April 15 - May 6

April 15, 2013

Hello, family! It`s been a great week here.

This week I experienced some of the great joy of missionary service - one of those really good lessons which will help shape the future of a family. The week before last, we found and started teaching a young couple who are looking for a way to ensure their family`s future stability. (I told you about them, no? M___ and K___.) They started acting on our message immediately, by reading and praying, and by coming to General Conference.

This week, Elder Lee and I were thinking about what the next step would be for them to continue progressing in the Gospel. We decided that we would share a message about how marriage strengthens the family, and invite them to be legally married.

We started the lesson by talking together about how important families are, and what their experience has been like becoming a family and raising their daughter together. We also talked about how God wants us to have happy, strong families. They wanted to know how they could secure their relationship and their family against future problems, which took us to our point.

It was funny to see their reaction as soon as we mentioned marriage - K looked at M as if to say ´See!? Look! What have I always said?` And M started laughing, which he always does when he`s not sure how to answer, and covered his face. It was obvious they had talked about marriage before. Anyway, as we continued talking about how forming a family in God`s way would be the surest way to make their family secure, there was a good spirit with us. We all felt it, we felt the importance of the family and the truth of what was being taught. In the end we left them the assignment of talking about it and praying about it together, but M said, `I guess we`ll see what date we choose´, implying that he was already decided. K was so happy! M then looked down at their daughter, who was playing on the floor near their feet, ruffled her hair, and said, `It`s your fault we`re getting married!` It was a good lesson.

And the next lesson was even better! When we arrived we made normal small talk, and then we asked them what was new. They looked at us and announced that they were starting the process of getting married! Hurrah! Then we finished the lesson we had started a few days before about the Plan of Salvation and God´s plan for families, and, although we hadn`t planned on it, that lesson morphed into a lesson about the temple, and how little by little we receive the ordinances necessary to lead us to our goal: Eternal life as families. They were touched; we felt the Spirit very strongly. They really want to go to the temple.

It`s amazing to see their progress. M is developing spiritually and leading the family more. He gave a beautiful prayer from the heart the other day. And they`re praying together every night as a family, rotating turns. I love them.

It`s funny: at first they weren`t sure there was anything we could teach them about how to have a happy family - in fact, K asked us how we could teach about that if we don`t even have our own families yet. But that shows you the power of our message - we`re not just sharing ´what worked for us`, we`re sharing God`s true plan and guide for families.

And I`m afraid that M and K are going to form the main body of my letter home today - the other news will have to be short. But here it is, anyway:

I opened my birthday package today (as it`s P-day) and celebrated a little with Elder Lee. Thanks for your thoughtfulness and love. We enjoyed opening, eating, and reading. (Although I`m still unwrapping and reading the little quotes! There are quite a few!)

It`s been a good birthday, and it hasn`t even arrived yet.

To answer your question, Dad, J is still progressing. He is also undergoing a miraculous change. He came to church again this week for the first time since we originally started teaching him, and that`s an excellent step. But... he`s having a hard time dropping that last cigarette! We would appreciate your prayers for him, that he can drop his addiction and we well prepared to be baptized on his goal of May 11 - his birthday.

I love you all so much! May you have a good week, and know that I love you and am grateful for you. Stay strong!
Elder Stockton

The latest proselyting garb?

A haircut (note the resemblance it bears
to the picture on the wall) 

The Tucson crew at transfers
(Elder Bower from Tucson North Stake, and Elder Lee from
Tucson East? Stake --- currently Andrew's companion)

Our zone at transfers

Elder Wing and I reunite at transfers

Happy Birthday!

Looking forward to the Nose-flute duet
by Elder Stockton and soon-to-be Elder Stockton!

April 22, 2013

Hello, family! It`s been a bittersweet week - well, really it`s been a good week with one bittersweet experience.

I wrote to you last week about M and K, no? Well, they keep on progressing - they`re great. But, here`s the sad news: They`re going to be moving. To... (wait for it) Bragado!! I was so surprised when M told us he had gotten a job offer to go and work in Bragado, since that`s the area I was in right before coming to the Barrio Jardines. And it`s not very well known, it`s just a little city way out in the depths of campo.
At the beginning of the week they still didn`t know whether they would move or not. I briefly considered telling them Bragado is a horrible place and that they won´t like it, but I couldn´t. (Because, Bragado is a beautiful, tranquilo place and I think they`ll love it there!) So then M went to Bragado for a few days last week to see what it`s like. We anxiously awaited their decision during our first appointment after M got back, half hoping he liked it and half hoping he didn`t. When we asked him how his trip was, he told us... ´buenísimo!!´ and we knew they were going to be moving.

It´s sad for us, not to be able to continue teaching them, but that´s a part of the mission. You can`t always be there for the whole conversion process... but we`re glad to have been able to have been a part of it! They`re really special. We love them.

The good thing is that, having served in Bragado, I can connect them with people from the church that will help them get situated (in the city and in church)! The other plus side is, I have the contact information of a lot of people in Bragado, which means I can more easily stay in contact with M and K after the mission. They will probably be moving in 1 to 2 weeks.

We did a ton of service on Friday! We started the day helping Hermano F unplug his blocked sewage, which was a very messy and smelly project. Afterward, we washed up (with bleach), ate lunch and headed to our second service project: helping J`s mom fix a broken electrical switch. That helped us get to know her a little more. Then, later in the day, we helped a man we had met earlier in the week wheelbarrow in the 200 bricks that had been delivered outside his house. That led to an opportunity to teach him and his wife. Another family!

There were lots of fun birthday meals. The best was going to Epifania`s house (Epifania is one of Elder Sampson`s recent converts - another `adopted grandma`.) She got a kick out of going into the next room and blasting `Happy Birthday to You` from her giant speakers for me, which was funny because they were the English words but with an Argentine Spanish accent. She`s great.

Well, that`s all I`ve got time for, I`m afraid. I spent a little bit of time today worriedly making sure that my camera card didn´t have a virus. (It didn`t... fortunately.) These cybers aren´t always electronically safe.

I love you all! I hope you have a great week, and I look forward to hearing from you next week!
And, wow... we can already start thinking about that Mothers` Day phone call! Time sure flies.
Love,
Elder Stockton

Birthday Festivities

J

Mmmmm -- Argentine beef?

M and K, after church

Service - that`s not mud on my hands.
Ewwww

April 29, 2013

Hello, family! It filled me up to read your emails. I´m glad things are going so well up there! Nice to imagine the Springtime, as well… surprisingly, things are pretty hot here! I thought we were supposed to be in deep winter by now, but not so.

First, the M & K update. I mentioned last week in my email to President that they were moving, and he responded, telling me that they´ll be in good hands – they´re going to reorganize the branch leadership this week, and there´s a former zone leader serving in Bragado. So that puts me somewhat at ease. I´m happy and excited for them!

They came to church again this week, and are really enjoying it. And yesterday, Sunday evening, we had a Family Home Evening with them in a member´s house – members who also have young kids - and it went really well! We had a Spirit-filled lesson with good input from the members, and M shared about the change that happened since they started to live the Gospel. It was really good, and the best part was that M and K stayed and kept talking with the members after we left. That´s fantastic!

The other day, they decided they wanted to do something for Elder Lee and I, so they arranged a dinner. We went over and had some delicious mashed potatoes and (something you don´t get a lot in Argentina -) gravy! It was nice of them. M also gave me a T-shirt.

We also found out something about them that surprised me and made me glad to have found them when we did – before we contacted them in the street and told them about how the Gospel blesses families, they were planning on separating. They had differences that they just didn´t seem to be able to resolve, and they thought the only solution was to separate. They told us that they were just waiting for the right day for M to move out. Fortunately, God had a better plan for their family than what they were planning, and they recognized that when it was presented to them. But Elder Lee and I had no idea! It shows, once again, that God knows what´s happening in our lives, and He wants to reach out to us and help us be happy. We´re grateful to have been the ones God used to help this family.

And, let´s see… did I tell you about another couple? J is K´s sister, and we´re also teaching her and her husband M. They have 2 cute little kids, of 3 and 2 years, and they live 2 houses down from M & K. They´ve come to church twice, and although they are very different from M and K, they are also liking it a lot. They´re more serious, and seem more mature… their spiritual needs and hungers go much deeper than M and K. But the great thing is that the same Gospel is working equally well for them! They´ve been fortifying their marriage by praying together every night and coming to church, and now they´re starting a study of the scriptures in order to really come to know Jesus Christ and the hope that He gives us. We love them a lot.

The Gospel Principles teacher didn´t come again this week, so Elder Lee and I taught a lesson about the Lord´s Covenant People. Then the assigned speaker for Sacrament Meeting didn´t come, so… I talked again! I shared a message about the family and how the prophets have showed us the way to have a successful one: faith, love, respect, wholesome recreational activities and the like. I shared about how Mom and Dad taught us the value of work by having us do yard work in the summer. I´m sure I must have bellyached and complained the whole way, but over the years I grew to really love spending time out working with my family in the yard. And I think that was one of the experiences that got me ready to work hard in the mission. I also shared about family prayer, and how it strengthened our family. And I shared about the excellent example my parents gave to us kids of mutual love and respect! Mom and Dad, thanks for building our family on the things that count.

We went to Luján the other day for a zone conference. It was a very good conference, and kind of nice to be back in Luján again. Lots of time has passed since those days! It would be fun to email Elder Berglund.

I love you lots! May you have a splendid week. Enjoy the weather!

Love, Elder Stockton

May 6, 2013

Hello, family! I also am excited about the Tucson temple. Where do you shpeck it´s going to be, exactly? I´m glad to hear about the other fun events, too. I especially enjoyed the description of Jacob´s final volleyball game. You should see some of the Paraguayans here play volleyball - it´s pretty incredible. They also have another version of the game where they play with everything but their hands - usually their chest and head, but occasionally their feet if the ball gets too far down. Pretty talented! Jacob, I bet you would like playing with them.

Ah... we had a good week this week. A really good week! Recently I´ve been struggling to lose myself in the work. I feel like I still lack something to be the missionary I want to be, and Elder Lee has been helping me to know how to achieve my full potential. This week I worked hard at that, and we had good results. Mostly, I feel good and satisfied because I feel like I gave the week my all. Now, to keep that up for the rest of the mere 7 months of mission that remain to me.

Probably my favorite part of the week was Sunday in church. Occasionally Fast Sunday can put us on edge, because you never know who´s going to get up and give their testimony or what they will say. But yesterday´s meeting was lovely. It seemed like every testimony that was given was heartfelt and uplifting. I felt the Spirit, and I felt a connection with these people. I really love them a lot, and I´ll miss a lot of them.

Remember how I mentioned that A´s dad, previously very cold towards the missionaries, had softened up during A´s baptism? Well, yesterday we were finally able to have a lesson with him. He opened up during the lesson and told us how we so wants to be a better father and to create a good family environment in his home... Excellent! Because that´s exactly what the Gospel does for people - makes them better and helps families be happy. I foresee happier days for their family in the future. It would be fantastic for A´s parents to join the church as well - the whole family. We don´t want any empty chairs.

Another great experience was that we taught M and K about the Word of Wisdom. (M comes back on weekends - they haven´t moved yet because they´re still looking for a good house in Bragado.) It was funny because the day we came prepared to teach the Word of Wisdom, they had also invited us to breakfast. During the breakfast preparations, K casually mentioned that she was addicted to coffee and needed her daily cup to help her get started in the morning. Elder Lee and I looked at each other, wondering how they would take the Word of Wisdom - but their faith came through and they accepted it. We figured that the fact that they´re moving now will make it even easier to change. Sometimes a change in lifestyle is helped by a change in physical environment. M first committed to keep the Word of Wisdom, and K followed. They´re great!

This week I went on divisions with Elder Sampson and learned a lot. He´s a missionary I really look up to, for his diligence and his tirelessness in the work. He´s a great guy, and really funny. He´s probably headed out this transfer as well, after a whopping 9 months in Jardines.

Lots of rain this week, which means... lots of mud. The stitching in my shoes is starting to give way - I´ll have to take them to get re-stitched.

We happened to be in the street teaching (seated on a log) during a Boca/River football game. (Look them up - this game was a BIG thing in Argentina. I think EVERYONE was watching the game... except the guy we were teaching.) The first time a team scored, there was an eruption of shouting from all the houses around us - lots of people ran out of their houses, either rejoicing or shouting bad words. We watched them fight and throw rocks at each other. Pretty crazy!

