Five Months in Florida!

Hello again!

Every time I go to write these weekly emails and think back on the week, I can't remember anything that happened. Missions are like a weird time vortex. I did hit my 5 months this week though! Crazy.

So this week...

Tuesday we ran across a woman in a Publix who said she was a member, but didn't have transportation. Never seen her name before, so we're gonna get her records transferred over. :) Cool how stuff like that happens.

We taught Alex about the Gospel of Jesus Christ using "Steve". It's a fun visual in which you scribble on a stick figure (named Steve) to show his sins. Then talk about baptism by fire. Then, using a lighter, you erase all the sins. :) Olivia was super smiley and adorable, and Brian and Angie always have good questions. Alex is starting to open up and answer more confidently. Yay!

At Give Kids the World on Wednesday I organized all the pillows in the castle. They were horrendous and all over the place. I fixed it. It made me happy. Colored and finished a hat in there too. :)

The Champions took us out to dinner and drove us home again. I was glancing at the desserts and Sister Champion said, "You want a banana split? You can have a banana split. You can have whatever you want." They're the best and I ate way too much. :P

I CAN BIKE WITHOUT HANDS NOW. Only if I'm going straight. And only on streets; sidewalks are too narrow. Working on it still. I was super excited. :D

Thursday after District meeting we sat and talked with the North Sisters about some ideas they've been brainstorming to help the ward, especially in getting more motivated about missionary work. They want to organize an MTC night for the youth, where they get mission calls and learn how to teach and stuff. It sounds awesome.

We then taught Jackie, a referral from the Elders. She loves to talk and I think would talk to anyone if it was about Jesus... But she's also just seeking for truth. She told us that she believed that God should bring another prophet sometime soon, and was so excited when we told her about President Monson!

We also saw Jessenia and her family again! Ezequiel always just wants to play with us. And Sofia wanted us to pick her up, which is a big deal, because she's super shy. Broke my heart that we couldn't. D:

Friday we saw Brian and Angie and company again. We talked to them about General Conference! (SO EXCITED FOR CONFERENCE.) We sang "Follow the Prophet" with Alex. Olivia loved it and was dancing the whole time. :D

We also found out that Yeshie has been reading the Book of Mormon even though we haven't been able to visit her recently! She's also friends with one of the youth in the ward, which is awesome. We're so excited.

Saturday we went and helped Sam again. We did a ton of weeding in his backyard. Super easy to just get really into and focused on that. Next time, they're going to have lunch for us. And we're going to talk more about the gospel.

Then an amazing member of the neighboring ward drove us up to Belleview, Sister Petty's old area. One of her investigators, who has been working towards baptism for a  long time, was finally able to be baptized! She came out of the water, looked at everyone, and exclaimed, "I did it!" 

Ward council this Sunday we presented the idea of having an investigator Sacrament meeting: once every so often having Sacrament be geared specifically towards those who are learning more about the church. More simple topics, etc. So that people are comfortable bringing their family and friends, and it's easy to understand and learn. Once everyone got the concept, they loved it. We're looking forward to seeing how that goes. :)

So it's been a pretty good week here in our area of the ward! The weather's been nice. We discovered that our peephole (which is FAR too tall for either of us to see out of) creates rainbows on our wall in the late afternoon. We saw a dog and a cat cuddling. Started those paint-by-numbers from Christmas. Today we're going back down to Lake Hatchineha with the North Sisters. :D

Hope you all have a fantastic week. I love you lots.

Love,

Sister Stevenson

A bird I saw when we were at a stop sign or something! :D

A sign on someone's door. We knocked it anyway.

The sunset was gorgeous one day while we were biking.

Sister Petty
wanted a picture of herself.

More sunset!

I made this hat and I'm kinda proud of it.

MADE ALL THESE HATS.

Look Ma, No Hands!

Hello, dear family!

Happy spring! It doesn't really look like spring here. It looks pretty much the same. We got another little bit of cold though, which is nice. Sister Petty and I are enjoying it while knowing that it will not last.

This weeeek:

So last Monday we just hung out with the North Sisters at our place. :D 

Tuesday we got up at 5:30 to get to the North Sisters' to get to Zone Conference on time. x_x We were the first ones there. Got to see and sit with the people I love. :)

The whole thing was focused on studies and how we can be more effective in that way. Highlights: "I was brought to an all-time low so the Savior could build me up the correct way." -Elder Brock. We were also told that during studies, we are God's investigators, which I thought was cool.

We taught a woman named Wilma, who was referred by her member friend in Palm Bay. She listened super attentively, but then told us she wouldn't read the Book of Mormon because she already doesn't read the Bible. *sigh* She did say she'd pray, though. And she fed us!

Wednesday, nobody told us we weren't needed at Give Kids the World. So we were extras cutting brownies again, haha. They're pretty booked because students are choosing to spend their spring breaks volunteering.

It was a cool day and we had time before our dinner appointment with Sister Fritz, so we biked. It has been too long since I've seriously biked. But I'm learning to ride without my hands. :D Then Sister Fritz was busy helping someone who was having a bad day, so she gave us our food and we biked back home to eat it, haha. Went like 12 miles. It was great.

We stopped by Frollo the alligator's pond. It is dried up. He is gone. :(

Thursday we finally got someone out to visit Susan with us! She's recently wanted to meet someone from the ward, and Brother Simpson had expressed interest in meeting her, since he had been her father's home teacher. So we were there for a very long time. Taught her about priesthood blessings a little bit, and she kind of wants one but she's a little hesitant. She is definitely making progress though. It's slow, but we're happy to see it.

Friday after we tried to visit a new member in the ward, we were looking to see if there was anyone to talk to or anywhere we felt like knocking. And I almost ignored a prompting to knock a specific house. We were further down the street and I decided we needed to go back. At that house, we met Ashley! She was super nice and thought it was awesome that we just go around offering service to people. I love nice people. xP

Saturday we street contacted a guy and offered service. The conversation went something like this:

"Could you rake my lawn?" (Joking voice)

"Yeah, we absolutely could!" (Totally ready to do it right then)

"No. No, I won't make you do that."

"We want to!"

"....maybe tomorrow."

"Okay, see you tomorrow afternoon!"

"That works. Yeah." (Not expecting us to show up again, ever)

We visited some people who are having a rough time and really just need support and love more than anything else. We love providing that, but it's hard as missionaries, with everything else that we do and with the fact that we move around constantly. People need the support and love of people in the ward. Go visit someone! Do it! If you've been thinking about someone specifically who you've been meaning to visit or ask how they're doing, don't put it off! Go see them or call them or write them! Love them! And if you don't know how to start, ask the missionaries. We know a lot about the people in our areas.

Really loved singing the hymns on Sunday. Not that I don't usually, but yesterday I just felt really connected with them. President Clark showed up to our Sacrament meeting. That was interesting.

We sat in with Sister Cruz's Primary class for third hour. She usually has two ages, but had someone else's class as well this time. Seven kids ranging from 4-8. Too huge of a variation to keep all of them engaged at once. The 4 year olds especially just wanted to talk to us and play with us. It was a little crazy. And I loved it. :P

Showed up at Sam's house, the guy whose yard we offered to rake. The look on his face and his reaction when he answered the door were totally worth it. He really wasn't expecting us to show up again. :D So we did service for him for a while. If nothing else, we were just good examples to Sam and his neighbors who saw us.

We saw Sister Afu in the evening and she gave me a towel. That's her thing with missionaries, she gives us towels. She's adorable.

So that was the week. It's been pretty good. I guess my challenge for you guys this week is what I wrote above. Reach out to someone who needs it this week. Maybe pray for who needs your help specifically. Love you all, hope your week is fantastic.

Love,

Sister Stevenson

A not puddle with a significant lack water and of Frollo the alligator.

Selfies. Bleh.

Throwing a fireball apparently.

We found the one rock in Florida.

I found this as part of a larger picture in "what to expect when
visiting with missionaries" in Gospel Library

Cocoon.

The cocoon woke up.

Hello, dearest family!

