July 28, 2014

The computer just erased my email so I will write what I can. This week was another really good week. More miracles! You were on roller coasters this last week, while being a missionary is that same way every day! Here is an update on some of the people we have been working with: The ward, we started our FHE missionary training's at the church every Monday night last Monday night. It went really well. We focused around the 7 lessons of sharing the gospel by Clayton Christensen, I will send it home. I talked about how we can't predict who is or isn't ready for the gospel. Something it sounds like some of you also learned firsthand this week! It was great, every week we have a few families in the ward signed up to come and tonight I think there is 6 families’ coming, it should go good again. One of the important things that I have mentioned before is when we invite, we succeed. Dad, that is awesome you were able to give out a book of Mormon, and everyone else who tried, good job as well! One of the 7 steps! We had some really good lessons this week with Victor; he accepted the law of chastity and the word of wisdom with no problem! We also talked about prophets this week and showed him scriptures out of the bible we got him. When we gave him the bible he held it up and kissed it! It was funny! We had planned to teach him thru the weekend and have his baptismal interview, but he unexpectedly went out of town so his baptism will be pushed back a week. He is really excited though! Ann had her interview planned for Saturday and on her way out the door her son Kegan threw a tantrum and wouldn't leave to go to the church for her interview... It was chaos, but luckily yesterday evening Kegan was staying with someone and she could come and have her interview. She passed!! She is ready to covenant and live the gospel! I am excited for this weekend. A really cool thing happened we were going to Julies to have a 'recent convert' lesson with her and the member we invited to have come and be our 3rd male got sick and couldn't make it and her husband wasn't there so she went to the next door neighbors and asked if he could come over and help so we could go in and he ended sitting in on the lesson and it was really cool!! People need to be needed- another one of the 7 steps! So we talked and he said we could meet again Friday and when we went back he wasn't home.. But we still had a good lesson with Julie- She needed help preparing a talk on baptism! Her nephew was baptized in another stake on Saturday! Her mom and another nephew were baptized a couple weeks ago. She also mentioned her brother has been looking into the church recently; it's amazing the whole family is finding the truth! Hopefully Everett isn't too far away. I wish I could share more, thanks for the socks!! Thanks for your letters sorry I couldn't write you each back. Love Elder Stevenson

July 14, 2014

This week was good. First off, Mom, please stop worrying and telling others to worry about me. I appreciated all the letters from everyone at the reunion. But I am not going thru a hard time and I'm not worried about my back so you shouldn't be either; I will be fine. Just a little update, the doctor’s appointment was fine, I have to do more pee tests and stuff and see if when he does it it's different or not.. Yesterday we had a fireside with the ward; we talked about the ward mission plan. It went great, we had 100+ people, I was happy, especially for this ward. There was a lot musical numbers so that helped get the ward out as well. The ward mission plan includes finding, sharing, inviting, serving and fellow shipping. I talked about Inviting. It was only about 5 minutes and I would send you a copy of my talk... But I just wrote down a few bullet points right before and expounded on them. When I started I had everyone stand up and sing a song with me "Invite, Invite, morning noon and night!" 3 times so inviting won't be forgotten. We have been doing a lot of finding this last week, we got one referral from a MEMBER for a guy named Victor, I guess they have been talking at work and talking with other missionaries a little before and he is from Nigeria! Maybe Grammy and papa met him! We met a guy named Jesus from Columbia on the street one day he was pretty cool and invited us over but then when we went over he was preaching to us about how Pentecostal is right and we are wrong. It sure was interesting to hear someone speak in "tongues" or gibberish.. The philosophy was that they if couldn't understand themselves then Satan can't understand them either or any evil spirits... But God can understand them... Well I'm still lost! We found a native family, or rather they found us! Walking down the street and they asked if we can teach them, that was really cool but being able to make an appointment with them has been more difficult. On an exchange on Saturday we taught a man who is agnostic. It was really cool he is very willing to learn and try to get an answer, we talked about the creation with him and how we were alive before this life. It made a lot more sense to him than the other religions he has looked into. It's funny to me even though I was called to English work there is so many people whose native tongue isn't English we get to work with. Ann is still coming along, slowly but surely. On Friday when we usually have sport night she met with bishop and Elder Hinds and had a lesson and I played ball with Keegan. The lesson went great, I was just sad I wasn't a part of it, but that's alright. Sunday we went to the Veterans Hospital to help give people the sacrament. It was sad to see what some of those people’s lives has become. 2Nephi 4:19-21 I know in whom I have trusted. My God hath been my support; he hath led me through mine afflictions in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. He hath filled me with his love. Have a good week! Love, Elder Stevenson

July 7, 2014

This week was good, on Saturday we had Julie's baptism! Throughout the week we went and saw her lots, she doing awesome! She is already a better member missionary then most of the members. One day we were there and after we left the member who we had brought said "that's not a baptism, that's a conversion", it was really cool. Another day we were with her talking about repentance and she asked about if it was ok to take diapers from Walmart for her kids and we explained it out to her, she broke down and it was really neat to have her promise to not doing it anymore and repent. Also one day we watched finding faith in Christ and Everett watched, then we were able to actually talk religion, he said he has a faith and used to go to church until he was divorced, then he said he's not ready now but he will be 'sometime' so that is a good sign! Elder Hinds baptized her; it was his first one so that was really cool! I gave a talk on the Holy Ghost, used my Holy Ghost box of course and it went really, really well! There was a lot of family and friends at the baptism so that was awesome for them to go in a Mormon church see a baptism and hopefully have been touched by the spirit! This week we had a Ha-boob! It was really cool, at first the clouds were brown in the distance then they got really cool looking and all the sudden dust was flying and stuff was in the air. We were locked in the church since we’re not supposed to drive the power was going in and out. The best part was the rain storm after, rain felt so good! There was a really cool lightning storm so Elder Hinds and I decided to plan on the top of the parking garage and enjoy the storm! This morning we and hiked camelback mountain as a zone, that was fun, except getting up super early to beat the sun! There is a French lady we were able to teach a lesson to this week and a French speaking missionary just got sent here from temple square so it shouldn't be too hard, the bad part was not knowing anything about the conversation, next time should be better. I broke my bike trying to show off! I was going to ride the street and put my front tire on the side walk but it screwed up my gears! At least now I can have some fun trying to fix it. Have a good week, I am out of time! Love, Elder Stevenson

June 29, 2014

Short week, but a good week. The highlight was Friday! Julie's wedding!! It was about 6:02 and we were all really worried, where are they at?? Finally they got there and all was well. The wedding went good, afterward one of the members in the ward started talking to them and somehow got talking about how they didn't have rings, right then he said he didn't have very much money but they could go to Walmart and look for something that would work. It was really cool. Everett opened up to us at the wedding then Sunday when we saw him he was really nice too, I think it might take a little while but he will come around. I think he sees the change in his wife's life that has been happening but right now he's not ready to give up some worldly things. Sunday was rough, Ann didn't come to church because her foot is infected and she can barely even walk on it. Julie worked from like 2-6:30, she does a paper route. Thought she had time to nap for an hour-ish so she would be quite so tired at work then slept right thru church! But she did pass her baptismal interview and is all set for this weekend, I am really excited! Have a great week! 1 John 4: 7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. 10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. 19 We love him, because he first loved us. Love, Elder Stevenson

June 23, 2014

It's been a while! Transfers was this week, I am not getting transferred. The last week and a half has been good! A lot has happened. A quick update on some of our investigators- Ann- Last Friday we watched on the lord’s errand with her, the biography of pres. Monson's life. Then afterward she had her baptismal interview. She answered all of the questions right and she is OK on that perspective to be baptized, but she wants to wait a couple more weeks so she can come to church and get the hang of things a little bit more. We keep wanting to take her to a baptism for other investigators in the stake. But she is always working or at school during that time! She is doing great though; we are just going to keep working with her and helping her until she is ready. She's pretty much been taught all of the necessary stuff before baptism so we will probably just go into more detail and read the book of Mormon with her. Julie- Big news! She's getting married!! This Friday, after church Sunday she talked to bishop with her boyfriend and they talked and will be getting married this Friday, then the next Saturday, July 5th she can be baptized because she is keeping the one thing holding her back. We taught the word of wisdom last week and it was really good, she accepted with no problems. We have been finding new people as well. Here a just a few of our experiences. A part member family moved in the ward, recovering alcoholics of 20-30 days sober, trying to reactivate, we went and met, he said he wanted to be baptized, so we set a goal and taught the restoration then the next day when we went over to see them he was drunk.. Shows how hard Satan will work on someone when they try to do what’s right and how addictions screw you over! Then yesterday I guess the rent was too high so they are moving back to Mesa. Another cool thing, there is a girl who was investigating the church in New York and has a super solid testimony, she has been taught everything and then some, we met her and she is half way thru the book of Mormon. She is just waiting until November when her mom can come see her to be baptized so her mom can be a part of it and possibly also be introduced the gospel. A few nights ago a minivan pulled up next to us and started talking to us (things like this happen all the time but usually they are drunk/mean/need money/etc..) well this time was a mother with her kids and she said hey my sister just joined your church and I want to know more about it, what time is church on Sunday? She is moving in this week right into our area so we are going to teach her when she's settled in! The members here are getting better little by little. We have been getting better member involvement when we teach people and getting them to reach out to people at church a little more so that is good. We go on splits every Thursday, last Thursday we saw a guy we talked to on the street for a few seconds as we were stopped at the light, got his address and sped off cause we were late, then when we went over it was really good cause the member brother really related to him and was able to talk about how the gospel has helped him change his life around. We did service one day, demolished an apartment that had been empty for a couple years. It was disgusting. There was a dead cat rotted inside, the carpets were just stained black and it was really gross! I will send you a picture of the toilet... It was awesome to be able to see the Barton's on Monday! I love them so much. We went to dinner at the cheesecake factory, it was delicious, but seeing them was still better than the food! Love, Elder Stevenson

June 16, 2014

I guess my letters are not quite long enough? Haha well I will answer these and any other questions any of you may have! So how do you like your companion??? How is that going with him??? Does he follow the rules well? My companion, Elder Hinds is awesome; I think he is my favorite companion. He is very hard working and is a great missionary. He has been out about 4 months now but seems like he has a lot more experience than that. We work really well together. Probably the nicest person you ever have met, he is willing to do anything for anyone, almost too nice sometimes... ha-ha and as a side note, next Tuesday is transfers but we will both be staying here for at least 6 more weeks. How do you like your area?? The area, central phoenix, is indescribable. There is definitely never a dull day! I love it. How are you?? I am good, being a missionary is great, we work hard and sleep well at night from being exhausted. Even sleep thru blood sucking bugs ;) oh yeah mom- don't worry about them in Rexburg 20 degrees will kill them.. or 120+. Is your acne getting any better??? I think my acne is getting better, it comes and goes but I am being more diligent at taking the medicine dad sent me as well as washing my face more. Part of it comes from stress I think and that won't ever go away as a missionary. Are you getting skinny riding that bike??? My weight goes up and down but I went from 222 to 210 in the last 2 weeks so I think that’s pretty good, been working on eating healthier with fruits and stuff. Are you dying of heat??? The heat really isn't too bad as long as you have water. At 110 and up it all feels the same anyways ;) Do you have AC in your apartment??? We sure do, we have to keep it on 78 always. Do the members feed you well? We have a lot of spaghetti and here a lot of member will sign up to have us over then at the last minute they give us some money or take us out which is fine too. Are you having lots of appointments? Keeping busy? We have lots of appointments, we could talk to 100+ people on the streets every day that are humble from being poor but if we go over they end up flaking and falling thru, so we really have to use our judgment on which people are ready for the gospel.. It’s sad to have to pass some people by but there’s not really a way to talk with every person. What was the best part of your week? This week we got to go to the Mesa Temple visitor’s center with Ann & Keegan! It was great, they really enjoyed it. We looked at the Christus statue and then watched JSPR video. It was one I haven’t seen before, might be new.. it answered a lot of Ann's concerns about prophets and she was thinking we put him on a higher platform then the rest of us so it was good for her to see he was a man too as well as a prophet, and for her to see the persecution was good too. And I actually saw a girl from Idaho Falls that I went to kindergarten with who is serving a mission in the Tempe mission so that was cool. What was the worst? The worst day ever was Friday. We had to prep for the exterminator to come and spray and the list was huge! There was a lot to do so we spend most of the day on it, and I think it was so bad was cause we were stuck inside doing housework instead of being able to go and share the gospel. What was your best faith filled moment? One cool experience yesterday was we got a referral we have been trying to contact for a lady named Sarah, who is from Russia with her family and speaks broken English. She just found out she has cancer so and wanted a blessing so we went to her house and it was hard to understand, but we were able to give her a blessing and share with her 10ish year old about the restoration and gave her a pamphlet cause she wanted to teach it to her mom. We are going to get some Russian book of Mormons. The missionaries in got pulled out and we got 3 of them now in our mission and one of them might be able to come and help us teach them since they learned some Russian while they were there, so that would be really cool! What about biggest surprise? One surprise was what dinner did to my stomach the other night 20 minutes after we left ;) Ha-ha just kidding.. The Spanish missionaries have been teaching a lady that speaks both English and Spanish and I guess the Spanish branch and her are having some problems so we found out it would be better if she was to learn and attend the English ward! We are still trying to meet her but hopefully all goes well! A few other things during the week- Julie is still doing good, chugging along and we found out her mom and some other people in her family are actually planning to be baptized in July! She found the missionaries first but I think somehow the missionaries started teaching her mom so the whole family is hearing about the gospel. Ann is going to be baptized on the 28th of this month, I am really excited! We went over the baptismal interview questions with her after church yesterday and she nailed every single one perfectly. During the week we went on a hike of squaw peak, it was fun, we went with Kegan and the young men group. He had lots of fun but sadly the family "friend" that’s the anti-one invited him to go to Tucson for a concert Sunday so he wasn't at church.. But he promised to be next week. I love you, have a good week! Love, Elder Stevenson

June 9, 2014

This week was full of stuff! A lot happened and so we were busy but this last week it was stuff that had to be done but not missionary work related.. We have bed bugs, they are like mosquitoes, they live off of warm blood and they crawl out of the inside of your mattress and eat you at night, and then you itch like never before! We have tried a lot of ideas to get rid of them but nothing seems to work so today an inspector is coming. The bad thing is if we get rid of them riding public transit or going into a lot homes we might just get them back! I slept on the floor a few nights and have tried things but it has been a constant battle. We had Zone Conference this week, it was really good, there's a talk in the ensign this month we read; that we all may rejoice. Really good it should help us with the members here.. They think they are great (and there are a few) but really not that missionary minded so we have been trying to get them motivated and help them understand there duty's as members and our as missionaries. They have changed though and hopefully the leadership in the ward will make a difference. Ward council was great so I think it just needs some time. Also we talked about becoming more Christ like missionaries and how to become that missionary so it was really good. On Sunday Ann was going to come to church but her foot has been having problems and she had to go to the hospital instead, but what was cool is her son Keegan still came, even without his mom! She is giving up her tea right now and it is great! It’s a struggle but she hasn't had tea since Saturday and I that's when we taught the word of wisdom. Her baptism will be pushed back a week or 2 though since she couldn't come to church yesterday for her foot and we want her to be there more at least twice. Julie is also doing great; she had been reading the BOM and keeping commitments! She is really committing and we can see the changes in her, she came to church again Sunday and we found an awesome sister in the ward who has gone thru all the same stuff as her so it was great to have her come to the lesson with us on when we taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was able to see someone in the ward who had had their name removed rejoin the church on Friday. That was a neat experience, something interesting is that after someone has there named removed then comes back and is re baptized a short while later that re baptism is forgotten and the original baptism date is the only thing on the records people see since when we repent the lord forgives and forgets. Anyways, have a good week, I hope each of you that went to California had a Book of Mormon ready to give out while you were there.. But since you didn't tell me about it I assume you didn't do that.. So REPENT and remember what you promise every Sunday when you take the sacrament! The time is now! I love you, Elder Stevenson