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

Transfer Complete!

Nicole's Letter:

"Season 2 Finale... wait, what?"

February 27, 2017

 So I am getting transferred to Grangeville, Idaho and I am second-training (that means that she has only been out one transfer and is still in training).  My stomach is kind of in knots just thinking about it.  I feel so bad for her, she is getting a trainer that has only been out 4 1/2 months and I have no clue what I am doing.  I was really freaking out (wanted to barf) after President called to ask if I would be willing to train but then this morning I realized that freaking out does nothing in life.  Also, I know that God will strengthen me beyond my own capabilities.  That is probably what I have learned the most this transfer is that the enabling power of the Atonement is real (Elder Bednar has a really good talk about it that everyone should look up- I can't remember the name but he gave it before he was an apostle at a BYU devotional).  I know that I could not have done this transfer on my own and with mine own strength.  God really does lift you up and helps you through the hard times.  I mean there were still some really low lows but I just can't even imagine those lows without God.  In the talk Elder Bednar states that "The Atonement is not just for the sinners but it is for good men to become better".  God gave me strength this transfer and I just have to have faith that He will do that again this next transfer.  I am so scared ahh!

Also, a little bit about Grangeville.  It is in the outerspace of the mission.  We looked it up on the GPS last night and it is 300 miles away from Post Falls.  Three hours away from the mission home in Spokane and it is the largest geographical area in the mission.  I am literally going from the smallest (we can walk the distance of our area in like an hour) to the largest (where it takes hours to drive the distance of the area).  It should be pretty interesting.  

I have to admit I am a bit sad to leave Post Falls and the people.  We said goodbye to some people last night.  But the Elders that are taking over our people are good (well one was just the AP and the other one is a newbie) so that helps.  We went over to Larisa and Dennis's house last night and I love them so much! They are the best!  We taught the gospel and it was actually a really good lesson.  They are living together and afterward Larisa turns to Dennis and just says "We have to get married.  We are living in sin, like just playing house together".  Dennis was like "No we are just roommates" Haha but they both know they need to start acting.  Yesterday after sacrament meeting one of the members (his wife has been taught by the missionaries) told us that his wife has picked a date and she is being baptized on March 18.  She is out of town right now but she finally knows when her mom is able to come up for the baptism.  So that is super exciting!!! They are awesome people, we love them! Sad that I am leaving though.

​Jen and Tom- they are pretty great, I love them! They fed us every Sunday this transfer which was the first for them.  Tom wanted us over every Sunday and Jen was super surprised.  They are so fun.  We meet them the first Sunday of the transfer and before meeting them I was freaking out because the Elders that were teaching Tom told us that Jen hates Sisters and was not happy that she was getting sisters but she likes us :)

Jordan (Dennis's son made us some sweet spray paint art) 

The effects of freezing fog.

​pretty skies after a lesson at the church a couple weeks ago

​Us cooking fish that some old lady gave us.  Sometimes I just laugh at the things that happen on a mission.  We were teaching an old lady-she has let us in once so we just teach at the door.  And one day she was like "do you like fish"  We were like yah and so she was like wait her I have fish for you!  And then she was up fumbling around for ever and I was like "Shirley, we don't need that much"  And she shushed me! So we walked home with a couple of pounds of fish that day!

​My district (minus one elder that just got made AP so he wasn't there for our last district meeting)

​The finish product of our fish, thanks to Shirley for the fish 

​This might be a pointless picture to you but you do not even know how happy this makes me.  I have never loved the sun so much! Had to take a picture since it is a rare sighting to see the sun.

​Then naturally we had to take a picture of us on that sunny day :)

​Us at CDA lake last pday.

​Some sisters in my zone...and yes ponytails are not my thing, I look like I am balding, promise I'm not

​Tom came and dropped off a pie at church for Sister Lake's birthday last week.  He walked into the front of the class with this huge pie box.  He brought his friend as well it was funny.  But the pie was so GOOD!

One more photo of my going away present that Sister Lake drew for me :) 

Here comes the sun. . . Not!

Nicole's Letter:
Feb. 20, 2017
"Here comes the Sun. . . NOT!"

It has been snowy and wet this entire week!!!

One day it was SUNNY and it was the GREATEST!! I have never loved the sun so much in my entire life! This week was good! Well, what else can I say :)

So we are still in Post Falls and nothing is going to happen until the end of the transfer which is next week! Funny thing is that the area that President was talking about that we were going to go to is Post Falls 1st ward which is one of the wards that the Elders in our district have.  So President was right about us already having a place to stay and everything.  It was funny how we found out.  We were in district meeting and were talking about transfers and they were asking us what we think will happen.  I said that I am out of here and then Sister Lake kind of hinted at that something was happening and then they basically called it all.  The Elders were like oh so you are the sisters that President was talking about!

The more that I am out here the more I yearn to learn of the Savior.  The more He becomes real to me.  It's like I knew Him before (I did) but I am starting to remember that.  I am starting to remember that He really is my older brother.  He really did suffer and die for me.  He really did live His life perfectly, that I might follow His example.  This is making me search the scriptures more.  I am starting to read the New Testament and I love it.  I can't stop reading it.  The more I want to read about Him and his life.  And the more I read, the more He becomes apart of me.  He is truly our older brother.  He is our Savior and He is the Son of God.

Ward Conference was this week and it was so good! Sundays are the best!! One of our investigators came to church, to the last two hours! It was Sister Lake's birthday so his wife, who is a member, texted him and he brought a cake and his friend to church. It was funny.  They feed us every Sunday which is super nice. Last night we had ribs and stuffed mushrooms.  It was so GOOD!

For Sister Lake's birthday I made heart shaped pancakes, well tried at least and made a post it note sign in the shape of 21 and wrote 21 reasons why I love Sister Lake.  Hopefully it was a good one for her :)  

A lot of people were busy this week but this week is another week.  

LOVING LIFE

SISTER STEVE

It just keeps getting better. . .

Nicole's Letter:

"It Just Keeps Getting Better"

February 13, 2017

This week we had interviews with President and Sister Dymock, we now are going to have them every transfer.  They are seriously the best.  I love them! We found out our area could be changed up and we might be moved out. We will see when that happens.

We had another lesson with Brooklyn, the 13 year old, who's parents are less active.  She really wants to get baptized but she and her brother promised when they were little that they would do it together but now her brother wants nothing to do with it.  So hopefully we will have a lesson with her tonight but her mom is out of town for a week or so.  We are going to go to her dad's house but he has bailed on us so many times since Sister Ireland has left, he loved her.

Then we had two more lessons with Julie.  It was good.  She reads for the Strength of Youth every night to her family.  She loves that book!  

I was reading in the New Testament the other day.  Everyone go look up Matthew 14.  Oh man it hit me.  So just imagine, Jesus Christ just got word that John the Baptist got beheaded, his cousin/friend.  Jesus probably just wants to be alone for a little bit.  He goes away yet the multitude follows him.  And then Jesus has compassion on them.  After all that, I mean I can only imagine the emotions Jesus was feeling.  If it were me, I would have made it a point to me alone, maybe yell at them to go away, something.  Yet, Christ looked outward, even in the midst of hardship.  That is truly being Christlike, when we look outward when we want and probably have all the right to look inward.  It made me want to be better.  No matter how lonely, frustrated, tired, impatient I feel, I want to look outwards.  I know I can with the Savior.  Just a thought from this week.

Love you all!!!

Sis Steve