Week 14: "Patience"

Dear Friends and Family,

Santa clause is coming to town! HAHA totally kidding. But really... Its been like 20 degrees cooler in the morning every morning when we go running and it feels PERFECT! So nice:) I congratulated myself today as I noticed I finally am showing some hope for some upper body strength. Doing exercises for 5 min every morning showing off! TENDER MERCY! JK:)

Alright so not much excitement this week, but I know that the Lord has been helping me in the little things. My main point of this week is yet again Patience. This transfer I have been blessed to have such a wonderful trainer and remain with him for yet another six weeks. And I would not have it any other way. During our training hour early on in the week I was having a rough day. rough time and honestly everything felt terrible... BUT! He mentioned some things and the only thing i could really think of was having more patience. Not only patience with situations everywhere around me but being patient with myself. (Something I now am understanding... After 18 YEARS!) But hey:) better now then never right? HAHA So as I have gone throughout the week everything that happens, i begin to see with a "patience" perspective. (not sure if that makes sense...) but in every thing that happens i notice that it takes patience. And when we have patience things are easier and better. I love this scripture which states it plainly:)

"And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the lord" (Mosiah 24:15). Patience is so important in everything we do and makes my week and days 100 times better. So, now that my little rant box is over on to the good stuff!

Tuesday we met our new district! Sadly Elder Clayton is gone, but Elder Olsen is a pretty boss District leader! Everyone in our district is either being trained or training. HAHA so pretty new district if you ask me:) and it is exciting! Everyone is pretty quiet during our meetings, which reminded me of when Elder Clayton went home telling everyone i was quiet! (which may or may not be true...) HAHA so now i have to break out of that box and actually talk to people! Shocking... i mean i am a missionary. HAHA No jk:) But i've been thinking of what i could do to bring our district a little closer together so we aren't so "NEW" to each other. And I thought of an amazing idea which i will try out! i'm not ganna mention it cause if it fails i will feel like Einstein without his persistence in trying and trying and trying. HAHA so we will see how the new district goes:)

Last day for Elder Clayton's leadership!

Elder Stonely and Elder Clayton saying goodbye!
Missionary companions for a day, cousins forever!

There has been like a Plague occurring in the branch. At least on the Hispanic side of things. HAHA Luiz cruz (one of the members) received his patriarchal blessing and is now preparing to go to the temple and so I think that has excited all the other Hispanics into getting their own! Which is great cause now all the Hispanics are excited about it!!!! So we have been helping them all out with preparing them to receive this amazing guide in their life's:) The members are now very attached to us which is good because they have been coming out to lessons with us and helping our investigators find better jobs and working with them on their journey. Which is how it should be because people need to feel loved in this world! And i'm glad that our investigators have been finding that through the members. I am proud of all of them down in the Foley Branch:)

Lucia and Ramon and their family are doing great:) We had to push their Baptismal date back a little bit due to some small things, but they are excited and really want to keep going. Its been a joy to see the excitement in their life's. Ramon made mention to us during the last lesson with him how one day he showed up to work and He didn't say a single bad word all day. His boss noticed his change and asked him why he wasn't cussing. Ramon replied that he had met some people (us) from the church and that he was trying to change his life. His boss seemed really impressed with him. Needless to say, Ramon has been seeing some CRAZY changes in his life habits and he is progressing very fast. We are excited to continue teaching him.

Today We had the really exciting chance to go hangout with a member in the branch! he invited us to come over and do some fishing for a bit in the morning and that was extremely fun! There will be pictures and stuff coming later hopefully! But basically... Fished for about an hour, i caught nothing, but the member was like, "alright, we aren't leaving till one of us catches something!" and not joking... right after that he threw his pole out into the lake and caught a fish. LIKE HOW???? HAHA it was pretty cool:) so we went up to the house and he decided it was cool to take us through the forest on his golf cart. And to make the experience seem less terrifying and scary as it was, my companion almost got his face ripped off by a "Banana spider" the size of my palm... IT WAS SCARY! The member was showing us cool looking spiders, so we got off the cart to look at one cool one and I look over to my companion and a foot away from his head is this GIANT spider. Like not kidding... biggest spider i have seen in my entire life. HAHA so the member told him to slowly walk away. and when everyone was out of the way he pulled out his hang gun riffle thing, (i don't know anything about guns) and shot the spider! It was pretty scary... But apparently that's normal or something. HAHA Well i think it was alright cause he took us out for lunch after:) and here i am. Still alive and still pushing forward! Tender mercy if you ask me. HAHA I felt like i was in Harry potter just surrounded by spiders. HAHA

Glad that this week has been a changer for me. I am beginning to see the blessings in my life and things that i need to work on. But always remember to give thanks for your difficult trials and challenges. Because then you get to learn from them and apply the wonderful Redeeming and Enabling power of the Atonement. I love you all so much and pray that you may all see the Lords loving hand every day as you wander on this journey, continually holding to the Rod of Iron. The savor and redeemer loves each and everyone of you. May you find joy in his gospel.

Much love from the little town of Foley,

Elder Stonely

Week 13: "Pasoli!"

Dear Friends and Family,

Well this week has been so great! For starters, i am addicted to "Pan Dulce" which is pretty much sugary bread that you can buy at the Mexican stores that look so fancy. HAHA those things are amazing... And they are what i buy for a good "pick me up" snack. HAHA some member gave us a GIANT tub of Ice cream so i pop one of the pan dulces in the microwave for 15 seconds and plop a scoop of icecream and it makes for a very tasty bowl of joy:) HAHA

Also while on the topic of food... we ate this thing called "pasoli" (not sure if that's how you spell it, but whatevs!) and it is some Mexican soup type things that you eat with Mexican chip things. And it is amazing! so anyway we ate it at a members house and enjoyed it and wanted more. She always gives us the extras, so we brought a bunch home. And then one of the families who we are currently teaching invited us over around dinner time to have dinner and to have the lesson. And guess what they made?!?!?! PASOLI!!! It was so good. and not even old after eating it so much. BUT! that's not even the best part. we walked out of that dinner/lesson feeling so full and the white lady who we had tracted into and helped with their car came out with a big bowl. and what was it?? PASOLI!!!! HAHA we were a little hesitant because she was a white person cooking a Mexican dish so we didn't expect it to be very good. BUT, It was better than all pasoli we have ever had. So we thought that was pretty funny:)

Ok now moving on from food and onto the good stuff. Honestly... This week was hard. VERY hard. Things falling through, we had to "Drop" a couple people, (which means stop teaching because they aren't reading or doing anything. they just like the listening) so there are other things we could be doing more productively. Its sad to drop people but necessary. and lessons were falling through especially with our main family, Elies and Patricia. They haven't come to church and we assume they are just busy and things are happening. so another way to have patience. And i am working on it! However... Something really truly amazing happened just within the last week that has been a blessing and will be a blessing to the branch here in Foley.

Our third family. Lucia and Ramon. Not sure how much ive mentioned about them, but i will debrief on their story so you all can have a little background. This family is AWESOME! They are from Honduras and have three kids. And we thought that the father was a member cause he said he was baptized, but it came out to be that he was baptized into some other church and he just knows a lot about the church! but we are looking for his records just in case... But we met the mother one day while tracting. she didn't seem too excited, cause i mean we are other "preachers" going around trying to convert. The father wasn't home that time so we weren't able to go in and teach but at least we got a return appointment. So when we went back for the next appointment we finally met the father and he seemed to be SOOOO excited about the church. Like he LOVES it! so we taught a simple lesson about how families can be eternal forever. and they were excited:) this time the wife seemed to show a little more signs of life. HAHA So long story short, we asked if we could come by and keep teaching them. And they agreed:) even asked us when our church was cause they wanted to come! And guess what... THEY CAME!!! 0ur first investigators that came to church:) It was way cool! and the cool part was they were participating in the gospel doctrine class. So that was super cool!

K so cool part time! at church they invited us over for dinner so we could eat and then have a lesson. And though the food was SOOO good, that wasn't the best part. HAHA It was a great lesson and we definitely felt the spirit! and to cut out all the unnecessary parts, they accepted the baptisms invitation!!! Both the Mom, Dad, and if the son chooses to he will be baptized as well!!! and that will hopefully be happening the 26th of this month!!! super soon, but super possible! We are all excited about that. HAHA

So all comes to show. Patience and hard work all pays off. Even though we didn't have to really do anything because these people were prepared by the lord and they are ready. And i am glad that i could be a part of their lives and be a part of this change. We have a lot of work to do this week and we are excited! Love you all so much and cant wait to keep you all updated on the family we are teaching:)

Much love from Foley Alabama,

Elder Stonely

Week 12: "Palabra de Dios!"

Dear Friends and Family,

Well this week has been shortened because of the P-Day being on Tuesday of last week. But it has probably been one of the fastest, coolest, spiritual, and PERFECT week that I have had so far! I simply cant mention it all today because it was that good! Before i get into the groove ill mention some other stuff before i forget. HAHA Number 1, Elder Clayton leaves this week so i will no longer be blessed with his presence in my district. So that's a little sad. But he's moving on! I'm excited for him:D Which brings us to transfers:D I have been blessed to stay here in Foley Alabama! I'm actually really excited because the past week i have gained an attachment to the people... HAHAHA But one of the English Elders in the area has been transfered and replaced by a newbie so we are excited to get to know him! We had our spanish activity this past Friday and i found out that i much be allergic to some sort of plant down here cause i keep swelling up every night from something! HAHA i seriously have had bumps up and down my arm from something. But they are only temporary:D They go away eventually. And its kinda fun cause im the crazy missionary enjoying the new environment. HAHA

Anyway... Back to the fun people:D So this past Friday we had our Spanish Activity with all the hispanic members of the branch and a couple investigator families! it went so well and we had a great turnout! one of the less active members who is moving today actually came and enjoyed a little "goodbye" party. I think me and my companion brought the spirit back into her lives before and she is now wanting to get ahold of the missionaries in North Carolina where she is moving too. I may never hear from her again but i hope the spirit touched her and will lead her back on the path.

But, we did have two Non-Member investigator families come to the activity!!! we were hoping that more would come and we would have more members show up too, but we had 30 people total and it was a perfect turn out. The nonmembers were what made it perfect:D The First family, I believe i talked about them last week. their names are Elies and Patricia. They have 3 kids and love families! Patricia used to be very religious but had fallen away when her Dad passed away from cancer. She doesnt understand why god would do that. (pretty much most people right?) Well anyway, we had a BOSS lesson with their family. It was funny cause their kids were playing outside with friends and they made them come inside and sit down and listen to the "Palabra de Dios!" (word of god) HAHA but... we shared the restoration and when we got to the First Vision, my companion recited Josephs Smiths Words. Now im not joking when i say i have never felt better in my life. The family was paying attention, i was trying to understand, but when he started, the spirit filled the room. It was so strong and i knew it was testifying to Elies, Patricia, and their family. All of their eyes were fixed on us and they could not move. We taught simply, but boldly. The spirit never left until we left. It was strong the whole time. But thats not even the cool part. The cool part was when Elies stopped us at the end and said "From the time you started describing Josephs vision, I felt something different..." And he went on to explain ALL the feelings that the spirit brings. And it was crazy because he felt it, we felt it and it was there. And it was perfect. They said they were going to come to the activity so they did! and they had a BOMB time at the activity and they said they loved it so much that they wanted to come to church sunday! Sadly they couldnt make it to church because something popped up and they live 30 min away from the building, but they said they are making all the efforts to come next sunday. We cant wait to meet with them this week.

Next! We tracted into this family from Hondurez. They are super fun and actually the father, Ramon, is a member, but it sounds like they kinda just "lost" the church or something throughout their time here. They are super busy and he is only home on the weekends cause of work, but we were super surprised when we went over their and they preceded to tell us that they wanted to get married in the temple. We were both shocked... So they will be someone really cool to have in the branch and im hoping that they DO find time for this change in their life. They seem prepared by the lord.

