Hey Everyone,
So we have hit the last week of the change. (They are every 6 weeks.) These last 6 weeks with Elder Harrington have flown by, I can´t believe how much time has passed. Since we haven´t had too much success we could see that one of us gets transferred this Wednesday. We´ll find out about that Tuesday. But I also wouldn´t be surprised if we had another change together. There are going to be a lot of changes in this zone. One of the zone leaders finishes his mission, and so do three district leaders, and I think there are one or two others as well. There is a huge group leaving the mission and there will be a lot of changes.
We really only have one investigator that is progressing well. His name is Carlos, he has been dating a member for 9 years, and she said if he wanted to get married he had to be baptized. So we found him, talked to him, and found out that he wants to be baptized and he is almost ready . He only needs to go to church with us a couple of times. We have a baptismal date for the 16th of June, hopefully all turns out well with that and hopefully both Elder Harrington and I will be here to see it all go through.
The members still realize that we need help so we´ve received some referrals from them. Not many of them have been very positive, but we still have some on the way. But the beauty of the referrals is that the investigator immediately has a friend in the church.
Thanks for all your love and support,
Elder Stone
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
May 21st letter
Hey Everyone,
Well I have to say that the last couple of weeks have probably been some of the hardest weeks of the mission. We are not having a ton of success, the work is moving slowly. It seems odd to me that me and Elder Harrington were paired together as a companionship, because neither of us are that great at spanish, and we both have less than a year in the mission.
We do have one piece of exciting news. We got a referral from a member and it turns out this guy wants to marry a member. The catch is the member said he needs to be baptized first. He has already received all the lessons from other missionaries and he wants to be baptized. So the only thing is we have to get him to church. Last week was Mothers Day so he went to visit his mom. Yesterday he went to Danli, I´m not sure why. So if we can just get him to church he´ll be ready for baptism.
Tuesday we had a Zone Conference with Elder Falabella of the 70. He did kind of a Q & A, and he would expound and expound and expound on his answers. But the thing I took most out of it was he talked about the success of the missionaries from the Book of Mormon. We know that some baptized thousands. Then we read some verses in Alma where it talks about how Ammon used his converts to convert others. So we just need to focus on working with members more. We have been working with them but I realized how important they are. Yesterday there were two members that walked up to us at church and told us that they have a referral for us. That was really exciting. These members really do want to help. We just need to give them the opportunity.
Yesterday I felt kind of bad, we were sitting in Preisthood meeting and our teacher never showed up. Now in the old days (if you are a teenager) your saying "Awesome no class today." and take off... or at least that is what me and a bunch of other young men would be thinking. But as a missionary I was sitting there and getting really nervous and anxious. There were about 10 grown men in the class and not one of them wanted to take charge. I thought that it was going to be thrown on to us, but the members know we have enough as is so none of them bothered asking us go up. After about 10 minutes of just talking someone finally stood up and started leading a discussion. I felt kind of bad for not stepping up, but I don´t feel like I have the ability yet to just choose a subject and give a lesson on the spot to Priesthood holders. That goes to show where I have room for improvement.
Thanks for all the support, your prayers are felt.
Elder Stone
Well I have to say that the last couple of weeks have probably been some of the hardest weeks of the mission. We are not having a ton of success, the work is moving slowly. It seems odd to me that me and Elder Harrington were paired together as a companionship, because neither of us are that great at spanish, and we both have less than a year in the mission.
We do have one piece of exciting news. We got a referral from a member and it turns out this guy wants to marry a member. The catch is the member said he needs to be baptized first. He has already received all the lessons from other missionaries and he wants to be baptized. So the only thing is we have to get him to church. Last week was Mothers Day so he went to visit his mom. Yesterday he went to Danli, I´m not sure why. So if we can just get him to church he´ll be ready for baptism.
Tuesday we had a Zone Conference with Elder Falabella of the 70. He did kind of a Q & A, and he would expound and expound and expound on his answers. But the thing I took most out of it was he talked about the success of the missionaries from the Book of Mormon. We know that some baptized thousands. Then we read some verses in Alma where it talks about how Ammon used his converts to convert others. So we just need to focus on working with members more. We have been working with them but I realized how important they are. Yesterday there were two members that walked up to us at church and told us that they have a referral for us. That was really exciting. These members really do want to help. We just need to give them the opportunity.
Yesterday I felt kind of bad, we were sitting in Preisthood meeting and our teacher never showed up. Now in the old days (if you are a teenager) your saying "Awesome no class today." and take off... or at least that is what me and a bunch of other young men would be thinking. But as a missionary I was sitting there and getting really nervous and anxious. There were about 10 grown men in the class and not one of them wanted to take charge. I thought that it was going to be thrown on to us, but the members know we have enough as is so none of them bothered asking us go up. After about 10 minutes of just talking someone finally stood up and started leading a discussion. I felt kind of bad for not stepping up, but I don´t feel like I have the ability yet to just choose a subject and give a lesson on the spot to Priesthood holders. That goes to show where I have room for improvement.
Thanks for all the support, your prayers are felt.
Elder Stone
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
May 14th letter
So just a quick note for this week, let me begin by sharing a funny story that happened to me... It was either this week or last week, we went to contact a referral from someone in the ward. The custom to greet people is a kiss on the cheek. So the member kissed the investigator and passed into the house. Then it was my turn and she went in to kiss me on the cheek. I had no idea what to do... so I took a step back and stuck out my hand. But she went in a little more. So I leaned back a little more. Turns out I just ended up giving her an awkward hand shake and as I passed I said, "we do it a little differently". Well at the end of the lesson my comp tried to apologize for me cause he felt like it was a big deal, and I don´t think that she understood, because she started talking about something completely different.
President & Sister Hernandez, Elder Lopez and me
Home Sweet Home
Mission Pictures
Onny and Dariela, two of my converts
Michelle and Christa, granddaughters of our cook
April 23rd letter
So as you may already know, I have received my first transfer. The Saturday before I left we had two baptisms. Alejandra (the daughter of Rosmary) and Armando. It was an amazing way to finish a change.
I´m in the city now opening an area. Zone Guayamuras, Area Valencia. We don't know anything about the area really. Thursday and Friday the ward mission leader took us out for a couple of hours and showed us where some of the leaders and other members live, they are going to be a huge help to us.
Thursday we were out contacting and we found a new investigator. We taught her that night and she asked us to come back the next day. We left her a pamphlet and when we showed up Friday she had read it all and answered all the questions. Elder Harrington and I were amazed because niether of us had seen that happen before. She does have a Catholic background which is going to be a stumbling block, but I honestly think that we can get past it. We are going to be dependent on the members for awhile, because we still don't know all of our area yet.
My new companion is Elder Harrington, he is from Las Vegas and has a change less than me. So it was kind of interesting that President put us in the area together, especially since we have a ton of Spanish to learn.
Saturday we had a service project set up by President Hernandez. We moved medical equipment for a charity that focuses on dental work, but also does other medical stuff, mostly for prospective missionaries. They are heading over to work in Guatemala. It was cool to be apart of the experience. We had the whole zone there for a project that only required about 6 people.
That's all for this week, thanks for the prayers and support.
Elder Stone
I´m in the city now opening an area. Zone Guayamuras, Area Valencia. We don't know anything about the area really. Thursday and Friday the ward mission leader took us out for a couple of hours and showed us where some of the leaders and other members live, they are going to be a huge help to us.
Thursday we were out contacting and we found a new investigator. We taught her that night and she asked us to come back the next day. We left her a pamphlet and when we showed up Friday she had read it all and answered all the questions. Elder Harrington and I were amazed because niether of us had seen that happen before. She does have a Catholic background which is going to be a stumbling block, but I honestly think that we can get past it. We are going to be dependent on the members for awhile, because we still don't know all of our area yet.
My new companion is Elder Harrington, he is from Las Vegas and has a change less than me. So it was kind of interesting that President put us in the area together, especially since we have a ton of Spanish to learn.
Saturday we had a service project set up by President Hernandez. We moved medical equipment for a charity that focuses on dental work, but also does other medical stuff, mostly for prospective missionaries. They are heading over to work in Guatemala. It was cool to be apart of the experience. We had the whole zone there for a project that only required about 6 people.
That's all for this week, thanks for the prayers and support.
Elder Stone
Saturday, April 14, 2012
April 9th letter
Something kind of interesting about Easter here in Latin America, rather than just celebrating Easter, they celebrate the whole week leading up to it. They call it "La Semana Santa" or "The Holy Week". Everyone gets work and school off. On TV they only show biblical movies basically. Most of the people ended up spending their days at the river to cool off, and a lot of men spent it drunk. They celebrate extra on "The Holy Friday"and just remember Sunday as the day of the Resurrection. It's pretty interesting.
I'm getting transferred the 18th! It's official, we had interviews with President and he told me "I think it is time that you leave this area elder". Kind of exciting, but it feels like I'm going to have to start the mission over. I've lived here so long I've gotten used to the routine.
Armando and Alejandra are going to be baptized this Saturday! And with my getting transferred the 18th it will be great to finish this change with two baptisms!
Our church attendance has been dropping and it really worries me. We only had 39 last Sunday.
My convert Senaida is living with her exboyfriend again, who is also a member. They don't have any plans to get married, shoot.
That's it for this week.
I'm getting transferred the 18th! It's official, we had interviews with President and he told me "I think it is time that you leave this area elder". Kind of exciting, but it feels like I'm going to have to start the mission over. I've lived here so long I've gotten used to the routine.
Armando and Alejandra are going to be baptized this Saturday! And with my getting transferred the 18th it will be great to finish this change with two baptisms!
