Hello
Last week was probably one of the most difficult weeks of my mission. White-washing an area is really really hard. I got lost about a million times trying to get to our appointments and this area's a combination of two areas so it's huge. We didn't have time to grocery shop last Tuesday because of the complicated transfer. My companion ran out of some perscription medicine he needs to take and none of the pharmacies have what he needs so he's been really agitated the last couple of days. And on top of that I got TWO parking violations because of street sweeping. Oh, and about that: I have to park in the street because there's no parking left for our apartment. Over here they do street-sweeping and I guess last Wednesday I parked on the wrong street at the wrong time. That cost me $47 (!!!). So yesterday I figured I'd be fine parking on that street since today's Tuesday but it turns out that the street-sweeper does the other side of that same street on Tuesdays and that just happens to be where I parked. So that's another $47. So now I'm not going to have any emergency funds left. I'm really really frustrated about that and I don't know what to do. I'm really sorry but I think I'm going to need a little help there. I hate asking for money but I'm going to have to send my other half of my emergency funds to the mission office to pay for that today and then that'll all be gone. I still have money on my debit card though. Should I just pull $100 out of my debit card and keep that for my emergency funds?
Anyway, that was the bad. The good thing is that this is a great area for finding and teaching people. I've had some good experiences this past week and as I started to figure out the area and get a little more organized I started to feel better about all the stuff I have to do now. That's probably why I'm experiencing so much opposition. It's just been one challenge after the next this past week. But I'm going to get through it.
Elder Twiss and I are getting along fine. He's from North Carolina. He had a rough MTC experience so I think he needs a friend to keep him positive out here. I'm doing my best with all the stress and stuff. I hope I don't sound to negative-- that second parking ticket just really threw off my morning.
We're teaching a mix of spanish-speaking and english-speaking people. The Long Beach 7th Ward is filled with mostly Samoan people with some hispanic people. It's a combined english/spanish ward so we have to have a translator in sacrament meeting. That's pretty weird. We went to the spanish sunday school and that was cool. My spanish has improved a lot since I had all this responsibility placed on me. I can understand a lot more and say a lot more.
I have a lot of responsibilites now. I have to give trainings in spanish every week to my district which consists of me, Elder Twiss, Elder Kemp, Elder Barnes, Elder Ball and Elder Challis. I have to get numbers from each companionship every week and then report them to the Zone Leaders. I'm supposed to go on exchanges with each companionship in my district. That's mostly what the district leader does. Not too much. But on top of that I do have to train and organize this area. I just need more time to take some breaths and get my thoughts organized. I have very little time for that. Weekly Planning was my favorite thing to do last week. I felt a lot better after 2 and 1/2 hours of planning.
Daniel Clay and his son haven't been baptized yet. I bet they will be within the next few weeks. I'll tell you when I see his name on the announcements.
Sorry- my zipcode is definitely 90805.
That's cool to know you were a district leader/trainer too Dad. I didn't know that.
Elder Rodgriguez (or Daniel Rodriguez I should say) lives in Washington. His family's lived there for a few years now. Sister Sexton talked about him during zone conference last week. She said that in his departing testimony he talked about how at the beginning of his mission he was discouraged when a lady told him that she couldn't understand what he was saying when he tried to speak english. It's amazing to think that he couldn't speak hardly any english at the beginning of his mission. He was way fluent last time I talked with him.
All I really need for Christmas is some help with my emergency funds. But if you want you could also get me some of that blue hair gel I used back home. And in a deseret book ad I saw something about a CD of some hymns called "Nearer: A New Collection of Favorite Hymns." Out of the music we're allowed to listen to modernized hymns are definitely my favorites. Those are just some thoughts. I'll be happy with anything I you give me.
I know I'm being more stressed than I need to be. I just need a couple more weeks and I'll be able to get back up. Mom, Dad and Hannah-- I love you so much and I hope you know I pray for you and I'm excited to talk with you next month. Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
November 18th, 2009 (Email)
hi
Sorry this e-mail will be very short I hope you understand because my life is completely insane right now. Last week I was called to be a District Leader/Trainer and I got "white-washed" into a new area today and I have no idea what I'm doing yet and I don't have a lot of time and my new companion's name is Elder Twiss. My area covers North Long Beach and Paramount and Compton is in my District. My address is:
3275 Artesia Blvd #204
Long Beach CA 90805
Sorry but that's all I have time to tell you right now. I'll tell you more next week.
Love you!
Love,Elder Tyler Lewis
Sorry this e-mail will be very short I hope you understand because my life is completely insane right now. Last week I was called to be a District Leader/Trainer and I got "white-washed" into a new area today and I have no idea what I'm doing yet and I don't have a lot of time and my new companion's name is Elder Twiss. My area covers North Long Beach and Paramount and Compton is in my District. My address is:
3275 Artesia Blvd #204
Long Beach CA 90805
Sorry but that's all I have time to tell you right now. I'll tell you more next week.
Love you!
Love,Elder Tyler Lewis
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
November 10th, 2009 (Email)
Hello yet again!
The coolest thing happened last week. Elder Harris and I were instructed to go down to Hawaiian Gardens last week to get vaccinated for the H1N1 (swine) Flu. I got anxious because I hate getting shots. We stood in line forever and then one of the volunteers came and checked our info and told us that we were getting "the nasal mist." So the vaccination wasn't a shot at all. They just sprayed some stuff up our noses. It was painless and awesome. I'm glad we got it because tons of people are catching the swine flu over here-- even some of our investigators.
Daniel Clay and his family are still progressing. They came to church for the third time in a row. The kids (Jilani Jemilia and Jinelle) LOVE primary. Daniel and Jilani are both way excited to get baptized. We decided to push back the baptism until the 21st because they need a little more time for Daniel to overcome his smoking habit. He's made a lot of progress but sometimes these things take a little time. We both feel pretty sure that they'll be ready by the 21st. Preach My Gospel encourages us to wait for the head of the household to be ready before baptizing the rest of the family so that's why we pushed back Jilani's baptism too. Plus he's just 9 years old so we think it would be good to make sure his dad gets baptized with him.
Yesterday one of our investigators "anti'd" us. Her name is Paula and we dropped her yesterday because she just downright opposes everything we believe. We all concluded that our biggest difference came down to the 1st Article of Faith. Elder Rodriguez once told me something he learned from Elder David A. Bednar while he was in the MTC. Elder Bednar gave the missionaries a promise that if they came to really know and understand the Articles of Faith they would never be confounded. I know the true nature of God the Father, His Son and the Holy Ghost and I recognize that I wouldn't understand that doctrine if God hadn't restored it through the Prophet Joseph Smith. While Paula was bashing our beliefs the thought came to my mind that there was really nothing we could do for her right then. Towards the end I just told her that I knew by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true and then she responded that she knew by the power of the Holy Ghost that it's false. It was interesting. She brought up a lot of arguments including blacks not being able to receive the priesthood and the supposed false prophecy in the first several verses of D&C 84 that the New Jerusalem was to be built in Missouri during Joseph Smith's generation (look up the footnotes), but she ended up just saying again and again that she knew that no matter what she said we wouldn't change. She didn't understand and she said it made her sad. Elder Jones, one of the elders that lives in our apartment, had an interesting insight about Anti-Mormon stuff. "Anti-Mormon literature is like pornography for your testimony." Once you've read it or heard it you'll never be able to forget it. And if you dwell on it enough and let it bug you enough it can easily destroy your testimony. HOWEVER if you remember what you KNOW without a doubt to be true-- and there are several doctrines and truths and blessings that were ONLY made availabe to us through the Restoration-- and if you remember the first time you received your personal witness by the power of the Holy Ghost that this Church is Christ's (great advice given to me from Pres. Hatch)-- you won't be blinded by the mists of darkness. The best thing to do is to remember those things and to stay away from what the opposition has to say because when placed in the shadow of some of the doctrines of the Restoration the opposition just can't stand on its own two feet. Elder Callister and Elder Holland's talks from conference are good ones to consider reviewing.
Elder Harris and I have both come to an agreement that our little sisters should be pen pals. Elder Harris' little sister's name is Allyn Harris and she's only four days older than Hannah. She has red hair and she loves horses and reading and fairies and nerf gun wars.
Okay so thanks for going ahead and arranging to send me a new epi-pen because it turns out that the "i'm not allergic to chicken anymore" fling was just that: a fling. Out of the five meals of chicken I've had two of them made my chest hurt. So I'm not going to eat anymore. I think it's really really odd that I have to be allergic to chicken but I guess I'll just accept it and keep dealing with it. Gracias!
