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