Weird RM email number 1

Tuesday we spent with my brother and sister and their families. And
guinea pigs! Which I'm allergic to but whatever. Worth it. My parents
and I went and looked at some cool birds. (Not Florida birds but
whatever.)

Wednesday we drove home. And I got released. 😭 Taking off my nametag
was the hardest.

Thursday we WENT TO DISNEYLAND because my parents are amazing.
Apparently my mom has been saving for when I came home. <3 So we spent
the day there with my other brother and his family. And I realized
that I'm the person that I used to judge, that takes selfies in public
places on her tablet. 😬 Worth it. Disney fireworks make my soul
happy.

Friday I slept in which is a glorious thing.
And then we went to the temple!!! Gosh I love the temple. There's no
place like the House of the Lord.
(Happiest places on Earth two days in a row, haha)

[Insert: Then Christine helped me out at the Redlands Misison Office; HS]

Saturday I rediscovered Netflix and man there's some gems since I was
on it last. Tried to stay busy and do things around the house too.
Because just sitting and watching tv feels weird and wrong. :P

Sunday is the best day. I love church and the Sacrament. Also got a
lot of hugs from people and a lot of "wow your mission went by quick"
and I was like "haha ha.   Ha. Yeah. 😬😬😬"


I don't even know, kids. Life is pretty good. Heavenly Father is
amazing. I love you all.

Love,

Christine

Right before I got released.

Companions for a few days.

Harry Potter

Alvin

4th of July Barbecue. 

Disney Selfies

"Death is but the next great adventure." –Dumbledore

District After Interviews

Hey there kids.

Here comes the hard part.

So I've done my darndest to keep my emails upbeat and focused on the good. Because that's what missions are is good. So much good. And the good is what I want to remember.

But it's been pretty rough, too. For a majority of my mission, I've been struggling with depression and anxiety. There were times and, heck, there were transfers, where I straight just didn't want to get out of bed and face another day. That is so hard as a missionary. I had the blessing of a good counselor and a good psychiatric nurse practitioner (I still hate saying that because it's so long). And so so SO many people surrounding and supporting me always, for which I shall ever be grateful. And it was looking up for a while! But I've started to slip back down and that sucks. And after a day where my thoughts really scared me, and after an amazing blessing, and after a good interview with President Clark... It was decided between President, myself, and the Lord that my service has been acceptable to Heavenly Father, that He is proud of me, and that it was time for me to return home.

So I am no longer in Florida and I miss it like crazy, but I know that there's good ahead. So much good. I've still got myldsmail.net email for the moment, but in future weeks send your weeklies and such to my personal email, because I ABSOLUTELY still want to talk to y'all.

WRITE ME THINGS. I'm also totally down to be the designated googler of things for anyone. 

(Oh and if you're saintly or something and want to send letters, write to my home address.)

Awright so let's talk about this week. At least one more weekly. Not promising that I won't be one of those RMs that updates you about my mundane not-a-missionary life every week.

So Tuesday was interviews.

I've already discussed that.

I was a mess, haha. But I really truly did feel peaceful about it all through that day, which was a blessing. Things I've learned: peace does not mean that things won't be hard. Got all the hugs and all the boosts from all the people I love. President allowed me to decide when I would leave (within reason), and at the time I chose to wait until the end of the transfer (so, tomorrow).

THEN WE WENT OUT AND MISSIONARIED.

We saw Tamika and she had zero time because she's always super busy. And we asked if we could just stop by for like 15 minutes at a time and she was like "oh yeah actually that's perfect". And we were like "here's this Book of Mormon." And she was like "I'll make time to read it even if it's just 5 minutes a day." Good job, Tamika. You do that.

We helped Sister Allocco with her laundry which took an age. We walked through thunder and lightning with a blind lady to get to the laundry room.  But we met a cool guy who seemed interested, and Sister Allocco invited him to church! You go, Sister Allocco!

Sister Sorensen and I then had a movie night. Watched the Restoration and she painted my nails. Bless companions. <3

Wednesday we had SUCH a good lesson with a less active, Brother Driggers. He's never read the Book of Mormon through, just random chapters that missionaries had assigned. Because of that, he never understood what he was reading! Sister Hawthorne, the member we had with us, bore awesome testimony. He said he thought it would definitely make more sense to read it from the beginning. Woo!

We had dinner with my FAVORITE PEOPLE, the Cordells. They just gave us cereal. In mixing bowls. It was fantastic. I love them. And their whippet, Passenger.

Saw my dear Khelseigh and told her I'd be leaving. She's sad. D: But now I'll be able to text her and bother her constantly about reading her scriptures.

Thursday I decided that I needed to leave sooner. Heavenly Father left the decision up to me. Which I always find rough. Like, just tell me what to do; I'll just be a slothful and not wise servant. :P

Leaving sooner meant flying to Utah, not California. Because all of my family was here from all over the US, for my nephew's baby blessing.

So I packed until I wanted to scream because I hate packing. Packing is the worst. 0/10 do not recommend.

We went out for a little while. Saw a lady named Joyce who we met the day before. She actually met with missionaries in 1995! Her adorable grandkids were a massive distraction. And then she said something to the effect of, "I just wouldn't want to ask God about this."  ooookay.

We saw Sister Trent and my spirit animal Violet the chihuahua. She told us that she's pretty much less active because she's lazy. 

She was SUPER active and was overburdened because she was willing to do anything. And it burnt her out. We got her to commit to JUST start praying regularly again. Have fun with that one, Sisters.

We did weird panda face masks. Said goodbye to the Corders.

Awoke at some kind of ridiculous hour and drove down to the mission home with the STLs. They came to the airport too. Got to give a last hug to my dear companion and my dear mission mahm. I was feeling kind of lost and alone and I heard, "She's a missionary! We're members too! Headed to Salt Lake? We might be on the same flight." Guys, Heavenly Father never leaves us alone. Never ever. Even though walking through a busy place without a companion is WEIRD AS HECK.

While standing in the looong TSA lines, the woman behind me, Nancy, asked if I was from Florida. Then asked what I was doing in Florida. Then noticed my tag and asked if I was a Mormon. yessssss. Got to talk to her about how our beliefs are different (she was surprised at how similar they were), and she asked about heaven so I talked about the Kingdoms of Glory. She LOVED the idea of the three Kingdoms. "So you basically come out and talk to people because you want them to reach that highest Kingdom. And also to make their lives better here." YES NANCY, YES. So golden. Gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet. Here's hoping.

Then I rushed to my gate because they were close to the end of boarding. o_o And sat on a plane for hours. The person in front of me watched Beauty and the Beast and I snuck a glance every now and then.

Another tender mercy, a couple on the flight with me stopped me, asked if I was returning and where I was from, and thanked me for my service. <3

I came down the escalator to ALMOST ALL OF MY FAMILY (except a brother at work and a brother-in-law at scout camp). OH MY GOODNESS. Hugs and babies and baby hugs.

Family Greeting Me

The past couple of days have been lots of family and getting to know my nieces and nephews that have grown so much. And trying to find a purpose. Because missionaries and vacations don't mix. Haha.

I miss Florida a ton. I seriously just want to knock a door. But I know that Heavenly Father's plans are better than mine, and His timing is perfect. I would not trade my mission for anything.

What's been running through my mind is just all of the memories of the past 9 months. The good, the bad, the ridiculous. And it all just adds up to this conglomerate of SO much good. So much. Been saying a lot of thankful prayers.

I encourage you all to do that do. Just kneel down in gratitude for all that the Lord has blessed you with. I promise it's a lot.

Thank you all for being my friends and family. I love you more than you know. God be with you till we meet again.

Love,

Sister Stevenson

What a district. I don't even look like I was crying.

What a companionship.

She died.

I love this so much hahaha

Passenger didn't want a picture with me because he's rude.

Passenger didn't want a picture with me because he's rude.

Horrifying panda faces.

Horrifying panda faces.

What even was Friday

What even was Friday?

W

BABIES

"That is a ded shep"

Also I found this, and it made me very happy.

Who knew Utah had alligators?

Hundreds of Cats, Thousands of Cats...

Millions and billions and trillions of cats.

Nah. But there were a lot of cats this week and I got to pet several
and it made me happy.


Tuesday Sister E...... called us and said
she'd be home and we could stop by if we wanted. Augh, I feel for her.
She's just having a hugely rough time because her husband is a
non-practicing Jehovah's Witness, but his family is suuuuper active
and just treats her like less than nothing. :( I just want her to have
the blessings of the gospel but I'm not sure she quite realizes she
needs it yet. I also held their smol bearded dragon. And learned that
her 15 year old son breeds ball pythons, which I'm SO EXCITED ABOUT.

We had dinner with Sister Lobrot and her kids (Brother Lobrot was
stuck in traffic in Orlando). She is the closest thing I've seen to
the kind of parent I want to be. And her kids are so dang smart and
articulate.

I had to give a training in District Meeting on Wednesday, on faith
and how we can help our investigators to gain it. Cobbled together
some thoughts. Got some inordinate praise. I really liked a thought
that Elder Jensen, one of the Zone Leaders, shared. He talked about
the Apostles waiting for Christ when he was in Gethsemane, and that
they fell asleep. Then he said that this is an incredibly hard journey
for our investigators. We have to accompany them. We cannot fall
asleep.

Sister Sproge (senior) came out with us! Aaand our appointments
cancelled/didn't show. :( So we visited the Ackermans. Or... Sister
Sproge visited with Sister Ackerman. And they both looove to talk.
We went to mutual with K...... again and played chair soccer.
Basically it's just a free-for-all where you have to guard your chair
and hit other people's with the ball. And if it's hit you have to sit
down, but you can still kick or throw the ball. 'Twas fun.

Thursday service at the HUM, in which we paid much more attention to
the feral cats. Someone that they know better came out, so one of them
came up to me and made all these little cute half meow and trill
noises. Also. There is a skunk that lives there. It's descented and it
showed up after Hurricane Matthew. I'll get a picture this week. And
hopefully will get to touch it.

We tried something new this week because knocking doors has been
failing us. We drew in chalk in a park! Just wrote an uplifting
message and put "Mormon.org" at both ends. *shrug* hopefully it
brightened someone's day.

Friday was planning. Dunno.
We were supposed to have dinner with Sister W..... but she didn't
answer her door or phone. And we were worried because she's sort of
old and has health issues. But we went on our way and got our own
dinner... then she called us back and said she had forgotten and asked
if we could come back. Haha. Two dinners.

Saturday we went to a memorial service at a new ward
building. It was for the mother of a less active, and he had requested
that Sister Brady and Sister Sorensen sing, when they were on
exchanges. We all ended up singing. And man it was an odd funeral.
They were mostly nonmembers. So glad that we have the Plan of
Salvation. So glad.

We had dinner with the Sproges (the younger) and my BEST FRIEND BILLY
BOY the pomeranian.

Sunday was wonderful. I love the Sacrament. We also had a Ward Council
meeting that was mostly focused on missionary work, which was
wonderful. In the past, we've kind of been shoved off to the side.
Bishop Baenziger really really wants to help us help the ward. Such a
good man.

We had dinner with Sister Fuller, who I had never formally met but had
probably seen. She has TEN CATS. One of them GAVE ME A HUG. It was
glorious.

Then the Corders came and helped us out with some household things we
needed doing.

Ahh. It's been a week. This transfer has fairly flown. Here's a
scripture I found this week.

Doctrine and Covenants 90:11 "For it shall come to pass in that day,
that every man shall hear the fulness of the gospel in his own tongue,
and in his own language, through those who are ordained unto this
power, by the administration of the Comforter, shed forth upon them
for the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Which I've interpreted to mean, not only their own actual language,
but maybe in a different form or medium that they're more comfortable
with. Like facebook. SHARE THE GOSPEL.
I dunno.

I love y'all. Have a good week.

Love,

Sister Stevenson

A dinosaur I held.

Sister W and Tank.

My BEST FRIEND Billy Boy.

Pday selfies bc why not

Pday selfies bc why not

I'm Having Fun

"I'm having fun, don't bother me." -Bishop Baenziger

Sisters Stevenson and Sorensen

Good day, Underlings. It is time for you to read about my life.

This week, I was a missionary. It was really weird. Instead of people calling me by my first name, they all called me "Sister Stevenson" and there was a thing in our car that yelled at us when we drove over the speed limit. How pompous. 

I had to talk to a lot of ordinary people I don't know and some that I've met like once fed me because they pity me. This pleases me. 

One thing of note that happened was that I got to sit by the most majestic human in a meeting where several missionaries pretended like they knew more than the rest of the other missionaries. This majestic human spoke many words of wisdom and I want to take some of her DNA and study it so that I can be just like her one day. 

I like this missionary thing. I think I shall continue to do it for a season. You all must try it too. This is a demand.

Salutations,

"Sister" (lol) Stevenson

Okay but here's the real email.  ▲That was written by Sister Lamborn.

This week was a ton of finding.

Tuesday we had a lesson with Tam..., a former that we'd contacted a week or so ago. She's always been interested in learning but has never had time. Then last Monday we asked if she'd read the pamphlet, and she said no, but that we could tell her about it when we came over on Tuesday. Set up the appointment for us. :) We kept our lesson short and simple. She just wanted to know how to pray, and if the First Vision really happened, and it was super sweet.

