how Job changed my life

dearest family & friends,

I have felt so much love and peace this week! I truly appreciate the prayers that have been said and everyone who fasted. When I heard about everyone fasting I broke down into tears and it was right before district meeting haha the whole time I was a wreck. I just felt so much love! I have the best support group out there! I couldn't do this without my wonderful family and friends :)

This week I have been studying about the life of Job in the Old Testament. I have been so inspired about him and how he handled his life! So Job was a very well blessed man with a very strong faith in God. He did everything he could to obey and do what God wanted him to do. But he lost his health, his wealth, and his posterity. His wife and loved ones turned against him, he suffered from nightmares, worms, boils, and his pain was constant. And all through these pains he sought out Heavenly help, but the heavens remained silent. The silence became part of the test. Job always knew that God was there but he was confused at why he was going through all of these things. He had never done anything to deserve this, he had always helped and served others. But Job never gave up his faith, he trusted that God would be there. He showed that through his challenges the most important thing was that he had a knowledge and relationship with Heavenly Father, more important than anything he had obtained in his life. He says, "when the Lord has tried me, I will come forth as gold." Once he has suffered through so much pain he receives help from Heavenly Father and he discovered that the Lord had "blessed the latter end of him more than his beggining" 

Job showed me that heavenly Father is giving me these trials and challenges because He wants me to learn. He will not give us trials more than we can bear. And He will always bless us more than we can imagine! If Heavenly Father always prevented hard times there would be no learning, no growing, and we would not be prepared to meet Him one day. Everything is done for our benefit only. 

We have been able to work with more members this week and I love it! I feel like we are really able to build their trust and really help them. We are helping them realize tthat missionary work is so much more than being taught the lessons. It is about loving and serving those around you. We have been encouraging members to bring a friend. Not necessarily a non-member but someone that can use a lift or some extra support and friendship.

This week Sister Mo and I have mastered the art of the apple pie haha we have made a couple and we are very proud of ourselves. We also had a little eyebrow and haircutting party after planning last night. We are building great relationships and I am so thankful for these wonderful sisters who are keeping me going.

I know that Heavenly Father and our Savior are there for us always. They really truly love us and want to help us, they are just waiting for us to ask!

hope you all have a great week! 

LOVE YOU, 

Sister Stevens 

Sister Blair <3

my fave recent convert Hayley

Sister Mo and I perfecting the Apple Pie

lunch with the cutest Chinese members

Sister Rigby

we went to the Hull Fair last P-day, so much fun!!!

Receiving Strength

Hello fam!

This week has been tough but rewarding! The pain in my back has returned full force but I am determined to keep working hard and do what I can while I am here. I am learning to rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ because there are times where I feel like I can't do it anymore and I am ready to give up. But I have asked for help and somehow I am able to keep going. I am so grateful for what I am going through because I am learning how to rely on Christ and how to receive help. I know the trials we face are making us stronger, braver people that Heavenly Father needs on His side. 

Zone Training was this week and it was so inspiring as usual. We talked about being ourselves and being authentic. Each of us have been blessed with special talents and abilities from our Heavenly Father that someone needs. Sometimes it is hard for us to see these skills we have been given, but Heavenly Father wants us to use them, so if you are having difficulties as to what your gifts are ask Heavenly Father to show them to you and He will because He needs you to use them! Being authentic means being genuine and sincere. I have been really working on being genuine in every conversation I have. Sometimes I get stuck saying the same things to everyone I meet each day, but each person is different. When you are genuine and sincere people can feel love from you. 

One lesson we taught this week really stuck out to me. We taught this student who doesn't have a faith. It was one of the best lessons I have taught on my mission. The spirit was there, we read from the Book of Mormon, bore strong testimony, and taught to his needs but he would not open up, he would not let the spirit into his heart. It was frustrating to see this but it just showed me that people have their agency and we can do all we can but they still have the choice to accept it or not. So we need to keep trying and keep doing our best because there are people out there who are ready and will accept it we just need to keep looking. 

It is a blessing serving with Sister Mo! She keeps me laughing throughout the day and we have become so close. It is so much fun being a missionary with her. 

Each day is a new experience! Missionary work is crazy but I love it.

Hope you all have a great week!

Love to you all,

Sister Stevens

Conference Weekend!

Hi everybody :)

I'll just start off by saying I am so grateful for this conference

weekend we have had. I have been uplifted and inspired. And I hope you

all did too! I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a missionary

and watch general conference because I am truly understanding the

importance of listening to our Prophets voice! I just want to share a

couple highlights I loved from conference.

First of all I love the overall message that sharing the gospel is a

JOY! We are sharing the truth and light that comes from Heavenly

Father's perfect Plan of Happiness! This is the TRUTH and we have it!

Our loving Father will do nothing save it be for our benefit.

Everything we go through, all our heartaches and pain are for our

good. He knows you and loves you and wants you to succeed, all you

need to do is trust in Him, His timing, and do all you can to follow

Him.

I am grateful for the opportunity to be His hands. I have been praying

for help on how I can be a better instrument and I know that by

serving and loving others I am doing what I have been called to do. I

am here to bring JOY to my brothers and sisters. Everyone, no matter

their circumstances is qualified for our Father and Savior's love and

joy. We just need to help them find it and we do that by being

examples, sharing our testimonies, and serving those around us. Can

you pray for a desire to share the gospel? Can you pray for

inspiration for what you can do individually in your circumstances?

Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave some great counsel on how we can

individually share the gospel!

One thing that really stuck out to me was something that was said in

the closing prayer of one of the sessions, "please help us be

different after these 2 days." How will you be different after hearing

the words of our leaders?

Hehehe we had a very interesting evening. Actually it was quite

hilarious. So we were headed home for the night when we get a call

from the other sisters asking if we had left the door open and lights

on... Of course we didn't so we started to get nervous. We get to our

flat and sister Blair went up the stairs a bit and heard some

footsteps, she ran back out as fast as she could out of there. We

called our zone leaders right then and some members who lived near.

Our zone leaders somehow were in our area (they had followed the

spirit) and were there in minutes! It was such a miracle. They went

and checked everything out and the person had left. But the back door

was unlocked so that was how he escaped. We were all a bit nervous

that night but we knew we were and still are being protected!

But it was a great week! We were able to commit A to the path to

happiness, or in other words baptism. And we are trying to resolve her

deep concerns. We have come to realise that Heavenly Father is in

charge and each person is on their own conversion time. All we can do

is try our best and ask Heavenly Father for help to know what to say

and do to help!

Because of my love for my Father in Heaven and my love for my family I

WILL ENDURE. And I hope all of you will too!

Last day with Sister Manning :(

I love you all and I truly truly appreciate all the emails. It makes a

difference!

Love, Sister Stevens

our attempt to make Nan's cinnamon rolls...LOL
they took a lot longer than we thought, so we went
to bed at 10:30 to be obedient and then set an alarm
at 11:30 to take them out of the oven.  It was defs a bless
we will try again sometime in the future :)

a member who too us to tea :)

ward coordination

haha...a member was wearing this t-shirt

making some popcorn

I'm staying in HULL!

hey fam :)
This week was great of course, every week is great as a missionary... ;)
Well, there are always so many great things that happen, I'll put it
that way. Last night were transfers and Sister Mo and I are staying
together in HULL! Sister Blair is also staying but her trainee is
getting moved and another sister in coming named Sister Rigby!

Anyway, we had a wonderful Sister's Meeting for the sisters in our
zone that Sister Blair conducted. We received wonderful counsel on
Faith, Finding, and Finances (some of the sisters are really stuggling
when it comes to dealing with money, but it is always helpful! Each
sister had a part they needed to prepare for and we all shared a faith
building experience. We talked about Jacob 5, the allegory of the
olive tree. Each of us our Heavenly Father's children and that alone
is amazing. We all have a purpose in life and sometimes we forget that
purpose and how much potential we truly have. There are so many people
in the world who have no idea who they are and where they came from.
That is why missionary work is so important and necessary. I love
Jacob 5:71. "Go to, and labor in the vineyard, with your might.. for
the end is nigh at hand, and the season speedily cometh and if ye
labor with your might with me ye shall have JOY in the fruit.." This
verse is not only for full time missionaries, it is for everyone. Each
person has a part to play in this life in helping people come unto
Christ. I know that when we work to help, serve, and be an example
WITH Christ we are going to feel that true JOY. Success doesn't come
in how many people are baptised. It comes when we are feeling,
learning, and doing.

This week I had a really amazing experience that I hope I will never
forget. So we were knocking for quite a while when this guy opened his
door. We introduced ourselves and he said things like how could anyone
believe in God there are so many bad things happening in the world and
if there was a God wouldn't he be doing something about this world? He
went on and on just bashing Heavenly Father and saying how cruel he
is. As I tried to bear my testimony (which is really the only thing I
could do) and he kept interrupting, I started getting defensive. I was
so sad that he was saying all the awful things about our Father in
Heaven it broke my heart. So embarrassing but I started crying right
there on his front porch. Heavenly Father allowed me to feel a tiny
glimpse of what He feels when we choose not to follow Him. His heart
softened a little when he saw me crying and he finally listened to me
share my testimony about how God is really there and how much He loves
us.

Our polish investigator A is progressing! She said she does want to
be baptised but she realises this is a big commitment and wants to
fully invest herself which is great. She desires to follow Christ and
do what He has asked us to do. I love going to her house because she
has the cutest dog that looks like scout but he is white! And Anna has
the funniest sense of humor and always makes us laugh.

Oh and my favorite weekend is next weekend! GENERAL CONFERENCE! We
have been committing members to invite a friend and they are excited!
Conference is a great time to receive answers to questions that you
have. So I challenge all of you to think of questions prayerfully
(they don't have to be gospel related) and I promise you will be able
to receive answers from inspiration you get!

I feel so much gratitude for this chance to serve a mission. I am
truly realising how much this will help me with my future. There are
so many things you learn on a mission that I could not learn anywhere
else. I am not doing Heavenly Father a favor, He is doing me a favor.

Hope you all have a wonderful week :)
Love you all,
Sister Stevens

(So many cute pics this week! YAY!!)

Me and Sister Mo

exchange with Sister Blair

sleepover

I got a package!!!

lunch with a recent convert

Knocking doors

I ATE HAGGUS...nasty

wedding :)

My fave bus driver Steve.  He finally accepted a Book of Mormon!!! :)

we went to a candy shop

bubble gum ice cream with Sister Mo

getting chips with Jayne, a recent convert

hospital, finger 

We made crepes!

shopping