Whewie! ¡Hola mis amados padres!
Estoy super duper agradecido a comunicarme con ustedes al comenzar una nueva
semana. Esta semana...he estado mas emocionado que jamas antes en mi mision. ¡Muchas
cosas buenas estan pasando ahora en nuestro are!!
(Hello my dear parents! I'm super
duper grateful to write to you at the start of this new week. This week ...
I've been more excited than ever before in my mission. Many good things are
happening now in our area!)
First thing is first! There goes
Elder Barrales in the transfer wagon all the way to Moab...but we say a big
hello to Elder Killian! He is the best! Fresh out of the MTC he comes from
Kennewick Washington and is a great Elder. The first thing that he said to me
in the car was "It is really important for me to be obedient" :) Well
Elder, you've come to the right place :)
Going to the trainers' meeting and
meeting Elder Killian was actually a really good experience for me. I have been
in those trainers' meetings three times now (once as a greenie, and now twice to
train) and they have always been extremely spiritual experiences for me. It’s as
if the Spirit was just feeding me and knows all of my needs to get me ready for 3
more months focused outside of myself again. I know that President Leonard is
inspired of God. Doing what he asks is not hard at all because the Spirit
always bears testimony that it is what the Lord desires for me too. Soooo....we
are training again :) I know I have a few more ideas and a little more
experience now, and I am so excited to work with an Elder that is so ready to
work and learn! Seriously, I have never felt this much unity in a companionship
from right off the bat.
So we left that meeting on
Wednesday, and the first thing we did was definitely a miracle! We knocked the
door of a family that has never answered before...and they opened up! Elder
Killian was amazing, and just got a little tongue tied inviting them to be
baptized. But...they accepted! I love it. We have appointments with this family
to follow up on their commitments. The most amazing thing though is that the 15
year old son has been praying and reading the Book of Mormon every night for 2
weeks! I have been in this area for 6 months and knocked that door countless
times...but apparently Heavenly Father was just waiting until the right man
came along for them to open up to us :)
We had so many amazing lessons this
week, I just can’t tell you about all of them! One of the best was with a man
named Brother C . His wife got baptized 1.5 yrs ago and he has come to church with her
for a while. I love this man so much...he is an example of hard work and
selflessness to provide for his family, and he has soooo much faith. He has
read half of the Book of Mormon!! But in that lesson we told the Joseph Smith
story again then I gave the time over to Elder Killian. He looked sooooo
scared, but in all the Spanish he could muster he just bore the humblest
testimony, "I testify that I know that these things are true. I know that
Joseph Smith was a prophet." That alone did more to flood the room with the
Spirit that anything else. But it’s not over yet!! Bro. C said "I
just really want to keep the commandments" and my Book of Mormon pretty
much flipped by itself to 2 Nephi 31:10-12, and then Elder Killian bore his
humble testimony again. And Brother C sat there, then said "¡Echemosle
ganas!" which being interpreted means "lets go for it!" We are a
team as a companionship already! It's the best!
More than anything else though, I
know that its the power of the Lords' spirit that does this work see
D&C 35:13-14.
13 Wherefore,
I call upon the aweak things
of the world, those who are bunlearned and
despised, to thresh the cnations by
the power of my dSpirit;
14 And
their arm shall be my arm, and I will be their ashield and
their buckler; and I will gird up their loins, and they shall fight manfully
for me; and their benemies shall
be under their feet; and I will let cfall the dsword in
their behalf, and by the efire of
mine indignation will I preserve them.
How else can we be effective
servants of the Lord right out of the MTC, or even at all? I just know that God
lives, that Jesus is the Christ and that they have poured out the Spirit over
this area to prepare people to receive two 19 year old Elders just trying their
best to share the Gospel. I am so weak as a leader and a trainer, but I know
that the Spirit is the most important element in this work. We are just going
to baptize everyone these two transfers!
En todo seriedad, tengo un
testimonio de la restauracion del evangelio. Puedo imaginar como se sentia el
profeta Jose Smith, al ser llamado para efectuar una obra much mas grande que
el. Asi me siento yo casi todos los dias. Comparto mi testimonio tambien de que
yo se que la Iglesia es verdadera, que es guiada hoy dia por el Salvador
viviente. El Libro de Mormon contiene la palabra de Dios, y me ha cambiado la
vida. Los amo tantisimo! Obrare duro todos los dias, no se preocupen
por mi!
(In all seriousness, I have a
testimony of the Restored Gospel. I can imagine how the prophet Joseph Smith
felt to be called to make a much larger work than me. I feel that way every
day. I bear witness that I also know that the Church is true, that today it is
guided by the living Savior. The Book of Mormon contains the word of God and
has changed my life. I love you so much! I will work hard every day, do not
worry about me!)
Los amo!!
Que vayan con Dios,
Elder Michael George Stewart
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