12/26/16
Happy Christmas and  Merry New Year!

Hey, everyone! I hope you all had an incredible Christmas Day! I know I did!

So I can't even remember anything about this week haha. I was so excited for Christmas that the rest of week was just kind of a blur! I will tell you the few things I remember haha.

On Thursday we had interviews with President Mkhabela, which ended up lasting ALL DAY! We didn't even get to go to our area haha. The whole zone was being interviewed, and the sisters went last. It was so nice to see President again and talk to him one on one! He is one of the most spiritual people I have ever met in my life. His testimony of Jesus Christ is inspiring. 

On Saturday, my district went to a hospital and walked around singing Christmas hymns! It was nice to do some service. We all made matching shirts that say, #LighttheWorld. It was a great spiritually uplifting experience! After the activity, my companion and I went to our area for a few lessons, and then we went to a Christmas party for the Mkoba ward, which is one of the wards in our stake. We sang again Christmas hymns for the members and investigators. It was a fun Christmas Eve! 

Sunday was CHRISTMAS!!! It didn't really feel like Christmas without the snow, though. It was strange haha. It didn't even rain on Christmas, it was just hot! Sister Namugenyi and I went to church, and then we went and proselyted for a few hours! It was fun seeing investigators and members on Christmas. Everyone was trying to feed us haha. At around three o'clock I got to Skype my family! It was SO good to see them all! The thing that surprised me the most was how much my nieces and nephew are growing up! They will be totally different people by the time I get back haha. It was SO GOOD to hear my mom and dad's voices! We ended up staying at the chapel until around nine o'clock so that everyone could finish talking to their families. We were SO hungry by the time that everyone was done! All of the sisters came to our house, and Sister Kayembe cooked us an AWESOME Christmas dinner! It was so yummy! After we ate dinner, we all fell asleep on the floor until the other sisters had to go home. It was a great day!

I am ready and excited to start this week fresh and focus on the work of the Lord. Seeing my family gave me added motivation to help other people understand how they can be with their families forever! I am ready to WORK! 

I hope you all have a great week! I will talk to you next year! Enjoy the last few days of 2016, and don't forget to SET GOALS for 2017! My family told me that for 2017 I need to set a goal of sending more pictures, so I will try to do that haha. 

Ndino Kuddha! ( I love you!)

Love, Sister Lewis

12/19/16
Merry Christmas?

Newest baptized member!

Jenna's new favorite "treat"

Jenna and her new companion, Sister Namugenyi

Braids-lots of Braids

Holy moly you guys, I literally refuse to believe it is almost Christmas haha. I feel like I am still in August! Maybe it is due to the fact that it is hot here and I am used to snow, but it is more likely that I just have forgotten about everything except missionary work! I am SO, SO excited to talk to my family this Sunday! It will be the best Christmas present I have ever received in my life. Please pray for me that everything goes well with Skyping them. My mom and I don't do so well with technology, so having us both be in charge of this Skyping thing should be interesting haha. 

This week was so good! Sister Namugenyi and I worked HARD this week to be able to get some new investigators. We are doing great in Mambo! I love Sister Namugenyi so much! She is literally one of the sweetest missionaries I have met. I am so grateful to be companions to such a nice person. 

Monday - Regular type of P-Day! We cleaned, we ate, we emailed!

Tuesday - My companion was having some really intense pains in her stomach, so we stayed home that day by instruction of the mission president. It was SO weird to stay home on a day we were supposed to be proselyting haha. I was crazy bored. Sister Namugenyi slept for pretty much the whole day. I took a five hour nap and then I got up and did some cleaning and decorating around the house. Thankfully, one day of staying home was enough for my companion to get better! 

Wednesday - We worked hard on Wednesday in order to catch up from missing Tuesday. It rained pretty much all day on Wednesday, though, so we went home SOAKED! It is raining almost every single day now. #umbrellassavelives On Wednesday, it was Sister Burt's birthday! She came over to our house with her companion, and we celebrated Zimbaswe Missionary style!

Thursday - Nothing much to report about Thursday. We had Weekly Planning, which is always fun!

Friday - Friday was literally one of the craziest days I have had on my mission so far haha. We were able to get allotment with no problem (#blessed). Lots of things happened on Friday pretty much just in preparation for the baptism that we had on Saturday. We spent a few hours at the chapel trying to get everything ready and doing interviews and stuff like that. Something super cool happened on Friday, though. So we were outside waiting for the Zone Leaders to come and pick us up, and all of the sudden we were surrounded by these flying insects. I guess they are called "Insuwa" (spelling is completely wrong I am sure haha). So all of the sisters started getting super excited and they were like, "Let's go grab containers!" and I was confused, but I just followed their lead. Eventually, after flying around for a little bit, all of the wings fell off and the insuwa were just crawling around on the ground. Sister Bondo and Sister Namugenyi started picking them up, and they told me to, as well. I asked why we were picking them up, and the reply I got was, "Dinner!" So long story short, insuwa is my favorite snack ever now. We went home and fried up the insuwa and HOLY MOLY are they so delicious! I will attach a photo of what they look like haha. We ate them for dinner with sadza, but then we also just eat them like snacks. It is kind of like eating popcorn. They are super good. 

Saturday - We had another baptism! It was awesome. The guy that we baptized is so super cool. He is one of the smartest people I have ever met!

Sunday - So funny story about Sunday. While we were on our way to church, Sister Namugenyi and I were in this combi that got pulled over by the police. The car wasn't registered, and the police refused to be bribed this time around for some reason. So we all had to get out of the combi and start walking. We weren't ever able to get another combi, so we WALKED far haha. We left our house at 8:30, and we showed up to church by 9:30. Everybody was wondering where we were and if we were okay haha. I was bummed because we missed the sacrament, but it was a fun memory, anyway. 

Today - I BRAIDED MY HAIR! I have been wanting to make my hair ever since I have been here in Zimbabwe, and today I finally did it! I made "big carrots". I am obsessed. I don't know if they will stay in until Christmas or not because my hair is too soft, but we can hope and pray that it will! People have been loving it haha. 

So this email has been a whole lot of cool and funny stories, and not so much spiritual, so let me get down to the spiritual part. 

This week is Christmas, the time that we dedicate as Christians to celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope and pray that as each one of you go into Christmas this week that you remember the real reason that we are celebrating. Christmas is a great time for family, and it is sure fun to get presents, but that is not what Christmas is really about. Christmas marks the time when our Savior entered into the world to save us all from our sins. Have you ever really thought about how incredible the Atonement of Jesus Christ is? Our Older Brother not only voluntarily gave up His life for us, but He suffered all pains, temptations, and sufferings for us, as well. I will never, ever be able to express in words the gratitude that I have for Jesus Christ. He lived a sinless life, yet He was mocked, ridiculed, and rejected by the very people that He was sent to save. As I member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I have had the incredible opportunity to get to know my Savior personally. As I have diligently studied the Book of Mormon, I have come to an understanding of who Jesus Christ is and why He died for ME. The gift that I treasure most in this life is the relationship I have with my Savior. 18 months is absolutely nothing compared to what He did for me. I pray that we all remember Who Christmas is really about. 

I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, Sister Lewis

12/12/16

Jenna at Christmas Devotional

Jenna and Sister Kayembe

The girls Jenna lives with at the Gweru House

Missionary Selfie

At the Christmas Devotional

The Queen of Gift Giving...

Macadini, Shamwaris!

This week was one of the craziest weeks I have had on my mission, but it was so good! So on Monday, my new companion Sister Namugenyi came! She is SO SWEET! She is literally one of the nicest people I have ever met, and I am so excited to be her companion. She is so incredible. 

So a lot happened this week, and I have like no time to email today, so I will write what happened fast fast!

My favorite thing that happened this week was on Friday. We had a Christmas Devotional! It was our Gweru Zone, Bulawayo Zone, and Kwekwe Zone. It was so fun to see some of the missionaries that I haven't seen in awhile! President Mkhabela was also there, and it is always SO GOOD to see him! 

At our Christmas event, we got to watch the Christmas Devotional that was done by the church. My favorite talk was President Eyring's. I loved the music and the decorations that they had. It was so weird to see Salt Lake on video haha. I was surprised to see snow because I forgot that it should be snowing at home! We also did a gift exchange! Some missionaries brought really cool things, and some missionaries brought really stupid things haha. I brought a magnetic dart board, and literally EVERYONE wanted it haha so I got crowned the Queen of Gift Exchange. I was given a water bottle and a cup. Originally, I had picked this really beautiful carving of a giraffe, but someone stole it from me! (It was part of the game to steal gifts) I was so bummed. I would have named him Jeffrey the Giraffe, but alas. I will meet with that giraffe again one day, I am very sure.

So I am good! We got money on Tuesday and we are eating nice nice again! I have been trying to introduce some "American" food into the house, so on Tuesday I made tacos, and last night I made sweet and sour chicken. I also learned how to make Sadza this week! I cook a few times a week at home, since we all switch off. 

Gweru is treating me well! I am just teaching my new companion how to get around our area and introducing her to our investigators! We have another baptism this week, which I am excited for! Things are going great. I am so happy!

That is all I have time for today. Sorry for the bad blog post, but I will do better next week! In the mean time, enjoy some pictures!

Love you all! Ndino Kudda! (I love you)

Beautiful skies

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Jenna's last day with Sister Talemwa

"I may not be my Sister's keeper, but I am my Sister's sister." 

This week was actually incredibly crazy in contrast to last week haha. Let's start from the beginning. I know you are all itching to hear my transfer news, but I am going to make you wait until the end MWAHAHA. 

So last week on Monday we got some bad news from the Mission Office. Because of the new bond notes that Zimbabwe introduced (you can Google it, but the situation is crazy), banks have been either really busy or have not had any money. We were supposed to be able to receive money on the 1st of December, but we haven't been able to get any even until now, the 5th of December. We were running out of money before we even heard the news, so we were in big trouble this week haha. We fasted quite a few meals! We haven't been able to buy groceries, so we have been eating a lot of random stuff that we still have left over in our house. We are experiencing a little bit of a tight budget right now! We need $4 for transport everyday, so that is our main focus. I have some money that was sent with me for emergencies, and we have been using a little bit of that, but we are trying not to in case we can't get money for even longer. This is the main part that I want you all to focus on, though. I didn't tell you about our unfortunate situation so that you would feel bad for us. I told you because this is what I have learned from the situation. THE LORD TAKES CARE OF WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO US WHEN WE TAKE CARE OF WHAT IS IMPORTANT TO HIM. Even though we didn't always eat before we left the house, we always went to the area. Each day we have been giving our all to the work we have been called to do, and we have been blessed beyond measure. I can't even count the miracles I have seen this week. I never felt hungry when I was working hard. On Friday at Zone Meeting, some Elders from Masvingo offered to buy us lunch since they had been able to receive their money. On Saturday, our District Leader gave us $6 to buy some groceries with. On Sunday, our Branch President's wife gave us a huge carton of eggs. Heavenly Father loves His children. I have a testimony of the promise that He made to take care of His missionaries. In the Bible and in the Book of Mormon, Jesus Christ told his apostles to not worry about anything but preaching the Word of God. I know that the same rule applies to me. I have no need to worry about food because my Father in Heaven will provide for me! I am so blessed. 

So this week was week 6 of the transfer, or the last week of the transfer. Week 6 is hard because you have been working so hard for so long, and you know transfer news is coming soon, so Satan tries to tempt missionaries to not work hard during this week. Sister Talemwa and I worked as hard as we could, though, since we knew it would probably be her last week in our area. We WORKED, you guys. It was awesome. This week has been so incredibly rewarding. 

So, here is the much anticipated TRANSFER NEWS (drum roll please) Sister Lewis is...Still in GWERU!! Yaas! I feel so incredibly blessed to be able to spend some more time with the people here. The sad thing is, though, is that Sister Talemwa left me today. We both knew it was very likely to happen, but we were living in a lot of denial. Sunday was one of the hardest days I have had on mission because we spent the whole day visiting all of the people that Sister Talemwa really loved. It was so hard to watch her say goodbye over and over again. When she left me this morning, I cried. She is safely in Harare. Her new area is called Epworth. 

My new companion is called Sister Namugenyi! I haven't met her yet, she is still on her way from Harare, but she is ALSO FROM UGANDA! #blessed I love my Ugandan people! I am so excited to meet her. She is 6 weeks older than me mission wise. She is just one transfer ahead of me! The Lord decided that I was to be the Senior Companion, though. I keep joking with people that me being the senior companion is like a baby leading a child because Sister Namugenyi and I are so young on mission! I am so excited for the opportunity, though. I know we will enjoy Gweru together! 

I am doing so well here in Zimbabwe. People ask me how home is and I forget that they mean America. I usually answer in relation to Zimbabwe haha. I can't imagine leaving this place. OH! By the way, I found out from the mission office the exact day I will start heading home! I board a flight on Tuesday, March 13th, 2018. Just a fun fact for anyone who is counting down my coming home (shout out to you, Mom). I had no idea when I was supposed to leave because of the way the transfer ends that month, so I checked. I will be praying to have the days go by slower because right now I am almost 3 months old on mission which is CRAZY. Does anybody have a time machine?

So the last part of this email is about the Light the World campaign that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is doing. Every year, the church finds some special way to remember Jesus Christ during Christmastime. This year, it is Light the World. The idea behind it is to do some act of service every single day that will make someone's day brighter! It is the coolest thing. We as missionaries have been given a lot of information concerning it, and we are all actively participating. GO TO GOOGLE and type in #lighttheworld or look up Light the World on MORMON.ORG and read more about how you can help Light the World this year for Christmas!

A Christmas Message from Mormon.org #LIGHTtheWORLD ... mormon.org Jesus Christ is a perfect example of serving others. We invite you this Christmas season to #LIGHTtheWORLD and to serve others as Jesus did.

I hope everyone at home has a good week! Don't forget to read your scriptures! Say your prayers! Enjoy the Christmas season! 

Love, Sister Lewis

Hey, everyone! 

So this group letter today is going to be crazy short and boring because I am super tired today and nothing very eventful happened this week haha.

Tuesday - We had District Meeting! I love District Meeting. I was laughing so hard because one of the elders shared a scripture about increasing the beauty of Zion...he was telling us all to baptize wakanakas (beautiful people). Some boys never change, you know? We were all laughing so hard though. It was just the joke that we all needed to start off the week well.

Wednesday - Sister Talemwa and I met this CRAZY AWESOME lady by accident (though nothing ever happens by accident, does it?). So she was a nurse for a long time, but she got this sickness that made her have to amputate both of her legs. She is a really devoted church goer, so every Sunday she WALKS on her prosthetic legs to get a combi to her church. A few weeks ago, a combi driver didn't see her and hit her with his combi. He ran over her hand. The whole time she was telling us this story about her life, she was telling us about the gratitude she has for her Father in Heaven. I learned so much from that lady. Wow I loved meeting her. How many people do you meet without their legs and the use of one hand who says she is grateful for everything that God has given her? It made me realize that I never have anything to complain about!

Thursday - I didn't even realize it was Thanksgiving until 8:00 p.m. I ate cereal for dinner because my companion and I didn't feel like cooking lol. 

Friday - We got to visit one of my favorite families in the ward. Their name is the Mhuri's. In Shona the word Mhuri means family lol so whenever I say Mhuri Family I always giggle a little to myself because I am just saying, "Family Family." The things that make me happy are so dumb sometimes haha

Saturday - It rained on Sister Talemwa and I all day! It was so fun haha. We ate chibage (corn) before we left our area and it was like heaven to eat something hot when we were so cold! 

Sunday - The Sabbath is always a good day! It was especially good because we spent almost the whole day visiting members and asking for referrals. They fed us a lot of food on Sunday  Also I have been spending the past two weeks in Primary because as much as I love Relief Society...I was missing having children in my life! I LOVE playing with those Primary kids! They love Sister Lewis, too!

Guys really this week was so good, but I am drawing a blank as what to say haha. Transfers are this week, so the next time I write a blog post I will have a new companion, probably. I also could possibly be leaving Gweru, but maybe not! We will see! I will miss Sister Talemwa like CRAZY!

Have a great week! Say your prayers and read your scriptures! I am on my second time through the Book of Mormon on mission and I am loving it. I have the worst memory, so every time I read it, it is like I am reading it for the first time! Haha it is awesome.

I love you guys! I will see you in December!

Love, Sister Lewis

11/21/16 

Promises, Prayers, and Pig Feet

Masqer asi, shamwaris! (Good Afternoon, friends!)

I had a great week here in the land of Zimbabwe! Gweru is great as usual! The rains are still coming down over here, but usually only at night time. I haven't been drenched...yet!

Promises - Sister Talemwa and I had another baptism this week! Let's call him Charles; he is 58 years old. So Charles met with missionaries THREE years ago for the first time! They gave him the Book of Mormon, and he read it through twice, but he never prayed about it. Sister Talemwa and I have been meeting with him since the beginning of my time here in Zimbabwe, but Sister Talemwa even met with him when she was still being trained by Sister Erickson. We had taught him and his wife the Restoration almost every time we met with them because they were confused about a few things. They were not progressing, and Sister Talemwa and I knew that we probably needed to stop seeing them soon. We bore powerful testimonies to Charles and his wife, invited them to be baptized, and then left them knowing that we would only come back one more time before we had to drop them. When we came back for the last time, we were SHOCKED at what Charles had to tell us. He told us that he prayed, and he knew that our church was the ONLY true church in the world. He had previously been going to a Methodist church for his whole life, but after that day that he prayed, he never went back. Yesterday, Charles was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I have never seen a happier man. He is so, SO excited about the gospel. He loves learning. Something else incredible about Charles was that he had a problem with smoking. He smoked about 20 cigarettes per day. After we taught him about the Word of Wisdom, he cut back to ONE cigarette per day! He is following the Word of Wisdom with all his might, and smoking is no longer a problem for him! Charles is one of my favorite people ever. He always asks Sister Talemwa and I, "Is is too selfish if I ask you to come twice this week?" He is such a cool guy. The coolest part, though, is that he made covenants with his Heavenly Father this week. Charles has entered into the path of eternal life!

Prayers - This week we had a lot of fall through appointments. These are normal in missionary life, but Sister Talemwa and I were a little bummed about it. We turned to prayer and were comforted. Heavenly Father asks all of us to be patient in all things. I find patience a lot easier when I use prayer ALL DAY! 

Pig Feet - Yesterday, the Branch President's wife (Sister Kwenda) made us pig trotters! It was actually surprisingly really good. I would eat it again for sure haha. I tried my hardest to just not think about what I was eating haha. They really don't waste any part of the animal here! I have now eaten intestines and hooves! What a powerful country!

I am starting the Book of Mormon over again, and I am so excited about it. I read it during my first month here, and then I read Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Now I read Jesus the Christ in the morning (best book ever holy cow) and the Book of Mormon at night. I could not live without my scriptures wowowow. 

I hope you all have a great week! I love you and keep you in my prayers. Don't forget to pray! 

Love, Sister Lewis

P.S. Gweru is getting SO beautiful! These trees with the red flowers on them are everywhere!

 

 

 

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11/14/16
 

THE RAINS CAME TUMBLING DOWN! It finally rained in Zim for REAL! The sky was dumping buckets of water on Friday! We didn't even get to leave the house at all because it was raining ALL DAY! That won't usually happen, though. We definitely get to proselyte during the rainy season, but Friday was just not safe. AFRICAN LIGHTENING AND THUNDER IS SUPER SCARY AND SUPER COOL! I was telling my trainer Sister Talemwa how much I loved the thunder and lightening that was happening, and she was like, "Companion, African lightening is scary! People die! So don't go outside, okay?!" And I was like, "Oh, shoot. Yeah. I'll stay in and watch!"

Another beautiful week in Zimbabwe! This week was kind of crazy, but it was fun! 

Monday - Just a P-Day like usual! We got to go to a member's house for Family Home Evening again, but I didn't get thrown up on this time 😋

Tuesday- Zone Meeting! It was so nice to see all of the elders in our zone! We only get to see the ones that live far about once a month, so it was cool to see them all again. I got to see Elder Barrus (missionary from my hometown), since he is in my zone, and we had fun talking about Viewmont and people from back home. It is so fun just to all get together and talk about how we can all help each other and our investigators.

Wednesday - Normal proselyting day! We had some cool lessons, but nothing crazy happened haha. 

Thursday - Exchanges! Sister Nafula and Sister Ngwenya came and did exchanges with Sister Talemwa and I! I got to work with Sister Ngwenya on Thursday. She is a powerful missionary! I learned a lot from her and had a really fun time walking around with her. It was cool because it was the first time I was like the senior companion in my area! I DIDN'T EVEN GET LOST! It was a miracle.

Friday - Like I said before, the rains kept us inside. I was super bummed because Sister Nafula was supposed to be my companion for the day on Friday and she is one of my favorite people! She is from Uganda like my companion, and she is so hilarious. We studied all day and had some REALLY COOL gospel discussions! It was powerful. 

Saturday - Normal proselyting day! I had missed my companion! It was so nice to teach with Sister Talemwa once more!

Sunday - Church! Sundays are always our busiest days. We leave the house at 8 a.m. to make it to church, and then after church we proselyte all day until like 6. Yesterday, we had dinner with a family in our ward, so the zone leaders came and picked us up from our area at like 8! We were in our area ALL DAY LONG! We were so tired! 

So pretty much everyone and their dog is asking me if I knew Donald Trump was voted President. I didn't actually find out for myself until yesterday. I had no idea! Everyone has an opinion about that guy haha. It is funny, though, because no one in Zim knows the actual political stances of Trump and Clinton, they just don't like Trump because they say he is racist. Either way, I don't really care about all of that because I am in Zimbabwe preaching the gospel! I have heard that there have been some riots, though, so I hope you guys all stay safe there in America! I am blessed to be on the other side of the world right now haha. 

I love you all! I hope you have an incredible week! Don't forget to read your scriptures and say your prayers! Toonana! (See you!)

Sister Lewis 

Masqerasei, Shamwaris! (Good Afternoon, friends!)

This has been another incredible week in the land of Zimbabwe!

So I thought I would start the week off with a funny story. Last week, after we finished up emailing, we went to our Branch Mission Leader's house for Family Home Evening. It is the same family that we saw that Sunday, too, for Sister Talemwa's birthday. So Brother Shenjere (Branch Mission Leader) has a 5 year old niece who lives with him and his mom. She ate a TON of food at dinner. After, while we were all cleaning up and talking, she came and laid on the couch. I was sitting on the floor at the time, right by the couch she was laying on. All of the sudden, she turns and PUKES ALL OVER ME. We were DEAD LAUGHING. Sister Talemwa, Brother Shenjere, and I were laughing so hard we couldn't even clean up the mess for a solid five minutes. Lilian felt SO BAD that she threw up on me, but I really didn't care. It was the end of the day, and we were just going home after dinner with them. I still laugh when I think about it. Missions are powerful, you guys!

You guys remember that guy I was telling you about last week who had a huge change of heart? HE IS STILL PROGRESSING SO WELL! We love that guy like crazy. He is so excited about the gospel. He told us that his only regret was that it took him 60 years to figure out the true gospel!!! He is so excited about Joseph Smith and reading the Book of Mormon. The gospel changes people for real, you guys. SO MUCH! Even me. I am 200% sure that I am a totally different person than I used to be. I am glad that I have been able to see the changes in myself, as well as in my investigators. 

Being a missionary is so cool guys. So yesterday was Fast Sunday, right? Sister Talemwa and I were talking about how crazy people who didn't have the gospel would think we are. Voluntarily, my companion and I refrained from eating and drinking all day yesterday until 8 o'clock in the evening. We went to church from 9-12 and then walked around all day in the heat teaching people with empty stomachs. IT WAS SUCH A HUGE BLESSING! Fasting is so cool. I love doing it! I feel the blessings that come every time I fast. To even have the strength the whole day to teach the gospel to people without eating or drinking anything is evidence of the blessings that we are given for fasting. I read my scriptures that night after we got home, and I understood my scriptures SO WELL! I understood everything that I came across. It was a huge blessing. 

I am doing well! I wish I could think of cool things to tell you guys about Zimbabwe, but since I live here and this is my normal life now, I can't think of anything being cool or weird haha. OH! Here is a good one! The other day I took a combi that was supposed to legally seat five people, including the driver. We had ELEVEN PEOPLE in the car hahaha. There was the driver in his seat, two people in the front seat, four people in the backseat, three children and and adult in the trunk. I was dead laughing the whole time haha. Zimbabwe is so legit. 

This week I also got to do some cool service! There is a Reverend who is investigating in our church and we offered to come and dig and weed in his field. He has a small garden with some different foods in there, so Sister Talemwa and I dug around in the garden and did weeding. I think it is the first time in my life I have actually used a garden hoe haha. It was so cool. Sister Talemwa's family back home has a bunch of HUGE farms, so she was in her element. She taught me how to be a better farmer! The things I am learning in Zimbabwe guys haha I will be pretty well rounded when I get home!

I miss you all! Hope you have a good week! Toonana! (See you!)

Love, Sister Lewis

The young man is the Branch Mission President. This is a family in the Branch

It was Sister Talemwa's birtrhday. The sweet family had her and Sister Lewis over for dinner!

Hey guys!

Man I don't even know what to write to you about this week! As a missionary I really just live day to day haha. I forget about the previous day and the cool things that happened. 

Sister Talemwa and I had a miracle this week! We have this investigator who is 59 years old. He has been going to his church for his whole life, and he was really dedicated to it. He has gone through a few sets of missionaries. We visited him quite a few times, but we weren't really getting very far with him. He always read the pamphlets we gave him, though, and he has read the Book of Mormon three times in his course of meeting with the missionaries. He never prayed about the Book of Mormon, though, or if the church was true. One day, Sister Talemwa and I both bore really powerful testimonies to him that we knew the church was true. Sister Talemwa told him that the only way he would know if the church was true was if he prayed about it. She also made a really powerful statement that was personal to his journey in the gospel. So we left the lesson thinking that we would have to drop him as an investigator. We told each other we wanted to see him one more time, though. On Saturday, we both felt prompted to go and visit him. We sat down in his home, and he told us that he believed that our church was the only true church because he had prayed about it. Sister Talemwa and I were shocked! We knew he could get an answer if he prayed, but we were not sure that he would. He went from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds! He came to church the next day, and is planning to be baptized this month! The Spirit is incredible. As soon as you open your heart with a true desire to know the truth, the Spirit will bear testimony that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true! 

I also had a cool experience with one of the members in our branch. There is a 20 year old guy that we have seen a few times now who told us he wants to go on a mission, but he didn't know if he would be strong enough to serve a mission. Sister Talemwa and I told him how much Heavenly Father has changed us as we served missions. I am so different than I was when I was at home! We read for him Ether 12:27 and talked about how whatever weaknesses we have, we can overcome them if we have faith and humility. Who knows if he will serve a mission or not, but it was a cool time for Sister Talemwa and I to realize how incredible the changes that have taken place in our hearts are. 

Before I became a missionary, I had a lot of different anxieties in my life. I was scared of a lot of things. The moment I was set apart, though, I felt this amazing peace. I have not had anxiety about anything since I have been on my mission. There is not anything I am scared of anymore because I have a great understanding of who my Savior is and what He did for me. I am not even afraid of the huge spiders that crawl around our house every day and I am not even kidding haha. It may be a small and silly thing, but guys, I am not even scared of spiders anymore haha. I am not scared of having weaknesses, either, because I know that we have weaknesses for a reason, and that Heavenly Father can make them strengths! Don't live in fear, you guys! Have peace in this life through the gospel. 

Sorry this has been a boring email, but I am dead tired haha and my brain is elsewhere. Sister Talemwa's birthday was yesterday so we are celebrating today and my mind is on the celebrations we have planned! I will add some pictures to make up for it. 

Have a good week! I love you all and miss you! Read your scriptures and say your prayers!

Toonana!

Love, Sister Lewis

---

KL

The father was taught by Jenna and her companion. The wife, and teenage girl were members.

Sister Talemwa, Jenna's companion and a recent convert friend who wanted to look like a missionary!

Sister Talemwa and a recent convert who works with the missionaries.

10/24/16
Uri Sei, Shamwaris! (What's up, friends?)

Okay, so this weeks email will be a bit of serious, a bit of silly, and a bit of sad. Hold tight, and enjoy the ride!

Transfer 1 is over! What the heck?! Where did the time go? I do not even feel at all like I have been in Zimbabwe for 6 weeks. I am so sad that the time went by so fast because that means I only get 6 more short weeks with my beloved trainer, Sister Talemwa. Have I ever told you guys that I love her? Because I do a whole lot. She is an angel. I will definitely cry when she has to leave me. She will leave at the end of Transfer 2 we are pretty sure, but I will probably stay in Gweru (yay!). We shall see! I have 6 weeks before I need to start thinking about it, but I always get ahead of myself. 

I HAD MY FIRST BAPTISM THIS WEEK! I didn't want to tell you guys until I was very sure it was going to happen because Zimbabweans can be unpredictable at times. IT HAPPENED THOUGH! I am so incredibly happy. There is no better feeling than knowing that somebody entered into the waters of baptism with my help. So this particular guy was really special. His wife, daughter, and son have recently been baptized. One Sunday, he showed up to church with his wife and approached us. He said, "I want to be with my family forever, please help me get baptized." Sister Talemwa and I were so happy! This guy understood the importance of families, and he wanted his family to be united in religion. We meet with him for a few weeks. He understood everything we taught him beautifully. He always keep our reading commitments. After he was baptized, he gave a beautiful testimony about how he cannot wait to learn more about the gospel. The church is true, you guys. It just is. This is the Church of Jesus Christ established on the earth. Christ lives and loves each one of us perfectly. There will never be a greater feeling than watching someone discover their Heavenly Heritage. This past Saturday, I truly helped a blessed soul come unto Christ. How blessed I am to be a missionary.

This week, I also had an experienced that humbled me more than I will ever be able to say. As we were walking around, I had this impression that we needed to see a certain investigator of ours. This lady is one of my best friends here in Zimbabwe. She would have been baptized long ago, but she is not yet legally married. This amazing woman has had an incredibly hard life. Due to privacy reasons, I will not disclose all of the things that she struggles with, but let me tell you, I could not personally handle all of the things this woman has been through. A few days previously, her struggles came to a peak. As we sat in her one room concrete home, of which she sleeps on the floor with her three children, she told us that a few days previously, she watched as her life fell to pieces. I cried as I listened to her tell her story. Immediately, I read for her Doctrine and Covenants 121:7-9. I promised her that Sister Talemwa and I would always be here for her, and then a grown woman sobbed in my arms. As we were leaving, I felt spiritually impressed to leave five dollars behind. Without her noticing, I hid those few dollars under a blanket. I personally wanted to leave more behind, but the Spirit whispered to me, "Five dollars." A few days later, she came to church. Tears filled her eyes as she thanked Sister Talemwa and I for what we did, even though we tried to deny it was us. 

That day, I learned that it was not the amount of money that was important. What was important was that this beloved sister understood that she has a Heavenly Father who loves her. I am sure in the worldly sense, my five dollars will do very little for this lady. In the spiritual sense, however, I am sure that it did a lot. The Spirit is very powerful. We need to follow the promptings of the Spirit at all times because we never know the impact it will have on someone. 

Brothers and Sisters, we have a Father in Heaven who loves us more than we will ever be able to comprehend. I know that Jesus Christ lives. I know that He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane for me. I have a strong testimony that no matter what we are going through in our life, we will survive because of a Savior Who loved us to sacrifice His own life, even though He was perfect. The times when we feel like we can't pray is the time when it is most important to get on our knees. Life is hard, but it is so much easier when we use the Atonement. This gospel means more to me than I will ever be able to put into words. I know that it is true. I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God who translated the Book of Mormon. I know that this church is the same church with the same authority that Jesus Christ Himself set up while He was on the earth. I would not be in Zimbabwe if I didn't know that these things are true. I leave my humble testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

I love you all! Have a good week!

Sister Lewis 

This was in the South Africa MTC and Jenna is helping her companion.

Sister Cook's straightener wouldn't work in South Africa!

Sister Cook from Vernal; Sister Shongwe from Johannesburg; and Jenna at South Africa MTC

Jenna and Sister Talemwa in their house in Gweru

Jenna and Sister Cook and other Elders on Plane from South Africa to Zimbabwe

Sister Cook and her companion; Jenna and Sister Talemwa; and 2 other Sisters in Zimbabwe

Masquerasei, Shamwaris! (Good Afternoon, friends!)

This email is going to be suuuupppperrrr short because I accidentally forgot I needed to write a group email and I have like ten minutes left haha.

I am still doing well in the land of Zimbabwe! I have a ton of investigators right now! We are teaching all different kinds of people from Rastafarians all the way down to Presbyterian Pastors! The biggest lesson I have learned in Zimbabwe is that we should NEVER judge who we share the gospel with. We need to share the gospel with everybody because you never know who has been prepared.

Sister Talemwa and are doing great! She is my best friend haha. She takes care of me like a mother takes care of a child! When I get home, I am always so tired and I try to just lay on my bed. She always pulls me off and makes me wash my feet before I get my sheets dirty. She is truly a Christ-like person. When I am incredibly tired, she washes my feet for me. I am humbled by her example. She knows how to serve people!

I will send a longer email next week! Sorry guys. I am happy and healthy, though! I hope you are all doing well. Read your scriptures, say your prayers, and keep the commandments. I PROMISE it makes life easier. I KNOW it makes life easier! There is no way I would've survived in Zimbabwe without prayer.

If everything goes well, and according to the Lord's Will, Sister Talemwa and I will be baptizing someone on Saturday! I will let you know. Love you guys!

Love, Sister Lewis

P.S. I ate chicken intestines this week and it was SO GOOD! They just like fried them up and it was powerful, guys. Really powerful.

From: Jenna Nicole Lewis <jenna.lewis@myldsmail.net>
Sent: Monday, October 10, 2016 6:29 AM
To: Kathi Lewis; Jeff Lewis
Subject: Babies and Bulawayo

 

ODISEI SHAMWARIS (what's up friends)

Hey guys! Another Monday has crept up on me! I can't believe how quickly this week went by. I feel like I emailed you all yesterday haha.

This week was a party and a half! I know my blogs are always really disorganized, so I apologize. I always promise to do better in my group emails, but I don't haha. It seems like you are all enjoying them, though, so that is good!

Tuesday was pretty much a normal day, but we had district meeting in the morning. In district meeting we pretty much just go over all of the indicators for the week, like how many people we taught, baptized, contacted, etc.

Wednesday was a totally normal day, so there is not much to say about that haha.

Thursday we had weekly planning in the morning. We pretty much just take two hours and plan the whole upcoming week. We talk about all of our investigators and how to best help them that week. Then we were in our area only until four thirty because we had to leave for Bulawayo! This week our Sister Training Leaders, Sister Nafula (Uganda) and Sister Stegelmeier (Idaho Falls) brought us to their area to do exchanges with us! Bulawayo is two hours away from Gweru by bus. We left Gweru at six, and I was so sad to leave even just for the night. Gweru has really become my home! We got there at eight and pretty much just had a party with the sisters in Bulawayo haha. Not a real party, but we got to talk all night with Sisters Nafula, Stegelmeier, Anyango, and Burt. It was so fun talking to some different people!

Friday was exchanges! I left Sister Talemwa (I was so nervous and bummed to leave her haha) and I was a companion for the day with Sister Stegelmeier. We did all the same things that we do in our area, but with a Sister Training Leader so they can tell us how to improve our teaching skills. Bulawayo is HOT. Dang it was so hot that day haha. We taught a lot of people, though! And since it was us two murungu girls (white girls) walking down the street together, a lot of people stopped us and wanted to talk. It was the easiest contacting day I have ever had haha. Sister Steg said she really enjoyed teaching with me, and that I am a powerful missionary. AHH!! YAAS! I was so happy haha. She had a few little corrections for me, but she said I was doing really well! I was so excited.

Saturday we came home from Bulawayo in the morning and then went right to the town chapel to watch the Saturday sessions of General Conference with our "stake". HOLY COW GUYS CONFERENCE WAS POWERFUL! I was hanging onto every word that was said. I think my favorite talk came from D. Todd Christofferson about Divine Love. It was amazing! After watching the first session of conference, this lady came up to us holding the CUTEST BABY I have EVER SEEN. She is 8 months old and the absolute fattest baby ever. She is so fat. It makes me happy. So I was gushing to this lady about her baby forever. I miss babies in my life. I need my nieces and nephew to fly to Zimbabwe really fast.

Sunday was the Sunday sessions of conference and also the Women's General Session. Wow, those talks were amazing! Every single part of conference was SO GOOD. I was writing notes like crazy and adding my investigators names next to what I wanted to share with them. I was supposed to bring my notebook today so I could share some stuff with you guys, but I totally forgot it. Oops. Sorry guys!

Today is Monday! We spent this morning cleaning our house. Every Monday we clean our house sooo well. Sister Talemwa and I went to the salon together to get her hair done, and then we went to lunch. I ate sadza and beef! It was super yummy.

Well, there you are! That was my week! I can't think of anything else that I need to tell you guys, so I will just end with a spiritual thought:

One of the times that I felt the Spirit most in conference was when on Saturday afternoon the missionary choir sang, "I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go". My favorite verse reads, "So trusting my all to Thy tender care, and knowing Thou lovest me, I'll do Thy will with a heart sincere, I'll be what You want me to be." Faith is essential in our lives. We need to trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ perfectly. They know what we need so much better than we do. They will take care of us. Never forget that we are loved by Heavenly Beings! I know that my Savior lives and loves me, and that is why I am able to serve in Zimbabwe. Forget the food, forget the culture differences, forget the language barrier, forget everything. I KNOW that I can be a good missionary because I trust in my Savior. I know that He loves me, and that is what gets me through every single day here. I am HAPPY because I know that I am loved. I feel joy every single day. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I love being a missionary. I'll be who my Savior wants me to be. I wouldn't want to be anybody else, and I hope you feel the same.

I love you all so much! I keep you in my prayers. Don't forget to read your scriptures and say your prayers!

Sister Lewis

Pictures from the South Africa MTC

 

 

Odisei, shamwaris! (What's up, friends?)

*Disclaimer - Anything I send to you in Shona in my emails is probably, definitely spelled wrong haha. I just guess*

My computer in the internet cafe is giving me a really hard time today, so sorry if this email isn't very long!

What a great week in the land of Zimbabwe! Everyday I am so grateful to be here! I can't believe it is already Monday again! I feel like I emailed you all yesterday haha. Today marks the beginning of my fourth week!

I am so glad that General Conference was amazing! I did not get to watch it live because of the nine hour time difference. We are watching it this week as a stake at our stake center. I am not sure that we are watching all of conference, but I will be able to read all of the talks once they are on lds.org. Hopefully my mom will mail me the General Conference magazine when it comes out ;) I have been reading the April 2016 General Conference magazine in preparation for whatever I get to watch this Saturday and Sunday. It is so important to regularly remind ourselves of the words of the prophet! We are incredibly blessed to have a living prophet with the Priesthood keys, so we need to remember what is said in conference!

This week was cool because we had Zone Conference! I got to see some of the missionaries I was in the MTC with, which was so fun! Zone Conference is pretty much where all of the missionaries in the surrounding areas come together and learn how to be better missionaries. Zimbabwe missionaries are crazy and fun! We had an absolute blast! It was cool to spend the whole day with them. We also got to hear from our Mission President. Man, that guy has the coolest testimony of Jesus Christ.

Things in my area are coming along well! Sister Talemwa and I are teaching a lot of investigators! We have some baptismal dates, but we keep running into problems with marriage here. So for a person to be baptized into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, they have to be married legally if they are living with another person. Law of Chastity and all that haha. Here, people get married customally, but not legally. We have a few investigators who had baptismal dates for this week, but then we figured out that they are not married legally haha. I will for sure let you know when my first baptism is, though! I love teaching lessons. People here are so incredible!

I am quickly developing relationships with the members of my branch and my investigators! My love for people has grown as I have been here. I have a few favorite people that I love visiting. One of them is this 40 year old guy we have been visiting a lot. He loves the gospel and has a huge desire to be baptized! He has a Word of Wisdom problem, though, so we are working on that with him. He has dreadlocks and rides a motorcycle haha. He's so cool. I am also teaching him Spanish. He came to church on Sunday! That has also been one of his biggest problems is making it to church, but he said that I really helped him want to come by how excited I was haha.

There are pros and cons to being white in Zimbabwe. On one hand, I get a lot of people talking to me about the gospel because they want to know why I came here from America. On the other hand, I get a lot of marriage proposals from random drunk guys because they want to go to America haha. It's crazy!! I love the people here. They make me laugh. There are groups of kids in a few different places in my area that know me. Whenever I come around, they yell "Sister Angie!" ( I have no idea why they call me that lol) and run up to me. Yesterday I had like twenty kids touching my hair, holding my arms, and yelling "HOW ARE YOU?" at me. I love them all so much haha. They love touching me and then looking at their skin to see if it has changed haha.

I need to go soon, but before I do I just want to leave you guys with a challenge. Share the gospel with at least one person this week. Members have a very significant role in missionary work! You guys can accomplish so much. Think about the joy that comes from knowing about the gospel. We know that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. We know what our purpose is here on Earth, and where we will go after. Most important, however, we know that Jesus Christ died for our sins. The guilt we feel when we make mistakes can be washed away by the Atonement. I feel pure joy from living the principles of the gospel, and that is why I choose to share it with others. I hope you choose to share that joy with the people you know. If your neighbor is thirsty, would you deny him water? Don't deny anyone you know of the opportunity to know about the gospel.

I love you all! I love hearing from you. I hope that I can get pictures uploaded on this computer! Have a good week! I know I will!

Tonana! (Goodbye)
Sister Lewis

Macadi, Shamwaris!! (Hello, friends!)

AHH GUYS HI. I always get so excited to email haha. SO since I have a FULL TWO HOURS to email today, I get to send a legit group email! So a lot of the people who read my blog are members of the church, but some of you aren't! Today I wanted to explain what I do as a missionary and just kind of how my days go!

A Day in the Life of Sister Lewis
6:30 - Wake up, say morning prayers, get in twenty minutes of exercise.
7:00 - Breakfast, get ready for the day. We take BUCKET SHOWERS here, which are my favorite haha. We pretty much just stand in a tub and use a bucket full of water to shower. It's a real adventure. Don't even ask me how I wash my hair these days haha.
8:00 - Personal Study! We get an hour to ourselves to study whatever. Right now I am making my way through the Book of Mormon.
9:00 - Companionship Study. Sister Talemwa and I get an hour to figure out how to best teach our investigators according to the lessons we have planned for them that day. She teaches me so much about missionary work!
10:00 - 12 Week Training. Since I am a new missionary, we have to study how to be a good missionary for an hour every day haha.
11:00 - Lunch!
12:00 - Leave for our area. So this is one of my favorite parts of the day haha. We take 2 "Combis" (Pretty much a taxi) to get to our areas. A combi can be a car of any kind. Usually we are in a small, five person car on the way into town and then a huge van on the way to our area. It is fifty cents per person. It makes me laugh though because they try to shove as many people in a car as possible. We always have seven people in our five person car and like twenty two in our fifteen person van. I love it! IT always gives me the opportunity to talk to people.
1:00-6:00 - Teach and preach! I walk around for about five hours in the day. We have lessons with investigators, contact people on the street, and do service! Usually we have a recent convert with us, and he has become one of my best friends! He, Sister Talemwa, and I get along so well. This is the fastest five hours of my day! I feel like I teach for twenty minutes and then leave haha. I love, love, love teaching people! I am the only white person in the area we are in, so little kids love to come up and touch me haha. I love kids, so it doesn't annoy me. I hear the word, "Murungu!" (white person) like twenty times a day. Men also ask me to marry them haha. They love white people here! It's so easy to find someone to talk to about the gospel because they all start the conversation anyway haha.

6:00 - Travel Home. Usually we'll stop by the grocery store on the way home and buy things we forgot haha.

7:00 - Planning for the next day and recording lessons taught

8:00 - Dinner. As far as food goes, we eat a lot of beans, rice, and sadza. Sometimes we will eat out at fast food places. They still eat so much meat here haha. I swear I've eaten chicken almost every day that I have been here!

9:00 - Sister Lewis always passes out before everybody else! I am so tired at the end of the day, but the girls in my house are training me to make it to 10:30!

So that's what I do all day every day! Obviously some days are a little different. Sunday we go to church before we teach. Monday is our Preparation Day, so we have the day off, and Tuesdays we have District Meetings. Every day is so different even though I am doing the same thing. I love preaching the gospel! I have come so much closer to my Savior because I am telling people about Christ all day!

I hope everybody at home is doing well! I keep you guys in my prayers. Just remember that you have a Father in Heaven who loves you so much! There is something so incredible about this gospel: wherever you go, you are home. I am 11,000 miles away from my house, but I still feel like I am home. This gospel gives us something to have in common with everybody that we meet. We are all children of God. Jesus Christ died for ALL of our sins. I hope you remember that as you go throughout your days. Be slow to judge, and quick to love. I have changed so much. Being this close to the gospel has made me such a better person.

Have a great week, shamwaris! I will see you next week. Don't forget to pray!!

Love, Sister Lewis