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

Week 81 - Pretty Good and Normal

Hey guys!

MOM!!!!!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY :)

Well this week was pretty crazy....

We had a baptism which was awesome! Her name is Valeria! She's been having some struggles in her life but the Gospel has helped her a lot! A lot happened this last week and the baptism almost fell through... Lots of stuff happened but it all worked out!

We're going to San Jose on Thursday so I'm pretty stoked for that!

Our investigators are good. Right now we're working with a family. The parents have to get married but they're a family of 4! I think the kids are going to get baptized first but we'll see. We actually had 6 investigators in church which was pretty awesome! I was stoked every time one more walked in! I love teaching this gospel!

The zone is getting a little better. Elder Fuentes is in my zone so I'm excited for that - he works really hard and he's with Elder Contreras... Yup, both were my companions. And we have 4 ex-secretaries: Me, Elder Lopez, Elder Contreras, and Elder Acuña! And Elder Acuña was a ZL before so he's really good too!

Well, not much else to write about this week. It was pretty good and normal haha!

I'll make sure to do some crazy stuff (but safe and following the rules) to take some pictures and talk about!

Love you guys all so much! Remember that sometimes courage is the soft voice at the end of the day that say's "I'll try again tomorrow"! Keep working hard and making a difference in other people's lives!

Keep the faith!

Pura Vida & the church is true!

- Elder Stott

Our Mission Motto - "The Kingdom of God or Nothing"

Week 80 - Finally Saw the Ocean!

HEY FAM!

Well this week was interesting!

So to start things out - Elder Vorwaller had changes! Super unexpected... Nothing happened at all, actually the zone is doing a lot better so I'm sure the mission just needs his help somewhere else! Well, my time here in Guanacaste will continue and I'm now with Elder Lopez - he was in the office with me a while back and I took a picture of him and everything. He's the Asian-looking Mexican (pretty funny huh). Well he's really cool and super super fun so I'm excited to have him with us here in the San Roque Zone! We're going to throw fire here :) That's the cool thing about being ZL - your companions are almost always going to be super sick elders! It was sad that my time here with Vwaller was short but Lopez is really good too so it balances out!

A visiting member took our pic at church to send to our moms

Our zone is doing is alright. I have lots of hope and energy and we're just trying to convey that to the zone. It just feels like they're asleep sometimes out here. Not much excitement or urgency and they kinda fight against changes. But I've learned it's a long process to pick a zone up - it's not something that happens quickly! But I sure love my missionaries here (yes, even the ones that give me headaches haha) It's so busy being a ZL, you have no idea. There's always something wrong or drama but it's all good - I love it :)

Bearing and lifting my fellow ZL's

So this week for Semana de Milagros, it was super super hot, but totally sick. We recorded people in the central parks and everywhere. We looked professional (with headphones, selfie sticks - to record, and everything) so people wanted to be a part of it. I'll be working on a giant video here this week so that should be good :) We took lots of selfies with people holding the Book of Mormon too - that was really cool. I enjoyed it :)

ALSO, I had to go to a baptismal interview on the beach... I know, it sucked... Haha no it was so pretty! It's about 2 hours away from my area but in my same zone. A member took us in his car and the whole experience was so sweeeet. I did the interview in a resort and after we finished, the Elder I was with, the member and I all watched the Costa Rican sunset on the beach (in the car haha) - I'm pretty sure I just completed the last bucket-list thing for my mission haha :) It was really breathtaking because I had the beach in front and the jungle behind me. I guess Costa Rica is really beautiful after all ;) I've just been in ugly areas so far. haha

Playa Flamingo Sunset

Well, this week we're hoping for another baptism in our area so let's hope that all goes well. I have a 4-hour bus-ride ahead of me today to get back to Guana, so that'll be fun! 

Remember that we should have goals so large that they scare small minds :) Like I always say to Elder Black in the morning, "RISE AND GRIND" and also like I like to say here "Keep grinding".

Thanks for everything! 

Love all you guys - pura vida!

The church is true!

- Elder Stott (aka "El Machón" - Big Blonde)

Mission shirts that we designed and had made!

One of my favorite Elders - Elder Garcia from Guatemala

A Sister Missionary from Bend, Oregon - Hermana Farber!  (Sorry Elder V is blurry)

Our Sister Training Leaders - from Puerto Rico and Honduras

Week 79 - Mariachi Men and Baby Ducks

Hey fam bam! 

I hope you guys are all freakin fantastic! 

A special Tico Mother's Day to all those mamas out there! We spent it singing with mariachi bands! (yup I know how to sing a couple songs now haha) and I even took some pictures! 

