Update

Background:  Cameron Lewis is my brother, Gary's son.  Gary is a bishop in Truckee, CA.   Lewiston, UT was named after my great-great grandfather, William Hendricks Lewis.  (I met the new Sacramento Mission President (President Lewis) a few weeks ago and his g-g grandfather is also W. H. Lewis...our great grandfathers were brothers. The world continues to get smaller).  For those of you who would like to read the talk that she mentions titled, "It's True, isn't it?" can read it here: http://lds.org/liahona/1993/10/its-true-isnt-it?lang=eng&query=its+true+isn%e2%80%99t+gordon+hinckley .  I am going to print it and send it to her.  - Val

From: Janell Lewis

Date: Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 9:28 AM

Thank you so much for the jacket and the scarves and hats. They will come in handy in a few weeks. Don't worry about the gloves. I got some from another sister.
I do like the soap you sent to me. I am still using it. Thank you!
Thank Diane for the cupcakes. I didn't know they were from her. They were FANTASTIC!
I LOVED reading about Mindy's proselyting techniques. Oh that was awesome! I wanted to be there. I would LOVE to try that out here. It is such a cool idea. I will have to share it with some others to see if it would be possible. The colleges here have some strict rules so I don't know if it would be possible but that was such an awesome idea! If anybody else has some good ideas please let me know. Sister Gordon and I are excepting ideas:)

I love that you told me about the miracles that are happening for the family. I pray everyday for all of you. I love all of you so much. It is quite incredible how important this work is to our Father in Heaven. He is SO aware of all of us and of all our prayers. He does answer prayers! I love to know that everyone is doing well. Keep me updated with everything.

I got a letter from Brian and Lori and family. I LOVED IT! Thank you so much! I love that I am serving with my nieces and nephews. Some people laugh when I tell them that but I can't imagine it another way. I love hearing their testimonies and their ideas. I wish I could be serving closer to them...good thing that Trent gets to come here then huh?:) I love my nieces and nephews so much. It is funny when ever a child comes into the VC I am immediately talking to them. I forget to say hi to the parents and I just talk to them no matter what age they are. We talk about Jesus and listen to the Christus. I think the parents are shocked that we have so much to say to each other. A couple of the Sister missionaries have commented on how well I talk with the young ones. I tell them it's just cause I love them so much and they are like my nieces and nephews that I miss so much. Some of the Sisters say that they don't know what to say to the little ones. I just wish I could talk to them all day. I guess we all have our different talents and loves.

Oh I hear that Cameron Lewis is living in Virgina super near by. There is an Elder in my mission, Elder Shirleff, who is in Gary's home ward and so Gary writes him all the time. He is also friends with Cameron and Cameron told him that he was going to take him out to lunch. I told the Elder that they should come stop by the VC and "watch a movie" or something. Ha! I'm so sneaky. That would be fun to see my cousin here.

I met a guy yesterday that was from Lewiston, UT. I showed him my name tag and he said that there weren't too many Lewis' left in Lewiston. I just thought it was cool that someone from Lewiston came to the VC.

So we had a miracle last Sunday. There is a girl in our ward that called us last Friday and said that she is getting baptized this upcoming Sunday and that she was told that she needed to talk to us first. So...we have a new investigator that is getting baptized this Sunday and we didn't do anything to help her learn anything. She has been investigating the church for about a year and a half. She has the most amazing story. It made me cry when she was talking to us. She at one point was a Catholic missionary! Just goes to show that this is the true church. She told us about a talk that her friend gave her to read entitled "It's true, isn't it" by President Hinckley. I want to find it and read it. She said that when she read it she knew. That was the talk that finally pushed her to know what she needed to do after time and time of answers being given to her. I'm so excited for her. She is awesome. I hope that some of our investigators will be able to attend her baptism and listen to her testimony. There is so much strength in testimonies.

I love this work! It is so awesome. Another miracle is that Karl, the recent convert, is now talking about going on a mission. He said that he wants to but is not sure how financially he will pay for it since his parents aren't members and probably won't be too happy about all of it. I told him that Heavenly Father will provide a way when if he has that desire. He is such a great kid. Maybe you all could have him over for dinner or something at Christmas when he is home in Folsom for Christmas. That would be cool for you to meet him.

Well, I love this work. I love the Book of Mormon. I am currently reading 5 chapters a day because I told you how we are reading with Andrea, an investigator of ours. She is awesome. The Book of Mormon is SO wonderful. It was indeed written for our day. It strengthens my testimony everyday. I love my Savior so much. It is because of Him that we have all that we have. He is our Savior and Redeemer. He is our advocate with the Father. He is one that we talk of and testify of. Having true faith in Him is our key to any type of happiness. This gospel is TRUE! It IS true, isn't it?!

I love you all so much! Thank you so much for all of your prayers and love. I feel it everyday. Keep the letters coming and the miracles coming. I love knowing about all of it. Go preach the gospel! People are ready to hear it!

Love you all!

Sister Lewis

News & Photos

Background: "Trenton" is our grandson who was just called to serve in the Maryland, Baltimore Mission (adjacent to Washington DC North Mission); "Grow" is like a family member from our ward who is returning from his mission next week (Philippines).  I've attached some of the photos for her blog: #131 - (Top) Sister Otieno, Claudia, Javier (recent convert), Sister L; (Middle) Sister Chan (Hong Kong), Sister O, Sister L, Sister Joost (P-Day); (Bottom) Sister L and Jenny Jarimillo (from Colombia); #132 - (Top) Sister L (thinking of Halloween?); (Bottom) Perla and Sister L (birthday picnic); #133 - (Top) Sister O, Karl (1st baptism), Sister L (after DC Temple VC fireside); (Middle) Sister O, Karl, Sister L (at Karl's baptism); Sister O & L.  Address: Washington DC North Mission, 11700 Falls Road, Potomac, MD 20854-2823   - Val

HELLO! I can't believe that it is Wednesday again. It has gone by super fast! Sounds like you all have been busy as normal which is fun to hear about. Is Trenton so excited that he'll be so close to his wonderful aunt?? haha:)

I think my package is at the VC but I will get it tomorrow. Thank you for sending it. I will let you know if I need you to send any of the other ones. I'm thinking the grey one and my scarfs would be great. If you want to put in some gloves as well...I wouldn't complain:) YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

That is so funny that Grow gets home so soon...or is home now. Tell him I say hello. I'm glad that you got the pics I sent. I have to be better about writing in my journal because you are right, I will forget.

Ok so last Saturday at the VC the young women from a stake nearby came and did something called "mini mission day" or something like that. They got to hang out with us for half of the day and experience being a missionary. It was so fun to have them! I got a girl named Sister Bearman who is 15. She is the cutest thing. She was nervous to talk to people at the beginning of the day but by the end she was ready to go off and talk to people by herself. I did get a pic with her which I will send at some point. She gave me a big hug before she left. She will be a great missionary someday. In my area we are teaching a girl named Andrea. She is so great. She wants to read all of the Book of Mormon before she commits to anything so after praying about it I suggested that we read with her 5 chapters per/day. That means that we will finish the Book November 3rd. I am so loving this challenge. It has been so great. The more and more that I am reading the more I am getting how much Heavenly Father and our Savior love all of us. They love us sooooo much! I really do love the Book of Mormon. I wish that more people would just read it.

So dad sent me an email asking what stake my companion is from in Logan. I know that it is not his because she lives outside of Logan and it's not Paradise. I am with another companion today so I will ask her when I see her today.

So I will be performing in the Christmas program at the VC. I don't know the song yet still but pretty much they are planning on singing Galena fireside type songs. I have these flashbacks and I laugh to myself. Sometimes a dance pops into my head as well:) It should be good. I was also asked to sing a solo for a "Night of Music and Inspiration". I don't feel super confident doing that but whatever I guess. They will reap the consequences of that choice...hahaha!

Well I'd better get going. The Elders want to use the computers now. Silly Elders.

I love you all so much! Keep me updated with everything!

Love,

Sister Lewis

More News

Background:  Trent is our grandson...Craig and Denise's second son.  If any of you want to email your "Why I Believe" story to me, I will copy and send them to Janell, or you can mail them to her at: Sister Janell Lewis, Washington DC North Mission, 11700 Falls Road, Potomac, MD 20854-2823.   -Val
 

Wow! There is so much going on...but I LOVE it!!! Ok, first things first. I just screamed when I heard Trent's mission call. MARYLAND BABY!! AND that mission is right next to mine so often Elders from that mission come bring investigators to the VC so that means...TRENT I'LL SEE YOU IN MARYLAND!!! (Just bring your investigators to the VC and I will give you all a tour! It will be awesome to see peoples faces once I tell them that I'm your aunt. Just don't tell your mission president cause he might not let you come:) jk) I had a friend that I worked with that had the exact mission. There are some major ghetto parts so be careful and become friends with all the gang members:) You will love it i know!

So awesome that Lynda is learning violin. I love the violin. I wish I had more of those musical abilities. That will be so fun for her. To answer some of your questions, I was just asked to participate in the Christmas program that the Sisters do in December for a couple of the nights. I don't know what yet but I will let you know. But I DO get to be at the VC every night in December because thousands of people come through and all the Sister missionaries have to be working all those nights. Apparently there are a lot of miracles that take place during that time so I will do my best to keep you posted. I don't know if I can watch all of the performances because there are a lot of different posts to cover but I may be able to see some. I am trying to work it with one of the senior couple Elders to help me learn the sound system in the main theatre so that I can be there for everything! You know how I love the theatre! Also there is a fireside most Sunday nights at the VC. The "Why I Believe" fireside is once a month. Which brings me to my first request: I would love to get as many of you as possible to send me "why YOU believe". I love to hear these. You can just write me and tell me why you believe or how you know the gospel to be true. This would be wonderful if you could do that. Thanks!

SO yes I LOVED conference too! I found that most everybody answered a question that I had or talked about something that I have been thinking about lately. It was so wonderful. We also had a couple of investigators watch it too and they loved it. How can you not really? It seemed to go by too fast. I wanted more. Funny how things change from when I was young. Conference always seemed long and I would love to sleep during it or do something else while listening. It is now my favorite time of year and all I want to do is listen and write down notes and thoughts. It goes by too fast now. Ha, I really do love that we have a prophet today. We are so blessed! I noticed that all of them talked about the importance of reading the Book of Mormon. Wow, I really do love the Book of Mormon too. And of course the church is awesome because they just had the Ensign come out that talks ALL about the Book of Mormon. I LOVE this issue of the Ensign. If you haven't read it, read it. It is soooo good! My companion laughed at me and said, "wow, you sure do love that Ensign". I think it is especially because of the subject of what is inside. There truly power in that Book. They always talk about the power of the Book of Mormon but it is true. I have come to realize more and more the power in it's pages. It invites the Spirit to be with us when we read. It seems like such a simple thing but...by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. This is TRUE! Reading and prayer are ESSENTIAL! If we are having a hard time in life, the scriptures are one of the best remedies. I tell you what, I know this to be true. I sure do love this gospel with all my heart. I am learning more and more everyday. I love the prophet. We heard some wise counsel in conference from him. I loved when someone quoted him when he told him, "Remember, it's better to look up". I think there is so much importance in that. To look up instead of down. To turn to our Savior in times of need. He is there for us. The Book of Mormon testifies of him. We have SO many witnesses and evidences of the truthfulness of the gospel. There are thousands of evidences in the scriptures alone. People can read for themselves to know of the truth. Give em a Book of Mormon.

Well I just get really excited after I study so there you go. Ha! By the way funny thing happened the other day in the VC. I saw a friend of mine that was in a show with me a year ago. His name is Jared. Rene and Dave know him. He was just in the area and wanted to stop by. He had no idea that I was there on a mission. It was fun to see him.

By the way mom, my p-day will be on wednesdays for the rest of this transfer (6 weeks). I LOVE the chocolate you sent. Thank you for sending the skirts. I haven't gotten them yet but I should see them soon. I am getting cold because I have NO winter clothes at all. Sending maybe my black jacket would be nice and maybe I will go buy a winter coat. I don't know if I have a good winter jacket at home. Email me if you find one. So, I might have to buy some winter things if you don't mind. I also have to get my hair done today just to let you know. I miss you all so much. I LOVED the pic of Dobbie. I loved the cupcake face thing. I love hearing about Mindy. I get her letters but don't have much time to read all of them. She looks so good. I wish I could be serving with her. This work is so great! We had some people from Russia come into the VC the other night. We played the Christus in Russian for them. Wish Min were here to proclaim the gospel to them:) I will keep you all in my prayers. Have fun in AZ and take pictures! I love you all so much!!!!

Oh ya i forgot to talk about my companion. Her name is Sister Gordon and she is from Logan, UT. She is such a cute and loving girl. She is a joy to be around and I think this transfer is going to be so great! I wish I could tell you more but I have to run. See you!

Sister Lewis