Hey Hey Everyone!

I realize that most missionaries talk about their spiritual experiences they are having on the mish, and I have been talking about bugs and other strange experiences.. So I decided to be a little normal this week and share a miracle!

Can I just say that I love trailer parks! They are literally gold mines for new investigators! So me and Sister Lee are walking through this trailer park doing formers, when we see these 2 old ladies up on their porch talking. So we decide to go and talk to them and find out that one of them, Anna, has recently been diagnosed with cancer and has been looking for a church to join. The other lady, Tonya, has also been looking for a church. So Anna tells me to go up to the front door and knock to get her boyfriends attention. She wanted him to hear the message we had as well. So I get him, and he comes out and listens as well. We ended up teaching them about the restoration and at first they were looking for us to say something wrong/something they don't agree with so they could ague with us. Oh and he told us that he had been to the DC temple, but that the Mormon religion wasn't for him. But let me tell you, the spirit was so strong during that lesson, it felt so thick that I could almost physically feel it. By the end of the lesson they all were excited to hear more about our church and the boyfriend said that he was definitely willing to dip his feet into the Mormon religion. I found such a love for these people within less than an hour! Heavenly definitely loved them, and I feel so grateful that I was able to feel partially how He feels about all of his children!

So I can't just share a spiritual story, I have to also add my adventures of course.. haha

1. So I didn't end up eating the crickets last week, we got out of eating those because the members hid them in their house while the elders were in the backyard. Ha! So they ended up sending to this other elder in the mish to make sure we wouldn't have to eat them. Well in place of the crickets the Elders said we had to do something else.. We were playing with one of those huge yoga exercise balls last Monday.. So naturally, the Elders turned it into an intense game of lets hold it, run full speed towards each other, and bounce off of each other! So they end up talking us into doing it, and the elders got the video of it! It is HILARIOUS!!!! Hahaha! We were completely synchronized together! We both ran, bounced off each other, took 3 steps backwards, and fell at the same exact timing!!! So that was pretty grreat!! 

2. We were doing service for this sweet old lady with all the Elders in our district on Friday. We weeding and chopping down trees. So basically she had this steep hill next to her house and there was a vine in the perfect spot. The Elders started it, if I am to be honest, but Sister Lee and I definitely finished it! So ya, WE SWUNG FROM VINES!!!!! Elder Callister got a really good picture of me doing it! I totally felt like Tarzan! Hahaha.

3. Sister Lee and I were in our appt. getting ready to head out in the morning, when I hear a noise outside our window. So i look through the blinds in our room, and there are 2 little girls play house or something.. but one of them saw me and was like," There was a person looking at us!" So I close the blinds and get Sister Lee. When we come back they were both super close to our window trying to see if they could somehow see through our blinds or something.. haha. So being a tired not thinking completely straight missionary we decide to do something weird. Well I ended up pulling the blinds completely up and ducking as I did it, so they didn't see me. Then Sister Lee was on the other side of the room waving to them.. Haha. They were super confused! Then I shut the blinds really fast, and we ended up seeing them again when we left and they waved bye to us. They were super cute(: We both died laughing about that though.

4. We were at a members house and there was this little boy, Benjamin, and the member wanted me to watch him for a second. Normally that would be fine, but he was sitting up on a tall chair and I technically can't hold little boys. So I was awkwardly trying to keep him from falling off this chair. Haha. Well he was playing with this little toy cell phone and was talking to it then putting it up to my hear to talk to it. Then he ended up dropping it, and right when it dropped it said," Goodbye!" We were all laughing at that(:

5. I HAVE CHIGGERS!!! Sister Lee and I were talking to this guy for litterally 5 minutes in the grass and she came out with tons of "Mosquito bites." I only came out with 2. However I got a ton more somehow the next few days. So we count them up, and she had 39 and I had 56!!! So later we found out that they were chiggers, and they were slowly moving up our legs! EWWW! I had literally bugs under my skin! But we but top coat nail polish on them, and I guess that suffocates them. They don't itch as bad anymore, but be thankful that no one got them on the back east trip because it is bad!

Well love you all, and have a great week!!!

Love always,

Sister Steffani Stokes

Hey everyone!

So it has been really weird being back.. I almost feel like I never left, but I know I did. Easing back into the missionary life has been a lot easier than I thought it would be. On the 1st plane ride there I was on my "4th watch" for sure(Dad will get that), but He definitely came in and carried me from that point on! I am definitely getting a lot of help on the other side again! When I was home for surgery It was super hard for me to wake up and just pick up my scriptures and read them! This is someone who has been on a mission, and realizes the importance of reading my scriptures everyday. However now I am waking up just fine at 6:30 again, and I am excited for study time again!! So word of advice for missionaries/future missionaries: Take advantage of the mission while you are out! You get help in literally everything you do in your daily life! Learn as much as you can! I am so grateful for the time I had to be home for multiple reasons, but this is definitely a biggy. Mainly because I know for a surety I am never alone, Heavenly Father has been helping me more than I have ever realized on the mission!!

Oh and I actually just got special permission from my President to call my gator, Katie, from Fairfield! I am so excited! She has been struggling lately, but I hope I can at least brighten her day with a call(:

I feel like every single time I get a new companion, I feel like they are going to be the hardest person in the world to get along with. However every time I get a new companion we click better and better. If you can tell, I really like my new companion! Her name is Sister Lee, and she is seriously so great! We have had so many great moments I can't even count anymore, and it has only been a week! Haha. She is seriously just like me. I know that they say you normally don't get along with the people that are like you.. but in this case I think 2 of me's would get along just fine! :D

I guess I will tell you a few of our funny stories: So the very first day I got in the mission, President and his wife Sister Porter picked me up We then went to olive garden, then I went with sister Flanagan and sister Bennett. They drove me to my new area, Milford Ohio. Then I get to the apartment with Sister Lee and Sister Colten. The very first thing we do is get in the car and drive to a members home to go and pick up their laundry. They weren't home, so we tried calling them.. no answer. We could literally see their laundry through their front window! Yup we are those creepy sister missionaries(: Haha. So Sister Lee was like," I know their garage code, lets go!" So ya we basically break into their house, they get their laundry, and as they are leaving they are each carrying a laundry bag on their backs as they jog to the car. I was like," Sisters... this really doesn't look so good!" Hahaha! If anyone around saw that they probably would have thought that they were burglars or somthin! Lol. Well we get to the car and are rushed on getting sister colten to her new apartment in englewood. So along the way there the sisters have me, in the back seat who has just met them, go through and separate their underwear!!! Hahaha! Great first impression don't you think?! So that was pretty funny(:

Oh and the Elders in our zone are seriously so awesome! They are hilarious! So the other night Elder Johnson and Elder Smith called us, and they told me and Sister Lee to say yes to something.. but they wouldn't tell us what it was. Grrrr! I don't think that was fair, because I just get so curious and have to say yes just so I can know what they want us to do. So basically we both say yes, and they tell us that we have now made a vebal covenant to do whatever it is that they want us to do! Pretty scary right.. well they tell us that they have PB&J, bacon, and pumkin pie sodas! And they have bacon and cheese flavored crickets for us...  Elder Johnson said that the soda smelt a lot better than it tastes, but that wasn't saying much because He said it smelt horrible! . . . .  So as you could have guessed, that was the WORST IDEA ever to go into this agreement blindly! Well now me and Sister Lee are going to be eating bacon and cheese flavored crickets tonight at the Bellistons tonight at around 6:30... D: I think I might just throw-up on Elder Johnson face afterwords(: That would definitely make me feel better! Hahaha.

Well I love my area, love my zone, and really love my companion! I have truly been blessed! Sister Lee is seriously the best! She is so patient, loving, and fun to be around! We laugh at the same things too! I am seriously going to miss her so much after these three weeks! But we decided that she was going to write me as soon as she gets home, so I am all good(: And if I am going to be honest, we kind of had a little dance party in our apartment this morning! It was pretty great! Oh and that reminds me that there is a member in our ward that clogs!!! I am so excited! So we decided that we were going to have a ward talent show and clog together while our district leader, Elder Callister, plays the banjo for our music!! :D

Well I hope everyone is having a great week! I know mine has been great! I love the mission, and I almost don't want to go home ever again. Not because I don't want to see everyone, but because I like how productive I am out here. I really truly love learning out here, but for some reason it is the hardest thing for me when I am home. Hopefully that will change(: Well talk to you next week!

Love always,

Sister Steffani Stokes

Random cute quote for your bathroom: "Wash your hands and say your prayers, because Jesus and germs are everywhere!"

Sister Steffani Stokes

Left Las Vegas Nevada at 7am

Changed Flights in Minnesota

Then on to Covington, Kentucky 

Got there at 5pm Ohio Time

Picked up by President and Sister Porter

Return to her Mission Monday July 14, 2014

Sister Steffani Stokes

Received her ok from the doctor this past week to return to her Full Time Mission in Cincinnati Ohio
She is very excited to get back out in the Mission Field.  She will Have a new Companion in Miford Ohio waiting for her as soon as she gets their.  She has been in a threesome that past few weeks.

New Mailing Address

1202 Queens Drive
Milford, Ohio 45150