Sunday, December 12, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
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10-18-10 email
This week went by very fast for me! Im feeling better, I'm still kinda sick but i feel much better! We have been very busy this week with teaching and all that fun stuff, we taught 30 lessons this week! We have two baptisms coming up this weekend, we would have had 3 but one of our investigators wants to wait an extra week for hers! That's okay though. We also picked up 11 new investigators this week! We are just finding and finding all over the place!
Tuesday was pretty good, we had district meeting here in Ocotlan, then in the evening I taught English classes, its very difficult to teach English, I teach a bunch of kids and then a few teenagers and a few adults, they just cant pronounce or remember the things that I'm teaching them! Its really takes alot of patience, especially with the little kids, they get rowdy at times and i have to sit them down. I teach it in our chapel, we decided to start having them on Thursday evenings as well, because we are getting alot of people who come out! I made up some worksheets and some home work for them to do also but most of them don't do it! I guess now i know how my teachers felt when I wouldn't do my homework in elementary school haha! Carma huh?
Wednesday one of our zone leaders came over to our area to work with us, his name is Elder Hayden, he is from Idaho. We taught alot that day and found some new investigators, we also gave a baptismal date to 3 different people so it was a pretty successful day! We also went over to sanpedro apostle, a little pueblo about 15 min away by taxi from our pueblo, the investigators who are getting married and baptized this weekend live there. They have a tiny little house. Carlos the husband is still very concerned about his drinking problem, he hasnt drank in a while but he says the temptations are getting stronger and stronger everyday! It really amazing me how strong he is though, because he use to be a barracho which is basically a drunk guy who just wanders the streets and bothers white people like me haha. He has really come a long way and thats all thanks to the Gospel, he can really see a difference in his life since he has started living to the will of the lord, once he started coming to church he has gotten a good stable job, has been able to be a much better husband and father to his two little kids. Thats the secret to life right there, its a promise that our heavenly father has given everyone, that if we keep the commandments we will prosper in the land, sure there will still be hard times, but life is just so much better and we can be so much happier if we yield our hearts to the lord.
Thursday we went to Oaxaca because we had to drop elder Hayden back off at his area, and while we were there we went to a few places to find some information out about what we need to do to get Carlos married! After that we came back and taught a few lessons, and picked up a new investigator and taught a less active family!
Friday nothing too exciting happen we picked up a few new investigators, each day is a learning lesson, we had two appointments at the same time one was just a maybe appointment and one was a pretty solid one so we went to the solid one then after we went to the maybe one and we felt really bad because they had been waiting for us and we were an hour late. We really never know which appointments will be solid or not because when we knock doors we can usually always set up an appt to return but most of those fall through but sometimes like the one on Friday the people are really wanting to listen to the message.
Saturday was a good day we taught alot and picked up some new investigators, our first lesson of the day was with a family that we have been teaching for a week or two and the mom said she knew that the message that we are sharing is true and she knew that the book of Mormon was true, but she said she cant change religions because its a family tradition to be catholic and her mom would be really mad. Its just amazing our much tradition plays a role here, but we I think over time we will be able to baptize her! Also in the evening we taught the wife of a very less active member, he hadnt been to church in 10-15 years, he said over that time he did alot of things from drinking- drugs but he said a year ago he quit and he wanted to return to church but his wife was "very catholic" haha and they had a son and they were tring to decide what religion they would raise there son in...so we went there and at first the wife was very unwilling to go to church and said she would never change her religion, Then we shared the message of the Restoration, she knew the bible pretty good, which only made it better for us, because in the first lesson we basically just prove every other religion wrong especially the catholic, because the catholic religion is only based on tradition and not on much else. So by the end of the lesson, the husband said to his son with a smile on his face " looks like your going to be a Mormon" haha After the lesson the wife was very excited to go to church the next day and very excited to pray and read the book of Mormon! Its really just amazing how powerful the message is and the spirit that we share. Because something amazing about the message we share is that we tell them and promise them that if they pray and ask god if the message we shared is true or not! We dont try to force them or anything we let them find out for themselfs! Thats something amazing about the gospel that we have!
Sunday was good we fasted for Carlos and his family, and I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about faith and the blessings of this gospel! Its amazing how when i need to I can talk all the Spanish I want! I guess I talked too long though because my companion didnt have time to speak so he gets to talk next week! Its very different at church here, its just something that I had never experienced before because growing up there was always lots of people at church!
So that was my week! Not too much happened but some how I find a way to make these emails very long haha so something interesting i found out this week is that here they call Mickey Mouse "Raton Miguel" haha i laughed so hard when I found that out! They call him mickey mouse too but also Raton Miguel which basically means Miguel the rat haha Also I think everyday this week I ate eggs! They make alot of stuff out of eggs! Whether its eggs and green beans, eggs and pig stomach or eggs and chili peppers!
te amo,
Elder Stradling
Tuesday was pretty good, we had district meeting here in Ocotlan, then in the evening I taught English classes, its very difficult to teach English, I teach a bunch of kids and then a few teenagers and a few adults, they just cant pronounce or remember the things that I'm teaching them! Its really takes alot of patience, especially with the little kids, they get rowdy at times and i have to sit them down. I teach it in our chapel, we decided to start having them on Thursday evenings as well, because we are getting alot of people who come out! I made up some worksheets and some home work for them to do also but most of them don't do it! I guess now i know how my teachers felt when I wouldn't do my homework in elementary school haha! Carma huh?
