December 13, 2017

❤Hola Familia! 

    This week has flown by! Stake Conference weekend was SO GOOD! We were asked to attend the Saturday Night Session with Elder Foster from the Seventy, and he is also the department chair of the Church's Family History Department, so It was really amazing! I loved all the speakers, and on Sunday we had three talks given by members of our ward, two of those being youth speakers! It was a proud moment, our little ward has some stong members in it for being only 2 priesthood holders away from a branch, I love them so much! I have never spent so much time in one area, and I love it because it has allowed me to really get to know the members and the area ,and also work with our Investigators and develop trust and love, it is just so fun! And then Zone Conference was absolutely AMAZING! I felt the Spirit so strong the entire time, I know it has given me the spiritual rejuvenation I need to continue going out with high faith and positivity, every single day! I want to treasure every single minute of my mission, for as long as I have left, so be able to know that I have no regrets! Elder Foster's training was so powerful, he and his wife stayed after stake conference to speak to the mission, it was really cool. He started his message with watching a 4 minute video from the First Vision and Restoration to how the Church has grown over all the world! There wasn't a dry eye in the room, it was powerful! Later he went into a training and talked a lot about how we as the missionaries need to have high spirituality and certain skills like planning etc, and how when we have both of them together, members will notice and want to be involved in missionary work with missionaries they can trust. Also, how easy a tool Family History is in helping members get excited about their family history and sharing that with their friends and neighbors , which of course comes full circle back to missionary work and establishing the Kingdom of God on the Earth! Ah, needless to say I LOVED it!!! Also, we are officially getting smartphones, probably by January, which is exciting and a little nerveracking, but it will be a great tool and help to missionary work.

   So coming off of such a Spiritually High Weekend, I am so excited to get back to work, harder than ever, and share the Gospel with everybody! A miracle this week was that our investigators Lais and Yaima, who we had dropped because they never came to church, came to Stake Conference!!! The LOVED it! Yaima loved the peace that she felt, and Lais has always wanted to come to church but couldn't until her semester at school ended, and they are excited to come back! We are so happy for them! :)
   In my personal study, I am studying where Alma teaches his 3 sons. I love how he shares his conversion story with Helaman, and how he testifies so boldly about Christ's Atonement. Jesus Christ is the center of the Father's Plan, and because of Him and His infinite and eternal sacrifice, we have the hope that we, too, may return to our loving Father in Heaven's presence and rest from all our labors in peace. I am so grateful for the countless of times on my mission where I have felt that Love from God, whether for myself, for a struggling companion, or for the people we work with everyday, it has truly changed my life more than I ever knew it could. It is amazing!

   Another fun thing we were able to do this past week was go Christmas Caroling as a district! It was So fun! We sang the 1st verse of "Joy to the World" and then "Silent Night" (as almost no one had hymnbooks and that's all we knew, ha) but it was fun! We made an older couple cry, especially the wife, she hadn't seen anything like it in years and it was so cool to see how something so simple could touch her heart. At another door, we were able to share more about the Gospel and get a potential investigator for the sisters who worked in that area! 

   We performed "Away in a Manger" for Zone Conference, Sister Harrison (YSA) and I sang and sister Chugg played the piano. It went pretty well, considering we were asked just Thursday night! Haha, it made us all a little more nervous knowing we would be singing in front of a general authority, but it was really fun. We made sugar cookies and everyone loved them! We finally took our house Christmas picture and made our Christmas Card, which may soon be heading your way! Its pretty Cute! We have had a lot of fun, its been great:)

   I know this Church is true, and that this Christmas season offers us the chance to truly show our love and Gratitude for the Savior by going out and serving those around us! Once we figure out our own part in The Father's Story, we can take that conviction and share it with others and help them understand who they are as precious children of Heavenly Parents. Merry Christmas everyone, and know that God truly does love you!

Love,

Hermana Stokes​