"I"m a Grandmutha"

January 12, 2016

"It has Been a really good week! We has transfers but luck for us, the
Lord still wants us here together! Phew! :) we have a really great
thing going! We have a lot of people that are really progressing! We
this week have been able to really work with one in particular who is
the man who came from Mexico. We can call him J. J has been kind of
staying with one of our members for the time that he has been here.
They asked us to come every day so we have been able to keep daily
contact with him and he really likes what we are teaching and the
feeling he has when he reads the Book of Mormon and comes to church!
He is doing really well! :) he wants to get baptized this month we are
really hoping we can help make that happen! He said his birthday is on
the 30 so we decided that it would be a fun thing for him to be born
physically and spiritually the same day! He is really great and really
prepared!
    One of my favorite parts of this week was when we had zone
training. We talked about commitments. We talked about how when we
leave commitments, it is giving them an opportunity to repent and
change and become better. We started though with repentance for
ourselves. We talked about how sometimes, we just say "we all need to
repent" "repent daily" but it sometimes seems like we don't really
understand how to do it. One of the sisters addressed this and said
that one day she was discussing this with her zone and she said " okay
this sounds dumb but I don't feel like I fully know repentance like it
know it's important but I've always thought that's just for the big
things. So how is it like a daily thing?" And one of the Elders
answered "you get down on your knees and pray. You lay it all out to
the Lord. Tell him that you want to change and you want to fix the
things that you have done." I really liked this because it so
infinitely available to us. We can change and better ourselves every
single day if we just get down on our knees and ask. I have seriously
seen this work and I don't even understand fully how but I have seen
the Lord change those things in me that "I was just born with". It can
work for everyone as long as they are willing! Try it!
   We got a new sister in our apartment and she is super cute and
remember sister Kirby? She is is my Zone!! I am so Excited for this
transfer! It is going to be another good one! I don't have a who lot
more to say for today but next time you talk to me I will be 20.....
I'm a granmutha...
-Hermana Stevens"

January 18, 2016
It has been quite the week here in the Cordova zone! some of the highlights are that we were able to do a church tour with someone that we have really been trying to get to come to church and she loved it! She really liked how we all teach eachother in this church and i myself am very thankful for that because i can learn a lot from what other people say and have learned! Anyway unfortunately she didnt come to church but we are still trying! 

     Another exciting thing is that on saturday, We went to the temple with "J"! He loved it! the temple tour starts inside and we watch a couple videos then we walk around the temple and the guides talk about the ordinances and what we learn in the temple and then we go back inside for a couple more videos and questions. It was pretty fun because the tour guides dont speak spanish and J doesnt speak english so i got to translate the whole thing! It was the first time i have done it like that because i have never done it in a sacrament meeting or anything but it was pretty cool that i didnt even feel like i had to think or listen. The words just flew so fluently out of my mouth. I still have a lot more to learn but it is very special to see those moments when the gift of tongues is so clearly displayed. It is a real thing and i dont know what i would do without it! anyway back to my story, when we were going back inside for the finishing videos with J, he told us that he didnt want to go back inside. he said "It is just so beautiful. I cant imagine what it would look like from the inside". I love the temple and it is such a blessing to have one in my area. I drive past it all the time! We get to easily take people whenever to show them the beauty in a place that is just so full of the spirit. It is so wonderful! 

     This week, we have really been focusing on the atonement with our members. we are teaching them about it and reminding them that this is what it is all about. We are here to learn and to grow but ultimately to return to our Heavenly Father and we can ONLY do that through Jesus Christ. I have been able to strengthen my testimony of the atonement by using it and teaching and testifying about it. It is amazing that sometimes our lives can get so complicated but when we really focus on what really matters; the Gospel & our families, it makes it a lot simpler right? It is sad when we meet people with really rough lives who "dont have time to go to church" or pray or read what ever it might be and i am shocked as to why they dont see the difference in their lives of when they did make time for all of that and when they dont or even see the difference in others. It is really sad but really so simple! 

     Some other news of this week is yesterday, Hermana Woodbury and I got a call from one of the assistants and he said "are you somewhere you can sit down?" and we were like "yes" then he said "okay sisters there is going to be an emergency transfer....(long pause) and it is going to take place tomorrow at 10:00... (another long pause)........ "but dont worry you arent being seperated!" I was so sad for a second but it turns out, some sisters in our zone got transfered out of their ward and so now, Hermana Woodbury and I are covering two wards! "zebra work" spanish and english. that equals 3 hours of church but dinners! so we are going to also get dinners!! whooo! anyway that is pretty fun! 

     Also I turned 20... im an old lady now but asi es la vida.. thank you to everyone who made it special! I took a lot of pictures so those will be coming through too! All of the sisters in the Zone went to Chilis for dinner. (Mom i got your package on friday thanks so much but funny thing, we planned on going to chilis the week before so the gift card was perfect!! :))

It was a really happy week! :) thank you very much! much Love!

Sister Stevens"

Merry Christmas Hermana Stevens!! + last few emails

November 16, 2015

hola! como estan? okay so this week was great! we on Tuesday we went and had an appointment with a family that was referred to us by a member. they were so great! When Hermana Vergaray told them the first vision, the mom said "i have chills!" then we asked them when we could come back and they said "THURSDAY!" when the mom said the prayer, the spirit was so strong. We went back Thursday with a member and taught the plan of salvation. basically they are a super cute family and we are very excited to have met them! they read some of the Book of Mormon and have been really excited for our appointments and everything. 

     oh Wednesday Elder James Hamula of the seventy came and gave a training. I wish i would have brought my notes so that i could tell you in depth what i learned but it was great! One of the favorite things that he talked about was change. he said how if we want to change we have to do three things. 1. we are free to choose. We are here to act and not to be acted upon. We are able to choose for ourselves what we do. we can not always choose what happens to us but we can choose what we do about it. 2. Fake it til you make it. If you want to be a certain way but you dont know how. for example if you want to be happy even though you arent happy, start by pretending to be happy. sometimes our motivations follow but we can be motivated by our desires to be a certain way. 3. Rely on grace. 2 nephi 25:23 We are saved by grace after all we can do (I would also suggest reading "his grace is sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. it is wonderful) even if we try our very best all the time. after all we can do at the end of the day, we are saved by the grace of God. It was super good. it was a great experience! I wish i had more to say about it but i dont have my notes. but i just thought the whole thing was super good. I learned a lot. I think it is pretty amazing how graceful our God is! it is sad that sometimes people think he is an angry God or something but really the truth is that we literally don't have the capacity to understand his love for each and every one of us! isn't that amazing?! He gives us every chance that we can to change and he helps us do it. it isn't comfortable but it is really necessary. one of the things he was talking about is Jacob 5 the parable of the trees. how we are the trees and in vs. 65 and 66 it says "ye shall not clear away the bad thereof all at once, lest the roots thereof should be too strong for the graft" then in 66 says "ye shall clear away the bad according as the good shall grow." meaning that God can handle for a time our weaknesses and our "bad" as long as we are removing the bad and putting in the good. we learn as he teaches. line upon line, precept on precept. like a summer shower giving every hour his wisdom. (heh Saturday warrior joke. but really) we learn and change slowly but we need to be sure that our progression is upward and that we are consistently grafting ourselves with good. I know that that is true. just as he teaches little by little, we should be growing little by little but always consistent. there is no staying still. we are either progressing or digressing. i am so thankful for a God who is so gentle and loving.

     On Wednesday, i had the chance to go to the capitol. We helped with the veterans day parade. It was super cool because i have never been there before. we got to do some proselyting as well. it was really pretty! Hermana Vergaray and I were talking about how its interesting how we cant ignore people when they are speaking in Spanish. because before i had no idea what they were saying but now eavesdropping is a problem. any way the gift of tongues is real.

     also this week we made some really good soup! homemade! mom i want you to figure out a way to send me your chicken noodle:) mmm. because it is freeezing!! it has definitely cooled down here! mom i got my coat back this time.:) have a happy week! stay warm!"

November 23, 2015

This week was a good one! on tuesday, we had a meeting with President Martinez, from the mission presidency. He came and talked to the missionaries, branch mission leader and branch missionaries. we talked about how in this mission, it takes 266 people contacted for one to make it to baptism but if the person has been fellowshipped well or already knows someone in the ward or branch, it takes 6. Isnt that crazy?! you get rid of 260 people when you work with the members and through the members! We talked about this branch and how we can help it. each of us missionaries talked about how we want to strengthen it and help those who havent been in a while come back then he said "i am pretty concerned that none of you mentioned baptism. each of us has a role as a missionary in each calling in the church. yours right now is baptism and it should be your priority." It really made me think that that is really what i am here to do. I am here to help people come unto Christ. I am here to help people make the necessary steps towards baptism. It was really a wake up call that i have been distracted here trying to reactivate but that is the work of the members, ward counsel and home/visiting teachers. Right now my focus is to baptize. It was a really good reminder and gave us a lot of new energy for the week. We have really been trying to work with the people in our teaching pool trying to really figure out who is in it, understanding our purpose and willing to progress and who is there for a nice conversation. We have been trying to invite to baptism more and so far we have 4 on date! we have really seen the blessings as we have recommitted ourselves to our purpose of baptizing. We also made a goal that in every gathering that we have whether it be a church meeting, missionary, party whatever, we talk to 20 people for 20 seconds. It will help us to connect more with people, gain their trust and build a relationship. I would like to extend this challenge to everyone reading this. the biggest problem that i have found with people who have gone less active out here is that they dont feel loved. they dont have friends at church and they dont think anyone notices. I know that church is primarily so that we can partake of the sacrament and renew those covenants they have made and that really the social part doesnt need to be a part of it, it all comes down to being like Christ which is one of those covenants that we have made and showing our love, care and appreciation for others around us is a great way that we can show this.

 We are also having a really good change in our branch counsel! The meeting has changed to be more missionary minded and yesterday, we talked about our investigators and how the ward counsel can help them and then we all organized a family night and it was super wonderful! anyway it is going to be a really good week. We also taught the young women about education and self reliance. We have to take shifts in teaching young womens because all of the young women presidency are either really pregnant or just had a baby. Literally all of them. but it was nice. it made me think about how i need to (and hope i will be) a better student when i start back up one day. 

     When we were walking to an appointment this week, we met a man and started asking him about his beliefs. He went on to tell us about how he used to go to church when he lived in Oakland but now he cant find a church that he likes because all of the churches that he has visited are about fashion and money and how people just preach for money now and all of the people watch you and judge you for how much you donate. We talked about how that is wrong and how church is about going and renewing covenants and service. I told him that "if he comes to one of our services with a sincere heart i promise that you will feel a difference"  and he said "now dont promise me that because if i dont like it then i am going to think that you are a liar." and i said "I didnt promise you will like it, I said you would be able to feel the difference but you have to come with an open heart. and that i am willing to promise." then he said "Im not going to accept your promise but i will come and i will ask for you and let you know if i liked it or not" so he is going to come next week and we are pretty excited. He will be english though so i dont know how much we will know about him after he comes to church. We also got the chance to go biking. We are going to try to bike more because we really like it and we were able to meet a lot of people! I cant believe that it is the last week in the transfer!?! I feel like i just got here! Hermana Vergaray and I hope that we get to stay here together for the holidays but the Lords will be done ya know? hope is good though. Everything here is good still! Its starting to be warmer and i dont know what is up with that?! its November?! but im sure it will go back down. Thanks for all the love and everything!

-Hermana Stevens"

December 1, 2015

"

So exchanges again and on Saturday night i got a call from president Jardine and he extended the call of new missionary trainer to me! I AM SO EXCITED!  I am so thankful for the Lords trust in me. I am super excited because this will be an opportunity to serve and grow at the same time! I am all kinds of feelings. I am nervous and excited. We had the transfer meeting and then after that, we had a new trainers meeting. President told us that the attributes that are sought out for in a trainer are obedience, effective teacher, knowledgeable in the gospel, skilled and talented in teaching the gospel, understanding, humble, weak and simple. Weak and simple reminds me of Alma 37:6 "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass". One time we were discussing this scripture in a district meeting and somebody raised the question "am i small and simple enough?" I am willing to submit myself to the will of the Lord and "be what he wants me to be" Change isn't quick or easy or even comfortable but it is necessary for growth and progression. I am really nervous because it is all on me to help this new missionary understand the importance of those attributes. But i know that the Lord has called me and will be there to guide me and help me every step of the way. President Jardine talked to us a little about the sacredness of this call and the attributes that are sought out. I remember one time President Jardine told me "one of the easiest things that i have to do as a mission president, is match the trainers to the trainees. It is pure revelation". It is so amazing to know that this work and church is run by our God and that He knows me and he knows her perfectly and knows why she needs to come here with me. Anyway that is what has been consuming my thoughts since saturday night. Hermana Vergaray is now in North Sacramento. I am temporary companions with Sister Wright who is also training so we have been getting everything together and ready for the new sisters to come in.

In other things, we had exchanges on Tuesday and i got to be with the one and only Hermana Clark. She is great by the way. we had a really good time. Back a while ago, Hermana Vergaray and I met a young man and set up an appointment and we had the appointment on Tuesday. We taught him about the Restoration and he understood very well. He told us about how he has been searching for ways to better his relationship with our Lord and how he has been thinking a lot about God the past little while. I could tell that things were just clicking for him. We extended a Date for January 16 and he accepted! He couldnt come to church because he was out of town but we have another appointment. We also met another young man and taught about the plan of salvation with a member. It went really well. I learned a lot from Hermana Clark and Hermana Torres this week. We learned how important it is to stress church early on and also establishing a relationship with them letting them understand why we are there and getting us to understand why they want to learn and things like that. I have learned a lot about finding the elect. But this area is so Great! At church this sunday, one of our families that we are teaching came, and 3 others. We had 6 at church! Everyone in the branch received them sooooo well! Everyone was so kind and friendly. Inviting them to sit with them and introducing themselves. It was a really great sunday. 

     Sorry. Im jumping all over the week but this past week we also had Thanksgiving. We were able to go eat with a family in Folsom. We were led to believe that it was going to be a great finding opportunity but it turned out not to be. BUT it was a delicious dinner. so we had a really great Thanksgiving. It was nice to have an american Thanksgiving. Dont get me wrong, I love mexican food and everything but I just really wanted some good old mash potatoes and gravy with green bean casserole. It was nice. 

     We have been really blessed in this area. We have been able to find, Teach and hopefully soon, baptize at the same time and we have been able to find those who area wanting to find the church and the truth. Sister Wright and I had a funny experience yesterday; we got a call and it was a man who they had given a card to and he said "I was cleaning out my wallet and I found your card so i thought that i would call you and talk about Jesus." then about an hour later, we had someone else call and it was someone who we gave a card of "A Savior is Born" and he said he watched the video and we discussed it and said we could send missionaries by! It was a cool little miracle. 

     Now back to the video i just want to tell everyone who is reading this: GO SEARCH A SAVIOR IS BORN. It is so pretty. The church has done a really good job. We discussed how the invitation at the end: "discover why" is such a good lead in to our message that we share as missionaries. It is really truly touching. I really like the invitation because we have to keep discovering why everyday. Our whole life should be consistently discovering why. Who is Jesus? what does that mean for me? What should I do about it? Please everyone go watch the video, tell me what you think and post it to your facebook, Invite people for a family home evening and have them all watch it, instagram whatever you can, do it! The most beautiful message that we can share is of Jesus Christ and these days it is so easy to share that message. I have such a testimony of our savior Jesus Christ. He dedicated his life to the Father and to all of us. Through Service and Sacrifice. I have been asked to give a talk in a couple sundays and it is on Christlike Attributes so i have been really studying those. Learn of Christ and of who he was. so that you can become more like him. what better time to start than now at the celebration of his birth?! :)

     I want to thank everyone for everything and wish everyone a merry merry christmas!"

-Hermana StevensDecember 7, 2015

So it's been a crazy week but you kind of get used to that as a missionary. The first two days, I was companions with an English sister so I was doing mostly English work. Wednesday was the big day! :) we woke up bright an early (as usual) and headed to the mission office. We had a little training on being trainers while the trainees had a training with president. Then we all stood up when they came in and the trainees came in as we sang "called to serve" it was a cool experience being on the other end of things this time. Watching the new missionaries come in. Looking tired but happy as ever to be there. Then very quickly, president started calling yo the new missionaries and telling them who their new companions would be. So my new companion is Sister Woodbury. She is from draper Utah. She's really the coolest. One of my fears was to be companions with someone who was at e Spanish speaking level I was when I came it but she already knows a ton! I'm serious. She came already trained.. I got gyped! But we are having a good time. We get a long super well and she participates in lessons with me it's like she's already been out for a while. On our first day, we were able to help one of our investigators make a baptismal date goal. We are being very blessed! That and one is getting baptized this Saturday! Whoo! It's been a long time coming for this one but she's finally ready and we are excited for her and her family. 

     This week, for all you missionaries, I read the challenging and testifying missionary. For those of you who haven't, especially if you're on a mission or getting ready to go, read it. It got me so pumped! One of the things that struck me was that 70% of baptisms are done by 30% of the missionaries! It just makes me think that I want to be a part of that 30%. It also makes me think about how if every missionary was like those in the group of 30%. What would he work be like?! I jaunt want to try harder and harder because time is picking up as time goes on and it's frightening! But I just want to do all I can to be a baptizing missionary. 

     Also this week, when we visited our investigators who came to church this week, they said that they really enjoyed it! They said that they want to keep coming! Also it's a big deal because one if them didn't want anything to do with us when his family was first taught! Unfortunately they were not able to come this week because they were all sick. 

     Something that I have been working on is testifying. I have learned that when you testify it not only brings he spirit really strong allowing it to touch their hearts and know the truth but it also strengthens your own testimony and helps you understand the doctrine more fully. Here we go for another happy week!

-Hermana Stevens"

December 14, 2015

"Hello all! It has been another wonderful day here in California. I see

it has been snowing like crazy in Utah. I kind of wish it would snow..
That would be exciting. It's just so cold here. Like you walk outside
and the wind slaps you in the face. Yesterday it rained and rained win
lots of wind so trees were falling and it was just a wreck. But that
is okay! This weekend, we had K's baptism! It was so sweet! She
bore her testimony afterwards. It was really nice because it really
testified to me that she was ready and she understands.
 We had a lot of finding time this week because appointments fall
through but that is important too! And we were able to successfully
find new investigators. We also found a lot of referrals for other
missionaries. We are just really trying to not let a moment pass us
by. Or a person     This week we had zone training and one of my
favorite things we talked about was dropping. Dropping is kind of a
sad part of missionary work but very necessary for the progression of
that work. When we drop those who are not progressing, we faithfully
give them more time to be prepared so some other missionaries in the
future can start teaching them and help them make those commitments.
If we don't drop, we get preoccupied by people who hurt aren't ready
and use our time with them instead of using it looking for those who
are ready now. It's hard to drop because we grow such a love for those
we teach and we have a lot of hope in their progression and potential
and like Elder Hamula taught, "missionaries like teaching more than
they like finding". But we are here to harvest not to plant. The field
is white! One of my favorite points that was made was about the story
in John 21 when the disciples went fishing and they kept casting their
nets on the left side of the ship. They didn't catch. Then when Christ
told them to cast of the other side of the boat they could barley pull
in their load. We were asked to make sure we are casting our nets on
the right side of the ship. We don't need to be dragging people along
trying to pull from the left side. God knows what he is doing. He
knows where we need to be when so if we trust in him and ask him where
to go, who to teach and what, we will have a load to big to pull in.
     Another thing that I have been studying this week is Christlike
attributes. I have been trying to better myself so I can be the best I
can possibly be. I want to improve in all area especially thoses where
I may lack more. So I took the attribute test (by the way everyone
should do this) from preach my gospel to find out where I should
start. I was able to see what I can better in myself and also where I
should start. My lowest score came from "patience".... So this
transfer I am going to work on patience and I have plenty of faith
that the Lord is going to offer me many opportunities to exercise my
patience. I am thankful for the atonement and for the opportunity that
we all have to change and become better. Here's for another great
week! :)
Hermana Stevens"

December 28, 2015

Hello! Okay so this is what happened in the past two days:
-Christmas was wonderful!
-we had 7 people at church! What a blessing! :)
-I gave a talk in sacrament meeting.
-taught a family
-being a missionary is awesome
-it's freezing here
-go read some scriptures or something :)
Con mucho amor,
     Hermana stevens"

WE GOT TO SEE HER! She was beautiful and dorky and hilarious as always.