February 13, 2023 - Goin to the chapel and we're gonna get married 💍

 Week 78 

This past week we had the grand opportunity to go to the chapel here in Montes de Oca and be a part of the wedding of our friends Yeimy and Christian. They have had many ups and downs, but because of them I am a firm believer in that the gospel changes lives. It blesses inviduals and families. They said that these past two days as members have been the best days together. And we are excited for them as they have already set their sights to an eternal marriage in 1 year. 

I also kept feeling that we needed to call a punto gris that was being taught and some members asked us about. Well it was cool because we called him and set up a call for a little later when he wasn't exercising. We did la invitación suave and he said that yes he would be baptized and the only thing stopping him was knowing that the check was true. So now the area has a promising person progressing who is looking for the confirmation that each of us has to recieve. 

And to top the week off, we got to go to the temple! It was such an amazing experience that words can't even described. I have been excitingly waiting for this day in my mission and it was everything I had hoped for and more. I felt and learned many things while there and one of the coolest parts was that I even had a moment in which I literally felt that Christ had lifted all my burdens. 

It's crazy that my year and a half serving the Lord has come to an end. But I am so thankful for all that I have learned. I am very thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, that for a year and a half I could really study it, live it, and teach it, so that I can keep living it faithfully for the rest of my life. I love how God took His time in each day of the week to make each one of His creations. And it's the same with us. Each day if we let Him, He will mold us into His most beautiful creations. 

See yall soon! 

Con mucho amor y por la última vez,

Hermana Warburton 

A cool thing I painted with a member 😎

The rings!

The baptism

Lots of houses

Making tortillas

The temple! 

Going to the temple! 

Wedding! 

 My funeral 

February 6, 2023 - Happy birthday to you...

 Week 77

We are so excited for our friend Jaquelines who was just baptized. She is such a hard working mother and we look forward to the day soon when she will go to the temple with her son and one day all 3 of her kids and her will be old enough and worthy to enter the temple. 

We had a great lesson with the family who is on date. I have seen such a change with them.  It is slow, but as we were talking about faith I was surprised the the sister quoted all that it says in alma 32 about how faith is like a little seed. 

We invited many friends as well as less active members to come to church, but none of them came. A member did surprise us by bringing her non member brother. We hope to coordinate schedules to be able to share with him. A returned missionary in the ward let us visit her and as we asked her about her mission she got a little teary eyed and told us they we should "keep moving forward." I thought it was very applicable to the mission and the life after. 

We found a new friend who wants to overcome her adiccion to smoking and we have a lot of hope for her. Sadly with another friend we tried doing the invitación suave and she said that she would never have interest in being baptized again because she was already baptized. And after trying to do as we have practiced we felt that she's not interested in the moment if she is not even willing to ask God if she needs to be baptized again. It was an interesting experience. But we are still hopeful there is someone ready to accept a date and prepare to be baptized in the coming months. 

Wednesday and Thursday we had exchanges with the sisters in Los Yoses. I went to Los Yoses with Hna. Murillo. I absolutely loved being able to follow the spirit as we taught. Because I didn't know them well I really had to depend on the spirit to teach what I felt they need and I loved it. I also loved talking with hna murillo and getting to know her better. She really does love being a missionary and helping others come closer to christ. 

Some fun laughs this week: 

- On Monday we went to Volcán Irazu and on the way back we got a flat tire... but luckily my companion knew how to fix it! 

- during exchanges we are walking into a members house and one sister comes around the corner with a big cake in her hand and starts singing me happy birthday day! Haha but the sister who had just had her birthday was on exchanges in Montes de Oca🤭

Anyway, we got a fun crazy week planned and I look forward to finishing my last transfer strong! 

Alma 32: 27-28

"But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words. 

Now, we will compare the word unto a seed. Now, if ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart, behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves—It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me."

Que hermosa esa explicación de la fe. Cuando tenemos fe en Ceisto  aceptamos y aplicamos Su expiación y Sus enseñanzas! 

Mucho amor,

Hermana Warburton ❤️

 Volcán 

 Exchanges 

 Nuestra amiga 🤩

 An interesting car 

 Las ruinas 

Irazu 

January 30 2023 - If there is a drunk guy.... RUN!

 Week 76

This week we had many people stand us up for lessons. But we saw many miracles in our missionary work. 

I learned this past week that I had been lacking faith and I didn't know until I was able to see the miracle of increasing my faith. After interviews with Presidente, I felt I needed to strengthen my own testimony about how the gospel strengthens families. Then interestingly enough all of our appoints fell through that day so we had time to go visit our friends. They have been wanting to get baptized for a long time but haven't put a date yet for fear of what could happen, that it could be similar to the last time. That is why we were also hesitant to put a date. But that day I had also learned that "Sus montañas variarán y, sin embargo, la respuesta a cada uno de sus desafíos es aumentar su fe." So with all the faith I had in that the gospel blesses individuals and families we invited this couple to be baptized (and married) and they said yes. So now we are working with the ward to plan a whole wedding. 

