Hey there everybody!
First of all, thanks everyone for the happy birthday wishes and the merry Christmas wishes as well. Oh and also, thanks for all the gifts and letters. They mean so much! so, this past week was totally awesome. It was Christmas first off, and of course Christmas is just amazing, especially Christmas in the Philippines. There's a saying here in the Philippines, something along the lines of "It's funner in the Philippines." They say that all the time here. It is so great. This Christmas was absolutely amazing. We got to spend the Christmas with two families. One of them was a recent convert family, and the other was a less active family that is really close to being officially returned. We got to share a message about Christ, mainly about the birth of Christ because it's Christmas. It was so great sharing with them and it was even better that they were able to share a little bit themselves! I loved that. I also got to go on exchanges with the zone leader here in Naic. His names Elder Griffin. He was great. I learned so much from him this exchange. While we were working, we went to some appointments we thought we set but the families weren't there. It was alright though because Elder Griffin did not give up. We just went out looking instead and we actually found an awesome family! It was so cool because we wanted to share but the husband wasn't there. But right when we were about to just say "next time na lang" the husband came up on his bike! It was so perfect! So we taught and set up a return appointment. It was a wonderful time. We got to teach so many people this week and we even were able to bring out ward mission leader out with us one of the days! His names Brother Salvatus and he's like 70 years old an still going strong. H worked with us an entire day. It was great! He is so funny and he has a really strong testimony about the church and about Christ. I love him. This week was awesome! Well that's about all! I love you all so much an thanks for everything. Happy New Year as well!
Elder Stephens
Sunday, December 30, 2012
Sunday, December 23, 2012
December 24, 2012
Hey everyone!
Wow, I can't even begin to explain how great this week has been. There were so many great things that happened. First off, we had a bunch of parties, well actually only two but for missionaries I think that's a lot haha. So first was the mission party and it was really great. President and Sister Stucki shared an awesome message about JOY. The message was about putting Jesus Christ first, putting Others second, and putting Yourself last. JOY. They said that this Christmas and for the rest of forever, you can remember this simple message and you will always have happiness. That was great. The second was the Carissa branch party. It was pretty fun. Elder Pugmire, Elder Gwilliam, and I all sang "What Child is This." I thought that was pretty awesome. I'm not good at singing though but it's alright. The song is what matters. Well the message, which is Christ was born. Yea you get what I'm trying to say. The other great thing about this week is we were able to give out some more baptismal dates! We were so excited to be able to extend some and even more excited when people were willing to accept! One of the investigators that accepted the baptismal date is actually married to a member. The member is less active but she wants to learn and come back. So it is really great to be able to teach an investigator and a less active member. That is actually the best way to do it here because so many people are less active, that you really try to teach them all over again to help them gain that testimony again. So I am very excited for that. Oh, and I almost forgot, this week is Christmas!! I didn't forget. I am soooo excited for Christmas. Especially that I'm able to spend it here in the Philippines. I always knew how important is was to remember Christ during Christmas, but I never have realized just how important until this one. I think it is because I have just learned so much about what He has done for all of our Heavenly Father's children. It is so great to be a missionary and to be able to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the people here in the Philippines. I really wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this time. I know this work is true and that this is the Lord's work. And that all missionaries have been called of God to be where they are. Missionary work is great! Well, that's about it. Thanks everyone for everything. Merry Christmas and thanks for the birthday wishes!! Hope you all have a great Christmas this year!
Elder Stephens
Wow, I can't even begin to explain how great this week has been. There were so many great things that happened. First off, we had a bunch of parties, well actually only two but for missionaries I think that's a lot haha. So first was the mission party and it was really great. President and Sister Stucki shared an awesome message about JOY. The message was about putting Jesus Christ first, putting Others second, and putting Yourself last. JOY. They said that this Christmas and for the rest of forever, you can remember this simple message and you will always have happiness. That was great. The second was the Carissa branch party. It was pretty fun. Elder Pugmire, Elder Gwilliam, and I all sang "What Child is This." I thought that was pretty awesome. I'm not good at singing though but it's alright. The song is what matters. Well the message, which is Christ was born. Yea you get what I'm trying to say. The other great thing about this week is we were able to give out some more baptismal dates! We were so excited to be able to extend some and even more excited when people were willing to accept! One of the investigators that accepted the baptismal date is actually married to a member. The member is less active but she wants to learn and come back. So it is really great to be able to teach an investigator and a less active member. That is actually the best way to do it here because so many people are less active, that you really try to teach them all over again to help them gain that testimony again. So I am very excited for that. Oh, and I almost forgot, this week is Christmas!! I didn't forget. I am soooo excited for Christmas. Especially that I'm able to spend it here in the Philippines. I always knew how important is was to remember Christ during Christmas, but I never have realized just how important until this one. I think it is because I have just learned so much about what He has done for all of our Heavenly Father's children. It is so great to be a missionary and to be able to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the people here in the Philippines. I really wouldn't want to be anywhere else at this time. I know this work is true and that this is the Lord's work. And that all missionaries have been called of God to be where they are. Missionary work is great! Well, that's about it. Thanks everyone for everything. Merry Christmas and thanks for the birthday wishes!! Hope you all have a great Christmas this year!
Elder Stephens
Monday, December 17, 2012
December 17, 2012
Dear everyone,
That sounds weird. First off, I am officially in ,my second transfer here in the PI. I cannot believe that it has already been 6 weeks! I did not get transferred anywhere for all those who were wondering. I'm still in Carissa! I feel like just yesterday I got here and had no idea what was going on! We actually got another new missionary in our house, Elder Burgos is training him straight from the MTC. It's funny because he says a bunch of the same stuff I said 6 weeks ago about just being new and stuff. He's already doing great though so it's all good. SO this week was pretty great! We found a new family this week that we want to start teaching. The father of the family apparently has investigated the church before but never was baptized. Now the whole family is investigating and they are all really interested. The first lesson with them went really well. We did a lot of just getting to know who they were and we found out they are already really religious. They are interested in learning more about the church and the gospel and I am so happy because I know it can help the out so much! We were also able to do a service project on Saturday. The Sisters In Trece needed some help with a service project because it had a lot landscaping so they wanted Elders to do it. So we went and it was for a member who needed some landscaping done for his house because water was just gathering like crazy. So we built a little river like thing to let the water go in the drain and we did a great job. It was wonderful. I love serving. So the Christmas season is here and it is so sweet here in the Philippines. Christmas is great pretty much everywhere but for some reason I just love it here a lot. It may have to do with the fact that I'm a missionary and doing the Lord's work. I don't know. But because of Christmas and it being the season of giving, I am really grateful that the gift we get to give, as missionaries, is the gospel. The one thing that can help every single person in the entire world. It is so rewarding helping people come unto Christ and we know this can help them out so much. I love this work and I love being a missionary!! I love you all!!
Elder Stephens
That sounds weird. First off, I am officially in ,my second transfer here in the PI. I cannot believe that it has already been 6 weeks! I did not get transferred anywhere for all those who were wondering. I'm still in Carissa! I feel like just yesterday I got here and had no idea what was going on! We actually got another new missionary in our house, Elder Burgos is training him straight from the MTC. It's funny because he says a bunch of the same stuff I said 6 weeks ago about just being new and stuff. He's already doing great though so it's all good. SO this week was pretty great! We found a new family this week that we want to start teaching. The father of the family apparently has investigated the church before but never was baptized. Now the whole family is investigating and they are all really interested. The first lesson with them went really well. We did a lot of just getting to know who they were and we found out they are already really religious. They are interested in learning more about the church and the gospel and I am so happy because I know it can help the out so much! We were also able to do a service project on Saturday. The Sisters In Trece needed some help with a service project because it had a lot landscaping so they wanted Elders to do it. So we went and it was for a member who needed some landscaping done for his house because water was just gathering like crazy. So we built a little river like thing to let the water go in the drain and we did a great job. It was wonderful. I love serving. So the Christmas season is here and it is so sweet here in the Philippines. Christmas is great pretty much everywhere but for some reason I just love it here a lot. It may have to do with the fact that I'm a missionary and doing the Lord's work. I don't know. But because of Christmas and it being the season of giving, I am really grateful that the gift we get to give, as missionaries, is the gospel. The one thing that can help every single person in the entire world. It is so rewarding helping people come unto Christ and we know this can help them out so much. I love this work and I love being a missionary!! I love you all!!
Elder Stephens
Monday, December 10, 2012
December 10, 2012
Hey there everyone!!
