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!"