Another Ok Week!

Hi Mom,

 

We had another ok week. It all started on Tuesday, which Tuesday has become our busiest day of the week. You would think it would be the week end, but Tuesdays are always the busiest. Tuesday night we taught a lesson to our investigator Aaron G, the football player. Nicky another friend of the youth, who is a strong non-denominational believer, was there as well. This lesson, was the most spiritual lesson that I have participated in on my mission. It was a great lesson. Nicky told us his story of how he was born when his Mom was a teenager. His mother wasn't married, and didn't marry until a few years later to another man. Nicky wasn't with the best crowd about four years ago, and he began smoking marijuana. A year later his Dad died, which got him started in Church, and from that experience, Nicky had turned his life around. He is a great example to youth, and he is going to start reading the Book of Mormon. Aaron then told us his background, which was also amazing. He grew up without a church. When he was 10 years old he began to go to a Cowboy church. After awhile he stopped going. He also wasn't hanging out with the best crowd when he started high school, but he realized that he needed religion in his life, so he began looking. He said he could feel a difference every time he walked into a church, but he didn't really know what he was looking for at church. At the beginning of this school year, he read a little about our church. Later this year, he became friends with the youth of this ward. They invited him to church one week, and Aaron came. Then Aaron told us an incredible miracle that he had seen. The moment Aaron walked into the Church, just like in the other churches he walked into, he felt the spirit, but it was a little bit different. The way he felt told him that this was the church that he had been looking for, and the church that he needed to attend. He knew the church was true when he walked in the door, that is amazing to me.

 

As well as having good experiences, as missionaries there always has to be adversity. In Sunday school yesterday Aaron C was able to attend. He drinks a lot of coffee for health reasons, and the lesson just so happened to be about the word of wisdom. It was a scary meeting. Some of the members here just don't know when to shut their mouths. Aaron brought up his concern to the class, and every one felt like they needed to answer him. Elder Lynn and I sat there praying that he wouldn't feel offended. Luckily he is still willing to come to church and take the lessons, but he is against the Word of Wisdom, or at least the coffee part. So we will try to clear everything up this week. Wish us luck!

 

Besides all of that this week was a little slow. The challenge this week for McKinney Madness was number of lessons taught with a member present. We won again, so now we are heading into the finals which is number of baptismal invitations extended, so my companion and I are going to try to invite people at the door when we go tracting. Hopefully we have some success with it. I can't believe I am 1/3 of the way done. It has gone by fast, or at least it is going by fast now.

 

Transfers are coming up next week, but I hope I am staying. Sherman has been a great area for me, and probably will be one of my favorites for my whole mission.

 

Let me know if you hear where people are going on missions. I am excited to see where the youth go.

 

I love you! Have a fantastic week!

 

Elder Stewart

Our Zone Contacted 2000 People!

Mom!

 

We have had another great week here in Sherman! We taught some good lessons, and contacted a lot of people. Our zone as a whole contacted 2000 people this week, which was crazy! We are doing a competition thing here to help us get ready for March Madness. We call it McKinney Madness. The first week we competed in who could contact the most, and it payed off, because the zone contacted 2000 people. Last night we called in our District's numbers, and the zone leaders told us that we had 1,996 contacts, so we needed to contact four more. Elder Lynn and I, in our basketball shorts and shirts ran out of our apartment at 10:00 at night to contact the four more people that we needed to contact to reach 2000. It was quite the experience, but we got 2000.

 

On top of that, we set another baptismal date that is very solid. We now have Igor the African for March 8, Aaron C for March 8, and our new date with Aaron G for March 15. These dates are all looking really solid, and we should be baptizing next transfer. It will be a great experience! Aaron G our new baptismal date is 17, and the youth brought him to church. We met with him, and before we said anything, he told us he wants to be baptized. We are very excited for him. He plays football for Sherman high school, and he is already being recruited by Auburn, Florida State, Baylor, Texas. To start of the lesson, I asked him why he wanted to be baptized. His response was, "I have been thinking a lot about my future, and I want a new start with a strong faith in Christ. I went to become religious again so that when I go to school, I won't be as influenced by decisions and the people around me." After that response everyone in the room (The priests and us) were amazed. We knew right there that he was ready. I have never heard an answer so sincere in my life. He really wants to be baptized, and I can't wait to help him out! The youth in this ward are incredible. They are by far the best missionaries in the ward, and they are only 16 and 17. I wish I had experiences like that before my mission. They will be great missionaries!

 

I really can't believe how great the missionary work is here in Sherman. I love missionary work! I don't know if I have ever been so happy before in my life, and I really can't wait for this next transfer when we will be able to see some people come unto Christ through baptism. I have never experienced anything so fulfilling in my life. Oh yeah! Aaron C has finished the Book of Mormon, and he knows it is true. He has said many times, "I don't know why the church has so much against, from what I have read, I haven't found anything that goes against what I believe, or what the Bible says, and trust me, I have looked!" Aaron is very prepared for baptism! Really the only obstacle we have to conquer for him would be that he drinks a lot of coffee.

 

 Chase is doing great! Tell him that he better get his Eagle before I get home. I am proud of him, and excited for him as well. How long will he need braces?

 

I am still doing great, and I did receive the package. Thank you very much for it. The pringles are greatly appreciated. I hope y'all have a good week!

 

Elder Stewart

Miracles!!

Mom,

I am still doing great! Like I said last week, the miracles come after a trial of your faith, and we definitely saw some miracles this last week. It made up for the bad week we had before, and it shows that as we do all we can, even in our hardships, the Lord will do all we can't. I love this work!

We started out the week teaching lots of lessons, and we knew it was going to be a good week. We were excited for the people we were visiting, and we have been working hard to find the prepared. On Wednesday, we had a zone meeting which started out with a really long boring training on contacting referrals. It was a good training that took way to long to explain, but that same day, we received a referral, that I may have put off until later had the training not taken place. We contacted the referral quickly, and set up an appointment for the next day. When we passed by his house for the lesson, it went great! We found out that he was researching his family history, and found out that some of his ancestors were pioneers. He wondered why he hadn't known about it, and wanted to know what we believe, so he went on line, and requested the missionaries from Mormon.org. Not only that, but in his research, he had found that he comes from Scotland, and that he is related to Stewarts. On top of that, he had been praying for something about his family history, for example a Stewart, and I came to his house. It was perfect timing, and I finally realize why I was called to Dallas, Texas, and why I am teaching in English. His name is Aaron. He is a war veteran and 43 years old. He has really bad health, so he is retired.

We taught Aaron a great lesson on Thursday, and another on Friday, and another on Saturday. Aaron has already read through 1 and 2 Nephi, and partway through Jacob. He will probably have the book finished by the next time we go to his house. He is truly prepared, and really we only have a few things that are holding him back. We are so blessed, and saw the miracle of the Lord's timing this week.

The second miracle came on Saturday, when our investigator Igor called. He is the young African from Gabon. He had a really tough week this week, and had to rely on the Book of Mormon a little. Igor is 25 and is staying here to go to school. In order for him to go to school, he also has to work a lot, so his schedule is really crazy. This passed week, Igor didn't have enough money to pay his tuition, and was still going to school, and working. He was feeling really depressed, and read from the Book of Mormon to find comfort. It was Ironic, because the last time we had taught him, he had asked us to give him some scriptures he could use to help him through his trials, and to give him comfort. He read those scriptures, and they really helped him out. He was also praying about whether or not he should be baptized, and he received his answer saying yes! We were so excited when he called us on Saturday. Another miracle had happened, and we couldn't believe it. We are so excited for him. There are some things that we still have to work out, but he is doing great!

I love missionary work! We had some other miracles happen this week, with finding some people, but the two I wrote were the biggest.

I am not going to lie, we don't do a whole lot here in Sherman to have fun. There is not a lot to do. I have however picked up a new hobby/skill, and that is juggling. It is my new stress reliever at night. I will come home after a long day and start juggling. It is funny, I think as missionaries we have the ability to pick up things faster than we normally would, like juggling. There are also may missionaries that pick up the Ukulele on their missions. My companion and I are still getting along great, and I am having more fun this transfer than I have my whole mission. The companions for me just keep getting better and better.

