Called to Serve

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