Changes!

    Hello Family!  We are in the week of changes!  How crazy is it that changes are already here again?  (Even though it doesn`t really mean much to you guys... but anyways..)  Well, this time we do have changes here in Chinique, sad to say.  My companion, Elder Riera, is leaving, along with Elder Cruz of the other companionship.  So Elder Berrios and I will both be getting new companions tomorrow.  The thing is, that we won`t know who they are until they get here!  The suspense is killing me!  Haha but I know it`s a lot worse for the missionaries that don`t know where they will be going yet...  But yeah, there`s a change in the air!

     This was the last week for a couple of missionaries in our Zone.  In our Zone Conference this week, our ZL`s challenged us to make this week the best that we have had this change, to leave the area ready for those who will be coming.  Elder Riera and I took the challenge, and I feel like we did pretty good!  

     We found a lot of new investigators, so that will make a really busy week this week with my new comp!  Also, we visited a lot of past investigators from past missionaries, and we found some success there! The thing about them  is tthat they were progressing before, but were dropped for some reason.  So we went and found some of them who seem to be ready at this moment!  Hopefully some of them will be ready to make the commitment this time around!  More than anything, we found a lot of new people that are ready to hear the Gospel!

     One of the investigators that we found last week has been making a lot of progress.  His name is Gregorio, and he is a friend of the Branch President.  We went and taught him the first lesson, and he was listening really closely!  He agreed to all the commitments that we set for him.  The next appointment that we had with him, he brought his son and his daughter to listen to us, because he thought it would be good for them to hear our message!  Wow!  How awesome is that?!?  So now we are teaching most of his family, which is awesome, because families are SO much better than just one person!!

     I have really been trying a lot harder these last couple of days to really make more of my study time, and I can see a difference that it makes!  I feel like I know a lot more of the doctrine, and the words start flowing out of my mouth a lot easier!  D&C 11:21 is an amazing scripture for that!  And I see it working in my life!

     Well, I`m a little anxious for changes.  I want to be able to start strong with my new comp, and if we do that, I know that we will be able to work hard and bring some souls unto Christ in Chinique!  The key is work, work, and more work!  I heard a saying that says "You have two years to serve a mission, and the rest of your life to think about it."  Basically, this is a one time opportunity, and I`m going to make the best of it!  

     THE CHURCH IS TRUE!  I love you all so so much, and hope the best for you guys!  Until Next Time!  

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. Joshua 1:9, the favorite scripture of my companion!  

A Busy Week!

     Hello Family!  Well, this week was a busy one, that´s for sure!  We had a lot of things to do, but that made the week just that much better!  Really, there is nothing like working hard during the mission.  You don´t really have to worry about real life, just the short time that you have to serve the Lord!  And, I always work better when I´m not stressing about home or family, so when I work hard, I work more effectivley.  Like President Hinckley´s dad said, "Forget yourself, and go to work!"  So yeah, it´s been a really good week of work!

     First things first, which I bet all of you are looking forward to, is what happened with the baptism!  Althought everything didn´t really go according to plan, I still feel really good about what is going on!  What happened is the baptism didn´t go through...  But I´m not feeling to down!  So, I´m gonna be honest, we had the baptism planned for Jimmy and his parents, but honestly we didn´t think that the parents were going to be baptized, and just Jimmy was going to be.  But, while we were teaching them throughout the week, we found that the parents are really changing, and really want to learn more.  But, they say that they still have a ways to go before they take the step to be baptized.  And honestly, I don´t blame them!  I´d rather wait a little bit to baptize someone, and let them develop a testimony, rather than baptizing them right now, and having them fall away a few months down the road.  So yeah, we are still going to put baptismal dates with them, so they have something to work to, but I really think that, given some time, they will be baptized!  So even though they didn´t get baptized this week, they are really growing in their testimony, and that is what really is important!

     We had an open house this week for the church on Saturday!  But I´m going to explain a little bit about it, because some people were confused on what I meant.  Here in Guatemala, you´d be surprised to find what some people think that we do during our reunions. so what we did is let people come in the chapel (even though they are always invited!) and have the different organizations explain what they do during chruch!  We had a bunch of investigators and new people come, so that gives us a lot to do this coming week!  Amazingly, the thing people liked most is, believe it or not, NURSERY!  So yeah, go figure!  But it really makes sense!  I hope this makes us realize how important every function of the church really is, and how much they really are inspired!  

     Last Thursday, we had a Multi-Zone Conference in Huehuetenango, which was awesome!  It was my first time being to Huehue, and I´ve heard a lot of good things about Huehue!  So hopefully I´ll be able to go there soon as one of my areas!  But we had the chance to listen to President Bautista, and also President Gutierrez, the Stake President in Huehue.  I really learned a lot, and would like to share some things with you guys!  What I really liked a lot is what President Gutierrez said.  He told us what our main goal as a missionary should be.  What my ultimate goal should be, is to make sure that I have established a personal relationship with my Savior, Jesus Christ.  It is like something that Dad always told me, the most important convert in your mission should be yourself!  I really took that to heart, and I really hope that I will be able to say that I have become closer to my Savior by the end of my misison!  Also, President Bautista told us about what really counts with our actions.  He told us that maybe we could get away with being disobient with him, but the Lord sees all, so we should be aware of that.  When we put on the nametag, we show that we are representatives of the Lord, and we act in his name.  We should ask ourselves, am I doing what the Lord would do if He was here?  I just have to say that I really enjoyed the conference, and can´t wait for the next one!

     One last thing, we went to Chichicastenango for P-Day this week!  A fun fact for you all, the market in Chichi that comes twice a week is the biggest market in all of Central America!  How cool is that?  Even though we didn´t go on a market day, it was fun to roam the streets and look at the sights!

     So yeah, it has been a fun filled week!  I guess that is why I feel so exhausted today!  But here´s to another week in the books!  Next week, here I come!  Love you all so so so much, and thank you always for writing me!  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S.  Scripture!  Joshua 1:9, a great scripture!