Christmas Miracles!

Hi Mom,

This week was great! It was one of the most successful weeks of my mission, I would say, which helped make Christmas great! I am grateful for the Christmas miracles that we saw this week!

I have to start telling y'all about this week on last Saturday, when I volunteered to give the lesson in Church yesterday. So throughout the week I was thinking of different things that I could teach on. On preparation day last week, the weather was great! It was over 60 degrees, so we played some ultimate Frisbee to enjoy one of the last warm days of the year.

On Christmas eve, we went to our Bishop's house, and we ate a lot of tamales, and then afterwards we went to one of our investigators/recent convert's house where they were having a fire. We talked with them for a while, and then we went back to the apartment. Christmas is when things started to get crazy. We started off the day with the zone for a zone meeting, and a Christmas breakfast. I brought the ping-pong table, so we had the opportunity to play ping-pong also. That was a lot of fun.

After the meeting we drove over to the Arevalo's house where we were able to skype y'all, and eat some really good tortas! When we finished up with that, we saw our first miracle of the day. On Monday, we had contacted someone in the parking lot in Walmart as we were doing our shopping. We talked to Marta and she seemed interested. We went over to her house on Christmas to share a message with her, and she kept crying and telling us how much she wanted to stop drinking, and how much she wanted God in her life. This lesson went very well, and we hope to see here progress in the future.

After the lesson, we had dinner with another family in the ward. It was nice to get to know them, because they moved in recently. After dinner with them, we went out and started working. We knocked doors and were able to teach 3 more lessons finding several new investigators. It was so great, and one of the best days of my mission. Christmas definitely isn't the same without family, but it was fun this year.

We continued finding people and teaching more lessons throughout the week, and we were able to find some good people. On Saturday there was a baptism for someone in the ward, and they asked us to prepare a message that we could share while they were getting dressed, so we helped them with that, and we may have found a new investigator for the Sister missionaries from it, so that was great. Saturday morning, I also found out that I was giving a talk in church the next day, so I then had to prepare for the talk and lesson.

Sunday morning I got up at 5:00 so that I could study for my talk and for the lesson. I spoke on the gift that we can give Jesus Christ which is a broken heart and a Contrite spirit, and then I related it to those who are investigating the church, recent converts, all members, and leaders of the Church, and how we all need to be receptive to the will of God, and then we have to do it. During the sacrament meeting we finished the Sacrament with about 40 to 45 minutes left in the meeting, and there were only two of us speaking, so I thought I would have to make up some time. My companion says I spoke for 25 minutes, so I guess it wasn't too big of a problem. I am pretty sure it was less than 20 though.

Then came the lesson, and I learned that I would much rather give a talk then share a lesson. But it went well. After I was done with all of that, and after translating for Andrew in the last class, I crashed. I was so tired and so out of energy, but we kept working until the end of the night. It was a really long day, but very rewarding. I really like speaking in Church, and the Lord helped me out so much. Spanish wasn't even a problem for me, which was surprising, because I usually don't have a lot of confidence in Spanish. Heavenly Father really does help us out as we rely on him, and do our part.

It was a very busy and great week! I loved it so much, and I am so grateful to be able to serve. I hope y'all have a great week, and a happy new year. Since it is the time for setting goals I would invite you to ask your selves what more you can do to accept the will of the Lord. Whether it be daily scripture study, weekly family home evening, or serving in church. Try to give Christ your Broken Heart and Contrite Spirit.

Love, Kyle

Merry Christmas!!

Hi Mom,

This week was alright as far as the work goes, but it was fun. We had the transfer meeting on Tuesday and in that meeting we had a mission Christmas concert. Many people played different instruments and sang. It was fun. Unfortunately I didn't get my package at that meeting. I don't know why, but I am guessing that they probably didn't have it before Tuesday. Hopefully we can get it before Christmas, but if not that is fine by me.

On Friday we had our ward Christmas party, and the Hispanic culture can be really frustrating at times. The party was supposed to start at 6:00, so we went a little early to help set up. We got there about 15 minutes before it started, and when we walked in, there wasn't anything set up. So we started putting tables down, and people didn't really start coming until 6:45 or so. We didn't actually start eating until 7:30, and the program that they had planned didn't start until 9:00, so it was a little frustrating, but there was a really good turn out and it was a lot of fun.

The next morning we had the present donation which went well. Only about half of the people that were receiving gifts came, so that wasn't good, but for the people that did come, it was a good opportunity for them to feel the spirit and become familiar with the church building.

As far as Christmas goes, I will be skyping around 1:30 or 2:00. We are going to be skyping at the Arevalo's house, and they have one of the new TVs that curves inward that allows us to Skype from there. So it will be like I am at home talking to y'all face to face. I am excited for that. I will probably give you a call to find your Skype address on Christmas.

Andrew is still doing really well, and I don't have much to report on them. We are trying to get him to the temple as soon as he can to do baptisms for the dead. He is progressing so well!

The Moreno family is planning on getting married at the end of the year, and then Maricruz will be baptized shortly after that. I am excited for them as well!

I don't really have anything else to write about. I am really excited to talk to y'all on Thursday. I only have a little more of my mission, and it is probably going to go by so fast. Thank y'all so much for what you are doing for me. I love you!

Love, Kyle

Excited to stay in Rowlett!

Hi Mom,

I am staying here in Rowlett for another one! I am so excited! I honestly think this area is my favorite. The members are great, the work is going well, and we have some great investigators that we are working with. I am so happy that we are staying for another little while. Elder Banner is staying as well.

Andrew is doing so well! He received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday in Sacrament meeting. He has read through the entire Book of Mormon, and is now going through Doctrine & Covenants. He tells us that he knows his decision was right. He also keeps telling us that he can't turn back now. He is doing really well, and he should be receiving the Priesthood here soon. I am so happy for him, and I am so grateful I have been able to see his progression. It has been great!

Unfortunately we haven't been able to meet with Luis again since that first lesson. I don't know if he is really that interested anymore. This week, However, we found someone named Manuel Martinez. He was given a pass-along card up in Wylie one day, and he wanted to get a free DVD about Jesus Christ, so that he could help someone else discover Jesus Christ. We were persistent though, and he agreed to listen to a message. He was very interested, and since then we have taught him three times, and we gave him a church tour on Saturday.

The church tour was really good! He felt the spirit, and there was baptism going on that we didn't know about, so he also came and watched the baptism with us. He came to church yesterday, and he brought his room mate as well who loved church. I am very excited about them two. They should be good!

I am getting really excited for Christmas! The next two weeks are going to be a lot of fun. We have our ward Christmas party on Friday. We offer service at a food bank here in Rowlett, and on Saturday they are going to do a gift donation, and they asked to use our church, so we will have hundreds of people coming through our church, which should be a great opportunity for them to feel the spirit. Then next week we have Christmas, and the day after will be my 18 month mark. It is crazy to think that I only have 4 transfers left. It is going to go by so fast.

I love my mission! I am so happy, maybe even happier than I have ever been before. I am so grateful for all the blessings I have, and it is so great that I have been able to serve in the Texas Dallas mission. It has changed me.

