Thankful

This last week was special. Not because of any experience I had in themission work, but because of Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. You have the food, and family (normally). But you also have the reason for the holiday,giving thanks. On Thanksgiving, we went to a members house (a mom and her son named Paola and Juan Cruz) had had our imitation of Thanksgiving dinner.Instead of turkey, we had chicken. We had mashed potatoes and corn, but the gravy was imitation, made with chicken broth instead of turkey drippings.Unfortunately, there was no green bean casserole, yams with marshmallows,stuffing, homemade rolls, or pie. We made it spending only $60 pesos, whichis about $15 dollars. Not bad, huh? And it fed 4 people. After we finished eating, we went around the table telling what we are grateful for. HermanaPaola, who was baptized in May, had quite a long list. She has had a pretty hard life, but her outlook has changed completely since getting baptized.She actually had quite an experience during General Conference. In fact, it was during the same talk that I had my revelation about school. She was baptized in May, but said she didn't really have a complete testimony. She was about to stop going to church because she felt that she couldn't go and pretend everything was ok. So during General Conference she was thinking alot about that but not really looking for an answer specifically from conference. On Sunday morning during President Monson's talk though, she said she felt the Spirit testifying that this man is the Prophet of God, and that was quickly followed by a confirmation that the Church is indeed true. Almost as soon as the prayer finished to end the session, she ran to the bathroom so no one would see her crying. Since then, she has continued having problems, but she knows she is in the right place. She had been serving as Young Women's President up until yesterday as well, but she was released and called to be the Primary President. President Cignoli, theBranch President, said that he received the revelation to call her when he was not even looking for a Primary President. He was just thinking about the Branch and he felt very strongly that he need to release her from her other calling and call her to the Primary. She said she is nervous but excited, as can be expected. She is such a great example of the change that can take place in the life of someone who is converted to the Gospel. (Did I mention she quit smoking overnight? Before she was baptized, she knew she had to stop, but didn't want to. She liked smoking, but she knew it was breaking acommandment. So she plead for help, and received it!) In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I want to share some things I am gratefulfor:
Elder López. He is my companion, my friend, and my brother. He helps me be better, see things from a different point of view, and helps me eat healthier! He has taught me how to play ping pong better, and that real tacos are not made with ground beef or grated cheese. He has taught me phrases like "chafa", "chueco", and "no tengo idea". He showed me how to eat empanadas with lemon juice, and how to survive when you didn't eat breakfast, church ends at 12:00, and we don't have lunch until 3:00! He has taught me that often the most commonly used and simplest scriptures are the best, and that sometimes you have to teach a 50 year old like they are 10,and a 10 year old like they are 50. I love my companion and am grateful for him!
The missionaries in my district. They help and teach me so much. They are hard workers, and are willing to do what our Mission President asks us to.They are diverse. In our district we have 2 Americans, 1 Mexican, 1Colombian, and 2 Argentines. They also have all taught me how to play ping pong better. I love my district and am grateful for them.
My Branch President. President Cignoli is one of the most humble people Iknow. He leads our branch thinking about each person individually and how his decisions will affect them. He is patient with his son, who is very difficult at times. He works 6 days a week at a factory that makes cotton thread, standing the whole time, so he can support his family. He gives us lunch every Sunday. He loves the Lord and has an unshakeable testimony of this Gospel. He supports the missionary work, and does all he can to help us. I love President Cignoli and am grateful for him.
My Mission President
My Zone Leaders
My Family. I cannot fully express the love and gratitude I have for every member of my family. Just thinking about any one of them fills my heart to overflowing. I miss them, and think about them, but I know they will be there when I get done. I know that they love me too.
My Friends. They are on a level with my family. Their examples help me, and their words of love and support carry me.
Argentina
Argentines
Argentine Food
Argentine Phrases
The Scriptures
The Bible Dictionary
The Joseph Smith Translations of the Bible
Principles of the Gospel Manual
A Living Prophet
Technology that lets me communicate with my family weekly, even though theyare over 5,000 miles away.
Running Water
Electricity
Church Buildings
Fireflies (I saw them for the first time in real life the other day! Theyare awesome!)
Rain, Snow, and Sun Summer Sno snow-cones (even just the memory of them!)
Ping Pong
Basketball
Bikes
Wrinkle Free Shirts
Personal Sewing Kits
Flash Drives
Cameras
Air Conditioning
Fans when you don´t have air conditiong
Windows when you don't have a fan.
Many other things that I am blessed with in my life, that aren´t going to make in on this list. And last, but not least, My Savior. I am so grateful for His life and example, and His Atonement. I learn from Him everyday, and grow to love him more every day as well. He helps me through the hard times and the good. He manifests Himself all around me. He is my Rock and my Redeemer. I am His servant, and hope to serve him well. I love Jesus Christ, and am grateful for Him. A few answers to questions/comments. Sorry about the checking account. I'm not sure what happened. I thought Icould only pull out what was in there. Apparently not. I will be more careful in the future. For now, I do not need any extra money. I seem to remember you saying I would get my old number back when I got home, is that still the case? Just wondering. Also, how is the 4S comparedto the 4? How is the voice command thing? I can write normal letters whenever I have free time. Emails are written on P-day, and we have an hour, though I can print off the emails, and read them outside of that hour. I have a letter for Shered written, and am in the process of writing a few others as well. Did you hear back from SisterMontes? As far as clothes go, maybe just one more tie for Christmas. A pink or purple one from Missionary Mall would be cool. For the other stuff to come in a Christmas package, I would want whatever Mom or someone else thinks of. In addition to what I put last week (gum and beef jerky in a ziploc bag) Iwould ask for Red Vines and a Symphony bar, candy canes, and Wint-O-Greenmints. As always, pictures and notes too! A missionary I knew had a book called the Little Book of Missionary Quotes. There is also one that has inspirational stories. They are all called the Little Book of... I already have the Teaching Tools one. I would like those, if you can find them. Well, that is all the time I have for today. I love you all, and am grateful for all of your support and love. p.s. I upload some pictures and a video to DropBox.
-Elder Scot Stobbe

Hey! This week was a great one! In large part because Magalí and Ludmila finally got baptized! It was a great turnout. They had members of their family come that have been inactive for years. And the next day, some of them even went to church. We are hoping that these two girls can breath some new life into their families. We visited them Sunday afternoon to explain a little more that now they had been baptized and confirmed they had a lot more to do. They were both so happy and willing to continue on the path back to Heavenly Father. One funny thing that happened during the baptism: We let the water run a little too long and it ended up coming up to Ludmila's shoulders, almost to her neck. After she was baptized and it was time to get out of the font, she found it difficult to walk with the water that high, so she just did a couple of breaststrokes and swam over to the stairs! She is probably one of the only people small enough to swim in the font we have here. It is quite small. Her mom had to chasten her a little, because she had mentioned before that she wanted to swim in the font, but we told her that it wasn't appropriate. But she was just being an innocent kid and wanted to swim a little! In the end though, it was a great experience. I uploaded some pictures to DropBox. I will make sure to send an invite this time so you can see them all! (Magalí is the taller one) On Saturday morning, I had the opportunity to do three Baptismal interviews down in Dolores. It was a bittersweet experience. The first two were for two young sisters. They both were so excited to get baptized and both understand what the missionaries have taught them. I felt the Spirit so strongly as I finished both interviews with an open-ended question: Why do you want to get baptized. The first girl told it was because she wanted to be able to live in the Celestial kingdom, and she knew that baptism was the only way to accomplish that. Her sister said because she wanted to be able to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus, which was essentially the same response as her sister. Those answers made me realize that even though there is a LOT of stuff we have to do in between, that is really the point of getting baptized and becoming members of the Church. To be able to return to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus. The third interview was with a man name Roberto that is about 70 years old. He has had a hard life. He talked for about an hour about many of the things that have happened to him in his life, before I could even start the interview. He had come to a point in his life where all he had was the Lord. He doesn't have any family left, and his only real friends are the ones he has met at church the last month or so. He understands that he needs to be baptized to receive all the blessings that Heavenly Father has for him. He has an amazing Spirit. The part that makes this bittersweet is because, without going into any details, he did not pass his interview. He was discouraged for a moment, but I tried to help him see that he would simply have to wait a little longer, not that it would be impossible. When he left, he was happy and determined to do whatever was needed to be able to get baptized. It is amazing what the Spirit can do to help us personally, and allow us to help those around us. What a great gift we have from Heavenly Father. Dad- I attached those two letters with information. Not all of it is valid, for example when it says your missionary will not know how to get around. Being in the offices made me an exception of that one. Read them both with mom, and let me know any questions you have. The Iguazú falls trip doesn't seem worth it to me. Maybe you can ask los Montes. When you say that a computer is included in the tuition, does that mean a new one, and it is mine after I finish as well? It is weird to think that I will want to wait for something newer and nicer than the iPhone 4S, but that is what we think every time, isn't it? We'll see what happens when the time comes. After more thought and consideration, I believe I am going to choose a different degree. Instead of the BFA Graphic Design, I am going to choose the BS Web Design and Development. It seems better suited to what I want to do. I will see if I can take some other art classes along the way. So when you do the enrollment, keep that in mind. Thanks What is the current time difference between us? 4 hours, right? I don't know if I can call late as 3:00, because we might have to be in our apartment by 6 our time. I will let you know as soon as I know. Derek, if you are reading this, congratulations! I am so happy for you and your new wife! You are a great example for me. I wish you the best in this new adventure! Mom, I loved that perspective of more Christ. I had never noticed that. Now that you know a little spanish, you can start with that one word and learn more for when you come down! I have seen the truth of what the Sealer said here in my current area. It is actually pretty sad. There have been several ex-Branch Presidents here in Chascomús that have made wrong choices and fallen away from the church. In fact, there are an astounding number of inactive ex-Branch Presidents here, at least 6! It makes you realize that you truly do have to strive each and every day, and during this life you will never "make it" even if you are a Sealer in the temple, a Bishop, or even and Apostle. Obviously, they are a litte closer than we are, but they still must strive daily. It is a lesson we could all use a little refreshing on. I am enjoying the missionary work. It seems like all of a sudden I am one of the older missionaries in the mission, and it is my duty to be an example and set the pace for our mission. I get constant reminders from President Stapley that he is depending on me to show the mission what how he wants it done, since I was in such close proximity to him for so long. I hope and pray that I can fulfill this responsibility, and help the other missionaries here in Buenos Aires. I love everyone, and miss you all. I had a dream last night that I got home and Rob, Matt, Mark, and Kelsey were all married already. I hope that doesn`t actually happen. Take care.
-Elder Stobbe

To bring the world His truth

Hello Everyone!

This last week was great. On Monday the two companionships in my district and our zone leaders all came to Chascomús for P-day. It is about and hour and half travel for each of them, so they stayed the night to be here for district meeting the next day. On Monday night we all split up and went out to clap houses in our area. I went with one of my zone leaders, Elder Benavides. It was a great learning experience. He is very good at working around people saying no, and helping them see that actually do want/need to hear our message. He taught me that whether or not they know it or are willing to listen, our job is to bring the world His truth. The important part is that we bring it to them, do everything we can so that they reach out and take it, but in the end, it is their decision. Tracting is receiving rejection for the most part. We just have to remember why we are there so we don't give up before clapping that one house that has people waiting for us. In my mission, I have never really been that good at doing door contacts, so helped me a lot to see my zone leader at work. I have been trying to apply what he showed me since then. We had been struggling to find new people to teach, but thanks to this little "tormenta blanca" or "white storm" that we did, we were able to find 13 new investigators! Now we can barely handle them all! A tormenta blanca is when a large group of missionaries go to one area, and spend 2-3 hours just finding new people for the missionaries in that area. The name comes from our white shirts, and that fact that we are "storming" the area. Dad also had given me a similar idea a while back. This whole week since we did it, people have mentioning all the different missionaries they had seen, and were especially confused by the Sister Missionaries! But they are great, so we welcomed them all the same.

We have two girls getting ready for baptism right now. Their names are Ludmila and Magalí. They are cousins, and both have parents who are less-active but are coming back to church. They are both 9, and are getting baptized on December 3. We are also working a lot with a guy named Agustin, and his Grandma. They are next door neighbors to the second counselor in our branch, and know a lot about the church. They had talked to the missionaries before a few years ago, but never got baptized. They have both told us that they feel like it is time for them to make a decision about which is the correct path in their life. They are willing to read and pray and see if this Church is true. We are praying hard for them that they receive the answer they are looking for. Other than that, most of our investigators are pretty new, and we are doing our best to help them progress in the Gospel. Please pray for us as well as for our investigators.

A few answers to questions:

When I said that I received that many packages each week, I did not mean me personally, though it seemed for a while that I received at least one package every week. I got them from Summer, DeeAnn, Mom/the Family, the Summit Ward, the Highland 12th Ward, and some others I believe. I am very greatful for everyone who has sent packages, letters, postcards, newsletters, etc. I love hearing about what is going on in my two wards. I don't remember the name of the Sister from he Summit Ward who has been sending me letters, but if someone knows who she is and sees her, tell her thank you for me! And to keep 'em coming. I feel bad for not sending letters back. I should be better about that. I feel especially bad about Sister Montes. She used to send me letters and packages, and I don't think I ever sent her even a letter back. She probably thinks I never got them. Mom, are you in contact with her? Could you try to find her and get an address so I can write her and her family. I always remember them as my first connection to Argentina, and I tell people about them all the time. Ellos son la razon que soy de River Plate. I always take pride in telling people that I am a River fan because of some Argentine friends of mine back in the States.

I loved both my Birthday and Halloween packages, Mom. Don`t get mad, but I actually gave that wallet to my companion as a gift, because I already have one, and his had just broken. I did appreciate the Moroni stamp as well. I have enjoyed all the other candies and toys that came in it as well.

As far as what I need for Christmas, nothing. I would like some things. All I can think of right now would be more gum, and teriyaki beef jerky (I suggest sending it in ziploc instead of the original packing to save space/weight). I will think of more stuff and let you know next week.

Well, that is pretty much all for now. I love everyone, and hope you are all doing well. If you are not, follow the three basic steps to happiness. Read the scriptures, say your prayers, and go to church. I guarantee that while doing one of those things, and likely during all three, you will find a way to either fix your problems or be able to make it through them.

Have a wonderful week.

Elder Scoty Stobbe




Latest update

I would like to send a belated happy birthday to Stacia! I feel like I am

missing everyone's birthdays here! I love you, Stacia!

Thanks for the updates. No basketball huh? Perfect timing I might say. I'm

not missing anything. I also hope everyone loses money. I say we pay

everyone 1 million a year, and that's it. That would be perfect, right....?

I will take some pictures of the city. There is not any place called Bolivar

near us, that is just our street name.

I wrote on Thursday because p-day was changed last week. I guess I forgot to mention that in the email. You can expect a letter every Monday from now on though.

About my studies. I think you are absolutely right about the websites. The

fact is, the "art" is only a small part of what I want to learn. The degree

is called Graphic Design, and if I remember correctly emphasizes pretty

heavily in website design. I think there is something you can download that

outlines all the classes necessary for the degree. When I think about what I

want to do for a living, it is almost website design. When I have my own

company, it will most likely be a web design company that offers other

graphic design and print services. I also want to get involved in

designing for mobile devices, both websites and apps. specifically for the

iPhone, but I have heard the there is quite a market in apps for Android as

well. Being in the offices I learned a little bit of the structure and uses

of databases, and I want to be able to incorporate that as well. I want to

be able to create "programs" online. So that's what I'm thinking as far as

what I want to do.

Yes, you can send me audio files and I can listen to them just as easily as

before.

The missionary work is... going. We haven't really been able to find many

new people to teach, and people keep not showing up to church. I am in a

little branch that maybe has 35 people in church each Sunday. We are trying to make it grow. The city I live in is one of those where everyone knows or is related to everyone else. They are all very nice, but aren't really interested in religion or going to church when they could be sleeping in, watching futbol, or drinking their mate. (not mate like friend, but like

mah-teh, it's this little drink made out of a special type of plant that

looks and taste like grass, and hot water. And EVERYONE drinks it. It's like the national past-time drinking this stuff.) So we are doing our best to

help those investigators that we do have, and are praying for those who are waiting to hear our message.

My companion is from Mexico, and is pretty cool. He is way into music, and sports. So pretty much the same as most teenagers. He turned 19 just a few weeks ago. Apparently in Mexico you can go on your mission at 18. I have noticed something different with him than with my other companions. It is not that he is immature in bad way, but he is young. He is about the same age as Matt Freeze, to give perspective. He is strong in the Spirit, and is a great missionary. I am very glad to be working with him. His name is Carlos Lopez. How's that for a mexican? haha. I can't imagine how many people there must be in the world named Carlos Lopez. In fact, the ward mission leader in my last ward was named Carlos Lopez!

Well, times up again. I spent some time writing to the twins for their

Birthday.

I love you all.

Elder Scoty Stobbe

Two weeks in Chascomus

Well, it has already been two weeks since I came to Chascomus. Time is

flying.

Mom, Dad, and Gene, thank you for your advice and love. I will be taking it

all into account in the coming weeks and months. As for bribing, I already

did that one on a suggestion from one of the Sisters in my district. We had

a goal to each challenge two people to be baptized during the week and to

take out a baptismal date. She circumspectly mentioned that a previous

District Leader had offered ice cream as a prize. I told them I would buy

them a Kilo of ice cream if they hit the goal. I focused on the real purpose

of the goal, and they understood that the ice cream was just an added push

to do what they knew was right anyway. It helped, in the end, and they

challenged 4 people between the two companionships.

I have attached a few pictures. The first is of Elder Lopez, and Sister Rios

playing ping pong after District Meeting. The next is a picture of the buses

we take down to Dolores to have District Meeting. It takes about and hour

and fifteen minutes. They are really comfortable. The next is of a family in

our branch. The dad is the first counselor. They are great! The one of the

little girl is of their daughter, Maitena. She is already my little friend.

The other day when we were at her house, she told me "Mañana te voy a

comprar un nuevo ojo para que no te quemes más." "Tomorrow I'm going to buy

you another eye so it's not burned anymore". I just about died. Little kids

are so kind and think of the nicest things to say. The other picture is of

the little Halloween toys I got. I had already eaten all the candy! oops!

I love being here in Chascomus. The members are great, the city is great

and the other missionaries in my district are great. I am enjoying the work,

even though we don't have very many investigators. The ones that we do have are strong

though, and almost all have baptismal dates.

The other day, we were with a part member family. Both of the parents are less active, and

their daughter Luzmila has not been baptized. She is 9. We were talking to her about being

baptized, and she said she wanted to.

Whenever anyone we talk to agrees to be baptized, I like to ask them why, so that they

have to think in that moment why they are going to get baptized.

She was a little shy, and didn't want to say it out loud, she whispered

first to my companion, and then to me "Por que creo en Dios" "Because I

believe in God". I realized that as a base, that is the only reason she

needs. The first principle of the Gospel is Faith. As long as she has faith,

she will understand the rest and really understand why she should be baptized.

I love you, and everyone!

District Leader

Ok, So there have been some major updates since yesterday. I got a call from

President Stapley this morning and have been assigned to be a District

Leader in the area of Chascomús. I am leaving on Thursday. If you want to

look on Google Maps, you will see that Chascomús is south of the main area of the mission, pretty much on it's own. I will let you know more next

Monday.

I love you and I´ll talk to you on Monday!

-Elder Scoty Stobbe

Today I would like to share with you some things that have happened in my

life in the last few weeks. First, let's talk about prayer, and answers to

prayer. Mom, you often comment that you hope I am having spiritual

experiences while I am here in the offices, even though the majority of what

I do is mundane. (Fun Fact: the word for mundane in Spanish is mundano. This

same word also means worldly. Coincidence? I think not.) The answer to your

question is yes. Allow me to share a few with you. The first happened just

this last weekend. As part of my duties here, I am in charge of entering in

all baptismal records from the mission. I use a system called CDE (Convert

Data Entry) to send the information to the Area Office, where they make it

official in the church records. As I enter them in, I keep of track of how

many I do, to make sure it is the same as the number of baptisms we have

recorded for the month. This month, due to a hectic schedule, I had to enter

the majority of the records in a very short period of time. I had done 7

earlier in the month, and had 95 to do, all on Friday, which was the

deadline so that they would count for the month of September. We have had a

goal of hitting 100 baptisms per month as a mission for quite a while, and

this was the first month we actually met the goal. President Stapley wanted

to be sure that they all got counted (we have had problems in the past)

because he had already told the Area Presidency that we had had 102, and has

a meeting with them in a few weeks. He did not want to have to show up and

say "Oops! We only had 98!" So I was under pressure to make sure that there

were no problems, and all were counted. So after a day of feverish entering,

I emailed my contact in the Area Offices asking him how many baptisms showed

up in his system as being entered for our mission. I got his reply, and my

heart sank. We only had 98! I knew that even though these people had been

baptized and would be counted eventually regardless, this was very important

to my Mission President. I emailed him back saying I was confused, because I

was sure I had entered in 102 in total. After sending the email, I went

downstairs into an empty room, knelt, and said a prayer. I was very worried,

knowing that this meant so much to President Stapley. I asked that

everything would work out, and that somehow the numbers would show up that

we had entered in those records. As I finished the prayer, I felt peace. I

knelt thinking about anything I could have missed, or any other solutions,

but all I could think of is that it would be all right, and I just needed to

wait and see. As it turns out, I didn't have long to wait. As I headed

upstairs, I found my new companion, Elder Fitzpatrick in the hall (more

about him later). He just looked at me and said, "We have 102." I knew that

my prayer had been answered. Even with such a small thing, I know that

Heavenly Father cares about each little problem we have, and wants to help

us. In retrospect, I should have gone and offered a prayer of thanks right

then and there, but instead I waited until my nightly prayer, and expressed

my gratitude to my Heavenly Father, telling him how much I appreciated his

blessings in my life.

The second experience took place over a period of about a week. The week

before General Conference, I listed to an audio recording from Dad. He was

telling me about how he had been investigating what I need to do to get

ready for school when I get home. At one point he mentioned what the overall

tuition would be, noting that it was quite high. He asked if I knew it was

that high (I did) and mused a little on how we would deal with that. I got

the impression from his tone of voice that he wanted to make sure that I

really wanted to choose this school, but that if I did, he would support me

in it. (I don't know if he was actually thinking all that, but it's how I

felt.) That got me to thinking, was I certain that I wanted to go to this

school? Was I willing to sacrifice to stick with my choice. I decided 3 or 4

years ago it seems, that I wanted to go there. I felt right from the moment

I made the decision, and moreover, I haven't wavered in that decision since

making it. But, I realized I was lacking something. For all my certainty, I

had never prayed and counseled with my Heavenly Father (Alma 37:37). So

before, answering back to Dad, I wanted to make sure this was the right

thing. I remembered that General Conference was coming up, and that it

suggested that we go into General Conference weekend with something specific

in mind to find an answer. This, I decided, would be my General Conference

question. I had already made the decision, so all I asked of Heavenly Father

was a confirmation that my decision was correct, or at least acceptable to

Him. I pondered and prayed during the week about this subject, focusing my

studies and thoughts on receiving this confirmation. Now, I didn't want to

be thought a sign-seeker, so I made it clear to Heavenly Father that I would

understand if I didn't receive or recognize His answer during Conference. (I

believe that Heavenly Father likes us to be up front with Him!) When

Conference arrived I listened intently to every talk, waiting and praying

for my confirmation. On Saturday I was uplifted and filled with the Spirit,

but received no recognizable confirmation. During Priesthood session I was

hopeful, since last time they talked a lot about post-mission life. (I

watched it online on Sunday morning, by the way.) During the Sunday morning

session, I was again uplifted, and learned some wonderful principles. I

especially enjoyed President Monson's talk, and his story about the $5 bill.

(I was reminded of that again when I had my previous experience.) At the end

of his talk, he told the story about the Frankfurt Germany temple

dedication, and his experience in being prompted to announce Brother Peter

Mourik as the first speaker. I was instantly and completely zoned in on his

talk. I was strange, like I needed to pay more attention to this than just

the fact that it was about my patriarch. As he told the story, it made me

think briefly on my Patriarchal Blessing. It mentions my schooling, but

nothing too specific. It hints at the type of school I would attend, but

nothing more. It didn't seem enough to confirm my choice. As President

Monson finished that story, he concluded with the following: "Following the

session, Brother Mourik and I discussed that which had taken place prior to

his opportunity to speak. I have pondered the inspiration which came that

day not only to me but also to Peter Mourik. That remarkable experience has

provided an undeniable witness to me of the importance of being worthy to

receive such inspiration and then trusting it-and following it-when it

comes. I know without question that the Lord intended for those who were

present at that session of the Frankfurt Temple dedication to hear the

powerful, touching testimony of His servant Brother Peter Mourik." I

remained thinking about what he had said until he closed his talk. I could

feel the Spirit, and knew there was something special about what I had just

heard. In that brief interval between when I closed my eyes, into my mind

came 3 distinct thoughts. Number one, I felt that Peter Mourik was a worthy

servant of God, entitled to, and receptive of revelation. Number two,

(having to do with the first), I received a confirmation that my patriarchal

blessing was indeed direct revelation from my Heavenly Father. And number 3

(seemingly connected by the thinnest of threads to the first two, but just

as clear in my mind) that my decision on where to go to school was

acceptable before the Lord. It was a very soft, very simple thought, but

just as clear as it was soft.

So, with that in mind, Dad, let's go full force in getting everything set up

for Collins College.

I was going to write more about a few other things, but I have to run so

this will have to suffice.

Expect more soon.

--

Elder Scoty Stobbe