Finally, An Email :)

Hellooooo everyone!

 

Sorry I've been such a massive failure at writing proper emails. . . it has gotten especially hard since our mission president has told us to write out president letters online now, instead of hand written. Buuuttttt, I am doing great! Brid is as good as ever. Now that Sorensen is home, and Sister Cruz is here, I'm noticing more and more that Brid is just my home. Haha, I love it here. I love the people, I love the town (except for the heaps and heaps of dog poo that is everywhere. . .but that is just a small thing), and I love being a missionary here!

 

But Sister Sorensen is gone. :( I love her so much and we had SOOO much fun together. She was my longest companion (nearly 4 months) and honestly just had a blast. BUt she is home and I'm sure she is having a fantastic time being with her family.  Our last days together were good. BUt they took her a day earlier then we thought, which was sad. :/ But all is well.

 

Sister Cruz is wonderful. She is from Grand Canaria in Spain and, obviously speaks Spanish! Her English is good, and she is very eager to make it even better! She is a wonderful missionary and I am excited to get to serve with her at this time.

 

Well, what else to say? We are continuing to work with the same people and still continuing to search with everything we have to find even more peopel to teach. I love being a missionary and getting to teach God's children here in England. England will be apart of me forever.

 

Well, nothing too exciting is happening. EXCEPT! We are having our mission Christmas party tomorrow! Which I am very excited about! Everyone from the whole mission will be getting together at the American base in Harrogate and going bowling, playing games and then we are going to be fed a delicious meal and we are going to watch a movie. It's gonna be EPICCCC!!!

 

So, yes. My life is wonderful. :D

 

But I am sorry to hear about Grandpa Gardner. :( I'm glad the funeral went well, and I just know that he is happy and well in the Spirit World. He will be helping the work of the Lord to be moved forward beyond the veil. 

 

I love you all!! 

 

<3,

Sister Stout

A Long Overdue Update

Because Ali and I email back and forth most p-day's she doesn't usually have time to write out an email. But for those interested I thought I'd give some details about what she's up to.

Her current companion is Sister Sorenson and they have been in Bridlington since she went back there a few transfers ago. Sorenson is going home on Wednesday (in the middle of the transfer... all the missionaries going home this transfer are going home this week to be back in time for Christmas). Ali will be getting a newer sister named Sister Cruz who's from Spain. This will be Ali's first foreign comp. The sister is struggling with the English language. Ali will be staying in Bridlington for at least the next 3 weeks, until the end of the transfer. Once this transfer is over she will only have one more left and will return home on Valentines Day! I still haven't received her itinerary. Ali served in Bridlington as her second area, then Don Valley (where she spoke Slovakian) and back to Bridlington and if she stays to the end of mission will have served there for 9 months.

They are teaching a few people right now. One is a lady that she met while we were emailing each other. She's Bulgarian and because Ali spoke Slovakian for 6 months they were able to understand each other a little - I guess the languages are similar. She has a baptism date set for Dec. 29. The others they are teaching aren't progressing too much but Ali has a lot of hope for them and they walk the streets everyday looking for new people.

Ali's coming to grips with the fact that her mission is coming to an end. She mentioned today that she'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited about coming home but she also would like to stay in England as a missionary forever. She loves it so much. It's a bittersweet thing, as it is for all missionaries preparing to come home.

After telling her about the passing of her great-grandfather this week she was sad and sends her love to all the family. She loves grandpa very much. We gave her grandma's contact information and she'll be writing her soon. She's sad that she'll miss the funeral and seeing all the family but is grateful for the Plan of Salvation and that we're all going to be together again someday.

Sisters, You're Called to Serve!

Life in the mission is grand! I am staying in Bridlington with Sister Sorensen!! We are excited about it!

 

I am SOOOOO HAPPY that girls can go on missions when they are 19!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was pretty much the best news of my whole LIFE!!! EVERY girl should serve a mission, and this has made that a lot more possible. When you are on a mission, you are literally on a mini life. You learn things a lot faster then you would in normal life. I would encourage every young woman to pray, with real intent, and ask if serving a mission would benefit them and others. Remember, if you have a desire to serve God, you are CALLED to the work. Just because we're girls doesn't mean that the Lord expects less from us then the boys. It doesn't say that if you are a man and you have a desire then go, but if you're a girl then if you let it slide then it's okay. You are CALLED. Sisters can do the work in a completely different way then Elders can. We are BOTH desperately needed in the field. Search, ponder, and pray!!

 

I love you all, have a good week! <3

 

Sister Ali Stout 

ps - Mom, I love you so much. :)

Becoming More Christlike

This week has been GREAT!! We have an epic investigator named Stephen and he passed his interview!!! So he will be getting baptized on Friday! I love Brid, it's the smallest place in the world, but it just keeps on giving! We honestly find the BEST and the MOST prepared investigators EVERRRRRRR here! I love missionary work and I love seeing people working so hard to change and repent so they can be more like Jesus Christ.

I've been working on becoming more Christlike as well. I've finally overcome the hurdle that I've been working on most of my life, and now I have to get out of the mindset of fixing that and start working on something else. And the something else I decided that I need to work on is charity. Blessed, blessed charity. Sometimes I fight my leaders too much. I am prideful. I'm not a perfect missionary and I do my best, but I have overcome other problems and now charity is just staring me in the face. I know I'll never perfect it, but I can do all within my power to improve. I need to learn how to SHOW my love more. I'm not the best at showing affection. That is something I'm working on this week. :)

I love you all my wonderful family!!!! I miss you and I hope life is doing welllllll.

Buhbye!!

<3,

Sister Stout

Sister Sorensen and I!! Isn't she adorable?

Awesome Week!

This last week was so much fun! We had the INCREDIBLE opportunity to go to Sisters Specialized Training! I got to go last year as well, I loved it then, but this time was even better! It was a different experience to go when you've been out for a while. While I was there I met Sister Burningham, and she was precious! Sisters Training was all about how we need to reach our potential and I just LOVE working on reaching my potential and seeing others reaching theirs! <3 One part of the training was when each sister was asked to stand and share what was the most important lesson they have learned on their mission. I have honestly learned too many lessons to even BEGIN so I was just pondering as we all went around the room. A couple sisters before me, I recieved my revelation. I knew what I had learned that was the most important. And that was that I learned how to love myself. That was something that I struggled with a lot before my mission, but now I do. And I didn't even realize that I had overcome that and that I didn't even think about it anymore until Sisters Training. :D Learning lessons is the BEST.

The work in Bridlington is going great and we have some wonderful investigators. We don't have too many, but the ones that we do have are stars!! They are progressing so well!!

I wasn't able to email yesterday because . . . the whole zone came to Brid! And Sister Sorensen and I had to go buy things for the barbeque on the beach. Then after we had our bbq, we went to the chapel and played a little game called ZOMBIE APOCALYPE, which was sooo much fun. I prefered being a zombie to a survivor. I am really bad at shooting nerf guns, and I am much better at just sulking around in dark corners. :)

Well, I love you all and I hope that you are happy and doing all you can to move the Lord's work forward in your own way. :)

Talk to you next week!!

<3,

Sister Stout

Back to Walking and Finding - But It's All Good

Hello my lovelies!!

 

This week has been good! We did a lot of finding, but no bother. :) We did have a really good miracle that happened last night. We have been struggling to find new investigators and we have been looking and searching and being diligent and so on and so forth. But we were still struggling. But Heavenly Father gave us a tender mercy. Sister Sorensen was feeling sick during church so afterwards we were just in the flat resting and a former investigator rings and we set up an appointment with him at the chapel at 7:00 pm. We go there and no one was around so we rang him and he said that he wasn't coming. We were not very happy since it was kind of hard to get out there and Sorensen wasn't feeling great. We needed to invite people to be baptized (which we do everyday, whether in a lesson or on the street) still for the day so we started talking to people and we met this guy who wanted to se ethe chapel and we had a lesson with him AND we scheduled him for baptism!! I love miracles!! I love being a missionary, we get to see the best kind of miracles and we see them everyday!

I love you all, have a good week!

 

<3,

Sister Ali Stout

ps - We also found a slug in our flat, it was the nastiest thing I have ever seen in my whole life! It was just so slimy and SICK. Ugggghhhhhh

I Am Back in Brid!

Haha, it is so crazy to go back to one of your old areas! It doesn't even feel like I left. I've picked up right where I left off. :) Brid is pretty much still the same place. Except that Sister Sorensen is here and she is SO epic. We are having a ton of fun together! And back when I was here, P-Days were always kind of a joke, but this P-Day is gonna be really good. The ZL's and our DL and another set of elders and another set of sisters are coming to Brid! Which was unheard of in previous times. Brid is evolving!!!

 

Bridlington is doing so well, they have seen a lot of baptisms this year, which is so fantastic! I know that I have been sent here for a reason, and I am so excited to find out what that reason is. It's gonna be an adventure.

We found a guy named Steve my first day back and we scheduled him for baptism! He is doing so well already! We haven't taught the Word of Wisdom yet (we only mentioned that the gospel can help him stop smoking), and he has already determined to not smoke anymore and has created his own plan for stopping! And he came to church, where he really felt the spirit, he was just GLOWING! And he said that he is coming next week, but he was going to have a suit. Haha, I love the changes that the gospel can bring in just a manner of days. :D

 

Well, we have a big day of fun ahead of us, so I'm gonna have to get going. I love you all, I love the gospel, and I know that Jesus Christ is the Saviour and Redeemer!

 

Talk to you next week!

 

<3,

Sister Ali Stout

A Quick Update and Some Pics

Ali hasn't sent an actual email the past couple weeks. But she was allowed to email me in the middle of last week to let me know she isn't feeling well. Her mission president gave her permission to email us to ask what kind of doctor she should see as well as what blood work she should have done (for those who don't know, her dad's a doctor).  Since then, she has seen a doctor and is feeling a little better. Because of the health care in England the blood work my husband wanted her to have done most likely will take too long and may not happen at all. She is still able to do her missionary work but with some pain. Of course prayers are welcome... thanks!

We found this place just walking around by our flat - The Bulls Head Hotel and they sell STOUTS!! HAHAHAHA

Me and my BFF Jakub :)

Jan and Jana at their wedding - The entire family (6 crazzzzzzzyyyyyy boys!)

Sister Harrop and I

This cat follows us everywhere we go :)

The Sheffield Zone!!!

Sister Harrop and I at the Peak District last week :)

Yes. It is time again. Another email.

Soooo, this week was good! We saw some wonderful miracles and had some funny times. The funniest was when we did our best to put on a FHE for the Slovak youth . . . and it didn't go too well. I have once again forgtotten my camera, but next week will be overloaded with pictures of things I should have put up over the last couple of weeks. Sorry about that. But the youth thing ended up with some really gross english hot dogs and a lot of nonparticipation. 

 

We are also making real progress with some of the members here. They are all so young in the church and they are expected to run this group, and it can be very stressful for all involved. But things are progressing towards the positive which is what we want, obviously. They all have such good intentions, and the members try their very best, which I really appreciate. I love them all so much.

 

I do not have too much time to email today, because we are going to the Peak District again and we have to fill up our car with petrol and buy something for lunch and I need another memory card for my camera. But just know that everything in Sheffield is fantastic and wonderful and I love being a missionary.

 

:)

<3,

Sestra Ali Stoutova

Seeing the Good

Wow. Missionary work is SO hard sometimes. When you put your all into something, but then people still choose to use their agency in a negative way. And all those who know me, know that on occasion I struggle to keep upbeat and positive. . . so that was my week this week. But I know that even weeks like these are for the best. I have learned a lot and I know that Heavenly Father loves me and just wants me to grow from this experience. It was nothing too dreadful that happened, it was mostly me just being a pitysuck. So, yeah. It happens. But because of my slightly sour attitude this week, I have decided to keep a journal for the things I am grateful for. Some of the things I have written in the last couple of days are: Blue skies, hilarious conversations with random strangers, HILARIOUS gypsies, baptismal services, how much the Slovaks LOVE to sing (their favourite is God Be With You 'Til We Meet Again, or in Slovak, Boh bud' s vami, which they sing every week in Sacrament as the intermediate hymn hahaha), and being an obedient missionary. So it has helped me to see the good and wonderful things I have and that I get to experience.

 

I love this area and I've been taking it for granted the last little while. But I have a feeling that my time here is running out, so I'm going to just enjoy it while I have it. This place is the promise land of missionary work and I have been so blessed to see so many miracles!

 

I love you all and I will talk to you next week.

 

<3,

Sestra Ali Stoutova

I Just LOVE This Place!!

My dear, lovely, and gorgeous family and friends,

 

Well, I love you. I love you all SO MUCH.

 

Things here in Sheffield are going pretty darn fantastic! I love this place with all of my heart. This city is where it is AT for missionary work. I love teaching the Slovakian people so much. Sure, there are speed bumps, and I'm no where near a perfect teacher, but the love that I have for them is so incredible!

 

WE HAD A MIRACLE THIS WEEKKKKKK!!!! Jan and Jana Pecha got MARRIED!!!! And I would send you pictures of it . . . but I forgot my cord at my flat . . . oops. :/ So those will be sent next week. But it was FANTASTIC!! The greatest smallest soberest gypsy wedding that there ever was! 

I don't actually know if I've explained this to you all, but the peole that we teach, while they are from Slovakia, are not technically 'Slovakian's'. They are actually Romani Gypsy and they speak Roma and Slovakian. They are originally from India and just travel from place to place every couple of generations. But, nevertheless, I just love them all so much! Anyway, Jana is getting baptized on the 11th of August, after her husband gets the Aaronic Priesthood, so he can baptize her. :D

 

Well, not much else. But you all are fantastic and I love you!!

 

Have a fantastic week!!

 

<3,

Sestra Ali Stoutova

I'm Staying in Don Valley!

Hello my beautiful family and friends!!!

 

Man, a ton of stuff happened this week. We got our transfer calls yesterday and I am staying in Don Valley for another transfer with Sister Harrop! So that will be fun! But I know that this is my last transfer here. . . well I don't really KNOW know. I can just feel that my time in DV is coming to an end. Which is so sad, because I absolutely LOVE it here. I am so excited for you to come next year and see all the people I love and adore so much!!! Anyway, the biggest thing that happened is that my district leader, Elder Gee, who is so much fun and nearly my favorite person ever, is leaving the mission!!! :o Which kind of stinks. He is going over to the Manchester Mission for two transfers and an Elder from the Manchester mission is coming to DV. His name is Starsi Sandor and he is from Slovakia! So that will be a huge blessing to the Slovakian group, but to me. . . it kind of stinks. I get so attached to the people I serve with and I hate it when they leave. . . :( My ZL, Elder Pearse, who has been my ZL for three transfers, is going home this week as well. He's probably my favourite ZL so far. So, yeah, sad stuff is happening.

A less-active member, Jan Pecha, and his long time nonmember partner, Jana Pechova, who we have been teaching for FOREVER are getting married on Friday!!! :) Which is so happy! They are so much fun and probably my favourite Slovakian family here. Jan always calls me his Sestra.  They have 6 boys and I love them all SO much!

I don't have much else to say . . . but I LOVVVVVEEEE you!!! <3

Sestra Ali Stoutova

I'm Learning So Much

Heeeellllllllloooo! Another week come and gone. I'm doing well, as is Don Valley. I was super mega tired this week, which was weird, but other then that I am doing SOOOOO fantastically!! I just adore being a missionary.

 

Well, every week we choose one key indicator to focus on and then create a plan of action of how we are going to accomplish our goal and last week we focused on scheduling people for baptism. And normally it takes all week to accomplish our goal, but we were able to do it on TUESDAY!! Miraculous! I think there has been only one other time that my main goal has been accomplished that early. :) So that was super happy.

