Life is really simple, just go and do!

May 18, 2016
                                     

Haha mom you're so trunky. Haha a party?? Alright. Just don't buy the Xbox One until I come home. We can go buy it together, I want to make sure it's the right one haha. Kind of weird to think that I am almost 20, it seems unreal.

Things are good in the new area, I like it here. My companions name is Elder Asplund, he's from Canada. He's pretty funny, we've been getting along pretty well. We both have 21 months in the mission, and we're going home together, so we are pretty used to the mission and there haven't really been any difficulties.  There are about 700 members on the list here, so it's a large ward, and about 70 that go to church, so a tenth. That's better than other wards haha. Our teaching pool is really big, with lots of investigators and lots of less actives, so the teaching is going great here. This last week has been a little tough though, it seems like they just aren't home. This area is a lot different. You can really tell the difference between the north and the south of the mission. Here, at night, the streets are full of people. It's easier to teach people here, but the people are a little slower to understand. Up north it's harder to teach but the people understand better. The sector is pretty nice though.  I'm living with Elder Brown, and he is training Elder Smith, so I live in another gringo house, I am not going to have an accent when I come home haha.

35 minutes seems like such a long talk haha. You should ask him if he wants me to talk about a certain subject or if I can just talk about whatever. I guess that I could just start preparing my talk now and not have to worry about it much when I'm home. It seems like a long time but I could probably speak for that long.

America has pretty good Mexican food though, it's just better in Mexico. With reason. Yeah, that's one of the biggest problems here. The people put their work before everything, before God, and even before their own families. They just work work work and never spend any time with their families, don't go to church, and don't even pray. We are have been trying to focus on that more. The first commandment is to love God with all your heart, might, mind and strength, not to love your work before all things.

The Lord will never command something that we can't do. Just remember the famous saying of Nephi (1 Nephi 3:7). So if we are humble and we just do what God asks, everything will work out without problem, and we will end up with even more blessings. Life is literally so simple, I'm amazed at how simple it is. Just go and do. I'm glad that you learned from that experience.

There are several foods here that I want to learn how to make, so maybe she can help me learn most of them. That's the majority of the reasons that people stop going to church here, being offended by something or someone. Does she speak Spanish? I also just heard about these three girls from Sandy that are Chilean and that sing and have videos on Youtube. I think that if you look on If You Could Hie to Kolob on Youtube it's like the third or fourth video, I don't know.

Well I'm sure that they will find a house when the Lord wants them to have a house haha. They should't stress about it too much, it'll all work out. Well I guess that I will talk to you next week, I hope that you have a great one!

Love,
Elder Stam

Last call to home!

May 4, 2016

Mom,   
                                                    

                       
Well the P Day activity went long again so I'm going to make it short, we're going to talk this Sunday anyways.

Yup it's the last call, a little strange to think about, I also feel like I just barely called you. I don't complain though. Yes mom, I'll keep working until I'm released haha.

They're doing well, Elias has been really hard to teach lately, he's been really busy. Yeah, I'm pretty much all better. I don't know if it was from being sick or from the change or weather but my lips have been super chapped and terrible, I hate that. Haha yeah we have a gringo house. Cameron comes home before me?? That's weird, I left before him. It'll be strange to see how much he has changed. Me too, and Nate and everyone else that went on a mission.

 Sorry you're going to have to spend so much on me haha. I thought you could vote for neither, right? Or no? Like you could put the name of someone else. The good thing about Trump is he says the things how they really are, Clinton is just sorta the same as Obama, but in girl form haha. And white. But I don't know, they would both be pretty bad presidents, personally. No I don't remember if we went to Draper Temple or not.

I don't want a big package. Save money because you're going to have to spend a lot on me. Just send little things that I can give to the people with I leave Chile. And maybe a few candies haha. I've been thinking about souvenirs but I really have no idea what to bring home haha. I don't think that I will need a whole bunch, it will just be little things that I buy.

The church works really well in Utah, there's very few problems. It struggles out of the United States though, there are too many different influences here that make things a lot more difficult, but one day everything will be tranquil everywhere. Have a great week and I will talk to you on Sunday.

Love,
Elder Stam

The mission has been pretty awesome!

March 9, 2016


                                     

Mom and Dad,

Your missionary son is doing good. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! Kinda lame that I can only really write you a letter but I hope that you have a great birthday, and that you eat a lot of meat because I'm almost sure that you are going to eat meat today ha ha. It's crazy how old Jackson already is, he's gonna be huge when I meet him hah. Our past week was good, there wasn't that much different. I haven't really heard about any Chilean news, so I think that everything is going well here. As for the mission, it's also good. We are getting ready for a new mission president and we also have a new way to pass dats now, or in other words we are changing the focus in the mission a little bit. He did come to church. The other Haitian's mom unfortunately passed away this week and he has been having a rough time, being that he is so far away from his country and family, but we've been helping him and it has been a great opportunity for him to learn more and pay a little more attention.

So was it summer there in Cancun? Dad said that he got pretty burnt. Did you get burnt? Dad does have that gift, finding things that are lost. He has always been able to find everything even if it's like invisible. We also swam with sting rays right on that cruise? Heather's email made me remember that this week. So the Mayan calendar only started over? I don't know how that works but I'll accept it. Well it almost sounds like a nephite city haha. Like when the nephites and the lamanites were in battle, Mormon had them build fortifications around the city and he armed the people with bows and arrows to protect them from the lamanites. And the Book of Mormon also talks about one of the nephite cities being next to the sea. You never know, and it would probably be almost impossible to know for sure, but that is a possibility.  Haha mom is funny. You know what the word trunkey is right? I think that mom is more trunkey than me that I'm coming home in a few months.

It's kind of crazy how many different country and races of people that I have taught. It's been quite an adventure. Well I can sure try to swim every day, it's going to be really hard for the first bit, but it is definitely something that I want to do.  I think that I'm going to be really white when I come home, my back hasn't seen sun since I've left almost. Aw kind of lame that there is no Worldmark here, Santiago is a pretty large place, they should have one here. Well I guess if only us three come it is better than nothing. It will be fun here for sure, Santiago is a pretty awesome city.

Our house is a little small, but it's fine because we're not home that much. The other missionaries are cool. One was a cheerleader for BYU and the other is from Guatamala, and we all get along pretty well. Wow the Goddards are already coming home? Well that's cool, tell them that I say hi. Oh jeez Elder Nelson really went to the Highland ward?? That's pretty awesome. Too bad you missed it. He came here quite a while ago and I met him in Chile. He is a pretty awesome guy. You have to tell me what he said and how it went.

Well I think that I am going to have to print off a list of things that I could study and maybe have a few ideas, but for now I really don't know what to study. I was thinking that it might be pretty fun to be a computer programmer, being that I love video games and I'm good at math and technology. You said that Snow College changed their start date so I wasn't stressing too much about it. But I would like to know for sure if it's been changed. So if you could find out that would be great.

