Finding Joy in the Journey

Well well, transfers are here again. I'm staying and Sister Riley is coming to join me. Sister Hudson, my companion, will be going to Maastricht, which is next to Heerlen.

We've had a good week of finding this week! We've actually met some pretty nice people and I'm sure things will pick up again soon. Things also just feel a little slow right now because we are without bikes right now since Sister Hudson's got stolen. I don't know how other missionaries ever made it on only public transportation here in the past. I'm missing my bike a lot after one week. But we are still making sure to talk to people on public transportation, and we've given out several cards that way at least.

One of our biggest miracles this week was a student who investigated the church about a year ago, but then got busy and stopped. About a month ago she just showed up at church again, but didn't seem to want to make an appointment. Then last week she just came again and we started teaching her again on Tuesday. She really has a sincere desire to know if the Church is true, and she's even felt the Spirit strongly during church, which is why she keeps coming. We had a really good lesson and she's decided to investigate again.

I learned a lot this week about gratitude. When things are not going the way we want them to, it is very easy to get discouraged and disappointed. One of my favorite talks this week was President Uchtdorf's talk from last conference, "Grateful in Any Circumstances." When we live with faith, hope, and confidence that no matter what, if we do our part, things will turn out the Lord's way (which is the best way), we can live with a deep and enduring joy.

A part of this talk:
"This type of gratitude transcends whatever is happening around us. It surpasses disappointment, discouragement, and despair. It blooms just as beautifully in the icy landscape of winter as it does in the pleasant warmth of summer.

When we are grateful to God in‍ our circumstances, we can experience gentle peace in the midst of tribulation. In grief, we can still lift up our hearts in praise. In pain, we can glory in Christ’s Atonement. In the cold of bitter sorrow, we can experience the closeness and warmth of heaven’s embrace.

We sometimes think that being grateful is what we do after‍ our problems are solved, but how terribly shortsighted that is. How much of life do we miss by waiting to see the rainbow before thanking God that there is rain?

Being grateful in‍ our circumstances is an act of faith in God. It requires that we trust God and hope for things we may not see but which are true. By being grateful, we follow the example of our beloved Savior, who said, “Not my will, but thine, be done.”

True gratitude is an expression of hope and‍ testimony. It comes from acknowledging that we do not always understand the trials of life but trusting that one day we will."

I'm grateful that I get to be here in Gent and I love you all!

Love,
Zuster Stevens

Summertime!

Hallo!

It is summer in Belgium and that is a fun mixture of rain one day and very humid heat the next. Or sometimes both the same day. It makes for good conversation starters in the bus.

 

Also the Gentse Feesten [a music and theater festival that includes stage events and random small street acts] have been occurring for the last 10 days. We visited them for about an hour. Crazy stuff. Fun, but it's a mess with public transportation.

 

On Wednesday we had a really cool lesson with a Belgian mans. He is very smart and pretty well-informed about religion but at the moment really believes that God does not exist. He met the Elders awhile ago on a bus or tram and they gave him a Book of Mormon. A few weeks ago we met him and had a good conversation, but he didn't seem super interested. He had really good questions though, all leading up to the Plan of Salvation. So we gave him a pamphlet and said we'd come back in a few weeks. Tuesday we swung by and he was home, and he'd actually read the pamphlet and had perfect questions leading to the Restoration. We had to go to an appointment though, so we weren't able to teach him until Wednesday.

I learned a lot about faith and obedience yesterday. My companion and I were discussing a question one of the members posed to us about why bad things happen to good people and she said that we demonstrate true faith when we continue to work hard and be obedient, even when nothing seems to be getting better. It reminded me of one of my favorite talks, "But If Not," by Elder Dennis E. Simmons:

"What does the Lord expect of us with respect to our challenges? He expects us to do all we can do. He does the rest. Nephi said, “For we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”

We must have the same faith as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

Our God will deliver us from ridicule and persecution, but if not. … Our God will deliver us from sickness and disease, but if not … . He will deliver us from loneliness, depression, or fear, but if not. … Our God will deliver us from threats, accusations, and insecurity, but if not. … He will deliver us from death or impairment of loved ones, but if not, … we will trust in the Lord.

Our God will see that we receive justice and fairness, but if not. … He will make sure that we are loved and recognized, but if not. … We will receive a perfect companion and righteous and obedient children, but if not, … we will have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that if we do all we can do, we will, in His time and in His way, be delivered and receive all that He has."

I love you all! Hope you have a great week!

Salutjes!

Zuster Stevens

Greetings from the land of the Vlaams

Aloha!

We had a great week this week. We are gradually finding more investigators and we've been finding more people who are truly prepared to hear and accept the gospel. One of our miracles this week happened on Saturday. We have more or less a standing appointment with this one JoVo [young single adult]. Before I got here, they were also teaching the JoVo's friend. However, with them being very busy with work and school it's been hard to stay in contact with them, but we were still working with the son. Well, on Saturday when we went by for our appointment, the friend was there too! He is still interested and even read some in the Book of Mormon. He had just been really busy.

While reading President Eyring's talk "Daughters in the Covenant," I noticed that he mentioned that we all have a Heavenly Father who sees a far greater potential in us that we see in ourselves. That is true. Sometimes it is easy to see all your weaknesses, and then it can be discouraging to think of trying to overcome them. But the entire point of the Atonement is that we don't have to do that by ourselves. Yes, we all have weaknesses. There are times for all of us where with think that we are a hopeless case and cannot possibly return. However, with the Atonement of Jesus Christ, there is always hope. No one is ever too far gone. We do have to make a choice. We have to turn to Him, and open when He knocks. But "It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines."--Elder Holland (Laborers in the Vineyard).

 

Life is good! I love Gent and I love Belgium and I love the gospel and I love you all!

Tijd gaat snel voorbij (The Time is Far Spent)

I'm een klein beetje short on time this week, but the work is going well. We've actually been a lot busier this week, running all over the place for appointments. But there's always time to find. :)

Miracle this week: Yesterday we had a soft appointment with a man that we had looked up recently. We got there and he let us right in (it had been pouring down rain, by the way, so we were absolutely drenched) and he and his wife were both there and we had a pretty good discussion. They are very sweet and he seems to sincerely want to know how to repent.

The gospel is true. The church is true. I love this work so much and I am so grateful that I get to be part of it

French Keyboards

So we´re at the library which means that we have to use a french keyboard. It´s remarkably slow even though only about 5 or so of the letters are changed, and all of the punctuation: Daarom (therefore) the shortness.

Well, we had a good week this week. We got a referral from a member yesterday, which is always cool. Also, one of our investigators accepted a baptismal date this past weekend! That was really cool. We´re managing to stay pretty busy finding, for the rest, which is good. Some of our investigators are also making really good progress--they've been reading the Book of Mormon, which will help them the most.

The other day during my studies I was reading a talk from Elder Holland and he said some things that I really liked: There is no easy, comfortable, or convenient way to salvation or exaltation. Every righteous, good, worthy effort is almost certain to be opposed. Why? Because if we are to become like God and enjoy the happiness He enjoys we have to pay the price. And because this is so important the price is almost always higher than we at first really want to pay. But because He loves us, He has made it possible to do, with His help, as always.

In a way, life´s a little like french keyboards: sometimes obnoxious without really understanding the reason, but worth it to write your family. And just when you think you know what you´re doing: it turns out thqt qll the letters qre in the zrong (or just different) spot qnyzqy:

This is the work of the Lord! I love you all!

Welcome to Gent!

Gent is beautiful! It's going to be a very good transfer. We've already seen a lot of miracles this week with finding new investigators and everything. On Wednesday evening when I got here we taught a man who was a Facebook referral a long time ago but who then got busy. He's really cool and is definitely looking for answers. Also, on Saturday we taught one of our investigators who was going through a really low point when he met the sisters a few weeks ago. But now he's praying regularly and is reading from the Book of Mormon. And he came to church yesterday! He really seemed to enjoy it and feel the Spirit. It was cool to see the light in his eyes. Also, the friend of a member came to church again this week and this time we were able to set up an appointment and get an address.

I learned a lot from reading Alma 14:14-25 this week during personal study. There is a law in heaven, that when we keep the commandments and do the will of the Lord, that we will receive great blessings--in time. It is a principle of life in order for us to learn that the blessings are at times delayed. We might not always understand why, when we try to be obedient and work hard and do our best that bad things happen--or maybe that nothing happens. But the Lord know better than we do. No effort is wasted--not only for other people, but for ourselves. We change in the process. What we clearly see from every prophet or missionary (or even just person) ever, is that we must learn patience through trial, tribulation, and heartbreak, and we will be rejected. But we will also always be more than compensated. In time.

 

"Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation‍ of God, and for his arm to be revealed." Doctrine and Covenants 123:17

I love this gospel and I love being a missionary! And I love you all!

Gij Zijt Mijn Hoogste Goed (I Need Thee Every Hour)

Transfers!

So I'm being transferred to Gent, Belgium. My companion will be Sister H., who was in my MTC group. This´ll be the first time I've had a companion from my group or older since my first transfer. I´m excited! I will miss Dordrecht though.

I have learned a lot about what the Lord wants and expects from me this transfer. He expects us to "whate'er thou art, act well thy part." He expects us to be true disciples, which means that we must lift where we stand, do our very best, and put our whole heart and souls into what we do. I am grateful that I know that every calling in the Church, and every transfer call on a mission, is directly from the Lord.

This week has been fantastic. We met with a JoVo (young single adult) girl who we thought would not be super happy to meet with us because it took so long to schedule an appointment. But she was super cool and we had a really good talk. She was really open with us. We also found and started teaching a man who investigated the the Church a little in Curacao and now is seriously considering baptism.

Because of the Atonement, Christ has already overcome everything. We may have trials and tribulations, but ultimately what we have to do is "endure it well" and accept the Atonement.

Have a great week!