30 August 2016 - Time is Flying By

Lets see.... well another week has come and gone way to fast. This last week was a good one. We had a baptism of a little girl named Valentina... she is 10. Her mom is a member but they left attending church for a time but we found them again and she wanted to be baptized so we began preparing and getting everything ready. And she had a big fear of water but she was able to overcome it and everything went really well for her baptism. And we have another hermano that is preparing to be baptized on Sunday. His name is Cesar Diaz. His wife is a member but has been more or less active for years. Well they have been going to church on and off again. But this last week he finally made the decision to be baptized and put his own baptismal date for Sunday! Yay! Really it is a huge miracle and I am very excited for this family. And we are working really hard to be able to find others that are going to progress and that are going to be ready to be baptized. The work is moving forward.... really it is so special and it goes by way to fast but we are here trying to do everything that we can in the timing of the Lord. Really I love the mission and this time to serve and it is really changing my life and helping me to be a better person. Les amo mucho!!! Hermana Stewart

23 August 2016 - Not My Will but Thine Be Done

Buenas! Well this week was a bit of a long one for us. But it has made me reflect a lot on many things that have happened in my mission. Really sometimes it is so hard but God has a purpose in everything. Saturday was one of the longest days that I have had in my mission. We had investigator that was scheduled to have his baptismal interview on Saturday... Hermano Mynor... but he never showed up and he did not pick up his phone and he was not home... it was a little like he fell off the face of the plant. And he did not come to church on Sunday and we still have not had contact with him. Really we have no idea what happened with him but we feel that right now is not his time to fully be able to accept the Gospel in his life. And on Saturday afternoon we went to visit a family that we have been teaching Erick and Dorcus... I think that I wrote about them last week... well they were not home. So I called Hermano Erick to see what happened and when we could visit them... and well he told me that they had moved the day before and would not be returning to Linda Vista again... So in the space of 1 day we had 3 baptisms fall. And it was really hard... but I learned a really important lesson from this. During that afternoon which was one of the longest afternoons of my mission I reflected a lot and I had one thought over and over again. This is Gods will. He needed us to learn something from that experience. And it made me think a lot about just everything that has happened in my mission... and how really everything is Gods will. And on Sunday in Church the Bishop gave a talk about the will of God. And he used a lot from a article in the Liahona this month... August from Elder Bednar. And really just listening to that I felt completely at peace. Knowing that I had done all that I needed to but that it was God's will that these people were not baptized in that time. Really I know that we just need to submit our will to God's will and do the things that God wants us to do. Like Christ in the Garden of Gethsamne when he suffered for all of our sins he said ´Not my will but thine be done¨ Really that is why we are here.... to do God's will and by doing that we can grow. Really I am thankful for those experiences that I had this week and for the things that I learned that will not only apply to my mission but also to my life. And that the Atonement really is becoming real to me. It has to be personal for us and really in the last week I have come to understand it a lot better and to really feel that I am closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. And on a lighter note we are going to have a baptism this week. Hermana Valentina. She is 10 and her mom is a less active member that is reactivating. She was never baptized because her grandma got sick and so they stopped going to Church. But she is great and she has a HUGE desire to learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and follow them. Yesterday she told us that she wants to be baptized on Thursday so we will be running around a little this week trying to get everything set up and ready especially because we have divisions with the Hermana Leaders today. But it will be really good. I just hope that everything goes really well because she has a huge fear of water and drowning but I know with lots of faith and prayers that everything will go really well... But I hope that you all have a great week! God loves each of you! Les amo mucho!!! Hermana Stewart

16 Aug 2016 - So We Climbed a Volcano

16 August 2016 Ups and Downs

Wow I cannot believe that another week has come and gone. This last week was a really good one. As you can see we hiked a volcano yesterday... Here in Guatemala there are like 37 volcanos and only 3 are active and we climbed up one of the 3 that are active... but do not freak out it was just a part of the way... And it was fun because there is a part that lets out hot air and we could roast marshmallows there. Which was really fun. And today are bodies hurt a little for climbing up a volcano but it was worth it especially to see the beauty that is Guatemala. It really is a very beautiful country that I love with all my heart. And well with the aspect of mission work this week we had a lot of ups and downs. It has been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. This week we really came to realize that some of the Hermanas that were in our area before us were not completely obeident and it has presented some challenges for us... but we have been just trying to find what the Lord wants us to do. And little by little we are seeing progress. Last week I think I wrote y'all about a family Erick and Dorcus... well this last week we have hardly found them and they have so many doubts... more Hermana Dorcus then Hermano Erick but really Satan has been working to make it so that we cannot find them and help them which is just frustrating but that happens sometimes. Also we are teaching a man named Mynor. And he has been a investigator for 5 months but he has changed so much in the last 2 weeks and I have seen a strong desire in him and now he is preparing to be baptized this weekend. And this week as my companion listened to the Spirit we found other new investigators... Hermana Christiansen loves to contact people in the street that are smoking and to tell them to change a cigarette for a sucker. And so she started contacting a man this week... Jose Miguel and it turns out that his grandma and mom are members. So we put a appointment for later that day and we went to visit him and his mom... and his sister who is 10. Well it turns out that him and his sister are not baptized. And on Sunday his mom and sister went to Church. And right now his sister... Valentina is preparing to be baptized at the end of this month... Really it amazes me just how good the Lord is to his children. He loves us so much and he is here to always help us. And we have a great gift in our lives that is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that really helps us to become better. We have an unlimited number of second chances in our lives that help us to grow and come to be better every single day. I love that knowledge that I have... that we can be better and with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ all things are possible. We just need to put all of our faith and confidence in the Lord and we will be able to see miracles... ALWAYS! Les amo mucho!!! Hermana Stewart

9 August 2016 - The Mission Bites

So this week was a super good week for us. It was so so so full of miracles. This last week we were working in a part of our area and in the street there was a man just sitting there with his little girl. And my companion just said I am going to go talk to this man. And so we sat there in the street and taught him a lesson. And then the next day when we went back to visit him we found him in his house with his wife. And we taught them both and they accepted a baptismal date and everything. And on Sunday Hermano Erick and Hermana Dorcus went to church for the first time. I have never found an investigator that went to church the first Sunday... or atleast that I can remember. So really it was a huge miracle. And we have another investigator that we have been teaching Hermano Mynor... right now he has about 5 months of being an investigator but he has never been baptized. Well right now he just got super positive. He went to a baptismal service on Sunday and he really liked it and in the last few days he has had a whole bunch of questions for us. Really it is amazing to see how the Lord prepares people for us. It has really blown my mind. And really in the last few days I have just really been able to feel the love that God has for every single one of his children. It is huge. And in the last few days I have really felt blessed to have the opprotunity to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to help his children feel of his love and to just be able to help them to understand the will of God. Really sometimes I feel helpless in being able to help the people in their live situations but I know that the Lord can help them and he does that little by little through us. And every day we are seeing and experiencing miracles. Really I love my companion. We are completely on the same page and we have the same desires and we have just been working hard to be able to do all the Lord needs us to do. Oh yay... and about the title of this letter... well sometimes there are bites in live... and this week Hermana Stewart had a few of those... on Friday I got bit by ants or like fire ants or something not 1 but 2 times and that hurts.... for awhile it itched a lot but it went away super fast.... but that is just about the luck of Hermana Stewart but really it was a little funny... Hope that you all have a great week. Remember that God lives and loves you and that he always will be there with you to help you do all that you need too. Les amo mucho! Hermana Stewart

9 August 2016 - The Mission Bites

So this week was a super good week for us. It was so so so full of miracles. This last week we were working in a part of our area and in the street there was a man just sitting there with his little girl. And my companion just said I am going to go talk to this man. And so we sat there in the street and taught him a lesson. And then the next day when we went back to visit him we found him in his house with his wife. And we taught them both and they accepted a baptismal date and everything. And on Sunday Hermano Erick and Hermana Dorcus went to church for the first time. I have never found an investigator that went to church the first Sunday... or atleast that I can remember. So really it was a huge miracle. And we have another investigator that we have been teaching Hermano Mynor... right now he has about 5 months of being an investigator but he has never been baptized. Well right now he just got super positive. He went to a baptismal service on Sunday and he really liked it and in the last few days he has had a whole bunch of questions for us. Really it is amazing to see how the Lord prepares people for us. It has really blown my mind. And really in the last few days I have just really been able to feel the love that God has for every single one of his children. It is huge. And in the last few days I have really felt blessed to have the opprotunity to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to help his children feel of his love and to just be able to help them to understand the will of God. Really sometimes I feel helpless in being able to help the people in their live situations but I know that the Lord can help them and he does that little by little through us. And every day we are seeing and experiencing miracles. Really I love my companion. We are completely on the same page and we have the same desires and we have just been working hard to be able to do all the Lord needs us to do. Oh yay... and about the title of this letter... well sometimes there are bites in live... and this week Hermana Stewart had a few of those... on Friday I got bit by ants or like fire ants or something not 1 but 2 times and that hurts.... for awhile it itched a lot but it went away super fast.... but that is just about the luck of Hermana Stewart but really it was a little funny... Hope that you all have a great week. Remember that God lives and loves you and that he always will be there with you to help you do all that you need too. Les amo mucho! Hermana Stewart

3 Aug 2016 - Milagros

This week was a great week. Luis and Olga were married on Saturday and baptized in Sunday. And everything really was perfect. It was amazing to be able to watch them enter the waters of baptism and really the happiness that they had this last weekend. It was a great experience. And now their family is one step closer to being together forever. It was a weekend full of many emotions for the family Samayoa and really they have become a family that will always be dear to my heart. Our ward mission leader had the opprotunity to baptize his daughter and her husband and they were so so so happy. And well I have a new companion... and she is from California. After 11 months I recieved my first northamerican companion. Her name is Hermana Christiansen and she is from California. She has 6 months in the mission right now... which is a little weird because I have so much more time than here in the mission and so I am the more experienced one. But really she is awesome. She has helped me a lot in just 1 day to have lots of faith and hope in our area and what we can do here. It is a small area and so after 3 months it is a little hard but really she is helping me a lot to do the things that we need to and we are going to be able to find lots more people to teach and to help and to baptize. I am going to try and send pictures after but I think that the internet deleted them but atleast I have some printed copíes of the pictures so it does not really freak me out too much... but yeah that is a little update on the life of hermana Stewart here in Linda Vista... Hope that you all have a great week!!!! LES AMO MUCHO! Hermana Stewart