Week 61 - Kevin's sounds AWESOME!!!

Hi mom,

 I am feeling fantibulastic, there is nothing going wrong here, and I am really enjoying life right now. I really love my mission mom. I just want you to know what a wonderfully great decision this was. How so very happy I ma to be here and to be doing this. Wow, I thought about going home, that would have been the worst decision of my life. I am sacrificing so much, but at the same time, as the hymn says, sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. I just was thinking about how much I love this place, and how much I love the people here. They are so kind one to another. They have so much good inside. All of the problems here are only a result of a corrupt political system and a lack of good education. The people as a group are good and kind and help one another so much. I mention this because have realized how much the Lord blesses us and guides us this week. 

I have a new companion named Elder Le Fevre, and wow the guy is nearly my twin (we like all the same things, same jokes etc). We get a long great, he likes to work, is obedient, and is super competent. He and I get along great and I cannot wait to hear how well he does on for the rest of the mission. Its so weird because he is such a better planner than I am, but he only has 4 months total in the mission. He is honestly super intelligent and knows way more than I do about working out, so I am trying to learn from him while we are together here. Anyways, this week we had like a miracle week, somehow, someway, we found 15 new investigators, and had 9 people in church. He honestly made all the difference here, its great. One of the biggest secrets is to just talk to everyone about the gospel, and you eventually get people who accept you in their homes and want to continue learning.

Mother I can imagine how stressful your job is, I really truly do understand, its very much like what we are doing down here, and I know that its so hard for you to take, especially with law school. Just keep going a little longer, take a deep breath, speak out loud to God, and I know he will listen and help you. Its not easy, but I really know that you can do it mom, you just have to hold out for a little longer, when I get home, everything will get better. We are in this together, and I know that God will help you to overcome what you need to. 

In regards to the party for Meg, that was incredibly nice of you to organize that mom, wow, that sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe you should go into party planning as your career! Hahaha, anyways, I am super happy for Meg and Kevin, but I find it so weird that they are getting married, I never saw that coming. No more rash or anything, its just that during this time of the year there is a ton of dengue and other things that are just super annoying and a little dangerous, but once I make it through august things cool off, the really heavy rains come, and so there wont be near as many mosquitos. I want you to know how much I love you and how much I miss you both, hold on, its just 1 pregnancy in duration to go!

Love,

Kevin Standridge

Week 60 - 2 pictures!

We had a scare this week that Kevin might have DENGUE FEVER, thankfully he does not have it, So here is what happened, here in mexico there is a bunch of rain right now, and the rain runs off the tops of houses. Well that water is super icky and dried on my skin because I have to keep working. Needless to say my skin got something called salpullido which burned like heck when I touched the sun. So anyways, its gone now   He got medicine and he is doing well now.  Please continue to keep Elder Standridge in your prayers.  Thank you.  Charlene

So this week we had interviews with president, Elder Fidencio has just gone away to the Tuxtlas in catemaco, its known to be a witch town. That he and I in the first picture. The other one is the one of Shelby Beattys friend and I getting up for a 6 am run (my idea). It was great, I enjoyed it a ton (you decide if you want to send that photo or not :P)

 Anyways, this week in my interview with president he said he was sending me like a golden missionary that I am supposed to train up to be a district leader so I am pumped about that. Then I asked him a question about what to do if a leader gave me bad council. He used the example of the husband of bethsaida (the woman david cheated with) how david sent him in the army up to be killed by enemy soldiers, and said how he did the right thing and would enter into his exaltation for following. He said we just need to be obedient without thinking about what will happen. The Lord will recompensate for any apparent losses that we have. That actually really touched me, and I realized that I could improve my obedience some more, and maybe be more diligent. I was talking today without that missionary there in the photo, hes going to byu too (it was 6 am, normally he doesn't look so tired) and maybe someone to share a dorm with. Anyways, I hope all is well, I love you lots, not too much new news (oh btw, I am teaching like two sets of clones of you two right now, there sons were converted by their girlfriends and they are just leaving on missions, and so they are investigating and getting super close right now). Take Care!

Kevin

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Week 59

Hi mom,

I hope that you are really doing well, please send my regards to Jennifer, I hope she is doing well, she looks super far along. This week was certainly interesting mom, but let me just say that I really enjoyed the work this week. I got to visit so many of my less active brothers and sisters, and really was given the opportunity to help so many people overcome difficulties. Although just so you know, right now we have rainy season, which here in cosamaloapan sucks really bad. Not only did we get rained on everyday, but also, when it rains the sewers overflow and sewage comes up into the streets. One day this got so bad that the streets literally had rivers halfway up my shin filled with poopy water. Needless to say we still keep working even when that occurs. So there was one day where we had an appointment at 6, where we ran 6 blocks crossing these small poop filled rivers (mind you I never felt more like jean val jean in my life) to get to a house, only to find that the person was not there.Sometimes I have moments like that, and a natural question is, why God. Why do we work so hard to not have anyone there. I think the answer is that my mission is not principally for other people, but instead for me. God wants me to grow up and become the man that I have the potential to be, so he puts a ton of literally crappy obstacles (sorry I couldn't resist) to help us grow.

This week was also pretty stressful for me, because well one of the companionships in my district had 7 baptisms planned for this week, and only 1 ended up getting baptized for a ton of reasons.But needless to say this week was super stressful and I almost spent more time there working in their area than in my own. Its really funny because the one who got baptized I had gone and talked to about 2 weeks ago, and she didnt want to, but since then she has had some pretty tough times, and it really humbled her. I think God really will humble us if we are not willing to humble ourselves. But at the same time it is so hard to be truly humble and loving.

I am really happy mom to hear about your relief society event. That sounds super duper awesome, it has been so long since I have had good american ice cream. Definitely will be on my list when I get back. It is so cool to hear you have this calling. I know from personal experience that if we really work in our callings, the Lord truly helps us to develop new talents and pays us for our work. I really am glad to hear that Dad has been going to hte beach, that is scary about the rip tides, please please be careful both of you. Anyways, Changes should be on Sunday, I could stay I could go, I dunno, but I am happy with whatever. I love you lots, keep up the good work, almost there!

 

Kevin

Week 58 - Pictures of Kevin Baking!!!!

Hi mother, 

So I am going to go ahead and send various photos to you today, so I hope you enjoy them. Anyways, this week, finally, after what feels like forever, Veronica and Paola got baptized. I must admit that I really love that family, they have just been absolutely truly wonderful to my companion and I. That man there is the husband Anselmo, he is works in the city, and its honestly awesome. They got married this past week, and Veronica got baptized on friday. It was honestly amazing because of all of the difficulties there were. After going through several changes of mind on whether she would get baptized, my companion and I went in to fill the fount only to discover that the chapel decided to run out of water for the day (it had been gone since the morning). So we prayed, and patiently waited (patiently is a bit of an exaggeration, I told the other elders in carillo to go fill up there fount just in case), and about 5 minutes after we prayed water came back, although not a ton. We went through started the service and everything, but because it was already 8 at night, we decided to go forward even without a ton of water. Now mom if you think that the baptism with you was bad, this was 100 times worse. Being halfway full, they had to try and submerge Veronica 4 times before it finally worked, and even Paola twice. Honestly, far too stressful a day, but it worked out alright.

So this is from the day that my companion and I did Volovanes. The two men are Juan Arenas (the shorter) and Manolo (the chubbier of the two). Juan we found about a month ago and his son got baptized. In that time his wife has agreed to leave from her job so that she can go to church on Sunday, and he is planning to get his endowment out this next month (he is a less active from Ciudad Juarez) anyways, I really enjoy this family, and they incredibly take care of us also. Its funny mom how different things are here.

Anyways Mom, so you wanted to know a little bit more about how I am feeling and about how I am living. I actually am really enjoying my living conditions here as a missionary. You have to understand how we live mom, and how the people down here in general live. We are given 1500 pesos in rent, and 1800 that we can use to live on, travel, write home, etc. 1500 is about 100 dollars to make the conversion easy. That is a normal rent, our house has 1 bedroom, a small kitchen, a bathroom, and a small room to do studies, which is not bad for a missionary house. While 100 dollars monthly in rent for a house sounds extremely cheap, I have met several young couples that pay 600 pesos per month in rent. It is interesting for me just how lucky I am as a missionary and how lucky I am in how I was born. I never realized how good I had it at home, and at BYU until I came here. That being said, I am still incredibly grateful for how I am taken care of, they honestly really treat us well as missionaries. That being said, we live in pretty good standards. ITs very warm during this part of the year, but the hottest month is may, and from there it goes down hill. Soon it will be hitting august and september, and once we hit september, its pretty comfortable. That being  said, for now we need to put a fan on at night, or you just cannot sleep, its really warm, some of the houses have air conditioning (its a single unit instead of going through the house, but it makes all the difference) I really enjoy it when I have it, but this house is climates. That being said, the work here ebbs and flows. There is always more than we can handle, but I suppose that the urgency comes and goes depending on the pressure. In regards to changes, I do not know, I will find out in two more weeks if I leave, but I don't know if I want to stay or go, I am only interested in doing what God wants me to. 

