June 29,2015

The miracles just keep coming

 

Monday-

Tonight we had 2 set appointments that fell through which was a big bummer. We ended up finding one of our references that we had recieved from a member. Turned out it was a 94 year old lady who literally was on her death bed. Her granddaughter had asked one of the members to send us there to pray for her. She couldnt talk and I dont know if she could hear us but we prayed for her at her bedside. It was actually a good experience to remind me of the importance of service. Sometimes we get so caught up with numbers and trying to teach as many lessons as we can, that I forget we are here to serve in other ways too. Afterwards I felt like we should visit a less active who I literally had only met once and could hardly remember where she lived. But when we showed up, she told us that her husband had got in an accident a few days before and had been trying to get ahold of someone to give him a priesthood blessing. Hes in a hospital in the area of our Zone Leaders so I called them up and gave them the address and they were able to go and give him a blessing. I seriously love being on the lords errand!

Tuesday-

Today was an interesting day to say the least! We had our district meeting in the morning and our district leader had asked a reciently returned missionary to do the training and it was interesting because obviously our missions are completely different. He was teaching us all sorts of things that I didnt agree with saying that when we first talk to someone and they have problems like are living with their boyfriend, or if they go to another chuch actively, or dont seem interested we shouldnt waste our time. We should only talk to those who are ready to be baptized right away. WHAT? I think those who needs us the most are those people! So anyways we left the meeting laughing to ourselves a little. We visited veronica after lunch and we asked her how she was feeling about her baptism for saturday. She still acted a little doubtful. I was still so worried that she would fall through again. I literally have been praying all week and will continue to pray until we find out what her doubt is or what is keeping her from being baptized. Shes almost read the whole book of mormon, shes praying, she goes to church. I dont get it! But we will keep fighting until saturday! We went back to our apartment to study and in the middle of our companionship study, one of the other hermanas came to us and said we needed to help her take her companion to the emergency room because she couldnt breathe. We had all been sick and they were throwing up like crazy it was a little scary. So we went outside to try and find a taxi but there werent any and we finally just called an ambulance. Lets just say I hope that I never had an emergency here because the ambulance took like 20 minutes to get to our apartment. Anyways my companion and i walked to the hospital but we couldnt enter with them anyways so we ended up leaving (everything turned out to be ok with her)

we recieved a message from gisela asking if we could meet her in the church because she wanted to talk to us. I was so worried that something bad had happened or she was going to drop us right before her baptism. But she showed up and we found a room to go talk and she was soo nervous. So we started with a prayer and she opened up to us and told us some pretty private things and was just crying. She wants to repent and change. She wants to badly to be baptized this saturday but she only has gone to church 2 times and needs to go this sunday first. But she is so golden! I feel so blessed to know her! I am sooo excited for her to progress in the gospel! Afterwards, there was a bunch of single adults in institute in the church so we went with her to institute and she loved it! And the best part was we got to eat pizza afterwards and she was getting to know all the members. Shes gonna go far in the church I know it!

Wednesday

So in preach my gospel it talks about finding the needs of our investigators. I had been studying it over and over trying to recieve revalation for Veronica. I knew that the most important part was the spirit. So my companion and I tried really hard to have the spirit present in our lesson with veronica today. At the end of the lesson, the thought came to my mind “she doesnt want to have anyone at her baptism thats why she doesnt want to be baptized” I thought it was a really weird thought because she isnt shy and she has friends in the church. But I went with it. so I said “veronica, would you like it if its just us, the elders, and the branch president at your baptism?” after that she completely changed! Something so small! She was embarrassed to have a lot of people at her baptism. So after that she filled out her baptismal form and was happy as can be! I WAS RELIEVED!!! Shes been investigating the church for over 6 months now! And all she needed was that. I am so grateful for the spirit and I know that if we are attentive to the whisperings of the spirit we can know all things.

Thursday-

Today we had divisions. It was the most interesting divisions we have had so far. The sister training leaders came to our area and planned with us (thursday is weekly planning) and then we worked in our area. Which was a miracle because we were able to do double the work! We worked so dang hard in the afternoon! I learned so much from the sister training leader I was working with. We just got down to business and found SO many new investigators and had so many lessons in just a few short hours! It was good to get some advice from her on how I can become better and be a better trainer for my companion.

Friday-

Today we visited Gisela with one of the members. We talked about temples and showed her a video of pictures of temples. She loved it! She wants to go to the temple after shes baptized. It was a really good spiritual lesson. OH HOW I MISS THE TEMPLE! (first thing Im going to do when I get home!) Other than that, today was a really calm day. Not many people let us in. I finished reading Jesus The Christ today! It was my goal to finish it before I got home because Bishop Ashcroft told me I needed to read it. Its only taken me 11 months haha but I cried when I finished it. I really feel like I got to know more about my savior reading that book. I am so grateful for him and his perfect example for me.

Saturday-

This morning veronica had her baptismal interview. We had to walk all the way to her house with the elders and its like 40 minutes away. I was so nervous the whole time that she would back out. I was praying the whole way there. Her interview was an hour long! That scared me! But they came out and she was happy! We planned her baptism at 4 in the afternoon because she didnt want anyone else to be there. She showed up and it was the most spiritual baptism Ive attended! It was just us 6, but it was better that way! I AM SO HAPPY! We worked so hard to get to this point with her and Im just happy that shes happy! I love being a missionary!!! After the baptism, the 2 branches had a food contest activity. And we were the judges! I got to try all the typical food here in argentina! It was amazing!! loved every single thing I ate! I dont know why we dont eat stuff like that in the members houses haha. Oh but guess what? In the middle of the activity, a reciently returned missionary (like literally 4 weeks ago he got home) proposed to his girlfriend! It was super cheesy but she loved it. Us missionaries were dying. Haha Ill have to show you the video when I get home.

Sunday-

Today we had miracles! We had so many investigators in church! We found a new investigator that came to church with his counsin and he was going to be baptized last year but something happened and he never got baptized but now he wants to! So we are going to start working with him. Adrian came to church with us today...hes the super tough investigator. But hes slowly progressing and we are going to baptize him before I leave its my goal. Our church attendance was soo much better than it has been the whole time ive been here! And Veronica got confirmed in church today. It was so interesting to see the power of the priesthood in her blessing because the brother who confirmed her doesnt know her, but everything he said was EXACTLY what she needed! I know that he was speaking the words of a loving Heavenly Father to his daughter. It was a cool experience as a missionary, who knows my investigator really well, see and hear the words that she needed to hear. Tonight we got transfers. Obviously Im staying here with Hermana melo which Im happy about! And guess what? Remember hermana Golder? My MTC companion?! Shes going to live with us!!!! shes going to get here this afternoon. Im so excited! Im excited to start a new transfer! The transfers are just flying by and I cant believe it. I just want time to slow down a little bit! I still have so much to learn!

June 22, 2015

I decided to write things out a little different today. I brought my journal and typed up a few things from it so you can hear things that happened each day. 

Monday-

Today was a great day! (despite the emotional breakdown of my companion but she was able to snap out of it and we got to work! We had a great lesson with our investigator Luis he is so funny! He repeats everything we say and he is super excited for his baptism this Saturday! His only question when we asked him if he had questions was what clothes he should wear to his baptism! He is also already planning a trip to go to the cordaba Temple in February to do baptisms! I love it! Afterwards we went to visit our golden investigator Gisela. Shes 19 and amazing! She is reading the BOM like crazy and keeps all her commitments. We hadn’t visited her for aq week since we were gone so we asked her if she had any questions for us to start off and she pulled out her ficha (I don’t remember what its called in English but its like a form we fill out before someone gets baptized) we had given it to her to look at and she had filled it out! She wants to be baptized so bad! I asked her why she wanted to be baptized and she said because for a long time shes been looking for a church and never found one that she felt was right until she walked into the Church of Jesus Christ. Shes been praying and reading and she knows its true! Hearing that really touched my heart. Her only challenge is she works with her family on Sunday! But she has such a strong desire to go to church so we will be praying that she can stop working on Sunday. We also did our 30 contacts in the street on our way home. Its rough trying to contact 30 people when we are in a hurry to get home or get to an appointment. We usually do 20 a day but we decided to do more this week and its gonna be a challenge with time! But one guy we contacted said “wow youre beautiful!” and my companion quickly stepped back and said “beautiful in the gospel” hahah I love that line im gonna use it from now on!

Tuesday-

Today we ate so much my stomach hurts! People here hardly ever offer us food during lessons but today in every single lesson we either had to eat something or drink mate or pop. It was horrible! But we had some good experiences. We went and visited Veronica with one of the returned missionaries in our branch. She really helped us because Veronica has been struggling to get to her baptismal dates! But little by little she is changing and today by the end of the lesson we were even talking about who is going to  baptize her! So now we just pray that her anxiety doesn’t get in the way and she can put her trust in the lord. My favorite part of the day was drinking Mate with my two favorite old people after our lesson ( luis our future convert and his “girlfriend”) I felt like I was hanging out at a retirement home. We found 2 new investigators today. They are super prepared to accept the gospel. We talked to lots of Catholics today. But that’s nothing new.

Wednesday-

Woke up bright and early this morning to head to our zone conference with president. It was a super good conference except when we had to do role plays and president made us be with him! It was scary but he helped us know what we could work on. After the conference, we had a super yummy lunch and got to watch meet the Mormons in Spanish!!! I loved it! Also it was great because I got a package from my awesome family! I´ll be eating fruit snacks for days! In the conference we learned a lot about following the spirit and how to use our time more wisely and plan better and I learned so much that I never knew! The president made us a promise that if we learn to dominate the principle of setting goals and planning, we can quadruple our work. He also made us a promise that we will never be unemployed! Those are some good promises right?! We put some of the things in practice tonight in our nightly planning and it amazed me how different it was! We didn’t have much time to work tonight, but we did have a cool experience. We were walking out of one of our areas and I saw a lady with 2 little girls walking and decided to talk to them. She was super nice and gave us her direction so that we could pass by another day. We were getting ready to walk away and the little girl said somethingto her mom and the mom says “oh youre Hermana stewart?!” and I asked how she knew because I had forgotten to introduce myself she said her little girl met us one day in a huge group of little kids playing in the streets and ever since she hasn’t stopped talking about Hermana stewart and Hermana hooke. Ah it just touched me that a little girl remembered me! I have no idea how because my name isn’t easy here. But im excited to go back and visit them! I think the mom will have more interest to know more now that she knows who this “Hermana Stewart” is that her daughter wont stop talking about.

Thursday-

Today was the coldest day of my life! Ok that’s a lie but it was pretty cold which not gonna lie, makes it a little harder to get up and get going. But once we were out working it get a little better. Really nothing too exciting happened today. Oh except that the Branch president told us he already wants to be released…he just got called as president 2 months ago! So we hadto counsel him and everything. That’s interesting right? I just cant see our bishop getting counseled by the missionaries haha it’s a little scary how much the members depend of the missionaries here. But that’s why we are here J But everything is all good, we got him excited again and I have faith that with time things will improve. Oh did you guys know that missionaries are also marriage and family counselors? Neither did I. but here I am 22 years old and trying to fix broken families. Its exhausting. But if its teaching me anything its that the gospel is the only answer. And maybe I wont have much to do with helping the families here, but I know that the things I am learning here will help me in the future with my kids and husband. So I try to just stay calm and put things in the lords hands and just learn.

Friday-

This morning Luis had his baptism interview and is all ready to go for tomorrow! We are super excited. We found 2 new investigators but they don’t talk much so that made it a little difficult to teach. I´ll admit that’s one of my weaknesses is teaching people who are shy! In the afternoon we visited Adrian our super difficult investigator. Today he decided to put us to the test and pulled out just about every doubt in the books. But we stayes firm and testified and in the end we invited him to say the prayer. We knelt down with him and he said he didn’t want to do it, but I stayed on my knees with my head bowed and about a minute later he started to say the most sincere prayer and really asked if the things we are teaching him are true. The spirit was finally there. Afterward he basically tod us he put us to a test to see if we would act nervous or doubt what we are teaching but he thanked us for testifying and being strong in our beliefs. Tonight was the birthday of our branch so they had an asado BBQ in the church and ive never eaten so much good meat! My tummy is killing me! But so worth it. And a family that we are reactivating came!

Saturday-

Today was the best day! We had our baptism and everything turned out great! Luis was a little confused when he came out of the water haha but other than that he was super happy. And my companion had her first baptism and shes on cloud nine. Now we have lots of excitement to get to work and find more! I know that there are people that god has prepared for us to find.

Sunday-

Another great day! The spirit was strong in church today which always makes things better even if there aren’t many memenbers. Luis got confirmed todey and we announced the baptism of Veronica for this Saturday! FINALLY! If she doesn’t get baptized this Saturday we have to drop her which will break my heart because I have worked so hard on her! But she was sitting next to me when president announced her baptism and she didn’t say anything so I think that’s a good sign. Gisella also came to church today and I overheard her saying shes excited for her baptism the 4^th of july! So we are praying that we will have baptisms the next 2 Saturdays! So we are sick and it was super tough to get out to work tonight but we said a prayer and asked for strength and we got out and work and found 5 new investigators just in a couple of hours! It was amazing! Even though it was fathers day and everyone was drunk or didn’t want to let us in! yeah for miracles!

June 15, 2015

Hola familia!

Wow so this week was the weirdest week ever! And it flew by! So my companion had to go work on her visa papers Wednesday morning and I went to work with 2 other Hermanas in their area. It was only supposed to be for 1 day….4 days later we finally go to our area! It was insane! So I didn’t even get to work in our area at all this past week. But it was a good little break and I was with my friend Hermana Hererra she’s from Utah and we came here together. So that was a blast to work with her in her area. The only bad part was I had to sleep on the COLD HARD FLOOR! It was terrible….but the worst part was when I woke up and I felt like my lip was huge. So I ran to the bathroom to look in the mirror and sure enough…I had the biggest fat lip in my entire life. A spider had bit my lip in the middle of the night! The worst part was it was my upper lip and so it swole all up into my nose and I couldn’t breathe. Haha ok I know what youre all thinking..I have the worst of luck. And you are right! I just had to laugh. And the other two Hermanas were trying so hard not to laugh but then just lost it and we all just had to laugh together. So you can imagine that day walking in the streets talking to people…I was covering my lip when I was talking. I looked like a duck! Not even joking! We had some really fun memories together us 3 sisters. Everytime that we thought our companions were going to be coming back, we got another call saying something went wrong and they had to stay another night. I wore the same clothes for 3 days! It was terrible haha But we did have a really cool experience one day. We were walking in the streets trying to contact people, and Hermana hererra said that she had literally knocked every door in her area, but we found a street that she didn’t recognize so we started knocking doors and the first door we knocked, a lady answered with her little baby boy and she was so nice! She let us in and when we walked in, I thought I was in a house in the US….she even had a couch! I was in heaven! But she told us she didn’t believe in God which was really weird because she let three representatives of Jesus Christ into her house. But as we got to talking, we found out why she doesn’t believe in God and we were able to touch her heart and by the end we helped her feel the love of God. It was  a really cool experience.  It was interesting because I had been having a really hard time feeling the love of my Savior in my life. I can testify to others that God loves them, but I was struggling to feel that in my life. But in that lesson I felt like Heavenly Father really loved me and it was a quiet witness to me.  So that was our cool experience with the other hermanas. I was able to get a lot of great advice and I was able to help the other hermanas.  As we got to talking during the day, I realized that all missionaries go through the same things and feel the same things! I was shocked at some of the things that they said they have felt or were feeling because Ive been there too or im still experiencing those things. It was really good to just talk and know that someone else is going through the same things! The only bad part was we ended up talking in English for most of the time (which is the first time in my whole mission!) and when we went out to work I was in English mode and started talking in English to the people hahah It was the weirdest thing! So I haven’t forgotten English quite yet!

 So we didn’t have our baptism this week because we weren’t here to teach him! But he is going to be baptized this Saturday! We are really excited! Im excited for my companion to have her first baptism it’s the best feeling in the world and I know its going to give her more excitement for the work! We are setting the goal this week to have 200 street contacts because we have been learning a lot about the importance to talk to everyone and Im really excited because I know that that’s how we are going to find those who are prepared to hear this message! We are struggling to find new investigators and I think its because we have been lacking on talking to everyone. Ive already seen miracles in this concept just today. Its our pday but we have been talking to people in the grocery store and in the streets and we are finding some good people. So that’s my goal for this week! Well sorry I don’t have much to say this week because we really didn’t do much work. But im so ready to get to work this week!! Thanks for the love and emails! I love you all!

Hermana stewart 

 

June 8, 2015

sometimes I feel like the week goes by so fast that I forget what happened. We had a couple of miracles this week. One night we were walking home and running a little late. We were walking behind a lady and I felt a strong impression to talk to her, so we did the awkward walk ahead of the person and trap them haha. When we started talking to her she said she had seen us and wanted to ask us what church we belonged to because she was looking for a church so she could confess her sins and change. We were standing in front of the Universal Church which was kind of ironic (we literally saved her! haha) we took down her address but were super bummed because she lives in the other area. But the other hermanas went to visit her the next day and she told them that she felt the love of Christ for her through my smile. So ther ya go- thats why we all need to smile more! Its important. Shes golden!! We always find goldent investigators...for the elders and other hermanas haha but its ok because we are taking part in helping the children of God find the truth. But we had another miracle. we will be having a baptism this week! his name is Luis. Hes a little grandpa- so stinkin cute! he found the church through his "friend"from the other branch. so he was going to church with her but he wants to be baptized because he wants to get married and she told him he had to be a member first (thats a way to share the gospel haha) but he really wants to do it. hes really excited! The only thing that might impede him to be baptized this saturday is his cronic nosebleeds haha hes going to have surgery today and if everything goes well, he´ll be in white this saturday! 

We are working with some really good investigators right now and im just excited! we are working really hard with Adrian. hes 25 and has TONS of talents but has no direction in his life. He sleeps all the time and isnt working. He struggles to believe why we need Jesus Christ. Hes super tough but we got him reading the book of mormon and praying daily. He finally went to church yesterday! one day we were just super direct with him and said "what are you doing with your life?where do you want to be in 20 years?!" that scared him. he said he didnt want to live that long. so we made him a commitment to write down specific goals and how he was going to do it. The next day I was opening up his BOM to a scripture and saw a piece of paper with his goals writen down! I was shocked. We noticed a big change in him the next day. he accepted to be baptized finally but yesterday he got a call to move south to play soccer. So who knows what will happen to him but I know the gospel at least got in his head! and I think we saved his life and put him on a good track.

We finally raised the church attendance! yesterday was great! our fast was answered! we are trying so hard to work with the spirituality of the branch and with the members. before the members were all sitting way far apart, alone or with friends. Families (the few that we have) dont sit together. this really bothered me. So yesterday my companion and I acted like police. We stood in the door and told the members they had to fill the first benches. Some acted mad, but I dont care. the savior would want us all to sit together and help each other. it really changed sacrament meeting. Theres so much that need to change still but we are improving. During our branch counsel last night, I did a little member training- its kind of sad that we have to train the branch president but it was really good. I talked about the importance of goals and member missionary wor. It got them really excited, because before branch counsel was a disaster because they didnt know how to do it right. Its not that they arent working, its that they dont know how to work. Satans work to slow our missionary efforts is not just manifest in tempting us to break commandments. He also tries to guide us to depend upon the thoughts and ways of man as we share the gospel. It doesnt work to do it in our own way. Thats why everyday I have to humble myself and do the work in the lord´s way and its not easy. But it brings better results. 

I LOVE this work and I wont ever stop doing it!!! I will never take my nametag off, because its imprinted on my heart. 

I love you! 

hermana stewart

 

June 1, 2015

Call yourself on a mission!

IM EXHAUSTED!!! this has been a week of pure hard work. We havent stopped working all week. my mind doesnt even give me a break from the missionary work because when Im sleeping im teaching lessons or talking to people about the gospel haha its exhausting but amazingly rewarding at the same time. I found a scripture this week that made me laugh."Any any man that shall go and preach this gospel and fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in mind, neither in body, limb nor joint and a hair of his head shall not fall to the ground. And they shall not go hungry, neither thirst" What am I doing wrong?! maybe its because it is addressing men and im a sister missionary but im weary in mind, my body hurts all the day long, my hair is falling out like crazy and im hungry ALL THE TIME! haha but I guess thats why i have to continue faithful. 

It was a satisfying week because we reached almost every goal that we set for the week! we worked so hard to find new investigators, set baptismal dates, and commit everyone to come to church. Saturday we literally passed by for everyone, in the night we called every single less active and investigator. We had 8 investigators committed to come to church sunday. We left at 7:30 AM to pass by for everyone. Everyone told us they would come. I was convinced that we would increase the church assistance this week by a long shot. We were so determined. And when we passed by the houses sunday morning no one answered. We only had 3 of the 8 investigators in the church. And the church assistence was the same as it was last week! I was super bummed. Mainly because we worked our tails off! but I had to stay positive because I really dont want my companion to feel discouraged. After church in my personal study I opened up my scriptures to the perfect verse and I read it like this "And if they dont go to church it mattereth not unto thee, though hast been faithful wherefore thy garments shall be made clean."

