Email No. 46

Hello familia y amigos!!

This week was a good one. As usual. Thanksgiving was good. I'm still full from it and I think I have been in a turkey coma for probably about 5 days. The struggle has been real. It is convenient that we are almost out of miles because it has been forcing us to walk a lot, thereby allowing us to justify eating so much food. And all the leftovers that accompany this grand holiday.

My life seems to be just a slew of absolute hilarity, so I would like to share a couple of stories about our dearest recent- converts, Keri and Bernie:

#1- This story requires a little bit of a back story... So Keri texted us a few weeks back and said, "I feel like I have lost a part of me." It is important to note that this was about the same time that she was going through the rough part just before her baptism. Anyways, totally concerned we asked what was the matter. She told us that her fish died. We didn't really know how to respond because we couldn't really tell if she was joking around or not. Her follow up text confirmed that indeed it was a joke: "I just can't stand the thought of that I will wake up tomorrow and not see his little body just a swimmin' in
the bowl." We started dying laughing. So to proceed with the story. We were talking about sacrifice in Gospel Principles yesterday and the teacher was talking about how the people would bring the animal to the priest and then the priest would sacrifice the animal. Keri then leaned over to us and says in a very serious tone, whisper-yelling, with pauses between each word, "Here's my fish!!!!" Oh my heaven above, it was absolutely hilarious.

#2- So we were on the phone with Bernie, rescheduling an appointment that we had scheduled for the upcoming week. After chatting for a couple of minutes (Bernie loooooves to chat), he says to us, "Hey can I tell you something and you won't be mad?" A little frightened, we replied, "Suuuure...?" And then he yells, "I love ya!!!" We started dying laughing and told him that we love him too. I don't know if I said it or not, but Bernie has a habit of calling us nick names such as "honey" and "babe" and "baby sister" and "sweetheart". It is quite funny.

Both of them are doing absolutely fantastic. Bernie, due to his age, has a hard time staying at church. Just the first hour is a struggle for him. But. He is continually learning. This past week when we met with him, he bore testimony that he knew that this was Christ's church and that he did the right thing. He told us of numerous miracles that he had seen through out the week bearing testimony to him that he is doing the right thing. He is also one of the greatest missionaries. He tells people all the time that he is a Mormon now and people give less than positive remarks to him. To which he responds, "You can't say anything until you read the Book, talk with the girls, and then pray and come to church. That's how I did it. You need to do that too. Until then, you don't know anything." It is awesome. I can't wait to hang out with him in the eternities.

Keri is equally doing amazing. It is so cool to see how she has  changed. Her whole countenance is brighter. She is constantly, as she was before she was baptized, taking notes, asking questions, repenting. She is a very special spirit and is so in tune with the Holy Ghost. We taught her about temples this past week and she is really excited to go.

This past week, as I mentioned last week, I got to go on exchange with Sister Duncan. We didn't stop laughing the whole time. She is such a light and example to me and I am so excited to be serving around her again.

Thanksgiving was great. We went onto the island to one of the member's homes. Crazy thing. So this member that we had dinner with is the family of one of Kinnon Priest's last companions. Crazy, huh? It was really fantastic. Then we were invited to another member's home (Sister Eldredge) which was an hour away. I had to blast hymns to stay awake. The Eldredge's are fantastic and we had really good time with them.

Important detail before I tell you the rest of my Thanksgiving. The night before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Eve, if you will, we went to bed with the heater because it was cold. I woke up at about 3 a.m., freezing. I went and turned up the heat. But when the alarm went off Thanksgiving morning, it was colder than it was at 3! So I went over to the heater and it was set for 70 but it was at a very chill 59. We tried to make it work, but the "click click click" of the base board heaters never happened, so we had to assume that it was broken. We informed our land lord (turns out the oil was gone) and then we asked the elders if we could borrow some blankets in their apartment because we didn't know how long it would take to for the heater to be fixed and we arranged to borrow a space heater from a member. Anyways. So that night, the elders were over at the Bernard's for Thanksgiving (one of their many). So we went over to that member's house to grab the blankets from the elders. Somehow in the 2 minutes we had been there, we got pulled into accepting a challenge where you have to eat 6 saltine crackers and then whistle, all in one minute. Let's just say that I totally failed. It was a grand ol' time though.


Yesterday was cold. It was wicked cold. It was probably between 20-25, which is bearable, but there was a very strong, bitter cold wind. We had bundled all up and were walking around downtown Ellsworth, street contacting people. We started talking to this man and this woman. We gave them "A Savior is Born" card (which I will talk more about) and when I did this, I noticed that she didn't have any gloves on. I asked if she had gloves, to which she kind of shamefully looked down and admitted that she didn't own a pair. So I took off the two pairs I had on and gave them to her. She asked if I was sure and I said yes and made the joke that my hands were cold anyways with them on (which they were). So we kept on going and this is the really cool part: not only were my hands not cold anymore, but they were warm to the touch. And they were for the next hour that we were out in the cold, dark night. Now how does that make sense? When I had my gloves on, my fingers were freezing and I just couldn't seem to make them warm. But then, when I didn't have gloves on, not only were they not cold, but they were warm! Miracles I tell you, miracles.

Now, you may say, "Sister Sewell, 'I fear that thy joy doth carry thee away unto boasting.'" But I would respond as Ammon did, "I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom; but behold, my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God. Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

If I had to pick a verse of scripture that describes how I feel, it would be that. I am nothing. But He is everything. The Lord truly does qualify him whom He calls. And let me tell you, there is a lot of qualifying that needs to happen with this girl.

I actually want to share a story about that. So a couple weeks ago, we were helping a member paint her house. I was sitting on the ground painting lower to the ground, when her adorable little 4 year-old came up to me and said that he wanted to help. So his mom let him hold the paint brush with me while I put the paint onto the wall (in a very similar fashion to the way that Karate Kid did when he was painting Mr. Miagee's, or however you spell it, fence haha). Anyways, as we were doing this together, he looked up at his mom and said with the biggest smile on his face, "Look mom! I'm painting! I'm painting! This is so cool!" To which she responded, "Yes! Look at you! I am so proud of you! You are so awesome to let Sister Sewell help you paint." This reminded me of how I am in my missionary work. I am helping God with his purpose, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Now, He is the one holding the paint brush, but He is allowing me to hold on with Him. Thereby, allowing me to feel the joy of helping bring souls to Christ. I don't know if that made sense, but you get the general idea.

This Christmas season has been my favorite so far and it has only just begun. Being able to testify of Christ at this time is the best thing that I have ever been a part of. For those who haven't heard, there is a new video that came out yesterday, "A Savior is Born". It is absolutely fantastic. Please go and watch it. And share it! It can be found on christmas.mormon.org.

I know that my Savior lives. I know that He suffered for every single one of us. I know that His only desire is for us to come home and feel joy and this can only be accomplished through living his gospel and a part of that is keeping our covenants. He has become my best friend, the only person who has been where I have been. He gives my family relationships meaning and my friendships are made deeper. In summary, He is everything to me. The more I learn, the more I realize that this is it. This gospel, this is what this life is all about. And we can only come to know that for ourselves. That is why the invitation is to "Come follow me". It's not "Follow the person who is following me". We can and should have a direct relationship with Christ and again the emphasis on the importance of making covenants is being made. Covenants are how we draw close to Christ. I have said this before and I will say it again, for those who haven't made covenants, make them. For those who have, keep them. If you don't know what that means ask the missionaries. The hand is extending, we need to grab it.

I love you all. Keep the faith and remember.

Love,
Sister Grace Sewell

P.S.
Also. Minor little detail that I forgot to mention.

I MET A MEMBER OF ARCADE FIRE AT THE BRANCH'S PIE NIGHTTTTTTTT AHHHHHHHHHH WILL BUTLER AND HIS SON, ALVIN AND HIS WIFE JENNY IT WAS A DREAM COME TRUUUUUUUUUE.  His mom is in our branch!!!