Easter!

Nicole's Letter:
April 17, 2017
"Easter"

Positives of this week:

1. I am still alive! I am still healthy! I am still chugging along! What more could I want :)

Okay so that is all that is coming to my mind right now but God is good to me and knows each of us perfectly.

Easter is such an amazing time.  I love my Savior and I am eternally grateful that he Lived, Died and Lived again for me!  What a blessing!

The Savior is why I am here.  He is the reason why we can have hope in this world.  Because of Him we truly can do all things.  Which I am so grateful for.  There is no way I could do any of this without my Savior.  He truly is our older brother and he suffered for each of us.  He has walked our life, He knows exactly what we feel, the pains, the joys, the heartaches, everything. He is the one that knows.  It wasn't easy for Him so why should it be easy for us.  He does Live and what an incredible blessing that is.

Some happenings:

We had a lesson with Brandon (the former that we street contacted). It was Monday night and it was really good.  We basically all just bore our testimonies about the Savior.  We then had a lesson with Wynona and it was pretty funny.  We met at the local coffee shop and taught the word of wisdom.  She was like "I need to live this but I think I am going to die"  Haha oh Wynona.  Half the time I have no clue what she is saying but I love her.  She is so funny.

Hope everyone is having a great week! 

Love to all!

Sister Stevenson  

Stories

Nicole's Letter:
Story: Changes

Where do I even begin....this week has been crazy.

Well, I will start with the biggest news. And saddest.

Saturday we were in Clarkston again exchanging back from exchanges and apparently President called the other sisters and said that he needed to talk to everyone when we got back.  So we called him and he said that he is losing a lot of sisters and not getting a lot at all so they will be having to put elders in three areas that originally have sisters.  So Sister Packer and I thought it would be Clarkston because Grangeville has only had sisters for 4 transfers.  But President said "So the only sisters in the Zone will be Clarkston".  Sister Packer and I did not really register that until a couple seconds later and then it was total freak out.... Since I honestly just got swept from an area (Post Falls-which was actually starting to pick up a ton) and now Grangeville. Sister Packer was talking to President getting some details and he asked how many on-dates we had.  We have 2 which is pretty good since it is Grangeville. I think that kind of shocked President.  Then he asked to speak to me.  So I got on the phone and he was like Sister Stevenson "You will be sweeping an area in Spokane with someone that you came out with".  He also was like "Sister Stevenson, you count those on-dates as yours, okay.  They definitely are yours". He probably just felt really bad because it was like a repeat of last transfer when he asked me about progressing and we had 5 and he was like "wait, really? Oh that is a lot" and then I got pulled.  So yah that was super sad. 

The story doesn't end there though....

Literally 5 minutes later he called back.

He got on and was kind of chuckling (well mission president chuckle) and said "Lord's timing is very funny".  He said that he just got a call with new information that changes things and the information that we gave him as well.  He also said that the AP's and him prayed about it and decided that I would be staying in Grangeville.  He was like "Sister Stevenson, you baptize those two on-dates, okay" so that was another twist in the plot. Sadly, Sister Packer is still leaving me.  I am so sad.  I was not expecting either of us to get transferred.  And things were just starting to SLIGHTLY pick up here.  So that was not the funnest call to get.  And I was hoping that my break companion would be two transfers.  So I was freaking out to know who my new companion is because Sister Packer has been so fun and nice to be with. 

So, Sister Packer is going to Newman Lake/East Valley with Sister Matzen, who is amazing!! Everyone loves her.  Sister Lake actually was just there with Sister Matzen.  I'm starting to question if I am the hard companion and everyone needs a break after me, so they send them to an AMAZING area (literally it is probably one of the best right now in the mission) and send them to Sister Matzen.  

And I am staying here just buying my time until next transfer until they swept us out.  This mission thing definitely gives you the ups and downs (okay maybe just me).  My new companion is Sister Norman.

Stories Part 2

I will just do multiple emails so you all don't get overwhelmed.

Also, warning: I did not re read these so they might not even make sense

Story 2: Is he even real?

So about a month ago we got a call from a random guy named Tyler Johnson.  He said that he was moving to Grangeville and interested in looking into our church and was wondering if there was a website he could go to.  We told him Mormon.org.  He also told us to call him back in a week so we could set up a time to meet when he moved to Grangeville.  So we have been calling him every week and every week he says that he is still making his way up here and to call him back in a week.  Well, this week we called him and he said that he watched all 5 sessions of conference and that he prayed and he knows this is all true.  At the end of the call he said "Call I just tell you something? I just know this is true".  He then said that he was coming to Grangeville on Saturday and he would call us.....

So I mean I will keep you all posted on the reality of Tyler.  

Story 3: Lesson Learned- Street contacting

So this week our goal was to talk to more people on the street.  The first day of this goal was a little rough, not because I didn't accomplish the goal but because of the outcome.  No one was interested and it was just tiring talking to so many people who would say the exact same thing.  So it was towards the end of the day and these two people were walking on the other side of the street.  A teenage girl and a guy in his 40s/50s and I was just like "Heavenly Father, I really don't want to talk to these people, I am tired, the are going to say the same thing. what is the point.  

But I was like fine I will talk to them.  So I said hello and started to bring up family history.  I was super abrupt and not smooth at all but I didn't even care.  He said that family history is kind of hard in his broken up family but then he was like "wait are you the mormons?" "Yah"  He then was like "I am Brandon Kelly".  Back story on Brandon Kelly...He is a former investigator who we have been looking for forever.  He also is on parole too.  And we literally street contacted into him.  So I was like "Okay, Heavenly Father. Learned my lesson"  It was funny.  He was like "Man, I know that the church is true. People say that they are a cult and crazy but whatever that stuff doesn't matter anymore because I know it to be true."  He was super hurt though because he couldn't be baptized because he is on parole.  He was like "Yah, I stopped going because I was hurt.  He was like yah now I am just going to a little Church on the Rock and I know it isn't even true.  I mean everything has truth but you have the fullness".  So we are meeting with him tonight hopefully.

Story 4: Chasing Bulls

We went over to the Joslins last night.  They live in Whitebird which is literally a town of maybe 90 people off the side of the highway in a caynon.  So we were sitting down and then apparently a bull got out and so everyone got up.  Cassidy (the 16 year old) got on her boots and Ryan and his friend went outside.  We were just sitting there on the couch with Sister Joslin and we were just like what is even happening.  Then the friend, Quentin came in and was like you can come watch on the porch if you would like"  So we went outside and Cassidy is on this super steep hill with the bull and her dog trying to chase it down the hill.  Quentin then decides to climb up the hill but the bull turns and starts coming towards him, so that was scary.  And then Sister Joslin made Ryan go up in his pickup and try to help them.  The bull came down before Ryan got there.  Then apparently the bull broke the fence so they just fixed it right there and then.  Then everyone came back inside and I was just like where even am I.  I love the Joslins though.  They really are amazing people.  It is sad that Sister Packer is leaving because everyone loves us :)

It's Snowing!

Nicole's Letter:

It is literally snowing so hard right now.  I am trying so hard to love snow and coldness right now! One day maybe I will :)

This week....my brain always goes blank when I am sitting down writing an email.

Well, highlight was conference! We had our own personal viewing at the church. Yah, kind of sad that no one came but oh well.  Disappointment never got anyone no where.

We spend most of our time in Tamarak Apartments or at least we go there everyday.  It is a community housing project, kind of.  This week we went to Crystal, David and Paxtons.  Crystal is a single mother with two boys David (12) and Paxton (5).  We read with them almost everynight and then say family prayer.  Paxton is literally my favorite person ever! He said the prayer one night and it was so cute! They definitely feel the spirit that we bring into their home because it for sure isn't there when we get there.  But they are doing their best.  Paxton asked me one night what we did that day and I said that we just talked to people and he was like all day? I replied yes.  Then a couple days later we were back in Tamarak but trying someone else and Paxton was riding his scooter.  We asked what he was doing and he just said "Talking to people...All day long" It was super funny.  They never want us to leave or at least the boys don't.

Then we had another lesson with Wynona who is a 60 year Native American.  We meet her at the library and this time we shared the Plan of Salvation.  She was like "wow I have never heard any of this before but this all makes sense"  But she thinks that she just hasn't understood anyone before us.  But that was cool.

Then we went to Whitebird again last night.  We went to a couple's home.  The wife isn't a member and the husband is less active.  Let's just say we sat there for 40 minutes getting told that we are brainwashed.  I think that he pulled out every single question/doubt/anything he could think of.  We just sat there.  We shared a easter message and a scripture from the bible and I was like okay he can't argue about anything that we just shared because it was literally a scripture about the Prince of Peace and the titles of Christ but I was wrong.  It was funny after that he was like "You know there are people that worship the devil and they are just as convinced as you that they are believing in the right stuff".  He said that he thinks he should just make his own religion, Joaquinism, so look out for that...probably be big news, just kidding.  They were super nice and it was fun talking to them.

Then we went to the Joslins in Whitebird as well.  They honestly are so cute.  It is a less active mom and her two kids.  They love talking to us and telling us stories. Last night they showed us stuff that they have made.  The mom actually crochets really amazing blankets and cute
animals.  

  

at dinner the kids put on our stuff

me after doing service in some ladies yard, trying to get a ton of poop of my shoe.

dream house

Sister Mitchell and I and then coming home, all nice and cozy but we just had cafe rio so i was completely happy :) 

More picture from the temple

Random Hightlights

Pictures: At the temple, view from the drive from the temple to Moscow. 

View and me on the way home from dinner on Sunday. Pictures that don't do the beauty justice!

Nicole's Letter:

"Random Highlights"

March 27, 2017

Some highlights from this week:

Monday night we were going to Cottonwood which is a small town in our area.  We were trying this address which appeared in the Ward List 6 times.  So we were driving out in the country and Sister Packer and I were wondering who we should ask for since there were 6 completely different names living at this one address.  And as we were talking there was a sign that said "Cottonwood Bute Ski area" and there was a cartoon on the sign that was in jail clothes which we thought was kinda of funny/sad since we know that Cottonwood has a jail we just have never found it.  Then we saw the sign for the jail and turned down the road still thinking that the house would be before the jail.  But then all of sudden everything started clicking that the address was the jail.  So that was funny that we didn't connect it.  Actually probably it isn't even funny to you, had to be there.

Tuesday: Drove to Lewiston again for exchanges so I spent the day in Lewiston which was fun!

Wednesday: Had interviews with President which was way good.  He talked a ton about Post Falls which was good I guess.  But I love President and Sister Dymock, they are the best!!  Then we had Zone Conference after interviews which was amazing!! Everything was way good!

Thursday: Drove back to Grangeville and had a lesson with Rachael who is a cute 9 year old.  Her mom is a returning less active member.  It was a fun lesson.  Rachael had two of her friends over. 

Friday: TEMPLE! We drove to Pullman, Washington and met up with the sister there which one of them was Sister Mitchell ( MTC comp) so it was way fun!  We met them on the WSU campus and it is such a pretty campus! And there were so many people!! Sister Packer and I felt so out of place! We were like two kids from Grangeville take on the big city.  The car ride was super fun! And then the temple was super nice and we got Cafe Rio afterwards which was a highlight of the transfer.  I had been craving it for such a long time! Then we drove back to grangeville.  Spent about 7.5 hours in the car that day. 

Saturday: General Women's session which was so good! I love conference so much!!!!

Sunday: We had the best dinner ever! It was probably the best baked potato ever (honestly don't know how she made it), then they bbq some chicken and had a nice salad.  For dessert we had vanilla icecream with homemade chocolate sauce.  And their house was so cute.  It is 20 mins from grangeville.  The view was part prairie part mountains.  And we were talking before dinner in the kitchen and outside the kitchen window there were 5 horses galloping together with the green grass and mountains.  It was like she had a live backdrop in her window.  We went over to the Joslins (PMF).  They live in Whitebird.  Driving there it is like the land of desolation.  But then it is pretty.  Anyways we got there and they showed us their dogs and horse.  Then told us tons of hunting stories.  They were pretty funny.  It is like I am on the western frontier still.  Then we had a lesson which was super good.  So their mom is a less active member and Ryan who is like 20 and his sister Cassidy (16) are not members.  Their dad passed away a little over a year ago who wasn't a member and not supportive.  So Cassidy is super hesitant about learning and meeting because she wants to respect her dad but Ryan seems open.  They are such nice people! When we were driving away I just thought how weird it is that I can love someone/a family so much that I don't even know.  

