Monday, July 14, 2014

Monsoons in Arizona? Yep.

Hi everybody!!! (again)

This week was pretty cool, if I may say so myself. So, a bit of background, a month or so ago, my mission president and his wife were up here for stake conference. At the conference, the stake Young Womens president asked him if the Sister Missionaries could go to Girls Camp... He said YES!!!! So, guess what this week was? GIRLS CAMP!!

We went up to camp on Tuesday with the YCLs and we were part of a rotation of learning (or some such thing) where they basically had 3 or 4 rotations where they listened to people talk and did a craft. We were part of that rotation and we were asked to talk about what we have learned on our missions that would help them come closer to Christ as they graduate high school and go to college. We talked about prayer, scripture study, the Atonement, the Sacrament, and the temple. It was really cool because we basically told them everything that we wished we had done differently in regard to those topics. It was also really cool because several of those YCLs were not members. In fact, there were around 17 nonmembers at camp! Yep, the youth are stepping it up when it comes to missionary work! Seriously, all we really have to do is invite them to activities and it's a great introduction to the church!

Anyway, that leads into my miracle of the week. Like I had previously said. several of the YCLs were not members. One of them happened to be in our ward and, on the last day of camp, she came up to Sister Christensen, Sister Pass, and myself and told us that she wanted to be baptized!!! Yep, the miracle of Girls Camp. It really made me regret not going to Camp the last few years that I was in Young Womens. Hey, maybe I'll get to go back as one of my future callings! It could happen.

 Another miracle that happened this week goes by the name of Veronica. We met Veronica when we were looking for one of our referrals. She was super nice and really excited to meet us and invited us to come by again. Which we did; last night. We had an amazing discussion with her and we were able to give her a Book of Mormon and she said that she would read the chapter that we gave her. She is one of the strongest and most amazing people that I've ever met! She has gone through so much in her life and she's only 18! It just gives me hope. Hope that she could have such terrible things happen to her and still be so positive and still pray and believe in God. And she's only 18. She's Jen's age. I've never been so grateful for the Gospel as when I thought about Jen potentially going through what Veronica did. It made me cry.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us so many blessings! The commandments don't restrict us, they protect us from the evil and the heartache that the world is full of. The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives us the hope that we need to make it through the rough spots in our life. And the Atonement of Jesus Christ enables us to be clean. Clean of the guilt and anguish that sin brings. Clean of the remorse that follows our mistakes. And clean of the shame that comes from any atrocious act that someone may inflict upon us.

The Gospel helps us in so many ways, and I'm so grateful that I got to be raised in a family that has the Gospel as the centerpiece of our home. We have so much peace that others don't. Thank you all for being such amazing examples and for loving me despite my faults and for helping me continue on the path that brings eternal joy. I love you all so much and hope that you all have a fantastic week!

Love,
Steph

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