Wednesday, February 22, 2012

February 22, 2012

Dear Family and Friends,
 
Wow it is still so crazy to me that this is my final letter that will be coming to you from the MTC! The time has flown by and I have learned and grown so much here!
 
This is my advice to all incoming missionaries:  TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE of the opportunity you have at the MTC to learn and grow. There is no rule that says you have to love and enjoy the MTC but I´ll tell you what, it sure helps.
 
I was so excited and want to give a huge congrats to Lauren for getting into BYU!!!!!! That is so awesome, congrats lil sis, you will love it. Also a huge congrats to everyone who got accepted which as far as I know is Quinn, Logan, Baylee, and Hannah! A huge congrats!  BYU is an awesome school and you will all love it sooooo much! Logan and Lauren, I have the letters of advice you both requested in the mail, haha.
 
And so now the Travel Plans... Thursday is the day that all travel plans come for departures coming in two weeks and so last Thursday when we didn´t have travel plans in our mail box, I stopped by and asked what was next. They asked where I was going and before I could finish saying the word "Mexico," they said, "Yeah you're getting reassigned."  Apparently all Mexico missionaries are currently waiting for visas, so barring a major change in the next 24 hours (which is possible) I will find out tommorrow morning where my new Mission is for a while! Because there are so many missionaries currently being reassigned, they are sending people ALL over so I could end up anywhere and it is really exciting to know that it could be anywhere! It's kind of cool to get a second mission call and I know where ever I go is where the Lord needs me to be. The other cool thing about it is that we will find out tommorrow and depending on where I'm going, I could leave as early as Friday morning. Because of this I get to call you for about 5 minutes tommorrow morning so that I can can coordinate travel plans and times with you guys. I need you to dearelder me back a response of what phone I should call before 4 o clock utah time today please? Muchas Gracias. Yes Momma, we can call from the airport so that is something I'm really looking forward to.
 
So that has been the bulk of our District's excitement this week is the mystery of not knowing where in the United States we could be going! Besides that it has been a great week. Our district has grown very close and I will miss them all dearly. The Bolivian Elders in our district left a month ago for the Peru MTC so they have no VISA issues.
 
Once again, I am just so grateful for my time here at the MTC. I have learned and grown so much and not just in the Gospel and in Spanish, but I have learned so much about so many other things: about myself, about how to work hard, about apreciating my family and friends, and about relying on Christ. The MTC is hard, I won't lie, it's not easy, but it's better that way. When you are here, you have to learn to rely on you Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ because you don't really have any other choice. You are here disconnected from the rest of the world and asked to not only learn, but also teach the gospel in a new language. The only way to do so is with the help of the Godhead. And I can testify that they don't forsake misssionaries. In these very few short weeks here, I have felt the love and support of Christ more than maybe ever before in my life. There is a promise given to all missionaries in D&C 68:5-6 that I absolutley love and would encourage everyone to read. I know that there is no better place for me to be right now and I am so excited for so many of my friends to soon be able to have the same experience! Take advantage of the MTC, whether you're here for 3, 6, 9, or 12 weeks. If you do your best here, it will bless your mission.
 
College friends:  So I finally got a picture with Elder Rodenburg and Elder Hooper so I will be sending that to someone back at the Y. Also, Elder Rodenburg and I were eating together in the cafeteria Sunday night and guess who we saw? None other than Maximo Acevedo himself!!! It was cool to talk to him for just a few mins and it sounds like everyone is doing good (aside from Brady who it sounds like has quite the car issue - with it being #smashed and what not, who gives you guys rides now?)
 
Momma, I finally am sending pics home today! Sorry its taken so long.
I love you all so much, thank you for all the letters, packages, and support. May the Lord bless each of you exceedingly.
 
Love,
Elder Stockard.

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