1 Agosto 2016--- mi último--my finale

Hello family!

These past two years have been great. There are not words to describe it. I have had to share my last testimony with the missionaries in some conferences and as I have said to them. I have felt ¨too blessed¨ haha or very very blessed by the Lord.

The time has gone by quick. It is a feeling that is hard to describe. I am not sure if it has really registered in my mind yet. But I know everything will be just fine. I have been forever changed by my mission and will never forget some of the beautiful experiences that the Lord has allowed me to have.

We had a great Monday last week. We went with the Bishop and went on a hike with his family. And took some pics. I went on some divisions and then on Saturday we had Ricardo´s baptism. Great baptism. at 8am in the morning but a real great one. We had the bishop baptize Ricardo and it was really good. We had a lot of goodbyes to say and took a lot of pictures. On Sunday, Ricardo was confirmed and the spirit was real good there. We had some great investigators that went to church. Ricardo's parents are really great. I will really miss them They are awesome and progressing. Elder Gonzalez was a great companion. We had some great times together. I gave a talk on Sunday.... haha it went great. My topic was How to serve putting aside our temporal conditions? well..... I shared a small story about two pepper plants... that you are familiar with. And I also shared the scripture D and C 84:80 . What an interesting end right haha,

Right now I am in Zona La Paz!!!! Ush... haha I am with Elder Nuñez. We have a small activity in La Loma chapel tonight. A small goodbye party. the converts and members and the bishop will be there.
Tomorrow, I will go to San Jose and buy some small souvenirs. and then at night I have the last dinner with President Hayes. on Wednesday I have my last interview with President and then Wednesday night we will go to the Temple for the last time :( and then on Thursday---- well the long trip home.

I love you all! And will see you all soon!

Con Mucho Cariño,

Elder Caleb M. Adams

Thank you all for the great support for these past two years!

 Well----it is my turn.  I placed my mark on Costa Rica, literally!  This is me placing my hand print on the special quilt that  Sister Hayes made.  It hangs in their home here and each missionary from the time they have served here-- since July 2015, to now and ongoing, places their handprint in paint and then puts it on the quilt, and signs their name.
                                          It reads " We are the Lord's hands"

 President and Sister Randy Hayes-----a truly humble and kind couple

 Me with Elder Barben( Sandy, Utah)---yep the missionary we met at Sizzler prior to going to the MTC.  Pretty great that we met each other at the start of our mission and get to close it together.

 Special dinner for the leaving elders and sisters----

 left to right--me, Elder Farnsworth and Elder Nunez---we all leave on Thursday.

Words of wisdom form President Hayes---

25 Julio 2016

¡Hola a todos desde la hermosa tierra de Costa Rica!

The Ward activity was a success! It went really great a lot of planning and running around haha but all of the ward participated. about 85 showed up. Which is good compared to the Sunday attendance of 110. It was the Iron rod activity. We had the iron Rod run throughout the whole chapel and then the Sacrament hall was the finishing part. we had the projector up with the Tree of Life and the Bishop dressed in white as the angel and the apples representing the fruit. We gave out 23 Books of Mormon to some. And then we made sandwiches for all.

So Saturday morning... Great beautiful day... We went to the Chapel and set everything up. The car with the speakers was driving around announcing. We had invited the whole world and we were excited. Well we went and made the Sandwiches and while making them sure enough here came the Rain Clouds. And when it rains in Guapiles... It rains!!!!!.... haha People don´t go outside of the house if it´s raining. We thought ¨¡No puede ser!¨ We earnestly prayed in our hearts that it would all work out. And then rain slowly went away and we thought, wow perfect. We are safe this will be good. We went and invited others to go. and then the rain returned. Trusting in the Lords will although a little discouraged we thought," Why would it rain like this"... We have worked so hard for this day.------ Anyways, We were on our way to the Chapel to arrive an hour early to the activity to make sure the temptationsfor the Iron Rod  would be ready. We decided to stop by the house and kneel down in Prayer. We offered a prayer to our Heavenly Father, expressing our desires to help the kingdom grow in this special place of the earth,  and we got up and went to work. After the prayer a peace came over us. I won´t say the rain immediately stopped. But we had a peace that came over us in knowing that everything would be okay. Well the rain didn´t stop... haha and you might think well what is the purpose of this little story...   Well, I have learned in the mission that when we pray... We pray to know the Lord´s will------ Not to change it. The Activity turned out just great and by the time came around for the part outside it wasn´t raining anymore. :o)  But how oft in our lives do we have this rainstorms and we want them to be taken away. Sometimes the Lord doesn´t take them away and sometimes he does. But I testify of the Consoling power of Prayer! It is real!  I testify that we can find peace through our trials if we seek to know the Lords will and do all we can and leave the rest in his hands.

Sunday, I received permission to take a bus and go to San Jose and meet up with Elder Barben( the one I met at Sizzlers prior to the MTC) and then I went with him to Tres Rios. The members there had a nice little going away party for us. I saw the Bishop and his family-- The Patriarch--The Elders Quorum and many other loved members. Then I stayed the night there and this morning went and said goodbye to others. I will be sure to send pics later.

We are going to have a baptism my last Saturday in Guapiles. His name is Ricardo. He and his family are awesome and have been going to church with us. They were contacts in the street. the date was always for this Saturday but due to some challenges the parents are going to wait a bit but they are going to keep going to church and support Ricardo. he will be 12 yrs old.
I was assigned a 20min talk for this next Sunday in Guapiles.... haha

Good News President Hayes is coming back this week... Just in time.---Oh how I love this man!Thanks to each and all of you for your loving support of me over these last 2 years. I have felt your prayers and appreciated all the thoughts you have issued on my behalf.
Well I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!

Elder Caleb Adams

18 Julio 2016--more miracles in Gualipes

That sounds great! I am so glad you had a good time. I remember the trek. The mission is similar, tough===. but oh so worth it.

Things here this week are well. People are bugging me about my time in the mission haha, so We had a good district meeting on Wednesday and there we celebrated Elder Gonzalez's birthday (My comp) he is 23 now. While leaving the chapel. we were stopped and said hello a man who was dirty from working all day. He asked a few questions and we asked a few to him. His daughter left that same day for the mission. He is not a member and found it a very hard thing. We consoled him a bit and testified of the blessing his daughter was going to have serving a full time mission. He gave us his number and where he lives. We felt the spirit while talking to him and more important, he felt it.

Here I am in this beautiful paradise with wonderful loving people-----ahhh Costa Rica!


Anywho, on Thursday we went to a place called Cascadas II . While there all the set appointments and back up plans fell through. So we started contacting some. we saw a man raking out side of his house a ways down the street and me and my companion both felt a strong impression to talk to him. We walked down the street and walked up to him and presented ourselves. After some small talk and a small introduction he allowed us to enter in. He owns a small restaurant. He invited his wife and they started listening. While teaching, with a strong power and authority that was there he said, "I saw you two walking down there and I thought to myself 'I hope they come talk to me' " He continued, "And the next thing I knew they you two were" haha well after inviting them to the church they said well with the business and all it makes it hard. Sunday's are our best workdays. When all the people call it to eat. Well the spirit then prompted me to make a promise. We testified and promised blessing that if they would keep the Sabbath day that the lord would "cause them to ride upon the high places of the earth" as said in Isaiah or in other words that the lord would help them with their struggling family and that the business would be just fine. Well Sunday came around and we were there with smiling faces to receive them and they had a good experience.

I guess one thing I could say I have learned from my mission is "pushing back" as Elder Oaks explained it. Not fighting them, But sometimes we have got to be firm and when we hear no you can't or you'll never do this or that. We must rely on the spirit and then push back. and in this experience it was promise blessing and the spirit testified of them .

