Hi everyone!
Time is going by way too fast! Transfers are coming up this week and it feels like February just completely flew by. Last week went super well. We started off the week last Monday with going to lunch with the Gwilliams and the Stuckis! It was so much fun! The Gwilliams left this last week and they wanted to have lunch with Elder Belnap and me since we knew them from our very first days, so the Stuckis took all of us out to Chili's for a great lunch. It was great being able to serve with them, especially since I got to serve with them for super long! I love them so much! We had a new trainers meeting this last week for all the missionaries that are going to be training new missionaries next transfer. There are only 6 trainers so it was a tiny meeting but it went well. It was cool because it was my first time ever attending that meeting. I never got to attend one when I trained because I was on Palawan ad so that was a cool experience. These new trainers are going to be great! I love how President Stucki just puts so much trust in trainers. He says they are one of the most important companions that missionaries have. They just have such a big lasting influence on new missionaries. And lastly, with all this transfer stuff coming up we have been working closely with President Stucki to make sure everything is going to go well. Tracsfers are super crazy I guess. Last week we had a transfer meeting with all the office couple and President and Sister Stucki. It was alright. Kind of boring at some points when everyone talked about assignments in the office. It was alright though. As for the proselyting efforts. We had a baptism last Saturday!! Shamir, who is from Iran, was baptized. He is the funniest person I think I have ever met. I don't think he stops laughing, ever. Either he laughs out loud or he is laughing on the inside. Basically he is just the happiest and nicest person. Anyway, he is doing super well and he is loving the gospel. His baptismal service went well and there was so much support for him. he enjoyed it a lot and I can't wait to continue to see him just grow in the gospel. One of our investigators, Christopher, passed his baptismal interview so this next week he will be getting baptized. He is just doing super great. He talked in our gospel principles class about following the commandments and receiving a lot of blessings for it. He is great. I will let you know how to baptismal service goes. With all the new changes in our ward, we are really seeing a lot more emphasis on missionary work! Bishop Espi, our new Bishop, invited us to ward council, a first in years for this ward and he just fixed all the visiting and home teaching in the ward so it actually gets done! I am super excited to see this ward just grow so much.
Elder Stephens
Monday, March 31, 2014
Wednesday, March 26, 2014
March 3, 2014
Hey there everyone!!
I just love being a missionary. Last week we had an awesome zone activity for our Makati zone. We went to the Mall of Asia! We rode some rides and took pictures of the sunset over Manila Bay. It was an awesome experience, one I will never forget, and it was great being able to spend time with the missionaries in the zone to build some unity and stuff. We had a follow up training with the new trainers this last week. Everyone was doing great and no one had big problems. It just reminded me a little bit of when I wen to that meeting as a new missionary. Good times, good times. We had another missionary leadership council this last week. It was a great council and everyone was able to learn a ton from it! We witnessed so many miracles in the month of February, we had the most baptisms we have seen in the mission since I got here! I think the missionaries are really starting to exercise more faith and work real hard. As for the council itself, it was a little different than normal though because President Stucki had a ton of time set apart for all of us to just talk to one another and council together to help the mission. There were a few questions he came up with for all of us to talk about and it was really effective. I look forward to seeing if the mission rises up and acts on the things we said. Elder Belnap and I went on exchanges with the zone leaders over Pasay North. They are Elder Obray and Elder Hawkins. We had great exchanges and I was able to work with Elder Hawkins. He is a new zone leader, just this transfer, but he is already exercising great faith! He is a super positive person and it really helps the rest of his zone and it helped me a lot too! It was great working with Elder Hawkins. As for our proselyting, we had some great success! We taught a guy named Raymond and he brought over his best friend whose name is Bucay. They are awesome and it really was great teaching them. One of the nights, some members took us out to a pizza place and brought Raymond and Bocay along. The members names were Justin and Margarette Pearson, and it turns out they are going to San Diego for school! I was stoked when I heard that and they are excited to go out there. Shemir is doing awesome! His baptismal interview was this last week and he passed and is all ready for baptism this Saturday! He is awesome and we taught him all about enduring to the end so he doesn't fall away. He is exercising a ton of faith since he is finally making the steps to follow Jesus Christ. We had a great lesson with Johnny this past week. After the lesson he was talking about how he loves having us over because he just feels at peace every time we visit. Every time he feels stressed he just looks forward to the lessons we have for him because he always feels the Spirit and all the problems go away. I was so humbled to hear that and I just love Johnny so much. This was a great week and I am looking forward to the week coming up!
Elder Stephens
I just love being a missionary. Last week we had an awesome zone activity for our Makati zone. We went to the Mall of Asia! We rode some rides and took pictures of the sunset over Manila Bay. It was an awesome experience, one I will never forget, and it was great being able to spend time with the missionaries in the zone to build some unity and stuff. We had a follow up training with the new trainers this last week. Everyone was doing great and no one had big problems. It just reminded me a little bit of when I wen to that meeting as a new missionary. Good times, good times. We had another missionary leadership council this last week. It was a great council and everyone was able to learn a ton from it! We witnessed so many miracles in the month of February, we had the most baptisms we have seen in the mission since I got here! I think the missionaries are really starting to exercise more faith and work real hard. As for the council itself, it was a little different than normal though because President Stucki had a ton of time set apart for all of us to just talk to one another and council together to help the mission. There were a few questions he came up with for all of us to talk about and it was really effective. I look forward to seeing if the mission rises up and acts on the things we said. Elder Belnap and I went on exchanges with the zone leaders over Pasay North. They are Elder Obray and Elder Hawkins. We had great exchanges and I was able to work with Elder Hawkins. He is a new zone leader, just this transfer, but he is already exercising great faith! He is a super positive person and it really helps the rest of his zone and it helped me a lot too! It was great working with Elder Hawkins. As for our proselyting, we had some great success! We taught a guy named Raymond and he brought over his best friend whose name is Bucay. They are awesome and it really was great teaching them. One of the nights, some members took us out to a pizza place and brought Raymond and Bocay along. The members names were Justin and Margarette Pearson, and it turns out they are going to San Diego for school! I was stoked when I heard that and they are excited to go out there. Shemir is doing awesome! His baptismal interview was this last week and he passed and is all ready for baptism this Saturday! He is awesome and we taught him all about enduring to the end so he doesn't fall away. He is exercising a ton of faith since he is finally making the steps to follow Jesus Christ. We had a great lesson with Johnny this past week. After the lesson he was talking about how he loves having us over because he just feels at peace every time we visit. Every time he feels stressed he just looks forward to the lessons we have for him because he always feels the Spirit and all the problems go away. I was so humbled to hear that and I just love Johnny so much. This was a great week and I am looking forward to the week coming up!
Elder Stephens
February 24, 2014
Hello there everyone!
Elder Belnap and I had a crazy week this last week .I have never done so much in my entire mission than we did last week. The reason being, we had zone conferences all week throughout the entire mission .For the whole week we ended up having four zone conferences. First we went to Palawan! It was good going back to that beautiful island, even for only a day. It actually went great even though it was the first one. After that we came back to the mainland and had three more all in the Buendia chapel. Zone conference was great and I was really able to learn to, especially since I attended four times. President Stucki mainly shared about the doctrine of Christ, or the gospel, and how it should drive everything that we do. The doctrine of Christ needs to be deep in our hearts and it should push us to do everything we can to help others come unto Christ. It was a cool lesson where the doctrine was the engine of a train, with cars behind it to help missionary work. Those cars are prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, church attendance, and finding. It we have the doctrine deep in our hearts, we would be in the engine of that train and if we are doing all those things in the cars and helping investigators do them, we will have success in the work. Sister Stucki shared bout faith in Christ. She basically just focused on how faith is power. If we have faith in Jesus Christ, we can do anything which is expedient in Him. Elder Belnap shared about the importance of receiving and contacting referrals and I shared about helping people to attend sacrament meeting. Everyone did great at sharing and I felt everyone learned a lot! We also had our area medical adviser, Elder Jackson, come and share with us. He had a great message on health for the entire mission. The thing I like most was when he was talking about getting along with your companion. He said, "try to do more for your companion, than your companion does for you." It was a great principle and something I would love to apply for the rest of my life. Overall, zone conference was great. it was really tiring getting up early every morning to set up everything, but it was a blast to be able to see all the wonderful missionaries and be able to help them fulfill their purpose as missionaries. For the actual missionary work side of things, Johnny was baptized this last week! It was a wonderful baptismal service and a ton of members just came around to really help him feel welcome and I am sure he loved it so much. After he came up out of the water, and actually after his confirmation, he raised his arms and said "WOO HOO!" It was awesome and I could just feel the excitement he had that he was baptized and had received the Holy Ghost. Johnny is awesome and he continues to teach me things and help me grow even though he probably does not even know it. I love him a ton and can't wait to see him continue to grow! This work is so great. I love it with all my heart. I absolutely love these people and I feel like that is what drives me to work hard each day. I know Jesus is the Christ and He really guides this work.
