Wees Stil en Weet dat Ik God Ben (Be Still and Know that I Am God)

Groetjes! (Greetings!)

This whole week was a total miracle. First of all, zone conference was fantastic. It was one of the best zone conferences I have ever been in. I hope that I am able to apply what we learned, especially about raising our expectations. We've already been working hard on it! On Friday and Saturday we found 4 new investigators, bringing our total for the week to 6, which is the highest we've had it since I've come to Dordrecht. It really was a miracle how it all happened. On Monday we were able to schedule another lesson with someone who had met with us before but wanted to wait before setting up a follow-up appointment. Tuesday we taught a man we found 2-2-5ing a few weeks ago who is quite interested now. On Friday we had a lesson with a man that we found during Koningsdag, who we had actually at one point nearly given up on because a few of our appointments with him had already fallen through. And his cousin was also there, so we were able to teach her too and set up a new appointment with both of them. On Saturday one of the appointments we had scheduled fell through when we got there, but the lady's husband answered the door and we were actually able to have a pretty good lesson with him right there. Later he texted us thanking us for coming and for praying with him and said that he believed that we were sent from God. Then later that evening another appointment fell through, so we swung by a different potential who lived in the area and had a lesson with him on the door. We've been really busy, which is probably the best part.

Also, this 18-year-old kid who requested a Book of Mormon a month or two ago but whose parents didn't want us coming over emailed one of our members this week, as arranged, with a list of questions. They were really good questions too! He really is looking and sincere, which is cool.

Also, it's official. I'm extending to mid-October. Thanks for all of your support!

What I learned this week: "Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning Zion; for all flesh is in mine hands; be still and know that I am God."--Doctrine and Covenants 101:16

The gospel is true and this is the Lord's work! The Atonement truly can heal us of everything and help us through everything.

I love you all!

Liefs, (Love)

Zuster Stevens

U Wil Ik Volgen, Heer (Lord, I Would Follow Thee)

Hallo!

So this is something I've been thinking about and thought I´d share with you all:

Doctrine and Covenants 3:1-3, the most important part being verse 3, "Remember, remember, that it is not the work of God that is frustrated, but the work of men." Recently I read another talk where a little girl, after suffering a disappointment, says something to the effect of "Heavenly Father, I don´t want you to be my servant anymore. I just want to be yours." Sometimes I get frustrated or disappointed with myself or how the work in my area is progressing. It is easy to feel discouraged. But really, these kinds of thoughts are self-centered. If there is a work that can be and is being frustrated, than it is that of mortal people. So if the work I am doing is being frustrated, it is because I´m trying to do my work and not His. There are times that we experience different trials and heartache because He is out to purify us. There are often things in missionary work that just break our hearts: people not willing to just read and pray about the Book of Mormon, investigators that struggle with addictions or with specific commitments, new members who are having a hard time, inactive members who don´t realize what they are missing by staying away from the Church. This is eternal life! This is all of the happiness we can receive in the entire world. This is everything to me and can mean so much for these people. And it´s hard. But it´s supposed to be. It´s also worth it. No matter what the opposition is, it is the work of the Lord and He is doing it. And it is always, always worth it. I have been so happy on my mission. I am so happy right now. The Lord has blessed me so much. There are of course things that I need to change to make myself a more effective servant of the Lord. But we need never fear or grow discouraged. This work is true. The gospel of Jesus Christ is true. And I´m so grateful for that.

Probably one of the biggest miracles we've been seeing this week is how much our investigator has been progressing. We actually loaned him an extra copy of Preach My Gospel that we had in our apartment and during some of the lessons we have him prepare to teach us the lesson. It´s been working really well. He´s finally making a lot more progress with quitting coffee and he has a baptismal date again. It is truly remarkable to see the change in him. He is a different person than he was 3 months ago, and it´s not just the knowledge that he has gained. He has become someone who feels spiritual things. It is a miracle.

Life is good. I love the gospel, I love my Heavenly Father and Savior, and I love all of you. Have a great week!

Sunshine in the Soul

Some of our biggest miracles came in the form of new investigators. We met a lady on Koningsdag who we had a lesson with this week. She is really interested in learning more and is very open. She also seems pretty committed to doing things to find her answers, which is cool. She has gone to lots of churches in the past and already has a lot of faith. Also this week we had a first lesson with a former investigator who was super positive and then just ended up getting really busy with work and then confused by things he heard from other people and other religions. But he´s also really open and committed to learning more.

Then we also had a few miracles with progressing investigators. One of the women we´ve been teaching is Russian, and so there is a tricky language barrier. But this week one of our members (who is also Russian) was able to come with us and that helped a lot. And another lady we started teaching last week, is turning out to be pretty positive. When we first met her she didn´t seem very interested, but during our last appointment she had already started reading the Book of Mormon and seems to understand that this is important. 

Also, our investigator closest to baptism is finally making progress stopping drinking coffee!

Rainy week in terms of weather, but there is always sunshine in the soul.

One of the things that I´ve been thinking about lately is about how Heavenly Father calls us to certain things or gives us certain trials or experiences in life to help us in our quest to become more like Him. Knowing is important. Doing is important. But becoming is the most important of all. That´s what the gospel and the Atonement are all about. The gospel changes us into something better. When we have faith in Jesus Christ, then we repent and change. We make covenants and start over fresh with baptism and by partaking of the sacrament. And we receive the Holy Ghost to sanctify us and help us on our journey home. Everything in life is made better through the gospel of Jesus Christ and through His Atonement. Some people think that they can do without, that faith isn´t that important. But it´s not true. This is everything. This is eternal life. This is enduring peace, happiness, and hope. This is answers to all the questions we have about life, both this one and the next one. I have found more joy in this than in anything else in the world, and it adds to all the joy I find in other things. I just want other people to be able to find that joy too. People ask us why we emphasize the Book of Mormon so much. It´s because reading it and praying about it have opened so much happiness to me. Why wouldn´t I want to share that with other people? Shall we not go on in so great a cause?

Love,

Zuster Stevens

Worth It

By far the highlight of this week was going to the temple. I love going to the temple so much, it is unbelievable how much I missed that the last 6 months. It always gives me such a new perspective on life and everything. One of our biggest goals for all these people is that they eventually be able to go to the temple as well. There is so much peace and joy there. I want everyone to be able to experience that.
We had a couple other cool miracles this week too. We had two unexpected lessons--one was with a potential who had not seemed very positive but who said we could come back. So we went back this week and she just let us in! At first she seemed sort of hesitant, but by the end of the lesson she was interested in learning more. The next evening we were just finding in a neighborhood after another potential wasn't home, and someone just let us up. The people living in the apartment turned out to not be too interested, but they had a neighbor over and he asked us good questions that led into the Restoration, and wants to meet with us again. It was neat because he said that he´d been living in that apartment for awhile and no one had ever come by to talk about religion before us. And then we belled his neighbor while he was there. He said that he doesn't believe in coincidence. Me neither--toeval bestaat niet! [there are no coincidences]

One of the things that I learned this week is that what we do and accomplish is not as important as what we become. Sometimes we wish that we had all the answers before we started a job or a calling (or a mission). Then we would have been the whole time the person that we wanted to be at the beginning, instead of learning it and becoming it and then only having a bit of time at the end to be that before it´s time for us to move on. But that defeats the purpose! If Heavenly Father wanted us to do everything right the first time, then we would have come with more experience. But He wants us to learn and grow from it.

Love,

Zuster Stevens

Picture is worth a thousand words: Keukenhof

[Keukenhof, in Lisse, also known as the Garden of Europe, is the world's second largest flower garden.]