A Wedding and a Baptism

Hello Everyone,

This week has been really great, with a couple unusual twists and turns! On Monday we had a couple hours to email, wash our clothes, and go shopping. It was not actually our P-Day because of Christmas. Unfortunately on Monday we needed to wash ALL of our clothes because of the bed bugs, so not a lot was accomplished. In the evening, however, we were able to attend our new member’s choir concert at Christ Our Light Catholic Church in Zimmerman. It was fun to get together with her family, and to see her performing a couple fun Christmas songs.

On Tuesday we had a bunch of accountability calls to make, and then the bed bug exterminator came over to our apartment. They tore apart our bedroom and sprayed our mattresses, then they sprayed our furniture and our carpet. They found quite a few bugs on our mattresses, and even found some of my companion’s blood on his mattress. Nasty! We then purchased special bed bug mattress covers to seal any additional bugs in to kill them out. Apparently bed bugs can go 18 months without eating, so it is a fun process. They are going to do 2 additional treatments 2 weeks apart. Hopefully the problem has been resolved!

On Wednesday, Christmas Eve, we had District Meeting. For District Meeting we had a gift exchange, so that was super fun :) I had a couple people in our District give 5 a minute training on goal setting, planning, and execution. We talked about Nephi and how he was a goal setter and a go-getter. It worked out really nicely. Lets be real, it is a miracle in and of itself that District Meeting even happened with all of our bed bug craziness! We spent Christmas Eve with a family in the ward. They had family over for dinner, and we played a few games and opened a few presents. The mom works with glass, and so she made us both a glass sun catcher. They have cute little penguins sitting on an ice cube at the bottom. Kind of fun!

On Thursday, Christmas, we spent the day with another family in the ward. We opened presents with them in the morning, then went over to the other their relatives later in the day for Christmas dinner and a gift exchange. It was super fun :) On Christmas we also got to Skype home, which is always eventful! It is weird to see that people are growing and going on with their lives while I am here on my mission. I don't know why I thought life back home would pause, but it certainly isn't. Craziness! In the evening we visited with the family who is getting baptized tomorrow. We tried on jump suits, answered some last minute questions, and practiced the baptismal ordinance. They certainly had a crazy week!

On Friday, Boxing Day, we were scrambling in the morning to get everything ready for the wedding. The ward really came together and tried to get everything to turn out. With the ward helping, however, you run into a couple awkward situations. A member made all of the flower arrangements, and some of them were just plain ugly. The bouquet in particular. So a member sent us to Walmart to buy a bouquet in the wedding isle, and my project was to combine both bouquets and try to make something that looked good. It took a couple tries, but at last it all worked out! The whole day was awesome really :) A few extended family members were really late, so the day was pushed back a little, but at least everything happened! Their wedding was awesome! Definitely the highlight of the day. I love weddings :) After the wedding they had their wedding reception. The maid-of-honor (their daughter) gave a really touching speech during the reception. She talked about her Mom first and how they are best friends, and how she has been amazed at all the things she has overcome in her life. Then she talked about her step-dad, and what an amazing Dad he has been to her. None of the wife’s children are his, yet he has taken them all in as his own. She talked about how he has been more of a father to her than her real Dad. Then she made everyone cry. She talked about how she has always been looking for someone like him in her life. She talked about all the times that they had Daddy Daughter Dances and Daddy Daughter Dates in school, and she would always just have to stay home. She talked about what an amazing father he has been to them already, and that she was proud to call him Dad. It was a super cool moment! Then they took a bunch of wedding pictures, which turned out really nicely. SO MANY PICTURES! When I get married, if I get married that is, I will definitely be taking pictures on a different day than my actual wedding. Of course you have to take pictures on your wedding, but I am sure I can arrange for some of it to be done in advance. Plus, when you are getting married, you are the boss. It can totally happen! Then came their baptism. We all changed into our jumpsuits and white clothes, and everything worked out really nicely. There were too many people to fit in the Relief Society room, so the baptism was moved to the Chapel. There was an awesome turn out! I had the amazing privilege to baptize two of the daughters. It was a really cool experience! I feel like they have become part of my family. It's weird, but I like it. I love that family SO much! To finish off the evening, we had a lesson with our part-member family on obedience and scripture study. It went pretty well. We watched a few Mormon Messages, and had a really great discussion. It was an exhausting, but definitely a very rewarding day!

On Saturday we did some Weekly Planning in the morning, and then went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with a recent-convert on the Plan of Salvation. We watched a Mormon Message with her on the Plan of Salvation that puts it into the perspective of a 3 Act Play. It was super good! In the evening we went over to the some investigator’s, but they were sick so we set up another appointment. Afterwards we went over and visited with a part member family. A few weeks ago, her son took off though and has been living with some of his friends. We actually saw him at Walmart this week, but didn't realize that he still had not gone home. I don't know why you would take off during the holidays, but hopefully he will come back soon. We talked with them a little bit about Prophets and the Book of Mormon. It was all started by a discussion they were having on how crazy things are going in the world right now. It was a pretty good day :)

On Sunday we had our new member family Confirmation in Church. Last minute they asked me to confirm one of the sons. He’s is my buddy, so I totally agreed! It was super cool to see a family coming together in making and keeping covenants. They are amazing! After Church we went and visited with an investigator. We shared a message with him from the Ensign called "Fill The World With God's Love." Super good message. He talked with us about some family drama, and then he talked to us about how much he appreciates us coming over. He told us that he has no one to talk to. No one ever comes over to see him. His family has been falling apart since his parents died. For a while he didn't even talk to anyone! He is doing a lot better now though, and it is hard to even get a word in. Funny how that works! He is super good man though, I am grateful for the opportunity that we have had to meet with him. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with the new member family on obedience and scripture study. They were pretty exhausted with all the weeks events, but it worked out nicely. They are going to accomplish some really cool things in the future, I know it!

Today is not actually our P-Day either. Our P-Day will be on New Year's Day. Kind of fun how it all works out :) I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a Happy New Year! Thank you all for your love and support. Talk to you soon!

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews

Faith Brings Miracles

12/22/14
Hello Everyone,

This week has been kind of crazy, but has been a super good week all together. On Tuesday we had our P-Day, and in the evening we went over to our investigator’s home and reviewed the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We also filled out all of their baptismal records, which was a process! I don't know why the Church hasn't made a family baptismal record, but they haven't. We had to make an individual baptismal record for all five of them. It was a process, but it is a good problem to have! I am amazed at their desire to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone holding the priesthood authority of God. They are on fire! On Tuesday, the Sisters took off. I found out that I am going home with one of the Sister, so it will be fun to catch up later!

On Wednesday we went suit shopping with the investigator family! The dad found an awesome suit at the Calvin Klein outlet for a steal. Shopping is the greatest :) Maybe I can be a professional shopper when I get home! Doubt it would pay enough for my own shopping though... Guess I will have to keep looking for a career. After shopping with them, we had our weekly meeting with the Bishop. We were kind of scattered, but it all worked out. We just have A LOT of work to do now that the Sisters are gone. We have two huge areas to cover now, and no extra time to do it all. Everything is going to be fine though :) In the evening we visited with an inactive member. We have been teaching her son for a while now, but as of recently he ran away. They are still trying to find out where he is, but hopefully he will come home for Christmas. We shared "He Is The Gift" with her, and she loved it! It was a really great visit :) She works in the oil fields in North Dakota, so she is rarely ever home. This was my first time meeting with her, but it seemed to go really well!

On Thursday we had a bunch of accountability calls in the morning, and then we went and did service at the thrift store. We helped with taking down and reorganizing some of the Christmas stuff. They are preparing for a big Christmas clearance sale to get rid of all of their Christmas stuff before the end of the year. In the evening we had a lesson with our investigator family on the 10 Commandments. We reviewed all of the commandments, and then we planned out their baptism. They are all super excited! Normally ward members are encouraged to participate in the actual baptizing of the converts, but the mom and her daughter have asked me to baptize them. The other daughter asked my companion to baptize her, their son will be baptized by his dad, and another child will be baptized by his uncle. Should be an exciting day! They are getting married at 1:00, afterwards they are having a reception, and at 3:00 they will be getting baptized. Crazy! Good things are in the works. To finish off the evening, we met with another investigator family and reviewed the Word of Wisdom. Our new member is doing great, and her sister has continued to sit in on all of our discussions! Her mom is very optimistic about her developing a desire to be baptized.

On Friday we had Weekly Planning, and then we went on exchange with our Zone Leaders. I stayed in here with an Elder from Kayesville, Utah. He is an awesome missionary, and we had a really great time on exchange. To start off the evening, we had our investigator family’s baptismal interviews. They all passed, no surprise. They are great! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have had to teach them and to get to know their family better :) Later in the evening we visited with a member. We shared with her a message from the December 2014 Ensign called "Fill The World With Christ's Love." It is a super good message that talks about giving of ourselves this Christmas season. I am constantly reminded on my mission that it isn't necessarily the things that you purchase for people that makes the biggest difference, but the time and love that you give them. (Not that I don't want gifts for Christmas haha! I am definitely not to that point!) Time and attention make a huge difference!

