Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Be Bold with the Lord!



Hello mother and father! First of all...as we all know, yesterday was Memorial Day and so everything was closed. Thus, the missionaries are doing emails home today :) So fear not, the sun and spicy food hasn't killed me yet, and as we descend into more and more heat I'm sure I will be fine. 

We are soooooo busy! I need to seriously repent and write in my journal again :) But we do spend basically every waking hour just lifting the district and working for our investigators. Really it is a blessing to be able to work in this area where there are so many people to meet and to teach. This week I learned a whole lot and had a lot of my prayers answered. I know Heavenly Father loves all of His children and I am increasingly aware of just how constantly He reaches out to bless all of His children. 

We have been working with a lot of less active families lately with unbaptized children and/or spouses. It has made me so grateful for the blessing of having both of you as strong, active, calling holding members of the church. Seriously, thank you so much for putting your testimonies first and striving to do what Heavenly Father wants; I know our family has been blessed because of that. We are working with a family where everyone got baptized a year and a half ago except for the dad and the nine year old son. The mother just has a heart of gold. It is so hard for them (with work, with things to do around the house) to prioritize time for family study of the scriptures and family prayer and going to church...but I just know that it is those things that will strengthen and bless the L family. The adversary is real, but the power of God is also real. And He will bless and protect us from temptation as we dedicate time to Him. 

One of the things I LOVED about this week was teaching so many people to pray...and being with them to pray for the first time :) We taught a 9 year old boy, a 14 year old boy, and a 50 year old woman how to pray this week. And the spirit was so strong! The 9 year old is J L (son of one of the less active families) and he offered a really simple prayer thanking Heavenly Father for his family and for all of the good things he has. I loved being there for that :) Thank you, mom and dad for taking the time to teach me how to pray. So that now I can turn and bless other kids and families with that important skill. 

The 14 year old boy’s prayer was extremely special. His name is B, and again, he is the son of less active parents (for years). On our first meeting with his family this week, he decided he wanted to be baptized, and that he needed more of God's help in his life. He also told us that he wasn't totally sure if God was really there. Well, we followed Ammon’s and Aaron's examples from the Book of Mormon and invited him to pray asking God right there to "make himself known" unto B. That prayer was so powerful! In B’s first prayer he asked God to "show him a path to go down" and really simply thanked Him for the lesson that we had. After his prayer we all just stayed kneeling and feeling the spirit. B spoke first and said. "Wow. That felt great...like a backpack of rocks just got taken off of my back." Yes, God lives and loves His children. And the MOMENT that they want to get close to Him, He will come running to greet them. We love B :) 
It was a very interesting experience teaching the older sister how to pray. She told us "I don't know how". "I can't do it like my daughter and granddaughter". But we don't let that stand in her way :) Basically what you do in that situation you ask them what things they are grateful for and what help they would like to receive from God. Then we do a fill in the blank prayer so she is comfortable :) And C did pray for us to end her lesson! Simple prayers are the best. 

This week we also went on exchanges with our Zone Leaders (we have a new zone leader from Argentina...Elder Leguizamon. He is excellent). It was interesting being in my own area for a leadership exchange, but I really learned so much from Elder Leguzamon. In our closing interview he gave me a really good suggestion. "Be bold with everyone. Bold with you investigators, with your companion, you district, and be bold with the Lord." I've thought a lot of what that means. Alma counseled his son to "Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love; see that ye refrain from idleness." (Alma 38:12) And I think there are a lot of keys in there for missionaries. We are bold in following the Spirit to know what to say BUT we must be motivated by pure love to make sure we are not pushing people unnecessarily. Also, we must "bridle our passions" by staying obedient to have the spirit as strongly as we can. I have definitely made a goal of working on this. It is so funny though. Whenever I am being bold with someone, my voice just gets softer and I really focus in on their eyes. And it’s amazing the power the Spirit can have through us! 

Our new families that we're working with are also doing really well! I totally agree with you and Uncle Larry (Elder Wilson) and mother about the power the Book of Mormon has in conversion. It’s the book that converted me! We have committed all of our families to read it every day and it is incredible the rate at which they are progressing! There is a power in the book that has flowed into their lives from this decision. For instance, we were with O the other day teaching about daily scripture study and he ASKED us "Can I read the Book of Mormon from the beginning?" =] He is exactly like the second friend that Elder Wilson helped (trouble reading) and thankfully his wife can sit with him and help him. But as a mission, and as a companionship, we are definitely pushing the Book of Mormon so hard right now. Kids can read the picture version, adults can read the real thing, but everyone can feel its truth! 

The F family and C 's family are doing really well as well. We taught the "Principles of the Gospel" class this Sunday and the topic was....baptism. I think that is becoming one of the most used words in my vocabulary. But seriously, A F told us afterwards "That was a great class, and it definitely moved me closer to thinking about my own baptism." Step by step :) 

I really know that the Lord guides this work. Sorry that this email was so scatter-brained. I will do better about WRITING IN MY JOURNAL and about making email notes beforehand. This week the mother of one of our new investigators (who also picked a baptismal date!) told us that we "fell like rain from the heavens" when we visited her. The Lord does guide us if we let Him.

Yo se que Cristo vive y que el dirige su obra y su Iglesia. Me alegro de que yo tenga una familia que me crió en el camino del evangelio y padres que me aman y me apoyan tanto. He sido mas feliz en esta semana que nunca antes en mi vida, todo porque es mi privilegio ahora para obrar junto con el Senor todos los dias. El vive! Nuestro Padre Celestial contesta nuestras oraciones, y nos quiere muchisimo.
(I know that Christ lives and directs this work and His church. I am glad to have a family that raised me in the way of the Gospel and parents that love and support me. I have been happier this week than any previous time in my life because it is now my privilege to work with the Lord every day. He lives! Our Heavenly Father hears our prayers and …)

I really love you so much. Thank you for you love and especially your prayers. This time is the best thing I could be doing with my life right now. I promise you all that I will take full advantage of it. 

Los amo. Que siempre vayan con Dios, (I love you, Godspeed) 

Elder Michael Stewart 
P.S.  Elder Barrales and I are best friends now :) It’s amazing what prayer can do.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Mas Brillante que el Sol



Hello Mother and Father! I love you all so much!! Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support and for continuing to point me to the Lord to receive help in His work.

This week was excellent. As a mission we set a goal to find 3 new investigators per area...and our district beat that goal! It was a long week to be sure. District Leaders were calling each companionship every night to offer encouragement and suggestions and to help us support each other. I definitely feel like I can't do everything as well as really seasoned leaders, but somehow the Lord sees our imperfect efforts and with His grace we can receive results that we can't explain. It was really fulfilling calling every companionship, every night this week. Basically the evenings look like this: home by 9, plan until 9:30, call Companionships (5-10 minutes for each of our 4 other companionships) until 10:15, update the area book until 10:29.59 and lights out at 10:30. On Fridays and Sundays there are also numeritos to total and send :) It feels good though...not to have to worry about myself and just to get to uplift others. Really, it’s so amazing I feel like the successes of the areas in our district are successes for our area. It is just kind of busy.

In St. George yesterday there was a lunar eclipse (which ever one where the sun blocks out the moon...school is so far away from me right now) and that is the BRIGHTEST thing I have seen in my life. We were in a trailer park and some Hispanics had devised a really clever way of viewing the eclipse without damaging their vision. They sprayed water on the ground and watched the eclipse reflected in a car window reflected in their puddle of water and taking turns using 3 pairs of sunglasses. We got to see it too, and it was...incredible. It lasted from 6:30-8:00 and was brighter that any noonday I have ever seen. Elder Barrales and I weren't so focused on the eclipse as we were still searching for a new investigator last night, but it did give an interesting backdrop to our work.

This week we had amazing lessons with O R and G's family. These people are so...elect! O didn't get baptized on the 19th and they are going out of town on the 25th so his baptism is going to happen in June. He explained to us that he wants to be sure and that he wants to know more about Joseph Smith and about the Apostles we have in our days. So we devised a lesson centered on baptism and how the Restoration of the Gospel makes these opportunities possible. And he is back on date for June! Seriously, thinking about when we first met O until now, he has made so much progress. He just wants to do everything he can to keep the commandments and to bless his family. We are going to give him a DVD next time called "Special Witnesses of Christ" which records the testimonies of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles in 2000. If you haven't seen it I am sure it is on YouTube. Their testimonies are so powerful. I know that the apostles carry a unique knowledge of the divinity and the corporeal resurrection of the Savior. They have the same authority that Christ gave to his apostles almost 2000 years ago, and by that authority we can receive all of the blessings of the atonement. One of the most impressive things I have learned on my mission so far is the blessing that we have to be lead by a prophet and apostles today. I know now more than ever what that means and it makes me want to study their words even more.

