Toan Voa Voa

(New Year)

 Tratra toan! 

That is how everyone will greet you here for the entire week. It's pronounced like "cha-cha tone" and is usually accompanied by three kisses. So this week...ahh, where to start. This e-mail goes out to a mixed audience so for some of you, this will be old news and for some of you new news. This week has been a definite rollercoaster. I'll just cut to the quick. On thursday, the 31st I recieved a call from President Adams toward the end of the day during which he told me that I should skpe call my family because there was some serious news about my Grandmother's health. I'll admit, my blood ran cold. If the mission President is calling you and then telling you to call your family it can only be bad news. I imagined that my family would tell me some really bad news, that my Grandmother had cancer and was going to be sick for a long time and undergoing chemotherapy. Unfortunately, the news was even worse than that. My Grandmother did have cancer but it had already progressed to stage 4 and had spread all throughout her body. The Doctors estimated about two months left for her. I think for that evening my world slightly seemed to shatter - because I felt like I was in some surreal movie. I had never experienced such intense grief as that moment. I had seen it in movies millions of times but had never yet myself lost someone close to me or had a family member with a fatal diagnosis. 

However, never before in my life have I had such a strong testimony of the Plan of Salvation. During the whole moment, I never once thought "Why is this happening to us?" or "How will we ever be able to move on past this trial?" Because I too - like the late Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, believe with all my heart that Sunday Will Come. That there WILL be another day when we will ALL reunite. I know that seeing any of our deceased family and friends is not a question of IF but of WHEN. And in the timeline of God, that when is oh so short. It is like a mission - it seems and often feels SO long but in the end, it will seem to us and our Heavenly Parents that it passed in the blink of an eye. So too will our separation seem like the blink of a heavenly eye, once we have a heavenly perspective. Oh the time can seem so lonely and spread out before us, but those we have lost are always there. They are just on the other side of the veil and if we could but for one moment pull it back, we would realize they were at our sides and not feel alone. I know that Christ was the first fruits of them that slept. And Because and Through Him, ALL men will rise again. And thanks to the blessings and ordinances of the gospel, when we rise, we will be sealed to each other - to live in eternal family units with our loved ones forever. Without fear of pain, death or sadness again. And what seems like a beautiful fairy  tale to many people, is real to me. I feel the truth in every bone in my body and have devoted the last 16 months of my life preaching this truth. As sure as Friday, and the end for each of us will come - so too will Sunday. And that day will be glorious. And it will be bright. And all will be well. I see it as though it will happen tomorrow because of the assurrance that I have that it WILL happen. How blessed are we that this is our future - that this is the truth - this is each of our destinies. To rise again. Glorious and perfect and full of joy. 

I do not question why this trial has come into our lives at this moment. It is the Lord's plan. Plus, I already have my personal answer. One of the sisters in the house in La Reunion always questioned why one of my companions hadn't been translated yet, because according to her, the Lord translates people once they become perfect (and she couldn't find a flaw in my beloved Sister Isham, none of us could). Well, if it's true that the Lord doesn't leave perfectly righteous people on the earth very long (Moses, Alma the younger etc) then I suppose that's the reason it's Grandma's time to leave. She's spent her whole life converting herself to the Lord and preparing and changing herself to reflect our Savior and the Lord just doesn't leave  perfectly righteous people on the earth. It's not exactly translation but the Lord has His many ways. 

In light of this new news, it seems likely that I am going to go home with the transfer before my date (February 4) instead of after (March 18) so that I can go see and then live with/take care of my Grandparents for a couple of months.  I still need to talk to Pres Adams about leaving early but I feel really good about coming home four weeks early. I feel like I would be fulfilling another mission to the Lord to be able to serve my family. So I feel like in some ways - as awful as this timing is - it also is proof of the Lord's timing. That I can be in the situation where I won't have obligations like the rest of my family - no one else can fulfill the job that I will when I go home - so I feel like that is proof of the Lord's hand and timing in our lives. I don't know, I could write about all the emotions and thoughts from this week but I will be able to talk to everyone in person in ony four weeks(!)  That seems crazy that my mission will be over so quickly, and it's bittersweet but I'm ready. I feel a super strong purpose in coming home. Anyway, that's my news for the week - the Lord is trying me in EVERY way - put I am putting my trust in Him and believing that I will come out a stronger person and in the end, everything will be alright. 

Love,

Sis Stewart

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This week - not going to lie - was a tough one. Christmas was a little disappointing and the work was hard BUT talking to the family was of course the best thing ever! And even if one week was hard, we are still blessed by the Lord everyday and lucky to be missionaries! So a big thanks to the family, talking really boosted my spirits and especially your words at the end gave me more determination, enthusiasm, perserverence, you name it. These last few weeks sure have been challenging but I know I'm going to make it and I'm going to be helped and supported by the Lord all the way through. 

So there are not really traditions for Christmas here and not really much celebrating either. BUT *note for Kiari* I did find out that a few kids DID recieve presents - so turns out some of them do that tradition here. Most of the families we visited didn't give gifts but we saw some kids with new toys. We also had a "fetsy" or a christmas party at the church which was super fun. All the different auxiliaries presented something. The youth danced, the relief society sang, there were a few other musical numbers. I pretended to be Mary. We ate cake. It was a smash. And the best part was that after the party they put on the fun music and everyone rushed the dance floor. Like many other cultures, dancing is a BIG thing on Madagascar. Youth, women, and men all danced. They did some traditional dances and lots of just dancing. It was so cool to see - I filmed a lot. Even the littlest kids danced with the group, mimicking what they saw. You could tell it was definitely a part of the culture. Why don't we dance more? 

There is going to be another party for New Years and that one is solely devoted to dancing so I'm sure it's going to be awesome. My companion was so confused by our typical New Year's celebration since it's pretty low key. On her island in Guadeloupe it's a big deal! The whole family comes together and has a big meal and then dances until FOUR in the morning! All of them! Mom, Aunts, Uncles, not just the young teenagers or adults. Dancing is a big thing for them too. When I told her that the only party that most people who aren't highschool/college kids dance at is weddings, she was shocked. We need more dancing in our society I guess.

My health is good. My spirits are good too. I am definitely looking forward to coming home - even if it might change shortly after I get there! But I am also trying to make the most of right now and appreciate every moment the Lord has given me. Thank you everyone for your love, and support. I've spent the last year 2014 serving the Lord and having the most rewarding experience of my life and I am so excited to start a new year and see what the Lord has planned for me. Everyone should go watch the mormon message "Remember Lot's Wife" for the New Year - do it as a belated Christmas present for me. I get inspired everytime I see it. 

