Week 10: one month in Costa Rica!

It has been one month in the field already! As usual, more than humanly possible to write down has happened this week, so ill write a few of the out-of-the-ordinary things and spiritual things that happened each day.     I BAPTIZED SOMEBODY!!!! Sorry i couldn't hold it in
Monday
After pday on monday we were super hungry and far from our house so we ate out at a cheap pizza place (the first time I have eaten out this far) and that was interesting because the pizza place was a little place inset from the street and wide open - like it didnt have doors. So as we were eating tons of people that were walking past asked for our food and for money and it was really hard to say no. I ended up giving away a total of 600 colones (dont worry thats only a little more than a dollar)
Tuesday
We went to Tobosi for a lesson that went very well and as we started heading back I realized I didn't bring money for a bus ticket back and so after thinking of all the possible things we could do, we started walking the suuuper long walk home, accepting the fact that we would miss our dinner appointment and get home really late. But after only 1 mile or so we walked past a little store that had about 50 people excessive-dancing to really loud fast music following their dance leader dude, and right behind all of them we saw a little atm!!! So we went over there took a deep breath and walked through all of them to get to the atm in order to get money to pay for the bus ride home. we got lots of funny looks and honestly I was tempted to jump in and start dancing, hahaha!
Wednesday

Thursday
Today was my first zone conference! It lasted all day and lots of things happened, but my favorite part was when after their lesson on teaching with the spirit and the power of prayer, the zone leaders took out a box full of Book of Mormons and told us that each companionship had 15 minutes to pray to know who to give a book of Mormon to and to go out and place it and set up an appointment and return to the church. So Elder B and I found a room and I said a prayer to know who to give it to and that they will accept our invitations. We then walked into the streets taking random turns for about 6 minutes and we encountered a young mom with her arms full of groceries and earbuds in her ears - not the ideal person to stop and talk to - but we smiled and said buenas and she smiled, took out her earbuds and asked how we were doing. It couldn't have been more perfect! We explained who we were and introduced the Book of Mormon and she gladly accepted it despite her already full arms! We set up a time to teach her more, but unfortunately the Hermanas will teach her because she lives in their area. But anyways, that was such a cool experience!
After the conference we traveled 2 hours to Los Santos  to do a baptismal interview and as we were making dinner the power went out and it was super dark and really fun. We got creative and made oil lamps from pan lids and paper towels and vegetable oil and told stories while eating our half-cooked pupusas 😆

Friday
The power came on AFTER my shower 😤 and after the interview we took a bus back home and we were stuck behind a slow truck the whole time so we missed our lunch appointment... Then Elder B had to do another interview in another place 40 minutes away and it went longer then expected and we missed our dinner appointment... Thanks for those protein bars mom!
Saturday
Today I woke up super excited because there was a baptism happening today! We had to be there at 9 so we left at 830 but someone called us and said I had to bring Baptism clothes as a backup so we turned around and got them. But now we were late and so Elder B called an Uber (not sure if we're supposed to do that, but hey it was an emergency) and we taught him the basics of the restoration on the drive to the church. It was really cool, he was really interested that there is a prophet today. At the church, Elder Lopez told me that I was going to do the baptism because his clothes hadn't arrived yet. I was like waitwaitwaitwaitwait! and gave him my planner to write down what i was supposed to say because I don't have it memorized in Spanish. Fortunately I was able to memorize it quickly in the few minutes we had and the hardest part was her name: Britany Loany Berroteran Mata. She was a happy little 10 year old. Anyways it was definitely the coolest experience of my mission, a little nerve wracking but incredibly spiritual nonetheless. Its been a long time since I have been to a live baptism and it was really neat to be reminded of how important and special baptism is. (We took a picture but  its not with me)
Sunday
At sacrament meeting Britany was confirmed! Also, they needed an extra speaker so they asked who of us missionaries wanted to give a talk. Elder Lopez volunteered and gave an incredible talk with no preparation! It was really inspiring. He talked about the importance of the sacrament.
He talked about how healing is what Christ is offering to each of us every week as we receive the sacrament and how we have to want it and yearn for it.  Brent Coxton said this: "We have to reach from deep down inside of us and bring forth our brokenness, believing that He will receive our broken selves and heal us. This requires faith. It requires focus, Our brains get distracted and wander so easily and worldly things seep in so effortlessly. Our shame and guilt beg to stay hidden even from ourselves" - I know that I have struggled staying focused on the true purpose of the sacrament many times and that sometimes its hard to believe that Christ can really take away our guilt when we have repented, but I know he can if we take the sacrament with full purpose of heart. So next time you take the sacrament ponder the words of the prayer and remember how you feel, and how you are changed when you take it with a humble, focused mind.

