Finding is the key!

Hello Everyone,

This week has been crazy as always, but things are going great! On Monday we met with a recent-convert in the ward. She offered to take our District to the Minnesota State Zoo for our District P-Day at the end of the month, so that should be super fun :) In the evening we visited with a less active family. We talked about prophets and gave them the movie "On The Lords Errand" to watch as a homework assignment. Amy wasn't feeling very well, so it was a pretty quick lesson.

On Tuesday we had District Meeting at the Sisters' apartment community room. We talked about developing the faith to find and creative finding ideas. Both of our areas are kind of dead right now, so finding will be key! Afterward we went over to a charity and did some service. There were not very many people there, so it was great to be able to help them out! #HairNetSwag #MannaPack In the evening we got a call from the some Elders asking if we could go over to the hospital and give a blessing to a member of their ward. We met a super sweet lady in their Ward! Her heart was racing and she had a really bad bladder infection so they admitted her to the hospital. She was so grateful that we responded so quickly to her request for a blessing! To finish off the evening we went over to the a family’s home and talked about the restoration. We watched the movie "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoation" and had a really great discussion. The Brother told me that I look like Tim Tebow, so... you guessed it! You should send me a picture of Tim Tebow so I can compare and contrast haha ;) All in all it was a super great day though!

On Wednesday our District went to the St. Paul, Minnesota Temple with a sister in the ward. I love going to the temple :) While we were there I saw several members from wards I’ve served in so that was kind of cool! When we were at the temple I prayed very specifically about something that I have been contemplating for a while... I haven't actually told anyone about it yet because it was in the very early stages, but I was thinking about possibly extending my mission. Because of the age change extensions are very unlikely, but on occassion you can get approval. I just don't know. My friends Tyson and Makayla are getting married three days after I get home, plus I have travel plans and ideas and things, but still I was thinking about it. While we were at the temple, however, I did not receive my answer. In the afternoon we went to the Library and filled out some government forms to do weekly service there. Then it happened... we got a call from our Zone Leaders. They were announcing that our Mission was going to be getting iPads on May 26th. To be honest, I am glad that we are not getting them right now, and that we will be getting them after I go home from my mission. I would have loved iPads at the beginning of my mission, but not when I have a month left. I will just go home and get a regular iPad, not an iPad mini :) And then it hit me! This was an answer to my prayer that an extension is not in the cards for me. If I extend, I will need to get an iPad mini. "Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise." (Alma 37:6) Kind of cool how it all came together! To finish off the evening we had a lesson with a less-active family that kind of fell apart. He had some problems with his taxes and was on the phone with H&R Block and the IRS the whole morning about some money that he was missing from his taxes. Both organizations were blaming the other organization, and he was super unhappy and so he went for a walk. He wasn't home when we stopped by, but we were able to talk with her for a little while. Kind of a crazy day! Oh... and Purim began at sundown... whatever that is ;)

On Thursday we went and did service at the Library. A staff member gave us a super in depth tour, and I am pretty sure that my brain was ready to explode! SO MUCH INFORMATION! #MindBlown I did have a super cool experience, however, while we were on the tour. As part of the tour we met the head librarian of the county. He asked us where we were from and we told him that we were both from Provo, Utah. Paul told us that he was familiar with Provo because he worked for a company in Provo for a while. I started asking him a few questions about Utah and his experiences with the Church, and we had a pretty good conversation. At the end I asked him for curiousity sake which company he worked for, and he told me that he worked for a company called Dynex! I laughed a little bit and asked him if he knew Grandpa or Paul Sybrowsky and he did :) Small world! In the afternoon we went and did some finding. We met a few interesting people, but all in all we didn't have a ton of success. We will just have to keep trying! To finish off the evening we had a Family Home Evening lesson with a family. We played a few card games, drew a few pictures, and talked about Church and seminary. The mom told us that she was really pleased with our interactions with her children, and that she was grateful that we were not being too pushy with them like previous missionaries. Hopefully we will be able to help them to progress. They have a lot of very interesting rules that make things a little bit difficult for us, but we can still make it work... (i.e. don't attend church for Fast Sundays, General Conference, Stake Conference, Baby Blessings, etc... and if they can't come for all three hours they do not come.) They do not really do 9:00 Church, so lately they have been going to the Catholic Church nearby. Hopefully we can get them to come to our Church sometime soon!

On Friday we had accountability with the Zone Leaders and then I had a coordination call with the Sister Training Leaders about the area Sisters. Afterward we did our Weekly Planning and then our ward mission leader called and invited us to come to "Shrek: The Musical" with their family and another family. So we rearranged our schedule, and had a great evening! Two of the ward mission leader’s daughters were in "Shrek: The Musical" and they did a phenominal job! That family is the best :)

On Saturday we didn't have too many plans, so we went around tracting and finding new people to teach for quite a while. This area is definitely in need of some good finding time! We had a few cancelled appointments, and then in the evening we went over to visit with a member. We were going to watch Johnny Lingo with him, but turns out he doesn't like movies.... so we had a discussion with him about individual worth. He likes deep doctrine, but right now he is at a place where the basics are definitely something that he should be focusing on. He always takes our discussions to a deeper level, so we just have to keep bringing it back haha! I don't mind deep doctrine, but there is definitely a time and a place.

On Sunday... daylight savings... shutter, we had Church at 9:00 AM. Yuck! I love daylight savings come fall, but spring forward I am not such a big fan of ;) Church was good though. The wife of the less active family we’re working with had a super bad migraine so they were unable to attend. After Church we went over to their house and gave her some migraine medication and had a quick lesson with them. We watched the Mormon Message, "Come What May and Love It". We talked about making the best of our situations, and choosing to be happy! Definitely something we can all work on :) To finish off the evening we had correlation with the ward mission leader. We saw them a ton this week haha! It was great :)

Thank you all for all of your love and support! You are the best :) Hope you have a great week.

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews