Wednesday, December 25, 2013

December 25, 2013

I know it seems as if I have been slacking on Stephen's blog but I promise I have not, he is not very good at written communication (he promises to try harder), he feels as if his spelling and handwriting are not very good so that is why. I did tell him we didn't care about those things we just want to hear from him so we will see how it goes from here.

So since my last blog post these are some of the things he has been emailing..
Apparently there are massive issues with bed bugs there and roaches so he is pretty grossed out by that. Okay so now the gross part is over.. Stephen has had a total of 3 baptisms already, none that he has been from start to finish with yet but still what an awesome experience.
He is so funny he went out thinking he was going to have steak and corn every night for dinner and so far he has not even had either one yet. The boy cracks me up.

We did finally get a couple of letter from him (yes he does know how to put a pen to paper), he finally got some letters from us as well not exactly sure what took his so long but oh well at least he got them. So in his first letter he talked about being a bit homesick but is staying strong, praying and working hard, he thinks it is more because this is his first time away from home and it is around the holidays, what a great way to stay positive and focus on the work of our Lord. He told us how his companion and him were walking from place to place and his companion got hit by a car, he said it was the scariest thing he has had happen, his companion is fine he had a couple of cuts and got dirty but got right up and they kept going. I sure hope they let the mission President know still have yet to find out that answer.
He did have a day where he got sick and had to stay in bed all day but was doing great after about 24 hours. Sounds like he just had a really yucky bug that lots of rest kicked right out.  He says it is super cold there because of the wind chill but he manages to stay pretty bundled up and warm. He says he is really learning a lot and growing spiritually which is great.
Yes we got to skype him as well, we did meet his companion today and he seemed great very nice, no injuries or side effects from his car accident so that is good. He really enjoys working with Stephen says he is a great missionary and loves him as a companion (makes me tear up just a bit).
They are having a hard time getting serious investigators but he is staying positive and working hard at those that are taking the lessons. He says he has really learned to rely on his leaders in the field and in the ward they are serving so I think that is one of the best lessons he could ever learn and take from his mission.
When we asked about his apartment he told us they live in a 2200 square foot home, yes just the 2 of them (that is twice the size of our house). Can you say spoiled?
Stephen and his companion are over the Eagle Run ward (most of the area he is in are just branches) and there are 6 other missionaries just in that one ward besides him and his companion. We asked about his mission and the amount of missionaries they had and he said he thought he had heard they were capped out at about 250 total.
As of today he has still not had steak but says he gets a lot of gumbo when fed by the members.
He is really starting to enjoy it a lot more now and it is getting a bit easier on the missing home end. He has almost been in Nebraska for 1 month now. He loves seeing the squirrels outside all of the time.
He looked great, healthy and super happy. It was a great day talking with him.

Until next time.....

Monday, December 2, 2013

December 2, 2013

Today was Stephen's first Pday and we heard from him. He said he is sending a letter soon so I will post more when I get that.
He said it is sunny in Nebraska but freeze to the bone cold. His first area is Omaha. He had huge news to share.... He has already had his first baptism (day 2) in the field. He gave the talk on the Holy Ghost. He is super excited about that.His companion is from Alabama and has the same last name as his Grandma Wilson's maiden name, I thought it would be funny if they were some way related. He thought that would be funny too.
He really didn't say to much more than that, he did tell Harvey he is a little homesick so pray that he will get through that and be able to move past those feelings and just love these next 2 years.

Until next time.....