Sister Sewell here coming at you from Ellsworth, Maine! Let me first say... Holy cow I love this area. The ocean, the people, the car, the... Well the pretty much everything. Including my amazing new companion, Sister Jensen. Sister Jensen is from Kaysville, Utah. So that's pretty neat. She has been out on her mission for 3 months and just got done being trained! She is an absolutely incredible missionary. She has such a strong testimony and love for the Savior and loves to love. I absolutely love it. We get along so well. Last Saturday, we had our movie night (which we will be doing every Saturday). This past week we had a Mormon Message Marathon with popcorn and lollipops. We turned off all the lights in the apartment, got in our jammie's and then threw the quilt we had just received from this place where we do service on the ground and had a blast. It was tons of fun.
So I haven't seen our whole area yet, but I have gone on Mount Desert Island (MDI) which is where Bar Harbor is. We did some less active hunting there and then had dinner there. Bar Harbor is the cutest thing in the world. There are, this time of year, tons of tourists and there are tons of little shops everywhere. And it is right next to the beach so it is pretty much the best thing ever. We drove over a bridge to actually get onto the island and it is absolutely gorgeous, especially when the sun is just setting. Ellsworth is A LOT bigger than Milo. Even a lot bigger than Dover. There is a Walmart. Basically sums it up. Also, the whole Acadia National Park, which is on MDI, is in our area, so hopefully for district p-day we will get to go hiking!!!
We are teaching some pretty amazing people so I'll just give a little background and a quick summary of how our lesson went with them.
Matt: He is a less active that we are working with. He is in his 60s and grew up, as it turns out right next to Glendora! I think he said he was in Azusa? Not sure. But I know he said it was right next to Glendora, so that is pretty cool. Before I got here, they were considering dropping him, but Sister Jensen and I decided that, after this past lesson, we will not be dropping him. There is still something that the Lord wants him to know. We talked about prayer and committed him to pray morning and night. Before he said that he would just pray all day, but no morning and night prayers. He didn't really see the point of them. But after talking about how it is the Lord that asks us to pray morning and night and that they are kind of the "bookends" to our day, his face just changed and he said, "Oh. I see. Then, yes, I will do morning and night prayers." It was so cool to see how the Lord completely directed his lesson to exactly what he needed.
Marsha: She got baptized a week ago. She is absolutely incredible. She is also in her 60s. She is so in tune with the Spirit. She has a strong desire to serve the Lord and loves Him with all her wonderful heart. Our lesson with her this past week was so so spiritual. This was her first new member lesson and it was on the Restoration. We talked more about it and watched the video the Restoration. She loved it.
Bernie: Bernie is an 88 year old man. He is a Marine and his family is from Ireland. He has a baptismal date of August 1st. He had, in the past, struggled with the word of wisdom, but as of yesterday, he is living it!!!!!! He told us at church yesterday, "Pals, (that's what he calls us) I am living the word of wisdom!" It was so amazing. When we taught him on Friday, we committed him to live it and he was very non committal. Then Sister Jensen looked him in the eye and said, "Bernie. If I was Jesus Christ, in fact, I am a representative of Him, and I looked you straight in the eye and asked you to live the word of wisdom, would you?" He paused for a long while and then said, "it makes it hard to say no when you put it that way." And then He paused again and said, "Yes. I will live it." And by golly, he has!
Jeanette: She is another 88 year old person! (We teach a lot of super old people). Jeanette recently got baptized. She is the sweetest person in the whole entire world. So before I got here, she told the sisters this story: she asked them if there was a picture of Jesus in the baptismal font. They said that there was not. She said, "Well, I looked in the corner and clear as day there was a smiling picture of Jesus in the corner. He had on a blueish robe and was looking at me. Underneath Him it said, 'Fear not, I am with thee' ". She is so incredible. This past lesson, Elle, a non member friend of ours, came. Well, I suppose she comes every time. We call it "Elle and Jeanette" time. But this time the whole Relief Society presidency came. It was an awesome lesson.
Marion: She is Jeanette's very best friend. They went to school together since kindergarten. She is also 88. In the past, Marion, has been very hesitant to accept, even a soft baptismal invite. She says that she feels that she is not ready. This past lesson, I felt the inspiration to show her a picuture of the temple and a few other picutres of Jesus Christ:
She just stared at these pictures and just kept saying, with tears in her eyes, "Beautiful. Just beautiful. He is smiling and happy. It makes me want to get baptized." We told her how much Heavenly Father loves her and how much He wants her back with Him. We told her that she can do that as she is baptized and then enter into the temple. Whe we showed her the temple, she just kept saying, "have you gone inside? Really? Oh, it is just beautiful! I want to go inside. Wait. Have you gone inside? Really? Oh! It is so beautiful!" The Spirit was so strong.
Melissa: She is a recent convert who absolutely loves this gospel. She was recently called as gospel principles teacher and does an absolutely fabulous job. Brother Axtell (branch mission leader) asked her what she learned from all her studies this past week and she said that she came to know the Savior in a way that she never did before: she realized that He is absolutely and fully caring and merciful.
Well. We are teaching more people than that, but those are all the people I have met! Well. We are going to Zone Meeting in Bangor this next Wednesday, so we will drive with the Machias elders to Bangor! Oh! That reminds me! One of the Machias elders, Elder Burt, is from Calgary and is in Grandma and Grandpa's stake as well as the rest of the Davis clan! So that is pretty cool!
We also do service at this place called Food For All, where all the about to be expired food from Hannaford's is donated once a week and then a meal is prepared for about 200 people. It is in Bar Harbor and we serve there every Thursday. It is in this ridiculously old, 200 years old Catholic Cathedral. We cleaned out the back room, which was creepy as all get out and I almost died several times. Because of the daddy long legs. Okay. I didn't almost die, but it was creepy. But totally fun!
Also, I'm in a district with all elders. It is..... Different. Anyways....
Being attacked by birds has not ceased. Now chickens are after me. We pulled up to a potential investigators house,who is now an investigator. He owns a chicken farm. He has 250 chickens. So. When we pulled up 250 chickens start hurdling towards us. Darting around bushes, making a bee line for the fence. And then, like demons possessed, they methodically pull the fence down and.... Open up the flood gates, they are out!!!! And surrounding our car. It was for sure one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Pictures.
Currently our whole mission is doing a 60 day Book of Mormon marathon. I have been astounded this time around at Nephi's absolute diligence in keeping the Lord's commandments. He says in 1 Nephi 17:
3 And thus we see that the commandments of God must be fulfilled. And if it so be that the children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which he has commanded them; wherefore, he did provide means for us while we did sojourn in the wilderness.
I would like to add my testimony to his. The Lord will always provide a way for us to get through our trials. This I know. Heavenly Father loves His children. He will never leave them hopeless, or helpless.
Love,
Sister Sewell
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| Last area!!! Brother Small, Dalton, Sister Hope, Sister Small, Brother Hope, Kesha, Tabby, Brandon, Me, Josh & Kyla |
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| Bar Harbor |
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| Bar Harbor |
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| On MDI (Mount Desert Island) |
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| "And then, like demons possessed, they methodically pull the fence down and.... " |
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| "Open up the flood gates, they are out!!!! And surrounding our car." |
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| Sister Maxwell, Sister Frame, Sister Gillies, Sister Jensen, Me, Sister Spangler |
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| New District |
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| 2 minutes away from our apartment |
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