I hesitate blogging some of these photos because they rip my heart out, 

but they're memories. They're fresh and painful, but one day we can look back and feel pride as we see what a huge sacrifice and tough decision it was for Carson to leave family, friends and comfort for two years...just to help bless and better the life of others.

We tried to be so strong at first...

And then we got to security where we had to say goodbye...

I have a cute video of him walking away...then turning around to wave at these BAWLING faces one last time.

We cried ALL DAY.

Christian and I were a MESS!

We’ve been training for this, and it still HURT. Bad! 

Incredibly proud of this BRAVE guy—

He’s off to do big things. And I’m going to try to be brave too…as soon as I stop crying. 

#aprestoanzianolewis 

I love you @carsonlew_ 

We have the cutest friends, who bless our life and brings smiles to our faces.

So grateful to be surrounded by such loving and supportive people.

I watched his flight as he went from SLC to Dallas then on to WICHITA!!

He has arrived!

And now I count the days until we hear from him...

can't wait.

5th Weekly

 Last email from home! Yesterday, the district finished off hmtc by making pasta. This was my first time making pasta (absolutely not my last) but it turned out pretty good. This week was a little sad but im very excited to get into the field. From what ive heard, Kansas was hit pretty hard by tornadoes recently so, i think ill be starting the mission with a whole lot of service.

Nothing crazy happened this week, so im sorry for the boring email. I packed up my room and it was miserable. Not only because it was messy but also because im going to miss my clothes (and family too).

I finished hmtc and I have come so far in Italian but I still have so far to go. Ill be completely honest, there were times I had no idea what to do in class because I couldnt understand but in no time ill be thrown into Italy, forced to speak. In Italian, they say “in buca al lupo” which means “In the mouth of the wolf”. As soon as my parents leave me, i will be in the mouth of the wolf. I will have zero idea what I am doing but i wont be alone with this. I know I will have the holy ghost with me to guide me and keep me comforted.

I love that I learned all about the presence of the holy ghost and how important it is to be worthy of it. I was pretty easy to feel alone and discouraged during mtc because im awful and teaching and even worse at Italian but I know Ive got Christ by my side. Nobody can take that away from me. A good friend told me of a verse that sums this thought up. Romans 8:39 says, “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” 

As i am writing this, I remembered an instagram account posted something like this. Absolutely go follow “comefollowmedaily” on instagram. Every. Single. Post. is so amazing!

Make a difference, Be the difference

Italian for the week: “in buca al lupo”- In the mouth of the wolf (Good luck) and you respond by saying “crepi il lupo” - slay the wolf (Literally but its just another way of saying thank you)

Vi voglio bene,

Anziano Lewis

Pictures: 1 and 2- the district on the last day  3- Danny before he leaves for MTC 4-me, nick and the football fish

fourth weekly update

Patience is a Virtue? 

This has been quite an eventful week so lets get into it. I apologize for the late email but to be fair, I was with my actual companion all day. Anziano Mumford drove down from Idaho so we were able to hang out the whole day. We went on a gorgeous hike with anziano Packer (Ill attach some pics at the end of the email)

This week, all three of the sorelle (sisters) got their visas so as you could imagine, I spent some time refreshing my email in hopes of my visa coming through😂 Clearly, it did not come and I dont expect it to come for a while. I must learn to be patient (Apparently its a virtue afterall). I will not lie, waiting is stressful. Waiting for my visa, waiting another week before I leave my family for two years... It adds up. I can only imagine how stressed you guys were, waiting for my group email. Although, I am excited to go to Kansas and be able to teach the gospel in a language that I am familiar with. I know Gods watching out for me.

Home mtc has been filled with so many ups and downs. The only down this week was realizing that mtc is almost over and knowing im gonna miss my district and teachers. It has been fun though. One time, my companion and I were put in a breakout room (my family was babysitting my baby cousin) so he suggested putting baby Brooklyn in my spot so before the breakout room closed, I hurried and got the baby and her booster seat and put her where I was sitting. We joined back into the main room and my district had mixed emotions (Mostly confused or excited). That experience made the day great.

As usual, I want to end with a spiritual thought. This week my teacher told us that an older man she knew from her mission had passed away. She told us that she was sad because on her mission, she developed a love for this man and for all the people of Italy. I could not be more excited to go love the people where i am serving. I know the light of the gospel makes people happier and brings others closer together. Im ready to share this light.

weekly italian: fare una differenza, essere la differenza (make a difference, be the difference)

Anziano Lewis

Pics: baby in my spot, 

boys being boys, 

half way up the hike, 

Can’t take James anywhere, 

the Anziani

THIRD weekly update

 

It doesnt feel real that ive been in the mtc for 4 week. I do the same thing everyday and it has gone by so fast. Im not sure why but doing zoom for 7 hours along with a few hours of studying goes by lightning fast. One aspect that changes day to day is where I go out to eat. This week on tuesday and thursday, I went out with fellow missionaries (my boys James and Brenden) and both times we got our lunch paid for! Some people are so kind to the missionaries😀

This week, I got my tickets to Kansas! Pretty crazy that ill be heading out in a little over two weeks. Im not sure if im ready yet🤒

Since this was my fourth week, ive been in the Italian immersion for two weeks. It is so crazy to see how far ive come with the language and its hilarious (terrifying) to see how much longer I have left. I feel pretty confident with forming sentences and speaking. What has me shaking in my boots is listening to actual Italians speak. Twice in the last week, we have met with people from Italy that are fluent. They talk really fast and I dont understand a thing theyre saying. I can maybe pick out a word or two but that doesnt mean much🇮🇹

One topic that has been discussed in the mtc a lot is prayer. The fact that we can pray to our Heavenly Father for guidance and comfort is on another level of amazing. I have heard plenty of stories of peoples prayers being answered but have never had one of my own. This changed yesterday.

A sister in my district told me that she had a friend in Wichita Kansas that has been out a month. One thing he told her when they were talking is that he gets yelled at by plenty of people. Hearing that had me shaking in my boots more than the language. Its so stupid to think that someone yelling at me for being a missionary scares me but it really does. It scared me so much that I felt uneasy. So I decided to pray about it. I didnt pray for my problems to go away or for nobody to yell at me but instead, for the strength to go at these problems head on.

Whats crazy is that about an hour later while I was in class, I felt calm. I felt like Christ was right next to me, willing to help me through tough times. I know God answered my prayer because he loves me and he wont give me any challenges that I cant get through. 

Make a difference, Be the difference

Weekly italian: mi piace (I like)... giocare a pallacanestro (to play basketball) or imparare di Gesú Cristo (to learn of Jesus Christ) or ragazzi (boys)

Pictures:

1. At Janes volleyball game

2. Beautiful hike at Causey

3. The boys are ready for Halloween

4. James and I caught a bee🐝