The other Non-member family that came to the activity we havent had a chance to followup with, but they seemed to really enjoy it and their kids had a great time. They left early cause they needed to go to their church, but we hope we can bring the gospel to them in some way:D

Now. The topic that i have been studying this week was Christlike Attributes. Not really going very deep into all of them cause i will be doing that later:D but this week as i studied Patience in particular i realized just how important patience comes into play. And how it connects with the atonement. I've been having a hard time with investigators not making appointments or things happening or stress lasting longer or feeling insufficient at the language and this week i really took a step back. And i realized just how important it is to have patience. Patience with investigators or people around you because they have lives too! Things happen, they have to meet certain things and they have a life! i didn't really understand that till now because living as a missionary you don't have a normal life. Your life is appointments. Patience is required. I've been feeling really insufficient because i cant speak fluently. Taking a step back, I've realized i know nothing. The gift of tongues is real if i can have a conversation with people and teach lessons. I have been given a gift. And i shouldn't complain about not being perfect. If i have patience and study hard, i will have what i need. And with the Atonement. He suffered for our pains and afflictions, and we just need to have faith and patience that he will help us get through them. Big lesson this week and something that has been helping me keep my head up and keep moving forward. This not only applies to me but should apply to everyone. Have faith that things will get better, you'll be ok, and the Lord will lift you up. but then have Patience. There is a quote in Preach my Gospel from President Thomas S. Monson that sums this up perfectly.

"Life is full of difficulties, some minor and others of a more serious nature. There seems to be an unending supply of challenges for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions to such Challenges, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of Patience is required."

Now i don't know why Patience is required. But i do feel like most of the time He is trying to teach us something that we would not be taught if the problem we face was solved right away. The lord knows whats best for us and we need to trust in him and his timing. I pray for you all back home and hope that as you all strive to be more Christlike and submit to his will you will all be blessed. I love you all.

Elder Stonely

Activity selfie:D

This is what happens when we come home late!

Member's bird that lives outside!!

Week 11: "Visit from Elder Brent H. Nielson!"

Dear Friends and Family,

I have enjoyed this past week. It has been full of learning experiences and fun. I have been working a lot with Elder Chapdelaine on teaching lessons by myself in spanish just so i can learn how to say certain things and when to say them and how to communicate with people more. I found our studies together very productive. He always amazes me in his teaching capability as well as his ability to comfort in his words when he can obviously tell something is getting to me. Even after a crazy lesson that didnt go well, he always knows what to say and how to explain things to me in a way that i let go of what happened or forget about my terrible execution and keep trying. He's a boss!

The biggest part of this week was our 1/2 mission conference. Elder Brent H. Nielson, First Quorum of the twelve, and another recently called Elder visited our mission. There were so many great talks and a lot said that all of us have been considering. Elder Nielson began his talk by telling us that the leaders of the church love us. They love missionaries. They pray for us, they care for us. I thought about everything he said and one of my favorite things he mentioned was, " Missions arent easy. They are hard. you've been called by a prophet. You are the select. But that doesn't make your mission easy." Then speaking of the atonement, "It wasnt easy for the savior. So why do you think it should be easy for you?" I thought about that for a minute. As ive mentioned before, The atonement has been a central topic in my studies. And I realized that things are hard. Life is hard. Things happen. People get angry. Simply put, its HARD. But the savior knows what its like. It was hard for him as well. I thought of not only the mission, but others. investigators, family, friends. A lot of people wonder why life isnt easy. Because if it were easy what would we gain? What would we appreciate? How would we grow? There wouldnt be discouraging times. All we would know would be easy. Now i know this may sound kinda silly and crazy for me to talk about. But as i thought of our investigators i thought of how i could help them through these hard times. And i understood why we have hard things happen so i could explain to them why and help them through them. They all have doubts, questions and concerns. But through the simple principles of the gospel things are made easier. The Atonement is wonderful.

Now I appologize if that paragraph does not make sense or is nuts. I find it difficult to explain my spiritual thoughts. I figure after 2 years of practice ill get pretty good :D

I also taught my first english class this week. there was a family that came in and wanted to know how to pronounce words and stuff. Lets say... I think i learned a lot more about spanish then they did about how to pronounce things. HAHA also have sympathy now for anyone trying to learn english because it is hard... And doesnt even make sense to me. HAHA I think ill just stick to spanish now...