We also had another great family that went to church with us. They were set to be baptized this month but had some difficulties and will be baptized next month.

Some great joy I have had in my mission service is that of "being a strengthening influence to those that already have the gospel" We took the Priest out this week and did divisions with them. Then on Sunday we sat down and taught a small lesson to them of how to be a missionary. The same thing a Trainer teaches a new missionary. It was a good experience to see their excitement rise for that of serving a mission. It is something we have been doing the past few weeks and it has really helped to gain the confidence of our bishop who is the President of the Priest quorum.

This coming Saturday we have a Ward Activity! The Iron Rod! We have had some struggles as far as planning goes haha but we have worked it out and it should be pretty good :) We hired a van that has a bunch of speakers in it that will drive around the town announcing the activity. haha.

I love you all and am grateful for your loving support!

Elder Caleb Adams

PHOTOS:

How about some soccer in the rain----Costa Rica rain that is ------







This is my district----a special group pf hard working missionaries getting a little wet while playing soccer-----

11 Julio 2016---A temple sealing--the truly sweetest treat to a missionary!!!

Hello Hello! What an incredible way to finish the week! Words cannot describe the joy... I had the opportunity on Saturday to accompany some converts that were baptized in Pital to their Temple Sealing :') I felt so much joy being able to see these people stay strong to their covenants and make it to the Temple. Modesto (In the middle) in the Elder quorums President of the Pital Branch and Yamileth is the Primary President in the Pital Branch with the help of her two children, Yexu and Anthony.

The first pic is of us in Pital before I left. The second is of us two in the Temple entrance.





Oh the beauty of a Sealing! It really brings everything more into focus seeing how that has always been the end in mind but to actually be able to see it and feel of the spirit there is something else. That small little place of Pital has a very large special place in my heart. :o)

This is the group that went to the temple from Pital! with the family that was sealed in the center.

Such a wonderful experience! I was so grateful to be there. I have been shown still while in my mission that the fruits we receive from hard missionary work are priceless.




The Sealing.... Oh wow, What a great experience. and to be able to see old friends that I thought I might never see again was a good time.






I also was blessed that on the same day I was able to see a good friend of mine---Felix Tellez was able to receive his endowments. He was less active when I was in Pital and has about 4 years of being a member.





I would like you to meet Lester. Lester was a great guy who was investigating the church when I was in Pital. He went with us to church, but sadly could never be baptized due to the fact that his wife just didn't want to get married and then they were waiting on a baby boy to be born also. Well, I left and he was married and baptized in August 2015 and is now serving as the Branch 2nd Counselor in the Pital Branch. He will enter the temple to receive his endowments next month.

Things here are good..
We got to meet President Arredondo on Wednesday. He is my fourth mission President.... President Wilkinson, Cordon, Hayes, and now President Arredondo. He was set apart and has the keys while President is away. We had a good conference with him. He encouraged the missionaries to work harder and with more excitement.

We have been working with a family. Nelson, Seylin, and Ricardo. They are real great, here in a few hours we have an appointment with them. Seylin and Ricardo went to church on Sunday with a few others but sadly Nelson couldn't make it due to his work. Right now they have a date to be baptized on the 30th of July. We are hoping it will all work out.

We have a cool activity planned for the 23rd. We are in charge of it. it will be real similar to the one we did in Tres Rios.

One Tender mercy---We were on our way to the bus stop and zoooom.... the bus passed right by haha and it passes every hour... so within seconds we recognized that there must have been someone else to find. Well, the first man we saw was harvesting mangos from a tree with his young son. We went and presented ourselves,  and we were able to find a family that received us very well. Well, it turns out that the whole extended family are the neighbors so we have an appointment to go back to meet the rest of them.

The spirit felt there in the temple was an awesome one and it makes we want to get out there and a lot more families so that they can have a similar experience.  Wow the sealing of those converts though... I guess it's hard to comprehend. but to find, teach, and baptize someone and then see them in white being sealed is just so sweet.

