My Lesson Learned

This week has been CRAZY!

The fun began on Friday actually. To pick out the best part of the day, it would definitely be when we were on our way to our dinner appointment. We went up to the door of the place we thought we would be eating, but this lady opened the door and was like "I'm not interested, but thank you!" and closed it again. So, obviously we were at the wrong house.

When I called to get the correct address, I thought that the Sister said the house number was 58, which was right next door; and she also said she wouldn't be home for a few minutes. So, we were like ok. We'll just wait in the car. She then calls back and tells us that there is a hide-a-key and we can just go inside and wait.

So, after rummaging around trying to find this doll that she said it was hidden in, we determined that we couldn't find it. So sister tanner calls and talks to the sister again. Little did we know, the house we were supposed to be at was the next street over, and we were in the wrong backyard trying to get into the wrong house. I'm pretty sure next time we're gonna play it safe and stay in the car... But it was even funnier when we were waiting in the right house, and the Mom walks in and asks us what we are doing in her house. We were really confused and weren't sure how to answer that when one of the daughters walks in and said" Oh, mom! We're feeding the sisters tonight!" hahaha... It was REALLY funny. Unfortunately, I can't give all of the detail of that adventure, but I will send a copy of the journal entry home so that you can read the whole thing. Because that wasn't even half of the day...

So, this morning my zone went and played Laser Tag. It was SO AWESOME! We played for like 2 hours and it was FREE! That's one of the perks of being a missionary--Free stuff.

So, on the more spiritual things that happened this week was when the other day I went to bed pretty frustrated and when I woke up, I was still really frustrated. So, while the sisters were playing sports in the early morning for exersize, I went in the bathroom to be alone. And while I was there, I realized that I hate feeling angry all of the time, or at least it seems that way, and so I decided to say a prayer.

But this time in the prayer (because when I pray, I try to ask Heavenly Father to help be be patient especially when I tired and cranky) I asked that Heavenly Father not only help me feel better, and be happy, and charitable, etc., but I asked specifically that He let the Atonement take away that anger because I am so tired of feeling frustrated for reasons that I don't even know.

It took about an hour before I realized that I wasn't angry or frustrated anymore. In fact, I didn't care about what had happened that set me off in the first place. Instead, my companions and I were laughing and joking around.

The experience itself was a lot more than what I just described, because I was seriously frustrated and angry. I knew that there were some reasons that may have been good reasons to be frustrated, but in the end, if I was going to let myself be frustrated all of the time, I was really pushing the spirit away and I wasn't benefiting in any way. So, I prayed specifically for the atonement to do what it was meant to do.

I know that we are taught that the atonement was when Christ suffered for our sins and infirmities. But until this experience, I wasn't able to understand how the atonement really can be applied everyday- and not only on behalf of our sins. Because Christ suffered for everything negative in the world that we experience, including anger, sorrow, fear, etc. Not all of the negative things we experience are sin, but we still experience them. And Christ suffered for those things too. He suffered for all of our imperfections and made it possible for us to rely on the atonement to pick up when we feel like we've done all that we can.

So, that's my lesson learned this week. Part of it was stuff I've been taught all my life, but I just didn't know how to apply the atonement in that way. It was awesome.

Ok, all, I love you tons. Hugs and Kisses for everyone. For Danny and his family, and Cory and his family, and everyone else that wants hugs and kisses. (hmm...can you tell I'm hug-deprived? And I feel a bit baby-deprived too since we're not allowed to hold them...*sigh*).

K. Love ya!
Sister Stephens

PS- A "shout out" for Ashley Thomas, just as I promised (in the letter I haven't sent yet.) Love you!