Category Archives: Steven

Elder Steven Cordon is serving in the Kennewick Washington mission as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Atonement & Agency

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Dear Family and Friends,

What a wonderful strength it gives me to know that I am a son of Heavenly Father. To know that I have a Father that has that much knowledge and wisdom. To know that he loves me forever no matter the circumstances. He will always be there for us when we truly seek him in our lives, even sometimes when we don’t he is still there.

Just like my parents told me not to run in the road, or not to touch the hot stove. I didn’t know why, I didn’t know that a car moving 25 mph hitting me would lead to a lot of suffering, but they did. Heavenly Father has the knowledge to know that the way that I can find the least amount of suffering in this life is to follow the plan that He has created. Just like I didn’t know about the cars or what a hot stove would do to my tiny hands; I don’t always know why he has asked me to do things or what the out come would be if I disobey. However I do have the trust to know that if He has asked me to do it then it is for my benefit, safety, and salvation and is of the utmost importance.

Just like my parents want me achieve all that I am able. Heavenly Father wants me to achieve everything that I am able, which is more then we can dream of. I, and everyone that has ever lived and will ever live, am part of the lineage of Heavenly Father. I am a heir to a throne and kingdom, as is everyone, because we are children of a Heavenly Father. I have a birth rite to claim, but He has given us agency to choose. I for a long time in my life was using that agency to chose to not follow the path that Heavenly Father has laid out. I chose to wonder down paths of un-inheritance choosing to throw away my birth rite. The inheritance that He has to give is one of eternal happiness, full of our families and loved ones with the rites to an eternal family that will grow forever.

I have let this knowledge shape my life to what it is today, I have been able to use my agency to turn my life around from what it was to what it is; made possible through the atonement of Jesus Christ. Without that sacrifice there would be no way to receive the inheritance. I have been able to see and feel the change in my own life that has come from becoming like a child, and just trusting that Heavenly Father knows what I need and knows the way back.

To end here is a scripture to that sums it up very clearly
Mosiah 3:19 in the Book of Mormon

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love,willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.

I love all of you so much thank you for you prayers and love

Love,
Elder Steven Cordon

What Name Are You Wearing?

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Dear Family and Friends,

Moroni 7:15 & 19
15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.
19 Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ.

The world is falling farther and farther away from the teachings of Christ, as they fall, we need to keep ourselves surrounded by the light of Christ. We have been given the tools we need to know where the Lord stands and where we need to stand. God is unchanging he is the same yesterday, today, and forever; we need to make sure that we don’t let the world change were we stand just because the world changes.

It is the responsibility of every member of the church to be a firm unchanging representative of Jesus Christ, every Sunday we are reminded and promise that we take His name upon us. For every person that has not yet taken upon themselves the covenant of baptism, I challenge you to search for yourselves where you want to be standing and who you want to be standing with.

There are so many things in this life that can distract us from the true purpose of why we are here. Satan does a very good job of filling our lives up with fog keeping us blinded from the end goal and the dangers that lay all around. Christ is that spotlight and as 19 says “search diligently” find the light and never let it out of sight.

Unlike Rome, not all roads lead to heaven. So we need to make sure that we are traveling on the right road. I have noticed that members of the church get very comfortable where they are at and dont even realize that they are wondering in the fog. One thing that I have learned on my mission is the great responsibility we truly have with taking upon us the name of Jesus Christ. When you can see it on your person everyday it keeps it at the front of your mind. The important thing to remember is that even if you dont wear a name tag you still wear is name by just belonging to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have to be living up to that standard every day of our lives.

I am so grateful for what i am learning on my mission, to learn how to make my life Christ centered is going to make my life the best that it can be. We are here for one reason, that is to become more like Christ every day; as long as that is our focus then He will make sure that the things that we need to succeed in this life are taken care of.

I love that I get to be a missionary and the lives that are being changed around me and my life that is being changed just builds my testimony everyday, that this work is truly being guided by God. I know that he loves me personally and that he knows everyone so personally and all he wants is for us to join him, and live the way that he has set up for us to achieve the most amount of happiness.

