Hey.
Transfers came... and went... and they left me and Elder Draper here. Soooo, that is Grand!!! We are doing well and had our first FULL week of work without crazy things happening. It was great. We found a few new people and they are looking really good! Jeff (from last week) is doing incredible! He is seriously probably the smartest person that I have taught on my mission. We teach him a principle then he says "let me see if I am understanding this right" then explains the principle back to us usually with some sort of analogy. So cool! He looks exactly like George Castanza with a cul de sac hair cut! He is a mainstay at one of the biker bars around here because he sings Karaoke (however you spell it). Apparently he goes there ever Saturday day night and drinks soda and sings country music (7-15 songs). He told us he wants to sing some karaoke with us this week so that should be awesome! He is seriously one of the most good- hearted people I have met out here. He works at Shell and goes in 15 minutes early and always stays late to make sure everything runs smoothly. He couldn’t go to church because he was giving a ride to a lady who came into his work and asked for help with a ride to downtown. (she paid for his gas so he said it was a fair deal). But anyways he is coming along great and he is one of those people that the gospel will really bless his life. He doesn’t have much family so I think he will be happy to make friends in the ward. The English ward is supposedly very good here. The Spanish branch has some challenges but we are trying to work them out.
My old companion Elder Calzadillas just got transferred and he is now in my ward with me. I am happy about that because I think alot of the problems we had were my fault and I want to make things right with him. Our investigator Belen went to church this week and seemed to like it. She is 18 and really cool and has a testimony she just does not want to change. So we will see what happens with her. We are teaching mostly Spanish but we have found lots of good English people lately so we will see what happens with them. We are gonna teach them till they go to church then give them to the English missionaries who have more contact with the English ward.
OK Funny Story; I had my talk this week. So I prepared more then usual cause it was in a language that is not my own. I got a talk ready for about 10 minutes about the resurrection. I was all ready to go and I got up on the stand and the High Council member who was speaking with me asked me to make it a 5 minute talk if possible. He said ten would be fine but 5 would be better... so I brought my notes with scriptures to quote and everything. I decided that I was going to try to just use a few of the scriptures that I had marked and let things fall as they may but going to try to make it 5 minutes. I went up there and talked. I had the same sort of feeling as last week. Everyone was smiling from the congregation and kind of nodding their heads. I knew I was either absolutely nailing it or my Spanish was terrible....... In stark contrast I babbled with no real point. After about the second minute in I realized how bad the talk was going... I read my scriptures talked about them a little bit and I was done... HAHAHA even my companion said it was pretty bad and our investigator Belen told me that "I attacked the Spanish language" Haha so apparently I babbled for 6 minutes, funny stuff!
But yeah, things are good! I love you all and will talk to you later!!!
Love Elder Stiles
Monday, November 3, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
6 months!
Hi!
Good Week! I got sick with that stomach bug so it limited our time but nevertheless it was good!
I felt the gift of tongues VERY strong as I made a more concerted effort to only speak Spanish. It was GREAT! We spoke almost pure spanish throughout the week. A good feeling!Cool Story from Last Night; all of our appointments fell through and we did not know where to tract. We were starting to get a little frustrated because all of our appointments fell through, so my companion and I decided to go to an area where we had spent very little time. We went over there and knocked a couple doors without talking to anyone when we came to a house that was turned into an apartment. It was dark in the stairwell and we were both kinda hesitant to go in but we did. We got in and we knocked the first door with no answer. We knocked the second door and a guy named Jeff answered. He told us about his life and how he was very open to looking at other religions because he had been rather dissatisfied with his church experiences in the past. He was excited to talk to us and we explained our church services and how they work. He was excited and very happy when we made a return appointment for Wednesday. It was a really great thing to see how excited he was. He has had a hard life because he got water on the Brain when he was beaten by his birth mom at 6 months. He said he thinks like a normal person just lacks some of the motor skills and gets horrible head aches. He is a guy that will let the gospel change his life. Way way cool! And it was great to see how your whole week/night can change in like 20 minutes! COOL!
We actually have not had that many people yell super witty stuff at us out their car windows (Dissappointment covers my face) but I have learned one thing! If you want free Beer, wear a white shirt and tie and go into somewhat rougher neighborhoods on a Sunday afternoon! Because not gonna lie, EVERYONE offers us beer! It is actually kinda funny cause we had someone yell out the car "Want some WEED?". He drove by but did not even wait for a response! I love how people ask questions they know the answer to.
