Settling Down

I arrived home on Thursday October 20th safe and sound, but still suffering from jet lag. I got to travel with two of my past companions, Siser Ockey and Sister Smith. We arrived in LAX Thursday and after customs we had to seperate Sister Ockey off to Utah and Sister Smith off to Washington. Then as I seperated from them soon saw... heard my family calling, my niece Emma calling, "TATI!!!" I then was clobbered with hugs and questions, it was a happy momment. After we put my luggage in the van, we went back into the airport to find Sister Ockey and Smith, which we did. We helped them find there right gates. Then I said good-bye to my last companions, and went straight to In-N-Out, of course, and had some great burgers!

Life at home has been pretty normal, sleeping a lot, to over come the dengue fever effects and jet-lag. Now I have to work on my next adventure in life: LIFE! I need a drivers-lisence to start, some house-sitting jobs for some cash and maybe start community college in the spring.

Thank you for all the love, prayers, and support you all have given me through this last adventure of mine. I hope that we will again enjoy a new adventure soon. Stay tuned to know what and where is the next adventure for me, Tatiana Stephens.

Dengue Fever

Well . . . as you can tell, I'm out of the hospital and at the MRC for recovery... still very weak. I am doing much better, no more fevers, or body aches, but still covered in an ugly rash (but that's going away too), my stomach is still sensitive.
Dengue is a lot like having malaria. In fact, I thought I had malaria again! I was then rushed to the ER with a temperature of 102'F, vomiting and body-aches. They quickly took care of me, but I don't remember much, my head was in such a fog from the fever, but I do remember the missionary couple who were with me repeatedly asked me to speak in English cuz they didn't understand anything I was saying. I guess I was speaking in Tagalog the whole time and didn't realize. I then slept for 3 days under lots of pain meds and hydration fluids, every 3hrs a nurse would come in and take my BP, temp, and pulse, and every 12hrs some one would come in and take a vile or two of blood...
Well they figured out that I had Dengue and that I had been battling it for about 1 week before entering the hospital. It causes the platelet count in your blood to go way down, it also caused my potassium levels to go way down, and it attacked or weakened my liver and gallbladder, causing them to painfully swell. They then put me on an antibiotic drip which made me vomit a lot, but it sped up my improvment a lot and soon the rashes came which is the last stage of Dengue, a sign that it's all going to be over soon. But the doctors were at a loss as to what to do about my liver and gallbladder...

The doctor came in one day and seemed curious about my 'allergy' (hyper-sensitivity) to potatoes. After some talking, and some thought, the doctor then concluded that I am a celiac... i just responded with an "Oh man!" and he asked if i was familiar with it. I then explained that my mom and 2 little sisters were celiac. The doctor seemed suprised but more sure now. So they did some more blood tests and changed my diet. as soon as the diet was changed my recovery quickened. The doctor then explained that I (and probably all my siblings) HAVE celiac but it can be 'dormant' or only slightly active and not cause any serious or immediate health concerns, but it was there non-the-less, and because of the Dengue it was able to 'activate' and it is celiac that is attacking my liver and causing problems with my gallbladder. But if I stay on the gluten free diet (just like mom) there shouldn't be any more problems.
I'm so tired and weak I have to just rest. But I want to end healthy and hard working. Thank you all for ALL the prayers. I know they have helped me and the Lord has blessed me so that I can recover and start working again soon before I leave. Thank you, and love you all...
--Super Sister Stephens
ps: It's all ending so soon!!!!!! ayaw ko!!!!

Fun Little Angels

We had a great baptism this last week. We had 4 converts and 2 kids who are children of record (meaning one or more of their parents are members and they are active in the church so don't need to be taught by the missionaries) but all are ages 8-12 years old. It was so fun. They were like fun little angels all dressed in white and looking their bests! Lots of people came and the branch president's daughter was baptized too so they brought spaghetti and soda and chocolate muffins and buko-pie! (cocoanut-pie) It was so great, the spirit was there, everyone was happy and there were no mis-haps, it was just so great to see these kids share their testimonies and their desire to be good and to willingly follow the commandments, and to see their love for Jesus Christ and have reverence for His atonement. I know God will bless them for their willingness to follow Him. I know that God loves and blesses all His children (that's all of us) as we follow His commandments and become as a child, submissive, meek, humble, and pure in heart.
love you all,
--Sister Stephens
ps: See ya all in October!!!