On Saturday we went out contacting in the morning and shared "He Is The Gift" with quite a few people! We even came in contact with a woman who used to meet with the missionaries, that is interested in meeting with us again. She was on her way out, but we will have to try her again! We also helped a family in the ward move an old broken piano out of their home. Later in the afternoon we had an interview, and we were able to talk about everything that is happening in the District. We identified a few things that we can all improve, which is always great! One thing that we talked a lot about was time. I feel like there is never enough time to do everything, but again, it is a good problem to have. We talked a lot about sharing the responsibilities. I need to focus more on the District, and my companion needs to focus more on the area. I can't be the head of our District and our area. That means that I need to let go... that is kind of a big deal for me. I definitely like to organize and be in charge of things... that way I know that things will get done, and they will be done well. Sharing the responsibility is all part of learning though... it will be good for me, and it will be good for my companion. All good things :) No one ever said that good things were easy to do though! We later were able to visit with an investigator and share "He Is The Gift" with him. We talked a lot about Christmas and traditions, and his plans for Christmas this year. He is a really awesome guy! Later we exchanged back, and went out joint teaching. We had an awesome evening! We first visited with a recent convert in the sister’s former area. We talked with her about the Word of Wisdom and the Spirit. We shared the cool new living nativity video that they filmed in Utah with the Piano Guys and David Archuletta. Later we dropped off some cookies for a few home teaching families, and finished the evening visiting a part-member family. At first they were not very open to having us over. Their son had a fever of 102 degrees, and they did not want to get any of us sick. Our joint teacher offered to give him a blessing, but they kindly refused. I went on and talked about "He Is The Gift" and invited their family to watch it together, and a few minutes later he invited us to come inside. When we were inside, he asked his son if he would like a blessing, and he agreed! We explained what a blessing was, and gave him a blessing. The mom, who is Catholic, got very emotional. You could feel the Spirit really strong in their home after the blessing, and it took almost immediate effect. He was up dancing around and was feeling great! We talked about the Book of Mormon, and invited them to start taking the discussions, and they accepted! We will be visiting with them again next Saturday :) Now here is where things get REALLY interesting! My companion has a bunch of bumps all over his body from our exchange. He was bitten by something while sleeping in the other elder’s bed. They suspect they might be bed bugs. Yep! So we applied a bunch of anti-itch cream all over his body, and went to bed.

On Sunday, we had a really great service at Church. Because last week was our Christmas service, the Bishopric all spoke about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. I thought it was a really awesome focus for the Sunday right before Christmas! Our investigator family all came to Church as well as a part-member that the Sisters were working with. On Saturday evening, a dear friend of our investigator family was killed in a car crash. They were very startled, and were having a tough time with it all. Totally understandable. Please keep them in your prayers. (Maybe a Facebook message would be helpful...) My companion’s bed bug bites were really irritated, and they had everyone at Church up on their toes. We texted President Forbes and the Assistants, and were waiting for a response. We got mixed reviews at Church, some people told us that we were going to die basically and that we needed to burn all of our furniture and clothes, and other people told us that it was no big deal. We almost got kicked out of Church, but someone looked it up and said we would be fine. After Church we talked to the medical and apartment coordinators, and started to wash and dry all of his clothes on the hottest cycle available. We counted and took pictures of all of his bug bites so that we would know if he got any additional bites when we went to bed. In the evening we had a lesson with our new member and her family on the law of chastity. It went really well, and I think everyone learned a lot! We talked mostly about having good standards, and the importance of our thoughts, words, and actions.

Today we have been dealing with the bed bug dilemma. My companion had some additional bites this morning, so tomorrow they will be exterminating our apartment before they spread. The Elders that we got the bed bugs from will be doing the same. We washed all of our clothes, and deep cleaned the apartment. I don't have any bites or anything, and I certainly do not want to get any! Today we have a quick P-Day. Christmas is our real P-Day. We are just emailing and shopping today, so that should be fun :) We are spending Christmas with a family in the ward, and it sounds like it is going to be a super fun day! Plus, we get to Skype, so that is always a good time ;)

Thank you all for all of your love and support! I hope you have a very Merry Christmas :) I will talk to you soon, and see some of you even sooner!

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews

Christmas Sunday, Zone Conference

Hello Everyone,

This week has been insane! On Monday we had our District P-Day at the Hogan's Pole Barn. They have a rock climbing course, a multiple climbing ropes, go-karts, tricycles, anything you can imagine. It was super fun :) In the evening we visited with our investigator family, and shared "He Is The Gift" with them. We talked about the importance of Christmas time, and the birth and ministry of Jesus Christ. Afterwards we did the exact same thing with our other investigator family. It was great! I love sharing "He Is The Gift"! #ShareTheGift

On Tuesday we had a bunch of accountability calls to make in the morning. I love talking with all of the teams and finding out what is going on in everyone's areas. Missionary work is the greatest! Afterwards we went and did some service for family in the ward. The mom is the lead coordinator at the St. Paul Minnesota Temple, and has been having some trouble with an excel spreadsheet that she sends out with the schedule. She asked us when we were over doing our laundry if we knew anything about computers, and I offered to help. I don't know a ton about Excel, but with a little bit of playing around I was able to figure out the problem. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We shared "He Is The Gift" with the an investigator and her family. I love Christmas :)

On Wednesday we had District Meeting. This week I trained on "Revelation Through Church Attendance." We discussed how to effectively pitch an invitation to Church, and offering Church tours. It went really well! For a role play, we went on a tour of the Church. We each had our own individual assignments for the Church tour, and it all came together marvelously. I was pretty excited! I had a handout with a mustache sticker that said "I Mustache You A Question" - relating to inviting people to worship with us, and then a quote by Walt Disney. I don't remember the quote exactly, but it says something to the extent of, "We keep moving forward, opening new doors and exploring new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." I love Walt Disney! I really like that quote too. I think it perfectly describes our purpose as missionaries. It is our curiosity that motivates us to keep moving forward. If we didn't care about the people, then it would be pointless to keep doing what we do. We try new things, knock on different doors, and work with different people to help everyone come unto Christ. After District Meeting I went on exchange with an Elder from Texas in one of my old areas! It was a blast. We had dinner with a family in the ward, and then we shared "He Is The Gift" with three other families. All people that I love and used to meet with in that area! It was super cool. I can't wait to go on exchange there again. Right now the area is kind of struggling, so I hope to be able to help it grow.

On Thursday we exchanged back (kind of) and then I went on exchange with my old companion. This time I stayed in my area, and my companion went to a different one. We did some service at thrift store in the afternoon, which is always great. Before dinner we visited with a less-active member, and shared "He Is The Gift" with him and his family. They loved it! Basically everyone loves it. It has opened up SO many new doors and avenues for different ways to share the gospel. People are much more open to here a special Christmas message than a message about someone else's Church. Turns out Christmas has EVERYTHING to do with our Church ;) They don't realize that at first though. In the evening we had a lesson with our investigator family. We discussed the baptismal interview questions, and prepared the mom for her first interview with our Zone Leaders on Saturday. We talked about the reasons behind having an interview to declare your worthiness to a servant of the Lord. She was a little nervous, but totally ready. We finished the evening with our other investigator family. We were teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We shared "Treasure In Heaven: The John Tanner Story" that discusses all of the elements of the Gospel of Jesus Christ perfectly. (Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Holy Ghost, Endure To The End) It was an awesome lesson! We finished by inviting everyone in their family to come to Church with us on Sunday for the Ward Christmas Sunday. They made this Sunday an invite Sunday (invite non-members to come to Church with us) and made super cool invitations. They also chose to do our Christmas Sunday a week early so it won't interfere with other religions Christmas services so that people would be more likely to come.

On Friday we exchanged back for real, and did some service at a different thrift store. While we were doing service, I decided to push my limits and step over the pointy fence to save time. While I cleared the fence, my jeans did not. (Get ready for an embarrassing story) I got stuck! The pointy fence pierced right through the crotch of my jeans. So now I have a nice hole in my jeans. I had to pull my jeans off the fence, and all was well. After doing some service, we had our weekly planning session, which was kind of rushed. We have just been SUPER busy, which is a good thing for sure :) In the evening we met with our investigator family and shared a Mormon Message called "Expressions Of Love." We talked about the importance of sharing kind words of love and encouragement with each other. We then talked about Christlike love, and how he gave the perfect example of love. #AllYouNeedIsLove

On Saturday we had our investigator interview with one of our Zone Leaders. She passed with flying colors, and was set for her second interview on Sunday with President Ehlert. Afterwards we went and visited with an investigator. We shared a message with him about Christmas from the Ensign called "The Reality Of Christmas." We invited him to come to Church with us on Sunday for the Chirstmas service, and he agreed. Well kind of. I said that we would see him on Sunday, and he laughed and said "we will see!" He did tell me that I was very diplomatic and persuasive though, so that was a plus ;) Whatever gets you to Church! In the evening we visited with our investigator family and watched "Finding Faith In Christ" with them. We began teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and answered a couple of questions that they had. We finished off the evening with some last minute Church invitations for Sunday. We gave out the rest of our invitations, and headed home.

