Pics

Steph has been on her mission for 5 Months. It is a very crazy for us all. She is amazing! There isn't a week that goes by that we don't just cry through her letters. We do miss her but that is not why the tears fall. It is the spirit that we feel through her letters. We are being blessed daily because of her service, and know that she is being blessed daily. We are so Grateful for her!

Steph loves to take pictures of the sunsets. This one is my favorite, such pretty colors.

I think this is at regional Conference...


This kind of looks staged to me, who knows if it is or not.


There are six sisters in the Long Beach Spanish mission, here are four of them.


Steph is really good at burning towels in the mircowave. I'm not sure why she puts in the mircowave. This is the first one on the mission

I don't remember this families name but they love the missionaries. He made Steph a tiki.

Sister Colwell and Steph's Christmas card. By the time they sent it out it was no longer current.

Her Christmas tree.

A day in November....how great would it be?

Her new Companion, Sister Hoover.

Her family wall....if you look closely you will notice that it is a wall of Matthew.

Merry Christmas from Huntington Beach!

Hello everyone! Well I can hardly believe that Christmas is here! It was 3 weeks away when I got transferred and now it is in 2 days! Crazy! This week has been pretty good. We had some great lessons! We taught the Bautista family on Friday night. The Spirit was so strong. After we finished Osvaldo said he was going to time how long I took teaching the lesson in Spanish the next time. I guess my Spanish is getting better even if I don't realize it. Some days it’s great and other days I get so frustrated. I feel like I can't understand it at all and it's just hard. I was talking with Sister Hoover about it and she said it just takes time. I know that it will all click one day but being in between is very hard for me. I am amazed that I can communicate and have a conversation in Spanish but I don't feel like I can express myself the way I want to in Spanish. I just have to be patient and have faith in myself and keep trying and it will come. We had a wonderful zone conference on Thursday. I love zone conference! We had a combined conference and took a mission picture, well half of us. They took the other half on Friday. We heard the testimonies of several elders that are leaving. The spirit was very strong. President talked about several things that were so great. He talked about becoming The Missionary and not just a missionary. He also talked making our relationship with our Savior as friends and not as strangers. He talked about 4 different levels. 1) Stranger, 2) servant, 3) son/daughter and 4) friend. It made me think a lot about my relationship with him. It is definitely a lot stronger than before I came on my mission but there is always room for improvement. We also received a panoramic picture of our mission. Sister Sexton took pictures from Signal Hill and it is beautiful. I am super excited to put it together and frame it when I get home. I also received my family Christmas memory letter. I just cried. Not because I am sad to be here but because of the love and support that I feel. This truly is the most amazing time to be on a mission. I would love to be with family but there is no where else I would rather be instead. The gospel is true. Jesus Christ truly lives and died for us. There is nothing more important than him and his love for us. I was reading in Ether 12 today and it talked about the gift of the Son and that because God gave us this gift, a more excellent way is prepared for us to gain eternal life. The only we can receive this gift is through faith in is Son. Faith that he truly came and suffered for us. Faith that he loves us and will lift us up at the last day. It truly is amazing. I know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is real and true. I know that God lives and loves each and every one his children. I know that He knows us better than we know ourselves. I cannot express the love I have for my Savior and my Heavenly Father. I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas this week and remember the reason we celebrate Christmas. Sidenote: Christmas can be broken down to Christ- and mas which in spanish means more. That is what this world needs is more Christ. That is the best gift you can give this year. I challenge all of you to bear testimony of him and share his light which is in you with the world. You won't regret it. I love you! Clarissa Jane congratulations on your beautiful girl! Happy Birthday Charlie! Love ya!



* Our cousin Clarissa and her husband welcome Emalyn to the world on Dec 21.
*Charlie is now 25 years of age.

Week 20

Hello family! I hope all is well wherever you are! I think I am settled in here in Huntington Beach. We got transfer call Saturday night and nothing changed because we already did. My district Leader from Long Beach, Elder Salmon is being transferred here and will be my DL again. I am excited! I was sad to leave those elders. That is the only change in my district this transfer. This week has been a little interesting. We have been keeping busy but poor Sister Hoover still isn't feeling well. She coughs and coughs until I think she is going to die at night. She has codeine but she can only take it at night and it takes a while to kick in. I keep telling her that she needs to rest but she is a little stubborn. She rested a little on Saturday after the Bautista's told her she looked awful. We went to the Christmas party that night at the ward. It was fun. They had an activity where everyone went around the church with a candle and knocked on the different Inns only to find that there was no room. After we all returned they shared the story of Mary and Joseph. I really enjoyed. The little boy Noah that we were going around with was getting frustrated. It was pretty cute. Sunday we went to church. It felt like I hadn't been there in forever. We went to the Bautista's before to see if we could get any of their family to come but no one was there. I went to my first Spanish ward. I understood most of it. The gospel vocab is pretty good for me so it is easy to understand. The elders had a confirmation and the spirit was very strong. Osvaldo and Cesar Bautista(recent converts) blessed and passed the sacrament. It was great to see them participate. We then went to the Beach ward for our meetings. Bishop Johnson had me get up in PEC and bear my testimony. Afterwards he had me stand in Sacrament meeting to be recognized by the ward. After church we went the Bishop's house for their annual open house. I felt like I was at home expect it wasn't. The bishop and his family are so great. If I had been thinking I would have had him stop by and say hello last weekend. He drove to Rexburg to pick up his daughter from school and they spent the night in Bountiful. So close to home. I'm sure he would have done it too. We then had a dinner appointment. The only reason I am telling you is because of the main course. We walk in the door and they say, "I hope burgers are alright." My heart sunk. I told them I couldn't eat it. I'm sure I could have justified since it was homemade but I didn't do it. I couldn't. She made me a salad. I wasn't that hungry cause we ate at the Bishops. Sister Hoover had been praying for a hamburger for days I guess. Man I felt bad but I couldn't do it. I have worked to hard. Then Sister Hoover started to have a reaction or something. I'm not sure what happened. Brother Okuchi is a chiropractor and he realigned her neck and then she almost threw up. I had to support her as we walked to the car. I drove us to the Bautista's. Normally we would have gone home but we wanted to see Cleo and we told them we would be there. Cleo works in LA Monday through Saturday. She comes home Saturday night and leaves Sunday night. We chatted with her and her family for awhile. It was good to see them. We then came home and I told Sister Hoover that she needed to rest. She proceeded to do so and slept until 11 o'clock the next morning. I got up and studied the scriptures for 3 hours by myself. It was great! I love having extra study time. I am almost done with the Book of Mormon again. I just love it! It truly is an amazing book. After Sister Hoover rested all day we went to 3 different Family Home Evenings. It is really fun to just go from house to house. The first one was Monica and Gretchen. They have 2 little boys, Noah and Jayden. They just received custody of both of them and are trying to get custody of Monica's other 2 kids. She has a crazy life and I don't know the whole thing myself. She is a recent convert. She is truly amazing. We had dinner there and helped them decorate the tree. It looks beautiful! Also Noah got to call Santa Claus which was pretty cool. Then we had FHE with the Chase's. It was kind of weird to go home for an appointment but it was really good. Sister Chase talked about the different symbols of Christmas. It was a great lesson. It is so easy to get caught up in shopping that we forget the real meaning of Christmas. It reminded me of why I am here. Without Jesus Christ I would be home with my family. But with Jesus Christ I have the sacred opportunity to share his life with Long Beach. Because of Jesus Christ I can live with my family forever. Because Jesus Christ I can have peace in this life knowing that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me and keeps all of his promises. Because of Jesus Christ gave his life, we have life and the promise that we will one day perfect and with our families. I am grateful for Jesus Christ and his sacrifice. I am grateful that I can bring this message of great joy and see how it changes their lives. I know the gospel of Jesus Christ has changed my life and I will never be the same person I was before my mission. We also wrote letters to Jesus Christ. We wrote what we want to give him for Christmas this year. Sister Chase is going to send it to me next Christmas. I think this is a good tradition. We then went to the Bautista's. Osvaldo gave the lesson on the Book of Mormon. He did a great job. He had me expound. I don't know why he always picks on me but it gives me practice. Well the gospel is true. I know it with all my heart. I hope all is well for you and that we can all remember Jesus Christ and the true meaning of Christmas. I love you!

