Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Thursday, August 29, 2013
My Final Week in The Lord's Vineyard....
August 27, 2013
Dear beloved friends and family,
Yesterday started my final week in the mission field, and seeing that next week I will be in the Mission Home/ Temple all day long, this looks like this will be my last time writing to you. I apologize if my letter today seems weird or different in any way, the emotions at this time have been a lot to handle, and even being here in the library right now it’s hard to hold back tears (even though the gangster- looking guy next to me is listening to some hard core screaming music ha-ha.)
I have had one amazing week this week, and have been working harder than ever. We taught a record 31 lessons this week for my mission and found 4 new families coming to 12 new investigators. I hope to really prepare the area for the next missionary to come in. I honestly do feel the Love of the Lord as I have been trying to do all I can in these final 2 weeks. He has blessed me beyond belief and has helped me to feel that he is proud of me.
Another major miracle happened this week. We got a call from the lawyer today that is working on a legal matter for the Cruz family. It turns out that this week, a paper that needed to get signed, got signed by a miracle, and he will no longer need to wait another 3 months to get married and baptized (which was what we were expecting). Even the lawyer was stunned and amazed at the miracle that was wrought before our eyes. It may just be 2-3 weeks now till they are able to be baptized and I feel like my faith in God has reached a whole another level. I will for sure be coming back for their baptism in the weeks to come.
Heavenly Father also worked another miracle for us this week. On Sunday the Gallegos family came to church with their marriage license. Elder Hunter and I thought that it would be a few weeks for them to make the actual decision to get married and I thought that I would be missing their baptism, but God, being so good to me and their family, poured out his spirit on them and they decided to get married as soon as the Bishop had the opportunity to, and two of our other investigators were chosen to be the witnesses. We had a powerful lesson Sunday night where we talked about baptism. I have been very careful to make it known that I do not want them to be baptized before I left and how I would drive all the way back here for the day they decided on. And the husband, Ignacio, bore a very powerful testimony about how, in his way of saying it, it really had nothing to do with me leaving that he is getting baptized, he said that he has known since the very day that we walked into his home and shared the story of Joseph Smith that this is the Church of God on this earth and that he wants to be a part of it. They will be getting baptized on the Sunday the 1st of September.
I have gained a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savoir and Redeemer. I have no doubt that he paid for my sins with his Atonement and made it possible for me to live after this life with his Resurrection. I know with a certainty that we have a Father in Heaven who is doing everything in his power to help us become like Him and live with Him again. That the Plan of Salvation is His plan for us, and is a true plan, and by it we may live in Family units for the rest of eternity. It has been revealed to me by the power of the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith was called to be the Prophet of the Restoration and that the Book of Mormon in the inspired word of God. And now that I finish this mission that he has called me on, I can honestly say that I have fought a good fight, and that I have finish this course and chapter of my life and move on to the next, but above all, I have kept the faith. I have given my all. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all and look forward to seeing you all in a week.
With much Love,
Elder Daniel Gregory Stewart Jr.
Dear beloved friends and family,
Yesterday started my final week in the mission field, and seeing that next week I will be in the Mission Home/ Temple all day long, this looks like this will be my last time writing to you. I apologize if my letter today seems weird or different in any way, the emotions at this time have been a lot to handle, and even being here in the library right now it’s hard to hold back tears (even though the gangster- looking guy next to me is listening to some hard core screaming music ha-ha.)
I have had one amazing week this week, and have been working harder than ever. We taught a record 31 lessons this week for my mission and found 4 new families coming to 12 new investigators. I hope to really prepare the area for the next missionary to come in. I honestly do feel the Love of the Lord as I have been trying to do all I can in these final 2 weeks. He has blessed me beyond belief and has helped me to feel that he is proud of me.
Another major miracle happened this week. We got a call from the lawyer today that is working on a legal matter for the Cruz family. It turns out that this week, a paper that needed to get signed, got signed by a miracle, and he will no longer need to wait another 3 months to get married and baptized (which was what we were expecting). Even the lawyer was stunned and amazed at the miracle that was wrought before our eyes. It may just be 2-3 weeks now till they are able to be baptized and I feel like my faith in God has reached a whole another level. I will for sure be coming back for their baptism in the weeks to come.
Heavenly Father also worked another miracle for us this week. On Sunday the Gallegos family came to church with their marriage license. Elder Hunter and I thought that it would be a few weeks for them to make the actual decision to get married and I thought that I would be missing their baptism, but God, being so good to me and their family, poured out his spirit on them and they decided to get married as soon as the Bishop had the opportunity to, and two of our other investigators were chosen to be the witnesses. We had a powerful lesson Sunday night where we talked about baptism. I have been very careful to make it known that I do not want them to be baptized before I left and how I would drive all the way back here for the day they decided on. And the husband, Ignacio, bore a very powerful testimony about how, in his way of saying it, it really had nothing to do with me leaving that he is getting baptized, he said that he has known since the very day that we walked into his home and shared the story of Joseph Smith that this is the Church of God on this earth and that he wants to be a part of it. They will be getting baptized on the Sunday the 1st of September.
I have gained a testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savoir and Redeemer. I have no doubt that he paid for my sins with his Atonement and made it possible for me to live after this life with his Resurrection. I know with a certainty that we have a Father in Heaven who is doing everything in his power to help us become like Him and live with Him again. That the Plan of Salvation is His plan for us, and is a true plan, and by it we may live in Family units for the rest of eternity. It has been revealed to me by the power of the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith was called to be the Prophet of the Restoration and that the Book of Mormon in the inspired word of God. And now that I finish this mission that he has called me on, I can honestly say that I have fought a good fight, and that I have finish this course and chapter of my life and move on to the next, but above all, I have kept the faith. I have given my all. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
I love you all and look forward to seeing you all in a week.
With much Love,
Elder Daniel Gregory Stewart Jr.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Last Two Weeks....
Dear Family and Friends,
I hope everything is going well and
that you had an awesome week. I have had a good one. Whatever I have said about
the last few weeks being hard has really been nothing compared to the last few
days. I realized today that no matter who I find in the next two weeks, no
matter how golden and ready they are, that I will no longer be a missionary
when they are baptized. (Due to the fact that they need to come to church at
least twice.) I'm not going to lie, it was quite a scary thought, but like
always that's not going to slow me down.
We had a miracle this week! The
Gallegos family went to go get their marriage license yesterday and they were
able to get it without problems! I have been praying for this family so much
over the last few weeks and all of Sunday and Monday I couldn't sleep thinking
about all the things that have gone wrong with all of our other investigators
with this particular challenge. So Hermana and Hermano Gallegos will be getting
married this week and then the next week all four of them will be getting
baptized if all goes as planned. What a blessing it was for us.
Elder Hunter and I are doing really
well. We have become really good friends and are planning a trip to Ohio where
he lives to see some of the cool things that have to do with the history of the
church.
I don't really have a whole lot to
say besides that all is well and that I can fill you all in, in 2 weeks.
Love you,
Elder Stewart
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Alma and Amulek.....
August 13, 2013
Hey friends and family,
I hope you have had a good week this week. I have had an awesome week, but like always really stressful. We are still working on getting the families we are teaching baptized but the law is still making it pretty hard.
We had a cool experience this week, we went to a funeral for a recent convert named Manuel. He was baptized 3 weeks ago and this week his daughter passed away because she was very sick. At the funeral, it was so apparent from how Manuel was acting and how he was taking the death of his daughter compared to the mother (they are divorced) who was wailing and screaming and crying. Manuel handled it with calmness and it helped me realize how much of a blessing it is to have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the effect it has on our lives and our decisions. The Holy Ghost really and truly is the comforter and has made such a difference on his life. Heavenly Fathers plan is so perfect and he does know every one of us, I believe that if Manuel would have not found the gospel when he did and accepted the invitation to be baptized that it would probably be another story. The cool experience came in when after the family went up and said something for their sister they opened it up to the rest of the 60-70 people there, all of them being part of the catholic or Jehovah witness church, and no one got up to say anything. Elder Hunter turned to me and asked "What would Paul do here?" I responded "He would go up and bear testimony about the resurrection." so up went Elder Hunter and he bore a powerful testimony about the Resurrection and then came to sit down. Then I felt like I needed to go up and bare testimony about what Elder Hunter had shared and added my own testimony of the Resurrection. We passed out a ton of Plan of Salvation pamphlets to everyone and it was a really good experience for us.
We had a "Ward missionary activity" this week and it was a big success. We had about 80 people who came to the activity and lots of investigators. There was food and videos and some people who played some music. Javier Cruz played a song on the guitar that he made himself and we had another family who are investigators and they have a band who played so it was really cool to have our investigators make up the musical talent.
The family closest to baptism is the Gallegos family. The father and 2 sons are so ready to be baptized. They participate in all the activities and come to church every week. The only thing they are waiting for is the wife to just make the decision to be baptized. She knows the church is true and the only thing that is holding her back is that she is worried about what others will think or say about her. I have learned a lesson that it is so important to not think too much about what anyone thinks about you or your decisions, we should only be worried about what God thinks and go forward with faith in all the things he wants us to do. I think that’s one of the secrets of this life.
Well 3 weeks left. I will see all of you so soon.
Love,
Elder Stewart
Hey friends and family,
I hope you have had a good week this week. I have had an awesome week, but like always really stressful. We are still working on getting the families we are teaching baptized but the law is still making it pretty hard.
We had a cool experience this week, we went to a funeral for a recent convert named Manuel. He was baptized 3 weeks ago and this week his daughter passed away because she was very sick. At the funeral, it was so apparent from how Manuel was acting and how he was taking the death of his daughter compared to the mother (they are divorced) who was wailing and screaming and crying. Manuel handled it with calmness and it helped me realize how much of a blessing it is to have the knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the effect it has on our lives and our decisions. The Holy Ghost really and truly is the comforter and has made such a difference on his life. Heavenly Fathers plan is so perfect and he does know every one of us, I believe that if Manuel would have not found the gospel when he did and accepted the invitation to be baptized that it would probably be another story. The cool experience came in when after the family went up and said something for their sister they opened it up to the rest of the 60-70 people there, all of them being part of the catholic or Jehovah witness church, and no one got up to say anything. Elder Hunter turned to me and asked "What would Paul do here?" I responded "He would go up and bear testimony about the resurrection." so up went Elder Hunter and he bore a powerful testimony about the Resurrection and then came to sit down. Then I felt like I needed to go up and bare testimony about what Elder Hunter had shared and added my own testimony of the Resurrection. We passed out a ton of Plan of Salvation pamphlets to everyone and it was a really good experience for us.
We had a "Ward missionary activity" this week and it was a big success. We had about 80 people who came to the activity and lots of investigators. There was food and videos and some people who played some music. Javier Cruz played a song on the guitar that he made himself and we had another family who are investigators and they have a band who played so it was really cool to have our investigators make up the musical talent.
The family closest to baptism is the Gallegos family. The father and 2 sons are so ready to be baptized. They participate in all the activities and come to church every week. The only thing they are waiting for is the wife to just make the decision to be baptized. She knows the church is true and the only thing that is holding her back is that she is worried about what others will think or say about her. I have learned a lesson that it is so important to not think too much about what anyone thinks about you or your decisions, we should only be worried about what God thinks and go forward with faith in all the things he wants us to do. I think that’s one of the secrets of this life.
Well 3 weeks left. I will see all of you so soon.
Love,
Elder Stewart
One Month and Counting.....
August 6, 2013
Dear Family and Friends,
Ahhh, do I really have 1 month left? It feels like just yesterday that I left the MTC and was with my first companion. This was an amazing week for me and at the same time a sad one. Needless to say the whole week before Thursday was just like a normal week. Missionaries would randomly tell me "you’re dying! How do you feel?" or "your already starting to stink" or "are you ready to go home?" and it still never felt like I was actually at the end of my mission. On Thursday we had MLC with all the leaders and it turns out that this one was my last one. At the end of the meeting the APs surprised us by asking all the missionaries that where going home would give their last testimony. It was the first time that I had felt like I was going home and it was so hard to keep from crying. President Miller at the end said he didn’t realize that so many of the ZL’s and STLs where going home this transfer and said that he would give salt lake a call and see if he could get those who wanted to stay some more time. He asked who wanted to stay and I practically jumped out of my seat. Turns out he was just kidding and that it’s too late to extend anyone’s time. Thanks a lot! Ha-ha so I will be coming home unfortunately, but I definitely will not be slowing down before that day comes.
We had some good miracles this week. On Wednesday we had a return appointment with a lady and her 6 kids. She’s a single mother and works a lot in order to provide for her family. It was the first time we met her because the first contact we made with the family the grandma was there. The grandma invited us in and we left a blessing on the home and prayed that they would be able to find a family member of theirs that was lost while trying to come here to the US. They hadn’t heard from her in 8 days. So we went back the next day and at first the mother said she had no time for us and that she didn’t want to listen to our message. We asked if we could talk to her 17 year old son then and the son let us in. We decided to teach about prayer and how to pray. Partway through the month came and sat down and started listening to us. At the end we invited them to pray and no one wanted to. Finally the 10 year old daughter volunteered and started her prayer. Halfway through the prayer, she broke out crying uncontrollably. And because of that her mother's heart softened instantly. There was such a rapid change that we could hardly believe what happened. She said she wanted to have her kids and her get involved with the church and it’s something that she thinks her family really needs. They are a family of 5 or 6. This reminds me of the scripture in Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. If only all would just become as a little child.
Everything else is going so well. We are teaching so many families and every week we have 12+ investigators at church which is really an awesome thing the Lord is blessing us with. Elder Hunter and I are getting along really well and life is just perfect. We just have to find out how to get all these investigators baptized now!
Anyway, I hope all is well and that you are all in good health.
Love you,
Elder Stewart
Dear Family and Friends,
Ahhh, do I really have 1 month left? It feels like just yesterday that I left the MTC and was with my first companion. This was an amazing week for me and at the same time a sad one. Needless to say the whole week before Thursday was just like a normal week. Missionaries would randomly tell me "you’re dying! How do you feel?" or "your already starting to stink" or "are you ready to go home?" and it still never felt like I was actually at the end of my mission. On Thursday we had MLC with all the leaders and it turns out that this one was my last one. At the end of the meeting the APs surprised us by asking all the missionaries that where going home would give their last testimony. It was the first time that I had felt like I was going home and it was so hard to keep from crying. President Miller at the end said he didn’t realize that so many of the ZL’s and STLs where going home this transfer and said that he would give salt lake a call and see if he could get those who wanted to stay some more time. He asked who wanted to stay and I practically jumped out of my seat. Turns out he was just kidding and that it’s too late to extend anyone’s time. Thanks a lot! Ha-ha so I will be coming home unfortunately, but I definitely will not be slowing down before that day comes.
We had some good miracles this week. On Wednesday we had a return appointment with a lady and her 6 kids. She’s a single mother and works a lot in order to provide for her family. It was the first time we met her because the first contact we made with the family the grandma was there. The grandma invited us in and we left a blessing on the home and prayed that they would be able to find a family member of theirs that was lost while trying to come here to the US. They hadn’t heard from her in 8 days. So we went back the next day and at first the mother said she had no time for us and that she didn’t want to listen to our message. We asked if we could talk to her 17 year old son then and the son let us in. We decided to teach about prayer and how to pray. Partway through the month came and sat down and started listening to us. At the end we invited them to pray and no one wanted to. Finally the 10 year old daughter volunteered and started her prayer. Halfway through the prayer, she broke out crying uncontrollably. And because of that her mother's heart softened instantly. There was such a rapid change that we could hardly believe what happened. She said she wanted to have her kids and her get involved with the church and it’s something that she thinks her family really needs. They are a family of 5 or 6. This reminds me of the scripture in Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. If only all would just become as a little child.
Everything else is going so well. We are teaching so many families and every week we have 12+ investigators at church which is really an awesome thing the Lord is blessing us with. Elder Hunter and I are getting along really well and life is just perfect. We just have to find out how to get all these investigators baptized now!
Anyway, I hope all is well and that you are all in good health.
Love you,
Elder Stewart
My 21st Birthday Week
July 30, 2013
Hey Friends and Family,
I hope this letter finds you all in good conditions and that
you had an awesome week this week. Coming down on 5 weeks left no matter how
much I try to deny it, and I’m really tired. I think I know now how my grandpas
feel like when you sit down with your eyes closed for 2-3 seconds and then you’re
out cold. The only defense I know to that is to never sit down in the apartment
because if I do its lights out. Ha-ha. We have had a great week and I have had
an awesome birthday.
My birthday was so much better than last years. For P-day we
got up and after doing all we had to do in the morning we left to go spend the
day with the rest of the zone. I really felt the love from the zone when I saw
that a few of the sisters made a giant chocolate cake with cherries for me. I
also got many other gifts from missionaries that I didn’t think would have
cared a whole lot. We had an awesome time playing sports and hanging out. After
we had one of families we love sign up for dinner and there we had a party as
well. They got me this huge coconut cake that was super good but not the best
for losing weight. Now I have the fridge back home filled up with a ton of cake
and sweets but luckily enough I live with 3 other missionaries who can help me
out. Thank you so much for all the birthday wishes and gifts. I had an awesome
birthday this year.
Now to more important matters. We were asked by the stake
this week to send 8 companionships of missionaries to youth conference to teach
a class on how to teach the 1st lesson about the Restoration. Elder Hunter and
I went and we split up to watch other companionships teach but it turned out
that I ended up teaching the youth anyway. I feel like God has blessed me with
abilities to connect and teach youth about the gospel. The spirit in the room
was powerful and later the stake president called to thank us because the youth
thought that out of all the youth conference, that the part were the
missionaries taught was their favorite by far. I have such a love for teaching
youth and look forward to maybe one day fulfilling callings with them.
We found a new family this week that really has some
potential for baptism. They are the Najera family. He was baptized over 20
years ago and then was converted into a Christian church and stopped going. Our
first visit with them when we knocked the screen to the door seeing that the
door on the inside was opened and I could see the outlines of the family
through the screen. At first they tried to stay quiet and pretend that they
were not there! And then the baby started crying and so they had to answer the
door. So they let us in and we had a lesson that really had to be taught by the
spirit. Well now, just a week later, they came to the church for a church tour Thursday
night (first time in a Mormon building in 20 years), they are reading the Book
of Mormon every day, and the last time we visited with them they fed us awesome
food. The change in their family has been a change that makes this all worth
it. And it’s not anything that we really did, but the power of the spirit unto
the softening of hearts is a very really thing. I have seen the spirit have
such an impact on our investigators lives and the funny thing is that they
rarely even notice the change that happens. But I know the spirit is real, and
that it can make all things possible, even in the shaping and softening, and
converting of people to the True Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Until next week,
Elder Daniel Stewart
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Finishing my mission here in New Mexico.....
July 23, 2013
Hey Friends and Family,
How are you all doing? I hope everything is going well and that you are still enjoying the summer vacations and the heat. I had a really good week this week and we had a baptism. It feels like forever since our last one! It was a wonderful experience and a super spiritual baptism. We got transfer news this week and Elder Hunter and I are staying in the area. So I know I will be finishing here and it’s such a relief that we will be staying together for this last epic transfer. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Also Elder Keddington, my son, got a zone leader call today and will be over the missionaries in the El Paso Zone. I’m so excited to see him again and tell him I told you so.
This week Jorge was baptized. Just two months prior to meeting us here in ALB, he was doing serious drugs, running around with gangs, and not exactly being the humble follow of Christ that we all hope to be. On Saturday July 20th, he fully left everything in the past behind and became clean from all his sins. Just 3 weeks ago he walked up to the church building with only the clothes on his back and his car, he had just left Arizona and had been trying to find work. He was a homeless person and sure looked like one too, to be honest I learned a big lesson because at first sight of him, I kind of wrote him off as someone who was not going to make any progress. Well I was wrong. He came to church the day after we met him and loved it. The following day he got work and found a place to stay with some members. The first lesson with him was one of those lessons where everything went right and the spirit was so powerful. He accepted a date for baptism and was working for the 27th. This week he practically begged us to move the date up and he was more than happy. At his baptism he bore a powerful testimony about how he knows this church was true and how this baptism was the true and only baptism that he can receive.
Maybe even more impressing than the story of his change and conversion is the story of the members in this ward really stepping up to fellowship him. I don’t think we actually did anything besides teaching him the doctrine. But it seemed to me that the Elders Quorum and a few other members made sure all his rides where taken care of, that he had a place to stay, and that he had all the food and clothes he needs to live here. Even better was that we had no part in the baptismal service besides filling the font and making the program. The members gave the talks, the prayers, baptized and confirmed him. That’s how missionary work should really be done.