Elder Stephens
Elder Belnap and I had a crazy week this last week .I have never done so much in my entire mission than we did last week. The reason being, we had zone conferences all week throughout the entire mission .For the whole week we ended up having four zone conferences. First we went to Palawan! It was good going back to that beautiful island, even for only a day. It actually went great even though it was the first one. After that we came back to the mainland and had three more all in the Buendia chapel. Zone conference was great and I was really able to learn to, especially since I attended four times. President Stucki mainly shared about the doctrine of Christ, or the gospel, and how it should drive everything that we do. The doctrine of Christ needs to be deep in our hearts and it should push us to do everything we can to help others come unto Christ. It was a cool lesson where the doctrine was the engine of a train, with cars behind it to help missionary work. Those cars are prayer, reading the Book of Mormon, church attendance, and finding. It we have the doctrine deep in our hearts, we would be in the engine of that train and if we are doing all those things in the cars and helping investigators do them, we will have success in the work. Sister Stucki shared bout faith in Christ. She basically just focused on how faith is power. If we have faith in Jesus Christ, we can do anything which is expedient in Him. Elder Belnap shared about the importance of receiving and contacting referrals and I shared about helping people to attend sacrament meeting. Everyone did great at sharing and I felt everyone learned a lot! We also had our area medical adviser, Elder Jackson, come and share with us. He had a great message on health for the entire mission. The thing I like most was when he was talking about getting along with your companion. He said, "try to do more for your companion, than your companion does for you." It was a great principle and something I would love to apply for the rest of my life. Overall, zone conference was great. it was really tiring getting up early every morning to set up everything, but it was a blast to be able to see all the wonderful missionaries and be able to help them fulfill their purpose as missionaries. For the actual missionary work side of things, Johnny was baptized this last week! It was a wonderful baptismal service and a ton of members just came around to really help him feel welcome and I am sure he loved it so much. After he came up out of the water, and actually after his confirmation, he raised his arms and said "WOO HOO!" It was awesome and I could just feel the excitement he had that he was baptized and had received the Holy Ghost. Johnny is awesome and he continues to teach me things and help me grow even though he probably does not even know it. I love him a ton and can't wait to see him continue to grow! This work is so great. I love it with all my heart. I absolutely love these people and I feel like that is what drives me to work hard each day. I know Jesus is the Christ and He really guides this work.
Elder Stephens
February 17, 2014
Hey everyone!
I absolutely love the Philippines!! This week was great. The man from Las Vegas that we have been teaching, Johnny, is super excited for his baptism that is coming up this week on Feb 22! He was a little worried with his schedule last week and this week and was about ready to postpone the baptism but we had a lesson along with his 6'8" friend named "Tiny" where we just shared that is was the challenges that hit us when we are close to baptism. he recognized that and is going strong to be baptized this week. We had an awesome lesson where President Stucki taught with us. We just shared about baptismal covenants and how important it is when we promise to Heavenly Father that we will follow Christ. It was a great lesson and it helped him know that is is a great and important step for him, but only the beginning to a new life where we follow the commandments of God. I am super excited for Johnny to continue to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a couple of exchanges this week as well. I got to work with two zone leaders from the Pasay and Paranaque West zones. They are Elder Diamse and Elder Nielsen. They are both awesome missionaries. Elder Diamse is just so happy all the time and you can tell that he just really loves the work. Elder Nielsen just works super hard and is getting blessed a ton because of it. I was able to learn a lot form these two missionaries and it was a blessing to go on exchanges with them. We had a specialized training this past week for all the district and zone leaders throughout the mission. It was a great experience. President Stucki had us share some things that could help the whole mission rise up and he had me share about having faith and following the Spirit. It was great to study about it and share with the mission. It made me realize how important the Spirit is in this work. Without it, we cannot do this work. I am just super grateful for the Spirit and the blessing we have as missionaries to be guided by it every day. In the specialized training we also all read a talk about leadership. It was President Spencer W. Kimball's talk "Jesus: The Perfect Leader". I enjoyed it a lot and learned a ton from it. The most important thing as a leader is to work on those Christ-like attributes and help others know you love them and care. They best part was when we buried our weapons of rebellion. President Stucki had everyone write on little swords and he buried them in the ground over at the mission home to represent the Anti-Nephi-Lehi people in the Book of Mormon. It was great and we all had a good experience with that. I have been able to learn so much so far in the mission and I just feel tat with each week I just learn so much more. Last thing I would like to share is that we had a great experience with someone who will be getting baptized in March. His name is Christopher and he is super excited for baptism. His whole family are members of the church and he is just now getting really excited to see his family be blessed for the rest of their lives. We went to their place and shared about how families can be together forever. I think it really touched him and his family and they really have a desire to be together forever. They fed us dinner and it was crazy. We had turkey and mashed potatoes!! It felt like Thanksgiving all over again. I don't think I have ever felt so full in my mission. It was great and we were able to build a good relationship with the whole family and help brother Christopher know the importance of family. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to continue to do this work. I know it is the work of the Lord. I couldn't imagine not being a part of this work right now!
Elder Stephens
I absolutely love the Philippines!! This week was great. The man from Las Vegas that we have been teaching, Johnny, is super excited for his baptism that is coming up this week on Feb 22! He was a little worried with his schedule last week and this week and was about ready to postpone the baptism but we had a lesson along with his 6'8" friend named "Tiny" where we just shared that is was the challenges that hit us when we are close to baptism. he recognized that and is going strong to be baptized this week. We had an awesome lesson where President Stucki taught with us. We just shared about baptismal covenants and how important it is when we promise to Heavenly Father that we will follow Christ. It was a great lesson and it helped him know that is is a great and important step for him, but only the beginning to a new life where we follow the commandments of God. I am super excited for Johnny to continue to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ. We had a couple of exchanges this week as well. I got to work with two zone leaders from the Pasay and Paranaque West zones. They are Elder Diamse and Elder Nielsen. They are both awesome missionaries. Elder Diamse is just so happy all the time and you can tell that he just really loves the work. Elder Nielsen just works super hard and is getting blessed a ton because of it. I was able to learn a lot form these two missionaries and it was a blessing to go on exchanges with them. We had a specialized training this past week for all the district and zone leaders throughout the mission. It was a great experience. President Stucki had us share some things that could help the whole mission rise up and he had me share about having faith and following the Spirit. It was great to study about it and share with the mission. It made me realize how important the Spirit is in this work. Without it, we cannot do this work. I am just super grateful for the Spirit and the blessing we have as missionaries to be guided by it every day. In the specialized training we also all read a talk about leadership. It was President Spencer W. Kimball's talk "Jesus: The Perfect Leader". I enjoyed it a lot and learned a ton from it. The most important thing as a leader is to work on those Christ-like attributes and help others know you love them and care. They best part was when we buried our weapons of rebellion. President Stucki had everyone write on little swords and he buried them in the ground over at the mission home to represent the Anti-Nephi-Lehi people in the Book of Mormon. It was great and we all had a good experience with that. I have been able to learn so much so far in the mission and I just feel tat with each week I just learn so much more. Last thing I would like to share is that we had a great experience with someone who will be getting baptized in March. His name is Christopher and he is super excited for baptism. His whole family are members of the church and he is just now getting really excited to see his family be blessed for the rest of their lives. We went to their place and shared about how families can be together forever. I think it really touched him and his family and they really have a desire to be together forever. They fed us dinner and it was crazy. We had turkey and mashed potatoes!! It felt like Thanksgiving all over again. I don't think I have ever felt so full in my mission. It was great and we were able to build a good relationship with the whole family and help brother Christopher know the importance of family. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to continue to do this work. I know it is the work of the Lord. I couldn't imagine not being a part of this work right now!
Elder Stephens
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
February 10, 2014
Hello everyone!
Last week was awesome. Elder Belnap and I were super busy the whole week and we were able to get a ton of work done. It was a lot of fun. We had our missionary leadership council this last week. It was great coming together as leaders to talk about strengthening the mission! It was the first time Elder Belnap and I got to lead it and it went great. The best part was President Stucki had every leader come up with one way to help the mission "rise up" and reach our potential. Everyone came with great ideas and we were really led by the Spirit to know what we should do. I am really excited to see how the mission responds to the ideas and what results we will have. We had two exchanges this week with zone leaders. I got to work with Elder Schroeder and with Elder Messegee. It was really strange working with Elder Schroeder just because we have known each other since before the mission. It was great though and we were really able to help each other out. He is a great missionary and I see some great potential for him. Elder Messegee is awesome as well and we had some great work with each other last week. In our weekly planning this week. President Stucki came to help us out and see our weekly planning. It was interesting but we were able to learn a ton. Before it, he brought us Subway with A&W rootbeer. It was awesome. We taught Johnny and it was an awesome lesson. He is really excited for his baptism on February 22, and he just wants to know what he needs to do in order to be ready for his baptism. In the middle of the lessons, he just asked about a few commandments that he needs to follow just so he is ready. It made me realize that Heavenly Father is preparing His children to receive this gospel. There are people out there that are ready to accept this gospel. I love it so much and I love this work. This week we have a specialized training for all the district and zone leaders in the mission, it should be great!
Elder Stephens
Last week was awesome. Elder Belnap and I were super busy the whole week and we were able to get a ton of work done. It was a lot of fun. We had our missionary leadership council this last week. It was great coming together as leaders to talk about strengthening the mission! It was the first time Elder Belnap and I got to lead it and it went great. The best part was President Stucki had every leader come up with one way to help the mission "rise up" and reach our potential. Everyone came with great ideas and we were really led by the Spirit to know what we should do. I am really excited to see how the mission responds to the ideas and what results we will have. We had two exchanges this week with zone leaders. I got to work with Elder Schroeder and with Elder Messegee. It was really strange working with Elder Schroeder just because we have known each other since before the mission. It was great though and we were really able to help each other out. He is a great missionary and I see some great potential for him. Elder Messegee is awesome as well and we had some great work with each other last week. In our weekly planning this week. President Stucki came to help us out and see our weekly planning. It was interesting but we were able to learn a ton. Before it, he brought us Subway with A&W rootbeer. It was awesome. We taught Johnny and it was an awesome lesson. He is really excited for his baptism on February 22, and he just wants to know what he needs to do in order to be ready for his baptism. In the middle of the lessons, he just asked about a few commandments that he needs to follow just so he is ready. It made me realize that Heavenly Father is preparing His children to receive this gospel. There are people out there that are ready to accept this gospel. I love it so much and I love this work. This week we have a specialized training for all the district and zone leaders in the mission, it should be great!
Elder Stephens
February 3, 2014
Hello Everyone!
This last week was crazy! First I had an awesome last few days in the Makati 2A area. On my last day there we had a family home evening with the Enciso family and Sister Demacali came to help them out and show they can start having family home evening on their own every week! It was an awesome time and we were really able to help them feel the spirit and know how to strengthen their family by having a weekly family home evening. Then I move into my new area! Makati 4 with Elder Belnap. It is crazy being an assistant to the president. We get to work a lot with President Stucki and the office couples here as well. We have two office couples, Elder and Sister Paine, and Elder and Sister Theler. They are the cutest old couples ever. My first experience as the new assistant was a new missionary orientation for all the incoming missionaries. It reminded me of my first day and made me realize just how old I am in the mission. This new batch of missionaries is great though and they were all really looking forward to serving in their new areas. We also had a few awesome lessons! We are teaching a man named Johnny who is scheduled for baptism on February 22nd. We went in the lesson helping to somehow teach the word of wisdom, and right in the beginning he asked a ton of questions on how we can help him stop smoking and drinking! It made me realize how much Heavenly Father just prepares these people to receive these lessons in order to help them to come unto Christ. We set a firm date for that baptism and he made a strong commitment to follow the word of wisdom. he wrote it down on a piece of paper and signed it and everything, then told us to bring it to him on the day of his baptism as a congratulations to himself that he was able to come unto Christ. It was awesome. We were also teaching a Persian man named Shemir. He is super funny and loves us a ton. We taught him about the Sabbath Day this past week and gave him a strong commitment to come to church on Sunday. he did just that, and even dressed up in a silver suit to top it all off. I love Shemir so much. He also took us out to dinner one tonight to a Persian restaurant. I never knew Persian food was so good! It is a little different teaching all these people in English because we are actually assigned in the foreigners ward here in Makati. It is awesome though and a really good experience for me. We are actually assigned in two wards, the Makati 3rd and 4th wards. I love this new area and I love my new companion Elder Belnap. We have been wanting to serve together for the longest time. It is a different assignment being an assistant, but I am excited to learn a ton from it!
Elder Stephens
This last week was crazy! First I had an awesome last few days in the Makati 2A area. On my last day there we had a family home evening with the Enciso family and Sister Demacali came to help them out and show they can start having family home evening on their own every week! It was an awesome time and we were really able to help them feel the spirit and know how to strengthen their family by having a weekly family home evening. Then I move into my new area! Makati 4 with Elder Belnap. It is crazy being an assistant to the president. We get to work a lot with President Stucki and the office couples here as well. We have two office couples, Elder and Sister Paine, and Elder and Sister Theler. They are the cutest old couples ever. My first experience as the new assistant was a new missionary orientation for all the incoming missionaries. It reminded me of my first day and made me realize just how old I am in the mission. This new batch of missionaries is great though and they were all really looking forward to serving in their new areas. We also had a few awesome lessons! We are teaching a man named Johnny who is scheduled for baptism on February 22nd. We went in the lesson helping to somehow teach the word of wisdom, and right in the beginning he asked a ton of questions on how we can help him stop smoking and drinking! It made me realize how much Heavenly Father just prepares these people to receive these lessons in order to help them to come unto Christ. We set a firm date for that baptism and he made a strong commitment to follow the word of wisdom. he wrote it down on a piece of paper and signed it and everything, then told us to bring it to him on the day of his baptism as a congratulations to himself that he was able to come unto Christ. It was awesome. We were also teaching a Persian man named Shemir. He is super funny and loves us a ton. We taught him about the Sabbath Day this past week and gave him a strong commitment to come to church on Sunday. he did just that, and even dressed up in a silver suit to top it all off. I love Shemir so much. He also took us out to dinner one tonight to a Persian restaurant. I never knew Persian food was so good! It is a little different teaching all these people in English because we are actually assigned in the foreigners ward here in Makati. It is awesome though and a really good experience for me. We are actually assigned in two wards, the Makati 3rd and 4th wards. I love this new area and I love my new companion Elder Belnap. We have been wanting to serve together for the longest time. It is a different assignment being an assistant, but I am excited to learn a ton from it!
Elder Stephens
January 27, 2014
Hello there everyone!!
I absolutely love this work! last Saturday was the baptism for the wonderful Enciso family! There are 7 of them. The father, mother, and 5 children who were all dressed in white and blessed with a wonderful baptismal service as well as confirmation! The baptismal service was great! We had great speakers and we had their friends be the people to baptize them. The best part was seeing them after the baptism and knowing that they had made the right decision in their lives. the next day after the confirmation and after sacrament meeting, everyone was welcoming them in to the ward and I could tell that they really felt the love of all the members here. I love the Enciso family so much and I am so grateful that they made the decision to follow their Savior, Jesus Christ, and that they now can receive all the blessings that Heavenly Father wants to give to them. I will never forget this wonderful family and all the memories we had with them. They went through a lot to get to that point, but now they will be blessed forever! We also found a great new investigator this week! We were walking down a street and noticed a less-active member just coming home from work and had groceries, so we helped him get his groceries in the house. After, he just invited us into his house to share a message with them. We ended up teaching his daughter as well! Come to find out, she was really prepared by the Lord and wants to get ready for baptism as soon as possible! They are the Ortanez family and brother's name is Bernie and sister's name is Katleen. They are awesome and I know their family will be blessed so much! Last week we had interviews with President Stucki, and Elder Bautista and I got to check area books since we are the zone leaders. Interviews were great and we were able to learn a ton. We also shared with President Stucki about our goals for 2014. I had 3 goals. First, continue to get better each day and be more consistent in the work. Second, focus on the people to help them progress in the gospel. Third, be a Preach My Gospel missionary until the end of my mission, and after as well. I just need to work as hard as I can to achieve them! In the interview, President Stucki have me some crazy news. I am going to transfer this week, and become an assistant to the president. I am going to be companions with Elder Belnap! I am excited, but a little nervous. I know, however, that the Lord will help me. He has throughout the whole mission. I love this work so much and I especially love the people. I can't wait to continue to serve!
Elder Stephens
I absolutely love this work! last Saturday was the baptism for the wonderful Enciso family! There are 7 of them. The father, mother, and 5 children who were all dressed in white and blessed with a wonderful baptismal service as well as confirmation! The baptismal service was great! We had great speakers and we had their friends be the people to baptize them. The best part was seeing them after the baptism and knowing that they had made the right decision in their lives. the next day after the confirmation and after sacrament meeting, everyone was welcoming them in to the ward and I could tell that they really felt the love of all the members here. I love the Enciso family so much and I am so grateful that they made the decision to follow their Savior, Jesus Christ, and that they now can receive all the blessings that Heavenly Father wants to give to them. I will never forget this wonderful family and all the memories we had with them. They went through a lot to get to that point, but now they will be blessed forever! We also found a great new investigator this week! We were walking down a street and noticed a less-active member just coming home from work and had groceries, so we helped him get his groceries in the house. After, he just invited us into his house to share a message with them. We ended up teaching his daughter as well! Come to find out, she was really prepared by the Lord and wants to get ready for baptism as soon as possible! They are the Ortanez family and brother's name is Bernie and sister's name is Katleen. They are awesome and I know their family will be blessed so much! Last week we had interviews with President Stucki, and Elder Bautista and I got to check area books since we are the zone leaders. Interviews were great and we were able to learn a ton. We also shared with President Stucki about our goals for 2014. I had 3 goals. First, continue to get better each day and be more consistent in the work. Second, focus on the people to help them progress in the gospel. Third, be a Preach My Gospel missionary until the end of my mission, and after as well. I just need to work as hard as I can to achieve them! In the interview, President Stucki have me some crazy news. I am going to transfer this week, and become an assistant to the president. I am going to be companions with Elder Belnap! I am excited, but a little nervous. I know, however, that the Lord will help me. He has throughout the whole mission. I love this work so much and I especially love the people. I can't wait to continue to serve!
Elder Stephens
Thursday, March 20, 2014
January 20, 2014
Hello there everyone!
This last week went great! We witnessed many miracles and blessings throughout the entire week. One, the Enciso family is all set for being baptized on January 25! They are so excited and it is such a blessing to be able to help them come unto Christ. Last week they had a ton of trials, but through their faith, they pushed through all of them and are now ready and worthy to enter the waters of baptism. I will let you know how all that goes next week!! We found some awesome new investigators that are already really interested in finding the truth. They have a lot of knowledge about the Bible, but it's good because they understand the scriptures and we are praying they will know the importance of the Book of Mormon as well. last Saturday was the area broadcast for the Philippines for 2014. It was great! They went over the goals for this year and those things we all need to focus on to hasten the work of salvation. They talked about how we need to focus on active, full-tithe paying, melchizedek priesthood holders in order to strengthen the families. I was really happy when they said that and it made me realize just how important it is to focus on finding families, with a father who could one day be a worthy priesthood holder to guide and support the family. They also made a change from last years goals. Last year one of the goals was "Rescue the One" which had to do with helping the less-active members. This year they changed it to, "Share the Gospel and rescue the One", which put more of a focus on balancing the work. It was great and it really helped the members to see the importance of not only helping less-active members, but investigators as well. The work is hastening here in the Philippines. Our ward is already seeing it. We have had 3 weeks of baptisms in a row already for the month of January as a ward, and more to coming in the coming months. I know this work is the work of the Lord. he is hastening it, right now in our time. I am so grateful I have the blessing to be a part of this hastening. I know the gospel is true and can bless the live of everyone who accepts it. I am so excited for the Enciso family to receive this gospel and continue to receive the blessings from it!
Elder Stephens
This last week went great! We witnessed many miracles and blessings throughout the entire week. One, the Enciso family is all set for being baptized on January 25! They are so excited and it is such a blessing to be able to help them come unto Christ. Last week they had a ton of trials, but through their faith, they pushed through all of them and are now ready and worthy to enter the waters of baptism. I will let you know how all that goes next week!! We found some awesome new investigators that are already really interested in finding the truth. They have a lot of knowledge about the Bible, but it's good because they understand the scriptures and we are praying they will know the importance of the Book of Mormon as well. last Saturday was the area broadcast for the Philippines for 2014. It was great! They went over the goals for this year and those things we all need to focus on to hasten the work of salvation. They talked about how we need to focus on active, full-tithe paying, melchizedek priesthood holders in order to strengthen the families. I was really happy when they said that and it made me realize just how important it is to focus on finding families, with a father who could one day be a worthy priesthood holder to guide and support the family. They also made a change from last years goals. Last year one of the goals was "Rescue the One" which had to do with helping the less-active members. This year they changed it to, "Share the Gospel and rescue the One", which put more of a focus on balancing the work. It was great and it really helped the members to see the importance of not only helping less-active members, but investigators as well. The work is hastening here in the Philippines. Our ward is already seeing it. We have had 3 weeks of baptisms in a row already for the month of January as a ward, and more to coming in the coming months. I know this work is the work of the Lord. he is hastening it, right now in our time. I am so grateful I have the blessing to be a part of this hastening. I know the gospel is true and can bless the live of everyone who accepts it. I am so excited for the Enciso family to receive this gospel and continue to receive the blessings from it!
Elder Stephens
January 14, 2014
Hello everyone!
Last week was wonderful!! We had our missionary leadership council again to talk about the work and I just learned so many things. Some of the things we really focused on were about increasing the number of people progressing toward receiving the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Something that stood out to me was how we focused a lot on just loving the people as well as teaching by the Spirit in order to help them fell that the gospel is true. It takes a lot more than just our words to help people to be converted to the gospel, it takes the Spirit testifying to them that these things are true and they should follow it. We also found that the mission has been in this stage where we have success and then don't have success and it always cycles that way. We found that we just aren't really being consistent in the work and continually trying to get better each and every day. I committed myself in front of everyone in that council that I would get better each day and consistently work on it. I learned so much from that council that I would get better each day and consistently work on it. I learned so much from our missionary leadership councils and I am just grateful each time that I get to go. We saw so many miracles this past week here in the work. One was that our less-active member we have been working with, Brother Avila, returned this last Sunday! He was stoked and we could see that the gospel is really starting to get rooted in him again. We have been working with him for the past month and he just progressed so quick. We really saw the Lord help him in miraculous ways. we also found some new people to teach this past week that are already really progressing. They are loving the Book of Mormon and want to continue to search for the truth. The Enciso family are doing great. We asked them about the Book of Mormon and they love it so much. They shared that Heavenly Father has answered their prayers and they know without a doubt that it is the word of God. I felt the Spirit so strong as they shared that with us. I love this gospel so much. I especially love the people here. I can't count how many times the Lord has showed His hand in the work to help Heavenly Father's children receive this gospel. I know it is true with all my heart!
Elder Stephens
Last week was wonderful!! We had our missionary leadership council again to talk about the work and I just learned so many things. Some of the things we really focused on were about increasing the number of people progressing toward receiving the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Something that stood out to me was how we focused a lot on just loving the people as well as teaching by the Spirit in order to help them fell that the gospel is true. It takes a lot more than just our words to help people to be converted to the gospel, it takes the Spirit testifying to them that these things are true and they should follow it. We also found that the mission has been in this stage where we have success and then don't have success and it always cycles that way. We found that we just aren't really being consistent in the work and continually trying to get better each and every day. I committed myself in front of everyone in that council that I would get better each day and consistently work on it. I learned so much from that council that I would get better each day and consistently work on it. I learned so much from our missionary leadership councils and I am just grateful each time that I get to go. We saw so many miracles this past week here in the work. One was that our less-active member we have been working with, Brother Avila, returned this last Sunday! He was stoked and we could see that the gospel is really starting to get rooted in him again. We have been working with him for the past month and he just progressed so quick. We really saw the Lord help him in miraculous ways. we also found some new people to teach this past week that are already really progressing. They are loving the Book of Mormon and want to continue to search for the truth. The Enciso family are doing great. We asked them about the Book of Mormon and they love it so much. They shared that Heavenly Father has answered their prayers and they know without a doubt that it is the word of God. I felt the Spirit so strong as they shared that with us. I love this gospel so much. I especially love the people here. I can't count how many times the Lord has showed His hand in the work to help Heavenly Father's children receive this gospel. I know it is true with all my heart!
