So this past week was dedicated to the Christmas party on the 21st (Monday). My Companion and I made a cool PowerPoint and with the Hayes and the Secretaries. We got the whole room decorated and sound set up and all the works. We got tables and chairs from different stake centers.
So--WOW!! Monday, What a great experience. We had the whole mission here and the spirit was great! My Companion and I conducted the meeting and it was awesome to be able to see some many great missionaries in one place. We had some great food, and the PowerPoint went very well. A while back we assigned all the Zones in the mission to organize a service project and take pictures. So we made a slide show from those pictures and added some music and it helped bring the spirit.
We definitely did not go hungry---lots of great American and Costa Rican food to enjoy!
President spoke and shared with us a story that the Mayor of Bethlehem told him. He has been all over the place.---He lived in Israel for a while when he was teaching students at BYU-Jerusalem. Anyway, it was really awesome I loved it. We have been able to learn show much from him and his example.
So this is the story---(true story)
He talked about a story of how there was an Arabic boy and a Jewish boy. Well, back in the day around 1940´s-ish They Jews and Arabics didn´t get along at all. But anyways it turns out that this little Jewish boy of about 7 or 8 years old was playing and got hit by a car and was pretty badly wounded and was going to die, but the Arabic boy took this Jew to the Hospital and ended up saving his life. Well, shortly after this happened the government made a giant border and separated the Jews from the Arabics. So about 20-30 years or so down the road things have worsened between these two nations and a war had begun. This young Arabic was now the mayor of a little town of a small city called Bethlehem. The city was suffering and didn´t have much of anything. Then the day came when the Jews started coming to destroy the city. Well the people freaked out and started running away and packing up. The mayor felt different and tried telling people to stay and that everything would be okay. Well, then on the horizon they could see a group of tanks coming to destroy the city and this mayor felt that he should just start walking towards them. He didn´t know why, but he did it and as the tanks approached, he walked closer. He had know idea what would happen and then when the tanks were close, he saw the general´s tank hesitate and stop. The mayor got a little scared and wondered what might happen, and then the hatch popped open and a man got out and started running towards the mayor. By now the mayor was really worried, but he held his ground and then the man from the tank reached him and gave him a good look and gave him a giant hug! The mayor, surprised and alarmed, suddenly realized that this man was that same little Jewish boy whose life he had saved years earlier. The Jew was now one of the head generals and did not know that the Arabic was the mayor of the city. The Jew eagerly said to him( the Arabic) and the other soldiers, we are not going to destroy this city! What do you need for your city! Tell me and it´s yours! Thus the city received many provisions and in the long run of things, it was the only city that survived the war.
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So, moral of the story, President went on to talk to us about how we have no idea how what we do now can and will affect our future. One small act of charity years earlier saved a city. We as members of the church sometimes get this notion in our heads that to be good missionaries we have to do something great and be like Peter and baptize thousands. We don´t know the outcome of our simple obedience. By small and simple things--Alma 37:6. Now, I speak to you my family and friends and say the same thing. Talking to that one person that is struggling about the message of the gospel may seem very small, but it has the potential to become something very big.
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We also had a baptism on Saturday. Yuliana was baptized. She is awesome and has been to church a bunch with her mom. her mom wants to be baptized as well but they need to get married first so we are working with that and the dad.
Tomorrow we have a ward Christmas party and me and my companion are going to sing o holy night.
Then on Friday I will skype you guys from the mission office computer. I will let you meet the Secretaries and my comp. Have some questions ready.
Anyways! Have a great Christmas!!!
Elder Caleb M. Adams
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