Love you All!!

Sister Stewart

Fety Christmas!

So this week went well. It is starting to really get into the swing of summer which also = the rainy season. So it is crazy hot during the day and then about 2 or 3 the clouds start rolling in. At first, like any vahsa "gringo" "foreigner", I was like, why does everyone panic when the clouds come. Like yeah, it's going to rain but in a bit and what's a little bit of rain. Because I mean people will honestly pack up and like go home in a hurry, when the wind starts picking up. And then this week I was answered when it poured almost every single day. And I mean poured. It doesn't rain that hard in the states. Trust me. And when it rains people basically stop leaving the house. Members and investigators won't come to activities because they will tell us "it was raining so you know" and at this point, I am sort of like "Ok, sure, I know" One of these days I was caught without my umbrella. SO wet. My dress was soaked through. And each step felt like I was walking in puddles even when the ground was dry - because the water had pooled in my shoes. Lucky I have two pair now. I rotate. It takes about a day for them to dry so it's perfect. 

Other interesting news. As sister A and I were walking around looking for people to contact and houses to knock we came across a big play field. And we were so suprised by what we saw. People playing rugby. But not just any people. Women too. And I'm talking tackle rugby. These women were moms, and often had a lot of extra weight. But there they were sprinting down the field and tossing the ball back and forth. And they were playing with men. Not old men. But young 20 something year olds, who were tackling the women. And the women were doing pretty well. Crazy right? Who would've known? Don't worry, I filmed some of it. 

Well I don't have much more time. One last funny thing. The ward members asked me if I would stand as Mary while they read the Christmas story. Why? Because I am the most "fotsy fotsy" person in the ward and Mary is described as being "fair and white" in the Book of Mormon. Hahah True Story. 

Love you ALL,

Sr Stewart

We are so close to Christmas!

Hello all,

First, I am healthy! Yay! So no need to worry. Yes the Bubonic Plague does break out every year in Madagascar and there are about 800 cases or something. But no I do not have it nor am I likely to ever catch it. We have preventitive medicine that they make us take every single day so don't fret. 

This was a pretty rough week again...drama with the sisters. This time I simply don't want to go into it. I'm hoping that Christmas and the spirit of Christ will bring love and harmony into our home. Things with Solo and Sylvie have also taken a turn for the worst because Sylvie started drinking again. Also the process to get them legally married is going to be really tricky because Sylvie doesn't have any form of birth certificate. She also can't remember/doesn't know the full name of her two parents - which is the typical way that they look up to find a birth certificate. So...it is going to be a process.

In other news, this family we have been teaching just shot off like a rocket. This couple Andrea and Meldaze have three daughters and we have been teaching them for 3 or 4 lessons. The husband Meldaze has been super sick because he had surgery on his liver and still is undergoing treatment for that. During most of this time he hasn't been able to leave his bed and even simple actions like zipping up his jacket are a struggle. Most of the lessons he just sits there not really participating or moving. But the other week when we taught about Joseph Smith, we asked them "Would it be important to have a living prophet?" The wife was like um, I don't know. But then all of a sudden, Meldaze looked up and was like "That would be so important! We really need prophets and that would be a really big deal!" And then he added some more stuff about how essential prophets are. Sr Amoussouga and I were flabbergasted - we didn't even realize he was listening! And then ever since then, they have gotten really serious about our teachings. They listen intently and do their homework - read the verses or chapters we leave them. This week, we offered to have some members give Meldaze a blessing because he is still really sick. Then Andrea came to a baptism on Saturday. And the whole family came to church on Sunday - Meldaze included!! Because now he is healthy enough to leave the house. And at then end they were asking what they needed to do to be baptized and how long before they could! They were asking members and US that question! When normally it's us asking our investigators! It is so amazing! Because you can see how they have tuned in to the message of the gospel. At the beginning they were passively listening but now they are hungering for the knowledge and light themselves! What an incredible blessing. They have set a date for the 7th of March.

As for skyping! I believe that the time difference is now 11 hours right? Because I am in Mada, I will just be skyping from a cyber cafe...so it might be interesting aka noisy or bad connection. I think most likely I will need to skype you in the morning your time because 7pm your time is 6am my time - which is too early for me and anything later than that will be too late for you. Does that make sense? Unless if it works with you, we could skype 9pm your time and 8am my time. So tell me if you want to do it the morning of the 24th or 25th and I can probably make it work either days. Probably around 7am your time or 6pm my time. I know morning isn't super convenient but I figure it is better than 9 in the evening your time. Let me know what you want to do next week because that is the last week before Christmas!

Love you all,

Sr Stewart

full of gratitude

 Sorry for those of you who were looking for my letter yesterday. I was sick. But am better now so no worries. So another huge blessing for this week is Sylvie and Solo again! Seriously, every week it is just another blessing to work with them. This week they brough lots of their family members to church! We showed up to walk them to church and the grandma, nephew and several little kids were there all excited to go to church! So we walked with all of them up to church. The whole time I just kept thinking about the scripture in Matthiew "Does a man light a candle and hide it under a bushel? No, but upon a chandlier and it gives light unto all those that are in the house" Sylvie and Solo have been recieving more and more of the gospel light each week and now they are sharing it with their family and the light is being seen to all those that are "in the house". I love that. You can actually SEE a change in them and their lives. This week Solo painted their house. It used to be just plain wood. Now it is green and blue and white and so pretty. He wrote scripture verses above the doorframe too.  They put up Christmas decorations in their house. The whole house is starting to have a different spirit. The two of them are getting along better. And all this because of the restored gospel. They already believed in God. They already prayed everyday. But there is something MORE and there is something DIFFERENT with the gospel we preach. It is restored - It is FULL and it changes people and their lives. Sylvie doesn't drink anymore. They are working really hard to get legally married in the next couple of weeks. Miracles are happening - and I get to be here to witness it. 

I don't really have a lot of time. But we also had Zone Conference this week and one of the things we talked about was desire. How we will be rewarded according to our desires. And also how at that last day we will have a perfect knowledge of our works - and our guilt. So now is the time to cultivate the right desires. It is not enough for us just not to do bad things but we must DESIRE good. We must desire to be obedient. We must sacrifice with wholeness of heart. Whoa. Pretty difficult right. Christ has said that to truly be His disciple we need to sacrifice all that we have. Often that sacrifice is actually just one of ourselves. Sacrificing our sins and our disobedience. Sacrificing our will to be aligned with His. Think about it a little this weeek.

Love you all,

Sister Stewart

Olana *Problems*

Salame,

Don't confuse this word with olona, because that means people. Tricky the difference that one letter can make right? So the title of this e-mail is because I don't know the malagasy word for drama, and that word describes our week. So in a nutshell....Sr Amoussouga and I were called to be Sister Training Leaders. You might not think this is new news since that was my calling before however right before the transfer President told me that the calling might change to another sister. So up until this Monday I wasn't sure if I still was or if he was going to call another sister. Unfortunately the calling/transition hasn't gone over as smooth as hoped for. Sr Amoussouga and I tried to assume our new roles and do a set of exchanges this week. After one hour the other sister came home and locked herself in her room refusing to go out again. So that led to this meeting with President and all the other sisters - all 8 of us in the mission. And that was the worst meeting of my entire life. I don't want to go into details but needless to say there was a lot of not positive commentary made about us in the new Sister Training Leader position. Then after all of this was aired out that night Sr Amoussouga and I had to go around and try and sort it all out. Which mostly consisted of apologizing to everyone for anything and everything and whatever it was that people had had a problem with. It wasn't the most fun of activities. But it is teaching us to be super humble because someone has to bite the bullet and just say "ok fine, we will take the blame for everything because we just want to work this out and for everyone to move on and work together" And that's essentially what we did. But as Sr Amoussouga said, what doesn't kill us will make us stronger. And all these experiences are just shaping us to be better. She is super cool and totally has the right attitude if you noticed. 

So the best thing about this week is that we got close and unified this week because we have had to deal with all of this (and all the girls) together, with only each other. That is a huge blessing - I definitely couldn't have done it alone. Another cool thing about Sr Amoussouga is that she is quadrilingual. Her native language is French but she speaks English and Spanish fluently too and now is working on Malagasy. So we are working on developing our three languages together: French, English and Malagasy. We even fight about which days we are going to speak what language because I am always pulling for French and her for English! 

Everything has been sorted at the house and it's cool. It actually is a super cool experience living among so many different cultures. We have sisters from France, Guadeloupe, Mozambique, Tahiti, Ghana and Madagascar - so you can imagine all the culture they bring! They decided a good way to celebrate Thanksgiving (well none of them celebrate it but they used it as an excuse) was to slaughter a chicken. In our apt. So we all bought a live chicken and then killed it for our Thanksgiving dinner. I did not participate but forced myself to watch because I decided I needed to know where my food came from. Of course the Africans were super mahay (muh-hi) *knowledgeable* about killing and cleaning and cooking the chicken. I contributed green beans and mashed potatoes. And then we had a Thanksgiving dinner in Madagascar last night. One day I will send pictures - when I figure out how...

In super positive news: Sylvie and Solo are progressing along really well and they all came to church again!!

Love you all!

Sister Stewart

Tsara Be Madagascar! Super Awesome Madagascar!

Salame,

The title might sound funny but you have to remember that there is no "to be" verb in malagasy. All my life I thought it was the most important verb for any language and then here is malagasy, proving me wrong and showing that maybe no one needs to use to be verbs.

So this week...where to start? First off. Yes I am the only American sister in all of Madagascar. Crazy right? Basically all of the girls are straight out of Africa - I'll explain. There are only 8 sister missionaries in all of Mada. Two (Sr Ramiaramana and Sr Sitraponahy) are from Madagascar, Antsirabe - the country town I travelled to that is 4 hours from Tana. Sr Guilamba is from Mozambique. Sr Kassah is from Ghana. Sr Teuira is from Tahiti. Sr Wenyi grew up in France but her parents are both from Congo. Sr Amoussouga (my companion) is from Guadaloupe. That's an island in the Caribbean. So I'm the only American and fotsy kely (a bit white) sister in Mada. The reason I say white is because to the sisters and people of Madagascar I am pretty white - at best they will call me metisse which means mixed. It's so funny because all my life people have been telling me the opposite - that I'm black - then I go to Africa and I'm white! It's all about perspective. But I am learning SO MUCH about other cultures. I mean like food, life style and hair. I'm learning a lot about hair. There is a lot of braiding that goes on. I have decided to stick to my own real hair.........for now, hahaha. 

Update on Sylvie and Solo: This was a rough week. Sylvie is really really struggling with alcohol. In fact half of the week she was gone from the house because she just got so drunk she left and didn't come back for days. Luckily by the end of the week things got a lot better and calmed down. We were able to talk to Sylvie sober and really discuss how we can help her with her addiction. Solo on the other hand is taking off - he is spiritually flying. He reads the Book of Mormon like crazy and this week HE asked US if he could be baptized!! There are a few obstacles though. The biggest one is that they need to be vita soratra - legally married - which is tough here because it takes money and paperwork. But Solo is super determined and said he wants to get baptized for Christmas as a way to really show Christ during HIS season that Solo wanted to follow Him. Wow. Beautiful. This man is so ready. And the WHOLE family came to church!! Which was a first for Sylvie. I am so happy I get to be a part of their journey into the gospel, even if it is hard and sticky and full of big obstacles - it is such a blessing. 

Alright well I absolutely love my mission. I seriously love Madagascar - even as smelly and crazy and dirty as it is. It's not because we have like thousands of prepared people or a thousand baptism dates - we were dodged 16 times last week - no joke I just counted. But no big deal because I LOVE my mission. So a couple of weeks ago dad sent me the transcript of this father's blessing he gave me before my mission and it was straight up personal revelation. This is what I wrote to President about it:

 

So I already talked to you a bit last week but basically I have had a complete shift in attitude. Long story short my father sent me the transcript of the father's blessing he gave me before I left on my mission and in reading it I had this spiritual confirmation that everything is working out as it is supposed to. I realized - really realized on a personal level not just a doctrinal level - that Heavenly Father really does know the beginning from the end and He has a plan for it all. Even before my mission I was blessed and given advice that applies to now and earlier on my mission. Heavenly Father knows exactly what's going on and where I am now (including trials and difficulties) is where I'm supposed to be. I'm supposed to struggle with the language - Heavenly Father knew that - He planned for that but it is all for a wise purpose. I know everything is going to work out and this week proved that. 