Sunday was awesome! SO many people came to Church! Three investigator families, our reluctant investigator, and a bunch of part-member families came, as well as a bunch of new people that other members invited. It was sweet :) Well it was sweet until I realized that with the additional people, we had a HUGE crowd to perform for. They asked the missionaries to perform the song "Does He Remember" in the December 2014 Ensign. It is a super pretty song, but I get SUPER nervous singing in front of people. I was fine until we had like 2 minutes before we were on. Holy cow, my heart was beating super fast, and I was really short on breath. We got up and sang, and my solo part did not go nearly as well as we had practiced. It is super hard to sing when you can't breathe! People still complimented our song and everything after Church, but inside you still totally know that you didn't do a good job. Mormon culture haha ;) You can give an awful talk, and people will still come up and tell you that it was amazing. I think I was mostly just frustrated that my nerves got the best of me. In high school I developed (after a LOT of practice) a love for public speaking, but clearly public singing is not my forte. I can sing in a choir, but a solo apparently freaks me out. Now I'm just rambling, on to the rest of the day! After Church, our investigator was interviewed by President Ehlert, and is now set to be baptized on the 26th of December! In the afternoon we went caroling with the Sisters, so that was super fun :) We handed out a TON of "He Is The Gift" pass-along cards, and made a lot of people happy. In the evening we had a lesson with our investigator family and finished teaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. To finish off the day we met with our new convert and her mom and reviewed the 10 Commandments. All in all, it was a super good week :)

On Monday we had our Christmas Zone Conference at the Stake Center. The St. Cloud Zone was combined with the Anoka Zone, so it was super fun to see all of my friends in the Anoka Zone. I got to hear about all of the good things going on in my old Ward, so that was fun! Apparently they talk about me all the time, so that was good to hear haha ;) At the Christmas Conference we were able to watch "It's A Wonderful Life." It was fun to see an actual movie :) I don't think I have ever seen that movie before, so it was super great! Apparently it is a Christmas classic. I will definitely have to watch that one again. We got to hear from President and Sister Forbes, which is always great! We got to hear some HILARIOUS stories from them. Christmas Conference is always super different from all other missionary meetings, it is much more relaxed. The Forbes' son is getting married so Sister Forbes is flying to California this week for their son's wedding. Unfortunately President Forbes is not going to be able to make it, so it is kind of a happy and a sad time. In the evening we were able to go over to our investigator family’s and offer some service. They are moving some stuff out of their cabin up north to hopefully sell it soon, so we helped them organize the stuff that they moved into their garage and situated everything in their house. They had some "interesting" things in their cabin... like a Jackalope and a bunch of antlers.

It has been a busy, but super good week :) Thank you all for all of your love and support! The weather in Minnesota has actually been AMAZING this past week. All the snow melted, and it was a balmy 40+ degrees! Much improved from last year. It snowed yesterday though, so the temperatures are a little bit down, but still much better than last year! Hope you have a great week :)

Best Wishes,

Elder Andrews

He Is The Gift!

Hello Everyone,

It has been a great week, and luckily the weather has even been cooperating here in Minnesnowta! We have been in the double digits all week! Although we got an early start on the winter, it is starting to mellow out a little bit, so that is nice :) On Monday we were able to have a family home evening with our investigator family. We watched Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. We made cupcakes and had a super fun time! It was great :)

On Tuesday we had a bunch of accountability calls to make in the morning. I talked to all the teams about their areas and investigators, and got to know all the missionaries a little bit better. It was kind of fun. Afterwards we went and helped finish sheet rocking an investigator's ceiling. The last little bit of it didn't turn out as well as the first part that we did, but mostly because the ceiling was not level. It was a process! Luckily it is done now. Now they have insulation and a ceiling to protect them from the cold! In the evening we went and had a family home evening with a different investigator family. The mom was at a Relief Society Dinner, but her daughters were home. We watched the prodigal son, and talked a little bit about repentance. It went really well! One of them is actually starting to sit in on all of our lessons, so that is super exciting to see :)

On Wednesday we had District Meeting. I gave a training on working with members, and it seemed to go really well. For a hand out I had Skor bars, and a little note that said "SKOR Some Referrals. Work With Members." It was super fun! I totally love public speaking. I am super glad that I had the opportunity to be involved in so many great student organizations in high school, as well as in college. Plus, the public speaking class that I took at BYU was AWESOME! We also had some exciting news to announce in District Meeting. They changed up a few of our key indicators, so instead of tracking restoration lessons taught, we have two new key indicators. TCI - Tracting and Contacting Invitation, and NAC Contact - North American Central Initiative (Part-Member Family, Child of Record, and Prospective Elder). I am super excited about these new key indicators that we have, because it makes what we are trying to do so much more efficient! Now we can actually use Church programs like "He Is The Gift" in our proselyting efforts, and not shove restoration lessons down peoples throats. This first week with the new key indicators was already super effective! I am excited to see where things go :) After District Meeting, I went on exchange. It went really well. We met with one of their progressing investigators who is getting baptized on December 20th. We talked to him about fasting and preparing for fast Sunday. In the evening we went caroling at a senior center, and then we dropped off some cookies to less-actives. We met with one less-active in particular. She just had a miscarriage, and was having a super bad day. She was blocking out the world, and then we stopped by with some cookies. She was crushed, and not very happy with God, but she was grateful that we stopped by and talked with her for a little while. To finish off the evening, we met with their Bishop briefly, and finished off the day. It was a great day!

On Thursday we exchanged back, and did some service at the thrift store. We mostly moved all of their Christmas stuff to the front of the store. They are preparing to start clearing it all out. Pretty soon here they are going to have a big clearance sale. It is the first week of December and they are already trying to get rid of all of their Christmas stuff! Crazy! I guess it makes sense though, they want to make sure it is all sold before Christmas. In the evening we had a lesson with our investigator. We watched a Mormon Message called "The Hope Of God's Light." We talked about the importance of prayer, and how God does answer our prayers, just not always on our timing. Later we met with the other investigator family and talked about the Plan of Salvation. Their daughter sat in on our lesson again, and even began contributing to the lesson. SWEET!

On Friday we had Weekly Planning, and then we went out "He Is The Gift" tracting. We were able to share a few "He Is The Gift" mormon.org cards, and we were able to have full discussions with two people in the area we were working. We met two women who both have a lot of potential! It is cool to see how this new TCI program is working, and how effective it is to be using "He Is The Gift" this holiday season. We are able to have quality gospel conversations with so many more people! To finish off the evening we had a lesson with our investigator family on the Plan of Salvation. We gave everyone a teaching assignment, and we took turns drawing our part of the lesson on their glass dining room table. It went really well, and it helped them to learn a lot more when they had to teach everyone rather than just listen to us. I think we might continue giving them assignments to work on to help them learn. After our lesson we went out and did some tracting again. This time it was late in the evening, and everyone was asleep. Not super productive.

On Saturday we went down to sister’s area. We found out that the Sisters in the ward are getting moved on December 17th. This transfer 13 Sisters are going home midway through the transfer for Christmas and school. Now that the influx of missionaries is over, we are not getting nearly the same amount of missionaries, and so they are having to close a few Sisters areas. First we went caroling at the hospital with the Sisters, and then we practiced the song that we will be performing in Sacrament meeting next week. It is called, "Does He Remember." It is in the December 2014 Ensign. It is super pretty! Afterwards we went around with the Sisters and they showed us around their area. We met with one of their investigators and got to know him a little better. We watched "He Is The Gift" with him, and set up a time to visit with him again. Then we met with the only African person in the area. He is from Liberia, and is super awesome. We were able to talk for a while about Liberia, so that was super cool! After spending 9 months in my last area, I know quite a bit about African people ;) The Sisters thought that I had been to Liberia, it was pretty funny! We shared "He Is The Gift" with him as well, and invited him to the Christmas Program at Church next week. In the evening we met with our Ward Mission Leader. His wife was out visiting their grand-kids, but we were able to share a fun Christmas message with him, and talk about some of the work going on in the ward right now. To finish off the evening, we went over to the investigator’s and finished teaching the Plan of Salvation. Their daughter sat in on our lesson again! Amazing things are happening with their family.

On Sunday we had Ward Council in the morning, and discussed the NAC Initiative and our investigator family with a baptismal date. They have been meeting with Bishop and planning out their wedding and a few baptism details. Church went really well! Fast and testimony meeting was awesome. After Church we set up the cultural hall for a pot luck later in the evening, and went out caroling with the Sisters for a little while to the houses around the Church. The Pot Luck was awesome! We had a great turn out. Lots of part-members came, including our investigator family. After the pot luck, we all watched the First Presidency Christmas Devotional together. The devotional was awesome :) It always fun to see the conference center all decorated for Christmas!

All in all, it was an amazing week! Thank you all for all of your love and support :) If you haven't already, check out "He Is The Gift". I hope you have an amazing week, and that you are surviving the winter weather :) Talk to you soon!

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews

Transers and Thanksgiving

Hello Everyone,

This week has been great! On P-Day last week we were all over the place because of transfers, but it was fun :) We had Family Home Evening with our recent convert and his family. They are really warming up to us now that he is baptized! We played boggle with them, and had a great time! After the activity we had a quick spiritual thought, and they were really open to it. Good things are happening in their family!

On Tuesday we had an opportunity to help out with a pretty unique service project. We were sheet-rocking a ceiling! Kind of nuts. I remember watching sheet rock go up in our old house before we moved, but I never would have thought of helping out with some dry wall. I am not particularly good at it, but it was kind of fun to learn. We were helping out a less-active/part-member family by sheet-rocking their ceiling in their main room. They have an interesting family situation, but they are great. Our investigator is renting the house and fixing it up for one of his friends. His Mom and Step-Dad and Step-Brother & Sister just moved from Las Vegas a few months ago, and moved in with him. Our investigator’s Mom is related to a family in the ward, and used to be a member. They are a really awesome family! Hopefully we will be able to start teaching them the lessons. The kids are already coming to mutual, so it would be great if they started coming to Church as well! In the afternoon we did a lot of goodbye visits. We met with a couple people, and in the evening we went out joint teaching and met with our investigator family. We shared Elder Dube's General Conference address about looking forward and believing. It was a super great lesson! The wife mentioned that she had been working on her paperwork to change her last name, and that it was almost complete.

On Wednesday we had transfers. Of course it was on the day that it snowed and was super icy, so everything happened a little later in the day than we had originally planned. My companion went to Buffalo, and I drove up to Bloomington with another Elder. We attended the transfer meeting, and then I met my new companion. He is from Manti, Utah and has been out on his mission for 6 months. He is just like his trainer, but white. It is kind of interesting to see the influence that a trainer can have on their trainee. His trainer is home now in Utah, but he has had a lasting affect on his greenie. Luckily for me, he is a little bit better than his trainer. The only big thing that I have noticed is that he does NOT like leadership in the mission. his trainer had a really hard time with leadership. He did not like any District Leader, Zone Leader, Assistant, or Mission President that we had. He was convinced that they all had ulterior motives. My new companion has the same struggle. He doesn't really like the fact that his companion is the District Leader, and he certainly does not like our Zone Leaders even though he has not met them yet. Kind of interesting. Things are all going to work out though! I have learned that each transfer, each area, each companion is inspired. Inspired does not always mean that it is easy, but you sure do learn a lot! After unpacking and everything, we went out and had a lesson with an investigator. He is the man that my previous companion and I had the "fun" cat experience with in the evening about a month ago. We had a quick lesson with him, because he was really tired, but we had a great visit! He has a really strong faith in Jesus Christ, so he has a great foundation.

On Thursday we had Thanksgiving! We started off the morning early with the 2nd Annual Ward Turkey Bowl. It was -4 degrees and freezing, so it gave you a great motivation to run ;) Around 12:00 we had our first Thanksgiving with the investigator family! They are amazing :) The wife has submitted her papers, and is waiting to find out if she got a grant to pay for the paperwork. We shared a video that the Church produced about Thanksgiving and gratitude, and then we went around the table and shared things that we were grateful for. It was a really cool lesson. Around 3:00 we had our second Thanksgiving with another family. Holy cow, we were stuffed already! They had two different kinds of turkey. Both were super good! One was a regular turkey, and the other was marinated in Pumpkin Beer. Super fun! Then we played a game with them called "Life On The Farm." The point of the game was to get 60 cows. We totally lost, but it was fun :) To finish off the evening, we went over to an investigator family for our last Thanksgiving. Luckily we just had a light snack and played some Boggle with them. We shared the same Thanksgiving video with them and talked about all the things we are grateful for. Gotta love Holidays :) #HappyThanksgiving

On Friday, Black Friday, we had Weekly Planning, which went really well! No black friday shopping or broken collar bones, however, we got a lot done, which was awesome. We have a lot more to plan now that I am the District Leader, so it was good to get everything organized. I love organization! In the afternoon we had a lesson with a ward member. We shared a message from the last Ensign magazine title, "The Reality Of Christmas". It was a super good message! You should all definitely read it. I am the first to admit that I get way caught up in Christmas, but it is always good to remember the reason for the season. To finish off the day we stopped by the family we helped eariler this week with sheetrock and set up another time to help them finish their sheet-rocking project. We had a little lesson with them on faith, and shared Alma 32. It was really cool!

On Saturday we had accountability with our Zone Leaders, and then we went out finding for a while. We went tracting in a trailer park, and found an 18 year-old girl. She was really interested in learning more about Jesus Christ. She attends a Lutheran Church (like everyone else in Minnesota), but she is open to learning more. She is moving though, but we will at least be able to refer her to some other missionaries! To finish off the day we had a lesson with a member. We shared that same Ensign article, "The Reality of Christmas". She shared a few Christmas memories with us, and we had a really great discussion. She is such a great lady! The Church has this new video campaign kind of like the one they had last Easter (#BecauseOfHim). It is called "Because Of Him". It is a super great video! We have been given special "Because Of Him" mormon.org cards, and we are sharing it with everyone this month! #ShareTheGift

On Sunday, St. Andrews Day, we had Church. We had a really good combined lesson on family history. I don't really know much about family history, so it was good to learn a little bit more! In the evening we went out joint teaching, and had a lesson with the investigator family. We watched the Restoration video and gave them a copy, and then we talked about baptism, and set a baptismal date of December 26th, the day after Christmas! They are going to be married and baptized on the same day. It is going to be awesome! We are super excited :) Afterwards we started our new member lessons with our new member, and taught her the restoration as well. We watched a Mormon Message called "Origin" that is a modern day example of the Restoration. It was super great! An awesome way to end the week :)

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend! Thank you all for all of your love and support. You mean the world to me! I am #GratefulFor you all. I hope you have a great week, and that you are surviving the cold December weather! Have a great week :)

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews

Transfers and a Baptism!

Hello Everyone,

This week has been good :) On Monday, we had our P-Day. After all of our P-Day activities, we went and helped some guy that a member knows remodel his house. We were tearing out his tiled floor, and ripping out the floor boards as well. It was a new experience using a hammer and a crow bar and taking out the floor. Of course it came off in little pieces, but it all worked out in the end! We even helped a little bit with some sheet rock, and I helped sweep up the mess. You know me!

On Tuesday we did some Area Book work, and then volunteered at Family Pathways for a little while. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We stopped by a less-active family and shared a scripture with them and reviewed the 10 commandments. Later we had a lesson with a less active sister. We talked with her about the Book of Mormon and trials, and she asked us to give her a blessing. After we left she texted us thanking us for the blessing, and that it had made her day! The cool thing about it all is that our original plans for the evening fell through. Originally we were going to be in a different city, and we were not going up to that city. Everything happens for a reason! To finish off the evening, we had a lesson with less-actives returning to activity. We had a really great lesson with them, and talked about Moroni 10:32-33 "Come Unto Christ." It was a super great day!

On Wednesday we had our last District Meeting for the transfer. I have loved this District! We took some pictures, signed each others testimony journals, and went on our way. In the afternoon we had a lesson with an investigator. We talked to him about putting on the Armour of God. We showed a video about putting on all of the pieces of Armour, and he really enjoyed the lesson! In the evening we had a lesson with a member. We talked to her about a quote by President Hinkley, "Look For The Sunlight." It talks about looking for the positive aspects in life rather than focusing on all of the negatives. Super good quote!

On Thursday we did some service at a thrift shop. In the afternoon we helped out with a move into the ward, a part-member family. They are super nice! She is a member, and he is not, but he comes to Church when he can. AWESOME :) After the move we got ready for the evening and went out joint teaching with Bishop. We had a lesson with our investigator couple on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We did a little experiment with hard boiled eggs and a glass bottle where you pour in some alcohol, light a match, and the hard boiled egg falls in the glass bottle. Kind of fun! When you crack the egg shell and peel it off, it represents repentance. The alcohol is baptism, and the fire is the gift of the Holy Ghost (baptism by fire). As the egg squeezes into the bottle, it represents enduring to the end. The kids loved it! It was pretty great :) To finish off the evening, we had a lesson with our mother and daughter investigators on covenants, specifically the covenants she would be making at baptism. It was a great last lesson before her baptism on Saturday!

On Friday we had Weekly Planning for the majority of afternoon. Mostly because we got a little bit distracted, and ended up going to a restaurant, and participating in the "Big Stack Challenge." Super nasty. You have to eat four HUGE pancakes the size of your face. It was pretty disgusting. Still not sure why I participated! But we did it. We got free t-shirts, and our picture up on the wall with a bunch of other people that decided to overly indulge in some carb overload. Never again! The funny thing is... I don't even like pancakes! Totally a waffles person. But it is done and over with :) In the evening we had a lesson with a part-member family and then went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with a less active member in the evening that went really nicely! I shared a Mormon Message with her called "Looking Through Windows" and then discussed Elder Uchtdorf's talk, "Lord, Is It I?" Afterwards she asked us a lot of gospel questions that she had been having, and we were able to resolve them for her. Overall, it was a super good evening!

On Saturday we had a baptism! Even though we tried to plan it out well in advance, it always feels like a last minute dash in the end. It all came together though :) She asked my companion to baptize her, and me to confirm her. Normally we are strongly discouraged from participating in any baptismal ordinance so that the members in the ward that live there and will stay there longer than we will can participate, but she selected us before we were able to have anything to do with it. It all worked out though. The baptism service went really great, and all of her non-member family was there and enjoyed the service! In the evening we went to a city in the cities metropolitan area, and participated in a ward Day of Service at Feed My Starving Children. It was awesome! Such an amazing organization. We packed up a bunch of boxes of food to be shipped out to the Dominican Republic. Our investigator couple came and had a really great experience as well! Overall, it was an awesome day :)

On Sunday we had Church, of course. Our new convert's confirmation went really well. I was kind of nervous for some reason, but then it all came together. Her blessing talked a lot about her example as a member of the Church, and that through the light that she has, others will have a greater desire to come nearer to their Savior, Jesus Christ. She is going to be an awesome missionary! Being the only member in her family, besides her grandma, she is going to do wonders :) Together they are unstoppable! In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with our investigator couple on consecration. We watched a movie called "Only A Stonecutter" that shares the story of John Roe Moyle. Super cool guy! We talked about acting and applying the principles of the gospel, and acting, not being acted upon. Later we had a lesson with our new convert. Her first lesson as an official member of the Church! We talked to her about the Holy Ghost, and the influence that it has in our lives. All in all it was a pretty solid week :)

Today we got our transfer emails, and I am staying here, and my companion is getting transferred to a new city, which is still in our District, so that is kind of fun! Thank you all for all of your love and support, have a great week :)

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews

I hit my 18 month mark. CRAZY!

Hello Everyone,

This week had a crazy start with the freak snow storm last Monday, but things started to improve after that :) On Tuesday, Veterans' Day/Armistice Day/Remembrance Day, we had our P-Day so the bulk of the day was spent doing all of that fun stuff. In the evening we had dinner with an investigator family. The brother is a dry Mormon. He comes to Church every week, he has a calling, he has a quad and reads it regularly, but doesn't feel a need to be baptized yet. We shared with them Elder Bednar's talk, "Come And See" from General Conference. I love the story that he shares about his kids helping one another! Afterwards we asked if we could help him shovel their driveway, and he accepted! He is not one to ask others to do things for him, so this was a big step :) We shoveled for a while, and then headed on home.

