Week 85 - TMI in San Roque

Well hey everyone!

Hope all is going well up in the States or whereever you are around the world!

Things are going pretty good here in San Roque - SO much work to do for October that's coming up here soon. Man, next week I'll hit 20 months in the mission, where did all the time go??? So crazy...

Well as far as this week, I was all over the place. On Thursday I went on divisions with Elder Fuentes here in San Roque which was pretty cool - he's one of my favorite comps that I've had. Well we had to go pick him up and drop him off in Santa Cruz like 90 minutes away: And a worker that I know well from being in the office was dropping off house supplies and he was headed back to San Roque. So we hopped in the back of his truck (it's closed haha) and went back to San Roque. Needless to say, it was so freakin hot in that truck... and even worse when Fuentes passed gas.. oh man. But divisions went really well.

Friday, Elder Lopez was pretty sick with Double Dragon (throwing up and diahrea) - not fun, let me tell you!! Been there, done that! So we had some time in the house so he could rest. So I cleaned, worked out, wrote in my journal and everything!

Saturday, we helped out with the wedding-baptism that the sisters had in our ward!

And yesterday, I ate chicken wings baby!!! Whoooo! They were huge and I ate 6, so I have to do a lot of excersize this week!

Well, and for the sad part, the baptism that we had planned fell through :/ The older brother pretty much ruined it for his little brother who was super excited and everything! Well, kinda sucky but it actually happens a lot in the mission. You just kinda have to say dangit and move on!

This week should be good! Today I only get to write - I don't have P-day because my P-day I'll be in the US embassy getting my second cedula (dang, I'm old) and this weekend we'll have a multi-zone conference and even better, we have GENERAL CONFERENCE! So excited for that, I invite everyone to check it out Saturday and Sunday!  https://www.lds.org/general-conference?lang=eng&_r=1

Well thanks everyone for all the prayers and everything! Love everyone lots! Keep the faith!

God speed and PURA VIDA! haha

- Elder Stott 

Week 84 - Time to Get Cooking

Hey guys! I hope (as always) that everything is going good up in the states or wherever you are!

Things are going pretty good here in beautiful Guanacaste Costa Rica!

This week was Semana de Milagros in the mission and we had the opportunity to go work out in the parks and out in super public places talking to lots of people. We weren't allowed to leave during Independance day until 3 in the afternoon so we studied a ton, cleaned, and watched God's Army 1 & 2.. both are really good movies that I recommend! Most people leave and go to the beach anyways, so NOBODY is home.

But yeah, my favorite part of the week was talking to people in the street about the Book of Mormon. People usually have NO CLUE what it is so they're almost always interested. Now in the mission, we have the rule that we always have to walk around with the BofM in hand and try to talk to everyone about it! People usually are really open and willing to talk about God or religion. Especially the drunks... I had to run over and help a sister missionary who was being bugged by some drunk dude. He yelled lots and wanted to fight but I was a lot bigger than him so he backed down.. Nobody disrespects my sister missionaries! haha

Looking professional in my new Navy suit

Well Sunday (yesterday) was really tough.. In the morning, we had 2 baptisms planned as well as one in another area of the ward. Well none of those 3 baptisms showed up. We called and called and nothing... Later in Sacrament meeting, only 48 people came..... that's like the amount of people that come to a branch here.. really sad.. and to top it off, none of our investigators came even though tons said they were going to be able to make it. Talk about rough day! But that's all part of the mission grind because you can't win em all! But yeah, hopefully all goes well for this next weekend! Keep those prayers coming! We need them.

Things have been good with me and my comp. Right now, we're just really focused on making sure that the zone is excited and that the missionaries are working hard! A lot of the missionaries are really content so we're happy! I've been kinda sick for the passed couple of days... having a cold in the mish sucks.. but there's another grind time for you!

Hey, I'm really sick of rice and beans. Everybody send me some easy recipes! I'm gonna cook real food. Yup, it's THAT BAD.

The mission sure is a lot of work but I'm loving it! It's a lot of ups and downs and good days mixed with lots of bad days.. but it's always worth it. Sometimes you just gotta look ahead and keep going. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is here to help us do just that: pick ourselves up and keep going. We can avoid many of the would-be regrets of tomorrow by following the Savior today. I know that's true!

Love all of you guys so much!

The church is true!

Pura Vida!

Elder Stott 

Week 83 - A Bomb For Mom :(

Hey fam and friends!

Hope everyone is doing flippin great! Because things are great here too!

I’ve had a little bit of a cold going these past couple of days but it’s all good!

