HELLO

Hello everyone! 

We had a great week here in concord!!! I love my new companion.  She is visa waiting to go to argentina buenos aires west! pretty cool.  She is awesome! she is my age, her name is sister story, and she is from nampa, Idaho! pretty cool.  II love her so much! her spanish is amazing! I'm impressed.  She was in the Provo MTC in the intermediate program. and she did two mini missions before her mission.. so shes basically pre trained.  

Sorry I don't have much time today, and i still need to write president.  but a couple quick updates!

Sister Story also sings! so yesterday for porque yo creo (why I believe) which is a thing we do every 4th sunday at the temple, recent converts come and give their testimonies! anyway. me and sister story did the musical number! it was super fun. we just sang acapella. but the spirit was sooo strong.

This week has been great.. for some reason, this week, my spanish has really started clicking.  I still have a lot to work on of course.. but like this week something is different. you can ask sister cefalo, she will testify to it. haha she is amazed every time we walk out of a lesson.  I talk soo much now.  but yeah. i love spanish. and yesterday i understood ALL of church. it was awesome. and one day this week we were teaching and i said something in spanish and after i said it i was like wait... i didn't even think about that! it was awesome!! Also, After sister story prayed the other day carlos told me she reminds me of me when i came... and that my spanish is amazing now.  and brother merrill, the High Council for the spanish branch.. yesterday we had a fireside with the stake president and the missionaries of the stake, and brother merrill bore his testimony and talked about how hes seen me grown so much in the past 3 months in spanish and other ways, and how it reminds him of his daughter.(:  so yeah pretty cool.

yeah, we also ate with the merrills yesterday! i love them soo much! seriously, their family reminds me so much of ours. hahah. dad did you get the pictures?  in those, the little blonde boy.. his name is colton. and he reminds me sooo much of benjamin. hes hilarious. they also have a 10 year old, thayne. and he reminds me so much of caleb. obsessed with basketball and knows all the statistics. he started talking about it and asking the elders if they knew certain basketball players and i was like oh my word this is caleb. hahaha so funny.

alright wellll thats pretty much it! we saw a lot of little miracles this week! its awesome.  i love this work sooo much. the church is true people. 

Hermana Stokes

Here are some pictures.

The first is on transfer day.  With the english elders who covered the same area as us.  they got transfered. :( lame. and i also miss hermana zarco soo much.

the second is the bay. we had to drive around oakland last week for something and it was GORGEOUS.

the third is a funny story... we got a referral, went to contact it, no one was there, everything was fine..we left a note. went back a few days later.. and this sign was there. hahahaha people. no worries, we didn't knock. or go back.

Here are the pictures of me and my companions! and some of the merrill kids!! the cute blonde is my new comp, hermana Story.  but yeah.  Here you go people. Enjoy.(:

I'm finally getting a baby sister!!(;

Hello family and friends!

This week was AMAZING.

do you want to know why????

MARCELINO GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!

yes, it's true. I have pictures to prove it. oh my gosh and I am sooooo happy. like really. it was a miracle. he told us he still wanted to get baptized on the 20th, which we didnt expect. and then he worked in order for it to happen. when he got to the baptism, i started jumping up and down i was so happy. really though.  it was amazign.  I am so happy.  the baptism went really well. he asked carlos jimenez to baptize him.  it went so well! and then he got confirmed on sunday! it was amazing! I asked him how he felt and he said he felt so happy. after he passed his baptism interview he told hna zarco... "I feel so happy i dont even know how to explain myself. i just feel peace" ahhh and this is amazing for marcelino. he usually never talks. but he just kept saying how happy he was. and when someone asked him who was the missionary who helped him convert, he said "all three of them" that made my day as well. i love him soo much and i am so happy that he took this step to eternal salvation.

Also, funny note... me and my companions got stuck at an investigators house on saturday and soooo the baptismal font overflowed. hahahahahaha. Soooo me and hermana zarco had to put on baptism jump suits and get in the water to pull the drain then put it back in. hahahah it was hilarious and so fun. makes a good story(: hahaha i was laughing so hard.

yeah thats pretty much it. this week was really great. a lot of little miracles, the the huge miracle of marcelino.  ahhh i still cant stop smiling. so many blessings have come in these last two weeks from this trio. i love it.(: 

oh Transfer calls!!! i almost forgot! yeah, let me explain my subject of my message. hahah wellll now i am officially done being trained... and my trainer, sister cefalo, got called to train!!! wooo! and here is the best part... we are still staying together!!! woooo!!!! but they are reopening sis zarcos area, so we are back to only covering our area! so my address on fox way is still good! but yes. me and sister cefalo are going to be in a trio with my new sister... we dont know her name yet. she is a visa waiter, thats all we know. thats why we are still in a trio, because president wasnt expecting visa waiters. we pick her up on wednesday and i am so excited!!! so im technically not training.. but at the same time i am. hahhaa president told sister cefalo to have me help train(: so i basically get to learn how to train. haha pretty sweet! i actually really am sooo excited. it will be so great! and since we are back to only our area, i get to start riding my bike! yay!!! yeah, a lot of changes happened. like... me and sister cefalo are the only ones staying from our district. everyone else is leaving including sister zarco:( im so sad.  i am going to miss her sooo much! but we are getting 4 elders in so that will be cool. we will now have 4 elders and 3 sisters in our district! fun stuff.

but yep, thats it. everything is great and i am so excited for another transfer! it will be amazing, i know it! 

oh and i hit my 4 months yesterday... what. weird. hahaha. 

marcelino is the one on the end in the baptism picture. and thats carlos, who baptized him.

the other pictures are when we had to fix the font.. and also when we went to the visitors center again with some less actives and members and carlitos.(:

love you all!!!

hermana stokes

best mission.

Dear Family and Friends,

Ah this week was so good! really, this weekend was so good! hahah. 

So Saturday, we had the latin america independence day party!  with the branch.. it was sooo fun.  I decided I have the best mission in the world.  Because everyone is from different countries.  So this day, is the day that they all get to celebrate their country.  So they all brought things from their country and set up tables, and also brought food from their country! so we just go to go around and try foods from all the latin america countries(: it was awesome!! Really though.  They also were playing music and they were all doing their latin dances.  It was really the best night ever, I couldn't stop smiling.  I love our branch so much.  I will be sure to attach pictures from it.(:

Sunday was also amazing.  Because... it was THE PRIMARY PROGRAM!!!!!! ahhhh favorite thing ever.  There were I think 16 kids.  Including Carlitos, who isn't even a member.   HAhah I was so proud of him.  He did so well!! Really though.. you know how every year the primary program makes me cry because i see my cute little brothers up there? wellll this one made me cry too. becuase i love all those little kids so much.  So every time they started singing i just started crying. they really are the cutest, and touched my heart.  and they sing sooo loud and good.  I think they sing just as loud as an american WARD.  Really though, I was amazed.  

Carlitos' mom... ripped up the permission slip and threw it away when he gave it to her.  So it is still a no on baptism.  BUT it's okay.  We talked to him and we are not going to lose faith.(: Heavenly Father has a plan.

We had 23 lessons this week.. this work with two areas is AMAZING.  We are definitely seeing miracles from the trio.(: I love my companions so much.  AND WE HAVE 4 BAPTISMAL DATES. WOOO!!! they are almost all for after the transfer.. so I don't know if I'll be here, but it doesn't matter! I am so happy that these people are progressing!!!

You should all go read Jacob 3:1-2.  I love them.

Thanks for all the love and support!! Les quiero y les amo muchisimo!!! 

Hermana Stokes

I will attach pictures to another email. its easier(: sorry, it just takes soo long.

This is Sadie's Bike.  She said she hasn't gotten to ride it yet so they must have a car since they are in a Trio and have to cover so much area.

a trio otra vez(:

Hello family and friends!!!

Well. This week was pretty crazy.

I went on exchanges! spent 24 hours in San Ramon with Sister Wiser(: it was fun.  Two highlights of that... we taught an english class to about 20 chinese old people.  it was the best ever. hahhah they are sooo cute oh my heck.  when sister wiser announced me as a guest teacher they just all started clapping.(: hahaha it was so fun.  but yeah, so it was cool.  they all know the basics of english.. i mean neither of us speak chinese. so we just help them, and they have devices to look up things when they dont understand what we are saying. but yes. i loved it.  

THe other highlight was Rashi, the STLs investigator. shes in her late 20s and came from india a little bit ago.  So her first language is hindi, and she has a very thick accent.  and she is the CUTEST. oh my gosh.  i just loved teaching her.  i think i have the best mission because i get to experience all cultures.  spanish, chinese, indian. yeah. i have it the best way.  but yeah. Exchanges were good.  then i come home and my companion tells me...

oh by the way we have to wake up at 4 in the morning tomorrow and go to oakland and we are going to be a trio. WHAT. so yeah, a lot can happen when you leave your area for 24 hours. hahah. but yeah, sister garcia, a sister in our district, went back to her home in texas.  so now we are in a trio with sister zarco! who is from el salvador! i love her soooo much! really though.  weve just been like this for 3 days, but we work really well together.  i love being in a trio again! its crazy, because we are covering two areas.  so we are always going from appointment to appointment, and stressing trying to get everything done.  but it is so fun, and we are definitely seeing the blessings from it.  i love it so much. plus, i think working this hard is just the best.  i really just love the mission. and there are tons of perks! like we get to teach the people in her area now! like cuco!! we get to teach him as a recent convert. its amazing. also, yesterday we added a new investigator.. one of our less actives sons, yahir. hes 11. I am getting so blessed in this area getting the opportunity to teach so many kids.(: i love teachign kids so much! heavenly father is definitely blessing me.  

also, yesterday we fasted with carlitos, so that his mom will give him permission to get baptized on october 4.  so yes, we have a baptism date.  i have faith that it will work out.

I am doing sooooo well. this week was great.  I am so grateful to be here. everyone is just amazing. thank you for all your love and support!!! my spanish is improving like crazy. it helps having a salvadorian companion.(: but right now, i talk a lot. its going great, i am so grateful.  

thank you all for everything! love you!!

Hermana Stokes

happy labor day(:

Hello my dear friends and family.

Well. This was the hardest week of my mission. but i am okay!!!(: that's the wonderful thing about missions...Even in the hardest times, we can still be happy. We can still do this. 

Some highlights of my week. 

I bought a bike! the bike store is ordering one in for me because i didnt need the newest model(: it should be here this week! woo im excited. now lets hope i stay in a bike area for more than one transfer(:

Dagoberto.  Dagoberto is our less active member who we have decided we want to get him coming back to church.. well. we had an amazing lesson friday night with him.  it had been the hardest day of my mission, and i was really emotional.  but it was 8:30 and i was determined to turn the day around with this lesson.  So then we are about to start.. and i kept getting the impression to sing i know that my redeemer lives.  i kept pushing it away because i knew that if we sang that song, i would start crying... and i didn't want to start crying again.  But i knew i couldn't deny an impression from the Holy Ghost. so i said a prayer in my heart and asked heavenly father that i would be able to sing strong and not cry.  So i suggested that we sing it.. and in this lesson we had dagoberto, carlos(member), and Maria Elena (member). So as we were singing everyone kind of faded away and i was just singing. And I was able to sing strong and clear and not cry(: and the spirit was strong.. and by the end.. Dagoberto was crying. He told us he hadn't felt the spirit like that in a long time. Yeah it was amazing. I'm glad I followed that prompting(:

So some things I forgot to tell you last week... Cuco! Cuco is an investigator of the sisters.. but I wanted to tell you a little about him.  He has been being taught by the missionaries for about a year.  And he has always wanted to get baptized.. but he is 13, and his mom never gave him permission.  Well... last month we all fasted for it.  And the next day we got a call from him that his mom signed the paper.  When he announced it in a family home evening with the branch members.. everyone stood up cheering!!! the spirit was so strong. all the branch members were so excited for him. it was amazing. i almost started crying.  then he got baptized by his dad on saturday.. at the end they just hugged and cried.  it was the sweetest thing ever. Miracles!!!

Thank you everyone for all of your support and love. I love you all so much.  I know this church and I am so grateful to be here doing the lords work.  I love it so much and wouldn't want anything else.  The mission is hard sometimes just because it is so hard to see people reject this amazing gospel.  But when you see it bless someones lives... it is all worth it.  I love this work so much and am so blessed to be sharing it with others.  I love you all! always remember that if you desire it, this gospel will bless your life.

Hermana Stokes

the pictures.. one is taken from the top of the oakland temple.. it is looking over oakland and you can see in the back san francisco.. but the picture doesnt show it nearly as beautiful as it is in real life.(:  and the others are of the temple.(: haha but yeahhh thanks love you all!

no time..

hello everyone! today, i have no time. because we went to the temple! so i am sorry about that. i will make this quick and everything i miss i will just tell you next week!!

the temple was amazing!!! oh my. beautiful. after the mission, we can all come back so you can all go through the oakland temple. because it is amazing. 

this past week.... i went on splits. with vilma. who is from el salvador. and doesnt speak english. and we visited less actives. who obviously dont speak english. so i had to just speak spanish, with no one around like my companion to lean on. ahhh and i made it! i was soooo scared. like you have no idea. but i made it!!!!!!! i surprised myself.. i know more spanish than i thought... it was really helpful actually, to see how i do without my trainer. i was so happy. and the members were all sooo supportive and so excited for me. they are really the best. when they asked me if i would split with my comp, i started tearing up. instantly, maria elena comes and hugs me. and i guess all night as she was with my comp, she was saying i have nothing to worry about because my spanish is great. and vilma told me the same thing. she just kept saying how great my spanish is. and that i dont have to worry. and carlos was so excited and supportful too. our members are the BEST. And i was praying the whole time, and i am so glad that heavenly father was able to help me remember all the spanish i know. i am never alone.(:

Here is a miracle we had this week.. It was a new investigator.  Her name is Viri.  And she is amazingly prepared by the Lord.  First, we asked her if she goes to church.  To which she replied with that her husband is catholic and worships the virgin mary. but that she was raised catholic but does not call herself catholic. she says she has read the bible and it clearly says not to worship anyone but God, so she doesn't understand why people worship the virgin mary.  Then, she goes on to tell us that she has a great relationship with god.  She prays to him all the time.  And she said that every prayer she has ever said, he has answered.  She said she doesn't pray for crazy things, like every time she needs money, she prays for a job. and she said that every time she has prayed for a job, she has gotten one.  And one time, she had a temporary job.  and on her last day she started stressing because she just needed three more days of money.  she immediately said a prayer, and the second she said amen, her boss came over and asked her if she could stay three more days.  Also, she said one time she did pray for money.  It was her birthday, and she didn't have enough money to buy food for her party.  The food was $40 and she only had $20.  She prayed, and then the lady next to her in line randomly offered to pay for all her food.  How amazing is that??? I really was in awe after the lesson.  Viri is so prepared by the Lord.  He has made sure that she has that relationship with him for a reason.  I cannot wait to keep teaching her.  I know it will be a struggle with her husband, but I have faith it will all work out.  

Thank you for all you all do for me!! i love you all so much.  I do have pictures, but i don't have time for the pictures to upload.. sorry! i promise i will send them next week!! anyway, have a great week! you are all in my prayers!!

ps. the earthquake wasnt too bad here. i woke up and just continued laying in bed.. it felt like i was on a boat and i was very confused at what was happening.(: hahaha. anyway, love you all! and to my family, i am glad no one got hurt from the kitchen collapsing.  Everything happens for a reason.. maybe it was just the kitchens time.(: ahh earthquakes. haha well bye!

Hermana Stokes

Alma 38:9.

Note from Dad (Paul): I think Sadie thought that Rachelle told her that we had an earthquake here in Utah because the cupboards fell off our Kitchen Wall on Sunday night. Crazy!!!  Rachelle was just telling Sadie that we must have had an aftershock from the California earthquake because our kitch cupboards fell off the wall.  And fortunately, we were very blessed that no one was in the kitchen when it happened so no one got hurt.  Here are a couple of pictures of the "Utah aftershock":

Hello!!

Dear friends and family,

Hola! How are you all doing??

My week was great.  Bike is great.  It's hot. hahah but we are surviving! I am just on a mission bike right now, waiting till we get a car with a bike rack to go buy bikes.  But yeah, it's fun.  If it wasn't hot, I really wouldn't mind it at all.  Like when we ride home at night, I LOVE IT.  The first night I was just laughing because it was so fun.  Because I love being outside at night, and its even more fun on bikes.(:  But yeah, there are definitely pros and cons to being on bikes. 

This week.  My branch figured out that I can play the piano.  Well actually, they already knew.  Some did.  But I always used my thumb as an excuse. And that I really don't play well. Well this week they told me to play anyway. So Wednesday for PMG class I played without using my thumb.  It was horrible, but probably not too bad considering I was only playing with 9 fingers.  Then I had to play for Diana's baptism on Saturday... I wanted this to sound better so I played with my thumb.  It doesn't hurt too bad anymore, my thumb is really healing, and playing the piano was fine as long as I didn't bend my thumb! so It was okay. but then, since the branch presidency was there at the baptism, they know that I can play.  SO THEN about 30 seconds before sacrament meeting started on sunday.... modesto came and asked me if I could play, because the piano player wasn't there.  I was going to have a panick attack.  It was the scariest thing ever and it was completely horrible.  But my comp pointed out that it's way better than if we were to sing a capella.  That day I played for relief society too.  I'm gonna have to get over the fact that I can't sight read hymns. Oh well.  I figure it can only get better.

So yeah Diana Espinoza got baptized!!! sooo happy! Her family all got baptized a few months ago, but she was 7. So it was so cool to see her dad baptize her.  She is the cutest!  I just really love that family so much.  Here's a picture of us and their family.  Oh and hna espinozas brother is in the picture too, hes not a member but isnt interested:(  and also, dianas friend that she invited to her baptism (little missionary!!!) is in the picture. but yeah. super fun!!

Sorry, that is really all of my week.  Haha nothing else really happened.  But you should all go read DyC 90:24.  Thanks so much for all you do! I love you all! Sorry that todays email was short!!

Oh and also, next week, WE ARE GOING TO THE TEMPLE. So we are going on tuesday, which means our p day will be tuesday, so don't freak out when you don't get an email on monday.(: hahah sorry that you will have to wait an extra day.:(

okay love you all!!

Hermana Stokes

ps i just checked.. i forgot my camera cord:(( sorry! i will send pictures soon! 


Sadie answered a few questions from Rachelle so I wanted to post them here:

my skirts are rough on bike. its always either that they fly up the whole time, which isnt that big of a deal.. because im wearing bike shorts. so its whatever. but then the ones that actually stay down.. they are too flowey and long and get caught in the tire. haha so i am still figuring things out. its interesting riding in a skirt. i dont like it.  the shoes are great! just dont have any socks hahaa. members just dont like that we are sisters and have to ride bike in the heat.

I'm glad you are all doing well.  I'm sorry about spencer.  But it's true.  Remember that heavenly Father has a plan for him.. if he is supposed to be the keeper for that team, he will.  But if hes not, then heavenly father has a greater plan! so don't worry!!! 

thank you for all your help and fasting and prayers. i had been home sick, but i am good now.(:

hahah mom i always forget to take pictures of the apt... and then i come and see it on the email.. but then by the time i get home i still always forget. sorry! its just a normal apt tho. and we might have bed bugs right now.....:/ ugh. and no i dont get to do that (practice the piano)... if we dont have lessons we just ride our bikes all day trying to visit people or opening our mouths. 

i miss seven peaks!

love you!