Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Week 44









Oh my! this week has been filled with so many miracles and blessings! The Cary's got sealed this week in Boise and because I'm like 3 hours away so I couldn't go but that was really special for them. Parke said he would stop drinking coffee and we set a new date with him so thats good!

Our thanksgiving was pretty busy. we went to 6 houses. I wish we could've planned it a little differently and just said yes to one family for the meal because we didn't get to "sit down" with someones fam and eat dinner. Our first stop was the senior center and we did service there so people who needed a meal would come and get a Thanksgiving meal. that was really fun!! then we went to someones house in the stake presidencies house. We got there 30 minutes before the meal and they gave us breakfast haha we hadn't eaten yet so that was yummy then we went down to their big shop/barn/office thing and its so nice! they had tons of family there but they didn't eat until 2. We left at 1:30 to go to someone else's house and by the time we got there they had already eaten so we got a small plate and then took some to go. We LOVE that family though. oh btw... if you were wondering. literally everyone is related to everyone here haha its crazy! anyways, we went to another families house and had pie and we took a to go plate haha then we went to our actual dinner appointment and didn't eat because we were all full but we shared a thankful message and talked about serving and then brought in the christmas initiative #LighttheWorld (go check it out if you havent yet). then we went to the high council mans house over missionary work (dad's calling) and had dessert and talked with them. The elders showed up so that was fun. then we went to the Withers house and said "WE ARE DONE WITH DESSERT AND PIE" haha she helped us make some turkey/ham sandwiches. So that was yummy. Then we headed home. Its been good a good week! 

So we went on exchanges and saw some major miracles.... I was with Sister McOmber and shes a visa waiter. We had missed the road we needed to turn on and so we went to turn around at this crossroad. I had this feeling to make the turn wide and I didn't know why but I do now. As we turned to go back onto the road this big truck wizzed past us and if I wouldn't have made the turn so wide I could've been hit and I could have literally died... My life flashed before my eyes but I am so grateful we are both here and I know that angels are protecting us every single day. 

Well I LOVE YOU ALL SO SO MUCH! We finished the Book of Mormon this week and I know that it is true! I know this gospel is true and I love you all so much

Keep the Faith,
Sister Summer Stone

Pics
1:snow!!
2:exchanges
3: After Thanksgiving meal #1
4: #2
5: #3
6: #4

7: #5

Week 43


Oh my goodness! There is SO much to be grateful for. This week has been so successful and busy. 

We taught Parke the Plan of Salvation and he understood it all. All the members have been shocked when we tell him he's getting baptized but we've been told from lots of people that he wouldn't be telling us he wants to be baptized if he actually didn't want to be baptized because he has had the missionaries for SO LONG! Like at least 50 years haha. 

The work has been able to pick up a lot since Harvest has been over. We had 3 investigators at church and 20 lessons! Sorry this email isn't too long. I love you all!!

Ill send pics next week :)

Week 42


Hello!! Oh what is up everyone? 
Our week has just been awesome! It's been a really fun week. We got to go to Twin falls last week because Sister Cluff needed some winter clothes. We got to go to the mall and we got to get Cafe Rio #YAS! It was just a good day overall. 

We had Zone Conference this weekend and it was all about the new christmas initiative which we're super pumped about because it's all about service. if you wanna know more, ask the missionaries in your ward and they'll tell ya! But its like a really simple way to help all your friends and family come closer to the gospel. We're all super excited. At zone conf we had this thing called zone olympics. Lets just say the Burley zone (our zone) literally one at everything!! including the giant tug of war haha that was so insanely fun and i was so insanely sore the next day because I used all my strength to win! #legsofsteelnow. 

We did some fun service this week too. Something I noticed in this area is that we haven't done like any service. We helped clean up someone's yard and there was a giant bon fire. i felt like i was throwing tumble weeds onto the sun...thats how hot it was haha my eyes were watering. The pic was when the fire had like calmed down. So you can just imagine. 

