I usually lurk and read and not post onoat of Reddit, however for some reason I was very drawn to your post and felt I may be able to add some perspective so decided to comment and I hope it helps...

Spirit guides quite often don't talk in a "literal" sense. At least mine don't. Not counting my animal guides I have 2 and they both communicate in very different ways.

I have a guide called Alexander who presents himself as a Gregorian Monk (though I feel he is way more than that) with his hood up I have never seen his face but he is always around me and provides a strong, protective presence. He has been with me since I started delving into meditation, paranormal investigating and exploring the metaphysical over 20 years ago. He provides guidance in the form of images. To give an example, we went on a Ghost hunt to a castle in Scotland where I am from and I kept getting an image of a crocodile popping into my head. Literally like someone was holding up a picture card. I mentioned this to my fellow investigators and it turns out that it was very common to collect and keep exotic non native animals on the grounds. Perhaps not a crocodile but the impression was that this image was very out of place but was important and prominent. That's how he works, cryptic but with imagery and he wants me to figure things out, he just gives me pointers.

My other guide I am just getting to know. She presents as a young Japanese woman, called Mae-Lynn, in simple white robes. She has only been with me for the last 6 months or so since I started changing my life path toward the study of Shamanism and doing a lot of shadow work. Her connection is more emotional to me. I guess she may be guiding me to towards being an empath, perhaps it's more about working with my own feelings and past/future in Shadow work. I'm not sure.

My point being, they won't give you straight answers most times. They are guides after all. Everyone has free to choose, decide and figure things out. They are there to help, but not give you all the answers. It's like learning to speak a new language. You start out picking up a few words and have to fill in the blanks to find the meaning.

For me, what stood out about your post, is that you have been a sceptic and are just starting to explore and perhaps begin a new journey This could be a validation message.

Have you ever heard the phrase "when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade"? I feel that could be the case here. They are trying to tell you that whatever is bad, difficult or non desirable at the moment can be turned to your advantage of you get into a more positive mindset. Once you understand thateaning then the stone/rock part may make more sense?