May
26th, 2015
Hi family!! Holy tamoley guacomole. This week
went by crazy fast. Sorry I didn't email the past two weeks, I flew in last
week so I missed P-day and then it was Memorial Day so now I am emailing today!
So my first area is Eldersburg, Maryland. The area my apartment is in is about
10 minutes from Baltimore. We live in good ol' Baltimore County where there is
a church on EVERY CORNER. I think I counted like 10. Our ward and area we cover
is huge so it's so nice we have a car because it would take an hour and a half
to get from one side of the ward to another if we biked.(Thank you Emily for
the CD's :) Out east there aren't a lot of members and sometimes the work can
feel slow. Our mission is actually sizing down to 200 missionaries. But I have
faith and know that there are people who are ready for the gospel.
Fun fact, my bishop's daughter actually was in my BYU ward! And
another girl just moved in to the ward and she was in my BYU ward too! Hahah
isn't that crazy and random?! AND cousin Jade & Dan used to be in this ward
Bishop said so that's awesome too!:) Such a small world hahah, who knew!
My trainer is Sister Donehue from Roy, Utah. She is so kind and funny. She's been through so much and she has such a strong testimony. We relate on so many levels so it's always fun talking to her.
We work with a lot of less actives and ward members which is
good. I think sometimes we forget that missionary work is bringing EVERYONE to
Christ, not just people who don't know of Him yet. Since the area is so big, it
is also so diverse which I love:) Sometimes it’s hard because investigators
won't have cars so they can't get to church. I wish I could drive a huge bus
like in Magic School-bus and take everybody I can hahaha. Also it is so green
here!!! All the people in the area I talk with think it's so cool I'm from Las
Vegas... if they only knew ;) It's so pretty here and sometimes we are in a
more city-like area and then 15 minutes later we're driving through all these
green trees crossing these beautiful bridges it feels like a postcard! Haha.
I had real African food this week! Sister Okereke is Nigerian
and moved here 7 years ago. She is in our ward. It was so good! Also, there's a
less active who recently has come back to church! We call her Mama and she's
hilarious. She has pictures of Jesus on her door in her apartment and always
says "guuuuuurl please." So we laugh a lot together. She recently got
her eyebrows tattooed on because she said she's getting older and doesn't want
to have to bother with that anymore hahahah! I love her so much. Also yesterday
these little 7 years old totally showed me up doing the nay nay and twerking.
(is that even how you spell it?) They were killing it outside of the apartment.
Another nice lady we met is La Phonda who is hilarious and so kind. She has a
sweet heart and we're excited to teach her.
It's been so fun getting to know the people here :) Sometimes I
get sad because I feel like I am handing out a $100 bill and no one wants it.
People think I’m trying to sell them something, NO I AM TRYING TO SAVE YOUR
SOUL. Hahah but it's all good:) I know that the Lord knows who is ready for the
gospel, and either way we are able to prepare the hearts of people who will
someday receive it.
The greatest thing we can do is always be grateful for what we
have and for what the gospel has given us. Also, always be member missionaries!
We can't do missionary work without everyone involved. It’s so imperative that
we all love and serve together. That's something I wish I did more of when I
was at home. But now that I am out here I see the importance of us all bringing
souls to Christ. It takes all of us :)
God is so good, we just need to always remember him in our
lives. I love you guys so much, I pray for you always. Remember that you are so
precious to Heavenly Father. And that by doing the important aspects of the
gospel (faith in Christ, using the Atonement, relying on the Holy Ghost,
sacrament, enduring to the end) we will always be okay through anything.
Love you!!!
Love love always,
Sister Stolworthy
PS they speak "Balmorese" here.
it's "bal'more" NOT "baltimore" :)
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