Tuesday, December 18, 2012

What an amazing week!



We wore ourselves out again these last 7 days, and the Lord really blessed us for our efforts. As my first year is winding down on the mission I am so excited and expectant about what the Lord and I can do with another whole year together in the field. This might be a short email today because we are gearing up to go to the Manti temple, and that will be a little bit of a trip.

What miracles this week.... thanks to a lot of help from the Lord and the Wards we had 8 convert baptisms this week! The V children, S & T Y, S & S C, and D M were all baptized on Saturday and confirmed on Sunday. T H, one of our other investigators, knew how busy we would be this week, and he and his wife prayed for us every day :) We needed all of those prayers, so thank you for all of your prayers too! Many lives were blessed and changed this week.

The C's service was probably my favorite. A lot of other young couples came out from the ward to support them, and they were challenged right there to make it to the temple to be sealed in one year’s time. They have progressed so fast in the gospel, and they will keep flying at warp speed. I don't really know why some very elect and special people like them aren't born into the Gospel from the beginning. In any case, their children and any other future members of the family have a very bright future now thanks to their involvement in the Church and the restored Gospel. It really is amazing :)

Speaking of fast progression...D J, the man we baptized less than 2 weeks away,  was ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek priesthood yesterday. Not a priest, but an Elder. Wow! Normally it takes months for someone to progress to that step, but the Stake President approved this action for that man. That is incredible! He went from a nonmember to an Elder and now he has the ability to bless and guide in his own family in less than a month. One of the things I have noticed is that when we come back into our recent converts' homes, the Spirit is already there when we come through the door. And in the J home it is there in force :)

Also fun and inspiring this week was the opportunity we had to drive to do two baptismal interviews for a family getting baptized down in that town. It was a fun drive, and we got to stop along the way at a little restaurant called Hoovers. The Ward mission leader who drove us down told me to get the snow crab....and it was so tasty :) I didn't think I would be eating crab in the middle of Utah....but it was a nice treat.

Recently we have been getting a lot of new referrals and tracting into a lot of new families as well--the area is on fire right now! And one of our unemployed investigators got a job! And he will be baptized this weekend! It is amazing what Heavenly Father did in the life of that man....maybe he had to lose his job to have the window of opportunity to sit down with us, go to church, and prepare to be baptized. Miracles are everywhere :)

I have a really strong testimony of our Father in Heaven's love and his desire to help us out in his own work. We aren't alone in anything we do :) Seen and unseen forces help us, guide us, and make everything we do possible. I have learned a lot about honoring my own covenants with Heavenly Father, and that through my obedience he can magnify my efforts as I sacrifice to serve others...working hard isn't that hard when you have the best Master :) When I came on a mission...I really had no idea the things that the Lord would help me do.

I love you so much :) Make it a great week!

With all my love,
Elder Michael George Stewart

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