Hey mom,

My age makes me seem older, but I'm really still a kid. there is no hiding that..I did get my package, thanks so much! This birthday was a lot better than last years down in st. marys. the ward was very nice. I think I got three cakes. I only took two though.. There is a sister in my district as well that has the same birthday as me so we kinda, (as much as you can. which isn't that much) celebrated it together. We have a tab at a bakery so we were able to pick up a good cake haha. and no, we will not stop at tucanos on the way home next year. we will stop at the stake presidents house... then, tucanos.

You know, things do happen in a weird way sometimes. Last transfer we were able to teach a lot and do a good amount of finding. unfortunately, all of the people we found last transfer kind of turned out to be flakes and really not progressing so we dropped a few and the others didn't turn out the way we had hoped. so we are somewhat starting anew with investigators. but, hey we will see what happened. we are trying to proselyte 32 hours through out the week. I figured it out too that we have a total of 52 hours or so proselyting through out the week so we have about twenty hours to do other useless not productive things... because that happens.

Jordyn so should play the piano! that's a good talent, plus that piano we have needs to be used! haha so yes, go for it sister! Is ammon on crutches? what a bummer.

I'm so stoked for conference. we will be watching it at the church. the only time we will watch it at a members is if there is an investigator there and we need to be at the church just in case anyone we teach shows up. I like watching it in the Chapel too because I can focus better and it is a lot more conducive to the spirit and so I am able to learn a lot more... and so just for future reference.. .because I'm going to ask... I will be wanting some CDS of the general Conference. that way I can listen to them in the car while we are driving...

there is this one guy we are teaching. His name is sam basil. he is married to a member who hasn't been in years but we had asked if he wanted to meet with us so we could teach him. well, He is very interesting. he was born catholic, raised and baptized that way and says that baptism is necessary to be saved. but, he doesn't believe in an afterlife. Also, I talked to him last week while on splits what he thought about Jesus Christ paying the price for all mankind and their sufferings, sins etc. He said that he had never thought about it before! I was just like woah man, You didn't realize that was what all Christendom based their belief's on? oh my gosh you are sooo missing out. He is almost if not completely atheistic. so we are going to have to really get down to the root of things tomorrow night when we go see him. It will definitely have to be guided by the spirit if we are to do anything good with this man. oh geez.

I'm not too sure what else to report on... We had a three zone, (half the mission) p-day yesterday and it was a lot of fun. it was out in hiram at the Johnson home. we did a few activities and then had a relay in which our zone won. yes it was very legit. but yeah. Not too much to say i guess.

So yeah , Thank you and I love you.

Stay out of trouble

--
Elder Michael Stone.

Hello there,

The baptism went well. Brother Child was able to do it and they had their son from provo come out to help and be involved. It was pretty powerful and a really good day. Brother Child is getting a calling and should be sustained next week. those two are going to be some of the most solid members of this ward. They are really on fire. We've been able to get in and see a good number of the people we have contacted but they really aren't that solid. we have two pretty good looking baptismal dates set for the following two weekends of General Conference with Bryan and another girl named Paige who was a referral from a ysa in the ward. we are looking forward to that. Elder Porter was ready to get transferred and get a new comp, granted so was I, but mainly just a comp. being with the same person 24/7 for 4.5 months is hard no matter who you are. So, we'll see how it goes. Our ward mission leader is fantastic, he is a former bishop and stake president (maybe just a member of the stake presidency, I can't remember).

Ammon is always getting hurt somehow. He is just going to have to take it easy. torn muscles take forever to recover.

I know whitney wride. I had a class with her a few years ago. Good girl.

This week went by pretty slow, but it was good. The dynamics of this transfer are going to be a bit different but still good. we are going to get the Ward mission process updated and re-done hopefully in the next week or two. we will be doing a bit more tracting than usual. we did about twice as much this last week as we have in the past. it was kind of a bummer, but hey. You gotta do it so you can find new people to teach. we do have a few people though that seem like they can become pretty solid. we met this older lady in town who is loaded. She owns several car dealerships here in the Toledo area and told us that she never joined a church when she came here (I don't know how many years ago) so she doesn't go anywhere. we are hoping to be able to get to teach her and help her come to church and baptize her and all you know? I think that would be great.

We are also teaching a man who converted to Islam two years ago. pretty interesting. I don't really know why he joined that faith. but he seems pretty shaky in his faith there. so we are working with him. he is reading out of the book of mormon and was willing to pray for us the proper way. It was neat. this weekend too the local mosque (which is one of the largest in The us. I think... May be wrong) was having a festival so we went ang got a tour of it. That was interesting. They took us into their prayer room and it just seemed so irreverant while some people were praying and doing their rituals. I was just thinking that you would never see that on a temple tour or if you had a large open house and tour of the local meeting house. Especially in the Chapel. Their beliefs are pretty interesting as well. very nice people, close on somethings but universe's away on others. I dont' get it. it seems so easy to be a member of any other faith. Didn't Christ say that the right way would be difficult?

Also, we were tracting in a little town nearby and a guy came out and started yelling at us. As soon as he opened the door was just like, "you guys are a cult! I don't want any of this Cult *$&% whatever whatever. If you are preaching truth you will be persecuted, The Apostles preached truth and they were killed! you are going to be persecuted and killed teaching truth" he kept going on yelling profanity and whatnot, making himself look like a fool. so we said good-day and kept going on, then he proceeded to yell at us at the end of his yard "didn't you hear me?! we don't want your cult @&#&$ @&$^#(& (fill in the gaps) in this city! no one will listen to you" so we said good-day again and continued on. It was just interesting because the scripture that kept coming to my head was " you will be hated for my names sake, My own recieved me not". This man wasd in part fulfilling scripture. really, Fulfilling his own words looking like an idiot. So, I figure when Judgement day comes and I'm standing at the bar against him, He will be pretty shocked. Interesting principle there, How many people may we have to testify against, and, how many people will we have testify against us come that day? hmmm.. That's the second time that sort of thing has happened in that town. nice place.... :/

I can't think of anything else really.

Until then,

Love ya!
--
Elder Michael Stone.

P.s. For my package. I need some cologne. Because when we leave ghetto places and homes full of smoke I stink! need something to counter act that stench... so maybe some hollister stuff or Aqua digio, or Georgio armani. you know. the good stuff.

Hey mom,

Still in perrysburg and still with Porter. Strange, I have never heard of a trainer being with his greenie for this long, I guess There is more to do with him. This week Sister Child will be getting baptized and then we get to have a bit of a break, but we are hoping to have a few more coming in october. We had a member text us this last week telling us that her friend wants to join the church, A Member who hasn't been to church in years showed up with her non-member husband the last two weeks so hopefully we will be able to start teaching him as well. Things are still going, Just not sure if it will be as busy, but we will still be able to teach a good amount.

Looks like you might want to consider putting matthew in a soccer club or send him to some camps and what not so he can be on a club team and get some play time with them. Also, It makes zero sense to me that the second string player can't even dress if he isn't "bringing it" if he isn't bringing it enough to even dress varsity then apparently he shouldn't be even playing JV. Send him to Spanish, He would get time there. He would have a name so he would at least get a chance. It's okay though, I told you last year that Maple Mountain had Garbage for coaches and unless they wanted to compete in anything they were going to have to change a lot around. don't sweat it though. Sophmores aren't even suppose to be on the JV squad, be content with what you have and always strive to do better. That's one thing I have learned within the Gospel that Relates to all. If you are doing all that you can, being your best, wether we are the best in that place or not, we know that we are doing our part. God doesn't make mistakes, Man does, if we get mad at man's mistakes and throw a fit; we are proud, President Benson told us Pride is the great stumbling block of Zion. it's apparent everywhere. So, If the coaches are not even good enough to their players who do all that they can and doing their best, that's their fault. I mean lets look at the world of work, If the employer isn't good to one of their hardest working employee's then, what is that persons motivation to stay? Don't sweat it, I mean heck, if it's that big of a deal, go to Spanish. the coaches like me enough to allow him to play. If there was any relation to Priesthood, they would be released for unrighteous dominion. ha What do Blaine and Jerry have to say?

As far as our investigators go, unfortunately, we don't really have anyone solid right now, so we are kind of back to base one. We are working with some member refferals and some finding ideas of our own. This ward seems to be catching fire though, at least with some of the members. To be honest, I'm not really sure what lays ahead for the coming six weeks. we will baptize sister child on saturday, then in october we have another baptism planned with a members friend who we have been teaching and he has been trying to obey the word of wisdom. His name is Bryan, he seems pretty sincere but the hard thing is, he lives in the hood and has no car, no job, and no money. so, without his main fellowshipper, he is kind of isolated. we are working on getting him some other friends in the ward so when his fellowshipper can't come or anything like that he will still be able to get to church and feel comfortable there.

so, Elder porter and I are going to study a Christ-like attribute every week this transfer so we can be more righteous, that way we can be like Nephi or something like that. Super Powerful and all you know? it will be great. we'll see what happens! ha

Not really sure what else to talk about yet.. hmmm..

well, Peace dogs.

--
Elder Michael Stone.

Hey mom,

In response to your question. Training really helps you understand your purpose. He has the skills to be able to train, but it will teach him a lot more as well where to why he is out here. That's why. Part of training is being able to find yourself.

I bet you are enjoying the warm weather. It is getting cooler here now from all of the surrounding storms. It's suppose to be in the high 60's and mid 70's all week. Nothing like the Arizona sun. Speaking of Ghetto. If you want to see some place trashed and totally Ghetto, come to Toledo. It's garbage, honestly. Especially the east side that we cover. We don't even go there unless we already have a teaching appointment set up. People will talk to you and you will get a lot more contacts, but I will tell you what, If you expect to see them there. Ha, Yeah right....

Have you ever been to Mormon.org? It's a really cool website, I have a Profile set up on there. we are encouraged to use it in our teaching and to send people there when we contact them. but we dont' use it too much. Depending on the wards and the bishops around here there are some that really like it and use it. We have talked to members about it and surprisingly a lot more than I would have thought go there quite often. You are right though, I don't know why they would make a big push for it in Utah.

I actually have been thinking about school. If you could Apply at UVU for me and see what kind of scholarships I can get that would be great. I would put my money on attending UVU. But, it just depends on what is cheaper and what not. I figure too, that staying at home will be cheaper and that I will be able to get a job. I don't really know what will go down in Cedar, I would like to just get my feet planted and pointing in the right direction for a little while though. So, Apply there, see what you can get and we'll talk some more about it later. Just make me look good. ;P

Our baptism's definitely went down. I loaded a picture of us. Cassius had a football game Saturday morning, so they were running a half hour late. but it was still really good. the entire baptism room was full and we had to add more chairs, if anyone else were to come it would have been standing room only. It was very cool. While there I learned something new as well. Something that I guess that I always knew, but it just didn't occur to me. I always have a fear of my converts going less-active, but on Saturday at the baptism I was thinking of that and well, of course the spirit was very present. As i was pondering I was taught by the Holy Ghost that the reason why we have those powerful feelings at baptism is because that is the Holy Spirit of promise. Which means, that if an ordinance or anything done by the Priesthood is accepted by God. So that fear of mine of not doing a good job and baptizing people before they are ready is now gone that I better understand the way that the spirit works and the Holy Spirit of Promise. Neat stuff. I baptized the two on the left in the picture standing next to me; Selena and Merilda. On Sunday we had members confirm the kids and that was very powerful, Possibly even prophetic for some of them. Being able to live and witness purpose is amazing. Now, we just need to work on Finding new people and setting some baptismal dates with them. Transfers are coming up next week again. Crazy, I know I say it every time, but it just goes too fast sometimes. well, most of the time. I don't think I will stay here. I would love to, but I do think my time is up here. I have been wrong before though so we will have to see what happens.

It's weird though, since we baptized the kids, I have like almost lost motivation. Maybe it was just at the end of the week. I will be able to get it back of course, I always do. But it was just strange to see, maybe it was just the feeling of the hand off from us to the ward and them not really being under our jurisdiction anymore, I guess you could say. Oh yeah! Cassius became a teacher on sunday and I was able to Ordain Brother Child to the office of a Priest and to give him the Aaronic priesthood. It was really neat!

That's about it though.

Peace out, A town down..

--
Elder Michael Stone.

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