Letters from Sister Lewis

9/11/17

Hey Fam!

I know I say this probably every single week, but this week was CRAZY. SO HECTIC. I have never had such a crazy week on mission probably EVER! It FLEW by. It was so fun, but I am also so tired haha I need to take a nap to recover from last week except for the fact that I don't have time!

Monday: So last week after emailing you guys, we went to this place called Hero's Acre with Sister Mzunga (Malawi) and Sister Plothow (Utah) because it was Sister Plothow's birthday! We had a ton of fun. It is pretty much just this beautiful place where all of the heroes in Zimbabwe are buried. We climbed a lot of stairs haha but the top was just so peaceful and amazing. We could all feel the Spirit so strongly. I have so much respect for those who die for the freedom of their country. After all of that, we didn't even get to go home and rest because on Monday night, we had dinner with President and Sister Mkhabela in their home. YOH. The food was amazing! Sister Mkhabela can cook nice nice. After dinner, we had a sleepover at the other sisters house because we had a meeting that we had to be to at 9 in the morning in Harare, so they told us to sleep at their house. GUESS WHO'S HOUSE THAT WAS?! SISTER TALEMWA!!!!! Yep, that's right. I got to spend the whole night just talking to my mission mom and catching up with her, and it was AMAZING. Also there was SISTER PARK, my companion in Kuwadzana. Pretty much the six of us sisters just stayed up until 1 in the morning talking which is bad of us, but it was so fun.

Tuesday: We had a meeting that we had to attend Tuesday morning that was super good! We got to discuss some of the difficulties that our mission is facing and how to fix those difficulties. We also got to hear our mission president teach us, which is my absolute favorite part of mission! After the meeting we got to eat good food again, and then my companion and I went back to the area for a little bit. Around 5, we had to go back to the office to pick up Sister Ziqubu (there is a click there...) and SISTER TONGA!! That is right, my friends, my daughter came to Zengeza for exchanges! I did not get to work with her for the day, of course, but we did get to spend like two nights in the same house which was super fun.

Wednesday: I DID get to work with SISTER ZIQUBU, however, who is a rockstar and I love her so much. She is from South Africa, and she goes home in like two weeks! She taught me SO MUCH about how to be a better missionary, and I had such a fun day with her. We laughed a lot and had a great time. We spent the whole day together, and I wish I could've had more days with her! She is powerful.

Thursday: ZONE CONFERENCE! Can you guys even feel how crazy this week was? MLC, exchanges, and zone conference all in one week? Pakaipa. Exchanges usually make me so tired, but I didn't even get the chance to be tired because we had zone conference! This zone conference was awesome, though. I felt the Spirit SO MUCH yoh it was insane. My companion also gave an amazing presentation during zone conference (GO D!). It was a great day.

Friday: Finally a whole day of proselyting, but not really haha because Pamela needed to get interviewed for her baptism! Also we had District Meeting on Friday because MLC disturbed us haha. Can I just say I have the best district EVER?! They are amazing. We are only four, but they are amazing. This week, I have a huge shout out for my dad haha. Elder Hanson is from Washington and he is in LOVE with the Seahawks. He has been busy telling me about all the things with the Seahawks haha like who has been traded to what team and I just sit there and listen nicely because he is too excited about everything. He has been making me think about my dad so much! Elder Hanson also has a Seahawks tie and he has been wearing it for the past three days in a row haha.

Saturday: So...this day was so crazy. We were supposed to have a baptism at our chapel, but no members showed up...that was pretty awkward. Like we didn't even have anyone to baptize Pamela even though we announced the baptism and called so many members...I don't know what happened haha. TURNS OUT the elders were having a wedding/baptism, though, so they just told us to run over to their area and combine our baptisms. It was a success and we had SO MUCH FUN with Pamela at the elder's wedding.

Sunday: Church! Pamela was able to get confirmed! She is so sweet. She is the 13 year old daughter of one of the recent converts in Nanoview. She just got back from school, and she was so excited to join her family as full members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We also taught some sweet lessons and got to do Weekly Planning since we were busy Thursday.

This week was powerful. Guys. I love the gospel so much. I love my mission. I feel like I am at the peak of my mission right now in that fact that I am definitely working harder than I have ever worked, reading the Book of Mormon more than I have ever read, and praying more sincerely than I have ever prayed. I can't believe this week I hit SIX MONTHS until I go home. I sometimes dream about going home and how incredibly awkward I am going to be when I get back haha. This morning I had a dream that when I got home I lost my smartphone like five times because I just kept on forgetting that I owned a personal phone haha. I wish I could do this forever, but I can't, so I will just enjoy ever single day of this next six months.

I love you all so much. I hope you are turning to your Book of Mormon every single day. I can't even express in words how much that book means to me. YOH. It has saved my life.

Have a great week! I love you all!

Sister Lewis