And the work continues... June 25, 2013 Albuquerque, NH

What a week! When I look back on it, it seems like we did so much but at the same time it feels like we did nothing.. blah.. Especially yesterday. I will start with the bad news. Yesterday morning, at 2:30, I woke up to empty the contents of my stomach. Which I proceeded to do every hour for the next 5 hours and then again at 11:30 and again at 1:00. What a day! So needless to say, Sister Brown and I stayed in the apartement and I slept. A lot. and I felt so crummy doing so. There were people we needed to go see! I am thankful that it happened on a monday so we only missed out on a few hours of the work in the evening instead of the whole day. Today I feel much better - so we have been out working and great news! We set a date for one of our investigators to be baptized! Yahoo!!

Christie has been investigating the church for almost a year now. She is 17 and is dating one of the young men in the ward. She has an incredible testimony and wants to be baptized so bad! The only thing that has kept her from it is her mother... which kills me because I look at my wonderful mum and how she supports me in everything I do! I just can't imagine having one who doesn't. So we pray for Christie and her mum a lot. Anyway, Christie has had multiple dates set for baptism and each one has come and gone but each time something miraculous has happened so this time we are hoping the miracle to be the permission from her mom! Christie is going to new york for the next two weeks and we have set the 20th of July  for her- so quick after her return which might prove to be tricky but if it is right in the Lord's timeing it will happen! Sister Brown and I are going to stop by her house this week and talk to her mom and hopefully build some trust with her there. It is exciting though!

Also this week, things clicked for me! I still don't feel like a missionary ( I have been told that happens sometime between 2 and 5 months so I will be patient) but things are starting to click. The first thing is personal study in the morning. I will honestly say that I would just read my scriptures to read them. Yes I enjoyed them but I wasn't pouring over them or looking forward to reading them daily. That is not the case now! Now that hour in the morning can not be long enough! 9:00 comes way too soon! I love personal study! I really am looking forward to continue in this pattern of styudy for the rest of my life. I don't quite know how I went without it for so long... Also, the work is starting to click, one lesson at a time. At the beginnning of the week we taught a gentleman named Kelly. He was excommunicated from the church a number of years ago and began taking the lessons from the missionaries about 5 months ago. Anyway, we meet with him weekly, although last week was my first meeting with him- not sure why.. We are now into teaching him the commandments and we spoke with him about prayer and reading scriptures- nothing that intense or spiritually deep or anything like that but something in that lesson clicked for me. oh I remember what it is now! His wife, Bobbie, is not a member and really has no desire to become so. She sits in on the lessons but we cannot commit her to do anything. She just enjoys learning and listening in. She is usually present at all the lessons but last week she had a headache or something so she stayed in her room while we taught kelly. So at one point in the lesson Kelly said "You know, I don't really know if it will work out with Bobbie, but sometimes you just want that someone to go to church with and to hold hands with in sacrament meeting and to take to the temple." And man I want that so bad for him! So bad! That is what I am doing here. I am helping people to come unto Christ and helping them toward that first step of baptism so they can get to the temple and become sealed as families forever! How cool!

Another cool experience we had was with a referral. We had eaten dinner at a members home and then shared a message and asked for any referrals, just like always, and they told us about their neighbor and how sweet she is and how great she is. They told us she is active in her Christian church, which is apparent in the huge mural of a saint above her stairs, but that she is great and they think she would be accepting. So after dinner, Sister Brown and I went to see her. She opened the door and thanked us for coming but told us it was not a good time. She had just had surgery and was recovering and was not up to accepting anybody into her home at the time and to come back later. So we left and I was thinking okay cool. we will go back and she will say I am not really interested but thanks for the time. whatever. But then a few days later, we got a text from the family we had dinner with who gave us the referral. It was a forward of message that she had sent to them. SHe thanked them for sending us to her door and how she had been questioning things in her life and by us stopping by it had given her hope. It made her think that God has something greater in store for her. and He does! And we get to show her that! So tonight we are going to stop by again and teach her the restoration and hopefully she can recognize that God does have something greater in store for her and she can have a happiness in her life that she will not hwave recognized ever before!

Something else I learned this week was the importance of support from those around you. We went to visit with a less active member of the ward, SIster Bahlen, to get to know her more and build some trust and just chat. She has a live in boyfriend who has been there for a while I belive, but I am still new so I don't really know.. ANyway, he had to leave to go pick up her son from football practice so it was just the sisters and her. We talked about her work, her background, her apache traditions, all kinds of great stuff! She really opened up to us. Then John, the boyfriend, came back and she shut down. It was crazy! He is not very accepting of the church nor supportive of it. It was wild to see such the stark difference in her just talking to us when he was present compared to when he wasn't. I really want him to be supportive of her- at one point in our discussion with her, she said she really liked giong to church becasue she just felt like she was home. It didn't matter where geographically she was, but whenever she was at church she just felt the comfort that only a home can provide. How cool! Now if only John could experience that too! one day..