I told y'all about our investigator Parke last week. Anyways. we had an amazing lesson on faith and invited him to church again. He came and he's planning on gettin g baptized on December 3rd. Please please pray for him! He's a wonderful man and being able to see the gospel affect his life has been beautiful.

I know this gospel is true with all my heart and I know that god is so mindful of time.  I love you all!
Keep the faith!!

Sister Summer Stone


Pics
1. Parke Bunn our 86 yr old investigator at church
2. Zone Olympics
3. Service in Idaho
4. ^same

Week 41

Hello FAMMMM! Congrats on getting sister missionaries in the ward at home. that is so so fun! sisters rock! haha

Halloween was really fun last week, we carved pumpkins with our district and we had to be in at 6:30 so we watched movies and painted our nails and members brought us Panda Express. It was a really good night haha. Plus we just had Zone meeting too so its been a pretty good week overall!

Its still be slow here. I know I say it every single week, but its just crazy busy for everyone else with harvest so we've been trying to visit with more members and help them and motivate them to do member missionary work. We had some really good lessons though. 

We met with Parke Bunn again this week. I don't remember if i talked about him but he's 86 and hes been taught for a long time but we have some awesome fellow shippers for him. They just got back from being mission presidents in Columbia so they know how important good fellow shippers are! Anyways, we taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ this week and the spirit was really strong. We were able to commit him to a day to be baptized. We're preparing for Decemeber 3rd. Keep him in your prayers that he will be able to follow through and stay faithly. Pray that he will also be able to have the health and strength to come to church to feel the spirit there. 

We had an awesome lesson with Ave Montoya too. We taught the restoration and after we watched the Testimony of the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong. I know he felt it! Please pray that his heart will be softened!

Love you all, keep the faith and remember God knows whats best for all of us. I know this gospel is so true. :)

Sister Summer Stone

Zone Meeting
Our name tags and our spacious area! haha

Pumpkins


Thursday, November 10, 2016

Week 40



11/7

Hello FAMMMM! Congrats on getting sister missionaries in the ward at home. that is so so fun! sisters rock! haha

Halloween was really fun last week, we carved pumpkins with our district and we had to be in at 6:30 so we watched movies and painted our nails and members brought us Panda Express. It was a really good night haha. Plus we just had Zone meeting too so its been a pretty good week overall!

Its still be slow here. I know I say it every single week, but its just crazy busy for everyone else with harvest so we've been trying to visit with more members and help them and motivate them to do member missionary work. We had some really good lessons though.

We met with Parke Bunn again this week. I don't remember if i talked about him but he's 86 and hes been taught for a long time but we have some awesome fellow shippers for him. They just got back from being mission presidents in Columbia so they know how important good fellow shippers are! Anyways, we taught him about the gospel of Jesus Christ this week and the spirit was really strong. We were able to commit him to a day to be baptized. We're preparing for Decemeber 3rd. Keep him in your prayers that he will be able to follow through and stay faithly. Pray that he will also be able to have the health and strength to come to church to feel the spirit there. 

We had an awesome lesson with Ave Montoya too. We taught the restoration and after we watched the Testimony of the Book of Mormon and the spirit was so strong. I know he felt it! Please pray that his heart will be softened!

Love you all, keep the faith and remember God knows whats best for all of us. I know this gospel is so true. :)

Sister Summer Stone

Zone Meeting
Our name tags and our spacious area! haha
Pumpkins




Thursday, November 3, 2016

Week 39

10/31

So, I am staying with Sister Cluff this transfer in Oakley!!! We are so excited!! 

