Happy Transfers....and Halloween!!!

ALOHA!  (aloha means both hello and goodbye)

Well it was transfers on Wednesday!!  So of course, craziness happened!!  I am still a zone leader for the south 2 zone, but this transfer, I am training a new zone leader.  Her name is Sister Davis and she is from South Jordan Utah.  We have only been together for 2 days now, but she is loving, spunky, funny, diligent, tech savvy and has an amazing testimony.  I am excited to learn from her this transfer and to work hard with her. 

There are lots of sisters in the zone that I have not served with before, and I am excited to get to know them.  We have 2 sisters who are training, 1 sister back from Outbound and many sisters in their last transfer.  We have such a diverse group of Sisters, and they all have different concerns, but to help them to resolve their concerns, we have decided to focus on "How do you measure conversion" this transfer as a zone.  Many of these sisters don't know if they are converted or need to be more deeply converted.  We know this from many of the ways that they act and treat others and themselves.  We have some pride in our zone and we are going to try and root it our with becoming really converted and serving because we love God.  I think this will really help the sisters.

It was really hard for me to say goodbye to Sister Magidson yesterday.  I also had so say goodbye to, Sister Thacker, Sister Ellis, Sister Luki, Sister Bailey, Sister Hancock, Sister McQueen, and many others.  Saying these goodbyes broke my heart and I did cry.  I did not cry as much as I thought that I would, but I did cry a lot.  I kept a lot of tears inside of me.  I have learned so much from these sisters and have been companions with 3 of them.  They have taught me so much from their examples, actions, and words and have helped me to develop into the sister that I am today.  I love each of them so very much and I hope I can continue to keep in touch with them.  The mission is so good because you get to see so many people all over the world that all know for themselves that the gospel of Jesus Christ is restored on the earth.  but it is hard because you can not stay with them forever in this life, but if we all keep our covenants, we will see each other again with our Heavenly Father with our families.

This past Sunday, I gave my talk and it went really well.  I did my talk in about 7 minutes which was my time limit. yay!  ;)  The spirit was really there and I really had prayed for help to know what to say and what the sisters needed to hear.  I actual had one of the hosts in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building recognize me and thank me for my talk! That was pretty cool.  I think I already shared my topic with you last week, but here it is again.  "In one who is wholly converted, desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died, and substituted therefor is a love of God with a fixed and controlling determination to keep his commandments. Latter-Day Saints who are wholly converted dedicate their lives to service and simply "press on"."  I started by talking about what conversion is and when we are converted, our desires change.  When we are really converted, we will obey because we love Heavenly Father.  I shared when I became fully converted.  It happened when I was outbound.  I realized that I was not giving everything to the Lord and what I was giving, I was giving because I knew I was suppose to do it.  I realized that I needed to do things because I love my Heavenly Father.  The change of heart that I had, changed my life and has changed the person that I am.  That day changed my life.  I am so grateful that I was able to have that humbling experience.  I then talked about how conversion is a process and we constantly have to learn and gain testimonies of different principles.  When we truly love God, we will dedicate our lives to him and serve him always.  We covenanted to do this when we were baptized, and our opportunities to do so are endless!!  There are always chances to serve and help others.  :)  The spirit was very strong during my talk and I felt guided by the spirit. :)  The talk helped me and I hope and pray that it helped others. 

For Halloween tomorrow, the square is closing at 5pm and we are going to go eat dinner at the church office building and then go to the7pm temple session!!  I am so so excited!! 

I love you so so much!! I hope that you are all doing well!!

Love Always,

Sister Stephen

Kent got baptized!!

A big birthday wish come true!

Aloha Family!!

Fall is officially here!  There are leaves falling everywhere and temple square is so beautiful!!  There is one tree by the tabernacle that is a beautiful bright yellow.  I have started wearing sweaters again too. :)

So on Temple Square because our ward is made up of the Sister Missionaries, we are the ones who give the talks.  You only talk once during your mission and it is at the end of your mission.  You are given a topic by President Harmon (1st councilor) and it is usually pretty inspired.  The sister speaks and shares all of their hard won wisdom and it is usually very powerful.  Well guess what?  I am speaking on Sunday.  This is the weirdest thing ever!!  I never thought that I would be the one on the stand speaking!! ekk!  anyway. I have prayed a lot and what I should say just came to me when I wrote my talk on Tuesday.  I hope that everything goes well.  I don't have the paper with the topic on it with me but it is something like this: In one who is wholly converted, desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died, and substituted therefor is a love of God with a fixed and controlling determination to keep his commandments. Latter-Day Saints who are wholly converted dedicate their lives to service and simply "press on".  So I am going to be speaking about conversion and what it will lead us to do.  I hope that the spirit will be here

