.

Hola Familia!!! 

I have loved your pictures this week! Kate Liam is ADORABLE! And Hailey and Blake WHAT HAPPENED THEY ARE GETTING SO BIG! Morgue The girls are as cute and Ever and GRANT CAN WALK!!!!!! Oh my heck!!!! <3 I love you guys so stinkin much!

This week has been rough but great. I offically had my first sick moments of the mission. We have been eating really great..... not really rice and beans yay!! And usually pizza in the night.... we figured out that the pizza place sells calzones and they are really cheap and huge. So we had those then the next night the other hermanas wanted to have some too. So we had them again..... Then I woke up about 5:30 and yeah.... puked... so that was fun. :] I am sure that you all wanted to know that. But i took a nap and by 10 I was ready to go! So we went on our way and I ate soda cracker the rest of the day. But i am great now.

We had our SUPER NOCHE DE HOGAR (family home evening) with the Rama this week, It was on the 24th of July so we had a pioneer night! It was so much fun! We watched a little bit of 17 Miracles and talked about how much the Pioneers sacrificed for us to have this Gospel.  I love the pioneers so that was awesome! Also we dressed like pioneers.... I was the most pioneery pioneer. *Photos to follow* But it was awesome. We played some pioneer games and had some food. Our branch is great! 

My spanish is coming. I am not afraid to talk to people. I know that it is no where near perfect but it is coming. I have been trying really hard to focus more in the lessons and that has mad a HUGE difference! I can feel the hand of the Lord in my life. I am starting to understand why missions change people because they help you realize what is important. Our branch has so many less active people. We have 4 missionaries and 2 of them are just here to reactivate people, We are trying to have a ward but we have to have 120 people in sacrament meeting 3 weeks in a row. Right now we have like 70 or 80.... but it is coming! I am starting to realize that people make the Gospel so much more complicated than it needs to be. As long as we are doing the small things like reading our scriptures, praying, having family home evening, those are the things that will strengthen our testimony. Those are the things that will change our relationship with our Heavenly Father and bring us closer to Jesus Christ. I can't explain how much I love this Gospel. I can't explain how grateful I am to be here helping others come to Christ. Even though it is the hardest thing I have ever had to do It is amazing.

We had a baptism this week!!!! YAY!! Her name is Natalia! She is the one who got married a few weeks ago. We weren't really close with her because she started the lessons before with other Missionaries but It is amazing how the gospel changes people/ You can see the change in her countenance. So for the baptism we straightened our hair, which never happens. We were so cute and ready... We walked out the door and it started to rain.... how sad :[ (Photos to follow) Also another one of our investigators. It has been really slow with them... but the other day we were talking about how we have been sent here from God. That we are their answer. Then in his prayer he said Thank you for sending these angels here to help me....

We are still having a problem with getting people to come to church but things are getting better little by little.  It is crazy to think that I almost have 4 months in the Mission.... IT GOES SO FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love it. I love being a missionary! 

Well family that is about all.... Hope you have a good week and know that I love you! I am so grateful to have an eternal family! Know that the Lord Loves you! He has a plan and it is perfect! :] 

Love you all <3 Hermana Chatwin

Because my companion is great i have all these!!! Enjoy!

ADD 24TH JULY PICTURES FROM WORD DOC!

This week has been pretty slow.

Hi Family!

This week has been pretty slow. Nothing to exciting.. We have a few new investigators and hopefully will have a baptism this week. We are just having a really hard time getting people to come to church. :( So that is our focus right now. We have decided that we are going to pick one family to help us with each one of our investigators and then if they help us baptise them we will make them dinner or something..... everyone likes food right. :) Anyway my spanish is coming slowly but surely. We have a new district leader...well will have our district leader had cambios de emergencia.... so he is in San jose with his comp. Hopefully we will have them back today. Things are good. The food is good... I am going to be a fatty when I come home....

Ah i dont know nothing really exciting has happened. Just keep praying for our investigators that they will come to church! :(

But i am happy and alive and everything this good! The church is true :) this is lords work! We are his hands! So help the missionaries in your ward! Ah help them to find people and help them teach! Seriously this is the best thing ever! To be part of someone changing their lives is incredible!