I finally caught up on my journal today, so I'll have at least some idea of what happened this week! Wooooo

Tuesday evening we visited a less active teenager who is awesome. She wants to go on a mission and be a doctor. She's going up to Utah this week for Comic-Con, and we're jealous. We told her about how awesome being a missionary is; that we get to show people all the cool blessings they can have. :)

At GKTW we cut and wrapped brownies again. So many brownies. We got through two boxes on our own. All the workers came by and thanked us.

At night we biked for the first time in forever. Night biking is the bessst. We saw Sister Jones and helped her set up her LDS.org account. She's so excited to start doing family history work! I played with her son, the three year old. I love that kid. :)

Thursday we had Zone Training Meeting and had a show and tell. :D Some people were really clever and it was absolutely hilarious.

The STLs did a cool training and had us close our eyes and imagine different events from our missions. Things that had happened and things that would happen. "One day, all of this will be a memory. What are you going to do today to make it the best memory it can be?" They talked about recommitting to our purpose here; that if missionary work is easy, we're probably not doing it right.

We went and helped out Sister Palomino in the evening. She needed help preparing for her daughter's birthday party. She just turned 2! Sister Petty and I painted their old rickety bench. It's been around since Bishop Palomino was 12. Sister Palomino wanted it white for pictures. We had a ton of fun doing that. I think I still have some paint on me. :P

Friday we went to Clarissa's party! :D Sister Palomino made a magnificent castle cake.

We went home and cleaned and planned, because the STLs told us they wanted to blitz our area for exchanges this transfer. So we would all four stay here and all do work. We had to plan out two different days for Saturday.

Saturday we all fasted together and blitzed! It was awesome! Started out with Sister Yance in the morning and found some cool people. She's absolutely fearless in talking to people, and super bold. We met with Yeshie and taught her the Plan of Salvation. She remembered a lot from the pamphlet and had some great questions. We put her on date to be baptized on April 15th! She was a little concerned about being prepared by then, so we told her that's just a goal to work towards, so that she continues to prepare and progress. We're excited! :D

We all met up and had companion study, then switched companions. So I was with Sister Reid for the rest of the day, and got to know her! This is her last transfer in the mission. D:

We saw Brian and Angie, and they've been thinking more about Alex getting baptized! They've been regularly praying as a family! Alex has been reading from the Book of Mormon! Ahh! She did so well with the lesson we taught. Sister Petty let me borrow her cool Plan of Salvation cards, and it really helped Alex to explain it back to us.

Saw Susan, and she's also been reading the pamphlets and some of the Book of Mormon. More than that, SHE'S BEEN PRAYING. That is HUGE for her!!! She says she feels like she has more faith now than ever in her life! She's still struggling somewhat, because she knows God protected her in her car accident, but she doesn't understand why horrible things have happened to her in the past. I started talking, and the Spirit totally took over, and we both cried as I talked to her. She thanked me and said that God sent me to her. <3

Sunday. I was going to remember daylight savings time. I knew it was coming. And I totally forgot. Thankfully, the North Sisters called us and woke us up, haha. I was falling asleep in church. xP We helped with sharing time in Primary! The Junior Primary is so tiny. But they were mostly paying attention and answering questions pretty well. :)

So it's been a pretty awesome week! Hope you're all doing well! Love you all. :)

Love,

Sister Stevenson

Peanut the dog! 

 Our Zone

 The bench we painted. 

Crazy castle cake that Sister Palomino made.

 These sillies.

 Exchanges!

SO MANY BIRDS

Why hello!

Gonna start sending my emails to more people, because it was demanded of me.

Limited time to write and I'm behind in my journal again so...

Last Monday evening we went to the Eggs' house and I held the green dog/tree chicken/chameleon again. :D Brother Egg and Hannah taught us the Plan of Salvation. They're just so fun.

Tuesday we went and helped Susan out for a bit. She's been having a rough time and was soooo grateful that we offered to help clean up her house a little. We also retaught her the Restoration and really focused on her needing to pray. She's quick to bring up questions and concerns, which is awesome. She wants to start reading the Book of Mormon again! :)

Then we went down to the very bottom corner of our area.. It's so far out of the way and I'd never been down there. But we had a surplus of miles and it was the last day of the month, so... We didn't end up doing much work other than a little bit of tracting. But it was gorgeous down there. So pretty. So many birds. If nothing else, it made us so happy.

