Time flies when you're on bike!

So this week has been pretty fantastic! Unfortunately, like Amy, we had tons of cancellations, but that made room for tons of miracles!!

Here's on of the biggest. We were trying to find someone who was listed in our Progress Records, but we had no other record of them whatsoever. SO, we decided to go find them. Which took us to an apartment complex that I had never been in before. While we were there we had several people WALK UP TO US and tell us that they wanted to hear our message. One guy was actually walking toward us with his laundry and asked us for our card and then told us where he lived so that we could stop by later. Later that day we were going into a different apartment complex and a guy, who was walking his dogs across the street, yelled "sisters!" and crossed the street to come and talk to us. It turns out that he works with a bunch of Mormons and he said that he knew a lot about the church, but invited us to come and talk to him and his fiancee! Yeah, it was crazy. Sister Hurst and I just looked at each other and said "This is so weird! This isn't normal!" The Lord is definitely hastening HIS work and all of the seeds that have been planted over the years are bearing fruit so fast! It was incredible.

Another incredible thing... IT RAINED! IT POURED! But I couldn't find an old man that snored..... (I hope at least one of you laughs at that reference). Anyway we had to stay inside for a good portion of the day on Saturday because of the flash flooding that was going on. But that evening, after Women's conference, I got to bike in the rain! It was so great because the rain was cool, the breeze was cool and I felt FANTASTIC!! All other Arizona natives were freezing and wearing coats, but I sallied forth in my favorite scarf without a jacket! It was the bomb :) I really love being here on bike. I feel so free and happy, it's the best thing ever!

Also, for service this coming week, we will be milking goats and butchering rabbits.... Who would have guessed that those things would happen in Mesa Arizona? But they do. I actually had home-made goat-milk ice cream and it was pretty phenomenal! Also, I discovered that crickets are scorpion food. I am now afraid of crickets. They bring scorpions. We actually found a nest of scorpions when we were doing yard work for someone this last week. They hadn't cut the grass all summer and it looked like a jungle. It was pretty cool to see the change once we finished.

Anyway, I hope that you all have an amazing week and that you keep praying and reading your scriptures. It can make a huge amount of difference in your life! It makes me sad to see people that have never read or don't read the scriptures. We gain so much guidance from them! So keep reading. Even if it's just a verse a day. It will help! I promise! Also, keep praying. That just goes without saying :)

I pray for you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Steph

no pics this week... sorry 

Week 1 in the 25th ward of the Maricopa stake in Mesa Arizona

This week has been pretty interesting. Well... maybe that's not the right word to use.

How about "FANTABULOUS"?!!!!!

"Why?" you may ask. Well, let me tell you.

I SHOOK THE HAND OF AN APOSTLE OF THE LORD!!!

So, it was pretty awe-inspiring looking into Elder Nelson's eyes as he said "hi Sister Lee" and all I said back was a bit of a breathless "hi". He was so full of the Spirit! It was incredible!

Elder Nelson came to speak to us on Saturday and MAN! It was amazing! There were 2 other speakers before him, Elder Foster and Elder Hanson (both of the 70). They gave some really incredible talks. Elder Hanson spoke on loving your companion and how the best way to do that is through service. He applied that to our future lives, either with our eternal companion or if it's with someone that we really don't like or doesn't like us. We can grow to have Christ-like love for them through serving them. It was really cool. Elder Foster talked about D&C 31 and about our calling as missionaries (it can be applied to the full-time AND member missionaries). I felt super empowered after that.

THEN Elder Nelson got up and spoke. The power of the Spirit was so strong in the room and it testified to me that I was in the presence of an ordained apostle of the Lord. He had the power of God with him. He talked a bit about marriage and then he opened it up for a Q&A. It was amazing to listen to him and have all of the questions answered that have been running around my mind for the past few weeks. It was also incredible to see him give a question to either Elder Hanson or Elder Foster to answer. It showed how humble he is.

One of the things that they talked a lot about was Family History. They said that, as missionaries, our best friends in the ward should be the Bishop, ward mission leader, and the Family History consultant. They talked about stepping up the work that we do for the dead. They want us to ask people on the street if they know the names of their great great grandparents and then use the Spirit of Elijah to help those people find their ancestors. They PROMISED us that, if we do this, the Spirit of Elijah will open their hearts to the message of the Restoration and how families can live together forever. I had never thought about that before, but just think of all of the people that are doing family history work that AREN'T members of the church. They are being prepared by the Spirit of Elijah to hear the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Isn't that sweet?! I'll get to use my family history skills to spread the Gospel! Who'd a thunk?

Other than that, we've seen a lot of miracles this week. We've been able to teach and talk to people that have been either impossible to catch or they just weren't interested at the moment. I was able to teach a part-member family about the importance of listening to General Conference with a question in mind. The husband (who left the room the last time we came) actually sat down, turned of the TV (they were watching Leverage) and participated in the lesson. It's truly incredible how fast the work is progressing! I've only been in this area for a week, but I'm already seeing amazing amounts of progress! I know that our prayers for the people here are being answered! We met with a man named Michael last week who declined our invitation to baptism because he still lives with his mother who is a devout catholic and he didn't know what her reaction would be if he decided to join the church. Well, the other day he was with a member of the ward and he turned to his mother, with his Book of Mormon in his hand, and asked her if he could go to church. And guess what she said? She said that it was ok!!

Really, the Lord is hastening his work and so many hearts are being softened right now. The world is crazy, life is hard, and people are looking for hope. The Gospel of Jesus Christ gives them that hope. It doesn't matter if they're covered with tattoos and holding a beer in their hand. It doesn't matter if they smell of drugs or alcohol. Those are the people that are looking for that hope, and they are the ones that we've been sent to minister to. I've never seen so much poverty and so much misery in my life, but I've never seen such a large harvest that is just waiting to be reaped. And I'm so excited that I get to have a part in that!

Love,
Steph

Dad: this is for you. One of our members manages the Arizona Comicon and guess what they had? yep. Full on jedi knight outfits.
Amy: (pic not included) she is also cross-stitching the exploding tardis

Transfer Week!

Big news of the week?

I'M IN THE VALLEY!!!!!!!!!

Yes, the land of heat, palm trees and people galore has finally laid hold on Sister Stephanie Lee. Haha

I'm now serving in Mesa Arizona and (prepare yourself Sister Hunter) I'm on bike! My hair will never look the same again. Goodbye curls! Hello bleached blonde ponytails and buns! My last week up in New Mexico was pretty cool. We had some really good lessons with some of our investigators and I got to say goodbye to so many amazing people! I am really going to miss all of them so much! On Saturday we went to the Pie Town Pie Festival and set up a booth. It was a crazy process trying to set up the booth,but the person in charge of the booths put us in a really prime spot, so we got to see practically everyone walk by. In the process of contacting over 80 people, we found a less-active in the area! Crazy stuff.

One of the most memorable experiences was when a woman walked up to our table, looked down at the stack of Book of Mormons and Restoration pamphlets, looked up and said "I want you to prove to me, without using the Bible, that God is real." I looked at her and I said "All things denote that there is a God. The sky, the trees, everything." She then looked at me and said, "That's in the bible." She then went on to tell us, as she was walking away, that she is a scientist and facts and that God doesn't exist, that it's not a fact and that we're wasting our time and should go home and live out the rest of our lives.

There has never been a moment in my life where I have felt so strongly that this church is true. That we have the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I saw hate and anger in that woman. I saw misery and hopelessness. The Gospel of Jesus Christ bring hope and light. It brings us happiness in knowing that God EXISTS!!! He sent his son Jesus Christ to be our SAVIOR. And he loves us SO MUCH that he has given ALL OF US the opportunity to accept that gift. I was not discouraged by her words; I was rejuvenated. I am a DISCIPLE of Jesus Christ and NOTHING can shake my faith in him or in this Gospel.

At the end of the festival, we saw a girl walk up to our booth that had passed by it multiple times during the day. We were in line for some pie and we saw her reading one of the pamphlets. We rushed over to her and asked her if she would be interested in hearing our message. She said YES! and then told us that she's been looking for something that will bring her hope in her life. SO we got a new investigator! Also, random fact, the guy in the booth next to us gave us free rings. Pretty sweet.

On Sunday I came down to the valley! Pretty crazy, I don't even half-way believe that I'm down here righ tnow, but I know that I need to be here in this ward, and I'm so excited for the work here! I have no problem going up to people and asking if they would be interested in hearing a message of the restoration. Before I left, I received a blessing that I would be courageous. Man, I'm definitely feeling the courage!

I KNOW without a shadow of a doubt that this church is Christ's restored church on the earth today and that we have the tools that are necessary to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. Christ is coming. We need to prepare ourselves mentally and spiritually for his coming. What better thing to be doing than missionary work? I love you all so much and I'm so excited to see you all again (not only after the mission) but after this life. Sorry, your stuck with me forever! And aren't you so glad? hahaha

Love,
Sister Lee

PS Elder Nelson is coming this week. I"m so stoked!!


1) We may or may not have run over a cute baby cottontail bunny... and taken a picture of the carcase
2) this is Cynthia, an investigator from my last area
3) This is Sister Myers. She helped us so much with all of our missionary work!

Zone conference

link to mission website and post here.

2 weeks to half-way!!

Hi everyone!

So, Andrew, I first want to say that I am NOT jealous of you at the moment, because it's probably a very good thing that I'm not around a bunch of German chocolate that's on sale. That could be disastrous to my health and my bank account.

Anyway, big news of the week: We got to go to the TEMPLE!!!!!! I'm always so happy when I'm there! There is so much peace from being in the temple. SO YOU ALL NEED TO GO THERE AS OFTEN AS YOU CAN!!! Because I wish I could go a lot more than I'm able to at the moment. I had a really cool experience in the temple this week. I'd just walked into the Celestial Room and I saw a Sister that I hadn't seen in 8 months!

Sister Carambelas and I were in the MTC together and when we got to the mission, she was assigned to the Valley and I was assigned to the Mountains. So when I saw her in the temple, I wanted to jump up and down and sing and dance around the room: which I refrained from doing. Aren't you all proud? haha But that spurred a thought in my head. As I was walking towards her to give her a hug I thought, "This is what the Celestial Kingdom is going to be like." When you think about it that way, it's completely true! When we walk into the Celestial Kingdom, we're going to see people that we haven't seen in a very long time! We may even see people that we didn't expect to see; and that will make our joy that much greater! Greater because they made it! Greater because you knew all of the junk that they had to put up with in their life, and they overcame it! Then

I had another thought. "The only thing that would diminish my joy for them would be the regret that I didn't share the Gospel with them." Imagine that person, the person that you didn't expect to choose to be in the Celestial Kingdom, coming up to you and asking "Why? Why didn't you tell me about this?" Thinking about that makes me cry because there are so many people that I could have shared the Gospel with, but didn't because I didn't think that they would accept the message. So, that being said, it doesn't matter how you share the Gospel as long as you make the effort! You could post links to conference talks or inspirational quotes from apostles on Facebook, you could use a Mormon.org card, you can give someone the Family a Proclamation to the World, you could even just talk about your weekend and include the fact that you really enjoyed one of the talks in church and mention what the topic was.

There are so many things!!! So, I INVITE you to all pray for a missionary experience this week and report your labors to Heavenly Father. One of our baptismal covenants is to stand as a witness at all times and in all things and in all places. Are we keeping our baptismal covenants?
 Wow. Now that I've channeled Elder Holland, on to the kooky stuff that happened this week.

We went on exchanges and I got to go back to my old area! It was really weird to be back, at first, but I felt a huge confidence boost just being there. Also, we were planning for the next week and all of the sudden, Sister Christensen jumped out of her chair yelling "OH NO!!" and ran toward the kitchen. When we looked over towards the kitchen, there was smoke everywhere! So she and I ran to the kitchen, me to wave the smoke away from the smoke-alarm and she to turn the microwave off. Sister Harrast ran around in circles screaming about fire and finally ran out of the house with a cup of water. I've included a picture of what she looked like, standing outside the house while we battled smoke. Just so you know, there wasn't a major fire.

Sister Christensen had decided to melt some chocolate in the microwave and it got a bit... singed. But we were able to clear the smoke away really quickly and we had the house cleared of the "smoky" odor within 30 minutes or so. Also, Sister Christensen started laughing so hard at Sister Harrast that she started choking on her granola bar and Sister H's reaction was very similar to the "fire" reaction. Except this time she brought me the cup and squeaked "take it take it!" and ran back outside to Sister C. It was absolutely hilarious! I love my companions! Anyway, I hope you're all having a great week! And just so you're aware, I put all of your names in the temple when we went! Just shows you how much I love you all!

Love,
Steph

1) the most brilliant rainbow I've ever seen
2,3 and 4) Temple pics
5) Sister H waiting while we cleared the house of smoke