ZABALA'S.

Dear friends and family! hi!

Okay soo really all I have to talk about today is the Zabala's.  They are amazing!!!  They are the family that we added last week to our teaching pool.  They are the most amazing investigators and are progressing so quickly!! Oh my we saw soo many miracles this week!! So Wednesday we called Maria, the mom, and asked if she wanted to go to the baptism the next day who happened to be of her niece Ingrid.  She said yes!! we were so excited. But knowing the people here.. and past experiences,.. I really wasn't sure if she would.  I kept praying and praying that they would all day Thursday.  Because I was on an exchange and I just wanted it all to work out.  But then sure enough, as we were on our way to their house so they could follow us to the church.. she texts us and says "Hermanas what do I wear?"  Oh my goodness I was so excited!! they were coming!! so we went and all 4 of them were at their door ready to go.  The kids especially were so excited to go to church.  We went to the baptism and it went so great.  Actually, it was the best baptismal service I've ever been to.  There were sooo many non members there, and the spirit was so strong.  They LOVED it.  and left saying they were so excited for church on Sunday.  Well then Friday we went and taught them and it was such an awesome lesson.  We invited them to be baptized.. They didn't accept a date right now but they did say that they will be baptized when they come to know these things are true!! ahh they are so amazing.  And when Miguel, the dad, was out of the room, maria told us she can already see a huge change in him and that she really likes it.  They also all told us they really see a change in Ingrid and want that for them.  SO AMAZING.  They are so prepared!!! and then yesterday, THEY CAME TO CHURH!!!! actually with the elders investigators too, we had TWO NON MEMBER FAMILIES AT CHURCH.  For the US, or at least for this mission, that is crazy.  And such a miracle.  We were all so happy! and they loved church! especially the kids!! they came out of primary telling us all about how they leanred about the wiseman and the foolishman.  They are the best family ever.  Honestly, every time I leave after being with them, I am just in awe because I don't understand how such a huge miracle can be happening.  After we have been praying for a family of 4 for so long.  It just reminds me that this  is the Lords work, and he really can prepare people.  I love being a missionary so much.

Other things that happened this week.. SANDY WENT THROUGH THE TEMPLE!!!! Oh my goodness I have never seen her so happy.  She had us over for dinner yesterday to celebrate (first time having hamburgers in so long, I was a happy girl...).  But yeah she is just glowing.  Ah I am so proud of her. (:

Also, I went on three exchanges! the first two were in my are, the first with sister Fernandez! She is from the Philippines, and Is soo awesome.  So sweet! I love her.  The second was with Sister Pulu again.  I love her so much.  And the third, I went to SF Spanish again but this time with Sister Vargas from El Salvador.  It was great!  Being in the city is always a great experience.  I woke up that morning to a man screaming outside.  Yeah.. idk what was going on.  hahah. #thecity.  We also ate at a supppper rich house that night.  It was probably the nicest house I've ever been in.  So crazy.  But yeah! good exchanges this week!!

That's it!! I really just love it here.  I hope you are all doing well! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Stokes

Here is the Sanchez family.

They fed us pupusas and they loved it because we ate them with our hands like you are supposed to.

Women's Conference with the San Mateo Ward.  It was wonderful to be there with these wonderful sisters.

Fasting brings miracles.

Hi everyone!

This was a good week.

Um... I can't really remember what happened though.  I think my memory is getting worst. I can't even remember what I ate for dinner last night.(: hahahha just kidding.  But I do remember that I went on two exchanges this week! the first was with sister vejnar again! that was fun. Then the second was with sister Putong.. but this time in her area! The golden gate ward!! so down town sf.  Oh my goodness it was soo fun.  I just love all the interesting people in the city!  I always have the greatest experiences.  My experience with that exchange was.. I chased down a bus.  hahah sister putong was like uh sister? that's our bus.  and we just started sprinting. hahaha then the bus took off but luckily it stopped at a red light so we caught up to it and banged on the door. it was soo funny.  I was like okay check that off my bucket list. 

This week we also had zone conference! Me and my companion had to do a training for breakout session.  Which means we do the same training for 4 different groups.  So we just repeat ourselves for 2 hours 4 times.(: haha it was fun though, people seemed to like it.  Zone conference was actually really good.  I learned a lot of things.  It's always great hearing from President Meredith.  He is the best.(: 

Also, we had Porque Yo Creo last night! So good.  Sandy Diaz spoke!! and Robert came!! ahh we were so happy! they are the best. She did so well.  Also, I played the piano for the musical number. ha that was fun.(:  sadly.. no one from concord really came:( I was really sad about that. I miss them all. but Pablo and carlos pena were there! and roger cortez! so at least I got to see some(: and it was fun to see Hermana Hilton too. I miss her(: she's the only companion I have left in the mission! haha. so funny. 