It was basically a patriarchal blessing for my mission, it talked about all my difficulties and struggles and also what the Lord was going to ask of me. He even blessed me to feel help from the Lord in speaking Malagasy --- before anyone even knew I was going to be speaking Malagasy. In short it proved to me that the Lord has had a plan since the very beginning and He knows the big picture. And reading my blessing helped me see it too - the big picture. And ever since then, my vision has been cleared and I just feel so much light and clarity and GOODNESS in my life and my mission. I don't think I've ever been this happy. Which is crazy considering how tricky and hard some of these experiences are. But it's true. I don't really want to go home right now - or ever and I understand why everyone talks about being so happy in their missions. There is so much light and happiness that FLOODS your life when you live the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the more sacrifices you make, and the more you align yourself to be exactly obedient the more light and joy you recieve. I know that to be true - because I've seen that in my life!

Love you all! Can't wait to talk on Christmas!

Sis Stewart

Ny Ireo Fitahina Any Andriamanitra - Blessings from God

Salame,

So basically I have about 10 minutes to write to you about this week... Go! 

So health update. I am fine. I did get sick again on Friday which was a major bummer but once again it was a 24 hour thing. And I always tell the mission nurse and she takes good care of us. I'm not going to die out here - though sometimes after throwing up everything in one's body, one may wish that one could disapear. Also the flea bites have significantly decreased - YES! I'm not sure how long it takes packages to get here, but one just came for an Elder who left over 4 months ago - so it is possible that anything you send after December will not get here before I leave.

The transfers! Well passed! Sr Amoussouga is way cool and definitely has got her malagasy down. She is very "mahay" (ma-hi) as they say out here. This week went really well even without Sr Johnson. I remembered where everyone lived. We never took the wrong bus and no one ever cheated us out of too much bus fair money! So major success! In addition we were able to find a couple of new families who are interested in the gospel! 

Let me tell you real quick about this miracle family. The wife and husband are named Sylvie and Solo. We met them porting one day. They live in EXTREMELY humble settings. They live in this very small square house made out of wood. Two sides of the house are small enough that my arm span can cover them - the other two sides are only about a foot and a half longer. They have three cute little girls. We met them about 3 weeks ago. At first we just taught the wife Sylvie but she said her husband would be interested so he came the next time. The third time we came while they were fighting. They often have financial problems and can't always be sure to have enough money to put food on the table. When problems come up Sylvie drinks and that makes Solo so angry he beats her. We walked in right in the middle of one such problem. I felt so helpless, not knowing what exactly they were saying to each other and in general feeling overwhelmed with such a large problem. But we did the only thing we could - we taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked to them and told them that Sylvie needed to stop drinking and Solo needed to stop hitting Sylvie. This week they testified of the difference they have felt in their house. They say they have felt the Spirit more since we have started teaching them. Solo reads the Book of Mormon to Sylvie and the kids every night (she can't read) and he has come to church the past two Sundays. He reads every day and Sylvie is trying to stop drinking. They have literally felt and seen a difference in their lives ever since they started to listen to the restored gospel and read the Book of Mormon. They believed in God before. They went to church. They prayed every single day. And yet there is something different. Things have changed. That is such a testimony to me and this family is amazing!! Because they are so humble and ready to change. They are easily moldable and change themselves to follow the Lord and His teachings. Are we this easily moldable? Do we read the Book of Mormon everyday? Or are we too busy? Seriously an amazing testimony to me of what it means to be humble and quick to hearken and change for the Lord. I can't wait to tell you the rest of their progression as time goes on!

Long story but that is what fuels this work! I love Madagascar and my mission. Even if it is super hard. But that is how it has to be - the best path is always upward!

Love,

Sr STewar

tia - to love !

Manahoana!

So everyday I love Madagascar a little bit more. I am convinced that it is a gift from God (like all good things or Christlike virtues) like how Elder Russel M. Nelson said our love of the prophet is a gift from God. Same thing for Madagascar. Because it is dirty, messy, soooo smelly, and generally filthy but also I seem to be loving it more each day. That doesn't mean there aren't ups and downs - lots - but at least I am starting to have a true love of the people.

So a bit of news this week. Antsirabe was great. The ride was crazy. There were 18 people PLUS a driver in our 15 passenger van. It was crowded. And a long drive - 4 hours +. But suprisingly not as bad as I thought it would be. The country was beautiful and life out there is so different. The people really get their livelihood straight from the land. And it seemed much poorer than in the city...which is sort of crazy because already the city life is so much lower than our US standards. In Antsirabe, people travel by "pouss-pouss", which is essentially a handcart pulled by a barefoot man. And that is a real mode of transport to get around town. There are also "sikoh-pouss" which is the same thing but pulled by a bike - like the ones in San Fran.

Other news. My health took a major downturn these past two weeks...The fleas have officially settled in and seem to have taken quite a taste for my blood. I counted 18 bites on ONE thigh....and they itch sooo bad. But if you scratch them, they can bleed and scar. At first I thought the bites were from mosquitos but I kept getting them on places that were thoroughly covered by my clothes and I couldn't figure out how the mosquitos were biting through so many layers. Then I showed them to Sr Johnson and she relayed the dreaded news. So I washed everything and that seems to have helped for the moment. The only problem is this country is flea infested so you can pick up one from anywhere. There are times when we go in for a lesson and I just know that whatever chair/bed I'm sitting in is crawling with all sorts of undersirable things.

Also this week...I got exceedingly exceedingly sick. On Friday I woke up and threw up and then had extreme stomach sickness ALL day. I emptied everything out of my body and still my stomach was churning. I didn't leave the bed all day - except to go to the restroom. And I didn't eat. The nurse just told me to keep drinking and there wasn't really much medicine she could give me. She said that some missionaries would get my symptoms but that in 24 hours it cleared up. And it did - the next day I was fine - very weak and shaky feeling but no longer sick. I did weigh myself and lose 4 kilos in that one day. 1 kilo = 2.2 pounds for you in the states. But I'm already gaining the weight back now that I can eat again - don't worry, I don't think I'll have any major weight loss before I come home.

Anyway, Sr Johnson leaves on Wednesday. My new companion will be Sr Amoussouga - she was on La Reunion with me before she got transferred here - right before I became companions with Sr Hurst! So she should be able to help me out and relate to this big transition. This week will definitely hold a lot of changes. I will keep you updated!

