Weird Adjustment Transfer and Zone Conference

photos:

*Farewell to her mission president and his wife, the Kosters

*She could have easily passed as their daughter  HaHa

*Sister Smoot and Sister Stewart at Venice, Italy in the Philippines.  Google it!

*Sister Gajete, Sister Stewart, Syd's Tatay (mission dad) Elder Winder, and Elder McQueen (Elder Winder is staying in the QC Mission😢)

Sister Stewart's email: sydney.stewart@missionary.org

I am going to have served in two missions. Weird!! We had an "adjustment transfer" today which means literally like only a few people moved around. It just so happens that we were one of the changes. Sister Briones left for Utah (she had just been serving here waiting for her visa) and so we thought that the three of us left would just become one companionship for the rest of the transfer, covering two areas. But nope! We got a call last night that Sister Smoot would get a new companion today. So here we are, four again! The mission split is kind of sad because I have to say goodbye to lots of good friends, including President Koster. We had a great farewell zone conference and a lot of tears were shed when we sang God Be With You Till We Meet Again for the Kosters. I am so grateful for them and the impact they made on my life. I am excited to welcome President and Sister Alder to the new, Antipolo Mission. :)

Sorry this email is boring. But I am happy! I hope you all are too. 

We found a new apartment (yay) because our old one has lots of issues. We are so excited!! It has AirCon!!!!!!!

Love you all,

Sister Stewart

Lods and Hannah

Pictures:

*Sister Stewart with Jeah (who has become my Facebook friend...she sends me lots of pictures😍)

*Nanay Norma when she was younger (sooo pretty)

*Hannah's baptism...Hannah, Jeah, and Nixon are Nanay Norma's grandkids

*Sweet Hannah with Sister Stewart

*Jeah will be baptized in 2 weeks.  Such an awesome family! 

sydney.stewart@missionary.org 

Hellooooo happy friends and family. On Friday, I was able to have an incredible experience. While we were talking with Nanay Norma and Hannah, a woman approached and sat next to me. She started pleading to me for help. Her neighbor has a large tumor that has completely taken over his left eye. I have seen this man before, but he usually has gauze covering that part of his face. This woman explained that he has no more bandaging and that his tumor is so bad that if he goes outside, the neighbors can barely look at him. For this reason, he stays inside his dark house and has not showered or eaten for a very long time. She asked if we had medicine or gauze or food. I explained to her that as missionaries it is hard to help, but that we might have some gauze back at the house. I asked her to take us to his home so that we could offer a prayer for him. As she guided us over to his house, that was in the corner of the neighborhood, my whole soul was overwhelmed with the spirit. I felt that if I offered this prayer, the man would be okay. My faith was overflowing. The woman stopped and pointed at his house from 15 feet away. She expressed to us that she could not accompany us over there because the smell was too much for her stomach to handle. The house was pretty much a small wooden box. It had a small door and a little window with bars. As we walked up and stood by the window, neighbors gathered to watch from a distance. It was completely dark inside. He didn’t have any electricity. He answered and came to the window. He grasped the bars of the window and seemed to smile when he saw he had visitors. As he came to the light, I saw the tumor. It was about the size of a baseball and stuck out far. It looked black and lumpy and seemed to pull at the rest of his face. My companion and poor 12-year-old Hannah who came with us seemed to be quite shaken and speechless. I explained to the man that we are missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and that we were here to offer a prayer for him if it was okay. He said yes. My companion asked him for his full name, but all he said was “Lods,” which is his nickname. I started to pray, and the spirit was so strong. It seemed to wash over me. The smell was putrid, but I barely noticed it. As I said amen, I looked back at the man and his head was still bowed. I said “thank you” to him and told him to take care. He seemed to be crying and didn’t look back up. We walked away and the strong spirit lingered with me a while after. I then heard many things about Lods through the neighbors. He had gotten his nickname from winning the lottery. Before he got sick, he bragged about his winnings, causing him to be widely disliked in the neighborhood. He spent almost all of the money on drugs. Some people maybe have the attitude that he is getting what he deserves. The Savior, however, does not work that way. I thought of the story of the adulteress woman in The Bible. This girl had committed one of the worst sins, but Jesus Christ pardoned her and forgave her. He had an immeasurable love for her and faith that she would be better. I had the opportunity to feel that kind of love. Of course, I don’t know Lods’ standing in God’s eyes. I don’t know if he has been forgiven of his sins. But I do know that Heavenly Father loves him enough to allow His own Son to suffer Lods’ same pain. He loves him enough to cry when he cries and feel joy when he feels joy. He loves him enough to be right by his side in that dark and dirty house. And He loves me enough to give me the opportunity to witness such a love.

On Saturday, Hannah (Nanay Norma’s granddaughter) was baptized. It was such a happy day for everyone. My companion and I have come to be so close to Hannah and her family. Missionary work is just so happy!!

Love you all, Sister Stewart Remember that God loves you!

Random Photos from Spring 2019

HELLO FROM THE PHILIPPINES

Pictures:

*the morning the ward helped build a real house for Nanay Norma (sorry, no pics of the house yet)

*a sweet family in her ward

*it's rainy season and she's loving it

As of July 1st, this is Sydney's new address:

Sister Sydney Rae Stewart 

Antipolo Mission Office

Ligtasan St., Brgy. San Roque

Antipolo City 1870

Philippines 

email stays the same: sydney.stewart@missionary.org

Family, friends, acquaintances, friends of my mother! Hello and welcome to the Philippines through email. For this week, I've got some exciting things to share with you!

1. MIRACLES IN BAMBANG!!!! So there is this part of our area that I just barely found out was in our area (long story, but our area map is not updated). So Sister Gajete and I were very excited to explore! We went and are now teaching an amazing family thanks to the Spirit prompting us to talk to this woman we saw there.

2. BAHAY NI NORMA!!!! I am absolutely stoked... the members finally were able to start work and Nanay Norma's house is now a house! We got to have a service project and help knock down what was there and build a brand new, beautiful, actually four-walled house in place of it! They are so incredibly happy and grateful, and so am I. It rained really hard last night, and for the first time since being in Taguig, I was able to just enjoy the rain instead of worrying and dropping to my knees to pray for their family. I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's kindness and for the kindness of the members here.

3. 18 NEW PEOPLE!!!! We were able to find 18 new people to start teaching this week who seem very ready for the gospel, which is extremely exciting!

4. BAPTISMS!!!! Hannah's baptism is this Saturday and we cannot wait! And Jeah, her sister, will be baptized on June 29! Talk about miracles! 

5. RAIN!!!! It's raining. I love rain! HA it's been so hot.

 Yun lang! I hope you are all doing well! I love hearing how you're doing, so I would love hearing from you! Especially you, siblings!!! Haha I love you all.

Ingat po kayo,

Sister Stewart

Transfer YEEE

Pictures:

*Leah Meah, a  member, sent me the first two pictures.  I love the kindness of strangers!  

*Syd's new companion, Sister Gajete, sweating in their 90* apartment making lumpia

*2 cute sisters in the sidecar of a tricycle (her usual transportation)

*She was thrilled to run into Sister Prisbrey.  She is in a different mission, but came out in Sydney's batch

Sydney changes to the Philippines Antipolo Mission next month.  For now, her address stays the same:

Sister Sydney Rae Stewart

Philippines Quezon City Mission

Aurora Blvd., Corner J.P. Rizal St.

Project 4 Cubao, Quezon City

1109 Metro Manila 

Philippines

Her email won't change: sydney.stewart@missionary.org

Hello hello! Masaya ako. I am so blessed you guys. I have wonderful people like you back at home supporting me, I am in an awesome country with beautiful people, and I get to share happiness and joy that the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings! If you get the opportunity to serve a mission, do it. It's the best decision I've ever made.

This week, I got to pick up my new companion and bring her back to Taguig. Sister Gajete is so amazing! She was trained by Sister Alexis Doney, so those of you who know her know that Sister Gajete was trained for absolute greatness!! She is just who I needed! She really makes things happen. 

Miracle of the week: We had a surprise person come to church this week! It was stake conference, and so it's hard to get people to church because it's at a different place. But Jeah, Nanay Norma's granddaughter came to church even though Norma couldn't! How awesome is that?! She never has seemed interested and now she's all of a sudden talking about serving a mission someday and there's a very good chance that she'll get baptized with her sister, Hannah, on June 15!

Anyways, I am so happy. God's work is flourishing. And I get to be a part of it! Love you all.

Ingat po,

Sister Stewart