Watch the video

First I have a question,  did you all see the video conference from Salt lake to the world about Mission Work?? If not WATCH it!! it was the best thing I have ever seen or heard on mission work in my entire life we need to put these things in practice in our lives. 

Well can you believe that I forgot my camera in the offices... so no pictures. sadly 

Anyway, what a week. Where to start. Well do you remember how I said I was sick but I recovered last week? Well,  mid-week I got sick once again. It has been a super wierd experience never before had I been sick recovered and then gotten sick in another way. Now I am a ton better But I had a rough couple of days. You can never let the devil knock you on your butt so you have to work your hardest as it is!  So...both of the hardest days of my sickness I was doing divisions in two of the struggling areas in the zone. Working hard or hardly working like Donkey says in Shrek right:)?

But anyway, it was an interesting week. I went on divisions twice out of my area. Which was good I feel like it helps the elders that they know that as Zone leaders we care about them and want each area to do well. We have some really good Elders here I feel very blessed to work with them. Something really awesome that just happened here is that our Zone which previously never even got close to making the monthly baptismal Goal just made It!!! We are going to treat it as a huge deal so that we keep everyone on cloud 9 so that they can keep working with everything they´ve got. It was nothing that we did just the missionaries here. And the ones before them that prepared it for us now. We should have a lot more success to come as well. The Lord is blessing us here. 

A pretty crazy experience that we had was at a ward baptism. A young kid that comes from a less active family who we have been working on reactivating and then teaching the father, was being baptised this last saturday which was super cool. on the way there a young woman stopped us asking for our help.  Right next to her was an elderly lady that she had found wondering around in the streets completely lost. She was wearing a dress that was way too big and so was clutching it with her freezing hands and the lady said she had been wondering around with her for a while looking for her house. The old lady was like 79 and so cold. It is freezing here. And so she asked us for help.   We talked to them for a while and then we took them both to the church where we were having the baptism and I gave her my jacket and gloves and in the end we found out you have to call the police and they came and took her to find out her identity and where she lived because she did not remeber anything. Poor lady. I feel though that God has his purposes though and that wonderful young lady who was doing a good deed entered in the true church and we taught her a bit about baptism and you never know God works in many ways. there are no coincidences. The baptism was stressful aswell the little guy Facundo got super scared when it came down to the moment in the water and after they shut the doors so only the testigos watched he was baptised. 

Next week Our Dear President Heaton leaves us and we get a new president.  Things are going to be very different. It will be very interesting. Anyway I love you sorry I feel like this email is very short. Big changes next week I think the new president is just going to stop randomly by our house so I want to make sure it is all clean. 

I love you all so much

Elder Stewart-Chester 

Concillo

Well ladies and gentlemen another week has past can you believe how fast it goes?  I have a lot of things to talk about so lets get to it. 

Well first off this Wednesday I had the first opportunity to experience what is called Concilio which is when all of the zone leaders from all over the mission come down and meet with presidente and he teaches us with his two assistants things we need to focus on in the mission. Now their are some sister missionaries that also go. I am not going to lie it was a fantastic experience.   A lot of my friends from the CCM are Zone leaders too so it was a great reunion with them all.  It was a spiritual feast. This was the last one that our mission president President Heaton was going to give because in a couple of weeks we get a new mission president. It was all centered in finding and teaching families how it does not suffice to just baptise and teach one here one there we need to help God's Children by lifing them up in families. Part of the mission president's family was also here and they sang a song in English and Hermana Heaton talked about our main goal to have forever families. I am not going to lie It was extremely Trunky. I think everyone left with desires to go and get married:) 

But anyway it was awesome. Tomorrow we have the job to teach what we learned in our meeting to our zone and although I feel under prepared it should work out. It hopefully should change our mission like crazy. 

We also get to eat a massive dinner with President and his wife after and it was amazing how I miss home cooking. Hermana Heaton is an Angel we ate so well. 

Another crazy thing that happened this week is two guys that we found and are being taught here. They are both from Nigeria, Africa and only speak English. What happened was there is a member from a ward in our zone that is from Africa and he invited Fredric to church over there. Fredric has been here in Uruguay for 39 days and is here to work because he told us that in a war or drug war or something his father and brothers were killed now he only has one brother left a little brother who is in university but he has no money for school so Fredric is here to send money for him to go to school, He told us he first went to Brasil but he was robbed there of all his documents so he is in the process of getting them all back. But he speaks no spanish only portugues and a ton of English it turns out that in Nigeria everyone speaks English. ( it is like in Lost mom with Mr Echo). Anyway so we thought he lived in our area so we called him and had a lesson with him saturday where we met Fredric we invited him to church he was very excited. He told us how he lived in a refuge and how he did not have much but never asked for anything. Anyway the next day he came bright and ealy to church with his friend also from Nigeria who is here to play fútbol. well we taught them both and I translated the entire sacrament meeting into english for them which was nuts!!! (my comp said I distracted the whole ward though) But anyway we then found out that they live in another elders area that go to our same chapel but is a different ward so I wont be able to teach them. The awesome thing was how the ward helped and got them winter clothes and made them food it was awesome. I loves these guys I will take a picture when they get baptised it should be on the 6th of july. Crazy story huh:)

Anyway Hey Fletch sorry I did not wish you a happy B-day I think I just spaced and did not feel well. Thanks for living little bro Be safe you have just entered into the battle field and the devil will want to take you down "remember who you are" the son of a king God himself. I love you my brother how strange it is that you are the age I was in -Utah when I got my licence. 

And I´m not really sure but I´m guessing from al those pictures it was fathers day. Well Dad and Dad I love you so much I wouldn´t be here doing what I am doing without either of you. 

Oh and Tan Man Happy Birthday to you too little one. You are too Big!! i love you lots. 

What else can I say oh pictures well I am going to try and send a few this computer does not recognize my camera I am going to try another. I love you be safe. Remember always that falling is part of life, God just askes that we pick ourselves back up again and give it everything we´ve got to push forward. I love you all

Elder Stewart-Chester 

Week 1 as a zone leader

I am not going to lie probably one of the craziest weeks here on the mission. Not because of all the responsibility but just so much craziness happened. Lets get to it shall we. 

First off though I loved you emails I love you all Thank you for your prayers I need them. 

This week has been crazy last tuesday I said goodbye to everybody took pictures and bought some super awesome Gaucho Clothes and hat ( i´ll send a picture next week.) Well so I am not sure I explained it out yet but My new house is an apartment I live on the 7th floor. Which is crazy overlooking the city of Montevideo. My building is right next to the giant Bus terminal here in Montevideo. So I arrived in the terminal early that morning with just the sleep on as a usual change day goes but now it became my responsibility to make sure every one gets on their busses etc.   If there are problems I have to go to the terminal and fix everything. Anyway we also have to hall all the luggage of the elders that are going home to our house before they go to the mission home. It is wild. all those elders in your house about to go home making a mess it is crazy. I also will be the last companion of my Companion Elder Manning before he takes his flight home. Pretty crazy another first for me. 

Another crazy thing for us was two days after changes president called us to tell us that he had to  do an emergency change and that like three companionships would be changing up in our zone.. it was crazy we had to organize tell people to re pack etc. the good news is only 1 elder actually had to leave our zone the rest just got all juggled arround. 

I am actually under the weather right now I do not feel too hot I have to get some sleep today so I can keep working my hardest so this letter will be a little  shorter. I promise I will send pictures next week of my house and my last district etc. I love it here the work is very different the people are a lot busier. and in the street people ingnore us a lot more but it is all good. Our ward is awesome like 80% of them are all return missionaries. It is awesome I am so grateful for the opportunity to serve here. 

It is a lot colder here but I´m getting use to it and I have a lot of warm stuff. What else can I say I love you all a ton I will send more next week. Be safe look after others.

Elder Stewart-Chester

Changes

Well I have pictures maybe I´ll switch over to another computer in a little bit and have the ability to send them. Anyway wow I love you all!!! are you excited to hear where I am headed I bet you are!!!

 

Well I am now going to...........MONTEVIDEO!!! To the zone smack dab in the center of the city. TOns of huge buildings and yay pretty much everything. But that is not all I will be a Zone leader as well. Which will be a humbling opportunity to learn so so much more.

My new companion is another Gringo called Elder Manning From Las Vegas vamos arriba! I have already met him in Salto before a very hard working elder and I am very excited to work so hard to have the best months with my zone there in Montevideo!

 

Pretty crazy huh.

 

Well other than that this week was a very good one for sure Finally now that I am leaving the area we have a lot of amazing investigators and a lot of good things happening that is why you always have to work as hard as you can until the very end because the last week you always see miracles. We have 1 baptism the 15th and then another the 22nd.   I love this area so much I pray I was able to help it grow in some way. I am so grateful that the lord had mercy and let me stay in an area longer than 3 months. I love Rivera.  We will be back someday so I can introduce you all to so many families that I love. What else can I say.

 

Sunday we had an awesome activity set up last minute.  We put on the Joseph Smith movie and watched it with all the young people in the ward with Popcorn and pizza.  The spirit was very strong and it is helping us establish friendships among all the young people. How I love that movie I feel like we should do more activities like that in the states with activities where they  can feel the spirit,  watch the joseph smith movie and know more about what we believe. It amazed me how perfectly set up it is.  It talks and covers almost every doubt that we receive on the street everyday. Like do you worship joseph smith?and why do bad things happen to good people.

 

Last Tuesday I gave my last District Meeting and I felt that it was my best. I talked about the key to success and how it all really depends on two things Love/Charity and Obedience and the truth is I talked a lot about what I had learned this change and then I let all of my district share something they too had learned. I also talked of the importance we have to love everyone and something that really hit me this last change was the importace of changing who we are that life isn´t about only putting good deeds into a piggy bank and then when we go infront of God to dump it all out and He will tell us if we have done enough. It will have everything to do with who we´ve become. How much we have worked on ourselves to develop talents and helped others and fought the natural man and given everything we can to the lord. I felt the spirit. Then we played a super fun game it was a good District meeting. One of my best.

 

Other than that my Son Elder Diotaiuti is staying here and I am going to miss the guy like crazy we like pretty much everything the same. It was like walking around with a best friend. He is one of my best buddies. Oh well because of my next area I will always see everyone who passes through the biggest terminal in Deo. So I will see him again.  He also has a very good companion coming so I am excited for him.

 

I really cannot think right now much to do still have to pack a lot. and buy lots of cheap things while I am here where everything is cheap I will never have money. I am going to the zone where everything is so expensive and I will be the zone leader that has to pay for everything. I love you all so much thank you for all your prayers I will need even more now because now there are many more missionaries I will need to lift and build so please pray for me.

 

I love you I will send pictures in a little bit I have one of my district as well:)

 

Elder Stewart-Chester