Sing, Sing, and Remember to Check Your Fuel

Hello there!

Tuesday marks 5 months on a mission! It's flown by, I can hardly believe it. I just hope I get to stay in Peru for a little bit longer. I like it here. 

I have been reflecting on my mission experience thus far, and it is amazing to look back and realize how Heavenly Father calls each missionary to the area for a specific reason.

During my time at BYU I studied American Sign Language. When I was called to serve in an English-speaking mission in the United States I wasn't surprised. I just hoped that I would be able to use ASL on my mission. Well, Heavenly Father is so aware of all his children--when I was sent to this area I soon discovered that we have a deaf couple in our ward. :) I think the deaf sister is happy to have someone to converse with (no one else in the ward signs). On a few occasions I've been able to interpret a prayer or part of a Sunday meeting. To me, serving in Peru was an answer to my prayers. :)

So y'all know that I like to sing. Sad story: over the past 10 weeks I have been losing my voice, and I haven't been able to sing like normal. (The cold air isn't doing good things for it.) But, Friday evening we had our second lesson with a woman that we had recently started teaching. We had a member with us, and towards the end of the lesson she (the member) said something about my being a singer and the woman we are teaching, Beverly, asked to hear me sing. Well, recently when I've tried to sing my voice breaks and it just sounds awful. I have been trying my best to not sing so my voice can heal, but I felt impressed to sing "I need Thee Every Hour."  I sang three verses without any trouble. A miracle. But the real miracle came as the Spirit carried the words of the hymn into our hearts. Beverly wept as she listened.

I need thee ev'ry hour,

1. In joy or pain.
   Come quickly and abide,
   Or life is vain.
2. I need thee, oh, I need thee;

   Ev'ry hour I need thee!

   Oh, bless me now, my Savior;

   I come to thee!
3. I need thee ev'ry hour,

   Most holy One.

   Oh, make me thine indeed,

   Thou blessed Son!
4. 1. I need thee, oh, I need thee;

      Ev'ry hour I need thee!

      Oh, bless me now, my Savior;

      I come to thee!
   2. This week a friend told me "miracles are how heaven works."  It's so true.

   On a fun note: we took a trip out of the mission boundaries this week. 
5. While driving up to visit members living in the farthest reaches of our area, (our area is a whole county) we stopped at the home of a member we hadn't met yet. After visiting with them I paused to look at the sky--I saw my second sun dog! (it looks like a rainbow around the sun.) 
6. When we got in the car the fuel light blinked on. ...We were 13 miles from Peru and the nearest gas station was in Rochester, 8 miles away-- just outside our mission boundary line. We knew that if we tried to go back to Peru to get gas we would be stranded on the highway in almost sub-zero weather. So... we went to Rochester. I learned my lesson. When it's 2 degrees outside and you're driving far, far away ...check the fuel tank first.

Feel free to laugh. I did.

:) Well, I love you all. Be grateful.

Love, 

Sister Sarah Jane Lewis

1858 S. Business 31 Apt. 2D

Peru, Indiana 46970

P.S. I don't know why my email is formatted the way it is. I guess the computer doesn't like me.