May 23rd, 2016

fun fact: Chicago means 'smelly onion" in Native American. That's what
a lady told me that works at the food pantry with us. Seems legit, I
believe it.

A lot of cool missionary things happened this week, but I can't
remember any of it because ELDER RASBAND CAME TO MY MISSION AND TO MY
STAKE CONFERENCE.
NO BIGGY, EXCEPT YEAH BIGGY.
- I shook his hand 4 times
- Got 2 personal pep talks from him
- Heard him speak 3 times
And now my life is changed forever.

So on Saturday we had a mission wide conference, so literally everyone
was there and it was packed! We took a giant picture with Elder
Rasband, I don't have the pic yet but I am sure it will go viral or
something so when you see it I am the one directly behind him to the
left. I could have touched his head. But I didn't. #manners

So then we went inside the church and sat down and he stood on the
stage and invited us all to go up and shake his hand. WOW. Elder Bragg
was also there, he is the newest member of the seventy. It was so
amazing to see them and shake their hands. Elder Rasband is SO NICE!
He is like a gentle giant! And he is hilarious.
We discussed a lot of things, but the things that stood out to me were:
- the elect are here! So many people tell me that this isn't a
baptizing mission. But he testified that the Lord has prepared MANY
souls and they are the elect and we just have to find them. But they
are here! And there are many!
- along with that he said that we need to be sweetly bold, and then
sweetly bolder. When they pull out the awful 'I'm all set' we are
suppose to keep inquiring. Say things like 'well before we go can we
sing you a song?' Or 'well is it alright if I show you a picture of my
family?' He said that we need to be BOLD but in a kind and
non-annoying sort of way.
- he also talked to us about our mission president. President Stoker
goes home in six weeks :,( he talked to us about the bond that we have
with our mission president, that it's sacred and it will last forever.
That really touched my heart because I know it is true.

On Sunday morning we had Stake conference with him! Earlier in the
week we invited one of our investigators, Jason, to come to it. We
talked a lot about prophets and apostles and their role. He said he
wanted to come! So Sunday comes and we show up to the theater (because
our chapel couldn't fit the masses of people) and we put our stuff
down and go outside to wait for Jason. On our way out Elder Rasband
and Elder Bragg were shaking hands, so we hurried and got in line to
shake their hands and we told them we had an investigator coming and
they were excited! So we went out side and waited... And waited... And
waited...
Jason didn't show up :(
So we walked back in and Elder Rasband and Elder Bragg were still
there and the people had a dispersed so it was just us and we told
them he didn't come and Elder Rasband said: 'hey it's ok! You did your
best. All you can do is do your best and then put it in the Lords
hands. Remember to go forward with faith and keep a big smile on your
face!"
We then went inside and proceeded to freak out because WE JUST GOT A
PEP TALK FROM AN APOSTLE.
After stake conference we were heading out and we see Elder Rasband
and we wanted to just say goodbye one more time, so we brought a
members kids with us and sister Dyer said: 'our investigator didn't
show up, but even better, we have some children!' So he shook their
hands and then he came up to us and he grabbed my hand and held it and
said to us: 'are you being sweetly bold? Well, be sweetly bolder! Have
faith, and remember to keep smiling!'
PEP TALK ROUND 2!! Also, I just about died because he just held my
hand for so long and I was just so happy!

So my thought for this week:
Do your best and then put it in the Lords hands.
Be sweetly bold! And then be sweetly bolder
Keep the faith
SMILE!!

I love you all!
Wowzers, sorry about these long emails. Ten points to you if you made
it to the end without skipping to the pictures. ;)

Sister Lewis


Pickies:
1: my sweet sister companion
2: our neighbor was drunk and bought us a pizza 9:30pm while we were
on exchange because she wanted us to have a 'fun sleep over'. It was
AWESOME.
3: hibachi grill with the Weiss's!
6: there is an actual real life Hogwarts in Concord. It's a boarding
school and they literally get sorted into houses and compete for a
house cup. I aspire to work there.
7: video of how we have a rockin Friday night

May 16th, 2016

(Not a very fun) Fact: it's the Devils favorite season... Black fly
season. 🙅 it's the pits. They are flesh eating monsters. JK they are
so tiny, but they are SO ANNOYING. They just suck your blood and eat
your skin like they own the place.
 Not cool Black flies. Not cool.

Besides those filthy animals...
THIS WEEK WAS AMAZING!!!!
I. LOVE. CONCORD.
I am SO happy to be back in my home land with my concord family, and
an AMAZING companion! I am follow-up training Sister Dyer and I feel
like I have learned so much from her! She is the best y'all.
So before I get into this miracle-drenched week, I have to tell you
BIG news: Elder Rasband from the quorum of the Twelve Apostles is
COMING TO CONCORD THIS WEEKEND!!! We are having a mission conference
with him on Saturday morning, and then stake conference Saturday night
and Sunday morning with him! I get to hear him 3 times!!! I AM PSYCHED
OUT OF MY MIND!!!

Ok, so now onto this very incredible week:
Wednesday was a day to remember! There is so much to say, so I will
condense it into a few lines each, the important thing to remember is
that if we had not done everything we did that day, in the time that
we did it in, probably none of it would have happened. It blows my
mind how every choice we made led us to miracle after miracle:
1 - we decided to walk everywhere that day so that we could get some
nice street contacting in. We first stopped at a lovely members home,
the Franklins and they let me borrow a water bottle because it was
pretty warm outside. #shoutouttothefranklins
2 - we walked... And walked... And walked...
3 - finally we saw a girl on the street and we shared with her the
blessings of the Book of Mormon and how it can improve her life. She
loved it! We set up a return appointment, got her name and number, and
kept on walking...
4 - sister Dyer then realizes that her feet are bleeding and blistered
and in a lot of pain because of her new greeny shoes, so we stopped
and got band aids. There was a little ice cream shop across the
street, and it was really hot and we had been walking for about 3
hours now so we decided to take a quick ice cream break while she
administered to her injuries.
5 - we then continued walking to where a less active lived. Neither of
us had ever met her, so we go in and buzz her, but no answer. We do it
again, no answer. And then after a couple of minutes the door opens so
we go in, and there is a girl in the hall. We ask her if she is Sara,
she said yes and that we should go talk to her and her dad. So we go
to her apartment and her dad is there and sister Dyer says: "hey! We
are in the area and just wanted to get to know people! And I also have
a question, I have some bandaids that won't stay on, and some really
awful blisters, do you have any tape I could borrow to keep them on
better? We have a lot of walking to do."
So he whips out his briefcase of medical stuff and puts on neosporin
and bandaids and medical tape. It was so nice! And then we started to
talk to them, and we say: "so you are Brother Hardy?" And he says: "
um.. No I don't know where you got that name, we just moved in."
........
We were stunned! THEY WERENT EVEN MEMBERS. THEY HAD NO IDEA EHO WE
WERE! We were like: "wait.... So.... Your not members? Do you know who
we are??" And he said: "no."
So we busted up laughing because we just asked a complete stranger to
bandage up my companions feet. BUT! The miracle is that we set up a
return appointment and we are going to start teaching them!!!!
6 - we left that families apartment, and went outside and stopped on
he sidewalk to say a prayer of gratitude that Heavenly Father led us
to them, and then continued walking.
7- we met up perfectly with a woman who was crossing the street and
started talking to her, ended up walking with her for about half an
hour talking about the plan of salvation and the purpose of families!
Gave her a Book of Mormon.
8 - went to the church later that evening and got to see all of my
Concord friends again and it was so exciting to see everyone again!!
My heart is full for them.

We ended up walking about nine miles that day, and got some real nice
tan lines. 😎
We were walking on Saturday by a farmers market on the street and a
man stopped us  and said: "sister missionaries."
And we were like: "hi! How do you know us??"
And he said: "I'm a member of the church, in a different ward, come
get some free ice cream at my booth."
I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!

On my first day back we had dinner with the Weiss' and they let us eat
cake without our hands and it was the funniest thing I've done in a
long time! Thank you Weiss'!!

Wow this is the longest email I think I have ever sent!
Sorry not sorry.

I LOVE YOU ALL!!

Sister Lewis
2 Bedford Farms lane ste 208
Bedford NH 03110


Pics:
1 - this video is a perfect representation of our companionship
2 - coming home ❤️
3/4 - CAKE
5 - Sister Dyers miracle blisters
6 - chicken round 2
7/8 - free ice cream because we are preaching the good word of God

May 9th, 2016

Fun fact: hamburger isn't called hamburger here. It's Hamburg.

This week was cool!
We set a goal at the beginning of the week to hand out 5 copies of the
Book of Mormon...
WEVE HANDED OUT 8!
It's definitely not easy to talk to people out here, let alone give
them a book and talk about Jesus. But it happens!! Miracles are REAL.
Also another crazy thing happened. We got transfer calls, and I am
going BACK to my first area, Concord NH, where I was trained, and
literally just came from, to follow-up train another sister, Sister
Dyer!! It is so crazy to me that I am actually going back to my first
area. I am sad to leave Saco/Biddeford, but I am so excited to serve
in Concord again!! It's amazing how the Lord works. He really does
know us.

It's crazy to know that I am coming up on my 9 month mark! It feels
like I should be the one being trained, but it also feels like it's
been 30 years. But it's been the BEST 9 months of my life! Some pretty
wacky and sketchy stuff has happened. Also some amazing miracles and
blessings. All of which I will treasure forever! I love being a
missionary!


Random story:
Every Wednesday we have a district meeting, and our zone leader Elder
Hannig is like pretty much a five star chef. And at every district
meeting he surprises us with something delicious, but this week was
extra fantastically delicious, Elder Hannig made Brisket! Like what
the heck elder?!? And it was the best brisket ever!!! My eyes were
literally tearing up because it was THAT good. I of coarse got the
recipe so if any of y'all want it, I can hook you up.


I love the book of Enos. For a couple of reasons. First because it's
only like 2 1/2 pages long. And also because it's all about how Enos
experiences the power of the atonement. In verses 4,5 and 6 it says:
"And my souls hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I
cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own
soul;..." "And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos thy sins are
forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed." "And I, Enoch, knew that
God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away."
The Atonement is REAL. Jesus Christ suffered and died for us, for a
reason. And that reason is so that we can partake in Gods infinity
grace, and be forgiven of our sins. I am so thankful for that! I am
grateful for our Savior and Redeemer. I know at He lives.

Peace out kids, see you in Concord! 😀😎

Sister Lewis


Pics:
1: District meeting when we all tasted the Brisket of life
2: family history with a member and her brother who is not a member.
He was really impressed with the he churches Family History site and
wants his work to be done in a temple when he dies.
3: it rained. A lot.
4-5: met Leo the Ninja Turtle. He kicked my trash
6: the Thayer fam. They are my jam. SO CUTE!

May 2nd, 2016

Maine Missionary moment:
*Given a Refferal*
Normal directions: go down the road, and when you get to the stop sign
turn left and it's the third house on the right.
New England translation: you go about ah (a) fah see's (far see's)
distance, and it's the one with the boat in theyah (their) yahd
(yard).

Weird things that happened this week:
- almost killed a turkey
- almost killed another turkey
- ate Bison meat
- bore testimony in a different religions church meeting
- tried to defy the law of gravity, and failed. (Totally biffed it,
ate it right in the face)

I think today we will focus on the most exciting bit of news, which was this:
We found a food pantry that needed volunteer service, so obviously we
volunteered! They are non-denominational Christians, and each of them
is sweet as pie. The nicest people ever! So we were just workin away,
having a good time, when Pastor Mark says: 'hey ladies! We really
enjoy your Spirits, and we see you are women of God. Why don't you
come to our church tomorrow and give your testimonies to my
congregation! Please come!'
I was freaking out inside, this is like the third church I have done
this in, but I was super pumped too, because of coarse I want to share
my testimony!
So that night we called our mission leaders and got permission from
them to go do this. So yesterday, we did it! It was super intense and
I was pretty nervous, I'm pretty sure my face got real red real quick,
but it was totally worth it. The Spirit! The Spirit was strong. It was
an amazing experience. And then they fed us a spaghetti dinner after!
Like, what!?!? Who are these saints?? Life long friends, that's who
they are!

This week was less-active focused. Our mission is really concentrating
on getting our less-actives, active, so Bishop gave us a big honkin
list of LA's to go visit and teach, so we have been busy doing that.
It's been great!! We are really excited about some future plans that
we have in the workings with some people.

LIFE IS SO GOOD!!

I was finishing up 2 Nephi the other day, and fell in love with the
last line of that book. It is just perfect for Nephi because it sums
up who is is completely! It says: "for thus hath the Lord commanded
me, and I must obey."
Nephi is such a stalwart guy! He knew, all his life, he said
repeatedly that because God commanded him he will do it. No questions
asked, no doubt. 'I know in whom I have trusted'.
I pray that we all can have the faith of Nephi and go ahead in our
lives with the desire to do Gods will. Faith is the substance of it
all.

Have a Nephi-like week!
Love you all!!

Sistah Lewis



1: found this lake thing, with the surrounding hills covered in
tulips. It was beautiful!
2: the district of class and refinement 😎
3:*missionary taking the picture*: "everyone, be classy out of your minds!"
4,5: lunch with the Weiss's on Thursday!
6: MOLLY!! She taught us about Jesus using an egg. She is already a missionary❤️