Week 22: Happy Easter

So how are you doing?   How is the missionary work going and how are
you really doing? I am doing well, the work Is great and I am doing really well!! ;)  

Question time:
1.  Update on investigators and reactivation?

Angel passed her baptism interview and she is getting baptized on the 11th we are stoked and she is already inviting her friends to take the missionary discussions.

Angelina we picked up last week and she is progressing well, her husband is reading the book of Mormon and he isn't even an investigator...yet!

Brian is a special soul...he is into deep doctrine and we are working really hard with him to just realize that the doctrine of Christ is simple.

Royce is a less active and he is doing well, we were doing the quit smoking program with him and he did great...until angels dad died this week and Royce smoked one cigarette....but we have been praying for him so we know the lord will continue to bless him with the strength to overcome temptation. 

 2.  Favorite talk at conference and why?

oh man General Conference was absolutely amazing! I have a few favorite talks.. I loved Elder Wilford W. Anderson from the seventy, when he said " I can teach you to dance but you have to hear the music." and how he talked about precise alignment when It comes to being in tune with the spirit. I also loved Elder Dale G Renlunds talk I love the quote that he said " A saint is a sinner who keeps on trying" and "we know perfectly well, that we aren't perfect." his talk was funny, when he said " if we don't try we are latter-day sinners, if we don't persevere, we are latter-day quitters, and if we don't allow ourselves to change we are latter-day hypocrites." and then of course Elder Hollands talk is the one that I would share with investigators who think that the atonement of jesus Christ doesn't work for them or if they think life is about quitting or giving up, he hit it home for me this year! general conference was just great! 

 3.  Favorite opportunity for service this week was and why?

an older women in our ward, sister wheeler had a stroke and is in the hospital and we got to go visit her and share scriptures with her, that was amazing and she reminded me of my great grandma Stuart when I would go up with my grandpa sometimes and help out after her strokes, she is just a sweet heart. we are going to dye eggs today and take them to her because that is her favorite thing to do on easter but didn't get to do it this year so we are doing it for her. 

 4.  How did you spend Easter?  Any new traditions or something you liked doing?

Sister Harman and I watched General Conference and then the weeds a family in the ward invited us over for dinner and then we shared the easter egg lesson with them that my mom sent to me in a package (thank you) and watched the "because he lives" video with people that we had invited to learn! 

 5. I looked out the window of my apartment (or door) today and saw...

the post office....mainly because that is right across the street ;) but also it is a beautiful day in Morrisville, Vermont!! 

 6.  A goal for the week is?

A goal for this week is to knock on a car window and invite that person to learn about the gospel...I did it last night but I loved it so I  am going to do it again this week!! and to get 3 new investigators by prayerfully selecting 10 potential investigators and visiting them this week and getting return appointments!! 

 7.  My companion and I bonded this week over...

sister Harman and I had a wicked pillow fight during call ins with our sister training leaders....sister Harman is fantastic...and we love ben and jerrys ice cream out here...the actual factory is here...in Vermont and like 25 minutes away from our apartment!!

 8.  Favorite tracking experience this week, good or not so good.

We ran into a yak! someone out here owns a yak...it was crazy! 

 9.  Last song that helped you through something..

I know that my redeemer lives! 

 10.  I am a disciple of Jesus Christ and I felt his love most this week when...
the lord knows who I am and knows what I need, in general conference something was said that just answered my pressing question of "have I really done any good" or have I don't all that I can do to please my father in heaven so far on my mission and they were answered by President Uchhtdorf when he talked about us being saved by grace AFTER all we can do not BECAUSE of all that we can do....and after all what can we do?  and in Micheal T. Ringwoods talk he said " the service that is most important to god will only be recognized by god!" Elder Renlund also said "God doesnt care about who we once were but who we are and who we are becoming. as William shakspear mentioned in one of his plays " twas I...but tis not I" I know that my redeemer lives and I know that through the enabling power of the atonement of jesus Christ, we can feel the love that our father in heaven has for us. how grateful I  am for this wonderful opertunity I have to welcome gods children back into the fold.

I love you all so much and hope you have a great week!!!

