ELDER BEDNAR!!!!‏

This week was seriously a dream. And it flashed by in the blink of an
eye! So we really didn't spend much time in our area, but it was
great. Wednesday I went on exchanges with Hermana gudmundson in Sonoma
which was soo fun! I felt like a greenie all over again being there.
Then Thursday we were in Napa all day for zone conference with
president and sister wright, where we of course learned a ton. Then
Friday I had MLC in Santa Rosa all day and was spiritually enlightened
and filled again. Then came Saturday, also the best day of my life. We
went to Santa Rosa because ELDER BEDNAR came to visit our mission! We
had a conference with the whole mission, as well as him, Bishop Davies
from the presiding bishopric, Elder Soares from the presidency of the
seventy, and Elder Wilson from the first quorum of the seventy. If
that's not a once in a lifetime opportunity, then I don't know what
is! I was so blown away by everything that they had to say, I don't
know if I can even put it into words. Elder Bednar got up and don't us
"don't you dare sit there and frantically write down everything I say.
We're writing in small plates here. Meaning that I want you to write
down what the spirit teaches you today, and not a history of the
meeting. If you write what the spirit says, it's will mean something to
you. If you write down what I say, you'll never remember it and you
really don't use those notes as much as you'd like to think you do. We
always do that as a society, and i just don't get it! I've given up on
old people. But you young people I have hope for and want you to
change that." (the funniest part about that was that the next day at
church, our cute little old branch president got up and told us how he
had gotten to attend a meeting with elder bednar the night before and
he wrote down so much he doesn't even remember what happened and is
going to have to take days to sort through his notes, and me and my
companion just looked at each other and smiled, hearing elder bednar
say "I've given up on old people" in our heads). So after he said
that, we all tried hard to tune in with the spirit and it was amazing
what things I was able to learn. It made it a very special experience
because although we were listening to a prophet of the lord and other
general authorities, we were able to understand that the revelation
and counsel we received there didn't have to end there, and that if we
truly are learning from the spirit, it can and will continue. Granted
though, it was definitely nice to have a 4 hour question and answer
session with such amazing men :) I am just so full of gratitude! And
after the meeting, we all got to shake hands with each of them and
thank them.
Another cool experience was that I was asked to speak on Sunday, and
the talk I was assigned to speak on was elder hallstrom's talk from
General conference, "I am a child of God." If you remember, at the end
of his talk, he tells a story about singing "how firm a foundation"
with elder bednar and 4000 saints in Liberia and the wonderful spirit
felt. Well, I had been studying that and reading that talk over and
over again to prepare, and then at the close of our conference with
elder bednar, we sang that song with him. The spirit testified so
strongly to me that God loves us, and that if we trust in him and
build on his sure foundation, we will not fail. We might stumble along
the way, but we won't fail. I can promise you that. 

Love, 

Hermana Lewis  

Pictures: 

1. So at zone conference, somehow all the sisters in my zone matched
with president and sister wright, so of course we needed a picture of
that. 

2. My new pet :)