Adam - August 17, 2010

made it here!!!

Costa Rica is a beautiful place i just wanted to say that I made it here safely. I love this country already... except for driving! It´s nuts and I feel like I´m going to die whenever I get in the car. There are barely any rules and people just weave in and out while speeding down the street. We even saw a 4-wheeler driving along.

So last night was not too bad. We arrived at around 10 and got back to the mission home/office at around 10:30. We had our first Costa Rican meal... Taco Bell! It was quite heavenly! We had to fill out a few forms, and take a picture or two, then we went back to the Area President´s and house and slept there. We didn´t get to bed until around 12:30 though. I´m crazy tired today!

President Galves is awesome! And so is his Wife. They met us at the airport with this huge banner that said "Bien Venidos Misioneros del Mundo" which means welcome missionaries of the world. They gave us a big hug and we headed home. They don´t speak much english so it was a pretty quiet car ride. I feel so lost with the spanish! I feel like I´m back to week #3 in the MTC. Everyone speaks so fast and I can barely pick up on a few words. I feel really dumb when I have to answer a question because I don´t really know what they are asking. In the MTC, we could try in Spanish, and if we fail just say it in English. But here, you can´t do that. You just have to try and not sound too stupid. Luckily, the missionaries in the Office speak english and are really friendly. They don´t speak too much spanish in front of us ha ha.

So I found out that Kirk is a Zone Leader, so there isn´t really a chance he could train me, but I have about a 50% chance of him being my Zone Leader. That way I would still be able to see him. That´d be really cool. Later today we go to our areas and get our new companions. We don´t know who they are yet, but it sounds like it´s going to be way fun!

Well, I love you all! Just wanted to let you know that all is going well. I love Costa Rica and the people here are awesome! P-Days are mondays so I´ll give you an update on my life then. I know the church is true and I´m doing the right thing!

Always, Elder Adam Paulsen

P.S. Costa Rica is pretty cool. I haven´t gotten out of San José so I haven´t seen any amazing beautiful things. Mostly, it´s just dirty! Ha ha. Love you All!