My! How Time Flies!

Forty minutes ... Lovely chance to talk with Andrew ... Flew by like lightning!

Andrew is well, happy, and working hard. He has a strong testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true, and that is why he is doing what he is doing. He knows his message can make a difference in the lives of those who will listen.

From our conversation and his last email:

He is trying to eat healthfully, which can sometimes be a challenge for missionaries (aside from the very generous and filling once-a-day meal provided by church members). Sounds like the standard diet at most missionaries apartments consists of ... well, cookies. The mission "nurse" who helps the missionaries when they are sick, gave Andrew some instruction on cleaning fresh fruits and vegetables with a chlorine wash to remove pesticides and bacteria, so he as been buying more healthful food to prepare and eat.

Today I found a sale on peas and bought enough to last a few weeks. Normally I don´t buy canned food because it´s super-expensive. I also found black beans (ha ha!) and red beans. (He's missing Mexican food -- wants some of Dad's tacos.) On the way home, I´m going to stop by a fruit stand and buy tomatoes, onions, apples, mandarin oranges, and maybe some kale or broccoli. Yum! My favorite quickie mission meal is rice with tuna and sliced tomatoes. Pretty tasty! 

Groceries, in my brand-new wash basin.
It makes washing clothes fun!
(Well... no, that was a lie.) 

He has to wash clothing by hand in this area, which is not his favorite thing to do on Preparation Day. Once he left his black socks in the soapy water too long, and some of the color leached out, so now he says he wears black pants, semi-purple socks, and shoes that tend towards brown when they've been out in the rain and mud. Colorful fellow!

When we asked about Villa Amelia, his current area, he says it is part rural, and part city; some very poor areas, and others much more well-to-do.  He sent these pictures of their tracting on a rainy day in a less well-to-do part of town.

Elder Jimenez

Johnny, a member who accompanies them
on occasion

They are heading into winter, and he has heard predictions that this is supposed to be a wet, cold winter. Ugh!

We had a rainy day the other day, and it was pretty miserable! We tried to go out and work, but there was no one in the streets - and no one would open their doors! They say it is going to be a very rainy (which implies a very muddy) winter. Probably as a result of the rain, my companion got the flu and has to spend a lot of time resting in the pench. I´m doing my best not to join him! (So far, I feel great - I think exercise, hydration, and a good diet help a lot.)

Zone Conference in Castellar:

Some of his mission experiences:

On Sunday, we were in the Gospel Principles class with a nonmember who I hadn´t met before, listening to a class about the Priesthood. While we were listening to the teacher, a question popped into my mind that I had wondered about a long time ago: Why is it that only men can hold the Priesthood? I thought about it a little bit and came up with the answer to the question, then went back to listening to the lesson. Just a few minutes afterward, the investigator raised her hand and said, ´I have a question. Why is it that only men can hold the Priesthood?´ And I found myself prepared and ready to give her an answer. That was kind of nice - to be prompted beforehand and be ready to explain the answer.


(From my journal, a while back:)
Today Elder Jimenez and I were on a collectivo (that´s a bus) coming back from a lunch appointment. I saw a family - a dad, a mom and 3 little kids - and thought, ´I want to give them an invitation to church. Now, maybe I´ve written about this before, maybe no... but I have a fear of contacting on buses and trains. I just don´t like it! Maybe it´s because other people will be watching the contact - it´s not just me and the person. I guess I don´t like feeling like I have an audience. Anyway, I prayed to God, asking, ´Should I contact this family? I kind of want to, but I´m scared to. Is it Thy will that I contact them?´ And the words of a scripture came into my mind: 

´For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.
Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.´

And I thought, ´Oh. Okay.´ And I did it! I realized that God is not going to command me to do everything that I can do as a missionary. Rather, he gives me plenty, plenty, plenty of opportunities to do good, and I can choose for myself how much good I want to do. Something I learned.


As I look through my journal, I notice that my handwriting is getting less legible over the weeks. What does that mean?


Love you all! Best wishes to Uncle Paul and the rest of his family, to both Grandmas, and to all my cousins and friends!

Hugs and mucho amor,

Elder Stockton