WE HAD A BAPTISM! It's this young man who's name is Stiven! Yup, it's spelt like that haha. But yeah, he's really tall and pretty funny. He calls Elder Vorwaller "Mr. Bean" HAHAHA and my nickname is "leche" haha. So we've decided to call him "palo" or stick hahaha. But yeah it was really cool to be able to baptize him :) I love this gospel!

Mr. Bean, Palo (Stick) and Leche

Our cook hatched some baby ducks so we got some pictures with them too :)

The zone is doing pretty good. Presidente came out to give us some advice and to meet with the Stake Presidency here in Guanacaste. (There's two pairs of zone leaders for the whole province and it's HUGE!) It was cool because everyone is like a big business or community leader so I kinda felt like I was in a CEO meeting. Cool stuff. 

We bought take-out pizza and had it sent to our house so that was pretty cool too - got some pictures there :) 

Well, this week is miracle week so we're hoping for some more super sick stuff here soon! 

Thank you so much for all the support! 

Love you guys all so much!

Pura Vida!

- Elder Stott 

Week 78 - A New House and a Fancy Couch

Well howdy folks!

Well this week was a pretty crazy week!

1. So first, we had a consejo de liderazgo (leadership meeting) with all of the 9 Zone Leaders in the mission in San Jose. It was really cool because you can just feel how inspired President Laboriel really is and all of his advice. I got to see a bunch of friends and old faces because now I know all of the leaders and barely any missionaries - it's weird to be in the older group of the mission now! But cool at the same time - except that everyone tells me I'm old... I still have a lot work to do!

2. We moved houses! Our new house is huge and it has a couch with two big lazy-boy chairs which is pretty fancy. Yeah, I drink my cantaloupe juice while I take numbers from the zone in that chair, I'll send some photos of that this week. haha

3. I BOUGHT STRAWBERRY PROTEIN. Not very interesting for you guys but I like it... it was pretty exciting haha. I have lots of good workouts too and now Elder Vorwaller is getting into the grind too! Pretty fun :)

Not very much else happened this week...And I promise promise promise to take more pictures this week, I'll carry my camera with me and everything. Today I'm playing basketball and a bunch of sports so I'll send pictures of that and everything today too!

Just wanted to let you guys know how much I'm loving my mission. I miss my family, friends and everyone and a couple of other things but at the same time, I don't want to leave this country that I love so much. I love the ticos, I love Spanish, but I love teaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to ticos in Spanish! It's really a joy everyday to be able to be here and help others. I've learned that attitude is everything. The mission is SO hard so you have to look for the bright side of everything! Abraham Lincoln said something along the lines of, "You can see that roses have thorns, or that the thorns have roses" And I really really like that. Complaining never helps. Instead of excuses, we should really look for solucions!

Love you guys all so much! Take care and go out and make someone's life better and look for the roses!

Pura Vida

- Elder Stott

One of my favorite quotes for you guys! Please ponder it! 

"Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives."  - President Thomas S. Monson

Week 77 - Finally an Elder

Hey family and friends! Hope as always that things are sick up in the states! 

So I'll hit 18 MONTHS this week as a missionary which means I'll finally cross-over and become an Elder (because the Sisters serve for 18 months) so I've just now completed my Sister missionary mission haha.

This week was really great! Presidente came up to do some interviews with our Zone. On Friday we traveled to our other district and we also had our interviews there, and then after, our district had them too. I got so much advice from President Laboriel in both the mish and after. He says that if I keep the principles that I have now and keep improving them, that I'll be successful in my life both temporally and spiritually (which is SICK, because he is SO successful in life) so I was excited. Some areas in the zone had really really dirty houses so we're fixing that this week. On a small note for mom - our house got 5 stars so we were really good. I've learned to fold my clothes. haha 

WE HAD A BAPTISM BABY! So Didier the fire-dancer got baptized which was a really cool experience. Elder V baptized him and I confirmed him so I really enjoyed that :) He'll be a leader in the church someday - he's really talented.

Speaking of talents, we're going to help him in our stake talent show. He's gonna do a fire dance and we're going to dance a little with him. We'll make sure to get a video :)

Well not much else to write about. Next week we'll have a new house so that'll be sweet! 

Thank you everyone for your love and support! It all goes a long way.

I listened to a couple different talks this week and I really liked something that I heard. It talked about how we have to have our goals always in mind and that we have to run for them. If we don't, we won't progress. It's exactly the same in the gospel! We've gotta want to succeed BAD. And we have to be willing to make sacrifices because sacrifices bring forth the blessings of heaven. The motto of our mission is Faith in Every Footstep! I love this mission, I love the gospel and I love my Savior.

Love all you guys!

Pura Vida,

Elder Stott