I love you all so much! Have an excellent week.
Elder Stockton

And the best postscript of all ... regarding the upcoming Mother's Day phone call ...

I´ll try to call about 1:00 Argentina time... 9:00 Tucson time, I think.

Spring has Sprung ...

March 25, 2013

Hello, Framly!

It`s been fun being comps with Elder Lee! The other day we got to talking about Christmas and family traditions, and I happened to mention that Mah jongg features fairly heavily in ours. He got excited and told me how his dad (who is from China) used to play all the time with his uncles and aunts. He doesn`t anymore, because it`s a gambling game... but maybe he would make an exception to play with us. I hope so, because I´ve invited him and his family to come and play with us next Christmas. :-) Pung! We´ll see whether Nathan can keep up his mighty reign playing with someone who´s known Mah jongg from the cradle.

Well, we had a pretty good week this week. A little disappointing at the end with a lack of church attendance, but it´s okay. We´ve got some good progressing investigators, and things are looking better for church this week.

We went to a Stake Conference yesterday that was broadcasted from the US - we heard from Elder Shane Bowen (who Elder Bower tells me spoke in North Stake a while back) and Elder Whitney Clayton. Elder Clayton gave a great talk about how if we obey the basic principles of the Gospel - pay tithing and fast offerings, magnify our callings, do home and visit teaching, study the scriptures daily, have weekly family home evening and have daily family prayer, we will live firm, safe lives and be protected. We`ll be able to solve our own problems. Just what Javier needed to hear! But good for us, too.

And, after church yesterday we had the Elders from Jardines B over for lunch and we made Mexican food - tacos! We only had black beans and some kind of chewy meat, but we cooked it up, put it in homemade tortillas, and slathered it with barbecue sauce and ketchup, and it worked okay.

Elder Sampson and Elder Decker had a baptism yesterday, which we went to. It was really good! I love being at baptisms. We 4 Elders did a musical number - I played the piano and they sung How Great Thou Art. It went pretty well!

And, other good news: a family we've been working with was sealed on Saturday! Hurrah! It`s good to see a family progressing together in the Gospel.

So, that`s all I`ve got today - kind of a slow week. But we´ll see what this next transfer has in store for us. I´m thankful as always to read your letters, and I love you very much! Have an awesome week!

love,
Elder Stockton

April 1, 2013

Hello, family! Happy Easter! And... Happy April Fools! I hope you had a great week and a great Easter Weekend!

We celebrated Easter in a great way here: with the baptism of A__, who is the little sister of the young man we baptized recently! She´s a fantastic little 8-year-old girl. Although neither of her parents are members, her grandma is, and she´s been going with her to primary for several months now. She recently turned 8, and her mom said that if she wanted to she could get baptized. She´s the sweetest little girl! She loves the church, and she loves learning about God. Last week we finished teaching her everything she needed to know before being baptized, and on Easter Sunday we had the baptismal service. It was a very good baptism - one of the best I´ve been to. After A__ was baptized, she asked if she could bear her testimony, and she got up in front of everyone and told them why she had decided to be baptized. Then her grandma got up and shared her testimony, and her happiness at seeing all of her family together at church. She had her husband (who is Catholic, and was previously not very responsive to the Gospel) and her son-in-law (A__´s dad, equally unresponsive) in tears - and a few other people as well. In the words of my companion, I love uniting families! It was so great to see them all together during such a happy time. After A__´s testimony, her grandpa grabbed her and hugged her, with a huge grin on his face. There was a very sweet spirit during the baptism. I hope that this could lead to more of the family becoming interested in and joining the church.

I accidentally left my camera card at home, so I´ll have to send pictures next week.

Dad, thanks for the great Conference talk! How did you know I had just decided to focus on studying and applying the Christlike attribute of Hope? I studied the talk all week long and the Spirit taught me several things, and my personal hope for the future has increased. So, thanks very much! I can´t wait for this General Conference. Of course, the big news (the temple in Tucson) has already been announced... but I´ll still be glad to hear what our prophets & apostles have got to say. :-)

And, here´s some fun news:
President Carter announced at the transfer meeting that there has been a change in Church policy: Missionaries are now allowed to email friends in addition to family members. We were told that´s because it takes less time to write email than to write a letter, so missionaries will be able to accomplish more on Preparation Day and therefore be more ready to work during the week. Well, cool! I´m not complaining! I haven´t found a place to mail my letters home in Jardines anyway, so... now I´ll be able to resume my communication with friends.

I finished reading the Book of Mormon this past week! It was a great experience. I testify again that the Book of Mormon is a true book. I´ve come to realize on the mission how important it is to have a personal testimony. It keeps us strong in our faith even when the world tells us we´re wrong. Thank God for personal revelation and testimony.

And, well-- I think that´s about it for this week. Thanks for your letters, I´m printing them out so as to read them later and spend more time on them.

Love you so much! I hope your week is fantastic.

Love,
Elder Stockton

April 8, 2013

Hello, family! Thanks for your letters. It´s been a packed week here, filled with good things!

What a General Conference! Every session had a few really great talks. I loved Elder Holland´s talk about faith (even though I had to watch it in Spanish, which isn´t as powerful). In Priesthood session I loved Elder Callister´s talk about how ´The Priesthood in the boy is just as powerful as the Priesthood in the man.´ I loved the various talks about ministering to others. A very good talk... and, a good Conference in general! I can´t wait to get the Liahona with the talks so I can keep on reading and studying them. It was fun to watch conference upstairs with the 6 other English-speaking Elders in our stake. As the Conference went on, we made note of who had spoken already and who still needed to speak, and got really excited for the last session´s ´lineup´ - Elder Holland, Elder Oaks, and Elder Christofferson. What a combination!
Any talks that you thought were particularly powerful?

Last week, President Carter told us in our weekly letter that we should constantly be teaching and helping progress 5 to 7 families. Definitely not what we have right now. I believe it´s possible! But to get that, I decided we needed to make that our focus. We changed our contacting style to focus on how the Gospel blesses families, and started talking to every mother-father couple that we met in the street. And I don´t know whether more families started appearing in our path, or if I just started noticing them more, but since the time we began contacting families we´ve just been finding a ton! This last week we found 6-7 (good) families and made return appointments to visit them.

