SO I GUESS I’M A MISSIONARY NOW!
This week was honestly WILD but oh so good! I’m only a week into my mission and I can tell that this next year and a half is going to be hard but SO good! It's kinda crazy to me how one second I was just living my everyday life and then all the sudden I was being set apart as a missionary, dedicating myself to the lord! I thought after being set apart I’d feel a huge change, but it took a few days to have it set in that I am a missionary, and that work I’m doing is SO IMPORTANT! Already in just one week, my perspective has changed and I feel an increased ability to feel the spirit, and my testimony has grown a ton!
To start off, The MTC is great and very difficult. I guess we really do need opposition in all things haha, but even though this is probably the hardest thing I’ve ever done, its already one of my favorite things I’ve ever done! My companion is Hermana Kaity Joyner and she is an angel sent from heaven! Fr, god knows me because she is exactly what I needed! (he must know that people named katie are my favorite:) My companion and district are the coolest people ever, and after only one week I love these people with my whole heart! Its crazy how close I feel with some of them without even meeting them in person!
To go along with a cool district, my teachers are also super rad! Idk why, but I thought my teachers would be super scary and old, but they don’t seem much older than me, and they’re funny, spiritual giants, and so loving and understanding that I feel like I can trust them with anything! They like speaking spanish and speak a lot of it… imagine that haha, but it has helped me a lot just hearing the language more and more. I do have to say though, they don’t play around in the MTC. They throw you straight off a cliff into the deep end, but I’m surprised at how quickly I’m learning how to swim(or at least float) from these experiences.
We have already met with people 4 different times in breakout rooms who don’t speak ANY english…and yes it was TERRIFYING, but it was also such a cool/fun experience. Even though I missed a ton of what people were saying, I was able to feel the spirit and get the general idea about what they were talking to me about which was cool. Hermana Joyner and I taught our first lesson in complete spanish after less than a week of classes, and it actually went really well! The spirit teaches with a language that anyone can understand and I’m very grateful for that! My testimony of the gift of tongues has grown a lot, and I know that as I work hard and put in the effort, God will bless me and help me be able to learn more quickly! Also thanks for all the prayers, I feel them helping me along!
My testimony has grown SO much this week, especially about how much God loves his children. In these breakout rooms meeting with complete strangers, my heart kept feeling overwhelmed with love for the people I was talking to. I know I’m doing God’s work for his children because I feel some of his love for them. He loves his children *cough cough, yes YOU* so much, and the spirit has helped me feel a tiny piece of that love and it's crazy!
God is so good, and he really does love us so much! I know that God hears our prayers and he wants us to talk to and build a relationship with him! Before my mission I forgot to pray… a lot… and as a missionary we pray to start and close everything and it's made me realize how important prayer is. Idk who needs to hear this, but If you want to build up a relationship with God, talk to him! If you want to know what you mean to him, ask him! I challenge you guys this week to try to talk to God more! If you don’t talk to him at all, maybe consider offering a small prayer because I know he wants to hear from you!
Fav Quotes of the week
“English is the language of the prophets, but Spanish is the language of the angels” -hermano Alverado
“How far away is heaven? The distance of you to the floor” - hermana Alba
*zoom crashes**gets message on fb messenger* “Oh no, I’m so sorry hermana stone! My wife isn’t cooperating” lol sorry about your wife elder Ip
*over zoom* Hermana joyner- “being alone with 2 strangers in the breakout room was more helpful than being with elder Keate” *elder keate does a spit take from getting roasted*
Whole district: “what snacks do you like”
Me: “croutons”
*for the next 10 minutes I get flamed from the whole group bc apparently croutons aren't a snack..? haha*
Have a great week guys! Love you all,
Hermana Stone
Pictures: 1- last pic of me before getting set apart!
2- nightly walk with say say
3/4- the best rodeo around con mi familia!
5- I ran into a couple elders in my district at the mexican consulate!
6- maddie took me to lunch at my fav mexican restaurant… I guess its good that I love mexican food!!