Wednesday one of our zone leaders came over to our area to work with us, his name is Elder Hayden, he is from Idaho. We taught alot that day and found some new investigators, we also gave a baptismal date to 3 different people so it was a pretty successful day! We also went over to sanpedro apostle, a little pueblo about 15 min away by taxi from our pueblo, the investigators who are getting married and baptized this weekend live there. They have a tiny little house. Carlos the husband is still very concerned about his drinking problem, he hasnt drank in a while but he says the temptations are getting stronger and stronger everyday! It really amazing me how strong he is though, because he use to be a barracho which is basically a drunk guy who just wanders the streets and bothers white people like me haha. He has really come a long way and thats all thanks to the Gospel, he can really see a difference in his life since he has started living to the will of the lord, once he started coming to church he has gotten a good stable job, has been able to be a much better husband and father to his two little kids. Thats the secret to life right there, its a promise that our heavenly father has given everyone, that if we keep the commandments we will prosper in the land, sure there will still be hard times, but life is just so much better and we can be so much happier if we yield our hearts to the lord.
Thursday we went to Oaxaca because we had to drop elder Hayden back off at his area, and while we were there we went to a few places to find some information out about what we need to do to get Carlos married! After that we came back and taught a few lessons, and picked up a new investigator and taught a less active family!
Friday nothing too exciting happen we picked up a few new investigators, each day is a learning lesson, we had two appointments at the same time one was just a maybe appointment and one was a pretty solid one so we went to the solid one then after we went to the maybe one and we felt really bad because they had been waiting for us and we were an hour late. We really never know which appointments will be solid or not because when we knock doors we can usually always set up an appt to return but most of those fall through but sometimes like the one on Friday the people are really wanting to listen to the message.
Saturday was a good day we taught alot and picked up some new investigators, our first lesson of the day was with a family that we have been teaching for a week or two and the mom said she knew that the message that we are sharing is true and she knew that the book of Mormon was true, but she said she cant change religions because its a family tradition to be catholic and her mom would be really mad. Its just amazing our much tradition plays a role here, but we I think over time we will be able to baptize her! Also in the evening we taught the wife of a very less active member, he hadnt been to church in 10-15 years, he said over that time he did alot of things from drinking- drugs but he said a year ago he quit and he wanted to return to church but his wife was "very catholic" haha and they had a son and they were tring to decide what religion they would raise there son in...so we went there and at first the wife was very unwilling to go to church and said she would never change her religion, Then we shared the message of the Restoration, she knew the bible pretty good, which only made it better for us, because in the first lesson we basically just prove every other religion wrong especially the catholic, because the catholic religion is only based on tradition and not on much else. So by the end of the lesson, the husband said to his son with a smile on his face " looks like your going to be a Mormon" haha After the lesson the wife was very excited to go to church the next day and very excited to pray and read the book of Mormon! Its really just amazing how powerful the message is and the spirit that we share. Because something amazing about the message we share is that we tell them and promise them that if they pray and ask god if the message we shared is true or not! We dont try to force them or anything we let them find out for themselfs! Thats something amazing about the gospel that we have!
Sunday was good we fasted for Carlos and his family, and I gave a talk in sacrament meeting about faith and the blessings of this gospel! Its amazing how when i need to I can talk all the Spanish I want! I guess I talked too long though because my companion didnt have time to speak so he gets to talk next week! Its very different at church here, its just something that I had never experienced before because growing up there was always lots of people at church!
So that was my week! Not too much happened but some how I find a way to make these emails very long haha so something interesting i found out this week is that here they call Mickey Mouse "Raton Miguel" haha i laughed so hard when I found that out! They call him mickey mouse too but also Raton Miguel which basically means Miguel the rat haha Also I think everyday this week I ate eggs! They make alot of stuff out of eggs! Whether its eggs and green beans, eggs and pig stomach or eggs and chili peppers!
te amo,
Elder Stradling
Monday, October 11, 2010
10-11-10 email
Well I've been here about a month, its been pretty good so far, although I have been sick pretty much this whole time, Im starting to feel alot better! Tuesday we had Zone conference, which was really good! President De La Cruz was there and him and his wife gave some very good training, lots of the time they just talked about the rules and all that fun stuff but they rest they gave us some good training on teaching! Then after the conference I was finally able to go to the doctor! He said I had some weird sickness that I dont know how to say let alone spell! But he said that my intestines are inflamed and i have some parasites, so he gave me some prescriptions that I have to take for the next month, so Ive been taking them for a week and I'm already feeling alot better, he said i had the flu also, prob because we haven't had warm water to shower with in our house, and its been pretty cold here in the nights! So he told president that we needed to buy a gas take for our water heater, so now we have the luxury of warm showers now, its pretty great, I forgot how good it felt to take a warm shower! The doctor also told me not to eat spicy food and or really fatty foods, which i laughed at because, I'm in Mexico and thats almost impossible! But i said okay! So Wednesday for lunch we had prob the spiciest and most fattening food Ive eaten since I have been here, Pig neck with potatoes and chile Verde, which is just blended up Jalapenos and other peppers poured on top of the neck and potatoes, I dont know if you have ever had pig neck, but its basically just tastes like ham with a ton of fat all over it! Besides the fact that it was the exact opposite of what the doctor told me to eat, it actually tasted pretty good, but i sure felt sick after wards, but that's okay! Also wed we found a new family that we are now teaching! they are really a good family and are very interested, but they were unable to come to church on Sunday because of some other thing they had to do!
