Letter 11

August 29, 2011

Hola mi Familia y mis Amigos!

Everything is going well here in Laredo with me and Elder Wood.  We struggled a little bit finding new investigators this week, but the investigators we do have are progressing a lot.  One of our investigators, Sammy, is really cool.  She is 17 and when we first talked to her she seemed to be one of those people that doesn’t really care about religion or anything like that.  She is very open minded and has looked at a lot of different religions, but nothing really stuck for her I guess. She needed something that applied to her specifically. She has had the sisters over before and they gave her a Book of Mormon. Elder Wood and I decided to started with the Book of Mormon and told her that our whole church hangs on the truthfulness of it.  If it is true then our church is the true church. We told her that she could know for herself through prayer, something that she didn’t feel very comfortable with at first because she felt like she was talking to herself, but after we explained that she was talking to her Father and could say whatever she wanted she loosened up.  When she prayed she said she felt Spirit and felt like she was actually talking with someone.  Everything around her she said just faded out and she felt like it was just her there.  It was a really powerful experience.  The next visit we were on exchanges and I was with Elder Hunt. Elder Wood and Elder Peterson committed Sammy to be baptized on Sept. 25. However her mom said it’s not a good idea. We’ll be working on that tonight.

Moms Questions: 1. I don’t really care what you put in the suit case... haha I would appreciate anything. 2 . My bike is fine it just has weird sized tires. I haven’t had a flat in a few days. OH but I have a story to tell... later though. My bike will be ok. Yes I am spending money I should be spending on food and things but it’s ok. 3. Our apartment is good. haha I’m sure YOU would think its disgusting haha but it’s ok for us. There are "cucarachas" that come out every once in a while but we kill 'em... so it’s ok. I do most of the cleaning in our apartment though haha I know right? Everyone there says that it’s fine and that they've lived in worse... haha but I don’t really care how they lived before. PICK UP YOUR DANG STUFF! Living with Austin really prepared me for mission life! Thanks bud I love you. Hate how you don’t pick up after yourself! 4. My apartment is in an ok area. There aren’t like gunshots and stuff like there are in other ones so that’s good. I like it. 5. We haven’t seen Alex since that first time, but we actually got a hold of Fernando last night! We had been trying to meet with him and his wife FOREVER, but they were never around cause they have crazy schedules. I was about to lose hope with him but then we talked with Fernando last night. After catching up we asked him what he remembered from what we talked about the last time and he said "Baptism. I still want to be baptized." hahaha what a great memory that guy has! haha we made plans to see him again this Thursday so... yeah Fernando... 6. Yep we go out every single day, even Sunday. Weekends are usually the best time to find people home.

So here is the long awaited story. This Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Hunt. I was with him in his area riding around on a tube with 3 patches on it hoping to get through the day. Unfortunately that didn’t happen and we had to call a member to give us a ride to Walmart to get a new tube. So I put the new tube in and we were all set to go. We set out again and literally 10 minutes after we left the apartment I tried to jump a curb (because Elder Hunt taught me how to bunny hop) and my back tire, the very same one that I just changed, hit the edge and blew up... pppthhhhh.... (deflating noise). So... that day was pretty much wasted getting 2 new tubes. Good story though right?

Anyway... so today I was planning on buying some Cowboy stuff so if you see a little decrease in my account... that is why. Tanner your going to SWOON when you seen pics of the stuff I’m gonna buy. Let me know if you want me to get you anything ok? I’m convinced I’m going to come back a Cowboy.

I'm glad everything is still normal at home. Dad taking longer than he needs to on a project, Austin trying to shmoosh his way through a class, and apparently Grandma working again? Tell Madi to send me a pic of her in her dress... and pics of the waterscape. Tell Gpa Garner to hang in there and I love him and to avoid temptation! That devil can get ya at any age!

 I’m super excited for everything that’s going on here in Laredo and cant wait to find more people next week. I love you guys and I can’t wait to hear back from you! Take care and don’t forget to say your prayers! 

Elder Stewart