Week #94b Surprise post with new companion and final assignment

Hey Mom!

I am here with Elder Reber. He is from Mesquite Nevada. He is actually bigger than I am! haha

Being here with him reminds me of the good old days when I couldn´t speak any spanish. From what I can see he has a really great desire to love the people and he is super excited to work hard.

I still do have a camera and I have been taking pictures and everything, however I have forgotten to send them. I am sorry. I will try to send all of the most recent pictures to you!

I dont have much time this week I am sorry, But I just want you guys to know that I love you. have a great week!

-Elder Stockman

​this was one week ago...

​This was the last zone in Piedras Negras. One more transfer to go

Week- 94 I'm a father

Mom and Dad,

The long waited time to be a father has finally come. I am going to Saltillo in 1 hour to recieve a new Elder. I have no idea who he is or where he is from. The funny thing is that I will still be here in Piedras Negras but instead of 5th ward I will be in 4th ward. I will let you guys know when I know more. I am so excited, this is actually exactly how I wanted to finish my mission. I think it was the little boost of energy that I need. My time is really limited today but I know that i can make it 6 more weeks!

I love you guys so much!

love 

Elder Stockman 

Week 93 Its a lot of fun to experience something so horrible.(heat)

Hey Mom!

So this week it has been soooo hot! hahah

just when I thought that it would cool down a lot more it has gotten hotter. Its a lot of fun to experience something so horrible. It helps me to appreciate having been born in a calm climate. 

I think that there is a lot of exciting stuff going on back home. A lot of stuff has changed I think that I will go into a little bit of a shock haha!

I think thats great I get to talk in the other wards. Im grateful for that.  I think that I have learned to appreciate it a whole lot more now that I have been a missionary. I used to really hate giving talks and I sucked at it but now I dont mind. 

So the reason that I am writing so late today is because the Lugos came up from Saltilo. They are a senior couple assigned to be in the mission offices and they were sent to check the houses of the mission. they didnt really know how to get around so we sent the whole day with them, I learned a lot from them. And I think that best part of the day is that we got a lot of free food! haha

Tell everyone that I love them and I am doing great. I feel really good. I have had an amazing transfer with Elder Bermudez. I have learned a lot and had a really great time. We have a lot of funny stories together. 

This is my last week of the transfer and now I guess monday I will find out who my last companion is and where my last area will be. 

I love you and I thak you for everything that you do for me. I feel your prayers for me And I appreciate it more then I can express. Tell Andrew whats up from me. Tell him I want him to write me because it seems like he has forgotten that he has a brother in the misison. 

-Elder Stockman

Hey Dad

Tell brother Echols that I am in the 5th ward (barrio cinco)

I think its cool how many people come to know who God is and what the truth is by simply praying in a sincere way. Not being to fancy or eloquent, but sincere, real.

I hope that You and Zach can enjoy your little get away. Where do you plan on going? What do you plan on diong?

So the reason that I am writing so late today is because I was with the Lugo's today. They are a senior couple that works in the mission offices and they were sent here today to check in on the houses and everything in the zone. We had to acompañy them because they really didnt ubicate themselves here. Afterall they have spent the majority of their time in Saltillo. The good thing is that We got a lot of free food. they actually let us come into their Hotel and eat at their breakfast buffett with them. that was AWESOME! after that we checked all of the houses, if they were clean, gave them supplies that they needed like ironing boards or cooking pans. Then they took us to eat some Carne Asada, which is one of the things that I will most miss from México. 

Its been a really great week. We are working really hard here and we still havnt given up on finding someone to baptize. I will endure until the end!

-Elder Stockman

Week 92 living here is a dang experience

Surprise photo I found on facefook that Elder Stockman was in. 

Hey Mom!

So I think its super crazy that you know, I only have like 8 weeks left. I think that It has gone by way fast but I feel like it wasnt really hitting me at all until I see that email with my flight plans in there... wierd...

Its cool to see pictures of all of my friends that have come home now. But wierd at the same time. Its just a lot of mixed emotiones right now as well. 

I got some suveniers as I was thinking that the best way to get them home is to just take them with me, the thing is that when I came to the mission they told me that I could arrive with 3 suit cases, now there are only 2 allowed. So pretty much all of my clothes are destroyed and I will honestly be getting rid of all of it here. I feel like most of the weight is in clothes and books. I also have to decide which books I would like to keep. I have quite the collection here haha!

I will be organizing all of the stuf that I will keep and stuff but I have to say that most of the stuff that I came with is completely ruined. Haha for example I dont think that I have a single pair of pants that I havn't had to sow. Haha I while ago there was a flood in my house and luckily all of my stuff was organized and cleaned. It only happened in the study room anyways, but I had kicked off my tennis shoes that morning and left them there. That was the same day as transfers so I had to put them in a plastic bag and put them in my suitcase. The problem is that when I got here I totally forgot about those shoes until we wanted to go play some basketball in the church like a week later and there was an enormous ammount of mold. (didnt damage anything else, It was self contained in the bag). But yeah there is no hope for those shoes. So I mean there are just a lot of things like that, where I honestly dont see a purpose in hauling that around. 

A while back there was an elder that I sold one of my suites to. But for example I have still been hauling around that other one And I honestly dont know what to do with it. There is honestly nobody in the mission that is the size that I used to be. And there arent any members or anything that are my height of build so Who knows? what do you think I should do about that one?

And Im so sorry about the money mom. Living here is DANG expensive, taxis are a lot of money and for example in Saltillo where they sell a box of cereal for 35 pesos, here its 60. Its like double the expense. And where its super hot weather here all of the money also goes into buying water to stay alive. I have never had to buy so much water! In fact the money runs away like water and I have even made a budget plan. Who knows!

These next 2 weeks will be the end of the transfer and We dont have any journeys planned, But If I stay here next transfer or they keep me in the same assignment then I will be traveling to Saltillo at least 2 more times. Nobody really knows what is going to happen to me my last transfer! haha So travel is something that I couldnt really tell you. But it was a lot this last transfer that is for sure. 

I love you and you are always in my prayers! Work hard until the end!

-Elder Stockman

Hey Dad!

First of all I would love to have him there in the airport. I think he is a brother to me too. Tell him that he needs to be writing me and stuff!

So yeah its starting to get real but you know I am really trying to tune out like you say and focus on what I have to do here. I think that It got offocial when I got that phone call from the secretary on Wednesday asking to which airport I would arrive. But now that I see that my plane has been purchased and everything really does hit ya hard! haha 😞

But I think that its just kind of a natural thing that everyone has to pass through. 

I think that its offocially hard for me to not wake up at 6:30. I think that 8:00 is actually pretty late but you know I dont see any problems adjusting myself to getting up at 8 or 9 again. Im not going to say I love getting up at 6:30 in the morning but I do it because I know that its important.

thank you for that news that in-n-ot will be open I think that is the light at the end  of the tunnel. (just kiding)

Well you know I dont really have anything else to say but I love you !

-Elder Stockman

Week #91- I have Mountain Dew coming my way

My apartment. 

Hey Mom!

I get Quinn's letters and Abbie's aswell.

I knew that I would get a picture of Cody this week! Tell him and Andrew that they are just a bunch of Hosers. They will understand why.

I cant believe that its already September! I think that the time is literally just melting out of my hands. But that might be due to the heat here that everyone and everything is literally melting!

Was that picture at the baby blessing of Myriah and Nates Baby?

I wrote sister De la Cruz last week but she didnt write me back this week. She told me that this week she would send me the list of people that she wants me to visit. 

Did Andrew learn Spanish well being in the States? I wonder if he knows all of the Mexican slang that I do. 

I definately understand the situation that Cody is in. I find it easy to speak english with other American Elders because its spanglish. They understand it as it comes out. But its hard to talk to President Cahoon or his wife because they dont understand spanglish. 

This week we went all the way to Saltillo and back. It was great. I got to see a lot of good friends. We will having a zone conference this week with the President and the Assistants on Wednesday. The assistants will actually be staying the night with us tonight when they get here from Saltillo. Then in the Morning they are off to Acuña. They will then come back to stay with us tomorrow night. Then we have the Zone conference on Wednesday. Fun stuff.

Other then that I don´t think that anything really eventful will be happening. Please keep the investigators in your prayers. Especially Maria Luisa, Gabriela, Jose, and Alejandra. I would appreciate it if you could also put their names in the temple. Love you!

-Elder Stockman

Hey Dad!

look up this adress, my apartment is the one on the top left.

 **********************************

Address omitted.. 

it is behind the house that shows up. It is the group of apartments with the red steps and the white hand rail.

I am doing really great, I think that I can 100% relate to Cody. Poor guy. I also agree that I have no idea where August went. All of the sudden its the 5th of September. sometimes I dont even keep track of that I just ask my companion and sometimes im surprised that its a certian date. for example right now its September 5th!

So I have really liked Piedras Negras. Its is super similar to the rest of the mission in a lot of ways but the people are a little different. By the way I have Mtn Dew coming my way this week. Dont worry about me. When there is a will there is a way.

I think that the food here is normal. I rember having told you guys about that burger that I ate, The other night an investigator invited us to dinner and when we showed up they were baking an entire lamb. It was actually pretty delicious, they gave me some shoulder meat and a chopped off part of the neck. That was interesting. My companion got the thigh. 

Elder Bermúdez is a great guy. We really do get along great. The President put me with his this transfer so that I could teach his the ropes of being zone leader I guess you could say. I guess I completely forgot to mentiont that. They put me back as L/Z 2 to help him as L/Z 1. They actually did that with almost all of the zone leaders in the whole mission.

I kind of understood that my assignment wouldnt last for that long so I hope that I can finish training a new Elder. That would be really awesome. the dream come true. Haha. Afterall I do need someone to Pass on all of the Stockman Legacy. 

I really want to eat the Horchata flavored ice cream. That sounds rediculiously good. I drink Horchata everytime that the opporotunity presents its self. I love it. I would say that its probably like once a week or somewhere around there. 

I hope that you have a great trip!

-Elder Stockman