Other small miracles we have been a part of our being in the right place at the right time: usually in the city we knock on houses with open doors because otherwise they don't hear us. Well we walked past a door I saw open and I felt after walking past that we needed to go back. Well, turns out they had just come back from viisitng their recently deceased father's grave and we could share a little about the plan and a nice prayer with them. Also yesterday while walking we just happened to pass by the house of a member as her dad was pulling away because he was moving. We got to be there to comfort here. 

Our friend also miraculously had the day free yesterday because he had to work Saturday for a problem at work, but sadly our calls and texts didn't wake him up and he missed church. But the change in his schedule was a miracle. 

As for the title, well some weird guy may or may not have come up behind us in the dark. Luckily we got away and a member drive past in just the right moment to take us far far away. 

Mucho amor,

Hermana Warburton 

Panaderías are really good and cheap

Contacting in street with youth of stake 

 Pday activity with the sisters we went to a butterfly park 🦋

 

January 23, 2023 - If there was a natural disaster during the night I think I would die.

 Week 75

Whoooo! We put one of our friends on date! She's on date for February a week before I go home and we are so excited for her. 

This last week to start off I woke up Tuesday and after companionship prayer my companion asked me, "what do you do when there's an earthquake?" And I asked "why?!?" Turns out there was an earthquake and I slept through the whole thing and I heard it was kinda big and noticeable...

We had a cool lesson with a new reference from social media. As we shared about the restoration we made a big emphasis in studying and knowing for yourself the truthfulness of the gospel. We shared about the importance of the Spirit and our friend pointed out that actually as he entered the grounds of the church he felt different. It was the same way he felt when he saw our ad after downloading the Bible app and decided to solicite a visit from the missionaries. 

Other than that we had visits with members and actually found a new inactive active member in our area. We heard a lot of no or maybe another time, but we've seen little miracles and found new people to teach as well as had a lot of friends in church. What's also exciting is that a recent convert went to an institute devotion and decided to sign up for 2 institute classes. So proud! 

Also I had my last conference de zona and gave mi "último testimonio"!

"lo que será de mayor valor para ti será...

declarar el arrepentimiento a este pueblo, a fin de que traigas almas a mí, para que con ellas reposes en el reino de mi Padre. Amén" - DyC 15:6. 

Nada es más crucial para su vida eterna que si propia conversión. It's interesting that this scripture talks about helping others repent and not ourselves. But we talked in zone conference how it's a three dimensional scripture because to be able to teach with the spirit and be a good teacher you also need to be a doer of the word. So really it's also telling us to repent. As the prophet has recently said "identify what stops your from repenting. And then change! REPENT!

Mucho amor, 

Hermana Warburton 

Zone Conference

Hna Reyes

    

Trying a new fruit

Bday party 

 La capilla de Montes

January 16, 2022 - 17 meses

 Week 74

We saw such a big change of heart this last week. This past week we were preparing our friend Brittany for her baptism. She is the sweetest she says the nicest prayers that almost make her mom and well all of us cry and she loves singing I am a child of God. 

As we went multiple times to visit them this past week, we could really see how her preparation was rubbing off on her parents. Her mom has now shown a strong desire to become a member of the true church! (We had a great lesson with a member about the restoration). And with her dad it's a littler harder to share a lot with him because he is working a lot. But we have seen a change in him as he listens and talks with us and since the beginning he was okay with his daughter being baptized. We are excited to keep working with this family. 

In other news, yesterday at church 2 JAS just walked into the church wanting to learn more. These two girls stayed both hours and left with books of Mormon. I don't know if at my age I would have the courage to go to a random church like they just did. We look forward to learning more about how the Spirit led them to choose this random church. 

It's hard finding new people or people who accept a visit to share a message, but someone we found this week was really cool. It was one of the first real restoration lessons that Hna Fielding has been able to share in Spanish and as well left we said to each other that we felt the spirit so we know it wasn't perfect, but it was a good lesson. 

Haha this past week I was working on my plan 🤭 (a program for missionaries returning home) and I really liked a thought shared: 

"Men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys  expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities  comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life. "

Doesn't that sound like a great life!?!

Mucho amor, 

Hermana Warburton 

McDonald's added district council

 "Muchacha" said in the voice of a 2 year old who then gives you flowers

Cookies for the baptism. They were a hit. 

