Woodland is Great!

First thing, I LOVE WOODLAND! It has been the hardest yet best week of
my mission. Covering two wards is definitely a different experience
but it keeps us so so busy everyday. We have seen so many miracles but
I will get to that later. My companion is sister Girot and we served
in the same zone three transfers ago. She is from Springville Utah and
has been out nine months. We are both brand new to the area so we are
doing our best doubling in. The wards are great and so are our Ward
mission leaders and Ward missionaries. We cover the woodland and
Kalama area and it is the biggest area in the mission. So that has
been fun. And we live with members :) seriously the best ever living
with members. Except we never see them so mostly we have this huge
house to ourselves. It's the best.

The last week in van 3rd was really sad. I miss the people so much!
The Allen's are coming up to Woodland for my year mark and we are going
out to dinner :) super stoked. But then I realize that I have been out
for almost a year and it makes me sad. But I have six months to
continue to invite others to come unto Christ. And we have seen so
many cool miracles so far. We are teaching Lawna and her daughter
Brianna. They had elders knock on their door a while ago and the
sisters before us found her again. They are both so excited to hear
the gospel and we had a great first lesson with them. They were going
to come to church this week but they went shopping to get Brianna
church shoes and they missed church...  but we have two meetings
with them this week and we are so stoked. Also they committed to be
baptized so that pretty fun. We also are teaching a girl named Ashley.
She is 15 years old and her sister is a member of the church. They
have been to the temples visitor center and she wants to go to young
women's and learn more about the church. So that's pretty cool. So
many wonderful things going on in the woodland wards. Oh and we also
met this super awesome lady named Edith. She is old and from Germany.
She talks a lot so we didn't get to share a tom with her but she sent
us home with a lot of German food. And one of our investigators lives
in a van in the middle of no where. Only in woodland. It's great, I love
it :)

So some fun stories for you. We were driving to our bishops house and
then the road suddenly comes up to a road closed sign...so we figured
it was probably one of those closed to through traffic things....the
sign wasn't covering the entire road so there was just enough room to
go past it. Are you saying bad idea yet? Cause it was. We keep driving
and then there is this huge tree that had fallen in the middle of the
road! So we did like a five point turn around and have to call our
bishop for directions. Moral of the story, when the sign says road
closed it probably means road closed because there was a previous
mudslide that hadn't been fixed yet. That was a stressful time but we
ended up laughing at it later haha. And our church overlaps so we have
to juggle where we are at and when. So there's that for you all.

Let's see....we did have a world wide broadcast for missionaries on
Wednesday. Elders Bednar and Cook taught and a few from the 70. They
taught us about teaching repentance and baptizing converts. It was so
awesome. The main focus was being converted ourselves so we can go out
and work. And about working with members, so make sure you are helping
your missionaries :) update on president Taylor is his only job is to
get better. President Ferrin is here temporarily to take over some of
president Taylor's responsibilities while he is recovering from the
surgery.

Just a great week here in Washington :) well the wet half at least!
Love you all and have a great week.

Sister Stephens,




The long view zone! 




Edith gave us this German hot dog things that are like bratwursts But are way gross.





Saying goodbye to the Reynolds family

Transfer Time Again!

We had such a great week here in the Vancouver third Ward. I'm sure
you are all just dying to hear about transfers. So I will be leaving
and going to Woodland! It is in the Longview stake and I now cover
Woodland 1st and 2nd Ward. And my companion is sister Girot, I have
served with her before and she is super awesome so I'm way excited.
Except yesterday at church they announced that I was leaving and I
bore my testimony for the last time in the 3rd Ward. It was so sad. I
love these people so so much. It's been so hard saying goodbye to
everyone. But I'm sure I will love Woodland and am excited for the
change. It's really close to La Center so I will be back to the
boonies :) so that is transfer news. Now for President Taylor news. He
was released from the hospital yesterday and his sole purpose is to
get better. So for the next month or so we will be having an IFR which
is an in field representative that will come and take the
ecclesiastical assignments over for president and sister Taylor until
president is recovered. Which they are expecting a month or so. So
this week we will have a new couple out here to help and guide the
wvm.

So our week has been great. We have been finding like crazy and it has
been so awesome. We had a lesson with our new investigator Courtney.
We found her in November and she said to come back after the first of
the year so we did. She has belonged to other churches before and just
hasn't felt that they were it. So now we are teaching her. We taught
her about the restoration and how she can come to know for herself by
reading the Book of Mormon. She was so open and excited to learn. The
sisters will be going back this week but I will be gone. But she's
golden.

