Another week in Chiquilajá!‏

     Hello Family!  I hope that you all had a good week this week!  We had a fairly interesting week this week, so I´ll try and let you all know about what happened.

     Well, first things first, I´m finally out of a trio.  Elder García is leaving for his mission tomorrow.  So now it is just going to be Elder Calero and I.  Which is going to be nice, because working with three people on the mission is just weird.  Also, Elder García had kind of lost his desire to serve, because he wasn´t in his own mission.  But now he´s excited to go, and I´m happy for him.  I hope that he will find that desire again in is own mission!  But now I´m just back to a regular, two-person companionship.  (Thank goodness...)

     Well, here in Guatemala, especially here in Xela, September is by far the hardest month in the mission, because it´s independence month here.  (Independence day is September 15 here.)  Also, there is this huge fair that comes to Xela for about 3 weeks.  So basically everyone is partying, celebrateing, waking up in the streets, and all that fun stuff.  So our leaders have really stressed on starting now so that we can baptize in September.

     Which we have been taking to heart!  We have two sure dates for the 21 of September.  One of them is Wendy, the granddaughter of Martha, the recent convert.  Another one is a young man named Brando.  They are both willing to be baptized, so that´s good.  The only thing we need them to do now is to come to church continually.  They both weren´t able to come to church this week, because Wendy´s great-grandma got really sick, so they went to go visit them, and Brando´s mom didn´t give him permission to go...  So that sucked, but we have talked to both of them, and they said that they are planning on coming next week for sure.  

     I haven´t really realized the importance of member work until I got here.  In Momos and in Quiché, there really weren´t enough members to work with us, and even less who were willing to help us.  But here there are a lot more to help us out.  And we have really been trying to stress member lessons, because there really is nothing else like them.  You can have two strange people, one of them a Gringo, and the people don´t want to hear anything from us.  But when we bring someone who lives walking distance from them, it makes them think that we are actually normal!  It´s great working with them!

     On wednesday we had a Multi-Zone Conference with all the zones from Xela.  President Bautista talked to us, and I don´t know what it is, but I always feel so pumped when he talks!  It´s always good for us missionaries to reclaim the excitement that we had at the beginning.

     Not much else, happened this week.  Just keeping on working for the Lord!  I love this work, and we just need to work hard to make us all happy!  Haha I love you all so much, and thanks for all the support!  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. Abraham 2:16.  Think about it a little bit... ;)

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!

A Preparation Week!

     Hello family!  Sorry I`m late this week, but it is because we have a multi-zone conference in Huehuetenango tomorrow, so we have to be here in Quichè to spend the night.  So that we wouldn`t lose so much time traveling and being out of our areas, the Zone Leaders decided to change P-Day until today, so that we could have more time to work in our areas.  And for that I was really grateful!

     First things first, about our most positive investigator, Jimmy.  He was all ready to get baptized this past Saturday, but as we were teaching him during the week, we noticed a change in his parents.  They started listening more and participating more in the lessons, so we decided to postpone the baptism until this Saturday, where it would be possible for Jimmy and his parents to be baptized on the same day.  The only problem is, is that his parents, Miguel and Stefany, aren`t "married", so it causes a problem.  (Believe it or not, this happens a lot in Guatemala...)  People can`t be baptized if they are living with a partner, so we have to work on getting them married this week (which we have talked about with them), and hopefully we can have a wedding this Friday at the chapel, and the next day have a baptism!  It`s a bit of a long shot, but it is possible!  

     Also, we have been preparing for an activity that will happen this Saturday in the morning.  We are going to have an "open house" at the chapel, so that people all over Chinique can come to the chapel and spend about 15 minutes figuring out what we do during our reunions, and if they want to learn more.  This week we have been handing out invintations like crazy, so that hopefully the whole town can come!  It should be a really good way to find new people to teach, so here`s to it all going according to plan!  

