Shall we begin

Well I had a week.... pretty crazy lets see how much I can get in shall we.

Lets start off with a tender mercy from the lord. Tuesday nigh`t I am 100% possitive I fell asleep on my knees praying so exausted from the day but when I awoke in the morning I was lying in my bed. But I was lying the completely different way than I normally do without my pillow and as I sat down and thought and thought to myself I couldn´t remeber getting into bed just kneeling to pray. I´m sure that the lord knew that I needed a better rest and picked me up and put me in bed.

Well Some of the great parts of our week come from watching the ward come together and work! We left with all the high priests this week to visit a bunch of less active or inactive families and the Women in the ward did the same out looking and recueing the downtrodden. Well it is awesome to see families reactivate and we had a larger group of members there at church at the end of this week. Hermana Borges the lady we had the FHE with is awesome one of my favourite members here and is coming back in full force I ´m pretty sure it is her plan to go to the temple next month. She was sharing with her husband what she learned in sunday school. It was awesome to see her a lot happier and know that the church is where we belong. she has already started looking for nieghbors to have Family home evenings with so we can teach them!!! 

This week I gave my first talk in Sacrament meeting. Me and my companion were the speakers and it went really well I can feel how far my spanish has come it literally amazes me and I have only had 1 latino comp. I talked about how our ward needs to be like a family. how they need to invite families over for dinner, barbques, FHE they need to look after one another outside the church to keep people strong inside the church. I now know why we had so many families over for dinner and I now know how important it is for others. By small and simple things right! Thanks Dad for your example. I shared it with everyone in the cogregation.

Sunday morning we had an insane experience. Someone who we have visited in the past and she is such a wonderful lady but just can´t change from her old faith rember her we found her on my B-day? well we went by sunday morning becuase some of her sons and nephews wanted to go to church. we had gone by saturday in the afternoon to set it all up. Well as we biked down her street we thought wait a min we have gone to far.. we turned around searching for the first white house and then we saw where it was suppose to be. It had burned to the ground that night(I have a picture I´ll send other day). outside the house was her husband he works out in the country but after a call came into town. He explained to us that no one was harmed. that while the mother was out looking for her kids someone lit the house on fire.... The world is a very scary place. No one was harmed and we invited the father to church. (he did not come but we also offered out help in anyway possible)

This saturday we have a conference in the capital!!! with ELDER OAKS!!! I dont think I said anything before becuase it always skipps my mind. But I´m super stoked all 400 missionaries in Urugauy will be going up there.

Last but not least is the devil is really working hard agaist us. We had so many amazing people ready and so exited for church and then did...not...show.... One of our investigators obsticles is if she gets married she looses the money that she gets from her dead Ex-Boyfriend and its a substancial amout we are encouraging her to pray and ask God and then follow his will. 

But all in all the work marches forward there is a lot of amzing people here and I am so blessed to be on the mission. I havent said it enough but I have a wonderful family I am too blessed. I got a Package from you Dad and Christina thanks so much! I am going to wear one of the ties for the conference. I am a happy man. Thank all of you that send me council and advice and love I am so blessed to have you in my life. 

Anyway that is my week More or less just remeber that I am keeping a really good Journal I´m on Number 3!!! so you can read about it all someday.

I love you until next week.

ththththththats all fowlks

Elder Stewart-Chester 

Cambios 10/9/12

WELL are you ready for the suspensful changes!!!!.........I am staying here in Barrio Artigas with my companion just as I presumed. nothing to exciting goes down when you are staying in the area so it was just a normal P-day of Futból with the district then Pizza and thats pretty much it.

I recieved a bunch of mail this last week thank you all so much for finding time:) I know it´s hard.

anyway on with the week which was a really good one I mean conference was in it and can I just say wow. I really felt the power on this last conference hard. I really focused and honestly as I paused and reflected the questions I brought to conference I felt the spirit testify of the words as they said them. I want to share a bit of something Elder Viñas acctually taught us in the last zone conference that has honestly helped me understand so so much more about why we NEED to struggle in life and why we go through times of hardship. He told us that the mission is the best time we was to really get to know the savior and the time we get to know him is when we submit our will to the father and take what life gives to us know that it is for our good then we struggle learn and grow through these times and we get to know and become more like the one who asked us to follow him. It struck me so hard. I honestly have noticed that the times that I have had the hardest struggles and hardest comps I learn to exercise more patience and become more like our savior and honestly a better person.

The resounding lesson for me and what I needed to do what get down on my hands and knees and serve, serve hard. Help everyone around me. This is what the lord wants from me. I think of brother Hegawald that is who I am going to become whilling to do it all I want everyone to feel like they are my best friend. I miss him good thing We have the plan of salvation:)

I has an amazing division with the zone leaders this last week. I was with a Elder called Elder Laycock. He honestly is one of the best Elders I have ever met. He told me exactly what I needed to hear "never go through a day just to get by" wow I needed that. God knows us each really well I know that I am exactlly where I need to be in the area and zone and with the Companion that I need to become the man God wants me to be. I have so much to learn but I´m so grateful for what I have been given. I know god exists and listens and knows exactly what each of us need to be perfectly comfortable in his house in the end of all things.

I have one quick experience. I recently had a noche de Hogar(FHE) in the house of the inactives and I decided to do a story about a bunch of chickens who learn how to fly and then afterwards they come back to the earth to walk home and are hit by a truck. the moral is apply what you learn. Its really cool becuase you create a dead chicken with a towell as you talk the kids love it.

Anyway i did it onthe sperr od the moment did not have the vocab to do it and it was exactly what she needed to hear exactly it it was just amazing to me that the lord had put me there and in my weekness and unpreparedness( my comp looked at me when we got in the house and said do you have anything to share) the lord testifyied to her heart she cried as we talked about sometimes its a llittle step here then here then you are out of the church I told her it was the same way back a bunch of little steps forward and never looking back.

anyway out of time I love you all terribly good job Fletch being single and surfing all the timeis better!!

Enjoy the pictures

Elder Stewart-Chester

Well, I have no time

Well we have a lesson at 5 30 and its 5 11 right now I still have to email and also write a letter to president so I gotta keep it short please forgive me well lets talk about something that truely hit me good this week and that is the fact that god is a god of sacrifice.

Well I have for a long while been telling the lord that I will give him anything that my will is his will and well the test came to see if I really could. My old Companion Elder McCraney was talking about how the night before he felt that he had not given everything to lord and had not recieved an answer to his question. He realized that he was still holding on to R rated movies and he told me It struck me so hard and would not leave me for days. I thought to myself can I give it to the lord I found myself really wrestling with the lord as I tried to reason and explain that I did not need to make a covanant. That some R rated movies dont do anything but it came down to can I give everything to the lord. I wrestled with him on my knees that night going to bed without making the covanant hoping that when I woke and as time passed I would forget. I prayed that night if it is your will I will do please tell me if it is your revalation for me. 

That morning I woke with a troubled mind. And I recieved my answer powerfully over and over from the lord as I read Mosiah 3-5 wow Basically heavenly father said to me "you know what you need to do now do it" and so I have I knelt down that morning and gave the lord the last thing I have left. I know know that if we are to be true disciples Heavenly father will ask of us that thing which we are most reluctant to give.

The work pushes on here we have found some amazing families here. there will be more to come about them as time goes on. We might marry some families and hopefully in a years time I will be able to accompany them in the temple.

The night I gave everything to the lord I fely his love and the burning in my chest I have always longed for. The church is True its sometimes hard but the difference between a good man and a great one is the great one does the hard things.

I love you all so much forgive the shortness I hope that it lifts your higher on this rainy day here in Bario Artigas Uruguay

Elder Stewart-Chester

Changes next week p-day tuesday

Disclaimer:  forgive spelling mistakes, tone is precious for brafys mum these days and my phine makes editing tough;)

Hello one and all!!!! how the heavens are you??

well this week has been an interesting one honestly it flew by I have no idea what to say but lets talk about some good stuff now shall we first off 

darling mother I am so grateful for all the gum that gets sent here but I cant really chew gum on the streets its kinda rude so i have like stocks and stocks. And also you know all those envelopes you sent me... well they have all been sealed now by the stinking humidity! so I have to use a knife to try and open and reseal them. Next time you send some send some that have like a paper you can peal off first.

Things that I have thought would be good to have are ties because honestly one you start to get sick of all the ties you have and I can give out my older ties to people we teach and are convirted so they can look so awesome!! also beef jerky spices like ranch taco spices and oh I want the recipe for barbeque sauce.

also please keep in mind that I have changes all time and I have to carry all my stuff around all the time. Not the most fun when you have lots of stuff to lug around. 

