"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.

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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.

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