"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.