Changes

Well this week has been an adventure!  I got a change last night and I will be heading to a place named Cubulco.... which I dont know if you guys remember or not, but that is right next to Rabinal (my first area)  and I will be going to the same branch!  so I am going to see all the people that I taught and knew at the first of my mission, because these areas are like 30 minutes apart, and they go to the same building... so I am super excited for that!  And I at one time was working in that area for 3 weeks, and we were able to find some people that were baptized so I will be able to see them too... so I am just so excited!  And another great part is that my companion is Elder Tello and he is from Texas, so I will be having my third Gringo companion, and I am super excited for that!  

But here in La Libertad I am going to miss the people here... I got to know them and I think that I am going to miss it here... especially because we have got two more people that are going to be baptized in November here... so I am sad to not be here for that... But I guess the point of my mission was to see that hard work brings success... but many times I am not the person that receives this ¨success¨ all the time... which is fine by me.. So I am just so excited to hear them get baptized in a couple weeks... 

But just so you all know, I am just enjoying the mission, it is the best thing in the world... and I hope to be able to continue working diligently for the short time that I have got!

Love you All

Elder Stuart

Conference...

Well this week was a good week, but I dont really have a ton of time, so I am just going to send you the big things that happened... (like I do every week).  So General conference, It was great... but we only saw like 1 and a half talks saturday morning, because the internet here is terrible... then from there saturday afternoon we just listened to on the computer in English because watching it didnt work... so we listened to all of that one... but it isnt the same just listening to it... so that was a bummer... then for priesthood we listened to it in spanish... because yeah i had to... and well that was good but once again it just wasnt the same...  so that was goodish... then sunday morning we were able to watch the whole thing in english, and so that was good... then for the sunday afternoon, we were going to watch the conference, but there was no power, or lights, or internet... so we couldnt watch it... until about 3 ish we hopped on board and we watched the last hour in spanish, because we couldnt watch it in english... so yeah it was a great experience with the talks that I saw.... But hey that is guatemala for you right??  

But other than that we have been having a good time here in La Libertad... we were able to find teach and do all the good stuff... so that was good.  but one thing that is going really good here is that a while ago we were able to find a partial family ( a family that is some members and some not), and well those who are members are super inactive... and this week we were talking to them and we were talking about going to church (obvious??) and they said that finally they have the desire to go to church again... that they are ready to go to church once again in their lives... and we had been talking to them for about 3 months and they finally made that choice!  So that was super exciting!  So yeah that is about all that is happening here...

Love Elder Stuart

my scripture... well this week i was studying a lot the attributes of christ... and well how to be a better person and I really like these scriptures...mosiah 4:16-26... and alma 32:16  Enjoy!

Guatemala City!

This week was an interesting week!  We had some pretty normal things happen... But really it wasnt a very exciting week... But it was a good one!

Well first of all... Right now I am in the capital of Guatemala... that is why I am writing you today... because we were in the Doctors office all day yesterday!  My companion had to come to the capital for some examines for his head...  I guess that he has had a lot of problems with his head.. and the sleeping thing, so we came to see if he was all good up there in his dome...  We hope so... we are still waiting for the results today...  

But yesterday was interesting, because I worked in a different mission!  I worked one day in the Guatemala South Mission.. and it was pretty fun.. but it weird how different the mission is one from another and things like that... just the little rules that change and stuff like that is pretty interesting!  So that was kind of fun!

As for my area in La Libertad, we are doing good... we have about 3 more baptisms planned for september, and like 2 for October.. So we are super excited!  We had a family of 8 people come to an activity in the church and they liked it but they didnt come to church on sunday.. so we are hoping that all will go good with them!  

But that is about it...  my scripture is joshua 1:9...  

Love Elder Stuart

Another week...

This week was a pretty good week!  We were able to baptize Rodrigo... So that was pretty exciting...  Also in my area there is this part named Las Cruces... that is about 34 minutes from La Libertad... and it is really good.. .There are two members that live there and there are so great!  We went there on thursday and these two members took us to like 5 different houses and we taught all these people and they all said that they are ready to assist a church, but the only problem is that it is too far away for them and it costs a lot... so they cant come to church... but it was a great experience to see all the people that have a desire to go to church there... so we are going to figure out what we do this week with them and so that is a good plan that we have got for this week.

