I'm very excited about Amanda getting her pointe shoes! How does she like the new studio? Do you think it's worth it yet?
Yes- my address is the mission home address. I get mail the same day it arrives at the mission home because I am a VC sister- so send it there.
Mary's letter was beautiful and you can tell her I'm writing her back today- I didn't get one from Samantha though, so if I was supposed to it got lost somewhere in the hussle and bussle?
The letter from Dad was great to read, I really appreciated it. I teared up a little at it- especially what he said in the end.
The work is progressing. We found a few new investigators and I love them so much. One is a man named Nolan; I'm not sure how to help him but God is inspiring Sister Atkin and I with ideas. Everytime I see him, I silently weep for him. He is so sincere and genuine is his desire to love God and search out truth. But he's a man of 'reason' and it's very hard for us to teach him because he wants to discuss the philosophy of God. I love him, and in our last lesson we were able to bear powerful testimony to him. We will have to teach him very differently than we probably will ever teach anyone else because the way he learns is very different from the average person. He spent 15 hours studying for our last visit, and he read 1 Nephi 32, 6 times before we met again. He told us he thought about us every morning and night, and he's met with a lot of religious people but we're his favorite. He said there are very few people he honestly believes will go to heaven, but that he thinks we will be there. He weeps everytime he talks of love for God and being obedient to him. I weep with him. I'm learning to feel like Jacob, to have faith and anxiety over the welfare of each person I meet. I know God will help us help him as much as it's possible to do.
Selene is doing great as well- Satan is really attacking her right now. Ever since the time she made the decision to be baptized he has done everything he can to shake her faith. But Selene is awesome, she told us on Sunday "Satan's attacking every part of my life right now... but you know what? I'm going to win!" Hahah. We're praying for her, she's strong and will stay strong, but it's always hard to see someone experience trial, even when you know it's for their good.
I think one of the most interesting things about being out here on my mission is my capacity to discern evil is so heightened- or maybe there's just a lot more of it here than there is in Highland Utah. Hahah. I think that's it. But Sister Atkin and I have been blessed to feel and discern evil very easily- it's tangible and you know almost instantly when the light and hope of Christ is not in a person, or an area because we can feel it- but we are doing our best to bring it to them!
We have a few more investigators who are progressing. We started teaching a woman named Marcella and we invited her to baptism on the first visit and she agreed! Her 'easyness and willingness' to believe amazes me. We taught her the restoration and she said, "it sounds true to me." with a big smile. She wants a family ward to take her children to, and she wants them all to be baptized. There is still a long road ahead for her, but I have hope that if she chooses she will be able to travel the road and come unto the Savior and His gospel.
The VC is great! We witness so many miracles there. It's really slow in the winter and there are days no one comes in and so I study and talk with the other sisters. This was hard to get used to and frustrating and first- I think every sister experiences the initial frustration of it- but God has comforted me, and I know he is aware of our situation and we were called there for a reason.
I have taken a few very special tours and the spirit was very powerful. Every tour is filled with the peace of the spirit. Some tours are filled with the powerful peace, and kindness of the spirit. Then some tours are just power-house experiences. All are valuable and necessary for the people that come to the VC. We like to call them 'miracle tours.' One tour I took I invited a woman to baptism and she said yes- it was such a powerful tour and the energy of heart and mind it required left me absolutely exhausted at the end. Another tour I took was with the Elders and a minister they had brought him. He was a very special man and I learned a lot from him. We really connected and the spirit of our tour was very sweet and beautiful. Afterward he told the missionaries that when they come back to the VC he wants to see me again because we really 'understood each other' and my testimony was very sincere and genuine. I just love him (His name is Don). There have been times the spirit has directed me to join a tour already in progress- and I have and been blessed to know exactly what to do and say to help the person on tour. The VC is a great place to progress missionary work. Sister Atkin actually took Selene on tour before she ever taught her- that's where they met, was at the VC. Then a month or so later Selene 'self-referred' her self to meet with missionaries at Liberty Jail, and it just so happened she was in Sister Atkin's area. Selene and Sister Atkin were supposed to meet- they have such a special bond and connection. It's beautiful to see.
The VC is great. In the spare time it's great to be able to study so much, or to serve other sisters and try to meet their needs.
All in all, it's all God's work and so no matter what I do, it will be to serve him, through all the days of my life.
THIS PART IS FOR THE BLOG:
I don't have much time to write this week- but the work is moving forward. We still experience miracles daily and we are filled with joy when the people we meet with take steps closer the Savior; and we are filled with sorrow when they don't come towards him. This week, however, I wanted to write to tell you a little more of missionary work. So often we hear about the miracles of missionary work, the miraculous experiences, or the tragedy's. But there are so many instances where the spirit does not tell us exactly where to go, or what to say or do. He gives us peace in our decisions and then we have to go to work and do the best we know how.
I remember when I first went to the MTC I believed that if I worked hard enough, and had enough faith, every lesson I gave could be powerful. This is true, however, it's a different kind of power than I was expecting. The Lord will not open the Heavens in every lesson and send Angels down to bear witness of our words. Why? Because this would not be of the greatest benefit for His children. Think of Laman and Lemuelm though they had seen angels and heard the voice of the Lord, their foundation was built upon the sand, they were not sure, steady and steadfast in Christ. Because they did not put forth the diligence to have and feel the peace and surety that comes inbetween those experiences, they had not built their foundation on Christ, and anchored themselves to Him through Hope in his atonement.
As a missionary, we have many lessons where the peace of the spirit confirms our words to the hearts and minds of our Investigators, and it's simply that an unmistakable peace. Most often, when the scriptures talk of the Holy Ghost teaching man, it refers to Him as the 'comforter.' They say that the 'comforter' will teach us where to go and what to say; that the 'comforter' will enlighten our minds with truth etc. One of the most important things to understand about the spirit is that often he simply speaks perfect peace to our minds when the things we are hearing are true, or the decisions we are making are within God's desires. It's important to learn how to discern that peace.
I know that the Savior is the Prince of Peace, and that this gospel will fill the hearts and minds of the people with the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.
I love you all!!
Sister Lewis
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