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

 

Week #7 en Florida Talahassee: "Here I Come Cousin....!"

Dear Friends and Family,

There is so much I would love to talk about that I would be sitting here for hours! First I just wanted to quickly talk about my last week in the Mexico Training Center and Then some cool experiences Ive had throughout the first week here in Florida and Alabama!

Last week on the MTC was a crazy one trying to figure out everything I needed to do and get done in order to leave. But once I finally did it struck me that I will probably never see any people I met ever again and that made me sad. I was excited to take a billion pictures with my teachers and co-missionaries. I have a lot of pictures and some i will probably share now or some other time. They are all just so great I cant really pick any! but My teachers taught me so much and I learned that they are more than just my teachers. I already miss them because now when I have questions I cant simply ask them what the answer is or how to translate a word. I ACTUALLY HAVE TO DO IT FOR MYSELF!!! WHAT??? I HAVE TO WORK??? HAHA totally kidding. I learned a lot from them and kinda glad I don't have them cause now the responsibility is on me 100%

 

I was greatful for the MTC for all that it taught be and it truly did prepare me for the field. Except in my spanish because I feel like during lessons I just sit and try to understand what they are saying. Its different, but it is great!

I guess I'll mention the things most people want to hear whenever there is a transfer or anything. My companions name is Elder chapdelaine (took me forever to be able to spell or pronounce) and He is the BEST! He is my trainer and he really does know what he is doing. There is so much to learn from him and I'm not even sure if i'm leaning it all. But i will get there! He talks really fast in Spanish and helps me out a ton. Something I am really grateful for. We have a car to drive, but limited on miles, so we bike a lot of places and MAN OH MAN it is fun! HOT, but extremely fun. We stop and talk to everybody we see and some of the people wee meet are great! I find that down here most white people are the ones you want to watch out for cause every white person that is not a member who I have met has been extremely rude. That's one reason I am happy to be a Spanish missionary cause all of the Hispanics down here came here to have a better life and they are ALL extremely nice! even when they don't want to talk to you they still say hi and still listen to whatever you have to say. They even take anything that you give them! We could probably give them all a Book of Mormon, but no guarantee that they will actually read it. So we save the books for the people who we feel like need one and give cards and pamphlets out to everybody else. They are all super nice.

Elder Stonely and Elder Chapdelaine, his first companion in Foley, AL

 

Speaking of people, I wanted to talk about a couple people who I have met so far in the short amount of time I have been here. There are two youth, Victor and Bruce. Both who got baptized into the church within the last year, but who have a difficult home situation or life or hard time getting to where they need to be. There stories are long so i wont spend much time mentioning them, but we have been focusing on them this week trying to get help them in any way possible. 

But my spiritual moment of the week has been when we were going to visit a potential investigator on Friday. He wasn't home, like most of our visits, so we started heading back to the car. We waiting by the car just trying to figure out what to do for that little time since our plan fell through. Our backup plan was to go tracking, so we were about to when a lady pulled up to the trailer next to where we were at. We went over to talk to her and she gladly let us in. It was only her and her two little boys home so we had to have the lesson out on the porch. She pulled up the one chair that she had and we sat on the ground. We pulled out our stuff and started to talk to her. She told us that she was reading in the bible, but wanted to find something on her phone to read whenever she wasn't home. To our surprise, when she was looking for an Bible app to download what do you think she downloaded??? THE GOSPEL LIBRARY!!!! She told us how she started reading and She read part of the Book of Mormon and part of Joseph smith translation. She was extremely confused because it was not the bible, but she was unsure because she said it was just like the bible. So.... Perfect opportunity to teach HER!!! We pulled out our copy of the Book of Mormon and had a Wonderful lesson. We answered all of her questions and she set up a return app. for tomorrow. So we are looking forward to teaching her.

