Greetings from Heerlen

Dearest family and friends,

Hallo! Greetings from Heerlen once again! I've got miracles to report this week! One of the biggest miracles was zone conference on Friday. It was with our zone and Den Haag zone in Leiden, and it was wonderful. 

Sis. Aldous (my companion), me, Sis. Nielson (my trainer), Sis. Hoff (her companion)

I learned so much and hopefully I'll be able to apply it all this week. One of the things we talked about was loving the people. Sister Robinson shared with us this idea. If you are having trouble loving someone, it's probably because you can't forgive them for something. Maybe it's that they have tattoos, maybe it's that they smell bad, maybe it's because they kicked your dog, or maybe it's for some other reason. Either way, the fact remains that it's on you to forgive them for whatever it is. She shared the story of Abigail from the Bible, 1 Samuel 25 (specifically verses 24 and 28; synopsis: Nabal rebuffed David and refused to give him food—Abigail interceded, saves Nabal, and gives David a present—David is pacified; verses 24 & 28:  And [Abigail] fell at [David's] feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. ... I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the Lord will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the Lord, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.) Jesus Christ acted as an Intercessory for every one of us just as Abigail did for her husband. When we don't forgive someone, we are really in effect saying to the Lord that we don't forgive Him, since He has asked us to forgive everyone. So, love everyone! And forgive them. As Elder Holland reminded us last conference, none of us are perfect! But that's why we have the Atonement. And I am very grateful for it.

Another miracle of the week: We had a family come to church!  The ward was excited to have them and they all said they plan to come next week! That was truly a miracle.

I can tell every one of you that the gospel is true and that it changes lives, always, always for the better. I'm so grateful for it and for all of you! I love you!

Love,
Zuster Stevens