On Wednesday we had District Meeting, and I was able to give a training on using time effectively. I had this fun little handout that said "Your mission is a limited-time offer, so act now! It's "werth" it ;)" I of course passed out werthers caramels along with my training. I have used it before in past districts, but it worked out perfectly for this training as well. I just love giving trainings, totally makes my day! After District Meeting I went on exchange with an elder from Twin Falls, Idaho. We went to his area for the day, and had some pretty cool experiences. We did some stop by's for a while, and then visited with a guy and a less-active Sister. The lesson was kind of awkward at points, and I said a few things that I shouldn't have said, so it was rough to start. (They complained about their neighbors, and I commented trying to make a joke, "You must have some crazies living around you." Turns out it is an apartment complex for people with mental disabilities. My bad!) So we had two options, I could just stop talking, or I could lay it on thick and charm the pants off of them! I chose the latter, but I wanted to be sure that their pants stayed on ;) It worked out really nicely actually. We had a great time discussing the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the lesson went really well. I was instantly forgiven, and they totally loved me by the end of the lesson. It was a close one though! Lesson learned... watch what you say and be observant of your surroundings. To finish off the exchange we had a meeting with their Bishop to discuss the work in their area. I wasn't able to contribute a whole lot, but it was fun to see how other wards work.

On Thursday we exchanged back and we were asked to clean the baptismal font for the Sister's baptism on Saturday. Cleaning is the best :) The Sisters are in our ward by the way, not sure if you knew that. After cleaning the baptismal font, we changed and went to work. We had a lesson with Granny. She is such a sweet lady! We shared the talk, "Lord, Is It I?" from President Uchtdorf in General Conference. We talked a lot about focusing on and improving our own imperfections rather than focusing on others. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a really great lesson with our investigator couple on the Plan of Salvation. We used shaving cream and drew it all out on their counter. While we were talking with them, however, she mentioned some concerns with baptism. She told us that the gospel has had a profound impact on her life, but that some of her kids were having a really hard time applying it. She is tired of her kids lying, and misbehaving, and she isn't seeing the changes in her kids that she has seen in herself. She feels like if her kids get baptized and things turn south, it will all be her fault. Our joint teacher provided some really great insight, but it is still a major concern for her. Any advice? (Maybe a message on Facebook or something would be helpful. You have my permission to talk about some of the struggles you may have had with me, or my inactivity, or whatever. I don't know... I'm not a parent haha! -- except for my family and kids in St. George... can't forget about them!) To finish off the evening we taught the mother and daughter. We had the same lesson with the shaving cream and the Plan of Salvation. The daughter really enjoyed it, and was able to teach us all the steps in the Plan of Salvation! On Wednesday while we were on exchange, the district leader interviewed her for baptism, and she passed :) Things are going super well.

On Friday we had a lesson with the 17 year old boy about service and For The Strength of Youth. His Mom works in the oil fields and is home for two weeks, and then at work for two weeks. Cody is a super good kid when his Mom is home, but he misbehaves a lot when she is gone. We talked to him about the importance of having good values, and serving others. Another lady that he lives with, is tired of his misbehavior, so hopefully this will help! Afterwards we started to do some weekly planning. We decided to do it at the Church, because we had to fill up the baptismal font later anyways, so it was more convenient. When we arrived at the Church, it was a disaster! It is cleaned on Saturdays, but the baptism was Friday night, so we had to clean it. The carpets just really needed to be vacuumed, so we got a little side tracked. After cleaning up the Church, we filled up the font and life was good again. An investigator was baptized in the evening, and everything went really well :) After the baptism we went out joint teaching. We stopped by a part-member family. We visited with them for a while, and we were able to give her a Book of Mormon. She was outside smoking in the freezing cold weather, SO glad that I don't have a smoking addiction! That would be SO cold.

On Saturday I hit my 18 month mark. CRAZY! It was also Koningsdag/Fete du Roi (BE), so that was fun ;) We mostly weekly planned during the day. In the evening we did a dinner swap with the a family. They made us Mexican food, and we made them American food. They are a pretty cool family, not members yet, but maybe one day. They made us something called posola and toquitos. Not a big fan... but don't tell them that! I just about died when they told us that the big thing swimming in the middle of the soup was a pig foot. NASTY!!! The toquitos had jalapenos and onions in them, so they were SUPER spicy. We made breakfast casserole, or hot dish as they would say here in Minnesota. There is something about the word hot dish that kind of makes me want to throw up though, so I think I will stick to casserole. It had hash browns, sausage, eggs, and cheese in it. It turned out pretty good :) Not exactly figure friendly though. I am starting my 6 months to sexy program, so that is pretty exciting! I bought a blender bottle and some protein powder, and upped my workouts in the morning. We shall see what happens :) In the evening we stopped by our investigator couple, because it was their daughter’s 18th birthday. We partied it up, and I burned a pair of pants for my 18 month mark. They were old nasty pants that were ripped at the bottom from biking, so it was good to leave them behind.

On Sunday we had a super great turn out at Church. All the investigator couple’s family came, and the 12 year old came as well. After Church we visited with an investigator with the Sister Missionaries. We knocked on his door, and then the Sisters showed up, it was kind of funny haha! It was a really cool lesson though. At the beginning, he seemed very uncomfortable, but at the end he showed a desire to continue to learn more and to start reading the Book of Mormon. He showed us some of his WWI and WWII memorabilia, including a Nazi flag, so that was pretty cool :) It reminded me of visiting the Holocaust Museum in Washington D.C.. In the evening, we had a lesson with the investigator couple. They have their marriage papers from the court house, now they just need to fill them out and get everything set up and they will be on their way! We watched a movie called "Treasure In Heaven - The John Tanner Story." It was super good. It talks a lot about faith, and the importance of acting on our faith. We assigned the kids to watch a Mormon message called "Honesty: You Better Believe It!" and we asked parents to watch the Mormon message, "You Never Know." Hopefully that will help! To finish off the evening, we had a lesson with the mother and daughter. We planned the daughter’s baptism, and finalized everything for next weekend. All should be well :) Her mother had a tough weekend, but hopefully things will get better as the baptism draws nearer.

Thank you all for all of your love and support! Next week we have transfers, so we will see what happens. I hope you all have a great week, and that all is well back home. Talk to you soon :)

Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews

Stake Conference and Sonic!

Hello Everyone,

It has been another crazy week in Minnesnowta! Last Monday we had our P-Day, and in the evening we met with a part-member family. The sister is a member, and so is one of her kids, but the rest of them are not members. We had a nice lesson with them on the Book of Mormon, and then went over to another investigator’s house. We watched the movie, "Mountain of the Lord", which talks about the building of the Salt Lake City temple, and the importance of doing temple work. We then had a quick family home evening lesson on doing temple work!

On Tuesday we started off the day doing service for a member. She had some house siding that she needed moved. Dang, that stuff is HEAVY! I remember looking at the stack of siding thinking what an easy project it was going to be, and it was much more difficult than I originally intended. Afterwards we went out finding for a little while. We met with the an investigator family. They are Lutheran I believe. We talked to them about the Book of Mormon and how our Church came to be. They really enjoyed learning, and she brought out a book that she had read that talked about Mormons. She said that a lot of the things she read were very similar to what she believes, but that it was worded differently so people think it is different. SWEET! A lot of people get very put off by publications about our Church, but she read between the lines and realized the similarities an truths written about us. Kind of cool! They even gave us both a cross that he made in the garage. He is a very handy man, so he just whipped one together for us. Right now mine is on my desk, but eventually I will send it home when I have a box of stuff to send. In the evening we had a lesson with Granny. We talked about General Conference and shared a message from Elder Bednar's talk, "Come And See." It was a super great day :)

On Wednesday we did service at Thrift With A Twist. We organized a few things, hung up some clothes, and did a little bit of cleaning. Afterwards we went and had a lesson with an older member. I always have mixed emotions every time we meet with her. She is 94, blind, and wants to go home to her Heavenly Father. She is such a sweet lady, but she is just ready to not be alive anymore! We shared a message with her about the temple, and she talked to us about her conversion and her first experiences with the temple. Her husband was not a member when he passed away, but now all his temple work has been completed, and she has been sealed to him. She has some amazing stories to tell! In the evening we got a text from the investigator couple. They were making deep fried candy bars, and wanted us to come join them. We didn't have much planned in the evening, so we went on over. The deep fried candy bars were SUPER good, but SUPER unhealthy. They just wrapped a candy bar in biscuit dough and deep fried it. Kind of fun :)

On Thursday we had District Meeting a different town, which means we went to SONIC!!! Hallelujah! I have been missing my Route 44 Diet Coke w/ Easy Ice and Cherry. I think this time she thought I said "Extra Ice" instead of "Easy Ice" though... but it was still super good :) After District Meeting, I went on exchange with an elder from Tracey, California (near San Francisco I believe). We had a super great exchange! First we went and contacted a mormon.org referral that we received. He requested a Book of Mormon and wanted to start meeting with missionaries. He was an interesting character. I think he might be a little bit challenged, but for the most part he was all the way there. We taught him the restoration, and he talked to us about how he had already read everything on mormon.org and that he already believes it all. He just had one complaint. He shared a scripture with us in the Book of Mormon that proves that the Trinity is still in full force. I have never had an investigator on our first lesson share a scripture with us from the Book of Mormon, so that was kind of cool :) We talked about how the Godhead are one in purpose, but that they are distinct beings. He wasn't buying it, but we told him to keep reading the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. We set up a time for him to come and tour the Church, and then we were on our way. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with the investigator couple on the restoration and the priesthood. Their kids acted out the restoration, so that was super fun :) Afterwards we had a lesson with the mother and daughter investigators. We talked about the gospel of Jesus Christ, family history, and baptisms for the dead. She was able to meet the district leader before her baptismal interview, and we set up a time for her interview. Super solid evening :)

