1) The early (3.5 months), but safe arrival of Evelyn Kae Lewis. Evelyn began life at 1 lb. 13 oz. and is now a healthy 11+ lbs. She is a strong little girl who is growing and developing extremely well. Doctrine: The purpose of life is to gain a physical body and to learn obedience to Heavenly Father's Plan of Happiness. Little Evelyn was determined to gain a physical body and experience mortality. We're grateful she is part of our family.
2) Our mission call to the Ecuador Quito Mission. Doctrine: Service and sharing the gospel. Our mission experience has brought expected and unexpected opportunities for us to learn and grow. We work diligently to serve and share, but we humbly recognize that we will always be unprofitable servants.
3) The engagement and temple marriage of our youngest daughter Natalie to Bradley J. Johnson. Doctrine: Families can be together forever when sealed in the holy temple by authorized priesthood keys. Natalie and Brad began their lives together in the best possible way - united and sealed for the eternities!
4) Selling our Ohio home. Doctrine: Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers. Selling a home can be challenging, but our prayers were answered in miraculous ways and we are grateful for the family who purchased our home, because they wanted a "family" home to raise their children in.
5) Successful school, career, and employment opportunities for our children, children in-law, and grandchildren. Doctrine: God knows, understands, and blesses our temporal affairs when we seek to follow Him. God's hand has been involved as we, and our children, have made temporal transitions that have had significant spiritual impact.
6) The announcement of grandchild #29. Staci & Kraig are expecting a little girl in May. She will be a tie breaker and we will soon have 14 grandsons and 15 granddaughters. Doctrine: Families are central to the creator's plan. We are ALWAYS excited to welcome another member to the Lewis Family.
We acknowledge that a lovely Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ are the source of these blessings. We love them and we are grateful to be serving as missionaries of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ here in Quito.
This past week literally flew by. We are preparing for the missionary transfers that will occur the first week in December. The number of incoming missionaries has changed throughout the week due to the status of Visas, and the unrest in several South American countries. As of Friday afternoon, the Ecuador Quito Mission will have 16 missionaries departing and 10 missionaries arriving. The office prepares mission booklets for all, with letters and certificates for the outgoing missionaries; and health envelops, medical release forms, and questionnaires for the incoming missionaries.
In all honesty, paperwork is not my forte and I will admit that I have a love/hate relationship with the printers in the mission office. But, this week went well and we will be prepared when transfer week arrives on December 2nd!
Yesterday, we went searching for a small and inexpensive Christmas tree. We took the bus to one mall and didn't find anything suitable. We decided to walk a mile to another mall and on the way we passed a park that had 3-4 vendors selling Christmas decor. We decided to check out their decorations and we were fortunate to find a cute little tree priced at $12. In my Spanglish, I offered the woman $10 if she would include the little plastic treetop star. She agreed, and we walked away with our "mission" Christmas tree.
We brought it home, set it up, and began making some homemade decorations - popcorn garland and dried citrus. It's a good thing the tree was small, because I ate far more popcorn than I threaded!
Our simple little tree is far different from the TREES we had in our Ohio home, but it invites the spirit of Christ into our apartment and we are looking forward to celebrating the season and sharing the message of Jesus Christ as missionaries.
We invite you to "transform Christmas into a season of service by following the example of Jesus Christ and ministering to others one by one -- just like He did." For more, see LIGHT THE WORLD. Please don't hesitate to share your Light the World experiences in the comment section of this blog.
We send our love to all from Ecuador!
Elder & Sister Lewis
Happy Thanksgiving!
ReplyDeleteLove and miss you and your family.