Our church attendance has been dropping and it really worries me. We only had 39 last Sunday.
My convert Senaida is living with her exboyfriend again, who is also a member. They don't have any plans to get married, shoot.
That's it for this week.
April 2nd letter
Hey Everyone!
Can I just say that conference was awesome! I have come to really enjoy it and look forward to it. And guess what, I only have 2 general conferences left in the mission! Time has flown by! I also noticed there was a huge theme on families. Which is very fitting since my mission has recently been focusing on finding families. We were really fortunate, because we had to go to the Villa of SF to
watch it, and we were waiting for the bus which didn´t arrive until 9:30, and it´s a half hour drive to the Villa. Luckily we only missed
a little. We did however have a power outage during the majority of Elder Oak´s talk. That kind of stunk, but I´m very grateful for the Liahona. We were all stuffed into a little office to watch it in english and it was so hot because the room was only about 10 by 15 and there were 5 elders. But we survived and I learned alot.
This week has been awesome. Tuesday night I got the feeling that we should visit Armando, even though we didn´t have it planned. So we went and talked to him. He ended up explaining that he wanted to be baptized, but felt like someone should have some sort of authority. So we explained about the Priesthood and he accepted a Baptismal date of April 14th. I have a ton of hope for him because he also showed up to conference even though we said we would be there all day. The branch ended up leaving after the Sunday Morning session, but we were able to catch a ride with some other elders. Anyway Armando is super positive and I´m almost positive I´ll be ending this change with a baptism!
Thursday after the District meeting we went to Hna. Melba´s house and had gringas. They were really good, but super greasy. After that we went on divisions with the Zone Leaders. I stayed in my area with Elder Adams. It was really cool just to be able to talk without having a barrier with the language. There were however a couple of kids that tried to hit us with rocks, but besides that it was awesome.
Friday we went to Pataste again. It´s like a half hour out of Ojo de Agua. We went on divisions with some members there and contacted the majority of houses. I challenged a family to baptism and they said yes, but they never showed up for church, so we are going to have to work alot with them. Plus I met some other people and taught them basically all on my own. It was a good experience and showed me what I need to work on as a teacher.
Saturday and Sunday we had Conference! It was so awesome and I learned so much! Rosmary and Alejandra also showed up for Conference on Sunday. They are super positive, but Rosmary still isn´t married. So her boyfriend is coming home this week from work, so hopefully we´ll be able to talk to him and help him either realize that he should do it for Rosmary. We´ll see how that all plays out!
This week has been great! Thanks for all your support!
Elder Stone
Can I just say that conference was awesome! I have come to really enjoy it and look forward to it. And guess what, I only have 2 general conferences left in the mission! Time has flown by! I also noticed there was a huge theme on families. Which is very fitting since my mission has recently been focusing on finding families. We were really fortunate, because we had to go to the Villa of SF to
watch it, and we were waiting for the bus which didn´t arrive until 9:30, and it´s a half hour drive to the Villa. Luckily we only missed
a little. We did however have a power outage during the majority of Elder Oak´s talk. That kind of stunk, but I´m very grateful for the Liahona. We were all stuffed into a little office to watch it in english and it was so hot because the room was only about 10 by 15 and there were 5 elders. But we survived and I learned alot.
This week has been awesome. Tuesday night I got the feeling that we should visit Armando, even though we didn´t have it planned. So we went and talked to him. He ended up explaining that he wanted to be baptized, but felt like someone should have some sort of authority. So we explained about the Priesthood and he accepted a Baptismal date of April 14th. I have a ton of hope for him because he also showed up to conference even though we said we would be there all day. The branch ended up leaving after the Sunday Morning session, but we were able to catch a ride with some other elders. Anyway Armando is super positive and I´m almost positive I´ll be ending this change with a baptism!
Thursday after the District meeting we went to Hna. Melba´s house and had gringas. They were really good, but super greasy. After that we went on divisions with the Zone Leaders. I stayed in my area with Elder Adams. It was really cool just to be able to talk without having a barrier with the language. There were however a couple of kids that tried to hit us with rocks, but besides that it was awesome.
Friday we went to Pataste again. It´s like a half hour out of Ojo de Agua. We went on divisions with some members there and contacted the majority of houses. I challenged a family to baptism and they said yes, but they never showed up for church, so we are going to have to work alot with them. Plus I met some other people and taught them basically all on my own. It was a good experience and showed me what I need to work on as a teacher.
Saturday and Sunday we had Conference! It was so awesome and I learned so much! Rosmary and Alejandra also showed up for Conference on Sunday. They are super positive, but Rosmary still isn´t married. So her boyfriend is coming home this week from work, so hopefully we´ll be able to talk to him and help him either realize that he should do it for Rosmary. We´ll see how that all plays out!
This week has been great! Thanks for all your support!
Elder Stone
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