Week 50: Transfers!

Well, I'm not becoming a Spanish sister like some people guessed, but I am getting transferred! My new area is in the same stake but a little over an hour's drive from Woodstock. Also, it's in West Virginia so I get to serve in all the states of our mission haha! I will miss Woodstock dearly. It has been one of the greatest blessings to serve here. I love the people. I love the ward. It just feels like home, but new adventures and experiences certainly lie ahead with my new companion, Sister Fanga (from Tonga I believe), and all the people I will meet.

So, an update on this past week. After talking with her parents, Keysi was not able to get permission to be baptized this past Saturday, but hope is not lost! Keysi's mom and dad still think that learning about the Church has been a really good thing for Keysi and are still open to her being baptized some time in the future. It may take some time but I am sure that it will happen eventually!

We also taught our investigator Rosemary this week and she is awesome! She loves learning and she is super smart! We talked about the Book of Mormon with her and she is so excited to start reading it! She expressed some concerns about her personal life but we were able to talk it out with her and she is now really optimistic to keep meeting with us!

We also had an awesome visit with Morgan and Sister Dykes! We watched "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" and the Spirit was so strong! Sister Moore and I both learned so much more from the movie that specific time watching it! They both loved the movie but we didn't have any time to talk about it after because it ended at 9:25 and we are supposed to be in our apartment by 9:30. We made it, though! 9:29! Good thing they live close to us haha! They will be on a cruise this week! We hope and pray that they keep reading the Book of Mormon!

We started teaching another part-member family this week! There is a woman in our ward named Sister Vincent. Her granddaughter Megan takes care of her so we started teaching her this week! We have a hard time with keeping appointments but we're usually able to catch her if we drop by and she's really good at reading and praying and all that good stuff! So, we have high hopes for her!

Well, that was all for this week! I love you all and thank you for everything you do!

Love,

Sister Lewis

Week 49: Gift of Tongues!

Okay this week was fan-diggity-tastic! It feels like it was only two days long but it was jam-packed with miracle after miracle! Let's jump right in!

Miracle #1: So recently there was this woman named Teresa that the elders met on the street. They talked to her twice and the second time they found out that she was actually a member of the Church! She hadn't been since she was about ten years old and was interested in coming back. Since it is just her and her daughter Morgan (who isn't a member of the Church) living in their house, the elders told us that we should go over and visit! For the first visit, we gave Teresa a tour of the church and it was awesome! The Spirit was super strong and she was so excited to come back on Sunday and take the Sacrament. The second meeting was while I was on exchanges in Winchester, but the sisters brought over a member of the ward who they felt inspired to bring and she totally hit it off with Teresa and Morgan! The third meeting we had was on Tuesday of this past week and Morgan sat in as well. We taught about the Restoration of the gospel and Teresa and Morgan both loved it! So here's the crazy part...Morgan hasn't ever been the spiritual type and doesn't really connect with religion or God or anything, but ever since we started coming over, she said she feels like what we're teaching is true. She says it makes a lot of sense but on top of that she feels it. Amazing! We had another lesson on Thursday about the Book of Mormon and she is excited to read it and find out if it's true. She is working to be baptized in October! Tomorrow we are going over to watch "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" with them! It is going to be so good!

Miracle #2: There is a less-active member of our ward of about 50 years or so. She has recently been meeting with us as well as representatives from a few other churches. She has been attending one particular church for a few months now but always expressed to us that it was only because she felt obligated to them because they helped her find the house she is living in. She would tell us that she wanted to come back to "the Mormon church" but was scared to tell the other congregation, even though she didn't believe what they taught. So, a week or two ago when we stopped by, we talked about Joseph Smith with her, she cried and told us how much she loves us. It was an amazing experience. Then, two visits later (this past Wednesday) she told us that she finally had the courage to tell the other congregation that she wouldn't be attending anymore. She is still confused about all the religions so we asked how we could help and she wants us to start reading the Book of Mormon with her weekly. That is going to be awesome!

Miracle #3: On Saturday, we had the privilege of a visit to the mission from Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. We got to hear from President and Sister Christiansen, Elder Gerard of the Seventy, and Elder and Sister Cook. It was amazing! It was truly a sacred experience so I won't share too much, but I will say that in that meeting, as Elder Cook invoked an apostolic blessing on the missionaries in our mission, I felt the love of our Heavenly Father stronger than I have in a long time, and I feel His love every day. I know that Heavenly Father loves us and that is the sole motivation for His plan for us. I know that the priesthood has been restored and that prophets and apostles walk the Earth today. What an amazing opportunity we have coming in just three short weeks to hear their inspired counsel.

Miracle #4 (IF YOU DON'T READ ANY OTHER MIRACLE, READ THIS ONE!):

So, like I said last week we have been saying lots of prayers and fasting and working to help Keysi's parents allow her to be baptized. So, recently Sister Moore and I (and Sister Tripple when she was here) have felt that we needed to watch the movie "The Testaments" with Keysi and her family. We tried to set it up a couple weeks ago but it ended up falling through because Keysi's dad was injured a few days prior. So, this week we arranged to have a member of the ward who speaks Spanish (and who "happens to be" Keysi's class adviser in Young Women) invite Keysi's family over for dinner and to watch the movie. So, last night, it happened! We had an awesome dinner provided by our member and her husband, and watched the movie! Keysi's parents thought the movie was so beautiful! Keysi's mom cried at the end! After the movie, we had a little testimony meeting in Spanish! It was so cool! Sister Moore and I bore our testimonies in Spanish that we had Keysi translate for us earlier, our member bore her testimony, and Keysi bore her testimony! The Spirit was so strong when Keysi bore her testimony. Both of her parents started crying and they both told her that they were happy with the direction that she was choosing to take in her life! Keysi asked her parents for permission to be baptized and guess what...they didn't say no! Haha, that is seriously a miracle! Before they had said no or that Keysi needed to take more time, but this time they said they would talk about it and pray about it together and we could ask them on Wednesday how it went! If they say yes, she will be baptized on Saturday! One of the coolest parts of the lesson is that Sister Moore and I hardly know any Spanish at all but we were able to follow everything that was going on! It was awesome! Gift of tongues! 

Well, that is all for this week! I love you all so much! Thank you so much for your prayers and faith, they are going a long way. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Love,

Sister Lewis

The Shenandoah Valley 

Weeks 47 & 48...but really the entire transfer...

Okay this is going to be the craziest game of catch up I've done on my mission. Sister Richards always used to say, "It is easier to keep up than it is to catch up." She was talking about cleaning our apartments, which thankfully I'm really good at keeping up with that, but it definitely applies to emails as well.

So, like I shared a few times, my new companion (not even new, we are in our 5th week together...time flies) is Sister Moore. She is just about the bubbliest, happiest, most energetic sister that ever walked the planet earth. When we were assigned as companions, an elder who knows both of us said that if a nuclear explosion occurs in the western part of our mission, he would know where it was coming from. Haha, needless to say we have been working our tails off together. I'm exhausted all the time, it's fantastic! (No sarcasm)

Since the beginning of the transfer we have still been teaching Keysi. It used to shock me whenever she would give the most golden answers when we asked her questions, and I'm still amazed at her but the shock has worn off a little bit. But, the members that come with us are seriously shocked every time haha!  For example, Hannah is back in town (the one that come to one of the earliest lessons we had with Keysi) and she came to a lesson with us on Sunday. We asked Keysi why it's important to take the sacrament and she said, "Well, it's like getting baptized again. It washes away your sins." Hannah's jaw just dropped to the floor, it was awesome haha! She just looked and Keysi and said, "What?! I didn't realize that until I was fourteen!" Haha, Keysi does that pretty often, says things that I didn't even understand until I came on my mission. It's obvious that the Lord has prepared her for the opportunity to learn about the gospel. As of right now, Keysi is really wanting to get baptized. She also told us that she wants to serve a mission when she's nineteen! What?!?! Again, she's golden! We are just praying and working with her parents at this point so that they will feel that baptism is the right thing for Keysi to do. Prayers of faith would be greatly appreciated!

As for other people we have taught...well we've taught a lot of people...and seen a lot of miracles...which just reminds me that I really need to do better at keeping a journal...

Right now we are also teaching a girl named Rosemary. On Saturday evening we had plans in a town just south of Woodstock and every single one of our plans there fell through. So, we came back to Woodstock and again, our plans were falling through. People weren't home, they were busy, etc. etc. We weren't discouraged or anything we just know what to do and we had an hour left of the evening to work haha! So we decided to go by the last person on our plans for that evening which was a former investigator who lives close to us. We didn't actually end up seeing them because we ran into Rosemary who was out on her porch painting her nails. Rosemary is awesome! She takes care of her ailing mother and has had quite a few member of her family pass away in the last few years. She has been having a really rough go of it recently so she has been praying for Heavenly Father to give her guidance. She said time and time again during our meeting that she saw us coming as a definite answer to that prayer. I am always so humbled to be used as an instrument in His hands. I am nothing, and somehow He is able to use me to reach His children. Now that is a miracle. We taught Rosemary about the Restoration and she is really excited to have us back tomorrow to talk about the Book of Mormon! It is going to be awesome!

Well, those are all the significant updates and I'm sure this is getting a little too long so I'll just leave it at that!

Wait just kidding! I forgot to say that we got to go to an Orioles game on August 21st for Mormon Night it was so fun! Also, this Saturday our mission has the privilege to have a conference with Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles!!! I AM SO PUMPED! I will bring back gold next week to share with all of you!

The Church is true! I love you all!

Love,

Sister Lewis

 Sister Moore and I on the way to the Orioles game!

 

That one time a drunk guy wanted to take a picture of me at the Orioles game!

I love the Orioles but mostly just because I love Baltimore!