Sister Stone

Dear Mom and Dad,

Sorry I dont have alot of time to write each of you back! I will try to work at writing everyone back each week, today is just crazy because we have been at the doctors all morning and then we still have laundry to do, clean our car for car inspections and then go teach a few lessons. Anyway, I will try handwriting you letters. So... We met with the doctor this morning. He said that my gallbladder is working at a 27% and that it needs to be at a 35% for it to be completely clear. He doesn't want to do surgery yet because of my pain and the bleeding that has been happening. So he took some blood tests and if that comes back clear he thinks he wants to send me home for surgery and to get things cleared up there where I can have you guys support me in getting recovered. He says that it would be his first option because out here it would take longer because of other comlications that I didn't really focus on. I dont know what I think about this and it isn't for sure yet so I dont want to focus on it. He will call me and sister Morby tomorrow morning with the blood results. He will also call the mission doctors and let them know the path he think would be best. I hope Sister Morby calls you or that President does so that you know everything already. Thank You for fasting for me and for all of your prayers! Tell Everyone else who has prayed for us Thank You as well. I am grateful for a family who supports me and cares about me!

My week has been really good with investigators. We had 3 people commit to baptism for this month!! :) One the 16, 23, and the 30! My companion and I are so excited! We haven't taught the lady I tracted into, Sandy, yet just because of me being sick and then her sister has Cancer so she had to take her in for chemo during one of our lessons. We are hoping that all will work out with her on Thursday and that we can get in and teach her. Maybe we will even have another baptism this month? :) I can only hope! It would be awesome though! I always thought it was cheesy when people would say that we will feel disappointed when someone tells us "no" to baptism but I really did feel that way this week. We are teaching a 10 year old, Dusty, and his sister was baptized last month and she is so excited for him to be baptized but he keeps telling us he hasn't had the answer to his prayers that its the right thing to do right now. I felt sad for him when he told us this and I pray for him to get that answer for himself! I want him to be able to have that joy that comes from the gospel for himself! We also had Stake Conference yesterday and we had 2 of our investigators come! They both really enjoyed it and stayed awake for the whole thing! haha. I was shocked when they said they enjoyed it and couldn't wait for church next Sunday. I struggle at Stake Conference and so I was so excited for them when they actually enjoyed it and didn't feel overwhelmed!

I cant believe Chelsea is getting baptized!!!!!!!! I started crying when I read that! I wish that she would write me and tell me about it! Will you have Kelci get on and email her for me. Tell her to either email me or write me. I'm so excited for her!!! I wish that I could just be there for it. Oh my goodness I am just so excited!

Tell Whit CONGRATULATIONS and I told her so! :) You will need to go buy her an adorable outfit for me!

I have a video I want Pepper to see on Mormon Messages. will you tell her to go watch Daytons Legs and then the Bonus edition of it. I watched it the other day and just thought of her the whole time. Thanks!

I also watched 17 miracles with a member while I was down on Saturday and you guys need to go watch it as a family! It was amazing!

Well I better go but I will write everyone tonight or this week at some point! Tell Jaden good luck in his next game. Tell him to play hard for me!

I love you guys and I will keep you posted on the medical stuff and if all goes well, hopefully it does, I will just write you next week :)

LOVE YOU SO MUCH and miss you!

Love, Kenzi

Elder Stone

Hola Madre y Padre y familia!
Como estan? Come es todo en Hurricane? Estoy muy feliz esta manana! Life has been great for me this week. I just read McKenzi's email and I am so excited for her! I was so worried about how things were going for her and I'm glad to hear that all is going great.
Well the field is white, already to harvest! You think that is a metaphor but it's not. The fields really are all white. There is snow everywhere! Haha sorry, I couldn't resist.
So classes are going really good for me this week! I feel like I have been able to focus really well and learn a lot. The teachers have been talking in Spanish a lot more to us and it's awesome because I can understand most of what they are saying! Crazy how that works. When I first got here and they spoke Spanish to us I thought I was going to be confused forever! I'm excited that I am getting to the other end of the stick, slowly but surely. "Vale la pena." One of my teachers said that to us and I decided I am going to make it my motto. It translates into "It's worth the pain" or "It's worth it". All of things that in life are hard and painful are the things that are worth it in the end. So I set a goal. I'm going to work my very hardest on my mission so that when I get done I will look back and say it was worth it. Last night there was a devotional that talked about how to overcome sadness and homesickness at the MTC. Any guesses? The number one thing that helps sadness is to find someone to serve. I have found this to be so true. Our district has set goals to find someone to serve everyday and to serve the other districts in our zone. It feels good to help somebody in need.
Last night after the devotional we were able to go watch a movie of our choice. (We get to watch one every Sunday after the devotional.) Most the time they are recorded talks from Apostles that have come to the MTC but this week we got to watch the Testament. I think that's the most action packed movie I have seen in a while! Probably the most intense movie I will see in the next two years. I love that movie though. You've seen it right? I love how at the end the dad (Helam) doesn't have his sight and he is telling his son to describe Jesus to him. As he is describing the Savior you see a hand reach out and touch Helam and say his name. The last scene you see is of him healed, looking at the Savior. I lost it at that point. It's just so cool to me that the Savior does know each of us by name and He wants to help us. It really was a Testament to me.
Well it's weird for me to think that I am on the down hill slope of my time at the MTC. This Thursday we get out travel plans to head to our missions. It's crazy! In 2 and a half weeks I am going to be in my first area trying to understand Spanish and speaking with people! Exciting right?
I probably better get off and finish my laundry but I think I am able to get on later today. If you are able to write me back before I get on that would be awesome! Did you get my letter that I sent a few days ago? I think I had everything right on there so I hope it got there. Also, could you ask Kelci to ask Paisley if she got my letter? I've never really written letters to people so I'm not sure I did it right! So how is Jaden's soccer coming? Has he had any games yet? Tell Kelci and Jaden that I am writing you each a letter today. There just never seems like there is enough time to write. I wish I could write you each a 10 page letter but that probably still wouldn't cover everything!
I love you all and I am praying that all is well!
Love, Elder Stone
P.s. I saw Sister Stone put a scripture and I want to share one that I love also. Alma 26:12 is amazing. The whole chapter is but this is my favorite verse. Read it!

Elder Stone

Dear Madre y Padre y familia,
Hola! Como esta? Come fue su Domingo? Mine was so amazing! Yesterday was our second fast Sunday at the MTC so our Sunday schedule was a little different. Instead of going to Priesthood Meeting we got to go to mission conference! During mission conference we get to listen to most of the MTC presidency speak and then a District President also spoke to us. They are all spiritual powerhouses so it was really good to hear from them! I got to bare my testimony in Spanish again this week also. It's crazy how much more I was able to talk about in my testimony than that first week where I knew next to nothing. I also had that opportunity to bless the Sacrament this week in Spanish also. It is cool to hear it in Spanish! Last night was a really awesome devotional that we went to. The Provo Temple president came and talked to us about the temple. He was so powerful!! He talked about how the Lord has walked every hallway and has seen every room in the temple. He said that that is the only place where we can really take upon us Christ name. He also said that is the place to get power for the next two years of our mission. It gave me a completely different perspective on Temples and today when I go I am going to be a lot more focused on that.
After the devotional we always either get to watch a church movie or listen to a recorded talk by an apostle. This week my companions and me decided to go listen to President Holland talk about being forever a missionary. I felt like I needed to buckle up from the start to the finish. It was so intense! I went in there expecting intense but it still caught me off guard. He told us to take advantage of every single possible opportunity to be a missionary because this is the only time in our life that we will be able to. He said that this is the closest calling to being an Apostle that there is. We both teach the Gospel 24/7 and focus on bringing people unto Christ. I'm wondering if it is online somewhere that you could go look up? I want to have a copy of it to keep with me but it's not on Lds.org. It's called Forever A Missionary. Also, if you could send me the Characters of Christ talk by Elder Bednar that would be amazing also.
So I am starting something that I heard about and it might be cool for you to try out. I bought a new Book of Mormon and I wrote a few questions on the first page of it and now I am going through answering those questions throughout the rest of the book. I am only through 1 Nephi chapter 3 and I have so much highlighted to help me with the questions! I call it my own Magic 8 ball. Except this magic 8 ball is more correct than any other ball or book in the whole world.
I have two items of very exciting news for you. The first one was President Ballard came and spoke to us last Tuesday!! It was soo awesome! We were all sitting in the conference room singing the prelude hymns when everybody started standing up. The Spirit was so amazing because we were singing "I know that my Redeemer lives" when he walked in. The whole time he talked about that our message is that Jesus is the Christ and that he does live. It was so amazing! I started crying before he ever started talking because of the song. I love the song "I know that my Redeemer lives" I feel the spirit every time I hear it.
So the second item that is super exciting is (drum roll please) Are you ready? We got our travel plans on Thursday!!!! I am leaving next Tuesday at 5:00 in the morning to go to the airport and then I leave at 8:37 for Long Beach! How exciting is that?! It feels like I have been here forever and no time at all! I am so excited to go though. I am in my last full week here at the MTC! I will write you next week before I go to let you know a few more details about it but I had to let you know! I'm so excited. I've said that a few times but it is true! Well I should probably get off considering that my laundry is done and I should go get ready for the temple. Exciting stuff though, right? I love you all soooo very much! I am writing Kelci back today because that is the only letter that I have been able to get yet but I will try to write you all! You are in my prayers every day.
Love, Elder Stone
p.s. I just barely finished emailing Mckenzi so I hope she has time to email me again before the day is over. Sorry I wrote her first, I just assumed I would take longer on this email.
p.p.s. Do you think you could send me a copy of my Patriarchal Blessing? I only have a copy of the first page. The second page would be nice to have.

Sister Stone (first email from oregon)

Dear family,

Holy cow! I am in my first area! It has been such a good 3 days of learning and growing. Monday morning I woke up at 330 with the girls in my room and we finished packing and boarded the the bus at 5. I sat with Sister Christensen and next to us was Sister Ellett and Sister Eldredge. Can I just say I miss all the girls in my district from the MTC and also Sister Hale and Sister Renslow! I am so grateful I got to know them before we came into the field. Anyway. So we landed around 10:30 Utah time and thats when it hit me... that this is really happening. All the things we were being taught in the MTC and everything they tried to teach us is all needed NOW. As we got off, us girls went straight into the restroom to fix ourselves and try and help eachother stay calm and not freak out (cry actually) We came back out and gathered with the others, which there were 26 of us entering the Portland mission on Monday, and we saw President and Sister Morby! It was an amazing day! President Morby is definitely a stick to the rules president but I love it! He is such a great man and I already have so much respect for him! Sister Morby is very loving as well! After taking all of us over to the temple and getting some pictures, we headed to the stake center by the temple and had a quick lesson on the rules in the mission field and things we need to remember. At 2 we had the nerve racking experience of meeting our trainers! My trainer is awesome though and I love her already! her name is Sister Poulson and she is from Salt Lake. She will be leaving in June to go back home so in May after my 12 weeks of training she will go back to the Visitors Center, where she was originally called to, and finish up the last month of her mission. President Morby doesn't like having the new missionaries stay in the mission home that first night, I dont know if it is because they have missionaries leaving on those transfers as well or if he just likes us to get out and get to work, but thats what we did; We went out and got to work!

So... My first area is about an hour and a half from Portland. I am in a small town called Rainier, up at the top of the state. We have 4 towns that we cover. Rainier has I believe 2 gas stations in it and a few small restraunts by our apartment. Just picture like Parowan or Beaver without the grocery stores in it and that is the size of Rainier. It is so small. We actually have to go out of our mission to go grocery shopping because there is no where in our area to shop. Its pretty crazy. Our apartment is right off the main road and across from us is the Columbus River. I'll send a few pictures of that. The other 2 towns are about a 15 minute drive from our apartment and we cant go tracting too easy there because they are all farming communities. Clatsanie is the name of another town we cover, which is also 15 minutes away, and they are the size of Fillmore. It has a Safeway there but because it is so expensive we aren't suppose to go there. Anyway, I'm pretty much in the farming communities right now but I am loving it! It is so green here and my first day it was sunny :)

I want to tell you now about my first real day here. Because we had to drive an hour and a half back to Rainier we didn't get any tracting or teaching appointments in once we left the Transfer meeting, so Tuesday was my first real day. After personal Study and companionship study we had my first district meeting. There are two other companionships in our District and they are Elders. after that we had 4 teaching appointments! Let me tell you, I was soo nervous! but during companionship study we did a role play of how to teach the lessons for that day and it helped ALOT! our first family was the Aberle's. They are less active and their youngest son just moved back home from college. he is 22 and likes to talk about video games during the lessons. After their house we went tracting for about a half hour until our next appointment and guess what.... I got an appointment with a lady named Sandy!! She has been looking around for religions because the catholic church kicked her out for asking questions. next was our 93 year old investigator, Elenore. She is very stubborn, kinda like grandma Tony and thinks that if you believe in Jesus Christ then nothing else matters. her son is a member and she is very frustrated that he referred her to us :) she will be a fun one to teach :) After dinner we went and taught Dusty. he is 10 and his sister Caelyn was baptized before i got here. he is really unsure about religion but i think it is because his dad wont have anything to do with it.

Anyway, Sorry this is such a long email but I wanted to tell you everything! I am loving it so far and we have our first baptism on Saturday and one on the 9th of March! Sister Poulson said that this part of the mission was shut down for awhile and just opened back up in November or December. Everyone is so excited and ready to hear what we believe in here and the mission is having alot of success! I am excited to go teach Sandy on Tuesday as well. Technically I am not suppose to count her as an investigator yet but I am just so excited!

A few questions for you guys now, How is soccer going for Jaden? Did he make the team? ;) and are the guys flocking around Kelci like normal? I hope everything is going good and I miss you guys so much! I loved getting tylers email and I cant wait to hear back from him. I dont know if I should email him or just write him. Thank you mom for the treats and my bedding! I loved getting the cute sayings on them! you are the best!!!

K I better go. My P-day is usually Monday but this week it is Wednesday. So you will hear from me again Monday ok.

LOVE YOU GUYS SOOO MUCH!

sister stone :)

scripture of the week. 2 Nephi 31.

Elder Stone

Hola Madre y Padre (y mi familia)
Don't worry, I'm not good enough to do it all in Spanish yet. But it will be coming one of these days! You'll have to use google translate or something to keep up. Dad, you're going to need to write me a letter in all Spanish! The language really is coming in so fast. I was thinking back on how long it took to get one concept down in Spanish class. I feel like I've already learned more Spanish in the almost 3 weeks I've been here than 2 years of Spanish at school! I was about to say I don't know what it is but I know exactly what it is. It's the Spirit! Also, it's weird how when I am focused on the needs of the investigators we have the language just comes a lot easier. It's starting to make a little bit of sense on how when we lose our selves we find ourselves. Our lessons are still a little bit difficult considering we aren't yet fluent in Spanish but when we teach with the Spirit the lesson goes a lot stronger. In truth, the days that we don't go into our lessons with the Spirit as our guide turn into train wrecks. It was explained to us that going without the Spirit is like going into an important sporting game without using your star player. No real conversion comes without the Holy Ghost. It's amazing how I have felt the Holy Ghost prompt our lessons to go a way that we hadn't really planned. We are now up to three investigators that we go in between every day. We jump from Argentina to Chile and back to Utah within 5 minutes! I think I already mentioned this but the investigators that our teachers are playing are people that they have taught the Gospel to on their missions so they really get into the role of their investigator. It's weird because you start to develop a love for this person when it is just a teacher acting. After our lessons they come in and teach us and then I realize that hey! They actually already know the Gospel. I love my teachers.
Well I can't believe I have been here for almost 3 weeks now! I feel like I have either been here for my whole life or I have been here for just a few days. Some days I will look back on the time I've been here and think wait! It is going by way too fast! I hope my mission doesn't go that fast. There have been times when I have gotten a little bit homesick but it hasn't lasted too long. On Tuesday every body was having a little bit of a hard time and one of our branch presidency came in and talked to us. He seemed to notice that we were having a hard time and he talked about how when we are having our hard times we need to turn to the Lord. He was talking about how every hard time we have is an opportunity to bring us closer to the Lord. This week has been a week that I have been able to do that a little more. There have been songs that have been sung and Mormon messages that I've watched and devotionals that I have listened to that have just brought me to tears. I'm glad our district is a bunch of cry babies because I fit right in!
Yesterday I had to say goodbye to McKenzi. That was hard. It has been such a huge blessing to have her here at the MTC with me. There will be days where I am having a little bit of a rough time and then I see her and it brightens my day. We have been able to go to some of the same devotionals and talks and have been able to visit for a little bit. People always give us weird looks when we hug each other goodbye. We always have to tell people that hey, we're related! But honestly, I am so glad that we were able to be in the MTC at the same time. I am really going to miss looking for her at devotionals and being able to see her at random times. Could you please send me her address? I thought I had brought one of her pictures with me but I guess I didn't.
Well I probably better get off and finish up my laundry so that we can get go to breakfast and get ready for the temple. Really quick, I love the Orem Temple! I think I might have mentioned this but the temple is so beautiful! I have gained an even stronger appreciation for the temple since coming up here. Sorry, that was a quick tangent. Well I love you so much and I'm muy animado (very excited) to hear about everything! I hope that all is well. I pray for you every day and every night! I love you.
Love, Elder Stone

