August 22, 2022 - cuando me bautice

 Week 53 

Whoo!! Still celebrating 1 year this week with the baptism of Gerik! We had a little situation when our baptism clothes got lost with the uber flash, but the day of, we had a back up plan to get clothes from aserri. Which is about half an hour away in uber flash which is like a delivery service. Well the uber flash came through! Just a day late. We got the clothes from another area. 

I loved that as we sang the opening song "cuando me bautice," I was leading the song and I just had the thought come to me that "the spirit is here." The spirit was there in the baptism! and we had 2 friends who came to see it even though we have only known them for a week or so. They were very interested and some great ward members were talking and sharing about what was going on. In our last lesson with Gerik, his mom also shared a cool story about how his brother chose to leave the party! It was basically a situation similar to the church video about drugs and leaving the party early. 

We found another little kid in the primary and shared a short lesson with him. They came to church on Sunday and his mom said he is reading the Book of Mormon and he can't put it down. How cool is that! A nine year old! We años made a reading schedule for another family, and it is so cute because they're actually reading the scriptures together almost every day. 

We had exchanges and interviews which added to the chaos and fun! We found lots of people in the streets during intercambios and got lots of free stuff! In Equipo de sueños, we were talking to someone and had such a great lesson and we asked where they lived and they said dulce nombre de la unión. I responded back like three times with en serio? Because that's in our area! I don't know if anyone has ever been so perfectly in our area. 

And we had fun finding someone when we helped her carry her groceries to her house and then we shared a short message with her, she said a 5 or 7 minute prayer, and then she invited us to come back again another time. It was also funny because she would randomly say words in English haha

"Jesús nos prometió un compañero fiel;

el Santo Espíritu para guiarnos hacia el bien. Jesús también le llama el Consolador; y Él nos brinda Su ayuda y consolación."

I loved a thought a member shared this last week about the spirit. The spirit is like the air, we need it to live! The Spirit really is mi amigo fiel, nuestro amigo fiel. 

Mucho amor, 

Hermana Warburton 

 

La familia Valverde Cascante 

El bautismo

Intercambios with hna Jenkins

We got the clothes!

August 15, 2022 - One Year! 12 months! 52 weeks! 365 days of being a full-time missionary!

 Week 52

The night of Sunday, August 15, 2021 I was officially set apart as a full-time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am thankful for this past year I have been able to dedicate to my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and I look forward to 6 more months! 

This past week we finished the lessons for the little primary child we are teaching and we will just have the interview and baptism this week to go! We also had another little miracle with a mother whose child is also the age to be baptized. She came to church with him and her month old baby! It was also really sweet because at the end of our relief society lesson, the primary children shared with us a special surprise. It was the sweetest thing to see them all singing loudly to their mothers to wish them a happy mother’s day here in Costa Rica. 

On Monday after our lesson was canceled we decided to call someone and we ended up inviting them to baptism. I love that we have been able to help people learn the importance of praying for themselves to know if the things we share are true. 

On Wednesday, something weird but cool happened. In our daily planning I prayed that people would recognize us for who we are and after I said that in the prayer, it felt out of the ordinary. But we continued on with the day and as we went to get lunch we were stopped by 5 different members (more or less), as they called to us… “las hermanas,” “los elderes,” and “las misioneras.” Then later on, once more, someone yelled to us the missionaries from a pirate car. We were blessed to see an answer to that weirdly specific prayer. We also think that the Lord was preparing us to respond to our name whether it be hermanas, misioneras, or elders haha. 

We had a great lesson with a family who have been struggling to keep commitments, but in this lesson, they asked us to help make them a calendar so that they really could start reading the scriptures! We shared a great object lesson that I think really helped them understand. Using a cake made of flour with a candy on top, we each took turns cutting the cake. We took turns cutting until finally the candy fell. And the person who made the candy fall had to pick it up with their mouth. We talked about how this is like our sins. Sometimes we do not see the consequence and may even receive a consequence that is sweet like the candy, but we will also be left with a mark (the flour). But luckily, we can repent! It was also super fun to see everyone with flour on their face haha and I won so I didn't have to have a face full of flour but still got the candy. 

Here in Costa Rica August 15 is Mother’s Day! So I thought I would share a very popular story about mothers I was studying this past week:
47 Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt our mothers knew it.

I am very thankful for the example of faith and putting God first that my parents have given me. They have taught me not to doubt because our Heavenly father will provide. I am thankful for families in the plan of our Heavenly Father. That we are given the opportunity to help in His plan by bringing souls into the world to be tested and as a family we can work together so that each of us can succeed. It’s as Elder Gong invited in this past general conference, “Please come find your family, all your generations, and bring them home.”

Much amor, 

Hermana Warburton

the mission offices are in Zapote :)

Study and send off with Presidente Mora

District San Diego

Part of Equipo de los sueños

we were all hungry and there was no silverware

August 8, 2022 - Presidente por un día

 Week 50

This week started out crazy! Monday nights we have a mission meeting over zoom and the past Monday our president wasn't in the zoom call. The following day we learned that our President would be flying to Salt Lake so that his wife could do some tests. Then an hour later we learned that we would be receiving a new president for a day and a few more while President Johnson is in the states. So on Wednesday we had zone conference with our new President and his wife. President and Hermana Mora. They just finished serving in Honduras as mission president. 

Gerik keeps progressing to his baptism and we loving seeing how the whole family is returning to church! We found 2, maybe 3 and maybe even more new people by calling gray dots (people who have been taught in the past) this past week. We are excited to see if they are ready to progress. We were also given a member referral. Thus member had met someone at the bust stop and years ago she was talking to the missionaries and was almost baptized, but because of a few doubts she didn't. We hope to help her clear up her doubts soon. 

We received someone in Equipo de los sueños and when we messaged them to set up a lesson they responded back saying they wanted to be baptized and maybe their daughter too! What?! Their direction was Costa Rica in the area book so we thought that it would be so cool if they lived here in Tres Ríos but we were hoping for at least our mission. Then we invited her to church quickly and she sent a message saying she lives here in Tres Ríos. Last night we got to call and have a lesson with her and she accepted a baptismal date. It was cool because she had been looking to be baptized for the past year because she still hasn't been baptized and she told us about how in the past few months she has been making changes to her life to be closer to God. Then she saw our announcement about baptism in facebook! We are excited to have her in the area, but will probably be passing her off to the other sisters because she actually lives in their part of Tres Ríos. Haha a little sad but we got to be a part of the miracle! 

Alma 40:3

"Now, I unfold unto you a mystery; nevertheless, there are many mysteries which are kept, that no one knoweth them save God himself. But I show unto you one thing which I have inquired diligently of God that I might know—that is concerning the resurrection."

I love how Alma teaches us to receive our own personal revelation here. This past week in our zone conference, with what is happening with hna. Johnson, we talked a lot about specific prayers, praying for miracles with specifics. With diligence He will help us see the miracles He is working in our lives. 

And here's a little joke from Presidente Mora:

"Si quieres hacer reír a Dios, cuéntale tus planes." ("If you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans" hehe that's a good one huh) 

Mucho amor,

Hermana Warburton 

 

Exchanges with the sister leaders

Zone conference with president and Hermana Mora

"See ya soon then" sendoff

Celebrating a birthday

August 1, 2022 - ¿Si entendiera la verdad, ¿qué haría?

 Week 49 

On Tuesday morning we got a very special wake up call. One of our friends called us and yes it was at 7:30am just after we had finished our exercising and were planning for the day. But we shared a great lesson about the gospel and thinking of the challenge we had received the night before in a meeting with mission, we asked him if he wanted to be baptized and he said yes! So he is now praying about whether he should be baptized on the date we gave him. That same day I could see that Heavenly Father was answering our little prayers. A member passed us by on the road and gave us a ride home. We didn't have to walk down a hill for an hour in the middle of nowhere!

We also got to serve less active members more this week as we helped organize blessings and visited another less active member who came to church yesterday for the first time in a long time. What was even sweeter was that yesterday we asked another member to invite this less active member to church! So we had the members helping in the work as well and seeing the fruits of their labors. 

On Friday we had a lesson with the primary aged kid we are teaching. It was so cute because normally the mom is in the lesson but we also had his older sister in the lesson too. The whole family is trying to come back to church and it is the sweetest thing to see all their faith growing. The faith his older sister has is so strong. Yesterday in church, after learning about tithing on Friday, she asked us to help find the tithing slips, fill one out, and give it to the bishop. She understands that it's not the amount that matters…what faith! And a sweet member also had an extra white shirt and pants to give to the primary boy we are teaching. It is so powerful to see the different ways people are serving this family and helping them because the covenant path is not an easy one.  

In equipo de los suenos one of my favorite lessons this past week was after saying an opening prayer, they asked if they could say a prayer for us. We ended up saying 2 prayers for them and they said 2 prayers for us, thanking us for doing what we are doing because there are not many people in the world who would do what we do willingly. I was very touched by the gratitude of this person.

¡Pregúnteles a los misioneros; ellos pueden ayudarles! In 2012 President Nelson gave this talk about missionary work and it is such a great talk! He talks about how as representatives of the Lord Jesus Chrsit, we strive to fulfill that divine command to take the fullness of the gospel abroad and bless the lives of people everywhere. We share the good news of the gospel that will bring true joy and everlasting happiness to all who heed our message. I love the trust that President Nelson put in the missionaries in his talk as well as the trust he continues to put in us now. Ask the missionaries, they can help you. I have loved trying to be better at living up to these standards of being able to help everyone that the Prophet has for me and all missionaries. 

Mucho amor, 

Hermana Warburton

July 28th, independence day in Peru.

Hna. Carmen always gives us agua dulce

Countdown chain!

Arepas from Costa Rica are like pancakes but not

My companion teaching me to make tortillas.