Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Adam - September 7, 2010






Hello friends and family,

This week has been quite a good one. I did a lot of traveling. I went to Orotina, where our District Leader is serving and did an exchange there, and went to San Jose because we were having money issues. So this week has been a little stressful and busy. The best news that I have is that we have a Babtism this saturday, and hopefully three more this month. That´s huge and it makes me excited to finally speak the language and teach some lessons. On tuesday, we got a call from the Secretaries saying that a woman contacted them asking to take the lessons. She had the missionaries over in 1995 and just started reading the Book of Mormon again. She said that she is ready and willing to be baptized. So now we just have to go over all the lessons with her and her two kids and get her to come to church 3 times. She came on Sunday, so we´re getting closer.
So I want to try to answer everyone´s questions:

Living Conditions:
Not too bad, but a little dirty. We live in a tiny house that has 3 small rooms. I do have a mattress mom, it´s a little old and there are a few spots that you can kinda fall into, but for the most part, it´s pretty comfy. We have a fridge and a small stove that is electric and sits on our counter.

My Area:
I live in a city called Juanita Mora. But it´s really small. I´d tell people that I live in Barranca, or in Puntarenas. It´s really poor, and everyone has really small houses and rides bikes EVERYWHERE! It rains a lot, but it´s not as consistent as somewhere towards the middle of the country like San Jose. The beach makes the weather a different everyday. I live about 20 minutes from an ugly beach that nobody is ever on. It smells pretty funky too. We have a really big branch, almost 90 or 100 active members, and we recieve a lot of references. So we don´t tract a lot. Mostly we are running from house to house teaching lessons.

PriceSmart:
This is my favorite place in Costa Rica. They only have a few and they are all in San Jose. We went there yesterday and I loved it. What it is is.... COSTCO! It´s Costa Rica´s version of Costco. It´s a members only store that sells things in bulk. It´s set up almost exactly like costco with the electronics on the left right when you walk in and the clothes in the middle. It´s a little smaller than the average Utah Costco so it´s a little different. The absolute best part though is that it has AMERICAN FOOD! It´s like walking back into Utah. I loved it. I can´t wait to go back in a few weeks and just reminice of the good ol days at home. Well, I bought a few things to keep me from starving. I bought a 10 lbs bag of Pancake mix (Krusties of course), Syrup, chocolate chips, peanut butter, and jelly. All are from the US and I love eating them. Definitely the highlight of our week.

Well, all is well in Costa Rica. Mom, I don´t think you should get the ring. Thats a super long time and it´s not that important. You can buy them here... I think. But thanks anyways. I love you all and I know this gospel is true. It´s such an amazing feeling to show someone the blessings that the gospel can bring into their life. Actually seeing a change in their thoughts and actions. The work is hard and long, but when you recieve those results you´ve been working for, it´s so worth every minute. I´ve realized that the church can do so much for a person if they accept things with humility and are willing to change their lives. I love you all so much and know you love me. Can´t wait to talk to you all next week!

Con Amor,
Elder Adam Paulsen


P.S. These are pictures of my house, my roommate and I, the scenery on the bus rides, the jungle, and I think I had one of a monkey that we saw last week in Monte Verde.


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