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....