Author Archives: carrierstephen

It’s somewhat hard to describe deputation to somebody who’s never done it, but I think I finally figured out what it’s most like. It’s like having thousands of brothers and sisters out there somewhere that you’ve never met. And every week, you go meet several new ones. You never know what they’re going to beContinue reading “We Absolutely Love What We Get To Do”

“You’re not coming back to Chile, are you?” Lori Holt asked sometime last December or so, disappointment and even sadness in her voice. I don’t know why she said this. Possibly because I was very noncommittal and I’d talked to Jason as if I were going elsewhere. Whatever her reasons, she apparently thought I wasn’t.Continue reading “Accepted as a Missionary to Chile”

When we put up the final Facebook post announcing 250Project’s completion, I couldn’t believe it. That massive endeavor had finally come to a close. What had been a part of my life for nine months was now suddenly over. Had it not been just yesterday that Jason sat down with me in Bolivia and showedContinue reading “250Project-Our God Is An Awesome God”

When I hugged my Chilean friends goodbye, I knew it would probably be about three years before I saw many of them again, assuming I even go back to Chile as a missionary and not somewhere else. Three years sounds like such a long time when you’re saying goodbye to those you love. It somehowContinue reading “Continuing On”

If home is where the heart is, then I can’t really say I’m heading home. I’m not sure where I’m heading, exactly, but it’s not home. Yes, the United States is where I was born and raised, but it’s not home. If home is where the heart is, then, if anything, I’m leaving home. IContinue reading “Heading “Home””

“And the name of the second called he Ephraim: For God hath caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.”-Genesis 41:52 There’s a pretty decent chance none of us will lose a mother to the childbirth of our younger brother, be sold into slavery by our other brothers, and be thrown intoContinue reading “The Land of My Affliction”

I just read a great quote on a friend’s Facebook wall. It said: “As we go forth into the coming year, let it be. . . with the patient power of knowing that the God of Israel will go before us. Our yesterdays present irreparable things to us; it is true that we have lostContinue reading “Goodbye 2017. Welcome, 2018!”

While I’ve written fairly extensively about my trips to Peru and Bolivia, I haven’t written as much about Chile. To be truthful, the trips to Peru and Bolivia were easy to write about inasmuch as they were a timeline of events that naturally followed one another. Chile is different because there are some days filled withContinue reading “Happenings in Chile”

The sun had already risen and was shining brightly when I awoke the first day in Arequipa. Oh, no, I’ve overslept! It’s got to be at least 8:30 or something. I looked at my phone to see the time. 5:45 AM. What in the world? That was my first experience with an Arequipa sunrise! It comesContinue reading “Peru: Part 2 – A Week in Arequipa”