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

Allergies... I guess the season is changing!

This week has been... interesting.

First off, it was the county fair this week. So that meant that there wasn't any school and nobody was home because they were all at the fair. Which meant that the missionaries (me y mis companeras) were also at the fair, contacting people. We met a bunch of musicians that actually live in the area that we cover so we got names and phone numbers and set up a time to visit them. The funniest part about that experience (you didn't think it was funny?) was that none of us had our planners on us and none of us had a pen. We DID, however, have a foam tray and plastic utensils. So we etched their names and phone numbers into the plate until one of them took pity on us and handed us a sharpie. Yes, it was just a bit hilarious. A nice occurence happened when we were over by the art and a lady started taking pictures of my face. She said I was beautiful and that my face looked like it was from the Victorian era. Yeah, I was flattered but incredibly weirded out nonetheless. We were able to strike up a conversation with her and she mentioned that she had heard that we sang. Who knew that singing at a funeral a month ago would produce such nice contacts! Anyway, we had a very successful afternoon at the fair and met quite a few new people.

That same afternoon we also contacted a group of guys when we were driving past their house. Turns out that they were all from "Oregon" (Mexico, actually, and they made sure to tell us that they were there legally) and that they were down in the area for work. They only spoke Spanish, so that made Sister Christensen's happiness level shoot through the roof.  They invited us in, but they were all drinking beer, so we set up a return appointment for the next day. The next day we brought the Bishop with us (who also spoke Spanish) and we had a great lesson with them and invited them to church. They said that they would read El Libro de Mormon and that they would come to church! I was surprised at how much I understood as the Bishop and Sister Christensen were teaching. I still got lost on a few points, but I understood the basic gist. It made me want to learn Spanish really really badly.

Our truck has been amazing! We've been able to go so many places that we wouldn't have been able to take our car! It's been a blessing. We had another river crossing earlier this week and we took some pictures of the awesomeness :)

Well, I hope you all have a fantastic week! And keep writing to me! Yes, I'm being blunt, I'm not hinting at anything. WRITE TO ME!!! I love hearing from you all!

Love,
Steph
1) us and the AWESOME camero 2) our truck in a river 

The second to last week of August.

So. Here we are again. Another week....


AND SO MANY MIRACLES!!!! MY GOODNESS!! Where should I start?!

I know! I'll just start at the beginning of the week ;)

Never mind, we'll skip to the good stuff.

On Thursday we had an amazing experience. We have been trying to contact a referral, JJ, for weeks! And (dum dada dum) we finally got a hold of him on Thursday! (technically we'd talked to him on the phone previously, but who's looking at technicalities?) Anyway, we were able to sit down and talk to him for a while and give him a Book of Mormon and he invited us to come by again! Speaking of, he knows someone from Stockton/Tooele by the name of (and I may have forgotten it) Shawn Anderson? Let me know if we know him. I can't remember the names of his kids, so I'll try and find that out later. But, seriously, after WEEKS and WEEKS of trying to talk to him in person we FINALLY found him at his house! And he was super nice! It was incredible. That just goes to show how important persistence is. You persist until you meet them or until they tell you to stop. Yep.

We also played a scrabble-esque game with Linda this week and she's really opening up to us. She even took us out to dinner! Service is a major door-opener with people up here and it's been so cool to see them change their opinion of us as we serve them.

This weekend, we spent 2 1/2 days in Pie Town. We have a little trailer up there that we stay in, that's right next to the church. It's also right next to the community center, so when they had some sort of karaoke dance party there on Saturday night, it kept us awake for a bit. Oh the power of music. It can bring the Spirit of God or the spirit of the devil. It's pretty crazy how influential music is.

On Sunday we had some incredible blessings. So, to be honest, our plans for each day don't really pan out how we plan them. BUT on Sunday EVERYTHING fell into place. We had a great lesson on the Plan of Salvation with a family and gained 3 new investigators from that experience! We also had a great lesson with our dinner appointment and followed up on her goals for missionary work! It's so cool to see the drive these members are getting to share the Gospel. Once they find out how, they have just jumped right on it! Oh and we were able to contact another really sweet lady who is a retired 1st grade teacher and she was one of the nicest, most welcoming people I've ever met! I was seriously blown away!

Well, it's been a great week and I'm so happy that I get to be here, serving in this area and that I get to meet these very unique people. God has made us all so unique and he loves us all so individually. It's still kind of incomprehensible to me how much love God really has for all of us. It makes me want to be nicer and more sincere to everyone because I know how much he loves me and I KNOW that he has that much love for them. It's nice to think of people that way.

I hope you all have a Fan-diddly-tastic week and that you update your Mormon.org profiles! haha

Love,
Steph

Pics: we were given a 5 pound cabbage (how do you cook/ eat a cabbage?), this is Sister Gray (she makes AMAZING chicken tenders and fried antelope and calls us her chachas(that IS a Camero in the background)) and THIS is another New Mexican Sunset :)

new transfer! also a new week (in case no one noticed)

This week was transfer week! And that meant, because Sister Pass was transferred, we went down to the valley! It was really really really really really really hot. I mean, it wasn't the amazing 120 degrees that they'd been having, but MAN!! I was so glad that I was wearing a white shirt! It didn't help my face, though. That stayed beet-red almost the entire time :)

Anyway, we had something really cool happen this week.

We got FOUR (yes the number 4) new investigators!!!!! I was seriously blown away! All of the work that we've been doing with the members is really paying off! Up here, in the wilds of New Mexico, we can't really go tracting (houses are 10-20 minutes apart in some places up here) or street-contacting (the same 5 people sit in front of the general store every day) so the member finding is NECESSARY. I think I may have bolded that word in another letter. Goes to show just how important it is :) Anyway it's been fantastic! We were also able to meet with Cynthia this week. She's the investigator that took the lessons in the 70s. That lesson was incredible! She read every single section in the Book of Mormon that we asked her to! Not only that, but we'd asked her to read Moroni chapter 10 and she looked at the book of Moroni and said, "hmmm well, may as well read all of the chapters if there are only 10" and she read the whole book of Moroni on her own! In fact, before we left, she asked us if we could give her some more passages to read and said that she really liked reading the Book of Mormon because it's so easy for her to understand.

Yep, I was pretty dumbfounded. She said that she needed to pray about being baptized again, but she is one of the "seekers of truth" that they talk about in the scriptures. She'll get baptized, it's just a matter of "when".
A miracle that I realized today: My companions asked me to explain the war chapters in Alma for them (the mechanics, why the war started, who was so-and-so, etc) and I kind of stunned myself with how much I was able to explain to them. I never thought that I would understand the scriptures all that well. Even at the beginning of my mission, I struggled with it and I remember praying desperately for understanding so that I could teach my investigators effectively. It's funny that I didn't realize that my prayer had been answered until today when my companions pointed it out to me. And, looking back, I also realized that my prayer had been answered months and months ago. I have been blessed to completely understand the things I read and if I don't understand it, I've been blessed to know which resources that I can look at to gain that understanding. I just want to testify to you all that I KNOW that Heavenly Father answers our prayers. I know that he blesses us when we are obedient to his commandments and the laws that he's given us. I also know that, as mortals, we forget. We forget the blessings that we've been given. We forget to look for those blessings. Sometimes, like in my case, we even forget what we've asked for and therefore don't recognize the blessings. This is my 2nd time reading the Book of Mormon on my mission and I've made a special effort to highlight the word "remember" whenever I come across it. Because when we remember, we don't fall into the pride cycle. It's been pretty cool to see how many times we are told to "remember" in the scriptures.

Also something that my companions and I were talking about in our Companion study yesterday. We were talking about the difference between "hoping" and "wishing". In a letter or a talk or something, someone explained hope as being an expectation based on faith. And we decided that "wishing" wasn't an active thought. When you hope for something, you work for it and have the faith that God will make up the difference. Wishing is simply wanting it to happen without work. So we decided that "wishing" is discontent in the moment and that "hope" is the expectation that something better will come. Yep, I've learned a lot this week.

I love you all so much and I'll definitely be thinking of you all going back to school and work and all the fun Fall stuff that we'd do as a family. I thought about it yesterday and I only have one school year left until I see you all again. It kind of freaked me out because time doesn't seem to be going THAT fast. And who knows? Maybe I'll extend ;)

Have a great week!

Love,
Steph

pics for the week: the scorpion that we found in our house and us with a black powder gun (unloaded and we did NOT shoot it! We're obedient missionaries :)

Cowgirl missionaries

HI EVERYONE!!!!

The news for the week is pretty tame. We saw TONS of miracles yesterday, but I'll get to that in a bit.

Actually, maybe I'll do it now. Here goes:

WE GOT A TRUCK!!!!!!!

