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.

Week #63 Blessings & Spiritual Experiences........

Well this last week was a fantastic week full of blessings and spiritual experiences, first off after I got home last week on Monday and I felt that I should call one of my converts from my first area. Well I had lost contact with him about 6 months ago. (his cell was not working since he was working in the jungle but I did not know that.) but anyways last monday I felt I should call him and well guess what? he answered and, well right away he realized who I was, and yelled "Brother Ferrin!!" he yelled it so happy that it surprised me an awful lot. He told me that he had been wishing that he could call me all that day and since he had lost my phone number he couldn't. Well he started to tell me a ton of information! First that he has started a temple fund so that in December he can come down to the temple and go through with me! He also had some other news that he will have another child in his family, with his wife in Nicaragua, and this week he goes back to stay for a few months to take care of his little family, but he told me that he is going to have a baby boy and that they are going to name him "Austin René Altamirano" I will not lie, I cried a lot as I talked to him and heard him tell me of how grateful that we taught him and gave him this gospel. Man I am so happy to have contact with him again! 
Later on thursday I had planned a baptismal interview for a lady that has had to go through a long process of repentance and so in preparation for the interview I spent two days of personal study preparing for the interview. I Spent most of my time studying about the atonement, and its role in our lives. Well As I showed up with her and started the interview and as I began the interview she cried an awful lot, explaining her desire to be baptized for the last 6 years and well it was a very spiritual experience and to make the story short as I was finishing up the interview she had a couple questions and one of them was "does it hurt to repent" and I went over Alma 37 with her and explained how Alma felt as he was repenting, later as I got to verse 40 where it talks about the great joy that alma felt she stopped me and said "Elder can you please read me that verse again?" and so I read it again and she told me that the night before she had dreamt about that same verse of scripture and how she had been wondering why those words were in her mind all day long. Well to not make the story too long, I was able to finish the interview with her and I am happy to say that she will be able to be baptised this coming saturday with her two sons, after 6 years of waiting. I love my job. 
Well as you can probably tell things are going fantastic here and I love every little challenge that we have. I love you all and I hope that each and everyone of you are doing great as well. Take care this week and Just stay strong in the gospel please, I know that, that is the only way that we will all be happy. 

This a little booth they set up in the park and share the gospel with those who come by.

Week #62 No Taco Bell Please......

His letter was really short today, He was busy and just said  a few things:


Well to start off last week after I ended our Email I started to not feel very well.  We had ate at Taco Bell and I was starting to have a bad stomach ache.  I was sick for about 24 hours and then we were able to get back out and teach.  Nothing really to report this week.  To top it off I had a Ingrown Toenail too.  But things are great.  

As a parent I will take even 5 mins just to talk if that is all I can get.  

Sending extra Prayer this week.

Week #61 Saludos a gringolandia‏...........

Well how is everyone this week? Things down here in Costa Rica are going great! This last week was a very hot week but since I am in a cooler area things are not too bad for us. This last week was pretty crazy for us since there are many new missionaries in our zone and there is a new set of Elders that are opening an area. So with new houses, new areas, and all of the fun that comes with that we had a little bit less time to work in our area this week. 

It came down to Sunday night and we still hadn't met our goal of new investigators in our area for the week and so my companion and I were really trying to find those chosen families to teach. Well last night at about 6 o clock we were missing 4 new people and we had a little extra time before our next appointment and so we decided to search for a family. Well as we were walking and trying to discern where the spirit wanted us to go we continued to walk down a new little alley in the area, one that we have never been to before and well it turned out to be a dead end. So what did we do? We decided to contact the last house on the street and well long story short we were able to teach a great little family that is already married which is almost unheard of here! So even though it may sound like a simple little story it was a true little tender mercy for us to find them. This week we will continue to teach them and I feel really good about them. 

Another thing that I came to realize this last week was that the joy of sharing this gospel with people that don't know about it yet is one of the best feelings that I have come to feel in the last year of my mission. Giving that hope and peace to people that deeply need it is such a blessing for me! I truly love my calling. 

Well I hope that everyone has a great day and an even better week! And just a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY to one of my best friends Syster Nielsen over there in Sweden! I hope that it goes great!

Take care everyone and I love you all!! 

Please share this gospel. There will be deep regrets in the eternities if we don't.   We cannot have a single empty seat in the celestial kingdom!  

con mucho cariño y amor,

Elder Ferrin

D&C 6:33

Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward. 

and look who I ran into today in the central park? 

Good ol, Elder Kirk. 

Since he is in the other mission that doesn't happen much. 

This picture was sent from a SR couple that is serving with Elder Ferrin. 

 They are from South Weber and send us Pictures when they run into Elder Ferrin.  

We sure love them.  Thank you Brother & Sister Petersen.

Well I was walking down the street the other day and then I heard a strange sound and my shoe felt funny.... well that nifty little plastic bar that comes on the inside of your shoes? ya mine finally fell out,  the shoes were doing real good till that happened.

so I took them to a member that fixes shoes and well.... in a couple of days he had them looking brand new! 

