¨However Long or Hard the Road¨

G baptism =D

G & M on G's baptism day = D 

Whelp, everything has been tuanis down here in the land down under... Nicaragua. G was baptized this Sunday after the church meetings, and if everything goes as planned this next Sunday he´s going to be confirmed a member, receive the Holy Ghost, receive the Priesthood, and then baptize his wife. Not sure if it´s possible, or correct, but our Bishop came up with the idea and so we´re going to do it=D. We´ve been trying really hard as a zone to continue becoming better because everytime our success is like a mountain, we climb up and then we peak and then we fall again, so we´re really trying to become consistent. What we learned today as a zone is that we´re going to have a new goal for March it appears, of 250 baptisms and confirmations. We´ll see how that goes, means we´ll have to work effectively and plan well for this month of February. I know it´s possible, because all things are possible through Jesus Christ, and furthermore this is his work, he wants his brothers and sisters to follow him, our Heavenly Father wants his children to return home. I like the quote from general conference, and I don´t have it with me word for word but it was something like, ¨What we do is a drop in the ocean, but if we didn´t do it the ocean would be one drop less than it is.¨ The key to missionary work is to work together, it sounds cheesy but it´s true. We´re all God´s children, He loves each and everyone of us, as the missionaries work with the members, as the members work with the investigators, the work will grow, the lost will return home, and the kingdom of God will continue to spread here on the earth. I have no doubt that this is the Lord´s work, we are blessed, everyone of us, to be able to participate, to be here, I encourage all of you search the will of your Father in Heaven, find someone in need and help them. You will find no greater, lasting, joy in this life than to help your fellow being. Thank you for your support.

With much love, 

Elder Lohberg

M will be baptized by G next Sunday = D

**extra emailing back and forth:

Mom: Transfers are next week as well?

Aaron: this monday, the 2nd, it´s possible that I leave, the zone leader thinks my companion will leave, that i´ll stay, or it´s possible we both stay, anything can happen

Mom: your comp just got there!  would be great if you could both stay one more transfer since you just got put together / :

Aaron: i would like to go to a new area, but i would also like to stay here with Elder Toledo, or i dont know, we´re planning on changing houses here, to an apartment that is owned by the bishop, that is like a connection of his house, but it´s going to be really small, it´ll be cool because we wont walk hardly as much, but it will be cramped, i am really fine with whatever happens. The Zone leader thinks (thinks) i will stay and train or something and Elder Toledo will go ZL

Mom: When would you move to the new apartment?  like the end of this month (this week then) or next month?

Aaron: Well, we saw the bishops apartment he offered us on Saturday, yesterday night some crazy gangster in front of our house (they´re always gangsters in front smoking and stuff) shot the ground 6 times with his pistol, and Toledo looked and saw the gun, and that Thursday last week the zone leader from El Salvador also, like my comp, said we should change houses, because where we live is ineffective and dangerous haha. So, we´re pretty sure we don't have a contract, but the woman asked us a while ago to give her like a months notice, but after the gunshots we decided to take the offer, we told the bishop we going to try and get permission, and we set it up for him to help us tomorrow morning at 9 haha... so this was a 3 day decision really. we´ll see if we have permission, but were gonna leave without giving 1 month notice. 

Ya I gots to go, but I love talking to you guys, I love ya all, I hope you enjoy this next week and we´ll talk next tuesday, see whats changed!! =D Bye! 

Much Love and Humility, 

Super, Awesome, Amazing, Talented, Strong, Brave, Courageous, Intelligent, Wise, Elder Lohberg

Hello, my Dear Friends of the State of Washington, and other lands.

Hope everything is going well out there. Things are tuanis here, learning everyday like normal. Had a super Spiritual event this week with one of our families. We´ve been working with a couple named G and M and their little girl who has like, 6 months I think. They´ve been progressing really quickly and now we´re preparing G to be baptized this Saturday, the 24th, if everything works out with his work. After his baptism, we are going to work with him so that he can receive the Aaronic Priesthood before the 6th of February, with the goal in mind that he can baptize his wife. Super exciting to see my first family change and accept the gospel in their lives. G tells us almost every single time we meet of all the blessings he has received from God, of how grateful he is for all that he has been given. 

