I'm Staying In Peru!

Hello, hello!

Happy Birthday to: my companion, my brothers, Sam and Thomas, and my friend Elder Will Christensen in Texas!

So, they announced transfers yesterday and I'm staying in Peru! (not surprising, since I have to finish the 12-week training.) But I'm excited to be here. Peru is great.

A photo with Rafael Rousseau at church!

This week Rafael came to church and he loved it. Hopefully we can start teaching him regularly. (I'll send a picture!)

Earlier this week we had a zone activity (we made zone t-shirts!) There are too many things to write about and I don't have much time, so I'll just share the miracle we had yesterday. Derrick Stapleton, our previous investigator had dropped off the map after his non-baptismal date (sept 28) and we hadn't been able to contact him. He wasn't ever home, he didn't answer phonecalls and we were a little concerned. So, yesterday after our thrift-store shopping trip to Wabash, Sister Crosby and i decided to rake the leaves in Derrick Stapleton's front yard. Well, it was inspired. 5 minutes after we began raking leaves, Brother Stapleton walked out of his house, looking stunned. We were able to talk to him about where he'd been/why he'd been avoiding us. He said he was a little overwhelmed with things and had just shut everything out and had been hiding in his house. He told us that he had been thinking about coming to church this past sunday but was nervous about being judged since he felt like he stood us up for his baptism. "Thought you had the tub all filled up and everything!" he said. Well, we were happy to tell him that he is always welcome at church, baptized or not. :) It was a miracle.

I love autumn in Peru! I love the smell of burning ditches, stargazing at 6:30 in the morning when we run, groups at curbside campfires on Grissom Base, the sound of trains in the distance as I fall asleep, porch swings, Christian biker dudes (every man 55+ in Peru has a Harley), cool breezes, the fields, the red and orange and yellow leafy trees, but I especially love the people, of course.  God is good to me.

I love you all,

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis

1858 S Business 31 Apt 2D

Peru, Indiana 46970

P.S. any suggestions for what to do on my 21st birthday? ;) So far all I have planned is the ward chili cookoff ...and missionary work, of course. :)

Quaker oval box made for me by Allen Stuber, investigator. age 78. it's walnut! :)

We were at a meal appointment when the elders showed up to our same restaurant. :) (they're in our district) coincidences...

Me + Sister McDonald's (Ward Relief Society President) giant St. Bernard, Isabelle. This is from our service day a couple of weeks ago. (even Isabelle helps with missionary work --you'll have to ask me to tell you the story of how she helped re-activate 3 members!)

It's A Jungle Out There!

Dear Friends and Family,

This week has been great. Sister Crosby and I are continuing to remain positive in our finding and teaching efforts. Last week I wrote a song to the tune of Book of Mormon Stories to help us remember to ask for referrals. It goes like this:

God has prepared many people right here in Peru,
We just have to ask for them and teach them what is true,
Members know so many and investigators too,
We can find all of them in Peru!

I don't imagine the Primary Songbook publishers will be asking me to include it in their book anytime soon, but it's been helpful for us here, in Peru.

We're focusing more on less-active members, and we've seen miracles. We've been trying to contact a woman named Carolyn for a long time, but whenever we stop by, she isn't home. Friday, while we were visiting another less-active woman, we met a man sitting on the porch of the neighboring house. After talking to him for a few minutes, we discovered it was Dave, Carolyn's non-member husband! We had the opportunity to testify to him of eternal families and temple marriage. We gave him a temple pass-along card and an invitation/info card for General Conference. He said he'd take it home to his wife. It was a miracle to run into him! :)

Also, Sister Crosby and I have a theme of our own D&C 64:33. :) I'm just praying the Lord wants me to finish training with Sister Crosby--she's wonderful. (Transfers are on her birthday Oct. 15th...it'd be a great birthday present if she got to stay!)

Also, I bet you didn't know Indiana was a zoo. I surely didn't. I've seen more wildlife here in a month than I saw in a year in Utah. (Maybe I wasn't looking?) It's pretty cool though. I've seen deer, mice, beavers, possums, a crane (just one lonely one down at the river), raccoons (mostly dead on the side of the road, though a couple live ones), bunny rabbits, cardinals, robins, long-horned steer, chipmunks, squirrels (they're so cute when they run!), gigantic spiders, frogs, slugs, walking sticks, horses, a bat, dogs (everyone in Indiana has a dog), cats, and even hairless cats! So if you can't afford a safari in Africa, might I suggest a trip to Indiana?

General Conference was wonderful! Rafael came to the Sunday Morning session. What a miracle! Saturday night when we gave him the invitation to come we had no expectation of his actually coming. But he did, and I was happy that he did. :)

Did you catch the theme of Saturday's talks? Missionary Work! :) We've been praying for something like this. Missionary work simply cannot be done without the help of members. :) I'm excited to witness more miracles as the hastening happens! Elder S. Gifford Nielson said that this time in Church history ranks in importance with the events of the First Vision, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pretty cool, yeah?

I love being spiritually fed at General Conference. What a blessing it is to have the knowledge that Heavenly Father speaks to us through a prophet and that Jesus Christ is at the head of His Church today.

I can't believe I've been in Peru for a month! Times flies when you're serving a mission.

I love you all!

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis
1858 S Business 31 Apt 2D
Peru, IN 46970
P.S. sorry about the typos and weird fonts. This computer is doing weird things

You Know You're a Missionary When...

Dear Friends and Family,

...You know you're a missionary when you schedule an appointment to get your hair cut by a man you want to invite to church. Last monday Sister Crosby and I went to Gold 'n' Beauty on Broadway so she could get her hair cut by the brother of an investigator. We went in around 11:00, determined to convert him (or at least invite him to church) and 30 minutes later we came out, very much the same as we went in. (Sister Crosby's hair looks great though!)

 

This week we've been tested. Appointments fell through, people weren't home, yada yada yada and we've decided that Heavenly Father is trying to tell us something. We must be working in the wrong places. So our resolve: to work with less-active members! We've got to take care of the people we have before we can get any new members.

 

Tuesday night we had dinner at the Suttons' home. During dinner Brother Sutton said something about my age (20, for 25 more days!). Well, I must look young, because Sister Sutton said that she thought I could pass for 12. 12 years old. Whoa there, Sister. The Indiana humidity is doing great things for my skin! I've only been here three weeks and I already look 8 years younger! haha :)

 

We got to serve the McDonald's on Friday afternoon, but I think they mixed things up--it seemed like they were serving us! Elder Jackson, Elder Bracken, Sister Crosby and I helped re-stain 4 or 5 picnic tables for the McDonalds, then they served us a picnic dinner around their campfire.

 

Wednesday we went on exchanges to Huntington. After district meeting we cleaned a garage for a lady and her daughter. Thursday we made more applesauce with Sister Waite. (I've never seen a tree with so many apples!)

 

Time's up. Wish I could write more!

 

Until next week,

 

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis