October 7 - 14

October 7, 2013

Well, wow! Another super fast week, but a really good one, with lots of miracles.

Wasn`t General Conference great? One of the best I can remember. I absolutely loved the 3 Saturday sessions. Priesthood session was fantastic. I am really looking forward to listening to/reading those talks again. I`m afraid I didn`t get as much out of Sunday session. Priesthood Session in Argentina finishes at 11:00 at night... and so we got home at about midnight. But, we still woke up the next day at 6:20, like normal. And so, I was a little sleepy for the Sunday sessions. I was awake, but my mind wasn`t alert enough to really get much out of the talks. (I basically thought, `yes, that`s a good thought` about everything, but couldn`t really connect it all together.) Still... great Conference! I noticed a lot of repeated themes... and a big emphasis on sharing the Gospel! But sharing the Gospel naturally and confidently, rather than uncomfortably.

As missionaries, we were only `entitled` to watch the Priesthood session and the Saturday morning session. If we wanted to watch any other session, we had to either have an investigator with us for the session, or to have completed our weekly goals. (In other words, 7 days` work in 5 days.)

Of course, we planned hard and worked hard all week long to be able to finish by Conference time. And, we saw many miracles. We found great people to teach. Members came and accompanied us to our lessons. We saw great progress in the investigators. Saturday morning came and we still had some left to do, but we were miraculously able to accomplish everything that we needed to do and travel to Castelar for the conference, in time for the 3rd talk. 

The English Conference-watchers

English Conference-watchers, front view!

We had arranged that a member friend of M would go and pick her up for the conference. In the middle of that first session, M called us. She said, `the hermana never came for me! How do I get to Castelar?` And, demonstrating a go-getter attitude that few investigators have, she made her way, alone, to the Conference, going by train... which is a horrible way for an elderly lady to travel! She loved the conference! 

And in-between sessions, her member friend, Hermana Moreno, read to her from the Book of Mormon. (M can`t read.) That was probably one of the best things I`ve ever seen! M is progressing like crazy... she loves feeling the Spirit. 

Last Monday, when we taught her, we asked her if she had any questions about the church. She said, `Yes... do members of the church have to pay tithing?` So, although we hadn`t planned to, we taught the Law of Tithing. And she said that after she is baptized, she also will give her tithing and fast offerings. What a great lady! She says she is determined to be baptized.

So, that`s how things are going. We were disappointed this week by several investigators who were planning on going to Conference but somehow never arrived. But the sadness we feel for all of the investigators that aren`t progressing, is lost in how happy we are for M. That`s the work! `The bad experiences may outnumber the good, but the good experiences will far and FOREVER outweigh the bad.`

I love you all so much. Have a great week!
Elder Stockton

Tracting in the rich area...

October 14, 2013

Hello, dear family!

It`s been one of those super fantastic weeks.
Well, actually, it was just a good week until Sunday, when it turned into a super fantastic week.

And the reason for that was that each of our 5 best investigators came to church - 3 of them for the first time.
Getting investigators to church is one of the hardest things in missionary work, and it`s one of the most disappointing feelings ever when they end up not coming. 

This Sunday morning, as is our custom, we set out to pick up a few investigators who had committed to come. The first one fell through - she either wasn`t home or wasn`t interested in coming. Bummer! We walked to the home of the second investigator - K, and knocked the door. There was silence for a few minutes, then the door opened and she said, `Elder, I hope you won`t be mad at me, but...` and we thought, Noooooo! But then she said, `... we`re still getting ready.` What!? (You`re getting ready!?) Hurray!
While we were waiting for K and her kids, we called JM and G, who had committed to come for the past few weeks but hadn`t come. JM answered (first good sign) and then said that they were getting ready to head to church. I was so happy I felt like crying. 

We walked K and her 2 super-rambunctious kids to church, got the kids situated in Primary, and took K to Relief Society, where the sisters took charge of her. JM and G arrived (1st time) towards the end of Elders` Quorum, delighting my soul. And of course, M came, 3rd time in church... and J and G. 

Our Gospel Principles class was full to the brim, and fantastic! 

I loved seeing our investigators in church. Because, attending church is such an important step in spiritual progression. Preach My Gospel (first page) says something like, `More happiness awaits you than you have yet experienced as you labor among the Lord`s children.` This is when I feel the happiness - when I see the progress of the investigators.