Also this week we were not able to get Angels wife to church, because she went to go see her family which lives about 1 hour away... and she wanted Angel to go with her... and he said, no I now am a member of this church and I need to go... so he is doing great!!  And then after church he went to go meet up with her at her familys house.. so that was great to hear!

So things are going really great here... and it is great to be here in the mission...  I am absolutely loving it!  I cant believe how fast the time is going... But I love you all and have a great monday family home evening!!

Love Elder Stuart

DyC 33.13

Changes!

So this week we had our changes!  So I am now with Elder Mejia, and well it has been kind of an interesting week.  He is a good guy but he is just a little bit weird... He likes to talk a lot which is definately not me... but we do get along pretty good!  So we are looking forward to a good 6 weeks together!  I am super excited about this week here in La Libertad!  We have got some plans to go and baptize this Rodrigo kid that didnt end up getting baptized like 8 days ago but nowhe will get baptized!  So we are really hoping for that!

Also this week we visited Angel and he is doing great!  We were talking with him and I guess that his wife is now thinking about the whole baptism thing now that she saw him go through the process and so we just need her to go to church this next week and the week after and then we are going to baptize her!  So we are super excited for that!  I cant wait for that!  That will mean that I married that family and then baptized them!  

Now for something exciting... So on Saturday we had Stake Conference which takes place in San Benito which is about 1 hour away... and well we didnt have permission to go on saturday so we just went on sunday... But anyways so we were in La Libertad on Saturday and all the members were in San Benito...  And all the members had met in the church to head up there... and so it turns out that we get a call about 1 hour after they had left, from the Branch President, and he said that there was someone breaking windows in the church and that we needed to go check it out... So we went over there and two kids were in the church.. .breaking the windows... so when they saw us they ran... So we had to go look for them which was kind of a waste of time... but it was kind of fun... so we used our contacting skills and we ended up finding their house about 3 hours later after having looked over all La Libertad... and then we showed the Branch President the house and he went over there to get everything figured out on sunday!  So that was a pretty crazy experience this week!

But overall it was a pretty great week this week and we are looking for some success to come in these next few weeks!  My scripture for you guys is...  Alma 5:16... It is a little bit strong but I love it!

Love you all and see you in a few...

Elder Stuart

Changes

This week has been kind of a crazy week!!!  And a super long one!  But it was super fun!  So we started out on wednesday we did divisions again... and that was fun I was able to go with Elder Salazar and I learned a lot from him and well it was great to be with him for a little bit...

Then on Thursday we had the wedding for Angel and well that was good but it was boring as usual... The weddings here in Guatemala really arent that exciting... but it was really cool to see how happy they are now that they are married... Marriage it is a good thing, do it! So that was super exciting... then on friday we had to prepare everything for the baptism of Angel.. and well we figured out on like tuesday that Rodrigo wouldnt be getting baptized this week so we are planning on him to get baptised the 30th of August... So that will be exciting.. so that made our Friday a little bit easier because we only had to plan for one baptizm...  (p.s. I forgot how to spell baptism, if it is wilth an s or with a z so be patient...)  So then on saturday we baptized Angel and it was so cool!  We baptized him in a river... and that was super cool.. He is probably my best convert yet in the mission!  He is super great!  Im excited for him.

Then on Saturday we figured out our changes!  And I am going to be staying here in La Libertad.. and Elder Loveland is leavin so that is kind of sad... because he was one of my favorite companions...  So I am going to be getting a new companion... Elder Mejia... so I am excited for that!  I have had so many companions... I get a new one basically every change.. but Im ok with that because I am learning a lot of the social skills that I never really practiced before the mission... oops....  But all is well here!

Love Elder Stuart

Long week...

This week was a pretty long and stressful week... but it was one of the best weeks we have had!  First off we were having a little bit of progress with our 2 investigators that are planning on getting baptized this week and they are both doing good!  We are planning on baptizing Angel and Rodrigo this week... not last week...and so we have got another long week ahead of us for all that.. but we are excited.  We are going to marry Angel on thursday... and then him and Rodrigo are going to get baptized on Saturday...  So those are our plans for this upcoming week!