We also found a family this week. The parents are Nicole and Casey. We
saw them New Year's Eve and they said to come back over and we have a
few times. We were supposed to have a lesson with them on Saturday but
she was sick so we had to reschedule for Tuesday. I don't really know
a lot about them but they are good friends with a family in the Ward.
So pray it goes well!!
We found another family this week as well. Laura and Aaron. We knocked
on their door and talked to them about the restoration and the Book of
Mormon. We set up a return appointment so that's always good.

We continue to work with members in the Ward who need more knowledge
and strengthening and that has been really cool. Especially seeing how
the Book of Mormon impacts their life. We leave assignments with them
to read and it really is changing them. As well as helping them
understand more fully the doctrines of Christ, like faith and
repentance. Which then helps them to overcome the things they are
struggling with. It's pretty cool how the gospel works. It's all for
our benefit and learning. Heavenly Father just loves us so so much.
Church this week was really great, in sacrament we talked about our
purpose in life and in Sunday school we talked about our heavenly
family. It was all good and just a great time to feel the spirit.

Let's see what else happened this week.....well I cut my hair!! I
hadn't done it in a year so it was needed. She took off three inches
so it's pretty short but now a lot better. I said I would never get a
short missionary hair cut and I did!!! Oh well Haha. Just in time for
a new transfer and a new area. I love you all so much and pray for you
everyday!
Love,
Sister Stephens

The Harrell's

The Allen's

The Allen's

The zone

                                                          Sister de Leon! 

An Interesting Week

So this week has been pretty interesting. First things first,
President Taylor is doing great. We found out that he had a heart
attack on Saturday morning while he was in Seaside and now is in the
Portland hospital. He is having surgery on Tuesday or Wednesday and
the doctors are very optimistic about his procedure and recovery. He
will be out for two weeks for the recovery. We still are having
transfers and he is finishing them while in the hospital....but
probably won't be there for the actual meeting. But they are staying
on the mission and that is what matters. Please keep them in your
prayers!

So back to missionary work. We had some really awesome miracles and
found some new investigators! In our area book there was a lady named
Christina and we had been trying to get in contact with her since
September. On Thursday we decided to just go try by her house and she
was home! She let us in and we were able to teach her the first
lesson. She doesn't have a religious background but believes in God.
We gave her a Book of Mormon and she is excited to read it. We invited
her to church but she didn't come so that was disappointing but we
have an appointment scheduled with her and her family this week! We
haven't met with Nikita since before Christmas so we aren't really
sure what is happening there.

Last night was also a pretty cool experience. We went to see two
potentials that are in the same house. And we have stopped by before
and had little chats with them. But this time we were able to share a
message on faith out of the Book of Mormon and it was pretty cool. We
testified of how the Book of Mormon is evidence of this church. And if
you read it and pray then you will get an answer that it is true. And
because of that you will know that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that
we still have prophets on the earth today. All from one book. When we
told them that, the spirit was so strong and they said well we better
read and pray. We are going to go see them on Sunday. It's a slow
process with them but they are much more open to finding out for
themselves than they previously have been. And that's pretty cool.

We are also working with a lot of less active members and members who
have goals to get to the temple but need some extra help. It's been
cool to see how the gospel influences others' lives. And it's such a
blessing to be a small part of that. My favorite family, Hawaii and
Tonga, are doing great. So much fun to teach them. They are planning
on the temple later in the year. It's going to be the best day ever.
We are trying to spend more time with members to try and get more
people to teach. And we might have a referral coming soon so that
should be pretty cool.

On Saturday Shannon had her baptismal interview but it was supposed to
be with president. So President Anderson did the interview so now we
have to wait to see what president says to see when she can get
baptized. But since president is currently in the hospital we aren't
sure when that is going to be. She is pretty anxious and so are we but
we are just waiting now.

Well I hope you all have a greet week!
Love,
Sister Stephens

The district!

The mission office

The Gospel is So Important!

This week has been pretty great. We have been trying really hard to find people to teach  and the Lord is really blessing us. So exciting news first. Shannon is on date for baptism. She has had a lot of challenges but she met with the bishop this week and he feels really good about her getting baptized. So we will be having her baptism on Saturday the 16th, four days before transfer day. We taught her last night about tithing and she was on board with it. It's been great seeing her transformation. Once she started reading from the Book of Mormon she started to change. There is power in that book. And I love it and am thankful to Heavenly Father for allowing us to have it. 

We also worked with a lot of less actives this week. We met some people who were definitely not interested in coming back to the church and some who just need some extra support. We have a lady who is a recent convert and is trying to get to the temple but is having problems in keeping the word of wisdom so we are studying the scriptures with her every week to help her. We studied the vision of the tree of life and it was so awesome. It's something we all should study often and see where we are at on the path. We can always come back to the path and grab hold on the rod of iron through the the atonement of Jesus Christ. And I am very grateful for that. 

We also taught a family this week and the cousins that are not very active in the church. And we were able to talk to them about the atonement and read with them from Alma about repentance and using the gift of the savior that our father in heaven has given us. One of the boys was definitely touched by the spirit and went from not wanting to be there to having a change in his countenance. Man the atonement,  we have to have it. We cannot do anything without it. And I am so thankful for him. 

We haven't been able to find a lot of new investigators but we have made contact with some awesome people. Courtney, who we met last month, got in contact with us and she wants to meet with us next week! We are super excited. And we met some people who were playing in the snow and they want us to come back over! So we are really excited for that as well. The area has so much potential and we are working so hard to be exactly obedient and to talk to everyone we see and we know the lord will bless us. 

On Sunday we woke up to beautiful snow after having a week of sunshine. And we get to church and have an awesome testimony meeting. Then because of the "snow storm" we canceled the rest of church meetings. So we went and had lunch with the Burgoynes and waited out the storm. We do still have a car but we can't drive in the snow. So today we had to get a ride to the store from a member and now we are hanging out at the Reynolds house for their snow day and our pday. 

Guys the gospel is so important. Heavenly Father loves us so much and he pours out blessings upon us everyday. We just have to open our eyes to them and pray to see. Then we are able to withstand the darts of the adversary and be supported in everything. I am thankful to be a missionary and to spread the love of Heavenly Father to everyone who hears. I have a testimony of daily scripture study and spending time in the Book of Mormon. I know it is true. And I know if we all have a resolution to read it this year we will have an increase of the spirit and answers to our prayers. It is powerful. 

I love you all so much and hope you have a wonderful week. 

Love, 

Sister Stephens 

Me and Sis. Burgoyne

A new way of proselyting

Sunday surprise of snow

We can't use our car currently.... They won't let us drive in the snow!

Christmas in the Mission field

I loved this Christmas week in the mission field. We were able to do a lot of service so that was really awesome. Mostly we just caroled to people. We went to the hospital and then with some members and as a zone on Christmas night. And as usual we were at friends of the carpenter doing service on Wednesday. With all the holiday celebration it felt a little weird because we did less proselyting than we usually do. However on Tuesday we were able to go to the temple and that was the highlight of the week. However we did get stuck in traffic coming from Portland to Vancouver that took us about two hours to get through. But all is well. 

So the cool miracles this week were many. Last night we went by to try and see a potential investigator and her friend. Sister Black and I found them two transfers ago and we haven't been able to get back in touch with them since then. But we decided to stop by last night and they were home! And then they let us in. We talked to them about the family proclamation to the world and how the family is ordained of God. Then Amy, the friend, was so not interested last time we talked was more open this time. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon and testify of it. We explained how it is a tool from God to bring more happiness in this life and in the next life. So that was pretty cool. 

We were able to meet with Shannon this week and she really wants to get baptized. But she has been so flaky with the church that the bishop wants her to take it slow. And she needs to actually stay for all of church....so we are going to work with her on that. But she is doing a lot better than what she was before so that is good.

We also found a new less active to teach. She was baptized three years ago but had a bad experience with a bishop in Tacoma. But she wants to come back into the church so we are going to start working with her. But she didn't come to church this week so we will see how that works. 

Anyway life is good. We still have a car. But only for a few days probably. Well sorry this is short but I just talked to you guys. Love you! 

Sister Stephens 

The castle that took us two and a half hours to build

Us and Hawaii at church

The first snow

The zone at the temple 

Have a Wonderful Christmas!

It has been a wet and rainy week that is for sure. But you kind of get
use to it and when members see us they always pick us up. So that
helps us stay nice and dry. We had a pretty good week here in the
Vancouver 3rd Ward. Especially since we had zone conference this week.
So I will start with that. It was really awesome and I saw so many
former companions and awesome people that I have served with. We
focused a lot on how we can work better with members in our area. Most
of the baptism come from the members and only 4% come from Tracting.
But we are spending most of our time Tracting. So we talked about how
we need to be spending 60% of our time with members. So that is what
we are going to be doing. It will be a good change and hopefully help
the mission have more baptisms. We also had our Christmas "party" at
the conference with an awesome lunch and we all got a present. All the
walking missionaries got an extra present. Awesome. I love the mission
staff. They are so awesome. So that was a super good conference and we
found out that our new mission president is coming in July and he is
from Canada but I don't remember his name.

Our teaching this week went pretty good. Shannon wants to meet with us
again so we will continue to help her as best as we can. We also found
a super awesome guy while we were walking. His name is Jim and we were
walking down the street towards him and his daughter. He called out to
us and we stopped to talk to him, he told his daughter that we were
people doing God's work! And he talked about how he is trying to figure
his life out and doesn't want to go to his church anymore. He said he
really likes the LDS church and he wants us to come back this week! We
are super excited to see how it works out.

We met with Nikita but she is not progressing a lot. She is reading
from the Book of Mormon but hasn't been coming to church yet and has a
lot of things to work through. So we just keep praying for her and
hope that the spirit will continue to touch her life. We also met with
a lot of less active members this week. So that was pretty great. A
lot of them also came to church for the Christmas program! It was a pretty
great week. And tomorrow we are going to the temple. So stoked.

I am really pumped for Christmas. We have five families that we are
spending time with. We didn't have anyone this last week yet and so
they asked in elders quorum who wanted the missionaries and a ton of
hands went up so we are covered!! And on Christmas Eve we are going
caroling with the Reynolds family. I am really excited for this
Christmas season. It definitely has a lot of people remembering Christ
which then helps us when we want to teach them about Him. So it works
out pretty great.

Anyway life is good. I love the mission. Have a wonderful Christmas!!

Love,
Sister Stephens

Sis Nielsen and I on exchanges

Zone conference!! Sis McMullin and her posterity

Titi! Hawaii and tongas oldest daughter

Rain and Miracles!

Crazy week here in Vancouver. Lots of rain and lots of miracles. It has been raining like super crazy all day every day. And up north in battle ground there was a tornado. And land slides as well. I'm just glad I'm not serving further north. We just have ran into flooded sidewalks so I am grateful for rides and rain boots. As well as days where we have appointments so we don't have to be out in the rain. I am also grateful for dryers so we can come home and dry our clothes and out dry ones on. 

So I think the highlight of our week was definitely Thursday. I found out the day before that the Penders from La Center were going together as a family to be sealed together. It was so awesome. The Groves from La Center, our Ward mission leader and wife, came to Vancouver to pick us up and then took us to the temple. It was so great. The spirit was so strong in that sealing. Families are eternal, that is how God intended them to be. It was such a privilege to be there with them. And then when we were driving back to Vancouver we saw the Christmas boat parade so we circled around to the pier to look at them. As we were getting out I grabbed my iPad out of my bag to take a picture and then we were on our way home after that. And that is when I noticed my purse was gone. So we called and checked the temple but it wasn't there. And then we went back to the pier and it wasn't there either. So that was that. I was super bummed. Our phone, keys, and wallet were in my bag. Then later that night we got a call from the sister training leaders at our home phone. They told us the elders called us and a man answered so they went to pick our stuff up and brought it back to us. That was a huge blessing. 

Wednesday we had transfer meeting and I saw sister McMullin and sister Michaud. Sister Michaud broke her hand!! Her and her companion tried to fit into a really big baptismal suit. They fit but ended up falling over and she broke her hand in the process. It was great to see them though. President talked a lot about faith and confidence. And how we increase one the other one goes up as well. It was a really great meeting and strengthened us all a lot. Plus it's really awesome seeing all the people that I have served with before. 

Teaching his week has been good. We found a new investigator named Kim. She is younger and just moved into the area and wants to find a church. So we are going back over on Saturday to teach her :) super pumped. We also met with Hawaii and Tonga and they are doing super awesome as well. We talked about tithing and the blessings that come from being obedient to the lords commandments. She also bought me a blow dryer for Christmas. It was awesome. Nikita is doing good. She is struggling with keeping some of her commitments so we will continue to work with her and address her needs. We are praying and praying for people to teach and Heavenly Father has blessed us with Kim this week and another less active to teach. So we keep on moving forward with faith. 

I'm excited for Christmas time and to Skype with everyone! We had the Ward Christmas party on Saturday. It was really fun. We had a ton of food and the youth acted out the nativity scene. So that was pretty fun. Also my new zone leader knows the butlers in hurricane. Like our cousins. So that is pretty cool. 

It's been a pretty fun week. Remember Christ and who you are. 

Love you, 

Sister Stephens 

Just another day Tracting.....

The Ward Christmas party

At the Portland temple atrium

The Penders were sealed as a family on Thursday!