I was so excited to finally get an e-mail from Stockton! I checked multiple times a day until it came through. :) He sounds sooooo gooooood! His companion is Elder Womack from Lander, Wyoming. Stockton is the district leader. There are eight people in the district. Two sets of sisters going to Tucson and one pair of Elders going to Louisiana. Stockton lives with his zone, which consists of a few districts. He said there was crazy Alaska bound Elder that even got into the shower with Stockton and tried to bathe him. Gross! Luckily that guy has been shipped out.
Stockton talked about how much he has been loving teaching the mission lessons. Here is an excerpt from his letter:
But the missionary side of things has been great. We have workshops and devotionals and teaching simulations pretty much every day. Those teaching simulations have been the best part of the MTC, no joke. Elder Womack and I get to meet different people to teach; some are actors, but there are even some who actually signed up for the program to learn about what we teach, which is crazy. I'd never tried to teach a full missionary lesson to someone before, so I was nervous.
But when Elder Womack and I started our first lesson, everything felt so comfortable. It was so smooth, and by the time we got to the end, I was bearing my testimony of the Book of Mormon that we had shared with her. And in that exact moment, I felt this huge, warm rush of the Spirit, a feeling that I have only very rarely felt before. It completely came out of nowhere And then I shared my testimony that God was her loving Heavenly Father, and again, in that exact moment, I felt that same rush of the Spirit again. It was so distinct and almost distracted me from what I was saying.
As a missionary, I've been promised that I will feel the Spirit as I testify of truth, and that promise was fulfilled perfectly during that lesson. And then we met another woman the next day and were teaching her. I wasn't thinking about anything except what was going on in the room. And that same feeling came back exactly when I was bearing my testimony. It was no fluke; the Spirit has come to me in the exact same way in the exact same moment of every single lesson I have taught here, whether it's while teaching someone or just practicing in class. I never thought it could happen to me. But the blessings of being a missionary are real, and I can promise that. I think I've recognized the Spirit more during this one week than I ever have before.
Anyway, that was so good to read! I know Stockton was really nervous about his mission. Scared he would do something wrong to mess up someone's life. Scared that he wouldn't be able to feel the Spirit. One week in and we are getting letters like this. Wow. I can't wait to read the letters throughout his mission! I am so thankful we didn't push him to go on his mission. I think by letting him decide that he wanted to go, and decide the timing has made a huge difference. I love his attitude.
Utah State buddies
Stockton, his old roommate Kristian Fors, his very good friend John Lyon
Jorja and I picked up her Sweethearts dress that she had rented. It is really pretty. Cori came and got Jorja. She had Miah with her, which was awesome. They went and picked out some shoes and got their nails done. Jorja picked white. Jorja was so tired when she got home. I can not wait until she is 100% again. This mono has lasted forever.
Preston and I tried to go to diving today. We left about fifteen minutes late because I was picking up Jorja's dress with her. We were halfway down Wasatch Boulevard when the entire road closed. There were cop cars blocking it off in both directions. We had to turn around. At this point Preston and I decided just to bag it. We went grocery shopping instead. Really, we were picking up some things we needed for The Amazing Race. Mike and I worked on that the rest of the night while Jorja was gone. I think we have a good plan. Not any back and forth, so the driving won't be so bad. I tried to get a station at Nothing Bundt Cakes so Abby could participate. She had to pull out of the activity because she has to work. She didn't think her boss would go for it though. Haha. At least we tried! I think it is going to be fun, but Mike and I still have soooooo much to do!
Preston
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