Safe arrival of Sister Stevens

Dear Brother and Sister Stevens,

It is with pleasure we welcome your daughter, Sister Lisel Stevens, to the England Leeds Mission.  We find her prepared and committed to serve the Lord and to share the message of the Restored Gospel.

Your daughter's first companion is Sister Prokofjeva who was prayerfully selected to ensure the best introduction to missionary work for Sister Stevens.  They will be serving in the Leeds 1.2 Area in the Leeds Zone. We are confident their relationship will be a mutual blessing.

Weekly encouragement from home will certainly help inspire Sister Stevens's missionary effort.  We encourage you to write her once a week with letters that are uplifting in spirit.  Please let other family and friends know how important it is to write positive, encouraging letters that support missionary work.  Your daughter's permanent address is now:

Sister Lisel Stevens
England Leeds Mission
Lister House, Lister Hill
Horsforth
Leeds LS18 5AZ
England

You can send letters to your daughter's flat address, but make sure you remember transfers happen every six weeks.  Family and friends are asked to not visit or call their missionary in the field.  Such calls and visits will undermine the effectiveness of your missionary and their companion.  Please feel free to call the mission president in the event of an emergency at home.  Missionaries are not to call home without the president's permission.

Any anxiety of the missionary about finances will hinder the work.  Please do not send excess funds, as too much money can be as detrimental as not enough. Personal, practical and inexpensive gifts from home for birthdays or Christmas are permitted but adding money to their personal funds is more cost effective.  However, because missionaries move frequently and space is very limited; large, heavy or unnecessary items are discouraged.  Your missionary is limited to two bags and a briefcase.  The best gifts are consumables, such as ties, socks, small personal items, and goodies.

I want you to know that Sister Pilkington and I consider it a privilege to serve with your daughter and promise to help all we can as we strive to direct her efforts in the Lord's way.  We are available at all times, and Sister Stevens's physical, emotional and spiritual welfare is of utmost importance to us.

Sincerely yours,

Graham Pilkington
President

England Leeds Mission

Is this real life???

hah funny story.. so i flew to portland and i was supposed to go to amsterdam next but i had trouble with my luggage and missed my flight.. not really funny when it all happened because i was a stressed wreck but i'm all good now. after hours and hours trying to figure out how i can get to england today, they discovered the next flight to amsterdam is tomorrow morning sooooo they put me in a hotel in portland for the night. and i'm all by myself and it is so weird because i'm used to being with someone 24/7! haha everyone stares at me because my name tag and my 2 gigantic suitcases. i look like a joke. anyway so i walked over to get something to eat and got myself a diet coke which tasted delicious. i have missed it so much haha. but now i'm just chillin at the hotel waiting for it to be 10:30 so i can go to bed and get on with my traveling. but i got to call my mom and take a hot bath so its all been okay. the lord works in mysterious ways hahah for some reason i wasn't supposed to get there at the time i had planned. this day has been quite interesting lol. 

on the plane to portland i was felt prompted to read d&c 121, 122, and 123 when joseph smith was in liberty jail and it gave me so much comfort knowing i can do anything because god is with me. i felt like i was inspired to read that before i went through everything at the airport because i was so stressed but i just had to remember that god was with me and i am doing what i am supposed to be doing so he will guide me. read those sections! they are amazing. we as missionaries have so much power its crazy.

as i was watching people today my heart was breaking. i didn't have a phone or electronic device to distract me so i people watched a lot. and so many of them don't know the truth! this one lady asked why i had so much luggage and i said i was moving to england for 18 months and she thought i was going to a university. she had no idea who i was so i explained that i am going there to share my beliefs with people. she was like when you get time off do some traveling england is beautiful haha she left before i could say i won't be getting anytime off..

Love always,

Sister Stevens