I am so grateful for the knowledge that I have, but I know that it comes with such a great responsibility and if I don’t live up to my end I know that I have a lot to answer for. I love everyone for all of the support and the prayers you are in mine.

I seal this in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

Elder Steven Cordon

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This has been a GREAT year!

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Dear Family and Friends,

This coming Saturday will be one year, one year sense I knew that this gospel was the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. That Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son, our brother, Jesus Christ in a grove of trees in Palmyra NY in 1820. It has been such a wonderful year I am so glad that I had the courage to go to the pageant.

In this last year I have let the gospel change my life. The promise that we get, that following the gospel makes us the best that we can be is VERY TRUE. It is so weird to think that it was only just a year ago that I didn’t know that this church was true and now I am on a mission and am through my first transfer.

So crazy news about this first transfer I am getting a new trainer. Elder Lafond is getting transferred and I am getting Elder Butters to finish out my next 6 weeks of training. SO… it is kinda weird to think, we just assumed that we had 3 months together and so it did come as a shock. I am excited though because God is in the details of the mission and so I know that I am supposed to learn something from this so can’t wait to see what that is. A quote from President Lorenzo Snow, who was the prophet from 1898-1901.

“There is no mortal man that is so much interested in the success of an elder when he is preaching the gospel as the Lord that sent him to preach to the people who are the Lord’s children.”

The Lord is invested in the success of our missions and He wants us to grow in the gospel and He wants us to become the best missionaries that we can be. He knows what that will take and he will give us the things and challenges that we need to mold us into the missionaries he needs us to be and the best we can be.

I am so excited about this next transfer and what it will bring. So a quote from me.

“There are many things a person CAN be, but the focus needs to be on what you SHOULD be.”

The gospel can change you to the best person that you can be so let it. Everyone can be perfected, so don’t get distracted by the things that aren’t in that direction.

Sorry this letter is so short next week will be longer 🙂

I love you all
Elder Steven Cordon
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Update on Sister Feathers (the bird we are teaching the gospel to) eggs have hatched and now we have two babies living on our porch.

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Washington Sunset

This is a Beautiful Place!

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Dear Family and Friends,

This is such a beautiful place they have taken a desert and turned it into a very beautiful place.

This week there was so many reasons to be grateful. It is remarkable everything that needed to happen so that the gospel could be restored. All of the details that God directed to bring this world out of apostasy is incredible to me. I know that God has his hand in the details of the affairs of this world and his plans and works will progress. The question that we have to ask ourselves is whether we are going to be apart of the work that is happening. I am so grateful to be able to be apart of this work “full time” and am taking down notes on how I can be for the rest of my life.

We are continuing to have wonderful blessing. I am growing in testimony every day, that is easy to do when you study as much as we and talk about it even more. I never tire of feeling the Holy Ghost every time that I testify of truth. I am so grateful for the area that i am in and the people that i get to meet every day.

Phil and Alicia and both moving forward with their faith in finding out for themselves their relationship with God. We gave a church tour to Alicia and what a wonderful experience that was we invited her to be baptized and she is very committed to building her testimony to build her to that moment. She is so good at recognizing the spirit and letting it guide her to make changes in her life.

Phil still has a lot a questions which is really good and he is praying about all of it. I am so excited to see him grow in his faith as we answer the questions he has and show him how he can find his answers through pray and scripture study.

I am almost done with my first transfer, and if feels like just yesterday that I got off the plane with the sun glaring me in the eyes. I am so glad every day that I made the decision to serve a mission. I know that this is where I am supposed to be. I challenge everyone to decide what you can do to be apart of Gods team and DO IT.

ELDER S. CORDON

What an Awesome Week!

