Ok now I can tell you all about my lovely week!! :) Can i just say that i LOVE the mission?! :):) bah!! its so great!! i mean i have days that arent as successful, but the Lord knows exactly who or what to put in my daily path that brightens my day and makes me feel so great!
Today i wanted to share that kind of experience that happened to me on.... Sunday :) I'll just quote what i have written in my Journal: "So i took a family of 3 on my last tour tonight. The F family, and they were so fun to take on the tour, pretty interactive and interested in the history. Come to find out, they're members and he is involved/ works for the ancestor.com or something like that. :) He knew a lot about the history of the Battalion and the people in it, and they loved the artifacts in the displays! They really just loved it all and noticed so many details of the Site, and so i took them out to Gold panning, and i started talking to the mom who is from Brazil.
Her name is T and, and proceeded to tell me her life story for about 20-30 min i'd say. But it was SO incredible!! I <3 loved listening to her, she was so into the story and emotional and inthusiastic about it all, it was great! :) Plus she was SUCH an inspiration! She told me how she was converted to the church, and she has 2 degrees in Brazil. You could tell that she is just SUCH a hard worker and knows that you have to work to be successful. But she loves life and just lives it to the fullest!! Going to college, she wasnt worried that she was getting older and not married yet, she knew what she was doing in getting an education and traveling, and she was going to enjoy every moment of it! :) She knew that Heavenly Father would take care of her and let her know when the time was right. Well then she goes on to tell me her outstanding and SPIRITUAL story of how she moved to America, got citizenship and eventually met her husband! :) And this wasn't something that just happened right when she got to america, this was over a couple years! She was working as a cleaning lady, and after she had lived here for a yr. she started to go to school and learn english. Then before she met her husband, she was purposed to 2X before! haha all by different people!
This woman is SO spiritually in tune <3 I mean, first deciding to move to America where you know NO ONE and you dont even know English...:/ But after praying, she knew that she was supposed to move and start her life there. Then she's proposed to 2X and each time she goes to the Temple to consult with her Heavenly Father, and both times she is told no, and then the 3rd time she finally is told that he is the man she is supposed to marry. So then those two date for a yr, because she really wants to know him and him to know her. He had a previous marriage that was a whole other story. Sounded like it really destroyed him for a while.. So you can imagine her having to go through some of this while they were dating.... and like a week before their wedding T thought that it wasnt the time to get married anymore. And she's 40 at this time.. so this woman has some patience! i dunno if i could wait that long till i got married... Well anyway, they prayed together about it and they worked it out. And so now they have a 7 year old whom they ADORE :) They tried to have a baby before He was born, but they lost her... :( Their son though has told them that he knew his sister in Heaven and they were together waiting for them to finally get married :) It was so cute!! Oh and he served his mission in Brazil! haha but he was in the North end and she lived in the South or something! :) And so the whole family speaks Portugise!
They are SUCH a neat family and who knew that i could become so close to someone in 25 min!? :) This woman truly lifted my spirits so much! and strengthened my testimoy in so many ways <3 i could've talked to her for hours and hours and hear all of her life story and experiences :) She is definitely someone that i want to be like though, i want to always be that spiritually in tune :) And get this! this shows even more how awesome she is! :) As they were getting to leave, they asked me for my email so they could keep in touch with me :) and they gave me all of their info so i could contact them throughout the mission and after as well :) Talking to them just made my whole day!!"
Isn't that so awesome!!? Heavenly Father just knows who to put in my day so that i can be spiritually uplifted! :) This Lady seriously made me tear up multiple times while i was talking to her because her testimony was so powerful. She is just someone that knows who she is and where she is going in life :) i love her! it was such a neat experience and so i really was so excited to tell you about it. So the moral of this story is, that no matter who you meet and who they are, you can always touch someones life. Never be afraid to share your testimony and what you believe, cause even if you are talking to someone that is of your same faith, you can still uplift them :):) haha i hope that story all made sense :)
This week we also had MTE meetings, which is Mission Training Exchanges. We met at our stake center for a couple of hours and have discussions with our Mission Pres. haha so remember how i told you my first day was just a burst of spirutual knowledge?! CHaa MTE is just like that!! :) my mission pres. is incredible and he made this meeting life changing! After going to that meeting, he made me want to be the best missionary that San Diego has ever seen! ;) He just knows how to boost your hopes and increase your faith! We talked about seeing a vision for your area and then making goals to achieve that vision. :) I feel like its an easy thing to visualize, but then its a whole other story setting goals and making it happen, especially with a companion. Just cause you two see things differently and can be on totally different levels of faith and desire. ya know? But of course thats what's trial and error is for, so you can work together and see what works best for you :):) I love being a missionary and just seeing how it is changing my life forever :):) I feel like i have learned SO MUCH just in these 2-3 months. I'm going to be a different person forever, but I'm being shaped into who the Lord wants me to be :)
I hope all of you who read this realize how BLESSED we are to live in a time where the truth HAS BEEN RESTORED to the earth! We have the FULL and EVERLASTING GOSPEL of JESUS CHRIST!! :) We have the map to find our way to ETERNAL HAPPINESS <3 I'm so grateful to be spreading this glorious work!! :) There is a quote in preach my gospel, and i dunno it word for word but its right at the begining of the book and it says something along the lines of, the more we understand the gospel and its precepts, the more that we will have the desire to share it. That is so true! :) The more I'm internalizing my purpose and the more that i TRULY understand the doctrines of Christ, the more i want to go out everyday and proclaim it to the world!! :) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is TRUE!! :) I know it with all of my heart! I know that our savior Lives and that the atonement of Christ is Central to the plan of happiness. Its central to OUR plan, our lives. BAh i love this work!! and i LOOOVEE being a missionary!! :):) Thank you all for you love, support and prayers!! :):)
Hoorah for Israel! The Church is True so what Else matters? :) Love you all, Hugs and Kisses comin your way! :)
xoxox, Hermana Stevens <3
P.S. This is my shout out to all of the people in Zone 35 and specifically 35B!!! you all are the BESTEST!!!!! i miss you all like crazy but i love knowing that we are all out doing the Lords work!! I cant wait till the day we reunite and share our experiences!! :) we are the Band of Brothers/ (Sisters) and are continually growing stronger in the Lord :) I love you all!! Hasta Cabo! ;)
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