24 November 2015 - VIDA

Hola todos, This last week went by so fast. We have just been oh so busy... Never have enough time in a day. But that is okay because it means we are working hard. This week a couple of things really hit me. Primiarily that Satan is real. He does not want us to be happy and he will do just about anything to keep us from experiencing success in this life. But Heavenly Father is ALWAYS stronger. He knows everything single thing in our lives and he wants to help us with them. He loves us so much... more then we can even imagine. And it is so amazing because we can always rely on Him. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and it can change our lives if we let it. And as we approach this holiday season I have thought a lot about my Savior. And how thankful I am for His sacrifice for me. That He was willing to lay down His life for me in order for me to have the opprotunity to return to live with my Heavenly Father again. This Gospel has truly changed my life and it continues to change my life every single day. And how glorious is the opprotunity that we have to learn more about our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ every single day. This last week I have been reading in the Book of Mormon in 3 Nephi about Christ's visit to the America's. And how glorious that was. That he was able to come and teach this people. And one thing that really hit me was when it talks about how we need to hide up our treasures in heaven. To often we are so focused on having the nicest things or the newest things but really we should be more focused on how we are spiritually. How is our relationship with our Heavenly Father? What can we do in order to improve this relationship every single day? We have the time in this life to prepare to meet God how are we using this time? That is one thing that I have been thinking about a lot because when we die we are not going to have all the things of this world. So how are we preparing ourselves for the eternities? Just a little thought for the day. I hope that everyone has an AMAZING Thanksgiving. We will not be celebrating it here in Guatemala but I will definitely be thinking about all of you. Remember to be thankful for all of the wonderful things that our Heavenly Father has given you. And take the time to kneel down and offer a prayer of thanksgiving to Him. I am so thankful for each of you and your love, support, and prayers. Have a wonderful and save holiday! Les amo mucho!!! Hermana Stewart

17 November - Felicidad y Gozo

This last week was crazy. We literally did not have enough time in the day to do all the things that we wanted to... But it was such a good week. Juan Jose and Kimberly were baptized on Sunday. Truly miracles. They are amazing. For only being 9 years old they know so much and they have such a strong desire to follow our Heavenly Father. It is truly amazing to see. And it was also very unique to see their families. Juan Jose is the grandson of a member and his father is a less active member and his mother is not a member. But he was going to be baptized last year when he was 8 but he had an accident and was unable to be. But his grandma gave a talk during the baptism and she was just so thankful that we had found them and that we had helped to teach him and he has such an amazing desire to follow his Heavenly Father. And Kimberly is the daughter of a less active as well. She was absolutely a miracle. Because we found her in the Church through a member and we started talking to her and she wanted to be baptized. And we got to teach her and literally every single day last week we taught her a lesson and she just absorbed everything so quickly. And her mom said that she would just sit down and start reading her pamphlets and her Book of Mormon after we left to prepare and I just thought that was the cutest little thing. So it was so fun to be able to watch them come into this gospel. And right now we are preparing 5 other people for baptism. We hope that at least 3 of them will be baptized this week but we really do not know. One of them is a 24 year old named Yuri and the missionaries firTst contacted her in January but she has not been progressing a lot but in the last 3 weeks she has been progressing so well. And she is really coming to know that this Gospel is true and she has the desire. But she has been investigating with her boyfriend Carlos and Carlos wants more of an answer before he is baptized. So last week we were all set on Tuesday to have her baptized on Sunday but then the next day we went to visit her and Carlos was there and she was back on the fence. But we are really hoping that she will have this desire and knowledge to be baptized this week. It is truly amazing to see this Gospel change peoples lives for the better. And it is so crazy. But I am loving every minute of it. Some days I struggle a lot but I know that the Lord is on my side. And I have really felt Satan working at me. He knows are weaknesse and he does not want us to be happy. And so when we are happy and when we are experiencing success he attacks us. And I have felt that this week but I am really trying to focus on the work and helping people and especially praying like no other. We have changes this week. What??? I have already been in the field for almost 6 weeks crazy! But we are having them a little early (Friday instead of Wednesday) because of Thanksgiving next week in the states and so it is hard for them to find flights for the missionaries going home. And we do not know for sure yet but we are pretty sure that we are going to have a change in our companionship. This makes me so sad because I love Hermana Wong and I want her to finish training me but we will do whatever the Lord needs. And I really hope that atleast one of us stays here in Petapa because we have so many people that are getting so close to baptism. And we just want to help them! But we shall see what happens. I think that is all for this week.... Hope you all have an amazing week. I will try to send pictures of the baptisms later. Thank you for all of your support prayers and love! Les amo mucho!!!! Hermana Stewart

10 November 2015 - ATONEMENT

So this week has been kinda crazy. We went to the temple last week, had zone conference, and had interviews with Presdiente Markham and then this morning we had zone training. So we have been kinda all over the place. But the leaders in this mission are truly called of God. I have learned so much in the last week about how we need to be better. And especially today about how we really need to just love everyone and have charity. It has been amazing to just watch how this Gospel is changing my life but also the lives of others. And the other thing that really hit me is the power of the Atonement. We will never fully understand the Atonement in this life. But I know without a doubt that Jesus Christ loves us so much. And He will carry us through this life if we let him. We just need to seek and find Him in every single day. And with Him we will be able to do all things. We just need to make the Atonement personal. Each and every day. Just seek Christ in your life and you will find Him. His invitation is Come unto me. In Christ we can find peace and help with all things in this life. That has just really hit me this week. And it is something that I am really trying to work on. We did not have a baptism this last week... Juan Jose (our investigator) drank coffee last week but we are planning to baptism him this Sunday! And on Sunday in church we found another miracle. A member has a granddaughter that comes to church every week and she is 9 and has not been baptized! But she has the desire to be baptized! Her name is Kimberly and we have been working with her and are teaching her so that she can be baptized this Sunday too!!! What a miracle! Seriously we have seen so many the last couple of weeks and we can truly see the hand of the Lord in this work. Every single day. God lives and loves us. He helps us in all things. Just seek to find Him. That is my challenge for the week for each of you. Find Christ and Heavenly Father in your lives. It is amazing to see what they do. I love you all so much! And you are in my thoughts and prayers every day. Thank you so much for your support and prayers! Les amo mucho!!! Hermana Stewart

2 November 2015 - 2 Months

So today makes 2 months in the mission. Crazy! But it has just flown by. I am writing today because we get to go to the temple tomorrow for a zone pday!!! YAY!!! I am super excited... It will be a little different going to a session in Spanish but it should be really good. We have seen lots of miracles the last couple of weeks and we have found lots of new investigators that are going to be so good. We just need to make sure that we go back and have second visits because sometimes we struggle with that in trying to make all of our other goals for the week. But life is good. The fiambre that I wrote about in my big letter was gross and my stomach today is still a little quise and unsettled because of it but just got to continue on in the work. So next year I think that I will do whatever I can to avoid it. Because it was gross. But hey gotta try new things right??? My Spanish continues to improve every day and I am starting to understand a little more. Its difficult to have to pay so much attention to everything that is said every single day all day but thats what you have to do. We are going to have a baptism on Sunday!!! YAY!!! I wrote dad more about it but his name is Juan Jose and he is 9 and he is so excited. It is awesome. So ask dad for more details becuase I do not have a lot more time to write but I wanted to send you a letter. Hope that all is going really well and that you are enjoying the fall. I miss fall... it is still really hot here. So I feel like it is summer but it really is not it is November... kinda weird not being around for all of the holidays and festivites of home around this time of year. But its all good because I am where I need to be right now. Hopefully soon I will be able to more effectively communicate in Spanish and to really be able to teach because right now I feel like I am really inadeuqate and I repeat myself a lot. But it will come over time right? It is hard to though because we have so much going on that I almost never have language study so I can not really learn more through study because we do not have time. Like this week we had district meeting this morning. Tomorrow we are going to the temple, Wednesday we have zone conference and Friday we have interviews with Presidente so I do not get language study on those days and last weekk I only had it 2 times. But I will learn eventually... it is just going to take time and I just need to have patience and trust in the Lord. All things are possible with Him. Just need to remember that. Miss you and love you so so so much! Hermana Stewart

