April 29- Update from the Oldie!!

Thank you all for my Birthday wishes!!! I can't believe I am 24 it's crazy!!

The alarm went off this morning and the first thing said was by sister hanson "IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!! AND YOU GET TO FIND OUT WHERE YOUR BROTHER IS GOING!!!" and then she proceeded to sing me happy birthday and told me I wasn't allowed to leave my room until my cake was made! haha I love her! She is amazing!

Fun News:

• I am loving the ward here in Kingstowne!! There are so many people who know Deanna and her Family and love that I am in the ward! (The Riggs and the Taylors say hey!) And at stake conference yesterday a couple other people came up to say hello as well! Its fun!
• Jonathan is going to Boston SPANISH speaking! (called the spanish part!!) (ps thanks to ALLY for telling me because no one else did!! Fail on Jonathan's part! loser haha jus keedeen I still love you!!! and I am SO excited but will hold on my excitement till I hear it from him!!!! I better be getting a really good LONG letter in the mail to make up for it.. and a really great birthday present!! ;)
• We are teaching a woman right now named Ha (the elders were teaching her and passed her to us) she's amazing! So more news on that later!
• I got fun birthday packages from Curtis and Rachel and from Ally and her fam! I loved it all! Can't wait for the rest to come! haha Birthday week is here!!! (knowing that the stones send things ON birthdays so they come a little late haha)

Life is great! We are working hard and trying to get to know the ward and the area still, knocking on lots of doors and talking to everyone. No luck yet but I know that as we are diligently working we will see the miracles! This work is so amazing and I am so grateful for the joy that comes from sharing the gospel! There isn't anyone on earth that doesn't need to hear the message of the restoration of the gospel! And know the wonderful plan of happiness that our Heavenly Father has for everyone. It's great!! Welp Sorry this is so short and a little all over the place We are off to teach a lesson and have a wonderful day!! So I will talk to you all later and hope you have a glorious week!!

Love you!!

Sister Stones

Kingstowne C- April 22

Hello Family!!!

Oh my goodness this week has been CRAZY!! So we had transfer meeting on Wednesday (which today feels like was a month ago!) And for the first few hours I had no companion because Sister Steadman is training! After only being out in the field for 11 weeks (she is muh hero!) so that was weird.... companion less. and Fun fact about me, I am not really a fan of surprises! So transfer meeting is not that great to me... sitting in anticipation, having absolutely no idea what is going to happen for the next who knows how long of life?! With who knows who, and who knows where?! All I know is I am leaving. Bleck.. not a fan. AND to top it off our mission has been split in half so some people were getting transferred into a different mission entirely!! But something I DO know. Is that where ever I am going and with who and for how long, the Lord knows so I don't have to worry! Thank goodness!!

So transfer meeting happens and I am sitting next to my adopted companion for the time being sitting with all the rest of us in the same boat as me and the President starts in on his schpeal about how this is the Lords work and we need to accept chance and love it! and that we need to decide our attitude right then and there on how we are going to react to what ever the Lord see's that we need! So I decided I was going to cry if I was switching missions and... hehe just kidding. I knew that where ever I was going was because the Lord needed me there and I would love everything about it! He started off and my heart was pounding with every pair of companionships getting paired together, lots of laughter, lots of gasps, and snaps (that means people are likin whats happenin, it's more reverent than clapping) and then he says, "On to Mount Vernon Stake... Sister Stones And Sister Hanson Will travel to Kingstowne C " (so to translate what that means) Both of us are from different area's getting put here. So neither of us know the area or anyone in it! SO Yep we are white washin the area!! Kinda.. There are already 2 sets of Elders in the ward and we are the first set of Sisters to ever be in the Area! So I am back in the Mount Vernon Stake! I love everything about that!

So I am with Sister Hanson from Utah!! She is SO great! haha and hilarious! We laugh all day every day and try and talk to as many people as the Lord puts in our path. When we first got here we had no map of the area, no ward directory, and no shower curtain. (haha that was funny) SO we got all of that stuff (color coded everything!!) and now we are hitting the ground running! This week is going to be full of miracles I can feel it! We are so excited and the ward is amazing! EVERYONE is young and has a bunch of little kids who we are already best friends with so we fit right in haha :)

I LOVE this work and I LOVE the Lord, He is aware of all of us and we are so precious to Him! I am so grateful to know that I have a loving Father Who can see the big picture, that He is constant and I can rely on Him, I love Him and love Christ as well. I get to be better each day because He has showed me how! I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!

Love you,

Sister Stones

Fun things happening this week:

JONATHAN GETS HIS CALL!!!

I Hit my 9 month mark!!!

I turn 24 (next monday... same diff)

LOVE YOU!!!

 

 

Pictures:

We color coded our area and the members to help us stay sain!! haha it was a lot of fun! And yes that is a carton of ice cream in the middle of us! :)

 

 

New Companion in a new area, Sister Hansen from UT.

 

Stay Tuned!!

Michelle is on the move and we will know where to on Monday! I promise to update on Monday when we find out where she is being transfered too.

April 15- Change Means Growth

Hello Familia!

So it's final I am being transferred. After a 3rd of my mission being in Herndon I am getting the boot! I have loved it here! I love the ward so much and I feel the love right back! Everyone knows I am getting transferred on Wednesday and so they are trying to fit in "other meal arrangements" like breakfasts and dinners so they can say their goodbyes. haha they are hilarious! Bishop also told me I had to come back to Herndon once I was done with my mission, whether it was married or not, they wanted me back. ha! Seriously best ward ever!

So we got awesome news last night that Sister Steadman is training!! That is so exciting! She will be such an amazing trainer! She is freaking out, but she will be totally fine! haha!!! I am stoked! Herndon is in great hands!

So this week has been crazy we have had meetings up the wazoo and lessons all over and its been a lot of fun!! We had a training meeting with all the sisters in the mission. I'll attach a picture so you can see all the amazing sister missionaries in the Washington DC south Mission! Deanna I met sister mitchell! She is adorable and I hope I get a chance to serve with her! That would be so much fun!

We have had such amazing lessons with the different people we are teaching! Ross in particular! He is so close to knowing for himself that this church is true! He has been reading the Joseph Smith History and is so touched by his determination to stand strong to what he knows. Even with all the persecution that came his way! And Ross wants to be able to have that same experience. He wants to KNOW before he is baptized and slowly but surely he is getting there! I love his family so much and I am going to miss them! I may or may not have gotten a little teary eyed when we had our last lesson with him last night and I was bearing my testimony to him! He knows it, he just has to be willing to act! Oh he is so great!! And then we met this man his name is Raymond! Oh my goodness he was a miracle to find! Sister Steadman and I were planning on going finding on a certain street but both felt like it was wrong, so we went to check a member... not home... so.. we prayed.. Asked where we needed to go and so we were off. A different street came to Sister Steadman while we were driving so we went there instead and right when we pulled up Raymond walked outside to smoke a cigarette. So we went and talked to him! He has had a ROUGH life. but because of it he is SUPER open to the gospel! We taught him the restoration and invited him to be baptized and he said of course! And then we asked if he would prepare for a specific date and he said yes! So we now have someone on date to get baptized!!! He is so amazing and I can't wait to watch... well hear about. ha how the gospel is just changing his life. From the couple days already the light with in him was a little brighter and he was happier! I know that the gospel has been restored and if people just let it... their lives would change for the better because of it!!

I love being a missionary and I can't wait to see what fun adventure Heavenly Father has in store for me!!! Love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Stones

Birthday request side Note From Michelle...

Ok I forgot to address birthday stuff...

Don't everyone send a butt load of candy, I end up giving it away to the elders, haha I am trying to cut back on sweets! I have had my intake for the year!

I need summer clothes... It is hot and my clothes are no longer cute and light for summer. haha. SO I am good with mula and church CDs (I really want some of those), and... yeah. I have no idea. Use your imaginations! haha I love you all have a wonderful week!! I'll keep thinking and let you know monday! :)

Sister Stones

April 10- Oh What A Beautiful Morning

Happy Conference Weekend!!!!!

Oh my goodness Conference was the most amazing thing ever! I watched it at a different member of our Wards house for each session, If you didn't get a chance to watch it, stop reading this and go watch some of it! Holy Cow is it worth it!!! lds.org GO!

I loved how bold the brethren were! I needed it! It gave me that assurance to be bold as well. Because we are a "peculiar" people. We don't do things the world thinks are normal, and teaching that to people isn't always the easiest thing. Especially here. But having that reassurance to take a stand and really help people understand so they can repent is comforting! Because truths don't change with fads and changes of time!! I love representing the Lord!

This week has been amazing/ off. haha Because we decided after conference on Sunday night that we wanted to switch our Pday and go to the temple we had to make some phone calls and figure out when, so we finally got a hold of someone (Sister Keck, love her!!) and she said she could go Wednesday! So we made it all happen! So we went to the temple this morning and man was it a breath of fresh air! I haven't been in a while so I felt a stark contrast being in the Lords house. And the DC Temple is immaculate! The spirit was just so strong and exactly what I needed. Because their are lots of changes coming up. Transfers are next week. I am excited/nervous. Change is good, but it is really hard! Especially since I have been here almost 6 months. I know everyone in the ward and I love them all so much! And not to mention all the people we are teaching! They ALL have my heart. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father is in charge of everything so I don't have to worry! I will go where he wants me to go with a smile in my heart knowing I have done all I can here. I came accross this scripture and really really liked it for all aspects of life!

Doctrine and Covenants 123:17 and it says

"....let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed."

I LOVE that! We don't know the Lords timing and we don't always understand why things happen, but Our Father in Heaven know's exactly what is needed for each of us and WHEN, I love being a missionary! I do all that I can that lies within my power and then allow the promises of God to be fullfilled! Because they will. Doesn't matter if they are in my time and I see them, they WILL be! That's comforting to me!

I love my Savior and am so grateful for the Gift of the Spirit! To comfort me and teach me everyday! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Stones

April 1- Happy Easter

Happy easter everyone!!

I hope eveyone had such an amazing day celebrating Christ yesterday! Because I did! I love being a missionary and getting to serve him with all my heart! I have been so blessed to be here in Herndon the ward members love us so much! We had "easter dinner" twice! On saturday and on sunday, with the Jensens and the Grachans, SO much food was consumed I am pretty sure I gained like 15 pounds just from this weekend alone! Oh AND I got the package from Mom and Dad with the candy and almonds and fun pictures from the Stones kids! That was so much fun oh and I got the CD from Jonathan!! Greatest CD ever I listened to it today and they are amazing (it's a disney CD with the best songs ever!)!!

Oh and then HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY!

I wanted to shout out to MOM and RICKEY and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! I hope you have such a wonderful day on Wednesday!!! (PS thank you to Curtis and Rachel for the amazing calendar with everyones birthdays on it!)

This week has been really great! We have been teaching such wonderful lessons and having such great conversations with everyone on the street! We have been doing something fun where we go to the members of the ward and show them a map of our area and then asked them to pick a street, and then we go and tract on it! And it has been really fun and successful! We have actually found some really amazing people that way and we have had some great potentials come from it!

So this morning I was studying and I had an AMAZING study and so I wanted to share a little of it with you! I am in 1 nephi chapter 17 right now in the book of mormon, and this is where Nephi is telling all the crazy things that are happening aka their wifes are having children in the wilderness and they have been traveling for 8 years and their have actually been so many things happen that they can't actually right them all. and Nephi says How grateful he is for the amazing blessings that the Lord has given them! And I just sat their in awe this morning! Because I am pretty sure I would have turned into a Laman and Lemuel that whole time and just complained and pointed out everything hard that was happening. haha and then I chuckled inside because the other day it was BEAUtiful outside and we were knocking on doors and I said "It is such a great day to tract!" and then it started to rain! haha and instantly out of my mouth I said "awe man!". I laughed again because of the irony of my statement and cituation... I thought about all the amazing things that came out of that day and it was in fact a great day to tract! I then thought about how many times Nephi saw the blessings because he was keeping the commandments of God. And when he did that no matter his current cituation he always had the Lord there and that peace, and especially the eternal perspective! And it helped give me that added desire to keep the commandments of God because hard things are still going to happen, I mean his brothers tied him to a boat for crying out loud, but he knew he had the promise of God and he didn't need to worry or be down trodden. I want to be that same way. The Lord tells him in vs 13 "I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, IF it so be that ye keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land;..." I LOVE when the lord promises things in the Book of Mormon, because he says "I WILL" which is an absolute, which means if we keep our end and just choose to do what he asks (which will be FAR better than if we do it on our own) then HE WILL prepare a way for us and be that light! So awesome!!

