September 30,2013

Sept 30,2013

Wow where to begin. My email was short last week and there have been so many changes and I’m not sure where to begin!

First off I’m in my new favorite area! haha It is a little like Enoch but Enoch 2 hours from anything. We can walk from one end of the pueblo to the other in about 30 min. to kinda give you an idea. I’m in a branch of about 20 active members and 70 more less active so there is plenty of work to be done! My comp is awesome too. He has 23 months in the mission so this is his last change and I’m trying to absorb all the information I can from him before he leaves! He also loves to prank and joke around and so do I so there is hardly ever a dull moment here in Tanquian! 

 We’ve got several promising investigators but our focus right now is the members. The branch is getting better every week but we have only had missionaries here for 4 months and before  that the church was really struggling. But we have a great branch president who has the ganas (the will) to work so everything is going well! 

 I’m also super stoked for conference. I’ve always had somewhat a desire to learn from the prophets but this year is different. I really understand how tan impotante it is to have conference. Saturday I’ll be watching it in a cyber (a little store where you rent computers to use by the hour) and Sunday we rented a bus to take the two hour trip with the branch to go to valles to watch the Sunday sessions. So I encourage you all to really put emphasis on conference this year! Because that’s what  I’m gonna do! 

 Lastly I want to put some emphasis on the small things. More importantly scripture study and prayer. Here there are a lot of less active members and for a good part of them I can tell you exactly why. Their testimonies were not strengthened daily.... something we cannot go without! Faith and testimonies are things that can diminish with time so we must constantly be trying the crecer these things so they don’t diminish. 

 One thing we have been teaching the families here is to study as a family (because we have a few families that the parents can’t read or write and their kids can). There are few things in this world more powerful than studying and praying as a family. Now I hope my family back home is still doing this because I testify almost daily of my strong family and how we are strong because of our almost daily scripture study as a family. And with that I encourage you all to read today if you have not and continue to read personally and with you family on a daily basis that we might all become strong and become one in the Lord. Because if we are not one we are not his..... so let’s become unified and have a growing knowledge of the scriptures and the lords teaching for us! 

 Love you all and chat with ya next week!

(oh p.s. sorry forgot the camera today so no pictures)

Sept 23,2013

Sept23, 2013

Well my last days in Mante were rainy so this is me prepared for a day of being wet

A picture that my mom wanted for my plaque. Hope it works.

This is me and my comp Elder Tadeo at our ward party for Mexican independence day. whoo a lot of fun

Some fun at a members house the day before changes

The same members house where we had my going away meal. As I got transferred from Mante... also where my favorite food was.

One of my investigating families from Mante who will prob get baptized without me this month haha but oh well

This is the next day after a good night of rain..... my boots didnt help much. The streets were completely flooded and we walked in water nearly all day

Now I'm in Valles with my new comp far left and my zone leader the other American! 

well... I was short on milk for my cereal so we found me some! 

Well I've used nearly all my time with pictures but I'm here in Tanquian Mexico and loving it!  It's kinda hot and we're just a little branch of 30 people or so but so far it has been great. I've got a great comp elder Mesa who is ending his mission this transfer. So I've got to learn a lot. He is a great missionary and there is a lot to learn from him and I need to learn the area in a month! Love you all and hope to get more to you next week! 

Sept. 9,2013

Well sorry but again this week I don’t have pictures and I am using a computer that doesn’t take SD cards.... booooo

But anyways all is well here in Mexico. The past few weeks there has been some action. There are trucks with mounted 50 cals and every once in a while we can hear them going off in the distance.... and one time there were the 50 cals and about 20 min later a military helicopter was patrolling our area ha... but luckily as of yet I haven’t seen anything.

 One thing I keep forgetting to tell you is about my name. Here I am not know as elder stoor. Because of the pronunciation in spanish its elder es-stoor and es means is so if you sounds it out estoor is sounds like is thor.... haha and because I’m a bit stronger than the average Mexican and a bit taller I’m  known as elder Thor. Haha It has become normal for me and it’s all right by me!

 I can’t say anything as of now.... but there has been talk of I pads for the mission. Nothing is in stone but I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m carrying around a tablet here after Christmas! How sweet! 

 There are seasons here ha luckily it would be hot hot hot always here.... now it’s just hot ha... we have had a lot of clouds lately which helps a ton and with our newly fixed ac I actually use a blanket at night. So that has been a blessing and it’s supposed to cool down a bit more here in the next month and when I say cool I mean like 80 degrees ha. 

 ...Well sitting in sacrament I had some thoughts that I would like to share with you today on the topic of prayer. As a missionary I have prayed a lot. Whether it be to learn the language or to help investigators my prayers are longer and with more feeling, as I feel is common for most all missionaries. So first off I challenge you to better you prayers. But first we need to understand the importance and significance of prayer. I was thinking of a promise the lord makes several times in the scriptures. Ask and ye shall receive, Knock and it shall be given unto you. This when we think literally is quite and promise! But why can’t we take it literally? .... Well we can. I’m sure as of now we all have or think we have unanswered prayers... so how can this be...

My thoughts are this. Yes all prayers are answered... and quite frankly in the moment we ask in faith. The thing is not always are our prayers answered in the way that we’d like. For example when I was in Hawaii I had a sincere prayer for months. That was to receive work and we all know that didn’t happen for 4 months.  Looking back that so called [unanswered] prayer is one of the greatest blessings of my life. I received so much in that time and all of it was for my benefit. Unfortunately I am out time but I want to conclude with this... your prayers are answered because Jesus Christ said “ask and receive, knock and it shall be opened.” I testify of this..... la cosa mas importante is that we ask and then act in faith..... if we don’t get what we want we can act as a child or lose faith or the better we can wait in faith and with hope that whatever the lord has in store for us is much better that what we had planned. NEVER LET YOUSELF THINK THAT YOUR PLANS AND DESIRES ARE GREATER THAN THE LORDS. If we think this we a surely in   the wrong and need to repent. 

I testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ amen

Sept 2, 2013
Well, the computer won’t take my memory card today so no pictures... sorry
I also don’t have the ganas to write much either haha. 

 This week was pretty normal we got a ton of rain at the beginning of the week... so thank goodness for my ariats! And I put the umbrella to good use too! 

We had 5 investigators show at church Sunday! whoo.... the area is slow but this next change im bettin on 3 baptisms so let hope it stays that way! It’s so hard to know with such a surety that this gospel is all that anyone needs and to watch tons of people lose sight of that or never accept it to begin with. I’d say it’s the hardest thing any missionary has to do. Sometimes you just want to beat them with the bible and other time you want so desperately for them to feel something confirming the truth of our words. The comfort we can find in this is that Dios has a plan for us. For us missionaries are to preach and to give everyone the opportunity. But this can be done by the members. Plant a seed and  talk with someone today and refer them to the missionaries. Or explicar a little about what we believe because you never know who will accept. Many don’t but how sad the day we meet those we knew in this life in heaven and they then ask disappointedly why didn’t you even try to share this with me? Because we’re all in it together! 

 Will have photos and more next week! 

Elder Stoor!