Okay and now for the good stuff.. we saw some great amazing miracles this week!!! So we have had troubles finding lately.  We have really for a long time been praying specifically to find a family of 4.  Well it wasn't happening. So last Saturday we said okay this Monday we are going to fast for them.  Wellll Sunday night, before we even start the fast.. Sergio, an awesome recent convert who is also the assistant ward mission leader, called us telling us about a family he knows that is maybe interested.  but he wasn't sure yet.  anyway, so Monday we fast.  and here is the best part... when we ended our fast.. I kid you not the second I said "amen", we received a text from Sergio with their information! A MEMBER REFERRAL FOR A FAMILY OF 4!!!!!  Oh my goodness we were so excited.  We ended up meeting with them twice this week and they are awesome!! so they are our new investigators!!! Maria, Miguel, and their kids Alexis and Katharine.  They aren't married.. but they've been together 20 years so that won't be hard to fix. ahh but we are so excited!! oh and even cooler! Maria is aunt to the elders investigator who is getting baptized this Thursday!! ahh so awesome.  They are a miracle family.  I can't wait to see them get baptized one day.(:

So yeah, moral of the story.. fasting works.  We also added an investigator named Perla this week.  The Lord really has been helping us out this week. It was a week full of miracles. (:  I love this work so much. The mission is the best!!! Thanks for all reading my emails.  I love you all! have a great week.(:

Love, Hermana Stokes 

me and sister putong at zc! I love her.

So this is me and my companion. you can see the resemblance right? 

one of the members in the golden gate ward.. this is their front yard. the marina and the bridge. what the. some peoples lives just blow my mind.

hola..somos misioneras de la iglesia de Jesucristo....

Hola!(:

Good week!!

First off... I forgot to tell you about something last week. So I will combine that... but yeah I want to tell you about the Diaz family!! Sandy.. she is so amazing.  So I've already told you about sandy and Robert and eadan right?  Well, Sandy is amazing.  Last week we met with only her because Eadan and Robert were gone.  And as you know, she is preparing to go to the temple. she is so excited! anyway, it was really good for her to just be able to talk to us.  We basically talked to her for an hour about everything going on.  She had us in tears.  She was telling us all about how hard it has been.. she went less active as a teenager.. and then just decided to be reactivated. yeah, she's a miracle.  When she was telling me about that I was so amazed.  She just woke up one day and decided she needed to be active again for Eadan.  and now she has come soo far. she is amazing!  she is truly converted to the gospel.  Anyway, she was telling us how hard it is to have a non member husband... this is where the tears came.  Robert is VERY supportive.  I mean, he is even taking the lessons.  He loves his wife and son so much.  But for some reason, he won't get baptized.  Sandy thinks it's something from his past.  So she starts crying telling us that she is trying to keep faith that one day he will join.. but that she just keeps losing that faith with little things.  Then she told us that the other day they all kneeled down for family prayer (they have that every day.. they are so awesome)  and I guess Eadan always does this.  but he said dad your turn to pray! (sandy has never heard him pray)  and every time he says no Eadan.  and eadan, a 6 year old, says daddy you can do it!  and he says no. and eadan says, daddy, ill teach you!  and he just shakes his head... isn't that the saddest thing you've ever heard? anyway, sandy was telling us she lost hope.  We talked to her about it for a while and bore testibmony about how the lord has a plan.  and that the lord also knows her desires.  and that if she keeps continuing faithfully she will be blessed for it.  We promised her that Robert will get baptized one day.  We don't know when, but one day.  It was really good to talk about. THEN the next day she called us so excited! and she said for us to keep it a secret because she doesn't want to freak Robert out.. buttttt.  When they did their family prayer the same thing happened.  Eadan asked again. but this time Eadan said "just repeat after me" and Robert did it.  So you have this 6 year old boy teaching his dad how to pray.  Sandy was crying on the phone saying "it was an answer to my prayer, that I can't lose hope, I have to continue faithful, it was heavenly father telling me that everything is going to be okay."  MIRACLES.  I love this gospel so much.  I love that family sooo much.  We had ward conference this past week and bishop and the stake president went and visited them.  I guess bishop felt impressed to tell him this, he said "Robert, I want you to think about this.  Everything you have experienced in your life that has made you happy, came from the gospel of jesus Christ.  and everything you have experienced in your life that has brought sadness, came from not living the gospel of jesus Christ."  yeah.. powerful.. So yeah, that is an update on that amazing family.  I know Robert will get baptized one day. (:

Sorry, that was so long.  and that really is all I have to tell about this week!! haha.  It's been a great week.  I love my companion.  We have a lot of fun together. (:

This week I have been studying the Christlike Attributes again.  (We do that a lot as missionaries...)  and it's been so great.  I love learning more about Him and who he is.  I read that if we want more faith, we need to know Christ more.  So I started the Book of Mormon over and am marking certain things to help me get to know Christ more.  I love Him so much and I love this gospel. 

Have a great week everyone! I love you all!

Psalm 46:10.

Hermana Stokes

pics: doris and gilberto, who we eat dinner with all the time. soo funny. I love them. and also.. yeah.. we bought hats. (: had to. hahaha.

I'm killing another.

Hey everyone!!

This week was great! We had transfer call!! ME AND HERMANA ORANTES ARE STAYING!!!!! I am sooo happy. we screamed when we got the call. We really didn't want to get separated.  We love each other(: ha So this means though that I will be killing my second person.. she goes home at the end of this transfer.  But I am so excited to be with her for 6 more weeks.  We have a lot of work to do in this area.  Plus! She will be the first comp since sister cefalo that i will keep for more than a transfer(: really excited about that.

WE had a great week though.  We had MLC, so that's always great.  I saw sister Cefalo there! she goes home on Wednesday.. so we had to say goodbye.  So sad:( but it's good for her.(:  

This week we found some more less actives!!! So awesome.  We love teaching them.  We are currently making plans on helping them all come back to church.(:  I really hope they do.  So many have been lately.(:

Okay but here is the miracle of the week.  

Yesterday, we were just sitting in sacrament meeting.. when Hermana McQueen walks into church and waves us over.. to meet this family... well this women walks up to me and says "hola. soy maria. y me quiero bautizar."  Which means hi im maria and i want to get baptized.  You should've seen my face.. I was like what? hahaha. but yeah she learned about our church in LA 15 years ago.. and this past week she decided she wanted to join, so she looked up our church on the internet and came where hermana mcqueen found her and brought her in.  She lives in the elders area.. so they will be teaching her.  But it was still sooo cool to witness that amazing miracle.  It is amazing that there really are amazing prepared people out there.  Me and Hermana Orantes are excited to find ours.(:

Yep.. that is about it.  This was a great week.(:  Life is great!  I love the area, I love my companion, and i love my mission.(:

Love you all! have a great week!

PS... last monday san fran was grreat!!! we almost left the mission..... hahahaha no really.. we thoguht we missed the last exit before the golden gate bridge... we were freaking out!!! but we made it. we didnt miss the last exit. and we saw the gg bridge! so fun.(: haha gotta love being obedient.(:

Hermana Stokes

Pics from our Zone Activity

I don't get it.. I'm so tired.. but I'm just like happy. all the time.

Hi everyone!!!

So this week was great!!! I went on 3 more exchanges.  We did a back to back exchange this week, and I left for both of those.  So yeah this week I went with sister Larsen from Billings Montana to China town! the san fran Chinese ward.  man it was so fun!  I learned some Chinese(:  and got some weird Chinese food.. and met some awesome Chinese people.  Also, we were in the city on bus.  man I talked to soo many cool people that day!! being on bus in the city is sooo tiring.  We walked so much. haha but it was good for me.  the city has the weirdest people. but it was fun to talk to them all.(:  Then that same night, we started another exchange.  So I went to san Bruno with sister kaufana again.  again, on bus.  So I was on bus/foot for two days straight... man I respect missionaries who don't have cars.  because I really missed my car. haha but it was a fun adventure.  then Friday night we started another exchange.  I was with sister Mong Yen from TAHITI! okay probably the coolest so far. haha her first language is French.  We were in our area, so I also learned that she knows some Spanish! man she is awesome.  so funny.  And She taught me some French so that's always fun.  I think that's gonna be the next language I learn.(: 

But yeah, between the 3 exchanges this past week.. actually the 9 exchanges this past transfer.. and the two days on bus.. and the missionary life... I am EXHAUSTED.  I actually don't think I've ever been this tired before.  But I just love life.  I love the mission so much and I really don't want it to end.  Life is so great.(:

Other than that, I don't really know what to say.  We split the el camino b area this week so that the elders can cover part of that.  I'm okay with it because it was hard covering such a big area... but at the same time im really sadl. because those are my people that me and sister Hilton covered! we still have people like Armando and eliazar though so that's good. but not Minnie:( ah but it's okay.  I can still see most of them at church.(:

Yesterday was JoAnne's baptism!! it went so well! and Armando came! he didn't come to church.. but at least he made it to the baptism.  It was soo great. The spirit was so strong.  It was so cute, we went in the bathroom to help her after and she goes.. sisters.. was it supposed to be that fast?  did that just happen? I think she was kind of in shock of what just happened, a day she had been waitin gfor for ever.  so she just hugged us and was like im clean!  it was sooo cute.  I love her so much.(: she is so strong.  such an inspiration.

Every week I see more and more people at church!! On my mission one of my favorite things has become working with less actives, and seeing them reconvert.  The romeros are less actives we just started teaching.  Me and Hermana Orantes have made it our goal to get their three boys active so they can prepare to serve missions when the time comes.  Their whole family came this past Sunday! the boys passed the sacrament.  The biggest miracle was that even the dad, who is pretty hard came. I was so happy and excited!! miracles.  I love this gospel.

So that was my week.  Sorry, I'm not going to be on as long today so sorry if I don't reply personally to you.  Me and my comp are gonna go to the city.(:

Love you all! have a great week!

Hermana Stokes

pictures.. exchanges! me and sister Larsen, then me and my comp with sister mong yen and sister putong. then me and my comp with joanne!!