Love you all - Tena tiako ianao ireo!

Sr Stewart

kely kely ( a little, a little )

Ok,

Sorry everyone but I actually don't have very much time to write. Sr Johnson and I am supposed to go to a city about four hours away by bus to do exchanges with the other sisters. There are only 9 sisters in the whole Madagascar mission. 6 here in Tananarive, the capital and then 3 in a town named Antsirabe, which is way out in the country so it is supposed to by way beautiful. 

This week was alright. Our area is going through a rough spot. None of our investigators are progressing - mostly because they all refuse to come to church. So we had a lot of cancelled apts this week and are doing a lot of contacting (hey, I'm used to that!) only it's in Gasy....I have different spurts of success with the malagasy. I am convinced that I have been blessed with the inconstant gift of tongues. It feels like when I am in a situation where I HAVE to be able to do something with the language, I make it but other than that on a daily basis I can't understand what is being said. Like this week Sr Johnson got sick with bronchitis and another sister in the apt was also sick. Fortunately we had planned to do exchanges that day anyway so I went out with the non-sick sister, Sr Ramiaramanana - who is gasy. During the day we went to teach one of the recent converts from our area and I was able to teach a whole lesson on the Atonement! That's crazy! But then the next day I couldn't even explain what the Book of Mormon was.... So it's still tough. 

I don't really have time to write much else - I will make sure to write extra long next week. Sorry everyone!

Love,

Sr Stewart

one month down ..

Hey,

So crazy as it seems, I have been in Madagascar a full month by the end of this week. I can't say the time always feels like it's going fast but that still shock even me! Which means I only have about four months of my mission left - how did that happen? Where did the time go? In fact I officially know my release date - it will be the 18th of March. 

This week we finally got to watch conference!! It was fantastic!! I seriously am just so grateful for modern living prophets and apostles and the fact that the Lord still speaks to His children in Their day. You would think that after so many talks on the gospel there wouldn't be anything new to say - yet everytime I come to conference I am so enlightened and edified. It's not that they make up new gospel topics but the way they apply them to our lives and their advice is so spot on and touches me. I can't wait to read and study from the talks given during the next six months. I particularly enjoyed Elder Dieter F Uchtdorf's talk about absolute truth and Elder Jorg Klipgat (??) I can't remember his exact name, but he gave an amazing talk about how to live the gospel. I loved when he said "Become really really good at forgiving. Forgive everyone of everything. Don't hold a bad feeling against a single soul" !! 

This week was the week of meeting because in addition to General Conference we also had a Zone Meeting and a Mission Leadership Meeting! Our Zone leader gave an amazing lesson about integrity. One of the quotes he used said "Integrity is about doing the right thing not because of who's watching but because your character demands it!" He said too that Elder Anderson had once said someone with true integrity would do the right thing even if God blinked or looked away for a moment. It was great. All about being completely truly honest about what you think is right and wrong - because your own character demands it. It made me really think about how I can have more integrity. Also I was very suprised to learn that I am still a Sister Training Leader in Madagascar...I thought that that calling had ended when I left Reunion since I don't know the language, area, mission, or even missionaries over here very well but nope. Sister Johnson has been the only sister training leader over here for quite a while and it can sometimes be tough so I'm a little nervous about this addition to all the new changes that are already going on. Speaking of which...Sister Johnson will be leaving in two weeks when the transfer ends so it is almost guaranteed that I will stay in the area I am in and be in charge of leading it with my new companion. The language is still coming along slowly and yeah, all these things are making me really nervous for the future. It's going to be a big stretch that is for sure. I will be the person with the most knowledge about our area and investigators but I will only have been here for 6 weeks and not speak the language. 

Funny language story for the week. In malagasy, the subject almost always goes at the end of a sentence. Such as "Through the prophet Joseph Smith, restored the gospel and his church, Jesus Christ" or "Can pray to God no matter where, no matter when, we" So occasionally when I am speaking I focus so much on the words I need to put into the sentence that I think I have already mentioned who is doing it. And then I'll get done with this sentence and look over at Sr Johnson and she's sort of waiting for me to finish and I don't get what she's waiting for and she mouthes to me the word "subject" and I'm like "oh....right" So some of my sentences sound like this "Loves us with all His heart and wants us to be happy.............God"

Soeur Stewart

BP 5094

Dingana III

Andrainarivo, Antananarivo 101

Madagascar

Love,

Sr Stewart

btw ... kiana would LOVE christmas cards (:

here comes the rain .

Salame,

So this week brought more adventures in Madagascar. Nothing too new, lots of walking under a really hot sun. Yesterday it did pour again though! 

The language is coming along slowly. Unfortunately after my breakthrough last week there haven't been too many other miracle moments. I still struggle A LOT. I also can't understand almost anything. But I am trying to take it one step at a time and just focus on learning a new skill or conversation topic each day. 

I wish I had more to share but there just weren't many funny stories this week. I did accidentally ask someone how old their car was....I meant to say how many years of school they had done. 

To answer Dad's questions, yes we are inside of Tana - not the suburbs...although I am pretty sure suburbs don't really exist here. Yes we take the bus everyday. Yes they CRAM people into buses here. I have to get a picture. Also people take HUGE sacks of rice or live chickens on the bus so you have that to contend with, in addition to the people. 

My favorite thing about Madagascar in the meaning of names. Everything here has a meaning. Like the place where we live means "lots of onions" and a neighborhood nearby is called "where the cows sleep" Most of the people have names that mean something too. My favorite so far is the name Aina (pronounced Y-eye-na). It means soul. And it's so pretty. So yeah we meet people called "choice" or "precious" and I think it's so cool. This one lady is just called "the twin's mother" hahah 'cause she has a pair of twin girls. Somethings about the Malagasy languag are cool. I love the sound of it and will love it even more when I can speak it.

All my love,

Sr Stewart

one week at a time .

Salame ve?

So here's the thing about a mission, it's like a rollercoaster ride. There are ups and downs. This week had some great ups. This week also had a couple of downs. On the upside...I seriously believe I have been blessed with the gift of tongues. Like I know all missionaries in some ways are blessed but I'm sort of talking about close-to-miraculous! This week after only one week of being in country I was able to teach a whole 30-40 minute lesson - practically all by myself! All the other missionaries say it's super great progress and President Adams called it "miraculous' so I feel so so blessed!! Unfortunately I still cannot understand....anything. Which can make church and church activities a little stressful because people will come up to me and expect me to understand. The latter of which we had this past week. It was sort of like a picnic/recreational activity about an hour outside of Tana, which made it the countryside. It was fun.

I've still been getting used to being here and the country. It's a lot of a transition. I've been getting to know the sisters in the house a little more. Last night, Sr Johnson had me practice making conversation with the two Malagasy sister as a language activity. It was super helpful but sort of funny because I didn't know every other word so I would have to ask her to feed me words - like an actor who had forgotten his lines. Speaking of funny language mistakes...there are two words in Malagasy that sound very similar: vary and very. Unfortunately their meanings are very different, vary means rice and very means lost. So this week I said by accident " There had to be a restoration of the gospel because RICE the church of Jesus Christ" We all got a huge laugh out of that. There are little things like that that happen every week but I laugh along with everyone else because you've got to admit...it's pretty funny. 

On other news, I have been feeling a little sick since I got here, mostly I just have awful stomach cramps that leave me a little immovible but yesterday we called the mission nurse and she gave me some medicine. After it kicked it I felt fine so hopefully I won't have any more problems. 

The people here are so receptive to the gospel, it is incredible. Sometimes a little mindblowing to me. When we start to teach someone, often the whole family will trickle in. And even the little kids will come sit down and try to read the brochures. It's just they have such a thirst for spiritual knowledge and it's not because they are ignorant. The people here know way more about Christ and his gospel and the Bible than the people on La Reunion did. Which just proves that spiritual knowledge is not equal to an education or scientific knowledge. The people here know the Bible so well, they all go to church on Sunday and they dress up in their Sunday best. Seriously, on Sunday you just see everyone in their nice pants and dresses getting into buses carrying their Bibles to go to church. It's so heartwarming. I know I am only going to keep growing my love for these people.

Ok so that was just a mish mash of my thoughts. I will try to record some better stories to tell you all next week! Thank you all for the prayers, I am guaranteed that the amazing language experiences I have had are thanks to the many prayers from you guys all across the world.

Love,

Sr Stewart 

Pictures (:

mada . . .

Ok,

So I don't really know where to start. It's crazy here. So so so so third world. Ok so to respond to some basic questions...  I am serving in Antananarivo, the capital, specifically the Betongolo sector. For the first time I am serving in a ward and even bigger than that a stake! I am in the Ivandry stake, and there are two total in Tana.

My companion is Sr Johnson. She is originally from Haiti but was adopted when she was 11 and has grown up in Boise, Idaho ever since. This is her last transfer so she only has 6 weeks left and she speaks Malagasy VERY well. Thank goodness! Because the language is very difficult. Mostly it is just the vocabulary because the words are 14 letters long! Mainly filled with f, p and a. For instance the word for gospel is filazantsara (try saying that 10 times fast) and the word for family is fianakaviana. So it is coming along slowly and I need to have more patience. It's awkward though when people come up to me to ask me if I am "gasy" (from Mada) and I just stare at them not sure if I should nod yes or no and look to sister johnson. Once I nodded yes to something I didn't know and accidently told someone I was already married...whoops!

The food...I avoid eating because basically everything here will make you sick. Well will make me sick because I'm new and not used to it. Elder Hamilton (of the 70) when he was touring here called Madagascar the Mexico of the 80s... So picture that. Hopefully I will be able to send pictures soon but I'm having problems with my camera and am terrified of corrupting the rest of my pictures with a virus from one of these sketchy cybers. Oh and yes I have already gotten sick, even though I have avoided the food and anything not prepared by me and only drink filtered water. Go figure. But hopefully I will be many pounds lighter when I come home! (lots of missionaries will lose around 30 pounds)

So I got here on Wednesday. Which means I havent' yet been here a week. I'll admit, this week has been pretty rough. Mostly it's hard not being able to understand anyone and being separated from the missionaries on Reunion (Sr Gardiner) oh and the food. So how is the work different? Well there are no cars for the missionaries here. We take these 15 passenger vans called "taxi be" and walk everywhere. We typically leave at 11 in the morning and don't get home till 8 or 9 at night, which means we bring everything we need for the day with us in our bags. Luckily after this monday I have food to pack so I won't need to subsist off of crackers and snacks haha. We mostly walk up and down this one street built on a hill and then work in the alleyways that branch off of it. It is fairly hot but a little less than La Reunion so I'm happy about that. It is about to be the rainy season though and I got my first taste of that the other day. During our Sunday meetings all of a sudden we heard the rain start falling - hard. Then it seemed to start raining even harder when we went outside. And I mean so hard! I kept reading about people in South America and how they could get soaked in a matter of seconds and I didn't understand but now I do. My sperry's got soaked all the way through and the parts of my skirt that stuck out of my coat were dripping when we got home. I can't emphasize enough how hard the rain was falling and how much of it there was. And then the streets started to turn into rivers and we had to step into them with our drenched shoes. Luckily we were going home and didn't have any apointments to go to because here they work in that rain!

As for the package address, I will get that to you next week, but the mailing address for letters and things is the very first one I got that goes to Mada. The one that we put on my little missionary cards.

Well I love you all! And I am extra praying for you because family is one of the few words I know in this crazy language! Pray for me extra too please, because this is definitely going to be one of the most difficult parts of my mission.

Love,

Sr Stewart

P.S. I almost got bit by a dog and nearly get hit about 5 times a day by some sort of automobile, be it bus or car. But I am still safe! Thank goodness I have the Lord's protection around me.

One More Day

Kome i le!

So everyone here it is: my final few days on La Reunion. I actually leave this Wednesday so tomorrow (Tuesday) is my last full day on the island. It's so surreal. This sunday the branch president asked me to go up and announce my transfer and then bear my testimony. I thought that maybe at the end after my little testimony I might get a little emotional because of my time here and my love for the members. Nope, turns out I started crying after the second sentence. And I mean big-fat-crocodile-tears-rolling-down-my-cheeks-and-the-need-to-hold-my-breath-so-as-not-to-sob-sort-of-crying. It was pretty bad. All of a sudden getting up in front of those members and looking out it just really hit me that I was never going to see them again. Or at least not for many many years. Because I will be leaving my mission from Madagascar so I will not come back to La Reunion and because it is really far from the United States I don't see myself making the trip in the next couple of years. These members and this island have been such a huge part of my life - during a really crucial part in my life. It has not always been easy, that is for sure, but looking back it has always been worth it. I feel like a mission is best summed up in a quote by President Gordon B Hinckley "You will realize that what right now seems like a large sacrifice will turn out being the greatest investment you ever made" And it is true. A mission is a huge investment in the gospel and an even bigger investment in yourself and your personal character.