I really feel like heavenly father is pleased with me this week and im pleased with our work. So I try to not let the numbers get me down . Its a real fight the missionary work. But something that every member needs to know is that even if you dont wear a missionary badge on your shirt, you need to paint one on your heart. you are all missionaries. We are supposed to be doing this together! Im learning that we cant do this without the members. Sharing the gospel doesnt mean you have to have the power to do it, it GIVES you the power. So CALL YOURSELF ON A MISSION! thats my advice for all of you this week! we need help our here in Argentina and im sure that the missionaries there in the US need it as well. 

I love this gospel, and I love the mission. I love what it is doing to me. Its flying by and I just want it to slow down because I still have so much to do! thank you for all the thoughts and prayers. I love you all! 

 hermana stewart 

So this is my friend kevin. and look at his shirt!!! we were eating lunch at their house and all the sudden he turned around and when I saw his shirt I about died! you have to show dr vranes! I have no idea how brigham city chiropractic got all the way to san pedro argentina but I died when I saw this! 

May 25, 2015

Im a mommy!

So I think Im getting a little taste of what its like to be a new mom! It kind of hits you like a ton of bricks how much you dont know huh? I still feel so inadequate for this calling. I lfet tuesday night to go to Salta. I was so nervous! and it didnt help that I was traveling all alone. When I showed up, there was 7 other missionaries who were going to train and I have at least 3 months less than them in the mission! And that made me feel even more incapable. We slept in the hermanas house that night-well I didnt sleep at all! In the morning we went to the mission offices and had a conference with the President which was super good. During the conference he looked right at me and says "some of you are probably wondering what the heck I was thinking when I called you to train" haha but he assured us that he recieves revelation way in advance of who is going to train and who we are going to train. I was relieved when all the new missionaries walked in and they were all Latins because I was soo nervous I would get put with a north american who doesnt speak english) So I was leading the opening hymn and I looked up and made eye contact with one of the hermanas and I knew she was going to be my companion. I had a super strong spiritual impression. So it wasnt a surprise when the president said I would be training Hermana Melo. So she comes and sits down by me and I ask her where shes from...she from BRASIL and speaks PORTUGUESE! haha here I was all worried to have a companion that speaks english and now I have a companion who doesnt speak either spanish or english! haha but im learning portuguese so thats super exciting for me!

Hermana Melo is amazing! I dont doubt for one second that it was revelation to be together. I really feel that I am with her to learn from her more than she is with me to learn from me. Ive learned so much in just the few short days we have been together. Shes a convert of exactly 1 year so she still doesnt know much of the doctrine but wow she has a lot of love and a strong testimony. I am really grateful for this time to be her trainer. But its been a rough stressful few days because I really do have to do everything! I sometimes forget that she doesnt know how everything goes and is still trying to adjust. Im just like go go go and I forget that I have to give her time to get adjusted. So its a good time to learn patience and love. She still cant speak much spanish but luckily spanish and portuguese are similar but she sometimes looks at me when people ask her a question and I have to try and explain it haha.

I really feel like these 3 months are going to be a huge growing opportunity for me. I have been studying alot of how christ gave us the perfect example of leadership and I am going to try and develop those atributes of christ in these 3 months I have with her. Something I promised myself I would not do is speak negatively about our area or members or other missionaries. I want her to think we are in the best area in the mission! And I know if she thinks that way, she will work as if its the best area. I know we will have miracles this transfer. I have already seen a big change in the branch and we are really motivated to talk to everyone and find new investigators. Im just really excited to get to work! But I will need some extra prayers sent my way! I will be sure to have some miracles to tell for the next week! 

love you! 

 

hermana stewart

 

May 18, 2015

Big news!

What a week it has been! Hermana Hooke and I finished off the transfer strong! im super sad that its over! She left this morning for her new area. I am still here in San Pedro. I will be working with a member until wednesday because wednesday Im headed to Salta to pick up my HIJA! thats right, I am going to be training! Im freaking out! I literally didnt sleep last night. Im so nervous. I feel like Im still in my training! buts its interesting because about a week ago I was really feeling like I wasnt progressing anymore and that I had hit the point in the mission where everyday was starting to feel the same. I felt like I had hit a plateu. So I was praying really hard one day to know what I could do to progress again and it came to my mind that I should find my 12 week training booklet and start over again studying it. So I was studying that in my personal study for a week and in a way it helped me prepare for this big responsibility! When I prayed I never expected to recieve this answer! But it will help me get back in focus. I have alot of really good ideas that I think will help us with our area because it is really struggling. So please pray for me because I just want my Hija to enjoy her first few months and now suffer like I did haha. 

So we got to watch the Cordaba temple dedication and it was amazing! I was crying through the whole thing! maybe it makes me more emotional that my little brother is there but it was a once in a lifetime experience! also my mission president sent me a picture of him and his wife with dallin! I was jealous! I wish I could see him! But my president said he is doing good so that makes me happy. Anyways I have to tell you about the crazy adventures we had just to get to the temple dedication. So we couldnt watch it here in San pedro because the screen was broken so we had to travel to Jujuy. Well we have some young recient converts that wanted to go but had no way of getting there and we dont have money to pay for them to go in bus. So we were praying really hard saturday to be able to find a way to get them there. After the prayer I felt impressed to call the Branch presdient. When I called him he said it was a miracle because him and his wife were currently looking to fill up their truck with members to go all together. And by truck I mean sketchy! it was a really old pick up truck with a hard cover. and when they came to pick us up at 6:30 am sunday and opened the back I about died haha. they have benches in the back and we stuffed about 12 of us back there and had an hour ride. it was a blast. super super sketchy but we loved it. And it made me so happy that the youth were able to go and fill the spirit so strongly. I loved the words of the apostles. President uchtdorf left us with a profound promise that everytime a temple is dedicated, satan has less and less power and he promised us that the spirituality of Argentina will now increase and that we will be able to feel of the power of the temple! how cool is that! we are going to see miracles now! it really made me excited to start finding families and helping the less actives set the goal to go to the temple! 

I love this work. its dang hard but I wouldnt want it any other way! Elder Holland said "I had a missionary ask me once if I would give my life for the church. I said, Elder I am giving my life for the church. I know what he meant. What he meant was would you die for the church? well thats the easy part. thats a snap! on some days it looks really appealing. Thats the easy part, to die for it. Well what God needs is people who live for it."

I hope that we can all continue to LIVE for the church. As we become swallowed up in the will of the father, we will all become missionaries. We will witness miracles. That is my testimony. and I know it is true!

 

thank you for all the love and support! have a great week!

hermana stewart 

 

May 18, 2015

What a week it has been! Hermana Hooke and I finished off the transfer strong! im super sad that its over! She left this morning for her new area. I am still here in San Pedro. I will be working with a member until wednesday because wednesday Im headed to Salta to pick up my HIJA! thats right, I am going to be training! Im freaking out! I literally didnt sleep last night. Im so nervous. I feel like Im still in my training! buts its interesting because about a week ago I was really feeling like I wasnt progressing anymore and that I had hit the point in the mission where everyday was starting to feel the same. I felt like I had hit a plateu. So I was praying really hard one day to know what I could do to progress again and it came to my mind that I should find my 12 week training booklet and start over again studying it. So I was studying that in my personal study for a week and in a way it helped me prepare for this big responsibility! When I prayed I never expected to recieve this answer! But it will help me get back in focus. I have alot of really good ideas that I think will help us with our area because it is really struggling. So please pray for me because I just want my Hija to enjoy her first few months and now suffer like I did haha.

So we got to watch the Cordaba temple dedication and it was amazing! I was crying through the whole thing! maybe it makes me more emotional that my little brother is there but it was a once in a lifetime experience! also my mission president sent me a picture of him and his wife with dallin! I was jealous! I wish I could see him! But my president said he is doing good so that makes me happy. Anyways I have to tell you about the crazy adventures we had just to get to the temple dedication. So we couldnt watch it here in San pedro because the screen was broken so we had to travel to Jujuy. Well we have some young recient converts that wanted to go but had no way of getting there and we dont have money to pay for them to go in bus. So we were praying really hard saturday to be able to find a way to get them there. After the prayer I felt impressed to call the Branch presdient. When I called him he said it was a miracle because him and his wife were currently looking to fill up their truck with members to go all together. And by truck I mean sketchy! it was a really old pick up truck with a hard cover. and when they came to pick us up at 6:30 am sunday and opened the back I about died haha. they have benches in the back and we stuffed about 12 of us back there and had an hour ride. it was a blast. super super sketchy but we loved it. And it made me so happy that the youth were able to go and fill the spirit so strongly. I loved the words of the apostles. President uchtdorf left us with a profound promise that everytime a temple is dedicated, satan has less and less power and he promised us that the spirituality of Argentina will now increase and that we will be able to feel of the power of the temple! how cool is that! we are going to see miracles now! it really made me excited to start finding families and helping the less actives set the goal to go to the temple! 

I love this work. its dang hard but I wouldnt want it any other way! Elder Holland said "I had a missionary ask me once if I would give my life for the church. I said, Elder I am giving my life for the church. I know what he meant. What he meant was would you die for the church? well thats the easy part. thats a snap! on some days it looks really appealing. Thats the easy part, to die for it. Well what God needs is people who live for it."

I hope that we can all continue to LIVE for the church. As we become swallowed up in the will of the father, we will all become missionaries. We will witness miracles. That is my testimony. and I know it is true!

thank you for all the love and support! have a great week!

hermana stewart

 

May 11, 2015

So it was just so good to see and talk to you guys yesterday! ah! the best 40 minutes of my life! let me tell you though...it was a huge temptation to keep talking...but Im trying to stay focused and be strictly obedient. Its dang hard when I have such an amazing family half way across the world! but really thank you for everything!

this week was one of the hardest and one of the best. We started off having to drop almost all of our investigators and we were super discouraged for about 2 days. I was struggling for sure. But friday we had a conference and a member of the 70 came and it was amazing! He talked about how we arent here to baptize the world, we are here to gather the house of israel. There are people who straight up dont want to follow the example of jesus christ. he told us we need to look for those who want it. So my companion and I have put that into practice and we have been more in tune to the spirit as we are walking down the streets to find those who are prepared and we have found some! And we are focused on finding future priesthood....so when we are contacting decided we are only going to contact young men or men or complete families. and we have seen miracles from that! 

Our topic of the conference with the 70 was how the atonement has helped us in the missionary field and as I pondered and studied that topic, it really hit me just how much the atonement has helped me. Its why im here. And I rely on it everyday to become a better missionary. I am truly grateful for the eternal sacrifice of our savior jesus christ. I teared up listening to the amazing testimonies of all the missionaries and realized just how amazing the atonement really is. I hope that each of you can ponder more about the atonement this week.

 

Oh real quick I have to tell you about my getting kissed by a drunk guy story. So my companion and I were contacting in a park before we had to go home and there was a old person on crutches chasing after us and when I first looked at him I thought he was a woman. it wasnt until I went to greet him with a kiss and felt his whiskers that I relized it was a man! the best part was my companion did the same thing and we both were freaking out inside trying not to laugh. he was totally drunk. the mission is great! hahaha

 

well have a great week!!!

 

hermana stewart 

 

May 4, 2015

hola familia!

this week flew by so fast that it feels like we didnt have time to work! Tuesday we had interviews with our mission president and it was really so good. Something that has really been bothering me lately is I feel like im 9 months into my mission and I should feel like im becoming better, but I feel like I have more weaknesses and everyday I find more and more things that I need to work on. So I brought that up in our interview and he said that when we first start our missions we dont see our weaknesses, but with time as we are becoming more and more like the savior, we realize just how much we need to work on to become purified through his atonement. and I realized just how true that is. the longer i am out here and the more I am learning, the more I realize just how much work I have to do. Its really a humbling experperience. We have to be humble as missionaries that is for sure. we cant do this hard work alone. But one thing that I know for sure is that my heavenly father is proud of all of his missionaries. He is just so happy that we are working to find and teach his children and bring them back to him. I know he loves me and I know he is proud of me. I have been a little frustrated this week because I feel like this time in my mission I am working soo hard to be more obedient and be the best missionary I can possibly be and we are struggling more than ever to find people to teach and we arent seeing any results. I had to repent because I realized I am working with the wrong intentions because I am expecting baptisms and golden investigators but I have realized that the lord wants us to be patient and have faith. Ive learned how much we really do need to rely on him and I know that when we are doing all we can, he will take care of us. 

So the only really interesting thing that happened this week was that someone broke into the church. We were in the middle of a lesson with a member and someone kept calling the cell phone of the member and when we left she called them back and the other hermanas had called to say that we needed to go to the church right away. when we showed up I was in shock. There was glass everywhere and it was a disaster! they had broken into all the rooms and the offices of the branch presidents and had just destroyed everything they could. they really only did it to cause damage I think because they didnt steal too much. It just broke my heart that someone would do such a thing. I mainly just feel bad because there goes their salvation. so that was a bit of a downer for us this week. but the church will move on! no one can stop this work!

we didnt have much time to work in our area this week because my companion had to go to salta to do some paperwork for her visa so I went to work with another hermana in her area. That was fun. I like working with other missionaries. We got stuck in the mud in the dark and dogs were chasing us. it was hilarious. and then we also had divisions with our sister training leaders and had to travel alot for that. and the sister training leader that I worked with is going home in 2 weeks and is SUPER trunky...I dont care what she says haha so that was interesting.

well This week is going to be a better one! I know that the lord has something in store for us :) 

I love you!! 

hermana stewart 

 

April 27,2015

This week was a blast! despite the many challenges Ive learned to take advantage of every moment because time flies by way too fast! Hermana hooke and I have way too much fun together. She is a really good companion. Although the work is super tough in this new area, I feel blessed to have a good companion who really is teaching me alot.