Two peas in a pod:)

 

But this experience taught me something valuable that I needed to hear. That it is important to talk to EVERYBODY. And that the lord truly prepares people to hear our message and that we just have to go out and find them. we would never have found her if we hadnt waited at the car thinking of what to do and even if we decided to drive of instead of talking to her right when she got home. It was a game changer for me. 

There are a lot more things that took place but that one was the best. My spanish is coming along, but frustrating at points where I get lost. All I can do it keep trying! thats a good life lesson to learn for anyone who hasnt learned it. I may be terrible at spanish, but all i can do is move forward and keep trying. (although all the latinos keep telling me I dont have an american accent and that i sound like a latino) YEAH!!! progress!!!

Until next week when I have more stories to tell,

Much love, 

Elder Stonely

Elder Stonely with Mission President Smith and Sister Smith





Elder Stonely and Elder Clayton, cousins serving in the same district!
Grandma and Grandpa Stonely would be so PROUD of both of you!

 

Week #6 en route to Florida Talahassee!

Elders and Hermanas,

It has been a pleasure to serve with you over the last 6 weeks.  Our love goes with you to your fields of full time service.  We know you will be powerful tools in the hands of the Lord as you listen carefully to the promptings of the Spirit.  Disfruten cada momento.

Con amor,

Hermana Call

CCM

Florida Talahassee Mission...here we come..July 21, 2015. Good luck everyone!

Week#5 en el CCM: "Three Amigos"

Dear Friends and Family,

As every week I believe I have said, this one was one to remember! I feel like every day continues to be a roller coaster of things happening on and off and experiences both great and not so great. But every day I learned something knew and grew in a way that has helped me as I continue to push forward!

Last Tuesday Elder Neilson and I had the opportunity to "Host" a missionary for a couple days because his companion left Monday but he didnt leave until Wed. So we got to know him and talked a lot and he became part of our companionship. We were like the "Three Amigos!" Throughout our time in the CCM we had noticed that him and his companion did not seem super close and they often were doing seperate things. We got to talk with him and found out that his companion really did not care about him at all and was constantly getting mad at him and not really caring where he was or how he was doing. He did not feel like he should complain to anyone about it and so went on living in this way for his six week stay here. We both felt terrible that he had such a terrible experience here and felt glad that we could have the opportunity to cheer him up before he went out into the field. He expressed his greatest appreciation for all that we did for him and said that those two days were the best days he has had! We felt very greatful.

This experience led me to think about just how close my companionship with Elder Nielson at that moment was and how it has been improving. I thought of so much more we could be doing to improve our relationship and the way we work together. Noticing that there were times where the spirit wasnt able to help us out in some way I wanted to change some things.

Luckily every friday we have a weekly planning session and at the end of each planning session each companionship has "companionship invitory" This time is used to discuss with our companions about what we can do do strengthen our lessons, relationships, set goals, and really reflect on how we are doing and how we can improve. we watched a clip about weekly planning from "the District" films for missionaries and I knew what I had to say and what we needed to talk about.

Obviously Elder Nielson felt the same way because right when we began we both had thoughts about the exact same things. We talked and set goals for what we could do better to have the spirit with us 24/7. It was one of my favorite moments from this week. My teachers kept telling me that this is "sacred time" but I never really thought that because it was just busy and stressful! but now I really do understand why it is a sacred moment in our week. Our companionship grew so much and I was so happy that I had this experience to change the way I look at parts of the mission experience.

This week was one that will never be forgot and one I needed to have before I set out into the field. I am greatful for teachers and instructors who really do know what they are talking about and know the best ways to help each and every one of us. I know this gospel is the one and only true and fulfilled gospel on the earth today and am eternaly greatful for everything that every person has through this sacred message.

Until two weeks! (i leave next tuesday in the morning so there may not be a Week #6 in the CCM.)

