Monday, May 27, 2013

OK, sorry I forgot to reply to half of the things you wanted me to last week. Sister Cox wouldn't let me send the letter because I'd written it on Tuesday. I sent you it last Wednesday with a another letter that was more current with a list of things I think I need. GPS, socks, CDs, an address book, and undershirts were what was in it to name a few.

I have a copy of the Ensign that Sister Cox's Mom sent me. I've been reading one talk a day and it has been incredible what I learned. Today I read President Packer's "These things I know." Is your safe haven being invaded? I ask myself. Am I protecting my nestlings? I love also (all of them) Elder Anderson "Our desire to share the gospel takes all of us to our knees, and should, because we need the Lord's help" ("It's a Miracle", italics added). President Monson's from the Priesthood session "Come, All Ye Sons of God" is possibly my most favorite though, 1) because it’s from the prophet and 2) because he gives a formula for how to be more profitable servants and 3) "...Appreciate the sacrifices which your parents so willingly make in order for you to serve."

Mom, I am freaking out over here hearing that you are having more contact with the missionaries. Thank you so much for going out with them even though that sister wasn't home. Sister Cox and I are struggling to get sisters to go out with us. Our investigators need that fellowship from women and men in the wards that are going to be good examples of how to be Latter Day Saints. You are a great example for women every where to look up to.

How did the member lessons go? We ask the members to think like they weren't members and teach them as though they aren't. Was it difficult to grasp what a non-member would say? I always find I get a little rough when I'm the non-member during practices, because I try to not have the light of Christ with me for a few moments by imaging my eyes are dull.

Based off the talk I told you about form the MTC, Elder Bednar's "Character of Christ," I've taken up the challenge to read a Book of Mormon and mark all the passages that denote a certain characteristic of him. I purchased a Book of Mormon at the MTC but gave it away within my first week in the field. So last week I had a Book of Mormon that got ruined in my bag and decided to use it with the search for "God's Love," marking his blessings to us and the things we must do in return. I'm so excited.

Not much to say for how I'm doing, I'm still alive! Last week was great. On Friday we had a last minute service project of helping some people pack. Us, the Brownlee elders, and our zone leaders packed a 4000 sq ft home into one Uhaul in exactly 4 hours. Then afterwards were able to give them a Book of Mormon. It was so hot and tiring, but I was able to use the packing skills I learned from moving the family so often and learn more tricks that the other elders had. It was so cool to be able see the Lords hand in it because we were only planning on being there for 2 hours but since our regular appointment had canceled on us, decided to take the time to finish helping. It was insane how packed that truck was! Our family needs to step up our Tetris game compared to what Elder Earnshaw (zone leader) was able to do.

I'm having fun. Learning to live with someone new is tough but as I've said, Sister Cox is awesome, and she and I get along together great.

Please send letters, they are the best things to end a day with. Emails are only 1 day a week. I can get letters 6 days a week.

I love you!!!!

Sister Stewart 

Pictures from Sister Stewart

My favorite rusty old barn off the highway on our way to Bossier.

First time seeing an alligator.

The feeding of the Gators.

Can't believe it!

Gators and Friends was just a mile east of the Texas-Louisiana border so we went and took pictures. Welcome to Louisiana!

District Photo.
(The guy standing behind the top of Texas is one of our zone leaders, Elder Earnshaw. The other zone leader has become an assistant to the president the week before.)

Sister Cox and I got donuts while we had some time between appointments.

Elder and Sister Simpson, the best senior missionaries I could ever have in my district. They have taken care of us so much, I love them. 

I made planners for this next transfer. Sister Cox, Sister Johnson and then mine.

I made Egg Fu Yung. Nobody knew what that was when I told them. I am educating people more than just the gospel.

The driveway to our apartment. It's long, beautiful, lined by trees and crosses a creek!

On Sunday, I took the opportunity to do a quick sketch of Sister Cox. Not bad for being so out of practice with drawing real people.

Monday, May 6, 2013

From Louisiana to Arizona, smiles and love abound.

Hi. : )

Yes I got your packages! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!! I was shocked when we got home and there was a package for me, and then we realized of the 3 packages, 2 of them were mine! I was completely surprised and over joyed. I immediately made an account that I had planned to send last week but didn't finish. This is how I reacted:

I opened the first box and and saw the cook book and was super excited because now I had some recipes to use, should I ever need them. Then I saw the shoes (gray) and I gasped, I wasn't expecting you to be able to find them so quickly! I grinned at the hot chocolate in them, very smart, Mother Dear, and the popcorn is a treat. I was super happy to find the second pair of shoes (navy) and was already going through my head what to wear them with. Then I opened the 3rd box and nearly fainted seeing the 3rd pair of shoes (white lace) because I had been admiring a pair that looked exactly the same but were too small just a few weeks earlier at Family Dollar. I was happy to find my star mug and Cole erase pencils and immediately told Sister Johnson about them (she's an artist too, I might have told you), and then I saw them. The 4th pair, red shoes. Sister Cox can testify that I nearly fell off the couch laughing and almost crying. Those shoes made it on my feet quicker than I could say "I love them!" and of course the pictures came quickly after, good thing I was already wearing a red poka-dot shirt to match!

