Families Are Amazing!

No worries there was no falling off cliffs this week! We did however
go to Multnomah falls and hiked to the top. It was great. There were
like 20 people that stopped us and said hey sisters!! So we talked to
them and gave them the run down of where we were from. Most of them
were on vacation from Utah. It was pretty awesome. Sister Michaud
loved the falls. So it was nice to be back there again.

Once again the lord has been pouring out his blessings on us this
week. We had a lot of referrals that are golden. We met Debbie this
last week and she is amazing. She is so ready for the gospel and
accepts a baptismal date of August 22nd. Her son is a convert and has
been for like 16 years. She loves learning and asks us good questions
and is just soaking this all in. Seriously amazing. And then we met
this man named Fred who had all of the lessons in Utah. Then he moved
to Portland and has been waiting for missionaries for four months! We had
no idea that he was here. The referral came and we went right over.
He's amazing. Then we had another referral named Gladys and she said she wanted to get baptized! We met her at church and she took a
hymnal home so she could have family home evening. So many miracles.
Those are our real progressing investigators. Everyone else is doing
good. We are just praying for them a lot and helping them in any way
that we can.

It's amazing to see how the gospel changes people. And how much people
just get it when they hear it. We were teaching Debbie the plan of
salvation and we were talking about the temple. She lit up and said
she could be baptized for her mom. And this was even before she agreed
to be baptized! It was amazing. Families are amazing. The gospel is
true. The priesthood has been restored. And then we met this lady
named Amanda. She is amazing. She has never heard of the church before
or the Book of Mormon. Her mother in law is getting assistance from
another ward in the stake. So we went to try and teach them and Amanda
was home! She just soaked it all in and wants us to come back to teach
her family. So many miracles.

It finally rained this weekend! And I realize that my rain coat does
not work in pouring rain. I was drenched. And then that made me
grumpy. And then people were extremely rude that day haha. But it's
okay. The gospel is still true. I've been reading from the book you
sent me! The infinite atonement, and its amazing. I'm learning so much
about the savior and how the atonement is so real. This week I was
reading about the fall and how Christ redeemed us from that in so many
ways. He unconditionally allows us to overcome physical death and we
will all return to the presence of God to be judged. But the second
spiritual death that comes from our own sin is up to us to change. We
have his help, which is the only way to do it, but it is conditional
on how we live this life and how we become. We never try to earn
heaven but reach the potential God has for us.

It looks like you are all having so much fun in Utah! Tell everyone
that I love them and miss them! It's crazy to see how big all of the
cousins are getting! Especially Cody's kids. Utah trips are the best so
have so much fun and send me good pictures.

Remember who you are, and that the lord loves you and I love you!!

Love,
Sister Stephens