God Is Good

What an amazing week. Miracles everyday in both the lives of our investigators and recent converts. Not only that but in our individual lives as well. There is so much joy in gratitude in seeing your recent converts progress and become more converted. Neftali got a job! His car WORKS! Both huge miracles. We got a wonderful text from him the other day. He related the information about his job and how God is truly blessing his life because of his choice to be baptized. More miracles is that Gladys got an apartment!!! Her very own. Not only that but she got a car! She drove herself to the Relief Society activity. So many miracles! God is so good! 

Miracles truly come after the trial of our faith. Saturday night rolled around and all of our appointments had fallen through! We were trying so hard not to be frustrated and keep the faith. We felt like Ammon and his brothers wanting to turn back. However, we said a prayer to renew our motivation and set out to knock one more door. We drove for a bit not really seeing anything stick out. Deciding to try something different, we parked the car and set out on foot. We stopped at one house we both felt good about and knocked with all the faith we had. A man who wasn't receptive answered; however, he called for his wife. She looked somewhat puzzled but let us in. After the blessing she had tears in her eyes. The spirit was so strong. No words were said, instead I just hugged her. While wiping tears from her eyes, she related how she had been praying just prior to the knock at the door. She readily accepted baptism. It was amazing. God answered both her prayer and ours. We truly all were edified and rejoiced together.

Study Time

Sister Stegelmeier sang in church yesterday. Her first solo. I was so proud of her, for she truly did an amazing job. After church we were driving to our meal appointment when we got a new voice mail. It was from one of our investigators who we didn't think came to church. Turns out he was there! He went on and on about how much he loved church. Saying he felt such a good feeling that he has never had before (he described it as "burning in the chest") as Sister Stegelmeier sang. We called him right back. He said that he really wants to receive all that God has for him. Not only that, but he accepted a date right there over the phone. It was amazing. We are so grateful for him as he is truly elect.

I have learned so much this week. Missions are amazing. If your contemplating serving quit worrying about it and go! It will change your life for eternity. That I promise. A truth I have come to understand this week is the importance of seeking God's approval. Before my mission I thrived off of the approval of others. Whether it be teachers, my boss at work, church leaders, or my parents. However, this is not Godly. Seeking approval from the flesh is prideful. When all said and done all that matters is what God thinks. We can come to know he is pleased with us through the quiet whispering's of the spirit. As missionaries we have other tools to seek God's approval. For example, the key indicators are a big indication of our progress. Nonetheless, we are not going to have key indicators forever. There are no key indicators for meals cooked, diapers changed, or degrees earned etc. We must learn to seek God's approval. There is no greater joy, peace, and righteous contentment. We must take time to ponder and be still, always listening for the Spirit, for every time we feel the love of God we can be sure that he is pleased with us. 

story from Sister Stegelmeier – so we were on bikes most of the day yesterday and it was kinda overcast. Sister Hartley doesn’t like to be cold or wet (who does?) and so she wanted to wear her coat. I tried to warn her and tell that it wasn’t worth it. She wore it anyway and the poor thing was so hot while we biked mucho. On the bright side she learned her lesson  love her so much!!

Zone Caroling

I love being a missionary. We have an incredible God. If we will but turn our will over to his, giving him our complete heart he will change us. He will refine us. We will become something greater then we ever could have imagined. 

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for the love, prayers, and letters. I am most grateful for each and everyone of you. 

An avocado that we got from a person we harvested! So huge! We loved eating the avocado! This little beauty was SO good! We cooked an egg and put it on bread. Roasted it in the oven with tomatoes and then put the cheese on top to melt, then we put the avocado on it. SO GOOD!

Shania was baptized yesterday. She lives with her grandparents on the weekend. It is quite the household. These wonderful people have literally raised all of there grandchildren. It is really sad. They were baptized 2 years ago but have been less active the past little while. Through helping Shania prepare for baptism we were able to reactivate the family. Such a miracle. I love this family so much.

Our district. don't worry Elder Mcmullin is far from putting his arm around me he just wanted it to look that way #punchface

                           Alma and her friend!! love them! 

Everyone thinks we are twins! We get that a ton... it confuses them when I say I am a twin but Sister Stegelmeier is not my twin..  She goes home in two weeks.  Last PDay we went to the beach! So beautiful. 

will miss her.  I learned so much from her.

Gladys and her new car!