"It could have been worse"

"It could have been worse"

I don't think I've heard this so many times in one week! In Newcastle, we had a Category 2 Cyclone! (I have no idea what this means...) But there were strong winds, rain, and floods around the area. We were instructed to stay in for the day (after we had already been in the rain for 30 minutes). Trees were falling, power was lost, homes were washed away and a few people drowned. It was a very scary time for some, but we were really blessed. Lots of debris everywhere, but the whole community was so willing to help each other; providing places to charge phones, take a hot shower, cook meals for those who can't cook, etc. It was pretty crazy. We actually had a ward clean up activity because the chapel was a mess. So that's how we spent our ANZAC morning! The weather cleared up very nicely for that. 

We got a little bit of cabin fever as well. We made phone calls all day, cleared the Area Book, then baked muffins and made french toast for dinner. Then we had movie night by watching the Emma Smith movie. She is so amazing. Everytime I learn about her I am mind-blown! So that was an adventure. Also that night at 2:45-3:15 in the morning, the fire alarm in our flat went off over nothing. 

French Toast Night

We had special training with President and Sister Howes last week as well! It was really sad because they started talking about the transition from them to the Checketts, which I'm looking forward to, but devastated that they're leaving us.  The spirit was so strong in that meeting, especially as we reflected on the countless lessons, blessings, and miracles we have learned on the mission. I know that I received much revelation on how I can let the mission change me, not just for the next few months, but for eternity. 

This week was a week of miracles, despite the storm. We have been very blessed. 

The peaceful spirit is what allowed me to have my core experience with God last week. As we studied Elder Bednar's talk, "Therefore They Hushed Their Fears", I better understood how to overcome my fears with those three simple steps. 1) Look to Christ 2) Build upon our foundation of Christ and 3) Press forward with Faith in Christ. It is only through Christ that all things are possible. This brought me great peace, and that peace carried on throughout the rest of the day.

It's made me reflect on the whole experience over the last 3 weeks between having the courage to drive, getting certified, receiving the car, and driving carefully. There was a lot of fear involved, but I think I had to go through it to understand that by focusing our lives on Christ, those fears are gone. It reminds me of something I learned earlier in the mission. "Peace is not the absence of trials, but it is the presence of Christ". My testimony of this has never been so strong until now. 

Here's the talk! Take a read, it's really good. 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/therefore-they-hushed-their-fears?lang=eng

We also had a training on extending commitments. I was able to use what I learned the very next day! We were teaching our investigator, Billy. He has a baptismal date for next week! We taught him the 10 commandments and included Keep the Sabbath Day Holy and the Law of Chastity. The following day, we taught him the Word of Wisdom. We were able to be bold and specific when addressing these commandments and that allowed us to find concerns he had with them. When he presented these concerns, we created a plan with him and kept the lesson Atonement centered. As we did so, we were able to feel the spirit so strongly and increase his desire to repent and keep the commandments to prepare himself for his baptism. It was amazing! 

I think this all ties into one of many important lessons I've learned since being on the mission. That is to be an "Atonement Centered Missionary". When we are Atonement centered, everything falls into place. I sometimes have a hard time opening up to people and loving them right away. I can be very judgmental and cynical as well. But when I'm Atonement centered, I understand and realise that we are all children of our Heavenly Father. We all have flaws and faults. We all have the same privilege to use the Atonement in our lives so that we can all become the best version of ourselves. The Atonement also allows us to move on. It allows us to forgive ourselves and go forth with faith so that we don't miss out on opportunities by holding back. 

I can't believe it's already the end of the month. I can't wait to call you in 2 weeks!!!!! 

I hope you have a great week! I love you heaps

Sister Lew

Malo!

Malo!

So big news...

As of today, I have a car! I got certified on Saturday!! And surprisingly, I feel okay driving! The power of the Priesthood is real. I was freaking out after watching the Driving Safety DVD because it was scary. I was nervous and was thinking, "I'll suck it up, take the bus, it's a good finding tool" (because it is).  Then Elder Nielson, my zone leader, asked if I wanted a blessing, and that was the answer to my prayers, even though I hadn't thought about it (always think of getting a blessing, it's one of the greatest solutions). Christ always blessed the people, and especially during times of discomfort. Elder Watts gave me a beautiful and simple blessing, reminding me to put my faith in Christ. Obedience to the mission rules and the laws of the land are important. I felt HEAPS better afterwards, then I took my test with Elder Finch and I felt so good on the road! Very alert and aware of my surroundings, but not driving nervously. The Elders were kind enough to wake up at 5:30 to get my car from the other elders who aren't driving but it's in their area. BLESSINGS AND MIRACLES. I know that the priesthood is the real authority of God. It is a blessing to have worthy priesthood holders around. 

Sister Uitu and me.

This week has been a very trying week. I think training has brought out the worst in me, and I am learning my weaknesses way faster than I would have liked to. But that's okay. I know I'm in this situation to learn. I feel bad for Sister Uitu sometimes because she has to deal with my faults, but she can learn from them as well. She is a great missionary, I just need to learn patience and how to give feed back in a love way. I realised that I have more of a 'tough love' approach, but I guess I can give feed back with love. We're all still learning... It's also hard for me to determine when to let her grow and learn, or when to just do it myself because it's more efficient. 

Working with Sister Uitu has taught me so much. I've learned the things that I'm lacking to help our investigators feel the Saviour's love for them. I've also learned the things that have helped me be successful as a missionary. I'm starting to see my potential as a representative of Jesus Christ because I've seen it in her. 

Our investigators are progressing well! Billy has been coming to church and we've been able to meet with him heaps. He's super keen and wants to come closer to God. Miracle! His sister has been investigating the church in Mongolia, and they had no idea that each other was learning about the Gospel until last week. I know that Heavenly Father is really wanting to bless their family. Please pray that he will be set to be baptised on May 2nd, and continue to progress. 

We've also met with Chris & Jason, who are progressing as well. It's kind of hard with language barriers, but thank goodness I can kind of speak Chinese and we have a RM who served in Korea. 

Effective finding has been our struggle this week. Although we've been able to talk to heaps of people, it's hard since many are very atheist. We've met a lot of people that have relatives or friends that are LDS, and they're very nice! No return appointments, but they're willing to take a pass-along card and pamphlet. That's always a blessing. Planting seeds at its finest. haha. 

The mission is the best thing that's happened to me so far. One thing I've really learned is how to use the Atonement in my life. It is central and key to everything we do. I absolutely love it. It's a beautiful gift that God has given us so that we can have everlasting happiness. 

I hope you all have a good week!! Keeping you in my prayers :) And please pray for me that I will be safe on the road. 

Alofa atu,

Sister Lew

More Chinese food!!

9 down, 9 to go...

I hit hump dayyyyy. That wasn't terribly exciting. Just kidding, I lied. It was so good! It was the first day I was with my new soa (Samoan for companion), Sister Uitu! We had a miracle day! Two new investigators and one of them accepted the invitation to be baptised!

Me and Sister Vaovasa

Last week was CRAZY. On Monday, I was companions with Sister Vaovasa, and we just had a nice, relaxed, and rainy p-day. Tuesday morning, we headed down to Sydney for our Train-the trainers meeting with President and Sister Howes. There's 22 of us training! It was cool to be down there and see everyone, including Sister Ah Fua and Elder Dean, missionaries I served with in the city. It was heaps fun. We talked about how trainers are one of the most important leadership roles in the mission. Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying. How you train someone has a large impact on the success of the missionary and the mission in the future. We stayed the night at the Normanhurst sisters' flat for the evening and then went back to Carlingford the next day. Down there, I got roasted duck and crispy pork rice...sooo good. I missed Chinese food. Then we were hanging out on the Temple grounds, so pretty!! After that, we met our babies!! The room was PACKED! We had a great meeting with them and had a testimony meeting where all of the new missionaries bore their testimony. The spirit was so strong and it was really neat. I loved the training, because it reminded me how important this work is and how privileged we are to be called as the Lord's missionaries. It reminded me of my purpose in being here. One thing that stuck out to me was that 'commandments are blessings'. We don't keep the commandments in order to receive blessings. Commandments are blessings to us and provide us the way to return to our Heavenly Father. About 3/4 into the meeting was when President announced the new companionships! I'm with Sister Uitu from American Samoa. She's really sweet and keen on doing the work, so I'm super pumped to be working with her! Greenie fire! :) 

My new "greenie", Sister Uitu!

