I love being a missionary!

It's been another week! I can't even believe it. I am loving missionary life more than ever. Especially after Christmas! This past week was a little slow as far as teaching goes, so we're hoping it will pick back up this next week. Our sweet investigator Osi is incredible. Still have nooo idea where she came from.. SUCH a blessing. In our lesson on Tuesday, she said that she would hate for Christ to come again and for Him to tell her that she's been doing it wrong this whole time. She said she wants more than anything to be following Jesus Christ and the commandments. Like I said before, she's golden. We challenged her to keep reading the Book of Mormon and to pray about it and she seems more than willing! It's the best when people keep their commitments!!!

I'm learning more and more of just how much Heavenly Father loves His children! Since being on my mission (a whole month this week! woohoooo!) I feel like I've had a brand new set of eyes. I now look at people who I probably wouldn't have even taken the time to get to know a month ago, and I can see their true potential. I love being able to see people the way God does. Everyone deserves to feel loved. Especially from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It's so sad to think that a lot of people don't know how truly loved they are.

In the YSA, most of the members are the only ones in their family. It's heartbreaking when you see someone who is SO excited about being baptized and their family just disowns them and believes they're "brainwashed" but these YSA folk are SO incredibly strong. They handle all of these trials like nobody's business. It's the best seeing them have the support they need from everyone else in church and at the activities. I love going to FHE and all of the other fun things they do on a weekly basis. Everyone here is so nice! For Christmas, (keep in mind, these are poor college students), two of our YSA gave us presents! A Winnipeg Jet's Tshirt and an adorable scarf. These people are so thoughtful. It's been the best spending Christmas here. These people are my family now! I love it!

Fun Facts for the week:

1. When you're walking outside, as much as you think there is something in your nose.. there isn't. It's just your nose hairs freezing.

2. Negative 24 isn't that bad, until you've only been tracting for maybe 12 minutes, and you can't feel your legs. Gotta love dresses.

3. Children here wear snowpants alllll winter long. It's the best.

4. You'd think people would be nice and let you in their house because it's so cold outside, but instead, they just remind you of how cold it is and begin to tell you that you're crazy for being outside. Then, the door closes. Next house please.

I love being a missionary in Winnipeg. I feel like Elsa's ice castle isn't even as cold as this place. "the cold never bothered me anyway" is still my motto! I'm still sooo happy I'm here and not somewhere scorching hot. Love me some slippery sidewalks.

I love my Savior and I know He lives! I've realized more and more just how much He loves us. Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us and even though we may have nooo idea what that plan entails, it's worth the leap of faith! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

All my love, Sister Stevenett

merry christmas... love, the sisters

plugging in our car

twinner ornaments for twinner companions

No dining room table = floor eating!

Winnipeg

EVERYONE!

I'm here! I made it to the lovely kind of ghetto town of Winnipeg on Monday night! We spent the night in the mission home and then the next day... met our new companions! My adorable trainer is Sister Brimhall. She's from Mesa Arizona and guess what.. she's a red head.. and pretty much my twin (sorry Nattles) haha. We are SO similar it's getting to be kind of bizarre. I have been serving in the Winnipeg South Zone in the Young Single Adult ward!!!! So if I refer to the YSA, that's what I'm meaning. Goodness. I couldn't have asked for a better area or companion! This past week has been absolutely incredible! Everyone in our ward is 18-30 years old.. so I'm totally in my element. It's a blast! Sometimes I'm having so much fun that I need to remind myself that I'm a missionary.. haha.

Almost everyone in our ward is Philipino. It's the best. Until you get them mixed up and chew out the wrong people for telling me their name was something it wasn't! Turns out Philipino's make the BEST food. Definitely my new favorite. Spring rolls, home made meat balls with who knows what kind of meat.. and the best ever... Balute. Or Baloot? I don't know.. pretty much it's a dead baby/fetus duck. Yep. You eat it.. feathers and all. I haven't yet tried it, but I believe that's my "welcome to Winnipeg" slash Christmas Present from a girl in YSA. YUM. I'll let you know how that goes.. you know me and tiny animals that freak me out.. it should be fun.

Everyone here is SO nice. Like insanely nice. What's wrong with Americans and their rudeness? Ya'll need to move to Canada. This is where the happy people are! Sis. Brimhall and I have gone tracting a few times and I really am starting to love it! It's so fun seeing how much information you can cram into someone's mind before they close the door haha. We haven't been invited in yet.. but we're working on it! Last night we got a media referral. So, we went to check it out like normal missionaries would do. We get to the door (her name is Osi and she's from Nigeria) and she lets us right on in! Once we got inside she was all "so.. wait. who did you say you were!?" haha I think it's just her culture to let strangers in?? And boy were we grateful! We asked her a little bit about what she knew about Mormons and if she knew why we were there. She said her aunt who lives in the states, (that's what they call it here.. the states) is Mormon and has wanted her to meet with missionaries forever. SO. (here's where the miracle begins) she told us that she knows all about Joseph Smith and the Restoration and that she TOTALLY believes in it!!! Pretty sure our jaws hit the floor. But, she said she is so dedicated to her church because she's a teacher there and she can't just "abandon ship" hahaha. But no worries.. we can for sure work with that. I mean, she already believes in the Restoration! That's usually the hardest part! AH. We were floating on cloud nine for a good while after our visit with her. She agreed to let us come back on Tuesday so we're sooo excited to teach her. Seriously this girl is golden. So solid. She will be baptized. I can just feel it! AH. I LOVE CANADA.

Anyways, if you can't tell already, I'm SO happy here! The work is progressing.. slowly, but surely. And now that Sister Brimhall and I are together (I mean ginger power.. come on!) No one can say no to us! We're on fire! and I'm not meaning just our hair! It's SO great. It hasn't been cold at all! Which has been nice.. but I can sense a storm coming! We'll see!

Since Christmas is this week, I want to challenge you all to say a prayer as a family before you dive into all of those presents and just pray for thanks. Tell Heavenly Father how incredibly grateful you are for all that you have. We truly are SO blessed. This gospel is the greatest blessing! Even though I haven't even been a missionary for month yet, I am feeling and witnessing the blessings of having the Restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It's real. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father allowed His Beloved Son to come to earth and Atone for the sins of mankind. My favorite scripture right now is Alma 31: 34-35 "O Lord, wilt thou grant unto us that we may have success in bringing them again unto thee in Christ. Behold, O Lord, their souls are precious, and many of them are our brethren; therefore, give unto us, O Lord, power and wisdom that we may bring these, our brethren, again unto thee." That is indeed the purpose of missionary work. Bringing souls unto Christ. But we as missionaries can't do it alone! We absolutely need members help! You have no idea how powerful your testimonies are and how much others need them. Never be afraid to open your mouth and to share what you know to be true. I just want to extend another challenge that you will work on being fully converted to the Gospel. It's not enough to just have a testimony. True conversion is to be consistent to what we know to be true. Work on that and I promise you will see miracles happening. This work is real... and nothing can stop it from progressing!

I love being a missionary! Thank you SO much for all of the love and support and prayers. It means so much! Keep them coming! Have a great week remembering the birth of our Savior.

All my love,

Sister Stevenett

Making "Kirk's Christmas Cookies" with President Thomas!

Week One (From the MTC)

Hello Everyone! I can't believe I've almost been here for a whole week! Where has the time gone?? There is SO much I want to share with you. 

First off, the MTC is amazing! Everyone here is so uplifting and friendly. My district is probably the coolest one here, just sayin. All 8 of us are either going to Winnipeg, or Lubbock Texas. (The cool ones heading to Winnipeg.. duh) Just kidding! We've probably cried more from laughing than we have from spiritual moments. Not to say that it's not spiritual.. because IT IS, it's just to say that we have lots of fun together.

The first few days here are all a blur! I now understand what missionaries meant when they said you study/sit, then eat, then study/sit, then eat, then lather, rinse, repeat! CRAZY. I'm loving every second of it though. An Elder in my district said it best: "The MTC is so spiritual! It's like they pipe it from the Temple or something!?" hahaha. But really, it's the very best place. Being a missionary really is hard work. 16 hour days.. hard. But luckily the blessings far outweigh the hard days. 

My companion is Sister Simpson, she's from El Paso Texas and she's really funny! We get along quite well :) There is one other companionship in my room. Sister Wray (from Cedar City) and Sister Fry (from Provo). They are all so sweet and we have LOTS of fun. 

The whole investigator thing here at the MTC is really amazing. They get people who could be members, less actives, or not members at all for us to teach. So you never know who you're getting or what their religious status is, but it's an amazing learning experience! The investigator Sister Simpson and I are currently teaching is Devan. She's 19 and lives in Provo with her friends who go to BYU. We had our first lesson with her last night. Our purpose as missionaries is to bring others closer to Christ. We asked her about her religious beliefs and she said "I'm baptist, but I believe that all Christian churches are true. I think it's crazy when Mormons say that they're the only true church..." So we taught her the Restoration and told her about Joseph Smith and how he DIDN'T start our church, but he brought it back to it's original state. We left discouraged because I don't think she was understanding our message. We meet with her tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes! 

I am SO happy to be a missionary. It truly is the best feeling. My testimony has grown so much over the past few days and I am becoming more aware of just how mindful Heavenly Father is of me. Our first day here, the MTC President mentioned one of my FAVORITE quotes. "What E'er Thou Art, Act Well Thy Part" I've only been reading that quote every single time I walk down Quin and Camber's basement stairs! (which is quite often) It may seem insignificant to you, but it made me so happy! There have been several experiences so far that have reassured me that this is exactly where I need to be right now. I am overloaded with information, but the second we go to teach our "investigator" (aka our teachers) I am filled with the spirit and know exactly what to say. This truly is Christ's church. Our first night here we sang "Army of Helaman" and they changed the words at the end a little bit... "And we, ARE NOW the Lord's missionaries, to bring the world His truth!" BEST SONG EVER. I am just so happy to be here... if you can't tell already! 

We were able to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional on Sunday as well as go to the mission conference which was based on Christmas too. Talk about uplifting! WOW. I've gained a whole new perspective of Christmas. One of the counselors in the Presidency here at the MTC mentioned that there are 3 levels of Christmas.

1. The Santa Level (presents, tree, toys, candy)

2. The Silent Night Level (the angel, manger, birth of Christ)

3. The Remembering Christ Level (not just an annual event, but a pattern for our lives)

I absolutely loved that! We need to remember DAILY just how much the birth of Christ means to us. He was the greatest gift Heavenly Father could have given us. The wife of the President stated that this year for Christmas, we as missionaries, get the part of the Angel in the "pageant" because we really do get to express glad tidings of great joy to everyone in our missions! How cool is that?! I'm really excited for Christmas and to be able to share my testimony and love for the Savior with the people of Winnipeg. I may not get a tree, or lights, or ornaments, (although I'm almost positive I will have a white Christmas) I get to be a representative of our Savior, Jesus Christ and that is the BEST Christmas gift of all. 

Thank you SO much for all of the letters, love, and prayers. They mean SO much to me. I'm definitely "that" missionary who gets all the mail... keep it coming! I love you all so much and I hope you are doing just dandy. All is well here in the missionary factory (as I like to call it). I am so grateful for my Savior and His Atonement. I don't think I've ever really understood just how much He loves us until now. His love is real. Even if you feel unworthy of that love, "his hand is outstretched still" I promise you that! If you haven't already, please pray to know of the truthfulness of this gospel. You'll be amazed at how the Holy Ghost will testify to you! 

I hope you all have an amazing week! Please go out of your way to do something kind for someone this week :)

Love, 

Sister Scarlet Stevenett