Week Number 79....and still going strong.

Good morning! It's freezing here!! But beautiful!!!

We're picking up a family of investigators tonight!! They were taught a couple years ago. Their names are James and Lindsay Blackwell*. They've been taught everything, and were on date for baptism. But they weren't married and had a really hard time quitting smoking. They have 3 kids who are 19 (has a disability), 16, and 10. IT'S A REAL FAMILY!!! So we've had their teaching record forever, and they sound so amazing that my last companion and I decided to give them a visit. But the elders who taught them only wrote down their street name (I hate that) and their number was out of service. So my last companion and I tracted out the entire street and couldn't find them. Well, my current companion found the teaching record and long story short, we followed the Spirit on a whim a million times until we FINALLY found someone's phone number who could be them. We gave them a call and IT WAS THE DAD!! They've been married now and we're pretty sure that if they do still smoke, it's not as much as it was before (their house smells super clean). But we found them! And he couldn't believe we were calling him, he kept saying, "How did you know??" because their family is going through a really hard time right now and they said they NEED spiritual guidance and immediately set up an appointment with us. We didn't have a lot of time in the appointment yesterday so we didn't get to pick them up as new investigators but they're dying for us to come back and teach them. They both have testimonies of the Church. IT WAS CRAZY.

We also got a couple on date for baptism this last week! Their names are Blake and Susan Laurent*. They are amazing. I love teaching them together... she got him on date for baptism herself. Amazing.

This week I had a pretty remarkable experience, among many, that I can't seem to get out of my head.

Sister Bowden and I were almost back to our car after street contacting downtown when a cute, bubbly, blonde girl not much older than me stopped us on the street and started talking to us about her religion. She didn't know we were missionaries when she stopped us (Sister Bowden's tag was under her coat and mine had flipped over to the wrong side). She was with her fiance. Anyway, we obviously started talking to them about the gospel and learning about their backgrounds and inviting them to learn about the gospel haha. But I was really intrigued because she just went to a non-denominational Christian church and was on her way to the store, running errands, stopping the people who walked past with a pamphlet about Jesus Christ. I've never been approached by anyone about religion before, and it was a very interesting perspective. Let me tell you what I saw and felt as she approached us.

I saw a bright, smiley girl walking down the street towards us, basically bouncing. I saw her make eye contact with me (I had been about to stop them, although she didn't realize that). Then I saw her look down at her feet, obviously very nervous. And then when she looked back up at me, she looked determined and opened her mouth and stopped us. She offered us a pamphlet. We started asking her questions and introduced ourselves as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She suddenly got excited and we had a great gospel conversation. Her fiance was talking about God needing to have justice and mercy and how lots of people just expect mercy from Him and not justice. I agreed and quoted Doctrine & Covenants 45:3 to them. As I finished, the girl gasped and quoted it back to me. Then she started tearing up and stared at the sky. And right there, in the middle of crazy downtown, in the rain, completely self-motivated and sincerely out of wanting to spread the gospel because she realizes how important it is that people know about Christ, she began to testify to us of the Saviour.

After a few more moments, we had exchanged contact information and we'd invited each other to church. Sister Bowden and I walked away kind of awe-struck.

This girl, named Daisy*, got it. She got missionary work. No one was telling her she had to do missionary work, no one expected it of her, her church was even nondenominational and wasn't sending missionaries out to do work. She got it. She herself realized how much the world needed a knowledge of the Saviour and that catalyzed that natural outcome--it was natural for her to share the gospel with people after that. "I have something the world needs, so of course I'm going to share it with people, regardless of what they think of me. Of course I'm going to testify to complete strangers on the street. Of course I'm going to make missionary work a part of my everyday life on my way to the grocery store." She gets it.

She was also willing to sacrifice. She was obviously nervous to stop us. But I remember the face she made after she looked down anxiously. She looked back up at me--straight in the eyes--with determination, because she knew she needed to do it and that it was God's work. And so she stepped out of her comfort zone and sacrificed. Gave up her own personal comfort to help someone else. In the MTC, I heard a clichee phrase: "Man's extremity is God's opportunity." But despite how clichee it is, I know it's also true. God cannot work miracles with someone who's not willing to let miracles be worked through them.

She really believed what she was telling me. She was bubbly and excited and bounced around a couple times, and as soon as I quoted that scripture to her, she was so naturally in tune with the Spirit that she got choked up. She believed it, and I could tell.

And my last observation is that I didn't feel offended. I probably would have felt awkward if it weren't for my mission, but I didn't feel upset or angry that she wanted me to attend her church. In fact, the conversation I had with her stuck with me like crazy and I actually learned from her. I learned from her example of fearless discipleship. I want to go home and have missionary work that present in my mind.

Anyway, it was a pretty incredible experience. It struck me the power that one girl had, and the power that we as members can have. We underutilize the power God can put behind us when we're willing to step out of our comfort zones.

I better get going... Lots of good things still have to happen in Charlottetown before I'm gone!!!

I love you!!!

Sister Lewis

Old photos of Sister Thompson and me getting distracted from our missions...

Saying goodbye to one of my favourite people from my mission.... Charmaine Veitch. She moves to Alberta this Thursday. I'm going to miss her!!!

The Harvest is Great, But the Labourers Are Few

Hello!

Quote of the week--(this was actually a few weeks ago, I just found it and realized I'd never sent it) Elder Dudley, in a bit of terror, after describing a weird contact they had with a teenage girl who seemed too excited to meet with them based on what they talked to her about:

"I mean, for all we know, she could think we're coming over to watch Twilight and cuddle!"

The week was off to a great start after having Thanksgiving dinner with the Harris* family last Monday! I love that family. The week continued with EXCHANGES with my Sister Training Leader, Sister Gochnour!! I absolutely loved it. She is a powerful missionary and it was fun to work with her!!!

On Sunday, Sister Bowden and I were driving to the streets we were going to knock and dropped by the chapel on the way so she could use the washroom. We found the church doors unlocked and several lights on, which meant the last people out hadn't locked up. We walked in and I realized there was no key to lock the door anyway, so we were basically stuck at the church since we couldn't leave it unlocked. So we started making phone calls as it got dark outside, and being in a church at night started kind of creeping us out and we started to hear weird noises in the church. So we got a little paranoid and were wondering if someone had gotten in during the hours the church had been unlocked. And then I noticed the men's washroom on. And I KNEW there was someone in there. There are always tons of kids up to no good who hang out right outside the front doors, and it was obvious that someone was in there. So I quietly pointed it out to Sister Bowden, and I grabbed her wrist (she did NOT want to come with me) and we made our way over to the men's washroom. We kicked open the door and BAM! No one was there. So we laughed kind of hysterically because we were so freaked out and went back to call more people for help. While we were waiting, we pulled out the phone to video ourselves and document how freaked out we'd been when we checked the men's washroom. So we took it out and video taped what it was like for us to go check and when we opened the men's washroom again, I realized as I was video taping that the person who was in there could've just been standing inside one of the stalls on the toilet so we couldn't see his feet! So I said, "WHAT IF HE'S ON THE TOILET?!" and we both screamed and ran out the door and waited in our locked car while Bishop came to check the church and lock the doors for us, laughing at us and making screaming noises as he did so, just to tease us. The end.

Haha on a more uplifting note... We found 2 new investigators this week--Daniel* is 17 and good friends with a fairly recent convert in the ward. He really wants to make changes in life to come closer to Christ because he feels bad that he hasn't been to church in a long time. It's neat seeing someone so young desire so much to come closer to God.

This week was killer!!!!!!!!!!!!! In Canada we have this thing called Kijiji which is like craigslist, and so we put ads up for people to get free Book of Mormons, free Bibles, etc. (the type of thing they can order for free on mormon.org). We've had a couple cool things happen from it, but this is the first thing that's been super LEGITIMATE from it!! Her name is Susan*, and she texted us for a free bible. And usually that ends pretty lamely because they're Christian and just want a bible and nothing more. But she came to the church to pick it up on a night where we had YSA, mutual, and the family history centre was open, so there were tons of people there laughing and being super welcoming and she said it felt really good. Then we gave her the bibles and started introducing the Book of Mormon to her as a companion to the bible and she got more interested and wanted 2 copies so she could give one to her uncle who loves studying the bible. And then our on-date investigator, Sam, showed up at the church for YSA and we got him to come bear his testimony to Susan* about the Book of Mormon and he told her he was preparing for baptism and she got SUPER interested! And so we had an appointment with her a couple days ago and it was AMAZING, she'd already read all of 1 Nephi and believed it was true and is on date for baptism, November 29!! It was so cool!!

Mary-Elizabeth is doing great! She had a really big question come up in her lessons this week and she actually fasted about it yesterday in church. Amazing.

It's just been humbling to see all the people who are being prepared! Heavenly Father's hand is SO in their lives--isn't it amazing how many people there are and how involved He is in answering the simplest of prayers? He loves us.

He wants so badly for His children without the gospel to have it. He has been preparing them and giving them experiences their whole lives. HE WANTS IT FOR THEM MORE THAN ANYTHING! That is His work and His glory!!!

Look for the people who need the gospel! The harvest is great but the labourers are few!!

Love,

Sister Lewis

(Sister Lewis didn't send any pictures this week, but Sister Gochnour posted one on her blog!)

Je sais qu'il vit, mon Redempteur

Happy Thanksgiving!

Quote of the week (Sister Bowden):

Sister Bowden: "OH MY GOSH your whole family is emailing me!!!"

[she then proceeded to read me my own embarrassing stories that my family decided to send... you crazy Lewis clan:)]

MAN. Time is FLYING eh?! I'm kind of shocked. When I look back to specific moments towards the beginning of my mission, it feels like ages ago, but when I look at my mission as a whole, it's felt very quick. I bore my testimony for the last time in sacrament meeting yesterday (my last Fast Sunday since November's Fast Sunday will be Stake Conference). It's just been a little bit crazy and fast.

Mary-Elizabeth Dickens*  is on date for November 5! She is getting baptized the same day as two of our other investigators--Sam Winters* and Greg Black*. It's been so humbling to see the power of the testimonies of members here because each of them has strong ties to members in the ward and that is the reason they are investigating and progressing so well towards baptism.

Mary-Elizabeth was at the bus stop one morning, on her way to school (Holland College) when a guy her age came to the same bus stop and asked her a question about how the bus system worked. It turned out both of them were going to the same school and it was their first day. They started talking a lot more and he kept bringing up his beliefs to her over the following week or two until she was finally intrigued and asked to come to church with him. So he called us up and let us know he was bringing his friend to church the next day and we were sprinting down the street and jumping out of excitement. This was in mid-September. She came to church the following 3 weeks (including General Conference), met with us several times with her member friend who introduced her to he church and the missionaries (his name is Tim), and has been recognizing answers to her prayers, after coming from a background where she wasn't sure who God was and not really going to church at all. It is really touching seeing her testimony grow.

Greg is a 10-year-old boy actually, and his mother is cousins with a member in the ward. The elders knocked on their door one night, and when Greg looked around his mom and saw that it was the elders, he ran to grab his shoes and come outside and told the elders he wanted to get baptized to make it to the Celestial Kingdom! Umm ok sure we can do that for you. We've been teaching him and he's been a rockstar--he knows everything already and has wise perspectives on things most adults don't. His mom Katie* has a lot of addictions and has been wanting us to focus on Greg right now, but she surprised us Sunday by showing up to church on her own (Greg was at his dad's) with a huge smile on her face. She plopped down next to me and said, "Today is a good day." I asked her why it was so good and she said, "I don't know, I just woke up earlier than I expected today, at 9:30, and thought, 'There's a reason God woke me up right now,' so I walked to church." And for you Utahns, WALKING TO CHURCH IN ATLANTIC CANADA IS ACTUALLY A SACRIFICE haha. It's a huge deal! So I told her she was exactly where God wanted her to be and asked her how she got the strength and desire to walk all the way to church. She couldn't stop smiling (for the rest of church actually) and said, "You can do whatever if you realize you want it enough." What a powerful example of FAITH!! She's stunning.

Since today is Thanksgiving, I thought I'd write about what I am the very most grateful for: the Lord Jesus Christ.

I"m grateful for my mission because it's after serving side-beside the Saviour that I feel like I've come to know Him and understand His love a little more. Elder Holland said it well:

"I am convinced that missionary work is not easy because salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy for us when it was never, ever easy for Him? It seems to me that missionaries and mission leaders have to spend at least a few moments in Gethsemane. Missionaries and mission leaders have to take at least a step or two toward the summit of Calvary.

"Now, please don't misunderstand. I'm not talking about anything anywhere near what Christ experienced. That would be presumptuous and sacrilegious. But I believe that missionaries and investigators, to come to the truth, to come to salvation, to know something of this price that has been paid, will have to pay a token of that same price."

I just can't help but feel SO GRATEFUL that the Lord has chosen me to stand in His place here. He has had to stand in my place and take the consequences for my own mistakes so many times.

It has been ridiculously difficult to stand in His place at times--in fact, most of the time--but I'm grateful because getting a tiny taste of what the Saviour's ministry and Atonement must have been like makes it so much more real and so much more meaningful.

One of my favourite hymns describes it well (but again, it's one of the hymns I prefer in French). I'll try to translate the verses as close as possible:

I know that my Redeemer lives!

How these words warm my heart!

He lives, He who gave His life,

He lives, of an infinite life.

He lives, His love He gives me.

He lives, so that my God forgives me.

He lives! My soul knows Him well!

He lives! Without Him, I'd have nothing.

He lives, to grant me His help.

He lives, to guide me always.

He lives to help my weaknesses.

He lives! to drive away my sadness.

He lives to appease my worries.

He lives, to listen to my complaints.

He lives, to calm my troubled heart.

He lives, through Him I am filled.

He lives, my wise, divine friend.

He lives, His love is endless.

He lives! His glory I repeat.

He lives! my prince and my prophet!

He lives! and through Him I breathe.

He lives! death can't harm me.

He lives, prepares my stay.

He lives, and guides me there by love.

He lives, He has supreme glory!

He lives, Jesus always the same.

How these words warm my heart,

"I know that my Redeemer lives!"

He lives! He has supreme glory!

He lives, Jesus always the same.

How these words warm my heart,

"I know that my Redeemer lives!"

I love that song!!! I am so grateful for my Saviour and that I get to represent Him right now!! I am so blessed. Yesterday in church I learned that in 1957, Canada started celebrating Thanksgiving to "give thanks to the Almighty God." I found that powerful that not too long ago, Canada decided to create this holiday just to thank our Almighty God. I am grateful for Him for giving us His Son.

Sister Lewis

(Sister Lewis didn't send any photos this week, but her companion did!)

"we ran over a skunk and so our car stunk really bad"

"us at the ocean"

The Miracle of Conversion!!!!!!

Hello, family!

Ok let's be really open and honest here... who doesn't feel SO EXCITED to start applying everything from General Conference?! Was that not an amazing conference! I left feeling filled up with gratitude for a prophet, for the chance to be a missionary, for the Saviour's Atonement, and for the principle of sacrifice that the Lord's servants practice so much for us and the Lord's work. I felt inspired to be BETTER!!!

This week was a good one--Sister Bowden got pink eye haha the poor thing, so we ran around town between clinics and she couldn't even open here eye because the light stung so much.Wednesday was my last zone training of my mission, and that was... don't even know how to describe it. Emotional, spiritual, exciting, sad, goodbye-filled. Every zone training/zone conference (held every 6 weeks), they have the missionaries who are about to go home bear their testimonies for everyone else. It was bizarre. I remember my first zone training, on my fourth day in Canada, being exhausted and excited and nervous, watching the other missionaries going home bearing their testimonies and thinking they were so OLD! It was definitely humbling bearing my testimony to people I loved and respected so much-fellow servants of the Lord--and realizing that I'm not just at a sad and epressing step in my life--I'm at an exciting done!!! I've almost completed an honourable mission!! I've succeeded in faithfully completing 17 and a half months of my missionary service! This is exciting!!!

We had some pretty remarkable experiences with investigators this week. We and the elders have combined our teaching pools to increase our unity--we don't have "the sisters' investigator" or "the elders' baptism." Just "Charlottetown's success." It's really neat. I'm happy to be doing it this way. One of our investigators is Sam*. The elders and the sisters taught him his very first lesson together (he was invited to learn more by a member) and we've been teaching him back and forth since then. He's 26 and is preparing for baptism on November 1. It was really neat because the first lesson we (Elders Dudley and King, Sister Thompson, and me) taught him started with him saying, "Now, I don't want to convert or anything. I just have some questions for you and I want to see how you answer them." Sister Thompson and I explained that we'd love to answer his questions (which we did), but we weren't here to discuss religion--we were here to show him the truth and baptize him when he became converted to it. We and the elders answered his questions and bore testimony. By the end of that first lesson, he said, "So, let's say I become a Mormon..." and by the next lesson, he was on date for baptism. He's plunged into the Book of Mormon, knows it's true, and loves it all.

President Hinckley once said that of all the miracles he's witnessed (and that must be a LOT--he's a prophet of God!), the miracle of conversion is the greatest. It is true. I've witnessed it in myself--the miracle of change! And I've witnessed it in others of God's children. It is remarkable. It is incredible that someone's entire lifestyle and even their nature can be changed. They are not the same person they were born being. They are changed for the better. It is a miracle. What a blessing it is to witness that firsthand on my mission, and be a part of it.

Search for ways to be a part of someone else's conversion!!!!! There is no better feeling. Remember the promise in Doctrine and Covenants that we hear all the time... If we bring just one soul unto Him, how great will be our joy in the kingdom of our Father! A lot of people say that one soul can be just ourselves. But it can't! Don't expect to make it to the Celestial Kingdom without trying to bring someone along with you!! Bring hundreds of souls unto Him, don't let yourself stop with just you!

Love you all!!! Go study Elder Bednar's talk like crazy, because even though it was directed at investigators, that was SO DIRECTED AT US.

Love,

Sister Lewis

Saying goodbye to Elder Erickson!!!  (And Sister Erickson, when I see you next, I have a message for you specifically from him! :))

Saying goodbye to Elder Densley, a fairly new elder from St. George, Utah!  I've still got a month to go through a growth spurt!

My posterity!!! Sister Bowden (3), Sister Gochnour (2), and Sister Vera (1).  It was so humbling and exciting that all three of them were in my last zone and were there for when I bore my "farewell testimony"  I LOVE THEM.  They've turned into some pretty remarkable missionaries.

Dieu est notre Pere Celeste, et il nous aime

 Quote of the week--Sister Bowden and I were walking down the boardwalk contacting for the last hour of the night. Suddenly from behind us, a drunk man started singing loudly and off-key, slurring his words.

Me: "Oh no, another drunk person is walking behind us."

[both of us stop to let him pass]

[man walks by, who we'd already talked to that night, definitely not drunk....]

Man! A new transfer! I love starting a new transfer, and this one already feels really good. Charlottetown is beautiful right now--the leaves are beginning to change colour and pretty soon the island will be bright yellow.

Sending Sister Thompson off was sad and exciting. Sister Gochnour (the second sister I trained) is now my Sister Training Leader!!! I don't think I've ever been so excited to see someone in my whole entire life!!!!!

For some reason this week, in the lessons we've taught and in words from the Bishop and even in President Uchtdorf's talk during Women's Conference, the theme of God's love has been coming up a lot. It came up with a newer member who has had a hard time with all the life changes she made to join the Church. It came up while talking to the mother of a strong Catholic family with 12 kids. It came up as a theme in several separate struggling households in the ward. I find it interesting that for each of these people, not being able to feel that God loved them was so discouraging. I was thinking about all of this during sacrament meeting yesterday. When it came time to take the sacrament, I bowed my head, like I always do, and I immediately felt very strongly Heavenly Father's presence--an intense feeling of pure love. I've been feeling that a lot recently for some reason, and although I don't know why, I think it has something to do with what I learned from a young women's leader years ago when I was a beehive: "If people really understood what it means to be a child of God, who loves them, if people perfectly understood that, then it would be really difficult, not easy, to sin."

I've talked about it before, but the greatest sign that Heavenly Father loves each of us is the fact that He sent Christ--His Son--to die for us. I can't even imagine how difficult that would be as a parent. Wouldn't any parent rather die themselves rather than give up the life of their child? Yet Heavenly Father suffered more for us because He loves us always.

Isaiah says Messianically, "I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me."

Despite how many lies the adversary tells us, "our God will never us forsake." We are the substance of His work and His glory. When people don't believe in Him, when people knowingly disobey Him, when people forget Him, when people put other things first, He never does. He never forgets us and He never puts other things first.

It's been really sad this week to see all the people who are right now believing lies that God's not there, or that He's not very present, or that He can't love them, or that He's very distant. I wish we could always remember His promise that He will not forget us! Ever. If people really understood that, they would fill a lot more of their potential as children of the Almighty God.

Anyway, I'm really looking forward to this new and final transfer with Sister Bowden:) Life is good:)

Sister Lewis

For some reason we thought we should take pictures while doing push ups.

Awkward family photos

Well one of us nailed it.

Sister Thompson and me

Apparently I do this a lot

Elder Dudley and me.  I forced him to stand like that.

On our way back from an appointment

Waiting for Sunday School to start.  haha

Saying goodbye to Sister Chou* (far right) a few days before she entered the MTC!!!

The end of one meeting...

The district

Elder Dudley as...  Sister Thompson

Sister Thompson as...  Elder King

Sister Lewis as...  Elder Dudley

Elder King as...  Sister Lewis... sorry these photos are so pointless haha

Don't stop believin'

Bodyguards

Sister Thompson saying goodbye to the Johnson* family

Charlottetown Crew

In the theater <3

 It's the same Anne I contacted! Haha in fact, it was pretty neat because at the very end, all the actors came on stage for the big applause and Sister Thompson and I counted all the ones we'd stopped on the street before, and we had good relationships with lots of them! Since we sat up front and weren't really around many people, it was easy for them to see us and several of them specifically waved at us, it was neat:)

The Maple Syrup Man

Hello!

So transfers came... and I'm training for my last transfer!!! I could not be happier. Sad news is my companion will hit the big transfer and is going home, and Elder Dudley's leaving Charlottetown for New Glasgow:(

Quote of the week--Elder Dudley, sarcastically on the phone, telling us to listen to him:

"Sisters! Shh. Did you know that you can spell 'listen' out of 'silence'?"

Needless to say, there was an awkward pause while he figured it out. Hahaha.

This week, Vanessa decided not to be baptized. It was a shock and really, really hard. She was the only person we were teaching. She's moved cities to a city that now has no missionaries (one of my previous areas). We have been heartbroken and praying like crazy. It was kind of rough.

So I was thinking about what I'd say today, but my mind's been really occupied with one story that I can't get off my mind. This is an experience I had several weeks ago. And to make it fun we'll put it in story form:)

One day, in late August, as the sun moved and its intensity began to fade at the end of the afternoon, two girls in skirts walked out of a house and began a walk towards their city's small downtown, stopping to talk to maritimers as they went.

Their attention was quickly drawn, however, to a jumble of impatient cars in the middle of the street they were walking on. As they walked closer, they saw the reason for the honking, swerving, and exasperated sighing coming from the drivers of those cars. A large, white delivery truck was pulled over, taking up half the road in the middle of rush hour traffic, lights signaling its driver was in an emergency.

The two girls in skirts continued their curious trek down the sidewalk until they passed the delivery truck and could see the emergency on the ground behind it: a puddle of amber liquid sat in the middle of the lane, covering 6 square feet of the road. The two girls stopped and looked around for the driver who had spilled the oil.

A whistling man rounded the corner of the truck and gave the girls in skirts a wave and a nod of the head. The girls watched the cheerful man, who showed such a contrast to the chaos of the traffic around him, squeeze some brown liquid out of a T-shirt into a tall white bucket on the ground.

"I'd shake your hands, girls, but mine are all sticky," he said.

"Is it oil?" asked one of the girls.

The man shook his head and bent over, putting the T-shirt in the puddle again.

"Here, smell," he said. The girls bent their noses to the ground. No, not oil--something sweet.

"Maple syrup!" said the man. "I was delivering a few buckets to that hotel but I dropped this one on my way out." He wrung the T-shirt out in the almost-empty bucket. "You're the first people to stop."

"Can we help you at all?" offered one girl.

The Maple Syrup Man shook his head and took a break from mopping up maple syrup to get a good look at the girls. "I already called for help."

"When's the help coming?" one girl asked.

The man smiled at them and went back to mopping up maple syrup with the T-shirt. "Not sure. I called half an hour ago and it could be another hour or two before I get help." This  time as he rung the T-shirt out, he nicked the back of his leg on the truck's ramp and barely noticed blood dripping down the back of his leg. The jolly man began asking the girls questions about themselves, the frustrated honks and even yells around him not seeming to damper his mood.

But one of the girls--the one with curly hair--wasn't paying much attention to the conversation. Concentrating, she quietly surveyed the puddle of maple syrup in the road, which was not getting any smaller, bless the man's heart. She watched the cars drive by, which were all depending on the man and his maple syrup puddle and his truck to get out of the way. She thought of the man's boss who hadn't been happy to hear that his employee spilled several litres of maple syrup in the middle of the road and who would be late in filling the rest of his deliveries. The girl with curly hair looked back at the happy man.

"Why are you happy right now?" she asked him, curious. He stood up from his tedious mopping job and looked her straight in the eyes, always smiling.

"I'm happy," the man said, "because the only thing that can make a situation a bad one is a sour attitude."

The girl with curly hair looked at the man's hands, covered in maple syrup, and his sticky clothes, and his socks and shoes covered in it, and his calm and sure smile in the midst of it, hardly noticing the gash in his leg. She looked at the puddle that wasn't getting any smaller.

"Sir," she laughed, incredulous, "You don't even know when help is coming!"

"Young lady," he said to the girl, "I am just a beggar. It is not my choice how fast the help comes."

The two girls laughed and talked with the man for a moment longer, helping him spend his time until his help came. Eventually the girls had another obligation and left. However, an hour later, they walked by again and saw that help had come. A team of men was quickly and methodically cleaning up the puddle of maple syrup with salt. They watched the Maple Syrup Man watching them on the side, proudly and gratefully accepting the help that came so late.

I haven't been able to get this story out of my mind the last several weeks. After it happened, I kept thinking about it, over and over again. I felt like there was something Heavenly Father wanted me to learn from that experience that I wasn't quite getting. This week I knelt down and prayed earnestly to be able to learn the things the Lord wanted me to from that experience. I offer three lessons I've learned through a lot of studying, thought, and prayer:

1. Heavenly Father believes in agency. He believes in giving us choices. And because of that, He gives us experiences that can be good or bad--but it is completely dependent on our choice. The Maple Syrup Man could have had an awful experience when he spilled the huge bucket all over the road. He'd be late, his job would be in jeopardy, he was holding up traffic, he was covered from head to foot in maple syrup in the heat of August, he had a huge gash on his leg from trying to help the situation, and oh how inconsiderate his help was! They made him wait for hours, and no one else stopped to help him. It could have been a really negative experience. But it wasn't because he used his God-given agency to make it a positive experience. I'm thinking in particular of some experiences my parents were given that could be taken as inherently negative. But instead my parents chose to be faithful and optimistic and all the experiences were great. Heavenly Father believes in agency and I testify that it is our choice how many positive and negative experiences we have.

2. We have a finite perspective of trials. We want help NOW because things are hard NOW and why won't the Lord send help NOW--doesn't He understand that if I don't get it NOW, I won't make it?? One of my district leaders said it well: "We live in a world where everything is immediate. There is no waiting and hardly any working for what we want. This is not God's way. Though the things you want are righteous, the place you go wrong is wanting it right now... There is no need to be discouraged when we are obedient because when we are obedient, we are in God's hands." How many times have you needed help, and you had been doing everything you were supposed to--scripture study, prayer, attending church, keeping commandments--and help was not coming? We are the beggars, and I testify that the Lord always knows exactly when to send help. He has a plan that's greater for us than what we have for ourselves. As Lehi taught, "All things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things."

3. Until the help does come... help yourself! When I decided to serve a mission, I basically thought it would be smooth sailing from that moment until 2 years later when my mission would end because I was doing the Lord's work! But I found out quickly how wrong I was. The moment I got my mission call and knew where the Lord wanted me and when, things became very difficult. I had a really hard time feeling the Spirit or Heavenly Father's presence at all for several months, and I felt like I was barely hanging on the whole time. I did the things I was supposed to--specifically scripture study and prayer--but it wasn't making a difference, and the blessings were coming very late. It was like that until finally I went through the temple and immediately everything completely changed--did a full 180. I felt like my efforts in those few months were a waste. They were imperfect, small offerings. But I can't get the image out of my head of the Maple Syrup Man slaving away over that monstrous puddle of maple syrup, trying to soak it up with a T-shirt and making absolutely no visible difference. NONE. But he did it faithfully until a more perfect help could come and get it cleaned up in a matter of seconds. I find it interesting that the Lord wants us to work and do a sloppy, imperfect job first, before He does it for us--and He has the power to fix it from the beginning! The Lord accepts our weak offerings and THEN sends us help.

I just want to write out a story one of my old companions just sent me in the mail. I became very close to this companion and her story means a whole lot to me:

"My last zone conference was good. A few days before, I had a cool experience. I was just feeling discouraged about my mission and it was like all I could see were all the times I didn't do my best. I realized I was never going to be able to give the Lord a perfect offering, and so I prayed, so heart-broken, to ask the Lord if He could accept my imperfect offering instead. I somehow developed the trust to not be afraid of the answer and to just listen to whatever it was. Suddenly, in my mind's eye, I could see it from His point of view. I saw myself as a little 3-year-old, running up to my daddy with a picture I drew for Him. The 3-year-old had no thought in her mind of the picture not being good enough, despite the fact that it was mostly just lines and scribbles on a crumpled piece of paper; she was just happy and excited to show her daddy what she had made for him, because she loved him. The father didn't condemn her for the imperfections in her picture, pointing out its many flaws and inaccuracies. It would be unreasonable to do so, or to expect more, given a 3-year-old's level of development. Neither was the father secretly dissatisfied that his 3-year-old had only produced a 3-year-old piece of art. He was genuinely happy and felt loved to receive the picture. And so my 'Daddy' scooped me up in His arms, gave me a big hug and told me He loved me, and somehow hung the picture on His Celestial Refrigerator despite the facet that He used a magnet on stainless steel. And so I knew that the Lord was happy and accepting of my imperfect offering."

Anyway, end rant:)

LOVE YOU!!!

Sister Lewis

ENTERING THE GATE!!!

Hello family!!!!!

Quote of the week--MaryAnn*, after we showed her the Official Declaration about how we no longer practice polygamy:

"Where's my highlighter?! Now I can show every person who brings up dang polygamy! It drives me crazy, and I've been a Mormon for HOW many hours?!?!"

The joys of being part of the true church:')

This week was completely hectic! Trying to throw together a baptism last-minute that is as spiritual as possible for the members and MaryAnn... all on our own? Aye aye aye. But it turned out perfectly. A lot of work went into this baptism. I'll put it this way--the number 1 most-used phrase this week to describe our companionship (used by completely separate people) was "chickens with their heads cut off". Woo hoo.

The morning of, we had font-scrubbing, font-filling, chapel-cleaning, chair-setting, refreshment-baking, cake-frosting, errand-running, and phone call-making. We couldn't catch a break for a meal and miraculously were able to talk to 52 people along the way. The missionaries came to the chapel early for last preparations, and Elder Dudley was all excited and nervous to be baptizing someone for the first time.

It was a really great group effort because the elders found MaryAnn, we taught her, the elders dropped in for a lesson once a week, and Elder Dudley baptized her. So it was a giant group effort, and we loved it. MaryAnn got to hear the lessons from different points of view, meet the women in the ward (from sisters bringing them to lessons), meet the men in the ward (from elders bringing them to lessons), and receive all the support that comes from that.

It was touching. MaryAnn showed up Saturday evening wearing her brand new Mormon-looking outfit and her brand new Mormon-looking haircut. She got dressed in all-white and looked angelic and we took pictures. Right before the service began at 7, we and the bishopric and the members associated with the program had a prayer meeting to bring the Spirit. I started playing a bit of prelude that affected a few of the missionaries because they were primary songs that we used to sing at our own baptisms, and now we're all out here on missions.

MaryAnn chose the opening hymn--"I Need Thee Every Hour." I conducted. I gave the opening prayer and was overwhelmed at the pulpit, seeing her family and the ward members who came to support. I was so proud of MaryAnn. She has changed everything in her life to do what's right.

After the opening prayer, Sister Thompson gave the first talk on baptism. It was perfect. She drew parallels between MaryAnn and the Saviour. Then Sister Day, MaryAnn's best friend in the ward, gave a talk on the Holy Ghost which was perfectly directed at Michelle.

Then we had a musical number. MaryAnn had specifically asked for Amalia to sing. She sang "How Great Thou Art" and I came up with an arrangement to accompany her on the piano. (Sister T and I came in to harmonize on later verses). I'm grateful for the Spirit, because it softened the rough parts and made the tone very powerful for MaryAnn to make her first covenant with Heavenly Father.

She was baptized. Sister Thompson and I gave her great big hugs. She said she felt wonderful.

We watched Mormon Messages about the Book of Mormon while we waited for them to change.

Our ward mission leader, Brother Aitken, was conducting the meeting. When MaryAnn came back, he bore his testimony and said that since his mission in Mexico, he's always loved baptisms because they reminded him of who he was and why he did missionary work. It was one of the most powerful testimonies I've ever heard, and a lot of that was because I was reminded of who I was too.

Bishop welcomed her to the ward with another great testimony. We had refreshments afterwards and are now teaching her sister, Barbara, who came to support.

Sunday she was confirmed. She was nervous for that part because she has a hard time in front of groups of people. But she said that when Bishop said the words "Receive the Holy Ghost," this peace just filled her up. I was bouncing up and down in my seat, I was so happy it felt like it couldn't fit in side of me.

After the confirmation, during the sacrament, I glanced across the room at MaryAnn. And did a double-take. Because she looked DIFFERENT! There was a physical difference. It was amazing.

The four missionaries gave her our gifts after sacrament meeting: a triple combination (which she's been dying for since June), a journal that we decorated, a copy of her confirmation blessing that we scribbled down, and a True to the Faith book. She was so excited and carried it around with her to the clinic that day, telling everyone she was baptized into the Mormon Church and showing them her Book of Mormon!

She just received her first visiting teaching assignment:)

The Church is true. Conversion is a miracle.

Love you all!

Sister Lewis

We all accidentally matched!  Elder King, Elder Dudley, me, Sister Thompson

Raspberry Cordial!

Inspiring

MaryAnn's awesome calendar

Sisters who actually know how to pop the hood ;)

Excited to fill the font!!

Sister Thompson (while reviewing the photos):  "Aww.  Look, in one of them I have the model face, but not in this one."
Me:  "No, Sister T, look!  Zoom in, you have a model face!"
Sister Thompson:  "Oh yeah.  Yeah, I do look like a model."

MaryAnn and Elder Dudley.  She wanted him to baptize her since day 1!

MaryAnn and a few of her closest friends in the ward, Julia* and Sister Brentwood*

The girls :)

The gang--Elder King, Sister Thompson, MaryAnn, me, Elder Dudley

Me and Sister T hangin out