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