I Love Easter, I Love Moncton Ward, and I'm tired of snow.

Joyeux Pâques!!!

Quote of the week:

While knocking in Dieppe last night (my door)--

Girl my age at door: "Ouai! Nous assistons à Sainte-Thérèse. On est catholique."

Me: "Ah, on est catholique?"

Girl: "Oh, okay!"

And since that didn't make sense..... Basically I asked her if she was Catholic and she took it to mean I was saying we were Catholic.... which got uncomfortable really fast. Woops.

Tip for future missionaries: Don't tell people you're Catholic if you're not.

The best compliment I received all week though was also last night when we were knocking.... It was my door again, and the lady I was talking to started struggling to find the right phrase in French. So she asked me, "Ummm.... Comprenez-vous l'anglais?" SCORE!!! Although I was told that my French doesn't sound American, it sounds French.... Which still means I have an accent to everyone I talk to, but at least it doesn't sound like English:)

What a crazy week! By Saturday, it was long already, between planning and executing Amanda's* baptism by ourselves (we realized that was why we weren't called to Mexico.... When you baptize a little more frequently, you don't turn into the wimps we did), knocking on doors in the ice pellets, and preparing for Easter Sunday. I was exhausted and uncontrollably happy.

The long week was capped off by church on Easter. On Friday, as we were planning for the week as a district, we realized that each of us had a part in the program without knowing it.... Sister Olson was playing the organ, I was conducting the music, Elder Sloan was confirming Ashley in a circle with all the elders, the elders were passing the sacrament, I was giving a talk (on missionary work), all the missionaries were doing a musical number, Elder Sloan was giving a talk (on Easter), Elder Wolsey was giving a talk (on the Atonement and missionary work), and Elder Widdup was giving the closing prayer. And then I got to give the Gospel Principles lesson on the Atonement and I just wanted to burst I was so happy for everything that Easter means.

Sister Nelson came into town for Amanda's baptism! She taught her for a couple weeks before she was transferred, and now she's been home for about 2 months. It was great to see her again (although I was a little freaked out by the jeans, the lack of nametag, and everyone calling her "Annaliese"...).

Amanda's baptism was amazing. I sang "How Great Thou Art" for a musical number, which was scary. The highlights were getting to hug Amanda immediately after the baptism and hear her bear her testimony about how she never expected to feel the way she did. Heavenly Father's love for her was just BRIGHT in the room.

Christina is on date for May 24 and Angie is on date for June 10. They are two single moms and we are so excited for their progression in the gospel. The last lesson we had with Sylvie was really special because it took a lot of question-asking on our part. She is a strong, amazing woman. She has lots of fears and concerns. There was one moment where she asked a question about a controversial topic. She wanted God's answer to be one thing and she started telling us her reasons for believing that way. We told her that it didn't matter what we said, or what anyone else says. All that matters is what God's answer was. We invited her to pray and ask Him sincerely. She started crying at that point and said, "I can feel that what you're saying is true. I know what His answer will be now that you say it, I just don't want to face it. I'll pray about it tonight." She ended up in tears again when Sister Olson asked her to read and pray about the Book of Mormon and I invited her to be baptized. It was so special.

And on a lighter topic....:)

10 Things Not to Say When the Missionaries Take You to a First Lesson (dramatized for effect)

1. "I believe that you can't take the stories in the Book of Mormon or Bible literally.... They're just there to help you learn a lesson."

2. "Have you ever heard of baptisms for the dead before?"

3. "My favourite part of our Church is that I'll be able to have my own planet one day."

4. "I mean, if you can't read every night, that's okay, I don't read my scriptures every night and I still know that God loves me."

5. "The hardest part for me when I joined the Church was the word of wisdom! It's this thing where you can't drink coffee or smoke....."

6. "Let me tell you what I don't like about our ward."

7. "That's okay, I didn't pay tithing for years after I was baptized!"

8. "Wow. You're really going through a rough time. Have you tried moving out of your boyfriend's house?"

9. "I just know that it's not worth it to marry someone outside the Church."

10. "Evolution."

J'aime Pâques. Il est l'un de mes vacances préférées. Je sais que le Christ vit encore. Il est mort pour nous. Je suis heureux que notre Père céleste aime ses enfants imparfaits qu'il a envoyé son fils à mourir pour nous. Je suis reconnaissant parce que Pâques signifie que je suis capabled'avoir la force par le Christ.

Avec mon amour,

Sœur Lewis