There Is Peace In Christ

Hello My Dear Family,

This week has been pretty awesome. A lot happened, such as smartphones were approved for our mission. Also a new "Face To Face" came out this week. The title of my email is the name of one of the songs sung in the video.

Something that I studied this week was the topic of chastity. The law of chastity in short is being sexually pure, but there is so much more to it than that. Something that has become a favorite of mine is from "The Family: A Proclamation To The World." Something that it says is, "Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities." The law of chastity does not stop after marriage. Just like God, it will never change.

I know that we have a Father in Heaven who loves us. God has been and always will be there for us. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it does carry all the doctrines and principles necessary for our salvation. As we follow the example of Jesus Christ we can become more Christlike each day. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Sunday 10/08/2017

Elder Woodruff and I talked to a man from Uganda named Pastor John. He called us asking for us to help him build a church in Uganda. We talked to him and he had a lot of questions, and after we would answer a question of his he would say “hmm,” and then he would go on to his next question. He asked us what the benefits would be from joining the church. Pastor was interested in becoming a minister of one of the wards and bringing the people of that congregation to his congregation. He was also asking about bible colleges where church leaders are trained. So we explained the concept of how the people who have callings in the church are not paid but are called of God to do those things for Him.

Elder Woodruff, Elder Jensen, Elder Zaugg and I all had a member dinner at the Lau's. It was fantastic. We all made our own tacos and they had cornbread. For dessert they made Apple Crisp with vanilla ice cream. Then Elder Jensen and Elder Zaugg gave a really good spiritual thought on responsibility.

Monday 10/09/2017

The exchange that I did today was with Elder Zaugg. It was super good. We had a lesson with one of Elder Woodruff and I’s investigators named Star. We planned to talk about the restoration but then just ended up talking about Jesus Christ, His atonement, and His ministry here on earth. It was fantastic. She talked about how she has seen Him help her throughout her life.

I met mom's boss Kelly Mills (Administrative Director of MTCs) today. He was in the referral center along with Kristin Snyder (Referral Center Director) and Gary Crittenden (Managing Director of the Missionary Department) when Elder Zaugg and I got back from lunch. I saw Kelly Mills name tag and saw that it had the word administration on it. So I asked if he knew mom (I called her by her first name, because I knew already that he didn't know her by the name of mom). Anyway he said he did and that he had heard a lot of good things about me, which was surprising because I didn't know I was talked about to him.

Tuesday 10/10/2017

We had a meeting with President Martino today. He talked about how we are going to receive smartphones in our mission. We are now going to be able to message and have lessons outside of the referral center, but they have not made Teaching Center for the phone, so we will not be able to do finding on our phones.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson came for tonight's Tuesday night devotional. He talked a lot about church history. He did make a really cool promise to us. Elder Christofferson said, "The Book of Mormon will be a companion to you for the rest of your life." Something else that stuck out to me was when he said, "We must have faith, which leads to hope, which leads to the changing of our countenances."

Wednesday 10/11/2017

Tammy was baptized today. I have been teaching Tammy since I was with Elder Savoie, so this was a really special event. We did not get to watch it, but she did send us a picture which was very special.

Tammy's baptism

Elder Woodruff and I met with a lady we found named Yulanda. We were only able to do introductions but her introduction was fantastic. She started out by saying my name is Yo or Yoyo, and then she talked about her family and ended by saying God is real and God is good.

Thursday 10/12/2017

There was a new Face To Face with Lexi Walker, Patch Crowe, Madilyn Paige, and Nicole Luz. It was fantastic, especially the music that was sung in it. They sang a song called "There Is Peace in Christ" which I think they said will be on next years' EFY album. Also their opening song was really good as well.

We had a lesson with a women named Ernestina, who is from Ghana. She has no religious background, so that made it super fun to teach her because she just had questions about everything we said, so we talked about church, baptism and confirmation, the life of Jesus Christ, as well as talking about God and how we are His children and He loves us immensely.

Elder Woodruff and I took forty-four referral confirmations. This was super awesome because not only was it a lot, but we also got to see some pretty interesting names such as Ug, Franai, and Shakeel Shoukat.

Friday 10/13/2017

We were able to go to the dedication of the new buildings on the MTC campus today. Not only was President Eyring there, but also Bonnie L. Oscarson, Bishop Causse, Dallin H. Oaks, and other church leaders. A promise that President Eyring said was really awesome. He said, "For many, the friendships that are created here will continue throughout your mission and throughout your lives." This was fantastic because I am with the same people for my entire mission, and I plan to continue the friendships that I have made. I love you all.

Love,

Elder Stevenson