Week 19

** I apologize again for not keeping this more up to date. I have been going a little crazy! Hopefully with school out for the semester I can get back into the swing of things. Steph's new address is the post below.



Hello! Well this week has definitely been an interesting and exciting week! On Wednesday we had a very busy day! We started during language study time to fit it all in. We taught Maritza about the Restoration and then left to teach Rosa. We left Rosa's house and met up with Sister Kavea and taught Marcos. We only had a few minutes with Marcos but we taught him about prayer and it went very well. He wanted more scriptures in the book of mormon so we taught how to use the index and the footnotes. We then went home for a what we thought we would be a quick bathroom break before our next appointment at 1. We had 3 messages on the phone. 1 was from president Sexton and the other was from Elder Ward, an AP. They both wanted us to call them back when we got the message. So we call him and put the phone on speaker. We were both wondering what was going on. It was about 1 o'clock and this is what Elder Ward says. We need to make an emergency transfer with sisters Hoover and Haltli. Sister Mickelsen will be leaving and Sister Haltli will be coming. We are hoping to have the transfer done in about 45 minutes. Both of us were in shock and didn't know what to say. We knew that transfers were coming but they don't happen until next Tuesday. So I called some members and let them know, I also called Elders Salmon and Anderson to let them know that I would be leaving. We were going to the Kavea's for dinner that night and I was really sad to leave them. We got me all packed up and waited for the other sisters to come and make the switch. I didn't really have time to think or cry but all is well. We live a member here as well. The Chase's are great. We have a bedroom and a bathroom. It's kind of weird to live with a family but it is nice. They take good care of us. I haven't seen them too much yet but they have 2 daughters living at home and have a bunch of family coming home for Christmas. It will be fun to be surrounded a family for Christmas. We went straight to work after unpacking a little. We met the ward mission leader and his family and met with some recent converts. The Bautista family is great. They were very sad that Sister Haltli left but were excited that I was there. Sister Hoover had to do a lot of explaining but all is well. Thay are very helpful and understanding with my spanish. They are helping me a lot. When I can't understand them I just tell them. Before I would never do that. They make me talk to them and if sister hoover jumps in to help they stop and make me do it. Needless to say I am already feeling more confident. I don't know what it is but for some reason I'm not as scared. Sister Hoover had me call Osualdo the other day and I did it without question. When Sister Colwell would ask me I would freak out. I did it one time with her and it was horrible so from then on she didn't make me do it. I have a feeling that this will be good be for me. We had dinner with Bishop on Thursday night. We have a lot more dinner appointments here and there is almost always a member with us when we teach lessons. It is insane! The ward truly has a missionary vision. It is much different than the last ward. Sister Colwell told me that they were hoping that I would play the piano on Sunday but obviously I couldn't. Most people found out that I wasn't there on Sunday. Friday Hermana Hoover started to get sick but she just kept going. When we got home she had a fever. We called sister Sexton in the morning and waited for the doctor to call. He told us that we couldn't work so we stayed home all day. Sunday we got up and ready for the day and then Sister Sexton called and asked how we were. I had woken up with a sore throat but nothing major. She told us to pray and decide whether or not we should go to church but that she was also going to call president and see what he said. We got a call about 2 minutes later that said we couldn't go to church because sister Hoover had a fever. So we stayed in all day again. We were sad to miss the Christmas devotional. I got sicker as the day went on. I had intentions of working yesterday but appartently when the alarm went off I said I'm staying here. I had no memory of saying that. Sister Hoover said that all night I was coughing and tossing and turning. No wonder I was so tired. I got up and got ready and did personal and companion study but couldn't stay awake for language. Sister Sexton called and said that I could rest as long as I needed. I slept til about 3. We went to Walmart and picked up another perscription for sister hoover and then went to work. We had dinner with a family and then taught their dental hygenist. It went really well. Their son just returned from his mission in Chile not to long ago, about a month or so. It was really great. We then went and had FHE with the Bautistas. I taught the lesson about the atonement. I felt like they needed to know that it was more than just for repentance. I think a lot of people don't realize that. The atonement of Jesus Christ is the only way we can have peace in this life. Through him we find the strength to move forward. Before my mission I didn't understand the importance of the atonement. Now I know that whenever I need someone to talk to I can turn to him and he will know exactly what I need to feel better. The atonement is truly amazing. Just a little note about sister hoover. She is from Maryland, a BYU education graduate. She teaches 2nd grade in Maryland and goes home in march. She is great person and was actually sister colwell's companion in the MTC. This week has been crazy but it wasn't as hard to change as I thought. I miss the investigators but I have met some new ones here and the work is just as important here. I love you all and hope you will have a great week!

NEW ADDRESS!

Steph was transferred this week here is her new address. She will get her letters if you have already sent them to the previous address.

Sister Stephanie Mickelsen
8791 Palos Verdes
Westminster, CA 92683.

week 18

Hello family! I hope that Thanksgiving was so great for all of you! Thanksgiving here was good. It didn't really feel like a holiday because I wasn't with the family but I was with my mission family. We started the day with district meeting and we both got letters that had been sent to the office which was good. We went to the Sorenson's and they gave us pumpkin pie. We then went to President Sexton's house and a great meal! There were 24 people there. 20 missionaries and 4 of the 6 Sexton children. Their other 2 sons are on missions. It was so great! One elder had at least 2 plates piled high. I was impressed. Sister Sexton made 14 pies! It truly was a great meal and we felt priveleged to be there. We were the only sisters there. He called all of the hermanas first to make sure they had an appointment and we were the only ones without an appointment. The spirit was great and it felt like home. President told me that the Wallbergers(sp.?) from Rexburg had come to visit them and told him that they knew the Munns who of course know me!:). Small world. We had 4 appointments after the Sexton's and I just nibbled cause I was so full. Luckily we only had one other family feed us a big meal and I could only eat a little. I had to eat to not be rude but I couldn't eat much. It was a great day! Wednesday we had some heavy rain. It flooded the streets! It was insane! I will send some pictures! We were lucky we didn't stuck in the middle of the intersection. There were 2 little cars that had to get towed out. I have never seen rain like that before. The water was up above the curbs and flowing like a river. They don't have a good drainage system here so the water has no where to go. It had rained all night Tuesday and then there was huge drops for about an hour Wednesday and then it cleared up and everything dried up. It was so fun. Sister Colwell was excited because she loves to drive through puddles and make a big spalsh. Friday we went and visited Gary to take him a plate of leftovers from Thanksgiving that we promised him. There are some dogs across the way that are always barking at us and never stop. Usually I will tell them to be quiet and it doesn't help. This time I decided to try spanish. I told them Calmete pues! They were completely silent. Who would have known that the dogs spoke spanish. It was so funny. Saturday we had a great lesson with Javier Perez. He was completely focused. Their phone was ringing like crazy but he said no this is the time for God. It was so great. He told us he was going to come to church but apparently they slept in. We went over there yesterday but they had an emergency so we couldn't teach as we had planned. Saturday we met an ornery man. Most people are nice but this man was so rude. It makes me sad when people are so angry. One day he will thank us for caring. On Sunday we taught a man and his friend that we had met on the street a couple of weeks ago. We had to meet them on the corner and ended up teaching them in a Starbucks. It was a little weird but the lesson was really good. He took notes and is really excited to meet with us again. It was great! Yesterday was a great day too. We had appointments fall through but we had some other great things. We did service at Gary's. We were sanding his garage and taking off the paint so we could paint it again. It was lots of fun. I was sweating cause I was working hard. Who would have thought I would be doing service outside on december 1st. I got a cut on my thumb from the putty knife but all is well. Sister Colwell was administering first aide and I started singing "Doctor Doctor can you fix me up". Do you remember that song from Goofy movie? It was so great. Sister Colwell wanted to make sure she remembered it correctly before she stared to sing the rest of it. She didn't want to look stupid. It has been a great week. Next week we find out if we get transferred. I can hardly believe how quickly the time is passing. I hope you all have a great week this week. Know that I am praying for you and you are never far from my thoughts and heart. You are the best family anyone could ask for. Thanks for all of your love and support!