So..... What To Say.....

Hello, Family!

So...What to say....

This week was good.  My favorite part is watching the Randolph family act out BOM stories.  We've decided that the ward is going to be taking over the new member lessons, and we are going to focus on just teaching them stories and reading with them.   They're so funny.  They were acting out the story of Ammon and they had one of the boys pretend to be the dead arms.  It was so cute and absolutely HILARIOUS.  He started baaing like a sheep in the middle of it.  I love hearing them pray, too.  One of them thanked Heavenly Father for basketball courts.  Hehehe... It was cute.  Oh, and then last time we were there Taja came over to me and asked if I would come and sit on the floor with her so she could play dog.  I told her only if she would give me a hug.  She agreed. And I sat on the floor and "petted" her curly curly hair while we read the scriptures.  :-)

Today we played Lazer tag and went Mini-golfing.  It was fun but it wore me out.  Everyone else in the zone went on a hike, too. I apologized and told them that if I did that it would wipe me out for the rest of the week.  Thankfully SIster Kiernan really didn't want to go either. So we stayed home.  I want to go on the hike eventually. Just not while on my mission.  Our schedule is so demanding anyway that it doesn't even sound fun to go on hikes.  I'm already dead by the time I get home anyway!

So this week we have a record of running into nice drunk people.  It was SO funny.   We were standing outside having a lesson with this man named Chris outside of his house and we were just about to pray when I noticed this man walking up behind us.  He was coming to visit Chris, so I invited him to pray with us before we left.  He agreed to, and just as Sis Kiernan was about to pray, this man began to pray. It seemed like a very sincere prayer and very heartfelt. But he just reeked of alcohol.  THe cool thing is that he wasn't a member and he said the prayer perfectly.  He addressed God, thanked him for things, asked for forgiveness, and closed in the name of Christ.  It was very well done.  We wondered afterwards if he was less active, but when we asked if he was a member, he said no.

It's interesting how many people around her deny that they are members though.  For one reason or another, they just aren't active and when we talk to them they deny that they are members.  I am stilll trying to figure out why anyone would do that. I supposed there's lots of reasons, but none of them make sense to me.

Anyway...

TO the individuals:

Dad- I don't think I've heard from you for 2 weeks now.... :-(  Maybe I'm just remembering wrong.  But I miss your letters. No forgetting me now!  ;-)

Mom- I'm glad to hear that the letters will be in your/Dad's care soon.  You are welcome to open the box to look at them, just don't lose anything. Thanks! I love you!  There are Baptism programs and other random things throughout it, too.

Lynz- Missing your letters.... :-(  Oh, and the heart bracelet you made me has fallen off my wrist. I've worn it every day since you gave it to me-- almost a year! And I know you sent me the bracelet from salt lake, but I think I need another one handmade by you. ;-D  I like the colors blue and purple and white. Please? You don't have to make it those colors, but just so you know.  :-D

Eric- Missing your letters, too. About 3-4 people have said you were all grins and giggles at your wedding. Tell me about it, please!

Crystal- Thanks for sending me pictures! They are SO BEAUTIFUL!  I love them! and I wish I had a way to print them so I could put them on my study desk... But mom said she'll send some. So I just need to be patient.  But it looks like it was a lot of fun.

Ok family, I have to go now.  But I love you all! 

Love, Me

Such a HOOT!

Dearest Fam-bily,

Oh, where to start... 

The baptism on Saturday was amazing.  The Randolphs are so cute.  Jamal (the dad) is probably one of the most humble men I've ever met. He was all full of gratitude and just so happy.  He is a man of few words, so the words he does speak are powerful. ANd more than half of them are words of gratitude. He sent us a text yesterday that just said theank you in it.  It was sweet.  The kids were all great. They crack me up. Terrence and Tavante are so full of energy and are expert dancers.  Way cute. And their older sisters Damisha and Asura are so beautiful. They have a heavy load on their shoulders with no mother in the home, but they keep everything in good order and take really good care of the rest of the kids.  Taja is the baby. She's 4 and SUCH A HOOT!  Remember when Lynz used to run around and act like a dog when she was little? Well, Taja is the SAME EXACT WAY!  If you find that dog tail we gave lynz back in the day that tucks into the back of her pants, feel free to send it my way to pass on the love.  Taja would LOVE IT! HAhaha  sometimes the only way to get her to calm down is to convince her to lay down beside me while I scratch behind her ears.  Do you remember those days, Lynz?

It would be a lie to say that I didn't cry at all on Saturday that I couldn't be at the wedding. But I did well until about 5pm when I broke down.  That was because of a few things though. One of which was when an investigator bailed on us for an appointment. We were going to go to a baptism.  Mom, Remember the less active B family that you told me about where a member of the 70 went and met with them and then they became active and Sis B began investigating? Hehe Yup! Sis Tait's family!  I was totally going to be at the baptism but because our investigator bailed on us, I couldn't go.  I was pretty upset.  It didn't help that I'd been trying to not think about how I was missing Eric's wedding.  Anyway, send Sis Tait my love and tell her I really tried to be able to go. We spent an additional 20 minutes trying to get someone else to go at the last minute. 

Ok, so remember Dusti?  Well, another miracle happened this week with her. We had invited her to go and play softball on some church teams, and she said she was gonna come but she didn't show up.  So, we left the game and went to her house.  As it turns out, she had a really crummy day, and then we showed up!  That's the 2nd time that's happened.  She has a bad day, and we show up. Cool, huh?

Tomorrow is Zone Development Meeting. That also means interviews with President Ellsworth. I'm excited, except that it ALWAYS goes into my nap time and my nap schedule is off.  We got new floors in our apartment this week because our fridge leaked and messed up the floor. It was the perfect excuse though for Sis. Bawden to put in new floors that she's been wanting.  The only bad thing was naps were messed up because they weren't in consistant places at the same time. That's not so good, and rather frustrating.  I've learned though on my mission that what the doctors say about sleeping habits are true.  If I sleep at the same time everyday in the same place, then I sleep better and feel more refreshed when I have to wake up. I've learned I need to be kinda a stickler on making sure that happens consistantly. Some may call it selfish, but they get over it. I make sure I am patient about it though when explaining it so that they understand why it needs to be that way.  It's seems to be working fine and people do understand, I just get frustrated when they forget. It's usually only then that I really feel selfish because I begin to wonder if my priorities are messed up.  SO then I give in. And become a monster because I'm tired and frustrated and I later have to explain the reason I was acting that way.   But for the most part it's good. I try to be flexible in like a 30-45 minute time radius. I'm usually ok then.

TO the individuals:

Mom- I'm looking forward to the pictures!

Dad- I tried to convince my companions to support me in suggesting geocaching for a zone activity. To no avail.  :-(

Lynz- I need a letter from you. And if you want to write your testimony and send it to me to read to some girls like 11-13 years old, I would appreciate it.  It's for Damisha, Asura, and Sophia. Do it for a personal preogress thingy. It's gotta fit in there somewhere....

Erstal- Congrats on your new life together.  We can finally kick you out of the singles ward...err... I mean, have fun in the family ward! ;-D Love you both!  Hope to hear from you SOON!

Ok. That's about it. Love you lots.

Love, Sis Stephens

Hello!

Hi everyone!

Ok. SO I'm short on time today, BUT I have to tell you all how much I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!!!!!!!!!  I was so sad when it was over.  I could just sit there and listen to them ALL DAY!  I can't wait for the ensign to come out!

This week was AWESOME!  We had 11 investigators watch conference on Sunday and even more on Saturday.  This weekend is going to be amazing! A WHOLE FAMILY getting baptized, AND Eric getting MARRIED! What could be better than that?!  Well, it could get better than that. Like me being able to go to the wedding, but that's ok. The lord keeps reminding me that I'm where I'm supposed to be. Even though I tried to argue a little.

So. the mormon.org thing starts today!  Billboards, internet, tv, everything just FLOODED with Mormon.org.  SO COOL!  We're supposed to be getting time this week to be able to finish our profiles.  Have any of you made one yet? I promise I will have one.  I've started it, but I didn't have a good picture, plus limited internet access makes things difficult.

So obviously the work is going great.  It's still too hot here, but it's getting better.  I love you all!  MWAH!

Love, Sister Stephens