Baptism to finish up the month!

Hello, family! 

Well... lots of things happened this week! But I´ll start with the best:
We had a baptism on Saturday! It was a fantastic event. He was so ready to be baptized and to make this lifelong commitment to follow Christ. Did I already tell you that he read through the Book of Mormon in 3 weeks? (We asked him where he was reading in an appointment one day, and he said he was ´almost finished´. Turned out he had finished the whole Book of Mormon and was almost finished reading the Guía de Estudio para las Escrituras, which is like the Bible Dictionary in the Spanish Book of Mormon.)

The service was very nice. We planned it all pretty well. The only problem was, we got back late from an appointment and were only there 15 minutes before the baptism started! Ack! That´s not quite enough time. Well, it is, but... it´s more stressful. Better to be tranquilo during the baptism and be able to focus more on the significance of it.

We started with a song, then heard some talks. Then Elder Hougaard and I sung Divina Luz (Lead, Kindly Light) as a special musical number. (Surprise! More on that later.)

His son baptized him, which was great. As a result, his family, plus Arnaldo´s wife, came to church the next day for the confirmation. I hope that they will all keep coming! We all felt the Spirit!

After the service, we had refreshments and talked. Then, Elder Hougaard and I took him to the chapel and played/sung the real musical number we had prepared for him. (At the last minute before the baptism started, we realized that we had set up the baptism in the room that didn´t have the piano in it, so... we had to just sing it. But the version we had prepared involved Elder Hougaard singing and me playing the piano, and was quite nice.) He liked it.

He was confirmed yesterday in church, and today we´re going to his house to start teaching him the missionary lessons again! It´s nice to have been able to be a factor in his conversion. I´m realizing that the Lord really could do his work without us. It´s a blessing and a privilege to be able to help in the work of rescuing our brothers and sisters who don´t have the Gospel.

Other fun things that happened this week:

The other day we were talking to the Spinelli family in their business on the way home. They found out that Elder Hougaard´s birthday was a few weeks ago, and that we hadn´t done much celebrating because he didn´t know any members yet. They chastised me for not having brought him over to their house for lunch. Then we left and went home to the pench to plan. About 10 minutes later, we got a phone call from Brother Spinelli - he told us he was outside the pench and asked if we could bring him a few Books of Mormon to give away to friends. So we walked out there and that they had gone to buy us pizzas and caramels to celebrate his birthday. They also gave us some cool ´Argentina´ bandannas. I don´t know when or where I could ever wear them, but they´re nice to have anyway.

We went out to work in a fantastic Argentine storm. We got to the point where we were slogging through mud and water up to our knees. (See pictures!) It´s raining again now, actually. Pretty cool!

A few weeks ago, our kitchen sink broke. We started washing all our dishes in the laundry sink. Well, this week, our laundry sink broke. So we´re washing all our dishes in the bathtub. Time to call a plumber, methinks.

Eggs are cheap! Lots of eggs!

Ice cream?

Time to finish up! Love you all so much. Thanks for your letters, your support, your love. Have a great week!

love from,
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

No, Elder ... we walk and ride bikes, remember?

 

Someone taped our ´Jesus´ pass-along card to their door… along with Gauchito Gil and a Catholic saint.

A beautiful day in a beautiful park!

October

October 1

Hello, family!
We had another good week this week - full of walking, contacting and teaching. This month we`ll also include baptizing to that list. :-)

I thought maybe you`d like to know a little about some of our current investigators!

The family of 6 was sort of progressing but, sadly, unwilling to do what it took to come to church. After 3 weeks we had to drop them. Although we love people and want them to progress, they have to be willing to put forth the effort to do what is required to gain a testimony. [Other contacts have also fallen through.]
That`s the way it goes sometimes! No conversion is ever easy, but is riddled with challenges and obstacles all along the way. We just have to keep trying, and to get more and more effective at following up and staying in touch and keeping people in the processes, helping them to overcome obstacles and reach the goal.

Here are some of our other investigators:

[We are teaching] a 24-year-old guy who is studying to be a chef. We found him knocking doors 3 weeks ago. He was interested to hear what we had to say, so he let us in and we started to teach him about the Restoration. We wanted him to come to church on Sunday, but weren`t able to get in touch with him the day before to firm up the plans, so the likelihood of his coming was only about 10%. Imagine our surprise when we arrived at the chapel, bummed because the investigators we went to pick up had failed us, to find him already there. He told us, `I told you I`d come!` That rarely happens. And he stayed and was alert and attentive for all of Sacrament Meeting! 

Later, we taught him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ - that is, about faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. As we talked about faith in Jesus Christ, we learned more about his religious beliefs. He believes in Gauchito Gil*, one of the `popular saints` of Argentina. We discussed how Jesus Christ is the only one who can cleanse us from our sins, because of His love and atoning sacrifice for us. We invited him to pray and ask God if Jesus Christ is real, and if He suffered for our sins. He said that if he receives an answer, he will take all of the faith that he has formerly put into Catholic saints and put it into Jesus Christ. 

So, he is progressing nicely. He`s a cool kid.

*Gauchito Gil is a Robin Hood-type cowboy saint, not officially approved by the Catholic church. Many people here put up shrines and give offerings to Gauchito Gil, hoping to be blessed with better health, help finding work or help escaping the law. If you want more info, you can probably look him up on Wikipedia.

[Another investigator] is a 70ish-year-old man who teaches guitar and has a radio show where he reads and analyzes poetry that youth send in. His wife is an inactive member, and his son is a former branch president. He investigated the church once in the past, but didn`t progress towards baptism. Now, he feels like it is time to be baptized. We`ve taught him the majority of the lessons and he accepts everything that we teach, including the Word of Wisdom which we thought might be a problem. He is blazing through the Book of Mormon and coming to church every week. We expect that he will be baptized this month!

Well, rats. Do you know I`m already out of time? I've got to learn to either type faster, or to not go back and keep revising what I've already written. Anyway. It was a good week. Other things:

We had a zone conference, where President Carter came and told us how to BE better missionaries. It was really good!

I got sickish for a day, but we kept working and that day was really successful. And, I'm better now.

Anyway! I love you all so much. I loved to see the pictures and how happy you all look. It makes me even happier just to see you. In almost no time we`ll be back together again. I fondly look forward to that time! (But still appreciating this time! I don`t want it to go TOO fast.)

Love you so much!
Elder Stockton

October 8

Dear My Family,

Ha ha! We get a temple in Tucson! How fantastic! And what a General Conference! This was one of the best ones I can remember! I got to watch every session, happily. Most of the members opted to watch Conference on their home computers, but there were a few there with us in the chapel. When President Monson announced that a temple will be built in Tucson, I couldn´t restrain an excited yell and a fist-pump in the back of the chapel. (I hope that was appropriate.) Tucson will have a temple. My home will have a temple! 

I guess it´s almost like a tradition for us in our family to, when the Prophet announces where new temples will be built, cross our fingers and hope and pray that he´ll announce ´Tucson, Arizona.´ And on Saturday... he really did! I was so excited! I would love to have been at home with you when the news was announced, as I am sure that you too must have shouted for excitement and joy. (Well, except maybe Mom, who was in the chapel.) (Well -- I did let out a little shout too -- along with the Tucson missionaries and a handful of other people in the chapel! Couldn't help it!) How special. Shortly after the conference I received a phone call from Elder Bower (who is now in my same zone - with Elder Correa, my former companion. Lucky Elder Correa, to get 2 Tucsonans in a row!), and we excitedly surmised together about details regarding the future temple. What will it look like? Will it be a big or a small temple? Will it have an Angel Moroni? Where will it be located? How long will it take to build? Who will dedicate it? Will we get to participate in the cultural celebration? Will it be done in time for us to get sealed there? (Heh, heh.) Cool stuff.

So, yep! Conference was fantastic. A few of the talks spoke directly to me, like the one about exercising faith, and Elder Holland´s. (Man, talk about someone who can be ´distinguished for his zeal towards God, and also towards men´!) The only thing I want now is... to listen to them again, in English - especially Elder Holland´s talk. I got a lot out of the Conference in Spanish, but it´s still better in the native language. Some of the speakers dubbed their own talks in Spanish! (Such as Elder Scott.) That was cool!

Transfers are this Wednesday. I´m hoping to stay in Bragado to start seeing the fruits of my labors. I feel like Bragado is at the point of bearing fruit! It´s almost there! I wouldn´t want to leave now. But we´ll see what the Lord has in store for me. I should find our later tonight. (Spoiler alert ... it appears from the mission blog that Andrew got a new companion, but gets to remain in Bragado. We'll know for sure next week.)

I thought about buying cow brains in the store today. (Okay, not for very long, but the thought did cross my mind.)

I sent off two big envelopes of letters that I´ve been saving for the last 3 transfers. If you could redistribute it, I´d be grateful!

Hey, I forgot to comment last week! I´m super excited that Julia got her mission call! Heh heh - actually, I read first on my email that she had been called to serve in San Diego, California. Then I went back to the pench and read a letter that I recently got from her, which informed me that she recently turned in her mission papers. The internet wins in the contest of speed. 

But hey! So cool! She had talked to me in the past about the prospect of maybe serving a mission, but now it´s for real! I think she´ll be a great missionary. And, know what else is cool about that? Well, recently the church made some special training videos for missionaries. They go hand-in-hand with Preach My Gospel, demonstrating principles of teaching in action. They focus on the missionaries in a district and their investigators. Every missionary currently serving in the field knows who Sister Voyles, Sister Zaldivar, Jynx, Elder Christensen, Elder Murray, Amor, and Germán are. (Those are some of the missionaries and investigators featured in the training videos.) But, where did the experiences in the videos all take place? In the California, San Diego mission! So who knows? Maybe Julia will get a chance to teach some of the same people featured in the videos.

So, let´s see. What else has happened recently? 

Well, it rained SUPER HARD, the hardest I´ve ever seen it rain here. And I was caught without an umbrella! Miraculously, my scriptures remained dry (those protective cases really work), but everything else on or about my person was thoroughly drenched. Anyway! That was kind of fun.

I have felt my testimony strengthened as I´ve remembered the importance of having faith.

We ate an asado (barbecue) with another family in the ward, which was fun.

That´s all I´ve got time to write today!

I love you all, and I think you´re fantastic. Best of luck to each of you, in all that you´re doing. Mom, please say hello to Grandma for me and tell her that I love her.

Have a great week, I´ll look forward to hearing from you again next Monday!

Love,
Elder Andrew Stockton

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

Events surrounding the Temple Dedication

Last weekend the Buenos Aires Argentina temple of 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 

was re-dedicated. 

Andrew was able to participate in many of the activities. 

Where's Waldo?
I mean Elder Stockton?
Missionaries at the Cultural Celebration

Mission photo
I spotted him!  :)  Second row from front, about 1/3 of the way from the right

Called to Serve!
Missionaries marching in for their part of
the Cultural Celebration

If you are interested, here are some links about the events, with lots of pictures!

Buenos Aires West Mission blog (see the September 7-9 entries)

 (If you spot Andrew in any of these photos ... let me know!!) (Other than the mission picture ... I beat you to that one!)

Article about the cultural celebration

Article about the renovation and re-dedication  and More on the renovation

Elder Ballard's personal connection to Argentina

Counsel given by Apostles

Temple Rededication!

Hello, family!

I'm writing a little early this week, as you've noticed. The reason for this is because of the 3 special events happening this weekend: The meeting with the Apostles last night [Friday], the pre-dedicatory Temple celebration tonight [Saturday], and the rededication of the Buenos Aires Temple tomorrow morning. Most of the missionaries returned to their areas after the meeting last night and will come back today for the celebration, but because of how far away our areas are, the entire zone of Chivilcoy is staying here in Ramos Mejía for the weekend. We'll all travel to Chivilcoy tomorrow morning (early, early morning) to watch the Temple rededication there, and then we'll head back to our respective areas.

Article about the Buenos Aires Argentina temple open house & pictures

So, last night was pretty great. As I said last week, three Apostles came down to rededicate the Buenos Aires Temple. They also decided that while they were here, they would have a meeting with all of the missionaries. (No private interviews, lamentably, but still a fantastic opportunity.) How special to be able to see and hear from Apostles of the Lord. I imagine that it would be like the saints in the primitive church seeing and hearing from Peter, James and John, or Paul, or other apostles. We got to hear from President Eyring, Elder Ballard, and Elder Christensen.

The Buenos Aires West, North and South missions, together with the missionaries from the Buenos Aires MTC, met together in the chapel of Ramos Mejía for the meeting. In total, I think there were close to 700 missionaries. That´s a lot of missionaries! (Sister Carter will probably give you the true facts on her blog.) buenosaireswest.blogspot.com  [Lots of pictures ... can't spot Andrew] 

The talks themselves were spectacular. They focused on how very important this work is that we are doing, and how God has put us here at this time for a specific purpose. My favorite talk was President Eyring's. He talked about doing the work with a smile. He told us that the best way we have to bear testimony of the Savior is through a smile. He said that no investigator that we are teaching or will ever teach will not want the happiness that comes from knowing that you have made covenants with the Lord, and that if you keep the covenants you have made you will be able to live in happiness with your family forever. It was a very touching talk, and inspiring.

President Eyring has always been one of my favorites. I love the sincerity of his words, and the power of them. You know when he speaks that he really knows what he's saying. I'd like to be like him.

I'm not quite sure what's in store for the Celebration tonight. I'm sure it will be spectacular, whatever it is, because this is a big event! The temple is opening in Buenos Aires again! Actually, I´m mostly excited to be able to go to the temple again. They haven't yet established rules for the missionaries' temple attendance, but it looks like we're going to be able to go do a temple session from time to time, which is great. I came to the mission at a good time!

On that theme, I really can see that I was meant to come to this mission, at this time. Everything seems just right - the Mission President, the new focus in the mission... everything! The missionaries... It's a good time to be in the Buenos Aires West mission.

Well, that may be all I've got today. I love you very much! I'll tell you next Monday about the events of tonight and tomorrow. Give my love to everyone at home! And give Margaret a pat for me.

Much love,
Elder Stockton

September in Bragado

Hi!

As always, I loved reading your letters. I´m sitting here in a cyber right now, next to my comp. It´s raining outside, and the Argentine radio station is playing American music. I will probably buy us an alfajor on the way out.

We had a great week! The ´traveling zone leaders´ came to visit us for a couple days this week. The idea is this: these zone leaders spend weeks at a time working with the Elders in their areas - fortifying the area, meeting the investigators and the members, and helping out with every aspect of the work. Well, this week was our turn. But, because of transfers, they had to cut it short, so we only got 2 days with the zone leaders instead of a week. But still, we did a fair amount of work. During those 2 days, we found 12 new investigators and got 63 names of people to return to. (Most of those will fall, but still - that´s a lot of people who said we come back to teach them!) And, more than that, I learned some things about how to work better:  If you expect to succeed, you are a lot more likely to succeed. Low expectations are a self-fulfilling prophecy, and, if you want to have good results, make good plans. (Makes sense.)

The trick is keeping up the success after the zone leaders are gone, but we´re doing pretty well with that. We did find 7 more new investigators together without the zone leaders. We´re getting a lot better at telling people who we are and what we do -- and why it´s important to them.

There´s a missionary-related quote that´s been coming to my mind recently: ´You cannot convert someone past the level of your own conversion.´ I´m starting to understand that principle. 

When an investigator decides to stop investigating, you have to find out why. You have to get past the superficial and really try to convince them to open their minds to a new idea. And to be able to do that, you have to enter into a discussion that really tests your own testimony and conversion to the truth. It forces you to ask yourself, Do I really know this is true? If God told me that my current set of beliefs was wrong, would I have the courage to follow that answer? Because really, that´s what we´re asking people to do: to accept the possibility that you might be wrong in order to really find the truth. I think that part of asking God with ´real intent´ to help you find the truth means that you´ll follow the answer that He gives, even if it´s an answer you don´t want. It takes courage. You have to really be looking for the truth, not the answer you want to hear. 

Fortunately, I had already asked those hard questions to myself earlier in my life, as a part of gaining the testimony that I have. And I received my testimony. I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because I really investigated and found out it is true, not because I was raised to believe it is true. And so, I [am] able to use my own testimony, my own experience, to try to convince [others] to open up to the possibility of new truth, and to really investigate the Church.

I´m getting a lot better at recognizing the voice of the Spirit. Several times this week, I was prompted to stop what we were doing and contact a person, and the person was good and let us teach them. The tricky thing is, it´s not a clear voice that says to me, ´Go back and contact that guy.´ It´s just an impression - very easy to ignore, because we´re on bikes and that would be our of our way. Sometimes it´s easy to follow a prompting, sometimes it´s harder... but every time I follow a prompting, we have results! And then I feel good because I followed the Spirit. So, that´s fun!


My companion and I bought ingredients to make burritos! Mmm, mmm! They´re going to be good. Though, this will be the first time I try cooking with meat here on my mission. I´m a little afraid to do it, but... you have to try sometime, right?

Elder Wells had a birthday (shout hooray)! In honor of the occasion, we bought facturas, which are delicious Argentine donuts. We also found 3 promising new investigators.


This weekend should be pretty exciting! The Buenos Aires Temple is going to be re-dedicated! Three General Authorities (including President Eyring, I believe) are coming down for the dedication. We get to attend the celebration beforehand, and we´ll watch the dedication from our own stake centers. Should be good! But - the other thing I´m looking forward to is that President Eyring is going to have a special meeting with all the missionaries of the Buenos Aires mission. Excellent! I´m secretly hoping for a private interview. I know it´s not likely, but that would be super! He´s my favorite of the first Presidency. Well, with President Monson, of course. ...And President Uchtdorf. Anyway.

I think that might be all for today. I´ve got to get back and wash all of my clothes! And write letters. And, make burritos. Mmm!

I love you all. Thank you for being so diligent in writing me - it´s a great blessing and a great strength to me! Have a fantastic week.

Love, Elder Stockton