Week 81: New Years!

Dear Friends and Family,

Being the new year, I think we all start to think back of what we want to set for new goals. I too did this, but then remembered that I couldn't even remember my other years goals. How often does each one of you reflect on what you did this past year as well as look to the next? As I pondered that subject I realized one this that I am truly grateful that I have learned. 2016 was the only year of my entire life that I have spent as a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, and I have grown my testimony in probably the most important thing ever, The Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

For sacrament meeting here in the Spanish branch, we show up early to set everything up. We put chairs up, set up the translation gear for those who only speak English, make sure the microphones work and then set up the sacrament. We normally finish getting ready 30 minutes before the meeting starts, which was the case for the New Year Sunday. When the meeting started, I was asked to pass the sacrament. Due to the New Year weekend, our church attendance was a little low. As The opening hymn was being played, I looked at the sacrament table and realized that the bread wasn't on the table. And then the scary thought that most bishops or people have,,, "we don't have bread..." So, long story short, Elder Leandro and I drove home to grab bread since our apartment was the closest. And on the car ride home was when i had the most enlightening experience ever.

I have always thought of the importance of the sacrament. Why we go to church? what the sacrament symbolizes? and what our purpose for taking it is? Though I had such a great feeling as we drove back to church with the bread that this is truly our purpose of life. Now don't get me wrong, there is a lot more we have to do than just take the sacrament, but I started to think of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

1. Faith

2. Repentance

3. Baptism

4. Gift of the Holy Ghost

5. Endure to the End

That is truly what we teach as missionaries. Is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. and that through that all men might find joy and eternal life. Life is simple! We come here, we exercise our faith in Christ, we repent of our mistakes and follies, we get baptized and then go to church every Sunday to remember our baptism and the covenants we made, we follow the spirit after we receive it, and we do what we need to to endure to the end! That's all we have to do! Isn't it quite easy??

This past year, THE GOSPEL is something that I have come to understand. I am grateful for every day i get to wake up and walk by faith, I am grateful for every chance I get to change my thoughts, actions and inner desires through the process of repentance, I am grateful to have been baptized and to have the sacred ordinance of the sacrament to remember what I have promised, I am grateful for the spirit that guides us, teaches us, testifies to us and comforts us in our deepest and darkest moments, I am grateful for the temple which offers saving ordinances and for the church organization that helps me lead myself to become who I need to be for the Savior and for our heavenly father. I am truly grateful for this testimony that we as missionaries get to share every day, 24/7 with people who don't have these blessings. I am grateful for 2016 and for all it has given me and can only wait for what the Lord has in store for me this upcoming year. 

I thank every single one of you who reads this email for all your support, your love, your joy, your prayers, your thought, your smiles and your love for Christ, our savior. I hope that all of you have had the chance to reflect on this past year and count the mighty miracles that you have received by the loving hands of God. I pray that all of you may have the best year of your life by following the counsel of my wise grandfather by "Making every day, your new year!" 

Much love and appreciation,

Elder Stonely

P.S. I learned how to make tamales from one of our investigators and this is it!!! Holy cow its amazing... MOM!! Can we make tamales???

I learned how to make tamales!!

Yeah, I made this!

I went on another selfie craze...

We ate some of these HUGE grapefuit.

Week 80: Merry Christmas

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been quite the week for sure :) Christmas was awesome! Being able to talk with family reminds me of the happiness that they always have brought me. Lets just say I'm glad they are my family and that I will have them forever and all eternity :) I also love my grandpa more than the world! For those of you whom are unaware, my grandfather is deaf. I have never been able to communicate directly with him the way others communicate with their grandparents, but one thing is for sure, and that is we have a strong connection. My grandfather is very talented. He can read lips, and has such a great spirit.  Sister Smith, President Smiths wife, shared during our last zone conference how she came to find out one of her spiritual gifts that she had been given was her smile. All I could think of while she was talking about that was my grandfathers wonderful smile :) I have never seen him ever not happy! And Its amazing. So that whole story just shows how much I love my grandpa and was able to talk with him on Christmas :)