This week has been pretty slow again. This is just a hard time of the year for everyone in this area where people are harvesting. But I mean without the harvest y'all wouldn't have these good potatoes from Idaho right?? ;) haha

Hope you all have had an amazing week. We moved to a new house and we were able to go to 3 ward parties and we have 1 more tonight. You would not believe how much candy we've gotten. haha Its a good thing too because we have to be in our apartment at 6:30 due to safety but we'll just be eating candy and taking funny videos with our new wigs that were apart of our costumes. SOOOO drum roll..... haha Sister Cluff and I dressed up as each other. They didn't have any wigs that looked necessarily like our exact hair but it was fun. We switched tags and hair... haha its about all we could do. Ihe members loved it

We had an awesome lesson last night with a less active couple we are working with to get to the temple. We decided to do a Book of Mormon read with them and the spirit as we testified about how much the BofM blesses our lives was so strong. I know that by studying and reading the BofM every single day we will be able to grow closer to our savior Jesus Christ. I know this gospel is true!!! Ah don't you just love how much peace we can feel through our savior and the gospel. I just love it! I know "it's all true"

I have hit my 9 month mark errybody. haha I can't believe I have already been out this long. It feels like I haven't been home in a long time but I absolutely love my mission. I know this is exactly where I need to be and I am meeting people every single day that I just grow to love so so much. I love Idaho and I know some of you might think its funny how many farms and potatoes are out here but I consider this place home. I know there are still people that i need to meet and share my testimony with to strengthen. I love my mission and I can't wait for all the new memories to continue to come!

Love you all LOTSSS!!! Keep the faith and remember to send letters! :))))))

Sister Summer Stone
1111 So Cole Rd.
Boise ID, 83709

Pics
1. Our Halloween costumes!
2. Happy 9 months
3. Our old house in Oakley







Week 38

10/24

HEYYYYYY!!

So we have transfers this week and I still dont know whats happening but I really hope I stay. 

We met a girl name Brookelle last week and we felt prompted to teach her the Plan of Salvation so we taught her and we invited her to be baptized and she said yes. She said the prayer after too and it was the best prayer I have heard since I've been out. She said, "thank you for telling sending these girls to teach me about my Savior and his atonement. I wanna know if its true." 

Sorry I don't have too much time but I love you all and remember that I know this gospel is true!!!!

Sister Summer Stone

pics
1: District Meeting
2: Sis Cluff and I 

3: I love our Area!!


Week 37

10/17

Hello to everybody!!! How are you all?? This week has been kinda slow. Still in harvest and no one is ever home haha plus Sister Cluff was sick so we weren't able to go visit people but we watched every movie that has the church stamp on the back! BUT we still saw miracles. Its amazing how much Gop blesses us. Literally everyday he blesses us. 

Sister Cluff and I both gave talks yesterday in 2 of our wards. We both talked on how to become more Christlike. I focused on when we read the Book of Mormon, we can grow closer to Christ because it is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that's true! I love our wards here! 

We went to a part member families house this weekend and we got to talk with the daughter Sam, who is a senior in high school and I felt prompted to share my testimony on the atonement and I helped her understand that Christ is there not only for our sins but also for our pains and sorrows, and our happiness and joys. I know the atonement is so real and I'm so grateful that we can lean on our Savior for strength. She told us she wasn't interested but I know we had a good experience and I shared that for a reason. Maybe I just planted a seed, but there's a reason for everything. 

Well, I love you all SO much! keep the faith!!! 

Send some love,

Sister Summer Stone

pics
Pday activity this week- straw maze!!
Icecream machines at members





Week 36

10/11

HELLLLOOOO TO ALLLLL!!! This week has been awesome! 

It still is really hard to get into peoples homes to teach them during the week because everyone moved on from harvesting potatoes to harvesting sugar beats! yeah, sugar beats are a thing, don't worry. I had never heard of them till I came out here to Oakley.  haha

So we got a referral a few weeks ago for a former investigator and his name is Parke Bunn. He is about 85 years old and the reason they told us to go visit him is because he's an old lonely man but we asked him if we could teach him the lessons and he willingly accepted. So this week we stopped by to teach him the Restoration and he had been reading the Book of Mormon the whole week and loved it! During the lesson he kept getting a little distracted when we would try to make analogies but by the end of the lesson we invited him to be baptized and he said he would think about it. He told us that what we were teaching him made sense and he wanted to make a change for the better. As we were about to walk out he said, "how does your church do baptism? is it a sprinkling?" and we said, "No Parke, its by full emersion just like Christ was baptized." and he kinda got kinda nervous and said, "well, I'm afraid of water.... but when theres a will theres a way."  haha He is such a cute man and he truly has been prepared for this time. His wife passed away a few years ago and she was totally active before she passed. He even told us during our first visit that it was his time!! #PRAYFORPARKE

Remember our crazy lesson last week with the kids screaming, phone ringing and the cats chasing belts story? Well, we went to teach her again this week and decided to go BEFORE all the kids got home from school so we did and we watched the Restoration video and you would never guess what happened! Literally as Joseph Smith was walking into the sacred grove... HER PHONE STARTED TO RING! AND SHE PICKED IT UP!!!! You have got to be kidding me! "Get thee hence Satan!" We were able to get the spirit back before the end of the video and we invited her to be baptized and she said she would if she knows what we're teaching her is true. She is moving to the neighboring town so we will pass her off to the other missionaries over there but please continue to keep her in your prayers. I know she can feel the spirit if she allows herself to. There is obviously a reason satan is trying so hard for her to not be able to feel the spirit. haha 

Well, I love you all so so much! Remember to keep the faith! 

Sister Summer Stone

Pics
Zone conference with Sister Cluff and Sister Carling
Hobbs a little 8 yr old we taught got baptized on Saturday
Dayton another 8 yr old we taught
Selfie w/ Sis Cluff





Week 35

10/3

HELLO FAMILIA! Ok, this is a big week for y'all at home! CARLI, MY BEST FRIEND IN THE WHOLE WORLD, IS GETTING MARRIED ON SATURDAY! ok, now that I got that out... haha This past week was kinda slow but we were able to have a lot of cool experiences. Plus conference was AWESOME wasn't it? 

Last pday we went on a hike with our district and it was really cool. The place is called City of Rocks and its a must see if you ever come to Burley, Idaho or around there haha. On Tuesday we had some really good lessons. Some of them were kinda insane and others the spirit was super strong. We had a lesson with a less active who hasn't been to church in like 10 years and we taught her about the atonement and as I was sharing my testimony, the spirit was just so strong I swear we could have cut it with a knife! I know that the atonement is real and that no matter where we are in life, God always is ready for us to come back. He's ready for us to jump into his open arms. I know that to be true!

Our crazy lesson that day was with our investigator Lori. We were teaching her the Restoration and the spirit was there and just slowly and slowly as we kept getting closer to the first vision, the house just got more chaotic and literally seconds before I was going to share Joseph Smiths account of the first vision, Lori's phone started to ring, the kids were all talking and trying to show us all their new homework assignments and the youngest girl was running around the room screaming with a belt in her hand and 2 of the 7 cats in the house were chasing her. haha I seriously wanted to laugh so hard at how hard satan was trying to ruin this situation. ITS OK THOUGH BECAUSE WE ARE GOING TO TEACH IT AGAIN AND THE SPIRIT IS GONNA BE SO STRONG SHE'S NOT GONNA BE ABLE TO DENY IT!

I just absolutely adored conference. My favorite talk was Elder Oaks. I want to also invite you, just as he did to pray to know who of your friends or family members are ready to be taught by the missionaries. I know there are people everywhere that are ready to be taught we just have to find them. 

Love you all so so much!! Keep the Faith.

Sister Summer Stone

Pics:
#1 city of rocks
#2 ^same
#3 Exchanges. We had a picnic out on the grass
#4 city of rocks again haha

#5 Conference




Week 34

9/26

Once upon a time there were some starving poor missionaries in Oakley, Idaho and Heavenly Father blessed them SO MUCH!! So we have been able to see so many miracles this past week. I will get to the food part but first some teaching miracles. 

Last week was really hard because we were just trying to meet the ward council to know WHO to visit because the records the sisters left were not very good. haha anyways, we visited a lot more people this week. So theres this lady that the sisters have been teaching forever.. and when i say forever i mean like 12 years... haha anyways, we stopped by and got to know her, her house smelled like cigarettes and she told us the only thing holding her back from getting baptized is that she smokes. And then she told us , "As soon as I stop smoking, I'll get baptized. Oh and by the way, my sister is moving in next week and she doesn't let me smoke around her, so I'll be stopping a lot sooner than I expected or wanted." WOOHOO! We invited her to start the Book of Mormon over again and to pray for strength to stop smoking. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER TOO!  

We got a referral online for the Thompson's and we went and knocked on the door it said and they didn't answer and we really need to go to the bathroom so we knocked on their door cause we were like 10 miles out from anything else besides cows and fields. haha ANYWAYS! So the neighbors invited us in and as we looked around, we realized that they were the Thompson's. THEY WERE THE REFERRAL! haha it was a little miracle from heaven the first door didn't answer so we could actually knock on the right door. We got to know them and they know a ton of members and work for members and love members. Which isn't hard to do around here cause like 80% are members but they were really welcoming. Pray for the Thompson's! There were SO many miracles this week that was just 2 of them. Now onto the free food part! haha

There's this member family that we just met yesterday and they're super cool! anyways, they gave us a tour of their house and she was showing us her food storage closet and she was like, "Here! Choose a box of cereal! Oh and here's some homemade salsa I made yesterday and some chips. and this huge package of ramen, and here's some fresh fruit and here's some snacks and pretzels. Do you need anything else?" and she looks up and sister Cluff and I are shedding actual tears of joy and laughter because we got SO MUCH FREE FOOD!!! I love the people of Idaho, they do not understand how much they do for us. Heavenly father literally answered our prayers because I currently am very low on my bank account haha!

Well, I love you all so so much! keep the faith and remember how amazing this gospel is! it truly blesses our lives. I know God is mindful of all of us no matter where we are in life and who we are. He wants the best for us.

Love Always,
Sister Summer Stone

Pics:
1.population 763. Gotta love Oakley
2. just some of our free food #blessed

3.went and toured our bishops potato farm and got more free food! #stillblessed

Week 33

9/20

WOAH! So this week has been like one of the craziest, most stressful, exhausting weeks of my whole mission life. hahaha 

So Sister Cluff and I thought we were covering the Oakley wards and the Elders were covering the Pella and View wards in the Oakley stake but it turns out that President felt prompted to switch us after we had started to contact people. But as we have been getting to know the members and the ward council I have begun to notice that there is a reason we are here in these wards. 

So here's a little bit about Oakley. Oakley is 20 miles out of a small town called Burley. Burley is like the size of Loomis or Rocklin. Anyways Oakley has 3 wards and the population inside the town is 763!!! yeah haha SO TINY! There's a gas station with one pump and a restaurant inside the convenience store, a tiny grocery store that has some essentials if you're desperate, a post office, and a bar that everyone talks about!  So can you imagine how small this is? I thought I was in a movie because everyone knows everyone and we are these 2 new people in the town no one has seen before haha.  So there are only a few people who aren't members in the town. If you aren't a member, you've been contacted or taught by the missionaries at one point or another in your life. ANYWAYS! Its awesome! Our whole area is farm land and cows. Someone told us "You know what Sister's? There's more cows than people here in Oakley and there are definitely more potatoes than people." 

Speaking of potatoes... its harvest season right now so no one is ever home. They're all out in their fields harvesting the crops. But everyone was praying for the harvest to go well this week and I just wanted to bust out laughing cause I thought it was a joke! Also, one of our bishops gave a talk on Sunday and this is what he said. "So I'm going to talk about Heffers. Heffer's are female cows...wait, who am I kidding? You all know what heffers are" And this time I really did bust out in laughter!! 

I love this area and I love the people already. We've been SO busy meeting people but I'm really excited for a busy week ahead!

Love you all! Keep the Faith! and SEND SOME LOVEEEEE

Sister Summer Stone

Pictures:
First pic with Sister Cluff on transfer day!
Saying goodbye to Sister Lucier. One of my FAVS from Amity
cows in oakley are a regular sight
so is this

Also, went to the Football game tailgate party for dinner to meet the stake presidency