More Photos from Sister Waite

I love this shot of Sister Crosby and Lewis. It fits their personalities perfectly, in my opinion. They had helped me clean the studio and so in re-setting the lights I got to take this one.

A recent surgery prevented me from finishing the apple picking this year. Fortunately these two came and helped.

Sister Crosby showing off her skill at hammering, or waving a hammer in the air. Ha. I've been tearing the outside boards off of this building but again, because of recent surgery, I needed help in getting it done before the snow flies too thick.

And then here at the bottom, Sister Crosby and Lewis are singing, "There is a green hill far away" to Pops (my step dad). He was very touched by their singing, and so was I.

Last Week a Tornado, This Week...Well, Read On.

Dear Family and Friends,

 

If you have been praying for me, THANK YOU. Last week we had a tornado, this week we were in a car accident on the way home fromSaturday evening Stake Conference.

We were approaching a car accident (fire trucks and police everywhere) and the sister who we were riding with wasn't anticipating the sheet of ice that sent us spinning right into the side of a parked fire truck. I truly believe that it was only prayers (mine offered while sliding and others offered in my behalf) that kept us and the men standing near the fire truck safe.

Car accidents aside, this week was a pretty great week!

Stake Conference was wonderful. The missionaries of the stake were asked to sing "Called to Serve" and "Hark All Ye Nations" Saturdaynight, and Sunday we rode up with a couple of members and one of our investigators, Brother S. who will be baptized this month!

President Porter, our Mission President, called this morning. Sister Crosby will be leaving Peru and will be going somewhere else as a sister training leader. I will be staying in Peru as a trainer. I was a bit surprised when President Porter asked me to train, though, since I am just finishing being trained myself. But, I am looking forward to this new opportunity I have to serve and learn from a new sister.

Just a new insight I had while studying this week: Enduring to the end isn't just to keep going, but to keep growing! After we are baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us, we need to exercise faith and repent every single day. Heavenly Father has given us this life as a time for us to keep learning! :)

 

Happy Thanksgiving! Eat some of my favorite food! (pie...mmm)

 

Love you all! :)

 

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis

 

P.S. Sorry if I haven't replied to your emails and letters-- I want to, but today is a bit hectic with transfers happening tomorrow.

 

Looks like I'll be here for a while!

Lots and Lots of Pictures from Sarah

Denver

Autumn Leaves.

Driving through Denver, Mexico, and Chili

Making cookies at an (78 year old) investigator's house. He wanted us to make him lunch to see if we could pass the "wife test".  He told us what to do the whole time, so I guess I don't know if I passed the wife test. Unless the test was about following directions.. haha. silly.

Tornado Warning...X4

Hello all!

 

I'll share a miracle we saw this week. We have been working with Brother S. for a while (since June) and a week or so ago we were raking leaves at a member's home (she lives in his parents' neighborhood). We finished raking the member's leaves and decided to see if Brother S.'s parents had any leaves that needed raking. We approached his parents' house and his car was parked outside. He came out to talk to us. He told us that we should stop by to see his brother who works in a hair salon. He said his brother's boss, Lori, might be interested in our message. We stopped by the salon this week (tuesday) and before we left we sang "Be Still My Soul." The Spirit was there, and they felt it. We stopped by again 2 days later, and Lori said she had felt at peace for the rest of the day "like nothing could touch [her]." Brother S.'s brother, Matt, said he thought we sounded like two angels and also remarked on the peaceful feeling that lingered in the salon the rest of that day. Lori told us that for the rest of the day customers would come in and say "it feels so peaceful here." Music is powerful!

I guess the Book of Mormon Class was a good idea. It's only the second week and we had 14 or 15 in attendance Wednesday night. It's actually pretty fun to teach!

So, it's November and it's unusual to have tornadoes at this time of year. At church one man warned us to not be out and about that afternoon, a "severe weather warning" had been issued. Well,  we asked a couple of other ward members and they told us not to worry about it. So, we went to the Waite's for supper around 2:30. At 3:18 we recieved an "Extreme Alert" text. Tornado warning. Another text at 3:20. Another at 3:42. So, like any curious human being, we went to the living room to look out the window. The wind was blowing a million miles an hour, and the rain made it pretty hard to see very far. It felt and soundedlike being in the middle of a tornado. The storm was violent enough that we decided to go into the basement, (possibly for my sake--I was trembling as much as, if not more than, the dog.)

 

I really don't like Indiana storms.

 

After 20 minutes in the basement, we surfaced. The storm did some damage, but no tornado. We saw a flattened barn, as well as several destroyed trees and on the drive home we got our 4th tornado warning text.

 

(I guess there was a tornado in Kokomo, a neighboring city.)

 

Anyway, it was pretty exciting. I have now made it through my first, (hopefully myonly) tornado experience.

 

The gospel is true. Tornadoes are scary. Read the Book of Mormon! A verse a day keeps the tornadoes away. I'm pretty sure that's why I'm still alive ;)

 

 

Love,

 

Sister Lewis

I'll Keep It Short

Well, I don't have a clever title, but this week was just as great as could be.

 

When we showed up at Jennifer's home for a lesson with her family, we were surprised when her boyfriend joined us. We've been praying for this to happen for a while now--their family is great and we want them to all enjoy the blessings of the gospel.

 

We'll be teaching the Book of Mormon class this week (the elders taught last week since Sister Crosby was at a meeting in Cincinnati). There were 4 people in attendance last week, and we're hoping to double that this week. I'm a little nervous (I'm no Book of Mormon scholar!) but I'm hoping that my love for the Book of Mormon will influence others. I know that reading the Book of Mormon is how we can gain a testimony of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is through reading daily that we build our faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. I love that little blue book.

 

Anyway, yesterday we had a neat experience. Sister Waite invited us to sing a hymn for her Preach My Gospel class. Sister Crosby and I sang "I Know That My Redeemer Lives" and by the end of the 4th verse, there were more than a few moist eyes. I love music, it invites the Spirit and has a power to touch hearts in a way that spoken words cannot.

 

I love you all,

 

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis

PB, Bread, and Chili

Hello!

 

In Peru people eat peanut butter with their chili. I experienced this delicacy twice this week. One of the members took us to a chili cookoff held in the Circus building. (Have I mentioned that Peru used to be the winter quarters for the circus?)

 

This week was great! We went on exchanges with the sisters in Huntington, and the next day we had zone conference. Sister Crosby and I won the award for the cleanest car! (The cars from both zones were inspected). It was wonderful receive some additional training from President Porter and his wife, and to hear the testimonies of the missionaries in the surrounding areas.

 

We saw another miracle this Sunday, Jennifer and her family came to church! :)

 

We have a zone activity today, so I'll just share a quick insight from personal study. So often, people see God's commandments as restricting. But as I was reading in Preach My Gospel, I came across a line that said "God gives us commandments for our benefit. They are instructions from a loving Father in Heaven to help us have happy lives." (emphasis mine) I love that it uses the word instructions. Commandments are instructions to living a happy life. It's just like putting together a bike. Let's say you order a bike online and they send it to you in parts. If you open the box and start trying to put the bike together without reading the instructions, you might end up with something that looks like a bike, but it might not function properly. Or, you might end up with pieces left over, things you missed. ...and just imagine, without instructions, you might put the handle bars on backwards or incorrectly install the breaks. Heavenly Father gives us commandments to keep us safe and help us live happy lives, now and in eternity.

 

I love you all! Have a lovely week.

 

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis

Birthday Week

Hello everyone!

Well, I'm another year older! It was a great birthday! Our ward had a chili cookoff and we had 9 investigators there. It was a bit overwhelming, but, hey! we're not complaining.

Also, if you read my emails and you're feeling guilty about not sending me a birthday present, you can be forgiven. ;) In lieu of gifts I would like you do something for me. I would like you to read "His Grace is Sufficient" by Brad Wilcox. Link: http://www.lds.org/new-era/2012/08/his-grace-is-sufficient

We struggled a little this week finding new investigators. I don't know if I've mentioned it before, but my area has about 30 churches. Everyone here goes to church. We love it--everyone believes in Jesus Christ, the only problem is that many of them are content with their church. Eh, but there are missionaries here for a reason! And every day we discover why!

Yesterday we had a miracle. Missionaries have been meeting with a sister in our ward since before I got to Peru. (I remember teaching her and her husband my first week here). Anyway, this sister's husband is not a member and has been pretty aloof as far as church things go. Yesterday he came to church with her! It was a miracle to see him there, but also to see her there as she's been struggling with some major health concerns.

Another miracle: We taught the Preach My Gospel class yesterday and I didn't pass out. :P

I love you all, have a fabulous week. Go out and serve someone today. It'll make you happier, I promise.

Love,

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis

P.S. If you want a little taste of Indiana, look up a recipe for "Sugar Cream Pie." Yum.

Sarah and a corn field.

The Wabash River mist.

Just "Flappin' Jaws"

So, we raked leaves in the rain on Tuesday night with the Elders from Wabash. The next day, I woke up with the flu! Ew.

But don't worry, I'm much better now. :-)

Yesterday Sister Crosby spoke in church (she gave a fantastic talk). Well, we took advantage of that fact and invited all the investigators and less-active members we could. Brother Dwight brought his dog Dippy to church. (I'll try and attach the picture). Dippy waited in the truck while Brother Dwight went to Sacrament meeting and Sunday School. Raphael came as well (oh, he let me know I'd been spelling his name wrong the whole time).  Brother Stuber came as well. And Brother Hamblin came too. Sister Crosby has quite the following... ;-)

After church we had dinner with the Yards. It's a riot--Sister Yard pitches the biscuts, Brother Yard catches them and slathers them with peanut butter. :)

Because I was sick earlier in the week we had to make up for what we missed... we hadn't found any new investigators all week, and we'd made a goal to find 3, so we set out with faith. Heavenly Father pulled through again. We were walking around a neighborhood talking anyone we saw outside. We "flapped jaws" (Hoosier language for 'chatted') with a couple of men in a garage. They were happy to talk about anything but religion (he said he never discusses religion or politics with anyone). We parted and started down the street again when a man on a bike passed us. We said hello and he rode on. Well, he looped around the block and met us further down the street. When we saw him again we said something about "getting your exercise for the day?" ...an hour later we had an appointment set up to meet with him onTuesday. Apparently his dad was a Mormon, but he doesn't really know much about the religion. Brother Briscoe seems down to earth and we're very excited to teach him again.

Fun fact: I love hearing the Hoosiers speak. If you can't imagine it, picture me "settin'" on the porch and "flappin' jaws" with these folks while they pick their "tomatahs." :) Indiana's trying to steal my heart.

I love y'all!

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis

The Elders made birthday cupcakes for Sarah and Sister Crosby. The candles were trick candles (the kind that don't go out)

Brother Waite and Brother Carroll

Some fun left-over cupcakes from a one-year-old's birthday party.

Dippy the dog came to church:)

Fall in Indiana:)

Making ghost lollies for Halloween.

Picking apples on a blustery day:)

Pretty fall leaves that Sister Crosby collected.

 A barn and a view of the changing leaves.

Leaves changing colors.

 Jennifer's son and daughter, RC and Ariel.