LOVE SISTER STUART

Week 21: We cant be a tool in the Lords hand until we learn how to LET him hold us

Good morning Brothers and Sisters, how grateful I am for this opportunity to serve my father in heaven and his son Jesus Christ, this week has been full of tender mercies and miracles, I am so grateful for my companion sister Harman and all that she is and does, she has blessed my life and I know that she will continue to bless the lives she will come to know. 

well Royce and Angel got married this weekend and it was amazing to be apart of that, sister Harman and I were able to be the witnesses and sign legal documents for the church..how neat is that? so neat!! Angel is getting baptized on April 11th and she is progressing so well, her testimony of the savior and of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is beautiful.

This week has been rough but I know that our savior is aware and mindful of us and he will bless us when we turn to him. Sister Harman and I are looking for the people the lord has prepared and who are ready to receive us, its not easy buts its worth every struggle. Something that I have learned about myself this week is that I am strong! not physically but I am strong in every aspect of my life, I know that when life is hard that I want to push through and not give up on myself or on the savior, I don't mean to be prideful of boastful but we as members of the church need to know that we are strong! Sister Harman is a beast at being a missionary, she just loves the people and something that I learned about her is she all about charity, We had our zone conference at the JSM on Friday and we learned that Charity never faileth, and Jesus Christ had charity...therefore he never failed! that was also mentioned by president Eyring in the General Women's broadcast, sister Harman and I have used what we learned this week in our zone conference and women's conference in our teaching efforts, and how the gospel really does bless our families. I would have to say my favorite part about the Conference was that it was focused on the family and that if we don't think we are apart of a family, we are all apart of gods family. I am so grateful to know that we are gods children and we are apart of h is divine and sacred plan and family.

hard boiled DUCK EGG.... I think YES!!!....

Royce made sister Harman and I eat a hard boiled duck egg...it was not that bad..the yolk is bigger than a chicken egg though 

so this week sister Harman and I had lots of moments where we could grow and strengthen our companionship with each other and with the lord, so get this, we are driving down this road...mind you New England has 5 seasons...MUD SEASON! so driving down this muddy road while sister Harman is listening to a VERY important voicemail to get a phone number we really really needed for service this weekend,and just as I am turning around on this really really muddy road...sister Harman drops the phone and...presses # 7 you guessed it DELETED!!!! and then I get distracted and guess who gets stuck in the mud...yupp...the sister missionaries in Lamoille valley.... well sister Harman is so kind to go out and try to push our only 2 wheel drive car out of the mud and of course I am on the gas pedal and guess who covers her comp in mud...I DID! so my companion Is covered in mud from head to toe... I am laughing so hard that...I LITTERALLY wet my pants...no joke it happened...and so sister Harman and I car soaked from the rain and covered in mud, we decide to say a prayer to have someone kind enough to stop and help us out.. so we decided to look more helpless...and three kind men stopped and had to pull us out... well earlier that day we called a lady in our ward to confirm a dinner appointment that we totally forgot about last week and we tell her we will be there that night at six thirty...well guess who forgot our dinner appointment again..THE SISTER MISSIONARIES!!! ahhhhh!! oh and we were dropped by two of our investigators!! that same day...... prayer is powerful brothers and sisters...and I know that the lord is mindful of us and will bless us according to our needs if it is his will to do so.

Vermont Roads during the season of MUD

Sister Harman with the Little Stop signs

please look up Helives.mormon.org and watch the #BecauseHelives video it is amazing, I know that lord atoned for each of our sins, all out of love, I know that because he lives we have the opportunity to help others find him!!

will you??


I love you and hope you all have a wonderful easter!!



 SIster Stuart

Week 20: Obedience

Well, the sleeping patterns are still weird I try to do the things that have worked in the past but I find myself not getting up on time and exercising with my companion, so there is still things I need to work on with being diligent to the mission rules, I feel that I am progressing slowly, although I feel that I am more confident with Sister Harman, she doesn't know that she has helped me with some of my confidence problems, I just have a hard time talking to strangers, but she is such a great example of putting fear aside and just doing the lords work. Sister Harman is doing so well, she has been struggling with getting up and exercising as well but I am almost sure that it is because I don't get up either so this week a goal of mine is to be obedient to the rules and to work really hard to get up on time and to exercise so that I can do all that I can to help her out with her goal this week.