I love you all! Tell all I said hello!

Elder Caleb Adams

Here is one of Elder Gonzales (my comp) ---a good man :o)

4th of Julio 2016--The Holy Ghost is the teacher!

Thanks for that nice email mom!
Hello Hello Hello! Things are well here in this beautiful land called Costa Rica,
So we worked hard this week, Perseverando. Well Sunday came around and we had a nice list of people that had promised to come to church. Well Just before church we were calling and some said they lost the bus or left to go somewhere else and we had a real great family that hadn´t aswered their phones Saturday nor Sunday Morning so we were worried that they wouldn´t show up.... We waited outside prayerfully watching the outer gate for our investigators. nothing.... well the time came to sit down and partake of the Sacrament. I have been really trying to prepare better to partake of this sacred ordances and during it I was thinking of how to be better. or what have we failed to understand... a week with 0 investigators in the chapel.... anywho as we finished Sacrament, and  the doors were opened and

Haleuya  who should walk in, but the 4 of of investigators!!! (the family we had invited that hadn´t answered the phone for days)!!!  We were soo happy!!!!!! We welcomed them in and found them a seat next to some friendly members. Afterward we made sure that of the first people that they would meet was the bishop and they felt the spirit there in the church. It was a tender mercy!  :o)

Another experience--- Well We had received a reference a while back and tried to call but nothing... Well the set appointments we had during the week all fell through as well as our back up plans... so I felt impressed to call this reference. We didn´t know where he lived due to the directions of Costa Rica so we agreed we would meet by the entrance of ¨Barrio Jesus¨ at 4pm. well we got there and nothing... we called and no answer... and this place is far away and for that reason we don´t have progressing investigators there. Anyways I felt we could visit a house and we found a less active that was baptized 30 years early and we invited her once again to return to church a good lesson. But still nothing from this Reference. Well I thought.... ¨Lets go then¨ while walking a man´s car had a problem and we pushed it for him a bit and then I had the strong impression to ask the man if he knew this Reference and he looked at me for a sec and said yeah of course! he lives right in front of me. ¨Wow, Thanks¨ I replied. and we quickly turned around and went and looked for him. Well we found him, haha he was asleep. that´s why he didn´t answer. But Crazy thing is... He is 18 and is the brother of some good friends of mine that were baptized in Ciudad Quesada in January of 2015. Well a few weeks early I had bumped into these two friends of mine and was able to say hi and got their number. Anyways the reference understood the lesson well and has been a few times to church and accpeted a baptismal date. I think the principle is: In the moment I felt ever so lost in an unknown place was the moment we were whispered took by that soft spirit and guided as to what to do.

Sunday, The Priests didn´t show up for Mission Prep... so we starting walking and went and found one of them and gave him the mission prep in his house and he got real excited that we loved him enough to go help him personally in his house. We gave him a Missionary Manual and helped him study a bit. He is excited to go out and work with us.

Pres Hayes is alright. We got an email saying that the test results don´t look too well. Right now he doesn´t know if he will return in this change. It is looking like he won´t be back to see me and my group off. but who knows we are keeping him in our prayers as well.

 As you have probably heard, President and Hermana Hayes are in Salt Lake. President needs to take some medical exams and will be returning when everything is cleared. We fasted and are praying for him and his health. The mission will not be the same without him. For now, President and Hermana Arrodando from Guatemala are here. President Arrodando is actually an Area Seventy but he'll be President Arrodando instead of Elder for now.



This is a good talk that I read a while back: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/following-up?lang=eng

I love you all!