Sister Stone

Hey Family,

I know I just talked to mom on the phone yesterday but I think if I didn't send an email mom might get mad at me. So first off, the spirit is amazing here! I just read Tyler's email and since him and I were both at Elder Bednar's devotional, that saves time on what to say about that. Tyler sat in the row in front of me so we got to talk all about it afterward. The spirit was so strong there and Elder Bednar did an amazing job of helping us understand what it means to be converted and what it means to be converted and to have a testimony. Like he said, go look it up! its amazing!the second most amazing thing happened as well this week too. do you remember how I wrote you about the girl whose friend committed suicide? she wasnt a real investigator but it was so cool to teach her. Well on Saturday we had another TRC and it was a volunteer again. We didn't know until we got into the room that she was an ACTUAL investigator!! Here is her story. She was born here in the US, Texas actually, and then her family moved to Jerusalem for her and her siblings to grow up. I dont know why they moved there? but anyway, so after she graduated she decided to come to BYU for the program they have for the FBI. well, about 6 months ago she got a phone call saying that her family had been killed in a car crash! As she struggled to realize what was going on, one of her friends started talking about her religion, the LDS church. The only thing that she knew before this was that she couldn't get a second date with any of the guys who asked her out because she didn't belong to this religion. (NO ONE HAD EVER EVEN TRIED TO EXPLAIN THE GOSPEL! SO SAD!) anyway, so her friend works here at the MTC and just last week she decided that she needed something to help her get past the loss of her family. The spirit in the room was incredible when she was telling us this story! Me and sister Eldredge had planned on teaching her about the restoration, the first lesson, but like we have been taught, follow the spirit on this! we taught her about how our Heavenly Father loves her, He would love to hear from her and we taught her to pray. We also felt the need to teach her about Joseph Smith and the first vision and she just started crying thru all of it. not like a sad cry but she just kept wiping away tears. it was amazing! We committed her to reading the book of mormon and as we left she was so grateful for our message! after that, I went in the bathroom and cried for her! I wish that I was able to stick around and see what happens. thats the only bad part about leaving Monday :/ did president robinson call you about coming up friday? or is whitney able to? dearelder me and let me know what is going on with that so i can prepare myself. also, did you get Morgans birthday card? give luke and her a hug for me, I miss them so much! sister Christensen and I talk about our nannying jobs and how much we miss the kids. oh, and another thing that I noticed as I went to the doctors. for my ultra sound I had to go off campus, which was so weird, and as we were coming back, sister christensen and I both realized how the spirit wasn't fully with us at the drs like it is at the MTC. it was an awesome witness that we really do have it with us all the time if we recognize it!anyway, we are all having fun and learning so much! I am grateful to be here and I am loving it! i miss you and hope all is well. tell dad, kelci and jaden I have their letters in the mail. also tell shauni to tell kaylyn i wrote her but the letter came back?
love you, sister stone

Elder Stone

Dear Mom and Dad and Family,
Well the week mark of me being here came and passed! It was fun seeing the new missionaries come in on Wednesday and thinking how quick they are going to grow. It's always fun to welcome people into the MTC. Funny experience. I was walking out of a building with my companion and there were like 10 Hermanas (sisters) walking toward us. As they got closer I noticed that they were taking up the whole pathway that we were headed on. Knowing me, you might have thought how excited I was that there were girls walking our way but the first thought I had as they got closer was "don't touch me, don't touch me." Haha now you know how far gone I really am.
Well I feel like either my mind is going to explode from so much knowledge or my heart is going to explode from so much feeling the Spirit. This week has been really powerful again. We had a substitute teacher come and teach us and she was so powerful! I'm going to put one of her quotes in here because I loved it so much. "You are not eating for you anymore. You are eating so you have the energy to bring souls unto Christ. You are not sleeping for you anymore. You are sleeping so you have the energy to bring souls unto Christ. You are not going to the gym for you anymore. You are going so that you can be fit to bring more souls unto Christ. If you are doing these things just for you, you are only on a mission. You're not a missionary." It was so powerful when she said it. After she was done talking we watched a video of a family who joined the church and then a year later went through the temple and the lady was talking about how she felt the Savior's love so much. At that moment I had a reassurance that our Savior does love us and the Spirit was so strong. I might have cried a little. It's a good thing real men cry, right? There has been so many things that have changed my perspective on life. I seriously feel like I will be writing something down and then mid sentence they will say something else that hit's me and I'm thinking wait! Let me finish my sentence before you saying something else inspiring! I do feel my knowledge increasing by leaps and bounds. I've learned that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is not some deep doctrine that is hard to understand. It is meant to be simple! I love that fact. I wish I could tell you everything I've learned in one email but I highly doubt that I would ever finish it. Just last night I had a life changing lesson by David A. Bednar about the Character of Christ. It was one of the coolest talks I have ever read. I'll give you a few points I liked but you should go look it up. It will change you're perspective. He talked about the difference between conversion and testimony and how if you just have a testimony you will fall away from the church, but if you are converted then nothing can take you away from the church. Conversion is an every day process that never ends. He also talked about losing yourself in the work and how you will find yourself. Basically the character of Christ was to turn outward and not be selfish and that is something we all desperately need to start doing. I'm not doing it justice so you should look it up!
So I didn't get to my companions in my last email so I will try to get to them now. First off, my companion's names are Elder Robinson and Elder Bainter. Elder Robinson was my companion to start off with and he is a really cool guy. We are a lot the same in our personality so it works out really well. Elder Bainter didn't use to be our companion but his companion went home because he needed to get some stuff cleared up. I really hope he is able to get back out here. It was a little bit difficult trying to work out a trio companionship because we were already bonded but it seems to be doing loads better now. Elder Bainter is a really smart Elder who knows the Gospel. We are all still super excited to be here and it is fun getting to know them. Well I love you all so much! I pray for you every day that you will be happy. One thing that we all have in common up here at the MTC is that we can feel the Spirit so strong and I hope that you guys will be able to feel it too. Please write me and tell me all the happenings down in Hurricane. Whether it is big or small I really love hearing about everything. Also, if you could tell people about Dear Elder that would be awesome. It's fun hearing from everybody! Well I hope that you guys are having loads of fun! Enjoy that cruise that you are going on this Spring Break. You guys are the one's missing out! I'm gonna try to write a letter today but our preparation day seems to end up being super unpreparational because of all the meetings that pop up. I love you guys so much!
Love Elder Stone