Wednesday we did Castle at Give Kids the World! Woooo. There were some super cute kids that were super happy to get pillows. But then construction was happening and the Castle smelled like it was on fire. So they closed it.

Visited Brian and Angie and company and talked about Alex preparing to be baptized. They want her to be more prepared and understand better what she's getting into. We really want to see them start working on stuff together as a family.

We saw the R family, a recent convert family, for the first time in ages! The kids, especially the 4 year old boy, just wanted us to color with and talk to him. The 2-ish year old girl is adorable too, but much more shy. She's way more comfortable with us now than before though. :D

Thursday we had District meeting. Met the new babies! Sister Jamison is Sister Lamborn's new trainee. She seems awesome. Had some good Adjusting to Missionary Life trainings. Sister Lamborn talked about the balance between pride and inadequacy, and gifts of the Spirit. That there are things that come naturally to some people but others need to work on. To some is given one thing and to some another. Sometimes we're on spiritual crutches, and that's okay.

I honestly don't remember what happened the rest of the day. We updated some stuff. Dunno. Visited Sister Jones. :)

FRIDAY WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE. We woke up at 4 am to get to the North Sisters' apartment early, so that a member could drive us to the very first session at 7. It was awesome. It was so, so great. It was amazing to see all the people that I work with and love all dressed in white. We sat in the Celestial room for quite a long time. I love the Orlando temple.

Went to the tiny distribution center next to the temple after, so now I have a spiral hymnbook and the missionary library. :D Yay books. Yay sheet music.

Did some planning. Then we went down to Sister Jones's house and the Elders came over to give Jamie, a nonmember who lives there, a blessing. She's had some health concerns. It was probably one of the first blessings Elder Mikos (another greenie) has given. Sister Jones told us that Jamie stopped smoking the day after.

Saturday we helped out the Burtons some more! Clearing away grass and vines. It's a good workout and it's fun. :P They also took us out to lunch afterwards.

We broke our fasts early this fast Sunday again, because the Hammocks had us over for lunch. Again. Haha. They're great to talk to, especially Autumn, the 17 year old.

Also went to a party that evening at the Torres family's house. They looove the missionaries. Even though we're the "wrong" missionaries. :P We're going over to their house next Monday and spending time there. Their 15 year old said she'd assist us with online shopping. :P

Anyway. That was the week. It's been somewhat up and down, but the ups have been fantastic. Heavenly Father knows how to help us when we most need it, it's just a matter of us reaching out and asking for it.

Love you all. Hope you have a fantastic new week.

Love,

Christine

FOUR MONTHS WHAT

(Note from the Mom: It's actually almost 5! Sister Stevenson is talking about Florida)

Hello there family!

Transfers are happening this week! I'm staying here for a fourth transfer, with Sister Petty! Sister Angelo is going to Palm Bay (after being here for 5 transfers). Gonna miss her. Sister Lamborn is also staying in in the north side of this area and training again, haha.

I also didn't manage to write in my journal as much as I should have this past week... Gotta catch up later. And it's late. So this email might be a bit sparse. Sorry!

Tuesday we had a super happy day. Just felt really good. Went out and did some referral finding, talked to a less active we'd never met...

The North Sisters delivered us food from Sister Afu, since we can't all eat together anymore (apparently that's a rule. :( ). And we all just hung around and talked. Sister Petty and Sister Angelo sang hymns for quite a while. They both have great voices. Sister Angelo is generally really quiet, but when she sings, it's gorgeous. Sister Petty said she was hoping the whole time that I'd come out and harmonize, haha. But I was enjoying just talking.

At Give Kids the World on Wednesday, we were all extra hands; they didn't really need us. So we did what they wouldn't have gotten to. Folded rags. Cut and wrapped over a thousand brownies. Their TVs were playing "San Diego Zoo Kids" and it was just informative things on cute animals. So I was fairly disobedient and watched that while we worked. :P

The Champions took us for an early dinner and then drove us home. They're awesome. They served a mission together and gave a talk last Sunday on helping the missionaries. They recently decided to sell their house and be full-time RV-ers. So they travel a ton and only settle for a few months.