 Mother don't quit, don't give up, just keep going day by day, and try not to think about the future too much. Just take it one day at a time, and then think can I keep going for today, I know you can, and when you do, you will find the Lords blessings. 10 more months. Don't you worry, and I will be home, its not that long now, I love you very much mother. 

Love you, Kevin

Week 57

Hello mother, I am glad to hear that you are doing so good, it is honestly incredible to me that Porter is now home and that Adam is leaving on his mission, it seems like time just keeps flying by, and I am enjoying every minute of it. I hope that all is going well with law school, and that you really are getting the success that you so very much want. It is always wonderful to me mother that you are chasing what has always been your dream. I know that you sacrificed it so long ago, and I hope that now you are getting it back. I really understand the need for a vacation, all of the ward members were telling me that I looked really exhausted. We have been working hard and had the chance to see some miracles this week. Id like to share a couple.

1. We have been teaching this couple that needs to get married, and they had been trying to get married all week, and so my companion and I decided that we would fast to help them, ending the fast we went with them, and (they gave us a piece of chocoflan which by the way is something I need to learn to make) told us they didn't want to get married. Someone had been sending her messages that he was cheating on her. So we had to try and talk to them, and help them out. Luckily we set up an interview with the bishop that night for him. We didn't hear anything for a little while so in the meantime we did another fast (at which point I was really suffering) and at the end of our fast, the hermano walked up to us and said they had changed their mind and were now going to get married. IT made me so very happy, and was one of the first times that I really gained a testimony of the principle of fasting.

2. That being said as we went to end said fast, I called the hermana to tell her we would be like 10 minutes late, and she said whoops elders i forgot i was feeding you and have nothing so sorry I cant give you anything. So my companion and I were like well might as well go to work, and at the next house we went to, the less active said hey I have some volovanes left over, and gave us literally 10 volovanes (that is a lot). It just really strengthened my testimony that the lord takes care of his servants and is aware of, and loves us. 

3. We have also had some problems with our active members going less active, its a little like trying to cup water with your hands here, the more you grab, the more that just slip through your fingers. So we came up with an idea with the ward mission leader, to have 10 families that will fellowship 10 others, with the goal that they go to church and progress in the gospel. I honestly was really happy with how the program was received and it made me super happy. 

4. The best of news! I thought that I would never ever be able to go to the temple during my mission (we normally only go when families we baptized get sealed), but President was so happy with the less active work here in Cosamaloapan, that he has given us permission to go the 25th of july with less actives that are taking out their endowments!

5. If you have never tried mondongo, you really should, its cows stomach, had that this week, surprisingly good in soup. That being said, I think I prefer fried utter, which is actually super super tsty, just really fatty (we cannot play games, sports, or any activities, the nongospel highlights of my week nearly always involve food).

6. I just wanted to share a funny moment we have had here in our ward. We have one less active who, I will just be honest is a little bit of a clown, we went in to teach his son, and during the lesson he begins shouting tell that boy that he needs to get rid of the spirit of the chamuco of coffee! HE then later proceeds to give us directions to other less actives, and says when you go with them tell them that Orlando rojas sent you and that he is in charge of the bok of life of cosamaloapan and that he had an accident and they should come visit him. I was laughing my head off, but he was perfectly serious.

Love you mom,

Kevin

Week 56~~

Well mom just fyi, I did the math on about how long for children, and your still gonna have to wait at least 3 years so don't get too excited ;) I really want to see Nancy and grandma, I miss them both a ton, but I guess I can settle for photos :)

In regards to this week I am gonna change how I write this.

1. Veronica bore her testimony this week and is super ready to get baptized, as soon as she gets married to her boyfriend who is a member (we are marrying them this week) he will be super chill and with a calling. Now we just need to help her 11 year old daughter to listen to us and she will get baptized too!

2. Juan Ramon and Francisco are now confirmed members wooh hoo, I thought about the spiritual experiences I have had on my mission, and I realized that here in Cosamaloapan, I have had 4 more or less lessons where I cannot repeat the words I said, I cannot repeat the spirit, but in those moments the spirit touched these people and they have reactivated completely. So that has been incredible, because this week two of the people with whom we have had those lessons came to me asking how to pay their tithing. Two more spent all day organizing a mission activity on Sunday and I am honestly amazed and know that those are blessings from Father in Heaven.

3. My companion is awesome and I love him, its so nice to be able to confide in someone else to share the load of the work, because I have had companions where I shoulder all of it, and its super stressful. He´s only got 4 months but can honestly teach super well, and I can tell him to visit someone and he does it without problem.

4.I also have discovered the gossip is poison. There are people who gossip a ton here about us or in between each other, and a lot of it is pure lies, and it honestly causes so many people to lose their salvation, I honestly will never ever gossip again. 

5. Happy happy anniversary to my parents, I love you so very much, I cannot believe it, and happy fathers day to my dad, I honestly love you so much, and treasure so much all that you have done for me. 

Kevin

Week 55 ~

Hi all~  I had to miss church yesterday to catch up on some law school stuff.  I tried to explain this in my letter to Kevin, you can now all enjoy the lecture I got about missing church!!!  Please pray for me, I obviously need help!!  LOL Charlene

Hi mother, it really looks to me like you guys are having fun, I have honestly not had any good old american tacos in so long. Tacos here are generally made from porl with cilantro and onion, and the tortillas can fit in the palm of one hand, so I really miss the good old flour tortillas. I cannot believe that Jen Mcleod is pregnant, that still is really odd to me. When I come home mom, I really want to meet see Kristy and Jason, I feel like I get to have so little contact with that side of the family, and the only contact I have ever had with them has been positive, although it is super weird to think that David is getting to the point where he could be a colonel, which freaks me out a little. It looks to me like you guys are honestly having a great time by the campfire there with the missionaries and young womens. So I really hope that you are getting to enjoy yourself.

Mom in regards to the Sunday thing, you have your own free agency on what you choose to do and not do, and I will love you always, regardless of what you choose. That being said, the natural consequence of breaking commandments is that we have things more difficult. The sacrament is vital to remove our sins, we cannot go without it, when we go there, with a repentant heart, it gets rid of ours sins. While that may not sound particularly urgent, think about how you would feel mom if you chose to rob a bank. I would imagine fairly bad. While you are not robbing banks, every time we commit a sin, it has the same effect on us, although in varying degrees depending on the gravity of the sin. That being said, of the course of our week, we accumulate quite a bit of weight on our shoulders from these little sins. It makes us more stressed, irritable, and gives satan more power to influence us. This interferes with our ability to feel the holy ghost. The holy ghost is what inspires our mind, everyone has its influence to some degree, without it, it is impossible to learn. Mom, the natural consequences to skipping the sacrament will always give us more stress, and make it harder to study. I love you, and so will always encourage you to not skip the sacrament, but at the same time, just like you could not stop me from running face first into a wall on Halloween (and skipping sacrament meeting is about the spiritual equivalent to doing so) when I was a kid, I cannot stop you from doing things that hurt you.

As far as being a leader in the mission, its pretty nice, I mean it gives me really the opportunity to work and serve some of the other missionaries. Its difficult because I am responsible for their actions, but something I have realized is my capacity to influence those around me. Through good and proper leadership, I can get the desired results. Something ive realized is that there are no bad students only bad teachers. If we teach others in the way that they need, they always follow. ITs honestly really taught me how to be a leader when I get home. Changes will be in 5 weeks. I hope that they send me off as a zone leader this next change because Elder Christofferson is coming to the mission, and I would honestly like to go to the special zone leader only reunion. Anyways, other than that, all goes good, I will have to tell you later about this new investigator we found, but lets just say he was really cool to talk to, and I hope his whole family gets baptized.

I love you very very much mom. Take care, happy anniversary (ill be here for number 25)

Kevin