Every knee will bend, the language has "clicked"...

April 29, 2015


Mom and Dad,

Must be an activity? 

 Things are still going wonderful. We had the most lessons last week that I have had in my mission so far, we had 21 lessons. The average of the mission is just about 10 lessons a week. Elder Henderson really knows what he's doing. We actually haven't been able to find the lady that asked us to teach her, she has sort of disappeared. We are still trying to find her though. She just told us that she wanted to get baptized though, which is pretty amazing.

Really though the weeks just seem to fly by. Sometimes I feel like I don't know what to write you guys because it feels like I just wrote you. It's nice though. One week is about 1% of my mission haha. We as missionaries kind of do the same thing as what you are doing dad. We have a ward list of all the members that live in our area. Well our job is to go and find the people, find out if they moved, if they're receptive, and anything else. It keeps the ward list updated and we find a lot more less active members to teach that way. Rain huh, no snow? We still have just been having pure heat, pretty annoying. It's okay though.

We saw a little bit about the volcano at an investigators house. Pretty cool, but we haven't had any ashes here in Santiago. They said that the wind took all the smoke and smog a different direction. Haha don't worry about that stuff, it most likely won't happen. And if it does we will be protected and it will just be an opportunity to do a bunch of service. I want to lose just a little bit of weight still. And yeah we are still riding bikes. We went one day without bikes and we were late to everything. It takes 30 to walk what it takes 5 minutes to bike.

 That's good that you are doing well with plenty of work, the people here in Chile need to learn how to handle money. Most of the people live off of the money they earn that day to pay for their food. A lot of people declare bankruptcy just to get money from the government. I don't know how they live like that.

 Haha we had zone conference this week and President Cook came up to me and said that he was friends with you(mom) on Facebook, and that he'll know if I say anything about him now haha. He is an incredibly amazing guy. His knowledge about the gospel is ridiculous. I am sure that he is going to be an apostle one day, without a doubt. He has had a bunch of family members be apostles. He's one of a kind haha.

We have church at 10 here, so it ends at 1 and the earliest that I could call would probably be 2. We will see though. I'll have to talk to the family whose house we are going to do it at, and when my companion wants to call. It would be cool to have the books with cello also, just to see it I guess haha. The clothing is holding up pretty well. The pants are probably in the worst shape. I've had to sew a bunch of seams and the tan ones have a grease stain from the bikes haha, but other than that, everything is fine.

 I haven't been picky at all about eating, I have eaten everything that the people have given me every time. Every single time. I love the food here haha. It's all the same now, but it's still good. I am almost sure that we teach the lessons in a different style than the missionaries there. I don't know though.

You will be grateful when the bathroom is done.  You guys are complaining about the bathroom now but you both know that when it's finished you are going to be super grateful. The more that we suffer, the more capable we are to feel joy. Something I've learned here. It would be pretty sweet to have a bathroom like that, you are really going to enjoy it. We don't even have hot water that much, so it could be worse.

The difference between good and evil is getting worse, and that is something that we are going to see throughout our entire lives. It talks about it a lot in the scriptures I've realized. Just remember that it says that every knee will bend in worship of our Lord. I have been thinking about that a lot lately and it is kind of going to be like a smack in the face to the people that reject us. We just can't succumb to the devil and his temptations like every one else in the world now.

 I could say that I've had the "click" with the language, but I don't remember a specific time when it happened. I remember coming into this ward not being able to speak hardly at all, and now I'm going to be leaving soon speaking like one of them. There are still a few things that I can't understand, mostly because of the vocabulary and because Chileans speak really bad, but it's fine, I don't have any problems now. I have also just found it a lot easier to go straight to Spanish without translating it too, it takes a little out of the message to translate it. I really noticed that a lot with General Conference talks, it just wasn't the same in Spanish.

 Oh hey by the way, I got the family pictures, they look really nice. I completely forgot about the picture with all of you couples kissing and then me kissing the dog. Everyone thinks it's a hilarious picture.

Well thanks for writing me once again, have a great week, don't forget to read the scriptures, we can learn a lot from them. Love you!

Love,
Elder Stam

Fun with Hair!  Ha ha

No, silly.

We have a unique mesage to the world...

April 22, 2015

Mom and Dad,

Things are still going good. I would say the reason that most people start taking the lessons is just plain curiosity. It's probably weird to see two gringos walking around in dress clothes, so they are just curious. We also have such a unique message to the world that it makes it a little different too. I didn't get changed this change, but it is most likely that I will be changed the next transfer. Yes that lady is still taking lessons, she actually told us she wanted to get baptized in the first lesson. All the Elders in our house get along great. Elder Melander got transferred and now we live with Elder Gularte, from Uruguay. He only have 6 months in the mission, but he's latino so it doesn't really feel like it. We all get along great though.