Other news:

I went on divisions with Elder Lee (ha, ha, this one is a redhead) in Ituzaingo I - an area that is not too far away, but is very different from Ituzaingo 2. We are lunch with a sister who cooked a soup with a meat called osobuco. (Not sure what part of the cow that is.) I liked it, so I made the same thing on Thursday... a stew with meat, potatoes, onion, and osobuco. I`m expanding my repertoire!

Tasty osobuco soup. I`m being adventurous and cooking with meat!

We did some service for a family on Saturday and dug a big pit... almost a meter deep! It was fun. Digging was different here than at home - at home the dirt is pretty dry, and here it`s super wet! The muddy soil kept on sticking to the shovel... and my pants, and shoes. It was a fun project.

Working pants.

In my last interview with President Carter, he challenged me to be bolder with the investigators. We are starting to see the results of our boldness. 2 of the investigators that came to church (JM and G) were investigators that we `pushed` to either commit whole-heartedly or we would drop them. And, they raised their faith and their commitment and came by themselves to church, when the last few weeks they didn`t. And they loved it!

We are also gaining a strong testimony of involving members in the teaching. Everyone is progressing so much more now that we are bringing the members (and LOTS of different members) to the appointments. And the members are becoming eager to accompany us and are more aware of the investigators on Sunday. A fire for the work is starting in the ward. May it turn out to be like the fire that President Monson started as a boy, and like the fire mentioned in this past General Conference!

Let me tell you, M is progressing a ful! She is thoroughly decided that she`s getting baptized. This week we taught her the 10 commandments. We prepared well for the lesson because we knew she might have a problem with commandments 1 and 2. (She used to be a `Missionary of the Virgin Mary` for the Catholic church. Catholic people here have a deep love for the Virgin Mary, considering her to be their mother and the source of many of their blessings.) So, we studied and prayed that M would be receptive to our teaching her that she shouldn`t pray to the Virgin Mary. She was. Although it probably wasn`t easy for her to take, the Spirit was present in the lesson and she accepted what we taught her.

I already mentioned JM and G... they had been kind-of progressing for the last few weeks. They weren`t sure whether they wanted to get married, and they didn`t show up for General Conference as they had promised to. The change in their attitude came as we taught them the 10 Commandments - including the importance of observing the Sabbath day. As we taught, JM`s face changed... he looked somewhat awestruck. We asked him what was up, and he said... `But... it`s not just that you guys want me to go to church... it`s there in the Bible!` He repeated the same thing once or twice more during the lesson. He realized that what we were asking them to do wasn`t simply what we wanted. And that the commandments aren`t `extra` rules, to keep if they`re convenient. He realized that they were commandments from God. We could almost see him raising his faith... and they came to church!

This week we met an old investigator named K. We found her during a cloudy, drizzly day, and she let us have a lesson with her. She investigated the church a year ago and really wanted to get baptized, but didn`t want to stop smoking. She went to church many times and loved it... but when her life got busy with other activities, she put church attendance to one side. Now, she recognized that she needs that spiritual strength in her life, and she committed to start again. She feels like `this is her time`. And, from the beginning, she`s been keeping her commitments. She read the passages we left her in the scriptures, started praying, and, as I already mentioned, came to church on Sunday with her 2 young kids. I love it!

That`s all I`ve got for today. I love you all so much. I love reading your letters. Have a great week! We are all so blessed.
Elder Stockton

The district!

Here`s one with me in it, for Mom!

September highlights - 2013

September 2, 2013 - Week 6 in Ituzaingo

Wow. Hello! It was great to read all of your emails today. Sounds like you`re all up to some pretty fun things, and enjoying life. We sure are blessed.

I`m afraid I`ve cut myself a little short on writing time today, because we had a district activity which ended up starting a lot later than planned, and finishing a little late as well. I`ll try to be concise. :-)

If you had asked me about my week on Saturday, I would have told you it was a really hard week. After Sunday, I would still tell you that it was a really hard week, but also a very rewarding one. It seems like often after `wading through much affliction` the blessings come and make it all worth it. So, here are some of the points of interest from this week!

