Getting the Work Going After Years Without Missionaries in the Area

[from January 29, 2018]

Everythings going really good. Sorry about last week, I couldn`t write because I had to go to the hospital and get my tuburculosis skin test checked. 

The area`s good. It`s been kinda hard getting started here. Finding Adonai our second day here was a true miracle. He was just so prepared. He had been taught by the missionarys before and was all but ready to be baptized. I think the only reason he didn`t was because of the whole debacle of missionaries being taken out of this area. 

We`re teaching a couple youth who are really promising (William and Wilson) both of them are struggling with word of wisdom problems. We visited them with an ex-alcoholic member this week. It went really well. THe spirit was really strong.

Also, this week we found another guy named Edwin who speaks perfect english. He works at a food stand on the side of the highway that runs through our area, but lived a year in San Antonio TX. We visited him twice and he went to church with us on sunday. He really liked it and said he would bring his family next week. We were like wait... your family? We`d only visited him at the food stand, so we`re gonna have to visit his house. 

We had a huge step forward this week too, because they finally called a ward mission leader. He`s a really cool guy named Brother Medina. I really get along well with him. My companion is still a pretty one track mind excersize nut. He`s really funny and I get along well with him. Just a 100% really good guy. He eats really slow though, which always makes whoever is helping us with the food ask me if I want more hahah. 

THey announced the changes last night and I`m gonna be here in this area with Elder Asturias another change, so we`re both pretty happy. As far as the apartment goes, we are both so happy to be in the new one. Going from no running water, basicaly no electricity, and windows with no screens (basically just holes in the walls that are invitations for mosquitos), to a house with a/c running water and glass windows was a huge change that we are still so thankful for. 

Sorry for not writing too much, I love you guys lots but sometimes it is kinda hard to arrange the p-days and stuff. I`m all set with the food in the package. There isn`t anything I really need. My companion wants some vans shoes though because they don`t exist down here in Honduras or Guatemala. He like the black slip on kind. (you can just send the shoes, not the whole box). His shoes are pretty ratty and I think he`s really apprecate it.

I have a russian copy of the book of mormon too, but I can`t read any of it. I can sound out the words, but I don`t know what it means. Maybe I`ll try to Elder Kolipoki it before too long haha. It`s really nice you have a bunch of different ways to practice the russian. It`s almost as if you`re doing companionship language study... you reading the book of mormon outloud. I also listen to General conference during the language study time. Whenever I get the chance I download some that sound interesting to me in spanish onto my "ghettopod." 

From The Other Side of Heaven - Elder John Groberg's Story

I visit ward members when we have dinner with them. Sometimes ward member will go with us to visit which is really cool. This last week we had some visit with us, and it helped a lot. 

I love you guys! Have a great week! 
Elder Stoddard