From July 30

The mission rolls on. We´ve had a week with some ups and some downs, but mostly ups. That´s how it seems to go!

I feel like I am really developing as a missionary. This week I discovered a new way of studying the first 3 lessons that we teach, which involves dissecting the lessons into principles and really studying and KNOWING what is in them. Due to this new way of studying, my own ability to teach improved a lot.

I think I mentioned last week that we were planning on having a piano lesson with the children one of our part-member families. Well, right after finishing up our email, we headed over to the chapel to meet them there. We toured the chapel first and talked about the church, then went to the piano. As we were playing, one of the kids in the branch randomly showed up with two of his friends - one of whom was an old investigator of ours, and the other of whom is a very likely potential investigator. We invited them in and introduced them. Then we formed them into a choir and taught them to Sing ´I am a Child of God´, with me playing the piano and Elder Correa directing the music! Then we finished by having a lesson about prayer, and taught them all how (and why) to pray. It was great! The kids liked it and want to come back and do it again. We did it again on Wednesday, and we have another one planned for today.

Starting tomorrow, I´ll be on splits with one of our zone leaders for 3 days. That should be a good opportunity to learn and pick up some specific tips on how to improve.

We´re still in the struggle of looking for those who will hear the voice of the Lord and harden not their hearts. It´s not easy... but they´re here somewhere. At any rate, it is very satisfying to be so involved in the work of the Lord.

I know that this Gospel is true, and that if we follow the gospel that Jesus taught, we will have everything that God has promised us.

From August 6

We had a good week here. We found some cool people who we think might really progress. Last week, President Carter wrote to us and told us that we should change the way we teach in order to put even more emphasis on our purpose for being in their home. He told us to testify of the grand blessings of the Gospel and clearly explain to them what their part is. As Elder Correa and I have been implementing this in our teaching, we´ve seen an immediate increase in the quality of our lessons. 

Currently, our big challenge is finding investigators. For a couple weeks now, we´ve been searching for investigators - for the people that really are looking for the blessings of the Gospel. We have had only limited success. It seems like all the people we were finding were content with what they have and weren´t looking for anything else. But as we started to be super bold and up-front with the people about our purpose for teaching them, and even bolder about testifying of the importance of what we share, we started to find MORE people who want to hear our message.

I am enjoying being a missionary.

Being on splits with the zone leaders went fine. The thing was, out of the 3 days we were on divisions, only 1 day was actually spent working in Bragado. Elder Castillo and I had to travel to 25 de Mayo to interview one of their baptismal candidates. (I know 25 de Mayo sounds like a date, but it´s a town.) What a beautiful area! I would like to spend some time serving there. Oh, and another fun thing: In 25 de Mayo we went on splits again (divisions within divisions - woah!) and I spent the day with my old friend Elder Boyce. His Spanish has gotten better, and he really knows the doctrines of the lessons well. It was fun to talk and reminisce a little about our time in Luján. (We wondered what Elder Berglund is up to. My first 2 companions have now finished the mission and gone home.) I can´t believe how much time has passed since Luján. It seems like just a few days ago, really. I´m afraid my mission is going to be over before I can really accomplish anything! Good thing I´ve still got a good chunk left.

The weather has been lovely these last few days. It seems that we have passed the Argentine winter. And although it was pretty cold in some parts, it was nowhere near as bad as what I thought it would be. Ah well! I´m not complaining!

That´s all for this week, I think. I love you so much! I´m looking forward to this week of mission work. I hope you´re all doing well at home and enjoying life. Remember how blessed we are to be where we are, when we are, with the people we´re with. 

Elder Andrew Stockton

Catching up

Seems like the days get away from me ... I'm a little behind on my posts :)

From July 18, 2012

I had a fantastic week this week. Nothing really out-of the ordinary happened - it was a pretty standard week of missionary week. But, I am beginning to really enjoy being a missionary. It´s a good work I´m involved in.

Transfers are this week, but I am staying put here in Bragado. Same goes for my companion, Elder Correa. We´re looking forward for another opportunity to work and build up the branch here. I am also looking forward to learning more new recipes from my comp.

The work progresses; Andrew & his companion have had some wonderful opportunities, but also experience some disappointments. 

