Remember the Why of the Gospel!

This week has been an interesting one. We have had a lot of people
drop us and half of our appointments cancelled. It's a little
difficult not getting discouraged when all of at happens. Then I read
about Ammon in the Book of Mormon and how he went and taught the
lamanites and he was mocked and stoned and put in prison and we only
have been mocked. The lord counseled them to be patient and long
suffering and then he will make them instruments in his hands. We
read that this morning in companionship study and that really gave me
strength. Even the greatest missionary in the Book of Mormon had to be
reminded to be patient and then he did and he brought thousands of
souls to Christ. He is so cool. I love reading in the Book of Mormon
because it was written for us. The nephites and lamanites didn't have
the book to guide them. It really was written for us. So awesome.

The ward boundary change has really taken a hit on our ward and the
bishop is in Hawaii so there hasn't been any callings extended so this
Sunday was interesting. It still went smoothly but there was just a
lot of people gone and half of the testimonies given were about how
people will miss the members of the ward who were moved out into
alpine heights. But we did see sis
Pender at church and we were really confused. We went to talk to her
and she said that since her brother was in la center ward still and
lives like a minute from her house they gave her the option to stay in
alpine heights or come back to la center and they came back to our
ward! So that was so awesome. I can't wait to see them in the temple.
Unfortunately Sibyl is not on date anymore she is still in Vegas and
she relapsed in her smoking. Which was heartbreaking. We just don't
want to loose her but we know she is upset and she hasn't been texting
us back at all. So we continue to pray for her that she will have the
strength to be baptized.

We got to see Amy this last week but still haven't heard anything from
Caroline. We invited Amy to be baptized and she said she would have to
think about it. We taught her the restoration and she seemed to accept
it and we gave her a pamphlet to read more about it. She is wonderful
and hasn't come to church yet but we are working on it. Yesterday we
went out to see some part member families and none of them wanted to
talk to us and then we decided to go knock on A door that I have been
thinking about. They also weren't interested which was disappointing
that they didn't have to be baptized soon as we open the door. But we
saw a lady outside working in her yard and we decided to go talk to
her. She said that other people from our church has been coming over
like six times a week giving her pamphlets and she said they were an
older gentleman and a younger boy. We were really confused but there
are a lot of Jehovah's Witnesses in this area so it was probably them.
But we talk to her for a while and she said that whenever we were in
the area we could come by and see her. Which we are always in the area
because we are missionaries. We have been praying for
someone to talk to and heavenly father really answered my prayer. Then
we went to see a less active who we have been trying to see for months
and she let us in! We shared a video about Mother's Day and talked
about how much God loves her and all of his children. She didn't want
to commit to another visit but she said maybe in a month. This next
week we have a lot of appointments with some new investigators and we
are taking a woman on a church tour this Thursday. She has been
investigating the church for like 11 years and hasn't come to church
and wants to be baptized in the river. Which is against the rules.
Missionaries have worked with her a lot and we aren't ready to give up
just yet. You never know how the Lord is working with his children and
when they will be ready to except the gospel and act on it. So I'm
really excited for everything next week and then I get a Skype with
everyone!

I've been learning a lot more about fasting since I've been here. And
when you fast with a true purpose you really feel an increase of the
spirit in your day and feel closer to Heavenly Father. If you don't
fast for a purpose you are just starving yourself, like Jordan said
haha. But it's alright we will all learn together.

Transfers are next week. I can't believe it. So now that I'm done
training I might leave la center or get a new companion or stay here
with sis McMullin which would be awesome. We will find out on Friday
where we are going. And it's my 3 month mark today! Crazy sauce. I
can't believe I've been gone three months. That's almost the time I
spent in Russia and it has gone by so much faster than that did. I
want to stay in la center but I also want to leave and go to another
area and meet more people. I love the changing atmosphere of the
mission. You don't get to stay in one place for very long usually. And
that's so great. I love meeting new people and having new experiences.
But I will miss la center and come back after my mission. I mean 3
hours isn't that long to travel haha.

Oh and another exciting thing this week is I had to go to the
dentist!! My tooth has been really hurting me and so I called Sister
Taylor and she said to go to the dentist. We have a few in our ward so
I went to Sister Young's office and she took a look at it and said
that I might need a root canal. Yay. She did some work on it and said
that if it still hurts that I need to come in again and do a root
canal. But the awesome thing was she didn't charge me for it. That was
a huge blessing. I know we get pretty good dental coverage but she
didn't even ask about it she just went ahead and did it.

Anyway that's about my week and I hope you all have a great week.
Remember the why of the Gospel. There is a reason we are asked to do
different things like pray, read our scriptures, go to church, attend
the temple, have family home evening, and serve others. We are not
trying to earn our way to heaven but we are trying to become more like
our Savior. We are given these commandments because they are the
things that will build our rock on Jesus Christ. That when the
temptations of the world and the devil come in we will not be moved but
we will be able to stand firm because of the foundation we have built.
There is an awesome talk in the CES devotional from 2015 that talks
about real intent you should really look it up. It's under the gospel
library app under young adults. It really changed my perspective on a
lot of things. I love you all and I hope you remember how loved you
are by our Savior and heavenly father.

Sister Stephens