Sooo how is everyone doing?! Sounds like it is pretty great. The Philippines is just going nuts with all the happy people and with Christmas just around the corner. Christmas is such a huge celebration here that they start celebrating it in...SEPTEMBER! So there are tons of lights and little display things and the whole nine here for pasko. Everyone always sings, "pasko na naman!" It's great. So we had some pretty awesome experiences this week. First regarding some of those pictures, the ones with the members in the branch are because we had a little activity with the young single adults of the branch. They set up the whole thing! It was a "one day mission." Basically we just had little groups of ysa's and leaders and we went around to the less active ysa's to help them come back to church. It was awesome! Elder Pugmire and I were in charge in the morning about just teaching them about missionary work and then showing them some good tips. They all got so excited about missionary work and they even want to do the activity again! It was really cool because a lot of them want to serve missions and this really prepared them for it. Another really sweet experience was with a new family we have begun to teach. The Santiago family. We were actually looking for a less active family but they were not home when we got there so we taught the neighbors, the Santiagos. The lesson went so well. They loved the message about the Restoration, especially that we have a living prophet today. They really wanted to learn more so we set up an appointment to teach them again the following Sunday. The message was great and we taught on the Book of Mormon. We gave them copies and they began to just thank us so much. I never heard "salamat po" so many times in one minute. It was awesome and thy loved it. They told us they really want to be ready in order to get baptized because they don't just want to get baptized just because. Which was great to hear because that is exactly what we believe as well. I can't wait to see this family grow in the gospel and come closer unto Christ. It is crazy to think that this week will be the end of my first transfer here in the Philippines. I can't believe all the experiences that have already happened. I knew I would have awesome experiences but not this many. I have been so blessed. We were actually at a lesson today and I bore testimony about just that. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission. I know the gospel can help anyone who wants to learn about it and it they gain a desire to seek the truth, they will find it. I am especially thankful that I get to serve here in the Philippines. My "roots." I couldn't imagine being anywhere else at this time. Well I love you all. I love hearing from you. Stay safe and keep on keeping on. Over and out.
Elder Stephens
Sooo how is everyone doing?! Sounds like it is pretty great. The Philippines is just going nuts with all the happy people and with Christmas just around the corner. Christmas is such a huge celebration here that they start celebrating it in...SEPTEMBER! So there are tons of lights and little display things and the whole nine here for pasko. Everyone always sings, "pasko na naman!" It's great. So we had some pretty awesome experiences this week. First regarding some of those pictures, the ones with the members in the branch are because we had a little activity with the young single adults of the branch. They set up the whole thing! It was a "one day mission." Basically we just had little groups of ysa's and leaders and we went around to the less active ysa's to help them come back to church. It was awesome! Elder Pugmire and I were in charge in the morning about just teaching them about missionary work and then showing them some good tips. They all got so excited about missionary work and they even want to do the activity again! It was really cool because a lot of them want to serve missions and this really prepared them for it. Another really sweet experience was with a new family we have begun to teach. The Santiago family. We were actually looking for a less active family but they were not home when we got there so we taught the neighbors, the Santiagos. The lesson went so well. They loved the message about the Restoration, especially that we have a living prophet today. They really wanted to learn more so we set up an appointment to teach them again the following Sunday. The message was great and we taught on the Book of Mormon. We gave them copies and they began to just thank us so much. I never heard "salamat po" so many times in one minute. It was awesome and thy loved it. They told us they really want to be ready in order to get baptized because they don't just want to get baptized just because. Which was great to hear because that is exactly what we believe as well. I can't wait to see this family grow in the gospel and come closer unto Christ. It is crazy to think that this week will be the end of my first transfer here in the Philippines. I can't believe all the experiences that have already happened. I knew I would have awesome experiences but not this many. I have been so blessed. We were actually at a lesson today and I bore testimony about just that. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve a mission. I know the gospel can help anyone who wants to learn about it and it they gain a desire to seek the truth, they will find it. I am especially thankful that I get to serve here in the Philippines. My "roots." I couldn't imagine being anywhere else at this time. Well I love you all. I love hearing from you. Stay safe and keep on keeping on. Over and out.
Elder Stephens
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
December 3, 2012
Hey everyone!!
Can you believe it is already December?! I cannot believe it. Time is just flying by! So this week was crazy! We had ta follow up training for all of the new missionaries and trainers. It was awesome. President Stucki taught us all on how to improve with using the 12 week program for all of us new missionaries. We learned a ton. I also went on exchanges for the first time. I did not realize how important and great exchanges are. I learned a ton from the Elder I went on exchanges with. He had me lead every single lesson as well as extend all of the commitments. I was a little scared at first since I am just a month in the field, but once we got going it was great! Every single time he would ask the people at the very end of the lesson if they understood me. they all said yes which was comforting. Then they would ask why and he would explain how I have been here a month and then they would be shocked. It was funny because they thought I had been here a while. They said my Tagalog was great and my confidence was good too considering how long I have been here. I owe it all to my Heavenly Father and the guidance that he gives me. I know I wouldn't be at the point where I am without Him and His Spirit teaching me every step of the way. I now it because I took 4 years of Spanish ad can't speak any of it. I have studied Tagalog for 3 months and been here a month and I can hold a conversation and teach a whole lesson. And it is all because of my Heavenly Father. Elder Pugmire and I also had an amazing experience with a new investigator this week. We met him on Friday but it wasn't just any meeting. First Elder Pugmire and I were just walking and saw him with his children. We just waved and he waved back but with a gigantic smile. I told Elder Pugmire I felt like I have met him before and we both felt we needed to go back. So we did and right away he let us in. He said he had been wanting to become more religious and he was looking for someone to help him to do so. And then we showed up! That was awesome. So we taught him a great lesson and the next day we were on exchanges so Elder Pugmire and the Elder that was with him taught him and gave him, his wife,and his mother all baptismal dates. The next Sunday, which was two days after we met him, we went to church and loved it. I know he was prepared by our Heavenly Father, just as I was, to receive this message and to receive this Gospel. Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us, He is just waiting for us to want to know exactly what the plan is. And when we want to find out, all we have to do is pray and ask Him. This week was a great experience and I can't wait to continue to meet with him and to meet others that are just as prepared. I love this gospel and it has blessed my life so much. I love this work and all of the people that I have met along the way. I hope you are all doing amazing! The Philippines just just as hot as ever! I love you all.
Elder Stephens
Can you believe it is already December?! I cannot believe it. Time is just flying by! So this week was crazy! We had ta follow up training for all of the new missionaries and trainers. It was awesome. President Stucki taught us all on how to improve with using the 12 week program for all of us new missionaries. We learned a ton. I also went on exchanges for the first time. I did not realize how important and great exchanges are. I learned a ton from the Elder I went on exchanges with. He had me lead every single lesson as well as extend all of the commitments. I was a little scared at first since I am just a month in the field, but once we got going it was great! Every single time he would ask the people at the very end of the lesson if they understood me. they all said yes which was comforting. Then they would ask why and he would explain how I have been here a month and then they would be shocked. It was funny because they thought I had been here a while. They said my Tagalog was great and my confidence was good too considering how long I have been here. I owe it all to my Heavenly Father and the guidance that he gives me. I know I wouldn't be at the point where I am without Him and His Spirit teaching me every step of the way. I now it because I took 4 years of Spanish ad can't speak any of it. I have studied Tagalog for 3 months and been here a month and I can hold a conversation and teach a whole lesson. And it is all because of my Heavenly Father. Elder Pugmire and I also had an amazing experience with a new investigator this week. We met him on Friday but it wasn't just any meeting. First Elder Pugmire and I were just walking and saw him with his children. We just waved and he waved back but with a gigantic smile. I told Elder Pugmire I felt like I have met him before and we both felt we needed to go back. So we did and right away he let us in. He said he had been wanting to become more religious and he was looking for someone to help him to do so. And then we showed up! That was awesome. So we taught him a great lesson and the next day we were on exchanges so Elder Pugmire and the Elder that was with him taught him and gave him, his wife,and his mother all baptismal dates. The next Sunday, which was two days after we met him, we went to church and loved it. I know he was prepared by our Heavenly Father, just as I was, to receive this message and to receive this Gospel. Heavenly Father has a plan for all of us, He is just waiting for us to want to know exactly what the plan is. And when we want to find out, all we have to do is pray and ask Him. This week was a great experience and I can't wait to continue to meet with him and to meet others that are just as prepared. I love this gospel and it has blessed my life so much. I love this work and all of the people that I have met along the way. I hope you are all doing amazing! The Philippines just just as hot as ever! I love you all.
Elder Stephens
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