I guess it feels like it's all over, lots of meetings this week and then I come home!

July 27, 2016



Mom and Dad,  
           

 Well today we had an activity as a group, like everyone that goes home with me, and we all were talking about home and stuff like that so I guess now it kind of feels like it's all over. The past week has been pretty normal. Just normal missionary work. This week is the weird week though, with all the final meetings and what not. Friday we go to the temple with the mission president and then it's pretty much over. Yeah that sounds fine, I don't know where to go for lunch though. I'll think about it. Well definitely that first day we are going to have to go buy the Xbox and iPhone. That's a necessity haha. Other than that I don't care what we go do.

From what I've heard I'll still have this email for about two weeks. I'm going to have to go through everything because there are several emails and other stuff that I am going to want to save.  Oh Bryson Walker (Elder Walker) has his homecoming on the 21st of August, so I definitely have to go to it!

 I've been trying to think about some of the foods that I haven't eaten in two years and I really can't think of anything. I think that being home will help me remember a lot of things that I've forgotten haha.

The teaching is going well, we've been having a lot of success lately. We're not going to have a baptism this week but we are going to have one the week after. So I'm not going to be here for it. That's okay though, the important thing is that she is baptized.

Haha yeah the card worked. Yesterday I took out about $60-70. I don't really know how much money it is in dollars so it's approximate.

I think it would be fun to go backpacking. Where would we go?

Well there isn't really much to say this week. I've got a bunch of meetings these next few days, tomorrow I have a self sufficiency thing and Friday we are going to the temple.   Saturday we have several activities as a ward, Sunday is ward conference and Monday is the day I leave. So that's my schedule the next few days. I'll see you guys on Tuesday though! Have a great week!  Love you!

Love,
Elder Stam

Lots of goodbyes

July 20, 2016

                                     

Mom and Dad,

I don't have a lot of time, I've done a lot of goodbyes today haha, sorry. I've already bought a few things. I really don't have any time to buy stuff until next week. My friend from here in Chile should be coming home from his mission around the 20th of May next year and I would love to be there for his homecoming if it is possible. It won't be that hard for me to adjust to the normal life again haha, I've always dealt with change well. The last night in the mission, I will just be in our normal house. In the morning I have to take my suitcases to the office then I have the rest of the day to go do whatever, it's like P Day. Then to the airport.  Yeah she is still progressing. She has a few doubts but I love that because it means that she is actually thinking about it. We will see how things go. It's possible that we have a baptism on the Sunday I leave, not with her though. Well see what happens.

Everything is going well with the your recovery it sounds like, other than that little thing. Heather is going to be a great mom, I'm sure of it.

Well I'll see you here soon I guess. Have a great week and I will write you again next week, for the last time!

Love,
Elder Stam

We better come back here to Chile

July 13, 2016

                                     
                                          

Things are good. I've only visited one person until now but when I'm done writing I'm going to be visiting people all day. Haha I'm pretty sure that I am Facebook friends with most of the people here already, so we will stay in contact. We better come back here, it's a necessity. Haha we're meeting with him Pres Hutchison that late? That's okay haha, more time to be a missionary. So yeah, it looks like I'm going to be home pretty early in the morning. The teaching is going well, it's been pretty normal.

Jeez it really takes that long to recover?? It sounds like they cut you in half and sowed you back together haha. Everything will be fine though.


It's very true though that you never know when you are going to find someone. We kind of had a similar experience. In the morning the other day we were doing contacts and where we were contacting there was nobody that would open the door. It was time to go to lunch so we both kind of wanted to go but we finished the street and the very last house on the street a woman opened the door and told us to come back another day at the same time. So we went back and we are teaching her and she is progressing a lot, I doubt she will be baptized before I go home but you never know.

I remember learning how to make crepes in cooking class. That was a great class haha, it wasn't hard at all. Haha yeah so dad told me that all you have been doing the last few weeks is search for a place for Oma. It sounds like a great area. And when that missionary comes back from Holland Oma can practice her Dutch. And I know that you'll be happy because she will live so close.

Well I'm just happy that I will be there for this niece or nephew haha. Jackson sounds like a typical baby haha, that's awesome that he already has his first tooth. Did it hurt him when it came in?

Wow, lots of money. I get to spend all of that when I come home right? ;) I still need to get a TV to go along with my Xbox. Oh, Saint George would be fun, I love it down there. I've got a few Chilean stuff already, but I think that I'll get a little more. Well I hope that you have a great week! Talk to you next week.

Love,
Elder Stam

God is still a God of miracles.

July 6, 2016

Mom,                     

Elder Stam likes Noni fruit

                 
I'm doing well. Susan is a less active that we have been working with a little bit. They were already working with her a lot before I came to the sector. They closed a sector here and now Elder Brown and I have the whole sector. They were teaching her before. So I haven't really worked with her a whole lot but she's really cool. We took her to the temple last Saturday because this guy in our ward was getting sealed. She was a little sad that she couldn't go inside to see it and so she wants to go back to the church so that she could go in the temple. She's pretty young, I would say 35, but I'm not exactly sure. We have our own bikes now so we can use them whenever we want. President Gwilliams is a great guy. We had a little getting to know him conference on Saturday and I had a little interview with him. And today for P Day we went to his house and spent the day with him. He's super awesome. He's still learning a lot though, a little lost with a few things but he's really excited to be here. He's really humble and I think that he is going to have a lot of success. So I've gotten mad at the office elder, don't worry, I'm friends with him and he send he would send the flight plans as soon as possible. He forgot to send them to me and you. I'll be getting home the 2nd of August, around 10:30 A.M. Haha I don't know what I want to do mom, that's for you to decide. I don't really care about lunch, somewhere that's good. Maybe Cafe Rio. And yes I still want Papa Murphys for dinner.

Good, keep reading. I'm almost positive that cancer is one of the plagues that God said he would send in the last days. Well God is still a God of miracles, Mormon 9 is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon, so just keep having faith and everything is possible to him.

Does IHOP still have the Nutella crepes?? So when exactly is Oma going to be all moved in? Haha you two are great moral support for each other then. Well from what Dad has told me, you are spending a lot of time looking for a place for her to stay. And knowing you, you always are really dedicated to stuff like this so I know that you are going to find a place here in no time. The 4th of July for us was pretty lame, absolutely nothing different happened. I did wear an American flag tie though.

Mom, you worry too much. The people here would never shoot at missionaries. They respect us a ton. They just shoot in the air. It really doesn't make sense, I think that they just think that they're the coolest for having a gun.

Yes I'll keep working hard. It makes absolutely no sense at all to slow down now. But thanks for the email, I hope that you have a great week. Oh by the way, the next two weeks I have to go around to my old sectors to say goodbye to the people so I might not have a whole lot of time to write, just so you know. Also, you're gonna need to set up a dentist appointment because I am sure that I have a couple of cavities. At least one for sure. They eat straight junk here, I've honestly been doing a good job at keeping my teeth clean.

Love,
Elder Stam

The key to a lot of success on a mission is to just love the people

June 29, 2016

Mom,                       

Elder Smith and Elder Stam

                               
It's okay. My illness was pretty miserable while it lasted, but it's pretty much passed now. I was running around a lot today playing soccer and I was still feeling it a little bit, but it's pretty much gone now. Other than that, things have been going pretty well. We get bicicles today, which is pretty awesome. Maybe I'll lose a little bit more fat before I come home haha. My companion has been out on his mission about a year. It's been good with him, we have a ton of people to teach now, we have all of his investigators and now all of ours. So things have been great this last week. Yeah, Pres and Sis Cook left. They should be home by now. I met the new president for about 5 seconds, so not really. We do have a zone conference with him Saturday, and I am going to need a temple recommend interview here soon, so there I will get to know him a little bit more. Yes I do have the flight plans. I should be landing in Utah at 10:30 AM, pretty early. I am also going to Atlanta though so we never know. But as of now, that's the plan. Speaking of that, a lot of people have asked me and I am a little curious of what we are going to do that day. So if you want to send me the schedule of the day that would be great haha.

Make sure you keep reading the scriptures haha. I am now reading in the book of Leviticus and it's not the funnest. It has some great symbolism though. I'm understanding a lot more of what I'm reading now. Haha mom you've always been hot anyways. You're always fanning yourself with some paper or whatever you have. So it's probably just normal. But you're completely right, trial brings blessing. I think the key to a lot of success on a mission is to just love the people, and show them that you love them. Heather will be fine also, we've all been sick recently it sounds like.

        
The weather here has been pretty bipolar. It's been pretty warm during the day. Yesterday it was like 83 degrees or somewhere near that. But when the sun goes down, it gets really cold. And today it is cold. So it's strange. You've already hit 100 though huh? That's crazy hot. Speaking of food, is there a kind of squash there that is called zapallo, or something similar to that? The use is a lot here in the food, and I kind of want to learn how to make Chilean food. 

It was pretty crazy that Chile won again. It was pretty much a repeat of last year. President didn't give us permission to watch it this year, but an investigator showed us the penalty shots. It was pretty crazy. The country did go crazy again, they think they're the coolest people in the world now haha. There were several gunshots right in front of our house, just a lot of dumb things the people do. Yes, I'm excited for the olympics. I thought they started before I came home so I'm glad I won't be missing any of it. I'm sure it's been pretty stressful for Oma but we all know that she is going to love it there in Utah. She might not like the snow, but that's okay haha. What kind of things am I going to need for college? I tried to use the debit card but I think that the pin number is different. Is it the four digit number that was on the letter? If not you'll have to email it to me. I think that if I try it again and it's wrong, then they'll block the card. I've been thinking about a few souvenirs but I'm still not sure haha. At least we'll be coming back here, so if there's anything I miss we can get it next year. Are we still planning on coming back in May? I need to take more photos, I've been lacking in that lately, I'll see if I have anything that I could send.

Dude, the mission dog

Well thanks for the email, if there's anything you need from me just let me know. I love you and thanks for all the support and love. I hope that you keep getting better and that everything goes well.

Love,
Elder Stam

Always recognize the Lord's hand in your life

June 22,  2016

Mom,   
                                            

           
I'm doing alright, this week has been strange. First of all, I was sick for like 4 days straight, not being able to do anything. I was extremely dizzy. I couldn't even walk or I would fall over. The missionary doctor in Santiago came over to our house and he gave me some medications that have been great. So now I'm pretty much over it but I'm still a little dizzy. It was really weird. I hate being sick, I feel like it's the worst thing ever hah. It does really make you appreciate health though.  There were transfers, and I'm still in the same ward but my companion left. Now I'm with Elder Brown, from Colorado. I already lived with him, they just had to take two of the missionaries out of the ward so now we are the only two in the ward, and my sector is now twice as big. It is a bitter sweet moment but it will definitely be awesome to be back home, not going to lie.

Haha, I pretty much knew already that you would be fine. I'm glad though that you put all trust into the Lord, he will always be an amazing guy if we let him work miracles in our lives. Haha, so it sounds like we have been sick together. That is an extremely long surgery. At least it all went well.

Haha mom, you're always talkative so it doesn't surprise me that you jabbered after your surgery so much. I don't really understand much of what you are talking about. Remember that I still haven't studied any medical things yet haha. So pretty much all that I have gotten out of that is that you beat cancer. Look at you, one of the survivors haha.

You could listen to the sacrament?? That's pretty cool, didn't know you could do that. It must be pretty cool to be Mormon. If i wasn't Mormon, I would want to be just so I could be that cool haha. There are a lot of great people in our ward. I'm glad that you have been able to recognize the Lord's hand in your life. Keep looking for it for the rest of your life, and you'll be extremely blessed.

I'll keep working hard mom haha. There are no plans to slow down. That wouldn't be enduring to the end. I feel like there really isn't that much to say anymore. I have just over a month left, I feel like that came up really fast. I'm pretty excited for the new president to come, even though I'm obviously really going to miss President Cook. Apparently we might have a little mission reunion at the end of August. So that will be awesome. Well it's a little short this week but I will be seeing you soon. So have a great week and I love you too!

Love,
Elder Stam

Just go and do!

June 15, 2016



Mom,                    

Well you're unconscious right now, but I'll still write you haha. Hah, that sounds like a weird injection you had. Well if you are feeling just peace like that then you are receiving it from the Holy Ghost. I'm almost positive that everything is going to go well. Dad already gave me a little update that everything has gone perfect up to now.

That's the challenging part of the gospel, knowing or finding out what God wants you go do. I think that way too many people struggle with it. But in the end, we always make good choices if it is the same choice God would make. Something that I have learned here in the mission is how the Spirit works. I still don't know very well, but I have a little bit of an idea. From what I have been able to tell, you obviously have to pray for guidance, then you just need to go and do what you're supposed to do. And then the Spirit will tell you in the very moment what to do, where to go, what to say, etc. I always thought that if you just pray and pray and pray that he would tell you when you finish praying, but it's not really like that. Like the scriptures say, open your mouth and it will be filled. If you dedicate your life to Christ, you'll be much happier than you could ever think.

You'll have drains in you? What is that going to do? And how knows? Maybe you could have some crazy vision or something like that in your surgery haha ;) Well don't ever forget that, that's obviously a testimony to you that the church is true when you have visitors from the other side to comfort you.  So pretty much according to your faith I can tell that everything is going to be just fine.

Yeah my birthday was pretty good, nothing to complain about. My week was good though, the sector is becoming really hard for some reason, but good, maybe I need a test of my faith. Her name is Cecilia Perez. It took her a while for her to get baptized but finally she did, so that makes me happy and she wanted me to baptize her. Yesterday we had like a little goodbye for President Cook and it was amazing, definitely one of the most spiritual moments I've had. He's just such an amazing guy. I'm extremely grateful for everything that I've learned from him. Hopefully this new president will be just as good.   It's also a pretty hard time of year because everyone complains about the cold and never wants to leave their houses to answer the door. It's amazing how lazy the people are. You guys would love a mission. At least in this mission the couple missionaries are super happy with the work they have. And you would get to choose what place you could go to. You could go back to Holland if you wanted.

So funny story, on my birthday we were eating at these members houses and he was talking about his mission. It turns out that him and Cody served in the same mission and at the same time. They knew each other a little bit, I don't know how much, but here's a picture of him and a note that Cody wrote him. Hopefully Cody remembers him.

So hopefully everything goes well in your surgery, I'll keep a prayer in my heart for you. Have a great week getting better!

Love, Elder Stam