Elder Austin Ferrin's Costa Rica Adventures: Week # 2 Email day...................

Our Elder is doing great Here is the latest from him:

Hey Mom!!! so... if you get a call today from a wierd number just answer it :) I promise you'll be glad you did! so... my last week has been pretty basic. we've kind of gotten into a regular groove the last week and not much has new. we get up at 6:30 and head over to the cafeteria and eat some less than great food.... but it's all you can eat so what's the big deal? :) after that it's 3 hours of spanish study and then off to gym for 50 minutes. After gym we eat lunch and then back at it for 3 hours of language study/ gospel study/and then some teaching of our investagators. then dinner and after dinner.... guess what?? more studying!!!! then off to bed :) so life is pretty easy just lots and lots of studying and focus. :) But up until yesterday we had been planning our lessons and writing out a lesson plan for our investagators. As we were about to start planning something for our lesson i told my companion that i felt like we should just go into the lesson and ask daniel (our investigator) some questions that he might have and just go with what we think he needed. As we started he said something about how he just doesn't know if god is here or even real. I felt prompted to tell him about an experience that through, i had come to know that he does listen to and answer prayers still. I wanted to tell him how i had a lot of questions after uncle Aaron had passed away but i couldn't think of the words to say it. So i sat there and said a silent prayer that i could find a way to say it and just couldn't think of the words to say in spanish. I remembered a scripture that our teacher had shared with us that morning Proverbs 3:5-7 and in it the lord says "lean not unto thine own understanding" When the teacher shared that scripture he said that if we just have the desire and we are striving to share our feelings we only need to open our mouth and the lord will bless us with the ability and knowledge to say what we are supposed to. So i decided i'd give it a try and as i opened my mouth the words for what i was thinking came to me in spanish (not perfect spanish but still better than i had spoke at anytime before) I bore him my testimony that god is here on the earth again and that he does answer prayers among a few other thing. As i bore testimony i felt the presence of uncle Aaron there and the spirit helping me and through my broken spanish i told him that families can be together forever if we obey the commandments that he has given. Now keep in mind this was our first lesson with him and i just through a bunch of knowledge out there at him at once. I was worried i had said too much or something but as he started to talk he told me of how he had lost a son 4 years ago at the age of 12 to some sickness and that when that happened he had prayed for his son to get better but it never happened so he felt abandoned and left. This lesson was the best lesson i have experienced as of yet and we will see how tonights lesson goes :) I love this gospel and i know i have more than one companion with me at all times. i feel the presence of others around me all day everyday and i feel everyones prayers night and day as i study and strive to learn the language. I love you Mom, Dad, Jordan, And, tyler and i hope that things are going well. I want you all to know that if we are having a hard time that we can always look to heavenly father for help and i hope you all do whenever your feeling low or things just aren't going your way. I Love you All!!! the gospel is great and the gospel is true. Always strive to have it's influence in your lives.

With mine and the saviors love,

Elder Ferrin

Elder Ferrin ran into his Friends from High School