Bullet-proof. Not. October 27, 2014

what a blur these last two weeks have been- sorry for not emailing last week - i was enjoying the sacredness of the temple of our God. And let me tell you it was incredible! and I would love to tell you all about it! only problem is - i cannot remember it.. I would normally just pull out my planner or even my journal and tell you what happened - with it being the beginning of a new transfer, my planner is empty - and my journal is packed, becasue I am leaving rio rancho! Wild - I know. It seemed as if I would be here forever - but alas, the Lord has seen fit to move me elsewhere and I am exciteed to meet new people and have new experiences that will strengthen my testimony tremendously. what an adventure that lies ahead!

I will try, however, to relate some of the many miracles we witnessed here in the star heights ward of rio rancho! first being the baptism of STEVIE!! What an incredible day- She is 15 and has an incredible passion for life and all things good! At the beginning of the week of her baptism we had a lesson with her and she was just going back and forth back and forth on what she should do - she kept sdaying, yes I know it is right1 I know this is what i need to do- but I don't know if i am ready! I know i need to do it! I know i do,. So she did! and she is so happy! that is what the gospel can do for you- it can bring you everlasting joy and hapiness. Who wouldn't want that? Let me know if you find someone.. we can change that :) Rightt along with that miracle is the one that happened just a few days ago when stevie, along with her dad (who was baptized in march) and her older brother (who was baptized in april) went and performed saving ordinances for their ancestors in the temple! how exciting! and what a peace they all felt while there. What a great place. Go to the temple!

Sorry the picture is blury - shaky hands taking it .. but here is the family.

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​And speaking of doing your own families work- the next day was stake conference which was wonderful of course and one of the sisters who spokle was form our ward and she is a family history buff! and a couple months ago she went to Italy where her family is from to find her great great grandfather and she told of her experiences there. it was such an incredible story! and I felt the spirit so very strong - maybe that means i need to go to Scotland to find out about David marshal Stuart's family - and the john Stuarts that continue for generations. start saving my pennies right? Right! but even if i don't go to scotland, I have learned so many wonderful things to do with family history work and i am so excited to be able to do it! The spirit of Elijah has washed over me and now I just need the time to act on it- so if you don't see me much over Christmas - that will be why :)

and all the talk about family history- directed my thoughts to my own family- I want you to know how much I love you all! and that families truly are forever. I feel so very blessed to know that. Sunday night when my mission president called- my heart sank to hear about grandpa passing. I was caught up in the moment of loss and didn't really think about the gain. I was so grateful to have been able to call home and talk to dad and mom and grandma who reminded me of the perfectness of the plan. Does that seem backwards to anyone but me? I am the missionary here devoting full-time to teaching people those simple truths that death is not the end- yet I could not grasp it until I was taught by my own dad. and what sweet truths those are. i hope the veiwing and funeral went well. pass on my love. But I had a really sweet opportunity to attend the temple the following tuesday and the things I talked about with dad were confirmed to me by the spirit in the house of the Lord. It was.. Incredible. That is really the only word I can use to explain it. And now - dear Christi will be out proclaiming that same message to those who live in Little Rock Arkansas starting next month! how exciting. it was so wonderful to be part of that experience with her. She is so happy and will make one rocking missionary!

Also this week we took part in an incredible service project - it is called the Mission of Mercy and it is a free dental clinic- yep. FREE. all volunteer work. it was so incredible- and we got tshirts! wahoo. cool. look it up- if there is one close to you- volunteer. it is incredible!

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And here we are at the close of another transfer - goodbyes are sad but it allows for the opportunity of many new hellos!

Who can you say hello to this week? Go ahead - brighten their day. You have brightened mine.

I love you all - remember the plan.

Sister Stuart

Pictures loading

Hello Family of the Promise!

What a wonderful week it was- especially to be culminated in hearing form our dear dear Prophet!  How wonderful was that! I carried on the blessed tradition of conference crepes! (thanks kemp for the recipe- they were delicious as always!) We tried to get permission to watch in our PJ's - that was quickly denied.. so I wore slippers :) 

