December 17, 2012  (part of email):
          We met some of the cutest little old ladies this week while trying to find a member in this retirement place.center. It was so very stressful. At rehearsal on Saturday I was the only 1st violin and I had only played through most of the stuff once. Thent a the performance there was only one more who came and she had not practiced at all  Paulie and Elisabeth.  Elisabeth grew up in Germany during the time of Hitler so she has a lot of stories and sure loves to talk.  She calls me Sister Schtamm.  They just thought it was the greatest thing that we would give them a Book of Mormon. It was so fun to talk with them.  Hopefully they will listen to what we are saying and actually read it.  They just love us because we just seem to glow, especailly our eyes and they just dont know why.  :)  People really do notice a difference about us.  We stand our from the world.
            We got to wrap a ton of Christmas presents on Saturday because a member was using her brand new knives and sliced her hand open and then decided to finish the thing before she got help and cut herself again.  LOL Poor sister.  So she needed some extra hands.  One of things that I wrapped that was for her from santa was a knife sharpener and I asked her "Do you really need your knives to be any sharper?"  She just tried to whack me. Oh so fun. We are going to their house for breakfast on Christmas and then they are taking us to a reinactment of General Washington crossing the Delaware river becasue that is in our area and when will be here on Christmas again to see that kind of history,  It should be interesting.  

Sister Stamm was able to help with Hurricane Sandy Cleanup--just after Thanksgiving...this is part of her email.   
            We went to Jersey on Saturday to help with Mormon helping hands. It took 3 hours to get through the not even 1.5 hour drive because off all the police checkpoints. It was so cool to see though because they were not letting anyone without a pass in but all we had to say was we are with mormon helping hands and they would give you a pass. One cop under his breath after giving some of our members his pass said " You guys are such good people" and " what you are doing is really amazing." People are noticing.
            We helped this couple with their house. The man Billy had lived there his whole life and is blind now. He was so distraught and his wife had no idea where to start. This was only the second day anyone has been allowed back on to the island. They had 8-12 inches of water in their house in Ortley beach from the storm surge. The neighborhood had so much damage. They are between the ocean and the bay so they got hammered. I bet it was so cute before the storm. We got everything out that could be salvaged and the rest went to the curb. Then we tore out all the carpet and drywall and insulation 4 feet high. It was a fun job. I like hammering holes in the wall. We had to be off the island at three because the garbage trucks come up and down the streets and get everything from the curbs.
            It was so sad to see them have to lose so much and Billy not being able to see anything. He could just hear us tearing his house apart. They were so lucky though. They still have an upstairs unaffected and were not condemned like a lot of the other houses our s crews have worked on. It will be at least 10 months before any kind of electricity will start to be fixed and things like that I guess. This is going to be a long road for these people. They were so grateful for what we did. We saved them thousands of dollars and really gave them a place to start when they were to shocked to know what to do.
            The island was crazy to see. Boardwalk gone, house smashed, boats all over in houses and piles and piles of trashed things all along the roads. There was a roller coaster in the ocean a few blocks from where we were. It was really devastation like I have never seen before. They got hit hard.
 

October 28--parts of her email:

Hello, I'm alive I promise.

This is the first day that the library has had power. We were told to stay in all day Monday and got to go out Tuesday from 12-6 and Wednesday until 6. The storm did not seem like much here, but it sure did some damage and a lot of people have been out of power. We got it back Tuesday morning luckily. Most people in the town are getting it back today and the farther people in the country will probably be out for 9-11 days. Crazy. One of the members sons just moved to New York from Arizona and had to be evacuated. They dont know when they will be able to go back. Crazy.

We had so much fun with the glow sticks and balloons. They were perfect for the power outtage. We did learn not to cut open glow sticks without running water though.  We had plenty of food and water and such. We were worried about the cold with the power out but didnt have to worry to long.

On Wednesday we got to go up to the top of our area called Upper Black Eddy and do clean up. We were helping people clear trees. It was so great. THey really would have been stuck for quite a while without our help. We really enjoyed it and showed the elders that we can also lift giant logs. :)

We did not have zone conference. It was cancelled because of the storm. It was rescheduled for December. So we just had a letter writing day inside on Monday. It was a little crazy but we had a good time.

We are moving to our new apartment on Monday! Yay. We are really excited about that.

 

 

 

Aventures with the challenge to take the violin everywhere from Sister Stamm's email:

Oct. 1--We have been tracting with the violin. Only one person has let us in but President says it will work miracles so we are working towards them. It is doing amazing things with members though. WE have 15 uncontacted referrals right now. That is incredible. Our district leader did not believe us when we reported it last night. President told us that I am not to go to a single appointment or knock on a single door with out the violin and if they have a piano then have my companion play with me.

Oct. 10--I have been taking my violin all over and playing for people. Most people at the door tell us no just like they always have but we go back a second time to the nice ones and then usually get to play for them. Monday night we taught a guy for an hour after we played. He was really intrigued.

October 15-- We have been taking the violin everywhere are really working one neighborhood where we had a lot of referrals. (The Seguines) We stopped by one of those referrals on Wednesday and they just loved the music, they asked me to play again and come back again when ever we wanted. We talked a little about prophets as I played them Joseph Smiths first prayer as well. On Sunday Sister Seguine, who gave us the referral, showed us that the wife had emailed her told about how when we came over something really struck a cord with her and that she had really been feeling down the past while but that us stopping by turned that around. She was really glad that we came and looking forward to us coming again. This is a lady who has also told Sister Seguine that she was sad that she was born Catholic because she thinks that she would be really happy as a mormon from what they have talked about. So we are excited to go see them again.

Fall is in Pennsylvania

 

Which way to go...of course, the Lord's way!

 

It was a year ago, September 19, that we put my daughter on the plane to Philadelphia, being home for two month because of a broken foot, interrupting her mission. She loves it there and is having many adventures and experiences. She recently has been given an assignment by her mission president to take her violin with her on door approaches and get into the hearts and minds of the people with music. She has played on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Her current companion is a piano major. So they are making beautiful music together. They have played in Sacrament meetings and zone conferences. They are currently serving in Doylestown. She is not only blessing the lives of people there by also her family.

Sister Stamm is still in Doylestown, PA.  She has a new companion from Eagle Mountain.  Her other companion was whisked off to Wilmington, where Tiffany served at the beginning of her mission.  She has completed 1 year in the mission, it took her 14 months to complete that.  She is enjoying her mission and loving the people of Pennsylvania. 

 

She found the rabbits!

 

Driving the tractor/lawn mower that her dad wants.

The Importance of One July 18, 2012

Two weeks ago in sacrament meeting something interesting happened. We partake of bread and water in remembrance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but we have members of the congregation that have health conditions that do not allow them to eat the bread we use. Rice crackers are used for them to be able to partake without causing them ill effects. For some reason possibly due to the summer season and a lot of people being out of town, the rice crackers were not prepared. There was one woman in the ward who could not partake because of this. The young deacons administering the ordinance apologized but the bishop of the congregation noticed this interchange.

The administering of the water was postponed while a member of the bishopric went to retrieve the rice crackers. Another blessing upon those crackers was given (As stated in D&C 20:77) and administered to just this sister. They would not let her be left out. She looked a little embarrassed that all that would be done for just her, but it demonstrated the love of God for EVERY single one of children.

In The Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ comes to visit those on the American continent. In 3 Nephi 11, Christ invites all to come forth and feels the wounds of the nail prints in his hands and feet. In verse one it tells us that there was a GREAT multitude gathered together. The definition of multitude is a great number of people or numerous amounts gathered together. An example with a concrete number would be in the gospel of Matthew chapter 14. The multitude Christ fed with five loaves and two fishes was in number "five thousand men, beside women and children." (Verse 21) So we can infer that the number of those gathered by the temple just after the signs of Christ's death was a very great number. However, the Lord invited EVERY SINGLE ONE INDIVIDUALLY.

