service project painting over grafitti

New York Earthquake and Hurricane

Que Honda Familia?

 

Well this was definitely an exciting week.  Wasn't too effective as far as numbers for the week go but do have lots of stories to tell.  As you can imagine the Hurricane was quite the event.  I'm SO glad to hear Jacki is okay.  It's funny because  as I felt the earthquake and later the Hurricane I knew Sherryl would be worried and I wish I had some way to let her know that both her babies were just fine.  :)  I knew Jacki was fine too even though I bet she got a lot more of the hit.  Mission Presidents are great things and they really take good care of us.  I know that these are inspired men of god.  Way earlier this transfer president started stressing our 72 hours kits and making sure that we had all our equipment and water. That was way before we knew natural disasters could be underway. So we were all pretty much ready when we got news of the hurricane.  He took every measure and precaution to make sure that we were safe.  Queens is a lot higher up and so we didn't have to worry too much.  All the missionaries were indoors by 5:30 on Saturday and he had us indoors all day on Sunday until the storm passed.  They had evacuation plans for areas like Far Rockaway and the islands that are closer to sea level.  Little Flushing was good to go though we had lots of rain and wind but not too much damage.  I think the mayor did a really good job though being prepared and the people of new york are really lucky to have him. It was a little annoying not to have the transit system after noon on saturday and also down on sunday but I think it was okay. It's always better to be prepared and not have to use it than to need resources that you don't have.  I learned that one from my wise and all knowing father ;)  Love ya dad.   

 

So basically Tuesday with the earthquake.  We went to visit a less active, Flor Camacho, to help her put up some curtains in her house.  She is super old and can't do a lot of things for herself and she is halarious.  She cracks me up.  She bought my groceries a few months back when we were with her for that Whole food mint pie that I love so much.  So I told her we would bring her a peice of it.  So we went over and were just finishing up the curtains.  I sat down because I wasn't feeling too good.  I was really sick the weekend before with a virus and so I sat down to catch my breath and recoop.  Then sister young walked over the the other side of the living room to start putting the covers on the couch.  We were almost finished.  Then I could feel a little rumble.  It kind of felt like when the trains went by a building when i was in Rego and it shook the buidings a little bit but I hadn't felt that in Flushing.  The trains don't run through flushing and their too far away so then I was thinking if maybe something funny could be going on with the elevator outside.  Then in the midst of this thought process sister Young looks at me like, " what is going on?"  Then I realize the rumble is getting worse and it's not really a rumble anymore because the mirror on the wall is about to fall off from shaking so heavy.  It was really weird because of all the random thoughts that were going through my mind at the time.  I was thinking to myself, I know I shouldn't sit here and do nothing.  Yet at the same time I couldn't really believe I was experiencing what we call an earthquake on the 6th floor of an apartment building in New York.  If the earthquake did decide to get worse it doesn't do me a whole lot of good to try and run down 6 flights of stairs in 100 year old building because I'll probably get smashed anyway.  Not to mention the little 80 year old lady I'm with wouldn't be able to run down stairs and we couldn't just leave her there.  Then we have Hermana Camacho that starts freaking out that the building is shaking and she starts praying at the top of her lungs while trying to hold the mirror from falling off the wall. "Senor, Poderoso! Ayuda nos! Senor Poderoso Protegenos." etc. etc. etc.  It's just this little 4' 10" little lady and Sister Young grabs her being like 5' 10 and just envelopes her in this big hug of love.  "Esta bien hermana. Todo va estar bien. No se preocupel."  Then like a few minutes later the earthquake stops and Hermana Camacho tells us we have to stop what we are doing so that we can pray.  She says this big old prayer and asks hiim to protect us and the house.  It worked pretty good I think.  I'm still here :) No damage done.  It was kinda a funny though to hear other people's experiences. There were people that were running in the streets and all scared that it was going to be the end of New York.  Then there were other in the park or walking down the street that didn't feel anything at all and thought the rest of us are all crazy.   We only got the leftovers from Virginia I think.  I hear it was pretty big there.

 

Tuesday Night we went on sister exchanges and I left and went to the new area that they just opened up in Woodside this last transfer.  Sister Jasso and Sister Montes opened the area last transfer and they are working to build that area right now.  Sister Young stayed in our area and worked it with sister smith.  I went to woodside with Sister Montes.  Sister Jasso left and went to Rego with Sister Reed.  It was really good I always enjoy exchanges and getting a new flavor of missionary work with different people.  It was fun because sister Montes is from Veracruz Mexico and it is fun to be with the natives.  Spanish just bond to their native missionaries and relate in a way unlike other missionaries can and i always love to observe and see how I can build stronger member connections.  I really enjoyed learning from sister montes and seeing what types of things I could improve and other skills I developed since I last saw her.  I got to sleep in the old pad that I used to live in when I worked in Rego because we live with the other 2 sisters.  That was really fun and I enjoyed it immensely.   One of the things we did on transfers was go to visit this really sick lady in their ward.  She is 94 and has a son in the quorum of the 70 right now.  She has a home attenedent that let us come visit.  This little 94 year old was so sick when we went but she was so glad to have us.  She is a pretty good humored lady.  Despite being sick the last time they were there Sister Montes was telling me she was cracking jokes and had them all laughing on the floor.  This time the lady was barely strong enough to lift her head out of bed but you could feel the spirit and she had such a sincere love for the missionaries she asked us if we were working hard and building up the lords kingdom.  It was clear how important she knew missionary work was.  We also visited this sweet lady in the ward that has been a member for about 20 years now.  She told us how she still keeps in touch with her missionaries that taught and baptized her.  She shared how much the gospel has changed her life and how grateful she is for those missionaries that chose to serve so that her life could be blessed for the better.  She is so willing to help the missionary and support the work in any way that she can. 

 

Thursday Sister young and i had to go to Rego Park because she had a meeting with President and Some other missionaries that will be training the Greenies that are coming in.  Sister young is training this upcoming transfer which I am so excited about.  She is so excited!  She is ready and i think it will help her become and feel the missionary that she wants to be.  I'm really excited for her and she will love it but I'm sad because that means that i am leaving and off to a new area.  I've only been in Flushing for 2 transfers which seems like practically nothing but I do believe that i have made the impact that I am suppposed to and that it is my time to leave. Sad news but with changes come other experiences and other opportunities.  So mom, hold off on any mail that you are planning on sending to the pad.  You can just send it back to the mission office until I get you my new address. They will send it to me from the mission home.  I think I'm going to Brooklyn or Long Island.  We will have to see.  I'll let you know next week.   But to go along with that I got to go on splits with Sister Smith and visit Rego Area again which I loved! We went and taught one of their investigators Felipe.  He is thinking about maybe getting baptized on the 4th of Septembeer and he said some really great things during the lesson.  We taught with Jonnathan Vargas our member in the bishopbric and then we talked to him about church and the law of chastity.  It was funny because I just kinda got thrown into the lesson. Sister Smith is newer in the mission and she didn't tell me before the lesson that she didn't understand when Felipe was talking.  So I was just going to let her lead when she turns and looks at me right after his first comment and I almost died of embarrassment because I hadn't been listening intently on what he was saying. So from then on I just took turns asking the 4 of us in the room different questions and it worked out well.  I'm excited for Felipe.  He said that from the moment he started meeting witht he missionaries he began to notice his life change.  He was so excited and he could feel the difference and the goodness start to enter his life.  He is bomb.com!  I love being able to teach those good moments.  They are just so rich and I forget so quickly how when I think I'm teaching, in reality these people are teaching me. 

 

Thursday night I was running around with sister Young trying to see all of our investigators to say goodbye. It was kinda crazy. We were over at the familia calle when we went outside and noticed the sun!  It was so awesome!  It was huge and was setting against the Manhatten skyline.  It was so big and was just pure red.  It kind of looked like an eclipse except it was the sun not the moon.  I think they call it the summer solstice.  We called David and his friends out and they told us that the summer solstice only happens onnce a year and it only happens for about 8 minutes.  I could barely get a picture before it went down.  It set really fast but it was so beautiful.  I will have to try and send the picutres.  They don't do it justice but I barely had the time to even snap a shot much less play around with the setting before it had gone down.  It was really pretty though.

 

We went on Friday morning to play soccer with all the missionaries, Youth, recent converts, and any investigators that want to play at college point.  I met this blonde guy that looked so familiar but I couldn't place where I had seen him before.  He was from the English ward and he said that he went to school at Utah state but I still could not make the connection.  Then I found out that his wife is Natalie Clank!   Small world, pretty sure that their wedding announcement was on our fridge or maybe Kris Craddock's last year and so I had seen him in their announcements.  So then i told him that I had know Natalie in Highschool from Dance and Cheer and so I asked him how they like new york and such.  It was really funny to finally figure out where I knew him from. 

 

Friday afternoon we went and said goodbye to the Leons.  They are doing good but there are a lot of things they still aren't getting.  We talked about Reading and praying in order to find revelation for our lives and that it is the only way that we will be able to know if Joseph Smith is a true prophet of God.  Moises has a really hard time believing that Joseph Smith saw God the Father considering there are very very few times that The Father has ever appeared to man in the flesh.  One of the only other times that I can think of in the bible is when chrsit was transfigured in the presence of his 3 apostles, Peter James and John.  Even then it says he was in a cloud.  But Moises did say that he likes the church a lot.  He loves learning but he said unlike Lina it is going to take him some time to decide if he wants to be baptized but when he does it he will do it for reals becuase it is where his heart is.  I told him all I ask is that he does his part by praying and reading and attending church and working towards that goal of finding out if it reallying  is the truth.  Either Joseph Smith is a prophet and it all is true or else it didn't and all these miracles, love, good works, and salvation are a big fat lie.  There is no inbetween.  It is god's church.  Plain and simple and we can see it through the fruits that come to pass and the way that people are when we are living the gospel.  It works that's how it is.  Moises paid me a really nice complement and told me that besides being beautiful on the outside, I'm just as beautiful on the inside if not more so and that it shows.  He thanked me for all that I had done for his family and that out of all the missionaries that had visited his house, Sister Harry and i were the first that were able to help him see why this church was important.  That felt really good and Lina just told me that I have to come back and visit and I told her I would be back for her baptism.  I hope they keep going and progressing and really understanding why they need this for their family to be complete and whole.  The gospel blesses families and helps them heal and become what we have always wanted. 

 

Then we went home because the storm was starting to set in and the rain had started.  Sister Young being the example that she is gave her umbrella to some little homeless lady that was getting soaked in the rain.  She is always a Chrsitlike example to me.  I love her and she has taught me a lot about love and service.  So we rean home and that and i think Sister Young just about died of boredom in the house. We did some major studies, baking, and games but after runnning around as a missionary all the time it is a little bit different being grounded to the apartment for over 24 hours.  lol.  You would not believe the rain and the wind we had.  It was crazy and we didni't even get very much of the storm in Flushing.  It was really fun.  There was NO ONE in the street.  Which is really weird being in the city of New York.  there are always people out and about doing things.  So this was serious.  All the buses and trains had been shut down. Church was cancelled on Sunday and the Mission President  asked all the missionaries to do sacrameent among themselves.  That was really cool because I have never been a part of sacrament outside of the church.  Usually people are pretty strict about blessing sacrament outside of sacrament room meetings so that will be Something that was very special and memory I will cherish.  It's funny I knew that there was a lot of hussle and bussle about the Hurricane but as missionaries we were just excited to see what was going to happen.  Being a missionary I've never felt more safe in my life.  I know I'm still human but I do feel pretty much like I can't loose either way.  Chances are, God is just going to protect me.  But even if anything did happen to me in the slight chance that it did, I think Celestial kingdom seems pretty good anyway. :)  God loves us.  AS WE do our part we never have any reason to fear.  Being a missionary or not, the only reason we ever feel fear is when we are not prepared.  Why do you think god gives us the gospel?  So that we can be prepared..  It makes sense don't ya think?  IT's like you said dad.  It's our 72 hour kit back to eternal life.  We can say that our mortal life is only the 72 hours in comparison to the eternities that we have after this. 72 hours is not that long but it's still enough time that you have to have some supplies to make it though.  You can't do it cold turkey.  We need food, clothers, shelter, water etc.  Just like here on earth you can't do it cold turkey and expect to make it well up to meet god.  You still need the scriptures, prayer, church, and prophet,   Do you think that we can use the kit god has given us to face the currents and challenges that face us here on earth so that we can successfully face god in the end and he can say " Well done my good and faithful servant".  72 hours really isn't that long.  Having that kit though sure makes all the difference and can make life a lot easier to face the disasters that face us.  Right? Right.  Well I'm safe and well.  Hope that was enough details for ya all.  I"ll let you know more about the new area next week.

 

Love you all,

 

Hermana Lewis

Hola mis amors,

 

Como estan? I hope you are all doing well.  Girls how was the first week of school?  I hope it went well mom told me your all up to great and magnificent things.  Mom how is your training going?  Dad whats new?  This week we as pretty good. 

 

Monday we had an activity at the ward with an FHE.  They did a really great job.  This branch is so cute and has a lot of primary kids.I played piano for a musical number for the missionaries.  Mom, I know you would be pleased to here that I use my piano a lot out here.  I've been the ward pianist since my 3rd transfer so thanks for all the battling you do to help us kids develop those types of skills. The musical number went well.  Our investigators bailed out on the activity last minute which always makes me a little sad but not much I can do about it.    We have been working with the Calle family this week.  We went over and helped David cook molten lava cakes.  I finally met the dad after weeks of begging Tania to let us come over and teach them as a family again.  Jaime the dad told us we could come over on Tuesday for an FHE.  I so excited but then again, I just found out that Im going on exchanges on Tuesday so I wont be there but it's all good I know sister young will rock it and then someday in the new future hopefully they will all get baptized.  In New york I meet so many wonderful people everyday yet they don't understand that there is more to life tme han work and sleeping.  All they can think about is how they are going to get money for the next monthly payment.What kind of life is that?  It's not a long term perspective either.  It's more of a matter of how to get from point A to point B.  David Calle was baptized almost 6 months ago but without the support of his family, he slowly falls away.  The things that are most important to the parents become the most important thing for the kids.  Its hard it really is.

 

Guess what?  Guess who came to ALL of church  yesterday together for the first time as a whole family?  That's right the family Leon.  I was so happy. We called and told them we were going to come over and help them make breakfast to help them get ready for church on time.  Lina called last minute and told us not to worry and that we didin't need to bother but that she was going to come to church.  This would be the 3rd week in a row that she hasn't let us come over to teach and so we weasled our way in and told her that we really wanted to see them.  She ended up letting us come and we read the first presidency message out of the  ensign with them as they ate a gourmet breakfast that lina already cooked by the time we got over there.  The first presidency message is about family by prophet Thomas S. Monson.  The roles of the family members.  Moses and Lina were kind of arguing about see!1!1 It says to treat your spouse with respect!  Lina told us she wished Moses would not spend so much time on the TV and Moses said he wanted his wife to not be so insistent, I just kind of laughed as I thought back to past family experiences. Who does that sound like?  But by the end we talked about the importance of working as a team.  Different roles of the family and working with the strengths to find and develop the unity in the family.  So ya they were getting ready for church really fast. Lina and Moises came together and they brought their 2 beautiful children.  Our ward correlator taught the gospel priniciples class afterwards on the organization and importance of the the restored church.  It was so good.  Moses was paying a lot of attention and he seemed to be having a lot of questions which means he is learning right?  Now all we need is them to start praying and reading everyday as a family and they will get that testimony they need to be baptized.

 

We have this member named Kati who is bomb for missionary referrals.  We were teaching an investigator in her house.  She makes me laugh.  So great.  Marlen is the investigator that we are teaching.  She hadn't read so while we finished up lunch she hurried and read a little bit in her BOM.  She is really funny.  She read for like 5 minutes and she got so much out of it.  We asked her why she didin't do that everyday. She said, "Ya, I should.  I know its really good for me".  Her room mate Maritza was taught in El Salvador but didn't get baptized because she didn't like baptisms for the dead and vicarious work.  Which I think is a little funny because that's one of the most beautiful parts about the church.  She she's both points of the wheel but she does not like it and I don't know what to say to change her mind.  Kati the member gave a good old powerful testimony about is and it was awesome but sometimes you just can't change peoples minds no matter what you say.

 

Walking back from Kati's house we had a man stop us on the street.  He said, " are you girls from this world?"  lol.  We htought it was a strange question so we had him repeat it again to make sure that we heard him right.  He said it again, "are you from this world?"  We thorught it was funny but it was clear he was being serious.  So we just looked at him for a few seconds so he went on to explain himself.  He said, " I've seen you pass by her a few times and every time you do its like lights just walk out of no where. You aren't from New York and you do something really special.  It shows and I can tell.  Who are you and what do you do here? What are you doing? What is it that makes you the way you are?"  We told him we were missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ. He had us repeat the church.  He wanted to make sure he knew who we represented.  We were late for an appointment by like 20 minutes already and so we got his info and told him we would be by within the next week. It's so amazing to know thayou are a representative of Jesus Christ and a part of the most important work on the earth that has eternal significance. If yu are doing your part people recognize you for who you are ande ch they see your difference.  They want it and they find curiousity to find out what it is that you have that they don't.  Never forget that we are representatives of Jesus christ and we are his disciples.

 

 

Juanna is back from Spain which made me really happy. Her mom seems to be progressing along nicely and she seems to be excited to get baptized.  We also hdad a really good conversation with her husband Ismael who hasn't taken very much interest in the church before.  She is planning on bringing her autistic son to church sometime in the near future so that they can be baptized together.  I am so excited fo r her.  They wont' be baptized for a few more months so I probably won't be here but I am excited for them.  They are some of my favorite people that I have met on my mission.

 

Lots of Love,

Hermana Lewis.

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Grasias

Hey fam!

 

So it is Monday and I Am writing :)  I love you so much and I am so grate for you in my life.  You have been a direct strength to me in my mission.  Your prayers guide me, protect me, and give me the strength I need to get this work done. So thanks so much I really appreciate it.

 

Last night we went over to the Ramos Family.  It was really really good.  The Carpintero family came from College point and we had a noche de hogar ( FHE)  Right now the Elders are teaching Hermana Ramos.  She has been investigating for a long time.  Hermano is a member and the have a really cute little girl that is just about to turn 2.  The spirit was really strong and I seriously am amazed every single time how much members help in creating the atmosphere for a powerful lesson.  Hermano Ramos gave the lesson on the Priesthood.  By the end of the lesson I had a strong prompting to speak and so I did.  Hermana Ramos was crying through the whole thing. I think she was feeling the spirit working on her. It's going to be her time that she will be ready to accept the gospel and show it through baptism.  It was a really powerful experience for me.  Hermano Ramos said a comment about how the missionaries radiate the spirit of Christ. He can see it in our countenances and by the way we interact with other people. We do have a very specific  calling and role as missionaries and god chooses to bless us because of it.  I think it a really cool thing sister Young and i were talking about it after.  We were walking out of a building and some guy we had never met commented and said "You to are Mormons from salt lake aren't you?" We said yes we are. He then said ya I knew it because your too pretty to be new yorkers. Men in Utah must be really lucky because all the women just are beautiful. We just tell people like that "it the light that comes through Christ ways".  When we live in accordance to Gods standards he truly does bless us.  It helps us and it really makes us beautiful on the inside which shines through to the outside. 

 

Anyway I know there was some other stuff that I was going to ask you but I can't remember right now.  Thanks for the stories mom.  Love you much.  Oh and Sister Young gave her family your info so you can do dinner.  She thinks that would be really fun.  Thanks so much.  I love you.  Oh mom, she also says thank you for the letter! She loved it!

 

Hermana Lewis

 

Mom I sent a package with the Ovalle's and she said she would get it to you. Have you seen it yet? lol.  I sent Jenna's birthday present in it. 

Email continued

Aug 11 (3 days ago)

Ok so the game was amazing! I hope you liked the story.  Sorry it has been long time. We had fun and I'm pretty fried.  Monday is sister Jasso's birthday so we all sang happy birthday and gave her a card. Mom maybe you could send her a note or something for her b-day.  She said thanks for the postcard. 

 

This week I'm supposed to teach a workshop in the zone tomorrow for our meeting.  So, I've been studying a lot on the importance of inviting people to be baptized on the first or 2nd lesson like they have asked us to in the simplified curriculum of preach my gospel.  I've also been studing on how to help people make and keep committments.  What that really means and not moving on until they have accomplished those concepts.  I've really been going and focusing on teaching people and trying to talk about the importance of baptism with a specific focus on repentance.  When we invite people to make these changes in their lives, we are inviting them to repent.  As they choose to repent, in essense they are being spiritually healed.  It's Extremely important that these people that we are teaching understand the importance of keeping these committments. When we go and teach them, they feel good and start to put the bandage on the soul but when they don't read or pray/go to church during the week they rip the bandage right off that we put when we went teaching and it makes the wound at least just as deep as before. Knowing to not move on until the wound is starting to heal is good and to act "devastated" until they can start keeping those commmittments. Sister Young and I have this goal to teach in more unity and make sure we both know where the lessons are going and what is happening. To try and help with that we have this goal that she is going to lead the lessons and I will back her up with the spanish etc. So studying this all week of course I better try and put it into play and it was a so cool to see what happened.

 

Edwardo Gomez is a former from the area book that sister Young and I decided to call.  He was really nice and agreed to let us come over to teach him. We met him at his house with a member.   We walked into the room and let Edwardo begin by telling us a little bit a bout himself and what his desires of his heart were.  He was so good.  He expressed his desire to be close to god.  He expressed his desire to have a real relationship.  He said that he liked talking with the sisters but that in the past he had read the Book of Mormon a lot but felt like there were still a lot of things that he lacked in his life. He said everytime he prayed to God about it, God just told him to wait a little longer.  He said that it didn't matter what it was or where he needed to go, if he could have a real relationship with God and find out what God wanted him to do he would do it. Sister Young did an amazing job leading the lesson and there were a lot of good  pauses where I could see the spirit working on Edwardo and he really felt it. The spirit was so strong!   We talked about how God prepares his people and that the Gospel of Jesus Christ contains all of the ordances of Salvation and being able to recieve all of the blessings God has prepared for us through the restored Gospel.  We talked about repentance and baptism.  Then we extended an invitation for him to get baptized on the 4th of sept and he accepted.  It was one of those answers that was sincere and he really wanted it. Sister Young and I felt so good after we walked out of that lesson.  It was an extremely powerful lesson for both of us and a great learning experience for both of us.  We have a return appt. for Sat.  Pray and wish us luck.  Pray for my workshop tomorrow as well for the zone. 

 

Symbria I thought of something that maybe you could do for me.  Do you want to draw me a plan of Salvation?  I like to teach with it during my lessons and the one that I have is pretty much hashed.  I need a new one.  The different parts that I need are Premortal life, The fall of adam and eve, This life on earth, Death, spirit world, Judgement/Resurrecion, Three Kingdoms(sun, moon, stars). Anything else that you really want to put in there is fine but if you could just draw little pictures to represent those different parts of the plan and then laminate them and send them to me I would love that and think of you every time.
\

love you!

 

Hermana Lewis

Crzy Semana

Aug 11 (4 days ago)

Oh wow so we had a little bit of a crazy week to say the least. So it all started out when we went to go look this referal up that the AP's gave us named Jesus. Ya Ironic, he supposedly wanted to get baptized and we haven't had that much luck getting a hold of him by phone so we went by his house.  So we are in this building and we realize we don't have his appartment # so we search the directory for the spanish names in the building with the initials of his name. Starting at the top floor.  So we go up there and no one answers.  We hear a door swinging in the stairway up above that is going to the roof.  We get curious Hermana Harry told me a few weeks back that in the old complex we used to live in the sisters would go exercise on the roof that overlooked the city. I had walked many complexes but never been on a roof so I decided now would be a good time to go take a peek off the roof.  The door was swinging back and forth from the wind and it would be nice to go shut it anyway right?  WRONG!  Anyway so I ask sister Young if she wants to go upstairs for a second to see the roof.  She hadn't been up on roof either.  So we start wandering up and right as I start to notice the sign that says "No one allowed on roof"  Guess what happens?  Yep a huge alarm goes off on the both of us.  This alarm isn't just a dinky little wake up alarm that goes off on the phone.  This arlarm was LOUD something that hurt your ears and all 6 floors of the apartment building could hear it and wanted to know who had set it off.  Sister Young and I just kind of look at each other in shock and not knowing quite what to do. So like any normal person, what do we do?  We run.  Down all 6 flights of stairs not knowing what is going to happen next. Guess who is waiting for us down at the bottom? Security.  No! Yes!  Oh my!  No what?  So anyway they take us into our office made us stay there for a while and then they made us call President and tell him everything.  He told us we made a very stupid decision next time use our heads!  I know!  So Monday we had to take up a bunch of time to do that crap and that is why we are not writing till today!

 

CHISTE.  Joke.  Ok really that story did NOT happen.  Well it did up to the part before the alarm.  The alarm really did go off and we really were running down 6 flights of stairs but we never got stopped or questioned by anyone.  But my heart and sister young's was going like a race horse.  We were not expecting it and it made us so scared.  So we ran away from the building because we didn't know what to do and we decided we are never going to try and explore roofs again. We were scared we were going to go around a corner and it was going and cops were going to take us or something.  It was funny.  Anyway I will finish this email a little later.  I need to go.  I'll write more later. We are going to the Mets game later today with a bunch of missionaries so we switched pdays.  We are going now if i can i'll write more later. love youmuch

 

Hermana Lewis.

My Investigators

Weird that it is august.  I can barely believe how time is flying. I remember when you were talking about your trip to Canada like it was something that was probably going to happen right before I left.  Now you are there! Weird... Well we had a good week.  Sister Young and I are doing great.  We found 2 new investigators this week.  One of them is named Kevin.  We had a really good lesson with him but his parents were no cool with us coming over and so every time we have tried to pass by they tell us he is not home etc.  Which is a bummer.  He is 18 and just graduated high school. He reallly understood what we were trying to tell him and seemed very interested.  The other girl was a referral from the chinese elders who found her when they were doing 2x2x5 around an old former investigator.  Her name is Jasaura and she is 16 years old from the Dominican.  She is probably one of my favorite people I've met in New York.  It amazes me how fast you can feel connected to these people in such a short time.  We taught her twice this last week and she came to church on Sunday. One of my favorite members from the ward noticed her and came up and gave her a big hug. Evidently when Jasaura was in elementary school she would always stop to talk to hermana Maria Gomez passing by for school.  They bonded immediately and we are going to go do lunch up at hermana gomez's house with Jasaura and teach a lesson up there. Dominican people are the best!  Always so welcoming and loving.  I'm really excited.  

 

Another cool thing that happened is that moses came to church this week!  He brought his 2 kids with him as well.  And he made it for all three hours!  We were excited! Yet, this time Lina and mariela didn't come.  I don't know what we are going to do with this family. lol.  It is kind of cool though that Moses came without his spouse this time but we really want them all to start going for this goal.  Lina also backed up from her baptismal date which is frustrating but we are going to work with them a little bit more. I think Moses coming by himself with his kids is a good sign ;)

 

We had some crazy weather this week.  Really hot and then pouring rain the next day and then really hot again.  It's intense.  President and Sister Nelson came to our branch yesterday to speak. It was fun to hear them talk.  Sister Nelson translated president nelsons talk for him while he was there.  Mom could you put sister Young's name on my letters as well?  I know your going to be sending to them either way and it just makes us feel cool as missionaries when the mail has our names on it too. I usually end up sharing parts from them to her anyway so would you just add her name to the envelope? Thanks ;)

 

Thank you for your love and for your prayers.   I really enjoyed reading your emails. You are all great!  Sister Ovalle is going to drop by a package for you next week she will be coming to utah on the 8th. Love you all. :)