Well WELL Well Can I just say I love it here

I spent the entire afternoon in Brazil eating hotdogs looking through american food and drinking Guadiana it has been a good day. I really enjoy it here. It is the first area I have been in with 4 elders and one of the elders in my house is Elder Nord who is my buddy from the CCM from Alaska. It is just great we eat great things and it helps because you can brainstorm in 4 for activities and things a long those lines.

It is pretty crazy here because everyone speaks a mixture of portugues and spanish called portuñol that sometimes kills me and I have no idea what in the world they are saying. I really need to work on my portugues. Here in Rivera half of the city is in Brazil and the other half in Uruguay so all you do is cross in the middle of a plaza and you are in brazil we are aloud to go like 6 streets in I think. But talking to cashiers on the brazil side was wow tough stuff I felt like I had just arrived here in Uruguay and did not understand spanish anymore. Its really funny even their spanish has a funny accent.

I live a little bit out of the main part of the city but it is really nice sort of like my 2nd area in salto with lots of dirt streets but its nicer and no bikes. We are acually in a branch this time and it is pretty stong. The truth is it could use some good hard wor, but I am ready for that. Here they have lots of things from the states food, electroniocs etc and they have tons of things from brazil super cheap because it is a border town. So basically I just keep running around like a little girl hugging all these cheap great things.

My comp Elder Minter is from California a city called yucapa and he is a super good guy who knows why he is here and wants to serve the lord. I find myself filled with tons of excitement that I have feltt I have lacked and fasted for in past changes.We have not too much investigators so we are in finding mode but we have found some good people and our main goals are to build the ward leave this area booming filled with success and strength in the branch.

Wow I was trying to upload pictures but it is not working so I´ll have to work on that another day. I was sad to leave Montivideo after such a short short time but I find myself better here and feel more needed in the work. My spanish has really begun to amaze me how much the lord has blessed me I speak a lot lot better then many with more time than me and I really need to thank the Lord more. I have had a pretty rough last change but i have become a way better teacher I have a long way to go but I know the lord had a reason to give me every companion I have ever received.

It was so good to talk to my family.   I havent said anything yet.  Im  not going to lie I miss them. I miss all of them all of you but itI would take a lot of bullet wounds to make me think about going home hahaha. No I love you it scares me how much you have all changed and continue to do so I am getting more and more scared for Tate to be 17 becuase that just makes her sound too old. I think of her as a 4 or 5 year old telling me that she was going to tell mom on me.  I love you Tate.

Anyway time has no friends and niether do my typing skills.  I love you all!  Be safe, love the Lord study the scriptures and understand that God understands it all thank goodness we dont have too.

"Home is Behind the Wo---rld ahead and there are many paths to tread"

Elder Stewart-Chester

Well It has been a very long tiring week with way not enough sleep

First off My Change:

I´m already leaving!!!! can you believe it not going to lie I was pretty sad

I´m going up North to where its really Hot And well I will be on the border of Brasil and Uruguay in RIVERA 

My new comp is called ELder Minter he is from the states I am pretty stoked to work super hard with him up there not too exited for the heat but I´m going to buy a giant hat and loose myself in the work I am exited to make more of a difference It felt too much like my companion had everything under control here. I am actually oppening up the area. there was only 2 missionaries before for a really big area but now they are sending us up there. I really could not believe it but hey the lords in charge. 

I forgot to tell you all about a costom the children have here.... well maybe I already did but just incase so leading up to Christmas all the children begin to ask every passerby for money. The say "Coins for Judas" because what they do us they use that monet to buy tons of fireworks and every year they burn and put fireworks inside of a dummy(judas). so every year they burn Judas here..... Not really sure Jesus Christ would enjoy that custom.

I actually went to the offices to talk to presidente who gave me my change a little early so I was able to say goodbye to a lot more people and take some pictures. I am just bummed that I never get to spend any time in an area everyone is literally astounded by my changes my comp who is finishing his mission only has 5 areas. I cannot believe first that I will have been out here a year in 10 days and second that Tate will be 17 it scares me a lot to think of myself so old. 

I have decided that this next year all I want and desire is to think of others with all my heart and mind, and to feel the spirit every day through testifying and in the end haveing the grand change of heart that is described in the Book of MOrmon. 

 

 The trash from all the fireworks from the New Years Eve Spectacle.....

 

 

I have had a couple of pretty good days since we last talked Happy New years my Newyears was pretty good could´ve been better but cant complain lots and lots of fireworks. 

 

Today was a super crazy day I am in the heart of the city right now(i took pictures for another day) we went and ate at a place called California Burrito. here in the heart there are tons of people from the states and I talked to a bunch today. It was super strange they said I have an accent on my English how terrible.:) It was super strange good thing I am going back to the Campo!!! 

