Purchasing Smartphones for FFLM Missionaries

Dear parents and friends of our amazing FFLM missionaries,

You will be receiving an email from your missionary tomorrow regarding purchasing a smartphone for missionary use.

In preparation for receiving that email, you will be interested to read about smartphone acquisition on the mission website at https://fflmission.com/smartphones/

On that webpage there is an explanation of the requirements and specifications for approved phones. Please be prepared to assist your son or daughter in having the necessary funds to purchase the phone. If you need assistance to provide the necessary funds, please contact your Bishop or Stake President.

Missionaries will arrange for their purchased phones to be shipped to the mission office at:

Elder or Sister Full Name

7951 SW 6^th Street, Suite 110

Plantation, FL 33324-3211

If you are opting to use a phone that your family already owns, and that meets the requirements, please ship it to the mission office in the same manner.

Please note: Missionaries who will be returning home on March 15^th or April 26^th will not be required to purchase a phone. They will be issued a loaner phone from the mission. Missionaries whose home is in Mexico, Brazil, or Haiti, will also be provided a loaner phone.

Our Father in Heaven has been preparing our missionaries to use this amazing technology. Over the last many months, the principle of obedience has been repeatedly emphasized. Missionaries who follow the mission guidelines for hastening the work of salvation using technology will be greatly blessed. On the other hand, disobedience and misuse of these tools will lessen their effectiveness as a tool in the Lord’s hands. We trust our missionaries and are excited to use technology to hasten the work of salvation.

We realize that it may take a few emails this week to arrange for the acquisition of a phone. After the purchase, we are counting on you to help your son or daughter remain focused on their missionary purpose by continuing the practice of communication through email only on P-day, once per week.

Thank you so much for your love and support,

President and Sister Garns

Florida Fort Lauderdale Mission

15 Months, Only 2 Transfers Left!!! January 29, 2018

Hola Familia!

   This Week has been a great week! Saturday we had a lesson with a potential family that had walked in to church a while back and we brought a member, and it was really good! We taught the Plan of Salvation and they seemed pretty interested. They want to be a part of a good church community to raise their baby daughter in, and hopefully as they come to church again and we continue to teach them, the Spirit will work in them and they will accept the Fullness of the Gospel!
One of our Brazilian members also brought her friend to church, and she loved it! She is going to come to our relief society activity on Wednesday and is making Brazilian Coconut Cake, haha. We are excited to begin meeting with her, too!

   On to what everyone is waiting for... Transfers! I am Staying in Pines! I am really excited to stay, the ward is amazing and although this area has unique challenges that my other areas have not, I am excited for the momentum the area has had this transfer and hope to continue to help it progress! It was so funny, our bishop wanted to come out with us before the month was over, so on Sunday we had a lesson with Farrah, who we had knocked into the day before and sisters had taught her before. She didn't have time right then, but invited us back Sunday evening. She is Muslim but married to a Christian and is very open to learning more about other faiths. We taught the Book of Mormon after getting to know her better, and I think it was really good for our bishop to see that we are working hard. It was really cool because he is an orthopedic surgeon and she is working on becoming a nurse, so they had common ground! I am really hopeful that this next transfer we can have a stronger relationship, that is something I have wanted this whole time and I think it is starting to work!
I am excited for what this next transfer will bring, I know that as we work hard and put our trust in God, He will lead us and help us share the messages His children need to hear, and we will see success! I've never met my new companion, (I also forgot her name, sorry!) but I am sure I will love her! 

   We helped set up a wedding at Flamingo Gardens, and it was beautiful! When we placed the black tablecloths on the tables with the centerpieces, WOW. Wedding Magic is real, haha. 

  I am excited for todays P-Day activity, we are going over to President's house for the afternoon!!! It will be amazing!!! I love being a missionary, it is the most rewarding and light-filled work ever imaginable, and I feel closer and closer to my Father in Heaven and my Savior every day! I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God, and as we hearken to our prophet's council to read and study it everyday, we will be watched over and protected from all the fiery darts of the adversary, and find peace, love, and happiness in the journey we are all on back to our Heavenly Home! I love you all so much, have an amazing week!!!

Love, 

Hermana Stokes​

January 22, 2018

A Tale of Two Missionaries!!!!! January 22, 2018

A true story:

***Missionary Theatre Presents: The Power of the Book of Mormon: A Tale of Two Missionaries***

NARRATOR: It all began with knocking doors. Door after door. Rejection after rejection.
*Begin Soft, yet triumphant background music
NARRATOR (cont.): Depressed as they were, they took on the wrath of Belle Glade with Faith that someone would listen to their message.

ACTION: Elder Lorimer and Elder Jensen Walk down middle of street talking about something unimportant when Elder Lorimer notices something peculiar

ELDER LORIMER: Wow! Look at those dogs!

ELDER JENSEN: Those are big dogs.

ACTION: Camera pans to two large dogs, that are really scary looking. Dogs notice the Elders, begin charging with fangs bared. The Elders are scared out of their witts, Elder Jensen starts running away, Elder Lorimer Stands there trying to remember the words of his trainer: Don't show dogs fear.