Yes, these cowgirl missionaries now have a truck! Just get me a cute cowgirl hat and I'll be set! Hahaha Anyway, we had been told that getting a truck may not be possible, but it happened! The Lord definitely answers prayers because I thought that we would bottom out at some point in time in our little car. We discovered this past week that our car may or may not do too well with river crossings if it keeps raining. We crossed a couple of small streams this last week in our car, but because it's monsoon season, those streams are going to get a bit bigger and deeper, so we're really glad that we have a truck for that. That also means that we'll be able to visit people that we had previously not been able to because of the water and the road conditions. SO Obedience and tons of prayer brings blessings.

Another miracle that happened yesterday had to do with our cell phone. We were down in the valley for transfers (we got a new companion, Sister Harrast, who happened to be a music major at BYU playing the violin) and when we switched cars with the elders, we thought that we'd grabbed everything. False. We discovered (after they'd left) that we'd left our phone in their car. So we had someone try calling it to see if we had it or if the elders would pick up. Didn't happen. So we called the elders from another missionary's phone and we arranged to meet them outside of town. In the meantime we had to go to the store and discovered that we'd also left something at the mission home, so when we finally got to the rendevous, they weren't there. Well, we figured that we would go to Payson and see if we could run into some members there that would have the number of the elders. When we got to Payson, we saw some elders coming out of a restaurant. We immediately jumped out of our car and ran towards them yelling "ELDERS!" (yep, we may have seemed a little crazy) and we discovered that they were NOT the elders that we were looking for, but they were really nice and called the other elders and we stayed to meet them and get our phone. SO after this massive goose chase, that happened over the space of 2 or 3 hours, we finally got our phone! MIRACLE!!!

Those are the miracles for the week. Some other points of interest were that we were able to visit a place called "the Blue" that missionaries had not been to for a VERY long time. We drove for over an hour on dirt roads (those are really the only kinds of roads out here) and had 2 stream crossings before we reached the houses of the people we were looking for. So, lots of driving, but it was BEAUTIFUL. I never really had much of an appreciation for nature until I came up here. It really solidifies my testimony of God because NOTHING in this world could have happened by chance. When I see the trees, the animals and the massive storms, it really hits me that Jesus Christ, through the power of God, created this world for us. I know that Christ and Heavenly Father live. I know that we have the potential to become like them and I know that we all have divine potential. Really, the more I really know about the earth and the more that I learn, the more I know that God lives. It's amazing how much knowledge someone can have and not believe in God. Knowledge becomes wisdom when we apply it and it's wisdom that tells us that all things denote that there is a God. We also have the knowledge that this Gospel is true, but it doesn't become wisdom until we share it with someone else. Just a thought that I had.

Anyway, I love you all so much and thanks so much for all of the letters and emails! I've really appreciated them and they've helped me a lot. Thanks and I'll have more to report next week!

Love, Steph

pics
the river crossing and a beautiful sunset. New Mexico really is the land of enchantment

28 July 2014

Hey everyone!

This week I've got to keep it short, but it's been great! Unfortunately, I had the flu (again) so we didn't go out for 2 days. Honestly, I'm never getting a flu shot again because I've never had the flu as much as I've had in the past 7 months! Anyway, on to bigger and better things.

We had several miracles happen this week! We got to teach Judy (my twin) who was visiting one of the families in the ward for the weekend! She is awesome and she is really seeking the truth, so I'm really excited for her! She went back to the valley on Sunday, but it was really good to meet her and she'll be continuing the lessons down in the valley! Another really cool thing that happened was that this same member had some of her family in town and we were able to share a message with them about how it's the members duty to find people for the missionaries to teach (hint hint). By the way, for ideas on how to share the gospel, I will be sending you all one of the flyers we've been giving to the members. It's pretty awesome. Anyway, while we were talking to them, one of their daughters asked us why we decided to serve a mission and all of us were able to share our stories with them. Afterwards, the husband told me that he had gone through a similar experience to mine and that my story had touched him. That is complete proof that strengthening the members is ESSENTIAL! I also felt really good after he told me that because I was a bit nervous to share my story.

On Sunday we went to a birthday party for the son of one of our investigators and we got to meet so many people! We left that party with several service opportunities and we're going back to visit the investigator's grandma who recently had her husband pass away. Really, the Lord blesses us when we are obedient. Also when we're sick and being obedient. He loves us a bit more when that's happening :)

I love you all so much and I am so happy that I'm serving here in New Mexico! It's taught me so much about working with people and how important service is! Also how important visiting and home teaching are. There isn't anything that can replace the fellowship that we can feel from our home and visiting teachers. I hope you all have a great week! Oh, by the way, transfers are next week, so I won't be writing until Wednesday. Until then,

Hasta la Vista!

Steph

PS Jen I hope you got my birthday letter before your birthday. If not, you'll get it soon!

pics: judy and me (my twin), and an amazing rainbow! 

The Plan of Salvation

Hi everyone!

So sad news first: There have been A LOT of funerals this week.

Good news: Prime opportunity to share the Plan of Salvation.

So we've been contacting a lot of people this week. Our schedules are pretty hectic because our area covers around a 200 mile radius... I think. Round trip, it takes us about 4 hours, without traveling the border of our area. That's just hitting the major towns/villages. Anyway, with all of the driving we're doing, I'm slowly overcoming my car-sickness! Yay!

Sorry, back to the work itself. We're getting to know a lot of people through the members and through service. With an area this big, member missionary work is not only essential, it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY. Really, we don't do a lot of street contacting up here because... Well, there aren't a ton of people that just walk around on the dirt roads. This week, however, we were given a rare opportunity to talk to a lot of people at one of the many funerals that took place this week. The funeral that we attended was for the father of one of our referrals. The Bishop of our ward was asked to put together a program and he asked us to sing the opening and closing songs. Which we did acapella and I did the harmony. I'm also slowly getting over my fear of performing. Anyway, after the funeral they had a pot luck (they do a lot of those around here) and we were able to talk to some very friendly people and give them our phone number for any service opportunities. I get the feeling that most of what we'll be doing up here for a while is service.

Speaking of service, we were helping a woman with her yard and found out that she'd taken the discussions back in the 70s! She had a Book of Mormon that had a gold cover with different characters on it instead of the one that says "Antoher Testament of Jesus Christ". I should have gotten a picture of it. It was really cool and had a lot of study application inserts. Anyway, she said that she came across the BYUtv channel and that she loves watching it! She especially was excited for the Work and the Glory movies that they're currently playing. And she agreed to read some of the passages in the Book of Mormon that we'd marked and we'll be visiting her again to answer her unanswered questions. I like her a lot because we both love history. And she liked the story of Porter Rockwell a lot.

Another thing that we were able to do this week was to go and play volleyball with a bunch of members from the community. All of which are not members, so it was a great experience and we've been invited to come back every week! We're slowly but surely integrating ourselves into the community so that the people aren't so wary when they see us driving or walking around. It's definitely a different kind of work, but it's amazing to see how much people have softened toward the church in general and the missionaries specifically. It's been really cool to, kind of, open this area and to see the excitement of the members now that they have missionaries living in their community.

I love you all so much and I hope that you continue to remember and keep your baptismal covenants (Mosiah 18) and that you all remember how much our Heavenly Father loves every single one of us and that, no matter where we are in our lives, he will always be there to help us get back to him.

Steph

The pics are of a New Mexican sunset and of a new species of spider that I have never seen before, but has decided to make our home, it's final resting place (Can I just say that I really really really appreciate bug spray? It's pretty awesome)

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

Miracles of the week

Dear everyone,

SO. Update on the area? It's going great! Update on the members? They're fantastic! Update on investigators? Still none, BUT we had some major miracles this week.

We were able to contact quite a few of our referrals and we talked to one of our less-active young women about going to Girls Camp. Can I just say something about listening to the Holy Ghost? When we were doing our weekly planning for the week, we felt prompted to visit Alpine on a certain day and to visit this girl Anaiah on that day. This inspiration didn't come on the spur of the moment: it happened a week in advance! God knows what's going to happen and so he may give us inspiration days, weeks, or even years in advance! That's why, whenever we receive inspiration to talk to someone who isn't interested, we're just part of the process to prepare them for that day in the future when they will accept the Gospel. Anyway, it was super cool because we were able to talk to her without her older siblings around and we were able to get to know her better.

Another miracle that happened this week was centered around referrals. We had been trying to contact the Judge and his wife for about a week, but we finally found her at home on Friday! When she initially opened the door (after we'd asked about service projects) she was really hesitant and said, "Just so you know, I'm not a witness." And we said "Neither are we! We're Mormons!" and she got a big smile on our face, opened her door wider and invited us in to sit on her couch. We got 7 different service referrals from her and she invited us to visit her again. Yep, the miracle of not being a Jehovah's witness ;) But isn't it interesting that as soon as she found out we were LDS, she invited us right in and was super friendly. People can really recognize the Spirit about us. They may not know why, but they trust us. Yep, the church is SO true :)

The next miracle we had was pretty intense Sister Christensen and I were in Pie Town (Sister Pass was on exchanges) and we were at our trailer which is right next to the church. The branch has been trying to set up the power on the trailer for a while, so we were asked to check the meter number on the power line/pole located right next to the trailer. Now, before I go any further, I need to tell you all that it's monsoon season here. Which basically means that it rains off and on throughout the day every single day. So it had rained a little bit earlier and we could still hear some thunder in the distance when we went to check for the meter number. We were right next to the pole and were actually touching the metal box (looking for the meter number), and suddenly you could feel the electricity in the air. The next thing we knew was that the power line (connected to the pole that we were TOUCHING) lit up and was sparking and we heard thunder almost immediately afterward. Luckily enough, nothing happened to us, but we ran as fast as we could back to the church. So yeah, the Lord protects his missionaries from lightning. And elk. He definitely protects us from elk. Especially at night :)

I know that the work I'm doing up here is extremely important. I'm grateful that I'm up here because I'm definitely getting pushed out of my comfort zone and I'm learning a lot. Not just about the Gospel or the people, but about myself. I'd been struggling to love the people up here and to feel comfortable in the role I've been placed in. When I was thinking about it the other day, I realized that I loved the people in Eagar because I was praying for them constantly. I didn't love the people up here yet because I was only praying for myself and my own benefit. As soon as I started praying for the people up here, I felt this overflowing feeling of love for them and for this area. I know that, when we ask God for charity, that he will bless us with it and he will help us to love everyone. I know that this Gospel is true and that God will ALWAYS answer our prayers; even when we don't think we are worthy. I love you all so much and you are always in my prayers! Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Steph

the sky from the Vernon fire,
branding 1 from last week
'Merica (they gave everyone at the parade flags!) yes, we got permission to go to the parade in Eagar.
A massive spider that we found this morning. It was in the throws of death, so we covered it with a pink cup so that it would die in a happy place :

The last week of June ALREADY?!

Hola!

This is Sister Lee, reporting from the little known town of Cruzville, New Mexico and BOY do we have a story this week! haha

So Friday and Saturday were a bit intense. I say intense because we BRANDED cows for 2 different families! I love branding. I was a bit disappointed because I was in charge of the vaccinations both days, so I didn't get to throw (flank) or sit on any of the cows. The first day wasn't super fun. I don't know why, maybe it was because no one laughed at all. The second day was hilarious! It was my companions and I, Sister Snow and her son Garrett, and Brother Laney and his daughter. The hilarious part about it was that Garrett was the one that roped the cow and then brother Laney would grab the rope, leaving all of us girls to wrestle the cow to the ground. It was quite a sight. Some of those cows only required 2 of us, while others required everyone to hold them down. I didn't do much wrestling because as soon as they had that cow down, I had to shoot it with the vaccine. I learned a lot about shots for cows. I also discovered that they aren't huge fans of needles either! The cow that broke my heart was a bigger cow that had broken its leg somehow after it had been born. So it was limping around the corral and then Garrett roped it and everyone had to tackle it and I had to watch that poor thing get branded and castrated. It was sad. I was totally fine with the other cows, though. You get a bit desensitized after your 15th or 20th cow. All in all, this weekend we helped brand and vaccinate over 50 cows. The first time that we helped, we did over 70, so this was a piece of cake.

Anyway, this week we were also able to visit and help several people in the community, mostly non-members, and we've been getting to know the members a lot more. The work in this area is very different. We don't have as many lessons and we currently don't have any investigators. Why? you may ask. We have to strengthen the flock before God will trust us with any more lambs. Roll that around in your mind a little bit.

Just a little bit more.

We have to strengthen the flock before God will trust us with any more lambs. Now, as missionaries, we are called and set apart to teach. That's what we do, and that's what we're doing up here. We're teaching people how the Gospel is lived by serving them. We're teaching members that missionary work isn't as hard as they think it is. We're teaching people in the community that Mormons aren't something to be hated or feared. Apparently Mormons and the missionaries didn't have a very good rep up here, so we're working super hard to dispel that because, until we do, we won't teach. And the people that God has prepared for us will have to wait even longer to hear the gospel. They call it SERVING a mission for a reason folks. It breaks my heart when people don't think that any progress is being made because we haven't had a baptism. Yes, baptism is a focus. But not as a number because these are GOD'S CHILDREN and this is THEIR SALVATION and sometimes the only way to get them to baptism is by SERVING them first. I would like to share a story before I do my miracle of the week (by the way, brilliant idea to do that, Pond).

This is a story of a man who went to preach the Gospel to the Lamanites and, after being captured and taken before the king, he states that he just wants to serve the king. So, he's given the duty of being a shepherd. After a series of events (including quite a pile of severed limbs) the king and his household are converted. Now, how did that happen?! The king went from being ready to kill this guy, to getting baptized by him! (This is Ammon, by the way). The king didn't trust Ammon as a Nephite, but he trusted him when he saw what a devoted servant he was. That opened the door for Ammon to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with this Lamanite king. Yes folks, service is an amazing thing.

Now I'll get off my own personal soap box and tell you the miracle of the week. It really is a miracle. A few months ago (before I got up here), the Sisters tried to contact a woman named Linda. They had called her and she told them that she wasn't interested. (Several months later) We were talking with a member and asking about service in the community. She mentioned that some of the ladies that she plays Canasta with on Wednesdays have recently lost their spouses and that they could use a little help. So, one day we dropped by the community center after they had finished cards and offered to do service. This sweet lady asked us to come by and clean some of her higher windows that she couldn't reach. Lo and behold, her name is Linda, the same Linda I mentioned before. So we went to her house and cleaned her windows. When we finished, she invited us in for some lunch (chilli and salad and it was GOOD). While we ate, we got to know her better and the conversation turned to life after death (the Lord works in mysterious ways) and we were able to share our testimonies with her. Later, we heard from the member, that Linda couldn't stop talking about how sweet we were and about how grateful she was. And now she's invited us back to make cookies. This was a door that was shut a few months ago, but little by little, it's opening and soon, she'll be ready to prepare for baptism.

That's my miracle of the week and it's strengthened my testimony that, not only has God prepared these people, but he accomplishes his purpose in a whole myriad of ways. I know that God really loves us all individually and that he knows what we need better than anybody else and he can help us attain true happiness and discover who we really are, just by following his commandments and striving to live like our savior. I know this church is true, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity that I've been given to SERVE.  Don't forget to say your prayers, read your scriptures, go to church, and attend the temple. That is what can bring us lasting happiness. And if any of you ever have the chance to brand cows on a dusty day, don't forget to wash behind your ears :) haha You know what they say: cleanliness is next to godliness!

Love,
Steph

sorry, no pics this week. We all forgot our camera cords (oops)
Oh, and have an AMAZING 4th of JULY!!!

Interesting Week

Hi everyone!

I'm going to own a horse. That is all.

Just kidding, but I've realized that I absolutely love the lifestyle out here! Anyway, back to the present. This past week, we've done a lot of service! I think I got to wear my jeans at least once every day. Crazy right? One of the service projects that we did was to plant a non-member's (she was a referral) garden. Ah yes, gardening. She had some amazing ground to plant in. Seriously, she owns horses, so she has a stack of their manure that's been sitting there for at least 3 years. Apparently, however, you can't put fresh manure in the ground or it will destroy the plants. So, her husband had to dig from the bottom of that 3 year old pile to get the "good" manure. Icky. Carol (that's her name) was completely stunned that we wanted to help her with her garden without getting paid for any of it! One day they will understand the concept of blessings in heaven haha. She called us again yesterday and we shoveled wood shavings from a sawmill into bags so that she could use it for her horse stalls. Walking into those horse stalls, it smelled almost exactly like our old gerbil cages when they started getting nasty. But Carol is an amazing lady! She's from Britain/Ireland and she's traveled the world working with and riding horses! Go figure that she'd settle in Cruzville, New Mexico.

Besides that, we've weeded yards, we've done dishes, cleaned windows, branded cows (which we're doing again this weekend), etc. The work up here is a bit different. We are doing a lot of service so that the people trust us. This is a real-life case of people judging you by your actions and not just your words. So we've been helping members and non-members alike. The prophet and apostles were totally serious when they said that members and missionaries need to work together. People will trust those that they've known for a long time over some kid that's only there for a few weeks/months. Members have the "in" and they're the ones that show these potential investigators what we believe.

I say "show" because actions speak louder than words and you have no idea who is watching or what they're seeing. I've discovered that as a missionary. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are watched constantly. We have something that the rest of the world doesn't. And the world is trying to figure out what that is. They don't automatically know that we have the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and that God's priesthood power has been restored to the earth. They don't know that they can be sealed to their families forever. And many times, they don't even know that they are children of our Heavenly Father and that they have infinite worth. They don't know. Hence, they watch. They listen. They search. That's why it's so important to have every member a missionary. They watch YOU. They listen to YOU. You can have conversations with them where you just mention that you're a child of God and they cling to those words. It's not hard to be a missionary. The full-time missionaries teach, yes. And we've been set apart to do so. But you all can do so much more than I can right now. It's truly amazing to see how the Lord works through members. It's miraculous.

In other news, I know you all will be so proud of this (even though I dreaded every bite): I ate a hot dog yesterday and then accomplished the remainder of the day without throwing up. That, in and of itself, is a tender mercy that I'm still thanking Heavenly Father for. Oh, I kind of want to do a miracle of the week as well. My miracle of the week was that I got to see Colin go through the temple and then, the next day, baptize his 70+ year-old father as a member of the church. I love the Tisdell family so much and it's taken a lot of work, but the most amazing thing that I have ever seen was the change in Colin's countenance over the course of the 6 months that I was able to work with him. When he came out of the temple, his face shone. He was glowing. I can't wait to be there for Jen to get her endowments. It's an incredible experience. I love you all so much, and I'm going to say, once again, that I know that this Gospel is true and that Jesus Christ atoned for EVERYONE's sins and mistakes and I know that Heavenly Father loves us all individually and so completely and that he will always be there for us. He won't take our burdens away, but he's promised to make them lighter. He won't take the pain away, but he's promised us comfort. And his will is always what is best for us.

Love,
Steph

the pics this week are of 1) a new born puppy 2) ZTM 3) temple pic (I'm on the far right in the green)

Missionaries Arrive in Reserve/Luna New Mexico!

Full post and link on mission website here.

So this week was crazy, hectic, insane....

So, as you all know from my previous letter, I am now in Luna/Reserve New Mexico. Which, I'm actually pretty ok with.... Actually, I'm WAY more than ok with it. I LOVE it up here! The people up here are amazing and even though they're pretty spread out, they still know practically everyone and we got over 10 referrals in just the past 2 days! Unfortunately, we haven't been able to contact many of them because of a certain happenstance that I will mention later.

This week was zone conference and it was AMAZING! President and Sister Sweeney are just the bomb, what else can I say? We actually did a big discussion and we got to pick the topics out of a list of "stumbling blocks" that keep us, as missionaries, from becoming more like Christ. So we all got to vote and we talked about pride (that's what I put my 2 votes on), Lack of faith, and Distractions. It was really amazing to, not only have President and Sister Sweeney teach us, but to have all of the input from all of the Elders and Sisters in the 2 zones that we had meeting together. It was incredible. Afterwards, we had a luncheon and then we all went to the Snowflake temple to do a session. They had to set up a special session for us because we were going to have over 70 missionaries in one session and Snowflake is a smaller temple. That session absolutely blew my mind. The Spirit was so strong in that room that I actually started tearing up. It was incredible to have that many missionaries as well as our mission presidency and their wives in the same room. I also had a really strong experience in the Celestial Room. When I was about to enter, I asked the person, whose name I was going through for (in my head), if she would tell grandpa "hi" for me. I hadn't been sitting in the Celestial Room for 10 minutes when I felt a very warm embrace, and I knew that grandpa was giving me a hug. I felt him there and, in my mind, I saw him sitting next to me, but I didn't see him as an old man. I saw him as a young, blonde man dressed in a tan uniform and I knew it was him. I know that he's ok and I know that he loves us all so very much. And I KNOW that he has been sealed to us for eternity. He's ok, and he's still there for us; all of us and he's cheering us on.

The only downer of the day (which I prefaced earlier) was that our car broke down when we were on our way to dinner. We had 6 cars pull over to help us out, including some Elders that were on their way to Vernon. Surprisingly enough, President Sweeney had asked us to talk to them to get some tips for the work in our area (theirs is very similar) and so we were able to do that while we waited for a mechanic. The rest of the week was... interesting without a car. We got rides from members, but it was really hard to be stuck without a car.

On Saturday
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(drumroll please)
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WE BRANDED COWS!!!!! As a service project :) In fact I'm including some pictures. But WHAT?! Yeah, because we're basically opening this area, President asked us to work with the members and to do as much service as we possibly could, and it's branding season! It was crazy! They had us cutting ears, castrating (actually Sister Pass is the only one that took on that particular duty), branding, and I actually threw down a cow! It was a little bitty one (otherwise I wouldn't have been able to do it), and it took me about 5 tries, but I felt so accomplished! We were also able to contact a referral(who came to church yesterday!) and we were able to talk with several less-active and part-member families (one of which came to church with him family yesterday!). We've also set up times to brand with some other families in the area, so by the time I actually leave this area, "I's gonna be a bona-fide cowgirl! Boots n' all!" haha just kidding, but President okay-ed boots for us if we felt they were necessary for the types of service we'll be doing up here.

I really love this area and I hope I get to stay here for next transfer. Speaking of: transfers are next week, so I won't be emailing until Wednesday. Oh, and one of my less-actives in Eagar has asked me to come see him get his endowments on Friday! I'm so excited for him!

pics 1.me branding 2. Sister Christensen and her pile of cow ears 3. Sister Pass being "Herman Macbeth" 4. and me after wrestling the cow

The craziest week of all time!

Hi everyone!

So this week has been super crazy and super emotional. First off, I want to tell you that transfers are in 2 weeks, so I'll be emailing on Wednesday (I think). Otherwise, you'll just have to be surprised to get an email from me that Monday! So this week we got back from trek. As soon as we got back, we showered (we really stank) and then hopped in the car and went down to the valley. Sister Goodwin is officially in Brazil! I'm super excited for her and grateful that I have Sister Heap as my new companion. When we got back to Eagar Tuesday afternoon, we finished our P-day chores and proselyted for a few hours and we had one of our less-active members (who is now active) finally decide on a date to go through the temple!!! It was awesome and I'm so exited for him.

On Wednesday, we taught Ron Dailey. Let me tell you a little bit about Ron. He's an extremely fit older gentleman who was raised Catholic, but has a thing against religion because a high-ranking Catholic Bishop came to his hometown and he was required to kiss the Bishop's ring (which he refused to do) and he decided that there was something really wrong with organized religion if that's what it required you to do. Anyway, we've been teaching him and we've been able to answer questions and he's been reading the pamphlets and he's read the chapters that we've assigned him in the Book of Mormon and he's really progressing. On Thursday we did an exchange in Taylor so that my companion could go to a leadership meeting in the valley. By the way, I met someone that's related to the Lee family from Tooele (you know, the one in the Benson Gristmill pageant). I didn't get back from Taylor until Friday night and on Saturday we had some drama. We had a Sister that was emergency transferred and I was asked to take her place in Luna/Reserve New Mexico, so I am now companions with Sisters Pass and Christensen. It was a bit hard because I thought I would still have 2 weeks to say all of my goodbyes to the members, investigators, etc. in Eagar but I know that the Lord has something in mind for me up there, so I'm going to keep serving with a smile.

In other news, yesterday we had a trek fireside with President Sweeney and it was awesome! I got to see most of my trek siblings and they are all planning on getting together pretty often! Too bad I won't be there, but they'd better prepare themselves for some facebook requests next year! Today we stayed in Eagar because we'll be going to Zone Conference and the temple on Wednesday, so we'll be here the next few days. Most importantly, we went fishing today!! Yep, I caught 4 fish and got my arms completely fried because (of course) I forgot to bring sunscreen. It was really fun, though, so I fully expect to go on a fishing/shooting expedition with dad next summer!

About grandpa, I really feel at peace. It's going to be really sad, not having him physically here, but I know that he's in that paradise that is reserved for those who have not only made covenants at baptism and in the temple, but have also kept those covenants. We know that those who have made and kept their temple covenants will be blessed in the eternities and that we will have the joyful experience of seeing them again soon. This life is really just a blink of an eye when compared to the eternities. I KNOW that we will get to see our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again. And I know that, when we do, we'll see grandpa. We'll get to see grandpa in his perfected form and we'll get to hear his voice singing with the angels in heaven.

Death is only just the beginning. He's just taken that next step in his eternal progression and we are blessed to have been able to be a part of his life and to be a part of his earthly family. I love you all so very much and I know that, no matter what happens, I will get to be with you all for eternity. Christ broke the bands of death and through the power of God, we have been sealed as an eternal family. NOTHING can change that. I love you all and I hope that you will look to Heavenly Father for the comfort that only he can give.

Grandpa Lee is free from toil and sorrow. And with the just, he now dwells. All is well

Love,
Steph

pics: 1. I decided to attach some pics from the trek and very carefully avoided getting people in them :) They'll be giving us a disc with all of the pics soon, soo you won't be bereft for long!
2. Unfortunately, I only have photographic documentation of 3 fish, but I promise that there were 4! (oh, and there's one of Sister Heap)
3. Me gently guiding a cricket out of the house in Cruzeville (he's under the orange cup)