Members!

All this week, we went to members showing them a short video of a family sharing the gospel in their daily lives, and after we invited them to have a... Group Night, I guess it would be called that in English. It's a Family Home Evening but where they invite people who haven't heard the gospel, and we just help them to get to know it a little bit in a low-pressure situation. The video is magic. It was part of that missionary broadcast they did. Everyone loves it, and is so enthusiastic to have Group Nights after! Starting tonight, we have differing group nights with different families every night. I can't wait. This area's about to take off like crazy.

The other day I was served a particularly nasty drink, and tried to drink it really fast and all at once, especially the squishy chunks at the bottom. But I did it way too fast and it all came spilling out onto my face and shirt. Somehow nobody saw except my companion, when I stood up to try and clean it up a little bit. It was kind of funny. Also, I'm worried about my debit card account. The original one, not my mission one. I hope it doesn't close after a year of no activity or something. I don't know if maybe you should buy something with it or deposit money so they don't close it? If you haven't up to this point in my mission haha.

I'm still thriving on My Turn On Earth. I always belt the beginning of that song that starts with ''I have a plan!'' at random times. Good quote not related to that: ''We must put God in the forefront of everything else in our lives. When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.'' --Ezra Taft Benson

So crazy that Alex is leaving this week! Warren gets home tomorrow. I'll tell him to post info about his homecoming on my Facebook wall. I feel the same as you guys about hitting my year mark. In certain ways, it's flown by, and that last supper at Wendy's feels like yesterday. In other ways, as I've mentioned before, everything before the mission feels like it was just a dream. I think I'm at the peak of that feeling, and that it'll slowly start to go away as I forage through the second half of my mission. Golly, you guys will have to start planning your trip in awhile here! Maybe in my next interview, which won't be for a couple months, I'll ask President how we should go about that, if it's bad for me to stay with you guys a couple days after, etc.

Things are still going great with training! And yes I'm still District Leader too. We now have permission for cell phones but I think it'll still be a couple months before they get them into our hands. All members and investigators have phones.

An Area Seventy I think is coming in October, and I think our next trip to the temple is in September. I hope the length of this letter is a little more satisfying haha. Love you guys! Enjoy the last piece of summer. 

--Elder Hampton

I'm a Daddy!

That's right, I'm training! His name is Elder De Leon, and he's from Guatemala. Basically grew up in the church. It's been so fun so far. We get along great, and we're learning a lot from each other. This is going to be a great thing for me. Definitely inspired. It's definitely what I need at this point in my mission. We lost contact with B---- which I'm super depressed about... I always have my eyes out for him on the streets though.

That picture of you guys with Elder Baca is one of the weirdest I've ever seen. Worlds...clashing... Yeah, all of my comps have been Latino after Baca. There are occasional gringo companionships, but the majority are the mix. For example, I think it's always that way in our area because we'd get assaulted more easily if we were two gringos.

Sorry to be so short! I'll send a few pictures. Know that everything is going great and that I love training! Love you!

--Jake

Jake and Elder Lundberg with their "sons"

Jake is and his new companion in Heredia.

Turning 20 in Costa Rica Isn't So Bad.

AAAAAHHHHH! Wait. First things first. I realized that I may not have ever directly said ''Happy Birthday'' to Mom last week, and I feel terrible. I hope your birthday was amazing, Mom! Elder Morales saw a picture of you and said you look 29 years old. Second, I did get the package last week and it was so amazing and wonderful and perfect!!! I'd totally been wanting the music on those CD's, and everything was just so great. All the people in the pictures look so different than when I left! Also, I laughed out loud really hard at the Scott thing. I didn't even need the explanation to know what it was about haha.

Normally a few times a week, kids ask me to speak English. It's almost always so they can marvel at the fact that there's a gringo talking in front of them, so I usually say something like ''I can speak English all day long if you want, but it won't even matter because you can't understand a word that I'm saying.'' That's what I said this week to this teenager who wanted me to speak English, except he was like ''...but I can.'' He turned out to be totally fluent.

Lightning struck like 50 feet in front of us yesterday. I'd never seen anything like that. Also, we have this amazing investigator. She's going to be a great member someday soon. Hopefully August 17 if all goes well. She came to church yesterday and said she has a big question for us next time we visit her. 

It does feel weird to be 20 and not have teen in my number. But yeah my birthday was fantastic! Elder Morales called the whole world while I was showering in the morning and everywhere we went all day people already knew it was my birthday and gave me food and sang to me.

I'm so psyched that you guys are going to Elder Baca's homecoming! There's one Utah missionary in our district right now. Hermana Roundy from Bountiful. The work is picking up here. We had six investigators in church yesterday. We've had to walk a ton lately for lack of money, but we normally walk a lot anyway because the bus routes aren't very convenient. Gotta go. Love you guys!

Love this quote. ''Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father in Heaven and how familiar is face is to us.'' Don't remember who said it.  A prophet. and it was quoted in this past conference.

--Elder Hampton

 

 

 

 

...if I'm excited for Friday? What's Friday?

P-Days are for some reason often kind of rough emotionally... for most missionaries it seems like. I was feeling like that towards the end of the last P-Day, and partly because we didn't have any good set plans that night. We'd been trying to contact these members whose names we didn't recognize, and I tried calling just one more time at the end of P-Day before going out to work, and the lady answered and was all happy and said to go over and gave us the address. Somehow it was just the think to make me feel better. I just stood up and shouted ''YES.'' for like ten full seconds. It turned out they were inactives of four years, and now we're going to start helping them come back.

There are lots of Subways here (as in the restaurant), but it's ridiculously expensive, like 10 dollars for a big sandwich. The other day they had this special offer though and I totally got a $4.80 footlong! Couldn't believe it. Day-maker.

There's this great album a lot of missionaries have called The Work. It's by a group called the Nashville Tribute Band. You guys should check it out, it's all about missionary work, and it's like country music. Also, I bet one of the songs on it called ''Bless My Son'' will make mom cry. A missionary in a house I went to this week has My Turn On Earth on his iPod, and I was all over that. But what's up with that depressing last song about places you'll never go, pages you'll never turn, and words that you never will learn? I only heard that part of the song, and it like haunted me haha. Maybe it's a more positive message within the song as a whole.

Like I told Mom, that meeting this week is cancelled. But we're actually going to the office right now so maybe my package will be there. Glad girls camp was great! I'm good on clothes and all that! I haven't told anyone about my birthday, and I'm not going to. All they'll do is smash an egg on my head. An annoying tradition they have here. I have to do the baptismal interviews for the whole district whenever they need them, so I get to do lots of exchanges and I love it. Just our companionship lives in our house though. 

The next changes are August 8, when Elder Baca goes home!!! Warren goes home just a couple weeks after. I'll find out his homecoming talk date. as well as Elder Baca's if you guys for some reason want to take a weekend trip to Vegas. Sorry, you'll never hear the end of that from the girls now. thanks so much for running to the bank mom! Love you! Love you all, and miss you! Thanks for the birthday wishes! I'm sure it'll be a good, normal day which is what I want haha. 

--Elder Hampton

Facebook, Heredia, and Wonderful Surprises.

Here's a rundown of some of our investigators. I'll start with our most recent convert: E---. First, flashback: After the baptism of H---- and J---, we were walking through the city, when a man stopped us and asked where the Cartago chapel was. His name was G---, and he was an inactive member. He'd grown up elsewhere, but had just moved in with his girlfriend in Cartago.

 

He brought her to church that week, and she loved it, and they got married to obey the law of chastity just a couple short weeks later. They have a little baby daughter. E---- was baptized this Thursday, and I hope to be able to attend their familiy's sealing in one year. I love them so much.

 

I loved the broadcast! However, missions like ours are the reason they said those new tools will be implemented ''in the coming months AND YEARS.'' Haha, we don't even have cell phones in this mission, and that's not because we get robbed. It's because we can't handle it as a mission. People abuse that stuff. Maybe if I'm super lucky I'll get to start using that stuff a tiny bit towards the end of my mission, but I very highly doubt it.

