Week #6.5

WEEK 6 1/2

Today is Saturday and we have all morning to pack and get all ready to go which is very exciting. These last couple days have been so long but we only have 2 days left in the MTC. It's so crazy. Since Wednesday it has been a lot of speaking and just trying to get down the last little grammar principles down before we head off into our foreign land. Do I know how to speak the language? uhhhhhh no but I am sure I will figure it out when I get there (hopefully).  I forgot to say in my last email but this last Monday we were able to listen to Russel M Ballard, President of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles and it was a very cool experience. I said goodbye to my good friends Jaren (Elder Hofeling) and Keaton (Elder McPeek) this week and I know they are all going to do so well in their respective fields. Also, for those of you who know the Doan family, I ran into Dallas Doan at the MTC. He was one of the instructors for our In-field Training that we did just yesterday. I just want to take a second and thank all of you who have all been so supportive in the adventure so far. Family, friends and everything in between, thank you so much. So, I am off to a foreign land trying to speak a language I don't know very well but oh well, come what may. I am so excited and I will try and keep you all posted on this adventure from the country of Suriname!! 

-Elder Lewis 

Our Teachers, Brother Vizante and Sister Larson

The Sister Missionaries in our District drew us our Spirit animals

My buddy, Keaton McPeek

Dallas Doan

Week #6

WEEK 6

This has been an extremely long week for sure but it had its benefits. I've been able to make some very good friends with the Nederland missionaries in our zone. So that has been really nice. But this week we have had amazing devotionals, Travel Plans, shenanigans and all that. 

1. Dear Jane:

A sister in our district Sister Jorgenson unfortunately received an email with terrible news from her boyfriend saying he was done. It was so sad, BUT what comes after that is even better. So the next day she received a package with a lot of things to make her feel better but what also was inside was even better. There was a pinata with his face on it (insert laughing crying emoji) Us five in our district destroyed that thing because It's funny,our district has become like  a family and we were all just so mad so we brutally destroyed that pinata. Also because there was candy inside but that is besides the point. (there will be pictures on my blog that my mom makes which I dont know if any of you have even seen that)

2.Dutch:

The language has been coming very well. On Thursday we do a skype lesson with people and our guy, MartinX is from Belgium. They speak a dialect of Dutch called Flemish which is so hard to understand but I finally understood him this last time we taught him! And the best part is he told me I spoke good dutch! Now I don't know if he was just saying that or not but either way I am going to take it! We have been speaking out language as much as we possibly can before we head out to the actual field on Monday!!! We are all so excited. Our favorite teacher brother norton left us so we had to say good bye unfortunately but he showed us pictures from his mission and it made me so excited. He says the people there are amazing and so nice and I just cant wait. 

3. TRAVEL PLANS:

We received our travel plans and it was an amazing day!! We are just all so excited to get out in the field and start teaching and serving the people. We leave the MTC at 3:30 in the morning and then our first flight is at like 7:55 to Houston and then we have a straight shot to Trinidad! then we stay the night in the mission home and then we head off to Suriname!!!!! I am so excited but packing might be a little bit of a challenge due to my stuff stroon all over my residence since I have been here for so long so Ive made a home of it. But we are so excited to leave. Our Norwegians in our Zone have had so much trouble with their flights since monday they have been back and forth to the MTC twice now so I hope that doesn't happen to us. 

4.Spiritual Thought:

We had amazing thoughts this week. We had an amazing lesson on the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ. and the two things that stuck out to me were how we need to love our weaknesses, which I am terrible at. In 2 Corinthians Paul talks about his weaknesses in how we need to glory in them, because guess what they do? They do two things. 1: Is to humble us. In order for us to be accepted into the kingdom of God we must be as little children, submissive to our Father in Heaven just like a little child is submissive to his own father. and 2. It reminds us that we cannot do this on our own. We are given weakness to remember our Savior, so that we can be humble like said before but also remember our Savior and his atonement and how through him those weakness are made strong. I didn't quite understand that statement of scripture growing up, but I now understand it. I will glory in every short coming, trial, mess up, hardship and so on. Through Christs atonement, he does not take away your weaknesses which I thought was extremely profound until I thought of it this way. He says "Here keep this weakness and I will make it a strength for you." How amazing is that, when you think of it that way and have faith unto repentance and Christs atonement we cannot fail. We cannot do this alone, we NEED our savior Jesus Christ every single day. I am so grateful for my weaknesses which is something I never thought I would be able to say but through Christ, they are strengths. The quote from that entire lesson was whenever something goes wrong just think to yourself. "For Christs sake? Heck Yeah" I know that can help a lot of you who may feel alone of like you do not add up but that it not the case. Because of our Savior there is not outside source that can completely vanquish you. As long as you are trying and keep trying, YOU ARE PROGRESSING. The only thing that can vanquish you is, through your own agency, is yourself and that is if you quite trying. So my invitation to you all this week is to continue walking and trying with "Faith in every footstep" and love every weakness you are given, I know that by doing this it will bless your life in ways that you can't even understand yet. 

5: Hosting

We had the opportunity to host the Senior missionaries this last Monday and it was such a sweet experience. It was POURING rain and we had the job of escorting the couples from their cars to the front desk and back to their cars which made us get extremely wet because our job was to make sure they did not get wet at all, but it was so fun to talk to them and to hear that it was their first second third missions and where they were all going. It was awesome!

I hope you all had a really good week. I pray for all of you every single day and wish nothing but the best for you all. I leave the MTC on the 10th so if any of you would like to send me one last thing you should send me a 'Dear Elder'. And, if you would like to look at the blog my Mother has so greatly created she will send the link out so you can see my whole MTC experience. I hope you all have an amazing week!

-Elder Lewis

Week #5

WEEK 5

This week was so good. Honestly I'm running out of stuff to talk about here in the MTC haha I like to be considered a seasoned veteran here. This week had its ups and downs but above all what a good week. I'm finally just starting to speak the language. Dutch is coming so much easier every single day and I feel like I can hold my ground kind of. Im sure that will change when I actually get to the country lol. Just when you think you have got a hold on the language, our teaching starts speaking to us this foreign dialect called Sranan Tongo. It's so cool but its very weird. I'm having a good time though no worried. Once a week we do this thing called TRC which is a family home evening lesson and this last week we skyped someone from Belgium.... If you know anything about Belgium these people basically speak dutch with a scottish accent and its impossible to understand. My companions and I had no idea what he was saying and we were just staring at eachother and laughing because we had no idea what he was saying. All I remember saying to him is "God hou van u" which means God loves you. It's pretty much my go to line when I don't know what else to say. But, our investogators are going really well. Keep in mind these are our teachers pretending to be investigators but its still really cool. Our zone is very sad because our beloved Danes lefts who were pretty much the heart beat of our zone. Anyways I'll tell you what one of the coolest expirences I have had here at the MTC is singing in the MTC Choir. Its so amazing and I'm trying not to get my hopes up but I think an Apostle is coming to speak to us on Tuesday. It's getting broadcasted to every MTC in the world. I'm so excited. Hopefully I will have more stories when I'm actually in Suriname but right now my district and I are really just trying our best to Endure to The End.

    Two amazing scriptures stuck out to me this week. One of them was Alma 5:19 the thing that stuck out to me the most was "and the image of God was continually on their countenance" I formed it into a question and asked myself "Is the image if God continually on my countenance? I now have a goal for this week and that is to always do that and I would challenge all of you to do the same. The second one was Matthew 5:45-48. This scripture talks about how God rises the sun on those who are evil and the good and he makes rain come to those who are evil and who are good. Then it goes on to talk about how we need to do the same thing. "for what is our reward if we only love those who love us?" It compares these people we struggle with to the Publicans or Tax Collecters and these people where hated above all people in the scriptures but the moral or the story is we need to love the publicans in our lives. If we do these things we can be happier and become more like our Savior everyday. 

     Anyways  life is good here in the MTC. I recieve my travel itinerary on thursday so I am very pumped for that. I'm almost out of here and then I get to go serve the wonderful people in Suriname! I only have one more P day here in the MTC!!!! WHOOOOOOHOOOOOO Hebben Jullie een goede week!!!! :) 

-Elder Lewis

Week 4!

WEEK 4

Fawaka all you lovely people. I have made it through another week and its crazy how fast its all gone. I have three weeks left here and its all just flown by so fast. We get our travel plans in like two week so that is extremely exciting. I can't wait to be in Suriname (even though I cant speak the language yet). This week nothing really crazy happened honestly. This last week has been centered a lot about the Savior and his ministry and I learned a lot. My awesome teacher was able to have a 1 on 1 coaching lesson with me and it was basically the high light of my week. It's so funny as I am looking through my journal and really I've just learned so much this week. Really I would like to leave you all with a quote. 

    Throughout our lives we tend to focus on doing less bad stuff. One thing I learned this week was "We need to focus on doing better good stuff" As we do that and turn outward, like Christ did, we will, find ourselves taking on the true character of Christ which is turning outward when the natural man would turn inward. 

    Unfortunately my favorite Danes are leaving for Denmark on Monday. That's going to be so hard, but it is OK! Anyways that's really all I have for this week. 

    There's this thing called "dear elder" look it up on the internet or something but you can send me letter through it, i'd love to hear from all of you!

-Elder Lewis

Elder Lewis and Elder Ziegler 

Week #3

Week 3!

Hoi! I have survived yet another week in the MTC. I realize my group emails have lacked some effort on my part and I apologize to the people who actually read them lol. I'm trying out a new method this week.

1. Tie Draft

-We hold a Tie draft every P day which is basically our "get rid of your ugliest tie" It's so fun. There is this tie that has been going around our zone for like a month now that haunts everyone's dreams at night. It's called the Butt Stain tie and to put it in the lightest terms possible is looks like someone wiped with and guess who got that tie......me.  We then have to wear them on the following thursday so that was a fun experience.

2. Dutchies Left

-our beloved mentors left this past week to head off to Amsterdam and we were all very sad. They were such amazing missionaries. We dont have any neighbors anymore which is super sad. 

3. Spike Ball

-I don't know if any of you have played spike ball but it's literally one of the best games ever invented. My zone gets super into things like that so of course it became super intense. 

4. Boyd K. Packer

-We as missionaries were able to attend President Packers funeral and it was amazing. I think one of the coolest things was being able to listen to an apostle of God pray. We got to hear from a few apostles and there was a quote that I absolutely loved. "Let the pending items....pend" Dont be afraid to listen to the promptings of the spirit no matter how long it takes. The Holy Ghost is the ultimate teacher and will bring forth that which you are searching for. 

5. Dutch

-The language is quickly coming. I'm not fluent by any means but I am slowly getting better. We have started these activities called Engels Vasten which is an english fast. Absolutely no english in the morning class and then no english all day on tuesdays and fridays. We've done this once and its amazing how much we can speak already. I'm surprising myself at how well I can speak and I'm only going to get better. I'm so incredibly blessed that the Lord has helped me as much as he has throughout this process. 

6. Zone 37 Shenanigans

-I've made some incredible friends since I've arrived here. Especially with the danish missionaries. One of the highlights of the weeks was we went on a spirit journey to find out our spirit animals. This had nothing to do with the church but it was a crazy experience. It was like extreme meditation  and turns out my spirit animal is a Cardinal. Also my zone does push ups and planks every night and that is so fun. 

7.Spiritual Thought

-A scripture I would invite you all to read is Mosiah Chapter 15. It talks about Christ and his ability to satisfy both mery and justice perfectly. He pleads our cause to the Lord because he paid for all of our sins if we truly repent and come unto him. I know that if we put our cares on Christ he will make our burdens light.

This week has been amazing. But if we are being honest, if any of you could figure out a way to get in n out here I would love you forever. Anyways thank you in advance for all the good wishes and prayers. I couldn't do it will out you all have a good week!

-Elder Lewis

Week #2 Letter #2

WEEK 2 in the MTC

Hoi Everyone. Hoe gaat het met jullie?? ( how are you guys) This week in the MTC has been fantastic. I am learning so many things. So this week we have been teaching a lot. All in dutch. Its soo cool because just being here two weeks I can sort of teach all in dutch with little to no notes. Its amazing to be able to follow the spirit and just teach in a language you have no idea how to speak. This weeks sporting events have been intense. We are all improving at soccer and bragging right are for sure the best prize. The days are getting shorter and more enjoyable. The food still does terrible things to my insides but yeah it works I guess. My teacher Brother Norton like I said is a stud and his lessons this week were amazing. He taught stellar lessons on faith and the spirit and they were amazing. I'm so grateful for him. Our favorite dutchies left for the Nederlands on monday so that was super sad. One of my favorite elders wrote in my journal a quote that I found funny and great so I'm going to share it with jullie. "the man asked Jesus: Jesus, why do I only see one set of foot prints in the sand when I am walking through my trials? Jesus answered and said: Because the sand people walk single file to hide their numbers" That might not be funny to you guys but the humor gets pretty dry here. 

The 4th of july was interesting here. They tried their best to make us feel less salty that we were in the MTC on the 4th of july. We got to watch the stadium of fire fire works in the parking lot. The next morning my companions and I overslept and were late and were late to our sunday meetings hahah. It was fun luckily nobody got too mad. 

Its so fun because we are teaching everyday and Its so fun to watch myself grow in the language everyday. We have an elder from sweden in our zone and he served in the swedish army and he puts us through a sort of boot camp every night. We are all so out of shape lol. I've seen Jaren and Kylie here a lot and thats been super fun. The one things the MTC has taught me so far is that I need so much faith. I've never prayed as much in my entire life. My testimony grows everyday and I'm so grateful for all the trials and frusterations that come with it. Today we have 24 new dutch missionaries coming today so we get to pretend like we are big shots. Anyways, the church is true and I'm having a fantastic time here but I can't wait to get out into the field and start teaching the People in suriname! 

-Elder Lewis

p.s write me letters

Week #1

Week 1 in the MTC

Hoi everyone!

Wow is all I can say. This last week has been extremely crazy and humbling. I have basically been sitting in a class basically all hours of the day. I sometimes feel like they are just fattening us up for slaughter. (just kidding).

All my companions and elders around me are so amazing. Alot of them are leaving here in the next week and even just knowing them for just a week, I'm going to miss their guidance and wisdom....and the laughs and jokes.  The dutchies (as we are called) are all super nice and helpful and I've learned a lot from them. I was made the district leader of my small district of 5. Its been a very cool experience. Dutch is coming along. I can (sort of) prayer and bear my testimony in dutch which is super cool and fun. My teacher Brother Norton is a stud, I want to be like him when I grow up, but its a little frustrating because he never speaks english......its so annoying but good at the same time. Also the food here is super gross. Every one says they love the food but it's making me kinda sick haha They were having a mission president training while I was here my district got to meet our mission president. I'm super grateful that we got to meet him. I got assigned to be the district leader and that has been a blessing all in the same. I have been stretched so thin here in the MTC and the lord has ways of testing you and this is mine.

One of the most fun things about my mission so far is gym. We've been playing soccer and basketball and it's been getting pretty crazy. Today we played zone soccer and the Dutchies and Danes (Polish missionaries) won so we get bragging rights. WOOOO. Another cool thing we've been able to do is teach "investigators". They are just role playing but my companions and I have been teaching all in dutch and It's been soooo hard considering we've only been learning dutch for a week now.. but its all in good fun.

Hands down the coolest thing I have been able to do here is was being able to watch a special MTC devotional by David A. Bednar that is only shown in the MTC. It is titled Characters of Christ and let me tell you I can tell why It is only for missionaries.  Based on the talk I would invite you all to do a couple of things. Our savior Jesus Christ, through all of the trails and hard ships he faced, still turned outward to love all those around him, even to those who persecuted him. I would invite you all that in all that you can do is turn outward and not inward just like Christ did. By doing this I can promise you that you will be more happy and loving towards your fellow brothers and sisters. Love you all and have a good week.

-Elder Lewis

p.s also I probably have forgotten a lot of stuff but next week there will be pictures and more detailed stuff I promise. Also hand written letters and packages are appreciated :)

MTC

Mission Call Opening Night!