Chapter Four: The 7th Epistle of Anziano Stewart to the Calabrians/Messinites

Reflections on the last 535,600 minutes of my life

In front of the Stake Center in Kaiserslautern

So this may be a bit short, I was hoping to have a bit of time to write but things happen.  I'm doing well, it's not too hot or at least not like it was last week.  Oh, by the way, I’m up to 43 liters of water that I've drunk since July 1st. =)

Anyways, I wanted to share with you 4 of the biggest lessons that I've learned in the last year of my life (on the 20th I complete a year as a missionary.)  

The first thing is the importance of being diligent.  It’s easy to decide that you're going to start doing something but we all have many failed New Year’s resolution stories that show how hard it really is to endure.  C.S. Lewis said, "you find out the strength of a wind by walking against it."  If we lie down or even stop walking we will not only never know how strong the wind is but we'll never know how far we could have gone or accomplished if we had kept walking or even began to run.  Diligence really is the key to getting things done and doing things with lasting effects.  It's also important to not run faster than you have strength, so that you can finish the WHOLE race, not just 100 meters of the 5K.  Brigham Young said, "the men and women who desire to obtain seats in the Celestial Kingdom will find that they must battle every day."  Without diligence we cannot make it.

The second thing is the importance of time.  There are 2 ways to think of the day.  Simply how to fill the 24 hours, or to think all of the opportunities that we will/can have and how we can take advantage of them.  The work goes much better when I ask myself "what's the most important thing to do right now?" instead of just "what could we do?"  Focusing on what matters most helps everything fall into place, like that FHE activity with the jar and the rocks, pebbles, and sand.  Sorella Kelly said something in this last Zone Conference that has helped me a lot.  She encouraged us to ask ourselves "if Christ had my opportunities what would he do?"

In Latin there's the saying "carpe diem" that means seize the day but literally it means make every moment count. Doing that really helps ensure the things you're doing are the very best things that you could possibly be doing.

The third thing is that I'm the only one who controls my happiness.  President Kelly once said, “we need to free ourselves from the weather.” (Many Italians let the weather decide how they feel.)  We choose if we are obedient, if we act (or are acted upon), or if we have charity.  If we choose to have/do these things we'll be happy. Punto.

Finally, we must put our trust in the Lord. (Isaiah 40:31)  When we complain it shows that we don't accept the trials or difficulties that the Lord feels we need. He has things in store for us that we can even imagine, far better than what we may have left behind. It is also empowering, when we put our trust in him, it connects us to his power. (3 Nephi 7:18) Gene R. Cook said, "I bear witness that we live far below our possibilities in living with the Lord.  We are too quick to turn to our own strength and not rely on him."  I know that if we exercise faith in him and throw ourselves in his arms not only will he catch us but he'll carry us to heights that we've never dreamed of.

I'm sorry, that's all the time that I have for today.  Thank you all for your e-mails and pictures, I love you all so very much!!  Stay safe. =)

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Mai a rendersi,

Anziano Stewart

P.S. I forgot something that I wanted to add at the end it's a quote from David O McKay "I’m not what I want to be, I'm not what I should be, but I'm not what I was", that’s exactly how I feel right now.