I never said it was Easy- Only said it was Worth It!

I think I have a sinus infection, it’s killing me.  If it doesn’t get better by tomorrow I am going to get an appointment to get it looked at.  Got to love sickness!

Been an okay week here in England.  Spent part of two days with other Elders at doctors appointments (not me.)  Had a long Zone Meeting one day.  Had a good bye lunch/party for one Elder who is going home because of medical problems.  Met the new Elder serving in the adjacent area to replace the one who went home.  And attempted to get some tracting, finding and correlating done for the rest of the week.   Went to church on Sunday.  Not a lot to report, a lot of finding and a lot of traveling.

We had set up a potential appointment to meet a new investigator at town centre.  We set the appointment time at 5:30.  Not knowing when we set the appointment- that was the time to turn on the Christmas Lights in town centre.  We never did find the investigator in all of the people there.  Lots of Christmas decorations everywhere.  The ward Christmas Party here is on Christmas Eve.  

There is sometimes ice on the sidewalks in the mornings because of the rain and cold temperatures.  But we are in the flat until about 10:00 studying, so by the time we go out, most of the stuff is all cleaned up.   We don’t have any snow at this point, and one of the members here said they used to get a lot of snow, but haven’t for the last few years.  Have to wait and see what comes this year. 

Still working with our one investigator to get another baptismal date.  There have been some complications along the way, but we have been able to work through them- one at a time.  We think there’s just one more hurdle to jump.   She is so wanting to get baptized- she believes it all!   The saying goes "I never said it was easy- only that it was worth it!"  She is learning to listen to the promptings of the Spirit and to act upon them.  We are still working a couple of others we have previous found as well. 

Tip for missionaries getting ready to go- learn to budget!  It’s a very valuable skill to know in making sure your money lasts for the whole month.  Thanks mom and dad for teaching me that one.

Love, Elder Stevenson

Christmas Stockings

It's worth it!

Pretty good week here in England.  A couple of days of finding and street contacting in town centre and some lessons with investigators and members.  We had interviews with the President this week also.   He gave a very short training on having the Lord involved in His Work. How we need to ask for Him to help us do this work, and that He will help us if we do.

Another opportunity for service .  This time for a member in the area.  He was needing some help in getting ready for a new fence in his yard.  At first we were a little hesitant because we were in our nice clothes and had an appointment in a couple of hours and didn’t have time to change and such.  We decided we could help though and just be careful- how dirty could be get in just cutting down some stuff.  We helped for about 30 minutes and made it back in time for our appointment.  It was fun to be able to help him. 

I haven’t driven since taking the driving lessons. I haven’t heard about my driving license.  I applied for my provisional license following the driving lessons.  That is just so that I can take the test.   I am going to take the test on the computer, so that it’s over with.  That portion is good for two full years.  Then if I get into a car area, I will do the actual driving portion of the test at that time.

Learned a little of what it’s like to be a parent this week. We were working with an investigator when that thought came to me.   Watching them grow, seeing them progress in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and hearing them pray.  It’s so worth it!   It’s times when you hear them pray, when you think I taught them this, I taught them about God, I taught them to pray.  It’s times like this when I can see from a parent’s point of view how they see their kids grow up and do good things.  It’s worth it to realize all of the joy and happiness that sharing the gospel truly brings into your life.

Love, Elder Stevenson

Are you canvassing the area?

On Tuesday we had a companion exchange with the zone leaders. We were tracting in a neighborhood.  We went up to a door and knocked.   Just then a car pulled up, it was a normal plain car and so we thought it was the owner just coming home.   We went out to speak with him and a cop get outs of this unmarked vehicle.  Before we know it we were being interrogated to see if we were doing anything illegal.  It was two cops, a man and a woman, and they were like well, we are in this area tonight, a lot of us, because there have been a lot of burglaries happening here.  We are trying to catch the guys.  So what are you guys doing- canvassing the area again?  We showed our badges and they were like oh- ya…. Alright, well just take it easy tonight.  You might get stopped again though because there are a lot of us out tonight.  

It’s getting dark about 4:30 p.m. and it’s dark.  A little depressing.  With so many cloudy days in England, you don’t even see the stars at night.  Tracting until 8:00 in the dark.  It’s getting colder and raining more also.  I got some new gloves and a big fur hat a few weeks ago, so I should be set for the winter here. 

We found another investigator this week.  A man who’s recently been without a job.  A super nice guy, really devoted to Jesus Christ.  We were able to teach him about the restoration.  Taught one of our other investigators the lesson about Gospel of Jesus Christ with an Elder from a neighboring area.  That was an amazing experience-  the Spirit was really strong during that lesson.     Still working with some others as well.

Able to do a little more service this week also. Loved it.  One of the families in the area needed to move.  So we were helping them to move into a new house. It took about 4 hours.  Their little boys made it fun and kind of entertaining.  The one them is about 4 or 5 and he really wanted to help us.  So he would take things and help in every little way he could.  

I had to speak in church this week. It went really good.  I had everything all planned out as to how I was going to present things.  But nothing went according to my plan.  However, it ended up being really good. 

I ran into a farmer the other day and had a good conversation with him.   He retired about 10 years ago and sold out.  All of his farm ground has now gone into a housing development.  He says that’s happening to a lot of their farm and tree land around here.  He was a little upset about it and wondering what will happen when all of the farm land in England is gone.    We did walk by some farm ground the other day.   It was wheat, they had strip tilled it and then they are already planting beets in there.  I thought it was a little strange, but these beets are up to the 10 leave stage.  Quite big, so I was wondering if maybe they were going to be seed beets.  It was interesting to see how they did it. 

Love to all, and hope that you all have a great week!  

Love, Elder Stevenson

Service= Super Fun!

We finally got a chance to do some service.  There is a shop in town like a DI to help in raising some funds for a homeless shelter.  They were moving from one location to another place. So we were able to move some things into the new bigger store and painted for about 3 hours. It was super fun!

Sometimes there are points of your mission that are stressful.  When you just don’t understand why your investigators don’t get it.  When you can’t figure out how to explain it any clearer for them.  If they will just read the Book of Mormon, they will get it all.  The Book of Mormon proves everything.  That Joseph Smith was a prophet. This is the restored gospel of Jesus Christ that has been fully restored in these latter days. This is what you need to read in order to have the same testimony about these things.  You just need to read the book to know it is true.  You can’t expect God to let you know it is true if you don’t give it a chance.

We had Stake Conference this weekend and it was really good.  The main theme was Member Missionary Work.  A couple of the missionaries told of their conversion stories.  And the Stake President told of some of the happiness his son is experiencing on his mission.   He urged the members to share the gospel in small and simple things. One of our investigators was there and was really impressed with it also.

It’s crazy to think that next week, I will have been out for 5 months.  I have grown a lot on my mission, not physically, but mentally and spiritually. I have matured a lot. I never would have imagined that I would have changed this much in such a short amount of time. It’s crazy to think it, but it’s true. The happiness I have when I am sharing the gospel is a happiness that I have never felt before. It’s a different happiness that no one can describe until they feel it. I am so grateful for this chance I have to serve a mission.  I am so grateful for all those that support me and send me emails and letters.  Thanks so much!

Love, Elder Stevenson

Staying Here!

Staying here!  With my current companion, zone leaders and district leader!  We will be here through Christmas, and have already gotten an invitation for Christmas dinner from a nice family in the ward!  This ward has been really good to us.  We have 3 dinner appointments this coming week.  For many reasons, glad to be staying here!  We are both excited to be staying, should be a good time.  This transfer has been the best and we are looking forward to another great transfer and hoping to get a lot done.  Things have been going great here for us together.  The lady we started teaching last week has selected December 8^th as her baptism date, so we will both be here for that!  We had the Plan of Salvation lesson with her this week and it went really well. 

Picture of my planner- burned the edge because I burned through another transfer.

Because there is no Thanksgiving Holiday here between Halloween and Christmas, all of the stores here put up the Christmas decorations the day after Halloween. 

We took some time and made our own Christmas tree from pass along cards- it was a good time!

I finished reading the Book of Mormon again. I started it about 4 months ago.  That has been good.  The weather has also been good, the warmest in the last two weeks here and it’s sunny!   Crazy!   My allergies are getting better with the change of seasons as well, haven’t had to take any medication for about a month now.   Other changes- with all of the walking, I am getting some good sized calves!

Super excited to hear about the snowmobile.  I was thinking about that the other day.  Wow!  I am gonna miss my old life for the next 19 months or so, but it’s worth it and I know this is what I am supposed to be doing.  The farm and snowmobiling will be there when I get back.  So it’s going to be good.

Love, Elder Stevenson

Great Week!

The storm here wasn’t that bad last week.  The train station here was working fine, but somewhere there were trees on the tracks and so we weren’t able travel as planned on last P-day.  But here the storm wasn’t too bad.  There were some winds, about 30 mph.  Not a big deal.  It rained really hard.   Like an inch and a half of rain in 3 hours.  But in England the rain dries up fast, not like back home.  If you get an inch in 3 hours at home, you are shut down.  But here if they get 5 inches of rain, within like 5 hours it is dry again. The ground just soaks it all up.

November 5^th is fireworks day here. It’s a day of celebration for Englanders.  The fireworks start early, they have been shooting them off the last two nights already.  Having a flat on the fourth floor gives us a great view of them.

We had a great Zone Meeting this week. Our Zone Leader said “A mission is the school for life.”  You will experience disappointment and discouragement your whole mission. But it doesn’t matter, you must push on, never losing faith. You can’t give up ever.  When you go home, you will continue to have discouragement at times.  So will you give up your job then?  Will you tell your kids, sorry I gave up? Sorry that you can’t have this, I gave up, I can’t handle hard times.  WOW!  What he said was so good, such a great man and super dedicated to the work.   Our other Zone Leader has also been a great help to me in giving me tips of how to better do things as a missionary.  Ideas of how to find success and better control my inputs.

On work over on Tuesday, we had pretty good success on town centre, better than before.  Then on Friday we went back to town centre and had a good day of finding.  We had a potential appointment set up and I hadn’t thought a lot about it.  But Saturday morning as I was in the shower, I was prompted to set a date for her baptism.   This seemed strange because we really hadn’t said much to this lady, just a few words.  Still I was prompted to pray to set a date.  I knew that December 7^th would work.  We headed to the lesson and met her in town.  We went into the library to teach her there. The spirit was so strong, right there in the library.  She really expressed interest in joining the church.   When we finished the lesson, she was like I need baptism.  I was shocked and was like no way.  So we extended the date of December 7^th. She wanted to meet the next day, which was Sunday.   She came to church with us and we were able to watch “Restoration” at the Sunday School class.  The one that portrays the early life of Joseph Smith.  The spirit was again so strong.  There were 4 missionaries there and another lady from the ward.  We all bore testimony of the truthfulness of everything we saw and of the Book of Mormon and the church.  She said she wanted to be baptized sooner than December 7^th.  WOW!  We explained  it is possible, but she has to come to church at least 3 times.  So we could possibly have a baptism this month.  She is so ready for the gospel.  She is a great lady!

Good week here in England!  Love, Elder Stevenson