September News

September 17 -- This Fantastic Week!

Well, hello! It's wonderful to hear from you, as always. We had a great week here. A very long week with no P-day last Monday, but a great week even so.

So, where shall I start? The temple celebration? It was fun! It was very well done - I can't even imagine how much work it must have taken to put it together. I bet the leaders of the project are relieved that it's over. There was lots of singing and lots of dancing. We even had a part, marching onto the field singing the 4 verses of Llamados a Servir (Called to Serve). 

The celebration took place in a futbol stadium (er, soccer stadium), so they made good use of the giant screens and camera resources that they had.The whole thing looked pretty professional! (Except for maybe the small children, who would smile and wave every time they saw the camera point at them.)  But I think the best part was just being there for such an event. It was good to be with a group of saints gathered together to celebrate the dedication of a temple.

We spent almost all that night traveling, and arrived in Chivilcoy in time to get a couple hours' sleep before heading to the temple dedication. I was actually kind of sleepy and had a hard time focusing for the first couple talks, but when President Eyring got up to speak and then offer the dedicatory prayer, I was wide awake and able to appreciate it. I felt the Spirit there very strongly. I felt that God was watching us, and I felt close to Him.

So, that was the 2nd part of our special weekend! After the dedication, we returned back to Bragado, finished up our week, and then went straight into the next one! And, we had quite a bit of success this week. We found a total of 15 new investigators, which is more than I've ever found in a week with just me and my companion working. And even better, we were able to go back and visit quite a few of them during the week. (Sometimes you have a first lesson, but they disappear and you never get to have a second lesson.) We were very blessed.

[We have had a lot of contact with a very nice family.] They're some of my favorite ward members here - they occasionally feed us lunch, and they are always eager to help out and to share the Gospel. They bought a new pair of nice shoes as a gift for my companion because he was needing some new ones. And the other day, I asked them if they knew a good place to get a haircut. They directed us to a barber, and after I got my haircut I found out that it had already been paid for. They're a cool family. 

Anyway, my companion wanted to do something nice for them, and so with some of his birthday money he bought them an asado, which is a huge, delicious Argentine barbecue. They cooked it, and we all went yesterday after church to eat it. But! They also arranged for us to teach a lesson to [a relative] and her boyfriend. So after the asado, we got to teach what turned out to be the best lesson of my mission so far. 

We taught about the Plan of Salvation - Where we came from, why we are here on this earth, why badness exists in the world, and what happens afterward. They were very interested, very attent (is that a word? My English is suffering) to what we were teaching. They asked good questions and really understood the message. Afterward, we transitioned the lesson into our purpose as missionaries and invited them to investigate the church to the end of being baptized. We then talked about the Book of Mormon and its role in helping us know whether the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the true church of Jesus Christ. We explained what it was and gave them a copy. Then we asked them to read and pray about it. Then Jonathan surprised us by saying, 'But I don't need to pray. I already know this book is true.' He and his girlfriend then expounded on what he had said. How? They said, 'Because we can see it in you. You two are illuminated! There is something different about you. And it's not like it's you, but it's like God is with you.' Wow! How great to have someone recognize that, and trust in that. It gives me confidence that the Spirit is with us. It was a good lesson.

And I'm out of time already, but other experiences, in brief, were:

Following a prompting of the Spirit to go contact a certain family on the street, we found a fantastic family of 6 to teach, who have baptismal goals set and are progressing nicely.

Rain was predicted for Sunday, but we prayed hoping that it would be sunny so our investigators would come. And, it was!

I love you all! Stay strong, enjoy life!
Love, Elder Stockton

September 24

Hello, family! I´m having a good day today - hope you are, too. It was nice to read your letters.

Well, this week we had the traveling zone leaders with us again, but for the whole week this time. Elder Wells and I were on splits with Elder Griggs and Elder George this time. Elder George is fun. He was in the marines, but converted to the church and a year later came on a mission. He´s in his last few weeks already and will soon be heading home to Mesa, AZ.

This week was good, in different ways than last week. I learned a lot of things while on splits with the zone leaders. One thing I learned while I was on divisions with Elder George. He would often stop at a house (seemingly randomly), knock it, and we would find a receptive person there. The first time this happened, we were walking down a street when suddenly Elder George said, ´Wait!´ We turned around and went back two houses, where Elder George knocked. A man named Sebastian opened the door and let us in after hearing our invitation, and we taught him about the Restoration of the Gospel. Afterward, we talked about how he had looked for the Spirit to know which houses to knock. He told me, ´My goal during me whole mission was to get to the point where I could feel which house before reaching it. But I always seem to get the prompting right after I pass it.´ Then he told me that every single baptism he has had on his mission came from going back to knock a door that he felt prompted to knock. Wow! I wonder how he got so in-tune with the Spirit so as to be able to feel when there was a door he should knock. I sometimes do, but not with the frequency that he seems to. I guess that comes with practice, looking for and knowing how to recognize the promptings of the Spirit, and following the promptings you receive.

At the end of the week, Elder Wells and I each had a private interview with the zone leaders to discuss what we had learned during the week, and where to go from here. They told me that the next hurdle for me to pass on my way to becoming a better missionary is planning. It´s true - I struggle with planning. There´s a lot of information to keep straight. I guess the more organized I can be, the easier planning will be, and the more effective. So, that´s what I´ll be working on in the future!

Well, hmm. It seems that today is an Argentine holiday, which means that we´re being cut short. (Really, I think that Argentina might have the most holidays of any country.)

But I hope that each of you has a fantastic week! Love you much! Thanks for your prayers and your support. Say Hi to my friends for me! And the kitty.

Love you!
Elder Stockton