The rest of the week was a bit hard for missionary work due to everyone being busy with Christmas and the holidays, though one thing is for sure that we have had a lot of experiences to share the video the church put out for the Christmas season. It was amazing to be able to see how many people are willing to remember Christ and do their best to serve others and share the light of Christ. All of the missionaries in our zone decided that they would all go Christmas caroling at the Hospital. We showed up in the morning, but since we weren't allowed to go into anyone’s room and sing, we decided to walk through the halls and go through the hymn book singing. At first it felt a bit awkward because we are a bunch of missionaries who don't know how to sing, though as we went through the halls singing, our talents somehow got way better!!! And there was someone in their room who heard us and stopped us. She invited all of us in and then we sang her favorite hymn. But what made that memory so special was that when we were about to leave, one of the missionaries asked her if there was anything we could do to help her, and she started to cry, and told us, “no. you've already done it.” I started to think of how it was such a joy that we were able to bring Christmas into her trip to the hospital. And how she felt the love that the Lord has for her. It was an amazing experience that's for sure!!!!

Elder Leandro and I are doing great! He is adjusting to missionary life pretty well and I am enjoying having the opportunity to show him around and teach him the ways of missionary life. He has only lived in the United states for about a year and so it almost feels like I'm with a foreigner who doesn't know the United States very well. HAHA Lets just say that it has been enjoyable :) Well to all my BOSS family and friends out there, the church is true! The gospel is real! Keep on in the path of righteousness and you'll be blessed :) I love you all so much and wish you a happy New Year!

Much Love,

Elder Stonely

My new companion, Elder Leandro.

Senior missionaries in our area.

Me and former companion, Elder Sturdevant.

Christmas package from my awesome family.

Gift from Santa!

Yes, a Tallahassee Florida Mission t-shirt! I've been jealous of all the other Elders who have been wearing them.

Week 79: Elder Leandro

Dear Friends and Family,

I must say, this week was quite the week! For starters, I got my new companion on Wed. His name Is Elder Leandro, He is, like i said last week, from Brazil, he speaks Portuguese, his Spanish is pretty great, and his English in entertaining. He speaks really well, and he is a joy! He is a very funny guy and we are going to get along together great :) 

The first day he got here, we had such a great experience. Here is an excerpt from the email I sent the Mission President:

Elder Leandro and I have definitely seen the blessings that come from inviting people to be baptized just in the first week of being together. His first day here, we got home and did a little bit of studies. We Role played the restoration and how to begin teaching to prepare for a couple lessons we had with our investigators. When the time came for the first lesson, we went to go visit Angela. We went with a member, and the lesson went really well. We did exactly what we did in the Role play and at the end, invited her to be baptized. Well, first we asked her if she believed the story of Joseph Smith and she said yes, then we extended the baptismal invitation. She accepted!!! She said she wanted to wait a little bit and talk to her husband, but she accepted. And now we are working with her! It was the first lesson we had with her and Elder Leandros first ever lesson in the field. He was pretty tired when he got home probably due to the long trip here, and then going out and teaching a lot of people. It was a great first day!

The other spiritual thought that comes from this week comes from our visits to the Hispanic stores that we call "tienditas." We decided to go to visit and spend the last 30 minutes of the day contacting Hispanics at the store. We went, contacted some people and then were talking to the store owner. The first thing he said to us was, "oh no, I don't trust you both!" We asked him why, and he went on to tell us how he saw two missionaries in the store looking at girls for a while and since then he doesn't trust any of us. It caught me off guard and I began to think at just how important our calling as missionaries is. People are constantly observing us and watching us, as missionaries and as members of the church. after we left the store I asked myself, "What image do I give others?" As I reflect every day at the type of person I want to become, I see many opportunities to change and to become more like Christ. I know that by doing so, those around us will start to see the light of Christ in us more and will start to see the blessings of the gospel that come into our lives. I love you all so much from back home! Have the Merriest of the Christmas season! Much love and joy, 

Elder Stonely

Here are some pictures of me using an inversion table :)

Week 78: Transfers!!!

