Hey Fam,
I should probably start with clarifying my subject title, I'm sure half of you only opened this email because it said "Gangsters" (; hahaha
Before I came out into the field I was obviously warned to be careful around the "cholos/vatos/gangsters". And we do see people like that around here.
I don't think anyone notified Chicago about how sagging your pants is no longer (nor ever was) cool. Hahaha! Everyone walks around with their pants down to their knees.
But here is the thing that I love the most: As far as the food chain goes, missionaries are on the very top.
We see really rough looking guys when we are walking, and guess what? They cross the street when we walk by! Hahaha! For some reason we are more intimidating than they are! I have literally seen a woman RUN through 6 lanes of moving traffic just to avoid us. Honestly, we don't even have to say anything tough or cool, as long as we say, "We have a message that can bless you and your family's lives forever" people run for the hills.
I also realized that we don't even have to start a gang! People already call us "The Mormons"! Wow, perfect right? #blessed.
Hahahaha hopefully you thought that was as funny as I did, but on a serious note, being a missionary is the best.
Here is a quick review of the week: we worked, we ate, and we slept.
Here is a cool story of a man we met the other day:
It was pretty late at night and we saw him standing on his porch smoking, after calling out to him, he cheerfully invited us to come up and talk. We are talked for a while about where is was from in Mexico and what he was doing here. We talked about his family and his job, and then declared that we had a message that would undoubtedly change his life. He got excited when we began to talk about God, although he told us he didn't belong to a specific religion. Then he said, I want to show you something, and he called out to his son to bring him his phone. He flipped on the light of his porch and that's when we realized he had a huge scar running from the top of his eyebrow down across his face and mouth and under his chin. He then pulled out his phone and showed us some gruesome pictures of the accident he had. He was cutting pipe for the city when his chainsaw malfunctioned and kicked back into his face. He said that in that moment he slowly turned off the machine, clutched his face together with his hands and said in his heart, "God, I am yours now. If you want to take my life, take it." He said that he knew he had no control, but somehow he was able to climb out of the man hole he was working in, and then sit on the curb for 20 mins waiting for the truck to come pick him up and to then call the ambulance. He said that from that experience he knows God lives, and that He gave him his life that day. He told us that from that point on he lives his life according to his faith example: if someone was getting shot in front of his house he would come outside and protect them. He knows that God is in control of everything.
His faith was an example for me to follow.
I hope we all recognize that simple truth. God is in control.
Sometimes as we go throughout our busy lives, we let things absorb all of our attention. We worry and we fuss about problems and relationships and errands and money and school and work and every other little thing we can think of.
But do we realize Whose plan we are living?
I won't pretend that life isn't crazy, eventful, and busy. But I would hope that we all take seconds throughout our day to breathe and remember Whose hands we are in.
Mosiah 4:9 Believe in God; believe that He is, and that He created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that He has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth;
I love you all more than any lousy email could ever express! You are all in my prayers. Stay strong. Be valiant. Know that you are children of a loving Heavenly Father.
Elder Stewart-Chester
1319 Butterfield Rd Suite 522
Downers Grove, IL 60515
Today I went to this huge ceramics factory to try and find some wheels
to throw on, but it ended up being just a warehouse of factory made
pottery
I should probably start with clarifying my subject title, I'm sure half of you only opened this email because it said "Gangsters" (; hahaha
Before I came out into the field I was obviously warned to be careful around the "cholos/vatos/gangsters". And we do see people like that around here.
I don't think anyone notified Chicago about how sagging your pants is no longer (nor ever was) cool. Hahaha! Everyone walks around with their pants down to their knees.
But here is the thing that I love the most: As far as the food chain goes, missionaries are on the very top.
We see really rough looking guys when we are walking, and guess what? They cross the street when we walk by! Hahaha! For some reason we are more intimidating than they are! I have literally seen a woman RUN through 6 lanes of moving traffic just to avoid us. Honestly, we don't even have to say anything tough or cool, as long as we say, "We have a message that can bless you and your family's lives forever" people run for the hills.
I also realized that we don't even have to start a gang! People already call us "The Mormons"! Wow, perfect right? #blessed.
Hahahaha hopefully you thought that was as funny as I did, but on a serious note, being a missionary is the best.
Here is a quick review of the week: we worked, we ate, and we slept.
Here is a cool story of a man we met the other day:
It was pretty late at night and we saw him standing on his porch smoking, after calling out to him, he cheerfully invited us to come up and talk. We are talked for a while about where is was from in Mexico and what he was doing here. We talked about his family and his job, and then declared that we had a message that would undoubtedly change his life. He got excited when we began to talk about God, although he told us he didn't belong to a specific religion. Then he said, I want to show you something, and he called out to his son to bring him his phone. He flipped on the light of his porch and that's when we realized he had a huge scar running from the top of his eyebrow down across his face and mouth and under his chin. He then pulled out his phone and showed us some gruesome pictures of the accident he had. He was cutting pipe for the city when his chainsaw malfunctioned and kicked back into his face. He said that in that moment he slowly turned off the machine, clutched his face together with his hands and said in his heart, "God, I am yours now. If you want to take my life, take it." He said that he knew he had no control, but somehow he was able to climb out of the man hole he was working in, and then sit on the curb for 20 mins waiting for the truck to come pick him up and to then call the ambulance. He said that from that experience he knows God lives, and that He gave him his life that day. He told us that from that point on he lives his life according to his faith example: if someone was getting shot in front of his house he would come outside and protect them. He knows that God is in control of everything.
His faith was an example for me to follow.
I hope we all recognize that simple truth. God is in control.
Sometimes as we go throughout our busy lives, we let things absorb all of our attention. We worry and we fuss about problems and relationships and errands and money and school and work and every other little thing we can think of.
But do we realize Whose plan we are living?
I won't pretend that life isn't crazy, eventful, and busy. But I would hope that we all take seconds throughout our day to breathe and remember Whose hands we are in.
Mosiah 4:9 Believe in God; believe that He is, and that He created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that He has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth;
I love you all more than any lousy email could ever express! You are all in my prayers. Stay strong. Be valiant. Know that you are children of a loving Heavenly Father.
Elder Stewart-Chester
1319 Butterfield Rd Suite 522
Downers Grove, IL 60515
Today I went to this huge ceramics factory to try and find some wheels
to throw on, but it ended up being just a warehouse of factory made
pottery