While I still have 5 months of my mission left I feel like in many ways I am leaving my mission right now. Because La Reunion HAS been MY mission for the past 13 months and I am saying goodbye to this period of time with the missionaries here and the members and this island and the food and the culture and the language for perhaps the rest of my life - because even if I come back, it will never be the same as when I was a missionary. And while that makes me sad (and many more tears will be shed when I have to say goodbye to my companions and this island) I also move forward knowing that it is with a purpose and that the Lord has a plan for me. I also have so many more adventures ahead! Hey, the future is as bright as your faith right? Yes, I'm nervous to learn the language, yes I'm nervous about the culture and the complete lack of 1st world bathrooms and getting sick every day - but I know the Lord will provide. I have such a testimony of this gospel and this work. Next time you hear from me I will be in Madagascar with the lemurs trying desperately to communicate in a language that is 100% different from French. And I will be loving the opportunity the Lord gave me!

Love you all! Never pass up making sacrifices for the Lord because they will turn out to be the best investements!

Soeur Stewart 

Good Week

Manoana!

We had a really great week this week! I don't know exactly why but we suddenly had lots of great great lessons! I think part of the reason might be due to our new goal for this week. During the big meeting we had in Madagascar, the mission leaders all decided that as a mission we should set a baseline of 28 hours of proselyting per week - which might not sound like tons but it really stretches us. Most weeks Sr Gardiner and I get 20 to 22 because proselyting doesn't include our studies, our church meetings, activities, eating with members or other missionary meetings or even when we are driving in the car. The time of proselyting is solely the amount of time we spend preaching the good word. So this week we set the goal that we were going to do all we could to push ourselves and meet the 28 hours....and we came really close! This week we had to do some visa work and other activities so next week we'll hit it for sure.

So this week, we had an amazing discovery when we found our new ami Gino. As I've told you, Sr Gardiner and I have really been working on talking to everyone we see. So as we were leaving a rendez vous to get into our car this man was descending some stairs as we were just about to pass him I decided to stick out my hand and contact him. Turns out he had already met the missionaries in Madagascar and attended church twice. He didn't know the church existed over here too and he was really interested to learn more about it. We had a lesson with him Monday, gave him a tour  of the church Thursday with a member who spoke Malagasy, he came to an activity Friday and then he came to church and stayed for all three hours Sunday! He is super interested in the church and says he just felt so good like something was really important when he met us and came to the church! We are so excited and pleased at how sensitive to the spirit Gino is - it really is amazing. 

Speaking of Madagascar...I have been studying the language like CRAZY ever since President told me about the transfer because the language is super different and tricky. I have a couple of books from missionaries who are over in Mada now and studied it in the MTC. Well this week we taught two lessons with Gino, one with another amie from Madagascar and had a church activity for only Malagache people and for all of them I was able to use a couple of phrases! Both of these amis don't speak French as well and still prefer Malagasy so I was pretty pumped that I got the opportunity to practice in real life lesson. It still makes me realize how MUCH I need to learn because I know next to nothing besides "God is our loving Heavenly Father" but I can't help but feeling that the Lord is blessing us in a very specific way :)

Oh yeah, Youssouf is getting baptized this Saturday!!!! SOOOOO exciting!!!! I think I already wrote you about Youssouf. He is the guy from Mauritius (the island right next to us) who grew up Muslim and converted to Christianity when he was a teenager. He is so awesome and has the gift of faith. I could tell amazing/funny stories about him for hours. He is super super prepared and is really excited to be baptized. He has been asking us from day one when he could do it and we keep having to slow him down because we need to teach everything and make sure he understands. But I'm sure that this Saturday is going to be a beautiful event filled with the spirit. I will tell you all about it next week. 

Well that is more or less all the time that I have! I love you all and can't believe this is my last full week in Reunion! I won't come back to this island again! It'll be a sad goodby but I'm ready for the Madagascar adventure!

Love

Sr STewart

MADAGASCAR

Well,

I could write hours and hours worth of e-mail but instead we have less than half of our normal time so I'll just have to explain everything and send pictures later. Basically Madagascar is great! It is super super different from La Reunion because it is so 100% third world country. Basically just picture Mexico and all the ideas of dirt roads, busy buses, and street side vendors and you've got a really acurate picture! I am loving the experience and starting to wonder if I can request spending the last part of my mission here. 

Sr Gardiner and I have discovered that almost no one speaks french though it is their official business language. But that means I am trying to pick up Malagasy phrases as fast as I can. I already got the basics of please, thank you, excuse me, how much, and I don't speak malagasy. Now I'm trying to learn all the rest. We are in the capital - Antananarivo and staying with four other sisters, including my old MTC companion Sister Teuira! 

We are doing splits with the two companionships. Sr Johnson is from America, actually Boise Idaho and she has been out for about 14 or so months. She also speaks french from taking it in highschool and BYU so that is super cool! Her companion is Sr Vanarisoa who is from Madagascar and understands french but only speaks Malagasy. They are both super nice. Then the other companionship is Sr Teuira from Tahiti who speaks French and Malagasy and Sr Guilamba who is from Mozambique and speaks English and Malagasy (and Portugues) and mostly understands French. You can imagine conversing around the dinner table is a little tricky. All the sisters can speak Malagasy to each other but then we Reunion missionaries don't understand. If we speak French mostly everyone can understand but then they have to reply in English or Malagasy. Tricky, tricky. But it's all part of the fun! We have already taught a couple of lessons over the course of Sunday and Monday. The living conditions are soo different but the people are so warm. Speaking of warm....it's actually FREEZING here!! They are just finishing their winter and heading into spring but it is super super cold. Sr Gardiner and I have been freezing our hinies off! I have worn my tights and a sweater everyday and can still be cold! I even broke out the mittens! At night we are sleeping with almost four blankets! It's definitely not Provo cold but after being on a tropical island for a year, my body has NO sort of immunity to the cold. I think it is in the high 40s or 50 here so it feels glacial.

I don't really know what else to write with the few minutes that are left so I will just have to send pictures because they say a thousand words. I love you all!

Love,

Sister Stewart

One Year Older and Hopefully Wiser Too

Well,

Like you mentioned, I am hitting my year mark this week. I know it is so crazy. I want to deny that the time has sped by fast because each day still can feel soo slow but unfortunately what they say is true. Your time on the mission does wiz by. While it does feel like I have been out here for a very long time, it is still hard to wrap my mind around the fact that I only have a third of my mission left. It's still a good amount of time though so you will hear lots of more stories and testimonies before my last day comes!

Alright so I don't have lots of time right now but I'll just give you a little update about the week! So this past week we were super lucky to have a zone conference with Elder Hamilton of the Seventy. It was super amazing. During his portion of the meeting he asked us to talk about some of our difficulties here on La Reunion doing missionary work. My hand shot right up. Finding people! It is so hard to find people! Know that vacation is over, everyone is working during the day and there is no one to find when we go porting or walk around downtown. You know what Elder Hamilton's secret was? Talk to Everyone. Yep, that was what he told us. We as missionaries need to talk to everyone. At first I thought that there must be more because that is the first rule as a missionary - talk to everyone but then I realized that we really could be doing a better job - that we SHOULD be doing a better job at talking to literally everyone. One of the missionaries who served for a short time in France said that at one point they used to keep track of how many people they talked/introduced themselves to in a week. One companionship was able to talk to 2,000 people a week! When they rode the bus they used to walk up and down the aisles talking to every single person on the bus. That is what it means to talk to everyone and that is what we need to be doing as missionaries! 

Sr Gardiner and I have really been trying to test it out and committ ourselves to talking with literallly every person who crosses our paths. It is really hard. And we have talked to some unpleasant people. But it feels good to know we are doing our best and already we have had some people interested - perhaps people that normally we would not have talked to! Really what I have been learning (especially from Sr Gardiner because she is a super example) is that talking to everyone is sort of a test of faith. God needs to know that He can trust us. That if He puts someone prepared in our path He can trust us to talk to them. If we won't talk to everyone then He can't trust us and so it would be wasted on us to put someone prepared in our path. It is a test of faith. We need to have faith that there ARE people out there who are prepared for us. And I'll be honest sometimes it's hard! Some of these people can be so stubborn and closed and ignorant of even their own beliefs! But they are children of God who have divine potential and we have to talk to each one of them so they can have the chance to change and understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

The biggest adventure of this week is that on Thursday we woke up to this big pile of water on the floor in our kitchen. It turned out there was a big leak underneath the sink. So we had to turn off our water at all times to minimize the leak. Unfortunately that makes taking a shower really difficult because if the water is on, then the puddle grows at a rapid rate in the kitchen and all our towels were already soaked. So luckily Friday they sent in a ward member to try and fix it. He worked on it for nearly 2 1/2 hours and then put in a temporary piece to limit the water flow. Meanwhile we hung out downstairs in the senior couple's apt because he is a man and we can't be in the house with him at the same time. Complicated. Luckily that mostly fixed the problem and then the Zone Leaders came by a couple of times to try and make the fix more permanent. It still hasn't exactly stopped leaking 100% but we can keep our water on so we are very happy!

In other random news. There is a man here who must be the Reunion Martin Short. He looks just like him. And he has the personallity of the Martin Short character from Arrested Development - very cooky and into young pretty girls. We have run into him way more times than we wanted to while walking the streets. 

I finally made those French beignets! They were delicious and Sr Gardiner said they were even better than the ones that her REAL french companion used to make.

We recieved the exciting news that we are GOING TO MADAGASCAR!!!! for four days next week! So that we can personally be at a leadership meeting instead of making a skype call! So we will get to see what it is like for real over there! We are incredibly stoked! So next week's email might be late or something because I'll be doing it over there! 

Well that's all folks! Love ya! 

Love,

Sister Stewart

some french words i don't understand -ky

Well,

Not a lot of new news for this week - sorry everyone! Life has just continued on for us missionaries on La Reunion. We had a couple of good lessons and it looks like one of our investigators has some great potential. His name is Phillipe and we had a second lesson with him this week where we even fixed a baptism date! We fixed it for all the way in October because - obviously he has a lot to learn and commitments to make - but we set it as a good goal to work towards. He came to church again this Sunday for the second time and it is super great because normally that is the hardest step!

We heard from Therese this week...but unfortunately it was bad news. She texted us and said thanks for worrying about her but that she has decided to stay in the Catholic church. We asked her if we could come by one last time but she never responded. We are pretty heartbroken because she was so ready and saw such a change in her life with the church and Book of Mormon but we still hold out hope. We hope that with time we will be able to see her again or maybe some of the members because she made some pretty close friends when she came to the branch. We will have to see.

Oh yeah, we did a LOT of contacting this week. Which normally means at least a few potentials for amis, but this week we didn't find so many people. We tried this new contacting message. Basically Sr Gardiner plays her violin and I sing hymns at big public places. We put up this sign that talks about the church and has some pictures from the new Bible videos (you know the super great ones) and the title says "Venez et Vous Verrez!"  which means "Come and See!" A good amount of people will compliment us on the singing or give us thumbs up but not too many have stopped and talked to us. Lots of people look at the sign though. We have mostly been singing in Centreville - which is literal in French meaning the center of town. It's this huge street where no cars can come down just lined with shops - basically the equivalent of a mall. And it was packed this week because all the kids went back to school this monday - today. So last minute shopping was being done to buy notebooks and backpacks and all that jazz. I am sure you are doing the same thing chez vous. So like I said - not tons of success.... But we are hoping at least to give people more exposure to our church and just get them to have contact and notice us the missionaries in a good way. Every one can point out the Temoin Jehovah's (Jehovah Witness) they are always on the street with a little stand and they port peoples houses too. Everyone recognizes them (for good or for worse...) but then when we meet people most of them have never even talked to a missionary OR a member before. We are the very first time they have even known of this church's existence on the island! So I hope our singing routine will at least change that - in a positive way.

Which, by the way, is crazy that some people (most people) have never heard of the church because there have been missionaries here for almost 40 years. And already in a year, between Sr Gardiner and I, we have practically knocked on every single door that is accessible in our part of the city. You think I am joking but I have been here for a year and most weeks we port or contact at least 12 hours...so you do the math. We drive around the city looking for new places and say "did that four months ago" , "did that when I first got here" So we have started re-doing things. It surprises me when people say that every time!

Alright well my time is up, have to go! Wish I had more interesting news!

Love you all! 

Sr. Stewart