Hey everyone!
General Conference was awesome!! Heavenly Father really does guide us through His living prophets. I loved the messages about being courageous in obeying the commandments of God. We shouldn't be ashamed as we follow His commandments and we receive so much more joy as we do so. There were so many talks about just being obedient and following the Spirit and the prophets words. It was an awesome conference and I was able to learn so much. My favorite quote of the conference was by President Monson, who said, "if you ever find yourself where you shouldn't ought to be, get out!" super awesome. I also loved how Elder Ballard invited all of us to study Preach My Gospel and know it. So here is a quote from PMG! "Finding by the Spirit is as important as teaching by the Spirit. Have faith that you will know what to teach and what to do to find those who will receive you." (PMG. 156) So now I'll just talk about our proselyting. Elder Belnap and I spent a ton of time in our area and we were able to see so many miracles just happen. First, we taught a Chinese man who was taught before by some missionaries. He has come to church for a while and just never progressed with the missionaries before. We taught him this last week and right away he just had a desire to find out the truth of the gospel! He had some concerns about prayer and said that God just does not answer his prayers, however during the lesson both Elder Belnap and I testified that God answers prayers. In the middle of the lesson I told him how I came to know the truth and I got on my knees just like I did when I prayed about he Book of Mormon and testified about how heavenly Father answered my prayer. I felt the Spirit so strong and he is now excited to pray about the truth. We also had a lesson with a man who we found at a hospital the other day. We were walking and he called out to us then we set up a time to teach him. His name is Ronnie, he looks like a Filipino Mike Meyers, and he is just awesome. We took him to the church and we were able to share about the Restoration with him. We pray he is able to progress in the gospel. We also found a member this last week named Tomas. He told us that he had been trying to come back to church and has been praying for it but never found a way to be able to come back. Elder Belnap and I were looking around for him but just couldn't find him. Eventually we were led to an apartment complex where we thought he might be, as we were talking to a man outside the complex, he walked by. We went over and found out it was Tomas and he invited us in! Once in we found out that he had been praying for us to come, and when he saw us talking to the man, he wanted to come and talk to us but was too shy. He said he wanted us to come and talk to him. We did just that. I know we were led by the Spirit to find him. I know without a doubt in my mind! This work is guided by our loving Heavenly Father. He guides our prophets and apostles to receive revelation for us all. He guides us to find those who He has prepared. I know this is His work.
Elder Stephens
Monday, April 14, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
April 7, 2014
Hey all!
I have learned so much as a missionary, and I just continue to learn so much. I love this work and being a missionary. Last week we had the blessing of teaching with President and Sister Hiatt a whole time. They are couple missionaries who came here and Elder Hiatt quickly became President Hiatt when he because the second counselor in the mission presidency. They are both awesome and we had some great lessons with them last week. It was their last week here so that was why it was so great. They transferred to Palawan this last week because they are trying to help our two districts over there to become stakes. For their going away party, we went to a buffet with all the couple missionaries and with the Stucki's. It was awesome and the best part was they paid for us! Elder Belnap and I ate so much, President Stucki asked us where it all goes. To this day I have no idea! We also had a training last week for the new missionaries who have been out for three weeks. I shared about teaching people, not lessons. While teaching about it, I learned a ton. I learned that teaching people, not lessons really just means loving the people you teach and teaching them as guided by the Spirit. If we love them and follow the Spirit as we teach, we will know what things we need to teach in order to really help them come unto Christ. I really was able to learn a lot while teaching about that. We also had a missionary leadership council this last week. It went very well! We had a lot of baptisms this last month. Actually the most the mission has had ever since I came out in the mission. In the missionary leadership council, we talked a lot about finding more people to teach. We real focused on finding those that are ready to receive the restored gospel. There are just so many people that have been prepared to receive the gospel at this time and we as missionaries have to do all we can to find those people and teach them in order to help them come unto Christ. I loved the message that President Stucki gave at the council. He just asked all of the leaders to start earnestly praying for the opportunities to find the elect, and do everything we can so that Heavenly Father will answer those prayers. I really believe we can do it. Later that night we had a great lesson with some members of the Makati 4th ward. We went to a members house, his name is Josh, and we shared a lesson with a YSA who thought about serving in the mission in the past and still has hoped to do it. I just shared testimony of the blessings that I have received from serving on a mission. I hope he continues to think about it. I really believe he would be a great missionary. As far as our investigators go, we had a great lesson with Elias. He is looking good for baptism this month. He just wants to repent and be baptized and keeps saying that he can't wait. I love that he really wants to repent in order to be ready for baptism. He just can't wait to see the blessings that come from the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We also have been working with Nino for quite a bit and he still has a little bit of doubts. We found our a big concern of his. H just has a hard time forgiving others. That is something that just really holds him back! So we shared a lot about Christ's example of suffering everything for us, and still forgiving us for our weaknesses. He liked that. This has been a great week! I just learned so much for last week. I really was blessed because most of the things I learned came because I was the one teaching and the Spirit just taught me while I taught. I love this work and I love being able to learn so much about the Savior. I know this is His work. If we trust in Him and in the Spirit, we will see success.
Elder Stephens
I have learned so much as a missionary, and I just continue to learn so much. I love this work and being a missionary. Last week we had the blessing of teaching with President and Sister Hiatt a whole time. They are couple missionaries who came here and Elder Hiatt quickly became President Hiatt when he because the second counselor in the mission presidency. They are both awesome and we had some great lessons with them last week. It was their last week here so that was why it was so great. They transferred to Palawan this last week because they are trying to help our two districts over there to become stakes. For their going away party, we went to a buffet with all the couple missionaries and with the Stucki's. It was awesome and the best part was they paid for us! Elder Belnap and I ate so much, President Stucki asked us where it all goes. To this day I have no idea! We also had a training last week for the new missionaries who have been out for three weeks. I shared about teaching people, not lessons. While teaching about it, I learned a ton. I learned that teaching people, not lessons really just means loving the people you teach and teaching them as guided by the Spirit. If we love them and follow the Spirit as we teach, we will know what things we need to teach in order to really help them come unto Christ. I really was able to learn a lot while teaching about that. We also had a missionary leadership council this last week. It went very well! We had a lot of baptisms this last month. Actually the most the mission has had ever since I came out in the mission. In the missionary leadership council, we talked a lot about finding more people to teach. We real focused on finding those that are ready to receive the restored gospel. There are just so many people that have been prepared to receive the gospel at this time and we as missionaries have to do all we can to find those people and teach them in order to help them come unto Christ. I loved the message that President Stucki gave at the council. He just asked all of the leaders to start earnestly praying for the opportunities to find the elect, and do everything we can so that Heavenly Father will answer those prayers. I really believe we can do it. Later that night we had a great lesson with some members of the Makati 4th ward. We went to a members house, his name is Josh, and we shared a lesson with a YSA who thought about serving in the mission in the past and still has hoped to do it. I just shared testimony of the blessings that I have received from serving on a mission. I hope he continues to think about it. I really believe he would be a great missionary. As far as our investigators go, we had a great lesson with Elias. He is looking good for baptism this month. He just wants to repent and be baptized and keeps saying that he can't wait. I love that he really wants to repent in order to be ready for baptism. He just can't wait to see the blessings that come from the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We also have been working with Nino for quite a bit and he still has a little bit of doubts. We found our a big concern of his. H just has a hard time forgiving others. That is something that just really holds him back! So we shared a lot about Christ's example of suffering everything for us, and still forgiving us for our weaknesses. He liked that. This has been a great week! I just learned so much for last week. I really was blessed because most of the things I learned came because I was the one teaching and the Spirit just taught me while I taught. I love this work and I love being able to learn so much about the Savior. I know this is His work. If we trust in Him and in the Spirit, we will see success.
Elder Stephens
March 31, 2014
Hey!!
Elder David A. Bednar said, "A Preach My Gospel missionary is a servant of the lord, called by prophecy and authorized by the laying on of hands, who proclaims the Savior's everlasting and restored gospel in His way." This last week was great and it was because we spend a lot of time with missionaries doing the rest of the teaching trainings. We started over on Palawan and then came back to two more zones here in the mainland! It was great. I really learned the importance of finding all the time and teaching by the Spirit in order to invite and help more people to come unto Christ. We really don't expect to be successful in this work unless we find like crazy and teach effectively. on the way to Palawan there was a man in the airport and I just started to talk to him and it turned into a discussion about the gospel. It was great because eventually I was able to give him a Book of Mormon and he started reading it right away. There are just so many opportunities for us to share the gospel with others. Even in an airport waiting for your flight to Palawan! We had a great experience going to a family in the Makati 4th ward. They are the Lawrie family. The father is actually a non member who has been going to church for the past 20 years but just won't get baptized, but he wasn't there at the lesson when we came over. The rest of the family are all members but the children don't have a really strong testimonies of the gospel so we shared with them about strengthening their faith in order to gain a lasting testimony and be converted to the gospel. I think it went really well. We had an awesome dinner there by the way. Shepherd's pie and salad, then we had dessert, brownies, and ice cream. It was amazing. We taught brother Elias this last week, He as the brother that just came to church last Sunday after we just texted him. We had a great lesson with him and he wants to get baptized in April! He came to church yesterday and he had a great time. Lastly, we had another lesson with Raymond this last week and he is still a little hesitant to get baptized. He is just so worried about what others think. However, he did have a lot of questions for us and we were able to answer all of them! The best part was that he answered every question he had by using the scriptures. He came to church yesterday so that makes me think he is still thinking about being baptized. I am stoked for him. I love this work so much. Being a missionary is just like it says in the scriptures, being an instrument in the hands of the lord. I love it so much!
