Week 50 - July 24, 2017

Howdy y'all!

So it has been a good week out here in Hammond! Things are going well and the people are as awesome as ever!

This week ended up being a service week. Our mission is partnered with the American Red Cross and we got to go to Amite and help two times this week! It was so much fun! First, on Wednesday, we were helping people sign up to get free smoke detectors put into their house and then on Thursday we go to go out with the Red Cross and the Fire Department to install the smoke detectors! It was so fun and we got our own Red Cross vests! Winner!!

I also got to go on exchanges this week with our Zone Leaders. Elder Orison came here to Hammond with me and Elder Magee went to Denham Springs with Elder Hall. It was a good time! I was able to get with a few people that we haven't seen for a little while and It was awesome! Saturday morning Elder Orison and I did more service for a recent convert named Kenneth. We were helping replace the floor of his trailer. It was kind of fun! I like doing stuff like that! 

Other than that this was a pretty normal week. The work has been pretty slow the last few weeks but we are getting it picked up again. The coming few weeks should be good and we should be getting some awesome work going!

So this week I have been thinking a lot about Psalm 23. My favorite verse of it is verse 4;

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

It is strange being out here. 100% honesty, missionary work is hard and sometimes dangerous, but we are not here to fear what men or what the devil can do. Yes men have power and so does the devil, but God has more and because God has more so do we. We are doing His work. He doesn't want us to be afraid, He wants us to love others and "perfect love casteth out all fear". I can say that out here I have learned to say like David "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me;"

I hope y'all have an awesome week!

Elder Stoddard

 

 

 

Week 49 - July 17, 2017

Hola y'all.

Well here I am, transfer 5 in Hammond. It is a crazy feeling! I have been here for so long already! This transfer I will hit my year mark and never have served in NOLA which is strange for a Spanish Elder. 

So the awesome news about me staying is that my new companion is Elder Magee! He is from Alpine Utah and was one of the Elders I had really hoped to serve with! We have been having a great time trying to learn Spanish together. Elder Magee was actually at the CCM with me at the same time but he was originally assigned to serve in Peru. He was there for a transfer and got sick and had to go home and get re-assigned. He came to Louisiana as an English Elder but has been changed back to being a Spanish Elder with me!!

This past week wasn't too eventful. I was helping Elder Barney get ready to go home for the first little bit of it and then I have been showing Elder Magee the area and introducing him to people here in Hammond. The one really fun thing that we did go out and do was Spanish tracting in a trailer park and best part of all, it was raining like crazy! It was honestly the most fun I have had out tracting on the mission. We probably looked and sounded like complete fools and we even had a guy tell us that our Spanish was terrible but hey we were having fun and trying our best to spread the Gospel! We did get one good lesson with our new investigator Miguel. He is from Honduras and is here for work. He has met with the missionaries in the past and was excited to have us meet with him again! 

Other than that there isn't much to report for this week. I am excited for the coming transfer with Elder Magee and I think we are going to get some good work done here!  

Have a great week y'all!

Elder Stoddard

 

 

Week 48 - July 11, 2017

Another Transfer Down

Hola y'all!

So another transfer down here in Hammond Louisiana. The big news of this week is that my companion Elder Barney is going home. It has been an interesting experience being with him in a salt and pepper companionship and I will never forget it. I have learned a lot of things that I probably would not have learned otherwise and I am glad for the experience.

So the other big news that goes along with Elder Barney going home is that I am staying here in Hammond for my 5th transfer.... I am both excited and a little sad about it. I love this area and will be sad to leave but being in one place for 7 1/2 months is a long time!! Also I got called to be the District Leader for the Hammond District. It will be a really interesting experience and it will be the first time that I am in a leadership position. I am a little nervous.

Other than that this week was pretty slow. We were doing a lot to get Elder Barney to get ready to go home. We did get to go tracting in a Spanish Trailer Park with one of our members Yolanda Cardenes. She is awesome and really likes doing missionary work with the Elders and Sisters. I think this transfer will be really good and we will find a lot of people that are interested in hearing the Gospel.

Well that is all I have for now! Love y'all and hope y'all are having a great week!

Week 47 - July 3, 2017

Hola y'all!!

SO this week was a freaking amazing week here in Hammond Louisiana.

Alright I really only have one thing to talk about this week. Eibar got baptized!! He was so excited and so ready to be baptized!! One cool thing is that his brother, Donny, came down from Tennessee to perform the baptism! Donny is quite a bit older than Eiber and was the only member in his family until Eibar. Donny was baptized when he was 16 and ended up serving a mission! He is such an awesome guy and is such a good example to Eibar and it a big part of why Eibar was interested in the gospel. On Sunday I had the pleasure of confirming Eibar a member of the church and conferring the Gift of the Holy Ghost! That was a crazy experience!! And what made it even crazier is that I did it in Spanish!! Whoa!! I was freaking out the whole time!! It was all good though and it is an experience I will never forget!

Other than that this week was pretty basic. We had a lot of unexpected service and things like that. Also most of our scheduled appointments got cancelled so we had to find others to teach. All in all though it was a good week! 

Well I think that is about it for now!!  Have an awesome week y'all!

Con amor,

Elder Nathan Stoddard​

Week 46 - June 26, 2017

I'm old....

Hola y'all!

So I have come to a terrible realization this week..... I am old. Who would have thought that I would be twenty already?! Not me!! My life is almost over!! Just kidding but being 20 is a strange feeling. I no longer have to call myself a teenager. I thought I would be happier about that than I am. Idk it is just strange to think that my teen years are gone and I will never get them again.

So in other news we had out last lesson with Eivar before his baptismal interview. We went over the commandments and went through the baptismal questions so that he know what is expected. Eivar is such a golden person!! We taught the Word of Wisdom and he felt super bad because he has drank coffee. He committed to stop drinking it and asked for a blessing to help him stop! That was the second blessing I have given in Spanish and I must say it is freaky but it is a good experience. 

This past week we also started teaching  an awesome new family! We got in contact with them as a Bible and Book of Mormon delivery referral and they are so prepared for the gospel! We went over the Book of Mormon with them and they were so excited to read it!! So it is four people that we are teaching in that family. It is a mom and dad with their 29 year old daughter and their 7 year old grandson. The grandson even did some of the reading in the Book of Mormon and his mom is going to help him read it every day!! They are such a good family and I can't wait to keep teaching them!

So a scripture that I have found recently in the Bible really stood out to me this week. 

 

1 Peter 5:6-8;

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time:

7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

This is something on the mission that I have way come to know is true. Satan is out there doing everything he can to find those that he can devour. He doesn't want any of us to be happy. He wants only misery, but he is good at disguising misery and happiness. The only way to over come him is to "Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God." If only that was as easy as it sounds. That is one of the hardest things for me on the mission. Learning to be humble is a slow process but I know that as we try God will bless us and Satan will not be able to devour us.

Well anyways I hope y'all have a great week!! 

Elder Ancient, I mean Stoddard :)

 

Editors Note: This is the happiest I have EVER seen Nathan look. literally. :-)

Week 45 - June 19, 2017

A Week of Service

Hola y'all!!

First off, Happy later Father's Day to all you fathers out there!! I hope that it was a good day and that y'all were spoiled by your families! You deserve it!

So this week was very productive but didn't involve much teaching. Some weeks we just get lots of calls to do service and this was one of those weeks.

So the first thing that we did this week was service for a member of the Amite Branch. He is working for Southeastern University trying to re-floor the Library. So our service involved moving a lot of books and book shelves!! It was hard trying to take apart the shelves and then put them back together with the books still on them but hey, we did it!

Our next service was for one of the Sisters investigators. She had a drain pipe that needed to be dug up and replaced. That was really muddy work. We had to slope the trench so that the water would flow down and not back up close to the house. It was a fun little project.

The other big service that we did was with the Spier's. They are moving to New Mexico and needed us to help them with some painting and repair things. It is sad to see them move. They were an awesome family and they also make up half of the primary for the Hammond ward. 

Well that is about it for this week!

Con amor,

Elder Nathan Stoddard 

Week 44 - June 12, 2017

A Week of Excitement

Hola y'all!!

So it has been a great week here in Hammond!

So the first cool/weird thing that happened this week happened on Tuesday when we were down working in Ponchatoula. We were getting ready to drive home and on our way through a neighborhood we got flagged down by a guy in his yard. He asked if we had time for the ministry and so we pulled in. Barney and I were both like, "oh crap, we are about to get bible bashed." That is what usually happens when someone waves us down. So we were getting ready to be bashed and when we get there all that the guy wanted to tell us is how much respect he has for what we do! He told us that he knows how many people slam the door in our face or are jerks to us and he wanted to make sure that we had at least one good experience that day! It was so awesome! 

Second cool thing that happened this week was that on Thursday and Friday we had exchanges with the Denham Springs ZL's. I got to stay in Hammond and Elder Hall came here with me while Elder Barney went to Denham with Elder Orison. Elder Hall and I are pretty good friends from serving around each other in Opelousas my last transfer there. It was awesome to get to serve with him again and to ask him all about Opelousas and how everything is going!

And last but not least the best news of all! Three of our Spanish Investigators agreed to be strive to be baptized on the 30th of June!! They are all such awesome people and they would be great additions to the church! Eivar already has such a strong knowledge and understanding of the Gospel! It is so cool to see them learn and grow!

Well that is about it for this week! I hope all is going well at home and that y'all feel the Lords hand in your life!

Con amor,

Elder Nathan Stoddard

 

 

Elder Stoddard with President and Sister Hansen