I guess we're going through kind of the same weather patterns. It actually started to get pretty cold, especially in the night a little before we had to go to the house. But the last couple of days it has just been hot again. I was seriously hoping it would have stayed cold.  I've lost about 15 pounds, which is good because I gained about 15 pounds right before I came out. A job, I don't want to think about working, I'm already working all day every day. Dad told me a little about the water polo game too, it seems like the exact same thing as last year. That really doesn't surprise me at all.  Tyler scores half the points, Kim puts in the "better" players, we almost lose. I wish I could yell at her haha.  She doesn't understand coaching at all, no offense. I remember watching her play water polo and she really wasn't good at all to be honest.  Haha Connor went 20 minutes over on his talk?? That's wonderful. He's the kind of person that would do that.

I'll bring them back, don't worry (he is referring to books he wants me to send him). I want a cookbook because I want to cook a little bit here in the mission. We cook every night when we get back. Just a little one though, with simple ingredients, we don't get a ton of money. We can wear a pretty nice watch, you don't have to send a nice one though, any watch will do. American chocolate candy, and skittles. I love skittles. Any other candy that you think I would like. I am looking forward to hearing my setting apart. It should be cool.

Dad served a mission so you know that to get someone to start taking the lessons only takes patience. The Lord always provides a way for the people to hear the gospel, we just have to wait until it's the right time. Just keep doing what you are doing.  I wonder if your missionaries are teaching in the same way that we teach. It's probably a little different. I will teach you the lessons when I get home if you want as well. Who is the new missionary?

A scriptures for this week? Hmm I like D+C 6.. like last 5 or 6 verses. I can't remember what numbers they are. It's talking about reaping what you sow though, It's good. Not a lot happened this week, so I don't really have any stories or anything to tell you this week. Thanks for writing me though like always, have a wonderful week and we will talk again next week. :)

Love,
Elder Stam

Most successful week of my mission so far!

April 15, 2015

Mom,

1/3 of my mission gone, that's crazy. I've never been away from home for more than a week, let alone 8 months. Time flies. Tell Connor that I say hi, and ask him if he misses the Chilean ass (the food obviously). I think that I am going to try and swim again when I get home and it's gonna kill me too. It will be amazing to swim again though, that's for sure. I'm starting to wonder when the weather will change. I have now been in Chile more than six months, and the entire six months it has just been ridiculously hot. I assume that those strange people were mostly catholic. They were just doing the weirdest things. It's sad because they only worship God once a year, which isn't right. Well this week we actually had the most successful week of my mission so far! We had 19 lessons, and we found 7 new investigators. It was a crazy week. There was a lady that came up to us and asked us to come visit her, that never happens. We also found another family from Bolivia that are super interested, and also a guy that speaks perfect English. He lived in Florida for most of his life. It's practically impossible to teach in English I realized.

I am almost sure that I won't have a change this next transfer, but it's possible. I will most likely be with Elder Henderson for one change more, and then they will send me to a new sector. Follow up is one of the most important things that a missionary can do, without following up they won't do the things and they won't progress. Just keep trying, they will accept it one time. The key to missionary work is just to invite and to do it in a loving manner. Missionaries should not oblige people, just invite. That's definitely one thing that I have learned.


I'll help you understand the Bible more when I get back, it's actually a lot easier to understand in Spanish for me now. If you really want to understand the Bible, you can buy the bible study guides of the church website, I have the in Spanish. I probably won't start the Old Testament study for a while though.

 I realized that I get to call you on your birthday, which is pretty cool. 50 years old? You're old mom. We can only use Skype when we call, so sorry. It's better than a phone call though.

The cops here take things too far, as in they kill a lot of people over something little. So the people have big problems and a lot of riots. It's really safe in San Bernardo though.

The seniors are actually playing water polo this year? Miracles do happen. Tell me how the game goes, I want to know. Of course Kearns is 4a. We will beat them one day, I know it. I expected Tyler would play polo in college, that's awesome! Any kind of American candy I would love, it's a lot better. They do have pretty good chocolate here though. 

Paintballing was incredible. I still have 3 bruises, and the one on my leg is pretty bad. They don't hurt anymore though. That was definitely one of the most fun P Days I have had so far. I'm excited to hear my setting apart too, I have forgotten most of it. The only other thing that I could remember that you could put in the package is the cook book that I got from school. That would be awesome. If you can't find it then you could just send a simple one, I just want to cook a little bit more.

You're still playing Clash of Clans right, that game on the phone? Also don't forget to preorder Halo 5, you have to do it right away! Please :) Love you mom you're the best haha.