Also wed we set a date for another family to be married and baptized! They are with out a doubt the most humble people i have met in my whole life! I will send you a picture of there house next week! Its basically just a chicken coop that they are living in! The husband had just been a drunk for the past 5-10 years, is now working to stay sober! They aren't married but they have two little kids one is about 2-3 and the other is about 1 or less! They sleep on a straw matt on their dirt floor! They are always wanting to give us food and buy us drinks and pay for our taxi ride back to our house, I always feel so bad when they feed us, I mean its only rice and a fried egg but its all they have and they have only known us for a week or so and they are just so willing to give to us! They live in a little pueblo called Santiago which is a very poor little town, there aren't any cars except the taxis that come in and out! Everyone just has a house or a donkey that they have pull their carriages, its kinda of odd to see, its like living in the old days! They aren't married so that will be the hardest part, people here don't really get married because it cost money, its only about 50-60 dollars or about 600-700 pesos but to them thats is a lot of money! When me and my companion told them that we will find the money and get them married, they just started to cry and the poor wife just looked so happy! She has been wanting to get married for a long time but hasnt been able to! Just seeing the people here really just makes you think how much we take for granted in the United States! Its really just very humbling to see! We were also able to get them some padding that they can sleep on because they just sleep on a dirt floor and its very cold in the nights, in a hut made of sticks and sheet metal!
So not too much else has happened this week! we have been very busy teaching lessons and everything! We taught 26 lessons this week and found 10 new investigators! we could have anywhere between 2-6 baptisms at the end of this month! It just takes awhile because the rule is that in order to be baptized they have to come to church at least 3 times! So yeah! So it hasnt really rained here for a week or so which is very odd! Its kinda hot during the days but it doesn't really phase me since I'm use to the AZ heat! yesterday I was able to bare my testimony in sacrament meeting as well as bless the sacrament! Pretty much everyone here on fast sunday will bare their testimonies, because there are such few members! Next week my companion and i get to speak in sacrament meeting! haha that will be fun! I still havent decided yet on what I'm going to speak on, but I'm sure it will come to me!
Love Elder Stradling
Also wed we set a date for another family to be married and baptized! They are with out a doubt the most humble people i have met in my whole life! I will send you a picture of there house next week! Its basically just a chicken coop that they are living in! The husband had just been a drunk for the past 5-10 years, is now working to stay sober! They aren't married but they have two little kids one is about 2-3 and the other is about 1 or less! They sleep on a straw matt on their dirt floor! They are always wanting to give us food and buy us drinks and pay for our taxi ride back to our house, I always feel so bad when they feed us, I mean its only rice and a fried egg but its all they have and they have only known us for a week or so and they are just so willing to give to us! They live in a little pueblo called Santiago which is a very poor little town, there aren't any cars except the taxis that come in and out! Everyone just has a house or a donkey that they have pull their carriages, its kinda of odd to see, its like living in the old days! They aren't married so that will be the hardest part, people here don't really get married because it cost money, its only about 50-60 dollars or about 600-700 pesos but to them thats is a lot of money! When me and my companion told them that we will find the money and get them married, they just started to cry and the poor wife just looked so happy! She has been wanting to get married for a long time but hasnt been able to! Just seeing the people here really just makes you think how much we take for granted in the United States! Its really just very humbling to see! We were also able to get them some padding that they can sleep on because they just sleep on a dirt floor and its very cold in the nights, in a hut made of sticks and sheet metal!
So not too much else has happened this week! we have been very busy teaching lessons and everything! We taught 26 lessons this week and found 10 new investigators! we could have anywhere between 2-6 baptisms at the end of this month! It just takes awhile because the rule is that in order to be baptized they have to come to church at least 3 times! So yeah! So it hasnt really rained here for a week or so which is very odd! Its kinda hot during the days but it doesn't really phase me since I'm use to the AZ heat! yesterday I was able to bare my testimony in sacrament meeting as well as bless the sacrament! Pretty much everyone here on fast sunday will bare their testimonies, because there are such few members! Next week my companion and i get to speak in sacrament meeting! haha that will be fun! I still havent decided yet on what I'm going to speak on, but I'm sure it will come to me!
Love Elder Stradling
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
9-27-10 email
Hey Mom,
This week has been a pretty good one, I am learning alot each day, Im still pretty sick, i was feeling better until this morning around 3 I woke up and had to run to the bathroom! Thats okay though its all part of the experience right?? We picked up 14 new investigators this week, but only 3 were at church, probably because it was raining, in fact it still is raining right now, its been raining non-stop for almost 3 days now, thats okay though being from mesa az you learn to love the rain because we never got it there! So I'm enjoying all the rain, hope fully that love of rain will stick with me because i have about 19 more months of it to go haha! Im sure when i return back to az I will be happy with the dry weather for awhile. The people here are very prepared to hear the gospel, almost everyone is willing to listen to the message that we share, they probably let us in just so they can see a white person, everyone who sees me just stares at me haha its pretty funny, then I smile and wave at them and they turn either turn their head really fast or their jaw drops and they are like a deer in headlights haha its pretty entertaining! So we met this lady this week who was so excited to see us, she has had a book of mormon and has been reading it and she loves it! The area that I'm in right now hasn't had missionaries for a long time so most people haven't seen missionaries before! So her name is Inness she is prob about 60 or so years old and she has a beard, well a little one haha but she has has a very strong testimony she says that the book of mormon is the word of god, she prays pretty funny though, she is basically like those Christians who scream ALLELUIA AMEN!! So when she prays me and my companion just kinda look at each other and smile!
Most of the time when we share the message of the Restoration of the gospel, people just have this astonished look on their face because they realize at that point that the Catholic church is wrong haha and they are just like "wow that makes so much sense" and just seeing the look in their eyes is fun because you see that they felt something, they felt the spirit testify that the things we shared are true.
Just living here makes you feel kinda depressed, because the people live in such poverty, and its very sad to see, the other day I was thinking how i wish i could help everyone one of them, then i realized that i can, by sharing the gospel with them! Their really is a difference in people who have the gospel in their lives! For example basically everyone in our branch which is maybe 15-20 people all live a better live style than the other people, all of them have jobs and some have cars (its very rare here to have a car of your own) They are just happier people and thats because they have the gospel in their lives. Its amazing to see, at least for me.
So its still kinda frustrating not being able to speak Spanish fluently, like last night we were teaching a 20 yr old guy and he doesn't believe in god, and its hard for me to not really be able to help resolve his concern, because I talk alot haha but here I cant haha , I suppose its teaching me patience haha! So this 20 yr old guy is probably the nicest person I've ever met he would literally give me teh shirt off his back if i needed it! Thats just how the people are here! So last night it was raining really hard so he gave us a ride home, he is one of the few people who have a car, he has a old school volts wagon bug, they are very popular here haha! I dont know if you have every ridden in one of those but they are so small and funny, i just couldnt stop smiling on the way home haha.
So i think the weirdest thing i ate this week was well there were a few weird ones one was some kind of soup i think it was soup but it was just chopped green beans boiled eggs and chopped jalapeños, it didnt taste too bad though, another weird one was just 2 fried eggs and black beans haha weird combination. Im getting more use to the food here but its still weird!
I finished reading the book of mormon for the second time this week, its an amazing book my goal is to read it 5 times while Im here and 2 times in Spanish! A chapter that i really loved and stood out to me this week is Moroni 7 I think you should read it! Also read Jacob 6:12 its a good one! Have the boys read them too!
Love, Elder Stradling
This week has been a pretty good one, I am learning alot each day, Im still pretty sick, i was feeling better until this morning around 3 I woke up and had to run to the bathroom! Thats okay though its all part of the experience right?? We picked up 14 new investigators this week, but only 3 were at church, probably because it was raining, in fact it still is raining right now, its been raining non-stop for almost 3 days now, thats okay though being from mesa az you learn to love the rain because we never got it there! So I'm enjoying all the rain, hope fully that love of rain will stick with me because i have about 19 more months of it to go haha! Im sure when i return back to az I will be happy with the dry weather for awhile. The people here are very prepared to hear the gospel, almost everyone is willing to listen to the message that we share, they probably let us in just so they can see a white person, everyone who sees me just stares at me haha its pretty funny, then I smile and wave at them and they turn either turn their head really fast or their jaw drops and they are like a deer in headlights haha its pretty entertaining! So we met this lady this week who was so excited to see us, she has had a book of mormon and has been reading it and she loves it! The area that I'm in right now hasn't had missionaries for a long time so most people haven't seen missionaries before! So her name is Inness she is prob about 60 or so years old and she has a beard, well a little one haha but she has has a very strong testimony she says that the book of mormon is the word of god, she prays pretty funny though, she is basically like those Christians who scream ALLELUIA AMEN!! So when she prays me and my companion just kinda look at each other and smile!
Most of the time when we share the message of the Restoration of the gospel, people just have this astonished look on their face because they realize at that point that the Catholic church is wrong haha and they are just like "wow that makes so much sense" and just seeing the look in their eyes is fun because you see that they felt something, they felt the spirit testify that the things we shared are true.
Just living here makes you feel kinda depressed, because the people live in such poverty, and its very sad to see, the other day I was thinking how i wish i could help everyone one of them, then i realized that i can, by sharing the gospel with them! Their really is a difference in people who have the gospel in their lives! For example basically everyone in our branch which is maybe 15-20 people all live a better live style than the other people, all of them have jobs and some have cars (its very rare here to have a car of your own) They are just happier people and thats because they have the gospel in their lives. Its amazing to see, at least for me.
So its still kinda frustrating not being able to speak Spanish fluently, like last night we were teaching a 20 yr old guy and he doesn't believe in god, and its hard for me to not really be able to help resolve his concern, because I talk alot haha but here I cant haha , I suppose its teaching me patience haha! So this 20 yr old guy is probably the nicest person I've ever met he would literally give me teh shirt off his back if i needed it! Thats just how the people are here! So last night it was raining really hard so he gave us a ride home, he is one of the few people who have a car, he has a old school volts wagon bug, they are very popular here haha! I dont know if you have every ridden in one of those but they are so small and funny, i just couldnt stop smiling on the way home haha.
So i think the weirdest thing i ate this week was well there were a few weird ones one was some kind of soup i think it was soup but it was just chopped green beans boiled eggs and chopped jalapeños, it didnt taste too bad though, another weird one was just 2 fried eggs and black beans haha weird combination. Im getting more use to the food here but its still weird!
I finished reading the book of mormon for the second time this week, its an amazing book my goal is to read it 5 times while Im here and 2 times in Spanish! A chapter that i really loved and stood out to me this week is Moroni 7 I think you should read it! Also read Jacob 6:12 its a good one! Have the boys read them too!
Love, Elder Stradling
9-20-10 email
hey,
Well I'm finally in Oaxaca I'm in an city called Ocotlan, its pretty crazy here the people are very poor and don't have very much. I have been sick basically since i got here but they say that's regular. This mission is very very different than the one in Utah, this is much harder, the culture shock is very weird, I can speak Spanish okay but not well enough to under stand what everyone is saying. My first companion is elder monesterio he is from tampico Mexico he speaks pretty much no English so we dont really talk to much because there is such a language barrier, but we read out of the book of Mormon in Spanish every night out loud to help me with my Spanish. I think I'm getting better but who knows. Its very funny here when every people see me their jaw drops and they just stare at me mostly kids, my companion says its because there are pretty much no white people here, which is true! i have yet to see another white person other than missionaries since i got here! and when every the homeless people see me they always beg me for money my companion tell me just to say that i don't speak Spanish then they will leave me alone haha so ill try that today.
