Another transfer has come to an end!

Hi Mom,

 

We had another really good week with lots of great stuff that happened. The transfer has come to an end, and I believe that my companion and I will be together for one more. We work really well together. We really get along well. I am very excited to see what we can do with the ward, and how we can help everyone.

 

On Tuesday I bought myself a new suit to finish off my mission, and to wear when I get home. I almost made it to the end of my mission without having to buy a new one, but not quite. Now I will have a nice one for church and big meetings.

 

Thursday we had the zone conference with Elder Foster, and he talked to us about some amazing things. I love listening to general authorities, because their knowledge of the gospel is incredible! It was a great meeting! After the meeting my companion got sick, so I was able to relax for the first time in who knows how long.

 

Carlos Martinez had his birthday on Friday, so we took him out to get baleadas which are food from honduras. They were pretty good. It was a lot of fun to be with Carlos for a little while on his birthday.

 

We had a great day Saturday! It all started with us going to the temple to do baptisms for the dead with Carlos and some other recent converts and members that hadn't ever done it before. It was a great success! All of the people that went really enjoyed it! Then we went out to work in the Pleasant Grove area later that day, and we found some amazing families. My companion while he was on exchanges contacted a young man who said he would be interested in some family history. We went back by Saturday and he was asleep, but his parents answered the door. We told them about how their son was interested in family history, and they said that they would be too. They started telling us about their family, and they became really excited about the fact that we were going to help them find that information. They then went on to tell us about how they had the missionaries teaching them 40 years ago. The husband, Gerardo, had read through many parts of the Book of Mormon, and he said that he really enjoyed it. He then told us about how he always really respected the missionaries, and members of our church. They always seemed different to him than the Catholics and Jehovah's Witnesses. It was great to be able to talk to them, and they were so excited about family history. They came to church yesterday, and we have another appointment with them on Friday.

 

Yesterday at 7:00 pm we had a fireside with the three wards that meet in the building. President and Sister Taylor came as well as the Stake President, President Larsen. The meeting was fantastic! The spirit was really strong, and the members that went to the meeting came away ready to do missionary work. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of people there, but it was still a great meeting. I conducted for the first time of my life, and it took me a little while to warm up to it, but by the end it felt natural. Also, the missionaries sang a song in the middle. We sang Be Still My Soul, and we sounded really good! There were 6 Elders in total, and we really were able to bring the spirit into the meeting. After we sang, and after I introduced President and Sister Taylor, President Taylor leaned over to me and said you will make a great Bishop some day. I didn't know whether to be happy or scared about that, but it made me feel really good. President Taylor is so good at giving compliments to other people. I hope I can be like that some day. All of the speakers did a great job, and overall I think that everyone that was there really enjoyed the meeting.

 

I am really excited for this next transfer. I hope that I can better serve the zone. I love missionary work, and the time is going by so fast. It is funny. It is really hard for Elder Giles and I not to talk about home, but every time we do, we hate it. So, hopefully we can focus more on the work.

 

Thank you for all your love and support. I love y'all!

Kyle

 

A Busy Week!!

Hi Mom,

 

Our week here in Texas was really busy, and it flew by so fast. On Monday we had our preparation day and we played basketball again with the zone. It was a lot of fun. On Tuesday we started helping people with Family History, and I am starting to feel the spirit of Elijah really strongly in my life. We taught it to some of the High Priests in the ward, and then this past Sunday the High Priest's wives were going around telling everyone about how they need to have the missionaries teach them about family history.

 

Tuesday night I went and slept at the assistant's apartment for the ward leadership council that we were going to have the next day. Leadership council was amazing! I loved it so much! We felt the spirit so strong in that meeting, and it was so great to learn from all the other great missionaries in the mission. I was talking to some other missionaries, and we were all joking about how after that meeting we all feel like such terrible missionaries and that there is so much that we can improve on. During this specific council, we discussed how we can be more Mighty, bold, and powerful in our missionary efforts. The things we discussed were so motivating to me in my missionary work. I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of that meeting. Sister Taylor makes really good food too.