My lasts...

This is it, the last transfer. I'm with my last companion, Sister Agraviador, still. My last area, Pangarap Branch. My last planner. L'll be having my last temple tour, and my last sessions in the Manila temple. My last chance to work as hard as I can as a designated servant of the Lord. The time is winding down... but it's not over yet! It ain't over till they force me on to the airplane on October 20!!!
This saturday we have a baptism of 6! 4 investigators and 2 children of record! It's going to be a great baptism! We have lots of goals for this area and lots of work to do!!!
Thank you all for all the prayers and support,
--Sister Stephens
PS Shout out: Thanks for the letters from: Erin Sprinkle {congratulations on 1 more bundle of poop, er.. i mean joy, you know baby!!! lol!}, of course from Nora my ever faithful pen pal {OMG!!!!! I would so write you but I think I would get home before the letter got to you so you are just going to have to wait, then we are going to talk all night!!!! eeeeeeeyyyyyyiiiiiiyaaaayyyy!!!!! I'm so exited for you!!! love you!!!!

It's That Time Again!! Transfer Time!

Transfer time!!!... and no I am not being transfered! So, I'll be here till I "die" in October. (heehee) That"s ok, we have some really good baptisms lined up this month and next! Sister Agarviador and I are the only sisters in the whole mission who aren't training... so we get to really focus and work hard till the end! I hope we find a lot of new families to teach and build the relationship with the branch a lot more.
On Saturday we had the baptism of Augusto, it went well and he really takes his new priesthood responsibilities seriously and is going to be a great example to his family.


There's been a lot of rain, it's actually going on to week two of rain every day.


I know that this work is HIS missionary work and that our message is for everyone and that it comes from HIM just for you and your family, I know this to be true.
mahal ko kayo,
--Sister Stephens

blog: Teaching and learning walk hand and hand, as we teach we should also learn and some of the best teachers are children. Right now we are teaching a few part member kids and it has been fun. They naturally want to learn to follow Jesus, they are so humble, and open. A young man named Jackson, is so smart and asks good questions and is so willing to learn. Another, named Alex came with us to the temple with his brother and loved it so much and felt it's importance so strongly that he told us he wanted to change his whole life, stop fighting with his brother and start listening to his mom, and spend more time at home, and not on the street, and that he wanted to go to church. The #1 thing he wanted to do with his life was to prepare to be worthy to enter the temple and to serve a mission. Alex did a beautiful 180 with his life so he can follow Jesus, Alex is 9 years old. All of these kids love the Lord and know he is real and have seen miracles already in their young lives. I know that if we watch children, under the direction of the Holy Ghost we will see the best teachers we can have and if we follow THEIR small simple examples we to can see miracles in our lives through our faith. If we become child-like: humble, meek, brave, trusting, loving, firm in mind, and the most important, obedient to God's commandments, I know we will be blessed.
love you all,
mahal po kayo,
--sister stephens

testimony

blog: This week was full of doctor appointments and ... rest for my companion. but on Saturday we did go to the temple with our investigators, who it seemed made a big impact on them, as we toured around the outside of the temple, even though they are so young, they were well behaved and they both came to church Sunday! i know that all the temples all over the world are houses of the Lord and that power is there and the ordinances or promises we make in the temple through the holy priesthood is for time and all eternity. i know that there is no other way for our families to reach eternity except through the temple of God. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that through him the key to heaven or the priesthood has been restored to the children of God here on the earth. and i know that it is through that priesthood Christ performed miracles and Peter and John continued to perform miracles and that only through the priesthood we can enter the gates to the Kingdom of God.
Love you all, Mahal ko kayo,
--Sister Stephens

Oh really, it's nothing!

Blog: Well, these last few weeks have been spent at the appartment, on splits with the other sisters, and going and coming from doctors appointments. Why? Oh, nothing really, one sister's ear started bleeding, my companion slipped and hurt her ankle, and I pinched my tendon in my right shoulder. Then my companion started getting dizzy spells and vomiting... oh man and it's not MY cooking, she's the one who cooks, cuz I'm too lazy. But everything has been mostly worked out, the anti-biotics worked well and her ear is going to be fine and I got an injection straight into my tendon of thick white syrum of about 3cc's which hurt like, holy-guacamole- shoot-me-in-the-face -patay-ako-dyan!!!! and it still hurts but Doc says in 3 days there wont be any more pain. My companion has an MRI appointment tomorrow for her ankle... yeah...
we are struggling but we do have some good investigators, most of them are kids of part-member families. My favorite is Jackson, the smallest 12 year old ever, but he is so smart and asks good questions and you can tell he really wants to understand and learn before he makes the commitment which to me is fine, it insures a quality convert! I also have my fair share of challenges here, besides all the ailments we are teaching a 9yr old who is definitely ADHD so I have to come up with very creative ways to teach so he pays attention and remembers what we teach, but it's all little by little.
Oh, and Sister Ockey and Sister Smith and I are all going home together, Oct 20, we are excited!!! they get to leave me at LAX or I'm leaving them... hahaha!!!
well that's all for this week, till next,
--Sister Stephens
PS shout-out: Thanks to Sister Amanda Hawkes for the letter, and ... Sister Ockey pala!

new area, yet old

blog: So, yes I have been moved again... back to SJDM!!!!! or San Jose Del Monte! Back in February I was here with sister Ockey and now I'm back but in the neighboring branch of Pangarap! I'm having fun here with my follow-up trainee. It is fun to see old friends again here. I hope to keep working hard for my trainee, to teach her how to be a good missionary and do the work of the Lord!!!! I hope I do a good job. I don't want to be trunkee ever but it's hard when everyone keeps asking when you're going home and keeps reminding you how soon it is! I wish they wouldn't ask and let me focus on just working hard!

Next week I'll try to have more stories for you all! Now starts a new chapter in Sister Stephens mission BUT it is not yet the last chapter!


love you all,
--Sister Stephens

Transfer Time and Extention of Mission

Blog: It's finally transfer time and I'm finally being transfered!!! I've been in this area since March 3rd! March, April, May, June, July, finally I'm moving! One last area before I go home!!! My extention was approved and my new exit day is now Oct 20, 2011!!!

I'll miss the people here in this area but I know they are in the Lord's hands and I willingly go where the Lord calls me, even though sometimes it's so hard. I've made some good friends here and will miss them dearly, but time moves on and the work must go forward!

I know that this is the Lord's work and that as we follow the Holy Ghost, he will guide us in all things that we should do and give us comfort in the things that are hard. We should all delight in the scriptures and read them daily, delight in prayer and conversing with our Father who is in heaven, and delight in sharing our testimonies, to help others gain and ours to grow! I know that this Church is the true Church of Jesus Christ and that He has only one Church and if we follow Him, His commandments, His principles, His way, we will have eternal life and everlasting happiness. I know that there is no other way.

Love you all, hope to hear from you soon,
--Sister Stephens

Teaching in My Sleep

This week was pretty normal, we went to the temple on Tuesday and on Saturday we had our first temple tour as Quezon City North Mission! We had great weather, hot!
Sister Lubrido and I are working hard. Here in the Philippines that means trying to get to all your appointments before the end of the day, fighting off dogs, dirty puddles of water, and TRAFFIC!!! But, we average 5 lessons a day out of about 7 goal lessons, so that's pretty good! We are teaching so much I even teach in my sleep! In tagalog!!!! Last night it was about prayer and the atonement... yes, in my sleep, scriptures run through my head as I explain the importance of prayer to my imaginary investigator!!! I'm so tired!!! But teaching is so fun! I'd rather have a full day of teaching and be bone tired, dirty and sweaty, then a day with only one lesson, and dirty and sweaty! There are so many people and so little time to teach them all!!! I'm really loving it!!!
Hope things are well for you all ... if not, pray and I know God will help you if you but have a little faith in Jesus Christ! Call upon your Heavenly Father and tell him your troubles and your joys, in the name of Jesus Christ, and He will bless you!!!
Love you all, mahal kita,
-Sister Stephens
ps: Next week is transfers... finally! (I've been here for 5 months!!!)

Another great week! hears a little sneak-peek in to my awesome week!

Monday: Preparation Day! always good and no rain! we also visited ol' brother billy, who recently forgave his wife for leaving him (they are now "re-dating") and he is preparing to enter the temple!

Tuesday: We wake at 6:30am and study then head out to work and we found 4 new people interested in listening and learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ!!!

Wednesday: Again we wake at 6:30am and study, then head out to work but this day one of our recently baptised young men came with us! This was his first time working with the missionaries and was very exited and gave a great testimony at each lesson!

Thursday: again we wake at 6:30am and study, then head out to work, this day was some what normal except that it started to rain again. This day ended with a fabulous meal of chicken curry!!

Friday: It was still raining but luckily Friday is weekly planning day, where we stay in our house till 2pm, planning for the next weeks appointments and baptisms.

Saturday: Best day! again we wake at 6:30am and study, then head out to work, we visited 3 less active families and found more people to teach and then... Sister Ina was baptized!!! we had a great baptism and Ina was so ready, she had been waiting and preparing for this day for a long while, she was so happy, the day finally came!!! i was so happy, i had been teaching and helping and encouraging her through her problems and life trials since march. i was so happy it was so wonderful!!! and even though it was raining i took her out for icecream afterwards to celibrate!!!

Sunday: also a good day church starts at 8am and there is Ina ready to be confirmed a member and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost!!! and we had nine other investigators at church!!!!

What a great week!!! well till next week, mahal kita!!!
--Sister Stephens
ps: can you believe that I wake at 6:30am or earlier every day!!?!! lol!!!

The rain came down . . . .

Blog: Well it rained this week it rained and rained and rained! all the streets were flooded and we had to walk through knee to waist deep water just to leave our neighborhood! but it was fun but it did reduce how many people we saw this week! but we still had a great baptism and the youth sang a very special number! it was a great week filled with opportunities to help and to share! I know that if we all pray for opportunities to serve others and share the gospel with them that God will give us those opportunities! and that we can help change lives, lift each other up, and be filled with charity for each other, for charity is the pure love of Christ.
love you all,
--Sister Stephens
PS: the mission is officially splitting this friday and i will have yet another Mission President! President Sperry! isn't the mission so much fun!!!

Happy Father's Day and RC/Las

Blog: 1st: Happy Fathers Day Dad!!! i have a card for you ... it will be late. :)
2nd: Happy Birthday to Tiare, Carl, and Cat!!! hope you guys had good parties, i'll try to make the next one! hahaha!!!
3rd: Instead of September i might be coming home in October! with the mission split i may receive a 3 week extension!!!!!!!!!!!!!! but ... it's not final yet, but i hope so!!!

RC/LAs= Recent Converts and Less Actives. It is required of us missionaries to visit RC/LAs every week to encourage and enlighten and teach, all of them have all ready been baptized and confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ and have the gift of the Holy Ghost but for one reason or another they do not always go to church or do not yet understand all Christs principles of living or may have some other problem and need help. anyways we always try to encourage them, to help their faith and testimonies grow. we have been teaching an RC/LA family for sometime, they had stopped coming to church. we are also teaching the sister of the husband, who is not yet baptized. I've been in this area almost 4 months and the sister comes to church every week but the members never did. finally the sister told them they need to go to church! This last sunday their whole family was there, they were so happy, we also had 2 other Less Active families come to church, our newly baptised and ordained Aaronic Deacon passed the sacrement for the first time and many of our other RCs were there and 7 investigators, and our Gospel Principles class had about 20 people! what a great Fathers Day! what a great Sabbath Day!!! Alam ko ito ay totoong simbahan ni Jesucristo at sapamagitan pagsimba pwede tayo makakaroon ng mga biyaya galing sa diyos, at maging malapit sa kanya. i love seeing others exercise their faith in Jesus Christ and come closer to him by coming to church to honor and remember him! i know that we will all be blessed as we diligently seek the Lord by going to church weekly and partaking the sacrament!!! Love it!

Mahal kita,
--Sister Stephens

Busy, busy week

Busy, busy, busy... This week was GREAT even though it was busy and we didn't get all the lessons we wanted and I was sick as a dog on friday with a flu bug but we had THREE baptisms!!!! ONE completed family, and we went to the temple and we had an awesome zone conference and we had a good coordination meeting with the ward and the members are getting more involved and things are just great and we have high hopes for this week!!!

