Photos!

Most of us Elders on New Year`s Eve!  Some of them bought fireworks, so we woke back up at midnight, and watched the fireworks for about 20 minutes!  It was way cool! 

We celebrated new years with a family here!  We made a bonfire with them, roasted marshmellows, and set off little fireworks.  It was way fun!

So we were looking for a truck to Pancà when this cement truck passed by, asking us the way to Pancà.  He was headed there for the construction on the chapel.  We told him we knew the way, and he offered to take us there if we showed him the way!  So we got to ride all the way to Pancà in a cement truck!

   We found this little water source (What do you call this?) on our way to a member`s house.  It looked pretty clean, so I figured why not?  (But not really..)

This is a little baby who was born here not to long ago.  Her family is Less Active, but they ended up coming to chruch for a baby blessing for her!  So everything turned out perfect!

I don`t remember if I had sent you guys a picture of the waterfalls here, but I went to go show them to Elder Mar, so we took some more pictures!

Here We Are Again!

     Hello Family!  Here we are again, just the same as usual!  This week, not much happened, it was just a lot of missionary work, although we did walk a ton this week!  But unfortunatley, things have been slowing down here, but I want them to speed back up!  Although it has been fairly easy this week, that´s not what I want!  I want to bust my butt and do all that I can to help the people here!  I just hope that my excitement can turn in to actions by the people we are teaching.  

     The reason that things seem to have slowed down here, is because everyone seems to be at a standstill.  We have about 10 investigators that we are teaching on a regular basis, but only one is progressing.  (Which means the others aren´t keeping their commitments and coming to chruch and all that.)  The biggest thing for them to do is to come to chruch with us, but out of our 10 investigators that we have regularly, a big fat 0 came to church this week.  We haven´t had time to visit them to figure out what happened, but I have a feeling that it is just taking that first step to walk to the chapel.  I know that it is a bit far for some families, but isn´t that what sacrifice is about?  I just wish that they could realize how blessed they could be, if only they could keep their commitments!  I just want to do all I can for them, but if they don´t pull their part, nothing is going to happen.  I am only here to give them the opportunity to hear about the gospel, it is up to them to decide for themselves if they want to accept it.  It is so hard for me, because i just want to enter their mind and say, "Wake up!  The Key to Eternal Happiness is right in front of you!"  But of course I can´t do that.  I guess that is why I feel like I am not doing all I can, because I can´t see the results of my work.  But if I just keep focusing on the right things to do, and let them do their part, everything will be fine.  I think I just kind of gave myself counsel while writing this...  So yeah, those are my thoughts this week!

     Some news about our Zone.  So Momos is one of the biggest Zones in the mission, and because of that, we are going to split into 2 Zones!  I´m still going to be in Momos, but a lot of the other Elders are headed to a new Zone called San Bartolo.  Plus, Elder Kinghorn, who is the AP right now, is going to come here and be a Zone Leader!  So we shall see how that goes!  But I have a really good feeling about our new Zone, so hopefully everything turns out!  

     I don´t know, I guess I am just a little frustruated that nothing is really going according to plan, but I guess this is just me learning to have patience and to let the Lord do what he has planned in his own time.  It really has been a reflective week, and I really feel like I have grown a lot.  So even though we didn´t make progress with investigators this week, I made progress with myself, which is important too, right?  So I guess this week wasn´t all for not!

     Even though things aren´t going as I want them, it hasn´t hurt my testimony in the slightest!  I still know that this chruch is true with every part of my being and every part of my heart.  I am so grateful to have this Gospel in my life, and I can´t even begin to imagine where I would be without it.  I have such a strong love for my brother Jesus Christ, but I know that his love for me is far above what I have for me.  I just hope that one day I will be able to show how much I really do appreciate all he has done for me.  I guess I am started now, by being a missionary, but I still have a life ahead of me, and I hope I cn do everything I can to live up to it!  I want to live my life so that when I finally get to see my Savior and my Heavenly Father again, I can say proudly, "I have done all I can, and I have no regrets."  I hope that we can all strive to be better people in our lives. 