In D&C 20:38 we learn a little about how apostles and elders are related "An apostle is an elder, and it is his calling to baptize" Well...there is the doctrine of Christ laid out for us. The Quorum of the 12 can't be everywhere at once, so under their calling (we are called by apostles individually) and with their authority (through our setting apart by stake presidents) we join the apostles as elders or defenders of the faith in gathering people unto Christ through baptism. To a lot of people here in Utah, they can be put off by how much we emphasize the doctrine of baptism, but it is our purpose. And Heavenly Father's promise is that he is preparing his children in every area of the mission to receive us. An example follows :)

I've told a lot about G and her family already, but new details keep coming up every week! This week we prayed about a fellowshipper for G and felt we should bring a sister from the branch named F R. That was a good choice :) F and G hit it off instantly. You could almost see the Spirit work in between the two of them and Elder Barrales and I basically just sat back and let the lesson teach itself. Like G wants to, F felt strongly to join the church for the benefit of her children even though her husband is unbaptized. Like G, F was impressed by the example missionaries set, and wanted that future for her kids. G has told us at least five times that she will send her boys on missions...and she isn't even a member yet! She also told us about the first time that we met her. She was a person we tracted into (yay tracting =]), and Elder Paiz and I promised her on the door step that what we have could change and bless her family. She told us on Saturday that on that very first day she was extremely depressed for some reason and that when we came, she felt the sadness go away and decided to have us come back. Every time we came back the sadness lessened and lessened and (miraculously as promised) her kids started learning and improving! Now she is at church with her whole family and loving it and they have baptismal plans for June. I really....just love this family with all my heart. We are so imperfect as teachers, but I know that the love we feel and express makes a real difference.

Also this week we found two less active families that haven't been to church for a while...only because they didn't know where the branch was! One of them came to church yesterday and met president and the other will be at church next week. One way or the other the Lord is working to grow and strengthen this branch. With a lot of help the branch also just redid home teaching and visiting teaching assignments which will help SOOOO much for continued activation. There is a core group of families in this branch that keep it running. Brother M (our branch mission leader), President D, the Tharps (our service missionaries) and soooo many others are great examples to me of taking time out of their busy lives to lift and sustain the branch. If the members just did their visits regularly...things would take off so fast! BUT! For that we continue to work hard to find prepared families to teach and to reactivate those that need the blessings of the gospel in their weekly lives.

As always, it seems I have learned a lot about trusting the Lord and about putting my faith in action. The Lord continues to humble me so that I seek his help first to solve problems. And really I know that He will always help me. I know that Joseph Smith saw what he said he saw "una columna de luz … mas brillante que el sol". Yo sé que Dios nos ama arto y quiere que seamos fieles en nuestros labores. ¡El puede hacer milagros a travez de nosotros si solo tenemos la fe! Cristo vive. Él nos cuida y esta muy preocupado por nuestro exito. Seguire intentanto a hacer lo mejor que es posible para bendecir sus hijos. 
(“a pillar of light … above the brightness of the sun”. I know that God loves us and wants us to be faithful in our efforts.  If we only have faith he can work miracles through us! Christ lives. He cares and is very interested in our success. I will keep trying to do the best I can to bless his children.)

Los amo con todo mi corazon. Por favor, sigan orando. Cada oracion me ayuda, y siento el poder de sus oraciones todos los dias.
(I love you with all my heart. Please keep praying. Every prayer helps me and I feel the power of your prayers every day.)
Que vayan con Dios, (Godspeed)

Elder Michael Stewart

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

I feel my Savior's Love



Dearest Family! Thank you first of all for the great encouragement and conversation yesterday! Elder Barrales and I talked yesterday and we decided that the Mother’s Day call was just the extra boost we both needed. It’s funny that Heavenly Father sometimes lets those around do the lifting for Him, because really we are His hands. Thank you. I love you so much.

And actually I did have a really poignant experience after calling you all and Skyping (so fun!) with Elder Barrales' whole family. I got home and started my prayer to begin studies and it just came to me how much you all love me (and here I am sitting at the computer just tearing up thinking about it) and how much I know that you care about me and want the best for me. And I was just overwhelmed by a feeling of love from my Heavenly Father. I had to run into the bathroom it was so strong. And I just said over and over again "I can't do this. I can't do this alone. I can't be a senior companion, trainer, and District Leader. I need you." And really...one of the most incredible feelings of strength and support just flooded my chest and hasn't left me since. I know you all love me and want to support me. But even more surely, I know that my Heavenly Father loves me and wants me to rely on Him to do this work. It was the kind of moment that just changed my whole paradigm. And it reminded me of one of my favorite verses in the Book of Mormon "For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed, sayeth the Lord that hath mercy on thee." (it is secretly from Isaiah) <- 3 Nephi 22:10. I really do have a strong testimony that we can rely on the Lord and on His Spirit for strength and for guidance. He loves us more than He loves all of creation, and our welfare is more important to Him than it is to ourselves. Wow.

One of the most incredible feelings is feeling that the Lord has accepted your sacrifices and your efforts and that He will then consecrate them. That is how I felt. Honestly...I have been trying SO HARD just to be obedient and diligent and love all of these people. And somehow the atonement of Jesus Christ has the ability to take my imperfect efforts and magnify them. I really feel my Savior's love.

So this was a week where I learned so very, very much. On Sunday Elder Barrales and I spoke in sacrament and just really pleaded and testified for people from the branch to come out and help us fellowship all of these investigators. The response was incredible! Ward missionaries offered to come out for the first time ever, sisters offered to come fellowship other families, and even little kids came up to us really excited. I will be the first on to tell you that our talks were really imperfect (one sister gave me a grammar correction sheet after my talk! it was funny...be thou humble, Elder =]) but again the Lord magnified our efforts. We just have to work so hard now to keep this up!

Sundays are really our best days...I don't know why, but all of my stories are from Sunday. (probably because my memory fails me). Sunday evening we were contacting a less active/part member family and they were having a carne asada with ANOTHER part member/less active family. We set up a lot of appointments right there. Also though, of course they offered us food. We were kind of in a rush so I ate my carne adada/spicy shrimp/guacamole taco extremely fast to get to our other appointment. Well....I spilled the spicy shrimp sauce all over my shirt. So I went through all of our appointments that night with a giant stain on my shirt.

It gets better though, we were teaching O R (I love this family so much! You will learn so much about them here) about faith, repentance, and baptism and we were using examples of how the atonement can clean us of our sins. Well, my shrimp stain provided a great example to show how our mistakes make us unworthy but the atonement (like soap) can clean them through its application (repentance). Yeah we were pretty proud of that, and it did make the R family laugh a lot. BUT, more to the point, O is so solid for getting baptized on the 19th! He has been talking with his wife about the commandments that he will have to live, and basically committed himself to living the Word of Wisdom, the Sabbath Day, and the Law of Chastity without us saying a word! He is so prepared, but also on Sunday we found out just exactly how he was prepared. Like Dad was saying, a lot of people take a lot of time to take the decision (cough, cough =]) and we are lucky to see so many prepared people. Well, O and P told us that they have been meeting with missionaries for 10 years just because they liked to listen to them! They have taken missionary lessons in 2 different countries and at least 3 different states. Every time they wouldn't agree to a baptismal date the Elders or Sisters would just nicely move on to another family and maybe return once a month. Basically...that was just a big testimony builder to me that we are here to invite everyone to come unto Christ-prepared people, members, nonmembers, antis- and some people need the invitation lots of times. We are here to find the elect, and help everyone else come a little closer to Christ. What better thing could there be to do!

You'll probably want to know a little bit more about Elder Barrales. (I will send pictures next week! This computer doesn't really work for that.) And he is just incredible. He is excited, obedient, and he just wants to learn how to do everything right away (I definitely remember those first few weeks...then even tempered with a few long and hard days I can say that fire is still there). He is from Santiago de Chile and is the oldest of five. His family owns two Emus which I saw over Skype :) But more importantly, he is humble, relies on the Lord and is super easy to get along with. We are both going to learn a lot over the next 12 weeks. One thing I have been trying to do since Elder Paiz is pray for my companion during our companionship prayers, it’s just something that I've been trying to do. It was so amazing though to hear Elder Barrales pray for me one night! Unity really can exist in a companionship if we just strive to love and support each other.

I guess one last quick story. We went to the visitor's center again with a family! Really, there is nothing better than teaching a family. This mom says amazing things like "someday my boy will be a great Elder", and "I really just want this for my kids." We are going to bring another really great mom from the branch by to fellowship them. And really I would just suggest for anyone that goes to St. George on vacation in the near future, that while you visit Zions, Veyo and Chukawalla, GO TO THE VISITOR'S CENTER! And watch "God's Plan for Families". Really, I have a testimony that the priesthood and the ordinances of the temples are powerful enough to bind us as families even after death separates us. I have met so many amazing members here who are so temple focused, and you can just feel the love and the goodness emanate from them. God has given us temples to lift our vision for ourselves and for our families, to make us view ourselves more as He views us: imperfect people with so much potential!

Los amo te mucho. El Evangelio de Jesucristo es la unica senda que nos conduce a la vida eterna. Nuestro salvador nos ama tanto...podemos recibir su poder habilitador todos los dias si lo deseamos, y si se lo pedimos. Esto es posible gracias a su sufrimiento y sacrificio para nosotros. ¡El nos conoce y nos ama perfectamente! ¿Porque tenemos miedo? ¿Porque falla nuestra fe? He aprendido mucho acerca de el y su amor...¡y solo me hace a querer compartirlo aun mas!
(I love you very much. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only path that leads to eternal life. Our Saviour loves us so much ... we can receive enabling power every day if we wish, and if we ask. This is possible because of His suffering and sacrifice for us. He knows us and loves us perfectly!  Because we fear?  Because our faith fails? I learned a lot about him and his love ... and it only makes me want to share even more!)

I love you so much. Take care! And keep sending your love and prayers!

Siempre que vayan con Dios, (Godspeed)

Elder Michael Stewart


Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Well President, the Lord and I can do it.



Dearest family,

I love you all so very much :) This week has been...the best week of my life bar none. I can barely remember everything that has happened...and I forgot to take notes for this email! Sorry! BUT! I will try my hardest so that you can definitely feel how I feel about the work that is happening in our area. The Lord is too good to us :)

So A got baptized this week on Saturday! Happy, happy day :) His family has been through so much since December and now everything is coming together for them. The moment we went down in the water together, there was a look of peace and determination on his face. Wow! Then we got out into the changing room. And he just simply said "Thank you. Thank you." He told me that he felt so clean and that he felt the Spirit. There is power in the saving ordinances of the gospel. Through them we receive the power of the atonement and make everlasting covenants that lift and inspire us for the rest of our lives.

The story of A and the F family continues. At his baptism there were 15 nonmembers...his whole family! President Diaz and Hermano M gave great discourses that were so simple and focused on the basics of the Gospel. And A-, A's wife, had an extremely powerful spiritual experience. She said the moment that A got baptized she felt a huge peaceful power well up inside of her. She knew it was the Holy Ghost! I am sorry this is so disorganized...but this family is so amazing! They all went to church the next day too to see his confirmation (done by Elder Paiz) and they stayed for all three hours. The kids loved it! And the gospel principles teacher asked A- if she was a member too and she just said "I am beginning here". Long story short...this month M and A--  will be baptized by their father into the Lord's Church restored on the earth. This month is going to be so amazing!

So now for a little business, President Leonard called us yesterday (he had to leave a message at first because we were in a meeting with three Stake Presidents, our Branch PEC, and Elder Wade of the Seventy....we felt kind of out of our league. Also...Elder Wade gave us big hugs. Our church leaders are so amiable but also inspired). Anyway, President Leonard called us and gave us our assignments for the coming transfer. Elder Paiz is leaving me :( He will get to go lift an area and a District that is struggling by being their District Leader. President then told me my coming assignments. He asked me to be the Lavaflow District Leader and to train a new Elder from the MTC. He told me that "During all phases of this process (recommendations, evaluations, and praying for inspiration) the Lord made it clear that this is exactly what you need to be doing right now. Will you accept these assignments?" "Well President, the Lord and I can do it." And that is honestly how I feel. It will be a blessing and a challenge to focus on training a brand new Elder (I hope he is a native speaker! No English would be amazing! He comes in on Wednesday!) and to lift the four other companionships in our District. But the Lord has done WAY TOO MUCH with me in these last years, and in these last months, for me to not be TOTALLY CONVINCED that whatsoever thing is needful in Him, He will help me to do. We learned Spanish in a short time. We lifted a struggling area and found his elect and prepared children on hot and long days. We've baptized a few people, and we will baptize even more. Honestly... I will relish the chance to become even more focused outside myself and on this work. I have no doubt or fear. I know God is with me :)

