Tuesday, August 23, 2011
5-2-11
This week in Mexico Oaxaca Mission was pretty good but also pretty busy! I now have been gone from home for a year, I feel like it has gone by so fast! And its true It really has gone by fast, it feels like ever since I got to mexico things just started flying by! Then once I started speaking spanish fluently It started going by even faster, I think because I am able to express myself alot better now and able to have fun in the work! This week we also were able to have one baptism, her name is Belem and missionaries have been trying to get her baptized for a long time haha, but we were finally able to make it happen, with the help from the lord!! Also this week Isabel one of my converts had her baby! And we also had a mission conference this week! Well there was a basic summary of my week now let me give you the day by day,
Tuesday- left early for my piano lesson that my comp gives me, then after that we had a few lessons then went to our lunch appointment, after that we went and taught a few more lessons then we went and visited belem to finalize the baptismal date because we really weren't sure what day it was going to be or if it would have even been this week, because their grandma just found out she has cancer and they have all been pretty sad, but we talked to them and we set the date to be friday! After that lesson we went and taught Gabriel, he is a 35 yr old guy who has some pretty crazy beliefs but we are making some progress with him! Then we went and taught Julios family, that went well, then we went and visited yen and her family!
Wed- was a pretty boring day but pretty successful we found a few more people to teach and we put a few more baptismal dates for this month! Then in the night time we had to go to the ward council meeting!
Thursday- My one year mark! Started out pretty slow because we had to go clean the baptismal font and get it ready for the baptism that we were going to have the next day, then we went and had a few lessons then in the evening we had to take the district leader to do the baptismal interview for belem! then after that we had a Little party planned for me, because it was my one year mark, a sister made us tlyudas, which are like giant quesadillas! Then we were going to burn one of my shirts but right when we were about to do it we got a call from isabel, my convert that is pregnant and really doesnt have any family, she said that she was in a lot of pain and needed to go to the hospital, so the sister took us over to get her and we got her in the car and we drove to the hospital, the sister that was there with us said it looked like I was the father of the baby because I looked nervous and worried haha, I guess I just have grown close to my converts, and we were there until like 1 am, because they said we couldnt leave because we were the ones responsible for her and that someone had to be there to make decisions for her if she wasnt able to talk, so we had to call our relief society president, and she came and stayed with her so that we could go home!
Friday- We had to wake up early because we had a mission conference at 7 and it was like an hour away by bus, so we had teh conference it was really good but we were both kinda tired because we had just had a long night! After the conference we had to go get everything ready for the baptism, then we had the baptismal service it was really good, my companion played the violin and teh spirit was very strong!
Saturday- we finally had time to go see Isabel and her new baby girl! I was able to hold that baby and it was amazing to hold a baby that was so young! It was weird because it really made me want to have a kid of my own, and when ever she will start crying, they hand her to me and she stops crying and goes right to sleep, everyone thinks that funny, and they always say the baby loves me the most! After we went and visited them for a little while and helped them get their little room that they live in cleaned up we headed to a few other appointments and we taught a less active family!
Sunday- Was a good day as well! Belem who we baptized got confirmed, and also we gave their baby a blessing! It was really cool! then later I was able to ordain the arronic priesthood to one of my converts, his name is julio and is 16 years old! It was the first setting apart ordnance that I have ever done is spanish, and in fact I didnt even notice but when I set him apart as a priest, I actually said the word priest in enlgish, but the rest was in spanish, Im not sure how I squeezed an english word in there but oh well haha! After church we went and ate and then went and visted Isabel and her new baby again! I was able to hold the baby for awhile again! I really love holding her! It just gives me a really special feeling that I havent really felt before in my whole life! Then when ever my companion holds her, he gets all scared and says that he isnt ready to have a kid!
Well that was pretty much my whole week! Not too bad!
Thanks again for your email and I hope that you have a great week!
I will send you an email later this week with information about the Mothers day call! Just make sure you change your plan so that your able to call mexico! Because if not I wont be able to talk to you! So I am not sure who you need to ask, just make sure that you do it before sunday!! Have the girls do it as well, I am not sure if you will still be with them for mothers day or not!
Love,
Elder Stradling
Tuesday- left early for my piano lesson that my comp gives me, then after that we had a few lessons then went to our lunch appointment, after that we went and taught a few more lessons then we went and visited belem to finalize the baptismal date because we really weren't sure what day it was going to be or if it would have even been this week, because their grandma just found out she has cancer and they have all been pretty sad, but we talked to them and we set the date to be friday! After that lesson we went and taught Gabriel, he is a 35 yr old guy who has some pretty crazy beliefs but we are making some progress with him! Then we went and taught Julios family, that went well, then we went and visited yen and her family!
Wed- was a pretty boring day but pretty successful we found a few more people to teach and we put a few more baptismal dates for this month! Then in the night time we had to go to the ward council meeting!
Thursday- My one year mark! Started out pretty slow because we had to go clean the baptismal font and get it ready for the baptism that we were going to have the next day, then we went and had a few lessons then in the evening we had to take the district leader to do the baptismal interview for belem! then after that we had a Little party planned for me, because it was my one year mark, a sister made us tlyudas, which are like giant quesadillas! Then we were going to burn one of my shirts but right when we were about to do it we got a call from isabel, my convert that is pregnant and really doesnt have any family, she said that she was in a lot of pain and needed to go to the hospital, so the sister took us over to get her and we got her in the car and we drove to the hospital, the sister that was there with us said it looked like I was the father of the baby because I looked nervous and worried haha, I guess I just have grown close to my converts, and we were there until like 1 am, because they said we couldnt leave because we were the ones responsible for her and that someone had to be there to make decisions for her if she wasnt able to talk, so we had to call our relief society president, and she came and stayed with her so that we could go home!
Friday- We had to wake up early because we had a mission conference at 7 and it was like an hour away by bus, so we had teh conference it was really good but we were both kinda tired because we had just had a long night! After the conference we had to go get everything ready for the baptism, then we had the baptismal service it was really good, my companion played the violin and teh spirit was very strong!
Saturday- we finally had time to go see Isabel and her new baby girl! I was able to hold that baby and it was amazing to hold a baby that was so young! It was weird because it really made me want to have a kid of my own, and when ever she will start crying, they hand her to me and she stops crying and goes right to sleep, everyone thinks that funny, and they always say the baby loves me the most! After we went and visited them for a little while and helped them get their little room that they live in cleaned up we headed to a few other appointments and we taught a less active family!
Sunday- Was a good day as well! Belem who we baptized got confirmed, and also we gave their baby a blessing! It was really cool! then later I was able to ordain the arronic priesthood to one of my converts, his name is julio and is 16 years old! It was the first setting apart ordnance that I have ever done is spanish, and in fact I didnt even notice but when I set him apart as a priest, I actually said the word priest in enlgish, but the rest was in spanish, Im not sure how I squeezed an english word in there but oh well haha! After church we went and ate and then went and visted Isabel and her new baby again! I was able to hold the baby for awhile again! I really love holding her! It just gives me a really special feeling that I havent really felt before in my whole life! Then when ever my companion holds her, he gets all scared and says that he isnt ready to have a kid!
Well that was pretty much my whole week! Not too bad!
Thanks again for your email and I hope that you have a great week!
I will send you an email later this week with information about the Mothers day call! Just make sure you change your plan so that your able to call mexico! Because if not I wont be able to talk to you! So I am not sure who you need to ask, just make sure that you do it before sunday!! Have the girls do it as well, I am not sure if you will still be with them for mothers day or not!
Love,
Elder Stradling
5-16-11
So this week for me was pretty good! Nothing really that great or exciting happened, so thats why this email maybe a little bit shorter than normal! So I have been in this area for about 4 months now! The area is called La Joya, which translates to the jewel! Some say its the jewel of the mission! But I am ready to leave, I have been her for awhile, I have made a lot of friends and have had the great opportunity to have a lot of success here as a missionary! The people the I have been able to baptize are very special and close to me! Its an amazing experience to be able to see the changes that the gospel can make in peoples lives! I have seen people with absolutely nothing, temporally nor spiritually, become people who see a purpose in their lives, who now see life differently, who now have goals, personal and as a family! I know that this gospel is true because I have seen first hand the miracles and happiness it brings to the lives of its followers!
So things for me are going pretty good, my companion right now Elder Garcia is kinda weird, but I'm use to weird companions! Just have to accept him for who he is, and see his strengths rather than his weaknesses! He has more time than me in the mission, but I am senior companion so that kind of bothers him! We have only baptized one person this month but we have another family that we are looking to baptize in 2 weeks, but they are kinda progressing a little bit slow and i think I will be leaving this area on the 30th of may, but I guess I dont really know for sure! I have already been here for awhile!
Well let me tell you about my week!
Tuesday,In the morning the mission president and his wife came over and checked out our house to see if it was clean( luckily it was) and they also said we needed to paint the inside and get some sinks fixed! After that we went and visited a few investigators that we have and we taught a few lessons! And there was some mothers day activity, because in mexico mothers day is always on the 10th of may! So we just started talking to all the families that were there at the little activity, and we found like 5 more families that we are now teaching!
Wed- we had to go to the central, because my companion had to go see some special skin doctor because he has acne. So we wasted a lot of time doing that, but I guess the good thing that came out of it was that we were able to go and eat at burgerking, because the members that were suppose to feed us, were out of town so they gave us some money to go eat! After we finally go back from the central, (which is like an hour away by bus) we went and visited a few people and had some appointments! Just a regular night!
Thursday- Was a pretty hard day, when we were at an appointment with Isabel, one of my recent converts,and while we were there we got a call from some members in our ward, they asked if we could come and give their grandma a blessing. So we ran over there and we entered the room and everyone was crying because there grandma was really sick, she found out 3 weeks ago that she has cancer. So I gave her the blessing, and it was really hard to say the things that the spirit was telling me to say, because it was evident that the spirit was telling me that she was going to die, so when I felt I needed to say certain things, I felt like I needed to speak in English so that the family wouldn't understand. It was a very powerful moment, it was probably the longest blessing I had ever given and everyone in the room said they spirit very strong. She later died. But the whole family although sad, accepted it how it was, and the family all had a very strong testimony in the gospel and the plan that our heavenly father has for us!
Friday- Nothing really that exciting happened, in the morning we got invited to go eat breakfast with some members! That was good! Then later we had a few good lessons. Then later in the evening we went to an activity that another ward was having, because they asked my companion to play the violin! Then after that some members invited to go eat hamburgers with them and then after they drove us home! Which was nice because we live like 3 miles away from our area!
Saturday- In the morning some repair guy came and fixed a bunch of stuff but we had to sit and wait around the house until he left! So we didn't get to go out and work until like 2-3 pm! Oh well, after that we went and taught a lot of good lessons! It rained the the afternoon, just like it does everyday here!
Sunday- We went to church and after we went and ate then we went and gave the sacrament to all the sick members that werent able to go to church! Then we had a few other appointments and then we headed home! Pretty boring day!
Well that was my week! I hope that you and the kids have a great week!
con amor,
Elder Stradling
So things for me are going pretty good, my companion right now Elder Garcia is kinda weird, but I'm use to weird companions! Just have to accept him for who he is, and see his strengths rather than his weaknesses! He has more time than me in the mission, but I am senior companion so that kind of bothers him! We have only baptized one person this month but we have another family that we are looking to baptize in 2 weeks, but they are kinda progressing a little bit slow and i think I will be leaving this area on the 30th of may, but I guess I dont really know for sure! I have already been here for awhile!
Well let me tell you about my week!
Tuesday,In the morning the mission president and his wife came over and checked out our house to see if it was clean( luckily it was) and they also said we needed to paint the inside and get some sinks fixed! After that we went and visited a few investigators that we have and we taught a few lessons! And there was some mothers day activity, because in mexico mothers day is always on the 10th of may! So we just started talking to all the families that were there at the little activity, and we found like 5 more families that we are now teaching!
Wed- we had to go to the central, because my companion had to go see some special skin doctor because he has acne. So we wasted a lot of time doing that, but I guess the good thing that came out of it was that we were able to go and eat at burgerking, because the members that were suppose to feed us, were out of town so they gave us some money to go eat! After we finally go back from the central, (which is like an hour away by bus) we went and visited a few people and had some appointments! Just a regular night!
Thursday- Was a pretty hard day, when we were at an appointment with Isabel, one of my recent converts,and while we were there we got a call from some members in our ward, they asked if we could come and give their grandma a blessing. So we ran over there and we entered the room and everyone was crying because there grandma was really sick, she found out 3 weeks ago that she has cancer. So I gave her the blessing, and it was really hard to say the things that the spirit was telling me to say, because it was evident that the spirit was telling me that she was going to die, so when I felt I needed to say certain things, I felt like I needed to speak in English so that the family wouldn't understand. It was a very powerful moment, it was probably the longest blessing I had ever given and everyone in the room said they spirit very strong. She later died. But the whole family although sad, accepted it how it was, and the family all had a very strong testimony in the gospel and the plan that our heavenly father has for us!
Friday- Nothing really that exciting happened, in the morning we got invited to go eat breakfast with some members! That was good! Then later we had a few good lessons. Then later in the evening we went to an activity that another ward was having, because they asked my companion to play the violin! Then after that some members invited to go eat hamburgers with them and then after they drove us home! Which was nice because we live like 3 miles away from our area!
Saturday- In the morning some repair guy came and fixed a bunch of stuff but we had to sit and wait around the house until he left! So we didn't get to go out and work until like 2-3 pm! Oh well, after that we went and taught a lot of good lessons! It rained the the afternoon, just like it does everyday here!
Sunday- We went to church and after we went and ate then we went and gave the sacrament to all the sick members that werent able to go to church! Then we had a few other appointments and then we headed home! Pretty boring day!
Well that was my week! I hope that you and the kids have a great week!
con amor,
Elder Stradling
5-23-11
I dont really have too much time to write a long email today, because thsi morning we went on a really long hike, we left at like 6 am and we didnt get back till like 4pm, it was really fun though, but also very tiring! Maybe one of the hardest hikes I have been on because there really wasnt a trail so we just walked straight up a mountain, and it was really rough trail! I ha dfun though, we saw a little waterfall and we explored a cave and there were tons of bats in side! It was pretty exciting! I will send some pictures! I am doing good, I am healthy and working hard as a missionary! This might be my last week in this area so I am going to work really hard this week so that it will be in good shape even though I am leaving the ward!
Sorry I didnt have time to write more, but I hope you have a great week!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
Sorry I didnt have time to write more, but I hope you have a great week!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
6-1-11
I got transferred on Monday and on monday I took a 12 hour bus ride to my new area! My new area is called Zicatela, its on the coast, and its more commonly known as puerto escondido, and its a very popular tourist location so there are tons of white people here, so that's kinda weird and you can pretty much see the ocean from every spot in my area! Our house is like 5 min or less walking distance from the beach! So its very green and tropical here! The only bad thing is that its so humid! You sweat here no matter where you are or what you are doing! Its kinda annoying but I am getting use to it! My companions name is Elder Estrada, so people just call us both Estrada because they think that stradling is just Estrada but in English! Things are going pretty good! yesterday we took a few pictures by the beach so I will send you some! Sorry I don't really have much more time to write, but I hope that you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Stradling
Love,
Elder Stradling
6-13-11
This week for me was pretty good, it seems like it went by really fast, but I guess that how it always is here in the mission, it just seems like time flys by so fast! I have only been on this new area for about 2 weeks now, but we are already having quite a bit of success, on Sunday we baptized one of our investigators, his name is Benito and he is 25 years old, I had the privilege of baptizing him, the services were really good and I think that everyone felt the spirit, even though I had to baptize him 3 times because the first 2 times his tie floated up so the third time I tucked his tie into his shirt, so that it couldn't float up anymore haha. But other than that the services all went very well! And the cool thing is that the members in this branch actually go to baptisms, in my last area we were lucky to have someone with the priesthood show up to be a witness, but here we had like 25 members come to support Benito, I really think it helps alot so that he will feel accepted! This week I also got a little sick, I have just had a headache for about a week now! But its nothing too serious, they say its regular because of the climate change, and because its so hot and humid here, but who knows! I just hope my head will stop hurting soon! We have a lot of good investigators that we are teaching right now, I think we will be able to baptize about 6 people in this transfer, my companion is kinda new, he only has 6 months in the mission, so his teaching is a little sloppy, but he is learning fast! I am the first American companion that he has had and he also wants to learn English, so he is always asking me how to say certain things in english, and then I have been reading with him in the book of mormon in english so that he can learn! Also this week on friday we had zone conference and President de la cruz gave his last training, because he goes home at the end of this month, and we will be getting a new mission president. It will be very different to have another president and I will miss President De la Cruz, but I also think it can be a good thing to get another president and be able to learn different things from him. I also had my last interview with president de la cruz,and it was very different from all the interviews that I have had with him, basically he was just telling me bye, and that i have grown alot as a persona and as a missionary in the time that he has known me, and that he had a lot of confidence in me but that I also need to win the trust and confidence of the new president. After the interview he took some other elders and I out to dinner, than dropped us off at our house. Then sunday was the baptism of Benito and after the baptism we went and ate really fast and then we had to go back to the chapel because we had to prepare for an activity that we were going to have! The activity went really well, we are doing a combine activity for these next 3 weeks with the elders from puerto escondido, and we are trying all the members on how to be missionaries, they are all really excited and ready to work! We actually had like 40 people show up last night, and its starting to look like the 3 week event will go really well!
So thats pretty much all that happened in my week, sorry its a little short I dont really have much time to write, but I will send the pictures from the baptism and also a few from the week!
I hope that you have a great week full of success!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
So thats pretty much all that happened in my week, sorry its a little short I dont really have much time to write, but I will send the pictures from the baptism and also a few from the week!
I hope that you have a great week full of success!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
6-20-11
So this week was a good one, I am doing great and I am healthy and happy, I really dont have head aches anymore, I guess that means that I am getting use to the humidity of my new area! This week it has rained alot, in fact its raining right now, and it has been raining non stop for about 2 days now! I have gotten use to the rain though, so its not too bad, but all the streets here were planned bad, and so when it rains all the streets just turn into rivers, its pretty fun walking through them! Also another interesting thing about my area here, is that there are lots of white people, most of them are all hippies or beach bums, because surfing is really popular here, because the waves are really big! So its always interesting to see white people, and even more interesting to hear people speaking english. I teach an English class here in the chapel 2 days a week, and I have noticed that I dont remember lots of words in English, or at least it takes me a little while to think about how to form sentences, because lots of them will ask me how to say certain things in English, and sometimes it takes me awhile to remember lots of words or grammar! As far as missionary work goes, we didnt have any baptisms this week but we found lots of people and we were able to place baptismal dates with them! 3 For this sunday and then another 4 for the next Sunday! Although a few of them might not end up getting baptized on those days, because of random things that always seem to happen! But most of them should get baptized! On there set dates! So we have quite a bit of investigators right now, but we keep searching for more and more each day!
Well I really dont have too much more time to write, we have been kinda cut short on time on Monday!
But I hope that your doing great and and that you have a great upcoming week!
Con Amor,
Elder Stradling
Well I really dont have too much more time to write, we have been kinda cut short on time on Monday!
But I hope that your doing great and and that you have a great upcoming week!
Con Amor,
Elder Stradling
7-5-11
Hey,
Thank you for the email! I am doing well, I had a great week! Sorry I didn't write yesterday! Yesterday I was busy all day, because it was the last p-day of the change we decided to go eat on the beach, it was really cool, and I took some good pictures! This last week that I had was a good one, and on Sunday we had a Baptism of Rogelia! It was awesome, and the spirit was very strong! Also this last week our mission president went home and we now have a new president, his name is presidente Leba! I haven't met him yet, but he will be coming to the coast, this Thursday! I look forward to meeting him!
Sorry this email is so short, I really don't have much time! But I am going to try and send some pictures of the baptism!
I hope you are doing great and that you have a great rest of the week! Thanks so much for your love and support!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
Thank you for the email! I am doing well, I had a great week! Sorry I didn't write yesterday! Yesterday I was busy all day, because it was the last p-day of the change we decided to go eat on the beach, it was really cool, and I took some good pictures! This last week that I had was a good one, and on Sunday we had a Baptism of Rogelia! It was awesome, and the spirit was very strong! Also this last week our mission president went home and we now have a new president, his name is presidente Leba! I haven't met him yet, but he will be coming to the coast, this Thursday! I look forward to meeting him!
Sorry this email is so short, I really don't have much time! But I am going to try and send some pictures of the baptism!
I hope you are doing great and that you have a great rest of the week! Thanks so much for your love and support!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
7-18-11
Well my first week back in the city was pretty good! It seemed to go by kinda slow though, I think thats because I am still learning the area, and I have never been on this side of the city, so everything is new to me, and Im just getting use to everything, Our area is pretty small though, they say its the smallest area in the mission, and that makes it kinda difficult to baptize, but this week we found someone who we might baptize this Sunday if not the next! We have been contacting alot because when I got here there really wasnt any good investigators, and I forgot what its like to contact in the city, the people are so rude and ignorant! And to make it better, this whole week it has been raining non-stop, literally, I thought Id get a break from the rain when I left the coast, but its been raining here a ton too! Im sure my shoes are getting worn out because they get soaked every day! Then I forgot my umbrella in my last area, and its like 12 hours away, so I had to buy a new umbrella, because for the first few days I didnt have one, and I got completely soaked each day! So I decided to invsest in a new umbrella! And guess what the ward here is smaller than my branch was in my last area! Yesterday there was only 57 members at church! I guess its just because the area is so small, but the bishop told us this morning that they are about to make the area bigger, so that should be good! Other than that, nothing else has really happened thats too exciting! I have just been a bit more busy! Things are going pretty good as district leader, the only bad thing is that there are sister missionaries in my District, and as district leader everyone has to call me in the night and give me a report of their day, and the sisters, just keep talking and talking, I feel like loyd, in the movie "dumb and dumber", when he is at that bar and that lady just keeps talking and talking and he says ( will you just shut up!!, I dont care!!) But of course I cant say that to them! Oh well I guess it helps me learn patience! Well I really dont have much more time to write! We got caught up doing other things today!
I hope you have a great week, full of fun and success!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
I hope you have a great week, full of fun and success!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
8-22-11
I am doing good and This week for me was good, and I haven't really been sick this week so that made it nice! The president made me go see some specialist, because he was worried that I was getting sick so much, so I went and they did some tests and the doctor gave me some new medicine that I have to take, I feel like an old person, because I have to take a ton of pills every day!! Thats okay though!! So On Saturday they told us the changes for this next transfer, and guess what, I am going to have my first american companion, his name is elder monson, they say he is President Monsons, grandson, but I think that's just a rumor, to try and scare me haha and He is new, so I will be training him! I haven't met him yet, because his plane doesn't land until later tonight, but they tell me that his is really tall, 6´ 10", and he played basketball for University of Utah, so I am sure he will be pretty cool, but it will sure be different to have an american companion, and more because he wont really speak Spanish, because he is new! But I think it will be fun, I think I am going to just speak Spanish with him, so that he can learn faster!! I will be staying in the same area though, but Thats okay, we have have a few good investigators that we are looking to baptize in these next couple of weeks!! Time has been flying by, this week I will already have 16 months in the mission, even though it feels like just yesterday that I only had 6 months! But oh well, I look to take advantage of the time that I have left!!
On Sunday we had our stake conference, and it was really good, the spirit was so strong, our mission president spoke, as well as two members of the seventy, Elder Toriz, and Elder Tenorio! They both gave really good talks, that were very spiritual, but also very funny! So I really enjoyed the conference! After the conference we took a picture with all the elders in the stake, with Elder Toriz, Elder Tenorio, and president Leyva! So I will try and send that picture today, as well as a few others that I took in this last week!
Well I really don't have too much more time to write, and nothing that exciting happened in this last week! But I hope that You have a great week and that you are doing great!!
con amor,
Elder Stradling
On Sunday we had our stake conference, and it was really good, the spirit was so strong, our mission president spoke, as well as two members of the seventy, Elder Toriz, and Elder Tenorio! They both gave really good talks, that were very spiritual, but also very funny! So I really enjoyed the conference! After the conference we took a picture with all the elders in the stake, with Elder Toriz, Elder Tenorio, and president Leyva! So I will try and send that picture today, as well as a few others that I took in this last week!
Well I really don't have too much more time to write, and nothing that exciting happened in this last week! But I hope that You have a great week and that you are doing great!!
con amor,
Elder Stradling
8-15-11
This week for me was really good!! We didn't end up having any baptisms and I got sick again, I really getting tired of being sick so much, and I keep losing weight, I now only weigh 189lbs pretty crazy huh? I weighed 265 when I left! On my agenda that I have, I always put a picture of the family on there, and people always ask where I am in the picture and when I point at me, they don't believe me because I guess I look really different now! haha, and they always say that I looked like a bully, because I use to never smile in pictures haha! They say I am like the bully from the tv show Malcolm and the middle, I guess that show is pretty popular here! And the whole WWE wrestling is a big deal here and they all say that I look like John Cena, and lots of them call me Elder Cena, I think mainly because they cant pronounce my name! But anyways I am starting to think that this whole me always being sick thing isn't too good for me, I just hope its not doing permanent damage to my stomach, but who knows! Even though I was sick this week and we couldn't work too much we still managed to find lots of new investigators and we put 3 baptismal dates with three people that we found this week, they are set to be baptized on the 28th of Aug! We also have about 2 or 3 other people that we are working with and we plan to put baptismal dates with them as well! We will see what happens in the next few days! Other than that everything is pretty much the same! Time just continues to fly by, we are already on the last week of this transfer, so who knows if I will still be in this area in 7 days! Because for some reason they like to move me around alot! Its okay though, Im use to it! I now actually kinda like it! This way I get to know lost of people and lots of places! But On wed we had interviews with the president, and he said he likes to keep elders in one area for 4- 6 months, so we will see what happens, I really dont think I want to be in one area for that much time, I am just so use to changing so much!!
So let me give you a brief summary of my week!
Tuesday, I woke up really sick so we just went out in the morning and worked a little bit but then we just decided to go home and rest, then in the evening we had out meeting with the ward mission leader, that went pretty good! Then after we went and taught a lesson really fast then came home for the night!
Wed- We had interviews and my district had to be there first so I had to be the offices at 7am, and me and my district were all on time, but no body who had keys showed up until like 730, oh well, its the Mexican style to always be late! I am use to it! The interviews went really well, but I was there until like 1pm because I had to wait for everyone in my district to get interviewed! After that we headed back to the area and went and visited Eddy, a young man that we recently reactivated in the past few weeks! He has really progressed, he now goes to church every week, and he bought a white shirt, dress pants and a tie, so they he can wear them to church! He now says that he wants to go on a mission! Even though he was baptized awhile ago, its really nice to be able to reactivate people as well! After that we went and visited a few investigators and visited a few members, to see how they were doing!! then we had an appointment with Maria, who we just recently baptized, that went very well and she is doing great!! Then after that we headed home!
Thursday- In the morning we went to teach an investigator, her name is Maria as well, to be honest id say half the women here, maybe not half, like one third of the women here are named Maria, from the Virgin Maria, there are some names Maria de Guadalupe, or Maria de Jesus, o maria de los Angeles! But anyhow, we taught here, and she accepted, but there was one problem, she isnt married to her husband, well I guess that would make it her boyfriend, but thats a really big problem here, for some reason no one gets married, I guess maybe its the lack of money, or just the lack loyalty! Who knows!! But we put a goal with her that she would talk to her husband to put a date for when they Will get married! We will see what happens! Then after that we knocked a few doors, but they all rejected us, oh well, life as a missionary! Then we went and ate! Then we Had an appointment with a few investigators and we found a new one, and we are planning on putting a baptismal date with one this week! Then after that we had a family home evening with a part member family! Fue muy bien!
Friday- Another sick day, but in the morning we had promised to help a lady in our ward move! So we did that, and it didnt take up too much time, we got done at about 2pm then we went and ate lunch, then after that I felt really bad so we headed home and I slept the rest of the day... pretty boring day!
Saturday- We did divisions with a few elders in our district, that went really well! We found lots of new investigators and we put 3 baptismal dates!
Sunday- I woke up throwing up but we went to church, and it went really well, but I just felt sick the whole time, but oh well! Then after church we went and ate with some members then we headed to the house of some of my converts, that live in one of my old areas! That was really fun to see them and how they have progressed in the church since that last time I had seen them!!
Well that's my week! I hope that you are doing great and I wish you a great upcoming week!
Love
Elder Stradling
So let me give you a brief summary of my week!
Tuesday, I woke up really sick so we just went out in the morning and worked a little bit but then we just decided to go home and rest, then in the evening we had out meeting with the ward mission leader, that went pretty good! Then after we went and taught a lesson really fast then came home for the night!
Wed- We had interviews and my district had to be there first so I had to be the offices at 7am, and me and my district were all on time, but no body who had keys showed up until like 730, oh well, its the Mexican style to always be late! I am use to it! The interviews went really well, but I was there until like 1pm because I had to wait for everyone in my district to get interviewed! After that we headed back to the area and went and visited Eddy, a young man that we recently reactivated in the past few weeks! He has really progressed, he now goes to church every week, and he bought a white shirt, dress pants and a tie, so they he can wear them to church! He now says that he wants to go on a mission! Even though he was baptized awhile ago, its really nice to be able to reactivate people as well! After that we went and visited a few investigators and visited a few members, to see how they were doing!! then we had an appointment with Maria, who we just recently baptized, that went very well and she is doing great!! Then after that we headed home!
Thursday- In the morning we went to teach an investigator, her name is Maria as well, to be honest id say half the women here, maybe not half, like one third of the women here are named Maria, from the Virgin Maria, there are some names Maria de Guadalupe, or Maria de Jesus, o maria de los Angeles! But anyhow, we taught here, and she accepted, but there was one problem, she isnt married to her husband, well I guess that would make it her boyfriend, but thats a really big problem here, for some reason no one gets married, I guess maybe its the lack of money, or just the lack loyalty! Who knows!! But we put a goal with her that she would talk to her husband to put a date for when they Will get married! We will see what happens! Then after that we knocked a few doors, but they all rejected us, oh well, life as a missionary! Then we went and ate! Then we Had an appointment with a few investigators and we found a new one, and we are planning on putting a baptismal date with one this week! Then after that we had a family home evening with a part member family! Fue muy bien!
Friday- Another sick day, but in the morning we had promised to help a lady in our ward move! So we did that, and it didnt take up too much time, we got done at about 2pm then we went and ate lunch, then after that I felt really bad so we headed home and I slept the rest of the day... pretty boring day!
Saturday- We did divisions with a few elders in our district, that went really well! We found lots of new investigators and we put 3 baptismal dates!
Sunday- I woke up throwing up but we went to church, and it went really well, but I just felt sick the whole time, but oh well! Then after church we went and ate with some members then we headed to the house of some of my converts, that live in one of my old areas! That was really fun to see them and how they have progressed in the church since that last time I had seen them!!
Well that's my week! I hope that you are doing great and I wish you a great upcoming week!
Love
Elder Stradling
6-27-11
This week flew by, I dont know where the time goes, by there are now only two weeks left in this transfer, even though I feel like I just got here last week, but I have been here a month already! Things are going pretty good, I am healthy and we are working hard, we were hoping to have 4 baptisms on sunday, but one of the families that we were teaching decided at the last minute to back out and they want to wait a few more weeks before they get baptized, which is normal, lots of people feel like they need lots of time to prepare, or they get nervous or scared, thats just natural, but we told them not to worry and that we will be patient with them and so now they are set to get baptized on the 10 of july! Although that was kinda hard too see those 3 back out of getting baptized, we were still able to baptize Benito,( its a different one) The two baptisms that we have had here in zicatela, have both been named Benito! Which is pretty funny! But Benito is about 38 years old, he is an amazing person, and has made so many great changes in his life! His wife and children were recently baptized about 3 months ago, but he initially didnt want anything to do with the church, but once me and my companion started teaching him, he realized that he needed to make some changes, he now is so spiritual, and has such a strong testimony of this gospel, we didn't even ask him to bare his testimony at the baptismal service, but he just stood up and starting sharing his testimony! It was a great baptismal service, and lots of the branch members attended so I think that helped him feel accepted! He has really been a great example for me, and it just amazes me how quickly he was able to change once he received his testimony of the church! As missionaries we invite people to pray and ask god if the things that we teach are true, And he did just that, and he received his answer! It really makes being a missionary easy, when what your teaching is true! I will try and send some pictures that we took before the baptism!
So other than the baptism nothing really that exciting has happened, last Monday, it was raining really hard, and I guess there was a hurricane warning, but it never hit us! I guess that's a good thing, but I am not really sure of the details, we don't really know whats going on in the world haha, They told us the day after that there was a hurricane warning, but it must not have been too serious! We have had to walk a ton this week, because our area is pretty big and we have to take lots of taxis and buses, but we both ran out of money so we have been doing alot of walking, and alot of fasting because we dont have money to eat! So I think I lost some more weight this week, lost of the members told me on sunday that I looked smaller, but who knows! Life of a poor missionary haha! But I guess this week will be the same, because we dont get money until like saturday, or maybe until the next monday! I wonder how much more weight I will lose haha!
Oh and guess what! I know its against the law and a federal offense ( or something like that) But here people dont really care about that kinda stuff, ( its just the culture) and they eat sea turtle eggs, and on Tuesday, a family made them for us to eat, it was really weird, they look like ping pong balls, but they taste pretty good, I guess you dont use them to make like a fried egg, or scrambled, but you just eat them boiled, and but even after you boil them, they dont get hard like chicken eggs do, so you just like peel part of the shell off, and you suck out the inside, it was weird at first but I got use to it! They gave us like 10 eggs, but we only ate like 3 each! Then they also gave of giant grilled ants! I took some pictures, I will send them!
Nothing else really exciting happened this week, just the disappointment of the family not getting baptized, their names are Adrian, he is the dad, and his two daughters, Vivi, and Yasmin, one is 19 and the other is 14, The problem was that we haven't taught their mom, because she is never home, so she really didnt know anything about us, so when they told their mom that they were getting baptized she freaked out and said no, and that they need to wait and learn more first, but oh well, we will just need to teach the mom, so that she understands as well, and then maybe we will be able to baptize all 4 of them on the 10th of July! Then We are hoping to have another baptism this sunday, but its not 100% sure, its a lady names Rogelia, she is a really great woman, she is about 48 years old! We will see if she will be ready by this sunday!
Well that was pretty much my week! I hope that you are doing great and that you have a great week this week!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
So other than the baptism nothing really that exciting has happened, last Monday, it was raining really hard, and I guess there was a hurricane warning, but it never hit us! I guess that's a good thing, but I am not really sure of the details, we don't really know whats going on in the world haha, They told us the day after that there was a hurricane warning, but it must not have been too serious! We have had to walk a ton this week, because our area is pretty big and we have to take lots of taxis and buses, but we both ran out of money so we have been doing alot of walking, and alot of fasting because we dont have money to eat! So I think I lost some more weight this week, lost of the members told me on sunday that I looked smaller, but who knows! Life of a poor missionary haha! But I guess this week will be the same, because we dont get money until like saturday, or maybe until the next monday! I wonder how much more weight I will lose haha!
Oh and guess what! I know its against the law and a federal offense ( or something like that) But here people dont really care about that kinda stuff, ( its just the culture) and they eat sea turtle eggs, and on Tuesday, a family made them for us to eat, it was really weird, they look like ping pong balls, but they taste pretty good, I guess you dont use them to make like a fried egg, or scrambled, but you just eat them boiled, and but even after you boil them, they dont get hard like chicken eggs do, so you just like peel part of the shell off, and you suck out the inside, it was weird at first but I got use to it! They gave us like 10 eggs, but we only ate like 3 each! Then they also gave of giant grilled ants! I took some pictures, I will send them!
Nothing else really exciting happened this week, just the disappointment of the family not getting baptized, their names are Adrian, he is the dad, and his two daughters, Vivi, and Yasmin, one is 19 and the other is 14, The problem was that we haven't taught their mom, because she is never home, so she really didnt know anything about us, so when they told their mom that they were getting baptized she freaked out and said no, and that they need to wait and learn more first, but oh well, we will just need to teach the mom, so that she understands as well, and then maybe we will be able to baptize all 4 of them on the 10th of July! Then We are hoping to have another baptism this sunday, but its not 100% sure, its a lady names Rogelia, she is a really great woman, she is about 48 years old! We will see if she will be ready by this sunday!
Well that was pretty much my week! I hope that you are doing great and that you have a great week this week!
Con amor,
Elder Stradling
4-20-11
So this week was good, I dont really have to much time to write a whole lot. So ill just talk about the important things that have happened. On wed we were able to get a couple married, the husband is a member but the wife isnt, she will be getting baptized either this Sunday or this next Tuesday, we arent sure yet because she wants her family who arent members to be able to come, so that they can see the baptism and that we can start teaching her family as well! The ceremony was good, we just went to the civil records ( I think thats how you say it in english) and they singed some papers and we took some pictures, then after they had a little reception thing that they invited us to, that was fun we just ate mole and chicken, which is what they always serve at weddings or birthday parties haha, not much of a variety around here. Then on Sunday we had 4 baptisms, there names are Julio, who is 16yrs old, Berenice 16, Karina 11, and Gorge 9. The service went really well, we had the young women sing a special hymn then we had our whole district come and sing while an other elder played his violin! It was a very good service, we have been teaching this family for about 3 months now, and the parents still say they arent ready so we just baptized their kids, hopefully that will motivate them a little bit! So on sunday they told us tat my companion elder Guerrero was getting transferred to salina cruz, which is the hottest part of the mission, and about 7 hours away from here. So he packed his bags on sunday, they told me I was going to be staying in La Joya for another transfer, and that my companion was going to be Elder Lopez, who had already been my companion about 5 months ago. So on Monday while I was at the bus station to drop off my companion, the assistants called me and told me that they were going to change my comp, and that it was now going to be an Elder Garcia, but he didnt get here until tuesday at like 5 in the morning, so I went and got him at the bus station really early on Tuesday. He is from Mexico city, and has 13 months in the mission, and even though he has more time than me, they made me senior companion, He is kinda mad about that, but we still get along really good and he is a cool guy, he plays like 7 instruments and was in a rock band before the mission, he also use to teach piano and so he says he wants to teach me, so that should be cool! Other that than nothing else is really happening, just hot during the day and rain storms in the evening!
I hope you have a great week
Love elder stradling
I hope you have a great week
Love elder stradling
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
4-11-11
This week was good! I am feeling all better, I am back to my 100% and I was able to work all week! Although We didnt have any baptisms this week because the whole me getting sick thing and conference kinda threw a few things off schedule, but this coming week we are looking to baptize 3 people, it coud be 4 but who knows, because on wed we are going to marry a couple, and the wife isnt a member so the husband wants to baptize her, but we dont know if he will be able to do so by this Sunday or by the next one so we will see what happens, I guess the important thing is that she gets baptized! Things are going great here and time is flying by, we are already in the last week of the transfer, and it will most likely will be the last with the companion that I have right now, Elder Guerrero, because he has already been her for like 4 and a half months, and I will probably stay here for another 6 weeks but ya never know I could also get transferred as well! I am really happy with the companion I have right now we get along really well and we always make things fun even when things really aren't that great! People always tell us weird it is that we get along so well. I have been able to learn alot from him, he has some very useful techniques in his teaching style. Hopefully I will get another good companion for the next transfer! So this week we have also been looking for a house in our area because we live with 4 other elders and we have a to walk quite a ways to get to our area, so president told us to strat looking for a house, so far we havent really found anything good, because our area is really poor and the living standards here dont meet the mission requirements! Well let me give you the day by day of my week!
Tuesday- Was my first day out working, I wasnt quite sure how it would go because that morning I didnt feel to great but we really needed to go out and work because we havent gone to see lots of our investigators and other less active families that we are working with! So we decided to just go out and work! It went good we went and saw the people that we hadnt passed by for in a few days and they were really happy to see us, lots of people said they thought that we had left them and they said they were really sad, everyone told me how skinny I looked, because I guess I lost a few more pounds from the whole being sick thing! We had a pretty good day and we did lots and since we were so busy I didnt have to think how I was sick, so that was nice!
Wed- When I woke up I felt pretty much perfect so I decided that we would leave a little earlier than normal so that we could get in a few more lessons and visit a few more people that we had been neglecting due to lack of time! Its kinda sad how little time we have, because we have so many people that we are teaching so we arent able to give to much attention to those who arent really progressing! Then when lunch came we went to our appointment and the sister wasnt there so we went and ate with an investigator who has a little restaurant! Which was fine! Then we went and visited more people and taught a few lessons!
Thursday- Not really too much happened, just a normal day full of lessons and talking to people! the weather here is really weird, its starting to get really hot during the day then usually in the early evening clouds come out of no where and get us soaking wet then the clouds leave again and the sun comes out and then it makes it really humid, then by night time it gets a little cold and I have to use my blanket to sleep haha.
Friday-was a crazy day we had to get pretty much everything done in the morning and early afternoon because we had a surprise party planned for an investigator that we have because it was her birthday, so we had the party and its went really good and everyone had fun. The lady that we are teaching has 3 kids and one of her nieces lives with her, she has a daughter that is 15 the niece is 21 and the two sons are 15 and 20. So after we left the party because it was over, the 20 yr old son got mad for some reason and started yelling at the mom so the 21 yr old niece told him to be quiet and tried to defend her, and the the 20 yr old starting hitting the niece and then after he beat her up he beat up the mom, and so the 15 yr old girl called the police and the 20 yr old went running, so the niece sent us a text and asked if we would please come over, it was like 1030 at night, so as we were walking over to her house we saw the niece her name is yen, and she was walking towards of with her hands on her face, and when she took her hands off we saw that her face was all bloody, and she told us all what had happened so we walked her back to the house and we talked with them and helped them clean up their wounds, and they were scared he would come back so they asked us to stay for a little while because the police never showed up, the system they have here really isnt that great. So we were there until like 2 or 3 in the morning! It was really sad I don't know what kind of a person would hit his own mom, its just sad.
