A Special Week

Hello Family!  Just to let you all know now, this week was one of the best weeks I`ve ever had in the mission.  No, I didn`t have the best numbers or anything extraordinary, but with everything that happened in the week, it was just special.  I`ve learned so much as a missionary, and this week I`ve definitely learned more.  One of the best moments of my mission.

     Yes, I`m writing on Tuesday instead of yesterday, but you`ll all see why soon.  And if the letter is too long, just skip to the end, because it is the best part.

     So this Saturday Luis and Edwin were baptized!  Nice.  My first baptisms in this area, and they were good ones.  The service was really special, something that seems to be lacking here in Guatemala.  But it was incredible.  These two have made some really big differences in their lives, and we were able to see the result of it.  They were so happy the whole time, and they kept saying afterwards, "I`m baptized! I´m baptized!"  So happy.  And we also had a total of 17 investigators in the service!  I was amazed in how many investigators came.  And they all said that they loved it.  (There were more investigators than members, but that`s beyond the point...)

     Their confirmation was also really special.  The Bishop really made them feel welcome in the ward, and some temple missionaries that were there gave them ties for next week!  They were really happy about the support of the ward, as was I.  They are now saying that they can`t wait to go on missions one day, and that`s my hope for them. 

     We are still working with Elena and Aroldo.  Aroldo is kind of rough, because he`s kind of hard-hearted.  He accepts us and everything, but we just need to get into his heart.  The rest of the family is doing great.  They went to the baptism and church, and they are loving it.  We just are going to keep going with them and make sure that they always have that excitement.

     We`ve also made some progress with Antonia, who I had mentioned a couple weeks back.  She is the sister of a member in the ward, Hermana Paz.  For years she`s listened to the missionaries and all that jazz, but this week was something special.  After about 18 years of contact with missionaries, she came to church for the first time.  Ever.  The whole Paz family was shocked.  But I´m not really.  I´ve had a lot of impressions that now is her time, and we are here to help her with it.  I´m sure that she will be a member of the chruch this year.  I know it.

     The reason that I am writing today instead of yesterday is because yesterday, Elder Don R. Clarke of the Seventy came to our mission to have a conference here.  He is the assistant Excecutive Director of the Missionary Department of the Church.  And man does he know how to do missionary work.  If I learned anything about him, and General Authorities in general, it`s that they have a much higher vision of missionaries than we all do.  They know what missionary work can be, and they want us to catch that vision.  Elder Clarke taught us a lot of things, and it really made me want to finish my mission off the strongest way possible.  That man is incredible.

     It`s been a great change here in Colonia.  Changes are this week, but Elder Pagán and I are staying together, just like we thought.  So we are all charged up and ready to convert even more people here in Colonia.  I love being a missionary so much, and I honestly wish I could be one for much much longer.  The Lord lives, and is hastening his work.  Until next time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. DyC 49:24.

Loving the Mission!

Hello Family!  How you all doing?  We´ve had a really good week this week.  I´ve really been loving being a missionary recently, like more that usual.  I don´t know where it is coming from, but I love it!  There really is something special about the work that we can´t really describe, something that drives us from within.  Maybe it is the thought that we are all participating in the work of salvation, and we can see people´s lives change right before our eyes.  It really is amazing to think that we are helping people that we haven´t even thought existed before, and they are changing their lives competely by our help.  There really is nothing better.  Now that I´ve started this email, we can get down to business.

     First off, on Monday we had another amazing lesson with Antonia.  We went to see how she liked conference, because she was going to watch it in her house.  She said that she had watched it and everything.  But when we asked her what she most liked, she told us that something had happened.  The channel that we sent them too was conference, but it was all in English.  So they ended up watching the whole thing in English...  At first I was bummed but then she said something really important.  She said that it didn´t matter if she didn´t understand anything, because she had felt something really special (The Spirit) wathcing it.  And she said that when one man came up, she felt his authority.  So I whipped out a picture of Pres. Monson and she said "That´s the man."  Guys, this church is true.  Antonia didn´t understand a thing, but the Spirit told her that they were Prophets of God.  Amazing.

     On Wednesday WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!!!  Oh baby, it had been way too long.  Almost 10 months since the last time I went.  And man was it great.  Things had changed since the last time I went (cough movie cough...), and I loved the changes.  A lot more clear on what was needed to be done.  (Is this vague, or is it just me?)  As I sat in the Celestial Room, I was pondering on what was needed to be done for some investigators, and found some really great stuff/scriptures for them.  

     But what was most special about the tempe is that I went there planning to ask Heavenly Father if what I had been giving him for the last 21 months has been worth it.  If I´ve been really serving my God.  As I finished my prayer I didn´t really feel anything so I just sat there looking at the beauty of the Temple.  But as I looked up into the chandelier, shining in the light, it just hit me.  Like a lightning bolt down my whole body.  I was just consumed in my Heavenly Father´s love, and I never wanted it to stop.  Man, what a feeling.  Something really special that I´m going to remember for a long time.

