Busque, Medite, Y Ore

Hello all,

This week went by really fast. A lot of things happened, which I will get to later. I would like to start this off on a spiritual note. Something that has seemed to be a pattern this week is how do I know that God hears and answers me?

This is really special because God does hear and answer us. He knows each of us by name and wants us more that anything to come back to Him. I like to think that when I am praying He is kneeling right beside me, listening, even if I can't see Him. To truly know if God is listening, we need to be listening as well. We also need faith. It says in Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." As I have exercised faith I have felt the presence of God and seen His hand help me throughout my life. I know that God is real, that He is my Father, and that He truly did make The Plan of Salvation so that we can come back to Him. I know that as we follow His commandments we will be blessed. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Saturday 07/29/2017

The Provo temple is up and running again, so I got to start working in it and helping people again. One of the referral center's investigators from England came here to the M.T.C. today. Because she has a weak immune system, and because Elder Withers and Elder Jacobson were sick, we were not allowed to see her. I did not teach her but just about everyone else did. So our companionship went back to the residence and played a game that I have not played before, it was called Dominion and it was really fun.

Sunday 07/30/2017

I spent most of the day with Elder Arndt and Elder Schwendiman while Elder Withers and Elder Jacobson rested back at the residence. I helped them get everybody to church and back. I then attended their ward which was super interesting. It was really weird to be in a church building again and sitting on one of the benches there. I say this because in the foreign language ward our church is in an apartment complex, so we just use fold up chairs.

Because it was fifth Sunday I got to hear the Bishop and his wife talk in third hour. It was really interesting. They showed a video about a Native American youth who went into a valley to test his spiritual and physical strength. When he was on the mountain he fasted for three days. On the fourth day the youth then climbed the to the top of the mountain and found a rattlesnake. The rattlesnake asked the youth to carry him down the mountain. The snake tells the youth that the if he is brought down to lower ground he will not bite. The youth is hesitant and lingers for a minute, and then decides that he will bring the snake down the mountain. The snake does not bite the youth on his entire trip down, but when the snake is set down on the ground, he bites the native american youth.

The bishop compared this to pornography and to sin. We can not linger and take time to think that we are different, that if we commit a certain sin the consequences won’t come, but they will always come.

Monday 07/31/2017

Our lesson with Tammy went really well. I have been teaching Tammy since I was with Elder Savoie. We have tried to get her to meet with local missionaries, but she has not met with them because she doesn't want her mom to freak out. So the idea popped into my head that she can meet with the missionaries at her local church building, so we asked her and she said she would do it.

Tuesday 08/01/2017

Our lesson with Josefine was really good. Last time we asked her to study about the Holy Ghost and teach us what she learned, and she did. We got to hear about the different roles that the Holy Ghost has. Elder Withers, Elder Jacobson and I then talked about how the Holy Ghost can be a guide to us. Elder Jacobson then made the connection between The Holy Ghost and the Liahona. The Liahona was a guide to Lehi and his family. It worked when they were obedient and did not work when they disobeyed God. The Holy Ghost works in the same exact way.

The devotional was really good tonight. Brother and Sister Bingham were the ones that spoke. Sister Jean B. Bingham is the General Relief Society President. Brother Bingham said "We must act on the first prompting we get. If you listen to the first prompting, you get it right nine times out of ten." Meaning that if we act on the first prompting we receive, it will be just what the other person needs, nine times out of ten.

Sister Bingham talked a lot about how she does not have very good vision, but when she wears her glasses she can see a lot clearer. She then related this to the gospel. one thing that she said was "Gospel principles can help us have an eternal perspective on things." She also talked about how everything we do does not have to be complicated. One comment she made about this was, "doing simple things results in great power."

Wednesday 08/02/2017

Something super awesome happened today. So Kaitlyn has not been baptized because she wants her mother to be at her baptism. Her mom wanted Kaitlyn to wait for a year before she could be baptized. This is what she said to Elder Savoie today: “I just talked to my local missionaries about the priesthood! I think next week sometime I might ask for a priesthood blessing to find comfort and guidance and to help me know for sure that baptism is what I want! I'm really excited! I'm hoping to be able to feel more sure and my decision and truly testify to my mom my belief and my want to be baptized.”

He then sent me this, “Her mom changed her mind from next year to the next couple of months.”

Thursday 08/03/2017

Elder Withers and Elder Jacobson went to the doctors so I got to do chatting with Elder Savoie and Elder Salas. It was fun because Elder Savoie and I got to talk about things that happened when we were companions. He then went into a lesson, so I did chatting with Elder Curtis and Elder Hancock until we went to dinner.

Friday 08/04/2017

Dinner today was super cool. We got pizza for everyone at Little Caesers and brought it back to the referral center. Elder Withers gave a cake to his doctor yesterday and he brought it back so we ate that as well which was super delicious. It was chocolate mousse cake.

Our companionship also did weekly planning and companionship inventory, which was fun because we got to talk about all of our investigators and how they are doing.

I love you all.

Love,

Elder Stevenson