I love this gospel and I love this work! I am so blessed to get to know what God expects of me so I can one day live with Him!

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week! I would love to hear what you guys are studying! What your favorite scriptures are and what you have learned this week! And if you haven't and you need a little kick start, well here it is!! GO FIND WHAT THE LORD WANTS YOU TO KNOW TODAY!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

Love always,

 

Sister Stones

Mar 25- Missionary Life

Hello From Herndon! Sister Steadman and I are seein miracles!!!!

I love being a missionary!! I get to talk to everyone and ask them all sorts of questions and get to know all about their lives and yeah... it's awesome!! Haha this week well on monday President Riggs called and asked if we were in a position to be able to bike in Herndon. We freaked out for a moment told him we would give it a try and then get back to him! We told him our dilema of Herndon having no street lights... like non and if we were to rely on our members at night to drive us around it would be the women who are getting their kiddos to bed so we don't know how that would work. But we would try. SO... We biked!!! To tell you the truth it felt great!! I love biking. (I know my track record probably says otherwise) but really. However, we did run into some problems. Like first. I now understand when dad says we walked uphill to and from school. I have no idea how it is possible but it is. and it's exhausting. Second. There are MAYBE 2 streets in the entire town on Herndon that go all the way through. So on the map where it looks like something is right next to where you are... it's not. You have to go ALL the way around to be able to get there! So we had 3 lessons planned and only made it to one because it took us 3 hours to bike to and from anywhere. Also exhausting!! haha and!! on all the bike paths there are straight up obstacles you have to get through to be able to continue. Ha so yeah needless to say we reported back to President and we get to keep our car! haha Thank goodness! I have never been so grateful for a car ever! Ok and onto Missionay Miracles!!

So this week has been crazy! We have had meetings and planning sessions and more meetings! We had ward conference, and on top of that we've been finding and teaching lessons like crazy! This week we found 5 new investigators!! 5!! I am pretty sure that is the most that have ever been found in a week in Herndon! I know with out a doubt that it was all because of the Lord. We have been working as hard as we can and trying to be as obedient as possible and even fine tuning little things here are there and we are seeing the fruits! :) I love training! It is really humbling! I am reminded all the time of how crucial it is to rely on Heaven Father and to really make sure I am doing HIS work and not just going through the motions of mine. And when we do we really see the miracles!

I know that this is the Work of my Father in Heaven. He knows exactly who is ready to hear the message of His Restored Gospel! Whether it is someone I am teaching or someone that just happens to walk by, I am constantly opening my mouth and talking to everyone! I love this work! I testify that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored and He wants everyone to be apart of it! I am grateful to be a mouth piece for my Savior! He has done more than I can even comprehend for me, I am honored to give this time to Him! I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!! Talk to you later!!!

OH ps shout out HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my old fart Sista ALLY who's 30!!! And to grandma stones who is 90!! and whoever else has a birthday that I missed!! Love you all!!!

Love you,

Sister Stones

 

 

Pictures:

1. Our obstacle course we had to carry our bikes through 4 times

2. We did a Family Home Evening with a cute family and talked about prayer and all the stuff we have to have to get the right "connection"!! Don't worry they are cups with string connecting them!! It worked! Genius!
3: Herndon... spaghetti mess

4 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALLY!!!  

5. Don't worry it's march 25th and it's snowing... NOT a fan

Miracles! Mar 18

Howdy!!

This week has been amazing! Full of so many miracles! I am so grateful to be a missionary!

We are teaching a man named Oscar! We have taught him a couple times and the first time we went he said the typical "sorry I wasn't able to read this week." and we were oober bummed so we read with him and got him started and then this last week when we went to teach him he had read like 20 some odd pages!! It was amazing and he was asking all these amazing questions and we were able to answer all of them and teach directly to his needs! I loved every moment of it! He is so amazing! We are still in the finding process, but we are beginning to see miracles from our tracting efforts! We are hopefully going to teach 5 new people this week. We have it all scheduled so cross our fingers it all works out! :) Heavenly Father had been blessing us so much it's amazing!

Oh and something really funny that Sister Steadman and I have been noticing is that... we teach all black men.. yeah... it's quite hilarious, and we tend to only street contact and knock on doors where they live. So we have like 5 investigators and 4 potential investigators that are all men, and black, it's awesome! They have the greatest personalities and I love every moment of it! And it's great because we have to have another female with us so they automatically get to meet people from the ward! It's awesome!

I have started the Book of Mormon again and am loving every minute! It is such an amazing book! There are so many things I can learn when I take the time to read and apply it to my life! Like Lehi's dream for example. Those people that cling unto the iron rod (or word of God) when they partake of the fruit they are ashamed and turn away. Then their are the people that continually hold fast to the iron rod and when they get to the tree they fall to their knees and partake of the fruit because they know how precious it is! SO who are we! do we randomly cling to the rod, where we read every once in a while, pray sometimes, and go to church because we feel obligated. Or are we continually feasting upon the words of God daily, and praying always, and going to partake of the sacrament to be cleansed each week?! I hope and pray I am and will continue to be the second. Because they don't ever fall away! No matter what happens in life, or what is thrown at us if we are continually remembering Heavenly Father he WILL continually bless us!! Mosiah 2:41 "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and ^ahappy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are ^bblessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out ^cfaithful to the end they are received into ^dheaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it."

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week!! No matter what trials you may be going through continually hold fast and keep the commandments and you will be happy!!

LOVE YOU!!

Sister Stones

Miracles- Mar 11

Hello Family!!!

First I have to say thank you for all of your prayers! I feel them every day and I see the miracles from the daily!! But this weekend especially! Well, last night to narrow it down even more. So we having been really working hard to find more people to teach, and we have decided that we are changing our attitudes and we are going to be positive and happy and excited to be doing this work (because it had begain getting really hard) and this week just from changing our outlook we have seen so many more miracles!! Last night we had an amazing lesson with Ross and his family!! He has been taking the lessons since 99 and has read the book of mormon here and there and has been asked by the missionaries to pray and ask directly if the book of mormon is true, and if joseph smith is a prophet of God and time and time again he puts it off... for YEARS!! So last night the spirit was so strong in our lesson! We testified of the book of mormon so simply and plainly and then I asked him to pray right their with us. The spirit was so strong, and I have never seen his wife so hopeful while kneeling down to pray before. He prayed so earnestly and wanted to know so badly, and we know he got his answer! He now has to build the courage to talk to his mom to tell her! He is such an amazing father and husband! He is so humble and kind and will be even that much more of an influence to his kids when he has the priesthood and can bless them in those ways as well!!

And then!! We went to a family that lived close by that we had met a couple weeks ago, they actually knocked on the door where we were at!! hahaha we had parked our car in a spot that could have gotten towed and so they were coming to let us know so we could move our car. And I was so thankful for them I asked if I could give them a card and share a message! They said of course and then the spirit took the wheel and we talked for a good while about how their is a prophet on the earth today and all the amazing miracles that have come forth from it, and gave them a book of mormon, and the whole time he just kept calling us his angles and kept saying how grateful he was they came over and knocked!!! So last night we went to go and see them and to share more. We learned all about the struggles in their lives and how strong their relationship with God is and how they are just searching for a church to raise their family in and that they will just "fit". We taught them about the restoration and how they can know for themselves, and the spirit was so strong when we invited them to read the book of mormon they both said of course with no hesitation and when we invited them to be baptized she said yes, and he said "well, I was already baptized, but yeah, I will" my heart just leaped for joy!! They have such great faith in Christ that if he asked them to change they wouldn't even hesitate!! I love them already!! And what I love is how prepared they were, his mom was a pastor of a church and passed away about a year ago. She always taught him that "when you know, then you will know you know!" that you have to know for yourself and you have to pray to know... to ask the source. Loved it! So we are going to go back and teach them about families and the plan of salvation on tuesday!! They are truly a miracle and we were put in each others paths because we were listening and was were the Lord needed us to be!

I love this gospel! I know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's church on the earth!! That His priesthood power is again on the earth and that we can be with our families for eternity because of that! I love you all! I love the Book of Mormon and I love my Savior! I hope you all have a wonderful missionary filled week!!

Love,

Sister Stones