Anyway oh those videos totally turned out well without sound but that was really cool!! 

anyway my week

Well Elsa our investigator was baptised this last Saturday and that was a good experience. Alejandro an 11yr old was not baptised we went the day after I emailed you guys and he completely changed his mind. We think he just got sick of us or his father said religion was for girlies. He is only 11 but heavenly father wanted him in the fold. The baptism was not as organized as i´d liked it to be but we had an ok turn out. It is a small ward. We also had a little girl who is the daughter of a menos active and her dad is not a member be baptised and her dad came and We are going to try and teach him. we´ll see how it goes. Elsa is hilarious we had to do the baptismal interview again because she was not baptised this last week and she also said violence was against the word of wisdom this time hahaha that last one always scatters her brain. 

We also had interviews this last week with president and it was super good we had another capacitation by our AP that is a legend in our mission for baptising like crazy and he let us feed on his ways of helping us get investigators to church. Judging by my interview with president I think that I will be staying with my companion another change. It worries me because we really do not have much to work with right now and his methods of work are not very effective but come what may and love it!

I´ve started to really think about how hard it is to raise children. What has made me think about this is being with my comp who I really dont get a long with too well and then all I want to do is help him and do what the savior would want me to. To make him a better servant. Its super hard. I´m not exited for the teenage years. It just involves lots of praying being a good example and biting my tonge a whole lot.

We also had something really cool go down this week we went on divisions with the bishopbrick and visited some menos active members who needed a little pick me up. the family that I went and visited are awesome and I felt the spirit as I shared a strory for the younger kids and they all came to church this week. I talked about the basics READING AND PRAYING it all comes down to those two when your doing those to things you can climb any moutain.

Anyway time is up

I love you all so much I´m so very greatful for all the letters and emails be happy and safe read and pray!

Elder Stewart-Chester

Spring is here!

Well one and all spring is here and it is really getting hot! Especially on the bike and everyone here keeps talking about 45 degrees cel.... like 110 fh yikes its super humid and with all the missionary garb you are like cooking meat.

I had a pretty darn good week Yesterday they had a baptism in my last ward someone who I was teaching who was super prepared and is going to be an amazing member. She brings the missionaries over there food like every night(lucky sods). I was going to go to the baptism I actually went on divisions to my old area and taught her a lesson over there and told her I was going but it turned out we were going to have a baptism over here aswell at the same time right after church so I couldnt.

The sad news was The baptism did not go through becuase  the font was freezing and our investigator is 71 and there was no way that it would be healthy for her to get in and so we prosponed it until next week with another baptism of a young 11 year old who is the brother of Carina who was baptised not too long ago. I completely forgot about the baptism in my old ward and we ended up just going to eat in the house of a member. ELder McCraney baptised her and told me the spirit was super strong. 

Elsa is the 71 year old we are teaching and she is hilarious. She really does not understand or comprehend much of the things we have taught so we´ve had to reteach her many things over and over and still in her interview she told our district lider E McCraney that Coacoa was agaist the word of wisdom and that Joseph smith was a son of god very important:) she loves the church and loves to sing all the hymns. She tells us that when she is alone in her house and she hears music she just dances all over the place. She also lives in a poorer part of town and informs us  of all the gosip that passes through. She still works and is very active.

We had a 3 Zone, Zone Conference this thurday with one of the area 70 that is actually from Uruguay that we have and it was so powerful Wow. Elder Viñas look him up in the Ensign. He talked a tone about the doctrinal base of what we do and why and who we need to be. He talked a ton about rescuing tons. It seems as though that is what the lord wants of us right now to look and rescue those who are not lost they are just hidden. Its was powerful someday you will have to ask to see my notes wait they are in spanish so you will have to ask me to translate them...What:) he did an amazing comparision with us as missionaries as those who the lord is mad with in Malicah in the old test. He is mad with them because their sacrifices are sickly they are not the best they can give. We have to give the lord the best we can give everyday.

I just ate lunch in a house of two members that moved here from spain they are super awesome and it made me think of our trip there and to Tangers what a crazy trip.

I have read Ben and Matts letters and I am filled with love and the truth is a little bit of jealousy. They´re working so hard and having such powerful experiences I wish I was there with them fighting through. I love it here I love being a missionary even when its hard and all you do is knock doors all day. I´m trying to give him my best everyday and that won´t stop now. I would love to get ELder Hasting and Elder Sommers letters home aswell and I would love to hear from my buddy E Stevens once again

I love you all Conference is coming invite your friends to listen to a living prophet who in this conference will answer every question they have ever had in there hearts. I Know i´m where I am supposed to be and the Lord has his hands in everything.

Elder Stewart-Chester

Oh mom got the G´s they will help

I don't have much time forgive me...

Ok so I had so much to do today and things went longer than usual so I do not have much time at all to talk. 

Something I forgot to tell you al last week was we had a baptism in my new area she was already ready when I got here but her name is Carina 13 yrs old and was brought to church by her best friend who was member, Our ward has a temple trip this week and I think that she will get to go with them:) which shall be really cool for her. Her brothers and sisters are in the pictures I am sending isnt that little guy awesome his name is Daniel and loves me tons he tried to give me his dinosaur as a gift the other day. He also was giving me a big hug and got so much stickyness on the shirt I had just cleaned. 

In that one photo aswell I found Mac and Cheese here in the city lets just say I know my way around Salto. 

We are working hard. It is getting so hot and humid it looks as though is about to rain and then huge amounts of humidity come and kill us. the bike makes  things harder. Was quite a bit sick this week stomach problems not good on the mission. But I got through it and am fine now. 

ok lets keep going I was thinking about the other day when I was doing baptisms for the dead in the Temple with Tate and Fletch and I got to baptise them...Wow good times. 

I am so greatful that I was worthy to be there enjoying that. I have such a different perspective now I have learned so much and the truth is changed tons too. I cannot wait to go to the temple when I get home. There is no other place like it as wierd as I was as a teen I had faith I guess I remember running off my anger in Rexburg Idaho running to the temple becuase I had faith it would calm me down. It did just that.

My comp is difficult I´m praying lots for guidance Its just hard to know what I should do and what would help be the best he can and what would not help him. Its really scaring me to be a parent now. Its a good thing we have the lord huh. 

We have a lot to do in our area. No one showed up for church this last week and if you ask me it was because we did not do enough. Its super hard theres not much I can do. We had a lot drop us this last week aswell pretty sad after she had felt the spirit so strong Sandra the lady we found on my B-day said it was impossible she could not change I committed her to pray about the Book of mormon and felt really strong the spirit and she committed  we´ll see if she will follow an answer from God because it will come it always does.  

Anyway I gotta Email presidente  I Love you all so Much Fletcher Girls are trouble stick with Magik and  D and D and just live life to its fullest right now dont give your heart away. 

I love you all so much thanks for everything I have so much so much love Thank you Grandma Jaqui for the chocolate. 

Until next week 

Elder S-C

Emergency changes

What a week 

Well right after I emailed last week we went back out to work and that night the Zone leaders called us and told us we needed to go to an Elder's house in our District becuase his Aunt that he was really close to died. President wanted someone to be with him so we went late that night. It was a sad experience filled as well with a powerful priesthood blessing and lots lots of tears. We took a ride back to our house very late that night. It was change night.

Well with this whole experience we had the rest of the week to work district meeting and we worked super hard this week it really showed becuase someone we contacted that week came to church with us. She is pretty funny obsessed wih johney Depp. Anyway We worked super hard this week the Sisters had an amazing baptism he cried throught the baptism and then throughout the sacrament just filled with the spirit. 

President called us this morning told us that he had really been praying about These two elders in our district (the one who had lost his aunt and his comp) and he felt that the Lord needs us to have an Emergency change with them. So I am having changes Today infact. I am going to their area on the other side of Salto with his Name is Elder Garner from Mesa Arizona. While my Comp will stay with the other Elder who is the one From Brasil I told you about. My new area is called Barrio Artigas and is poorer than my current area. I also wil be on bycicle a lot now! Which is kinda cool. This area has not had a lot of success as of late but has tons of potential It should be a good next Change very different. 

he sad part is for those I have taught here I have one day to say goodbye and they are going to be really sad. Good thing is I am not too far away and I am going to start teaching some of there family members.

I have a lot to do pack clean and hopefully sleep I am so tired you never get your sleep back on the mission you always have to go and do something. We went as a district to an all yu can eat Buffet and ate way too much I feel super sick but it was very good for our district. 

I´m kinda bummed but ready for the challenge that is what president said to me when he talked to me on the phone you ready for a challenge:) 

Mom I love you I am so glad you were Born! I pray for you all like crazy. I feel your pain siblings as I moved all those many times aswell keep your chin up and ask heavenly father for the comfort of your saviour. 

I love you all

Elder Stewart-Chester