Short Email

This week has been alright.   Sorry- this will be a short one for the week.  We were able to find a new family this week.  They are wonderful and have been prepared by the Lord for this time in their life.  There was a baptism of a little girl in the ward, a lot of non-member friends came to it, which was really good. 

We attempted to do the Bible study this week, but only the four missionaries showed up.  We will be continuing to try and get more people involved in coming weeks.

The information about the candlelight vigil at the high school for Dakota was pretty touching.  So great to see the community in support of her family.  She was a great friend!  Times like this make us appreciate our testimonies even more.  

When we ask people -why do bad things happen to good people?  We answer with because it makes us appreciate the good even more. And because sometimes we need to rely on faith to get through things in life!  

Love, Elder Stevenson

I'm Staying!

It’s been a crazy normal week.  All week long I was having thoughts that I have been here for awhile and I might be moving.  We were supposed to get calls last night, but President had something come up so he was not able to call until this morning.  This morning we found that we are both staying together for another transfer.  So 6 months in this area!  Yeah!  It’s been wonderful to be in this area.  I have really changed as  a person a lot in this area.  A lot more reliant on the Lord and my surroundings.  This week during Zone Conference we watched an Easter video, “Because of Him”  About Jesus Christ and it said that because of  Him, death has no sting, there is not end.  It’s been a wonderful week to reflect on the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ.  { Check out the video for yourself.  https://www.lds.org/youth/video/because-of-him?lang=eng  }

At Zone Conference we talked about the fall and the atonement.   No one can fully understand the atonement unless they begin to understand the fall.  We went through the key things that happened in the fall.  Then with a wonderful training about the atonement to end it off with.  

Wednesday we met with one of our investigators.  He is doing wonderful.  He was able to feel the spirit very strong in the lesson.  We all knew he felt it and then pointed it out. He was just gleaming with hope.  He has a wonderful testimony and belief.

Thursday we headed to another area for some appointments we had set up there.  We were able to catch one appointment that day.  That evening we had a meeting with the Ward Council.  The Bishop is really good, a convert himself.  He has a wonderful story.  He has a very strong testimony about the Savior and really has a great push for mission work.

On Good Friday we were able to do some service for a family in the ward.  It was fun! 

Saturday there was an Easter event in the area.   We had dinner with a family in the ward.  We actually dyed eggs with the kids. 

Easter Sunday was a great meeting at church.  A meeting all about the Atonement.  A lady and gentleman in the ward spoke and then the Stake Patriarch.   We followed that with a blitz of the area with the other Elders.    Then to supper with another family in the ward. They shared some fun stories and we had a good time with them.  

Yesterday we went around to visit some less actives.  We are trying to make sure the contact information the church has is correct.  We are looking to see if they still live there, and see if they are interested in coming back to church.  We were able to make contacts with a couple of them that day. 

Then to the family in the ward for dinner.  We had a contest with the kids at doing handstands and cartwheels.  I could do the handstand, but just learned how to do a cartwheel.  My companion put a hole in his trousers. I didn’t do that, but ended up with grass stains on the back of my white shirt.

This week we are starting a Bible study class.  Just an event for members to come to and bring their friends and such.  Trying to get the ball rolling with referrals coming in. 

While we were driving this week, we passed by a grain field that was being freshly sprayed.   Since I missed it a lot, I rolled down my window and just took it in.  I missed that smell a lot.  While you talk about just planting grain at home, it’s 8 inches to a foot tall already.  It’s been crazy in the difference.

Also as we were driving we also came across this crop in the fields. Not sure what it is, but the flowers are beautiful.

I was studying the Doctrine and Covenants this week and found this scripture.   D&C 101:7-8  “They were slow to hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; therefore, the Lord their God is slow to hearken unto their prayers, to answer them in the day of their trouble.  In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me.”

The importance of relying on the Lord.  Something I am learning here.

Love, Elder Stevenson

Sunny in England!

Pretty normal week with a lot of finding again.  We used the new way of contacting and I’m really starting to love using it.  It really helps people to open up a whole lot more.  Found out it makes a difference with those we contacting as well.  Just last week as I was working the street, a young lady came up to me and wanted to know what I was doing. I started talking with her.  She shared some of her concerns with me, at the end of the day I passed her name along to the other elders we were working with in the area because she lived in their area. They were able to make a follow up this week.  She said she was really interested in learning more because of the way I had approached our conversation the week before.  She could see that I was passionate about what I was talking about and so she wanted to learn more.  It was powerful to me, to realize that the little things…. Like the way I talk are important to all of this. 

We are going to a neighboring town to email now.  There were two wards meeting in our chapel and so there were two computers.  But the other building got finished and the ward moved out taking their computer with them. The library in our town doesn’t open on Monday, so we go to the neighboring city, park at the church (cause it’s free parking) and walk 30 minutes to use the computers at the city library there. 

Following a district meeting we were out contacting one evening and came across an interesting man.  We discussed his beliefs and the gospel for some time.  Although we had some common beliefs, we had some real differences.  He wasn’t sure about the whole Book of Mormon thing as we didn’t have the plates.  But he admitted that he believed in the Bible although he hadn’t seen any evidence of it.  We agreed that there are a lot of things we need to take on faith as we don’t see a lot of things we believe in.  We haven’t seen Christ and yet we believe in Him.  He wasn’t sure of the need for prophets and apostles today.  I asked him to show me in the Bible where is said we did not need them. He couldn’t think of any place it said that.  I said that because the need for prophets and apostles did not stop at Jesus Christ’s time.  We kindly agreed to disagree and headed off on our own ways.

We were able to volunteer at the local charity shop again this week. And able to do a little work for a couple of the families in the ward. We love to do service!   We have some great families in the ward who are really good to us. One of them has a little girl getting baptized in a couple of weeks.  She really wants me to be able to come to her baptism… but transfers are next week.  She said she would be mad if I didn’t come to her baptism. 

We are continuing to work with our investigators.  One of them is doing really well. We shared the Restoration and the Godhead with him yesterday.  He really had a deep down desire looking for the truth in his life.

Today was a sunny day!  We had a good time.  We even washed the car so it looks like brand new.  Which is a good thing as we have Zone Conference this week and sometimes they do car inspections and it would be disgraceful to have a dirty car for that.

Transfers are next week- so p-day will be on Tuesday. 

Love, Elder Stevenson

Conference was great!

Pretty normal week this week.  A lot of finding and some teaching.  Also attempting to catch up with our previous investigators.  This week we did try a new way for finding.  Usually we just go to the center square and stop people and visit with them for a few minutes.  This week we started using a little different approach. One of asking more thought provoking questions.  Based on their answers, it allows us to be able to share pieces of the gospel then testify about the things. It’s a super nice way.   In the 3 hours there I visited with 20 people, and ended up teaching 6 lessons.  It’s crazy what a little change in the approach can make.  The following day my companion and I tried it in a different town with good results as well. 

I had the opportunity of doing service on exchanges this week.  We helped out some of the members in the area.    It was super fun!  We were also able to help a family who is moving in the ward. Love doing service and working physically.

We were able to have our football (soccer) game on Saturday, as we hold it in the mornings and conference doesn’t start until the afternoon here.   It was a good day for soccer. The second time we have played that week.  We had also had a game on p-day with the Elders in the area.   My companion and I thought we were pretty good and were confident we could beat them.  We ended up being  humbled in the end. 

Conference this weekend was wonderful!  It was really good.  I thought there was a lot directed towards pornography, the law of chastity and repentance.   Also they mentioned more than 3 times the first and great commandment- Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, will all thy heart, might, mind and strength.  Loving someone leads to sacrifice. If you love your wife, you will sacrifice things you want to do for doing things that she wants to do.  Love for God is the same way. Another thing from conference was that God is always God. He is not changing.  If it’s been wrong, it will still be wrong.  If it’s been right, it will still be right.  Also the need to for us to stand up for what we believe in and share it with others!  Same as it has always been.   Lehi’s dream about the tree- he liked the fruit, which is the word of God and he tried to share it with his family.  Another that came up a lot was strengthening your own testimony through daily scripture study and prayer.   We were able to see all of the conference, but the last session.  We went with a man in the ward to the neighboring town to be able to see the Priesthood Session.  We watched the other sessions at members’ homes.  Conference was great!

Love, Elder Stevenson