We visited with Sister Jones, and her 3 year old prayed with us. :) It was so cute and she was so proud. His mom even thought it was cool.

Thursday at District meeting we split into two groups and discussed scenarios from Preach My Gospel. We were given the scenario of opening a new area. Sister Lamborn and I looked at each other and simultaneously said, "DONE." Haha. Then we basically just shared with the group what worked and what we wished we had done.

The Brancels took us for lunch at Golden Corral. Oh my goodness they are so sweet. I think they're also kind of transient. They told us their conversion stories and he gave us hugs. Just an adorable old southern couple.

And we had dinner with the Palominos, which is always an adventure! Their kids are SO fun. And loud. The 4 year old prayed at the end that we wouldn't choke in the night, haha. Then she wanted to share her own message after ours.                    

                                                                                                   

THEN. We dropped by the house of someone that Sister Lamborn and I were going to teach a couple months ago. Just trying to follow up and see if she was still interested. And she totally is. Yeshie is 17, and was basically a referral from her mother. She was excited when we told her we could give her an English Bible. Then she asked if she could have a Book of Mormon after we read out of it, and was super happy that we gave it to her. She remembered what we'd prayed with her about last time. And when we texted her later she said she was reading. :)

Friday we went visiting teaching with Sister Kober! Saw a less active we've never met, and another that I hadn't visited since my first week here. 

Did some planning. 

Met with Yeshie again! She had read the pamphlet, the intro and testimonies in the Book of Mormon, the first part of Genesis... She's so golden. We just talked with her for a while. At the end she asked if she could call us her sisters. We're so excited to keep teaching her.

Saturday we mostly stressed out about getting transfer calls. Tracted some. Had a few interesting conversations. Also hit my four months in the field mark.

Then we went to Sister Fritz's house for dinner! One of her dogs finally let me pet her. :D She's awesome and loves having us over.

After that, we went up to the North Sisters' apartment. Just to be together and support each other. Had some cookie dough. Got to bed way too late.

Sunday was ward conference, so we heard from the Stake President. Sister Palomino was released as Relief Society president. She was only there 2 months. Apparently someone realized that she shouldn't be a Bishop's wife AND RS pres AND have 4 kids. She was the busiest woman of all time, and something of a superhero. She did so much good. Sister Kober is the new RS president! :D

We finally were able to see Susan again. Talked to her for a long time. She was in an awful car accident and we've been super worried about her. We're going to go help her out this week.

And then we saw Kiara, the other super solid high school student we've been seeing. :) Aaaaand we put her on date for baptism! She had some awesome questions about what it means to be baptized, and said she really thinks she needs to work towards that. Oh my goodness we're so excited.

So that's been the week! Today's been crazy and busy. We're all going to the Eggs' house later tonight. Yay! :)

Challenge for the week: take some time to pray and have a notebook with you. Any time during that prayer that you get an impression, stop and write it down. :)

Hope you all have a fantastic week! I love you!

Love,

Christine

                                                 A photo from last week's letter. 

Green dogs 🦎

Why hello!

Oh my goodness, Crafton Hills is SO GREEN! Is it that green everywhere? It's gorgeous! I'm glad you've gotten rain! Though I've heard that there's also been some flooding in California?

I also have a cold, and it's a nasty one. xP I have to cough all the time, which hurts, and it's affecting my sinuses enough that my teeth hurt because of it. Fun. I had to leave during meetings a couple of times yesterday to cough and die a little. :P Hope you start feeling better soon.

Found out this week that we can't have dinners with other companionships, which is a bummer. Glad we didn't know about that rule over the holidays. :P It's been nice to have that time with the other Sisters.

Don't worry about boring me. I like reading letters regardless of the content, haha. It's a nice diversion for a little while. It's crazy to me that George is 9 months! Cathy sends me pictures and I share them with everyone. :)

THIS WEEK.
It was interesting.

Last Monday we four just partied together. Sister Lamborn made scones and cookies for us. It was a good day.

Tuesday we had interviews with President, so we also had early District meeting. Elder Bone likes having us just go around and bear testimony, so this week we all bore our testimonies of Jesus Christ. We also were all told to prepare a thought on a Christlike attribute. I spoke about humility. Preach My Gospel says that pride is the opposite of humility. I talked about how self-criticism and doubt are also opposed to humility and prevent us from receiving blessings. I was once told that self-criticism (specifically for a missionary) is a lack of faith in those who have called you.

President gave everyone little Orlando temple pins. :) He reminded me of the support I have around me, and told me I need to be friends with both Sisters and Elders. And to ask for blessings. 

Went to Woodsby's, a cute lil diner. There was a guy there that talked to us the whole time. About how missions work, about the church ranch (did you know the church owns 2 percent of Florida?)... He prayed for our meal, haha.

We also caught a frog that was on our window. Bothered him until he hopped out of reach. Didn't manage to get a picture though.

Wednesday we did Castle at GKTW!! :D It's Sister Petty's favorite. She likes to sit and color. They had some great pillows there this week.

We went and tracted a little pocket of our area that I'd never been to. It had really cute neighborhoods and some really kind people.

Visited Tati; she's planning on staying in Puerto Rico for a while so her mom can take care of her. :( Her baby, was showing off for us, haha. Spinning around and laughing and talking. I've gotten to watch him grow so much.

Thursday we met the most golden investigator and we're super excited about it. Kerryann was a Bible/Book of Mormon referral, and had gone to church before in Jamaica. She said she'd gone to other churches and felt like a visitor, but our church just felt right. She kept saying, "I believe that."

Met with Siteria again! She'd been super busy and hadn't read from the Book of Mormon, but asked us when we got there if we could read together. So we read the introduction and the testimonies of the three and eight witnesses. She had some awesome questions. We helped her understand and also talked about our lives as missionaries.

Friday I took a sick day. I just felt gross from this cold and needed to sleep. We both slept for a couple extra hours and took it slow the rest of the day.

We met the Lealaitafeas (I still don't know how to pronounce their name), a less active family that I've never met, because they have a camera to see who's at the door. :P He's super sweet though and fed us... puligi? Some kind of Samoan fruitcake. Sister Petty played on his ukulele. He said he'd been praying about coming back to church, and that he was kind of expecting to see us. :)

Saturday we went to another baptism! The North Sisters have been teaching Ulysses for quite a while, and he's been coming to church at least since I've been here. He's a cool guy. It was awesome. :) I got to play piano for it last minute.

We went to the end of the Young Women's fundraiser dinner for camp. In the end we mostly just helped clean up and vacuumed the mess.

We all four went to the Egg's house and visited for a while. Held their chameleon (or as Sister Parish calls it apparently, their green dog) Jazz. That was awesome. Sister Petty made me rap Hamilton for everyone. :P Definitely missionary appropriate.

Christian spoke in church on Sunday! He's only been a member for a week and he's already giving fantastic talks on missionary work. He's going to be such a great missionary.

Instead of having Gospel Principles (because Ulysses is now going to Gospel Doctrine and there were no investigators or others to attend), Brother Wilson asked Sister Petty and I to roleplay teaching the Restoration to the few who were there, so they could see how we teach. *shrug* Roleplays are always a little weird.

Taught Kiara, someone we were kind of led to a couple weeks ago! She had some good questions about whether God wants the separation and contention that exists in different religions, or if He would want everyone to unite and respect and share their faith. She thinks that some of what we teach is super cool, which is awesome. :)

All in all, it's been a pretty great week. There have been ups and downs. But there has also just been that confirmation from the Spirit that I'm where I need to be and who I need to be with. Florida is awesome. Pleasant Hill is awesome. Sister Petty is fantastic. :D

Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Christine

A tree I liked against a sky I liked.

Sister Petty with Ol' Elmer the tree at GKTW.

Inside Mayor Clayton's house (he's a bunny) at GKTW.

Cute Baby Girl of Woman we're teaching. 

We got Slurpees and Sister Petty demanded selfies.

                                                                 THE EGG'S GREEN DOG.