"And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come." 3 Nephi 11:15

It was so important that every person could testify that Jesus Christ was the Savior. All had the opportunity to know for themselves. Each person mattered to the Lord. Not one who would come would be left out, just as that sister was not forgotten or overlooked in that sacred ordinance that is done to remember our Savior Jesus Christ and the promises we have made with our Father in Heaven.

This is a gospel where each individual matters and none will be forgotten or denied.

 

Lesson from the fire escape.

July 11, 2012 tiffany.stamm

This is a post written by my missionary companion about one of our adventures.

This morning has been of epic proportions. My companion and I are always up to something ridiculous, so we should have known this was coming. We decided this morning we were going to try and save some time! First off I will share some background. Usually when we go downstairs to the parking lot we have to go down three flights of stairs and ALL the way around the building. OR there is a fire escape, with convenient stairs, coming right to our window that leads to the parking lot. The choice of the fire escape was certainly the "most efficient" of the two choices! So we decided in order to "save time" and "get to the Lords work" faster that this was the BEST PLAN EVER! Alas. I should have known it would end badly. You see, it started off great, we were having such a fun time climbing out our window on to the fire escape. We successfully got to our car and grabbed the needed items. We even met some missionaries of another faith while we were down there and had a nice conversation with them. The job was successful, we went back up the fire escape and then....DISASTER STRUCK! Somehow...my companion decided to FALL in the window instead of step in, which in turn pulled down the lamp, broke the light bulb, knocked over a chair, moved the fridge, tore a hole in her shoe, scuffed up the other, and got rug burn all up her legs. Meanwhile I'm outside on the fire escape holding a heavy item, which makes me almost fall off the fire escape with laughter. Oh my goodness!

But wait...that way was easier. It was more convenient. It seemed like such a fool proof plan! We were going to be safe and we were going to be successful...or so we thought. This whole experience reminds we of something we read in the Book of Mormon. In Alma Chapter 47 we learn of a man named Amalickiah. Now Almalickiah is not a good man. He has intentions to become king by killing off all the other people in line before him. Not cool Almalickiah. Not cool. The way he plans to do this is by tricking everyone. At one point he tricks the leader, Lehonti, of the other group to come down the mountain he was stationed at and talk to him. Well, Lehonti is not being fooled by Amalickiah. He KNEW that Amlickiah was bad news and he KNEW that he was going to be safe if he just stayed up on that mountain. But when we continue reading in Alma 47:12 we learn that Amalickiah is not okay with just sitting and waiting at the bottom of the mountain. He tells Lehonti he will be safe! It's just down the mountain a little way Lehonti? Why not go down? You'll probably be fine! But no. Lehonti was fixed in his purpose with a determined resolution! Alma 47:6 He won't go down that mountain! Then Amalickiah decides he will go up the mountain, nearly to Lehonti's camp, and convinces Lehonti at that point to come down the mountain with his army. Lehonti saw no reason to not go! He could bring his armies with him, and he would be SO CLOSE to his camp that everything would be okay. But. Alas. Lehonti was tricked. He thought he would be safe, he thought he would be fine if he took his armies with him, and the thing was he was safe for a while, until he was betrayed! He would've been safer if he stayed up on that mountain!

Truth is, there is probably almost always a "more efficient" way to get things done. But are we going to be hurting others or yourself to do it? Are we going to be spiritually safe at the end of the day? Wouldn't you rather go the safer way and not have to deal with the after math, which for us meant cleaning up our apartment and sweeping up glass and all sorts of chaos, so instead of leaving a little early to go out and do missionary work we had to stay in and clean! It was obviously not worth it. Are we ever choosing the more acceptable way with our friends? It's just a little way "down the mountain" you might think you can go right back up and as my companion and I learned, there are always consequences. Do we ever do the things we KNOW are not safe and tell ourselves that we can make it alright? We won't get hurt, we will only do it the one time. Of course my companion and I are alright. We are safe besides a few scrapes and bruises. But we could have been better off! We could have been perfectly fine! Don't let the desire of the more efficient way keep you from being the most spiritually happy you can be!

Lesson learned from the fire escape? Don't go down that mountain. Stay strong in what you know to be true! The safer way if always the better way both physically in spiritually.

