White Christmas :)

This week was amazing :) M W, T D, H S, and J R all were baptized and confirmed! And J was ordained a priest just a day after his baptism...wow!! Yesterday was definitely a "pay day" for me on my mission. We have worked SUPER hard and the Lord has made it all very worth it.

I think yesterday was without a doubt one of my favorite days on the mission...we were in three different sacrament meeting Christmas programs. Elder Fragoso and I had to go on splits to make it to both of the confirmations we had at nine o’clock, so I sat next to Brother Poulson (near Brother Waters too =] ) and I sat with the whole R family (Mom, J's twin, and younger brother are all non members). We were sitting on the right side of the chapel about five pews from the front....if you are keeping track that is normally where we sit as a family. It was a peaceful moment for me...I wasn't sitting together with my family in our normal spot, but I was sitting with another family and helping them be unified together in the gospel. Just a little spiritual pay day moment :) Then later J was ordained a priest, and went and visited homebound members on his first day as a quorum member...wow!! I just wish I could instill in every priest quorum that they really can find, teach, and baptize their peers and friends and it will change their lives forever, because that is what happened in the this ward.

Preparing all our investigators for baptism this week was really exciting...this is one of the most knowledgeable groups of converts we have had. We still had to teach T about tithing this week before his interview and we were really worried because their money is really tight, and he just got a new job. We brought along a ward mission leader and the whole lesson was so spiritual. T said "yeah, tithing is just like paying God rent. The good thing about keeping these commandments is that he has to bless you when you keep them." It was another testimony to me of the truthfulness of this Gospel and how the Holy Ghost is really working harder than we are in the hearts of the people that we teach.

This will be a short email because we will talk tomorrow :) Just know that Richfield is taking really good care of us...we have more baked goods and hot coco than we have investigators right now...but it’s very amazing how much these people love and help their missionaries.

I love you so much!! This church is true!! The Savior did come and he did make the plan of salvation possible. Just like you quoted from our Christmas program he can heal us and make us better people too-that is the reason for the season :)

Talk to you really soon!!!

Elder Michael George Stewart