Missionary Work

Hello family,

I am very sorry that I haven't written to you in a while, but I have been pretty busy. So my weeks have been going by super fast and I'm not sure what has happened, so I will refer back to my planner.....wow, I've had a lot of Beehive house!! I really do like that house, though. I wouldn't mind serving there another transfer, but I think the Lord might change me up this next transfer. So transfer conference is on Monday and we'll all find out what our next assignments are! I'll be in my 6th! Almost halfway!! Where has the time gone? I have found out that missions really are short and therefore, so is your life. 

So we have had lots of new investigators, but only one progressing investigator. Nobody wants to pick up their phone and talk to us, so whatever. Our progressing investigator is living in Nigeria and he has a baptismal date! Yaaaaaay!!! He does have two concerns, though. One is that he doesn't know who Thomas S. Monson is and he drinks tea...so we're helping him out with these things. 

It's been really great here and very successful! So I was reading in the Book of Mormon this morning and I came across this scripture that I want to share with you. 3 Nephi 10:5   "And again, ^ahow oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not." 

I have noticed that sometimes God helps us and we don't want that help or maybe we don't know that it's help coming from Him. So many people say to us, "why isn't God helping me and why don't I see His hand in my life?" Then we ask, what kind of answer are you expecting? They're usually looking for a big sign, but that's not really how it is. I know that we can see His hand in all of our lives because He really does love us! 

Love you lots!!

Conference

We weren't really able to hear any of the talks while we were walking on Temple Square because we were talking to people. I just went to the Saturday morning session and I really like Elder Packer's talk about how when we are prepared, we need not fear. I have heard a talk like this before, but we learn by repetition and that's why a lot of the talks have the same topic. We get to read the talks for personal or companion study. 
There was that heart wrenching story that President Uchtdorf gave about the girl who was abused. At least, I thought that was sad. I don't remember about the chalk story...
It would be good to feed Temple Square sisters more than once because we don't get to work with members on TS and that's the number one favorite thing that all the outbound sisters have said! Is that they get to work with members and are fed by them. 
We only have one progressing investigator right now and he is from Africa. We had like 7 new investigators at one time, but none of them answered our phone calls, so it was really sad for us! We do have a lot of referrals to call, though and I called this one lady this morning and her friend said she was Catholic. So I called and I didn't even introduce myself because she started yelling before I could. She told me to never call her again! It was actually kind of funny, but super sad because this might be her only chance in this life to find the gospel and she's going to be in Heaven and God is going to say "I had this girl call you and this other girl call you and you didn't even listen to them." It just makes me sad! Then I called another referral who is a less active and it was one of the best conversations that I've had with a less active. I shared with him Moroni 7:33 and I talked with him about Jesus Christ and I found out that he still prays! That is a start and I invited him to start reading the scriptures again. He said he would and I'll call him next week. Sometimes people just promise you things so you'll get off the phone, but I hope he's sincere. He seemed like it. My previous companion has the English man's contacts. She sent him an email, but no response. She'll probably call him soon, but I don't know.
Our mission goal for baptisms is for six months, between conferences and out last one was 400 and we got 418 I think. Our new mission goal is like 486, or something like that and we'll find out next conference if we achieved it. 
My companion is Sister Lupashko and she's from Ukraine. 
Love,
Helen

More Pics

Here are some pictures of me and my companion. This was all during conference time. I hope you like these! 
Love you all!

                              Sister Stolp

Pics

This is me and I just realized my flag is not showing!!! Lame! My companion is on the left, Sister Lupashko (Ukraine) and beside me is Sister Richards (Japan). He came for our "after conference party" and played some awesome songs! I don't look very good in these pictures, but that is ok! I have gained weight, I know, but hopefully in the summer I will shed some weight. I will try to send more pictures soon. 
Love you all!!

                   Sister Stolp

Conference Crazyness

Hello my people,
so there was a lot that happened since I last emailed you and I hope I can tell you all! 
So on Thursday I saw Elder L. Tom Perry!! In the basement of the South Visitors' center there were quorum meetings and some of the 70 and two of the apostles came for the meeting. So I was down in the kitchen getting lunch when Elder L. Tom Perry walked by and said to us "Time for lunch?" We all just smiled and nodded. It was so cool! 
So on Saturday, the first day of Conference, we woke up super early to get ensign ready by 7:30am. We got to go to the Saturday morning of conference and it was so neat to be in the conference center for when it happened! It was a really good day of talking with people and uplifting them and finding people to teach. We left the Square at 9:30 pm and went straight to bed. 
So on Sunday, the second day of Conference, we woke up even earlier to get ensign ready by 7am. We had no session of conference or Beehive today, so it was just go, go, go on the Square the whole day. Another great day of uplifting members and asking them what they learned at conference. The Spirit was so strong the entire time and it was great. Because we only got to see one session we had to ask the members about the other sessions. Something that I didn't know before was that conference is being broadcast over the loud speakers all over the Square and the plaza. There were families who would have a picnic on the grass and it was super sweet. Before the end of our day we met these four young men from England and their accents were amazing!! They were non practicing protestants and we basically taught them the whole first lesson right near the east gate! They asked some really good questions and we were there first real contact with the church, but they had heard about the polygamy thing before (everyone has). They didn't want to learn more at the moment, but we gave them mormon.org cards. Oh, and by the way, get some mormon.org cards and some Finding Faith in Christ cards and all those other pass-along cards because they do work! There will be people who just throw them into the trash, but most of our inbound calls are from people who just got a pass-along card from their friends and we're able to send them DVDs and Books of Mormon and all other good stuff! So, our conference weekend ended at 7:30 where we went into the Tabernacle and had a little meeting and afterwards we had ice cream. 
So on Monday, because for two whole days straight we were all on our feet and we were all so drained, we got to sleep in on Monday and we had to be on the Square by 12! It was a much needed rest! My eyes burned because I was so tired! Then we had a fun little get together that night with...wait for iiiiiiiit.......Jon Schmidt! He came to Temple Square and played us some of his songs! It was super cool and I got a picture with him, so I will send it soon. 
Well, as you can see, conference weekend was an amazing weekend. It was so amazing to be so near where the prophet and apostles speak to us. I hope you all listened to the talks and that you are applying them in your lives! 

                                                 Love you all!
                                                        Sister Stolp

One Solitary Life

I just want to share with all of you this little story with you. I don't know who it's by, but I got it from my mission president. It's called "One Solitary Life". 

He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, where He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn't go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things one usually associates with greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He was only thirty-three when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away.

He was turned over to His enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While He was dying, His executioners gambled for His clothing, the only property He had on earth. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend. Nineteen centuries have come and gone, and today He is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress. All the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one solitary life. 

                  I hope you were able to remember Him on Easter and can remember what He has done for us throughout the rest of your lives!

                                                            Sister Stolp

I am Iron Man

Hello family!

I'm sure you're wondering why my subject says what it says. Well, it's because I did a lot of amazing things that even Iron Man wouldn't be able to do! Because he was never a missionary!! 

So the first thing that I did was I took a Turkish tour! I, of course, did not speak the language, but I took four Turkish men around and one of them spoke pretty good English, so he translated. It was pretty cool and I hope that they understood the message. Then we were in the Beehive house and four antis came in and wanted a tour. The best thing to do when you encounter antis is to bear your testimony. So that is just what we did! It definitely has strengthened my faith whenever people like that come and try to tear us down. It makes me sad when they come and try to tell us that we're doing something wrong, but I'm glad that I know the truth! We will get a lot more anti-mormons during conference and in the summer, so this is good preparation.

General Conference is coming up!! I hope you're all excited, because I know I am! The Temple Square sisters are buzzing with excitement because this is a time of miracles! We have been preparing for that day for a while now. All the new sisters are very nervous, but all the old ones are super pumped! This is will be my second Conference as a missionary, but my first on Temple Square. One thing that we've been doing here on the Square is helping people that come here to prepare for Conference in different ways. I would also like to help you all in your preparation for conference. If you could read this talk http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2005/10/the-blessings-of-general-conference?lang=eng and follow what it says and try to apply it to your life. It will definitely bless your life as you watch General Conference and actually remember what our Prophet and Apostles have said to us! 

Here is what President Uchtdorf said in one of his talks:

A fine member of the Church was talking with a neighbor who was not of our faith. When the topic of discussion turned to general conference, the neighbor asked, “You say you have prophets and apostles? And twice a year in a worldwide conference they reveal the word of God?” “Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence. The neighbor thought about that for a moment. He seemed genuinely interested and then asked, “What did they say in the last general conference?” At this point the good member of the Church went from feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of the details of a single talk. His friend found this troubling and said, “You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day and you can’t remember what He said?” A fine member of the Church was talking with a neighbor who was not of our faith. When the topic of discussion turned to general conference, the neighbor asked, “You say you have prophets and apostles? And twice a year in a worldwide conference they reveal the word of God?” “Absolutely,” the member replied with confidence. The neighbor thought about that for a moment. He seemed genuinely interested and then asked, “What did they say in the last general conference?” At this point the good member of the Church went from feeling excited about sharing the gospel to feeling embarrassed. Try as he might, he couldn’t think of the details of a single talk. His friend found this troubling and said, “You mean to tell me that God speaks to man in our day and you can’t remember what He said?”

I would invite you all to not be like this member and to listen carefully to and to read the talks that will be given in General Conference. I know that this will be an epic conference and we will all be blessed for listening to it! 

                   Love you!!

                            Sister Stolp

Easter

Hello people,

So it's been pretty amazing here because it's spring! The air is beautiful outside and it's a lovely day! 

So the other day we went to JERUSALEM!!!!......in Goshen, Utah. This is the set where they filmed all those Bible videos that we're able to watch on lds.org. If you haven't watched them yet, I would invite you to watch them in preparation for Easter! It was an amazing experience and if I never go to the real Jerusalem, then I can say that I have gone to a place like it. We got to go to the set where the calvary scene happened and it was a spiritual experience. We sang a verse of "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and all three verses of "Called to Serve". (Some of you may have caught that I said 3 because at Temple Square we had a third verse made for just our mission) So I learned some cool things about the Bible videos. Elders Scott and Bednar helped with these projects and made sure that everything was correct. They hand picked the people who played Mary and Jesus Christ. Please watch them and think about what it would be like to meet the Savior.

http://www.lds.org/bible-videos?lang=eng

I hope you all felt the Spirit as you watched some of those videos, because I know that the message of Jesus Christ is for everyone to hear about and this is a great way to introduce people to our Savior. Please post this link on your facebook if you can and it can be a great missionary tool for all your friends! I am learning something very valuable on my mission is that we're not just here to share with nonmembers our message, but to members as well. I get to meet a lot of members these days especially since conference is coming up and it's been good to uplift them and help them renew their faith. I took a less-active man around the Beehive the other day and he said at one point that he envied people with faith. I told him that he could gain that faith back and it's never too late because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ! The Atonement is something that a lot of people know about, but don't know how to use or think that they're too far gone to use it. 

Here is something else that I would invite you to do in preparation for Easter. Read this talk by Bruce R. McConkie. It is very powerful and it talks about the crowning moment in history. The sacrifice that Jesus gave to us is the greatest sacrifice that this world has ever or will ever see. His was the greatest sacrifice ever! 

 http://www.lds.org/general-conference/1985/04/the-purifying-power-of-gethsemane?lang=eng

                                         

                                                 Happy Easter to all of you! 

                                                              Sister Stolp