 

Hey and I'm sorry about how rubbish I am about writing letters. I know some people have written me (and not exactly recently . . . ) and I still haven't replied. Just know that I still love you! I am trying to find time, but everything just happens too quickly here and p-day seems like they end before they even begin. But I should be getting some letters out today, we are taking a more relaxing p-day. One with less elders and more sleeping. :)

I only have 7 months left . . . this is freaking me out. My year mark is in a month.

 

I would like to tell you all about my companions and the things I have learned from each of them. My mom (the sister who trained me), Sister Smith, goes home in a week. I'm actually really sad about it. She taught me so much and she really helped me to overcome my shyness, at the beginning, because I reverted into my shell really bad when I came out into the field. She honestly taught me everything I know about being a missionary.

 

Second Sister Terry, my follow up trainer. She is the most tender girl I have ever met. She taught me how to relax a bit. Even when things get bad, if we just stay calm things turn out pretty much the same as they would have if I had been stressing. She also taught me to just be HAPPY!!

 

Then Sister Evans. She taught me that I don't want to be the dreaded companion. I never want people to be scared around me. I want my companions to feel loved and appreciated, not like they are always in trouble. She also taught me to not care what people think about me and that if I'm just myself, people will like me more. I also learned that I need to take more initiative.

 

With Sister Brown I learned that being LOUD and CRAZY is SO MUCH FUN!! And to not be embarrassed to just laugh and act kind of dumb. I also learned how much I had grown as a missionary and that I actually knew how to follow the Spirit.

 

Then my beloved Sister Freeman. She taught me how to be myslef. I don't need to act different around each person. I learned to love myself. I learned why God loves me. I learned that when the Lord puts you somewhere with a person he wants you to grow. Sister Freeman is ME and I am HER. I know that I am her best friend, and she is one of mine. My life physically altered when I served around her.

 

Then there is my wonderful daughter, Sister Harrop. She has taught me that I actually kind of know what I'm doing and has shown me that the Lord trusts me. :) 

I am a changed person. I am not who I was before. I have a faith and a courage that I never knew was possible.

 

Know that I love you all and that I know that Jesus Christ is our Saviour and Redeemer and this Work is just absolutely inspired!! <3

 

Have a good week!!

 

<3,

Sestra Stoutova

Happy 4th!

Hi family and friends!!

 

This week was pretty fun. We taught Slovakians and ate A LOT of food. Haha. Slovakians LOVE to just feed us at every appointment. Pretty darn hilarious. And my stomach is always stuffed to the max.

 

I absolutely love being a missionary. there is honestly nothing to compare it to. There is nothing else that you can do in this life that can even slightly measure up. We, as members of the church, try really hard to be missionaries, but that can be so difficult with also having real life to take care of. None of us have that here. We just wake up at 6:30 every morning, work out, study, and then WORK. All day, everyday. Glorious, glorious work. I have never been so motivated to try my best at anything like I am motivated to do my best on my mission. And if there is anyone who is unhappy doing the work, it's because they aren't doinng the work. Honestly, the greatest secret of missionary work is WORK. Working has brought me this unknown level of happiness that I never want to get rid of. Thinking about that time makes my stomach churn.

 

Today is P-DAY! And you all know how I love to tell of my adventures on this day, so now I will. :)

 

We went to this national park called the Peak District. It was WAY epic and fun. We played in some forests and on some rocks and we stared at some sheep and some squirels and then I fell in a mud pile. But it was all apart of the wilderness experience! :D We did it as a whole zone, so that was really fun!

 

Also, last week I got to go to Leadership Training, since I'm training Sister Harrop and that was pretty fantastical! President Lindley just dropped all kinds of knowledge on us. And his knowledge is the best kind. Next to the prophet, and, of course first and foremost, Heavenly Father. :) 

 

But I think that's about it for now. . . I love you all SOOO much!!

 

<3,

Sestra Stoutova

ps - The thing with Devon is pretty hilarious!! Haha, unfortunate, obviously, because he chopped his finger off, but funny, nonetheless.

Fish Pedicure... :)

MOMMMMMMMYYYYYY!!!

So, I'm sure you all loved England! It's impossible to NOT love England. This place will always hold a huge place in my heart. My beautuiful, amazing, fantastical second home.

This week was CRAZY!! Alicia was not able to get batized, but we are working with her. It will be soon, hopefully. :)

So, today is P-Day, which always ensues craziness!! Already this morning we went to an English children's park. Which ALWAYS is fun. There is this spinny thing where you run around in a circle and try to not fall. Pretty crazy! And then the elders put me in this metal bowel and just spun me as fast as they could! I almost threw up, but it was fun nonetheless. And I think later we are going to get our feet eaten by fish. I don't know how I feel about it.I have a hard enough time with a regular pedicure, let alone a ton of fish biting at my feet. :/ Should be interesting.

 The rest of this week was good. Nothing really noteworthy, I guess. Which I guess I should think of something. . . . ummm. . . my Slovakian is getting way better! I am figuring out how to conjugate somethings and I'm learning a lor more words which is good!

I love you all and I miss you all as well!!! <3

Sestra Stoutova

So Many Miracles

People of my home,

This week has been rather nice! Last p-day we just spent some time at the chapel playing chair football and watching Prince Caspian, which is SOOOOOO doctrinally accurate. It literally made our little missionary minds explode. And then the elders wanted me to break this board so badly and I did my darndest, but to no avail. The board was SOOOO thick. They were crazy if they thought I could actually do it. It was way fun to try though. :)

As for The Work this week. . . it was wonderful! We are having a baptism this SATURDAY!!!! YESSSSSS. Her name is Alicia and a bunch of her family are already membersand she said that she was finally ready!! She has been taught by the Elders for a long while now, but they said that they wanted to let us work with her and see is we could help her progress. :D  So miracles are happening EVERYWHERE!!!!