As we fed kiddos physically, i was most definitely fed spiritually by the many wonderful testimonies born (beared, bared barren??) by those we sustain as prophets seers and revelators. What a wonderful oportunity it is for us to have them! To have a church that is so truly led by Jesus Christ - as President Packer so clearly related to all of us. And what a wonderful way to start the conference - reminding us all who we worship and who stands at the head. What a great reminder. whad what a fanatastc way for the conference to be ended! by Elder Bednar speaking to all those who are not members- stating that our simple desire is to share the truths of the gospel with everyone! to invite them to come and see. I also especially loved his conviction! I feel all the speakers this time around had a lot of that too! there was not a lot of fluff - just straight to the point- this is what you need to be doing so get to doing it! how wonderful. I especially loved elder klebingat(maybe?? Jorg is his first name) message to all of us! When he asked the question about having a PPI with the savior in one minute my mind went crazy! am I ready for that?? I most definitely should be - So I loved the six points he listed to increase our confidence so we can stand resolutely in front of the Savior when that time comes. And who knows- it might just be in one minutes time. So in essence - I just absolutely loved conference. And as you all know me - general conference usually meant time for the BEST NAP EVER! (I don't know why, but I always seemed to get the best sleep ever during those broadcasts... probably becasue the spirit was washing over me like it did so many in the Book of Mormon:Alma, King Lamoni, King Lamoni's dad etc..) but I wasnted that habit to change.. a goal of my mission, and the three general conferences I would be able to listen and enjoy while serving with a name tag, was to stay awake for an entire general conference! not sleeping thorugh any of it! october and april of 2013 I missed it.. so this last one was my last chance! I rocked the first two sessions! no problem! and then came sunday morning.. I was a bit drowsy - and sitting on a really comfy couch in a less activ'es home was not helping that - but Iwas determined! especially becasu the prophet would be closing the session - and every single talk it seemed was leading up to his address! Nad explinaing the importance of following and heeding the counsel of the Prophet - so I wanted to hear what he had to say! And I made it! to his talk! yay! and I was so excited! but then.. my head started nodding. and I was out. bummer... but I did get some good notes! Until one lines says (and this is an actual quote from my conference notebook where I was taking notes) "all those who are left-handed have left the Lord- but there is a way back" I am pretty sure President Monson did not say that! My brain is crazy! Needless to say- I will be listening to that talk today when I finish this email... oops. So I did not accomplish my goal as a missionary -but I still have a lifetime to do so! Until next april.

But I will tell you- I had a really really good nights rest Sunday night - so much so that I fell asleep while writing in my journal - with my foot in the window- and my lovelycompanion took a picture - she said of all the crazy ways she has seen me fall asleep- she had to get at least one picture... 

​(insert picture here)

and in other news of miracles - we have four people right now preparing to enter the waters of baptism and making acovenatnt with Heavenly Father ! Yahoo! 3 of which will be happening in this lovely month of October.

I also- want to share with you about the lovely day we had yesterday - We had a lesson cancel - so we thought our whole day was going to fall apart. yay! taht ususally seems to happen - especially if it is one of the first lessons of the day- which this one was.. so the lesson cancelled but this allowed for us to have dinner earlier with one of the less actives in the ward who does not like to eat late - so we called and she said great! come over at 4! so we did - and the first miracle was - we had GF pizza! from papa murpheys! so delicious! I highly recommend it! the second miracle - her neighbor, who she has been trying to get us in touch with but he just wont commit happened to come over at the same time we did and so we had a fantastic lesson with him and read the book of mormon with him and he most definitely felt the spirit! it was awesome! and then we left dinner as it was about 5:40 at this time. and now the day we had planned is totally mixed up - we dicided to try the investigator we had planned to drop by after our originally planned dinner was over at 6:30- so we went by 45 minutes earlier than we had planned - and she was home! we had a really great lesson with her and finished up right as she needed to head out the door to go pick up her son from football at - what time do you think? yep- 6:30. and then we went to help a member in her home and it was just the best night ever! full of miracles! so thank you stevie for being sick and cancelling our apointment - becasue we saw many many miracles baceause of it. just goes to show how much wiser Heavenly Father is than us huh. Becasue If we would have taught Stevie - we would have gone to dinnner at 5:30 - the pizza still would have been there- but Robert would not have. we would have still had a great lesson with Carmen - then we would have gone to see Katherine and she would have been running out the door so a lesson would not have happened there and we wouldn't have seen her face light up as we talked about the restoration. It was just a night of miracles. neat. And let me tell you a side note miracle about katherine- the spanish sisters contacted her one day- gave us the referral - we only had 15 minutes before an appointment when we stopped by so we quickly taught about the book of mormon did the get to know you kind of stuff- what do you know about the church - what role has religion played in your life? you know - that kind of stuff.. she told us that she is good friends with a member fmaily in ABQ- their sons play on the same football team snd have for years so they have gotten quite close. And that family lives in the first ward I served in! Crazy! but it gets better- Katherines little baby girl comes running out and I recognized her - so I asked katherine.. have you ever been at the Begay's (the fmaily in ABQ) when missionaries were over - I think I have met you before? she thinks about it and says _ oh yeah- but it was about a year ago and I think they were leaving or something like that. It was me!! and My first companion! we were being taken out of that ward and so we had our last dinner with the begay family and katherine was there! she didn't want to learn more about the church then- but now, one year later- I am teaching her! and she is so excited to come to church! crazy huh? yep I thought so.