OnSunday the Worldwide Leadership Training was broadcasted, well, worldwide. I hope you were able to listen. Mum and dad it seems like you had a crazy week so I don't hink you did - and that is why Elder Holland was not in his ward - he was in Provo. anyway, This broadcast was so great! It really gave me hope as a missionary in a slow area... It really stressed the importance of member missionary work. One thing that really stood out to me was that there are two people responsible for the pace of missionary work in the ward- the Bishop and the Ward Mission Leader. not the fulltime missionaries. We are there to assist them and teach the lessons. It was a really cool roadcast. I encourage all of you to watch it. And please do all you can to help the missionaries. They cannot do the work without the members. Speaking of, there is one family in particular here that has embodied the member missionary persona. We had dinner with them and of course asked for referrals and they told us that they had a couple people who would be good and that they would love to have them and us over for dinner or lunch at the same time and introduce us to each other and what not. Really great. Then a few nights later we stopped over to follow up with another referral they gave us, Sister Bahlen actually, and they were so excited because of the missionary experinces they had already had with other peolple and just how easy it was for them to bring up the gospel and talk normally about it! They then gave us a wonderful compliment- they said that they have so much confidence in us as missionaries! They feel they can turn any one of their friends to us and know they will be taken care of and treated with the utmost respect and loved. It was a great reminder to know that I really am supposed to be here and that I am doing good.

Funny story of the week! We went tracting one afternoon and it was going like tracting typically does, "I have my own church thanks" at one house we stopped and shared a little about Christ and asked the gentleman if Christ had played a role in his life. He said, "I am sorry. I am running an allergy right now." so what he was really saying- he was allergic to Jesus. That isn't so funny now that I type it out. But it was funny when it happened. And it is funny when I think about it. Maybe it is one of those had to be there moments. Or maybe I still am not able to tell stories. Probably the last one.

I am speaking in sacrament this Sunday - I have only been twice and they are already asking me to speak! Sheesh! The joys of being a missionary! It will be great though - Sister Brown and I are speaking with a recent convert and the Ward Mission Leader so it will be a really good meeting I think.

I love you all and hope you have a wonderful week!

Sister Stuart

oh and remember, life is like a river. We are always swimming upstream. We always have to work for the good stuff, both spiritually and temporally. If we stop swimming for even a second we will get sucked down by the devil and his easy ways. Keep swimming and find the good stuff!

Picture with President and Sister Miller (the welcoming committee)

Taken the day she reported to New Mexico.

June 17, 2013 - Albuquerque NM

The darling house belonging to the Jacos

This is Sister Brown and I  taking out the shower frame and then cheesing it

So this is the far west side of Albuquerque

Yeah I am not sending anymore pictures- it is a hassle.

Hey All!

What a week it has been! one full one down in New Mexico! Time has flown really! I really have no idea what I told you last time I sent out a message so this one might have some repetitions, plus it will probably be uber scattered - I will get better at this, I promise.

So the first thing you need to know about New Mexico - IT IS HOT!! I realized this as I stepped off the plane to 106 degrees and only one short sleeved shirt.. posed a bit of a problem - but I have since gotten a few more. This too shall pass. But back to the heat- I was really shocked at how hot it has been, especially because the elevation is so high here - it really confuses me. I remember when I was little, I used to think that the higher up in the mountains you would go, the hotter it would get because you were closer to the sun- that wasn't the case. But here, that is the case. It is hot. And brown. very brown. But it is pretty. Also, the southwest influence is not as abundant as I thought it would be here. There are some neighborhoods of the adobe/stucco style which I love, but then there a lot of brick homes too. The picture is of one of the less active members homes we visit and I love it! If I were to ever move here (people call New Mexico the Land of Entrapment because no matter where you go, you will always be back, so it is a real possibility) my home would look like this one.  The one thing that has really showed me New Mexico is hot is the temperature we keep our apartment at. We keep the thermostat between 74 and 75 degree and I have to put a sweater on in the morning during study becasue I get cold! Something is seriously wrong there...

Oh, another weather phenomena about Albuquerque is the monsoons. They come between june and july and it just rains every afternoon for 2-10 minutes and it just comes down hard. Then it all evaporates and comes back the next day. My companion and I are still waiting for these. The clouds have come out every day but there has been no rain. Most people say the monsoons won't be coming this year. Bummer. But the clouds still come- you would think that would cool it down. Wrong. According to brother Chavez, another less active we visit, the clouds keep the heat from rising which makes it hotter. He told us we live in a turtle tank. It was hilarious.