On Friday we exchanged back and did some weekly planning. After weekly planning we went over to the Church and gave the mormon.org referal a Church tour. He really liked it! The library especially. Pretty sure he read the back of every single movie in the library, and even checked one out. After the Church tour we went over to Family Pathways for the remainder of the evening and helped set up for Christmas. They called it Mistletoe Mania! It was pretty fun :) I teamed up with a member and helped decorate one of the corner display areas. We had a winter lodge theme, and it turned out super great! Then they came over and told us that it wasn't cluttered enough and that they wanted more product to be displayed. That is probably because a cluttered winter lodge doesn't look presentable!!! Whatever. We did what we were told. I took some pictures, but of course my camera is in my desk currently. Next week though :)

On Saturday we had a lesson with a less-active member, about the Book of Mormon. He is very into war and action because of his time in the military, so we talked to him a lot about the war chapters in the Book of Mormon. He loved it and is interested in starting to read it! Afterwards we drove to our Zone Interviews. Yep, we got a text on Wednesday evening informing us that our interviews were moved from next week to Saturday. Kind of crazy! We had our interviews with President Forbes, and then we were able to FINALLY watch Meet The Mormons. It was super good! Not going to lie though, I got a little bit teary eyed with the Armstrong Family and their son being on a mission. It brought back a lot of memories, but it was really great! In the evening we had the adult session of Stake Conference. Stake Conference was really good! It was fun to see all the members of my first ward as well :) Yep, they totally still remember me... (and my electric coat). Fun times!

On Sunday, Remembrance Sunday (UK), we had the general session of Stake Conference at St. Cloud University in a big auditorium. We were on the balcony, and couldn't hear a thing. It was... unique. Ritsche Auditorium was super pretty though :) The investigator couple came, so we just played some games with them and talked quietly. Kind of an interesting Church experience. In the afternoon we had a lesson with another investigator couple. We talked about the Plan of Salvation. Cody kept his commitments, and we had a great discussion! Later we had a lesson with the investigator couple about missionary work. We shared Elder Bednar's talk, "Come And See." We finished off the evening at the mother’s house teaching her 12 year old daughter. We discussed 10 Commandments, the Word of Wisdom, Tithing, Fasting, and discussed all the baptismal interview questions. She is super set!

So on Monday we were supposed to have our P-Day, but it snowed a ton. First snow of the year, and it was a blizzard. Of course! So we were stuck inside all day and couldn't email or go shopping. Super lame! But we don't want to die in a car accident either so I guess it all works out. In the evening we got permission to go out, so we had a lesson with the our investigator couple on service and obedience. It was super great! To finish off the day we had a family home evening with the mother and daughter. We filled out her baptism and confirmation record and watched the movie Legacy! Things are looking good :)

Thank you all for all of your love, support, and prayers. It is going to be another FREAKING cold winter... but I will survive. Hopefully :) Have a great week!

Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews

Look For The Sunlight

Hello Everyone,

This week has been insane! But in a good way of course. On Tuesday we had our P-Day, because we had the Elder Carlson Mission Tour on Monday. After our P-Day we went joint teaching. We first taught an investigator family. We had a lesson with them on baptism, and went over the baptismal interview questions! They are making a LOT of progress, so it is super cool to see everything coming together :) After our lesson with them, we went over to another investigator’s house and had a lesson with her and her 12yr old daughter. We watched the movie, "On The Lord's Errand". The daughter loved it! It was a great way for her to learn more about President Monson. All in all, it was a super great day!

On Wednesday we had a lesson with a 17-year-old boy. His Mom is a less-active member, and he is not a member. We taught him the restoration and gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. Afterwards we had a meeting with Bishop, and then we prepared for the Ward Party. The Halloween Spooktacular was SWEET! On Monday we bought Halloween hoodies, so that was pretty cool :) I dressed up as Captain America, and my companion wore a Star Wars tie and hoodie. It was pretty fun! I absolutely LOVE Halloween, so I cannot wait to have a super great Halloween when I get home :) I also learned to ask, "What are you dressed up as?" before I comment on costumes. One girl came dressed up as a Dalmatian, and I thought she was dressed up as a cow. She was outside sitting in a tree for the longest time, and so when she came inside, I jokingly said, "Well, what else would a cow be doing?" Instantly I was informed, "SHE'S A PUPPY!!!" It was pretty hilarious :) Luckily there were no hard feelings, the only tears were tears of joy and laughter!

On Thursday we went and did service at the Family Pathways Thrift Store. We set up some more Christmas Trees, and then took off. In the afternoon we went tracting and met a guy that we were able to teach the restoration to. He is kind of a free spirit, but he was still fairly interested. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We taught the an investigator couple about Prophets, and assigned them to watch a few General Conference talks. Later, we had a lesson with the mother and daughter. We talked about the restoration, the priesthood, and auxiliaries. It went really well, and the daughter started teaching us what she has learned. Super sweet!

On Friday, Halloween, we had another lesson with the 17 year old boy. He had read some of the Book of Mormon, but was having a hard time understanding what it said. A lot of people here read the simplified version of the Bible, not the King James Version, so the Book of Mormon is a little tough at first. We read the chapter with him, and he understood it a lot better. We then were able to talk briefly about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Later, we went and did service at another thrift store, Thrift With A Twist. While we were there, they were having a 50% off sale on all their clothing, so I of course did a little shopping. I found three suits that I bought, and they were $5 each! One of them was brand new, and still had the tags on it :) SCORE! A member of the ward is hemming the pants for me, so I am pretty excited. Plus, it was made in Canada! Whoot whoot! Afterwards we did some service with with a member family, and we weekly planned in the evening. No trick-or-tracting for us!

On Saturday, All Saints Day, we finished our weekly planning, and went and visited with a less-active member. His father recently passed away, and his heart has been very softened towards the gospel. I shared a quote with him from President Hinkley's talk, "The Continuing Pursuit of Truth". The quote is called "Look For The Sunlight." You should definitely look it up... it's a good one :) We talked to him about looking for the positive aspects in life, something that I am constantly working on. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a great lesson with a recent-convert. I shared with her the talk, "Obedience Brings Blessings", and we talked to her about being obedient to the commandments. It was a pretty great day :)

On Sunday, it was All Soul's Day (MX), Ashura Began At Sundown, and Daylight Savings Time Ended. We had an early morning meeting, that wasn't all that early because of daylight savings time. We discussed the NAC (North American Central) Initiative, which involves Part-Member Families, Children of Record (unbaptized members of an LDS family), and Prospective Elders. We came up with 10 families that we are going to focus on for the month of November. Sacrament Meeting was great! The 12 year old and the investigator couple came, and we taught gospel principles afterwards. Our lesson was on temple work and family history. I certainly have a lot to learn about those two subjects, but it all worked out! In the afternoon, we had a lesson with a less-active family. They were in their garage setting up a new garage door opener, so we shared a quick scripture with them, and got to know them a little better. In the evening we had a lesson with the investigator couple again. We shared the message, "Obedience Brings Blessings" with them as well. We talked about Prophets and set up a calendar to schedule out our lessons. The girlfriend is working on getting a marriage license. Her last name isn't actually what we thought, and she was a felon at one time, so changing her last name is a process. Hopefully all will go well though! To finish off the evening we had a lesson with the mother and daughter. We talked about the Plan of Salvation, and the 12 year old walked us through all the steps! It was great :)

It has been a super great week all together though! Just a heads up... today is Recreation Day in Australia :) Might as well celebrate! I think I am going to celebrate Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas this year, so feel free to send me gifts for all three holidays ;) You know me haha! Thank you all for all of your love and support. Have a great week!

