Moms (Mums) are the BEST!!

Mom!!!!

Mom I want to thank you so much for your email what you talked about was exactly what I needed to hear.  You know none of us are perfect and we all get lazy sometimes and you know I talked to President Back and he said the exact same thing.  This work is hard and it is tiring.  Our schedule as missionaries is a very hard schedule and you know I have to remember that I am just a human being and sometimes psychically I have to let my body rest so thank you mom for your wonderful email it helped so much. :)  I am trying to find that balance because sometimes we just need to take a rest but not to long.  Haha power naps are the best!!  Those 15 minutes of rest after lunch is the best but I need to make them no longer then 15 minutes. :) This whole life is a balance and we have to find that happy medium.

Going on's

 
Well this past week has been a good one.  Haha another fast one! Man it just flies so fast.  If it wasn't the 10 week transfer we would be having transfers today but we still have 4 more weeks until the next transfers.  I'm so grateful for that haha first because I'm not a big fan of change and second I love my companion and my flat mates.  I am having so much fun with them and we are making so many good memories that will last forever and friendships that will last for the eternities.  Haha especially me and Elder Delahunty :) When I first became companions with Elder Plata I kind of struggled with him at first and I still do at times but the biggest thing I have found out is that all I can do is love the guy.  Love him with all I got and it will all work out.  There are still some things that bug me that he does but at the end of the day they don't matter.  I love my companion and I have seen over the 2 transfers I have been with Elder Plata how we have been blessed.  I encourage all of you to do the same whether it be with your missionary companion, someone at work, or your eternal companion if you love them with all your heart it will all work out.  The work is going good we met with C____ this past week and had a good lesson with him as we read out of the Book of Mormon.  He is doing good but he still has a way to go.  The Tongan Elders were the ones who were first teaching him and now they have passed him off to us but I feel like they were trying to rush everything and trying to rush him to baptism.  I have learned on my mission that baptisms do not matter.  A baptism is just a statistic.  I am coming to learn that at the end of my mission it will not matter how many baptisms I had because first of all they are not my baptisms they are the Lord's baptisms and everything works in the Lord's time and the way He wants it to work.  If as missionaries we are blessed to help someone come to the waters of baptism then awesome, if we as missionaries teach someone and help them come closer to Christ but not become baptized then awesome as well.  We as humans all go about life but when things happen that is in the Lord's plan we can't control that.  I feel as members we determine if a missionary is successful or not depending on how many baptisms they had.  I have known missionaries while I have been out on my mission that are great missionaries that worked hard and tried there best and they finished and had no baptisms.  I know other missionaries that have worked hard and tried there best and finished with 15 baptisms.  God has a plan for each and everyone of us and all of our plans are different.  We must remember that numbers do not matter.  Baptisms do not determine a successful missionary.  Good grades do not determine a good student.  Nice car, nice home, nice clothes does not determine a good family.  It is not our place to judge we are commanded to love our neighbor.  We must love everybody and support all of them.  I wrote this for myself because I have learned this over my mission.  I always thought that baptisms determine a good missionary but that is not even close to true.  I have been so blessed to to be able to help two people come closer to Christ through baptism and that is what I needed at that time to help me but as I go forward for the rest of my mission it is all in God's hands and I will do whatever I can to help His work move forward not my work move forward.

What else?

Let's see other people we are working with.  Oh ya!!!!!  A_____ came to church this past Sunday!!!!  It was so awesome!!!  We have been working so hard with her and she came to church yesterday.  It was so cool and you know that helped me.  We have been working very hard with her to come back to church ever since I got to MacArthur and a lot of people have told us to just drop her but I'm am not one to give up and I didn't want to give up on her.  If we don't give up things will ALWAYS work out.  If we listened to everybody and gave up on A______ who knows what would be happening.  We still have to work hard with her because she has to keep coming to church but she has taken the first step yesterday!!!! :):) 

I ran out of money, oops.

This week has been good and Im having a lot of fun!!  Elder Fifita knows how to cut hair so he gave me a hair cut a couple of days ago which was awesome because it was free!!!!  Haha which is good because I'm out of money this month :) haha oops I guess I need to learn how to budget.  When I was out in the bush it was easy we had plenty of money because we only had to worry about ourselves and our companions but here in the city it is a lot different and haha money just seems to vanish but it's good though I need to learn how to budget my money so I'll start next month haha cuz I have nothing to budget this month.:)     Short sleeve shirts are like $20 at Target and I'll probably get just like 3 and see how long that will last.  

How's the Heat?

Haha surviving the heat...yes we wear lot's of deodorant and drink lot's of water, try to find as much shade as possible, and oh so we found out the whole reason they invented ties was to wipe the sweat off of your face and so we use our ties A LOT !!!:) It's starting to finally cool down a little here it's actually pretty cool today I'm wearing a sweater in the library.  So haha it's nice for it to cool down and you guys are probably ready for some warmth.   

Aussie pizza?

Aussie Pizza is ok nothing compared to American Pizza but it's good.  Dominoes here is HUGE and they have a sweet deal they have like 7-8 different pizzas you can choose from for $5 so we get that a lot just 4 pizzas for $20 and that's our lunch. :) I miss American food though because the food here after a while just all tastes the same and I definitely miss Panda Express and American cheese burgers.:)   

Wise Words from the Elder.

Oh so this past week we had a dinner at a members house the P___'s.  They are a really nice family and Sister P___ was giving me and Elder Plata a lot of tips for when we get home and get married  and one she told me that really stuck out to me was support and serve your wife (spouse) 110%.  After she told me that I thought about you mom and dad and how you guys raised a family in the gospel and have a successful marriage and that is what I have seen you guys do over the years.  You guys are always there for one another and are always there for me and Dani and I thank you for that.:) 

CPR

 

Well I hope you guys have a great week!!  Haha and I'm sure before we all know it, it will be next P-day and we will be emailing again.  One analogy we have as missionaries is CPR Church Pray Read and by doing these three things spiritually we will grow and flourish.  I love all of you guys thanks for everything.  Dani and Caleb and John and Patrick I love all of you guys keep going strong and John and Patrick make sure your good for your mom :)  Mom and Dad I love you guys and thanks for everything.  Have a great week and have fun golfing dad.:)

Love Elder Stott :)