Week 22

7/4

Crazy, busy, amazing, fun, hard week! It has been packed FULL of stuff. 

Last week for Pday we went to Downtown Boise with our district. We saw the typical missionary things everyone goes to to see. We were able to drive up to the top of Table rock and look over all of Boise. So beautiful. I am so grateful to be serving here. Boise is seriously the perfect place for me. 

We got to meet our new mission president this week!! President Bartlett and Sister Bartlett are so incredible. I cannot wait to get to know them better. When I first met him and shook his hand I said, "I'm willing to learn Spanish if you need some more Spanish Sisters" and he just laughed and said "OK Sister Stone, I'll keep that in mind". We'll see how that goes lol

On Saturday we had a great lesson with this new investigator. His name is Ray and the spirit was so strong. We shared The Restoration with him and at the end of the lesson we shared our testimonies and told him how grateful we were for prayer and that Heavenly Father always answers our prayers. Then we invited him to pray to know if what we had shared with him was true and to start reading the Book of Mormon and he said he would do it before he went to sleep that night. We are going to help him this week with service so we'll be able to follow up with him on how it went. 

Sunday night we went to a less actives families house. They're trying to come back and their goal is to go to the temple to be sealed. Sister Rabello and I were talking with them about a day maybe that they could set as a goal and then they started talking about their family and how only 1 daughter is active enough to be there when they get sealed and Sister Rabello spoke up and said, "The spirit is telling me I need to promise you this right now. I'm not sure why but I know I need to. I can promise you as a representative of Jesus Christ that when you get sealed in the temple, your sons will return and you will all be able to be sealed together." The spirit was so intense and we all just sat there crying! Brother Cary, through his tears said, "Thank you so much Sister Rabello. I really needed that. I've been thinking a lot about when we want to go and that just gave me a little shove." 

Alright, to the 4th of July. Sorry this email is so long. I bet the only one still reading this is my mom. Thanks mom! haha But 4th of July was SO fun! We went to a BBQ at a members house and their whole family was so excited to see missionaries there. The food was delicious and they were all so welcoming to us! After dinner we went to the Cary's (the less active I just talked about) and sang songs then they asked me to play the piano so I played my America the Beautiful and I didn't get through the whole thing but they loved it haha! They gave us ice cream and we just sat on their "lanai" as Brother Cary calls it and listened to the fireworks go off and watched the sun set. We headed home after and lit sparklers with Sister Benson and Sister Mata (the sisters in our district).  Didn't get to sleep till about 11:30 or 12 because of all the fireworks going off but that's ok. Being exhausted is just part of being a missionary right? haha 

Well I love you all!! Sorry for the insanely long email haha

Keep the Faith and don't forget to write ;)

1111 So. Cole Road

Boise, Idaho 83709

Sister Summer Stone

#1 Happy 4th

#2 Downtown Boise with the district

#3 Sparklers with Sister Benson

#4 Happy 4th with Sister Rabello

#5 Boise missionaries meeting president Bartlett

Week 21

6/27

Well familia. It's been a crazy week but amazing week. Sister Rabello is awesome and I love her already. We've been working really hard and I'm exhausted. 

So to start off this crazy week, Sister Rabello put diesel in the car and... we almost died haha. Not really but the car drove for a little while. We went home, I unpacked and she washed the car then we went to go to Pday activity. But on our way there the car wasn't going over 10 mph on a 45 mph road and it was shaking! So we pulled over, said a prayer, and called the mission office and he told us to get a tow and for them to take it and get it drained so we did. And we got it back the next day but we have been walking a lot to save miles. 

My area is beautiful and a lot different than my last area. We just cover one ward and its a lot of fields and farms. I love it! The members are great and I'm excited to get to know them all. There is a family here, the Lloyds and they are the best people ever. Not too many people sign up for dinner in this ward (mom, missionaries are poor so feed them lol) so we've gone to their house a lot for dinner and when we had to get our car towed she came and picked us up and we played games at their house for the rest of Pday. Plus she gives the best hugs! haha And another plus, they gave us homemade tamales and they were delicious!!!

There aren't too many investigators in this area but there is a lot of potential to be so we are working really hard. There are a lot of inactive members here that haven't been active since they were teenagers and they're in their 60s now. 