I am not sure if you saw it in my last letter, but I would really like my Priesthood line of authority. There have been so many times over the passed couple of weeks when I could have used it, so it would be very helpful! Besides that I am doing great!

Thank you for all you do! I love you and miss you a lot!

Kyle

 

A Tough Week!

Mom,

 

More pictures are on the way! January did go by very fast, and I hope it will only get faster from here. We have had a very tough week. We taught some good lessons, but it seemed as though every good lesson we taught came with much adversity. It is so hard to have trials that I can't fix or really do anything about. I love my investigators, and when they are struggling, or making bad decisions, I feel terrible. On top of that, we have had so many people not being home for appointments, canceling, or dropping us. When we thought this week was finally over and done with, last night we called one of our investigators that we have an appointment with tonight and he dropped us as well, so I am really hoping that things start picking back up. It really just goes to show you that as a missionary when you start to have success, trials always come to test your faith, and strengthen your testimony. I believe some great miracles are coming from it though. Hopefully things will start getting better.

 

The weather has been very up and down. It was very cold to start the week, then we weren't wearing jackets in the middle of the week, then we were stuck inside AGAIN last night because of ice. So, to answer your question on how is the weather, I don't really know, because by the time I adjust to it the weather changes. I love the warm days though, those are great!

Ryan will be a great tutor for you, much better than I ever was. He is a genius, so your money is going to good use. I am personally still doing good. I would love my direct line of authority though maybe laminated, that would be very useful. I am doing good. I love you tons too!!

 

Love Kyle

 

P.S. Tell Brook that I miss her and I love her more.

Hi Dad,

This week was a tough one, but for miracles to happen, there must be a trial of your faith, so I believe some miracles are on there way!

 

1. Are there members in your ward that helping you with missionary work?

The members are great about feeding us, and coming out with us to lessons, but not so much on the referrals. We are working on it though.

 

2. Have you had any more Ice storms go through?

Yesterday. Again. More Doritos and Jesus the Christ

 

3. How are the missionaries in your District (any headaches)

Not really, maybe a small one, but they are a good small district.

 

4. How did you investigators do this week.  (Did they find their answers, come to church)?

They had some trials this week. Igor the African has been coming to church since we met him, and he is the closest to baptism. I am excited about him.

 

5. How far do you have to go for Zone Conferences? 

40-60 miles

 

6. What is President and Sister Durrant like?

Very loving people who are also very strict about obedience. President Durrant reminds me of Elder Holland.

 

7. Do you still do service at the food place every week? what service do you do now?

We still do the same service at the food place.

 

8. Do you have or will you be getting an IPAD?

I am not sure. We don't have one, and I don't think we will be getting one soon.

 

9. What experiences did you have this week?

We are teaching an 18 year old named Shannon. He has been coming to church for over a year now, and really likes the environment. He however, tells everyone that he doesn't believe in God, so we have been working with him help him develop a testimony, which we are sure he already has. We asked him to describe his thoughts about why he doesn't believe God, and he told us that pretty much there is no purpose to life. I learned two things from this: 1) I have really come to love my investigators. Every time that Shannon says that he doesn't believe in God, it hurts. It takes my breath away and I never know what to say next. He is a good kid, and I really want what is best for him, but there is some kind of problem that is holding him back. 2) I am so grateful for the plan of salvation. For my knowledge that gives me a purpose in this life, and something to live for. I know that there is a God that loves me, that I will see Uncle Clay again, and that I will be happy after this life. I don't know how someone would disbelieve that plan, because it is so beautiful. I love this gospel!

 

10. How is your testimony different then it was when you left?

I know I have said it many times, but my testimony and relationship with Christ are so much stronger now. I love the Atonement, and my desire to share it grows every day of my mission. I love my mission!

 

Thanks for writing me every week. You have taught me a lot, and continue to teach me every day. I love you!

 

Kyle