Changes!!!...Oh Wait

      Hello Family!  This week there are changes!  And guess who has changes?!?..  Not me.  Jaja it´s been really weird for me.  I´ve been in Chiquilajá for 5 changes now, which is about the maximum for the mission.  But I guess I´ll be here for 6!  Go figure!  It´s a great area, I love the members and everything.  And, because we thought that I was going to have changes, we got a lot of people prepared for the supposed new guy that was going to come in.  But now I´ll be able to work with them, and it´s going to be great.  Although I´m the second missionary in years that has been in an area for more that 5 changes, I´m stoked.

     Our most progressing investigators so far are Lorenzo and María.  They are the nicest older couple you will meet this side of Guatemala.  Just amazing.  They only have one problem though... They know that this church is true.  They´ve prayed about it, and they know.  They are just afraid of leaving the church they are attending now.  They feel like they owe it to the church they are going to, because they´ve been going there for so long.  We´ve been trying to explain it to them that they owe it to God if they know this is the truth, but they don´t seem to understand.  We´ve also shared Matthew 13:45-46.  It´s been kind of a real test for me, becuase we can´t seem to make them understand.  But they know, and I´m sure they´ll act.  We´re just going to keep working with them.

     We had a really good lesson this week with some new investigatores named Lester and Ingrid.  They are a couple who have had a lot of contact with missionaries, and when they said that they had heard the message before, we wondered how we were going to go at the lesson.  But we just decided to go at it really slow, and make sure that they understand every little detail.  It was really slow for me, but I felt the Spirit stronger than in other lessons.  We made sure to ask a LOT of questions to make sure that they understood.  And we were getting responses like, "Wow, I didn´t realize that before." or, "That makes a lot of sense."  Follow the spirit, and you can´t go wrong.

     Which brings me to my next point.  I´ve been studying a lot in Ch. 10 of PMG about asking inspired questions.  We had been having a lot of problems with teaching investigatores, and the next lesson they had forgotten almost everything.  The good thing about questions is that we can let the people teach themselves.  When we ask a question guided by the spirit, they tend to think about it more, and they get more out of it.  It´s not enough, I´ve realized, to just teach the doctrine, and ask if they understood.  We need to do better, and the Spirit can help us to just that.

     We got hit with a stroke of bad luck this week with some investigators.  With Jorge, who was planning on getting baptized at the end of this month, he´s going to have to go to the capital for a sickness that he has.  So he´s going to be gone for some weeks.  Also, Antonio´s going on vacation for two weeks.  So that´s two progressing investigators gone for a while.  But we´ll be sure to get back with them when they get back.

     A lot of things this week have made me realize how much I love the people here in Guatemala.  They are so loving.  They are so quick to accept total strangers, let them into their house, and make new friends.  It really makes the work here a lot eaiser.  And I´ve basically been living with Latinos for 20 months, and I´ve been loving it.  I´m thinking that maybe this culture will inpact what I will do later in life, but we´ll see!

     So yeah, I´m still here, but excited to work with all the people we´ve been finding.   The mission is amazing, and I couldn´t even think about being anywhere else.  This really is the Lord´s work, and I am a part of it.  Let´s hasten the work!  Until next time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. Ether 12:4

Crazy Things Coming Up!

     Hello Family!  Well I don`t know about you guys, but my week has been absolutely crazy!  All I can say is that a lot is going to change in the coming months.  Because guess what?  I am going to be a trainer for a new missionary!  Already!  We went down to Xela on Thrusday for a Multi-Zone Conference, and on the bus ride there, my Zone Leader told me that I am going to be training someone!  It blew my mind!  I really didn`t even know what to think!  I mean, I`m still in training myself, and as soon as I am done, I am going to have to show a new missionary the ropes, when I don`t even know them that well myself!  But I have faith that the Lord will help me through it, because I know that this calling is from the Lord.  It still is going to be crazy!  Which means that I will be in Pancà for at least another 12 weeks!  But it is crazy how many missionaries are coming in these next couple of transfers.  I`m pretty sure it is because of the new age change, and the flood is starting to come!  

     So basically I haven`t been in my area for the whole week.  As you know, last week we had P-Day on Wednesday, and then on Thursday, we had the multi zone confrerence.  After I figured out that I was going to be training, I was told that I had to be in Xela the next day on Friday for a meeting for all the new trainers!  So I did that on friday.  (By the way, out of the 11 missionaries that came to the field in my group, 7 of us are training already!  Maybe that shows that we are a good group or something!)  I wasn`t able to return to Momos until Friday night, and there is no way that we can get to Pancà in the night, so we stayed in Momos until Saturday morning, and took the first truck that we could to get to Pancà.

     Since we were only in Pancà for two days, it was mainly just saying goodbyes to everyone for Elder Maldonado.  Not gonna lie, it got me a little sad.  Because my relationship has been really good with him.  He is a really cool guy, and a great missionary too!  It definitely is going to be really weird without him as my companion now, especially because I have to take the reigns!  But I`m excited for it.  

     We left Pancà for Elder Maldonado`s last time on Sunday Afternoon, so that we could catch the Christmas Devotional in Momos, seeing as there is no way to see it in Pancà.  The devotional was really good!  Even though it was all in Spanish, I understood almost every part of it!  It really boosted my confidence in my Spanish, which I am going to need it if I train a Gringo right?  But I really enjoyed it, especially the Christmas Music.  There really are few things that are better then Christmas music.  Although it did make me miss home a little bit, it still was really good to see.  

     Which reminds me, so about packages, I have heard that if you put a picture of Jesus on the box, that it has a higher chance to get here.  I know that it is too late for the packages that you have already sent, but it is just for future reference.  But I have faith that the packages will get here!

     So yeah, gonna be a crazy week next week, but I feel ready for it, and I hope that it will continue to be good!  Thank you all for your support as always, and know that I am thinking of you guys always!  Wish me luck on my coming week!  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S.  The Scripture is Ether 12:4, a really good scripture on hope!