The hispanics are starting to really head out of this area, the Sherriff has made it his goal to get rid of all of the illegals, soooo he deports them... Like all of them. They pull over hispanics that are driving and call it an insurance check. They usually all have insurance they just lack proper ID. "most even have international licenses". Soo that is a bummer and it makes getting people to go to church more difficult. We have had 1 of our investigators deported on Friday. His family is still here in their house but he is in the county prison. They put them in the prison and hold them there until the county or state or whatever pays to fly a whole jet all the way down to Mexico City to drop them off... Most of the people that are deported come back here within a week because they have family here but some are starting to stay!
Yesterday was cool, we did Fast and Testimony meeting (because the Branch forgot to do it the week before conference). I decided to go up and bear my testimony and try out my Spanish (especially cause I am speaking in church next week). I went up and not gonna lie, its a whole whole lot more nerve racking to try to do that sort of thing in another language, so I went up, and did it! It felt easy and when I came back and sat down my companion said "you just spoke perfect Spanish". I was like sweet! I knew it was either coming out really good and the Gift of Tongues was helping me or it was a train wreck and I looked like a blathering idiot. All of the other missionaries in our ward (six of us) came and told me how that was the best they had ever heard me speak... unfortunately, the other people in the branch now think that is how I speak, so they tried to go extra in depth with conversation with me... BAD CALL! haha
But yeah things are going really well! mostly just working hard and having fun. I love missionary work!
That is FANTASTIC that the first people that Dad talked to signed up to invest! I would think there would be some follow the pack investments that will make getting the other 700K a little easier! EXCITING!!!! I pray for everything to work out with the business everynight.
Letters in General have come to a screaching halt! Whats up with that? Good to hear Brent's surgery went well and it looks like he can finally go on with his life as a normal 22 year old... Wait false... Brent can go on with his life as a 22 year old... ;) I am way happy to hear that it all went very well.
I have been out 6 months on thursday, put that on the blog-That is a milestone!
I love you all, Life is great. I love you guys!
Elder Stiles
Good Week! I got sick with that stomach bug so it limited our time but nevertheless it was good!
I felt the gift of tongues VERY strong as I made a more concerted effort to only speak Spanish. It was GREAT! We spoke almost pure spanish throughout the week. A good feeling!Cool Story from Last Night; all of our appointments fell through and we did not know where to tract. We were starting to get a little frustrated because all of our appointments fell through, so my companion and I decided to go to an area where we had spent very little time. We went over there and knocked a couple doors without talking to anyone when we came to a house that was turned into an apartment. It was dark in the stairwell and we were both kinda hesitant to go in but we did. We got in and we knocked the first door with no answer. We knocked the second door and a guy named Jeff answered. He told us about his life and how he was very open to looking at other religions because he had been rather dissatisfied with his church experiences in the past. He was excited to talk to us and we explained our church services and how they work. He was excited and very happy when we made a return appointment for Wednesday. It was a really great thing to see how excited he was. He has had a hard life because he got water on the Brain when he was beaten by his birth mom at 6 months. He said he thinks like a normal person just lacks some of the motor skills and gets horrible head aches. He is a guy that will let the gospel change his life. Way way cool! And it was great to see how your whole week/night can change in like 20 minutes! COOL!
We actually have not had that many people yell super witty stuff at us out their car windows (Dissappointment covers my face) but I have learned one thing! If you want free Beer, wear a white shirt and tie and go into somewhat rougher neighborhoods on a Sunday afternoon! Because not gonna lie, EVERYONE offers us beer! It is actually kinda funny cause we had someone yell out the car "Want some WEED?". He drove by but did not even wait for a response! I love how people ask questions they know the answer to.
The hispanics are starting to really head out of this area, the Sherriff has made it his goal to get rid of all of the illegals, soooo he deports them... Like all of them. They pull over hispanics that are driving and call it an insurance check. They usually all have insurance they just lack proper ID. "most even have international licenses". Soo that is a bummer and it makes getting people to go to church more difficult. We have had 1 of our investigators deported on Friday. His family is still here in their house but he is in the county prison. They put them in the prison and hold them there until the county or state or whatever pays to fly a whole jet all the way down to Mexico City to drop them off... Most of the people that are deported come back here within a week because they have family here but some are starting to stay!
