"C-P-R" Church, Pray, Read

Another week has gone by. Dang the mission time is just so fast. I hit
my seventh month mark on Friday. And we celebrated by Gladys taking us
out to dinner. She's just the best. I'm sad that we won't be able to
be at her baptism in Utah. We asked if she had any fun plans for the
weekend and she said well I'm going to fast. Oh man. We laughed so
hard. I mean it was great, but that's just how she is, she loves
learning about the gospel. And she will read anything we give her.
It's the best.

We haven't been able to meet with Debbie this week but we stopped by
her house on Saturday evening. They were just finishing with a
birthday party so we were able to talk to a lot of her family. Her
grandson, Jeremiah comes to church every Sunday so we asked his dad if
we could teach him. He has to talk to his mom and get permission but
hopefully we can start soon. He just loves primary and is absorbing
everything right up. And the youth are going to the temple this week
and Debbie is going to go with them. She's so excited. I wish we could
tag along but in a year we will be back to go with her then. It's just
been so amazing seeing the change in her. She just looks different,
her countenance has literally changed. And that's what the cleansing
power of the atonement does, we change.

We didn't find a whole lot of new people to teach this week. We did
however get a family referral, so I guess we did find some people. It
is a part member family from Montana. We don't know how long they will
be living in our ward but the elders handed them over to us so we are
now teaching them. The mom is a member but the rest of the five kids
and husband aren't. But they are open to learning and were actually
meeting with missionaries before they moved out to Oregon. It was a
little crazy when we went but they are a really awesome family. We
also tracted into an inactive member who was a high priest but then
left the church and started to go to the Catholic Church. He said that
it was because he didn't really know if Joseph smith was a prophet. We
just couldn't wrap our heads around that one but then it clicked. CPR.
You have to go to church, pray, and read the scriptures. It is our
spiritual lifeline and what keeps us alive.

We are also teaching a less active girl and boyfriend. She has a five
year old son and just struggles a lot financially. It is so sad. We
are just trying to help them the best that we can. But she did give me
a pair of Hawaii sandals so that made my day a little better. Every
time we are there I think about just how important the commandments
are. They aren't just rules to govern us. They make us happy and help
us become more like Christ. And that's why we are on this earth! They
are just so important. A really good talk you should check out is
called living the gospel joyfully by president uchtdorf. So good.

It seemed like this week a lot of doors were closed on us. And they
were, but then Heavenly Father shows us just how much he loves us. We
had a few unexpected opportunities to serve people and that was nice.
Not a Lot of people will let us help them but we saw this man carrying
stuff to and from his apartment so we stopped to help. He wasn't
interested in the gospel but was in service. Which basically is the
gospel....but it was cool to help and get to know him better. And we
practiced our gardening skills this week as well...while it was
raining. Got to love Portland.

Transfers are next week so this weekend we are finding out what is
happening. I'm pretty sure I will leave but who knows. It is crazy how
fast everything goes here. We are looking forward to Fred's baptism at
the end of this month, and Gladys in October. It is pretty awesome
being a missionary. Well, I love you all and remember who you are. It
helps, trust me :)

Love,
Sister Stephens