Pictures FOR Our Missionary

Michael has requested some more pictures of his friends and family. If you have any new and/or great pictures that you would like to share with him, please e-mail them to sto04033@gmail.com and I will print them and get them to him
Thanks- Breanne

So Much- 3/31/08

I have so much to tell you all- I don’t know were to start, so if this letter is kind of random sorry. Ok so first thing to tell you is that Elder Anderson and I got chased by a drunk man, it was late at night and we were coming home from a great lesson (which I will tell you about later) and we almost hit this drunk dude- because he came out of no were and he got so mad he started to curse, swear and then started to chase us. We were on bikes so we smoked him but still, and we were so close to our apartment that he found out were we lived, so we had to act like we weren’t home and turn out all the lights (and planned in the closet). It was scary because he was outside the whole time trying to find which apartment was ours. Its a good thing that he was drunk and didn’t notice the picture of Christ but one other thing happened, at 12 at night he started pounding on our door- it was bad but I am ok we have good locks on our doors.
So that lesson that I told you about was a lesson with Sirgo, an investigator, and is a missionary dream. He has so many questions I love it. He was scared at first because he didn’t know what he was feeling was the spirit but he is one of the best I love him.
I love you all and would write more but my typing is slow and bad (as you can tell) but I am great and love the mission it is going to fast. I can’t believe its been 3 months- aaaaa. Love you Family.
Oh, I forgot to tell you, I got sick again but I am better. I had a cold

Easter Week- Mon 3/24/2008

Well, it sounds like all your Easter’s were interesting and fun. I didn’t even know it was Easter till the day before it came, I just lost track. My Easter was way cool, the whole week we had a great excuse to get all our less actives to come to church- telling them that that we have a good one coming. Because of us we had so many people come to church, it was so cool and we had great talks about the atonement and the resurrection. It was kind of hard to pay attention because there was a kid chewing on my shoe and I couldn’t get him off. I hope he doesn’t get sick. Well, the temp has already got to 100 degrees- ouch. But it wasn’t that bad- It may not be that bad for me. I got a haircut and its a good one because we got it from a hair stylist, Sister Powers, she is awesome. This Friday we are going to the Redlands temple, I am so pumped and exited. I love that temple.
Ok, way funny experience, we were asked to do a service project by the zone leaders at the old folk’s home, serving them food. Here is the thing we were serving them during a model show... board walk and every thing. And if that’s weird enough the ones that were modeling were old! Ewww- Oh well at least we got a tip.
I love you all and thank you for the e-mails

Feeling Better

Hey, how’s my family doing? Sounds like everyone is sick- well I hope every one is feeling better- I am feeling way better. The best thing that happened this week is we have a baptism date, May 3. It’s for a boy named Adam, he has had all the lessons and is so ready. The only reason we got this baptism is because Elder Anderson is so forward and flat out told him to get baptized. So that made me more blunt than I normally am, so this whole week we have been pretty forward. Well other than that nothing else cool happened, other than my thighs and butt are huge from riding all over- but don’t get me wrong I love biking. Elder Anderson has been on his mission 9 months, the whole time in a car till now, so he is pretty sore but it goes away fast. Elder Anderson and I get along great! My abs hurt more than anything because he makes me laugh so much. We are probably going to be together for a long time here.

The weather here is pretty hot, I am starting to get a tan woo hoo yeah! Its pretty dark to you can tell the difference hard core when my watch is off.

Well I guess I should say Happy Easter to you because I wont be able to talk to you till next Monday but its weird because I don’t even know that there is holiday coming like I didn’t know today was St Patrick’s day- tell Sean I said happy b-day. Well tell all my friends I love then and miss them and pray for them to stay strong in the gospel. I love you all so much and pray for you all the time. Love you Elder STONES

Sick but Happy- March 10

Well, this week has been really different. First I am getting a new companion already. The transfer is over, Rose is going to Murieta as a zone leader and I get Elder Anderson. I get to meet him is 5 hours and I am sick out of my mind. I also have the flu really bad, I have been throwing up all day but it is good because I get to find out how to live on my own and apply mom and dads teachings to life. Drink water, wash your hands- stuff like that but with trial comes treasure...I say. Nothing new really just the ward boundaries changed so we have a huge area to bike in- 400 active members- a lot of work. Well I love you all!

