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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