Elder Stephens
Elder David A. Bednar said, "A Preach My Gospel missionary is a servant of the lord, called by prophecy and authorized by the laying on of hands, who proclaims the Savior's everlasting and restored gospel in His way." This last week was great and it was because we spend a lot of time with missionaries doing the rest of the teaching trainings. We started over on Palawan and then came back to two more zones here in the mainland! It was great. I really learned the importance of finding all the time and teaching by the Spirit in order to invite and help more people to come unto Christ. We really don't expect to be successful in this work unless we find like crazy and teach effectively. on the way to Palawan there was a man in the airport and I just started to talk to him and it turned into a discussion about the gospel. It was great because eventually I was able to give him a Book of Mormon and he started reading it right away. There are just so many opportunities for us to share the gospel with others. Even in an airport waiting for your flight to Palawan! We had a great experience going to a family in the Makati 4th ward. They are the Lawrie family. The father is actually a non member who has been going to church for the past 20 years but just won't get baptized, but he wasn't there at the lesson when we came over. The rest of the family are all members but the children don't have a really strong testimonies of the gospel so we shared with them about strengthening their faith in order to gain a lasting testimony and be converted to the gospel. I think it went really well. We had an awesome dinner there by the way. Shepherd's pie and salad, then we had dessert, brownies, and ice cream. It was amazing. We taught brother Elias this last week, He as the brother that just came to church last Sunday after we just texted him. We had a great lesson with him and he wants to get baptized in April! He came to church yesterday and he had a great time. Lastly, we had another lesson with Raymond this last week and he is still a little hesitant to get baptized. He is just so worried about what others think. However, he did have a lot of questions for us and we were able to answer all of them! The best part was that he answered every question he had by using the scriptures. He came to church yesterday so that makes me think he is still thinking about being baptized. I am stoked for him. I love this work so much. Being a missionary is just like it says in the scriptures, being an instrument in the hands of the lord. I love it so much!
Elder Stephens
March 24, 2014
My life be like oooooo awwwww ooooooo ooo My life be like
Hey there!!
That song just came into my head right when I was about to start writing so I thought I would include it. Anyway! This last week was great. We had some specialized teaching trainings that are happening throughout the mission. We had 3 last week and we have 3 more of them this week. They are awesome and we just really focus on helping all of the missionaries teaching with power and authority. We have noticed that a lot of missionaries add a lot of fluff to the lessons so we had this teaching training for all the missionaries to just focus on the doctrine and teaching out of the scriptures. It has been great so far and everyone feels like it is helping out! We went to some of the members in the Makati 4th ward which is our international ward. It was great. We visited 3 families which included our ward mission leader Bro. Keys and his family. They are awesome and it was sweet because they fed us chicken and mashed potatoes as well as we got to coordinate the work in the ward. It is a weird situation in our ward because it s only for those international people but it is great because we get to go all over the place in our mission. They Keys family is awesome though and they have these 3 little kids who are so awesome. One of them is like 2 and he did a Hulk smash on his mashed potatoes. Literally he said "Hulk smash" and smashed his mashed potatoes everywhere. Elder Belnap and I were laughing so hard! We also got to visit our new Bishop in the Makati 3rd ward. He is awesome and just wanted us to come by, have dinner, and talk about what we can do to strengthen the ward. he is really focused on home and visiting teaching and so we want to really help with that. His birthday was this last Saturday and so Elder Belnap and I stopped by his house. He was not there so we left a note saying happy birthday on his door. I think he liked that. This last Sunday we had a miracle just happen in our area. We received a referral from some sister missionaries in our mission so we texted the guy to try and visit him. He said he was busy but said he would come to church. Well this last Sunday, he actually did come to church! He recognized my name because I was the one who texted him and we got to talking and he wants to be taught and wants to get baptized as well! I was stoked because Elder Belnap and I have been praying for miracles! I love this work and I can't believe all of the miracles that happen in the mission. This is the work of the lord. No doubt about it!
Elder Stephens
Hey there!!
