Hey there everyone!
It's Tuesday here and this is our P-day so I am a day late on emailing all of you. But we get to go to the Temple today and it will be my last time to go to the Temple on my mission. I am stoked to go and I know it will be great. Last week was awesome, we had a meeting with President Ostler last week to talk about the upcoming MLC. It was a great experience because it was the first time we got to have a real nice meeting to talk about MLC and not be rushed like we were last time. We were really guided by the Spirit as we had our meeting and as we talked about the things that we need as a mission. There were things that Elder Limocon and I have been talking about that President Ostler ended up saying he wants to teach in MLC. We never mentioned anything to him but it was just so inspired that we were all thinking about teaching and counseling about the same things. We had some exchanges with some zone leaders in Manila and we changed the way we did it this time. Instead of going to one area and bring one to our area, we decided to help them out by both going to their area and building it up. It was super duper effective. They have been struggling lately with finding and getting many people to church and at the end of the exchange we had 5 new investigators and we got more referrals as well. It was a great day and we were blessed that we were able to help them out just a little big. The Chinese man we are teaching, Matthew, is coming along pretty well. We had a great lesson with him last week and focused all of it just on Jesus Christ. I asked him if he believed in Jesus Christ and in the Atonement, and he said yes! I was so happy and I felt the Spirit so strong when he said that. We have been teaching him a long time about Jesus Christ and it was great to hear him say that he believes in Him. We are still teaching about the gospel and him being baptized and stuff, and he still wants to learn more before that, but I thought ti was a huge step for him to say he believes in Jesus Christ. We also had a great lesson with John, the guy from Alabama. He still struggles with faith and so we read Alma 32 with him and focused on faith but as we read I could see a change in him where he wants to start trying to strengthen his faith. I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and the Spirit, and how they touch the lives of those who read it. I know the Book of Mormon is true and it blesses the lives of everyone who reads it and prays about it.
Elder Stephens
Thursday, July 31, 2014
Tuesday, July 29, 2014
July 21, 2014
Hello there all!
We had a pretty great week yet again. For some reason, this past week just went by super fast. Elder Lomocon and I were talking last night and saying how we couldn't believe that it was already Sunday! A batch of missionaries went home this last week and they were a batch that I was super close with. We actually spent time in the MTC together so I have known all of them for basically my entire mission. We had some sweet going home activities and there was some awesome things that happened. First off, one of the Elders going home had his family come visit the mission and stuff. And on the day of going home activities, his family got sealed in the Manila Temple!! It was beautiful. His mother and father were sealed together and then he was sealed to his parents. He asked President Ostler and me to be the witnesses and it was a super special experience. I had never done that before and it was so amazing to feel the spirit while that family got sealed together. On that same day, at the temple as well, I saw a ton of people in my district from the MTC! We had a total of 12 Elders in my district from the MTC and i got to see 6 of them at the Manila Temple. It was so weird seeing them but so cool at the same time. I felt like Alma the younger when he sees the sons of Mosiah and rejoices because they are still his brethren in the faith. I was super blessed to have that tender mercy from the Lord and see my batch from the MTC. It was transfer week which is always a great experience and this time it was extra special because there was a huge storm on the day of transfers! It was the first real big storm I experienced so it was super exciting. The rain was actually not strong in our area but the ind was crazy. It was sweet watching all the trees sway and some even uprooted! Anyway, everyone was safe and the storm didn't hit toooo bad in the place we were in, so I was grateful for that. I also drove in flood water for the first time, and again, I was safe so it's all good. We had a sweet New Missionary Orientation. It was crazy because we started super late because of the storm and then after we didn't have electricity in the mission home so we just had to wing it for a little. Luckily, after a few ours of that we got some electricity and had a good rest of the orientation. We got in participate a little in the process of assigning the new missionaries to their trainers and that was super special. The Spirit really guided us in that process despite all the craziness that happened that day with the storm. I knew we were guided because after the orientation we had to take one of the elders with us while he waited for his companion to fly off of Palawan. To make this short, we found out he has a health thing that makes it so he has to eat super healthy and live a super healthy life style. Come to find out, his trainer has to do the same exact thing! None of us knew about the new missionary's health condition but the Lord did and it was a testimony builder for me that the Lord guided us while we assigned everyone to their companions. Each and every experience I have been having lately tells me that the Lord loves his missionaries. He is completely guiding this work and using us as His tools to make it all happen. I love being a missionary and seeing the Lord's hand in His work. I know this church is true with all my heart and I love being able to share this gospel with anyone and everyone.
Elder Stephens
We had a pretty great week yet again. For some reason, this past week just went by super fast. Elder Lomocon and I were talking last night and saying how we couldn't believe that it was already Sunday! A batch of missionaries went home this last week and they were a batch that I was super close with. We actually spent time in the MTC together so I have known all of them for basically my entire mission. We had some sweet going home activities and there was some awesome things that happened. First off, one of the Elders going home had his family come visit the mission and stuff. And on the day of going home activities, his family got sealed in the Manila Temple!! It was beautiful. His mother and father were sealed together and then he was sealed to his parents. He asked President Ostler and me to be the witnesses and it was a super special experience. I had never done that before and it was so amazing to feel the spirit while that family got sealed together. On that same day, at the temple as well, I saw a ton of people in my district from the MTC! We had a total of 12 Elders in my district from the MTC and i got to see 6 of them at the Manila Temple. It was so weird seeing them but so cool at the same time. I felt like Alma the younger when he sees the sons of Mosiah and rejoices because they are still his brethren in the faith. I was super blessed to have that tender mercy from the Lord and see my batch from the MTC. It was transfer week which is always a great experience and this time it was extra special because there was a huge storm on the day of transfers! It was the first real big storm I experienced so it was super exciting. The rain was actually not strong in our area but the ind was crazy. It was sweet watching all the trees sway and some even uprooted! Anyway, everyone was safe and the storm didn't hit toooo bad in the place we were in, so I was grateful for that. I also drove in flood water for the first time, and again, I was safe so it's all good. We had a sweet New Missionary Orientation. It was crazy because we started super late because of the storm and then after we didn't have electricity in the mission home so we just had to wing it for a little. Luckily, after a few ours of that we got some electricity and had a good rest of the orientation. We got in participate a little in the process of assigning the new missionaries to their trainers and that was super special. The Spirit really guided us in that process despite all the craziness that happened that day with the storm. I knew we were guided because after the orientation we had to take one of the elders with us while he waited for his companion to fly off of Palawan. To make this short, we found out he has a health thing that makes it so he has to eat super healthy and live a super healthy life style. Come to find out, his trainer has to do the same exact thing! None of us knew about the new missionary's health condition but the Lord did and it was a testimony builder for me that the Lord guided us while we assigned everyone to their companions. Each and every experience I have been having lately tells me that the Lord loves his missionaries. He is completely guiding this work and using us as His tools to make it all happen. I love being a missionary and seeing the Lord's hand in His work. I know this church is true with all my heart and I love being able to share this gospel with anyone and everyone.
Elder Stephens
July 14, 2014
Hey there everyone!
Where do I start?! We had a great week. First off, Limocon and I got to go back to Palawan! We went with the Ostlers for the interviews for the missionaries over there. It was a bummer though because Elder Limocon and I didn't get to go to our old area in Narra. It was still Palawan though so that was cool. However, it may have been my last time there! i sure hope not. This whole week was full of interviews with all of the missionaries in the mission so that was sweet. We got to be there for all of the interviews to just help out and get people going back to their areas as well instead of hanging out at the mission home. Everyone loved the interviews at the mission home and they loved the interviews with President Ostler! I actually got to get interviewed this last week and it was great. He taught me to do something way cool! He said get a piece of paper and write what ever thing you want to be at the top, for example, husband or father. Then make two columns, one for things you want to do, and one for things you do not want to do. then, continue to write things down whenever you get the change or when ever you think of something new. And you can do this with tons of different callings or positions or anything. And you keep them all in a cabinet or file some where, then in the future, when you actually are one of those things you can go back to your notes and see ALLL the things you said about it in the past. It was awesome advice and it helped me to really get a grasp on the importance of a vision and seeing goals and plans to hit it. We had transfers this past week and Elder Limocon and I had an awesome opportunity to be involved a ton in the transfers. The reason being President Ostler still does not really know everybody so he wanted us to have a lot of input and then he make the decisions. It was sweet because we never did that before and we got to really see the Spirit work through all of us to get the transfer planned out the way the Lord wanted it to. I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of that and I am super grateful for it. We had a meeting this week where we met with the new trainers and teach them. It was sweet because it was the first time President and Sister Ostler did that training and the first time for Elder Limocon as well. It was crazy to see the difference in the way the training happened compared to President Stucki but it was great to see that the Spirit was still there and we were all able to learn so much. President Ostler gave an invitation at the end of the training. He had all of the trainers write down 3 things that they hope the new missionary they train will say about them in the future. He said you could even do this when you are older and the 3 things you would want your children to say about their father or the 3 things you would want your wife to say about their husband. Anyway, it was sweet. Even though I wasn't going to train, I made a list of three things and said one, I am exactly obedient, two, I am hard working, and three, I love the Lord and I love these wonderful people. I don't know if it is a good list or anything, but I did say that to President Ostler and he said he put down those same three things. I am learning a ton from President Ostler and I am learning a ton about helping other missionaries come closer unto Christ. I realized that part of this assignment and our purpose as missionaries can apply to each other. Even though we are here to baptize people, we can still invite all to come unto Christ and that includes those missionaries that we are teaching. I had a crazy experience this last week! So a member in one of our wards texted us and told us we were going to teach some people at his place. So of course, Elder Limocon and I got super excited and went to our appointment. Right when we go in, come to find out, it was one of my family members!! Apparently, they work together at the same place and it was super weird but really cool at the same time. I gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read it and I know it will bless her forever! I love this gospel and the wonderful opportunity to be a missionary.
Elder Stephens
Where do I start?! We had a great week. First off, Limocon and I got to go back to Palawan! We went with the Ostlers for the interviews for the missionaries over there. It was a bummer though because Elder Limocon and I didn't get to go to our old area in Narra. It was still Palawan though so that was cool. However, it may have been my last time there! i sure hope not. This whole week was full of interviews with all of the missionaries in the mission so that was sweet. We got to be there for all of the interviews to just help out and get people going back to their areas as well instead of hanging out at the mission home. Everyone loved the interviews at the mission home and they loved the interviews with President Ostler! I actually got to get interviewed this last week and it was great. He taught me to do something way cool! He said get a piece of paper and write what ever thing you want to be at the top, for example, husband or father. Then make two columns, one for things you want to do, and one for things you do not want to do. then, continue to write things down whenever you get the change or when ever you think of something new. And you can do this with tons of different callings or positions or anything. And you keep them all in a cabinet or file some where, then in the future, when you actually are one of those things you can go back to your notes and see ALLL the things you said about it in the past. It was awesome advice and it helped me to really get a grasp on the importance of a vision and seeing goals and plans to hit it. We had transfers this past week and Elder Limocon and I had an awesome opportunity to be involved a ton in the transfers. The reason being President Ostler still does not really know everybody so he wanted us to have a lot of input and then he make the decisions. It was sweet because we never did that before and we got to really see the Spirit work through all of us to get the transfer planned out the way the Lord wanted it to. I was blessed with the opportunity to be a part of that and I am super grateful for it. We had a meeting this week where we met with the new trainers and teach them. It was sweet because it was the first time President and Sister Ostler did that training and the first time for Elder Limocon as well. It was crazy to see the difference in the way the training happened compared to President Stucki but it was great to see that the Spirit was still there and we were all able to learn so much. President Ostler gave an invitation at the end of the training. He had all of the trainers write down 3 things that they hope the new missionary they train will say about them in the future. He said you could even do this when you are older and the 3 things you would want your children to say about their father or the 3 things you would want your wife to say about their husband. Anyway, it was sweet. Even though I wasn't going to train, I made a list of three things and said one, I am exactly obedient, two, I am hard working, and three, I love the Lord and I love these wonderful people. I don't know if it is a good list or anything, but I did say that to President Ostler and he said he put down those same three things. I am learning a ton from President Ostler and I am learning a ton about helping other missionaries come closer unto Christ. I realized that part of this assignment and our purpose as missionaries can apply to each other. Even though we are here to baptize people, we can still invite all to come unto Christ and that includes those missionaries that we are teaching. I had a crazy experience this last week! So a member in one of our wards texted us and told us we were going to teach some people at his place. So of course, Elder Limocon and I got super excited and went to our appointment. Right when we go in, come to find out, it was one of my family members!! Apparently, they work together at the same place and it was super weird but really cool at the same time. I gave her a Book of Mormon and invited her to read it and I know it will bless her forever! I love this gospel and the wonderful opportunity to be a missionary.
Elder Stephens
July 7, 2014
Hello there everyone!
What a crazy week! We were so busy and it honestly doesn't even feel like it's been a week already. However, it was so much fun!! First off, we had a huge meeting with almost all of our missionaries where everyone got to meet President Ostler and his family. So over at the Buendia chapel we had about 180 missionaries gathered together to meet them and see them for the first time. It was a super awesome meeting. President Ostler shared with us a ton of things that he learned from the new mission president's seminar and we got to learn so much. I never knew how involved all of the general authorities were in this work. At one point in his message, he explained a time during the seminar when he asked one of the seventy why ALL of the general authorities have to come to the new mission president's seminar. He said that it is because the Lord loves this work and wants all of them to be fully engaged and love it too. I was taken back when he said that and I was so grateful how involved the Lord is in His work, as well as all of His servants. Then Sister Ostler and Caleb shared a ton about their family and they even had a sweet video of all of the family members where they got to share their feelings about the call for President Ostler. It was a great meeting. We also had another missionary leadership council! It was so different but it was so great. I think the main point of this missionary leadership council was to help President and Sister Ostler to know more about the mission and get a feel for what things we need to work on. So we had a huge question and counsel together part of the missionary leadership council, which was different than all of the other ones. However, it was so great because they got a ton of information and we were really able to help them get a feel for what the mission is like. I enjoyed the council and getting to learn from all of the other leaders as well. One of the things I really learned from the meeting was the importance of having the council. President Ostler shared some scriptures about the importance of councils and the idea I got from it was that councils are held to talk about specific concerns and challenges, and then to receive revelation through the Spirit in order to know what to do to solve them. I learned that councils are held in order to help the work of the Lord continue. I loved the council and the things I learned from it. At the end of the week, President Ostler started on the interviews for the whole mission. He did a few zones last week and they all went great! President Ostler changed it up this time and did all of them at the mission home! I have never experienced that before in my whole mission. Anyway, it was different but it was so awesome. All of the missionaries had a great experience being at the mission home. I have been there so many times because of meetings and stuff, but I learned that was the very first time for some elders and sisters! So it was awesome for them to be there and a ton of them said that the interviews felt a lot more comfortable because of it. One thing I love about President and Sister Ostler is their love for family. One of the reasons for the interviews being done at the mission home was so they felt like they were part of a huge family here on the mission and of course, the home was a good place to make it fee like family. Another reason was so that they could still do their family prayer and family scripture study at home and still spend time together as a family. So I just love that so much and how much they love family. I hope to apply that to my own life in the future. This week we have a ton of interviews again and so I get to spend a bunch of time with missionaries again this week! I love this mission and I love serving here. I am so grateful I get to be a missionary in the Philippines Manila Mission. I love President and sister Ostler and their son Caleb. They are awesome and they are so loving. I can really feel that they love us and I can feel a part of Heavenly Father's love for us, through them.
Elder Stephens
What a crazy week! We were so busy and it honestly doesn't even feel like it's been a week already. However, it was so much fun!! First off, we had a huge meeting with almost all of our missionaries where everyone got to meet President Ostler and his family. So over at the Buendia chapel we had about 180 missionaries gathered together to meet them and see them for the first time. It was a super awesome meeting. President Ostler shared with us a ton of things that he learned from the new mission president's seminar and we got to learn so much. I never knew how involved all of the general authorities were in this work. At one point in his message, he explained a time during the seminar when he asked one of the seventy why ALL of the general authorities have to come to the new mission president's seminar. He said that it is because the Lord loves this work and wants all of them to be fully engaged and love it too. I was taken back when he said that and I was so grateful how involved the Lord is in His work, as well as all of His servants. Then Sister Ostler and Caleb shared a ton about their family and they even had a sweet video of all of the family members where they got to share their feelings about the call for President Ostler. It was a great meeting. We also had another missionary leadership council! It was so different but it was so great. I think the main point of this missionary leadership council was to help President and Sister Ostler to know more about the mission and get a feel for what things we need to work on. So we had a huge question and counsel together part of the missionary leadership council, which was different than all of the other ones. However, it was so great because they got a ton of information and we were really able to help them get a feel for what the mission is like. I enjoyed the council and getting to learn from all of the other leaders as well. One of the things I really learned from the meeting was the importance of having the council. President Ostler shared some scriptures about the importance of councils and the idea I got from it was that councils are held to talk about specific concerns and challenges, and then to receive revelation through the Spirit in order to know what to do to solve them. I learned that councils are held in order to help the work of the Lord continue. I loved the council and the things I learned from it. At the end of the week, President Ostler started on the interviews for the whole mission. He did a few zones last week and they all went great! President Ostler changed it up this time and did all of them at the mission home! I have never experienced that before in my whole mission. Anyway, it was different but it was so awesome. All of the missionaries had a great experience being at the mission home. I have been there so many times because of meetings and stuff, but I learned that was the very first time for some elders and sisters! So it was awesome for them to be there and a ton of them said that the interviews felt a lot more comfortable because of it. One thing I love about President and Sister Ostler is their love for family. One of the reasons for the interviews being done at the mission home was so they felt like they were part of a huge family here on the mission and of course, the home was a good place to make it fee like family. Another reason was so that they could still do their family prayer and family scripture study at home and still spend time together as a family. So I just love that so much and how much they love family. I hope to apply that to my own life in the future. This week we have a ton of interviews again and so I get to spend a bunch of time with missionaries again this week! I love this mission and I love serving here. I am so grateful I get to be a missionary in the Philippines Manila Mission. I love President and sister Ostler and their son Caleb. They are awesome and they are so loving. I can really feel that they love us and I can feel a part of Heavenly Father's love for us, through them.
Elder Stephens
June 30, 2014
Hey everyone!!
Another great week in the mission field! We said goodbye to President and Sister Stucki this last week. It was their last week here and we were sad to see them go. They were such a blessing in my life and it was a wonderful blessing to be able to serve with them up until they left. President and Sister Stucki have had a big impact in my life and I will never ever forget them. I am grateful for both of them and everything I have learned from them as well. I will forever be grateful to my Father in heaven for the opportunity to serve with such faithful servants of God. We now have a new mission president, President and Sister Ostler. They also brought their 14 year old son, Caleb! They are so awesome and I know they are going to bless this mission so much. We had the blessing of meeting them last Sunday night and having a good talk with them. President and Sister Ostler are so loving and they talked a lot about being a Christ centered and family centered family. That was awesome to hear that. He said it because they actually have a family here with Caleb and so it is different from when it was just President and Sister Stucki. President Ostler also mentioned that he rally wants everyone in the mission to know that he will love them, but also expect a lot. I also loved hearing that one. There will be some changes, and that was to be expected, but I believe changes are for the better. I did ask him, as his assistants what would be the thing we could help him out with the most. He said that he wants everyone to know what is going on, basically that we become super unified as a mission. He mentioned to talk with the zone leaders and others about things we talk about in meetings. As we become more unified, our love for each other will grow, and our love for the Lord will grow as well. I am grateful to now serve with President and Sister Ostler and I am so excited to see how much our mission will grow. Elder Limocon and I are doing great in our area and we are super excited because we have some people that are progressing really well. Patrick is doing super well and I am super grateful we are helping him know more about the gospel. He has come to church for the past three weeks and he loves it. He even went to an activity in the elders quorum where they played basketball. I am amazed on how much he is already progressing and wanting to accept this gospel. We also found a new family that we are super excited about. It is the Mateos family and they are awesome. We had a name on our potential investigators list and so we went to go look for it, actually we were with President Stucki at the time, and turns out it was a big family and we ended up teaching. They have no come to church yet, but we are excited to see how they will do! I love this gospel so much and I love that I have the opportunity to share it. I know this work is guided by the Lord. Even with our new mission president, I have already seen how involved the lord is in this work, with Him working through President Ostler. I love being a missionary!
Elder Stephens
Another great week in the mission field! We said goodbye to President and Sister Stucki this last week. It was their last week here and we were sad to see them go. They were such a blessing in my life and it was a wonderful blessing to be able to serve with them up until they left. President and Sister Stucki have had a big impact in my life and I will never ever forget them. I am grateful for both of them and everything I have learned from them as well. I will forever be grateful to my Father in heaven for the opportunity to serve with such faithful servants of God. We now have a new mission president, President and Sister Ostler. They also brought their 14 year old son, Caleb! They are so awesome and I know they are going to bless this mission so much. We had the blessing of meeting them last Sunday night and having a good talk with them. President and Sister Ostler are so loving and they talked a lot about being a Christ centered and family centered family. That was awesome to hear that. He said it because they actually have a family here with Caleb and so it is different from when it was just President and Sister Stucki. President Ostler also mentioned that he rally wants everyone in the mission to know that he will love them, but also expect a lot. I also loved hearing that one. There will be some changes, and that was to be expected, but I believe changes are for the better. I did ask him, as his assistants what would be the thing we could help him out with the most. He said that he wants everyone to know what is going on, basically that we become super unified as a mission. He mentioned to talk with the zone leaders and others about things we talk about in meetings. As we become more unified, our love for each other will grow, and our love for the Lord will grow as well. I am grateful to now serve with President and Sister Ostler and I am so excited to see how much our mission will grow. Elder Limocon and I are doing great in our area and we are super excited because we have some people that are progressing really well. Patrick is doing super well and I am super grateful we are helping him know more about the gospel. He has come to church for the past three weeks and he loves it. He even went to an activity in the elders quorum where they played basketball. I am amazed on how much he is already progressing and wanting to accept this gospel. We also found a new family that we are super excited about. It is the Mateos family and they are awesome. We had a name on our potential investigators list and so we went to go look for it, actually we were with President Stucki at the time, and turns out it was a big family and we ended up teaching. They have no come to church yet, but we are excited to see how they will do! I love this gospel so much and I love that I have the opportunity to share it. I know this work is guided by the Lord. Even with our new mission president, I have already seen how involved the lord is in this work, with Him working through President Ostler. I love being a missionary!
Elder Stephens
Monday, July 28, 2014
June 23, 2014
Hey everyone!
I love being a missionary! We had a wonderful baptism this last week. It was just James and he reminds me a lot of me! He is 18 years old and accepted the gospel real quick. At the baptismal service, he bore his testimony and in it he said that he wants to go on a mission! I was stoked when I heard that. I told him how I was baptized at 18 years old also and went on a mission after one year, and I told him how it has blessed my life tremendously. I am so excited for James and I am so grateful I had the blessing to be a small part of his conversion process and able to baptize him as well. I love this gospel and how many things it brings to these wonderful people who accept it. I was thinking about this week and how this Fifa soccer stuff has all started. I was thinking how I could be home watching all these teams and countries play. Instead, I am helping these wonderful people in the Philippines accept this gospel and I had the wonderful blessing to even baptize someone in the true church of Jesus Christ. I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world right now. Last week, we also had a great lesson with Patrick He is progressing so well and he just takes in everything that we teach. He has a few questions and they are awesome questions, and when we answer them using the scriptures he just says, "Oh that makes total sense!" I love that guy. He came to the baptismal service and after I was talking with him, he said that he enjoyed it and said that he will be the next one in the font! I couldn't believe my ears! It was amazing how the gospel just makes people want to follow Jesus Christ and follow His gospel. This gospel is the best. In our mission we had a specialized leadership training for all of the district leaders, zone leaders, and sister training leaders. We had the blessing of teaching and being taught by all of the leaders in the mission. The whole meeting lasted from 8 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, it was a real long day but it was so good. We have a new mission president coming at the end of this week on the 29th, they are President and Sister Ostler. So we had a real big leaders hip training to help all of the leaders really great up for the big change that is coming up. We actually had every set of zone leaders and every set of sister training leaders participate in the training. The entire meeting, I felt like people were talking about being quick to observe and being proactive. We really need to help leaders and missionaries in general to be proactive in order to fulfill their purpose. We used D&C 107:99 as our theme scripture and I love that part where it says to act "In all diligence." Another thing that really stood out to me was that they really focused on being enthusiastic! One of the things that we talked about was how we need to be more enthusiastic when being with other missionaries as well as when we go out and work! I know we can find a lot more success if we just be more joyful and be more enthusiastic as we do missionary work. I just love being a missionary and I love this gospel. I know this church is true and that the fullness of the gospel was restored though the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know Jesus is the Christ. He lives and He loves us more than we can comprehend.
