A Little Child Shall Lead Them

My Dearest Familia......

Hey:) Sorry I’m running real short on time here today because there’s lots to do (and also I got 28 emails today, that’s right, who’s a popular sister missionary?;)) haha no but really I’m sorry this will be a short and sweet one so I can hopefully respond back to everyone. I hope everyone knows how grateful I am to be receiving your emails and letters! They mean so much to me, and I apologize if I can’t write you all back at once. But I keep your words in my head and heart and am forever grateful for your loving words of encouragement and counsel:).

This week we got to celebrate the baptism of Dilan! He’s a nephew of one of our members. His aunt is a convert too and even though no body from his immediate family is willing to support him (his mom didn’t even come to his baptism....:( ) he’s still courageous enough to take these steps. He holds on tight to the examples of his aunt and uncle, and though still a child, he knows what is right and wrong and wants to follow his savior Jesus Christ. He’s 9. 9 years old and he’s more converted to living the gospel then half the people I’ve ever met in my life! This is why Jesus has always taught us to be like the children, to follow their example. They may not "understand" all the doctrine and know the whys and how’s to every question, but they know what their Heavenly Father wants from them and they just do it.... Be more like the children and we’ll all be happier I promise. 

Another thought I was thinking this week... in the introduction to the book of Mormon it gives us 3 invitations. Read the book, think about it, and then pray to know if it’s true. As missionaries were very focused on 2 of the 3. Read and pray. I think as people in general were very focused on only 2... read and pray. But we always forget the 2nd step. Think! It’s the easiest one and we always forget it! If people would just use their blessed thinkers the church would have hundreds of more converts every weeks. One think I love about the church is that it JUST MAKES SENSE. It’s the only explanation with ALL the answers. We don’t go based off of the wicked traditions of our fathers; our doctrine isn’t founded by the precepts and desires of men. Christ has always invited people to ponder (this is why he taught in parables people!) and to really investigate what were taught. 

In the last conference elder Utchdorf (yeah I finally got the conference edition of the Liahona! one problem.... its all in Spanish...) gave us the process to unravel our own testimony of any doctrine. Read, ponder, pray and then live it! I hope that one day Everyone everywhere, but especially those who read this letter because your my own beloved family and friends, will put this process in action and really, really find out for yourselves. I love the gospel, I love being a missionary and I love my Savior. And I love all of you! Hope yall have a great week!! Prayers from Costa Rica...

All my Love,

 Hermana Kugath

A Weird Week

My Dearest Familia

First of all a big shout out to the Birthday boy of the week!!!!! Happy almost your Birthday Noser:) the big 15. Geez when did that happen? You’re practically a little man now. I hope you have a great day and that you eat lots of cake to put a little more meat on those bones! Mom told me how great your doing reading your scriptures every day, keep it up! Its true what the primary song says, scripture power! Keep being a good, obedient worthy priesthood holder and being an example for the fam. Ill be celebrating you here in Costa Rica! I’m so proud of you and love you lots!!

What a weird week... haha its really interesting the life of a missionary because one day you can feel on top of the world and you just have this burning desire to share the gospel but then the next you cant find anyone, no body wants to listen and everyone hates you. Its like a roller coaster of happenings worse then any high school relation ship (believe me, i know, I lived them all ;) haha). But this pretty much describes the way this week was. One day with a bunch of members who want to help us and feed us and the sun is shining and it seems like everyone feels the need to find God in their lives and then comes Thursday and every one wants to yell at you, tell you know one wants your message, slam the door in your face, and you’re also dying of hunger and cold. That’s when everything my parents, my coaches, my church leaders and the gospel has to kick in. I’ve learned this week that my happiness doesn’t depend on my success in the #s... my happiness depends on if I’m living my life in obedience and if I’m doing everything I can to invite others to come unto Christ. What ever happens happens and I can either whine and cry about it (like I used to do all the time to my mom and friends.... thanks guys:)) or I can Buck up, put on my big girl skirt and never let my missionary smile slip from my face    (if even one of you makes a fat joke comment so help me........ haha). The truth is that this is the way we have to be throughout our lives. I love the Mission because it’s a huge parallel for what comes next in my life; it’s like a giant RLTC (real life training center)! There’s a lot of things that I have no control over, but the more I use my agency to be happy and positive, instead of dwelling on the negative and difficult parts, the more successful I feel.

This week Hermana Montoya and I have really upped our game. It’s like the both of us feel the urgency of these last two weeks of this transfer. We’ve only talked about it a little, but were both mas o menos sure that this will mark the end of our time together :( we hope not!!! But I mean the Lord can hardly keep two such excellent, talented, spiritual and not to mention beautiful ;) hermanas together for so long, it’s just not fair to the rest of the mission right.....? So we’ve been doing all we can to help Moravia to progress before the time comes. We’ve heard rumors about what they want to do with Moravia, BUT I don’t gossip so I wont spread them on to yall until I’m more for sure in our future.. Just know, its gonna be big!  (Indoor plumbing, its gonna be big! an ice-cream for whoever knows where that quotes from!).

Bueno, I miss you all super a lot and I’m always praying for your success and happiness back home in the states. I hope everything is well there and if you ever need anything por favor don’t wait to ask me! I’ve kinda got an "in" with the big man ;) haha The Lord is taking care of our family and I know he has so so many blessings in store for us. Don’t forget or take for granted the things we all ready have (the true church, the book of Mormon, a living prophet, a temple 100 meters away (sometimes I tell people I live that close to the temple and they all look at me like I’m crazy.... were so lucky!!) the promise of a forever family.....) we have it all! Live it, enjoy it, share it :) prayers from Costa Rica!

ALL MY LOVE,
Hermana Kugath

2 Is Better Than 1

My Dearest Familia---

There are some days when I just wish so bad that you guys lived in the mission field (okay jess and Sam and Brent and maddle kind of do, but the rest a yall not so much.). There’s days I wish you lived here because you would love getting to help out with the work that were doing. Sometimes its hard to find people who are willing to help us teach... not only do we have to find people to teach but we have to find members to go visit them with us, to friendship them, to give them rides to the chapel... sometimes it gets a little complicated. But I know that what were doing is the Work of Salvation, that it was never MEANT to be easy so that helps a little bit. This week we had almost nobody to help us... all of the youth of the ward went to a program called SOY (its basically our EFY) and so we really had nobody willing to help us out.. It was kinda sad because we felt really alone almost the whole week. But it turned out to be a good thing. When all the young men and women got back from SOY they were all filled with the spirit and the desire to help and share the gospel! It’s how I would feel like when we got back from girls camp remember? Or trek, or a real spiritual trip. It was really great because Sunday in church we got to hear all their testimonies. Those were some powerful future missionaries. (If I had a suggestion I would say that we should send all the little boys to EFY when they can go. I know that it’s expensive, I know, but I can promise it’s worth it).

Besides our battle with the members this week we had a lot of great things happen to us! We went on divisions with the especialistas again and they helped us to "raise the bar" here in our area. We’ve heard that some big changes are coming to our ward so were doing our best to get ready!

I love you all bunches but I’m running real short on time today. Please know that I’m extremely grateful for every one of you and for the things you’ve done to serve and sacrifice for me. Prayers from Costa Rica...

All my love,
 Hermana Kugath

222 Days

My Dearest Family...



Hola! I’m sorry this is the very first time I’ve written you all year, I’ve just been a little caught up haha. Bienvenido 2015!!!!! Is that crazy or what?? so weird that we’ve started a new year. and now it’s almost 12 months till Christmas again...... tristesa. anyways, wow this has been a long one. Its so weird how some weeks go by really fast and other seem to drag by like a turtle running a marathon.....



This week was super great for some reasons and super mal for others. Lets get all the bad stuff out first shall we? This week we last 2 families that we were working with....¨( awwwhh. Oscar, Verna and Jennifer were progressing so so fast! They were doing all their reading assignments and everything. Oscar would even invite us to kneel down to say the closing prayer after every lesson. But then something happened.... his brother, Javier moved in. I know what you’re thinking; no no this is a good thing! More people to teach right? Wrong. His brother is super super evangelico and absolutely denied and tried to negate everything that we said. This last week we went to visit them just to teach how they could receive their own answers. How their heavenly father, through the Holy Ghost, could give them their very own, personal answer to know for them selves if what we were teaching was true. The lesson started out really spiritual but then this man began to say all kinds of crazy things..... What was worse is that his brother was backing him up! Poor confused Oscar!! In the end we had to just leave because all they wanted to do was fight with us over basic doctrine like if god the father and his son are the same being (oh this is the thing that ticks me off the most!!!! father and son people father and son. its VERY self explanatory.) how if they already knew the bible was true they didn’t need more scripture (basically 2nd Nephi 29 to a tee) and how they didn’t have to pray because they already knew..... Like what? Are you dumb??? Of course you have to pray. First of all, what do you have to loose???? Absolutely nothing. What do you have to gain??? Oh yeah, a heck a ton of blessings, a forever family, and eternal life. Wow, some people. They just kill me! It was so horrible because this is a family that we loved so much and to see them like this was so, but so, sad. (There was one awful part when this man had the guts to tell us we need to study the scriptures more, stop teaching false doctrine and repent. oh you should have seen my companions face in that moment.......... ouch. this guy was about to go down.).

The second family we were just stopping by to see if they were reading their scriptures when the mom told us that they’d decided to go to a different church. One that was conveniently located 100 meters from her front door. She told us she liked us, but this pastor had said she should tell us to stop visiting them. She said she was sorry but this church was just easier for her. We looked her straight in the eyes and said Hermana we know you have a big family and its harder to get to the church where we go, but do you think that it was easy for Jesus Christ to suffer for your pains, your sicknesses and your sins and then to die for YOU on the cross?? Then why should it be easy to go to his church..... It was painful really, but it’s in the past and the lord knows when their missionaries will come and try again.

Now the good stuff!!!!! I got 4 letters this week! Who’s a popular Hermana? soy yo! haha. Thank you mommy, Jesse/Sam, Schmidt family and crest haven bishopric! I loved my letters, cards and pictures. I have to say I was a little bit more then prideful when I saw the absolutely gorgeous picture that MY DADDY took on our wards Christmas card. Holy smokes. Wow!! bein hecho papi! I also cried a little (in front of the whole zone!! que awkward) reading your sweet card mom. I loved it to bits and I felt so, so special. And I squealed (yes literally) in delight looking at the pictures of charlotte. It’s the most hilarious thing I’ve ever seen. Que lindo! En serio wow.



2nd we had a sweet zone activity yesterday. It was like a huge water ballon fight plus soccer game. It was way sweet and one of the funnest days I’ve had in the mission so far. We played a lot and its stuff like that that helps you feel like a real part of the zone.

This week another missionary from our little ward here in Moravia headed out! Hermana Rodriguez!!!! (Marjorie) was a really big help to us these last few months. She would come teaching with us and sometimes spend the whole day with us. She was awesome and I know shell be super great in Mexico! It was so sweet to see her getting set apart and being the firsts to welcome her into la obra misional!



Anyways, I love you guys so much and am truly thankful for all the support i get from you. Physically and spiritually. I hope that every one has chosen a new years goal because in other words y'all just want to repent a little haha. That’s how we see new years, the whole world wants to repent and be a little better, for at least the first week or so.. But yeah, love y'all, prayers from Costa Rica!!

All my love,
Hermana Kugath

Christ "mas" mas=more in Spanish

My Very Dearest and Most Adorable Familia....

Feliz Navidad!!!!! Almost.... its weird because here it doesn’t feel like Christmas because there’s no snow, no bundling up the little ones to go play, no rushing around to make treats and all kids of food (although yesterday for p day we did try to make a cheesecake... lets just say it didn’t turn out like one of jesses) and buy presents for gift exchanges. It doesn’t feel like the Christmases I remember, but this Christmas I’m not as focused on those things. What I really am dying for this year (so bad that I asked my Heavenly Father AND Santa Clause, you know just in case..) was to talk to my family! Even if for only 40 minutes. I can’t believe it’s already been almost 7 months since I’ve seen you all! How rapidly things change in our lives right? But no se procupe, you only have to live 1 Christmas without me ;) its crazy to think this time next year ill be in the house again! Weird. But not important. What is important is that I´ll be calling home on the 25th! I’m hoping to call around 5 o’clock your time (I think that means 6 my time). But don’t worry! If it’s not exactly at 5 don’t freak out, I will call between 5 and 6. Just a little heads up:) yay!!! I wish I could describe how excited I am, but I cant... but I think you understand right? 

Anyways, with the Christmas spirit filling the air the work rolls on. First of all I’m sorry I threw a little bit of a fit about the weather last week. And thanks for praying for me because the temperature did a full 180 and now we have had 3 gorgeous sunny days in a row!!! I’m going to get my sunny Christmas after all:) Also this week was a week super super special for us. Like I said last week we didn’t have p day last Monday and we were a little bit bummed, but it was so worth it to get to go to they temple! Going only every 3 months gives the temple a real special space in your heart and helps you to appreciate it more. This time I understood 98% of everything!!! Although the times when I have to talk (or think) still tripped me up a bit. But you know.... he knows I was trying haha.  It was a real special opportunity to share with my companion too. Hermana Montoya and I have been together a long time so it was good to share something as spiritual as the temple! While we were there we even took a picture to make a Christmas card for some of the members of our ward:) were way cute. After the temple we went to a special Christmas devotional with president Wilkinson and his family. Oh my gosh..... The food though. Now that is a Christmas dinner! Ham, mashed potatoes, salad, a real roll! Wow. And brownies, candy canes, gingerbread men. they spoiled us a real good. After we ate presidente Wilkinson taught us about the first Christmas. He said that many people want to be like the magi and bring Christ a gift but that he wants us to be like the shepherds. The shepherds when they heard about the birth of the Savior left everything to go and find him. They left their sheep, unprotected, and ran to find Christ. He told us a little more about shepherds. These men care for these animals like they’re their own children. They know their names and care for them day in and out. There’s nothing more important to a shepherd then his lambs. However, at the announcement of His birth they left them, running and rejoicing to find the cradle side of their Lord. Its not so much about what we can bring to the Savior, because he doesn’t need anything, its about what were willing to give up to find him and to stay withy him.:)

This week was also special because it was the baptism of a very important little girl for us. Her name is Dayanara. She’s 10 years old. Her family members are all members of the church, but because of a family tragedy they went inactive and she was never baptized. The family recently became active again and invited us to teach her so that she could finally make this important covenant with her daddy. We’ve been working with her for about 2 months yet and she is officially perfect! Hermana Montoya and I were ecstatic at her interview because it proved that our message is so simple that even a child CAN understand it. Watching her be baptized was one of the sweetest experiences of the mission that I’ve had yet. (Pictures to come soon;))

Wow oh wow do I have a sweet story to tell you all!!! Let me just say that when the Lord wants something he gets what he wants... I have never experienced a miracle like we had this last week. We have another special investigator named Celeste. She’s a little girl of just 12 years old but wow is she quick! Her moms a less active from another ward so we’ve been teaching them the lessons and she is just like a little sponge she absorbs everything so fast! She could teach you the restoration from the Lords earthly ministry through the great apostasy and into the first vision. She even remembers president monsons name! She’s great. Anyways, she’s going to be baptized this Saturday on the 27th. We have had like 17 miracles (ha-ha) getting her ready for the date. Some are small like she went out of town but got back before we thought she would so she could go to church, and others are real big! Like the one I want to tell you..... So my companion always carries with her the 20 minute movie of the restoration and we began looking for it so we could teach her about joseph smith, but it wasn’t in Hermana Montoya’s bag... we remembered that we watched it with another family that week but didn’t remember getting it out of their dvd. We searched and searched, even turning her bag upside-down and shaking it. It wasn’t there. She said a prayer in her heart that we could find it so that we could teach with the movie (because kids like movies ya know..). She reached in her bag again and there it was!! Just sitting there. What?! yep. Then we put it in the Dvd and hit play.. It began to play, in English..... nooo! They don’t speak English! We looked for the controller, but it didn’t work. We found NEW batteries, but it didn’t work. Then, and I literally have no idea how this happened the power of God right?, we hit play again. And it began to play, in SPANISH! With subtitles and everything. It was in English before I swear, I heard it, and I know English right? But it played in Spanish so that we could teach her exactly what meant RESTORATION. That was weird people, really weird but really incredible! 

Anyways, it was awesome! And we had a really great. week. I love you guys bunches and bunches and want you to know that I really am happy to be a missionary during Christmas. I love the Lord and I love my Family (and friends;) for those of you who read this). Merry Christmas!!!!!!! We´ll talk soon... for reals!!! Prayers from Costa Rica.

All My Love,

Hermana Kugath

P.S. I have a huge announcement!!!!!!! But I’m not going to tell ya until Christmas:) so remind me on the 25th!

White Christmas

My Dearest Darling Familia....

Hi:) I just love you all so much!!! I’m literally counting down the days until I get to see your beautiful faces! There’s something about the Christmas spirit that makes being away from your family just that much more difficult. But the thoughts of talking to you, even if it is only 40 minutes.... is what keeps mi companera and I motivated through the days. Okay let’s talk about the call now that were on the subject. I'll be calling for sure Christmas day but I’m still not exactly sure of the time. Were going to a members house but its complicated because they have 2 brothers serving missions so we have to wait to know what time their elders are going to call so we know what time were going to call. But ill find out and let you all know next Tuesday. Sorry were so unorganized everything just comes so quickly. I know you all need to make plans for when you’re going to be at the house and stuff so ill get on it and find out. Sorry!

I wish I could explain to you how happy I am to be a missionary. There are some days I just wake up with incredible enthusiasm to go out and baptize the whole world!! And there are other days when I hear the alarm and pray for just 5 more minutes of sleep..... The second kind of days are less often, don’t worry. This week has been a really really hard but successful week! Hermana Montoya and I decided to start the cambio out by giving it all and the results were really incredible. However, there is one aspect of my day that is just literally out of my hands... the weather. Remember when we got my call and everyone was like "oh you’re going to paradise, you’re going to die of the heat, costa Rica is beautiful, the weather is perfect"..... LIARS! Every one of them. This has been hands down the coldest week of my whole (okay not my life, lets be real I lived in Idaho and Colorado, but still a veryyy long time.) Obviously not cold enough to snow, but the rain mixed with ceaseless wind almost killed me! Lucky me I received my package with sweaters and long skirts because I’m pretty sure I would have frozen without them. One day I had on 5 shirts topped with my Raincoat and scarf. The cold here isn’t like the cold there. Its wet cold... you’re soaking wet and you don’t dry until you get home and crawl into bed. I’m not complaining or anything ;) I just think its funny that for the first time in my life I thought I was going to have a sunny Christmas..... Nope. But it doesn’t matter because my heart was sunny! 

This week was pretty cool. We’ve been finding people and teaching like mad! I hope you all got to watch the "he is the gift video"... This has been our main message for this week also. We carry it around with us and just ask everybody like "hey can we come in a watch a 3 minute movie about Christmas!?" its works pretty well actually. This time has been crazy busy because were working our bums off trying to get our investigators ready for "la blanca navidad". The whole zone is going to get together and have our baptisms on the same day (the 27th!). Presidente Wilkinson is going to be there and everything. We have 3 people getting ready for this day. Celest, Bryan and Esilda. Celeste and Bryan are miracle investigators! Their mom is a less active convert from years back. We found them last week and she said yea yea of course I want my kids to be baptized! They came to church and everything this last week. Were so excited for them! Celeste is super smart and had an awesome time in young womens, but I’m pretty sure Bryan has a little bit of a social/learning disorder. But that wont be an obstacle for the spirit. Esilda is an older woman. Were teaching her and her husband but she’s progressing faster. Her husband is kind of a booger and its super stubborn sometimes but the other day she told him "stop being like Laman and Lemuel and listen to what the missionaries are saying!" (hahaha!!! that’s right. she’s reading the book of Mormon and used it on him! it was awesome.). But not only these 3, we also have a baptism scheduled for this weekend. Her name is Dayanara. She’s the sweetest little girl and the best-prepared child baptism I’ve ever seen! Her family is all members bur about 2 years ago they went inactive so she was never baptized. But they’ve reactivated since we got here and will be celebrating Christmas with her baptism!:) que cosa mas hermosa. In total we hope to end the month with 4 baptisms! 

This week however we also found a family of 3 and the sweetest kind lady in the world and are already getting them ready to be baptized in January! Wow what a busy time in Moravia. Is there a better time to be a missionary?? I know that all of the prayers that you guys have been saying in my behalf really are showing their fruit. I am so happy and our success is absolutely incredible! Yay team Jesus:) yay family Kugath! 

Anyways, this week we didn’t have p day because tomorrow we'll be going to the temple!!!! It’s been 3 long months waiting to go again. I love you all so much its incredible. I can hardly wait the 8 and half days more to talk to you. Hey do me a favor and find all your Skype usernames/passwords and everything now so we don’t have any problems. Also I know there’s a way to do like an interconnected Skype (like more then 1 computer or something) if Jesse and Sam are going to be in Mexico.... yay family Kugath/Head/Cline!!!! I love you muchisimo. Prayers from Costa Rica,

All my Love, 

Hermana Kugath

Happy Birthday Halloween Christmas

My Dearest, most Darling, Fabulous Family.....

yo les amo muchisimo! Its weird to think that in only 15 days I get to talk to you guys! I’ve been waiting for it for so long and yet its almost here! Yay. This has been a week rapidisima. I feel like I was just here writing but here I am again. This week was the end of the cambio and we anxiously awaited the news to see if wed be leaving to a new area. Hermana Montoya and I are still in Moravia!!!!! Our poor little hermanita guit was sent to Guanacaste and we dropped her off yesterday. In a way I’m relieved to still be here. I felt like I still had a specific purpose in this area and I’m excited to find out what our next project will be! Its a little interesting, but this cambio will be 8 weeks (2 months) instead of the normal 6 weeks so we don’t have to worry about being transferred until the first week of February. 