Yay!! Chinese food in Sydney!

So, serving in Newcastle while living in Charlestown without a car is pretty dang difficult. The bus system here is pretty bad. It could be worse, but it's just not efficient. If we miss the bus, we have to wait an hour. Also, it gets dark at 6, and some areas are pretty dodgey, so it's not super ideal to be taking the bus back after dark, which limits our finding. The first day I was training, or maybe the second, I was super stressed. During studies, I freaked out in my head a little thinking, "Heavenly Father, WHY AM I IN THIS SITUATION???" I was about to call president to tell him to send a more qualified trainer who can drive so Sister Uitu doesn't have to suffer. I'm not looking for pity compliments to make me feel better, this is honestly how I feel. I know the Lord needs me to learn something from this situation, and ultimately, I know he has a purpose for his children in Newcastle by me being here, but it's so hard to remember sometimes. We did end up having a miracle first day though. Jason brought his Korean friend, Chris, and he was super keen! They both ended up coming to General Conference and loved it! We also met a really nice girl who knew a little bit about Latter-day Saints because of the Book of Mormon musical! She said she liked the way she felt about the Joseph Smith story and how there are prophets to carry on His 'legend' today! She wasn't super interested because she's not religious, but I think there's potential there. Teaching with Sister Uitu has been really good. She's a powerful missionary and she listens well. The next day, we met some of our recent converts and they already love her. So that's good!! 

Miracles happened that day as well... we missed the bus and I got stressed, so I prayed at the bus stop, thinking what we should do, and I felt prompted to go finding while waiting for the next bus. After about 3 minutes of walking around, I ran into a girl that's on the same rugby team as Janet Parkes' sister...we met her one time and so I stopped her and said Hi! She offered us a ride to Jenni's place which was sweet! Then afterwards, we stopped by the Metcalf's to introduce Sister Uitu to some members, and they invited us to stay for dinner, which was take out Thai and Chinese, so yummy. Then they drove us home. On the way, S. Metcalf asked if we wanted to stop by the Mooseman's, some other members, so we did and ended up having a really spiritual lesson with them. We shared Alma 26:12 and Sister Mooseman said that that's exactly what she needed to hear. For with God, all things are possible. It is so true. Without God, we are weak. He lifts us up to accomplish the impossible. 

General conference this week was awesome! I didn't take heaps of notes, but I did take some. The whole conference being on marriage didn't seem terribly appealing to me as a missionary right now...I understand that everything said is super important and applicable, and I'll need to follow the counsel of our leaders, but it just gave me weird vibes. I can't believe there's a temple in Bangkok! That's awesome! I love listening to conference. The spirit is so strong and I know that they truly are called of God. 

This transfer is going to be one of challenges, trial, learning, growth, and miracles. I can feel it. Just keep praying that I'll be alright :) 

Have a great week. alofa atu :) 

Sister Lew

Me and Sister Ou.  We had the same trainer so we are "sisters".

I'M GOING TO BE A "MUM"!

Central Coast & Newcastle ZC March 2015

That's right, I had the ultra-sound and everything, and it's a girl! Well it's been 9 months since being on my mission and I'm due on Wednesday! :) Perfect timing.  I found out on Friday night when we had a mission-wide conference call…nine missionaries are leaving and 26 missionaries are coming in this transfer. Sister Weiss is a travelling sister in Harbour City (Jealous!!) and I will be training a greenie starting Wednesday! Ah! Scary!

This week has been hectic! Especially the last few days with Easter and transfers.

Last Monday, we went out to Shoal Bay to hike with the Medowie sisters and Charlestown Elders. That was fun! I haven't hiked in heaps long. The view was gorgeous and I just keep thinking how amazing the world is. I look at how beautiful nature is and I can't deny that there is a God. 

Hiking Shoal Bay with the Medowie sisters.

June got baptised on Saturday!! We met with her almost everyday this week to finish teaching her so she could have her baptismal interview. It is amazing how prepared she was to receive the Gospel. She has such a great understanding of it and wants to share it with her family. Her sisters came up for the baptism and it was really cool. She's so cool! She's really independent and I admire how she's willing to rely on members. Her baptismal service was really nice and simple, just the way it should be. 