Elder Stephens
January 6, 2014
Hello all!!
I can't believe it is 2014! It was a great start to a wonderful new year here in Makati Philippines. WE were blessed to see the Enciso family really come along in this past week. For the first time we were able to share with the whole family together, more than just one time! Usually a couple of the kids are out playing so we just share anyways. This last week though we helped all of them get really excited for their baptismal dates for January 25! All 7 of them came to church this last Sunday and I can tell they are just stoked for baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I can't think of a better way to start off 2014. We are really focusing on reactivating Brother Avila this month. He has now come to church 3 times in a row and he is loving it. We share with him and his sister who is way active and every time we go there they feed us a ton of food. It's awesome. His sisters name is Sister Oyong. They are so old but they absolutely love missionaries. They are like my grandma and grandpa here in the Makati area, I love them so much. new Year's was fun. We all had to be in our places by 6 pm, so Elder Bautista and I, and our two roommates Elder Tacuban and Elder Nanol just stayed in our apartments and played card games to spend the time. It was sweet and we played this cool game called "Bobo game" which I just might take back with me to the States. You guys will get a kick out of that one. At new years I was the only one that didn't wake up from the fireworks going on. The next morning they asked me how in the world I was able to sleep through that, to be honest, I have no idea. I love this work so much and being with Elder Bautista is such a blessing. We have seen so many miracles happen already and we continue to see more and more as we continue to be exactly obedient and work as hard as we can. I know this is the work of the Lord!
Elder Stephens
I can't believe it is 2014! It was a great start to a wonderful new year here in Makati Philippines. WE were blessed to see the Enciso family really come along in this past week. For the first time we were able to share with the whole family together, more than just one time! Usually a couple of the kids are out playing so we just share anyways. This last week though we helped all of them get really excited for their baptismal dates for January 25! All 7 of them came to church this last Sunday and I can tell they are just stoked for baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost. I can't think of a better way to start off 2014. We are really focusing on reactivating Brother Avila this month. He has now come to church 3 times in a row and he is loving it. We share with him and his sister who is way active and every time we go there they feed us a ton of food. It's awesome. His sisters name is Sister Oyong. They are so old but they absolutely love missionaries. They are like my grandma and grandpa here in the Makati area, I love them so much. new Year's was fun. We all had to be in our places by 6 pm, so Elder Bautista and I, and our two roommates Elder Tacuban and Elder Nanol just stayed in our apartments and played card games to spend the time. It was sweet and we played this cool game called "Bobo game" which I just might take back with me to the States. You guys will get a kick out of that one. At new years I was the only one that didn't wake up from the fireworks going on. The next morning they asked me how in the world I was able to sleep through that, to be honest, I have no idea. I love this work so much and being with Elder Bautista is such a blessing. We have seen so many miracles happen already and we continue to see more and more as we continue to be exactly obedient and work as hard as we can. I know this is the work of the Lord!
Elder Stephens
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
December 30, 2013
Hey there all!!
I can't believe this is my last email for the year 2013! that just completely blows my mind. Christmas week was wonderful. On Christmas day we just got to go out and preach the gospel the entire day. It was so much fun and it felt great being able to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ on the day that we celebrate His birth! We were even able to share with some less-active members of the Church and we were able to really help them feel the spirit on Christmas day. It was great being able to call the family and hear all of your voices! Crazy to think that it was the last phone call on Christmas here in the Philippines, next time it will be the real thing back home! We had some great experiences teaching new investigators and new less-active members this past week. One investigator we have been teaching just came to church for the first time this past Sunday! His name is Candido Bunag. Bunag actually means baptism in Tagalog, and Bautista, the last name of my companion, means baptism in Tagalog. Fun little fact I just thought I would share. Anyway, it was wonderful seeing him at church and we shared with him after and he explained how he enjoyed it a ton and wants to continue to come back! He is scheduled for baptism on February 1, 2014! We also had a few less-actives come to church for the first time as well! Actually this was Brother Avila's second, but he is starting to return and have a great time again in the church. It was the first time for Sister Tivoli! She is super old and has a hard time getting to the church, however we shared about the plan of salvation last week and she said she needs to come in order to return to God's presence. She kept that promise and had a wonderful time at church and said after, "Next week ulit!" I love this gospel so much, I love being able to share it with others, and I especially love the people out here in the Philippines. I know this gospel is true with all my heart and I am just so grateful I get to share it with others. I love my family so much and thank all of you for everything. It was amazing talking to all of you and feeling of your love. I can't wait until next Christmas when we will all be together to celebrate!
Elder Stephens
I can't believe this is my last email for the year 2013! that just completely blows my mind. Christmas week was wonderful. On Christmas day we just got to go out and preach the gospel the entire day. It was so much fun and it felt great being able to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ on the day that we celebrate His birth! We were even able to share with some less-active members of the Church and we were able to really help them feel the spirit on Christmas day. It was great being able to call the family and hear all of your voices! Crazy to think that it was the last phone call on Christmas here in the Philippines, next time it will be the real thing back home! We had some great experiences teaching new investigators and new less-active members this past week. One investigator we have been teaching just came to church for the first time this past Sunday! His name is Candido Bunag. Bunag actually means baptism in Tagalog, and Bautista, the last name of my companion, means baptism in Tagalog. Fun little fact I just thought I would share. Anyway, it was wonderful seeing him at church and we shared with him after and he explained how he enjoyed it a ton and wants to continue to come back! He is scheduled for baptism on February 1, 2014! We also had a few less-actives come to church for the first time as well! Actually this was Brother Avila's second, but he is starting to return and have a great time again in the church. It was the first time for Sister Tivoli! She is super old and has a hard time getting to the church, however we shared about the plan of salvation last week and she said she needs to come in order to return to God's presence. She kept that promise and had a wonderful time at church and said after, "Next week ulit!" I love this gospel so much, I love being able to share it with others, and I especially love the people out here in the Philippines. I know this gospel is true with all my heart and I am just so grateful I get to share it with others. I love my family so much and thank all of you for everything. It was amazing talking to all of you and feeling of your love. I can't wait until next Christmas when we will all be together to celebrate!
Elder Stephens
December 23, 2013
Hello everyone!
Merry Christmas!! I absolutely love this time of the year! Everyone is so much more loving and everyone really remembers the Savior more in this time of the year as well. This week was pretty good! We had transfers, and Elder Bayatan transferred from Makati to Manduluyong. The other half of our zone before. He actually opened up a new zone over there because the Makati zone got split this transfer! There were actually a ton of new zones made in this transfer. We went from 7 zones in the mission to 12! Exciting stuff! So I got a new companion! He is actually from my batch here in the field, his name is Elder Bautista! he is Filipino and an absolute stud. When I was a zone leader in Narra he was actually a district leader over there so we got to know each other and stuff, and then he got made a new zone leader this transfer over here! I am stoked to get to work with Elder Bautista. I actually have been wanting to for a while, but he doesn't know that:) I am real excited for the next transfer to see how everything goes. We also had our mission Christmas party this last week. It was really fun and basically everything was the same as last year. We had a devotional, the gift exchange thing, and talent shows! The devotional was great. President and Sister Stucki shared about the gifts of the Spirit this year. they said how there is a difference between presents and gifts. Christmas is great because we get presents and stuff, but it is more important to receive gifts, especially as a missionary. They had ten gifts that they wanted all of us to take away with after our missions. I can't tell you guys because it's top secret info. the Christmas party was a ton of fun and I especially enjoyed the spiritual parts of it. I love Christmas so much and the blessing we have to remember the birth of Jesus Christ I love Christ so much and am grateful for everything he has done. I pray we can all remember Christ this Christmas and strive to become more like Him each and every day.
Elder Stephens
Merry Christmas!! I absolutely love this time of the year! Everyone is so much more loving and everyone really remembers the Savior more in this time of the year as well. This week was pretty good! We had transfers, and Elder Bayatan transferred from Makati to Manduluyong. The other half of our zone before. He actually opened up a new zone over there because the Makati zone got split this transfer! There were actually a ton of new zones made in this transfer. We went from 7 zones in the mission to 12! Exciting stuff! So I got a new companion! He is actually from my batch here in the field, his name is Elder Bautista! he is Filipino and an absolute stud. When I was a zone leader in Narra he was actually a district leader over there so we got to know each other and stuff, and then he got made a new zone leader this transfer over here! I am stoked to get to work with Elder Bautista. I actually have been wanting to for a while, but he doesn't know that:) I am real excited for the next transfer to see how everything goes. We also had our mission Christmas party this last week. It was really fun and basically everything was the same as last year. We had a devotional, the gift exchange thing, and talent shows! The devotional was great. President and Sister Stucki shared about the gifts of the Spirit this year. they said how there is a difference between presents and gifts. Christmas is great because we get presents and stuff, but it is more important to receive gifts, especially as a missionary. They had ten gifts that they wanted all of us to take away with after our missions. I can't tell you guys because it's top secret info. the Christmas party was a ton of fun and I especially enjoyed the spiritual parts of it. I love Christmas so much and the blessing we have to remember the birth of Jesus Christ I love Christ so much and am grateful for everything he has done. I pray we can all remember Christ this Christmas and strive to become more like Him each and every day.
Elder Stephens
December 16, 2013
Hello everyone!
This last week was nuts! We were really blessed to be able to get a lot of work done in the area. The elders I mentioned in the last email, Elder Tuttle and Elder Wecker, are actually still here waiting for their visas! This entire past week we got to be with them. I work with Elder Tuttle every day and Elder Bayatan works with Elder Wecker. It is really weird going on splits every day in our area and then talking about the people once we come back after a full day of work. We really get to help a lot more people though because of it! Last week we had our zone meeting. Elder Bayatan and I felt we had a really good zone meeting and were successful in helping the zone to become better missionaries. For the zone meeting we really focused on praying with faith and looking forward. ?All the missionaries in our zone are doing great and they love the work. We are just trying to help them rely more on the Savior rather than themselves. So we really focused on praying with faith and asking Heavenly Father to help us do this work. The Makati 2nd ward put on a "Himig Pasko" which was just an event at the church where we invited everyone to come. There was about 300 people I think! It was a really cool activity that the ward put on for the community to remember the Savior this Christmas. There was a choir that sang for the event and everyone loved it. I cannot believe it is almost Christmas! I can feel it in the air. Everyone is started to really remember the Savior more because of Christmas and it makes me happy that we get to share His gospel to all of these people. Last Sunday we had a mission fast where we fasted that we may reach the goals we are setting as a mission. It was so powerful, the spirit was so strong during the fast. I know that fasting and prayer work. If we rely on the Lord, He will help us. this is His work and we cannot do it on our own. I'm grateful for this gospel and the blessing it has been in my life.
Elder Stephens
This last week was nuts! We were really blessed to be able to get a lot of work done in the area. The elders I mentioned in the last email, Elder Tuttle and Elder Wecker, are actually still here waiting for their visas! This entire past week we got to be with them. I work with Elder Tuttle every day and Elder Bayatan works with Elder Wecker. It is really weird going on splits every day in our area and then talking about the people once we come back after a full day of work. We really get to help a lot more people though because of it! Last week we had our zone meeting. Elder Bayatan and I felt we had a really good zone meeting and were successful in helping the zone to become better missionaries. For the zone meeting we really focused on praying with faith and looking forward. ?All the missionaries in our zone are doing great and they love the work. We are just trying to help them rely more on the Savior rather than themselves. So we really focused on praying with faith and asking Heavenly Father to help us do this work. The Makati 2nd ward put on a "Himig Pasko" which was just an event at the church where we invited everyone to come. There was about 300 people I think! It was a really cool activity that the ward put on for the community to remember the Savior this Christmas. There was a choir that sang for the event and everyone loved it. I cannot believe it is almost Christmas! I can feel it in the air. Everyone is started to really remember the Savior more because of Christmas and it makes me happy that we get to share His gospel to all of these people. Last Sunday we had a mission fast where we fasted that we may reach the goals we are setting as a mission. It was so powerful, the spirit was so strong during the fast. I know that fasting and prayer work. If we rely on the Lord, He will help us. this is His work and we cannot do it on our own. I'm grateful for this gospel and the blessing it has been in my life.
Elder Stephens
December 9, 2013
Hello there everyone!
What an interesting week! Elder Bayatan and I got a ton of work done this week. It was definitely the best one I have had since being here in Makati. First off, we had our Missionary Leadership Council last week. I felt the spirit so strong as we all came together as leaders and talked about how we can help the mission out. I really felt the spirit guide that meeting that we had. We really focused a ton on praying with faith. President Stucki just felt he had to talk about that with us and we all talked about it together. It was amazing seeing how we felt that we just needed to humble ourselves more and ask the Lord for direction. I especially felt the spirit strong when we talked about praying for strength and diligence. I just felt that as a mission we aren't working as hard as we can, and that only through prayer could we really work on it and get better at being diligent. We also talked a lot about the vision Presdint Stucki has, He wants us to focus on four specific things. Becoming Preach My Gospel missionaries, establishing the church, working with the members, and using the Book of Mormon effectively. It was a strong message and it really helped me to know my purpose and what things I need to focus on. Now that I really know the vision President Stucki has, I know exactly what things to do. I know he is called of God to be here and we as the missionaries need to do what we can in order to reach that vision that he is receiving inspiration for. We also had some missionaries come from the Olongapo Mission because their paperwork to go home got a little delayed. So we got to work with Elder Tuttle, and Elder Wecker here in our area. They are awesome missionaries and it was a good experience seeing missionaries that have experienced their two years, right there in action with you. I learned a lot from them. I love this work so much. It really is the work of the Lord. I know if we can just humble ourselves and ask for Heavenly Father's help, He will shower down blessings upon us.
Elder Stephens
What an interesting week! Elder Bayatan and I got a ton of work done this week. It was definitely the best one I have had since being here in Makati. First off, we had our Missionary Leadership Council last week. I felt the spirit so strong as we all came together as leaders and talked about how we can help the mission out. I really felt the spirit guide that meeting that we had. We really focused a ton on praying with faith. President Stucki just felt he had to talk about that with us and we all talked about it together. It was amazing seeing how we felt that we just needed to humble ourselves more and ask the Lord for direction. I especially felt the spirit strong when we talked about praying for strength and diligence. I just felt that as a mission we aren't working as hard as we can, and that only through prayer could we really work on it and get better at being diligent. We also talked a lot about the vision Presdint Stucki has, He wants us to focus on four specific things. Becoming Preach My Gospel missionaries, establishing the church, working with the members, and using the Book of Mormon effectively. It was a strong message and it really helped me to know my purpose and what things I need to focus on. Now that I really know the vision President Stucki has, I know exactly what things to do. I know he is called of God to be here and we as the missionaries need to do what we can in order to reach that vision that he is receiving inspiration for. We also had some missionaries come from the Olongapo Mission because their paperwork to go home got a little delayed. So we got to work with Elder Tuttle, and Elder Wecker here in our area. They are awesome missionaries and it was a good experience seeing missionaries that have experienced their two years, right there in action with you. I learned a lot from them. I love this work so much. It really is the work of the Lord. I know if we can just humble ourselves and ask for Heavenly Father's help, He will shower down blessings upon us.
Elder Stephens
November 25, 2013
Hello everyone!
This week went pretty well. I got to go on exchanges with an elder in our zone this last week. It was Elder Rivera over in Mandaluyong! he is a super funny Filipino elder. He just made the exchange really fun. We had a sweet lesson with a man named Cody Murphey. He is actually from Hawaii so he only spoke English, which was really weird because it was my first time teaching in straight English. It was actually a sweet experience though! I talked a lot about my conversion whit\ him and I really felt that he appreciated that and it helped him to know more about the sincerity we have as missionaries when it comes to the gospel and the church! After teaching him about the restoration, Elder Rivera and I just both bore our testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. My testimony was strengthened so much just from bearing my testimony to brother Murphey and helping him to know how much I love this gospel. We also had more great lessons with the Enciso family. They are really coming along great. Sister Enciso was still struggling a little big with coming to church because her family might not like that. However, we were able to share testimony about how much this gospel can bless the family and it really helped her a lot. We were able to finally set a date for them to be baptized next month! they accepted and so now it is just about doing the right things to help get them to be ready by that date. I know this gospel is true. I know it can bless our lives. I know it is the only gospel that can help us have full happiness now and after this life. I am so grateful to be a missionary and that I have the blessing to share his gospel to others!
Elder Stephens
PS. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!
This week went pretty well. I got to go on exchanges with an elder in our zone this last week. It was Elder Rivera over in Mandaluyong! he is a super funny Filipino elder. He just made the exchange really fun. We had a sweet lesson with a man named Cody Murphey. He is actually from Hawaii so he only spoke English, which was really weird because it was my first time teaching in straight English. It was actually a sweet experience though! I talked a lot about my conversion whit\ him and I really felt that he appreciated that and it helped him to know more about the sincerity we have as missionaries when it comes to the gospel and the church! After teaching him about the restoration, Elder Rivera and I just both bore our testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. My testimony was strengthened so much just from bearing my testimony to brother Murphey and helping him to know how much I love this gospel. We also had more great lessons with the Enciso family. They are really coming along great. Sister Enciso was still struggling a little big with coming to church because her family might not like that. However, we were able to share testimony about how much this gospel can bless the family and it really helped her a lot. We were able to finally set a date for them to be baptized next month! they accepted and so now it is just about doing the right things to help get them to be ready by that date. I know this gospel is true. I know it can bless our lives. I know it is the only gospel that can help us have full happiness now and after this life. I am so grateful to be a missionary and that I have the blessing to share his gospel to others!
Elder Stephens
PS. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!
November 18, 2013
Hello everyone!
Elder Bayatan and I had a crazy week! So many unexpected things, but we still were able to get a lot of amazing work done! So first, our Bishop here in Makati 2nd ward had us serve in the barangay here for some relief goods packing so we can send it to the people who got hit by the super typhoon. It was put on by the city but our Bishop wanted the members to get involved so we could serve. Turns out President Stucki found out about it and worked with me to get the whole entire mission involved with the service project! It was awesome! So we had almost 200 missionaries come to serve the people who were affected by the typhoon and it just really helped me realize how important it is to serve our fellow beings, and ultimately Heavenly Father. There was one area here in our mission that got affected really bad, over on Coron, Palawan where we had 4 missionaries. Since it was hit so bad, President Stucki pulled them out of there and sent them back to the mainland. long story short, two of them got sent to our area! So in this last week, the Makati 2nd ward went from 4 missionaries to 8! 4 Elders and 4 Sisters. So crazy! We got to work with the two elders, Elder Stoehr and Elder Tacuban since they were going to split our area so we showed them around. It was awesome. They are great missionaries. Elder Stoehr has been out for a while, now in his 4th transfer, and Elder Tacuban is in his very first transfer. I can't wait to continue to work with these Elders as they open up the new area in Makati 2C. This was all just a testimony to me how Heavenly Father really takes care of His children, by keeping them safe from a storm, and then hastens His work by getting them out to open new areas! So exciting. I love this work so much. I know it is the Lord's work. We are still teaching the Enciso family and this last week we were able to teach the whole family for the first time and Sister Enciso is really excited to join the rest of the family in coming to church this week and really wants to find the truth. They were so prepared to receive this gospel and I can't believe Heavenly Father blessed me so much to be able to teach them! I love this work!
Elder Stephens
Elder Bayatan and I had a crazy week! So many unexpected things, but we still were able to get a lot of amazing work done! So first, our Bishop here in Makati 2nd ward had us serve in the barangay here for some relief goods packing so we can send it to the people who got hit by the super typhoon. It was put on by the city but our Bishop wanted the members to get involved so we could serve. Turns out President Stucki found out about it and worked with me to get the whole entire mission involved with the service project! It was awesome! So we had almost 200 missionaries come to serve the people who were affected by the typhoon and it just really helped me realize how important it is to serve our fellow beings, and ultimately Heavenly Father. There was one area here in our mission that got affected really bad, over on Coron, Palawan where we had 4 missionaries. Since it was hit so bad, President Stucki pulled them out of there and sent them back to the mainland. long story short, two of them got sent to our area! So in this last week, the Makati 2nd ward went from 4 missionaries to 8! 4 Elders and 4 Sisters. So crazy! We got to work with the two elders, Elder Stoehr and Elder Tacuban since they were going to split our area so we showed them around. It was awesome. They are great missionaries. Elder Stoehr has been out for a while, now in his 4th transfer, and Elder Tacuban is in his very first transfer. I can't wait to continue to work with these Elders as they open up the new area in Makati 2C. This was all just a testimony to me how Heavenly Father really takes care of His children, by keeping them safe from a storm, and then hastens His work by getting them out to open new areas! So exciting. I love this work so much. I know it is the Lord's work. We are still teaching the Enciso family and this last week we were able to teach the whole family for the first time and Sister Enciso is really excited to join the rest of the family in coming to church this week and really wants to find the truth. They were so prepared to receive this gospel and I can't believe Heavenly Father blessed me so much to be able to teach them! I love this work!
Elder Stephens
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
November 1, 2013
Hello there everyone!
We had another wonderful week of missionary work! Elder Limocon and I are getting along really great and really loving the work. It is especially great that we get to work here in Palawan! We are working with a lot of families right now helping some to get baptized and some to return to activity. This last week we had a ton of lessons which made the week go by really fast. One family we are working with is the Gutierrez family. Brother is less-active but has been coming to church for a few weeks now. He is loving it and always gets excited when we come to teach him! His children, Michelle and Aira, are both young and were never baptized since brother was less-active. Now we are teaching them and they love it! Michelle is 9 years old but super smart. We asked he to make some questions from her Book of Mormon reading and she actually did! There were 2 questions for Elder Limocon and me to answer. One didn't make sense so it was almost impossible to answer and then she said, 'You guys should have read your Book of Mormons!" It made us laugh so hard. I love the Gutierrez family. We went to another part-member family who we had been teaching for quite a while now, they are the Cabatingan. Sister a member but is on and off with church attendance. and her husband is the non-member. Their children are all members but the older ones no longer come to church. We went to them this past week and had a pretty good lesson. We were able to help them feel the Spirit. On Sunday, Sister Cabatingan came to church and bore her testimony for fast and testimony meeting. She explained how she was grateful that the missionaries still come to her house and teach even though they don't always keep commitments. They know we love them and are there to help them come unto Christ. When she said those things I just felt the Spirit so strong. I love this work so much. It is wonderful being able to help others to come unto Christ. I know this is the work of the lord.
Elder Stephens
We had another wonderful week of missionary work! Elder Limocon and I are getting along really great and really loving the work. It is especially great that we get to work here in Palawan! We are working with a lot of families right now helping some to get baptized and some to return to activity. This last week we had a ton of lessons which made the week go by really fast. One family we are working with is the Gutierrez family. Brother is less-active but has been coming to church for a few weeks now. He is loving it and always gets excited when we come to teach him! His children, Michelle and Aira, are both young and were never baptized since brother was less-active. Now we are teaching them and they love it! Michelle is 9 years old but super smart. We asked he to make some questions from her Book of Mormon reading and she actually did! There were 2 questions for Elder Limocon and me to answer. One didn't make sense so it was almost impossible to answer and then she said, 'You guys should have read your Book of Mormons!" It made us laugh so hard. I love the Gutierrez family. We went to another part-member family who we had been teaching for quite a while now, they are the Cabatingan. Sister a member but is on and off with church attendance. and her husband is the non-member. Their children are all members but the older ones no longer come to church. We went to them this past week and had a pretty good lesson. We were able to help them feel the Spirit. On Sunday, Sister Cabatingan came to church and bore her testimony for fast and testimony meeting. She explained how she was grateful that the missionaries still come to her house and teach even though they don't always keep commitments. They know we love them and are there to help them come unto Christ. When she said those things I just felt the Spirit so strong. I love this work so much. It is wonderful being able to help others to come unto Christ. I know this is the work of the lord.
Elder Stephens
October 28, 2013
Hello there everyone!
