Costa Rica  Week #1  Sept 29--Oct 6th
Ok, so this first pics are of me still at the MTC and the days just prior to leaving.

We all signed the board with where we were from and where we were headed!

My district and our trainer.

One last picture with my MTC district!

Elder Preece and I---see you in two brother  :o)

 Yes, I did get up this early---at 3 am in fact.  We had to be at the travel office, ready to go by 4:30 am!

This is me getting ready to ride the trolley train from Provo to the Salt Lake Airport on the morning of the the 29th of Sept.

Well we made it! ---All 12 of us Elders and I didn't lose one!  :o)

Okay so Costa Rica is awesome and crazy at the same time! We arrived around 8:30 and the president picked us up and took us to the Temple where he talked to us about the mission. We then got some Wendy's haha and went to a house where we slept for the night. Then the next day was pretty much spent in the mission office doing interviews with the President and meeting the Latino people that flew in as well. 13 of us are Gringos  4 elders are Latinos and 12-13 Latino hermanas. 

Where's Waldo?  Can you spot me???----  :o)

Palm trees and greenery at President's home.

 
This is the money we use in Costa Rica---Colones

 Around 5 that night, we went out and walked around Costa Rica.  We then taught a lesson with people and I  even stood in to give a blessing. San Jose is very, very, very, busy and there are so many cars everywhere! I'm amazed that people aren't getting hit everywhere. 

Me at the mission office.

Then on Wednesday, we had a lunch at the Presidents house and I met My Trainers Elder Gomez from El Salvador and Elder Reed from Montana. We then Got on a bus and went to Esparza! That's my new area that  they just opened  6 weeks ago!  It is about 15 miles from the coast, west of San Jose.

It is sooo humid here. I could feel it right when I got off the plane. So I rode the bus for about 2 hours and I did not feel good at all I was sweating from pores on my body I didn't even know I had haha! So then we got off the bus and caught a taxi to the apartment and then I threw up.......... but, the good news is that after I threw up I felt great. Then we went to work. We went and taught some in-actives and members and recent converts. It's interesting here I am trying my best to understand people but basically all I can do is listen and then bare my testimony at the end of each lesson. One night when we were walking home we stopped by an investigators house to say hello. They asked us if we could give a blessing to a family friend because he had cancer. It was kind of a surprise, but we said yes. So we quickly jumped in the back of a van and zoomed to a house a little ways a way. When we got there, there was a whole family and a few others gathered in this house around a man that was very, very skinny. I haven't ever seen a man this skinny before in real life. The family was not members and didn't really know about our church, but they had heard we could give blessings. So we gave the blessing that he might be able to feel peace according to God's will and he passed away an hour later. It was a good learning experience.

One crazy experience. While teaching some investigators, the family dog was hit by a car right outside.... so that made the rest of the lesson interesting. 

Anyways Costa Rica is good, Spanish is hard!  There are a lot of other religions here. We have had a couple other preachers come and preach to us in our faces about other churches. 

Our apartment is small and the showers are very cold. In fact, as of right now I haven't received a bed or closet yet, so I am living out of my suitcase still. :o)

My bed is the one on the floor with the colorful blanket.  Notice the fans---yes it is that humid here  :o)

The few active members here are great! I have been able to spend some time with some of them and show them some family photos. One young member boy is awesome!  He loves to sit next to me on the bus and teach me Spanish. When we were at his house eating dinner, he even put on my suit coat and my extra name tag and said "Look I'm just like you, a missionary"! It made me smile because the suit coat almost touched the ground because of his size. 

But I'm alive!:o)  I'm praying for all of you! Pray for my Spanish! haha , I would love to here from you! If you have any questions about missionary work or Costa Rica feel free to ask and I will try my best to respond!

oh yeah, I haven't been able to try many fruits but I have seen Parrots, Coach roaches, and Iguanas. I did get to go eat lunch on the beach one day as well too and see the Pacific Ocean while we ate. It rains almost everyday and the thunder is soooo incredibly loud. Here is a sample of the rain we see---daily!

Tell the Family (the Whole extended Family) I said hello and please clarify on the blog. All letters get sent to the mission office and then I get to pick them up or receive them about every two weekswhen the Pres or DL can deliver them. I can email every Monday. Hello to Jeb, Tayloranne, Hannah, Hank, Rusty, Smokey, Snowflake, and Mom and Dad. Thanks for all the Prayers. 

I love you all!

Elder Caleb Adams

PS letters/ pkg info :

 Mission address is:  and DO put pictures of Christ on letters and packages.

Eder Caleb M Adams

Misión San José, Costa Rica

Apartado Postal 249-2010 Zapote

San José, Costa Rica

I learned this from Sister Wilkinson: "Greetings - okay, packages. I know that the US says it will only take 7-10 days but we have some packages that take over a month to get here. There is no reason some get here sooner than others - just a hit and miss. Sorry. The missionaries serving IN the San Jose area are welcome to come in or call every Monday to check on packages (so missionaries in San Jose area can get packages/letters weekly) OUTSIDE of the San Jose area packages/letters usually sent out the first week of each month (zone leaders & sister trainers come in for Leadership Council). We don't send packages/letters with just "any missionary" we want them to be safe and make sure your missionary gets them. Therefore, it might take more time then we would like to deliver BUT if they make it to our office - we will make sure your missionary gets them! I hope this helps - Love to all of you! Remember to put religious stickers on packages - don't send what they can buy here (waste of your money), label your package missionary supplies."