This week at church a woman spoke about testimonies, I really likes it. My thought: In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints we use the word testimony a lot, it's something very important and personal to us, and every 1st sunday we have the opportunity to share it with other members. In Tagalog the word 'Testimony' is 'Pag-totoo', derived from the word 'Katotohanan' which means 'Truth'. In court they use the word testimony also, it's used when a person is to tell their part of the story as truth. But in Church our testimonies are not for one time purposes, but are to be gained, and maintained. We gain a testimony of the truths of God by following His commandments and principles. Through our commitment to be obedient to His commandments we gain a testimony of that commandment or principle and its followed blessings. We maintain the testimony by continually following the commandments, praying, reading the scriptures (particularly the Book of Mormon) and through sharing our testimony with others. When we do these things we feel an increased desire to continue. God will put our testimonies to the test through adversity and trials, if we stay true to our testimony or to the truth, God will bless us and we will feel an increase of light, truth and clarity in our lives.

I know that I have a testimony of this Church. I know that it is true and that God lives and loves us, I know that Christ lives and that he is our Savior and that only through him can we return to our Father in heaven. I know we have a living prophet, who is a servant of Jesus Christ, the founder of this Church. I know the prophet receives guidance for us, and as we follow his guidance we will receive blessings in this life and eternal life here after. This is the truth that I know. I believe we should all try to find God's truth and know it for ourselves and gain a testimony.

love you and thank you for your support,
--Sister Stephens
PS shout out: Thank you Elder Stephens for your letter and Emma Rose!!! for you wonderful picture and letter!!!! thank you!!!!

I No Speak No English!

Blog: So i don't have a new area but i have a new companion!!! Sister Lubrido is only my 3rd pilippina companion but my 7th all together comp. She is from ilo-ilo, and is really sweet! we get a long really well. we are co-Sr's, so we share the responsibilities, she is quick to laugh, humble, obedient, and kind. she has a strong testimony and we work well together. i feel like we are going to get a lot of work done this transfer!!! we have had a lot of fun just in the last 4days! i feel this is a great opportunity for me to work on and improve my Tagalog even more! last Sunday we had an American visitor from Utah come to our ward, i kept talking to him in tagalog! He doesn't know ANY tagalog at all it was soooo hard to speak straight english! what am i going to do when i go home!!!?!!! kawawa kayo na kailagan na makikinig sa akin. i also spoke in sacrament for the first time on my mission, in tagalog cuz i don't know how in english! then we had a stake fireside for missionary work and i was in charge of 'games' so i had them make 3 groups and grab hands of the opposite persons from them, you know, "the Knot" then you all get untangled and form a circle holding hands. after a ll that we all talked about team work and communication. then i shared Mosiah 18:9, 28 about choosing to help each other and share our testimonies. it went really well! :}

I love the Lord, I love this work and i know that we all have the Lords promise that if we ask him and seek his guidence, he will help us in the ways a righteousness and on the path to a happy life and an Eternal Life! (3Nephi 27:28-29)

Love you all,
-Sister Stephens
ps shout out!!!: Mama Nikk, thanks for the cherries of thought, and Nora of course always pulling through for me with a sweet/yummy package! and thank you for the letter i really needed it and will write you back, promise!!!

Transfers and new district!

Blog: We had a baptism!!!! last week it's so amazing to see the change in peoples lives! Sister Nene is an amazing woman, single mom with 4 grown kids, she is a great example and leader in her family and you can really see the change, the light in her eyes from the Holy Ghost! i love this work! and i get to stay here one more transfer! we should have lots of baptisms this next transfer! Sister Schostak will be transferring (my 'little' girls al'grown up...) don't know yet who will be my new companion! But it is now official that i am in Quezon City North Mission! yep i'm gonna be a first missionary in QC North and this will be my 3rd mission President! it'll be fun i want to work hard and kick this mission off with a running pace! i know that this is the Lords work and that he loves all his children and that this work is to invite all people to follow Christ and enter the kindom of God!!!
--Sister Stephens

Mom i heard rumor that everyone in QC North will be getting a 3 week extension!!! woot woot!!! love you mom keep up the hard work and trust and follow the Lord and in the last days you WILL find rest in him!
-S.S.

One More Week Till . . . . .

Blog: One more week... till transfers and we find out what mission I'll be in!!!! yeah our mission is splitting next transfer so i might be in Quezon City OR Quezon City North!?!!!! anything can happen!!!!so this week went fine Sister Nene was interviewed for baptism and will be baptized this Wednesday morning so her family can come! Nene is a strong mother and will be a good example to her now grown children. Last week was a typhoon so it cooled a little but this week is all toasty hot again! we have a couple of challenging investigators right now, keeps me on my toes, and we had lots of investigators come to church!!!!