MTC Pictures

Here are some MTC Pictures!! I just send home my camera memory card when it gets full- so there will be more pictures to come!!

Monday March 3, 2008- To Brea

Aaaaaaaaaaa it is killing me there is such good music here to dance to and i cant do any thing about it I WANT TO DANCE!!

Monday March 3, 2008

Hey how you all doing I have a lot to tell you but little time so I will just tell you the good parts. First I want you to know that our ward boundaries have changed so it seems like I am new again because I don’t know everyone again. But the good thing is that we just got more members and didn’t lose any that means that there is a lot more work which is way cool it makes me exited. Before that happened we got to go on campus and teach a class of hundreds just us two about our religion it was a good experience. We talked to a lot of people. Oh, I don’t know what is up with me and the dogs but they only go after me, yes I got chased again.Well we have a baptism date for two of our investigators. but for a while all of our investigators had something wrong with them we had one turning up as a hit man, one was a stalker, one was a Muslim- it was so weird but we will get past that in do time. One scary thing is that me and elder rose saw a huge gang fight- it hard core bad, and our area only gets worse. We are now proselyting in the full on ghetto but no worries, we are totally safe, we know were not to go. Oh, I forgot I was going to tell you about one of our progressing families, the Carlson’s, they are all members except one boy but he is one of the ones that is getting baptized. Man they love us, like our family loves the missionaries at our home. They even have the games and I get to teach them all of our games, it is fun. Well I love you sorry I don’t have a lot of things to say. Maybe I will have more the next week. but I love you all and love to hear from you it means so much to me to here from you.your elder stones

2/25/08- Week 4

So this week has been hard but worth it. As a lot of you know with every trial comes reward, trust me on that. the week was starting out hard no one wanted to talk to us it just seamed like we had a disease or something we got cursed at, spit on, rained on 3 days in a row it was horrible and i wasn’t in the best of moods, i couldn’t focus, i wasn’t lost in the work i just didn’t feel like i should. but if life gets to hard for you to stand KNEEL thats what i did around 3 in the morning i got down on my knees and prayed asking what am i doing wrong i need help then i went back to bed, woke up refreshed the sky was blue people were out and weren’t rude. now here is the reward, or something, that i will never forget we were tracting and we found that a man was following us we went to talk to him introduced ourselves he said he knew who we were and wanted to be a part of what we were in our church i was shocked and almost started to cry.

I know for a fact that our heavenly father answers our prayers i know, and now i pray all the time. i have an assignment for you family listen to, Childs Prayer that great song.

any way dad you asked what i am eating well believe it or not some of it is really weird. we eat a lot of mexican food…a lot. and it is all hot they put habaneras in there food HOT! lots of steak.

one thing that has been killing me is NOT BEING ABLE TO DANCE. i hear such good dance songs and we cant do anything about it- it is killing me. the other night the young ambassadors came to riverside and we missionaries were ushers i could hardly stand it i wanted to dance so bad but i resisted. my companion was laughing at me the whole time because i would pull a little move every once in a while. and at home, it is really hard to salsa to motab but the robot looks really funny when you do it to motab you all should try it

i miss you all and pray for you each day also and thank you for your prayers i can always feel them and tell when you are.... its like a power i have i can tell when you pray ha ha. well love you lots till next Monday

2/19/2008- ANSWERING DAD'S QUESTIONS:

