Mother´s Day!

     Hello Family!  And happy Mother´s Day to all you mothers out there.  You all are such a blessing in my life, thanks for everything that you guys do!  Things here in Colonia are so great.  We´ve been experiencing so many blessings here, and I feel so blessed to be able to finish off my mission here.  

     This week, I´ve realized that when we work hard, blessings always come.  Sometimes they aren´t immediate, and sometimes they aren´t in the way were were thinking of.  But they always come.  I´ll tell you guys why I´ve realized that.  We are working a lot with Elena and her family, and things have been interesting with them.  They´re coming to church, but are having a hard time accepting the Gospel.  BUT!  Because of them, we have been led to their families, friends, and who knows what.

     One of those people is Aura, who I told you all about last week.  She´s so pilas.  She´s coming to church, reading the BoM, and even giving us references.  There´s a possibility that she could be baptized this week, on the 17th, but if not, it will be next week.  She literaly just fell out of nowhere to come find us, and now look at what is going to happen.  

     Another one of those people is Rut.  She´s a friend on Elena, who has a lot of problems in her house.  She always tells us, "When you both come to teach Elena, call me so I can come over."  And one of the best things about her is that she understands everything so well.  With a little more time, I´m sure that she is going to love the church, and be baptized one day.

     I think one of the most important aspects of missionary work is talking to everyone that you can.  You never know when someone is looking for the truth, or just ready to hear the Gospel.  But if we never talk to anyone, we´ll never know.  Maybe the majority of the people won´t accept it right away, but some seeds can be planted for future missionary work.  This Gospel has to get to all four corners of the earth one way or another, and it´s our job to do it.

     Lastly, something else that I feel like talking about this week is how key the BoM is in this church.  The mission is really stressing that we make sure that every member of the church (recent converts too) is reading the BoM.  They have challenged us to ask every time that we see someone, "What part of the BoM are you at?"  When someone really has a testimony of the BoM, they almost never fall away.  And that´s something that we need to focus on here in Guatemala.

     I absolutely loved talking to you guys yesterday.  I loved seeing you guys, and talking just like good old times.  (That makes me sound like I´ve been away fo sooooo long...)  But I can´t wait to be able to do that every day in about two months.  You guys are really special to me, and I´m so grateful that we are able to spend all of eternity together.  You guys are the best.  I love you all so much.

     As for now, it´s just time to keep pushing forward, diligently and inteligently, in the Lord´s Vineyard.  Everyone that has time, go to LDS.org, find the spanish hymnbook, and put hymn #88 in Google Translate.  Until next time!

     - Elder Stuart

     

     P.S. The scripture for this week is kind of long.  Read Alma 60 and 61, and think about how we should act when someone complains against us when it´s not justified.  Especially Alma 61:9

Change

     Hello Family!  Guys, I´m enjoying the mission so much, just to let you guys know.  Being a missionary has been my life for so long, I don´t even want to think about anything else.  The only thing on my mind all day every day is preaching the Gospel.  What else do I really want/need?  Being a missionary is perfect.

     Our main focus as of right now is Elena, Aroldo, and their family.  They love the church, and are going every week to church (besides Aroldo).  Aroldo has got some problems, and they aren´t married yet (kill me), but we´re not too worried about it.  They´ve got the desire to learn, and that´s the most important thing.  With that will come the desire to change, and we know that it´s possible for them.

     Also, I´ve got two really cool stories about Elena.  On Wednesday, we had just gotten to Elena´s house, when some random lady came up to us, and said "Mis hermanos Elderes!"  Elena said that she was her neighbor, and she presented herself as Aura.  Then she said that before, she was reading the BoM and talking with the misisonaries, but then she moved and lost contact with them.  And Wednesday was the first time that she had seen missionaries for 9 years.  Wow.  She´s reading the BoM again AND came to church.  We are fairly sure that she will be baptized this month.  Miracles happen guys.