Much love back home,

Elder Stonely

so... we did this... HAHAHA I know im a stupid boy, but This IS FUNNY!!! we got in trouble and I repented so dont worry.... :D

Week #4 en el CCM: Obedience

THIS WEEK WAS ONE TO REMEMBER! We had the opportunity to visit the temple today for a couple hours and even though it was closed for something, IT WAS AMAZING! The spirit was so strong throughout the whole visit (which is my topic and highlight of the week). Two sister missionaries gave us a tour of the visitors center in temple grounds and my oh my it wonderful. We watched a short clip about the saviors atonement and how he changed everything and anywhere he went. I am pretty sure its on LDS.org or somewhere. But it struck my heart so hard. I thought of what he did for all of us and especially after this week, I realized that the atonement is not only for when we make terrible sins or mistakes. This week Elder Neilson and I had a couple disagreements with lessons, or frustration because of our lack of communication between eachother. I was struggling so hard until Sunday when I realized that i needed the atonement in my life at that moment to help me change the way I interact with my companion.

For starters, sunday was fast sunday and it was the first sunday where I really realized what it means to fast. (it breaks my heart to say that and I regret every fast sunday I could have done something more) There were a couple people in our district and our presidents wife who needed the blessings and thoughts. I decided that I would fast for them throughout the whole day and decided to change the way I looked at each day and change my actions.

I know the Lord has been wanting me to change some things before i have to go out into the field to help others. Each lesson and devotional last sunday were FILLED with personal revelations and thoughts that i had through the Holy Ghost. Each speaker mentioned multiple times answers to questions I had been asking the whole week. With our district, we had been struggling to find the balance between fun and spiritual. I was getting frustrated and down because all I wanted to feel was the Holy Ghost. I wanted his constant companionship throughout each day and really was not finding it. But Lessons were taught on Obedience and what that meant. I realized yet again that I had some repenting to do and some changing to do. I talked with my companion and figured out what was going on and we worked it out together and came up with a better way of doing things. Ever since then our lessons have been stronger and the Holy Ghost has been the Senior companion throughout the day guiding us and building us. (the way it should be for ALL companionships)

The Holy Ghost has been something that I strive for and something that when I have i realize what i need to do and where i need to go. He has guided us in our lessons, our thoughts, our actions, and how we live. President Machado shared a quote with us which i have been constantly thinking about. He said "You want to have the spirit with you? How do you do it?" he continued with the lesson and ended with this sentence which really made everyone in the room ponder. "The way to have the spirit with you is simple... Obedience."

I thought for a moment and after some time I realized just how important and true that was. The only way the spirit would not be able to be our companions is if we break one rule. If we make a joke that leads our thoughts away from our purpose of if we do somthing that is not allowed. This is something that I am learning to do more and more. Though honestly i think i do a pretty good job at it, but i look back on every day and see multiple parts of my day i could have done better.

The Holy Ghost is the way that we recieve personal revelation and the way we are guided in this life. Without the Holy Ghost, missionaries are nothing. In one of our devotionals, the speaker said this, "What is a missionary without the Holy Ghost?... Nothing. He/she can not teach investigators without the spirit. Because we are not the people that teach. The spirit is. If you do not invite the spirit into the lesson, the investigator will not feel the truth and power of your message and will not want you to return."

Those devotionals were super important as I continued throughout the week working harder and harder on having the Holy Ghost in my studies, lessons, and throughout my day. I want to feel it forever because i know the importance of it.

Im greatful to be a part of the Lords work in touching every one of his beloved children. And i can not wait to better myself as I move forward. This next week will be a test for me as I apply what I learn daily.

Much love from Mexico City,

Elder Stonely

Week #3 en el CCMM: "Duty is Joy!"

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been one to remember! Every day there has been a struggle or another with me and my companion. And at times I have wondered how in the world I am to help him. But, Tuesday's devotional and all Sunday, we had meetings and topics that struck me hard! I learned so much and I know the Lord gave me what I needed to hear. I learned so much that I don't have time to write it all down, (it's in my journal so I'll be OK) HA HA

I wanted to mention real quick my favorite topic/Devotional. Sunday priesthood meeting, President Beecher (District presidency) gave a lesson on fulfilling our "Duty." Not only our duty as a missionary, but our duty in life as well. This was one I needed to hear about over and over after the last week of trials. He shared a poem that President Monson shared in a general conference talk.

I slept and dreamt that Life was Joy

I woke and saw that life was Duty

I acted, and behold-

Duty was Joy.

-Unknown Author

This poem struck me hard as I quickly realized that I needed to repent of my lack of "duty." It hadn´t been a very enjoyable week because I was not getting along with my companion as well as I wanted to and things just weren't going right. I realized that ALL Joy in life comes from sincerely fulfilling our duty. This led me to think of an analogy.

In any sport, (soccer in my case), each player holds a responsibility. Whether it be to score a goal, or block a goal, make a good pass, or think logically. All of which could lead to a game winning goal or a terrible mistake. Without every player on the field performing their "duty" something goes wrong and there is no Joy.

As I thought about this during priesthood meeting, I thought of what my duty was as a missionary, a companion, a friend, a leader, and anything else I could come up with. I realized that there was so much I needed to change in order to fulfill my duty. And to receive the joy in my experience here and in life as I move on. I applied the things President Beecher shared with me for the rest of Sunday and Monday and all of today. "And behold- Duty is Joy."

Every person in this world wants to be happy. It's God's plan for every one of his beloved children. We all have a duty to perform in order to receive joy. Whether it be fulfilling a church calling, pursuing your career, being a parent or a responsible, obedient child. We ALL have something to do and something to work on. That is what I have learned this week. If there is something you could do better in your life do it. If you don't feel like there is Joy all around you, reflect on what you are doing. Then change. I know with all of my heart as we strive to be like our Savior and fulfill our duty and better yet, go beyond that, relationships will be strengthened. Your life will change, and you will have more joy. "For behold, Duty is Joy."

I love everyone back at home and can't wait to continue to share with you all everything I learn! 

Much love and respect,

Elder Stonely

This little guy flew up to our window and let us hold him! it felt like the Garden of Eden experience! very exciting!!!

Week #2 en el CCMM

Dear friends and family,

This week has definitely been a hard week. Not just for me but for our whole district. We are all struggling with the language and our teachers are pushing us beyond our limits it seems like! The MTC is receiving 70 new missionaries this wed. and 100 more next week! so teachers may change a bit due to all the new people. but we are excited! excited to meet new people. Cant wait for the many new people in my life. All of the Latinos in the CCMM left yesterday so we are feeling a little bit lonely because our Spanish buddies and soccer buddies are gone! we are hoping for some new ones!

Tuesday night was one of the best experiences ive had yet. The elders in our district had the unique opportunity to give an elder who was sick a blessing and even better, one of the Hermanas in our district was struggling with something really big and came up to us with so much faith asking for a blessing. My testimony of the Priesthood was strengthened tremendously and this amazing hermana showed such a great example of faith in the priesthood and expressed great thanks to us for being worthy of holding Gods priesthood. Truly one of the best nights so far. I now am witnessing the blessings that come from priesthood blessings and the faith that is needed. It was definitely one great way to start the week.

It seems like every day is like a roller coaster with challenges and answers to prayers. Every day something doesn't go the way i wanted to or how we planned and I get really discouraged and mad at myself thinking I cant do what I thought i could do or thinking someone else is better than me. But We have had the opportunity to listen to so many amazing speakers every night and day and especially during Sunday and whenever i have these down moments, the Lord really does know how to pick me up. He knows me perfectly. I have read many scriptures and passages from True to the Faith and other books which have provided answers or things I need to work on to become a better person. People really do know what I need and the best way to help me. Including the Lord. i love My savior and I am striving to be like him every day and become a better missionary to help those around me. If I learned anything really important, its to strive to be like Christ every moment we live. 

It was Riley's comanion's birthday so they wrote birthday messages for him on the board:)

 

I love all of your support and cant wait for another adventure to come!

Much love, 

Elder Stonely