More or less... and well 10 dollars later we are back in business! 

Week # 60 Damaged Pride.........

Hey everyone, how are things this week?? sounds like things are going really well back home. Looks like last week was really full of fun activities and events. This last week I had a good time as well. I  had a slightly embarrassing moment in the house of an investigator and with a member... we were teaching a lesson to a single lady and her daughter about the priesthood (we were going to give the lady a priesthood blessing because she fell) and so the lesson was really spiritual and going really well until I decided to get a little bit more comfortable. (so usually while I teach I have the habit of sitting on the edge of my seat so I am participating a little more in the conversation and it shows that I really care about what we are teaching) and so as I let my companion take his turn speaking and teaching.  I slid back to sit in the chair in a normal way and well as I leaned my back on the back rest I hear a loud CRACK  and the next thing I know is I am on my back on the floor with my feet in the air.... The back legs of the plastic lawn chair broke into about a million pieces....well needless to say the spirit left quickly and everyone in the room was on the floor laughing. Literally my companion fell out of his chair laughing at me and the member, well he speaks English, and he just kept saying to me, "elder it's alright, you're going to remember this for a long time"  he laughed as well. Long story short we were able to bring the spirit back by singing a hymn and all ended well. So  to be honest the family that we were teaching now is planning on getting baptised next month. So all is well here, just a little bit of damaged pride but nothing else. :) hope that this story comes across as funny as it was for everyone else. I love you guys and have a great week! 

Elder Austin Ferrin

Week #59 Hope you enjoy school..............

Well this was another fantastic week, We were able to do divisiones with the assistants to president and things went really well, we were also able to find a few families this last week. This last week the highlight of the week was definitely being able to hear from president Russell m. Nelson! He did a live video call to our mission and spoke to us for about 2 hours. I could feel strongly the presence of the spirit! He spoke to us, gave us all study topics to study,  and also gave us all a special blessing. That was saturday. This coming week we will be ending another change and that should be exciting. Well this week i was able to see the need to truly love the way christ does. A true christlike love truly can bless our lives as well as the lives of others. I hope that each of you know the importance of this gospel in our lives and the true treasure that the book of mormon is for each and every one of us! Have a great week everyone and i love you all!

Elder Ferrin

Week # 58 Happy Costa Rican Mother Day.......

Hey everyone how are things going for you all? well i was going to send a message saying happy mothers day today since last Saturday was mother's day here in Costa Rica but since i am not emailing anybody from Costa Rica right now i won't worry about it too much. :) This last week was a great week and i was able to do divisions with an old companion of mine that is now in my zone. things went well and i was able to learn and i hope he was able to learn a thing or two as well. the weather here has continued to be much much cooler and i cannot lie, i am loving the cool weather!!!! i no longer sweat like crazy. :) also this last week we were able to find a couple of great families in our area! Also this last week my companion and i took control of one of the district meetings and we made it into a mini zone conference to teach a few principles to the zone. I only took about 15 minutes but as i was planning i had planned to teach a few things about urgency or something else like that but right before i started to teach i felt the impression to change everything... i am not sure exactly why i changed but i got up and started to share about how we need to have more love for the gospel. i then shared a scripture that has grown to become a favorite for me. D&C 6:20. as i read that scripture i felt a new love for my zone and for this gospel. Well as i continued it was tough to keep my emotions under control as i felt a love for this gospel and a new desire for it to be shared. It is my wish that all of us can understand that same spirit and love for this gospel  so that we all may be able to share it with a new love and desire. I love you all and i ask that the spirit be with you all in your daily tasks. I love you and have a great week. 

Elder Ferrin

 Leadership council

Elder Ferrins Zone

 with President & Sister  Hayes & Elder Duncan

Week # 57 Leadership Counsel..............

Hello family! it was so good to hear from you this week and i am glad to hear that things all turned out alright with the crazy week of adventures. and i am especially glad to hear that scooter made it out fine. try to keep him alive please, we don't need to lose both of our horses while i am out on the mission. anyways this was a great week and i LOVED all the training and meetings that we had with Elder Duncan. He taught a lot of wonderful stuff and also scared me to death. :) While we were in our leadership counsel he called me and my companion out of no where and told us that we had 20 seconds to teach him the primer principles of the Restoration and that we couldn't talk for more than seven seconds each, and he wanted to feel the spirit while we taught him. well he said we did good and i got a thumbs up from president. :) Also today for p-day we were able to go play laser tag with a few other missionaries which was a great time! anyways things went really well aside from the time that we lost being out of the area for two days of work. I really enjoyed the week and we were able to fix a few things in our area and so things went well this week. I hope that this week we can find even more success and come closer to our divine potential. I hope that we all can understand the divine potential that the lord has given us and that we will not only reach it but someday excel it. 
I love you all and i hope that you all have a safe and great week!!!

Elder Ferrin

Family Conservation because we were all home at the same time:

Hi son, it is good to hear that you enjoyed the training and that would be scary to be called upon at a moments notice. 

