Merry Christmas!

Hey everybody! So this is my letter once again this week. Next week I should be getting stamps, but I do like emailing though. Anyway! I had a great Christmas with Sister Bode and Sister Stiger and her daughter Ciara. I love the clothes that I got, it makes it fun. :) I went to a funeral this morning, so I am in a funky mood. Sorry. There is no snow in El Paso! Yay! I'm loving it! So I got a Christmas card from Mike and Chelsea...she's pregnant again! Why has no one told me? I feel so left out of everything! Whatever. It was great talking to all of you on Christmas, I still feel as if I saw all of you yesterday. So after I called you we went to the RS presidents (Sister Richardson) for lunch, and we played games and had a lot of fun. Then we went to the Flemings house, he is in the stake presidency. That was fun too,they have all older kids, so it was nice to have conversation. Did I tell you about Zone Conference? It was great! Elders Gibson and Webb did a fantastic job of singing what child is this, and they did awesome on Sunday when they sang it again. Our talent show was fun. I have some pictures, but I don't feel like emailing them right now. You will have to wait till next week. :) Sister Bode and I got $50 from a lady in the ward out here, so we used it to buy one of our investigators Christmas. It was so worth it! :) The lady hasn't been progressing very much but we taught her today and she had read! It was so exciting! So we are hoping that she will be baptized soon! Sister Bode told me that last night she prayed that Melinda (the lady) would have a desire to read. And she did! It's definitely a faith promoter. We went tracting a few days ago, and we found this lady named Ofelia. We asked her a few questions, and we got onto the topic of eternal families. So Sister Bode gave her a watered down version of the Restoration and how we can have eternal families. Before we explained things we asked her if there was a number we could contact her at, and she kind of sidestepped a bit. But after we explained how she can be with her husband forever, she actually gave us 2 numbers we could reach her at! It was interesting because just a few minutes before we kind of had no faith that people were going to listen to us the day after Christmas. But I tried to change my outlook and told Sister Bode that we were out there looking for God's children who were ready for the gospel. And then we found Ofelia. It was awesome! We still need to go back, but we feel like she is looking but doesn't know it.

Thanks everyone for the Christmas card you sent me! I enjoyed it. And thanks again for the presents! I don't know what else to say at the moment, but keep writing me! I love you all!

 

Love

Sister Stolp

 

ps. annie and julia, sorry i wasn't able to talk to you on the phone, the connection was bad somehow. but send me pictures of the girls! i'm sure they are huge by now! love you both. i hope you had fun in cali julia. :)

Happy B-Day to Juju

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JULIA!!!!!!!!!!!!
How was your birthday today? What are you having for dinner? Are you at home right now or are you still living at your apartment over the holidays? The choir class I was in was the University Choral...I think. I had Steve Durschti (?) for my teacher and he was awesome! You should take him. El Paso weather is awesome! There is no snow and it is so warm! It's always in the 60's or higher and I love it! I haven't even had to wear my big coat yet! Yay! How was the Christmas program at church? Did you go to the 14th ward program? How was the school church christmas program? We are having Zone Conference tomorrow, and I am singing in a doublish quartet (I think we are lacking the 8th person), we are singing the prayer of the children. And it sounds awesome so far! And I'm playing What Child Is This for 2 elders to sing a duet, it sounds good, they have to sing it in church next sunday also. One elder is wayyy nervous! But he is good and can sing on key, so that's all that really matters. :) And Sister Bode got sick, so we aren't singing lead kindly light anymore. One of the elders wants me to sing a medley that he hasn't written yet that he is playing on the guitar, so we will see how that goes.
OK, so I guess this letter will be the letter home this week. Oh my goodness! So yesterday we were filling up gas in our car and a lady approached me, she was wearing a dress and looked religious. So she started talking to me and said she came up to me because she saw my tag. So I was like Ok, I'll listen to her, I know what it's like. So she shoved this booklet in my face about her religion, so I asked if I could give her one of our pamphlets. She started making noises like she was fishing for an excuse for not taking our stuff. Then she said that she couldn't take our material because I didn't approach her, but she can only give me her stuff because she approached me. It was so lame! So I asked her why she couldn't take my stuff, and she again said that I didn't approach her. Then she asked me if I believed in the Bible. I said I did, but I really wanted to know why she couldn't take ours. So I asked her again if it was against her religion to take our material. She said no, but said that same thing that when I approached her then she could accept our material. I was so mad! But boy did she want to get out of there, she didn't give me enough time to reply to anything and she left. But after I got in the car I was thinking I should have told her that I couldn't take her material unless she accepted mine. Grrr... So when we got home I was flipping through her booklet and I just got really mad! I have looked through their stuff before, and it just reaffirmed what I was thinking back then. They have NO stance on ANYTHING. They do not talk about salvation or authority or how I can develop a relationship with God or Jesus Christ. I was fuming! Their stuff is so shallow! It just shows me how true our church is. We talk about Jesus Christ and who He is and how we can return to live with Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ and His atonement. Grrr...JW's make me so mad. I respect them to a point, but they really have no religion. It's so dumb. In their material they ask the stupidest questions and talk about the stupidest things. One thing was a fact and fiction. One was is Satan real? Fact. Is Jesus Christ and God equal. Fiction! Is there a spirit realm. Fiction! I got so mad that I threw the booklet in the garbage. No one can tell me that the Spirit realm is fiction! I really want to ask them the next time I see a JW is: where is my mom then if you don't believe in life after death? I want to see her again! It makes me so mad! There is no hope in that church! I am so grateful that I have the knowledge that I do, I don't have to worry about losing hope or anything like that. Everytime I make a mistake and I think that I can't be forgiven because what I did was so wrong, I have to remind myself "Sister Stolp, if you understand the Atonement like you think you do, then Heavenly Father will forgive you for what you did and you can do better next time." I actually was thinking of that on Sunday. It's a new day to start. I am taking the Sacrament and this week I am going to stop all of those things that I know I am doing wrong. It was actually a good feeling. It really does help me understand my investigators better I think what I try to think OK, they don't know that they can be forgiven of their sins. They have probably given up hope and that's why they have a hard time accepting the gospel. So it does give me a better perspective. And I have to be able to forgive myself and not look back on what I did. I do have to remember though that I did do something wrong and that I need to fix it, but I can't dwell on it and always think that I'm a bad person. Anyway! I think I understand better now why I was put in this mission. I know it's not the hardest, but it's definitely not the easiest. If I stayed on the rez, it would have been to easy. Heavenly Father wanted me to have these experiences to grow and to learn what I truly do believe in. I don't know where my life would have gone without my mission.
I hope you all have a great Christmas, and I will call home around 11am on Christmas morning. I hope you're there Julia! Love you! Love you all! Love, Sister Stolp

Good Times

Hey everybody! So this week has gone by reeeaaallllyyyyyy slow. But we got a new car and a new district leader and a new elder in the ward. :) We are getting ready for our zone conference next week. I am playing the reflextion version of Come thou Fount and Elder Webb is doing a solo. It will be fun! And then I'm playing What Child is This and Elder Webb and his new companion Elder Gibson are singing a duet. Yay! And me and Sister Bode are singing Lead Kindly Light. And I think there is going to be a double quartet, I will be singing alto and Sister Bode will singing soprano. It will be fun! Get this so my old district leader was Elder Gibb, now my district leader is Elder Gibby, and Elder Gibson replaced Elder Gibb. CRAZY!

So this has been on my mind since I got on the computer...but I got an email from Kathy Campos...Reg has been convicted and is in prison in Gunnison Ut from 3 years to life. I am so shocked! I can't believe that he was convicted. It was so apparent that he was not trying to kill this guy. He was defending his daughter for crying out loud! But Kathy said that Reg is a different person and that he has changed for the better. He is looking towards the Lord and is drawing strength from Christ. I am so grateful that he doesnt' have a bitter heart and that this is softening him. I hope that Kathy is being taken care of, she has to sell the house and go back to school. She told me that everyone is doing fine, but this trial is very hard to carry. I really wish I could be there right now to help them. I think this is the only time on my mission that I wish I was home...but I'm not coming home because I know this is where Heavenly Father wants me, and I'm positive that they are being blessed. But I do still worry about them.

 

Annie, sounds like you guys had a great Thanksgiving! I'm glad that you guys are doing well. I loved your letter that you wrote me a few weeks ago, sorry I haven't replied to it yet. It really made me think about how there are still miracles here on earth. Sometimes I wonder why He couldn't have saved mom, but then I think yes, He did save her. Because He was resurrected, she will be resurrected and perfected. So then I don't worry to much about the past. Same with Allen, sometimes I wish that Jesus could come down right now and heal Allen, but then I think, yes, He will heal Allen, all in good time. But that was a cool story about that lady!

By the way Julia, the boys look great! I'm sure they wish they all had real six-packs. Haha! Good make up job! Valeries hair is so long! I can't wait to see your daughters Annie! Vanessa is so funny! "only a little one mommy" HAHAHAHA!!!!!! She's so naughty! Hahaha! I want babies to cuddle with! I haven't held a kid in a loooong time. But I can wait a little longer. :)

 

So I will be calling on Christmas around 11am, I hope. It might be earlier or later. We will see. :)

I love you all!

 

Love

Sister Stolp

Hey everyone. I don't have any stamps left and I don't have enough money to get stamps, so I'm writing you this email.
So we had a baptism this week! I was so excited! It was Angie for those of you who have been reading my letters. It was so good! We made her a tie blanket with her name embroidered on it, and told her it was the "comforter" and that when she looks at it to remember what we have taught her. Her husband came and I think he enjoyed it. He didn't say much, but Angie said that he took her out to Applebee's to celebrate, which Applebee's is a special occasion restaurant. So it was cool! She cried like the whole time! In one of her lessons she was praying and said that she was grateful that Heavenly Father has led her back. It was so sweet! I will have to send pictures when I have more time.
We also taught this one guy named Enrique who is an alcoholic and we asked him if he would live the word of wisdom, and he said he would quit cold turkey if I would get drunk with him. Haha! I told him no way! We had a good laugh. :) But I think he will get there. Hopefully soon!
We are having Christmas at the Richardson's house, she is the RS president, and they have 8 kids! So I'm pretty excited! OH! I forgot to tell you, this week is transfers and I'm staying in El Paso!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!! I love El Paso and will be very sad to leave. We are trading our truck for a Malibu. So I'm pretty bummed about that. And no, I am not homesick yet, I didn't get homesick at Thanksgiving either. I think it's because home is different anyway. So all my homesickness was last year. But I'm fine this year. I haven't even thought about mommy too much lately. I think with teaching the gospel and seeing the happiness it brings, I don't worry to much about that stuff anymore. I do get sad, but I don't worry anymore. And plus I try not to think about it too much.
What are you all doing for Christmas? Can you please send me pictures of you guys in your plays and Christmas and stuff? I will probably be calling sometime Christmas morning, like 11am? Probably. Just plan for that.
Alright, well, I will email next week! And I'm glad to hear about Allen, I know, he loves me. :)
Love you all!
Love
Sis Stolp

Ok, so I have a little more time than I thought.

Picture

1. my district.

2.me with Angie and her family.

3.me with Enrique and his wife Maria.

4.Enrique with his bar in his living room.

5.me in Vinton. it's part of my area. it's very country.

Thanksgiving

The girl in the baptismal suit it Tempestt. She got baptized last week. The suburban is the border patrol. Thought you guys would like that picture. :) And then the table is the buffet of thanksgiving dinner. :) Hope you like them! Sorry I look so fat in the picture with Tempestt. I have actually lost 10lbs. since Los Lunas. Haha!

(To Julia)
Hmmm...Tyson is getting really old, I worry about him sometimes. But I hope things work out for him. And that's cool that Crystal got her endowments! Which temple did she get them out in? If you don't go on a mission soon will you think about getting yours out soon? I really do want to be there for that though. :) So you traveled the train by yourself? How long are you staying out there? Did Annie pick you up in Sacramento?
You know, sometimes I look at my life when I get back and all I see in the future is school and money. I really can't see myself doing anything else because I have done it for so long! Marriage just seems so far away for me. And honestly, I'm ok with that. I guess. I mean, I just want to get out of school and be able to start my career. I think then I will feel like I am not living in a box. I realy want to do the hands on counseling and stuff. I see so much and I am usually dead on with people's feelings concerning marriage and stuff. I have actually met a few people that tell me they want me to come back to help their marriage or their family. So I already have clients! Haha! :) The mission has really helped me to see that there is more to life than school. I just hope that I can remember what it's like to be in the real world. I think when you're in school it's hard to see what the real world is like. Oh well. Anyway! You will have to tell me how things are going out in Cali...oh wait, you're probably home by now...I'm a week behind, sorry. Tell me how Thanksgiving was! What are you doing for Christmas? I had 2 thanksgivings...one with the Bowdens who are really cool people and I love them to death! And the other was with a Samoan family, the Faimalo's, at the church. They had a buffet style dinner and a lot of music (which was really really hard for me to be there and not want to dance or sing) and the daughters did a dance for us. It was way fun! So ya, that was my thanksgiving. :) I'll talk to ya next week! It's transfers next week again, so I will let you know what happens next week! I love you!

Love
Sis Stolp

Not Much

Hey everybody!
So I am surviving El Paso and training! It's been pretty crazy though, we only have 1000 miles for our area...which is not near enough. BUT the ward is awesome and is helping us get around. So it's pretty nice. :)
Julia, when is your dance? And I want to see pictures for sure! That's cool that you got called to be a Sunday School teacher! I would not want that calling at all! Teaching families is hard enough for me! Just remember that you can only teach with the spirit, so pray to be guided in how/what you teach. Remember to love the people you teach, pray for those people in your class. I know that you will be an awesome teacher though! And stay away from the opinion corner! That's danger. Just stick to the doctrine and you will be fine. :)
So wait, which next door neighbor? I don't remember a Shannon. Is it the one with the 2 boys and the motorcycle? Her name is Heidi and she's a member right? Have they had the missionaries over? Do they have a Book of Mormon? I think that one day he will accept the gospel. They say it takes 7 tries. So maybe yours was the 6th. You definitely planted the seed! But as long as they feel your love for them and the kindness and unity that they church has, they will probably be looking for it again one day.
It's always good to hear how Allen is doing. I love him to death! I hope he knows how much I miss him. How is Helen doing?
I am sick right now. I have a cold or something. I am really tired, but I just have to keep pushing! It's hard though, because no one wants a sick person in their home getting their kids sick. So it's always hard to know what to do. Can you please send me some money for meds? I know I'm going to spend all I have on drugs if I'm not careful.
So before I forget, we are having Thanksgiving with a polynesian family! They have 8 kids and I'm so excited! It will be like home! I'm so excited! So for Christmas, tell me a time you want me to call you. It has to be after 10am and before 8pm. So I'm thinking like around 10 or 11am? Tell me when it will work out for you guys.
I'll write to you later today! I love you all!


