[from June 10, 2017]
I think this next group of people going home is gonna be a lot worse... there´s over 20 missionaries that are gonna be leaving. But hopefully everybody gets on their planes the first time...
I guess Dad got pretty well prepared in this calling cause he seemed to have it all under control. I think basically what I did at the airport was I just got upset and talked a little harshly to an airport person so they´d us pass through security with the sister missionary. It felt kinda like that one time when I yelled at somebody in Wegman´s. That was a funny day. I was so mad haha.
Anyways in "it´s not news it´s missionary chambre news" somebody went home early (so there was gonna be a trio anyways) and president decided to send the ruta secretary to replace of the guy who went home. I don´t think the ruta secretary was doing a very good job and president got quite an earful during interviews.
So now I´m in a trio again and we´re all in charge of the ruta, it´s kind of a mess but it´s cool to see how happy missionaries get when you give them a new pillow or even a box of book of Mormons when they´ve been asking for months. I feel kinda bad for the guy who was the ruta secretary cause a lot of missionaries are upset with him. I offered him help while he was here but he never wanted it. Kinda a weird situation, pero asà pasa cuando sucede. [Translation: But that is how it goes when it happens.]
Today I ate at dennys. I got all you can eat pancakes...I´m pretty full. I also found a really good taco place here but it´s not quite like a taco. Every taco is an imitation of mexico wherever you go, but I think I like the american imitation more than the Honduran one to be honest haha.
I´m glad you guys had fun there in Switzerland. It sounds cool. That´s pretty cool you´re gonna go see the catacombs, you can´t leave Paris without seeing. Yeah take pictures of the catacombs, the eifel tower, the france temple... And I think that´ll do me.
Oh I completely understand being hot with no air... I have lived that way for quite a bit. You guys sound like you need some fans. Even though I´ve got A/C now I will never forget the fans that have always been there for me (when there´s light anyways)
I´m gonna try to take more pictures and send them now that I get to see more stuff.
Love you all,
Elder Stoddard
Saturday, August 12, 2017
Really Exciting or Really Boring
[from June 3, 2017]
Yeah I know the airport was kinda rough...We have to stay with the people who are headed out of the mission until they go through security and everything. We assumed that since both times she went through she was good to go, but that wasn´t the case. Yeah, I was pretty patient, I didn´t get upset or anything... I was just tired and I don´t think I was as friendly as I should have been to her or to the airport people. I was tired and knew I had to get the problem solved. President and my companion were both pretty upset. It was my idea to go through with her. Ok... I did get a little frustrated when it happen the second time.
I had to go drop somebody off this week in Olanchito, almost in Nicaragua. That was a LONG drive! Yeah, here things are either really exciting or really boring.
This calling is a little stressful sometimes.
Well, this last week I had to do a pretty big report about the baptisms in the Month of May, and that was kind of tough, cause I had to track down information from lots of missionaries, and some of them don´t even have phones to call! Pretty tough sometimes, but now that´s over so I´ve been working on some car insurance paperwork and buying some office supplies.
My bed is pretty soft, I got a bunk bed, so I thought it might stink to be on top, but the air conditioning blows right on me so its worth it.
I have so many books in the house. Lots and lots. I don´t get to read to much in the house so a lot of them are in the car too, cause when Elder Draper drives I´ll read then.
In the house there´s six of us. We played a game were we all went to the super market and bought something and then, blindfolded we had to eat a spoonful of that thing somebody else had bought. Some people bought gross things and some people bought good things. Somebody bought some hot peppers but it was funny because they were the ones who had to eat it.
My clothes are getting kinda old to be honest. I guess I´m a little rough on them. I washed them by hand for a good chunk of time and I think thats why they´re so worn.
I´m probably gonna see some weird stuff while here. One thing that I got to go to this week was the leader´s meeting with the Zone Leaders, Assistants, the Sister Training Leaders, and me. It was a pretty cool meeting. It was cool cause I just stood up and talked for about five minutes and then I got to listen to all the plans that they were making for the whole mission. Pretty cool. I also got to send some emails to a 70. I hope to get to email an apostle while I´m here. I think something really really good or really really bad needs to happen though.
Also, I called one of the people who was converted while I was in Montecristo (Aylin). She said she was thinking about serving a mission. We´ll see cause she´s still got a while before she´ll be able to, but still very cool that she´s thinking about it. I think it would be very cool if somebody who I taught went on a mission too.
You´re getting to be quite the world travelers huh? Now in Switzerland. How crazy is that. I think that´s where the Alps are I think. I bet you never thought you´d get to go to all those cool places. You gotta open up a swiss bank account while you´re there, like real rich guys.
Anyways, be careful driving. They drive on the right in France I think.
Love you guys and have a good week.
-Elder Stoddard
Yeah I know the airport was kinda rough...We have to stay with the people who are headed out of the mission until they go through security and everything. We assumed that since both times she went through she was good to go, but that wasn´t the case. Yeah, I was pretty patient, I didn´t get upset or anything... I was just tired and I don´t think I was as friendly as I should have been to her or to the airport people. I was tired and knew I had to get the problem solved. President and my companion were both pretty upset. It was my idea to go through with her. Ok... I did get a little frustrated when it happen the second time.
I had to go drop somebody off this week in Olanchito, almost in Nicaragua. That was a LONG drive! Yeah, here things are either really exciting or really boring.
This calling is a little stressful sometimes.
Well, this last week I had to do a pretty big report about the baptisms in the Month of May, and that was kind of tough, cause I had to track down information from lots of missionaries, and some of them don´t even have phones to call! Pretty tough sometimes, but now that´s over so I´ve been working on some car insurance paperwork and buying some office supplies.
My bed is pretty soft, I got a bunk bed, so I thought it might stink to be on top, but the air conditioning blows right on me so its worth it.
I have so many books in the house. Lots and lots. I don´t get to read to much in the house so a lot of them are in the car too, cause when Elder Draper drives I´ll read then.
In the house there´s six of us. We played a game were we all went to the super market and bought something and then, blindfolded we had to eat a spoonful of that thing somebody else had bought. Some people bought gross things and some people bought good things. Somebody bought some hot peppers but it was funny because they were the ones who had to eat it.
My clothes are getting kinda old to be honest. I guess I´m a little rough on them. I washed them by hand for a good chunk of time and I think thats why they´re so worn.
I´m probably gonna see some weird stuff while here. One thing that I got to go to this week was the leader´s meeting with the Zone Leaders, Assistants, the Sister Training Leaders, and me. It was a pretty cool meeting. It was cool cause I just stood up and talked for about five minutes and then I got to listen to all the plans that they were making for the whole mission. Pretty cool. I also got to send some emails to a 70. I hope to get to email an apostle while I´m here. I think something really really good or really really bad needs to happen though.
Also, I called one of the people who was converted while I was in Montecristo (Aylin). She said she was thinking about serving a mission. We´ll see cause she´s still got a while before she´ll be able to, but still very cool that she´s thinking about it. I think it would be very cool if somebody who I taught went on a mission too.
You´re getting to be quite the world travelers huh? Now in Switzerland. How crazy is that. I think that´s where the Alps are I think. I bet you never thought you´d get to go to all those cool places. You gotta open up a swiss bank account while you´re there, like real rich guys.
Anyways, be careful driving. They drive on the right in France I think.
Love you guys and have a good week.
-Elder Stoddard
Faux Pas
[from May 27, 2017]
Hey family,
I had to do some crazy stuff for President today (he´s going on a Roatan trip) even though it´s our p-day Saturdays. So I just have time to stop by the office super quick and shoot this email off. The good thing is I´ll be back here Monday and I can write for real then. Don´t worry I´m not forgetting about you guys for a second!!!
I love all of you and we´ll see you guys then!
-Elder Stoddard
Hey Family, that ended up taking not nearly as long as I thought so here goes...
Oh you bet I ate a ton of Uno pizza. I never though I would find anything like that down here, but it is way cool. They have a lot of cool restaurants here, like Denny´s, Johnny Rockets, Fridays. The thing is that they´re all pretty expensive. American prices with a Honduran mission fund.
Everything here is awesome. This week was a little crazy cause of changes (I believe every other mission in the world calls them transfers, but my mission has weird words). The other day we had to take all the people home which is usually an all day ordeal, but ended up being a 2 day ordeal this time. On Wednesday night, the missionaries who were going home showed up at about 10 o´clock from their last dinner with president. They slept in our house and the power was out. That was kinda rough. Then we got up (Elder Guadarrama and I) at 2 o´clock in the morning to take the first group to the airport. We were at the airport until 6 oclock when we went home, got in missionary clothes, and took another group back to the airport. We were there until 2´clock and then we went back at 3 with the last group that finished up at six. The problem was, one of the sister missionaries who was supposed to go home at 6 missed her flight. Sooo we rebooked her for a flight at 10 oclock at night with the same airline. Guess which two missionaries had to stay with her in the airport? Yep Stoddy and Guada. So at 10 oclock at night she missed her flight AGAIN. Uggg. We booked her for a flight at 4 in the morning and we took her to a sister missionary house near by and Guada and I collapsed in our beds until that next morning when we once again woke up at the crack of dawn to bring her to the airport. This time though, we went through the security with her (we got special passes) to make sure she got on the stinkin airplane. Apparently she missed it the first time cause she was looking at souvenirs and the second time she was eating. So that was pretty crazy. And a super long experience. Friday we went to the office, but both of us were pretty dead. We came home and just went straight to sleep. Today I am finally back to feeling normal.
Sorry I wrote about that crazy experience, but I thought it was worth sharing. I know how it feels to hear English in a sea of a foreign language. Pretty nice huh?
Office life is treating me pretty well. I like it but it is very different. I just hope I can keep teaching a good amount while I´m here. I Enjoy being here lots, but it is a very different kind of stressful and work than other missionaries feel I think. Like instead of worrying about "dang, there´s no water in the bucket, I can´t flush the toilet" now I worry about "dang, president is gonna be very upset if this sister misses her plane for a THIRD time. I´d better talk to the DSA (yes the DSA not TSA) about going through with her."
As a secretary I do a lot of boring stuff and every once in a while something bad happens and I get to do some exciting stuff.
My area here is pretty peaceful and quiet so that´s good. My ward here is one of the oldest in Honduras, and where all the new missionaries come for their orientation on their first day.
I hope I still get to baptize people as a secretary, I´m gonna do my best, but we´ll see. It´s pretty hard to do.
I am all good now, I don´t really miss a whole ton in america. Maybe that we have power most of the time. I don´t get sick too often, and I got over that little sniffly thing I had while I talked to you pretty fast.
Ireland sounds pretty cool, I am glad you guys have gotten the opportunity to go there. The talk pretty funny over there don´t they? You´re so lucky you guys get to travel like that!! Driving over here is nuts too. Don´t forget to drive on the left and I´ll try not to run so many red lights. You guys like Ireland or France better so far?
I don´t know what weird habits you guys are gonna see though. One time we found a family of Gringos (white people) and they invited us to eat. My companion and I start eating the chicken like Hondurans, with our hands. Just about everybody does that. There were some beans and tortillas so I started using the tortilla as a kinda utensil, like they do here. I realized they were kinda staring at me in horror and I realized that there were a fork knife and spoon at my place. Here they use those things, but it´s not normal to eat chicken or beans with them. You´re gonna end up saying bonjour in Ukraine hahahaha.
It is really funny, sometimes I forget what I´m supposed to be speaking and I´ll start speaking spanish to a gringo or english to a latino. Usually it happens on the phone. One time people from Utah called my companion and they didn´t speak spanish so my companion passed me the phone and I started speaking for him. That made me feel kinda cool, like a professional translator.
Love you guys!!!
-Elder Stoddard
Hey family,
I had to do some crazy stuff for President today (he´s going on a Roatan trip) even though it´s our p-day Saturdays. So I just have time to stop by the office super quick and shoot this email off. The good thing is I´ll be back here Monday and I can write for real then. Don´t worry I´m not forgetting about you guys for a second!!!
I love all of you and we´ll see you guys then!
