Summerville, SC

6-17-13

Dear Family, This week has been a challenging one, but possibly the best week of my mission so far. I have been transferred to the Summerville 1st ward, just outside Charleston and this is the complete opposite of Gaston! My brand new trainee and I are starting from complete scratch with a new apt with no materials. We were given one semi-solid investigator and a ton of finding to do. Our area is probably 90% big beautiful southern homes and my ‘good ol’ trailer park friends with their thick accents and missing teeth are nowhere to be found. I think I had more ‘doors in the face’ my first day than in my first 2 weeks in Gaston.  Everyone here goes to church and thinks Mormons are a cult and are not particularly fond of us. I went from being in a 3-some where all 3 of us loved to talk and teach to pretty much doing it on my own because my comp is still getting used to all this. But I really have been SO blessed to do things I know for a fact I could not normally do! I can't tell you how many times I kind of stop and think, ‘wow did that just happen’? It's so true that the Lord qualifies whom he calls! Even though this area has had a hard time we have still been blessed so much and have actually found a few people we are starting to teach. We met a family, Mike, Kristen, Isabel and Jamison, that was super closed off to us at first and said they were staunch Catholics but the more we just kept talking to them they opened up and agreed to read the Book of Mormon and at least learn a little bit more which was pretty cool. We also met a fellow named Doug who has fallen on some hard times. He was actually excited to read the Book of Mormon and said he would come to church with us next week. Keep them in your prayers, as well as our new investigator we will be meeting on Tuesday, Wayne. Despite the fact that finding is a lot harder in this area, the ward is AMAZING! They just got split so it is a really small ward of 300 members. About half are active and they are just the best! We have been fed every single night since we've been here which is a huge plus. While most of their referrals haven't worked out, they have strong testimonies and are willing to share them! I was especially excited to be in this ward because this is the only ward I had ever heard of before coming here. While I was in the MTC there was a Sister Brimley down the hall from my classroom also going to Brazil and I am in her family's ward! (Only person I knew from SC and my 2nd area I get to meet her family :) Her brother is inactive and her dad is kind of struggling as well, but her Mom and sister are SO awesome and we've already become pretty close to their family. I really feel like part of the reason I was sent here was to help them because it meant a lot to them to have a missionary who knew their daughter. We had dinner at their house for Father's Day and had a really awesome lesson. (We used that Mormon Message ‘Earthly Father, Heavenly Father’ which is really good) and I was able to share how my dad has been such an example and blessing to me. This ward is also awesome because they LOVE sister missionaries. Since this was their first time ever to have them they were so excited to have us here and have been definitely spoiling us. My new comp is Sister Dougherty. She is awesome. She is 22 and was just a RS Pres. at BYU and we get along super well. I think she felt a little jipped at first getting the trainer who had only been out 6 weeks AND opening a brand new area but she's had a really good attitude about it and we're both growing a lot together. I'm pretty sure I'll be here in Summerville at least for the next 6 weeks even if my Visa does come, so Brazil is just on hold for now. Hope y’alls summer is going wonderful. I am developing a really awesome ‘sandals, watch and missionary’ tan :) Love ya! Sister Lewis