Today is my last p-day with sis Magidson!  And her last p-day on her mission!  How did this transfer go by so fast?!  I have no idea!  We were talking about it, and we feel like we have only had about 3 weeks together... not 6!!  I have learned so much from her about humility, charity, kindness, being kind to my own self, time management (I have improved so much! but I still have a ways to go), her love for the gospel and so much more.  I love her so much and I miss her so so much!!  It is funny because she is so logical but also so kind and worried about others.

This past Monday was Sister Magidson's b-day!  She is now 24 years old!  :)  I tired really hard to make it a really special day for her. :)  When we were in west gate, I sent out a text to the whole mission telling them to call or come by to tell her happy birthday. haha!!  Literally almost everyone came and sang to her or called in or something!  It was so great!  Then her two of her collage friends came by and surprised her with a big birthday present.  I worked with another sister to make it a surprise.  We went out for dinner at a hamburger and shake place.  The day before, I had given our roommates money to get some things for a surprise party for when we came home from the square. :)  We had brownies, ice cream, and those birthday oreos!  It was so much fun!  I used up the last of the balloons from my birthday and we got to use the candles and the birthday sign too!  :)  It was an awesome day!

We have been working on preparing for our last zone training meeting for the transfer.  It will be this Saturday and I think it will be really good.  We actually finished it this morning.  We are focusing on conversion and how that leads to joy in missionary work and the desire to do what Heavenly Father asks us to do as missionaries and as his children.  I feel really good about it. :)

This week we have had to drop many of our investigators.  Mark and Nicola (the couple that was working to quit smoking and had a baptismal date) dropped us.  They said that they didn't really want to quit smoking and this was not a good time for them. It was really sad.  We also got a hold of an investigator that Sister Magidson had transferred to her and he was anti and not willing to pray to Heavenly Father to know if what we were sharing was true.  We told him that we can't help him unless he goes to God and asks him.  It was interesting because if you really listen to an anti, they make no sense at all!  He told us that we needed to re-evaluate what we were doing, and I told him that I don't need to do that because I have prayed and asked God if this is true and I know that it is.  I invited him to pray and to ask God because that is the ONLY way that he is going to know for himself.  We then said goodbye and dropped him. :)  The gospel is true!

Another really exciting thing that happened this last week, is that Kent got baptized!!!  I will send you pictures!  He really is converted and is so excited to serve in a calling.  I am so so very happy for him!  Today, we sent him a card and a temple recommend holder (we also sent one to Ledix) that way he can have a good place to put his recommend and understand how important the temple is.  I am so happy for Kent!  "How great shall your joy be if you shall bring save it be one soul unto me."  That statement is so true!  My heart is so full that the Lord used me as an instrument to help him to make this covenant.  I am so glad that he made this choice to come closer to his Heavenly Father.  

Now I have something super excited to share wit you!!!  Do you remember when I saw the whole quorum of the Apostles when they leave the temple from their weekly meeting about a year ago?  Well, Sister Magidson asked me if we could try to see them as her birthday present.  We tried last week, but only I saw Elder Bednar.  We were talking to a security officer and Sister Magidson did not notice him.  I had prayed that we would be able to see the apostles and the prophet this week.  It was all that Sister Magidson really wanted so I really wanted her to see them.  We went to mail the cards for Kent and Ledix and went through the Church Office Building garage (that is where the apostles travel from building to building on the church campus).  We were coming back from the post office, and I thought that we were going to miss them.  I was okay with it, because I had asked the Lord to make it his will.  Well we were about to leave the garage into the tunnel that leads us to the square when the sister security officer asked us to stay at the side of the hallway.  She told us to stay there and we would "get a good show".  Well we obediently stood by the wall and out wheeled the PROPHET!!!  A security officer was wheeling him in a wheelchair!  He spoke to us too!!  He said, "Hello sisters! On my right and on my left!"  (the female security officer was on his other side) All I could do was choke out a huge smile and a hello!  But it didn't stop there!!  Next came a golf cart with President EYRING and President UCHTDORF on it!  This time, I got out a greeting and said "good morning!"  They waved and said "Hello Sisters!"  So much happiness!!  After that, the security officer gave us the okay to continue on. :)  We looked down the tunnel that goes to the temple and saw many more Apostles coming.  I saw Elder Anderson for sure.  We went into the tunnel that goes to temple square and squeaked and hugged each other.  :D  I thought that I was going to die of happiness!  I love President Monson and the Apostles so much!  They are such an amazing example to me!!  I am still in shock about this whole thing!!  I can't believe that we were able to see President Monson, President Eyring, and President Uchtdorf!!  ekk!!  So much happiness!  The spirit was so strong!  I know that these men are called by God to lead and guide the church.  I know that they really are Apostles of Jesus Christ and that they lead and guide us the way that Christ himself would if he was here on the earth.  I am so very grateful for this knowledge, it is proof to me that Heavenly Father loves us.

Love Always,

Sister Stephen

The 3 D's: David, David, and Dirt

Bonjour!

I forgot to tell you 2 things last week about General Conference!

Apparently the Kosmiki family came out to General Conference and went to the Saturday Morning session in the Conference Center and they met some sister missionaries there!  They told me that the Kosmiki's were there but I never got to see them!  So tell them hello for me!  I prayed really hard that I would get to see them and I was really excited, but I guess it was not in the Lord's plan and that is okay.  Sister Magidson were where the Lord needed us to be. :)

I was not able to share one of my biggest miracles from General Conference.  To begin it all, Sister Magidson and I just got done eating and were going back upstairs in the South Visitor Center to go and contact more people.  Before we go to the square, we always pray.  When I prayed, I just got overwhelmed and had to take a moment to breath and not cry.  I had prayed that we would be able to find who the Lord wanted us to find, and that prayer was answered.  We met a couple in the South Visitor Center and they asked if they could just walk through the visitor center.  It was easy to see that something was not right.  We started talking to them and learned a little bit about them.  Their names are Jennifer and David and they are engaged.  She had been previously married, and I don't remember if he had or not, but Jennifer was not doing well.  She really needed to be reminded that God loved her and that He was aware of her.  The spirit was so overwhelming when Sister Magidson and I told her this.  Jennifer and I really connected and I think that I really was meant to talk to her.  She started crying and I was crying because the spirit was so strong!  (I looked like a scary mess afterwards though! haha!)  And Sister Magidson and David just don't cry (sometimes that is a talent I wish I could have. haha!).  I honestly can't really tell you what we said, only that it came straight from the spirit to them.  We shared a scripture with them about how Jesus Christ died for each one of us. We talked to them for a long time and the spirit was just flowing.  We said our goodbyes and sent them to go see the Christus statue, but the miracle did not end then. As we were going to our mission's meeting after conference was finished we saw Jennifer and David again!  They were at the bottom of the ramp to go up to the Christus talking to Sister Park and Sister Taito!  They had told them that we were their angels. What happened was that as David and Jennifer were walking to the North Visitor center, David's heart was softened!  David is a big military guy who just doesn't feel any emotions and thinks that he is always right.  When they walked in the doors of the North Visitor Center, David told Jennifer that he was sorry for the way that he had been treating her.  He had not been listening to her and had been expecting her to change to him and not being willing to change at all for her.  He told us that she was an answer to his prayers and that God brought them into each others lives, but that he was not treating her the way that he needed to.  He was not treating her like he should treat his future wife.  When we met Jennifer and David in the North Visitor Center, they were completely different people then when we left them at the South Visitor Center and especially when we first met them.  It was amazing to see how the Lord can soften hearts and lead us to do what is right.  I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us and he will always send help to us, even if that help is just 2 sister missionaries, but he will always send help our way.  Sometimes, it is hard to listen to that help or advice, but it will always come if we will listen.  We got Jennifer's contact info and we are staying in touch with Jennifer and David.  This was one of the most amazing and spiritual experiences on my mission.  All through General Conference, I really felt like a tool in the hands of the Lord and it is a feeling that I will never tire of.  :)

