Week 5 - Last letter from the MTC

Hola everyone! ​Hope everyone's doing well!​

Well I made it to my last day in the MTC. Kinda weird because although I'm excited to get to Costa Rica, I'm pretty comfortable here. BUT I'm more than ready to leave and go serve the Ticos! 

A couple of things happened this week...

One of my buddies from my home ward - E. Tidwell

Elder Quintin L. Cook (an apostle of the church) came for my last Tuesday-night devotional so I was pretty stoked for that. He talked about how every single missionary call was prayerfully considered and the call itself was inspired. I know that Costa Rica is where I'm supposed to go. I'm not totally sure yet what exactly my purpose is there, but I know that I'll figure out sometime :) 

Spanish is still going great - got an evaluation and the guy in charge said I was "more than ready" to go out and speak but I disagree.. I think I sound like a Spanish-caveman but all is well I guess!

My companions - E. Smith and E. Holmes

I got my flight plans this week: I have my Visa so I'm leaving at 3 am this coming Monday morning and will be in Costa Rica that evening around 7 p.m Costa Rica time (6 p.m. OR) and there is one sister missionary who is also flying with me - and she only speaks Spanish which will be great practice for me haha. I'll fly to Atlanta and then head down to paradise.

We had an elder go home from our Zone and although it kind-of broke my heart, I'm so proud of him. Missionaries who decide to go home to fix things are so strong and courageous. It totally changed my view of missionaries who go home. If you ever come across a missionary who comes home to fix something, please love them. Tell them you're glad to see them. They're courageous people!

Last P-day (after I had emailed) my companion Elder Smith had to go to the Mexican Consulate for his Visa. He came back with a big box and had a big smile on his face. Next thing we knew, he pulled out 9 In-N-Out burgers. I pretty much cried. It was an amazing experience. Real food is so good. haha

Next email I will be in Costa Rica - I'm about to swan dive into a new & amazing culture. Thank you for everyone's prayers and support!

Pura Vida, 

- Elder Stott

Week 4 - Wrestling rugburns and Life cereal

Hey everybody, hope everyone is having a great week so far!

A couple of little things happened this week but nothing too big.

First, I got to be a host so I got to welcome and guide a couple of new shell-shocked missionaries through the MTC. One sister got out of her car and brought out 4 huge suitcases. I swear she packed rocks and dumbbells because her bags were all freaking heavy - so I got a really good workout haha.

I still have yet to meet ANYONE going to Costa Rica so I think I'll be a solo traveler. I have met just a couple people headed to Panama or Nicaragua.

My dad, brother and I all wear the same tie on Fast Sunday

This week we had the chance to Skype members of the church who are native Spanish speakers and we had a sister who is our age from Costa Rica! Her name was Isabella but she didn't answer our call. So we left a video message and hopefully we can connect with her this coming Monday.

I figured out that there were workout machines above the gym that I had been using so I'm super stoked to use those now. They're pretty descent machines but they're nothing special BUT I'm still grateful to have them.

I'm living on a diet of bananas, milk, and life cereal because I'm pretty tired of the food. Think of the best school cafeteria food you've had (so not all the great), dump a bunch of salt on it, and then boom: you have MTC food! So milk, bananas, and cereal (with the occasional bagel) will be my food and staple for the next 2 weeks as well!

My Tongan buddy - E. Vahakali

Earlier this week, I had an "impromptu" wrestling match with a state champ wrestler from Washington. It was a fierce battle with no clear winner. It ended up being a tie and we both had rug burns on our elbows and knees and face. Our Branch President asked where the marks were from and we said we had wrestled with God in mighty prayer. He about died haha and said he had wished he saw this great and might battle.

I keep bumping into people I know from home and BYU. 3 different people this week stopped me and asked if I worked out at the BYU gym and were surprised that I hadn't been on a mission yet. I'll be hosting again this week and I have a few friends coming in so hopefully I get to see them.

All the Elders still think that it's super cool that I shave with a straight-edge. I have only nicked myself once! It's an art and I am becoming a better artist.


Oh this week, we had were asking an investigator if we could come back and teach him another lesson. One of my poor companions had asked if we could come back on "Juevos" which translates to "eggs" or is slang (but not a bad word) for the male anatomy. I completely lost it and so did our investigator, it was SO funny. My companion once started speaking italian randomly and another time he told an investigator that we baptize dead people (bodies). I quickly explained that we don't use "cuerpos mortes" and that it was a symbolical ordinance. I love my companions, they really keep me on my toes and truly are great :)

Looking GQ in the snow

Here in the MTC I have learned that everyone just wants to be loved - that's what it all comes down to. So I'd encourage everyone to make sure you tell the people you care about that you love them. It really changes lives.

I'm so grateful to be a missionary. It's the hardest thing I have ever done but I have never been happier. It's truly a blessing in my life.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Voy a hablar con todos ustedes la próxima semana! Sé fuerte y valiente.

Pura Vida

- Elder Stott

Week 3 - It's a Small World & Chocolate Milk

Josh sounds like he's doing great!  A little foreground to his following letter.  This week he was asked to give a prayer at a devotional.  The District President's wife (Sister Snow) thought she recognized him, but couldn't figure it out until they announced "Elder Stott".  She recognized the name and realized he was her "missionary grandson"... 25 years ago, she and her husband served as Mission President to Josh's dad on his mission in Seoul West, South Korea.  Doug served in the mission office at the time, and was very close to them.  Neat connection!

Elder Stott is loving the MTC, but like many missionaries, he's ready to move on from the classrooms and get to the serving in Costa Rica.  He'll be at the MTC for 2 more weeks - He leaves for Costa Rica on March 18!  Thank you for your prayers, emails, letters and packages - he's feeling the love and support! 

Here's his letter from February, 26:


Hey everyone! Como esta todo el mundo? Hope life is treating everyone well!

I'm afraid this week was quite similar to last week and will probably be so until I hit the beaches and jungles of beautiful Costa Rica.

Thank you to everyone who has sent me mail and packages - I think you all are trying to make me fat but I love it.

Josh with District President and Sister Snow

This week I met my Dad's Mission President.  Pretty cool huh?! I met him after I said the opening prayer for the Sunday Devotional in front of 2000 missionaries. It was a fat-load of people to pray for.  I also met a couple of missionaries here at the MTC who's parents were missionaries with my dad.

I'm continuing to become submerged in the Tongan culture with my Tongan friend. Apparently I'm the whitest Tongan he's ever met so that's pretty sick.

So a little story about my temple trip this morning. I got dressed and headed to the temple for our 7-o'clock session. When I got inside and got ready to change into my white clothing, something smelt kinda weird and funky. I opened my bag and smelled inside to see what stunk and just about threw up. Everyone in the locker room laughed because I dry-heaved for about 5 minutes straight (ha ha ha). Turns out I had left a half-gone chocolate milk in my bag. But it didn't spill or color anything so that was super great (sarcasm). So I had to rent clothes and douse my clothes in detergent today. Yay.

We made a spank machine for my Norwegian Elder's birthday and had a go-pro video of it going in and behind him hahaha. He was like "I'm Elder Rui, and this is the Spank Machine" I died haha :)

If anyone wants a cool talk to check out, check out "The Character Of Christ" by Elder David A. Bednar, one of the 12 Apostles.   http://www2.byui.edu/presentations/transcripts/religionsymposium/2003_01_25_Bednar.htm

Hope everyone is enjoying life and if you want to truly feel happy - go out and serve someone. :)

Until next week,

Pura Vida

- Elder Stott

Week 2 - Elder "JoshtheStott"

Hey family, friends, and everyone!

Hope everyone is doing great and hanging in there!

At the temple with my crew.

Things at the MTC are almost exactly the same as last week haha. They say the weeks are days and that the days are weeks and that is so true it's scary. I'm finally all unpacked because we never really got time to unpack.

I'm loving my companions, district and zone even more! So I got called as a Zone Leader which means that I'm in charge of about 30 missionaries. The leadership in a mission at the MTC goes (from smallest to biggest - but all are important)

Companionship (2 or in my case 3 missionaries)

    District (about 10 missionaries)

        District Leader (1 for each District)

          Zone (made up of about 3-5 Districts)

              Zone Leader (Me, Elder Casperson (what a boss), and Elder Gallaway)

                  Branch Presidency (The Big Dudes in charge)

We played a prank this week on a room where we took their mattresses and left a room inspection (a real one that we erased) note saying their "mattress privileges" were gone for 2 weeks. They FLIPPED and it was hilarious. They left their door open so they learned to lock it now haha. We were just helping them out in learning their lesson ;)

I'm shredding the volleyball game. That's my favorite part of the day (other than going to bed)

I met a Sister this week and found out her parents will be the new Mission Presidents for Costa Rica East!  So I could possibly be in their mission when it splits! How cool is that?! She said I would love her parents and that'd be cool to say "hey I know your daughter" haha!

Lookin G in the classroom...

One of my Tongan Elders (Elder Vakilahi), a couple other Elders and I were all doing the Haka pretty dang loud in the bathroom in the dorms the other afternoon. It was sick because I got to be the lead dude that yells first. The building manager came in and got kinda mad because we were being loud (but personally I think he just got really scared).

So because I went to BYU, there is a ton of people that I know in the MTC and my whole zone thinks I'm famous.. Every time we walk somewhere I know someone and I or they say hi and everyone in my district or zone says "wow is that person number 137 that you know?". And it doesn't help that a guy came up to me and asked if I was "JoshtheStott" from Twitter the other day. No clue who this guy was but I guess he knew me!

I'm still known as Elder Peque("n" with squiggly thing)o even though I beat this other companionship in an arm wrestling contest. They had two people wrestling me. 

My testimony is STRONG.  Haha.