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews

Becoming a Fully Consecrated Missionary

Hello Everyone,


This week has been pretty fantastic! So much to talk about... On Monday we had our P-Day. There is a really sweet woman that does our laundry for us. AWESOME! We played some games at their house and wrote some letters and then went on with our regular P-Day craziness. In the evening we had a very interesting experience tracting. We knocked on a man's door, and he yelled, "Who is it?" I answered, "It's the missionaries!" To which he responded, "Come in!" I pushed the door open, and he quickly yelled, "Don't let the cat out!!!" as it ran out the door. He was not very happy. He was disabled and was sitting in his big chair with his crutches because he cannot walk very well. He frantically was yelling, "You have to go find Thunder! Thunder has never been outside before! Thunder come back!" So we started chasing his cat. I HATE CATS! Hate is a very strong word, but it is definitely appropriate in this situation. I do not just strongly dislike cats, I HATE them! So we went around trying to catch his cat, and it was not cooperating. Finally we cornered the cat in a flower bed, and it started to hiss at us, and was not a very happy cat. My companion reached over and tried to grab it, and it scratched one of his hands, and bit the other. The man kept yelling, "Just grab it and bring it inside!" Then the cat got away again. We cornered the cat again, and the man came outside and tried to comfort his cat. He kept telling us that his cat didn't bite, and that we just need to grab it and bring it inside. My companion reached over again, and it scratched his hand even more. At this point, the man was super ticked off! He was yelling, and swearing, and was not a happy camper. Then after about 45 minutes of chasing his cat, he realized that upstairs he had a kennel for his cat. Good gosh! So my companion grabbed the cat carrier while I kept watch over the cat making sure it didn't escape. He came back and we tried to get the cat in the cage, and it ran away again. By this time, the man went and sat down. He was exhausted from yelling and getting up from his chair! We kept chasing it, and finally it was on his back porch. My companion was standing at the door with some of the cat's treats, but it would not go inside. I finally cornered the cat between two trash cans, and told my companion to bring me the cat carrier. He walked around the house, grabbed the cat carrier, handed it to me, and stomped behind the trash cans to scare the cat into the carrier. The cat ran into the kennel, and I scooped it up and shut the door. It was hissing and was super not happy with us, but we caught it! We walked inside, shut all the doors, and released the cat. It casually walked out of the kennel, and nuzzled up to me. Yuck! Then the man asked my companion to put the cat carrier back, and the cat followed him and meowed. It nuzzled up to him as well, and he started petting Thunder. What a snot! This cat must have been super scared outside or something. Regardless, I was not super impressed. Now the the cat conundrum was solved, we were able to talk to the man for a little while. We found out that his name and that he has lived here for 5 years, and his family rarely comes to see him. He just spends all day with his cat, Thunder. Thunder we found out is actually terrified of Thunder, so his name was kind of a fluke. We were late to an appointment, but we asked if we could come stop by and talk with him some time later. After that, we went over to a member’s house and watched Joseph Smith: The Prophet of the Restoration. I love that movie! Totally made the day better. My companion washed his bloody hands, and things got a lot better! Pretty eventful day.

On Tuesday we went to a thrift store called Family Pathways, and did some service for an hour. They are preparing for Christmas, so we were in the back setting up Christmas trees. It felt super wrong to be setting up Christmas trees in October, but I guess you have to start early to set up an entire thrift store. They will be redecorating the store in November though, so they will be violating the rule that you don't put up your Christmas tree until after Thanksgiving. Oh well! Afterwards we had our weekly accountability call, and then went over to a member’s house to arrange doing some service for them later in the week. In the evening we went out joint teaching, and we had a lesson with a less-active member. We talked to her about the Plan of Salvation, and she and her daughter really enjoyed it! My job was mainly to entertain the daughter, who I believe is about 2 years old. It was pretty fun. We played with her Weebleville toys, which reminded me of the Weebleville toys that we used to have. Fun times! I think I was having more fun than she was, but whatever.


On Wednesday morning, I realized that I had not started writing my consecrated missionary speech. President Forbes informed us that Elder Carlson would be picking 2-3 people in each conference to give a speech on becoming a fully consecrated missionary, so I decided I had better start writing it. It actually came together rather nicely, and I realized that because I was prepared, I probably wouldn't be called on. So that was a relief! I used a couple quotes from a letter that my Mom sent me earlier on in my mission, when I was having a rather difficult time adjusting to missionary life. It worked out super well! I used a quote that she sent me from President Eyring that says, “Every person is different and has a different contribution to make. No one is destined to fail.” It tied in perfectly to what I was trying to say about changing and becoming better. Gotta love it when that happens! Later in the day, we had District Meeting. It was kind of weird being back in the first Ward building I served in, but being in a different ward in the District! District Meeting went really well though, and I really like all the Elders and Sisters in our District. In the afternoon we went out and tracted for a little while. We met a really nice older lady. We talked with her a little while about the Bible and the Book of Mormon. She has talked to missionaries before, but she wasn't very interested in learning more. Maybe she will sometime later though! In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a really great lesson with an investigator couple on the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. They are still going strong on living the Word of Wisdom, and things are going great! They just need to be married. Baby steps!

On Thursday we went and did some service with a family from the ward. We raked and bagged some leaves, helped out with some winter preparations, and talked for a little while with them. The sister is a member, and her husband is not. It was good to start developing a relationship with them! After doing service, we went and visited with a less-active member. We shared a scripture with him, and he asked us for a blessing. He has been trying to give up drugs, but is having a really hard time with it. He also has a really tough time with anxiety. We gave him a blessing, and he really appreciated it. Hopefully things go better for him! In the evening we went out joint teaching, a priest preparing to go on a mission. We had a lesson with an investigator and her daughter on the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. She is 12, so she felt a little bit awkward when we taught the Law of Chastity, but the Word of Wisdom part of the lesson went great! We finished off the evening with a teaching evaluation, but the roles were reversed! Our joint teacher and my companion taught me the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and I pretended to be an investigator. Kind of fun!

On Friday we deep cleaned our apartment. I felt like I was kind of in a funk, but I realized that it was partially because our apartment was super nasty! I don't know how people live in places like this! I was going insane. So we did a lot of cleaning, and things got a lot better for me :) Peace of mind. After cleaning our apartment for a while, we started weekly planning. I felt like I was able to focus so much better now that our apartment wasn't a complete disaster! Plus, I bought an air freshener because it smelled super nasty. Now our apartment smells like apples! In the evening we had an Elder's Quorum Activity called "Burgers and Brothers". We had invited quite a few people to come play basketball, and hang out. Unfortunately no one came, but a few guys from the ward were there. The Elder's Quorum President was outside grilling, and it was a pretty great event! Friday was also United Nations Day and Muharram began at sundown, so that is always fun :)

On Saturday morning my companion noticed that someone new was moving into our apartment complex, so we offered to help them move in. It was fun to get to know some of our neighbors, but of course they lived on the third floor of our apartment building! We never help people move into lower floors, just the highest floors ;) Later, we went out tracting for a little while and met some really interesting people. We talked to a rabbi for a little while. He is a Messianic Jew, so he believes that Jesus is the Christ. We had an interesting conversation about the world, and how it is important to stick to our standards. We also talked about the Bible, and transitioned into talking about the Book of Mormon. He wasn't super interested, but we did have a nice conversation with him! We then saw an older lady mowing her lawn, so we offered to help. My companion started mowing her lawn, and I stood and talked to her for a little while. Her husband died about 2 years ago, and she has a couple kids that live around the area. We got talking for a little while, and she asked a few questions about our Church. While my companion mowed the lawn, I taught her the restoration. She accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon, but was a little hesitant to set a return appointment. We will just have to stop by another time in the future. Later we helped a new family move into the ward. It was a day full of LOTS of service!

On Sunday it was FREEZING cold. Everyone at Church was talking about how cold my hands were every time they shook my hands. Time to start adding more layers. Three investigators came to Church though! In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with the our investigators on the Law of Tithing. Oh, I forget to tell you, I got my halloween package! So I used some candy to demonstrate paying 1/10th. They are still going strong on the Word of Wisdom, AND they are starting to arrange everything so that they can get married! Later we had a lesson with our investigator and her 12yr old daughter on the Law of Tithing, Fasting, Fast Offerings, and obeying the laws of the land. It was a power house lesson, and it worked out really well! As a fun side note, on Sunday we had dinner with a family from the ward. The sister lived in Utah, and I know her brother. He was on PHS's Varsity Ballroom Team. I think he graduated in 2011 though, but that was kind of cool!

On Monday we went to a different city for Elder Bruce A. Carlson's mission tour. We were able to hear from Elder Carlson, Sister Carlson, President Forbes, and Sister Forbes. It was a really great conference! We learned a lot about how we can become more fully consecrated missionaries. As I predicted, I was not asked to give a speech on becoming a more fully consecrated missionary. In the evening we had a lesson with a part-member family on missionary work, and then later had a quick lesson with the 12yr old and her family on missionary work as well. It was a fun day! Super weird not having P-Day on Monday though.

Thank you all for all of your love and support! Talk to you soon :)

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews

New Area in the Country!

Hello Everyone,

This week has been kind of all over the place, but things are good :) Last Monday we got our transfer calls, and I was transferred. I kind of assumed I would be transferred, but I still was kind of shocked. I was in that area for about 9 months, and so it was incredibly hard for me to leave. I made a bunch of phone calls and texts, and set up our next couple days before I left, and then the insanity began! On Monday evening we said goodbye to five families. 3 hours, and 4 big visits, I was pretty impressed! Saying goodbye didn't even feel real, kind of like leaving on my mission. You say goodbye to people, but it feels like you are going to see them again the next week. It's weird!

On Tuesday we had a packed day ahead of us! I needed to pack. That was an event, let me just tell you! I had not packed for 9 months, so I had no clue how much stuff I even had. Luckily, I have been trying to manage my things and downsize a little bit while I was in my last area. I packed it all together, and sure enough it fit into 2 suitcases, 1 carry-on bag, and an extra box of course ;) A lot less than when I left my first area! I was pretty proud of myself :) I did, however, have to dust off my suitcases. Kind of crazy! They were SUPER dusty. Then we went around doing our rounds for the remainder of the day. We visited with Bishop and his family, and seven other families. It was a crazy day! It all worked out though :) In the evening, I got a phone call from an unknown number. It was a family calling, who live in Indiana now, but they were in the Crystal ward for the bulk of my stay here! Yep, not supposed to make out of mission calls, but they called us and I didn't know it was going to happen, so it all works out.

On Wednesday we had our transfer meeting in the morning, and then we loaded up my things and drove to my new area. Completely different than serving in the cities for the last 9 months. My first area was more in the country, but my new area is way out there in the country. I unpacked my things for a little while, and then we went around meeting some of the ward members, part-member families, and investigators. First, I met a part-member family. The father is a member, and his wife and 5 kids are not members. We had a lesson with them on the Plan of Salvation. They loved it! One of their kids referred to the Celestial Kingdom as "1st Class" and that she wants to go to 1st class. Kind of a cool idea! Afterwards we went to the Church and met with members, who have a foster son that they just got a little while ago that they wanted us to meet. He comes from a very rough background, and knows all about drugs, swear words, etc... even though he is only 5 years old. He is a super fun kid with lots of energy! The family will be a super great family for him. Plus, now he is able to learn more about the gospel!

