June 14th E-mail

So another week has come and gone! where does the time go!?  Weeks feel like days for sure and some days DEFINITELY feel like weeks! The whole mission time warp is pretty crazy i wont lie, but this is something i'll never get to experience again so i might as well enjoy it right? :)

 

This week i thought id tell you about what my average day is like as a missionary :) Just cause... i wanna talk about that :) haha So first of all being a Mormon Battalion Sister is very unique i'd say. All the teaching we have to do, has got to be done in 1/2 the time cause we are at the MoBat pratically everyday. So how it works is we have either a 9-3 shift or a 3-9 shift at the MoBat, and then the other 1/2 of the time is spent out teaching people. When we are at the MoBat we are talking to HUNDREDS of people every day!! i LOVE it!! Taking people on tours is so awesome and every tour is different, and if you really take the time to KNOW these people, you are able to teach them just like you would any other investigator :) Its so neat to see the way that missionary work can come about!  This is definitely the Lords work and he is going to spread it through every means possible, and one of those ways is at the Mormon Battalion :) So far i've had some of my most spritual moments there teaching people in the tour :)

 

So the other half of our day is spent teaching :) i absolutely LOVE the people in my ward and the people that i'm teaching <3 hahaha and EVERYONE here FEEDS US!! I mean.. i'm not complaining at all, but i really didnt think i'd be fed so much by the members and even the non members! In our ward we even have a list that goes around so people can sign up to feed us. haha they must think that we dont eat unless a member is feeding us? :P But the food so far has been great! i Love mexican food and i think slowly i'm becoming addicted to totillas ;) They eat them at every meal! But they are always so good! As far as food goes too, i havent been fed anything  haven't been able to eat. One of the meals i ate though had some sketchy meat in the soup :/ hahaha it was like a pigs foot! hahaha so i just ate around it and left it in the bowl :) Thats really the only sketchy thing i've had so far. Oh and i had this dessert called FLAN?? i may have had it before but i dont remember. Its just like a vanilla-ee custard, but the texture that isn't quite my favorite... But the taste is good so i was able to get it down :) haha oh eating with members is such an adventure!

 

Anyway, so our other half of the day is spent teaching people. BUT this is where it starts to get all sorts of confusing... So here in the San Diego Mission, we are on the Pilot training program. So that means that our studying in the morning goes something along these lines: 8-9 is personal study. 9-11 is comp study (so another hour is added to comp study) 11-12 is Lang study. So you arent supposed to even get out of your house till like 12 or 1 cause you have to eat lunch too! So thats some pretty intense studying! But... remember how i said being a MoBat sister is unique? ya... if we are scheduled to be at the mobat in the morning we dont get any of that, instead we just do an hour of comp study. :-/ and THEN if we are supposed to be out teaching in the morning, which is not very often, we get to do all of our study time. haha but i'd say that for the three weeks i've been here, we've prob done 2 hrs total of lang study :P so that tells you how much time we DONT have to really sit down and study. :P Luckily though, this is the Lords work, and we just need to do all that we are able, and he will help make up for the rest :)

 

So along with our teaching, we also have other things we have to fit in with the little time that we have. Every week we have to make time to weekly plan. I didnt even know we did weekly planning cause i never did it in the MTC :-/ haha oops! but doing it on the mission is actually so helpful. It takes a LONG time to get it done, but its so worth it afterwords :) we just sit down and plan in very good detail what we need to do for the upcoming week to achieve our goals, and help our investigators and less actives. On average it takes like 3 hours to do so, but since we dont have very much time to sit down and study let alone plan, some weeks we have to break up our weekly planning and try and do a little bit every day. We also have District meeting every week as well, so thats usually planned in a week. We get together and discuss the progress going on in our ward. And the last meeting thats planned is our group meeting for the MoBat :) I actually really like those, its like a mini devotional. I always learn a lot from the Sisters that teach us, and it helps remind me that these tours are to teach people and bring them closer to Christ. Not just entertain them on their vacations :) So those are really awesome.

 

But yeah being a missionary is INTENSE! :) haha i dont doubt that its like that for every single missionary in the world! :) Its incredible all the things we are able to do with how little time we have! :) Just another testimony that this IS the Lords work, and its going to get done no matter what. I love being a Missionary  i say that every week and i think i mean it THAT much more every week too! :):) I love the mission that i'm in. I love the people that i'm teaching, and i love the hundreds of people that i get to see every day at the Battalion :) I'm learning so much here and am so grateful for this experience!! :):)

 

 i love you all so much hope you have a wonderful week!! good luck at ragnar! i'll be cheering you on in my heart!! :):) RUn BABY RUN!! :):) hahaha hugs and kisses comin your way!! :) xoxoxoxox Hma Stevens :)

June 7, 2011 E-mail

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! ;)

 

May 30th, 2011 Email

Well i made it to California and i have officially been here for one whole week!!! :):) Wow i have so much to say too and i'm SO GRATEFUL that i dont have a dumb little countdown at the top of my screen! Haha i have about an hour to write so i'm pretty sure i'll be able to get everything out safely :)

 

Mmk so.......HELLO i'm in CALIFORNIA!!

 Tuesday was quite the rush! haha Hma Young and I almost missed the bus to get to the airport and it was just CRAZY. I had one of my poor luggage wheels break on my new big bag. :( A sweet Elder was trying to help me and get my luggage to the bus, and it was raining and dark, and he thought he could jump down a little drop off instead of going down the stairs... and he jumped with my luggage.... and ya toppled on the ground and thats how my wheel broke. :/ i didnt notice it at the time, but when i got the airport i realized how heavy my bags were and it felt like i was just dragging my bags. hahaha turns out i kinda was :P But it still works fine its just hard when you are trying to DRAG about 100 lbs with one hand. :)

 

But either way we were able to get to the airport and to Cali just fine. :) When we got to Cali we met President Donaldson and his wife, then spent the day with them at their house. BEST DAY!! holy moly. First of all we got there and i came with about 14 other elders and sisters. There were 3 sisters then the rest Elders. We ate lunch at their house and it was so awesome to have REAL food! haha no more MTC stuff :) And then we had some meetings/ getting to know you in the Family room. It was kinda hustle and bustle to make sure that we were getting everything that the president needed done: like pictures, health forms, Licenses, paperwork etc etc. Then after all that guess what we got to do!? :) TAKE A NAP!!! hahaha i never thought I'd get to use that word my entire mission!! :)

 

So we separated and us Sisters got to sleep on the couches and the Elders were kicked somehwere else? But we were able to take an hour and half nap!! :) BOOO YAA!!  best nap of my life prob! Pretty sure i completely LOVE President and Sister Donaldson already :) After our LOVELY naps we watched a talk by Elder Holland about missinoary work. <3 It was OUTSTANDING!! I cannot tell you how much i learned just from that talk!! :) I love Elder Holland! It was the best way to continue to our discussion on how to be a missionary and the desires that we need to have and how this mision HAS to CHANGE our lives FOREVER. <3 it was SO powerful.

 

The night just kept getting better from that point on!!  President Donaldson is INCREDIBLE!!! I dont think i've ever met someone with so much knowledge about the gospel!! :) haha remember how i always talk about Hno Gillon and how powerful he was and how muc he knows?! YA... President is a GROWN Hno Gillon!! :):) ahhhhh it was soooo awesome!! my mind WAS EXPLODING with excitement and just expanding with so much information! But it i couldnt get enought of it! i could listent to him talk all night long! :) I wish I could explain everything i learned, but one i forgot my notebook with my like 5 pgs of notes! and two I dont think it would sound as good having me say it :P But all i know is that this Gospel is Incredible!! Heavenly Father is so AMAZING and he definitely knows what he is doing :) The Atonement is CENTERAL to everything in the Gospel, and i absolutely LOVE learning about it!!!! :):)

 

Ok so now time to explain the rest of my week!! :D My comp. is Hma. L <3 She is awesome :) i'm so lucky to have such great comps! Her spanish is Legit and i'm so excited for the day i'll be able to talk like her :) The first day we met we went to the MoBat. (Mormon Battalion) and had a short mtg there, and the first day was a lot of transfer stuff and just going from building to buidling to be trained. Wednesdays are transfer days so we had to go through all that for the rest of the Elders and Sisters. But after all that we were able to get to work! The first day we had three apts lined up so i was able to meet all of them! hahaha everyone here speaks SO FAST!!!! :) i pretty much dont understand anything and i can hardly say anything either :P but everyone is so nice to me and tells me to keep practicing :) I love all of the people already though. Thats  one of the huge blessings i've seen since having this name tag and being set apart as a missionary. I LOVE the people so much!! i couldnt even understand them, but i love them with all my heart and just want to teach them!! I'm so excited to keep learning spanish so i can talk to them and love them even more!! :)