My amazing Friends and Family,

This week is transfer week! Which means a lot of fun news :) We didn't know if Elder Moore would be leaving or not because he is right on the fine time line of going and staying. Though, calls came in, and Elder Moore went out the another zone as a zone leader, and I will be training an elder from Brazil here in Tallahassee!! I still don't know what his name is, but he is 6 foot 6 inches and plays volleyball! I'm not sure if he speaks Spanish, but he should be able to understand it cause the languages are pretty similar. Though he has lived in the states for about a year so he may know English. Either way, I'M GONNA LEARN PORTUGUESE! I'm excited! HAHAHAHAHA I was a little scared to train, but then I realized that I have already done it so its not that hard. And if he picks up Spanish fast then it will be easy! I'm still so excited to be here and to keep pressing forward!!!

This week was quite the shortest, it seemed to fly by, but the spiritual highlight of the week comes from a trade off we did with our zone leaders. Elder Birch, is one of the sickest missionaries ever! He comes from a family where his dad left his family at age 16 and he was put into the father role. With 8 other siblings, he provided for the family, they moved around almost yearly, and he never was able to serve a mission till now since his mom re-married. Despite these difficulties, he decided to serve a mission at age 25 and dedicate two years. I talked to him and got to know him and one of the greatest things that I learned was the lesson of "Magnifying your calling." All of Elder Birches family is less active and he mentioned it was hard for him to always go to church. Though after every move, he would go directly to the bishop and asked for home teaching assignments and a calling. I saw in his example of how that prepared him to be an amazing missionary. As I thought about him I began to ponder of how I am doing at "magnifying my calling?" I know there are always things that seem to get in the way of fulfilling our duties, though I realized that as we do our very best to serve the Lord and those around us in our callings, we will be blessed :) I am very grateful for all the examples around me :) 

Thank you all for your amazing love and support in all you do for missionaries around the world! Much love and appreciation,

Elder Stonely

Week 77: Birthday Blessings

Dear Friends and Family,

So... Yum yum sauce is pretty tasty from Japan. I don't know whats in it, but its pretty good.

This week Elder Moore and I went out to a Hibochi Grill to celebrate. And we were the only ones in the restaurant which was funny because while he was cooking, for any of you who have never been to a Hibochi grill, the table literally lights on fire. HAHA so it was an experience. And I have never had Yum yum sauce so it was a joy :)

Also on my birthday, the whole zone got together in the morning and we played Futsal inside the church gym. It has been a while since I have played soccer and it brought me back to memory of the many times the Maeser soccer team would play inside. It was a good birthday gift!

For the spiritual side of this email, I thought I would share part of an experience we had. On Sunday we had the opportunity to go visit the Local Catholic Church service because someone invited us to attend and she said she would come to ours. So, being the kind missionaries that we are, we decided to go at 8:45 in the morning for the Spanish service. Now I really do respect and love the religion and people of others, though on Sunday my testimony of the restored Gospel was strengthened by a million. All the people at the church were friendly and nice, though the manner of worship was different. I have never been to another church before in my life, though this catholic church was way different than what people told me it was like. The whole time we were there the story from the Book of Mormon when Alma goes to the Zoramites to preach the gospel (Alma 31) was being brought to memory. We were handed this piece of paper with 12 hymns on it. All the hymns were part of what we thought to be "mini ordinances" because everything was recited and everyone knew what to say except us. HAHA in order to go to the catholic church you must have to memorize a lot. Despite the many differences in the way of worship, the leaders, the sacrament or anything else, there was one that stuck out to me the most. Which was the spirit. I know for a fact that many times in my life I have taken for granted what we truly feel at church. While we were visiting the church there was a song they sang where the lyrics were:

"Ten piedad, ten piedad."

It was that phrase over and over which means "have pitty on us" and I thought of the Atonement. We are truly blessed to have the restored gospel and the correct knowledge of the gospel. Though like I was saying, there is something special about the spirit and how it can testify to us of what is right and brings us true Joy. I am grateful for what we have!

Though the catholic church experience was one that I am grateful for :) Maybe it will help our investigator come to ours. What we thought was funny was that we knew half the congregation just from all the Hispanics we meet on the streets. HAHA 

Well, much love for all of you! I send my love and joy! Have a great week!

