By Small and Simple Things

Hey mom and dad. I didn't hear from you this week. The emails have all been pretty unreliable lately. Emails will come really late. It might be better to send your emails sooner.

Thanks Ben. Sweet letter. The office staff loved the "Elder Churchy Pants Stoneman" ... hahaha I don't think they got it though. Calvin g - thank you for the joke.

Thanks Auntie Cath for the note. You have been a great example for me to work hard. So thank you. Love you too.

Transfers went surprisingly smooth this week. It was quite busy. The new missionaries were a blast... an interesting group. It was interesting to watch the President... he was very strict with them... but then the next night with the departing missionaries he was so relaxed. I’ve seen many different sides of President.

One of the departing missionaries is Elder J - you'll recognize the name from a lot of my other emails. We're good buddies. He was a great missionary. He wants to come and meet you both. I gave him your phone number and address. He's cool. He's from Vegas. Mom, could you hook him up with general conference tickets?... he's never been.

Zone Conference was great. The mission doctor came and spoke to us. He talked a lot about overcoming the natural man... how we are to learn to deal with suffering - especially on the mission. It was a great talk. It made me think though that he's secretly trying to tell the missionaries to quit complaining. While he was talking about suffering on the mission, Sister McConkie leaned over and handed me a note that said,"You became an AP to ensure total suffering!" haha

Brother G did not get baptized last Sunday. He wanted to talk to his family about it. If all goes well, he'll be baptized tomorrow.I invited a soldier on post to pray two Sundays ago. It wasn't a lesson, but more of a short conversation. He came back last Sunday and told me that he took my challenge and prayed, after not having done so for 10 years! I told him to do it again during Sacrament meeting. When the meeting was over he came and found ME. He obviously had had a very humbling experience. He told me that he doesn't like to be helped and it's kind of messed with his beliefs in God. He prayed, though, and felt the power of God and began to weep. We had a great lesson on weaknesses and humility - Ether 12:27. He committed to be baptized tomorrow.It was a small invitation to pray, but it will forever change his life. By small and simple things...

Love you all!
Elder Stoneman