So cool thing that happened this week! After the mission conference we went to a place called "Lamberts" It is a really good restaurant... They make like fried stuff, BBQ stuff and are known for their "Throwed Rolls" Yes they really do throw them! It was kinda fun cause you have you meal and all and then every 5-10 min someone comes to a general area in the restaurant and if you want a role you raise your hand, and they throw you a Hot role!!! And they have pretty good aim too. Its very fun and entertaining. But today we all feel sick from all the rolls. HAHA I turned to my companion and said, "I think i need to repent for defiling my body by eating too many rolls..." HAHA we enjoyed that dinner experience:D

So to end, I want to express my appreciation for this week. Its been one to remember and one to think about. Maybe next week ill have a lot more to mention. HAHA I love you all! Look forward to serving even more and doing the lords work:D

Beautiful sunset after a day at the beach

Elder Stonely

AAHH!!! He's getting eaten by a shark!!

Totally awesome sand castle!

WOW! Visitors from the Book of Mormon!

Week #10: "Faith of a Child"

Dear Friends and Family,

The past week has been full of exciting times and disappointments. We have found a ton of people to teach and to talk to, but all of the appointments we set up fall through and we don't end up meeting with many people. But we continue to try! if they cant make it we always try again the next day or the next week. Whenever we can... HAHA But yet the week continues!

Last Monday we went down to Gulf shores and went to the beach!! We played in the sand, talked with some people and just had a great time! Cool story... We were just sitting under the pier just chatting and this lady walks up to us and says "Ill pay you $5 each if you will help me carry my stuff up to my car!" so one thing you may all might want to know... She had like no stuff. She had two little foam beach boards and a cooler. and the walk from the beach to the car is like a 3 min walk. HAHA So she was like out of shape or something cause she was willing to give up 20 bucks for that. HAHA but we turned to her and said, "We will do it for free! as long as you take a card:D" and she sounded so surprised as if nobody in the world would give up $20. HAHA cause who would??? So we helped her move all of her stuff and she was just SOOOO excited. We shared with her who we are and what we do and she was just so excited that there were "angels on the beach" HAHA so she was cool, and she left and never saw her again. But hopefully we changed her perspective of people wearing white shirts and ties! and thats one more door that wont be slammed in some poor missionaries face. HAHA Pdays are always a nice little break from the normal day and we get to talk to more people cause they arent scared of the way we are dressed. HAHA

Basically all the other days were about the same. We went around finding people, getting rejected like the stories you always here, and then we end each day :D We dont have any SET investigators, but Betty is still continuing to listen to us and loves our lessons. We gave her the Book of Mormon to read, (just the intoduction) for the first week, and a week later when we went back for the next visit, she said she had read 13 chapters and we had a great discussion about them. HAHA So she apparently LOVES the book more than me!!! HAHA no JK. No one loves it more than me ;D But she is turning into a solid Investigator. Hopefully she continues to let us talk with her.

Cool spiritual story for the week is about a little boy! We were out tracting a TP (trailor park) Friday night and this kid ran up to us. Now it was by one of the Trailors that we had previously visited. The last time we talked to the adults, the dad was fixing a car and the mother just did not want us there. HAHA we assumed they were just having a bad day or something, but nope! Pretty sure they just hate all people from any church. HAHA so they sent us away. But this time when we were talking with the kid he came up to us just looking all happy, but we could tell something was up. His dad was on the porch drinking with a friend and he was SOO mad. Like something made him angry. So when he saw his kid talking with us he started screaming at him and telling him he cant trust church people because we are not trustworthy people. Well this kid threw it right back in his face and was like "DAD! They are church people! They love JESUS!" Way to go kid! We dont even have to talk to people to show them whats up! haha So we started walking over to the dad to just try to talk to him but he ran off swearing at us. We didnt really care. But anyway... Back to the kid. This kid continues to tell us that he was scared because his mother was freaking out at his dad and him because she lost a little hair pin. so we offered to say a prayer and to ask god if he could help his mom find her hair pin. Not Hesitant at all this kid jumps up and says "OK!!" He said a wonderful prayer for his mother, like i havent seen a better one with so much intent in a kid before. And it was wonderful. He went off and we departed not really thinking much of what just happened. We walked down about 5 trailors and this kid came running behind us screaming at us to stop. HAHA so we did and turned and He had the BIGGEST smile on his face. I guess he went in to home and his mom had found her hairpin and was calming down. So he just came to thank us and tell us all about it. And it was quite wonderful. If anything im pretty sure that kid just taught ME a lesson about Prayer. So we asked him if he wanted to say a prayer thanking god for the help and he was delighted :D he went off jumping and skipping like any happy kid would and we were glad to help:D

It may just be a kid, but Elder Chapdelaine and I have come to realize that even then, we are put into places that may not be the best for talking with people, but that the lord has his ways. And maybe he just needed us to talk to that kid and grow his testimony of prayer. I have no doubt that we helped him in some way. And i have a feeling he wont ever forget it too. HAHA

The lord has his ways of helping others and Helping me as well. I have been studying a lot about the Atonement and as I learn to apply not only the Redeeming power, but also the Enabling power of the atonement My days go better, faster, easier and I feel the strength of the lord in my life. He really does know what each and everyone of us feels like and what we all go through. Use his Enabling power and his grace to lift you up in your work and your daily struggles. He will watch over you and protect you. When you feel like you walk alone, hes probably the one picking you up. Pray oft and always remember, you are a child of our loving heavenly father. May all of you be blessed in all you do.

Much love,

Elder Stonely

 

Week #9 en Foley, AL: "Cousin Companions for a Day!"

Dear Friends and Family,

As normal, GREAT WEEK!!!! A lot of stuff happened and im too excited to remember it all so you may just miss out. HAHA Some big things that happened though were the English Elders in our Branch had a Baptism!!! And let me tell you it was really cool to attend. The spirit was stronger than ever before. (or most.) and I was able to remember when I got baptized. the feelings were tremendous and I really could tell how important this is for others to have. Her name was Beverly and she was just ready is all i can say. HAHA but she enjoyed it!

Oh this tuesday I get to go on a trade off with Elder Clayton!!! (my cousin) How excited I am!!! its in an english area, so i get a break from the spanish. HAHA that is both good and bad... But hey! cousin time!!!

Companionship has been going better than ever before. I continue to learn so much from Elder Chapdelaine throughout training, studying, getting to know him, out walking around, and so much more. He is really a huge guide for here in the mission field and i have been learning a lot. Special tips hes given me have been huge because that is how ive been learning the ways of mission life. We decided that this week would be different than last. We were going to work HARD! And looking back at the results, we really did work hard. We placed 3 book of mormons in one week which is Awesome! and found 4 more new investigators to teach! all of which have been tremendous blessings. And their lives will start to change. The biggest one was probably Betty. (cant remember if i talked about her last week or not so my apologies if i have.) But Betty we found while knocking doors in apartment buildings. She is VERY talkative and VERY outgoing. But sweet hearted and really someone i have enjoyed being around. We began teaching with Family history. she has native american ancestry and so... you can probably see where that went too. HAHA But she was amazing!!! Her best friend is a member of the ward, so we called her up and set up a lesson about family history. The lesson went as followed:

10 min of her talking

5 min of Family History

1 HOUR of BOM discussion and introduction.

HAHA yeah thats crazy... But she had so many questions and so much to talk about and having her have native american ancestry was PERFECTLY SET UP! The lord always has people ready for us. As i have seen week by week. So we talked with her and she said she would read the book of mormon and start living its principles. I dont want to curse myself or anything... but... BAPTISM! BAM! take that satan. HAHA JK but really she is an amazing person. And i can not wait to continue to teach her and share with her this amazing gospel that will change her life.

And i guess on the bad news of things we found out that Dora got "antied" which basically means she found some dumb thing online and people told her something so she didnt want to read the book of mormon. We were depressed, but my trainer drilled this into me. He taught me that no matter what people say or doubt, always tie it into the book of mormon and how you get answers. So dora had some spiritual bricks thrown her way when we went over and explained to her where truth comes from. It was probably a good 45 min talk and we cleared up her questions and concerns using scriptures and spiritual bricks. which comes to show that we have to always be ready. Because we are not sure what will ever happen. but she is now ok with what we have to say and promised she would read and ask god for herself.

i guess being Antied is common down here so we know what to do now. HAHA

Ive been studying a lot about the Atonement this past week. Some General authorities are coming down to visit sometime soon and that was the topic we are studying. The atonement is huge. But the part i want to share today is that we should all remember that Jesus suffered for not only our sins. but for our "pains and afflictions" no matter what is happening or no matter what you feel whether its sad, lonely, depressed, or not 100% ready, the lord knows how you feel. So avoid telling yourself, "no one knows how i feel" because He does. He felt it. And if we remember that and use his atonement, we can feel peace and comfort. because He loves us and knows our pains.

