Week 13

Amigosss! Como le van?? I hope you've all had a great week of work, school, finals and everything else! Union City has been busy as ever and not too cold either! This email will probably be a little random because I don't have much time, but still an update!

For all my Anacortes friends or anyone who knows about our lovely Fidalgo Island, You will know who Willy Webster is. He is great! And even better we have an investigator here in Union City who is basically the same person, but Cubano and not baptized yet. He in jail for 3 more days but he texts us all the time asking about Book of Mormon and Bible stories. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a blessing to everyone! No matter what situation you are in, you can find peace and happiness in the scriptures. I have a huge testimony of this!

Question of the week: "If they don't care where you are and what you're doing on aFriday night...Why do they care so much about a Sunday morning????" That's all. But shout out to our 16 year old investigator who always ends up at the church on Fridays and Saturdays. Baby steps. Someday his parents will understand how important the gospel is to him and will hopefully soften their hearts and let him come to church and be baptized. He just wants to follow Christ's example.

Yesterday in Relief Society, we smelled amazing comida Dominicana the whole time and they finished the lesson early and served us all a Christmas Lunch! The UC building knows what's up and there is a door connecting the Kitchen to the Relief Society room! Also, they gave each of the women a gift bag full of makeup gifts. I was in dire need of purple and bright pink lipstick so this was a life saver ;) Haha I don't think it's very appropriate for gringa missionaries to wear, but maybe Hermana and I will play dress up with it on p days...

Christmas Week! Vamos al templooooooooooooooooo! I could not be more excited to go to the Temple! And in Manhattan too! It will be Hermana Harris' first time in New York and she's super jazzed about it! We also have All Mission Conference (aka Huge Christmas party) and Traditions with the Taggarts this week! Each Zone in the mission takes a turn going to the Mission Home in Morristown to spend a few hours doing family Christmas things like games, stories, and sharing testimony of our love and gratitude for our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. El es la Dadiva! He is the Gift! There is a really beautiful video on christmas.mormon.org that is 2 minutes about it! Please please please check it out! It's a great way to get into the Spirit of Christmas and if nothing else a break from the cares of the world.

I love you all and pray for you always!

Cuidensen!

Hermana Stone

pic of the lovely Hermana Lara and Campusano! We love Dominicans!

Week 12

Wowowow! This week was super! First transfer in the field was a success! I had my first dream in Spanish, our apartment is sparkling clean, and we contacted 252 people in 5 days! We are told that's a record in NJMM! So that's pretty neat! Even neater is that 3 of those contacts came to church!!!!!!!! People here love their day of rest so when they sacrifice those 3 hours to worship and feel the Spirit and keep the commandment we are super pumped for them! When we contacted Carlos and his 2 sons (the ones who came to church) they were in a rush but they told us they knew we were angels sent from God to make their lives better! It was definitely nice to hear after a long day in heavy rain! Carlos is super golden! He has already started reading the Book of Mormon and he asks relevant questions about our lessons. It's so exciting to see people who love God and are doing their best to follow Him, but just need something more because we can offer them that! We can wait to see the progress He makes!

Other cool things that happened this week include receiving a Happy Thanksgiving cake from 2 lovely Puerto Rican ladies we talked to walking to an appointment, the statewide Spanish Christmas program in Newark with every Spanish speaking missionary in New Jersey, and a muchacho who rapped his understanding of the purpose of life to us on a street corner. We gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet to describe more in depth what he understands and that there's even more than he thought! Also, he's really into meditating so that's great! In Spanish the word "to ponder" is "meditar" and I love that because the invitation of the Book of Mormon is to Read it, Ponder it, and then in prayer Ask to know whether it is true or not. Reading and Asking are pretty self-explanatory, but pondering can be done in different ways like staring at a white wall in a yoga position, deep thoughts in the shower, sitting wrapped up in a blanket, anywhere really, but it does require devoted time and attention to the subject. It takes effort and is a sacrifice, as any good thing is, but it's so worth it. And you feel enlightened after. Aren't we all trying to reach some kind of Enlightenment? I guess my invitation to you is to ponder this week. Maybe a decision that you've been needing to make or a concept that you just can't wrap your mind around. I promise it will be a meaningful experience :)

I hope finals and everything else in life goes well for all of you this week!

Go Cougars!

Con amor,

Hermana Stone

 new transfer = new planner! We are going to the Manhattan temple this month so I had to put a picture of the temple on my planner!

We love Sister Taggart! (Mission President's Wife)

The cake and a view of the nice townhouses in our area :)

Week 11

I hope everyone had a perfect Thanksgiving! Ours was absolutely perfect here in Union City! We went to a family that is a mixture of Ecuadorian and New York so we ate American food! Then we also had a Dominicana Thanksgiving and another Ecuador. Lots of food but we were so happy because food is love! We started the day off playing football for 3 hours in snow! Probably the most fun we've had so far! 3 of the 12 zones met and we divided into 6 teams of 12 or so and had a tournament. (See pic below of the fabulous 3 after the tournament!) Pretty sure BYU's  next quarterback and running back are in our zone.

This week we stayed super busy teaching 23 lessons! and we were just absolutely amazed at the circumstances people live in and the miracles all around. Last night a lesson fell through so we decided to visit an inactive member who lived a couple streets away. When she opened the door she told us that she needed our help and the Ward's help. She had just brought a young mother of 26 and her 3 hijitas (6,3, and 1) into her home. They are homeless and malnourished. She doesn't have much herself but her heart is so big and she was doing everything she can to feed them and get them socks and shoes. We are helping her get in touch with ward leaders who can supply them with their needs and a more permanent living situation.

Our favorite scripture to share this week was Alma 34:38 about living every day in Thanksgiving for the mercies and blessings of the Lord. It's awesome that we celebrate what we are thankful for, but it is not enough. Every day is a gift and it's so important to recognize that and give thanks where thanks is due.

Praying with faith. Faith is a principle of power and action. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ, we have faith in Him. Faith that because of Him we can be forgiven and made more perfect spiritually or physically.

Out of time, but I love you all!

Look for the miracles always

Hermana Stone

Week 10

Today, and everyday, I am overwhelmed with gratitude. I think Union City streets 26-37 (my area) has more latinos than the entire west coast combined! Which is totally possible because it is the most densely populated city in America. The buildings are 6 inches up to 4 feet apart and just filled past capacity. Finding is never a problem. And even if people aren't interested, they are 98% nice in turning us down. So that's just one little note of thankfulness.

Also I'm soooo grateful for my companera! She is the most pure hearted person I've ever met. I would compare her to Giselle in the movie Enchanted. She's una muneca for sure (doll). Favorite quote from her this week was "It was such a crazy weekend! We watched General Conference AND got a new kitten." She parties real hard. But really I'm learning so much from her how to be kind and gentle.

Well this week we dropped below 30 degrees. Wow it's pretty chilly here and dropping fast. Snow is coming in 48 hours! So we bought these Jazzy New Jersey beanies (see below)

Crazy story was about a man named Jose. He was an awesome street contact when we met him, but it turns out he just wants to bash us with Anti stuff and he is super contentious. Our phone broke last week and we didn't have a phone for 4 days then we got a temporary extra phone with a new number which turned out to be a huge blessing because he couldn't harass us on the phone anymore. Then on Saturday night we were teaching a less active member who comes to play futbol in the Church and Jose just comes running in and pulls up a chair and joined our lesson! Not cool. Hermana and I both just about peed our pants. We pretended like we weren't bothered at all, but we were both just praying our guts out that Hugo could feel the spirit. Jose began to bash and kept us there for 2 hours, we had another appointment that we ended up missing, and over all just not a good experience, but Hugo rose to the occasion and was defending and pointing out his logical fallacies. So if nothing else I think his testimony grew.

Fiesta de Accion De Gracias con mi companera!

I have no time left but I would say everything I'm grateful for! Family, BYU, warm blankets, mountains, Washington, and food are just a few.  Most importantly, and if you know nothing else about me know this. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know that because of Jesus Christ we can have eternal families. I know that I can be forgiven or my wrongdoings and that I am not alone in my struggles or times of rejoicing.

I love you all and hope your testimony of Jesus Christ grows a little bit more this week!

Miracles are everywhere!

Con todo el amor en mi Corazon,

Hermana Stone

Week 9~My First Kiss

Hi Friends! Another great week full of miracles! I'll start out by explaining the title of the email though haha. Yesterday our favorite family that is investigating came to church for the first time in 5 years!!! The mom is an inactive member and her boyfriend is an investigator. They have a 2 year old and a 5 year old. Also, it was in the low 30's yesterday and they walked 11 blocks and were 30 minutes early for Sacrament meeting! My companion and I were on the stand playing prelude music and when we saw them we were so excited that we went down to hug them and talk with them. They loved church and everything was so perfect! I was sitting with the mom in Relief Society and trying to help her 2 year old son stay quiet when he grabbed my face and kissed me right on the mouth hahaha. I didn't know exactly what to do but it was definitely hilarious. I never thought I would kiss a boy on the mission, let alone in Relief Society! The reason this family is a miracle, besides the fact that they came to church, is because they are bringing this ward together. They are going to plan and give them a wedding for free! Decorations, cake, music, ceremony, EVERYTHING! And then they will be living the law of chastity and the dad can be baptized!! And then in a year be sealed for time and all eternity in the TEMPLE! It's all so exciting :)

So this week Hermana Harris and I had the opportunity to go to Ellis Island and learn the history of immigrants in the late 1800's and early 1900's! It was so interesting and I had a personal connection too! My great grandmother immigrated from Norway through Ellis Island. So cool! I love history, but when it has to do with your relatives it's even better! We also, got to help people in the genealogy center and here the stories of their ancestors and meet people from all over the world. Another Hermana who came with us studied Italian before the mission and she was able to help a group of 15 Italians who could not speak English use the site and find their loved ones! So neat.

Lately I've been paying closer attention to the Lord's hand in my life and I can only say "I Stand All Amazed." Which brings to mind one of my favorite quotes from our mission president. God is in the details. I testify of this and encourage you all to make note of the Lord's hand in your lives as well. You will see the blessings and miracles!

Lots of love from the Upper East Side :)

Hermana Stone

Photo note: Ellis Island has the perfect view of the NYC skyline on the left and Lady Liberty on the right (different picture)!

Let's hear it for NEW YORK~Week 6/7

Amigos!

I am currently in Union City which is just across the water from NYC! I can see the empire state building almost any street I walk on It's So LEGIT. It's the most densely populated city in America and approximately 98% Hispanic. I set a goal to be fluent in a month and so living here is the greatest thing ever! The people are so diverse! In 6 days I have met and come to love people from 15 countries including Ecuador, peru, el salvador, republica dominican, mexico, honduras, cuba, guatemala, colombia, argentina, costa rica, brazil, korea, morocco, and syria! I love all Heavenly fathers children so much! The message of Jesus Christ is for every person on this earth from all these places and more! Life is so good, and it's even better with the gospel :)

So my trainer is the sweetest girl ever! Hermana Harris is from San Diego and we have connections off the wall! She lived in the same dorm at BYU and she was roommates with a girl I knew in Texas. BYU is such a (perfect) small world. She's fresh out of training herself but she's an expert in all things missionary related and obedience.

Pictured below is NYC! Can you spot the Empire State building? Probably not because the cloud is covering it's most distinguishing feature, but it's there on the right! We run along a walkway here some mornings when it's not in the 30's haha. Coolest running trail ever!!!

Some wise words from our mission President Taggart that I love so much that I can't not share:

"Faith is Power!... Become and Believe" I think the last part is somewhat open to interpretation but that's what makes it so great! For me, I want to become more like the Savior. He was perfect in every way. I know I won't achieve that in this life, but I believe that as I work harder every day trying a little harder to be a little better, I can.

I love you all so much and hope you have the greatest week ever!

Hermana Stone

Nosotros amamos Cristian! El es el mejor!
Yoga master, massage therapy, AND
Member of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter day Saints!

Week 5. Next stop NJ!

Hi friends!!! So many awesome things this week!! Lots of good things happening down here in Mexíco! First of all I got to shake an apostles hand!!! Elder Neil L Anderson of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles shook my hand! What a guy! He´s definitely my new favorite! Also, he is all about French and I respect that. La langue de francais es trés belle. Sadly french is getting so hard to remember as I am trying to think in Spanish all the time. Also, I got to talk to Elder Anderson. I said "2 Nephi 31 and 32" It was great. Spiritual gold star for being brave enough to answer a question in front of lots of missionaries who know a lot more about las escrituras than me.

Another great thing about the devotional with Elder Anderson was that Hermana Dearden and I got to sing the most beautiful arrangement of Asombro me Da. The Spirit was so strong. The message of I Stand all Amazed is so personal and meaningful. I love the Atonement, which turned out to be the topic of His message. Los meritós, la misericordia, y la gracia de Jesucristo: The merits, the mercy, and the grace of Jesus Christ.

