Week 8: Turkey Day!

OH MY LANTA THIS WAS THE LONGEST WEEK OF MY LIFE! But also one of the best! SO!

Tuesday is usually pretty uneventful because we have District Meeting most of the day and there aren't many people home right now in our ward so we...yeah don't have much to do! BUT on Tuesday we decided to finalize our Thanksgiving plans and called our mission president's wife to tell her that we didn't have any dinner plans! She ended up BUYING US an entire Thanksgiving meal from Costco that we would just have to stick in the oven or microwave or in a pot haha it was crazy! We invited all the YSAs in our ward that didn't have anywhere to go for Thanksgiving and we ended up cooking for 19 people! We were only expecting about 8-10 when we told Sister Richards so we had to go back to Costco and get a BUNCH more food! It was SO MUCH FUN to go to Costco haha. Elder Stephens in our ward is absolutely wacko so we literally went in circles around Costco for like an hour it was insane! I'm laughing pretty hard just thinking about it. Then on Thanksgiving we spent the whole day at the church with the elders because we aren't allowed to proselyte. We started the turkey late and didn't get it out of the oven until 40 minutes after dinner started. Haha, I didn't think us missionaries were going to be able to pull off putting together a Thanksgiving meal (even if it was pre-made) but we did it and it ended up being such a good night! Sister Richards was so proud of us!

Wednesday it snowed so the cars got grounded and we had to walk to the bus stop and on our way to an appointment by our church, the member canceled blah but it was such an adventure anyway! Haha we walked in the snow, stood at the bus stop in the snow and were sprayed multiple times by sludge, sang Christmas music in the snow to passersby and smiled the whole time!

So last night we saw Sarah again and she is just as solid. We are getting into teaching her about the commandments (chapter 4 in Preach My Gospel) and for all you who are familiar with it you know that can get awkward haha! But, it went so well and she is willing to do whatever it takes to follow God's commandments, including baptism! We think that she will set a date next time we see her, some time later this week!

A lot of people are out of town so we didn't see many people but we had lots of fun street contacting and tracting! Something funny from this week was the whole entire week. It was just crazy.

Well, it seems that even though this week was long, I don't have much to report! We are excited for this week! Oh, also transfer calls were last night and Sister Sirrine and I are both staying so my address is the same...not that I'm hinting anything ;)

I think I'll be able to finally send the pics of the temple a few weeks ago.

 

 

Week 7: Heathens Greetings!

Haha that subject line would be how our district leader's companion greets us on the phone! Haha just kidding, he said season's greetings but he says heathen a lot so we thought that's what he said.

So this week was CRAZY but SO amazing!

So, first an update on Sarah! She is doing so good! We went over last night to have dinner with her and her boyfriend Josh at Josh's aunt's house. You'll probably have to read that twice. Josh is a member of our ward- that's how Sarah got introduced to the church =) Anyway, we had a lesson about the Book of Mormon after a Family Home Evening watching "Labor of Love." If you have ever seen that movie you know how cheesy it is, but also how awesome it is. I cried especially having my first investigator sitting right next to me. (The movie is about a missionary coming home and talking to the guy on the plane about his mission.) After the movie she said she felt the Spirit telling her to read the Book of Mormon a lot more, like every day. Ha! Not a coincidence that that was the commitment we had planned to extend! She says she already knows the Book of Mormon is true because it talks about Christ. Talk about golden investigator! Oh my lanta she is the best! She still hasn't picked a date but that's only because she doesn't want it to stress her out. She wants it to be a happy experience. We're not worried! Sorry for rambling haha she is just so awesome!

We picked up TWO new investigators this week. That's right TWO! That is a miracle!

I told you all about Devinity a little bit. She is one of our new investigators! She has a son but we have special permission to teach her since her boyfriend Davonte is in our ward =) Last Monday night we had dinner with her, Davonte, and Davonte's sister Tete. We taught her about the Holy Ghost and asked her if she would be baptized when she finds out that these things are true and she said YES!! WOO!

On Saturday, our ward had a super fun Thanksgiving activity with a dinner and service auction. We donated the money to House of Ruth, a shelter for abused women and children in Baltimore. It was a sweet experience to see the blessings of service!

One of our members Catherine brought two of her friends to the activity and we gave them a church tour! One of them- Idris- is really looking for a closer relationship to God. She is Jewish so she feels a little bit like she is betraying her religion, but she feels something different at Christian churches and especially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She is so sweet and we will meet with her this week! She is our third new investigator!

We had a sweet miracle on Thursday! That day we had a car fast and it was hard to get around but we worked our behinds (haha) off all day! We hadn't really felt like our work was effective that day, at least with return appointments and such, and then, at 9:01, a member (Christian) called us with an AWESOME referral named Amita! Referrals from the members are seriously THE BEST! If you haven't noticed, all three of our investigators are through members...NOT a coincidence! So, member missionaries, you are SO important in the hastening of the work! Believe it! Live it! We are going to meet with Christian and Amita tonight! We are so excited!!

Funny story of the week: we were street contacting last night and this man named Tony was talking to us and at first he was really nice. But then he told us that the Bible says women are seductresses and that white people are pedophiles. Yeah, we zipped outta there REAL fast haha!

I LOVE YOU ALL! Thank you for your support and prayers! I know that my Redeemer lives! He is my light, my joy, and my peace!

Love,

Sister Lewis

Week 5 & 6

Well I have five minutes to tell you about the last two weeks so here goes nothin'!

We didn't end up going to the temple with our investigator Sarah 2 weekends ago but we did go this past Saturday! It was so much fun and she LOVED the visitors center! She cried the whole time haha! We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration and if you know me and that video you know it's like my favorite church movie of ALL TIME! It is so amazing to have investigators watch it because it really helps them to understand the kind of man Joseph Smith was and to feel the Spirit testify the truth of the things he experienced! I am VERY grateful for that man's faith!

The past two weeks we did a lot of street contacting and finding and such. We are really working hard on actually getting people to teach, building our relationships with the members, and making sure that recent converts and less actives feel loved! Sometimes our work is tedious and it is definitely long (these people need lots of love) but it is so worth it! I am growing to love this area more every single day!

As for funny stuff that happened I am having a hard time remembering because I am terrible at writing in my journal. I did meet this girl last week named Nelly! She is SO funny! She talked to me for about 15 minutes about her weave haha! She is trying so hard to improve her life and draw closer to the Savior.

We still only officially have one investigator but we are working with a girl named Divinity! She is so darling and so prepared for the gospel! Her boyfriend is a member of our ward. She has a kid from a previous relationship and loves him to pieces. She has the softest heart it is amazing! I love her!

We are also trying to teach a girl named Ashley. She has a learning disability so it's tough. Sometimes she doesn't remember us when we visit her house!

A miracle that happened this past week is that we got in touch with, had at a ward activity, and went over to the house of a recent convert who hasn't come to church in a while! She also made us breakfast which is a miracle all on its own haha! She is the best and such a solid member but super busy! She is getting her nursing degree and traveling back and forth between Baltimore and Annapolis. Her boyfriend is a midshipman on base in Annapolis! We have a return appointment with her tomorrow it's going to be awesome!

The members who were struggling that we were working with are doing much better now! One of them went to the temple this past Saturday! She has such a light about her!! Love it!!

Well...I guess I'll share a goofy thing that happened last night. We were talking to our district leader and his companion on the phone and when they hung up Sister Sirrine called them dumb dumbs and I immediately imagined little dum dum suckers walking around the streets of Baltimore with missionary tags on hahahah! Okay maybe it's not that funny but I hope you appreciate my goofy sense of huor that is keeping me smiling!

I will try harder to keep track of everything that happens!

OH! Two preparation days ago we went down to the inner harbor in Baltimore and went to the famous tag alley! That's the only place in Baltimore where it's legal to do graffiti! We found some spray paint bottles that people had left with tons of paint and I spray painted my name! I love this city!

 

 

Photos: 

My MTC District at the Provo Temple, Elder Abraham (top left), Elder Willicome, Elda Crowell, Elder Burgess (top right), Sister Blanchard (bottom left), Sister Shepherd, Sister Rowley, Me (bottom right, in case anyone forgot what I look like)

 

 

 Angel Moroni atop Provo Temple

 

 

Week 4: Onward, Christian soldiers!

This week went by really fast! We had a really awesome week but I somehow have difficulty recalling all of the awesome things we did haha.

As for our investigator Sarah she is still moving forward! She attended a baptism with us on Saturday and we had a short lesson with her on the Restoration. It was pretty sweet! She liked learning about Joseph Smith and she really felt the Spirit at the baptism. At church on Sunday she also had a really awesome time. Yesterday was testimony meeting and the Spirit was really strong!

On Saturday my companion and I also went to a YSA activity in another stake and played Quidditch. It was quite hilarious and also lots of fun.

The best part of this week was helping a few members of our ward who are struggling. I can already see how the Atonement is working within them to change their hearts. A cool experience I had in that regard was when a YSA in our ward was expressing her struggles to us and she felt bad because she didn't want to be a burden. I was filled with love. I told her that she didn't have to worry because I have the best job in the world. I'm here to listen to people's struggles and help them feel happy. Heavenly Father has prepared me for this day and the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ is REAL. This work is hard but it is SO rewarding and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

I have been feeling sick this week...I just shake so many people's hands and it's that season so keep praying for me and my health.

Last week I forgot to include some funny things that happened...so I want to do that this week. I hope these experiences make you smile!

On my first day proselyting we met a man named Reginald. He was SO excited to see us! As far as he was concerned we were godsents! Haha he was so excited to talk about Jesus and afterward he wanted to pray with us...right there on the sidewalk! Haha I was a bit concerned he was trying to distract us and have us close our eyes while a friend would steal stuff from our bags but he actually really wanted to pray with us! Haha after the prayer he told us to keep praying for him and that he would pray for us...then he kissed us!!! Hahahaha you're not even supposed to HUG as missionaries and he kissed us! Lol that was a hoot...

We also met a man the next day in the city who was just eatin some chicken, happy as can be, and when we walked up to him, he saw "Jesus Christ" on our name tags and just started BEAMING at us and said, "Yeah, yeah! I believe in Jesus!!" Then we talked a little while he just kept chompin on that chicken hahaha! We gave him a picture of Christ and he kissed it with those greasy lips haha! People in Baltimore love kissing.

Something fun that happened this week was getting to know our district leader and his companion...they are just some kinda special...I think that's a requirement to be district leader haha!

Love you all!

~Sister Lewis

Week 2 & 3: Good Morning Baltimore!

Hello everyone!!!! I am in the mission field and I am LOVING it!

So! I am serving in the Baltimore YSA Ward! My companion Sister Sirrine and I cover the entire Baltimore Maryland Stake because we are the only YSA Ward in the stake. We only teach YSAs (that means Young Single Adult BTW =) )

Anyway, I love serving in this ward because we get to serve and street contact in the city! There are lots of people to talk to there and plant the seeds of the gospel. Also it is interesting to see the state of living in Baltimore. It is definitely block-to-block. You can be in the ghetto and two blocks later you are in an upscale part of town. In the most dangerous parts of town, they have blue lights on the lamp posts. It's pretty crazy, but I love it!

I absolutely LOVE the people here! They are so inspiring. There are so many homeless people in Baltimore and so many people who have experienced tremendous hurt in their lives but they still smile all the time! They are still happy and they love so easily. They love each other, they love God and they love their Savior. It's incredibly beautiful.

So I want to tell everyone about two amazing miracles that happened this week. I know that they are a result of faith and prayer!

The first was on Friday night after having dinner at Chick-Fil-A with a member. My companion and I were street contacting and holy cow! Heavenly Father is amazing! He put people in our path that weren't interested, but put us in exactly the right place at the right time. We got to talk to a young man named Brandon. He is going to school in MD to be a nurse. That sparked a conversation about helping people and one thing led to another and we ended up having a super sweet experience. The Spirit was strong and we bore our testimonies of the Savior! It was awesome. He seemed to be looking for what the gospel WILL bring! We invited him to church and he is coming next Sunday! We will also teach him with the elders later this week.

Okay, miracle number 2! So we went to church yesterday and sitting in front of us in relief society was a 27 year old girl named Sarah Peters. She is a nonmember but her boyfriend is a member of our ward. She was taking the discussions about 2 months ago but she got too overwhelmed. She decided to start off just by coming to church. Anyway...yesterday at church she felt the Spirit super strong and received answers to prayers. At our Munch and Mingle activity after church she was going around telling everyone about it and I was like, "Hey, I know that feeling...she needs to commit to something NOW, while she's feeling it." So I walked up to her right before she was going to leave and started talking to her about the Spirit. We talked for about 2 hours, but I'll give you a summary of the conversation.

Me: How does God speak to us?

Sarah: By the Holy Spirit.

Me: Right! Like what you were feeling today!

Sarah: Yeah!

Me: So...what is God trying to tell you?

Sarah: ....He's trying to tell me that this is where I'm supposed to be!

Me: Awesome!

Our conversation went on for a little bit and I thought I should give her a week to mull it over and think about it, but the Spirit told me to invite her to be baptized...so I did. And she said yes!! She's so cute, I love her! She actually didn't say yes the first time. She said, "I don't know...should I? Why do I feel like this? Why am I fighting it? Should I just say yes??" and I said, "What is GOD telling you to say? How do you feel right now?" and she said, "I feel happy...ask me again so I can say yes!" Hahaha love her! Too cute!

Keep praying for me and especially the people in my area! The Spirit speaks to THEM through me so their hearts need to be soft! I will keep praying for you!

My testimony grows each day that Jesus is the Christ and He LIVES!

Also, everyone should watch the new Mormon Message, "Sitting on the Bench" it's amazing! It truly testifies of the Savior and the healing power of His Atonement. Especially if you are going through hurt or depression or know someone who is (and don't know how you can help) watch it! =)

I love you all!

~Sister Lewis

MTC

Hello all! I am loving it here at the MTC! It has been a wild ride but a definite upward trend! We have ups and downs here at the MTC as you do in any place that pushes you to work hard, but the Lord is definitely on our side. I could not do this without Him!

So, highlights of the past week were visiting the Salt Lake Temple with my friend Annie on Monday and again on Tuesday to go through with her for the first time! It is beautiful inside and out and I so appreciate the hard work and diligence of the pioneers in building this beautiful house of the Lord. I was also able to be with my grandfather on Tuesday when we went through the temple which was a heart-warming experience. I'm glad I have him for all eternity! I also went to East High (yes, THE East High from High School Musical) on Monday and of course I sang in the hallways and re-enacted the drama haha! It was so fun!

So, I guess that's all...haha kidding the MTC isn't so boring that I have nothing to say about it =P really, it's not boring at all! On my first day, we got to the classroom and our teachers said, "Can you sisters be ready to teach in 5 minutes?" WOAH! I am so glad I prepared! They don't do that with everyone, but they said they felt like we were very prepared so they wanted to throw us in the deep end. They did for sure but I learned very quickly that I cannot do this work on my own! I need my Savior! =)

In the MTC, you become VERY aware of your strengths AND your weaknesses. I am grateful for the opportunity to improve on both! I have grown so much in faith this week. I have experienced the miracle of prayer, the miracle of faith, and the miracle of humility! I don't have too much time to expand on that, but I want you all to know that I KNOW the gospel is true, and if you don't know that for yourself, I invite you to learn and ask God. You can know, too. It will bring you more joy than you could ever imagine!

Speaking of joy, Preach My Gospel states that missionary service will bring you more joy than you have ever experienced before (or something like that, I was tired when I read it haha) and I have realized in this past week that there is truly opposition in all things. With great joy also comes great struggles. It is because we work through those trials and rely on the Savior that we are able to experience the joy from and through it.

I forgot to tell you about my companion! Whoops! Well, her name is Sister Rowley (pronounced Row-lee) and she is divine! Haha, we have already gone through so much together, and as in any relationship it requires work and communication to be successful. We are "growing in love" for each other. And if you don't know that phrase, I invite you to look it up and read about it! She is from Washington state and went to school at BYU-Idaho. I don't know, the Mormon community is small so some of you may know her! She moved around a lot!

Speaking of people you may know, I ran into an elder here that I met during my singing competition at school. (Yes, to my roommates it was the one who was all boy-band-ish...Spencer hahahaha) and it was so nice to see a familiar face. Also, Elder Abraham in my district knows my cousin that I'm very close with. They are both from St. George, UT, and used to play basketball together! Cool!

Speaking of my district, I love them all very much! They are amazing and so uplifting. You go through a lot at the MTC as you struggle and grow so you get close to your district REALLY fast! The elders are such a blessing! They are mature, which can be rare with new male missionaries haha! They are here for the right reasons and help us sisters all the time! We have shared so many laughs and tears already and I have no doubt they will all hold special places in my heart forever!

In closing, I want to let you all know that I love you, but importantly, GOD loves you. This gospel is true. Seek God and seek your Savior! His love is incredible, and you will grow so much more than you could by any other means! I invite you to find out for yourselves!

Love you all and talk to you next week!

~Sister Lewis

MTC, Here I Come!

Hello all! My name is Caitlyn Lewis! I am about to leave to serve a full-time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have been called to serve in the Maryland Baltimore Mission! My MTC report date is this Wednesday, October 8, 2014. I am getting set apart leaving my hometown in Connecticut today to go to Salt Lake until my report date. This blog is to keep you updated about my mission and for me to share my testimony of the gospel! I hope you enjoy reading my updates!

Now that the formalities are over with, I want to express my deepest gratitude to all of my amazing friends and family for supporting me in this wonderful time in my life! I wouldn't be here without each and every one of you and I truly mean that. I am so filled with gratitude for all of the people, events, trials, and blessings that have gotten me to this point in my life and helped me to draw closer to God.

I have a testimony that Jesus is the Christ, that He suffered for our sins and sorrows, that He paid the price for us. I am so grateful for my Savior. I love Him and I hope that throughout the next 18 months, I will always hold dear the principles that will help me to serve Him to the best of my ability. I thank you for all you have done and will do to help me in that endeavor.

I love all of you! Thank you for everything, and I will keep you posted.

Love,
Caitlyn Lewis