Sister Stone

Dear Mom and Dad,                                                                                                 February 6, 2013

I know you just heard from me on Tuesday but I just had to tell you about my best day in the MTC so far! Oh my goodness, it was amazing! We have been doing a lot of role playing with our teacher’s but on Monday we started TRC’s with progressive (acting) investigators. Monday was kind of stressful because it was my first day with my new companion so our lesson didn’t turn out how we had planned! Big lesson learned. (And funny thing is that our leaders have been drilling it in our heads since we got here) is that you CAN NOT teach a lesson without the spirit!!! None of our zone has any luck Monday but today we went back. So we said a prayer before we knocked on our investigator Sara’s door. Sara opens up and says to come in. We asked her how her week had been and she tells us about her daughter who is 13 got in trouble for disobeying the rules. This ended up being HUGE for our lesson because we were able to relate that to the lesson. ANYWAY, so finally we ask if she followed thru on her commitment of reading the introduction of the Book of Mormon. SHE HAD! (Big sigh of Relief) And… She had read 8 chapters of 1Nephi as well! Double Bonus! We started teaching her about how our Heavenly Father loves us and just like she wants her daughter to talk to her about things, so does He. (Back track a little). Sarah doesn’t believe in God. Her religion is Yoga, Literally! So we knew that was our focus, helping her believe there is a God. As my companion started talking about how He loves us so much, I had the craziest thing happen, it was so amazing! The spirit whispered, “Tell her that she can talk to Heavenly Father”. (Now fast forward). So right as I heard this my comp stopped talking and I knew that this was my queue. I bore my testimony on prayer and asked if she knew how to pray. She, of course, said no, so I taught her and then said “Sara, our Heavenly Father wants to be able to talk to you but you have to be willing to ask to talk with Him too. It’s a two-way thing. Will you pray to know that God is real and that He loves you?” Then I paused and let the spirit talk to her. She slowly looked up and there were tears is her eyes when she said Yes! It was So amazing!! I have never felt the spirit so strong in any of our discussions this far and it was a huge learning experience for me!
Ok, sorry. I thought I would send this today, but it’s been crazy busy so I didn’t have time to finish this letter. So before I send this let me tell you how Thursday Feb. 7^th changed my life as well! I have goose bumps just thinking about it and NOTHING can bring me off of this high! We had another TRC discussion tonight but this time our investigator was a volunteer. When it’s a volunteer they just say they are either inactive or not a member and that is all the information they give you. Sister Eldredge and I were kinda prepared for this because she has been a volunteer here before. Anyway, we prayed and started reading the first lesson. It didn’t really feel right, but we only had 5 minutes to prepare so we said a prayer and just asked that the spirit would be there to guide us and that our TRC’s heart would be open to whatever message we gave. We knocked on her door and this girl Brittany said she was 17 and hadn’t been to church since she was 10. Her parents divorced right around that time and didn’t feel the need to go back. Anyway, as she started to open up my comp and I both looked at eachother and knew this girl was struggling. She may have been an actress but what she told us next was real and maybe it’s been a while since it happened but even so, it was still an open wound and she needed comfort and reassurance. She started out telling us that she is a senior at a highschool here and that her friend has committed suicide that day. Anyway, the spirit hit us so strong! She said she was sorry and she didn’t know if that was too much for the first day. We were grateful we were there and had a message of comfort to say the least. We told her how our Heavenly Father loves her and her friend very much and reassured her that she would see her again. I then asked her if she knew how to pray and if she would pray with us, right in the middle of our lesson. The power of prayer is amazing! Brittany knelt down and started talking to Heavenly Father and prayed for comfort. There wasn’t a dry eye between the three of us! We then talked to her about the resurrection because both my companion and I knew that she needed to know that as well. My comp., Sister Eldredge bore such a strong testimony to her and there were more tears. The spirit was so strong! After I bore my testimony and we closed with prayer she thanked us over and over for the message and we were ecstatic! We couldn’t keep the smiles off our faces all night!
So that was the best two days in the MTC so far for me!!! How are things going at home? I was made the music director so I get to do the musical number for the next Sunday with my district before we leave on the 18^th. I also pick the music for each meeting. Anyway, if you could send the music I asked for ASAP that would be great! Please send pictures and tell everyone to write Tyler and I on Dear Elder. I have seen Tyler several times now and have gotten to talk to him. I have also written to him. He finally gave me a hug after I had such an amazing experience with our investigators. I really needed a hug from someone I knew so I am glad he did!!!
It’s been such a great week and I am SO glad to be here! I love you guys so much!!! Thank you for the letters! Please tell everyone to write Tyler! He said he isn’t getting much mail, especially fro his friends. I felt bad for him!
Love, your favorite sister missionary,
Sister Mckenzi Stone