One more thing about the weather.. The wind is horrid here! Every evening betwenn 7:00 and 8:00 the winds pick up and blow so hard for about ten minutes at a time then stop for about 5 then pick up again. This continues for a few hours at least! Too bad I don't have my kites.. actually no. the windis too strong for kites in the evenings. The mountains disappear in the wind because it picks up mo much dirt and sand and dust that it creates a wall and everything in the distance is gone. It is during those times I am thankful we are in a car and not on bikes.

Also, Kokapellis are everywhere here! Will someone look up the significance of hom and let me know? I am curious. thanks!

So this is a really slow area we are in.. The members are so wonderful! but the work is slow. In one ward, we don't have any investigators, and have 5 - onlly 2 of which are progressing - in the other ward. There are a lot of less actives in both wards that we are trying to reactivate but they are never home or are just not very receptive - usually not home though. So anyway, the area is slow. We are really looking and trying to find new people to teach - so for that I am asking for all you returned missionary's help! What was the most successful finding method you utilized? Try something other than referrals from memebers - like I said before, they are all really great and want to take care of us missionaries, they just aren't up to par on missionary efforts themselves.. But, we did have a cool experience this Sunday! 

During planning meeting on Thursday (which I LOVE! I have learned that I love love love planning here. It just gives so much direction and makes so much sense to me!) we really came to the conclusion that we need more people to teach. so we brainstormed and came up with some ideas and we decided to fast on Sunday. At church we received FOUR referrals! That may not sound like a lot, but it was a lot better than what has been happening... We were able to contact two of them that evening and one invited us back for a lesson! We are both really excited for that! We also got into a couple of less actives homes that we have been trying for all week and that was good too.  

Oh and one more thing about the work being slow and rather depressive sometimes- I guess the whole zone is like this becasue the Friday before I arrived, there was a zone conference where they introduced the Glad Game- from Polyanna!! It made me so happy! So now when things are slow, we paly the glad game!

We also are trying to get involved in service opportunities. A family in the ward - less active I believe- is redoing a bathroom because water has gotten behind the tile and molded the wall and the wood through to the other side and has just made a mess. So we offered to help and this last week we went over and helped get it started! We just took out the track doors - which were screwed to the tile and glued! It was insanely tedious to pry that frame off.. But we did it! and we removed the hardware and such.. Not much, but it was fun to do some manual labor again. We will be going back this week to do some more.

Last weeek, Sister Brown and I were going to go teach a lesson to an investigator on the reservation (which is out of our area) and a few hours before she talked with the District leader and they determined we didn't really have the right permission to go and it would probably be best if we didn't. So we didn't. And good thing too! That evening, President Miller called us and asked if we were going. We told him no that we didn't think it would be the best idea for us to go and such and such- I can't really remember the whole conversation but all in all it was a good thing we did not go. We probably would have gotten in heaps of trouble if we did. The other crazy thing is, President MIller wasn't even involved in the planning of it. It was Sister Brown, Our District leader, the zone leaders and the branch president on the reservation - the mission president knows all. As does the spirit. When he tells you no, listen. He will keep you out of trouble.

Funny thing that happened this morning! So last night as I was discussing what happened on P-Day with sister Brown, I realizd I did not have any laundry detergent and if I could borrow hers. She told me that they have always gotten it as a companionship for the apartment and just shared. Swell! So this morning I go to start my laundry and I cannot find the detergent. I go ask her where it was and she point to the bottle and I say "No, Sister Brown, that is not detergent, that is fabric softener." They have been washing their clothes in fabric softener for twelve weeks!! So I definitely bought real soap at the store today. It was funny!

That was last week for you! The evening of this coming week are looking good so far. Monday night and wednesday night are full of appointments which is a good sign! So here is to a great week ahead!

I love you all!

Love Sister Stuart

Oh and my moment of revelation this morning came from President Uchtdorf. He said "It is not your responsibility to convert anyone. That is the work of the Holy Ghost. Your task is to share your beliefs and to not be afraid." What wise words. It says explicitely in the missionary purpose that we are to INVITE others to come unto Christ by HELPING them receive the restored gospel. We do that by sharing what we know to be the truth and letting the Holy Ghost convert them. I think that is something all too often forgotten.

Chat Snip-it with Mom, June 11, 2013

It was so good to talk to you momma! 

Thank you for taking care of the missionaries out there! They need good people like you to halp them out. THis business of saving souls is not easy. and I haven't even started yet!

