December Is Here Already!!

Hey hey hey everyone! How is everything going? I hope all is well down there, or over there, I’m more south then you all. I don’t know really know what to write today which is kind of a bummer. I’m in a weird mood.
So last Saturday was pretty cool. We started teaching a member’s niece who turns nine on December 20th. It’s exciting and she’s planning for her baptism on December 24th. She’s a very interesting girl and I have a lot of love for her. Our lessons are super fun because we have to make sure we keep her interested and learning. We are always trying to come up with new lesson plans and different things, but she is a very smart girl and she’s learning well. We are super excited for her!
Last Sunday we had a bunch of people at church, but only one of them had a BD so it was ok. Sunday night we met with president and sister Trayner. It felt like it had been a while but we met to talk about the different meetings we had coming up. As well we learned that Elder Vasquez is leaving and Elder Maldonado will be coming in to be the new assistant with me. It is exciting, but I will miss Elder Vasquez. Then Monday the work began. We went by and taught the girl again and had a fun lesson about the Holy Ghost. Where you use soap and pepper to show how the Holy Ghost helps protect us from sin. Then Tuesday we were able to get by RITA, who will be getting baptized on the 11th of December. We are super excited about that and we talked to her about Modern day profetas. It was a good lesson, but short, but she is excited for her baptism and knows that this is what our Heavenly Father wants from her.
 Wednesday was a great day! We had struggled on Monday and Tuesday to find new people to teach. Wednesday we had ZLC and we talked about our goal for the end of the year! It is a very very exciting time to be in the TMM because we are super close to our goal of 1200. This month we are planning to bring 151 souls unto Christ. It will take mucho effort! But nothing that can’t be done, because the Lord expects it of us. After ZLC we went by and had some good lessons with FIRM a guy who is getting baptized on the 24th, and the member niece. It was fun we talked with them a little about the restoration of the gospel. Then Wednesday night we planned to meet a member at the chapel. This member had brought his friend from work to church last week and now his friend is really interested. As well the member’s niece and nephew just moved down here from Laredo and are super prepared and ready to be baptized. We toured the church with all them and then had a lesson by the baptismal font about baptism. We read from Mosiah 26:21-22 and we set BDs with them for the last day of the year. It’ll be cool because we are going to help them get married and baptized, and they really want this change in their lives. So we are super excited for them! And yesterday we went by and taught them again and it’s exciting because we began to set dates for their progress in the gospel.
Its cool to read the letter from Jake and to see how the mission is over there and how well he’s doing. He has some great ideas it sounds like. I loved being a zone leader, because we did the same sort of things that Elder Lessie plans to do and we doubled the baptisms in the zone in a month. It was great! And now its time to continue to raise the vision. I think one of the most important things I’ve learned about goals on the mission is that we always need to raise the vision. If we don’t raise the vision we will never get better. And then we have to give the missionaries the faith and the encouragement, be a cheerleader, show lots of love and gain the trust. And you need to make plans to achieve a goal! It’s a recipe, everything needs to be measured out and all ingredients are needed, if we want to change the outcome, change the ingredients.
Well I love you all. I hope everyone is well. How’s Colby Kipp doing? I miss that guy. Haha I love you.
-Elder Stone

Miracles in McAllen, TX

Teaching and Baptizing in McAllen, TX


Hello everyone!

Greetings from the great state of Texas. The weather is cooling down, poco a poquito! But it’s still a little warm. It’s only supposed to be 85 the next few days, I think. We don’t get too much update for the weather, just what we hear on the radio in the gym. We go to the gym every morning.

So this past week was a quiet week. It was nice to feel as if it was a relaxing week. We never had to go to the airport or anything, except one day we got bombarded with cosas. But Monday we saw an awesome miracle with this lady we are teaching, RITA. We found her a few weeks back because her son wanted to use our phone and then we talked with her and she gave us homemade empanadas dulces. It was cool and we set up a time to stop by, but never had the chance to go by. We tried going back one time and knocked on her neighbor’s door on accident, and then started teaching the neighbor, and now she is getting baptized tomorrow, haha that’s a cool story. But with RITA, she came to church last week and loved it and the week before we set a BD with her, but it was pretty soft. Well, Monday we stopped by her house so we could walk to the member’s house nearby and have a lesson with them. As we were walking up to the door, she explained how much she liked church and how much her daughter did too. She explained how she talked with her kids about church and stuff, and then said how much she can’t wait for her baptism on Dec 11! Wow! It was so awesome to hear that because she wasn’t super solid before, but now she’s great. She talks as if she’s already a member. And she even talked about how she can’t wait to get a calling in the church and stuff. Super cool! And she has two children that we are working with as well. Super excited!

Monday we also taught BLANCA who is getting baptized tomorrow! She is super excited and super ready to change her life. She has been through a lot and wants this change very much. We had some great lessons with her and she was interviewed and passed and is ready for everything. We planned the program with her and printed it off and now it’s the home push for her. She’s getting baptized on Saturday because Sunday we are going to busy all day! There is a memorial service for Elders Walker and Strong, so we are going to be at church till 4:00, then at the memorial service till 7:30. It’s going to be interesting the memorial service. The missionaries are all going to sing “Called to Serve” in both English and Spanish and then President and Sister Trayner are going to speak. It’ll be good.

So me personally with all of this… Well I’m doing well. It’s hard sometimes when I think about things that Elder Walker and I did together, but I know he’s in a better place. Elder Vazquez struggled a little, but we are working through it. We’ve been through a lot, but things that obviously the Lord needed us to go through. It’s interesting how much the church is growing down here from this accident. People are coming up to the missionaries saying sorry about what happened and becoming interested in the church. Cool story, this lady came in the office after the accident and was all “I was taught by Elder Strong, and when he taught me I knew it was true, but never got baptized. But I want to get baptized now, can you send the missionaries over?” Super cool! Our area is a lot poorer so we haven’t gotten too many experiences like that, but last night we had a cool one. We were walking back to our car when this family was walking by and they were walking pretty fast, but we called out to them and talked to them. At first the lady was talking and still walking away a little but I said ”can we just leave you a card” and she accepted. Then she said “I heard about the accident and I’m really sorry for you all” And we said thanks and then quickly explained how the things we share have brought us comfort in this time and we understand why we are here on this earth and where we go. And we saw a change in her and she gave us her address and we are going by tomorrow to teach her and her family. So we are excited for her family! We also found this other great family who we are going by on Monday. So things are getting rolling. It’s been a little tough working wise, but things are calming down, but starting next week things are going to pick up again and the month of Diciembre will be really busy!
But, Wednesday was an interesting day. We got to the office and President asked if we could take Elder Harris down to Brownsville to see the doctor. So we waited around until he finished his interviews and went to Brownsville. It was weird because that’s where all my memories with Elder Walker are. We went to the same doctor’s office that we took Elder Walker to one time. But Elder Harris got his staples and stitches out and is doing great; he came out and worked with us that day.

