Week 55 - "Super duper stressful"

Hey everyone!

Well this week was super duper stressful... Pretty glad that it's over but all in all, it was a good week.

So first, the reason why it was stressful: Consejo de Liderazgo (leadership meeting). So I have to do a ton of number crunching, calling, verifiying, and a bunch of stuff for all the mission leaders in the mission. It usually takes about a week (From Monday to Friday) to get everything done (and that's working all day on it). And if there's any mistakes, my head goes on the chopping block - so that's cool. haha.

I'm literally running around everywhere making sure that everything is good. I got calls from the States, Argentina, Columbia, and Guatemala. I still think it's pretty cool that I can understand and communicate with them in a different language.. Speaking of another language, I downloaded the Book of Mormon in Portugese so I'm hoping that I can pick some of it up because the language is SO cool! Elder Jarvis (Trevor) is learning it too - we're trying to come back tri-lingual haha :)

Also, President asked me to write sheet music for the mission hymn. The only thing that I had to work with was a mp3 of vocals and someone playing simple chords on a piano. So that took forever and I had like a day and half to write the music and try to put it in a program but I think it turned out well - President likes it so that's good. I'll see if I can slap that baby in here, we'll see if it'll work.

Investigator update:

Y - she's still doing good. Having a little trouble with the guy that she used to live with - just a little drama and tears there. But she is really excited to keep moving forward to the point where she'll be ready for her baptism. Still struggling just a tiny bit with smoking but we're working on that.

R - Still kind of a strange dude but he really likes learning about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He's always willing to try something new and to keep his commitments to read the scriptures. We're just working on getting him to church.

C - a guy that has a BOAT LOAD of HARD questions but I love it. He really keeps us on his toes. And his questions are sincere so that really helps. He told us that he would be coming to church with us this Sunday so I'm really excited for that. Hoping for some big things with him because he's just a really good guy looking for some change in his life.

Well this week, I'll be finishing the baptism report and helping out with legal stuff for the Elders and Sisters. ALSO, I'll be driving the Hilux here soon if I pass the drivers test. Since I failed the permit test in Oregon 3 times, I'm not too sure.... haha but I promise I'm a good driver!

No update on weird food yet. I'm fighting to try to get a hold of a mountain rat/pig that tastes super good, or so I've heard. haha 

Well, thanks for all the updates for everyone and the prayers. It's good to hear that life is treating everyone fairly well. Keep hanging in there and remember that you're a child of God with heavenly potential.

Love you guys!

- Elder Stott

Week 54 - Semana Sacrificio

Hey everyone!

Like ALWAYS, I hope all is well up in the States or wherever you might be.

Well this week was sick! We had semana sacrificio (sacrifice week) where we really hit the streets and work hard with our whole Zone. We don't work in the office during semana sacrificio, we just find people to teach.  I got to work in both Alajuelita and Hatillo (both are areas that I worked in for 4 months each) so that was super sick. I didn't get to visit any of the people I baptized because we were focused on finding new people to teach, but I did see a couple of them so that was cool. 

Man, I am so sunburnt - my nose blistered a little bit but that's all part of the game. No pain, no gain baby!

Oh hey, I found some graffiti with my name and a little tire-minion so I took some pictures with those. They're pretty cool haha :)

Investigator update: 

• Miss Y - she's doing really really good. Still struggling a little with the cigarettes but she is starting to see some changes in her life and the blessings that come with them. We're praying really hard for her that she'll continue with her desire to change and to learn more about Christ.
• Mr R - a dude that we met this week. He's really looking for some changes in his life and lifestyle. He has lived in a way that's, well.. totally different than mine, I'll just put it that way. He is realizing that God truly loves him and R wants to prove to Him that he's willing to change.

Well, hope that you guys all have a super sick week!

"Fortune favors the bold"

¡Pura Vida!

Elder Stott

Week 53 - Excited to teach

Hey y'all! 

Hope everyone is doing super good! This week was definitely a better one for me that's for sure!