Yeah, the mission has been pretty awesome. I got an email today from Brayden Stock, it sounds like he is doing great. He already speaks Spanish like a champ. Well thanks for the email, this one is a little shorter but my companion goes home in just over two weeks so there isn't many people that are writing him and I don't want him waiting too long. Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Stam

Never thought I'd meet a Russian in Chile

March 2, 2016

                            

I'm doing well, the week was pretty good also. How hot is it down there? Of course, you guys have the pool and AC but we don't have anything.. the only thing that we have are fans. And we are never even home to use them haha. Yes we are still teaching the Haitians. There is one of them progressing more than the others. And surprisingly enough, he actually has Sundays this month free from work so he can go to church. I think that he is finally starting to understand a little bit more what we teach. Contacting is pretty much the same. Yesterday we actually contacted someone from Russia, didn't think I would ever meet one of them here in Chile. Yeah I play in church, there are also a few members asking me to teach them a little bit haha, so I'll probably do that.

Haha Mexican food is pretty amazing. I think that you will have to go outside of the city to experience real Mexican food though. That was the same cruise that every day I just asked for macaroni and nothing else right? I don't remember that much about that trip, I think the thing that I do remember most was going up that waterfall in Jamaica. Apparently the Mayan calendar ended in 2012 right, and that's why everyone was saying that the world was going to get destroyed? That's what I heard at least.  I would love to go to Cancun, especially since I speak spanish now. There is a lot of evidence that Christ came to the Americas. From what I heard, the church found a drawing on a rock or something like that of Lehi's dream, and scientists said that it was drawn more like 2000 years ago.

We also have code words that we use for evacuation but I never really thought that it would be months before a disaster haha.  If we get the word, we are supposed to pack one suitcase, bring our emergency backpacks, and go to either the stake center or the airport, depending on what they tell us. I doubt that anything like that will happen though, at least not yet.  It was a pretty good movie. There were a few things that they got wrong. Like for example the empanada that the guy had, that's totally not what the empanadas look like haha. The mine disaster happened in 2010. It was like the only thing that I had ever heard about Chile so I guess I just sort of remembered it haha. Is it called semola in English? Well I really like it so I am going to make it.

Take is slow swimming? Mom I need to get in shape and skinny again. I'm not saying I'm fat, but I need to get back in shape and healthy again for sure. Yeah I'm definitely going to try to keep up that habit, it's a good habit. I want to keep swimming early morning, I think that really helped a lot.

Well have a great week and really enjoy your time there in Cancun, I'll talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Stam

Trust in the Lord and everything is Okay.

February 3, 2016
                                     

Having fun with the O'Higgins Zone

Yup, about six months left now. My week was good. My comp has been a little sick so it was a little slower and easier week. The teaching is going alright, despite it being the hard time of the year. The Haitians are good also. We went and saw them yesterday, and apparently there are a few new Haitians living with them, that just got here to Chile about a week ago. The first thing they asked when we saw them was if we were Christians haha. They also don't speak Spanish though. The ones that we were teaching earlier are cousins and we do teach them together. We will see what happens with the new ones that got here. It's pretty hard to find people at this time, but we are definitely trying. I feel like recently there has just been a lot more people against us. People that say we aren't even Christians and that we're here wasting our time and should go home. It's getting annoying. I'm losing my patience with them. But there's not much we can do. They don't even listen to us, they just say we are wrong and if we try to say something, they cut us off and say we're wrong then tell us to leave. I guess it makes us feel even more like Christ, and more understanding of what he went through. We have an activity tonight, a family home evening with the ward, it should be really good.

Oh that food sounds amazing. I think that one of the first things I want to eat when I'm home is a Papa Murphy's pizza. I don't know if the oil dressing is healthier than ranch, they use a ton of oil haha. Haha Jackson sounds like a funny baby. Maybe he will be a swimmer also, that would be amazing. I'm glad you liked you trip, it sounds really fun.

 From what I have understood, he has problems with his kidneys, and they aren't working correctly. His potassium level is too high and it is making him weak and dizzy all the time and his feel are always really swollen. So it's kind of a lame disease thing but just trust in the Lord and everything is okay. The other Elders are good, they're obedient. I have divisions with them tomorrow, so I will know more tomorrow. 300 people? Wow that's a lot, that's awesome.

Haha he has also been talking to me about it. It doesn't sound like a bad idea, I think it would be a fun project to build a cabin. Good scriptures? Hmm, there's not a specific one that comes to mind, but I recently read the sermon that King Benjamin gave to the people before he died in Mosiah 2-4 that I really liked, you could read that if you want. Thanks for the letter mom, I hope that you and the family have a great week, we will talk more the next one.




Love, Elder Stam

The Lord knows the way to be happy

January 13, 2016
              

Dear Mom and Dad,       

Christmas dinner with Chilean Family

The week was good, a little long but still good. The sector is good as well. We are in the hardest time of the year right now, because there are a ton of people that go on vacations, and you can definitely tell. We try doing house contacts but it seems that there is hardly anyone at their house. I think that I will be skinnier because they give us less food haha. I weighed myself yesterday and I weighed 66 kilos, which is like 153 pounds or something like that, so I think that I have lost a little weight. I weighed 70 kilos in the MTC. We are walking a lot, almost too much. It's been killing me, especially in the sun. The sun here is so much stronger. Haha, I can't wait for that day that I swim again, it's going to be incredible. I'll try to send a picture next week of my comp and me, I don't have my camera at the moment. Elder Baker is going to school at BYU Idaho so he won't bee too far away either. Not much has been happening here, just the work of the Lord I guess haha. Our most progressing investigators are two Haitans, they're really cool. The Haitans believe a lot in God from what I can tell. They ask us a ton of questions about the Bible and I definitely leave their house every time knowing more and more about the Bible.

I do not have a Spanish accent. :P Mom, it sounds like you don't know much about the Spanish that they speak here in Chile. It's probably the hardest Spanish in the world. There are a few latinos that don't understand the Spanish when they get here. Imagine that, it's like going to a place that speaks English and not being able to understand them. I guess that you will know better when we come back here.

I have been eating mostly fruits and vegetables. Lots of strawberries, yogurt, bananas, peaches, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, just things like that. I've learned to like a few different things here. We definitely have to make homemade salsa when I'm home, especially since I kind of like tomatoes now. They aren't my favorite things in the whole world, but I don't really find them that bad anymore. I'll have to figure out how to make the chilean spicy salsa stuff that they have here, it's really good. What could I do to be less allergic to cats? You have to expose yourself to them more right? I'm not going to go rub my eyes after petting them, that would be one of the dumbest things I could do. I think that cats are super cute though haha. I have been thinking about Uncle David,  I don't know what it's like to be in his shoes, but I'm sure that it's hard.

The people say that Chile was a ton different only 10 years ago. It's really crazy how fast that it's changing. The Lord always knows the way to be happy, and the world doesn't. That's okay, just do what's right and we'll be more blessed. That's about it.  It's good being a district leader. It's not a ton different, we´re just in charge of a few things. I think that it will be pretty fun doing an interview, it will be interesting to talk to the people. I'm sure that I will get the opportunity. It will be cool to see the change in the people. The fruits of your labors are not always seen, but the important thing is that you are planting the seeds. That's pretty much what the whole mission is about. Planting the seeds are harvesting the plants that are ready to be harvested. God talks a lot about that in Doctrine and Covenants. Thanks for the email! I hope that you are well and without problems and that you have a wonderful week.

