Thanksgiving!

Mi familia,

This week has been really interesting. We started using our cell phones this week. Though we haven't been using them as much as I thought we would. It is really useful for messaging investigators and recent converts if we are not at our computer. As well it is easier to contact the other referral center missionaries.

Saturday 11/18/2017

Kaitlyn was baptized today. This is really special because Kaitlyn has been taught since I was with Elder Savoie and has been doing fantastic. Something else that is amazing is both her Mom and her Dad showed up to the baptism, who are not members. Kaitlyn’s Mom was a previous member but fell away, but even though she left the church she raised Kaitlyn with the morals of the church which I really admire and am so grateful for because it definitely helped Kaitlyn to be more prepared to hear the gospel. I am so grateful for God’s guidance in helping us and Kaitlyn. I am also grateful for the help He provides in our daily lives and I know that this is His timing and part of His plan.

Kaitlyn with her parents at her baptism

Sunday 11/19/2017

I just want to say happy birthday Dad! Another year older and wiser. Not very much happened today. It was mostly a day of finding. We did have an interesting Doctrinal Discussion lead by Elder Curtis. He talked about the Holy Ghost and how the Holy Ghost is our best friend. He talked about how The Holy Ghost leads us which is how he is our best friend. Elder Curtis then asked the question, "Are we The Holy Ghost's best friend?" We can be his friend as we follow the promptings and inspiration that he gives us.

Monday 11/20/2017

Today has been really cool. Mormon channel radio has started playing Christmas music, so I get to listen to that. Elder Zaugg and I have the opportunity to be on an exchange with Elder West. Elder West is a really great missionary. We talked with Gabriel today and the lesson went really well. Gabriel is on date for baptism. We talked to him about the gift of The Holy Ghost and the important role that he plays in our lives.

Tuesday 11/21/2017

Elder S. Gifford Nielsen came and spoke to us for our devotional. He said some really good things. One thing that he talked about was Preach My Gospel. In his own words Elder Nielsen told us, "Preach My Gospel is the Lord's game plan for us." He also made a promise to us that we would use our favorite scriptures multiple times on our mission to testify. This was really cool to me because I have already been doing that.

Wednesday 11/22/2017

Elder Zaugg, Elder Stewart, and I taught Keidi today which was super awesome. We talked about Christmas. Keidi is making her own Christmas decorations for the charity she volunteers for, which I think is just super awesome. We also talked about why we talk about eternal families in the church because she was curious why so much emphasis is put on the family. It was a good talk because we all got to talk about our families and why they are not only important to us but important to God as well.

Thursday 11/23/2017

I had a really good Thanksgiving day today. The day started out with us going to a devotional where Elder and Sister Bednar spoke to us. Elder Bednar did a question and answer with the missionaries so we got to hear about a number of topics. One question really stuck out to me. The question was, "How can I be perfectly obedient if I am not perfect?" This really stuck out to me because this is a topic that is very big in our mission. Elder Bednar told us that "exact obedience is impossible, but if you are a little bit better than you were yesterday today and if you are a little bit better tomorrow than you were today than that's great, because God only asks us to do our best."

We then watched a movie that was really good. It is called "Love, Kennedy." It talks about how someone can make a difference in the lives of others. I really liked it. After that we went to the underground parking garage to do a service project. It was really cool. What we did was we made food packets for children who don't have food. And to end the day off we had another devotional where the Nashville Tribute Band came and played some of their songs for us. So overall it was a really good day.

Friday 11/24/2017

We talked with Amy today about the spirit world. I always love talking about this because it is a chance to testify of God's love for us. Amy was having some concerns about God's plan, so I think talking about all the ways that God has shown His love such as giving His son Jesus Christ to perform Atonement and pointing out things specific to her that God has done really helped.

I love you all and I hope you have a great week.

Love,

Elder Stevenson