Sunday, January 20, 2013

January 14th
Thanks for forwarding the letters! Jessi is hilarious. I'm excited to send her a letter. It did bring back fond memories of the MTC. They have the best granola cereal EVER in the south east corner I will have to tell her about- it's the only place to get it. lol. NO. I did not find my wallet. Shortly after I realized it was lost I knelt down and prayed and the spirit told me I was not going to find it (at least not any time soon) I still chose to scavenger the house and call every place I had been. God was right. No where to be found. It was a rough p-day!! I lost my license/credit cards/mission card/health cards/gift cards/fast offerings and the Lopez's Christmas check was in there. I don't know if they will want to cancel it or not. I'm pretty sure it got thrown away in my grocery sacks and is in a landfill somewhere. Who knows? I canceled all my cards, apparently it's going to take 90 days for me to get a new license so I can't drive. ugh. (P.s. mom, I have no idea where my Social Security card is. I'm praying it wasn't in my license. Can you look for it? I need it to get a new license. I know it's a mess. I'm going to fill out paperwork, and send it to you. Then you will have to take it to the DMV and get the license for me. They're also sending my cards to the house and you can then forward them to me. What's my balance on my card?) THEN. to top it all off I plugged my thumb drive into the computer and I let the virus protection scan it, and it deleted ALL of my mission pictures. Hahahaha. REALLY?! Oh man, I'm laughing to my self right now. It's so ridiculous it's funny. I think the Lord was teaching me how to have my heart set on him and nothing else. Like he said to Joseph Smith in the Liberty jail, "many are called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world." It's okay everyone... I have nothing worldly left to set my heart on. Hahah.

Things here are going great. I got a Voicemail this morning from the sisters in Lawrence and 7 of the investigators we found and taught in Lawrence are being baptized! They all had dates when I left, but the dates are now rapidly approaching and apparently they're all still on board. They take up almost every weekend from now to the middle of February so I can't go back to all of them :( but maybe a few. I'm just excited they're preparing to make covenants with their Father in Heaven. It's great!! We experienced SO many miracles in Lawrence, and I'm glad to hear they're still rolling. :D It's hard not to know how everyone is doing, so that voice mail this morning was wonderful. Things in the Liberty 1st ward are going well too! We have a baptism the 19th of January :) (which is when 2 people are being baptized in Lawrence) I don't think I can make all of them. Hahah but what a beautiful day it will be in Heaven!! Heather, who is being baptized here has been going to church for about a year now and taken the discussions 3 times. She's been ready for a long time and we're so excited to see her make promises with God, that will bind her closer to Him. Yesterday we also had a miracle finding moment. We felt impressed to tract a specific street. It was COLD. Cold with humidity is miserable. I have a serious hate for the cold. lol. Anyways we went through several houses and eventually found someone named Leena. She said she had lived in Utah for a while and that she had been very interested in the church there, but no one had given her a book of mormon or invited her to learn more. MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK FOLKS!! We have a call to hasten the work from a prophet of God. That wasn't just to the missionaries. That was to EVERYONE. We gave her one and she said she was so grateful to have one. We have an appointment to go back this next Friday. :) God knows all his children. One time in Lawrence we felt impressed to knock a specific street. We found a family who was reading the Book of Mormon! The husband and wife were both about half-way through. They weren't interested in having us teach them more, but it was a witness to me that God knows the events of everyone of His children, and he sent us there to offer them more, whether or not they were willing to accept it. It's wonderful to learn of his ways as He works through you.

Anyways I hope all is well. I am loving my mission, every aspect of it. Even the trials bring beautiful lessons to strengthen our faith and commitment.

Love you all!
Sister Lewis






One of them, The picture of me with a young girl, a book of mormon, and a rabbitt, is Chandler. That's the girl I chose to give Samantha's book of Mormon too. She is the Lee's daughter. (the Lee's are the x-gang members). She loves the book of mormon. :) I told her it was from my sister and I was only going to give it to someone special.
January 7th
Well things here are going really well. We're experiencing so many blessings from Heavenly Father. We have a baptism planned for the 19th. We started teaching her the week I got here. She's had the discussions 3 times and is finally ready :) She's great. She didn't want to take them again lol, so instead we're having her teach us the lessons by asking her questions. She'll be very prepared. Hahah. We're also working with some other great families. I love serving at the jail there is such a special spirit here. In my set-apart blessing the Lord promised me that I would see the Visitors Center implement changes I suggested. He's inspiring my heart and mind with things that can change, and I'm excited for all of the things that can happen here if we all exercise faith. He's blessing me with His vision for the Visitor's Centers, and I'm so grateful to work in one. Here is a miracle that happened here the other day. There were some Elders working in an area almost an hour away. One of them kept feeling impressed that they should take a less-active family to the jail here. Every time the impression would come he would put it aside because of how far away the jail is. Finally he couldn't ignore the prompting any longer and they decided to come to the jail. They were just finishing up their tour and were in the exit room with one of the Sisters when Elder Simper (one of the Senior couples) came into the room. He walked over to Sister Altier and asked her if she knew how to speak sign-language. Puzzled Sister Altier said, no I don't. Elder Simper said, "That's too bad, we just had 4 deaf non-members come in and they want a tour." The Elder who had been having the impression to come to the jail, spoke up and said "I'm actually the sign-language missionary for the mission." He translated for them and they were able to take the tour. Miracles happen everyday when we're in the service of the Lord. He knows and loves us individually. How wonderful it is.

I love you all!!!
Sister Lewis
A few pictures... I left my camera at home so I can only send what's on my flash drive. I'll try to send more Christmas pictures next week. I LOVED all of my gifts. I'm wearing the blue cardigan right now :) Thanks again. Love you all. The man in the pictures is Arnold- who was baptized before I left. And the woman is Cecily. The one who was the referral and we kept finding her as we missed our dinners- hopefully that story rings a bell. Love ya!
December 31st
So things at Liberty Jail are awesome. I love serving here, the spirit is so powerful. It's a different atmosphere than almost any other place. It's as close to the feeling of a temple as I've ever been. Not quite the same- but close. I just like to sit in the rotunda (where the jail is) and think. The whole building is so symbolic and the Lord is teaching me a lot about why the prophet was held here, what lessons were learned, and how it relates to our mortal experience. When the prophet was held in jail he could not see beyond the four walls that held him. The only way he could reach beyond his circumstance was through revelation. When the windows of heaven opened and the Lord spoke he could reach beyond his walls and see things from a higher plane. I know this is true of our own lives. We are divine beings having a mortal experience. We must reach beyond our walls and see things from a different plane. We can do that through revelation from the most High God, who see's and knows all things. He will help lift our thoughts and broaden our understanding. We must, like Elder Eyring taught, however, be willing to remove "the pavillions" that cover God from us. We must humble our hearts in the depths of humility, setting them upon God and not the things of this world. We must exercise faith and trust in God at all times. We must let virtue garnish our thoughts unceasingly. We must allow our bowels to be filled with charity. And we must cheerfully do all things within our power. Then we may "stand still, with the utmost assurance to see the Salvation of God, and for His arm to be revealed." These are just a few lessons from Liberty jail. Lessons intended to build a Zion like people. (D&C 101:1-5).

Things in our area are going great as well. We had several people come to church yesterday. When the meeting started only one person was there. My heart sank, but then just as we were singing the song, several more showed up. It filled my heart with so much excitement!!! We're working with a young family right now who is just wonderful! I love teaching the gospel and watching the spirit help people grasp the Eternal principles of their Father in Heaven. How great is my joy- as the Lord promised it would be! :) He always fulfills his promises. I'm so excited for Barnes to experience it. I'm also so excited for Kerrick and the faith he's exercising. I don't know him but you can tell him I say hi and he and his family are in my prayers as well. How great it is to be in the service of our kind God.

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sister Lewis
December 22nd
Hey! I hope you got the some pictures from Loraine McCall and Orlin Wagner in the last few days. They should be emailing you some soon. I got transfered! I'm at the liberty jail. It's wonderful. I haven't done much yet, I got here last night at 5 and went over a few things, and today is our p-day. But starting next week I'll have p-day on Monday's again. I think I'll be able to email- but not sure because the Library is closed. But we can probably use the jail's computers.  Our new address is: 211 N Gallatin Liberty MO 64068. I have everyone's Christmas packages! Thank you so much. I'm waiting till Christmas to open them though. I will probably call some time between 1030-5. Wish I could give you a more exact time, but I don't know yet. Hopefully I'll be able to email Monday to let you know. I'll look for your letter. If Barnes got his call- don't tell me in the letter, I want to hear over the phone!! If he didn't get his call- tell me he didn't so I won't be anxiously waiting all day. hahaha. Okay well Iove you all. Merry Christmas. Talk to you soon!

Sister Lewis

December 16th
Hi! Merry Christmas!!

Glad to hear Kristina's back at home and things are going well for everyone. I got the Lopez's card/gift as well as the Andrews. They are so kind. Tell them thank you for me. I'm going to try and send off thank-you's today, but it's a very packed day, and  I'm not sure I'll get to everyone- so they might get late Christmas cards. Tell everyone I send my love. I can't believe Barnes gets his mission call this week! What an awesome Christmas present. I'm so excited to hear about it. I assume wed is probably when he'll get it. So I guess probably as fast as I'll hear is Monday at email, since letters usually take 4 days. Bah. So excited.

Things here are going well. Our investigators are doing wonderful. One family we've been teaching had a little bit of a scare, the wife ended up in the hospital for a few days. The Lord, however, worked through that experience, and used it to soften hearts. Sister Crick and I felt like He would. By the end of it the husband said he was ready to be baptized, and wanted to be sealed together forever! They are a wonderful family and we love them so much. They have 3 boys- and they're hilarious. Also another woman we've been working with decided to get baptized on her birthday. It was amazing to see the spirit work with her. She's been holding off baptism because she feels like she needs to be perfect before she's baptized. We try to help her see she's already doing really well, and more ready than she thinks she is. We were visiting her Wed. and she was teaching her 7 year old son about why Christ was baptized and before we knew it mid-sentence she turned to us and said, "we're supposed to follow the example of Christ, and how can I teach my son to follow that example if I don't follow it and get baptized? That's it. I'm getting baptized. On my birthday- it will be the start of a new life." It was a miracle the spirit produced. It's wonderful to see the spirit work with people. So much happens when we aren't there. Another woman we're teaching was talking to us the other day and told us that the Lord was really working on her heart. She said that she is learning she must be more patient, loving and forgiving. She said he was teaching her hard lessons, but she was grateful because she knew it meant he loved her. "the Lord loves whom he chastens." Another one of our investigators was talking in a meeting the other day- we had stake conference, and prior to the general session there was a meeting for investigators and recent converts. Some General Authorities were visiting. In the meeting he asked, "what do the missionaries teach you?" One of our investigators said, "how to really repent, and apply what you learn." It's been such a privilege to teach him. I see the Lord showing him how to put what the gospel into his heart.

I see Christ changing the hearts of men. I see Him changing my heart. That's what it's all about. Obeying the Lord and His ordinances so that our hearts change. They go from being hard and stony, to broken and contrite. It is when they are broken the Lord can heal them. This is why he asks us to offer a broken heart and contrite spirit, so that he can heal it. It's not always easy to bring forth a broke heart, but it is always worth it. When He heals our hearts, He makes them soft, willing, obedient, full of love, long suffering, patience, humility, brotherly kindness, meekness- He fills them with His attributes. I'm so grateful for the chance I have to break my heart before the Lord daily, so that He can heal it and make it the heart it must be in order to preform His work. He loves us so much. I'm know that my weakness are many, and I'm grateful he allows me to serve as a representative of His Son. I'm so grateful I get to see the Savior change the hearts of men. What a wonderful God we have. What a beautiful season it is to praise Him, and give Him the gift of a broken heart. Or in other words, a heart sorry for sin, a heart willing to change, and a heart hopeful that we can. Christ gave us everything, holding nothing back. How wonderful it is that we can learn to do the same. Repentance is a true act of joy and hope. What a hopeful season this is. One of my favorite sayings says, "Hope is like the song bird who senses the dawn, and carefully starts to sing while it is still dark."
That we all might have this hope, and become more fully converted and devoted servants of our Savior, Jesus Christ is my prayer. I know He lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Sister Lewis
December 10th
Hi!! Merry Christmas!

I'm so excited about Barnes papers!!! I don't want to wait. I might be more anxious for him than I was for me. lol. That's great that the Lord is continually helping him go. His tender mercies are wonderful aren't they? He is such a loving God. I want to be like Him. I'm glad to hear Kristina is recovering, and that Grandpa shouldn't be in the hospital too long. Tell him and grandma I send my love. Please give all of the familiy, Bairds, Grandpa and Jeannie, Derricotts, my love. I should get transferred a few days before Christmas. Transfers are on the 20th. That's hilarious about Samantha's gum. Tell her it will be something she can laugh about one day.

Tell Dad I love him and happy birthday! I was going to put his letter in here, but decided to write it and mail it home, so if I send it out today it should probably be there on Friday. I'm glad he had a happy birthday.

The baptism was wonderful! Brother Lillich, Arnold, is a good faithful man. On Thanksgiving he txted us, "I'm thankful for given the chance from God to try to be more faithful. I'm also thankful for you two for unlocking the truth before me." He's started on his family history, and we want to take him and some names to the temple next week. On Satruday when Arnold was baptized he came up out of the water and instantly gave his fellow-shipper, brother McCall a hug. Then as he waged through the water towards the stairs, he started to cry. He turned back around and gave brother McCall another hug. They embraced, and stayed that way for a while, crying. I don't think there was a dry eye in the room. The Lord poured out his spirit on us. Then we went back to the room for a final talk and the welcomes. As one of the Bishop's counselor's was giving the welcome, the spirit impressed Sister Crick and I to bear our testimonies. 

We got up and shared the story of how the Lord had lead us to Arnold. We had been out in Lecompton visiting a less-active member. We were far from our home and hadn't eaten since that morning. It was around 6 o'clock at night. We had said a prayer that morning that if it was the Lord's will, he would provide us with dinner. As we were getting in our car to leave the spirit stopped us, and told us we were not done yet. We looked around trying to decide which house we were supposed to knock on. We were led to brother Lillich's home. We knocked on the door and he greeted us, instantly expressing interest to learn more. In a few short moments his cousin came to the door and said, "we're having a birthday party, would you like to join us for dinner?" 

As we shared the story with the group, we talked of the spiritual significance of that event. The Lord had lead us to him, and in response, he and his family had chosen to feed the servants of the Lord. God's hand was there every step of the way, and Brother Lillich willing responded to it.

The Lord sweetly settled into the room as we told this story, and then He blessed us to bear testimony of His restored church with great power. He was there, and He bore witness to every soul in that room that His church has indeed been restored, and brother Lillich had just become a part of it. As I looked from face to face I saw the spirit penetrate every soul, with the witness that this is Christ's restored church. It was quite a remarkable experience, and I felt the Lord with us. 

Things are going well. I love you all SO SO MUCH. Merry Christmas.
Sister Lewis




There is a picture of us at the V.C. with the Lee family. Then some Ruby Red slippers and a Kansas sign. Lol. Also the Lee's daughter faith- she's SO CUTE. and Our Christmas tree we decorated. It was really early this morning- right when we woke up (we got up early to do it) So we have massive morning face. But we were just so excited we couldn't wait.
December 3rd
Hi! Merry Christmas!! Glad to hear things are going well. :) Also, I can't believe I have spent that much. Yikes. I guess I'm glad to be building up my credit, but I don't think I'll spend too much more. I have to live off something when I come home, and 800 won't last very long. lol. Hope things are going well with Kristina. Glad all is still okay and all the scares end up being minor things.

Things here are great! This winter is so warm. The last 3-4 days have been in the 70's. It's great for us... maybe not so great for the crops and economy. People are talking about it being a dust bowl out here next year if things keep going the way they are. The work is going well. We're teaching 3 families right now. One of them showed up to church last Sunday and introduced themselves as "investigators" Haha. We're teaching so many beautiful people, the Lord is blessing this area so much. Last week we had 13 non-members at church. We have more lessons to teach and people to help than we have time for- we end up planning a lot of splits. We should have a baptism this week as well. Arnold is his name. He is such a good man! He bore his testimony this Sunday and it was beautiful.  Our wards are being so helpful. I love them and I am so grateful for their example. I am surrounded by wonderful people, who teach me everyday. I am grateful for their example, and the example of our Savior Jesus Christ. These souls are so precious and I am so grateful to see them grasp and embrace the truth. The truth changes our lives. It opens us up to feel how much God loves us, to understand our worth and potential, and that we don't need to keep making the same mistakes. We can change.

Well this is a short letter, but I'm sending home pictures.
I want you to know I know that Jesus is the Christ. He is our Savior. This is His restored church. He is at the head of it. His plan for us is beautiful and possible if we are faithful. I love Him. I have learned so much from trying to represent Him. It's quite the challenge, acting as a representative of a perfect person- especially when I am so imperfect, but it has taught me more of Him, and His character. As the primary song goes, "I'm trying to be like Jesus" it's humbling. I'm grateful for friends and associates, and family members who teach me more everyday about what this really means. I am grateful to see the people we teach grow and change. I love them. I wish I could tell you every detail about their lives and what we talk about- but their lives are private, their experiences sacred, and I want to be careful with what I share. But know that they are beautiful children of God, who the Lord loves. They set an example for me as they act in faith and embrace truth that is new to them. I love seeing their faith as they make changes, they stop doing things that they've been told their whole lives was okay. They act in faith, they trust what they feel and do things that are sometimes hard, and by doing that the Lord blesses them abundantly. I hope I can introduce you all to most of them. I want you to meet them so badly, I want them to meet you. Their stories of faith are inspiring. Maybe I can do better about writing those stories.

Well I love you so much!

Love Sister Lewis.
November 26th
Okay so, back to the week. Wow. I'm so glad Kristina is okay. Give her all of my love. I carry a picture of her and James in my scriptures everywhere I go. I think of her often. I love her so much. She is such an example to me. I'm SO glad she's okay, and sorry she had to go through such a scare. Thank goodness we have the gospel to give us strength and guidance. Those blessings and experiences I'm sure is what carried her through. It shows how mindful the Lord is of us, and that he knows all things- he warned, comforted, and prepared a way for her to come through it okay- before it even really happened.
 
There's a trick missionaries do called the 'faith' rocket. You take a tea bag, empty the contents and then stretch the bag out so it's a long tube. It stands about 6 inches tall. If the surface is still you can stand the tea bag turned tubular straight up. The trick is to light the tea bag on fire at the very top and slowly the fire creeps down the tube. Eventually the whole thing is englufed in flame. In the same moment the tea bag is engulfed, the flame goes out and it rockets up to the ceiling as a clump of ashes. Kind of cool, and very symbolic. I had never seen the experiment but I had heard about it. A few weeks ago we were at dinner with the Elders, and they decided to do a 'faith rocket.' I was sitting next to Elder McCally at the time and so he used me as the tool to do the experiment. He had me put my hand out and hold it very still. Then he placed the tea bag, standing upright, on my hand. Next he lit the top of the tea bag on fire. I can only imagine what my face must've looked like as I realized there was a large ball of flame suddenly 6 inches from my hand and slowly descending closer. He smiled and calmly said, "don't worry it won't burn you." I looked back at him like he was crazy. The flames grew hotter, larger, and closer to my hand. I eventually had to look away! I didn't want to get burned lol. I'll be honest, I was a little bit panicked! I feel nice and comfortable not taking risks, I accept my cautious nature lol. When I could feel the flames just about to touch my hand I peeked back anxiously at it. I looked just in time to see the tea bag lift off my hand, be engulfed in the flame, burn out and shoot up to the sky. Phew.
 
I learned a lot from this little experiment, probably more than anyone else because I felt the panic of being burned! haha. I know the Lord wants to teach us to fly. No one believed that little tea bag could fly to the ceiling. Those who had done the experiement before knew it could. Sometimes it's hard to believe we can be all the Lord tells us we can. It's hard to imagine we can really 'fly'. In order to do this, however, we need a little help. The tea bag can't fly on its own, it needs the help of a higher power (in this case Elder McCally). The tea bag also needed the help of fire. If we are to change, reach our full potential, fly, we need the help of the Lord, and the Lord uses fire. He refines us through trials and challenges. He gives us experiences that test our faith. And in the very moment we feel engulfed, we are delivered- the fire goes out, and we find ourselves flying. I know the Lord also will give us tools to act in faith. He will offer hope and testimony's to rely on and trust in. I had heard about this experiment, others who had experienced it for themselves told me it would be okay, so I trusted them (even though I was scared- I never ripped my hand away, I patiently waited for their words to be fulfilled). The Lord Jesus Christ has been there. He knows the way, he knows the experiment. He will give us comfort, assurance and hope to help build our faith. If we trust in these things the tools he's given us- scriptures, prayer, the testimony of prophets, the guidance of the spirit etc. we will be strong enough to endure the trial of our faith. And after the trial of our faith, we will receive the witness we need, and find ourselves flying.
 
I know this is an ongoing process until we become who the Lord intends for us to be- as he is.
 
Well I love you all! I had a wonderful thanksgiving. :) Many beautiful things have happened this week. The white handbook tells us to spend as much time possible proselyting on Thanksgiving. When you read that it seems ridiculous, because no one wants to have a lesson on thanksgiving day. But we acted in faith. We chose not to 'hang-out' with members, but do all we could to fulfill the will of the Lord. He's blessed us greatly this week. This has been one of the most succesfull weeks of my mission. I love him. I love these people so much. They deserve all I have to give. Thank you for all you do!!
 
Love, Sister Lewis
November 18th
Hey! Wow That story is HILARIOUS. I feel bad for ANY man, that falls in love with ANY of the Lewis girls. Hahaha. (Except maybe Amanda)
Also I'm so excited for Barnes. That's so great that he has the priesthood. :) I love the pictures. Especially the one of him and Dad. I'm printing that off and hanging it up. :) I agree, I'm reading the end of the Book of Mormon and I can feel Mormon's prophecies as a warning for today. I wish I could show them to the leaders of our nation. Thank you for the update on all my friends. I'll write them soon. I'm sending Amanda a wedding gift I'm excited to make. I found an old wood box that I'm going to decorate and put a poem, with a picture of them on it. I'll send pics when I'm done.

This week was beautiful, as always. It's amazing to see how the Lord provides for all of his children when they choose to follow him. The Israelites were fed manna from Heaven. They didn't always see it as a blessing, but it was. Often we become distracted from our own 'manna' but when we follow the Lord he will always bless us with the things that we need. It does not mean we will not experience trials, but we will see his tender mercies evident in every aspect of our life. I've witnessed personally him bless and prosper his children the minute they turn to him. They still experience trials, but the tender mercies he pours out upon them are many.

Just the other night we were out tracting and we hadn't had dinner yet, we didn't want to stop working so we decided to just eat when we went back to the house at 9. We went to a house and talked to a man who told us to try his neighbor. After we finished talking with him we had another appointment to go to, so we had to rush off. We knew, however, that he was inspired to tell us about his neighbor- and we needed to go back. When we got to our appointment the family was making dinner and they invited us to eat with them. The Lord provided for us that night as we sacrificed for others. So fast forward a few more nights, and we were once again in the same place the same situation. We could try the man's neighbor, or go eat dinner. We chose to try the neighbor. She instantly invited us in and wanted to learn more. She told us she had a niece who married a mormon boy and she eventually was baptized into the church as well. We taught her about the restoration. It was a beautiful lesson where the spirit was very strong. At the end she said, "well if this is true I need to be a part of it." After we left her house we went to our next appointment, who was in the process of making dinner and invited us to eat with them. Again, the Lord provided.

Even though I don't know much about what's going on in the world right now, I've heard many people express fear at the coming day. People feel that our world is ripening with iniquity. They are seeing the consequences of a nation and even world that is choosing to deny the commandments of the Lord. I know, however, that we have no need to fear. Yes times will be hard, we will be called upon to make sacrifices, our faith will be tested, but the Lord will always provide for our needs if we are faithful to Him. I have a personal testimony of this.

It often seems like missionaries are provided for in miraculous ways, this is true. But it can be like this for everyone. The reason missionaries receive so many blessings is because they are consecrated to the Lord. Their work is His work, and so they are blessed that His work might progress. When we keep our covenants and consecrate ourselves to the Lord,  holding nothing back-  the Lord will provide. This is the law of consecration. He gives us what we need to abide in our stewardships. When we learn to live the law of consecration, having an eye single to the glory of God, we have no need to fear what will happen- the Lord will provide because our needs will be the needs of His Kingdom. His Kingdom does not fail. (D&C 104, D&C 59)

I love you all!!
Sister Lewis
November 5th
Things here are going well. For Halloween we weren't allowed to tract, they said to make sure we had appointments, and if we didn't to go visit members and LA, or part member families. We luckily had appointments all night so we just taught the gospel, it was great. Yes I might get transferred, I'll find out tomorrow. Most likely I'll be going back to the V.C. or the Jail if I leave. I think the Lee's will be okay. They have so many challenges and road blocks to overcome, but they always seem to make it through. There have been a few moments where I worried, but they always pull through. I pray that will continue. Sister Lee is ready to be baptized. She's amazing, she's so obedient and willing to do everything the Lord asks of her. She loves the Book of Mormon. She loves the truth. She bore her testimony yesterday and said, "I just want to give glory to the Lord, for teaching us the truth, for changing us. I give him the glory for sending us all of you, and for sending us the Sisters." The ward has been so amazing in fellow shipping them. Sister Lee has cancer and so she's having surgery on Wed. and the Sisters are taking her to the hospital, staying with her and taking her home. It's beautiful to see people find a safe haven in a world of chaos. It's more beautiful to see them progress and change through the atonement of our Savior. I've been privileged to see both happening here. I know that we are all alike unto the Lord. We all have the same need of our Savior Jesus Christ and his atonement. It's in the details of our lives. It's humbling to see the atonement work in my life and the life of those around me.

Also great news! Tonya said she'd meet with us again. This was one of the best moments of my week. It was such a good day, earlier that day Sister Crick had felt impressed to go visit someone in our potential records. I told her that person was in jail and not there anymore (Sister VanCamp and I had tried a few months back) She said, "I know but I just feel like we should go there." So we went... and when the door opened there she stood, out of jail and ready to have us start teaching her again! It was a miracle.

I'm learning that the more we push ourselves in the service of the Lord and do many good things of our own free will- being wise and faithful servants, the more the Lord will prompt and guide us throughout the day, because he will trust us to obey.

I also know that the Book of Mormon is the tool the Lord has given us to gather Israel.  If we prepare ourselves to wield the tools he's given us, he will give us tasks to accomplish. The more we study it, learn it, and are prepared to use The Book of Mormon for the purpose of the gathering, the more the Lord can and will use us. My challenge to all of you is to become masters of the Book of Mormon. Study it, search it, ponder it pray about it, immerse yourselves in the words of the Lord. Become prepared to use it in you conversations throughout the day. Be prepared to teach from it, to share it with anyone and everyone. If we are prepared, the Lord will bring people to us. We will become messengers of the covenant. The Lord will use us to fulfill His covenants, and in turn we will fulfill our Covenants to Him. After all, we are a Covenant people. As Covenant people we can let the new and everlasting Covenant, the Book of Mormon, do the work of the gathering, but we must first be prepared to use it. This work is real, of this I testify.

I know the Lord loves His children. I know he will lead us along if we exercise patience, faith and trust in Him. I know we can develop His love, if we follow all the subtle promptings of the spirit, and sacrifice our selfish nature for the benefit of others. He will gift us charity if we do these things.

Thank you for all you do. I love you all!!
Love Sister Lewis

Monday, January 7, 2013

October 28th‏
Hi!!
How are you all doing? That's so great that the girls met Sister Dalton! :) I bet it was such a wonderful experience. Sounds like all is well on the home front.

Things here are going great, as well. Zak's baptism was great- my favorite part is always the confirmation on Sunday. It was just an all around beautiful day. I am so happy for Zak, he's such a good kid and I can't wait for his relationship with Christ to open up even more now that he has the gift of the Holy Ghost. It will allow his understanding of the scriptures to increase, his knowledge of how and when to serve the Lord to increase, it will bring him comfort, guidance, it will help purify and change him. It's such a beautiful gift, I am so grateful the Lord has given us such a privilege.

This Sunday was wonderful we had a lot of people at church. As I sat in our gospel principles class I could smell heavy smoke and beer. It made me smile because I knew that people were on the road to repentance and change. We had a really good discussion in class about why we are obedient to the Lord, and how our willingness to obey him in all things is a reflection of our love for Him. I love the gospel principles class. Its funny because we always talk about the most simple and basic parts of the gospel, and it's usually the class I gain the most from. I want to attend gospel principles all my life... haha (think they'll let me?) On Sunday as I watched people come into Sacrament meeting I was filled with so much joy and reverence for the Lord. There were individuals there who have walked a very dark path, they've been places that few ever choose to come back from- and here they were sitting in the Lords only true and living church, partaking of his spirit, and patiently awaiting the day they can be baptized. I wish I could describe how it made me feel to see such a beautiful scene, but it would be like me trying to describe the color yellow. It can't be done, it has to be personally experienced.

Well I don't have much time today but I'm sending a few pictures, and I want you to know that I love you all very much!! :)

Sister Lewis
October 19th‏
Hello!

Things here are going well. We have a baptism this Saturday with Zak. I'm very excited for him. He's very humble and willing to believe. Every commandment we taught him he has been willing to live without question. Zak is such a good kid, and I know the Lord has and will continue to bless many people's lives through Zak and his example.

Dad I appreciated your letter a lot, that's something I'm really being taught about by the Lord, the need for and the totality of charity. I'm so grateful that we have the chance to repent, overcome our weaknesses, and develop charity. Charity is was produces pure desires, and pure desires produces greater Charity. From what it seems to me, it encompasses all other attributes, and, I feel, is the only acceptable motivation for following Christ- pure love for Him, and His children.

The Lord has been teaching me a lot lately about working with those who have fallen away from the gospel. I've learned that helping someone keep their baptismal covenant is just as important as helping someone make that covenant. The reason people fall away from the gospel is rooted in a lack of faith and love for Jesus Christ. If we love Him, we keep His commandments. I'm learning that to help these people return to the gospel of Christ, they must have greater faith in and love for Jesus Christ. I know that above all things I am supposed to promote within those around me that Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God. He was made in the image and likeness of His father, and He is our loving Savior. His life was given for us. How could we not love him back? I desire to help people develop greater love for Him, I desire to love Him more. I know by developing this faith in and love for Him, we become converted, and never fall away. I really appreciated Elder Holland and Hales talks in Conference on John 21, I'm learning a lot from studying this chapter and their talks.

Sister Crick and I are also learning more about the converting power of the Book of Mormon. We've been reading it more often with our investigators, and I can see the spirit teaching them, and changing their hearts as we do so. It has the power to change us, it's one of the first steps in the gospel path. We first must believe in the words of the prophets, which are the words of Christ. We must feel the Holy Ghost prick our hearts as we read and hear these words, and we must desire to act, and choose to act on what we've felt. The Book of Mormon is the words of Jesus Christ. This I know. It will prick our hearts if they are soft and humble. If it does not, we must soften and humble our hearts, and try again.  We must act on what we've felt. It is only by doing this that we can develop faith strong enough to produce Salvation. We must have a correct knowledge of Christ and His attributes to develop the faith in Christ that is necessary for us to live with  Him again. The Book of Mormon is not just helpful, but essential, in doing this. I love this Book with all my heart, because it is the words of my Savior, and it was given so that I might be saved, as well as all of God's children.

Well that's all for now. I love you all so much!!!

Sister Lewis