March 27th

March 27, 2017

Hola Familia!

Women's Conference was so great! I felt so much peace while watching it, I know every single one of you can feel it to as you truly listen to the inspired talks given by our leaders! I encourage all of you to watch the General Conference sessions this weekend where we will be privileged to hear from the living Prophet Thomas S. Monson. I know he is the chosen Prophet of God, called to lead and guide His church on the earth at this time! 

So, not too much happened this week, we had full day exchanges with the STL's but couldn't stay over night as usual because we have a problem with bed bugs going around, haha (luckily we don't have them, but we see nasty cockroaches and spiders on occasion) Also, a baby lizard got in the house and Sis. Osborn tried to vacuum it while we both screamed our heads off, ha, but it escaped under the couch and is probably enjoying his new abode in the couch. 

We are teaching a less active/part member family referral and have our second appointment with them this week, so hopefully that goes well. We are really working hard to find more latins to teach, but they hide from us i feel like! We will get there eventually, though, haha. 

I love you all, and I know this Gospel is the Living Gospel of Jesus Christ, and that He is at the Head of this church! I will talk to you all next week as I am out of time, yet again, ha. 

Les Quiero,

Hermana Stokes

Scooby Doo, I found you!

MARCH 20, 2017 Hollywood Beach

HOLLYWOOD BEACH

March 20, 2017

Hola Familia!

This week has been a little longer, but that's okay! We had Zone Conference this past week, and that makes everything better! Haha. It was super good. A pair of dying sisters sang an arrangement of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief" which I absolutely love, and it always reminds me of Joseph Smith because that was one of his favorite hymns. The AP's have got the whole mission super pumped for baptizing 100 in April!!! It was so fun! They had a Florida flag that we all signed showing our commitment to be exactly obedient and go super hard at finding, teaching, and getting people prepared for the step of baptism to reach our goal. We haven't found anyone too promising yet, but we know it will come as we work towards our goal and pray for it daily. 

We also had interviews this past Friday, which I always love! I love President Richardson, he is very focused on exact obedience, but so full of love for everyone! And it's good for me, ha. Sister Richardson is so cute, too. She checks our area books at interviews, and when she found our we were teaching a homeless man who is addicted to smoking and alcohol, she told us it was fine if we passed off any investigators we weren't comfortable teaching to the elders, haha. So they called him and committed him to church, but I don't know if they have seen him since because he didn't come, he was visiting someone in Miami(not sure how he got there, ha, his car doesn't work and he does't actually have a set job. We offered to try to find one for him, but he only wants a construction job...) So yeah, ha. We also met Alex this past week knocking doors, and shared the Restoration with him right on his doorstep! I love it when that happens! We set a return appointment, but it fell through, so hopefully we can continue teaching him this upcoming week. 

We have been working on something called the Blackbird, which is where were break up our area into zones and map out all the members and less actives so we don't drive all over our area visiting people (our area is huge). it's almost finished, and its already helped A TON! We met a less active Saturday night, and got her to church yesterday! She hadn't been for a really long time, and she stayed all three hours and loved it!

Well, I am out of time, but I love you all, and I know this church is true!!!

Love,

Hermana Stokes

March 13, 2017

 So we helped move in our neighbor, and that is taken in front of our house and the other the backyard.

March 13, 2017

Hola Familia!

  So this past week we have been able to do a lot more work! We have been finding while knocking, and teaching when we find! It is a lot of fun, ha. We found 3 New Investigators this week! Ivan is the most promising, but he just got a new job and so he could't come to church yesterday because he was in training.. But that's okay, because we will commit him for next week! The same goes with an investigator the elders found two weeks prior to transfers, Francisco. Things with him are a bit interesting. He is a older Cuban man, and lives in a grey car that is parked in a somewhat sketchy area, ha. I don't think the car is his, either, but whoever's it is is letting him live there, poor guy. So he has a really strong testimony that God is real, and he has the strongest desire to stop drinking alcohol and smoking. However, it is a huge struggle for him. But we made progress yesterday as we began to teach him part of the gospel of Jesus Christ (we taught him the WoW Saturday) He let me take half of his cigarettes and smash them on the ground! Yay!!! I have never done that before, but it was so fun! And they are super nasty, so if any of you want to stop smoking, I definitely encourage you to do so! He is a little tough though, so we are taking it one day at a time. 

   I love the ward here, they are so cool! And I love how missionary minded the Bishop is, and he is the cutest thing! I will have to remember to get a picture with him, but during ward council and correlation meeting, his feet are always turned in under the table, and he puts his hands in his lap and moves around, it is the cutest thing, ha. I love working with the Ward, and seeing how the Doral ward progressed, and I so pumped to be able to do the same thing here! And find, of course, thats super important too. Finding through members! Haha. 