Yesterday was cool, we did Fast and Testimony meeting (because the Branch forgot to do it the week before conference). I decided to go up and bear my testimony and try out my Spanish (especially cause I am speaking in church next week). I went up and not gonna lie, its a whole whole lot more nerve racking to try to do that sort of thing in another language, so I went up, and did it! It felt easy and when I came back and sat down my companion said "you just spoke perfect Spanish". I was like sweet! I knew it was either coming out really good and the Gift of Tongues was helping me or it was a train wreck and I looked like a blathering idiot. All of the other missionaries in our ward (six of us) came and told me how that was the best they had ever heard me speak... unfortunately, the other people in the branch now think that is how I speak, so they tried to go extra in depth with conversation with me... BAD CALL! haha
But yeah things are going really well! mostly just working hard and having fun. I love missionary work!
That is FANTASTIC that the first people that Dad talked to signed up to invest! I would think there would be some follow the pack investments that will make getting the other 700K a little easier! EXCITING!!!! I pray for everything to work out with the business everynight.
Letters in General have come to a screaching halt! Whats up with that? Good to hear Brent's surgery went well and it looks like he can finally go on with his life as a normal 22 year old... Wait false... Brent can go on with his life as a 22 year old... ;) I am way happy to hear that it all went very well.
I have been out 6 months on thursday, put that on the blog-That is a milestone!
I love you all, Life is great. I love you guys!
Elder Stiles
Monday, October 6, 2008
Working on My Spanish
Hi Everyone,
Laur Really stepped up the competion when it comes to getting packages of GOODIES! SO much way, way good Food! Dont worry I shared(not too begrudgingly). Thanks for the letter and the photos. Big shout out of Thanks to Laur.
Life is good! It is Suit Coat Season!!! Suits all the time till next conference, so I guess we are looking extra cool on our bikes! It will help us stay warm. It is going to be COLD here.
We actually are starting to see some forward progress from investigators which is sweet! one of our investigators, Belen fasted this week with us to receive and answer to her prayers. It was cool cause the missionaries have been teaching her for like 3 years and has never done anything like that! It's kinda sad because she really does not like me at all... She loves my companion but doesn't like that I do not speak Spanish very well. Spanish has been frustrating me lately, I am coming up on my 6 month mark on the 16th and really do not feel like I have a good grasp on the language... BUMMER! I am working for it, it will come. I can communicate, I am just grammatically disabled so I get funny looks alot.
Conference was great! I watched the Priesthood Session and Sunday Afternoon session in English and the rest was in Spanish... MAN DO THOSE TRANSLATORS TALK FAST!!! but overall life is Good! I am excited for the work here. My companion got way, way sick this week. He is a Diabetic (like Wilford Brimley) and he got the flu, was vomiting profusely and could not keep anything down. It was rather reminiscent of the night at the Domingo’s right after my farewell in CA. But the difference is that he will die if his sugar got low. So we were up all night on Thursday and trying to do what we could to keep his sugar up. We called the ambulance cause he dropped from 140 to 56 in about 25 minutes. So that was a pretty sacry, miserable night. I am not gonna lie it was pretty miserable for him. He later said that I am going to be a good husband because I touched his vomit (dumping out his vomit and switching buckets) and he was just a companion on the mission. HAHA I agreed... It was disgusting.
OK So this happened a couple weeks ago but I did not have time to write about it last week...
I, Scott Stiles have hit Rock Bottom... I think that any hope I ever had at being a moderately successfully human being is now gone... and do you want to know why? Because, I Scott Stiles was FIRED from the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen... Yes, I was FIRED from Volunteering to serve food to people for 6 hours a week while receiving no monetary compensation! WOW!!! It was actually probably the funniest thing ever. The Major "their religious leader and great military mind" came downstairs from his perch in the office and told my companion and I that they had enough volunteers and they were getting more so "you don’t need to come around here anymore" OUCH!!! haha I was mopping the floor at this point in time and just kinda looked at my companion in dismay. After salutes and receiving awards for our bravery in "Salvation's Army "(sarcasm) I asked my companion "Did we just get fired from the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen". Man he did not even say if we were honorably discharged!! I love missionary work and everything we are doing.
Love you all!
Elder Stiles
Laur Really stepped up the competion when it comes to getting packages of GOODIES! SO much way, way good Food! Dont worry I shared(not too begrudgingly). Thanks for the letter and the photos. Big shout out of Thanks to Laur.
Life is good! It is Suit Coat Season!!! Suits all the time till next conference, so I guess we are looking extra cool on our bikes! It will help us stay warm. It is going to be COLD here.
We actually are starting to see some forward progress from investigators which is sweet! one of our investigators, Belen fasted this week with us to receive and answer to her prayers. It was cool cause the missionaries have been teaching her for like 3 years and has never done anything like that! It's kinda sad because she really does not like me at all... She loves my companion but doesn't like that I do not speak Spanish very well. Spanish has been frustrating me lately, I am coming up on my 6 month mark on the 16th and really do not feel like I have a good grasp on the language... BUMMER! I am working for it, it will come. I can communicate, I am just grammatically disabled so I get funny looks alot.