Love,
Elder Stam

The work is progressing!

December 9, 2015

                    

Mom,

Don't open it til Christmas? Mom I don't think you realize how hard that it. You get home and you just have a package of stuff there staring at you, tempting you. But I'll try to not open it. I feel like I just talked to you all, it's strange that it's already time to call again. I am pretty sure that we are going to be with the Inostroza family, so that you guys can meet them. Things have been going good this last week, it's been really hot. I got really burnt today because we went and played soccer outside for a few hours. Yes we have found a few new people. The are mostly less actives, and they're all really nice, they just have a few problems and doubts, the usual. There are always a few that progress. We have an investigator that came to church for the first time this week, and she really liked it.

Wow how incredible, a clean room. My Spanish is pretty good, the only problem is pronunciation. They all say that I talk gringo. I just don't understand how to not speak with an accent. I've tried so hard to fix it but this gringo accent is a curse. Yes he got baptized, it was really awesome! We have our own house, we live with four missionaries. It's two floors but it's still pretty small. We do have members next door, they were recently reactivated by the Elders in the other sector. Yeah, yeah, photos. It's just that I haven't really taken that many photos.

College will be weird, but we will see. I think that the allergies are getting better, but I don't really know. They aren't going to go away permanently, but I think that they are better. My eyes don't really itch that much anymore. I want to go to the South of Chile also, it looks awesome down there. I don't think that Elder is going to have the money, and I don't really care, I've just gotta rub it in his face a little bit ;) haha.

President Cook is really awesome. He is pretty relaxed, he's not super strict, but he does expect us to keep all of the rules. He does it in a good way. Recently for P Day we went to Buin Zoo again. It's cool down there, it's just like any other zoo though, so it's not super special. They do have some awesome animals though. This P Day all we did was play soccer, and now I'm red as a tomato. It's usually just wake up and go do something, the activity or whatever, then go to the feria and buy fruit and food and whatever we need, then relax for a couple hours, and come and write, then go work. That's the typical schedule. Our mission was big before with about 250 missionaries, but it has dropped and we only have about 200 now. The interview went really well. He read that I wanted peanut butter on the blog that you do for me and he went out and bought me peanut butter. It was pretty funny. He's a great man though, I always learn a lot from him. He just asks about everything and I just tell him the truth about it all, I feel comfortable with him.  Haha Pres Hutchison is a pretty inspired man, I think that he is doing a great job as stake president. I don't really know much of what he has done but I could tell that he would be a good one.

Ohhh Cafe Rio, I miss that place. No there is nothing specific that I would like to know.  Also it would be awesome if you only bought me one more videogame. Call of Duty Black Ops 3. After that I would like you to buy other things. I have heard recently of a book series that is called the Joseph Smith Papers. I looked at the books and they are pretty expensive and there are a lot of them, but it would be cool if you could buy me one or two of them, I would really appreciate it. Love you mom!

Love,
Elder Stam             

If you have a doubt, the best place to go to ask is God, in prayer.

November 18, 2015

                      

Dear Mom,             

 Haha yeah I had a pretty good week. I have a new companion, but I'm in the same sector, thankfully. I like this sector a lot. My new companion is Elder Rivera. Like Elder Calvillo, his parents are both Mexican, but he was born and raised in the United States. He was actually born and raised in Orem, Utah. So I am with another gringo (sort of) from Utah. We get along super well already. The best thing of all, he's a swimmer. So we have had some pretty good talks about the swimming days. He's a convert, because of a girl haha, and actually the only member in his family. He's 20 years old. So that's that. I think that one of the hardest things about the summer here is that there is no air conditioning. If it's a hot day, it's hot everywhere. It's pretty hard to find a place that isn't hot. But it's okay, it doesn't last forever. This last week we had an attendance of 58, which is the highest I have seen in the branch. It's growing a ton. It'll be a ward in no time.

Jeez, that's really sad that people are removing their records from the church. They'll have regrets one day.  If the Church is true and you know it, then there is no reason to doubt the things and policies of the Church. For any reason if you do have a doubt, the best place to go to ask is God, in prayer. No one was born with knowledge of the true Church, they had to gain that knowledge, generally through prayer. So any doubts that we have can be answered the same way, and also through study. Good gosh, the world is a joke. I heard that the terrorists threatened the United States also? I don't know. I don't know how much more wickedness the world can take. Hopefully He comes soon.

 No, he didn't get baptized. We are going to talk to his mom and try to set up a baptism date, she says that he needs to start acting better or she won't let him get baptized. So we need to talk to him about that. His name is Alonso. I know that his mom is a member, but she doesn't want anything to do with the Church. She supports her son though. I don't know about the dad, I don't think that he is a member. Yeah, I just teach the basic stuff with the piano lessons. 

I think that Snow College would be the best, considering I have a scholarship there, and I don't want to have to worry too much about money while I am studying. No, I don't want to go to BYU haha.

I don't want a big Christmas package, save money haha. Peanut butter would be awesome though, I really miss that stuff. Just some normal American candy would be nice too, like Reeses and Twix, things like that. I don't have that big of a need for anything. A calendar would be cool too.

 It would be cool if Oma moved to Utah, honestly I think that she would like it more. Haha Dubai seemed really cool to me. It would be really awesome to go someday, everything there is ridiculously expensive though.  It has the tallest building in the world. 

Well I hope that you have a great week, if there is anything that I can do for you or the family, just let me know, and I'll get it done. Love you mom.

Love,
Elder Stam               

Family is one of the most important things in this life

November 4, 2015


Mom and Dad,            

Families are Forever!

I had a pretty good week, it was a pretty normal week. There was Halloween of course. I think that Halloween here is better than in the United States. It's been pretty bummer lately in the United States, there are hardly any kids that go out asking for candy. It's completely different here. Every single street is full of kids. It's crazy. We had to go to the house early though because that day Colo Colo and la U, the two soccer teams that are rivals, played and it gets a little dangerous after their games. Family is one of the most important things in this life, and it's sad to see the world attacking families. It's really stupid some of the things that the world says, like it's not important to get married or that being gay is still following God's plan, but they will understand one day.

Haha I know what workouts that Heather is making you do, I have actually been doing them a little bit here in the mission, they're kind of fun, they kick my butt too though. I'm pretty out of shape here. Keep it up though, it will do good for you. Meetings, they're not always fun. I find meetings here to be really off task, and we don't talk about anything we should. I mean the meetings in the wards, not the mission.

Haha, that's an old blessing outfit then! That's good that it went well, there are some babies that cry their little hearts out. Haha Mike's little boys are really cute, they're going to be a lot bigger when I get back. How old is his oldest son now? Haha that is going to be the bad thing about a baby, when they scream and cry during the night. But it's a part of life. I think that it's God's little test to our patience. I won't have to worry about that though for at least a few more years. Grandpa seems to have been doing really well. Surprises me that he is going to turn 90, that's a pretty great age. I am sure that he will still be here, I do have less that a year left. Haha grandpa is a funny little fella. I can picture him in that little cart, he looks like a natural haha.