Love
Sister Stolp

El Paso

Yes, I am training again for my 3rd time. I started training in June, then had about 5 weeks of not training (almost a whole transfer), then I trained Sister Hiatt, and now I'm training Sister Bode (Bow-dee). She's awesome! She's from Indiana, and is a convert of a year and a half! So she's perfect in her teaching because she knows exactly what it's like to be on the other side of things. So it's awesome! I am in El Paso right now, and I LOVE IT! Juarez, Mexico is right next door, so it's a little scary. While we were driving up on the freeway to the meeting point in El Paso we could look to the right and see Mexico and on the left was the US. We never left the US but it was weird looking at another country...I'm just glad I didn't see any dead bodies or shootings in my brief passing...
We live with a member, she is so sweet! She is divorced and has one daughter. They take very good care of us. :)
Yesterday at church there was a talk on tithing and how if you pay your tithing you WILL be blessed. There was a quote that I liked so much that I had to write down. It says "You will never get out of debt until you pay the Lord first." It made me think of all of your guys different situations, and I was wondering if you all paid tithing. I don't know why, but I felt very impressed to ask all of you this question. And if you are not paying your tithing, you better start now and ask Heavenly Father for forgiveness. I know that if you all pay your tithing then Heavenly Father WILL bless you! Brenda, that's awesome about the garden, for some reason I felt so much joy when I heard that the garage looked like the produce isle. I know from your efforts, you will not go hungry. Dad, I'm really sorry to hear that things are so tight. I really don't want anything for Christmas, you sacrifice so much for me already, so I don't want you to have to worry about me for Christmas. And besides, I have everything that I need already. I have learned how to live within my means, and I'm very happy.
Elder Zivic asked us to do a 40 day fast, not from food or water, but of things that poke at our spirits. I wrote a list of things that I have not been able to conquer:

Slang
Bedtime (I am always a few minutes late)
Fear God more than my leaders -
-how does God look @ me?
-am I doing this work for God or someone else?
Checking out the boys (my hardest one to conquer!)
-Keep my focus on God
-Keep my focus of the work
Don't get caught up with elder stupidity. Worry about my own work
Don't get caught up with transfer news
Always be within sight and sound of my companion (sometimes I don't worry about that as much as I should)
Be professional with the members -
-don't get to casual

I'm sure I have a ton more things that I need to work on, but that is my list. When I wrote that list I felt so much guilt and basically all the pain of my sins. I fasted yesterday for Heavenly Father to help me with these things. So I have to work on these things for 40 days. I know I'm going to mess up (especially the slang one) all day everyday, but Heavenly Father will help me I know it! When you train you really see how inadequate you are. I sometimes feel very unworthy to be a missionary. Especially after I wrote this list. I just don't see how a new missionary can learn from me about being a good missionary when I slack on so many things. But president wrote me and told me that it was very clear that I was supposed to be with Sister Bode. :) That does make me feel better to know that Heavenly Father trusts me enough with a new missionary.
So when we got here, there was no area book for us, no old teaching records, no ward list, no nothing. We really did start from scratch! The elders that we share the ward with gave us a few teaching records of former investigators, and we actually had the area book for a day, but only to get our area out of their book. We had to go get a binder and print a map for us. So ya, it's been fun. We actually have one investigator at the moment. Her name is Tempest (cool huh?), and she will be getting baptized on Nov. 20th. But we really want her family to be involved, so we might postpone it if her family is not helping with her commitments. So anyway! We will see what happens.
Annie, we did go to the Halloween party at the church, it was a trunk or treat. We all dressed up as fairies, we were so cute! I will send a picture of it. And I got my truck! YAY! We handed out pass along cards with a dum dum taped to it and told the kids they could have the sucker, but give the card to a friend. It was awesome!
I really want to go sing in the choir, but I think we have to have an investigator there. But I will see what I can do. Practice is at 5pm, which cuts into dinner and time when people will be home, so it's a little hard to say yes to something like that. But I wish I could! The choir director here in the Redd ward is intense, he's like a professor at the college or something. He looks like Jackie Chan. Haha!
I am having more training meetings this week, YAY! And I'm so excited! I get so pumped when I get the training! :)
That's too bad that your camera got stolen! Who stole it? I'm glad to hear that the kids are doing great with their plays. So Val doesn't like Tyler. Is it because he has a girlfriend? :) And the Hepworth girl got married huh? Who did she marry? And who was this Bryan that you were talking about? His mom was dating someone? Or something like that?
Well, I should get going. I have to write president now. But I guess this is my weekly letter. I just get to excited when I get emails! I have to answer them right away! It's easier to type than to write anyway. Take care everyone. I love you all!

Love
Sister Stolp

Transfers

Dear family, so I won't have time today to write you a letter because it's transfer week and I'm being transferred to El Paso, TX (Mt Franklin area, which I think is a little north of El Paso) like I had originally planned last month but had to scratch because of some emergencies. So now it's happening. It takes like 4 1/2 hours to get there, so I will be driving for a while tomorrow. I found out I get a truck!!! I'm so excited! I miss my truck! Oh, and I'm training for the 3rd time. AH! We will be living with a member down there, and we will be sharing the ward with elders. There are like 400 active members in that ward, and it is getting ready to split, so we are going down there to prepare for that split. It will be fun! We are the only english speaking sister down there at the moment, there are at least 2-3 spanish sister companionships, so I won't be sisterless, so that is good. I don't really know the spanish sister very well, so this is a good opportunity to get to know them. So ya, I have served in what is now the Farmington mission, I am serving in the Albuquerque part of the mission, and now I'm going to what used to be in the Tucson mission. I've just been all over the place! It's been fun. :) I will miss Sister Hiatt a lot! We have gotten to be so close this transfer. We are definitely going to be hanging out after the mission. I think she is the one companion that I have clicked with since the beginning. FINALLY! I've gotten along with almost all of my companions, but she is the one that hasn't been awkward or anything. Our companionship has flowed very smoothly. I wish I could have been with her for another transfer. But I guess there is another missionary that needs me, and the area needs the 2 of us. It will work out great! So anyway! Thanks for the letters, I really appreciate them. It's funny, but I feel like I have learned so much since I got here, and I have half my mission left, I'm very curious to see what will happen the rest of my mission and what I will be like when I get home. I have learned how to control my emotions very well. I don't get frustrated as easily as I used to. I see some of the younger sisters come out and see how they don't know how to handle certain situations and they get frustrated. I wonder if it's because they know they are doing something wrong. I don't think it's that. But it's like they want everyone to understand their point of view and agree with them. Which I'm not like that. I don't care if they see my point of view on trivial things. That's their opinion. But they all want everyone to agree with their opinion. It's weird. So I just try to teach by example. Anyway!
So the pictures....the first one is of me at my 9 month mark. We had a little too much fun with that one. There's a video that I want to send you guys, but it's on Sister Hiatts camera. It's hilarious! Um, the next one is of my district...and zone leaders. That was fun too. :) The next one is of Sister Jordan. That's really what she looks like. JK! She's so funny! Hahahaha! The next one is of Fred Lybbert (who is mommy's counsin), and his daughter (our 2nd counsin) Jenna who is thinking of a mission, and Trisha Lybbert who married Fred's brother. Sister Jordan taught Trisha. Small world I'm telling you! We had lunch with them at Trisha's house, it was good to get to know them. Fred works with computers dad, I told him if he was looking for any programmers to call you or look you up. So anyway! That might be an avenue for you if you get boxed in. The next picture is of a family here in ABQ. The Hicks family. They have 8 kids, they are the biggest family I have ever met on my mission...with all the kids still living at home! It was awesome! I felt like I was at home! So anyway. Good times. :) Hahaha! Write me this week! I will be needing some letters and support. :) Love you guys!

Love
Sister Stolp

Ps. I forgot to tell you. Fred came to church yesterday with Trisha in this ward, and in class we were talking about family responsibilities. So we were talking about good memories of our family, and Fred said he loved it when the cousins came over to his house. And he said that he had a crush on mommy!!!! He said that in front of everyone in the class! It was so funny! I couldn't believe that he had a crush on mommy! Hahaha! Oh, and he lives in Chandler, AZ, but his company has some offices in SLC. SO anyway! Ttyl!

 

Sister Stolp

Yeah, Pics!

Dear family, here are some pictures of the past few days. The first one is of my 4some that I was in for about 3 days. It was fun! :) The next one is Balloon Fiesta. I didn't have a good enough camera to get really good pictures, but I hope you can see the balloons. The next one is of my 3some now. Sister Jordan is the blonde and Sister Hiatt is the one with redish blondish hair. We were at zone conference. The next one is of us with Elder Nathan Kasparian....he's the one in 4ordained. Man, he's good! You will have to listen to his music sometime. But he's awesome! We played tennis yesterday, so there's a picture of my companion playing tennis. I played too, it was fun. :)

Love
Leda
(note from editor: the three on top were ones that she had sent before)

What? Training?

Hey everybody! So thanks for the package! It totally made my day! I was so excited for the new clothes! And it's so fun to listen to the cd you sent me. Haha! Elder Kasparian...haha! Anyway! Cool pictures! I loved them all! Who was the baby that Jimmy was holding? Was it Ryan and Jair"s? And didn't Ryan our cousin have another baby? I feel so out of the loop. So....next month is my half way mark. Weird. Oh, and by the way, I'm sort of training again. I will have to write a letter about it.. It's a long story. Sigh. Anyway! Julia, I'm so sorry your papers are taking so long! You are on Heavenly Father time schedule, not your own. So when you leave is when you are supposed to. So there's an elder in my mission, Elder Petersen, who is from Yakima (he went to Eisenhower) who is just amazing! His story is crazy! So when he was in high school he had a full time career...he designs websites or something like that and he programs and stuff. Way smart guy. So anyway, he saved up his money for his mission, and then got his identity stolen around the time he was going to leave. So it took$15,000 to clear everything up. So he couldn't afford to go anymore. So he went to his bishop and asked for help, but his bishop said he would have to earn it all AGAIN. So Elder Petersen didn't like that bishop and stopped going to church all together (I don't blame him). So he went on with his life, and bought a house, had a career, etc... Then he found out that they lowered the age limit to 24, so he thought he would never go, so it wasn't like a goal or anything. Then a few years later he found out that they raised it to 26 again, so he still had a desire to go. Amazingly enough. So that day he found out the age limit raised his mom had 2 mini heart attacks, so he told him boss he wanted to go back to Wa to see her. He said they would talk about it the next morning. So the next morning his boss fired him...telling him he wasn't commited enough to the company (just because he wanted to go see his mom...) So he was thinking this was opening the door for him to go on a mission. So he moved back home, which drained his back account AGAIN. So he had about $3000 left. And of course he srtarted going back to church. So he went to his bishop and said he wanted to go on a mission. He was 26 at the time. And he was expecting his bishop to say he has to earn it himself again. But this time his bishop said of course! And there was actually $7000 in his missionary fund that had been sitting there for 6 years!!!! But instead of getting bitter and saying forget it, he went on his mission. Cool story huh? And it's all true! He is an amazing elder. I hope we stay in contact after the mission. So anyway! He just turned 28, and is going home in December.
Well, I love you all! And keep writing me ya bums!

Love
Leda

Awe!

Hi Annie! Long time no hear! Sounds like your neighborhood is crazy! It kinda sounds like my hood in Los Lunas. But I don't think I had it as bad as you. Oh well. I'm just glad you are safe! Don't do anything stupid. Now I'm in ABQ Bandelier ward, Paradise Hills area. It's really nice and higher class, I guess. I am in a district with 2 other sister and 1 set of elders. Soooo I'm pretty much in a sister district...I'm not sure how I feel about that, but so far it's going OK. :) We just moved into a new apartment because the sisters area here just got split, so we are actually living out of our area, out of our zone, and out of albuquerque. We are living in Rio Rancho which is just north of ABQ, sooo it's a little different. The elders from Rio Rancho live in our apartment complex in another building, so that's a good thing! I've never been this close to other missionaries from other zones before, I've always been isolated from other missionaries, let alone from other zones. So it's pretty cool!
We went to the temple yesterday...oh my goodness! It was awesome! I loved it! I can't wait to go again! I'm FINALLY understanding what I'm covenenting too! It's taken me forever! But I think I figured it out. :) I'll have to go with you again Annie, 'cuz remember I was really frustrated when I went with you? Ya, it's all coming together now. :)
So it sounds like Christy is turning into another Vanessa? Haha! I love it! I can't wait to see them next year! You should send me pictures sometime. And thanks to you and all the other girls for doing a care package! I can't wait to get it! :) :) :)
I'm glad you had a good time with Brenda, how is the schoolwork coming by the way? Everyone in Los Lunas homeschooled. It's crazy! And they all did food storage and canned. Man, I really do have a lot of respect for people who do that. You should totally learn how to can and stuff. That's what's going to save you in the end. Anyway! It was good to hear from you! You know I'm coming up on my 1/2 way mark the end of October? Crazy huh? I don't feel like I've been out for that long. I feel like I just started! AH! Time flies when you're having fun! Well, I know this is a little short, but I am kind of in a rush, so I will talk to ya later! I love you! And I'm so grateful, thankful, happy, and honored that you are my sister (and that goes for the rest of you) and that I belong to this family. Love you!

Love
Leda

Just Goofin'

(note from the editor: I didn't get a letter for these pics. But I did find a letter at my dad's house while I was visiting him that I hadn't seen, so here it is!)
July 19th, 2010
Dear Family,
What's up? How's everybody's summer? Do you boys have jobs yet? So where was the Wilson reunion? Are the Stolps doing one this year of next year?
Dad, missionary work is like a garden. But we full-time missionaries almost never plant the seeds. It's usually the members or acquaintances who plant the seed. Every member a missionary! We missionaries are the harvesters. Like in D&C 4 "the field is white already to harvest." Without the members we would have no harvest! I've noticed that people who do not have or had association with people from our church are less likely to listen to us. But the people who have had some sort of friendship with a member - they are more likely to listen to us. It's not always the case, but they are more likely. So yes, missionary work is like a garden, and EVERYONE is involved - not just full-time missionaries. I like how you said rain is like the spirit. We as the "gardeners" can only do so much to help the "plants" grow. The "rain" or spirit has to touch, "water", the growing seeds. Anyway, the members are just as important in missionary work, it's your church too! So if you give the elders a referral, ask if you could go with them to contact the person you refer them to. It's more effective that way. Just a tid bit:) So my companion, Sis Oborn, had to go tot he Dr. on Saturday, in ABQ. It was interesting. She found out she has a cyst on her kidneys! The Dr said it was like having a freckle. So we'll see. But he just said to stay away from acidic foods like green chili's and tomatoes. Sad! She did really really good the other day though, she has a hard time tracting for too long. But yesterday we trackted for almost 2 hours in 103-106 degree weather. We were both sweating like pigs! It was gross! But she was awesome! She pushed herself so hard and didn't faint! I was so proud! Of course I don't faint, so I was good.:)
Love Sis Stolp
P.S. Valerie, you have to read "The Hidden Spell" by Kimberly Griffiths Little. The bishops wife here in Los Lunas wrote it. She's awesome!

The Zone

Dear family, sorry I was not able to write a letter home, I didn't have time. Tomorrow Sister Oborn is going home to Wisconsin. She has been having to many health problems and will not be able to continue her mission. It is better this way for her, so that her health does not get worse and then suffer the rest of her life from the effects. So I'm getting Sister York who is serving in ABQ right now in a 3 some, so I'm hoping everything will work out. Sister Oborn is really sad to be going home, but she knows it will be beneficial to her health. It has been a struggle for both of us these last 2 transfers, and it will be better this way. She is a good missionary and did everything she could in her power and that her health allowed her too. She is definitely going to continue to be a member missionary and continue to do the Lord's work. We are both really sad about this, but it needs to be done. I have learned a lot about patience and how much I need Heavenly Father's help when it comes to charity and love and patience. I had a blessing from President Miller about everything I've been struggling with and he said in the blessing that Heavenly Father knows how strong I am and that's why I came here to Los Lunas...He knew that I could do it. There have been so many people here that we've met who have brain tumors or that had a family member die...and I just could not handle it last week. I was so close to having a mental breakdown. But to hear in the blessing that Heavenly Father knows how strong I am and that I can do it...just gave me hope and a renewed strength to keep going here. President was afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle this area for a few more weeks, but I told him that I know I can do it. I have learned a lot on how to rely on Heavenly Father and prayer. It has been quit the journey, and it's not over, but it will just make me that much stronger in the end. President was afraid that I was angry at Heavenly Father (and I was afraid of that too), but when he asked me if I was, I was surprised to find out that I wasn't. I felt like I actually relied on Him more than I think I ever have. It has been interesting to see myself now and what I was 3-4 years ago. He also said that there are many many people here in Los Lunas who are waiting for the gospel and that me and my new companion will find these people now that I have the capability of going out for a whole days work (I can count on 1 hand how many full days of work I've had since the end of June). So I'm really excited to see where I can take this area! But like I said, Sister Oborn was a good missionary and did the best she could.