1. Has your laundry turned a funny color?
no not yet but i am expecting it to happen soon. i mean you know me
2. What kind of bike do you have?
the bike i have is called the liahona because it is a mission bike
3. Did you write a check for your bike?
no it was only 80$ and i didnt have the check book so i did it with cash.
4. Tell us something about your companion Elder Rose.
oh man we get along great he is the coolest, right now he is my best friend. when they say i will meat people i will know for eternity one of them is him. he is just so funny and a great missionary.
5. How far do you ride every day?
we ride about 6 miles or more a day
6. Has it been raining?
Sometimes it is right now
7. Do you have to cook for yourself?
yes i cook some times mostly lunch because we get fed by members all the time at dinner.
8. Have you washed your sheets, brushed your teeth and washed your face?
my hygiene is very good
9. Are you flashing your big smile?------at girls?
i am not going to lie i do smile a lot but i cant help it i am just so happy when i get to share the gospel. plus smiling is fun.
10. Tell us what you do in the morning?
well we wake up and work out for 30 min then we take showers while the other is eating then 1 hour of personal study then 1 hour of companion study then we are off to proselyte
11. Tell us about someone you are teaching?
lets see...sergio he is a referral from the Spanish missionaries he is one of those guys that are golden (he is one of those guys that all missionaries dream of having) we have taught him the first and some of the second lesson (you should get a preach my gospel and read those lessons.) but yeah he is so cool and i cant wait for his future.
12. Are you getting enough letters?
yea i am getting letters two or three a week it makes me really happy
13. Are you teaching on the university campus? Becky Eland has been there and says that it is sooo pretty there.
some times we have people we get to see there but we give alot of sisters to go there because we get girls interested and set apt. and then send the sister missionaries to see the girls.
13. Lots of people ask “how is Michael?’ What should we say next week?
tell them i am happy and love my mission and great things are happening to me i am growing in every way and tell the preasts it is something to look forward to.
14. Are you tried?yes there are many trials but nothing the lord cant help with.
15. Are you working hard?
o man! i have never worked harder in my life but i love the work. but yes it is hard.
16. Are you learning when you study?
i learn every moment especially when i study and from elder rose
17. Is your mission what you thought it would be?
i dont really remember what i thought it was but i guess that could be a good thing
18. Your room is still so clean. Can we paint it pink yet?
yea sure... pink dragons would be awesome he he ha ha
19. Lunch is still well and happy. I guess I have a new pet.
20. Gretel has only gone 36 miles since you left. Only to church and back.
21. Are you happy?yes. i love it here it such a blessing in my life
22. Do you miss our snow and cold weather?
Remember scrapping the ice off the windshield and car.well i will because i hear it gets 110 degrees here, then i will miss it
23. Do you know your President Ewer very well?
Oh i love him and enjoy him when i get to see him
24. Have you met other Elders yet?oh ye i know at least 40 others elders
25. Have you met other Sister missionaries?no not yet
26. How often do you teach?i teach every day it is so amazing i dont know how i do it
27. Is it still scary?no not at all i am totally use to it all
28. Do you do tracting?
oh man we do tracting all the time at least once a day it takes about one hour depending if people want to talk
29. Do you know that your family still loves you and misses you everyday?
yes i do and always will
30. Do you know what a great example you are to those who know you and love you?
yes i have to be a good example i am representing Jesus Christ
31. Did you know that your whole family prays for you every day?yes i can feel it every day

ok so a couple things that happened to me this week was the lesson with Sirgo that was the best thing that ever happened this week. and a major thing happened to me this week i got BIT by my first dog. it hurt really bad at the time but i am fine now i have a pic of it on my card you will see when i send it to you i love you all

Mon 2/11/08

Hey all you,
How’s it going I got all your pics and e-mails they make me smile and laugh but as for your questions I am in my own apt, our ward is the university heights ward (it’s full of college student because our area is on a campus UCR). We are getting fed very well. The towels are up. On my first day I was picked up by the Pres and AP. My comp is Elder Rose he is from Oakland Idaho. I am on a bike, we eat a lot of Mexican food but it is good.well I have one experience I will never forget we went over to talk to a investigator and taught him the ten commandments but we found out that he has a problem with “thou shall not kill”- evidently he was a hit man back in the day, so we have to talk the Pres about that but his baptism date isn’t looking to good, now we just have to tell him. But we are making progress on a lady named Cici, she is doing great and is so golden and is ready.I have another experience we were riding to an appointment and stopped to talk to a hobo he didn’t know who we were and said "At least your not one of those JW’s or what I like to call morons" we told him we are Mormons he was speechless ha ha ha ha- it was pretty funny.
The days are so nice here I love it but they only get hotter so... people say ‘oh your from Colorado oh man it is going to get so hot here’.....they are probably right they say it gets up to 110 here- ouch but oh well! Oh I am all ready way darker- its pretty crazy. You guys will have to tell me if you get these e mails or not because I don’t want you to think I am not writing- that would be bad.Well I love you all and I will talk to you later