Elder Sosa and I are both really good friends with that family. I would say that it is pretty even, I wouldn't say that either one of us has a better connection with them haha. It was almost too easy with them. They just accepted everything like it was nothing. I'm not complaining though. They have been having a hard time lately though because on Sunday, the mom's grandma died. We are going to visit them today though. Today is the dad's birthday and their anniversary as well. The mom of the other family said that she would start going to church to support her kids, but there are a few worldly things that she doesn't want to give up. I think that with time she will though. Zone conference this time was about working more with members, especially in ward counsel. It's obviously really important to work with members, but we have been lacking on that a little bit in the mission, so President wants us to focus a little bit more on that now.

That is really how most of the commandments are, follow with faith. We just do it, without knowing why. Adam was commanded to give sacrifices to the Lord and when an angel asked him what he was doing, he said he didn't know, but that he was just obeying his father. That's how it should be with all of us, we just need to obey.

I was thinking about it a little bit, and I think that I might cost a lot of money when I come home. I need to find a car haha, that's going to be the most expensive thing. Good, keep that game safe. If you want to buy me more games, which would be awesome, just let me know, there are a few more games that I would love. I don't care that much if you are helping me that much with that game, I just don't want my account to be deleted for inactivity. I've put a lot of time into that game. But thank you mom for playing it for me haha.

You guys want to go on a service trip? What country/ies would you go to? That would be a lot of fun. It's always good to give a little bit of service. I think that you guys would receive a lot of blessings if you did that.

I hope that you guys have a great week as well. Thanks for the weekly letters, I appreciate them. I love you guys.

Love,
Elder Stam                

Caleb must have enjoyed this breakfast!

The Temple allows us to be together forever

October 14, 2015

Mom and Dad,  
  

Things have been great with the family! We took them to the temple on Friday. The stake organized a trip to the temple and the missionaries really took advantage of it. A lot of the missionaries from the stake took people to the temple. So we took them there and taught them about temples, and they said that they want to go in someday to get sealed. It was quite the experience. They actually are going to get baptized this Saturday! And then on Sunday we have two more baptisms with two other kids that we have been teaching. So this week we should have 5 baptisms. The Lord blesses us haha. I've given quite a few blessings for health, other blessings no. The highlight was going to the temple for sure. Other than that, maybe when there were like 10 gunshots right next to us. That was pretty thrilling. Yes, I still like the food. I'm getting kind of sick of chicken though, I have to admit. There's a soup here called Cazuela that's pretty good. You need to learn how to make Chilean empanadas also. Also see if she knows what mote con huesillo is.

Yeah, I think that everyone noticed that Pres Monson had to rest on the podium.  I think that he still has a little while though. Who knows, maybe some kids actually saw two angels holding him. He been a great prophet though, one with lots of love. Which talk from conference was your favorite and why? I liked Monson's talk in the Priesthood Session, he was really direct with us and I think that it is what we needed.


That's a pretty cool story with Grandpa going to the Temple for a sealing. I was looking at my family tree a little while back and I was pretty surprised how filled it was. That's good that Grandpa could go to the temple and have a good experience there. So did you guys end up giving a name to the baby? I've realized that our church is really the only church that really has the correct perspective of forever. The other churches don't really think about the future at all, only the present. That would be super awesome if the family we are teaching got sealed. The temple is awesome, brings people closer to God and allows them to be together forever.

I think that I will have like four kids, but we will see. So did you actually go out on the lakes with the kayaks? How did you like it? I would actually really like to go to a lake with the kayaks. I think that a little bit before I left I started to really like lakes. We should take the kayaks to a river with rapids and do some white water kayaking, that would be a lot of fun.  If we go to a lake, I'm definitely putting sun screen on, it was absolutely horrible when we went to St George. Definitely the worst sun burn that I've ever had. The weather has been really bipolar here though. One day hot, the next day cold and rainy. Right now it's raining. Yesterday it was really hot.  Jackson is already smiling huh? Try to take a picture of his smiling!

Go Utes :D it would be amazing if they could have another undefeated year. Remember when you guys were BYU fans? Yeah, you're welcome for me converting you.  Time does fly, I have 14 months now. The weather has been a little nuts and it's been affecting my health a little bit. Not a ton but I have headaches every once in a while. So yeah, we should have 5 baptisms this week. It should be a great week. I'll send you pictures of the baptism next week! Thanks for writing me and I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Stam    

Keep the Lord as your number one.

September 16, 2015 



Dear Mom and Dad,

Haha you sent me a million pictures of Jackson. He's a stud, gonna be just like me one day ;) Have they been doing alright always having another person with them now? Jeez he is going to be almost a year old when I get home. Lame. That's okay though, this work is important. Sounds like a better plan for Shelly to fly home. Shelly is going to fly with the baby then? I sometimes wonder if babies actually know a lot more than we do, they've just forgotten how to communicate. Strange thought.  How does it feel to be grandparents?   Yeah that sounds like a pretty fun tour to see the Church History sites, I would like to do that. I would learn a lot, so let's do it!

The week has been good, a little bit crazy. The 11th of September here is pretty much a day of just straight craziness. The people protest against the government and do all sort of crazy things. We had to stay inside all day. It's just a day of sin. I don't know how many gunshots I've heard this week, it's a little scary, but nothing has happened really that we know of. We found a family of gold a couple of weeks ago. They came to church for the first time this week, and we have baptismal dates for them already. I couldn't believe how prepared they were, it was unreal. They're awesome though, they participate in everything. Our branch has had two activities since we met them and they have gone to both of them. Tomorrow there is another activity for the independence day of Chile and they are going to go to that too. That building in the photo was a building on the hill Santa Lucía. We have to go there for sure when we come to Chile. There is a huge area when they sell stuff that have to do with Chile, so we could buy cool things there. The rain in the Dominican Republic is insane. It's not that bad here, it just floods here, they have pretty bad drainage. It's fun though, I like water. I assume we are at the end of winter. The last few days have been pretty cold, the wind has been freezing. I would like more of winter though. The duties are the same being Senior, you just have to lead a little bit more that's it. Yeah an Elder gave me that tie. I've got a ton of ties. We buy fardos, 45 kilos of ties. It comes with about 2000 or so ties, and we take out the ones we like. That's how I have so many ties. It's okay if you don't send me ties, I have plenty.

Yes,  I think I've lost weight, but I don't remember how much I weighted before. I think I am a little bit lighter, but not a ton. I was buff? Haha I was slim but didn't have very much muscle!! Everyone here talks about the Minions movie, for reals I want to see that movie so bad. It looks so hilarious. I love those little guys haha. Elder Henderson and I just saw some people with a bunch of wood tablets outside and we asked to help them move them, and we ended up building a house. It was a really small house, maybe just the size of our living room, but still. It only took about 10 hours to do in total. Yeah there were a ton of Dutch names, go back only a few generations and they are all Dutch names! It's full and queens and kings of weird places too, but it's still pretty cool. I didn't know that Heather had asthma. Hopefully she is alright. I think she would really struggle here in Santiago, the air quality is horrible. The rain is really a blessing here because it cleans the air.

