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

We need to prepare ourselves

February 24, 2016
                                   

                                    

Girls from a far lol

The last week was pretty good, with lots of heat haha. The teaching is also going well, it was a little better last week then the others. We aren't really teaching a large amount of lessons but still teaching obviously. We are mostly busy with contacts, or references, or working with the member list in the ward. Well apparently everyone has said that it is going to be pretty hot even through fall here so it'll probably be hot for a little while longer. I hope that you guys have an amazing time there at Cancun. Isn't that where we went forever ago when we went on that cruise? I play the piano at the church and usually on like Wednesdays or whenever we have an activity there, I sit down and play.

Funny you mention that movie, The 33. Our zone actually got permission (at least the zone leaders said they got it) to watch that movie, and we watched it, today haha. It was a pretty good movie. I actually remember when that happened. It was a good movie, but I feel like it wasn't very Chilean. It missed a lot of things, but it was still good.

They have good ice cream here but they don't have the best flavor, cookie dough. They have a few other flavors that we don't have though. They have this one dessert which is milk with sémola. Sorry I don't know how to say sémola in English. I like it a lot though. It's really easy to make too. College? Weird thought. Didn't think I'd ever go to college. Dates are expensive mom. I think I'm just going to abstain from all girls for a year or two more. They have cooties.

Today we had a special conference with Elder Bednar and if I get to choose my homecoming topic I think that I will talk about a few of the things he talked about. He talked a lot about doing things with faith and faith leads to action. Prayer is really good but it doesn't mean anything if we don't act afterwards.  He's actually a really funny guy, but I really learned a ton today and he didn't give us a talk, but he taught us in a totally different way.

Holy crap Brock is a junior?? Wow. Everyone is so old now. Tell me how polo goes though, I think that it is going to absolutely kill me to get home and try to swim again.  How many wards are in our stake? Yeah what you said is pretty much what our president told us. That's also what we have been teaching to the people, that the Sacrament is like getting baptized all over again and we need to prepare ourselves every week for it. A lot of the other churches here have also been saying that all of the disasters are going to happen this year. I don't think so though. There are still quite a few signs that need to happen before the Second Coming. I read Doctrine and Covenants 45 today and it talked a lot about some of the things that we are going to see before he comes. For all that we know maybe something will happen this year.

Ah 6 AM that's nothing. Well just keep working hard, the Lord blesses for hard work! Something little that I have learned here in the mission haha. I think I will probably keep waking up super early like I did before, It makes the day seem longer and better. Well one of the things that Elder Bednar said today is that you guys are being more blessed with me away than you would be if I was with you, so you're welcome haha. Have a great time there at Cancun!

Love,
Elder Stam

It's better to just work

Feb 17, 2016

Dear Mom and Dad,                 

The awesome Zone

Well, there's always that time of the year where everyone always seems to get sick. I was also feeling a little sick on Monday and Tuesday but I got over it really quick. It's a real pain in the butt being sick on the mission because you either have to stay inside all day with nothing to do or you go out to work and suffer just as much haha, so it's better to just work. Wow, I definitely haven't heard of that virus at all, hopefully it doesn't get down here to Chile. Well I'll never be a pregnant woman so maybe it wouldn't affect me that much haha.

My week has been good. It's still hot, with no changes whatsoever. If this year goes the same as last year, it will probably be pretty hot until like April or May. Which sucks but there literally is nothing I can do about it so why complain? Yup, the world definitely doesn't believe as much. It's kind of dumb, because there are so many signs that He exists all around us. Yeah we are still working with the Haitians. I don't think that they are understanding that much though, it's been really hard to communicate with them. Yes I have also been playing the piano here haha. I don't think French will be extremely hard, it's pretty similar to Spanish, it's just the pronunciation that seems hard. We are the only Elders but there are two Sister missionaries.

We eat ice cream most days. There is dessert for pretty much every lunch, it's amazing. Recently, I don't know if it's a summer thing, but if we don't eat watermelon or honey dew melon, we eat ice cream, and I definitely won't argue with that at all.  I was thinking about working a whole bunch in the summer anyways. I don't think that I will get married that fast to be honest. It would be fun, just remember that I am definitely going to want time to play my new Xbox One that you are going to buy me haha. ;D (you promised)

There are so many things that people don't understand about life and getting mad at God will not solve absolutely anything, the only thing that it could really ever do is make things worse.

We're living in these apartments on the street Goycolea. I couldn't really tell you what building because there are a lot of them. The only thing that I could tell you is it's a few blocks away from Gran Avenida and they're pink haha. We moved because President Cook doesn't want any houses with only two missionaries in them. He wants four in every house. So we moved for that. We live with two other missionaries now, Elder Maser and Elder de León.

Haha that's how most babies are right?  Who knows Jackson could be a better piano player than me someday. Maybe I'll teach him when he's a little older, I think he'd have a hard time right now haha. I'm gonna expect him to cry. It's normal. You're going to have to teach me how to hold babies cause honestly I have no idea.

Well thanks for the email once again. If there is anything that you need from met, just let me know. Talk to you next week!

Love,
Elder Stam

Stay strong and faithful

Feb 10, 2016

Mom,         

A little goodbye party that they threw for me and Elder Palacios

The last week was pretty well, still hot and most people are still on vacations, so not much has changed haha. We had changes yesterday but nothing got changed, I'm still with Elder Baker so it looks like I'm going to kill him, as we say haha. This next transfer is the 29th of March. Yeah Dad told me that you guys were feeling sick, so hopefully you start feeling better soon. Haha Tootsie is a pretty awesome dog.

The work is going well. It seems to me that the people here are really starting to not believe in God and Christ. It's sad to see but the scriptures definitely say that it was going to happen. We have been contacting a lot of Haitains, they are really strong believers. It's actually encourages me to start learning a little bit of French haha. It's a hard language, sorta. The pronunciation is definitely the hardest part. We've been looking for new people, it's been hard. You're totally right about the world though, it's declining really fast. I think that the Second Coming is a lot closer than the people think. I definitely feel like I never dream, I don't know why. At least I wake up in the morning without the memory of a dream. The activity was fun. A member gave a class and then we played a few games and had some food. They do it every couple of weeks here in this ward.

We were talking about ice cream this week and I totally remember that Cold Stone exists, so Papa Murphy's and Cold Stone sounds like the best thing ever haha. Health problems seem to be growing a lot also. There are a lot of people here also that are getting sick. In this ward there have been a few people that have gotten some pretty bad diseases or sicknesses. The good thing is that they are staying strong and faithful in the church, and that's the important thing. A lot of people get mad at God for giving them sicknesses, but it's definitely necessary, like you said if you're never sick, you don't appreciate being healthy.

Our mission is very small, the smallest in South America. It has a few cool areas. I think that Portezuelo is one of the prettiest areas, the second ward that I was in. Right now we live on the street called Blas Vial, with American Vespucio, but tonight we are actually moving houses, so we won't be living there anymore.  Well thanks for the email. I hope that you guys have a wonderful week and that you get better. 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

If we work hard now, the blessings will be great

January 27, 2016
                                

                                              

Elder Stam with the Cadiz family.  They served missions in New Zealand and Argentina

You act like it's a curse to have snow but to me it sounds like a blessing. Our week was good, a little stranger. The people are doing good, as well as the sector, despite it being the hardest time of the year. The Haitians are doing well also. They got to speak with an Elder that speaks French so they could understand a lot better. They speak French and Haitian, very little English, and they are learning Spanish. They have been here for 6 months or so. For the time that they have here, they know a lot of Spanish, it's almost like a missionary haha. They are both single, well I think that one of them might have a girlfriend back the Haiti that is trying to save money to come to Chile, but I don't know.  The area is a little stiff right now. It's also the hardest time of the year. Everyone goes on vacation. And I mean everyone. The entire church attendance in our mission has dropped about 30%. It's just a rough time, but if we work hard right now, the blessings will be really great when everyone comes back.

It's hard to stay in shape while you're on the mission. Haha the battle to stay in shape is like the gospel battle. Hard to do but worth it. The clams were wonderful. I love seafood haha. And of course so many trials have to do with the physical body, Satan doesn't have a body and he is jealous that we do have one, so he does everything that he can do destroy our body.  I think that it is going to be interesting coming back home and eating American food again. For example, here for their salads, they use oil, salt, and lemon. There they use ranch dressing. I'm really used to the lemon on the salads and I actually like it a lot. It will be strange trying to make the chilean food again.

I'm doing well with Elder Baker. After him I am only going to have three transfer cycles left, and there are definitely Elders that have been together for three transfers. So it's possible that my next is my last, or not, it could go either way. Being a trainer depends on the mission president, he chooses them. Haha I knew that you were going to bring this up at some point.  I don't think that it would be too much of a problem, and it would definitely relieve me of a little stress of coming home then going straight to school.   I will pray about it and talk to President. 

I haven't really been taking the allergy pills anymore. I probably won't bring home many pants either. I think that my suitcases might actually be kind of empty. Right, the handle on the big suitcase broke, or the pull up thing that you pull the suitcase with, it broke. So that's gonna suck a little bit.  It would be pretty cool to have Oma live close to us. I think that she would like Utah more than she thinks. I'm pretty sure that everyone would like Utah if they really knew how it was.

We leave the house at 11ish, depending on the day. Days that we have district meeting, weekly planning, Sundays, we don't leave at that time. Well being a missionary you meet a lot of people. Here in this ward I am really good friends with the Poblette family. They are going through a little bit of health problems at the moment, but they get along with me really well. The dad served a mission, and he's the one that wanted to see pictures of the guns haha. Yeah, I didn't want to leave my last area, but what can you do? Move on, that's it. You should try to make friends everywhere you go, like the apostles. Read the scriptures mom haha. Well, thanks for the weekly email. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and that you guys enjoy your little vacation.

Love,
Elder Stam