-Elder Stoddard
Hey Family, that ended up taking not nearly as long as I thought so here goes...
Oh you bet I ate a ton of Uno pizza. I never though I would find anything like that down here, but it is way cool. They have a lot of cool restaurants here, like Denny´s, Johnny Rockets, Fridays. The thing is that they´re all pretty expensive. American prices with a Honduran mission fund.
Everything here is awesome. This week was a little crazy cause of changes (I believe every other mission in the world calls them transfers, but my mission has weird words). The other day we had to take all the people home which is usually an all day ordeal, but ended up being a 2 day ordeal this time. On Wednesday night, the missionaries who were going home showed up at about 10 o´clock from their last dinner with president. They slept in our house and the power was out. That was kinda rough. Then we got up (Elder Guadarrama and I) at 2 o´clock in the morning to take the first group to the airport. We were at the airport until 6 oclock when we went home, got in missionary clothes, and took another group back to the airport. We were there until 2´clock and then we went back at 3 with the last group that finished up at six. The problem was, one of the sister missionaries who was supposed to go home at 6 missed her flight. Sooo we rebooked her for a flight at 10 oclock at night with the same airline. Guess which two missionaries had to stay with her in the airport? Yep Stoddy and Guada. So at 10 oclock at night she missed her flight AGAIN. Uggg. We booked her for a flight at 4 in the morning and we took her to a sister missionary house near by and Guada and I collapsed in our beds until that next morning when we once again woke up at the crack of dawn to bring her to the airport. This time though, we went through the security with her (we got special passes) to make sure she got on the stinkin airplane. Apparently she missed it the first time cause she was looking at souvenirs and the second time she was eating. So that was pretty crazy. And a super long experience. Friday we went to the office, but both of us were pretty dead. We came home and just went straight to sleep. Today I am finally back to feeling normal.
Sorry I wrote about that crazy experience, but I thought it was worth sharing. I know how it feels to hear English in a sea of a foreign language. Pretty nice huh?
Office life is treating me pretty well. I like it but it is very different. I just hope I can keep teaching a good amount while I´m here. I Enjoy being here lots, but it is a very different kind of stressful and work than other missionaries feel I think. Like instead of worrying about "dang, there´s no water in the bucket, I can´t flush the toilet" now I worry about "dang, president is gonna be very upset if this sister misses her plane for a THIRD time. I´d better talk to the DSA (yes the DSA not TSA) about going through with her."
As a secretary I do a lot of boring stuff and every once in a while something bad happens and I get to do some exciting stuff.
My area here is pretty peaceful and quiet so that´s good. My ward here is one of the oldest in Honduras, and where all the new missionaries come for their orientation on their first day.
I hope I still get to baptize people as a secretary, I´m gonna do my best, but we´ll see. It´s pretty hard to do.
I am all good now, I don´t really miss a whole ton in america. Maybe that we have power most of the time. I don´t get sick too often, and I got over that little sniffly thing I had while I talked to you pretty fast.
Ireland sounds pretty cool, I am glad you guys have gotten the opportunity to go there. The talk pretty funny over there don´t they? You´re so lucky you guys get to travel like that!! Driving over here is nuts too. Don´t forget to drive on the left and I´ll try not to run so many red lights. You guys like Ireland or France better so far?
I don´t know what weird habits you guys are gonna see though. One time we found a family of Gringos (white people) and they invited us to eat. My companion and I start eating the chicken like Hondurans, with our hands. Just about everybody does that. There were some beans and tortillas so I started using the tortilla as a kinda utensil, like they do here. I realized they were kinda staring at me in horror and I realized that there were a fork knife and spoon at my place. Here they use those things, but it´s not normal to eat chicken or beans with them. You´re gonna end up saying bonjour in Ukraine hahahaha.
It is really funny, sometimes I forget what I´m supposed to be speaking and I´ll start speaking spanish to a gringo or english to a latino. Usually it happens on the phone. One time people from Utah called my companion and they didn´t speak spanish so my companion passed me the phone and I started speaking for him. That made me feel kinda cool, like a professional translator.
Love you guys!!!
-Elder Stoddard
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