So yeah, super excited, wearing the navy ones to Gators and Friends today. Mom, I'm sorry but I don't think I can return any of the shoes, I love them too much! I've worn all of them except the lace ones (I'm waiting for the right weather).

Yes, I knew Tommy! I mean I didn't talk to him much, but he would open the gate for the seminary students to go to class and things like that. And I always saw him riding his bike around campus. That's great to hear that he's investigating the church. I wish I could have been at that meeting with you, President Ellsworth is awesome!

Karl and JaNel are moving?! I wasn't expecting that. Is there anything else I should know that I haven't been told?

On mother's Day we can Skype at the Simpson's (senior missionaries, they have 3 computers with cameras so my companions and I can all skype at the same time), but it will probably be around 2 or 3 (my time, so 12-ish your time). I know that's not going to work very well with your ward time, but ours gets out at 12p, we have lunch for an hour, and then we can probably call. I'll ask the Simpson's if I can call by phone first and make sure you're available. Send me mail with your opinion.

I can't say much for spiritual experiences this week. I've had a tough week, the natural man has been siding with the devil. But I figured out its because I've been trying to be the "perfect missionary" and not letting myself be "myself". So I've been trying to work on that. And actually I think it helps. There are so many things you have to be thinking about, recognizing, and working on all at the same time. If you weren't a multi-tasker before you came out on the mission you better become one fast! You really get pushed to your limit and beyond. Most importantly is learning to recognize the spirit, act on it, and make sure your investigator recognizes it. That's my biggest challenge, just knowing what to do and say based off the spirit. For example, twice we've had to just leave a set appointment because the person's home wasn't going to be able to carry the spirit. In those instances, I knew that teaching a lesson was useless, but I didn't how to fix that, which was probably my biggest problem; we can't always fix things, sometimes the investigator has to fix it themselves.

I've found that relating who ever I'm talking to as someone I knew back home, makes it easier to talk to them and be open rather than be suspicious of "stranger danger." Also singing. I haven't been singing very much and the only songs I know that I hear every day are hymns, and those can get boring fast, unfortunately. So when I sing I have been trying to throw in different pitches or notes to make it new and exciting.

Yesterday in Testimony meeting, after a pause of silence, a woman got up and related something that had been told to her in a silent congregation years before. The man who said it, stood and asked the question "If Jesus Christ was presiding at a fast and testimony meeting, would you sit in silence?" That question kind of penetrated me, because Christ already knows our testimonies, but would you show your "devotion" is what I wonder.

"The Lord doesn't want you to settle, Satan does." -Sister Johnson

Some funny things I've noticed about the South:

-- In the past when I've seen a red brick building in the distance with a white trimmed roof and a tall white steeple, I always smiled, knowing it was a LDS building. Here, its more liking Methodist or Baptist.

-- If there are moving or blinking lights on a building 99% of the time its a casino, so don't waste your time looking.

-- Just because someone has white skin doesn't mean they won't talk black. Just because they are black, doesn't mean they will talk Southern.

-- There are a lot of smokers in the South and there is no way to go into their homes without coming out smelling like them. Just except it and love them.

-- Put on a jacket. If it rained yesterday, its going to be cold. If it rained 2 days ago, its going to be cold. It is cold in Louisiana. Its the build up to the rain when it is the hottest. (Yes, I am currently wearing a jacket.)

Could you send me a copy of "Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep" by President Hinckley, May 1999 Ensign? Its referenced in Preach my Gospel and I would like to read the whole thing.

I love you much and pray you are happy and healthy. Thank you for your support and prayers, keep 'em coming!

Sister Lucky Stewart

Ps. Thank you for getting the mission home address on the blog! Have you been able to put it on facebook yet?

Pictures from Sister Stewart

 Sister Johnson, Sister Stewart, Sister Cox

Monday, April 29, 2013

I made it through my first month! 17 left, not a very big number at all!

It’s been a great week: 21 lessons and 11 Book of Mormons. The hardest part has been getting around to see everyone. You really don't have very much time on a mission. There are so many less actives and investigators to see. Plus the fact that we have studies till 10a and training till 11a (which gets changed according to the day), plus eating and meetings and travel, we really only have 5-6 hours a day to see people.

One of my favorites is an older woman named Leslie, she's very expressional. Sister Cox and Sister Johnson have taken up a lot of her sayings and motions because we love her personality and attitude. When she has just read for us, she throws herself back on her chair and heaves (which we do whenever we are talking about investigators when they are so close to the truth and still won't except it).

During one lesson before I arrived, Leslie told them about her clubbing days when she would be out on the dance floor "Just doing [her] thing". (Every time we are happy about our accomplishments we pull our arms in, snap, and sway side to side singing "Just doin' my thang.") And then on our last visit, every time we made a comment that made her think, she would raise her arms and go "whoo!" (She is now Sister Johnson's personal favorite). It was really funny though, because she knows that we are called of God, because she walked out of her house when we arrived at our appointment, said we couldn't come in because she was moving and her house (which wasn't a mess) was messy. We just stood there smiling at her and she started walking away. She turned and waved us in, "Well come on," and we taught a lesson.

It’s sad talking to less actives because 75% of the time, they became less active because they were offended by what another member said! How cruel we are! That is the natural man and we must be rid of him! The other percent has to do with either moving to a new area, the church is far away so gas is an issue, or loss of interest or faith, the smallest percentage.

It’s so much fun hearing every one's names and experiences. Yesterday at a lunch with the Dean family, Brother Dean told us all about his relationship he made with a man named Joseph Smith while visiting the Community of Christ in Independence, Missouri. The man was a real descendant of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Brother Dean said he was mad that while his branch of the church kept breaking into pieces, ours (we're the Brighamite branch) just keeps getting stronger. And he was mad that his daughters became LDS. His grandson was the first descendant to serve a mission since Joseph's passing (I think). It was really cool to hear that history.

Something funny that happened to us this week is that as we were driving through Blanchard to get to an investigators house, we were stopped by a train. The train was only going like 5-10 miles an hour and had at least 100 coal cars on it. We waited and finally it finished and we were able to drive on. Only, we went about 3 miles and then were stopped again by the same train that had just gone around a bend and back the other direction! So we spent half an hour waiting for one train pretty much. Luckily we had our cameras handy to entertain us through our wait.

Since its P-Day we got haircuts. The woman was recommended to us by a ward member, and she used the salon where she worked to give us the cuts: a hotel! It was pretty nice. Then afterwards we went to the Boardwalk, Shreveport's outdoor mall. It was fun, but I had some poor customer service. And the worst part was that I saw an owl mirror, totally cute! It was a big and little owl looking into a 10 inch mirror that was framed in wood logs, $25. Let me just say how good my companions are because they helped me put the mirror back and walk out of that store... But it was so cute. The photo of downtown Shreveport was taken from the parking lot. I just wish I had taken a picture of the floating casino (that's how their casinos are here, big steam boats that are permanently docked), Dad you would have laughed seeing how it was a giant boat stuck between 2 bridges it would never be able to travel under.

My apartment is the top-left and yes it is the north western building in the Grand Oaks Apartments, next to the dumpster :). It’s nice because the back and side windows face out towards the woods when were studying and over the parking lot so we have the street lamp outside for a night light. I love our apartment, though it could definitely use a wider shower. The best part is that as you drive in, you drive through a tree lined drive way. I'll try to get a picture of it to show you. I'm not sure exactly about how Mother's Day is going to work out, but I'll let you know when I find out. There's a good chance I can Skype though. Dad, what's your Skype address again?

I was wrong that my area is 80 miles wide, it’s 80 square miles. It reaches from the river west of Bossier (pronounced Bow-sure) City then to the West edge of our district, and from Bossier City to a little north of Oil City. My sisters want to buy cowboy boots, we'll see when and if we can do that... I'm not sure on boots and shoes so scrap that idea till one of the pairs I have fall apart. I'm worried a little about shirts, but should be good until the real summer days come (today has been the hottest so far, but we had a nice cool breeze). I have been thinking though I forgot my black belt, it’s still hanging in the right side of my closet towards the door.

That's all I really have to say. This week I'll try to write down more, including more spiritual experiences. I have a problem in that I can't remember what I say when the Spirit is really talking through me so it’s hard for me tell you those things, Mom, sorry.

I love everyone. Remember to "Stand in a Holy Place” :) (Matt 25:15, look it up in a book not digital!) That was my personal study on Friday and Saturday, the second coming. Remember to be an example and don't leave your religion at the door (Jeffery R. Holland).

Love,

Sister Stewart