Love you all,
Elder Stewart
Hey Friends and Family,
How are you all doing? I hope everything is going well and that you are still enjoying the summer vacations and the heat. I had a really good week this week and we had a baptism. It feels like forever since our last one! It was a wonderful experience and a super spiritual baptism. We got transfer news this week and Elder Hunter and I are staying in the area. So I know I will be finishing here and it’s such a relief that we will be staying together for this last epic transfer. I couldn’t have asked for anything better. Also Elder Keddington, my son, got a zone leader call today and will be over the missionaries in the El Paso Zone. I’m so excited to see him again and tell him I told you so.
This week Jorge was baptized. Just two months prior to meeting us here in ALB, he was doing serious drugs, running around with gangs, and not exactly being the humble follow of Christ that we all hope to be. On Saturday July 20th, he fully left everything in the past behind and became clean from all his sins. Just 3 weeks ago he walked up to the church building with only the clothes on his back and his car, he had just left Arizona and had been trying to find work. He was a homeless person and sure looked like one too, to be honest I learned a big lesson because at first sight of him, I kind of wrote him off as someone who was not going to make any progress. Well I was wrong. He came to church the day after we met him and loved it. The following day he got work and found a place to stay with some members. The first lesson with him was one of those lessons where everything went right and the spirit was so powerful. He accepted a date for baptism and was working for the 27th. This week he practically begged us to move the date up and he was more than happy. At his baptism he bore a powerful testimony about how he knows this church was true and how this baptism was the true and only baptism that he can receive.
Maybe even more impressing than the story of his change and conversion is the story of the members in this ward really stepping up to fellowship him. I don’t think we actually did anything besides teaching him the doctrine. But it seemed to me that the Elders Quorum and a few other members made sure all his rides where taken care of, that he had a place to stay, and that he had all the food and clothes he needs to live here. Even better was that we had no part in the baptismal service besides filling the font and making the program. The members gave the talks, the prayers, baptized and confirmed him. That’s how missionary work should really be done.
Love you all,
Elder Stewart
Acts of Faith…..
July 17, 2013
Hey Friends and Family,
We have had another very good week. We are so busy and working so hard. After a night of planning I lay right down on my bed and almost instantly I’m out like a rock. But life if good. We are still getting desperately needed rain and of course miracles. Transfers are the next weekend and so I’ll be going into my last and final transfer. I pray that I stay in this area for one more, but as always, I go where he wants me to go.
We had a series of miracles this week with the Gallegos family. I’m not sure if I have already shared this story in earlier letters but now I can add on to it. The Gallegos family is a family dear to my heart, a little family of 4 that have portrayed great faith. The father of the family works two jobs as a chef for 2 restaurants. He works the first job from 8-4 and the second one starts at 5:30 and goes till late in the night. Well his story is that his mom joined the church 20 years ago and 3 months after her baptism, she dies of cancer. After all that time the missionaries are led to the family and from then on his faith has grown tremendously. Last week we challenged him to ask for Sundays off from his job. When he did, the boss told him no, and so he quit right then and there. The next 4 days he got calls from the manager and other employees begging him to come back, until Thursday the owner called and gave him Sundays off and paid him for the last 4 days he missed. So he went back and little to our surprise, his coworker call him this week on Saturday saying that he couldn’t go to work the next day due to his wife getting in an accident and going to the hospital. So he was going to have to go in. He decided to wake up 3 hours earlier to go to work and prepare all the food for the other chefs to cook so that at 9 he could be at church with his family. What faith.
At church another miracle happened where one of the members walked up to them and turns out she knew his mother and stayed with her in the hospital the entire time until his mother passed on. She told him things about his mother like it had just been yesterday. She was her mother’s fellowshipper in those days and upon talking with the son left all of us in tears. I bare testimony on the importance of members going out with the missionaries and fellowshipping and being friends with the investigators of the church. The biggest problem is that "Most" members feel like going out with the missionary for an hour or 3 is doing their part as members of the church in the Lord's work. I bare testimony that, that is wrong. Here is the example of a woman who "Truly fellowshipped" an investigator to the church who was baptized. And now 20 years later, because of the time and energy she spent becoming friends with her, she was able to remember all the experiences that she had, and she now is an instrumental part of the conversion of the family. The 2 boys of which will most likely serve missions and the Father of them will most likely be a bishop or even stake president. There are so many blessings that come from fellowshipping and I encourage you to seek out recent converts, less actives, or people learning about the church and try to be their friends. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Love you all,
Elder Stewart
Hey Friends and Family,
We have had another very good week. We are so busy and working so hard. After a night of planning I lay right down on my bed and almost instantly I’m out like a rock. But life if good. We are still getting desperately needed rain and of course miracles. Transfers are the next weekend and so I’ll be going into my last and final transfer. I pray that I stay in this area for one more, but as always, I go where he wants me to go.
We had a series of miracles this week with the Gallegos family. I’m not sure if I have already shared this story in earlier letters but now I can add on to it. The Gallegos family is a family dear to my heart, a little family of 4 that have portrayed great faith. The father of the family works two jobs as a chef for 2 restaurants. He works the first job from 8-4 and the second one starts at 5:30 and goes till late in the night. Well his story is that his mom joined the church 20 years ago and 3 months after her baptism, she dies of cancer. After all that time the missionaries are led to the family and from then on his faith has grown tremendously. Last week we challenged him to ask for Sundays off from his job. When he did, the boss told him no, and so he quit right then and there. The next 4 days he got calls from the manager and other employees begging him to come back, until Thursday the owner called and gave him Sundays off and paid him for the last 4 days he missed. So he went back and little to our surprise, his coworker call him this week on Saturday saying that he couldn’t go to work the next day due to his wife getting in an accident and going to the hospital. So he was going to have to go in. He decided to wake up 3 hours earlier to go to work and prepare all the food for the other chefs to cook so that at 9 he could be at church with his family. What faith.
At church another miracle happened where one of the members walked up to them and turns out she knew his mother and stayed with her in the hospital the entire time until his mother passed on. She told him things about his mother like it had just been yesterday. She was her mother’s fellowshipper in those days and upon talking with the son left all of us in tears. I bare testimony on the importance of members going out with the missionaries and fellowshipping and being friends with the investigators of the church. The biggest problem is that "Most" members feel like going out with the missionary for an hour or 3 is doing their part as members of the church in the Lord's work. I bare testimony that, that is wrong. Here is the example of a woman who "Truly fellowshipped" an investigator to the church who was baptized. And now 20 years later, because of the time and energy she spent becoming friends with her, she was able to remember all the experiences that she had, and she now is an instrumental part of the conversion of the family. The 2 boys of which will most likely serve missions and the Father of them will most likely be a bishop or even stake president. There are so many blessings that come from fellowshipping and I encourage you to seek out recent converts, less actives, or people learning about the church and try to be their friends. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Love you all,
Elder Stewart
Friday, July 12, 2013
Mission Release Date
Elder Stewart's release date from the mission field is set for September 4, 2013.
For those wishing to see DJ and hear his homecoming talk, he is scheduled to speak on September 8th at 9am in the Monterey 2nd Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which meets at: 1 Forest Knoll Road, Monterey, CA 93940.
For assistance with accommodations, please send an e-mail to Greg Stewart at 2gregstew@gmail.com.
A Fast for Rain....
July 9, 2013
Hey Friends and Family,
I hope all is going well for you, that it’s not too hot and that you are enjoying your summer vacation. We are doing awesome. The area is really progressing and we are finding joy in our efforts. This week the Mission President and the Stakes in the area asked the members to fast for rain, due to the drought that Albuquerque is going through. The Rio Grande has nearly dried up due to the lack of rain and the heat this summer. So on Sunday we added rain into our fast. Well yesterday and last night it rained and thundered so hard that they sent out a text to all the phones in the area with a flash flood warning. It rained harder than I have ever seen it rain. What a blessing it was for us and the people here in ALB. I know its small, but the response to the fast helped increase my faith. God said himself that it is by small and simple things right?
We are still working with the Cruz family on their way to being married and baptized. Sunday was a sweet experience because Javier got up and bore his testimony. He spoke about his conversion and how he is 100% convinced that the church is true, even though he is not baptized yet. He talked about how it has not been easy since they started coming to church, in fact it has been harder financially and mentally, but said that as he has passed through the problems he is facing now, he has learned to rely on the Lord. Which I thought was very cool. He is the type of person that we could see being a stake president or in the Seventy one day. We are also teaching another family named the Gallegos family. They are probably just as equally prepared for baptism as the Cruz family. The only problem is that we have been having such a hard time getting members in the ward to come out with us. So we decided to ask Javier Cruz if he wanted to come. Well he and his whole family came and we had such a good, spiritual meeting. They got along so well and Javier was able to answer some of the questions that we have been trying to answer for a while now. So I guess when you don’t have a good fellowshipper in the ward, you need to find and baptize one. Ha-ha
We had our first ever MLC with the new President Miller this week. Again I was left so impressed with him and the Leader he is. His personality is one that everyone likes to be around, but his spirit overshadows his personality by far. It is awesome to see how he has adjusted to this new calling without even missing a beat. You truly understand "being led by the spirit" as you watch a change in the church's leadership.
Well I love you, until next week.
Elder Stewart
Hey Friends and Family,
I hope all is going well for you, that it’s not too hot and that you are enjoying your summer vacation. We are doing awesome. The area is really progressing and we are finding joy in our efforts. This week the Mission President and the Stakes in the area asked the members to fast for rain, due to the drought that Albuquerque is going through. The Rio Grande has nearly dried up due to the lack of rain and the heat this summer. So on Sunday we added rain into our fast. Well yesterday and last night it rained and thundered so hard that they sent out a text to all the phones in the area with a flash flood warning. It rained harder than I have ever seen it rain. What a blessing it was for us and the people here in ALB. I know its small, but the response to the fast helped increase my faith. God said himself that it is by small and simple things right?