We have Zone Conference tomorrow and I'm really excited! I really need some spiritual boosters and some training to help me with my work in Los Lunas. It is a really hard area and we have stepped it up in the mission, and it will be so nice to get some training! Anyway! That has been my week, nothing to exciting. Dad, the guy who was going to get baptized on your birthday (Miguel) is going to have to postpone his baptism date. Sorry, I tried. But we have 2 more scheduled baptisms, so it's exciting! Hopefully they will happen. :)

I love you all!

It's not Halloween yet, what's the deal!?

Hey everybody, so transfers are coming up this next week, and I'm so nervous! I have a really good companion right now and I"m afraid to lose her! But I know there are plenty of good sisters in the mission. So I guess I'm not to worried. I'm just worried to open another area! It's so hard! But you learn a lot from doing it that's for sure!
Oh and I called Sister Miller today for something and she said there was a package in the office waiting to be sent to me...yay! Thanks for the package, I'm excited for my birthday. :) EVERYONE was tight on miles this month...except us. Because we are just that good. But anyway! The elders BEGGED us for extra miles to get them to zone conference and back. So we gave them 100 miles out of our 900 miles...which isn't a lot in the first place...but we gave it to them anyways, and one of the elders as he was begging said he would do ANYTHING for me. So I told him he could make me brownies for my birthday. He said he would totally do it! And he said this would be the first time he will every really make something like that....but I'm pretty sure it will be good. :) Haha! So it's pretty cool. And I'm having my birthday dinner at the Stake Presidents house on Friday, so I'm way excited for that! Our stake president goes to Europe ALL THE TIME to shoot Mormon Messages for the church website. So he's pretty much famous. :) He's way cool, he kind of looks like Jim Carrey, only totally better! I'll send you pictures next week. I think. Anyway! OH! Can someone please send me somemore black trouser socks? I have holes in all of mine. I guess I just walk to much. :) That is if it's not in my birthday package. Anyway! I love you all! And I hope I have more exciting news next week. We have a baptism scheduled for Sept 11, 18, and 25. So we are praying that they will keep! But hopefully I will have more to say next week.

Love
Leda

Pics!

Most of these pictures are in Gallup the day before I left for Los Lunas. I hope you enjoy!
1. Last district in Gallup
2.same
3.me playing our organ that the elders gave us...
4.me with Sherina! She was my 2nd baptism. :) love her
5.me with the Watchman boys. the one in the suit was recently baptised in sheepsprings.
6.me with Ben Stewart. he cracked me up! love that kid! reminds me of brian.'
7.me with bro and sis jones. he was my ward mission leader. i loved them!
8.me with bro and sis haley. they lived in the trailer park behind us. they're awesome!
9.fav mt in ft. wingate.
10.at transfers with elders anderson (left) and hansen (right)
11.this is for steven. just remember the recipe dad wrote. :)
12.baby weston. he's the son of the wml in los lunas. love his shirt! it's for jimmy. :)

Amazing

Hey Annie! I would rather go vactioning with you! I would be so tempted to stop everywhere I served before we went home and I wanted to spend a few days in AZ with the uncles and stuff. So maybe it would be better to fly home and then drive to New Mexico later. I mean I do have all summer! :) But whatever works out I guess. I'm excited to get ALL my letters from the girls!!!! And I didn't forget Vanessa, she's my niece! Oh, and your problem is a classic one. It's where the mom is contantly talking and bossing their child around that the child literally doesn't hear what the mom says. I'm serious! Ask Julia. She knows everything. :)
That's terrible about the people in your ward. Didn't that happen quit a while ago? Those kinds of things really shake you up for sure! I'm sorry that happened.
I was depressed, but I'm over that now. I'm more stable where I am, and I don't miss the rez quit as much. I still miss it, but I'm not going through withdrawls. Thank goodness! And we had a baptism last week! It was amazing! It was so spiritual! She was soooo excited to be baptised. She looked like a kid at Christmas, I'm serious! She looked at the guy performing the baptism with such admiration and excitement! It was awesome! When she went down in the water I felt the Spirit so strong, and when she came up she started crying. She is a hissidic (?) Jew, and converted to Catholicism, and was actually blessed by Mother Teresa and is involved with generals in the military and such, she was a professor at Harvard, etc. She's pretty much famous. :) Anyway! Her name is Glenda Council. But she said NOTHING that she has ever done compared with her baptism. It was that special to her and she knew it! It was amazing! That was my most spiritaul baptism by far. That was just the highlight of my transfer. :)
I actually have some stomach problems that have occured on my mission, and my companion has the same thing. She talked to the doctor because she does have more head problems than I do. She's actually been to a lot of doctors before she came but they couldn't find anything wrong. So somehow she got better and Heavenly Father told her to go on a mission. So anyway. The doctor we talked to said that most missionaries do have stomach problems. Mine occur once a transfer and lasts maybe 2-3 days. I think it's just stress or something. But I'm getting used to it. And that is just crazy that one of Jimmy's sisters was pregnant! What the heck! I can tell you my comp is not prego. Sheesh. That's just ridiculous.
We had a patriotic program yesterday for a fireside and I got to sing last minute! It was amazing! I have a new favorite song, it's called "I'm going up a yonder" it was sung at Rosa Parks funeral. It's amazing! At ward council we sang an opening song and we had all parts to harmonize - accapela! It was way cool! This ward has so much musical talent it's crazy! Anyway, someone needs to get it for me to add to my collection. On the front it has the name Doreen Raos. I can't remember anything else. But Annie you would enjoy it! Oh man it's amazing! It has a kinda gospel sound to it.
So what did you all do in Cali? Do the girls have the car now? Who's paying the insurance? Julia, I heard from Steven that you all ate cupcakes down there? No fair! Julia, I heard you were getting your call this week!!!!
Brenda, thanks for the granola bars!!! They really help me from eating to much in the mornings! :) And they are really healthy. It's awesome! I'm glad Allen remembers who I am! Which reunion did you go to? I miss my brothers a lot.
Keep writing me letters even if I just write emails! I enjoy letters more. :) But I will be sending a few pictures home. And Steven don't forget do draw me the Plan of Salvation!!! Helen are you excited for Idaho?
Dad thanks for the stories. You should've stood up for what you know was right, but whatever. Sometimes that can be hard. I just tell the elders what I think and if they don't like me than whatever. But most of them just wind up liking me. It's weird. But that's who I am! When I got to this district I could tell they were pretty lazy and didn't get much done in district meetings. But when I came along they didn't know what hit them. My first meeting was lame, they shut out all the people who wanted to work and didn't really focus on working. That didn't go off well with me. But the next meeting they knew they couldn't do that again. So it was a lot better and we focused on working and how to improve. It was awesome! And the elders who do want to work (the Spanish elders) complimented us sisters. It was really good. :) So it is getting easier for me here in Los Lunas. And the ward is amazing and really good to us. I feel like I'm getting more stable here and not freaking out about how much work I have to do. Anyway! Ttyl
Love alls ya'lls!

Love
Leda

Busy

Hey fam,

This week is a lot better than last week. I'm not depressed anymore! Yay! We are having the baptism on Friday, so that is lifting our spirits. Last night we had a lesson with a boy who is dating a girl in the ward, and he's very interested in the church! So I'm hoping he will get an answer to baptism soon. :) We are getting a TON of referrals from the ward, they are very helpful to us and keep us busy. :) We haven't been tracting to much this last week, which means we are seeing a few more people during the day. Yay! Sis Oborn has been getting sick in the mornings, so that has been hard to stay in until 1 or so. But she has had health problems in the past. I have been keeping busy in the morning with organizing the area book into areas, so when we are specific areas we can see everyone who is in the area book. So it's been kinda nice.
We had our mini zone conference last week which was pretty cool! We met President and Sister Miller, they are way nice and Sister Miller is so sweet! I'm excited to get to know them better. I saw Elder Inman (who was in the MTC with me) there, he's a little shy around me for some reason, so I tried to get him to talk about his area to me. It was ok. There were 2 other sisters there, which I've never had any other sister companionships at my zone conferences! So that was nice to have other sisters there. :) I found out that there are only 8 english sisters and 6 spanish sisters in my mission since the split. So I'm the 3 most senior sister in the mission. And I've only been out for 5 months! It's weird. So I'll probably be training the rest of my mission. Oh and by the way, I come home in a year today. Weird! They changed the rules and I have to fly home now instead of being picked up, sorry Annie! :(
How was the 4th? We had fireworks in our backyard, but there were trees in the way! Of course. So we watched what we could through the trees. We had to be in by 7, so that was kinda lame! We went to Highland Meadows after church, it was awesome! There's a family that lives out there, the James family, they have 11 kids. It's awesome! They have a natural health business. So it's all herbs and stuff. Brenda I sent you a card to check out the website, I thought you might like it. They gave me some herbs to help my female problems (since I don't want brith control), so I'm hoping it will help. Rachel James gave me her email address so that you Brenda can email her when I need more herbs when I'm not in Los Lunas. They do not charge missionaries. :) Her email address is purple.frogprincess@gmail.com I will let you know when I need more and then you can forward the email to her. But that won't happen until after I leave Los Lunas.
It gets way hot out here, it's been around 95-100 everyday. Poor Sis Oborn fainted last week, ever since then she has been sick in the mornings like I said. I think I might be pushing her to hard, but I hate just sitting around when I know there is work to be done and people to see! So this is helping me learn patience...I hope! I try not to get frustrated.

JULIA! What is going with your papers?!?!?! You need to keep me updated every week ok??? How was Cali? Do you have the car? Helen are you excited for Idaho? I wouldn't be. Bleh. It's good from what I hear that you are getting away and dating other people. :) So Sis Oborn has a way good quote from Pres Hinckley:

"Many young women are serving missions. Many are preparing to serve, not because they aren't married or have nothing else to do, but because they have a desire to serve. The reason so many are going is because in the next generation, Heavenly Father will be sending his priesthood army to the earth. He wants to send them to mothers who have been properly trained in the gospel. And what better training can a young woman have than that of serving a mission?"

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I LOVE THAT QUOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's so true! I get tingly everytime I read that. :) :) :) So boys, you need to find girls to marry who have been on missions. They are going to be the ones who are teaching your kids, and what better teachers than the ones who have been trained in the gospel? Yay ya!

Anyway! I love you all! Someone let Steven read this.

Love
Sister Stolp

Letters to the family that I am just now seeing!!!!!

March 8, Dear family,

I can’t believe I’ve been in New Mexico for 3 weeks! I’m starting my 4th week today. Crazy! This week has been crazy! We went to Albuquerque last Monday because my comp is sick. I was so excited to go to the city! But it actually wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. I was glad to come back to Gallup. Weird for me, huh? I think I wouldn’t like tracting in the city, it’s too big for me. WEIRD! I LOVE the reservations out here! We want to tract the rez one of these days. We would tract about 8 miles. I’m so excited for that! We’ll hopefully do that next week or so. We actually went to the Superman Canyon Rez- which is named after the movie because that’s where they filmed a scene or something. Anyway! We went out there to see someone, but the sun had caked over the mud so it looked dry. So we got way stuck- we were even in 4WD. It was insane! So I had to get out and push- but the truck did not budge an inch! I even almost lost my shoe in the mud, I had to hop back to get my shoe and I could barely see it. That’s how muddy/deep it was. But some guys in a truck drove by and pulled us out. We want to find them again and teach them the gospel! They were way nice.:) I actually loved being stuck for some reason, being on the rez makes me really happy! I really hope they’ll keep me on the rez, especially put me in the deep rez. That’s my dream, but we’ll see where Heavenly Father needs me.

Love, Sis. Stolp

March 22, 2010

Dear family,

Last Tuesday we had a baptism for a lady we’ve been teaching. Her name is Cookie. She’s an incredible lady who I just love to death! Her baptism went very well… mostly because I played for it. JK! :) It was my first baptism which happened to be on my month mark here in Gallup. Cool!

Yesterday we went to Vanderwagen (the rez) to teach a lady whose been taking the lessons for a while now. She doesn’t come to church because her husband is afraid she’s going to leave him behind. So the sweet lady is waiting patiently for her husband to sit in on the lessons (he’s been a little antagonistic in the past). He doesn’t speak much English, so we bring a Navajo speaker with us to translate. So anyway! He finally sat in the lesson yesterday! We taught the 1st lesson in English and Bro. Billy translated into Navajo. WOW! The Navajo language is beautiful! It was amazing sitting there and listening to it. :) Eugene finally agreed to come to church with his wife Celecia (Su-lee-see-uh).

Nothing much else happened this week. Well, I cut my heel on some barbed wire, thank goodness I got my tetanus shot!

Love, Sis. Stolp

P.S. I had a dream about mom the other night. She was very happy and was smiling the whole time. It wasn’t for very long, it was like her face flashed into my dream. I was telling my companion that I think she was happy because I’m on a mission. I think that was her way of saying she is proud of me. It’s funny, but I feel like she really is always with me. :)

March 29, 2010

Dear family,

How is everyone? This week has been CRAZY! So it’s week 6, and we get a certain amount of miles each transfer/month, well we almost ran out of miles. So we had to walk a ton last week. We walked about 9 miles one day and then about 4 the next. It wasn’t too hard for me because my legs are still in pretty good shape from climbing the stairs of death at BYU. But Sis. Anderson’s legs hurt her for a few days. My ankle was kinda hurting me a bit, but it feels fine now. It was crazy, but everyone we walked to go see, was home! There’s this one lady we’ve been trying to get a hold of for about 6 weeks now and she was home! It was amazing! But wow, we were so blessed for trying to conserve miles. It was probably one of our more successful weeks. We thought walking would cut into a lot of our time, but we really didn’t suffer in teaching appointments. On Friday we had to walk to a lady’s trailer across the field behind us, but it was like pelting ice/snow. My ear was really starting to ache because the snow was pelting it. I really wanted to just drive over, but Sis. Anderson said no because we would be blessed for it. So anyway, after the appointment we walked outside and it was totally sunny. Sis. Anderson was like “See, we were blessed.” It was pretty cool, even though I still wanted to drive over!:)

We got transfer news, and Sis. Anderson is going to Bloomfield… We thought for sure she was staying one more transfer. We both had a good cry. She’s been in Gallup for 7 1/2 months-so it’s been really hard for her. I’m getting Sis. Abney who’s coming from Shiprock up north (Sis. Anderson also served in Shiprock and loved it!). Sis. Abney has served in Gallup before but doesn’t know the 2nd Ward area which we are in. So some people may recognize her. But it’s scary because now Gallup is my area… and I’ve only been with my trainer for 6 weeks! Usually you’re with your trainer for 12 weeks. So I feel kinda gypped. But whatever, Heavenly Father knows best.

So what’s going on with Evan? Did he have to be released? I hope not! So I take it he’s home right? Man, that would be hard to be missionary and then not. Did I tell you I dream in missionary? I’ve had people call me Leda and I say “No, my name is actually Sis. Stolp.” It’s weird!

Oh, and Helen, we had transfers you know. So a lot of missionaries are moving around, including Elder Hansen. He’s going to Albuquerque somewhere. It’s in a bike area haha! He’s been on a bike for like a week while their truck was in the shop. I’m so glad Elder Sumpter (DL) is staying though. He’s way easy going and tries to make my life as a greenie better! I have a really good picture of Elders Sumpter and Hansen-Elder Hansen totally looks like a homo! Haha! I might send it home sometime.

Anyway! I gotta go. We’re driving to Albuquerque tonight for transfers tomorrow. Love ya’ll.

Love, Sis. Stolp

April 19, 2010

Dear family,

My hives have cleared up-I had them for about 5 days. I think it was my allergies finally getting the best of me. I heard that a lot of people in this ward get them around the same time I did. Crazy I tell ya! So about my foot. It has been hurting for a few months now, and I finally saw the Dr. they took x-rays of it but couldn’t find anything. Which is weird because it’s been swollen for a while. So he put me in a boot cast and on crutches. Which is no easy feat! Most people have stairs-which means I have to hop up the stairs- and all the driveways are mostly gravel. I feel like I’ve been doing push-ups all day for about 3-4 days My one leg is really super buff now! The other one looks like a chicken leg (Steven, I’ve joined the club :) ). While I was in the brace and hopping around, my foot swelled up even more-it looked like I had 2 walnuts in my foot on either side. Oh ya, I forgot, the Dr. said he couldn’t find a break in my foot or ankle, so he thinks it’s a stress fracture. Anyway! So after it swelled really bad, I told the Dr. and he wanted to do an ultra-sound on it to see if I had any clots-but I don’t. THANK GOODNESS! So the Dr. said to stay off it for 2 weeks to get the swelling down and to keep my foot from breaking completely, if I do have a stress/hairline fracture. I’m going crazy just sitting here all day!!! But President was doing interviews yesterday and came to our trailer and gave me a few assignments to keep busy and keep my skills sharp. He even brought his own personal copy of the Oct. 2007 conference talks! :) He loves me. )

We had zone conferences the day before I was put on strict rest. It was amazing! I of course had to hop up the stairs to play the piano-but President said he really appreciated me sharing my talent and the dedication to hop up the stairs. He said hearing the real piano play was better than listening to the I-pod. Of course!

Here is what I learned:

Don’t think that every thought that comes into your head is from the Holy Ghost. Verify! You need time to prepare, meaning study! Don’t blurt things out. Think for a minute before you speak.

We need to always be bearing a living witness. Meaning, I am the living witness! A living witness is stronger than a testimony. You can blend them together, but you can’t bear a living witness w/out bearing your testimony.

Don’t get stuck in the truck (we have trucks:) ), let them see you walk the Navajo land. We are part of the earth when we walk it. Walk the landscape- be a part of it. They will accept you more if they see this.

It was a way good conference. :) The elders were nice to me too-which is rare for them to be concerned about sisters. One of the assistants to the President- Elder van Etten- started filling my plate when I walked in. He didn’t even have to ask if I wanted him to get me my lunch! It was really nice. :) Sis. Abney and I ate lunch w/President and Sister Anderson and the other leaders. I felt like I was eating with General Authorities-pretty much he is one of them in my eyes! They all called me Sister Hop-a-Long. :) But I wanted to be called Sister Speedy because I’m so fast on crutches.:) The elders in my district would tease me and race me to the door or tell me they were going to kick my crutches out from under me. Meanies! But it was fun getting teased.:) So Gallup is split into 2 wards/areas, we cover Gallup 2nd Ward on the east side and the district leader Elder Sumpter and his comp Elder Roberts cover Gallup 1st Ward on the west side. The elders’ truck has been in the shop for a few days-ok weeks- and we felt bad for them. So we got permission for them to use our truck until theirs gets fixed, since we’re not going anywhere naytime soon. Elder Sumpter told President in his interview that me breaking my foot was inspired of God, L so that they could get our truck. But since they have our truck they have to get our mail and stuff. Haha! We’re totally making them work for our truck!:) They’re good elders.

My companion gave me a website to go to to get cheap glasses. It’s zennioptical.com check it out.

I don’t think there’s anything else other than like I said I’m going crazy!

Oh! And it seems to me that all the elders who are serving and have served in Gallup since I have gotten here have crushes on me, or something. Maybe they just hate me. :) Boys, when you go on your missions, don’t you dare flirt with the sisters! But you better respect them! Or I’ll come to your mission and punch you. :)

Your loving sister in the gospel…

Sis. Stolp

May 17, 2010

Dear family,

It was great talking to all of you last week! We had transfers and we have new Sister- Sister Kavatoe (Ka-vu-toe-ee)- so we are in a threesome. Sister Kavatoe is from Tonga and is just hilarious! She already loves the area, so I think she’s going to be here for a while. J I still could go anywhere. Sis. Kavatoe could take this area and I could leave, or I could stay, or we can both stay. Sis. Abney is going home, se we could get another sister and be a 3-some again. Sis. Kavatoe thinks we’re going to train-which is a possibility. But I could be transferred to the city because of my foot, but I doubt it. They probably wouldn’t put me anywhere north because of the cold, but I could move west into Az.-if I’m in the new mission. By the way-I went to the physical therapist and he thinks I have nerve damage. He started messing around with my foot- and boy did it hurt! But where the pain was is on the ankle joint on top of my foot where all my nerves run. According to him at least. (note from the editor: Leda drew a picture of her right foot with arrows pointing to her ankles, and then to where the pain (!) was, near the left side ankle.) So he pressed right where the arrow is, and pressed. Did I mention it hurt? I was sweating bullets and almost cried. He had to remind me to breathe. But I guess he wanted to clear the nerves or something-I don’t know- I was in a lot of pain. Anyway. My foot went numb, so I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. Thank goodness! He said to massage my foot everyday to get the mobility again in my ankle. :/ It hurts so bad to massage it! But I do it, I have noticed it doesn’t hurt as much when I point my toe-so I’m guessing it’s working. Thanks, Brenda, for sending the liniment. I think it’s helping too. My knees have been acting up again. The doctor said my back is out of whack too. He told me to get some better shoe insole and gave me a place to go to. But they’re like $50 a pair! Sis. Anderson said to bargain/finagle him into giving me 2 for the price of 1. Anyway. The hospital said I don’t have to pay any co-pays. Well, I think it’s one co-pay of $10 a month. So I paid the $10 for May and will pay for June if I do p. t. up to then. Sis. Anderson also said the insurance might pay for the insoles-so I need to find out. But since I don’t have any co-pays (except June) that I’m aware of0 it it ok if I use the money you sent me (if the insurance doesn’t pay) to get the insoles? Like I said, I’m going to wait and see if I have nay more co-pays before I use the money.

I love you all, and don’t forget to write me your responses to my letters boys and Val!

Love, Sis. Stolp

　May 24, 2010

Dear family,

This week has been really good so far! We taught 18 lessons and the goal in 20 lessons a week, I think 18 is the most I’ve had. :) So that was way exciting! We went tracting a lot this week. We had about 4 lessons from tracting which is almost unheard of to get lessons from! One lady that we ran into believed in an Eastern Indian religion (sounded like something the Beatles would believe in) all about love and stuff. So it was a little strange, and Sis. Kavatoe was scared to death by her! She was nice, but very strange. She didn’t believe in Christ or Christianity. Then we tracted into a guy named Dan, he’s a Catholic and stood outside with us while we talked. He was pretty polite and listened to what we had to say. He had a lot of “bashing” questions, but we didn’t let it get to that. He believes in the Trinity, and believes that Jesus Christ is a “full God” - He has no more progression. It was hard to tell him that everyone can progress to become a god. We didn’t say that because we didn’t want it to sound blasphemous. Anyway! It was good.

We are having Zone Conference this week in Farmington and I’m way excited! It’s going to be half the mission- so I get to see Sisters Anderson and Edwards and of course some of my MTC elders. So I’m excited!

When does school get out? What is everyone doing once school gets out?

There’s really not much going on around here. None of our investigators are progressing because they all need to get married! We had one of- well, not our- recent converts that moved here about a month ago come with us to a lesson. His name is Timothy Watchman (cool last name, huh?), he’s 20 and is planning on serving a mission in a year. So the ward gave him a Preach My Gospel (PMG) and has been studying from that. We talked about the Priesthood and the differences between the two. So that was pretty cool. He knew a ton about them! And he only had the scriptures to go by! It was awesome!