Love--
Elder Caleb Adams :o)

27 Juno 2016--Book of Mormons :o)

Things have been well. I went to San Jose on Friday to the Mission Office where I met up with President Hayes and some other District Leaders. I saw a few old mission friends. President has been sick for a while. He had mentioned it back in October and well he still hasn't felt well and Sister Hayes mentioned it to Elder Duncan and well right now President Hayes is in Salt Lake City Utah because the doctors couldn't find the problem here so He is going to be there for some time while an area 70 is watching over the mission. keep him in your prayers :)

Felix is struggling but he is there still. He hasn't gone to church in 2 weeks. We found a great family Seylin, Nelson and Ricardo. Their daughter is a member that lives in San Jose. But they don't go to any church. We went with them again yesterday and it was a great lesson. Yesterday haha I remember we had planned to teach the restoration and give them a Book of Mormon. Well we had a few with us. We went to church and then went and taught and things went well we put some baptismal dates and actually ended up giving out those Books of Mormon that we had. Anyways we had the appointment at 7:30 and it was like 7:20, we were on our way there and I remember saying a prayer out loud with my comp hoping that this next lesson would be a good one. We called some members to see if they had an extra Book of Mormon lying around and nothing.... in the prayer we asked that we might be able to find a book for them if it were possible if not we would be fine and change the lesson of sorts. Well then an idea came to my head. We called a member and asked him and he said he had a real old one that they had given to him. Anyways we ended up inviting him to the appointment because he lived close. He went with us and now remember this is all happening between 7:20 and 7:30 haha. We arrived and he helped us teach and then we had him give the Book of Mormon and it was real special because he said that he was a convert and that some one special had given him the Book of Mormon that helped him through hard times and that he was now going to give that same book to them in hopes that they would get something from it. Real great. They have got a Baptismal Date for the 30th of July.

The Activity was alright.... not so great haha but it worked out. The 23rd of July will be awesome! We have got a cool activity planned. Remember the one with the iron rod yeah we are going to do it here in Guapiles.

Well I love ya all and hope all goes well!

Tell all the Fam I said hello!

Elder  Caleb Adams

Here is a girl showing us her small goat... haha

                                                         Bug nest in tree :o)



Check out what I made on P day... It's a cabinet for the bathroom haha it cost me 300 colones for the string... or 60 cents... As you can see I am teaching my comp. English that is why there are sticky notes every where!

Learning to cook Costa Rican style--

cooking tortillas

meat

Rice

20 Juno 2016--- my last transfer :(

Things are well in Costa Rica. I went once again on Thursday in the early morn to renew my Cedula or my residency here in Costa Rica. I am Tico for another year. haha :o)

I`m trying to finish out strong!  I hope I am making the most out of the mission. I have tried the whole time to make the most out of it, starting with obedience but time is flying by fast.

Yesterday we had a small mission prep. I am not quite sure if there is some special manual for that but we are just kind of making up the classes using Preach my Gospel and they seem to be going well. We then took them out to work. The bishop couldn`t make it because he was sick. He didn`t even make it to church. but it went well. Alonso, our recent convert was there and set up an appointment with his aunt and we went and visited her. found some news there and some good references. We also went and visited some contacts we had done. We found a family of 4, One is a member that lives in San Jose and goes to church there. The other 3 are not members and accepted a Baptismal Date and the invite to go to Church. They seem pretty cool.

Cool experience. Well we went to a place called Toro Amarillo. We had never been there. But we had received some references and there was going to be an Elder Quorum Activity there, so we decided to go. While the references appointments fell through, and we didn`t know anyone, so we starting talking to everyone, but No one was really interested. So I was thinking walking well what is the best use of our time right now... well I don`t know any less actives here. And then we felt we should contact a house. Long story short. . . . At first the family wasn`t all that interested when we talked at the door. Then the mom from the inside of the house yelled. ----¨What does Mormon mean!?¨
 Well.... I thought to myself... What a great question!... Anyways ,they ended up letting us in and we answered many questions. The spirit was there and we were able to testify of the truths of the restoration of the gospel. They committed to read the book of Mormon.

Members here in Gualipes--

Starting them young here in Costa Rica----


Well, we are excited for a new week to work hard and see even more miracles. We have a family history night planned on Tuesday and then on Saturday, we have a ward family history activity :)




Love ya all

Elder Caleb Adams