So it was a pretty good week. Always exciting things happening here - including breaking the law. 

I love you all!

Sister Stuart

Onward and Upward- and on, on to the victory! forward and not backward

the pictures were not loading as I was composing the email and I tried and tried and tried... then tehy loaded!.. so you get blessed with loads of copies of it! whoops...

and upon re listening to President Monson's adddress - I most defintely was sleeping.. He didn't say anything like what I thought he did! whoops! But what I did get from his address was that we need to become like Christ! follow His glorious example - but how can we do so unless we come unto Christ? Watch this video- it'll melt your heart.. https://www.lds.org/youth/video/come-unto-christ-2014-theme-song?lang=eng

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Suit and Sweater Season has officially begun

It seems that whenever I sit down to the computer to clue you in to my life as a dedicated servant of our Lord Jesus Christ my brain goes numb and I cannot seem to recall any of the excitement that occured in the past seven days. Why is that? a stupor of thought? maybe it isn't worth sharing? Oh I don't really know- it also seems that whenever I think that, I just start rambling and then before I know it i have spouted off a total ton of nonsense that probably means nothing to most of you reading this, besides knowing that I am safe happy and well! and warm- mostly. not yesterday though. We went to a zone conference in Santa Fe. We left at 5:30am to be there in time for car inspections starting at 7:00 am. it has just in the last week gotten chilly enough in Rio Rancho to be wearing a cardigan - so that is what we all three were weraring.(thats a lie. Sister field was wearing a blazer). And then, we jump out of the car when we reach SF into the frigid 36 degree weather! yep- a coat would have been nice. gloves would have been nice. earmuffs would have been nice. tights would have been nice. It was cold. Thankfully, we parked at the end where the inspections started so after 40 minutes we could go inside to the warm chapel! Santa Fe is cold. Rio Rancho isn't yet. hopefully in this next transfer I will go back south so I won't have to worry about the cold yet!

Zone conference was pretty incredible though! And what was especially awesome - we had a Q and A seesion with President Miller where we could ask really anything. that was neat. One elder asked him about the new movie that the church has come out with "meet the mormons" and asked if we would be allowed to watch it. President Miller had a stone cold expression and replyed "what movie? I haven't heard of this. What is it? Who did you say distributed it? I don't know. I will contact the missionary department in SLC and see what they have to say about it." to which, about every mnissionary present tried to explain what this movie Meet the Mormons is - then our time was up. President ended the QandA  and we moved into the next part of the conference - where we WATCHED MEET THE MORMONS! it was too funny. but probably one of those "had to be there" kind of moments. But what an inspiring movie! It makes me proud to be a mormon! I would encourage all of you to go see it! and if you already have, see it again! and take someone with you who has not seen it yet. neat. I loved it. as for the rest of zone conference, of course it was inspiring and motivating and the greatest thing ever - probably becasue the topic of the conference was something I am so paiionate about- GOALS and PLANNING! yay! and it seemed to me that a single phrase that was said more than anyother wa "this willnot only bless your life while on a mission, but  will bless you for the rest of your life!" I don't know if that just stood out to me more becasue it was my last zone confernce- but it was there! and the thing that really struck me from the whole confernce was there must be a vision before there can be goals. The vision is the WHY. It is the motivating factor behind everything that you do- it is the vision that the goals acheive and the plans to fulfill the goals. It all just made so much sense! and as for me - I need a vision for my life - not just all these crazy goals that really have no point besides being exciting. I need a vision. Well right now I have one.. but ask me that in two months and you might found me dumbstruck... yikes!

And in other good news of the Hastening - Stevie has felt to sing the song of redeeming love! and is going to get a fresh start on life with a new perspective and a new outlook this friday! as she has commited to enter into a covenant with heavenly fahter to pattern her life after that of His Son's. How neat is that?? We are so excited for her. We have seen such an incredible change in her in the last few weeks that really is incredible. It really bore witness to me that the gospel of Jesus Christ as restored throught the Prophet Joseph Smith is true. Remember, as Matthew said, by their fruits ye shall know them. To have seen the joy that has come into so many people lives- there is no way it could not be true. What a glorious work to be part of. I am so blessed. As are you- share it!

I lvoe you all dearly,

Sister Stuart




companionship unity for zone conference! not even planned..

Finally, the pictures loaded. Rio Rancho

I got a new journal! and I love poppies.

The sky is on fire! if only this picture could do it justice. The sky is always incredible here in NM

 Keeping up on the good hygiene - always brushing teeth.

Our home under the bridge- thankfully we only had to live here for a short time. 

we found a trampoline! and I was wearing a pencil skirt. yay!

 and grass! without sticker burs so we could walk bare foot!

Does it look like I am reading my scriptures upside down? what a feat! nope.. they fell apart and I glues them back in the binding upside down. oops. Just call me Luna!

Do you  need glasses? maybe one pair? I will take three!

I Believe in Miracles

I fear I will not have time to write you my novel today- and today's really would be EXTENSIVE! so maybe that is a good thing- but all the computers are being used at the library right now and there are 7 missionaries waiting for computers.. so I am sure I will be kicked off fairly soon.

I will illustrate my week for you then- maybe next week I will get to write it all to you.. the pictures will have to do this week- or maybe in a few months I will just narrarate it for you..

but the pictures aren't loading... so maybe not.

I am safe, warm, and happy!

Love SIster Stuart

 I will keep trying to send pictures

I wasn't kicked off! yay! so here you go- get ready for the FLOOD!

This last week, as you well know was transfers and as you also know- I stayed in Rio Rancho with Sister Brown- although we were able to go to transfer meeting to pick up a new companion! yaya! and while there - I was able to listen to my trainers departing testimony and see her off to home in Geiorgia. She is so wonderful.

Picture number one here

I also saw Sister Field! Remember when I was in a trio with her in Las Cruces?

PIcture number two here

And transfer meeting was of course wonderful- always is! It is incredible to hear the testimonies of those that have served faithful missions and are ready to join the ranks in their home towns. ther is always so much to learn from them. but becasue there were so many missionaries headed home it was a LONG time to wait to find out who our new comp was going to be - and guess who? SISTER FIELD!! what the?Crazy. It is going to be a wild transfer for sure!

Later that same night- we had planned to go splits with the youth- and of course, one of our appointments cancelled. it always seems to happen. So we scrambled around and were able to get in with some investigators we haven't seen in a while! So Sister Field and I went there witha couple priests and sister Brown went to see Juanita with a laurel. esciting things happened both places- but I will tell you first what happened with at the Tacks with sister field and I. The Tack family has LOADS of pets- 4 dogs 3 cats a rat a hamster a snake and something else that I cannot remember right now. It is a pretty exciting place to be. Anyhow, Their couch is a sectional thing arrange in an L - Sister Field and I were on one end and the priests on the other- by the snake cage. David, our RC who was just baptized in Aprli just turned 16 a few weeks ago so this was his first time teaching with us! it was exciting! He was on the very end of the couch- the lesson was going along as usual - the animals all over the place - I had a cat in my lab, sister field was petting the baby sized dog, a cat was on the arm of the chair by david and we are teaching about the gospel of jesus christ. David tried to say something from the corner and it sounded like "uh.. your snaa.... ahh!" all of a sudden- the snake lunged at the cat right by davids face but the catmoved so there was nothing in between the snake and him! it was crazy! needless to say- I don't think David willbe coming back to that house with us.

Meanwhile, at Juanita's, Sister Brown was feeling very stronlgly the spirt. Juanita was on date for the 20th of this month (last saturday) but she never really committed to the date - so sister brown dicscussed with her to move it to next week - so this week! and becasue she didn't have her work schedule or anything we were just really unsure. but we felt really good about the 26th- this friday becaseu her son Josh (who she is living with and who was baptized 2 years ago and received the Melchezidek priesthood just a few weeks ago and who is preparing to be sealed to his wife this month) usually has that day off and would be able to baptize her! Yay! so that is what we have to look forward to! but wait...

Two days later (thursday) it was 830- we had no appointments and it was dark and no one was outside and people always yell at us saying "why are you here so late! Don't you know it is late! go away!" so we weren't about to go knock doors - so we went and tried a less active couple and guess what? they were gone! but who was there? Their son and his wife who used to live there but moved a month or so ago to ABQ and how we missed them so! but they were there! sowe were abole to catch up with them and it was glorious! but this is all just filler stuff.. becasue when we got in the car at 9:15- we had a missed call and new voicemale - from Josh (Juanita's son). in this message he said "Hello, This is Josh, calling for the sisters. I am just calling to confirm my mom getting baptized on saturday. She asked if I would baptize her. I talked to Bishop and he said it would be okay fo me to do so. he just told me I needed to call you and find out what time we can schedule the building. Call me back thanks." WHAT THE????? If anyof you have served a mission you know that quite a bit goes into planning a baptism - and we now had one day to pull it off! but guess what? We did it! ANd it was so wonderful! and Juanita is now a full blown member of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! yay! Miracle for sure.

Picture three and four here

But the miracles do not stop there... Let me just tell you how wonderful it is to be in a trio! Well, it is actually really hard, but it opens the door for many many many opportunities- one of them, is splits when you only have one member! which happened to us on Sunday. but it starts Saturdya night - we were out contacting and met this man named James. We were able to talk to him while he stepped outside to light a cigarrette - shared with him a bit about the restoration, left him the pamphlet and scheduled an appointment for Sunday afternoon. We called Josh to see if he would be able to come with us. He said yes. and he showed up with his wife. That equals 5 people on someones dorrstep- talk about a crowd! and James wasn't even home. oh man. So we asked if they would be available to follow us to another appointment - and they said yes! So we went over to try by another investigator that we have been aunabe to see for quite some time- but we didn't want to bomabard them with 5 of us - so Sister brown stayed back and taught with the members - jessica and josh and sister field and I went off to contact! and we had a referral that needed contacting inthe area so we went that way! We knock on the door - a lady probably in her early 30s answers the door - we start to intorduce ourselves... she is studying our nametags intently and asks "you are the mormons right?" yep we are!! then she calls out "MOM! it's for you!" mom comes to the door and holds it wide open and just says come in. What??? Tjhis referral, mind you, was from a random guy we met on the street who told us "those people just moved in. they might be looking for a church." we were kind of confused- while it was awesome! it was not normal. people don't usually do that. But we go in! and start talking and I look on the counter and what is there but a larger print BOOK OF MORMON! are you members?? yep. baptized in 2004- patriarchal blessing received in 2005. what?? rthey just moved from Iowa- hadn't been to church in a while and was thinking they needed to get back into it- only they didn't know where to go. MIRACLE we knocked on thier door! but that isn't even the neates part - the daughter - who answered the door- piped up and said she wasn't baptized - we asked if she had talked with missionaries before and been taught the lessons. she said most of them. we asked if she wanted to be taught them again and she said YES. stellar! so we set a return appointment to teach her, her husband, and her three kiddos. talk about being led to those you need to see.

And then to top the week off just perfectly - we went to the temple yesterday morning and it was the best thing ever! GO! weekly if opossible. i would reccomend it.

Pictures 5 and 6 here

There is more - but I will save you the time of reading it - also the time sitting here and my bladder screaming at me telling me it is ready to be emptied! too much information? possibly. Just being honest.

Sorry this one is a lot of words - the emotion probably is not conveyed in it as I would hope it would be - but let me just tell you it was a week FULL of miracles - and Heavenly Father knew I needed them righ t now at this exact time.

I love you family! and I love being a missionary. where else could you be flooded with this many miracles?

Sister Taylor Stuart

Taylor Stuart	Sep 23 (11 days ago)
to Abby, Brent, me, Joseph, Amy, Aaron, Keni, Michael, Steve, Kaitlan, Scott, Justin, Mackenzie

soory- no pictures. they are not loading. i will send them next week.

I can't think of the word.. one day I will discover it and tell you all what it is..

Good Morning! What a marvelous day it is to be alive and to be on the Lord's side! and to be breathing the breath He gives us each and every day! and my goodness I tell you what- I am so thankful to be serving in a place where it is sunny ALL THE TIME! I do miss the storms that happen in Utah and the gloomy weather- but that weather is only good to curl up with a really good book and hunker down for a couple hours in front of a fire- that is not possible as a missionary- so I am glad the sun is shining here! Find victory in the little things- it makes like heaps better.

But also in news of being on the Lord's side - last night we had a wonderful lesson with one of the less active gentleman,Doyle, in our ward where we studied Jacob 5- thank you Keni for the diagram!! It helped so much! anyway- the highpriest group leader and first assistant accompanied us and I learned so much more from that chapter- and I just wanted to share some of it with you! 

