Improve the Shining Moments

This week has been really busy with meetings and traveling and everything. We had to go to Nederland on Friday and Antwerpen Saturday so that Sister J. could plan for zone training tomorrow. But the Lord has blessed us a lot despite our busyness with Sister J.'s calling as sister training leader. Yesterday we had 4 lessons with people and we ended up setting up several cool appointments for the rest of the week. That was a big miracle since we had been gone pretty much all of Friday and Saturday. Last night we had an appointment with a man who doesn't come to church because of his wife who is a member of another church. However, his testimony is still really strong and he is actively talking with her and the rest of his family about the gospel and the church. Apparently she hasn't been super open in the past, but she's been asking him more questions and when we asked her if we could come back to answer her questions she was pretty receptive. The last time we swung by she was happy to see us and said that we were the first sister missionaries that she had met. She seems to be pretty open to meet with us now!

One of the things that I've learned a lot lately is how short and valuable time, moments, and opportunities are. We as humans tend to think that we have a little more time--but then something happens. Never postpone or procrastinate things, especially in relationships--family, friends, companions, etc.. Do not procrastinate change and repentance either. We really do only have a short amount of time to do what  needs t obe done and love those around us. I'm so grateful for the Atonement, which makes my meager efforts worth something and that changes me into someone much better. I am so grateful that I know that my Redeemer lived and died for me, and also that He now lives again. I'm so grateful that I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father, who loves us so much.

I love you all and I'm so grateful for your support! Hope all is well!

Love,

Zuster Stevens

Mission Conference with Elder Ballard

The biggest news of the week is that Elder M. Russell Ballard came to our mission to speak, accompanied by Elder Timothy J. Dyches, Elder Donald Hallstrom, and of course their wives. I love coming to conferences with questions. All of my questions were answered, both during my own personal preparation before the conference and during the conference itself. One of the questions I had was about the Atonement, and while preparing for the conference I found a talk called "Beauty for Ashes: The Atonement of Jesus Christ" by Bruce C. Hafen. (click here to read). It really helped me understand the Atonement better, specifically just how much the Atonement makes up for our weaknesses and shortcomings and eventually changes us and sanctifies and purifies us. The conference itself to me had a very loving and appreciative atmosphere, and they repeatedly thanked us for what we do. That was really neat to feel the Lord's love and appreciation as one of His servants spoke personally to our mission.

We also had a cool experience yesterday with an appointment. We went into the lesson not really sure how prepared the man was to progress, but the church member with us testified powerfully and was a fantastic support and it went really well. Also, on Saturday our almost baptismal date (wants to get baptized and just has scheduling things to figure out) asked if she could please pay tithing even though she's not a member. So before her baptism she plans on donating that money to a different fund in the Church, because her desire is so strong to do that. She's amazing.

Second biggest news of the week is transfer calls. I will be staying my last 4 weeks in Gent, which I am very excited about. However, that is tempered by the fact that I will be losing Sister R., who will be going, unexpectedly, to Turnhout. But I will be getting Sister J., who I have worked with quite a bit in the past and who is a good friend. Also, she will be the sister training leader here, which will be fun for all of us, because I will still get to exchange with Sister R.

Windows of Heaven

It was another good week. Our work really has been paying off, and the Lord has blessed us a lot, and we've been a lot more busy and teaching more people. This week wasn't quite as eventful with investigators at church, but we still had 3 there, which is still pretty good for this area. We had a really cool lesson with one of our investigators this week. He is Muslim, and although he is currently not fully practicing, he does still also believe in it. When we first taught him he didn't seem super positive, but he has been reading the Book of Mormon and he came to church last week (just not yesterday because of a prior commitment). However, he isn't sure at the moment how strong his desire is to know because he is now engaged and his fiance is also Muslim. But during our lesson the Spirit was very strong, he got along well with our joint teach, and the lesson (about faith in Jesus Christ) just flowed. At the end my companion had the idea to watch Dankzij Hem (Because of Him), and it was really powerful. Also, the JoVo that came to church two weeks ago when we invited him the night before, has read up to 2 Nephi 11 and has a very sincere desire to learn more and to get an answer. He's a really cool kid.

Yesterday on the way to church after meeting one of our investigators to travel together, we ran into one of the Elders' investigators. He just told me over and over how the Lord must love and bless missionaries. It is so true. He absolutely does. But as with tithing, some of the blessings come more in the form of spiritual strength and growth rather than in temporal blessings (see Elder Bednar's talk from last October on tithing -- click here ) -- yesterday we also taught the gospel principles lesson on tithing. Sometimes on a mission the blessings are very clear and obvious--lots of lessons, no bike problems, plenty of dinner appointments, etc.. Sometimes they come in the form of lessons learned. And sometimes it feels like not a lot is actually happening or changing, but it turns out that in the process we are growing far closer to God and more like Him than we expected or even noticed.

When it rains, it pours...but when it rains, the sun shines brighter :)

Hello hello,

 

So, you might be wondering why I'm emailing a day late. Very simple, actually, we spent most of our P-day in Antwerpen, waiting for my companion to get stitches because of an incident while playing sports. Don't worry, she's all right, doesn't have much pain, and is patched up very nicely. In fact, we had a miracle last night because of it. But I'll say more about that later.

 

This week was wet. Very very wet. Pours is an accurate description of the weather. But then it cleared up very nicely and we finished it off with some very cool miracles.

I'll start with one of the biggest miracles--8 nonmembers at church, 6 of them being our investigators! That was an amazing experience. Sometimes it takes some time (and patience), but it feels like all our hard work (and the hard work of the missionaries before us) is finally paying off. That is the most investigators I have ever had in sacrament meeting. The Lord truly is the one in control of this work.

 

Other miracle: One of our investigators is doing really well and wants to be baptized! She even has a date in her head, just isn't yet ready to say what it is. We went through the baptismal interview questions with her briefly to let her know what all we'll have to talk about in the next few weeks and from her responses she is very ready. We really love her a lot.

Another personal miracle for me was going to the stake barbeque on Saturday. I saw several of the ward members from Heerlen again and that was really cool, especially because they still remembered me. It's been a long time, so it was really neat to see them all again and catch up a little bit. Also, one of them grew up in our branch boundaries and told us to go visit his parents, who aren't coming to church but he says that they're pretty positive.

I know that the Lord protects us and also that He can turn any bad thing into a good thing (see 2 Nephi 2:2: "Thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain"). Because of what happened with Sister R., we were in the right place at the right time to meet this really cool Bulgarian girl who we now have an appointment with. Also, in everyday life there are many things that happen that we don't wish for or expect, but that can be great learning and growth opportunities and chances to grow closer to our Heavenly Father.

I know that the gospel is true and that it is the only way to true and enduring happiness. I am so grateful for the many blessings Heavely Father has given me.

 

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Love,
Zuster Stevens

O Vast Als Een Rotssteen (How Firm a Foundation)

Groetjes van België! (Greetings from Belgium)

Yesterday we had a huge miracle: this guy we met on Saturday actually came to church! We just met him while walking in a park, and he said that he would come to church the next day and we agreed to meet him at the station. We called him Sunday morning and he asked what time again and then said that he would be there, but he lives in a town that is an hour bus ride away, and we weren't sure if he was just saying that he'd be there. But we went, and there he was, waiting! He said that since we met him he had been thinking about it and wanted to know what the church was all about. So he went to all three hours of church and got a French Book of Mormon (he speaks several languages reasonably well). And we set up an appointment with him. Also this week we had a super good lesson with another man who is agnostic but open, and told him that all his questions would be answered if he read and prayed about the Book of Mormon. After all, that is true.

Everything we do is centered in faith in and hope in Jesus Christ and His Atonement: "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus..." (Hebrews 6:10-12,19-20).

That is one of the reasons I love the Book of Mormon so much--because everything it is is also centered on Jesus Christ and His Atonement, and how through Him we can return to our Heavenly Father.

The gospel is true! Have a wonderful week!

Raining While the Sun is Shinging

I was told that there is a Japanese word that refers to the interesting weather phenomenon when the sun is shining during the rain. Or anders om, I don't really know which is better. We experienced that a lot this week, both literally and figuratively. But I'll talk about that in a minute.

So, I realized that I forgot to mention one of the coolest things that happened not last week, but the week before. There is a member that goes to Sint Niklaas ward but who technically lives in our boundaries (although a bit further away). She is currently a family history missionary, and is really excited about missionary work. She's been just wanting to help the missionaries somehow, and so a few weeks ago she invited us and the Elders over for lunch and then the Elders went finding and we visited a few people that she had been thinking about as she tried to pray for people that could use the gospel. None of the people we visited were home (no appointments), so we just all went tracting together. It was super cool because we ended up with two potentials at the end, and these two women probably wouldn't have accepted the invitation to listen more except she was able to tell them that she was just a normal member of the Church and a nearby neighbor. It was amazing to see her excitement for missionary work and see the miracles that came from that. She attributes a lot of her desire and ability to do missionary work to her thorough study of Preach My Gospel. Elder Ballard's invitation really works!

One of our biggest miracles is an investigator who didn't think that she would be able to meet because of a busy schedule, but Thursday she texted us wanting to meet Friday. We had a really great lesson with her, and at the end she just kept saying that she just loved the feelings that she got from meeting with us and going to church and that she definitely wanted to keep those. Neither she nor we wanted to leave that appointment. We just love her! The best part is that this was one of the many days this week where the weather would go from cloudy to rainy to sunny to all of the above rather quickly. And we were meeting on a park bench. With umbrellas. We're glad she's a good sport.

Sometimes life is a little like that. Sometimes it seems like all is dark and gloomy. And yet, despite the rain, the clouds break open and the sun comes through, a little like God's personal reminder that yes, He really is there, even though you can't always see it. We might have the occasional (or frequent) disappointment, but that's just a little bit of rain while the sun is shining, because life really is good. Especially on a mission. I couldn't ask for anything better.

I learned a lot about faith this week. I learned that faith is primarily a principle of action, rather than just conviction. Just because we don't firmly believe that something will happen doesn't mean we lack faith, unless we then neglect to act on what little belief we do have. As we act without a knowledge or even a firm conviction that something will occur, we are demonstrating real faith--faith that God will reward our efforts and obedience, even if the immediate results are not what we had hoped for. This is the Lord's work.

By the way, everyone should read "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence," from Elder Holland

The gospel is true!

I love you all

Blijf Bij Mij, Heer (Abide With Me)

Transfers this week! Always exciting. Sister R is my new companion and she's wonderful. :)

Well, yesterday a member referral and one of our most positive investigators, and also a good friend, dropped us. We met her husband earlier this week and that went well at the time, but apparently afterwards he looked up more things on the internet, got into some anti material, and decided that he didn't want her to have anything to do with the church anymore. She went to church yesterday anyway when he was sleeping, but that didn't go over well. Her choice now is him or the church, and being a foreigner who moved here only about 6 months ago, she doesn't really have any options. But we will all be praying and I'm sure someday his heart will be softened.

On the bright side, this week we had a really good super-member-present lesson with the girl we taught last week. It was really cool to see what a difference feeling the Spirit is making in her life. She had been going through a hard time before she started coming again, but she loves the church now and the feelings she gets from living the gospel, essentially. The gospel changes lives, and it makes all the difference in the world! Most people think that they don't need anything more than what they have. But they have absolutely no idea what they are missing out on.

On Tuesday Elder Enslow gave a really good district meeting about Mormon. It really puts the rest of the Book of Mormon into perspective to look at Mormon's life. Towards the end of his life, he had lost everything. During most of his life all of the wars and wickedness occurring gave little reason to hope for anything. In fact, at one point he said that he had no hope for his people. And yet he kept going. He kept fighting. He kept loving the people. And in the meantime, he compiled and abridged the Book of Mormon, plus contributed some of the most powerful doctrinal discourses in the book. He knew that the people wouldn't repent. But he still never gave up. Why? Because he had a deep and abiding hope in Jesus Christ, His Atonement, and His Resurrection. Mormon didn't have any converts. He read and wrote about the great prophet-missionaries like Ammon, Alma, and Nephi and Lehi, who converted entire nations--but never saw physically the fruits of his labors. And yet, without Mormon, the world would not be the same. I would not be here, doing what I love most, without him. What he did and contributed changed my life and those of countless people through all eternity. That is a greater perspective. I do not have all of the answers to why certain things happen in life. But I do know that my testimony of Jesus Christ makes everything else not only bearable, but worth it.

Have a great week!