One, Two, Three, Snow!

Hello again,

This week was super awesome. I learned a lot about what it means to be a missionary. One thing that I learned was the importance of being focused. When we are focused we have the spirit more and we are able to better discern people's needs. Also, one thing that is very important is the amount of love that you show to others. People will be more likely to listen to you if you listen with love as well.

I know that as we follow the path that Jesus followed we will become more like Him. I know that this gospel is true, and that Jesus Christ suffered, died, and lives today. I know that every word in The Book of Mormon is true. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Elder Stevenson and Elder North after playing in the snow

Sunday 02/18/2018

Church was super good today. Elder North, Elder Nelson, Elder Stewart and I all went to Joaquin's ward to see his confirmation. We even got to be part of the circle. The prayer was super nice. Joaquin was told that he would be an example to his children, which was amazing because that was something he had told Elder Stewart and I previously that he was hoping to be able to do. So that was really nice.

Elder North and I found a young lady named Samantha, and were able to teach a lesson with her. She is really interested in the Plan of Salvation. So we will see where this goes. We ended by committing her to read 3 Nephi 11.

Me making a snow angel

Monday 02/19/2018

Today I was on exchanges with Elder Fleming. It was super awesome. We talked with one of his investigators named Jonathan. Jonathan is super cool. He lives in New York and really likes it there. He also really likes the missionaries. He talked about all the things that the local missionaries and the online missionaries have done for him. It was good to see someone with just so much love. One thing that he didn't quite understand was sacrament meeting. Jonathan told us that it had no structure. However I pointed out that he had grown up catholic, and it wasn't that there was no structure, it was just a different structure than he was used to, which I think helped him to think about it in a different way.

Tuesday 02/20/2018

Elder Holland came and spoke at this Tuesday Night Devotional. It was super good. He talked a lot about what a missionary should be, and what they shouldn't be. One thing Elder Holland said was, "You are the first sermon your investigators hear." He also said, "You can't guarantee anyone else's conversion, but you can guarantee your own." Elder Holland also talked about how we are God's investigators. "We may be farther than the investigators we teach, but we do not know everything either." I am just going to finish with one last statement he made which was, "The degree to which you succeed is done by the degree to which you have the spirit."

Elder West buried in the snow

Wednesday 02/21/2018

Our day started out interesting. Elder North woke up with a headache, so for the first couple hours of the day I let him sleep, while I walked around the residence, prayed, and read the scriptures. It was pretty good.

We had a lesson with Emma which was super good. We asked her about church and she said that something they talked about in church was making plans. They asked the questions where do you see yourself in five years? Elder North added onto that by asking where do you see yourself in one year, and where do you see yourself in a few months? So we talked about it. Emma told us that hopefully in five years she is married, has a job, and is graduated. We asked her what she sees herself doing and she told us that she really wants to be a teacher.

Our district at our snow activity

When we brought up where she wanted to be she said that she wanted to be in school at BYUI. She originally said that she didn't want to be in Kentucky, but it was basically the same thing as going to college.

Emma said that in a few months she hopes to be baptized, but we are hoping that is less than a few months.

Thursday 02/22/2018

We had an impromptu lesson with Emma. It was super good because she asked us to review with her the baptismal interview questions, and that she wanted to meet with the district leader sometime this upcoming week, so we are excited for that. It went really good, she was able to answer all the questions correctly and bear her testimony to us, which was super awesome. I think that it is going to go fantastic.

Friday 02/23/2018

We talked with Shay today. Shay is Elder North's investigator that he brought to the companionship. It went super good. We didn't really teach any point of doctrine, I mainly introduced myself to her and got to know her and what she has been up to, especially since she has been gone for about a month.

Saturday 02/24/2018

Today was a super good. For district activity we drove to the place where we go to church every Sunday, and next to the church there is a large field that was just covered in snow. So we had a snowball fight, I made a snow angel, and we all built a wall of snow, which was super fun. The Teaching Center software may be taken off soon, and merged into the Referral Manager software, which will be sad because I have used this system for the majority of my mission. But it's alright, I am sure that the new Teaching Center 2.0 should be awesome.

I love you all, and am so happy for everyone that I have in my life.

Love,

Elder Stevenson