29 December 2015 - Felicidad en la obra del Senor

Hola todos! I hope that you all had a very Merry Christmas. We passed a rather quiet one here in Guatemala... Christmas here is a little different. The big day is actually the 24th. We spent the evening with the Bishop of our ward and his family. We had a big dinner of rice, turkey, bread, and ribs. It was absolutely delicious. And we spent timing just talking and getting to know each other a little better. And then at midnight (We had permission to be with the Bishop from 9 to 1230) everyone here goes out in the streets and sets of fireworks. It was crazy but also kinda fun... and a little scary because lots of these fireworks were being set off by little kids or teenagers... But it was so fun. And so here in Guatemala this is a typical Christmas... they have a big dinner, open presents and then set of a bunch of fireworks and dance and all types of fun things. And it was so cool to be able to experience it. And here in Guatemala the big food of Christmas is TAMALES! And boy are they delicious. Seriosuly they are probably one of my favorite foods that I have eaten in the mission. And I even learned how to make them a little bit. We passed by a members house super quick the 24th and she was making tamales ans so my companion of course was like hey you should teach my comp how to do this. So I learned how to assemble a tamale... it is not super hard but the process of making tamales takes hours. But boy are they sure delicious. But this Christmas was a little different just not getting caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays. To often we focus to much on the presents and not on the true meaning of Christmas... Christ. And so it was so neat to be able to really be in the mission and to just be able to testify of Christ and focus more on him. But yeah that is a little about my Primera Navidad in Guatemala. And how crazy is this. This week I am going to have 4 MONTHS in the mission. Where in the world has that time gone? And the 5th of January we are going to have changes in the mission... which also means that I am going to finish my training??? AHHHH... But it will be interesting to see what happens. We do not know right now if we are going to have a change in our companionship but we think that it is fairly likely because Hermana Wong has 4 months here and I almost have 3... but we will see what happens. Also because of this I am going to write on Wednesday next week. So do not panic when you do not get a letter from me next week on Tuesday... I am fine. And I am going to try and send some pictures later... But not sure if I will be able to or not... But have an awesome week and a very Happy New Year!!! Thank you so much for all of your love and support! Les amo mucho! Hermana Stewart

22 December 2015 - Feliz Navidad!

Hola todos! I do not really have much to say this week but it has been a good one. We are working hard and trying to find those that need the message of this Gospel in their lives. It is truly amazing this time of year to just reflect on the life of our Savior and all that He has done for us. To just think of the sacrifice that He made for us I am astounded. I can not imagine all that He suffered for us so that one day we can return to live with our Heavenly Father. And He was born into the humblest of circumstances. He lived an amazing live and all he did he always thanked the Father and always gave all the glory to our Heavenly Father. And He did it all because He loves us so much. More then we could possibly imagine. And to have the opportunity to be here in Guatemala every single day teaching people of Christ and testifying that He lives and that He loves us has been life changing. In just 4 short months I have come to learn more about Him then I ever though possible and I know that I have so much more to learn and I am so grateful for this opportunity. Remember to think of our Savior during this glorious week of celebrating His birth. Because Christmas is about Him! It is not about all of the presents or the food or all the other things. It is about Him! That is why it is called CHRISTmas. So take a little time during this week to ponder the life of Christ and all that He has done and offer a prayer of gratitude to our Heavenly Father. And have a very Merry Christmas! Les amo mucho! Hermana Stewart

15 December 2015 - Whales and Personal Revelation

Hola todos! Hope you are having an great week and enjoying this Christmas season! This week went by so fast... It is so crazy how fast the time is going by but it is so good. So to explain the subject of this email... So here in the Guatemala Central Mission we have a norm of excellence to contact atleast 35 people a day as a companionship. This means that while we are walking in the streets we just talk to random people about the Gospel and invite them to church and try to get their addresses to have lessons with them. And I have been so bad at this because I have never been someone that talks to péople much. But we were having personal study a few days ago and I was just thinking about this. And to things came to my mind. The first was Moses who when he was called to be a prophet said he was weak and slow of speech and in the scriptures it says that the Lord was angry with Moses. And the other was Jonah and how he did not want to preach repentance to the people of Ninevah and so he ran in the opposite direction and was swallowed by the whale or the big fish. And so now Hermana Wong and I always say during the day no queiro ser comido por un pez y no quiero que Dios esta enjado con mi. And it has seriously helped me so much to improve in this. It is so crazy the effect and the reality of personal revelation. It can truly change our lives. And so yesterday also we bought a whale and named him Pablo... so we now have a little mascot. And it is just so fun. So that is my random little story for the week. And remember to think of Christ during this time of year. Do not get caught up in the commercial side of this holiday. But take the time to reflect on all the things that Christ has done for us. It is truly amazing and astounding to just think of what he sacrificed and suffered for us. And I am so grateful for the opprotunity to be here in the mission and to testify of the reality of the birth of our Savior. He truly suffered for all the things in our lives and He lives. With all of my heart I know that He lives. He watches over and helps us every single day of our lives. And I am so thankful for this knowledge in my life. Remember to take this time to think about this a little these next couple of weeks. Les amo mucho! Tiene una buena semana! Hermana Stewart

8 December 2015 - Una semana loca

Hola todos!!! This week not a lot happened... Thanksgiving was a little different... We actually ended up fasting on Thursday... which was a little different to not eat anything on the day that we normally stuff ourselves full. But it was so good. I love having the opportunity to fast and to receive help from our Heavenly Father... But other than that not much happened this week... We are still working with a lot of our investigators for baptism but many need more of a testimony before their baptisms so we are really working with that. And we were supposed to have a baptism this last Sunday with Yuri but on Friday she went to Coban... which is really far away... and she was supposed to come Saturday but on Saturday we called her and she said that they were not coming back until Sunday night... So it has been hard because all of last week we could not have lessons with her because she would always say no tomorrow is better or she just would not be there... So we are hoping that we can find her today and have lessons with her all of this week to progress toward baptism. Because she has a testimony and she knows it is true but there still seems to be something holding her back. So hopefully will be able to find out what it is that is impiding her and help her. But yeah other then that not much happened... We have been working hard and are going to continue to do so and hopefully we can find some new investigators and bring people back to our Heavenly Father. It has started to get a little colder here which is nice but it is still not cold at all... So yeah that's about all I have to write... I am going to try and send some pictures of things from the last couple of weeks... like our baptisms... Thank you so much for all of your support, love, and prayers!!! Les amo mucho! Hermana Stewart

1 December 2015 - Happy belated Thanksgiving

Hola todos!!! This week not a lot happened... Thanksgiving was a little different... We actually ended up fasting on Thursday... which was a little different to not eat anything on the day that we normally stuff ourselves full. But it was so good. I love having the opprotunity to fast and to recieve help from our Heavenly Father... But other than that not much happened this week... We are still working with a lot of our investigators for baptism but many need more of a testimony before their baptisms so we are really working with that. And we were supposed to have a baptism this last Sunday with Yuri but on Friday she went to Coban... which is really far away... and she was supposed to come Saturday but on Saturday we called her and she said that they were not coming back until Sunday night... So it has been hard because all of last week we could not have lessons with her because she would always say no tomorrow is better or she just would not be there... So we are hoping that we can find her today and have lessons with her all of this week to progress toward baptism. Because she has a testimony and she knows it is true but there still seems to be something holding her back. So hopefully will be able to find out what it is that is impiding her and help her. But yeah other then that not much happened... We have been working hard and are going to continue to do so and hopefully we can find some new investigators and bring people back to our Heavenly Father. It has started to get a little colder here which is nice but it is still not cold at all... So yeah thats about all I have to write... I am going to try and send some pictures of things from the last couple of weeks... like our baptisms... Thank you so much for all of your support, love, and prayers!!! Les amo mucho! Hermana Stewart

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