Elder Stonely

Here are some great pictures!

Birthday meal with Yum Yum sauce at a Hibochi grill.

 

Birthday cake with 20 candles! I'm no longer a teenager!

Week 76: Gratitude!

My fellow brothers and sisters,

This week was the Longest week, yet the shortest week. It was long because our investigator pool is getting smaller. Since Trump won the elections, most of the illegal Hispanics are working 24/7 to try to save up some money. which means they are never home... So we moved our time over to finding legal Hispanics! And we have had some great success! The week was short, because I, like many of you have probably done, started to be more grateful for the many blessings that we have in our life. Though as i thought about it and as i listened to people give talks during sacrament meeting, one of the speakers shared this quote from the Prophet Thomas S. Monson in the May 2000 Ensign:

"Let us follow him. Let us emulate his example. Let us obey His word. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude. My sincere prayer is that we may, in our individual lives, reflect that marvelous virtue: an attitude of gratitude."

I thought that the phrase "an attitude of gratitude" is applicable to not only thanksgiving, but ours lives as well. I am so grateful for all that I have. And it being that on the 3rd of December I get officially fat and old by turning 20, here is 20 things/lessons that I have learned throughout my 20 years of living that i am grateful for:

1- The Atonement is the greatest gift of all.

What other greater thing to be thankful for. I have the healing and purifying power to be cleaned from sin, lifted up in trials, and resurrected to be able to return to our Heavenly father. All because of the love of my Savior. 

2- Service brings Joy.

Not just missionary service, but when we are serving others in any form, we experience the love the savior has for them. Which is the Joy that we strive for. We are never happy when we think of ourself.

3- Our Heavenly father is only a prayer away.

4- Family is important. They wont always be around.

5- My mom REALLY does do a LOT!

6- Avoid comparing yourself to others.

Everyone has different temptations and circumstances, and i should be grateful for mine. I am grateful for what I have been given and can continue to improve myself to become more like Christ.

7- Magnify your calling.

The lord needs us wherever we are and whoever we are. We have talents that He needs to grow His kingdom.

8- The best leader is a Follower.

The best leader is him who is following Christ.

9- Seeing Others Happy makes me happy.

10- Be yourself!

We all are weird, so just get over it! I'm a lot happier when i can be weird and be ok with it :)

11- Dads always have the BEST advice.

12- The Sabbath is a delight. 

13- How to Crochet. 

14- Take care of your back.

15- Laughter makes all days better.

16-The Book of Mormon not only answers the questions to the soul, but is the best spiritual doctor ever! (right behind the savior)

17- I really love ice-cream. 

18- There is always a special bond between Mothers and Sons.

19- I live in a beautiful world.

20- I am a child of God. And he truly does love me.

No matter what happens, this is something no one can take away from me. My true identity of who i am and where i am going. I am grateful for this knowledge.

We are all so truly blessed! And I am grateful for everything that I have been aloud to learn in this life. i am grateful for the people that I have been able to grow up with and meet along my journey. I love you all so much! Have the best of a week and enjoy your Christmas Holiday!

Elder Stonely,

Much love :)

PS> Birthday Shout out to the twins! Sam and Ashlyn Ellis! They are also fat and old like me now that they are turning 20! HAHAHAHAHAHA totally kidding. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

On FSU gameday everyone does a tailgate party. So we went to Checkers and had our own "tailgate" ice cream party. HAHA

Driving selfie. HAHAHAH

Week 75: The Waters of Mormon

Dear Friends and Family,

Another great week of learning and improving. This week I thought I would share a couple great experiences that we had throughout the week.