 

There are four big cities in the middle of Costa Rica: San Jose (where I basically started my mission), Cartago, Alajuela, and Heredia. I now am familiar with three of those four cities, because I had changes. I'm in Heredia. Our specific area/ward is called San Francisco, but we're practically in the center of Heredia. My new companion's name is Elder Morales, and he's from Colombia. He's only been a member for about a year and a half. I was excited because he's a hilarious, great kid.  I love the kid so much.

 

We only have one investigator in Heredia, named C----. He should be getting baptized on July 20th. We just started to teach him yesterday. I'm still district leader here, which I'm a little nervous about, but I'm already great friends with my district now and have found my place in Heredia.

 

To give you an idea of how safe I feel, Mom, the other night right after in our companionship prayer I prayed that we'd be safe throughout the night, literally as I finished saying the word ''Amen,'' a gun was fired nearby. And we didn't think much of it because it wasn't out of the ordinary. But like you say, we have the protection of the Lord. There are areas far more dangerous in this mission anyway. The worst thing that could ever happen to me would be give up what I'm carrying, which would be scriptures and maybe 10 dollars. So I actually don't feel that unsafe. We just have to be careful. 

 

''To believe in God is to know that all the rules will be fair, and that there will be wonderful surprises.'' I'm in love with that quote. I just am.

 

Love and miss you all!

 

Elder Hampton

 

 

 

 

Ah! No Time!

Sorry! The buses took forever today going to the temple, and now we're left with hardly any time for internet! I'll just give you some very quick and short highlights:

1. I tried Mondongo (cow rectum) this week unknowingly because of a setup by Elder Baca. It wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but I still hope to never have to eat it again.

2. The Light of Christ is amazing and awesome when you really study it to find out what it is and its function in our lives.

3. Being a missionary and teaching feels more natural than ever. I'm so content to be here. Not content to the point that I don't want to learn and progress, but I like where I'm at, and want to keep improving.

4. A man fainted on our bus coming from Big Fish Village yesterday and we had to stop for 40 minutes and wait for an ambulance in the middle of the mountains because everyone thought it was a heart attack.

5. What's up with this Ice Age Live business? Is it happening in the states too? Looks ridiculous.

Love you! The gospel is true and I know it. We went to the temple today and I received some great revelation. Also, a family I was close to in Vizcaya is getting sealed on Saturday. Hopefully Elder Baca and I can go! You'll hear from me again on Monday! Changes are next Thursday.

--Elder Hampton

Unconnected Thoughts...Again

Whenever I see or hear gringos in the street, I just shout the word ''English!'' Though they rarely react. I realized that probably makes me sound like someone who doesn't speak English, so I'll have to start yelling something to make them realize I'm gringo. There are lots of Ticos that look gringo but are definitely Tico and don't speak a word of English. I did meet four gringos in two hours the other day! In Big Fish Village strangely enough.

We were in an inactive member's house the other day, and there was this frail, black, grandfather in a wheelchair in the corner, and he yelled random phrases in English every few minutes. Nobody ever explained who he was or why he was there. I used to be one of those people that's like ''AH THERE'S A BIG BUG ON ME'' when there are big bugs on me, but now I just calmly grab them and toss them away because it happens so often. Roaches, mosquitos, ants, other insects I've never seen before...

People here love the Red Hot Chili Peppers and it really annoys me since I do not like that band at all really. Oh yeah, happy father's day dad! I really do hope it's awesome for you. Relax and don't worry about anything and just think about how great of a father you are, because you're amazing. Turns out we actually are going to the temple really soon! Next week! On the 19th. I'm assuming that'll also be our P-Day. Yesterday I had a genius movie idea: the guy who made that weird Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge, and the Great Gatsby, makes his interpretation of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. Sorry, short on time today. Love you guys!

--Elder Hampton

 

 

"Here are the Juice Box Shirts! Jared, you should totally put this on Facebook on the Juice Box page!"

"Some members went crazy and spent like 20 minutes brainstorming Juice Box logos haha"