Elder Ferrin: 

ya but it was fun when we were done. it was just startling because i was taking notes and then i heard him say,elders, i want you to teach me" and well i figured he was talking to others and so i looked up and he was standing right in front of us. But it was really great to hear so much and learn so much! 

US:

How is the work going? anything new with the area or assignments?

Elder Ferrin: 

nothing new really. Just lots of new counsel and we have to shift our goals in the area a little bit. but things are going well!

He said this is his new companion he found at the mall.  

                                                                          More mall Fun!!

Week # 56 Voy a escribir en español y nadie me va a entender... :) (casi nadie)‏

Bueno,
How are you guys this week?? Things here are going great as always.  
I love the area and I love being a missionary! 
This week was a very interesting and fantastic week! We had the blessing of going on divisions with the Mission President and studying with him! First off I would like to say how awesome it is to have a personal study with your Mission President and then later go and teach with him! I loved it! President Hayes is such a great man and I hope someday to be blessed with the incredible knowledge that he has of the scriptures! Along with that it was a true blessing to receive so much counsel from him. This week was a good one for the area as well. We found a few families and we hope to help them progress to baptism in the next few weeks! Also this week BYU Idaho came to Costa Rica and danced and taught about the Proclamation to the Family in a little dance show thing here in San Jose. President Hayes let us go and take investigators and that was really neat and fun to see. I am doing great as for health and of course I am trying to work and learn as much as possible! Thank you for all the love and support that you all give me and I hope that things go well back home for fair week. I love you all! 

Elder Ferrin

BYU IDAHO dancers

Another beautiful view from his apartment.

Week # 55 New Zone Los Yoses........

Hello family and friends sorry for not writing many group letters lately but oh well what can ya do. :)  but for the new information I have been changed and now I am in a new zone and in the mountains of San Jose. It is super pretty and the weather is amazing! For the first time in my whole mission I have been able to leave my house to work and I am not sweating like a stuck hog. I love that part. In my new area it is really great and the missionary work is progressing fantastically! My new companion is from guatemala and his name is Elder Chub (pronounced Choob) and he is really great. We are going to baptize like crazy and my Zone is so great. It is a big change to change to come from my other zone where there were no sister missionaries to a new zone where there are mostly sister missionaries, but I love it. This week we had Elder Ochoa from the area seventy come to our stake conference and divided the stake and I got to talk to him for a few minutes personally which was pretty amazing to me As well.  My new area since it is mountains is absolutely insane! We climb up the mountain on stairs and the stairs are insanely steep and well it is just tough to explain, but I have no idea how they construct houses on the mountain side like they do. But to see the amount of people in just one little mountain makes me happy because there are some many people ready to hear the gospel. This month we have high hopes to baptise and I know we will if we are obedient and work with love. I love you all and I hope that you all are studying the scriptures! Please take care and I will try to write more next week! 

Elder Ferrin

One of the normal sets of stairs
another of the normal sets ( there are much worse sets of stairs but I didn't get a chance to take a picture yet, instead of streets we have flights of stairs in the area... )
#calvesofsteel

The family that I almost baptised all of them.... we only are missing one from the picture!

New friend in the central park

 

View from his apartment

Week #54 Changes

Well guess what!? I have changes! CRAZY right?? I didn't think that I was going to leave so early. But well here I am in San Jose. I got changed to an area called Tirrases but I am in a new area and I was changed from the Zone Leader in Limon to Zone Leader in a zone called Los Yoses. I am really excited for my new assignment and Ii hope that things go well for the zone. I will miss my last area but... I am really excited to be in an area that is actually cold at night and IN THE MOUNTAIN!! That is right I will be in the mountains is what they say. So yes I am a little excited about that. Anyways, last night we received the changes right before I went to a recent convert families house. The family that I baptised back in May, well we went and told them that I will be leaving and it was a little tough because the mom started to cry and everyone got a little sad but then we had a nice little treat and I went home to pack my stuff.

 Also as you may have heard, Elder Cuevas from Mexico passed away last Wednesday morning. We had the Assistants to President with us in the house and when we received the call that Elder Cuevas was unconscious we all decided to pray and,l After some frantic calls we received the news that sadly Elder Cuevas had already passed away long before that. So this week was a tough one for the mission. His mother was able to come down and see him one more time before they had to cremate his body which was a blessing for her. From what they tell us all is taken care of and from the sounds of things his mother and his remains will be back in Mexico this week. So long story short it was a long week. But it was also a week full of blessings and love that we felt from our Savior. For the most part things are great! My new companion  Elder Chub (you pronounce it Choob) he is from San Salvador and has been out 20 months. We are super ready to go crazy and work hard in the zone and our new area! 
Thanks for all you all do!
I love you ALL!

Elder Ferrin


P.S. 
 I forgot to tell you last week but someone stole my tennis shoes! I had them locked inside the gate and someone made a nifty little pole thing and pulled them out of the gate while we slept along with a few other minor things. The guy was even nice enough to leave the pole for us to see how he did it. 

Dont worry I asked Elder Ferrin to send Pictures this missionary Mom is Dying for some too.