Oct. 27, 2014

This week we hit a record with 39 people in church! Whoohoo! It’s pretty exciting for me. This week I have been seeing a great change in the members. The branch went to the temple this weekend and came back on a spiritual high, like little teenagers do after EFY. During the sacrament meeting there was time set apart so that those who went could bear their testimony of their experience. The spirit was strong as the members testified of temple work and of the truth of this gospel. Just hearing them, and seeing them so happy I could see a glimpse of how God saw them, as his spirit children. He truly loves us and knows every one of our needs.

This week I overcame much temptation. We walked into the house of a less active and they were watching Hunger games 2. I want to see it so bad! SO BAD! And it was right at my fingertips, I could have just watched it then and there. But I did just what Joseph in Egypt did when Potiphar’s wife was hitting all over him. Quote ¨and he got him out¨ (gen 39:12)

I got me out of there.

It is so important to be obedient. Even to the little things. The Lord only sends his prepared children to his prepared servants. And as servants of the Lord if we are not obeying his rules or commands, we will not be prepared when he needs us.

I love the example of Nephi in chapter 17 of the book of Mormon.

After 8 years of traveling through the wilderness, eating raw meat and passing through lots of afflictions Nephi and his family finally reached the land called bountiful. I would imagine that he would have wanted to rest a little bit (maybe kick back and watch a really cool movie like hunger games 2) but he didn’t. After a couple days the Lord told him to climb mountain and pray. (vs7) now even though I’m sure his legs were pretty tired from walking practically 8 years straight he didn’t even complain, he just got up, and did it.  On the other hand he probably had really really muscular legs as well, but that is beside the point.

THEN, when he was on top of the mountain…

¨ The Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.¨ (vs. 8)

 Build a ship? That’s tough. But extremely buff and obedient Nephi is not fazed at all…

9 And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?

10 And it came to pass that the Lord told me whither I should go to find ore, that I might make tools.

Obedience with the right attitude is the key to success.

I want to try to develop an attitude more like Nephi, and be obedient (and muscular) like him.

I do not want to leave Yungay without knowing that I did all I could in my time here. I don’t want to go without fulfilling my purpose. I mean the Lord sent me specifically here for a reason so I have to be obedient to complete it.

This week we watched the Restoration movie 2 times to our investigators. I practically know that 20 min movie by heart.

¨José ayuda me!, me hundí…me caí…ect.¨

But I don’t care, I still love it. I am so convinced that this church has been restored through the prophet Joseph Smith. That 14 year old boy not only restored the plain and precious truths that had been lost after the fall of the gospel of Christ, but he is also a symbol, representing  every person who is truly seeking the answer to the question, What church is true, and the way to find out.

Revelation is real. It happens. And it can happen to YOU, with a prayer of faith (Santiago 1:5) (That would be James in English)

This week I bought a laser pointer, one of those green ones which are practically illegal in the states to buy without a permit. We used it for a family home evening with a family to teach them repentance. One person in the family had the laser pointed in a random direction. Their goal was to get the laser point onto a target that was in the complete opposite side of a large field using mirrors. With a lot of concentration and team work the family managed to use all 4 mirrors to change the direction of the laser beam to reach the desired point. Our lives are very similar. We want to get to a certain target (which would be eternal life, happiness, and eternal families. ECT) however, sometimes because of our actions we are facing a different direction. THAT IS WHAT IS SO GREAT ABOUT CHRIST. Through repentance (which are the mirrors) and with the help of our family we can reach our end goal together.

Families are eternal.

 Awwww!

 I love you family.

1Nephi 17:3

 3. And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness[mission field].

                                          We ate s'mores in district class!

 We also did a service cutting grass with a machete scythe (that thing that the Grimm reaper has.)

October 21, 2014

Happy birthday Chris! I love you and will see you in Hawaii soon! (Mom help me make that wish come true…)

 And to all those that I have not said happy birthday to in this blog I am sincerely sorry. And I love you as well. This whole mission thing seems to be talking up every single moment and spare thought in my mind. I can’t even think about anything else. Just Gods work... The rest is a blurr. But I think that’s the way it’s supposed to be for these 2 years I think.

In D&C 4 it says,

 1 Now behold, a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.

2 Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.

So I am trying to serve with everything I got, and at the end of the day, when  I have 0 energy left, I just smile and feel great because it means I’m doing what I am supposed to do and giving what I’m supposed to give to the Lord and to others.

