Another week in Paradise

Hello Mom and Dad! 

I really loved reading your emails this week. I don't know how God does it, but somehow even thousands of miles away our love towards each other can increase and we can grow stronger together. Thank you for your constant love and support =)

The weather here was....PERFECT, all week. There is nothing better when you can serve the Lord is a place you love with a companion that you love too. It was a great week! Here is a blow by blow

Monday: we met with a kid on the baseball team named K. He is super interested and has been reading the Book of Mormon. Like a lot of kids at the end of the semester though he is super busy, and we need to catch up with him again.

Tuesday: Said goodbye to Elder Pedersen at 9:00am and loaded everyone transferring from St. George onto Elder Woolley's van. We taught a lesson in the evening to E a 24 year old that is looking to marry an LDS girl. I look at E and the family he is going to have, and I just see how much the gospel will bless him. E is super receptive and we have him on date to be baptized next week. Tuesday evening we attended the departing missionary dinner and testimony meeting- I guess you could say that is a perk of this assignment :) Far from distracting me...hearing the testimonies of my friends from the mission really made me want to work harder and be better. There isn't much time left!

Wednesday: We welcomed the arriving missionaries at the airport at 8:50am, took them to the mission home, took their pictures, and fed them waffles courtesy of Sister Leonard. Then we trained the new missionaries and their companions for the whole morning. Training missionaries is the best; I look at these new missionaries, and we are in a position to just mold their missions and their lives. If we can help them start off being obedient and hardworking, we can eliminate so many problems down the road. We also taught students from Haiti, Tonga, and a lot from Vegas :)

Thursday: We had the St. George temple trip in the morning and taught lessons in the afternoon. We drove up to Richfield in the evening.

Friday: Woke up in Richfield in my old apartment and went to the Manti temple with the northern part of the mission. Then it was 3 hours in the car back to St. George. It was good bonding time with Elder Chidester.

Saturday: Watched general conference at the institute and met with President Leonard to plan for the transfer's meetings. We had another lesson with R, a girl we found last week, and she is going through some opposition caused by poor choices. It’s hard to see people use their agency like that!

Sunday: Watched general conference in the morning with the S family! I lived with them in my very first transfer on the mission, and they are my favorite. We also had a lesson with a kid from Guatemala named A.  And we got to teach him in Spanish :) It was good to teach with my companion in Spanish again...A is really receptive, he has been coming to church with a friend for a week and wants to learn the restored gospel. We taught E again in the evening, and he is ready for baptism! Then we went to the office at night to do our Sunday night chores :)

Well...I don't know if you felt it at conference like I did, but the church is definitely true! One of the things that really struck me from this session is just how much the Apostles are rooted in teaching the doctrine of Christ. Everything they taught in conference was related to increasing Faith in Christ and his Atonement, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End. I am trying harder than ever to be rooted in this doctrine and have it relate to everything I do. The Doctrine of Christ is my purpose I guess you could say right now. Right now our area kind of looks like Richfield did at the beginning of last transfer....not to many investigators. BUT! We can turn it around now just like we did then :)

This week was definitely a busy one, but I am so grateful to the Lord for his help in doing it all this week. I know that when I have asked for strength and guidance he has liberally given it to me...how comforting that we don't have to do anything alone. Keep the faith!! It is all worth it.

Love,

Elder Michael George Stewart