Solar Eclipse

Hello friends and family! 

So as you all know today is the solar eclipse, so the mission went out of its way to buy everyone some solar eclipse glasses... and it is currently pouring rain.... so no solar eclipse glasses needed! And all of y'all think Utah weather is bad (; 

Anyhow I hope y'all have had an amazing week! We have been seeing so many miracles this week and it is due to the hard work and dedication that we have as missionaries! This week we had a less active member, who the Elders are working with, tell us that she wanted us to teach her daughter Marly so that she can be baptized! Which I am super excited for! But I have been noticing a pattern... Heavenly Father must think that I am good with kids because they are pretty much the only people I've been teaching on my mission. But it has been the best thing! I am excited to teach her because she is smart and truly has a desire to learn, when Jesus Christ told his deciples to be as little children he wasn't kidding! I have loved every minute of teaching his children here in South Carolina! 

This week we were also able to teach Sister Cook who is our bestie. She just loves the missionaries but hasn't had a desire to attend the temple until just recently. We were able to teach her the restoration yesterday and we had her write down her testimony in a Book of Mormon and give it to her brother! 

Also I am just loving my new companion! We have decided that we are equally weird so we are going to stress eat lettuce (: 

We also had our second Zone Conference with our new mission President which was awesome. He really put a focus on how the Lord truly is hastening the work.  It's amazing all of the things that have been changing because we are preparing a way for the savior. I am so grateful to be a part of this amazing work! It truly is a great time to be a missionary I love all of y'all! Keep up the good work! 

Love,

Sister Lewis

HELLO FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!

Hey friends and family!
I hope all is well! It's crazy to think that
some of y'all are going to be starting school here pretty fast! It's
so crazy how fast time flies!
Our week has been pretty hectic because Sister Allred got
transferred and I now have a new companion! Her name is Sister Nordby
and she is from Priest River Idaho! She likes to go shooting, show
animals and go for long rides in the woods! And I just love her
already! We have just had so much fun these past few days introducing
her to the area and everything.
Last Week, Sister Allred and I saw a whole bunch of members before she
left. One of them was our Bestie Sister Cook! She ended up telling
us that she is ready to go to the temple and that she needs our help
to be able to accomplish that! So Sister Nordby and I have decided that we are going to
come over every Monday so that we can teach her the lessons to help
her prepare! We are also going to help her in reading the whole Book
of Mormon!  I am so excited for her that she has the strong
desire to go to the temple! Not only to go to the temple, but also prepare for the
temple! 
I am so excited, this transfer is going to be so great!
After Sister Nordby got here we helped her settle in for a little bit. We had a great discussion, and 
set some companion goals to be exactly obedient, and work hard. We also want to have fun
as well.  I feel like I am starting fresh with this area and I
can't wait! So far we haven't found anybody too promising but
we have set some goals and are trying to get a fire started in this
area!
We were able to see Stephen and Trinity again! They are amazing! 
They just take a hold of the gospel and the things they have learned and they are 
continually progressing because they have a desire that is so strong. 
This week has been just a great week and I am so excited for this
fresh start. After you've been in an area for so long it gets hard but
I know that Sister Nordby and I are just going to do great things together and
I am so grateful for that!
I would ask that y'all keep Brooks West and Courtney in your prayers!
And to always think of others! We had such a spiritual experience the
other day in the home of a member who just had a miscarriage and we
talked about how even in our darkest hours, if we serve others our burdens
may become lighter! I am grateful for your love and support! If there
is anything I can do for you please let me know!
Love,
Sister Lewis

Staying in Summerville

Hello! Another great week in the mission field! Man am I grateful to be a missionary! I hope y'all have had a great week and summer! It's crazy how fast time goes out when you're on the Lords errand! We actually ended up having transfer calls this morning and Sister Allred is leaving Summerville! Which means I am staying for another 6 weeks! When we found out we started joking with the members of the ward that they are going to move my membership records into the ward! So that's been pretty funny! But I am excited to see what this next transfer brings me! I'm going to miss Sister Allred but I know she is going to have so much fun up in Simpsomville! 

This week we actually got to visit with Brooks West and he told us that since he has been meeting with us he has actually started praying again! Which is the best news ever! I love it when people tell me that because prayer is so important! We ended up being able to teach him about the restoration of the Gospel. I just love talking about Joseph Smith because his experience gave us so much truth! Especially that God is our Father in Heaven and that he loves us and knows us by name! We tried putting him on date but he told us that he wanted to pray about it and get back with us in a couple weeks for our appointment! He is actually going out of town so he pushed us out a couple of weeks which was super sad, but everything will work out in the right time.

We were also supposed to see Courtney, but she ended up cancelling our appointment last minute. We were sad, but she had just got back in town so it's all good.

We also went to see a couple members who had birthdays and brought them cupcakes and wore party hats! 

Anyway, I hope y'all have an amazing week and lift where you stand! I love y'all 

Love, 

Sister Lewis 

Angel Oak

Hello!

I can't believe it is P-day once again! Man today has been filled with so many adventures! Today we actually went with Sister Fowkes and Sister Flinders to Charleston to see Angel Oak and to try and find the light house at Folly Beach. It was super super fun....except that we couldn't find the light house .... so we ended up taking pictures at this tiny light house that we found! Angel Oak was just so much fun! 

This week we haven't done a whole lot because Sister Allred has had a super bad migraine, but we had a couple of funny stories that we can tell! 

So on Wednesday we ended up going over to Sister Roses house to help her with service. She ended up having her Sister in law there with her and a son named Mike. As we were serving we decided to share a message with them before we left because they are non members. We decided to show a video and for 15 minuets Mike kept asking us if the video was about Taylor Swift and I kept saying "no it's about Jesus!" Then he started staring at Sister Allred during the message and says "ya know... you look like Taylor Swift with glasses" it was super funny. After the message, we were about to leave and Sister Roses 2 year old was throwing a fit because she was tired. So Mike told us that if we didn't come back the next day then he would do the same thing so that long story short is how we were able to teach their family about the gospel! 

We were also able to go to interviews with our mission President which was super awesome because I love him! He is very concerned on how we feel as missionaries. And he really took the time to get to know us individually as missionaries. I am super excited to see what these next few months have for us as a mission. 

Sorry for the lack of things going on but I want y'all to know that I truly love this gospel and no matter how things may seem that I am grateful to be a missionary! 

I hope y'all have a great week! 

Love, 

Sister Maigan Lewis 

Faith As A Power

Hey y'all! I hope you've been having an amazing week full of tender mercies and miracles! I love hearing from y'all and seeing your pictures! This week has been super fun and also full of challenges but mostly fun! Today we actually got to go to this horse barn and play with the horses, that's right I said play! Now we can't ride them but I learned how to train a horse to move and to basically do what you say which was super awesome! But sadly I didn't get pictures ☹️! It was a lot of fun and we also learned how to groom a horse! 

We were able to have our first appointment with Courtney and it went really really well! She is very hesitant, but she wants to learn more and it's seems as though she is going to become a member. She just needs to learn more about why we do things. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and it was a lot to take in, so she had a bunch of questions on how it all worked. She actually already knew a lot about the word of wisdom, so she was pretty nervous to give up sweet tea. We were excited when we found out that Sweet tea is the only thing that will keep her from living the word of wisdom which is hard to come by in the south. But overall it was a great appointment and we had her friend Sister Schertz over who actually had just about the same questions when she joined the church

Another cool thing that we have started as a district is A Faith As A Power, which is basically a goal that can only be accomplished by drawing on the powers of heaven. This concept has truly changed my life and my mission. I am super excited to do it as a district. We will learn how powerful we can be, especially because as a district we have 12 people (by far the largest in the zone). Our goal as a district is to put 3 solid people on date before the end of the transfer and I know for sure that we can accomplish it! Especially since the two investigators that we have been working with are so solid and it's super helpful that they were referred to us by members. So tomorrow we decided that we are going to put Brooks West on date for baptism this week. We are so excited because he told us that he wants this to be a commitment. 

This week I have been diving into the Book of Mormon. It is just the most amazing thing. I have been studying acts of obedience while reading the Book of Mormon. Yesterday I was reading where Alma the younger is giving advice to his sons and the first thing recognized is that he tells all 3 of his sons his experience when he became converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. But every time he explains this experience it is worded differently and different parts are emphasized which got me thinking about Joseph Smith and the first vision. With different people he told he emphasized different points of his experience based on what he knew of that person. This is what we as people do when we are telling stories to different people. I thought it was interesting how many people think that fact disproves the first vision to be a lie. When in reality if he told his story about the first vision the same way using the same words every time then we would know that it wasn't true. I also read a verse when Alma is talking to Coriantum about when he was preaching to the Zoramites:

11 Suffer not yourself to be led away by any vain or foolish thing; suffer not the devil to lead away your heart again after those wicked harlots. Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words.

12 And now the Spirit of the Lord doth say unto me: Command thy children to do good, lest they lead away the hearts of many people to destruction; therefore I command you, my son, in the fear of God, that ye refrain from your iniquities;

I thought it was interesting that because of Coriantums wickedness he actually prevented people from being able to believe the words of the missionaries or even the prophet. It just reemphasized the point to me that people look at us as missionaries whether we know them or not. And at all times we need to be worthy to wear our tags. Even as members of the church people are always looking and always watching. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be a missionary and I am proud that I am worthy to wear our Saviors name with pride. I pray that when people see me, they can see their Saviors love, and not a disobedient missionary, or someone who is rude, or anything that would draw them away from our Savior. It truly is a privilege and an amazing opportunity for these 18 months to do that. As members of the church. whether you are conscious or not, people are looking to you as an example. Whether good or bad there is someone always watching which again tells us how important it is to always be an example of the believers in word, in thought and in deed. I love y'all so much and I am so grateful for the support and the love each and everyone of you have shown me these past few months on my mission. 

Love,

Sister Lewis 

HUMP DAY!!

Hello! Friends and family!

If you read the title of my blog, you will be happy to know that today is my half way mark on my mission! It is so crazy to think of just how much I have changed and all the people that I have helped grow! I am so excited to see where these next 9 months take me! 

A funny story, yesterday Sister Allred and I went to young women's and one of the leaders, Sister Baughman, was describing different levels of casual to the girls who were going on the youth conference trip up to Palmyra (I'm only a little jealous ;)) and she said that comfy casual is what you wear to Walmart but spiffy casual is what you wear to target. So today we decided to wear spiffy casual at target (jeans)! 

This week has been such a great week in the mission field! Oh my goodness we have seen so many tender mercies and so many miracles this week it is crazy! So like I said a couple of emails ago, we have been working with the ward to give us more refferals. From that we were able to meet a girl named Courtney. She is so awesome and is actually from Arizona like sister Allred which is awesome! But anyway, after working with the Schertz family on getting a refferal from them, we ended up getting them to set up a dinner appointment with us and Courtney right when Sister Allred first came to the area. She loved the message we shared with them! Ever since then she has come to two of our Ward game nights and even took us to the baseball game (where our stake president threw the first pitch). She always sits around and talks to Sister Schertz a little bit about our beliefs and this time after game night she actually asked if she could meet with us and have dinner at her house so we could teach her about life after death (Plan of Salvation). So I am super excited for that and we have it set up to where our member, Sister Schertz is going to come with us who is actually a convert herself! We also were able to meet this week with Brooks West and he has been meeting with us about every two weeks for a month now which normally I wouldn't like that too much (I still don't) but he told us this week during our appointment that he was really sincerely interested in becoming a member of our church. Generally in his appointments we can't teach him a lesson because he just asks us a ton of questions. But we set the expectation for next lesson to teach him about the restoration of the gospel. These two investigators are super solid and we are hoping to put them on date for their next lessons! Right now in the area we have had a hard time finding super solid people on our own but with Member refferals we have been finding people who are so ready for the gospel, which has just boosted my testimony so much of member missionary work! It truly makes the difference and we have gotten so close to our members that way which is just awesome! 

We also were able to go on Exchanges this week and we both were in our area which was super fun. But this past week Sister Allred has been down for the count. I felt like during exchanges that I was back into the swing of things! It was so much fun to go out in my area with Sister Fowkes and we found a guy who told us that we could come back anytime (right then he was busy) and we also were able to nail down a less active to stay at church for 3 hours in two weeks because she always leaves for the third hour! So that was a lot of fun! I also felt like I was able to just do the lords work and it is a work I have grown to love. I love being a missionary and helping other people come closer to our savior and I just love sharing that with those around me. I have such a passion and desire to be obedient and to help others do the same to come completely converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ! 

Recently I have been pondering scripture study and I have realized just how much it can change our lives. I remember before my mission I wasn't able to read my scriptures everyday, or even say my prayers but I have been trying my hardest to Study Giligently, Pray Earnestly, and to Serve Willingly. Those three concepts have truly changed my life. I am so grateful to know that I will always work toward being converted to the gospel because of how much joy it has brought me on my mission even in my lowest of lows it has helped me receive strength I needed. And to truly rely on my savior. I love this gospel with my whole heart and I am so grateful that the Lord has trusted me to be an instrument in his hands! 

It has been such a good week! A hard week. but a good week and I have definitely been strengthened by the Lord! 

I leave this with y'all in the name of Jesus Christ Amen 

Love, 

Sister Lewis