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 

June 20, 2016 - Week 52

Dear Family,

Hey week 52, one year down already?? Pretty crazy huh, y pretty quick. I really liked your advice and appreciate the encouragement. The time is really limited and its important to make the most of every second we have. I will definitely want to improve and continue to learn from everything in the mission. Although I can definitively say that this has been the weirdest and at times most trying year of my life, I have loved my time and cherish the time and things I've learned and seen in my mission and can't wait to continue learning and seeing amazing things every day as we work for the Lord.

But man y'all got a busy week coming up. I feel like you guys go on more vacations now that I'm not there hahaha. That's so sick you guys are going to Hawaii that'll be so fun, and although Dad might be hesitant now, he'll love it I'm sure lol. 

So this week went really well. We´ve been working with Luis and his family to get them active again. His family is less active and he never got baptized, but they've been going to church and we are going to have Luis´ baptism this weekend. We also have been working with Juan Carlos who is a college student who lives alone and is superrr sick. He is super ready to be a great quality convert, but there's just one problem we´re trying to work with.. And that is that he is unsure of whether he will be moving to Mazatlan (which is a large tourist city like 15 hours away) this month or not. So that is the only question, and if he can stay here somehow we will be having his baptism probably on my birthday in a couple weeks. So we are hoping for that, but whether he is here in Sonora or in Mazatlan, I'm confident he will continue faithfully in the church. We are also teaching this woman named Elizabeth and she went to church yesterday, and arranged her schedule to show up a little late to a Father's day celebration so that she could go. So that was really encouraging. 

This week we did companionship exchanges with Elder Beecher who has been one of my closest friends here since the MTC. It was so much fun to work with him and we stayed up way too late reminiscing and laughing about so many mission memories but it was so fun haha. The next day we got up at 5:00 AM to prepare a baptism and that's when we were regretting it a little bit but it was fun lol. This week we are also having our last meeting with President Munive since hes going home after 3 years. I have really appreciated what he and his family have done for all of us as missionaries, and he has 3 children so I know it cannot have been easy. We have our last meeting with him on Wednesday in Obregon, then President Myers will arrive, and I'm excited to meet him and see what we´ll learn from him. 

Well, one year down and one more to go! It's been great and really it's gone by too fast. I'm sure it will continue to fly but in the meantime I'm excited and grateful to have one more year left. Also to have 2 cousins who are starting their missions. It's a great work and the most important in the world! And it's led by the Lord!! I love you all and can't wait to hear from y'all from Hawaii next week!!

Love,

Elder Stockard

June 13, 2016 - Week 51

Dear Mom,

What's up family? It sure sounds like y'all had a busy week. I guess going to Utah like 3 times in one week will occupy a good amount of time, haha. But I'm glad that everything went well and maybe this week will be a little bit more chill, haha. And things are moving right along with the renovation of the living room, that is going to be so weird to see when I get back, haha. So in October with your treatment and medication ending, will that be the end of all this or will there be another round or some other sort of treatment? Because I don't remember super well, but I thought it was going to last for like 2 years or something. 

So our week here was good. I think we´re getting a little bit more used to the heat once again and it didn't feel as draining this week which was a huge plus. Although I'm pretty sure it was just as hot. The work is good though. We´re still working with a few families and other people. We found this one guy named Juan Carlos this week and he actually helped us find an address we were looking for, then told us to go to his house another day. We found him, taught him a couple times with members and we had a lesson in the church, and on Sunday he didn't show up to church and we haven't been able to hear anything from him since then. It was kinda frustrating, but I'm sure it will work out. We have a baptism planned for the next week with this kid named Luis... Some of his family is less active and he and his family are going to church once again and he's excited for his baptism the next Saturday, as are we :) 

Super exciting that Tanner got home! Big shout out. There are a ton of friends I have here in the mission that are in similar situations with overlapping missions with siblings. But that's sick that the Fialas got a few weeks together as a family. Brandon and Jacob will have the time of their lives on the mission though, I'm super excited for them. I got an email from Ryan Hazelgren who just started his mission and it really is such a great, unique experience. So how are the Landreths liking the new setup in Reno? I'm sure all the family gatherings will be super sick with 3 families there once again. 

Anyways, Mom, Sunday is your birthday and and I won't be able to be there, (but i will be at the next one !!) But I want to wish you a very happy birthday and I want you to know that you're the biggest gift I could have in my life. This past week with the new area and new setting and I had a little bit of an upset stomach, and last night as I got back to the house I found myself focusing a little bit too much on the negatives, even though in that moment I didn't quite realize that. But anyway, the point is that I wasn't seeing the positive in every situation and I laid down on my bed and decided to read the letter you wrote me the day I left one year ago.  (I didn't remember a single word it said, and I hadn't read it since the day you gave it to me) You told me to only focus on the positive and I'll begin to see everything more positively and I was so grateful for you as my mom in that moment. Anyways, thanks so much for writing me and know that I love you, have a awesome birthday and send a lot of love to dad for Father's Day. I love you all!!