That song just came into my head right when I was about to start writing so I thought I would include it. Anyway! This last week was great. We had some specialized teaching trainings that are happening throughout the mission. We had 3 last week and we have 3 more of them this week. They are awesome and we just really focus on helping all of the missionaries teaching with power and authority. We have noticed that a lot of missionaries add a lot of fluff to the lessons so we had this teaching training for all the missionaries to just focus on the doctrine and teaching out of the scriptures. It has been great so far and everyone feels like it is helping out! We went to some of the members in the Makati 4th ward which is our international ward. It was great. We visited 3 families which included our ward mission leader Bro. Keys and his family. They are awesome and it was sweet because they fed us chicken and mashed potatoes as well as we got to coordinate the work in the ward. It is a weird situation in our ward because it s only for those international people but it is great because we get to go all over the place in our mission. They Keys family is awesome though and they have these 3 little kids who are so awesome. One of them is like 2 and he did a Hulk smash on his mashed potatoes. Literally he said "Hulk smash" and smashed his mashed potatoes everywhere. Elder Belnap and I were laughing so hard! We also got to visit our new Bishop in the Makati 3rd ward. He is awesome and just wanted us to come by, have dinner, and talk about what we can do to strengthen the ward. he is really focused on home and visiting teaching and so we want to really help with that. His birthday was this last Saturday and so Elder Belnap and I stopped by his house. He was not there so we left a note saying happy birthday on his door. I think he liked that. This last Sunday we had a miracle just happen in our area. We received a referral from some sister missionaries in our mission so we texted the guy to try and visit him. He said he was busy but said he would come to church. Well this last Sunday, he actually did come to church! He recognized my name because I was the one who texted him and we got to talking and he wants to be taught and wants to get baptized as well! I was stoked because Elder Belnap and I have been praying for miracles! I love this work and I can't believe all of the miracles that happen in the mission. This is the work of the lord. No doubt about it!
Elder Stephens
March 17, 2014
Hello there everybody!!
Well we get through the most stressful week ever, transfer week! There is just so much you have to do when it comes to transfer week but everything actually went super well! There actually weren't a whole lot of big problems which means everything went successful! We had going home activities for the going home missionaries and it was my first experience with that. All of those missionaries were great and I am sad to see that they are gone now. this going home activities went a little different though. The temple was closed and that is usually part of the going home activities so we went to the Ayala Museum instead. It was super fun and the best part was I learned a lot about the Filipino people! There was a part of the museum where there were a ton of dioramas which just showed the history of the Philippines ever since the first people were here in the country up until today. it was cool because all of the little figures were sweet and it helped me know a lot more about the heritage of the Filipino people! Transfer day itself went really well. There was a bit of a mix up with some of the incoming missionaries, and so last minute Elder Belnap and I had to find some part-time missionaries. It was great because right away the Lord answered our prayers and we found everyone a companion and everything went well! It just helped me know that the Lord really helpes us when we really need it! We also had a baptism this past week for brother Christopher! It was an amazing baptismal service and I could really see how happy him and his family were now that he is a member of the church. His father in law was the one who baptized him and he did it like 5 times because Christopher is a pretty big guy and tatay Nilo is not too big. That fifth time was done right through so it's all good! I got to speak on the Holy Ghost and I just felt the Spirit so strong and I was grateful I had the blessing to be a part of his baptismal service. Brother Christopher is awesome and I love him so much. Yesterday in church he told us his wife could not stop crying because she was so happy that he was baptized and she had partook of the sacrament the first time in 18 years. I love the Mongonon family so much and they are so awesome. They already have plans to get married in the Temple in a year! Stoked for them. This work is awesome. I love it so much. The Lord is so involved and does so much for all of us if we just put our trust in Him!
Elder Stephens
Well we get through the most stressful week ever, transfer week! There is just so much you have to do when it comes to transfer week but everything actually went super well! There actually weren't a whole lot of big problems which means everything went successful! We had going home activities for the going home missionaries and it was my first experience with that. All of those missionaries were great and I am sad to see that they are gone now. this going home activities went a little different though. The temple was closed and that is usually part of the going home activities so we went to the Ayala Museum instead. It was super fun and the best part was I learned a lot about the Filipino people! There was a part of the museum where there were a ton of dioramas which just showed the history of the Philippines ever since the first people were here in the country up until today. it was cool because all of the little figures were sweet and it helped me know a lot more about the heritage of the Filipino people! Transfer day itself went really well. There was a bit of a mix up with some of the incoming missionaries, and so last minute Elder Belnap and I had to find some part-time missionaries. It was great because right away the Lord answered our prayers and we found everyone a companion and everything went well! It just helped me know that the Lord really helpes us when we really need it! We also had a baptism this past week for brother Christopher! It was an amazing baptismal service and I could really see how happy him and his family were now that he is a member of the church. His father in law was the one who baptized him and he did it like 5 times because Christopher is a pretty big guy and tatay Nilo is not too big. That fifth time was done right through so it's all good! I got to speak on the Holy Ghost and I just felt the Spirit so strong and I was grateful I had the blessing to be a part of his baptismal service. Brother Christopher is awesome and I love him so much. Yesterday in church he told us his wife could not stop crying because she was so happy that he was baptized and she had partook of the sacrament the first time in 18 years. I love the Mongonon family so much and they are so awesome. They already have plans to get married in the Temple in a year! Stoked for them. This work is awesome. I love it so much. The Lord is so involved and does so much for all of us if we just put our trust in Him!
Elder Stephens
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