Week 29 - Back in Black!

Hey everyone! Hope everyone had a great week last week!

First of all, sorry if I have weird grammar in this email - this keyboard doesn't have a Spanish option but oh well.

So this week was LONG! Longest week of my mission but here we are in another week! I survived! 

It really has been an adventure opening up our new area, Hatillo, and training a newbie haha. So first, I'll talk a little about my greenie. His name is Elder Carrion and he's from Honduras. He's VERY confident in himself and his personal abilities to teach. Sounds like someone we know??  He served a mini mission over in Honduras for 3 months so he thinks he knows a lot haha. He reminds me a lot of MYSELF when I was just starting haha. But like me, he'll find that the mission corrects pride very quickly and even a little harshly sometimes. He likes to talk right in my face when he talks with me and it's a little hard for me to understand him because he slurs his Spanish. He also reminds me a lot of my second companion because he asks SO MANY FLIPPIN questions! Each question is to ask another question. haha And a lot of the time I have to answer his questions with something like "Who knows" or "No idea".  haha  He asks odd questions that I know nothing about. How much money does a Chiropractor make in Costa Rica?  "No idea!"  I'm a little lost on how I can help him. I hope the Lord can help me with that part! I know I will grow to love him - it's just something that I have to keep trying. I'm keeping my head up high, but not too high haha  I'm praying for extra patience.

Now, our new area! IT'S HUGE. Its like the 2nd biggest area in all of Costa Rica. So this area has had missionaries before in the Ward, but they were taken out because the members offered little support to the missionaries. They have been begging mission presidents to send missionaries for about 2-3 years now and finally we're Back in Black! haha 😎 It's going to be great!!  I honestly feel like a celebrity in the ward because they all knew our names before we came... a little strange huh. AND they all feed us, so Elder Stott is happy! I've gotten so lost, so many times because the area is a lot like Portland but with smaller buildings. There's 10 or 11 districts in this city so we have a lot of work to do. I'm pretty dang stressed because President, the Zone Leaders, and my District leaders are putting the pressure on. I have to train my companion and open an area - so LOTS of pressure. I'm loving the challenge, but let me just say, there's a lot on my plate right now.  Prayers appreciated.

Nothing much else happened this week. We had a big conference in San Jose and a couple of good friends came to visit - Elder Dunyon and Navas. We were all in Alejuelita together!

Hope everyone has a great week. Enjoy those last 2 weeks of Summer!

Take care y Pura Vida!

- Elder Stott