We are still working with the Cruz family on their way to being married and baptized. Sunday was a sweet experience because Javier got up and bore his testimony. He spoke about his conversion and how he is 100% convinced that the church is true, even though he is not baptized yet. He talked about how it has not been easy since they started coming to church, in fact it has been harder financially and mentally, but said that as he has passed through the problems he is facing now, he has learned to rely on the Lord. Which I thought was very cool. He is the type of person that we could see being a stake president or in the Seventy one day. We are also teaching another family named the Gallegos family. They are probably just as equally prepared for baptism as the Cruz family. The only problem is that we have been having such a hard time getting members in the ward to come out with us. So we decided to ask Javier Cruz if he wanted to come. Well he and his whole family came and we had such a good, spiritual meeting. They got along so well and Javier was able to answer some of the questions that we have been trying to answer for a while now. So I guess when you don’t have a good fellowshipper in the ward, you need to find and baptize one. Ha-ha
We had our first ever MLC with the new President Miller this week. Again I was left so impressed with him and the Leader he is. His personality is one that everyone likes to be around, but his spirit overshadows his personality by far. It is awesome to see how he has adjusted to this new calling without even missing a beat. You truly understand "being led by the spirit" as you watch a change in the church's leadership.
Well I love you, until next week.
Elder Stewart
Visit from Elder Echo Hawk and Elder Villarreal.....
July 3, 2013
Hey Friends and Family,
I hope that you are all doing well and enjoying your summers, and that its not to hot out there. It is super-hot here. 110. But at least it is a dry heat. We had a really good week though, we are so grateful to be in this area at this time and to be doing the work that we are doing.
We had a visit from a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy Elder Echo Hawk this week. He is the only Native American Seventy as far as I know and he came to our mission to speak to us and also had a meeting with the Navajo Nations Government. He told us that the meeting with the Navajo Nations President was a really good meeting and that at the end, the President asked him for a copy of the Book of Mormon, How cool right? He talked a lot about our calling a missionaries. Elder Villarreal and Elder Echo Hawk are both converts of missionaries knocking on their door and they expressed their gratitude. Elder Villarreal told a story about how he once was visiting a mission and a missionary came up to him and showed him his name badge. It didn’t ring a bell to him and so he asked him who he was. Turns out he is a convert of Elder Villarreal’s daughter from her mission. He then called the missionary who baptized him and said that he met one of his other converts today. The returned missionary had no idea who he was talking about. He said because he baptized him. His daughter went on a mission and since his daughter went on a mission, this young missionary was baptized and went on a mission. And that missionary will have many baptisms in his mission, and that they will all be his converts. I thought about the effect we have on the future generations and into the next life. I’m so grateful to be part of this work in these Latter Days.
We met our new Mission President and his wife yesterday. They are also named the Millers. All of the Zone Leaders got there early to have an interview with him and his wife before the meeting. I feel so privilege to have the opportunity to sit down with them and to talk to them individually. It was a very special experience for me to meet them. Both of the interviews with them where very spiritual and even though I only will have 8 weeks with them I am so grateful for the experience.
Well we had a missionary in our little apartment go home due to his Cystic Fibrosis. Which was a very sad experience for us, also Elder Marler had to change companions to an English area so we are kind of sad about that. One nice thing that happen to us yesterday though is that we got a brand new Nissan Tacoma truck for our area. It has a whole 17 miles on it. It’s a good upgrade from the truck we had before. Well I don’t have much else this week. The Work is good, I’m happy.
Love,
Elder Stewart
Hey Friends and Family,
I hope that you are all doing well and enjoying your summers, and that its not to hot out there. It is super-hot here. 110. But at least it is a dry heat. We had a really good week though, we are so grateful to be in this area at this time and to be doing the work that we are doing.
We had a visit from a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy Elder Echo Hawk this week. He is the only Native American Seventy as far as I know and he came to our mission to speak to us and also had a meeting with the Navajo Nations Government. He told us that the meeting with the Navajo Nations President was a really good meeting and that at the end, the President asked him for a copy of the Book of Mormon, How cool right? He talked a lot about our calling a missionaries. Elder Villarreal and Elder Echo Hawk are both converts of missionaries knocking on their door and they expressed their gratitude. Elder Villarreal told a story about how he once was visiting a mission and a missionary came up to him and showed him his name badge. It didn’t ring a bell to him and so he asked him who he was. Turns out he is a convert of Elder Villarreal’s daughter from her mission. He then called the missionary who baptized him and said that he met one of his other converts today. The returned missionary had no idea who he was talking about. He said because he baptized him. His daughter went on a mission and since his daughter went on a mission, this young missionary was baptized and went on a mission. And that missionary will have many baptisms in his mission, and that they will all be his converts. I thought about the effect we have on the future generations and into the next life. I’m so grateful to be part of this work in these Latter Days.
We met our new Mission President and his wife yesterday. They are also named the Millers. All of the Zone Leaders got there early to have an interview with him and his wife before the meeting. I feel so privilege to have the opportunity to sit down with them and to talk to them individually. It was a very special experience for me to meet them. Both of the interviews with them where very spiritual and even though I only will have 8 weeks with them I am so grateful for the experience.
Well we had a missionary in our little apartment go home due to his Cystic Fibrosis. Which was a very sad experience for us, also Elder Marler had to change companions to an English area so we are kind of sad about that. One nice thing that happen to us yesterday though is that we got a brand new Nissan Tacoma truck for our area. It has a whole 17 miles on it. It’s a good upgrade from the truck we had before. Well I don’t have much else this week. The Work is good, I’m happy.
Love,
Elder Stewart
Sunday, June 30, 2013
9 Weeks Left and in Denial....
June 25, 2013
Hey Family and Friends,
Hope you have had a wonderful week. I know I have, we had lots of fun this week and another one of those moments that make the whole thing worth it. I don't really believe I have 9 weeks left, which just seems to close for me.
The Cruz family is one of the families who are in the process of waiting to be married for so legal reasons. Once they get married they know that they will be baptized immediately after. This week we went to do a temple tour with them and had a very special experience. Walking around the temple is always an amazing experience. But this time we were permitted to enter into the waiting room of the temple. There we sat down and talked about some of the rooms of the temple using the Temple ensign. While we were getting ready to leave we had a closing prayer there, which Javier Cruz gave. He prayed for a miracle to allow him and his family to be baptized. He is excited to be baptized as soon as possible, so that they could start the one year time limit to go back to the temple and be sealed.
Idk if I have talked about the PMG plan our stake is using now. After a visit from Elder Perry of the Quorum of the twelve, and his talk about the members of the stake needing to learn the first 3 lessons of PMG, the stake presidency asked us to make a plan out to be used for the stake. It’s a weird feeling to come up with a plan that is being used by an entire stake, but we did it and they loved it. We are starting to implement it now in the stake. How exciting!
This week we went with Magda and Osbaldo to get their marriage license. They were not able to get it at the time due to lack of identification, but this week coming up they should be able to go and get it. Then the next step will be their marriage and baptism this Saturday, Magda has such great faith and had an experience this week that increased my faith. She started a Job last week and had to go in on Sunday to be trained, and so she missed church. This week she came to church and said that at work she asked if she could have Sundays off and her boss said no. She responded by saying "ok well I wont able to work here anymore because Sundays are very important to the Lord and Me." she said that her boss told her to wait, and then figured a way out for her to have Sundays off. I have met very few people with faith enough to risk a job in order to obey the commandments, and have made up my mind that, that is the faith I want to have.
Well I love you all,
Elder Stewart
Hey Family and Friends,
Hope you have had a wonderful week. I know I have, we had lots of fun this week and another one of those moments that make the whole thing worth it. I don't really believe I have 9 weeks left, which just seems to close for me.
The Cruz family is one of the families who are in the process of waiting to be married for so legal reasons. Once they get married they know that they will be baptized immediately after. This week we went to do a temple tour with them and had a very special experience. Walking around the temple is always an amazing experience. But this time we were permitted to enter into the waiting room of the temple. There we sat down and talked about some of the rooms of the temple using the Temple ensign. While we were getting ready to leave we had a closing prayer there, which Javier Cruz gave. He prayed for a miracle to allow him and his family to be baptized. He is excited to be baptized as soon as possible, so that they could start the one year time limit to go back to the temple and be sealed.
Idk if I have talked about the PMG plan our stake is using now. After a visit from Elder Perry of the Quorum of the twelve, and his talk about the members of the stake needing to learn the first 3 lessons of PMG, the stake presidency asked us to make a plan out to be used for the stake. It’s a weird feeling to come up with a plan that is being used by an entire stake, but we did it and they loved it. We are starting to implement it now in the stake. How exciting!
This week we went with Magda and Osbaldo to get their marriage license. They were not able to get it at the time due to lack of identification, but this week coming up they should be able to go and get it. Then the next step will be their marriage and baptism this Saturday, Magda has such great faith and had an experience this week that increased my faith. She started a Job last week and had to go in on Sunday to be trained, and so she missed church. This week she came to church and said that at work she asked if she could have Sundays off and her boss said no. She responded by saying "ok well I wont able to work here anymore because Sundays are very important to the Lord and Me." she said that her boss told her to wait, and then figured a way out for her to have Sundays off. I have met very few people with faith enough to risk a job in order to obey the commandments, and have made up my mind that, that is the faith I want to have.
Well I love you all,
Elder Stewart
Monday, June 24, 2013
A Great Father's Day...
Dear Family and
Friends,
First off I just
wanted to say to all the fathers out there Happy Father’s Day. And a special
one to my grandpas, my dad, and my Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for
everything you do for me and the examples you are to me. It has been such a
blessing to be in our family. Here I see a lot of dysfunctional fathers
and so I know how lucky I am to have you. Something that’s
really cool is that Elder Keddington is a district leader and is
training. I’m a mission grandfather now.
This week was an amazing
week. Elder Marler is a champ! He has extended 3 baptismal invitations in his
first week and they have all said yes. That brings our total to 18 with a
baptismal date. Heavenly Father has blessed us so much and has answered our
prayers. We found a family this week that is so prepared. They are a
family of four. We first started out with just the mother and the two
kids, after the first lesson, we met them at the church the next
day for a tour of the chapel. They loved it and want to come to church
this week. We were kind of worried about meeting the husband because there has
been so many instances where they have wanted nothing to do with the church and
we lose the family. Well to my surprise, her husband is one of the
most humble people in the world. Turns out that his mother was baptized a
few years ago 3 months before she died. He came up from Mexico for
her funeral and that’s where he came in contact for the first time. He
really wants to know more about the church his mother joined. At the end
of the lesson, Elder Hunter said that the next time we would talk
about a covenant that they come make to come closer to God, (because
some of their family came in and he wasn’t sure if we should extend
the invitation in that setting) When we turned to Elder Marler for
him to share his testimony, he said "Will you be baptized by someone who
holds the priesthood of God?" and they said yes, they would love to. What
an act of faith. We are so proud of Elder Marler and the chance we have to
serve with him. Here is a picture of Elder Marler on the left with his
2 Dads. Also the action figures are supposed to be us 3.
The work is going so
well, the Zone is amazing, and is the hardest working zone in the mission. They
are amazing, which makes it so easy to go to the SMCM meeting with President
Miller and the Stake Presidency. We taught a record number of lessons for our
zone and found a record number of new investigators. The best part is seeing their
faith grow as we rely more and more on the Lord and his miracles.
Love you all,
Elder Stewart
Monday, June 17, 2013
Greenie going to Columbia....
June 11, 2013
Hey Family and Friends,
As always I hope everything is going well and that you are surviving the heat. Here in ABQ we have had over 100 degrees pretty consistently for the past week or so. We had a busy week this week and taught 28 lessons, a record for us considering MLC and the Zone training meeting we went to. This was President Miller's last MLC and he took all of us and the "Sister Trainer Leaders" to Tucanos. Elder Hunter and My 2nd time this month. Its super good.
We found 2 new investigators this week who are super awesome and prepared. The Lord is really blessing us for our patience with the investigators we have now and their legal problems. Sometimes I wonder why we have so many amazing people ready for baptism and that they are starting to just build up more and more. Like a dam ready to burst. I would much rather just have a steady stream. Anyway, I had a cool experience at the end of last week where we were walking in our investigators' trailer park or "The Diamond in the Ruff" as we like to call it due to the fact that we are currently teaching 8 families in a 30 foot radius. Almost all of which have a baptism date or have some serious potential. It’s called "Country Side Mobile Homes" but we hope to soon change it to "Zion Mobile Home Park" and just put an entire branch there. How easy home teaching would be! anyway, we were walking around and we have knock this one door maybe 3 times and each time we have found a different person there, almost all of them not living there, but still becoming investigators. Well I felt like we should knock the door again, and there we met Adan. He invited us right in and we taught all the way up to the apostasy. He loved it and invited us back, came to church and accepted a baptismal date in just 3 weeks. I couldn’t help but laugh relating this house to one of those bricks in the Mario games. One of the ones that you could keep hitting and it would keep giving you coins. I’m super excited for him and to seem him progress.
We also started to teach a close neighbor of his, a girl of 14 years old. While I was on exchanges, Elder Hunter and Elder Lish taught Angelica at a family home evening. She was a church the day before after only having to invite her one time to come. Then the young women in our ward really stepped up and figured out a way to allow her to go to girl’s camp. (In only one day) She had a blast. On Sunday she came to church again, on the ride home, her fellowshipper asked if she liked church, she said yes and then said, "I want to get baptized." the fellowshipper responded "So quick" and she said "yeah, because I have felt the spirit." Her date is in 2 weeks.
Well Elder Hunter and I are training again. It’s very interesting to be in a tri-companionship. His name is Elder Marler. He is from Escondido Cali, near San Diego. He has a 2nd degree black belt in Ti Quan Do and built robots in school for 6 years. He would really get along with Jared. He is waiting to get his visa to go to Columbia. How cool! His dad served in Columbia and his mother is Latina, so he has a good base in Spanish. He will learn to be fluent very quickly.
Love you All and talk to you next week.
Elder Stewart
Hey Family and Friends,
As always I hope everything is going well and that you are surviving the heat. Here in ABQ we have had over 100 degrees pretty consistently for the past week or so. We had a busy week this week and taught 28 lessons, a record for us considering MLC and the Zone training meeting we went to. This was President Miller's last MLC and he took all of us and the "Sister Trainer Leaders" to Tucanos. Elder Hunter and My 2nd time this month. Its super good.
We found 2 new investigators this week who are super awesome and prepared. The Lord is really blessing us for our patience with the investigators we have now and their legal problems. Sometimes I wonder why we have so many amazing people ready for baptism and that they are starting to just build up more and more. Like a dam ready to burst. I would much rather just have a steady stream. Anyway, I had a cool experience at the end of last week where we were walking in our investigators' trailer park or "The Diamond in the Ruff" as we like to call it due to the fact that we are currently teaching 8 families in a 30 foot radius. Almost all of which have a baptism date or have some serious potential. It’s called "Country Side Mobile Homes" but we hope to soon change it to "Zion Mobile Home Park" and just put an entire branch there. How easy home teaching would be! anyway, we were walking around and we have knock this one door maybe 3 times and each time we have found a different person there, almost all of them not living there, but still becoming investigators. Well I felt like we should knock the door again, and there we met Adan. He invited us right in and we taught all the way up to the apostasy. He loved it and invited us back, came to church and accepted a baptismal date in just 3 weeks. I couldn’t help but laugh relating this house to one of those bricks in the Mario games. One of the ones that you could keep hitting and it would keep giving you coins. I’m super excited for him and to seem him progress.
We also started to teach a close neighbor of his, a girl of 14 years old. While I was on exchanges, Elder Hunter and Elder Lish taught Angelica at a family home evening. She was a church the day before after only having to invite her one time to come. Then the young women in our ward really stepped up and figured out a way to allow her to go to girl’s camp. (In only one day) She had a blast. On Sunday she came to church again, on the ride home, her fellowshipper asked if she liked church, she said yes and then said, "I want to get baptized." the fellowshipper responded "So quick" and she said "yeah, because I have felt the spirit." Her date is in 2 weeks.
Well Elder Hunter and I are training again. It’s very interesting to be in a tri-companionship. His name is Elder Marler. He is from Escondido Cali, near San Diego. He has a 2nd degree black belt in Ti Quan Do and built robots in school for 6 years. He would really get along with Jared. He is waiting to get his visa to go to Columbia. How cool! His dad served in Columbia and his mother is Latina, so he has a good base in Spanish. He will learn to be fluent very quickly.
Love you All and talk to you next week.
Elder Stewart
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
A day among the Gadianton Robbers....
June 5, 2013
Hey Everyone,
I hope everyone is doing really well. I’m doing great, pretty tired but great. We had a very good week this week and I had some awesome experiences on the Navajo Indian Reservation this past Monday while I was on exchanges with a stud missionary there. The Navajo people on the reservation are a very special people. Once you get past all the word of wisdom problems you find people that I believe are more sensitive to the spirit than any other race or people. But with that comes a lot of evil spirits as well. There is a lot of talk about "Skin Walkers" who the natives say are modern day "Gadianton Robbers." These people are normal people during the day, people that you could not recognize from another Indian, but at night time they have meetings up in the hills in caves and the more forested areas where they do rituals. They are apparently able to shape shift and go through doors. I saw some interesting things that will have to wait till I got home. But on the bright side I did 4 baptismal interviews in 2 days and we are planning another trip down there to do 3 more the following week. Satan may have a strong hold on some of the people here but the power of repentance is a stronger force than anything else. Many of them are being convinced of Jesus Christ and believing in the BOM. Something interesting that I learned is that almost every Indian home has something called a Hogan. It’s a small circular building that looks like one of the houses of Star Wars where Anakin is found. They are very sacred places and must be entered a specific way, then in order to get out you have to walk all the way around in an orderly fashion to leave. The door of every Hogan is faced to the east.
We had some cool experiences this week. 9 investigators came to church and are progressing towards baptism. What a blessing it is to be able to be here at this time. The only thing that is stopping 12 people in our area from being baptized right now is the law. All of them are not legally married and are waiting for certain things in the law to arrive before they can be married. We have seen many miracles come in the last few weeks but it really is just a long waiting process for the Lord’s will and time for things to happen. Meanwhile we are focusing on receiving miracles through faith and prayer.
Well it looks like as of yesterday I have 3 months left in this journey. So much to do in so little time. But I’m happy, I’m blessed.
Love,
Elder Stewart
Hey Everyone,
I hope everyone is doing really well. I’m doing great, pretty tired but great. We had a very good week this week and I had some awesome experiences on the Navajo Indian Reservation this past Monday while I was on exchanges with a stud missionary there. The Navajo people on the reservation are a very special people. Once you get past all the word of wisdom problems you find people that I believe are more sensitive to the spirit than any other race or people. But with that comes a lot of evil spirits as well. There is a lot of talk about "Skin Walkers" who the natives say are modern day "Gadianton Robbers." These people are normal people during the day, people that you could not recognize from another Indian, but at night time they have meetings up in the hills in caves and the more forested areas where they do rituals. They are apparently able to shape shift and go through doors. I saw some interesting things that will have to wait till I got home. But on the bright side I did 4 baptismal interviews in 2 days and we are planning another trip down there to do 3 more the following week. Satan may have a strong hold on some of the people here but the power of repentance is a stronger force than anything else. Many of them are being convinced of Jesus Christ and believing in the BOM. Something interesting that I learned is that almost every Indian home has something called a Hogan. It’s a small circular building that looks like one of the houses of Star Wars where Anakin is found. They are very sacred places and must be entered a specific way, then in order to get out you have to walk all the way around in an orderly fashion to leave. The door of every Hogan is faced to the east.
We had some cool experiences this week. 9 investigators came to church and are progressing towards baptism. What a blessing it is to be able to be here at this time. The only thing that is stopping 12 people in our area from being baptized right now is the law. All of them are not legally married and are waiting for certain things in the law to arrive before they can be married. We have seen many miracles come in the last few weeks but it really is just a long waiting process for the Lord’s will and time for things to happen. Meanwhile we are focusing on receiving miracles through faith and prayer.
Well it looks like as of yesterday I have 3 months left in this journey. So much to do in so little time. But I’m happy, I’m blessed.
Love,
Elder Stewart
Sunday, June 2, 2013
A Trial of Faith....
May 28, 2013
Hey Friends and
Family,
We had a good trying
of our faith this week, we as a mission are focusing on building or faith to
meet our baptism goal of this year. To be honest we are quite behind in our
goals and feel like it is because the mission lacks faith in miracles. Elder
Hunter and I have been going so well, being so blessed that we couldn’t
understand why the missionaries in our zone lacked faith. So this week I think
the Lord humbled us. Instead of everything going perfectly, and falling into
place this week, it really took a toll on us when things have not been going
our way. Not that we have lost the investigators we have, but in the trying to
find, and getting lessons with the investigators is what has been hard. Part
way through the week we had a talk about how we need to have Faith, Hope, and
Charity in order to see miracles coming on the horizon.
