We had a pretty eventful week again. Special changes have become more common than regular changes for me! This past week we got a new companion! Elder Quinnelly and I are now training a new elder that just got here from Peru. His name is Elder Cangahuala and he served about 4 months in Peru waiting for his visa. He is super cool and we like having him in the companionship. He is a short little guy and he is funny and humble. Ill send a pic next week! Last Monday I had the opportunity to teach a little bit in another district meeting in our zone. Elder Crook, the district leader, asked me to teach his district what I taught him in divisions about having our own sacred grove in the mornings. The idea comes from a talk by Elder Kikuchi and I taught them that every morning they must follow the morning schedule and before they study, they should find a quiet, peaceful place to pour their soul out to the Lord. The purpose of this daily habit is to develop a stronger relationship with God, resolve problems or worries we have daily, and to receive specific revelation to fix those problems and worries. It is a principle that has changed my life completely since I started over a year ago. I testified to those elders that if they made it a habit, that they would recieve more power in the priesthood and that their mission would become a springboard of spirtual progression for their lives. I also invite all of you to do so as well every morning and I promise that you will be happier on a daily basis and that you will develop a stronger relationship with God. At the beginning of the week, we found a drunk in the street that talk to us for a little bit, we learned that he is a member and that he is the patriarchs son. Because of alcohol, his life has been destroyed but he wants to change. We went to his house and met his girlfriend and her daughter. She seems super interested in the Church and we have started to teach her. She wants him to change as well because they do not have peace in their family. We sang I am a Child of God to them and the brother cried. The daughter loved the song and she is such a cute little girl. We hope that they can come unto Christ as a family to experience healing and peace in their home. This past week we also went to Cuernavaca for our council with President Kusch. We talked about new rules of the mission and also about the way to do missionary work. We are now not allowed to contact doors or contact people in the street. Everything we do now has to be with the members. President promised us with this new way to work and this new focus on the members that we will have more baptisms, more active members, more temple attendence of the members, and more overall growth in the church in Mexcio. We are excited for it and we have already begun to see the fruits of it in our ward, Heroico. We had ward council last night and we planned a bunch of activities and set goals so that the members give us work to do. Their attitude will slowly start to change about the missionary work and I am confident that we will be able to work more alongside the members in this great work. We also had the opportunity to meet with the stake president of Chilpancingo again, President Torres. He is such a great man and a great leader. We are working with him to get the stake excited about this new focus on member missionary work. He has taught me how to be a Christ-like leader and how to do things the Lords way with a humble willingness to do His will. We continue to work with a few investigators but none of them came to church this week. We are struggling to help these people progress toward baptism and we will be looking for revelation this week to improve our efforts. This morning I read a scripture that I liked a lot that talks about feelings that I have pretty often. In 2 Corithians 7:10, it talks about how godly sorrow helps us repent and ultimately reach eternal life. I have felt that godly sorrow often in the mission as I constantly see children of God choose the other path and choose to suffer instead of enjoy eternal blessings. Every Sunday I experience feelings of sorrow for all the pèople that chose not to come and partake of the sacrament. Those feelings have helped me come unto Christ. Those feelings motivated me to make goals and plans for during and after the mission so that I always choose the right path, so that I do not have to suffer as these people suffer for their decisions. I am grateful for the trials and experiences that Heavenly Father has given me because I have been able to grow in the Gospel. I love Him and strive to please Him in my daily service. I love all you guys as well and I am so grateful for all the Lord has taught me through loved ones in my life. Have a great week!!!
Elder Stutz
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