But this last week was full of stuff that we did... mainly at the latter part of the week... But on Thursday we had a Zone Conference... and President Curtiss ended up showing up so that was pretty cool!  I learned a lot from that!  Then on Friday we went on divisions.. and I stayed here in La Libertad with an Elder named Elder Fitzgerald from Nicaragua... And Elder Loveland went to sayaxché with Elder Gubler... And Sayaxché was actually the last area of Elder Loveland so that was pretty cool for him!  So that was bunch of stuff to do that day... and also on Friday we had a wedding here in La Libertad for the Hermanas... And I witnessed my first wedding and it was a ton of work to prepare... and SUPER BORING... I now know that I am not a wedding person... So that was not very exciting to know that that is how this wedding is going to be this week!  Then after that on Saturday... We took Elder Fitzgerald back to his area in the morning.. and that is like an hour drive, so two both ways... and that wasnt too fun...  Then after that we had to go shopping for some clothes for some baptisms that were going to happen this week... then at about 5 we had to head back to Sayaxché for a baptismal interview... so another two hours...  and so that was just pretty crappy....  Then we went to our house and went to bed... On Sunday, we went to a baptism at 7 in the morning... and when we got there the whole church was flodded with water...so we had to clean all that up and that was kind of frustrating... so yeah basically this week was a pretty stressful week.. but we finally got through it!  

So we are super excited for this next week and we are going to have these two baptisms, so we are hoping and praying a lot for that!

Love, Elder Stuart

Good Week!

We are having a fantastic time here in la libertad!  We are just working hard and having a lot of fun doing it.. and the success is coming...  So that is all good!  Elder Loveland is one of my favorite companions in the mission... He just a super great guy... We get along so well it is awesome!  It is so much more fun.  

But anyways this week we were able to put to good fechas for baptism for the 16th of August... one with a Person named Angel who is 20 years old... and the other with a kid named Rodrigo who is 13... They are both super great!  Angel is the person that came to church last week and he is super excited to get baptized... he is going to get married the 9th so we are planning his wedding and all that... and then he is going to get baptized the 16th... so that is super great!  And Rodrigo came to church yesterday and we put that goal with him... So that was a great day...

And today we cooked Snikerdoodles... sothat was fun and they were super good!  

Love Elder Stuart

Changes

This week we received our changes and I am finally leaving my area to go to an area named La Libertad in Peten... So I am excited to go there and I am going to have a gringo companion named Elder Loveland... so that will be interesting... It will be my third companion that doesnt have spanish as a native language...  So that is pretty  interesting!  So I am super excited for that!  I have heard many good things about him.

But this week was kind of a bummer, but also super good... We didnt end up baptizing douglas, because on thursday he had a lot of doubts and he did have the desire to get baptized still but we told him that he couldnt... we felt that it would be better if he waited until he had a little bit stronger of a testimony... which was hard for me because that meant that I wasnt going to be there for his baptism...  But I did learn that it is best to do what is best for them and not for me, so Ill be excited to hear about his progress throughout the weeks that I wont be there, but he is going to get baptized in like 3 weeks... 

But we had a pretty good week because one of our investigators, named Daniela, We had been teaching her for about 3 months back in like march, but then in late may early june, her dad called, who lives in a different part of Guatemala, and said that she couldnt listen to us anymore... so we stopped teaching her, because we didnt want her dad to get mad... But then a week ago she came to church out of the blue... so we were a little bit surprised by that, so we started to teach her again this past week and she is super excited to get baptized... she said that it doesnt matter what her dad says, that she knows this church is true and that she wants to follow god, not her dad... So that was super good and this week (yesterday) she came to church alone again, even though it was raining and she had to walk 10 minutes!  So that was super good, so my companion will be baptizing her this next 6 weeks!

So things are going pretty good over here!  I am a little bit sad to leave my area because I had some close relations with the people there, and so im going to miss them, but I am super excited for the next area!  I am happy to have a new start again, looking in new places for people to teach about the gospel!  So I am super excited for that!

Hasta pronto...

Love Elder Stuart

Oh and p.s. I am sending a package home with elder Welker... He was Jonnys companion in the CCM and well they are going to meet up after the mission... I think so he will be taking that home for me... Ill give more details on what is for who and things like that when you guys get it!