Turriabla, Cartago, Costa Rica 9.14.15

Dear Family, 

Haha Brendon looks a little like he either doesn't know how to hold a baby, is uncomfortable doing it, or just let off a ¨spooky¨. hahaha. 

This week has been pretty great. We have a couple of possible baptisms coming up in October as well as a couple sealing ordinances in the temple with some of my first converts. I'm so stinkin´excited! 

Ok this is the story about the kid. One year ago, I had changes from Cartago to Cañas right? Well my first companionship there lasted only 2 weeks for many problems. (Now that's a story for another day) So we had emergency changes and we went to San Jose for 5 days. During that time we did divisions with the secretaries. One night Elder Lewis and I were working and we came to a point where we had no idea what to do. Everyone canceled on us and all the members were busy. So I suggested that we say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father where we should go. Elder Lewis offered the prayer and we began to walk. About 10 feet later we stopped to a woman how was sweeping her patio. We offered our help and she said no. We then presented ourselves and she invited us in. We asked if she wanted to invite her family to come join us. This is when the young man came out to listen. We taught with power and authority and invited them to be baptized. At the end of the lesson the young man asked when we could come back to place baptismal dates with his father and brothers. haha then I went back to Cañas with Elder Rivera the following day. 

Every once and awhile when I would call the office, I'd ask how this family was. It seemed as if the secretaries stopped teaching them a few weeks later. But every time I passed the office I knocked on that door to see if they were there and invite them to church at the very least, but they were never home. But I felt drawn to that door. 

Elder Vandermeyden became the secretary later and I asked him again about this house. He said we would go look for it. One day he found it and told me what had happened. 

This young mans name is Jorge. After our lesson with him, he became converted. Sadly his family no. He was 17 which meant he needed parental permission to be baptized which was denied. So this young man continued to attend church for the following 8 months until he turned 18 and was baptized. He is currently preparing to go to the temple to receive his endowment in preparation for his mission this following year. 

As I was leaving to come here to Turriabla, one of the sisters called him over to speak about things in his ward and I recognized him. So I went over to talk to him. I asked him if he knew who I was. He said that I looked familiar but that he couldn't recall where because he only knows the missionaries that have served in San Jose. I then told him how Elder Lewis and I had found his home. He began to remember and he told me his conversion story. 

It was a pretty cool moment that I had been looking forward to for a long long time. He is the convert that I only had to teach once. Pretty neat huh? 

Anyways, I love you all lots. Hope you have a great week!

Sigamos Adelante, 

-Elder Neider

Perez Zeledon, Cartago, Costa Rica 9.7.15

Dear Family, 

Hahaha what a head of hair! Congradulations! He is going to be such a stud. I'll teach him everything I know. I hope that he keeps growing great. What it feel like to be new parents Megan and Tim? How great is that. 

So I had transfers to a place called Turriabla. I'm still in the Zone of Cartago. I'll end my mission with 13 months in the same zone. My new companion is named Elder Godoy. He is from Honduras. He is super cool and has won a lot of confidence with the members here. It's a ward already so our goals are to purely baptize. It is pretty nice to not have to focus on anything else. He is the district leader so I also don't have to worry about that stuff either. 

We have had a couple cool and funny experiences. We talked with a man in the street and my companion testified that the keys of the priesthood have been restored. To which he replied, I have those too! He then continued to pull a set of plastic keys out of his pocket that had some verses of the bible written on them. hahaha um..... brother we don't mean like actual keys... haha esta bien. haha 

I actually came here once on divisions in my first area so I have seen a few of these places before.
Last night we met the pioneer of the ward. 81 year old Odily. I had actually given her a blessing 18 months ago. We asked her about the story of her conversion. One of the things that kept calling my attention was the way she talked about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. She said that they just have been so good to me. I know that she knows them personally and that they have poured out blessings on her. 

I'm still learning the area so I'm pretty lost all the time. It'll come with time. What I heard is that I'll be here for this change and then President wants all missionaries to train the last 3 months. It'll be cool here. Plus the 2nd counselors legel name is John Baptist so how can we go wrong? haha

Sigamos Adelante, 

-Elder Neider

PS the only things that I would need in a package would be maybe a good long sleeve white shirt, (the last one was also kidnapped by a company), Doritos, Smores Pop Tarts and Oreos. Haha I'm doing pretty good. My companion was wondering if there are those little chocolate eggs from Easter. He likes those. But really just good old american junk food. haha thanks.

Perez Zeledon, Cartago, Costa Rica 8.31.15

Dear Family, 

Numbres, I was sitting there on the bus when it hit me. Megan is having a baby right! Haha I was waiting for the photo but looks like I'm just a few hours too soon. We have been praying hard that youll be physically ok with the birth and that Oliver we come with great health. So excited to see him next week!

Today was suppose to be changes. They never did end up calling so it looks like 7.5 months in Perez Zeledon. But then we received word that changes will be on Wednesday, so we still don't know. Looks like we will have to see. 

This week has been a very humbling and rewarding week. Although for the last change we haven't had a single investigator come to church, i feel like this has been one of the most successful weeks personally. 

I found that my prayers for the last little bit have been without faith. They have been very routine without a l...

Wait a second. Elder Jackman just received a call from the zone leaders. haha i have changes. I have to be in the office on Wednesday morning. We dont know where i am headed off to. President wants to look us in the face and select by revelation where we will go and with what companion. Sounds pretty cool. 

Anyways with my faithless prayers....

...ot of vain repititons. I would ask for very general blessings and without much effort. So this week I decided to repent. Oh what joy cometh to the soul! Repentance is the smartest thing you can do. I grabbed the Ezra Taft Benson book and I read the Pray Always section. I read a bunch and decided that I needed more faith. As we went home, I kinda just collapsed to my knees and prayed name for name for those whom I love. What a beautiful experience I had Since then I feel like I have been searching for more opportunities to pray one on one with Father in Heaven. He truly does listen and answer every heartfelt prayer. 

This week we found another 21 investigators. They show a lot of promise and we are going to work hard to bring them to church. My companion will be training here in Perez and im off to who knows where. 

Anyways, that been my week. Lots of cool things to be looking forward to here as we get changed, have a baby, and keep moving forward. Sigamos Adelante, 

-Elder Neider