     Thank you always for your support!  I love each and every one of you!  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. Scripture is not really a scripture.  It´s a talk.  If you can, look up Jeffrey R. Holland´s talk "Saftey for the Soul" from October 2009.  Sends chills down my spine every time!

Happy New Years!

    Hello Family, and Happy 2013!  Time just seems to be flying, and look now, we are already in another year!  That sure was quick!  This past year was really crazy with everything that went on, but I have a feeling that this next year will be just as crazy!  Especially because I am going to be in the mission the whole year!  That is just crazy to think about!  But I hope that this year will be great for you guys, because I know that it is going to be great for me!  I hope that we can continue to feel the blessings of the Lord in our lives, and that we can remember him throughout the year!

    After we FINALLY got back to Pancà, we knew that we were going to have to work our butts off to make this week count.  So that is exactly what we did!  Even though everything didn`t turn out as we hoped, I felt good about it, because I knew that I did all that I could to make up for the time that we lost.  We ended up staying out until about 9:00 each night, which is really late for an Aldea (An area like Pancà)  We usually are supposed to come in at like 7:00, but we wanted to work more, so we stayed out later.  I hope that our extra work has payed off!  

     There aren`t really good stories for this week, because we missed a lot of the appointments that we had planed, so we really just went and visited a lot of the members and less actives here.  It was really cool, because one of the less actives that we have been visiting for pretty much the whole time finally came to church for the first time!  Even though it was to bless her baby girl, it still counts!  I was hoping that she would get up and bear her testimony about it all, but she didn`t unfortunately...  But we talked to her afterwards, and she seems really glad that she came to have her girl blessed.  So hopefully that means that she will come next week!  

     The President has issued a challenge for us as missionaries.  We are going to try and read the entire BoM before the next General Conference.  But not just read it, but to really study it.  We all have a notebook to but notes and feelings that we have.  I really like reading it and studying it this way.  I mean, I have read it before, but to really study it means that I am able to grasp more and more about the BoM, and I really like it!

     So this week wasn`t all that I hoped it was going to be, but hopefully this next week will!  Until Next Week!

      - Elder Stuart

     P.S. The scripture is 1 Nephi 8:30.  But it really is just better to read the whole chapter.  And if you can, look up Elder Bednar`s talk on the Tree of Life!  

A Week of Celebration!

Hello Family! I don`t know why, but it seems like it has been forever since I`ve talked to you guys! I guess talking on the phone does that to you! It just seemed so normal, but now we are back to just emailing, which is just okay, not the same though! But I should tell you guys that this week has been really great!

So we didn`t get to get back to Pancà until Wednesday morning, so the 25th was actually kind of boring. We did go contact a bit in Momos, but it isn`t the same as being in your area. So yeah, it kind of sucked. But on Wednesday, we went to a members house to celebrate Christmas, and we bought fireworks to set off! It was way fun! And to top it all off, I finally got to open my presents, about a day and a half later than I wanted. But better late then never! I loved the presents! I have been craving American candy for a long time, because the candy here just isn`t the same. But one of the best things you sent was the Conference Edition of the Ensign. Thank you so much for it!! I`ve already read it cover to cover twice now, that just shows how much I have been looking forward to it! Thank you all so much for the presents!

But after that, it was time to get back to work. This week, we still focused a lot on the birth of Jesus Christ, because it is still the Christmas season, and we thought it would still work! It is so amazing to talk about the birth of Christ with the people here. Because even if they are members, less actives, investigators, or just random people on the street, almost every person here is willing to talk about Christ, especially the birth of Christ. So it has been a really successful week, and spiritual too!

We have been working a lot with a family a member reffered to us. They are a mom and two kids, with the Dad in the States. But they are really open to us, and we even mentioned baptism this week, and they weren`t totally off guard! So we have a goal for a date on the 26 of January, so hopefully that will work out!

This week was a little rough at the beginning, because after talking to you guys, and Christmas and everything, I was a little homesick. But like President Hinckley`s Dad said, "Forget yourself and go to work." That really helped me out, and I got through the week fine! It really has been a great week here, and I am ready for a new year here! Happy New Years everybody! Until Next Time!

- Elder Stuart

P.S. The scripture for this week is Ezra 10:4. I thought I should throw you guys some Old Testament goodies!