 

So thats kinda how the whole week was. I've met quite a few people and i love them all!! I was able to teach a lesson yesterday in English and it was SO GREAT!!! ahhhh the spirit was so strong and this woman is so strong! she is so sweet and is doing everything she needs to do to be baptized. But she doesnt want to make that step yet. I think she needs to have her own testimony of the Book of Mormon. So asked to to pray and and find out for herself :) I'm so excited to hear how it goes :):) I love teaching and testifying!!! :):)

 

Ok so i'm getting low on time so i'm sorry i dont get to share all the details right now :/ So the Battalion... is so great!! i have the BEST MISSION EVER!!!!! and i get the best of both worlds!! :) i get to go to the MoBat everyday for either a 3-9 shift of 9-3 shift and its so fun!!!! This place is so awesome and i HIGHLY recommend everyone to come see it if you ever come to San Diego!!!  :) I do a lot of English tours and i've done a few spanish tours. We only do the Spanish tours when there is a group that wants it :) But its so fun!!! Kids absolutely love and so do the Adults! :) Its such a great way to touch peoples lives and share important history of our Religion <3

 

Gosh i love this mission!!!!! :):) i am so blessed to be doing this and i wake up every morning with so much excitement to go out and teach!!! :) I see SO many blessings that have come from serving <3 The Lord is so mindful of all of us and wants us to be happy, and he is SO willing to bless us when are doing what we are supposed to. :) I love this Gospel so much!!! We are SO BLESSED TO HAVE WHAT WE HAVE!! :):) I already know that this mission is going to go by SO FAST and so i dont want to ever take a day for granted! I want to serve everyday with all my heart might mind and strenth!! :):) I love you all so much!! Thanks for all the love and support!! :):) The Church is True and thats ALL that MATTERS!! :):) <3

 

MUCHO HUGS AND KISSES COMIN YOUR WAY!! :):)

xoxoxoxxo, Hermana Stevens :)

Sorry this is late! E-mail May 20, 2011 She left the MTC TODAY.

Hello my dear family and friends!! :)

welp! i'm goin to Cali on tuesday!! :) and can i just tell you i'm SO READY!!!! i never thought id really be ready to leave the MTC, but the Lord knew exactly how to make me want to leave, and thats by making my district leave first. Everyone but my comp has left for their missions and is super lonely now :( I love my comp and we still have good times but its just not the same without your family here. I'm so happy for them to get out to the field but i miss them like crazy! I'm already looking forward to our reunion in 2 years :P This weekend was so crazy with everyone getting ready to leave, having our in field orentation and all that fun stuff. We had a little going away testimony meeting that was really good :) and before that we spent time together as a district recording funny songs on my recorder. haha that was the best idea to have one of those! so worth the money! :)

Um back to leaving on Tuesday, i get to call home!!!! EEEEEeeeee!!! i'm so excited to call home!! :D I dont really know the exact time that i'll be calling....:-/ I leave the MTC at 5 am and head to SLC. My flight leaves at like 8 so i'm guessing that i'll be calling you around 7?? So just be ready for something like that :) i'll be sure to call the home phone first, and if no one answers i'm calling cell phones ;) so be ready!! :) I think i can buy a calling card or something at the book store here so i'll have lots of minutes to talk :):) i cant wait!! :D

So This week i started visitor center training!! hahaha oh boy. not what i was expecting but its getting better and better every day thank goodness :) haha VC training has increased my desire to leave here too :P Something about being in a class room with 31 girls for 6 hours just makes me ready to bounce! ;) haha oh its an adventure!! i have more of that in the letter that i sent you. :)

The best day that i've had this week was tuedsy for sure! Its was our last day with Hmno Gillion and it was just him, Hma Young & I :) it was the best way to end the MTC with him as our teacher! We just got to talk to him for 3 hours and ask him questions about anything! :) and then we spent some of the time teaching our investigator, but he was so awesome and encouraged us so much to get out to the field and work hard and give our all to the mission. :) he has inspired me SO MUCH here at the mtc!! And he makes me feel like my spanish is the bomb... haha even though its not quite there. He's nice to get such great compliments :)

Speaking of Spanish, yeah i'm SUPER scared to get out there and not understand practically what anyone is saying.. BUT at the same time, i know this will be the best thing for me! i need to be as imersed in Spanish as i can get, so i'm forced to speak it ALL the time! I'm so hoping for a good trainer that is completely flutent and will only speak spanish to me. I want to work hard and getting this language down and i know that its by speaking it every day! :) I'm learning to show more trust in the Lord and relying on him for comfort and strength when i feel like its overwhelming. I'm excited. its time to get to Cali and start getting some PUEBLOS BAPTIZED!!! :):)

Well this is my last email sent from the MTC!! thank you all for your love and support while i've been here!! thank you for the Sweet packages, picts, letters, and dear elders!! the last day i'll be able to recieve dear elders is monday just so ya know :):) I love you all so much!! 

This Church is true and the more that i continue to study and learn about it, the more i have that desire to share it with everyone!! :):) I love my Savior Jesus Christ! I know that he lives and loves everyone one of us! i'm so grateful for the relationship ive been able to develop with him through this MTC experience :) I look forward to developing it more throughout my mission :):) I'm so happy to be here and wouldn't change that for the world!!! love you all! Hugs and Kisses comin your way!! :):)

xoxoxox Hma Stevens :)

Friday May 13th, 2011 Email

So i got travel plans this week!!!!! bahhhhh!!! :):):) I'm going to be in california on may 24!! :)  That's when I'll get to talk to you! ahhhhh!!! i'm sooooo happy!! :):)

I have so many mixed emotions about leaving the mtc... I never thought the day would come when i was going to actually leave this place. I'm now in my comfort zone here and so its time to kick me out! ;)

haha but i feel such an urge to get to San Diego as well!! This past week i just feel like this huge amount of faith and trust that the Lord knows my abilities and everthing is going to be ok in the field. So thats what makes me excited :90

I'm not so excited to leave my WONDERFUL district!! Oh man they are so the bomb and its going to be super bitter sweet leaving all of them. Even my comp. i'm sure we will see each other a lot but i'll miss having her as such a strong companion.

 

Two of the Elders leave for Chile this coming Monday. They are the first to go for the week, then on tuesday everyone else but me and hma y leave. Her and i are going to have all of tuesday to be with our teachers! I wont lie that'll be pretty bomb :) hahaha i think we are going to be translated... soo..... see ya in Heaven?? ;) hahaha just kidding. But we do get a really cool opportunity to teach our investigators and hopefully get some good feed back about our teaching and how to become better :) Its gonna be a sweet adventure!

 

Today we have been doing field training and thats why this email is coming to you so late. Our pday is actually tomorrow but its like a 1/2 pday?? i dunno its just kinda weird. but today we have been in seminars and classes talking about how to be efficient missionaries. how to plan,how to excercise faith, etc etc. Its actually pretty sweet :) I wasn't looking forward to it because today was supposed to be our pday but it ended up being really cool and spiritually uplifitng. Its getting me more and more excited to get out into the field!! BAH i'm going to CALIFORNIA!!! :) haha just had to throw in that burst of excitement :)

 

This week has been pretty awesome. Like i said earlier i really feel like im starting to really SHOW my Faith in Christ, and Heavenly Father and really trust that he knows the plan for me and his plan is way better than any plan than i could come up with. I'm really trying to focus on BEING the missionary and letting this mission go through me. I dont want to come home and be the old me. I dont want to be Shaley Stevens anymore. Because right now i'm Sister Stevens and when i come home i want to be Sister Shaley Stevens :) So i've been trying really hard to soak up that concept and internalize my purpose as a missionary. :) Its been really great and I feel like i'm coming to know my Savior more and more. I have such a desire to really get to know him. Personally, so i can go through this mission knowing what even obstacles come in my way, NONE of them are too great to go through with the Saviors help :) Its been a fun journey finding that out :)

 

Ummmm I love this work!! what can i say!? :) then more and more i'm really learning and living the gospel principles, the more i have this desire and URGE to go and share it!! :) I have some PUEBLOS to baptize!!  :) OHHHH!!! i cant believe i almost forgot to tell you!!! ELDER ANDERSON CAME AND SPOKE TO US ON TUESDAY!!!  THAT WOULD BE APOSTLE NUMBER 3 MY FRIENDS!!! :):) ahhhh it was so awesome!!! :):):):):) I'll go into more detail about it in my letter so i can write some quotes but how bomb is that?!?! :):) I'm so hoping for one more before me and hma young leave :) i would just die :):) But i'm still so grateful for such an awesome opportunity to hear 3 Apostles of the Lord speak to us missionaries while i was here :):) To hear three witnesses bear testimony that Jesus is the Christ and that he Lives!! :) so powerful!! :) it was so cool and i cant believe i almost forgot to tell you such exciting news :) haha must be all the excitement of my travel  plans :)

