Monday, August 31, 2015

Transfers, miracles, and service!‏

First, let me tell you all that I was reading some of my old emails and I just have to say I'm sorry for my terrible grammar/punctuation/English. You don't really have time to proofread these things, so ya. Sorry. Haha

It's transfer week! I will be staying here in Dixon, and I'll be getting a new companion. I'm definitely going to miss Hermana Navarro a TON cause we've become so close over the past 3 months, but I know there's good things ahead for both of us. My new companion is Hermana Campbell. I've never met her, but I've heard she's a hard worker which I'm definitely excited about. With everything that happened with the elders here in Dixon this past transfer, they have to whitewash again which means all 3 other missionaries who will be here in Dixon with me are going to be new, which is definitely a bit scary but it's going to be fun. Also, some other news with transfers, the stake/mission boundaries changed this weekend and we're getting west Sacramento added to our mission! And since it's pretty close to where I'm at, it will be in my zone as well! So that's pretty exciting as well. Lots of change is coming my way but I'm ready for it :)

In other news, this has been a great week. The last week of the transfer is always so cool because it seems like miracles just come out of nowhere and so many great things happen. We have had so many experiences this week where we've seen someone down the street or around the corner and we decided to go talk to them really quick, and they are just AMAZING people. Who knows where things will go, but we've definitely found some really interested people this week with a lot of potential, so we're just praying that we've found some elect :)

Other than miracles, I think if I could put this week into one word, it would be service. We were able to do a ton of service this week and it was so much fun for me to be able to see the impact we can make when all us missionaries get together and work hard for a good cause. Service truly is such a blessing to not only the people around us, but to US. I feel so lucky as a missionary to be able to devote so much time to serving others and having a blast doing it. I know that life is busy and that when you're not a missionary it's hard to find time to do service, but I can promise each one of you that if you make the time, you will see many blessing come to you and to those you serve.

On an unrelated note, but not really that unrelated, I want to tell you all about what we call a car sauna. Elder Johnson introduced us to it a few weeks ago after service and we've been obsessed with it since. Haha so after we finish service, on the ride home we don't turn on the AC and we basically just sit there and sweat. It's miserable but amazing at the same time cause it makes your skin feel SO good! You should all try it, I swear I'm not crazy. Haha it's fun.

Anyways, since it's monday, and here in our ward we've been talking about families a lot lately, I want to invite you all to make sure you have family home evening tonight. It might not seem that important or productive sometimes, but I promise you, it DOES make a difference. Families and the gospel are some of the greatest gifts God has given us and I know that family home evening is one of the best ways we can strengthen both. And if you need an idea for what to do, go to:
They have a super cute template for a "sabbath day plan" that I really like. 

Well, that's all for this week! Love you all, I'll talk to you soon! Wish me luck with the new transfer! And good luck to all you heading back to school today :)

Love, Hermana Lewis 

Pictures:
1. Our zone! (again) We all got together after district meeting last week and put together a cafe rio pork burritos lunch. It wasn't the real stuff of course, but it was so amazing. I can't complain. You never realize how much you love something until you can't drive down the street to get it!
2. Me and angeles, one of our investigators. She's pretty much one of the only ones who actually keeps her commitments and reads the Book of Mormon. She's great :)
3. Our little Dixon family! Elder Johnson, Kimball, Hacking, me, and Hermana Navarro
4. Me with the Alvarados :) I can't tell you how much I love this family. I mean, I think I talk about them enough that you all know, haha but seriously, they are my favorite people!







Friday, August 21, 2015

Sacramento temple!‏

Today my zone went to the Sacramento temple and it was AMAZING. I truly never realized how much I loved the temple until I didn't have one 5 minutes away that I could visit whenever I wanted to. The Sacramento temple is so gorgeous and has such an amazing spirit there. It's the smallest temple I've ever been to, but I love it. Plus we had sister Wadell drive us, which was a blast because she used to be a missionary here and has since moved back to Dixon and married a member here... haha she is so great. we love her.

