Happy Birthday Jesus

Hey, what's up everyone? It's literally been half a year...

The mission life has been an absolute movie. I had the privilege of serving in Wenatchee, Selah, and now Moses Lake. I've learned to love the people, and I've made a ton of friends. Definitely gonna have to come back up and say hi to them now. Here are some of the highlights as of late:

Wenatchee is so swag; our recent convert named Katie loved saying swag. We had a lesson with her, helping her to be ready to be an example to her friends, and months later, what we talked with her about led to her having awesome missionary experiences with her friends and helping them start learning about the gospel too. Me and my companion at the time, Elder Bishop, went crazy flowing in small stores and made some dope friends. One of our friends, Taylor, became one of my best friends when I was there. I'm definitely gonna kick it with him after the mission. We had one experience there where I felt prompted to pull over and talk to a random stranger, and it turned out that stranger was a blind member who didn't know where our church was. We would've had no other way to find and contact him besides randomly bumping into him like that, and it was super cool being able to be a tool in God's hand with that. Our love for others leads us to do unreasonable things, but God doesn't want things to make sense for us. We need to have that faith when we are scared and unsure, and this is an amazing example of how God has taught that to me.

After Wenatchee, me and Elder Bishop both got doubled out but stayed as companions, and I returned to Selah, where I started my mission! I was in the other ward this time but got to see so many familiar faces, and that led us to baptizing our friend named Nancy. I was really tight with their kids who were baptized almost exactly a year before Nancy. I was able to be there at their baptism too, and that's where I first met Nancy. Her husband, also a convert named Fidel, remembered me from when I first got to Selah, and he was so happy to see me again. My relationship that I built with their family helped them to trust me, and that trust led to Nancy wanting to be baptized after meeting with missionaries for over 5 years. She even told missionaries right before I got there that she didn't really see herself being baptized soon, but going to the temple open house in Moses Lake changed her mind as she felt she was holding her family back. This was a huge testimony-builder about how God's playing the long game, and we should be patient and loving always. Love is THE most powerful thing in the world; it's why we're here. I genuinely think that if I wasn't there, Nancy wouldn't have been baptized, and that's not because I think I'm a super goof missionary. But God knew the love that we had for each other and how it could lead to Nancy coming closer to Him; His plan is so cool.

I got to experience that love too as I was able to train a missionary in Selah named Elder Hadley. Me and him had a freakish amount of things in common; we were even both Detroit Lions fans. I could see God's hand in my life once again as I saw a lot of myself in him from when I started my mission. Hopefully, I helped him to grow even more than I did; the love and connection that I had with him led me to try super hard to help him to be awesome.

I also got dragged out of Selah, and I finally made it to Moses Lake and close to the temple here. I haven't been to a temple in almost a year and a half, so I'm mega stoked for this. My new companion that I currently have is Elder Potter, and he's super cool. So far, we've worked our area super hard, and despite Christmas getting in the way of us meeting with a lot of people, we've found a ton of success so far. We have a friend named Danielle that's getting baptized this Saturday, and she's one of the most prepared people I've seen. She constantly reads scriptures and listens to talks, and she's taken so many notes on everything. She loves the gospel, and she makes me want to try and show my love for it more too. God loves it when we try to build a relationship with him because then he can bless us even more than we already are.

I'll try and give y'all more updates as I'm here in Moses Lake. There's a huge amount of members here; people call it mini Utah. I know this is where I'm supposed to be, and I am super happy right now and super tight with God too. I love y'all a ton, and I can't wait to see my friends and family again in a little over half a year! Y'all motivate and push me; your prayers really do impact my life, and I appreciate every one of them. But until we meet again, much love to every single one of y'all.

Much Love, Elder Stephen Timothy

Pictures:

Making Gang Signs With Da Homie Taylor

Baseball Boys Watch the Local Team Lose

I'm the Next Black Panther, call me Elder Chadwick Boseman

Spooky Glowstick Ghost Boys

Our Missionary Recreation of Step Brothers

Members Gifted us $100 Worth of Protein Powder Hype

The LIT Baptism of Nancy

Hart Ranch Turned me Into a Cowboy, for real

Golden Hour in Moses Lake Goes Braaaazy

Cute Lil Pic Mid Hike