March 30, 2015

So as I said I am now in Linares!

The farthest zone from anything in the whole mission and my 3rd branch that I will be serving in. (Quillon, then Yungay and now Linares)

It was a hard Monday, saying goodbye to my sector and every one there, that’s the lame part about the mission but...

  Now that I am here in Linares I feel that it was the Lord who made these changes.  I definitely have received a spiritual confirmation that this is where I need to be to end my mission.

I am right now serving with elder Wiese. He is absolutely hilarious. He was one of my Zone leaders when I was in Yungay and now I am going to kill him here in Linares (that means that this is his last 6 weeks before he goes home)

We are working really hard and loving it here in the farmlands of Linares.

Linares is part of a district that makes up three branches, and they are about 4 hours north from Concepcion in bus. I am not even close to the ocean anymore but I do have a closer view of the Andes from our house.

Although it is a branch it is very strong, this week we had branch conference and 225 people attended! That’s a lot of people!

This week we had so many meetings and changes that we had to travel from Concepcion to Linares 2 times in 2 days... I am so sick of riding buses.

Also our sector is a bike sector because its city, farms and forest all in one.

 My bike seat so highly uncomfortable.

I love you all and if you guys have any questions about what I’m doing or what Chile is like just ask... I’m so used to Chile now that I don’t know what’s normal and what not hahaha

IM PRAYING FOR YOU GUYS!

And that McKay gets sent to China haha :)

March 23, 2015

This week the Lord has sprinkled so many miracles on our sector it was awesome.

I know that when we are prepared God sends his prepared children to us.

Remember that Carolina girl that stopped us on the street? Well she is progressing amazingly and is super excited to get baptized 11 of April. We are even preparing a choir for our ward conference next week and she came to our practice and is going to sing with us.

Also another person in the street came up to us and told us that he is a member but is less active and needs our help to come back to church.

This week I also had another mini cambio with elder Vasquez, from Mexico!

I think the highlight of this week was our stake conference.

We got there with our investigator and she sat with some other members in the form and we moved to the back to allow seats for others, and looking through the crowd We got to see so many of the families that we have taught, our converts and less actives all there!

Seeing all off them gave me a very strong spiritual confirmation that I am doing well here, that I am serving and helping others.

The best feeling is to be in the service of others.

Mosiah 2:17

ALSO

Cambios have come upon us and I am leaving to Linares...

Yeah I am very sad because I didn’t see it coming at all...

I know that the Lord wants me there and I am excited to go, but today I have to say goodbye to everyone, that’s the hardest part.

 But my new companion is Elder Weesie!

He is great so we are going to have a blast together.

Days of cambios are always so insane! There never is enough time. So I need to go new.

But I will talk a little more about it next week.

Love you family!

March 17, 2015

This week has been jam packed with miracles and exciting things.

First of all I had a mini cambio this week with Elder Barnes and Elder Evelo.  Yeah we were in a tri-companionship.   Elder Barnes was my district leader when I was in Yungay! So we had a blast to work together again, and Elder evelo has like 2 months in the mission and is still working on his Spanish, so I felt like a trainer again and it was fun!

In their sectors they have been having problems finding new people to teach, so as a tri-companionship we decided to make that the focus of our mini cambio…

We get to working, laughing, talking to everyone and teaching... Always focused on our goal...and by the end of the day we found 2 new families to teach.

I really believe that the attitude and work ethic is everything. If we do our best, God covers the rest.

This week we also contacted a girl named Carolina, well she actually contacted us. We were just walking through the street when she shouts at us, waves us over. She said she was interested in learning English and asked if we offered classes. We said yes. And as we got to talking, she started to tell us that more than learning English she wanted to get closer to God and get to know the church.

This past Sunday she went to church and loved it!

Also…Raul and Jose got baptized! We had the service at the Bella vista river and everything went so well. The spirit was very strong I am 100 sure that everyone felt it. I think that is what I like most about being a missionary, getting to see people change. Not just a change of actions but a change in their hearts, you can literally see it in a person when their heart is changed,

Alma, an ancient prophet in the Book of Mormon talks about this very change. He said...

And according to his faith there was a mighty change wrought in his heart. Behold I say unto you that this is all true.

 …and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.

And now behold, I ask of you…have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

(Alma 5: 12-15)

It is so cool so see this process of a heart changing. God takes raw material and refines it and polishes us to his liking, and he does it through many means, through other people, through life experiences and challenges, and through the Holy Ghost.

As missionaries our job is to help people Find and accept Christ and His gospel. That means we are inviting people to walk an unpopular path. The path of Christ is not an easy or popular one, only those with a changed heart are able to see and follow.

33 And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil.

 34 And behold, many did declare unto the people that they had seen angels and had conversed with them; and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness.

 35 And it came to pass that there were many that did believe in their words; and as many as did believe were baptized; and they became a righteous people, and they did establish a church among them

 36 And thus the work of the Lord did commence among the Lamanites; thus the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them; and we see that his arm is extended to all people who will repent and believe on his name.

(Alma 19:36)

These 2 weeks have not been easy for Raul and Jose, they passed through a lot of problems but now they have felt and now they know where they need to be.

I love you family and friends!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Brown! I love you!