Mon 2/4/2008

Hey how are you all doing I hope you all great. Ok first I want to tell you how amazing cal is it like a paradise. Ok any way I have got to tell you the weird things that happened to me you know the cool mission experiences. Ok don’t freak out mom I am always safe but I have placed in the center of Riverside that just happens to be the poorest place in the whole mission. So it very eye opening for me to see how some people live and they have so little but seem to be so happy to see missionaries; most of them are so humble and willing to listen I love them all, they are great people, but there also those bad places were everyone hates you! It kind of is sad hopefully they will let us teach them in the next life- it is so vital that every one hears our message but oh well.
Well as for weird, bad, and crazy things. First DOGS they are everywhere! I am slowly getting over them and my frights. I have been chased once, but bikers are faster than dogs....YES! Oh yeah the other day well yesterday me and Elder Rose (that’s my comp) got spit on while we were on our bikes on the road eww haaa- but oh well.Investigators- well I am only going to tell you about one he means a lot to me his name is Victor. He has a very very bad past with gangs but I am vary proud of him he has totally turned his life around, he is all set for baptism except for the word of wisdom he kind of smokes and drinks but we can easily get over that. The only problem is he spent time in prison and has killed at least two men. But I still think he can do this- he so golden we just can pray. Well I love it here I have had only experiences that you can only have on your mission I love this gospel and love sharing it I have to go now because people are reading my e mail so I love you all

Jan 25, 2008

Hey Family,

I have now been here two weeks, crazy! But still I am still learning a ton. I have given Lessons 1 and 2 now. I love the RC (ask Mat what the RC is, he will tell you all about it) all I can say is that I love it. It is awesome and I have great experiences. Well, I haven’t missed a day of pills, or teeth. I shower everyday, sometimes twice a day. The food is pretty good.Oh one very important thing, on the 29th I go to Cal. We are going to call home, we got permission to. The only thing is that I don’t know what time. Here is my card, hope you like my pics. I need more pills soon to. Anyway, I am so glad to have the MTC. I learnt so much, its fun. My testimony grows so much. I love you all. Thank you for the letters, they make me feel good. I encourage you all to bear your testimonies on Fast Sunday.

Elder Stones

January 15, 2008

Hey Family,
How’s it going? To start, I am safe. I am eating; the Lord is helping me with it all. We as far as the MTC goes, the food is really good, honestly. The classes are so fun. I have never been able to concentrate as well as I can here. If I work hard and be obedient the Lord will help and that is what he is doing. My district is so cool. I love them all, especially my companion, Elder Peaden. I have been keeping a tape log for you- it’s cool. I you family and I can feel your prayers and your love. I know what I am doing is the right thing for me to do. I now truly have a testimony of Joseph Smith and what he saw and in the Book of Mormon. In our District there are 6 elders and 4 sisters. I will have to find out how to spell their names correctly but…you will see in pics. Family I love you so much.
Elder Stones

Michael's First Letter Home

5:36pm Monday, Jan 14

Hey Family,First night at the MTC, everything is awesome. I love it here. I already know that this will be a tough work but I am all up for it. I feel safe hear and loved. My companion is Elder Peaden, he is awesome. He will be a great leader. I hope to learn a lot form him. Well today that’s all. 2nd day: I can tell you that I have never worked harder in my life but I love it. I love working for the right reason. I am all ready eating, sleeping, and drinking everything the gospel, its great. You were all right, it’s tough but rewarding. Faith is everything. I love you all and will right you soon with more wonderful experiences. Mom, I love you.Elder Stones