Email No. 23

Hellloooooo Family! 

This week was an awesome week! As is every week when you are in the service of God! :) 

I will start off with a funny story: we are teaching this less active old man who refers to himself as Papa John (I think I have told you about him... He believes he has personal ministry at the Baptist church in Milo). Anyways well....since he is a man we teach him out in his garage and leave the big garage door open. While we were meeting with him, I heard this flap, flap, flap of a bird's wing. I heard it land on the car just behind me. I tensed, knowing exactly what was to come. Sure enough, within seconds I felt Whelma the Neighborhood Pigeon land on my head. Every time I tried to shove her off my head, she would just peck my hand away. So we taught the whole lesson with a pigeon on my head. It was an awesome lesson, despite the pigeon constantly trying to fluff my hair. 

GUESS WHAT. We finally got to go hiking for district p-day!!!!!!! I have been pushing for this for literally months. All the excuses were totally lame why we couldn't: "Sister Sewell, it is below 0! It's too cold!" Then it was, "Sister Sewell, there is still 3 feet of snow!" And then it was "Sister Sewell, it is muddy!" Lame right? Anyways..... We got to go! It was fun and absolutely GORGEOUS. Pictures to follow. 

I also went to the bathroom in an outhouse again. Last time I went in one, there was a blizzard raging outside. This time it was quite peaceful. Birds chirping, the sweet smell of pine filling my nostrils. Prime conditions. Prime, I tell you. 

We also had to go to the dentist in Brewer because, as it turns out, Sister Maxwell will either have to have her tooth pulled or a root canal. That classifies as a major bummer. So I got to go to the city! It had been so long since I had seen so many people. After living in isolation for 6 months, it was nice. But is also nice to come back up in the Boonies of Maine. 

We got to serve at President Sternals house. They are in the process of moving down the street and so we helped them clean out their basement. Holy cobwebs, batman. Let us just say that I am grateful to know that there are no poisonous spiders in Maine. It was fun though!

Onto a more spiritual note... We had the most incredible miracle this week. Last week, we felt inspired to call a woman, Belinda, who we saw on the branch list. Neither of us recognized the name or had heard anything about her so we decided to call the number listed. A man answered and we asked for Belinda. She was put on and we scheduled to meet for the following week. (Which would have been last week). The day came that we were to meet with her. Previous to this, we were calculating miles and we decided that we just couldn't make it out to where Belinda lived. When we called to cancel and explained out mile situation, she sounded so disappointed. She said, "Oh! That is just too bad. I had bought cheese and crackers. Well. I look forward to next week." Instantly, the Spirit told both of us that we need to meet with her. We decided that if we were to meet with her and use those miles, then the Lord would provide a way that we won't go over miles. (They are His miles anyways.) So we went over. What we found was a woman who was so ready to come back to church. We talked about why she hadn't been coming to church and she had a few questions about the temple and receiving her temple recommend again. At one point, she got really quiet and looked down. She looked back up and with tears in her eyes, she said, "I need to go back. I need to. I just need to. I need to go back to the temple." We invited her to come to church. She did and she is now on the road back to the temple. 

I know this church is true. My testimony of it is solidified of it every single day out in the mission field. I love this gospel. No matter how illogical it may seem to some, it makes perfect sense to me. There is so much joy to be had in living the commandments our Heavenly Father has given us. Never fall away. Never turn away from the Savior. He performed the Atonement so that our fate wasn't to be that of hellfire and damnation. As Elder Holland put so beautifully this past General Conference:

 "So today we celebrate the gift of victory over every fall we have ever experienced, every sorrow we have ever known, every discouragement we have ever had, every fear we have ever faced--to say nothing of our resurrection from death and forgiveness for our sins. That victory is available to us because of events that transpired on a weekend precisely like this nearly two millennia ago in Jerusalem...That first Easter sequence of Atonement and Resurrection constitutes the most consequential moment, the most generous gift, the most excruciating pain, and the most majestic manifestation of pure love ever to be demonstrated in the history of this world. Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, suffered, died, and rose from death in order that He could, like lightning in a summer storm, grasp us as we fall, hold us with His might, and through our obedience to His commandments, lift us to eternal life."

As one of His servants, I testify to each of you the He lives. His invitation is simple, "Come, follow me." 

Keep the faith and remember the Savior.

Love,

Sister Sewell 

Hiking place!

Sister McEldowney (Visa waiter for Brazil) Sistee Craig, meeeee

BREEEEWWWWWWWWEEEEEER

Cute little park thing we found whilst tracting

Late night activities. (In between 9:30 and 10:30 naturally)