Yeah Elder Rodriguez has been home for 5 weeks now. I sent him a letter and he sent me an e-mail. He let me know that he's trying to find a job and he's applying for BYU and BYUI and he's bored.
Elder Kemp was transferred last transfer so I haven't seen him for a bit but while he was here he was doing fine.
David Ramos e-mailed me today! He sounds like he's still doing great. His family's still active and he says that he still wants to be a missionary. I wonder when he'll go through the temple. His year-mark as a member is coming up in a couple of weeks and after that it's possible for him to go through the temple.
I'm glad to hear that Hannah's doing great in school. She's a good kid.
All I know is that the prophet is definitely the only one allowed in the Holy of Holies so I've heard from many that he cleans it himself.
I could be getting transferred next week but we'll see. Both Elder Harris and I are at risk. The last week of the transfer is always filled with horrible suspense because you never know what Pres. Sexton will feel inspired to do with you.
"Have a Book-of-Mormon-errific day!" -Robbie Reed
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
P.S. so far all I've been able to think of that I'd be grateful to receive for Christmas is another pair of black slacks because last week I used a different Laundromat and now I have a weird stain on black ones you sent me last :( Sorry and gracias!
The coolest thing happened last week. Elder Harris and I were instructed to go down to Hawaiian Gardens last week to get vaccinated for the H1N1 (swine) Flu. I got anxious because I hate getting shots. We stood in line forever and then one of the volunteers came and checked our info and told us that we were getting "the nasal mist." So the vaccination wasn't a shot at all. They just sprayed some stuff up our noses. It was painless and awesome. I'm glad we got it because tons of people are catching the swine flu over here-- even some of our investigators.
Daniel Clay and his family are still progressing. They came to church for the third time in a row. The kids (Jilani Jemilia and Jinelle) LOVE primary. Daniel and Jilani are both way excited to get baptized. We decided to push back the baptism until the 21st because they need a little more time for Daniel to overcome his smoking habit. He's made a lot of progress but sometimes these things take a little time. We both feel pretty sure that they'll be ready by the 21st. Preach My Gospel encourages us to wait for the head of the household to be ready before baptizing the rest of the family so that's why we pushed back Jilani's baptism too. Plus he's just 9 years old so we think it would be good to make sure his dad gets baptized with him.
Yesterday one of our investigators "anti'd" us. Her name is Paula and we dropped her yesterday because she just downright opposes everything we believe. We all concluded that our biggest difference came down to the 1st Article of Faith. Elder Rodriguez once told me something he learned from Elder David A. Bednar while he was in the MTC. Elder Bednar gave the missionaries a promise that if they came to really know and understand the Articles of Faith they would never be confounded. I know the true nature of God the Father, His Son and the Holy Ghost and I recognize that I wouldn't understand that doctrine if God hadn't restored it through the Prophet Joseph Smith. While Paula was bashing our beliefs the thought came to my mind that there was really nothing we could do for her right then. Towards the end I just told her that I knew by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true and then she responded that she knew by the power of the Holy Ghost that it's false. It was interesting. She brought up a lot of arguments including blacks not being able to receive the priesthood and the supposed false prophecy in the first several verses of D&C 84 that the New Jerusalem was to be built in Missouri during Joseph Smith's generation (look up the footnotes), but she ended up just saying again and again that she knew that no matter what she said we wouldn't change. She didn't understand and she said it made her sad. Elder Jones, one of the elders that lives in our apartment, had an interesting insight about Anti-Mormon stuff. "Anti-Mormon literature is like pornography for your testimony." Once you've read it or heard it you'll never be able to forget it. And if you dwell on it enough and let it bug you enough it can easily destroy your testimony. HOWEVER if you remember what you KNOW without a doubt to be true-- and there are several doctrines and truths and blessings that were ONLY made availabe to us through the Restoration-- and if you remember the first time you received your personal witness by the power of the Holy Ghost that this Church is Christ's (great advice given to me from Pres. Hatch)-- you won't be blinded by the mists of darkness. The best thing to do is to remember those things and to stay away from what the opposition has to say because when placed in the shadow of some of the doctrines of the Restoration the opposition just can't stand on its own two feet. Elder Callister and Elder Holland's talks from conference are good ones to consider reviewing.