So a couple people were asking about my mailing address for packages and mail so here is my address for the next 2 weeks: 

ELDER JOSH STOTT

MAR17 CRA-SJO

2009 N 900 E UNIT 141

Provo, UT 84602

Thank you to everyone who has prayed for, mailed, emailed, and just simply helped me out! It truly means so much to me!

Pura Vida!

Elder Stott

Week 1 - New to the MTC

Josh's email from Thursday, Feb 12, 2015

Got to go to the temple!

Hey family and friends!

Hope everyone's doing well! This has been such a crazy week!

So first, I got to the MTC and got two companions. One is Elder Smith and the other is named Elder Holmes. They're both incredibly different than me but I have truly learned to love them like brothers. The first day, we were taught completely in Spanish and it felt like my skull was going to burst, but I got through it obviously! hooray!



A little Matrix - mastering the wall backflip

So in the daily life of Elder Stott. My day starts at 6:30 am where I shower, iron my clothes and get ready for the day. We are in the cafeteria and eating breakfast at about 7:15. Now the food is not disgusting but I would not necessarily recommend it either. I learned quickly (took a couple hours haha) which foods I should eat and which ones I should stay away from.

Everyday I have about 9-12 hours of class where I will teach someone who only speaks Spanish, I'll learn Spanish (weird order huh?) and then I'll have personal and companionship study. It is SUCH a long day but they go quickly in a way and the next thing you know, its your first P-day or that you have multiple days to catch up in your journal.

Everyday we have gym time where we can play soccer, volleyball, basketball and other gym stuff. I personally like to play some slam-volleyball and let-off some steam so to speak. There's also a small gym with some dumbbells and (worthless) cardio-stuff haha. It's too bad because the dumbbells don't go that heavy (the heaviest are 60's) so in order to get a good workout, I have to bust out a ton of reps haha. 

If you haven't already, check out "Dear Elder".  (Dearelder.com)  It's this thing where you email me through this website and the mail office prints it out and I can pick it up in an envelope. So I can get real letters or Dear Elders everyday and I can write letters everyday and send them. I can email once a week so it's nice to have letters and packages in between! Trust me, any and all letters/packages/Dear Elders/and emails are SO appreciated. It's like Christmas and can really turn a day around!

All my friends like to call me Elder Pequeno (or Elder Small) funny huh?

I don't have very much time to write emails but I have plenty of time to improve (I think like 2 years or something) So I will write more next week!

Love you all,

Elder Stott (Elder Pequeno) 

First letter from the MTC

Josh arrived at the Missionary Training Center last Wednesday, Feb 4th.

Missionaries are assigned a Preparation Day - or "P-day", and among other things, this is when they get to read/write letters and email.  Josh's P-days, while he's at the MTC, are on Thursdays.  Because his first couple of days were so busy, he didn't get to email on his regular day but his Branch President let him write and mail a letter!  It sounds like he's doing GREAT!!

Here's some of what he wrote (Friday, Feb 6th):

Arriving at the MTC - February 4, 2015

¡Hola Familia!

I wanted to let you know I'm here and safe.  The MTC is pretty awesome!  I'm in a room with 2 companionships but 5 people because I'm in a 3-way companionship.  Not a whole lot of room, but I can definitely last 6 weeks!  I've met the MTC President and my Branch President.  I'm already a flippin' Zone Leader!  Crazy, huh?!  

Spanish is going pretty dang good, but I have a lot to learn. We say prayers in Spanish.  It's really cool because in English we use very formal language in prayers, but in Spanish we use the most personal and tender form (so I can address Heavenly Father as "Papa" or "Daddy").

Today was a little scary because we got to teach an investigator who only spoke Spanish - and we had to speak Español sólo.  I'll talk more about my adventures in my email on Thursday!  I've seen a lot of buddies here from school...I was freaking out a little. 

My testimony of missionary work is so much stronger already.  The days here are exhausting (understatement) but so fulfilling and exciting.  I can feel the love I have for investigators and I'm excited to learn the language and how to better teach.  I love the MTC.  The spirit here is so strong and I love learning and living the gospel 24/7!

I miss you, but I know that I'm preparing to help in God's work.  Love you guys.

¡Haz lo Justo y púra vida!   (Choose the Right and pure life!)

Elder Stott (El toro)

 

I can go the distance

Well everyone this is it!  I’m getting set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints tonight.  This means I won’t have my phone or any social media for the next 2 years. 

If you would like to contact me, please email me!  I’d love to hear from you:  joshua.stott@myldsmail.net and will also have a blog:  elderjoshuastott.blogspot.com. 

I’m so incredibly excited to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the people of Costa Rica and I know without a doubt that it is true. 

If you’d like to send me a package or a letter, my MTC address for the next 6 weeks is:

Elder Joshua Douglas Stott

MAR17 CRA-SJO

2009 N 900 E Unit 141

Provo, UT  84602

And with that, hasta luego and see you guys in two! ¡Pura Vida!