lisellovingleeds : Time flies when you are busy

I got this sweet email from Sister Blair, from Provo, who is one of Lisel's flatmates:

subject: I love Sister Stevens!

Dear beautiful mother and family of Sister Stevens,

I just wanted to quickly share with you how incredible Sister Stevens is.

She is such a light here in England, she is so dedicated and patient and strong.

She is a peacemaker, she cooks such good food, she can always make us laugh,

and she has especially been such a comfort and strength to me here in Leeds.

It's really special to have someone else from home :)

I feel like I know and love you all because of her stories and prayers.

Thank you for your sacrifice in letting her come out here--she is already changing lives, starting with mine.

I can't wait to meet you all some day, and I'm sure it will be sooner than any of us can believe :)

Lisel and Sister Blair

Love,

Sister Blair (from Provo)

D&C 123:17

hi mom :) thank you for the emails it is so good to hear that everyone is busy and doing well. time flies when your busy I’ve noticed which has been pretty nice. yesterday was a bank holiday so pday got switched. we did some grocery shopping this morning and we are trying to eat lots healthier so we got loads of veggies and fruits at this cute market. we are also starting to make meals which has been so good! I made french onion soup and pesto pizzas and me and sister blair made taco soup on easter. when i saw the taco soup and tasted it I started bawling. I remember when you made it all the time and it just made me miss you so much! but i am proud of myself because I’M COOKING!! it makes me excited to be a mom. hah being on a mission makes me want like 6 kids! we had an amazing sister meeting on wednesday with the sisters in 2 zones with president and sister pilkington and it was so inspiring. it made me want to work so much harder and put in so much effort because it really is such a short time. I have to admit, this week was rough. at times I felt like I didnt have the spirit with me, I felt like my heart wasnt in the right place, and I was just having so many doubts. but i had an exhange with sister blair from provo yesterday and it seriously was such a blessing. she was so comforting she just sat and listened to me cry and talk and she was just amazing. I realized I knew that heavenly father was there but I didn’t have faith that He could really help me which was so dumb and frustrating! when I realized that I got straight on my knees and asked for forgiveness and I told Him that I really did trust Him and knew He was with me every step of the way. when I did that I instantly felt better and all during the day i had a smile on my face and knew that i heavenly father is with me. Everyone kept telling us that we looked to happy and that they could tell we were followers of Jesus which made me feel so good because i really do have the spirit with me. It was just such a fun day, we got stuck in the rain and just laughed and everyone thought we were nuts because we're trying to stop them on the street but we just laughed haha. and we were told to try an english kebab it was strange but good, so we walked in and were asking people what to get and everything and the whole restaurant was just talking to us (you learn as a missionary to just talk to everyone) and the worker told us what to get his name is Aussie I have a pic, and we ordered and he said this ones on me, you guys are spreading the great word! so he gave us sooo much food and drinks for free it was so nice! missions defs have their perks. people are just so nice here.

easter was a great day at church, sister pro spoke about the testimony of jesus christ. SO GOOD. read it! we decorated these nasty cookies ha but it made me feel pretty homesick. but i am doing so much better, i am learning how to better focus on the work here. i love you all TOOOO much! why do I have such an amazing family?! its the best and the worst at the same time. but last week i was reading and studying about the atonement for easter and we can all be amazing people with great intentions but really the only way we can return to our father in heaven is through the atonement. it is the most important thing.

One night we didn’t take our whole time for tea and by the end of the night me and sis pro were both starving so we asked people where the nearest mcDs was (we have been craving it…so nast) and we ran there and back to make it to our flat by 9 and it was hilarious and oh my it tasted too amazing hah.

We were sitting on these steps waiting for our investigator and this random guy comes up to me and gives me this flower and begs me for my number and I told him that I’m only here to talk to people about God and he was like I only want to talk about you haha I just laughed and told him I cant and then he was like please just break the rules once! and he was surprised I didn’t want to. and then we were talking to this other guy on the street and we were having a great convo and then he tells us he has to go so he gives me a huge kiss on the cheek and just walks away hahaha me and sister blair just looked at each other and laughed it was so funny. english peeps are crazy.

this week has been hard and challenging but has been so rewarding, I have learned to much. I am amazed at how much I am already changing, it is so good!

keep up the great work! and pray always.

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH ITS CRAZY. and miss you more than you can imagine.

love, sister stevens