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

Week 15: A voice from the snow

We got a very short email from Sister Riley Stuart today:

love you too sorry its been forever the weather has been crazy for a long time, all is well, we are sharing a computer so it wont be too long to email but i love and miss you and got your packages and im in a trio love you so much 

haha yeah i dont know about new england snow though!!! but we are moving out here so i guess i have to get used to it! we had 41 inches in three days!! 

She's ALIVE!!!!

Week 14: Another Storm and No word

We have continued to hear from friends and others in the area that she is doing well.  The snow better stop coming because I need to hear from my missionary.  

Week 13: DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN

We have not heard from Riley--it just kills us.   SOS were sent out to friends in the area and other facebook missionary mommas and ward members.   We heard she was safe, just not from her.  I'll take what I can get.

One thing I am sure of is Sister Stuart is going around singing this all day:

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN????