(Updated: Today's letter came via snail mail two weeks later.)
FAMILLE LEYS (How the French people spell our last name here):
Salut! Donc...j'étais un peu stressée ce matin pendant mon heure d'email (Chiac) parce-que je n'ai jamais le temps pour répondre à toutes mes emails (je suis très très populaire), et parce que j'étais trôp stressée, jai un peu oublié à écrire l'email principale!!! DESOLE!!! Et s'il vous plaît, pardonnez mon français....
Mais, vous pouvez mettre ce lettre sur ma blog si vous avez le désir. J'espère que les autres choses sous l'enveloppe* assez bien.
Les e-mails des transfers viennent le dimanche. Nous sommes un peu nerveuse parce-que les assistants ont nous appellé hier soir pour demander à soeur Olson à nous donner sa témoignage pour la mission leadership council le mardi, et cela veut dire qu'elle soit released de ses responsibilités STL...donc probablement, elle soit transferée. Ahhhh! Je pense que Soeur Coleman soit ma nouvelle collègue missionaire. Mais je ne sais pas vraiment.
There have been a couple experiences on my mission where the Spirit just isn't quite as present as it usually is because for whatever reason, we're dipped into the world more than we'd like to be as missionaries. It could be because we contact someone who tells us all the on-goings in the world and how messed up things are, or it could be having to spend more time in front of a screen than I'm used to at this point, or it could be some new song I've never heard come on the radio.... Or seeing people interact with each other disrespectfully throughout our day. Sister Olson and I were discussing the sick, sad feeling that we get whenever that happens, not just because of the thing that's happening, but also because those things used to be normal and acceptable to us. It used to be normal and acceptable to have movie marathons at home; or hear about horrible things happening in the world and think it was sad, but normal; or listen to music that maybe doesn't quite have the best moral message, but listening o it anyway; or listening to someone put down something you believe in, and not really saying anything; or watching people argue and being pretty unfazed.
And it's sad that today being "innocent" has such a negative connotation. Today the world says we should know as much as possible...including all the dirt and filth, and if you don't, you're naive. We're supposed to keep our eyes open for innuendos and make jokes out of them. If you feel uncomfortable watching a certain movie, you can't handle it and are a wimp.
Sister Olson and I had a few experiences this week where we were put in situations where we were more vulnerable to things that now aren't ok to us, and we left feeling sad, like my Spirit--created by Father in Heaven-- was hurt by those things. And we couldn't believe that those things use to be ok and acceptable to us to an extent. And what changed my mind about it was choosing to live a higher standard. I'm living higher standards for what movies I watch on my mission than I did at home. My standard for music is higher on my mission than it was at home. My standard for conversation topics is higher on my mission than it was at home. And because of all that, I am normally just blissed out in my clear world where everything is black and white and everything is about my Father in Heaven. I'm aware of issues going on right now--moral, world, political, and religious--without them consuming me or shaking my anchored faith. It's always brighter and clearer when your closer to God than to the world.
Je vous aime beaucoup.
TOUTE LE MONDE: (I'll even put it in English so there's no way you can miss it) WRITE MORE LETTERS
LOVE,
soeur lewis
* also included in this mailing was a newspaper clipping from the Daily Gleaner in Fredericton--a photo and article about Sister Gochnour and Sister Lewis which I hope to add as soon as I can scan!
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| worst dinner ever. |
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| The candid shot... |
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| and the not-so-candid shot hahaha |
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| Back at the Bay! |
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| Elder Jason in the background |
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| The elder's climbed the giant rock they weren't supposed to and it was stressing me out |
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| Livin' on the EDGE heh heh heh heh. Note the danger sign |
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| Mon amour... #shesnotfromcanada |
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| Jessica's moooooving out west this week :( :( :( |
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| We went to Amherst to have an extra exchange with the sisters there the other day... There was a baptism that night..... And THIS was on the programs! |
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| Prank from the ward mission leader.... Killed this thing earlier that day and left it there to freak us out. Elder Willoughby threw it at me and I think my heart stopped working. I am so disturbed to know these things exist. |
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