Haha those seeds sound exactly like the faith, you have to keep taking care of it so it grows. I have really found that to be one of the best ways to teach the faith. It's a great example. Last week President Cook talked about the faith and he compared it to the mustard seed, he showed us a picture of a mustard seed and it's a lot smaller than I thought. I know that you really like your garden, so you will really like the greenhouse I think.  That is how most of the missionary work is I think. Without seeing the results. Elder Holland has a pretty awesome prophesy about Chile that I'm sure will happen here. If you don't know it, look it up, it's really powerful. If you really want to serve a mission one day, just keep choosing the right. The Lord is good.  It would be pretty cool if you guys learned Spanish. It would be fun having a lot of Spanish speakers in the family. Just a suggestion. You'll retire one day, just keep the Lord as your number one and he will help you with everything.

The most memorable thing was September 11th. We just stayed in the house but we had a ping pong table in the house so we played a lot of ping pong. It was still crazy that day though. Yeah I already have a bunch of friends here, this sector is awesome, I like it a lot. I don't get to play piano that often now, only sometimes. I would like to sing in college, it would be a lot of fun. I kind of miss choir.

Well I hope that you have a great week, thanks for the weekly letters, they are awesome for real and I appreciate it. Thanks for all the updates as well!

Love,
Elder Stam       

Santiago, Chile

How does it feel to be 19? Awesome and my package was super awesome

June 17, 2015

Mom and Dad,

Haha the birthday package was awesome! I've really missed Skittles, they are really the best candy in the entire world. Also the Rubix Cube is going to keep me really entertained for quite a while. It was one of the biggest packages that I think an Elder has ever gotten ever. It was huge! But super awesome haha. For my birthday we didn't do much, just had a little party at a members house with all the Elders in our ward. There's not a ton of stuff to really give a missionary either. I love everything that you guys have me though, I think that the 4x4 rubix cube is really going to keep me entertained. The food is also awesome. We live next to a store called Lider, which is the Walmart of Chile. It's owned by Walmart so it's pretty much the same. It doesn't have the same things though. And if it does have the same things as in America, it's super expensive. A jar of peanut butter is like $6. My birthday was a pretty normal day, except at night we went to a house with a family and all of the missionaries were there and we had a little party thing, with hot dogs and cake haha. It was small, but it was nice of them. That's pretty much it though, nothing else really big. It was fun, we got to watch like 10 minutes of one of the Copa America games haha. Yeah it was all exactly what I wanted! Tell Cody happy birthday from me if you can, I just emailed Josh and told him happy birthday, also happy fathers day to dad.

The new apartment is pretty nice. It's about twice the size of our old house, which was tiny. It's got a few problems, but overall not bad. I send you most of the pictures that I take, I'm probably not going to send a zip drive home, now that I figured out how to send pictures home through the email. No My companion hasn't really opened up more, he has something against the United States, he argues with Elder Rupe about the United States a lot. He just has a bunch of crazy ideas about us. That's okay though, he's gotta open up at some point. The latinos have just been raised so differently, it's probably really weird to be with a gringo.  I also can definitely tell a difference between gringo companions and latino ones. Elder Facal is a good missionary, he just is so slow to do everything, it kills me.  If our appointments fail we end up finding new people.  I hope that I get a companion with less time than me at some point. We are teaching a very small amount of people in this ward. We definitely need to find new people. Last week we only had 10 lessons, but there was a lot of things going on last week, the Copa America, my birthday, and there was a wedding in the ward. We also did divisions and I stayed in the sector even though I still hardly know it. The most rewarding thing was my birthday haha.

More missionaries going out, good stuff. The world needs more. The Sabbath Day is really just such a big problem. Even the bishops here go out and buy stuff on Sunday. The attendance in our new ward is horrible, this week it was only 35 people. We started the Sacrament with 11 people, six of them being missionaries, the bishop, and his counselor. You can find Elder Perry's funeral on Youtube. I know that the mormon channel has it. The mormon channel is awesome, one of the best tools that we have as missionaries. Most people here have access to the internet, so we show them a video from youtube and it is a really spiritual experience every time.

Elder Stam in the back eating lol

Yeah I heard about Artem from Dad. I guess that it was just his time to go. I don't really know what more to say.  I hope that his family is doing alright, it's a tragic event, but it happens. He's in a better place, that I know for sure.

The world cup no. The world cup only happens every 4 years. This is the American Cup, only the latinoamerican countries are here. It only happens every 4 years also. I have heard that next year is 100 years of FIFA soccer, and there is going to be a giant tournament in the United States. It's in June, so I am just barely missing it.

Hermana Bedard asked me if I knew Chine several months ago and I said yes (Chine is Joshua's friend). It's a small world. There was another Hermana that was from Murray, she went home early though. I've met missionaries from Midvale, Pleseant Grove, Sandy, pretty much everywhere in Utah.

My setting apart was awesome. I am going to have to read it again more profoundly, I only really skimmed over it, I didn't have time. But I'll let you know more what I think about it next week. Have a wonderful Father's Day, and a wonderful week to follow. I love you!

Love,
Elder Stam       

Dont know why he sent this but he LOVES chips and salsa!

I'm going to be a worn out person by time I come home .....

June 10, 2015

Mom and Dad,  

Man I'm only going to be a teenager for one more year, what the heck?? There are like three people every day that ask how old I am and I always tell them that I am going to turn 19 this Friday, so my companion definitely won't forget haha. We are going to have a "party" with a family that we are teaching. It will be pretty fun I think. They're a crazy family. Things are good back here in La Bandera, it almost feels like home. It's weird to be here though. I'm not in the same ward, but I'm in the ward right next to it. I saw the first counselor of my first ward the other day. We are living in apartments, bigger than my last house haha. I live with Elder Facal, Elder Rupe, and Elder Panduro. My new companion is alright. I'm pretty sure that he doesn't like gringos, he's a little bitter with me. I've also never seen him talk with a gringo before. I'm also his first gringo companion. He just sort of likes to do his own things without asking me anything. He told me today that we were only going to write our familys for half an hour. I was like heck no haha. Hopefully he opens up a little bit more though. He's been out for about 16 months. The new area is nice, it's really small compared to Portezuelo. There are a lot of recent converts here, and we have a few investigators, but not many. We're in a more dead sector. The ward only has an attendance of about 50. We're going to be working a lot of that though.

Hah yeah I've had quite a few empanadas. There was a family in Portezuelo that always made empanadas and they were so incredible. I asked her for the recipe and she didn't have it. She just said that she has it memorized. I'll have to find another good recipe though. Well the people here say that the tomatoes in Chile are different, so I don't know if I'll like them in America.

The investigators that I left are still going really well and hopefully I will get to go back soon for a baptism or two. We should have two on the 20th. My companion has been here in this sector for three months, or two transfers. I am sure that we will be together for two more changes or three months.

That picture of the bathroom looks really nice, a little different than I thought it was going to look. It looks like a rich person bathroom to be honest haha. You're going to have to lend me that bathroom for the three weeks that I have home. And I don't think there is a bathroom in Chile that has been finished ha ha. There have been a ton of strikes here lately, people fighting with their employer about their job. The kids here haven't gone to school for two weeks because all of the teachers are striking. Most members here don't fulfill their calling.  Wow life is crazy. So many things have happened back home haha. Life goes on with or without you.

We had a pretty cool week though. One of the seventy came and spoke to our mission. Elder Gonzalez. He was really cool, spoke with an Argentinian accent. It's cool how I can pick apart the different Spanish accents now. Spanish isn't even a problem now. Apparently the most recent revelation that the church has gotten is about the Sabbath day, and how the missionaries need to start working more with members and less actives to start keeping the Sabbath day holy. It's one of the biggest problems here in Chile. It's rough work, I'm going to be a worn out person when I come home.  Honestly the mission has gone by really fast. And they say that the first year is the slow year. So I think that I am going to be home before I know it, it's really weird. I still remember going to the airport perfectly. The mission almost feels like just a dream sometimes.

After that conference with him, we got to watch the funeral service of L. Tom Perry. It was a pretty spiritual experience. It looks like there are going to be a lot of changes coming up soon, the last change was Thomas S. Monson being called as the prophet.

Also this week starts the Copa America (I think it's called the American Cup in English but I have no idea) and it's in Chile. Every time that Chile plays we have to stay in the house during the game and all day after the game. It goes until July 4th. We are going to have a crazy month here. There are a ton of foreigners and Copa America things all over Chile, it's pretty cool to see it all. It gets really dangerous though. It's good that we have to stay in the house. Well have a wonderful week again, I'll try to send photos next week!

Love,
Elder Stam

Crazy I got transferred back to my first sector, La Bandera.

June 3, 2015

First day in the Chile Santiago South Mission

Mom,

First of all, yes I got transferred. The crazy thing is I got transferred back to La Bandera. My sector is literally right next to the sector that I was in with Elder Leon. I actually live in that sector, Los Pensamientos. I'm in the ward La Bandera now, just right on the other side of the big street Santa Rosa. But I am writing in the exact same internet cyber that I wrote in my first P Day in Chile. I almost can't believe that President sent me back here haha.  President must think he's funny.  I was in Portezuelo for almost 6 months. I should be going back for a few baptisms though for sure. My new companion is Elder Facal, and he's from Uruguay. He's pretty cool, I am sure that he's going to be a professional soccer player. I've told you about Gabriel and Belen. They attended the church for years but were never baptised. Their baptisms are June 20th. They are both young, 13 and 11.   I think that going to church in English now would almost be a little bit weird. How many people are in that ward that will now be in our Stake? I think that missionary work is picking up everywhere! Europe also has been getting a lot more baptisms as well.

That would be incredible to see Alejandro haha. I don't remember what mission. It starts with a C and it's in the south of Argentina, that's all I remember. Ooh that food sounds amazing haha. I didn't like cauliflower a lot before, but they eat it quite often here and I think that it is pretty good now haha as well as tomatoes. Wow that food really does sound really good haha. Most of the food here is pretty much the same now. There are a few members that are starting to learn how to make american food. This morning I had waffles haha that would be the first time in my mission.  They make crepes pretty much the same, they are just a little bit more thick. They put different things on top too, like manjar. They roll them here. My favorite food is probably Chaquicán. I think that's how you spell it haha. Everyday we usually eat chicken, rice, mashed potatoes, or pasta.

The strangest thing that happened was being transferred to where I am, I really find it too weird to be back here. I can't think of anything else happening though. I need to start remembering more the things that happen hah. Thanks mom you really are the best :D Just a small flat screen TV would be nice for college. Something that I could hook up to a laptop if I wanted.

My patriarchal blessing says that I have to stay close to you guys, so it's most likely that I am living in Utah for the rest of my life haha. What jobs has Josh applied for? I am sure that Tootsie loves to have the dogs over, it's probably a thrill. That sounds fun though, maybe I will take care of dogs one day too.

The weather here is kind of changing. It's still pretty warm during the day, but pretty cold during the night. It's getting there. It kind of sucks having to carry a jacket around all day, because it gets cold enough that you need a jacket, but during the day it's too hot for a jacket. Read Jesus the Christ, it's an amazing book. I've also had my birthday package for about a week, president didn't hold it haha. I have been healthy though, without any problems. The most rewarding thing, being alive haha. Thanks for writing me and have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Stam

We will always fail alone and that is why we have a Redeemer..

May 27, 2015

Elder Stam and Elder Henderson

Mom and Dad,

Hah they have a plane that reduces jet lag? Man technology is weird. I would love to visit other places at some point. And try the food from other places too. I hope that I get to travel when I'm older, I would love to go see more of the world. It sounds and looks like you guys had an amazing trip, but I think that the trip to Chile is going to be way better, for sure. I love crepes, they eat them pretty often here. Manjar is like the dulce de leche stuff, I don't know how to explain it, but it's pretty good. Just look it up haha.  I wish Chile had more variety, i feel like I eat the same thing almost every day haha. We don't hardly ever get to see Santiago, it's too far away. I realized that we really don't get to experience Chile at all, so we better come back here.

Things are going well with the missionary work. We should have three baptisms in June. It's too bad that I am probably being transferred next week, but I can still return to see them. We have a ridiculous amount of people that we are teaching, almost too many people. It's good to always have something to do though. I don't like doing contacts that much anyways. I would say that the most rewarding thing this week was setting two baptism dates in June with Gabriel and Belen again, and I'm sure that they are going to get baptised this time. We even have approval from the parents to do it.  Alejandro went to the MTC here in Chile, but he leaves next Tuesday for Argentina. He's 25 years old, just barely made the limit for missionaries. If we do come back here in May 2017, we should be here right when we gets home, which would be so awesome haha :D  We just had a new bishopric member put in, and he's going to be amazing for the ward.


Haha the stories of a mission. I have heard some absolutely crazy stories before, but nothing crazy like happened to dad has happened to me yet. I'm sure I already have some great stories, I just don't know how to tell them through email, so sorry. This week with one of our investigators, his wife came out and started screaming at us because shes a super crazy catholic and feels like shes losing her husband. So we can't go visit him anymore. If I think of a great story I will try to tell it to you.

Downtown Santiago is just a lot nicer, richer, and I kid you not the people look more gringo. It's kind of funny. And there are a ton of people that speak English. Our sectors are the "armpit of Chile" according to a missionary a while ago. The funniest thing? Well the elder that we live with, Elder Gularte, went to kick an orange on the ground and his shoe flew off and went on the roof of a house, and it was a struggle getting it back. It was super funny, we all about died of laughter. Things with Elder Henderson are great as well, he's still awesome haha.

Only Best Buy has the $5 down, so you will have to do it at Best Buy. Thanks though mom, you're the best.

Yes we did baptisms with Giselle. It is a small world. When we went to the temple with Giselle, one of my friends that I met at EFY several years ago was at the MTC there. His name was Kyle Quinn. I barely recognized him, and it really surprised me. He is going to the Concepcion mission. If I remember right, he lived in Orem.

Time flies, three months and I'll be an uncle :D They plan on moving back right after the baby is born? The "new age" thing is ridiculous. People don't know anything. I started reading Jesus the Christ this week, and I think that it might be one of the most incredible books I've ever read. It has really made me think really in depth about the gospel. I definitely recommend reading that book, with all of the scripture references that it gives. But there is a part where it talks about the agency of man, and how humanity alone will always fall. We will always fail alone. That is why we have a redeemer and savior, to save us from this fall. It's super in depth, just read that book haha.

Well thanks for all your love and support, and for you emails, they're the best. Have a wonderful week full of spiritual experiences and we will talk more next week.

Love,
Elder Stam

Catching the Sun

Super awesome news...

March 4, 2015

Mom,

This past week has been great. A lot of awesome things have happened. But still the usual heat. Still isn't really getting any colder, only a little bit in the nights. Wow I would to anything to see snow haha. It is starting to get a little colder now, but only at night.  I would love the cold weather. My Partriarchal Blessing says that I need to stay close to you guys, so if you move, I'm going with you haha. I've been getting the photos, I love the one of Mike and his kids haha. I'm sleeping pretty well, I'm still tired all the time though. For transfers, it is most likely that I will stay in the same sector, but I will have a new companion. But we don't know for sure. Well we received some super awesome news this week! The missionaries of the Church have now entered every country in the world. So that's another sign of the Second Coming. It's a lot closer than people think. Today we went to the temple again, and it's always an awesome experience. After we went,  we saw the biggest building in South America, and then another gigantic mall. The malls here are incredible. It was a fun P Day, but I'm just exhausted from it again.

If you really want to study the Old Testament, I would suggest buying the study guides on the lds store. They really help, and I think that I might buy them. The Bible has a lot of good stuff, but the Book of Mormon is just a lot easier to understand.


Josh is going to be a dad haha. That is a little weird. That's good though. We really aren't going to have any missionaries in our area? That's really weird. That almost doesn't seem right. Every part should have at least two missionaries, there is always someone that you can find to teach.

Spanish is going pretty good. My grammar is at about 95%, so it really is just vocabulary. My understanding is still a little rough at times, but I really only have almost 7 months out, I still have a long time to perfect it.  It will be weird to have different accents than Cody and Josh. Please buy that house in Mexico, that would seriously be so awesome. Spanish is going to be hard to learn, especially outside of a Spanish speaking country, but I can try to help you. If you have a question about Real Estate, ask me, I will try to remember everything haha. That would be super awesome though, I would definitely go down there a lot to spend time.

I'm sorry about the photos, the things we have been doing for P Day have been taking all day, so I never have the stuff to upload pictures. And we don't have the best computers neither, because the only good computers are at the mall, and they're always full.

Caleb's mission scripture on new cover.

Well this week Elder León has a baptism, with one of the investigators that we contacted. It's on Friday, so we are going to go to it. His name is Santiago haha. I wasn't sure if he would get baptized or not, but I'm glad that he did.

Also if you do get me a Rubix Cube, you should send a 4x4, because I already know how to do a 3x3. It might be a little more expensive, but I would really appreciate it :D

Thanks for all your love and support, if there is anything that you want to know, just ask me and I will tell you haha. I love you and thanks for paying for my mission haha and my iPhone 8 and Xbox One when I get back ;)

Love,
Elder Stam

I have learned a lot about life, why we're here and I relate everything to gospel things now.

Feb 25, 2015

I had a pretty good week, pretty normal. Sorry we are writing so late this week, we have a pretty late day today.  I know the feeling of always being tired. Missionaries are always worn out. Things are going great, as well as the lessons. We are at the time of the year where almost everyone in Chile goes on vacations, so almost all of our investigators are on vacation, so we aren't having a lot of lessons. It's okay though, they will come back haha. The next transfer is March 8th, and I should be getting a new companion, but I'm not completely sure.

Tootsie is a good dog haha. Especially compared to the dogs here. But even the dogs here are pretty loving, even though they are all abused by the people. It's crazy to think that she's turning two this week though!

Our mission is a really low baptizing mission. I think that last year, there were only 50 or so baptisms the entire year. Our mission focuses mostly on reactivation. The truth, is that the less actives hardly know anything about the gospel. They were baptized without knowing hardly anything, and that is the problem here in Chile. They don't even understand the basic principles. Some haven't even heard of the plan of salvation. The members help a little bit, but not much. We are supposed to have six divisions every week with members, so we get to know a lot of different members.

I got the books yesterday!  I want to start reading Jesus the Christ soon. I think that I want to read the New Testament before I read that though, it will help me understand a little better.

Josh and Shelly already know if it's a boy or girl?? This early?? Heather and I also think that it is going to be a boy. We will see though. I think that being an uncle is going to be awesome :D  I'm super excited for them, hopefully everything goes well. Haha it would be funny if the baby recognized me from photos.  Are they capable of an actual thought process at 11 months? I don't know anything about babies haha. Why are you so sure that they are going to have a boy? I have the same feeling that they are going to have a boy too.


That really sucks that Cody has had kidney stones, I couldn't even imagine pain like that. It's funny how I start relating everything to gospel things now. Just remember that Jesus has felt the same pain and suffered it for every person, and when we are resurrected we aren't going to have pain any more :) I think I'm gonna be super weird when I come home.

We study the plan of salvation a lot because we teach it a lot. I have learned a lot about life and why we're here and all that stuff. When we teach the plan of salvation, we teach a lot. We teach about Adam and Eve, Pre-earth life, earth life, and all the stuff that happens after death. I feel like I understand the gospel way more now, and I'm super grateful to know more.

Being a mission president would be super fun, it would probably be pretty hard too. Are you guys going to have missionaries in the house at some point? It would be super awesome. I love the members that we live with, they are super awesome.

I want to cook more too. I have just had a feeling to cook more haha. We haven't had a lot of new food. Our ward mission leader is from Colombia, and his wife always cooks this stuff called arepa. I don't know if it's from Chile or Colombia, but it's really good.

Also, this week I was reading in the Book of Mormon in 2 Nephi 28-33. I was really touched by it. It's all prophecies and it is all coming true. I challenge you to read those six chapters and really think about life and the importance you can make in the world.

Well the mission has been awesome so far, super hard as well, especially with all this heat. It's alright though, summer's almost over.  Thanks for writing me and for all of your love and support! I will talk to you again next week. Love you!

Love,
Elder Stam         

Earthquake, Members have a huge impact on the work!

February 18, 2015

Dear Mom and Family,

I think that it would be super fun to live in California. It would be a totally different lifestyle, but I think that it would be fun. I've seen pictures of Chilean beaches and people tell us about it. It sounds really nice, and they say that the ocean is pretty warm. It would be super nice to go there some day haha. (Caleb's mission does not include any areas along the ocean)

My week was pretty good! We burnt the stuff a few days ago. I took a video of it, so I don't really have pictures, but I will try to find a way to send the video to you. The one guy didn't come to church, he had to go on a business trip. We have a few of our less actives coming which is good. We should have two more reactivations soon. We don't teach a lot of lessons, about 12 each week. We should have more, but there are a lot of things that we have to do. We have a two hour meeting with our ward mission leader every week, we have mutual every Friday for two hours, and we just have a lot of things like that which take time out of our week. We have a list of all the 1200 people in our ward, and when we don't have a set lesson we usually go to the houses and try to find the people. That is one of the reasons why we don't have very many investigators, only less actives.

Tie, shirt and pants burned for each 6 months in the mission.  

I look forward to getting those books! haha. My birthday isn't for five months haha, but it will probably come and go before I know it. Murray Swim took 2nd in state?? Where the heck did that come from?? I guess Dale really knows what he's doing. That's good for them! Jared is going to Sweden huh? That should be really fun for him!

The other churches are just so dumb and they don't understand. Elder Purnell in my house has a Jehovah's Witness Bible and the stuff it says is just so dumb. We have learned how to deal with the other religions pretty well. In the Jehovah's Witness Bible, there are a few scriptures that they just decided to take out, because they didn't like them. So for them, we just ask them to read those scriptures. And they can't. Then we read the scripture that says that God is the same today, yesterday, and forever, and that shuts them up pretty quick. We didn't go to the Evangelico church because we had to go do something else, but we might go tomorrow. President said that we should take off our nametags before we go in.

Yeah Joshua and Shelly told me about the baby! I'm super excited for them! How does it feel that you are going to be a grandma?? That's super good though, I'm super excited. I was pretty much sure that I was going to give mom the first grand child ;)  S/he is going to be 11 months old when I get home, that's crazy. That feels like such a long time haha. I will be sure to pray that everything goes well.

Nothing specific to pray for, maybe just that they will all progress!

Wow, that's a really cool story about tithing. I want to have a story like that haha. Tithing really is something that can give you a lot of blessing, just read Malachai 3:10. I think that that scripture is the best way to teach tithing.

 Dad, what do you guys do in the meetings? It sounds like some of the meetings that we have here with the wards, but here they don't actually do anything. They talk about doing all this stuff, but then it never ends up being done. Only the missionaries actually do stuff, it's kind of bad.

President Hutchison is awesome haha. I think that he is a really good president. As a missionary, I have learned a lot that the missionary work is not going to be very effective without the help from the members. We are supposed to get 6 divisions with the members every week. If we get an investigator to come to church, and they feel excluded and no one wanted to talk to them, then the lessons with them stop and they don't want to investigate anymore. The members don't realize how crucial and how much of an impact they have on others.

This has been a pretty good week though. On Friday, we had interviews with President. He's such a good guy and he knows exactly what the missionaries are going through. I love talking to him, I think that we are getting along wonderfully. We talked a little bit about the Evangelical church and he told me some things that we should do if we do go to their church. I have two little stores from this week. Yesterday at the district meeting, there was a mini earthquake. It was super short and not powerful at all, but the earth was definitely moving haha. It was the first time that I had felt something like that. Apparently there have been a lot the last little while, I just haven't felt any of them. The other story is we were walking to a house after lunch, next to the freeway, and a call pulled over on the freeway, and just burst into flames. The guy that was driving got out and just started screaming for help. We couldn't do anything because there was a huge fence in the way. But a ton of people pulled over and helped put the fire out. It took about 10 minutes to put it out, and then the cops and everyone else came. It was pretty weird haha.

Well thanks for writing me once again, I hope that you have a good week!

Love,
Elder Stam

We have to learn to not react...

Feb 11, 2015

Elders Tecun and Stam washing the dog of the people they live with. 

Mom and Dad,

The beach. I'm so jealous. There are a lot of people here that are on "vacations". That is where the work gives them like a month off so they can go on vacations. There are a lot of people that go to the beach. I'm so sick of hot weather. It's weird that it has not been cold there.

These six months have gone super fast, and super slow. I feel like I just got here and at the same time, I think that everything I have done I have to do three times again, and that just feels like forever. Time is just a funny game. I am going to try to take of video of the burning of the tie. The other elders in my house are completing 18 months and a year, so we are burning pants, a shirt, and a tie. We want to burn them all together, so I want to take a video of it. Our investigator didn't come to church, but neither did his daughter, so I think that they had to do something. We will find out though. He's not home very much because of his work. Tithing can be hard, and it is a weird idea, but the people just don't realize why it's necessary. It's okay though, he'll understand someday.

Wow you already sent those books? Awesome haha. I love the Book of Mormon and the Bible but they are all that I've read for the last six months, I want to read something new now haha.

I really want to be a trainer, I think that it would be really fun. I think that I am only going to have a new president for the last 3 weeks of my mission. They are probably going to be the strangest three weeks of my mission haha. There aren't really a lot of stories with our investigators. Our mission is a really low baptizing mission. It's almost all reactivations.  I don't really have any stories with really cool stuff to be honest haha.

 The members that we live with have a pretty funny conversion story. They were Catholics and they just walked past a Mormon church one day and the dad said, "Let's go there" so they went to that church and they just stayed. Then they got baptized and here we are about 35 years later. I think that it's a pretty funny story.

The Spanish is going good. It's just the vocabulary. There are just way too many words to learn and I feel like there's no way I'm going to learn them all. But I'm trying haha. Chilean Spanish is just all idioms, so it's pretty hard to understand because they don't make any sense normally. Our house is good.  I live with Elder Purnell and Elder Melander. We had more divisions yesterday and I went with Elder Melander in our sector. We had 5 lessons and 2 divisions with members. I just realized that Elder Tecun doesn't really know how to lead a sector. We usually only have 10 lessons a week, and yesterday, when I was leading, we had 5. He just needs to recognize the opportunities that there are to teach.

We are teaching quite a few people, but we only have like 3 investigators. The rest are less actives. Our ward list is like 1,200 people. Almost everyone here already knows the missionaries, it's a little bit like Utah. I really like the photos by the way. It looks like Papa is doing really well. Oma too.

Well this week I want to talk a little bit more about the other religions. Here in Chile there are Evangelicos (Protestants), Catholics, and Jehovah's Witnesses. They are all very different religions. They all like to preach in the street. We had a few encounters with Evangelicos this week. One of them came up to us and asked a little about our religion, then he just started talking all this crap about modern day prophets, the Book of Mormon, and even America. It's sad how little they actually know. Then the same day we were walking past a few evangelicos preaching in the street and they just started yelling about false prophets and telling us to repent. It's so tempting to read Mathew 6:5 to them. But we have to learn to not react. I'll explain a little more about them later. We might be going to a Evangelico church tomorrow, because we were invited to go, and President Cook said that we could go to other churches if we were invited. It is going to be interesting.

Have a good week and I will talk to you again next week! :) Thanks for all your love and support, and for your emails.

Love,
Elder Stam