 

Thank you for taking care of me and raising a family strong in the gospel. I am so grateful for the happiness it has brought to my life. I am so thankful to know that our family will be together forever. Yesterday, in my interview with President Miller, he asked me about my family. I started by saiyng that my parent were married in the temple and still love each other and then I just started crying! I don't even know why! I just love you both so much and am so tahnkful for the wonderful example you have set for me.

 

I love you!

Tay Babe

June 11, 2013 - Albuquerque, NM

flying to New Mexico

Hello Fam!

Today is day two in the hot New Mexico sunshine! and boy is it hot! yesterday they said it was the hottest it has been so far at 106 degrees! they also said it is the hottest it is supposed to get.. I sure hope that is the truth! in a couple weeks the monsoon season will begin and that should cool it down just fine- that is if they happen. Last year the rains never came so it has been extra dry- fingers crossed the rain comes!

Yesterday, I woke up at 3:00am to shower, finish packing, eat breakfast, and be to the travel office at 4:45am.  One of my comp's suitcases was a few pounds overweight so i took some of her books to stash in my bag. I had already locked my luggage so I pulled out my key ring (which had my key card for the MTC campus, my room key - which I needed to turn in after eating breakfast, my luggage keys, and my jump drive) and unlocked my bag and loaded her stuff in it. Then we went to eat a bvreakfast of corn flakes! mmm delicious! then we went to the travel office to turn in our locks, keys and get our tickets for the train. Oh wait, my key ring is gone. With everything on it. so I ran back to the residence and retraced my steps but still didn't fid it. bummer. so I just payed the three dollars for losing the key. No big deal.

We all then loaded on busses and were hauled to the front runner which we rode to the north temple stop where we jumped on Trax to the airport. I definitely did not talk to anyone on the way - I was far too scared. When we arrived,security was a breeze! They didn't even have to check my bag! Yahoo! I think that is the first time ever! 26 missionaries were on the little plane to Albuquerque- pretty sure we took up 3/4 of the seats haha! maybe more.. It was fun!

ooking out the window, everything kept getting dryer and browner and deader. This is not a very green place.. but it is still very pretty! We got to the airport and met the Mission President, his wife, and the APs at the baggage claim. We were handed a garbage bag and a slip of paper telling us to get out of our luggage everything we would need for the next two days and put it in the garbage bag because we would not be getting our luggage until tuesday. No problem. Oh wait, my luggage is locked and I don't have the keys! So I found a nice lady who worked at the airport and got a pair of plyers and busted my locks open. guess what the first thing I found inside my bag was? yep.. my keys. What a pain!

from the airport, we hopped into different vans and cars, drove to the temple to take a picture - gorgeous building! I am real excited to go inside. They told me it was all themed Southwestern and such with woven rugs and cool things like that. Anyway, President said he would be sending the parents a picture I believe so you might get that one - or maybe it was just the one that we took at the mission home. Either way, no judging. It had been a long morning... from the temple we went to the mission home ate lunch blah blah blah. this is boring. I am sorry. You don't care about all these details.

While at the mission home, missionaries from the surrounding areas came and took us out tracting. I went and knocked my first doors! I was terrified! I don't have the courage to be a missionary yet.. but I know it will come. The teaching doesn't scare me. It is just the contacting and finding new people. Oh and the dogs! Like every single house has dogs! multiple! I don't like dogs! but they keep them inside so that is good. Oh another thing that is strange to me is all the gates. A lot of people have gates to their patios/ front doors. A lot of them are open and unlocked so we just walk through those - but occasionally some of them are locked, with chains. It is all very different. Another really cool thing is the front doors here. There is some cultural significance to have them carved with super ornate patterns and flowers and it is just really quite awesome! I think when I get a house of my own, I will do that with my front door.

All the sister were divided up last night amongst three different members homes. I went with 9 other sisters and we went to the branch president of the university singles branch's home (I think I screwed up on my possesives in that sentance.. oh well). It was fun to ride up with him and here a lot of cool things about the city. We did not end up sleeping until 11:00 pm. I was so tired! and then I thought "I am going to be spending the next 18 months of my life like this!" and then I thought "How awesome! That means I will be working hard every single day!" so It will definitely be a good thing.

This morning we met for transfer meeting. I was assigned a trainer, Sister Brown, and assigned to the Ventana and Volcano area - those are the wards we work in. Then it was off! But we didnt get straight to work which was bummer. Becasue there are missionaries coming up from the south - el paso- there are some missionaries without companions until about 5:00 when they get up here to albuquerque after the transfer meeting down there. Becasue of that Sister Brown and I have a couple other sisters with us. We went to the grocery store to get some food stuffs then we went back to the apartment for lunch and then we came to the library to do emails! yahoo! when we are done here, we will be going back to the apartment to go over the area book and unpack and things like that and then we will take the other sisters to their transfer meeting and then we have a dinner appointment and then maybe we will start working after that.. I know we will for sure tomorrow though - we are going over to the reservation. Sisters are generally not allowed to be there but there is an investigator who has kind of hit a rut, so my companion was asked if she would be willing to go teach them. The Zonel Leaders got permission and so that is what we are doing tomorrow. Exciting!

I am sorry this is such a bland email. I just don't feel like much has happened yet - even though so much has. They will get better, I promise.

Yes mum you can share these. They are really boring though.. and maybe, Kemp, don't put these first few on the blog. or do. whatever is fine. I won't worry about it. I will just be here in New Mexico pressing forward with faith and not fear!

I love you all!

Sister Stuart

and maybe soon I will start adding scriptures or spiritual thoughts to these too. Oh and maybe pictures. But that would require me to take pictures first..

June 6, 2013 Missionary Training Center

 Sister Rosa and I in Provo

My District in Provo

Thank you Kemp for putting all theses email addresses together on one! It makes it so much easier for me and so much less time consuming! Because I tell you what - time is something I do not have hear. I have a timer ticking in the top right hand corner of my screen counting down the seconds until I am kicked off the computer... This is one of those times in my life, similar to those at school of being on page 4 of a 7 page paper that is due in an hour, that I wish I learned how to type fast.. maybe that will come by the end of my mission. We can hope right? So for that reason, I may not get a lot out to you in the 15 minutes I have left...

Mission life is so fantastic! Well here in the MTC it is. I really do love it here and I am sure I will love it in New Mexico too but I am just definitely not ready for that yet.. I still have a lot of learning to do which is wonderful! Because that is what we do here! We sit in class for 6 hours a day and I LOVE it! I am learning so much!WE have class time where we are instructed by a teacher (sorry gentlemen, you already know this stuff, but the women don't so I am going to share it with them) and personal study time and companionship study time and also additional study time. My zone has one of the earliest schedules at here - we have to be at breakfast by 6:45 and back to class by 7:15 for study time. It is wild - but what is really cool is that I have not been overly tired yet! Well actually Tuesday was probably my hardest day just because we had such a long week of go go go go and no break yet so I hit my wall definitely.. but today is Pday so I get that break! YAhoo.. is it bad that I have been looking forward to this day?

Let me tell y'all about my companion. She is INCREDIBLE! We have gotten along so well together. We are basically the same person - well besides the fact she goes (went) to BYU (blech) but other than that one difference, everything else is wonderful with us! oh - her name is Sister Rosa. She is from Naperville Illinois and just finished her first year of school here at BYU. She is studying to be an elementary teacher. She came out here really focused and determined to work hard which is awesome because I came out the same way. So we work together really well! She knows her scripture stories really well and is able to pull out what chapter it is in off the top of her head- something I am learning to do. We have taught 5 lessons thus far with a sixth one tonight. We have only taught two investigators - one we have taught three lessons to and the other two. While they are just role plays, if they are taken seriously thay can really become a real experience, which is what Sister Rosa and I have been doing so I am learning lots. Last night in our lesson we taught, we were teaching the plan of salvation - i was teaching the creation and said something like "under the direction of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ created the world..." and then she said, as a devout catholic, "wait, God created the heavens and earth, not Christ." that made us flustered - so we pulled out a scripture from Abraham and then she was like "wait, what is that book?" oh yeah... she doesnt know what the Pearl of Great Price is.. It threw us a little bit, but I think we recovered nicely. The unfortunate thing, we dont get feed back on those lessons. oh but that sparked a question that we are still trying to find the answer to - maybe my knowledgeable family can help. We know that jesus Christ created the world and that he was the God of the old testament.. but where is the sciptural proof of that? Is it in the bible? or just in modern revelation. I did find some good stuff in John 1 but it is kind of confusing and needs some interpretting.. so If y'all have any other great references - throw em at me!

Thanks for all the letters/emails! I love to hear from you all! Sorry this email is so scattered..but I am down to seconds..

Love you all!

-Sister Stuart

One more thing - I did see Kait and it was so wonderful! I saw her the first day and everyday until she left on Tuesday morning. I am sure she is loving Baltimore! Hopefully by my next PDay I will have heard from her again ( I have no idea when that will be)

I fly out of here Monday morning at 9 am I think is when my flight is.. so until New Mexico.

First Handwritten Letter

coming soon as soon as we teach mom how to use the scanner...

En route to the MTC