Some good days, good experiences. The other day we decided to go and work in a part of the city that we had never visited. When we arrived and started knocking doors, we found a whole lot of inactive members, with testimonies, waiting to be reactivated. We also found that the people there seem to be very willing to listen. In the whole street that we knocked (about 25 houses), only 2 people told us that they weren´t interested. We could have lots of success there in the future! Stay tuned.

From July 22, 2012

I woke up this morning and thought about each one of you and how much I love you. We are a very blessed family! I imagine Jacob will be at OYA by now (fun!) and Mom and Dad will be visiting Grandma and Krista and the other Utah folks. Have a great visit! Give hugs to everyone for me. 

We had a good week here in Bragado. No baptisms, still, and none really close, but we found some more people to teach and had some good lessons.

There´s a less-active family here. The missionaries have passed by to visit the family every so often, but have never been invited in. Until now, that is! It seems that the parents are once again ready to receive visits from members of the church! They let us in and we got to meet the family and have a lesson. They´re awesome! The kids have a very clean, healthy, wholesome look about them. The oldest son seems like he should be a missionary. We gained the confidence of the family through asking about and talking about their various talents - drawing, dancing, and playing the piano. Now we´ve set up a time every Monday for the kids to come to the chapel, to learn to play the piano (whee!) and play soccer, and afterward to have a lesson.

Last Sunday, we were expecting a family to come to church. The day before we had gone by to have a lesson and specially invite them - they were excited and ready to go! But, as so often happens, Sunday came and they didn´t show up. We tried calling them and even walked to their house to see if we could find out what happened, but no answer - they were still asleep! Well... it happens. Next week. But it seems that the mom is so ashamed that she didn´t come, that she´s been avoiding us all week! We haven´t been able to go back and teach them! Rats! I hope we don´t lose them because of something small like that!

The weather has been surprisingly warm for the past few days. I even went out with short sleeves one afternoon! Kind of weird considering that it´s the middle of winter. But supposedly, the real cold begins in August, when the wind starts. I can´t wait!

Elder Correa has recently started studying English! What fun! Did you know that there are a lot of things about the English language that don´t make any sense? It´s easy for us because it´s the first language we learn, but they tell me that it´s pretty hard to learn English as a second language. I had never thought about it before, but I realized that the way we pronounce words is drastically different from the way we spell them. 

Elder Correa & evening Bible study

We´re having to live a little frugally these last days of the month. Owing to mission-related expenses this transfer for which we haven´t yet been reimbursed, my companion and I have $40 pesos (a little less than $10 US dollars) to get us through to the end of the month, or until the reimbursement comes - whichever happens first. Looks like we´ll be eating lots of pasta! Fortunately, I´ve now learned how to make super-delicious spaghetti, which I can eat for every meal and not complain.

Slurp!

Eggs on the menu

A beautiful day in the beautiful patio

 We finally fixed Elder Correa´s bike last week, and enjoyed being on bikes again for the better part of a week before mine broke. The bikes are becoming quite expensive. Fortunately... we´re getting new ones! Hurrah! The mission has decided to invest in bikes that won´t require repairs quite so frequently. That will be nice! (Maybe I´ll even be able to adjust the seat!) I´m not sure how they´re going to get them down here, but I guess they´ll find a way.


I´ve been thinking recently about my progress as a missionary and as a person since the beginning of my mission, as well as my current challenges and what I need to do to become a better servant of the Lord. As I read this morning through some of my journal entries from earlier in the mission, I remembered how I was then. I can see that I have grown and become a better missionary and a better person.

I've learned that God works miracles, and that there are people prepared to receive the Gospel - when I go out with my best attitude to work with all my strength, the Lord blesses my efforts and I see miracles.

I've learned better how to contact people and present a message, and how to teach according to their level and understanding. I also learned how to deal with change and live and teach with a person completely different from me. My Spanish improved a lot.

I've learned how to plan and manage information better. I've learned patience and having Christlike love for people even when it´s not easy. I've also learned to assert myself more. I've gained confidence and power as a missionary.

I'm learning how to manage time wisely, the value of doing practices, and that the members are vital in missionary work. I've also learned to study better. Recently, I have learned that I need to pay more attention to what my leaders tell me. If I really want the guidance of the Lord, I should study and implement the instructions I receive from His representatives.

I am in the process of overcoming my personal challenges. I´ve gotten a lot better at focusing on what I´m doing and give every activity the attention it needs. I am also managing my time better - using every hour as it is meant to be used. Doing these things, I have felt the Lord´s help and his satisfaction. He´s helping me become more than I am currently. What I really want is to have a vision of what I can/should become. I want to have a goal for myself that I know I can reach if I put in my best effort. That´s what I´ll try to come up with this week.