A blessing that I have experienced this week from living the Christ like attribute obedience is while I was studying Obedience in preach my gospel this week I studied the question, "why does the lord expect us to be diligent?" and I was reading in Moroni chapter 9 which is the second epistle of Mormon to his son Moroni, but verse 6 says to labor diligently, and if we do so, we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of god. I thought that was neat, I have been doing a lot of studying on diligence and obedience because I know that this is something that I often struggle with, but I came across my Mission call letter and as I was reading it I came across a paragraph that says, " The lord will reward you for the goodness of your life, Greater blessings and more happiness than you have yet experienced await you as you humbly and prayerfully serve the lord in this labor of love among his children." I have been looking for promised blessing that come from serving a mission because so many people ask we serve a mission and that we don't have to in order to be saved and so I thought it would be good to have a good answer the next time I was asked that question. I was reading in John chapter 4 verses 35 and 36 which read: " lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they are white already to harvest and he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together." so what I have learned from all of this is that I am do all that the lord asks of me including the things that are hard to do like getting up on time and exercising, even though it might sound silly but the small things are what help up accomplish the big things!! I am willing to work as hard as I can to receive all of these promised blessings that I have studied from being obedient.

The only area of concern is getting up on time and exercising with my companion. I will accountable to you next week on how that goes.

A highlight from 12 week this week was, we were practicing the restoration in 60 seconds and the invitation to baptism and right before we left the apartment we prayed for an opportunity to use what we had just practiced and 10 steps out the door was a woman with the name of Mary, we walked up to her and we told her about the restored gospel in 60 seconds and gave her a book of Mormon and asked her if she came to know that what we had shared was true would she follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptized by someone holding the proper priesthood authority? and we read Moronis promise with her and she said "yeah I would be baptized if I came to know this was true" and we got her information and she is in the Elders area so we gave her to them. but it was amazing to see our hard work pay off!!

 our investigators:  Angel is finally gaining a testimony for herself which is fantastic to see the changes in her!
we had to semi-drop Judy, she wont get baptized until her son Is out of jail and it sounds like that might not ever happen..so we told her our purpose as missionaries and she understood, that was hard to do but it needed to happen.
and Brian we picked up this last week, taught the restoration and it was rough because he likes to dig into deeper doctrine so we are going to have to pray really hard to find ways to teach him in more simple ways than we already are.

I am getting along well sister Harman I LOVE HER TO DEATH!! I just got her permission to love her to death so no worries! ;) haha man she cracks me up her birthday is on Friday oh and zone conference is on Friday as well and its at the JSM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHOOOOO I love that place! mom her first name is Taylor!

so sister Harman and I were tracting this week I believe on Saturday and I
was driving down this dirt road and we looked up this long drive way and
saw this...

well CONGRATS TO COLE AND SAM AND ALEX AND SANDRA!!!!!!  I am so proud of all of you! I hope all is well and I have a ton of pictures for yall!!!!

THE OTHER SISTER STUART I NEED YOUR ADDRESS I HAVE LIKE 5 LETTERS FOR YOU GIRL!!

Elder Guinn from our Ward with Sister Stuart just before he came home

Forever & Always,

         Sister Stuart (riley)

Week 19: Transfers

this week we got to take our investigator to the JSM! it was such a neat experience, the spirit was so strong, I took pictures that I will send later today, I am in VERMONT! I have served in 3 states out of the 5 in our mission! so neat that I am a 3 state missionary!

Sister Harman, Royce and Angel and Sister Stuart at JSM Memorial

Sister Stuart at JSM Memorial

1. Update on investigators and reactivation efforts.

Angel Lovely: our investigator who is getting baptized on April 11 and we are excited.

we are working with less actives in the ward, im not to sure who they all are yet I am still learning the area and the people but I am sure that there will be much progress and success when we both learn how to teach together!