Well I will just share a little bit of what I was reading this week in LDM. I was reading about Abinidi. Wow.... seriouly that guy was one heck of a missionary. His words were so powerful and his testimony of the Savior is amazing. I love that the things he was testifying of had not happened and he had so much faith in the Savior that he was going to atone for our sins.  That Abinidi was teaching the same principles that we are teaching everyday. I love how the gospel is always the same. The gospel of Jesus Christ never changes because He never changes.  He is and always will be our Savior.  He knows us perfectly and wants to help us.  But it is our choice if we will come to him and change. I have started marking all of the times that the scriptues say Come because I love that the lord is just inviting us to come to him and change our lives.  We have to take those first few steps in the darkness before he can help us with anything. I have really gained a testimony of this these last few weeks with my spanish. The days that I feel like I cant speak are the days i need to open my mouth and talk to someone. Because when we take those few steps in the darkness the Lord is right there to help us find what we need to do. 

I love the gospel and my Savior so much! I am so grateful to be a missionary for him here It is the best!!! I love this gospel with all my heart! 

Well thats all from the Costa Rica Sister Chatwin!

Oh and CONGRATS KATE!!!!!!!! Baby Liam is adorable and the video of him and blake was too cute!

 Everyone is getting so big! :) Love you and miss you all!!

Love Hermana Chatwin

A slow week in Costa Rica!

Hi Family!

This week has been pretty slow. Nothing to exciting.. We have a few new investigators and hopefully will have a baptism this week. We are just having a really hard time getting people to come to church. :( So that is our focus right now. We have decided that we are going to pick one family to help us with each one of our investigators and then if they help us baptise them we will make them dinner or something..... everyone likes food right. :) Anyway my spanish is coming slowly but surely. We have a new district leader...well will have our district leader had cambios de emergencia.... so he is in San jose with his comp. Hopefully we will have them back today. Things are good. The food is good... I am going to be a fatty when I come home....

Ah i dont know nothing really exciting has happened. Just keep praying for our investigators that they will come to church! :(

But i am happy and alive and everything this good! The church is true :) this is lords work! We are his hands! So help the missionaries in your ward! Ah help them to find people and help them teach! Seriously this is the best thing ever! To be part of someone changing their lives is incredible!

Well I will just share a little bit of what I was reading this week in LDM. I was reading about Abinidi. Wow.... seriouly that guy was one heck of a missionary. His words were so powerful and his testimony of the Savior is amazing. I love that the things he was testifying of had not happened and he had so much faith in the Savior that he was going to atone for our sins.  That Abinidi was teaching the same principles that we are teaching everyday. I love how the gospel is always the same. The gospel of Jesus Christ never changes because He never changes.  He is and always will be our Savior.  He knows us perfectly and wants to help us.  But it is our choice if we will come to him and change. I have started marking all of the times that the scriptues say Come because I love that the lord is just inviting us to come to him and change our lives.  We have to take those first few steps in the darkness before he can help us with anything. I have really gained a testimony of this these last few weeks with my spanish. The days that I feel like I cant speak are the days i need to open my mouth and talk to someone. Because when we take those few steps in the darkness the Lord is right there to help us find what we need to do. 

I love the gospel and my Savior so much! I am so grateful to be a missionary for him here It is the best!!! I love this gospel with all my heart! 

Well thats all from the Costa Rica Sister Chatwin!

Oh and CONGRATS KATE!!!!!!!! Baby Liam is adorable and the video of him and blake was too cute!

 Everyone is getting so big! :) Love you and miss you all!!

Love Hermana Chatwin

Part of the e-mail she sent to Mom! it sounds like her spanish is coming along!

But last week we were in San jose and mom really my spanish is coming so much better than i thought. We were with all the other girls i came with and they cant speak..... i was reading the notes from my blessing and it said i will learn the language fast and well. The first few times i read that i was discouraged because i thought it would be like 3 weeks and I would have it down but when you think about it that i have only been learning spanish for 3 months the fact that i can talk to people and basicially  understand everything is a blessing. So its getting better. 

Hola Familia!!!!!

Hola Familia!!!!! 

How is everyone?? How has your week? Can you believe that in a few days I will have 3 months in the Mission..... What?!?!?! Where did the time go?? I loved the pictures of the kids :] Everyone is getting so big.. And mom glad you can use the clothes I didn't bring... Now i am wishing I had them because it is so hot. I use like 4 shirts here that are short sleeved. .... Anyway...

This week has been good. We have had more success with our investigators but nothing to exciting.

I talked about one investigator in my letter last week that was so ready for us to teach her but her husband is married to someone else. Well Her husband got a new job so he is hopefully going to start the proccess of getting divorced this week :] They are SO awesome! She came to church this sunday and in Gospel Principles we talked about the gift of the holy ghost. Then in Relief Society we talked about baptism. Druing the class she said. Well i was a little afraid about getting baptized but i know it is what I need to do. I want to get baptized but before I do that i need to get married :] We were SO happy!!!! Ah she is awesome.! Also she LOVES the book of mormon. She reads like everyday. She is just so much happier in her life :] Ah the Book of Mormon is So powerful! We have a hard time getting people to read it but i know that once people take those first few steps to start reading their testimony just explodes! I love the Book of Mormon. That is the best part of my day when I get to read for myself and apply those things in my life! 

On Friday we got to go to the temple because one Hermana Garcias converts went through.  It is about a 4 hour bus ride So we left at like 2 The session started at 7. We thought we would have plenty of time. But the bus was so slow.  We got into Belen which is where the temple is at about 6:45. So we had to take one more bus. But it was slow so we got off and were trying to find a taxi. At this point it was like 6:55 we finally got a taxi and we got to the temple. We were running to the door and they said oh no we just closed the door :[ Hermana Garcia was so sad! But we did inititories which was still really cool. Then we just waited for them in the Celestial room. We spent the night at the Hermanas house in Belen and then came home early Saturday morning. 

We also had a wedding on Saturday. The groom is a member but he has been less active for a few years.  The Bride is our investigator and she is hopefully going to be baptized the end of this month.  :] They are awesome! 

We have started a new thing with our branch that we are going to have a mega family home evening once a week in the chapel with everyone. So this week was the first one. We had a little lesson played games and had treats. It was so much fun. We also had three investigators come to it :] So we are hopefully going to have a lot of success with this.  Our branch is awesome! I really feel like we are a family! But we have a goal to have a stake here by December so we have had a lot of meetings about hastining the work. The district president spoke in sacrament meeting about it and said that this is not a goal of President Wilkinson that this is the goal the lord has set for us.  That he expects it of us.  So we hopefully will have a little more help from the members and we are going to be working our tails of to have a stake before I have transfers :] 

Well that has basically been my week. Hope everyone is well :] Love you all and thanks for you prayers and emails! Hey Kate I hope to see some pictures of your children soon :] and the new Liam also! <3 love you guys 

Morgue your kids are TO CUTE and TO BIG! Love them SO MUCH! 

Love you all <3 Hermana Chatwin

Hola Familia

Hola Familia!!! Como Estan?? 

Ah Esta semana fue tan bien! Yo tengo una meta para solo hablar en Espanol entonces su carta va a ser en espanol :] jaja No es cierto :]

How are you all doing? This week has been great! I dont know where to start....

We had a Zone meeting this week and that was a lot of fun. But we were on the bus to get there and we have heard so many stories about other missionaries contacting buses here. We dont have buses in our area because we just walk everywhere. But we decided that we wanted to contact this bus. So we stood up in the front and just said basically hi we are missionaries  we have a message about jesus christ if anyone is interested we will be coming around to your seats.And then we talked to everyone on the bus. After that we were in the reunión and the ZL asked me to share a spiritual experience. I was so nervous but I did it and it wasn't terrible! Then after we went back and decided to contact that bus so we did and We found a family that lives in our area! We met with them yesterday and the Dad is really interested! We will see what happens. 

After the meeting we just started working but I really felt like wow I can kind of speak. Presidente Wilkinson said that most Gringas have this time where they feel like they cant speak and then their spanish just takes off! I am for sure understanding more and starting to speak more! The lord is blessing my spanish so much! Thank you for all your prayers they are really helping! That day I actually started talking to people on the street and I felt like hey maybe i can be a missionary..... :] 

So for the 4th of july there is another Gringa here so we had to go on divisions because my companion and I had two appointments at the same time.  So I had to lead the lesson and talk to our investigators. I was so nervous because our investigator always has a ton of questions about her reading in the book of mormon. But she read in 2nd Nephi about the plan of salvation and she said okay i get it i understand why we have bad things happen in our lives.  It was awesome! She isn't ready to be baptized or anything but she has SO much faith. The first time that we met her she said last night I was asking God for something more in my life. You girls just have a light about you. It is awesome! We still have lots of work to do because her and her "spouse"are not married..... (no one here is....) and he is married to someone else. So its like a 4 or 5 month process for the divorce and wedding. Then hopefully baptism!!!  But after the lesson the other Gringa and I decided that we were going to have ice cream to celebrate :] that was fun! And that night we had hot dogs rootbeer and ice cream to celebrate! 

The spanish is coming. I mean it is not perfect by any means but I can have a kind of conversation with people now :] 

We are in San Jose AGAIN for changes because one of the Hermanas is changing and the other is going to be a trainer so we are in a trio for a few days until her new hija comes :] Also my companion has a dentist appointment so we are going to that in like an hour.  But i guess the dentist here is a member  and she does all the work for free because dental isnt covered by the church.  So that is awesome! 

Well family this week has been so much better! We have some really awesome goals and are excited to work. I know that this is exactly where I need to be and There are people here I need to find! Love you and miss you all! You guys are the best! 

Love Hermana Chatwin

This week has been great! I don't know where to start….

Hola Familia!!! Como Estan?? 

Ah Esta semana fue tan bien! Yo tengo una meta para solo hablar en Espanol entonces su carta va a ser en espanol :] jaja No es cierto :]

How are you all doing? This week has been great! I don't know where to start….

We had a Zone meeting this week and that was a lot of fun. But we were on the bus to get there and we have heard so many stories about other missionaries contacting buses here. We dont have buses in our area because we just walk everywhere. But we decided that we wanted to contact this bus. So we stood up in the front and just said basically hi we are missionaries  we have a message about jesus christ if anyone is interested we will be coming around to your seats.And then we talked to everyone on the bus. After that we were in the reunión and the ZL asked me to share a spiritual experience. I was so nervous but I did it and it wasn't terrible! Then after we went back and decided to contact that bus so we did and We found a family that lives in our area! We met with them yesterday and the Dad is really interested! We will see what happens. 

After the meeting we just started working but I really felt like wow I can kind of speak. Presidente Wilkinson said that most Gringas have this time where they feel like they cant speak and then their spanish just takes off! I am for sure understanding more and starting to speak more! The lord is blessing my spanish so much! Thank you for all your prayers they are really helping! That day I actually started talking to people on the street and I felt like hey maybe i can be a missionary..... :] 

So for the 4th of july there is another Gringa here so we had to go on divisions because my companion and I had two appointments at the same time.  So I had to lead the lesson and talk to our investigators. I was so nervous because our investigator always has a ton of questions about her reading in the book of mormon. But she read in 2nd Nephi about the plan of salvation and she said okay i get it i understand why we have bad things happen in our lives.  It was awesome! She isn't ready to be baptized or anything but she has SO much faith. The first time that we met her she said last night I was asking God for something more in my life. You girls just have a light about you. It is awesome! We still have lots of work to do because her and her "spouse"are not married..... (no one here is....) and he is married to someone else. So its like a 4 or 5 month process for the divorce and wedding. Then hopefully baptism!!!  But after the lesson the other Gringa and I decided that we were going to have ice cream to celebrate :] that was fun! And that night we had hot dogs rootbeer and ice cream to celebrate! 

The spanish is coming. I mean it is not perfect by any means but I can have a kind of conversation with people now :] 

We are in San Jose AGAIN for changes because one of the Hermanas is changing and the other is going to be a trainer so we are in a trio for a few days until her new hija comes :] Also my companion has a dentist appointment so we are going to that in like an hour.  But i guess the dentist here is a member  and she does all the work for free because dental isnt covered by the church.  So that is awesome! 

Well family this week has been so much better! We have some really awesome goals and are excited to work. I know that this is exactly where I need to be and There are people here I need to find! Love you and miss you all! You guys are the best! 

Love Hermana Chatwin

                              The hermanas  in our district 

  Hermana Garcia and Me







SOMETIMES WE EAT PIZZA!!!!

