[Note from Meredith: this week's letter was mostly what we call "Housekeeping"...Stewart answering questions regarding the mundane and dreary stuff like how his clothing is holding up and whether he needs more scripture marking crayons. I have edited the most boring stuff out...but left parts of the letter for your reading enjoyment.]
Mom, I'm so glad that you are going out with the Sisters. Everything in missionary work is easier and works better when the members in the area are involved. Getting to that point is the hard part. Sometimes we just don't realize how essential each person is to the missionary work where they live. I sure know I didn't pay attention or care much before my mission. I love hearing your missionary experiences :) I was quite happy for the talk in general conference given on Preach My Gospel and how we should each be studying it; how it makes a difference in how we understand our missionaries. Amen to that.
Conference was literally a miracle. I'm pretty sure that I prayed a few of those talks to the stand. Ian came along to the Saturday Evening session (I'll explain how that works in just a second). He enjoyed it, I hope he was paying attention, because everything seemed quite relevant to him. My conference notes are littered with names of investigators in boxes next to points that would affect them. The Lord gives his servants the right tools when they need them.
Have you seen the priesthood session yet? I would highly recommend watching it, if for no other reason than to listen to the talk on Women and Authority. Barring all of the controversy on the subject that talk addressed, it was actually a profound and wonderful talk that really helped me to understand the difference between "the priesthood" and priesthood holders, because there is a big one, and what authority really is.
As for how conference works in England, basically the two morning sessions are watched live, and that's it. The Priesthood session is shown Sunday morning (having been pre-recorded). The rest you have to go and look up on your own. Most of the families here watch all of the sessions on Sunday, with the men going to priesthood session in the morning. As missionaries, we can only watch conference on Saturday if we have an investigator there. Sunday we get the Priesthood session and the Sunday morning (from 5-7pm). The rest we have to download and watch later. I still haven't seen some of the sessions, hopefully we'll get the chance soon :)
In response to your question, we do get an Ensign :) Unfortunately, it is bound by the incredible slowness of mail in our mission. So, we get two or three Ensigns every two or three months at Zone Conferences :) Not so good.
Shopping isn't an immanent thing. Mainly, I've been spending on church material to read. Also, I got I-Spy a Nephite for some awesome spiritual thoughts for members :) I'm keeping everything pretty well, my shoes being the only things that are wearing. I lost a shirt to a pen attack. Now I wear a pocket protector...haha, just kidding. No need to draw even more attention to the ginger missionary.
Anyways, I'm completely out of time. I really had a few things that I wanted to talk about, remind me to get them in next week. This is the only email I'm going to be able to get out.
I love you, Stew
Mom, I'm so glad that you are going out with the Sisters. Everything in missionary work is easier and works better when the members in the area are involved. Getting to that point is the hard part. Sometimes we just don't realize how essential each person is to the missionary work where they live. I sure know I didn't pay attention or care much before my mission. I love hearing your missionary experiences :) I was quite happy for the talk in general conference given on Preach My Gospel and how we should each be studying it; how it makes a difference in how we understand our missionaries. Amen to that.
Conference was literally a miracle. I'm pretty sure that I prayed a few of those talks to the stand. Ian came along to the Saturday Evening session (I'll explain how that works in just a second). He enjoyed it, I hope he was paying attention, because everything seemed quite relevant to him. My conference notes are littered with names of investigators in boxes next to points that would affect them. The Lord gives his servants the right tools when they need them.
Have you seen the priesthood session yet? I would highly recommend watching it, if for no other reason than to listen to the talk on Women and Authority. Barring all of the controversy on the subject that talk addressed, it was actually a profound and wonderful talk that really helped me to understand the difference between "the priesthood" and priesthood holders, because there is a big one, and what authority really is.
As for how conference works in England, basically the two morning sessions are watched live, and that's it. The Priesthood session is shown Sunday morning (having been pre-recorded). The rest you have to go and look up on your own. Most of the families here watch all of the sessions on Sunday, with the men going to priesthood session in the morning. As missionaries, we can only watch conference on Saturday if we have an investigator there. Sunday we get the Priesthood session and the Sunday morning (from 5-7pm). The rest we have to download and watch later. I still haven't seen some of the sessions, hopefully we'll get the chance soon :)
In response to your question, we do get an Ensign :) Unfortunately, it is bound by the incredible slowness of mail in our mission. So, we get two or three Ensigns every two or three months at Zone Conferences :) Not so good.
Shopping isn't an immanent thing. Mainly, I've been spending on church material to read. Also, I got I-Spy a Nephite for some awesome spiritual thoughts for members :) I'm keeping everything pretty well, my shoes being the only things that are wearing. I lost a shirt to a pen attack. Now I wear a pocket protector...haha, just kidding. No need to draw even more attention to the ginger missionary.
Anyways, I'm completely out of time. I really had a few things that I wanted to talk about, remind me to get them in next week. This is the only email I'm going to be able to get out.
I love you, Stew