Pequeño milagros

Hola todos! This week has been good... hard but good. I feel super inadequate with the language but I know that it will come over time. I just need to keep working. We have seen some miracles this week. First off the last 2 Mondays we have visited members just out of promptings and being in the area and both times we have found new investigators in their houses! It is so crazy. One is the grandson of a member... his name is Juan Jose and the other is the grandpa of a recent convert and with this man he never comes out when we visit but he did yesterday. And he watched a video about the Restoration with us and he had lots of questions and comments and he commited to a baptism date! We hope that we will have atleast one baptism this week. We have an investigator named Carlos who is so ready and I know that he knows it is true but he is so hesitant to get baptized so hopefully this week it will happen! Just got to have faith and pray right? But yeah it has been so cool to see these things happen and to experience changes in peoples lives... Hopefully we can continue to find success and find lots more people to teach that are ready. This last week it has been hot here.... I feel like I am always sweating and I am so thankful that I am not in the Coast because it is so much warmer there... But apparently we are heading into the cold season here so we shall see. Fun fact about people in Guatemala... lots of people already have their Christmas trees up! And we think that anything before Thanksgiving is early.... but they do not have Thanksgiving here so its a little different. But it cracks me up and Hermana Wong is already singing Christmas hymns all the time so that is funny to me too. This Sunday is day of the dead here in Guatemala so it will be different to see what exactly they do for that holiday and to see if we can find and teach people... The food here is really good but I really can not eat big portions here... most meals consist of tortillas, beans and or rice, some kind of vegetable, and usually meat... mostly chicken because we are not really allowed to eat anything else. So its so funny because every meal I always have to ask for a little but Hermana Wong eats a lot so the members are always worried about me not eating enough but I really can not eat much. My ponderizing scripture for this week is 2 Nephi 25:26. And it reminds me a lot that all things we do should point to Christ and that on the mission we are doing his work and always always talking about Him and we need to center our lives in Him. So that is my focus for the week. Other then that I do not really have much more to say... Thank you for all your prayers and emails! Con amor, Hermana Stewart

EL CAMPO

Hola todos!!!! The last 2 weeks have been a little crazy. It is so hard to believe that I have already been in my first area for a whole week! My area is called Petapas and the people here are amazing. The people of Guatemala are so ready to hear the gospel and its crazy because we will just be street contacting and invite people to church and they always say yes. We have found lots of new investigadors (our mission has a goal of 16 per companionship every week) so that has been awesome and we will see where they all go. Spanish is super hard... I understand most lessons because I thats what we learned in the CCM but I no absolutley zero conversational Spanish so it is really hard to be able to get to know people. Also the people here speak really fast so it is hard to be able to follow since I do not know everything. My trainer aka my mom is Hermana Wong. She is from Costa Rica and she knows a lot of English which is so helpful for me to be able to ask her in English when I do not understand something. Presidente and Hermana Markham (our mission president and his wife) are amazing. I love them so much already and I know that they are called of God. Our mission is a no fear mission which means that we literally do all things to bring people unto Christ... and that includes bus contacting. That is quite the experiences standing up in front of a bus full of people and yelling a message and then going around and talking to them to get address to share messages another day. I understand almost nothing that they say to me so that is really hard but it is good. And I never would have imagined myself doing something like that before the mission. But as President Markham says contacting is a game. So we just have to play the game and talk to all people. Our district only has 4 people in it (2 companionships) and it is super funny because one of them is Elder Maw who was in my district in the CCM. I absolutely love it here. Yesterday it rained all day... and I mean all day... it never stopped so that was interesting... But it was super good. And it makes me so thankful for sun shine. The members here in Petapa are amazing. The ward missionaries or a member go out with us almost every single day and it has been so good to see them so involved in the work. Fun fact about Guatemala... all houses here have tile. So on Saturday we were doing service for a convert who is moving and we helped clean his house and what we did was we threw bleach and cleaner all over the floor and then dumped water everywhere and then swept all the water out of the house. It was super weird but also super fun... The food here is really good but people feed us HUGE portions and it is really hard for me to eat all of it but we have to otherwise people will get offended so that has been an adventure for me... All is going so well right now and I am so happy. I love you all and am so grateful for all of your prayers. I am truly in the work of the Lord and I am so happy. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live and love us more then we can ever imagine. I know that this Gospel is true with all of my heart and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and this Gospel is the way back to our Heavenly Father. I am so thankful for this knowledge in my life and I will be eternally grateful to all of those who have gone before me and done so much because they know that this gospel is true. Heavenly Father lives and loves us and he watches over us in all things. I can absolutely testify of that. Hope you all have an amazing week!!! Les amo mucho!!! Hermana Stewart

19 Oct 2015 Guatemala Guatemala City Central Mission