The whole gang

Our amigita Brittany

She passed the interview 😅

January 9, 2023 - Es genial que cualquier persona pueda cambiar.

 Week 73

Que milagro! We had the baptism of our friend Step yesterday. Desde el principio nuestra amiga Stephany ha seguido el Espíritu de Nuestro Padre Celestial. Él la guió al bautismo y la seguirá guiando para siempre! That was super exciting and during the week we were preparing her for that. We also had one of our little friends and some of her family come to the baptism and she is preparing to be baptized too, so that was special that she could come. 

We also had transfers and I'm training Hermana Fielding from St. George, UT. Before she came, I actually got to spend a day in Coronado with another sister. It was crazy fun visiting a new area for a day, but I was excited to come back because they didn't have blankets so my feet were cold all night long. 

We tried really hard to focus on having members in lessons even though it is hard to constantly be coordinating everything. But we saw 2 miracles, the one was that the little girl and her family came to the baptism and church after we had a lesson with a nice member. The second was that we had another powerful lesson with a member. Hermano Ortiz, a 90 year old member, came with us to a lesson. He walked down some shady steps to the house of these friends we are teaching and then shared so many powerful and inspired words with these members that on the spot they promised God that no matter how they got there, they would come to church on Sunday. AND THEY CAME! So we had a pretty full sacrament meeting yesterday!

Oh also another friend who wasn't progressing very much told us she wants to prepare for baptism! 

We also had a really cool experience sharing with the members and following the spirit to know what to share.  I shared a scripture that came to mind and one member then began to cry as that was just what she needed. She thanked us and told us that the she now knows even more that the missionaries are for the members just as well as for those who aren't members. 

As I was studying this past week, I read the talk by Elder Anderson from this past General Conference! I loved some thoughts he shared: 

"We love him, because he first loved us." (1 juan 4:19)

"As we better know and love the Savior, we desire even more to promise Him our allegiance and trust." 

We share more about Christ this week especially with our friend who wasn't progressing, and we saw the miracle that she had a change of heart and wants to start preparing for baptism!

Mucho amor, 

Hermana Warburton 

 

My new companion

Step's baptism 

 Coronado with hna Cardon

Transfer day

Chocolate houses 

UCR

 

 

January 2, 2023 - The university of life

 Week 72

This week we saw some miracles and we're super excited! 

We found a family that was being taught before, but after they had a few life challenges they weren't ever able to get baptized. But after being led by the Spirit to there house, this past week we had three lessons with them. They still want to be baptized because they know this is the only true church. So now we'll be looking in to how we can help them save money to be married or find if there is a free way to do it 

We also had a great lesson with another family, after reviewing the restoration we talked about baptism and well the mom said that she wanted to come to church first, so we asked her when she was coming. After months of using that same excuse we knew it was time for her to come to church because not only was she willing, but the day after we had talked to them, her husband's work schedule had changed so he was working nights and would have mornings, including Sunday, free. With that we put one member of the family on baptismal date. She has been wanting to be baptized for a long time. And when a small difficulty came up with the date, they were the ones who asked questions and solved the problem. 

I am very thankful for the members who are so open to having us over. Visiting an sharing with members is always a highlight of the week. A wish member also said that a mission is like the University of life. And being that we live in an area with three Universities it was very clever and also very true. 

I had exchanges as well with Hna Ortiz. She's from Guatemala. 

It was a day when we had a lot fall through. It seemed to be a theme of the week as not many people were home or had a sudden change of plans. But it went great we were able to invite members to share the gospel, and as we visited one sister she gave the Book of Mormon to her grandson that was there on the spot. Hermana ortiz is great! And I enjoyed getting to know her a little better on exchanges and luckily the Bull just barely touched her arm...

"Muchos aspectos de la vida brindan felicidad, mientras que otros traen pesar. Esas experiencias nos ayudan a aprender a distinguir enter el bien y el mal, y a tomar decisiones correctas." If we choose to follow God and keep His commandments, we can experience joy even in tribulation and we can face our life's challenges with  spirit of peace. Before coming to earth, we chose to have faith in Jesucristo and follow God's plan. And now we can only find peace and live with our Heavenly Father again if we make that choice everyday. Keep believe and trusting and help others do the same! 

Please add our friends into your prayers! That they hear their alarm Sunday morning and don't sleep in so that they can make it to church!! 

Feliz año nuevo!

Hermana Warburton

Oh also I'm staring my last transfer this week! What?! Crazy I know. I will be staying in my area and training :) 

Fidélitas Universidad 

The bull 

 UCR (University of Costa Rica)

Members!

 La U Latina

 Delivery 

New years eve feast  

 Christmas party with the sisters