Sept 9- Teach People Not Lessons

Hello familia!!

This week has been wonderful! We got a new sister to join our party! Her name is Sister Hodgkin she is from the temple square Visitor Cener mission and is here on her out bound (my 3rd trio) I love her!! She is from Germany and such a fun addition to our companionship. We all have so much fun and know how to laugh and have a good time as we go about our work teaching the gospel!

SO this week has been nuts! As sister trainer leaders we go around and do exchanges with each of the different sisters we cover but we also go to each of the zone conferences! This week we had zone conference with the centreville and the ashburn zones. And we rocked it! We were given the topic of teach people not lessons and so we had to teach and present at the conference to help the missionaries better at asking inspired questions. Sister Olson got this Bomb.com "skit" to do. In my pictures last week I sent a picture of my legs all torn up from mosquitos. I had at least 15 on each leg! bleck. anyway. I have tried EVERYTHING on them. every kind of cream you can think of because they were miserable! We happened to have about 5 or so different types of creams or lotions or whatever you can think of to relieve the pain from my bites and so she had this idea...

We wrote down different problems people would have on pieces of paper like: pink eye, a cavity, the flu, ear infection, heart complications, and my bug bites. and then we handed them out and had the missionaries come up to the front and she would ask (as Dr. Sister Olson) what their symtoms were and how she could help. (haha) She asked me and I said, "I have these terrible bites that itch like crazy and I really need help!" She said, "Oh I have the perfect thing for you! Benedryl!" Me: "Perfect that will work just great!" Then she went to the next person, and say "What are your symptoms?!" they'd say, "Oh you know, I think I might have [enter illness here]. And I am not feeling too good." then she would look at them and say "oh I have the perfect thing for you!!!..... Benedryl" (haha) and then after she asked everyone (and gave the same response) she went back down the line to see how the medicine worked. I told her that I was all better and my bites were all gone! but the coments from everyone else were hilarious! On the pink eye, one missionary said.... "uuuhhh... well now I'm blind in that eye, but my pink eye is gone" (haha) it was hilarious. But the point of the whole thing was that it didn't "work" for everyone. Not because they weren't ready but 1. she wasn't knowledgable enough to help 2. She didn't listen 3. Medicine is here to bless and help! But just because it's "medicine" doesn't mean that it is going to work for everyone all the time. In the same way that the gospel IS FOR EVERYONE but you have to get to know the right diagnosis to really know what part of the gospel will REALLY help them. We have to really study every day to know what the Lord would have us teach each person, each and every day, something that worked for someone yesterday or even the lesson before isn't going to help the person I am teaching today. I have to study and gain more knowledge everyday, and then I have to ask questions. It was awesome! (hope that made sense..... if not... sorry haha) I loved it and it was really effective! I have a great companion!

Zahra got confirmed on Sunday!! And recieved the Holy Ghost!! It was a sweet blessing and a wonderful sacrament meeting! She is so wonderful! Steven is still preparing for baptism but probably not this weekend he is still reading and praying to make sure this is exactly what he is wanting to do! He is great! Him and his mom made us dinner the other night! It was delicious! I love this work so very much!! I know that the Jesus Christ is my Savior and I know tha I am learning to pattern my life so that one day I will want to live with God again! I love this work and am so blessed to be a missionary!! Love you all!! have a Glorious week!!

Love Always,

 Sister Stones

 

"These are the great adventures of Sister Olson and SIster Stones and Sister Hodgkin!! Don't mind the video!! hahaah we have an investigators daughter who talks like that ha she is adorable and we love her!! (Samantha Fish) oh and the cat shirt is for tori and darlene! haha I saw this at target and thought of you girls. LOVE YOU ALL!!!"

https://www.dropbox.com/home/I%20am%20a%20child%20of%20God#!/home/I%20am%20a%20child%20of%20God