Elder Jacob Stiles: June 2016

Monday, June 27, 2016

Bienvenido a El Salvador!

Elder Jacob Stiles
El Salvador San Salvador/Belize Mision
Apartado Postal #81
Correos Multiplaza, S.S.
San Salvador, El Salvador, C.A.

jacob.stiles@myldsmail.net

Hey Everyone,

What a week! Seemed like a long one but it was filled with so many cool things! As you knew from last week I got the call to go back to El Salvador which was a blessing! To celebrate we went and ate at a really nice restaurant called Tavern, and we drove to the beach where we saw dolphins! A good way to spend the last P-Day in Belize! We said goodbye to all the members and the recent converts the last day. Then Tuesday we took the long 45 minute flight to San Salvador, and the first place we got to go to was the Temple! My most favorite place in the mission. We got to go do a session inside! We stayed at the Assistants to the President's house with the new kids that came to the mission. That night I finally got to know where I was going... I found out that I was going to be companions with Elder Smith from Indiana as Zone Leader of the largest zone in the mission!

In the mission it's like your life span... for example I was "born" in Sonzacate (my first area), and Elder Gonzalez (my first companion) is my "dad" in the mission. Because Elder Smith (my current companion) is ending his mission he is "dying", and I am "killing" him. This is my first time to be with someone who is ending his mission. But I love Elder Smith! He is way cool. We are Zone Leaders as well as District Leaders over the Sister Missionaries.

Our area is so cool! It has so many mountains and everything here is green so it looks so beautiful! The only bad part is that it has rained every day so it's been muddy and wet. Yesterday both of our umbrellas broke and we had to walk under the rain all day. So tomorrow I'll have to get another umbrella before it rains again. When we came home our clothes were soaked and our shoes were filled with water, but it was super fun and a good experience! I love our zone, and I'm super excited for this change.

With Love, Elder Stiles

QUESTIONS:

What miracles happened this week? We found a super cool family that is going to be preparing to get baptized at the end of next month.

Where is Elder Smith from? Indiana

What is something you have learned about him? He is very smart and wants to be a professor.

Where is your new area? La Esperanza

What is the name of your ward/branch? La Esperanza

How was your ward? The ward is super cool! We have a ton of active members and they are super amazing with missionary work.

Is your new mission prez there? He will be here tomorrow!

What is your house like? Our house is kind of crappy. There are chickens everywhere and bats live there at night.

How was your flight from Belize? The flight was really short... 45 min but it was cool to fly with all the other missionaries.

(Click on Photos to Enlarge)

San Salvador Temple

AP's House

Broken Umbrellas

Monday, June 20, 2016

Here I come El Salvador!

Elder Jacob Stiles

El Salvador San Salvador/Belize Mision
Apartado Postal #81
Correos Multiplaza, S.S.
San Salvador, El Salvador, C.A.

jacob.stiles@myldsmail.net

Hey Everyone,

Well my time has finally come that I need to go back to El Salvador to finish my mission! I actually am really happy that I will be able to have the opportunity to Speak Spanish again! It's been an awesome ride here in Belize, and I have made so many memories! I'll miss the rice and beans, and the amazing people but one day I'll be able to come back!

This week I was able to go to San Pedro to drop off my comp to do interchanges and it turns out we ate at a restaurant that had a license plate from Idaho which was really cool! San Pedro is a super cool place to be a missionary and people are really lucky to be able to go there! We were also able to do interchanges with some other missionaries and got to say goodbye to Elder Eggers as he leaves our Zone to go and be Zone leader In Belmopan! We have been working really hard in our area and have been able to find lots of people to teach. We were not able to get anyone to come to church this Sunday because we had a tropical rainstorm and all the streets were flooded. It was tough for us not to get wet and we were in a car the whole time! We ended up with 54 people in church which is a new low... usually we have around 120.

I Found out I was leaving on Thursday and had to start saying goodbye to everyone so I went and took pictures with the Casteneda Family, The Alverez family, Brayan and Dasey, and the Phillips family!! Also the man that I bought my chicken burgers from at "88". His name is Andy and he is from China!

Well next week I'll be able to let you know more about El Salvador!!!

Love, Elder Stiles

QUESTIONS:

What miracles happened this week? A miracle is that I'm going back to El Salvador!

How is your toe doing? My toe is doing really good.

What is something new you learned about Elder Blair? Elder Blair is actually a really good photographer!

Do your feet get soaked when it rains a lot? Yeah, well it depends... Yesterday we got soaked and the streets were flooded to our lower calf!

(click on photos to enlarge)

Monday, June 13, 2016

Adios Hintzes'

Elder Jacob Stiles
El Salvador San Salvador West/Belize Mission
P.O. Box 1123
Belize City, Belize, C.A.

jacob.stiles@myldsmail.net

Hey Everyone,

Well this week was full of us working hard as well as hardly working. To start off the week we got pants made for us by a member we met that used to live in Guatemala. He gave us a really good deal. The reason we got them was for President Hintze and Sister Hintze's last Multi-Zone Conference with us. We had an awesome time with them and it really impacted us! It was really long but we learned a lot. My favorite quote Sister Hintze shared with us was from Ezra Taft Benson which says, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moments God will endow us with power." That really applies here in the mission work, but also works well for anyone trying to find people to share the Gospel with.

We have also been helping a boy named Jermain Anderson to fill out his mission papers. He is such an awesome kid. We got most of the stuff finished, now he just has to get his medical stuff taken care of. Hopefully we can get it all worked out soon.

We also helped Frank with some of his homework. It turns out his grandpa is a really good artist and has the whole inside of his house painted. Things like waterfalls and big lions. We have been teaching the families of Franks's friends which has been an amazing opportunity. We did a marshmallow night with all the less active members to help them all coming to church again.

Now the hardly working part... Last week I talked about how I had an ingrown toenail. Well, I went to go buy more meds but the pharmacist said I shouldn't buy more until I went to the doctor. So the next day I went to the doctor and he said it was infected, and the only think I could do was to get it removed. So that's what they did! They stuck me with a needle and put the numbing stuff in my toe that felt like lava entering into my toe. Then they ripped up my toe and took the nail off. It ended up not being as bad as I thought because I think I got the two most sarcastic and comedic doctors in Belize. They told me I would cry the whole time, and that they would possibly have to strap me down.

So there we go... Lot of people to teach but only have half my nail!

Love you guys! Thanks! Elder Stiles

Questions from Kaden:

Do all the dogs there have diseases? Well all the dogs are pretty sick all the time but there are some nice looking ones too!

Do the dogs have collars? no I don't think any of them have collars.

If a guy was rich there, how much money would he have? I don't know how much he would have... things are cheaper down here so probably not a whole lot but still a good amount.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Frank