 2. Transfers--where are you, who you with, how long has she been out?

I'm in Morrisville, Vermont my Companion Is Sister Harman she is from south Jordan Utah she will be 21 on march 27th, she has been out for 6 weeks I am her follow up trainer, and we are having a great time.

 3. Favorite scripture of the week.

alma 26: 12 it really  help  me understand that I am nothing compared to what I could become and I am striving to become that women god created me to be.

 4. Funniest moment of the week?

when my companion sings our directions when the gps stops working. 

some thing that I learned about myself this week is that I am a terrible driver, the car we have is like a spaceship... its so weird that you forget how to drive after 6 months! so sorry for all those who were ever in the car with me while I was driving I feel so bad for you!!  :)

NEW MAILING ADDRESS PO box 83

                                            Morrisville, VT

                                            05661

Step of the home where Joseph Smith was born

Forever & Always,

         Sister Stuart (riley)

Week 18: Where will I end up?

 Well I received a transfer call this week!! I am going to be training a new missionary and I might get to drive a jeep if I am transferred to Dover!! I hope that is the case anyway haha or I will be headed to Bedford where I would be in my Mission Presidents Ward!! so either way I am super excited! I will get you my new address next week or send it in a letter this week, I will get to see elder guinn on Tuesday before he goes home, I am excited for that. well this week was a long one, all three of us got the flu..wasn't fun be we did a lot of work in the area book and cold calls to formers and potentials, our goal this week is to get 4 new investigators and 105 ITLS this week so we will be working extra hard to find people to teach.

      Mission conference this week was amazing!! We got to meet Elder Hallstrom the president of the 70! (maybe the area 70 I cant remember)  as well as Bishop Causse and Elder Bennett of the area 70, they are so great!! we had a lot of council from them and so many funny stories about president monson,

so the funniest thing that has happened this week was it was 20 degrees outside and we decided to have a water fight and I totally lost I was standing outside our bathroom window on the second floor and sister spangler dumped freezing cold water on me without me knowing and our neighbors got involved and my hair literally froze!! it was the best day ever!! sister tucker video taped it the whole time!! we also had a WWE smackdown in the apartment! that's how we did our companionship inventory!! it was AWESOME!!

and I totally burped on accident at the lunch in after our mission conference and I did not realize that president stoker was waiting to talk to me...so yeah that was uh embarrassing!! but he was pretty impressed!! sister stoker...not so much! she is very well mannered.

District
Sister Peterson, Spangler, Tucker, Stuart, and Payne
Elder Whitehead, Walker, Griffin, and Crosby

Sister Tucker, Stuart, Sarah Wright (Member Missionary) and Sister Spangler

something that I learned about myself this week was that i can use sign language with out even thinking about it! i had the chance this week to talk to an elder here who is deaf and has a cochlear implant, but i walked up to him and introduced myself in sign and the look on his face was priceless, i think the lord really blessed me with that experience because i don't even remember what i said to him! but it seems as though he needed that conversation to happen! it was super neat!

    The Doctors appointments went really well, turns out that i am extremely healthy, they are still looking into the Crones Disease but as of right now, they still aren't sure! I have lost 15 pounds and the doctor is amazed with how strong my heart is and my lungs are great! (that was for you mom, i knew you were curious) I am doing really well

    Well i have to cut  my email time short today so i can finish my driving training stuff but i love you all and will let know where i am headed after transfers!!! ]

have a great week love you all

Forever & Always,

         Sister Stuart (riley)

Week 17: Our Efforts Will not be Unknown

When are the next transfers?

Transfers are next Wednesday, we get the transfer call either Friday or Saturday this week. I have had many promptings this week that i will be getting transferred but as always I will let you know the news once I have received it. My heart is full. I have seen the lords hand more in my life this week then I ever have. We had exchanges with our Sister Training Leader Sister Magnusson this week, and many miracles took place during those two days she was with Sister Spangler and I, We had two full days of tracting, we dedicated ourselves to finding those the lord is preparing to hear his message and what a wonderful feeling that was to know that if we are striving to do the lords work our efforts will not go unnoticed. We were able to find a Potential investigator through our power hour, her name is Lisa and she asked us to come back and share a message with her so we are setting up a time with her this week.