Its been super cold here at night and we dont have heaters so we literally wear all we have to bed. Its hilarious. Ill have to take a picture of us in our winter coats and wool socks. This sister missionary just got hotter ;) bahaha the cold doesnt seem to have killed the mosquitos though because Im still suffering from swollen leg syndrom haha.

something that im loving about this area is there are a few members who know english pretty well and they like to work with us and they love to practice their english. its hilarious! i forgot how to speak english you guys! Im serious its the most awkward thing ever! I feel like I talk like them when I speak english. its funny though because one member is always with us and when we are walking in the street he will say "shes member" or "hes member" and he tells us all the gossip in english. its great. we just laugh all the time. also this week I saw a shirt that killed me! it was really cute and pink and had glitter and all that jazz and when we got closer it said "ACNE" hahaha they all wear shirts with english words but dont make any sense. My favorite so far is "dont worry, be-yonce" I just love it haha so yeah I´ve hit the point where english is hard so can I just speak spanish when I call home for mothers day?! 

so we had a miracle- our fast was answered! Monday night veronica text us and said she wanted us to come by tuesday night. Shes the one who said she needed time and wanted to be alone. We were so nervous when we got to her house so we said a prayer before we knocked on the door and everything turned out to be ok! She is going through some tough times in her family but she is being prepared to accept the gospel..finally! we left her with an assignment to look up scriptures about love so thursday we passed by again and asked her how it went and she was so excited to share her experience! she felt the spirit for the first time! she had found a scripture that really touched her. She had been reading the book of mormon before but I think this assignement to find her own scriptures really helped her and we invited her to be baptized again and she even chose her own date! she said she wants to be baptized before transfers so we can both be there! so we will keep working with her!

this week I have really truly learning that there is a difference between recieving a testimony of Jesus Christ and becoming converted unto him and his gospel. Ive learned that a testimony is a gift from god and is available to all his children. I came out here with a testimony. But conversion is a permanant change in our very nautre only made possible through the atonement. It is the result of repentance, obedience and diligence. We learn in the scriptures that having a testimony or knowledge is not enough. We have to offer our whole soul unto him. Knowing that jesus is the christ is important and necessary but earnestly coming unto him requires more than just knowing. Conversion requires all of our heart, all our might, all our mind and strength. its an ongoing process and its not easy! Ive learned that testimony is not enough to protect us-its important but not sufficient to provide the strength we need. I was studying about the sons of mosiah this week and how they were truly conveted unto the lord and never fell away. They not only gave up their weapons of war, but burried them deep in the ground. The things that kept them from becoming more like christ. We have to "bury our weapons" The mission has helped me open my eyes to my many weapons of war and I am in a long hard process of conversion. If im not converted, I cant convert others.

I read a quote this week that I love "knowing that the gospel is true is the essence of a testimony. Consistantly being true to the gospel is the essence of conversion. We should know the gospel is true and be true to the gospel."

Ive realized that helping someone gain a testimony isnt enough Im here to help  people have a conversion one where they will never fall away! I know its not easy because Im personally going through the conversion process. But its brought me alot of happiness as I have learned to give up my will for the will of my heavenly father. I hope and pray that we can all become converted unto the lord.

I love you!  

hermana stewart 

 

April 20, 2015

So good news, my elephantitis went away haha. It was a good week, but SO dang fast! Its killing me how fast mondays come by! Oh so best news of my entire mission! nelson got baptized!!! Im so sad I wasnt there for his baptism, but my companion sent me a picture and I cried just looking at it! there is Nothing better than seeing someone you care for so much in white :)

as for my area here in Jujuy, Im starting to get more and more used to things. We had some trials and some blessings this week. We have been working with a woman named veronica and she accepted to be baptized this next saturday...but she wanted to be more sure about her decision. So we decided to fast with her. We promised her if she fasted for 24 hours she would recieve her answer. We started our fast with her, and then yesterday she didnt show up to church. We tried to call her, and she didnt answer. she sent us a text during sacrament meeting saying that she wasnt able to complete her fast, and she wouldnt be coming to church. She said there was problems and she needed time to be alone and make decisions. We dont know what happened. But im guessing its satan working like he always does on my investigators right before their baptisms. Something that is so frustrating to me in the mission is I KNOW how people can find answers to their doubts and questions, how they can find happiness, and yet they dont complete their part! I can testify and promise with all my heart, but if they dont do their part, they wont ever get answers. We struggle alot here with people not completing their commitments. But I think we found our answer through this fast because we were really wondering if veronica was ready for baptism and I guess she wasnt because she doesnt want to know for herself! 

We have alot of challenges here in our area, of the 80 recient converts in the last year, 70 of them are completely inactive. So we have decided we will not baptize unless they are completely ready. We are mainly just trying to keep this area afloat! there are over 600 members in our branch and only 40 come to church. what a challenge! Im learning the importance of a personal testimony, because if you dont have a personal testimony, satan easily has ahold of you and its so easy to fall away. The members mainly dont come because they like to sleep or have to clean the house...seriously those are their excuses. Its really frustrating...especially when I have this burning testimony and I KNOW its true and I know that there are blessings if we are obedient, but they just dont get it. 

But we got a new branch president yesterday and I really think it will be super good for this branch! the old branch president was president for 9 years because there are any married men in our branch. But this new president will be a really good change for the branch! 

So we have this hilarious investigator named Cristina. So my first day here she came up to us in the street and said "when are you going to come to my house?" my companion was like "um...we dont know where you live" haha so anyways we tried to find her house the next day and couldnt. so we didnt really think anything of it. but then a member gave us a reference and it was her! so heavenly father really wanted us to visit her! she is hilarious! she LOVES us! she wears way too much makeup...she paints her eyebrows with mascara haha and wears bright red lipstick and then when she sees us she gives us like a million kisses and tells us how much she loves us haha she invited us to come and eat and she went to church yesterday! she is hilarious! she really needs to use the atonement in her life so she is really ready to change! 

well Im out of time! I love you and hope all is well back at home! 

hermana stewart 

April 13, 2015

 

I have elephantitis!

 

so Im just gonna be honest.... my new area is ROUGH! I am missing Guemes soo much that its hard to focus on the people here. And its been super hot this week and our area is HUGE! I have only served in little towns, and now Im in a city and we are also opening the area of the elders that were here last transfer so we really have 2 areas. Im stressing out trying to learn this area because its so big! But my companion hermana hooke is great and we are working really well together! 

So also I am currently suffering from elephantitis....haha ok I dont know if thats what it is. But the other day something big my hand and it  swole up like a baseball and was hard as a rock and then red lines started to climb up my arm following my veins and I got all worried so I went to the hospital and they gave me injection in a place that I dont want to mention...and it killed! here in argentina they give injections for everything! you have a runny nose? injection! your stomach hurts? injection! haha so finally i was the unfortunate one to get an injection and I wanted to die. but my hand is now normal. Now, I have elephantitis in my legs because something else has been biting me and my legs are HUGE and I cant walk! I think i have an allergy to a bug or mosquito here (like ben) haha so thats just a few of the fun things im experiencing here in San Pedro. also I get woken up at about 4 in the morning every morning to the smell of bread and it KILLS me! its a huge temptation! I hate living above a bakery! 