  

The herman a that has changes

Wow I can kind of speak!

Hola Familia!!! Como Estan?? 

Ah Esta semana fue tan bien! Yo tengo una meta para solo hablar en Espanol entonces su carta va a ser en espanol :] jaja No es cierto :]

How are you all doing? This week has been great! I dont know where to start....

We had a Zone meeting this week and that was a lot of fun. But we were on the bus to get there and we have heard so many stories about other missionaries contacting buses here. We dont have buses in our area because we just walk everywhere. But we decided that we wanted to contact this bus. So we stood up in the front and just said basically hi we are missionaries  we have a message about jesus christ if anyone is interested we will be coming around to your seats.And then we talked to everyone on the bus. After that we were in the reunión and the ZL asked me to share a spiritual experience. I was so nervous but I did it and it wasn't terrible! Then after we went back and decided to contact that bus so we did and We found a family that lives in our area! We met with them yesterday and the Dad is really interested! We will see what happens.
 

After the meeting we just started working but I really felt like wow I can kind of speak. Presidente Wilkinson said that most Gringas have this time where they feel like they cant speak and then their spanish just takes off! I am for sure understanding more and starting to speak more! The lord is blessing my spanish so much! Thank you for all your prayers they are really helping! That day I actually started talking to people on the street and I felt like hey maybe i can be a missionary..... :] 

So for the 4th of july there is another Gringa here so we had to go on divisions because my companion and I had two appointments at the same time.  So I had to lead the lesson and talk to our investigators. I was so nervous because our investigator always has a ton of questions about her reading in the book of mormon. But she read in 2nd Nephi about the plan of salvation and she said okay i get it i understand why we have bad things happen in our lives.  It was awesome! She isn't ready to be baptized or anything but she has SO much faith. The first time that we met her she said last night I was asking God for something more in my life. You girls just have a light about you.

It is awesome! We still have lots of work to do because her and her "spouse"are not married..... (no one here is....) and he is married to someone else. So its like a 4 or 5 month process for the divorce and wedding. Then hopefully baptism!!!  But after the lesson the other Gringa and I decided that we were going to have ice cream to celebrate :] that was fun! And that night we had hot dogs rootbeer and ice cream to celebrate! 

The spanish is coming. I mean it is not perfect by any means but I can have a kind of conversation with people now :] 

We are in San Jose AGAIN for changes because one of the Hermanas is changing and the other is going to be a trainer so we are in a trio for a few days until her new hija comes :] Also my companion has a dentist appointment so we are going to that in like an hour.  But i guess the dentist here is a member  and she does all the work for free because dental isnt covered by the church.  So that is awesome! 

Well family this week has been so much better! We have some really awesome goals and are excited to work. I know that this is exactly where I need to be and There are people here I need to find! Love you and miss you all! You guys are the best! 

Love Hermana Chatwin

I guess they have real pizza in Costa Rica!

One Month!

Hi Family! How is everyone??

This week has been a little better.  We haven't had a ton of success but we have found a few new investigators so we will se what happens.  

The language is coming.  I have learned that the minute when i stop trying to open my mouth is when i cant talk.  Also we had our "one month check" with President today (so we are in San Jose) we just talked about how things are going and how our companions are.  He also said that it is very normal for North Americans to feel like they hit a road block and feel like they can't speak or understand then after that they just take off.  So I am hoping that that will come soon.  I know as long as i do my part the lord will help me.  

Also things have been crazy here with the World Cup.  Yesterday we did nothing.  We went to church and studied and then the game was on so we just studied and read scriptures. We went to one members house because we thought the game was over but they were in overtime for penalty kicks.... The members were going crazy like yelling at the TV and stuff..  It was crazy but fun to watch.  I have a shirt that says "Vamos Ticos" but I can only wear it on Pdays... clearly :) Then after that we helped the Hermanas in our district move. The other Hermanas in our district were having problems with their neighbors so the moved this week. Their new apartment is SOO nice... it smells like Gran's house but other than that it is really nice.

I hope you all have a great week.  Sorry its short. But we are in San Jose and dont have a ton of time today.  Love you all!! Have a good 4th of July for me! 

Love you and Miss you!!! <3

Hermana Chatwin

Makall with her district at a BBQ with the Mission President