ELDER LORIMER (in head to himself): I'm going to die.

ELDER JENSEN (in head to himself): I wonder if that Mailbox is strong enough to hold me if I get on top of it.

ACTION: Dogs charge Elder Lorimer, Elder Lorimer reacts by swinging his Bible, Book of Mormon, and Restoration Pamphlets at the dogs as they get within biting distance. The Book of Mormon slips out of his hands and flies through the air hitting one of the dogs in the head. Dogs stop barking, stop growling, and casually walk back towards their yard as if angels are guiding them back.

ELDER LORIMER (still scared out of his witts): Wow. (Goes and picks up the now tattered Book of Mormon.

ELDER JENSEN: You Almost Died.

NARRATOR: And that is our tale today. These two valiant missionaries turned around and began knocking the next street over where they found multiple people who willingly listened to their message.

That's how the Book of Mormon saved my life. I have no idea why the dogs just stopped, turned around and went back. I should be in the hospital right now, recovering from a dog mauling. I'm not though, and my testimony has been strengthened on the Power of the Book of Mormon and how God protects his missionaries. I don't know if I will ever listen to the words of my trainer ever again, but I do know that the power of the Book of Mormon is real and that angels protect missionaries.

January 16, 2018

January 16th

Hola Familia!

   This past week has been great! I think I say that every week, haha, but the mission is just so amazing! We had some amazing experiences this week! We found some new investigators or "friends," as that is who they truly are, and I am so excited to keep on meeting with them and sharing with them their part in "The Father's Story." Last week, we were trying to make up for going so many miles in the car already, so we biked a few days, and one day we didn't use the car at all! It was really fun, the weather is SO nice right now, I love to just be outside! We were able to bike into a few gated complexes (heehee) and we met Vivian and her family! Vivian has been praying for 3 weeks for her son Joell, who was also there, that he would be able to figure out his life and what he wanted to do in school, work, etc. and stay on God's path. It was incredible to be an answer to her prayer and share the joy that having faith in Jesus Christ has brought in our lives! We were able to talk with them for a few minutes and Vivian told us to come by whenever, that we are always welcome, and she told us her gate code and to write it down, haha! We loved it! It is always a tender mercy to find people who are kind and open and ready to hear God's Truth, which is that His Gospel is here in its FULLNESS in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I am so grateful and humbled to be a part of the hastening of this great work, to prepare the minds of the people to receive Jesus Christ at His Second Coming!

    We also knocked into Anny, Manny, and their grandkids Giovanni(7) and Kiki(13). We were looking for a potential but didn't have the full address or last name(so we couldn't look up her name in the call box) so we biked up to it, locked up our bikes in an open complex across the street and walked in(we thought that might go better, haha) The gate to walk in was open! Miracle 1 for the night. So we are heading into this apartment complex that is absolutely huge, we kept walking and walking, trying to find the back and start there, but it just kept going! So we decided to find the right spot and start knocking. After 45 minutes, we found Anny! She loves God and talking about him, and has even visited our church once before! We sat down and started taking and she asked us to share a message with her and her family right then and there! So we taught about God's plan for all of us and that knowledge blesses us, and it was so great! She is so funny, and sometimes goes off on random tangents, and at our return appointment the next day(Sunday night) we met her daughter Megan who seemed more genuinely interested. We taught them the Restoration and gave them the Book of Mormon to start reading, so we will see how they continue to progress.

   Something that I heard a while back, I think in a Sunday talk, was that "We gain control of our lives by gaining control of our time." I really love that quote, it helps motivate me to make the most of each day God has given me!

   Sister Bohlen and I have been having so much fun, we love the ward so much! Even though this area is challenging in its own way, I know there are people here that God wants us to meet and He will lead us to them as we do all we can to be worthy of the Spirit. We are nothing without the Holy Ghost, and that is how we become effective tools in God's hands, just like all the great missionaries of old! 

  We had Zone Conference this week, which was super good! We also were able to watch President Monson's funeral, which was amazing. His life was full of love and service, and he is a great example to all of us! I know that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God, and will continue to lead and guide this, His Church, in the direction it needs to go. 

   I love you all so much, and want to leave you with just a few short thoughts that I wrote down at church this past sunday (stake conference with a SE regional broadcast from Salt Lake City) from Elder Bednar on Repentance:

"Repentance requires 1) A Savior and 2) An honest heart and real intent"

That is what we all need to truly and fully repent! Christ has given us the wonderful gift of His infinite Atonement, and I know it will help all of us to become better on the large scale of things, and in the little things. It lifts me every day on the mission, and it can uplift and change all of us for the better!

   I love you all so much, have an amazing week!!!

Love,

Hermana Stokes

 

My New Address

12941 NW 2nd St #1-104

Permbroke Pines, FL 33028

Pictures:

I made French Toast Astrada! It was so good!

Face paint at a double zone activity(we also had mini pie eating contests!)

 Zone Conference Lunch

We finished the cat puzzle!

Among other things...​

January 8, 2017