Okay, so as for the rest of this week, we had zone conference on tuesday which of course we were all able to learn a lot from. President and Sister Wright came and spoke to us with the APs and tech elders and it was entertaining, inspiring, and fun as always. President Wright is truly the happiest man out there and you can just tell he wants the best for each and every one of us and is going to do his best to get us there. He is an amazing President and I am so grateful I get to spend the next year with him!

So this week we decided to venture out to the migrant camps. It's way out in the middle of nowhere and someone finally told us this week how to get there, so we thought we'd give it a shot cause there would definiely be a ton of hispanics there. Well, I don't know if I can even put that place into words. It was dead quite and a million degrees and I'd gone back in time about 100 years to some ghost town during the war or something. And it was surrounded by an electric fence cause it was right next to some government property/organization thing (honestly I have no idea..). But anyways, as creepy as it seemed, it was actually really cool. Almost every door we knocked on someone answered and was very nice and welcoming. We found a jackpot! We found some great people and are already excited to visit again :)

As far as investigators go, we go through waves. Haha I'll just say that. We've had a hard time meeting with a lot of them lately, but we were able to spend a lot of time this week with a lot of less actives and my love for each and every one of them has grown sooo much. We also did pick up a new investigator this week who is such a great guy. His name is Victor and he has such a strong desire to change his life and join the church. He told us the other day that he's going to finish reading "our book" by next week. Hopefully he keeps his word! He's awesome though. He's just one of those people who has the sweetest heart and you can just see it in everything he does. I really hope things go well with him!

Alright, I've got a lot of pictures this week, so here we go:
1. This is Peter, the most amazing member I've ever met. He got baptized a month or two before I got here and has been so strong ever since. He tells us we're dorks and makes fun of us and feeds us mochi (a weird asian ice cream that has changed my life). We love him.
2. Us and the elders on elder sabin's last sunday! He left tuesday so he could get back in time for school, so now elder kimball is in a trio with the zone leaders.
3. At the migrant camps! Aka middle of nowhere, USA. 
Excuse my creepiness, just trying to fit in.
4. We took angelina cupcakes for her birthday on tuesday, and she was more excited about the Jesus picture we gave her :) such a sweetheart!
5. This is our little friend, satan. you can't see it super well, but his web covered our entire deck and he basically took it over as his home. Don't worry, he is very dead now. The elders lit him on fire.







Monday, August 10, 2015

Farm life 

We spent a good portion of this week in farm country, which if you
know me you know I was in heaven. By some chance we just ended up
having most of our dinner appointments out in the goonies (where all
the farms are) or we got to go do service for people which was way
fun. The other day we were out feeding the cows and horses and our job
was to sit in the back of the truck while they drove around to all the
troughs and we would toss the pallets in there. Well, once when I
threw one a huge gust of wind came and blew it right back in my face.
That was a fun experience. Needless to say, I love the farms here!
Dixon is basically heaven on earth.

Okay, let me tell you about Jessica. Have I mentioned I love her? She
is the sweetest lady! She has all the right questions and is sooo
ready for the gospel. We also had a cool miracle with her this week
cause she hadn't been keeping her commitments to read in the Book of
Mormon, but every week at district meeting we do "stewardships," where
we basically tell our district/zone what our investigators are
struggling with and ask them to pray for them. So, we asked everyone
to pray that Jessica would start reading the Book of Mormon and sure
enough, 2 days later she was reading!! Prayer really does work
miracles.
Oh also, the other day her son kept interrupting us and she told him
to be quiet cause she was busy with her friends (haha, us.) and he
said "they're not your friends, they're your sisters." You got that
right bud!

