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