Yesterday was a busy day, kind of. It was cold - it only got up to about 69. Haha, cold for here. We went out and helped some members with their car troubles, but couldn’t do much. We had a great day planned, but for some reason our whole night fell through, even the member lesson. But that happens and it's all good! And today we have a good day planned. We are going by our favorite people we are teaching. I feel like I kind of ramble in these letters, but that’s ok. Something interesting I realized is how I still learned things from Elder Strong, even after he passed away. We had to go last week and clean out the apartment and I found his journal and just opened up, I didn’t read anything, but he had written almost every day in it. And it was just an example to me and since then I’ve tried hard to write in my journal, still tough some nights because we come home exhausted, but I know I need to.

Well that’s about it for this week. I love you all! I miss you all!

-Elder Stone

Preaching the Gospel in McAllen

We've experienced some interesting things and this is going to be a sad email so fair warning.

This week we've experienced some things that only happen once in life. We were able to meet with a general authority and do some other interesting things. I’ll go through day by day on what went down and how it happened. Well last Sunday we struggled a little in church. I think we had three people come. One of the girls we are teaching is progressing very well and should be getting baptized in about two weeks, on the 20th, so a little less than two weeks. We are super excited and had a great lesson with her last night as well. But Monday came around and we were excited to pick up elder Zivic.

Monday we picked up our fresh suits right from the dry cleaners and changed and around 2:50 went to the airport and picked up Elder Zivic and his wife. It was a cool feeling seeing them walk up. He hugged President Trayner right away and then shook our hands and hugged us. It was cool. We talked all about who we are where we are from and todo. Then we split ways again for a while and finished things up in the office. Then we went back to president's house around six and had a private meeting with Elder Zivic. We sat down together and he asked a bunch of questions about the mission and the missionaries and things we are doing. It was cool to have close interaction with him. Then we went after and had a lesson with Blanca, our investigator who is getting baptized the 20th. Then Tuesday we had a zone conference with all the missionaries in the valley. About 1:30, so it was cool to be able to see everyone, including Elder Walker and Elder Strong. I remember saying hi to Elder Walker and giving him a hug before the conference started. Then we had the conference and it went super great! I was nervous at first but we gave our training in front of everyone. We talked about the mission goals for 2011 and the goals for 2012, everyone seemed super excited! And I felt we did really well. Then we went back on the stand until Elder Zivic gave his talk and training. He talked about the purpose of missionary work, and how to be the most successful we can be. In all! It was super cool. And then his second training after lunch he talk more about that and how to effectively teach. He called on a volunteer and gave a demonstration, sure enough that volunteer was Elder Walker. After the training ended we all said our goodbyes and packed up and went up to Laredo following President and Sister Trayner and the Zivics. We finally made it up to Laredo in about three hours. And Elder Zivic began to give a devotional for the members over there.

Towards the end of his talk, we got two missed calls and a text message saying that "the elders in Weslaco have been in an accident". Elder Vasquez and I got up right away and walked out to find Sister Trayner. She had stepped out too and we were talking to her about what happened and trying to find out details. All we knew is that three elders had been hit on bikes and were in the hospital now. We didn't know who or any details. We were calling around trying to find details but nothing was coming and Elder Zivic was still talking so we couldn't interrupt the meeting. Then we got a call from Elder Rios, a senior couple elder who works with the cars. He was on his way up to Laredo to do car inspections the next day. Elder Rios was freaking out on the phone saying he had to talk to president, now. We explained he was in the meeting and couldn't talk but he kept saying how two elders had died in the accident. We didn't believe it. He gave names and everything, but we still didn't believe it. President Trayner was walking in and out of the meeting and I saw him lean over to Elder and Sister Zivic and tell them something and it looked like Sister Zivic was crying, but still didn't believe it. The meeting ended and I walked up to president and asked if he knew that.. and he stopped me and said I know what happened let’s not talk about it now. And it became a reality. I walked out of the room starting to cry and Elder Vasquez came up to me and asked what happened and I couldn't talk and as I started to tell him i couldn't hold back and we both just started crying. It was tough cuz no other missionaries knew and we couldn't tell them. It took time but we collected ourselves as missionaries came up to us. And then we saw Sister Trayner running down the hall toward us where president was meeting with the Zivics. She was crying and ran into the room and shut the door and just broke down. We could hear her through the walls and it was heart breaking. We started crying more. We eventually pulled everything together, the night went on and arrangements were being made and President and Sister Trayner had to leave that night to go back to McAllen. He told us he wanted us to tell everyone the next day in the conference. We all ate dinner together and Elder Zivic hugged us and then the Trayners took us all to the hotel and then they left. We stayed in their room which was different, but cool.

The next day, Wednesday, we went and had breakfast at the hotel and then packed everything up and drove the Zivics to the chapel, we still needed to put on the conference. At that point lots of missionaries knew cuz news got out quick on television and members called. It was hard to have to deal with it and hold up strong in front of all the missionaries. Wednesday at the beginning of conference Edler Vasquez got up and explained why President and Sister Tryaner weren't there and what had happened the night before. I couldn't hold back and just started to cry again and so did everyone there. It was hard. But then Elder Zivic gave some remarks and brought the spirit really strong. He said that it is an interesting time because they just received training on how to be the best missionaries they could be and now they are preaching the gospel up there. The conference was tough, but it went well. We had all the missionaries at the end write notes for the families and Elder and Sister Zivic left to the airport. Elder Zivic gave us hugs and told us he loved us. It was cool. Then we traveled back to McAllen. We got home late, planned and went to bed.

The next day, yesterday, was super busy. We came into the office and saw Elder Harris, the other missionary. He left the hospital Tuesday nigh with some stitches. It was interesting cuz we finally found his name tag in the stuff and it had been punctured by something and had a hole in it and was all dented in almost all the way through. The name tags sit right over our hearts, so it saved his life. But we went to their apartment and collected everything to send home to the parents, it was tough.

Last night we did have a great lesson with Blanca. She was struggling on understanding the answer to her prayers. We helped her realize the importance of the BOM and how her answer was going to come. Then we all knelt and prayed and she asked if these things were true and all that. Then we sat in silence and waited. She explained that she received her answer. It was super cooool!!!!

I love you all. It’s weird because through all of this, I haven't been too upset cuz of the understanding we have from the gospel. It’s crazy how much comfort it brings, I don’t know how people do it without the knowledge we know. I miss you all and I love you all.

-Elder Stone

An AP's Life!! Greetings From McAllen Oct 22, 2011

Hey hey hey everyone! How are you all doing? Life is going great here in McAllen Texas. I love it more and more everyday!

This past week was great, well it was busy!!! We didn't have a lot of time to work our area. Tuesday three missionaries finished their missions. All three were missionaries that I had known or been around so it was weird to see them go home. But I’ll explain the week and what went down! Monday we were in the office for a lot of the morning and then we went out. We went by our buddy that is getting baptized tomorrow. He is about 70 yrs old, but he had his interview on monday and passed. So we are super excited for him. The interview took a lot longer than expected, so after we had to go meet with the departing missionaries. They come in the night before and we go to the mission home and have a devotional and dinner and stuff. Dinner was good and Sister Trayner makes great food. Then they all slept at our house that night. Tuesday came and we had breakfast together at the mission home and then took them to the airport. Like I said earlier, it was weird. It’s always a weird feeling to go to the airport. Then after we had something called the specialized sisters training. It was a training just for the sisters in the mission, but we went to help out. It was a cool training and it seemed to have helped the sisters a lot. Then after we went by and had a lesson with this lady we are teaching, OLIVIA and her family. They seemed to have liked church a lot and we recommitted them on their bd. They are working for the 13th of November. Then we quickly went to the house (the lesson ran over) and grabbed our clothes and took off towards Sinton, which is the northern most zone in the mission, about 2 and a half hours away. We stopped by a bbq place on the way and had some super good brisket sandwiches. The drive up was good and we made good time.

Wednesday we were on exchanges with some missionaries up in Sinton. It was cool and a great learning experience. I haven't ever been up to the north so it was cool to go up. The weather was nice too! Windy and only about 75-80 degrees. We worked up in Sinton all day Wednesday and came home Wednesday night. Thursday we were in the office finishing up reports and then we went out to teach ADAUTO, the older man who is getting baptized tomorrow. The lesson went great. He has trouble remember things but we made a list with the steps to prayer on them. Every time he would pray, he would just read the steps and be done. And we would try to explain to him that it comes from the heart. But finally it clicked! It was super great!!! He said his own prayer, without our help at all! The spirit was strong and I was so happy. It was great. The rest of Thursday was kind of tough, but we lasted. And it is always interesting to me when I see the Lord work. He always makes us push ourselves and push ourselves, and then when we've done most we can, He comes in and blesses us. We were having a tough day on Friday with lessons. We brought tons of members to come out and help, but our lessons fell through a bunch. But we could keep trying and pushing to go by someone and finally someone would be home. Then last lesson of the day on Friday was great. It was a member referral and the member came out to help. We had a great lesson on baptism and he said he wants to be baptized but with his whole family. So we'll see how it goes! But it is interesting how the blessings and miracles don’t come until the last push! Today is pday and we are going down to the outlet centers and getting ties and stuff, so that should be fun. Last Sunday we only had five people at church which was a bummer. The families we are teaching didn't come. But we've talked to them all now and they say they are coming tomorrow! As well we found a new great family we are working with! They should be coming to church tomorrow too! Then next week is super crowded busy!

But that’s a little of my life here in the office. The weeks can be tough and exhausting! But that’s ok, it’s all worth it! It’s hard to write emails cuz I don’t have questions to answer! So much is running through my head but I can’t put it all down without direction! But know that I love you a lot and miss you a lot! I love the mission. And maybe you could send some dried mangos? The ones from Costco? supper agradacido por eso!

-Love Elder Stone

Greetings from South Texas!

Hey everyone! How are you?

It's an exciting weekend because it's conference! That gives the people we are teaching four chances to come to church and it's a great time to receive revelation! Super Super excited. This past week was intense. It was pretty busy.  Monday was a little longer day where we got to work a little more. On Mondays we have a devotional where each senior couple reports on how their calling is coming along and we as well report on how the mission is doing. The mission struggled this past month and we have some ground to make up to reach our goal. President Trayner set a big goal at the beginning of the year of 1200. So we are working hard towards that and we are little behind, but nothing we can't do! So we have big goals for the last three months of the year to hit our goal! Suppper excited! But that was Monday and then we went out and worked. We had a cool FHE with a family in the Spanish ward. We talked about the Holy Ghost and read from 3 ne. 19:9 and 13 And then we played a little activity on how we need to be really alert to the promptings of the spirit. We had everyone look at us and then close their eyes and then we would change something on our clothes or something subtle. Then they would have to figure out what we changed. It's pretty fun and helps to teach the importance of being open to the spirit. Also on Monday we taught this great family, the Perez family. They are a big family and the mom and dad and one of the sons are preparing for baptism. We talked about the Holy Ghost with them as well but we did the soap and pepper lesson. Ask the missionaries to show you that one, they should know and it's super cool.

Tuesday we were in the office doing a lot of reports. We have to put in the baptismal records so people can get member numbers and begin to prepare for the temple. So it's a little tedious but it's all good. We also met with president on Tuesday to discuss about three new missionaries that came in on Wednesday. We had to change and add new areas in the mission and decide where these missionaries would go. It was cool to see how President Trayner works. It was cool also to be able to help impact the growth of the mission. We got all that situated and then went out to work.

Wednesday we didn't get to work at all. It was a little tough. But the new missionaries came in Wednesday so we went to pick them up. Then we had a little orientation and then went out to dinner. We went to Poncho's, a Mexican place. It was super good. They have something called a botana which is like extreme nachos but better. It has fajita y chicken and beans and cheese and quesadillas. Super good! Then after that we packed the car up and drove two hours north to Alice to drop the missionaries off in their new areas. After that we drove two hours across to Laredo to go on exchanges with them. It was cool to go to Laredo, that was my first time there. We tried to help them out and the missionaries over there. Then in the evening it started to pour over there! And we left about 7:15 and it was pouring rain and thunder and lightening. We drove all the way home in the pouring rain and it was cool because the lightening was intense! It would light up the sky so much it was brighter than day. It was pretty insane. It was fun though, just me and Elder Vasquez driving back. We stopped and got super good burgers at this little burger shack. We made it back by ten thirty and stopped by president's house and he gave us ice cream and cookies.

