Monday, June 12, 2017

June 12, 2017

Hola Familia!

How is everybody? Good, I hope! Everything over here is going pretty well, I might say! Ha. This past week we were so busy, and this week as well! We are setting up so many appointments, its crazy! I love being busy, its the best! We have two baptismal dates for this month, our investigator Daniel for the 24th and Sasha for the 27th! We did something called the Road to Rebirth with them, which is where we take out a calendar and fill in everyday with them until their baptism day so that they can have that vision set and see that they really will be prepared for their baptism! It is great! 
I am so excited! We had Craig with a date for the 8th of July, but it turns out he lives in the N Ft Myers area, so we referred him, date and all, to the elders. They were grateful, ha. 

So, to explain a little bit about the title: we are going super hard this month in #JediJune in the #FortMiraclesZone (Ft Myers) and the Zone Leaders made June a Star Wars theme, and so there is a competition between the two districts, and whoever wins gets to pie the other district leader in the face! We are The Empire and the other district (which I was in last transfer, so no hard feelings!) is the Rebel Alliance (Jason will like that, ha) Its really fun. We get points for Teaching at the Door, Member Present Lessons, and Investigators with dates with a solidity of 3 or higher(basically has been to church once and keeping commitments) It was super close, too! We would have one is the other district hadn't beat us at a nerf dart war we had last P Day and got a 10 point lead, but that's okay. The miracles are still coming! And because they one that head start, we are the Empire Strikes Back! Some of the factors have changed for this new week because we all did amazing last week and hit all of our goals as a zone! We got 15 dates, 15 Investigators at Sacrament, and over 35 new investigators!!! Just in one week! Missionary work is so fun, everyone should do it, ha. 

So to continue the amazing turn around story to our LA Owen Hogle--> He has a calling that will be announced next week, read the entire book of Mormon in one night and now is doing a deeper study (which he has probably finished at this point as well!) of 2 Nephi and Mosiah, and now has a book Brother Smith (WML) gave him about member missionary work, and is basically the coolest ever! I don't know who got to read Sister Colton's email last week, but she explained in detail about his story, which is crazy! He was raised Pagan, then joined the church many years ago, then fell away and was pagan again and a high priest in Florida  (basically over all the other pagans in the state) and came back to Christianity after God talked to him in a dream! INSANE!!!!! We love him, he is amazing, ha. 

We saw a Manatee last Wednesday at a meal appointment in the canal that runs behind this LA's house, it was awesome!

So funny story, we were knocking the other day and are let in by this super Christian lady and her daughter, who were super nice but not open to changing religions. But anyway, they have this little dog who keeps sniffing mine and my companions feet, and then licks my foot like there is no tomorrow during the prayer! I was the one saying it, so I just let it be, but sister Colton opened her eyes right before I ended and saw that the dog was still licking my foot (let me tell you, it was weird!) and starts laughing, but tries to hold it back, so I look at her, look at the dog, and try not to laugh as I end the prayer. Needless to say, we had a good laugh about it once we left, haha. That dog was weird haha. It might have been because we used this Doterra bug spray that this lady we knocked into gave us who sells their products, but who knows! I'm just tastey, what can I say?  Haha. 

Anyway, I love you all sooo much, have an amazing week! Even when things are hard and you can't see why God would let something happen to you or your loved one, I know that as you endure it with faith, that God will give unto you the understanding you so desire, and strengthen and fortify your testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. He has done so in my life, and I know He can and will do so in yours, every time you turn to His ever outstretched hand.

Love,
Hermana Stokes

Pictures:
We ate at our Recent Converts' house Eduardo and Rosemary and their Investigator son Daniel, who are from Colombia, so we ate colombian food! I already forgot what its called... But I love Latin food! Also, their white cat Avery likes to sit in that bowl that was supposed to be for decoration, ha. Cats.
Sister Colton and I as we served a LA by washing his dog! We will be washing the big one, Shovelhead, later this week at a dog wash, ha. Pictures to come!
We went on full day exchanges with the STLs and had a district blitz in our area the same day. While we were knocking, we passed a house where they had just cut down coconuts and were hauling them to the side of the road, so we offered spur of the moment service! (My favorite kind of service!) We got a bunch of coconuts out of it, too! They were a pain to open, though, without my machete. . . ;)​

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