September 14
"so this week we honestly didn't get a whole lot of time to do your average missionary work but as for investigators, J is doing super well and A and A are too! We committed A to read chapter 2 in the book of Mormon and when we followed up and she had read 13 chapters! which if you know anything about trying to get people to read the book of Mormon is incredible! especially because when we first tried to give it to her, she said "just take it. I wont ever read it." they are doing super well! we love them! Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday consisted of a whole lot of cleaning our new apartment and getting settled in. Its nice. it style of the one I lived in when I lived with the ASL sisters. we like it. then on Friday, we had a service project that took up most of our day. We built and painted a playground which was fun and exhausting but I really like doing service like that! The other thing we did this week was setting up our church event we had on Saturday which was a multicultural activity. We had the branches and wards from all of the greater sacramento area (including Roseville. shout out to Elder Kelly) so there was a ton of food and a ton of people and then they did a really fun program with all of their cultural music and dancing. I just love the culture. its too bad I cant ever be Mexican.. they do it better. I really do love these people and I am finally feeling like I can communicate to them pretty well! sorry this one is so short.. I have never been very detail oriented. but I did take a billion pictures this week so that will have to make up for the lack of writing. but a pictures worth a thousand words so I think I should be let off the hook. thanks for everything! love you all very much! :)
Hermana Stevens"
September 30
Hello! this week was a whole lot of finding. We have really great people that we are working with but we need to find more! on tuesday we went on exchanges. I was with sister Diamond. it was a good experience for me because I stayed in my area and Sister Diamond doesnt speak spanish so i was kind of on my own sometimes but it was really good!
we did get one of our investigators on date to be baptized! Her name
is M and she has a date for October 30'so hopefully everything
goes smoothly! Oh one thing I didn't mention last week because I
didn't know how it was going to go is that One of our investigators
started to read antimormon literature... She told us that she had a
list of questions and we she wanted us to answer them. I didn't say
anything because I didn't know how it would go but she is doing so
well! She is not afraid to ask us anything and she knows that the
things online aren't true but they still raise questions so we are
answering all of her questions. The good thing is she is will I to
hear us out and she takes what we have to say. She also has been
reading in the Book of Mormon a lot! She is doing really well in
trying to find an answer. She is super cool we love working with her!
General conference was this weekend! I mean general conference has
always been great but I found as a missionary, it is like another
Christmas! We were so excited like counting down the days excited!
What a great session! I loved how they focused on the family as
individuals and as a unit. It's sad to see how Satan attacks the
family in so many different ways. Ultimate if God is always number one
priority in our lives, I think we would see a lot less heartache. We
were talking with a couple the other day about well, God hah but
anyway we were talking about how in a marriage, it's not 50% 50%. Both
husband and wife have to give 100% and keep their eyes on God. I know
I know, I'm not married and all but this is what I have learned
through observation. Thanks mom and dad for being a perfect example of
serving God and keeping an eternal perspective. You have helped me
understand the things that are important in this life and it turns
out, those are the things that we get to take to the next life as
well!i am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be a full time
missionary. This time I get to serve my Heavenly Father and at the
same time build my relationship with him. I am grateful I get this
time to be molded into a better disciple, daughter, sister, friend and
eventually wife and mother. I have seen my testimony grow out here
more than it has in my 19.8 years of life and I want to share that
with you. I know that our Savior lives. I know that he literally has
felt everything we ever have or will feel. I know that Joseph Smith
was a true prophet of God and I will forever defend him. I know that
he translated the Book of Mormon and that the Book of Mormon is the
pure word of God. I know that the plan of salvation was created so
that we can be the happiest we could ever be with our families I know
that as a part of that, we are here on earth to live, grow and
sometimes be uncomfortably molded into our best selves and although it
is often difficult, because he lived it alone, we never ever have to.
I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the
church of Jesus Christ restored on the earth. I know that more than
ever. I know that the prophets and apostles we have today are of God
and the doctrine they teach is the doctrine of Jesus Christ and by
living it, we can reach our full potential. Thank you everyone who has
helped make my mission possible, I can't believe this experience is
already almost halfway over. I am so excited and looking forward to
the things to come in the next 9 months. I love you all and I would
love it if you would send me your thoughts on conference. Thanks for
everything everyone! I love you! :)
Hermana Stevens"
One of my favorite moments of this week was on thursday. Hermana Bowen and i were driving and she said "i want to try that apartment complex one day" so we put it in our plans for the next day to do some contacting. When we went there, and the only person outside was an old member and she didnt know any of her neighbors so we went around the corner and we saw a door that looked slightly spanish. We decided to knock. No answer. so we started to walk away and i saw a mop upside down on the balcony (which is a "sign" of a spanish house) and i knew we had to go there so i said lets go try that one. so we went and a little girl answered. We peeked inside and there was two women and two little girls. We started to share with them our message. Hermana Bowen asked if we could come in for a minute. The woman said yes. We sat on the couch and they turned on the tv. When we started giving the lesson, it was very very dry. no participation. no comments. nothing. so we went on. When we were starting talk about Joseph Smith, we decided to share the video clip. Hermana Bowen said "can we show you a short video real quick?" and she said "that video?" and her daughter was holding up the restoration video. I was very confused. then she pointed in my bag and said "ive already read some of that book too" turns out she was taught about a year and a half ago. she was taught just about everything. she had a really good relationship with the missionaries that were teaching but we dont really know why she was dropped. We talked about the book of mormon a lot and asked her about church and she expressed her concerns. We asked her if we could come back and she said "i want to try it again". I know we were supposed to meet her. we were so guided to her house and we are very excited to go back to visit her.
We have been working a lot with our members about the importance of missionary work through the members. and we have seen a lot of good results. people are inviting their friends to go to conference and we have had a lot of people go to lessons with us.
another cool experience we had this week i dont know if i told you all before but s has been going through some things and didnt want us to come by for a while. We were really concerned about her and how we could help her. her kids still came to church but she stayed at home with the little ones. Well, she came back to church yesterday! and she gave us a giant hug and said "that talk in there was for me! when can you come back?" so we are going to be visiting with her again! we are very thankful for all of the seemingly small but great blessings from the Lord. I love this work. i love watching the spirit touch peoples lives whether or not they choose to be baptized. thanks for everything! oh and dad, i have enough winter stuff, in fact that is about all that i packed so i should be good! thanks! love you all very much! :) have a happy week!
-Hermana Stevens
oh also i failed at taking pictures but Elder Gove and his fiance came back for a baptism so i will send those pictures but please ignore the fact that i look like i just got back from a 30 day roadtrip..."
October 5
"Hola! So actually this week there isn't a whole lot to talk about but
I did take pictures! So I'm working on equaling it out. But this week,we did get one of our investigators on date to be baptized! Her name
is M and she has a date for October 30'so hopefully everything
goes smoothly! Oh one thing I didn't mention last week because I
didn't know how it was going to go is that One of our investigators
started to read antimormon literature... She told us that she had a
list of questions and we she wanted us to answer them. I didn't say
anything because I didn't know how it would go but she is doing so
well! She is not afraid to ask us anything and she knows that the
things online aren't true but they still raise questions so we are
answering all of her questions. The good thing is she is will I to
hear us out and she takes what we have to say. She also has been
reading in the Book of Mormon a lot! She is doing really well in
trying to find an answer. She is super cool we love working with her!
General conference was this weekend! I mean general conference has
always been great but I found as a missionary, it is like another
Christmas! We were so excited like counting down the days excited!
What a great session! I loved how they focused on the family as
individuals and as a unit. It's sad to see how Satan attacks the
family in so many different ways. Ultimate if God is always number one
priority in our lives, I think we would see a lot less heartache. We
were talking with a couple the other day about well, God hah but
anyway we were talking about how in a marriage, it's not 50% 50%. Both
husband and wife have to give 100% and keep their eyes on God. I know
I know, I'm not married and all but this is what I have learned
through observation. Thanks mom and dad for being a perfect example of
serving God and keeping an eternal perspective. You have helped me
understand the things that are important in this life and it turns
out, those are the things that we get to take to the next life as
well!i am so grateful for this opportunity I have to be a full time
missionary. This time I get to serve my Heavenly Father and at the
same time build my relationship with him. I am grateful I get this
time to be molded into a better disciple, daughter, sister, friend and
eventually wife and mother. I have seen my testimony grow out here
more than it has in my 19.8 years of life and I want to share that
with you. I know that our Savior lives. I know that he literally has
felt everything we ever have or will feel. I know that Joseph Smith
was a true prophet of God and I will forever defend him. I know that
he translated the Book of Mormon and that the Book of Mormon is the
pure word of God. I know that the plan of salvation was created so
that we can be the happiest we could ever be with our families I know
that as a part of that, we are here on earth to live, grow and
sometimes be uncomfortably molded into our best selves and although it
is often difficult, because he lived it alone, we never ever have to.
I know that the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the
church of Jesus Christ restored on the earth. I know that more than
ever. I know that the prophets and apostles we have today are of God
and the doctrine they teach is the doctrine of Jesus Christ and by
living it, we can reach our full potential. Thank you everyone who has
helped make my mission possible, I can't believe this experience is
already almost halfway over. I am so excited and looking forward to
the things to come in the next 9 months. I love you all and I would
love it if you would send me your thoughts on conference. Thanks for
everything everyone! I love you! :)
Hermana Stevens"
October 12
"Hola todos! okay to this week was a weirdy. first on tuesday, one of the other hermanas who we live with started throwing up and so she had the flu and since they had lessons planned and we did too, i went out with her companion and hermana Bowen stayed home with her. First we went to an appointment with a new investigator named N. It went really well! she understood and took in everything that we talked about! On wednesday, we had a lesson with A and A and we were able to get a member with us. We are really trying to help them come to church so that they can see how it is and really receive an answer. We were talking about it and then when A prayed, he said that "the sisters really want us to come to church and we will see if we will be able to do that. we will try our best". We love them so much they are so funny! This sunday, we were waiting outside for J so we could walk into church with her and A and A pulled in and our jaws dropped! We were shocked that they were there but they really were just dropping J off... but they promised us that they would come next week! They had re promised us multiple times that they will come! we are suuuper excited!
We have been visiting S lot this week because her brother just passed away. She is going through a lot so we have been trying to offer her extra support so keep her and her family in her prayers!
on Thursday, the other hermanas car broke again so we had to go with them to the mission office to pick up another car. the regularly 45 min drive combined with the california rush hour traffic made this about a 3 hour ordeal but we are happy to help. We have learned a lot about charity and flexibility this transfer. its all good :)
okay remember J? well we finally found her again and she still wants to meet with us. We had the most tender lesson with her and her little boy yesterday. We were talking with her about baptism and her little boy (who is 7 by the way) was doing homework at the table. Then he shouted "I dont want to get baptized because i dont even know anything about God." So we started to talk to him about God. we told him that God knows him personally and perfect and that God loves him. it was followed by "Wait does God watch me all the time?" "is the devil real?" and "God is strong?" we told him that he can talk to God whenever he wants. then he said "how do you know so much about God?" and i thought "because i was born of goodly parents ;)" but really! Everyday i am grateful for the family i was born into and the opportunity that i have had to learn about God and know that he knows and loves me personally. It was really so precious to watch this little boy take interest in God and try to understand everything about him. Then he closed with a prayer :)
on sunday, like i said before, J came to church again! she loves fast and testimony meeting. one of the members also brought a friend! Her name is C and she is super interested! she wants us to come over and said that she is pretty sure that she will come to church next week! this was a miracle for sure! we had a lot of miracles this week! we were able to find a bunch of new potentials which was a blessing for sure!
also i found out this week, this is just a side note, but one of the members in my ward was the runner up on the mexican equivalent of american idol! look him up on youtube! Alejandro Sanchez. pretty sweet huh? hes a cool guy.
well i need to apologize because in my last email, i said "i cant wait to see what this next 9 months has for me" and this is because i counted wrong.. sorry.. im still an idiot. i havent been to school in a long time.. anyway thanks for everything! love you all!
Hermana Stevens"