Always remember. The Lord Loves you. He cares about EVERY part of your lifes. He sees you in good and bad times. He feels emotions that you feel. He cares. He wants you to be happy. And we can always be happy as we turn to him.

Much love from Alabama!

Elder Stonely

Week #8 en Foley, AL: "Dora!"

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been both full of crazy good things and crazy things just in general. For starters, one of the less active families in the branch was moving, but not only them, but their grandma. Into the same house, so we had the opportunity to go help them move! I thought it was going to be nothing, just a simple move. They said they didnt have that much so i was like expecting a couple hour activity like we have for YM in our ward. NOPE!!! I swear... The grandma wanted to bring the world with her! but it was super funny cause everything we brought out of the house was"ancient" even though it was a flat screan TV. HAHA so she would always snap at us and tell us that if we broke anything she would pull her gun out and go "a ratta tat tat!" HAHA all four of the elders (missionaries) just laughed it off and continued. She was prettymuch like a classic Crazy old lady. HAHA I probably cursed myself cause i just may be the same type of old man! HAHA So long story short, the move took over a period of three days with 6-5 a day of just loading and unloading the truck. It felt like such a waste of time... but they came to church the next sunday!!!! So i guess thats a plus.

The move was Wed, Thu, and Fri. so I was feeling a little spiritually crazy and ready to go out and talk to PEOPLE! Like investigators and other people. Which we did. Saturday was the best day of the week! we met probably about 30 people/families just on that day. and with everyone of them either left them with a Family History Card or taught a mini lesson on the Plan of Salvation and left them with the pamphlet. Most people were excited to hear the message but not sure where they will take it or if they will even call us back. But we did share the Plan of Salvation with a couple families who were really excited! They said they would read the pamphlet as a family and then give us a call. Most of the time parents down here want their children to grow up in a church and know about Jesus. So they invite their whole family out on the porch to listen to us and its great!

The highlight of my day however was Dora. I mentioned her before, but saturday we met with her for a second time. Not really knowing what she would have done or if she would read the BOM at all. But when we started, we found out a lot more about her. She is super interested in "Gospel" in general. She is recently devorced and has two kids. So she wants them to live good lives and know about gospel stuff. She doesnt do very well at reading, but she goes on line and researches a TON! She did however read the introduction of the BOM and the First chapter of Nephi.She was again a little confused, but she said she felt something different. Which we all know what that is... Spiritual bricks!!! She felt the spirit and loved It! The lesson went on and we finally got to the point where we asked her if she would be baptised. she said she had been baptized twice before in two different churches but said she didnt really know what she was doing and didnt want to "play with god" (which is why she has been studying a lot) but she said that if she could learn a lot more and knew it was for herself then she would. It may not have been a direct YES, but it is just like in the district videos i watched while out here. Where we need to just let them know that they will receive an answer by then. Sadly we didnt get a date for her baptism but we are working on it. she wanted to meet as soon as we could cause she has a ton of questions! and we set up a return appointment.

This just comes to show how we need to always be ready for these situations that pop up. If we hadnt met her like I explained last week, this wouldnt be happening. she Is a wonderful wonderful lady who has such a great heart! Hoping we can baptize her!!

Last thing i wanted to mention was this quote by Henry B Eyring that I have officially made my missionary quote. HAHA

"I am part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The dye has been cast, I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I am a disciple of Jesus christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, positions, promotions, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, recognized, praised, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk with patience, am uplifted by prayer, and labor with power. My pace is set, my gate is fast and my goal is Heaven. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my Mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, divided, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I won't give up, shut up, or let up until i have stayed up, stored up, and paid up for the cause of Christ. I must go until He comes, give until I drop, preach all I know and work until He stops me. And when He returns for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me. My Banner is clear."

Henry B Eyring.

 

I love that and hope that that quote finds and sparks some interest in all of you. May you all enjoy your week and enjoy the gifts that we receive daily from our savior.

Much love,

Elder Stonely

Celebrating Elder Stonely's "Greenie" package