I got sick on Wednesday. Not sure how, exactly, but a few hours after lunch I got an upset stomach... we kept working, and a few hours later I wasn`t feeling well so we went to the chapel to drink some water and lie down a bit. Then we went to work again and- I started womitin`. (...Womitin`? Yes, womitin` bad, sor.`) So we went back to the pench - the day was almost over anyway. I had a bad night that night & couldn`t sleep, but fortunately the next day was weekly planning in the pench. I slept through that and then we went out to work... still exhausted because I hadn`t been able to keep water down even. And so, that was Wednesday and Thursday. Friday I felt better again, and we went back to work like normal. Others in our zone also got sick... it could be because of the weird shift to hot weather that we suddenly had.

We had some sad lessons. Two investigators who have been going to church steadily for more than a year, told us they felt like church had become routine and that they weren`t as interested now as they were when they started investigating, and that they weren`t going to investigate anymore. Sad. I hate the feeling of loving someone, wanting so much to help them and knowing that the Gospel is what they need, and watching them choose not to give it a chance. You feel helpless. (Why can`t you see!?... this is what you need!) I guess maybe Heavenly Father feels that way about us sometimes, when we choose to live below our possibilities.

C didn`t get baptized... The change of ward was hard for her, and she wants to go back to Padua where she met the missionaries. We`re awaiting word from President Carter to know whether she`ll get baptized here in Ituzaingo II or in Padua

We went to J and G's house for an appointment on Friday. G came out and told us that 2 days ago (the very night we had had an excellent, spiritually powerful lesson with them) she and J fought and that J, angry, had left the house and hadn`t come back. 

We were worried - very worried for them. We prayed a lot. 

What a relief and joy for us when both of them appeared in the doorway of the Gospel Principles class on Sunday! J came back, they made up, and they woke up on Sunday and came to church on their own accord. How great. They are progressing a lot. G has made a lot of progress in breaking her smoking addiction.

On Sunday we were guided to find someone who really needs the Gospel.
We went to visit an unknown name on the church lists - it turned out she was an old lady who had gone to the church one time, been baptized, and never went again - basically a non-member. She was about to start a big job of reorganizing a stack of chairs and boxes and junk, and we didn`t want her to have to do that alone so we offered to help her. Together we did the job in 10 minutes - then we asked if we could share a message with her. We also invited her neighbor, and her 2 grandchildren (grown) to accompany us, which they did. 

We started to share a message, and the granddaughter interrupted us, asking us why, if God is just and loving and loves little children, he lets innocent children suffer and die? Well, we changed the theme of our message and answered her question - explaining to her about God`s plan and how it involves more than just this life. You could see what we were sharing really meant something to her. She asked how we knew what we taught was true. And we testified to her, and invited her to ask God for herself. She accepted a Book of Mormon and to have the missionaries visit her in the place where she lives.

And, there were a lot more experiences that happened this week, but the main gist is this:
God has blessed us immensely, and I love His work. The Gospel changes lives.

I love you all so much, and I hope you have a very good week.
Elder Stockton

September 9, 2013 - Week 12 in Ituzaingo 

(don't know how we jumped from week 6 to 12?)

Wow, we`ve come to the end of another transfer here. Pretty crazy! I saw the pictures in the Sol (the mission`s weekly message/announcement magazine) of all of the missionaries going home. Included in the mix is my friend and old companion Elder Lee! Wow, pretty crazy! I`ve got 3 months left.

This week was a good week. No sicknesses, at least! Actually, physically I feel great. My companion bought a jump rope and so I`ve been mixing that in with my morning exercises.

One morning we got a phone call from an unknown number. A sister from the BuenosAires South mission called us to ask us if we could go by her very sick friend and give her a blessing. Just that day we were scheduled to have a meeting with our ward mission leader, so after the meeting all 3 of us went over to meet S and give the blessing. She was sick, and depressed and worried about the future, and the message we shared and the blessing helped cheer her up some.

In church on Sunday, the ward mission leader mentioned the experience and talked about the blessing it was to be able to help. Really, the mission is full of those moments, and I guess sometimes I take them for granted... but it`s nice to be able to help people who really need help.

J and G are a ful! (That`s Argentine slang for... well, a lot of things. I guess in this case it means, `moving forward at full speed`!) (Just so you know I`m not saying they`re awful.) 

