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