     This week in my studies, I have been focusing a lot on some of the questions that are most asked by our investigators, and trying to find the best way to find them in the scriptures.  It has really been a huge help for me to have a basic knowledge of the scriptures, but it makes me wish that I would have studied them more before my mission.  So for all those that are preparing to go on a mission, really strive to study the scriptures and PMG [Preach My Gospel] every day, so that you will be that much prepared when you enter the mission.  Granted, you still are going to learn a TON, but it can`t hurt to learn more, right?

     In our district meetings, they have been focusing a lot on bringing our investigators to church with us.  One time I was talking with President Bautista about it, and he said that apart from baptisms, our most important statistic that we should focus on is investigators that come to church.  The reason is that if people come to church every week to learn more about the gospel, they will have a firm foundation, friends, and all sorts of good things.  That is why we have been really trying to bring people to church with us, and inviting members to help us out.  It really is a joint effort;  working missionaries with members, and I love it!

     That is just about all that I have to say for now, but this next week should be huge, with a multi-zone conference, an open house activity, and a baptism!  So I hope that you all have a great week, like I am bound to have!  I am so stoked always to be a servant of the Lord, and I have a really good feeling that this week will just strengthen my testimony even more!  

     I love you all so much, and thank you so much for writing me every week!  The Chruch is True!  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S.  We have been talking a lot about friendship this week with our investigators, so I figured I`d share John 15:13 with you guys, one of the best scriptures about friendship.  It just shows how much the Lord loves us and wants the best for us! 

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!

Just Another Week!

     Hello Family!  Well, turns out I´m a couple of days late, but with reason.  We have a multi zone conference tomorrow (Thursday), so instead of wasting so much time in Momos with having P day on Monday, we are having P day today to not waste so much time.  So don´t worry, I´m still doing great!  This week seemed to go by way fast, even though it has been a little longer than a week since I last wrote.  But since Elder Maldonado is going home next week because he have finished his 2 years, it has kind of felt like we are leaving together..  But nope!  I still have a long time to go!  I haven´t figured out yet exactly, but I should be staying in Pancá for another change or so, to help my new companion know the area!  I should have a new companion next week, so that should be fun!  It will definitely be a lot different though, because I have gotten so used to working with Elder Maldonado.  But changes are always good, and I am ready for it!

     At the beginning of this week, we worked a lot with the less active members in our ward.  There are a lot here, because about half the time, when people are baptized here, they attend church for a little bit, but then stop going for some reason.  It really is sad that they give up that easily, but that´s why we are here!  So we have been helping them and trying to get them to come back to church.  We really have been focusing on less actives this week too, because Investigators are hard to come by.  We have this one family, but the Dad had to travel to Guatemala City this week, so we couldn´t visit him at all.  He really is our only progressing investigator.  I really hope that things will work out for him though!

     The way things have worked out this week and next week, Elder maldonado will only be in Pancá for a couple more days before he goes home!  So we have been trying to visit every family that we know so we can say goodbye (Well, really only him, because I´ll still be here!)  But that has meant a lot of walking and hiking, and because of that, this week was a little tiring!  But it was definitely worth it, because the families here are so nice and inviting!  I love it here, and I´m so glad that I had the opportunity to start in Pancá!  

     This week is going to be pretty boring, because I won´t be in Pancá that much becuase of our conferences and changes coming up, but things will be different after that, so I have to be ready for anything!  But these first 3 months of the mission have been absolutely amazing.  It has been everything that I have hoped for and more!  I hope that it will continue!

     I just want to let you all know that I love this work so much.  I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve my Lord.  I love it when I see the gospel touching the lives of these humble people here in Guatemala.  It really makes me appreciate everything that I have at home, and I want to just share all my happiness with everyone here!  I know that Jesus Christ, our Savior, Redeemer, and Brother lives, and loves each and every one of us.  I love you guys so much, and love hearing from you every week!  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

Alma 48:17.  Capitan Moroni is one of my favorite people in the BoM!