Wow all those people are married...... wierd.....

I love the mission I am so tired I am sick of packing and I know that tomorrow I am going to have little to no sleep again but I will find the strength and I wont let it slow me down. I am greatful to give the lord a small sacrifice such as this. He has given me so much. I am so grateful for all of you your words of wisdom I like Ben and Matt am touched often but what you all have written me. 

Just remember I think of you often even though I am terrible at writing letters but I am going to be better at that too this year!!!!

I love you next week I will be in Rivera burning alive!!!

Elder Stewart-Chester

Well First I`m gonna email and then I am going to call later tonight

I forgot my agenda at home with all the notes I took about things to write about and things that I wanted to tell you about from the past week. But because my comp is disobedient I do not want to come back and waist more time here so I figure I`ll just do it now and send some more fotos.

I am super exited to speak to you all and it should be really great i hope that everything gets figured out and runs smooth sailing.

Christmas is completely different here. It was one of the hottest days I think I have experienced in my life
Yesterday not positive but it was so hot and so humid. Anyway so It does not feel like christmas. So here the traditions are more like our forth of july they get together as a family eat lots and lots of meat and potatoe salad like dishes and eat and eat and then around midnight everyone lights up the sky with bazzilions of fireworks every house all over and it just lights up the sky everywhere we watched off the roof of our house into the night. It was insane. Not going to lie its probably because I am use to back home but I would trade all this anyday for a white magical christmas with my family. I do find myself missing all you lot a lot more It has a lot to do with how trunky my comp is but what you gonna do about it.

I got a bunch of packages. I finally recieved that little foto book how flippen awesome is that little guy! and I got your letters and a package from grandma and the bishop and the awesome Valient class!! thank you so much I shared with everyone here:) The truth is I am very tired not use to staying up past 10:30 hahah

This Sunday we also had 3 baptisms here:) It was a very good service with lots of the ward showing up to give their support. Their mother did not come which is a worry of mine I want them to stay strong and active edifying the church here. My comp is more of a  baptise it kind of person. Changes are next week so i`ll be emailing tuesday. But it was a reallyy wonderful experience I had the oppotunity to baptise the two young boys 12 and almost 12 you`ll see in a foto Ill send Ezequiel and Jonathan. and my comp baptised the 13 year old girl Antonella.

This is a picture of here in "Deo" near my house and my foot when it was all messed a couple of weeks ago from the vinegar.



 After our zone confernce we had to rush off to the middle of the heart of Montevideo because Elder Montes and his area have a couple that are going to get married. So we had to go for support and to be witnesses. It was super strange to be in the big city after so long in the country. It was wierd to hear english music aswell. anyway we also entered a catholic cathedral there aswell after just to look arround and it was pretty filled with saints but beautiful in lots of ways that got us to talk about the temple and how much better it is with the couple.

Also That same day I had a huge Illergic reaction my skin was covered in red bumps and I had to call the mission nurse for the first time It was pretty uncomfortable not really sure what it was but it went away. Maybe i`ll send a foto I have to get it  from Elder Montes.

Anyway today I should watch The movie Brave today as a district I`m really exited. I heard the Hobbit is out I am super jealous and dont really want to be reminded about it.

Anyway I love you all so much and I love the Saviour. I realize as I read his teachings how much better I need to try and be and how I will never get there But one day Christ will make everything right. Sometimes I am amazed by the evil in our day  but then I remind myself that We already know who wins in the end the Saviour. I am more and more getting to the point where not obeying the lord hurts me inside. I love the saviour and I want to have the giant change of heart at the end of my mission to be the best father I can be.
I heard a song and now I say this in my prayers where he said something like "HElp me to give more of myself" and that is what I now say.

I will end with Scripture: Moroni 8: 3
I finished the Book of Mormon is spanish...... I love that book It continues to change my life everyday
I love you all terribly

Elder Stewart-Chester

welcome one and all....

Well I´d just like to say I love you all lots and lots. I am at a different cyber right now and its a lot beter but I cannot send pictures. I brought it all and everything. Anyway Christmas is in the air I am going to do Skype Christmas night 25th at about 8 o'clock my time. I am very exited did you know I cut my hair the other week shorter than it has been since that one time in UT and I was devistated hahaha.

 Anyway lets go through some key highlights this week:
First off the baptism did not go through:( but for good reason and actually it was president who denied the baptism. The problem is MArgarita the wonderful lady we are teaching, she lives in a house with her grandkids and her old partner. WE did not think it was going to be a problem because they are both pretty old and are more like siblings.  They are in the same house for the grandchildren. Her x partner was inactive from a long time ago but when the missionaries started teaching his grandson he came back in full force and is one of the best reactivated members I have seen.HE loves church. Anyway so we had some problems there and it did not go through but IT is only a mater of time and finding out what we can do for them we have a couple of solutions and we´ll just have to find the way to make it work.