Elder Limocon and I had another wonderful week! First off, Brother Edwin and Sister Whelma Pamulag were baptized last Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! It was a wonderful baptismal service. President Quiniones, our Branch President, said it was one of the best services he has ever been to! The Spirit was so strong and I could feel the desire both of them had to come unto Christ. Edwin had a stroke 3 years ago and can't walk on his own and we had 3 people baptize him! That was the first time I had ever seen that! So now I have experienced 1 person baptizing, 2 people, and now 3! His friend from another part in Palawan came to baptize both Edwin and Whelma and before he did, Brother Job Lepasana bore his testimony about how the church is true and how we all need to continue to endure to the end to continue to receive blessings. After the baptism, Edwin and Whelma both bore their testimonies! Brother Edwin's was so strong. He talked about all the changes he has made and how the gospel has blessed his life so much. He began to cry in his testimony and it made me cry as well. I know the gospel has helped him to come unto Christ. Sister Whelma also gave a really strong testimony. She said that Heavenly Father really guided her through the Spirit to know that this is the true church! After praying, reading the Book of Mormon, and coming to church, she knew without a doubt that this was the true church. I am so grateful for them and their example to me! This past week I also got to go on exchanges with the assistants! I worked with Elder Kholer this time, one of the funniest missionaries, but yet hardest working ones as well. It was a great experience to go on exchanges with him and get to work with him. I hope I get to work with him again in the future! I love this work with all my heart. I know it is the work of the Lord. I know as a missionary, we have a lot of tough times, but then the greatest times come and we just forget all the bad. I am so grateful for the Pamulag family and I love them so much! I am so grateful I had the blessing to teach them and help them come unto Christ.
Elder Stephens
Elder Limocon and I had another wonderful week! First off, Brother Edwin and Sister Whelma Pamulag were baptized last Saturday and confirmed on Sunday! It was a wonderful baptismal service. President Quiniones, our Branch President, said it was one of the best services he has ever been to! The Spirit was so strong and I could feel the desire both of them had to come unto Christ. Edwin had a stroke 3 years ago and can't walk on his own and we had 3 people baptize him! That was the first time I had ever seen that! So now I have experienced 1 person baptizing, 2 people, and now 3! His friend from another part in Palawan came to baptize both Edwin and Whelma and before he did, Brother Job Lepasana bore his testimony about how the church is true and how we all need to continue to endure to the end to continue to receive blessings. After the baptism, Edwin and Whelma both bore their testimonies! Brother Edwin's was so strong. He talked about all the changes he has made and how the gospel has blessed his life so much. He began to cry in his testimony and it made me cry as well. I know the gospel has helped him to come unto Christ. Sister Whelma also gave a really strong testimony. She said that Heavenly Father really guided her through the Spirit to know that this is the true church! After praying, reading the Book of Mormon, and coming to church, she knew without a doubt that this was the true church. I am so grateful for them and their example to me! This past week I also got to go on exchanges with the assistants! I worked with Elder Kholer this time, one of the funniest missionaries, but yet hardest working ones as well. It was a great experience to go on exchanges with him and get to work with him. I hope I get to work with him again in the future! I love this work with all my heart. I know it is the work of the Lord. I know as a missionary, we have a lot of tough times, but then the greatest times come and we just forget all the bad. I am so grateful for the Pamulag family and I love them so much! I am so grateful I had the blessing to teach them and help them come unto Christ.
Elder Stephens
October 21, 2013
Hey there everybody!
I love this work. I know it is true with all my heart and I am so grateful I get to be a missionary at this wonderful time! This last week Elder Limocon and I went out finding like crazy. I was a great experience just applying opening your months to everyone and it was amazing to see the blessings come because of it! We were also really blessed with referrals given from some members which is always so great! Member missionary work is really beginning to grow here in Narra and I know it is only uphill from here on out! We found a less-active member who actually opened his mouth to us because he felt like the Lord told him to. Then we shared with him the next day and found out they are a part member family and the little children want to get baptized and he wants to return to church. We only taught them last week and they already came to church last Sunday! It was awesome to see their faith and their desire to follow Jesus Christ. We were also really blessed that our investigators, Edwin and Wilma Pamulag, passed their interviews this past week and are going to get baptized this Saturday! They are so ready to receive this gospel and they have already started to share the gospel with other people. We have two sets of missionaries in the Narra branch and they are now teaching the daughter of Edwin and Wilma, as well as her family! It was all because Edwin and Wilma were sharing their testimony of the church and the couple got interested and wanted to find out more! I am so grateful that I had the blessing to teach Edwin and Wilma and to help them come unto Christ and receive this gospel. There is nothing like missionary work and it really is as they say, "The best two years!"
Elder Stephens
I love this work. I know it is true with all my heart and I am so grateful I get to be a missionary at this wonderful time! This last week Elder Limocon and I went out finding like crazy. I was a great experience just applying opening your months to everyone and it was amazing to see the blessings come because of it! We were also really blessed with referrals given from some members which is always so great! Member missionary work is really beginning to grow here in Narra and I know it is only uphill from here on out! We found a less-active member who actually opened his mouth to us because he felt like the Lord told him to. Then we shared with him the next day and found out they are a part member family and the little children want to get baptized and he wants to return to church. We only taught them last week and they already came to church last Sunday! It was awesome to see their faith and their desire to follow Jesus Christ. We were also really blessed that our investigators, Edwin and Wilma Pamulag, passed their interviews this past week and are going to get baptized this Saturday! They are so ready to receive this gospel and they have already started to share the gospel with other people. We have two sets of missionaries in the Narra branch and they are now teaching the daughter of Edwin and Wilma, as well as her family! It was all because Edwin and Wilma were sharing their testimony of the church and the couple got interested and wanted to find out more! I am so grateful that I had the blessing to teach Edwin and Wilma and to help them come unto Christ and receive this gospel. There is nothing like missionary work and it really is as they say, "The best two years!"
Elder Stephens
October 14, 2013
Hello everybody!
How is everyone doing?! We had a wonderful week! General conference was great of course! I just loved being able to listen to our living prophet and all of the other leaders of the church! I noticed that so many of them talked about the family and how following the gospel can really bless families. It helped me to really understand just how wonderful this gospel is and how it really can help all of us to be happy here on hearth, despite all of the challenges that we face. President Thomas S. Monson's words about his wife were so beautiful and his testimony following those words were even greater. I loved his testimony about returning to be with his wife after this life and I too know that through this gospel we can be with our families forever. Elder Limocon and I had an opportunity to work with President and Sister Stucki this past week! He texted us and said he really wanted to help us "go to the rescue." So Elder Limocon and I prayed about which less-active families we could go to and we went to a couple families and we taught with President and Sister Stucki. The spirit was so strong and I know that the messages that we shared with them really help them to know these things are true. It was an awesome experience to see them share with these families, and I was able to learn so much from them. Then we had interviews with them the next day just to make sure all the missionaries are doing good. It was a great interview as well and I just know that President and Sister Stucki are called of God to be here to labor with us and help these wonderful people in the Philippines Manila Mission to come unto Christ. Both of the families that we taught when we were with President and Sister Stucki came to church this past Sunday and were able to listen to General conference. I love this gospel and I know it is true. I know that all of the leaders in the church have been called of God to serve. I know President Monson is a prophet of God, called to help us in these latter-days to return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to sere and I know this is the work of the Lord.
Elder Stephens
How is everyone doing?! We had a wonderful week! General conference was great of course! I just loved being able to listen to our living prophet and all of the other leaders of the church! I noticed that so many of them talked about the family and how following the gospel can really bless families. It helped me to really understand just how wonderful this gospel is and how it really can help all of us to be happy here on hearth, despite all of the challenges that we face. President Thomas S. Monson's words about his wife were so beautiful and his testimony following those words were even greater. I loved his testimony about returning to be with his wife after this life and I too know that through this gospel we can be with our families forever. Elder Limocon and I had an opportunity to work with President and Sister Stucki this past week! He texted us and said he really wanted to help us "go to the rescue." So Elder Limocon and I prayed about which less-active families we could go to and we went to a couple families and we taught with President and Sister Stucki. The spirit was so strong and I know that the messages that we shared with them really help them to know these things are true. It was an awesome experience to see them share with these families, and I was able to learn so much from them. Then we had interviews with them the next day just to make sure all the missionaries are doing good. It was a great interview as well and I just know that President and Sister Stucki are called of God to be here to labor with us and help these wonderful people in the Philippines Manila Mission to come unto Christ. Both of the families that we taught when we were with President and Sister Stucki came to church this past Sunday and were able to listen to General conference. I love this gospel and I know it is true. I know that all of the leaders in the church have been called of God to serve. I know President Monson is a prophet of God, called to help us in these latter-days to return to the presence of our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful I have the opportunity to sere and I know this is the work of the Lord.
Elder Stephens
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