Elder Harris and I have both come to an agreement that our little sisters should be pen pals. Elder Harris' little sister's name is Allyn Harris and she's only four days older than Hannah. She has red hair and she loves horses and reading and fairies and nerf gun wars.
Okay so thanks for going ahead and arranging to send me a new epi-pen because it turns out that the "i'm not allergic to chicken anymore" fling was just that: a fling. Out of the five meals of chicken I've had two of them made my chest hurt. So I'm not going to eat anymore. I think it's really really odd that I have to be allergic to chicken but I guess I'll just accept it and keep dealing with it. Gracias!
Yeah Elder Rodriguez has been home for 5 weeks now. I sent him a letter and he sent me an e-mail. He let me know that he's trying to find a job and he's applying for BYU and BYUI and he's bored.
Elder Kemp was transferred last transfer so I haven't seen him for a bit but while he was here he was doing fine.
David Ramos e-mailed me today! He sounds like he's still doing great. His family's still active and he says that he still wants to be a missionary. I wonder when he'll go through the temple. His year-mark as a member is coming up in a couple of weeks and after that it's possible for him to go through the temple.
I'm glad to hear that Hannah's doing great in school. She's a good kid.
All I know is that the prophet is definitely the only one allowed in the Holy of Holies so I've heard from many that he cleans it himself.
I could be getting transferred next week but we'll see. Both Elder Harris and I are at risk. The last week of the transfer is always filled with horrible suspense because you never know what Pres. Sexton will feel inspired to do with you.
"Have a Book-of-Mormon-errific day!" -Robbie Reed
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
P.S. so far all I've been able to think of that I'd be grateful to receive for Christmas is another pair of black slacks because last week I used a different Laundromat and now I have a weird stain on black ones you sent me last :( Sorry and gracias!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
November 3rd, 2009 (Email)
Hello!
First of all I got the package! Thank you so much! Gracias for the garments. I think I'll gradually convert to briefs. Thanks for the stationary and Hannah's sketch book is great. And I ate all the pez in about 1 day.
That's so weird that Justin and Chris are home! I had a dream last night that I was at church and Justin came in and sat next to me and all that I asked him was "So, was it cold?" It was weird.
We're still teaching Daniel Clay and his family and things are going great with them. Him and his three kids all came to church again on Sunday. Daniel's struggling a little to quit smoking but we're confidant that he can do it. He's had us take his cigarettes away from him about 4 or 5 times now. We need to convince him that the problem starts right when he purchases the cigarettes... His 8-yr-old son, Jilanie, wants to be baptized with his dad on the 14th. We're doing all we can to prepare them but it really all depends on them of course. We only teach, testify, and invite them to change.
Elder Harris and I went to the Buddhist temple again with Elder Rada and some other elders last P-Day. It was fun again. Someday you'll get some more pictures.
I've been realizing a lot more lately how significant it is that we believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct individuals. The 1st article of faith is really what sets our church apart from all other churches. All other truths fall into place once the truth of the nature of the Godhead is known. I've found a lot of scriptures in the Bible that testify that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two separate resurrected Beings. One great example is when Peter testifies that Jesus Christ is the Son of the LIVING God. There's another place in Matthew where Jesus Christ uses the word "living" when teaching the Sudducees about the resurrection when they ask Him about the woman who had seven husbands. He explains a little bit about how marriage works in the afterlife and then He gets to their real concern and tells them something about resurrection. He tells them that God is the God of the LIVING, not the dead. So when Peter proclaimed that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God he was saying that Jesus Christ is the Son of a God that is a resurrected Being.
Okay so I'm still a little allergic to chicken but not that bad. I can only eat a certain amount. And the allergic reaction won't kill me but it's still just a little uncomfortable. I ate a ton at a restaurant called Polly's pies. I probably ate 1/2 a pound of chicken. And then when I was finished I sat in the car and I started having a weird allergic reaction. It wasn't terrible-- I could still drive. But now I know how much I can and can't eat. The next day I had a chicken tender and a little sweet and sour chicken at a buffet and nothing happened. I'll be careful I promise! Besides it's not that fantastic. Fried chicken's great but the rest of the stuff I've had so far is so-so.
Halloween night is just about the worst time to be a missionary. It confuses people to death when you knock on their doors. We had an appointment planned for that night but it fell through so it ended up being a rough night.
Beatrice Allen and a portion of the Gonzalez family moved to Las Vegas. The Gonzalez family has been hit hard by the powers of Satan. I have literally watched that family dissolve. It's awful. All I can say is that there are blessings for keeping the commandments-- particularly for keeping the Sabbath Day holy and for keeping the law of chastity. Sister Gonzalez and her 9-yr-old daughter Samantha are living together somewhere in Vegas and Beatrice is living somewhere else over there. I'll be writing Beatrice a letter today because Sister Gonzalez told me she's going through a hard time over there. Beatrice has been an active and happy member here since she was baptized. It'd make me sad to see her fall away.
Thanks Mom for having the kids write me some letters! I'm supposed to get a letter from Elder Rodriguez one of these days. We'll see. I'm going to write a letter to Hannah today and hopefully some other people too but we'll see.
Have a great week! I love you!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
First of all I got the package! Thank you so much! Gracias for the garments. I think I'll gradually convert to briefs. Thanks for the stationary and Hannah's sketch book is great. And I ate all the pez in about 1 day.
That's so weird that Justin and Chris are home! I had a dream last night that I was at church and Justin came in and sat next to me and all that I asked him was "So, was it cold?" It was weird.
We're still teaching Daniel Clay and his family and things are going great with them. Him and his three kids all came to church again on Sunday. Daniel's struggling a little to quit smoking but we're confidant that he can do it. He's had us take his cigarettes away from him about 4 or 5 times now. We need to convince him that the problem starts right when he purchases the cigarettes... His 8-yr-old son, Jilanie, wants to be baptized with his dad on the 14th. We're doing all we can to prepare them but it really all depends on them of course. We only teach, testify, and invite them to change.
Elder Harris and I went to the Buddhist temple again with Elder Rada and some other elders last P-Day. It was fun again. Someday you'll get some more pictures.
I've been realizing a lot more lately how significant it is that we believe that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are three separate and distinct individuals. The 1st article of faith is really what sets our church apart from all other churches. All other truths fall into place once the truth of the nature of the Godhead is known. I've found a lot of scriptures in the Bible that testify that God the Father and Jesus Christ are two separate resurrected Beings. One great example is when Peter testifies that Jesus Christ is the Son of the LIVING God. There's another place in Matthew where Jesus Christ uses the word "living" when teaching the Sudducees about the resurrection when they ask Him about the woman who had seven husbands. He explains a little bit about how marriage works in the afterlife and then He gets to their real concern and tells them something about resurrection. He tells them that God is the God of the LIVING, not the dead. So when Peter proclaimed that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God he was saying that Jesus Christ is the Son of a God that is a resurrected Being.
Okay so I'm still a little allergic to chicken but not that bad. I can only eat a certain amount. And the allergic reaction won't kill me but it's still just a little uncomfortable. I ate a ton at a restaurant called Polly's pies. I probably ate 1/2 a pound of chicken. And then when I was finished I sat in the car and I started having a weird allergic reaction. It wasn't terrible-- I could still drive. But now I know how much I can and can't eat. The next day I had a chicken tender and a little sweet and sour chicken at a buffet and nothing happened. I'll be careful I promise! Besides it's not that fantastic. Fried chicken's great but the rest of the stuff I've had so far is so-so.
Halloween night is just about the worst time to be a missionary. It confuses people to death when you knock on their doors. We had an appointment planned for that night but it fell through so it ended up being a rough night.
Beatrice Allen and a portion of the Gonzalez family moved to Las Vegas. The Gonzalez family has been hit hard by the powers of Satan. I have literally watched that family dissolve. It's awful. All I can say is that there are blessings for keeping the commandments-- particularly for keeping the Sabbath Day holy and for keeping the law of chastity. Sister Gonzalez and her 9-yr-old daughter Samantha are living together somewhere in Vegas and Beatrice is living somewhere else over there. I'll be writing Beatrice a letter today because Sister Gonzalez told me she's going through a hard time over there. Beatrice has been an active and happy member here since she was baptized. It'd make me sad to see her fall away.
Thanks Mom for having the kids write me some letters! I'm supposed to get a letter from Elder Rodriguez one of these days. We'll see. I'm going to write a letter to Hannah today and hopefully some other people too but we'll see.
Have a great week! I love you!
Love,
Elder Tyler Lewis
