8-19-13
Dear Family,
Sounds like the reunion was such a success! What a blessing that so many of you could be there together!
This week was a challenge, but with challenges there's always even more blessings that come our way! I had a fever all week and head cold and couldn't sleep one night because my stomach hurt so bad, but it was the "Big Lift" week for us so I was sleeping at other areas all the time and just had to push thru it! And we saw so many miracles this week! The Lawrence family is a part-member that we didn't know was here for a few years that we found and they are SO ready to come back! Dalensa (mom) committed to baptism right away and just asked for prayers as this won't be taken well from her family, but she said ever since the first night we showed up at her door she hasn't been able to stop thinking about it and she knows it’s right and she has been feeling a push lately that she and G need to get married so they are so ready to just make these changes right now and it has been so cool to be a part of seeing their change and helping them see the long term goal of getting sealed in the temple as a family!
We also had Joan who has been meeting with us for a while finally decide to get baptized this weekend! There were tons of miracles in that story alone, but there has been so much change in her since the day we started teaching her and she stayed for all 3 hours of church on Sunday and just gave up tea and coffee like it was nothin!
Marcus is getting baptized this Saturday too!!!
I came to a realization this week - when I first got out it was like all I wanted to do was baptize people, and I loved being able to report high key indicators. Now that we've been really blessed to be a part of more baptisms than is common to this area and have exceeded pretty much all our key indicator goals each week I've realized those moments were great but the happiest most fulfilling moments in my mission really weren't about those. It was the experience of really seeing people change. It was seeing Rhi get up and share her testimony even though she was scared to death and teaching her friends the plan of salvation with a diagram she made, and seeing Joan recognize that she wanted to be with her family forever and feeling prompted by those on the other side that she needed to do her work so she could then do there’s, and seeing a 15 yr. old tough kid cry when he felt the power of forgiveness for the first time, or Mary feeling the love that comes from church, and seeing a less active step in the chapel after being away for 20 years; seeing young women come teaching with us and realize they want to be missionaries; or breaking down in tears myself when inviting a less active father of a family that is probably most dear to me in South Carolina to take his role and read the Book of Mormon with his family and see him do it. It's those moments of seeing people change that make every moment of a mission worth it. And especially during a week where it seemed like everything to hold me back physically was happening. I appreciated the Lord's tender mercies in letting me be a part of these people’s lives!
The gospel really does change people and that is why a mission is the best 2 yrs/18 months of our lives thus far!
We had a really interesting lesson last night with a man named Dave to whom we had taught the 1st lesson. He spent 4-5 hours studying both the church's websites and a lot of anti stuff and when we came over he tried explaining to us how we had been psychologically mislead. He shared with us all the "evidences" that the Book of Mormon isn't true, Joseph Smith isn't a prophet, etc. It was interesting because he sees the bible as completely perfect and all the anti against the bible isn't true. I have to admit it was very frustrating because we just couldn't reach him. It's very true that all you can really do is testify because if they want to believe its false they can find reasons to believe it is. The same works with the Bible and the Book of Mormon. But it is those people who see what the gospel brings and want it that can at least have that desire to believe. Its amazing how when you simply start with that faith, it is confirmed over and over again and IT JUST MAKES SENSE! You can't make people understand that, but it always blows my mind a bit when people are willing to take the time and still don't understand that the restoration of the gospel, the plan of salvation, etc. just makes sense; that it should be that way! Anyway it was just a testimony to me of how important that faith is and how as members all we can do is be that example, testify and invite and if their hearts are open they will recognize it!
I love yall!
Sister Lewis
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