 And just to let you all know I am doing so good with my goals. I have post it notes all over my wall! Be proud of me.

Now for step 2. “Read and follow through with all the things you put on the post it notes”

I should put that step on a post it note as well.

Oh and I have started a dream journal. I have the most bizarre dreams in the world, but they might be worth something someday.

I think one of the abilities that I have developed here in Yungay is planning and creating activities for the branch and for the public. When you are in a small town with a branch with about 25 active members it is of the up most importance to have grand activities that are fun and (most importantly) uplifting for all ages and all people regardless if you are a member of the church of a visitor. This week we had a great Family home evening in the church on listening and following the subtle promptings of the Holy Spirit. Personally I feel that this principle is one of the most important if we want to live our lives under the protecting hand and guidance of our Savior.

 Henry B Eyring spoke about precisely this topic in his conference address this month.  He said that human judgment and logical thinking will not get us through this world that is in turmoil. If we are looking for answers to the questions most important in this life the only direction that we should be facing is to the Lord.

That is what is so great about our message of the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our gospel is centered on the principle that God not only exists and hears our prayers but that he speaks back, that we can receive personal revelation from him and have his guidance through the Holy Spirit.

That is why God restored his gospel through Prophets. He can receive revelation for the whole world, bishops receive revelation for their congregation and parents can receive revelation for their children.

This guide helps us get through the ups and downs of life. For the family home evening that we had we blind folded a person and sent them through a maze that we created using chairs, ropes and barriers. The way was very narrow, and with one wrong step this person would bump into a chair, knock something over, or just be trapped at a dead end. On top of all of this, we had all the other people shout directions, trying to stop the person for reaching the end goal of the maze.

This person, a young girl kept knocking into the walls of the maze, listening to the conflicting voices, following them... and then tripping yet again….continuously wobbling her way through, amidst the maze of chairs. With just one step away from the exit, the jeering crowd got louder and louder causing her to give up. Ripping off the scarf over her eyes in frustration, she then realized how close she was to the end.

Our life sometimes feels just like that. Frustrated we sometimes listen to the jeering voices of others telling us how to act how to live, what to say and what to do. But if we pause and learn to recognize the spirit it can guide us and help us say, do and be who God what’s us to be.

We then blindfolded another person and set them through the some maze, but this time amidst the jeerers, there was one assigned to be the voice of the spirit. And when the person blindfolded shut out the outside noise and focused on the guiding voice, he was able to make it through without problems.

Listen to the spirit. It can be your constant guide if you allow it to be.

Through prayer and daily scripture study we can learn to tone out the crap of the world and tone in to the peace of the Lord.

It’s true. I’ve felt it.

If any of you get the chance re read that talk by Eyring it’s awesome.

I love you family and all those who ACTUALLY read through this whole letter. Your guys are the best!

That it. The end

Oct 13, 2014

As winter turns to spring the weather is changing from ice cold wind and rain to warm sun and light breeze. There are flowers everywhere and greenery exploding from the ground. Now that primary song makes sense... There is so much popcorn popping on the trees I can’t even handle it. But with the change of climate comes change of body temperature and sickness spreads like the zombie virus. But if it actually was the zombie virus I would so be infected because this week I was taken ill. Everyone said that it was spring time allergies but seeing as I don’t believe in that, I was just sick with a nasty cold and extreme head ache. But that aint gonna stop me!

I have learned that whenever you are tired or physically sick, its best to turn your thoughts away from yourself and direct them with love towards God and others… then light will enter in and give you the strength to move on. Plus no one likes a cry baby.

 My good ole companion is a great example of that. He was such a great mom this week making me breakfast helping me get better. And to thank this great act of kindness I got him sick! And then played the role of his mom helping him recover... it was a cruel trade off, but that’s life.

This week we had a service project in the house of a member where we gathered all of the trash, fallen trees and shrubs in her back yard to burn. It reminded me of when we used to have bonfires in our back yard. Good times in the Stewart household!

This week as I was pondering life and all that jazz, I was thinking about the secret to success. I am now very convinced that the secret is through making and setting goals. Daily goals, weekly goals, monthly goals and yearly goals are very important if we want to take advantage of the time that we have in this life. A day without a goal is a day wasted.

Some thoughts, ideas and goals I have set are as follows,

-I want to be better at making and setting goals

-I want to go to bed every night knowing that there was nothing more I could have done to serve God or others.