Love you guys!
-Elder Hilton

The little church in Los Santos

Uh....tree climbing.....

such a pretty bus ride

sunset out our window

Week 9!!!

Tuesday
Today was so fun (the whole last week was too but I only wrote about one day:) and part of that was because we did divisions again - that's where you switch companions for a day. I love Elder Barahona, but right now there's only so much I can communicate to him, so when I was paired with Elder Thacker who is from Ohio I knew it was gonna be great. Anyways, I was serving in their area so Elder Thacker and I had to take a 2.5hr bus ride to Los Santos and HOLY COW it was the most beautiful drive I have ever been on.

 We drove through the green steep mountain jungle with huuuge canyons and we couldn't even see the tops of the mountains because the clouds were super thick and only a few yards above us. We got there and it was basically a street with dirt roads branching off it up the mountainsides and we got right to work.

something super cool is that everywhere there are trees with fruit and you can just be walking and eat fruit whenever you want. I ate Jocote, some tiny pumpkin-like fruit that I have no idea what they are, a grape-like fruit with a big ol seed and a lemon on accident. because it was orange and i thought it was an orange.

 Anyways, when the time came for dinner we pretty much had to hike a mountain to get to her house, and on the way back we crossed a rope bridge that I wanted to take a picture of, but 1 it was too dark and 2 i didn't want it stolen. It was probably fine but i was feeling extra cautious because Elder Thacker had told me all his dangerous stories, one of which is when he and his companion got chased by a guy with a machete yelling "QUE DESEAS!?" They ran as far as they could and took cover in a new investigators house who is someone that normally wouldn't let them in. So they taught a lesson and never went back to that area. It turned out that that same guy was arrested 2 weeks later for slashing someone in the head 😓.
Anyways we had an hour or so to keep contacting and it was going well. When the time for the bus was getting close, we looked at our watches and decided "hmmm one more" So we "Upe!"-ed this house and something awesome happened! The door opened and this little lady (well all the ladies here are little haha) walked straight to the fence and started ushering us in before we could even say that we were missionaries. In her house I taught about the plan of Salvation and about the questions that it answers and gave her the folleta and asked if she had questions. She did and Elder Thacker answered them because I couldn't understand her, but I could tell that she felt that what we were saying was true. It was such a cool experience to the point where i'm sad i don't get to see her progress (I leave to Cartago in the morning)

Sunday
Today was my favorite sunday because I recognized way more people, probably almost half. I recognized all the members we visited during the week and lots of the people we are teaching came too! Also today we got to give a blessing to Hna. Picon because she was feeling super stressed and it was good feeling to know that we could help. After church we went home and as I was just chilling/eating lunch/reading in Alma 29 I heard some noises coming from around the corner and I went over there and there was a bird hopping around and as soon as it saw me it flipped out and made a beeline for the window and ran into it over and over like a giant fly. we eventually got it out with a blanket, but when I went back to my stuff I found poop on the tablecloth :((( so I paused to clean it up and found more poop on my planner and some on my scripture too! I cleaned those too but now im nervous about where else there might be poop😂

Overall this week was a blast and lots of work. I was super happy to see that the people we taught came to church and a little tender mercy for me was reading Alma 29, especially verses 13 and 14 which talk about how Alma is so happy for for the opportunity to teach and his joy is full because of his and his brothers success. I felt like that too. Even though I was frustrated with myself sometimes, i found that the easiest way to keep going is to just smile. Ive been trying to follow the advice of my favorite prophet, Gordon B Hinckley:
"In my 90+ years, I have learned a secret.
I have learned that when good men and good women
face challenges with optimism, things will always
work out! Despite how difficult circumstances may
look at the moment, those who have faith and
move forward with a happy spirit will find that
things will always work out."

Have a great week everyone!
-Elder Hilton

Week 8: The 2nd week in Costa Rica!!!

Hello everyone! This week a crazy amount of amazing thins happened, and unfortunately I've only got 20 minutes today, so lets see what I can do haha!

Tuesday

Today we taught in Tobosi, the super pretty place that I wrote about last week. But unfortunately, our appointment fell through (Hna Melisa wasn't home) so we were stuck there. We had to pay for the bus ride all the way oout there, so we didn't want to just go right back, so we decided to proselyte right there in Tobosi (in my opinion the prettiest place ever!)

Wed 

Thurs

Friday 

Today we had "divisions" which is where you change companions for a day. It was an incredible experience and Elder Lopez and I worked really hard. Today was the most success we have had in the whole 2 weeks I've been here! The first door we knocked on (well its not really knocking because every house here had a big gate around it and so what we do is yell out "Upe! Buenas!") so the first door we "Upe!" -ed let us in and we shared the message of the restoration and left them with the invitation to read the pamphlet after setting up a later time to come by. Then, the second door we "Upe!"-ed the exact same thing happened except we taught the Plan of Salvation. After That we had to be at an appointment so we walked all the way to where this lady lived and "Upe!"-ed like a thousand times, but nobody was home. However, I think it was meant to be that way because we decided to do more contacts with the time we now had and again, every single person who answered either let us in our took a tarjeta or folletaand we were able to reach way more people than we would have if that lady were home. Then the time came for the next appointment and the exact same thing happened! The apptmnt fel through and we contacted lots more people! Finally the time for our dinner apntmnt came and It was supposed to be with Hna. Jessica so we walked all the way to her house, and right before we went in, Elder Lopez pulled me aside and said this Hermana was crazy and to be ready. I could tell what he meant right away. When she talked, one instant shed have the most dead serious expression on her face , and there would be a pause and then the loudest insane laugh you've ever heard. And any time I would smile at something she said, she would point at me and do a crazy laugh that kinda scared m e. So i tried not to smile that much but it was hard, haha It seemed like everytime Elder lopez brought up gospel topics shed get mad at him and be super rude. She was nice to me though:) After we ate some fried platanos she kept getting mad at elder lopez for some reason and she kept throwing the butts of the platanos at him. we had to leave when it got to that point, hahaha!

After that we walked past this house of a newly baptized members and had the impression to talk with them. It turned out that after they let us in and we talked for a while, they told us of some of the difficulties they were having in their life and with the gospel. We talked for a long time and when it was getting late, elder lopez offered to give them blessings of comfort and guidance . He gave them and they were amazing even though I didn't understand all of it. After that we left Iand I felt good and also super hopeless. Its kinda hard to explain. As we were talking with them I could feel their emotions, and I wanted to help them so bad! But all I could do was swallow my frustration and keep listening and watch Elder Lopez help because I cant understand most of what they're saying let alone give advice or find scriptures or tell stories that can help them.So yeah. That was the closest to crying I have ever gotten so far. Offering help has always been an easy natural thing for me, and having that blocked by a language is super hard for me, especially when I know my help is really needed. As we were walking home I think that Elder Lopez caught on that I was frustrated and sad, so he asked what what up. Then he was super nice and gave advice after I tried (and failed) to explain my feelings. 

Alright, I'm out of time and I only wrote about one day! Ill try harder next week! 

Elder Hilton

my companions shoes!  many many many miles of walking every single day!

I was excited to buy eggs and make burritos.  Yummy!

Week 7: The first week in Costa Rica!!!

