Week 77

Well, sorry folks. Another week of no mass email. Things are hectic on Mondays nowadays haha!

I LOVE YOU ALL AND THANK YOU FOR ALL YOUR PRAYERS, LOVE, AND SUPPORT!

Love,

Sister Lewis

Week 76

Okay, I literally have no time left! I am so sorry! But, things were pretty slow this week anyway so you're not missing out on much. Quick update is that Jessica was interviewed for baptism and she is all ready! We are just praying that she will be able to come to church!

Well, I love you all and thank you for all you do for me and my companion!

Keep praying for our investigators! They need it, and so do we!!!

Love,

Sister Lewis

Picture: Saturday was social media split Saturday, and the elders challenged us to see who could get the most. Little did they know that I was trained on social media split in Woodstock which is the birthplace of social media split in our mission. Needless to say, we won and the elders have to buy us Chick-Fil-A on Wednesday. Hehe. This is one of the social media splits we did and also one of my favorite mission pictures ever!

 

 

Week SEVENTY FIVE WHAT.

Okay, this week was interesting! We went to the Washington DC Temple Visitors Center on Saturday with the Harrisons which was amazing! But, I left my planner there at the Visitors Center, so I can't seem to remember my name. I think I'm a missionary or something, but I'm not quite sure. Haha, that's really what it feels like when you lose your planner! That thing has my brain written down in it! Oy!

Anyway, I remember the trip to the temple, so I'll tell you about that! It was a little stressful getting there because we had to make sure all of us had a ride, but once we were finally there it was so worth it! Their family is AMAZING! I love them so much! It has been one of the hardest roads to help their family get to where they are now, and we still have a couple battles to win, but I have realized a few things throughout all of this with the Harrisons, one of which can be described in a verse of scripture found in the Book of Mormon. Mosiah 23:21-22 says, "Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith. Nevertheless-whosoever putteth his trust in him the same shall be lifted up at the last day. Yea, and thus it was with this people." This is so true! I believe we see this in our earthly trials. As we put our trust in the Lord, we are lifted up. I am also reminded of a story from the Bible when the disciples were on the stormy sea and Christ was praying on the mountain. In Matthew 14:25 we read that, "in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went unto them." The fourth watch was near 6am. The disciples had been toiling on the sea all night until the fourth watch when the Savior came to them. I find comfort in this and peace knowing that the Savior believes so strongly in the disciples, and in us, to labor all night long. I am absolutely sure that the Savior knew their struggle. I also know that because he loved them, he allowed them to toil, for a time. I am also sure that the disciples were strengthened by this test of faith. This is true in our lives as well! I know the Savior knows our struggle. He not only sees them but He understands them perfectly. I love Him. He loves you.

I am out of time, but I feel there is no better note to end on than the Savior. Please take 2 minutes of your time now to watch this video about the Savior and His Atonement. I know that He lives! I know that He can make us whole! Hallelujah!

https://www.mormon.org/easter/hallelujah

Love,

Sister Lewis

 

 

Week 74

So, Sister Blosch and I are both staying on Kent Island!! I was not really expecting that, but I am really happy and excited! Actually, I wasn't quite sure at all what would happen. Usually I get a gut feeling about what is going to happen, but, this time, the last thing I expected was for both of us to stay in the area. Goes to show I didn't have a gut feeling this time haha! But, again, I am super excited and so is Sister Blosch because she is convinced that she will stay again next transfer and she loves the island!

This week was awesome! It went by SUPER fast! I feel like I only actually went to bed about 2 times, but I definitely slept like a log every night! Haha, so we started out the week really well making two visits to investigators every day! We saw Jessica on Tuesday and Wednesday, and she is doing amazing! She decided she wants to be baptized on April 9! We are so excited for her!! She also had her baby this week! She named her Ava, super cute!! We haven't been able to get out to the hospital yet because it's in Annapolis, but she texted us this morning saying that she misses our visits and has a lot of free time at the hospital because her baby is in the NICU and she spends a lot of time walking around when she isn't with Ava. So, we're going to try to meet with her tomorrow! Anyway, she is making major progress and has questions popping up everywhere which is a great thing! Questions are the basis for learning!

We also visited a part-member family this week, the Moors. We've actually been visiting with them once a week pretty much since I came to the area. Anyway, this Tuesday when we visited, one of the sons who usually never participates came and sat down as well as the other two kids who always participate! We always do a skit from the Book of Mormon with them, and this week we asked them to pick between a few based on topic, and they picked the one that was about baptism! It was awesome! Anyway, we had a cute little skit then talked a little bit about baptism, and the son who doesn't usually participate piped in and said, "I want to be baptized!" It was awesome! We found out that all of her kids want to be baptized! So, we are just working to help her come back to church so her kids can get baptized and go on missions someday! We are excited about that, too!

Last week we started teaching a woman named Noreen, and she is awesome! When we visited her this week we asked if she had prayed about Joseph Smith and the Restoration, and she said she did and that she felt like God was really close to her when she did! When we shared Joseph Smith's experience when God and Jesus Christ appeared to him in answer to prayer, she started crying and said she hadn't felt that way in a really long time. She has a hectic life so it's hard to get in with her a lot, but when we do, the Spirit just fills the room! It's awesome!

We also took a day this week to contact some referrals from mormon.org in Chestertown and Rock Hall, MD...a really really long way away. we drove almost 100 miles that day...oh man. That was fun!

Well, I love you all and thank you for all you do for me and Sister Blosch!

Love,

Sister Lewis

Pictures: One time, Sister Blosch and I went to a super fancy restaurant by the Bay Bridge, and this was the view from our table. Needless to say, we had to share the crab CAKE (yes, singular) that we got for dinner haha.

 

Week 73

This week was awesome! I still haven't told you all about Jessica which I really need to do!

So, Jessica was visiting mormon.org 2 years ago and was interested in learning more, so she submitted her information to request that missionaries come by. Two years went by and no missionaries ever received the referral until, finally, in December, Sister Blosch and I received her information with a request to contact her. We tried by a couple times over the next several weeks but were never able to catch her at home, and a couple times no one answered the door. One night, we were planning for the next day and we weren't even going to be in Jessica's area, but we felt prompted that we needed to go by and see her. So, the next day in the afternoon we dropped by her house, and she was home! We found out that, although she had submitted the referral two years ago, she had moved away from that address shortly after and hadn't come back again until late 2015! Whoa! There is only one person who could've known that who is in charge of referrals: God! She had also gone through a ton in those two years and was being prepared to receive the gospel. We started teaching her that day.

Another awesome miracle with Jessica:

A couple days after our second meeting with Jessica, she texted us saying that she had been doing some research and didn't think that it was the religion for her. We were devastated, but we told her we'd love to come by and see if we could answer any questions she had. That day she let us know a couple of her concerns and said she needed some time to pray and think about it. After a day of silence, she texted us saying that she wanted to cancel our appointment for that day. We tried to reschedule but she didn't respond. We felt so strongly that this is the right time for Jessica to be taught, so we called our leaders and asked them to pray for her, and we also prayed for her with "all the energy of heart" as the Book of Mormon describes it. We decided to give her a couple days and try by over the weekend (which would have been about five days later). That night we were planning and she kept coming to my mind, but I shrugged the impression off because we were going to visit an area in our boundaries that we don't get to visit often and is pretty far away. The next day we made a stop about halfway to the area to try by a woman we had met a couple weeks later. We ended up knocking doors in that neighborhood, and a woman there let us in...and ended up talking to us for two hours! And I mean she was talking for two hours. She only took really short breaths, and we could only talk if we literally interrupted her in the middle of her two hour sentence. Haha, I was enjoying listening to her theories on religion, but Sister Blosch was getting a little stressed. Anyway, after that we went out to the car, and by that point it would have been very unfruitful to go to the area we had originally intended to by working in that day. We decided to head back toward Kent Island and, when we passed through Centreville, we would stop by some people there. Again, when we reached Centreville the impression pressed on me to stop by Jessica's house. I protested, thinking, "We can't go by Jessica. She just canceled an appointment yesterday and isn't interested. We also decided we'd give her a few days. We can't go by!" But, still, the impression persisted. Finally, the thought came that we could go by her house, and, if she didn't let us in, we would leave her with the last pamphlet so she could study it and make sure she was making the right decision. That idea gave me the confidence to follow the prompting (which I should have done the night before when I felt impressed to stop by.) I told Sister Blosch and found out that she was feeling the same impression. For a moment I thought, "Maybe this will be one of those amazing mission stories when the missionaries felt impressed to knock on a door and found someone who had just been praying for someone to show them the truth." Haha, so, with a bit of anxiety, we went to her door. She let us right in! We sat down and followed the Spirit! I remember talking about the Book of Mormon being instrumental in knowing the truth about Joseph Smith and how I came to know, and I remember Sister Blosch bearing sweet and powerful testimony of the truth of the Book of Mormon. It was an awesome 15 minute visit! At the end of the visit, just before we prayed, she stopped us to say, "You know, I did want to tell you. I don't usually pray for signs because I know you're not supposed to, but I'm just so confused about which way to go. I contacted another church like 5 days ago and they still haven't called. Last night I prayed that God would send a sign today to know which way to go...and here you are."

WOW!!

Okay, this email has been so long, but our experience with Jessica has been a series of miracles! I feel so blessed to be a part of this work. I love the Lord, and I know that He loves each of us. Because of Him, there is a way for us to overcome our sorrows and our sins. We can live with God again in a state of never-ending happiness because of the Lord. How wonderful!

I love you all and thank you for everything you do for me! Keep praying for me!

Love,

Sister Lewis

PS We find out about transfers on Sunday so if anybody will be sending anything make sure it will get here no later than Monday, March 7th! I love you!