     Then, yesterday as we got to Elena´s house, she said "You guys can give blessings, right?  My friend is really sick, and I want you to give her a blessing."  Man, that kind of faith from an investigator is incredible.  So we went to the friends house, and I gave the blessing.  That is probably one of my favorite things to do.  I feel so much power when I give blessings, because I know that I have the authority to do it.  The Spirit was so strong there, and I know that we left a lasting impression there

     We have been working with a lot of Menos Activos recently.  After the conference with Elder Clarke, I really understood the importance of getting less actives to church.  Baptizing one man and reactivating one man are basically the same, because in any case, the church is benefitted, and the man is in the true church.  It can mean the world to a less active member having someone care for them.  Most of the time it is one small thing that happened, and we can be the means to help them come back to church.  We´ve got to retain everyone.  It´s a huge problem here in Central America, and it means a lot.

     More than anything, the mission has been a huge blessing for me to see who I really am, and who I can become.  I´ve learned so much in the misison, and I know that I am a different person that what I was before.  I see the world so much differently, and I feel like it is a good thing.  The mission will always change someone.  We just have to let it change us for the better, and not the other way around.

     This is the life.  I´m so happy to be here, serving these people that I love so much.  Life is so good.  Until next time.

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. Alma 5:13

What A Week!

  Hello Family!  Well, seems like we all had crazy weeks this week!  I seriously can`t believe what happened back home...  As I was reading your letter Mom, I was so scared, becuase I could see it all happening in my mind, because I know exactly where in the stage that is happening.  But as I kept reading, I knew that Ryan was going to be okay, and I am so grateful for the way that it happened.  (Not that he fell or anything...)  It really makes me so grateful for a family that is really close, and cares for one another, and knows what matters most in this life.  Also, I am so grateful for the friends that I have, and that we all have.  Without them, and them being ready at any moment to act in the Lord`s name, who knows what would have happened...  I don`t even want to think about it, but thankfully I don`t have to!  Thank you all so much for letting me know what happened at home, and I am so happy that Ryan is okay!

    Well, I had a somewhat crazy week here also, but not nearly as crazy as you guys!  So this week, all the people here in Guatemala (and I`m pretty sure all of Central America also) celebrate a Catholic holiday that is called "Semana Santa," or "Holy Week." It lasts from Thursday to Saturday, and basically what happens is that all the people commemorate the death of Christ.  Everyone gets together as families, and cook a lot of bread, and I mean a LOT!  I have eaten so much bread this week it isn`t even funny...  But it is just a tradition that everyone has grown to love.  The thing about it is, is that everyone is with their families, so they really don`t make time for us, which I totally understand.  Everyone was "busy" these past couple of days, so the work really slowed down this week.  But when we did get into a house to share something, it was really amazing and really spiritual.  We talked a lot about the ressurection about Christ, and how it blesses us.

    One thing that I came to realize this week, like REALLY realize, is how important the ressurection is for us.  One thing I love is that while all the Christian world wear crosses to commemorate the death of Christ (which is really important), we, as Latter Day Saints, really focus on the ressurection of Christ, and that He still lives!  How great it is to know that we have our Savior still living, so why shouldn`t we celebrate that?  It brings so much more meaning to me in my life, especially as a missionary, to know that my Savior still lives, and that he is continually watching over us!  

     We have a baptismal date!!!  Whoo Hoo!  And I am really excited about this one, because I know that it is going to follow through.  His name is Jimmy, and he is the 9 year old son of our investigator family we are teaching.  He has come to church twice now, and he seems really excited about being baptized!  The coolest thing though, is that he wants to be a missionary when he gets older, just like us!  When he said that, it really made me realize that this work is totally worth it!  All the hard times, the rejections, and all that bad things that happen don`t even come close to the blessings that we recieve, and the knowledge that we are helping the lives of the people here!  I love this work!!!

     That`s all for this week!  I hope that we can all enjoy General Conference this week, because I know that it is going to be great!  I love you all!!!!!  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S.  The scripture for this week is John 20:31.  The reason that we celebrate Easter is to celebrate the ressurection of Christ, and all that He did and gave to us.  He made it possible to have "life through his name," and for that we should be eternally grateful!