I Am Yet Alive

Monday, December 9, 2013

Hello Everyone,

This week has been interesting, but it has worked out really well! On Monday we had lunch with two sisters from the ward. As I was talking with one sister, she mentioned that she had served a mission in Thailand, so I decided to shoot the breeze, and ask her if she knew an Elder Bancroft. She excitedly confirmed that they had served together in the same mission. Kind of crazy all the little connections that our family has here!

This week has been FREEZING cold. On Wednesday our cars were grounded. We were not able to drive them because of the snow. Our busy meal calendar is a blessing and a curse at times. We had a meal appointment in St. Michael at 5:00 PM, which is about 4 miles away from our apartment. My companion was too proud to call for a ride, and refused to let me call for rides, so we walked. I was wearing my white shirt, a sweater, a Tommy Hilfiger down vest that I bought on P-Day, my black Mountain Hardware jacket, my heated Columbia jacket, and my big Mountain Hardware jacket. On top of that I had a scarf wrapped around my face and neck, and two hats on. Luckily I had my bog boots on as well! It was an adventure, and despite everything I was wearing, it was still kind of cold. I wasn't feeling too well, but I kept walking along. All of the sudden I was reminded of a training that Sister Clements had given us many many months ago. We all face hard times in our lives, but we need to face the future and press forward. In the end of the Book of Mormon, Moroni anticipated his death, but when he hadn't yet died, he continued to write in the Book of Mormon, and said "I Am Yet Alive." Instantly I was filled with gratitude that I was yet alive. I then started to sing to myself and danced a little bit to warm up. With all those jackets on, nobody could even see that I was moving, so it was great! The sun drop girl song and dance was TOTALLY stuck in my head the whole time, you should definitely look that up on YouTube. But the fact of the matter was that we are all going to face hard times. It's not always going to be warm, and sometimes you are going to have to walk 4 miles in the snow, but we are alive and living and changing everyday! With that said, I do not EVER want to do that again :)

We had our Christmas Conference this week in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. It started off with a bang, seeing that we were all told to go to the Crystal, Minnesota building and President and Sister Clements and all the food was at the Brooklyn Park building. We quickly drove back over, and began with our Christmas Conference a little delayed. For Christmas because of the mix up, President Clements gave us all 10 extra miles to cover the extra distance we traveled. We were able to watch the Disney movie "Miracle", which was filmed here in Minnesota. It was cool to see everything that I already know about this area, I felt almost like a resident here haha! Hockey is huge here, so it was fun to be able to watch a hockey movie :) During our training Sister Clements used me as a model for everyone to demonstrate effective layering. I have become a layering expert! I was wearing a long sleeved white shirt, with a sweater underneath my suit. Why some missionaries aren't wearing sweaters yet, I do not know! I love sweaters, plus they are warm, so bonus points :) I also had an interview with President Clements during the conference. As we talked, he said to me "You are here for a purpose", and we began to talk about what I was sent to Elk River, Minnesota for. It is crazy sometimes how everything works out!

On Saturday we had the Ward Christmas Social. It was cool to be able to spend time with all the members here, and the amount of non-member friends that attended was incredible! The gym was packed with people, and it was a really fun event. Santa Clause even came to visit, SO great :)

A couple days this week we have not been able to go outside, because it has been too cold. President Clements has said that we are not to leave our apartments until noon, because of the wind chill. The wind chill here is deathly! Today it is predicted to be -25 degrees. SO gross. Luckily on one of the days that we were restricted to leave, we were able to attend a member baptism, and they invited us over for lunch afterwards!

We met with a family yesterday for lunch. They served us fufu and peanut butter soup. My companion loved it for some reason. We had to eat it with our hands, and it was just all kinds of nasty. Nobody knew how much I disliked it though, so that was a plus!

Just a tip of advice for you all -- based off of a "fun" event that I had today :) Eat before you exercise, and don't run when you are half asleep! Today I was running on the treadmill, and all of the sudden my heart started racing, and I kept feeling like I was going to black out. I was determined to run before I showered this morning though, and I did. Then when I went to shower, bam! I was out in the middle of the hallway. No bruises though :) Learn from my mistake though!

I hope you all have an amazing week, and survive this freezing cold weather! I have heard that Utah is getting pretty bad as well, so layer up :) Talk to you soon!

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews