Week 2

 How has it been another full week??

Missionary life is in full swing and it feels pretty normal now! I’m learning more and more every day and its going great for the most part! I do have to say, the MTC is like a rollercoaster with lots of ups and downs, but the ups make it all worth it! One of the ups is the awesome people I get to talk to every day! This week I feel like I’ve gotten to know my district, teachers, and comp way better, and I LOVE THEM ALL! They make me laugh so hard one minute and feel the spirit super strong the next! They're amazing, and they definitely get me through the hard days :)

I feel like I’m understanding more spanish as I hear it daily, and read it, but actually being able to speak is a slow, hard process, but I know I’ll get there! Sometimes I start feeling really overwhelmed or discouraged about learning the language, and then I’ll feel a sense of peace wash over me. I know that peace is the spirit telling me to be patient with myself, and that I’ll get it, and I know I will! I just need to keep working at it!

Last thing I want to share this week is the power of personal study in the scriptures. We learned earlier this week that to teach with power about the Book of Mormon we need to study it daily ourselves, and that the spirit can’t help you remember something to say or teach if you haven’t studied about it yourself- which is SO true! You can’t not study for a test and ask the spirit to help you remember the answers… it just doesn’t work like that! This has made me realize how important reading scriptures daily is! To be honest, before my mission I probably read my scriptures 2-3 times a week, and sometimes I just did it to check a box… but now as a missionary I have an awesome opportunity to study the scriptures and the gospel for an hour in personal study, an hour in companion study, and a little bit throughout the day (which sounds like a lot)… but its been AWESOME! I know it has helped bring the spirit into my life! I have felt the spirit more and more and not only that, I feel like the spirit is telling me what to study, what people are saying in spanish, and also helping me receive personal revelation too.

 A while back I heard the quote “If you want to talk to God pray. If you want God to talk to you, read the scriptures!” and I just love that, and I know it's true! I challenge you this week to try and read your scriptures every day! Even if it starts out as reading a couple verses a day, or even if it’s just a box to check off, I know the more you read them and truly study them the more you'll want to read them, and learn to LOVE them! 

Funny moments this week

-Elder Russel always sounding like a robot bc his wifi is bad haha

-Teaching Hermano Mercado “English Slang” words… I’ve never laughed so hard at someone saying “lit,” “cap,” “bet,” etc… it was SO funny, and then when he started teaching us some slang in spanish he stopped mid sentence and said “wait I’m your teacher… I forgot! I can’t teach you this!” and we all cracked up!

-Hermana Alba roasting us all, and honestly just roasting each other… its a good time!

I love you all SO much and I hope you’re all hanging in there! Let me know if I can do anything for you, even if it’s just praying for you!

-Hermana Stone

Pictures:

-AJ being a good sport in my spanish cooking video… and a guest appearance from Dora.

-another early morning hike w my doggo

-rainy jam session with AJ

-Zoom picture glitch w my comp- we got a good laugh from it!

-dropping by my friend's bridal shower! Congrats Marcie!