12/9/14

I don't have a lot of time to write today so I'm gonna send a lot of pictures.

Temple with Sister Phillips

Sister Martinez! I love her!

 

Our ghetto Christmas wall

Papai Noel. Santa

Sorvete no Shopping. Ice cream at the mall

Subway! But unfortunately it's more expensive here.

Oh, I've become the ward pianist here... That´s right, they think that I know how to play! haha, I´m the worst! But you´ve gotta share your talents whether you think you´re good or not.
 

Drinking chimarrao while playing piano. Oh yeah, I'm a gaucho!

Saved a bird from being eaten by a cat!

Are You Sharing the Gift?

12/2/14

Hello all my dear family and friends!

Can you believe it? Thanksgiving has already gone by and December is here! How fast has this year flown by?!

But how many of you are running around trying to plan your Christmas vacations, your Christmas gift lists, throwing decorations up and stressing out about what to give your children for Christmas...?

How many of us are really stopping to remember the real purpose of Christmas? How many of us are remembering what, or who, the real gift is...?

Have you discovered the gift yet? HE is the gift. Christ. If it weren't for the birth and death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, the holiday season wouldn't exist. It would have no meaning.

I invite you all to remember the new meaning of Christmas this month, and share that meaning with the world!

Go to christmas.mormon.org and watch this 3 minute Christmas video and share it with everyone you know. There´s no reason that the whole world shouldn´t see this video and remember our savior this month. Let´s remember the savior, let´s come onto him, and let´s make this Christmas the most spiritual one yet.

Invite your friends to discover, embrace and share the Christmas spirit.

I love you all and I hope you have an amazing week, an amazing month and beautiful Christmas.

Love,

Sister Stevens

He is the Gift on the front page of Youtube! Woohoo!

After only a few hours it had over 32,000 views! Woohoo, go Mormons!

It's Been a Hard One

11/24/14

Hello family,

Last week was the week of transfers, and I have to say, it was the longest week of my life. I got a new companion, and we were sent to open a new area for Sisters. We´re in the City São Leopoldo. It´s huge here... My companion is yet again American. Her name is Sister Phillips and she´s from California. She was a visa waiter for 14 months in the Washington Tacoma mission, and she arrived 4 weeks ago here in Brasil. She´s actually going home with me in February. We´re living in an old apartment that years of elders destroyed. We're living with two other sisters, Sister Cabrera from Uruguay, and Sister Veñuela from Argentina. 

 They´re a lot of fun. Ever since we arrived here, something has broken daily. First Sister Cabrera´s study desk broke on top of her, then the door in the kitchen almost fell on top of Sister Phillips. Then the microwave stopped, I broke a glass cup in the kitchen, and the armed chair fell out from under Sister Cabrera... She fell through the chair... Oh, and Sister Viñuela´s bed got soaking wet one day when it rained..

At least this area has a bright side, the ward. The ward is awesome. They´re a lot of fun and the bishop lives in the same apartment complex and always makes us pizza. 

Our first day. Pizza from the Bishop

 

Sister Phillips and are are trying a lot to find the inactive members in the ward (there are over 1000 of them...) and we´re knocking a lot of doors.

It´s been a trying week, but everything will work out. Now we've gotten to know a bunch of members and they´re giving us a bunch of references. So, it´s great.

But I´m getting excited and nervous because I only have 11 more weeks on the mission. It´s gonna go by so fast. Oh, and just so you guys know, next week I´ll be going to the temple, so I won´t write until Tuesday.

I love you all and I´m excited to see you all when I get home. :)

Sister Stevens

Old pic from Sapiranga. I love this couple!

11/24/14

Wow, I found this video on lds.org today. It´s amazing. It´s about how the Lord really refines us through all of our difficulties and challenges. One of my favorite parts, "I thought that I would fail, but the Lord would not allow me to fail."