     On Thursday I went to another area on divisions to see how the work was going in Zaculeu.  I stayed with Elder Perkins, another Elder in the Zone.  I´m not really the biggest fan of divisions, because I don´t like leaving my area, but we had a great time.  I learned a lot from him,, and we had some really great lessons.  It kind of just showed me how many of us there are in this work, all of us a little different, but all with the same purpose.  That was great for me to realize.

     We talked with Luis and Edwin, our two baptismal fechas, this week.  They were set for the 19th, but weren´t able to come to church this week... But they´ve already made plans to go this coming week, and when we pushed back the fechas for the 26th, they already started asking what time, what they should bring, and everything.  So they are pretty set, and we are stoked for them.

     We´ve also got this other guy named Ivan, a (boy)friend of a member here.  And he´s really interested.  He´s asked some of the best questions about the Gospel that I´ve heard in a while.  What I see from him is just a desire to become closer to God.  And we have the perfect thing for him:  The Restored Gospel.  We think that he´s going to progress really nicely, so that should be good.

     The work is progressing here nicely, and we think that the rest of April and May should be really good for us.  This was an area just waiting for good things to happen, and now we are here to see it happen.  Until next time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. DyC 100:1

General Conference Weekend!

Hello Family!  This week was incredible, to say the least.  My very last General Conference in the mission.  It´s been so weird to think about how fastthe time has gone.  Four Conferences, four areas.  It really makes me regret not having payed much attention to Conference in the past.  It´s basically like the World Series (Super Bowl, sorry, I´m a baseball fan...)  for us missionaries, and we get it twice a year.  Yeah boy.  It is absolutely amazing.  

     (If you´re short on time, and don´t want to read my analysis about Conference, jump down the the specifically marked paragraph.)

     All right, let´s get down to business.  General Conference, and what I liked.  First off was Elder Holland´s talk.  And, as always, he did great.  He explained a lot about what we as missionaries feel in the mission field.  About how challanges will always come, but there are more important things to do in life.  We must always have the desire and the courage to do what is right in the threat of opposition.  Also great on Saturday Morning was Elder Andersen´s talk.  That talk is really needed down here in Guatemala.  We need to always focus on the things in life that make us stronger, and always welcome opposition in our lives.

     Priesthood Session was absolutely incredible.  I loved every single talk.  One that really stood out to me was Elder Hallstrom´s talk.  Please go look it up if you have time.  I really enjoyed it.  Also, President Monson´s talk about courage was really good too.  We must always have the courage to do the right thing (or not do the wrong thing), no matter how small the thing may be.

     Elder Ballard´s tlak was much needed in the mission.  That chapter in PMG is one of my favorites, all about following up on comitments.  So important.  Most of the things we do in life will require follow up, and probably not even just once, but many times.  We need to learn this principle, and do all that we can to live it every day.  

      President Packer is such a powerful man.  He may be getting old, and I may not have gotten much from his talk this Conference, but this I do know:  That man has got one powerful testimony.  Amazing.  He really does know the Lord, and I know it to be true.  Just from his testimony, I learned so much.  We all need to strive to make our testimony that strong.  Wow, it just blew my mind how sure he was.  

     So yeah, that´s what I liked about General Conference.  I loved all of the talks, but those were the ones that kind of stood out.  

     *This is the specifically marked paragraph!*

     Other than Conference, the work here has been great.  We had many investigators in Conference this week, so we are just waiting this week to see what they thought, and work on getting them to church next week.  I really think we can, and there is a lot of work to do here in Colonia.

     Luis and Edwin are still good for the 19th of this month.  We are really excited, because that can mean turning their lives around for good in this early age. (13 and 15)  They like everything, and are coming to church, so now we are just making sure this is something that they really want to do, and make sure that they know what to do when we eventually leave the area.

     We had a really touching experience this week.  While with a member going to a lesson, she told us about her aunt who had before listened to the missionaries, but said that she never felt anything special.  The member, Nidia, was kind of reluctant to go, because the aunt, Antonia, has rejected missionaries recently, but we convinced her to go, so we went.  When we were there, she told us that she had been sick for a while, and Nidia said that we could give her a blessing.  And I was honored to give the blessing.  During the blessing, I felt the Spirit really strongly, but didn´t think much of it.  But when I ended, Antonia left the room, leaving us with the others in the room.  Long story short, when we had left, Nidia told us that Antonia had left because she was crying, and Nidia had never seen her aunt listen to a blessing like that.  Antonia seems really pilas now, We are excited about the change that happened.

     With that last story, I feel like we all need to realize something that we all have.  A divine potential.  For example, I felt normal during the blessing, but I know that Antonia was feeling heavenly hands, and hearing heavenly words.  All us of can do more that we really thing, we just need to go and do it.

     To close it off, today for P-Day we went to a beautiful place called Laguna Magdalena.  So surreal.  The word I would chose to describe it would be mystical.  Going there just made me think how amazing God really is.  He has all the creations before him, and we are able to be a part of it.  God really is all-powerful.  I´ll send some pictures shortly.

     Man, now I just feel like I´m rattling off some things...  so I´ll stop now.  I love this work guys.  There is nothing like it.  Until next time!

     - Elder Stuart

     1 Nephi 19:9