 

well if i have forgotten anything else to tell you i'll be sure to include it in my letter :) i love you all sooo much!!! :):) I hope you had a super mothers day mom! i sure thought of you a lot! I'm excited to read your email and hear how you all are doing! i'll be counting down the day till i get to hear your voices!! :) bah!! I love being a missionary! The work is true! Jesus Chirst LIVES and loves us!! I know that with all my heart! have a wonderful week!! Hugs and kisses comin your way!! :):):)

 

xoxoxoxox Hermana Stevens <3

I rearraged the dates on these so now they are all in the order that they were written.  Sorry if that's confused anyone. 

There are 3 new ones that I posted today. 

May 6th Email, April 29th Email and April 21st 2011

(April 21st is AFTER the April 21st Email). 

If you are reading these posts about and from Hermana Stevens-  I hope that you will take a minute to write her.  DearElder.com is a great resource while she is still in the MTC. You just type her a quick letter, and if you send it before noon she gets it that night- if you type it in the evening she gets it the next day! :) She doesn't have much longer at the MTC.  The family doesn't have an exact date when she leaves the MTC yet- but it will be sometime mid May we are thinking.  The great thing about DearElder.com is that it's FREE!  And you could even just write her a short note- doesn't have to be long!  Think of it as texting for missionaries. :) 

She would love to hear from any and all of you!! :)  ~ Amber

E-mail May 6, 2011

So this week was pretty great! :) I have a nice little list that i wrote up so i could make sure that i didnt miss anything. Please excuse any of my spelling in this email cause i'm trying to type SUPER FAST today to get it all in! :) 

 

So Saturday we had the COOLEST lesson with Hmno. Gillon!! :) We read the story about Moses and about how he got to see God and all that awesome stuff, but the part that i wanted to share with you, and what was really significant to me, was after he saw God and the devil tempted him. In vs. 19- 23 of Moses one it says: " And now when Moses has said these words, Satan cried with a loud voice and rated upon the earth and commanded saying: i am the only begotten worship me. And it came to pass that Moses began to fear exceedingly and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell. Nevertheless, calling upon God, he recieved strength and he commanded saying: depart from me satan for this one God only will i worship which is the God of Glory and now satan began to tremble and the earth shook and moses recieved strength and called upon God saying, in the name of the only begotten depart hence Satan."  

 

AH how cool is that!?!?! so many things stood out to me in this story! It amazes me that RIGHT after Moses had seen God that he could still fall into temptation by the devil. But then it just shows to me THE POWER OF PRAYER!! :):) Thats exactly how moses gained his power over the devil is by calling upon God. and the exact same thing happened to Joseph Smith! :) So how important is it, that we pray ALWAYS that we may come off conquerers?? :) And i love a quote that bro Gillon gave us after too :) its my new motto everday :) it goes like this: " I want to live my life in such a way that when i wake up each morning Satan will see me and say: "OH NO SHE'S AWAKE!"  :):) hahah is that bomb or what?! :) i love it!!

 

I have such a testimony of prayer. i KNOW that it works and i know that Heavenly Father hears every prayer that we say :) I also know that in our times of trial, when we call upon God he will be right there imediately to comfort us, I have seen this time and time again at the MTC and i know i'll see it all throughout my mission. I'm so grateful for such a LOVING Heavenly Father who cares so much for me and all of his children :) I encourage everyone to read over that story in moses! :) its so sweet!! :)

 

I'm short on time though and i didnt quite get to say all that i wanted, so i'll get a letter written about the rest! :) and I'll even throw in some spanish too!! :) I love this work and i Love my Heavenly FAther And my Savior Jesus Chirst! i know that he lives!! :) I"m so grateful to be here on this mission! even when times get tough! Its teaching me so much and i wouldnt trade it for anything!!! i love you all soooooo much!!! have a wondeful week!! hugs and kisses comin your way!!! :):)

 

xoxoxo

Hermana Stevens :)