Friday we met with President and had a meeting with him about next year's calendar. Things that we hope to accomplish and some things that we are going to change. That was cool. Then we got out to work and went by some people we are teaching. We are teaching a deaf girl. Hopefully she wants to get baptized, but she's cool, a little different. We stopped by her and it was cool cuz I started to remember a lot of my ASL. I was able to speak with her a little, and she's coming to conference which is cool.

So you asked about duties as AP? Well... we do a lot of computer work in putting in people in the church records. We meet with president and talk about changes in the mission. We move stuff. We go to all zone conferences and all mission trainings. We usually train at them as well. We are going to be traveling the mission more because we are going to go on more exchanges and stuff now. We stay with other missionaries when we go travel and work with them. It's pretty cool because I get to see the whole mission. We help with transfers and drive people and spend time with the incoming and outgoing missionaries.

But I got to go! Its cooling down finally. 95! I love you all so much.
-Elder Stone

Back in McAllen Again!!! Assistant to the President!!

Hey Hey Hey everyone! How are you all doing?

This week has been crazy. I feel blessed and trusted and honored to have the calling I have now. It’s been humbling but I'm super excited to get working and help the great Texas McAllen Mission continue to grow and move forward to great heights. This truly is the Lord's work and this area truly is full of great, loving, ready people. Suuupppper Excited! I got the call from President Trayner Friday afternoon. I expected to get transferred but to where I am now, not as much. What’s super cool is I'm back with Elder Vasquez again. Super excited for that as well. We are ready to tear it up and follow the council given in D&C "Wherefore, I call upon the weak things of the world, those who are unlearned and despised, to thrash the nations by the power of my Spirit." I’m telling you, nineteen year old guys and 21 year old girls facing the world, we may feel weak at times. But we have to always remember this scripture and all the council given throughout the BOM and D&C. I also love the scriptures in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 definitely my favorite. But I've only been here in this area for a week and have already felt some guidance that we are going to apply into our area and into the mission.

Sunday, as I was still in Edinburg, we had a couple baptisms of a girl and her dad. It was super cool because the girl is about 15 and she wanted to give her testimony after she was baptized. But there was another baptism going on, so we had to kill a little time before the ordinance, so we called on her to get up then. She was super nervous but got up, and at first just started saying thanks to us and the church and stuff. But then the words started to really come from her heart, and she began to say how much she likes the church and how it’s helped her. She started to slow down and was all “this is weird I’m getting emotional.” The spirit was strong and it was cool that she felt it once again, but this time in a different way. It’s crazy to see the spirit work and even though we feel it a lot, it never ever gets old. Sunday night, I was picked up to come into my new area and from there the time flew and got super busy. Elder Myers, who I replaced, was finishing up packing because he was going to his new area on Tuesday. The next day, Monday, we woke up and spent some time in the office and then in the afternoon we headed off to the airport to pick up the new greenies. It was weird being there again but exciting because we have the chance to put a big impact on these new missionaries. From that point on, we spent the whole day with them. They had an orientation and then that night we went to the President's house and had a great dinner and some interviews and role-plays and things. It was fun. Tuesday morning we had breakfast with all of them at the Trayner's house and they got their calls for their first areas. Then we trained them with their new comps and then went out to work for a little. We only worked for a little, but we had a great lesson with this girl who they've been working with a while. She's been in and out of reach for the past while but we had a great lesson and we were able to set a bd with her and she's super excited! Then we went back to the Trayner's to have dinner with the departing missionaries. Wednesday morning we went back to the Trayner's and had breakfast and then took the departing missionaries to the airport. That was really weird. We sent them off on their way then met with President a little and then finally got out to work. It was a tough day.

But Thursday we worked a little more, but it was still a struggle. But then Friday we had almost a full day out in the field! We ended up finding this super cool guy. At first I was skeptical about teaching him. But we sat down and we had a good lesson. He had just moved down here because his son is pretty sick. We talked about how God will be more willing to bless him and his family. We related it back to baptism and set a bd with him. So we are super excited for him. We have another lesson with him tonight.

We go to a new gym now and it’s awesome. It’s just a big warehouse and has a bunch of free weights. We go every morning at six and I’m feeling sore which is nice. It’s better than the college because no tvs and usually in the mornings it’s just us and like one or two other people who work out. So it’s private, a little ghetto, but it gets the job done and it’s only going to be ten bucks a month, I hope.

But thanks for all the support. I need questions to answer or my mind goes blank on what to write. I have tons but I need something to jog my memory! But I’m super excited for this new calling and amazed at the trust the Lord has for me. I’m going to do everything in my power to be the best I can. That’s how I've worked my whole mission, I’m going to be the best I can be and the best the Lord expects of me.
 I love you all a ton and miss you guys a little too.

Se que la iglesia es verdadera! Se que solamente por medio del bautismo en esta iglesia vamos a poder ir a los cielos con Dios. Esta obra es la obra del Senor. He sentido el espiritu mucho en mi vida. Gracias a mis padres. Si no por ellos no iba a estar aqui. LEs amo muchisimo!

-Elder Stone

Tex Mex - Love It!!!

Hey everyone! How are you?

This past week was a very interesting week of trials, but that has to
happen sometimes. It was one of the tougher weeks of my mission. We
had two great solid baptisms lined up for yesterday both youth a girl
17, and a boy 17, but from different families. Tuesday we had great
lessons with both of them and had set up plans for them to go to an
activity Wednesday. Wednesday came and the ride for the guy couldn't
pick him up. We told the member to text the investigator and tell him.
But it had slipped the member's mind and we got a sad text from the
investigator Wednesday night. He said he didn't want to come to church
anymore or anything. We asked him why and he said because this was the
second time he got bailed on by someone from the church. We tried
talking to him, but he kept saying no and he didn't want to hear it. We
tried calling him and passing by him lots of times the next day but he
kept ignoring us and telling us to leave him alone. He was upset
because it was the second time he had been bailed on by this member,
and he had been waiting out for him all night. It killed us because it
was something so easily avoided. It was our fault and it hurts inside.
It's crazy how bad it hurts. This guy was awesome, but we are going to
keep trying and praying for a miracle.

On top of that, Wednesday night our other investigator (girl) was
getting dropped off after the activity. Her parents came out and got
mad at her and started yelling at her and stuff. She didn't want to be
there, so she started to walk to her friends house. A big hassel came
and she went to a mental hospital because of some problems she was
having. We were devastated. She wasn't supposed to get out until
today. We tried to go visit her and stop by her house and get a hold
of her but we couldn't. Sunday came around and we still hadn't heard
from her. Until around 12:30 when she called and said how she was out
of the hospital. She was devastated because she thought she couldn't
be baptized. But she asked us if she still could and we said of
course, and set things up and had the baptism. The baptism was great
and very spiritual. Her sister came and gave her support, who isn't a
member. It was a great miracle we had seen from the Lord.

But that miracle didn't happen till Sunday, and so the whole week we
were worried thinking about these two people and it made for a tough
week. On top of that, we had lots of things cancel and a guy we were
working with tell us he wanted to wait for a while for his baptism.
For some reason the Lord has been testing us. As well, the zone has
struggled this past month and we are coming short of our goal. It hurts
inside.

But some good news and a good spiritual story. Monday all of our
lessons had fallen through. We were going by some part-member families,
but they were falling through as well. As we were walking to our car,
we decided to talk to the people outside. The first few people didn't
want to listen. But then there was a girl sitting outside. At first we
were reluctant because she was a younger girl. But I said we need to
go  talk to her. So we went. She was super interested and then her mom
came out. He mom told us they had been listening to the missionaries
before in a different city. She said one day they just stopped coming
by. We talked a little and set up a return. We went by the next day
and met the dad and had a good lesson with him and the daughter. We
set bds with both of them. Then the next day we went back and talked
with them, plus the mom and the other son. We had a great lesson
and set bds with them. Then Friday we had a great lesson with all of
them and their older son and set a bd with him. We brought lots of
members and had great lessons. They are all preparing to be baptized
together as a family. We are super excited for them. Only three of
them came to church yesterday, but we have a lesson with them today
and it's going down!

That really helped pick up our spirits. As well, we had a great
spiritual lesson with this guy we met from a member's family. We had
taught him and invited him to be baptized, but he was super iffy about
it. He had come to church last week which was good and already paid
his tithing. Then Wednesday we went by to see him and had a great lesson with
him. We talked more about baptism and he was still iffy, so we decided
to take it to the Lord. We knelt down, explained the spirit and had
him pray. He asked the Lord if he should be baptized on the 18th of
September. After he prayed, the spirit was so strong and as we
invited him to be baptized he said "of course I will, I can't deny the
answer I'm getting from the Lord right now". It was a great lesson.

Overall the week ended with great miracles, but still one of the
tougher weeks of my mission. It proves that the Lord blesses those who
keep working and keep working hard. Miracles come according to our
faith in all things. The Lord is a God of miracles, don't ever forget!

I love you all,
-Elder Stone

Heat Index of 123 in South Texas!!!

This week was a great week. I've once again learned the importance and power in a fast and the importance of great fellowship. We are teaching this young woman. She is about seventeen and has had a problem with depression and different issues in her life. She was adopted and she doesn't have the best relationship with her parents. She has a care taker lady that watches over her, but it’s really sad to see because all the lady does is talk bad about her and her sister. It really tears them down. But she had a humbling experience a while back and really opened up to the gospel. She accepted a bd and has been working hard towards her date. We had a great family pick her up for church and ever since then they have bonded a ton. She has been to church a bunch now and had good times with the family and their 23 yr old daughter. The other night she committed to the baptism and then got in a huge fight with her parents. Usually she would have gone and drank, but she felt the need to text us. She also called the member family. About two min later the member family called us and said "elders we just wanted to tell you that the young woman got kicked out of her house and we are going to pick her and her sister up." They went that night and the girls stayed at the member's house. They bonded a ton and went out to the movies the next day. We were also struggling on getting the young woman’s mom and dad to sign the baptismal record. We talked to the member family about that and the mom of the members wanted to come help. Well yesterday in the evening, she called us and told us she got the paper signed for us. She had talked with the girl’s mom and had bonded with her and she gave permission. It was great.  As well, we are teaching this guy G. He’s been to church with us about five times now, but he’s super busy during the week and so it’s been tough to be able to teach him. He’s supposed to get baptized this weekend and we still have a lot to go over. We were planning to go over the restoration and Joseph Smith yesterday and we were worried cuz he had a problem with that before. So we fasted for him and yesterday right before church ended we pulled him out and had the lesson. The lesson went so great. He understood everything and basically taught us. The spirit was super strong and he's super excited for his baptism on Sunday. He's super solid. We are super amped!

All five of the girls who we baptized last week got confirmed yesterday. It was stressful cuz they almost missed it. They walked in right a second before we sang the sacrament song. The bishopric stalled and the girls were all confirmed yesterday. It was great. I confirmed two and Elder Simmons did the others. It was a great day. We also still had five people at church. We found this super cool kid R. He was super legit and we set a bd with him first lesson., The lesson was good and we committed him to church and everything. He said he'd come and we were super amped! We called him a bunch in the morning but he never picked up. Then after church he called us and said he had shown up at church in the morning, but when he walked in only wearing a regular shirt and jeans, he was embarrassed and left. Such a bummer. And that was our fault, but he has plans to come this next week so we are amped!

Sorry this is shorter, time is up! I love you all a lot!

-Elder Stone

Greetings from the Hurricane Zone - Not!

Hey Mom and Dad and Chelsea and Matthew and everyone else,(love you all)

This past week was great! We saw tons of miracles. Fasting is a great thing that the Lord lets us do. It really has helped me to understand who knows best and what's most important in life. There was big talk of a tropical storm coming in. They said it was going to hit the valley directly. We all were prepared with 72-hr kits and all, but nothing came. Just some dark clouds and a little rain. So it was a big scare for nothing, but still fun. So you always ask about new investigators. We should be finding seven new people a week, that is the standard that President Trayner has given us. We've been struggling a little and we usually find around five or six. But the good thing about this is that these people are usually very prepared. We've had great lessons with them and have been able to set bds with almost all of them.

So we saw one huge miracle with a family we are teaching. The Dad is a less active memeber, or was. And it's the same family that we fasted for to get parent permission. So, as of last Sunday and Monday, only the three older girls were going to get baptized, not the two younger ones. They didn't feel ready and they wanted to wait a few months or years first. We were bummed because we wanted the family to do it all togheter. But we prayed a lot for them and fasted for them and went over Tuesday to have a lesson. We brought a member who is an awesome member. He threw down for us! All the girls had been interviewed and only the three youngest girls were there for this lesson at first. At first the older one who was supposed to get baptized said she was worried and all this stuff. Brother G went and talked with her and cleared up all her doubts and made her know she's ready. The spirit was strong. Then he started talking to them, the two younger girls who didn’t want to be baptized yet. He talked with them about why and stuff and talked with them about why they should. He taught in parables, which is how we see success teaching. He related it to a trip to Sea World and how they wouldn't wait for that if he had free tickets to go now. The rest of the family came home in between all this, and Brother G was throwing down with everyone. The lesson came to an end and he asked, who is getting baptized on Sunday? The three older girls all said they were and then he looked at the other sister, and said what about you? and she goes "Yo Tambien" (me too) and I was shocked and amazed, and then he asked the other, and she said "yo tambien". I smiled so huge and almost started to cry. We had truly seen another miracle, even the other girls were talking like "wow she is doing it too, and stuff." We asked the Dad, he asked them again and they said yes and he signed the paper. It was amazing to see the Lord work with his children.  I remember half way through the lesson saying a silent prayer asking the Lord to soften their hearts, and He did. Then they all came to church yesterday. They usually come in normal clothes, but yesterday they all put on there fancy dresses and looked great. At their baptism, as we were waiting to start, the younger kids kept coming up to us and saying "I want to get baptized, baptize me." And we told them they had to wait a few more years. But it was amazing.

As well our great friend, “E” was baptized saturday. It was great, and he had asked me to confirm him in church the following day. It was a great blessing. My first time in Spanish, and the Lord worked the same way as He does in English. It was great, and afterward “E” stood up and shook our hands and hugged us. It was great.

We also finally had some people come to English yesterday! It was awesome - we are teaching two people in English and they both came and loved church and should be getting baptized on the 21 of August. Super amped!

So, transfers are coming up and they are going to be splitting our area. As far as we know, we are both staying here, so that'll be good. We are excited to get working. We are having tons of changes done in the zone so it'll be good. We had a goal of 18 for August, it will make us stretch, but we can do it with the Lord's help.

I love you all
-Elder Stone

July 25, 2011
Greetings from Edinburg, TX - TX McAllen Mission

Hey Hey Hey everyone!

So this past week was great in some aspects, but tough in others. For our companionship we did well. Yesterday we had twelve people at church. And out of them seven got interviewed for their baptism. So that was awesome! But we should have five baptisms at the end of this week. Our investigators are doing really well. We have one lady that was interviewed and supposed to get baptized on Sunday, but she is having doubts because of her family. All she wants is for all her family to come as well. We had a powerful lesson, and in her prayer she said she knows it's true. We are taking time out of our p-day to go teach her daughter today because she is super important to us. We did see a great miracle though, it was all because of a fast and our faith.

So this family of five we are teaching, the Dad is a less active member that has been coming back to church. The mom isn't a member, but she works a ton. We've been teaching the five girls and preparing them for baptism. We needed the dad's signature on their forms before they were interviewed. And we had talked to him about two weeks ago and he and the mom kept saying they need more time and stuff, but they don't. They know all they need to know and they've been coming to church. We were worried. We decided to fast for them again. And we came up with an idea that elder Wells, a district leader who is doing the interview, could go by and talk with the family. So Saturday we did mini exchanges, and Elder Wells went with my comp, Elder Simmons. They were there for a super long time. But they came back and the mom and dad had a change of heart and they signed the papers. It was a miracle from the Lord. The story is a lot longer but that's the short version. It was great. Also one investigator got interviewed and is getting baptized on Saturday. We are super excited for him! So we are doing well and working hard with the Lord's help. We also had a bunch of less active families come to church, which is great to see.

The zone is kind of struggling. We were supposed to have six baptisms as a zone, but only two went through. It's really disappointing that those souls fell off. The missionaries need to do all they can to make sure that doesn't happen. Right now we are a little behind on our goal, but we are looking like we will make it with a miracle. We have eight people set up to be baptized this coming week and we need nine. We have people who are ready and can be baptized, and now it's time to put our faith in the Lord and understand his will and try our hardest to do it. I'm excited!

We found a couple of really cool people this week. One guy lives in these really small ghetto apartments and cuts lawns for work and does random jobs because that's all he can do. I admire it because he is down, but not out! He is not giving up trying to find work and stuff. We've sat with him outside and we sit on these rusty fold up chairs and he sits on his porch and we have great lessons. He really wants to know and has a bd for August I. I love being down here. It's very humbling. We teach a lot outside and you get used to the heat and the sun. So many times I've taught a lesson sitting on the ground, or on a mini chair or on a bucket and I love it. The people don't have much, but whatever they have they'll try and give it to you. It's a huge learning experience. So I feel sometime my emails are really short, sorry about that. I'll try and make them longer. But i love it down here in Texas. The food is too good and i need to exercise a lot.

I love you Mom and Dad and Chelsea and Matthew and Scarlett!

July 18, 2011
Hey Hey Hey everyone!

How are you all? I miss you guys. So here in Edinburg everything is going great. We played soccer today and some basketball. For the rest of the day, we are just going to relax. We have interviews tomorrow with President Trayner and we are giving a training on the power and authority of your calling as a missionary. I hope it goes well and has some effect on the zone. We are struggling with being bold. We are working hard this month, but we need to find people for August. President Trayner has invited us to invite everyone to be baptized first lesson. And as we've done this, we've seen lots of success. So that’s good. We are finding a lot of people who are ready and those who aren't, and this way we can focus on the people who are ready.

Yesterday, Elder Simmons and I had a great day at church. We had 9 investigators there, which was great. Three people that we are teaching and a family of five that we are teaching, and also this boy that got baptized yesterday. It was great to see so many people there. The Spanish ward was really full and they even had to open up the overflow, so that was pretty cool. We are working hard down here. This one family we are teaching of five, we are super excited for, I think I’ve talked about them before, but the Dad is a less active member and he has five daughters who want to get baptized. I love it when they come to church because they bring in a great spirit. He usually comes with his 8 kids and his cousin. They all live in one small trailer and they are a very humble family. They come to church in one car and all pile in and out. We have to save almost a whole middle row for them. It’s awesome. They are getting baptized the 31st, so we are super excited. We are also working with this man. He is so humble and just ready to change. I’ve talked about him before also. But almost every time he prays, he cries and he says it’s because he feels it. I gave him one of my white shirts and a couple of my ties. He was so so so happy. It was so humbling to see. As I gave it to him he walked in and stopped, and held it out just to look at it, and had a huge smile. It was great. He came to church and we were so happy. He used to be a famous luchador, which is a Mexican wrestler.

The zone is doing good, I’m running out of time. By the end of next weekend, we should be up at 11 baptisms. And so that leaves the last weekend to reach our goal of 16. And we will. The Lord wants us to. We are super excited. A missionary that I really look up to is leaving on Saturday and I won’t see him till after. He's going to play football for BYU. I’m bummed he's leaving. It’s weird to think. But he taught me a lot. Everything is going great. I love being out here and I would trade it for anything in the world, I can honestly say that at this point. I stress so much though because we are dealing with salvation on a daily basis. But I’m out of time. We found five new people this past week and set bds with all of them so that was cool.

I love you all
-Elder Stone

 July 11, 2011
Hey Hey Hey guys!

How is everything? I hope all is well. This past week here in Edinburg has been great. We've further learned the importance of members in missionary work. We've seen success and that’s because we've worked with the members to become better and as well to give our investigators fellowship they need. The zone as well picked it up this past week and we were excited to see that. This past week we had a bunch of meetings Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. The meetings were pretty much all day and just for the leaders in the mission. It made it tough to work our area, but that’s ok. We still saw some miracles and really helped some of our people to progress. Super excited! We learned a lot at the meetings. And now we need to take what we learned and apply it and help the zone apply it. Since we are zone leaders, we have to give trainings at every training we get. So this past one we gave a training on the importance of teaching people and not lessons. We focused on asking inspired questions and listening. We used the story of Aaron from Alma 22. It was good. Aaron was successful because he asked inspired questions, listened and opened up the scriptures. And so that’s what Elder Vasquez and I applied and that’s what Elder Simmons and I are applying. We've seen lots of success from it. The scriptures are powerful and it’s like having a Prophet with you to teach. A missionary here that I really look up to, who goes home next week, once said "a successful missionary knows how to ask questions and knows their scriptures." That’s very true. So that’s something I’ve worked on ever since. But we've taught a lot this past week and have tried to bring a member from the ward with us every second lesson.

We've been teaching this lady. She's older and she's studied with tons of different religions and been baptized twice. She reads from the BOM every time we leave a chapter, and she likes it. But she has lots of stories and likes to talk. We felt that she wasn't really progressing and when we went by Saturday, we tried to have a good focused lesson. She just kept saying how she didn’t want to baptize again and how she learned all this other stuff from other people. Stuff that doesn't show too much interest. So at the end of the lesson it turned into a drop lesson. We told her if she didn't come to church tomorrow that we couldn't keep coming by. She said she probably wasn't going to come. It was a big bummer. But we called her yesterday before church and she said she was coming. We called the member for her ride and the member said Aurora had already called her and everything. That was great to see and she came to church yesterday which was awesome and we are going to keep teaching her.

We ended up having 12 people at church, just me and my comp. That’s a huge week that we received a ton of help from the Lord. The coolest thing is, out of those twelve people, 11 have bds so they’re not just random people. We are teaching this big family right now. The dad is a less active member and he has like 8 kids, five of which have bds for the 31st. They've came to church twice, but they are worried. They are all girls and so we think it’s just a little shy doubt kind of thing. We are hopefully going to clear that up so we can help them come unto Christ. It was cool to have them all at church again and sitting by all them. As well we found this guy, who is super cool and progressing a ton. He was a blessing from the Lord because he is just super ready for the gospel. The second lesson we had with him we brought a member and ever since then he's been great. The member went by his house without us and got his number and picked him up for church and everything! That’s how we need every member to be! It’s awesome. Hel loves everything we teach and share and can’t wait for his baptism. He used to be a luchador (mexican wrestler) so thats cool too. We are also teaching this member’s little sisters who are 11 and 9. They have bds for the 24 of July. It’s so great to see the success and feel the Lord's trust and love. Most of the people we teach and talk to are in spanish. Out of the 12 people at church, 9 of them were in Spanish, so that’s really cool, too.

As well, we have a baptism coming up next week. Another miracle that the Lord gave us. It’s this boy. His parents were baptized about a year ago and he was eight. His mom didn't feel he was ready then. But he just turned nine on Saturday and we are going to help him get baptized next Sunday. Super excited for that!

Edinburg is great. The zone is getting better and we are super excited. But oh, we get fed a lot now. My comp is awesome. And I Miss you all and I love you all.

-Elder Stone

July 6, 2011
Hey hey hey guys!
How is everything? So the library was closed yesterday and we are emailing today. How was fourth of July? I cant believe its already July. Time is flying by. Did you all do anything special?  We had a great day. It was P-day and there was a breakfast from the ward. We served breakfast and sang at the activity. Then we went to a members for a bbq. Then we had to be in early so we had an activity with president at the chapel. We also watched Legacy the movie. It was a cool day.

Sunday was kind of tough for church. We've found lots of great people recently. And we set a few new baptismal dates. But we only had one at church, which was a bummer. But we had a zone meeting last Wednesday after transfers and had a good talk with the zone. We felt we got them pretty motivated and then they set a ton of bds. As a zone this past week, we had the most bds we've ever had. So that’s pretty awesome. We have a high goal of 16 for the month of July and 18 for the month of August. July is done and now it’s time to help these people through. We are finding people now for August. We found this really cool guy the other week. We had a lesson with him last week and the spirit was strong. We read from Moroni 6 and talked about baptism. He was super interested and we set a bd for the 31st of July. When we knelt to pray, we invited him to pray. And as he was praying, he started to cry. He said he felt the spirit and he's never felt that before. That was pretty cool. We also set two more bds with some other people we had found. It was a successful week in that sense.

We also learned the importance of being patient. We went by a former, which is someone who used to investigate the church but stopped, and as he answered and he came out battling. He was saying “I don’t believe in Joseph Smith. I don’t agree with you all on that one,” and all this stuff about him. We just sat there and smiled and said we are here to help you to follow Jesus Christ and His teachings. And the guy came out and we all sat down. We ended up having a great lesson on the doctrine of Christ. We extended a bd invitation, and he said he wants to get baptized when he learns more. We were able to be patient and not jump to conclusions and we had a great lesson.

So overall, the week was ok. We know it’s time to step it up. I love being out here in Edinburg. My comp, Elder Simmons, is a great missionary. He’s from Utah and he's a very bold missionary which is good. We had a lot of changes in the Zone here and we got lots of new missionaries. They are all super excited to get out and work so we are excited for that. Um we've had a lot of rain down here. It gets hard to see when we are driving and the roads down here suck and get super flooded. When we were ending a lesson, it started to pour, of course right when we are about to leave, and walking from his house to the car we were completely soaked. We drove around the corner and the rain stopped. Haha it’s funny how it works like that.

I feel like i just go on and on about the same things and that it might get boring to you all... Oh Well. How was Cameron's birthday yesterday? Did you guys go to the beach?

I’m out of time! I’ll try to remember more next week. I love you guys and I miss you guys!
-Elder Stone

Elder Stone June 27, 2011 - Milagros!