Someone broke into the chapel as well and  stole a computer and an electric piano. It is sad how hard it is here to keep people from robbing things. All the windows of the church have huge bars on them and so they picked up the brick around it and took it off and broke into the secretaries office. WE think they have been in the chapel before becuase they knew exactly which window to climb in.

Fletcher...Dude remember that "Heman song" thing on You tube? Dude I heard that song here the other day on the bus and died laughing to myself:) made me trunky (miss home)

Did you know that Uruguay is over run with cats and dogs I have told you this no? well its the truth everywhere every house has like 4 dogs. But guess what that also means there are puppies and kittens everywhere here hahaha too bad they have fleas....I still play with them:) It literally is crazy though how many baby animals there are here.

Teddy and Bo guess what you know that Vegetales sing along song about the cucumber danceçing and singing. Guess what now I can sing that song and know what it says I was singing it just from memory the other day: "Mire el Pepino":)

Scripture of the week: Mormon 9:14 It talks about the impure staying impure and the clean clean. For me it reminds me of the importance of being happy in this life because the happy will be happy and the unhappy will  be even more unhappy. I will finish the book of mormon this week in Spanish how much I love that book and often find myself trying to find more time in the day to read more. I also found myself thinking of my saviour this christmas time... How much I wish he didn´t have to suffer for my mistakes but at the same time I just find so much love for him. I am amazed by his unfathomable love, stregnth and intellegence.

Anyway time is up I love you all like crazy oh my foot is fine not to worry and DAD we have DVD players in every house not to worry:) I love you all tons and tons be happy live everyday happy and make sure to tell everyone who is freaking out about the end of the world on the 21st that its all a bunch of balone.

This is a foto with Elder Viñas and our zone is Salto and photos from when I left Salto

 

 Elder McCRanny

 

Elder Stewart-Chester

"Its the most wonderful time of the year"

I’m sorry I cannot send more pictures today, next week I will. These are photos from Salto. I did not send any from here yet. The truth is I’m testing out the area to see if I can take it around with me. It looks pretty safe.  Now the only thing is one minute it's sunny the next it's pouring. The truth is I am not too far into the city, we are more on the outskirts.  Unlike the states where the inner city is the rough part here it is the outside where all the poor live. I love my area. We have like 20 lessons with a member every week because there are so many that are willing to help and lots of people to teach.

Something that me and my companion (my mom didn't correct this even though she should have-love, mom) have really begun to focus on is reactivating and we are seeing lots of fruits from our labor. This last Sunday a lot of very big recent convert family that went inactive came to church!! There is so much work to be done in reactivation here and we have set our goals high to bring many back to fill the church full once again. 

Me and my companion (mom needs to teach grammar to her sonJ)get a long really well. I tried something new this change and just worked hard to make him laugh and become his friend. I do not chew him out I just serve and do all that I can thinking about the savior. Our goal as a mission is to be one of the saviors’ friends, to serve out of love not out of duty. I love my savior. I think about his question so amazingly put by Elder Holland often "DO YOU LOVE ME?"   I think about it and then I serve all that I can. I think about it when I arrive at the house in the night, which is such a mess and there is so much to do and all I want to do is sleep and then I get to work and fight the tiredness. My foot has been causing me problems and yet I thought about serving him truly loving him and I kept going and washing and cleaning all by myself.  That day I felt his hand uplift my burdens. 

I did what Grandpa said and soaked my foot in apple vinegar boy did it hurt and then the second day I did it again and that next day my foot swelled up huge and that’s where I am at today. I soaked it in ice water last night and it helped and the swelling decreased but I just hope I did not do something wrong.

I went on diviones last week with an elder from El Salvador who was baptized at 19 he is  a powerful missionary and knows how to teach. Anyway we had a lesson with one of our investigatores Margarita who is 60 something and wants to be baptized but is quitting smoking. We had an amazing charla with her. She said that she was feeling as though God did not love her but after Elder Rivas spoke she knew He really did. Anyway she is getting baptized next week and we are exited! Lots of work is going on here. 

Scripture: 4nephi 1 15

 15 And it came to pass that there was no ^acontention in the land, because of the ^blove of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.

The Book of Mormon is amazing read it

I love you so much I don’t really feel like its Christmas time, it’s too hot:) and no family

Love you all 

Elder Stewart-Chester

 BON BON coma....

 Salto rainy!!

 SALTO!!  rain

 Making sausages......ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww (love mom)

 I actually got to baptise Florencia which was wonderful as always but you know me I forgot my towell at least it is insanely hot here!!