So, you are really not going to believe what I am going to tell you next.  David Archuleta came to our mission last Sunday and did a fireside for us.  Yes you read that correctly.  David Archuleta came and spoke and sang to our mission. :)  It was really cool!  I have always liked his music, but I was not a crazy fan but now I really respect him.  He is a wonderful RM and shared a lot of spiritual experiences with us.  We had an open Question and Answer session with him which was pretty cool.  He shared about his own personal conversion with us and how it took him time to realize why certain things were important and to follow promptings.  Here are some things that I learned from him.  He shared some advice about how to continue growing and developing after our missions: pray always, make church happen, go to the temple, read the scriptures, and when you make a commitment (especially to the lord) do everything to keep it.  He also said that it is okay to go slow when you get off of your mission.  He is not ready to come back into the music spotlight and explained that he is trying to figure out what he wants from life with a perspective with Heavenly Father.  It made me think about what I want and what I need to do to be able to achieve those things.  I also learned the power of one righteous member.  David's keyboardist, Kendra, is a member of the church and it was because of her example, that he started going to church and the temple while he was on tour.  It was only because of her offering and setting an example of doing the important things that David realized that he could keep his covenants and do what he knew to be important.  Overall, it was a wonderful and spiritual fireside. :)

Last p-day, we had our zone activity!! It was so SO fun!!  We did lots of little fun activities and ate funeral potatoes and sloppy joes. :)  It was really yummy.  The first game that we played was with flour, a knife, and a Hershey kiss.  So you take a mound of flour on a plate and press it with your hands into a tower/mountain and put the chocolate on the top.  Then you take turns cutting the flour tower from the top to the bottom.  It is a lot like Jenga; you don't want it to fall.  If the chocolate falls, then you have to put your face in the flour and get the chocolate with your mouth!  You end up getting lots of flour in your mouth and all over your face. hahaha!  It was so much fun!  Then we did another game where we had the districts guide their blindfolded district leaders to make a sandwich with all sorts of weird and normal ingredients.  The results were hilarious!!!  The district leaders had to take a bite of the creation their districts had helped them make.  I think some of the district leaders wondered if their districts even loved them at all! haha!  They were really great sports about the whole thing.

Then we did a mummy race!  We had the districts pic someone and wrap them up like a mummy.  They looked awesome!!!  They really did!  Then we had a little race!  It was so funny!  in the end, we had a toilet paper war happen in the hallway of our apartment complex! haha!!

Then we ended with making dirt cups!  We put the big bowl of chocolate pudding and some crushed up oreos and gummy worms on the table and I told the Sisters for dessert we were having dirt cups.  The international sisters looked at me like I was crazy. HAHA!  They were like "real dirt?"  I said yep!  Here is the mud (pointing to the pudding), here is the dirt (pointing the the crushed oreos), and here are the worms!  They tentatively started following the example of the excited Americans and realized that it was not real. haha!  We made 3 big boxed of pudding and it was all gone!  We had so much fun together and it really unified the zone!  I think that everyone had so much fun!  I have not gathered all of the pictures yet because I need to buy another flash-drive today to hold more pictures!  I will be able to send more pictures next week. :)

There is not other way to be happy but to put the Lord first.  And remember, you are the miracle, but it your choice to become the miracle.

Love Always,

Sister Stephen

The goodness of the Bible and Book of Mormon

Hello Hello! 

This last week has been crazy and fantastic!!  General Conference was fabulous!  We were able to go to the SundayMorning session and got to hear the Prophet speak!!!  We also got really good seats.  I was about 15 meters away from the 70s.  I could see the speaker pretty well too! :)  I really enjoyed my session and learned so much.  I really enjoyed Elder Eyring's talk about personal revelation because that is something that I have been working on lately.  I learned more about what I can do to better receive and recognize revelation.  I also loved listening to the prophet.  I know with all my heart that Thomas Monson is the prophet of God.  I loved hearing about how we need to be better disciples of our Savior and walk as he did.  I had a beautiful experience when I really felt the spirit testify to me. I felt the spirit so strongly in the Conference Center!  It truly was a spiritual feast and I only went two the women's broadcast and the Sunday morning session!  I can't wait for the ensign!!!  Overall, I learned that I need to trust my Heavenly Father more and strengthen my faith in my Savior.

That is not all of conference though!!  Conference was very draining spiritually, mentally and physically, but I loved every second of it!!  We talked to so many people and had so many spiritual experiences that I am just amazed!  And I cried a lot!  Good tears though so don't worry.  There were easily over 25 thousand people on Temple Square all gathered to hear the prophet speak!  (conference center + Tabernacle + Assembly Hall+ Theaters in the North Visitor Center and Joseph Smith Memorial Building + everyone on the grass and planters outside= a ton of people!)

On Saturday, we met a couple outside of the Tabernacle who looked like they had cried a little after the morning session.  They said that the session that they went to was just for them.  They received all of the answers that they needed from Heavenly Father.  As we talked with them, I started telling them how much their Heavenly Father loves them and they were meant to be in that session of General Conference.  I started crying and so did they.  They actually found us the next day and took pictures with us with his kids.  She was disfellowshiped but is working to go to the temple and He lost his wife a little while ago and is working on going to the temple as well.  It was an amazing experience.

We met a part member family who were so sweet.  The Mom told us that she was hoping that something would touch the dad's heart and he would feel the spirit and he agreed.  They were hoping to get tickets for the priesthood session so that the Dad could go with their older boys.  We promised them that they would be able to hear what they needed to know from God if they listened with the spirit.  We saw them on Monday after conference and they got to go to the priesthood session and the Dad really felt the spirit!  God answers prayers of a righteous mother that is for sure!

On Sunday we were walking to go get our dinner and I felt like we needed to stop and talk to a guy who was sitting on the planters.  He just looked sad and like he needed someone to talk to him.  It turns out that he really needed to know that God is there for him and has a plan for him.  He is going through lots of trials right now and feeling lost and like how he does not know what to do.  I shared Isaiah 41:10 with him. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."  Sister Magidson and I testified to him that God had a plan for him and is so aware of him.  He started to tear up.  I also cried when I was telling him about God's love for him.  The spirit was so strong!

We met a sweet little member who is from Japan.  Her name is Sister Honda.  She is the only member and joined the church after her friend passed away and the missionaries shared about the plan of salvation with her.  Her faith was so strong!!  She was an amazing example to me of living the gospel.

We met mother and her daughters who was so sweet!  She didn't serve a mission but she talked to us about how she is helping and working to have all of her children to serve a mission.  She was so sweet.  I also cried when we talked to her because I know that she is doing all that she can to help raise her children in righteousness.  We shared Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."  It was an amazing spiritual experience.

We also got 2 new investigators who both speak Arabic!  Crazy!  We will see how sincere they are. :)

We talked to so many more people than that and they all have stories that Sister Magidson got to hear and be a part of.  One thing that I really enjoyed is just feeling God's love for each person and telling them exactly what Heavenly Father would have them know.  It is the very best feeling in the world to know that I am being a good tool in God's hands and telling his children what He would tell them if He was here.

By the way, I did not cry in every contact!  Just in many of the powerful experiences that I have shared with you.  Also I had the bible with me, that is why all the scriptures that we shared were from the Bible. :)  I love General Conference so so SO MUCH!!!  Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."  If that is true, then General Conference is when We get to hear all of the secrets from God!!  Isn't that exciting!!

We have had an amazing miracle yesterday and today!! Sister Magidson and I have been working hard to achieve our baptism goal this transfer and I have been getting worried about it.  I have had an investigator since the beginning of my mission that has not seemed to be progressing very fast, but I would call him every once in a while. When ever he seemed like he was progressing again, he would stop answering the phone. Yesterday he texted us and said that he was getting baptized on the 18th of this month and asked if we are available to skype him!! I was in shock and I still am! We just got off the phone with him and the baptism is real! He is talking to the Elders later today about setting up the skyping. He gave me the biggest compliant ever and told me that because of me and Sister Olongayo (she finished her mission a while ago) he is getting baptized. We have been the ones that have talked and kept in contact with him for the longest and and steadiest. I don't feel like I did anything, it was all the Holy Ghost. I just took him longer to realize that the Holy Ghost was telling him to join the church. General Conference really helped him as well. In the session he watched in Virginia they answered all of the things that he had wondered about. He said that he learned more in those 2 hours then he did in going to seminary school for 2 years. :)  We are also helping 2 investigators to stop smoking so that they can get baptized on the 18th as well. We sent them a homemade quit smoking package today. :)  I gave up peanut butter to support them. :)

We went to the Temple on Tuesday and it was so wonderful!!  I loved it so much!!  I didn't really go to the temple with a question, but I got questions that I didn't know I had answered! :)  We stayed in the celestial room for a little while and just enjoyed the spirit there.  I just felt God's love for me and that He is proud of me.  It was something that I really needed to know and be reminded of.  :)  I just love Heavenly Father so much!  He knows me perfectly.

Are you going to go see Meet the Mormons?  Our mission got to see a pre-screening of it and it is FANTASTIC!!!  I loved it so much!  The spirit was strong and it was such a good missionary tool.  I thought about how I would feel watching this as a non-member and I think that it would be a really good experience.  So don't be afraid to invite your friends to go!  It is a very well done film that shows a very honest perspective of who we are as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  It is an awesome missionary tool! :)  I really hope that you get to go and see it.  There are some really funny parts as well!  I was dying with some of the comments in the begin. 

I shared this with Audrey earlier, but I want to share what I learned from PMG this week!  I studied Patience and found a scripture that I learned a lot from.  This was a really good scripture for me Alma 31:31 "O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people."  I learned a lot from this one scripture!  I learned about then enabling power of the atonement and how we can gain strength from the Savior.  I also learned that sometimes we have situations that are not our fault, but we still have to be patient and learn from them.  When we are truly patient, it means that we have faith and are willing to happily endure whatever situation be it good or bad knowing that God is there for us and all will be for our good.  That is my definition anyway.  I hope that all made since.  I am working on being more patient. :)

This was a really long email, but I didn't even share all about conference!!  It was an amazing experience.

I hope you all know how much I love you!!

Love Always,

Sister Stephen

How exciting

At Womans Conference 

Ledix on his baptismal day.

General Conference!!!!

Dear Family,

This week has been really good with a lot of different things.  We had the MLC with just the Zone Leaders that I learned a lot from, I finished my application/re-registering for BYU, we had our ZTM, we went to the general woman's conference, we deep cleaned our apartment, decided what to give up to help our investigators Mark and Nicola to give up smoking, and a member bought cheesecake and chocolate cake for us!  It has been a full, productive and wonderful week!

Sister Magidson and I are teaching two people who are working on quitting smoking.  They are an older couple that live in a care center. We are really concerned about them being able to quit by their baptism date.  Their baptismal date is October 18th. To help them, Sister Magidson and I are each giving up something so they have something that they can keep us accountable about.  Sister Magidson is giving up pealing her nails and she will now paint them and I am giving up Peanut Butter.  Yes I love these people so much that I am willing to give up peanut butter.  It is going to be tough but it will be worth it!

The whole mission deep cleaned our appartments and it was an all day job!  We cleaned from 10am to 7pm.  It was crazy!  But our apartment is now celestial and beautiful!  I also found a slc temple schedule from 1999.... 

We had a miracle happen!  We both decided that we had had enough for the day and went to go and buy cake for sister Magidson and cheesecake for me from the cheesecake factory.  As we ordered, a member appeared out of no where and paid for it.  Such a wonderful blessing!!  Every time someone pays for me I am just amazed at the goodness that is in people and how loving people can be with the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I also almost cry every time.  The member was there with his girlfriend and we visited with them for a while.  They were so cool and so very kind.

Can you believe that General Conference is this week?!  I can't!  It really snuck up on me, but I am so so excited!!  Our zone is attending the Sunday morning session of General Conference and I am pumped!  That means that we get to go to Music and the Spoken Word as well!  Yay!  I know that General Conference is going to be exhausting, but I am so excited to talk to tons of people and uplift them.  Unlike my last General Conference on Temple Square, we are only focusing on uplifting the people that come to Temple Square and not receiving a certain number of referrals.  I like this much better because I want members to like talking to the sisters.  I like talking to them! :)  I really love uplifting people and sharing the savior's love with them.  I think as members, we often forget the happiness that we have.  President Spencer W. Kimball said, "We have all of the blessings that can make us the happiest people in the whole world, because a boy of fourteen went out into the woods to pray."  It is so true!  We have so much to be happy about.  Think about it, we live in a period of time when there is a prophet of God on the earth.  We are members of the only TRUE church on the earth and have the whole gospel of Jesus Christ because it was restored.  We know that the heavens are not closed and that God can speak to us today like he did in the old testament. If that is not something to be happy about, I don't know what is.  I am excited to get direction from the Prophet and the Apostles.

Do you have questions that you are bringing to General Conference?  If you do not, I invite you to think of things that you would like to learn more about or concerns that you have and write them down.  Elder Holland said, " If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you.” I want to double testify of what Elder Holland said.  I know that this is true because I have done what he said.  I have gotten answers to many of my questions during General Conference.  I know that you can get answers to your questions as you prayerfully listen to the speakers at General Conference.

Here is one more cool promise from a Prophet about listening to the word of God.

President Hinckley said, “If we will live the gospel, if we will put our trust in God, our Eternal Father, if we will do what we are asked to do as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we will be the happiest and most blessed people on the face of the earth”

Also I have made it a goal to read from the scriptures specifically the Book of Mormon every day!  It has made a big difference in my life.

Love Always,

Sister Stephen