I’m totally going through green chili withdrawals! I haven’t had green chilies in a few weeks! I’ve gotten used to eating plain refried beans and Spanish rice. At first I thought it was so gross to eat refried beans plain! But man are they good with the rice! People feed us so good out here! I haven’t gained any weight since I got here, but I sure do feel fat! Sister Kavatoe and Sister Abney are good eaters too. Believe it or not I’m not the eater in the companionship! I think I eat less than the other 2, but I’m the shortest for sure- so I pack it smaller. :) We joke around and say “too much eating!” with a Tongan/Navajo accent. It’s hilarious! We’ve nicknamed all of our stomachs jr. And when we eat a lot, there’s jr. and sr. Haha! It’s funny. Anyway! I just wish they would send me where they don’t feed the missionaries! I hat eating dinner every night! Oh, by the way, how was dinner with the Spanish missionaries? They were elders right? What did you feed them? Well, that’s about it. Dad can tell you about my foot.

Love ya’ll!

Love, Sis. Stolp

　June 1, 2010

Dear family,

I did find time today to write. They moved our P-Day to Tuesday and we had an appt. this morning and ate lunch with a member, then we got our haircut. So that took up most of our day.
I hope you guys are feeling better. We are all suffering (still) from allergies. :/ But mine are definitely not as bad as before. :) How is Allen doing?

We had zone conference last week- it was about the Restoration and how to better teach it, especially door approaches. After Z.C. we were stoked! So our next 1st lesson about the Restoration we did what we learned and used our resources (the DVD). After the lesson we asked them individually if they know Joseph Smith is/was a prophet. They all said yes, they knew. After the lesson their cousin showed up to ask us questions. He asked who Joseph Smith was- we had his cousin (one of them that said Joseph Smith was a prophet) explain to him who J.S. was. He repeated the First Vision almost word for word! I can’t even do it! It was amazing! Most of them came to church on Sunday J - and the 17 year-old girl (who has a kid) leaned over to Sis. Abney during church and said she had a good feeling when she sat down. Man! This gospel is awesome! It changes people’s lives- if they let it. It’s all about the attitude. For sure! I’ve been out for 4 months. Woohoo! :) (I have a feeling I’m training next transfer. Yikes!) (I think I’m leaving Gallup too.:/ )

Love, Sis. Stolp

June 7, 2010

Dear Family,

How is everything going? You boys and Val need to write back to me! Nothing too new and exciting is happening around here. No baptism dates. :/ No one wants to get married!

We’re going to try something new for this ward. We are going to have the members open up their homes for us to teach the investigators in- so they can feel what it’s like to have the Spirit in a home. The only problem is to get the investigators to the members’ home. No one is very motivated out here. So we’re going to invite the members to the investigators home first for a lesson, and have the member invite them to their home for dinner or something and then do an FHE or maybe we’ll come over after for a lesson. I hope it works!

Yesterday was Sis. Abney’s last Fast Sunday, and for some reason Sis. Kavatoe wanted to bear her testimony. So we all went up there (we’re supposed to, to show comp. unity). I really didn’t want to bear my testimony. You all know me, I never do! But to show comp. unity I bore my testimony. I was shaking at first, but after I started talking, I stopped. I told them how I wanted an “I KNOW” testimony and to pound the pulpit! But I didn’t have one until a few days ago. I told them about my experience with the lady who started attacking our belief on God. I told them from that experience I gained an “I KNOW” testimony. I pounded the pulpit and told them I KNOW that God is our Father and that Christ is my brother and my Savior. I don’t know why but I was bawling. I looked around and I saw a few other people crying too. I hope the Spirit was able to touch their hearts and our investigators will want to change now. One of our recent converts, Cookie Villegas (I gave you a picture of us at her baptism), was so mad at me for making her cry. Let me tell you, it wasn’t me!

But ya, we had 23 lessons this week, and the goal is to have 20! We totally passed it! WOOHOO!

I heard you all went to mom’s grave last week and shared a memory of her. What were the memories you shared? I remember mommy used to dance, and I thought it was so stupid! She would wave her arms around and swing her body (since she didn’t have any hips to swing:) ) and shout WOOHOO! Or something like that. The lame thing is, I do it too! :/ My comps laugh at me and even took a video on their camera. It is pretty funny. Anyway! Dad if you want to eat something hot, get Chili Garlic Sauce “Tuong ot toi viet-nam” it has a green cap (if you can tell:) ). I’m practicing eating hot foods so when I get home we can have a hot food eating contest. :) I have a feeling Jalepeno’s aren’t hot to me anymore. Haha! Just try it. You will thank me! I wish you all could come to New Mexico and try green chilies! I’m addicted to that stuff! There’s this one place called Genero’s that has the BEST salsa ever! I’m going to miss that place when I leave. If I leave! :)

Sis. Kavatoe and I work out together. I’m up to 150 crunches in a day, and my arms are pretty buff! A lady in the ward (Sis. Curtis. Love her!) gave us an old water jug, and we filled it with water to 20 lbs. So that’s what we work out with. We lay on a ball (exercise ball) on our stomachs and put our feet on the couch for balance then take the water jug and do backwards crunches to get our lower abs. It’s hard to explain, but we’re totally dead after out work-out!

It’s getting really hot out here. I’m looking at our outside thermometer and it says 101ish. But it’s in the sun, so it could be a little cooler, especially with the wind. It’s week 5, so we find out transfer news next Saturday! Stay tuned!

Love ya’ll!

Love, Sis. Stolp

P.S. And Dad, thanks for saying nice things about mommy. I like to hear you say those things.

6/14/2010

Dear Family,

How is everything going? How are the jobs? Nathan, did you ever get a job picking tomatoes? Brian and Steven, are you practicing for madrigals? I wish I could hear that! Valerie, have you made any good friends? Do you guys still hang out with Skyler Andersen? He’s a good kid.:)

We’ve been doing a lot of tracting this week, me and Sis. Kavatoe love it! Sis. Abney is not so fond of it. We ran into a boy who believes in the Greek mythology gods like Zeus and stuff. It was interesting! He didn’t go into details of his beliefs, but I totally wanted to hear it! Oh well. Then we tracted into a guy who said he was a pagan heathen with theological tendencies. Haha! It was awesome! I think he was being sarcastic. Then we met a lady who didn’t want to learn about the church, but had heard of our awesome fascination with genealogy. She started telling of her family history and stuff. I found out we are related somehow. I just need to find our connection. She has ancestors who went to Linden (?) Holland then came to America- as our ancestors did. Cool! Anyway! It was a pretty fun week.:) Some of the members have told us that they wouldn’t be able to handle the rejection. But the thing is, they don’t know us personally, so how can they reject us? The thing they are rejecting is Jesus Christ or families or Joseph Smith- but not us personally. So all of you at home that plan to go on missions remember that- they are not rejecting you they are rejecting Jesus Christ and His church.

So the other night the Zone Leaders called and I answered, but I wasn’t really thinking. We have to say who we are when we answer. So I said “Hi, this is Sister Stolp… uh wait, yes, it’s Sister Stolp.” My comps and I had a good 5 min. laugh. J The zone leader, Elder Dahl (Doll), asked if he could write that in his journal. Oh man it was funny! I thought for a second I had said Elder Stolp or something. The Navajos call us elders, thinking it means missionary. I have caught myself a couple of times before I say Elder Stolp. Man, it was funny! Haha!

On Monday we had cleaning checks again, and the couple, the Martinez’s, are finishing their mission this month. L They are awesome people! Sis. Martinez’s b-day was also Monday so we (I) made her a cake that said “Happy 22nd B-day Sis. Martinez” but she turned 60-something. It was awesome! We stuck it in the fridge so when she checked it it was chilling there. She loved it! J It was the best clean check ever! Then Sis. Kavatoe’s b-day was Thursday. It was a good week for b-days. I’m sad I can’t celebrate the boys’ b-day with ya’ll! I’ll be there in spirit. J Love ya’ll!

Love, Sis. Stolp

P.S. Transfer news comes this Saturday! I’ll let you know which mission I’ll be in on Monday. I’m so nervous! But wherever Heavenly Father needs me, that’s where I’ll go.:)

(note from the editor: Please write to Leda!)