"Ich habe Sie lieb" - From Solothurn - September 8, 2014

Sorry if this email was scrambled in 7 different emails.  I love you all.

Yes Mommy I'm going to Luzern! And I'm going to work with another American again, Amanda Oswald.

She's  from Sandy, Utah. her father is Swiss. She started studying at BYU Hawaii and she also went to BYU Jerusalem. She was in my zone for two transfers. I know her fairly well.

The Luzern sisters actually had to call us yesterday because of something Sister Falke needed from a member here in Solothurn. So I talked to them for a minute and Sister Falke said she and Sister Oswald prayed that I would come to Luzern. I thought she was just saying that to be nice, but she explained that she and Sister Oswald had really thought about who would be a good fit for the work in Luzern and they decided I would be so they prayed that I would come. That made me feel really good and more at peace and more excited to go there.

This is the third time I have replaced Sister Falke. She is now going home. I have had all of her areas, but she did not go to Wien 1! I also already have my new address:

Kirche Jesu Christi

Sister Lewis

Bernstrasse 27

CH-6003 Luzern

Schweiz

And I want to tell you about this transfer. I knew I was going. That was clear to me. Poor Sister Bognar is worried about taking over such a large area after only 6 weeks. But this is the second time she has done that. But this time she won't even have the elders to turn to for help if she gets lost or something. Elder Kelly is quite pleased with his transfer. He's going to Ebnat, whitewashing (that's when an area gets two new missionaries at the same time), training another golden, and he will be district leader. He is also excited that the apartment in Ebnat is one of the biggest in the mission and he will get a car!  And Elder Cottam who is staying here is also getting a golden!! He's so nervous.

I'm excited to hear all about missionary week (I'm so proud of you!) and Dad. But Mom when can we come back to Switzerland? I tell everyone that I will be back to visit them and they sometimes say something like "yeah that's what they all say." And I say "no I really will! My parents PROMISED me we would come back together."

   

Some very fast other information! This week we were in charge of young womens and we did a sort of race where we used first Nephi and the young women had to get to the tree of life, build a boat, and such things. It was good. 

Also did I tell you we went back to that chapel in the woods with Ivanka and Sara to have a lesson. 

Also I love being a missionary. And this week we taught a family who is super orthodox and they have a prayer room with lots of pictures of Jesus and Mary. 


Remember earlier in my mission President Miles changed the guidelines about when we were to use "du" and "Sie" with other missionaries etc.  Then last week President Kohler changed the guideline so that  we had to say "Sie" to everyone over 18, including our companions. But he changed it again today so that we can say du to missionaries of our same gender. But last night as we were in bed (this is the quote of the week) Sister Bognar said, "Ich habe Sie lieb!" I said, "I'm pretty sure nobody EVER says that." And then I just said it in English, "Love you too!" Because if you're telling someone that you love them you are probably not using sie sprache with them! 

Also this week we finally got to see Michelle again. She does not want to come to church, but she does want to see us. We explained our purpose as missionaries, which is primarily to bring people closer to Christ, and she and Sister Bognar are friends now, so I'm hoping teaching her will go well.

We also did lots of service this week helping someone paint and someone else clean out their pool.

This is truly miraculous. It's about the two men that I wrote about who got baptized right after Sister McEwen got to St. Gallen....they were the two baptisms from Sister Blohm who I told you were missing. I know God loves everyone and is so aware of all of us. Read this from Sister Blohm to know why!!!

FROM an email from Sister Blohm

The micales of prayer keep happening, this is a letter from the missionary couple Schwabe, telling that both Hope and Darlington how got baptized are doing great.

The Lord is really great, he makes miracles.

********

Dear Sister Blohm,

We hope you are enjoying Austria, and perhaps even seeing a little of Sister McEwen. We have some good news for your.

The Elder and Bishop received a phone call from Darlington. He is back in Nigeria, and has found the church near him. We didn’t get to speak to him, and they didn’t speak long, but it was good to know that he is safe and well and that he will attend church in Nigeria.

Also, Sister Bakka and Sister Maattaa saw Hope at the St. Gallen Bahnhof last week. He came to Church and it was so good to see him. He was unfortunately in the house of a friend when the police came and he was arrested with them, and went to jail for six months. But he is out now, and hopefully we will get to see him more every week. So that is so great that we hear from them, and that it did mean a lot to them to have found the gospel, which will hopefully help them in their lives in the future.

*********
Also I love being a missionary.  I'm going to miss my Solothurn friends. 

"Life is good" - September 2, 2014 - From Solothurn

Hi Family!  I liked hearing your thoughts about the less active people we work with and what those other missionaries said.   I absolutely know that to be true but sometimes I just get frustrated/discouraged when I don't know if I'm making a difference. But do you know what? We had 4 less active friends in church yesterday. :-)  (FYI -  There are great blessings that come from attending church meetings.  Being able to renew your covenants with Heavenly Father when taking the sacrament and being surrounded by other people just trying their best to be their best.  It's a wonderful time to make a "course correction" if you have gone off course.  And even if you are feeling prideful and don't think YOU need to be at church that Sunday, someone else might just really need you to be there.  Most of God's miracles occur through us, his children, listening to the promptings of the spirit and making a difference in someone's life.  So, yes, Sister Kate's work with those who are less active can really lift someone and help them to see their place in God's kingdom.  We just all really need each other.)

Mom I'm so proud of you for finishing Alma (FYI - a long chapter in the Book of Mormon).  I've been very committed to reading my scriptures daily and I can tell that it's blessing me and helping me be more mindful of who Heavenly Father needs me to be.  It's a good feeling. :-) and for doing family history! (FYI - Since we believe that family relationships are eternal, we know we will meet members of our family that we have never met in the eternities.  Doing family history research...learning about your ancestors...brings you to a new appreciation of them and of your own heritage. So yes, I've been trying to fill in some blanks and it's starting to be fun.  Like putting together a huge puzzle!)

I can't believe you're having a missionary support week! Maybe when you move you will know what it is like to be transferred. How did the week at the cabin go? Family I'm so impressed with you. Most supportive missionary family award goes to . . . MY FAMILY!!

I got the Kleine Tag and the speaker! Thank you!! I love the Kleine Tag so much.(This was a German musical that her German companion Sister Siems introduced her too and she asked for a copy because she missed it now that she is no longer companions with Sister Siems.  So I was able to order it from Amazon in Deutschland!) 

Want to hear a miracle?! Of course you do. So a while ago Sister Bognar and I were on the bus (wait, we're always on the bus) and this lady kept looking at Sister Bognar's nametag and finally she asked her if she was Hungarian. And then they started talking really fast in Hungarian and hugged and it was adorable. She is the sweetest old lady. And then the lady got off the bus after talking to Sister Bognar for a while and she said, "I live really close to your church! I hope you will come and visit me." The problem is, a lot of people live close to the church. But we also have this member who has decided to refer all of her friends to us and she gives us a poem to give to her friends and we go deliver the poem and see if her friends are willing to hear our message. We have been asking and getting a lot of referrals! I can't say that anyone has become an investigator but I can say that people have come nearer to Jesus Christ, and that is what my work as a missionary is all about. Working with the members in this way has been a blessing to our missionary work. So the Sunday after that this member gave us another referral and Sister Bognar recognized the name right away! It was the Hungarian woman! And that was actually a few weeks ago but since then we have tried visiting the lady a few times and no one was ever home. Well yesterday she was!! And we visited with her and her husband and her son and taught them a lesson. And we talked in German and Hungarian (yeah obviously I didn't speak in Hungarian but I did say the one word I could remember) and now the lady has a Book of Mormon in Hungarian. She's not a new investigator yet, but we will see her again. Miracle!

Another cool thing. A lady in our ward who teaches a primary class had her class draw little pictures and write notes for the little girl who never comes because her family is less active. Then she gave us the pictures and notes to deliver. So we went there this week and were able to have a lesson with her. It was totally meant to be. We actually had a lesson planned for that time that fell out and then the other investigator we went by on wasn't home so we finally went there. And not only was the family home but the father of the family (the one who is less excited about contact with the church) was sick and upstairs. So she invited us in and we turned off the tv and were able to have a good talk. I know from members that usually the dad is always in front of that tv and I think if he had been there the tv would never have been turned off and we would have never had a lesson. I’m so grateful it turned out that way.

The service for the friend of that member went well. He told us not to try and preach or anything but this family is very religious so they brought up the topic themselves. We were able to have a good discussion.

We went on a walk with Ivanka and Sara and had a lesson in the mountains. That made me happy.

A quote from Elder D. Todd Christofferson:

"Having satisfied the demands of justice, Christ now steps into the place of justice; or we might say He is justice, just as He is love. Likewise, besides being a 'perfect, just God,' He is a perfect, merciful God. Thus, the Savior makes all things right. No injustice in mortality is permanent, even death, for He restores life again. No injury, disability, betrayal, or abuse goes uncompensated in the end because of His ultimate justice and mercy."

This is what I wish we all understood. Yes, terrible things happen. I know that I myself have not suffered very much, and that this probably sounds ridiculous coming from me, but I know that through Jesus Christ everything will eventually be made right. He suffered all things. No injustice in mortality is permanent!! Our loving Father in Heaven made a plan for us. Our time on earth is only a part of this plan. And then, if we endure it well, God will exalt us on high (D&C 121:8). We can live with our Heavenly Father again.

Well, life is good. I'm a happy missionary. I'm grateful to be here. I'm grateful for supportive members. Love you all.

"You will be the wife of the Prophet!" - August 25, 2014 - From Solothurn

August 25, 2014

Hi to the fam!! Mom I got your letter today but I think you forgot to copy and paste some things into the last paragraph of the first page . . . And I still want those parts ha ha. I appreciate what you said about not wanting to talk too much about me coming home. I realize that there are some things we will have to figure out before then, but yeah I don't really want to hear from anyone how soon I come home or anything. I mean at least wait until my last transfer!! I have time. And if I feel like figuring out how much longer I have until I go home then I can do it myself!

Quotes of the week:

My best friend Esther: "You don't have to be a cheesy American!"

Me: "But I am a cheesy American."

Esther: "No you're not . . . you're half Swiss."

Elder Cottam: "There's a lot of German going on around me that I don't understand . . . Just kidding! I understand at least 10%."

Nuria: "Sister Lewis you will be the wife of the prophet."

Now that's a new one!

Sister Bognar: "Every ward has its problems, but this ward . . . Whoa."

Ha ha I had to laugh.

Last P-day we went on a little hike to Einsiedelei, or in English, the Verana Gorge and Hermitage. That was a fun little baby adventure. The hermitage has been in existence since the 17th Century and has "stations of the cross" dating from 1613 that were restored around 1990.

Sister Kate the tree hugger...some things don't change even when you're a missionary!

  

So I was writing this email and I started realizing a common theme: MEMBER MISSIONARY WORK! I am so grateful for the people who are actively involved in the work of salvation. There are so many different ways to be involved. So here are just a few examples.

As you can see from the pictures, we had a relief society activity (These activities typically occur on a weeknight from time to time and can range from being a service project, to simply a gathering that reinforces gospel living and friendships). They made znüni and zveri more exciting for little kids (their healthy snack time at 9 and 4). The member missionary work lesson here is that I was grateful for an older sister who talked with Tatyana (a new convert) and I think they really formed a friendship during this activity.

Just barely an investigator called us who I sort of thought we had lost. Since Sister Bognar has been here she has cancelled two appointments and Sister Bognar hasn't even met her. Last week we went by and left her a note and a little treat and we still heard nothing. But she just called! And she apologized for being MIA and told us about how bad her health has been but that she appreciated that we left something at her door. So that made me happy.

By the way, we found this lady through "gardening." This was my new plan, especially for summer. It's obviously better than dooring, because the people are already there. Just when you're walking somewhere you look for the people who are outside in their yards. So it's different than dooring and streeting. And I named it "gardening."

So this weekend we had our two baptisms! Good stuff. We were really grateful that Mulugatha didn't come for the baptism on Sunday. Yes Mom, like you said in your letter, I have heard a lot of things from members about auslanders and stuff and I appreciated your scripture. Obviously it is tough that Mulugatha doesn't speak German, and yes he could have been better integrated into the ward and I wish the elders would have had more joint teaches, but all I can say is the people who came to his baptism are PURE GOLD. I am so grateful for them. The Meyers were there, Gregor was there, Bruder Schmidtke was there, Guisseppe was there, the Pangs were there, Bruder Sturzenegger was there, the Launers were there, Osax was there (not a member but the one Sister Blohm and I found who was going to be baptized on Saturday), and 5 sets of missionaries were there. And that was everyone. Sister Bognar took pictures of everyone for Mulugatha. And he is so grateful. Sister Bognar and I were talking about how Mulugatha is one of the most humble people we have ever met. I love the picture where he and Elder Ekenobaye are practicing for the baptism. He was so sincere about the whole thing. And he was confirmed yesterday by Bruder Meyer. I just gave my talk in English but I think it went well. We invited a lot of people so we were a little disappointed that not more of them came.

These next two examples of member missionary work make me think specifically about following up (see Elder Ballard's talk from conference).

It was such a contrast to have Mulugatha's baptism on Saturday and Megi Jäger's on Sunday. We knew it would be. The food at Megi's was like the food you would prepare for a small wedding. So the first example. I was so proud of Sister Jäger for not only inviting her non-member friends to the baptism, but for making sure we (the missionaries) knew who at the baptism was visiting (there were also several members from other wards there so you couldn't just count on it being the people you didn't already know). We were already trying to find the people ourselves, but she would come up to us and ask me which of her non-member friends we had talked to and how it went. And she had Books of Mormon out and she gave one of them away to one of her friends who came! I was just so grateful that she not only invited her friends, but made sure they interacted with the missionaries and were really there for a great event. I love her so much. And we (the missionaries) had some good discussions with her non-member friends. They seemed to really enjoy it. I think there were at least 5 non-members there.

So this miracle happened where Sister Bognar and I were on our way to go by on a less active when we ran into a member. And because he's one of the best member missionaries I have ever met (he is the one who found Guisseppe), he said, "Hey I'm on my way to visit my friend do you want to come and meet him really fast?" So we did. We met his friend and his cute family. They are very Muslim and very nice and they are in the middle of moving. So of course, we offered our help. We gave them our card and let them know that we really would love to help them in any way we could. But, because people are people and they don't like to ask strangers for help, they probably would have never called us. But this week we got a call from him. He was at their house again and he just played the middle man and talked to the wife of his friend and to us at the same time and set up a time when we can come help clean the old house after they have moved out.

Then another time this week we ran into some members on the bus. And the man asked Sister Bognar, "Now what is your name again?" And she taught him how to say her name and she practiced. And he said something like, "Oh good now we can pray for Sister Lewis and Sister Bognar instead of just praying for Sister Lewis and her companion." They pray for us by name! Every night! How cool is that?! Praying for the missionaries serving in your area by name is not a bad idea.

So in line with this member missionary email, is this quote from President James E. Faust:

"Each one of us can be on a mission and be involved in a cause that is greater than we are, the greatest cause of all in the world: the salvation of each of our Father's children."

I'm grateful for the involvement of members in member missionary work, more accurately described as the work of salvation. I get that some people are frustrated because they can't "find people for the missionaries to teach." But that's not the only way to help the missionaries! Get creative. Use your strengths. Befriend less actives or recent converts. Strengthen active members! Everyone needs strengthening. Do your home teaching and visiting teaching! Go to the temple! Do your family history! Fellowship the people the missionaries are already teaching! Attend convert baptism, even if you don't know the convert personally! Or send your husband to a baptism baptism with a cake for after the baptism even though you have five kids and have too much going on that night to go yourself (I love Sister Schmidtke). And keep trying. Don't base your success only on the progress you can see (someone getting baptized or going to the temple or coming back to church). When you talk to your Father in Heaven about your efforts to serve His children, He will let us know that He is pleased. And that we have been successful in helping someone come nearer to Him and His Son Jesus Christ.

Also, I hope you don't think I'm just being preachy Sister Lewis. Yeah I'm not going home for a long time, but this email about member missionary work is also for me when I one day (ohhhh nooooo sad day) don't wear a name tag anymore.

I love you all. Life is good.

"Lángos in Hungary is like hamburgers in America" - August 18, 2014 - From Solothurn

 Family!

I loved seeing the pictures and I am so happy that you had such fun in Lake Powell. Now I know you are just all even more excited for when I can come. :-) Mommy, I got my letter with the pictures this morning and I was sooo happy!

So I thought I explained this at one point but I guess I will give writing down a "typical day" my best shot, since Daddy asked. But every day is seriously so different.

So the morning doesn't usually change a whole lot unless we have an early appointment for some reason and have to do study later.

6:30 - wake up, pray, and exercise for 30 minutes

7:00 (or actually a little later when the 30 minutes is over) - get ready, eat breakfast

8:00 - personal study (the best)

9:00 - companionship study

Now things start to change a lot. Sometimes we do language study and then lunch and then get out and start doing missionary work outside the apartment. Sometimes we leave at 10:00 and then we come back for lunch, have a lunch appointment, or grab something outside. Sometimes language study actually gets jipped which would explain . . . wait I'm not allowed to say that my German is bad.

So I'll walk you through Wednesday. We had normal studies (including language study after companionship study) and then we took a bus and then a train to get to our lunch appoint with an older couple who is less active. Now I will tell you about that. In Switzerland I don't see so many unsanitary things, but I did this day. I used their bathroom and in order to do so I had to walk through their kitchen. Which meant I had to see where our food had been prepared, and the kitchen was disgusting. Not only was there cat food right next to our food on the counter, but just everything was grimy and dirty. They have a toilet in their garage but there is no door. Or any soap at the sink next to the toilet in the garage to wash your hands with. Which meant I had to wash them in the kitchen and see even more of the kitchen before I ate lunch. Rough. We are trying to help this couple but they are just old and part of the reason they don't come to church is because she has such bad health, but I think there are other reasons too. On this day I heard all the same stories I heard when I visited this couple with Sister Blohm for the second or third time. The man actually got baptized insanely fast and went through the lessons in one week so he could marry the woman. So we would like to teach him the new convert lessons and we started to but it didn't go that well because they just never stop talking and telling stories. But he could really use the lessons again because he even said himself that he doesn't know anything anymore.

After that we had planned to help a member in her garden but we couldn't because it had been raining and she said the soil was too wet. So we made our own service project and cleaned the outside of the church. I actually feel like our building is not well-kept enough, especially on the outside. About a month ago some kids drew on the side of the church with sidewalk chalk and the sidewalk chalk has just been there for about a month now for the whole world to see and has been really annoying Sister Lewis. So since no one had taken care of it we decided washing off the chalk was a job for the sister missionaries (see pictures).

During our service project we got a text from A. that she couldn't meet that night. Then we were miraculously able to make out an appointment with T. for that night.

So we tried going by on a referral, who wasn't home, and then we went took another train and taught Tatyana a lesson.

Sister Blohm and I once found a potential who lives near T. who wanted a BOM in Arabic but he was never home when we tried to bring it to him. And we didn't want to just leave it in his mailbox. So Sister Bognar and I tried again and he was home and we gave him his BOM in Arabic.

After that I think we had to take the train to Bellach and walk home and eat dinner and then plan the next day and go to bed. And of course we tried to talk to people who were put in our path during the day. So that's one day.

The picture of us with the Olten sign at the train station is because we were in Oensingen trying to go to Oberbuchsiten, which is richtung (direction) Olten, but apparently I put us on a train that went directly to Olten without stopping. So we were outside of our area. Awkward how in the 10 minutes we were in the Olten train station before we could get on a train back to our area we ran into the Aarau elders. But it was great because we also ran into a member who needed to take our same train and we were able to have a really good talk with her on the train ride back. Apparently I will still make stupid mistakes like that after 14 months on a mission and after 5 months in this area. 

That being said, I have, predictably, never been so led by the Lord in what I do as I have as a missionary. My goal is obviously to be a tool in his hands, and when plans fall through we have to expect that He has a greater plan. And when things go wrong, we can even assume that the change of course may also be part of His plan. That isn't always easy, but my goal is really that I want Heavenly Father to be able to count on Sister Lewis. I want Him to know that He can put someone across from me on the bus who is ready to learn something about the gospel and that Sister Lewis will speak to them. I don't care if all our plans fall through if we can accomplish something greater for Him (although we did try to make our plan with His inspiration in the first place). So I'm not going to say that God didn't actually really want for us to interact with the man on the train that we met or have this good talk with one of our ward members.

Also don't be too disgusted by the picture of the bread in the oil. It's Hungarian, okay?! It's called làngos (but you say it langosh) and we're never going to make it again . . .  I hope. But you eat it with sour cream and meat or cheese (did I tell you Sister Bognar is allergic to all meat? except not to fish.) Also her name is actually Sister Bognàr but I'm too lazy to put the special a every time.

So quote of the week:

Sister Bognar: "Làngos in Hungary is like hamburgers in America."

Oh also we got controlled by the police this week. Apparently in Grenchen, where we were at the time, they have been having some problems with beggars. So they asked for our ID and stuff and asked the old man we had been talking to (who knew some members!) about our conversation with him. And he was the nicest and was very defensive of us. He is from Italy so one of the police officers spoke Italian with him and he kept saying, "Solo Gott!" meaning that we had only spoken with him about God.

So actually only one of the elders' investigators is getting baptized this Saturday. Apparently the one we found for them and his friend are not quite ready yet. But this investigator's name is Mulugatha and I have never taught him I just always talk to him at church and whenever I see him (we had to escort him to Zollikofen for his baptismal interview with the mission president this week because the elders couldn't). 

You'll see a picture of him in front of the temple. And then after Mulugatha's interview we had district meeting and interviews with President Kohler. But yesterday we had ward council before church and we were talking about the baptism and the bishop was asking about the baptismal program and the elders said it was all finished and Mulugatha had decided what he wanted. So they asked who was speaking and Elder Kelly says, "There will only be one talk and it will be Sister Lewis." That was the first time I had heard of this. So not only am I talking at Mulugatha's baptism this Saturday, I am the only speaker. One man show. Sister Lewis. Speaking in English and German so that Mulugatha and the ward can both understand. No idea how that's going to work. :-)

And my dear little Megi Jäger (she's the one who wrote on the board that I am the best sister, the sweetheart. I asked Sister Bognar to take a picture ha ha) is getting baptized on Sunday

Spiritual quote of the week:

This is commentary from Jesus the Christ on when Jesus Christ condemned divorce: "By making marriage indissoluable, He proclaimed the equal rights of woman and man within the family, and in this, gave their charter of nobility to mothers around the world. In her nobler position in the Christian era, compared with that granted her in antiquity, woman is indebted to Jesus Christ." (J the C p. 484)

Isn't that cool? Thanks Jesus.

Bye love you.

Looks like instead of names on Coke bottles, they have phrases!
This one says "eternal love"! 

LIFE IS GOOD