October 2, 2017

Hola Familia!

This week has been so amazing! We had transfers on Wednesday, and my new companion is Sister Chugg! She is from A small town just south of Ogden Utah called Far West, and basically all of her family live on the same street! She even went to the same high school as sister Lynch, another sister in our house who is on her second transfer. Sister Chugg is awesome, and so cute and funny, ha, We are excited to see all the miracles that are heading our way this transfer! She went to the Mexico City Missionary Training Center and was there for the earthquakes, she really only felt one of them and could slightly feel another. They have these big green circles on the grounds where they would evacuate to during earthquakes, so that's what she did! She was so funny when she told the story of the first one that hit that was an 8 or so, they could hardly walk straight! Everyone (missionaries at least was fine, though, so that is a blessing! There is more danger from the food, haha!

We did service down in the Keys this past weekend again, which was so needed and I love it! I just love serving with the Mormon Helping Hands! It is so exhausting, but I couldn't be happier!!! Haha, there really is no other substitute for just plain old hard work! I am so excited to use the same amount of effort in missionary work, because now I know how much harder I could be working each day, and I know the Lord will bless us as we each take this work ethic we are developing as we love and serve the people of South Florida to each of our individual areas. This next transfer will be amazing!
I've been reading in the tail-end of Mosiah, and I keep thinking about the people of Alma. They were blessed with peace and prosperity for a few years and were righteous, but they, too, fell into bondage to the Lamanites. However, they didn't turn away from the God they knew, they turned TO Him! The Lord sees fit to try our patience and our faith, but He also promises us His peace and the strength to continue forward as we hold out faithful to the end. I love that, and how it applies so directly to missionary work. We, as missionaries, are likely as righteous and obedient to the commandments of God as we ever have been in our entire lives, and we learn and grow so much, but we also face challenges and have to not only overcome our own roadblocks, but those of our investigators as well. I have come to truly see how much God's hand is in this work of His, and that as we continue to prove faithful no matter our circumstances, God will bless us in His work!

Sadly, we haven't been able to meet with any of our investigators since Sister Chugg arrived, but this week we have several appointments already, and I know it'll be great! We are teaching a good amount of English, too, so that will help Sister Chugg to learn the lessons better, too! Its going to be so fun!

I have more time this week, so I'll finally send some more pictures from service! We are trying out a different library today, and fun fact, it is right next to the old Burger King Headquarters! Haha, I thought that was funny the first time I learned that :)

I love you all so very much, and know that I pray for you daily! I appreciate all the prayers for my safety and all the people who are recovering from Hurricane Irma and all the recent natural disasters. Prayer really works! I can testify of that! God sends His peace to us as we strive to live worthy to receive it, so to quote Elder Bednar, "Be worthy, Stay Worthy." God dives us commandments to help us, to keep us safe and to be clean so we can have His Holy Spirit with us, to guide us and comfort us in this life. He wants us to come back to Him, and our Savior has paved the way for our safe return! I know Jesus Christ lives and loves us, and that He knows how to help us. He WILL help us as we turn to Him!

 I love you all, have an amazing week!

Love,

Hermana Stokes

P.S. JUST LEARNED SISTER CHUGG AND I ARE RELATED!!! GRANDPA STOKES AND HER GRANDPA ARE 1ST COUSINS, UM WHAT???? WHAT DOES THAT MAKE US???