Music has always been a huge part of my life and I am realizing it more than ever! Today I am listening to the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack as I email and nothing will be able to bring me down for the next 17 months because of it! Also, Mama today I am super especially grateful to have been raised by someone who just gets it and on top of that is a WORLD TRAVELING VIOLINIST! Wow. Just wanted to brag about that for a second cuz I think you´re awesome. Missin those late nights just listening to you practice and snapchatting it with Ahnyka :) Also, shoutout to Kymboslice for also being so good at music that people in Jerusalem want you to come teach them how it´s done.

As this is our last week in el CCM, my district will be doing a special musical number in sacrament meeting. I am working with an elder to arrange Asombro me Da y Un pobre Forastero. It´s pretty simple but super powerful. I love my district so much and it has been an absolute pleasure to learn and grow with them. 

Last thing, a few of these elders got stuck in a sketchy elevator yesterday when we were doing service for 45 minutes while doing service haha. They´re champions.

This time next week I´ll be in NEW JERSEY! There is work to do and I couldn´t be more excited to do it!

I wish you all the best week ever!

Con amor,
Hermana Stone

Hermana Dearden and I with our cool new Mexican Scripture cases! we <3 Mexíco

Week 4

Hola!

Not too much time to write this week, but I sure learned a lot! First of all I´m grateful to be learning Spanish here in Mexíco. Our teachers are natives and the most kindhearted people ever! I don´t know the situation of all los maestros, but one commutes 3 hours to come teach missionaries every day! Another teacher who is dear to me is currently studying to become a surgeon! Wow, any kind of education requires so much study and time, yet she still sacrifices so much to work her at the CCM and help us in all our endeavors. Also, for anyone who is interested in Church history, I recommend looking up John Tanner. He sacrificed so much for the restored church and was also an incredible example of faith and an incredible miracle. 

Mi compañera and I have started reading el Libro de Mormon in Español. It takes a lot of work but it will be worth it. There is a promise that if you read the BOM in your language you´ll be fluent in the language by the end. I have complete faith in this and I´m gonna put it to the test. 

I hope you all have a great week with midterms, work and all your endeavors!

Luke 17:33

Hermana Stone

Cute friends at the Mexíco City temple

Week 3

Hola amigos!!

Not much time for this week, so all I´m going to say is Conferencia General. It changed my life for the better. 2 things: If I were a philosopher I would want to talk with D. Todd Christofferson all day long. Also, I am incredibly grateful for not only 1 but 15 prophets that relay our loving Heavenly Father´s words that are meant exactly for us and this time!!! "Decisions Determine Destiny" and "Nothing else, no other choice we make can make us what He can" ~Thomas S. Monson. I love and sustain all the leaders of the church.

The other thing that has been on my mind all week is how thankful I am for the ability to think thoughts, form questions, take them to the Lord, and receive answers through revelation! How awesome that we all have this capability! I love learning!!! In all forms! Turns out I study Spanish 10 hours a day and I wish I had 24! Life is so good.

Super sad to hear about Taysom Hill. Still so much love for BYU, always.

Hope you all have a week and find the answers to your questions!

Con amor,

Hermana Stone

And here is a snippet from her family email this week:

Elder Bednar's talk was sooooo good! I appreciated it so much especially as a missionary cuz I'm hoping it will help someone out that I´ll talk to in the future. I pray for my investigadores futura everyday that the Lord will prepare them to hear THE GOOD NEWS and that I will be prepared to meet their needs and answer their questions. I also loved what the prophet said DECISIONS DETERMINE DESTINY. wow. so powerful and so true.

So the schedule here goes something like this:

6:30 wake up get ready til 7

7~7:30 additional study 7:30 breakfast

8~9 personal study aka prepare for investigators spiritually

9*12 classes including language study, BOM study, coaching and teach our morning investigador

12 additional study

12:30 lunch

1:35 ~2:30 sweat our guts out. I LOVE WORKING OUT!!!

2:30~3 frantically shower 

3~6 same as the morning more language and investigador 

6 dinner

6:45~7:45 TALL Technology Assisted Language learning aka my favorite

7:45~9 language study where I write everything i learned that day on the cool slidey whiteboards and everyone 

9~9:30 daily planning

personal time/get ready for bed/walk home in the rain every day because it rains from 8~10 and i love it :)

then i write in my journal shower blowdry get everything ready for the next day and lights out at 10:30!

Week 2

Wowow another great week here in the CCM! Spanish is coming along well and I love the Latino people so much! Nuestros maestros think it's funny to watch us talk with the natives, especially in the dining hall, but I think it's the greatest thing ever! I LOVE singing los himnos because I feel the spirit so strong doing that and also it really helps with the pronunciation.

Shoutout to Kymboslice for the DearElder letter, you sure know how to show the love :) Our district makes a big deal about "baemail" so I felt pretty good about that! Also, Ahnyka I'm glad the gerbils are doing well and that you got to watch the Young Womens broadcast! The words of our leaders are 100% inspired by our Heavenly Father and I am so grateful for that direct revelation! I am soooooo excited for General Conference this weekend! I am so lucky to listen to devotionals and talks multiple times a week, I don't know how I took conference for granted..and maybe even slept through it in the past :/ It's seriously great stuff!

So my favorite quote of the week was "I'm basically Beyónce" The hermanas in our zone are so friendly and we do everything together! What a privilege it is to work alongside them in the CCM and eventually campo misional (mission field).

Working out is probably one of the best things ever here! I started out as the weird one just doing my thing while everyone plays games, but gradually people have been joining me and filling an entire room haha. I have my notebook full of a bunch of stuff and people having been copying it out into their own lately. Nothing better than feeling united in all different kinds of work :)

It is always a good day to be from Washington, but this week I had some incredible PNW pride! First off, an elder sang for us in Relief Society on Sunday and there was not a dry eye in the room. Hermana Dearden and I thanked him and told him that he was the closest thing to Josh Groban and we just appreciated his talents. The best part is he is from Seattle! He had a contract for 3 years singing with the Seatlle Opera/Symphony. wowow. Represent. Turns out one of my favorite hermanas is from EVERETT and a district leader has a brother engaged to a girl I knew on good old Fidalgo Island! They couldn't believe that I had the privilege of living in paradise for 14 years...but they actually did. It was nice to hear people talk about it in the same loving way I do.

I'm running out of time so I'll just bullet the things that inspired me this week. 

There is so much it would take me until next p*day to say it all so this is probably the best way.

*Dieter F. Ochtdorf¨s YW General Meeting talk in March 2013

*"Becoming a Consecrated Missionary" by Tad R. Callister ~ seriously the best thing I have ever read loaded with stories and scripture references

* Ether 12

*An in house devotional by David F. Evans of the 70/Executive Director of the Missionary Department 

*Johnny Lingo (the movie) ~ building self worth and seeing true beauty

*"people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care"

*"It's not what we say, it's who we are that can awaken in them that there is a better way to live"

*"Ours is a great calling"

For all my friends, especially the missionaries, this ones for you Doctrine and Covenants 121:9

I love you all so much! When life gets you down, don't just endure, endure it well D&C 121:8

Don't worry, Be Yónce

All my love,

Hermana Stone

Cute southern roomies representin

1 week down and eternity to go!

1 week down and eternity to go!

Yo yo from Mexico! I have a lot of great pictures but the first is one of my favorites! These little dudes are all over campus, but easy to miss. El CCM is an oasis in this crazy city! The weather is perfect and we have palm trees and el Espiritu Santo. Everyone is sooo friendly and understanding of how hard it is transitioning and learning only spanish. I have the CUTEST and sweetest companera ever! Hermana Dearden is from Huntsville Alabama and we could not be a better match! We laugh til we cry every day and just love what we do. Our classes and church is completely in Spanish, but I'm pleased to say that after 2 days I can understand 90% of what is being said! We've taught our investigador 3 times already and what an experience! We pray so hard to have the Spirit and channel Christ's love for him! He's doing well and I know that everything he needs, this gospel can give him, and same for everyone else in the world! La Iglesia es verdadera! 

In relief society on 

Sunday we watched President Monson's talk from April 2014 conference and it has a message that we can all use to improve our lives. It's called "Love, the Essence of the Gospel" It was exactly what I needed to hear and I hope it helps some of you too! I am so guilty of not being as kind as I should and I apologize to each of you that I have hurt in the past. We can all do something every day to be a little more kind: smile, wave, show interest in another's activities, patience, or a sincere compliment. "May we begin now, this very day to respond in love and kindness to whatever may come our way." We never know the eternal consequence one act of kindness may have. 

Here's something, I have seen a few people here that I know! ... best of which is Elder Elijah Bingham who I was good friends with at BYU! Turns out he's my zone leader. How neat is that? Also Elder Weston Sundwall from the KTX and Elder Andrew Robinson, also met at BYU. 

The Lord is so good to us and I KNOW that he is with us every moment of everyday, even more so when the going get's hard.

I love you all so much, and pray for you each day! Please lift someone up with a kind word or deed :)

Hermana Stone

Farewell talk in Sacrament meeting

9/14/14

I have been called to serve in the New Jersey Morristown Mission September 17 speaking Spanish… good thing I studied French for four years in high school! :)

I think we all have a specific idea of what a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is… but I wanted to share the words of Russell M. Nelson concerning missionaries.

                “Missionaries… are blessed with gifts – such as the power of the Holy Spirit, the love of God, and testimonies of the truth – that make them powerful ambassadors of the Lord. They share the good news of the gospel that will bring true joy and everlasting happiness to all who heed their message.”

TODAY I'VE BEEN ASKED TO SPEAK ABOUT…

The Book of Enos and how my testimony has grown and prepared me to serve a full time mission.

Last fall I moved into the dorms at BYU and there was a lot of hype and peer pressure for girls to serve a mission. As I considered it, I pushed that thought away thinking it’s too hard/not for me/just a trend.

Throughout the year I learned a lot about Joseph Smith and the scriptures, Heavenly Father’s eternal love of His children, and I gained a huge appreciation for all that the gospel blesses us with.

This summer, I had the opportunity to work at Aspen Grove Family Camp which is set up by the BYU Alum Association. When I first got there, I wanted to make sure my priorities were set appropriately. I spent prayerful and scripture focused time in the mountains. For those of you who are familiar with the area, you will have no problem understanding how every single day I appreciated God’s beauty. This increased my testimony of God’s love for us and His desire for us to enjoy this world and to recognize His hand in all things.

As I developed relationships and had meaningful conversations with friends, the idea of serving a mission kept recurring and I decided to not just work out in my mind the pros and cons of serving a mission, but discover the Lords will for me.

After struggling and constant prayer, I didn't feel like I was getting an answer, but I decided to approach Heavenly Father in a more humble way. Instead of saying “I don’t have to go right?” I changed my attitude and said “If it is Thy will for me to serve a mission, I will do so.”

In the Book of Mormon student manual it addreses Enos’ wrestle in prayer,

   Enos did not wrestle with God. The record states that Enos wrestled before God in prayer. Such wrestling is the struggle to find and express one’s real desires under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Praying in this manner requires that a person eliminate vain, trite, or insincere repetitions and to pour the deepest desires of his or her heart into words. Each phrase becomes an expression of yearning and desire to do God’s will. Such prayers are assisted and guided by the Holy Spirit

By talking With the Lord not just TO the Lord I came to find my answer. 

The peace I felt was confirmation that His plan for me was to serve a mission.

As I read Enos, I always love His desire for the Welfare of Others

This is another excerpt from the BOM student manual which reads:

  After feeling the blessings of the Atonement for himself, Enos prayed for the welfare of his own people, the Nephites, and then for the spiritual welfare of his enemies, the Lamanites. Elder Robert D. Hales spoke about the concern those who have been converted feel for others: “The scriptures confirm that the truly converted do more than just forsake the enticements of the world. They love God and their fellowmen. Their minds and hearts are centered on the Savior’s atoning sacrifice. From the moment of their respective conversions, Enos, Alma the Younger, Paul, and others turned wholeheartedly to the task of bringing themselves and their fellowmen to God” (in Conference Report, Oct. 2000, 6; orEnsign, Nov. 2000, 8).

Because I've asked for and worked to increase my desire to serve the Lord and his people, I’ve been able to overcome my feelings of inadequacy and fear and just feel excitement to invite others to come unto Christ.

I am more than excited to be an ambassador of the Lord teaching others how to wrestle before God instead of thinking they are wrestling with God and see the mighty changes they make in their lives as they come closer to Christ.

This Gospel has given me everything: faith, hope, peace from the knowledge of eternal families and repentance, and enduring to the end.

I am so thankful to be a part of a church that has living prophets. I am thankful for the companionship of the Holy Ghost and that I can communicate with my Heavenly Father through prayer and He will always answer those prayers. I am grateful for the priesthood and the blessings we can all receive through it. I am so grateful for temples and the sacred covenants we make there. Temples really are the House of the Lord.

I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God given the authority to restore the gospel in its fullness to the earth today.

I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ. I know that it is the word of God.

I know that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to have TRUE and ETERNAL happiness!

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.