We are officially the worst guinea pigs

Let me start by saying that we have this problem in our district where if anything can go wrong, it does. And since we're part of a pilot program where they're observing everything, it's kind of terrible and hilarious at the same time. So for example, our district was supposed to go over to west campus the other day to test out some trial classrooms for the new MTC buildings they're working on. So, right before we left Hermana Anderson stopped at the drinking fountain and somehow it ended up shooting straight at the wall and water went EVERYWHERE. We tried to block it with our hands and garbage cans and who knows what and after a series of disasters, we were all soaked and it still wasn't fixed... But we had to leave so we just left it for the other district to deal with 😬 whoops. Then we showed up to west campus as one big wet disaster and let's just say they're probably regretting choosing us as a guinea pig district... Sorry world. PS, when we were in the test rooms, there was a one way mirror in the back that they were observing us from with mics all over the room to listen to our conversations. So at one point I told my comp I needed to go to the bathroom, so we stood up to leave and already waiting for us at the door was a woman who asked if we needed help finding the bathrooms... So that's not creepy at all. They just have people listen to our private conversations at all times. Haha I'm telling you, this place feels like the hunger games sometimes. 

So, on to bigger and better things, Elder Johnson gave the devotional last week! For those of you who don't know, he was my home teacher back at home. So he had me get up in front of everyone at the beginning which was somewhat terrifying, but he gave such a great talk! Also the choir (which I haven't dropped out of yet, shocker) got to sing which was fun. My comp told me I'm only slightly tone deaf, to which I told her I was dropping out (which means she'd have to drop out too...hehe), until she said "I have perfect pitch so basically I think most people are tone deaf." Haha honestly, I couldn't ask for a better companionship. And I completely mean that, Hermana burton is incredible! And we're completely honest with each other, obviously, haha which I love.

So, investigators. We have our first baptismal date set! Amanda committed to be baptized March 21. Hermana burton and I have had the baptismal invitation memorized since day three, but we've never gotten to the part where you set a date cause nobody has ever been ready... So when she said yes, we both got so excited we forgot how to ask her to commit to a date! Haha but eventually we got it and it was such an awesome experience. Our other investigators are still a struggle but they are so awesome. The thing is, they're not technically even real people (I mean they are,but they're not) but I love them so much and teaching them is such an incredible experience.

MOM. Guess what we watched on Sunday? Legacy! For anyone that doesn't know already, my mom absolutely LOVES the pioneers, and because of that I do too. So legacy was one of our favorite movies when I was younger. And it's been a while since I watched it, so I forgot how cheesy it is, but I still cried through the whole thing while basically everyone else laughed at the cheesiness of it. So that was... An experience. I honestly can't think of a single adjective that could describe it. Hah also that movie has a few g-rated kissing scenes and holy crap missionaries are thirsty people. Like they legitimately couldn't handle it like normal humans. The struggle is real, you guys. We've only been here's few weeks and we've all turned weird already. But more importantly, the pioneers are still incredible and I love them more than I love watching a bunch of 19 year olds turn weird. And that's a lot, btw.

Lastly, today is our MTC hump day! We're half way done! It's so crazy because I feel like I just got here yesterday and have so much more to learn, but at the same time I feel like I've been here for 3 years and I've learned soo much. It's a magical place. Cause duh, Disneyland(prison).

Well I love and miss you all and all I love hearing from you! Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Suzanna Lewis

Let me just tell you a bit more about this incredible district of mine. And this picture describes us to a T. Top left is elder Hagen, and that dude IS Napoleon Dynamite. Then elder honey, the king bee. Who is also sweet as honey. We call Elder Rossi soybean cause literally all he ever says is "yo soy." Elder Wixom is our amazing district leader and also Jim Halpert. Hermana Burton is little Italia, because she lives and breathes Italy. Hermana Anderson is my soul sister, nuff said. Except she also does the best Miranda sings impression you'll ever see, aside from my sister, of course. Hermana Lewis is literally my twin and is the funniest person I know. Hermana burton, my compañera, is Emma Watson's classy little protégé. And lastly, Hermana Jenkins, our bubbly little gringo. Haha so there's my district! I love them to death.

In case you can't tell, I love these girls. That is all.

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The days are weeks and the weeks are days‏

So basically, every day here feels like a week and every week here feels like a day. I don't know how that happens but somehow I love it. Anyways, first and foremost, we got iPads this weekend! We are so lucky. It's definitely a challenge having myldsmail in front of my face all day every day and not being able to use it, but it is SUCH a blessing that we have the amazing resources we do on here! That, and the fact that I hid the mail app in a folder titled "el adversario" so that I don't see it as much. Haha it's definitely worth it being able to have our area book and our schedule and gospel library and everything all in one place!

So, last week was Friday the 13th and we were definitely cursed. So to give you some background info, I'm on a top bunk in our room and I don't have a ladder to get up. And these are super high bunks. So I have to use a chair and try to jump/climb the rest of the way up for, there. It's great fun. So somebody took my chair one morning and since I was obviously disoriented and tired, I didn't notice and I fell right to the ground.... Not my best morning. And then, we ended our lovely Friday the 13th by my comp spraining her ankle and gym time. No Bueno. She's been on crutches and is starting to heal but we (I say we because as a companionship we are basically like a married couple and everything is "ours," including her injury) have to go to rehab every day. It's kinda fun though! And on Sunday we got to ride to the temple in a gold cart thing so I'll try to send a picture. Oh and our last piece of bad luck, hermana Jenkins had a bottle of rancid orange juice that somehow exploded and covered our room... So definitely an unlucky week.. BUT it was still sooo amazing!

As far as learning this week, we're finally starting to pick up the language! We went into our lesson with Raul yesterday with no Spanish cheat sheets or anything and we were actually able to teach him a good lesson! It was such an amazing experience. The gift of tongues is real you guys! Oh also, our other investigator became our teacher. And our teacher became our investigator. It is extremely weird but at the same time when we go in to teach them, it feels real and the spirit is there regardless of the fact that they aren't actually investigators and they already know everything we're teaching them. 

Lastly, I LOVE Elder Holland! We watched a talk he gave here a while ago on Sunday and it was so amazing! As I'm sure most of you know, he says it how it is and isn't the least bit reserved in expressing his feelings about missionary work. So in his talk he said "stop sitting around wasting time wanting to go back to real life. This is as real as your life is ever going to get, and you only have 18-24 months of it, so don't you dare waste it!" That might not be totally verbatim  butt idea of it definitely stuck with me. I am so lucky to be a missionary! Well, I love and miss you all tons and would love to hear from you!

Love, Hermana Suzanna Lewis 

P.S. Hunger games intercom man didn't say lights out last night and we legitimately didn't know what to do. As much as we dislike him, we can't function without him!

This is my twin hermana Lewis and I. This girl is incredible! 

My lovely gimp compañera, her crutches, and I (me? I? I still can't speak English grammatically correct so why they're sending me Spanish speaking I do not know)

My favorite sisters, obviously 

Our sweet ride. Hashtag swag. 

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Si se puede!‏

Hola familia y amigos!!!

Hmm where to start... I HAVE A NAMETAG! It is the most incredible thing ever. I never realized how much of a privilege it is to be a representative of the church but now I can't imagine taking my tag off and I just love it SO much. 

So, we've decided that the MTC is disneyland prison. Because it's the happiest place on earth (disneyland lied, sorry) but at the same time it is definitely an adjustment being locked in here all day. When we have gym time, we can see all of BYU campus from the upstairs windows and I just stare out at the real world in awe. Haha but I truly have never been happier than I am here. This place is incredible.

Okay, so day one. First off, my companion and my district and my zone are absolutely AMAZING. I couldn't ask for a better group of people. Having a companion is definitely an adjustment, but it's actually really nice having someone to work with and depend on in a way. On the first day, it felt kind of like when you're on a group date and you're always by your date's side...except it's another girl, and it's not really a choice, and you go to the bathroom together. Haha my comp is hermana burton and I love her SO much. On day one she was super quiet and reserved and all I knew about her was that she loves katy perry, she was from draper but also lived in london last year, and she's the most liberal person I've ever met. Haha but every day I get to know her more and more and she is absolutely amazing and probably the most committed and obedient person I know. Also, she's secretly hilarious. Sometimes she says things that make me laugh so hard I cry. There's also another hermana burton in our district and another hermana lewis, so that's fun.. and then there's hermana jenkins and hermana anderson. Hermana anderson is my soul sister. We were matching on day one and we clicked instantly and I swear we are the same person! I honestly can't even describe to you what an amazing person she is but having her here with me is SUCH a blessing. 

The food... is not so much a blessing. Haha my first morning here I saw pancakes and sausage on the menu so i thought "great!" um, no bueno. It was like a corn dog with sausage in the middle. And I think half the sausage might have been plastic. But that's basically the only negative thing about this place so I'd call that a success!

So on day two I was assigned to be the sister training leader! Being an STL is kind of scary because I'm still a newbie and I have no idea what I'm doing, but it's fun cause I've gotten to know all the sisters really well and I get to go on exchanges sometimes for meetings.

So we have two "investigators" so far and they are awesome! They told us on friday we had to teach our first lesson in spanish and we were all terrified, but as soon as we got in there everything went well and I definitely was able to feel the power of teaching by the spirit. It also motivates me to learn spanish so much more because I can't wait until the day when I can say exactly what I want to say to these investigators! The spanish is super hard but we're definitely learning way faster than I ever thought we would. The gift of tongues is real, people!

This morning we got to go to the temple and we had breakfast there and it was such an amazing morning! Going to the temple is the most amazing thing and I wish I would have taken advantage of it more before I left. So today has been awesome so far but sundays are officially the best day of the week. We get to sing and hear from amazing speakers basically all day. AND we got to go on a temple walk as a zone which was super fun. On sunday night we watched a talk by Elder Bednar called "character of Christ" and it was the most amazing talk I've ever heard. He talked about how important it is to serve others and turn outward rather than inward. SO amazing. I don't know if it's on the internet somewhere but you should all look it up!

So, I don't really know what else to tell you because I feel like I've been here a year but at the same time I feel like I just got here 5 minutes ago. Um, I LOVE gym time! I run the track, guys. I RUN. By choice. And I enjoy it. I don't even know who I am anymore! Also I'm in the choir and it is so much fun! We sing all the time and by some miracle I now love to sing. Um, everybody here has bad breath. It's fine. At 10:30 they come on this intercom and say "it is now 10:30. Lights out." and it feels like we're in the hunger games. We just lay there in silence waiting for the cannon to go off and tell us how many missionaries went home that day or something. Uh, we absolutely love our teacher. Hermano Mace is the happiest person on this planet so he always makes us so happy! I think we freak him out a little bit because we all want to pack him away in our suitcases... but esta bien! OH! I almost forgot! So our zone is in this pilot program here at the MTC for language learning so we use these programs and stuff that are so much fun AND we get ipads this week!!! We get to use duolingo and quizlet and stuff which we're all pretty stoked about! Um, I LOVE dearelder! (hint hint.. it's free and getting a letter at the end of the day makes me SO happy) Sorry I don't have a ton of time for writing so I can't respond to everything but know that I read and appreciate everything you send me and I love to hear from you! I love and miss you all SO much, but I love it here so much and I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Much love, Hermana Suzanna Lewis

ps. I have a bunch of pictures to send but I can't figure out how so hopefully I can get them sent later. Also sorry this email is so long. Love you!!

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