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

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!!

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!!