Christmas is Near!‏

     Hello Family!  Well, it is the Christmas Season!  It really has been weird to not be there with you guys this year, but we will make it work!  Not gonna lie, it will be really weird and really homesick not being with you guys, but what we are all sacrificing is worth it in the long run!  And I get to call you guys, so that will make up for it!  By the way, the information about the call home.  So the best way to do it is I am going to call you for about 1 minute, just to get the number to you guys, and then you should call me right back.  The reason is that we don`t have that much money on the phones that we are using, so they have the families pay for it.  So yeah.  I am going to try and call in the morning, so I can get everyone there.  Probably at around 8 or something.  I don`t know, I sent a quick letter to you to figure it out, so hopefully you can get it right now!  But I can`t wait for it!  I can`t wait to hear your voices again!  Hopefully everything works out!  

     So this week has been pretty good!  We definitely felt the Christmas Spirit with us this week.  It was a lot easier to talk to people here at this time, because they usually are really open with talking about Christ.  So when we prepared a message about the birth of Christ and all that, they were really open and talking to us!  So we had a little more success than we usually have this week!  It has been nice!  

     Also, the members there in Pancà are so nice!  Even though they don`t have as much to give, they have been so generous with us, inviting us to their houses to eat, and to share the Christmas Spirit with them.  Another cool thing was that almost everyone wanted to eat with us today.  I should say first, that the 24, today, is the big day for them to celebrate.  The 25 is just meh, but the huge day is the 24.  But the thing is, that all the missionaries in Momos are in Momos right now, and we are all going to pass the day here.  So unfortunately we couldn`t spend Noche Buena with the people in Pancà, but we will return tomorrow, and we are planning to have a Christmas dinner with a family there, so that should be good!  

     So yeah, we are in Momos right now, but we actually got here yesterday afternoon.  The reason was that the whole Zone got together with the stake choir here, and we went caroling!  It was so fun!  And what made it funner, is that three of the missionaries brought guitars that they have, and they played with us!  Also, another Elder brought a Ukelele, but he didn`t want to play it, so he gave it to me and taught me some chords.  So in about 20 minutes, I picked up the ukelele, learned it, and then was playing it with the others!  It was way fun!  Who would have thought that I would have learned how to play the ukelele on the mission!  I know that I didn`t!  But it was an absolute blast!

     And there you have it!  That has been my week so far!  But we have plans to eat here with members in Momos until tomorrow afternoon!  That`s like four meals in a row with members, which is pretty much heaven for a missionary!  It is going to be a lot of food, that`s for sure!  But I am really looking forward to the packages that you sent me!  I have them here, and I will open them tomorrow!  I am so excited, but the biggest thing is going to be able to talk to you all.  I can`t wait!  Merry Christmas Everyone!  I don`t really have a specific scripture this week, but Luke 2 should be good, for the birth of Jesus Christ.  I love you all, and I hope that you have a great Christmas!  Until Next Time!  (Which really will be tomorrow for you guys!)

     - Elder Stuart

Just Another Week

     Hello Family!  Well, yet another week has come and gone, and we are already at the next week!  It seems like these weeks are going by so fast, I can hardly believe it!  I have already been out on the mission for 5 months!  It does not seem that long, so I have to make the best of it before all my time is up!  Elder Mar and I have been working hard this week, which is nice, because we are both willing to work hard, which makes it really nice!

     This week, we have gone with a lot of people and contacted a lot of people, so we have a lot of new people that we can go with!  However, our main focus has been on our investigators that we have had for a while now.  There is one family that we are really trying to focus on, but the dad, Cruz, always is working, and whenever we try to call him, he says that he is busy, but we can come another time. We went one of those times that he told us we could come, but turns out that he wasn`t there, so that really sucked..  But he seems like he really wants to know more about our church, so I don`t really know what to think about him..  We will keep working hard though!  

 

     Although this week was a little rough with our investigators, we have had a lot of success with our less active members, and the members that are active.  With the less actives, we are really trying to get them to come to church again, so we try to visit everyone at least twice a week with a scripture to help build their faith.  This week felt like we really helped a lot of people know more about the church.  The thing about Pancà is, the members here are really willing to be strong and faithful, but that doesn`t mean that they know a lot.  So we always try to go with them and help them out and answer their questions that they have for us.  So even though that we havent had as much success with our investigators as I had hoped, we still have had a lot of success with members, keeping them stong in the gospel and making sure that they will stay strong their whole lives.

     I have had an amazing discovery this week.  So I was reading in  "Our Seach for Happiness" which is a book by M. Russell Ballard, and he was talking about all the spiritual gifts that we as Latter Day Saints can recieve.  I stopped when I came to the Gift of Tongues, because he talked a lot about the missionaries, and how they have to work hard to recieve this gift.  I stopped and thought to myself that I was experiencing this gift firsthand!  When I was companions with Elder Maldonado, he took most of the conversation, and I only spoke when it was my "turn."  But now, with Elder Mar, I find myself taking the lead in most of our conversations, and when I am done, I look back and realize that I just had a complete conversation in Spanish, without having to think too much about it!  So when I read that, I realized that I was receiving this gift, so I got down on my knees and thanked my Lord for this gift.  It really has helped me be the missionary that I want to be.  I know that I have to keep working, but I am starting to see the blessings of working hard.  That really was such an amazing experience!

     Well, not much else to say.  Christmas is coming soon, and I can`t wait to talk to you all!  That will be the greatest gift that I will get this Christmas, I know it!  Keep having fun and having the holiday spirit!  I love you all, and thank you all for your support!  Two scriptures this week:  3 Nephi 13:33, and D+C 88:40.  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart

     P.S. Apparently the end of the world is this wednesday, so...  Haha just kidding, I`ll talk to you all next week!

Crazy First Week!

     Hello Family!  Well this week has been kind of crazy!  But I´ve got a new kid now!  (That´s what they call it here, the trainers are dads and the trainees are kids.)  His name is Elder Mar, and what do ya know, he´s from Mexico, just like Elder Maldonado.  Looks like I am just bringing all of Mexico to Pancá!  So now officially I am a Senior Companion!  I can´t believe how fast it went!  But we have been working hard so far in Pancá, and it has been pretty good so far!

     So on Tuesday, we all went down to Xela to drop everyone off that had changes, and also all the trainers too.  I had to say goodbye to Elder Maldonado for the last time, which was kind of sad, but that´s how the mission goes I guess.  The trainers had to wait in Xela until about 3 for the new missionaries to arrive, so we went to the distribution center at the temple.  The temple is so beautiful up close, so we took some pictures to kill some time.  Afterwords, we headed to the Mission Home to pick up our kids!  It was kind of nerve wracking to find out who I was going to train, just like when I figured out who was going to train me!  Not that long ago!  So after I figured out that I was going to train Elder Mar, they shared a quick message, and then we went back to momos with all the other missionaries there.  Just so you know, there are now 9 companionships out of 13 in Momos that are involved in training, which shows how many new missionaries are coming in!

     Unforntunately, we didn´t get the chance to return to Pancá until Wednesday, so we stayed the night at the Zone Leader´s house.  Looking at Elder Mar, I saw me 3 months ago, so blown away with what just happened, so I helped him out.  But we finally got back to Pancá, and he was stunned, just like I was.  I felt bad though, because as soon as we got there, he slipped in the dirt, and got dust all over his suit.  Quite the welcome to Pancá I think!  But it has been really good since then.

     We really have gotten a lot done, because with his excitement as a new missionary, it helps me get excited, so we got a lot done.  We really just visited everyone that I know this week, letting him get to know the area.  It has been really good.  Although the one family that I wanted to visit, The Cruz Baten family who are investigators, weren´t home all week, so it was kind of dissapointing. But we talked with him on the telephone, and he said that we could come over on Thursday, so that should be good!

     So yeah, it has been a really good week.  A little different, but I´m getting used to it!  And to top it all off, I got my first packages!!!!!!  All I know is that I have gotten two, a box and an evelope type thing, but is really full.  I haven´t really looked at them yet, but I got them!  So we know that it is somewhat working!  But thank you so much for sending them to me!  And thank you for your support always!  I love you all!  Until Next Time!

     - Elder Stuart