The 16th was Mexican independence day so there was tons of things going on like parades and bombs going off it was pretty exciting! people really seem to love their country here, they always scream viva mexico haha its pretty funny!
The food here is very weird but all the same at the same time basically every meal consists of beans and some kind of meat usually chicken. Yesterday we were eating beans of course and some meat that i thought was chicken until i said pass the chicken and the lady said oh this isnt chicken so i was like oh what is it and her and my companion laughed so yeah i still dont know what i ate but it didnt taste too bad! there are only about 20 members here so we have a branch not a ward but we have a building but it is very very different than the buildings that we have in the us! I didnt think the church would ever own anything so rundown! Ill send some pics of it in a separate email!
It rains every day here very hard rain too! So the streets are always muddy and wet! Some people have dirt floors so i dont know how they live when it rains like it does here. the place where im living is very small but its pretty clean, and our toilet actually has a toilet seat which is a luxury here in oaxaca because most that i have seen dont, i dont really know why but yeah! but luckly they have computers here! There are little Internet cafes everywhere in this little city so thats a plus! Well basically everything is crazy different here, i could prob write for hours about the crazy stuff that happens here so if you have any questions just ask because i wouldnt know where to start to explain how things are down here!
I love all of you! Read and pray every day!
tell all the kids that i love them and to be good!
Te amo ,
Elder Stradling
9-6-10 email
Hey mom
This week has been pretty good, I finnaly got my visa! We were on our way back from the Temple on Wed and I got a call and they told me a got it and that i would be going to the consolate on thursday, so thursday i went to downtown salt lake and went to teh consolate, they just took some pictures of me and my finger prints and made me sign a whole bunch of papers! Im pretty excitedto get down there! It will be very different than how things are now haha its very easy to be a missionary here! I mean we have a car, we live ina members house, we have a cell phone and we have access to basicly anything we want! People stop us on the street and stick money in our pockets and run away haha because we arent suppose to accept money from members haha its just very relaxed and easy enviorment! Im prob going to have a rude awakening when i get down to Oaxaca! It will be a good learning experience for me though! trials are always good that means that im growing, learning and progressing and thats why we are here anyways! So im pretty excited to start my new mission down in mexico and i say that ebcause it will prob be so different than how the mission is run here! Its funny though that when i first got teh call about my visa i was kinda disapointed because I like it here and i love the area im in and i like my companions! Its true though that it doesnt really matter where you serve, its just a blessing that I am able to serve!
Yesterday was fast sunday I always love fast sundays because i get to bare my testimony, we cover 18 wards but we can usually only make to 3-4 wards each sunday! Yesterday we made it to 3 so i got to bare my testimony 3 times, one was in a singles ward! And ill tell you what nothing is more awkward in this church than singles wards on fast sundays haha because no one will get up to bare their testimonies, there was like a 15-20 period where no one would get up and talk! haha so it was very awkward! We only went to the singles ward because we have an investagator that is dating some guy who goes to teh singles ward, its always very awkward!
This weeks scriptures are 3nephi 14:15-27 and 3Nephi 18:15, 18-20!
My new address will be
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City Utah
84130-0150
This is just my pouch address I dont know my address for Mexico yet but ill get it soon and send it next monday!
The rules for pouch is that the letters cant be placed in an envelope it can only be a single peice of paper tri-folded and taped closed then stamped and addressed just like an other letter!
any questions ask me!
I should be able to call you when i am at the airport, i dk what day or time im leaving yet so its kinda random! Ill write you as soon as i know!
te amo
Elder Stadling
Well I'm finally in Oaxaca I'm in an city called Ocotlan, its pretty crazy here the people are very poor and don't have very much. I have been sick basically since i got here but they say that's regular. This mission is very very different than the one in Utah, this is much harder, the culture shock is very weird, I can speak Spanish okay but not well enough to under stand what everyone is saying. My first companion is elder monesterio he is from tampico Mexico he speaks pretty much no English so we dont really talk to much because there is such a language barrier, but we read out of the book of Mormon in Spanish every night out loud to help me with my Spanish. I think I'm getting better but who knows. Its very funny here when every people see me their jaw drops and they just stare at me mostly kids, my companion says its because there are pretty much no white people here, which is true! i have yet to see another white person other than missionaries since i got here! and when every the homeless people see me they always beg me for money my companion tell me just to say that i don't speak Spanish then they will leave me alone haha so ill try that today.
The 16th was Mexican independence day so there was tons of things going on like parades and bombs going off it was pretty exciting! people really seem to love their country here, they always scream viva mexico haha its pretty funny!
The food here is very weird but all the same at the same time basically every meal consists of beans and some kind of meat usually chicken. Yesterday we were eating beans of course and some meat that i thought was chicken until i said pass the chicken and the lady said oh this isnt chicken so i was like oh what is it and her and my companion laughed so yeah i still dont know what i ate but it didnt taste too bad! there are only about 20 members here so we have a branch not a ward but we have a building but it is very very different than the buildings that we have in the us! I didnt think the church would ever own anything so rundown! Ill send some pics of it in a separate email!
It rains every day here very hard rain too! So the streets are always muddy and wet! Some people have dirt floors so i dont know how they live when it rains like it does here. the place where im living is very small but its pretty clean, and our toilet actually has a toilet seat which is a luxury here in oaxaca because most that i have seen dont, i dont really know why but yeah! but luckly they have computers here! There are little Internet cafes everywhere in this little city so thats a plus! Well basically everything is crazy different here, i could prob write for hours about the crazy stuff that happens here so if you have any questions just ask because i wouldnt know where to start to explain how things are down here!
I love all of you! Read and pray every day!
tell all the kids that i love them and to be good!
Te amo ,
Elder Stradling
9-6-10 email
Hey mom
This week has been pretty good, I finnaly got my visa! We were on our way back from the Temple on Wed and I got a call and they told me a got it and that i would be going to the consolate on thursday, so thursday i went to downtown salt lake and went to teh consolate, they just took some pictures of me and my finger prints and made me sign a whole bunch of papers! Im pretty excitedto get down there! It will be very different than how things are now haha its very easy to be a missionary here! I mean we have a car, we live ina members house, we have a cell phone and we have access to basicly anything we want! People stop us on the street and stick money in our pockets and run away haha because we arent suppose to accept money from members haha its just very relaxed and easy enviorment! Im prob going to have a rude awakening when i get down to Oaxaca! It will be a good learning experience for me though! trials are always good that means that im growing, learning and progressing and thats why we are here anyways! So im pretty excited to start my new mission down in mexico and i say that ebcause it will prob be so different than how the mission is run here! Its funny though that when i first got teh call about my visa i was kinda disapointed because I like it here and i love the area im in and i like my companions! Its true though that it doesnt really matter where you serve, its just a blessing that I am able to serve!
Yesterday was fast sunday I always love fast sundays because i get to bare my testimony, we cover 18 wards but we can usually only make to 3-4 wards each sunday! Yesterday we made it to 3 so i got to bare my testimony 3 times, one was in a singles ward! And ill tell you what nothing is more awkward in this church than singles wards on fast sundays haha because no one will get up to bare their testimonies, there was like a 15-20 period where no one would get up and talk! haha so it was very awkward! We only went to the singles ward because we have an investagator that is dating some guy who goes to teh singles ward, its always very awkward!
This weeks scriptures are 3nephi 14:15-27 and 3Nephi 18:15, 18-20!
My new address will be
P.O. Box 30150
Salt Lake City Utah
84130-0150
This is just my pouch address I dont know my address for Mexico yet but ill get it soon and send it next monday!
The rules for pouch is that the letters cant be placed in an envelope it can only be a single peice of paper tri-folded and taped closed then stamped and addressed just like an other letter!
any questions ask me!
I should be able to call you when i am at the airport, i dk what day or time im leaving yet so its kinda random! Ill write you as soon as i know!
te amo
Elder Stadling
Sunday, August 22, 2010
8-16-10 letter
And my mailing address is still the same because the address that you have is the address for our mission office, and all our mail goes there and then on mondays we go and pick it up!! Thats why i only get mail on mondays!!
Well this week was another great week here in Riverton! There are Lots of members here, willing to help with the missionary work! Which is way different than how people where in the Spanish ward i use to cover! We have dinner just about every night! And the people in this area all live in mansions so we always eat really good! we are kinda treated like royalty here! People always try to give us money! We arent suppose to except it but people will like give it to us and run! Haha its pretty odd! So this week we were knocking a door and this guy was like yelling at us and was cussing at us and his neighbor saw that and he came over and was like " dont you ever yell at missionaries ever again, they are more men than you will ever be! if you ever yell at these guys again ill kill you!" haha so we went and talked to him and it turns out he isnt a member haha so now we are teaching him and his family! He is a really cool guy, we owns a car audio and body shop, so he has really nice cars and he always trys to take us out to dinner cuz he doesnt ever eat at home! Its funny how the lord works! Also yesterday we had to give two talks at different wards! It was a very cool experience! Its funny how being a missionary makes you such a better public speaker! I spoke for like 15 min and i didnt even get to say all that i wanted to say! I could prob talk for hours about the gospel! The gospel is such an amazing thing and its the only source of true happiness in our lifes! So put you faith in Christ and strive your best to follow the commandments of god! Build your foundation on Christ! Its the only that will stay strong when hard things happen!! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! I really like one of my companions Elder burton but my other comp elder werhli is very difficult and very disobedient! He sleeps in everyday and always has a bad attitude, i asked him why he was on a mission and he said because he wants some girl to like him! He said he doesn't trust god or anyone! I dont understand it at all!! I dont know what to do with him!! me and elder Burton kinda just ignore him and work as hard as we can!!
Tell all the kids i say hi and that i love them!!
le amo Elder Stradling
Well this week was another great week here in Riverton! There are Lots of members here, willing to help with the missionary work! Which is way different than how people where in the Spanish ward i use to cover! We have dinner just about every night! And the people in this area all live in mansions so we always eat really good! we are kinda treated like royalty here! People always try to give us money! We arent suppose to except it but people will like give it to us and run! Haha its pretty odd! So this week we were knocking a door and this guy was like yelling at us and was cussing at us and his neighbor saw that and he came over and was like " dont you ever yell at missionaries ever again, they are more men than you will ever be! if you ever yell at these guys again ill kill you!" haha so we went and talked to him and it turns out he isnt a member haha so now we are teaching him and his family! He is a really cool guy, we owns a car audio and body shop, so he has really nice cars and he always trys to take us out to dinner cuz he doesnt ever eat at home! Its funny how the lord works! Also yesterday we had to give two talks at different wards! It was a very cool experience! Its funny how being a missionary makes you such a better public speaker! I spoke for like 15 min and i didnt even get to say all that i wanted to say! I could prob talk for hours about the gospel! The gospel is such an amazing thing and its the only source of true happiness in our lifes! So put you faith in Christ and strive your best to follow the commandments of god! Build your foundation on Christ! Its the only that will stay strong when hard things happen!! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! I really like one of my companions Elder burton but my other comp elder werhli is very difficult and very disobedient! He sleeps in everyday and always has a bad attitude, i asked him why he was on a mission and he said because he wants some girl to like him! He said he doesn't trust god or anyone! I dont understand it at all!! I dont know what to do with him!! me and elder Burton kinda just ignore him and work as hard as we can!!
