Photos!

On Monday we locked ourselves out of our house...  And this is a picture of me after climbing over a gate, and making my way to a second story window to get the keys...

I went on divisions to an area called Tierra Blanca, and the view there is absolutely amazing.  Just a pure view of the mountains of Guatemala.

The chapel in Tierra Blanca.

A view of a classic traveling bus in Guatemala.  (Although this one was kind of empty...)

The group of us that are going home at the temple!

A photo of our area.  See those houses on the other side of the valley?  That´s where we were going!

Another view of Guatemala.  I will never get over the beauty of this country.

These are most of the ties I currently have in my possesion.  And just remember that I started the mission with 6 ties...

The cookies that we made for the baptism!

Paloma at her baptism!  

Paloma with the family that helped us out a ton!

2 Years Out!

     Hello Family!  Man, what an amazing week this week.  I´m so blessed to be finishing my mission like this, feeling like one of the happiest missionaries in the world!  I was kind of scared about getting so close to the end, but then one of my friends gave me the advice to just continue on like any other week in the mission, and it would be great.  And it has!  I love the mission so much, and I`m going to take advantage of the little time that I have left.

     Well, the best part of the week:  Paloma was baptized on Saturday!  And man, what a special baptismal service we had.  We put a lot of effort in making it really memorable, and although we were really tired Saturday night, it was all worth it.  She is going to be one of the best members here in San Francisco, and I won`t be surprised if she goes on a mission as soon as she turns 19.  (Which is in about a year and a half)  She was so happy in the baptism, and that means that we all were too. :)

     To make the baptism something really special, we spent all week getting everything ready, and setting everything up on Saturday.  I can dare say that this was one of the best prepared baptisms I`ve had.  We filled and heated up the water, baked cookies in the morning, cleaned the chapel, bought everything necesary, and just basically got everything ready.  And all the members loved it.  We had about 50 people in the baptism, which was a lot more than we expected!  And at the moment of the actual ordinance, the spirit was so strong.  Amazing.  After everything, we just felt so good and spiritual.  This probably will be my last baptism in the mission, and I couldn`t have asked for anything better.

     We found some really special investigators this week.  Cata and her daughter, Santa.  They`ve had some problems lately, with a divorce, financial problems, health, anything you can think of.  But I can`t imagine a happier little family.  They have so little of what the world regards as important, but they don`t let it bother them.  It breaks my heart to see them struggling so much, yet they always find a way to make some food for us, or give us something to remember them by.  But that`s just how they are.  I hope that I can be so loving like they are.  They are also progressing really nicely!  They came to the baptism on Saturday, and are looking forward to our cita with them on Tuesday!  

     We went to the temple again. :)  The temple closed down this week for maintenence, and will be closed until after I leave, so my group went to the temple for the last time!  And while inside, I just felt such a confirmation that what I have given the Lord these last two years have been worth it.  I know He has accepted my sacrifice.  And I will be forever grateful to Him for the opportunity He gave me to serve a mission, especially here in Guatemala.  The temple is such an amazing place, and I can`t wait to be able to go whenever I want!

      Last Friday I hit two years in the mission.  Can you all just think of how long that is?  That is two amazing years of straight up missionary work.  Non-stop.  It`s been amazing, but surprising that it`s all coming to a close so quickly.   I find myself thinking about past experiences in the mission, and realize that it`s true:  These really are "The Best Two Years" as everyone says.  I couldn`t trade this time for anything, and I keep thinking what a privilage it has been to be a missionary.

     Well, as of now my last full week in the mission is about to begin, and I´m set to be one of those missionaries that works until the very end.  It´s the least I can do with all the blessings that I have received while being here, right?  Right.  So here´s to an amazing last week in the mission!  Until next time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. Alma 29:9

Photos!

Zone picture at the temple.

Me at the temple.

Every Saturday, this member kid comes to shine our shoes.  Well, some people found out, and gave him more shoes to shine.  And these are all the shoes that he shined!

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

Photos!

Making Christmas arts and crafts!  Just like home.

Thanksgiving Dinner!