Alright, I wanted to tell you all how amazing and inspired my momma
is. So a little background, I've been sick this week and the only
thing I can choke down is pretty much liquids and saltines. Also, we
aren't supposed to go to the store during the week, unless it's an
emergency we can go during meal time. But that also is a bummer cause
you have to make your companion waste their lunch time at the grocery
store. So I'd already dragged my comp to the store once to get
saltines (thinking I'd only be sick for the day and not realizing how
long it would last) and I didn't want to make her go again but I was
running out of smoothies and yogurt and didn't know what I was going
to do. Then we get home for lunch on Thursday and I was honestly
feeling like I might die, and then I saw a cute little package from
home sitting on our doorstep. Guess what was in it? SMOOTHIE BARS. Now
let me tell you, my mom had no idea I was even sick and never could
have guessed that I would have needed those cause honestly it was
something I'd never seen before. But it was inspired. That moment (and
actually every second of being a missionary) was when I knew that God
loves me. He loves each and every one of us! And sometimes he shows us
in the smallest or weirdest ways, but I know that if we look for it,
we will be able to see his hand in everything we do. I can promise
each and every one of you that God is watching out for you. He is
aware of you, he loves you, and he wants the best for you. :) 
Love, Hermana Suzanna Lewis 


Pictures: 


1. Zone meeting! 


2. Me and my favorites, Hilda and Guillermo! Haha the first time I met
them, guillermo told me "we're the dry Mormons." Yep, that about sums
them up. 


3. I sent a video, but I don't know if it will work. One of our zone
leaders, elder Johnson, sang us a rap at zone meeting. The one
beatboxing (well.. Attempting. Haha) is our greenie, elder creighton.

































            

          

          

        

Monday, August 3, 2015


          

        









No subject line can explain the insanity of this week 









Oh my goodness. I don't think this week could have been any crazier!
It was so great though :) okay where to start.. Well first and
foremost, some of you have probably heard about all the wildfires
going on here, and I just wanted to let you all know that dixon is
safe, so don't worry! We see them burning up on the mountains though
and it's so sad. These fires are causing so much damage and they're
having a hard time getting them under control, so PLEASE keep the
firefighters in your prayers :) they need all the help they can get.

Next item of business, we got a new elder in Dixon this week! Our
greenie went home which was definitely sad, but it was for the best.
So we got elder Sabin who goes home in 2 weeks. Did I mention last
week that his companion, elder kimball, goes home in a month? Ya, we
have no idea how this is all going to work out. But obviously God put
them here for a reason!

Okay, so now I want to tell you about some of the amazing miracles we
saw this week! First off, we had dinner with a less active couple this
week who completely won my heart. They are truly the sweetest, most
humble people I've ever met. And their only reason for being less
active is that they live way out in the country and sometimes can't
afford to drive into town for church. But don't worry, now that the
ward is aware of that, they've got it covered :) anywho, their names
are Angel and Carmela and they are truly the most incredible examples
of humble I've ever seen. From the short hour we spent eating with
them, i learned almost as much about humility as I have the whole rest
of my mission. I just can't express to you how much I love them. Not
to mention that they gave us whole tomatoes for dinner and if you know
me, you know that even a slice of tomato usually makes me throw up.
Well, I'm proud to say I ate 2 whole tomatoes PLAIN that night. :)

Also, the lady who appeared out of nowhere last week called us!
Remember her? The member from Peru? Also, did I mention her name
actually is Lady? Well she called and wanted us to come over to her
house and teach her and her sister in law! We went and visited them on
Wednesday and it was one of the best lessons ever. We had almost no
preparation cause she called and asked if we could come over right
then and of course we couldn't say no to that, so we just went and we
relied on the spirit and it was such a great lesson! The first thing
her sister in law, edith, said was "I don't know hardly anything about
your church, but I'm ready to learn!" That's not something you get
every day! So yeah, we're super excited about her. She said yes to
baptism, so we're hoping to get her committed to a date this week!

