Letters from Canada: 12/9/2013

"IIII'll be hoooome for Christmas..."

Shoot.

"IIIIIII'm dreaming of a white! Christmas!"

Ugh.

"Chestnuuuuuts! Roasting! On an o. pen. fiiiiire."

Bah hum bug.

"Mistletoe hung! Where you can see, every co-o-ouple tries to stop!"

Gah.

"Feliz navidad!"

'...Elise, mommy, dad' :'(

"Last Christmas, I gave you mah heart."

'Caaaaalvvvyyyyyyy.'

Sooo.... my family will be the only ones to get a few of those, but suffice it to say, I'm tired of Christmas music in grocery stores!

But I am grateful for the First Presidency (or not!) Christmas Devotional every year that welcomes in the Christmas spirit. I feel extra blessed to be the recipient of the Saviour's love and, at this time of year, to be able to teach others that they can feel it too. What a blessing.

Shout-out to Moriah!!!!!!! The big 1-8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love her with my whole heart. Don't be surprised if you find ugly Christmas cards from us at some point in the next few weeks.

Transfers were this Thursday! Sister Vera Mijares (two last names) is my new companion! She's 24 and from Venezuela/Quebec. She's a pro-street contacter and vibrant teacher. I'm excited for this next step! We're a rockin companionship so far, picked up 6 new investigators last week! Teaching lots of families!!!

Speaking of investigators, here's an update:

1. Greg*--56, lawyer, single, no kids. He says he'd never been interested in the church at all, but when we testified of the Book of Mormon to him, he said, "Okay, you've got me." He's out of town a lot for work, so it can be hard to meet with him, but we're excited to see him progress.

2. The Mganti* Family--We're teaching 6 of them: Albert* (the father), Ama* (the mother), Antoine* (son-in-law), Joy* (daughter, 20), Elise* (daughter, 16), and Fatima* (cutest girl in the whole world, 10). They're the French-speaking family who just decided to show up to church once a few weeks ago. They are reading the Book of Mormon and believe it's the word of God--haven't committed to baptism... yet! Language barrier.

3. The Boghossian* Family--George (the father), Meron* (daughter, 12), and Isaiah* (son, 10). From Ethiopia. Cutest family ever. Meron has almost finished the children's Book of Mormon stories, Isaiah has been watching the stories online, and George has been reading the Book of Mormon hand-in-hand with the Bible, which is difficult for him because he doesn't speak a lot of English. Which is why, when we brought them 3 copies of the Book of Mormon in Amaharic, they were ecstatic to start reading seriously! Language barrier.

4. Ghalib* and Omar*--a father/son combo from Egypt we started teaching last night. Ghalib's sister-in-law is a less active member. They are muslim. Not too sure of their real intent right now, but we're teaching them tonight, so we'll see how that goes:) Language barrier.

5. Phil* and Darcee*--an unmarried couple we knocked into. Darcee has a couple kids around my age (a son and a daughter). When we presented the Book of Mormon to them, we testified of it and the Spirit was very strong. We asked them to read it, and Mark said, "Absolutely." Darcee then clapped her hands and said, "I'm excited to read!!"

6. Chike* and Abeo*--a couple with 3 children between the ages of 10 and 19. We found them while knocking and Chike invited us right in. They are from Nigeria. They are very active in their own church and love discussing religion with us. They see the Book of Mormon as the word of God, but are having a hard time accepting that this is Christ's only true church. Language barrier.

7. Brittany*--found while knocking last night. She has two adorable children who are 3 and 18 months. She has had unpleasant experiences with religion in the past, but wants to learn.

We are blessed. It is an amazing feeling to know that God trusts Sister Vera and me with all of these children. I don't completely understand why He does, but He does.

I keep thinking about the miracle that the Saviour is. That He came into the world to such humble circumstances, that He understood His role as our Saviour and cultivated it, that even though we mess up everyday and take so long to learn He loves us anyway. That He was willing to die for us. It reminds me of a quote I've studied recently:

"I have suffered pain, you have suffered pain, and sometimes it has been quite severe; but I cannot comprehend pain... that would cause the blood, like sweat, to come out upon the body. It was something terrible, something terrific... There was no man ever born into this world that could have stood under the weight of the load that was upon the Son of God, when he was carrying my sins and yours and making it possible that we might escape from our sins."

If there's one thing I hope I can teach people, it's that they have a Saviour, and that He died for them. I loved the message that the Primary General President spoke about last night at the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. "Jesus Christ died for you." He did. And I know that with everything I am.

Do what President Monson encouraged us to do last night--remember the spirit of Christ. Remember His atoning sacrifice. Remember that He was born and was killed for us.

I love you all. Have a good Christmas month:)

Sister Lewis