Wow.......... all I have to say is wow. I am the luckiest most loved missionary in the whole wide world!!! I have never seen a package as massive, as sweet or as absolutely heavenly as the one I received yesterday. wow wow wow. I felt like the little boy the Elder Christofferson talked about in the Christmas devotional. I got to celebrate all of MY favorite holidays too, in 30 minutes! That was the best and quickest birth-hallow-Christ-giving I’ve ever had) as I listened to (rocked out to?;)) Manheim Christmas steamroller I opened the Ziplocs and my heart feel like it was going to burst with happiness. All of my very favorite treats, the most beautiful skirts, the sweaters I was so badly in need of, and the mere desires of my heart. It was like someone read my heart and mind, wrote down everything I needed or only wanted and delivered the list to my mommy. Down to the very hair dye that I only dared dream about! The happiness I felt in those moments was overwhelming gratitude and love that can only be felt when they feel close to their family. I looked at the photos and read the sweet cards from the people that I love and need the most in my life and I felt their love from 35000 miles away. I haven’t read and looked at everything yet, but the things that meant the most to me were the sweet words of love and encouragement. My little brothers telling me that they think I’m the greatest missionary in the world... that my parents are proud of me... wow. I wish I could describe the joy I felt reading these little cards. What a miracle. And what a great way to motivate me to be a better missionary! 

Speaking of missioning.... this week was awesome. We’ve been working really hard and taking advantage of the holiday season to really rush the work along. One of our greatest tools is the new Christmas video El es la dadiva (he is the gift). I’m pretty sure you guys have seen it, but if not go watch it! It’s the most beautiful 2 minutes:) It talks about the first gift of Christmas... from our heavenly father to all of us. The gift of the life of his son. The whole movie is really inspirational but the part I like is at the very end. It gives us 3 invitations... discover, accept and share. Sometimes we get all wrapped up in Christmas that we forget its real importance... Christ  Mas. Mas in Spanish means more so it’s literally a season to have more Christ in our life. I’m so grateful to be here in these moments specifically. I’ve never been away from my family for a Christmas.... It’s been hard and it’s been different, but I’m grateful because I have the chance this year to bring Christ into the lives of other people in this beautiful time of year. People who don’t know him, who don’t know where to find him or people who simply don’t really understand what it is that he did, and does, for US. I heard a quote this week that I love. I’m not sure of the exact words but it goes something like this ¨We need to realize that in comparison with God, we are Nothing... BUT to him, we mean Everything.¨       We are everything. His purpose is clear, bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of us, His Children. I love Christmas. I love to see the looks on people’s faces when they receive surprises. I love the food, the decorations, the movies, and the family time. I love to give gifts and I know that the greatest gift we could give to our Dear Heavenly Father is to help his other children to accept His Gift, by accepting his son. This year I hope that everyone searches for the way to share this gift with someone else.  

The last thing I wanted to say was that I hope that nobody forgets that this is also a season of sacrifice. I’ve already seen it and benefitted from it myself... I know the sacrifice it was for you all to send me what you sent. I know it. I felt it. There shouldn’t have been money, time or energy sufficient to do this for me, but there was. Sacrifice is the evidence of real charity. Christ sacrificed for us, I sacrificed for the people of Costa Rica, my family sacrificed for me... the evidence is an overwhelming testimony of the love. I know that when we sacrifice we in return are blessed beyond what we sacrificed. I love you all so much and hope you know what your sacrifices have meant to me. I can’t ever pay you back sufficiently but I hope you know that I am beyond grateful to call you my family. I love and value each and every one of you more then you can know. You’re in my heart and prayers,

All my love,

Hermana Kugath

Joni & Jovana

My Dearest Darling Familia....