One of those families we found last week consists of a young mother, her husband, and their 4-year-old daughter. They don´t have very much religious background at all, but they are willing to learn. They want to strengthen their marriage and family. They came to the last session of General Conference with us, and liked it a lot! Good stuff!

One of the other couples we contacted has an interesting story. They lived in Chaco a few months back, and before leaving for Buenos Aires they had met the missionaries. They had a lot of questions for the missionaries and liked what the missionaries were teaching. The missionaries wrote down their contact information and said that they would send it along, but, as often happens, the referral got lost somewhere between there and here. The missionaries never showed up. As we walked down the street towards where they were standing at the bus stop, the man said to his wife, ´Maybe God sent them to talk to us.´ ´I guess we´ll see,´ said the wife. And, then we talked to them, because we were talking to all of the couples we saw. They gave us their address, and we have an appointment to go back and teach them this week. Maybe we as humans sometimes fail where we should have done something (like sent a referral), but God knows what He´s doing!

I received my birthday package today, and, in accordance with Mom´s suggestion, I have not looked at the label containing the package contents. It will be a surprise!

I told you last week about A__´s baptism, right? And how it had had a good effect on her dad and grandfather. Well, this week we talked to A__´s mom and she told us that the husband had really liked the baptism, and that they wanted us to come and talk to them sometime. That´s phenomenal news, considering that the only other time we met the dad, he refused to talk to us and instead went inside. (At his son´s birthday!) After talking to the mom, we were leaving the area and ran into the dad! Rather than avoid us or simply say hello and keep going, he came to us and started conversing. He apologized for the incident at his son´s birthday and told us he had really liked the baptism. Then we just chatted a bit, and he invited us to come by the house later. How hearts change! I have hope for that family, that the parents will also start coming to church with the A and her grandma.

We had an incredible rainstorm this week! We all got drenched, but just drenched is a lot better than the flooding that happened in the more central part of Buenos Aires.

At the request of the youth in the ward, we have begun piano class again, except now it´s piano/guitar/english class. We had a pretty good attendance this last week and the class went well. Hopefully this will give us a chance to get to know Carlos, the youth who has been attending for the last several weeks, a little better. He declined to have us visit him in his home, but he seems like he wants to know more.

The other day I studied an old Conference talk by Elder Richard G. Scott, Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer. What a talk! The Spirit spoke to me in several instances, telling me how I can improve my personal prayers and receive more of the personal revelation that God wants to send me. Here are two things that I learned about prayer, from the talk and from the Spirit:
1. Answers to prayers come in packets - here a piece and there a piece. This suggests to me that prayer is not a one-time event - ask once, and receive the whole answer. Instead, we should ask, think, receive a prompting, write it down, think about it, act on it, ask again, etc., until the question is answered or the matter resolved. And that leads to the second thing:
2. Write down spiritual impressions you receive. I remember Elder Scott talking about how if you write down and organize the inspiration you receive, you will be more likely to receive more. I am definitely learning that that is true. I´ve been using the little notebook Krista gave for Christmas when I was in the MTC to record impressions that I get throughout the day. I´m amazed at the clarity and significance of the promptings and answers I have been receiving after I started writing them down. Answers to questions like, ´How can we help investigators to have a better experience in church?´ and ´How can we increase the member missionary work in the ward?´
Pretty cool! I think the answers to all of our questions of how to improve are out there, given sometime in the past by some apostle. It´s just a matter of finding it, then studying and applying it.

Well... I think that´s it for today. Actually, I´ve written quite a lot! Galations 6:11! (Or, was it 8:11?)

Anyway! I love you all very much. Thanks for your letters, your support, your prayers, your love.
See you in 8 months!

Elder Stockton

Catching up

February 25, 2013

Hey! What´s going on? Since when does it snow in Tucson? I guess the weather guys sometimes do get it right! Those are some pretty incredible photos! 

I also enjoyed the pictures of the next day... which you would never suspect was the next day based on the difference in weather conditions!

Well, we had kind of a hard week. Sad to say, [one of our investigators], who was progressing so well, seems to have given up hope that he can change and has stopped seeing us. We only made contact with him once last week, when we found him by chance in the street. Here´s hoping that sometime in the future the Elders will pass by again, and he´ll be ready... It´s sad when people choose not to continue when we can see a vision of what they can become.

And similarly, almost all of our other investigators fell through - one returned to her previous church, one is going to be out of town for a month for her daughter´s medical treatment... and other simply disappeared and won´t answer us. So, we´re back to square 1: finding investigators to teach.

However, miracles are still happening. This Sunday, a family arrived in the middle of Gospel Principles class and sat down. We thought they were Elder Sampson´s and Elder Decker´s investigators, and Elder Sampson and Elder Decker thought they were ours. We talked to them, and learned that they are a family that has been inactive for several years. They moved here to Jardines a few years ago and just decided one day they needed to come back to church. Ha! How great! Interesting how that happens sometimes - you try and try and try to help some people come back to church, to no avail... but then others arrive on their own. Now we´ll help this family return to full activity, and at the same help the 10-year-old son prepare for baptism.

Things are going well with Hermano Medina [Andrew's Mini-Missionary companion -- just a temporary assignment]. He´s a fun guy. This week he started overcoming his fear to contact people, and you´ll never guess how he did it. We were doing contacts in the plaza on Saturday evening - both of us separately talking to people. I finished the contact I was doing, and walked up to where he was talking to a couple. As I joined the conversation, I realized that Hermano Medina was speaking with a heavy North-American accent. The people were fascinated and asked us where we were from - I told them I was from Arizona, and my comp told them he was from Louisiana. After we finished talking, he explained to me that he felt more comfortable contacting people when he pretended to be a foreigner. Ha ha! The only problem with that is, if the couple would have told us to come back for a return appointment, he would have had to ´fess up and we might have lost some credibility. Anyway, that was kind of funny. It´s also interesting to hear an Argentine´s impression of our Yankee accent. Maybe that can help me know how to speak less like a North-American. :-)

God has been answering my prayers and my questions recently through the scriptures. I love my Book of Mormon study in the morning!

Anyway, I´m about out of time. This week is looking like a lot of clapping doors and looking for addresses. Fun stuff! Even in the hard times, it´s worth it to be here. I know that God is refining me and helping me to become a more capable servant. I love you all so much, and I hope you have a good, warm week! (No snow.)

Love,
Elder Stockton

March 4, 2013

Hello! I enjoyed reading your letters this week.

We had quite a week this week and came back to the pench yesterday exhausted. Thank goodness for P-day! It comes around just when it´s most needed.

If you remember, last week I wrote to you and told you that we had dropped almost all of our investigators and would be looking for new ones this week. Well, that´s what we did, and we were blessed to find 18 new investigators this week. 18!! That´s almost unheard of! The normal standard is 8 new investigators, but I suppose when you spend all your time looking for new people, that´s what happens. And almost all of them have very good potential to progress and be baptized! It really lifted our spirits some and gives us good hope for the rest of the transfer.

When you get to the MTC, you learn basically the first 3 lessons - The Restoration, The Plan of Salvation, and The Gospel of Jesus Christ. But when you get into the field, you find that often investigators have needs that are not covered perfectly by giving them a memorized recitation of the lesson. Fortunately, if you´re prepared, God puts it into your mind what you should teach.

Dylan and his family are doing well! They came to church again, and Dylan´s mom asked some very thoughtful questions during Gospel Principles. We can already see a huge change for the better in them. It´s interesting to see the change that happens in people when they start living the Gospel. They seem brighter, happier, and healthier.

We taught Dylan (and his family) about the Restoration and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. He´s already started reading and he´s progressing quite well. He´s got a lot of desire to be baptized.

Well, that´s all I´ve got for today. I hope you all have a great week! Seriously! Have a great week.

All my love,
Elder Stockton

March 11, 2013

Hello, family!

Looks like whoever is in charge of the ciber that I`m using has decided that today`s music choice is The Police! So here I am, humming along.

It was nice to see pictures of some of my friends! I`m so happy that Nick and Kelsey are getting sealed! I wish I could be there. Please give my best to them, and also to Anna and her future husband! We`ll be having a baptism here in Jardines on the 16th, when Anna and her fiancee are getting married, and then one on the 24th, just after Nick and Kelsey are sealed. Happy events all over the place!

We had a good week here. We sure are teaching some good people! Dylan and his family are doing fantastic! Such a change has come into their lives recently. They´re changing the way they live and becoming happier and happier. We`ve taught Dylan just about everything he needs to know before his baptism this Saturday. He`s excited for it.

Lots of youth have been coming to church for the last few weeks, friends of other youth in the ward. One of them told us that he wants to get baptized, but we`re not sure exactly why yet. We have an appointment to talk to him more on Thursday. Alright, member missionary work! And youth activities!

The weather is cooling down... and sweaters are coming out of hibernation. It`s nice weather!

Remember how I told you a while back that, due to 6 months of bad hand-washing, all of my socks had turned purple? Well, about a week ago I learned that I can buy black dye and re-dye my socks! And, that`s what I did. Now my socks are happily black again, and I don`t have to buy all new socks like I was planning.

My shoes are starting to give way, after more than a year, in the same spot that all my shoes do - the frontward part on the inward side. I think it must just be the shape of my feet. I`ll have to see if I can take them somewhere to get them stitched back up.

My companion tells me every time I talk in my sleep, which is, apparently, almost every night. He says I mostly speak in English, and occasionally in Spanish. But what surprises me most is that (according to my companion) a few nights back I sung an entire verse of Called to Serve in my sleep. That`s a new one! I guess that means I`m a real missionary?

We`re moving along in our Book of Mormon reading. This morning I finished reading the book of Helaman and started on the downhill slope of 3rd Nephi, where things get worse and worse until the Savior comes. Something I noticed during my reading is that there are a very few that remain constantly faithful, while the rest bounce back and forth between belief and disbelief. I wonder what the difference was between them - why some were converted to the Gospel and some were not. I imagine it has to do with putting oil in their lamps.

Our next-door neighbors have a black cat who my companion has named ´Mala Suerte´ (Bad Luck) and my companion has ´adopted´. I opened the door this morning to find Mala Suerte outside, demanding breakfast. I hope he doesn´t expect me to keep buying him food after my companion goes home!

Last week I had an interview with President Carter in which we discussed my progress as a missionary, and what I need to do to reach the next level. He left me with the assignment to think about it and ask God to help me know what I need to keep working on. After some prayer and thinking, this is what I´ve come up with: I should be constantly studying the attributes of the Savior and trying to implement them in my life. If I am constantly trying to become more like the perfect Example, then I will never be stagnant in my progress - I will always be progressing.

So, that`s it for this week. I hope you all have a fantastic week! I´ll look forward to talking to you again next week!

Love you! Thanks for your prayers and support.
Elder Stockton

March 18, 2013

Hello, family! Nice to read your messages and think about home!

I´m here in Jardines still, but... with some changes - Hermano Medina finished his mini-mission early (surprise changes from the mission!) and so they pulled a missionary out of another area to be my companion. That missionary was Elder Joshua Lee, who is from... Tucson, Arizona! Rancho Vistoso Stake. Wow! How likely is that? This morning found him, Elder Bower and I (the three Tucsonan musketeers) all in the same spot and we took a picture. Kind of fun! I enjoyed this week with him, too - we´re very similar in many respects, and I love the drive he has to work hard and to do things right.

But for how long we´ll be together, I´m not sure. Transfers are in one week. It could be that I receive a new missionary and train, and in that case I´ll probably stay in Jardines 2 more transfers. Or, I might be leaving. Who knows?

So, let´s see... we had a good week this week, with lots of great events happening.

First of all... the baptism! Our boy Dylan got baptized - he was ready and so was his family. There´s a huge change happening in them as they keep reactivating themselves. We´ve got to try again to get the ward more involved in helping them in the reactivation process. 

And, er... excuse the face on the baptism photo.
Better photos are coming as soon as I can get them from my companion.

I told you several weeks back that [one of our investigators] had stopped progressing, no? Well really, more than stopped progressing, he had disappeared - he didn´t answer our phone calls and would´t answer the door when we visited his house. Anyway, [after several weeks] we didn´t find him. But [this week], the thought came to me that we should go visit him. We did, and after clapping twice in front of his house, he came out and invited us in. He was the worst I had ever seen him - his spiritual level was way down. He had let his hair grow too long, and the light was gone from eyes. He had lost or given away the books from the church that he loved to read before. He thought he was fine, but obviously... he wasn´t. We talked with him about a change of heart and about baptism - two of his deepest desires when he was investigating a month back - and he hardly reacted. It seemed like he had lost all his desire to change. Or, faith in himself - that he could change. He wouldn´t give us a definite yes or no answer on whether he would start trying to change his life again and prepare for baptism. But in the end, he committed to read the pamphlet we left him and pray to God to know whether he should be baptized.

When we came back 2 days later, he was changed - he was cleaned up, his hair was away out of his face, he was smiling and the light was back in his eyes. As he read the pamphlet we left him, the Spirit touched him. He marked the parts he liked, which had to do with man´s potential to change and follow Jesus Christ. One part says something like this: ´As you repent and follow Jesus Christ, you will discover that you do not have to keep committing the same mistakes over and over.´ I think he realized that there is hope for him still. Then he prayed, and asked God whether he should be baptized, and received an overwhelming assurance that he should.

After sharing this with us, he asked me to give him a Priesthood blessing to help him have strength to be firm in his decision and to continue onward to reach his goal. I would appreciate your continued prayers for him!

This experience reminds me of a conference talk - we should view men not as they are, but as they can become. Leopards don´t change their spots, but men can and do change every day. Sometimes they just need someone else to help them see the vision God has for them. I want to be able to help others see the potential they have.

God directs this work. I see His hand over and over again. I´m grateful to be a part of it.

And, well. That´s all for today. It´s been a very good week, and there are other experiences that I don´t have time to tell you about.

But I love you very much. Thanks for your letters and your love! Have an excellent week.
Elder Stockton

Finishing Transfer 2 in Jardines

February 11, 2013

Hello, family!

I realized the other day that I have been with Elder Wing longer than with any other missionary! We´re just finishing up two 6-week transfers together. The next closest was Elder Correa, whom I spent 10 weeks with. It´s been a fun time!

We had a good week this week. We´ve started consistently reaching our goals in everything except getting investigators to church, (which the whole mission is struggling with). I´m not sure whether I´ll be staying here in Jardines or moving to a new area. President Carter informed us that there will not be many changes this transfer, but we´ll see! Part of me wants a change - a new companion, or a new area... but we´ll see what the Lord has in store for me.

I´ve been a little bit discouraged recently... it seems like none of the people we´re working with here are progressing to the point of baptism! Elder Wing and I have found more than 30 separate people/families in our two transfers here, who started investigating and eventually, for one reason or another, stopped. It´s tough to see investigators that were progressing stop progressing.

Last week, [one of our investigators] totally disappeared and wouldn´t answer us all week long. When we finally found him again, he was pretty bad - the light was gone from his eyes and his hope that he could change had disappeared. But, we worked with him a bit more, and after he started praying and reading in the Book of Mormon again he got better - back to how he was before. But for some reason, he wasn´t in his house yesterday when we went to pick him up for church. Discouraging! I know I need to have faith, and patience... I can take the example of Ammon and his brothers here. They endured disappointment and discouragement with faith, and the Lord gave them success. The important part is to keep having faith and working hard, and to know that eventually someone will change their life for the better. And apart from that, it´s good to know that my friends and family at home are praying for our investigators, and for us. So, thanks!

We did however, have some good parts of last week. A lady who at first seemed like shewouldn´t progress has been progressing - she´s feeling the Spirit in our lessons and that is giving her what she needs to continue to listen to us. She came to church for the first time yesterday, and I think she liked it. But it was quite a large step that she came to church, and a great milestone! I was very glad that she came.

And, maybe that´s it for today! On Tuesday night I´ll find out whether Elder Wing and I are staying or leaving, so... wish me luck, whatever next transfer holds! Thanks for your letters! It´s great to hear from you.

Love you all so much! Mom, give my love to Grandma, and to Scott! And tell Delbert I say hello and send him some warm Argentina air.

Take care!
Elder Stockton

February 18, 2013

Hello, family! The electricity just cut in the cyber that I am writing from, and the computers are running on backup. I´m not sure whether I´ll be able to finish, so I´ll send this along while I´m sure I can.
 

How was your week?

As Mom & Dad have seen (how do you know? Is the transfer video on the blog?), I will be remaining here in Jardines for at least one more transfer (and probably more than one)! The other exciting news is, I´m training!

At the transfer meeting -- reuniting with Elder Bower,
who is also from Tucson North Stake

A little red box around Andrew's face ...
only a Mom would search that crowd!

[Andrew's time with Elder Wing has ended. They worked very hard together, and saw some success.] We developed a very good friendship. He´s a good guy and I thoroughly enjoyed our time together.

But now... I´M TRAINING! Or, about to be! At this moment I´m with a mini-missionary. A mini-missionary is a local member who decides to help out by being a missionary for a transfer. This helps fill some empty spots where missionaries are still waiting for their visas in other countries. As it turns out, the mini-missionary that I am serving with was baptized... three months ago! Woah! (By a friend of mine, coincidentally: Elder Hutchings, who I arrived with.) So he´s still a very new member. But despite being a new member, this is his THIRD time serving a mini-mission. Wow!

He´s really funny. His name is Hermano Medina. He´s 24 years old. He is studying to be an English teacher, and is a really advanced speaker. But the fun thing is this - In Argentina, they teach British English, so he speaks with a British accent. He´s a fun guy. And, he teaches really well! I´m picking up some good techniques from him. It´s nice to be with an Argentine companion again. I could tranquilamente spend the rest of the transfer with Hno Medina and be perfectly happy. He gave a standout talk in Sacrament meeting this week. 

This week, let´s see...
We found lots of good people to teach! We taught a lady named Julia, who committed to be baptized and to turn her life around after we taught her that God has a plan for our happiness. Let´s hope something comes of it!

The ward had a talent show. I played ´Into the West´ and my companion did stand-up comedy, which was awesome!

And, other fun things happened, but they´re hinting at us that we should leave, because the power´s cut and the computers are running on backup. So... I´m glad to hear that you´re all doing well, and I´ll look forward to hearing from you next week! Love you all!

Elder Stockton

Oh, yes - one more experience I wanted to write about.

I got sick on Saturday - just a cold, I think, but I was sick and had a stuffy nose and not very much energy. We still went to work like normal, and I hoped I would get over it quickly. The next day after church, we ate with Elder Decker and Elder Sampson in their house. Before eating, I went to their room and said a quick prayer, asking God to help me feel better so that I could work hard. I felt the prompting that God had provided a way to help me be healed - if I want God´s help I should ask for a Priesthood blessing. So I did. After lunch Elders Sampson and Decker gave me a blessing. Elder Decker blessed me that I my energy would come back to me and that I would be able to serve the Lord with all my strength. As he blessed me, I felt my strength come back to me. I didn´t feel sick anymore! And very soon after, my stuffy nose unstuffed and never got stuffy after that. I was able to go out yesterday and work until the end. And, today I feel back to normal.

Another testimony to me that God approves of my work here, and that He wants me to be at 100%. I´m grateful for Priesthood blessings!

Bye! Love you!

And from Sister Carter's Mission blog:

Never even knew Andrew had a RAYA!

The RAYA!

Pronounced rah-jjjjjjjjjjjjaaaaahhhhh

When we arrived in the mission, there was a tradition that the missionaries wear a raya in their hair. The word actually means streak, line or stripe, but in this case it used to designate a part in their hair.

The white handbook for elders reads:

Hair. Keep your hair relatively short (not clipped too close) and evenly tapered. Extreme or faddish styles—including spiked, permed, or bleached hair or a shaved
head—are not appropriate.

Presidente was pleased to carry on with the raya tradition. He has had the same hairstyle since he first had hair. (Nowadays, I have to be grateful that he still has hair to part.) The missionaries seem to enthusiastically embrace the raya. Certain missionaries have such a distinctive raya that they are known for it mission-wide. Not only are we the best mission in all the world … our missionaries have the best rayas, as well!

Pizza!

February 4, 2013

A little background info ... Ken recently spent some time transferring our old videos from camcorder to DVD, so for the few short years when we had an operating camcorder, we were able to revisit our "little" family and some wonderful times past. What amazing memories! We took a few screenshots and sent them to Andrew, along with some of our thoughts and feelings. It will be fun to share them with him in entirety later this year!

Hello, mein family!

It was nice to read about the birthday celebrations! Happy Birthday, Mom! Sounds like you all had a fun time! It was fun to be able to see some of the pictures you sent to me of us as little chilluns. (My hair doesn´t appear to have changed much in all this time.) A good gift idea, Dad! And I suppose I should say to both Mom and Dad, good foresight for taking those family videos. Interesting how our various personalities could be seen (or at least guessed at) ´from the crib´.

This week was a good week in Jardines. I don´t have much time left to write -- but I´ll touch briefly on a few subjects.

A few weeks back, we started reading the Book of Mormon as a mission. We read about 11 pages every morning, and we should finish in about 7 more weeks. During our reading, I found a great scripture that we´ve been using recently in our teaching.

It´s Mosiah 24, vs. 10-15. It explains how Alma and his people were in captivity to the Lamanites. They prayed to God for deliverance. But God didn´t deliver them from their enemies right at first - instead, He strengthened them so they were able to cheerfully bear their burdens. Then, in vs 16, He tells them that because of their patience He will deliver them out of bondage. We read that with our investigators, then made the connection, saying ´You, like the people in this story, are passing through hard times and carrying heavy burdens. And maybe God won´t immediately take away all your problems, but you can be sure that He will give you the strength you need to cheerfully bear the trials if you do your part.´

Another connection that can be made, which I just noticed, is that God helped them because they covenanted with Him - they were baptized. We can relate that to the investigator´s baptismal covenant: ´God will bless you with the strength you need to endure your trials as you covenant with Him and become one of His people.´ That would be good to use.

So I really am loving this reading of the Book of Mormon. I find myself eagerly awaiting personal study time, and I am disappointed on Tuesday and Sunday (when there is no personal study) not to be reading. It´s really great to have these stories.

Today we got permission to go to lunch as a district! The 6 of us (me, Elder Wing, Elder Sampson, Elder Decker, Elder Delgado, and Elder McBride) went to Pizza Libre - AKA All-You-Can-Eat Pizza. It´s not actually that expensive, and it was really good pizza. Basically, you get your plates and sit down, and a waiter comes around every few minutes with different types of pizza and anyone who wants it can take it. In a way it was kind of like musical chairs - all of the tomato and ham pizza got taken fast, leaving those who were slower in speaking up with the hot-dog-topped pizza. I ate egg pizza, onion pizza, pepper pizza, hot dog pizza, cheese pizza... strange herb pizza... it was good! And I didn´t even eat too much! So much the enjoyment. :-) A fun lunch. We have a really good district.

Elders Wing & Stockton - figuring out the menu

Bet the restaurant didn't make much of a profit that day!

More pictures from previous baptism:

Missionaries .... just doing their thing!

Got to go! Love you lots.

Elder Stockton

Wonderful Baptisms!

January 28, 2013

Hello, family! It was nice to read your emails today! It seems like you´re all doing marvelously! I also took a few minutes to review old photos that you all sent to me, which was fun! I think I´ll print a couple out.

Elder Wing and I got to enjoy some of ´the fruit´ of missionary work last Saturday when [a young man we've been teaching] got baptized. He´s a youth of 13 years whose Grandma is a member. The grandma recently re-activated herself in church, and he took interest in the church as well. He´s been slowly gaining a testimony and has decided to commit to continuing in God´s way. 

It was a wonderful baptism! Everything went smoothly, without any of the infamous last-minute difficulties which so often arise. (Although I did get quite a scare when I thought I had left the white baptism pants at home in the pench! It turned out my companion had them with him.)

[Another woman], one of the other elders´ investigators, was also baptized on Saturday. And they both came and were confirmed on Sunday. Marvelous! I´ll send pictures if I can... but all of the good pictures are on Elder Wing´s camera, but he can´t load those pictures onto the computer. So, later on the pictures will arrive in their fullness.

On Sunday, we talked to this young man and his grandmother. It made me happy to see how happy they both were - the Grandma was happy because everything seemed to be going well in life, and because her grandson had decided to join her in the church. 

He told us that while he was under the water, he felt like time was stopped, and he didn´t want to come back up. 

I love watching baptisms.

