Week 38

Hello, Family!!!

How are you all? Happy Easter!!!

Well, this week has just been incredible, hasn´t it? Easter is a week long rememberance here, just like it should be, and I LOVED it. From Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, EVERYONE was interested in talking and hearing about Christ. Super neat. I took the opportunity to read along in Jesus the Christ, following the story of what happened. I had previously read about the Suffering and Death of our Lord, and I followed that with a study on Saturday of Christ´s preaching in the Spirit World, and a study on Sunday of His Glorious Resurrection. My heart and mind were filled with peace and reverence yesterday, as I walked and taught of a Man to whom I felt very close. It´s been a beautiful week. Heavenly Father even gave us a little reminder of what happened with the weather, sending rain and wind that cut out the power on Saturday, and allowing us to arise on Sunday to a crisp, clear Sabbath. This has taken place as my favorite Easter ever.

This morning I continued my study, and learned of Peter, who after the reception of the Holy Ghost, became a changed man. He went from one who cowered when the maid called him out as a friend of Christ´s, to a man who preached with unashamed authority to groups of three and five thousand, and confounded the government officials who imprisioned him with his companion John, telling them that they could not be withheld from preaching of the Christ whom that had seen. The story got me really excited to get out again, and open my mouth, preach of Christ.

Mom, I need a good chocolate chip cookie recipie. The one that the mission has is, um, not very good. :_).

Haha, I´ve got to be honest. This change has been a little bit tough. Elder Gleason and I haven´t seen the baptisms that we´ve expected. But, all credit due to my Heavenly Father, we´ve been blessed to see lives change, and in the end, that´s what really matters.

Elder Gleason came in and brought fire to Santa Rita. His spiritual maturity and excitement to work has helped us to see miracles here. I had huge dreams and visions on what was going to happen with the work here, and we put in the work necessary to bring those dreams and visions to pass. But, God is a God of order, and ordinances like baptism follow that order. Right now we´ve got 6 people who are at the point of being baptized, but cannot, due to differing legal issues. One couple, Amadeu and Sonia, are waiting on a divorce from a previous marriage. The brother and sister of Sonia, Jorge and Miriam, are both under 18, and need written permission from their parent (a parent who lives in another country and visits once a year) to get baptized. And another Couple, Mariela and Diego, are waiting on Diego´s cedula to arrive. They both went to get one 4 months ago, and Mariela´s arrived in 15 days, but Diego´s never got here.

All of them are progressing. All of them are learning. All of them have been changed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Maybe they need more time. Maybe they need more preparation. I don´t know. All I know is that this is God´s work, not mine. Things will come to pass when His will allows it. I´ve found peace and comfort in that.

As for now, we do have one baptism that´s set to go through this Saturday! Reinaldo Monzón will be baptized. We´ve got an awesome Noche de Hogar set up with them, and a member family, tonight.

Speaking of the Familia Monzón, I think we´ll be calling home from their house for mothers day. Haha, I was so worried about the call home in December, and I almost forgot about it this time around. :_). We only have one p day in between now and mothers day, the 8^th, so just email me the time, and we´ll have to accept it! Love you!

Elder Stewart

Week 37

Hello, Family!!!!

This week has been a great one. Wow.

Jorge´s getting baptized!!! No, not you, George, even though you´re going to be home, sitting around the Sunday dinner table, reading this with the family. I still haven´t been able to get my mind wrapped around that one yet. I thought about it, and it seemed so very not real that I simply had to dismiss the thought. In my mind, you´ll still be out on a mission for a while.

But! The other Jorge and or George is getting baptized this week! He´s a sixteen year old kid, the brother of a couple that were going to get married and baptized, se llama Amadeu y Sonia. Amadeu was previously married in Brazil, and that´s going to take a while to work out, but meanwhile, Jorge, Sonia´s brother, is on fire. He´s super faithful about going to church, and I think he comes to more Wednesday night activities than most of the members here!