But still, not a whole ton happened this week...

We did do a huge cleaning of our house - it's the biggest in the mission and all the missionaries that go home always leave a bunch of crap so it's nice to finally have it cleaned. So that's cool.

 

I'm borrowing a cool acoustic-electric guitar as well from Elder Black so I've been able to jam a little.

The area's been good - we're getting ready for another sacrifice week so I'm excited for that! We're hoping to find a lot of people who are ready to hear and accept the gospel. Mostly, I'm just excited to teach the people about Jesus Christ. It's my favorite thing to do because it's amazing to watch people's faces light up when they understand how much they are loved by Him!

So this guy let me try on his police uniform shirt :)

Well, I'll make sure to write more next week! 

Have a great week! Love all of you guys

Pura Vida, 

Elder Stott :)

Week 52 - A hard, but good week

Hey everyone! Hope things are sweet up there in Los Estados or wherever you might be!

So this week was crazy/stressful/long/sad/and awesome all at the same time.

To start things off, we had changes week (or transfers) on Monday. I had to prepare a fat load of new phones for new areas, shut down old phones, report numbers to Salt Lake, do an orientation for the new missionaries and a fat-load of other stuff. It was a lot to do! And it was pretty stressful - I had to write on Monday and it took me 2 HOURS going back and forth, to finally send the email to my fam... People wouldn't leave me alone in the office! Ahhhh! BUT later, we went and got sushi AND the owner actually invited us so it was all free!! I think I had about 25 of those rolls with the tuna on top - legit, I know. We're gonna make that a tradition in the office now - sushi run on changes-day haha.

For the sad part, and I actually don't want to talk all that much about it, but here it goes. So a convert that I baptized in Cañas has a daughter who gave birth to a baby boy (so it's my convert's grandson). He was born in critical condition and the missionaries there in Cañas called to let me know that the mom had asked us to come give a blessing to her baby in the hospital. We were going to go later that night, but a just a little bit later, we got a call saying that the doctors were going to take the baby off life-support and that the family asked them to wait until after the baby had been blessed. So we dropped what we were doing and took a taxi to the hospital. We got passed security, put on clean clothes and were sanitized to enter the ICU for infants. Man, I will NEVER, EVER forget the feelings that came over me in that room. It was so solemn as we watched the parents - watching their baby breathe by machine and trembling. The feelings and impressions that I had are too sacred for me to share, but let me just say that the Spirit was so strong in that room. We placed our hands underneath that tiny baby's head and gave him a blessing. The dad noticed that I had tears after we finished and he came up to hug me - it was a very sacred moment for me, I will never forget. Later, we got the news that the baby passed away. That was pretty hard for me. Even though I didn't know this family all that well, I loved them and their baby so much. I just want you guys to know that I know that our Heavenly Father loves us, HIS children. He knows us and He wants the very best for us. I know without a single doubt in my mind that the small family will see their child again - Because families aren't something temporal - they are eternal. We got to go to the temple this week and I came with a TON of questions and things to ponder while I was there. I know that prayer and study really do bring answers to our lives. I love the temple - I spent almost 2 hours inside :)

Also, I hit my year mark on Thursday! It's been a crazy/long/fast/awesome year for me and I'm so thankful for all the people I've met and things I've learned. Thank you all for the support and love from the people that have stuck by my side through it all. You're support is felt and appreciated. To celebrate my year, My mommy sent me some moccasins (mi favorito) to make my tired, missionary feet comfy. So I have some pictures of that there. :) Thank you mom! 

This week I also made my own weights with water - it weighs 60 lbs haha so I guess it'll do a little bit of good! Macgyver weights. Time to get back into shape.

Well, thank you all for the support, again. I love you guys so much. Keep up the good work and when in doubt, ask yourself this simple yet profound question: "What would Jesus do?". I promise that you'll never go wrong - ever.

Until next time!

Pura Flippin Vida

Elder Stott :)