An Apostle in Xela!

    Hello Family!  This week has been a really good week for us all around.   We´ve had really good lessons, found some really good people to teach, and to top it all off, we had Elder Cook of the Quorum of the 12 come and talk to our mission!  I´ve definitely learned a lot this week, and I hope to be able to communicate what I am thinking today...  So here goes!

     So, as I said before, this Saturday Elder Cook came to talk to us.  And I learned a bunch from the conference overall.  I´d like to start with something that Elder Duncan, a seventy, taught us.  He told a story of an Elder that was serving a mission in England.  Things were going hard, and he and his comp decided to start talking more about the Savior, and try and avoid the Restoration.  But he started feeling depressed, and thinking about going home.  So one day, he decided to pray, and he heard a voice that said, "Testify about the Restoration."  So he did, and he felt so much better about his mission.

     What we are to learn from this is that we have a very special/unique message for the world, and that is the Restoration.  We shouldn´t be afraid to talk about it, because that is the basis of our message.  There have been times in my mission when I´ve found someone really pilas, and I want them to progress, but I think to myself, "What if they get offended by Joseph Smith and the Restoration?"  But it is so necessary for the people to realize that a restoration has happened.  Everyone should know about it, and if they want to accept it is up to them.  But it´s our job to teach them about it.  A really good reminder of how important the restoration really is!

     And then Elder Cook got up.  Man, I could tell that he really is an Apostle of the Lord.  He brought a spirit like none other when he walked in.  And he is so smart about the scriptures!  Blew my mind.  But he talked a lot about how we as missionaries are sent to a ward/branch to strengthen it.  And we need to be part of it to do that.  And then he shared D&C 112:33, and talked about how important yet solemn our job as missionaries is.  There have been times when I have forgot how important it is not only to be a missionary, but to be a good one.  There is no substitute.

     But the best part of it all was the apostolic witness that he shared with us.  As he was bearing his testimony, he said this:  "I testify to you all that Jesus Christ lives.  I know the Lord.  I know his voice.  And there is nothing that can make me deny this."  Wow...  The Spirit was so thick (for lack of a better word) that I knew it was there.  And I also knew that what I am doing is the Lord´s work.  So yeah, this week was one filled with the Spirit.  

     Things are going good investigator wise also.  With Cindy and her children, they are still set for this Saturday, so we are just going to visit them a lot this week to make sure that they are still on board.  And a good thing with them is that they are putting the example for Antonio, the husband.  He came to church this week because of them!  If they can just keep being the example, I have a feeling that the whole family will one day be members.

     Wosvelí is still as prepared as ever, and this week we started his divorce process, but I´ll be long gone before it´s done.  But the important thing is that he gets baptized eventually.

     We´ve also got some really cool people that we are working with right now, they just need to take the next step towards baptism.  But things are really looking good here in Chiquilajá!

     I love you all, and love how close we all are.  I was thinking about it the other day, one of a missionaries biggest drives is how close his family/friend relations are at home.  And I´m so grateful to have a VERY strong one.  I love you all so much.  Until next time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. James 3:4  (Also 3-5)