Elder Stephens
I love being a missionary! We had a wonderful baptism this last week. It was just James and he reminds me a lot of me! He is 18 years old and accepted the gospel real quick. At the baptismal service, he bore his testimony and in it he said that he wants to go on a mission! I was stoked when I heard that. I told him how I was baptized at 18 years old also and went on a mission after one year, and I told him how it has blessed my life tremendously. I am so excited for James and I am so grateful I had the blessing to be a small part of his conversion process and able to baptize him as well. I love this gospel and how many things it brings to these wonderful people who accept it. I was thinking about this week and how this Fifa soccer stuff has all started. I was thinking how I could be home watching all these teams and countries play. Instead, I am helping these wonderful people in the Philippines accept this gospel and I had the wonderful blessing to even baptize someone in the true church of Jesus Christ. I wouldn't be anywhere else in the world right now. Last week, we also had a great lesson with Patrick He is progressing so well and he just takes in everything that we teach. He has a few questions and they are awesome questions, and when we answer them using the scriptures he just says, "Oh that makes total sense!" I love that guy. He came to the baptismal service and after I was talking with him, he said that he enjoyed it and said that he will be the next one in the font! I couldn't believe my ears! It was amazing how the gospel just makes people want to follow Jesus Christ and follow His gospel. This gospel is the best. In our mission we had a specialized leadership training for all of the district leaders, zone leaders, and sister training leaders. We had the blessing of teaching and being taught by all of the leaders in the mission. The whole meeting lasted from 8 in the morning until 5 in the afternoon, it was a real long day but it was so good. We have a new mission president coming at the end of this week on the 29th, they are President and Sister Ostler. So we had a real big leaders hip training to help all of the leaders really great up for the big change that is coming up. We actually had every set of zone leaders and every set of sister training leaders participate in the training. The entire meeting, I felt like people were talking about being quick to observe and being proactive. We really need to help leaders and missionaries in general to be proactive in order to fulfill their purpose. We used D&C 107:99 as our theme scripture and I love that part where it says to act "In all diligence." Another thing that really stood out to me was that they really focused on being enthusiastic! One of the things that we talked about was how we need to be more enthusiastic when being with other missionaries as well as when we go out and work! I know we can find a lot more success if we just be more joyful and be more enthusiastic as we do missionary work. I just love being a missionary and I love this gospel. I know this church is true and that the fullness of the gospel was restored though the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know Jesus is the Christ. He lives and He loves us more than we can comprehend.
Elder Stephens
June 16, 2014
Hello!!
Happy Father's Day all the fathers out there! And a special happy father's day to my pops:) I love you!! We had a great week. It is cool being with Elder Limocon again and being able to work with him in another area and in another assignment. We had the blessing to visit a lot of members this week because we really want to get a good relationship with them in order to really hasten the work here. From visiting the members and their views on missionaries and missionary work. It was a testimony to me that just a simple visit and message, along with a lot of love, can help the members int he ward to build their trust in you as a missionary and want to help you fulfill your purpose. We had the opportunity of teaching a new investigator this week, his name is Patrick. He is super cool and he already came to church a few times in the past. He actually already knows a strong family in the church and we get to teach him in their home. In the lesson he was really open and one of the first things we asked were about his expectations from our teaching. he said that he wants to learn how to be converted! Oh man, I about jumped up and hugged him! I was super stoked though and so we had a great lesson with him. He came to church this last week and had a great time. I am super excited to see how he continues to progress. We found another good man, he wasn't as ready to receive the message we shared, but we were still very grateful we got to teach. He is married to a strong member in the ward, but has never had the desire to investigate the church. Actually, his wife, sister Melquiades said that the first Elders that he ever came up to. Apparently he just hides whenever missionaries come around, so I was just grateful we got to meet him and share a quick message with him. i am also super grateful for the example that sister Melquiades is for him and how faithful she is to the gospel. We had a sweet experience with our ward mission leader in the 4th ward. he invited us over along with the recent converts in our ward, Johnny and Shamir. We went and had snacks and a good time there and it was great because we really got to see how effective it is to have recent converts have a good relationship with the members of the ward. We had Stake Conference in the Makati Stake this last weekend! It was awesome. The Saturday night session was focused on hastening the work of salvation and it was so great. There was a sister that bore her testimony that was so strong. She has only one leg and walks with a crutch, yet she decided that she wanted to still serve a mission. She got all ready and put in her papers, then after waiting for a real long time, got news that her application was denied. She said she was sad, but felt that she just had another purpose in being a missionary and now she is a seminary teacher and helps prepare able young men and women to be able to serve. She is also helping her siblings get ready. She said that you don't want to have a badge to prove that you are a missionary, no matter who you are, you can be one. I know it's true. We can all be missionaries if we just have the faith and courage to open our mouths and hare the gospel with others. The Lord will bless us and help us if we do so.
Elder Stephens
Happy Father's Day all the fathers out there! And a special happy father's day to my pops:) I love you!! We had a great week. It is cool being with Elder Limocon again and being able to work with him in another area and in another assignment. We had the blessing to visit a lot of members this week because we really want to get a good relationship with them in order to really hasten the work here. From visiting the members and their views on missionaries and missionary work. It was a testimony to me that just a simple visit and message, along with a lot of love, can help the members int he ward to build their trust in you as a missionary and want to help you fulfill your purpose. We had the opportunity of teaching a new investigator this week, his name is Patrick. He is super cool and he already came to church a few times in the past. He actually already knows a strong family in the church and we get to teach him in their home. In the lesson he was really open and one of the first things we asked were about his expectations from our teaching. he said that he wants to learn how to be converted! Oh man, I about jumped up and hugged him! I was super stoked though and so we had a great lesson with him. He came to church this last week and had a great time. I am super excited to see how he continues to progress. We found another good man, he wasn't as ready to receive the message we shared, but we were still very grateful we got to teach. He is married to a strong member in the ward, but has never had the desire to investigate the church. Actually, his wife, sister Melquiades said that the first Elders that he ever came up to. Apparently he just hides whenever missionaries come around, so I was just grateful we got to meet him and share a quick message with him. i am also super grateful for the example that sister Melquiades is for him and how faithful she is to the gospel. We had a sweet experience with our ward mission leader in the 4th ward. he invited us over along with the recent converts in our ward, Johnny and Shamir. We went and had snacks and a good time there and it was great because we really got to see how effective it is to have recent converts have a good relationship with the members of the ward. We had Stake Conference in the Makati Stake this last weekend! It was awesome. The Saturday night session was focused on hastening the work of salvation and it was so great. There was a sister that bore her testimony that was so strong. She has only one leg and walks with a crutch, yet she decided that she wanted to still serve a mission. She got all ready and put in her papers, then after waiting for a real long time, got news that her application was denied. She said she was sad, but felt that she just had another purpose in being a missionary and now she is a seminary teacher and helps prepare able young men and women to be able to serve. She is also helping her siblings get ready. She said that you don't want to have a badge to prove that you are a missionary, no matter who you are, you can be one. I know it's true. We can all be missionaries if we just have the faith and courage to open our mouths and hare the gospel with others. The Lord will bless us and help us if we do so.
