Week 25 & 26: A Christmas to Remember‏

Querida Familia y Amigos,

          A year from today I won't be a missionary. I will be sleeping in my own bed - in my room by myself because I can! It will be so weird to not have a comp, a shadow following me around! I am sure my sisters will though and if not them, then my dog will definitely not leave my side for at least a week! 6 months down...1/3 of the way done. Kind of strange, mixed emotions.

          Lets see, the past two weeks have been filled with talking to all of Seattle. We are planning for the baptism of Virgilio this next Saturday, but other than that we don't have any investigators we are working with. Our family of six we were teaching dropped us, so that hurt. We have been knocking muchas puertas (many doors) and talking to everyone in the streets. Even though it's hard right now, the most interesting stories come from tracting. There are some crazies out there! I love seeing people's reactions. Everything from inviting us in and giving us food to running away and to threatening to call the police on us. People also have some very interesting philosophies and ideas about religion. The gospel is not only true, but it makes so much sense intellectually - well, at least to those who will listen to it. 

          Since it is the holidays, we have also spent quite a bit of time with members, whom I adore! They are so great. I have had Nicaraguan food, received a scarf from Honduras and of course a lot of Hispanic fiestas! So multi-cultural...love it!  Christmas day we spent with las familias Emigdio, Velasquez y Samayoa. We also ended up playing volleyball for two hours with the Samoan ward at the stake center. Those people don't mess around when it comes to volleyball!!!

Suri & Pablito Emigdio - My Christmas Day Friends!

          Something I have been studying about is agency and the law of justice. There is a quote I found this morning in the last conference talk by D. Todd Christofferson. He said, "God will not act to make us something we do not choose by our actions to become." In other words, God can't automatically save everyone because not everyone will choose to be saved. We have to learn and being willing to live Celestially now in order to become godly, in order to have the desire to live with our Heavenly Father again. 

          My challenge for this year is to get a brand new Book or Mormon (the cheap ones from Deseret Book) and starting on January 1st read about a page and a half everyday. That way we can read together, read as family and friends, and then talk about what we are learning at the same time. Mark in one color things that God and Jesus Christ are saying. In another color mark where it describes Christ or God. I will send you guys a letter describing more in detail.

          I love you all so much. Seriously though. Have a very happy New Year! Que pasa un buen ano nuevo! Make some goals to make 2015 the best year ever!

Week 25 Challenge:

 Week 26 Challenge:

Con Amor,

Hermana Stoddard

Christmas 2014 Pictures:

Week 24: Tis the Season to be a Missionary

Querida Familia y Amigos,

          Yes, I will be here the Seahurst for at least another 6 weeks with Hna. Wrubell which I am actually excited about because I didn't want to be somewhere new for Christmas where I didn't know anyone. At least I can "fiesta" with my adopted family here. That means by the end of this transfer I will have lived in SeaTac for 6 months! That's almost as long as I lived in Provo! Anyway, I guess my work here isn't finished. There are people I am suppose to talk to, teach and baptize. I really do love the Branch!

          A few weeks ago we found la Familia Aguilar. Our leaders have been placing a greater emphasis on finding families, not just people. We feel like this family has been especially prepared to receive the gospel. The first time we just taught the mom and she had a lot of questions about the nature of God. She was amazed at the fact that we believe that He is made of flesh and bone. She invited us to come back a few days later, so we did and we brought a couple from our branch with us. The whole family gathered, including all 4 kids, without hesitation. They had so many questions and all of them were so into it. We ended up being there for almost 3 hours!  We left them with Books of Mormon to read and it was just a powerful lesson. 

          A few days later we came back to teach just the kids. They didn't understand a lot of the lesson because they don't have that kind of vocabulary in Spanish. They also have no religious background because their parents haven't taught them. We taught them a second time in English and we had to go into detail about the Bible and the life of Christ because they really didn't know about it. It was one of the most spiritual lessons for me so far. Most people we teach already know about Christ so we place more emphasis on the Restoration. But with these kids, we were able to explain our Savior to them. The 10 year old had tears in his eyes when we told them that the Jews killed Christ. It was truly a beautiful moment.

          Last night I got to go to down town Seattle for the first time! We went to the Ensign Choir concert with Virgilio, so we didn't do any touristy stuff. It made me all giddy and stuff just being in the city and being able to do something semi-normal...I mean something that I would be doing around this time of year if I were home. It was good fun!

          We also had a mission Christmas party this past week. All the zones (there are 8) made Christmas videos and we watched all of them at the party! Some of them were spiritual, but most of them were so funny! For my zone, the Seattle Zone, we did my idea of the 12 days of Christmas song and we said "my mother gave to me" instead of "my true love."  Hna. Wrubell and I were crying we were laughing so hard!

          We also met a really mean lady on the streets yesterday. You will have to remind me to tell you about her when we Skype on Christmas!  So stoked!  Until then, have a very beautiful Christmas season! Dios les bendiga (God bless you).

Week 24 Challenge:

Con Amor,

Hermana Stoddard

Week 23: The World is Better in White

Querida Familia y Amigos,

          Hello from Washington! Seattle to be correct. It's been a glorious week with many beautiful experiences. A little over a week ago, we woke up to snow. Didn't think I would see that this year, but yes, there was an inch or two all over. I don't love driving in it, but it was a gorgeous welcomer to the Christmas season. The city looked cleaner and somehow when the weather gets colder, the people become warmer. Hermana Wrubell and I have been jamming out to Silent Night and Joy to the World in our car all week. I love Christmas!!! It already feels like December is flying by.

Our Ghetto Fabulous Christmas Tree

Hermana Wrubell and Hermana Stoddard
Feeling festive in their Christmas hats!

          I have had the opportunity to go to the Seattle Temple twice recently. Last week we went with a recent convert and two members from the Branch. It was so cool to see them do baptisms for their fathers who have passed on. It was also "da best" doing baptisms and confirmations in Spanish. It's so much fun hearing Spanish not only at church, but on the streets and in restaurants and finally knowing what they are saying. It's hilarious when they think it's 'going over this white girl's head' until I respond back in Spanish! Love it! Today we went as a mission to do an endowment session in the temple. I love the strength and peace that a receive from going to the House of the Lord. 

          Happy day! I had my first baptism this week!!! Let me just try to explain to you how much I love this family. So the Giles family is ginormous...they are all members, but inactive. We have been having Family Home Evenings with one of the daughters, Monica. She has three kids: Arleth (9), Alondra(5) y Mateo(3). Sometimes they drive me crazy, but basically I love them with all my heart. Our branch mission leader, Temo Chavez, comes to those lessons with us. He is basically the adopted father of the kids. Through him, we have been able to reactivate Monica and her kids. We were able to teach Arleth all the lessons and she was baptized and confirmed this weekend.

The Sisters with Arleth on her Baptism

          The gospel has changed this family so much. Hermana Wrubell and I were talking about it last night after FHE. Their home feels drastically different. There is so much more peace, love and joy. Also, we just love laughing with them. The other night Monica was laughing so hard that she literally fell on the floor. Then Alondra spilled her drink in Temo's lap so it looked like he wet himself. And then Monica was asking about polygamy while I wasn't fully paying attention. I just said, "Si." Everyone started laughing and then I realized that I agreed that Mormons can have more than one boyfriend/ girlfriend. Haha oops! Note to self: Know what you are agreeing to BEFORE you say "si." We have made some fun memories, including decorating their Christmas tree.

Decorating the Tree

Less active work is so frustrating, but never give up on anyone. You never know at what moment they are going to change.

          We had a funny experience with a very drunk Samoan man. He prayed for us "Holy people" because he was scared that we were going to get snatched. So many great experiences from knocking doors. Yesterday we talked to this 17 year old girl that said she was Atheist. I just don't think she knew what to believe. Basically she told us that she is used to the way she is living and doesn't want to improve it. We bore her pure testimony, but she didn't care. She said she has never felt true joy and that she doesn't care to feel it. My heart literally broke in two. Why wouldn't you want to be happy? Why wouldn't you want to partake of blessings? Why wouldn't you want to feel loved? The mind set of some people...they hold themselves back from their own happiness. 

          But there is something you can do to help others. Even those that don't think they need to be helped. In this month's issue of the Ensign, there are pass along cards for He is the Gift. If you haven't seen the video, watch it. If you have watched it, share it. It's only 2 minutes long, but so powerful. Help the world, especially loved ones, friends and neighbors remember the true meaning of Christmas. Peace and blessings, peace and blessings.

At 5'6" in flats, I am a virtual GIANT!!

Con Amor,

Hermana Stoddard

Week 23 Challenge:

See Week 22 for additional pics!

Week 22: Beautiful Moments

Dear Family and Friends,

          As of today, I have been on my mission for 5 months. How do you feel about that? Is it flying by or has it felt like an eternity? I just think it's weird.

We stumbled upon a teeter-totter and....
we might have played on it!

          This week, not only have I been physically fed, but spiritually fed as well. Last Tuesday we had Elder Falabella, a member of the Seventies come and speak to us. He gave us a lot of amazing insights and I received lots of personal revelation. One thing that stuck out to me was choosing the best path, not just a good path. The good path is normally easier than the best. It's all that good, better, best thing. Why don't we chose the best for ourselves? Because it's hard. The Lord gives us those hard things because they will be better for us. Another thing that he pushed is teaching families, not just individuals. It's so much harder to find a family that is interested and to coordinate with their schedules, but it's much easier for them to be strong, faithful members if they convert as a family. It's just hard here where most of the people are immigrants and aren't living with their families right now. That's why I hope we get iPads soon so that we can Skype with their families. 

          Exciting news: we are going to have a baptism this Friday!!! We have been teaching the 9 year old daughter of a less active family in our branch. They are coming back to activity and I absolutely love all of them! So pray for Arleth Giles and that everything will go well with her baptism. We have Family Home Evenings with them every week and they have just opened up so much to us. The thought of ever leaving them is hard.

I love Family Home Evenings!  Noche de Hogar!

Alondra - who calls Rachel "Hermana Bonita"

           
          On Thursday we had a Thanksgiving activity as missionaries. Basically anyone who had a musical ability shared their talent. The meeting concluded with Costco muffins and packages from home so I would consider it a rather successful meeting! After that we went about that day just like any other day, but then we ended by having a fiesta at la Familia Velasquez' home. We had an assortment of shrimp, salsas, meats, you know anything Hispanic related. 

          We are teaching a 18 year old girl right now named Lesli. I feel like I connect with her so well. She is honestly seeking for truth, something better in her life. It's just so hard to get people to read the Book of Mormon, pray and come to church. Satan knows it's those little daily things that bring conversion. So make sure y'all are doing those things. I promise that they will build your testimonies. 

          What I decided that I was thankful for this Thanksgiving are those beautiful moments in our lives. They are the small, sometimes insignificant, times in our lives that we really have to pay attention to in order to notice. I have had the blessing of noticing quite a few of these moments on my mission. Holding the hand of a 4 year old while walking through a very poor, very dark, very dreary trailer park; laughing about nothing in particular with a family at the dinner table; random stranger hugs; a 2 year old kissing me on the cheek; and having a woman cry on my shoulder.  All these things happened on ordinary days. But they are moments that I will never forget because of the gentle, warm, but powerful presence of the spirit in my heart. 

          I am so excited for this Christmas season! The Church is excited as well. They are starting this Christmas Initiative. I hope you have heard about it. It's called "He is the Gift". you can find it at christmas.mormon.org. Every missionary is passing out cards for the website and we are suppose to talk about it with everyone. The Church bought the advertisements on youtube for December 7 and it is being advertised in Times square, New York. They want the world to know about it. That means we need you! Share the video with friends and family on the internet, tell them about it. Don't be shy to talk about it. It such a beautiful video. That's my challenge for the month. Share the video He is the Gift and set a goal to do it before Christmas. What are you going to give our Savior, our Redeemer for Christmas this year? 

Week 22 Challenge:

I love you all and have a glorious week! 

Con Amor,

Hermana Stoddard

Celebrating my 5 month Click Day