Conference was great! I watched the Priesthood Session and Sunday Afternoon session in English and the rest was in Spanish... MAN DO THOSE TRANSLATORS TALK FAST!!! but overall life is Good! I am excited for the work here. My companion got way, way sick this week. He is a Diabetic (like Wilford Brimley) and he got the flu, was vomiting profusely and could not keep anything down. It was rather reminiscent of the night at the Domingo’s right after my farewell in CA. But the difference is that he will die if his sugar got low. So we were up all night on Thursday and trying to do what we could to keep his sugar up. We called the ambulance cause he dropped from 140 to 56 in about 25 minutes. So that was a pretty sacry, miserable night. I am not gonna lie it was pretty miserable for him. He later said that I am going to be a good husband because I touched his vomit (dumping out his vomit and switching buckets) and he was just a companion on the mission. HAHA I agreed... It was disgusting.
OK So this happened a couple weeks ago but I did not have time to write about it last week...
I, Scott Stiles have hit Rock Bottom... I think that any hope I ever had at being a moderately successfully human being is now gone... and do you want to know why? Because, I Scott Stiles was FIRED from the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen... Yes, I was FIRED from Volunteering to serve food to people for 6 hours a week while receiving no monetary compensation! WOW!!! It was actually probably the funniest thing ever. The Major "their religious leader and great military mind" came downstairs from his perch in the office and told my companion and I that they had enough volunteers and they were getting more so "you don’t need to come around here anymore" OUCH!!! haha I was mopping the floor at this point in time and just kinda looked at my companion in dismay. After salutes and receiving awards for our bravery in "Salvation's Army "(sarcasm) I asked my companion "Did we just get fired from the Salvation Army Soup Kitchen". Man he did not even say if we were honorably discharged!! I love missionary work and everything we are doing.
Love you all!
Elder Stiles
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Step up the Witty-ness
September 16, 2008
Life is SWEET!!! Me and my new companion are having a blast! mostly we are trying to look for new investigators now. We taught a bunch of lessons last week but last night we kinda determined that though they all had testimonies, they were not progressing and have no intention of progressing... sooo it looks like we are going back to square one!
Sunday we had those crazy wind storms "don’t know if it made the news" but 74 mph winds... Messed up the trees pretty bad, not gonna lie. soo yesterday (Monday) we road our bikes around helping people clean up their trees and stuff! It was kinda fun and something different. Sunday it was too windy and there were tornado warnings so we had to stay in our house from about 3pm until the next morning... It was pretty boring especially because we had now power and could not really cook anything.
We have a sweet house now. It’s a row home and we have the bottom floor. The area here is cool. It is actually lower income than downtown. There are lots of people standing around in the middle of the day, but most of them like us! Funny thing, I don't understand why people think they are being super witty and creative to yell things at us when they drive by? Seriously, it’s always the silliest people and they always say the least creative things... It’s like come on guys! Step up the witty-ness... Jeeze! My companion and I get a good laugh out of how lame the things they say are! But, I have yet to have anything thrown at me... That will probably be slightly less funny "or funnier depending on the object being thrown".
But anyways this area is cool, tons of Hispanics so that is sweet because we have lots of people to talk to. There is a park right by our house where lots of Guatemalans go play basketball... We rode by there on Friday and asked if we could play... HAHAHAHA I am the Lebron James of Guatemalan basketball. WOW! watching them play is really fun. We asked if we could play and the guy immediately kicked 2 of his friends off his team, because the winner stays and he knew we would win because if you have someone over the height of 5'3'' you have a "Big Man". We played 25% effort for a couple games and left and contacted all the people around the court. It was sweet, and they all wanted to talk to us after that, so that was good, fun, effective contacting! So basically everything is going awesome for me! Loving sharing the gospel with people and seeing how it impacts their lives!! I love you all!
Life is SWEET!!! Me and my new companion are having a blast! mostly we are trying to look for new investigators now. We taught a bunch of lessons last week but last night we kinda determined that though they all had testimonies, they were not progressing and have no intention of progressing... sooo it looks like we are going back to square one!
Sunday we had those crazy wind storms "don’t know if it made the news" but 74 mph winds... Messed up the trees pretty bad, not gonna lie. soo yesterday (Monday) we road our bikes around helping people clean up their trees and stuff! It was kinda fun and something different. Sunday it was too windy and there were tornado warnings so we had to stay in our house from about 3pm until the next morning... It was pretty boring especially because we had now power and could not really cook anything.