Saturday- we had a ton of stuff that we had to do so we stayed busy all day and we were both really tired and sad because of what had happened the night before, but we carried on and went threw the day, nothing special really happened just a regular day. Then in teh afternoon we had to go see a doctor so that they could do a check up to see how I was doing, so they did a few tests and took my blood again, and they said that I was all better and that I dont have any infection anymore!
Sunday- We had church and it went really good then after we got invited to another birthday party of one of the sisters that we baptized like month ago, so we went to that and they fed us mole and chicken, then after that we had to go eat with the bishop, so we were really stuffed after that! Then we had to go give the sacrament to some sick members in our ward who weren't at the church that day. Then we had an appointment with Jose Luis and the Julio and his family! Then we headed home and we played some Uno!
Tuesday- Was my first day out working, I wasnt quite sure how it would go because that morning I didnt feel to great but we really needed to go out and work because we havent gone to see lots of our investigators and other less active families that we are working with! So we decided to just go out and work! It went good we went and saw the people that we hadnt passed by for in a few days and they were really happy to see us, lots of people said they thought that we had left them and they said they were really sad, everyone told me how skinny I looked, because I guess I lost a few more pounds from the whole being sick thing! We had a pretty good day and we did lots and since we were so busy I didnt have to think how I was sick, so that was nice!
Wed- When I woke up I felt pretty much perfect so I decided that we would leave a little earlier than normal so that we could get in a few more lessons and visit a few more people that we had been neglecting due to lack of time! Its kinda sad how little time we have, because we have so many people that we are teaching so we arent able to give to much attention to those who arent really progressing! Then when lunch came we went to our appointment and the sister wasnt there so we went and ate with an investigator who has a little restaurant! Which was fine! Then we went and visited more people and taught a few lessons!
Thursday- Not really too much happened, just a normal day full of lessons and talking to people! the weather here is really weird, its starting to get really hot during the day then usually in the early evening clouds come out of no where and get us soaking wet then the clouds leave again and the sun comes out and then it makes it really humid, then by night time it gets a little cold and I have to use my blanket to sleep haha.
Friday-was a crazy day we had to get pretty much everything done in the morning and early afternoon because we had a surprise party planned for an investigator that we have because it was her birthday, so we had the party and its went really good and everyone had fun. The lady that we are teaching has 3 kids and one of her nieces lives with her, she has a daughter that is 15 the niece is 21 and the two sons are 15 and 20. So after we left the party because it was over, the 20 yr old son got mad for some reason and started yelling at the mom so the 21 yr old niece told him to be quiet and tried to defend her, and the the 20 yr old starting hitting the niece and then after he beat her up he beat up the mom, and so the 15 yr old girl called the police and the 20 yr old went running, so the niece sent us a text and asked if we would please come over, it was like 1030 at night, so as we were walking over to her house we saw the niece her name is yen, and she was walking towards of with her hands on her face, and when she took her hands off we saw that her face was all bloody, and she told us all what had happened so we walked her back to the house and we talked with them and helped them clean up their wounds, and they were scared he would come back so they asked us to stay for a little while because the police never showed up, the system they have here really isnt that great. So we were there until like 2 or 3 in the morning! It was really sad I don't know what kind of a person would hit his own mom, its just sad.
Saturday- we had a ton of stuff that we had to do so we stayed busy all day and we were both really tired and sad because of what had happened the night before, but we carried on and went threw the day, nothing special really happened just a regular day. Then in teh afternoon we had to go see a doctor so that they could do a check up to see how I was doing, so they did a few tests and took my blood again, and they said that I was all better and that I dont have any infection anymore!
Sunday- We had church and it went really good then after we got invited to another birthday party of one of the sisters that we baptized like month ago, so we went to that and they fed us mole and chicken, then after that we had to go eat with the bishop, so we were really stuffed after that! Then we had to go give the sacrament to some sick members in our ward who weren't at the church that day. Then we had an appointment with Jose Luis and the Julio and his family! Then we headed home and we played some Uno!
4-4-11
Well this week was kinda a waste as far as missionary work goes. I got really sick and ended up spending 3 days in the hospital. They finally decided to release me this morning, it was nice to get the IV´s taken out of my arms and be able to go outside and feel fresh air, because even though I was probably at one of the nicest private hospitals in oaxaca, it still didnt have air conditioning, and it is starting to get pretty hot here so I just had to lay in the hospital bed for those days I was in there! I was only able to work Tuesday and wed but I will still tell you about the rest of my week even though its pretty boring!
Tuesday- We left early to an lesson with Isabel, because we havent gone to see her in a few days, and she needs lots of help with the things she has on her plate, having 5 little kids and being 8 and a half months pregnant, and we are pretty much the only people that she has in her life, her husband left her and she has no other family because he mom died and her brother is a drug addict and could be dead as well. So we always go over there and do what we can to try and help her out, whether it be lecture the kids so that they will behave better, or help them with there home work, or clean there little room that they live in! After we helped her with some things we had a few other lessons then we had our lunch appointment. After that we had an appointment with marco then sandra, then alberto, marisol, and Dalia, then we headed over to the appointment that we had with the Jimenez family! A family of 5 that we are looking to baptize this upcoming weekend, but we havent been able to see them much the last week, so we will just keep praying fro them!
Wed- We really didnt do too much today, we started of by going over and seeing Jose Luis and belem! They are getting married the 13th of April, and she will get baptized the 17th of april! So that should be really good! Missionaries have been trying to get them married for over a year now, but we finally were able to convince them to tie the knott! After that we headed over to the lunch! This was the last meal I ate before I got sick, and it was with some wealthier members of our ward, we just had some meat and rice, then after that we had a lesson with Lilliana and Arieli, we watched the movie about the restoration! It was a good lesson, but Arieli still has her hope in the catholic church, which I will never be able to understand, it easily has to be on of the most incorrect christian churches that exist! Its just sad how they live in lies, but I guess its good they that they actually believe in God and His son! After that we went and visited Isabel and helped her a little bit, then we headed over to give a blessing to the hermana Felipa, and her son because they were both sick, the, after that we headed over to a members house that lives in another ward, and we helped the elders in that ward put a baptismal date, they asked us to come help them teach because they are both kinda clueless haha, so we headed over and helped them out a little bit and showed them a few things to do when you teach. Then we went home and I went to bed feeling perfectly fine.
Thursday, At about 3 in the morning I woke with stomach pains and diarea, and but I really didnt think much of it because that will happen usually about every week and I am just use to it, but it got worse as time went on then at about 8 I started throwing up as well, and I had a fever, so I called sister De la Cruz ( the mission presidents wife) And she set up a doctors appt for me at 11 that morning, so I went to the doctor and by that time I had already thrown up like 8 times, and I had a fever of about 102. So he gave me some medicine and one of the medicine was a shot that I had to give to myself, but I didnt know how so we went to a sister who is a nurse, and she gave it to me and she made me some soup to eat, so I went home still with lots of stomach pains, diarea, and a fever.
Friday- I slept pretty good over the night and when I woke up I didnt have a fever anymore so I thought I was getting better, but I had another doctors appt later that morning at 11, so I went and the doctor, he told me that the infection is still really bad, but that I would feel alot better the next day, so I pretty much slept the whole day then later at about 7 when I went over to that sisters house to get my shot injected, she could tell that I felt really bad, and she checked my temperature and I had a fever of like 105-106, so she put an IV in my arm, and my comp decided to call sister De la cruz and she sent another doctor who is a specialist over to the house where I was at, when he got there he checked me and said that I needed to go to teh hospital, so he took me there, and they did all these tests on me and put IVs in my arms, and they told me that I had a very strong Infection in my intestinal trac, and that I had to stay there that night.
Saturday- I didnt really sleep much over the night because the whole night there were doctors looking at me and nurses were poking me with needles and taking my blood. It was a pretty nice hospital though, it is owned by a LDS guy, and its like a private hospital, they said I was lucky to be able to get a room there because it is usually always full, because it only only like 6 patients and we each have out own nurse and a doctor will come and check you and talk to you like every hour all day and all night. It was also conference on Saturday so the head doctor brought his laptop into my room and the mission president came and watched it with me and my companion, Him and his wife were there with me for most of the time I was there, the mission president is really funny, he knows a little bit of english so he will try and speak english to me. Also the assistants to teh president were in there alot as well, and there was space for everyone because my room had a few couches in it. So After conference we just talked and rested. Through out the day lots of different doctors came in to see me, and the mission president arrenged so that one of the best doctors around came in from Mexico city to see me, he said I had salmonella ( I dont know if thats how you spell it). So they gave me some medicine for that and I started getting better, because before the other doctors werent really sure what kind of infection I had exactly. I also got to talk to my dad so that was nice!
Sunday- The whole night the nurse wouldnt leave me alone, she would come in all the time and check my temperature and blood pressure and all that stuff, it was kinda annoying, but sunday we were able to watch the conference, it was really good, and I enjoyed it alot, it helped me keep mind off the pain that I was feeling, then by night time I was feeling alot better, and the doctors said that I was going to be bale to go home the next day! So that made me happy, my companion too, He was tired of sleeping on the couch haha, but I dont blame him.
So now I am back in my house and I still feel kinda sick but I feel a ton better! So that was pretty much my whole week!
Tuesday- We left early to an lesson with Isabel, because we havent gone to see her in a few days, and she needs lots of help with the things she has on her plate, having 5 little kids and being 8 and a half months pregnant, and we are pretty much the only people that she has in her life, her husband left her and she has no other family because he mom died and her brother is a drug addict and could be dead as well. So we always go over there and do what we can to try and help her out, whether it be lecture the kids so that they will behave better, or help them with there home work, or clean there little room that they live in! After we helped her with some things we had a few other lessons then we had our lunch appointment. After that we had an appointment with marco then sandra, then alberto, marisol, and Dalia, then we headed over to the appointment that we had with the Jimenez family! A family of 5 that we are looking to baptize this upcoming weekend, but we havent been able to see them much the last week, so we will just keep praying fro them!
Wed- We really didnt do too much today, we started of by going over and seeing Jose Luis and belem! They are getting married the 13th of April, and she will get baptized the 17th of april! So that should be really good! Missionaries have been trying to get them married for over a year now, but we finally were able to convince them to tie the knott! After that we headed over to the lunch! This was the last meal I ate before I got sick, and it was with some wealthier members of our ward, we just had some meat and rice, then after that we had a lesson with Lilliana and Arieli, we watched the movie about the restoration! It was a good lesson, but Arieli still has her hope in the catholic church, which I will never be able to understand, it easily has to be on of the most incorrect christian churches that exist! Its just sad how they live in lies, but I guess its good they that they actually believe in God and His son! After that we went and visited Isabel and helped her a little bit, then we headed over to give a blessing to the hermana Felipa, and her son because they were both sick, the, after that we headed over to a members house that lives in another ward, and we helped the elders in that ward put a baptismal date, they asked us to come help them teach because they are both kinda clueless haha, so we headed over and helped them out a little bit and showed them a few things to do when you teach. Then we went home and I went to bed feeling perfectly fine.
Thursday, At about 3 in the morning I woke with stomach pains and diarea, and but I really didnt think much of it because that will happen usually about every week and I am just use to it, but it got worse as time went on then at about 8 I started throwing up as well, and I had a fever, so I called sister De la Cruz ( the mission presidents wife) And she set up a doctors appt for me at 11 that morning, so I went to the doctor and by that time I had already thrown up like 8 times, and I had a fever of about 102. So he gave me some medicine and one of the medicine was a shot that I had to give to myself, but I didnt know how so we went to a sister who is a nurse, and she gave it to me and she made me some soup to eat, so I went home still with lots of stomach pains, diarea, and a fever.
Friday- I slept pretty good over the night and when I woke up I didnt have a fever anymore so I thought I was getting better, but I had another doctors appt later that morning at 11, so I went and the doctor, he told me that the infection is still really bad, but that I would feel alot better the next day, so I pretty much slept the whole day then later at about 7 when I went over to that sisters house to get my shot injected, she could tell that I felt really bad, and she checked my temperature and I had a fever of like 105-106, so she put an IV in my arm, and my comp decided to call sister De la cruz and she sent another doctor who is a specialist over to the house where I was at, when he got there he checked me and said that I needed to go to teh hospital, so he took me there, and they did all these tests on me and put IVs in my arms, and they told me that I had a very strong Infection in my intestinal trac, and that I had to stay there that night.
Saturday- I didnt really sleep much over the night because the whole night there were doctors looking at me and nurses were poking me with needles and taking my blood. It was a pretty nice hospital though, it is owned by a LDS guy, and its like a private hospital, they said I was lucky to be able to get a room there because it is usually always full, because it only only like 6 patients and we each have out own nurse and a doctor will come and check you and talk to you like every hour all day and all night. It was also conference on Saturday so the head doctor brought his laptop into my room and the mission president came and watched it with me and my companion, Him and his wife were there with me for most of the time I was there, the mission president is really funny, he knows a little bit of english so he will try and speak english to me. Also the assistants to teh president were in there alot as well, and there was space for everyone because my room had a few couches in it. So After conference we just talked and rested. Through out the day lots of different doctors came in to see me, and the mission president arrenged so that one of the best doctors around came in from Mexico city to see me, he said I had salmonella ( I dont know if thats how you spell it). So they gave me some medicine for that and I started getting better, because before the other doctors werent really sure what kind of infection I had exactly. I also got to talk to my dad so that was nice!
Sunday- The whole night the nurse wouldnt leave me alone, she would come in all the time and check my temperature and blood pressure and all that stuff, it was kinda annoying, but sunday we were able to watch the conference, it was really good, and I enjoyed it alot, it helped me keep mind off the pain that I was feeling, then by night time I was feeling alot better, and the doctors said that I was going to be bale to go home the next day! So that made me happy, my companion too, He was tired of sleeping on the couch haha, but I dont blame him.
So now I am back in my house and I still feel kinda sick but I feel a ton better! So that was pretty much my whole week!
