BABY JESÚS DAY!!!!!!!!

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!!!!!!

I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas and enjoying the cold weather up there11

Christmas in Ecuador is HOT and WET!!!

Its just getting hotter and hotter down here so it doesn’t feel too much like Christmas and the fact that its starting to be rain season just adds to the feeling of summer.

But hey I’m happy and we’ve got some awesome plans coming up!!! We are going to make tacos with 5 investigators and 1 recent convert!!! Then I will have the privilege to call my crazy family and we will finish the night exchanging a few gifts and with RIBS!!! 

AMO NAVIDAD!!!!!!

So me and my district of 10 missionaries decided that we would do a White Elephant gift exchange!! I gave a duck that walks, dances, sings, plays the drums, and has a diabolical brain and butt!!! It was defiantly a hit!!! But the best one was this pair of cow pajamas and a dog bowl filled with dog food!!! Ha-ha my ZL got it and had some fun modeling it!!!

As much as I love Christmas and all, its just not the same here ha-ha here’s an overview of what goes down here on Navidad...

General Christmas traditions here in Ecuador:

1. Get Drunk

2. Play your random ugly drunk music as loud as you can.

3. Drink some more

4. Eat dinner at 12:00am...............idk why they wait so long but oh well

5. Pass out from drinking too much.

But on the bright side its P-day so I just get to relax and have some fun!!

Les queiro que que tengan una muy buena noche con su familia!

Fotos!!

1. Andres Avila, who I baptized 3 weeks ago, got the Melchizedek priesthood!!  The Bishop and Stake President got revelation for him and are helping him progress super fast!!!!

2. We found a nativity set I’m my sector so we decided to take some investigators and RC to go and check it out!

3. Yeah I’m a clown and couldn’t help but copying his face!! I LOVE THE ECUATORIAN MONAGOTES!!!! 

Chicken Hunting

Ojala que están disfrutando el clima frió allá!

So this week was interesting.... los of ups and downs.

We started this week off with HUGE EXPECTATIONS!!! Almost every day was full of appointments and we were so pumped to go and teach like crazy..... Then we walked and walked and walked some more trying to contact everyone.... and of course, no one was there....

BUT on the bright side of walking so much we have done over 40 contacts and have TONS of new people to teach this week!! So yeah it was rough having over 30 appointments fall on us this week but hey the Lord is helping us grow in every moment! 

But anyways I CAN NOT TELL YOU ALL HOW EXCITED I AM FOR CHRISTMAS!!

Obviously I’m mostly excited to see my family and roasting my goofy fam. but I am also super excited because my converts, Familia Avila, are going to make us BBQ Ribs!!!!!!!!!! Those bad boys just don’t exist here!!!! So I am beyond ready for the 25th to roll around but I hope you are all enjoying your cool weather! Its quite the opposite here in Ecuador.... at this time of year its getting hotter and HOTTER!! But I’m loving Machala and serving here in 18 de octubre so all is well!!

My son, or greenie missionary is doing really good, he is actually really really smart to he came well prepared even though he was baptized about 2 years ago!!

Let me know if you have any questions or comments! I love hearing from you guys!!

#IluminaElMundo #LightTheWorld

Greetings from Bishop Joseph Izquierdo.

Hermana Jill  buena noches le saluda el Obispo Joseph Izquierdo, le adjunto una fotico  de su hijo saludos desde Machala Ecuador.

Saludos Obispo Joseph
Enviado desde mi Huawei de Claro.

Good day, it's a very good picture, you have an excellent missionary son, it is a blessing to have him in the neighborhood. Hopefully the mission will allow us to have him for much longer.

Greetings Bishop Joseph Izquierdo.

Training

Wad up fellas

So this week has been an absolute DREAM!!! 

So a few months back as secretary to the President I had a lots of ups and downs. But this week, thanks to being kinda sick, I got sent to Guayaquil to see the doctor!!! Now I know that isn't a good thing but it really was the biggest blessing to be sick... now hear me out.

One of the bright sides of being secretary is that I could have a couple of fun days every agenda with all the missionaries that were heading out to their houses and finishing the mission, obviously it is a pain in the bum as well and lots of work but it's kind of fun messing around with them too. But anyways, I got send to Guayaquil and got to spend 3 days with them and loved hanging out with my old Comp Elder Beltran and old Assistant Elder Vieyra, and buddy Elder Burton!

I’m not really sure why president decided to send me with them but hey, I’m not complaining!! I also got permission to go to the temple as well which was awesome!! (It’s out side of my mission so we don't go too often)

But by far the best part of the week was becoming a Trainer!! It has been awesome and I’m so excited to help this new guy become a great and obedient missionary!!! So about "mi hijo" (my son) his name is Elder Aguilar and he’s from Oruro, Bolivia. Shockingly he speaks perfect Spanish ;) he is actually really awesome at teaching and likes joking and laughing with people as we contact them so obviously we get along pretty well!!

The Cabrera family is going to wait another week or two to get baptized because the dad is still being forced by his job to try the new types of alcohol so were going to see what we can do about that challenge he’s having. Maybe anyone knows of some open job opportunities in Machala, Ecuador???

"Well that’s about all folks"            -Porky Pig

#LightTheWorld

#IluminaElMundo

Ps. if you're wondering why my English has gotten so much better all of a sudden.... its because I found like the only computer in Ecuador that has autocorrect on in English!

Baptizing familia Mogollon!!!

We had a baptism this week and it was awesome!! 

I will also be training and receiving a new missionary this week!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I have tons of pics but ill send them next week.....

Love you clowns!!!!

Hope you all suffered on Black Friday.... yeah I’m still a hater of that Thanksgiving killer.

Love, Elder Stidham

To his Mom:

IM GOING TO TRIAN A NEWBIE!!!!  Man I am so pumped about that!!!! I have seriously had the dream of training a new missionary my whole mission!! Even though I trained Elder Garcia for 7 months... he still had 5 weeks in the mission before me. So yeah he kind of already knew how the mission was. Btw he’s going to Huaquillas. Its the border of Peru and Ecuador, I’ve had several interchanges there so I know what its like and he’s gonna love it!

But man I am so excited for this week!! Hopefully all goes well with the new companion and our 3 baptisms that we will be having this week!!! The baptism that we had went amazing and it was so fun to see Adriana enter into the baptismal font with her dad who we helped reactivate!!!

I’m glad you guys had a good thanksgiving and got to spend time together as a family!! Cannot wait for next years!!

It makes me so happy to see drake and Carson playing with the punching gloves ha-ha!!! Something defiantly in the Stidham family!!

Hey just so you know I’m not sure exactly but I’ve heard that envelopes and letters take like 6 to 8 months to get here usually... but maybe ill get lucky and it will get here quickly!!

Love you so much momma!!!! Thank you so much for all that you do and you gotta talk to Hermana Wood when you’re free this week, remind me to send you her email address next week! I don’t have it with me right now because I am in Guayaquil. 

Te amo mama osa!