Hey Everyone!
Wow, so this week was extremely insane! a lot of wonderful things happened along with some sad things as well. But first off, it was great to hear about home! That is pretty neat and odd at the same time that Marisa and Nathan are in our ward now. At least I'll know someone in the ward when I get home. Thanks for giving Matt my address, Mom. I've been wondering how he has been doing, I haven't heard from him since I left home. Oh, and thank you for giving Jade my address, who is this Valeri person you mentioned? Thanks for doing that for me, be sure to encourage my friends to write me still. Page Rook sent me a letter a few weeks ago, I need to write her back, that was nice of her to do that. That is really awesome to hear about the primary class wanting to write me. I'll be looking forward to those letters! That is nice to hear about the snow, we haven't had any for a while, but there has been quite a bit of fog, it's really strange. Ah man, don't even get me started on football, guys. People have been telling me a bit about it off and on. Surprisingly, there are not many pro football fans out here, mainly college. Man I hope the Giants win... To answer your question, Mom, I haven't been as tired lately, I think what it going on is that we have been working so hard during the day, come night time we are so tired, I crash within ten minutes of being in bed and wake up pretty refreshed! I did speak with my mission president a few weeks back, but I never got a reply back, but it's okay. Yeah, it is pretty nuts how fast time is going on my mission, It really hit me the other day about how fast it is going. This only makes me want to work even harder and harder with the little time I have left. I told Elder Payne about that last night and he said that if we work harder then we are now, then we will die. Oh, speaking of my companion, we are both staying here for another transfer. So I'm pretty happy to be serving in this wonderful area for another six weeks.
So like I said before, this week was really insane! To start off with the beginning of the week, Did I ever tell you that every Monday night we go to a cowboy bible study? I don't think I've told you guys that. It's really cool, they start off with some music for a few minutes then they normally read a chapter our of the bible and then explain it, then at the end, there is more music and food! I've made a few friends there, a few people have become investigators!! Neat huh? Remember those two people that I was talking about that want to be baptized? well, we met with them and we talked about the Restoration. Tears were running down both of there faces and almost mine. The spirit was so strong in there, we mentioned baptism and they both still wanted to be baptized so set set a date with them for the 18th of February. They accepted and this is only a goal for them to reach, so nothing is set and stone yet, but if they cannot reach it, then we can always move it around. That was probably one of the best lessons that I have ever taught. So spiritual! We also did some service for a older man and help split some wood. Thank heavens that he had a wood splitter, he has a lot of wood!! I was exhausted at the end. The mans wife came out to see us, she told us that a member of our ward passed away this week and I knew her. She was a older lady that hadn't been to church for a few years due to health and her age. It was sad to hear about that, but at least she isn't in pain anymore, right? Bishop picked us up and we went to her funeral on Saturday, It was hardly a funeral, she was cremated and her earn wasn't even there, it was more of a gathering. Her non member family held it, so our church was not a part of it. Strange huh? we were only there for about 20 minutes.
So on Thursday, we went to another investigators house, and we talked for a while, she has some cats and she is a assistant veterinarian so she knows a lot and wanted me to grab her cat by the back of the neck to hand him to her to show us something. Well I grabbed him by the higher part of the back instead of the neck, I thought it was good enough, well no! the stupid cat freaked out and turned his head and bit me like four times on my left hand. I was more amazed then in pain to see this cat actually do it when this happened. As he was literally biting me, I looked at him and thought to myself: "Wow, this cat is actually biting me, this has never happened to me!" Then I realized that it is starting to hurt so I dropped him and he took off. I almost said some choice words and threw him at a wall as hard as possible, but still, I was in shock. Pretty stupid of me, right? well our investigator pulled me into the bathroom and put some special soap for reasons like that while she was cursing at the cat. All in all, it was pretty funny. We do service every Friday morning at a thrift shop and I told the man that works there who also talks to me about football, and I told him about what happened and showed him the marks on my left hand and he laughed so hard, I thought he was going to pee his pants. I hate cats so much...