Starting in verse 61- actually no...I am going back to the general idea of the chapter and sharing with you some thoughts - that may be totally off kilter - so remember this is not doctrine.. just thoughts according to sister stuart. So whenever I have read this chapter I always ave read it as the Lord of the vineyard being the Lord Jesus Christ - which makes sense right? But then as I have been studying it this last time I was thinking - if Crist is the Lord, who is te servant? Is that us? But that didn't really make sense to me... so then I rethought it a bit- maybe the Lord is really Heavenly Father and the Servant is Jesus Christ - hmmmm - I mean it is always the servant that is pleading with the Lord to give tem another chance is it not? Isn't that what Christ does for us? Kind of sounds like Doctrine and Covenants 45:3-5 to me! okay- back to Jacob 5 - verse61. the Lord calls servants- the missionaries duh duh duuhh! which is the obvious answer - but if you think about it? Who truly are those other servants? the prophets, the apostles, our leaders, and EACH AND EVERYONE OF US!! we have all been called to labor in the vineyard- which is wherever we are! and the coolest part about all of it is that we are not alone. If you look over to verse 72 The Lord of the vineyard is laboring with us! how neat is that? what a promise! and if we labor diligently - the promise in verse 71 will be ours- we will have joy in the kingom of Heavenly Father in the the fruits of our labors! sounds a bit like doctine and covenatns 18:15-16 eh? Yep! but the real eye opening thing that I ained understanding of occurs in verse 62 - talking about the last and the first (please forgive my typing -as usual.. but even more today - this keyoard is sticking. especially the b key and the h key- I have been fixing some errors- but not all.. it takes too much time and when you want to write yor family a novel.. that time is precious!) as we read that- th HPGL asked Doyle if he understood what that meant - he said no - then the HPGL turned to us.. Uhhhhhh. yeah I've got nothin.. so then we went into a great discussion about it - and I learned an important thing about how the spirit works. You can't just sit there and wait for him to put something into your mind before you start talking - you just have to start going and trust that the holy ghost will enlighten your mind as it happens! sounds like Doctrine and Covenants 33:8-10 huh? and that is exactly what happened last night! Who was fist? well the Jews were first- they walked and talked and were ministered unto by Christ. Sounds like first to me - and the gentiles were last - so in this the time of the gathering of israel - we do not see many jews coming to the gospel- it is not their time yet. but the inspiration goes further ( you maybe won't appreciate this like I did.. but it was so awesome!) Who is flocking to th gospel right no? Those who are of the tribe of Ephraim mostly- one of the blessings of coming from the lineage of Ephraim is having the ability to recognize te truth when heard so it just makes sense- and if you think about it, when was ephraim born?  He was the younger son of Joseph, the 11th of 12 sons of Jacob- sounds like the last to me.. and Judah- the one from which the kingdom of the jes hail - was one of the older sons - sound like the first? Hmmm... it was so awesome! and our lesson on sunday in gospel principles was on being covenant people of the lord- beasue of the abrahamic covenant and the additional covenants we make. neat. so be true to your covenants family and labor in the vineyard and your joy will be full. 

Aonther thing I want to share with you from my scripture study- it was the one I was alluding to last week - the one where I was looking for the literary term that explains when the reader knows what is going on and the characters don't - so whatever that word is.. that is what this story is about. Go with me, if you will to the year 62 BC- a mighty leader is doing all he can to reetain the cities they have take over and maitain their possesion of such so the enemy cannot take it back - but he knows he cannot do it alone. so he asks the government for help- and none comes! He does not recieve anything he asks for - not even a letter back! as you can imagine - his anger is boiling! so he sends another letter! does the stoy sound familiar? it should.. but if not, you can read it at the latter end o alma- I will be referring specifically to chapters 59-61. As you read this account- your emotions seem to match those of Moroni and you really feel for him. You can't imagine hy Pahoran and his governamnet are just sitting on their thrones not helping out any of teir people. Dang overnment!!what are you doing??? and then you read Pahorans response... oh. I get it. Sorry about my anger. and what an awesome guy is Pahoran? he says to Moroni -" in your letter - you have chastised me and yelled at me and thought I was a good for nothing little sleaze - budon't worry, I am not mad! I am so happy! I do rejoice!" and then all is well- but if you remember.. I am reading the Book of Mormon backwards at the time being.. so I read Pahorans response first.I kew what his situation was and what the affairs were like in Zarahemla - so when i was reading Moroni's letter, I was so incredibly uncomfortable! oh my word it was awul!!! I just wanted to call out to him- no moroni, don't write that! you will regret it! you do not know what is trylu going on! If you could see the whole big picture- you would know wy Pahoran has stilled his hand! don't say things you will regret!! and what a lesson it was for me - ho often do we suppose somthing is going one way- ut in reality it is completely different. Heavenly Father knows all- He knows what is best for us - not just in the moment, but in the long run - for the eternities! We need to trust His always - he knows. We don't want to be like Moroni (well we do- He is pretty much incredile - but just in this one circumstance we don't) and question God and his working, or lack of(as we may perceive), in our lives. and what a good lesson or me to learn right before the news of transfers come in... I AM STAYING! for another transfer in the star heights ward of Rio Rancho new mexico. That will make at least 7 months here. Holy toledo! and what is even more mind boggling- sister Brown and I are staying together! that willmake at least 6 months toether. whoa. but there is a change... We are getting a third companion! Trio number two! Bring it on!

sorry this last week was a blur- too much anticipation for transfers.. so I don't remember what work we really did (we did a lot though. promise) so that is why I shared with you the things I am learning from the scriptures. I love the scriptures. Best things ever. feast on them. They will tell you everything. 2 Nephi 32:3.

I love you all! thanks for reading. Thanks for loving me- even when you can identify my bipolarity in words.

Love Sister Stuart

You can still send me physical correspondence at 

660 Tulip Rd SE apt F

Rio Rancho NM 87124

Another one bites the dust... Rio Rancho

and the news is... I am still in RIO RANCHO!!! but of course I am.. we haven't transferred yet. We don't find out untilnext week- so stay tuned. But you may rest well knowing I will be in Rio Rancho for at least one more week- after that who knows! logically - one would say I would be getting transfered. but these things do not always occur logically. a lot of members of the ward are convinced that we will both finish our missions here together. that would be wild! at the beginning of the transfer I had a dream that I would stay and sister brown would be transferrred- and then this last week we both received priesthood blessings that seemed to confirm that theory - I was blessed to have patience with my current companion and future companionS- maybe a trio? and sister brown was blessed to cherish the time and the relationships she has here but to be open and flexible tochange. hmmmm But of course - this is all talk. all speculation- and that gets you in to trouble. So enough of that.. just wait until the phone call comes saturday night. I will let y'all know on Monday next what the real news is... we plan to have some grand adventures in this our possible last week together- but I cannot tell you about those yet - so let me tell you about last weeks..

I thought I stepped into Regina's Pizzaria in the Italian district of Boston- where might youask? At a lady's home in our ward. actually not even in her home- on her front step.. she didn't let us in. But- we have been trying to track this woman down for months now - and we finally met her! she is not a member anymore- so she says - but she did say she would never turn down an opportunity to talk about God -yay! so we will be going back.. but regina's - she was born and raised in Massachusetts and she sure sounds like it! the only other time I heard that accent so thick was in that pizzaria. neat. i am excited to go back and talk to her more. 

We experienced another miracle this week with a less active - but alas - it needs a back story. all of these things I tell you have back storyies.. why can't y'all just be here so I don't have to explain it all - just come experience it with me! actually- don't. that would be horrid. I don't think I could be a missionary like that. There is a reason we are isolated from family and friends except through words.. anyway- back to the backstory. We are teaching the most wonderful woman named Shariy- she has been meeting with missionaries for almost two years now. yikes! but we love her dearly- she met the missionaries while she was at her friend Doris's house. Doris is a member who is probably in her late 60s or early 70s and was baptized when she was 20 something. She has not been to church in a very long while. For the past few months, whenever we would go to teach shariy- Doris was there too so we have formed a pretty good relationship with her. One day, the sisters who sserve in Doris's ward asked us about her - because the RS president there knew she was good friends with shariy and that we were teaching shariy. We told the sisters that we love doris! they then told us that they have not been able to get in to see her - nor has anyone in their ward been able to get in to see her either - she opens the door and would tell them to go away and that she did not want anyone from the church coming to see her anymore. What??? And then she moved - where? Into our ward!! how awesome! and so we went to visti her the other day- without shariy - and when she opened the door - her face was beaming!! she was so happy to see us! It was so wonderful! she will be back to church in no time. just a few more concerns to clear up and she wil be whistling a different tune. We love Doris. 