Elder Stone

Dear Mom and Dad (and family)
Holy cow, I love the MTC! As soon as I walked into here I felt the spirit so strong! They kind of whisked us away into different buildings to get all our books and name tags for our missions. You wear those things around everywhere. Considering I joined a club at SUU just for the name tag I think it's pretty cool to where one around all the time! Now instead of having the name of SUUSA I have a far more important person I am representing. It was nice having Whitney come pick us up before we went into the MTC. Cafe Rio was muy bueno for a last meal. Yeah, I was a little bit nervous up until we got to the Provo Temple parking lot to take pictures. The nerves seemed to float away at that point and the excitement hit! Well the first day we were kept pretty busy. To be honest, it feels like that was forever ago! Not in a "I'm missing home" sort of way. They just keep you soooo busy all the time. From studying time to language learning to teaching investigators (yes, we already have an investigator) there isn't much time to think about anything else. To be honest, I love it that way! There is a saying here that even in the few days I've been here I'm starting to agree with. "The days drag on but the weeks sure fly!" The second day I was here I felt like by the end of the day it had been three day's packed into one. I saw some notes I took at the start of the day and I was thinking, wait what? That was today? It was crazy! A cool experience that happened the first day I was here was in the opening devotional little thing we sang "We are as the armies of Helaman". The only difference is we sang "we are NOW the Lord's missionaries". That hit me really hard. I have been singing that song for years now and it brings me chills but singing it with the word NOW adds sooo much more power. I was reading in the missionary handbook about our schedule and it talks about how this is the only time in our lives that we will be able to dedicate your all to the Lord and the time we have is short. I've already noticed that! I'm less than a week in and I already am upset that I eventually have to be done. My goal is to end my mission working my heart out so that I have zero regrets coming home. It has still been a little difficult staying up for 16 hour days but I love it. Well so far I've only talked about getting here! I should probably move on before I spend 4 hours on here just typing. I actually can't spend 4 hours because I only have 30 minutes. I'm basically typing like a maniac right now. My brain is struggling to keep up with my hands. Well Saturday we met our Branch President for our zone. Or was it Friday? I don't know. He is a really cool guy though! He came in and gave a little devotional about being obedient. Obedience is such a big key up here. Obedience seriously has brought me so many blessings already, and I'm sure there are more to come. Well after the devotional we had a personal interview with the President Peer (that's his name) and he just talked to us each individually for a few minutes. After everyone was interviewed he called me back in with the whole Branch Presidency and he asked me if I would be the District Leader. I didn't really know what to say so I decided to say yes. I had been praying that I could find a way to serve so that I could keep my mind busy and then I got called to that position. It was so amazing. Now I have the opportunity to get to know my whole district a lot better and when I get down I can think of a way to serve my district. I have had a few leadership meetings on Sunday because of it and I have learned a lot about being a Christ like leader. It is way more of a service position than a leadership position but I'm really happy to do it. Well on another note, Sunday was amazing! It was cool to start off my first Sunday here with a fast. I got up in Sacrament meeting and bore my testimony in Spanish so that was really cool. It was super choppy and took a lot of time in between but it was a good experience to have. They seriously immerse you in the language from the first day! The devotional that night was really cool but my favorite part was probably singing the song "Let Us All Press On" in the conference center. It was soooooo powerful! We did the Elders singing one part and the Hermanas singing another. That night I went to a video devotional of President Bednar called "Recognizing the Spirit." I'm pretty sure it was just for me. It talked about how do you know if it is the Spirit talking to you or just you? President Bednar's respond was unexpected but perfect. He said, don't worry about it! Just be a good boy, follow the commandments, remember your covenants, and press forward and the Lord will guide your foot steps. It was so profound to me and exactly what I needed to here. I'm going to try to do that better. Well finally, today is Monday! We went to the temple this morning for a session and it was awesome! I need to think of better description words but I can't think of any right now. Anyways, the Provo Temple is beautiful! I don't know if it was just the beauty or what, but I learned so much from that temple experience. It was great. Well I better get ready to go get the mail for my district before we have more meetings, so I'll write again later. I love you mom and dad! Thank you for encouraging me when I was struggling. I don't have time to write a letter on paper right now but be assured I will have one to you next week. I love you soo much! Kelci, good luck with school and the dance! Is it already over? I'm not sure. Jaden, write me about all your fun soccer experiences! I'll talk to you soon. Love you, bye! (:

Sister Stone

Hey mom and dad,

So I survived the first week of the MTC! Crazy to say but I am loving it! pretty much I could just say "ditto" to tyler's email to you, because that is my emotions in a nutshell! It is a crazy schedule to get used to and being hit by the spirit so many times a day really gets you worn out but it is so great!

I only have a few minutes to write but I promise to send a letter saying more this week! How was the dance for Kelci and how is soccer going for Jaden?? tell them I love them and I miss them!

Thank you for the letters from DEARELDER! I love getting letters! so far megan, kaylyn pam and the kids (they also sent me cinnamon rolls!) and then the letters I got from before I left! I am loving the MTC! i have got the most amazing district leader and district! Its ccrazy how it has only been 6 days and we look out for eachother like we are familyi! my district leader actually gave me a blessing yesterday for comfort because some stuff happened. MOIM! dont stress about it, after it happened i knew that that was how it was supposed to be. so when i got here, they take you in a room to give you your nametag and kays and things, and on the envelope has you companions name. i was in a trio and my companions were sister Ellett who is super quiet and doesn't talk to me much, which was interesting. actually she doens't talk to anyone but the elders. even if i would try starting a conversation she would just grunt at me and mt other comp. my other companion was sister christensen, who is from mapleton. me and her hit it off and have inside jokes and so mjuch fun together!do you remember how i told you dexters friend was going to portland? yeah that is sister christensen! i knew who it was when i saw the name but didn't say anything til thursday night becayuse i wanted to have a friendship with her off of the companionship, not because of him. but it has vbeen so fun telling stories and getting to know all the girls in my room. oh, in my room there are 5 of us; sister ellett, sister christensen, sister hale, and sister renslow. the last two are in a different district but in our zone. its been way fun!

on sunday our trio was split up though! i was senior comps to the sisters and apparently instead of coming to me about a problem sister ellett went straight to president robinson, our branch president. she was mad at me and sister christensen for making the connection from dexter and because we talked about it that one time she wanted to be split. it was dumb@

but i am loving my new comp sister Eldredge. she is from pleasant grove. i'll write you and tell you about her.

anyway, its almost time for me to get off but i promise i am sending a letter tonight all about everything else. they only give us 30 minutes to email. will you please tell anyone who wants to write to write on dearelder so i dont have to read them on here and waste time.

I love you guys so much and I miss you like crazy! but in a good way. I know this is where I am supposed to be. It hit me last night sitting in class as i looked down at my name tag, I am a sister missionary and I am loving it!!!!!!!

LOVE YOU!! cant wait to get letters

love, your one and only,

sister stone :)

Elder and Sister Stone