 

After the meeting we went back to our area, and that is when it started to snow/ice, so we went back to the apartment and we called it a night. My zone leader companion was stuck with us at the time, so he had to stay the night, and the next morning we were able to plan our zone meeting for the next day. If y'all remember this time last year I talked about doing what is called McKinney Madness. Well we have decided to start our own Mighty March Madness for the Dallas East zone. It started yesterday and it will go until Easter. We are really excited about it, and people are already working harder because of it, so it is going well.

 

The zone meeting on Friday was so good. We had a zone council and we were able to talk about some great things on how to be mightier contacters and missionaries. We also went on line to relative finder where we have a group for the mission, so we were able to find out how closely we are related to everyone else in the mission. It was fun.

 

Saturday night we had the baptism of Carlos Martinez. He has progressed so much and it was great to see him get baptized. I love watching him and seeing him change. He told us he used to not be the best person, but now he is doing great! We were very excited to see him and watch him grow/change. I hope that everything continues going great for him. He is already talking about serving a mission, so he could leave in about a year. That would be great for him, and I hope he does it.

 

Yesterday and Sunday night we did another exchange and our preparation day was moved to today. That is why I am emailing y'all today instead of yesterday. It was a weird time for an exchange, but it was the only time it could be done. This week went by so fast, and this next week is going to go by so much faster. On Thursday we are have a zone conference with Elder Foster of the seventy and then on Sunday the three wards that meet here in Mesquite will be having a fireside now called a devotional with President and Sister Taylor along with the Stake President. It will be exciting!

 

I like the trip plans that you have made. It will be fun for y'all to see what we did, and I want to explore Dallas a little bit. Plus I will really like going to church somewhere to see all the members again. I am excited. But at the same time I don't want my mission to end. I do, but I don't at the same time, and I am sure Dad knows exactly how I feel. I am going to miss so much about the mission when I go home. It is going to be quite the adjustment.

 

I love you Mom! Have a great week and good luck with your events.

Love, Kyle

100 Days left!!

Hello Mom,

 

This week has been really slow. We have had to stay inside some days, and when we have left, most of the time we haven't been able to drive, just walk. So it was a pretty slow week. We will probably have one more storm coming up soon, but after that, I think spring will come. The weather here in Texas at the end of February, beginning of March is very crazy. It jumps from 70 to 20 and back to 60 all in a couple of days, but we should be done with all of the cold at the end of this week. My companion has been with lots of other missionaries, and I have been back to teach that part member family. I really enjoy working with the whole zone, and it isn't too much stress, but it does add a little.

I honestly don't have much to say about this passed week except for that Carlos Martinez will be getting baptized this Saturday! I am very excited for him, and he is even talking about going on a mission. That would be an awesome experience for him, and I really hope he goes. He is so prepared!

This week, we have been working really hard with the ward to help become one with them, and to get them more involved in missionary work. We met with the Bishop, and the High Priest group leader of the English ward, and this next week we are going to be helping them out with home teaching, and Family History. I have never been so excited about missionary work. Working with the ward and the members makes missionary work so much more fun. These wards are really starting to become more missionary minded also.

Today is officially my 100 day left mark, and it has caused me to reflect a little on my mission. I am sure you are probably tired of hearing the same email from me every week, so I would like to change things up a little, and share my testimony on missionary work and my mission. I love my mission. I haven't always loved this work, but as of the last few months, I have really started to enjoy and make the most of my mission. It has been hard, the hardest thing I have ever done, but because of that it has also been the most rewarding thing I have ever done. People ask me a lot what my favorite thing is about the mission, and honestly my favorite thing changes from time to time, but for right now it is a tie between watching the gospel change the lives of my investigators, and watching myself become more and more converted to the gospel. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real, and it allows all of us to change from bad to good, and from good to better. I have seen people give up addictions and other bad habits, and I have also seen them become nicer, happier, more charitable people. It is amazing to know that Jesus Christ suffered for us to help us in EVERY aspect of our lives. I love Him so much! My mission has also changed me. The trials that I have gone through and the people that I have taught have helped my faith to grow and have increased my desire to be obedient and follow every commandment that Christ gives us. I know he lives, and he lives to help all of us to become more like him, because that is the whole reason why we are here on this earth is to become more like Him. That is where true happiness comes from. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father who love us so much that they created the plan of happiness for us. I invite everyone to come closer to them, and to think of how we can all live better in our lives.

I love y'all, and I appreciate all you have done to help first to encourage me on serving a mission, and second to support me as I have served. I love you Mom so much! Have a great week!