Groundhog's Day

Nicole's Letter:

"Groundhog's Day"

3/20/2017

Another week in Grangeville, Idaho.

Just picture Groundhogs day and you have my life :)
But seriously this week we were just walking down the street and there was no one out and we were just like if we knocked on that door again the same lady would answer it and probably say the exact same thing when we asked for Crista "She is sleeping and sick" Slam door.  Or if we knocked on another door the same response about how there mom is getting ready for work, it is a bad time.  It is kind of funny.  

On Saturday it was so windy!! People were saying that the wind was suppose to be like 20 mph.  So we were just walking around and the wind was so strong, I got something in my eye.  I was walking around blind half the day.  And when we would knock on a door and I would try to open both eyes long enough for our conversation and then I would have to close it again! It was bad.

We went to Whitebird on Saturday.  It is a small town like not even 100 people in it, in our area.  We were trying to find this PMF and we actually found them!! We were kind of scared because the address that we thought it was, was just an old warehouse but then we plugged it into Sister Packer's GPS and so it told us to continue.  We continued on this super narrow road on the mountain and finally we found a house and there was a no trespassing sign so we were worried that they would be mad but they weren't so that was good! And leaving there house was super sketchy because it was dark and we took the wrong turn which made us be in a really narrow road on the side of a cliff but we realized it when there was a little more room to turn around so it was all good!

It rained as well this week.  But it was good.  We tried umbrellas one day, lasted about 5 minutes and then they broke (it was just an old one in the apartment) So hoods it was!

This week we laughed a lot because sometimes that is what you gotta do!

Love you all!

sorry don't have much this week :)

My Companion just reminded me of a funny story.  So we had like 10 minutes before our next plan so we were going to try this name on the ward list that didn't have anything next to it.  Sister Packer was like what if they are active and we don't know it? I was like they probably aren't.  And then she was like What if they let us in?  I was like they probably won't.  And so we knocked on the door and this old man answered and was like Hello! You are just in time for fried chicken! Come on in! We just had to laugh and then after talking to them for a while we realized that they were totally active ha.  Missions are kind of really funny.  Literally, random strangers just let you into their homes and then tell you their whole life story.  It is pretty crazy to think about sometimes.

Lewiston Zone Conf 3-22-17

It better be a little hard

Nicole's Letter:
"It better be a little hard"
Monday, March 13th, 2017

This week was good!  We spent almost half of the week in Lewiston! We left early Friday morning to go to Zone Training and then the zone leaders told us that President said that we should just stay until Sunday since we had Stake Conference, so we had a fun weekend in Lewiston! It was so nice to be around other missionaries and people! I loved it!  And it was warm!! On Friday we just joined with the other sisters and went with them to some of their lessons.  

Then on Saturday we got handed a list of people to go see and we just went by ourselves around Clarkston.  It was fun! We went to a person named Karmen and good thing her finance caught us before we walked into their front gate because they had pitbulls that are mean and so he put them away before we got eaten.  And earlier this week this dog chased us so I was already annoyed at dogs.  But Karmen was super nice and we talked to her for a bit.  She has a lot of pain in her life and I just wanted to express how much the gospel of Jesus Christ can help her with her loss and pain in her life.  Then we tried some other people.  One was a house and we were walking up and I looked down and saw a dog leash and my eyes followed it to a dog house that we were just about to walk by and right when my brain was connecting everything, a mean dog came out and starting barking and chasing us off the property so that ended that house.  Then we tried a former and this old lady answered the door.  Her name is Devita Louise.  It was probably the most confusing conversation I have ever had.  I tried so hard to follow her but it just wasn't working.  She said that she had all of her family sitting on her couch and that they would love to talk to us and then she said that it is always bad when the voices come.  She definitely wasn't all there or I was just super lost.  Who knows.  And so I invited her to church but then I realized that I was in Clarkston and had no clue where the church was so she was like where is it?  Luckily the Clarkston sisters gave Sister Packer a card with the address on it but Devita was like I don't think that is where it is.  I was like I think it is there... she looked at me and was like you probably should find out, that's pretty important.  Haha yah, probably Devita.  And then before Stake Conference we got fries and burgers.  Then Stake Conference was so good!! Elder Nielson, the head of the missionary department came and President and Sister Dymock as well :) After that we went back to the Clarkston sisters apartment and had rootbeer floats!

