July 25, 2016 - Week 57

Dear Mom,


Heyyy what's going on?? Are y'all dying from the heat like we are, I saw its up over 100 this whole week, that should be fun, haha!! Here it will literally thunder and lightning every single night, sometimes it rains a little bit too, but without fail every night in the summer there is thunder and lightning. It's actually pretty cool, I think it's like a desert thing but who knows. Has it rained a lot in Fallon as well?


So yes, the visa renewal trip went really well. We have a lot of great friends who came here with me since day one, and I hardly get to see all of them so it really was like Christmas being able to see all those guys and chill for a couple days. Next time we´re all together will be to go home, which is super far away but kinda weird to think about still. But yeah, this week was really great. We were really working hard on finding new people who have a lot of potential and this week was an answer to prayers. We found a lot of people and one family that has been prepared to hear the gospel. Obviously there's a lot we need to teach them, but we found them and they went to church in the same week and have loved what they've seen which is great. We also got to baptize Jaime yesterday, and this week we will baptize Diana to complete his family. We´ve seen awesome changes in their family and they have too, so we´re excited to keep working hard to find other people like that. We didn't do anything for Pioneer Day, I had actually forgotten that existed, but we had a ward mission activity which was fun. Probably I'll have to hold off until the ward breakfast in 2017 to celebrate Pioneer Day, lol.


Today we went to bowl as a zone, which was like 20 of us. It was the first time for a lot of the kids, but we all had a really good time. Sister Myers told us it's important to not get stressed out and enjoy our Mondays, take advantage of the time to relax a bit, which I think is important. Sometimes there's not a whole lot to do, but I really like and appreciate all the missionaries here, so it's fun to just get together every chance we get and make better friends, which is a part of the mission I've always loved.


A thought for the week that I've really been meditating lately. Many people who we talk to have been hurt emotionally by family, friends, other random people, and have told us how that has had a very negative effect in their lives. And many of them really have been wronged very badly. But we can receive comfort even in those tough situations if we choose to forgive and accept the Savior and trust that He can heal what we cannot. Elder Kevin Duncan gave an awesome talk about that, and in these weeks as we´ve taught these people how they can choose to not be hurt again, I have seen how forgiving others will open the door to so much more happiness for us.


Anyways, I hope you all have an awesome week and thanks so much for your love and support. You guys are the best. I love you all and can't wait to hear more from you next week.


Love, 

Elder Stockard

July 18, 2016 - Week 56

Family,

Well another week down, how are all of you?? So this is gonna be a pretty concise email because we have limited time today. We went to Guaymas for the 2nd part of our visa renewal like we did a couple of weeks ago and we just finished with that.

So you guys finally rested for a little bit this week, I bet that was nice. We had a really great week. We were focusing on finding a lot of people this week, and continue to work with the families we are teaching. This Sunday we´re gonna have 2 baptisms, Jaime and Dayana. It´s been so awesome to work with their family and see the changes they have made as a whole. Never underestimate the power that the gospel of Christ has to be able to change lives!! Reuben is working really hard as well and so is Manuel. The surest thing I can tell you all after 13 months is that no matter what the problems or difficulties that a person has in their lives, living the Gospel and obeying the commandments with the faith and hope that the Lord will recognize our sacrifice and bless us is the sure fire way to true happiness. 

I like in the Book of Mormon when Alma the Prophet is talking to his son Helaman and asks him if he believes in the words of the Lord, and Helaman says he does and that he loves Him, and so he will keep His comandments with all his heart. Alma 45:7. Something to be learned!!

Oh and I wanna give a huge thanks to the 4th ward YW, I got their birthday package and LOVE it!!!

Well I love you all and hope you all the best week!! Don't think that I'm forgetting about anyone, it's just that I don't have any time to write haha!! I love you all and we´ll talk more next week. All love!!


Elder Stockard

July 11, 2016 - Week 55

Mom,


Wow, what in the world!! Super weird to see you guys out in front of my house at the CCM!! I have so many memories there in that house and in the CCM I'm so glad you guys could go and see it! It also sounds like the rest of the trip was super busy and fun! I can't wait to talk to you a little bit more about the thoughts and impressions of Mexico. I got a good laugh about your observations like a lack of safety rails, and the uneven curbs. After 13 months one gets accustomed to it a little more, but I remember thinking the exact same thing. Well I'm glad you guys could get back safe and that you had an awesome experience. Tommy sure does put a great example for being able to go back and see the families and people that we are blessed to be able to teach and help in their lives. Gives me a lot of motivation to be able to do the same when I get back.


So this week was really good. We´re moving along really well with Reuben and little by little his family is starting to be more receptive to us as well. But he went to church, and 2 families that we´re teaching also went to church!! That was the highlight of it because we really filled the chapel with them. Then later yesterday we got all the transfers, and Elder Chichia and I will be staying together for another 6 weeks here in Navojoa! I was really happy about that, we are starting to have a lot of people and hope to continue to find new people.


So on Saturday, on my birthday, we were housing 5 missionaries because there were a couple people finishing their missions and they and their comps stayed with us. But we all bought pizza and had a fun time in the night to celebrate. As you can imagine, a house with 5 extra missionaries is pretty hectic and crowded, but it was a fun time. Other than that it was a pretty low key day, but it made me think a lot about the fun times we´ve had during this time of the year in the past, but there will be lots of other fun summers and I'm really happy to be here during this one.


Things here are going really well here honestly, I could not find anything to complain about even if I wanted to, we´re having a great time and finding a lot of people who are ready to hear the truth of the restored gospel of Christ. President Myers continues to impress us and I'm excited and happy to have him and Sister Myers here for this 2nd year of the mission.


When is the next vacation that you guys are planning, or are you gonna take it a little more easy these weeks? Also, Mom how are your eyes doing? One of the dads of the families we are teaching asked us a lot about how fasting works, and I told him about the time we did a fast as a family for your eyes and how it has been a blessing for us.


Well family, hope all is well with everything back at the crib with you guys, all is well on my end! I love you all and can't wait to talk in a week!!


Keep it real,


Ryan

July 4, 2016 - Week 54

Family,

Happy 4th of July!!!! Also, Happy Birthday, Lauren!!!! Pretty weird that for the 2nd year in a row, I did not celebrate 4th of July with the normal jam berry bagels and American flag fruit tray, but for the next year we´ll have to hit that up lol! We got together with the other missionaries in our ward and cooked ribs and made lemonade to celebrate the 4th, and also some quesadillas because we still are on Mexican soil. It was really fun though. 

So how has your guys crazy week been?? You've been all over the place mom, I'm so excited that you will be coming to Mexico tomorrow!! You're going to love it! Get a good mental picture of how you think its gonna be, and it's fun to see how it is really different. At least for me it was. Kinda cool that you'll be in Mexico City for a day, that's actually where I spent a part of my mission. It's huge, but I'm sure we´ll cross some of the same ground, at least the airport, lol.

So this week was really good. Our new mission Pres, President Myers and his wife got here and we had a couple of meetings with them. They're so awesome and told us that they've been dreaming of the moment when they finally got to meet us for the last 10 months, and that they'd been praying for us a lot. I'm really excited for what they're gonna do and I am sure they will change many lives in their 3 years here, just like the Munives did. So that was the big news for the week. We are working with this kid named Reuben, he's like 18 years old and super chill, and really likes sports too. We´re working with him, and his friend Jose (who is a less active member) and I feel like they're really good friends and that we all learn a lot together which is fun. 

This week is the last one of the transfer and we really have no idea how the transfers will go with the new administration haha. But Its possible that I'll write you guys from a different area next week haha. This week we have some more meetings with other missionaries and we are also gonna go to a few different areas to work with the other missionaries. I always like doing that because you get to meet more people and see what is working with other companionships. So it should be a good week coming up I'm excited! 

Mom, I really wanna hear your thoughts and what you guys did and ate and liked about this trip this week! You're gonna be here for a long time, I really think you're gonna like it. Also I wanna see a good amount of pics from the 4th of July hang out. Those are my 2 requests, haha. This week and the week of Christmas were always the 2 best of the year!! So weird that Lauren is now 22 years old. Its weird cause I feel like after being married for a year and a half and in medical school, that she should be older haha. And its also so weird that I'm gonna be 20 this week!! Weird because I still feel like I'm like 17 and not ready to enter my 20´s lol. But like always, you guys and your love and support are the best birthday gift I could ever ask for and I love you all so much!! Cant wait to talk in a week. Have an awesome time in Mexico and 4th of July!! 

Love you all!!!

Ryan 

June 27, 2016 - Week 53

Mom,

Hey so I'm not gonna have a ton of time this week. We just got back to Navojoa after going up to a city about 2 hours north of Obregon, Guaymas, to sort everything out with the renewal of our visas. We left last night and stayed in Obregon and today we headed up there super early with all the Americans who arrived in the MTC with me one year ago. It was such a fun time to just all be together and be with the Downs. We got everything sorted out then hit Papa Johns pizza for lunch and came back. We will go back up on the 18th of July to pick up our new visas. 

So how is Hawaii treating you? I usually don't feel like this, but this week I feel like there was a lot of huge news that I hear all at once on Monday afternoon, haha. Huge congrats to Tommy and Courtney for getting the engagement official. It seems like it had been like that for like 2 years now, but I guess there is an order to these types of things and so I'm glad they made it official finally, haha. How is the Hawaii life treatin y'all?? I think I'm now the only person in our family who's never left the continental US, (excluding the mission) lol. But it sounds like you guys are having an awesome time so that's great. It's funny that you mentioned how fascinated I was with volcanoes at one point in my life because I had really forgotten about that lol. It sounds like you guys had a very great Sunday experience there, which is also really awesome. 

Yesterday, Sunday, we baptized Luis. He was so happy to get to his baptism, he arrived like an hour early. He wanted me to baptize him so I suited up in white and I baptized him. We are working with other people but it's always a constant need to be finding new people and helping them with all the needs in their life. Each day I'm getting more and more used to the heat and I'm feeling alright with it. By the way, your guys´ package got here this week with the long sleeve shirts and the candy and deodorant. Super random combination as I'm typing it out, but it was exactly what I needed, haha. Thank you so much for that honestly!! Any day where I can eat starbursts in Mexico is a good day, so I have had a pretty constant smile on my face this week lol. 

Well, today is when we get the new president. It should be fun, we will meet him on Wednesday! It's true, the mission president and his wife are really like parents for these two years and you learn a ton from them. I'm lucky and blessed enough to have learned and been cared for by the Munives for this year, and now by the Myers. I hope that you all have a killer week and have an awesome time in Hawaii!! Love you all, keep it real!!

Love,

Elder Stockard