England London Mission

England London Mission

Monday, September 22, 2014

You never appreciate the simple things in life till you go without


Last week, we lost all hot water. There was an issue with it. So we had cold showers for 1 week until they could fix the water heater.  So I have truly come to realize how nice a hot shower is.  For that week I was dreading showering, because it was always sooooo cold. I could have probably broken my hair off in an ice chunk!  But then hot water again, it was the best experience of my life to be able to take a warm shower. I truly appreciate that little thing in life.

One of my favorite lessons to share with the members is Lehi’s Vision in relation to member  missionary work. How there was the fruit and Lehi liked the fruit and was desirous that his family went and got the fruit as well.   So Lehi was calling for them.   We talk about the different things that happened when people began to come to the tree of life.  Some would hold on to the rod clear to the end.  Others would start to go and then be pulled away by the great and spacious building. Some wouldn’t even begin to come to it.  But Lehi did what he could to bring them unto it.  Just how it is with missionary work, we do our part.  We invite people, we cannot control the outcome.  There are a lot of things that can happen as we invite them, because many are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.  So to invite is our part, then we will be blessed for doing are part. 

For service, we were able to work in the guy’s garden again. Fresh raspberries again.   Eating ones from the store are not even the same.  Able to help another member with some weeding in his garden as well.   It is always nice to get in normal clothes and just get dirty!  Just like old times on the farm. Service is always good!

A couple of our investigators are making great strides in their testimonies and working towards baptism.  One is so excited to be able to do baptisms for their ancestors once they are baptized. This week we talked about eternal marriage and how temple marriages are forever.   Another of those things that just taken for granted some times. I grew up thinking eternal marriage was just the normal thing to do. But for someone who has never heard of it before- it’s a huge deal!   That was a really good lesson.

The sister missionaries in the area are teaching a family for whom they need a translator.  My companion happens to speak the needed language and since the member who usually goes with them was at the temple that day, we went to the appointment with them.   I had learned to say Hello, How are you? In their language.  So when we walked in I said, Hello, How are you?  They were so impressed that I knew the language, they said to tell them more.   I said, Hello, How are you?  And they all started laughing.  It was pretty cool to just sit and hear them speak in their native language.

We were headed to an appointment on Friday. It had been super sunny that morning .  As we were walking, it started to rain a little so we stopped under a shelter and talked to this guy.  While talking it started to down pour.  Then my companion said, frozen ice is falling from the sky.  He had never seen hail before.  It rained so much. In 30 minutes it put down likes 4 inches of rain and hail. It was crazy how hard it was coming down.  It started running down the streets in a matter of 10 minutes you had a river flowing down the street. It happened we were at the bottom of a somewhat hill area, and the water was ponding up.  



There was 2 foot of water everywhere. I started taking pictures and it just kept piling up more and more rain.  Finally we decided we should start heading for our appointment.  As we went to leave, we noticed there was a car stalled out in the middle of the road that was blocking traffic causing more cars to stall out.  So we walked towards it. The guy said oh____ what do I do now?   I was like hey mate put it in neutral and take your hand brake off.  So we pushed him through it, and then we started to get more people to come and help us. We had about 5 people pushing these cars through this flood area. It was pretty crazy.  The water was up to my lower thigh and super cold, and super dirty water.  My water proof shoes are no longer water proof if they are fully submerged.  It was like I was walking in crocs full of water. Just squish, squish!  We were drenching wet. We were running late for our appointment and super wet. But we did our service the day. So it was pretty fun, it is an experience I will remember the rest of my life. 


This week in studying I finished the gospels in the New Testament. In the study guide is talked about our duty to feed the lambs, to share the gospel. It’s been great to serve a mission and see the difference the gospel can bring in someone’s life. 


Thanks for all the prayers, emails, letters and love.  Love, Elder Stevenson




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