Mission to Paradise: February 17, 2015

Buenos Tardes!

No Mom, I didn't get any Valentines cards this year... Not even a little sucker with a cheesy card taped to it... Next year for sure, right? :) I hope you all got lots and lots of Valentines this week! And everyone feels loved and stuff!

This week we spent about 20 hours in the Hospital. 13 in one day for a hernia surgery, and the other 7 throughout the week at different appointments with sick missionaries. So we lost a lot of working time... Our recent converts and less active members are still doing great, but we haven't found many new people to teach for a while. That is our goal this week. To find new people who are ready to make changes in their lives and receive the blessing from God. :)

Ahh man! I went several months without thinking about Abraham Lincoln once! But then I looked down at my phone and it told me that his birthday was this week... And now I have thought about him at least 3 days this week. Bummer. Someone once told me that every American thinks about Lincoln at least once every day... I don't think that is true.. until you read the statistic...

Tomorrow is my 6 months in Costa Rica day! And also my 1 year from opening my call day! Wahoo! To me the time is going by fast! And slow... I am not sure.. But I am enjoying it! :)

Ohh someone asked me if I was from Ukraine this week! That was pretty cool! But no.... Not even close. I do have a couple of friends from Ukraine though? I have been getting Ukraine, Germany, England, and other European countries recently... Cool. :)

Oh cool story for the week! I bought a few cheep pairs of shoes from Walmart that are like fake crocs, but with cute colors, right? Well I wore them and now I cant feel my big toes... Crocs are made out of a soft material that forms to your feet... These are made out of hard plastic and they pinched the nerves on the top of my feet... I have had about 9 days without feeling now... I am not sure if they will heal and I will get feeling back or not... They kind of itch, but I cant itch them. Yes, I still wear the shoes. But I am hoping after a few times I can break them in?

I think learning Spanish has been a bad thing... At the beginning of my mission I was very quiet and shy and only said a few things I knew how to say. And now that I know Spanish well enough to have conversations, people are starting to know my personality.. :) Oops. :) Now I get comments like, ´you aren't afraid to say what you want to say!´ ´usted es bien directo!´ ´Wow, I thought you had more time in the mission than that! You seem like you have been here for almost 18 months!´ (probably because I act like I know everything..) Hahaha. Well now I am working on being more humble and following the example from our Savior. :) When Jesus Christ lived in the earth, I am sure He knew a lot of things. I am sure He had very good communication with God and had a lot more information than we did. And He used that information to help us. But He lead by example. With love, patience, and kindness. He was perfectly humble and recognized where His knowledge came from, where His perfect attributes came from, and shared the Love from God with everyone.

Today we had a district meeting. And my goals for this week are to.. Focus in the work 100% and limit the distractions. Share my testimony with everyone I meet. And to invite all to come unto Christ with specific commitments during each lesson or each contact. Missionary work is amazing and can change lives for the best. The lives of those we teach and our own lives. But dont be too jealous, I hope you are all finding little ways to be missionaries everyday! I love you and miss you and want to hear from you! Have a fantastic week!!! Love you!

Love,

Hermana Makensey Beth Markle. :)

Items of Business...

1. I dont have parasites! Yay! But my companion does.. But not that big ugly one, just a normal one from living in Guatemala her whole life. Our pet died.... We didnt feed it or give it air... So it died pretty quick. :( We didnt have a funeral, I just threw it in the trash... Super sad.

2. Did you get the card I sent for your anniversary? I hope it didnt get lost..

3. GOOD LUCK KAMI!!!! I hope you dance awesomely this weekend!!!!!!! (p.s. I never got the letter you sent...)?

4. (I didn't get the letter Madi sent either....)?

5. Yeah that Hermana went home for surgery, and another Elder had surgery here this week. Mucho tiempo en el hospital esta semana...

8. Madi, Elder Chub wants to write you... Actually, I think he wants to marry you, but he wants to start with a letter at least. ;) He started calling me his sister-in-law already... Look forward to that!

7. I love you! And miss you! Send me letters in the package please!!!! :) :) :)

8. President is back! And doing well! Yay! :)

9. LOVE YOU! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!!