How Hot Is It?
"Wheew I've sweated through my shirt already!" groaned Sister Schostack.
"Yes you have." agreed Sister Stephens. They could feel the heat seep through their shoes from the smoldering cement. Heat waves were only ten feet away. The sun happily beat upon them. Sister Stephens squints up at Sister Schostak, "Well shall we leave the shade of our apartment?"
"Yeah, but we might be burnt pieces of toast by the time we get to our appointment."
Love ya!
-Sister Stephens
Ps: shout out to Dallas thanks for the letter I'll try to write back later today!

Happy Mother's Day!

Blog: This week was good despite the storm, we were able to visit 11 less active families!!!! and through that we were able to teach their family who are not yet baptized and we now have 2 new baptismal dates for part member/former investigators!!! they were taught by the elders before but didn't continue for one reason or another but have expressed to us that they wish continue and to be baptized! we are very excited! Through these individuals the families will not yet be completed but it's a step in completing them in the future still!!!! things are good, no mishaps and no problems.
It was so good to hear from the family. Something i learned on my mission is even if your life gets crazy and uncertain we need to stick to the basics, reading and praying as individuals and as a family! it was so good to hear that even in these times of trail our family isn't falling appart but supporting each other and continuing to spend quality time together (dinner at grandma's) i love you all, and can't wait to see me nieces again and help out the family, but as of now i am happy to give this sacrifice to help the building of the kingdom of heaven on earth and to invite our brothers and sisters to come and dwell with us in the kingdom of God. I know that everyone is our spirit brothers and sisters and no matter where they are in this world they deserve to know the truth of God! Love you all and wish you all the best! HAPPY MOTHERS DAY MOM YOUR AMAZING AND GREAT!!!!!!
--Sister Stephens

What A Week!!!

blog: What a week!!! we had a great Zone Training, on tuesday and learned a lot about how to be better teachers and missionaries! then on Saturday was the 50 year anniversary Jubilee for the Church here in the Philippines!!! there was singing and dancing! oh it was so cool they had a bunch of native dances perfomed by over 3000 youth from the metro manila area! it was so amazing! then on sunday there was an area conference and we heard from Elder Teh, Sister Beck, Quintin L. Cook, and Boyd K. Packer! it was good. They testified about the Book of Mormon and how we need to study it and if we have a problem we need to try the virtue of the word of God, they also testified how it doesn't matter were you are or who you are the gospel is still the same everyone needs to be baptized by the priesthood, receive the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and everyone needs to endure to the end to enter the kingdom of god and the there is no other way! I want to add MY testimony that this is true and that i have seen the gospel change lives and save souls!
-Sister Stephens

Happy Easter!

Easter in the Philippines is 5 days long! It starts on Wednesday and ends on Sunday. They celebrate or recognize all the stages of the last days of Christ's life. This is actually only Catholics but there are a lot of them.
So starting Wednesday, they sing prayers and tell the story of Jesus on loud speakers until Friday at 3pm, cuz that is when Christ dies, then they prepare this glass casket with a very decorated manican (called: Rebolte) that looks like the dead Jesus and walk in a procession all around town.
Then all is quiet, till Sunday evening when they set off fire works!

This whole time they are fasting from meat so there are very few people in the markets, or in there shops cuz it's a holiday as well.

Also on Friday, a few chosen people in the very catholic areas will afflict pain upon themselves with whips and even crucify themselves. They believe that through this they come closer to Christ because they have felt his pains and that they are making a covenant with God that if he grants them something that they need (like healing) they will do something in return (like quite smoking or drinking or some other sin).
I didn't see any of this except small bits on the tv as we entered homes. But I spent a lot of time teaching how this is wrong, how Jesus suffered for US, so that we do NOT have to suffer IF we already FOLLOW the commandments and REPENT of our sins. And, if we wish to make a covenant with God, Christ teaches that we should be baptised by water and Spirit, NOT in our own blood, this is the true teaching of Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer!
Hope you had a Happy Easter! :)
--Sister Stephens

new transfers!!

blog: 1st shout out Happy Birthday to evan and Cody i didn't forget i just didn't write it last week!!! 2nd General Conference was awesome!!! it was all about having love and charity and helping each other!!! it was great!! So next week starts a new transfer! i'll be staying here in Malanday ward, Valenzuela stake companions with sister Schostak. we have lots to do and finish here so we are both glad to be staying! we should have 5 baptisms in May! I'm lovin' the work but the city doesn't really love me back, but that's okay! things are going so well. love you all hope to get news from you all at home. write me!!!
-Sister Stephens

crazy week!!

Blog: This week will be the last week of transfer! and transfer day changed from thursday to tuesday!!!! but of coarse we have no idea what will happen till next week! but this transfer went by so fast, and i only have FOUR left!!!! that's why i'm asking President for an extension! hopefully i'll get it i'll gladly extend six more months!
we had a crazy week this week! we went to the temple on tuesday to attend a session, it felt so good inside, I could really feel Gods love. then we went back to the temple on saturday as tour guides for the temple tour for investigators, we stood in the sun for about 5 hours straight and took peoples pictures in front of the temple and helped them feel welcome, it was so nice to see all there smiling faces filled with the spirit of christ and gods love for them! but my companion and i did get a little sunburned. then there was sunday the busiest craziest sunday ever! first we had 7 investigators!!! 5 were filipino, 1 was chinese, and 1 was korean!!! so we had to arrange who was sitting with who so that no one sat alone and who was going with them to class, the chinese lady needed a translater and our bishop's nephew happen to be visiting and he happens to be recently back from his misson in Taiwan and speaks mandarin chinese so that was aranged, the korean girl stayed with her friend but after sacrament told us she was going to start going to church closer to her house. i happen to have acquired a korean Book of Mormon, but had left it at the house cuz we had not seen her for a few weeks, so once every one was settled in suday school: gospel principles class, sister Schostak and i slipped away, went back to our apartment got the Book of Mormon and went back to church. after we gave it to her, she was so excited and happy she cried and promised she would read it. then we had to arrange with the chinese lady when we could visit her and find out where she lived exactly, which took two sisters tagalog, english, and chinese and the bishops nephew to finally get directions written and a map drawn!!!! after it all sister schostak and i sat down and looked and felt like we just came out of a whirl-wind! is was awesome! love this work, love this people, and love that i know know at least 2 langueges so i can know what is going on!!!!
love you all! write me!
-Sister Stephens

I'm speakin' English!!

blog: "I'm speakin' english!!!!" This would be my most used line this week, strange?... no cuz my very new american companion is at the stage of here mission where she doesn't know what anyone is saying, right before everything makes sense. so some times i'll say stuff to her in english and she'll be like 'what did you say?' so i'd say it again, 'what?!' -"i'm speakin' english Sister!" it's okay soon she will understand everything and we can just speak in tagalog!!! lol!

our area has been struggling a little or we have been struggling with it, because it's sooooo big! we spend a lot of time traveling to and from appointments and spending a lot of time and money sitting in traffic. we are going to try condensing our area to focus on smaller parts, hopfully this is sucessfull! "Go! Fight! Win!" salamat sa lahat supportahan, mahal ko kayo!
-sister stephens

Some fun in English!

Blog: well sister schostak and i had fun this week teaching 2 lessons in english! yeah we are teaching a lawyer and he doesn't really speak tagalog and he only reads in english at first the lesson started in tagalog then taglish then straight english it was fun! then on sunday we had two Korean students visit Min Young Lee and Min Ji Lee, they were so cute. but they wanted to talk to us and they don't know tagalog but they know enough english. sister Min Young was raised a christian and beleiving in jesus as her savior but Min Ji had no christian background and didnot know who christ is or why he is important so it was awsome to teach and talk about Christ from the basics and in english!!!! i guess i got a small portion of sister Patterson's mission except in engish! hahaha! well it's been a fun week thime to start a new one!!!!
ingat kayo!!!
-sister stephens

we're safe

blog:
1st happy birthday Callie!!!!!!!!! congrats!!!!!
2:everything is fine here since the tsunami we didn't feel a thing, but we are all praying for japan. work here is good, we are finding people willing to listen but few willing to go to church and few families so we are praying a lot that we can find lots of families. It's hot here again, back to sweating all the time. my companion and i are really getting along really well. she's like 5'10'' so she doesn't quite fit in the transport here so this one time i got in the tricycle first then she got in i felt the air get squeezed from my lungs as the dynamics change and as this happens i manage to say, "OH MAY GOSH YOU DON'T FIT!!!" oh we laughed and laughed. things are so small here, like the people.
3: oh i've been on my mission for one year, and in the philippines for 10 months and i got only 6 more short months left to work hard!!!!
4:lovin' it here it's going to be wierd to go ... home.