Elder Stephens
June 9, 2014
Hey all!
What a week! first off, I have a new companion, actually sort of. It's Elder Limocon!! We were companions before in Narra for two transfers as zone leaders and now we are companions again here in Makati! I am so stoked. We already love it. It is so fun to be with Elder Limocon again, he is awesome. I followed up with the zone leader who was Elder Limocon's companion right before the transfer and he was bummed that I "stole" his companion. I told him though that I had to because 2 transfers was just not enough with ol' Elder Limocon. So transfer week went really well. There actually weren't too many hiccups this time for the transfer! Hooray! Last time there was a ton of stuff that happened but this one went really well. I got to go to the temple last week with the going home missionaries and I just love it so much. The temple is the best and I am so happy I get to serve in a mission where we get to go there once a transfer. I love how we can really feel the spirit every time we go there. This last week I really saw the power of fasting. During transfer week it is hard for us tot get good work going because we are doing quite a big of stuff, but I am glad we are able to work with the time that we are given. Anyway, on Sunday, Elder Limocon and I fasted and we really just focused on having success in our area. So on Sunday we went to church and everything was going pretty good except that one of our investigators to be baptized this month did not show up in the beginning! I was so nervous because now he might not be able to get baptize don the day we had scheduled for him and then I remembered our fast and remembered the real reason I wanted him to be baptized. A few minutes into the sacrament meeting James shows up and says he had to go tot he airport for his boss but was super excited to come to church. I just felt it was an answer to prayer and fasting that he still had the desire. After church, we taught him and he is ready for his interview this upcoming Sunday and hill be ready for baptism in the 21st! Another answer to prayer and fasting was that we were also looking for success in the next few months. The Malate family, who returned from inactivity recently and also had Christ our recent convert baptized, had another referral for us! Patrick has actually been to church a few times and he now said he wants to get taught and we are going to do it with the Malate family. They are super stoked to help him come unto Christ and I am super stoked to be able to invite and help him to do so. One more experience that day was at night. We had been trying to go back to Tomas for a while. He was that inactive member we met a few months ago and helped come to church one time. Well he got real busy at work and we hadn't seen him in weeks! We felt we should go to him that night and lo and behold he was there with his mother and was so happy that we had come. He apologized for being so busy and not being able to come to church but said that he still has that desire and that he won't give up trying to come back. Once his work really calms down, he promised to come to church every week. I am grateful to be a missionary and grateful that I get to see miracles happen each and every day. This mission has really given me a testimony to prayer and fasting and I am so grateful for it!
Elder Stephens
What a week! first off, I have a new companion, actually sort of. It's Elder Limocon!! We were companions before in Narra for two transfers as zone leaders and now we are companions again here in Makati! I am so stoked. We already love it. It is so fun to be with Elder Limocon again, he is awesome. I followed up with the zone leader who was Elder Limocon's companion right before the transfer and he was bummed that I "stole" his companion. I told him though that I had to because 2 transfers was just not enough with ol' Elder Limocon. So transfer week went really well. There actually weren't too many hiccups this time for the transfer! Hooray! Last time there was a ton of stuff that happened but this one went really well. I got to go to the temple last week with the going home missionaries and I just love it so much. The temple is the best and I am so happy I get to serve in a mission where we get to go there once a transfer. I love how we can really feel the spirit every time we go there. This last week I really saw the power of fasting. During transfer week it is hard for us tot get good work going because we are doing quite a big of stuff, but I am glad we are able to work with the time that we are given. Anyway, on Sunday, Elder Limocon and I fasted and we really just focused on having success in our area. So on Sunday we went to church and everything was going pretty good except that one of our investigators to be baptized this month did not show up in the beginning! I was so nervous because now he might not be able to get baptize don the day we had scheduled for him and then I remembered our fast and remembered the real reason I wanted him to be baptized. A few minutes into the sacrament meeting James shows up and says he had to go tot he airport for his boss but was super excited to come to church. I just felt it was an answer to prayer and fasting that he still had the desire. After church, we taught him and he is ready for his interview this upcoming Sunday and hill be ready for baptism in the 21st! Another answer to prayer and fasting was that we were also looking for success in the next few months. The Malate family, who returned from inactivity recently and also had Christ our recent convert baptized, had another referral for us! Patrick has actually been to church a few times and he now said he wants to get taught and we are going to do it with the Malate family. They are super stoked to help him come unto Christ and I am super stoked to be able to invite and help him to do so. One more experience that day was at night. We had been trying to go back to Tomas for a while. He was that inactive member we met a few months ago and helped come to church one time. Well he got real busy at work and we hadn't seen him in weeks! We felt we should go to him that night and lo and behold he was there with his mother and was so happy that we had come. He apologized for being so busy and not being able to come to church but said that he still has that desire and that he won't give up trying to come back. Once his work really calms down, he promised to come to church every week. I am grateful to be a missionary and grateful that I get to see miracles happen each and every day. This mission has really given me a testimony to prayer and fasting and I am so grateful for it!
Elder Stephens
June 2, 2014
Hey errbody!
I have been fed so much spiritually because of this last week. I feel like we were in meetings or conferences all week long! It was great though and I absolutely loved it. On Friday we had our missionary conference with Elder Craig C. Christensen of the Presidency of the Seventy. We were so blessed to have him come and teach us. He is a big guy that played line on the BYU football team years and years ago, but with that big body he brings a very strong spirit. They talked a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I noticed he just kept testifying of Jesus Christ. It was great to see a Seventy continue to testify of the Savior and he did it with power each time. I noticed that we as missionaries don't testify of the Savior enough. We should be testifying of the Atonement and of Jesus Christ all the time! So I have made it a goal to always talk about the Savior. He said at one point in the conference that we could relate any concern or problem back to the Atonement, and how the Atonement can help us solve those concerns. It was amazing. I am so grateful Elder Christensen came to our mission and taught us. It was a wonderful experience. We also had a missionary leadership council. I think that makes 12 for me now Anyway, the theme of the council was Matthew 5:14-16 and being a light to the world. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and as representatives of Him, we can bring that light into the lives of others. We watched those three Mormon messages where Elder Bednar talks about the light of Christ. It was sweet and we had a lot of discussion on how we can bring the light of Christ into the lives of these wonderful Filipino people. We have to be obedient and worth of the Spirit and the light of Christ can touch those people's hearts. We also had a real big discussion on how we can help the missionaries in our mission to become more exactly obedient. There were a ton of awesome answers but there were a few that really stood out to me. One was how we have to start with ourselves. We can't expect to teach with moral authority about obedience, if we ourselves are disobedient. So we have to be exactly obedient. Second was to teach about obedience and the blessings. We also need to teach about the consequences of disobedience. One of our sister training leaders said that they are missing out on miracles if they are disobedient. I never though about that before. As we are exactly obedient, we can see miracles happen before us. Last was to help district leaders. They are the most disobedient in our leadership at this point. So as we help our district leaders to become more exactly obedient, they can help those other missionaries do the same. It was an awesome meeting about obedience and being the light for others. There were other meetings and stuff butt hose two were the best ones. We found out this week that Elder Belnap is getting transferred. I have loved the time we had together. He is an awesome companion and example. I am so grateful I got to serve with him. I will never forget the times we had, it was fun and we saw a ton of success. So this week I will be getting another companion, i will let you know who it is next week!
Elder Stephens
I have been fed so much spiritually because of this last week. I feel like we were in meetings or conferences all week long! It was great though and I absolutely loved it. On Friday we had our missionary conference with Elder Craig C. Christensen of the Presidency of the Seventy. We were so blessed to have him come and teach us. He is a big guy that played line on the BYU football team years and years ago, but with that big body he brings a very strong spirit. They talked a lot about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I noticed he just kept testifying of Jesus Christ. It was great to see a Seventy continue to testify of the Savior and he did it with power each time. I noticed that we as missionaries don't testify of the Savior enough. We should be testifying of the Atonement and of Jesus Christ all the time! So I have made it a goal to always talk about the Savior. He said at one point in the conference that we could relate any concern or problem back to the Atonement, and how the Atonement can help us solve those concerns. It was amazing. I am so grateful Elder Christensen came to our mission and taught us. It was a wonderful experience. We also had a missionary leadership council. I think that makes 12 for me now Anyway, the theme of the council was Matthew 5:14-16 and being a light to the world. Jesus Christ is the light of the world, and as representatives of Him, we can bring that light into the lives of others. We watched those three Mormon messages where Elder Bednar talks about the light of Christ. It was sweet and we had a lot of discussion on how we can bring the light of Christ into the lives of these wonderful Filipino people. We have to be obedient and worth of the Spirit and the light of Christ can touch those people's hearts. We also had a real big discussion on how we can help the missionaries in our mission to become more exactly obedient. There were a ton of awesome answers but there were a few that really stood out to me. One was how we have to start with ourselves. We can't expect to teach with moral authority about obedience, if we ourselves are disobedient. So we have to be exactly obedient. Second was to teach about obedience and the blessings. We also need to teach about the consequences of disobedience. One of our sister training leaders said that they are missing out on miracles if they are disobedient. I never though about that before. As we are exactly obedient, we can see miracles happen before us. Last was to help district leaders. They are the most disobedient in our leadership at this point. So as we help our district leaders to become more exactly obedient, they can help those other missionaries do the same. It was an awesome meeting about obedience and being the light for others. There were other meetings and stuff butt hose two were the best ones. We found out this week that Elder Belnap is getting transferred. I have loved the time we had together. He is an awesome companion and example. I am so grateful I got to serve with him. I will never forget the times we had, it was fun and we saw a ton of success. So this week I will be getting another companion, i will let you know who it is next week!
Elder Stephens
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