Hi:) I just love you all so much!!! I’m literally counting down the days until I get to see your beautiful faces! There’s something about the Christmas spirit that makes being away from your family just that much more difficult. But the thoughts of talking to you, even if it is only 40 minutes.... is what keeps mi companera and I motivated through the days. Okay let’s talk about the call now that were on the subject. I'll be calling for sure Christmas day but I’m still not exactly sure of the time. Were going to a members house but its complicated because they have 2 brothers serving missions so we have to wait to know what time their elders are going to call so we know what time were going to call. But ill find out and let you all know next Tuesday. Sorry were so unorganized everything just comes so quickly. I know you all need to make plans for when you’re going to be at the house and stuff so ill get on it and find out. Sorry!

I wish I could explain to you how happy I am to be a missionary. There are some days I just wake up with incredible enthusiasm to go out and baptize the whole world!! And there are other days when I hear the alarm and pray for just 5 more minutes of sleep..... The second kind of days are less often, don’t worry. This week has been a really really hard but successful week! Hermana Montoya and I decided to start the cambio out by giving it all and the results were really incredible. However, there is one aspect of my day that is just literally out of my hands... the weather. Remember when we got my call and everyone was like "oh you’re going to paradise, you’re going to die of the heat, costa Rica is beautiful, the weather is perfect"..... LIARS! Every one of them. This has been hands down the coldest week of my whole (okay not my life, lets be real I lived in Idaho and Colorado, but still a veryyy long time.) Obviously not cold enough to snow, but the rain mixed with ceaseless wind almost killed me! Lucky me I received my package with sweaters and long skirts because I’m pretty sure I would have frozen without them. One day I had on 5 shirts topped with my Raincoat and scarf. The cold here isn’t like the cold there. Its wet cold... you’re soaking wet and you don’t dry until you get home and crawl into bed. I’m not complaining or anything ;) I just think its funny that for the first time in my life I thought I was going to have a sunny Christmas..... Nope. But it doesn’t matter because my heart was sunny! 

This week was pretty cool. We’ve been finding people and teaching like mad! I hope you all got to watch the "he is the gift video"... This has been our main message for this week also. We carry it around with us and just ask everybody like "hey can we come in a watch a 3 minute movie about Christmas!?" its works pretty well actually. This time has been crazy busy because were working our bums off trying to get our investigators ready for "la blanca navidad". The whole zone is going to get together and have our baptisms on the same day (the 27th!). Presidente Wilkinson is going to be there and everything. We have 3 people getting ready for this day. Celest, Bryan and Esilda. Celeste and Bryan are miracle investigators! Their mom is a less active convert from years back. We found them last week and she said yea yea of course I want my kids to be baptized! They came to church and everything this last week. Were so excited for them! Celeste is super smart and had an awesome time in young womens, but I’m pretty sure Bryan has a little bit of a social/learning disorder. But that wont be an obstacle for the spirit. Esilda is an older woman. Were teaching her and her husband but she’s progressing faster. Her husband is kind of a booger and its super stubborn sometimes but the other day she told him "stop being like Laman and Lemuel and listen to what the missionaries are saying!" (hahaha!!! that’s right. she’s reading the book of Mormon and used it on him! it was awesome.). But not only these 3, we also have a baptism scheduled for this weekend. Her name is Dayanara. She’s the sweetest little girl and the best-prepared child baptism I’ve ever seen! Her family is all members bur about 2 years ago they went inactive so she was never baptized. But they’ve reactivated since we got here and will be celebrating Christmas with her baptism!:) que cosa mas hermosa. In total we hope to end the month with 4 baptisms! 

This week however we also found a family of 3 and the sweetest kind lady in the world and are already getting them ready to be baptized in January! Wow what a busy time in Moravia. Is there a better time to be a missionary?? I know that all of the prayers that you guys have been saying in my behalf really are showing their fruit. I am so happy and our success is absolutely incredible! Yay team Jesus:) yay family Kugath! 

Anyways, this week we didn’t have p day because tomorrow we'll be going to the temple!!!! It’s been 3 long months waiting to go again. I love you all so much its incredible. I can hardly wait the 8 and half days more to talk to you. Hey do me a favor and find all your Skype usernames/passwords and everything now so we don’t have any problems. Also I know there’s a way to do like an interconnected Skype (like more then 1 computer or something) if Jesse and Sam are going to be in Mexico.... yay family Kugath/Head/Cline!!!! I love you muchisimo. Prayers from Costa Rica,

All my Love, 

Hermana Kugath