Well this week went really well! We had a zone conference and President came all the way out here to check things out. What’s cool is that he was really really happy with how the conference turned out – he said it was very spiritual and very energetic! After we all went out to eat – President’s treat ;) 

The next day we had our early morning meeting with the Stake President (and owner of a really good Tico soccer team), the Stake Presidency, and President Laboriel. Those meetings are always sooooo cool because it feels like a giant CEO meeting (business owner, general authority, public government leader, and Elder Stott…. Hahaha I’m the odd-ball there)

Fun fact: I heard the song “Winds of Change” by the Scorpions but they sang it in Spanish – not mission related at all but it’s a cool song! This week I figured out that one of my favorite drinks here “Pitahya” is actually dragon fruit. It’s a cool looking thingy and tastes super good! The drink that I don’t like is passion fruit – that stuffs freaking nasty… Another fruit that’s super good is the sugar apple, its super soft a yummy – good stuff! 

Dragon fruit

Well this week we ran all over the place visiting and meeting new people. It’s weird here because it pours and then the stops randomly so the weather here’s like a box of chocolates…  Our investigators are all doing pretty good! We met a super sweet family that were totally going to go to church but the dad had to go to work. They’re super sick so hoping that I’ll have some good stuff to share this week about them – cross yo fingas! Haha

Well I’m doing good too! Lots and lost of work to do with not very much time! 

Well good news everyone! After talking with President a lot lately, he asked if I’d extend my release date from December 28 to February 9, so long story short, I’ll be out for a little more than 2 years! It was kinda tough to think about because I already had lots of plans for when I was going to come home in December, but I’ve realized that a lot of times, my plans aren’t the Lord’s plans. I've learned that lesson a lot of times here on my mission. I know that everything always turns out just fine.

Well, I love all you guys so much! Thank you for the love and support!

Pura vida!

-          Elder Stott!  

Week 82 - Looking Pretty Dang Good

Hey family and friends!

Hope all is well back state-side and that everyone is enjoying their Labor-Day weekend. Haha a gringo that came a visited the ward reminded me that a holiday like that exists back in the states (I completely forgot).

But yeah things have been pretty good here in good old San Roque. There’s this family here that loves the 4 elder missionaries – la familia Calderon. Brother Calderon is the High Council member in charge of Missionary Work in the stake and he lives in our ward. They always invite us over to eat on Sundays now and his mom-in-law cooks so well and without a trace of rice OR beans, now that BIG.  Haha but it’s cool because Elder Lopez and I are really focused on getting to know all the members now and they really like it. (and so do we because that usually means food and references, every missionaries favorite combo). So things have been good in our ward. Our bishop is well… interesting. We’re trying to help him help us more haha because there’s very little support there but it’s a work in progress!

This week was really chuck full with just about everything you can think about. Surprise house-check visits to missionaries in our zone, leadership council in San Jose,  seeing good friend that live in San Jose,  and lots of other stuff.

I did get a new suit and it looks pretty dang good if I may say so. Actually Presidente gave me like 5 comments at the leadership meeting and all of them were in front of everyone. You can say that it was a pretty good investment. It’s a dark navy suit so it’s a little different than your average black but it’s very professional. 

Teaching in our area has been pretty good too! We’re working with some families that are actually progressing pretty fast. One girl that we’re teaching read the whole pamphlet and answered some of the questions in the back (hardly anyone does that… so it’s sick!) We’re still working to find THE family. They’re out there somewhere, but we just have to keep looking and working hard.

Zone Conference is this week so we’ll get to share all the advice that President gave the AP’s and us ZL’s with the zone! I actually really like Zone Conferences because I feel like I always get to learn a lot from our missionaries!

I’m really loving the opportunity that I have to serve with Elder Lopez. He’s so freaking funny… I don’t think that I’ve laughed so much in all my mission haha.  He’s great for the zone because he brings in that light goofy side to the zone (and if you’re thinking that I’m goofy, you better meet E. Lopez haha)

Oh and I hit 19 months yesterday! So crazy how fast the time passes by! I’m loving it and sometimes, feel like the time passes a little too fast! Well, something to leave you guys all with. This week I was studying a lot about obedience. Elder Holland has a talk that just blows me away everytime I listen to it. Please listen to it...Here’s the link: https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/jeffrey-r-holland_will-father/  It’s such a good talk! 

I also read a quote that I LOVE from Elder Uchtdorf: “Many of the deepest regrets of tomorrow can be prevented by following the Savior today”. I’ll leave those two things with you guys! I love my mission and I love my savior!

But yup, that’s the low-down on things tico-side!  

Thank you for all the support and for the prayers as always!

The church is true – pura vida!

- Elder Stott

Here's a really short video that Elder Vorwaller and I made last month...It's a little artsy. I Hope They Call Me On a Mission. haha

Found this little guy trying to steal my name tag