Dun. Dun. Dun. DUN.

Hello!

Well, I apologize right now for the shortness of this email. Christmas was fantastic! I was able to talk to my favorite people in America and I was able to spend time with some of my favorite people down here. We had a really fun time and rumor has it Facebook is plastered with our pictures. Sorry, the Woden Warriors just love taking pictures. Haha. It was a really fun time and I didn't miss home quite as much as I thought I would, which makes me happy. 

Transfer calls came and dun...dun...dun...dun... Sister Verances is leaving Woden and I'm training again. So that's going to be an adventure. Please pray for my companion. I drove up to Sydney this morning and I'm hanging around and going to meetings until she gets here. She flies in from the MTC tomorrow and I'll pick her up and take her back to Canberra tomorrow night. I'm not sure who she is, where she's from, if she speaks English, or if she likes white people (hahaha joking). So please pray for her that she will be able to love Woden as I love Woden. And that she will be patient with me. hahaha. 

Saying goodbye to Sister Verances was rough. You learn to love your companions so much and it's just really a rough experience when they leave you. But it's okay, because I can speak a little bit of her language so that obviously means I have to go visit her in the Philippines after she's done with her mission. ;) I've only had one American companion while I've been in Australia, so if I ever become a world traveler I have heaps of couches to crash on. :) 

We all gave talks in sacrament meeting on Sunday which was good. We taught the Plan of Salvation together and it was a really neat experience to show the unity the five of us have to the ward. Elder Fine is getting transferred as well so all five of us missionaries were just crying our whole talks because we knew this was the end of the original Woden Warriors. But Elder Laga'aia, Elder Cowan, and I are still sticking around and my new companion is going to be wonderful! So our tears won't last long. It's going to be a beautiful next few months. :) 

Enjoy the last few days of 2015. I'm excited to hear all about your New Year's Resolutions. Stay safe and stay happy. :)

Love,

Sister Danielle Laree Stott

Picture: HOORAH FOR ISRAEL! - the Woden Warriors and the Tugg Thugs (The ones without the shirts and the missionaries for the ward next to ours)

CHRISTmas

IT'S CHRISTMAS! Okay, well, almost. That's been our excuse to get into people's houses this week, so it's just Christmas for 2 weeks according to us missionaries. :) 

This last week has been quite an adventure. We taught heaps of lessons and saw a lot of miracles. We were able to find new investigators, stop teaching some of the investigators that aren't prepared to accept the Gospel at this time. We were able to meet some less active members and figure out why they aren't coming to church, and we were able to work with some active members and take them out to meet our investigators. This seems like a pretty vague email, right? Normally I'm better at writing emails in detail, but this week that's not what I wanted to focus on. I just want to tell you how we brought the Spirit of Christ into Christmas. 

Last Tuesday we put the Spirit of Christ back into Christmas by inviting others to share the best gift they could. We have a new investigator named Bruce and as soon as we taught the Restoration and he accepted to be baptized, we handed him TWO Books of Mormon. One for him, and one for someone else. The Book of Mormon is one of the greatest gifts we could ever give or receive, and we want him to experience that joy. He gave us the name of one of

his friends, and we went over right away and delivered it. :)

On Wednesday we brought Christ back into Christmas by going and visiting part-member families. When we went and visited them, we shared the videos found at Christmas.Mormon.org and talked about what it means for us to have a Savior and who Jesus Christ is to each one of us personally. 

Thursday we found Christ in Christmas when we met with Terry. He's been confused on whether or not he's supposed to continue meeting with us. So we all knelt together as Terry prayed for an answer and then we sat there for 10 minutes as he waited. Then he felt he received his answer, he closed his prayer, and he told us he's ready to prepare to be baptized in February. He realized who Christ was to him and decided to give his family the best present he could by setting this example for them.

Friday we brought Christmas to the Woden Hospital. We, along with the Elders and members of our ward, went and sang carols to various floors of the hospital. I have to say it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my mission. An especially precious moment to me was when we sang to E.A. She's a quadriplegic and has a tube in her throat so she couldn't talk, but she cried as we sang and then when we asked her if we could come back she cried and blinked 3 times (signalling a yes). That was probably the best part for me. 

Saturday we felt Christ in Christmas as we sang Christmas Carols to a less active member. She's been pretty hard on missionaries in the past and doesn't like you bringing up church, but after we sang we brought up church and she said, "Yes Sisters! No matter what! 27 December you'll see me there!" Christmas miracles happen.

Sunday was just full of CHRISTmas! The whole block of church meetings was centered on Christ and the Atonement, the true gift! Then after church we went and combined with all of the other churches in Queanbeyan, and put on a live nativity trail! We sang as angels and it was so great to watch everyone come together with our common love for the Savior. 