Sister Stevens a Aventureira

11/17/14

Ola família e amigos,

While all of you are drooling over my cute little niece, I've been working and sweating here in Sapiranga. It´s been an amazing transfer with an amazing companion, great experiences, difficulties and friendships. But sadly I will be transferred tomorrow morning to a new area in Missão Brasil Porto Alegre Norte. I´m not sure where I´ll go. I´m not sure who my new companion will be, but I´m excited to be leaving to start a new experience and see where I´ll be spending my Christmas!

I actually really like that our mission is always moving and changing. It´s weird to always pack your bags, but I´m a free spirit, I like change. I´m an adventurer! Another missionary shared a really "hippie" scripture with me the other day in Abraham 2:

15 And I took Sarai, whom I took to wife when I was in Ur, in Chaldea, and Lot, my brother’s son, and all our substance that we had gathered, and the souls that we had won in Haran, and came forth in the way to the land of Canaan, and dwelt in tents as we came on our way;

16 Therefore, eternity was our covering and our rock and our salvation, as we journeyed from Haran by the way of Jershon, to come to the land of Canaan.

That´s right, I've become a hippie; always journeying. But unfortunately I haven´t had a chance to dwell in any tents yet! Sometimes I think a tent would be better than a missionary apartment though...

It´s really cool to just travel around, always meeting new people, knowing new places, seeing what God had created and what He does in the lives of other people. Knowing their experiences.

I feel blessed for this great "journey" that I´m on, that´s called a mission. For the chance to go from house to house to bless the lives of those who will accept and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

D&C 75,

18 Yea, let all those take their journey, as I have commanded them, going from house to house, and from village to village, and from city to city.

19 And in whatsoever house ye enter, and they receive you, leave your blessing upon that house.

I love you all and hope that you will let these great journeyers, the missionaries, enter your houses. That you and your families may be blessed.

Have a perfect week! And just remember, only 12 more weeks...

Tchau, 

Sister Stevens

Only One More Week in Sapiranga

11/10/14

What a week. It was a great one here in Sapiranga with Sister Horn. We've been working our tails off here in our area trying to help God´s children come into His kingdom. We worked hard, but also had a lot of fun in the process! Sister Horn and I got to go to another English class this week to talk about American culture. I love to do that because it opens up a lot of doors for the future. A lot of times the kids and youth from the English classes run up to us on the streets and start to talk to us and ask us questions. It´s way cool, and I for sure know that one day when a set of missionaries knock on their doors, they´re gonna invite them in. 

We've also been blessed with a ton of amazing families who love the missionaries. They welcome us in with open arms, big fat hugs, and more food then is possible to eat! I love the mission. I can´t wait to get home and help all the missionaries in the ward. 

One of the amazing families that invited us over for dinner

Sister Horn and I were blessed this week with a miracle. His name is Rodrigo! We found Rodrigo sitting outside of his house a few weeks ago. It was one of those moments when you see someone and you have the impression that you should stop, but then you just pass on by and regret it. You know that feeling? Well, that´s exactly what happened. I saw him sitting on the front porch of his house and I thought about how we should go over there and teach him, but I rationalized not stopping because we were heading somewhere else. Well, that nagging "you should have stopped to talk to him" feeling haunted me the whole time as I walked away down the street, until we rounded the block again and we found him outside. He was awesome. Rodrigo is more or less 40, but he lives at home with his dad because he has a physical disability. He was hit by a car when he was 11 years old, and then 2 more times after that. But other than his physical disability he´s very smart. He accepted the Lord´s invite to be baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ. And yesterday was his special day. I was so happy to see how the Lord works and blesses the lives of the missionaries, and how blessed I am to be one of his representatives.

This is going to be our last week of the transfer, and I´m pretty positive that I´ll be sent to a new area. Only 2 more transfers left now... The time is going by fast.

But anyway. Amo vocês. Tenho saudades, mas é bom. Tenho muito coisa mais para fazer e vou ver vocês logo.

Tchau, Sister Stevens