Oh man, this week.

So in my time home, I had one perfect day.  I will never forget it, I will always treasure it, and I pray there will be more days like that one in the future.  I distinctly remember that before this day, and its events began, I was stuck in a traffic jam.  The highway was closed for construction and I was not paying attention, focusing on the GPS to get me to Woodinville.  Lo and behold, I was stuck in traffic for 2 hours. 

This week was a traffic jam.  A nice, long one with Puerto Rican's honking their horns and not moving for you to pass.  The AC was broken down, and you're sitting there, sweating.  We had an investigator lesson on Tuesday.  It was awesome.  He was crying, I was crying, the member was crying.  He accepted to be baptized on the 4 of November.  We called him the next day, asking if he read and prayed to Heavenly Father to know the truth of this message, and he said no, and that we need to respect his opinions.  I didn't mean to offend him, I said, and as he continued, my heart broke a little.  We passed by our investigator's house for church.  "Jose," I asked "Ready to go?"  He told us no.  He remembered that he was supposed to go, but he didn't want to. I broke down crying.  As Jeffery R. Holland said,"We should be devastated when our investigators are not fulfilling their promises."  I never felt that before, but I just cried.  I know the blessings of this Gospel and I hurt when one does not want to accept. 

Now, back to the traffic jam I had in Washington.  I remember sitting there, smiling and jamming to music. I was thinking about how awesome of a day I had ahead of me, to see King Tut, to spend time with my friend Becca Folsom.  I was just jamming.  My companion and I decided to have that mentality.  Yes, this work is hard and yes, sometimes it's often something that some might think is unbearable, but all is possible through the Lord.  By not dwelling on the past, we found 3 new families, one a less-active part-member family that wants to return.  We had the chance to help, through the Holy Ghost, invite 2 people back to church to renew there covenants with the Lord.  One has not been to church in years.  How beautiful it was to see them there on Sunday.  To top it off, on Sunday we invited a family to be baptized.  They accepted, and I was shocked.  The Lord's hands are over this world, and since I have returned, I truly feel as if he is walking all over Puerto Rico.  Thank you all for your love and support. I pray for you daily, and I ask humbly that you can pray for me also.

Remember who you are,

Elder Stout

THE WEEK OF THE HOSPITAL (or playing Doctor Stout)

What's up, everyone!  I hope you have enjoyed these last couple letters and will continue with this.  I am not as good at writing as I am at talking, so please forgive me!  Haha
Okay, first off.  On Tuesday, we had a meeting in the mission office for all the district leaders and zone leaders and trainers to receive some more instructions.  What a spirit was felt, I truly felt like Superman.  Like, "Alright, next family we find, baptized!"  Hahaha but, okay, we were leaving the meeting, and I am asked to take an Elder to the hospital.  In Puerto Rico, it can take about 8 hours to just get seen for one thing.  So, we try to avoid trips to the hospital.  Turns out, I am the only other Elder to have a car in the metro area of San Juan.  The others are the assistants.  So, off we went.  We were at the hospital this whole week until Saturday for about 4 to 7 hours everyday for this Elder.  Turns out he has two hernias, a completely torn ligament in his right knee, and honestly, some stinky breath (only Malcolm would say that... jeeze.).  I pray he will be alright, but hey, the doctors have all the results.  So then we were finally able to work, and we went to one appointment and sang hymns with kids in the street for an hour.   I gave them my hymn book and I said, "You guys can sing better then me."  We passed by two days later, and all the kids were still singing hahahah.  It was awesome.  We then went to a Caserio, or the ghetto of our area, and I was challenged to play basketball.  Hahaha that was a blast.  I got the nickname Kobe, so I can't complain. :) 
This Saturday, we had the chance to teach a man named Javier.  I call him Bane because he is huge.  We are teaching him, and the whole time I was just thinking, "Man, come on.  We gotta find other people."  Instantly, I told my mind, "No. he is more important."  In that moment, he started to talk about his mom dying and wondering where she is now.  I know that if I did not humble myself and focus fully on him, we could have missed maybe the only opportunity to teach him the Gospel.  Then Sunday, we are at church and this guy was sitting in one of the aisles.  We got to talking, and he said he is an investigator.  I asked him what got him interested.  He said he was at the Catholic church across the street, and asked someone where the Mormon one was.  They said across the street and he just got up and came on over!!!!!!!  Hahaha I was like, "Well hello."  Hopefully we can help him continue to understand, he seems so awesome.  Well, that was this week.  Hopefully we will have more adventures this coming week! 


