Elder Andrew Stockton: More October

October 15, 2012
Hello, family! It´s great to hear what´s happening at home! Weird to think that you are experiencing the opposite weather - it´s getting colder there while everything is green and sunny here. (And, getting sunnier - I foresee some hot months coming up.)

Elder Wells was transferred to a new area

As you saw, we had a transfer meeting last Wednesday. And as you guessed (and I hoped), I´m staying in Bragado for another round. And I am confident that this is the transfer that will finally see the harvest of fruit we´ve been working for, as well as set up for an abundant harvest in the future.

My new companion is Elder Braden Hougaard, from Utah. He started the mission a month and a half after I did, but he´s only been in Argentina 4 months because his visa took a long time getting through. (It seems that I was lucky! I got mine after just 3 weeks of waiting.) This is his second area. He came from a very busy city area called Caseros, where no one would stop to listen or talk. So he loves campo, where just about everyone is willing to stop and chat.

Does Elder Stockton look like a "giant among men" to you?

Elder Haugaard and some members

I´m happy because we have a companionship that will work together, improve together, and give the work our all. From Thursday to Sunday, we taught 3 lessons with a member present and 6 other lessons, found 11 new (good) investigators, set 4 new baptismal goals, found more than 40 separate houses to return to and teach, and reworked our map and organization of our data to facilitate more effective planning.

Our contacts and challenges have been powerful. Our lessons have been powerful because we´re working in unity. We have the Spirit. And in addition to that, Elder Hougaard is just a good guy. So, we´re having a good time, and we are looking forward to this transfer. We have high expectations, and we´re giving everything we´ve got to the work.

Of course we´re still far from perfect, but we recognize our imperfections and are trying to improve, and that is making a lot of the difference. I foresee a lot of personal progress this transfer, and a lot of progress in the Branch. I hope it doesn´t sound like I´m boasting. I know as to my strength I am nothing, but I will boast of my God! ...And I´m really excited for this transfer.

So, wish us luck! And more than luck, wish us health (My comp is a little under the weather. Must be my cooking?) and success!

No other news, really... just a request: If you happen to be thinking about sending a package my way within the next few months, here are a few things I definitely wouldn´t mind having:
1. a new head to my electric toothbrush (I won´t tell you what happened to the old one.) [Check]
2. a metal fruit cutter that cuts apples into slices. [Check]
3. a washing machine [Hmmmm]

I love you all! I hope you have a great week, each of you. We should thank God for letting us be together as a family. :-)
Take care!
Elder Andrew Stockton

October 22, 2012

Well! It´s been a good week! It seems like lots of stuff has happened.

This week we ran into a problem that I have never had to deal with before - a problem that other missionaries have recently started experiencing in the mission, and that President Carter says he hopes for every missionary to be confronted with: we have too many people to visit, and not enough time! If we visit only our current investigators, 2 or 3 times a week (which is standard), we´ll finish the week with over 40 lessons. Wow! Generally we finish the week with about 15. And in addition to that, we have to go see all of the people we found last week who said we could come back and talk to them, and we have to find time to visit the members and strengthen them. There´s just not enough time! The large size of the area and our lack of bicycles also complicate things. So I´m sure that this transfer is going to help me to learn better how to organize and plan. We´ve also decided to tighten up our metaphorical nets - we can´t afford to spend our time visiting those people who have to be convinced to listen to the message of the Gospel. We´re looking for those who are looking for it. So that means discerning who, among our investigators, is really going to progress. It´s not actually very hard to see - those who keep their commitments progress, and change.

Does the dog count as an investigator?

Last Saturday was the Bragado Horse Festival, celebrating the founding of Bragado some years back. We took some pictures of the gauchos riding around on their horses. ´Gaucho´ means cowboy - and they´re real Argentine cowboys. Kind of fun!

Fun things:
Earlier in the week, Elder Hougaard and I went to visit a man who we had made a return appointment with. His house was next to a bar. Our guy wasn´t there, so while my companion fixed an appointment to come back another time, I talked to two guys who were sitting at a table nearby. One of them was a cool guy who really wants to change his life. When I wrote down his address, I found that he is the dad of one of our other new investigators! Hey! Cool! How often does that happen?

Argentine kids are incredibly cute.

On Sunday, we went to pick up an investigator for church. She didn´t come out for a long time. As we were waiting, we saw a gaucho (cowboy), who beckoned us to come and talk to him. (I already knew this one - I had contacted him before.) We did. It turned out his horse had escaped, and he wanted our help to go catch it. So, we helped him get his horse back, and made an appointment to come back later and help teach him the Gospel.

Domestic Duties

Super cleaning day

This is what is left if you boil water in a pan until it all evaporates. So… that´s what we´re drinking. From what I can tell from what the members have told us, it might be arsenic.

I love you all! Thanks for your letters. I hope you all continue doing well. Talk to you next week!

All my love,
Elder Andrew Stockton