The highlight for the week for me was yesterday during Sacrament meeting. David Medrano is a recent convert that lost his sight a year ago. He is the happiest person I have ever met which is amazing for someone that has gone through so much. Yesterday, he gave a talk at church that was incredible. The spirit was so strong. He told us the story of his conversion. After losing his vision, he went into a deep depression. He was so sad, and began to have suicidal thoughts. One day the missionaries knocked on their door, and they began teaching them, but David wasn't really interested. They kept trying, and after a while they felt prompted to give him a blessing. David told us that after that blessing, he felt for the first time the holy ghost, and the love of God. This motivated him to start listening to the Book of Mormon on CD. He listened to it, prayed about it, and received an answer that it was true. And after that he needed to be baptized.

Every time I think of his story, or see him, the lyrics of Amazing Grace come to my mind, 

I once was lost, but now am found;

Was blind, but now I see.

 

He is now able to see, and I believe that knows more and has experienced more about what Grace and this church can do for someone than most people. I don't know how you wouldn't believe in this church after seeing him. His family is poor, he can't see, and yet they always pay their tithing, come to church, and live the best way they can. I am so grateful that I was able to meet David Medrano and his family.

I am doing great, and I am looking forward to talking with y'all at Christmas. I hope that y'all enjoy your week!

Love, Kyle

Andrew's Baptism!

Hi Mom,

We had a slow week, but a really busy Sunday. We didn't get a chance to watch the Christmas Devotional, but I heard that President Durrant said a prayer, so that was great!

On Tuesday, we found a fantastic new investigator that is very humble and interested in our message. I asked him the question of how Jesus Christ has played a role in his life, and the answer that he gave us was that he grew up Catholic believing in Jesus Christ, but as he got older he began to realize that the Catholics worship idols, so he stopped going. He got married and him and his wife tried finding a church to attend, but never really had one they attended regularly. A few years ago his wife was diagnosed with cancer. He had a really hard time with that, and out of desperation they started going to church again. He said that they tried everything, and they found hope that she would be healed in that church. She passed away a year ago, and he was very sad. He was expecting and hoping that someone from his church would come and comfort him, or come and help him, and no one did. So he again stopped going to church. Since then he hasn't been back. We taught him many things to help him, and we hope that he accepts all of it. I am looking forward to teaching him!

We also had our follow-up training meeting, which will help me to be a better trainer. This week, we have also began to use the He is the Gift video a lot in our missionary work. When we go door to door, we have a portable dvd player that we use with the He is the Gift video, and we ask everyone if they want to watch it. We have watched it many times on the doorstep. We have a great lesson tonight that has come from it, so hopefully he is interested.

Yesterday was one of the busiest Sundays of my mission. We started at 9 in the morning making the programs for Andrew's baptism. Then after that, we had to go make copies in the library, and that took us about an hour. Then we had church, and it was Sacrament meeting, so I bore my testimony. Afterwards in Priesthood we showed everyone the He is the Gift video and invited them all to get more involved with this initiative. We then went with the young men to show them another video to help motivate them. After church we finished folding the programs, got Andrew's size for the jumpsuit, and talked to several people about the font. After all of that we went and ate dinner, and then came back to set up for the baptism.

The baptism was great! There was a lot of support from the ward even though they don't speak English. Andrew asked me to baptize him, and I was so grateful to be able to do that for him. I think we might have made history baptizing the first English speaker into a Spanish ward. The program and talks were in English and Spanish, so it was all a little jumbled, and it was fun to hear the Bishop and our ward mission leader speaking English. The baptism was scheduled for 5:00 and we started it at 5:40, because we were on Hispanic time, but that was the only bad part.

When performing the ordinance I had to baptize him twice, because his leg came out of the water. It was kind of awkward, because the witnesses didn't see it, but the Bishopric did. So we started leaving, and as we were walking through the door we heard the Bishopric telling us to come back, so we did it again. After the baptism as we were changing, Andrew was telling me how happy he was. He was uncertain before the baptism, but afterwards, he knew it was the right thing to do. He kept telling me that it was just another step, and that there is so much more ahead, and he is exactly right. He also told me that he had been thinking a lot about baptizing his son. I am so happy for him, and he is on the right track. He is probably the best convert I have had, because he is so willing to act. He will make a great member.

I love this work, and I am so grateful that I have the privilege of helping people come unto Christ. I hope that I can continue to see that, and I am glad that I still have another 6 months to serve!

I did get the Christmas package, and I love the CD from Alex Boye! Thank you so much! I do have a tree in this apartment. My President also asked me to tell you that if you haven't sent the Christmas packages yet, you should send them to the mission office 13747 Montfort Dr. #120 Dallas, TX 75240 United States.

I love y'all and hope you have a great week!

Love, Kyle

Hi Dad,

This was a bit of an up and down week, but yesterday, it was so great to witness Andrew's baptism. He has progressed so much, and he is willing to progress much more. He will be such a great member. Now the challenge will be for us to find a way for him to be involved in this ward even though there is the language barrier. I don't think that bothers him too much though.

 

1. How did the baptism go?  Tell us everything.

The baptism was so good! We got there at 4:00 to set up, and we set up about 40 chairs, filled up the font, got the piano ready, and got dressed. We were already to go about 5:00, but there weren't very many people there, so we waited. Our ward mission leader didn't start until 5:40, which was pretty late, but the program was only about 30 minutes so it wasn't too bad. By the time we started, however, there were people putting up more chairs in the back, so that was great. The conductor spoke a little in English and Spanish, and then we had a member give his talk in both English and Spanish. After that we performed the baptism twice (his leg came up the first time) and while we were changing, the zone leaders had a message that they shared. We then closed the meeting with a few thoughts from our Bishop in English, which he actually did a pretty good job. I thought. We then had desert afterwards to celebrate. Everyone congratulated Andrew on his decision, and he seemed very happy. Baptisms are great, but when they are over, I always feel so relieved.

2. How is the new companion?

He is doing well. He is struggling a lot with the Spanish, and I need to do a better job speaking in Spanish. But it is coming slowly.

3. How is the family that you are teaching - are they still planning on getting married. 

They are in no man's land right now. They want to be baptized, but they keep waiting for their parents to come. The problem with that is the parents keep changing the date. They have changed it three times now, so we will see how it goes.

4. How is the work going?

Great! It is about the same as always. We find really good people, and then we see if they are going to progress. It is going well in this ward.

5. How are the members - are they working with you and helping you?

They are great at supporting us in ward activities, and in fellowshipping our investigators, and they are great at feeding us. The only thing I think they can improve in is inviting everyone to hear from the missionaries.

6. Do you get I pads next month?  And do you need money for them?

We will have to buy them, but the mission is thinking it will be in February or later.

7. Do you have fun with your District and Zone?

Yes, we have a great time on Preparation days and through out the week as well.

8. Tell us a good spiritual experience from the last little while.

One spiritual experience that I had this week, came in a very simple way. We were contacting using the new He is the Gift video which we play on a portable DVD player. We have had a couple of good experiences, but there was one this last week that was the best one we have had. We knocked on his door, and he told us he was busy, and he couldn't let us in, but we were persistent, and we asked him if we could just show him the movie right there on the door step. He accepted, and he loved the video. The spirit was so strong and we were able to testify of Jesus Christ there on his door step. The spirit softened his heart and we have an appointment with him tonight. He started out by saying he was busy, and he ended by saying he was very interested in our message. I know that the Spirit changes people, and that I can't do anything with out his help.

9.  What advice would you give to the Priests and Laurels? I am teaching them this month.

I could tell them so many different things, but I think that something that they all struggle with, because it was something I struggled with, is prioritizing your time. I would tell them to avoid wasting time. We should all be anxiously engaged in a good cause. Just imagine how different your life would be if you replaced an hour of watching TV with an hour of developing your talents, or growing spiritually. Fill your lives with the Spirit. The Spirit is what makes us happy, and it helps us so much in our lives. Make sure that your first priority is God, then your family. And start now to be better in prioritizing your time. Don't wait. Do everything you can to come closer to your Savior Jesus Christ.

I love you Dad! Thank you so much for helping me in my life, and thank you for all the BYU updates. I like having a quarterback with the last name Stewart, that is exciting. I hope you have a great week!

Love, Kyle

 

Thanksgiving!!

Mother,

We have had another great week. The work is going really well in this area, and we are seeing so much success. Andrew is going to be baptized next Sunday, and he is very excited for that. He already finished the Book of Mormon, and he is very ready! He has asked me to baptize him, so I am very excited for him.

This week we have started to implement the initiative from the church of He is the Gift. If you haven't watched the video yet, I would invite y'all to watch it. And to see the video. christmas.mormon.org It is a great way for us to share the gospel, and we are trying to implement that now. I hope it goes well, and we can see success. I love this time of year!

We haven't had a chance to meet with the Moreno family quite yet, but we are planning on meeting this week.

Thanksgiving was a lot of fun this year. We started out with the Turkey Bowl in the morning, which we weren't able to play in, because our President asked us not too. We were able to eat food, and talk to a lot of members there. It was fun, and we ate fried turkey for the first time. It was good, but my stomach didn't like it too much. After lunch, we went back to the apartment, and we planned for the next week. We then went to dinner with the Arevalo family, but after being there for an hour we still hadn't eaten dinner, so we left taught two lessons, and then we went back to eat dinner. They cooked a classic American meal, so it was like being at home. After finishing our dinner there, we went back to work. We passed by a less-active family's house, and they invited us in to eat more food. They had made tamales, which were really good! I loved it! It was a good balance of Mexican and American food! So, overall Thanksgiving was a lot of fun, and we had some great food, all while working at the same time.

Another highlight of the week was yesterday. This stake performs an annual Christmas concert with a choir, and a couple of orchestra performers. It was a lot of fun to listen and watch them perform, and the spirit was very strong. I miss being able to sing in a choir.

Elder Banner is doing well. He is able to participate more and more each lesson. Yesterday he gave his first talk in Sacrament meeting on the mission, and he did a great job. I helped him translate it, and he was able to give it very well. After he spoke, our ward mission leader spoke. Before the meeting, we opened up the overflow which is normally closed, and while he was speaking, he told everyone that all the empty seats in the back represent a less-active friend, or a family member, or someone that the ward needs to invite to come to church. I feel like it was a pretty effective object lesson.

I haven't had to do much as District leader quite yet. I will be giving another training this week, and I am excited for it. I really love teaching the gospel. I love helping others and serving them as well, so this responsibility is great!

I will be looking forward to the package tomorrow. Thank you for all your love and support! I am glad that the family had a great week! I still haven't been able to write Daniel, and it will be easier for me if I can email him, so could you get his email for me please? And Todd wrote me and told me how we really liked being able to do all the humanitarian work out there on his Island, so that is good for him. I am really loving the mission! I miss y'all a lot, but I don't want to come home. This experience has been too good, so I plan on making the most of my last couple of months. I love y'all! Have a great week!

Love, Kyle

Things are going really good here in Rowlett!

Hi Mom,

Things are going really good here in Rowlett. Andrew is preparing for his baptism on the 6th of December, and the Moreno family is now planning on getting married in the middle of December. We have also found some good investigators with potential. We will have to see how it goes.

Training is going well. It is still hard, but it is definitely so much easier now that I have experience with it. The hardest part is know how to involve them as much as possible in lessons even though he doesn't speak good Spanish, and at the same time still having a good lesson with our investigators. So, we are working on that, and my companion is progressing a lot. As District Leader, I give a training twice a month on whatever I feel like the district needs. Then, I also inspire and lift the missionaries to be better. That is about it. I am enjoying it.

For Thanksgiving, we will be starting by having a turkey bowl in the morning at a park for the ward, then we will also have dinner with the Arevalo Family and a lot of other members of the ward. We might also have another dinner at a part member family's house that night, so I am excited for this Thanksgiving. It will be fun.

I don't really need a Cd player, or anything like that, because it will mostly just be for the car. The mission doesn't really have their own rules for music. The handbook says no music with romantic lyrics, and no strong beats. So, a little bit of A Capella music, or christian rock that doesn't have a strong beat. I don't know, but something like that. I could probably also use two new long sleeve shirts for Christmas, so I will send you the sizes next time.

I am so excited to hear Chase on the drums! That will be so much fun to hear him play. I also hope y'all have fun at the concert this Saturday! Have a great Thanksgiving!

Love, Kyle

Hi Dad,

Things have been going really well. Our investigator Andrew is going to get baptized on the 6th of December, so I am sooooo excited for him. He has gone from having no belief in God to now hoping and wanting and believing that there is one. He is by far the best investigator I have taught. He progressed very well! Maricruz on the other hand, has to post-pone her wedding again to the middle of December, because that is when her parents are going to come here. I hope they come soon!

I am very happy! I love missionary work, and I am blessed to be able to train again. I hope that I can continue to become more Christ-like. The Spanish sister missionary that came out the same time I did is now going home at the end of the transfer. That is crazy to think that I only have a little bit of my mission left. It has been hard. And I can't say that I have loved every moment, but looking back at what I have become because of all the hard times, is so great! It is such a blessing to know that I am a worthy missionary of Jesus Christ at this time. I don't want it to end.

I will definitely accept your invitation to become more Christ-like. The callings that you and I have give us such a great opportunity to learn about this attribute. I also want to have this attribute so much! My president has been teaching us about the last verse a lot.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.

I love that it says that when he shall appear, we shall be like him. As we develop this attribute, we can be as he is. I hope and pray that we can like him when he appears, and that we may be purified even as he is pure, so that we will be pleased with our works on this earth. I will also let you know how this goes.

Thank you for writing me. I love you and I am so grateful for your example of the Disciple I want to become. I hope everything is going good back home with all the members. And with the family. Have a great week!

Love, Kyle

Staying in Rowlett

I have been transferred to the most dangerous part of Dallas right in the city of Dallas. We hear gun shots every night.

Not really. I am staying here in Rowlett for another transfer! I have to tell you the story of transfers. I didn't like having to wait until Monday night to get the calls, but the transfer meeting was fun. We got the call Monday at 8:00 saying that Elder Peck was leaving and that I was going to be staying for another transfer, so we went back to the apartment, and he packed while I cleaned the apartment. The next day we went to the meeting where we were going to find out who our new companions were, and where missionaries were going. The had a slide show set up where they went through the different zones showing everyone where they were going to go. I am in the Heath zone, and when they got to our slide, I saw my picture with out anyone next to it. This means, I am training again! I wasn't really feeling very nervous until I found out I was training. That is when the nerves start to set in. My new companion is Elder Banner from Loa, Utah. No one has heard of that city, so he just says central Utah to everyone. He is a really funny sarcastic guy, so I am excited to be working with him. He likes the outdoors a lot, hunting, fishing, etc. Probably because that is all there is in his town.

