Miracle of the Week!

Heya family!

So, Miracle of the week:
Jono has a baptismal date!  Ok. He's had a date for a few weeks now, but we found out that the 30th no longer works for him. But the reason is a-okay with me. Because he's moved it so that his Mom, Dad, and girlfriend can ALL be there! WAHOO!  The mom and dad aren't members and we're not sure if the girlfriend is or not.  BUT the date is now Aug. 2nd.  The only bad thing is that he has to wait until Sunday to receive the Holy Ghost. But that's ok. We're gonna try to meet with him every day in between.

We have a lesson with Jono's mom amd Errick tomorrow. Tonight he and Sam (his fellowshipper) are teaching us the Plan of Salvation.  Last week they taught us the Restoration.  They did so well and asked some GREAT questions. I love doing this with investigators- letting them teach us as they are preparing to get baptized.  It's one of those things where a real master of the piano doesn't REALLY understand music theory until he can teach it to a child in it's simplest forms.  i think THAT'S why we get sent on missions. To be reminded what the simple doctrines of the gospel are and to strengthen our testimonies of them.  Only after serving a mission do I really understand that the Doctrine of Christ isn't the overwhelming everything of the church's teachings.  It's so much simpler than that. Faith in Christ. Repentance. Baptism. Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost. And Enduring to the End.  Now, everything in the gospel are doctrines of Christ, but all of Christ's teachings boil down to these 5 steps.  SO COOL!  You can read about it in 2 Nephi 31.

The rest of the week went awesome as well.  Last night we met an awesome potential.  Her name is Saron and she is living with some members because she doesn't have a very positive home life.  She is super sweet and REALLY REALLY smart. Most of her friends are LDS, too.  So. We're gonna start teaching her this week. :-)

Hmmm... I think those are my highlights of the week.  Lately, I've been gaining a really strong testimony of church organization.  Heavenly Father is BRILLIANT! I love that the church is set up so perfectly!  We may not have perfect people, but we have a perfect leader! (Not to mention an inspired mission president and mission president's wife...hehehe)  But the wards are just wonderful and take such good care of us and they sure give us a lot of work!  Member referrals truly are the best way to find new investigators...

Side note- can I just say, Harry Potter is SO DISTRACTING!!!!  SO SO SO SO DISTRACTING!!!!  And Twilight now, too, with it coming out in what? November?  Ahh! It's driving me crazy!  Last year when the HP movie came out, I think I mentally prepared myself, but it caught me out of nowhere this year... *sigh* Ok. I'm done.  Just sayin'.

Oh. So coolness: The temple visitor's center is all updated now. It now has updated programs on all of the touch screen thingys and it's SO FUN!  Sis Keirnan and I are gonna go visit it today so that we can play on all of the new shiny toys and get familiar with what they have. I'm SO EXCITED! I did get to fiddle with it a little already so I know that now you can color temples on the screens and email them to ppl. I'll email mom one and she can forward it to everyone. K?

To the individuals:

Mom- The garden is HUGE!!!!  I am amazed!  And you look SO GOOD! and young! and beautiful!  Are you still doing WWs? Who's horse were you and papa bear with?

Dad- Yes, we've gotten hit by dust storms twice. Luckily we were in lessons though.  It was weird though because one minute it was bright outside and the next time I looked up (only a few minutes later), it was black.  CRAZY!  Oh, and the caffeine pills are working for now, so don't worry about my other meds...

Lynz- SLACKER! You get me all excited to read a letter that you didn't even write?!?!? What the junk?!  Lol. I sure hope you write it before you go to UT. Or else you never will because the desire to write and tell me will feel like a chore if you wait too long. Believe me. I know. So please please please please please write me before you go to UT!

Kira Blaser- Hey! I was TOTALLY thinking of you the other day!  I miss you and Bro. Blaser SO MUCH! Be sure to tell him I say hello!

Ok. That's All Folks!

Love you all!

Sister Stephens

PS this picture is of Sister Ontiveras, Me, Hattie, and Sister Volk. Hattie is the convert that got baptized in my last area that I told you about last week....

Sister Stephens and....

Sis. Stephens with an original 1830 copy of the Book of Mormon

 

Me, Sister Tanner and Sister Volk playing dress up

2/3 of the Kimball Zone

Me on a Harley! (a tradition when missionaries leave this area)

Ride, Sister, Ride!

Sister Stephens and Sister Volk

Miracle Again! Woot!

Hi family!

Miracle. We taught Jono's mom and his friend Errick the first lesson! And we have a return appointment. :-D

Jono is doing well. We are still shooting for the 30th for his baptism. He thanked us though after we left the lesson with his mom and friend.  SO COOL! I really hope that she accepts it.  She doesn't have any religious background and she seemed open and both she and Errick asked some great questions. Jono even helped teach!  It was amazing. 

When the Kings, Jono's fellowshippers, found out that we taught Karen (Jono's mom), Sister King was really surprised. Apparently a lot of people have reached out to Karen and invited her to activities and all kinds of things, but she hasn't been interested.  So I suppose that what she needed was an invitation to learn about what Jono has been learning and what we've been teaching. I think that's the main reason she told us we could teach her the first lesson. Curiosity. But we originally said she could either listen in on Jono's lesson (auxilaries) or we could teach the first lesson. And she said we could teach the first lesson. SO EXCITING!

I think she liked in particular that the Godhead is 3 separate beings.  She said she gets confused when people say they're a cloud or intangible-ness. She also really liked when we told her that Motherhood is a noble and divine calling.

Errick asked a question about men only being able to hold the priesthood and it seemed like he was trying to bait us a little.  But he accepted our answers when we gave them and when he asked what divine gift God gives women that men don't have, Sister Kiernan said "Motherhood". Hehe.. I think that's my favorite part.  Because I love that men hold the priesthood and get to be protectors and providers (aka Daddies) and women get to be mommies. :-D

And the BEST part. Ok. One of many... Is that Jono is there to answer their questions.  It was AMAZING to hear him bear testimony of the things we were teaching.  And he helped clear up things that we didn't teach clearly. And sometimes he had questions, too, but he felt comfortable asking us. I think him asking questions as we reteach him will also help Karen and Errick to see that Jono is still learning, too.

Anyway. best lesson I've had in a long time.  Lots of work to improve but the spirit was strong and amazing. therefore, it was a GREAT lesson.

GUESS WHAT!  Hattie got baptized!  (An investigator in my last area).  I got to go to it and Sister Volk, Ontiveras, Kiernan, and I got to sing at it.  I am so happy for her!  She was crying and crying. I just love her! She cries every time she feels the spirit.  I don't think she has ever felt this much overwhelming love before.  It's so incredible to see people change and see the light and then obtain it for themselves.  Jono is also a great example of that.  He has a beautiful light in his eyes that wasn't there before and when he gets baptized, he'll have it forever Wahoo!

I've been thinking a lot about that light in people's eyes.  I never realized how literal it really is.  And with some people, it's almost tangible.  Like Sister Kiernan.  And then I think of other people I've taught who don't have that light.  They're definitely searching for something and one of the reasons that I think people like having missionaries over is because we are tangible proof of what that light can help us to become. Not that we are perfect by any means. But to someone who doesn't have that full fire for themselves, we are a beacon of light.  But that extends beyond us as missionaries, too.  Members of the church are so incredible and WE NEED THEM!  As missionaries, WE NEED OUR MEMBERS!  And I love that! 

This past week I've really been learning about how CRITICAL it is for us to follow the organization of the church that God has given us.  As missionaries, we are here to serve.  As long as it is within our purpose (because last week I learned about how important it is to be clear about what our purposes are when visiting people) we are here to do the ward council's bidding.  And we need them to tell us how to be the most effective we can be in their individual wards. 

Ok. This letter is getting to be long and I need to wrap it up.

Mom- Thanks for the money for clothes. I appreciate it SO MUCH!  I love you!

Dad- Don't despair about the bunnies. Lol. They need your love, too!  Feel free to send pictures! Hehehe...  And congrats on the job!  I am so happy for you!

Eric- I remember you talking a lot about being bold. Didn't you write a paper about it in relation to the Book of Mormon?

Lynz- Did you do the puzzle yet?  Hahaha... Remember, the key to keeping the fire is CPR. Church. Pray. Read.

Love you all!!! XOXOXOXOXO's all around!  The church is true!

Love, me

I Shot it with a Nerf Gun!

Hey Family!

So.  Transfer went a bit differently than we thought.  President Ellsworth called me a day or two after transfer news and told me that Sister Davenport sprained her ankle, and as a result, she can't drive for liability purposes if nothing else.  She hurt her ankle in soccer. So, President told me that I was actually going to go to another sister named Sister Kiernan.  I LOVE HER!!! I am already learning SO much. And she is so in tune with the spirit and she is teaching me how to be in tune better. First, by praying even more frequently.  I thought I was praying a lot already. Nope. Not enough! Lol. So I'm workin' on it.  My new area is the Citrus Heights Stake, Mountian View Zone.  It's right next to my second area instead of my first area. Lol.

We live in another in-law suite.  It's SO NICE. Like, we live in a mansion suite. CRAZY nice.  And we are SO blessed.  The Bawden family that own our house are way nice and Bro Bawden is an incredible pianist. He plays for Alex Boye and lots of other people.  Do you know the photography called "Reflections of Christ"? It's a book as well as a DVD.  Bro Bawden plays on that as well. And his son in law, Mark Maybury, did the photography. 

Did I tell you that Brook White's parents lived in my last area?  And Freddie Ashby's parents?  Freddie Ashby is a singer on a lot of EFY stuff.  He sang a song called "I Cry" which is about missionary work.  An Stephanie Meyer lives in Scottsdale.  So does this guy who was an animation artist for the movie Anastasia. Coolio, right?  Lol. Ok. Enough of that. Just cool stuff I learned. :-P

So this week, my second day in the area, we had a blackout.  A transformer at the power plant or something blew.  It was kinda humorous, but scary. The only restaurant in the area open and functioning was non other than.... McDonalds.  Go figure. (That's what makes it scary. Lol)

We found another scorpion. A big one. On the ceiling. I shot it with a Nerf gun. And then bottled it up.

Mom- I just want you to know, I almost missed your email this week. For awhile I thought I wasn't going to hear from you. :-( Good thing we emailed late today! Tender Mercy! Lol. I saw a pic of you with Lynz.  You look SO GOOD!  I am so proud of you!

Dad- Love you!  Tell Sis Richardson HI!

Lynz- I got your pics! You're BEAUTIFUL!  Be watching the mail. ;-D

Eric- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!! (on the 8th) I love you! I drew a birthday sign for you so I could take a picture with it, but I haven't been able to take the picture with it yet. So it will be in next week's email.  But know I remembered!

Ok. I love you all!  Xs and Os all around!

Love, Me