Then we got a terrifying text from Mel..., one of our new investigators. "I read your pamphlet ,and for some strange reason, I'm afraid of you guys. I also did a bit of research on Mormons and it scares me after what I discovered." We were FREAKING OUT. But he called us and we were able to clear up most of it, and even got a return appointment out of that call! Phew. Seeing him tomorrow. Pray for us.

In the evening we met a less active YSA named Bea.... She's from Brazil and she's studying to be a pilot. And she's awesome. Still believes it, but it's just cheaper to do the flying she needs to for school on Sundays. :T They have to pay like $100 per hour to fly.

Wednesday was District Meeting, at which I am now the designated piano player. The piano could technically play itself, but I hate how it sounds.

We had dinner with the Hintons, and Sister Hinton said that because we've been coming over for dinner regularly, she's worked up the courage to talk to some of her friends about the gospel! Woo!

Cleaned ALL THE THINGS at the HUM on Thursday. Well. Not all of them. But we did quite a lot. There's a cat that's always sleeping on the roof there and I love it.

Dinner with Sister Hill and the Grimes kids. They are so. Funny. She kinda just sits to the side and we try and get them to talk and laugh at their antics and remarks. 

We met Brother Schmidt and his girlfriend.  He's been trying to come back to church more, and she comes with sometimes but really isn't interested. There's a sign on their front door that says, "Sisters come in, you are always welcome here!" Talked about Civil War reenactments and Riley's Farm with them. :)

Friday we planned, as is normal. The new planning guidelines are so much better than the Preach My Gospel ones. We also talked with the Elders on what we can do to involve the members in the ward and get them excited about missionary work.

We finally saw K.... (14 year old convert)! They keep disappearing on the days we usually go over. We talked a lot in planning about how we can help them progress. Her parents came outside too and we involved them in the lesson. It was awesome. :)

Saturday we made cookies and delivered them to some of our people. We talked to Les...some more about the Book of Mormon, heard some more of her interesting beliefs... But she had read, and she's going to keep reading, so that's awesome. We really feel like if she gets a witness that it's true, that she'll want to progress herself.

Disturbed a bird who made a nest in the wreath on someone's front door. There's lil eggs in there! :)

We had dinner with the Erskines and Lobrots. And it was one of my favorite dinners ever. Cafe Rio ish food, but we could build it ourselves. ;-; I was so happy. And so full. They are all just awesome though. The kind of people that treat you like family. We talked to them about some of our ideas in getting members involved in missionary work. One of them felt more comfortable with the idea of talking to people over Facebook. Another preferred to give someone a physical Book of Mormon. Both are awesome ways to share the gospel.

Sunday all of K....'s family came to church!!!!!!!!! WOOOOO. I sat with their young son, so I wasn't super focused during the meeting. Just keeping him nice and happy so his parents could focus on the meeting. :) Also had a nonmember walk in and she just so happened to sit next to me. She was there for a World Religions class. I was able to give her a pamphlet at least.

We both spoke in the YSA branch's Sacrament meeting. I'm not a huge fan of giving talks, but that was probably the best one I've given. And the most comfortable I've been. We had two more World Religions students come. The 2nd counselor in the Branch Presidency is in the class and told the other students that there was an LDS church close by, haha.

We had an awesome dinner with Bishop and Sister Baenziger, Brother Nuviadenu, and the Elders in which we talked more about our ideas for involving the members. So great.

"If all our sins smelled, we'd have a stinky congregation." -Sister Baenziger

Today we went to the speedway and took a tour, courtesy of Brother Nuviadenu. What a good guy. I had no idea what was going on, but it was cool nonetheless. Fun facts: the start/finish line isn't flat. I walked up it. It's a pretty good incline. The turns are like 31 degrees? And they're taken at like 160 mph. If you're going slower than 70 mph, you'll be pulled down. On the not-flat flat parts, they go like 200-202 mph.

I still don't comprehend people spending hundreds of dollars to sit amid 101,500 people for 5-7 hours and watch cars. But hey. When in Rome.

Anywho, have a fantastic week, y'all. Prayerfully commit this week to sharing the gospel with someone. Maybe someone you've been thinking about? Maybe look through your friends list on social media? Share a video or give a Book of Mormon or bear your testimony. :) It's a good thing to share.

Loves,

Sister Stevenson

Accomplished an actually big mission goal
of mine and caught this
dumb lizard. 

Look at his lil face.

. This old man cat is my best friend.

. This old man cat is my best friend.

FLORIDA SUNSETS

Because everyone always takes pictures of me on people's doorsteps.

This is where the start line is. That's how steep it is.

Shmelfies

I love this girl.

Also here's a cute sleepy Sister Lamborn