Best week ever!

Wow!! What a blast this last week has been. I have learned and grown more in these last 7 days than any other time on my mission. It has been very hard. But I have changed in one week’s time.

We had a really good Missionary Leadership Council meeting this week. The best I've been to. President was very direct with all of the Zone Leaders, but it made me want to be better too. Exchanges with Zone Leaders this transfer has been one of my favorite things to do this transfer. First, because we get to see the entire mission, and second because they are really receptive to training. Of note is that I was in Price, Utah for the first time this week. Please tell Sister Stong; that’s where she guessed I would go on my mission.

We had really good experiences with investigators this week. A lot of Chinese people again. We went to the temple with J  (Elder Chidester and my recent convert) and with his friend Robert who was also baptized recently. They took family names and got to do baptisms for the dead for the first time. The whole time I was in there I was thinking how amazing that experience was. That is Real Growth for the church. Not only to teach and baptize someone, but also help them to do family history and get to the temple. Seventy to eighty percent of the converts who do family history and go the temple stay active. Believe me, we will be doing a lot more temple work now.

We also started teaching another Chinese girl name Q along with all of her roommates. She is a clean slate...no idea about God or religion, but she asks a lot of questions and she came to church today. I am very excited to teach another Chinese investigator.

We are also still teaching my main man, B. He is just a bundle of joy. He bore his testimony in church today and stayed for all 3 hours. Every time that we see him we just get huge smiles on our faces. He has committed to be baptized on the 25th, and we will make it!

So many good things are happening. All of the YSA areas in St. George got combined for the summer and so we now cover all of Washington County for YSA work. It is a joy to serve in 2 stakes again!! I love it!! 

I want you to know that this week President Leonard and I were united on a lot of important decisions. I love working with him. One thing that he and others have drilled into me on my mission (and I thank my Young Men leaders like Brother Hilton, Brother Taylor and Bishop Baker for drilling the same thing) is Doctrine and Covenants section 121. I live by those words now. "There are many called but few are chosen, and why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world and they aspire to the honors of men that do not learn this one lesson...." The words of this section are written upon my heart. They affect how I act, how I look at others, and how I feel about responsibilities the Lord gives us. I am grateful that the Lord has chosen me to be his servant as a missionary. I just want everyone to see him when they look into my eyes. I know this church is true.

Well!!! It was a great week! I love you so much! Keep praying for us to find, and maybe even that we will find more Chinese foreign exchange students to teach ;-) The work of God moves forward in St. George!

I love you!

Elder Michael George Stewart