love you all!
--sister stephens
ps shout out to Hannah Keller for the letter, thank you loved it, i hope to go to home ward for a bit when i get home so we'll get to know each other then! SALAMAT!!!! (thank you)

new transfer

Blog: Well it's a new transfer! and i'm in a new area again! i've been transfered to Malanday Ward, Valenzuela stake! it use to be an elders area but they switched it to sisters to help 'clean it up' ... joke! not really. but the area book really needs some work! haha! oh and i'm follow-up training! Sister Schostak is a very tall blond american and her tagalog is pretty good but her understanding isn't, and she talks a lot, but it's still fun. This area is very big, and there are so many people!!! and we have one part that i call "Pirate's Cove" cuz see it reminds me of Pirate Island in Disneyland! It's all wet cement, with dripping water from clothes lines, and tunnels for streets, cuz everyone builds houses on top of each other till it covers the road and it's right next to a river that smells like silt and mud (luckily) and you can hear the chatter of children and the cackling of some drunk old man. thus Pirate's Cove. yeah it's going to be fun getting to know this area! sana i'll get some letters out this transfer.
Mahal po kayo!
-Sister Stephens
ps: for those who don't know what Follow up training is...
1st companion= Trainer
2nd companion= Follow-up Trainer
3rd companion= 1st Sr
Then you are usually made a Sr or Co-Sr, but most all companionships have a Sr comp and a Jr comp, it has to do with experience and confidence but mostly it is all just insperation from God cuz He knows you best, your ability, your potential, and what you can do!

I'm soooo tired!!

Man! sister ockey and i are sooooo tired everyday we walk and walk and walk, we desided that it doesn't matter how for we are not going to ride transport but walk and find. and it has definitely paid off we went from having 10 investigators to 31!!!! even though we are sooo tired and we are lucky to have our PJ's on when we wake up it's all worth it! sister ockey and i are sooo happy we finally feel like full missionaries, not newbies, not tag-along juniors, but full out missionaries!!! yay!!! can you believe i've been here for 9 monthes now! times almost up and i want to end it like a STEPHENS all in or nothin', gung-ho, two fists up, with my whole heart, might, mind, and stength. HOORAH FOR ISREAL!!!!!!
Mahal na mahal kita,
--sister STEPHENS

The Spirit Guides Me

Blog: Work is great here we have some great new investigator families, and have really felt the Spirit direct us as we walk and teach. A member gave us a name and a neighborhood a couple of weeks ago but we never went to find them cuz we didn't have an address. But this week we found ourselves in that neighborhood, so we asked the member if he knew where this potential investigator lived. He gave us a general area which we thought wasn't very helpful, so we started walking. My companion asked what should we do, I said, walk. So we walked and asked a few people but no one knew this family.
Finally, I paused, took a breath and walked down this ally way.
"Where are you going?" my companion asked. "I don't know." I answered. I passed a table of some people eating outside then turned around and asked, "Kilala po ba kayo, sina dickonson pamilya?", before I realized what I was doing. One of them said he knew them and took us to their house just a little way further! We talked to him and found out that it wasn't even his real name! But we got a return apointment! Later I was looking in our area book and FOUND his name AGAIN!!! The missionaries contacted him 1 year ago but did not continue to teach (didn't say why). It was crazy!
I call it following my feet but really it's the Spirit.
Like another time we were walking trying to find a member's house and we were reaching the end of the road and there was a man sitting on his stoop smoking and staring at us, my first thought was to ask him if he knew the member, but after I took about 2 steps toward him a feeling of fear entered me, by the 5th step I couldn't breathe, so i turned around and walked away. With every step away from him i felt better. "Where are we going?", my companion asked, "Not there," I said, "It's bad news over there, we'll go a diffrent way." I know the Spirit leads every aspect of this work, it's not my work, or any person's work, it's God's! And I know that He loves all of us and wants to all know the truth about Him and He wants us to be happy and safe. Isn't it great!
Love you all!
-Sister Stephens