WEEK 32

President Winder decided that 7 1/2 months was long enough in my first area! I'm now in the Boise East area. My new Comp is Elder Walker, He's 23 but just came out almost 6 months ago! All of my companions have been at least 2 years older than me, other than Elder Meraz (19). It's crazy to think that in 4 months I'm going to be 19, time has flown! I sure will miss my old area in Meridian though! The people were so awesome! the Top 3 hardest to say goodbye to were the Hartley's, Bro. Riley, and the Driskell's, all people who helped me out so much plus others as well. That will be one place I'll have to go back to after the mish or before I go home. It was also hard to say goodbye to Elder Gallano we had a ton of fun together but I know he'll be able to take over the area and help Jesse Vycital and Sergio Espinoza progress to their baptisms. The cool thing about the tiny size of the mission is that we can drive just 20 min and go see our past investigators get baptized! I'm looking forward to the fun that I will have in this new area and then new people I will get to meet! The last baptism in this area was 1 year ago, I hope to change that! The Lord has brought me here for something or someone, I can't wait to find out why! 

I hope you all had a very happy Easter! #helives #hallelujah 

~Elder Stevens


My Hair cut lady, Sister Rice, It was sad leaving them. They weren't in our ward they were in another ward in the stake but they were so awesome!



 

WEEK 31

This last week we had Leadership exchanges, Senior comps went with Senior comps and junior comps with junior comps. This is Elder Asu, he is on scholarship to go play Volleyball for BYU they're number 1 in the country so he's pretty good, we came out to Idaho together. He is spanish speaking so I went to his area for 24 hours. It's hard not being able to understand what was going on I could catch some words to sometimes know what they were talking about. One thing for sure though, The church is true no matter what language!!!

~Elder Stevens

WEEK 30

WEEK 29

Hey everyone! 

This transfer has been going by pretty fast, might be due to the work that has arisen. We have been contacting like crazy! We are mostly focusing on the Part-member families. We haven't had any notable success with this but we have had some things come out of the woodwork, just blessings because of our diligence. We have finally been able to sit down with one of our less actives, Mike. Due to some recent situations in his life, it seems he will be coming back to church now! We are now going to be meeting with him twice a week just to check on him and read scriptures with him. The other thing that came out of the woodwork is a family that is now investigating! Finally, my first full family on my mission! This last Sunday there was  young man and his dad that attended church, we recognized that they weren't in church apparel, so it was a dead give away that we needed to talk to them. As soon as Sacrament meeting was over, I had to run over to them because they were headed straight for the doors to leave. Well they were actually headed towards the Bishops office to meet with him haha. We were able to introduce ourselves, and it turns out that the son had been in prison where he attended the LDS branch. His first Sunday out he came to church! What a cool kid. He is on 5 year probation, which means he can't be baptized but his whole family is willing to hear from us! We have an appointment with them for this Wednesday!

 

As far as our other progressing investigators, they are all doing well. Jesse is ready to be baptized, we are just working on resetting a date with him, which he and Natalie and prayerfully considering. We will find out later on this week at our appointment with them. Sergio is well on his way to finishing the Book of Mormon, and then he will be baptized. We had set the date with him for July 30 so he had time to finish the Book of Mormon, but he is already in Alma! We finished all the lessons so we are just hitting the books like crazy! We meet with him two times a week and we are going to be, strictly, reading only. 

 

The work is progressing! I love you all!

 

~Elder Stevens

WEEK 28

We got a car again! Off the bikes! Time for my pants to get tight again. Although I am pretty excited about the car there is a sense of accomplishment that comes from walking or biking, we probably will bike a few times still. This week was pretty slow. A lot of our investigators were either out of town or sick. But Sunday was awesome, Sergio showed up to church for the first time and Jesse came with out us asking too. Natalie, Jesse's wife received a calling which completed her quest to becoming officially active again! 

 

Looking forward to the next week and getting back on track with those we teach. The key to missionary work is WORK! I am so thankful for all that Shawn and Kelly taught me about working and teaching how to work... I thought I'd never say that haha! Love you all, have a great week!

~Elder Stevens

WEEK 27

Well, I've made it to 6 months! I got to burn a tie, it's a missionary ritual. At 6 months you burn a tie, at a year you burn a shirts, at a year and a half you burn a pair of slacks, and at 2 you burn a suit. Time really flies. For these past 6 months I have been in the same, awesome area! There is much that has happened in these last 6 months here and there is much to come this transfer. 

This last Saturday, Jun Jun Wang, our 10 year old investigator, was baptized. Setting up for a baptism is pretty stressful haha, especially if you are doing it by yourself. I've had to do it twice now, first, with the Driskell's because it was the first week of my first transfer with Elder Castillo and he didn't know what to do, and now with the Jun Jun's because Elder Gallano isn't quite there yet to do things like this in English. It is so stressful because there are a bunch of tedious things you have to make sure that get done and you are the one setting up this special day for them, I mean it's the day they enter into the path of eternal life with their Father in Heaven! Also because President Winder, our mission president, was going to be there haha. Once the baptismal service began, I was completely at peace and everything went smoothly. We were able to get Jesse Vycital to attend the baptism, the investigator we have been working with ever since I've been here. After the baptism he talked to one of the members of our ward, Brother Blakeslee. They just chatted about the baptism, what Jesse thought about it, and the spirit that was there, and then Bro. Blakeslee said, "I hope I will have the opportunity to attend your baptism." and Jesse replied, "Well, I don't think you will have to wait that much longer." After I heard that I could not stop smiling! During the service, I glanced at Jesse a few times and I could tell the Spirit was working on him. Again, conversion is all due to the presence of the Spirit. We have an appointment with Jesse this Wednesday and we will see what more of his thoughts are. The following day, Sunday, Jun Jun was given the Holy Ghost and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and Elder Gallano and I were able to be apart of the brethren who laid their hands on Jun Jun's head. Such cool experience to see. It gets me every time. 

The spirit that is felt at a baptism is one that you can refuse to feel. If you want to feel happy, go to a baptism. I'm thankful for our Savior's example that he set for us to be baptized, Christ said he did it because it was "to fulfill all righteousness". We all need to follow the example Jesus Christ set for us and be baptized. And if we are baptized to do what is left, which is to press forward with faith, always repent because no one is perfect, rely on our constant companion the Holy Ghost, and Endure to the end. 

I love you all. I hope y'all had a great Valentines day, and have a great President's day.
 

~Elder Stevens

Jun Jun's Baptism


Walking at night.

My burning tie. 6 month tradition.



We took these because we thought it would make our mission look unique. haha

WEEK 26

Transfers today! We received the transfer call out this last Saturday and.... I'm staying! I am so happy. If you've been keeping track I haven't left my first area yet, I will be here for 7 1/2 months guaranteed, that's quite a long time for those who know, I could go longer who knows! A lot of my close friends got transferred, Elder Leuga, my old District leader just went to a Zone leader in Boise and Elder Simkins went to a zone over, in Meridian west. P-days will be very different for the next little while, definitely won't be as much sports as there was prior.

The area. This area is so ready to see baptisms, right now we have three on date, Jun Jun, Jesse Vycital, and Sergio. This Saturday, Jun Jun will be getting baptized, so all week we will be busy preparing and organizing for that. It is surprisingly a lot of work, but we are very excited for him. Elder Gallano and I have set a goal to have 2 more people on date and find 3 more investigators! I am looking forward to this transfer! Expect a lot from us!

 

Being in an area for this long you really build a good relationship with the members of the ward and they are able to see you grow as a missionary. Since this is my first area, I'm sure they have seen some changes. Our ward mission leader, Bro. Riley and his wife were talking with another member about us, the missionaries. They were saying how much better I've gotten and talking and the fact that I'm not shy anymore haha. I didn't realize I was being that shy that it was noticeable. I love my mission! Being a missionary is the greatest decision of my life. Serving our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for two years? Nothing can top that! 

 

I love you all!

 

~Elder Stevens

Chinese hot pot with new ward mission leader.