June's Baptism

We have a new investigator, Billy, who we met at English class and came to church for Easter Sunday! He has a little bit of a Christian background and really wants to learn more about Jesus Christ. He accepted the invitation to be baptised on May 2nd. He's from Monglia and is super keen to learn more about Christ and to follow Him. 

We met with Laura and she's still pretty keen. She's younger than me and it's amazing that she's so interested in learning about Christ and His Gospel...to be honest, I wish more of my friends saw the need for it in their lives. Understanding how Christ and His Atonement can help us in our lives makes it so much easier to live our lives and go in a direction that will bring us happiness. Who doesn't want to be happy?

We still haven't been able to meet with Jason, which is a shame, but this week hopefully! Everyone is on holiday, so it's kind of hectic. 

Jenni is doing really well and so is Tori. They both had us over for dinner this week, and it was nice to be with them. We were with Jenni and her daughter, Kelsie, and her son, Sammy. Kelsie is hilarious…she's 17 and has an 18 month old. I just can't imagine how hard it would be to be that young and have a kid...I look at myself 2 years ago and I had no idea what I was doing. I reflect back and think, 'woah, I've grown up heaps since then'. and at that time, I thought I was grown and mature. She is an amazing young woman who is very mature and I know that she's in this situation because God knows she can handle it very well. 

Tori and mark are doing great, they're super cool. I love hanging out with them. They've already started talking about when and where they want to get sealed!

It's been rainy all week, but we did have a beautiful Easter Sunday. 

We had meal appointments pretty much every day and we got heaps of chocolate. and by heaps, I mean HEAPS. 

So many things are happening in the mission! There were a lot of transfers made, especially with so many new missionaries coming in. I received the call to train the day after transfer calls and I am nervous as. I'm super excited, but super terrified to lead this area. Sister Weiss was an amazing companion and set the bar really high. The members absolutely love her and she is a very good missionary. It's not that I feel inadequate by any means, but it's just a lot of pressure. I'm grateful for Newcastle ward because there are so many members who are willing to help, so that makes it a little easier. Four missionaries from Newcastle are leaving: Elders Brimhall, Wheatley, and Parker, and Sister Weiss :(  They're the missionaries I was closest to in the ward, but that's okay. Their talents and skills and wisdom are needed elsewhere. I loved having Sister Weiss as a companion. Even though we're so different, we got a long really well. She's helped me grow in so many ways, especially to be more confident and bold in myself and in the missionary work. I'm really going to miss her, but I'm excited for the greenie fire that's coming to Newcastle 3!! 

Gonna miss Sister Weiss

Right now I'm working with Sister Vaovasa and we're both training, so she's staying with me and we'll go down to Sydney to get trained then receive our new comps! :) I'm so excited! Terrified but excited!! 

Easter was really good! We had a great sacrament program on different aspects of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and how Easter is all about the fact that Christ lives! He truly does live and because of that, we all can as well. We taught sharing time, which was a lot of fun. I love being in the primary. We didn't have any appointments for Easter until after transfer calls and we scored a lunch and dinner appointment with the Metcalf's and the Boeree's, then we hung out at the Parkes'. They're such great families and I love being in their homes. The spirit is very present and it feels so good when you walk in, especially when things are hard on the mission, being in a member's home where you can actually feel the spirit is the best thing ever. 

Easter morning sunrise walk

Easter morning sunrise walk

Easter morning sunrise walk

Easter morning sunrise walk

Easter morning sunrise walk

We watched the General Women's conference all about families and that was pretty cool, I'm stoked for General Conference this weekend!! It is so great that we have a living prophet today to warn and guide us and to testify of the living Christ.

Elder Brimhall's light coloured suit for Easter!

I know that my Saviour and Redeemer lives. Because of Him, we can learn, grow, experience love and joy, and we can have eternal life with our loved ones. It's that simple. Accepting Christ into our lives brings us so much joy. It always troubles me when I find people who aren't willing to experience that joy for themselves. It's actually heartbreaking. We come to love people as Christ does, and we get rejected and persecuted, but we keep going because the message that we share needs to be offered to everyone. 

If you haven't already checked out the video, watch it! helives.mormon.org

It's beautiful!!

Anyways, I hope you all have a good week. I love you!

Sister Lew

Contemporary Nuns

Elder Arona - he dies this transfer. He's been my AP since I've been here!

Apparently, sister missionaries are just like contemporary nuns...I can deal with that. Other than the fact that we're nothing like nuns (nothing against nuns, I love nuns, we're just totally different)

This is week 8 of our 8 week transfer! It's flown by so fast! This week has been pretty full on. We painted our Stake president's house for service, Sister Weiss broke her toe, zone conference, quite a few teaching appointments, a few dinner appointments, and then just the regular work. 

While we were at our stake presidents house, he gave us (us and the zone leaders) this really great talk about how to help youth prepare for missions. So many don't know what they need to do to be worthy to go (myself included) before they start their mission papers. Especially with Law of Chastity. I don't know why some people make it seem like such a 'taboo' topic, but it's so important for youth to be aware of what they can and can't do. He told us about a fireside he had with the youth recently, and he let them ask questions, then he laid out in black and white what is acceptable and what's not, what will cause you to go through the repentance process, and ways to maintain worthy so that the application process is much smoother. It was really good. Our stake president and his family are way cool. 

Zone conference was heaps good! It was all about working with the ward to hasten the work. Involving the ward is SO important. But it's so hard when we, members, are hard to approach, or come off with the attitude that we're not willing. Ward involvement is so key because the people that missionaries bring into the church will be in that ward, the missionary will leave, and if the members aren't involved, then the chances that recent convert will go less active are much higher because they don't feel included. Wow, that was a long sentence. But it's so true! I wish I had done a much better job studying PMG as a youth and been willing to fellowship for the missionaries. Especially during that 6 week period I was at home. Also, allow the missionaries to come and strengthen the members, not just the investigators. Build relationships with them so that you can trust them because they are doing such an important work. When we have members' support, we feel much more capable about doing the work. I love the members we work with. They're so great!! Not only because they feed us (we had appointments almost every night), but because their testimonies have helped us so much. They're keeping us in line for being obedient and diligent.

The Boeree's...they're tall!

We also got to watch Meet the Mormons again. You should see if you can get it online or something and watch it as a family!! It's pretty good.

Meet the Mormons in a movie theatre! 

I also got your package, finally!!! Thanks so much, mum, for the exercise clothes! I love your jacket, it's so nice and cozy. We were playing soccer and it was 13 C, so it was perfect!! and thanks daddy for the treats and goodies!! They're delicious :) and for the nice surprise!! I love you both so much!!! Elder Laurenson and Elder Arona said that you're pretty cool. Did you get to talk to them much?? 

What else is new.. 

June is doing well! Still on date for this Saturday, so please pray for her. Her sisters are coming up for her baptism, so that'll be really exciting! We have heaps to teach still, but she is so keen.

 

So is Laura! We watched the Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration with her and she loved it, even with all of its cheesiness. It's such a great movie, and confirms my testimony of the Restoration and that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and restored the Priesthood authority to the Earth. We weren't able to see Jason last week, but hopefully we'll see him this week. 

Us & Laura at Max Brenner

Jenni is doing really well! She bore her testimony in church yesterday and it was really nice!! (yesterday was fast and testimony meeting because next week is invitation Easter sunday). 

Jenni's Baptism

Shane Tarawa (part of the giant Maori family) passed away on Friday night. They embalm the body and keep it in the house in an open casket, and people can come by and pay their respects, sit and talk with him, and hold services. Yesterday after church, we went over and they had a nice testimony meeting while sitting around Shane. It was really nice. There were even less actives bearing testimony, and it was so powerful. The Plan of Salvation is real. There is no end to life. Death is simply a separation of our spirits and bodies. We sat around, broke our fast, and then sang songs, which was really cool. That family can sing! The whole Tarawa clan is really chill, I love hanging out with them.  Speaking of less actives, we went to visit Travis and Kirby (PM family) Tarawa and then they came to church on Sunday!! He's been telling us for 3 months they'll come to church and they haven't. But to see them was so lovely. The ward welcomed them in so easily and it was really nice to see them together, all dressed up. :)

I think that's about it for that week. 

I'm so excited for Easter! What better time to preach and testify of Christ than during the time he was resurrected?! He is our Saviour and our Redeemer. He suffered and died for us, overcoming sin for us. He was resurrected, and over came death for us. How cool is that?

Here are a couple of good readings I read this week. I love how everything that is prayerfully studied is so applicable to my current spiritual needs. 

Go Forth in Faith - Elder Perkins

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2015/04/young-adults/go-forth-in-faith?lang=eng

It Isn't a Sin to Be Weak - Sister Ulrich

https://www.lds.org/liahona/2015/04/it-isnt-a-sin-to-be-weak?cid=HP_TH_3-26-2015_dPTH_fLHNA_xLIDyL2-2_&lang=eng

I read a scripture today that I never picked up on, but I thought was really cool. 

1 Nephi 4:3 

"Now behold ye know that this is true...wherefore can ye doubt?" 

When you know the Gospel is true, there is no room for doubt. There is not point in doubting. Truth is truth. and that's what the Gospel is. Why doubt?

I hope you're all doing well. I'm praying for Poh Poh and for all of you. 

Have a great week and a great Easter!!! 

#BecauseHeLives

Love,

Sister Lew

#BecauseHeLives

Drum roll please.......JENNI NORRIS IS BAPTISED AND CONFIRMED! 

After months of trial after trial after trial, Jenni made the decision to be baptised. It was a beautiful service. She's a funny one...we spent most of the week helping her prepare for her baptism. She was worrying and crying most of the time, but then she realised she feels good about her decision. I will admit, I was getting really frustrated because she started panicking over the frilly stuff about the baptism, like what to wear, how to do her hair, the food, etc. and I was thinking to myself, none of that matters. What matters is that you want to follow our Saviour, Jesus Christ. What matters is the ordinance that allows us to have eternal life with our Heavenly Father. But then I realised, I needed to get over myself and my pride, and just roll with it. After I was able to do that, I was heaps less tense. 

Our other investigators are progressing really well. We taught Laura, June, and Jason this week and they're awesome! Seriously, Heavenly Father knows what he's doing. As Sister Weiss and I've met with our investigators, we've been able to see how Heavenly Father has prepared them to receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, the week before Laura met us, she told her parents that she wanted to go to Church, but didn't really know how to go about it. One week later, she met us on the side of the road, on the way to her car, which was in a random place where she doesn't usually park. She was wearing a New York City shirt which was a conversation starter because Sister Weiss is from there. She told us how she knows that meeting us was no coincidence. I know that Heavenly Father is placing us in the path of His children. 

After teaching Jason, I realised my Chinese is really bad again, so I need to really start working on it now that we have Chinese investigators...

What else has happened...

We went visiting teaching with 2 older ladies in our ward. They're so cute!  I love old people :)

We had pretty good trainings this week. One was on how we use our time during Sacrament meeting. The Sacrament is not only for us to renew our baptismal covenant, but all of the covenants we have made with God. It's a time to really think about our Saviour, Jesus Christ, and how we can improve ourselves through the strength that Christ gives us. 

We had another training on having mountains to climb. When we pray for things, especially spiritual gifts, we have typically given trials to push ourselves so we can attain these things. When we endure through trials faithfully, we will be blessed. 

One thing that's stuck out a lot to me since being in Newcastle is that Satan is real. There is opposition in ALL things. We've had 8 baptisms this year so far in our ward. Although so many miracles are happening with the ward and the people we teach, there are so many things that get in the way and try to pull us away from the work. Gossip, rumours, temptation to sin, pride, etc. have been way more apparent and have tried to stop the work from going on. It is absolutely insane and it causes so much stress. I get really frustrated when we try so hard, but our results aren't great. Then I realised, Christ has already suffered for that. He's taken away the pains and suffering of the world so that we don't have to experience it. And he did it for EVERY single person, one by one. 

I can't believe Easter is coming up. It is a great way to reflect on the Atonement of Jesus Christ and that because of Him, we are able to overcome our faults and shortcomings and are able to overcome death. 

I'm so excited for Easter!!! We have a pretty awesome program set for that. It's also invitation Sunday. The area is encouraging everyone to invite someone to church for that Sunday...I would also like to make that same invitation to you! Invite someone new to church for Easter. Sharing the Gospel can sometimes seem hard, but a simple invitation is so easy! If they say no, that's okay, because we won't be held accountable for trying!

I think that's about it for now. I love you all heaps! Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Lew

Hello - March 16

Hello!!

Last week was the biggest roller coaster...emotionally, spiritually, and mentally. ...and I guess physically. Considering the amount of blueberry muffins and chocolate chip cookies I ate, I lost 1 kg! WOOHOO

Me and Sister Remington

We had a rocky start to the week. On Tuesday, we had trade offs with the travelling sisters, so I was with Sister Remington from South Jordan, Utah. She is the biggest sweetheart ever and I love her!! She and I actually had a great day. We found new investigators, contacted formers, had heaps of good finding. She might be going to BYU after her mission, so I'm excited!!! I learned so much from her. One of the things I really took away from our trade off was "The spirit of the law overrides the letter of the law"...so be obedient, but make sure that we're trusting the spirit more than anyone else in terms of what we do.  The other sisters had quite a rough day with our investigators, especially the Rayments and Jenni. Satan works so hard when people are making the right decisions in their lives. Jenni is facing so much opposition from everyone that she loves and cares about. And the Rayments are really struggling temporally. It's really hard to see people that we love struggle and start making bad decisions again. It's so freaking hard. And it's heart-breaking because you want what's best for them because you love them so much. Sister Weiss and I had a really emotional evening where we feel like every thing was going right and then Satan just came in and attacked. Thankfully, Brother Boeree, our Ward Mission Leader, and his wife are super supportive and can always uplift us. 

We went to Meet the Mormons with basically the whole ward, which was awesome! It was so weird being in a movie theater...we got popcorn and peanut m&m's. The movie was so good!!! My goodness, I got so emotional during the last story about the missionary mom. Watching her son open his call, pack his bags, shop at University Mall at Mr. Mac...it was all so familiar and I just cried and cried and thought to myself, I volunteered to leave my family, what did I do to myself??

Then I checked back in and realised I'm here to do the Lord's work and I'm so grateful that I can do it. He has called me to serve. 

If you haven't seen it, go watch it!! 

Because of our rough night, we knew we were going to be blessed and see miracles the next day. We did some tracting and street contacting and have 5 new awesome investigators! One of them even came to Stake Conference!! She's awesome and is so prepared for the Gospel. She has all the right questions and you can just feel the spirit radiate from her. It's amazing. 

Speaking of Stake Conference, we had amazing meetings! Elder Haleck from the Seventy came. The themes of conference were 'Hastening the Lord's work of salvation' and 'Faith in Jesus Christ'...two amazing themes that have really hit home since being on a mission. These are things that not just missionaries, but everyone can really apply to their lives. Sister Howes read the lyrics to 'Come unto Christ' and they were so powerful. Jesus Christ is our Saviour. He provided a way for us to attain eternal life with our Heavenly Father and our family. We just need to trust Him in all that we do. 

President and Sister Howes came up for Stake Conference, so it was nice to have 'mom & dad' around. Sister Howes felloweshipped for our lesson with Jenni and that was a miracle in itself. Jenni was really able to open up about what's going on and she admitted she wanted to back out at first...then she came to realise that this was right for her, and it didnt' matter what her family thought...she knows she needs the Gospel in her life. The spirit was so strong when she came to that realisation in front of us. My goodness..I can't even express how much joy and tears there were in that lesson. 

Other than that...life is good. The Parkes' and the Metcalf's have been really amazing. Sister Parkes had us over twice this week with our investigators. She made us waffles and they were the best waffles I ever had...actually Dave, her husband did, they were so good. I love being in their home. The spirit is so strong and their efforts in the Lord's work are enormous.  They introduced a new sport to us that we'll have to play at FHE when I get home. Sock Wrestling...two people each have a sock on a foot and you try to get the sock off the other person before they get yours. It's crazy. 

Oh yeah, we also have another investigator, June! She's from the Soloman islands and her bf in Fiji joined the church in November and she just moved to Newcastle and wants to learn more! She's on date for April 4th!

Life is good. and Heavenly Father is blessing us. We need to endure and rely on Christ to give us the strength to do so. If you haven't already read the March 2015 Ensign, do it! It's so good!!! 

Also, don't gossip, especially about missionaries. It just causes unnecessary problems.

I love you heaps and hope you have a great week!!

Sister Lew