Merry Christmas!

Twas the noon-time of Christmas
And all through the room
The Stocktons were waiting
Their hopes in full bloom!

You see, they were waiting
For the house phone to ring,
A message from Andrew
They hoped it would bring!

And lo! And behold!
(With a minor delay)
A call from Argentina
Did brighten their day!

His voice, it was merry.
His attitude, catching.
His English was goofy --
(He hasn't been practicing :)  )

He heard news from home,
And expressed thanks and love
For the letters, support,
And the prayers sent above.

He told us of life,
About people he teaches,
His joy serving others
And his hope that he reaches ---

Those who search for the truth,
Who seek something more,
Who are anxious to hear
A new "clap" at their door.

His greatest delight,
His joy and his treasure,
Is sharing the gospel
And blessings unmeasured.

He works very hard,
And makes sacrifice too,
But it's worth it, he says,
And there's much work to do!

He loves all the people
He encounters each day,
And hopes he can touch them
For good on their way.

He sends love to his family,
Each one cherished and dear,
Says "hello" to his friends,
And to be of good cheer!

He reminds us of Jesus
Whose message he shares,
A message of love,
That amidst all our cares --

We too can have peace
If we'll follow His way,
If we'll come unto Him,
If we'll share love each day.

We all felt enriched
By his message and voice.
In his service and love
We can only rejoice!

As we wrapped up the call

(Which came much much too soon)

Tender feelings of love

Filled our hearts, and the room.

Our wishes to all,

 Friends and family so dear ...

"May the blessings of Christmas

Stay with you all year!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

With love,

The Stocktons!

December in Jardines

December 17, 2012

Dear Family,

...Oh no! I´ve been naughty and opened up my Christmas package ahead of time! A lump of coal for me! :-o I assumed it was a pre-Christmas package because I thought the Christmas lights were to decorate for December. Ah well! I was told recently that the package from Becca arrived, so... that will be my open-on-Christmas box! (Reminds me of the time Mom caught Jacob and I under the bed in the very act of opening up my Christmas present - a brown Bionicle! Remember that, Mom?)

(It's hard to send any 'surprises,' as we have to declare all the contents of the box on the customs form. Thus the confusion ...)

But I did indeed feel your love as I opened it, and I send you my love and thanks in return. :-) And I love the music! All the music you sent is fantastic - and Elder Wing and I are enjoying it. I am particularly liking the Fernando Ortega CDs. There´s a great feel of honest worship to his songs - it´s not fake or over-the-top. The Hallelujah Chorus (Handel's Messiah) is a big hit here as well. Also a big hit is the fudge and the other snacks, which Elder Wing and I have been treating ourselves to the whole week long. I also finally opened up one of those peanut butter packs yesterday. Mmmmm! I was missing it.

Well, we had an awesome week this week. I´m happier than I´ve ever been on my mission! I feel more capable than ever, and like I´m doing more to help people than ever before. I love to see the change in the lives of the people that we´re teaching. They´re really beginning to get a small taste of what God has in store for them if they continue in the Gospel. And that makes me happy. I used to wish to find people who were all ready to be baptized, and just needed to be taught. But now my desire is to find people whose lives I can help change. The Gospel is a marvelous thing that really makes happy those who follow it.

One of our investigators is doing great. She is developing the habit of reading the Book of Mormon with her kids. She told us that she´s found that when the kids are sad or bored or misbehaving, that she can say ´Let´s go grab the scriptures and read together!´ and all the kids come surround her on the bed and she reads to them out of the Book of Mormon. (The real Book of Mormon, which it turns out they like better than the picture book.) Hurrah! Please, if you would remember her in your prayers, pray that she may withstand the opposition that she´s experiencing and have the courage to do the right thing.

This past week we went to do some service for some investigators -- painting the outside of the building where they work. It turned out that the paint was really thin and hard to apply. I think I ended up painting more of myself than I did the wall. We´re going back to finish painting this Wednesday.

Another investigator is really educated about the Bible! He started telling us about the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods, and about callings that should exist in the church, and other things similar to that. I think the more he finds out that the Restored Church fits with what he reads in the Bible, the more he is convinced that it really is the same true church. (Although he was a little surprised to find out that we were Anciants - or, Elders - in the church.) But we don´t think he´s praying to ask God whether these things are true yet, which is vital. He needs to have that spiritual conviction.

We found some fantastic new investigators this week -- a (married!!) couple from Paraguay. They moved here to Argentina a few months back and are building a house to live in. Their 3 kids are in Paraguay still, and it´s hard for the parents to be here without them. When they finish the house, the kids will move here with them. They grew up in another congregation, but as adults they became disillusioned with it. Now they are going around to various churches, looking for a good church to raise their children in. We told them we can give them even better - the true church of Jesus Christ. They are going to start reading in the Book of Mormon, praying, and attending church to know whether it really is. 

Another investigator is a woman from Perú. Her sister and cousin were baptized in Perú years back. She was introduced to the church, but never got very far along the conversion process because of how much she had to work. Now she is looking for some way to bring more unity and happiness to her family. We told her we can help her with that!

The Gospel is just great. It makes people happy. We are so lucky (blessed) to be members of the church.

I´m learning a few phrases in Guaraní! That´s kind of fun. ´Yah yo toe pahtah´ (say it like it reads) means ´See you later!´ If you want to gain a Paraguayan´s confidence/interest, speak Guaraní to them.

Elder Decker and Elder Sampson baptized a family of 3 on Saturday. That was nice to see!

A Family Home Evening with some investigators went great. We played the guitar and sang ´Noche de Luz´ and we felt the Spirit. And, we had panchos, which are like hot dogs but twice as long.

I will call home probably about 4:40 Argentine time, which would be 12:40 your time. Sorry, that´s right around lunchtime, I know! We´re allowed 40 minutes to talk, so we´ll have enough time for a good chat.

I love you so much! Take care, have a great week... pet the kitty for me. Merry Christmas. :-)

Love,
Elder Andrew Stockton

December 2012

 

Hard to believe, 

but one year has come and gone!

Happy hump day, Elder Stockton!

November 30, 2012

December 3, 2012

Hello, dear family!

This week saw lots of miracles here in Jardines. We´re teaching some people that are just... really cool. I´m so lucky (blessed) to be here and be able to interact with these fantastic souls. They bless my life, and I hope to be able to bless theirs. May I tell you about a few of the awesome people/experiences of Jardines?

One of the investigators we are teaching ... was a referral from the elders in Jardines B, who contacted her on the bus. She´s from Paraguay. When she was a child, her aunt and cousins converted to the Gospel. She spent lots of time with them, and so she grew up going to Primary and Family Home Evenings. She was never able to be baptized because her parents wouldn´t give her permission. When she was 12, she moved here to Argentina and lost contact with the Church. Now we´re teaching her and her 5 kids, all of whom are under the age of 6. 

When we had our first lesson with her, we invited her to prepare to be baptized in the church, and she accepted. Part of that preparation is going to church, which is the commitment that is hardest for investigators to keep. We knew it was going to be especially hard for her, having 5 kids to take care of. But she told us, ´Elders, I am going to do everything in my power to get to church on Sunday.´ That´s something you rarely hear as a missionary. We arranged for a sister in the ward to come and help us get her there to church, and we showed up their house at 8:40 on Sunday morning to pick them up. All of them were dressed nicely and waiting for us. I think that may be the first time that has ever happened to me on the mission! It was quite nice!

Then we hit an obstacle. Our plan was to take the kids and walk the block to the bus stop, then take the bus to church. But when we got there, we were informed that a bus driver had been killed that morning and as a result none of the buses were running! Augh! We tried to call for a remis (taxi), but none of them were running that early in the morning. We tried to call a member of the ward to come pick us up, but no one answered. We were there almost an hour before thankfully, a brother from the ward called us back and came to pick us up. In the meantime, I was able to exercise the talent I´ve developed on the mission of keeping children entertained. I pulled out a ´Friend´ magazine and some colored pencils, and with that was able to keep them from getting bored and noisy while my companion tried to find a way to get us to church.

At last we were able to get there, and we had a great meeting. During Sacrament meeting, I looked over (from where I was at the piano) at our investigator, expecting to see her distracted quieting her children. But what I saw was just her, holding her months-old baby and looking at the speaker! The members had totally taken charge of helping her with her kids, so that she was left free to concentrate and feel the Spirit. That was nice to see. I feel like we´ve got good members here in Jardines.

That´s all I´ve got time for! Love you so much! Talk to you next week.
Elder Stockton

Pictures from Andrew's last days in Bragado:

Adela! We had a great last lunch with her, with the zone leaders there. We didn´t tell Adela I was leaving, because she has this habit of getting up during the wee hours of the morning and walking down to the bus station to see Elders off - which she really shouldn´t do.

December 10, 2012

Hi! I´m writing to you from a cyber near the offices today, because today is ´Renew-your-documents´ day for my mission age-group. How are things? I can feel some of the special Christmas spirit when I think about home - the tree and the lights and the heater vent... and cookies and Christmas music. And, sitting on the couch with a blanket and a sleeping kitty on your lap, while eating peanut butter crackers and reading a book. (Don´t worry, I only think about these things on P-day! ;-) But, let´s see - it looks like we might be able to give the pench a little more of a Christmasy look with the contents of this package that I picked up from the offices...! This is to open now, right? It´s not a to-wait-for-Christmas box? (If it is, I´ll only find out next week, by which date it will be too late!) Thanks much! I´m getting spoiled with all these packages!

Well, we had a good week this week. Some of our investigators are progressing really well! In fact, the woman I told you about is progressing better and faster than I´ve ever seen! She came to church again on Sunday. It was a little harder with the kids this time, but she still enjoyed it. She seems so happy recently. The other day we asked her what kind of change she´s seen in herself since she began investigating. She she told us how the Gospel has given her a hope for her life, a reason to live and to fight every day. This week she asked us about the temple and about eternal families, without us even bringing it up. She obviously has her sights set beyond just baptism - she sees the real reason for following the Gospel! He children are happy, too. They loved Primary and were anxious to return. This week we gave her a Book of Mormon Picture Book to read with her kids, so that they (and she) can get to know the Book of Mormon stories and people.

This week we made burritos, with refried beans that my companion somehow obtained here in Argentina, and tortillas made with empanada tortillas. Not quite like what we eat at home, but... at least enough to make me say, Mmmm, good!

I got a HUGE sunburn the other day after being in the sun only an hour! The problem was, I was in a normal T-shirt (we were doing service), and the skin on my back and neck that is usually hidden under my collar was exposed to the sun. It didn´t take long for me to be burned, burned, burned... I´m a little better now, but it was making me pretty uncomfortable for a few days with my collared shirts!

It looks l like Christmas is going to be good here! On P-day the 24th, our whole mission is going to the temple (for the first time, woohoo!), then back to the offices for a mission-wide lunch and devotional. Should be good!

And the day of, a phone call home! We need to arrange the time to call next week, because we won´t be emailing home the 24th. How many hours ahead of AZ time is Argentina? I´m looking forward to it!

Well, that´s all I´ve got today! I love you all. Keep that Christmas Spirit in your hearts! Thanks for your prayers!

Love,
Elder Andrew Stockton