The biggest problem is
the law of the land. We have 3 families that would be baptized right this second,
but due to paper problems and not being able to be married, they will wait. The
Lord seems to be taking his time to bless these people with the papers to be
married and baptized, but we trust that he has his purposes and reasons. It’s
just hard to see them have such great faith and desire to be baptized and have
the law be standing in the way, but we want to help the zone and the mission
complete the goals that we have set for this year.
We had zone Conference
this week and setting up everything took so long. I had to wake up at 5:30 and
be at the chapel by 6:30. Then with all the meetings, it ended at about 5
pm. I have never been so exhausted, but I always seem to have the strength to
keep going. President Miller talked about faith and how to obtain and grow it. He
gave 5 principles to faith. I’ll have to put them in next week because I don’t
have my notes.
We were able to go to
the temple this week with a family of investigators and walk around. That’s one
of the best things about serving in Alb. The spirit was super strong and I
felt such a desire to one day go in with them to be sealed as a family. They
said that they are preparing to get married then baptized. I’m excited to
watch their faith grow along with mine as they work on the goal of making it to
the temple.
Well I have so much
more I could say, but I don’t have time, so I will have to fill you all in, in
about 3 months. I’m super happy, we are being so blessed.
Love you,
Elder Stewart
Another busy week here in ALB....
May 21, 2013
Hey Friends and Family,
How is everyone doing? I’m doing so well. We had such a busy week this week. But one that was so successful. We are receiving lots of blessings and are trying our best to get everything done. I don’t think I would be able to do it without Elder Hunter, he’s a superstar missionary.
This week we set 11 baptism dates. All of them being really solid. These families are families that you can see progressing and people that will bless the Lord's kingdom when they are members. I think I am starting to learn what faith is. Faith not as much meaning "Belief" but more like Faith and Hope combined when it comes to missionary work and living life. A have seen so many examples in life about "Taking the Leap of Faith" or the "Faith Fall", but I don’t think I ever learned what it meant to leave it all to the Lord. I have been having some really good experiences lately where even though I didn’t know what to say or do, I did my best and the Lord showed me what to say and do.
We had a really cool experience with Magda and Osbaldo. We went home on Sunday of last week and prayed for some dates that we could present to them for baptism. We came up with two dates that we feel they could be ready by and when the Lord wants them to be baptized. We gave them an envelope with the date in it and told them to pray for one of those days. On Saturday we met with them and Magda had received her answer. She said that before she even opened the envelope, she looked at a calendar and told her to pick a date and pray about it. When she prayed she said that she had this one date pop up in her head over and over again, to the point where she couldn’t get it out. When she opened the Envelope, to her surprise, it was the same date we had prayed about and received an answer. She and Osbaldo are going to be married now! And they are preparing for baptism.
We had a baptism on Saturday for Katysha. She is a young girl and didn’t really take a lot of work. She is already so smart and knew almost everything before we even gave her the lessons. Her family is being reactivated now and is progressing very well. One thing that I really like about her is that she has this enormous smile. And she is always smiling. Her baptism went really well and Magda and Osbaldo came to watch.
Anyway, hope all is good for you.
Love you,
Elder Stewart
Hey Friends and Family,
How is everyone doing? I’m doing so well. We had such a busy week this week. But one that was so successful. We are receiving lots of blessings and are trying our best to get everything done. I don’t think I would be able to do it without Elder Hunter, he’s a superstar missionary.
This week we set 11 baptism dates. All of them being really solid. These families are families that you can see progressing and people that will bless the Lord's kingdom when they are members. I think I am starting to learn what faith is. Faith not as much meaning "Belief" but more like Faith and Hope combined when it comes to missionary work and living life. A have seen so many examples in life about "Taking the Leap of Faith" or the "Faith Fall", but I don’t think I ever learned what it meant to leave it all to the Lord. I have been having some really good experiences lately where even though I didn’t know what to say or do, I did my best and the Lord showed me what to say and do.
We had a really cool experience with Magda and Osbaldo. We went home on Sunday of last week and prayed for some dates that we could present to them for baptism. We came up with two dates that we feel they could be ready by and when the Lord wants them to be baptized. We gave them an envelope with the date in it and told them to pray for one of those days. On Saturday we met with them and Magda had received her answer. She said that before she even opened the envelope, she looked at a calendar and told her to pick a date and pray about it. When she prayed she said that she had this one date pop up in her head over and over again, to the point where she couldn’t get it out. When she opened the Envelope, to her surprise, it was the same date we had prayed about and received an answer. She and Osbaldo are going to be married now! And they are preparing for baptism.
We had a baptism on Saturday for Katysha. She is a young girl and didn’t really take a lot of work. She is already so smart and knew almost everything before we even gave her the lessons. Her family is being reactivated now and is progressing very well. One thing that I really like about her is that she has this enormous smile. And she is always smiling. Her baptism went really well and Magda and Osbaldo came to watch.
Anyway, hope all is good for you.
Love you,
Elder Stewart
Monday, May 13, 2013
First Week in Albuquerque....
May 7, 2013
Hey Friends and Family,
I’m emailing you from Albuquerque NM this time for the first time in my mission. I’m not sure why I am here but I know that God sent me here for a reason. In fact, I talked to President's wife this week and she was telling me that on my folder I have a note there that says "South only" which means El Paso. The reason for that is that the doctor that prescribes my medicine is down there and I was going to have to stay around him for my whole mission. Well she explained to me that while transfer planning was happening, President Miller came out and asked her if I could go up north, she said she expressed some concern that I didn’t have enough medication. And President said "well the Lord will provide the way, all I know is that Elder Stewart needs to be up here." So here I am in ALB, in the ward called Rio Grande, with Elder Josh Hunter. Elder Hunter was my district Leader for 3 transfers straight when I was down is Fabens and we grew pretty close. I’m so glad he is my companion because of how capable he is as a missionary and with his responsibilities. I would be so lost here if he wasn’t here, but I am having a blast.
Faith and Unity is not something that we lack in this companionship. We have literally seen many miracles this week because of faith and are looking forward to this transfer. We have 3 families in particular that we are working with that are so awesome. Families that we have received witness from the Holy Ghost that they will be baptized.
Quintana Family is an awesome family and probably the closest to baptism. It’s basically a Grandma, 2 daughters in their mid-20s, the boyfriend, and 2 kids. Not to mention they have invited their other sister and husband to come listen as well. They are so awesome. They have a testimony of the priesthood and have asked for blessings every time they have been sick. They know the story of Joseph Smith like the back of their hand, the only thing left is Baptism.
We also have the Poqui Family, who have already received their answer that the church is true. They are just waiting on some things so that they can get married and then will be baptized. It should take about one more Month they said.
The last on is the Cruz family. They came on Thursday night last week and we gave them a church tour. The whole time they were soaking up everything we said. At the end of the tour, we got to the sacrament room and he asked if he could play the piano. He played the piano for maybe 20 mins in the sacrament room and it sounded so beautiful. You could tell how hard he felt the spirit while playing, and after my companion Elder Hunter, (who is the 2nd best piano player I know) (Grandma Stewart) Got up and played some songs as well. Ever since we have had such a great bond with this family and their progression has gone through the roof.
Life is good. Love you
Elder Stewart
Sunday, May 5, 2013
My Days in El Paso Come to an End....
April 29, 2013
Dear Friends and Family,
This week has been a good one, and as it turns out, I will not finish my mission here in El Paso, but I am being transfer up to the north tomorrow. To tell you the truth, I’m excited to go see the other half of the mission for once. I have not spent much time there and am excited for what lays in store for me there.
As I’m getting ready to leave not only El Paso but the mission in 4 months, I feel like I’m leaving home again to go to another strange place that I know so little about. It makes me sad to think that I’m leaving really all the friends I have here in El Paso, but I’m sure that I felt pretty similar a little over 20 years ago. I knew then that when I left, that I would be able to grow and progress more, that Heavenly Father would always be with me and that he had a need for me in the places I would find myself. I’m sure back then I responded with bravery and so why not now?
I was surprised with the goodbye I am getting from the people down here in this ward. Even though I have only been here for 3 months, I am surprised with the people that I have had contact with and how much they care for me. It’s awesome to realize the affects that the spirit can have on relationships and how much they flourish is such short time. I think we have 8 appointments in the 3 hours tonight all of which told us to come hungry.
Other than that there’s not much I have to say. I love you all so much.
Elder Stewart
Dear Friends and Family,
This week has been a good one, and as it turns out, I will not finish my mission here in El Paso, but I am being transfer up to the north tomorrow. To tell you the truth, I’m excited to go see the other half of the mission for once. I have not spent much time there and am excited for what lays in store for me there.
As I’m getting ready to leave not only El Paso but the mission in 4 months, I feel like I’m leaving home again to go to another strange place that I know so little about. It makes me sad to think that I’m leaving really all the friends I have here in El Paso, but I’m sure that I felt pretty similar a little over 20 years ago. I knew then that when I left, that I would be able to grow and progress more, that Heavenly Father would always be with me and that he had a need for me in the places I would find myself. I’m sure back then I responded with bravery and so why not now?
I was surprised with the goodbye I am getting from the people down here in this ward. Even though I have only been here for 3 months, I am surprised with the people that I have had contact with and how much they care for me. It’s awesome to realize the affects that the spirit can have on relationships and how much they flourish is such short time. I think we have 8 appointments in the 3 hours tonight all of which told us to come hungry.
Other than that there’s not much I have to say. I love you all so much.
Elder Stewart
It's a Beautiful Day...
April 22, 2013
Hello Friends and Family,
What a beautiful day it is. And what an awesome week we had. I hope everyone has been doing well, has been staying safe and being an example. I had an awesome week this week and am 100% recovered from the accident.
This week I have been applying in great extent the teachings that I received in the Temple to the lessons we are teaching. As I said last week, I had a strong impression that I needed to show others more love and they NEED to be reading the Book of Mormon. So I set out this week with the determination to fulfill with these promptings. I have found it really easy to show more love to the investigators. It takes little or no effort just to tell them that we care about them a lot, desire for them to go to the temple one day, and let them know we will always be a part of their lives. I think that once they realize that we desire to keep in contact with them not just till we get transferred but until and through the next life, which they seem to take things more seriously and desire to have us over more often. I in particular saw drastic changes in 4 of our investigators this week to the point where we will be seeing each of their families 3-4 times a week. Which I have found that if you can see the people you teach 3+ times a week, their chances of baptism go a lot higher.
We also have changed our focus for the time being from trying to teach all the lessons quickly, to just going over to the investigator's house for 30 mins and reading a chapter in the BOM. We have found that when we do that, that the BOM chapter teaches a lot better than we do, and when we start out the lesson with reading, the spirit comes in and prompts them to ask questions or doubts that they have, even when it has had nothing to do with the chapter we read. As we get members out with us, it makes reading so much better. Not only because when a member is there, that there are more people to take turns reading, but more like they are able to expound on scriptures so much better in their native language. It also gives members that don’t have normal study habits the chance to read during the week. We have had 3 of those lessons that instead of being 30 mins like we planned they have turned into 1 hour due to all the questions they bring up. Yesterday we were able to set 2 more Baptism dates and see some real progression.
Life is good, God is merciful, I am so weak, but Christ has redeemed me, and in him, I can do all things.
Love you,
Elder Daniel Stewart
Hello Friends and Family,
What a beautiful day it is. And what an awesome week we had. I hope everyone has been doing well, has been staying safe and being an example. I had an awesome week this week and am 100% recovered from the accident.
This week I have been applying in great extent the teachings that I received in the Temple to the lessons we are teaching. As I said last week, I had a strong impression that I needed to show others more love and they NEED to be reading the Book of Mormon. So I set out this week with the determination to fulfill with these promptings. I have found it really easy to show more love to the investigators. It takes little or no effort just to tell them that we care about them a lot, desire for them to go to the temple one day, and let them know we will always be a part of their lives. I think that once they realize that we desire to keep in contact with them not just till we get transferred but until and through the next life, which they seem to take things more seriously and desire to have us over more often. I in particular saw drastic changes in 4 of our investigators this week to the point where we will be seeing each of their families 3-4 times a week. Which I have found that if you can see the people you teach 3+ times a week, their chances of baptism go a lot higher.
We also have changed our focus for the time being from trying to teach all the lessons quickly, to just going over to the investigator's house for 30 mins and reading a chapter in the BOM. We have found that when we do that, that the BOM chapter teaches a lot better than we do, and when we start out the lesson with reading, the spirit comes in and prompts them to ask questions or doubts that they have, even when it has had nothing to do with the chapter we read. As we get members out with us, it makes reading so much better. Not only because when a member is there, that there are more people to take turns reading, but more like they are able to expound on scriptures so much better in their native language. It also gives members that don’t have normal study habits the chance to read during the week. We have had 3 of those lessons that instead of being 30 mins like we planned they have turned into 1 hour due to all the questions they bring up. Yesterday we were able to set 2 more Baptism dates and see some real progression.
Life is good, God is merciful, I am so weak, but Christ has redeemed me, and in him, I can do all things.
Love you,
Elder Daniel Stewart
A Weekend of Joy and Excitement....
April 17, 2013
Hello Family and Friends,
I am grateful for the opportunity it is to again be able to be here and email you all about how I am doing. I have had quite the exciting last few days and most of my letter will be focused on that. Hope all is well and that everyone is staying strong doing everything that is asked of them, whether from earthly parents or the Ones in Heaven.
Anyway, this week on Saturday we had 2 more people use there agency for good and were baptized and confirmed. Mario and Armando have been preparing for quite a few weeks now and it was an honor to be able to be here at this time when they were baptized. I could hardly believe my eyes when I read about the story of my brother and 4 other kids being baptized this week and the water being so low. Well at our baptism, what happened is that we asked so other missionaries to fill up the font for us. And when we got there, we had a problem with the programs and so while we were all running around trying to get that taken care of, the font started to over fill. So I went in and pulled the drain so that the water could go down, however, I found that it is impossible to plug it after you pull the drain out due to the pressure of the water. So I tried to put it back in and after some other attempts to get it plugged we finally thought that it would be fine so we continued with the service. Well when it was finally time to baptize them we opened the curtains and the water was at knee level. The baptism of the 16 year old was hard because of how low the water was, but in the end we were able to get him all the way in. It sounds like Satan was trying overtime this weekend to stop baptisms, but as it says in D&C 1, the work of the Lord cannot be stopped, only the work of men.
On Sunday, we had an awesome confirmation, on Sunday and all of Armando's and Mario's respective families where there. All of Armando's family are not members and are not talking the lessons from the English missionaries, I think they already have a baptism date. Mario's Dad is not a member, but has been taking the lessons for a while with us and I don’t think it will be much longer now. He says that in his mind he knows the church is true, he just needs to feel ready in his heart for the commitment he is going to make. We have gotten so close to this family and they are another family on the visit list when I come back. We also had Hermana Guzman come again like always, she is still progressing. I don’t think she is reading the book of Mormon however we are making plans to go read with her.
We went to the temple Monday and it was a blast. I loved being inside and feeling the spirit. I received some answers pertaining to the needs of some of our investigators. After the temple there was a little scare. I was in the hospital for 5 hours. Waiting rooms are ridiculous, and are getting worse. Thank you Obama. Anyway I got home at 5 am and rested all day yesterday. The Priesthood is real, the Blessings work. That is my Testimony In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Love,
Elder Stewart
Hello Family and Friends,
I am grateful for the opportunity it is to again be able to be here and email you all about how I am doing. I have had quite the exciting last few days and most of my letter will be focused on that. Hope all is well and that everyone is staying strong doing everything that is asked of them, whether from earthly parents or the Ones in Heaven.
Anyway, this week on Saturday we had 2 more people use there agency for good and were baptized and confirmed. Mario and Armando have been preparing for quite a few weeks now and it was an honor to be able to be here at this time when they were baptized. I could hardly believe my eyes when I read about the story of my brother and 4 other kids being baptized this week and the water being so low. Well at our baptism, what happened is that we asked so other missionaries to fill up the font for us. And when we got there, we had a problem with the programs and so while we were all running around trying to get that taken care of, the font started to over fill. So I went in and pulled the drain so that the water could go down, however, I found that it is impossible to plug it after you pull the drain out due to the pressure of the water. So I tried to put it back in and after some other attempts to get it plugged we finally thought that it would be fine so we continued with the service. Well when it was finally time to baptize them we opened the curtains and the water was at knee level. The baptism of the 16 year old was hard because of how low the water was, but in the end we were able to get him all the way in. It sounds like Satan was trying overtime this weekend to stop baptisms, but as it says in D&C 1, the work of the Lord cannot be stopped, only the work of men.
On Sunday, we had an awesome confirmation, on Sunday and all of Armando's and Mario's respective families where there. All of Armando's family are not members and are not talking the lessons from the English missionaries, I think they already have a baptism date. Mario's Dad is not a member, but has been taking the lessons for a while with us and I don’t think it will be much longer now. He says that in his mind he knows the church is true, he just needs to feel ready in his heart for the commitment he is going to make. We have gotten so close to this family and they are another family on the visit list when I come back. We also had Hermana Guzman come again like always, she is still progressing. I don’t think she is reading the book of Mormon however we are making plans to go read with her.
We went to the temple Monday and it was a blast. I loved being inside and feeling the spirit. I received some answers pertaining to the needs of some of our investigators. After the temple there was a little scare. I was in the hospital for 5 hours. Waiting rooms are ridiculous, and are getting worse. Thank you Obama. Anyway I got home at 5 am and rested all day yesterday. The Priesthood is real, the Blessings work. That is my Testimony In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Love,
Elder Stewart
Mario
Elder Bath
Armando
Monday, April 8, 2013
A Few Changes in Attitude.....
Hello Friends and Family.
This week may have been one of the hardest I have had in I can’t remember, Satan has been working so hard on my companion and I, and some nights I didn’t really even feel like myself. Obviously we are getting worked on hard because coming up was conference, baptisms, and the temple trip. I couldn’t help feeling depressed, angry, and unexcited about everything. However. This week I set out looking for ways to change that. I realized that amazing power comes from prayer, testimony, and just smiling. Obviously prayer is probably the best thing I can do, but I found that when you are upset that the hardest thing to do is humble yourself and pray. I first had to bear testimony to myself, reminding me that I know the Savior lives, not only that but that I would also be held accountable for every comment I make and every thought I entertain, when I finally feel the spirit again that was lost with anger, I am reminded to pray. Then I can be humble enough to ask for help. The other thing that has helped, is that I have taken up the "just smile" technique. It’s really simple, just smile as much as you can, all day long, every day, At first you feel really dumb because it feels like you are fake smiling or that you are just doing it for a camera, but as soon as you get over that, a feeling comes in and your realize how truly happy you are. It’s all in the power of a Smile.
Other than that we had a good amount of investigators go to watch conference which is always a pleasure to see. As the "District" says, you can put your money on the prophet, and I think I won that bet with his talk on obedience. I love the Prophet, I know he is from God.
Love you all,
Elder Stewart
El Dia de Pascua....
Hey Friends and Family,
I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter this year and made sure to remember the true purpose of what this Easter holiday brought to us. 1978 years ago, Jesus Christ suffered to pay for the sins of the world with his blood, allowed himself to be crucified on the cross, and 3 days after resurrected in glory, breaking the bands of death so that we would have immortality. I stand as a witness, as an apostle (little "a") of Jesus Christ to let the world know that He Lives. To all those who read this, listen to the spirit in your heart telling you that Jesus really did exist and lived a perfect life. Bore our sorrows and afflictions so that he would know how we feel, even when they are direct consequences of our own actions, in thus be able to help us in any situation that we find ourselves in. He didn't have to do this for us, he chose to. Out of love and charity for all mankind. We are all eternally grateful for what he did. Let’s show him how much it means to us by looking for those not of the faith that need repentance and comfort through this Atonement. Let us go to the temple and do the work for our ancestors, so they stand waiting no longer. Those of you that are not members or less active in the gospel, especially in my family, I pray that you may come back into activity. Eternity is a long time to throw away in this short 80 years of life. I don't know what the real world is like, and I’m sure I can understand all the circumstances you find yourself in, but I know without a doubt that the Savior does. And if we humble ourselves, we can make it through all this together. I love you so very much.
This week I really have been focusing on finishing the Book of Mormon and also Jesus the Christ by Easter. I started at the beginning of January and finished the BOM this week, and Jesus the Christ has been a work in progress for a while and it was so nice to be able to finish it right before Easter. I am so excited for this week and general conference.
The weather here is nice and warm, in the 90's. It’s almost like being baked up alive. But then I remember back to the days in the bike area and I stop complaining. We are doing really well, Heavenly Father will bless us with baptisms this month, and I am so excited to help the ward and the Mission complete the goal this year. I will be also excited to hear about the number of converts this year, because I will know how much the mission contributed. Anyway, Life is so good. Those who are mission age and younger, do not pass up this experience to serve the Most High. You won’t regret it.
Love you,
Elder Stewart
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
A Man Learneth Through the Spirit, Not by Other Men...
March 25, 2013
Dear Friends and Family,
How are you all? I hope everyone is well, and happy. I have had a fairly good week, with successes and interesting experiences. I had a trial of testimony of the church this week that really wasn’t a trial, more of my testimony withstanding some of the most horrible discussions I have had with the people here.
We have an investigator whose wife is a member of the church named Oscar. He has been investigating the church for 2 years now and sometimes makes good progress and sometimes doesn’t. Well he had been avoiding us for about 5 weeks now and then finally answered our call. He set up an appointment and as I sat down and he started off the conversation with “I have so many questions for you two" I had a knot well up in my stomach. In the course of the next hour and a half, he began bringing up all the topics that we don’t really address. Polygamy, Blacks and the Priesthood, Stories about Joseph Smith, and why there is no historical proof on the Book of Mormon, Mountain Meadows, just to state a few. And as I sat there and listened to him, I thought about all the "Explanations I could give him and all the scriptures I could have thrown at him" and a voice or impression came to me about the way people learn. I began to ask him if he has been reading, no, if he has prayed, "We seemed to get away from prayer a bit", and he wasn’t going to church. I told him that Men can only learn through the spirit, and it is through the spirit that we can understand God, not through internet websites or buddies at work. He sat there quietly and my companion and I bore testimony to him that we didn’t need proof from man to know that the Book of Mormon is true, only the proof sent from God. After the lesson he promised to come to church, read, and he prayed for the closing prayer.
I realized for maybe the 100th time on my mission that no matter what we face here in this life, or what anyone says, our testimonies is what will be needed to endure to the end. If they are strong, we will be able to hold when things get tough or when others fall, we don’t have to fall with them, but can try to help them. Read, pray, go to church and don’t ever stop.
Love,
Elder Stewart
In the Middle of Nowhere Texas....
March 11, 2013
Dear Friends and Family,
We had quite a good week this week with some good adventures and success. This is the last week of the transfer and so I will know on Saturday if I will be leaving or not. I really hope to stay in the area but there are also 29 missionaries coming in, 0 of the 11 Elders are Spanish and I’m not sure how many of the 18 sisters will be Spanish. So that means that since we are in a nice area and are having lots of success, we will probably get "Pink Washed." So let’s pray that doesn’t happen.
We are still doing well, getting along, and trying to learn from each other. Despite our personality differences, our strengths have been playing off each other very well. We have been working with those part members and the "Low hanging fruit" and have been seeing a growth in the way that we are teaching. Elder Bath is really good at remembering all the appointments and making sure we get to places on time, and seeing as how I am so used to having members at lessons now it honestly feels like something is lacking when it is just the missionaries teaching. So I think that has helped the area as well, having on average 1 member out with us per day.
We taught some very good lessons this week, to the family Monroy and Guzman in particular. In both of these part member families the non-members have been so kind to us and we have built a bond with them to the point where we are able to see them 3+ times a week. And from what I have learned, if you can get to the point of seeing an investigator 3 times a week, the chances of them getting baptized is a lot higher.
This week my companion and I drove all the way out to the end of our area, it is 70 miles to get there and come back, and so we spent so much time driving out there. It is a Small little town called "Dell City" and we talked to some people there and visited all the stores to see if we could leave some pamphlets in the area, we came across this one Cafe called "Spanish Angels Cafe" and we knew that it was going to be golden. When we walked in the lady was so nice to us and made a little spot for our cards and things to be where people could see. What I found really interesting is that the other 3 stores we went to were owned by white people who spoke only English, and when they saw us walk in they gave us these really weird looks and told us that we can’t leave any pamphlets or anything. It’s interesting to me to see that even we are of the same Christian belief, and it might sound bad but the "same Skin color" that we are usually treated very poorly. I don't want to be like that when I get home.
Anyway, I love you all.
Elder Stewart
Dear Friends and Family,
We had quite a good week this week with some good adventures and success. This is the last week of the transfer and so I will know on Saturday if I will be leaving or not. I really hope to stay in the area but there are also 29 missionaries coming in, 0 of the 11 Elders are Spanish and I’m not sure how many of the 18 sisters will be Spanish. So that means that since we are in a nice area and are having lots of success, we will probably get "Pink Washed." So let’s pray that doesn’t happen.
We are still doing well, getting along, and trying to learn from each other. Despite our personality differences, our strengths have been playing off each other very well. We have been working with those part members and the "Low hanging fruit" and have been seeing a growth in the way that we are teaching. Elder Bath is really good at remembering all the appointments and making sure we get to places on time, and seeing as how I am so used to having members at lessons now it honestly feels like something is lacking when it is just the missionaries teaching. So I think that has helped the area as well, having on average 1 member out with us per day.
We taught some very good lessons this week, to the family Monroy and Guzman in particular. In both of these part member families the non-members have been so kind to us and we have built a bond with them to the point where we are able to see them 3+ times a week. And from what I have learned, if you can get to the point of seeing an investigator 3 times a week, the chances of them getting baptized is a lot higher.
This week my companion and I drove all the way out to the end of our area, it is 70 miles to get there and come back, and so we spent so much time driving out there. It is a Small little town called "Dell City" and we talked to some people there and visited all the stores to see if we could leave some pamphlets in the area, we came across this one Cafe called "Spanish Angels Cafe" and we knew that it was going to be golden. When we walked in the lady was so nice to us and made a little spot for our cards and things to be where people could see. What I found really interesting is that the other 3 stores we went to were owned by white people who spoke only English, and when they saw us walk in they gave us these really weird looks and told us that we can’t leave any pamphlets or anything. It’s interesting to me to see that even we are of the same Christian belief, and it might sound bad but the "same Skin color" that we are usually treated very poorly. I don't want to be like that when I get home.
Anyway, I love you all.
Elder Stewart
Sunday, March 10, 2013
Wow, 6 Months Left....
March 4, 2013
My Dearest Family and
Friends,
As this week was going
by at what seemed like an abnormal rate, yesterday hit me that it was
my 6 month left mark. How crazy does that sound? As I think about it however it
just sounds weird, instead of hitting me very hard. I think they call it
denial.
We had a wonderful
week and everything is going according to plan. Heavenly Father is paving the
way for us to have all of these miracles happen. I think there is a good
possibility of us being blessed with quite a few more baptisms next month. Something
(Less Spiritual) that happened yesterday is that I called the soon to be
married investigators we have were I have never met the fiancé of the guy
investigator and started talking on the phone to her. Her first question was
"Wait, are you a Mexican?" Confused I said "what?" she
replied " are you a native Spanish speaker?" when I told her no she
was saying that she was super surprised because she thought all missionaries
where "Americanos" and that she was surprised that I sounded like a Mexican.
That made me feel pretty good.
We are over here with
what I seem to do best. Working with part-member families. Idk what it is, but
I seem to always work the best with part member families. And when Elder Bath
and I teamed up, we have had countless miracle with these families. Finding,
being able to teach, and being able to baptized/ reactivate.
Elder Bath and I are
doing so much better together. We have been able to work some of the rough
edges out and are getting along a lot better. He says that it was really good
that I came in and helped him fix his morning schedule. He say that the preparation
that we put in for the day if levels above what it was before I got there and
is probably the reason for all the Miracles that have happened.
I was knocking doors
this week and I had an interesting experience. We knock the door, and a lady
came out with this look on her face like she thought we were clowns, as I went
to open my mouth she blurted out, "I don’t want to listen to
anything you say." as she was about to close the door I asked if there was
something we did wrong. She said "sorry, I’m a Christian." I
responded, "We are to, we are sent from God to help people grow
closer to Christ" she said "not interested" I
responded with "You not interested in coming closer to Christ?"
"Nope" She said. I said "Well, God loves you, and have a
wonderful, day" I don’t think there was much else I could do. I hope
that lady's heart changes.
Well that’s all for
this week. Love you all so much.
Elder Stewart
Teaching the Gospel in My New Suit....
February 25, 2013
Dearest Family and Friends,
Dearest Family and Friends,
It has been a great
week in El Paso this week, despite the high speed winds that blow dust into the
sky that blots out the sun. Last week I found a grey Calvin Klein suit coat at
good will for $8, and it looks like it had been worn like 10 times. I was so
excited to wear it, that I wore it every day this week. Many people have said
that it looks really good so I was pretty excited about that.
Elder Bath and I have
been trekking along. We still have our many difference however I feel like we
are starting to get used to each other and there is a lot of giving and taking
now. This has allowed us to teach more in unity and has allowed us to receive
so many more blessings and new people to teach.
On Saturday we had an
amazing baptism which has sincerely built my testimony on the fact that if it
is God's will, he will provide a way that we can accomplish his commandments.
Ana Maria has had so much opposition this last week, mainly with people who are
closest to her. She was living with a friend that she has known for quite a
while when the missionaries started to go over to teach her. At first the
friend was indifferent about them being there, but later received a call from
her brother (a pastor of a "Christian" church who told her that we
were a sect of the church of the devil, and that joseph smith was the brother
of Satan, and that being baptized was like selling your soul to the devil. She
said that if she kept talking to the missionaries, that she would kick her out.
So Ana, with her great faith, left the house and started living in her little
store. (Sleeping on a sleeping bag on the tile) During the week before her
baptism she spent all her time in her store reading and praying and little by
little God showed forth his power in the softening of the hearts. To make a
long story short. This lady who had told her not to see us anymore, let her
back into her home, after asking for forgiveness of what she thought, is
listening to Ana tell her about the plan of salvation and the BOM, and on Saturday,
she even lent her white underclothing to wear under the baptism jumpsuit. At
the baptism, Ana, without being prompted, asked if she could bear her
testimony, she talked about her conversion for 10 whole minutes. I feel so
blessed to be a part of her life and mentioned in her testimony.
Most of the week was
focused on her, and so that’s really it for this week. The Church is true, God
and his Son lives, they Love us, In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.
Elder Daniel Stewart
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