Sunday, April 3, 2011
3-28-11
This week for me went by really fast, pretty much just like always, we are already halfway through this transfer, which is crazy, we only have one baptism this transfer, but we have a family of 5 that we are looking to baptize the 10th of April because this weekend is going to be general conference! I am pretty excited for that though, its crazy that it has already been 6 months since the last one! I love to watch conference and listen to the talks, as missionaries its really just a spiritual replenishment, but I guess It like that for everyone not just for missionaries! Well today I have now been gone for 11 months, it really doesn't feel that way though, it feels like it has gone by so fast, and even faster ever since I got to Mexico! I feel like I have really changed alot, but I feel like they were changes for the better. I am now pretty much fluent in Spanish, there are still a few words here and there that I haven't learned yet but I guess Im still like that in English as well haha. Its really weird to speak English, I often forget how to say things in English, just because Spanish is such a different way of speaking and a different form to express yourself, Im sure it will be funny for everyone to see when I get home! I have also lost a lot of weight, well I think so at least, when I left home I weighed like 260- 265, on miércoles when we were at the mission offices, I checked my weight and I am now 205 lbs, pretty crazy huh? I dont think I have been this small since like 9th grade haha well maybe 10th but who knows! Its nice though I feel alot healthier and more agile. Im thinking about playing football again when I get home But I really dont think about that stuff too often, seeing as I still have 13 months left in my mission! So even though I dont really remember very much of what we actually did this week I will give you the day by day run down of my week-
Tuesday- We left early because sister Felipa invited us to come eat breakfast at her house, and also while we were there we finalized a few things so that her son could finally get married to his girlfriend who isnt a member, they have a kid together, he is 19 and she is 20. We are also hoping to baptize her the 10th or 17th of April! After that we went and visited a few people, and taught a lesson to Liliana and arieli, 2 investigators that we are teaching, they are both younger women one 18 and the other 20, who are both married and each have one kid. It was sad because Liliana who is 18 told us that she is going to get a divorce with her husband who is 29 yrs old, they got married when she was 16, but whats sad is that actually a normal thing around here. After that we went and ate lunch then after we had to go help a 15 yr old young man in our ward write his talk, because he has never talked before and he is a newer member, after that we taught a few more lessons and headed home.
Wed- We had interviews with the president, ours was suppose to be at 11am, but I guess they got behind and so we ended up waiting there in the offices until like 4pm, so while we were waiting we headed over to dominoes which was only like a mile away, and we ate some pizza. After we finally finished getting interviewed we headed back to our area and started working and we taught a few lessons.
Thursday- we left a little late because we had to do weekly planning, so after that we went and taught liliana and arieli, then we had to go to the lunch appt at 2pm, we eat with a non member on Thursdays and she always gives us a ton of food, and if we dont eat more than one plate she gets really mad. so after we were forced to stuff ourselves we headed to teach some lessons and to look for a few referrals that we received, then we went and taught a few more lessons!
Friday- We left early because we went with that couple to go get there medical certificates down, which is pretty much just a physical, that they need in order to get married. After that we went with them back to there house and they fed us some beans and tortillas for breakfast, which was pretty good! I have pretty much learned to enjoy just about everything, except chicken feet and pig skin and stomach, I still really dont enjoying eating those things! After that we went out and taught some people then later in the evening we went to an activity that another ward had, pretty much just for the food and then after we played soccer with some of the kids, it was pretty fun but I ended up ripping a huge chunk of skin from the bottom of my foot, it hurt for a few days to walk but now a hardly feel it!
Saturday- We really didnt do anything too excited, we taught some lessons but Mexico was playing a soccer game so lots of people were busy with that haha, soccer kinda takes priority around here!
Sunday- We confirmed Isabel who we baptized last weekend, it was good she asked if the bishop coled confirm her, so he did and it was a very good blessing as well! After church we ate at the bishops and then we went and taught a few other lessons and visited and gave the sacrament to some older member in our ward who are too sick to go to the church on Sundays, they are always so happy to see us! It feels good to be able to go and talk to them since they really dont get to do that very much!
Thanks again for your email, I hope you have a great week full of success!
te amo,
Elder Stradling
Tuesday- We left early because sister Felipa invited us to come eat breakfast at her house, and also while we were there we finalized a few things so that her son could finally get married to his girlfriend who isnt a member, they have a kid together, he is 19 and she is 20. We are also hoping to baptize her the 10th or 17th of April! After that we went and visited a few people, and taught a lesson to Liliana and arieli, 2 investigators that we are teaching, they are both younger women one 18 and the other 20, who are both married and each have one kid. It was sad because Liliana who is 18 told us that she is going to get a divorce with her husband who is 29 yrs old, they got married when she was 16, but whats sad is that actually a normal thing around here. After that we went and ate lunch then after we had to go help a 15 yr old young man in our ward write his talk, because he has never talked before and he is a newer member, after that we taught a few more lessons and headed home.
Wed- We had interviews with the president, ours was suppose to be at 11am, but I guess they got behind and so we ended up waiting there in the offices until like 4pm, so while we were waiting we headed over to dominoes which was only like a mile away, and we ate some pizza. After we finally finished getting interviewed we headed back to our area and started working and we taught a few lessons.
Thursday- we left a little late because we had to do weekly planning, so after that we went and taught liliana and arieli, then we had to go to the lunch appt at 2pm, we eat with a non member on Thursdays and she always gives us a ton of food, and if we dont eat more than one plate she gets really mad. so after we were forced to stuff ourselves we headed to teach some lessons and to look for a few referrals that we received, then we went and taught a few more lessons!
Friday- We left early because we went with that couple to go get there medical certificates down, which is pretty much just a physical, that they need in order to get married. After that we went with them back to there house and they fed us some beans and tortillas for breakfast, which was pretty good! I have pretty much learned to enjoy just about everything, except chicken feet and pig skin and stomach, I still really dont enjoying eating those things! After that we went out and taught some people then later in the evening we went to an activity that another ward had, pretty much just for the food and then after we played soccer with some of the kids, it was pretty fun but I ended up ripping a huge chunk of skin from the bottom of my foot, it hurt for a few days to walk but now a hardly feel it!
Saturday- We really didnt do anything too excited, we taught some lessons but Mexico was playing a soccer game so lots of people were busy with that haha, soccer kinda takes priority around here!
Sunday- We confirmed Isabel who we baptized last weekend, it was good she asked if the bishop coled confirm her, so he did and it was a very good blessing as well! After church we ate at the bishops and then we went and taught a few other lessons and visited and gave the sacrament to some older member in our ward who are too sick to go to the church on Sundays, they are always so happy to see us! It feels good to be able to go and talk to them since they really dont get to do that very much!
Thanks again for your email, I hope you have a great week full of success!
te amo,
Elder Stradling
2-21-11
I got the package you and mel sent! Thanks a ton! I love all of it! The candy is great! Its like christmas!! haha
This week was pretty good, it went by really fast though, this whole transfer has actually gone by really fast! There are only like 2 weeks left! I have really enjoyed it though, thats probably why it has gone by so fast! We have just been so busy so I dont really have time to think about the time or anything so everyday just seems to go by so fast! We had two baptisms this week, the services went pretty well! We baptized 2 sisters of Alberto who we just baptized about 2 weeks ago! Ones name is Marisol, she is 15 years old and already has a 2 year old son! She is a cool girl though, then we also baptized her little sister Dalia who is 8 years old, even though she looks like she is 5 haha! Well let me give you the play by play of my week! Even though I cant really remember much that happened!
Tuesday, we had a zone conference, it was really good and the president gave a very good training about prayer and how we should utilize it with our investigators! It last pretty long though so like the last hour seemed like it lasted forever! It started at 8am and we got done at like 4pm. They gave us like a 40 min snack break, which consisted of yogurt ( oh yeah, I like yogurt now, I use to hate the stuff before my mission but now I eat it like every day!, oh and mustard as well, I use to hate that stuff even more than yogurt, but now I eat it! weird huh) and a banana! Right after we left the conference there was a huge riot in the central, of Oaxaca because the president of mexico came into town and the teachers here dont like him so they all went crazy haha. We didnt get to see any of it though! After the conference we were really hungry, but we didn't have time to eat because we were already late for an appointment, so we just went out and worked then at about 8 we decided we would go get some free tacos from a members taco stand! They were good, I dont know if you know what tacos al pastor are, but they are amazing, you should google it! haha
Wed was a pretty basic day as a missionary, when we first left we headed to the bank because my comp was out of money! Then after that we headed to an appointment and put 3 baptismal dates with a family, they will be baptized this Friday, or Sunday! We aren't sure yet! Then after that we taught a few more lessons then went to lunch with a member, she is a teacher, and for some reason here the teachers are weird and are always complaining about stuff so they have little marches and riots like the one that happened on Tuesday. She said she was there at the riot and she said she went to a march that morning. Pretty much a march here is all the teachers just dont go to work and they park their cars in the middle of streets and they just stand there yelling so it meses up everyone else's schedule, I really dont get it, because it just screws over the kids, because teh teachers dont show up to school haha and this happens once a week minimum! So while we were eating with the sister who goes to these marches, I kinda chewed her out and made her feel dumb for marching haha, and I showed her the light haha! My comp was just busting up laughing the whole time I was talking to her. Later we went and taught the family that we just baptized yesterday! Then we taught a few more lessons and went home.
Thursday was another really fast and normal day, we taught alot of lessons and found a few more investigators. At night we taught my fav family of investigators, and that lesson went really well! They love us and Hopefully they will get married and baptized in the next couple weeks!
Friday, was kinda a bad day! It started out really good but ended bad. We had a another person we were suppose to baptize on Saturday but while we were walking to another appointment we ran into him and his family, and he said that he didn't want to get baptized yet, but he wanted to wait till he was 18 years old. So we said how about we go to your house and talk about it! So we went there and it turns out that his grandparents who are catholic told him a ton of lies and stuff to scare him about baptism and also that if he got baptized they would never talk to him again! So he didnt get baptized on Saturday which was pretty disappointing, but oh well, maybe in a week or two, we just need to work on him a little bit more!
Saturday, we didnt really have anything planned for this day because we were suppose to have a baptism, so we pretty much just spent the day going around and telling all the people that we invited to the baptism that it was cancelled, then after that we just went and filled the font and got things ready for the baptism that we were going to have the next day! After that we went and taught a few lessons and then had to fill out the baptism forms and had to go and search for white clothes for the girls we baptized, because those white overall things that we have are all huge and the people we baptized are small! haha So we had to run around and do that, then at 8 we had another really good appointment! Then we went home!
Sunday, we left early to pass by for all our investigators so that they would go to church! We had 10 investigators at church and they all seemed to like it alot! We had the baptism at 2pm right after the last hour of church so we had lots of members there for support! We also had lots of investigators there to watch as well! One of them named Marco who has been kinda scared to get baptized told us after the baptismal services that he wanted to be baptized the next Saturday! So that was really cool! Also the family of 7 that we are teaching was there watching and they said they want to know what they need to do in order to be baptized! It was pretty cool! Thats why I love for investigators to see baptisms! It gets them all excited! Our ward is like all impressed with us and they always say we are the best missionaries they have ever had in their ward haha! We just laugh when they tell us that! After the services we went and ate pizza at the bishops house haha, its really funny here people just dont care if they buy stuff on Sundays haha including the bishop who bought a ton of pizza for us!
well I hope that your doing great and that you have a great week!
Te amo
Elder Stradling
This week was pretty good, it went by really fast though, this whole transfer has actually gone by really fast! There are only like 2 weeks left! I have really enjoyed it though, thats probably why it has gone by so fast! We have just been so busy so I dont really have time to think about the time or anything so everyday just seems to go by so fast! We had two baptisms this week, the services went pretty well! We baptized 2 sisters of Alberto who we just baptized about 2 weeks ago! Ones name is Marisol, she is 15 years old and already has a 2 year old son! She is a cool girl though, then we also baptized her little sister Dalia who is 8 years old, even though she looks like she is 5 haha! Well let me give you the play by play of my week! Even though I cant really remember much that happened!
Tuesday, we had a zone conference, it was really good and the president gave a very good training about prayer and how we should utilize it with our investigators! It last pretty long though so like the last hour seemed like it lasted forever! It started at 8am and we got done at like 4pm. They gave us like a 40 min snack break, which consisted of yogurt ( oh yeah, I like yogurt now, I use to hate the stuff before my mission but now I eat it like every day!, oh and mustard as well, I use to hate that stuff even more than yogurt, but now I eat it! weird huh) and a banana! Right after we left the conference there was a huge riot in the central, of Oaxaca because the president of mexico came into town and the teachers here dont like him so they all went crazy haha. We didnt get to see any of it though! After the conference we were really hungry, but we didn't have time to eat because we were already late for an appointment, so we just went out and worked then at about 8 we decided we would go get some free tacos from a members taco stand! They were good, I dont know if you know what tacos al pastor are, but they are amazing, you should google it! haha
Wed was a pretty basic day as a missionary, when we first left we headed to the bank because my comp was out of money! Then after that we headed to an appointment and put 3 baptismal dates with a family, they will be baptized this Friday, or Sunday! We aren't sure yet! Then after that we taught a few more lessons then went to lunch with a member, she is a teacher, and for some reason here the teachers are weird and are always complaining about stuff so they have little marches and riots like the one that happened on Tuesday. She said she was there at the riot and she said she went to a march that morning. Pretty much a march here is all the teachers just dont go to work and they park their cars in the middle of streets and they just stand there yelling so it meses up everyone else's schedule, I really dont get it, because it just screws over the kids, because teh teachers dont show up to school haha and this happens once a week minimum! So while we were eating with the sister who goes to these marches, I kinda chewed her out and made her feel dumb for marching haha, and I showed her the light haha! My comp was just busting up laughing the whole time I was talking to her. Later we went and taught the family that we just baptized yesterday! Then we taught a few more lessons and went home.
Thursday was another really fast and normal day, we taught alot of lessons and found a few more investigators. At night we taught my fav family of investigators, and that lesson went really well! They love us and Hopefully they will get married and baptized in the next couple weeks!
Friday, was kinda a bad day! It started out really good but ended bad. We had a another person we were suppose to baptize on Saturday but while we were walking to another appointment we ran into him and his family, and he said that he didn't want to get baptized yet, but he wanted to wait till he was 18 years old. So we said how about we go to your house and talk about it! So we went there and it turns out that his grandparents who are catholic told him a ton of lies and stuff to scare him about baptism and also that if he got baptized they would never talk to him again! So he didnt get baptized on Saturday which was pretty disappointing, but oh well, maybe in a week or two, we just need to work on him a little bit more!