So much has happened this week, there is noooo way I can tell it all. The first day by itself felt like a whole month! So I'll try to write what I can!
Tuesday
I met my new companion today!!!! He is a hard worker who doesn't know any English, but he´s trying to learn, so we try to help each other as much as we can with our languages. I'm glad that he is so patient because sometimes I feel like a little kid following my dad everywhere because I don´t know what or where or who anything is. Anyways, today we did contacts for tons and tons houses for miles and my feet were dead like less than halfway through. I thought that there was lots of walking in the MTC but noooooooo. It was kinda funny because I didn't know we were doing contacts until the third house . I was thinking ´´Again? oh wait... this is what missionaries do! We´re proselyting!´´ I'm sure Elder Barahona (that's my companion) told me what we were doing but I probably didn't understand.
After our dinner appointment, we needed to give a blessing, and thankfully Elder B said he could do it, but ask he went to do it, he realized he left his oil at home. He asked me tiene su aceite and without thinking I responded 'si!' and then realized what I said yes to. So, not knowing if I even brought oil, I walked over to my backpack and reached in and miraculously the first thing I touched was the vial of oil. So we were able to give the blessing!!!
Wednesday
TONS of walking again today. Very similar to yesterday, but today we had a district meeting at the church building today. It's always fun to be with more missionaries. Afterwards we have like 30 min of spare time so we played a game called Cuantas pecas? where you say a spanish tongue twister as fast as you can and if you mess up you get a peca on your face (a dot with the whiteboard marker) I had like a thousand by the end, hahaha
Thursday
Today we had to take a bus to get to the area we were teaching in and it was up in the hills and super pretty! It's kinda crazy how steep the roads were here, we seriously had to stop and breathe every 30 or 40 feet cuz its soooo steep. Oh yeah and Elder Barahona is like a whole foot shorter than me but somehow he can still outwalk me with his tiny legs. He has the missionary walk down, haha! Every day I get a little frustrated with not being able to understand anything and not knowing what to say when people ask me basic questions. So I've been carrying a little dictionary around and writing down words I hear a lot.
Friday
Pretty much the exact same as yesterday. We saw a few rats in the gutters. It was dark and we were walking home, and a rat moved in the gutter and scared us and Elder Barahona yelled out ´´AAAH SEXY RAT!!¨ (obviously he meant scary) I couldn't stop laughing the rest of the way home.
Saturday
Today our goal was 10 contacts and we only had 1 by dinner and when our lesson with Jose was canceled we were going to go back to our house. But, I felt like we needed to do more, so I asked if we could do more contacts even though it was getting dark. We did and guess what?? We got nine more almost all in a row! So we made our goal and I was able to sleep better.
Sunday
We went to a ward council meeting and that was scary because it sounded like serious stuff was happening and I didn't know what. It's always embarrassing when people ask you a long and detailed question and all I can think to do in the moment is to look around turning red and say no entiendo. Anyways today was fast and testimony meeting and I forgot that it's a tradition that new missionaries always give their testimonies. So it was quite the surprise when right after the sacrament they called me up to start us off. I don't remember what I said, but I hope it made sense. Later today Elder B got a bad stomach ache and I could tell it was really bad. When we walked home he was quiet the whole time when normally hes giggling and making noises/babbling nonsensical english trying to learn it. Poor guy. At the casa I gave him a blessing (in english) using the most basic words I could so that maybe he could understand.
Today!
His stomach is better! today we took two busses to go to San Jose to get our fingerprints done and that took like the whole morning. Then, we bussed all the way back and played ping pong!!!! We found a soccerball and pumped it up tighter and played basketball with it. He doesn't know how to play basketball at all, and when he shoots he just uses one hand with the other arm down at his side. It's actually super funny and whats crazy is that he BEAT ME at horse!!!!!! every time he made it he would get all excited, it was so funny. eventually our basketball deteriorated into seeing who could kick the ball farther and that ended when Elder B accidentally kicked it sideways and got the ball stuck on the church roof... And now I'm typing this! Spiritual thought of the day:

When we are on the Lord’s errand,” President Thomas S. Monson promised, “we are entitled to the Lord’s help”  We are not entitled, however, to a smooth road and an 'endless stream of successes'. So as long as we work hard and expect challenges along the way we will be alright. I encourage all of you to do what you can to be on the Lord's errand whenever possible and I know you will be blessed for it.
Have a good week everyone!! Love you all!

 My Companion Elder Barahona 

 Elder "B" is from Guatemala

Our awesome shower head.  We get to wash our clothes by hand too.

Our bus ride to the capitol, San Jose.