Thursday, May 23, 2013

Los Mejores Dos Años


Hey guys sorry for the delay on the email this week, we have been extremely busy this past week.  We finished up our zone conferences last week.  The last one in Cuautla definitely turned out to be the best.  Brother Duque works in Cuautla every Saturday and we realized that the zone conference was going to fall on a Saturday.  So we asked him if he would be willing to go to the church after work to share his testimony at the end of the conference.  He did so and it was such a powerful testimony.  He exhorted all the missionaries to go out and find the families that have been prepared by the Lord to receive the Gospel.  He talked about all the blessings that he and his family have received.  We believe that the Spirit really touched the hearts of the elders and we know that they will improve in their area with a focus on families.  Last Thursday, Elder Azueta and I had the opportunity to go the temple with the Duque family to do baptisms for the dead.  What a special day!  It is hard for me to describe the happiness and the Spirit we felt.  We enjoyed the travels there and back as we laughed, talked, told stories, and even cried.  When we got to the temple, the workers told us that the workers in the baptistery did not show up and that we would not be able to do baptisms that day.  We explained that we had come from Cuernavaca and that these recent converts were really excited to do baptisms.  The lady then told us that if we could find two Melquisedec priesthood holders that would be willing to help us out, we could do the baptisms.  Our prayer was answered as we exited the temple and saw two brothers leaving the temple after doing a session.  They were hesitant about helping us but finally said yes.  We entered into the baptistery with José Felipe and Guillermina.  Their faces lit up as they entered and felt the sweet spirit there.  After not having been in about two years, I had forgotten the Spirit felt in the house of the Lord.  I enjoyed the experience so much and I know that the Duque family did as well.  As we left, Karla was saying that she did not expect it to be so marvelous.  Estefania told us that after visiting the temple, she has even more desires to be a missionary once she is 19 years old.  The whole family was talking about their plans to return frequently in the next year before they return to be sealed as a family for time and all eternity.  This past Monday, we went to Acapulco to prepare everything for our mission conference with Elder Hallstrom.  Everything turned out great!  The conference was so spiritual uplifting.  Elder Hallstrom spoke and taught simply and directly.  He talked about the real meaning of reverence in his talk.  He taught that reverence is not being quiet or silent during a church meeting.  Reverence is to have a love and a respect towards Deity.  A reverent life consists of a vision of a hopeful future, covenants that we make with God, and self discipline to be consistent with our obedience and love towards God.  It was great insight and he also answered many great questions that the missionaries had.  This week has been incredibly busy and tough.  Despite sicknesses and fatigue, I am enduring to the very last second of the mission.  President told us that he wanted to squeeze out every last drop of blood that I have as a missionary by doing a mission wide leadership training tomorrow.  Every leader in the mission is coming to Cuernavaca tonight and tomorrow we will have a training to help these elders learn their duties and complete with those duties.  We are so excited for this training and our expectation is that this training can kick start the transformation that we want for our mission, going from an okay and mediocre mission to an excellent mission.  So, even if I am puking my guts out tomorrow, we are going to give this training and we are going to give it with all our heart, mind, might, and strength.  I prefer not to write about the end of my mission because I know that the mission to become a true, worthy disciple of Christ continues after these two years.  But I am highly grateful for these two years that I have been given to serve the Lord and the Mexican people on a daily basis.  I sure will miss it.  Love all you guys and we will be seeing you soon!
Elder Stutz      

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