 

Love, Kyle

Another Ice Storm!! Finally some pictures!

Hi Mom,

 

This week was really good! I loved it! We started the week off playing basketball on  Preparation day with lots of the Elders in our zone. It is a lot of fun playing with all of them! That night, my zone leader companion and I prepared to go on an exchange with the Elders in Lakewood (they cover Down-Town Dallas) so I worked in my zone leader companion's area, and that night we went to Lakewood for an exchange. This exchange was what the mission is calling a district building. The assistants, and a few other missionaries along with the zone leaders go to a district and we help build them up.

On Tuesday morning we had a district meeting with that district, and I trained on the obstacles keeping us from being one with the members, and how we could work towards resolving them. The meeting went really well, and we ate some good waffles to start it all off. Then we went on the exchange and I spent the whole day with the Lakewood YSA elders, and it was fun to be with them. Their area is struggling a bit, but they are working on it. I then slept at their apartment again Tuesday night for another district meeting Wednesday before we all went back to our own areas.

Then on Thursday night I went on another exchange with some other Elders here in Mesquite, and we learned a lot from each other which was great! On Friday night, I had the privilege of going back to the Rowlett ward where Maria Leos was getting baptized. It was so much fun to see her be baptized, but also to talk to all the members there in the Rowlett ward. I was reminded of how much I loved the members there in that ward, and I hope I can go back there again at least once before going home. I loved serving there in Rowlett!

Sunday is when the rain started coming down. It rained pretty much all day Sunday, and it started to get cold that night. When we woke up Monday morning, we were iced in again. We spent most of the day playing UNO and Phase 10. We then decided to venture out into the cold to go eat at Wing stop about a mile away, so that took us about three hours or so. Honestly it was a really relaxing day. I really enjoyed it! Then that night we went out to knock doors. We only knocked on three doors, and the third one let us in, and we were able to teach a lesson and find a new investigator. We were blessed for working in the ice.

This week we also found a great new Part-member family named the Rubios. The Dad is a member, and he was just married to his wife Jessica in December. They wanted to talk to missionaries, but the missionaries were never informed, so we went over and taught them about the gospel, and they are interested in returning to church. Hopefully we can help them return!

I love y'all, and I hope that you are doing alright. I am doing great, and I am loving the mission! I hope that y'all enjoy your week, and I will be praying for you.

Love, Kyle

Hi Dad,

 

The mission is going by so fast now, and I really don't want it to. We are staying super busy working with the zone and helping all the other missionaries while still working hard in our own areas. I have never been so busy while on my mission, and I am loving it. This passed week I went on two exchanges in the zone, so I only spent about half the week in my own area.

Answers:

1. Do you like your new area? ( we are so grateful to Sister Klien for giving us some info. on you)

I do like it a lot, because there is so much work to be done here. The work is slow right now, but we are working hard with the ward, and we are visiting lots of less-actives/part-member families. There are so many people, and so little time it seems like.

 

2. How is it being a Zone leader?  (is it hard with the other zone leader not being your companion)

I am really enjoying it. I love teaching and inspiring missionaries! I don't think I am doing the best job I can yet, but I am getting there. I am also excited to meet with President Taylor.

 

Yes it is hard, because we don't have very many miles, and he is on a bike, so we have to use the members a lot whenever we have to do something together. And we have to communicate everything over the phone which isn't fun.

 

3. Is the work going well there?

Like I was saying, it is a little slow right now, but there is so much for us to do that we are always busy. We just need to find progressing investigators.

 

4. How is the new companion? 

He is good. We get along well, and I don't have to worry about teaching him Spanish or anything like that, so that is nice.

 

5. Do you have meetings with the mission president every month?

Yes, and I will have my first one March 4

 

6. What is the new area like, and what do you do on P-days?

The area is kind of like Pleasant Grove. Not run down, but not the newest city either. Our zone covers down-town Dallas, so one of these days, we will have to go there on a preparation day. There are a good handful of Hispanics also which is always good!

 

7.  How is the zone are they working hard and being obedient.

There is improvement that can be made, but I think that for the most part everyone is working hard. There are only a couple of areas that are struggling with work right now, but the areas are tough. Any tips on giving correction by the way? I find it very hard.

 

8. Any baptism coming up.

Yes, Carlos Martinez on the 7th of March. He is so ready, and he will make a great member!

 

9. Tell us how you spend your time now that you have more responsibility

I try to go on two exchanges a week, and I really like going to the area of the other missionary, that means I spend a lot of time away from my apartment. Last week I spent two nights on the couch instead of on a bed, luckily the couch was somewhat comfortable. We have zone meetings the first week of every month, and Stake President's report every 3rd Sunday. We also meet with President Taylor once a month, so I am always staying busy, but it is a lot of fun.

I had the opportunity on Friday to go to a baptism back in Rowlett, and I was reminded of how much I really did love the members in that ward. They were so great! The baptism was for Maria Leos who I was teaching for a long time before I left. She is now a member. It was such a fun time to be there and to see her, as well as all the members that I had grown to love. I loved Rowlett!

Thank you very much for your love and support Dad! I love you and I am so grateful for your example. Thank you for the package also. I love you!

Kyle

 

 

The Work is Getting Busy!

Hi Mom,

 

The work has been getting very busy, because of the zone leader responsibilities that I have. We are meeting with each district individually to help them in their respective areas, and then we are counseling together to see how we can help their district in their work. It has been crazy, but I enjoy being able to work with so many missionaries. There is so much to learn from everyone.

I did get your package. Thank you so much! I love y'all! The apartment here is not very good, but I am about used to having bad apartments by now, so it isn't too big a deal. I am enjoying the work in this area. Carlos came to church again this last Sunday, and he is progressing really well. We are meeting with some less-active families in the wards and we are trying hard to work with the ward council of these wards. The members have been very helpful with getting us rides to all the meetings that we have to go to. We are going to have to use them a lot since we have to drive all over the place.

Being zone leader made things really busy for me like I said. On Tuesday of this passed week I did an exchange with an Elder, and we were able to go in and learn a lot from each other. He was a really hard worker, so I enjoyed my time with him. Then on Thursday we had a meeting with a district that is a little ways away. On Friday I filled out my first Stake President's report. It was such a long and boring process. It took us 5 and a half hours to do all of it, and I was so happy when we were done. We had to gather information from every area in our zone, and put it all together for the Stake President. On Sunday morning we had a meeting with the Stake President where we were able to discuss how the work is going in all of the areas. It was a great meeting, and I loved being able to be apart of it. There were some great things that I learned to use in our area. I hope it will help the whole zone out.

Friday and Saturday nights, we had a couple of parties for our wards for Valentine's day. The English ward party was alright, but the Spanish ward party was so much fun. The people there had a great time, and I loved it.

I am sorry, but I forgot my camera at the apartment, so I promise that I will send you pictures next week. I am glad that everything is going well back home. Have a great week! I love you!

Love, Elder Stewart

Zone leader and a new area!!

Well I didn't really move very far at all, in fact my area borders my old ward. My first Sunday here there were three members that were there visiting from Rowlett 3rd, so I am still very close. I am currently serving in the Skyline ward, and the Rio Trinidad ward. It is a bilingual area, and it should be great. On top of that, I was called to be a zone leader. It has been overwhelming at times, and I am still getting the hang of it, but I am happy to be serving the biggest zone in the mission. This transfer they did something a little bit differently however. The zone leaders are not companions in most of the zones. My companion is serving in Garland in the Casa Linda ward, meaning that whenever we have to plan zone meetings or do anything, we have to meet somewhere, which is hard, but that is what the mission is all about. There is saying that goes, if you are comfortable with missionary work you are doing something wrong, because there are always trials or problems to solve. I am excited though.

My companion is Elder Giles from Sandy, Utah. He has been out the same time as I have, and he is a great Elder. It took us awhile to warm up to each other, but we are doing good now. He played Lacrosse before the mission, and he loves music.

The members of the ward that I have met so far are good. The atmosphere in these wards is a little weird, but maybe that is just because I am new. I have met some great people though, and the leaderships of these wards are working hard to help the missionaries in the work. My very first Sunday here we were asked to teach the lesson in Gospel Principles, and because we have two wards, my companion was in the Spanish Ward Council, so I taught it all myself. It went very well!

