Before I give you my weekly ramble, I thought I should start each weekly email with a small spiritual thought, so here it is. Everyone wants to be a successful missionary, but do they really stop to think about what a successful missionary is? Being a successful missionary isn't about how many baptisms you have nor how many people you teach. A successful missionary is someone who gives their all to bring others closer to Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. Like Elder Uceda said, "We are not here to baptize everything that moves, we are here to make disciples." So when we go and teach people we should see them as God sees them. When we see people, we should smile and greet them with a kind heart. No matter how they look or how they act, they are a child of God and they are our brothers and sisters. Treat them as you would your family. That is my spiritual thought for this week. Now onto the news.
Saturday 04/22/2017
Today for dinner Elder Savoie and I went to Smash Burger. We ran into two members who asked if they could buy us dinner. Of course we said they didn't have to, but they insisted, so they bought us dinner which was nice. Their names were Martin and Julia. At the end of Dinner we had a spiritual discussion and I had the opportunity to bear my testimony, which was great.
Sunday 04/23/2017
Today we taught a new investigator named Timothy. He is originally from Malawi but is currently living in the states. He wants to move back to Malawi in June though. Timothy wants to learn really badly. He accepted a baptismal date for may twenty-seventh, a invitation to go to church next week, and a invitation to read the Book of Mormon introduction. So I would say that today is going well so far. I've started saying a prayer at the end of each referral confirmation which I found really brings the spirit.
Monday 04/24/2017
Elder Savoie and I went to Spanish today. I learned some new ways to study. Hermano Avila said to practice pronunciation, so that's what I am going to do. We spent the majority of the day doing chats which was good.
Tuesday 04/25/2017
We lost Mohammad today. He was our investigator from Finland. We sent him local missionaries because he was having trouble understanding our English. Elder Savoie and I also taught Donna today. Donna is a new investigator from Louisiana. She has been through some rough things with her family, so we are trying to teach her the importance of a unified family. Anyway, she agreed to have another appointment with us, so that's good. I also went to choir today, which was fantastic. We sang "Where Can I Turn For Peace," and then the devotional started (20 minutes later). Elder Mervyn A. Arnold of the seventy spoke to us. Something I thought about while he was speaking was how much we need The Holy Ghost. Without The Holy Ghost the words we teach are empty. The Spirit is the one that lets people know the truth of the gospel. Some things that Elder Arnold said was "The only thing you have to give The Lord is your will." Also "We can not be humble when we only think about ourselves." And then at the very end of the talk he left us all with a promise. He said "If you are humble and give your best you will have a physical change in your countenance." Everything we do should and say should be directed by The Savior.
Wednesday 04/26/2017
Elder Savoie and I went to Spanish today. Hermano Avila and I studied some words that are in the section The Great Apostasy. Something fun we did was we played horse with a paper ball and the trash can, and before every shot we would pick a Spanish word and then we would pick one of its preterite conjugations, just so I could improve on my preterite form. After dinner Elder Savoie and I talked to Karl. Karl is keeping his commitments and is reading the scriptures. The lesson we taught him was The Restoration. We also read The Book of Mormon Introduction together. At the end of the meeting we asked him to pray and he did it, but he was kind of hesitant. Because Karl doesn't believe in God he thought his words wouldn't have any meaning to them. We gave him a baptismal date to work towards which is June 3rd. When we said "if you find out the things you are reading to be true will you be baptized?" He responded with "If I find out that it is true then I will jump at the first opportunity to get baptized."
Thursday 04/27/2017
Last week I talked about how beautiful and peaceful the mountains are. I found a scripture in my personal study today that makes me happy. The reference is 1 Nephi 13:37. This is what it says "And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be." How fantastic is that? I had my first member dinner tonight. We had dinner with Brother Boardman. After dinner we had another lesson with Donna. It was fantastic. Elder Savoie and I talked about ways that we have seen God's love in our own lives , and how we have seen Him bless us. After that she told some ways she has seen God bless her. Donna said "My son caught on fire the other day, so we went to the doctor and we thought that he was going to lose his arm, but the doctors said that it wasn't as bad as they thought. So he still has full use of his arm." After that story Donna said this, "That will teach him not to play with the barbecue." I think that it is so awesome that she talks about something serious and then jokes about it. Anyway Elder Savoie and I invited her to attend church this Sunday and she said she would. We also were able to set up a baptismal date for June 3rd. We also talked to Michael today. We spoke about the priesthood, and Michael said that he was going to fast to prepare for Sunday, where he will talk to the bishop about receiving the Aaronic Priesthood.
Friday 04/28/2017
Today is my one month mark out in the field! We had a really good talk with Keidi in the afternoon. I asked about how she felt reading in Mosiah 18. After I said that Elder Savoie said "she's not the feeling type." I said a prayer that I could be in tune with the spirit, and it was right at that moment that she said that she really felt the spirit reading it. Then she said that she went to her local church. Keidi said after "I prayed about it the night before, I like the assurance." so she is praying as well, which is stupendous.
Saturday 04/29/2017
Today Elder Savoie, Elder Meldrum, Elder Southwick and I all played horse shoes at the field which was super fun.
I leave you with my testimony. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and redeemer and that through His Atonement we can become clean and return back to our Father in heaven. When we put our trust in The Lord we show him our appreciation for what he did for us. what is the Best thing about having Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is that They will always be willing to help us as long as We ask in sincere prayer and in faith. This I can testify to you, in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Love,
Elder Stevenson
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