First of Happy Anniversary mom and dad!

Hi family!!! 

First of Happy Anniversary mom and dad!!! Thanks for being such great examples to us of how to have a righteous family and to have a happy marriage! I love you guys and I am so grateful for the opportunity the Lord has given me to be part of your family!

I can´t believe how fast the time goes!!! 

This week has been good! We have started to find more people to teach and things are getting better. But my poor companion has been having problems with her knee. It started on monday but she was toughing it out. Then on friday she could hardly walk. Saturday it got worse. We walked like 2 minutes and she had to sit. Then we would walk 2 minutes and she had to sit. Then yesterday also she was having trouble walking just the same. So we are going to the office today to talk to PResident Hayes and she has an appointment at the doctor tomorrow. So pray for her that things will be okay. She doesn´t want to go home at all! So we need all the prayers we can get! 

This week we did have a few miracles! We were on divisions with some other sisters and we went to visit this lady that told us we could come back another day. So we went and visited her. She let us right in. We talked for a few minutes about her family and about her life and she told us that she just felt like she was not worthy to be with God that she had committed to many sins. So we talked about the atonement and repentance. You could see this light just light up in her face. It was really the neatest thing. That helped me remember why I am on a mission. To help other people feel the love of our Savior and to help them understand that repentance is possible.

That we can be completely clean of all our sins. Also we found another Hermana that we just started talking to her and asked if we could share something and she said yes. So we just started talking and she told us her story... she told us that before she didn´t believe in God and that she has had A LOT of problems in her life. But that there came a point when she decided she needed to change and started going to the Catholic church. She said God saved my life. We invited her to come to church and we also invited her to be baptized. She paused for a second after we invited her she said, I think that maybe I haven´t gotten an answer from God because I keep telling him I want to be Catholic but maybe he wants me to change. I am going to read that folleto and I am going to pray and ask God if he wants me to go to your church. It was a really amazing experience. It taught me that The Lord knows who he wants in his church. A lot of the times the missionaries say well they are really catholic so i am sure they wont listen. But that is not true. The Lord and the spirit work in ways we can´t understand. He is the teacher. If we are worthy of his companionship we will be able to be instrument in the hands of the Lord.

I love being a missionary. I can´t tell you how much I love it. I love feeling the spirit and being able to know that the Lord wants me to be here. There are a few sisters that have been struggling and want to go home. They are just starting there mission. So it has been amazing to see that the Lord has been able to help them through me. That the Lord knows his children. I have not done anything but the Lord has helped them to feel the spirit. It has made me reflecionar. That the mission is the hardest thing I have ever dont but it is the best thing i have ever done!  I wouldn´t change it for the world. 

Well family I love you guys! I hope you have a great day!!! Pray for my companion!! 

con amor, 

Hermana Chatwin

There is no greater joy than to hear that your children walk in truth!

Good afternoon, I am Elder Ron Sparks and my wife and I are Temple missionaries in the Costa Rica Temple. As part of our assignment we have the opportunity each week to visit different wards in the Temple District and give talks to help the members come to the Temple. One of my favorite things about these visits is getting to know the wonderful Elders and Sisters who serve in the Lords vineyard in Costa Rica. As you can see from this picture we had the opportunity to speak in Barrio La Concepcion today and meet your daughter. What a sweet young lady she is. It was interesting to watch her with the other Sisters and the members. In the Principles of the Gospel class the chairs were in a circle and that gave me the opportunity to observe these missionaries with their investigators. It was very easy to see the love that they had for each other, for their investigators and for the members.
I know your daughter comes home in a few short months and I can only imagine how excited you are. We had 4 sons serve and we know first hand the joy in receiving them home after faithfully serving. She is a great missionary, she was definitly on top of things in church today and is teaching the other sisters well and setting a great example for them to follow. Her spanish is very good and I could see she understood what was being said and asked of her and her ability to respond and express herself was excellent. She is a wonderful young lady and I know you are proud of her and love her with all your heart. Enjoy being missionary parents for the next few months and then rejoice in receiving her home after having served so well. 

Elder Ron Sparks

So we are offically in a trio

Hi family!!! 

What a crazy week! I don´t even know where to begin.... So we are offically in a trio. That is different but It has been fun. I am not going to lie this has been one of the hardest weeks of my mission... But I have learned so much about the Love of my Savior and the Atonment. 

My companions are great! We are working really hard on learning how to teach better and to have paciencia with everything. I have been a little bit stressed this week. During our language study we have been reading the Confrence talks in English so my companions can practice their english. I just listen and correct their words. I was getting extremly frustrated the other day because I just wanted to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish but I know that I need to help my companions. So we were reading a talk from the last confrence that someone gave and they were talking about their son who was on a mission. That he was getting frustrated with his companion and they were having issues. That they were riding bikes one day and he looked back and his companion had gotten off his bike and was walking. He got really frustrated and thought why can´t he just do it the right way! Then he said that a voice came to him and said You know you two aren´t so different from me. When we were reading that I had the most overwhelming feeling that My savior knows exactly what I am going through and that my companions are my companions for a reason. That there are no coinsidences in this life. The lord has everything planned out! 

We had a great week! Seriously I have never had so many lessons in my life. We almost taught 60 lessons this week. We usually teach 40. We have been practicing a lot with my companions how to use the scriptues better so that we can learn how to apply them in our lives. I have grown to love the scriptures so much and I know that the more we read them and APPLY them to our lives we will be able to change and do what the Lord would have us do. 

This sunday we had a special confrence where they split 3 stakes and made 2 new stakes in Costa Rica. It was a historic event for this country!! It was awesome to be a part of it. Elder Ochoa from the 70 came and spoke. HIs talk was awesome! It really was like my heavenly father was talking to me. He talked about the sacrament and how we have the chance every sunday to be forgiven of our sins. That ever day we can repent and change. I can´t tell you how grateful I am for the sacrafice that My Savior made for me. That through his Atonment I can be forgiven. What great news that is to all of us who are not perfect people. That no matter how many times we fail and how many times we think we cannot do it the Lord is always there to help us.  He is the only one that knows exactly how we feel in every minute. He can take away our burdens and he can help us change to become the people that Heavenly Father wants us to be. I have come to understand that the Gospel is all about change. Muchas Veces Change is uncomfortable and it is often a stressful process but If we can learn that change is really a good thing and when we can feel the need for change we know that the Lord is helping us to grow we can understand that the Lord always has a plan. So I am grateful for the chance the Lord has given me to change and to become a different person. To learn from my mistakes and to want to be better. I am grateful for the Atonement and that through the saviors love we can all become perfected in him. I love my Savior and I know that he knows what I need. I know that through him is the only way to get back to our heavenly father. And I love his gospel with all my heart. I am so grateful for the chance the Lord has given me to serve his children here in Costa Rica! I love having the privelegde to represent my Savior! This is the best decision I have ever made in my life. Even if is has been hard and I have had to change lots of things I know that the Lord is helping me become who he wants me to be. I love you guys! Thanks for everything! You are the best!! 

Love 

Hermana Chatwin

NO TIME!

HI family! Well here is a picture of me and my companions.... I don´t have much to write this week!!! So hope you know I love you all!!!! 

Love herman a Chatwin

What a crazy week!

Hi family!!! 

What a crazy week we have had. I love being a missionary with my whole heart!  Well this week we had our Zone confrences and our first interviews with President Hayes. I can´t say it enough that their family is AMAZING! Our Zone meeting was a lot different but he taught us about how it will be when we live with God and how that is the goal really to help everyone get back and live with God. That we have to be worthy to have the spirit always. That really that is the key to happiness in this life. Then we had our interviews and I learned a lot from him! He is great! 

This week was a little rough but My companion and I are really seeing that the Lord is preparing his children to accept the gospel in every moment. That Sometimes we don´t know exactly what is the best thing to do but when we put our confidence in the Lord and trust in him we are going to be okay and everything will work out! 

Today we had our 1 month meeting with President Hayes and his family for the new missionaries and their trainers. It was the best meeting I think I have ever been in. He talked a lot about how the point of this life is to love the people you are with and to be happy.  I have learned a lot about that on my missions. Like all of you that know me know I have always had a hard time with this concept. I am a happy person with everyone but you guys.... Before my mission I thought that I couldn´t change that- that is was just how I was but I have learned on my misison that that is a lie that Satan tells people so that they never change and never improve. I have learned that happines is a choice. That every day we have the chance to choose to be happy. I know that maybe is is something small but it is the reason we came to this earth to be happy to learn to be happy and to love our families! To love the Lords children! When we learn this then everything else falls into place. Everything else becomes possible when we know WHY  we are doing the things we do. We understand that Charity is the only thing that gives us the drive to do hard things. When we love the people we are with.  I know that Charity changes everything! I am so grateful for the chance I have had to learn that lesson in my life so that I can be a better person and help other people to come to christ. I love you guys so much! I hope you all had a good week! 

Hermana Chatwin

My Testimony

Hi family!!! 

Well this week has been crazy! President Hayes got here on Monday and we had our first leadership council with him on Friday. It was awesome! He is really amazing! We are so excited to have him here in our mission. And his family is really great! We learned a lot in the meeting. We were all a little nervous but the coolest thing is that even though he is not President Wilkinson you could feel the same spirit that was there when he taught us. So that helped me to understand that it is the Lord that is directing the mission and the work in Costa Rica. That the same success we have been seeing will keep going and increase because this is the work of the Lord. 

Well to start of we had 5 baptisms yesterday!!! :) It was a great day! It was a family 4 kids and then their vecina. The mom is going to be baptized too but she wasn't quite ready. But the best part was to see how happy she was for her kids that they made the choice to follow Jesus Christ. Also it was pretty cool because President Hayes and his family asked on Friday who had a baptism this week they could go to so they came to our baptism and to our ward on Sunday. It was really the neatest baptism! The best part was they were refrences from the ward so the ward was also really excited that they were getting baptized. 

We had kind of a rough week because I was doing divisions with some hermanas this week but it was a really great chance to get to help them and see how they were working. I love being able to help other missionaries to feel the spirit and to remember why we are here. Also this week our Bishop invited us to share our testimonies in the testimony meeting so that the members could listen to our testimonies. I have really grown to love sharing my testimony. It is the best way that we can feel the spirit and that our testimony can grow is when we share it with other people. So i guess I will take the moment to share my testimony with you guys because you weren't here on Sunday. 

I know that this it the True church. That it was restored through the profeta Jose Smith. I know that the book of Morman is the word of God. That if we read it and apply it to our lives we will come closer to our heavenly father and we will have a sure knowledge that Jesus Chirist is our Savior. I have always had a testimony of the gospel and the church. But In my mission I have come to have a sure knowledge that these things are true. That the gospel is the only thing that is important in our lives. That if we live it and apply it in our lives we will be able to return and live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. I know that the Family can be eternal. Before my mission I thought that eternal life was just a wish that no one would be able to recieve it but the more I have learned about the Atonment and the Plan of Salvation is that God wants everyone to come and he has set up his plan so that we can win. So that every person if they choose can come back to his presence. We just have to decide where we want to go and remember that this is the only reason  we are here in this life to return and live with God. When we lose sight of that goal is when the things start to fall apart in our lives. I know that God listens to our prayers. He knows us and is aware of every single on of his Children. I know that Jesus Christ is our savior and that through the Atonmnent we can be forgiven of our sins!  That he can bind us up when we are broken and that we cannot do it alone. We may think we don't need his help but we always need him to help us. I love my Savior and I am grateful for the chance i have to be a Representative of Jesus Christ for 18 months of my life. And for the rest . I will never stop being a missionary. We are all missionaries and have the Duty to share the gospel with everyone we know. To be examples to those around us and help them to feel the Love our Savior has for them. 

Well family I love you all a lot! I hope you have a good week!!!!

Con Amor 

Hermana Chatwin

This is the picture of the baptism :)

Well this week we had an AMAZING week!!!

Hi family!! 

Hopefully everyone is doing well! I saw the pictures of your graduation Kendal FELICIDADES now you are a real doctor not just a pretend one.... :) 

Well this week we had an AMAZING week!!! I love being a missionary SO MUCH!!! We had our mission confrence on tuesday with the Wilkinsons and it was so nice! President and Sister Wilkinson taught us a lot about what we need to do with our lives in the future to be successful and to be active in the church. It was a really great meeting! We are going to miss them so much! We love them!! Also it was the last time that we saw some of the missionaries from the other mission so that was kind of sad. A lot of my friends are going to be in the other mission. 

Also this week we had a lot of miracles! We had 3 baptisms!!! :) we were so happy! And they were so happy also! One of them is the mom of one of our recent converts so that was a really neat experience. She shared her testimony and said that her daughter was her example and she was grateful for the help that she had recieved and the love she recieved in the church. She is really awesome! The other 2 are brothers who are older but we have been visiting them for a while. We always have to take a sister with us when we visit so they basically know the whole ward :) everyone was so happy to see them get baptized! We we all really happy! It was a great week! 

Also we had a great spiritual experience with President Wilkinson this week. He had to come and do an interview for the hermanas in our area. We were on divisions so he was talking to us a little bit. When he left he told the member we were with Hermana you have 4 of the best missionaries in Costa Rica in your ward no in the World. Then we were with him in the car and we said goodbye. We all started  crying and he told us Hermanas you are my heros. I love you! We were all just crying. It was really a neat experience. We are going to miss them a lot!  

My companion is great! She basically came pre trained I am pretty sure. We are having a lot of success so that is always helpful! But she is really awesome! 

Well family I love you a lot!!! 

Hermana Chatwin