Monday was our annual Christmas Conference in Sydney! The whole mission got together and we talked of our love for the Savior and what gifts we could give him as missionaries. It was the best! I love being a missionary and I love Christmas. I love my Savior Jesus Christ and all that he has done for me. 

I hope you can feel the love I have for Christmas and the love I have for this work. Merry Christmas!

Love,

 Sister Danielle Laree Stott

Australians LOVE Sheep, so Merry Christmas Aussie Style. ;) Zoom in- you can see the missionaries at the bottom.

There is an Elder Stott in the mission from Logan, UT. We did some family history detection and we're actually cousins not super far back. Woo for family! So here's an extra picture. Merry Christmas from the Australia Sydney South Stotts. :) 

That's What We Do.

I feel good, nananananana. That song was on in the grocery store this morning, and I feel like that part accurately describes my life right now. It's a good life down here. The bumps in the road just help us catch air. ;) I think my sense of humor went down the drain when I came on my mission, what can ya do?
Last p-day was actually a lot of fun. We went to this place called Telstra Tower. You go all the way to the tip top and you can see all of Canberra. It was a pretty sweet view. We went with the Elders in our district and no one seemed to understand why I was so excited to see so many pine trees from up there! None have them have served up in Sydney or been to Idaho, so they don't know how much I was missing out on. After p-day we went and had two family home evenings with different families in the ward. I had a 6 year old teaching me Indonesian, so that was a fun  dinner conversation. Haha.
Tuesday was Sister Clark's birthday! The Clarks are the senior couple here and they take such good care of us, so we wanted to make her happy. So we went and decorated her door bright and early with the other #wodenwarriors. Haha. The members and the Elders in our ward all have a fun sense of humor, so we missionaries have our own hashtag. Then we went and saw our investigator T! he just got out of the hospital, and he was really excited to see us! Hopefully now that he's back, he'll continue progressing where he left off. Then we went and saw Nana J! She's a recent convert and is so good to us. We went and saw a few more people that like our visits, but they aren't necessarily progressing. It's a hard line some times. We want to visit people and help them progress, but we don't want them to forget our purpose.
Wednesday was a honey of a day! We went tracting, and I was able to use the Indonesian I learned Monday night! Woo! Then we went and saw some less active members that the sisters have been trying to visit for months and we finally got in and shared a message. It was a Christmas miracle if I ever saw one! Then we went and did service for one of our investigators and it was pretty great. I love doing service! Then we went and saw our family from Botswana, but they're going back for two months so we won't be teaching them again anytime soon. :/
Thursday was great. Even though weekly planning takes up a good chunk of Thursday, we are pretty productive the rest of the day! We met a less active member and she's so great! her New Year's resolution is to be active again, so we told her we're going to basically move in and get her motivated. The spirit was so strong in our lesson and I can really see her coming back. Then we went and met K! She's a freaking character alright. She was raised by Athiests but every time we read with her from the Book of Mormon she has a better day the next day, so she knows there's something to it. She'll come along. :) Then we had a meeting with Bishop. It was fantastic! We had FHE with the kids, then we had a sit down with Bishop and made a game plan for the ward. It was really nice to get on the same page as him. I love when missionary work turns into member missionary work!
Friday was great. It was Zone Training Meeting and that pretty much took up most of the day. But it was really nice and I got a lot out of it. I love learning. And a few of the Elders and I were able to do the musical number which was really fun. Then we went and saw Sister S. She's less active and has been really rude to the missionaries in the past. But we just talked to her a little bit and she really softened up and even gave us hugs before we left. It was great! I love when people feel the Spirit of CHRISTmas. We also met Elsie! She's beautiful, wonderful, and wants to be baptized at the end of January! So we're working hard getting her feeling ready.
Saturday was fantastic! We went and mowed Elsie's lawn and then the Tongans across the street brought us KFC because they saw our badges. Haha. Missionary life! Then we went and followed up on some former investigators and invited heaps of people to the Ward Christmas Party! Then we went to the Ward Christmas Party and it was so much fun! I love this ward. They're so wonderful and I couldn't ask for a better place to spend my Australian Christmas.
Sunday was great. Church was wonderful and we were able to get to talk with leaders of the ward and express what we needed and what our plans were to help. After church we took Ash out with us and did some finding! It was a lot of fun and we were able to set up quite a few return appointments for next week. Then we had the Christmas devotional and a Stake sing-a-long. I love Christmas!

Thanks for powering through my super long email, but life is good so I figured I'd rant on about it. :)
All my love and a very Merry Christmas,
Sister Danielle Laree Stott

Christmas lights in the summer, that's what we do. :)

It's December! And 90+ degrees Fahrenheit outside...