We went to visit Kenneth (am inactive) yesterday and the visit was really good. We had been trying to visit people all morning and no one was answering or they just didn't want to see us. The Sister's had never met him so we knocked on his door and he talked with us for a while. Before we left I had the feeling to share this scripture and right as I was going to say "Can we share a message before we go?" Sister Rabello pulled out her BOM and shared the same scripture I was going to share. It's amazing how the spirit works. As we walked away I just had this feeling that the visit was really good for him and I knew he felt the spirit. 

WELL FOLKS! I love you all. I love my new area and my new comp. Keep the faith and remember God loves you all!

Sister Summer Stone

Week 20

6/20

Well I'm staying in staying in the Boise mission folks. I got transferred and I am so sad. I was not ready for this. I'm excited for new and bigger things (mostly just bigger areas haha) but I am really going to miss Meridian and all the memories that came with it. There were 6 missionaries from my zone who got transferred to the Pocatello mission. Going to miss ALL of them. 

Last Pday we went to Star and went fishing and just hung out at the Snooks house. I CAUGHT A GIANT FISH!!! haha I also got to say goodbye to Ali and wish her luck. She is going to kill it in Cambodia. I finally got the guts to do a flip on their trampoline too. It was just a front flip but don't worry Coltie and Chan. I'll be able to out-flip both of you by the time i get home (I'm totally joking haha) so Monday was pretty eventful haha

We went to the temple this week on Wednesday as a zone and it was beautiful as always but this time was incredibly special and beautiful because we got to pick out a family name and do all the work for them. We were baptized, confirmed, did the initiatory and received their endowment. Beautiful and exhausting day. Sister Hirales and I accidentally matched and people were making comments all day haha it was kinda cute though. I really am going to miss her. 6 weeks was not long enough with my little brownie. 

But good news is I have another brown companion haha. Not trying to be racist at all. Her name is Sister Rabello. She was born and raised in Brazil and she moved to Salt Lake not too long ago. She has been out almost 17 months so I'll be "killing her" in mission terms (cause I'll be her last companion). I can already tell shes ready to work hard and bring people to Christ.

 On Thursday Sister Hirales and I made homemade tortillas with Sister Marina Soto. She's this older lady from Guatemala and she homemade some DELICIOUS black beans. I understood nothing while we were there because they spoke Spanish to each other 70% of the time. haha it really was fun time though, maybe I will learn Spanish while I am out here and while we are joining with the Twin Falls mission.

So I have just been an emotional wreck saying goodbye to people the past few days but I am so excited for a new adventure. I know there's a reason I'm staying here in the Idaho Boise mission. Sorry this week wasn't too exciting besides transfers, Mexican food and the temple. But always remember to keep the faith and pray always. I love you all! 

Sister Summer Stone

pro fisher over here

Matching with Hirales

Gonna miss by boo thang

Homemade tortillas 

Sister Rabello (my new comp

Week 19

(6/13/16)

Hey everyone! It has been a lovely week. CONGRATS CARLI AND TAYLOR ON THE BIG ENGAGEMENT! I'm so happy for you both.

The weather cooled down and we've been busy busy busy. We saw Monique again and she is doing great! Their family is getting to know some of the members in the ward and we are super excited for them. We actually just saw them here in the library haha. I looked up and saw them checking out some books so Sister Hirales and I ran over to say hi. They were really excited to see us which is good!!!

Our Friday was BOOKED this week. which isn't normal haha but we had our last zone meeting before the missions split. And it was great. We had a really good training about building the trust of the members and working with them. After zone meeting we all went to Chick Fil A and It was a party! haha there were so many missionaries there. Gotta love Idaho.

Friday afternoon we went to visit a part member family and we were looking at the wedding pictures, and the 9 year old son was like "Woah mom. You and dad were a lot skinnier then!" and she said "Yeah, that was before a lot more kids and lot more life." then the kid leaned over to us and tried to whispered and said, "LIFE MEANS DONUTS" I almost peed my skirt on their couch. I don't know if he made it up on the spot or if that's like a family secret code name for donuts but either way it was SO funny!!

Then we had Darrens lesson and it went really well! He's reading through the Book of Mormon A TON faster now that Sister Hirales and I invited him to just focus on the BOM. We had a member come and they got a long great. I'm glad Darren is getting to know so many members in the ward! :)

THEN. We went to a Luah on Friday night that some other sisters had planned for their ward and we were able to have an investigator and a less active come. It was a fun night! ALSO, Jen had her baby! They named her Pyper Mae and she is the most precious baby I've ever seen (besides Georgia) ;).

We had exchanges this week and I got to go with Sister Ray agan (shout out to the Hubers). She is such a great example to me of how I wanna be at the end of my mission. This upcoming transfer is her last so I will miss her DEARLY but it's ok. She's gonna kill it back in Provo. We had a lot planned that day. We mowed an old lady with no teeth's lawn, helped a part member family in their yard, had 2 lessons planned and had lunch with a less active on a golf course. You could say Eagle treated me pretty well haha. OH MY GOODNESS! When we were helping the part member family, Sister Ray got really bad allergies so she asked for some allergy meds and they gave her children's and it was drowsy medication and she took double doses. She was saying the funniest things. She probably doesn't remember half the day but its ok! haha

Well I think that's it for now.

LOVE YOU ALL! Keep the faith.

Sister Summer Stone

 Luah

 Luah again

 Lunch on the golf course

 Too bright to handle lol

Week 18

(6/6/16)

Fambadamdam!
I miss you all lots! This week has gone by really fast. I feel like we just had Pday like 2 days ago. It's insane how one week can go so incredibly slow and the next can go so fast.

On Friday we met with Darren and things went well. He always has these really deep questions that Sister Hirales and I don't know the answers to so we always tell him that we will get back to him but this week he had more questions and he always seems to find more and more each week. Sister Hirales this week asked him how his Book of Mormon reading was going and he answered and said "well, I'm only in 2nd Nephi but I'm slowly slowly getting there." So we invited him to just stick to the Book of Mormon for now and to pray about that to get that foundation. I truly believe that after he gains a testimony of the Book of Mormon, all his little problems and questions won't necessarily go away but they won't matter anymore. None of his questions are going to matter in the long run.

Something I've noticed since I've been here on my mission is that we need to truly get a strong foundation for our testimony because the little mistakes that people in the church have made or if someone offends you, that does not effect your eternal salvation. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and I know that the Book of Mormon is a true book and because of that, everything else just falls into place.

I know this gospel is true with all my heart and that is why I am here out on a mission. This gospel has truly blessed my life and I want to share the happiness and the blessings I have received with everyone around me. For anyone out there reading this who is considering going on a mission, JUST DO IT! It's hard but it will bless you for the rest of your life. I've only been out 4 months and it has already blessed me immensely.

Alrighty haha to the fun stuff now. We went to a baseball game for a part member family and we cheered him on. He was so embarrassed haha! They didn't win but its ok, cause he had 2 super rad sister missionaries there!

On Saturday we went to dinner at another members home and the kids wanted to have a water balloon toss so we changed into service clothes and water balloon toss turned into a water fight with hoses and buckets and squirt guns real fast. We did'n't start it though, I promise. It was the 12 year old son. Haha I'm not complaining though because it was like 97 degrees that day.

Yesterday we went to dinner at a new lady in our wards home and she's from Basnia so she made us Bosnian food and it was pretty good. It was coolest watching her make it though. She said that they drink Buttermilk with the potato layer thing she made so she gave us a little glass of Buttermilk and EWWWWW!! I don't get how people enjoy that taste in their mouth. haha

Well, thats about it. I love you all. The Gospel is true and God love you.

Sister Summer Stone

This address still works if anyone was wondering;)
1111 South Cole Road
Boise, ID 83709

Week 17

(5/31/16)
HELLURR everyone!

So because it was Memorial Day and the library was closed so we're emailing today instead. Sorry if you thought I was dead mom, I'm alive and well here in Boise haha. Looks like the whole family had a blast at Stonehaven this weekend. So jealous. I loved the video you sent me. Cried through the whole thing and watched it multiple times in row. Colton and Georgia have gotten SO BIG! Thanks Taylor for taking my place as the 8th family member haha love you!

So last P-day we played baseball with the Zone and I got our team a point. WOHOOO! 1 point for Paramount district from the highly coordinated Sister Summbumm Stone.

SO, lots of more painting this week. We finished our ward missionaries house, painted a nursery for one of our recent converts, the outside of someones house and some old ladies nails...so done with painting! Ok, the old ladies nails is a weekly thing they are literally the cutest and the say the funniest things so I really do love that, but the house painting, I'm done with that haha!

We set a baptismal date for August 13th with Winnie and she is so excited about it. She knows she has to work towards that and can't wait to get started. We can't wait either. She is planning on getting remarried to her ex husband on June 6th by Bishop Baker and asked if we would put together a little dinner afterwards. Wedding planning here I come! haha

We had zone conference on Wednesday and I learned so much. The spirit was so strong and I am so grateful to be here on my mission in Boise, Idaho. No matter where I end up when the mission is split I know that is where I need to be and there will be someone waiting there for me. Heavenly Father is preparing people wherever I will serve to hear my message. Who knows, maybe I'll go to Nampa and be a Spanish speaking Sister so I can talk with CarCar and Chan when I get home! haha

We had another lesson with Darren at the Wilsons house and it was great. Sister Wilson invited him to come to church and he couldn't come this last week but he said he'll come next week and we are pumped for him to continue growing closer to our Savior Jesus Christ. Before the lesson though, I got to dye Sister Hirales' hair. lol I think it looks pretty cool and I did a pretty good job haha Makes me wanna be a hair dresser so bad when I get home.

Yesterday for Pday activity we walked (Sister Hirales and I scootered on razor scooters) the greenbelt and it was beautiful there. It runs right along the Boise river and I just wished I could've jumped in the whole time haha. Funny story though, so remember how coordinated I am? Yeah neither do I. So I was walking down this grass hill to the pathway and I ran into a tree and this branch sliced my eye open and now it's turning purple (black eyes for DAYYZZ) haha don't worry mom, I can see still. I looks pretty cool though. Sister Hirales and I went and got shave ice after and I wish they had ice cream to put in the middle, It makes a big difference lol.

Well that's about it for the week. I love you all and miss you! Good luck to all my friends leaving for the MTC this week. You will all LOVE IT!

Don't forget to send me some love;)
Sister Summer Stone
1111 South Cole Road
Boise, Idaho 83709

LOVE YOU ALL! KEEP THE FAITH AND REMEMBER GOD LOVES YOU!

Sister Summer Stone

1.) Baseball with the Meridian West Zone

 2.) "If your zone leader jumped off a bridge would you do it too?" just kidding mom. Love you!

 3.) My crazy district

 4.) Shave ice with the Mexican (aka Sister Hirales) #shesnotmexicanmom

Week 16

(5/23/16)
Hello Fambam!

So this week hasn't been the typical missionary week that'd you'd think of but it's been so awesome! We have done a TON of service and I am just exhausted haha. We painted someones house 3 days this week for at least 15 hours total and still are going to do more this next week. The guy who's house we're painting it a member and he's so cool. He just got called as a ward missionary and he couldn't be more excited to help out!

We had a great lesson with Winnie and she's back on track! She came to church yesterday and we were so excited. She's been nervous to come because she has been having some bad panic attacks lately but we sat close to the door and any time she needed to step out she was able to go take a breather for a minute or 2 and come back in. I know that if she pushes through this trial she will be blessed. We are planning on seeing her tonight and setting a baptismal date. She has to meet with the mission president for an interview due to some legal stuff but she told the bishop she wants to be baptized! Winnie's coming back around! :)

We have been working with a part member family lately and the daughter (Brennen) is starting to get excited to see us (which is new because she used to like run and hide from the missionaries). She's 9 years old and her mom (who just moved to Alaska for work) doesn't want her to be baptized because "the Mormons are crazy, teach stuff that's from the devil and follow some Joe Smith guy." That's typical here in Idaho haha anyways, she's been listening to our messages everytime we come now and she came to church on yesterday! Keep her in your prayers and pray that her mom will soften her heart. Her step mom is really hoping she'll be able to be baptized!

Thursday we went to lunch with Ali Snooks (one of my friends from BYU) and her mom. She leaves on her mission to Cambodia in about a month and is getting really nervous. She is so cute though. We were able to catch up and talk about missionary work and how the mission life is. She is going to be such a great missionary.

Keep the Faith,
Sister Summer Stone

Sending you all love!! Now send me some love ;)
1111 South Cole Rd
Boise, Idaho 83709

#1- shopping at H&M on Monday

#2- painting with some Elders in our district

 

#3- Lunch with Ali Snooks