Spencer's Adventures: The Dream Team is down here in Zona Sur!

Puerto Jimenez with Javier!

BBQ with the district president! :)

Some serious farmboy pullups

Hanier and Sofia's baptism! :)

My comp with "our" dog, Shiblon :) hahaha

Well, this week Ciudad Neily turned into Inferno Neily. The rain stopped and the heat came. I can now understand why everyone talks about the famous Zona Sur heat. It is incredibly hot. Literally unbelievable. and not a lick of wind.

That's been interesting, and my poor new companion Elder Nuñez is dying too from the heat haha. His skin hurts from the sunburns, which is totally backwards, since I'm the white one but it doesn't affect me haha. But it's been a great week getting to know him and, we had a surprise baptism! Their date was for this Saturday, but the daughter's going out of town for like a month (it's vacation season for the Ticos), and so we bumped it up to this week. They are super great, but I'll get to them in a little bit. I feel like this area is going to definitely be the most difficult area, in the physical aspect, but I believe that it's where I'm going to see the most success in my mission. Elder Nuñez really is amazing and know a lot about the scriptures, and we both have the same perspective on missionary work and, really, on life. He's so great and I believe that together we're really gonna explode Neily :) if it doesn't explode from the heat first.

Apart from that, Monday till Wednesday was just crazy stressful getting everything ready for the new missionaries and, on top of that, planning a zone service project. But the cool news is that Elder Carter is in Puerto Jimenez, my MTC comp and a really good friend, and elder Gonzalez, my last companion, is in San Vito! Some other missionaries that I know and are really cool also came, and all in all I feel like we've got the dream team down here in Zona Sur. Ooosh! But planning for the new houses and travel and everything was a huge pain in the neck, especially when the 7 mattresses we bought didn't come on Wednesday like they had told us, but rather Saturday. And the salesman wasn't on top of the situation at all. (I got so fed up with him haha dumb furniture salesman). (Spencer worked as a fine furniture salesman his senior year, to pay for his mission).

So all in all this week was pretty stressful for me, but I really liked it and am super happy. Especially for Hanier and Sofia. Hanier is such a great lady. Every time I see her she reminds me of Mom. I don't know why, I just get the feeling that that's how Mom was before she had the Gospel in her life. and I'm so happy that she could also be baptized, just like Mom :) but it was such a miracle this week. We have been working with her since I got here in Zona Sur. She was progressing really well but was having trouble with receiving a sure answer that this was the true church. I knew that we just needed to have a little bit of patience, but I was starting to get worried because a lot of vacations and stuff like that were coming up which can interrupt people's progress. So we went on Thursday to see what was up. She was recently operated, like a month ago. So when we get there she told us that the scar had started to bleed again and that on like Tuesday she had gone and been operated again. Then when we started teaching her, my comp asked her if she was ready to be baptized. I already knew more or less how she was and knew she'd say that she just needed a little more time, and all that jazz. but, to my surprise, she said "yup!"

What?! It was just a miracle. She had received her answer! The Spirit had touched her heart.

She hasn't told us that she had any sort of special experience, I just have a feeling that the operation she had had something to do with it. All I know is that miracles exist.

So we programmed her baptismal interview for the following day, and on Saturday she was baptized. She has been so unsure about it all and then all of a sudden is was so calm and obvious for her. It reminded me that I really am not the one who makes this work work. It's the Spirit. God knows His children and knows when to give them the answers they're seeking.

The other great thing is that our investigators who live on the farm are progressing really well as well! They've gotta get married which will be a little stressful haha but aside from that they're looking good for their baptismal date on December 26th. And their daughter should be moving back home this month too, who they also want to be baptized. Yesterday they came to the Christmas Devotional and it seemed like they liked it a lot. I love them so much. But I honestly just feel like God's calling his people. God prepares the people.

Have a great week, everyone! I love you all and hope you can all see miracles in your lives, too.

-Elder Henry