It really is a blessing to be here in Costa Rica. I know that families are ordained of God, they´re a gift he has given us, and when they act in accordance to the plan that our Heavenly Father has given us we can find happiness, more abundant than in any other place. Our Heavenly Father desires that we are happy, that we learn to be happy, and that we learn the gospel of His son, Jesus Christ, in a loving environment where we can grow together. I hope that you all enjoy this coming week and am grateful for all your messages and the love you show. 

Hasta Luego, 

Elder Lohberg

Baptism of A

sisters area in Ojo De Agua

*from extra emailing back and forth:

Me: How was your divisions last week? I looked that up on the map - where you went to - looks pretty far away - how long did it take you to get there?  What was your divisions comp like?

Aaron: Haha, yeah divisions in Ojo De Agua with Elder Guerrero, zone leaders, it was like 30_45 minute bus ride i think, the climate was much hotter and it was more like country, he is cool, this was the second time i did divisions with him. 

Me: what's your week look like for this week? what plans do you have - do you have "appointments" scheduled - lessons with investigators? Have you ever touched base with the sad lady who was crying again? or how about the guy you met in the park - can't remember his name to be honest

Aaron: nope, she basically doesn´t want anything and the sad guy in the park moved away, haha, but they were cool miracles to start, we planted seeds. none really, we don't make appointments here like firm firm, because everyone works and almost no one knows their schedules, so we just pass by and yeah

Me:so basically you have to take advantage of the moment when it presents itself to teach then eh? Tell me what a typical day is like for you - like how do you decide where to go each day?

Aaron: We basically work one street everyday, but we branch out every now and then, like we have one investigator who is like 10-14 minutes from this street so we visit him every now and then, his baptismal date is the 14th of feb. and we also work other areas when we do divisions with the members, other than that just this street. 

Me: when are changes? do you want to transfer or? I'm thinking if you could stay one more transfer and then go to Guancaste you might have a better chance of staying on the west side

thoughts? had any impressions - do you feel like your transferring?

you and your comp are doing so well - would president move you when you're clearly working well together?

Aaron: i think like, the first week of February, i really like my companion, but i would like to see new areas, i´d also like to see G baptize M, and E and his cousin were two people i contacted on the street so it would be cool to see them baptized too, but i don't know, what ever the Lord wants=) i would like to stay one more and then Guancaste too, that´s the meta, i want to go to Nicoya, Parker was in Liberia, and Toledo in Nicoya and his photos are amazing, of the beach, they hiked a mountain and the photos look UNREAL. I don´t know how president works. We´ll see, i am not sure how i feel, if i will go or not haha, i can´t tell. 

for meeting the zone baptism goal of 200 their zone got to have breakfast at the presidents house along with the Limon zone

I love you too mom, so much!! Thanks for taking the time to talk with me every week, I really hope everything is well in Washington, we pray for you guys in every single prayer we do haha.. a lot=D I love you guys so much!!!!!

