December already? woah. Time flies when you're sharing the Gospel!

Hi EVERYONE!!!!

I hope that your Thanksgiving was phenomenal! We had a total of 4 dinners/lunches/desserts scheduled, but we narrowed it down to 2. Our first dinner we actually ate with an investigator! She has a son on his mission and has decided to learn more about the church! Anyway, when she had initially invited us over for dinner, she had forewarned us that her parents would be there and that her dad is anti. So, when we got there, we totally expected him to go off on us, but he didn't. Why? Well the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "Oooo pretty ladies! Come sit by me!" So, the only thing that we had to worry about during dinner was him being flirtatious instead of being anti. Yep, the joys of being a sister missionary. Also, I thought that I would be totally fine eating tiny portions of everything and still have room for our 2nd dinner. Ah yes, some hopes and dreams become completely shattered when you realize that they've made ALL of your favorite Thanksgiving things. SO, my plate was very very very full. AND I was able to try fried turkey for the first time! It was pretty delicious.

Earlier this week we had a zone activity on monday to, you know increase unity and such. WELL, we played sports!! We played Ultimate Frisbee, Ultimate football, and gatorball (which actually turned into soccer for the last 15 minutes) for 3 hours! We were exhausted, but it was so much fun!! However, it is difficult to guard Elders, so I guarded Sister Hurst, so we were able to play a little bit rougher. It was awesome!

We had some really amazing lessons this week. We got to meet with Olivia again and we were able to teach her the Plan of Salvation. Honestly, that's my favorite lesson to teach because it brings people so much hope and it testifies to me of the incredible blessing that we've been given. This life is a blessing. And, honestly, it really is only a short time in the eternal scheme of things, but it's so critical to our eternal happiness. I was reading in Alma 5 today and it's Alma reminding the people of how much God and the Savior have done for us. He is constantly asking "do you not remember?" One of my focuses my entire mission has been REMEMBERING (you've probably noticed that about my emails). But, all too often, we forget our Savior. We forget the tender mercies and daily miracles that happen  in our lives. We forget the importance of the Gospel because we're so caught up in the world and in the busyness of our schedule. For that reason, something that I would invite you all to do is to take a minute or two (or 5 or 10) to remember the tender mercies and the small blessings that you have received during every day. It really helps to change our perspective and to align our thoughts with God's. I love you all so much and I'm so grateful that I can be here, in Mesa, serving the Lord and having your full support. It's one of the greatest blessings that I thank God for every single day.

Love,
Steph

pics (again, no camera) So these are from the dinner and zone breakfast at president Palmer's house