"I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yeah, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God." Alma 26:11

Hello,


This is my last email home so I thought I would take some time and make it a good one. This week I went to Palmyra. I was able to go to the temple and visit all the sites there. This experience was just another great testimony builder for me. I like how we go to Palmyra at the end of our missions. It’s kind of symbolic in a way. We look forward to the temple our whole missions and we try our best to make it there, we have it as our goal. In life it’s the same way, we should always have the temple in our site and do our best to make it to the celestial kingdom and have eternal life. It was such a great experience! It was so great to be back in the temple. It was the best feeling to enter the Lords house again. The spirit you feel there is to strong and powerful to stay away from. You never want to leave and it makes you always wanting to come back. I am excited to attend more frequently when I get home. I know that’s where Heavenly Father wants me to be as well as the rest of his children.

My testimony of Joseph Smith was strengthened a lot that day. We started the day with going to the temple first and went to all the sites and ended with the sacred grove. We were able to be alone in the Sacred Grove for an hour, It was such a spiritual experience. My whole mission I have told people the story of Joseph Smith about him praying in the sacred grove and now at the end of my mission I get to be where it all started. Each time I told that story I felt the spirit, but sitting in the grove it was such a more powerful spirit. There is no doubt in my mind that he was a true prophet of God. He went through so much to get the church where it is today. The Gospel has literally almost filled the whole earth. My favorite part in the first vision story is that it all started with first studying the scriptures and then saying a simple prayer. It shows how easy it is to communicate with our heavenly father and that he really does care about us. I feel so blessed to have shared this story with people these last 18 months. It all comes down to a simple prayer ourselves to receive the answers to know for ourselves if this gospel is true. Something I have always loved about Joseph Smiths story is that we can all relate to him. We all at one point were searching to know the truth. I can’t tell you how many times on my mission when I have been teaching people about Joseph Smith and they have stopped me and said “that is exactly how I feel”. So many people can relate to his story in the way that they are searching for the true church. It’s just so amazing!

I believe with my whole heart that this church is true or else I wouldn’t be here in the New York Utica mission right now. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. It makes so much sense in my heart as well as my mind. I believe that in the Sacred Grove is where Joseph Smith saw God the father and Jesus Christ. I’m so grateful for my mission. I’m grateful for the testimony I have gained on my mission. I pray that I will never forget it and that it will only continue to grow throughout my life. Its amazing how many blessings have come because of my mission. I would not trade this experience for the world. Going on a mission was the best decision I have ever made. I know that it will continue to bless me after my mission and I will often reflect on my experiences. Thank you all for supporting me and writing me these last 18 months. I hope you know that I have a testimony of this gospel. This is the truth and the only way we are going to one day return to live with our heavenly father. I love you all!

I feel like Ammon at the end of his mission when he said in Alma 26:9 "For if we had not come up out of the land of Zarahemla, these our dearly beloved brethren, who have so dearly beloved us, would still have been racked with hatred against us, yea, and they would also have been strangers to God."

If I hadn't comt to the New York Utica mission who knows the people who would still be strangers to God. Missionaries really do make a difference within themselves, within their own families, and the people they teach and meet on their missions. A mission is the best thing anyone can do! I highly recommend it! Love you!

Thank you for all your support!

Sister Stacey

"...will show unto you that the tender mercies of the Lord are over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliveranc​e." 1 Nephi 1:20

Hello,

This week was so amazing. We went on exchanges this week and I was able to go back to Glenville. It's been a year since I left there and it was like going home. It was amazing, it felt like I never left. I put the scripture that I did because I believe being able to go to Glenville was a sweet tender mercy from the Lord. I feel like God is blessing me for all my hard work by letting me go to my last 2 areas before I go home. Friday night I was able to see the Andrew family. We totally surprised them and I think I almost gave her a heart attack. It was so great to see them all and be able to catch up on life. The next day I really wanted to see Melanie (my first baptism) The sisters haven't been meeting with her and last they heard she moved and they weren't sure she would be there. So we took a guess on where she would be living and we totally found her. It was perfect timing and she was so surprised/excited to see me. She has been struggling with coming to church so the lesson we had with her was amazing and now the sisters are going to see her more often. It was seriously amazing and I have missed her so much. I truly believe the Lord helped us find her. She had some new poems that she had written so I was able to hear her say some poems before I left. Later that day of course I went to the Sullivans and that was like going back home. I just love them so much and it was so much fun to be with them. Sister Sullivan mentioned it was cool for them to see me in the beginning of my mission and then seeing me now at the end. The sisters hopefully will start going over there more. I think it was such a good thing that I went. This week has just been so great and being able to go back to Glenville was like a dream come true. I could barley sleep all week because I was so excited!

The fourth of July was different but I will probably always remember it. That morning we went to our service. We help in an assisted living home, we help deliver food to the residents. We always go on Wednesdays, so we went to service and everyone was asking us why we were there.. haha They don't understand that we don't really get holidays. Later that afternoon we had our meeting with the new mission president. President and Sister Wirthlin are so awesome. They just came from Germany and he has a lot of great experiences. It was a different training we just got to know them. It was great to hear him talk about his father and the stories. So that was really cool. We had interviews with both of them and got to know them. It was fun, I won't have him for too long, but it will be fun to go to the temple with them tomorrow and get to know them a little better. That night some members had us over for a BBQ. We were able to see fireworks from our front porch. We sat with our neighbors and watched them. It was such a  great day! Hope everyone had a happy 4th of July!

I'm coming to the end and this week is my last full week of my mission and I'm going to make it the best week! We are driving to Syracuse tonight spending the night and I will be at the temple tomorrow. YAY!!! Then we will drive back on wed. and work hard in lake placid. I am so excited to go to Syracuse I have missed it so much. Its amazing how much love you can have for these people. I just love them all so much and I can't wait.

Hope you all have a great week! Next week will be my last p-day. :(


Picture 1: Priscilla aka Missionary grandma took us out for ice cream. We love her!

Picture 2: The Andrew family in Glenville

Picture 3: The Sullivans!

 


Picture 4&5: All the sisters that went on Exchanges!

Picture 6: Sister Pitts and I were in the MTC together and it was to fun to see her at the end. Love her!

"And faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work." D&C 4:5

Hello,

 This week was another great week. Yesterday was my last fast Sunday as a missionary. It was kind of sad. One of my favorite parts of being a missionary is being able to hear all the wonderful testimonies of the members in the ward or branch I have served in. Every time I hear there testimony it always strengthens mine. The majority of the Lake Placid branch are converts and its so great to see their faith and to see them keep going strong. They have all been such a great example to me.

 The Senior Missionary couple found an awesome women who has been so prepared by the Lord. She came to church yesterday and every testimony given was just so perfect for her. She even got up and said she had been on a journey to find home to find the truth. She said that today was the day her journey ended and she finally felt at home and she knows this is the church she should belong to. It was amazing! We all have to come to our own conversion whether we are born in the church or not. I hope we have all come to the end of our journey of searching and beginning a new journey to return to our heavenly father. I just love the Gospel.

 Hope you all have a great week!

 Love, Sister Stacey

 Pic 1 and 2: We had District Meeting up in Plattsburg and this is pictures by the Lake Champlain

Pic 3 and 4: The big thing here in the summer is the Horse show. So we were able to see the Horse show and it was actually really cool!

Pic 5 and 6: They just opened this cute Carousal here in Saranac Lake. They are all animals from the Adirondacks. Its so cool! pic

7: My Dad and little sister Surprised me with a box of goodies when I got home. Dad had a business trip somewhere close and they thought it would be fun I guess to visit my area.. haha Luckily I didn't see them! haha It was a great surprise though!

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation." 2 Nephi 22:2

Hello,

This week was a good week. We were able to teach that person I was talking about in my last email. We went to her house and she was excited to have us and listen to us. It was a great lesson and we are excited to continue teaching her. She did her reading which was amazing and she enjoyed it. After the lesson we gave her something to read for next week. We left and got in the car and we see her running towards the car with her Book of Mormon in hand. We rolled the window down and she said "I can't find my homework did you mark something for me." She uses the word "homework" I love it. I had written it down on a piece of paper and she couldn't find it in the Book of Mormon. I showed her where it was and she was like "thanks!" It was so cute. So things have been so good here! We have an awesome recent convert in the branch. Her name is Priscilla and she is such a great example to me. She is like the missionaries Grandma so I call her Gma when ever I see her. We take her teaching with us all the time. She is the most positive person I have ever met. We always leave her place feeling better than when we came. She has such a strong testimony and every time she shares it, it strengthens mine. It's amazing! I love these people who stay so strong and are examples to others. Hope you all have a great week.