We have a sweet house now. It’s a row home and we have the bottom floor. The area here is cool. It is actually lower income than downtown. There are lots of people standing around in the middle of the day, but most of them like us! Funny thing, I don't understand why people think they are being super witty and creative to yell things at us when they drive by? Seriously, it’s always the silliest people and they always say the least creative things... It’s like come on guys! Step up the witty-ness... Jeeze! My companion and I get a good laugh out of how lame the things they say are! But, I have yet to have anything thrown at me... That will probably be slightly less funny "or funnier depending on the object being thrown".
But anyways this area is cool, tons of Hispanics so that is sweet because we have lots of people to talk to. There is a park right by our house where lots of Guatemalans go play basketball... We rode by there on Friday and asked if we could play... HAHAHAHA I am the Lebron James of Guatemalan basketball. WOW! watching them play is really fun. We asked if we could play and the guy immediately kicked 2 of his friends off his team, because the winner stays and he knew we would win because if you have someone over the height of 5'3'' you have a "Big Man". We played 25% effort for a couple games and left and contacted all the people around the court. It was sweet, and they all wanted to talk to us after that, so that was good, fun, effective contacting! So basically everything is going awesome for me! Loving sharing the gospel with people and seeing how it impacts their lives!! I love you all!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I Got Transferred!
Hi Everyone!
I GOT TRANSFERRED!!! I am way bummed to have to leave our investigators but so, so happy that I am getting a new companion. My new companion is Elder Draper. He is a kid from Utah, Sandy area. One of the nicest kids I have met and he loves sports!!!.... And pretty much is the man! I went on exchanges once with him and was hoping to get him as a companion ‘cause he is such a stinking good guy!
I am now in a town called Hamilton. It’s a suburb, lower income white and Hispanics. There are lots of Hispanics here so that is sweet. There is a Spanish branch and so that is cool. We are in a bike area and we have a very nice apt. It’s an old row home and we live in the bottom floor of it! ALSO!!!! WE HAVE THE CRAZY HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET FROM US. sooooo I would expect the stories to get funnier because they love talking to the missionaries and you can never talk to them without a blog worthy story! I am sooo, sooo happy to have this companion! Things are gonna be awesome! I was sad to leave our investigators, but I am way, way stoked for this opportunity. I went and said all my good byes yesterday and that was sad. Could not get in touch with any of our investigators but one of the member family's, the Schweglars, the ones who fellowshipped Michael, took us out to eat at a good Mexican restaurant and we visited the Halls also.
Sweet Story: We went arrived to go tract yesterday because none of the investigators were home to visit, so.... we arrived to go tract at an apartment and I got out and just said “no”... I looked at my companion and he agreed it wasn’t the right time to tract. So we went to Kieth's apartment (the kid whose grandpa was a church leader) our phone was dead and so we had no idea how we were gonna be able to get into their complex. We got out of the car and started walking towards the door when his mom "Marylee" opened the front door and just said “come in, God is amazing!" She explained how she was just talking to her uncle on the phone about starting to go back to church and how she needed it in her life to help with the loss of her dad. She was crying and told us how strongly the spirit was prompting her to return to church. We talked and then finally I stopped her and in conversation and just said "Marylee will you go to church this week?" she looked at me and said, "well, if I tell you I am going to church I will promise you." I said "thats why I asked will you? not could you?" She said yes and she is going to meet with the bishop, and is going to a church addiction recovery program tonight to stop smoking... SO, SO cool. oh yeah, Kieth also commited to come to church this week too! She told me how much she appreciated it and then said “if It wasn’t against the rules I would hug you!” I laughed and took off! It was soo cool to see how the spirit was touching her. If anything this last transfer taught me how much I love people. I may have struggles with certain people but I learned why I am doing missionary work! To help these people be as happy as they can be!! And for ME to grow.
I still love getting letters and to make it easier for you,
Here is my new address.
312 N 2nd St. Apt. A
Hamilton, OH, 45011
I love you all,
Elder Scott Stiles
I GOT TRANSFERRED!!! I am way bummed to have to leave our investigators but so, so happy that I am getting a new companion. My new companion is Elder Draper. He is a kid from Utah, Sandy area. One of the nicest kids I have met and he loves sports!!!.... And pretty much is the man! I went on exchanges once with him and was hoping to get him as a companion ‘cause he is such a stinking good guy!
