Letters from Canada: Spiritually Minded is Life Eternal!

Hellooooooooo! It's been a great week in Fredericton!

Quote of the week:

(On the phone with a supportive leader)--

Elder: I.... I'm limited with the words I can say as a missionary! But I really, really like you sisters. You sisters are great. I love.... our district. And that encompasses you too.... ? I dunno.

Us: (laughing) Thanks. We get it.

So an update on the mish! Basically we've dropped all of our investigators. We have a big fat 0. And it's hard and discouraging, and lots of things have happened this week to us that have made our situation even harder. We work hard. We are working diligently and obediently, and the Lord will bless us with new investigators. BUT IF NOT, we will still be diligent and obedient!

Going to Presque Isle, Maine was a blast! As soon as we got through customs and crossed the border, we started singing America songs. I had great exchanges with Sister Drew, although I feel bad for her because I honestly was having a hard time... with the kilometers/miles thing (I was driving sooooo slow because I couldn't get it in my mind that we were in MPH now), the time difference (hour difference), the Fahrenheit/Celsius thing (don't know how I'll ever adjust to that again), and liters/gallons. AHHH. Plus their accents weren't New Brunswicker, and they kept using terms I haven't heard in 9 months (except with this companion). It was rough. Needless to say, on our way back to cross the border in Houlton, I was having a Canadian/American breakdown and sang both their national anthems.

My hump day was on Thursday. It was the same day that we had interviews with President. I started crying in the middle of my interview because we were talking about it so much. It was hard. I'm going to make these last 9 months the best.

But it was a little happier because I got a sweet hump day package from the fam-damily! It was full of food, bless their hearts. And letters. A MISSIONARY'S DREAM.

And my sweet companion bought me my favourite kind of hot chocolate so I wouldn't be sad!

Bathurst is being opened up for sisters at the end of this transfer. I got a package in the mail the other day from the mission office with the "Adjusting to Missionary Life" book in French. Subtle, President.

Sister Gochnour and I had a great fast yesterday, broken with some salmon (and if know me, you will be laugh-crying for me). It was rough, but not bad. It's actually the first seafood I've had on my mission surprisingly, so I can't complain. I was pretty impressed with the cook and myself!

But back to the fast. Sister Gochnour and I had incredible personal studies that really helped us face the challenges we've been having the past week. And as we were studying, we came up with a few mottos for ourselves. And one of them has been my all-time favourite for a long time.... 2 Nephi 9:39--"SPIRITUALLY MINDED IS LIFE ETERNAL."

It's so simple and so straightforward and powerful. I've been focusing on developing Christlike attributes recently, with an emphasis on faith. As I've been trying to develop these qualities, I've become a little more spiritually minded. And I guess as I fill my heart with these spiritual qualities, I become more qualified for eternal life. It's a simple promise and I love it. My understanding of this principle is deepening, but I'm grateful for it and what it's taught me this last week.

And by the way, the acronym there is "SMILE." As we become spiritually minded, we become happy. It's as simple as that. Spiritually minded=life eternal.

I love you all! SEND ME SOME LETTERS.

Love,

Sister Lewis

MEET F-TOWN