Saturday, we didnt really have anything planned for this day because we were suppose to have a baptism, so we pretty much just spent the day going around and telling all the people that we invited to the baptism that it was cancelled, then after that we just went and filled the font and got things ready for the baptism that we were going to have the next day! After that we went and taught a few lessons and then had to fill out the baptism forms and had to go and search for white clothes for the girls we baptized, because those white overall things that we have are all huge and the people we baptized are small! haha So we had to run around and do that, then at 8 we had another really good appointment! Then we went home!
Sunday, we left early to pass by for all our investigators so that they would go to church! We had 10 investigators at church and they all seemed to like it alot! We had the baptism at 2pm right after the last hour of church so we had lots of members there for support! We also had lots of investigators there to watch as well! One of them named Marco who has been kinda scared to get baptized told us after the baptismal services that he wanted to be baptized the next Saturday! So that was really cool! Also the family of 7 that we are teaching was there watching and they said they want to know what they need to do in order to be baptized! It was pretty cool! Thats why I love for investigators to see baptisms! It gets them all excited! Our ward is like all impressed with us and they always say we are the best missionaries they have ever had in their ward haha! We just laugh when they tell us that! After the services we went and ate pizza at the bishops house haha, its really funny here people just dont care if they buy stuff on Sundays haha including the bishop who bought a ton of pizza for us!
well I hope that your doing great and that you have a great week!
Te amo
Elder Stradling
2-14-11
This week has been pretty awesome! We have been crazy busy with all the work we have but that's a good thing! We are seeing the results from our hard work, which is nice! We didn't baptize this last week, but we have 3-4 already for the Saturday and Sunday! As a missionary you really just learn to love the people that your teaching! I found out that yesterday an investigator in my last area just got baptized yesterday! I was sad that I wasn't there to do, because she was a investigator of mine! She is a 40yr old lady, and has a lot of problems with her husband, I had some very good lessons with her, she always called me her angel, I was teaching her daughters too but I guess when I got changed they didn't really want to listen to the missionaries anymore! I wish I was there to teach them but I can really see why I am here in this area! Well let me tell you about my week!
Tuesday- Was a pretty good day, but we really didn't have anything planned in the morning so we just went around to some people and tracked a little bit, and we found a family that were pretty excited to hear the message. Later, we went and taught a few other lessons, then we had a lesson with Marco, who might also get baptized this Sunday but it looks more like it will be the next week! He is 19 years old and is pretty cool. We took him to a members house for the lesson because he forgot his keys and was locked out of his house, but it turned out really good because the members did a really good job of sharing their testimonies with him, it was a great experience! The only thing with him is he has a problem with the law of chastity, its just how the young people are here, pretty much half of the teenage girls here are pregnant! Its pretty sad!
Wed- We had a lesson early with a family we are teaching they are just so poor and have pretty much nothing! Its a single mom named Isabel that is 7 months pregnant, and a 11 yr old girl, 9 yr old boy, 6 yr girl, 4 yr old boy, and a 2 year old girl! The kids are so good, and behave themselves so good The mom works really late and the kids just have to take care of themselves, cook the food and wash the clothes! After the lesson with them we went and taught a few other investigators that we had found a few new investigators! Then later in the evening we went and got some free tacos from some members who own a taco stand!
Thursday- We had another lesson in the morning with Isabel and her kids, and it was her 4 year old sons birthday, so we bought him some candy and potato chips (kids love those here!) While we were there the older kids just got home from school and were thirsty from there long walk home and they asked there mom for water but she had to tell them that there wasn't any and that she didn't have any money to buy any because the lady she works for fired her and didn't pay her for the last week of work she had already done!! That just made me feel so bad and so spoiled for all that I just take for granit in my life and all the blessings that I have in my life! So we told them we would go buy them some water and food, Isabel said no, but we told her that it would be for a present for her sons birthday, so she said okay, so we went and bought a big thing of water and some other food so that they could eat! I felt really bad after, and I wished that I could give them more but we really just dont have much money as missionaries. Later while we were teaching a lesson some guy from another church knocked on their door and the father of the family we were teaching told the guy no because they wanted to listen to us, then the guy from some Christan church was like " why are you listening to these Mormons, dont you know that they teach lies and have a ton of wife's" Now normally we dont like to argue with other people about the gospel but he really didnt give a choice so we told the father to invite him in and we could talk about why he thinks we are liers, haha and it funny to see the look on the others guys face he was like " opps what did I get myself into?" So we started talking to him and he tried to use the bible to say we are wrong, which he couldn't do because we know the bible from back to front, so we just ended up shutting him up and he was sad and he just got up and left. It was pretty funny, but I really dont like to do that to people... but oh well ...Later we went and taught a family of 7 and they are really interested in the gospel, the wife a bit more than the husband, but we are becoming very good friends with us, because thats kinda how my companion and I are, we are just very social and like to make people laugh, and people like to listen to us because we earn their friendship first!
Friday- Was a good day, but very busy so we were just running all over the place and we taught a lot of lessons which they all turned out very good! We just have so many people we are teaching right now, its a little overwhelming at times but that's just part of the work I guess! Nothing really that exciting happened this day, but we really got a lot done!
Saturday- also a very good and crazy busy day, even busier than the Saturday, we finalized a few baptisms and taught alot of lessons, we saw a roll over car accident which was pretty cool! Then later we had another appointment with Julio, the family of 7. That went very well, and they are coming along nicly! Pretty much we just spent the whole day working to make sure that all our investigators would go to church the next day, because they have to go to church three times before they can get baptized!
Sunday, we left really early because we had a ton of investigators to pass by for, so we got our ward mission leader and a priest in our ward to go on divisions with us, so that we would have time to pass by for all of them! At church we had 15 investigators! All the members in the ward are like all impressed with us now haha! And because we are baptizing so much! We really earned the respect of a lot of them! After church we went to eat at the bishops house and then after we went with him to visit some families, the first one we went was to Isabel, the one that is pregnant , and the mom wasnt there because she was working, but the kids hadnt eatin in a day or two so the bishop gave them 40 pesos because thats all he had and we said we would come back later! After that we went and visited another family with pretty much nothing and told them we would come back later as well! When we left we all felt bad and were trying to think of something we could do to get them alot of stuff as soon as possible! So I thought of an idea that we could send a text message to all the members of the ward to see if they could bring all the extra things that they could to help out two families, so we tried it and within an hour we received a ton of stuff like 20 boxes full of food and other stuff! It was really cool to see, because pretty much everyone in our area is poor thery just arent as poor as these families, so it was really a huge sacrifice for everyone who brought anything! After we had two car loads of stuff we went and dropped it off with the families! It was really cool to see because they we just so grateful! They really just had nothing and didnt know if they could even feed their kids! It was an awesome experience!
have a great week!
te amo,
Elder Stradling!
Tuesday- Was a pretty good day, but we really didn't have anything planned in the morning so we just went around to some people and tracked a little bit, and we found a family that were pretty excited to hear the message. Later, we went and taught a few other lessons, then we had a lesson with Marco, who might also get baptized this Sunday but it looks more like it will be the next week! He is 19 years old and is pretty cool. We took him to a members house for the lesson because he forgot his keys and was locked out of his house, but it turned out really good because the members did a really good job of sharing their testimonies with him, it was a great experience! The only thing with him is he has a problem with the law of chastity, its just how the young people are here, pretty much half of the teenage girls here are pregnant! Its pretty sad!
Wed- We had a lesson early with a family we are teaching they are just so poor and have pretty much nothing! Its a single mom named Isabel that is 7 months pregnant, and a 11 yr old girl, 9 yr old boy, 6 yr girl, 4 yr old boy, and a 2 year old girl! The kids are so good, and behave themselves so good The mom works really late and the kids just have to take care of themselves, cook the food and wash the clothes! After the lesson with them we went and taught a few other investigators that we had found a few new investigators! Then later in the evening we went and got some free tacos from some members who own a taco stand!
Thursday- We had another lesson in the morning with Isabel and her kids, and it was her 4 year old sons birthday, so we bought him some candy and potato chips (kids love those here!) While we were there the older kids just got home from school and were thirsty from there long walk home and they asked there mom for water but she had to tell them that there wasn't any and that she didn't have any money to buy any because the lady she works for fired her and didn't pay her for the last week of work she had already done!! That just made me feel so bad and so spoiled for all that I just take for granit in my life and all the blessings that I have in my life! So we told them we would go buy them some water and food, Isabel said no, but we told her that it would be for a present for her sons birthday, so she said okay, so we went and bought a big thing of water and some other food so that they could eat! I felt really bad after, and I wished that I could give them more but we really just dont have much money as missionaries. Later while we were teaching a lesson some guy from another church knocked on their door and the father of the family we were teaching told the guy no because they wanted to listen to us, then the guy from some Christan church was like " why are you listening to these Mormons, dont you know that they teach lies and have a ton of wife's" Now normally we dont like to argue with other people about the gospel but he really didnt give a choice so we told the father to invite him in and we could talk about why he thinks we are liers, haha and it funny to see the look on the others guys face he was like " opps what did I get myself into?" So we started talking to him and he tried to use the bible to say we are wrong, which he couldn't do because we know the bible from back to front, so we just ended up shutting him up and he was sad and he just got up and left. It was pretty funny, but I really dont like to do that to people... but oh well ...Later we went and taught a family of 7 and they are really interested in the gospel, the wife a bit more than the husband, but we are becoming very good friends with us, because thats kinda how my companion and I are, we are just very social and like to make people laugh, and people like to listen to us because we earn their friendship first!
Friday- Was a good day, but very busy so we were just running all over the place and we taught a lot of lessons which they all turned out very good! We just have so many people we are teaching right now, its a little overwhelming at times but that's just part of the work I guess! Nothing really that exciting happened this day, but we really got a lot done!
Saturday- also a very good and crazy busy day, even busier than the Saturday, we finalized a few baptisms and taught alot of lessons, we saw a roll over car accident which was pretty cool! Then later we had another appointment with Julio, the family of 7. That went very well, and they are coming along nicly! Pretty much we just spent the whole day working to make sure that all our investigators would go to church the next day, because they have to go to church three times before they can get baptized!
Sunday, we left really early because we had a ton of investigators to pass by for, so we got our ward mission leader and a priest in our ward to go on divisions with us, so that we would have time to pass by for all of them! At church we had 15 investigators! All the members in the ward are like all impressed with us now haha! And because we are baptizing so much! We really earned the respect of a lot of them! After church we went to eat at the bishops house and then after we went with him to visit some families, the first one we went was to Isabel, the one that is pregnant , and the mom wasnt there because she was working, but the kids hadnt eatin in a day or two so the bishop gave them 40 pesos because thats all he had and we said we would come back later! After that we went and visited another family with pretty much nothing and told them we would come back later as well! When we left we all felt bad and were trying to think of something we could do to get them alot of stuff as soon as possible! So I thought of an idea that we could send a text message to all the members of the ward to see if they could bring all the extra things that they could to help out two families, so we tried it and within an hour we received a ton of stuff like 20 boxes full of food and other stuff! It was really cool to see, because pretty much everyone in our area is poor thery just arent as poor as these families, so it was really a huge sacrifice for everyone who brought anything! After we had two car loads of stuff we went and dropped it off with the families! It was really cool to see because they we just so grateful! They really just had nothing and didnt know if they could even feed their kids! It was an awesome experience!
have a great week!
te amo,
Elder Stradling!
1-31-11
This week was pretty good, Im in my new area, and I like it alot, Im still getting adapted to it and to my new companion. His name is Elder Guerrero, he is a cool guy and is a good missionary, we are having fun together and are having a lot of success, we already have a baptism coming up for this Saturday! My area is called La Joya, and its all just a big hill, so now Im having to get use to walking up and down steep unpaved roads! Its basically just a long hike everyday haha and This is probably the poorest area that I have been in so far, the people really dont have much but they are good and humble people, teh members are very nice and help us in the work which is really the most important factor in missionary work, if the members dont help us out its hard to have to much success. We live in a house with another companionship and one of them is American so its nice to be able to hang out with him in the mornings and nights! I guess my Spanish is getting good because everyone in this area tells me how good I speak and they tell me how much better I talk than the last elder that was in this area! The mission has become a lot more enjoyable since Ive gotten better at Spanish! I dont know why they keep changing me so much, I get change more than anyone else in the mission haha! I guess its a good thing though because Im always meeting new people and getting to know different parts of my mission! The thing I dont like about it is that, while Im in an area I begin to have love for the people that Im teaching and they change me before I get a chance to baptize them! I guess thats okay though, I feel good and comfortable in my new area and Im excited to keep working hard! So I guess I still keep losing weight because I already need to get my pants re sized again haha! So the house that I live in now probably has the worst water Ive seen in my mission, we cant use it to wash our clothes because it will stain them brown and yellow! I dont even know why I take showers here I think it just makes me dirtier haha! I will send some pictures of the water in another email! But other than the water, the house is pretty nice!
Well let me tell you about my week!
Monday I was still In Juchitan and i still didnt know if I was getting changed or not, because they always call on the last Saturday of the change but the president was traveling so he didnt make the transfers until Monday in the afternoon, so I got a cal and they told me I was going back to Oaxaca, which is a 6 hour bus ride haha! so I had to pack real fast and and be at the bus station that night! We left at about 12 am
Tuesday, when I woke up I was in oaxaca, From the bus station I went to my new area and met my companion and unpacked a little bit then we went out and worked, we pretty much just had to get to know the area and the members! Then for dinner we had my favorite food here, Tacos Al Pastor, a member in our area owns a taco shop so we get to each there for free when ever we want!
Wed we had a zone meeting in the morning and we made our goals for teh upcoming change our goal for our area is 5 baptisms! After that we went to Bodega, which is a knock off Walmart, to buy some food for the week, then we went to Coppel which is like a Ross, and I got some new shoes, because my old ones had a ton of holes in them, and it made it really hard to walk up and down the hills in our area! After that we went out and worked and taught some good lessons, I really like the way my companion teaches, because he is like me and likes to teach with more examples and to have fun while you teach! He is also like me in the sense that he is always smiling! People always ask us why we are so happy and we say because we are Mormon haha and then they always ask to know more about what we do!
Thursday, we went out and taught Thomas, he just got baptized, and he is 78 years old and his wife is 26, haha I really dont get it but I am just use to the crazy! After than we taught some more lessons and had a family home evening with the family that we are going to baptize soon, one of them is getting baptized this saturday but the rest of the family wont be for a week or 2! They are a very humble family who really don't have much, but are happy and content with what they have!
Friday me and Elder Henze, the other American elder that I live with, made a ghetto washing machine, so here we obviously wash our clothes by hand, but I got an idea to make it easier and faster, so we went and bought a returnable coca cola bottle, ( here they have like thicker bottles with coca cola and they are cheaper because after you drink it you just take the bottle back to the store and the coca cola truck comes and picks them up and they reuse them) so we got one of those because its thicker and stronger plastic so we got a knife and cut it in half and stuck a broom stick on the end and now we use it to wash our clothes that are in a bucket haha, its kinda hard to explain, but Ill send a picture! and not really too much happened the rest of the day, just a regular day, oh but at night when we went to buy some Tlyudas from a member who doesnt have much money, some drunk guy wanted to fight me! I really dont know why, maybe he just doesnt like white people or maybe it was just because we was a crazy drunk! But after that nothing else really exciting happened!
Saturday was also kinda slow day but pretty good! At night we went to a families house and they were chopping wood for their fire, so they could cook their food, and I told them I would help and they just laughed and said that I wouldnt know how, because Gringos would never need to cut wood with an axe haha, So I just laughed and said well lets see if I can, so I started and they we just all amazed that I knew how and that I could hit the wood so hard haha. But they where grateful because they were all woman and weren't strong enough to cut it!
Sunday was a pretty good day, I got to meet the members of the ward, there are probably like 80 active members which isnt too bad because our area isnt too big! After church we went and had lunch at the bishops house, then went and worked and had a family home evening with some less actives, which went really well!
Well let me tell you about my week!
Monday I was still In Juchitan and i still didnt know if I was getting changed or not, because they always call on the last Saturday of the change but the president was traveling so he didnt make the transfers until Monday in the afternoon, so I got a cal and they told me I was going back to Oaxaca, which is a 6 hour bus ride haha! so I had to pack real fast and and be at the bus station that night! We left at about 12 am
Tuesday, when I woke up I was in oaxaca, From the bus station I went to my new area and met my companion and unpacked a little bit then we went out and worked, we pretty much just had to get to know the area and the members! Then for dinner we had my favorite food here, Tacos Al Pastor, a member in our area owns a taco shop so we get to each there for free when ever we want!
Wed we had a zone meeting in the morning and we made our goals for teh upcoming change our goal for our area is 5 baptisms! After that we went to Bodega, which is a knock off Walmart, to buy some food for the week, then we went to Coppel which is like a Ross, and I got some new shoes, because my old ones had a ton of holes in them, and it made it really hard to walk up and down the hills in our area! After that we went out and worked and taught some good lessons, I really like the way my companion teaches, because he is like me and likes to teach with more examples and to have fun while you teach! He is also like me in the sense that he is always smiling! People always ask us why we are so happy and we say because we are Mormon haha and then they always ask to know more about what we do!
Thursday, we went out and taught Thomas, he just got baptized, and he is 78 years old and his wife is 26, haha I really dont get it but I am just use to the crazy! After than we taught some more lessons and had a family home evening with the family that we are going to baptize soon, one of them is getting baptized this saturday but the rest of the family wont be for a week or 2! They are a very humble family who really don't have much, but are happy and content with what they have!
Friday me and Elder Henze, the other American elder that I live with, made a ghetto washing machine, so here we obviously wash our clothes by hand, but I got an idea to make it easier and faster, so we went and bought a returnable coca cola bottle, ( here they have like thicker bottles with coca cola and they are cheaper because after you drink it you just take the bottle back to the store and the coca cola truck comes and picks them up and they reuse them) so we got one of those because its thicker and stronger plastic so we got a knife and cut it in half and stuck a broom stick on the end and now we use it to wash our clothes that are in a bucket haha, its kinda hard to explain, but Ill send a picture! and not really too much happened the rest of the day, just a regular day, oh but at night when we went to buy some Tlyudas from a member who doesnt have much money, some drunk guy wanted to fight me! I really dont know why, maybe he just doesnt like white people or maybe it was just because we was a crazy drunk! But after that nothing else really exciting happened!
Saturday was also kinda slow day but pretty good! At night we went to a families house and they were chopping wood for their fire, so they could cook their food, and I told them I would help and they just laughed and said that I wouldnt know how, because Gringos would never need to cut wood with an axe haha, So I just laughed and said well lets see if I can, so I started and they we just all amazed that I knew how and that I could hit the wood so hard haha. But they where grateful because they were all woman and weren't strong enough to cut it!
Sunday was a pretty good day, I got to meet the members of the ward, there are probably like 80 active members which isnt too bad because our area isnt too big! After church we went and had lunch at the bishops house, then went and worked and had a family home evening with some less actives, which went really well!
Friday, January 28, 2011
1-17-11 email
So I really enjoyed this week, I'm really started to just enjoy and love my mission now. I really like the area that Im in but I could only be here for one more week, because this is the last week of the transfer, I hope I don't change because we have alot of people we are teaching, we have a young girl that we are planing to baptize this weekend, but it could get delayed till the next week, then the week after that we have 2 others that can get baptized, so I really hope that I want change areas next week! I really like the zone that I'm in, we always do fun stuff, like on Mondays we go play soccer in the morning and its weird but I really like soccer now, I think its just because I have always loved to get out and run around and play sports and that's really all there is here so Ive just learned to enjoy it! Then on Monday nights we have district meeting and after we all go out for tlyudas, there kinda like Quesadillas but taste way better! Then after we after to sleep over at some other elders house because there aren't any buses back to our area after 8pm. Then there we always play uno, I forgot how fun that game can be!
Well let me tell you about my week,
Tuesday started out very slow because all of our morning appointments fell through, so we just tracked which was pretty good we found a few new investigators. So most of the time when we go to eat lunch with the members they always give you some kinda soup first, then they bring you other food. So the sister that we were eating with brought us a bowl of soup and I ate it real fast because I wanted to get to the main course because, Im not really a big soup fan, so the sister asked if I wanted more soup and I was no like "no I'm ready for the meal" and she like looked concerned and was like that was the meal haha, I felt really bad because after that she went and made some eggs real fast haha. After that we had a few other appointments, then we had a ward counsel meeting which are always interesting because the 2nd counselor to the bishop is kinda crazy, like one time he gave us a ride to our house to grab some stuff really fast and he just walked right in and layed in my bad and called one of his friends and just layed there talking for like 15 min haha. He is kinda a bum all he does all day is sit in his room and play his guitar and watch tv. So at the meeting we were talking about plans and stuff and he always just goes way off subject or will like start arguing with the bishop haha
Wed we found a new investigator that we are hoping to be able to baptize this Saturday, she is 9 years old and her mom is already her member but her dad isnt, but he lives in another state, and said that he doesn't mind if she gets baptized, but we still dont know for sure yet what will happen there. So this area that Im in has a ton of less active members so we always teach alot of less actives but its been good because we have gotten like 10 to return back to church, so that always feels good to be able to help people make these changes in their life's. We went and taught a less active family and it went really well but the husband isn't a member and is a drunk, and I dont know why but I dont have to much patience when it comes to drunk guys who neglect their families. So I guess Im always really hard and upfront with them, my companion always tells me after lessons with drunk guys, that he thought I was going to fight them or something, haha so I guess I need to learn patience with that.
Thursday started out good because the bishops wife wanted to make us breakfast, but breakfast her is just like regular meals haha but we had enchiladas with some steak, they were good! After that we went to teach Paola, and that went really well, she is really progressing and her and her husband are both pretty interested, its really cool to see how the gospel blesses people life's! Later we had a ward activity where we went out with members to visit less actives and some of our investigators. And lucky me I got pared up with that crazy 2nd counselor to the bishop, we went and visited a investigator, and it didnt go too bad, he is just really weird and when the investigator would try and talk he would just shush her and talk over her haha. The investigator that we went to visit is pretty interested so it was okay.
Friday we had zone conference and the mission president came down from Oaxaca and both him and his wife gave very good talks and he gave a very good training, he is a great teacher and really knows alot about the gospel and has a very strong testimony, I have really learned alot from him, but I will be getting a new mission president in June, I will miss him but I think its good to be able to learn and see 2 different presidents! After the conference we went to a few appointments and the zone leaders called us and said they wanted to do divisions so we had to go back to Juchitan and I went with elder Baert in his area and My comp went with elder Monesterio in my area.
Saturday, I worked in the other area all day but it was very good. The night before when we were taking taxi towards the zone leaders house some kid that was in the taxi also, asked if we were elders, and we were like yeah and we talked for a bit but then he had to go so we asked him where he lived real fast and he gave us very vague directions how to get to his house, But Saturday, when we went to search for him we found it on the first house we knocked, and we taught him and he was very interested and said he wanted to be baptized. Its just really cool to see the lords hand in this work, like the odds of us finding his house were very low, but we were able to find him and teach him. Later we taught some other appointments and for one we had to walk like 5 miles out to the middle of nowhere, where we taught some guy who didn't speak Spanish very good, because his first language is Zapoteco, so we will have to bring a translator next time. Later we went and taught the young men in his ward some stuff out of preach my gospel. Then later I went back to my area.
Sunday was pretty good, my companion and I were able to give talks, my companion really doesn't like to give talks but I do. So he was mad about it. He just don't know how to talk to people, when he teaches he like glares at people and talks like he is very bored, and he does the same when he talks, I don't know how to help him, maybe I will get a new companion next week! Later we had a meeting with our ward mission leader then went and taught some lessons and thats it!
Well I hope taht you have a great week! tell the kids that I love them very much and to be good and be the best they cane be and to be a light to other people!
Te amo,
Elder Stradling
Well let me tell you about my week,
Tuesday started out very slow because all of our morning appointments fell through, so we just tracked which was pretty good we found a few new investigators. So most of the time when we go to eat lunch with the members they always give you some kinda soup first, then they bring you other food. So the sister that we were eating with brought us a bowl of soup and I ate it real fast because I wanted to get to the main course because, Im not really a big soup fan, so the sister asked if I wanted more soup and I was no like "no I'm ready for the meal" and she like looked concerned and was like that was the meal haha, I felt really bad because after that she went and made some eggs real fast haha. After that we had a few other appointments, then we had a ward counsel meeting which are always interesting because the 2nd counselor to the bishop is kinda crazy, like one time he gave us a ride to our house to grab some stuff really fast and he just walked right in and layed in my bad and called one of his friends and just layed there talking for like 15 min haha. He is kinda a bum all he does all day is sit in his room and play his guitar and watch tv. So at the meeting we were talking about plans and stuff and he always just goes way off subject or will like start arguing with the bishop haha
Wed we found a new investigator that we are hoping to be able to baptize this Saturday, she is 9 years old and her mom is already her member but her dad isnt, but he lives in another state, and said that he doesn't mind if she gets baptized, but we still dont know for sure yet what will happen there. So this area that Im in has a ton of less active members so we always teach alot of less actives but its been good because we have gotten like 10 to return back to church, so that always feels good to be able to help people make these changes in their life's. We went and taught a less active family and it went really well but the husband isn't a member and is a drunk, and I dont know why but I dont have to much patience when it comes to drunk guys who neglect their families. So I guess Im always really hard and upfront with them, my companion always tells me after lessons with drunk guys, that he thought I was going to fight them or something, haha so I guess I need to learn patience with that.
Thursday started out good because the bishops wife wanted to make us breakfast, but breakfast her is just like regular meals haha but we had enchiladas with some steak, they were good! After that we went to teach Paola, and that went really well, she is really progressing and her and her husband are both pretty interested, its really cool to see how the gospel blesses people life's! Later we had a ward activity where we went out with members to visit less actives and some of our investigators. And lucky me I got pared up with that crazy 2nd counselor to the bishop, we went and visited a investigator, and it didnt go too bad, he is just really weird and when the investigator would try and talk he would just shush her and talk over her haha. The investigator that we went to visit is pretty interested so it was okay.
Friday we had zone conference and the mission president came down from Oaxaca and both him and his wife gave very good talks and he gave a very good training, he is a great teacher and really knows alot about the gospel and has a very strong testimony, I have really learned alot from him, but I will be getting a new mission president in June, I will miss him but I think its good to be able to learn and see 2 different presidents! After the conference we went to a few appointments and the zone leaders called us and said they wanted to do divisions so we had to go back to Juchitan and I went with elder Baert in his area and My comp went with elder Monesterio in my area.
Saturday, I worked in the other area all day but it was very good. The night before when we were taking taxi towards the zone leaders house some kid that was in the taxi also, asked if we were elders, and we were like yeah and we talked for a bit but then he had to go so we asked him where he lived real fast and he gave us very vague directions how to get to his house, But Saturday, when we went to search for him we found it on the first house we knocked, and we taught him and he was very interested and said he wanted to be baptized. Its just really cool to see the lords hand in this work, like the odds of us finding his house were very low, but we were able to find him and teach him. Later we taught some other appointments and for one we had to walk like 5 miles out to the middle of nowhere, where we taught some guy who didn't speak Spanish very good, because his first language is Zapoteco, so we will have to bring a translator next time. Later we went and taught the young men in his ward some stuff out of preach my gospel. Then later I went back to my area.
Sunday was pretty good, my companion and I were able to give talks, my companion really doesn't like to give talks but I do. So he was mad about it. He just don't know how to talk to people, when he teaches he like glares at people and talks like he is very bored, and he does the same when he talks, I don't know how to help him, maybe I will get a new companion next week! Later we had a meeting with our ward mission leader then went and taught some lessons and thats it!
Well I hope taht you have a great week! tell the kids that I love them very much and to be good and be the best they cane be and to be a light to other people!
Te amo,
Elder Stradling
1-10-11 email
Well This week was pretty good, we got some good work done and the work seems to be picking up, last week was pretty hard because all the investigators that we had didn't end up coming to church and so that's always discouraging when you see the people not making good choices. I still really like this area that I'm in, I get along very good with the members, I think its because I'm at the point where I'm more fluent in Spanish and so now I can actually have a conversation about things other than the gospel, and my companion doesn't speak any English at all so I am just forced to always speak Spanish, which is good for me because it always forces me to learn. Its hard to remember that there was a time that I wasn't able to understand Spanish, because now its just so natural to speak. I can definitely see the blessings that I receive each day from my heavenly father, its really an amazing opportunity to be apart of this work, which is really just so much bigger than me, and its just so amazing to see and hear how we are effecting people life's just by being young men worthy to carry the spirit and to be able to share the message with those who don't know the truth, there are so many people out there, and they are all looking for happiness, they search in so many different things, whether it be money, drugs, boyfriends, girlfriends, alcohol, and just all those things of the world, that yes can give short term pleasure but the only way that anyone will ever find the happiness that they want, that feeling of pure love, is if they live the principles of the gospel. That's the only way that we can find happiness, its the secret of life, and its a promise that our heavenly father has given each of us, that if we will follow his commandments, we will prosper in the land.
Last week we were out knocking doors and my comp was getting tired and didn't want to tract anymore, so I was like alright how about we just knock this one last door, so we did, and so I knocked, and a 25yr old woman answered and we told her we were missionaries and that we had a message that would bless the lives of her and her family, and we asked if we could share it with her. She accepted and invited us to come in. So we went inside, and began to get to know her, her name is Paola, she is married and has a 2 year old baby, and her and her husband live with his parents, which isn't uncommon here. We shared the first lesson with her it went very well. She invited us to come back the next day so we did and As we have been teaching her over the past week of so, we have learned alot more about her and husband. We have become very good friends with them and they told us that they want to be Mormon. Yesterday, Paola and her baby went to church but her husband Cesar couldn't because he had to work, but he said that he wants to change his work schedule so that he wont work on Sundays. They tell us that they have seen such a difference in their life's since that day we knocked on their door. They are a great family and are now our good friends, and we talk almost everyday, they always want us to come over and just talk to them because they say that when we are there they just feel something different.
Not really too much really happened this week haha, which is a big understatement because each day I see and experience something new and different, but I'm getting to the point where I'm just use to the crazy and to the strange. Like the other day while I was watching some lady kill a chicken I saw a guy walking down the street with his pet armadillo. haha it was quite strange. I see things like that each day, so nothing is really that surprising to me haha.
Well I hope you have a great week!
I love you!
Elder Stradling
Last week we were out knocking doors and my comp was getting tired and didn't want to tract anymore, so I was like alright how about we just knock this one last door, so we did, and so I knocked, and a 25yr old woman answered and we told her we were missionaries and that we had a message that would bless the lives of her and her family, and we asked if we could share it with her. She accepted and invited us to come in. So we went inside, and began to get to know her, her name is Paola, she is married and has a 2 year old baby, and her and her husband live with his parents, which isn't uncommon here. We shared the first lesson with her it went very well. She invited us to come back the next day so we did and As we have been teaching her over the past week of so, we have learned alot more about her and husband. We have become very good friends with them and they told us that they want to be Mormon. Yesterday, Paola and her baby went to church but her husband Cesar couldn't because he had to work, but he said that he wants to change his work schedule so that he wont work on Sundays. They tell us that they have seen such a difference in their life's since that day we knocked on their door. They are a great family and are now our good friends, and we talk almost everyday, they always want us to come over and just talk to them because they say that when we are there they just feel something different.
Not really too much really happened this week haha, which is a big understatement because each day I see and experience something new and different, but I'm getting to the point where I'm just use to the crazy and to the strange. Like the other day while I was watching some lady kill a chicken I saw a guy walking down the street with his pet armadillo. haha it was quite strange. I see things like that each day, so nothing is really that surprising to me haha.
Well I hope you have a great week!
I love you!
Elder Stradling
12-20-10 email
So this week was pretty good, I really like the new area Im in, its very different than my last area in the city but I like it and Im excited for the next 6 weeks here. We didnt get a chance to really work to much this week because the area we are in hasnt had missionaries in it for over a year, so we have been looking for a house, and since we dont have a house in Espinal (our area) we have been living with out zone leaders in Juchitan, so we have to use buses and taxis each day to get to our area so that been hitting me in the wallet, especially since my companion doesnt have any money, so I have had to pay for him all week as well. He doesnt have money because he lost a phone in his last area so they take it out of his money he receives, I dont know why they do that because it just ends up screwing over the companion. Oh well I dont mind too much its just kinda annoying to have to pay for everything haha. My companion is kinda weird, he like has problems I dont know, he just always seems like he is in pain or something when we are teaching and just seems really angry when he is in lessons but then when we arent teaching and we are just like walking down the street he is like perfectly fine, infact he made a girl in our ward cry haha. We were at our meal on sunday and things were good and we were just talking and they dont really like him too much so they always just talk to me. Then they asked him what he wanted to study after his mission and he like got mad and wouldnt answer the question, then they were like why dont you like questions. Then he said how he hates talking to people and how thats why he is here to try and change who he is and just went off on a bunch of stuff, then the girl started crying, well she is like 20 so I dont know to call her a girl or a woman i dont know haha, but then she started crying and went off on him haha it was pretty awkward. So after we left he kept telling me how bad he felt and asked how he could be more like me haha, I just told him to choose to be happy, and even if things in your life arent perfect, just make the choose to make the best of what you have. I dont know if he will be able to change but I guess we will see. So let me tell you about my week,
Tuesday we went to Espinal with some other elders that knew the area kinda and they showed us around and we met some members and we just looked for houses most of the day then went to eat lunch and we had pig stomach, It didnt taste too bad just a nasty texture, but they love that stuff here so then at about 5 we met our ward mission leader then went on divisions I went with him and my comp went with another RM, and while we were out we saw a white girl so we figured she was from the US so he was like go contact her in english so I was like okay, so it turns out she was German haha she is here for a foreign exchange haha but she spoke spanish so we just talked to her in spanish, she was nice but when we started talking about our church she like got mad and left haha and it made me greatfull that im not serving in Europe and then we went and met some more members. There are really alot of less actives in our ward, there are about 300 members and only like 80 are active, so we have alot of work to do in this area. The area has been closed for ever because the last time there were elders here they got in trouble with some of the young women, so my mission president called me and told me to be care of that because there are tons of young women in this ward haha. Not to be rude or racist but apart from being a missionary Im just not attracted to the girls here, they all have like side burns and mustaches haha so I should be fine!
Wed pretty much all we did all day is look for a house we did teach a few lessons to less actives and picked up a few new investigators. So at night when we were headed back to Juchitan it was late and so there werent anymore buses so we had to get a taxi and it cost alot more so, while we were driving home the taxi driver started talking to us and it turned out that he was a member, he has just been inactive for the last 12 years haha, but now he has a wife and a son that is 9 years old and he said that he felt like something has been missing in his life and that he has been having problems with his wife and she wants him to change and he was telling us how he wants his family to get baptized and change their current way of life! So we set an appointment with him. Its really funny how the lord works, we were mad that we missed the buses and had to use a taxi, but if we wouldnt have used a taxi that night we may have not ever met him, Its just crazy to think about!
Thursday we had a Christmas mission conference, It was pretty fun! First we just had some training by the president and the zone leaders then we changes clothes and got to play some games and sports that was really fun! After that we had our christmas dinner, it was turkey and funeral potatoes, but kinda mexified haha it still tasted pretty good! After that we had a secret santa gift exchange, I bought an elder some candy and other junk, I got 2 ties I was pretty happy! Then our gift from the president and his wife was a stocking filled with mexican candy haha which im not too fond of but oh well haha! After that we went to our area and taught a lesson or 2 then headed back to our zone leaders house!
Friday, we were determined to find a house this day we had found a few before but they ended up falling through, but we did end up finding one and it seems pretty good its just really dirty, so we will just have to clean it up pretty good! It was kinda annoying looking for a house because my comp always has a really bad attitude about everything. He just is like dead and doenst want to be here. I can see why president put him with me though, he really needs someone to just cheer him up and help him find some faith and some energy! That night we had a family home evening with a family whose son is less active, so my comp wanted to teach a lesson where you get a piece of paper and put a picture of Jesus under it and you tell people to think about people that they dont like and to use a knife and cut a whole in the piece of paper. Then after everyone cuts a hole in the top piece of paper, he took out from under it a picture of Jesus and everyone like freaked out haha, I told him before that we shouldnt do it but he wanted to haha idk! So that didnt end up to well! Oh well
Saturday was a pretty good day we got to teach some good lessons, in the morning we went to yavanis house, the taxi driver, and we taught his family and it went really good, the really want to make changes in their lives and they were very accepting of the message, when we got to his house we noticed that he had a ton of roosters in his back yard, its not too uncommon here to have a ton of chickens and some roosters but to just have a ton of roosters in all sperate cages was out of the ordinary, it turns out he trains roosters to fight haha, there arent any laws against it here so alot of people do it i guess haha, My companion was able to relate because I guess he use to train dogs to fight haha, wow I have a wierd companion.
Sunday was good, we were able to speak in sacrament meeting, but my companion was giving his talk and like went off on weird stuff and the bishop got up and handed him a note and told him to sit down haha so I went up and spoke and after everyone told me they liked my talk and he felt bad beacuse no one said it to him, I felt bad too! After we went and ate lunch and he made that girl cry haha and I found out that another girl that lives in that house who is 18 and a member doesnt believe in god, that family have alot of problems right now, because about 6 months ago their mom got kidnapped, it happens alot here. She some how made it back alive though, she was very lucky. It was really sad to her that the girl her name is Mittzz, doesnt believe that there is a god, but I talked to her and by the end of the conversation she said that she ow believed that there was a god. Its hard to see people challenges in their lives but it feels really good to be able to bring the spirit into their home and help them.
Well that was my week, not too exciting not too boring just the life as a missionary in Mexico.
Love Elder Stradling
Tuesday we went to Espinal with some other elders that knew the area kinda and they showed us around and we met some members and we just looked for houses most of the day then went to eat lunch and we had pig stomach, It didnt taste too bad just a nasty texture, but they love that stuff here so then at about 5 we met our ward mission leader then went on divisions I went with him and my comp went with another RM, and while we were out we saw a white girl so we figured she was from the US so he was like go contact her in english so I was like okay, so it turns out she was German haha she is here for a foreign exchange haha but she spoke spanish so we just talked to her in spanish, she was nice but when we started talking about our church she like got mad and left haha and it made me greatfull that im not serving in Europe and then we went and met some more members. There are really alot of less actives in our ward, there are about 300 members and only like 80 are active, so we have alot of work to do in this area. The area has been closed for ever because the last time there were elders here they got in trouble with some of the young women, so my mission president called me and told me to be care of that because there are tons of young women in this ward haha. Not to be rude or racist but apart from being a missionary Im just not attracted to the girls here, they all have like side burns and mustaches haha so I should be fine!
Wed pretty much all we did all day is look for a house we did teach a few lessons to less actives and picked up a few new investigators. So at night when we were headed back to Juchitan it was late and so there werent anymore buses so we had to get a taxi and it cost alot more so, while we were driving home the taxi driver started talking to us and it turned out that he was a member, he has just been inactive for the last 12 years haha, but now he has a wife and a son that is 9 years old and he said that he felt like something has been missing in his life and that he has been having problems with his wife and she wants him to change and he was telling us how he wants his family to get baptized and change their current way of life! So we set an appointment with him. Its really funny how the lord works, we were mad that we missed the buses and had to use a taxi, but if we wouldnt have used a taxi that night we may have not ever met him, Its just crazy to think about!
Thursday we had a Christmas mission conference, It was pretty fun! First we just had some training by the president and the zone leaders then we changes clothes and got to play some games and sports that was really fun! After that we had our christmas dinner, it was turkey and funeral potatoes, but kinda mexified haha it still tasted pretty good! After that we had a secret santa gift exchange, I bought an elder some candy and other junk, I got 2 ties I was pretty happy! Then our gift from the president and his wife was a stocking filled with mexican candy haha which im not too fond of but oh well haha! After that we went to our area and taught a lesson or 2 then headed back to our zone leaders house!
Friday, we were determined to find a house this day we had found a few before but they ended up falling through, but we did end up finding one and it seems pretty good its just really dirty, so we will just have to clean it up pretty good! It was kinda annoying looking for a house because my comp always has a really bad attitude about everything. He just is like dead and doenst want to be here. I can see why president put him with me though, he really needs someone to just cheer him up and help him find some faith and some energy! That night we had a family home evening with a family whose son is less active, so my comp wanted to teach a lesson where you get a piece of paper and put a picture of Jesus under it and you tell people to think about people that they dont like and to use a knife and cut a whole in the piece of paper. Then after everyone cuts a hole in the top piece of paper, he took out from under it a picture of Jesus and everyone like freaked out haha, I told him before that we shouldnt do it but he wanted to haha idk! So that didnt end up to well! Oh well
Saturday was a pretty good day we got to teach some good lessons, in the morning we went to yavanis house, the taxi driver, and we taught his family and it went really good, the really want to make changes in their lives and they were very accepting of the message, when we got to his house we noticed that he had a ton of roosters in his back yard, its not too uncommon here to have a ton of chickens and some roosters but to just have a ton of roosters in all sperate cages was out of the ordinary, it turns out he trains roosters to fight haha, there arent any laws against it here so alot of people do it i guess haha, My companion was able to relate because I guess he use to train dogs to fight haha, wow I have a wierd companion.
Sunday was good, we were able to speak in sacrament meeting, but my companion was giving his talk and like went off on weird stuff and the bishop got up and handed him a note and told him to sit down haha so I went up and spoke and after everyone told me they liked my talk and he felt bad beacuse no one said it to him, I felt bad too! After we went and ate lunch and he made that girl cry haha and I found out that another girl that lives in that house who is 18 and a member doesnt believe in god, that family have alot of problems right now, because about 6 months ago their mom got kidnapped, it happens alot here. She some how made it back alive though, she was very lucky. It was really sad to her that the girl her name is Mittzz, doesnt believe that there is a god, but I talked to her and by the end of the conversation she said that she ow believed that there was a god. Its hard to see people challenges in their lives but it feels really good to be able to bring the spirit into their home and help them.
Well that was my week, not too exciting not too boring just the life as a missionary in Mexico.
Love Elder Stradling
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