I am now in a town called Hamilton. It’s a suburb, lower income white and Hispanics. There are lots of Hispanics here so that is sweet. There is a Spanish branch and so that is cool. We are in a bike area and we have a very nice apt. It’s an old row home and we live in the bottom floor of it! ALSO!!!! WE HAVE THE CRAZY HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET FROM US. sooooo I would expect the stories to get funnier because they love talking to the missionaries and you can never talk to them without a blog worthy story! I am sooo, sooo happy to have this companion! Things are gonna be awesome! I was sad to leave our investigators, but I am way, way stoked for this opportunity. I went and said all my good byes yesterday and that was sad. Could not get in touch with any of our investigators but one of the member family's, the Schweglars, the ones who fellowshipped Michael, took us out to eat at a good Mexican restaurant and we visited the Halls also.
Sweet Story: We went arrived to go tract yesterday because none of the investigators were home to visit, so.... we arrived to go tract at an apartment and I got out and just said “no”... I looked at my companion and he agreed it wasn’t the right time to tract. So we went to Kieth's apartment (the kid whose grandpa was a church leader) our phone was dead and so we had no idea how we were gonna be able to get into their complex. We got out of the car and started walking towards the door when his mom "Marylee" opened the front door and just said “come in, God is amazing!" She explained how she was just talking to her uncle on the phone about starting to go back to church and how she needed it in her life to help with the loss of her dad. She was crying and told us how strongly the spirit was prompting her to return to church. We talked and then finally I stopped her and in conversation and just said "Marylee will you go to church this week?" she looked at me and said, "well, if I tell you I am going to church I will promise you." I said "thats why I asked will you? not could you?" She said yes and she is going to meet with the bishop, and is going to a church addiction recovery program tonight to stop smoking... SO, SO cool. oh yeah, Kieth also commited to come to church this week too! She told me how much she appreciated it and then said “if It wasn’t against the rules I would hug you!” I laughed and took off! It was soo cool to see how the spirit was touching her. If anything this last transfer taught me how much I love people. I may have struggles with certain people but I learned why I am doing missionary work! To help these people be as happy as they can be!! And for ME to grow.
I still love getting letters and to make it easier for you,
Here is my new address.
312 N 2nd St. Apt. A
Hamilton, OH, 45011
I love you all,
Elder Scott Stiles
Home Made Tamales
Things are good!We have good investigators right now. I can pretty much understand conversations in Spanish and talk with everyone without too much thinking. Being able to learn to speak and understand Spanish so quickly, I think is the gift of tongues that they talk about in the bible. The other elders have commented on it and how I am talking pretty fast and well which is nice!
We had an awesome thing the other night. Crystal’s husband Leonardo is a good guy overall. He has some machisimo and he drinks. And she told us he had gotten drunk and gotten pretty physical with her. He was drunk, and stupid. So we sat down with them and I was talking about it with him. I told him that we are here and to help their family. That we want them to be happy and that change is the only way they can be happy. I asked him if he felt like he had a family right now. He said No. I then told him he needs to step up and be a man and create an environment where they can be a family... I told him he is acting like a teenage boy, but I know that he wants to do right and turn things around but he needs to decide for himself. Yes, I actually said that. He kind of had his head down the whole time. Then he agreed. Apologized to his wife and said he would stop drinking. Then my companion started talking with someone in the other room and Crystal left the room. They both kinda left and so it was pretty much me and him in the room as my companion was talking with someone at the doorway. Leonardo looked over at me and said thank you. I was like huh?? Then he explained he is done. I told him how we would play soccer with him or basketball or whatever he wants to do on Saturday afternoons to stop him from drinking with his buddies, and he said "I will go to church with you". He was so happy and looked kinda relieved. It was a pretty spiritual experience for me, the spirit was strong. It was one of those moments when the spirit prompts you to be bold. Way cool!!! Leonardo and Crystal and their son went to the stake picnic yesterday and had a very good time! she cooked Tamales.... bones in them of course!!!! So Guatemalan! I do not approve of the whole bone in tamale thing... It’s pretty disgusting! Leonardo liked playing soccer and really seemed happy! It was lots of fun and a great day.
I am enjoying the other missionaries alot more. I don’t know if I mentioned this in my last letter but I have made really good friends with two of the missionaries in our district. Elder Jones and Elder Sanchez. Elder Jones is waiting for a visa to Slovenia and Elder Sanchez is the man. He is from Mexico and came here when he was 13. We have gotten to hang out lately because they came to our picnic yesterday and they spent the night at our house and stuff, so that has been fun!
I love you all, thanks for writing me.
Love
Elder Stiles
We had an awesome thing the other night. Crystal’s husband Leonardo is a good guy overall. He has some machisimo and he drinks. And she told us he had gotten drunk and gotten pretty physical with her. He was drunk, and stupid. So we sat down with them and I was talking about it with him. I told him that we are here and to help their family. That we want them to be happy and that change is the only way they can be happy. I asked him if he felt like he had a family right now. He said No. I then told him he needs to step up and be a man and create an environment where they can be a family... I told him he is acting like a teenage boy, but I know that he wants to do right and turn things around but he needs to decide for himself. Yes, I actually said that. He kind of had his head down the whole time. Then he agreed. Apologized to his wife and said he would stop drinking. Then my companion started talking with someone in the other room and Crystal left the room. They both kinda left and so it was pretty much me and him in the room as my companion was talking with someone at the doorway. Leonardo looked over at me and said thank you. I was like huh?? Then he explained he is done. I told him how we would play soccer with him or basketball or whatever he wants to do on Saturday afternoons to stop him from drinking with his buddies, and he said "I will go to church with you". He was so happy and looked kinda relieved. It was a pretty spiritual experience for me, the spirit was strong. It was one of those moments when the spirit prompts you to be bold. Way cool!!! Leonardo and Crystal and their son went to the stake picnic yesterday and had a very good time! she cooked Tamales.... bones in them of course!!!! So Guatemalan! I do not approve of the whole bone in tamale thing... It’s pretty disgusting! Leonardo liked playing soccer and really seemed happy! It was lots of fun and a great day.
I am enjoying the other missionaries alot more. I don’t know if I mentioned this in my last letter but I have made really good friends with two of the missionaries in our district. Elder Jones and Elder Sanchez. Elder Jones is waiting for a visa to Slovenia and Elder Sanchez is the man. He is from Mexico and came here when he was 13. We have gotten to hang out lately because they came to our picnic yesterday and they spent the night at our house and stuff, so that has been fun!
I love you all, thanks for writing me.
Love
Elder Stiles
Monday, September 1, 2008
Things are going Great!
HI BABY REESE!!!! they called me from the office on the day she was born around 5pm! I was at my favorite members house (they are the ones that feed us!) They are really cool. They are the Halls. They are an English speaking family that is way cool and funny... it was awesome to hear the news soo quick!
Things are going great! Stake conference was this last weekend and it was good. M. Russell Ballard hurt his knee so could not make it but Jose A. Teixiera of the 70 came and was awesome! He was an amazing speaker. He went up with no notes and paper and said that the brethren are asking that 70's speak with the spirit. It was incredible..
I of course, went and introduced myself and Michael Rueter (the kid who got baptized like 6 weeks ago) to him. And we shook hands.
Crystal has a Wild kid that I was playing distraction duty with for most of the Sunday session... The kid is hilarious. We played cars to keep him busy and quiet and I caught Elder Teixiera kinda crackin’ up about us playing cars. But hey, it made it so Crystal could listen. Crystal lives with her boyfriend Leonardo. We talked to her about baptism and she said she wanted to be baptized... She has had a tough life but every time we come to the door she gets this great big smile on her face. Her boyfriend Leonardo told us that they would get married and he would be baptized too.... It was so cool. They are a good family. Both have had their struggles but she really, really wants to be a good mom and make a change!!! She said she has felt way more at peace and loving since she has started reading and praying. We found her because we were teaching other people that live in the same house and she wanted to listen... She speaks pigeon Spanish and good English. After our first lesson with her she said "you guys are here for a reason. God wanted to tell me something through you guys,” I just about fell out of my seat!!! Crystal is excited about cooking for the Labor Day party for the stake cook off. Leonardo is very cool. We have taught him before and was fairly receptive but kind of fell off the map! soo overall that is awesome!!!
We are working in a ghetto neighborhood called Price Hill! It’s sweet!!! It is like crazy ghetto but everyone there loves us! If you smile at people and say hi they will love you no matter what! They all know we are harmless white kids!!! But you do meet lots of people who are from different walks of life!!! AND I LOVE it!
We had interviews this week with President Robbins and he said that he has heard that I am really doing well and said that I can learn lots of cultural things from my companion. He was very nice and I really like him, he is a very nice man.
Thanks for the photo album funny I just asked for it and then I received it the next day!!! It looks like everyone was having a great time at the wedding and everyone looks great!!! DAD YOU’RE SKINNY!? good for you!!! MAN, Delaney was busy being the queen of the show huh?! She is so so cute!!!!!
You asked how we found the people we are teaching or have taught. We found Jeannie because they were teaching her little sister before I got here but they had not talked to her in like 8 weeks and so we knocked on her door and she said her little sister wasn’t there. So I said can we teach you?! The rest was history!!!!! Jeannie is way happy and even wearing the little young women’s medallion necklace that they give you when you join young women’s!
Michael came to the church through his friend the girl who is in the pictures! They are just friends but he played basketball for like 4 years before she asked him if he wanted to talk to the missionaries... Basketball does miracles! Michael is now looking at a mission and is an absolute stud!! I love that kid!
Life is Good! my companion and I are getting along better and starting to get more on the same page! That is the thing about missions... It is not supposed to be all rosy!!! You have to live with people you wouldn’t choose to live with, eat things you wouldn’t choose to eat and talk to people who you would not normally associate with. BUT that is what makes a mission a mission, that is what makes you grow and be humbled as a person, that is what makes you appreciate home cooking, and that is what makes you gain a love and respect for all people! So EVERYONE I am exactly where I want to be doing what I want to be doing and learning and growing more than is imaginable! So don’t worry about me, just pray for me!
I LOVE YOU MOM!
Love Elder Stiles
Things are going great! Stake conference was this last weekend and it was good. M. Russell Ballard hurt his knee so could not make it but Jose A. Teixiera of the 70 came and was awesome! He was an amazing speaker. He went up with no notes and paper and said that the brethren are asking that 70's speak with the spirit. It was incredible..
I of course, went and introduced myself and Michael Rueter (the kid who got baptized like 6 weeks ago) to him. And we shook hands.
Crystal has a Wild kid that I was playing distraction duty with for most of the Sunday session... The kid is hilarious. We played cars to keep him busy and quiet and I caught Elder Teixiera kinda crackin’ up about us playing cars. But hey, it made it so Crystal could listen. Crystal lives with her boyfriend Leonardo. We talked to her about baptism and she said she wanted to be baptized... She has had a tough life but every time we come to the door she gets this great big smile on her face. Her boyfriend Leonardo told us that they would get married and he would be baptized too.... It was so cool. They are a good family. Both have had their struggles but she really, really wants to be a good mom and make a change!!! She said she has felt way more at peace and loving since she has started reading and praying. We found her because we were teaching other people that live in the same house and she wanted to listen... She speaks pigeon Spanish and good English. After our first lesson with her she said "you guys are here for a reason. God wanted to tell me something through you guys,” I just about fell out of my seat!!! Crystal is excited about cooking for the Labor Day party for the stake cook off. Leonardo is very cool. We have taught him before and was fairly receptive but kind of fell off the map! soo overall that is awesome!!!
We are working in a ghetto neighborhood called Price Hill! It’s sweet!!! It is like crazy ghetto but everyone there loves us! If you smile at people and say hi they will love you no matter what! They all know we are harmless white kids!!! But you do meet lots of people who are from different walks of life!!! AND I LOVE it!
We had interviews this week with President Robbins and he said that he has heard that I am really doing well and said that I can learn lots of cultural things from my companion. He was very nice and I really like him, he is a very nice man.
Thanks for the photo album funny I just asked for it and then I received it the next day!!! It looks like everyone was having a great time at the wedding and everyone looks great!!! DAD YOU’RE SKINNY!? good for you!!! MAN, Delaney was busy being the queen of the show huh?! She is so so cute!!!!!
You asked how we found the people we are teaching or have taught. We found Jeannie because they were teaching her little sister before I got here but they had not talked to her in like 8 weeks and so we knocked on her door and she said her little sister wasn’t there. So I said can we teach you?! The rest was history!!!!! Jeannie is way happy and even wearing the little young women’s medallion necklace that they give you when you join young women’s!
Michael came to the church through his friend the girl who is in the pictures! They are just friends but he played basketball for like 4 years before she asked him if he wanted to talk to the missionaries... Basketball does miracles! Michael is now looking at a mission and is an absolute stud!! I love that kid!
Life is Good! my companion and I are getting along better and starting to get more on the same page! That is the thing about missions... It is not supposed to be all rosy!!! You have to live with people you wouldn’t choose to live with, eat things you wouldn’t choose to eat and talk to people who you would not normally associate with. BUT that is what makes a mission a mission, that is what makes you grow and be humbled as a person, that is what makes you appreciate home cooking, and that is what makes you gain a love and respect for all people! So EVERYONE I am exactly where I want to be doing what I want to be doing and learning and growing more than is imaginable! So don’t worry about me, just pray for me!
I LOVE YOU MOM!
Love Elder Stiles
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