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.)