Ryan 

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June 6, 2016 - Week 50

Mom,

Hey what's up family, how ya´ll doing?? I hope you're all enjoying a much more mild climate than what I'm in right now, but seeing that you're in Utah, I'm sure that is the case. Navojoa is really sweet, but it is SOOO HOTTTTT here, haha. Like 110, and supposedly it's just getting started. I'm glad that Alyssa can go to EFY and meet a lot of new people. It'll be a fun week I'm sure, and you guys just gotta find stuff to entertain you while you're up there, which I'm sure will not be too much of a task. I hope that you can keep getting the treatment that you need to with your eyes... is there any possible surgery involved? Either way, I'm sure the doctors will know best how to solve it and you'll be back up in no time at all, are you still driving?? 

Anyways, this first week in Navojoa was pretty chill. The city is kinda medium sized, reminds me a little bit of Fallon. At the beginning, the first couple of weeks, you always feel a little bit disoriented because you don't always know the people you're visiting, or where you're at and you're kind of at the mercy of your companion. But we´re having a lot of success here and there're a lot of great people were working with. We are planning the baptisms for this family at the end of this month. They're super cool and learning a lot. I'll have a lot more details with the people we´re working with this week, like I told you last week, we got here late Tuesday night and had a few meetings this week so I barely had time to meet all the people we´re teaching haha.

So the zone we´re in has like 12 companionships and at the beginning of each month we all meet together and set goals for the month and focus in on a few things that we need to improve. This week we focused on the Book of Mormon and the Holy Ghost. It's interesting because with all the commandments and the blessings and promises that we know, it can all come back to the Book of Mormon and the fact that any person can find out whether it is true or not. Then today we all got together as a zone and had a few games and ate Little Ceasar's pizza after. We get along really well and I'm excited for this time we´ll be together. 

Okay, we´ll see when I get the birthday package. I think it'll be a little bit more than 1 week, but maybe a little bit closer to a month. It's kinda hard to tell because I never actually know for sure when they arrive in the offices. But thanks so much for sending it, so weird that it'll be my 2nd birthday on the mission and that I'm gonna be 20 years old. Where does the time go? lol. Well I hope all goes well with everything this week, send the Landreths a lot of love and a warm welcome to Reno on my part. I love you all and hope you have a great week, until next week!! 

Love,

Ryan 

May 30, 2016 - Week 49

Mom,

Hey, what's up family!! How you all doing? So this week was super cool, I'll tell you all about it, but Imma start with the news from the transfers we got yesterday. So after just one transfer here in Villa Bonita, I'm now leaving and I'm going to a city in southern Sonora that's called Navajoa. I won't be going until tomorrow but I'm going to be with Elder Chichia, who is from Puebla. I'm excited because we've known each other for a while in the mission and we've always gotten along really well. I've heard a lot of good things about Navajoa and I'm excited to work there. And Elder Chichia and I are going to be the Zone Leaders down there so that will be a fun part about it too.

So anyway, like I told you there were a lot of good parts about this week. I'll start with Ricardo's baptism. The whole week he was really excited and we went around organizing it all and setting up the program. Usually the investigators want us to baptize them but we thought it would be better to have a member do it to have that connection, so we set up the whole program with members helping. It turned out really great and Ricardo's mom went too and she really liked it... I think she's next haha. We keep working with Victor and we had this really awesome experience teaching him and his wife. They related a lot of financial troubles that they've had recently and so we changed the lesson completely and taught them about tithing and its promised blessings. They both loved the lesson and started to pay their tithing on Sunday, despite the fact that they're struggling financially. Great faith builder, the only way to see if the Lord's blessings work is by trying out living His commandments. 

During the week we somehow arranged the schedule of our food, that we ended up eating with the senior missionaries in our area 2 times this week. The Downs that remind me so much of Grandma and Grandpa, haha. They are 2 of my favorite people in the world because they are so helpful and gave us SOOOO much food, lol. I had almost forgotten how great beef strogonaff and a huge beef roast with dessert of strawberry shortcake were. But I love them because they're like our grandparents for these 2 years that we don't have grandparents and they remind me of how much I love all of my grandparents. So I will be sad to leave this area for the great people like them, and many many other members and investigators that make us feel very loved, but part of the great mission experience is meeting so many new and kind faces in many different parts. So I'm looking forward to more people in Navajoa. 

So you guys did in fact paint the living room huh? That's super cool, and I'm dying to see the pics you are gonna send haha. You're planning to have it all done by the end of June, right? How have the rest of your vacations been? That's really sick that you're going to Hawaii, is that also in July, I assume? Many things are coming up quickly like your birthday, mine, my 1 year mark in the mission, not to mention all the other missionaries that are leaving this month. It should be a fun month haha. Also super random that Jeff Weed got married, why didn't anyone tell me lol. Anyways, I hope you all have an awesome week, that you enjoy your vacations and get a lot of work done in the family room renovations haha. I love you all so much!!! 

Love,

Elder Stockard