A Familiar Face

Dear Mom and Family,

    I am doing great here at the MTC!  I´ve only got one more day here before I'm headed off to Guatemala!  It is crazy how fast it has gone!  Three weeks already...  Before I know it, I'll be getting ready to come home!  I better enjoy as much time as I have here and make the best of it!

    We had another Tuesday Devotional, and we as a district ate dinner fast enough that we could get really good seats for it.  And we got second row!  Only because the speaker's family was on the fromt row!  So that was awesome in and of itself.  But it gets better.  Our Speaker was Gary J. Coleman.  At first I didn't think anything of it, I just thought it was another member of the seventy we got to hear.  But he started to name off all of his grandchildren that they have out on missions.  He said he had a grandson named Jason who was in Canada, and that's when it clicked!  This is Jason and Jessica Coleman's grandpa!  It was so cool to see someone I kind of knew and have him speak to us!  And Mom, that is where the picture came from, because Jason and Jessica's mom and dad were there, and they sent you the picture! 

     We have finished teaching Veronica now, I don't know if I already told you that, but now we have got two more investigators!  Their names are Caitlin and Tati, and we have been teaching them seperately for the last week and a half about, but we aren't going to have the chance to finish with them, because we are leaving tomorrow!  But I really feel like I have gotten the hang of the language just enough to teach the Gospel to those who need it and understand most of what they are saying.  I am nowhere near ready for the actual mission field though!  That's gonna take a lot longer!

    On Wednesday, we had this thing called TRC (Teaching Resource Center), and what we did is we taught members who were themselves, and we just got to practice the language and our message.  It was really fun surprisingly, because it wasn't just about teaching the doctrine, it was really about getting to know the other person, which is very important to do!  You can't teach someone without knowing who they are and what they are like, so it was good to practice that!

I have been reading the Book of Mormon again, and I've reached the point where The Sons of Mosiah and Alma the Younger are ready to go preach the Gospel to the Lamanites.  I have really focused on what they are teaching, because that is excactly what I am going to do soon!  One verse really struck me though.  In Mosiah 28:3, it reads "Now they were desirous taht salvation should be declared to every creature, for they could not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment did cause them to quake and tremble."  It is amazing how much the Sons of Mosiah and Alma wanted to serve missions.  If I could be anywhere near that level of caring for my investigators, I would be a very successful missionary!

We had a Fireside yesterday, and the speaker was Robert P. Swensen.  He is the Director of Missionary Service, so he really knows a lot about missions!  He really gave us a nice prep talk, and it really made me believe in how successful we can all be if we just put our trust in the Lord.  And that can apply to anything!  Missions, school, work, just life in general!  But, by far the best part of the Fireside was the closing song.  We sang How Firm a Foundation, and we sung verses 4-7.  Verse 7 is so powerful, I couldn't help but feel the spirit when we had more than a thousand missionaries singing it together!  I don't have the words, but if you want to look them up, they are amazing! 

     Our Zone that I am in is the best zone I could have asked for!  After the Fireside, we gathered together as a Zone and sang "Hasta Ver" to all the missionaries who were leaving, me included!  (That's God be with you 'till we meet again by the way!"  About forty of us gathered in a little tiny classroom and sang as loud as we could!  It was such an awesome feeling, because the sound was like reverberating off of the walls and everything, it was so cool!  But it was a really touching experience too, because it showed how much servants of the Lord can care for one another!  I mean, I've only been here 3 weeks with these Elders and Sisters, but it feels like we are all one big family! 

    By far the best part of the week though is finding our I am an uncle!  I can't really fathom it quite yet!  I just got to see my first picture of little Jace about 20 minutes ago, and I couldn't even believe it.  I was speechless for a while, I don't know how anyone can look at something so precious and not believe in Heavenly Father!  It blows my mind!  But I hope that Staci is doing great and is healthy, and same goes for Jace.  I can't wait to see Jace in two years, it's long but I know that it will be worth it! 

    Well, that's pretty much been it for this week, I'm sure next week is going to be crazy, seeing as how I'm going to be in Guatemala by tomorrow!  I cant wait for the experience and the opportunity to serve all the people down there!  I can't wait!

    I guess the letter sent without me having the chance to say goodbye!  I love all of you, and I cant wait to talk to you on Tuesday morning!  Hopefully I will have a bunch of time!  I love you all!

Love,

Elder Stuart

Hi Mom!  Love You! With the Coleman's
(Mom got this text from an unknown number and we weren't sure who the Coleman's were,
but we figured out it was Carolie and Kory Coleman!)

PICTURES!

Elder Stuart and his companion Elder Ashcroft

Going to Guatemala!

Of course Jonny would take a picture of this...

Elder Ashcroft and Elder Stuart

Provo Temple

Provo Temple: Elder Ashcroft and Elder Stuart

The District on Temple Day

Elder Stuart at the Provo Temple

Elder Ashcroft and Elder Stuart

So close, yet so far away!

The Provo MTC

Elder Stuart and an early church missionary

Sister Lovell and Elder Stuart

Sister Lovell and Elder Stuart

Provo Temple

Provo Temple

Elder Stuart and Elder Barton

Trying to escape?

Angel Moroni

The District: Elder Cone, Elder Huff, Elder Barton, Elder Mataia (District Leader), Elder Titus, Elder Eliason, Elder Reeve, Elder Whited, Elder Stuart, Elder Ashcroft, Elder Lundberg.

The boys at the Temple

Having fun with his companion!

Travel Plans and Learning!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Hello Family!  Things are going great here at the MTC!  I hope that things are going as good for you guys as they are for me!  I really do love it here, I am learning a lot and am feeling the Spirit so much, I couldn´t be more thankful for the opportunity to be here. 

On Tuesday we had our first Devotional, and Vaughn J. Featherstone was our speaker.  He talked a lot about how much work you need to put into a mission, and if you do that, how many blessings will come out of it.  He quoted Thomas S. Monson “Work will win when wishy washy wishing won´t.”  That really is an important sentence for all of us missionaries here, because we need to put our faith in the Lord and work as hard as we can.  Another thing he said was ¨Make no small plans, they have no magic to stir men´s souls¨.  He really focused on how much work is important while you are here, and I really believe it.  Just like Dad said, it is going to be two years no matter what, so why not work your butt off and do the best that you can! 

On Wednesday, we got our travel plans and tickets to head off to Guatemala!  On August 1, we need to wake up at 5:00 in the morning to catch our flight.  We are headed to Dallas for a three-hour layover, and then headed down to Guatemala City!  I am so excited you wouldn't even believe it!  It is going to be way different there, but I believe that I will have the best experience there, and that I will learn so much there, especially Spanish!  So while I have three hours for a layover in Dallas, I'll be sure to call you guys!  It is going to be around noon on the 1st, so be ready for that!

Our lessons with Veronica ended this week with us inviting her to be Baptized!  It is amazing how far we have come in just a week and a half!  So once me and Elder Ashcroft invited her to be baptized, she accepted and we basically completed our first investigator.  On Friday, the lady who "played" Veronica, Sister Stagg, is now our teacher!  So we were just being taught by Brother Robinson, but now they are going to tag team and help us!  Starting this week though, we have to teach them both, Veronica again and then a man named Tati played by Brother Robinson.  I am actually looking forward to it, because it will give me another chance to start again with new investigators, so I can use all that I have learned for these lessons. 

Yesterday (Sunday) was such an amazing day!  I really look forward to Sundays here, because it is the best day for all of us missionaries to feel the Spirit and to learn from it.  Sacrament meeting was especially good.  Our branch president, President Stone, told us a story about when he went to Uruguay on his mission.  He baptized this lady just before he got transferred, so he didn't really hear much from her again.  But around 30-40 years later, when he was serving as a bishop, he received a call.  It was from this lady that he had baptized!  She was inviting him to attend her son's wedding sealing ceremony at the Mt. Timp temple.  So of course he went.  But what he didn't know is that both her son and his fiancé were deaf, so the ceremony was in sign!  He said how touching of an experience that was for him, and it was all because he had served a mission and baptized this investigator.  That really inspired me to be the very best missionary that I can, so that someday I might be able to feel those feelings that President Stone had felt.  It is amazing how the Spirit can touch our lives and make us want to do so much more with the time that we have!

After Sacrament Meetings, missionaries have the chance to do a "Temple Walk," which basically consists of us walking around the temple and seeing the sights of the outside world (weird how I refer to it as the outside world now.)  Since our district is really close, we had so much fun going to the temple, taking a whole bunch of pictures, being goofy around each other, and feeling the spirit of the Lord on his temple grounds.  By the way, I am sending one of the SD cards for the camera in a letter for you guys, so if you want to wait to post this on my blog until you get the pictures, you can do that, just a thought!  But anyways, I couldn't have asked for a better district to be put in, it really has made me come more in tune with the spirit because when all of us in the district are focusing on feeling the spirit, you can't help but to feel it and be so happy!