Posted by Robyn Honomichl at 11:56 AM

Sister Honomichl, Sister Stamm, and Sister Wright--who just returned

from her mission and spent the day with them because she had not been released yet.

Sister Stamm has been transferred to Doylestown, PA on June 19.

Memorial Day and Mid-Mission Mark

Sister Stamm: "Our memorial day was pretty good. I cleaned the apartment. We did laundry and studies for the first time together in a very long time. We went looking for some loose, light shirts for summer. I found one at Wal-Mart for 8 dollars and I really love it. And then the elders talked us into playing a game. They have been trying to get us to for weeks.  Risk, Sister John turned out to be a little backstabber, but she got it back afterwards. LOL We had fun. We ate the bishops with the ward mission leader’s family as well and then finally got to see our investigators.

I got the tube package on Thursday and it really made my day. I was so+ happy to see it. I got the big package on Friday and I was going to wait until Tuesday but that only works when you can go out and be really busy and forget about it until you don't have time to open it. So I didn't last too long in the apartment with not much to do. I opened everything and had so much fun. I loved it all. We are still opening the things one day at a time of course. My favorite parts were the necklace and the camel and the book. Luckily I opened the book last and it was the very best part. I was so excited. It was the best idea ever. You are so thoughtful and creative and make all the other missionaries jealous. I loved it so much and I really needed it. "

This is a picture of the poster...people held it and I--Dona,

 took a picture of them holding it and they signed the back.

Picture of "going away party" for the camel. 

The camel had to have "special" care to travel.



The book with all the pictures and thoughts...



Example of pages in the book...

Package almost ready to send...



Sister Stamm:  "I got the music and things on Saturday with the card as well and was really excited. I already enlisted Ryan Zebley to play it with me sometime soon. They are so happy to have all their family home and together. We got some cool lessons from the recently returned missionaries. President Zebley said you got the music recording of me. I am also playing Where can I turn for peace again at zone conference with one of the elders this week."   She is having the opportunity to play her violin.  The recording was wonderful--it was good to hear her playing.

Easter came and went and this is what arrives in the mail....yes, they really do mail that way. 

May 1, 2012
Another week goes by. It was pretty good though because yesterday we topped it off with a baptism! He was very happy and had a great experience. We were really happy. He really changed a lot ove these last few months. He was my very first lesson here and my companion discovered a lot about how we teach differently in that lesson. The members also ran wild with the deep doctrine. It was quite the experience. We knew he would get baptized though from the very beginning. It was fun to get him to realize that. There were a lot of ward members there and he said he felt so loved. The members were so vitally important in helping him get there and will continue to be over the nexr year as he continues to learn and prepare for the temple. I played my violin on special request. Be Still My Soul. It was great even though the air came on and started blowing the pianist music away. LOL It all worked out because the bishop came to the rescue.

She also has a new talent...raking leaves and weeding. 

One she plans to let go dormant when she comes home.

We talked to her today on Mother's Day and that was a treat!  She is doing great.  She is in a more rural area and has lots of miles on her car each month.  We love her and know that she is doing what she should at this time.

March in Nazareth

This pictures are the beautiful Pennsylvania scenery....

This has been a really good week. We walked and walked and walked and then walked some more. My leg is doing great and I dont have to go to therapy anymore! I do have stretches to do for the rest of my life and exercises for quite a while.

We met some really amazing people this week. We go to doors and some people nicely tell you to go away, some others not so nicely (One lady sent her daughter to warn the neighbors not to talk to us. LOL) Then there will be a person out of the middle of nowhere who says yes please come back I do want to learn more. I was so suprised by the first person we found it took me a minute to start talking again because I could barely believe she wanted to talk to us. Goes to show you never know what is going to happen. We never know who will be ready to learn about the gospel but Heavenly Father does and either "we will be lead to them, or they will be lead to us." (Preach My Gospel) That is why we have to invite everyone because they may suprise us. 

Why did the Sister cross the river?    Because it was there and she loves "puddles."

This picture is of our family home evening at the bishop's house. We asked them to teach us last week and they did a whole thing on the armor of God and used us as the object lesson. They even threw "fiery darts" at us (cotton balls).  ( I love the cookie sheet 'breastplate'.)

Three Weeks in Nazareth (with a trip to Bethlehem, too)

For those of you that didn't know, Sister Stamm has been having problems with her knee.  This is not related to her broken foot.  She has super flat feet which throws her knee into a coniption fit and makes it hard to walk. 

This is from her email this week....

"This has been a really fast week.   Therapy is fun.   You should see me try to do the balance exercises. Talk about hilarious.  SO funny.   I am not very coordinated.  My cold is gone, my leg has been doing well this week, even with us doing a bit more walking.   I can feel the muscles getting looser and lots of pains I used to have while doing things like my pilates class are starting to make sense now. It is going good right now.   Lets hope it continues to.   The insoles are working good so far.   The doctor says that they are doing what they should when he had me stand on them. I may get another pair if I can convince my comp to let us go back to the store.   We'll see.   We had some extra miles because it was February so we went to the outskirts.   That was fun.   We can only use about 39 miles a day and well it takes 15 just to get to the populated areas boundry, Kind of frustrating with there and back taking 30 and then we only have 9 to do everything there and anything else around where we live which is very impossible.   Oh the joys of missions.

A family in the ward, the Zebley's, son is on a mission in Brazil and sent this awesome story home a while ago.   One of their members started working in like a little village or something where a lot of natives have been there for hundreds and hundreds of years.   The converstion turned to the natives ancestry one day and the member asked what the native mans people were called before what they are called now, (I cant remember what they are.) .   He said Lamanites.   The member almost fell over when he heard that and asked the native where he learned that.   He said from his father who got it from his and his and so forth.   The native had never before heard of the church or Book of Mormon in any way.   So cool."

 

This is on the door of their chapel....

 

Part of the countryside in Pennsylvania....

Another picture...isn't it beautiful....

I'm not so sure about this bridge...look at the rope!

 

TRANSFER!

Sister Stamm has been transferred to Nazareth, Pennsylvania, north of Philadelphia about an hour  She is excited for a new city, but sad to leave those she loves and cares about in Wilmington, Delaware. 

This is from her last email:  "This has been a really fast week. I found out on Saturday that I am getting transferred. The ward was not very happy. The bishop looked shocked and went "ouch that hurts" when the Ward Mission Leader told everyone in Ward Council. Sad, but it makes me feel good and know that I have been doing a good job if they are really sad to lose me." 

She also talks about the Elders in her mission:  "I played the violin at district meeting a week and a half ago upon an the Assistant to the presidents request because they were coming to our district meeting. You would never think that you could get a room full of like 14 nineteen and twenty year old boys to be quiet and listen but thats the power of music I guess, It was so funny to watch them all just stare in awe when I was done. The elders are so much fun. It's like I adpoted a massive amount of little brothers."  

Thoughts and expressions of a Sister Missionary

Sister Stamm has an approved missionary blog created by her with thoughts and testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and her experiences called:

"Greater Faith in the Making...uplifting moments and ideas to strengthen faith."

Check it out...  ldssistermissionary.blog.com

February, Frost and Packages.

This has been a really good week and we have been working SO HARD, and were blessed with a new investigator tonight. That was wonderful. I am really learning to love Dollar deals. We get a lot of stuff there, like laundry soap and such. SO much cheaper than the regular store.

The only real day of winter we had.

Scraping the snow of the car as my poor freezing Hawaiian companion gets warm in the car. LOL

Yay for packages and mail!

 

 

 

 

 

Visit to Philadelphia

What Are You Thankful For?

From Sister Stamm:  "Today I am thankful for the very kind orthodontist who helped relieve me of pain and broken wires sticking out off of my teeth, made me a very nice, expensive retainer to take its place, and THEN GAVE ME A $100 DISCOUNT with just a good luck on your mission and thanks for coming in in return. He is not a member of my faith but is most definitly someone who lives by Christian values.

Thank you to all those who choose to be kind, even if it means less monetary profit for yourself, you'll never truely understand how much it means to those you serve.

What are you thankful for?"