Sunday meeting was good, with me playing a couple parts in the program: The bishopric asked me to give a talk when the assigned speaker fell through, I played the piano as the accompanist, and we 4 missionaries had a special musical number. The musical number was Lead Kindly Light (well, Divina Luz), which we actually prepared for the baptism but sang again in sacrament meeting. It was a good meeting. Elder Sampson and Elder Decker had some good investigators there.

So - Elder Wing and I are doing well. This week we´re almost starting over looking for new investigators, because most of the ones we were working with stopped progressing due to a lack of contact. (They went out of town, or weren´t at home, etc.) The process begins anew!

[One of our investigators] is having trouble quitting smoking - prayers for him would be appreciated!

That´s all I´ve got for today. I love you so much, and I love reading your emails! Take care, and I hope you have a great week.
Elder Stockton

more ... January in Jardines

January 15, 2013

Ahh... hello!

I´m in Ramos Mejía (the offices) for P-day today - the last day (hopefully) of waiting in lines and going back and forth to get my visa stuff renewed. I am now legal to stay here for another year! Hurrah! Kind of makes P-day less restful, but, what can you do? Fun to spend some time with other missionaries, though!

Well, we have had an incredible week here in Jardines, with some really cool experiences.

God used us as instruments to help His children, in answer to their prayers, and we didn´t even know it. It is clear to me that God directs us. This is really His work!

[Consequently, one of our investigators had a change of heart.] Whereas beforehand he listened, but not showing an incredible amount of interest, he has now become involved and has turned into a great investigator. He came to church on Sunday and wants to set his life in order so he can be right with God. Ha ha! Awesome!

We had other good experiences this week, but I´ll just give these ones a couple sentences each:

-The wife in an investigator couple prayed about the Book of Mormon, and although she didn´t want to accept that it was true at first, she told God she would follow what He told her. Then she felt the Spirit powerfully testify to her, and her attitude towards the Church totally changed.
-One investigator, previously a drug addict, is undergoing an incredible change as he completes OLA. He finds it easier to pray when beforehand when it was hard for him, he´s gaining a strong testimony of the Book of Mormon, and he wants to leave behind the last of his vices and be the person God wants him to be. He has a light in his eyes that was not there when we met him. I LOVE that change!!

And, yep! We´re plugging along here. Things are going well. Some really great missionaries went home recently, including Elder Foster, who took me tracting in the rain in Catán on my first day in Argentina. He´s a missionary legend. On the last Saturday of his mission, he baptized 12 people - and that just reflects his whole mission. He´s that kind of guy! He also loves and is the friend of all the other missionaries. I´d like to be a little more like him. :-)

I´ve got to get going now and do some shopping for this week, but thanks for your letters! I love you all so much! And good luck in the cold, heh heh. If I could open up a portal and send you some warm Argentine air, I would do it!

Much love!
Elder Stockton

January 15, 2013

How are you doing!? I enjoyed the pictures Dad sent me - those looked like some pretty monstrous avocados! Let´s hope they do well in our fertile AZ soil! I also particularly enjoyed thinking about those homemade fajitas... mmmm. Sets the mouth a-waterin´.

We have also had a good week here in Jardines. One of our investigators is really progressing. His testimony is very firm that this is the true church of Jesus Christ. He came to church this week and told us that he´s liking it more every time. The members are also starting to fellowship him, and I´m sure that´s making a big difference. He is trying to quit smoking, which I´m sure is very difficult. But he´s progressing just fine.

On Saturday we went to the baptism of one of Elder Sampson and Elder Decker´s investigators. When we informed [our investigator] about the baptism a few days earlier, his eyes lit up and he asked, ´Can I go?´ So we all went together to the baptism, and he loved it. He said that as he watched [the baptism], he imagined himself in her place and it filled him up with a good feeling. He also said that (I´m not really sure how to translate this well) her smile when she came up out of the water stayed engraved upon his mind. We all felt a good spirit as we left, and the next day we saw her confirmed. So, that was a nice experience for all of us. I love to see baptisms. It does me good to see someone who has made the commitment to change their life and to live in the Lord´s way. I want to help other people to that point.

I had 2nd Christmas last week after receiving Krista´s Christmas package! That was fun. And, since then, my companion and I have been singing Lower Lights music to each other as we go about the day. (Go down, Moses!)

The night before I left for the MTC, Mom hid a bunch of little notes in my suitcase - inspirational quotes, notes of support, etc. One of these, which I have reviewed quite a few times since then, says Service Softens Hearts, and tells about how Ammon was able to gain access to King Lamoni´s heart because of how he served him - not just because he was a powerful teacher. It then highlights the importance of serving others so that they can feel our love (and God´s love) for them. Well, this week we had an experience that relates to that, and involves one of our old investigators, José. 

For various reasons, we hadn´t been able to teach a real, spiritual lesson to José for about two weeks, and as a result of this, when we were finally able to teach him again he had become a little less open to our teaching. In that time he had talked to other churches and become aware of the many different doctrines and churches that there are, and didn´t accept what we taught as readily as before. It was like he had lost his belief that anyone knows which church is really the true church. So, that was disappointing - he had stopped progressing. 

Then, this last week, we happened to run into him in the street and he told us he was moving - just a few blocks down from where he was before - and that he was about to go start taking his things over to the new house. Because we didn´t have a fixed appointment at that time, we offered to go help him, and we helped him move to his new house. (Not as easy as in the US, since instead of a U-Haul we had only a small handcart to get all of his possessions from one place to the other. Fortunately, he didn´t have all that much stuff and it was only large items that we were moving.) He thanked us, and we carried on. We went to his house a few days later and found that he was working to attach some furniture to the wall, so we pitched in and helped him get it done a lot faster than he could have done it by himself. 

Because of those two acts of service, he opened up to us once again and we were able to apply the Gospel to help him know how to resolve his problems. He listened to us, and he trusted our counsel once again. When we left, we told him we´re always available if he needs help, and he said, ´Yes... I know.´ Like mom said - service does soften hearts. And it was great that God put us in just the place we needed to be both times so that we were there when he needed help.

Alright, that´s all I´ve got today! We´re going to go shopping now and then do some fun P.day apartment cleaning! Yee-ha. 

Take care! I love you all so much! Have a great week.

Hugs, and a kiss on the cheek for Mom and sisters,
Elder Andrew Stockton

Photos:

  Second Christmas!

Service in Jardines: