Twas 2 weeks before Christmas

Hi everyone!

This week was pretty good! We had three miracles happen this weekend that I'm overjoyed about! The first one was with two of our less-actives, Nancy and Marilynn. They are recent converts and have had a hard time coming to church because of health reasons, but we were able to visit them and talk to them about Patriarchal blessings and they are so excited to get theirs! It makes me so happy! And they came to church! They're just stellar.

The second miracle was with another less-active named Patty. I'd met her once before on exchanges and she hadn't seemed very welcoming at all, but when we saw her this weekend and shared a scripture, she said that she used to have the missionaries over every Monday and that she wanted to start that up again! She was happy to have us over again and really nice! I was shocked, but I felt so much love for her in that moment! It was amazing!

The third miracle happened with a former investigator named Melanie. She is Pentecostal and, when we contacted her on the street, she said she would definitely go see the Christmas lights with her granddaughter, but she didn't seem very interested in learning more. Well, a few days later, we had the impression to give her a bag of oranges that a member had given us. So, we bravely took the oranges over and knocked on the door. When Melanie answered it, she didn't look very happy to see us, but her expression immediately changed when we gave her the oranges and asked if she was feeling any better. Seriously, that frown turned upside down and she came and talked to us for almost 30 minutes! We were able to answer her question about the godhead and she kept saying, "I've been looking for a church for my granddaughters" and we were standing there thinking "It's across the street!!!" So we invited her to come to church and she was really excited about Sunday School for the kids (I've never met someone that was excited about all 3 hours of church) and she said that she would come with her granddaughters next week! There are definitely some prayers being answered here!!

Also, I really love the Christmas season. It's one of those times where there is a palpable change in the air as people focus more on giving and as people focus more on Christ. That's why the season is so joyful. Christ brings us joy and his Atonement brings us eternal happiness. May we all remember, not only his miraculous birth, but his mission and his sacrifice for us. I love you all and I'm so excited to talk to you on Christmas! I don't have a set time yet, we're still trying to work out a place, but it'll probably be in the afternoon sometime on Christmas day. I'll let you know.

In other news, any Christmas packages that have not been sent yet need to be mailed to


After Christmas, everything should be sent to the mission office :)

Love,
Steph

Hi EVERYONE!!!

Sorry I didn't write on Monday. The good news is that I'm still alive. Also good news, I have no bad news! In other news, (haha so much news) I was transferred!! Yep. I had to move all of my stuff 2 blocks away into 20th ward. Haha I didn't move too far :) I was really touched on my last Sunday in 25th ward. They announced in sacrament meeting that I was leaving and there were so many people that came up to me and talked to me and thanked me and several people cried. I was stunned. I didn't think that I had that much of an impact in the ward, but I was really really touched. Also, 20th ward is going to be fun! There was a member that randomly texted us and asked if we wanted a Christmas tree. That night, she dropped off a lovely 5 ft tree complete with lights! I was speechless!

This last week was pretty fun! We were in a trio for the week and guess who our companion was?! Sister Carambelas! For those of you who don't know or remember, we were in the same MTC district!!! She's super funny and light-hearted and she's staying in 25th ward, so they'll be in good hands. 

This week we received a DVD copy of "He is the Gift" and the "Nativity" Bible video to use for proselyting purposes. I may or may not be watching both videos every night before I go to bed. There is so much peace in knowing that God is a loving Heavenly Father and that he loves us enough to send us a Savior that enables us to return to live with him again. I get so happy when I watch those videos because, really, it's amazing! 

I was reading in Alma this week (my goal is to finish the Book of Mormon again before the end of the year) and I came across a few verses in chapter 37 that really stood out to me. It's verses 44-46 and it's Alma telling his son that it's easy to  "give heed to the word of Christ". My first reaction to that was "Nuh uh! We are asked to sacrifice so much!" But then, as I was thinking about it, it made sense. It's really easy to keep the commandments and do what God has asked us to. SO, Basically, this life is an open book, multiple choice test. He's given us EVERYTHING that we need to succeed! For an open book, multiple choice test, are we going to be prideful, disregard the book and just answer "C" throughout the whole thing? NO! When we have a test like that, we use ALL of the tools that we are given, regardless of what we think we know (humility), because we want the highest grade possible! This life is our test. The way really is EASY! God has given us EVERYTHING WE NEED! We just need to let go of our pride and do what he asks. Why? Because that's when it really becomes easy. Eternal perspective. Live it, Love it :)

Love you all so much and I'm so excited to see you on Christmas!!! It'll be the best!

Love,

Steph

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

Reporting from the freezing (wait freezing?) city of Mesa Arizona

Hi everyone!

It's official. I've acclimatized. Sad day. Just kidding! The temp during the day is fantastic! It's just that small amount of time that we have to be out after the sun goes down that gets a bit... chilly. I never thought that I'd be breaking out the hot cocoa down here, but when it gets in the 40s and the wind is blowing while we're riding our bikes, I feel that it's perfectly acceptable :)

This week was a week of miracles!! A lot of our time this week has been taken up with exchanges, but our area isn't suffering at all, which is a HUGE blessing! We had a pretty big miracle on Monday. We had been out and about, doing what missionaries do, trying to find an address for a referral. Well, we discovered that it was on the opposite side of Rio Salado, which was outside of our area. So we decided to try to contact another referral. He wasn't interested. (Are you wondering where the miracle is? just wait) Then we were able to talk to a less-active recent convert about returning to the temple. Despite the conversation going well, we were wondering why in the world the Spirit needed us to stay in that apartment complex. So, we stood there and said a quick prayer. We got the impression to go to Teela's old apartment. Teela had actually moved and we weren't sure whether or not someone had moved into that apartment, so we decided to go and check it out. We honestly weren't expecting anyone to answer the door, but then it opened! And we met Olivia who had just moved in and had just gotten back from her sister's funeral in California. The miracle was that we were able to give her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and she wants us to come back!! Yep, major miracle.

Another miracle was that we were able to help Tania (who has been investigating forEVER) set her baptismal date! And she came to church for the second time this week! And THEN.... We had to pass her on to the YSA sisters. We're super excited for her, I'm just sad that we won't get to see her as much anymore. 

The absolute best part about the week has been that Sister Hurst and I have been working super hard the entire 2 transfers that we've been companions and we're finally seeing that work pay off!!

I also had a realization this week. This will be my first Thanksgiving that I won't get to sit around the table and tell everyone what I'm thankful for. SO, I'm going to do it while I'm sitting at this computer.

 I'm so grateful for my family. I'm grateful for our little quirks and that we understand each other so well. I'm grateful for the many many wonderful memories that I have with all of you. From Amy and I singing Disney songs while putting together puzzles, to making pies with everyone the day before Thanksgiving. Honestly, for me, the traditions are meaningless without YOU. I'm grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the hope and the joy that his Gospel gives me. I'm grateful for the knowledge that, because of temples, I have been sealed to my family for eternity. I'm grateful, so incredibly grateful, for the Atonement and the blessing it is, not only to the sinner, but to the person that has been affected by the sin. The Atonement blesses ALL of us, but only when we let go of our past mistakes, resolve to be better, and forgive ourselves. We can feel the true healing power of the Atonement when we forgive ourselves. The Savior and our Heavenly Father will always forgive us. Their love is never-ending and their patience is infinite. But it probably hurts them to know that we won't forgive ourselves even though they freely forgive us of everything. I'm grateful for this wonderful season where we not only REMEMBER to be grateful, but we REMEMBER our Savior. This season isn't about Black Friday. It isn't about turkeys and it isn't about pie and it isn't about football. It's the season of gratitude. It's the season of REMEMBRANCE. And it's the season that prepares us to appreciate the wonderful gift that we've been given. The gift of our Savior. He is what we need to be grateful for. He is the Gift.

Love,

Steph

pics: my camera is basically gone (bulging/bulbous battery that doesn't really hold a charge for very long), so no pics from me, but a member (Sister Wright) that we ate with last night wanted you all to know that she appreciates us! So, here is the pic that she took with her phone last night. Also, here is the picture from the Mission Tour with Elder Lawrence. I'm 2 people behind sister Lawrence, (she's wearing pink) and right in front of the Elder that decided to make a demon face at the camera. Love you all!

This week

Hi everyone!

So, this week was pretty crazy! We had meetings all week long, which didn't leave a lot of time for proselyting, but despite the odds, we had a super great week! On Wednesday, we had a mission tour with Elder and Sister Lawrence. The meeting started off with Sister Lawrence teaching us a lot of doctrine about the 12 tribes and the scattering and gathering of Israel. My mind was seriously blown! Multiple times! They talked a lot about the scattering of the tribes and where the tribes had been scattered, etc, but they also had us all stand up for whatever tribe we, the missionaries, represented. We were all either Ephraim or Manasseh: the tribes responsible for the gathering of Israel. Yeah, I felt pretty empowered as a missionary. I can't wait to share my notes with you all from that training because it was really really really INCREDIBLE! It was also followed by an amazing lunch. Seriously, they feed us well down here. I've discovered a love for barbequed pulled pork sandwiches and broccoli slaw with craisins. Yep, that was my favorite part of that lunch! Besides the pumpkin pie, but that's a given.

For out district meeting this week, we had a really good training about pondering the path of our feet and burying our weapons of war. As part of the mission tour, we (the mission leadership) had put together a mission culture. As part of that, there were some specific rules put into place so that the culture would go into effect sooner rather than later. So, it requires a bit of sacrifice, but it's worth it! That's why I really enjoyed the training on burying our weapons of war. Some of the weapons I buried were physical things, like quoting movies with my companion. Others were more spiritual, like concentrating more on the positive instead of dwelling on the negative. Consecration is an act of faith. I love what mom said in her email about creating an environment that the Spirit could dwell in. Consecration isn't just thinking, "I'm a devout follower of Christ." It's listening to music that will invite the Spirit instead of driving it away. It's reading books that elevate our thoughts rather than degrading them. It's spending time with our families and showing our love for them.

The family unit is one of the most sacred things that Heavenly Father has blessed us with. I love the story in the Book of Mormon about Captain Moroni when he is confronting Zerahemnah. In Alma 44:5 he tells Zerahemnah that the reason that the Nephites were protected and the reason that they had overcome his armies were that they are fighting for their faith. They were fighting for their freedom. And they were fighting for the "sacred support which we owe to our wives and our children." The family is sacred. Captain Moroni, the man that if all men were like him "the very  powers of hell would have been shaken forever" (Alma 48:17) KNEW HOW SACRED THE FAMILY IS! Satan is attacking the home and he's attacking the family. The only way to combat him is to be consecrated to the Lord and to do everything in our power to remain that way. Sure, we're not perfect and we'll make mistakes, but that doesn't mean that we have to stay down! I see so many people here that have fallen, and rather than accepting the atonement and getting back up, they have allowed Satan to kick them while they're down. They've ALLOWED Satan to win. SATAN WILL NEVER WIN, unless we ALLOW him to. That's what I've been thinking a lot about lately. We are given trials, and Satan capitalizes on those, but when we look to the Savior, our burdens become easy. The trials have an end. And Satan gets absolutely zero satisfaction out of us. And then, wonder of wonders, we become STRONGER!

I love you all so much! Thank you for being a strength to me when I've needed it the most. You've helped me become stronger. Thank you.

Steph

Miracle week

Hello world!

So this last week was pretty... AWESOME! However, THIS week is going to surpass it by being absolutely insane! We had a lot of cancellations last week, which was sad, but at the same time, we were able to meet with everyone anyway which was definitely a miracle. Anyway, we tried something new this week with asking members to come out with us. We had forgotten to send around the sign-up sheet on Sunday (my bad) and so we sent out a mass text to 15 or so of our members to see when they would be able to come out with us during the week. We didn't expect much of a result because no one really signs up to come out with the missionaries, but we were wrong! We had members that volunteered to come out with us almost every day this week! Granted, many of the appointments that we tried to take them to fell through, but we were able to have them participate in at least one meaningful lesson. Also, one of the members gave us butter so that we could make cookies :) That may have been the highlight of my day.

We had a pretty incredible miracle that happened on Friday. I introduced you to Neil last week. Well, we met with him on Friday and had an amazing lesson about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ! The whole time he was nodding his head and saying, "Yeah, that makes sense." It was phenomenal! Saturday was pretty interesting. They're having us clean up our facebook accounts in preparation for facebook missionary work, so we spent some time going through and deleting old posts. 

Sunday was the best day EVER! First of all, we had a skype lesson! With Ahmad. In Jordan. It was pretty awesome! It's so interesting learning about all of these different religions that believe in Adam and Eve and all of the prophets leading up to Jesus Christ, but they don't view Christ's miraculous birth as the birth of the Savior of the world. They view it as miraculous, yes, but they have failed to connect his birth with the prophecies of the Messiah (even though there are so many that point to that fact). So, we'll be sharing A LOT of scriptures regarding that topic. After our skype lesson with Ahmad, we had church. At church, we sat on the back bench, saving spots for people that we didn't expect to come to church (again) and guess what happened?! They came!!! We had several investigators and less-actives that finally came to church!! It was the busiest and most rewarding Sunday that I have ever had! I was so happy to see them! It was the best day ever!

Anyway, I hope that you all are continuing to have fun every week and that you're drinking plenty of hot chocolate (with ice cream) and eating lots of soup! Ah, warm food, how I miss it ;) Talk to you all next week!

Love,

Sister Lee

PS sorry no pics today. So my embarrassing moment happened when I was practicing the piano before a meeting and all of the sudden I hear a voice directly behind me say "heeeellloooooooo". I yelped and jumped away from the piano in a very undignified way. Turns out that there is a little mail slot from the outside of the building that opens in that corner where I was playing the piano. The Elders had gotten locked out, so they decided to talk into the mail slot, to get us to open the door, but it scared me to death. Yep, I was just a bit embarrassed.

73 degrees?!!! WOOHOO!!! NOW it feels like fall :)

hola mi familia y mi amigos!

Yep, I know. My Spanish is terrible. But, regardless of that, we talked to a Spanish guy for about 5 minutes when we went street contacting at a park! It was pretty cool. I've decided that I love the Spanish people. They're much kinder than the English are.

Anyway, this week was pretty great! On Thursday we were able to have an amazing lesson with Mary and Donny. They were part of the group that we took to the Phoenix Temple Open House and so we got to follow up with them on what they felt and if they wanted to be sealed in the temple. Of course, they said yes! And that got them one step closer to setting a baptismal date! I'm so excited for them to have the blessings from the Gospel in their lives and I'm ecstatic for them to go through the temple! It really is one of the happiest and most peaceful places that we could ever go. I'm so excited for them!

The only real downer about the week is that we weren't able to skype-teach Ahmad. That was a little sad because we're trying to get everything arranged so that he can be taught in Jordan and in his native language, but in the meantime, we don't want him to feel like he's been forgotten.

On Friday, Halloween, we got to go to the temple!! It was amazing! I was able to do baptisms and confirmations before going upstairs to do a session and it was the coolest thing ever! There really isn't a way to describe it. Inside the temple I felt the same peace and holiness that I normally feel, but at the same time, because all of the missionaries were there, it was a really powerful experience.

The highlight of the week was on Saturday. First, let me introduce you to Neil. He was raised Catholic but now believes in reincarnation and nirvana and, at the same time, is atheist. We had a lesson with him on Saturday. We weren't quite sure how to teach him, but armed with the Spirit and Alma 42, we forged ahead! I honestly don't remember all that we said, but I know that the Spirit was directing us. We were able to find out why he was atheist and we were also able to help him understand that we have a loving Heavenly Father. By the end of our lesson with him, he acknowledged the existence of a higher being and he wants us to come back and teach him more!!! Specifically about Joseph Smith because he hasn't heard much about him and the only things that he knows are based off of a South Park episode (yikes). But he wants to learn more!! Oh yes, the Spirit is amazing. As is my companion. Sister Hurst is a boss :)

So, sorry that I don't have any pics today, but I'll tell you a funny story.There I was, sitting in a meeting with the zone leadership and they started to write decimal points on the board for tracking our progress in regard to lessons taught, etc. Well, I was a bit confused and asked "why the decimal points?" Sister Hurst sighed and started to say "Well, we add the numbers for each week and then..." (me interrupting) "you average them, right?" For some reason everyone started yelling "YAY! She gets it!!" pretty dramatic, huh? Well it turns out that the Sister before me didn't understand the whole averaging thing, and she asked them to explain it to her every meeting, so they would dedicate 10 or more minutes each meeting to try to explain it to her. So they were sincerely excited when I understood it so quickly. Thank you college statistics! And I don't care if you didn't find that funny. I thought it was hilarious. Especially when they had me repeat what I'd said so that everyone could hear it. The expression on those Elders' faces changing from complete dread to excitement was comical :)

Anyway, I love you all and I hope you're having a fantastic time getting ready for Thanksgiving!

Love,

Steph