Life's Little Adventures

Mi Familia,

To explain my title, I have been thinking about how in my emails up until this point, the majority of them have been mainly about my lessons. So this week I decided to write about the small things that happen throughout the day as well.

For my spiritual thought something I have been thinking about a lot is the importance of having a positive attitude. When we have a positive attitude it can totally change the impact of your day. When I first came to the referral center the days were hard for me. So every morning I would say "Today is going to be a good day," and I would end the day by saying "Today was a good day." It helped me notice that even though bad things happened throughout the day there were still good things in it as well.

I know that God helps us with whatever we need if we ask for it and show that we are willing to do what he has asked us to do. I know that with God anything is possible and miracles do happen throughout our day, we just need to look for them. I know that Jesus Christ performed His Atonement so that I can have the chance to return and live with Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and those I love in Heaven again. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sunday 06/18/2017

I want to start off by saying Happy fathers day, dad. There were a lot of inspiring messages at church about the importance of a father. Thank you for all you have done for me in my life.

Keidi got baptized today!!! I am so happy. We talked to her afterward and she was a little discouraged because when she got confirmed she didn't feel anything. I told her that when you have the Holy Ghost, you are not having spiritual experiences all day every day. The Holy Ghost is quiet and is hard to notice.

Keidi after her baptism.

Keidi: I hope so. Thanks! I guess it's dangerous to get people's hopes hyped up based on one's own experiences.

She then said this "Overall, I am beyond glad that I finally got baptized. I know that the Spirit was present today. And that I really was baptized in the true church. Even though it might take me a little while to get used to it all, it was a great day. I don't know how you Elders do it. But in the meetings with you, the spirit is stronger than with any other. The Spirit traveling and reaching over oceans at the same moment, amazing. I know that my baptism happening (and relatively quickly) was all thanks to your help. Thank you!

A cake she received. It says "Keidi Baptism" in Estonian.

We had a member dinner with Sean. Our first dinner with an actual single adult. It was awesome, we had chicken with fancy bread that had white chocolate in it. There was also this really good yogurt. We then were brought back to the M.T.C, dropped off our things, grabbed our notebooks and left to a special devotional.

We don't usually go to the Sunday Devotional, but we did today because Donny Osmond was speaking. It was crazy. Some of the things he said weren't entirely in line with the spirit. Because It was Father's Day he sang a song he wrote about a relationship between a father and his son which was nice. That last part brought the spirit in.

Monday 06/19/2017

Today is my first day being companions with Elder Withers and Elder Jacobson. We haven't had a very productive day, we just spent the majority of our day on chat. Personal and Companionship study was super good though. We went to T3 (one of the new buildings) and studied the Book of Mormon. For companionship study we practiced teaching the first lesson in Spanish, which went really well. It is super fun being in a trio again.

Elder Stevenson, Elder Withers, and Elder Jacobson

language study was also good. We went to T3 later in the day as well for language study and there were people there touring the building. We talked to three people and they happened to be the Aunt, Uncle and Grandma of Benson Bunker, who is a returned missionary from the referral center mission. I have actually met him a couple times, so it was cool to meet his relatives.

Tuesday 06/20/2017

I have had a really good day so far. For my first lesson with Elder Withers and Elder Jacobson we talked to Josefine. It was super good. We taught about obedience, prayer, and scripture study. Elder Jacobson, Elder Withers and I read scriptures with her to explain the importance of talking with God and how we need to align our will with His. We ended by asking her to live the things that we have talked about.

I saw Sister Stevenson again today. She was doing a English fast so she only spoke German to me. It sounded really good and she looked really happy. It was in the cafeteria. The MTC has made some major renovations to the Cafeteria. It looks really strange now. There is less space to eat and it feels more crowded, because of the increase of Missionaries. As well there are no things to swipe your card anymore. There is only one door to enter and to exit. They have also started making walls of padded material where some of the tables use to be.

Elder Donald L. Hallstrom and Sister Diane Hallstrom came to speak to us at the Devotional today. Here are some things that they said.

Sister Hallstrom: The challenge of our world is keeping our hearts faithful. A broken heart seeks to be humble. A broken heart yearns to be taught. A broken heart desires exact obedience. There is nothing so whole as a broken heart. A fixed heart is bound with the lord in covenant.

Elder Hallstrom: It doesn't matter what difficult thing comes our way, because when we are converted to the lord, we will never fall away. As you take his name upon you through Baptism, Confirmation, and other saving ordinances, you will receive promised blessings.

Wednesday 06/21/2017

We went to T3 for breakfast since S1 (administration building) is closed. It was interesting. The way things were set up reminded me of a hotel breakfast. There were little paper trays with plastic spoons, forks, and knifes. We were able to see the employees cooking the food out in the open on long metal tables. Once we had received our food we went through a door where a bunch of tables were set up. it was quite nice.

For companionship study we made goals to improve on our Spanish personally and as a companionship. I am going to start reading The Book of Mormon and Preach My Gospel in Spanish and the words I don't understand I will write on flashcards and use those to increase my vocabulary. We are also going to have a Spanish fast tomorrow as well as Monday.

Elder Jacobson, Elder Stevenson, and Elder Withers at the temple.

Elder Withers, Elder Jacobson and I had lunch outside of T3 on a bench in the shade because the missionaries were singing the happy birthday song and it was very loud and disturbing. It was nice to just sit outside and think.

Thursday 06/22/2017

Today is my first day having a real english fast. It is just between our companionship though, we can still talk english to other missionaries. It is very hard to understand Elder Withers and Elder Jacobson since I just started speaking Spanish, but I know that I will get better over time. We made a goal yesterday to pray for the gift of tongues in every prayer. So I hope that helps.

We went to Spanish today, and on our way we saw sister duck with her little ducklings. We watched as they hopped down the short stairs on the way to T3, it was quite the sight. But nobody in our companionship had cameras on us.

I had my first member exchange today with a young single adult named Taylor. He is pretty cool. He talked to a bunch of his old investigators while I was on chat. Taylor went on a Facebook mission so he had most of his investigators on his Facebook. He also went on a Spanish speaking mission so he knows Spanish, which is awesome. While he was talking with his old investigators Elder Buckway and I did chats, but then Elder Buckway got a new member so I did Chats alone after that.

After I was finished. I grabbed my bag and exited T2 with Elder Withers and Elder Jacobson. Right in front of the doors on the outside of the building there was a group of people. we kind of went around them, but before I could walk away I was stopped. I saw Elder (Ben) Robinson. We didn't say very much to each other, but I told him that I was happy to see him.

Friday 06/23/2017

I had a dream that I was teaching the plan of salvation in Spanish to someone. When I woke up this morning I told Elder Withers this. He said "that's not a dream, that's reality." I have been learning more but I know that It will take time to increase my knowledge to the point where I am comfortable talking to others in Spanish.

Language study was great today. I practiced introducing myself like we do when we have our first meeting with someone. I think doing this was good because when we do meet someone new I will be better prepared with the knowledge of how to introduce myself in a way that I feel comfortable doing.

We taught Donna today. It sounds like she is doing good. She said the job she accepted originally told her that she would get every Sunday off, but because they are behind on work she is only getting every other Sunday off. But she has this upcoming Sunday off and she said that her local missionaries are going to show her where the church building is tomorrow, because she just moved again.

Saturday 06/24/2017

I saw Elder Rast at the temple today, which was fun. We also went to Noodles and company after we were done with our shift, which was cool. It was fun to come closer with my district that way.

Con Amor,

Elder Stevenson