I am excited to train again, but I was also called as District Leader, so I was feeling somewhat overwhelmed at the beginning of the week. I gave my first District meeting in Spanish on Wednesday, and it went OK. Every once and a while I get a small glimpse of what Dad must feel, but it I am sure it isn't even close. It will be a great opportunity for me to learn and grow again.

This week was a great first week for Elder Banner. We taught more lessons this week than I have any other week. It was a great start for him on his mission. We worked a lot with the less-active members of the ward trying to get them to come to church, and we had some success with that.

Everything else is about the same here in the ward. Our investigators have been sick recently, so we haven't been able to teach a lot of them, and they didn't make it to church, but they are still doing well. Andrew told us this week for the first time that he believes in God, so he has come a long away.

The weather was about the same here as it was in Utah. It makes knocking doors a lot of fun. It is going to get back up to 70 though by the end of the week, so we will at least have a little more good weather. At least the cold is better than the heat.

Everything is going good. I would like some mission-appropriate music for Christmas. That would be great! I am glad that the family is doing well, and yes I have been getting e-mails from Nate. He is doing good! I love y'all so much and have a great week!

Love, Kyle

Another Good Week!!

Hi Mom,

We had another good week this week. It started out with a lot of rain, which was great, and we also taught some good lessons. I did get the card from Grandpa and Grandma Stewart by the way. I am so grateful for such great Grandparents! I don't like the new way they are calling us for transfers. It doesn't give us any time to pack, clean, or say good bye to any of the members, so I hope that they change it the next time. I think that I will be staying though.

Andrew is still doing so good. We weren't able to meet with him today, because his brother went to the hospital, but he came to church, and we mentioned that Elder Peck might be leaving, but that he would be able to come back for the baptism on the 6th. Andrew then said that he was pretty sure that Elder Peck would be back on the 6th of December. I was so excited when I heard that. It is so great that he is now starting to believe in God. He told us he was still a little unsure, but that while his brother was in the hospital, he prayed very hard that he would be OK. He told us that he thought to himself, "If I don't believe in God, why am I praying so hard?" So, he is definitely starting to recognize the Holy Ghost. I am very excited for him!

We were finally able to meet with the Moreno family again, and everything is still good. They are both planning on getting married at the end of the month, and it will be great to see that. Then she will be getting baptized right after that. I am excited for them as well!

We had another great experience this last week where the spirit guided us to a less active. When I first got to this area, the Bishop asked us to go and visit the Garcia family. We went by over and over again, and finally after several weeks we taught them a lesson. A few days after the lesson, we received a call from the Dad saying he didn't have time for us to be coming over, and that he would call us if they wanted us to come by again. So, we crossed them off the list and started working with other people. My companion got a prompting this week to visit them again. Earlier, my companion had marked their house on my GPS with a skull and cross bones, so if he wanted to visit them again, I thought that it must have been the spirit telling him to do so, so we went to their house. When we got there, they were loading up the car getting ready to leave. We were able to talk to them and they willingly set another appointment for us to teach them. We then were able to teach them this week, and they were open to what we had to say.

I will let y'all know what happens to me this week. I hope that I stay, so that I can help the people we are working with, and see them get baptized. I have loved watching them change and progress. I hope y'all have a great week! I love you!

Love, Kyle

Halloween Week!

Hi Mom,

This week was a lot of fun, but as far as missionary work goes, it was really slow. On Halloween, we had a small party with our zone where we all shared the best miracles we had seen on our mission, and then we carved pumpkins/ played phase 10. It was a very relaxing day for us, and the only night that we ever get off as missionaries, so that was nice.

This week, we also went to Spring Creek twice. Spring Creek is this great barbecue place that has great food! I loved it!

As far as our investigators, the ones that I have been telling y'all about all came to church on Sunday. It was great to see all of them there! Moreno family came, Andrew came, and Marta came! Andrew is still doing so good. We have taught him several lessons recently and he has told us that he is now starting to notice that he feels happier all the time. He said that he has gotten emotional several times while praying, and that he now feels comfortable whenever he is in Church. His answer is coming slowly, and he has so much faith. He also told us that he used to be contempt with his life knowing that there was no God, but he is hoping and wanting there to be a God. The idea that there is a God doesn't seem weird to him anymore, but he said that he still can't quite say that he believes there is a God. He is progressing so well, and yesterday he fasted and payed fast offerings for the first time. He told us that he believes that he will receive his answer after fasting, so we are excited to see what he thinks the next time we talk to him. I love Andrew, and I love being able to help him progress towards baptism!

The Moreno family are planning on getting married in the next week or two. I am excited for them, and the baptism should follow shortly.

The remodeling that we were doing was replacing a tile floor. When we got there, the tile was already taken off, and we were there to help them take the cement off from under the tile. It was so hard, because we were using hammer and chisel. We spent a total of probably 5 hours working on it, and I don't think we really did a whole lot. It definitely made us soar for a few days though. I don't know if they are done yet, so we will see.

The weather here is starting to cool down a little. We have highs in the 60s and 70s which is my favorite weather, so I am loving it! I am still doing good on everything. My address by the way is actually 1255 instead of 1233. There is some confusion on that. I love y'all and I hope you have a great November. (Can you believe it is November already?) Time is flying by.

Love, Elder Stewart

No Time to Write!

Hi Mom!

I am sorry that I can't write you very much today. We have been busy serving some people, but I will fill you in more on everything next week.

I had a great birthday! We worked hard all day long. At the beginning of the day we knocked doors and visited people. After that we had dinner, and they found out it was my birthday, so they got us a cake. It is called chocoflan. It wasn't bad. We than went out and taught some really good lessons that night. Thank you so much for the package and everything. I loved it!

The other highlight were that I had an interview with President Taylor which was great! He is a great guy, and I love being able to learn from him. The other thing was that I got sick that day, and I wasn't able to do much for a few days.

I love you very much. Thank you for all the updates on everyone. Have a great week!

Kyle

 

Happy Birthday!!

Hi Mom! How are you?

I am doing great! And I am excited for the package that I will be getting. Birthdays here in the mission are really weird, but at least I will still know my family is thinking about me. I love you!

Sorry, but I don't have a lot of time to write today. Not a lot happened this week. Our investigators are doing the same, and this week was just a normal week. We did have Stake Conference yesterday though. Stake Conference was good. We did find a new investigator this week named Apolinar Mena. He was taught in the past by missionaries, and he has already read all of the book of Mormon. He doesn't remember any of it, but he told us he believes it is true. He is 65 years old or so, and hopefully he will progress really well. He already has a baptismal date. Now we just need to get him to church.

I love seeing pictures of the family. Chase is taller than you and Haley now isn't he? How tall is he? I don't recognize his voice, and when I get home, I won't recognize anything about him. Thank you for all of your love and support! Have a great week!

Love, Kyle

Hola Querido Padre,

Te quiero muchisimo! Eres lo mejor Padre del mundo.

Hi Dad, We have had some good progress over the past couple of weeks. We are teaching a lot, and we have a lot of great potential investigators.

Over the last little while, we have been teaching this Man named Andrew. He is married to a member in the Spanish ward who recently started coming back to church. Andrew doesn't speak Spanish, but he still wants to come to this ward for his wife and kids. So, we are teaching him. He is the most diligent sincere investigator I have ever had. He is a very logical person, so he has a hard time believing in God, but he has such a strong desire to know that there is one. He has told us several times, I hope there is a God. Andrew is reading the book of Mormon daily, Praying daily, attending church weekly, and obeying all the commandments. He drank coffee every morning, but has stopped drinking since then. He told us as well about one night when he was making some coffee for his Mom, and he said that it smelled so good and he wanted to drink some. However at that moment a thought came into his head which is actually quite funny. He pictured God or Christ, I am not sure which, sitting at the counter with one eyebrow up, giving him a look like, "Really? You are going to drink that?" So he didn't drink it. He is doing everything he needs to do to find the answer, now we just have to wait for him to recognize his answer.

1. How was General Conference and what impacted you?

I loved it! I learned a lot, and I loved being able to hear those two Spanish speakers speak in their own language. That was fun.

2. How is the work going

Really well. It is still progressing slowly.

3. How are your investigators progressing.

I already told you about Andrew. He is doing fantastic! The rest of them are progressing slowly.

4. Who should we be praying for

Andrew, Maria, Marta, Apolinar

5. How is your companion and district - do you have fun

We have a lot of fun in our district. My companion is good as well.

6. Have you had many interviews with President Taylor - what is he like

I have had only one interview with him. He is incredible! He is probably the most spiritual man I have ever met. Every time I see him, I am so much happier. I can feel the love that he has for everyone, and he follows the spirit very well. He is very personal with his missionaries as well. He comes up to us and talks to us whenever he can. I love him a lot!

7. What did you think of the "meet the mormons" movie - did many people out there see it

I thought it was a really good movie. It really helps people know about what we believe and how family centered we are. I don't know if lots of people have seen it or not.

8. How is the Spanish - do you think and dream in Spanish now

I can think in Spanish when I want, but I can't ever remember my dreams, so I don't know if they were in Spanish or not. I hope so.

10.Do you know that your parents love you and are so proud of your service

Thank you for all the updates on everything! You are so great! I love being able to serve the Lord, and I realize what a privilege it is. I saw a picture of Chase by the way, and every time I see him, it gets harder and harder for me to recognize him. He is taller than Mom and Haley now isn't he. That is crazy! Have a great week!

Con mucho amor, Elder Stewart

A Fun Week in Rowlett!!

Hi Mom!

It was a fun week here in Rowlett. We started it all off with another day at Shenanigan's last Monday where we played bowling and stuff like that. On Tuesday we saw meet the Mormon's which was a really good movie. It was done very well, and really shows how important the family is to our religion. I almost got teary eyed when they showed the story of the Missionary Mom. I don't know if y'all have seen it, but it will probably make you cry. It was a great movie though.

On Saturday we had another missionary activity where we played soccer at the church. We had another good turn out, and it was fun to play with everyone.

That was about it as far as highlights, but our investigators are doing very well. Andrew is still the most solid investigator that I have ever had, but he still hasn't received his answer on whether or not there is a God. He is praying, reading, obeying all the commandments, and going to church every Sunday. He told us on Sunday that he still hasn't received his answer, but he has noticed that he is more calm and peaceful throughout the day. He drinks coffee, but ever since we taught him about the word of wisdom, he stopped. He doesn't even believe in God yet, and he stopped drinking coffee. He is solid, and he will receive his answer very soon.

The Moreno family is still doing well. They haven't been coming to church the passed two weeks, but everything should be fine.

Jared on the other hand, wasn't home when we had an appointment, and he hasn't accepted our phone calls, or answered the phone, so I don't know what happened, but we are giving him a break. Hopefully we can make contact with him again.

That is all that I really have to write about. We are still working hard, and I love this area. I hope that we will be able to continue to see success, and that our investigators will keep their commitments! I love my mission!

That is great to hear you got a job! Are you planning on staying there until they give you a paying job? That would be a fun job for sure! Let me know how it goes. Sounds like everything is going very well back home. Chase and Brooklynn looked really good in the sports pictures you took. I can't wait to come back and play Chase in basketball. That will be fun! Thank you for all y'all are doing for me!

I love you so much.

Love, Kyle

The Big Storm!

Mom,

It was another good week here in Rowlett 3rd. It all started out last Monday with a baptism from one of the investigators that the sister missionaries were teaching. It was a good service!

On Tuesday, we found a great new investigator named Jared. The week before, we had taught a less active member and encouraged her to come to church. She came last Sunday with her two kids, and her daughters boyfriend. When we stopped by their house on Tuesday, we started teaching Jared who is the boyfriend. He is suffering from depression, and going over to teach him is very sad. I have been able to tell though that as we have visited with him, by the time we leave, he usually feels a lot better than when we first got there. So far we have taught him a few times, and we shared the conference talk from Elder Holland from last year called like a broken vessel. It really motivated him to start doing things on his own such as living the commandments, and getting medical help. He is very open, and very humble to listen to the gospel. I love helping him, and I already love him so much.

We had a pretty crazy day on Thursday. This is when the big storm hit us. It was crazy, but nothing bad really happened. We started of the day planning. After planning, we went up to Wylie to visit with a less-active. Whenever we visit with him, we always sit outside. So we started our lesson outside under a gray cloudy sky. It wasn't very dark, and it wasn't raining either, so we didn't think much of it. As we shared the message with him, the sky became darker and darker, until it went a little green. I said to my companion, "Look at the sky! Am I the only one freaking out about this?" The less-active man didn't seem to care, so we stayed there as it began to get really windy. I was starting to get a little nervous at this point, but we stayed there. After awhile, we heard a branch break from the tree we were sitting under, and it fell about 1 to 2 feet behind my head. At that point I stood up and said it was time to go. But it didn't end there. My companion got up, and he heard the Tornado sirens going off. The less-active man, still didn't seem to care and told us that we should just stay there, because it wasn't raining, but we decided to go inside. The man lived in a trailer park, so we decided we would just go over to some member's house which was close by. As soon as we started driving, it began to pour rain. We drove through the rain and the super black sky over to a member's house, and just by running from our car to the door, we were drenched. It was a very exciting, but kind of scary adventure. Everything is good though. No worries. There was a lot of fences that fell down and tree limbs everywhere after the storm. It was an exciting day!

After the storm cleared up, we went and taught one of our investigators, who is progressing very well. We have taught him several times already, and I am excited from him. His name is Andrew. He is half white and half Chinese, and he is married to a less-active member in our ward who is Hispanic. One day she called us and told us she was ready to come back to church, and she wanted us to teach her husband. He doesn't speak Spanish nor Chinese, just English, but he wants to go to the Spanish ward with his wife. He has very little religious background, and he is very unsure as to if there is a God or not, but he is still very interested and willing to learn. He is very open to the fact that God may exist, and he is praying, reading, attending church, and obeying the commandments that we have taught him to find his answer. He should get it soon, but for now we are continuing to help him recognize that answer when it comes. We showed him a Mormon message about fathers and our Heavenly Father, and he began to be emotional from the way he felt. (If you haven't seen that mormon message, I encourage you to watch it. It is called Earthly Father, Heavenly Father). I believe it may have been the first time that Andrew has felt the spirit. It was a great lesson.

I loved this conference weekend. I learned so much about how I need to improve the little things in my life, and repent daily. I can't choose a favorite, but I loved the one from Elder Richard G. Scott, and by Elder Uchtdorf in the Priesthood Session. Those were great talks! Conference is probably my favorite time of year here on the mission. Sunday morning we made a big breakfast as well to celebrate, and I have pictures. I am so grateful for the living prophet that we have on the earth today who leads and guides us. I love this Church, and I know that Jesus Christ lives and guides His church today through Prophets. It is a great time that we live in.

I love you Mom! I am still so grateful for my opportunity to serve. I hope you got my letter as well. I will be watching the movie meet the Mormon's this week, and I am very excited for it! It will be great! Have a great week y'all!

Love, Kyle

Hi Dad,

My mission has changed me in so many ways. I feel first of all that my testimony has grown so much! I love Jesus Christ, and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve Him and to testify of Him. I love seeing the changes that this gospel can make in other people's lives, and every time I do, it strengthens my testimony even more. I love this Church.

I have also become more Christ-like. Before the mission it was always about me, and how others were mean to me, or how other people had wronged me. Working on becoming Christ-like was never something I did. I still tried to live right, but I could have been more patient with people, and I could have improved other things, especially within the family. Now I try to be more Christ-Like. I have realized how imperfect I am, and how much I need the grace of Jesus Christ, to help me in my every day life. I remember Brother Wilson always telling us in Priest Quorum how the Atonement applies to every aspect of our lives, and I believed him because he was my leader. But now I am starting to understand and experience all of that in my every day life.

I have seen my priorities change a lot! Instead of always trying to do the relaxing thing, or the fun thing, I have realized that I should not waste so much of my time. I really like Elder Cook's talk in Priesthood session when he talked about no excuses or rationalizations. I should live in a way day by day to help me accomplish the goals that I have, and I have become a lot better at prioritizing my time.

My knowledge of the gospel and of the scriptures has also grown so much. I thought I had a great knowledge of the gospel before my mission, but I have learned so much more, and I know that I will continue to learn so much. I love the scriptures! Especially the Book of Mormon, and the gospels. I feel like there is still so much more to learn, but I have definitely increased my knowledge.

These are just a few of the changes that I have seen since I have been serving a mission, and I am so grateful for the enabling power of the Atonement which has helped me with all of these things. I will keep working hard and I will continue being willing to do what the Lord asks so that He can make me into what I need to become. I love Him!

I am doing great! And thank you for writing me every week. I love you! have a great week!

Love, Kyle

Mission Conference

Hi Mom! Happy Birthday!!!!!! (I sent you a letter for your birthday, so be on the look out)

We had another really good week this week. We continue teaching more and more lessons, and we have been finding some great potential investigators. This area makes missionary work so much fun! I love it! Thank you very much for the package by the way. It is great to look white again instead of dirty. And thank you for the conference stuff. I am looking forward to it. The only thing that I still need is an oil flask. Mine broke. If you could send it in the next package, that would be great!

This week started off really well. We taught some really good people, and we are working a lot with the less-actives here in the ward. A lot of them are starting to come back to church which is great!

On Thursday, we had a specialized training with President Taylor. It was the best mission conference I have ever been to! I loved it. We learned the importance of revelation through prayer, Book of Mormon, and Church, and the way that we can help our investigators receive that revelation. It was something that really helped us out with teaching our investigators how to know the truth. By the end of the meeting, the spirit was so strong! It was one of the most spiritual moments of my life. I love my Mission President, and I am grateful to be able to learn from him!

On Friday, we taught a great lesson to our investigator Marta. She has been struggling to know if the Church is true or not, and we believe that she probably has a lot of fear of being baptized in our church. We aren't sure, because she is a quiet person. However, the spirit in the lesson we taught was so strong, and she told us she believes the church is true! I was so happy for her. All she needs now is to get rid of the fear that she has in being baptized. She is doing great!

On Sunday, we had a farewell meeting for a missionary in the ward that is leaving. Instead of having him speak in church, he had his own meeting Sunday night. It was a good meeting, and the sister missionaries and us were asked to sing. I love singing so much, and every time that I am asked to sing, I begin to miss choir a lot. It was a lot of fun.

I am still doing really well, and I am loving the work here in Rowlett. We are teaching some great people, and I am loving it! I love missionary work!

Thank you for all you are doing for me! I am happy to hear that everything is going well back home. I am very happy to hear that Haley scored a 24 on her ACT. Now she just needs two more points. I hope she makes it to BYU! I miss y'all! Have a great week, and enjoy General Conference!

Love, Elder Stewart

Hi Dad,

The work here in Rowlett is still so much fun! I love being able to see this ward grow, and people progress. I love missionary work!

Answers

1. Did you get transfered?

No, my companion and I will have one more together.

2. How are the investigators progressing?

Really well. We had another great lesson with an investigator we have named Marta which I will tell you about later, and we are continuing to find some good people.

3. How is the English class going?

Alright. It isn't as successful as I hoped it would be, because all the Hispanics live in Garland, and the classes are taught in Rowlett, but we still teach around 5 people each week.

4. Are you having fun?

Yes! The work is great, the ward is great, and we finally found a table to use for ping-pong, which we use everyday.

5. Any funny experiences lately?

Not really.

6. Do you like Rowlett?

I do like Rowlett a lot. It is probably going to end up being one of my favorite areas.

7. How was the mission conference?

It was really good. The spirit was so strong, stronger than it has ever been in a mission conference. It is interesting to see the difference between President Durrant and Taylor. President Taylor is one of the most Spiritual men I have ever met, and the conference really showed that.

8. Do spanish missionaries serve in Dallas itself?

Yes, but I don't know if anyone covers the downtown area.

9. Is it nice to be back in a car?

Yes! I feel a little more tired being in a car, but it is better than bike.
 

10. What are the people like in Rowlett?

We don't get to talk to very many people in Rowlett, because they are all white, so we do most of our work in Garland around where we live. In Garland there are some great humble Hispanics, and some prideful people as well, but it is a great area for missionary work!

The Moreno family is still doing really well. They are still preparing for their marriage and everything.

This week we had a great lesson with our investigator Marta. Her husband was baptized into the Church about six months ago or so, and she has been investigating on and off since then. Recently we have been pulling her towards investigating the church more. She has now come to church two weeks in a row, and she is doing great! In our lesson, Marta told us about some dreams that she has had recently, and then she told us that because of the dreams that she has had, she now believes that the church is true. The spirit again was very strong in that lesson, and we invited her to pray about when she needs to be baptized. Next time we go by, she should let us know.

I am doing great, and thank you very much for all of the updates that you have given me on BYU football. All they need is the Number 4 ranking, and then they have a chance for the national championship. I am excited to hear how they do. Hopefully they can go undefeated. I love you Dad, and thank you for all you have always done for me.

Have a great week!

Love, Kyle

Following the Spirit!!

Hi Mom,

The work this week started out great! We were teaching a lot, and we had some really good experiences/lessons. We taught the Moreno family about eternal marriage and watched a video clip from the video together forever. It was very cheesy, but the message was great, and the spirit was strong. We then asked them what their plans were for the marriage, and they are planning on getting married in November, because their family will be here at that time. We were a little disappointed that it isn't going to be sooner, but we are going to help them the whole way. I am excited for them.

On Wednesday one of the appointments that we had fell through, and we didn't have anything to do. We had already been knocking earlier, and we were pondering whether or not we needed to keep knocking, or go visit someone else. We were sitting in our car and my companion said, "You know how PMG says that we should follow the Spirit in where to go and what to do." I replied that I did, and he continued, "Is that supposed to be all the time everyday?" We decided that we should say a prayer on where to go, and as we finished I had the impression that we needed to go and visit a less-active that has been coming back to church recently. We drove to her house and knocked twice without an answer. I began to feel nervous, but I wasn't going to give up on them yet, so I knocked again, and after awhile as we were thinking about leaving, a boy answered the door. His name was Johnathan and he wasn't a member of our church, but he was living with his aunt who is the less-active. He let us in, and we were able to teach him. It wasn't the best lesson ever, and he canceled the next appointment that we had with him, but It was a testimony builder to me that Heavenly Father really is guiding us in our lives. He loves us and wants us to do what is right, and he sends us his messenger, the Holy Ghost to give us the direction we need. I love Heavenly Father. I will let you know if Johnathan progresses in the next week.

Teresa has been really sick recently, so we haven't been able to teach her, but she is still interested, and she wants to come to church, so we will keep teaching her!

I also learned this week that Heavenly Father keeps us humble. We started out the week great, teaching lots of good lessons. I was thinking that I was really good for being able to come into an area with nothing and make it start to progress. So when the weekend came around everything cancelled and we were only able to get a few lessons in. It wasn't a very good way to finish off the amazing start of the week that we had, but I know who I was reminded who deserves the credit for the success, and that is our Heavenly Father. I am grateful and blessed to be having lessons to teach, and investigators that are great! I love this area, and I am grateful to be serving here! Hopefully the Lord and us can continue to make it better and better.

I am glad that y'all are doing well. I love having a family who is very supportive of me in all I do. I am grateful for your help love and support. I love you so much! Have a great week, and I will talk to you next week. Transfer calls are this Saturday by the way. The mission is starting to fly by now.

Love, Kyle

I Love Serving the People!!

Hello Mom,

I am still doing good! The work here is continuing to grow, and we were able to see several miracles this week which was great! I am so grateful to be here in this ward. I love serving the people here!

We weren't able to meet with Teresa this week, because she had some other things that she was doing. We will hopefully be able to meet with here this week.

To start off the week, I had an exchange with an Elder in an area that is doing really well. We had a great time, and I came away from that exchange with a lot of motivation to work harder in my area. I got a lot of good ideas from what we did in his area, and I was excited to put them in practice. When we got back, we began teaching a little more, and we found some great people who we are going to start teaching now. On Thursday morning, my companion wanted to study faith, and how to use it in missionary work, so I gave him a talk called Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we came together in companionship study we both had the desire to put our faith to the test and to set a good goal for baptisms. I was a little skeptical about the goal that my companion wanted to set, but while we were discussing it, we got a phone call from a less-active member that wanted to come back to church, and that wanted us to start teaching her husband. This was a confirmation to me that we could accomplish the goal.

On Friday of this week we went by the Moreno family. We have taught them a couple of times, and they had been doing OK. The parents of this family aren't married, and they have two daughters. The father is a member that has been in-active almost his whole life, and his wife has been investigating the church for 10 years now. She seems to have been ready for baptism since we met them, but the Dad didn't want to get married. On Friday we taught a great lesson about the Restoration and we watched the Restoration video with them. The spirit was very strong, and we were able to testify about how we knew this was true and how it could help them. We asked them if they were willing to start making the steps necessary to receive these blessings, and the Dad said that he was. We were so excited for them! They are now planning a day for the wedding, and we are going to help them be ready for it! I can't wait for what is ahead of them! They also came to church on Sunday!

The first time we went over to visit with the Moreno family, the Dad seemed like he wasn't interested at all. He was always quiet and he seemed a little angry that we were talking to him. He was also wearing an earring that looked very Childish. After the lesson on Friday he was so happy and excited to start coming back to church, and he stopped wearing the earring. It was great to see the changes that were apparent on the outside as well on the inside.

I love being able to see the fruits of my labors as a missionary! Seeing the change that happens in someone's life is such a great blessing.  I love this Church, and I love representing it.

On Saturday we also had a ward party/missionary activity to celebrate independence day for Mexico and Guatemala. We played soccer in the church gym, and we ate Tortas which is a Mexican sandwich. We had a great turn out! Lots of people came, and the ward had a great time. I love activities like that where everyone can come together and just have fun in a very casual way. There was a time while we were playing where I was playing against 10 little kids all by myself. I wish I would have gotten a picture. It was like watching little kids play where they all clump around the ball, and then me right in the middle. Hispanic kids are the best!

I have some said news. I don't think I have anymore white shirts or garments, they have all gone yellow and brown. I think it might be time for some new ones. I don't know if y'all want to send them to me, or if I should just go buy them myself. I will need the garments sent though. The address you put on the package was the right address, so I will look for it in the next couple of days. Thank you for all you do for me! I am grateful for such a great Mom and family! I love y'all!

Have a great week y'all!

Kyle

Loving Rowlett!

Hi Mom,

The work is still getting better and better! I am no sure if I told you about Teresa the investigator that we found the week before, but we were able to meet with here again this passed week, and she is still very open to the message that we have. She read through all the introductory stuff in the Book of Mormon, and she told us that she wants to come to church, so we are very excited about her. She still thinks that we are a gift from God, since we came at a time when she really needed help in her life.

My companion and I are still doing very well. He knows how to use computers. He also went to a lot of BYU games before the mission, but he is not quite as big a fan as I am when it comes to sports. He loves movies. He is a very good Elder though with great desires to serve God.

I am so happy that the Expedition is going to live! I hope to be able to ride in it again some day. Sounds like life is getting pretty crazy for y'all. Chase is quite the athlete musician. Is he still driving y'all crazy with the drums? I am still very excited to go back and listen to the family band. It should be great!

I had a great spiritual experience this week. We got a call from the Spanish Sisters saying that one of their investigators needed a blessing. We were happy to help, and we went over to their house to give the blessing. I was asked to give it, and it was amazing to see the power of the priesthood in action through me. The spirit directed me on what to say, which hasn't really happened very much in the passed, and the spirit was so strong in the room. I gave the blessing in Spanish, and when you are praying or giving a blessing in Spanish, you speak differently than you normally would if you are talking to someone. I haven't mastered this form of talking yet, but I was able to give the blessing with only one or two mistakes. It was incredible for me. The spirit was so strong that the man we were giving the blessing to started to cry, and he is going to start being taught by the missionaries in another area. He is a very good potential investigator for the missionaries who get to teach him. I was so grateful that I could be an instrument in the Lord's hands in helping them out. I love serving the Lord, and I know that his Priesthood is real. I know that it is the power of God to act in the name of Christ and to do the things that Christ would do if he was here.

The English classes that we started teaching went very well this passed week. We had 7 people who aren't members who were able to come and learn English. I hope that we are able to have success with the English classes!

I am still enjoying this area. The members here feed us almost everyday. And when they don't feed us, we can usually find less-actives who will give us food. I am happy to be serving with them, and I hope that we can start to help them do their own missionary work. The car is also great. I am so much more tired now though.

I love y'all very much! I know this church is true, and I hope that y'all continue to progress and grow in the gospel. I will keep my eye out for the package that will be coming.

Thank you for all you do Mom I love you!

Love, Kyle Stewart (All the Hispanics pronounce our last name Eh-Stewart.)

Things are Getting Better!!

Hi Mom!

Nooooooo! Not the Expedition. I love that car! There have been a couple of times on my mission where I have ridden in an Expedition, and it reminds me of home. I found out as well on my mission that an Expedition is a Hispanic car down in the south. So, we have always owned a Hispanic car. I hope they can fix it!

This week was so much better. We are beginning to teach a lot more people, mostly less-actives, and some of them have been coming to church. It will be a slow process to get this area up to the point where we want it to be, but we are seeing results quickly. On Tuesday we started teaching English Classes as a second language. Only one person showed up, but she was a non-member. On Wednesday we began to advertise the classes by putting fliers up in different areas in the city where lots of Hispanics go. We put about 20 fliers up on Wednesday, and with-in and hour we were getting phone calls from people wanting to come. We are very excited for these classes!

My companion is Elder Peck from Sandy, UT. He came out at the same time that I did, and we are getting along really well. Elder Peck also came out right after High School, so that makes him the first companion that I have had who is younger than me.

I am really enjoying this area. I really hope that I am able to do what Heavenly Father wants me to do here. I love the work! I am happy to hear that everything is still going well back home. I love y'all!

Love, Elder Stewart

Hi Dad!

This week was so much better than the last. We found some good people, and we are working with a lot of less-actives. I love this area and the ward here.

Answers:

1. How is the new companion?

He is good. I am trying really hard to get along with him.

2. Do you two get along?

Yes!

3. How long has he been out?

He came out the same time that I did. And he graduated in 2013 as well.

4. Are you the senior companion?

Yes I am.

5. How many spanish speaking missionaries are in your mission?

Around 70 I think.

6. Do you like the new area?

Yes! It is nice to have a car, and a nicer apartment, and the members feed us really well here.

7. How is the new ward and people that you are serving?

They are great. I was able to get to know them a lot quicker here, and I am looking forward to serving with all of them.

8. Picked up any new investigators?

Yes, we found an investigator named Teresa, and a few part member families to work with.

9. Are you able to do things as a district and zone?.

Yes, we will be. There is a place close by called Shananigan's where we can go for free to play mini-golf, laser tag, go-karts etc. Sounds like it will be fun.

10. What experiences did you have this week that helped your testimony.

We went out knocking a lot this week, since there weren't a lot of people for us to teach, and we found someone named Teresa. We rescheduled for another day, and we had to cancel on her twice, because we didn't have a man to bring with us to the lessons, but she still accepted. When we came by to teach the lesson, the lesson went OK, but she received it so well. She had just lost her job, and she lives all by herself. She believes that us coming to her house when we did was a gift from God. She committed to read, and she should be coming to Church soon!

Experiences like this always help me to know that God loves his children, and he answers prayers.

11. Are you working hard and looking to love the people?

Yes. I love Hispanic people! Especially the members. They are so nice and I love speaking Spanish to them. It is always a great time. And I am working very hard. We are always working, but now we just need to work more effectively through the members.

I also spoke in Church on Sunday on the Sacrament. I am getting use to speaking and teaching in front of lots of people, but the Spanish still scares me a lot of times. I always pray that I will be able to touch the hearts of others in teaching and speaking, and yesterday I could definately see the Lord's help in my talk. I was able to speak with very little trouble. I didn't really have to even think about translating into Spanish, it just came to me. The Lord always provides in the way that he needs to, and after the meeting many people complimented me on my Spanish. It has been such a blessing to learn how to speak Spanish, and I hope that I can find ways to speak it when I go home.

BYU! Yes! I am glad they won, hopefully they will beat Texas again so that more people will listen to the missionaries down here. It will be exciting to watch! Where is Texas University?

Thank you for all you do for me Dad. I love you very much, and I am so grateful that I have been able to watch your example for many years. Have a great week, and make sure you tell me how badly BYU beats Texas!

Love, Kyle

Rough start in Rowlett! Lots of pictures from Grand Prairie!

Hi Mom,

I have had quite  the first week here in Rowlett. It has been so frustrating and stressful, and yet this area seems to have a lot of potential. I feel so dumb right now, but I learned and grew from the experiences that happen, and they WON'T happen again. It was car trouble.

So, I arrived on Tuesday to Garland which is where we live. It is a small part of Garland that we cover, but the church is in Rowlett, so this is the Rowlett area. The  apartment here is so much better than the one in Grand Prairie. It isn't anything special, but it is a lot better. When I got here on Tuesday we didn't have a car, because my companion had crashed it about a month ago. He can't drive anymore, and we were going to get a car on Thursday, so for the first few day we were on foot and biking everywhere. When Thursday came, we got our brand new car and drove it home no thinking at all about a parking sticker. On Friday, one of our few investigators dropped, which started the terrible weekend. We enjoyed the car on Thursday, and all day Friday, but when we woke up Saturday, it wasn't there anymore. We were so confused, and we first thought that it had been stolen. We tried calling our vehicle coordinator, but he wasn't able to do anything about it, because he was out of town. We went over to the office, but the office was closed for the week end. On our way back, I realized that it had probably been towed. So, we found a number to call on our apartment complex, and it had been towed. So this was the first dumb thing we did, but it didn't end there. We called all our appointments that day, and again some of our investigators dropped. We continued to go out and work on bike, and by the time that we had rode up the first street, my tire popped. We worked on it for an hour to try and fix it, but it kept popping. So we went out again on foot. It was a long day, but we were trying hard not to get down on ourselves. When today came, we went to go pick up our car with the vehicle coordinator. It is going to cost us $400. That was frustrating, but nothing too terrible. The terrible part was when we drove the car back to the apartment complex, we asked the office manager for a sticker, and she said that she would have released the car if we had gone in before we picked it up. I had even said to my companion several times that we should go over to the office, and for some reason we didn't. So in other words, we are paying $400 for nothing. It was a terrible first week here in Rowlett.

As far as the actual area goes, the ward is great! We have people from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Argentina, y Peru. The members are very helpful from what I have seen, and we are getting ready to work with them to find investigators. The work here in Rowlett is very slow. We are down to two investigators, one of which we are thinking of dropping, so we have a lot of work to do. We will be knocking and visiting lots of less-actives for awhile.

I hope that all this bad stuff that is happened won't affect the work here in Rowlett. It will probably take me awhile to get over it. I just feel so frustrated and dumb for not thinking about these things, but I guess it was a lesson learned, and I don't plan on doing it again ever. I hope that we can now turn this area around to what it needs to be. I am ready to work hard!

I hope everyone continues to enjoy school. Sorry that my letter was so depressing, but I am now ready to work and not look back. Thank you for sending the picture of the mountains. I love y'all! Have a great week.

Love, Kyle