But there are some good things happening here. We are working with 3 familys. My companion and I decided we are not going to baptize any kids or teenagers without their parents. so we are working really hard to teach entire families because after all the message we have is for the family right?! so our goal is to work with families so that they can go to the temple and be sealed! 

really I dont have a ton to say about this week! im still trying to get used to this new huge area! oh yesterday we were stuck behind a huge parade celebrating the virgen maria! we ended up walking in it because it was the only way to get to our appointment haha that was interesting. My heart breaks when I see people so lost in traditions that they forget their father in heaven. But thats why we are here right? to save everyone from such apostasy! haha

well I love you all! 

hermana stewart 

April 6, 2015

So big news of the week...I got transfered! And im super depressed and I cried the whole way to my new area. I am going to miss Guemes sooo much! I think it was harder for me to leave my last area than it was to leave home! I can only imagine how my last transfer will be! Guemes will always hold a special place in my heart.. I really felt like it was where I began to grow as a missionary. I love the people I left behind...and it makes me really sad to think that I probably wont ever see any of them again. Im learning to take advantage of every second of the mission because it just goes by way too fast! But I feel like I did my very best in Guemes and I think I left the area better than I found it :) and now I have to save up a ton of money because I promised alot of people that I would come back and visit one day.

 I am now in Jujuy (pronounced who-whoee) in Bellgrano with Hermana Hooke. she is from california...we actually came to Argentina together so its weird not having a senior companion. Shes super sweet and Im really excited to get working with her! Im a little nervous though because we live above a bakery! Oh my! Good thing we live on the 3rd floor because I think Im going to gain weight. haha Our apartment is so much nicer than my old own...at least there arent cockroaches! ;) Im in a branch again...but there is at least a church! Theres always alot of work in branches so pray for me! 

So I just wanna talk about our little miracle that we had this past week. So I dont know if I ever mentioned anything about Nelson, but he is a remisero (kind of like a taxi driver) and he came to be one of my good friends. A couple of months ago he drove us to one of our appointments and we obviously talked about the gospel and we gave him an invitation to the church (even though everyone knows that remiseros never have time to go to church) So we would always pass by his work and smile and wave and sometimes we would stop to talk to him. One time we taught him a little about the restoration, but we never really tried to set up an appointment with him because he was always working. Well one day we invited him to come to church...like a casual invitation. and guess what? he showed up! we were in shock! And he loved it! So anyways, he was always passing us in his car and would always offer to drive us so we would have little gospel conversations and he always had a ton of questions. Well one day he called us and just cried and said that he wants to change. He told us how he loves money...he loves to work so he can have all the nicest of things. He has a car, his own house, all the nice clothes, but he just isnt happy. We invited him to conference and he came with his little 2 year old son. He walked in and just started bawling. He said he felt such a relief when he walked in the church. we ended up teaching him afterwards about the plan of salvation and he just loved it!  Well yesterday we invited him to come again to the sunday morning session and he came and afterwards he asked if we could talk again after. He wanted us to say a prayer together because he wants to change and he needs help to do it. So we had one of the most powerful lessons on the atonement of jesus christ I think Ive ever been apart of! we were all crying in the end! He is going to be baptized this saturday...another reason why I am heartbroken to leave Guemes because I wont be there! afterward he gave us both letters that he had written for us. In my letter he said that we are angels to him and that he prays that one day his son can be a missionary like me and that he gets called to utah so that he can find me and thank me for changing the life of his dad. I couldnt help me hold back the tears as I read his letter. It makes all the hard times soo worth it to me! 

Well I have no time to write anything else! but just know that I am doing really well out here and just Loving it! im excited for this new start here in Jujuy! 

Lots and lots of love! 

 

hermana stewart 

p.s. this is nelson in the picture

 

March 30, 2015

 

Have you ever been so happy that you have had to cry? I have. 

 

This week was one of those weeks for me. I have been pondering alot this week about pleasure versus happiness. I have come to find out that we live in a world of counterfeits and imitations falsely labeled happiness. But I have truely found happiness. I am so grateful for this time in my life to be a missionary and to know what happiness is. eternal happiness. I can now see that before my mission I was searching for happiness in what really was just moments of pleasure. So yeah Im just plain HAPPY!!! 

So I´ll start off from the beginning of the week and work up to the HUGE miracle that we had! So we had zone conference with our mission president this week and it was a HUGE spiritual upboost for me! Except I think the president has something against me because he always chooses me to speak! I have had to talk in almost every single conference we have had! I woke up that morning and was super nervous and felt like it was going to be me who had to talk and sure enough it was! The spirit warned me ;) But it was a good opportunity. I think i have to speak everytime because there is alot that I need to learn and the spirit always teaches me when I am in front of everyone speaking. So it was a great conference. We talked alot about working with the members and the spirit was really speaking to me and I knew that we needed to work better with the members here. So I got an idea to do something fun to help the members want to work with the missionaries. So we are doing "member of the month" we made a huge poster and hung it in the church and the members can earn points for things they do for example everytime they give us a reference they earn points or if they go out with us to teach for an hour they win points. At the end of the month we are going to put the picture of the winner in the church. I think it will work! Another thing that the spirit taught me in our conference is the importance of working with goals. One of the elders who is going home this transfer got up to bear his testimony and was crying through the whole thing and he told us that if he could give us advice it would be to set a goal of what we want to achieve. Ive set goals throughout my mission, but after this I decided I needed to be more specific and work with numbers. So I went home and set a goal in my journal of what I want to achieve at the end of my mission. And that goal is now always in the back of my head when its cold or hot or Im tired or we are being rejected. I really can feel it helping me be a better missionary and its helped me work even harder. 

So that brings me to the title of my email...how your mission is, so will be your life. I realized this week that the mission really is like the MTC for my life. I am learning so many things....how to be a better member of the church, how to share my beliefs, the importance of obedience, the importance of not judging others, hard work, setting goals and working hard to achieve them, love for my savior...I could go on and on. So if my life is going to be like my mission im in for a real treat because I LOVE my mission! 

Alright so now I will get to the miracle of the week! and It was nothing short of a pure miracle. So Roberto, our investigator that is 14 didnt have permission to be baptized. We had no idea how we were going to do it, but hermana jara and I planned his baptism before we even had permission or asked him if he was ready. We just felt like we needed to put the goal to have a baptism saturday. So prayed all week. We  went to his house one day and finally found his mom there! we asked if we could talk to her and with lots of prayer and scriptures she finally said that if he really wanted to be baptized then it was his decision! we were so excited! so the next day we went to visit him, and he seemed different and said that he didnt really know if he wanted to be baptized right now because he was on a soccer team that plays soccer on sundays. We left not knowing what to say because we finally had permission but he didnt want to. So we prayed and decided to call the young mens president. We asked him to go visit Roberto thursday night and help him out. So we showed up right after the ym president left thursday night and roberto walks in and the first thing he says is "hermanas I have good news and bad news what do you want to hear first?" So he says "the bad news if Im going to quit soccer, the good news is Im going to be baptized THIS saturday! I want to be a teacher" he says with a HUGE smile on his face "I want to pass the sacrament" We were so happy we literally screamed! It was the best moment of my life! So we didnt have alot of time to plan his baptism and we had to have his interview friday night. We still didnt have his form signed by his mom so that was a huge struggle but she finally signed it. Well the day of his baptism comes and I am nervous as can be because it seems that satan likes to work harder the day of baptisms. Well roberto showed up and we thought that was the biggest of our worries. But no. Right before the baptism, his mom sends us a text and says that she doesnt want him to be baptized until his grandpa comes back so that he can do the baptism. We didnt know what to do. We were scared that if she said he had to wait he would get discouraged and not want to do it again. And he was already in his baptismal clothes! Then she calls and is super mad and wanted to talk to the bishop. So we give the phone to the bishop, and I grabbed hermana jara by the arm and said "we have to pray!!" so we went to find a room in the church and we knelt down and prayed our HEARTS out! I have never prayed with so much faith in my life! Well in the end, we had the baptism, even though I think his mom isnt too happy. But everything worked out and he was confirmed the next day! And he recieved the priesthood yesterday! it was a great day! I know that our prayers were truly answered! 