Thanks for writing me again, have a wonderful week, don't forget to pray and read the scriptures, they will bless you lol.

Love,
Elder Stam

Your son is doing wonderful!

April 8, 2015

The Zone was able to go paintballing for an activity. 

Mom,

Your son is doing wonderful. We didn't do anything different for Easter, but Chile did. They call the entire week Semana Santa, or holy week. Pretty much they just go crazy with religion. I saw some of the weirdest religion stuff I've ever seen. They did like marches in the street with crosses and singing. We saw huge crowds of people praying with candles, just a lot of weird stuff like that. The investigators are good. We had to change two of the baptismal dates because they aren't progressing enough. They are named Gabriel and Belen. We're also teaching a Fernando that is getting close to baptism as well. The next transfers are in two weeks.

Conference was great! It was a little rough in Spanish, but I am going to download the talks right now in English and listen to them in the house. I understood the majority of it. It's hard because they speak with apostolic langauge haha. The Saturday conferences were almost all about marriage. I loved Holland's talk, he is just an amazing speaker. The protestors haha. I was thinking about them a little bit. It's pretty easy to prove people wrong now. It's not something you should do, but there are just so many parts of the Bible that they don't understand at all.

And yes, the heat came back. I'm really disappointed. The weather is so deceiving. Almost the entire time that I have been in Chile it has been hot. No more heat please.

Chile actually has two days of protests and violence. The 11th of September and 29th of March. It all has to do with the government and things that have happened in the past. There's a museum about the 11th of September here in Chile. It's about Chile earning their freedom. The people here also have a huge issue with the cops. In some of the bad areas, there are gunfights. People burn things in the street, sometimes they steal a Santiago bus and burn it. People rob and just a whole bunch of stuff. It's pretty crazy. I did keep the haircut actually. It doesn't look that bad haha. Ass is just a hot dog, but with beef. It's really good. The only reason it's called ass is because the people know what it means in English haha.

Hot dogs called Ass, Caleb finds this funny lol

I've been thinking a little about a job and college. I think that something in the medical field might actually be the best option. I could also be a part time piano teacher, that would be fun. Water polo. I would give anything to go swim. Not swim like on a team, just go swimming for fun.  Candy would be awesome though, I miss american candy. I also want more pictures, don't forget that! I would also love a few pictures of Riley and I if you have any. Also little tiny notebooks would be helpful too.

Bruises but worth the fun. 

Well you'll never guess what we did this week for P day. I don't know how we got permission to do it either, but as a zone we went paintballing. That was probably one of the best P day activities that we have done. I have quite a few bruises though, it hurts a lot. We went up to this mountain side and there was a guy that let us rent stuff, so we played up there. It was only $30 too! Super cheap.

Well thanks for writing me again, and have a wonderful week. I will write you again next week :)

Love,
Elder Stam                   

Two baptismal dates set!

April 1, 2015 

Before and after picture of my haircut.  This haircut is called a sopaipilla here in Chile, apparently it's popular or something like that ha ha. 

Mom,

My week was good. Sadly, the heat came back. I am starting to wonder if it will ever start to get cold or if I just have to suffer through this heat until I come home. It's ridiculous. Felipe lives in a little house on the land of the rich guy. He lives on his property. So no we can't teach him in his house sadly, only time will tell what happens with him. It was a pretty good week with teaching, we are finding more people with Elder Henderson. Right now we have two baptism dates for the 18th of April, hopefully they come through. The food is still great, I haven't really eaten anything super strange lately, and it's all the same, but it is still great!

Music is super awesome, one of the best ways to invite the spirit into a place. I would love to do a concert or something like that here, but the people don't appreciate music as much here. When we teach, we teach with phamplets and pictures. Not iPads. I think ours is harder ;) Teaching in English..I don't know if I could actually do that. All of the gospel knowledge I have, is in Spanish.

I really like the new lights in the kitchen, they look good.  I think that I will come home a lot during college too, Snow College is only like two hours away right?

 Heather is a natural with the Young Women haha. It's sad to see here that nobody cares about doing the right thing at all, it is going to be weird when I get back in Utah. I feel like Conference this time is going to be a big one. Down here in Chile they had a letter for each ward signed by the Prophet, inviting everyone to come and see conference. Unfortunately we have to watch it in Spanish this time.

This last week there was a special day in Chile. It's called Dia de Joven Combatiente. Basically it's a day of protests and violence. So the missionaries aren't allowed to leave their house on this day. We just sat around in the house and played ping pong all day, it was pretty boring. Every once in a while we would hear a gunshot though, so that's pretty fun.

Well have a wonderful week, thanks for writing me once again and choose the right haha. Love you and miss you! Talk to you again next week!

Love,
Elder Stam