Sister Lynette Lewis' letters home from the mission: 2 April 2013 Easter at the MTC

Oi Familia!

So this has possibly been the best week of my life. I absolutely love it here it's a bit overwhelming. So much happens in a week that I don't even know how to get it all down into one, but having Easter Sunday here was the absolute best!

We had our fast and testimony meeting (In English which is always a huge bonus) and the spirit was SO strong and then we had a huge mission conference where about 3000 missionaries all partook of the sacrament together it was an incredible sight! Then Bishop Causse spoke which was so good! I feel like my testimony of the atonement just grows so much everyday here, and then that night Sheri Dew gave a devotional which just kept the cup overflowing.

She talked about the 3 things that the Adversary tries to confuse us on and that we need to have a firm belief and understanding in.

1. We need to know who we are, that we are children of God

2. How to hear and understand the voice of the Lord

3. to know who the Savior is and what he has done for us.

And she pointed out that one way to recognize if you've been a successful missionary is to look back and see if you love the Savior more now than you did when you began. So I guess in that case I could go home a successful missionary right now! :)

And then yesterday, believe it or not was even better! One of the elders in our district got his Visa so it was a bit more emotional and serious in the classroom knowing that we were about to lose one. Our evening class Irmao Porter was teaching us Portuguese but then decided to change the rest of the lesson and shared an incredible mission story about when he learned what faith was first hand and then bore a beautiful testimony. Instead of doing our planning right after he left like we normally would, Elder Christensen (the Elder who is leaving) asked Elder Forsyth to give him a Priesthood blessing which was one of the most beautiful blessings I've heard. If everyone wasn't crying already we decided to sing Be Still My Soul together afterward and at that point the whole room was just completely filled with the spirit and I felt God's love in a way I never have before. I've only known these missionaries for not even 2 weeks and I already love them so so much! And I could feel inside me the love that God had for each one of them.

Heading back to our rooms I could just feel his love for every missionary here and for all of His children and I couldn't believe how blessed I am that I get to be one of His servants to go tell the people of Curitiba how much he loves them and that they can have that same feeling! It was indescribable. I really just can't fathom sometimes why I am so blessed but I am just so full of gratitude that Heavenly Father has given me so much. When I was reading Jacob 1 last night I felt like I had that somewhat answered though. I was reading in vs. 19 and it hit me how seriously Jacob took his call to teach the people. That if he had not taught them diligently the sin would be on his own head. Their salvation was so important to him and I feel I have the same calling as a representative of Jesus Christ. I have been so blessed because I have a huge responsibility to share with other people throughout the world. It really made me look at how I spend my time here at the MTC and I want to make sure I am spending every precious minute of the Lord's time preparing myself to be better able to better serve the people who I am supposed to serve. There is a reason they keep us on such a tight schedule here, but it gives us the opportunity to learn and grow so much!

We also got a new investigator this week and she is so golden! She is in her 60s and her kids have all had issues with drugs and alcohol but one of her sons joined the church and got rid of all those habits so now she is trying to learn more about the church. It was amazing to see how God prepares his children to receive the word. Also it was so much easier to understand her! I could finally have a full 30-40 min lesson without any notes just having a conversation with her in Portuguese and talking about the gospel. It felt so good. I love the language! it is beautiful! Although I think my English has gotten worse because of it.

We've also been able to get a lot closer to the other district of sisters who are going to Curitiba. I love getting to know these missionaries and see the sacrifices they have made to be here and how the gospel has blessed their lives. They are so inspiring! One of the sisters in their district I think is basically the exact same person I am so we go running or play basketball together at gym everyday and could just talk forever. It's amazing to be surrounded by such great individuals! I'm sad to say one of my roommates ended up going home. The first few days are really hard and it got frustrating for her, but my companion who was also struggling has grown so much since then and knows that she is supposed to be here which has been awesome to grow with her and see God's hand in her and her family's lives. They have been blessed so much from her being out here. So now I'm in a trio with Sister Barker and Sister Cropper. They are awesome missionaries who are so obedient and try really hard. I just love them a lot! Sorry this email was a bit scattered, but time is always really rushed. But I love all of you so much and appreciate your prayers and support! I love getting to show pictures of my family and tell my companions and other sister missionaries about all my wonderful older siblings and parents!

Muito Amor,

Sister Lewis.