Anyways that was just one of the miracles we had this week! I am so sad that my time here in guemes is coming to an end! I never want to leave! But I think i will be getting transfered next monday! we will see! 

Well I love you! thanks for the love and support! 

hermana stewart 

March 23, 2015

Learn what the lord expects of you...

This week was another fast one! but the weeks just keep getting better and better in the mission and Im learning more and more every single day! I am learning what the lord expects of me, Hermana Stewart. I have made a plan to do it, and I am acting on my plan with diligence. The lord really expects alot from his missionaries, and sometimes I really feel like I fall short of my potential as one of his missionaries.  Its one of the hardest things I have had to face here out on my mission...all of my many weaknesses. I have truly had to learn to overcome the natural woman and give myself up to the Lord. Everyday I learn more and more of who he wants me to come through the small experiences he gives me. He is truly molding me into the woman he needs and wants me to be. Im being put through one hot refiners fire ;) But I pray every single day that I can become that person that he needs me to be.

 This week I can really see the Lords hand in our missionary work. The spirit was there every single day guiding us to where we needed to be when we needed to be there. I can see how God works mighty miracles through small and simple things. For example, one of our investigators really wasnt progressing and at the end of the lesson, I felt the need to ask her if she knew of someone who could benefit from our message of the restored gospel, and at first she said no. But I asked her again, and she ended up giving us 4 references! Its interesting how we find the golden investigators through those who arent quite ready to hear and accept the gospel. After the lesson, we decided to contact the references, and one of them turned out to be really interesting. First of all, he came out with a shirt with a really grusome picture of christ. It was super disturbing. Well he was super friendly but we couldnt enter his house because there wasnt a woman in the house, so we set an appointment to go back the following day. So the next day we show up and he had invited his daughter to visit with us as well. We were all excited and we sang a hymn and then I asked if we could start with a prayer and thats where it all went downhill. He said "I will say the prayer because WOMAN shouldnt pray" umm.....ok? haha so he stands up and slams his hands down on the table and starts to pray. Then afterwards, we asked him if he had read the pamphlet we had left and he said he had and believed everything it said up until the part about Joseph Smith. Then him and his daughter started attacking us like crazy and saying that it was nothing but a fictional story and that anyone could say they have seen Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. It literally broke my heart. But the worse part was I bore my testimony to them of the things I know to be true and then said that there is a way from them to know for themselves if these things are true and I handed them the book of mormon and explained it to them. And they said they didnt want to read it! They didnt even want to know for themselves if what we are teaching is true. It broke my heart and we left that appointment a little frustrated, but as always the lord finds ways to strengthen my testimony. If I dont go home with a sure testimony of the restoration and Joseph smith and the book of mormon, I did something wrong ;) 

So we were guided by the spirit this week to find new investigators of gold! We first found a woman named Dora, her son who is 16 is a member and when we contacted her she started to cry and said that she has been wanted to talk to the missionaries for a long time but didnt know how to find us. She accepted to be baptized the first lesson. Shes great! We were also guided to find a family of 10!!!! One day we recieved a reference without an address so we were walking around trying to find this person and we were about to just give up and count it as contacted, but we both felt like we should walk a little bit more to ask a lady that was outside her house. It didnt turn out to be out reference, but this lady let us in to teach her and her 9 kids! Her husband is currently in prison for false charges and her family is going through a really hard time...so obviously she is in need of our message! She also accepted to be baptized in that lesson! we are going to baptize a whole family! well...my companion will because I probably will be transfered in 2 weeks! 

This weekend we had a real trial of our faith because it was Stake conference in Salta, which is an hour away. And to have investigators who have money and make the sacrifice to go to salta was a huge challenge! Fabiana, our amazing investigator, could have been baptized this week, but wasnt able to make it to stake conference which means we have to wait one more sunday before she can get baptized. So we are praying our hearts out that she comes this week so that she can be baptized our last saturday of this transfer. Speaking of stake conference, it was amazing! We were able to go to Salta saturday night for the adult session and there was one of the 70 there and it was great! its amazing to see how the church is the same even in Argentina. And to see so many faithful members. I just loved it! We ended up staying the night with the hermanas in salta and then sunday morning went to stake conference. We only had 1 investigator that showed up, but that was a pure miracle in and of itself! The spirit was really strong, and we got to listen to our mission president and his wife speak thats always a treat as missionaries! 

Lets see...other little tender miracles. One day we felt like we should go visit Roberto, our other investigator that is soo ready to be baptized but we are waiting for permission from his mom. We showed up and he was super quite and not normal. I asked him what happened and he didnt want to say anything. Then he asked us what will happen after this life, and we asked him why and said that his friend had died that morning. We were able to use that experience to testify of the plan of salvation. It turned out to be a really spiritual lesson. We also had another experience that same day when we were tired and exhausted and it was time to head back home, but we felt like we needed to stop by the relief society presidents house. So we show up and shes outside by herself. She said that everything was going wrong with her family and she had left to go outside and pray and then she opened her eyes and we showed up! talk about an answer to her prayers. I love being the lords instrument! We were able to sing a hymn and share a chapter in the Book of mormon that was exactly what she needed. I love that sometimes we get to see and know that we are answering prayers. And I know that there are times when we cant see, but it is happening. 

I like to think of my missionary work as an apple cut in half. We can count how many seeds there are in the apple, but we will never know how many apples come from the seeds! 

I just love being a missionary! its amazing! I have never been so happy in my life! I never want it to end! I feel so blessed to be able to witness miracles every day and be apart of this great work! 

I am also super proud that I made it through my first 10 month summer! thats right its been a straight 10 months of summer for me! but it is FINALLY fall here! and its absolutely gorgeous here....yesterday it finally got cold! to the point where we had to put on all our winter stuff! I am a happy missionary! no more sweating! Hermana Jara and I are just living it up together! I love being her companion! we have soo much fun together and now to mention, we cook up a storm! This week we made banana bread for the relief society activity and everyone loved it! We get along so well. The other hermanas that we live with dont get along at all, they are constantly fighting, so I feel super blessed to be with Hermana Jara. We are tearing it up out here! Yesterday we gave our numbers to our District leader and he told us we are learning the zone in lessons taught! That made us feel pretty happy! Diligence really pays off I am learning. If we really want to reach our goals, we just have to be obedient and pray for the strength of the Lord to help us get there! 

 

well I have to go, I love you all!

hermana stewart