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