Hallo Errybody‏

papusas made by my comp

Hmm, this week we were going to have a baptism, but we ran into some problems with our bishop and documentation that he claims is from the church, so we rescheduled the baptism for this Saturday, the 17th! My companion is super tuanis, yesterday we made papusas, which is what they eat all the time in El Salvador, and they were pretty good, but he said they usually have Chicharron in them but it´s different than the chicharron here, so we just made bean and cheese haha. We had a lesson with a family, a husband, wife, and their little baby, and we were going to talk about the plan of salvation, but ended up just answering their questions and doubts. We didn´t think much of the lesson, because it wasn´t much, sure we all felt the Spirit, but we didn´t teach that much. That Sunday the husband came to church, like always, but this time his spouse came too. This was the first time she has come to church because for almost all my time here in Heredia she lived in Puntarrenas, but, she´s been here in Heredia 3 weeks now, and she finally came to church! She told me that she had a ton of questions now, but it was cool to see them sitting together as a family in church. A member asked her if she was a member and she said no (he´s a returned missionary and I think he did this on purpose haha because he asked when she was going to be baptized) and she responded that she needs 3 times in the chapel to be baptized (we had explained this because the idea is that her husband can be baptized and then baptize her) and so it was really cool haha that she said she wants to be baptized basically, just that she needs the times in the chapel. So we´re going to place the baptismal date for her husband and her, 2 or 3 weeks apart, so that he can baptize her. Super exciting! Every single day as a missionary is a testimony to me of the truthfulness and completeness of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and of the Book of Mormon. I have no doubt that this is the true church of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. That the Book of Mormon, with 239 chapters, testifies that he is our Savior, that he is our King, and that paid the price for us. With 233 chapters that testify of Him in the Book of Mormon, there is no other book that teaches us more of our Savior. I encourage you all to stay strong, feast on the words of the scriptures, and delight in their power.

From extra emailing back and forth:
ha yesterday was my first zone activity.. 4 months and finally i get one haha.. we played soccer almost all day and then we went to carls junior and ate and talked for like 2 hours. I made goals and everything, one of the district leaders from el salvador stole my companion because he is from there too, but my team won 4 rounds in a row haha, it was awesome because we had one elder from mexico, Elder Aviña and he had a surgery on his leg so he cant run very fast or anything for soccer but we put him in as goaly and he rocked it and elder Cruz from honduras and I did everything on the field, it was us 3 and a sister, she helped, we always passed it to her haha

"fetching soccer = ( I sowed it but they look like crap"

well, i mean that she helped a little, she didn't do much, but we tried to make it fun for her and passed the ball and everything
hmm, i put on sunscreen almost everyday, i forgot to day, and i´m going to be on divisions today and tomorrow in a different area that is hotter, ojo de agua, but yesterday i put it on for everything to play soccer, accept for my legs.. needless to say my legs are very well burnt now. Haha, but they´re super white so it´s okay. Also i fear that my eyes are gunna be charred and i will have spots when i´m older like grandma, but we cant use sunglasses,  i´m praying the new mission president says we can haha

"cheapy but they look awesome, $3 well spent" "sunglasses in the house, aww yeah" not mission approved so sadly he will wear them in his apartment and scorch his eyes outside = (

Gotta go, Love ya mom!!!!!! good to talk thanks for everything!!!!! tell errybody i love em!!!! yah!!!!!!!

I´ve Made a Huge Mistake

Not Really!!! Just that I can´t think of any more subject titles. I hope all of you had a happy new years, that is was full of family time and shenanigans and the sort. Really it´s crazy every time I sit down at these computers to type to you guys haha, the feeling of wow.. another week passed already? I cant remember if I already told you guys this but in July of this year the Costa Rica mission will be dividing into two missions, so if you have friends who are preparing to serve, there is a higher chance that they come here now! This week we had 9 investigators join us for church on Sunday, which was really cool, because everyone who comes to church feels something different. They always believe what they learn, and they receive personal revelation, something that as missionaries is impossible to force someone to receive. The only way they will receive their answers, their guidance and the surety that this is the true church, is to act. We invite them to pray, to read the scriptures, and to come to church. Three basic actions that make up the difference between knowing, and continuing on in their own ways. Our loving Heavenly Father has given us the way, he has given us the path to return and live with Him. I have no doubt in my mind that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true. In this church one can find for himself, all the ordinances and teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In this church is the divinely given power to perform these ordinances, power that without such these ordinances would be nothing more than words. This power, the priesthood, allows us to bind things on earth in heaven. We can have eternal families, we can receive our exaltation and we can enjoy the the presence of our Heavenly Father again. Thank you for all your support and letters and enjoy this next week!