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