Then Sunday stake conference was super good! We had just a missionary meeting before with Elder Nielson.  He talked about the enabling power of the atonement.  I wish I could share everything that I learned! But one take away is that we came to earth to be 1) Get a body 2) To be tried and tested

The redeeming power of the atonement helps us overcome the weaknesses that come from being mortal and having a body.  The enabling power of the atonement helps us through our trials.  We all have loads that we have to carry.  We have loads every day that we have to bear but we don't have to do it alone and it is the load that allows us to become who we are meant to be and to make us more like the Savior.  But so many times when we get a trial and challenge we freak out but that is why we are here.  We have challenges to stretch us and make us into our full potential.  I love the scripture Mosiah 24:15.  How they did submit cheerfully to all the will of the Lord.  When we do this the heavens will open.  That is hard to do.  To submit our will to His but it is worth it.  The ultimate example is the Savior in the garden of Gethsemane.  He knew what he signed up for, just like we all did and he even said "O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt."  Yet, unlike most of us he added at the end "not as I will, but as thou wilt".  So many times I just pray to have something change but I am starting to change my prayers and asking for strength to get through something or look at a challenge and ask what am I suppose to learn from this. Christ wanted it to pass but he knew the eternal perspective, He submitted to the will of the Father and I will be eternally grateful for that.

Love 

Sister Stevenson

Sorry, that was long and probably didn't even make sense but hopefully you got something out of it. 

yep, wasn't joking about being in the middle of nowhere

​me and sister packer

Last sunday when sister packer was sick and we watched the district

Grangeville, Idaho

Nicole's Letter:

The last couple of weeks I had been thinking about how nice it would be to have been called to a foreign mission, well God answers prayers.  I am in Grangeville, Idaho.  It is small.  There are 3,000 people in it and there is only one stop light.  In fact it is the only stop light in all of Idaho County, so that is a big deal.  

We are even getting the foreign mission sickness because of our water.  Our water at our apartment is super cloudy and white, which is probably just the oxygen but then when it clears a little there are definitely little floaties.  Sister Packer got the stomach flu and was throwing up yesterday.  She is such a trooper.  We bore our testimonies and while we were on the stand she leaned over and said that she was going to throw up.  We then sat back down after and then went to the bathroom in the church and she definitely did throw up.  After she had thrown up, I was looking in the other stall and there was a little girl just sitting on the toilet looking mortified, it was funny and sad all at the same time.   

Sister Packer is my new companion and she is awesome!!! She has been out a transfer but seems like she has been out for longer than me!  This week there have been some funny moments that probably won't even make sense to you but I will try to explain a few..

We were knocking on this door and an old lady opened it.  We were looking for a part member family and we asked her if she needed any help and if she would be interested in hearing a message.  1) She couldn't hear so I felt that I was screaming and the whole neighbor could hear me and then 2) She was like Well, I gotta go and mid sentence her dentures fell out.  I was going to barf. haha it was funny.

Then we were trying to find this guy named Tuck.  The Elders said that he lived in the white house on the corner by the school.  So we walked to the school and all the houses were white...thanks elders.  So we started knocking asking for a Tuck.  Literally no one knows him but we found Wynona.  She is a 60 something year old lady and she is funny.  Some quotes from here were "Whether I be an alien or not, I am just glad to be here" Then she met the bishop and after she was so excited and was like that was better than shaking the President's hand.  When she walked into the chapel she shook everyone's hand and was like "I'm glad to be here".  And going through the halls.  She also made a 15 minute comment in class too, it was okay it was just gospel principles.  But the lesson we had with her was good.  We just had it outside the library and it was funny.  She went off so many tangents but she was like this all makes sense like it rings true.  We asked her if she wanted to follow Jesus' Christ example and be baptized and she was like well yahhh

She also compared getting the Book of Mormon (the first time-not when we gave her one in the lesson but previously) to someone handing her porn, so that was interesting.  Didn't really know what to say to that haha.

I miss Post Falls a ton.  I really did love the people there and I am afraid that they are just going to be forgotten.

LOVE,

SISTER STEVENSON