Well, I survived a whole week in Australia's version of Washington D.C. But due to the fact that we're working with a handful of High Commissioners and diplomats, I can't necessarily use people's names in my emails. So nicknames or initials will have to suffice for a few of them. 

Well last Monday was beautiful. We were able to have Family Home Evening with the M family in our ward and get to know them a bit better. They're so beautiful and I love how inviting Samoans are. It was a really fun Family Home Evening and I'm looking forward to more to come. 

Tuesday was great. We went and saw one of our investigators named A. She's really keen but due to her husband's political standing and the culture that they come from, her getting baptized would be super disrespectful and cause a lot of issues. So we're trying to get the clearance to teach the husband. Wish us luck! We went and visited a few members as well. There's one member named Emily that I just adore. I'm pretty sure we were best mates in the pre-mortal existence. Then we went and saw one of our investigators Merhawi. He's a preacher in another religion so our conversations are always pretty interesting. Haha. He always tries to trap us will bible verses but little does he know, we have footnotes that give us Book of Mormon verses to back us up. Blessings! :) 

Wednesday was a lot of fun. We were on exchanges so I was actually in a different area with Sister Paongo. We were busy, busy, busy! It was fantastic. We went finding, taught some less active members, and met up with a few investigators that are preparing to be baptized. It was a long, beautiful day. We honestly had maybe fifteen minutes to sit down and eat. That's a sign of a good day! 

Thursday was Zone Conference. So yea, that meeting took up most of our day. We were getting a bit tired during it so Sister Back thought that it would be a good idea for us to do the wave to wake up! So we were doing the wave and then two beautifully awkward and hilarious moments happened. Elder Cowan, an Elder in my ward, only has one leg. Right? So when it was his turn in the wave, he threw up his prosthetic! But then he started laughing and fell over. Hahaha. (I'm only laughing because he thought it was hilarious too) And then, President Back not being the type to be outdone, jumped on the table when it was his turn! Oh my goodness, he's half kangaroo! No wonder he's the mission president here. The training was nice as well. After our meeting, we had a lesson with our investigator D. And then she accompanied us to the Relief Society Christmas dinner, which was really nice! It was good to be able to get to know some of the sisters better and for D to get to meet them outside of church. 

Friday was well, anticlimactic for the most part. This area is slightly huge, so it needs a lot of organization for me to even think properly here. So we spent a good 5 hours organizing the area, making maps and redoing folders. Yayy for weekly planning! But by the end of those 5 hours, our upcoming week looked spectacular and I could breathe. :) We went and saw some members and some less active members in the afternoon and then went and sang Christmas Hymns for some of our potential investigators. :) I love Christmas!

Saturday I discovered something... Are you ready for my secret? I am actually Samuel the Lamanite. Hahaha. One of our members has a huge wall of ivy vines in their courtyard, I'd say 15 feet by 25 feet, that really needed to be trimmed. I was SO keen! So they let me do it! Sister Stott, a chain saw, a latter to the roof, and two hours before me. What could possibly go wrong? Hahah. The ivy looks beautiful and no one died, so I'd say it was a successful service project. And climbing up an ivy wall onto a roof is about as close to rock climbing as I'm allowed as a missionary, so my heart was pretty happy. We had a really neat lesson as well with R. She is really stressed with her husband's political status and things that result of that, and she's far from her home country, and she doesn't understand why she's depressed. So we were talking and she grabbed the Book of Mormon out of my hand and said, "God will tell me the answer in this book if what you're saying is true." And so Sister Verances and I said a silent prayer, felt an answer, and gave her a verse! And by golly, she was shining. She received the answer that she needed, and a spiritual confirmation that the Book of Mormon is true. Probably the sweetest lesson I've had in a long time. 

Sunday was great! Have I mentioned before that I love Fast Sunday? Well, I do. Church was great, and I really felt like I'm supposed to be in this ward. After church we went and saw some members and some investigators. Nothing overly exciting for the most part. Then we went and sang at a Samoan multi-religious Christmas celebration. That was a lot of fun! Then we felt like we needed to  leave before it ended, so we did. We went and followed up on a potential and then did some tracting around his house. And that's where we met Jean! She's so beautiful! We just started talking and told her our purpose as missionaries, and she was so excited that she made two return appointments, told us to visit three other people, and gave us her number and took ours so there was no chance of us not keeping in touch. It was crazy! It was beautiful! It was the Spirit! 

Well, that was my week. It's been interesting adjusting to Canberra and Woden, but I think this is what the Lord wants and this is where I'm supposed to be. Enjoy your Christmas festivities! Remember that without "Christ" Christmas is basically a "mess."

Until next week,

Sister Danielle Laree Stott 

Picture: We refer to ourselves as the "Woden Warriors."