The next week, the 30th, Mariela and Diego are getting married and baptized. Mariela is a miracle. I can´t remember if you´ve heard about her and her smoking deal. Tell me if I forgot to tell you. Anyways, that´s passed, she´s all of a sudden gone almost two weeks without smoking, and she´s really finding herself in the Gospel. That has been a beautiful change to watch. Her husband is a SUPER humble guy, and just wants to follow the commandments. He was VERY against getting married, until we passed by with Hna. Insaurralde yesterday. Hermana came in and just bore a very sincere, heartfelt testimony of the Law of Chastity, and the blessings that she´s recieved for following it, and being married. At the end of the lesson, Diego said, *Bueno. Si es un mandamiento de Dios, tengo que cumplir*. No fight. No pride. Just a humble submission to a commandment of God. Incredible.

Also, a 13 year old boy named Reinaldo is getting baptized with Mariela and Diego on the 30th. He´s the son of a member inactivo hace mas que 10 a~nos. We´re getting her back to church, and she´s super supportive of her son getting baptized, and it´s just going to be a beautiful thing.

This past Tuesday I got to have an Interview with el Presidente Foster, of the second quorom of the 70. Incredible experience. We had a leadership training meeting in Asunción, where he taught us for a few hours. Afterwards, he had time for interviews, and they invited anyone who wanted an interview to come to President´s office. I didn´t have to be asked twice. It was a short, 4 or 5 minute interview, but one that I´ll never forget. The second I stepped into the room, I knew that I was with a General Authority of God. The spirit was dense. Every outside noise left, and it was just President Foster and I. He gave me some very precious counsel to a question that I had had, wisdom that was written down to never be forgotten. Really neat.

Mother, Thanks a ton for the candy!!! It hasn´t gotten here yet, but you know, the thought is what counts. And the thought is also what makes my mouth water. Starbursts. That´s a faint memory if there ever was one. J. I´ll really enjoy that. Thanks for thinking of me mom.

Did I ever tell you how much I love president%. We were sitting in the Chapel, waiting for the meeting to start with the Leaders, and President walks in. He´s a great President. I really respect him a lot.

Rach, you´re the bomb. I´ve been stoked all week about you being an SBO. You would have served and loved your friends and the school with or without a sweater, I don´t doubt that. Now it´s your responsibility. Really look out for the kids. Really love them. Give em some charity! I love you a lot. More than anything, have fun. If you´re having fun, you´re helping others around you to smile and have fun too. Elder Gleason does that for me. When I´m a little bit stressed about the work, he´ll bust out in a hymn, or just smile real big and tell me something ridiculous to get my mood up. Do it for your Student council buds too.

Ashley and Alex, you two are great. Make sure George takes you to get a milkshake soon. He did it for me. He owes you.

Love you all!

Elder Stewart

Week 36

Hello Family!!!

Elder Gleason and I are coming off of the most productive week in my mission! Santa Rita`s on Fire!!!! Elder Gleason is obedient and faithful, and the Lord has been blessing us greatly for it. We FINALLY got working a lot with the members this week. We passed by a few investigators on Friday night with Hermano Ugarte, and WOW. I`ll tell you what. There`s something special about a Paraguayan bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, to another Paraguayan, in Guaraní. It was one of the most spiritual nights that I`ve experienced in a long time.

Elder Gleason and I have been really excited about getting all of the members ready for a big temple trip that the stake announced will take place the end of May. WOOHOOO!!!!!! The temple is great. The members here still haven`t caught the whole vision of the church. They`re so young, so fresh, so new. Things like General Conference and the Temple, they`re huge for our members. I LOVE BEING IN SANTA RITA!!!!

I guess I never explained the whole adventure here in Santa Rita. Haha, no, no, no. We have no leaders here. Elder Gleason pass by the church on Saturday afternoon to clean it and get it all set up for Sunday. Sunday morning we are there bright and early with as many investigators as possible, to open up the doors and wait for the members. The asistencia at the church the last three weeks have been 13, 21, and 27. We`re increasing!!! We`ve got to keep increasing if we`re going to have a shot at becoming a branch. Right now we`re just a group. We`re not even officially recognized by the church. From our half of Santa Rita, we had 9 non-members and 1 member in church this week. ;_). And we have the VAST majority of the members in our half of the Area. We`re really focusing on the commandment of keeping the Sabbath Day holy this week with our member visits.

No, we don`t choose the member who`s going to be the leader here, but we recommend certain people to the Stake President, and give reports on their activity, etc.

Mother, yes we moved. It`s good. Very, very fun to live with other missionaries, but in all honesty it is a little bit distracting. You don`t get quite as much done at night as you do when you`re just in two. It helps to focus. President Arnold, our Area President, came to our mission, and made that very clear that we should be living separately, and so we`re just happy to do it. If you comply with a rule of an Area 70, it`s like a guarantee of 1000 blessings. And we`ve definitely received the blessings these last two weeks.

Yes! We got a fridge, and an oven, AND an air conditioner. ALL IN THE SAME DAY!!!!! So… don`t worry about my birthday present anymore. It got taken care of pretty well. We actually haven`t had time to get someone to install the air conditioner yet, but I think we might do it today.

Dad, I never told you. A few weeks ago, I was in a tight spot. I had used my money unwisely in the beginning of the month, and I was running short with a good two weeks to go. And guess what?! I LEARNED TO COOK!!!!!! ;_). Yes, one day, as I was lying on the floor, ribs poking through my white shirt, with the blank, “I`m starving” stare in my eyes, it all hit me. I had a choice. I could cook for myself, or die.

Gone were the days of buying something premade at the supermarket, or at a restaurant. My wallet was as empty as my stomach. In that day, I became a man. With just seven (7) U.S. Dollars, I bought my weekly groceries. Cereal? Milk? I think not. I buckled down, and threw some onions, peppers, rice, and pasta down on the counter for the lady to ring up. I looked her square in the eyes, and said, “Yes. This is everything for me today.”

That`s the story. What do you think? ;_). I lived. A week without buying milk. Bet you never dreamed about hearing that, huh Pop?

Yes, I know that I could have just gone to the cajero and pulled out some personal cash, but that would have been much less exciting. And I had to have an excuse to learn how to cook anyways. So, If you`d like, I`ll whip up some rice and veggies for you some day, pop. And I guarantee you`ll enjoy it.

Sorry, gotta run. Love you all!

Elder Stewart

Week 35

WOOOO HOOOO!!!!!!!!

How about that conference, huh??? That was INCREDIBLE!!!!!!!

The Stake rented us a collectivo, and we got a whopping 21 people out on a road trip to Ciudad del Este to go see General Conference on Sunday. Haha!!! It was great. A large portion of the group were investigators, and they LOVED it. There were a few moms in our group who are investigators who were really touched by Elder Scott`s opening talk in the last session. They all remembered and told me about the story of him coming home from two weeks gone at work, and his wife telling him to go play with the children instead of fixing the washing machine. (Haha, weekly write-home to family has become weekly get-teary-eyed time for Elder Stewart). I`m just so grateful for the Spirit. I`m grateful that, like Pres. Holland said, there`s something in Conference for everyone. Those investigators were really listening, and the spirit really touched them.

Elder Gleason`s my best friend. I`m SOOOOO grateful to have him as a companion. We sat down together on that bus ride home last night, after singing a few hymns all together, and we had a post-conference review. We talked about the feelings that we had on how the Lord wanted His work to be done here in Santa Rita. I promise you that Revelation is real. I promise you that. We had the same feelings, the same ideas. It was incredible. We were exactly on the same page on what needs to be done here. Elder Gleason´s got the energy and ideas of 4 regular people put together. He knows exactly why he`s here. His focus for such a young missionary is impresionante. I LOVE getting up every day to work with him.

Santa Rita is going to be a Rama!!!! We`re upgrading from a group to a Branch, and they want to do it the end of May. Elder Snow and I had a meeting with the Stake President. It`s unbleivable, the opportunity that we have to work here in Santa Rita. Huge things are happening, and it`s such a blessing to be working here. We`re teaching the members the lessons, the commandments, so that they`re temple worthy. We need someone to really step up as a leader, to be the Branch President. We`ve got two men who we`re really trying to work with right now. It is SO AWESOME to be working here.

Ok, mom. I love you a lot. In response to your emails... I think you said that you wish I could be in the study to chat with you in 4 seperate messages. Well, there`s too much work to do here to sit down and have a few hours of chat time. Sorry. You`ll have to wait a few years for that.


No worries! Life`s awesome here. We`re just Drowning in all of the work that there is to do here, and loving every second of it!!!!

Elder Stewart