As some of you know, I had the opportunity to visit Ana Fuentes and assist her baptism. Its been a while since I have used her name so i will bring it up again for everyone. Ana is a sweet lady from El Salvador. She has been meeting with the missionaries from the time i was in Cairo GA and I began teaching her. She is SOOOO amazing. She has such a sweet spirit. We set a Baptismal date with her back in june or july for the 19 of November. She prayed about a date and that was the date that she picked. So we went over and would teach her preparing her for that special day. Sadly, I wasn't able to continue teaching her and visiting with her as I have been moved to the city of Tallahassee (about an hour south). However, this past week was the day of her wonderful baptism and I was invited to go! After getting permission from President Smith first. HAHA So we went up there and enjoyed the trip! The spirit was so strong and i could see how happy she was! It was cool to hear her say as we left, She said "this is the best day of my life." My dear friends, I cant remember the details of my baptism, though I do remember how amazing i felt. Especially when i got home. I was sitting on the steps watching my friends and family. My wonderful Grandmother, Vicki Stonely was there talking with us all. They told me I could start fasting now since i turned 8. HAHA I proudly agreed, but then couldn't do it for more than 10 min. HAHA though i remember feeling so happy, so peaceful and it felt right. How special is your baptism day? What do you remember from "the best day ever?" If you cant remember, think of the temple. That was my favorite favorite day. Ana is amazing and I was happy that she reminded my of "my best day ever." 

This week we also went to contact a referral that we had been given from the 6th ward missionaries here in Tallahassee. As we talked to the lady from Venezuela whom they had referred to us, we asked her if she knew her neighbors. She pointed out that her neighbor was from Cuba. so we decided to walk over and knock on the door. We talked with him and set up a return appointment. He was from Cuba, though spoke both english and Spanish. So on Saturday, when we came back for our appointment, we drove up and guess who was there? the 6th ward missionaries!! Now I don't know what it is like in other missions or in Utah, but down here there are some areas that are SOOOOOO spread out. And being Spanish missionaries, sometimes we have to travel an hour to get to places. So this drive was an hour away, and when we got there, there just so happened to be two other missionaries talking to the same guy, in the middle of nowhere, at the same time we had planned on seeing him. HAHA so we left back home and let the other missionaries teach him. We were on the drive home and feeling a little bit down cause we had then wasted about 2 hours of time. Though Ive learned never to say "wasted" because the Lord always places people in our path. So the story continues as we were driving home. (Now for all of you who have never seen a picture of our car, I will just say that other missionaries did not take care of this car like they should have. There is a lot wrong with it.) We were driving home and Elder Moore saw a sign that said "Free brake inspection." He asked me suddenly if we should go because our brakes were squeaking like crazy. Key point, (Normally we would just wait to get these issues fixed or things like that done till later when we have free time. We were headed to a lesson, but decided to stop and get the brakes fixed. It was completely unplanned.) We both decided at the same time to quickly turn into the mechanic shop. We got out of the car, walked inside and told him we saw the sign and just stopped in. He went outside to look at the car and we sat down and made ourselves feel at home. I started to think and thought to myself, "We are completely wasting our time... What have we done?" HAHA And no joke, In that very moment, two Hispanics walked through the door!! Now that sounds very surprising to you all maybe, but down here, in the city of Tallahassee, we have to first do an Easter egg hunt to find people who speak Spanish, then we can see if they are willing to listen. But these two walked right into the bears cave as we just happen to choose to change plans and get our brakes checked. We immediately talked with them and this guy was from some place in Texas where he knew a lot of Mormons. Now I'm not joking, this man asked us more questions than we could answer. HAHA So we talked with him and gave him our contact information. He isn't living here in Tallahassee, but he is going to talk to missionaries there. 

Now that was a cool experience. Because i never thought that the spirit would work in simple ways like telling us to get our brakes checked. Though when this Hispanic guy and his wife walked through the door I felt those tender mercies literally falling through the sky. The spirit is incredible. Even though sometimes he works in ways you would never think of. 

I love you all and hope that this week the spirit will guide you to those whom you can serve and bless! Count your many blessings and remember how much we have been given! On December 1st is world wide service day so go out and do some service in the community! There is not a better way to show who we are as members of the church than serving our fellow brothers and Sisters! I love you all! Take care and Enjoy the holiday seasons!

Much love,

Elder Stonely

Ana's baptism.

Zone Conference with Spanish Elders.

I made the BEST spaghetti!

I visited the Jacki Robinson Memorial.

Remnants of Jacki Robinson's home.