Tell all the kids i say hi and that i love them!!
le amo Elder Stradling
Saturday, August 14, 2010
august 9,2010 email
So this week has been pretty crazy! On monday the AP's call and say im getting transferred to the sandy zone! Then they call back a half hour later and say nevermind haha. So I unpack all my stuff and then on friday they call and tell me that im going to riverton, but this time they were actually serious! I came to the riverton zone on saturday! Im in an english speaking area! Everyone is white and rich! And we also have a car! So Its very easy! My first night in this area we had a baptism , and one of our investigators tried to kill himself so it was a crazy first day haha ! We baptize alot in this area the members are very mission minded! My new Comps are Elder burton and Elder Werili! They are both good Elders! I actually have a real bed to sleep on now so thats nice haha but im still pretty much living out of my suit case! Thats okay though! haha But elder burton has been in this same area for 9 months (which is all the time he has been out) They say once you go to riverton you really never leave haha, i hope thats not true for me! I hope to get to mexico one day!! haha But some other funny stuff has happened this week! before i got transferred and i was still in the spanish area we were teaching some mexican lady and she was talking about how much she hates the catholic church and she was like " yeah they speak latin, I mean who understands latin right"? and i thought she asked if i understand latino like Spanish so i was like well i understand alot but not all of it haha so basicly i told her i spoke latin haha and she got this weird look on her face so i looked at elder dixon and he was just trying to hold in his laughs haha but yeah that lady now thinks i speak latin haha also that same day we were walking along the streets and some little dogs were barking at us as usual, so i was like " hey you little rats"! and the lady was like right there watering her lawn and she just glared at us haha i had no idea she was there! We just like started laughing haha
Dogs dont like missionaries, on friday night elder dixon got bit by a dog haha it wasn't too bad though oh well!! But yeah other than that stuff not too much has happen just regular crazy mission life! Still No wod yet on my visa but i hope to get it soon! Who knows how long ill be here!! I really like the new area im in though! So ill just work as hard as i can while im here! I love reading and studying the scriptures everyday! I know that just one verse a day can help you so much!! So Make you you strive to read and pray everyday! I promise that it will help you in every aspect of your life!!
Dogs dont like missionaries, on friday night elder dixon got bit by a dog haha it wasn't too bad though oh well!! But yeah other than that stuff not too much has happen just regular crazy mission life! Still No wod yet on my visa but i hope to get it soon! Who knows how long ill be here!! I really like the new area im in though! So ill just work as hard as i can while im here! I love reading and studying the scriptures everyday! I know that just one verse a day can help you so much!! So Make you you strive to read and pray everyday! I promise that it will help you in every aspect of your life!!
August 2,2010 email
Im doing good, I'm not sick anymore, so i have been working all week, im getting in good shape i have lost 25ish lbs since i left home, its kinda hot here so i sweat alot and all i do is walk and ride my bike all day its not that bad im just use to it and its always nice to be able to share your testimony with people who dont have the gospel in there lifes, alot of people that we talk to reject us but just looking into their eyes i know they know what i said is true and i know that they are feeling something they havent felt before, some people just need to soften their hearts! but thats okay thats our job as missionaries! We havent had any baptisms yet but we have lots of people we are teaching! They are just lazy Latins haha they never come to church! haha But yesterday at church i had the opportunity to bless a baby! It was cool! A non-member family wanted their baby to be blessed so i did it!! We are going to start teaching them! Some people are just prepared! This week was training for all the leaders in the mission so elder dixon was gone from wed to sat so i had the opportunity to work with other elders in my zone, it was pretty fun to see how other elders work and study! I am reading a ton i have read the book of mormon once since i left and i am now on my second time im in alma 30! The book of mormon is an amazing book and it will literally answer every question that you could ever have! Its insane! I encourage you to strive to read it everyday! I know it will bless your life so much!! I have also been reading the Bible a ton too ! The bible is really cool too but i mainly just study it because all the people we teach believe in the bible so i try to know alot about it too!! Its crazy how the book of mormon and the bible are so intune with eachother!! The Book Of Mormon is true!! Everyone can know that too, thats whats cool about my calling as a missionary, we dont try to convince or force people to learn we just invite them to ask god! haha one thing i said to some one this week was i was telling them to ask god if Joseph smith really saw god and i said " ask god he was there" haha my comp thought that was funny!! But yeah my spanish is getting alot better i am learning more and more everyday!! Still no word on my visa yet!! who knows! BUt ill just work hard while im here!!
love elder stradling!!
love elder stradling!!
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
check it out
The mission Elder Stradling is currently serving in has a blog! http://utahslcsouthmission.blogspot.com/
7-7-10 letter
Things are great here in SLC, its a very humbling experience to know what it feels like to be called to serve in utah, but over the last week i have grown to love this area, we have alot of good investigators and lots of bad ones haha, but everyone is great in the eyes of god so we always keep encouraging those who are making wrong choices!! We have 3 baptisms this weekend, and like 3 more teh next sunday, so the work is going very strong here!
i have learned so much these past couple months, but there is still so much more to learn! So i got another new companion last Tuesday , his name is elder nelson he went to mtn view, He was in darts ward, pretty small world huh? Oh so today we just got a brand new mission president, his name is president miller, he seems really cool, but he isnt really my mission president, just a temporary one until i go to oaxaca! Oh and the other day me and elder dixon were riding to walmart, and he crashed so hard, he flew like 15 feet, haha it was pretty funny, he didnt really get hurt, just a little scrape he got lucky he didnt get hurt more, the other two elders in my companionship elder nelson and elder martin also crashed this week haha so they think im next!! In in the area where im serving is like on a big hill so we have to bike up hills all the time, it kinda stinks haha but im getting in good shape, i think im going to race lance armstrong when i get home haha... anyways, not too much more has happened here,.... oh wait so on saturday night we got to watch a movie because they didnt want us out on the streets from the parties and stuff which is funny because the 4th was on sunday, but its Utah so most people did do their stuff on saturday but we watched alice in wonderland, it was okay, have you seen it?? The real one with like johnny depp! but yeah now i think thats about it, that has happen this week, and i to get to go to tour the saltlake conference center on the 16th i think if im still here! so that would be a cool experience! sorry i didnt send you any pictures, i forgot my camera again, i didnt know we were going to email right now so i kinda lost track of time and all but i will next week for sure!! But i gotta go i love you!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Waiting for visa
Elder Stradling will be serving in the Salt Lake Mission for a few weeks until his visa goes through! He's excited to leave the MTC and even more excited for when he finally gets to go to Oaxaca!!!
Monday, May 24, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
3-12-10 letter
Hey mom! thanks for the email, sorry if lots of words are mispelled, the keyboard im using isnt very good!! So guess what! last night Elder Holland came and talked to all the elders here for the tuesday night devotional! It was amazing , the spirit was so strong, im pretty sure that all 2000+ elders cried at one time or another during his devotional! He said so many good things, and he talked with such power! my testimony grew like 200% after listening to him talk. it was absolutley amazing!! He said that we all have to convert one person no matter what, and that one person has to be ourselfs! He talked about the importance of having the gospel in your heart! and to live what we preach! he said that if we come home and go inactive he will punch us in the face haha!! he also talked about teaching the lords way, which is by the spirit, he said that this isnt burger king, we dont get it our way haha!! he also said that we must teach by authority, he said we have more authority than anyone, the president, the pope, the prime minister!! he spoke with so much power, all i can say is it was amazing! In the end of the talk he spoke how we need to be the missionaries that kids think we are, we need to be moroni, because thats who they think we are! at the end he bore his testimony, he said that he has not given up his whole life for a fairy tale, this is gods truth, we are in this forever! Everyone was Speechless after the talk! It was so inspired!
Also this week, elder holobaugh passed a kidney stone, and that was pretty much all the excitment this week! The spanish is coming along good, i can have good convos pretty easy now! its crazy how fast i am learning, but i know its only because heavenly father is helping me!!
Well gotta go! Write me and send me goods!!
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Our First Email From Elder Stradling
Hey family!!
hey guys hows it going at home i am doing great here, i like it alot!! the spirit is very strong and everyone is happy to be here! The Spanish is coming along pretty good! i have learned so much and its only been a week!! My testimony has grown so much! and it grows more and more every day!! I sent you guys a letter sometime last week i hope you got it! So you pretty much you should all write me letters because my companion Elder crow gets way more than me, so you guys are slacking!! haha but its okay because I'm usually way busy anyways!! I have some pictures to send you all of me and my comp and my district!! Its very pretty here, but i think here its like December or January! because it has snowed like everyday i have been here! i like it alot, but i get cold sometimes and my comp calls me a wimp because he is from Utah , he lives like 10 min away!! so he is use to the cold and all! he always wants to study out side, but its always freezing and he always thinks its such a beautiful day, and I'm like freezing haha.
So guess what, somehow i managed to get an ingrown toenail during the first 3 days of my mission haha, i dk how that's possible but i guess it is! So i have a doctors appt later today at like 2:30 and we have to leave the mtc and my comp is kinda scared because he lives like way close to the doctors office where i am going but oh well he will get over it! when you see the pictures of me and my comp elder crow you will laugh because he is like way skinny and I'm like huge! it just looks funny, you will see!!
So i guess i wont be able to call you on mothers day! sorry mom!! Happy Mothers day though!! and I love you!! so i guess the next time i will be able to talk to you in in like June or whenever i leave the mtc! But i guess its really slow right now to get visas in Mexico because of the whole border bill thing that was just signed or what ever but hope fully it will speed up! I will look forward to that day!! And guess what me and my comp are the only elder in the whole mtc that are going to Oaxaca, which is crazy because there are like 2500 elders here and so yeah, its pretty rare that happens!! Si guess that means there are tons of local missionaries that serve in Oaxaca!! Well I hope you all are doing great, and if you have any questions for me just write me!! Tell Hannah I love her and miss her!! But i Miss everyone else to just as much haha
I love you all and i hope to hear from you ASAP!!
Love Elder Stradling
We woke up early on the 28th to take Elder Stradling to the airport he had a 7:30am flight. We saw many other missionaries leaving on the same flight, some families were crying others looked like they had done this a million times and acted like it was no big deal. We started out fine but when we started saying our final goodbyes and hugs, we all lost it!! Especially Mel,Rance & Cam. We didnt think we would all ball like babies...boy were we wrong! Zach even had tears running down his face,I don't know when the last time I saw that happen!! We are so proud of our Missionary!!! And we know he will be an Amazing Missionary!!
Thursday, April 29, 2010
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