And Yet I Am Not Alone

 6/18/2018

Hello everbody! This week was kinda interesting. We got lots of rain and lots of heat. That's probably just the way it's going to be from now on haha.

We had our zone conference this week. It was good, we talked about the importance of love and of the Book of Mormon. No major announcements, just a standard zone conference. 

We had exchanges this week. I went up to Lehigh with Elder Jones and Elder Jackson came down here with Elder Dorilas. I was kinda nervous about leaving him with the area haha, he'd only been here a week. It turned out ok, they only got a little lost and only forgot about 1 appointment (which our friend also forgot about so it was ok, we saw him the next day). I enjoyed my time in Lehigh, we taught a 91 year old man about the Book of Mormon. He's an interesting character, he's met with lots of missionaries and kinda tries to run the show when we're there haha. Very nice though. We also had one of their members, brother Harris, take us out to dinner. He's a professor at a local university, and is working on a study about black holes! Very interesting guy, a nerd like me haha. 

The only other exciting thing was that we found a pretty cool guy. His name is Sem, he was sitting in front of his house under some stairs. We came down the stairs and I saw him, could've easily said hi and walked past, but I made the effort to talk to him for a minute. Turns out he's talked to missionaries before and remembered the name Joseph Smith. So we had a lesson right there about prophets and the restoration, everything made sense to him. He's pretty familiar with the Bible, and said "everything you're saying agrees with the Bible. It makes sense how Joseph Smith doesn't go against the Bible, just adds more. I wonder why the rest of the Christians don't follow Joseph Smith" haha! We showed him a Book of Mormon and mentioned about how it's the evidence that all this is true. I feel pretty stupid right now, I should've talked more about it and given it to him, because we haven't been able to see him since. We didn't want to take a lot of time, so we said we'd talk about it next time. Should've just gone for it, totally could've, hopefully God will forgive me and let us talk to him again this week. 

In other news, Astrel left town. He's up in Georgia now. He's planning on being up there for the next month, coming back before Saintana is due in early August. Bummer. 

This week I was kinda frustrated. If I could find a word to describe it, it would be abandoned. Physically, I'm in a town 5 miles wide in the middle of nowhere. There are no members to help us. The branch itself has been abandoned by the members supposed to be attending. Even Immokalee is being abandoned, as the field workers move up to cooler climates. 

On Saturday, I was pretty down. I'd been on my bike in 90+ degree heat for hours. We had people to see every hour of the day, and they all fell through. It was the middle of the afternoon, and I was about ready to give everything up. It's hard to find words to describe what happened next. 

I'm crying now as I remember feeling cheering from heaven. It was a feeling so strong I swear I could've heard it. I perceived that it wasn't just anyone cheering, it was my family. Family both past and future. My Parents were there. I felt how proud they all were that I was trying, that I just needed to push a little more. I felt them say "Now you're a little more like Jesus." This was one of the strongest feelings of the Spirit I've ever had, I fought back tears as I biked down the highway. I'm not sure that I would've continued if it hadn't been for this experience. I share this that you may know that although "the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that [they] shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me." (John 16:32) I am so grateful for a Family that loves me and pushes me to be better. If you ever feel as I did, please remember that, and have a great week! 

 Lanmou,
Eldè Stevenson