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Dear Family and Friends,

This is a week that is getting locked in the vault. We are seeing lives blessed by the gospel and them building a closer relationship with their Heavenly Father. One that I am really excited about is Alicia, she is just ready to have the gospel be apart of her life. She is someone that I know the lord has been preparing for a long time. When we first met her she didn’t even know if God was even there, she thought that there might could be a God but she didn’t know. She agreed to let us work with her and she is already seeing how much Heavenly Father just want her to have him in her life. She walked a mile to come to a members house to see us. THAT IS WHAT I CALL EXERCISING FAITH! She has such an amazing desire to know God and she is showing it, I am looking forward to all of the lessons to come.

We also have Phil he is a non-member father of a member family, he has five boys and a wife that comes to church almost every week. (it is sometimes hard for her to get all the boys there by herself) Phil however doesn’t know if Joseph Smith is a true Prophet. We talked a little about it and he agreed that he hasn’t really taken the time to pray about it though. He also has some questions about the priesthood, the great news is he has committed to take the time to learn and to pray to get his answers. Which is great because that is all we ever ask is to pray about it and to find out for yourself if what we are saying is true. what a blessing it will be to that family when he accepts the gospel.

The temple trip was today! What a great experience that was to go to the temple and bring questions to the house of the Lord about my investigators and about how I can be a better missionary. I know that the Lord answers prays but it is just so different in the temple. I was able to get a spiritual recharge and get direction on what gifts the Lord has given me to help in this work. I have found so much comfort in going to the temple and knowing that if I take a question and in faith know that he will help me I will always get an answer. Rarely the one I want but always the one I need.

This week was such a growing week for me in so many ways. I was able to have many moments where I knew that my steps were being guided and my words were being given to me. This work is moving forward at such a remarkable rate, the Lord is preparing so many people to hear the truth. We have had a commandment given to us, it is not a new commandment, that the gospel be spread to the whole world. It is one that more need to take as serious as any other commandment, the greatest commandment given to us was to love one another. We need to take that love for everyone and share with them what brings the most happiness in this life. THE GOSPEL. I challenge everyone that reads this to talk to a friend who can learn more and share with them your testimony about one of these four things. Jesus Christ is the Savoir of the world, Joseph Smith is a true Prophet, The Book of Mormon is the word of God, or the Priesthood has been restored. Then invite them to meet with missionaries to know more. You don’t have to teach a lesson, let the missionaries do that, just be there to testify of truth and share what you know and love.

I know that this gospel is true and I am so grateful that I get to share it for two years. I know that God answers prayers and if you will ask in faith he WILL answer you and give you guidance in your life. I have a personal relationship with my Heavenly Father and I know everyone can because we are all His sons and daughters. I seal this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Elder Steven Cordon

Two Sundays down, 100 to go.

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Now it’s not that I am counting I just think 100 is a great number. 🙂

Life has been pretty crazy since I got out to the Mission, but a good crazy. The first week was a little overwhelming because of the circumstances but that leveled out. The area has really great members, they love feeding us and talking, but missionary work is not their focus. So we are trying to light those fires; we talk about it with the members who feed us, and that seems to get a little spark going. Now we are trying to get those sparks to catch fire. Then build them to a bonfire, and then a forest fire spreading from tree to tree. That is the part that is going to be fun.

I was asked yesterday what the most difficult part about missionary work was. It was a very interesting question, my mind first went to “well the schedule, the rules, the walking,” but I like all of that. So then I really thought about it, and for me the hardest part about missionary work is humility. When I was about to go to then MTC I thought that humility was something that I had learned pretty well, especially having to wait as long as I did. Humility for God was not something that I thought I struggled with, but I was wrong. A mission requires a whole new level of humility, everything we do as missionaries needs humility, finding, teaching, and enduring all require a humility that I wasn’t ready for.
I am so grateful for the companion of the Holy Ghost to just be able to know that he will be there to lift my short comings, and that He is the one that is really doing the teaching is a great comfort for me that will help me on this mission. I am so grateful every morning that I get to wake up and be apart of this great work every single day. I am so grateful that the fullness of the gospel has been restored to the earth, that we have the keys we need to perform the saving ordinances that we need to be able to live with our Heavenly Father. God has given us the way to reach our full potential in this life and the next, and I am so grateful that I have found it and that I get to share it with the people of Kennewick Washington

Elder S Cordon

Week 1– Elder Steven Cordon

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Dear Family and Friends,

Well it is my first week in the mission field, and it has been pretty crazy. My trainer is 19 has been out for 3 transfers and is training as the new district leader and we are both new to the area that I am starting in. (they call it being doubled in) so it has been really crazy.

I hope that it calms down a little bit by this week so i can start getting into a regular schedule, like actually getting personal study in the mornings. (crossing fingers) The two wards that we cover are great, very friendly and we have a full feeding calender. but i think just like everywhere they could be doing more missionary work to help us out. The ward leadership has spent a lot of time coming up with some really good ideas but it is getting the members to really get those ideas moving that is falling short. I am really excited to find ways to get the fire moving with these members if they could all be as focused as the mission leaders this place wouldn’t even need missionaries except to teacher lessons and baptize.

I am currently trying to come up with new ways of getting ourselves into new investigators homes because i feel that tracting is not the most effective way of doing things. So if anyone has ideas i am open to hearing them.

The area in which i am serving (the Tri-Cities) has quite the history that i had no idea about. This whole area started from a military compound that was one of the sites of the Manhattan Project. (made the bombs dropped in WWII) And they are pretty proud of it, a nearby high school has the mascot of “The Bombers.” I got a really good laugh when I heard that, and with graduations this weekend banners of the Richland Bombers were draped all over town. Well hopefully next week I will have more to say I will have been here twice as long so hopefully.

Elder Steven Cordon

He’s Here

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**Editors Note**
We received this email when Elder Steven Cordon arrived in the Mission Field last week! We wanted to share a portion of it with you. Thank you for the love and support you have shown Elder Steven Cordon as he has prepared to embark on this 2 year adventure.
A sincere thank you from his parents and family.
**

Dear Missionary Family,

We are delighted to inform you that your missionary has arrived safely to the Washington Kennewick Mission…

Washington Kennewick Mission Map

We have assigned him a companion who is an experienced, devoted, and motivated missionary. All of our missionaries understand that one of the greatest privileges available in the mission is to train a new missionary. This first companion will be a special person in your missionary’s life and will help give them a great start here.

We feel that our greatest responsibility is the care and welfare of your child. We want to assure you that we will be in regular contact with them. We will be observant of their physical health, happiness and spiritual well being. We will work closely with them throughout the mission to help them succeed and fulfill their calling as a representative of the Church and as an ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you for the sacrifices you are making at home to have your missionary in the field. We have seen the Lord bless the families of missionaries who are serving in untold ways. We know that His blessings will be upon you as well.

Cordon Mantle Staircase 1

First Week in the MTC

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Dear Family and Friends,

The MTC is everything I knew it would be. The hours are long, class rooms can get hot, the food isn’t the best. All of these things I knew. What I didn’t know and what I wasn’t prepared for was how the MTC was going to feel. The spirit that fills even the air you breath here is and can never be explained in words. The personal revelation that flies at me every moment. My hand barely stops writing. I was asked to be Zone Leader, just putting my glass completely full today. I love my mission and I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve our Lord.

Love,
Elder Steven Cordon

Update today:

I am having a wonderful time at the MTC you can basically cut the spirit here with a knife it is wonderful.  The classes here are unbelievable the way that i can just be sitting in class and studying and receiving revelation it wonderful to see just how close the lord is to his missionary’s we are promised so many blessing as long as we are faithful.  100% strictly obedience from me 🙂  I have had some really spiritual times here with some people that we are teaching.  We have had members come and volunteer to be talked to about member missionary work so with them and our investigators Justin and Sydney the MTC has been a great time.  The food is not as bad as everyone says it is some is but really not to bad. some time i feel that if I pray harder it tastes better haha JK. My branch presidency is the BOMB.COM they are really just inspired men, and being zone leader i have gotten to know them really well. My district is awesome its two trios  and we are all becoming really close friends  and we are all helping each other stay motivated and focused on the work its great.