Last week after church, they went home and opened up the fridge only to have smoke pour out of it - and then it quit working. We visited them that same day and they were bummed, because they didn`t have the money to fix their refrigerator. They`re working their way out of some debts and trying to stay afloat with J`s job as a carpenter, but things were tight. We happened to remember that our ward mission leader works as a refrigerator repairman... so we called him up and he talked to J for a bit. The next day Hno Abiuso (the mission leader) came and fixed their fridge, charging them only for the replacement part... and their load was lightened. They made friends (Hno Abiuso makes friends with everybody) also had a good chat about the Gospel. 

They`re doing really well. I love to see their progress. They made the decision to keep the Sabbath Day Holy this Sunday and delay a job they were going to do, even though it didn`t seem like the most convenient thing for them. They`re showing their faith by keeping the commandments, and marvelous changes are happening in them. Everyone sees the difference in them, and comments on it - their family, the ward members, and they themselves see it. They`re happier and they`re more at peace in their lives.

And, that`s the main news.

Other news is that we had a huge storm that lasted all of one night and then almost the whole day. The morning after it started raining, I woke up and did my exercises as usual. Then, as I was heading to shower, I noticed that there was water on the floor. I looked better and saw that the water was coming in through the bottom of the door... The drain outside had clogged, and the patio was flooded, and just when I was walking by it started to overflow and enter the pench. 

So I ran out, unclogged the drain (the rain was cold!) and the water level dropped again. Nothing in the pench was damaged, thank goodness, except a few pamphlets. But, it gave us a fun way to start the morning.

That`s all for this week! Love you so much. Hope your week is great!
Elder Stockton

Sept 15,2013

An excerpt from Ken's letter to Elder Stockton ...

Dear Andrew,

We went to a missionary home-coming talk this afternoon, and quite enjoyed it. In fact, we were so impressed we even posed with the speaker for pictures afterward.His mission seemed to have been very similar to parts of yours—even down to the names of investigators! Perhaps it’s some kind of parallel universe? In the attached photo, the bearded lad was, for once, flat-footed, so I expect the rest of us must be shrinking. Or, perish the thought, he may still be growing.

Elder Lee was Andrew's companion for a couple of transfers (I think). He is also from Tucson, and graciously called us and invited us to his homecoming talk. He spoke of experiences and people we felt we knew! Seeing him was almost as good as seeing Andrew! It was wonderful!

September 16, 2013

Well hello! Wow... so Elder Lee`s back home. I remember being with him one P-day and him saying, `I only have 3 months left! That`s nothing!` And, now he`s home. And now, I... well. I only have 3 months left.
How cool that you got to go to his homecoming! I loved serving with Elder Lee. He`s a really smart guy. Somehow, I forgot to get his contact information. Wait, no, maybe I do have it. Anyway, we`ll all find each other on Facebook after the mission, I`m sure.

It`s been a really, really good week this week. Maybe one of the best weeks of my mission. Not because of any one specific thing that happened, but because things are going well. We`re working hard, and enjoying the work, and being blessed.

As you saw from the transfer video, Elder Monterroso and I are good for another 6 weeks! (And it`s very possible that I`ll finish the mission here in Ituzaingo 2! I wouldn`t complain!)

We had some really good experiences this week.

Recently, we`ve been studying/practicing teaching the Commandments in order to teach more powerfully. It`s helping us. One day, we thoroughly studied and practiced the commandment to `Study the Scriptures`. That same morning, we went to a second lesson with an investigator (E) and found out she had not read the assigned section in the Book of Mormon. We looked at each other and began teaching ´Study the Scriptures´, the same as we had done in the practice. Then we read the assignment together to show her how scripture study should go. It was fantastic! We felt the spirit. She understood the importance of studying the scriptures, and more important, she gained a DESIRE to study the scriptures on her own. (And, she did!)

The next time we visited her, she told us that she had attempted to pray, and that when she prayed she felt something `different, but agreeable`. She hadn`t read in the Book of Mormon, but we had that lesson and she promised to start.

The next day was Sunday. It wasn`t very likely that she would go to church, since it was Stake Conference (in a place she didn`t know) and her mom had another commitment and wouldn`t be going. But we called her on Saturday night anyway to invite her. The call cut before we could finish talking, and the call wouldn`t go through, so we thought, `Well, there`s nothing else we can do!` But then a few minutes later, we got text from her that said something like, `Don`t worry hermano, I already asked my mom and she told me how to get to church.` Sounded promising, but many an investigator with good intentions has ended up not going in the end, for whatever reason.

The next day we went to pick up J for the conference (G couldn`t come). A few stops after we got onto the bus, we were pleasantly surprised to see E get on the bus and request the stop that would take her to Stake Conference. We all went to the conference together, and she liked it!

But she impressed us with her willingness to act. Like I said, the grand majority of investigators have good intentions, but don`t have the will to follow through. But she was willing to get up and go (by herself) to a church she had never been to, in the rain, in order to find out whether it was true. Fantastic!

We had an interesting experience on Sunday. We contacted a couple of guys on a street corner who were just about to start hanging out & drinking wine... (a fairly typical weekend activity, esp. in rainy weather) they let us go to their house and teach them about the Gospel. We invited them to change their lives and seek the riches of eternity, and while I won`t say they have the `E` level of commitment, they listened attentively and at least considered what we were teaching them. After the lesson, one of our new friends asked us if we like avocados. (Fairly expensive here.) He went inside, came back and handed each of us 2 giant avocados from his tree. That`s very typical of the Argentines. They always give you food or do you a service, even if they`re not interested in what you have to say. So, we`re going to wait until the avocados mature a little and then have a district guacamole party!

I broke down and bought a camera this morning, for a little more than I had wanted to - $1400. (Pesos.) (Should be a little less than $300 USD.) But at least now I have something to take pictures with! And it`s not a bad camera, I think.

It`s been raining/drizzling since Thursday. Wet weather. It`s nice, I love the rain. But I don`t like being damp all the time... we`ll hope it clears up soon.

Really, that`s all I`ve got for this week. It`s been a good one, and I trust that this transfer will see many of God`s children progress and (hopefully) be baptized. I love you all so much, and I always love to read your letters. Take care.
Elder Stockton

September 23, 2013

Well, hi! Yet another week has come and gone.

We had another really good week this week. But I`ll be somewhat brief today.

The best event this week was a ward Family Home Evening activity in the church. It had been a long time since the ward had had an activity, and we thought it would be a way to increase unity in the ward, and a good opportunity for our investigators to get to know the church and the members in an informal setting. Our ward mission leader organized it, and it turned out to be a great success. 4 investigator families came and lots of families from the church! The members did a great job fellowshipping the investigators. All of the investigators loved it and expressed desires to go to church on Sunday. 

We started with a spiritual thought given by one of the members. Then the youth presented a play they had prepared for a previous stake event, where they represented a Portuguese legend. Just before the activity started, they informed my companion and I that there were short a few actors, and asked us if if we could please fill in. My part wasn`t very difficult - all I had to do was look at some street vendors` merchandise until an assassin came and killed me. After that we were free to watch the rest of the play. It was good! They worked a lot on it and it turned out well. 

Then we had a game... with the missionaries in charge! We played a species of musical chairs, in which the losers, upon being left without a chair, could choose between either telling a joke or dancing `la gallinita` (the Guatemalan version of the Chicken Dance, demonstrate by Elder Monterroso). It was a big hit! (And everyone liked watching the Bishop do La Gallinita!)

And after that, we had a potluck and everyone shared the food they brought, and that`s when the real fellowshipping happened. I love the ward here. There are some really great hermanos. And I love big events like this! There was a good feeling of real friendship and fun there.

J and G are good - we taught them the law of tithing this week and they faithfully committed to pay their tithes and offerings. They`re great! But after the Family Home Evening activity, they both got really sick and couldn`t come to church on Sunday. We gave G a blessing, and hopefully they`re feeling a little better today. It`s no fun to be sick!

We have been praying to really find the people who need the Gospel. On Sunday our focus was looking for them, and so we knocked doors all day and went to the houses where people had already expressed some interest in our passing by... but we didn`t find anyone! Until the very end of the day, when we only had an hour left. We knocked a door and met a man named J, who a few years back had left his evangelical church and now was perishing spiritually. He was busy working on his car, but we told him that if he gave us 15 minutes of his time, our message could change his life. He gave us 15 minutes, and we invited him to come unto Christ again. He is humble, and recognizes his need for God`s help, and (we hope) is willing to act. All important qualities for a good investigator. We were glad to find him. 