I learned another important lessosn this week too- a lesson about faith. We are teaching a member who has struggled with activity in the past named Stephanie. Right now her and her husband are going through some pretty substantial financial difficulties and all kinds of other.. crap really. They have really been struggling. last week she just broke down crying- completely unsure of what to do. We called her home teacher and he came over and gave her a priesthood blessing (isn't it so neat that we have the priesthood - I mean, how great is that??) and then he told her that she needed to talk to the bishop. wise idea. Then - when we met with the bishop for our weekly council, he asked if we would have a lesson with her on the blessings that come from tithing and fast offerings - oh but of course! anyway, we did just that - and we learned that she had a very misconstrued perception of what fasting was- so we cleared that up and all kinds of other questions and it was so neat becasue here this woman is - not sure how she is going to pay her mortgage not sure how she is going to put food on the table for her kiddos and we tell her to not only pay 10 percent of her income for tithing but to also pay fast offerings - and what does she say? okay. I will do it. I need God's help right now and I know this is going to allow him to help me. How cool is that! and now her testimony of fasting, fast offerings, and tithing is just going to blossom and bloom.

and as always- awkward things happen.. this week was at lunch. but not just with sister brown and I - it was with the whole zone.. we had zone training meeting this last week and afterward we all go out to lunch together. usually we go to some fast food place where they can handle such a crowd so it is no problem.. but this week, a member in the zone leader's ward told them about the best restaurant in Rio Rancho- called Saigon 2. sure! we will all check it out. we walk in - and it looked like we walked into golden jade- only smaller! and there were 24 of us! hello! did someone just call in the brigade? there were probably 5 people in there already and they all just looked at us like who in the world are all of you! but the three Vietnamese people working there handled it just fine. and the member was right -it wsa so good!!

Also- with all this weed pulling we have been doing I have gotten quite a bit of dirt under my fingernails- but I have also learned how to get it out! go do dishes for an hour and a half! your fingers will be so pruny even your palms will have wrinkles! that was a wild day- and I realized while I was standing at the kitchen sink for so long - I stand the same way mum and kemp do- with one foot stacked on top of the other. hmmm. we must be related.

oh and more exciting news! we were basically handed a little boy who will be baptized next month! we will just need to go teach him the lessons and he will be ready- you are probably ultra confused right now.. if you look in PMG on page 206 it teaches you that any child over the age of 9 years old qualifies as a convert baptism and therefore needs to go through the missionaries. Last night while talking with our bishop he informed us of a little boy in the ward who turned 8 last september but did not want to get baptized. He said he wasn't ready. The boy went and saw him on sunday told him he was ready and who he wwanted to baptize him- only that brother will be out of town and won't be back until he is 9 - so that means he is a convert baptism and we get to fill out the paperwork! yay! but how cool is that? A little boy of 8 years old who recognizes the importance of being baptized and wanted to wait until he was ready- and he is! we are excited for him.

One other story to bore you with before i sign off- this one from my scripture study- I guess there are two things that I will tell you about my studying- the first is in Alma 11 what an incredible chapter! Except the beginnning part.. all the money- who needs it? Well it has to be in there for a reason right? but I never understood it - so this week I traslated t into some dollars and cents - put it into modern perspective just to see what all the fuss is about - so here is what I got - 

1 Leah= $1

1 Shiblum =$2

1 Shiblon=$4

1 Senum= 1 Senine= 1 measure of grain= $8= pay for a lawyers whole day of work

1 Antion= $12

1 Amnor= 1 Seon= $16

1 Ezrom=1 Shum= $32

1 Onti= 1 Limnah= $56= pay for seven days worth of work.

then I learned why this is even significant- Zeezrom offers Amulek 6 onties if he will deny the existance of God- 6 ONTIES!! that is 42 whole days of work- 6 weeks worth if you are working every single day!! that is a lot of money- but Amulek has his stuff together becasue he would not deny God. would you turn down that money? what about church? would you not go to church for just one sunday if someone offered you that money? how deep is your conversion? hmmm...

and actually I am out of time - so I will tell you my other story next week - will someone tell me the literary term for when you know what is going on in the story but the characters in the story do not? 

I love you all!

Sister Stuart

I keep thinking I need to come up with some cool signature to end each letter with - but you aren't going to get many more of these- so maybe it is too late.. or maybe I will still come up with one.. any ideas?

Rio Rancho zone

 enjoying mum's salsa on a sunday evening. perfect! 

finished bottle number 2 in 2 days.. think I have been missing it or something?

Weekly planning in long sleeve crew neck shirt and tall crew socks.  Thats hot!