Earthquakes, miracles, baptism, changes, and 3 apostles...

Hello my dear family, This has to have been the most action filled week of my life. I am sorry I wont be writing back to all of you personally just because I want to write you all and fill you in on what has happened this week. The most famous news that seems to pop out in my letters is the earthquake. Dont worry, everything is fine. Costa Rica is an INCREDIBLY blessed country and luckily, even with the bad construction, everything is anti-seismic (I dont know if that is a word in english), there was very limited damage in the country and only 2 people died but just because of panic and not because of damage. The earthquake was located just outside of Nicoya, Guanacaste. The earthquake shook up the entire country but mostly in Guancaste and Puntarenas. I get chills when I think about it, because I realized how in control God was. This week we had planned the welcoming of Elder Duncan to take a mission tour. President Wilkinson wanted to do it split throughout the mission so that it could be more personal. He couldnt decide what day to have what zones, but the Lord inspired him to have both Zona Guanacaste and Zona Puntarenas together in San Jose the day of the Earthquake. I will have to say it was a funny experience. We were in a leadership meeting with Elder Duncan when we felt the ground shake and the earth sounded like it was groaning. It was an eerie experience. You would think that missionaries were a bit wiser and that in time of natural disaster we would have left the building in which we were in to find safer ground. No. All of us went completely silent and we heard the church make the titanic sinking noises and I heard the glass from the baptismal font behind me make weird noises. We all sat there moving around in our seats like we were on a rollercoaster or amusement park ride, when finally I said "I think we should do something" just as we got out of our seats the earthquake stopped. Even though we were more than 200 kilometers from the epicenter, we felt it strong, it was a weird feeling, but cool to experience. They informed us that it was in Guanacaste and I felt so comforted. I knew the Lord protects his missionaries, 1, because he loves us, but 2, because his work must go forth, and we are the vessels that carry this work along. I felt blessed knowing that the Lord loved me enough to plan this special day for us. The conference went on as planned, we were a bit frantic thinking about Nicoya and Liberia and the entire zone especially because the phone company immediately cut off signal in and out of Guanacaste, I tried calling the cook, the BP and all the members I could think of but nothing went through. In Nicoya and Santa Cruz the chapels were damaged a bit, but nothing serious, in Liberia just the wall of a school fell down and luckily no one was inside. We lost a lot of time this week to be in our area because for 3 days we stayed in San Jose, the day after the earthquake I went with my companion to the US Embassy (In Pavas) and ran into a member that I had formed a real strong relationship with, I hung my head out of the bus and yelled "JUANCA!" (short for Juan Carlos) and he smiled and screamed at me "KOLBY!" It was a funny experience how he had gotten to know my name, but thats a story for another day. Anyway, we headed back to Liberia on Thursday night and met with the members and everyone and they said that the earthquake was felt extremely strong but that luckily everyone was okay. Since then, there has been over 560 replicas (or baby earthquakes) shaking up Guanacaste, 4 of which I have felt since Wednesday. But no worries. We are safe and happy and healthy and all is well. The Lord is in control and that is the most comforting thing we can know. The earthquake was a great experience for me. I remember seeing the chapel walls shaking and thinking "we are on the bottom floor, if this chapel falls, thats it, I´m a goner..." I never doubted that the Lord would protect us but the thought came into my mind as what if....I felt unbelievably small. I felt smaller than anything else in the world. I recognized my amazingly great dependence on the Lord and his protection. I gave everything to him in those 45 seconds during the earthquake. I literally put it all in his hands, but deep down trusted that everything would be all right. It put things into perspective just how small we are, just how fragile life is, and just how easily it can be taken away from us. It put the gospel into perspective, because the gospel of Jesus Christ is the ONLY way that families can be prepared for the day when the Lord calls them from their earthly home into his presence. Its the only way out, its the only way up...I can guarantee that, I have never been so sure of anything in my life. I felt the weird need to be like Samuel the Lamanite and get on the chapel roof and call the people to repentance, but I didnt :) I just felt the strongest desire to let everyone know what we have and why it is SO important for them... Despite the events of the week, the earthquake didnt shake Luis´ faith to be baptized. He was baptized on Saturday the 8th at 7pm. (Which by the way while filling up the font we felt another small quake, they predict that another big one is going to come soon, but we will see what happens) It was so amazing to see Luis change his life. He is 69 years old and goes to show that it is never too late to change. We are never too far gone, we are never too far away for the Atonement to reach us and clean us. I walked into the bathroom after his baptism to find him humming a hymn and he told me "I´m clean. I feel my conscience so clean..." I loved that phrase and repeated it in my head the rest of the night. He had felt the cleansing power of the atonement, and he had felt the power of real repentence in his life. Then on Sunday he received the gift of the Holy Ghost, in which me and my companion took part. He just stood in front of the congregation just smiling and turned to us and said in his weezy voice "Thank you..." It is moments like that that make everything worth it. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. And not even an earthquake can stop the work from going forth. It is URGENT that this message touches every soul upon the earth. So yesterday we made our way back to San Jose for changes meeting. My companion and I didnt have changes but we went because President Wilkinson had told us to all prepare ourselves spiritually for what was happening after the changes. It was a weird experience knowing it was my last time in changes meeting. I will be there one more time but for my own farewell from the mission, the next time I am there, I will be bearing my final testimony as a Representative of Jesus Christ. An overwhelming feeling came over me, of saddness and excitement for what lies ahead. I felt that the Lord had been proud of my work. I felt that I still had so much more to give, and that is why the Lord has given me 6 more weeks to give all I have. So in Changes meeting President announced that not 1, or 2, but 3 apostles were coming on their way in a plane to visit our mission. He talked and said, I dont know why they are coming, I have heard of 1 apostle coming to a country but never 3, this is history. He then told us it wasnt only 3 apostles, but one of which was the 1st counselor in the First Presidency of the Church. After changes meeting we awaited the arrival of President Henry B. Eyring, Elder M. Russell Ballard and Elder D. Todd Christofferson. We made our way in 3 giant buses to a chapel in Alajuela and got something to eat and waited patiently for their arrival. What a wonderful experience! I have been so blessed to have been able to see in person so many apostles and general authorities. I have seen 7 of the 15 apostles in my entire mission, and over 20 other general authorities. It was such a blessing, but like President Eyring said "We are not celebrities, we are servants of the Lord" It made me think, to us they are celebrities, but they regard themselves as servants of the Master. Thats what makes them so special, they give us a living breathing example of Righteous men and their willingness to follow the Lord all of their lives. There was a light in the chapel when the 3 of them entered, and even though they didnt share strange and unusual doctrine or anything of the sort, they shared their testimonies of the Book of Mormon, the Restoration and the need for us as members of the church to be happy because of what we have. Their talks and testimonies inspired me to be better and to do better each and every day. What a blessing it is for us to have this gospel. I am happy. Truly truly happy and happier than I have ever been in my entire life. I have the truth, I carry that truth to the people of Costa Rica, and I feel so blessed and so humbled by this great opportunity. It has seriously been a week that I will never forget and remember for the rest of my life. I am so happy for this experience, I am so happy I got to feel God´s power manifest through nature and through his called servants. I am eternally grateful to all who helped me get to where I am. Who have had patience with me and who have given me this amazing opportunity to do what I am doing. I love it. I love you all and I will see you soon. until then, enjoy the pictures of Sylvia´s and Luis´ baptisms.... (as well there is a picture of the 2nd generation of my "mission family", my 2 sons and my grandson, haha, enjoy!) LOVE YOU