So due to safety, I'm not mentioning any names in this story. The other morning, we received a text message from a less-active man. I lent him a book of mine and he told us to come and pick it up, his girl friend is cheating on him and he is leaving town in the afternoon. We immediately went to his place to see what is going on. His girl friend is in a different town for work and he found out that she has been cheating on him and also has been doing drugs again. He practically snapped. The whole place was a mess, as if a bomb went off, all of her belongings, mainly clothes were thrown in the backyard. It was a disaster. We asked him if there was anything that we could do, but there wasn't, so we left and called bishop and told him about what happened. He already found out and was going to see him in a few minutes. We met with Bishop later that day and he told us that the police came and arrested the man and bishop didn't know why. But he did see the police go in and some were wearing white rubber gloves. My first thought was drugs, well we found out the next day that it wasn't drugs, but he killed his girl friends dog by putting him in the washing machine. How demented is that!? and I was only two feet away from the washer! being mad is one thing, but to actually do that? no way. That is no excuse.
I forgot to mention, at the thrift shop, there was a huge stuffed gorilla for sale there, it's one of those that you get at a carnival, well I asked the manager about it and she sold it to me for only $7.00 when it was originally $20.00! I bought it for the girls, If I cannot send it, then I'll just return it. Other than all of that my week was terrific! a whole bunch of spiritual experience happened. We have a fantastic bishop in this ward, he and his wife recently returned from a mission in Kenya in July, so he is still very much gung ho about missionary work. The three of us really work hard together for the work to continue to progress. We were able to see a investigating couple that attend the Bible study, there hearts are defiantly soften for the gospel, so we are going to work with them more and more. The Field is defiantly white out here. D&C:4. Well I think that is all that has happened this week. When I get off, I'll remember something else, it always happens. I love you all! and Thank you for all of your support and all that you do Mom!
Love,
Elder Daniel Stuart
Monday, January 23, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
1/16/2012
Hey,
So, Did you forget to write me this week? What happened? I know you would never forget! I take it that you didn't write me because of MLK day? You must of thought the place was closed? I actually completely forgot about that. I hope that can get mail today...
We had a pretty good week, unfortunately we were not able to see as many people as we had planned, a lot of things were off. On Friday, we had to go to the car shop to get a new tire, I ran over a screw the other day without realizing it, luckily the tire didn't explode. But as we were there, the man told us that we also needed to get out tires realigned, new front tires, and new brake pads. The total time took almost 4 hours! how ridiculous is that? Good thing that there were Sports Illustrated magazines there to keep me somewhat sane. We also had to go to Flippin a few times to help out on the house, I really don't mine helping them out, but, I think they are starting to abuse us a bit... Probably because no one else in the ward will help them, every so often someone will come out there but for the most part, its just us. I'm going to have to tell them that we can only help them about once a week. It is killing us on miles and so forth. So Arkansas has such weird weather!! On Thursday, it snowed a bit ( It was more like a sneeze ) but by the end of the day, most of it melted. Now, it's in the low 60's and dark clouds are coming our way with rain. It almost feels as if a Tornado is coming, but who knows!
Wednesday was really interesting, we went to the church to do something and the Bishop found us and said: "Elders, I need you in my office right now please." When he pulled us in we saw his second councillor and two younger people, male and female, sitting down. The younger lady was crying a lot and I could tell that the man was holding back tears. Elder Payne found these two people the other day when we were on exchanges with the assistants. They are not members, but the lady's mother is less-active, and the man is her fiance'. Well the story is that they lost there child to social services a few days ago because the doctors claim that they abused the child ( not true ) so they are trying to fight for there baby girl. So they asked for a blessing and other things that I do not know of. The Bishop asked us and his second councillor who would like to offer the blessing, no one offered so I raised my hand and gave them both blessings. It went really well, even tho I had no clue who these people were. I'm glad that I was there to offer it. They felt a lot better and told us and Bishop that they will be at church on Sunday. Well come Sunday, they came! I didn't really get a chance to talk to them during Sacrament but after Sacrament, I saw the man leave with a older lady, I assumed that it was his mother, but the young lady was still here with her own mother, crying. Bishop found us after second hour and told us again: "Elders, I need you in my office right now please." Man, everytime I heard that, I felt like I was in trouble. Well he brought us in and there was the young lady, in tears again. She told the three of us that her fiance' had to leave because he works night shifts and was exhausted. But, she also told us that they had a court hearing to see if they can get there child and they still cannot. But she also said that she and her fiance' want to be baptized!! My eyes widened a lot and my jaw literally dropped when I heard this. She said that she can feel the spirit all around and feels welcomed here. So we reviewed with here about what we will do and so forth so she can be baptized. We will also have to talk to her Fiance' about this as well and to make sure that this isn't just a scam for any reasons also.
For the most part, That was the best thing to happen this week. Everything is going good, and I'm still loving the work! I just find it really insane that I've now been out for over 16 months! Man, things just zip right through. So we were at a potential investigators place last night and they had the Golden Globe Awards on and a preview for a movie called 'The Adventures of TinTin' came on, that movie looks really good! along with other ones that were showned. They didn't want to turn off the T.V. So it's not like I could of forced them to do it. Happy Birthday Mom!!Any who, I love you all and I hope that you have a great week. Hopefully, everyone is well and work is going good still, I love you!!
Elder Daniel Stuart
So, Did you forget to write me this week? What happened? I know you would never forget! I take it that you didn't write me because of MLK day? You must of thought the place was closed? I actually completely forgot about that. I hope that can get mail today...
We had a pretty good week, unfortunately we were not able to see as many people as we had planned, a lot of things were off. On Friday, we had to go to the car shop to get a new tire, I ran over a screw the other day without realizing it, luckily the tire didn't explode. But as we were there, the man told us that we also needed to get out tires realigned, new front tires, and new brake pads. The total time took almost 4 hours! how ridiculous is that? Good thing that there were Sports Illustrated magazines there to keep me somewhat sane. We also had to go to Flippin a few times to help out on the house, I really don't mine helping them out, but, I think they are starting to abuse us a bit... Probably because no one else in the ward will help them, every so often someone will come out there but for the most part, its just us. I'm going to have to tell them that we can only help them about once a week. It is killing us on miles and so forth. So Arkansas has such weird weather!! On Thursday, it snowed a bit ( It was more like a sneeze ) but by the end of the day, most of it melted. Now, it's in the low 60's and dark clouds are coming our way with rain. It almost feels as if a Tornado is coming, but who knows!
Wednesday was really interesting, we went to the church to do something and the Bishop found us and said: "Elders, I need you in my office right now please." When he pulled us in we saw his second councillor and two younger people, male and female, sitting down. The younger lady was crying a lot and I could tell that the man was holding back tears. Elder Payne found these two people the other day when we were on exchanges with the assistants. They are not members, but the lady's mother is less-active, and the man is her fiance'. Well the story is that they lost there child to social services a few days ago because the doctors claim that they abused the child ( not true ) so they are trying to fight for there baby girl. So they asked for a blessing and other things that I do not know of. The Bishop asked us and his second councillor who would like to offer the blessing, no one offered so I raised my hand and gave them both blessings. It went really well, even tho I had no clue who these people were. I'm glad that I was there to offer it. They felt a lot better and told us and Bishop that they will be at church on Sunday. Well come Sunday, they came! I didn't really get a chance to talk to them during Sacrament but after Sacrament, I saw the man leave with a older lady, I assumed that it was his mother, but the young lady was still here with her own mother, crying. Bishop found us after second hour and told us again: "Elders, I need you in my office right now please." Man, everytime I heard that, I felt like I was in trouble. Well he brought us in and there was the young lady, in tears again. She told the three of us that her fiance' had to leave because he works night shifts and was exhausted. But, she also told us that they had a court hearing to see if they can get there child and they still cannot. But she also said that she and her fiance' want to be baptized!! My eyes widened a lot and my jaw literally dropped when I heard this. She said that she can feel the spirit all around and feels welcomed here. So we reviewed with here about what we will do and so forth so she can be baptized. We will also have to talk to her Fiance' about this as well and to make sure that this isn't just a scam for any reasons also.
For the most part, That was the best thing to happen this week. Everything is going good, and I'm still loving the work! I just find it really insane that I've now been out for over 16 months! Man, things just zip right through. So we were at a potential investigators place last night and they had the Golden Globe Awards on and a preview for a movie called 'The Adventures of TinTin' came on, that movie looks really good! along with other ones that were showned. They didn't want to turn off the T.V. So it's not like I could of forced them to do it. Happy Birthday Mom!!Any who, I love you all and I hope that you have a great week. Hopefully, everyone is well and work is going good still, I love you!!
Elder Daniel Stuart
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
01/9/2012
Hey!
Wow! It sounds like you all have had a eventful week! I'm happy to hear that you are working a lot, Mom and there really isn't any snow anymore? Wow! There isn't any here too. It rained a little bit yesterday but that didn't last too long. Its January and I'm in a short sleeve shirt right now. Can you believe that? I don't think I have ever done that! It is so weird not having snow right now. It's throwing off everything, haha. I just hope it won't be a hot summer like it was last year. Holy Cow... I too think it is strange how fast that the mission life is going! 16 months! Wow! I'll be home before you know it! But don't worry, I'm not getting trunky :) Happy Anniversary by the way! How long has it been now 16? and Happy Birthday on Wednesday, Mom! Are you getting more and more gray hair? lol. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Bummer about Lauren getting a ticket, maybe she will learn next time that the law is there for a reason hahaha. Anyway, off with the letter....
My week went really good actually! we were able to teach a whole lot of people! Blessing certainly come through obedience!! but the sad part about it is that people here are very comfortable in the religion that they are in. They kind of like us over for just the company or to bash or debate all the time. But it doesn't get heated at all, because we don't bash! We have a investigator that we are teaching that wants to be baptized! but the only problem that she has is just to quit coffee drinking, so once she is done with the can she has, then she will be ready! We have been working on that house in Flippin every Saturday, slowly but surely it is getting closer and closer to becoming finished!
So transfer calls came in in Saturday, the District Leader got transferred to become a Zone Leader so everyone in the district was certain that I'd be the next District leader, Well it turns out that I'm not. It is some other missionary that goes home in 6 weeks and I am staying in Mountain Home and so is Elder Payne. Other than that, not a whole lot has happened. There is a Lady in the ward here that is 100% into Missionary work has 3 or 4 people that she is working on for us! She is a really sweet lady too and told me to tell you, Mom, that she is proud of you and to thank you for "raising such a amazing son" That is her words, not mine. Well I don't really need anything at the minute, I just wish I could listen to music that I want to listen to!!!!!
I got to get going, I hope that you all have a terrific week and I'll talk to you later!!! Love you guys so much!!
Elder Daniel Stuart
Wow! It sounds like you all have had a eventful week! I'm happy to hear that you are working a lot, Mom and there really isn't any snow anymore? Wow! There isn't any here too. It rained a little bit yesterday but that didn't last too long. Its January and I'm in a short sleeve shirt right now. Can you believe that? I don't think I have ever done that! It is so weird not having snow right now. It's throwing off everything, haha. I just hope it won't be a hot summer like it was last year. Holy Cow... I too think it is strange how fast that the mission life is going! 16 months! Wow! I'll be home before you know it! But don't worry, I'm not getting trunky :) Happy Anniversary by the way! How long has it been now 16? and Happy Birthday on Wednesday, Mom! Are you getting more and more gray hair? lol. Sorry, I couldn't resist. Bummer about Lauren getting a ticket, maybe she will learn next time that the law is there for a reason hahaha. Anyway, off with the letter....
My week went really good actually! we were able to teach a whole lot of people! Blessing certainly come through obedience!! but the sad part about it is that people here are very comfortable in the religion that they are in. They kind of like us over for just the company or to bash or debate all the time. But it doesn't get heated at all, because we don't bash! We have a investigator that we are teaching that wants to be baptized! but the only problem that she has is just to quit coffee drinking, so once she is done with the can she has, then she will be ready! We have been working on that house in Flippin every Saturday, slowly but surely it is getting closer and closer to becoming finished!
So transfer calls came in in Saturday, the District Leader got transferred to become a Zone Leader so everyone in the district was certain that I'd be the next District leader, Well it turns out that I'm not. It is some other missionary that goes home in 6 weeks and I am staying in Mountain Home and so is Elder Payne. Other than that, not a whole lot has happened. There is a Lady in the ward here that is 100% into Missionary work has 3 or 4 people that she is working on for us! She is a really sweet lady too and told me to tell you, Mom, that she is proud of you and to thank you for "raising such a amazing son" That is her words, not mine. Well I don't really need anything at the minute, I just wish I could listen to music that I want to listen to!!!!!
I got to get going, I hope that you all have a terrific week and I'll talk to you later!!! Love you guys so much!!
Elder Daniel Stuart
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
1/3/2012
Hey Everyone!
I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing good. Except you, Mom, sorry that you are sick again, I hope that you will get better soon and back to normal. My New Years was alright. Nothing really happened, I didn't stay up but once it was the new year, the people below us made a whole bunch of noises and fireworks were going off! I just silently said to myself: " Oh, Happy New Year!" I was so tired and out of it, I didn't really care. That is great that you are starting your new job today, Mom!! how long are you going to be working there for? Only till April right? I was wondering when you were starting it...
So this week was good, We worked a lot this week actually, there were still a lot of people that were out of town but we still kept busy. We went on exchanges on Tuesday with the Zone Leaders, and since no one in the ward was willing to drive us all the way to Branson, Missouri, we had to drive up there. Geez, that really hurt us on miles, by the end of the day, we were almost at 200 miles! The exchange went good tho, I stayed in Mountain Home and we were able to see quite a few people. The other day, Elder Payne and I planned for about hour and a half for our most progressing investigator. We planned on teaching her the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so once we got there, we both had a strange feeling that it wasn't what she needed, but we continued but before we started off, her husband said: "We have a question" I was pretty relieved to hear that seeing that they never have questions, They had a question about the Word of Wisdom. So we turned to the Doctrine and Covenants section 89 and read out of it and explained it. It turns out that she has a problem with Coffee and is afraid of getting caffeine headache with drawls, that made me think of you, Mom whenever you attempt to quit drinking Diet Coke. I told her that if she has faith and the will power and the support of her husband, she will be able to stop. She seemed more confident but still worried. Anyways, that was probably the highlight of my week.
We went up to Flippin (never gets old saying that) on Saturday to help with that house again. We normally do that every Saturday, this time we put up sheet rock for the ceiling. We had a lift to help us so our arms wouldn't give out. But other than all of that, things are going good, I did mention it to my Mission President but I don't think he said anything yet. I'm still tired but I did find some vitamins in the kitchen that are helping me, there is still a lot to do! So I don't really want to slow down all that much, all tho our health is more important. I love what I do and I know that sharing the Gospel to everyone brings blessing to myself, my family, and the people that I share it with. This is what the Lord wants and I will do my absolute best to accomplish what he commands. I hope that you all are doing well and I'll talk to you next week!!!! I Love you!
Elder Daniel Stuart
I'm happy to hear that everyone is doing good. Except you, Mom, sorry that you are sick again, I hope that you will get better soon and back to normal. My New Years was alright. Nothing really happened, I didn't stay up but once it was the new year, the people below us made a whole bunch of noises and fireworks were going off! I just silently said to myself: " Oh, Happy New Year!" I was so tired and out of it, I didn't really care. That is great that you are starting your new job today, Mom!! how long are you going to be working there for? Only till April right? I was wondering when you were starting it...
So this week was good, We worked a lot this week actually, there were still a lot of people that were out of town but we still kept busy. We went on exchanges on Tuesday with the Zone Leaders, and since no one in the ward was willing to drive us all the way to Branson, Missouri, we had to drive up there. Geez, that really hurt us on miles, by the end of the day, we were almost at 200 miles! The exchange went good tho, I stayed in Mountain Home and we were able to see quite a few people. The other day, Elder Payne and I planned for about hour and a half for our most progressing investigator. We planned on teaching her the Gospel of Jesus Christ, so once we got there, we both had a strange feeling that it wasn't what she needed, but we continued but before we started off, her husband said: "We have a question" I was pretty relieved to hear that seeing that they never have questions, They had a question about the Word of Wisdom. So we turned to the Doctrine and Covenants section 89 and read out of it and explained it. It turns out that she has a problem with Coffee and is afraid of getting caffeine headache with drawls, that made me think of you, Mom whenever you attempt to quit drinking Diet Coke. I told her that if she has faith and the will power and the support of her husband, she will be able to stop. She seemed more confident but still worried. Anyways, that was probably the highlight of my week.
We went up to Flippin (never gets old saying that) on Saturday to help with that house again. We normally do that every Saturday, this time we put up sheet rock for the ceiling. We had a lift to help us so our arms wouldn't give out. But other than all of that, things are going good, I did mention it to my Mission President but I don't think he said anything yet. I'm still tired but I did find some vitamins in the kitchen that are helping me, there is still a lot to do! So I don't really want to slow down all that much, all tho our health is more important. I love what I do and I know that sharing the Gospel to everyone brings blessing to myself, my family, and the people that I share it with. This is what the Lord wants and I will do my absolute best to accomplish what he commands. I hope that you all are doing well and I'll talk to you next week!!!! I Love you!
Elder Daniel Stuart
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)