Week # 76 & 77 Feliz Navidad y Prospero Año Nuevo!‏

Well everyone I hope that you had a great Christmas this year and that you are ready for the new year! What a blessing it has been this Christmas season to be a missionary! I have come to enjoy these last two years of Christmas more than any other and I look forward to spending many more in the future in a much more spiritual way. 

This last week we were blessed in my mission with the opportunity of attending a mission wide Christmas activity where we ate a delicious dinner of turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy, with a few other fixins on the side. A dinner that I have missed for sometime! Following the dinner we were taught about the city Bethlehem, and the history and special city that it is. After that was time for the presents! all of the packages for the last couple of months were kept in the office for Christmas as our "Christmas presents from Santa Claus". 
Overall it was a beautiful and enjoyable night. Although I missed my family and our normal traditions I did not feel sad or have any desire to be in any place but Costa Rica. 

With the blessing of speaking to my family on Christmas day this week was just a fantastic week. I have seen countless blessings this last month, the Lord does truly provide for his servants and he takes care of all our needs even if we do not see how or why. 

I love you all and I love this gospel. My testimony of this gospel has grown in ways I could not imagine before my mission and I know that if I had not come out here I would not have had these sacred experiences from this first part of my mission. I know this church is true and the only church that can perform the ordinances necessary to bring us back to our heavenly father as a Family unit. I wish that you all may come to know these same things! 
 I love you all and I hope that this letter finds you well. 

Sincerely,

Elder Ferrin

Rio Claro, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Week # 76 Christmas Skype call.......................

We were able to have a nice Skype call with Austin he looked so good and sounded even better.  

Week # 75 Christmas Service Activity.................

This week was a fantastic week! We were able to go and give service in an old folks home and it was really fun! This was my friend for the day, his name is Chano, he is 90 years old and he is a very funny old man with lots and lots of crazy stories! He lost his eye and one of his fingers in separate accidents working with his dad in a saw mill, at the age of 10. 
Aside from that the work continues to progress here in my area and we continue to see blessings, this week we plan on exploring a new community that we found just outside of town that we found yesterday, it is kind of in the middle of the jungle but there are lots of people and when we talked to them yesterday and taught a few my companion and I both felt that we need to focus more on that part of the area. 
I am happy to be serving as a missionary this Christmas and I hope that you all enjoy this wonderful time of year back home or wherever you may be. Let us all remember what it really means when it is said A savior was born. I love you all and wish you all the best! 

Elder Ferrin

This is the jungle  and he has to walk through  it to get to a little city.  

He said it is 2 miles of just jungle. 

 He is loving this area and the members. 

Week # 74 It's beginning to look a lot like...summer..?

Well this week there were a lot of changes for our area and zone. We now have divided the area and the sister missionaries are working at full speed. This week was yet again full of blessings and we continue to see the lord prepare his children for baptism and to receive the gospel. This last week we had an older lady that has been going to the church for several years with many sets of missionaries tell us that she is ready to be baptised! It was a very great blessing to receive and so now we are helping her prepare for the baptismal service this in two weeks. The Heat is getting extremely high but we are just dealing with it. I love the area and the work that we are doing. Our members here in the branch are fantastic people and i am truly coming to love them! I wish you all a fantastic week and i hope that you all continue to find ways that will strengthen your testimonies!

Elder Ferrin

Week # 73 Blessings

Hello family and friends, this week for me was a fantastic and very blessed week! We were able to see lots of miracles and feel the helping hand of our Savior. Granted that it was a crazy week full of activities at the end of the week we can now sit and feel that we did our all and see all of the miracles that we received. This last week was the last week of the change and thankfully I will be staying here for one change longer and the branch is seeing much growth lately. I thank my heavenly father for the trust he shows in us as we find his chosen and prepared children. Please take care this coming week and I love you all! 
Also happy birthday dad!! 

Pictures of the wedding and baptism

And a turkey that i found in the mountain. :)

also a bug I found in the bathroom the other morning.

Week # 72 Happy Birthday Mom, and Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

First off HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOTHER!! 
I hope you enjoy it and know that I love you! Thank you for your love and support! 

