Embarking in the Service of God

Hello Everyone,

This week has been great! On Monday we had our P-Day which is always a blast, and then we went out and did some finding for a little while. We were able to meet this really cool guy and talk to him a little bit about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the new video that the Church created, #BecauseHeLives. Later we visited with the ward mission leader’s family who is all tanned and happy from their cruise to Costa Rica! Hopefully they will bring some warm weather our way ;) We had a lesson with them on the topic of repentance. I used the pencil Family Home Evening lesson, and they loved it! Their daughter renamed it a "repencil!" Good times :)

On Tuesday we had District Meeting in the Sisters community room. We talked about teaching while you find, and finding while you teach. We discussed the importance of talking to everyone, and asking everyone for referrals. We talked about embarking in the service of God and the new 2015 youth theme, #Embark! I had a pirate ship that I cut out with the dye cut at the library for everyone that said "Ahoy Mateys!" and then quoted D&C 4:2 and then of course had the hashtag Embark ;) I also had Chips Ahoy cookies to go along with the whole "Ahoy Mateys!" theme. It was a party :) Our District is very different this transfer. It was a good time though. After District Meeting we blitzed the Sisters area for a little while and found some cool new people for them to teach. They have kind of a tricky situation with the Sister's bone spur, so they can't do much finding. Hopefully this helped them out a little bit! For some reason my back started hurting really bad, so we went back to our area, grabbed some meds, and then we went finding in our area for a little while. We found a couple people that might have some potential in the future. We met three potential investigators. Later we stopped by an investigator family and I introduced my new companion to them and caught up with them. To finish off the evening we had a lesson with another investigator family. We watched "The Mountain of the Lord" and talked about the Plan of Salvation and the temple. It was a really fun lesson :)

On Wednesday we did some Area Book Work in the morning, and then went out finding for a little while. We met three potential investigators. They were all really nice, but one probably has the most potential. We will have to see where things go! Later we had the Minneapolis Zone Leadership Conference (MZLC) in Minneapolis. My companion went with another Elder and worked for a little while while the Zone Leaders, District Leaders, and Sister Training Leaders met together for a little while. We talked about upcoming changes in the mission, focus items for this transfer, etc... It was a really good meeting! It is always fun to be able to meet together with other missionaries :)

On Thursday we did our weekly service at the library. We mostly were working on dye cuts for all of the summer reading programs. It was a party ;) Afterward I had an accountability call with the Sisters. The Sisters found out that the Sister with bone spurs will be moved to the mission office soon for the next two transfers so that she can not put as much stress on her leg, and hopefully recover. We are not 100% sure when she is leaving, or what is going to happen, so who knows what is going to happen. Hopefully they don't close the Sisters area! After accounting, I had to go to the chiropractor. I have no clue what I did to my back, but it was NOT happy with me! The mission recommended that I go see a chiropractor, so I scheduled an appointment with a member's brother-in-law. It was good to be able to catch up with him again, and to find some relief :) I had never been to a chiropractor before, and it was awesome! Now I want to go all the time! That is probably why my parents have never permitted me to go see a chiropractor haha ;) Later we visited with an investigator family and started planning things out for the dad's baptism and preparing for his baptismal interview. They are doing well, and he is super excited for his baptism! The mom talked with her work about getting Sundays off, and so she only has to work the next two Sundays and then she will be off permanently! To finish off the evening we had Family Home Evening with a different investigator family. We talked about the 10 commandments, and then we played a few card games (Kings Corner and B.S.). It was super fun :) Their family is doing really well.

On Friday it snowed. Not cool! It warmed up later so that was good, but seriously Minnesota... In the morning we did some mormon.org time at the library, and I downloaded a few conference talks and music from General Conference. Later we had accountability with our Zone Leaders and I had gossip hour with the Sister Training Leaders. Afterward we went over to the Senior Center and played Yahtzee with the residents. Always a good time haha ;) For the remainder of the afternoon we did our Weekly Planning which is always a good time! In the evening we did some finding, and then we visited with a sister. We watched a movie with her about the Prodigal Son and shared a talk from General Conference with her called "Waiting On The Prodigal" I believe. It was a really great meeting :)

On Saturday we visited with a family in the morning with a joint teacher. We talked with them about the Plan of Salvation and discussed family history with them as well. They are planning on going to the temple next week with some of her family's names that they found on Family Search. Later in the afternoon it was the Ward Day of Service at the Senior Center. We played Bingo with the residents there, and helped them out. I sat next to a woman who was a total hoot! She cussed like a sailor! Every time they called a number that she didn't have, she would yell something haha. Later when we were taking them back to their rooms I found out that she has Alzheimer's. She was very concerned, because she had no clue where her room was or where she was. I felt super bad for her and then luckily a super nice lady that worked at the home came over and helped her out :) On the way home we were walking down the street and we saw someone driving with a Utah license plate. Then they started pulling over. I said to my companion, "surely they are Mormon!" Turns out, it was Elder and Sister Graff, Medical Missionaries from the Mission Office. The office is closed on Saturdays, so they were out and about sight seeing in Minnesota! We went out to lunch with them and had a super fun time. They are great! In the evening a member called us and told us that she was feeling really lousy, and that she wanted a blessing. We rearranged things, called their home teacher and went over to their home with him and gave her a blessing. We talked with them about our investigator's baptismal date, and rescheduled it for the 25th of April. She had to work on Sunday this week and then next week, and so on the 26th she will have work off and will be able to attend his confirmation.

On Sunday, Eastern Orthodox Easter, we had Ward Council early in the morning. Later we had Church and our investigator came all by himself after he dropped off his wife at work. After Church we had a meeting with the Bishop, and then went on our way. We went finding for a while in the afternoon, and the weather was awesome! 82 degrees and sunny :) We stopped by a few potentials and knocked a few doors. In the evening we had correlation with the ward mission leader and it started pouring rain and there was thunder and lightning all through the sky. It was crazy! Running to our car and getting soaked was certainly an adventurous way to end the week haha ;)

All in all it was a super good week :) Thank you all for all of your love and support. You are the best! Here are some fun pictures that I took while we were out finding this week. Enjoy!

Best Wishes,

Elder Kyle William Andrews