Living the GOOD life

May 27, 2013

I don't even know where to start with this week. So many miracles everyday. I went on a couple exchanges this week- that was interesting. My companion is Sister Training Leader which means she has to go on exchanges with 6 other sisters...so i have to go with their companions. This week I went with 2 sisters who came out with me, so we are all brand new, but it was a fun experience. I was able to step up and train them on how we teach and about our area and it really helped me have more confidence in what i'm doing. I got a girl to cry (in a good way) during one of our lessons and set a baptism date for some investigators. So that was a huge success. 2 people have told us that since they met us, they have had so many prayers answered and have seen miracles in their life. I know it's not me, its them letting the spirit work in their life, but it is still so cool that the Lord has let me be a part of their conversion. We have been reaching out to less actives and someone told us yesterday that they were taken back that someone went out of their way to invite them to church- its crazy how much I could have done as just a member of the church by just calling someone or going to their house and inviting them to activities or church. Our singles ward had a cabin trip this weekend, so everyone was gone and it made the weekend a challenge. But a good one. We had to go to a family ward and bring our investigators and posse there- it was a nice contrast to the wonderful awkward singles ward. Last night Sister Lake and i didn't know where we should visit (we were visiting less actives) and it is the end of the month so we were low on miles and she had a terrible stomach ache and we just wanted some guidance as to where we should go and if we should stick to our plan and use a lot of miles, or visit people close. So naturally we prayed. During the prayer, all i could think about was a random person's name, and I had no idea who this guy was, but we found him in the directory and headed to his house. The rest of the night was incredible. This particular guy had moved to another stake so we got his information so some more missionaries could visit him, but as we contacted people in that area and talked to less actives we found so many interested people! God is so good to us. 

LOVE YOU ALL!!

Sister Stoker 

The church is true, the book is blue

May 20, 2013

This week has been so great! We were SO busy which makes for a great week. We taught a guy we met on the street the first lesson, and committed him for baptism at the end of June! He was so prepared to hear what we had to say- it was so cool. His name is Holden and when we taught him about prophets and baptism and Joseph Smith he would just be like "that's tight" or "I dig it!" haha it was such a powerful lesson. We met another man from Zimbabwe named Zion with dreads. He was really cool and is coming to church on Sunday. It is so cool seeing the gospel click in people's lives- teaching the Plan of Salvation is one of the coolest experiences because it makes sense to people and it answers all the questions of the soul. We had an investigator named Chris who was having trouble with the other missionaries that were teaching him, but when we started to teach him you could see wheels turning and he started to accept the invitations and then we took a leap of faith and invited him to be baptized...and he apparently has already been baptized before? We were so sad! So now we are just teaching about the covenants he has already made and preparing him to take the sacrament. However he decided to go stand on a platform on the strip the other night and start reading from Matthew and call the people to repentance, so we might still need to work with him for a while.

We had dinner with less active the other night and he asked where i was from then said he was familiar with the area because he works in Basin City every summer- turns out he is Raleigh and Hawkins' nephew and used to work in the orchards every summer growing up. Small world. His name is Drake Allsop. It is so cool to see our little branch growing as we have been bringing less actives and investigators to church every week- the ward is so inviting and willing to help us, it makes our life a lot easier.

We met with a guy this past week who was baptized about a month ago and realized he might not know as much about the church as most members so we sat down and asked him about his testimony of the Church and Book of Mormon. He hardly knew anything about the book and didn't really understand how the church was organized or what it really meant- it was so sad. So we are still teaching him the lessons. It has taught me though to make sure that everyone i teach knows what a sacred commitment baptism is, and that it shouldn't be taken lightly.

I got to go the temple twice this week! Once with the new missionaries and once with Sister Lake and a lady she taught. It was so cool. It stinks that we can't just be there always, but we have been talking a lot about how a temple can be made at any address. We read parts of D&C 109 with a family (the Kirtland dedicatory prayer) and it is cool to read that and apply it to your own home. If we make our home a house of fasting, prayer, order, etc we can have the same blessings as promised in the temple and in verses 22 and 23ish of that section

I LOVE YOU ALL!!!
Sister Stoker

Livin in PARADISE! May 13, 2013

Made it to the Mojave! The field is so white here in Vegas and basically full speed ahead since I got here. We met our new companions on Wednesday afternoon then basically got to work right away. I am serving with Sister Lake who is from Palm Springs, CA and just a doll. She is the Sister Training Leader and knows her stuff. We are in a Singles Ward here in Vegas in the Paradise Stake and I love it so much. Our ward has about 35 active members so most of what we are focusing on is reactivation and strengthening the ward. It has been so fun though. We have already hit 100 degrees, so that's awesome. Sister Lake is new to Vegas (she was in Henderson and Lake Havasu before) so it has taken a while to get to know the area and the members and what not. But i think we got it down. Our house is definitely from the 70s. We found mold in the tub and the washer doesn't work and there are asian cat posters everywhere. Oh and there is no A/C so that's been fun. But it forces us to go outside and talk to people which is good. And we are just happy we have a house. Plus I am Sister Nichols' housemate, so life doesn't get much better. We met the coolest guy the other day who told us there was something about us that made him want to talk to us, and he asked if he could come to church the next day. He is Pakistani and so great. He told sister lake and i that if we are stranded on a bridge 3 hours away he will come get us. He is just the greatest. I met Elder Whitby my first night here- that was fun. And Sister Burrup is in my zone and Juliette got reassigned here! Life is so great. Oh and there is a girl that was in my BYU ward that is now in our YSA ward. What a small world. Sister Lake and I have a car which makes life so much better. Especially since the mission office accidently sold my bike, so I wouldn't have any transportation. People in Vegas are so weird and eccentric and I love them so much. Meeting people at the park or on the street is my favorite thing ever. Our area actually includes the strip so we are right up next to it and everyone we meet seems to work at some hotel there. There is so much potential in this area! It has been so great being an answer to people's prayers and watching the Holy Ghost testify of things I say as I speak.

Sister O'Brien (my mom away from home) said if you send a Great Harvest gift card she will totally buy me some! We found out it isn't in my area, but feel free to send that whenever:) Also, there is no SD card thing on my computer, so sorry I can't send any pictures this week. Oh and tell Maryn I say congratulations and she better email me with all the details!!

Love you all!!!

Sister Stoker