Well! That´s all for this week, I think! I love you all! I hope you are each enjoying your various stages of life. I´m enjoying mine as a missionary. Have a fantastic week!


Love,
Elder Stockton

Bragado

Two weeks ago ...

Hello hello! Hope you all had a marvelous week! I haven´t read your emails yet, because we left the pench a little late to do Internet. So I´ll print out your letters and read them tonight, and use the time right now to write and let you know what´s going in... Bragado.

Things are good, in Bragado.
Maybe I mentioned last week a family that we´re working with? The 3 kids are progressing marvelously - some of the best investigators I´ve taught so far. Joana (11) reads everything she can get from us and prays amazing prayers from the heart. Antonella (13) is earnestly seeking for good things and finding that the Gospel makes her happy. Germán (14) is changing the whole direction of his life - just at the point where he was about to drop out of school and be a punk, he´s seeing that instead he can become a man of God. His mom is so happy with the changes she´s seeing in her son. This Sunday it rained all morning - and investigators almost NEVER come in the rain. But these kids walked themselves alone through the rain and cold to come to church. How awesome.

Last week ...

I am finally writing with a decent amount of time, hurrah! I enjoyed reading all your letters. It´s great to hear about what´s going on at home. Also nice to be able to see a little bit of what the yard looks like! Summer at home is my very favorite time/place. It sounds like everyone´s enjoying their summer.



Where to start? We had a zone conference the other day. (Up at 3:00 in the morning to catch a bus to Chivilcoy, all day at the meeting. We got back just in time to do a few street contacts and plan for the next day.) It was pretty fantastic! I am here in Bragado in an important time in ´campo´ history. It is President Carter´s plan to change the way that missionaries work in campo, with a greater focus on working with the few branch members that we have. 

Something I didn´t know is that campo is supposed to be super hard to work in. There haven´t been real convert baptisms in Bragado for over 2 years! But I don´t know, it seems pretty normal to me. The only difference that really affects the work is that we have to work at different times of the day, when the people are in the streets. 

Anyway, we´re about to start with this new way of working, and in a few weeks we should be seeing results! Part of working in this new way is that we´re going to teach classes in Church on Sunday about how to do member missionary work. Should be good!

Elder Correa is teaching me to cook some things! After he made some delicious food for the first couple weeks, I decided I needed to learn and help out a bit. And, in spite of one instance of nearly killing my companion with some highly peppered rice, I have gotten pretty okay at cooking! I can make rice with tasty sauce and chinese soup. Mmmm! Even better than plain, unseasoned rice!

   

My companion and I have recently adopted a new practice called Oreo Night. Every Thursday night after weekly planning, we conference call the district and enjoy oreos (1-2 packages each) and milk (3%). It´s a very good tradition - a fun way to relax after a long day of planning. Under the last mission president, Thursday Oreo Night was actually a mission rule. Seems like a good one to me!

Because our areas are so far away, we have our district meetings via telephone. Singing the opening hymn is a trick! 


Adela (the mostly-deaf old Sister who gives us lunch) had a birthday this week, and invited us over for delicious chocolate milk and really tasty chocolates. And Dulce de Membrillo. We took one of our investigators and headed over, and had a fun time. As a present for Adela, I gave her a picture that I drew for her on P-day last week! She´s a cool lady. She knitted me a pair of blue socks to keep my feet warm at night. Then, thinking that the socks were too small, she knitted me another pair. Heh heh. And they do keep my feet warm! They´re nice to have. She´s cool. 

 

 

Love you so much! Thanks for your emails, and your love and support. And prayers. Have a fantastic week!


Love, Elder Andrew Stockton

El Campo

Hello, family!

I´ve been moved into deep campo! Did I already explain what ´campo´ is? There´s city and there´s campo. 80% of the mission is city, close to the center of Buenos Aires. Then we have a few little towns that are way far away from everything, and that´s campo. And that´s where I am! I´m in a beautiful, clean little town called Bragado, in the district of Chivelcoy. We live in an apartment complex on Quiroga between Gral. Paz and Escalada. (Andrew includes some identifying landmarks because Ken likes to look up his location on Google Earth ... pretty cool.)

 
After the transfer meeting on Wednesday, we ´campo´ missionaries went to the bus station and waited an hour for the bus that would take us to our areas. We waited for an hour, loaded up our gear when the bus came and hopped on, and then went to sleep for the 4-hour ride to Bragado. We arrived and got off the bus, waited in the freezing, freezing cold for a taxi to come, and finally got to our pench. A little more involved that taking a remís directly to the area like I´d done in my other areas.


The way missionaries talk about campo, I was imagining it to be a bunch of fields and dirt roads, with a house here and there, but that´s not accurate. It´s a city that´s a little bit like Luján, only cleaner and calmer. What is true about campo is that it´s super tranquilo. You can leave your bike unlocked on the street and no one will take it. (We´re not supposed to, though. I need to buy a bike lock.) And they take their siesta time seriously - in between 1:00 and 4:00, there is NO ONE in the streets.

Oh, that´s the other thing - I have a bike! Woohoo! I´m enjoying being able to bike around the city, and getting over the inevitable case of sore bum syndrome. Later today we´ll be stopping by a bike repair shop to get some necessary changes done, including raising the seat, fixing the back brakes, and adding reflectors. It seems that the previous owner of my bike was a little lax in keeping it shipshape.


Oh, right - my companion! My companion is Elder Correa. He´s from Rosario, Argentina, and is serving here in Buenos Aires West while he waits for his Visa to go to Venezuela. He has 5 months in the mission - one less than me. It is really fun to have an Argentine companion, but also really difficult, because: Argentines talk differently to fellow Argentines than they do to people from any other part of the world. I am finding a whole new world of Argentine slang and expressions, and learning that Argentines speak SUPER SUPER FAST! It´s almost intimidating, because my companion speaks so fast and so accurately without even trying. I´ll be picking some things up from him, if I can.

Elder Correa making something that tasted really good. 

And, personality-wise, he´s also really cool. He´s friendly and works hard and seems to enjoy life. Also, he's a super cook, and since we eat in the pench a lot here, that´s awesome.

There´s a fun old lady who gives us lunch 2 times a week. She is mostly deaf. (But there´s a big difference between mostly deaf and all deaf. ...Please open his mouth.) We literally have to yell at her for her to be able to hear us, which means I can talk to my companion and ask him things, like whether she´s actually serious in the ridiculous things she says. (She usually is - she´s a very funny lady.)


That´s all I´ve got time for today! I love you all very much & hope you´re enjoying your summer.
Love,
Elder Stockton

Elder Lee. He´s from Tucson! 

Elder Hutchings, the redhead. We entered the MTC on the same day. 

A delicious before-bed snack! (the sammich)

Making tortillas!

A dinky burrito that was just good enough
to remind me of the real thing 

In my new pench, and cold!

Tomatoes!

´Futbol´ with some of the young men in the new ward. These kids are great! One of them invited his friend to soccer. The friend liked it and came to church the next day. He liked that, too, and now we have an appointment to go and teach their family. Woohoo! 

From Andrew's last few days in Villa Amelia:

A cool poster someone made
for the zone of Castelar 

Waking and rousing our investigators to come to church 

Abigaíl, Karen, and their friend Juliana.

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

 

Mom's Day Mix-up

The much-anticipated Mother's Day phone call from Andrew didn't come as expected. He and his companion were out teaching some investigators, and by the time they finished, there wasn't much time for a call. He did call briefly to set up a time for next Sunday ... so we'll hope to hear a little more from him then. It WAS wonderful to hear his voice! He sounds good, and happy!

Andrew has a new companion, Elder Jimenez, from Nicaragua. As you can imagine, each new companionship takes some adjusting and a lot of give-and-take, but they are learning to work together for the good of those they are teaching. Occasionally they go on "splits," which means they split up and go out with another missionary from the area. He also learns much from these experiences. From Elder Valencia he has learned the value of self-confidence as well as genuine love for the people. He has seen that people are much more receptive to their message when they work with both qualities. 

He sees many people wearing Nike shirts which say "Just Do It." It reminds him to have courage and follow the promptings of the Spirit. (Probably not exactly what Nike had in mind ... but a good application nonetheless.)

Here are some excerpts from his last letter:

A miracle happened this morning. 

On our way to an appointment, we crossed paths with a disheartened-looking man. I felt like maybe I should contact him, but I didn´t do it. Fortunately my companion received the same prompting, listened, and did it. He greeted the man and asked if there was anything we could do for him. He looked up and said, ´Yes. My wife is dying of cancer.´ At first he seemed sarcastic and almost angry, but when he learned that we were in earnest and wanted to help, he said, ´Come with me.´ 

He led us back along the way we had come and brought us to a house. We entered and met his daughter, who we found out was the mother of a young woman we had contacted earlier. Then we went to the room of  the sick grandmother, who was in bed. We met her and talked a little bit, then gave her a Priesthood blessing of comfort and health. The grandfather accompanied us to the gate and thanked us for what we had done. And he shook my hand firmly and said, ´Thank you, my North-American brother.´ What a miracle that we ran into him just at the right time.  

Later in the week, they returned to visit the young woman, with whom they had scheduled an appointment.

We went back and Celeste´s mom answered the door. We chatted for a bit, asked how her mom was, then asked if we could share a scripture with her. She told us, ´Not with me. I´m mad at God right now.´ Upon conversing more with this woman we realized that she needed to be healed even more than her mother did. Although the mother kept her faith even in her sufferings, her daughter had allowed herself to become angry at God for letting her mother suffer so much. She asked us, ´How can God leave her in so much pain when she has spent her whole life serving Him?´ We reminded her that in the Bible, Jesus´ disciples were not exempt from hardship - in fact, they were some of those who expereinced the most trials and persecution. Jesus himself suffered beyond measure, beyond our ability to comprehend, and He is the most righteous Man who ever lived. 

At this point I remembered a story from the Book of Mormon: the story of Alma and his people in bondage. (Which, not coincidentally, I had just studied that morning in preparation for another investigator.) I told her the story - how directly after Alma and his people had made a covenant to follow the Lord and to be His people, they were captured by enemies and made to bear heavy burdens. How could the Lord allow this to happen? Didn´t He care that the people had just become righteous and promised to serve Him? But the Book of Mormon contains the words of comfort that the Lord speaks to His people: 

Mosiah 24:13-14

13 And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came to them in their afflictions, saying: Lift up your heads and be of good comfort, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage.
14 And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even you cannot feel them upon your backs, even while you are in bondage; and this will I do that ye may stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions.

Her heart was touched. We explained that even though we may have trials and burdens, if we keep our faith in the Lord He will strengthen us and make us equal to the challenge. 

We left her the Book of Mormon so that she could read the whole chapter on her own time. 

It´s amazing how the things we should say are given to us, just like the scripture says. And how the Lord can use the things I studied recently to bless others. It´s great to be a missionary. 

............

Another experience:
Elder Carazas (his last companion) and I were working with a man who was baptized a year ago but stopped coming to church. He was receptive to having us visit him, but in our lessons we discovered that he has his priorities a little mixed: Work comes first, then God. So, for now, with his busy work schedule, he wasn´t going to make time to come to church. He´s a great guy. But he wasn´t progressing, so we stopped visiting as much. 

Elder Jimenez and I went to visit him a few days ago to see how he was doing and to share a scripture. And, although we had tried in the past to help him see that he needs to put God first, the Spirit guided me to find exactly the scripture that finally reached him. (Seek for treasures in heaven, not on earth.) He said, ´Ah. I understand. You´re right.´ And he promised us that he would come back to Church. 
...............

Yesterday an Evangelical Christian pastor blessed my companion and I. It was different, but, a nice gesture. I hope reads the Book of Mormon. He says he will. 

...............

I´ve started buying fruits and veggies to snack on, instead of the standard missionary-pench diet of... cookies. Mmm! Oranges to fight off the scurvy, apples, pears and potatoes.
...............

Mission life is great. Sometimes stressful, but great. It´s great to be an instrument in the Lord´s hands. I wish I had time to write everything that goes on, because there´s more. But, thank you, Mom and Dad and Family, for loving and supporting and teaching me. I couldn´t do it without your love and support. And the happy family that we have is giving families here hope that they can have the same thing.

The Gospel is true. It´s true and it´s what matters. Family matters. I love you all! Have a fantastic week!

Love, Elder Andrew Stockton

An abundance of cake!

Oh, hello, hello, hello! :-) 

Lots of mixed feelings right now, and more as I´ve been reading your emails. Thanks so much for keeping me updated so I can be a part of life at home, even though I´m in engaged in something else right now. All my best to Grandma Greenwood, to Uncle Paul and all his family, and everyone! I´m praying for them!

I had a fantastic and very happy birthday on Tuesday! 

I woke up for the first time at 4:30 to the sound of rain pitter-pattering on the roof. That meant that I had to get up and rescue my clothes, which had been hanging up to dry. Then I thought, ´Hey, it´s my birthday!´ and went back to bed. 

I woke up again at the normal hour, and was interrupted during my morning prayers by the voice of David Archuletta singing ´Joy to the World´. I wrapped up my prayer and stood up to see a smiling Elder Carazas holding a birthday cake with a firework stuck in it. (The kind that shoots flames rather than the kind that explodes.) He sang, I made a wish, and we ate cake for breakfast. 

We studied, then saddled up to head to a zone conference in Castelar, which was fantastic. I´m getting to know and be friends with some other elders in the zone now, which is fun. This zone is really friendly. Some remember me from my first day in the mission, on the rainy day in Catán. But I don´t remember them! (There were a lot of things going through my head that day.) One of them, Elder Lee, is from Tucson - surprise! He lived in the Tucson Stake, I think. 

We came back and went to lunch with Hermana Valle. It was a normal lunch, with a spiritual thought afterward, and that was that. But afterward, rather than having us go around her parent´s house to get back to the street, she had us go through it. We entered and the room was dark - except for a brightly lit CAKE! Surprise! There was more singing and more cake. 

We had a lesson with Jonathan, our philosopher investigator. (More about him another week - he´s a very interesting character.)

We ended the day with the Castillo family. I decided to take my birthday package and open it with them. It was very fun! We celebrated together and then had a very good lesson.

And, that was about it! (Not the whole day, but the most interesting parts.) 

We had a similar day on Sunday, on Elder Carazas´s birthday!

 (With all the cake we ate this week, it´s a wonder we can still walk. And we still have 2 cakes in our fridge. I guess those will have to be refreshments at a family home evening this week.)




And other news ...

I had my first marriage proposal yesterday! There´s a lady who has gone kind of crazy. Now she sees the missionaries as angels and is in love with Elder Carazas. We bump into her on the street occasionally and stop to talk. Anyway, she asked me yesterday if I wouldn´t like to marry her. I told her yes, so we´re going to get married next week. I´ll send pictures! Or, wait. No, I´m pretty sure I told her no. Never mind. 

Abigail and Karen didn´t get baptized this last Saturday. Hermana Nora, their mom, 

doesn´t think they´re quite ready yet. She doesn´t think that she´s quite ready yet, either, although she´s been receiving many witnesses that the church is something good that she should follow. The thing that´s stopping her is that she hasn´t yet read all of the Book of Mormon. She says, ´I can´t baptize into the Church if I haven´t read the doctrine and know that it´s good.´ Makes sense. But she also needs to have faith and trust the answers she has received! We´re going to keep studying the Book of Mormon with the family.

Changes ... 

Sad news for us - After 10 months of working in Villa Amelia, Elder Carazas is being transferred out of the area. This resulted in some tender and heart-wrenching goodbyes to members who he´s helped and become friends with. (The saddest of all being the Vera family, who came knocking on our door at 11:30 last night while Elder Carazas was packing. Monroe, their 3-year-old girl, was so sad she wouldn´t come along, but sent a pair of her striped pink socks as something to remember her by.) But, after all the sadness, Elder Carazas has a good attitude. He says that the end of every chapter of life is the beginning of another. Very true. It´s good to appreciate and love the past, but you can´t hold onto it forever. You have to look forward to what is to come. And ´what is to come´, for me, is a new companion and the new challenge of being the one who knows the area. I´ll be finding out who my new companion is in a couple of hours at the transfer meeting. 

And, I thought you might like to know - I often bring my photos along with me to appointments and lunches to show off my family and friends. These are the most-often heard comments:
-That´s your mom? She´s so young!  Awww :)
-You look just like your dad!
-You look just like your mom!
-You look just like your Grandma!
-Your brother looks like a stud!
-You have the same smile as your Grandma.
:-) Kind of fun.


I love you all so very much. Thanks for your prayers and your news. Life is good in the mission. (Well, actually there are some problems in the mission because we´re down about 50 missionaries due to problems with Visas. But in my part, life is good.)


All of my best and highest-quality love,
Elder Andrew Stockton