Well the life down here in Costa Rica is going great! I am loving my area, and we are seeing many blessings! This last week we received the call that in about a week we will be splitting the area and there will be sister missionaries here as well! I am so happy to see the area growing and to know that the branch will be receiving more help to increase our growth and help us reach our goals! This last week we were able to finalize the details on the wedding and baptism that we will have this coming week and so the whole branch is super excited to see a baptism after several months. This last week has been a very successful week and we owe it all to our Heavenly Father and I truly am enjoying my time down  here. I love you all and I hope that each of us can remember what it is that we have, and be more grateful for it. Costa Rica is a wonderful country and I love it dearly but the great blessing that we all have of living in the United states and having the lifestyle that we have is a true blessing. I am so grateful for the gospel in the lives of my family, friends and in my own  life, These last 17 months have given me a much deeper perspective of the need for the gospel in our lives. Many people accept the gospel and later leave the church for a short period and later realize the great difference and return. I thank my heavenly father daily that I am able to learn those same lessons and never have to distance myself from the blessings of the gospel. This church is true, I know it. Our savior lives, I have felt his love and presence, and once we all receive that same testimony we all have a duty to share it and bless others. For these things I am grateful this year. 

Elder Ferrin

This is a hammock that was made by hand, it is his Christmas gift.

He only get to where his hat when he is home or on pday fishing.  

Loving the Area.

Week # 71 "Fishers of Men"‏

Well hello! 

This week things have gone great for my companion and I! As always blessed and happy, but not quite satisfied. This last week things went slightly slow but as we made it to Sunday we were able to see the blessings that we needed all week. Yesterday we were able to find 3 new families that are really great! I was able to feel the spirit helping us as we searched and worked throughout the week and this week we look forward to continue seeing blessings. At the end of this month we look forward to the marriage and baptism of a family that we have been teaching since my first week in the area and they are Great! Also today as we went fishing. Now you might be asking why we go fishing so often? Well believe it or not it we go fishing to baptise. :) It is a part member family that lives a little far from the rest of the city and so we take advantage of our Mondays to teach and fish with the family and, we have found blessings as we do it. The man that is not a member is named Johnny and he now has a baptismal date for the middle of December. As a result of us going fishing with him on and teaching him. This is my favorite type of investigator. :) so that is about all the big news for this week.

 I love you all and I pray that you all are happy, healthy and obedient to the gospel. 

Elder Ferrin

My redneck fishing attire

and lunch after fishing. 

Week # 70 Service

Well hello family and friends, first off I love you all and I hope that each and everyone of you are doing well! This week we were blessed with lots of success and the Lord blessed us as we worked diligently. This week I was able to feel the love of my Savior stronger and I also tried to share that same love. Also yesterday I was asked to give a talk in our sacrament meeting on service. I have come to realize that the greatest personal happiness comes as we seek the happiness of others. So that was my eternal principle for the week. For p-day this week I was able to go to golfito which is a fishing port here close to my area, it was a beautiful day filled with seeing beautiful parrots and catching a few fish. I love you all and I hope that you may find opportunities to help someone in need this week. 

Elder Ferrin

Week # 69 Trip to Panama...........

Well this week was a great week and I was able to enjoy many blessings here in the area. This week we went and chopped down the jungle in a members house and we built a garden in the mountain. I will have to send the pictures this next week. As for our investigators we continue to see new people ready for the gospel. My companion is fantastic and we are growing and learning each day. Also today we went and crossed the border into Panama! It was really cool and everything down there was about half the price of the same in Costa Rica so that was nice! Well i am loving the work and things are great. I hope that everyone is doing good. This gospel is fantastic and can make our lives much more joyful if we allow its teachings to reach deeper than the surface. 

I love you all!

Elder Ferrin

I found me a super cool cowboy hat from panama. What do you think?

Week #68 Birthday Cake and Fishing

This week was a fantastic week down in the Zona Sur. Again Thank You all for the happy birthday wishes and I really appreciate all the messages! So as for this week I was able to see several miracles and testimony building experiences. One of many was on last Monday night. My companion and I had went to visit all of our plans for Monday night and well sadly all of the plans fell through, And as luck would have it, it was raining as well. So as we were making our way to the highway to visit another family we walked up to a man standing under the roof of a corner store that had closed for the night. My companion and I felt that we should talk to him and so we went and acted as if we needed to get out of the rain as well, (even though we were already soaked) so as we talked to him he told us of his problems, no job, no family, no house, no money, and the list went on and on. Well after a short and powerful lesson we were able to help him and he is planning on being baptised the last week of November. So this week we are going to continue working and helping him find a job. 

Also this week we were able to have our zone conference with our mission president present on Saturday. They showed up and surprised me with a birthday cake and the zone all sang "Happy Birthday" and then we all ended with eating cake and had interviews with president. So this year my birthday was fantastic. 

Also we were able to go fishing this week again for p-day and well we had a little bit more success by pulling out a Slightly bigger fish but we are still looking for the big ones. 

Well everyone I love you and I hope that all is well with each one of you. Remember that there is nothing more precious than your testimonies of this gospel and be sure to try and strengthen it daily! 

Elder Ferrin

It warms a mother's heart to know that others can take care of our son.  

Thank you to a wonderful  Mission President and his family.

His favorite pass time, 

Love him!!

Week #67 Rio Claro De La Zona Sur

Well as you can tell from the photos I am in a new area that is completely different from my last one..My new area is called Rio Claro, My new companion is Elder Ruiz, and my new area is Amazing! I am looking forward to lots of miracles and learning opportunities in the next change. As you could see I am back in the jungle, I am actually less than an hour away from the border with Panama, and we are allowed to go down there on p-days to buy the food cheaper. I Love the area and the members that we have here already! The only bad part is we have to take a 8 hour bus ride to get down here from the capital. So there are very few trips to the office. But I am in the best place ever because today after 15 months I was able to go fishing with some members!! 

Best week EVER! so anyways I wish you all a great week and I love you all very much!! 

Elder Ferrin

Back where he love it!!

Week #66 Waters of Baptism........

This week the big news is that I was able to help 2 friends enter the waters of baptism. Gretel and Aura. It has been a true blessing to be in my area for the last 3 months but now it is time to move on. I do not know where until Wednesday when I have a meeting with president hayes but I know that it is what the lord wants for me. It is sad to be leaving my area right after a couple of baptism and it breaks my heart to have to leave my converts and the members there but I am looking forward for more opportunities to grow and learn. I love you all and I hope that you week goes great! Study and review the talks from conference again and look for missionary opportunities so that you can bless the lives of others each day! I know this gospel is true and I Know that our savior lives.  

Elder Ferrin

Week # 65 Zone Conference and General Conference..........

This week was a fast and furious week. We were blessed with a trip to the temple as a zone to prepare us for conference. The conference was also fantastic and I truly loved it! As a missionary I have grown to appreciate the general conference in a new way as I study and prepare for it. My testimony has grown of the prophets and apostles. I love you all and I hope that all is well. 

Elder Ferrin

 Los Yoses Zone

Elder Ferrin & Elder Chub

Elder Ferrin & Elder (still working on his name)

Leadership council 

Elder Carter & Elder Ferrin

Teaching in the Park

Crying repentance 

Lunch after teaching

Conference

Elders During General Conference

Week# 64 Here comes Confrence..........

Well it has been another week and things are going Well as always! This last week we were able to set up a booth in the park again and invite a bunch of people to general conference! So that was pretty great! We were un-able to baptise the 2 investigators that we had planned due to a couple little problems in the ward but we will finally be able to do it on the 10th of October. So I am excited to see that! Well aside from that this week was a pretty normal week of working and inviting a ton of people to conference this Saturday and Sunday. I hope you all are doing well, and I also hope that you all are able to hear conference this coming weekend! I love you all!

Elder Ferrin

Pictures:
My favorite picture taken of the day, one of my elders contacting and "crying repentance" :)
And then the lunch afterward with almost the whole zone was able to help with the contacting in the park.