March 12, 2015

I love you mom! Hope that all goes well this week and that you can enjoy your birthday... next year I will be there to celebrate with you (or at least I’ll be in the states so it will be a little bit easier)

This is my first p day in 2 weeks! Because of the leadership ‘conference that we had last Monday we just had time to write the family and go back to our sectors to work.

I definitely needed this day to chill. So we planned a huge zone activity on the beach in Penco with 4 other zones and spent the morning playing beach football and eating Chilean fried sweet bread with cream in the middle (their called berlines)

Heyyy quick shout out to the Hoopes family for finding my blog! You guys are awesome!

Now I know not to say anything bad about him...

Haaha just kidding... He’s the man. We are getting along great and are loving our time here in Tomé.

This week our stake president asked us to help out in a community/church activity called 1000 lights! It was a non-profit organization that is trying to save the fishes and the beaches from pollution. The scouts and the church helped organize a concert to raise awareness! We played out 1000 lights on the beach in white bags and it looked really cool!

 Camera and film students from Utah Valley University were there too, to film and document the whole thing... I told them that when they go back to school... if they see a red headed girl with dreads walking around campus to tell her hi for me..... So Taylor keep a look out.

 Just for the record. We are still doing that insanity program and it is kicking our butts... but we are definitely going to be looking good when we get home.

Last week we actually didn’t have a baptism in a river... but no need to fret because we will be having both this Saturday instead.

Raul, one of our investigators has a bad case of gastriteous and was having some complications this past week and couldn’t follow through, and our other investigator Jose needed a little bit of a review on some of the commandments, but they are so excited and a lot more prepared. we are focusing on them a lot and helping them get through their hard times.... everyone who has ever been baptized or has served a mission knows that the week before a baptism is usually really tough, the adversary try’s his hardest to stop people from taking this very important step.

It reminds me of a quote from Thomas S. Monson when he said "Our greatest opportunities will always be found in times of great difficulty"

(That is so not quoted exactly by the way... he probably says it better than me...)

This week in my studies I have been reflecting deeply about my time on the mission and what I have learned. And from what I feel and what I think, some things that have changed the most in me is my personal conversion to the gospel of Jesus Christ, it definitely is a cliché but my best convert on the mission is myself. I have grown in knowledge and in understanding of my personal purpose here and the reality of God’s hands on the earth. I feel that I have gained a lot in strength and in faith thanks to all of the trials and hard times that I have passed through during the mission.

I heard a quote this week that said "you don’t know how strong you are, until being strong is all you have left"

Through our trials we get to know ourselves and just how strong our faith in Christ is.

Which leads me into what has changed most in me, and that is my deep love and gratitude towards my Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement. This week I am studying the events that took place in the week before his death and resurrection. Studying the atonement, or even talking about it in lessons brings a special spirit into the room, a feeling that testifies what he did for us and why. I love it.

I don’t believe that it matters much what words are said or shared,

What truly counts is the conviction in the hearts of those that are sharing them.

I always try to plan what I want to say in my blog, so that I can inspire, help out and lift up those who read it...  but honestly I don’t  have time to prepare, I’m not too inspiring, and pretty much all the time I make spelling errors....

but if I can, through these words express my testimony and my convictions about what I know to be true well enough to touch the life and heart of at least one person, It will be worth it.

Every soul is great in the eyes of God.

 I love you family and friends!

Here are some pictures

March 3, 2015

Elder Hoopes and I have officially made up our house, and its awesome. We made a ping pong table out of a broken door, we have new shelves, a new curtain, a new shower curtain and a member gave me a papaya:)

We’re living large here in Tome.

The bad news in that we have not had time to even try out our new ping pong table, nor have I even had time to or eat my papaya!!

 We have been so busy.

This Saturday we are planning the baptism of Jose and Raul in a river! After a couple minor complications and problems they are both ready and prepared to take this important step in their lives to follow our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

We had a huge family home evening with them and the bishop and both of their families this week and explained the 5 steps in the gospel of Jesus Christ which are faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the holy spirit AND enduring to the end. We then explained that these simple doctrines help us truly find joy in our lives.

Also I ripped my pants trying to lift up a huge cement tube... it was embarrassing.

We ran to a member’s house and I sat on her couch pant-less and uncomfortable, wrapped in a blanket as she sewed my pants back together. It was funny

This week we also had interviews with the president of the mission. He came down to Tome and we got to talk a little about the zone and our personal progress as missionaries.

He talked a lot to us about obedience and the blessings that come to faithful servants of the Lord

He said that there are 3 steps that we need to all pass through to reach consecration.

·         Recognize it.

·         Do it.

·         Enjoy it.

 We need to recognize the need and gain the desire to follow, then we need to act on that desire, and then find a way to enjoy it.

Simple right. Happiness is through obedience.

This week we taught our zone class about making and setting goals.

We raised a bar 12 inches off the ground and asked a missionary in our zone if he thought he could jump over it.

He said that we could jump a lot higher than that.

So we told him to jump over the bar.

He then, without difficulty skipped over the bar and looked at us and said "see? You happy"

We then asked him, Why did he just jump 12 inches off the ground when he knew that he could jump a lot higher?

He replied "because that's all you asked me to do"

We then taught about raising the bar and not working just to complete rules but working to complete our divine potential that the Lord has for us.

I love you family and I have no more time to write!

Have a good week-

Elder Stewart