That`s all for today... I love you all so much! Have a great week.
Elder Stockton

J & G & familia

Us with our ward mission leader Hermano Abiuzo

the Family Home Evening play

Potluck

September 30, 2013

Hello, family! Have I told you that there`s a zone in the mission called Catàn? So, when I hear you`re playing Settlers of Catan (which they say is a very fun game - I`ll have to give it a try) I think of Catàn the zone - known for being poor, fairly dangerous, and high in baptisms. We can play Missionaries of Catan here.

We had a great week this week! Though how it passed so quickly, I don`t have any idea. One minute we were finishing our P-day, the next we were doing our Thursday weekly planning, and suddenly it was Sunday again. Cripes!

Well, let`s see... what happened this week? Lots of good stuff! I`ll start with the best!

We have a great (new, still) investigator named M. She´s a nice little old Catholic lady. She was a Catholic missionary, but eventually she stopped going to the Catholic church. We found her as we were knocking doors one rainy day after an appointment had fallen through. She expressed interest in our coming to teach her, so we set up an appointment and taught her. 

She liked the message we shared, but felt hesitant to set a goal of baptism. But, she said she would like to go to church. 

For the next appointment, we brought a member couple with us - really great folks. And it turned out they made all the difference in the lesson. The first thing M said to us when we asked her how she had been since the last appointment, was, `I`ve been thinking a lot about it... I don`t want to change churches.` If we had been by ourselves, it`s unlikely we could have convinced her to keep investigating. But our friends, who had been Catholic before being members of the Church, could tell her about how they had come to know the truth and how they made the decision to join the Church. Their experience, and their assurances that she could know the truth by asking God, assuaged her fears and doubts better than we would have been able to.
After that lesson, M was a lot happier about investigating the church, and was really hungry to experience more of the Church. Sunday morning, she woke up at 5:00 in the morning, excited that she would be going to church that day, and when the member family called to tell her they were coming to pick her up, she was already ready to go. 

She loved church! She said to the member couple when she entered, `There`s such a peace here!` Sometimes we missionaries worry about the classes that are taught in church - whether the investigators will be interested in the topic and whether they`ll get what they need from it. But if they are there with the right spirit, they always like it. And she did. We talked to her after the meetings and she told us she had loved all of it. She said that she feels like God is telling her this is the correct place to be. So, we`re happy for M. She`s cool.

JM and G are loving the lessons, as well. I`m not sure whether I already told you about them. This week, we had a great lesson with them, similar to a lesson with M and K (investigators from when Andrew was companions with Elder Lee). It was about eternal families, and they started to get a glimpse of what it means to have your family forever. They really want that. 

In the same lesson, JM commented to us that ours was the only religious preaching that had ever `reached` him. He told us how recently he had started feeling an emptiness in his life, and that he didn`t know what it was or how to fill it, but that the first time we talked he felt like we had what he needed. They`re reading in the Book of Mormon, and praying, and loving it. We were disappointed that they didn`t show up to church this week. Probably the torrential rain was what discouraged them.

We were only able to have one lesson with J and G this week... they`re still sick! G is better, but now J had taken a turn for the worse. We`ll hope they get better soon.

Sadly, (the guy who was working on his car, who we met last Sunday night) called us the day of our appointment and told us that he wasn`t going to be there, and that we didn`t need to pass by anymore, but that he would come to church one day to return our pamphlet. Sad, but sometimes it`s like that.

It rained super hard on Saturday, and I got a bit of the flu. Had the runny nose all Sunday - not so fun. But despite that, we had a lot of success on Sunday. Guided by the Spirit, we were able to find new people to teach who need the Gospel, and we were able to complete with many of our goals. That was nice. We are blessed.

It`s an exciting time in the mission right now. This month we had 153 baptisms - finally meeting the goal of 150 baptisms that the mission set almost 2 years ago. I`m sure there will probably be a mention of it on the mission blog. But, that in itself isn`t the reason it`s a great time in the mission. The real reason is that so much of the mission is doing so well - progressing, and helping investigators progress. We`re a giant team. It`s awesome.

I love you all so much! Have a great week this week. Thanks for your letters and your love!
Elder Stockton

Finishing up August 2013

August 26, 2013

It´s Monday again. Wow. I cannot, cannot believe it! This week was the fastest week of my mission. And, it was a very good week. In fact, it was one of the best I can remember!

Sounds like things are going well at home as well! ...

Well, I´ll tell you a little about my week.

It was different from a normal week because my companion led the area. We thought it would be a good idea, given the need in the mission for leaders, for my companion to practice taking the lead now when there´s someone to fall back on and ask questions to if needed. So, Elder Monterroso took the lead in planning, guiding us around the city, and some of the teaching. And, he did a stellar job. He´s going to be a force for good in the mission.

We had two very good lessons with J and G, who keep on progressing. They´re keeping commitments (reading, praying, going to church) and seeing big changes in their lives. They´re more unified, they´re not as stressed and tense during the week, and they handle the problems that arise in a better way than before. This week we taught them the Law of Chastity and the message of the Restoration. Both were powerful lessons where the Spirit was present (which makes all the difference). They committed to search for a testimony of the Book of Mormon... and they´re going to get married! G is waiting for some ID papers to arrive (they should come this week), and then they can to choose a date to get married.

The interesting thing about J and G is that they had been taught by the Elders before. The last update on their status, written a few years ago, read something like ´Waiting for ID, aren´t keeping commitments, not much progress.´ And now, they have a true desire to repent and follow Christ. G wants to be baptized and J wants to return to activity so he can baptize her. I guess it´s true: everyone has their time, when they´re ready for the Gospel. Before, they weren´t ready - but now they are! And that gives me hope that some of the good investigators who I have taught in the past who weren´t ready yet... will be ready when the Elders come knocking sometime in the future.

I wish I could know what will happen in the future with each of the people that I talk to and teach... But it seems like most of the time, we only get to know a small part of the stories of the people whose lives we affect.

And on a similar note, we got a surprising phone call from the assistants this week informing us that we had a new investigator who was scheduled to be baptized next Saturday in our area. Some sister missionaries in the next zone had mistakenly been teaching an investigator who lives a block into our area. This investigator, named C, progressed rapidly and was all set to be baptized - but the sisters realized that she did not live within their area. She would have to be baptized and attend church in Ituzaingo 2.

So we got the phone call, and a few days later we went with our ward mission leader to an appointment to meet C - the sisters introduced us to her, we all talked for a little bit, and then the sisters left. We got to know C and told her how to get to church the next day (fortunately there´s a bus close by which will drop her off right in front of the church), and shared a message.

She´s really well prepared. The sisters found her in the very moment when she needed help in her life, and she´s found the spiritual help she needs in the Gospel. Now her great desire is to be baptized and have a new beginning. She will be baptized this Saturday.

But she scared us! The next day, we waited and waited for her to come to church, and she didn´t come! If she didn´t arrive to church, we would have to postpone the baptism, and we didn´t want to do that because 1) the sister missionaries would kill us and 2) we didn´t want to make C wait another week when she wanted so badly to be baptized. (The 5 minutes before Sacrament meeting starts are the worst 5 minutes of the entire week. It´s awful waiting for investigators who promised they would come to arrive, trying to have faith that they will come but wondering if, once again, you´ll be disappointed.) But in the end, she arrived right before the opening prayer, and all was well.

Relating this to my earlier point... Sometimes as missionaries we plant, sometimes we nourish, sometimes we harvest, sometimes we help retain and strengthen in the Gospel. I´m learning that it´s all the same; none of those things is better than the others. We just enjoy the privilege of being a part of someone´s conversion, whichever part it may be.

I do feel a little bad for the sisters, knowing how it feels to send a good investigator into the care of other missionaries. But they´ll be coming to the baptism, so it´s okay.

Other good experiences this week:

On Sunday we decided to go knocking doors on the very, very edge of our area, somewhere we had never gone before. We found lots of people who weren´t interested... and one who is. We gave a Book of Mormon to a girl named A who has investigated several different churches and hasn´t found what she´s looking for. Hopefully we´ll be able to pass by during the week and help her satisfy her spiritual thirst!

We´re progressing toward meeting our goals! Better this week than last week, better last week than the week before. And coming up: we´re going to have the best week yet.

That´s all I´ve got for today. Love you all so very much, and I´m happy to hear from you. My love to all.
Elder Stockton