-I want to pray to God as if he was right in front of me. That requires preparation and mental determination; I mean God is the most important person ever so we should prepare to talk to him as if it were so

-write in my journal every other day (I tried every day but I am just not at that point yet.)

-practice music every other day (practice reading music and playing my ukulele)

-be exactly obedient... yeah it’s possible

-make a quote book! Because there are just too many one liners that I am going to forget

- buy and use post it notes (I want to be that type of person that puts post it notes on every possible open surface or free space.. what will I put on these notes, I don’t know yet but it’s a work in progress)

My goals are great right? I have a lot of others but you get the idea.

Goals reflect the desires of our hearts and if we actually follow through with our goals that is when our hopes turn into reality.

Anyway General conference was amazing right.

I loved what Elder Holland, one of the 12 apostles said in his talk about service and helping those who are in need. Everyone sees and recognizes those who are in need, but those that do all they can to help are those that the Lord smiles upon. We might not be able to do much, it might just be a drop in the ocean. But as Holland quoted mother Teresa, “If we don’t do it, there would be one less drop in the ocean now wouldn’t there.”

We all beg to the same God, we are all loved by the same Heavenly Father. We should all help each other get back to him together.

Love you!

I found a London pub! Shout out to my elder in England Elder BOS!

I made a hamburger! 

And nature! It’s all around!

October 6, 2014

Well it is that time again…Transfers.

But no need to fret because I am going to stay in Yungay for another 6 weeks.

It is a little strange to be in a sector for so long, usually it is not like that but If God still wants me to be here working I will do it. Besides its awesome here. Even though I do feel detached from the whole outside world it’s great.

Actually all of the missionaries here stayed the same. I am still with Elder Judkins and Elder Watson and morel are still working with us. Whoohoo!

Wasn’t conference just great!?

I don’t know if it has always has been this amazing or not but if so I don’t know what I was thinking before the mission.

Just think about it. We have the chance to hear the words of Prophets and apostles today. I’m sure if Moses was here and said that he wanted to address the whole world everyone would listen with anticipation. Well it’s pretty much the same thing. I am so glad that I have the knowledge that there is a prophet of God today and that he guides this Church under the direct council of our savior Jesus Christ.

I have learned so much this week and I will share with you all of the juicy details next week. Because I’m busy.

I love you

September 29, 2014

Dear family and friends,

This week we had interviews with the president! He drove out all the way to Yungay to see how we are doing and to give us cookies. He’s great I love that man.

We had plans this week to have a picnic, soccer game and fireside at this park by the river, but it rained. A lot.

… So there’s always next week!

 But to save the activity from being utterly destroyed we decided to have the activity in the church and have a movie and game night. It turned out pretty well and a lot of our less active members that came and had a blast.

We still wanted s’mores however, so we fired up the grill outside of the church on the back patio and taught these Chileans some delicious American treats. SUCESS.

This week we taught a guy named Oscar, He is an actor on a comedy show called morandé con compañia and he is so hilarious and progressing so well in the gospel.

This week he shared his testimony with us about the power of prayer. That in these short 2 weeks of knowing him he has grown in his relationship with God to a more personal and sacred level...

We were walking in the street one day and bumped into him and he told us in a shocked voice... “Guys, I read what you told me to read and I did what you told me to do, and you know what? Prayer works!” Yeah it does Oscar! You rock

It’s so great to see a change in people. You can see a change of heart in their eyes, practically their whole countenance changes. That’s the light of Christ. And it’s bright. And awesome.

It is the same change that King Benjamin saw in the eyes of his people after he gave his great speech in Mosiah chapter 4.

 1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon them.

 2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men.

 3 And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come, according to the words which king Benjamin had spoken unto them.

It’s even the same light that king Lamoni felt when he heard the words of Ammon in Alma chapter 19...

6 Now, this was what Ammon desired, for he knew that king Lamoni was under the power of God; he knew that the dark veil of unbelief was being cast away from his mind, and the light which did light up his mind, which was the light of the glory of God, which was a marvelous light of his goodness—yea, this light had infused such joy into his soul, the cloud of darkness having been dispelled, and that the light of everlasting life was lit up in his soul, yea, he knew that this had overcome his natural frame, and he was carried away in God—

I want to be carried away in God that would be so cool.

But I know that within all of us is this light and we have the privilege to help others develop it and feel of it.

Matt 5: 14 ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid.

 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Love you all

Here are some pictures! We went to a neighboring city and visited a lake! It was cool!

I drew that picture to help people understand the book of Mormon!