Thanksgiving with a member family!

Taking a bite out of the massive turkey leg.

This is a big Christmas Tree that´s in the middle of Xela, right next to an old temple that´s still standing.

Temple!  We had a Stake activity where we went to the temple, so I took some pictures of course!

Another temple photo.  I´m a professional photographer, right?

Photos!

We found a really awesome guy who was really interested in our message!...  Ha

Temple!  The members are the second and fourth people, the rest are investigators that we brought.  And although we couldn´t go any closer, it was still special.

I just had to show you the cutest little member girl!  Guatemalan kids are so darn cute!  (And just try to ingore the big mass of who knows what on the side...)

This is the awesome sunset view that we view everyday, and I thought that you guys would like to see it!

Just the volcano that covers all of Xela!

We went up to the lookout place again, so I took more pictures!  In this picture, you can actually see my area, but to point it out to you guys would be too hard...  So yeah.

  Xela, here I come!

 Rockin the Mayan warrior look.

Just being a kid again.  And LOVING it!

Another "O Jerusalem" picture for you guys!

Time Flies!

 Hello Family!  Well, I don´t know what it is, but time is going by WAY to fast!  I have already been here in Chiquilajá for a change already!  Changes are tomorrow, but neither I nor Elder Calero are leaving.  So we are going to be together for another 6 weeks.  I´m stoked for it, because he´s a good guy, and I feel like we can both learn some things more from each other.  That´s what the mission is for, right?  Right.  

     So yeah, we had a pretty unexciting week this week.  Just another week of being a missionary!  So see you guys next week!...  Not.  Jaja but really, nothing really happened thinking right now, but I´ll find something to write about, don´t worry!

     I´ll tell you guys about our best lesson this week.  It was with a 25 year old lady named Esperanza.  We taught her about the Restoration last week, so we decided to follow up on the BoM.  And she loved it.  I felt so good during the lesson, and I felt the Spirit working through me to tell her what she needed.  Wow, there just aren´t words to really express the feeling you feel when the Spirit works through you.  But it is really something else.  So we ended the lesson, and she seemed really excited to read it.  But the thing is, we have a lot of people that say that.  But it was true!  We left, but my comp forgot something in the house.  So we went back, and the door was open and we saw her reading!  YES!  KEEP ON READING!  I loved it!  So we will see how that goes.

     We kind of had a rough week with Carla, who came to church last week.  She was out of town the beginning of the week, and when we passed by on Friday for a cita that we set up, she ended up having to leave.  So we ended up passing Sunday morning to take her to church, and the problems continued.  The light and water went out for all of our part of Xela, so they had been without light/water since Saturday afternoon.  And she basically told us that she wouldn´t go with us because the light was out...  Curse you Satan!  Dang it, that was a hard blow to us, but it happens, and we just have to keep going strong.  We´ll go back with her to see how things go.

     Elder Calero baptized a grandma and her daughter before I came.  So now we have been really trying to bring the whole family into the church.  And we made a lot of progress this week.  We ended up going 7 of us to see the sights of the temple!  There is a special spirit there, and we wanted them to feel it.  So on Saturday night, we made our way up there.  Well, we made a big mistake.  We didn´t take in account of the Relief Society meeting that same day, so when we got there, the gates were closed because of said meeting.  But we didn´t go all the way there for nothing!  So we sat down on the grass and just talked about the temple with them, with the temple all lit up in the background.  And man was that a good talk!  

     The temple really is a special place, and I feel really bad that I didn´t take full advantage of being in Utah, where according to the members here, "There are temples on every block!"  Which is somewhat true.  But I am going to really make the temple bigger in my life when I get back!  And all of you that can, go to the temple!  Always have it in your sights!

     Guatemala is weird, just saying it now.  I think that I´ve gotten so used to it though, because I don´t really see how it is weird.  But I had the sudden thought come to me one day.  I was standing in an old beat up school bus, jam packed with people, squished between an old man with about 4 teeth and a cowboy hat, and an old corte lady that only speaks K´iche´, with a chicken in her hand.  And then it hit me, wow, that´s just weird.  I wish I would have gotten a picture of it!  Classic.

     Guys, the scriptures are awesome.  Really make it an effort to read AND study them every day.  That is one thing that I love about the mission, the time to study.  There are so many words of comfort, happiness, excitement, it just has it all.  Especially the BoM.  Wow, what an amazing book.  I can´t get enough of it!

      GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!  WOO HOO!!!  Be stoked.  Prepare yourselves to be absolutely enlightened by living profets!  

     There y´all go, my week in a nutshell.  Not really the best week in the mission, but it´s a week in the mission, so it´s special.  Really though, I don´t think we realize how great of an opportunity this really is.  And sometimes I forget it too.  But there really is no greater work, and no other work that brings so much satisfaction.  Hope on.  Journey on.  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

     D y C 30:6  I really am serving among the Lamanites!  

Quite the Week!

    Hello Family!  Well, I can say that this week has definitely been a very interesting week, not to mention a little bit frustruating, but that`s how life is!  Haha but I`m still loving the work here, and it`s going great!

     Sooo..  First things first, Isabel.  Well, bad news is that she wasn`t totally prepared to be baptized this week, so that didn`t happen.  We were really discouraged after the lesson that we had with her, and we were about to give up hope...  BUT!  We had a ward baptism this Saturday, and Isabel said that she would love to come to it, and she did!  So she isn`t completely a lost cause, because she is still interested, but we are going to have to work a bit more with her so that she can gain a stronger testimony.

     Other than her, really we don`t have anyone that really wants to keep their commitments...  We have been trying really hard this week to find some new investigators, whether by knocking doors, contacting references, or who knows!  We have been focusing on that a lot, and it seems to be working a little bit.  But it`s just not the same as teaching a lesson to someone that is progressing.  But you have to start somewhere, right?  I guess that`s why this week wasn`t that exciting, but the next coming weeks should be promising!

     I`m loving the Conference Editon of the Ensign that you sent to me, thank you so much for that!

     On Sunday, we watched that Worldwide Leadership Training Transmission, which was awesome!  I learned a lot from it, and of course, it made me just that much more excited to work in the greatest work there is, preaching the gospel!  I also saw a couple of my friends in the choir which was awesome!

     Just sitting here in a public internet place, where it is playing nonstop Lil Wayne.  Gotta love it.. ;)

     I GET TO GO TO THE TEMPLE TOMORROW!  WOO HOO!  Since I`m nearing a year in the mission, I have the chance to go to the temple here in Quetzaltenango!  We have to get on a bus tomorrow at 3:30 in the morning, but it is going to be worth it!  So glad that I have a temple in my mission!  (Sorry to those who don`t...)

     Well, that`s about all for this week!  Love you all so much!  Until Next Time!

     ¡Nojim K`ishb`ek!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S.  D+C 100:5-6

Photos!

 So this is a bug that we found walking around.  It was huge, plus is had a stinger type thing on its "tail!"  It was crazy, so of course I had to take this picture!

This is a waterfall that we pass by everytime we go to our Ward Mission Leader´s house.  (He is the one in the pictures that I sent last time.  He translates for us into Quiche.)  We finally to time to find a good spot to take a picture.

I found Paper Mario in Momos.  No big deal.  Of course, knowing me, I had to take a picture!  Yay for nerds!

We stopped by Elder and Sister Fairbourne´s house this day.  They are the financial secretaries for our mission.  We were in Xela, and about to head to Guate for my Visa stuff.  They called us and asked if we wanted to join them for cookies.  Of course we said yes!

The Pu Mejia Family that we baptized!  

This kid at the baptismal service for the Pu Mejia Family was wearing an Orioles hat!  I was so excited, needless to say!

 

The Quetzaltenango Temple!  I saw it last week when we went to Xela to play soccer.  We didn´t get to get closer, but at least I got to see it!

 A Meat Store in Momos.  Awesome right?  And yes, I did eat some of the meat in this store!

This is us after the Sunday Morning Session with the Pu Imul Family (Part of them)  The weapons are for a later picture that I will describe next!