It's hard because it's WORTH it

On our way home for the night we stopped
to get our fave treat, Kinder Bueno bars
and DC :)

Wow, let me just say I regret so much not taking more time to study and apply the Book of Mormon. I have learned so much from it this week. One of my favorite stories this past week was in Mosiah 21. So the people of Limhi keep going back to the Lamanites trying to defeat them and they keep going back over and over. Each time more of their people are slain and things are just getting worse and worse for them. Finally after the third time they went to war the people were like okay, we have had enough we can't continue on like this we know we will loose. Eventually they realized they wouldn't be able to regain their strength and get out of bondage without the help of the Lord. It says, 'they did humble themselves and they did cry mightily to God that he would deliver them out of their afflictions. And God heard their cries and began to ease their burdens and they prospered in the land and they didn't suffer.' This was a huge testimony builder for me because I realized that as much as we try and as hard as we work, there is no way we can have a truly happy life and return to live with Heavenly Father again without His help. We really do need Him and when we ask for help He is always there even though we may not deserve his help He is there to ease our burdens. As a missionary I have come to realize that as hard as I try to be a good missionary and do all the things I am supposed to I won't be able to succeed and fulfill my purpose without the help of Heavenly Father and the Savior.  A mission is truly a humbling experience. When we give all we can and it’s still not enough you feel so defeated, but that is when our Savior comes in to help us and give us the strength that we need. 

So my challenge for all of you this week is to take a Book of Mormon story and apply and relate it to your life. Ask yourself what can I learn from this story and what will I change because of what I have learned? I would love to hear about your experiences :) I can promise that if you do this your love for the Book of Mormon will increase so much and because of it you will be able to feel Heavenly Fathers love for you as I have this last week.  

Highlights of the past week:

Found the Golden Post Box!!!

Last PDAY President and his wife took us out to a fancy dinner of very posh Thai food :) It was so fun to get to talk to them and get to know them better. They are such great examples to all of us and are really getting us to focus on how we can be better missionaries. They told us to ask ourselves all the time if what we are doing will help others and ourselves come closer to Christ. And I challenge all of you to ask yourselves the same question. You don't have to be a missionary to come closer to Christ ;) 

Had a Diet Coke with pebble ice from a fountain, the best one I have had in 6 months :) 

(cant believe I’ve been out almost 6 months!!!!) 

Went to an area we don't usually go to and stopped by some less actives. One of them was going through a very hard time. Her mom and brother had just passed away within a week of each other so we were able to comfort her a bit and get a ward member to give her a blessing. It was a cool experience and the Spirit was definitely guiding us. 

Got to skype with sisters in another area and their Thai investigator. Sister T. loved it and was able to help her feel more comfortable and help her understand more! 

Life is good, challenging but rewarding at the same time. 

Sister T. told me, 'Its hard because its worth it.' Remember that through the bad days.

I LOVE YOU ALL!

xoxo, Sister Stevens

Tea appointment with President and Sister Turvey.  Felt very honored. :)

when your dying on the bus

The Parkinson Building, where we teach most of our lessons

There is always a perfect plan

This week has been full of miracles and great experiences! We have
been doing as much as we can with my disabilities haha. I'm not
supposed to be walking much but we have managed to see our
investigators and help them the best we can.
A few miracles from this week:
One investigator W, who has been meeting with missionaries for almost
a year has been struggling lately with some personal problems and they
have been keeping him from progressing which has been difficult but as
a district we have been praying specifically for a few investigators
and he made it to church and stayed the whole time on Sunday! He has
been so much happier and we have noticed a huge change in  his life.
It's amazing  to see how the gospel completely changes people to be
more Christlike. That is one of the best things as a missionary! He is
still praying about when he should be baptized, but he is getting
there.
We got a text from a random guy this week saying he met me and sister
pro a couple months ago and he wanted to come to an activity! An
amazingly enough we had one that week! So he came and loved it and now
he is our investigator :)
We got to Skype with a Thai investigator in another part of our
mission which was so cool and Sister T loved it!
4 of our progressing investigators came to church on Sunday and they
are all working towards their dates which has been such a blessing
from Heavenly Father.
I am learning a lot about heavenly fathers plan for me, even though we
sometimes think or wonder why things happen we can know if we are
doing what is right, it is all part of heavenly fathers plan.
I am so grateful for this time to learn more about my savior and to
learn more about the Book of Mormon. It is truly an inspired book and
I love it so much more as I have applied the principles and stories to
my life. The church is true everyone!
I love and miss you all :)
(Drink some Diet Coke for me please, I miss it too much)
Love from Leeds xxxxx
Sister Stevens

(They get to email from their iPads now so we got videos this week!  I loved hearing her cute voice!!!)

Life is Great

Hey everyone!

Life is great, haha like I always say ups and downs. Lots of ups this week. Still having quite a lot of pain and still trying to figure everything out but Heavenly Father is blessing me so much! I have been able to gain a huge testimony of the atonement because when we can’t give 100% Jesus Christ makes up the rest. Still having to take it easy, but we had some great miracles. On our way home from the doctor this Spanish family came up to us and asked us where the church was and we were so confused because no one does that here haha. But their son is a member and they have been wanting to come to church so that was a miracle! Then we had a small meeting with President and Sister Turvey and Sister Turvey and I were talking and this Polish guy just walks into the church saying he is looking for a church!  So we got his information and will teach him this week. haha Sister Turvey said, “see Sister Stevens, when you can’t go find people, the people find you! “

Sister Chiu and I went on an exhange this week and she is such a great example of a hard working missionary. 

I am learing so much about the Book of Mormon and how to really apply it to my life. That is something I am working on. I keep a journal about what I have been reading and how I can apply that to my life and how I can help my investigators. By doing this I have been able to feel so much love from my Heavenly Father and I have been able to see how much we really do need it in our lives.

When we do what we can Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ truly make up for what we cannot. 

I love this gospel and all the experiences I am having!

love you all!

Sister Stevens

hottest day ever...haha

There will always be Ups and Downs

This week has definitely been better than last. I have felt so much love from everyone while reading my emails and have without a doubt felt your prayers. Thank you so much for all the love and support! 

So I have been having some pretty severe side and back aches and I have been to a couple doctors but they arent sure completely what is wrong. One physiotherapist said it was something to do with my rib..  So I will be going back to get an x-ray this week. Its all very strange and I have no idea what could have caused this (other than stress haha) but we just have to take things as they come. I will keep you updated on that :)

I have also been struggling a bit emotionally. I thought by now I would be completely fine and loving every minute but nope, there are always going to be hard times. But I know through challenges that we face will bring us closer to our Heavenly Father. I know that we are given certain trials because they make us stronger and make us the people He wants us to become. I have been reading this book called Believing Christ. It talks about the atonement and everything Christ has done for us. It says many of us believe in Christ but do we truly know that He can take away our pain and our sins? I know He has felt everything that I have felt and I have been comforted knowing that He loves me. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. 

We had Zone Training which was amazing inspiration on how to plan more effectively and how to be more united with your companion which is something I am working on! And we were able to have interviews with President and Sister Turvey.  They are so inspired and Sister Turvey gave me some great advice. She said we are all different, so we can't compare ourselves to anyone else. We are all at different levels in life. Heavenly Father has given each of us different talents and skills because there will be people out there who need something from us. We just have to be ready for when that person needs us.  And we need to be ready and willing to share our talents. 

I am so thankful for the challenges I go through because they truly bring me closer to the Lord and I have felt love from Him this week in small and little things. 

Life in Leeds is going good :) We have a pretty solid teaching pool which is a huge blessing from Heavenly Father. And the members have been great to help us teach this week. There is a MTC teacher visiting from Spain who came teaching with us which was amazing to have with our spanish speaking investigator! It amazing to see people want to learn more about our church and see the difference it makes in peoples lives. I am so grateful to have this knowledge of the restored gospel!

We celebrated Sister T's birthday this week! Which was fun :) we blindfolded her and took her to subway for breakfast because she loves their cookies hah and we decorated and had pizza and enjoyed being with eachother. It is so fun living with these other sisters because they teach you so many things and you make the best friends because you go through the most with these people. I am so grateful to be making life long friends and to be having so many amazing experiences.

Thank you again for all the prayers and love!!!

I love you all :)

Sister Stevens  

Lisel, "i swear the weirdest things happen on missions"

Me, "You've been through a lot but always manage to come out on top."

Lisel, "I'm still comin out on top"

Me, "thats cuz you are amazeballs" (her word) ;)

lol

birthday

Zone Training

I got 5 letters!!!!!!!

4th of July

Really rough week for Lisel.  She's having some health problems and lots of pain.  Please keep her in your prayers (and me too!)

This week has been a crazy weeks full of ups and downs as usual. Life seems to push you until you brake sometimes but I am still hangin on by a thread. 

Last PDAY was the 4th of July and we had a zone BBQ which was a blast! Our zone leaders got soooo much meat, more than I have ever seen in my life and we had a huge feast. The other sisters and I made a flag cake. kinda a fail but its the thought that counts haha. Also we accidently made so much cream and my zone leader was like what should we do with this? I grabbed a handful and smeared it all over his face hahah he got me back good though. It made me feel like I was back home with my crazy family!

A miracle this week was we had a lot of our investigators come to church and then this random guy I met on the bus a couple weeks ago just showed up! He loved it and wants to learn more.

This last week we were supposed to have a lesson with a less active, but she called us like 10 minutes before saying she was feeling ill (typical english excuse) so we decided to try by a potential investigator and we ended up having a great lesson and he prayed for the first time! And he said he will continue to try and pray and he wants to keep learning. 

Sorry for the short email! Hopefully more exciting things will happen this next week.

- Sister Stevens 

I am PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN!

(sorry this is posted on our way to Lake Powell and I'm not sure what I'm doing)

Thanks for the skittles Mom, this is the only American flag we have!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY AMERICAN!  Man, all I can say is I am grateful to be an American and to be from such an amazing country where you can get diet coke on tap anywhere you go! Haha seriously I miss that so much! Last night me and Sister Pugsley sang the National Anthem at the top of our lungs for our Asian comps haha and they think we are crazy Americans. Today we are having a BBQ with some of the other missionaries at the chapel so that'll be fun :)

Anyway, this week we met our new mission president! President and Sister Turvey! As soon as I saw them I just felt this love for them. I know they have been called of God and I know they are supposed to be here. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity to serve with them for the rest of my mission. 

Transfers came and I am staying in Leeds with my comp Sister T! And the other sisters are staying as well. I feel grateful because I am feeling a lot more comfortable in the area with the people and with directions! It is such a blessing. I looked around the chapel yesterday at church and my heart was full of gratitude that I feel comfortable here and I am loving the ward members. Heavenly Father is blessing me so much! One of the members bore his testimony yesterday and he said something that is so true and amazing! 'Whatever life throws at us we can always have Jesus Christ as our foundation' It is so true! When our lives our centered on our Savior we have nothing to worry about because He will always be there for us! 

One thing I am working on right now is having patience. This is something that is necessary as a missionary you have to be patient with yourself and remember you can't know everything and do everything at once, patient with our investigators and their agency, and patient in God and His timing.  There are so many blessings that come from being patient and remembering that as long as we are trying our best to follow the commandments everything will work out how it is supposed to. Heavenly Father's plan for us is perfect! 

Haha one day this week we had quite the adventure, so first of all we left really early in the morning to meet our new President. So I accidently left the keys in our flat so when we tried to get in after we couldnt because we were locked out... bless my comp. So we ended up having to grab some food and just go back later haha and then a bird pooped on my hair! and we couldnt get into our flat so I was just stuck like that the rest of the day! And then after our last appointment we were waiting at the bus stop and I was distracted singing America the Beautiful and we missed our LAST bus home... haha it was defs a bless. But times like these make for the best mems and we just had to laugh a lot that day. 

Anyway, all I can say is I am truly happy to be here! I am loving the people and loving Leeds! And most importantly, I am loving serving my Heavenly Father!

Thank you to anyone who has sent me a letter! It seriously makes a difference!

Love you all!
Sister Stevens :)

ps enjoy the day in america the beautiful!

Jocelyn Stevens Sent from my iPhone Begin forwarded message:

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