   There are so many things that I have already learned on my mission, it truly is such an amazing experience. The bad days come with the good, but what really defines your character is how you go through the bad days just as happy, if not more so, than the good days. Every day on the mission is a blessing, and I love being able to be a tool in the hands of the Lord to bless his people. I know this Gospel is true, and that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and that through Him, ALL things are possible. Keep the faith! love you all, have a fantastic week!

Love, Hermana Stokes

March 6, 2017

Transfers, Marcial, and the Bishop of Doral South Ward

 

 Food from a member and First District Training! 

Elder Alexis was my 

Zone Leader in Hialeah my first transfer, as well.

Monday, March 6, 2017

Hola Familia!

So, I am now in Hollywood, Florida, in the Ft. Lauderdale Zone! Still Spanish(of course) but there is so much more English here! And we are so close to the beach, it's crazy! I think we might be somewhat close to the hotel we stayed in in October for Dad's dental seminar. So my new Companion is Sister Osborne. She is from Pleasant Grove, Utah, and has danced ballroom all her life! Which is super cool, because I love ballroom!! She is really sweet, too.

It was fun to see everyone at transfers (I know a few more missionaries by now, and a lot more faces at least, ha) We white washed into our area and took it over from Elders, so as you could imagine, the house needed a bit of work. But its a really nice house! We love it. The moment we opened the door we were like "whoa" because it is so open inside! I'll send some pictures, but I forgot to take one of the outside, ha. 

So the first day of the transfer was really fun (not the traffic getting to our area. of course, which should have only taken like 20 minutes but took an hour..) for the first three hours or so. We hit a bit of an obstacle while knocking doors that has made the last few days mainly stay at home days. So we don't know our area at all, of course, so we decide to knock around the chapel. What could go wrong with that, right? So we get about 30 minutes in, and come to the house on the end of the street. We haven't shared a prayer yet, and I am super excited because it's the last house on the street! Time for miracles! There was a big white gate around the whole house, but I kept saying "It will be open, it WILL" and it was! Miracle number 1! So we head right on in, and we only get a few steps around the driveway(the front door was around the corner) when this huge white dog comes silently around the corner. Him and I make eye contact and just stare at each other for about two seconds, neither one moving. I had entered first and so Sis. Osborne hadn't even seen the dog at this point. It was terrifying, let me tell you. I tell Sister Osborne, "Sister, Run" in a hushed voice and take off back toward the gate. Bad Decision! Found out later that you do not run from an aggressive dog, you crouch down and throw something at it and show it that you are ready to fight. The dog will almost always back down, but instead, we encouraged this huge dog to chase us off his property. I felt really bad for Sister Osborne. I got to the gate first but it was closed, so we lost a few seconds as I yanked it open. We both got out, but not before the dog got a few bites into Sister Osborne's legs. She has a puncture would on the back of her upper right thigh (and a huge nasty bruise now) and two on her left lower leg, one on her calf and the other around her ankle. We were freaked out, and I said a prayer right after to calm her down a bit, but no one was answering their phones. We tried Sister Richardson but no luck. And I couldn't find the new nurses numbers on the phone either, so we tried calling the ZL's but they didn't answer and the DL didn't have the number. The ZLs called us back and told us to call the AP's, who luckily answered and we were able to get a hold of the mission nurse who was working that day Brother Stahl. He is actually in the Hollywood English ward, but for some reason was 150 miles away in a grocery store (poor guy, he was so worried for us). Luckily everything worked out, we filed the police report and finally got Sister Osborne to the ER. The hospital is just down the street from the chapel. It was awkward at first, because out ward was going to have an FHE activity at 7:30, so they all start showing up and Sister Osborne and I are just chilling on the couch waiting for the police to show up (it took them an hour and a half, ugh) and then Brother Stahl called again and told us to tell the Bishop and get his help, so everyone started finding out and worrying over us, so I guess it was a great way to meet the members, ha. The Bishop was so great though, he and two members (a sister of course) came to the ER with us, and he and his wife stayed until we could leave. We didn't get home until just before midnight, and she got bit around 5:40 that afternoon. It was a long day. So yeah, transfer miracles! Sister Osborne survived a dog attack and is on the mend! She had to call home, and so now is struggling a bit with homesickness, but we are doing the best we can. We even taught a lesson yesterday! We are taking it day by day, and I have been doing a LOT of cleaning, ha, but the house needs it. The car, too. Nothing that a little tender lovin' care won't fix!

So yeah, not too much has happened since, we haven't been able to contact an investigator who the elders were working with, but hopefully we will be able to stopbyplace today or tomorrow and see what's up. 

I hope all of you have a great week! I love you all so much, and even though we haven't been able to go out and work as much these last few days, we have seen miracles! We have gotten a lot of referrals from the Zone Leaders (english) and our District Leader(Creole) so we are still working! It's a new experience for both of us. Sister Osborne has been out 7 months and has served in some half English areas, so we will be working on getting better with the language together as well. It will be super fun! 

Well, thats about it for this week, Bye!

Love,

Hermana Stokes