On Thursday we started off the day doing some service raking pine needles for someone. He has a bunch of big pine tree's in his yard, and had quite a few pine needles in his grass. After we did some raking, we were able to have a lesson with him about the Book of Mormon. When we started the lesson, he pulled out a binder marked "Mormon Beliefs vs. Christian Beliefs." It was very evident that he had been reading some anti-Mormon literature. We discussed some of his hold ups, and talked about how they were not completely true and that they were taken out of context. Kind of interesting! He agreed to read the Book of Mormon though, so that was good. Afterwards we went and did service for a member of the ward. We loaded and unloaded some wood that he had chopped. He lives WAY out in the country, it was kind of an interesting car ride over there. I am SUPER glad that I will be in a car area again for the winter though. Having a car is the best! Kind of random, but I have been biking forever, so a car is definitely a blessing :) In the evening we went out joint teaching with a member who leaves on his mission this week. We visited with a blind member of the Church. She is a super sweet woman, but she cannot see anything. We shared a message with her, and agreed to come over sometime next week and take her around for a walk while the weather is still good. That should be a cool service opportunity :) After that we went and visited with an older member To finish off the evening, we visited with a recent-convert, and her granddaughter. We taught them the first part of the Plan of Salvation, and had a really great lesson with them :)

On Friday morning we went over and did some service for an investigator. We helped clean up her basement and moved some boxes downstairs for her. She had surgery on her knee a few weeks ago, so mobility is definitely an issue for her! She has a big brace on her leg, and is having a really "fun" time adjusting to not being able to do everything herself. We also made a baptism calendar and discussed it with her. She really wants to get baptized, but her Mom and her Dad are not a super big fan of the Church. We made a program, and discussed November 22nd as a possible baptismal date. They agreed to discuss it with the parents, but it was going to be a stretch. Her older sister once asked to be baptized and was declined. After our short lesson, we went back to our apartment and did some weekly planning. It was good to get our next week in order, and to find out a lot more about the area! In the evening we went out finding, and then did a teaching evaluation with our Ward Mission Leader.

On Saturday we did some finding and taught a 17 year-old girl. Her parents were not home, but she wanted to know what we were coming around teaching everyone. Maybe it will go somewhere! In the afternoon, a member picked us up to come do some service on his hobby farm. Yep, I went and worked on a farm. Oh my gosh, I am definitely a city boy. It was good to be able to help out though. We shoveled "dirt" out of their barn... that was an experience. We also put up a snow fence, chopped up a tree stump, and did a couple of other things. I of course, had to take a picture with one of their miniature cows. His name is Patrick. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with an investigator family about repentance. They also have a lot of animals. They have chickens, pheasants, rabbits, and pigs. I will have to take a picture with their pigs sometime, but it was super dark when we went over this time so the picture wouldn't have turned out very good.

On Sunday we had Church, which was awesome! Five investigators came to Church. It was great! We taught the gospel principles lesson, which was kind of nightmare. The lesson was on Eternal Marriage. The lesson would have been fine if people didn't keep asking questions. Members started bringing up plural marriage and doing temple work for the dead, and some investigators got super confused, and it was just kind of crazy. Sure, have the two single guys teach the lesson on eternal marriage! It all worked out though. After Church we went out and did some finding, and taught a guy the restoration. He was super nice, and just got back from a recovery program. In the evening we had a lesson with an investigator family and found out that the wife has not smoked for 4 days, and he hadn't smoked for 2 days! AWESOME :) We also had a big fire, where we burned a tie for our 6 month mark, and a shirt for our 1 year mark. I really like my shirts, so I just used an old nasty one from the apartment. It still counts though ;) We had a lesson with them on repentance as well, which went pretty great! To finish off the evening we went and had a lesson some investigators. We finished teaching the Plan of Salvation, and She told us that her parents gave her permission to get baptized on November 22nd if that is what she wants to do! Super great ending to a great week :)

Next Monday, Elder Carlson from the Seventy is coming to our mission, so we will be having P-Day on Tuesday instead of Monday. Just so you are all aware, I will be sending out emails on Tuesday haha ;) Have a great week!

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving and Columbus Day!

Hello Everyone,

First of all, Happy Canadian Thanksgiving and Columbus Day! This week has been kind of different. For starters... today is transfers. But, do we know what is going on with transfers? No. They tried to change up the system, and so sometime today they will be sending a fax with all the transfer information to the Zone Leaders, and then they will be calling us sometime today. AHHHH! I feel like I very well could be transferred, but as of right now, I know nothing. Bugged! So eventually I will let you know whats up. Not super happy about this new system though.

Last P-Day, however, was pretty great! We had a Zone P-Day at Andrews Park. We had some relay races, some craziness, and had a lot of fun :) It was kind of cold, but we realized that this was probably one of our last P-Day activities outside. It is starting to get a little bit nippy. Not good! After our Zone P-Day, we went out joint teaching. We had an awesome lesson with an investigator family. We watched a Mormon Message that I watched this past week called "You Never Know." It seriously is one of my favorite Mormon Messages. You should all definitely watch it! The missionaries in our ward get the monthly newsletter emailed to us, and I found out that one of the writers for that Mormon Message is actually coming to our ward for a Relief Society activity or something like that. Sounds like fun!

On Tuesday we had a bit of a slower day. We were able to visit with a less-active member. We just talked outside for a little while about Church, and how his daughters like to pray. We talked about the power of prayer, and the influence it has in our lives. Afterwards we did a little bit of finding, and then we stopped by another less-active member. He was having a tough time. He has taken up drinking again, and his life quality has gone downhill. He was drunk when we stopped by, and at first turned us away. We talked to him for a little bit, and then he asked us to come inside. I shared a message with him about service, and the influence that serving others has in our life. Since he started drinking, he has been very focused on himself and all the things other people have done to him to make him the way that he is. He agreed that service would be a good outlet to help him to change. He is not ready to give up drinking again, but realizes that in the future that is definitely one of his goals. Kind of sad to see the negative changes that have occurred recently in his life.

On Wednesday we had District Meeting. Our last District Meeting this transfer. Kind of crazy! After District Meeting, we went on a quick blitz exchange with our Zone Leaders in our area. I was with an elder from Mountain Green, Utah. We had some pretty good times together! We did some finding and then stopped by an investigator. her son answered the door and then she came in a little bit later. We taught them the restoration, and then afterwards some family drama came up. Her son feels like she hates him because she is always focused on his other brother who is in prison. She feels like he is jealous of his brother. There was a pretty big explosion and a LOT of yelling. So we had a fun teaching opportunity about healthy family relationships and the family proclamation. It calmed the situation down a little bit, but clearly they are going to need to have a heart to heart. In the evening we went out joint teaching. He wanted to go visit a less-active member. She is going to Idaho this week, and wanted to go to the temple there and take out her endowments. She also wanted a blessing. We were able to give her a blessing, but were not much help with the temple. We talked about how after she gets back from her trip and starts coming to Church she can go to the temple. She wasn't super thrilled to hear that though. Usually you don't wait for two days before a big trip to make a decision like that though! It was pretty interesting.

On Thursday we had our weekly service at PRISM. After our service, we went over to the library and did some mormon.org time. I love all the Mormon Messages on mormonchannel.org! In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had an awesome lesson with the a family about having a Christ centered home. We read the talk "The Home: The School of Life" and they really enjoyed that. I have learned a lot on my mission from observing different families and recognizing different things that work, and things that don't work. It has been kind of nice! Luckily I won't have to make any big family decisions for a while! Afterwards we went and had a lesson with another family. The wife just recently had surgery, so she is recovering from that, but otherwise they are doing great! We talked to them about missionary work, and they discussed some missionary actions that they are already doing. It was pretty cool!

On Friday we had Weekly Planning. I did not feel super great on Friday, but it all worked out! After Weekly Planning we raked a family’s leaves. First leaf raking this season, but I am sure many more are yet to come. In the evening we went out finding and talked to a guy in our apartment parking lot. He was named after Saint John the Baptist. We taught him the restoration, and had a really great discussion with him. He was a very interesting person, but maybe he will have interest in the Church!

On Saturday we biked over to Minneapolis and helped rake more leaves. Leaf raking job number two. We also took a bunch of pictures around West Broadway. I of course took a picture at St. Andrews Episcopal Church :) St. Andrews day is actually coming up! I believe it is November 30th. Later we had a lesson a member. We watched a movie called "How Rare A Possession: The Book of Mormon." It was super good! Kind of old school though. I think as a whole we definitely take the Book of Mormon for granted though. I can definitely do better at not doing that. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with an investigator on the 10 Commandments, Obeying and Honoring the Laws of the Land, and Studying the Scriptures. He slipped up this week on the Word of Wisdom, so we also talked to him about how he can overcome those hard times with the gospel and prayer. It was a super good day though!

Sunday was Fast Sunday because of our crazy schedule these past few weeks. We had Ward Conference, then General Conference, and in a few weeks we have Stake Conference. Fun stuff! Testimony meeting was super good though :) For the rest of the day we did some finding. Not a super successful day though. We just need to find some new people to teach! Hopefully this next week will be better, wherever I end up serving haha. We shall see if I have another transfer here!

Thank you all for all of your love and support! You are the best :) I hope you have an amazing week, and that all is well back home. Talk to you soon!

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews