August 27, 2014

Hello friends and family!

I seriously am in shock that its already wednesday again! Ive been gone for a month! Can you believe that? I get my flight plans tomorrow (hopefully) and hopefully I'll hear about my visa soon too. We will be leaving for argentina in a week and a half! I'm legit freaking out! I think my spanish is regressing not progressing! Monday, as a district we decided to speak in spanish all day. My companion wasn't there when we decided it and when she got back and found out she was so mad because she hates speaking spanish so basically I got ignored all day. And I only know like 100 words of spanish so I said the same things over and over again haha It really showed me how much I DONT know! And it freaked me out. But I know that I really wont learn the language until I'm out there anyways so I'm trying really hard not to stress too much about it. 

I have been learning more important things here at the MTC though. This week has been a difficult one but FULL of miracles. My companion told me something the other day that opened my eyes she said "Hermana, you've taught me something while we have been here" she told me that ever since she has been here I've taught her how to see the tender mercies of the lord in her life. It was kind of shocking to me because I realized that there have been so many tender mercies here at the MTC in my own life yet I haven't even been recognizing them until now.

Oh guess what? our investigator is getting baptized!!! He hasn't told us that yet because he is still pretending to be an investigator for us but in real life he is getting baptized in october! he is a really tough investigator! He loves to question EVERYTHING and give us deeeep doctrinal questions that I wouldn't even know how to answer in english! Sometimes I leave our lessons feeling really frustrated because whenever we have a good lesson planned he takes it a whole different direction and I can't understand what the heck he is saying haha but hes great and I realized the other day in one of our lessons that the reason I get frustrated is because I really care about him and want him to have the gospel! It makes me so excited to get to Argentina and find people! I just gotta get this language thing down first! I had to speak in sacrament meeting on sunday and give a talk in spanish! Its crazy here the branch president stands up after the sacrament and calls on 2 people to stand up and talk! so you never know who it is going to be! I am scared because I know in 3 sundays I'll probably be standing up in a church in Argentina doing that same thing! I am sure I've already said this before but sundays are literally my favorite day ever! I love being a sister training leader because I get to be apart of some of the coolest meetings ever! My branch president always talks about not just having meetings, but having MEETINGS! He says that we should never just have meetings, we should have meetings where the spirit is present and everyone is learning and feeling uplifted. Well last night we definitely had a MEETING.
So a little background info....my companion has still been struggling a little here and there but she has been improving. Well monday night when we all got mail, she started reading her emails and just took off outside with the other hermana in our district. I went looking for her and found out that she had just found out her uncle had passed away. it was a rough night. I took her into a room and just let her cry and I was trying everything I could to comfort her. It wasn't working. I said the longest prayer of my life with her and I broke down too. Afterwards she told me alot of things that were really answers to my prayers because I have felt like I'm failing as a missionary and she thanked me for everything and said that I reminded her of her mom and she knows there is a reason why we are together. She said I am the reason she is still here and if it wasn't for me she would have gone home. I broke down crying because I know it wasn't because of me...I had nothing to do with it. I have just been working so hard on trying to follow to spirit to know what to say and how to act with her and of course, the spirit can't lie! It was a real testimony builder to me. Heavenly Father ALWAYS makes up for our weaknesses, because I have felt like I haven't been doing enough, and without his help I would not be able to do this. 

So anyways as she was struggling, I asked her what her favorite scripture was and she said D&C 58:3-5 so I got out my scriptures and read it outloud to her...It talks about how we can't see with our natural eyes the things to come but that after our tribulation comes the blessings. Well for some reason I continued to read vs. 6 and it said "you are being prepared to bear testimony of things to come" WOW! I know that is true. I know that no matter what we are going through and how hard we think it is, our hearts are being prepared to testify of the truth. Some people take trials as God doesn't love them, or he has abandoned them. But the true power comes from when we take that trial and turn it into an opportunity to testify. So yesterday we were teaching another investigator named Emilia. Her sister died when she was younger and its been hard on her ever since. Well something amazing happened in that lesson...Hermana Golder was able to testify of the resurrection and the spirit was really strong and Emilia finally committed to coming to church and to prepare to be baptized. Its really cool when you finally find out what an investigator needs! Anyways after the lesson, Hermana Golder switched to depressed mode and it was kind of scary because I literally felt the spirit leave and she just started to stare off. I took her outside and tried to talk to her and nothing was working. We had to miss another lesson because she just wouldnt talk. I told her she needed to go off on her own and say a prayer....finally she agreed and while she was in a room praying, I got the feeling I needed to ask someone to give her a blessing. So I asked our district leader and he said he would....so after she was done, ALL the elders in my district came into the room and told her they were going to give her a blessing. Ok coolest moment of my entire life! 8 Elders surrounding her with their hands on her head. I have never felt priesthood power quite like that! and the coolest part was that the Elder that gave the blessing didn't know her situation or that her uncle had passed away, but he said in the blessing that angels on the other side of the veil were there with her. I lost it (I cry alot here its becoming normal haha) It was just a neat experience for us as a district and the best part was that the spirit was with her the whole rest of the day! She instantly changed! The priesthood is amazing! Afterwards, I told all the Elders that they have to always live worthy to hold that priesthood power because it is so powerful! 

Last night we had a district meeting after the devotional and its one of those meetings I wont ever forget. We didn't have anyone in the branch presidency there to lead it so we were leading it all on our own. I wish I could even begin to describe what happened in that meeting, but we became closer than ever as a district. I wish every single person could experience a meeting like that! I cant wait to tell President Doman that we had a MEETING! After a meeting like that it was probably the hardest thing Ive ever had to do to not hug all the elders in that room! We are like a family and so its hard not to be able to give hugs! Not because I like them, but because I love them like I would my brothers! Its also really hard not to be able to hug our Branch president! 

Anyways this letter is all over the place because I forgot my paper with everything that has happened this week. But life here at the MTC is great and I love being a missionary! I love the knowledge that I have of this gospel. I love that I am able to grow and learn and become better each and every day! 

Well I'm out of time! 

Love you all! 

-Hermana Stewart