So a long story short, Elder Paiz is going and I am staying. I will miss him so much. We have been an extremely unified companionship. Our Branch leaders, other returned missionaries, and our leaders have all told us that we have so much unity. I know that unity came through praying long and hard for love and compassion for each other and working hard every day side by side. We have learned to share, to forgive, to correct, lift, bless, and inspire each other. Now we get to turn and learn all of these things over with other Elders :) We had an amazing lesson yesterday with a new investigator who is 13 and afterward our fellowshipper (an RM from an Argentina mission) told us that he rarely has seen Elders as unified and teaching as well as we do. That whole lesson it just felt like we were one person! The Spirit was there, we knew the words that the other was going to say, the commitments to make, and how to help C. It was a sweet, sweet experience :) And now that I understand the principles of building a companionship from scratch, I hope to apply this to all of our future companionships. But really, as President called us, "the dynamic duo" will be split up for now. Good thing Elder Paiz's family is in Utah and not so far from our own Provo-town :) Can you say life-long friends?

I wish you could just feel how excited I am for this month. Elder Paiz and I have worked hard to find and teach the elect and prepare them for baptism. I learned something really important this week about this process. If our mission statistics are that we baptize 1 out of every 4 investigators (which we are doing right now), what happens to the three other people who don't make this covenant? Well...they become "former investigators" and we have to stop teaching them and move on. Let me give you an idea of how hard that is. We have been teaching an incredible lady named A S for months now. She knew at one point that she wanted to join the church, she brought all of her grandkids to church every Sunday for two months, and she studied and prayed every day. This week, some things changed in her family, and she can't see her grandkids as much, and she is no longer interested in talking with us. We have to leave her. That is really sad. We love her (and her cooking) and respect her and just wanted so bad for her to progress, but she has her moral agency and we prayed about it and we must move on from her family now. I just hope and pray that the Lord has a plan for her and other missionaries further down the road.

Also this week we got to do leadership exchanges with the Elders in the St. George North area. I got to serve with Elder Wood (who has been out for 20 months) and I learned a lot from his perspective, experience, and just overall...his presence. The North Stake is really different from the stakes we cover (you can see them on LDS.org maps). Basically, the 5 towns they cover are stretched out over one highway nestled in the valleys of the beautiful mountains (I should have taken pictures...but we were working). The houses are big and spread really far apart and basically everyone has heard of the church and made a decision about it. They need lots of faith to be able to find three new investigators a week. But Elder Wood is a master of introducing the gospel in every conversation topic in a really nonthreatening way. Our purpose statement says we "Invite others unto Christ..." and Elder Wood does that in every contact, every conversation, even just in the way we stands. You can tell he loves the people and he knows he is a disciple of Jesus Christ. I took down a lot of notes :)

The Lord and I have a lot of work ahead of us to do. Sorry to all whose letters have gone unanswered, but I know that my first priority is to focus on the Lord and his people. It is a rare privilege to serve the Lord in this part of His kingdom. These missionaries want to be obedient and they want to baptize people unto repentance. Our mission president is incredible. He loves us and serves us, but even better he shows us where we need to improve and get better. Dad, you're pretty much right that he has to be in charge of a three year camp out :) But even more than that, I just have a real testimony that the Lord Jesus Christ directs this work.

Se que el Evangelio restaurado de Jesuscristo es el camino de la vida eterna. Dios ha llamado a profetas para guiarnos hoy en dia. De veras los apostoles y el profeta son testigos especiales del Cristo viviente y tienen la potestad de El para actuar en su nombre y usar su poder para bendecir. Estoy agredecido de que tenga este tiempo para servir al Senor y su pueblo...si uds. hubiera sentido todas las cosas que he experimentado en esta mision...no podrian negar la veracidad de esta obra.
(I know the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the way of eternal life. God has called prophets to guide us today. The apostles and the prophet are truly special witnesses of the living Christ and are empowered to act in His name and use their power to bless. I thankful to have this time to serve the Lord and his people ... if you had felt all the things I've experienced in this mission ... you could not deny the truth of this work.)

Los amo bastante. Cuidense mucho.
(I love you very much, take care)

Siempre Vaya con Dios,
Elder Michael George Stewart