First week in Scottsdale!

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!

So, funny blurb for the week. Apparently, when you tell people that you've been out for over a year they have ALL conspired to say "How are you liking the downhill stretch?" 1) I realize that my time is coming fast 2) It's totally not downhill. This is  "the hill" workout from track. This is straight up the face of little mountain. This is sprinting to the top of the Y. THIS, my friends, is not the end! I mean, seriously, I have at least 5 months left!

Anyway, this week has been pretty great! The area here is HUGE! From one end to the other it's a whopping 10 miles, so my legs are getting pretty buff. Also, we had a bed bug scare this last week. Let me tell you a story. It's a short story (ish) and it's a story about a room. A room that, apparently had bed bugs. A room that I slept in for 2 nights before transfers. Yeah. I had to wash everything, vacuum everything and put bed bug powder around the perimeter of our bedroom. So that was the fun adventure of my first day.

This week we had a really good lesson with one of our less-actives named Tsahai. She is trying to quit smoking so that she can go to the temple and we were able to talk to her about the importance of prayer as she's trying to quit. She was at church yesterday, which made me super duper excited! I really really love the people here already! It's super different from my other areas, but it's fun. Also, apparently people here don't usually wave and say "hi" to people they don't know... Crazy, right? I think that they should all do it much more often. They would all be much happier. 

The ward is pretty great! There's A LOT of less-active work to be done (that seems to be my forte) so Sister Boss and I will be pretty busy. We've already done a lot with the  ward mission leader, so I'm really excited for this area and the potential that it has. Seriously, there  are enough people on the ward list to have maybe 2 wards made out of it, whereas we only see around 100 at church every week. SO, let the work Begin!

I love you all and I am so excited to be out here doing to Lord's work! It's the most exciting thing ever and I am so very grateful to be out here at this time! Talk to you all in a week!

Love,

Steph 

Last week in Mesa! On to Scottsdale!

It's official. I have now "killed" a companion. OR (for those unfamiliar with the term) Sister Carroll has completed her mission and is in the lovely city of Orem, Utah. It was definitely a different experience and it made me think of July... Yep, not thinking about it because, as of right now, I'm still here serving the Lord :)

SO. News of the week, I'm serving in Scottsdale! AND, wonder of wonders, in the mission president's ward! Yep. The pressure is on. The interesting thing about this transfer was that I wasn't scared or worried about it at all. Normally when transfers roll around, I'm a ball of nerves, but it was different this time. I was super sad to leave Mesa and super sad to leave my area, but I'm so excited to be here! My last week in the area was a bit nuts. When people found out that BOTH Sister Carroll and I were leaving, all of the sudden our dinner calendar was full and we even had scheduled lunches with members. I felt super loved even though I'd only been there for 6 weeks. It was an amazing ward. Also, I got a New York steak 2 nights in a row this last week. Jealous? Honestly, I've never had steak as much as I've had on my mission. My ultimate favorite was the steak I had in Pie Town. The member had raised the beef, so he'd fed it really well and then he smoked it with Mesquite. Best stinkin' flavor I've ever had in my entire life! 

Anyway, this last week was a really good week because we've continued to have less-active families come to sacrament meeting! When I first got to that ward, we didn't see any at church, but now we have at least 5 or 6 there every week and some of them bring their whole family! It really shows me the importance of strengthening the flock. The stronger the flock (ward), the more sheep the Lord will trust us with (investigators) and we will be able to bring more FAMILIES to a knowledge of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. I've never valued Visiting and Home teaching more than on my mission. It all starts with THAT. We are told that every new member need a friend, a calling, and nourishment from the good word of God. The same goes for less-actives and members. EVERYONE needs a friend, EVERYONE needs to feel valued in the ward (the calling helps with that) and EVERYONE needs to be nourished by the good word of God. There are NO EXCEPTIONS. And, surprisingly, Visiting and Home teaching play a major role in ALL of those things. My mind has been blown over and over and over again as I realize the importance of member work. Honestly, I think the mission is where we learn what our true role is as members of the church so that, when we go home, we are prepared to keep our promises with Heavenly father that we made at BAPTISM and in the TEMPLE. We are given so many blessings and so much knowledge, but with that comes a lot of responsibility. BUT the blessings far outweigh any sacrifice :)

I love you all and hope that you have an AMAZING week and know that I pray for you every day!

Love,

Steph

Transfer news! Transfers next week!

News of the week? I'm getting transferred! Our ward and 25th ward are going to be under the same set of missionaries. So, while my companion gets transferred to Orem Utah, I will be transferred to a location that has yet to be disclosed.

On Friday this week, we met with Patty and, miracle of miracles, we got to share a message with her in her home!!! Previously, we've only been able to share a scripture on her front doorstep, but we felt the prompting to straight up ask her if we could share a message with her in her home and she invited us in! I love the Spirit! We talked to her for 45 minutes and she said that she really wants to quit smoking. Well, we talked about the temple and how quitting smoking will help her get there. We also got to meet with one of our neighbors and have a spiritual thought with her and she wants to feed us later this week!

Also, event of the week: we taught a lesson to a less-active in the psychiatric hospital. He actually referred himself to us, but didn't include his name, so when we went to go meet him, we walked into the hospital, up to the front desk, and said, "We received a request for missionaries. Do you know who may have done that?" Well, the receptionist looked at us like we should have been on the other side of the bulletproof glass behind her, (as one of the patients) and said,

"This is a psychiatric HOSPITAL." I wanted to say, "Well, duh! We can read the sign!" but we just said, "We know, but we were told that someone here requested missionaries. We have no idea who they are, but do you know who would have done that?" So she called the chaplain and left a message and the chaplain called us later with all of the info for Edward. So yeah, it was an interesting experience. Pretty cool, though. Apparently lots of doors open if you tell someone that you're clergy :)

Also this week, I got to do another pretty awesome service project! I think it's called a weave... But basically we sewed hair onto someone's head. All in all, the project took 6 hours, but we split it up over 2 days. Needless to say, with Sister Carroll being a seamstress and me being a perfectionist, we did a pretty decent job! She kept saying "more poof!" and we cracked up every time she said it.

Thursday, I had some bike issues, so we were on foot for most of the day. We had a really good lesson with our recent convert where we had HIM teach US what he knew about the pre-earth life. He used the Gospel Principles manual and did an amazing job (*sniff *sniff) we were so proud! 

I love it out here! I truly love this ward and am so grateful for the people that I got to meet here! I'm truly grateful to be the Lord's servant at this time. The mission is the most amazing thing ever! If you've even been thinking about serving, DO IT! It will be the most memorable and amazing experience ever!

Love you all! I'll write to you again on Wednesday next week!!

Love,

Steph

pic1: we took a 10 minute nap, but I figured that if I was comfortable, I wouldn't wake up, so I got into an uncomfortable position :)

pic 2: This is Marilynn. Notice her hair?

pic 3: lunch with the Schultzs. This is Elliot, their grandson, who wanted to be in the picture. (We also may or may not have taught him how to play rock, paper, scissors with the added "bomb" which was his favorite part and we also taught him how to do jellyfish high-fives and the snail "pound". It was a great day)

The New Year

The best part about this week was New Years! We I didn't have the experience of being in a war zone, but New Years day was pretty sweet. We weren't allowed to be out and about until 4:30pm (you know those drunk/sleeping people) so, we had an activity in Scottsdale at a church building with another zone. So answer me this, what happens when 2 zones get together on a non-proselyting morning/afternoon? We play gatorball. And basketball. For 5 hours. Yep, best day EVER! And I was one of the goalies in gatorball which was pretty nice because I could use most (not all) of my defensive water polo skills. Remind me to teach you all how to play this game (if you don't know already) because it's pretty awesome!

New Years Eve was pretty nice as well. We were able to have a lesson with our recent convert, Manny, where we talked about the importance of scripture study. He just finished the Book of Mormon! And he absolutely loved it! It makes me so happy to see the joy on others' faces when they discover how amazing the Book of Mormon truly is! I've discovered, on my mission, that people become less-active or completely turn away from the church, when they don't read the Book of Mormon, pray, or attend church. I'm blown away by how simple it is to live the Gospel. When we pray, we know that Heavenly Father loves us. When we read the Book of Mormon, our knowledge of his love increases. And when we go to church, we see that love for us through partaking of the sacrament and being nourished by the good word of God. It's that knowledge that gives us our desire to keep the commandments and to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. That knowledge comes through reading the scriptures and ESPECIALLY the Book of Mormon. 

The Book of Mormon is another Testament of Jesus Christ. It's another Testament that he is our Savior and Redeemer. And it's another Testament of God's abiding and unconditional love for his children. Wait, who are his children? Oh yeah! It's US! We are the literal sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father and he wants us to return to live with him again! So, yeah! It's worth sacrificing a few minutes a day to read the scriptures! It's worth sacrificing the Super Bowl (there is such a thing as recording it) and going to church. It's worth sacrificing our time, talents and interests to return to live with God and OUR FAMILIES again! It's worth the sacrifice because, honestly, there was someone who sacrificed more. There was someone who sacrificed his LIFE so that we could return to live with our Heavenly Father again. There was someone who gave us EVERYTHING that we have. And when we desecrate a day that has been set aside to remember him, we are no better than the Pharisees that spat in his face. 

I love my Savior. I am so grateful for his Atonement because, even though I am certainly NOT perfect, I'm given every chance that I need to return to him. And I love the sacrament. It's one of the biggest blessings that we have or ever will be given because it is the physical representation, and holds the cleansing power, of the Atonement. I am so grateful for the opportunity to partake of it every week and to feel that cleansing EVERY WEEK. It's freeing.

I love you all so much and am so grateful to be serving a mission. It's been one of the most rewarding and happy experiences that I have ever had. I hope you all have a wonderful week and that you know that I'm praying for each and every one of you. Hasta Luego!

Steph