As far as the work goes, we have a baptismal date coming up at the beginning of next month for a 23 year old named Carlos Martinez from Honduras. That name may sound familiar, because I taught a man named Carlos Martinez for a long time in Grand Prairie. Carlos is doing really well, and has come to church three times. He is a great man. We are also teaching a lot of Less-actives in the ward, but we haven't seen any success from that yet.

This past Tuesday I had my first Zone meeting as a zone leader. As a mission for this transfer we are pulling out a new initiative called the Turning the Hearts Initiative. It is centered around families and family history work. That is why we asked for those stories about our family. It was a good meeting, and I am starting to feel the desire to learn more about my family and to do family history work, but for now we are trying to help others get involved.

Pleasant Grove is in my area by the way.

Preparation days in this area should be a lot of fun, especially since we don't have to worry about doing laundry. Some Elders have a ping-pong table in their apartment, and we usually play basketball at the Stake Center. Those sports are my favorite sports to play, so it should be great!

As far as after the mission goes, I am not sure what we should do. I don't know how the whole Spanish barrier is going to work out. I would love to come visit the mission after, but maybe just for a few days. I don't know. What do y'all think? I haven't heard about my release date for sure yet, and it honestly doesn't matter to me when my homecoming talk is. It can be whenever. I would like to go on vacation after.

I hope y'all have a great week! Hopefully you can get more work this week, and I hope you know that I am happy and doing great! Thank you for the stories.

Love, Kyle

Visit from Elder Nelson

Hi Mom,

We had another very eventful week. It was great, and so boring all at the same time.

Monday through Thursday went by fairly quickly, and we were able to teach some really good lessons. Maria is still progressing very well, and she should be baptized on the 14th of February. Friday was when the apostle came, and when we woke up that morning, my companion told me that he was sick, we came to find out that he got strep throat again for the second time this month. We still went to see the apostle, but then we came back and were stuck inside for three days. I was so bored. I already had watched all of the videos we had the last time he was sick, so there wasn't a whole lot to do. I am happy to be back out again, but just in time to leave.

I loved the meeting with the apostle so much. Elder Nelson and Elder Robbins of the presidency of the seventy came, and it was a great meeting. Elder Lynn G. Robbins talked a lot about the Book of Mormon, and how important it is in our missionary work. Elder Nelson then got up and talked about identity. He started by talking about the 12 tribes of Israel, and all the blessings that we receive from them as well as the responsibilities we have. Then he talked about how we were chosen to come to earth at this time. He shared a scripture from the 138th section of the D&C that said that we were taught by Jesus Christ in the spirit world after he was crucified, and we are called to come to earth at this time to help gather Zion. It was a great message.

Elder Nelson also talked about one of the biggest challenges that he said he has overcome. He called it the gap. It is the difference between who he should be as an apostle, and what he is. Moses felt that way when he was called, and we all feel that way as we receive callings. We have feelings of inadequacy, and we need to overcome that. He said that he has done that through increased effort in his scripture study, and in being more diligent while praying always. I thought about Dad in that moment, and from your emails it sounds like his is filling the gap.

The best part of the meeting was the end when Elder Nelson said he felt prompted to invoke a blessing upon us. He gave all of us a blessing from the pulpit. It was a great experience, and when he closed his talk the spirit was so strong in the room. We sang a song at the end which was Hark all ye Nations, and it was hard to sing without getting teary-eyed. I loved it! It was one of those moments where I thought to my self, wow this is my mission, and this is such a great cause that we are fighting for. I love this church, and I don't know how anyone could deny it after hearing an apostle. It will be a moment that I will never forget.

This week we also finished the Book of Mormon. We read it in 40 days, and that was really fast for me. I read it in Spanish which means that there was 647 pages to read instead of whatever it is in English. It was a great experience to get to know the story better, and know what each chapter is about. I love that Book, and I know it is true!

Another fun little thing that I started last week is called the D&C countdown. I read section 128 today, hint hint, but who's counting? I am just reading D&C backwards...

The rest of the week was the really boring part. And today I found out that I am getting transferred. I don't know where I will be going, but I am excited to see where I end my mission. It has been great, and these next few transfers should be very successful. I love the mission! (Except when I am stuck inside.)

I am happy to hear about everything that is going on at home. I hope y'all have a great week, and I will let you know where I go next week. I love y'all!

Love, Elder Stewart