Dec 3 (late update from mom) Well we are at that time again!

Please forgive me this thing is terrible. I am going to start emailing in the morning. Anyway ahhhhh I forgot the cord to send the pictures.... nuts. Next week I’ll spend time sending pictures. P-days are busy days where you try and cram lots in and then you have to agree with your comp and it just makes it even harder to do all you would like to.

Anyway, so where do I start.  Well I had a very spiritual experience this Tuesday on divisions with a different Elder called Elder Montes.  He is from Spain but lost his accent completely. Anyway we actually had a couple of spiritual experiences. First, we went to an 18 yr old young man’s house who had been baptized recently 8 months ago to try and teach his sister. He’s super active and actually was a corto plazo (a missionary before the mission) with my comp for two days before I got here. Well when we got there he told us that he had decided that he was going inactive. We were shocked and so we sat down and had a lesson I will never forget. We asked him why and things like that. He said it was because he was a bad person. We talked about the atonement, about never giving up about how much god loves him. I cried.  My comp cried and so did he. In the middle of the lesson I had the weirdest feeling. I literally sat back and thought to my self as I listened to myself speak. I have already heard and said all of this before in my dreams the night before. I told everyone and I was amazed. After that lesson he told us he was not going inactive. He later sent us a message telling us that he had been kneeling asking the Lord to help him repent, to help him. He said that we were his answer. My favorite part of being a missionary is following the spirit and being the answer to someone’s prayers.

Wow, O have so many things to say such little time. Fast...... my comp has P90x.  We work out. We had a baptism this last Saturday and it was really great. Our ward is wonderful and it is working well to get things moving. His name is Alexander he is the brother of a recent convert. In the baptism President Heaton came to see our baptism and well the mom of Alexander is an investigator of ours and she had not shown up yet and so I went looking for her in the car with presidente.  Ha-ha, through some rough streets with his nice car super strange to use a seatbelt.

That is all I will have time for for now forgive me.  Typing is a weakness of mine I will be talking again with Skype very soon!! So you can ask me all kinds of questions then as well.

I just want to say I love you so much. Be safe and love the lord the hard things are what mold us into what god wants us to be!

Elder Stewart-Chester

Okky Dokey folks yall ready

SO it turns out I am a really crapy Elder so I have been transferred once again.....
My Change

Cerro Barrio 16
With: Elder Vargas (Peru)
I am going down south folks to the big city Montevideo!!!! I was very much in Shock because well I am the only missionary I know with 4 areas in 7 changes. My companion I am with right now has 4 areas and he only has 6 months of his mission left. I mean wow I have only been in an area for 2 changes that is unheard-of.

Anyway folks as you can tell I am writing this super late.  I am actually already in the time we should be out working. :( the Cyber here was too full so we had to wait. So forgive me I am trying to type as fast as my skinny fingers will let me. I have so much to say lets hope I can get some of it across.

First off mom the Mp3 is fine do not spend lots of money and hide it well. Things I still need are envelopes and now futbol shoes sadly mine are super destroyed.  To send shoes you have to send one in one package one on in the other just send me a pare of dad's indoors.

I was spat at this week.... Just kept walking. Someday I will receive tons of blessings for that one. I was amazed at how well I kept my head. I am changing that's for sure.

We had two baptisms Sunday, two adorable little girls who are showing the way for their mother who needs to be married before she can be baptised. I will send pictures next week hopefully. I´m guessing the computers in Deo are better. I actually got to baptise Florencia which was wonderful as always but you know me I forgot my towel at least it is insanely hot here!!

Here in Uruguay well south America Everyone has Moto´s(motorcycles etc) and after being here so long I have the strongest desire to buy one when I get home. Something funny about motos here is they are a family vehicle. Did you know they can fit a family of 5 on those things. Hopefully I´ll take a picture. Also they use them like trucks carrying goods. Often you will see a moto go past with two men on it and one is carrying a giant wooden beam, or a piece of metal.

What do I think of the new age change of missionaries?....well its inspired!  China must be opening up soon. I think that missionaries will have to come more prepared and that their may be more problems,  but I think hopefully they will come very teachable and The work will grow.

I have thought of one thing one thing I wish I knew earlier in life. Do you want to know what that is?  Moroni´s promise. I wish someone would´ve sat me down younger and told me you Have to read this book and then ask God your life depends on it. I love the Book of Mormon I wish I had poored through the pages earlier in my life. I would´ve received so much more. My goal for the rest of my mission is to feel the spirit and teach with the spirit as much as I possibly can. It´s honestly all that matters.

I am disappointed to leave my area I had so many plans and ideas. It should only go up hill here in this area.

I love the Lord and I will go and do whatever he asks.

Les Quiero

Elder Stewart-Chester

Sent from my iPhone