 Love,

Sister Stacey

Pictures: Ski Jumps

"Remember Lot's wife." Luke 17:23

Hello,
I actually have some awesome stuff to talk about this week. This week was the last District Meeting we had with President and Sister Bulloch. It was so sad to say goodbye. That was the last time I would see them as a missionary. President Bulloch is an amazing teacher and I will miss his trainings. His last training was focused around the scripture "remember Lot's wife" If you know the story of Lot's wife then you will know what he is talking about. He related it to how us missionaries shouldn't look back and that we need to look forward. Once we decided to become a disciple of Jesus Christ we made that commitment that we would follow him forever. No looking back or dwelling on the past. My mission president is really passionate about changing the missionary. He told us it's important to preach the gospel while we are out here, but it is most important that we change and that we are willing to be pushed to the limit to show God that we love him more than we love worldly things. It makes sense why we missionaries have to be cut off from the world in order to understand what God wants us to understand about the Gospel. How do we follow Christ? We need to separate ourselves from all ungodliness (Alma 5:57) I'm so grateful for my mission because I don't think I ever would have "got it" if I wasn't separated from the world. It was a great training especially for me right before I go home. I hope that I will never look back and as I move on with life to look forward. I hope that we can all try this and remember lot's wife.

Another great story: Last week we got a phone call from an Elder who had just finished his mission and was visiting his areas with his family. They went to the Lake Placid church and this lady happened to be there checking out the church. She wasn't a member so this elder and his family talked to her for quit a bit about the church. She said because of Mitt Romney she wanted to know more about the mormon church so she had been studying on mormon.org. They got her name and gave us her information. So this week we were in Tupper Lake which is an hour drive from lake placid so we don't go often. We thought we would try her before our dinner appointment. She answered and was excited to see us and invited us in. She was so happy we came and was talking highly about the church and how she had been on mormon.org. We didn't have much time so we asked if we could come back. We gave her a book of mormon and she said she was excited to do some homework while we were gone. It was so amazing. After we left I'm pretty sure we jumped down the street like little girls. haha This is such a great example of what mormon.org can do. Share this website with your friends. It truly can prepare them to hear the gospel!

Its been a great week! I love being here in Lake Placid! I love life and I love sharing the Gospel!

Love you all,

Sister Stacey

Pictures: Last District Meeting with President and Sister Bulloch


 

"Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order.." Alma 13

Hello,

I don't have much time this week and I'm sorry. Things have been going well. I had a bit of a scare with some health things, but I seem to be feeling a lot better. So this pretty much consumed my week. I just want to bear my testimony on the power of the priesthood and the comfort it brings. I'm so thankful for having the preisthood in my life. This is one of the greatest blessings we have as being members of The Church of Jesus Christ of latter day Saints. We are truly blessed! I'm so grateful for it and I'm especially grateful for worthy presithood holders. I just had another experience that the Lord is so aware of me and really does care about me.
Love,

Sister Stacey


Pictures: Today for p-day we went to the top of Whiteface. There is a castle up at the top it was so much fun! I love this area! We went with the awesome Senior Couples the Overtons! We love them!

 

"..the Lord did pour out his Spirit on all the face of the land to prepare the minds of the children of men, or to prepare their hearts to receive the word.." Alma 16:16

Hello,

So we got transfer calls on Saturday and me and Sister Caton are staying the same. We were worried there for a bit, but we were excited to learn that we will be together for another transfer. We are now in week 6 of this transfer and we begin our new transfer next week.
We had a really cool experience this week and another great testimony builder on fasting and praying. We are still working on finding two new investigators a week. A member gave us a referral last week and we were able to meet with her and pick her up as a new investigator. We were going to show her mormon.org at the end of the lesson, but we didn't have time. So I went on her computer and "left it up" and we left. We found out later from the member that she has been watching the videos everyday. So we were excited about that. This Sunday was fast Sunday and we wanted to fast to find new investigators. We went to church that very day and we received a member referral. Also their is this boy who is handicapped and has an aid that brings him to church. Well his aid isn't a member and we went up to her and asked if she was interested about learning more and she was. We gave her a book of Mormon and our number. We couldn't believe it, we were so excited. Later that afternoon we were trying some potentials and we decided to go try this one last potential. Usually when we tried her in the past she was never home and when we knocked on the door she answered and said we could come in. At first when she said we could come in I just stood at the door, I wasn't used to hearing those words. I'm sure I looked so awkward. She is a young mom with a little girl and we taught her the plan of salvation and she said we could come back. We were so excited that we met the goal of 2 new investigators this week. We made sure to say a prayer afterwards thanking the Lord for leading us to these people. It's amazing to see the Lord work in my life. My testimony of fasting and praying has strengthened so much just in this past month. It was a great experience.
I hope you all can fast for these similar experiences. The Lord is really preparing people all around us, we just need to open our eyes and find them. I know that if you fast for a finding experience the Lord will bless you and lead you to that person who is prepared. He is really preparing the hearts and the minds of many.

Have a great week,

Love,
Sister Stacey

Pic 1 and 2: Our District! This district is especially fun because we have 2 senior couples. Its always a great experience with them! Pic 3: One of my favorite families came up from Syracuse and took us out to lunch! I was in heaven! Pic 4 and 5: We have had rainy weather but I thought this view of main street was so beautiful!