Elder Stewart-Longhurst Mission to Santa Rosa, CA

Here are some things that we have experienced the past week: -         A huge fire is burning just a few miles north of us.   A lot of members from our ward have been evacuated and at this time are waiting to hear the fate of their homes.   The fire is over 15,000 acres.   2,700 firefighters are working on it.   1,600 homes have been evacuated.   22 homes are confirmed burned.   This is the fourth year in a row that this community has suffered such a fire and the locals are very traumatized.   Your prayers are needed.   We are prepared to evacuate in the remote chance that the winds pick up and change direction.   The Mission Office is also prepared to help us and the other missionaries here for such an evacuation. -         We were able to challenge a family to prepare for the temple and put them “on date” to go there.   Very exciting! -   ...

Greetings from Clearlake, California!     We have been asked to serve here in the Highlands Ward.    A few things about Clearlake and about what we are doing: -          Clearlake (the town) is about an hour’s drive Northeast of Santa Rosa, which is just north of San Francisco.    Population is about 15,000. -          It is about two hours west of Sacramento. -          The countryside around us is beautiful!    We have found a State Park just a few miles from our new home that we hike in every morning for our exercise.    It is full of wildlife, green grass, a creek, and Oak trees.    We are next to Clear Lake (the lake) which is the largest natural lake in California. -          The town has its struggles.    It consistently leads the US in ...

We spent this week in the Provo Missionary Training Center where we were trained, along with 98 other Senior Couples, on how to teach lessons to those in need.  It has been an incredible week and here are some brief snipets of what we experienced: -          We attended eight hours of church services and various devotionals on Sunday including a Devotional by Sheri Dew.  The spirit is so strong here that we concluded that the only two things we could possible do was to cry or sleep due to spiritual exhaustion. -                Tuesday, we sat at the feet, literally as we were near the front, of an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, Elder Gong, and were instructed on Gospel Truths. -                473 more younger missionaries arrived on Wednesday, making over a thousand total being trained here right no...