I love my mission so much! And I love you all as well!!! Talk to you next week!! :)

<3,

Sestra Ali Stoutova

Sister Harrop and I are bonding, you'll love her!

We Had Another Baptism

So this week has been CRAZY!!! But still epic. We had a BAPTISM!!! Two, to be exact! :) Their names are Anna and Jozef. They are 11 and 10 and are AMAZING! I love them so much!

Taking over the Don Valley area is not easy. I don't speak much Slovakian and we've faced a little adversity, but there is no doubt in my mind that everything is going to work out for the best. Basically, I'm learning how to speak better Slovakian REALLY fast. Haha.

Sister Harrop is great! She and I are really getting along and she is going to be a FANTASTIC missionary!! She is already amazing!

So, today, for p-day, some elders have been DYING to see me break something with my martial arts skills. So they found a 'bit of wood' which is actually a PLANK and they want me to break it. I don't know if I'll be able to, but I'm gonna try my best. :)These little elders are far too excited about it all. It's pretty hilarious.

Well, this email is short. I'm terribly sorry. This whole telling you what happens day by day is going to be alot easier when I'm home and I can just tell you stories. Or read my journal to you, which I have written in everyday of my mission so far. Anyway, I love you all so much!!

<3,

Sestra Ali Stoutova

The baptism of Anna and Jozef!!

My lovely daughter, Sister Harrop :D

I'm a Mummy! :)

Well, hello my wonderful family and friends!!

I know that it is a bit late to be emailing this week . . . I went to transfer meeting yesterday, which is why I couldn't email. I went to transfer meeting because I had to go and pick up my NEW companion!! Her name is Sister Harrop and she is fresh from the MTC and is a FANTASTIC missionary! So the Lord has decided to trust me with the responsiblity of training a new missionary in the wonderful Don Valley area. It is a hefty responsibility, and I definitely feel that, but I know that with the Lord's help miracles can be accomplished! I still don't really speak Slovakian AT ALL and neither does Sister Harrop, but that doesn't really matter. I am very excited to see the miracles that God has prepared for us!

But that also means that Sister Freeman has left me, which is heartbreaking to me. She has been SUCH an amazing companion and I love her so so SO much! She has become one of my absolute best friends of all time and I will always cherish the time that we had together!

Everything else this past week was pretty fabulous! We have a baptism this weekend, which is always amazing! Anna and Jozef! It will be incredible!

I wish I had more to say. . . I'm going to be better about really thinking of better things to write during me weekly emails. :)

But I LOVE you all so much!!!

<3,

Sestra Stoutova

Freeman and I :)

 E. Balderee, E. Cumming, S. Freeman, and ME! I love all of these people SO MUCH!!

Hello!!!

I hope everything is going well! Sheffield is doing wonderfully, and we are seeing a lot of miracles! We were teaching a family a while ago who went back to Slovakia for a while, but they are BACK and excited to get baptized! To which I am very excited about! P-day last week was fun, we ate MORE pork and played MORE chair football. I guess, I didn't, but everyone else did. But then they wanted me to get over my football adversion, so they threw it in the air so I could punch it as hard as a could. It worked a bit, but not too much. :)

The rest of the week was fantastic! We got to listen to a member of the seventy, Elder Jay E. Jensen, speak! It was especially wonderful because the ENTIRE mission got together! So I got to see many wonderful people that I love! Sister Smith and Sister Brown being two of them!

I love this area so much! And I love getting to do the work of my Saviour! I know that this work is inspired and that God is completely aware of EVERYTHING we do as missionaries, which is really comforting. 

I love you all so much!!! 

Sister Stout

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Well, my week has been pretty fantastic. So many blessings and so much . . . just . . . HAPPINESS!!!!! I can't even explain how happy I am right now. I am serving around so many amazing people who I love SO MUCH!! Sister Freeman is such a wonderful companion and friend. We serious never get tired of each other. We're starting our second transfer together and we still just talk all day everyday like we've never spoken before. Only it's better because we HAVE and we know each other so well!!

Nothing too much has changed for me with trasfers and everything. I just have a new zone leader, named Elder Taylor, who I served around in the Billingham Zone, and a new district leader, Elder Gee, who came out with me. It's all very exciting. Even though Freeman and I are really going to miss our last district leader, the extremely Scottish Elder Cumming. He was such an epic DL.

P-Day was way fun yesterday! Sister Freeman and I decided to make sweet pork (like the kind they have at Cafe Rio) and bring it to the chapel for the elders in the city to enjoy. It was absolutely DELICIOUS!! Then we watched Despicable Me and played chair football. Well, I didn't play chair football, I sat out and wrote postcards and cheered people on. And also getting scared to death by the football flying everywhere and getting smashed in the foot with the ball. And that is why I don't actually play. Because when I do, I just get injured. And now that E. Taylor is here the whole Sister Doubt thing has come back.   It was pretty epic. But, honestly, the best part of my day was when I got permission to ring Sister Smith. I miss her so much and she is doing so well. She is training her third greenie, who is Chinese speaking!! I love my mission mom SO MUCH, it's crazy!!

Missionary work is going fantastic! I love the people that I'm teaching SO MUCH!! And we're going to be having a baptism in two weeks, which will be fabulous!! 

Mom, have a SUPER HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!  I LOVE YOU!

I love you all so much!!!

<3,

Sestra Stoutova

Me and Sister Freeman!

Just a little grossed out by the raw pork :)

I'm Extremely Blessed

Dear people back home,

I'M STAYING IN DON VALLEY WITH SISTER FREEMAN!!! For another transfer, at least. Which is fantastic.  Everything here is amazing. I can honestly say I have met some of the BEST people I have ever met in my entire life. Some people that I know I will be friends with for the rest of my life. 

I'm learning a bit of Slovak. I can say some things. Like, 'Why you no come to church?' (JUST like that too, haha), or 'We talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ' :)

This week was good and bad. I got really sick with the stomach flu AND a cold and it was just a sad sad thing. BUT we also had an EPIC baptism! Which NO fever could keep me from!! It was fantastic!!

Considering I was in the flat for so long, nothing much happened. But it was a good week.

I am the absolute happiest I have EVER been in my whole life. I am so blessed to be able to serve here with such wonderful people! I am grateful for the person the Lord is shaping me into. And I'm eternally grateful for my decision to serve a mission.

I'm so sorry this is short, but I don't have much time. . . but just know that I love you all very much!!

<3,

Sestra Stoutova

The littel girl who got baptized last week put Freeman and I's hair into pigtails!! :D

I love this family!

So exciting - such a happy family!

This is actually me this morning before I came to email! :D Haha.

The pics below are a couple of many taken by a church photographer. It's an exciting time in Ali's mission. The Slovakian people in her area are excepting the gospel in record numbers.  The church is documenting it because it is the largest mass conversion outside a peoples native country in the history of the church. She's extremely humbled to be a part of it all. To see more photos, click here... there are lots of duplicates but some are really neat to see.

Lots of Miracles

Ali didn't have time to email today but she answered a few of my questions...


I'm doing GREAT!!!! I just have to say that Sister Freeman and I are EXACTLY alike. We are pretty much the same person, but with different experiences. We both have the same kind of 'problems' and we are really learning so much from being with each other. I love her with all of my heart. :)  I hope we get to spend at least one more transfer together.


I asked her about the missionaries in her area and how she liked it there...


We have 7 missionaries in our ward. Us, the actual Sheffield 1 elders, and the zone leaders (who are in a threesome). Us and the ZL's share the Slovakian area. The goal is to have a ward by the end of the year, pretty much. We are baptizing most weekends.  


I am having SO MUCH FUN here though. I absolutely LOVE this area.  Oh my goodness, yes. This place is glorious. I love it with all of my heart!!! I hope I never leave!


Asked her how the teaching was going...


Yeah, we have a pretty decent teaching pool. There is a lady who looks really good to get baptized in two weeks! :)

I mentioned to her something about the baptisms they just had and this was her reply...

Yep and the dad is getting baptized this saturday!! We are just SO excited!!  AND another thing about the baptism on Friday. . . normally you can't take pictures of people while they are in the water, but the First Presidency wanted pictures . . . so yeah. They are going to see each of our family in the water and of us as a group!! :D  

I'm in Missionary Heaven

I absolutely LOVE this area!!!! This place is missionary HEAVEN!!! We see so many miracles all of the time. We have this absolutely AMAZING family that are getting baptized on Saturday! Kvete, Daca, Martina, Nikolas, and Andrea!!! They are so excited to get baptized, and we are as well!! The AP's came down this past week and one of them interviewed some of them for baptism and he especially LOVEEEEESSS our family!!!

Some of the missionaries in our area got interviewed by the church this past week, as well. For history purposes. And maybe for an Ensign or Liahona article or something, I'm not sure. Anyway, I wasn't one of them, but Sister Freeman did. Along with Elder McKay (who has been in this area for a year) and Elder Juran (who is from the Czech Republic). So that was pretty fun. The lady who was doing to interviews was saying how nothing like this has happened ANYWHERE before. Where people from a different country have a massive conversion and when they are in their own country they don't really listen. . . I'm serious when I say that SO many miricles are happening here!

I love this gospel with all of my heart! I love how abundently the Spirit is with me and how I have this opportunity now to be an instument in the Lord's hands! To do and say the things that He would do and say if He were here!

I LOVE YOU ALL AS, WELL!!! With ALLLLLL of my heart!

<3,

Sestra Ali Stoutova 

Sister Freeman and I!! She is so amazing!! I love her SO MUCH!!

Opening presents :D

MORE PRESENTS!!!

Me on my birthday! :D 

This is Sister Freeman and I with our family and the AP's (or two of them anyway . . . )! :)

Happy Birthday to Me :)

HI!!!

 

It's my birthday!!! (which is really weird. . . but good at the same time!)

 

I got my box with the cake and the presents and I'm wearing one of the shirts with a cardigan right now! Thank you so much! And the journal was gorgeous!!

 

Yesterday was P-day, and it was a Bank Holiday because of Easter, so that is why I am emailing today. :) Anyway, it was zone P-Day and we all were at the chapel playing chair football, which I am not very good at, and then we watched Puss in Boots and ate pizza. After that we just sat around and talked. But the other sisters in our zone got me and an elder that had his birday a couple of days ago some lemon and chocolate bread. It was very nice! It's also nice to actually live in the CITY so I can have a FULL P-Day without having to travel. It is INCREDIBLE!! I love this area so much!!!

 

This past week was pretty good. Sister Freeman was sick for a couple of days and then I was sick for one day, so we had flat time. Which is pretty much torture for a missionary. But we endured and we are both doing much better now!!

 

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. We didn't do much, except, you know, WORK. Haha, which is what we do all the time, so I never really know what to say anymore about it. :/ But work is so amazing, obviously! The people in this area are so wonderful! We are working with this family of six who are scheduled to be baptized on the 21st! And they are looking fantastic! You can just see the spirit working on them! I love being a missionary with all of my heart!

 

I love you alllllllll!!!

 

<3,

Sestra Ali Stoutova

I LOVE Families

Hellllooooooo! England is doing very well, this last week was BEAUTIFUL!!!! Very warm and sunny and APPEARENTLY there wasn't a SINGLE cloud over ALLLLL of England? Craziness, right? Not a single solitary cloud. Anyway, my skin was very thankful, because I got a slight tan. The lack of sun here makes my skin very hard to look at, because it's pretty much TOTALLY fluorescent. But now the clouds are back again in full force. :) Not a ray of sunshine ANYWHERE. I love this place so much!

 

I seriously am having a ton of fun here. It's crazy hard, but . . . man, I can't even describe the amazing feeling that there is here. The people are so nice and they ALWAYS give us soooo much food. At every appointment that we go to, they give us food and drinks and you HAVE to eat or drink whatever they give you, or else they are not pleased. But they are really kind, obviously there are the crazies, but there are crazies EVERYWHERE you go.

 

Anyway, nothing too fun has happened yet. We were able to get 20 investogators to church, which was epic. And we found some really great families that we are now teaching. Which is always amazing. I LOVE families. I love getting to share with them that they can be together for time and all eternity. :) All of this is such an amazing experience. I have never been so happy in my whole life. Don't get me wrong, it is seriously SO hard. But I am learning that the hardest things in life are the most fun. :) And the most fulfilling. And generally just the best in all ways.

 

My love for you all is just sooooooo abundant!!!

 

<3,

Sestra Stoutova

Sestra Stoutova!!!

So, I am now in Don Valley!! Our area here is pretty weird. We live near the Sheffield City center, but we have to travel to towns surrounding Sheffield. In Brid there were NO missionaries anywhere close to where I was, but considering I am now serving in a legit city, we have about five other sets of missionaries within 20 minutes of us! We are also the only Sister missionaries in our mission that serve in a major city, so it's pretty exciting!

The area is epic. We found 14 new investigators this week! Sister Freeman is absolutely amazing! We are having so much fun together! 

My name here is now Sestra Stoutova!!! Haha, I love it so much!

Also, we are serving in a unit inside of a ward. So we are the Don Valley unit (and we actually have church at the Don Valley stadium) and we are in the Sheffield 1 ward. It's all very new and exciting. :) And this unit is the largest group of Slovakians in the world (even more than Slovakia itself!), so that is also very exciting.

DEEANN, YOU GOT BAPPPTTTIIIZZZZED (or Krst, in Slovak :)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is so epically excitinggggg!!!! I am seriously so happy about this, Miss Deeann, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!!! I can't wait to go home and give you a big hug!!!

But yeah. I would tell you more about the people that we are teaching, but I can't remember any of their names. Their names are all said WAY funny, but then are just common names like Lucy or something. But then there is the EXTREMELY common man's name of Frantishek, which reminds me of Shrek. . . but anyway.

Being here is such an amazing blessing! I honestly love getting to serve with the Slovakian speaking people. I never thought I would do this, but I know that the Lord has called me here. But I probably won't be a Slovak speaker my whole mission, just while I'm in this area. Considering it's the only sisters area that is Slovakian speaking. :)

I love you all!!!!

Sestra Stoutova

I'm Learning a New Language! What?!!

This has been a VERY interesting week. Haha, so last Monday, it was zone p-day, which I think I mentioned. So before we started playing capture the flag, we were just climbing boulders and stuff. I was already on this boulder and this HUGE bee just FLEW towards my face. It was the fattest bee I have EVER seen. Well, some of you will know that I am TERRIFIED of bees and I forgot I was on a boulder and that the boulder went higher behind me, so I tried to run away, but instead I just slammed my face into the boulder. Very unfortunate. So, obviously, my head KILLED when I first did it, but then it seemed to get better. Haha, it didn't. I was just OUT of it the next couple of days and on Wednesday, we had our district meeting and the zone leaders were there and I was SUPER out of it. I didn't know why I was saying some of the stuff I was saying and I was just generally out of it! The zone leaders took me to the hospital and they told me that I had a minor head injury. . . oooopppssss. :) So I had to have 48 hours of rest, which for a missionary, is TORTURE. Then to make it worse, I got a weird English flu/cold thing and I had to be in for ANOTHER three days. FIVE days of being inside the flat. Horrible. But I'm all better now!!

Now onto transfers. Sister Brown was called to be a trainer!!! So that means I'm leaving Brid!!

And I'm going toooooooooooooo

DON VALLEY!!!! And my new companion is Sister Freeman!!!!

Don Valley is especially interesting because it is a non-english speaking area. It is an area where a lot of Slovakian people live, so that is the language I will be learning! I'm not even allowed to teach english speakers!!! :O  Pray for me, please!!  I only slept 2 hours last night because I'm a little nervous about learning a new language, but I know through my faith and my and your prayers, I can do this!  Oh, my goodness!!!

Annnnnyyyyywaaaayyy!

I am going to upload some pictures, so this is the end! I love you all!!!

<3,

Sister Ali Stout!!!

This book is older then AMERICA!!!! 1758!!!!

Zone Leader Council!!!

The YORK ZONE!!!!

This is Nanci the day of her baptism. She didn't want ANY pictures taken, but we were able to wriggle this one out of her. She's not in her whites though, so that was kind of sad. But her baptism was SO powerful!!

Me with a creepy fake man. :D

So, while we had 5 days of being indoors, Sister Brown and I played some Scrabble!! She put down Nintendo. . . and then I added the 'es'. haha, she was FUMING!!!

Then, out of sheer boredom, Brown and I bought one 15" pizza and got one free!!! SO MUCH PIZZA.

My supurb drawing skills!!!

WE HAD A BAPTISM!

Well, hellooooooooo

 

My life here in England is going grand! I love being a missionary here in Brid!!! One particular reason being . . . WE HAD A BAPTISM!!!! :D Her name is Nanci and she is AMAZING!! We love her so much and despite having EXTREME fears of water, she was baptized by FULL immersion! Haha THE GOSPEL IS SOOOO TRUE!!!!

 

This whole week went by SO fast! We were in Durham on Monday, then on Tuesday we got invited to Zone Leader Council, and then we had Zone Development Meeting on Wednesday . . . . and then the rest of the week was just a blur!

 

Today was pretty fun though, we visited these rocks that were in the movie The Princess Bride. They're called Brimham Rocks, and we played capture the flag, and my team DOMINATED!! Haha, so much fun!

 

Since we had to drive FOREVER both ways to have a zone P-day, I don't have a ton of time to write. . . but know that I love you all and I am learning SO much about . . . well EVERYTHING!!

 

<3,

Sister Ali Stout

7 Months Out!

Helllooooooo my home land people!!!!

 

I am in Sister Brown's first area, Durham, right now! It is beautiful!! I have now met people who speak Geordie!! :O :D It is really great . . . and funny! And really hard to understand. Haha. A member of the ward here was giving me a hard time and was speaking as fast as he could! :)

 

Anyway, everything else has been good though. We have an investigator named Nanci who is getting baptized this Friday!!!! Which is sooooo exciting! She is 17 and has had a very difficult life. But everything is going better now.

Sister Brown and I get along really really well!! We love each other so much!

 

This past week we went to mission tour, which is kind of like a zone confrence, but there is a General Authority there. . . a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy was there and we all got seriously rebuked. Not in a bad way, but in a really motivating way. He even called up Sister Brown and I to talk about one of our investigators! Hahaha, it was way fun!!!

 

I don't have much time today, we are on a strict schedule!! :) But I love you all!!! :D

 

LOVE,

 

Sister Ali Stout

I Love My Saviour!

Hello dearest ones,

This week has gone by sooooo slow. It feels like the transfer should be over already, but alas, it is only going on week three. Our investigators have been going through some tough and hard times and we've just been working though it with them. 

Other than that though, I am doing wonderfully!! :) Life in the mission is good, and we are seeing miracles everyday! I just LOVE being a missionary with all of my heart! Being able to see people change their lives for the better is such a blessing!

I wish there was more to write, but everything is pretty much the same week to week. :) I know my emails just seem to be getting shorter and shorter. . . but I promise that everything is really going well!!

Man oh man, I want to tell you something epic.  Okay, I just thought of something that happened last night, it's not really EPPPPPICCC, but it was really good. We went by a potential investigator, who said he would come to church, but he didn't. We tried to get a return appointment, but he kept declining. I then felt really strongly I needed to give him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and to ask him about life after death. He then mentioned his father and brother who had passed on, but that no one has ever given him a straight answer of where they have gone, which is why he has given up on religion. I told him that I knew the answer and I just bore my testimony of how I knew he would see his father and brother again. And now we have an appointment to teach him more on Tuesday. :)

I love this work and I love my Saviour!

Sister Ali Stout

Photos for Mummy :)

Life in the mission is EPIC!! I can honestly say that I have never been happier doing ANYTHING!!! Richard, who got baptized LAST WEEK, got ordained to be a priest YESTERDAY!!! Oh man, it was so amazing! We are seeing so many miracles happening here in Brid, I LOVE IT HERE!!!!

I've been uploading photos, so I don't have too much time, but just know that I am doing AMAZINGLY and that this work is greater then ANYTHING!!

I love you all!

Sister Ali Stout

York Minster! Really amazing!!!

Sister Evans and I in York Minster!

Sister Terry's and I's last picture... :(

Sister Evans and I's last picture as a companionship... I LOVE THAT GIRL SO MUCH!!!

Me, my mother, Sister Smith, and my sister, Sister Snow! My mission family!!!

Richard's baptism!!

More of Richard's baptism. He was baptized by my DL, Elder Taylor.

Brid's beach!

Sister Brown and I!!

This is a picture of the missionaries who came out with me from the MTC and the MTC mission president and his wife at zone conference!

Me and my wonderful friend, Sister Delucchi! 

This is the priory in Brid and there are about 5 churches this old in Brid, I LOVE IT!!

SNOW!!!