     We are working with our less-actives in our ward and they are doing such an amazing job recognizing the blessings they have already received and i know that its not because of the sister missionaries but because of their desire to their father in heaven, to finally realize that the atonement of Jesus Christ really does work! that is truly amazing to me to know that there are those out there who don't know that there is something that can change their lives and we have the privilege to go out and share that with them. Cindy Farrell is someone who has set a huge example for me. She has stopped smoking and drinking coffee and alcohol all on her own, and is finding a new place to live so she can live the law of chastity, all because she loves the savior! and wants to return to her father in heaven, I know that through the atonement she will feel the love that the lord has for her and that she will be happy again. she is an amazing women of god! This week we have a mission wide conference because Elder Hallstrom from the Seventy will be coming to address us, we are excited to hear the uplifting words that he will be sharing. we have two new investigators again this week.  all of our investigators  are all so prepared. all we have to do is extend the invitation to be baptized, which is overwhelming but that is when I can feel the love that the lord has for his people is through that invitation.

      Sister Spangler and Sister Tucker are two amazing women and missionaries, they know how to discern the needs of the people we are teaching, although often times we as missionaries are not just teaching but learning along side them. we are not perfect teachers but we are to act as guides and to do our best to help them understand the fundamentals of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the message that we share wont come to a full understanding all at once, it will all happen over time, but as long as we are doing our part, the holy ghost will manifest all things that we should know and I know that when we all come to know that Jesus is the Christ and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of god and that only through him was this gospel restored we will be happy, we will feel the overwhelming love that he has for us, and we will want to share the good news to those the lord has placed in our paths each and everyday.

Sister Spangler--SLC, Utah

Sister Tucker--Snowflake, Arizona

  The lord knows exactly what we need and in the exact moment we need those things, I can testify that this is true, i have seen it here in Sanford, i have seen the atonement work right before my eyes this week was more busy with the work than ever. My favorite scripture this week is Enos 1:4-5 it talks all about the power of prayer and the atonement of Jesus Christ. i came across it in my personal study yesterday morning, and the spirit just testified to me that the direct communication with our father in heaven is essential to finding the answers we long to find.

  My companions and I work so well together and teach well together it is just amazing to know that the lord really does work through his full-time missionaries and all we have to do is open our mouths so that we can be blessed with the words that he would have us say.

well my lovely family and friends i love each and every one of you, and i know that you are all a blessing to me and I know that as you come to know your father in Heaven and as you strengthen your relationship with the holy ghost that you will feel his love and you will be blessed!

  I would invite you to find just a small moment during the day to stop and say a prayer to your father in heaven and thank him for the miracle that you were able to witness this week, so will you pray and thank your father in heaven for the miracle that took place in your life this week?

  i promise that as you do this you will recognize the blessings in your life that you have already received and you will continue to receive those promised blessings that the lord has in store for you. 

I love you all and you are all in my prayers!! Have a Wicked Awesome week!! 

P.S congrats to Ryan for turning 18 this week love you bud

and congrats to alex and sandra i am so proud of you sandra!! 

Cole and Sam I loved the pictures thank you and congrats to you as well,

BUckway family i will miss you but i am so happy for all of you!! 

Week 16: Guess What Day It is????P-DAY

Sister Stuart working at the Horse Farm

oh my goodness my lovely family and friends! I miss you all so much, each of you have been in my prayers this week, and thank you for all of your prayers! this week has been full of miracles but first an update on the past 3 weeks. well as you may know there has been a couple of snow storms and new England has received a lot of snow! and when that happens the mission gets grounded meaning we aren't allowed to use the cars, and also they have snow days out here so when school is cancelled the library is closed, so there has not been a way to email so I am sorry about all of that but I am enjoying the weather its beautiful. so transfers also happened 5 weeks ago, I stayed here in Maine, and I received 2 companions, so I am in another trio! it is amazing, sister tucker is from snowflake Arizona, and sister spangler Is from cotton wood heights in salt lake city, I love serving with these sisters, they are truly amazing and have such wonderful testimonies! we have had much success here, we just picked up 4 new investigators all through street contacting!! we also knocked doors as well and that's where we found Rick, he lives in Wells, literally right on the beach, we were beach contacting and we knocked on his door and he let us in and we have had 2 lessons with him since, he is currently on vacation in Costa Rica.then we have Donald, who we met on the street on his way to the ice rink in town, he plays on the professional hockey team here in new England! he has already commited to baptism! then we have Debbie and Chris, we met them at the store, Debbie walked up to me and started tapping in my name tag and I was kind of nervous as to why this women was doing this, and then she asked, your a Mormon aren't you? and I said well yes I am, I am a missionary for the church of jesus Christ of latter day saints, and she said I have always wanted to be one of those, how do I become like you? when she said that all 3 of us were so lost and confused and didn't know what to do!!! so we set up an appointment with her and we met with her on Saturday and she and her boyfriend were interested, but then she invited us to her wedding so we went to their wedding on Sunday it was so cool! they go to a non denominational church called river of life, and we stayed for the entire service which was weird but neat to see how others worship, they had bits and pieces of the doctrine of Christ but also some other things that really just didn't make any sense to me what so ever, but I love them so much they were welcoming and so kind, we also were able to teach lori our other investigator, she isn't really ready for baptism yet  but she is willing to continue the lessons until she can know for herself that this is what the lord wants for her! we are still searching for those the lord has prepared for us to meet. we are blessed with the courage to say what the lord would have us say in the 33rd section of the Doctrine and covenants its says" open your mouths and they shall be filled" what that teaches is that if we are willing to trust in the lord whole heartedly and learn to discern the needs of those we are teaching we will be diligent in opening our mouths and he will bless us with the words he would have us say! many miracles take place each and everyday, I am so grateful to be one of those who has the chance to be apart of these miracles. We had a less active this week named Cindy Farrell who didn't want the missionaries to bother her anymore so we stopped contacting her, she sent us a text message saying " how do I get an ensign?" and we said well we can work that out for ya, and asked how she was doing, and then no response, so sundae comes around and there is Cindy Farrell, walking through the chapel doors beautiful as ever, well while all of this is happening, we are at choir and I fall to the chair and place my head in my hands and I am just sobbing, how grateful I am for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the love that he has for each and everyone of us, he has been preparing here to come back to church and she did it on her own she took a cab and came to church! how great is that? man the church is true!! that was for you Uncle Larry ;) we are loving the work out here and the people the lord places in our lives. I have learned so much this week form my savior, that love is all that he is and all that I want to become, I know he has a grater plan for me and my companions, and because he loves us we can share that love that he has for others. so here is the fun stuff that we did!!! well we do volunteer work at a horse farm and sally one of the horses is gonna pop any day now!!! that's right a baby horse!!!!! we are just waiting for the call so we can go help out! I am so stoked! and we had a mini mission with a yw in here in our ward, sarah wright whose sister comes home tomorrow from her mission, and we had sister baskos daughter Rachel come home from her mission last week from Tiawan! and we have been to the ocean like every day this week cause its the first week it hasn't snowed!!! thank goodness, and GUESS WHAT!!! I HAD LOBTER BISQUE!! AND IT WAS FANTASTIC OH AND I ALSO HAD WILD SHRIMP AND SCALOP AND POTATOE CHOWDER AND I LOVED IT!!!! I think my tasted buds are changing out here!! man sea food out here is good!!! we have a huge mission meeting on march 7th with a general authority coming we don't know who yet, and we all think we might be finally getting ipads,so I will update you all on that next time! I am loving it here and I know that you all doing so well back home, congrats to cole and sam! wish you the best, and also happy birthday to madi and to ryan! and happy valentines day and congrats to Dylan and his baptism, and tell tara that I love and wish her and her family the best where ever life takes them! if i missed anyone im sorry but i do love you very much!!!

sorry it was different this week!!

Forever & Always,

         Sister Stuart (riley)

Sister Stuart, Sister Spangler and Sister Tucker enjoying the weather at the Beach