Hey Hey.
I can start off by testifying that God is a God of miracles who loves each and everyone of his children here on earth. He doesn't want to see any of his kids hurt or miss the opportunity to return to live with him. We’ve seen this come true in this past month with these two milagros that we saw this past week. Because of these miracles and because of the love the Lord has we reached our goal of fourteen for the month of June. In may the zone baptized seven but that wasn't our potential and we double it in the month of june.

As of wednesday one of our baptisms for the month of June said that she would have to wait till the first week in July because her Dad wasn't going to be able to come down from his work. Jackie, the daughter being baptized, and her Mom both didn't want to push the baptism back, but as well they wanted the non-member Dad to be there. We agreed that he should be there and we told her we would push the baptism back till the third, and we received this news on thursday. Friday night we received a text from Erica, the mom, saying that Albert, the Dad was going to be coming down after all and he would make it this Sunday. She then asked us if we could please still do the baptism this (past) weekend. We said of course and prepared the baptism. The baptism happened and it was great, It was a great step for Albert to see both of his daughters enter the waters of baptism. After the service, he told us why the plans had changed. The guy that Albert works with who has the car and usually drives, was laid off. So with this happening, they had to come down and pick up another car to take back up to work. Albert took this opportunity to come down. The baptism was great and we are going to really start working hard with Albert.
The other milagro que vimos was with the sisters in their area. We received a text from them Saturday saying that a girl they were teaching, Jackie, whose baptism was already pushed back a week, was not going to be able to be baptized. The sisters said that Jackie's Dad said no and as they tried to talk with him he wouldn't listen and he would argue or just get up and walk away as the sisters were speaking. They were lost on what to do and called us with this. One of the sisters broke down on the phone Saturday and was very upset, she had no idea what to do. We suggested a fast and the sisters agreed and we as well decided to go to the girl's house with them on Sunday to see if the Dad would listen to us. As we knelt to pray, we felt the Spirit tell us that this is what we should do. We started our fast and as the time came we headed to meet the sisters at Jackie's house. We went over and talked to the Dad, or we didn't but Sister Villalobos did. We just went for support. At first the Dad was being stubborn and was not going to let the daughter get baptized. We stood out there for an hour talking with him. As we were talking, we had prayers in our hearts and at the end of the conversation the Lord softened his heart and he agreed to her baptism. The father didn't come but he dropped Jackie off for the baptism and she was baptized. Two great milagros that we saw this past month. As we put our faith in the Lord, the Lord provides, after we do all we can, and we did.
As well this past week we had something called mini missionaries. It’s where youth from the stake, ages 15-19, come on a mission for a week. I had it last year and it helped me grow a ton! This year, I learned a lot again and grew a lot. The youth come out with us everyday all day. At night they sleep at a member’s house, but they leave their phones and ipods y todo. Our area is a little ghetto and one of the mini missionaries almost got bitten by a dog four times. He got a little discouraged, but we tried our best to help him along and keep him going strong. He made it to the end of the week and said he loved it.

Yesterday we had two baptisms, which was great, from a part member family. As well, Elder Vasquez and I gave talks in sacrament meeting in the English ward. We talked on gaining a testimony of Jesus Christ and how this testimony changes lives. Everyone said we did well, and hopefully we set the standard for the ward. As well, we had seven people come to church. A family that we've been working with finally came to church. It’s a big family. The Dad is a member but the five older daughters aren't yet. They are all preparing to be baptized in July on the 17th. We'll keep you updated.

We got called about transfers. My comp. Elder Vasquez got called to be assistant to the president. He's a great missionary, the top of the top. My companion now is Elder Simmons. Everyone says he's a great missionary and I’m super excited to start working with him in this zone. We have big vision for the zone for the month of July. And bigger for the month of August. But there is no doubt that we can accomplish this. Something President Trayner said is that we need to pray as if it all depends on the Lord and then work as if it all depends on us. Remember that!

I love you and I miss you all a lot!
-Elder Stone

TexMex with Elder Stone

June 20, 2011
Hey Hey Hey everyone! What's up?

So this past week was interesting. It was a little tough for us on finding new people, but we were able to find one legit family. We are teaching a lot of people right now, mostly families. We are also seeing many miracles in the zone. As of the end of last week we have brought ten souls unto our Heavenly Father as a zone. We have a goal of 14 for the zone and by two weeks ago it looked like we were only going to barely get twelve. BUut we saw a miracle with a couple of kids the sisters were teaching. The kids finally came to church and they are getting baptized next weekend which will bring us to our goal of 14 as a zone. Elder Vasquez and I are going to have two baptisms, but one is an eight year old girl and the other is her 11-year-old sister. The mom was baptized about a year ago and the kids and Dad were never baptized, long story, very sad. But we got her to come back to church and the girls will be getting baptized next week. We hope to have their dad baptized in July. We are super excited for them. The family is great and super strong now. We just need to help the dad stop drinking, but that's okay, with the Lord all is possible. Diana is doing really well and she is really trying to push her mom along. She is great and wants her mom to accept this so bad. We can see in her eyes how much it hurts her that her mom is not living worthy to be baptized. But the mom came to church yesterday, which was great. As well we had four others come to church. So we are super excited to start teaching more of them and getting them bds. We have a big goal of baptizing 16 in the month of July. This will be a huge step and a huge accomplishment. In May, we only baptized 7 and now in June, we should have 14. We always have to be raising the bar so that we never stop growing and getting better.

I got a letter from Colby this past week. He sounds like he's doing great. I am super excited for him. He's going to be a stud missionary! He's a big idol to me. He helped push me a lot to get me out on my mission. This past week, we had zone conference which was really fun. We met in Mc Allen and talked a lot about things we need to do to improve. The mission is tough, but so much fun and so worth it.  We are getting fed a lot now which is good but it stinks cuz I want to lose weight. The members are trusting us a lot more which is really cool. The pictures from last week were mostly from Rio Grande. It had taken me a while to send them. But I'll try to take more and send more frequently.

For some reason it's getting harder for me to write. Things don't come to mind as easily as they used to. I want to write more though. I'm just focused on what we need to do for the zone to get better. We are teaching this great family of five. All girls and they should get baptized in July, as well as a couple of other families of four. So we are super excited for them and to see the success in July. I don't have anymore time. I need more questions to answer! Sorry this is short. I hope all is well. I love you all and I miss you all.

-Your Son, Elder Stone --

Everyone please write Elder Stone:  813 N. 14th Pl. #8; Edinburg, TX 78539