Monday, September 29, 2014

Hey Everyone!
So I am just realizing that my little sister Megan is going to be turning 16 this Friday.. Holy cow! That is just not allowed! She is old enough to date.. and could be going to homecoming? Man! Well Happy Birthday Megan! I love you bunches and bunches! I hope everything is going good with dance, friends, and of course the fam. Boys, stay away. That is all.(:

This week went really well! We have been working with one of our new investigators named Gabby. We just met her last Saturday, and she is already on date for the 18th of October! She is so excited to be baptized, and is keeping all of her commitments to reach that date! The elect are out there just waiting to be found and harvested. She is definitely the elect. She wanted her baptism to be even earlier, but she has to go to church at least 3 times first. Plus she didn't even know who Jesus Christ was when we first met her, so this way she will have more time to learn everything she needs to to be ready for the 18th. She also expressed to us that she really wants to serve a mission just like us! Man! I just love her.

We got our investigator Daishaun to church this Sunday. We just taught him the BOM lesson a few days ago and since then he is already halfway through 1 Nephi. He told us that his friends saw him reading the BOM and wanted to know more about it! So next lesson we have with him on Tuesday he is bringing his friends! Also while at church he was friend-shipped by one of the really strong members: Brother Wardrop. Daishaun is now going to be picked up by Brother Wardrop on Saturday and taken to the priesthood session of conference! Wooo! I just love missionary work! It is so true that if you're having a hard time, just go out and do the work. The more you lose yourself in the work the more you truly find yourself. I don't understand why that can be such a hard concept to believe sometimes, because it has always been proven time after time. But I know that I am so much more happier when I lose myself in the work! If you don't believe me, just go out today and test it out. It will bring you so much more joy than the TV or the computer or anything else will. If you don't know what to do for missionary work, then ask the missionaries. They will help you.(:
On Saturday we went to Thelmas house to do some service for her. Apparently her house has gotten so bad that the government got involved or something.. because she was telling us that she was going to have to pay $75 an hour until it was fixed up. So yup, she called the missionaries(: Lol. Oh and Elder Kyler Campbell had worked on Thelmas yard before too and broke their lawn mower trying to mow the 4-5 feet tall grass! They eventually took machetes to it! Haha. Well we had this member with us, brother Bell, and he told us that Thelma wanted this deader that a door nail tree down in the back. So I take this hand saw that wobbles and start attempting to saw it down. I look over to Thelma and Brother Bell talking in the front yard and she looks horrified with her hand over her mouth.. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but Elder Bell, not Brother Bell (I know it can get confusing. Lol), came over and helped me push it down. So I got to push a tree down, so that was pretty awesome! I got some battle wounds doing it, but it was worth it(: Well later I came to find out that Thelma didn't want that dead tree taken down.. She had named it Thelma, and she really liked that tree.. I felt bad. I guess she named every tree in her backyard after someone in her family. So yup, I took down Thelma. But she said it was fine..?
The McBrides had their baby yesterday! I am so excited to see him this week! Sister McBride was sooo ready to have that baby though. Man! I don't think I am too excited to be preggo someday, it just looks so painful.. at least it was for her. There was another member who had a baby as well this week! So 2 brand spankin' new babies in the ward this week! Yay! I love babies(:
On Monday we had a Zone fun-day. The Sister Training Leaders had put the whole thing together. We did three legged races, ate donutes from strings, played corn hole, pin the name tag on the missionary, trashbag sack races, jello eating contests, and even more! It was such a fun day! I just love zone fun-days!
Also I was able to see the Womens Conference on Saturday! I just think it is so cool even though I am in Ohio, you guys are mostly in Vegas, and Amanda is in Portugal, and we are all watching the same thing at the same time. I loved womens conference though, it was so good! I just love President Uchtdorf so much. I have come to cherish any kind of conference now. What a privilage it is to hear our leaders speaking to us with the revelation given to them to help us all get nearer to God. It truly is just amazing, and we should always remember what a blessing it is to hear from them!
So random funny thing.. This actually happened 2 weeks ago, but I kept forgetting to tell you. So uh.. I TOTALLY GOT MOONED BY OUR INVESTIGATORS KID!!!! It was super awkward! I have never been mooned before either, so I had no idea how to react. Well we were bring our Gator Gina a plate of goodies. Her daughter answered the door and said she wasn't home. We were outside talking to her for a minute when I see the curtain behind her on the door move and I saw something peachy then probably a second later I realized what it was! ICKKKK! It was so nasty! And the worst part of it all is that my companion didn't see it! She saw a peachy thing too, but she only saw a tiny part because the daughter was in her way from being able to see it! So that was something crazy that happened recently!
Well On a more spiritual note, remember to look to the Lord for everything! The word remember is one of the most commonly used words in the BOM. So remember, and don't forget your Savior.
Love always,

Sister Steffani Stokes<3


 me and sister Penrode




















Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Happy Birthday Kaylin!!! I hope you have a great birthday! Holy cow you're 19, and the mission just around the corner! You are going to love it girl!

Well this week was great! I got to meet with some members, the McBrides, this week. He is our ward mission leader. It was such a great lesson, I love them to death! He said he kept getting a feeling that they should move to Las Vegas! Woooooooooo! If they do, you can meet them, and I can see them when I get home!(:
We also went to dinner with the cutest old lady this week. She is widowed, and has lots of money, so she took us to a super fancy restaurant! It was 1 of 22 rotating restaurants in the united states. It had an awesome view of the skyline of Cinci.
Had to supervise the Elders when they went to this other members house to pray with him... because I guess there are major superstitions that he is gay.. lol. So that was a very interesting visit, because we didn't really know what we were doing. We were just told that we had to be there with them.
Oh miracle! Totally saw the Kim that his wife Joyce told us not to come by anymore and she would tell Kim. He was outside gardening the front yard when we walked by. So naturally we all start talking to each other, and he said that he missed us and didn't know why we didn't stop by his house anymore.. it then got silent for a few seconds and he connected the dots himself. Needless to say Joyce didnt talk to Kim about what she had told us. He said he wants to learn more, but we don't want to tear apart their marriage.. hard situation.. but the ball is in his court if he ever wants to do anything about it. We told him when church is and when institute is. So I guess we will see with him(:
Met an Indy lady at Penn Station. She was working, but kept asking us tons of questions about the church. She is a little slow, because she is still learning English(She says) But she has  been here since she was 3. She is from Romania and she didn't know who Jesus Christ was, or even what a prayer was! I can't even imagine not knowing who He is. That knowledge has helped me so much in my life! Well we taught her the very basics, and she felt the spirit and wants to be baptized! Yayy! So that was pretty sweet!
Well Love y'all, and just keep press on. Life is too short to stop pressing on. Enjoy every stage of life, and every situation you are in. Peace.
Love always,
Sister Steffani Stokes

Monday, September 15, 2014

 Service Project :)



 District picture with cinci in background















Sister Porter

















 on our way to the reds game
 Sister Chapa, and Katie
she was from milford, sis Newberry, she can clog(:
 Our Mission
 Sister Unklesbay
 Sister Flanagan and Bennet
 My MTC District

 Sister Holm
 President Porter