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!