Finally the Adventure Begins

Family!

 

Oh it is so good to finally write you!  Thank you so much for the Letters!  The MTC is so much different than I was expecting yet I love it at the same time.  Mi companera is awesome!  My companion, Hermana Casiano, is from Eugene, Oregon.  She is serving in Arizona and will be leaving the same time as me.  I think God knows me all too well.  He blessed me with the only sister who is a gym junky just like myself.  We get up every morning and do the early morning classes the offer for the sisters as additional gym time. The other two sisters in my room are amazing as well.  We get along great and the work is awesome because of it.  

     I think of Sister Cowley every day.  My residence hall is the Matthew Cowley Building.  The mission presidents wife talked about Matthew Cowley in her introduction to all the new missionaries that entered the MTC on Wednesday.  I was amazed at all of the wonderful things I learned about him.  No wonder the Cowley family is so amazing!  They have an Amazing heritage.  Did you know that Matthew Cowley served a 5 year mission in New Zealand at the age of 17?  After he finished his service he was called back to watch over the mission and later became a mission president of the whole south pacific mission for another 8 years.  He learned Mowry (don't know how to spell it) by himself and just went forth to preach the work.  He was also the one who later became responsible for translating the Pearl of Great Price and Doctrine & Covenants into Mowry after his service in the south Pacific.  So it was kind of a neat connection that I made.

     We had over 500 missionaries come into the MTC on Wednesday!  I hear about 2500 Missionaries are at the MTC right now.  It's the largest group they've gotten in a long time.  My branch got 3 new districts.  My district is one of the three.  They haven't had sisters in the branch for over a month and the Presidency was very glad to have us.  There are 4 sisters in my branch and 3 sisters in one of the other new districts.  All 7 of us were asked to sing in church in front of the rest of the district of Elders.  It turned out really well.  There are about 60 members total in my Spanish Branch.  There are so many more elders than sisters in the MTC I feel like an endangered species.  Is that bad? haha.  It's really great though and I've really bonded well with the sisters in my district. 

     Things are very fast paced.  I don't say any english prayers anymore.  I had to prepare a talk in Spanish for sacrament.  We prepare talks on a different topic from the president every week in Spanish and then the President just calls a couple of us to speak spur of the moment.  It's quite intense.  I love the feeling here though.  The spirit is so strong and I'm feel like I always have plenty to do.  I love being busy.  I love you so much and once again just want you to know I'm doing great, loving what i'm doing, and so excited for New York.  The work is pressing forward and there will always be those that are prepared to hear the word of God.  

 

Love you!

    Hermana Lewis