Elder Stockard

Elder Stockard
Mexico Cuidad Obregon Mission

Monday, December 19, 2016

December 19, 2016 - Week 78

December 12, 2016 - Week 77

Mom and Family,

So the ever so anticipated (by some) and dreaded (by others) weekend of Nutcracker!! Wow, I think I mentioned this to you last year but it´s kinda funny how much I would have sincerely enjoyed attending the Nutcracker this year, considering how much I complained about it for like 9 years previous. But the pictures are almost as good, and it sounds like Alyssa tore it up like always, and that it was a success. Wow, I can't believe how good Dad looks, like a new person!! That's so awesome.

So how are all the other preparations and loose end tying going for all the business that you have in life?? It sounds like you are all handling the potentially stressful situations with a lot of grace, and that it will all turn out wonderfully. You will all have to send me ample pictures of the wedding dinner and morning, and reception!! How long is the honey moon gonna last? If I understand correctly, they will NOT be home for the holidays?

So for the Christmas day call I'll have like 50 minutes. We are gonna do it on Christmas day, I just am not 100% sure on the hour though. Ill find out for sure this next week. Probably in the afternoon, around like 4-6(?) 

This week, the work moved along well. We worked hard and saw a lot of good results. One of those was a new investigator whose name literally means miracles so we have high hopes for her.  We met her on Saturday and she went to church on Sunday! She seems very interested. The other two are pretty set on the baptism on the 23rd of December as well. This week, the ward put us in charge of organizing the spiritual part of the Christmas party. So we´ll be occupied with that, the party will be on Friday. And this past Friday, the Myers took 90 missionaries from all of Sinaloa to a professional baseball game. So we went up to Los Mochis, they bought us all dinner, and then took us out to the ball game!! We had to leave at like 10:00 PM so we didn't see it all. But after, elder Christensen and I stayed with elder Beecher and his comp, who we are very good friends with. Well I won't tell you how many of hours of sleep we got, nor how many liters of a soda that will remain nameless were consumed. (Shout out Pres. Uchtdorf lol) But it was such a fun experience, and we came back to Guamuchil the next day, which is like a 2.5 hour trip on bus. And we got out to work and had a good day. The work is moving along here and we´re having a lot of fun. 

Well family, I guess this is the last time I will write you while Tommy is still single. Just wanna congratulate Tommy and Courtney on the wedding. I know I won't be able to make it, but save me one of the slim fitting groomsmen suits, and make some funny, witty, somewhat borderline appropriate comment at the dinner the night before lol. Have a great week, and enjoy the special moments with the family and the special occasion. Love you all!! 

Elder Stockard

Monday, December 5, 2016

December 5, 2016 - Week 76

Mom,

Hey how's it going, Mom?? Yesterday as we were watching the Christmas devotional I actually was wondering if you guys would be watching it too. I assume that you did?? We had it broadcasted here in the church and there were a good amount of people who came out to it, including some investigators which was good. I enjoyed the messages and beautiful spirit that was felt as well as the decorations, but none of that even held a candle to the cream tuxes that the MoTab wore, lol.

So how has the weather been out there? People always ask me if it´s snowing back in Nevada, and I imagine that the first snowfall has happened?? Here it´s dropped drastically over the past few days. I mean we´re talking from like mid 70´s to like 55-60 degrees. So it's still pretty comfortable, but the brisk mornings and nights coupled with the uninsulated house that we live in call for some blankets and sweatshirts, haha. Today in the morning, we got up really early, before dawn, to get out to a dam that's like a mile or two from our area, to watch the sunrise. I promise you it wasn't as odd as I just made it sound. It also made for a good joke about saying we were watching the dam sunrise. Get it?? Then we gave our house a deep clean and went and did the most economic, but effective (in terms of buying delicious, filling, easy food) shopping. I really appreciate Elder Christensen because he also appreciates things like that, as I know you do too, haha.

The rest of our week was good. There are a few challenges with some investigators, but right now we have two who are gonna get baptized the weekend of Christmas, yes, a white Christmas, if you will. So we´re excited about that and we´re hoping for smooth sailing with them. We are also working with a lady who we found this week and also seems very interested. This week we are going to Los Mochis and go to a baseball game, which I'm super super excited for. I am not expecting to see any Mike Trout-caliber players nor MLB caliber stadiums, but it will be a good time nonetheless. We´re going with all the missionaries from Sinaloa so it'll be a fun time. The Myers are awesome and like to do fun things like this with the missionaries haha. I love them a lot and feel blessed to be in their mission. 

Well, family I can only imagine all the stress and chaos of what's going on, but wow, what an exciting time!! When times are hard and stressful, but for a good cause, I love the words of our beloved prophet Joseph Smith in D&C 128:22. ¨Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing.¨

It's a great time in the family!! Enjoy it all and don't get too stressed out!! Well, I love you all, and hope you have a great week. Lots of love.


Love,

Ryan