Well, I have a lovely story for you. So, backstory- every morning we
go to the park by our house and I run laps while my comp walks. We've
done the same thing every day for about 2 months now and it's always
been great, until this week when satan's dog appeared. We had just
gotten to the park and I was just happily running and enjoying my
morning like I always do when I heard my comp yelling at me. Then
before I knew it this little dog was trying to eat my shoes and got
tangled up in my feet and knocked me to the ground. I can't tell you
how mad I was at this dumb dog! Needless to say, I haven't run since.
I think God is trying to make me hate dogs. But in the bright side, it
was also a blessing. We had 2 service projects to go to that day and
it was over 100 degrees (like always haha) and by the end of the day I
think I was the most exhausted that I've ever been. So, it was a
blessing because that lovely little demon dog saved me from 30 minutes
of running and wearing myself out even more. Anyways, I thought you'd
all enjoy that.

Lastly, I was reading a talk this morning that I absolutely loved that
I think you should all read. It's called "Rise to your Call" by
President Eyring. It talks about our callings/roles in the church,
whether it be nursery worker, missionary, or bishop. We all are called
to do things and it is our responsibility to fulfill it. I won't share
a whole lot with you cause you should all read it anyways, but he
talked primary about how we are called of God, that he will guide is
by revelation just as he called us, and along with that he will
magnify us. It may take sacrifice, but I can promise all of you that
your efforts do not go unnoticed and they will bless you and those
that you serve! Just like my favorite hymn says, "sacrifice brings
forth the blessings of heaven." That couldn't be more true!

Well, I apologize for the lengthy email this week. But, I had a lot to
catch you up on! And with all the insanity this week, I'm sorry I have
no pictures for you. But anyways I love you all! Happy August! (Crazy,
right?!) time is flying by way too fast, tomorrow I hit 6 months!

Love,
Hermana Suzanna Lewis

















            

          

          

        

Monday, July 27, 2015


          

        









Triple digits for daysss‏









Wow, is it getting hot here in Dixon! But all is well, I think I'm
finally sweating off that weight I gained in the MTC. HA. Anyways, we
got our new zone this week! It's kind of weird having all new people,
but it's going to be great. We got two greenies, one of which is here
in Dixon. And his poor companion is whitewashing, district leader,
training, and got trunky transfered (meaning he got transfered to a
new area his last transfer of the mission). He's got his work cut out
for him! Haha but the elders are great. The ward is so excited to
finally have elders back here, so it's definitely a good thing. One of
the adorable little primary girls saw them on sunday and said "wait,
boys can go on missions too?!" It was the cutest thing!

Well, as far as this week goes, nothing too crazy happened. We had no
near deaths, so that's good! We had some pretty amazing miracles
though. First off, we have been trying to have a movie night with the
Alvarado (Sam, Angelina, and DJ) family forever because we thought it
would be really good for them to show them the restoration movie.
Every time we planned it and got all excited, they would cancel or the
member that was going to come with us would cancel (because we can't
go in his house without a member), so it just wasn't working out. Then
on tuesday we had rescheduled to go and we couldn't find a member and
then our phone broke so we had no way to contact anyone and I was just
ready to give up and be done trying. But, then we went to our dinner
appointment and the member let us use her phone to call the ward
mission leader and he told us "I'll find someone. Just show up for
your appointment with him at 7 and I'll have a member there for you."
So sure enough, 2 hours later we pulled up to the Alvarado's home and
there was a member there waiting for us! We were so happy and it was
one of the best lessons we've had with them. The movie helped them all
see the importance of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and how this
really is the restored gospel.

Okay, I take that back, something crazy DID happen this week. We were
talking to a man on a completely open street when suddenly this woman
appeared out of nowhere. She told us she was a member and had moved
from peru about a month ago and had been searching for the
missionaries and the church building. We talked to her for a bit and
gave her our info and the address for the church, but she didn't
remember her address or her phone number. So we left her with that and
she told us she'd call us. Then we got in our car to leave and
realized she told us she lives with her sister in law who used to talk
to the missionaries, so we might have her address in our areabook. We
drove to try and find her and ask her sister in law's name, and she
had literally dissapeared. There was seriously nowhere for this woman
to disappear to in the 1 minute we had our backs turned to her, but
she did. So we're just praying that we will be able to find her again!

To update you on our other investigators, Jessica made it to church
yesterday! She promised us she'd come and when church started she
still wasn't there so we were super discouraged, because she's never
late. But during the opening song, out of the corner of my eye I saw
her curly head of hair bobbing around in the back looking for us! It
was the best!

So, Lidia is currently ignoring us.. we think? We don't exactly know
what's happening with her cause she was super solid, so please keep
her in your prayers and that we'll be able to get back in contact with
her! Thanks for all you do for me, I love and appreciate all of you so
much!

Love, Hermana Suzanna Lewis

Okay I don't have the best pictures this week, but here's one of the
sky the other day. There was a huge fire (7000 acres. Yikes!) out by
lake berryessa the other day and it turned the sun red and the sky was
one huge cloud of smoke.
This other one is just a glimpse at what our car rides consisted of.
We blast the circle of life and sing along, haha so this is a
screenshot of one of our singing videos. Enjoy!
Oh, and we milked cows last week. Woot woot!









































            

          

          

        

Monday, July 20, 2015


          

        









WHITEWASH!‏









Tomorrow is transfers! And Hermana Navarro and I are staying together here in Dixon! I am so stoked. We wanted to stay together so bad, which made us think one of us would get transferred.. haha but God loves us! But aside from us two, this transfer is CRAZY. Our entire zone is essentially being whitewashed! Whitewash means that both missionaries are taken out of an area and two new ones come in, which they don't do a lot. But when we got transfer doctrine on friday, I looked at our zone and all 20 something missionaries are new here, except for one of our zone leaders. I kid you not. So, it's going to be interesting! But I'm really excited. As hard as it is to see literally everyone leave us, I know it's going to be a good thing, so I'm ready. 



In addition to that craziness, they're taking the two other sisters out of our apartment and bringing elders in! Nobody knows where they're going to live because we talked to our housing lady the other day and she was apparently under the misunderstanding that they would be taking the sisters' apartment, which means they'd be living with us. Haha so this will be interesting. But ya, Dixon hasn't had elders for 4 years, so they're all pretty excited! I'll miss the english sisters a ton though, we've had a blast this transfer. 



In other news, we almost got killed by a rottweiler this week! It was probably the most terrifying experience of my life, but extremely cool. So here's what happened: we walked up to a fence that said "beware of dog," just like every other hispanic house with their little Chihuahuas, haha but we looked around and saw no dogs in the yard, so we walked through the gate. As soon as we shut it behind us, we heard the most terrifying bark and immediately tried to get it back open, but it was stuck. Then comes a huge rottweiler out of a hole in the side of the house and shoots towards us with the intention to kill us. We seriously thought we were dead. But, then a miracle happened and as soon as it reached us, something stopped it. I couldn't tell you what or who or how, but it stopped. It was such an amazing experience because I knew we were being protected. I might have destroyed my hand a bit trying to get the stupid gate open, haha but the dog didn't kill us and it was such a tender mercy.



So I wanted to share with you something I read in my personal study this week. I'm in Mosiah right now, and I just read the chapter about Abinadi preaching to the people and being righteous and doing exactly as God had commanded him. Sadly, nobody listened to him and he was put to death. I don't know about you, but I'd have a pretty hard time doing exactly what God asked me to and seeing nothing come out of it. But, little did Abinadi know, someone did listen. Alma believed the words of Abinadi and went forth after his death and taught, baptized, and brought hundreds of souls unto Christ. Moral of the story, you NEVER know the difference you're making, so continue going about doing good and FIND THE ONE! That is my challenge to all of you this week :) Love you!







Hermana Suzanna Lewis







Pictures:



1. Family barbecue at the Lane's house! This is just part of the huge family that makes up like half of the Dixon ward. Haha I love these people



2. Me and my puppy friend! She's ADORABLE.



3. Our zone/woodland at the service project we did on saturday!



4. This is our buddy dave. We volunteer at his thrift store and it's like the best service ever cause of this guy right here.

































































            

          

          

        

Monday, July 13, 2015


          

        









MORALES' BAPTISM! Week of miracles‏









This week was absolutely incredible. I've got a lot of miracles to
tell you about, so I'll get right to it! First and foremost, remember
the morales family That I talked about nonstop back in sonoma? THEY
GOT BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY! Jackie, the daughter has kept in touch with
me pretty well since I left, and last Monday she told me the big news
:) she said they wished I could be there but they knew that in our
mission, we have a rule that you can't go back to old areas for
baptisms unless it's less than 30 minutes away. So the next day I
talked to president and he gave me permission to Skype in!! I was so
stoked. So Saturday comes and it was chaos and they went to the wrong
church and were 30 minutes late and I wasn't able to see or talk to
them before it started, so they didn't know I was there. But I got to
talk to them after and it was the best experience ever. They were so
surprised and we were so happy to see each other it was just one big
happy cry fest. But seriously, I don't think I've ever felt so much
pure joy in my life. I remember the moment I heard them go under the
water ( you aren't allowed to video ordinances, so I only listened to
the actual baptism) I just felt so much happiness for them knowing the
decision they had just made. Jackie and marina are both such amazing
women who have truly changed my life and will always hold a special
place in my heart.

On top of that, we found the most golden investigator this week! Her
name is Lidia, and she's actually a former investigator. After we
knocked on her door and found out she used to meet with the
missionaries, we went back and read her teaching record and apparently
she was super amazing and keeping all her commitments and then one day
she basically dropped off the face of the earth. Come to find out, one
of the sisters got transferred and it made Lidia really sad so she
kind of shut them out. But she told us that she never stopped
preparing for baptism and when we knocked on her door she knew it was
time. So we've set a date with her for August 22! She is such an
amazing woman. She has been through such a hard life and has come sooo
far. I can't even explain to you how lucky I feel to have met her, and
it's only been one week. She's one of those people that you just know
is an answer to your constant prayers to find the elect.

Speaking of baptismal dates, Jessica is still doing great and working
towards baptism! She's probably one of my favorite people in Dixon.
She's just so funny and loves us so she never turns us away when we
knock on her door :)

Lastly, I want to tell you about the alvarado family. So there's Sam,
the dad, and his kids DJ and Angelina. Sam is a less active but
Angelina and DJ aren't members. But let me tell you, they should be.
Those kids know way more than I ever did at their age! The other day
we went over and Angelina pretty much taught US the first lesson-
which is the restoration of the gospel, so Joseph smith and the Book
of Mormon and all that. She is incredible. And also adorable. And Sam
was a little bit of a tough nut to crack I guess you could say, but
he's making so much progress! Like when I first got here, he refused
to pray, and the other day we went over and they were in the middle of
dinner, but he came to the door and said, "hey, really sorry we're
eating but could we say a prayer together? Can I say it?" My jaw
almost dropped. I couldn't believe he was asking us if he could pray!
And it was the sweetest prayer. And after Angelina said "my turn!" So
she prayed too which was adorable. She always says "thank you for
sending the church girls cause I just love them so much!" Haha then
after that DJ said "ooh, I've got a good one! Let me pray!" So ya,
basically they are the cutest family.

Well, that's my week for you! I could go in forever because we truly
saw an infinite amount of miracles this week, but I think that will
suffice for the week :) never forget that Jesus loves you and so 

do I! :)


Love, Hermana Suzanna Lewis

Pictures:
1. Jackie, Marina and I after the baptism!
2. Me with the Alvarados!
3. My road :) haha don't mind how cheesy this is