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

MACADI!! (General greeting in Shona)

This week has been absolutely, positively crazy, but I love it!! We flew from Joburg to Harare on Tuesday. All day Tuesday was just paperwork and stuff. Wednesday was a whole bunch of training. I HAVE A COMPANION!! Haha her name is Sister Talemwa from Uganda and she is a perfect human being. She is so sweet. She is such a good teacher. She is more quiet and serious than I am, but only in the morning. Once we get walking around our area we giggle and laugh all day long. 

My area is Gweru! It is like four hours outside of Harare by bus. My house is so cute! I can't wait to send you guys pictures. I can't today, but I will next week. It's a big house in comparison to the people I teach in. We have like four different gates, so no one will ever even get close to stealing from us haha. Sister Talemwa says Gweru is so safe, though. She has never had any problems. So Sister Cook (MTC companion) and I are living in the same house! We usually always live four in a house in Zimbabwe. We aren't companions, and we only see each other in the mornings and the evenings, but it has been so nice having her around! Even though everything in my world has changed, she is a constant! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my area! I am the only white person there, so all the kids follow me around and yell "Murungu!" which pretty much just means "white person". I love it. Everyone is so nice! No one will ever shut a door in our face because everyone in Zim is just so hospitable. My companion and I have a good list of investigators so far, and I love them all! I am so obsessed with missionary work haha. 

I am learning Shona really fast! It isn't required that we learn it, and we are supposed to teach in English, but the people love it that we try to speak. Sister Talemwa says I am picking it up really quickly. My favorite word is "Shamwari", which means friend. Sister Talemwa and I always just call each other shamwari. They roll all of their "r"s. There is a recent convert who walks around with us helping us teach lessons all the time and he makes fun of my pronunciation of Shona because apparently I say things with a Spanish accent. 

Guys I can never remember what to tell you haha. The food is cool! We ate a lot of interesting things this week, but nothing that I haven't liked. Probably the craziest thing was cow intestines. That was a little weird. We eat rice, beans, or sadza every meal, and it fills me up so quick! My companion complains that I don't eat enough, but I just can't make it all fit in my stomach! I love African people haha. 

I love teaching people the gospel! The coolest thing ever is when you are sitting on a bucket teaching somebody about the gospel and the Spirit is just there so strong. These people have the Light of Christ! 

I have to go because I have like two minutes before this computer shuts off. Next week I will have two hours to email, so I'll tell you more stuff then. I will send pictures, too, hopefully! I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH! I AM SO HAPPY! Thank you for all the emails this week haha my companion couldn't believe I had so many emails in my inbox. I FEEL YOUR LOVE!!

The church is true! If you need some uplifting this week, turn to the Book of Mormon! Say your prayers, guys! It helps so much! The biggest thing I have learned is that when we ask, Heavenly Father will answer.

LOVE YOU!!

Love, Sister Lewis 

Dear Brother and Sister Lewis,

We would like to inform you that Sister Lewis has arrived safely in Harare, Zimbabwe.  We will enjoy having her with us to share the gospel with the wonderful people of Zimbabwe.  We have attached a photo of Sister Lewis with President and Sister Mkhabela.

 

 

Sister Peterson

Mission Office Administrative Manager

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Zimbabwe Harare Mission

65 Enterprise Rd., Highlands Harare

Zimbabwe

Office +263 04 776 349

Cell 0772 152 481

 

 

 

 

Molo! (Hello! in Xhosa)

Hi guys! SO this will be the last email that you get from me in the MTC because next Tuesday we are traveling to Zim and then we don't have P-Day in Zim until Monday. The next time you hear from me personally is the 19th of September. I love you all! My mission president might send an email saying that I got there safe, so I hope that my mom will remember to put that email on my blog as well!

I fly to Zim the same day Andrew flies to Chile! Twinners! Andrew I hope your farewell went well! I was thinking and praying about you all day!

This week was fabulous! We have committed three out of our four "investigators" to baptism now! And we are committed our last one tonight! I love teaching. I am not even close to a perfect teacher, but the Spirit is! I love walking out of a lesson knowing that my investigator has felt the Spirit. 

I GET TO GO TO THE TEMPLE ON THURSDAY! I thought I might be able to go this past Thursday, but we got put in the group for this Thursday. I AM SO PUMPED! 

Our district changed this week! Now I have the two British Elders in my district, an Elder from Blanding, Utah, and and Elder from Spokane, Washington! I love the Elders in my district. I am learning how to perfect my British accent! 

I don't have a ton of time to email this week, so I pretty much just wanted to give you guys some advice. Life is tough. Really tough. Fortunately, we have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who loves us all SO MUCH. Every time Satan pushes us off of the wagon, and I promise he will, stand back up again. For every time you fall, get back up again. Never give up. Life is hard, but it is meant to be enjoyed. I have genuinely never been this happy in my whole life. I wish I had tried harder before my mission to be this close to the Spirit at all times. For those of you who are preparing for missions - READ YOUR SCRIPTURES EVERY DAY. That actually is advice for everybody haha. There is no point in staying miserable when you can open your scriptures and feel peace! 

I am so happy, so healthy! There is nowhere I would rather be than on a mission. "Because I have been given much, I too must give." I love you all and I promise to send a longer group email when I have more time to email on P-Days. I should have 1 hour instead of 30 minutes as soon as I get to Zim.

Love you! 

Sister Lewis

P.S. If you want to shoot me an email, don't forget that my email is jenna.lewis@myldsmail.net. I don't know what email my mom has set up with my blog, but don't email that one if you want me to be able to get back to you.