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 
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