Dec. 26, 2017

Hola all,

So it was Christmas yesterday! That's Pretty cool! 

This week has been a little difficult to find and teach anybody because everyone is in Mexico! We literally have a two week dead space where everyone that we have been teaching is going to be in Mexicali. It's kinda crazy. However so far it has been a great opportunity to get closer to the members here so that's been fun. We have been fed so much food by the members that if this keeps up I'll need some new pants! I love the people that are here.

 I don't remember in my last email I talked about the Castillos but I am going talk about them today. So the whole family is members of the church except for the dad. He is a heavy drinker. He was in line for a liver transplant but he was drinking so much that they took him off the list because it wasn't worth it because he would ruin the new one really fast. He drunk himself into a really bad state and was put into a coma at the hospital. We visited and were able to give them some Christmas cookies. While we were there we were asked to give them (mom and son) a preisthood blessing. So we did (In Spanish) and it was more than a little scary. After the blessing we answered questions about the Plan of Salvation and were asked to come back the next day to reteach the rest of the kids. We showed up expecting to be met with some very sad people. They were all happy and insisted that we eat dinner (our second dinner) and afterwards, we were talking and they said their father had woken up. If he hadn't woken up that day he would have been let go. What they told us afterwards was more amazing. After we had left the night before, these two faithful people prayed their hearts out and found strength through the blessings that they had recieved. Wow. That's the power of God for you!

 I hope that everyone's Christmas was a great one and you all were able to share some of God's light!

Love yall

Elder Stephen trata su

Dec. 10, 2017- first p-day in California

Hola,

So. I am finally in the actual mission feild. I am in a small border town called Calexico CA. If you haven't heard of it don't worry about it haha. Across the border, there is a bigger city called Mexicali, Mexico. So it's kinda hard to teach people because a lot of them go to Mexicali for the weekend or for work. However it's cool to be here. On the first night I was here, I didn't get to unpack because I went straight to a dinner appointment with a family called the Ochoas.

 I thought I could speak alright Spanish hahaha. I have been told that for only speaking for a little over two months, I amazingly do not sound like an American. It is very hard to understand though. Some people speak Spanish so fast it is scary though!! 

I am on a bike here and that's okay because it is a smaller town. I am super grateful for my companion Elder Cowley. He is from Reno Nevada area and he is super amazing. We both play the guitar and if you friend me on facebook, you can see the song that we performed in Church for our Christmas program on my first Sunday here! 

I am super excited to get to keep working with these people here. Just a little spiritual thought; the things we as missionaries teach is the doctrine of Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). To qualify for the Grace of Christ, the pattern set in the scriptures is to live with faith, repent daily, and try your best to constently keep the commandments of God. So in essence, missionary work is helping people to qualify for the Grace of God and receive Miricles in their lives. I really love that perspective. Anyway, I have been so blessed to be here. I have started loving the people here that I get to serve and teach. 

Love you all!

Elder Stephen

Finally in Cali!

Hello family!

I am here in San Diego safe with President Stubbs! I love you and and are so happy to be here serving the Lord. I hope you all are happy and safe. I love you all so much! 

Love,

Elder Stephen

Week 5

Hola All,

Well it's been a crazy week. This week I packed up and got all ready to go to San Diego!
So tell me if this makes sense... So I fly from here (Mexico City) to Las Angeles which is a five hour flight for some reason ( my comp is flying to Florida and it takes him about 3.5 hours or something). Then after that an hour flight to the San Diego International Airport. Hahah I am not really sure what that's about but it's okay. December 12th is going to be long for me because I am a travel leader which basically means that I have to weigh everyone's bags and make sure they have all of their stuff together. Then I have to be at reception an hour before everyone else and I'm responsible for making sure people are there and have everything. Also I'm responsible for everyone past security. Whew!
This being my last week, I have been only speaking Spanish. That's really hard for me and I'm pretty sure that I say everything wrong but I guess not cuz the Lord helps me.
 I hate the repetitiveness of the CCM but I know that it going to be so much harder in the field. I am just really excited to teach really real people! I can't wait. I feel like I can teach okay when I feel comfortable with these people. I will get over that I know haha. I have to. I am ready I feel. I am just excited to be serving the Lord. I'm sorry I know this is really repetitive.
If you haven't started the ‘Light The World’ initiative that the Church has put out, I would export yall to do it. It is really easy just to help make others' Christmas season more joyful. I hope that this will lighten your Christmas season as well.
This week as I taught my investigators here, I was able to bear strong testimony of the truths that I came here to share. It was such an amazing experience. My favorite quote this week is by Elder Holland. It says, " It takes an awful good meeting to be better than no meeting at all". Wise words. Just kidding here is a scripture that I really like Psalms 27:1. It's one of my favorites. God is with us. We walks with us every step we have ever took and every step we will take us. It is our job to walk a little bit with him in the Garden of Gethsemane and ultimately Calgary. He died for us and if we do not use this opportunity to change and become better, he dies and suffered for nothing. I know that’s not true.

Love,
Elder Stephen