Remember Who You Are

Elder Stout

The past two weeks...

October 8, 2012:

Hellofamily! Iamsoappreciativeofyouremails  And my space bar doesn't work!  hahahahah Anywho, talk about a great week.  I am staying in Truillo Alto this transfer with Elder Reymundo.  What a great Elder.  I am seriously so blessed by his example to me.  First, yes I have the glasses.  I also need some pants I left there,  a water bag hahaha forgot that, but I brought a testimony which is the most important thing.  Man, it's great to wake up everyday to the Spirit everywhere.  So many times we are teaching and to be able to feel the Savior's love is amazing.  I am here helping 6 sisters  work in the area of San Juan.  President says I need to learn how to love!!!!!!! Hahahahaha.  I loved General Conference this week, it blew my mind.  The announcement the Prophet made made me start to cry.  God needs this church to grow, and He needs us now more then ever.  I challenge you to look for those chances everyday.  Okay, about the area.  We have found........ 22 new families!  Hahahah crazy, huh?  Man, this mission is growing.  To feel the Lord's hand over me daily is a miracle.  I am so sorry, not a lot of time.  I will be writing you letters soon.  By the way, I need stamps, envelopes, and some drink powders.  The water here makes me kinda poppy (Um... I think he meant poopy... Hahaha)!  Love you all so much, thank you for your righteous examples!!!!!!!!

Remember Who You Are

Elder Stout

October 15, 2012:

Hello Family!  Goodness, talk about one amazing week.  I will begin by saying I love you.  I really do.  So this week, um... First off, let's start with last Monday night.  I fell asleep walking.  Like, I was so tired from all the work we've been doing, that we were contacting and I just fell hahahaha.  We've been biking about 18 miles a day.  Hopefully I'll look good in a year.  I had a weird experience, my Comp told me that he has never felt the Spirit while on the mission.  Hopefully I can be an example to him.  It's very scary.  We had to cast out a demon this week.  We gave a sister a blessing and were getting ready to bless her house, and all these doors just slammed shut.  I almost peed myself.  I was like, "It's okay, it's the Lord's spirit doing His work," but a great experience:) That same night, we were in the middle of a gang shooting.  Oh welcome back to Puerto Rico.

 Gall, I love it here.  I am so happy for the Spirit of love I have now.  These people are so ready to grow, it's time to help them all along.  Kinda struggling with the language and getting to work, but it will come if I keep working.  I pray all is well at home.  Continue on your paths.  Family, thanks for all the support you continue to show me!  Please pray for the family of Gerson.  It's a family of 5.  We are teaching them, preparing them for baptism so hopefully we keep it going!!!!!!!

 

Love you all so much,

 

Elder Stout

--
Remember who you are 

Alright

Well, yes one week down! Let's see what's happened. I got off the plane in Philly not knowing where I was. I slept the whole way hahahaha! The flight to Puerto Rico was scary, there was a thunderstorm over the ocean so it was a bit bumpy but glad we landed. I waited for 30 minutes until my ride got there, and it was President himself. We had a great conversation and interview and I am so glad to be back! Got to bed at 12:30 and woke up at 5. Boy, has the mission changed. We had a meeting the next day with the whole mission, so it was very humbling to see and receive so many hugs and hellos. I am so blessed to have this many people who consider me a friend. I hope to not disappoint them. My new comp is Elder Reymundo from Guatemala. Very short guy and very awesome. Reminds me so much of Estevan! Hahaha but we are serving in Truillo Alto, yes Mom. Home. Everyone has started it again, but with my new Spanish it's easier to explain. I am so blessed to be your son and know that I represent not just the Church and the Lord, but truly my family and all I learned as a child. Hard to do, but with the Lord's help, all is possible. Our area is ready to grow, and I am so glad the Lord trusts me with this chance to serve again here. Thank you for the money, mom. I had no money this whole week, still do not have a email address and I am also not living in a house. So it's a great challenge but I am so glad to be back. This address, Malcolmstout21@hotmail.com would be best for people to write me on for now. Also the same mailing address to the mission which is on Facebook. Thank you all for your love and support, see you all in November!!!!!

Remember who you are,
Elder Stout