The Best Week Yet

Hello family,

Wow, didn’t I just write to you? What an amazing week it has been. The Lord answers the prayers of the faithful, and we are seeing so many miracles.

We had two great baptisms this week! And they were at an outdoor "warm spring" with snow on the ground. But they were a spiritual experience. C and B said that the water was much warmer than the surrounding air.

The D’s (our family of 7) are ready for baptism this weekend. We resolved some minor concerns with the help of the scriptures. Elder Joens brought out Psalm 23 and we promised all the kids that on their baptism day they would feel the Lord was with them and they would feel protected. The mom and dad are also doing great. They are really leading out in the gospel. And the dad got a job at a local farm! The Bishop promised him he would get temporal and spiritual blessings for obeying God's commandments. This is a whole family joining the church, it is a great miracle and a blessing.

K is doing very well too. She pretty much taught us the lesson on tithing and the 10 commandments. I am so grateful that she asked me to do the baptismal ordinance too. What motivation for the last week!

I just feel like sharing my testimony with all of you today. It’s been such an uplifting week. The promise that we may always have the Spirit to be with us is a real promise that I am hopefully realizing more and more these days. My heart is full. This is going to be the best week yet of my mission.

I testify of God the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost. I know they are real and that they are what the scriptures say they are: infinitely loving, powerful, and wise beings. I especially bear my testimony of the Savior Jesus Christ. I have learned so much about him over these two years. It’s amazing to think about his mercy and grace and what he has done for all of us and especially for me. I know that when Jesus Christ suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross, he took the penalty for our sins, and when he resurrected he overcame death for all of us. Because of his atonement, he understands us, and he can save us if we come unto him. He satisfied the demands of justice for us. As we have faith in Him, repent, and obey the Gospel, he can extend mercy to us. I look forward to that day when I will see him again. And I know that if I continue faithful, I will be able to lay claim on His mercy on the Judgment day. I want to live with God again, and I want to live like God does too.

I know that the Lord works through prophets to guide us. He always has from the beginning of time (Amos 3:7)! I know that Joseph Smith was called of God to be a prophet in our days, and that the LDS Church is the Lord’s Kingdom on the Earth. It is the only true and living church on the face of the earth because the true and living Savior guides it. I love the church, the quorum of the 12 apostles, President Monson, and all of my priesthood leaders.

I am so happy!  I have huge bags under my eyes, but every morning this week I have woken up at 630 and I have felt gratitude for all of my blessings. I love the Lord, I love his Gospel, and I love his children. I have been studying the Psalms recently, and I am grateful for King David's passion and poetry. Reading those words has really changed the way I pray and feel about prayer. Faith, prayer, and hard work really do create miracles.

Thanks mom and dad for your support and letters. I am grateful for your sacrifices for making my mission possible. All the lives and people who have been touched by my services are indebted to you for supporting me out here, and I hope you can share in the joy of conversions, retentions, and reactivations that have been going on in my mission. We serve for the Lord and we serve for his children. Our blessings are peace and joy in this world, and eternal life in the world to come.

So this week my goal is to have the best week yet. I want to wake up each day and serve the Lord and my companions selflessly. I want to have great studies that help me to become better and feel the Holy Ghost. To focus on the Doctrine, building brotherhoods, and reaching out to others. Witnessing the baptisms of the D Family and K at the end of this week will be a great capstone to my mission. Those converts mean everything to me.

I love you!

Elder Michael George Stewart