So now it is today, my P-Day.  To bring out my nerd side, I was wearing my "World History in Four Kirby's" shirt, and while I was standing in line for breakfast, some Elder from another zone commented on it, and he showed it to pretty much his whole district.  Never would have guessed that by wearing a nerdy Kirby shirt would have made me feel popular, but I guess that is what the MTC does to you!

I can't wait to hear about how this week has been for all of you!  I know that you Mom went to Girl's camp, and that Jeffrey and Ryan went to Wind Rivers!  I want to hear how that went!  Also Batman.  I want to hear how that was because I'm guessing that you have all seen it by now!  And most important, it is Staci's due date today!  I can’t wait to hear all about Jace very soon!  I am praying for Staci and hope that everything will go perfectly!  I want to have some pictures of him for sure though!  I have received all the packages that you guys have sent me by the way.  At least I think so! 

Well I only have one more week here before I am headed off to the Guatemala MTC, and I couldn't have asked for a better experience here to start my missionary journey!  I can't wait to teach all the people that I can in Guatemala the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  I know that I am doing the right thing here, and I can't wait to have more experiences like the ones I am having now!

I love you all!

Elder Jonathan Stuart

P-Day is Monday!

Hi Mom!

 

Well first things first, you aren't allowed to put the pictures on the computer, so I will have to wait until I get into the mission field to upload pictures and send you guys them!  Another thing is I only have a half an hour to write this, so sorry if my thoughts are a little jumbled.  I don't know if you have gotten my letters yet, but I'll just sum up what's happened here so far.  Well as soon as you guys dropped me off, I was already missing you, but I didn't have much time to think about it, because I was rushed into doing everything that I had to.  One of the first things I did when I got dropped off is I got my nametag.  I can't even explain how much joy I had as soon as I put that on my jacket pocket.  I can now say that I am officialy a representative of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  It feels like such an honor to have His name so close to mine, and I wouldn't have it any other way.  I have felt the spirit here so much and so often, that I can honestly say that I love it here!  So then I went and got pretty much thrown into a classroom, where all the teacher did was speak in Spanish.  Stating the obvious here, but I was pretty much lost.  But I learned to really focus and pay attention so that I can get the gist of what he is saying.  Then I met my companion, Elder Ashcroft from Colorado.  Also in my district were Elder Cone and Elder Lundberg, who are rooming with me, Elder Barton and Elder Huff, Elder Whited and Elder Reeve, Elder Reed and Elder Eliason, and Elder Titus and Elder Mataia.  Elder Mataia is our district leader, and I couldn't ask for anyone else to be our leader, because he has really kept us on task and really lets us invite the spirit whenever we are studying.  And he is Samoan, which makes it that much better. 

 

The MTC here is a really good place to prepare.  I mean, the very first night we were here, about 40 of us missionaries sat in a room and watched a simulation of the beginning of an investigator's lesson.  Then they opened up and let us ask questions, so it felt like we were part of the discussion.  It was such an amazing experience and I felt the spirit so much, because you could feel that what they were learning about the church had hit them on such an emotional level and had really touched their hearts, that I couldn't ask for anything else to do for the next two years than to spread the Gospel and the happiness that I have felt all my life to the people of Guatemala. 

 

Everything after that has really set my mind in a place so that I can learn as much as I can, so that I can be as knowledgeable as I can.  I feel like I know the lessons and the doctorine pretty well, but the language is still really hard to pick up!  Our third day here, they set us up with an "investigator" named Veronica from Paraguay, and me and my companion had to teach her a lesson in Spanish.  On our third day!  We struggled a bit, no a lot, because we didn't know the language well enough to answer her questions and to share with her the doctrine.  Looking back on it though, I am thankful that they are throwing us into the mix so early, becuase it serves as a reality check and it just makes you want to do better learning the language and the doctrine.  We have already taught her two lessons so far, and our third one is set for today, so we shall see how that goes!  I feel like I could do so much better if I could teach her in English, but we have to learn Spanish eventually, so why not start now?!

 

We met our branch presidency this week.  Our president is President Stone, the first counselor is Brother Bulloch, and our second counselor is Brother Goodman.  I don't really know the others, but President Stone is awesome!  He is from South Carolina, and he just has a really good sense of humor, and I feel like I can be really personable with him.  I'm sad that he isn't going to be my President for my whole stay at the MTC, because I'm packing up and leaving here for Guatemala in 3 weeks, but I'm thankful to have him here for as long as I can.

 

We had our first Sunday yesterday, and I'm confident enough to say that has been my favorite day so far.  Our sacrament meeting was kind of in Spanglish.  The talks, singing, prayers and musical numbers were all done in Spanish, but the announcements and the conducting took place in English.  I was really surprised, because I understood most of the Spanish that was spoken!  I just don't know a few words here and there, but I know enough to get along here, but I have a feeling that will all change once I get to Guatemala!  As a district, we all participated in the MTC choir, which was a good thing becuase I was going to do it anyway! We had an MTC Fireside also on Sunday Night, and our speaker was Jenny Oaks Baker, daughter of Elder Dallin H. Oaks.  She was a concert pianist and her devotional was set up so that she would talk to us for a while about a certain subject, and then play songs on her violin about what she had just talked about.  I really really loved it, because music is such a big part of my life, and to hear her testimony come out through music, I was really feeling the spirit.

 

I can't explain how much I love it here, I know that I am doing the right thing being here.  I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and my Redeemer, and I can't be more thankful for him in my life.  I know the Atonement is true and helpful.  I know that the Book of Mormon is true and I believe it with all my heart.  I love you all and I can't wait to see you again.  Look for my letter!!

MTC Day 1

July 11, 2012

Dear Family:

            Well, I made it safely!  I’m doing fine and everything is going great.  It was find of rushed and overwhelming at first, but I settled in and now I feel like I am getting the hang of things.  It was kind of funny though, as soon as I got to my room, I was basically rushed over to another building and thrown into a Spanish class!  It was a little frightening at first because all the teacher speaks in is Spanish, but I felt like I could pick up bits and pieces of it, so I’m not too worried about it!

            I met my companions today.  My companion’s name is Elder Ashcroft, and he is from Colorado.  The other two in my room are named Elder Cone from West Jordan, and Elder Lundberg from Box Elder.  They are all pretty cool, but I feel like I got lucky with Elder Ashcroft.  He’s really friendly, easy to be with, and get this, likes baseball!  So I think we will get along great!

            So after class, we went to the MTC Presidency Welcome, so basically a welcome for all the new missionaries today, which were 414 of us, I believe.  So they talked to us and we went to dinner, which was as good as they say!  I feel like I’m going to gain some pounds here…  But after that we went and finally got to unpack our stuff and get settled.

            Now the best part of the day.  We went for a teaching experience, so it was pretty vague about what we were going to do.  But about 40 of us new Elders and Sisters sat down in a room facing what looks like a typical investigator’s room: a couch and two chairs.  And then a person came out and said that we would be witnessing a real investigation going on.  So out comes a woman, and guess where she is from? Guatemala, of course!  So we had two Elders start it off and introduce her to missionaries, but then they turned it over to all of us and let us ask questions to a real investigator.  It was an amazing experience!  We did it three times, with the Sister from Guatemala, a Brother from Japan, and another Brother from Italy!  The one that stood out to me was the Italian.  His name was Carlo and he was a Catholic.  The biggest thing for him was that he had a son who only lived 3 days, and he had felt a regret that he didn’t baptize him before he died.  But when we shared with him that all before the age of accountability went to live with God he was so thankful and full of emotion.   The Spirit was so strong, and I realized that this is what I am going to be doing for the next two years!  I can’t wait to share what I felt today with everyone in Guatemala.

            After that, we came up and got ready for lights out, so now I’m writing this!  So just letting you all know that I’m safe and happy with what I am going to be doing.  My P-Day is on Monday, so expect everything then, this is just a first day letter, so expect more on Mondays! 

            Well, I hope you are all doing fine.  I’m having a blast, but still missing you guys!  I love you all and hope you all take care! 

Love Always,

Elder Jonathan Stuart

PS:  All of my companions are going to Quetzaltenango except for Elder Ashcroft.  He is going to Guatemala City North.

Jonny Enters the MTC

Jonny will be entering the MTC tomorrow!  He will be in Provo for about 3 weeks before heading to the MTC in Guatemala.  He would love to hear from you!

Elder Jonathan Thomas Stuart

MTC Mailbox #186

GUA-QUE 0911

2005 N 900 E.

Provo, UT 84604-1793