Hello Everyone,
This week has been crazy, but in the best way possible! On Monday we had our P-Day and I decided to buy a fun new University of Minnesota shirt from Target. Kind of just because, but it was my birthday this week so I rationalized that it was a wise investment ;) In the evening we went joint teaching with a Brother from the ward. We first taught a wonderful family. We talked with them about tithing, fasting, and fast offerings. It was a great lesson, and it answered a lot of questions that our investigator has had about living a gospel center life after he is baptized. Afterwards we went over to see the another family. We shared 1 Nephi 3:7 with them, and talked about going and doing. They seemed to really understand it well, hopefully they will apply the principle we taught. Agency sometimes is not our friend!
On Tuesday we had our last District Meeting this transfer. It was fun! We have all come really close these past two transfers. I remember when I was first sent to this District, I absolutely hated it. It felt like we were all sitting down for a business meeting, and then going our separate ways, but that has all changed. After District Meeting we had a lesson with an investigator. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and had a lot of questions for us about it. He said that he has recognized a lot of phrases that are stolen from the Bible, but it was written on the other side of the world. We talked to him about how God talks to Prophets, and how his message never changes. That would explain why his message is the same in both books of scripture. He also talked to us about the great and abominable Church. That was a fun conversation! He pointed out that it specifically refers to it as "the whore of all the Earth." We talked to him about how the great and abominable Church is not God's Church, and that it takes people away from God's Church which is why it is talked about so strongly in the Book of Mormon. After we answered all of his questions he was golden! He asked us to go through the regular missionary discussions with him so that he can learn everything about our Church in the order that we teach it to others. He is hilarious! "Basically what I am asking you to do, is to do your job!" Later we went out joint teaching with the Bishop of our ward, and had another lesson with the family we saw yesterday. We talked about the Law of Chastity and the Word of Wisdom. Neither of those commandments are a struggle for them, so he was ready and prepared for his baptismal interview. Afterwards we visited with another investigator. Her husband was not home, but she has been wanting to meet with Bishop for a while. They talked about finances and life, and resolved some concerns together. All is well!
On Wednesday we had a bunch of phone calls and things in the morning, and went out joint teaching with a member in the evening. Normally I don't talk about our dinners in my weekly letters home, but our Joint Teaching partner’s wife made Texas Sheet Cake for dessert (aka Magleby's Chocolate Cake!). It was DELICIOUS! I am all caked out from this week though, I have had a disgusting amount of cake from all of our meal appointments. Afterwards we saw an investigator briefly and set up an appointment with him. We visited with another investigator on his porch and talked with him about faith. We shared the Book of Mormon scriptures on faith with him, and talked about how faith helps us in all aspects of life. He really enjoyed the lesson, and set up a return appointment later in the week. We finished off the day visiting with another investigator family. They discussed some of their trials, and headway that has been made in some areas. They were planning on blessing their new baby on Sunday but the father got super sick. Awesome family though! At the end of the evening the father gave my companion my birthday package, and gave instructions not to give it to me until tomorrow. Rude.
On Thursday, my 20th birthday, we were all over the place haha! I got a bunch of hair products and clothes. Missionary birthdays are... unique. We had mormon.org time, and all of the people in the Family History Center sang to me. It was pretty hilarious! Afterwards we weekly planned, and I went across the street to the ghetto strip mall and bought some birthday cake flavoured M&M's so I have cake on my birthday, but not real cake because I was kind of sick of it haha. They were kind of gross, but it was a fun thought! We went joint teaching with a brother from the ward in the evening. We were able to visit with an investigator family and reestablish contact! Afterwards we met with a less-active that we have been trying to get a hold of forever, and then we finished off the evening by stopping by our other investigator family. Talk about a turn of events haha! We walked into their house, and they had planned a surprise party! They had a Happy Birthday banner, food, and a cookie with my name on it. It was pretty fun :) We talked with them about Alma Chapter 5, and conversion to the gospel. It was a great ending to a great evening!
On Friday we had a Zone Service Project to start off the day. We were working at the Rose Garden Park in Minneapolis. I love all of these fun parks and places that they have here in Minneapolis. Who thinks of these things?!?! I guess this particular rose park has been here for over 100 years. It was super pretty! We helped replant some roses, and did some gardening work for them. It was pretty low key! On the way home though I caught some pictures of some ghettotastic signs in Minnesota. It was pretty great! We had dinner with a family in the ward and they invited some of their non-member friends. We had a great discussion with them, and then we were off to our investigator’s baptismal interview. It was great! He passed his interview and is ready to get baptized this next Saturday. In the evening we went and attempted to contact a bunch of mormon.org referrals that we received, but didn't have much luck. On a positive note though, I got a package from some family that included a bottle of Coke, and a bottle of Diet Coke that said "Share a Coke/Diet Coke with Kyle!!!!" Oh my gosh! It was the best :) Totally made my day!
On Saturday we helped someone move in the morning. The old ward had 17 planned moves before the end of the summer. I think 8-10 of them are over, but now we have two additional unplanned moves. Goodness gracious! Lot of service ;) Afterwards we met with an investigator and talked with her for a little while. We have been so busy these past couple weeks, that some people have been falling through the cracks. Not good! I am working on figuring everything out, and balancing our schedule better so that we can be more effective and reach out to everyone. We found out that a ward member was going to the Mall of America so I sent her with all of my shirts and things that needed to be exchanged. They did not have them in stock at the store so they had to mail them. She had them mailed to her house, which caused some unexpected stress because of transfers haha! Oh well, I knew I would get them eventually, even if I am transferred. In the evening we went joint teaching with a ward member. We were going to contact an investigator, and met an 87 year old woman instead. She came up to us and held our hands and sang to us, and then pulled us into her house to see one of her paintings. She was kind of crazy, but she was a super sweet woman. Afterwards we set up an appointment with our investigator, because she was busy at the moment. Good things are in the works!
On Sunday we had Ward Council and the Stake Presidency came to visit. Afterwards we had Church, Correlation, and our weekly meeting with Bishop. After Church my compantion had a baptismal interview for someone in our District, and then we had dinner and went to the Presidents Fireside with an investigator family! It was a jam packed day, but it all flowed perfectly from one event to the next. The Presidents Fireside was great! I saw my old companion who goes home on Wednesday for the last time. It was great to see so many of my missionary friends again, and to witness President and Sister Forbes first Presidents Fireside. One of the Assistants told us that they would be talking to us in the Morning, which is always kind of nerve racking. I had no clue what was going to happen with transfers! You get calls if you are training or going into leadership, but we didn't know who the call was for or what it was for exactly. Needless to say it was tough to get to sleep Sunday night.
This morning came, and we got the call. I am staying here, and will be training a new missionary. I was stunned. I was expecting to be called as a District Leader or something, but the thought of training kind of frightens me! So much extra work and responsibility. Being a District Leader would have been so much easier! I am glad that I will still be here though, and that I will be here to witness our investigator’s baptism. Everything will work out for the best.
Thank you all so much for all of your love and support! I am excited to see what happens this next transfer, and how things work out training and everything. Pray for me and my greenie haha!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Showing posts with label Birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Birthday. Show all posts
Monday, July 21, 2014
Monday, July 15, 2013
Another AWESOME Week! (Kyle has been serving two months today!)
July 15th, 2013
Hello Everyone,
This week has been great! On Tuesday, I bid adieu to my first companion who finished serving his two year mission. For the rest of the day, and for part of Wednesday I was on exchange with our zone leaders. In the mission there is something called the "rule of three". You must have either three women, or three men to teach someone of the opposite gender. So for teaching someone of the opposite gender this often creates a problem! We are encouraged to involve members in the ward, but coordinating with their schedules can often be a challenge. While I was on exchange though, we were already a group of three! It was awesome, we could teach whoever, whenever :)
On Wednesday afternoon, I picked up my new companion. He is from a city near Tokyo, Japan and has got quite an accent. He is very quiet, but very kind. He is also very little, which is quite the contrast for my height. Because my companion is foreign, and speaks Japanese as his first language, we now have added language study to our schedule. We wake up at 6:30 AM, have personal study at 8:00 AM, companionship study at 9:00 AM, new missionary training at 10:00 AM, lunch at 11:00 AM, and language study at 12:00 PM. We don't get out of our apartment until about 1:00 PM. I have not had to sit for that long since high school! I know I only graduated a little over a year ago, but it is quite the adjustment for me. I get a little bit antsy, and probably a little annoying as well, but hopefully I will adjust to it soon!
My companion is no longer the district leader, which will also be a HUGE adjustment for me. As a district leader, you have to go on exchange with each elder in your district. I absolutely loved being able to visit every companionships area, and getting to know the elders on a really personal basis! It is going to be a very stark contrast now that I will pretty much always be serving in our area in North La Crosse with my companion, except for our exchange with our new district leader, and the zone leaders.
This week we had an amazing lesson with an investigator. We taught her about the law of chastity, and had three members from the ward present. The spirit was SO strong during the lesson, and she completely understood and agreed with everything we shared with her. She understands why this commandment is so important. She is moving right now, so we have had many opportunities to help her move and to give our service, but unfortunately she is moving out of our area. Luckily she is only moving to South La Crosse though, so the south side missionaries will be able to teach her. Sadly, that means we will no longer be teaching her. We have one last lesson with her though, on July 17th, my birthday!
This week we also had a really great lesson with another investigator. We taught her about the plan of salvation. At the beginning of the lesson, she shared a lot of her frustrations, and about the anger that she had towards God. She has had a very difficult life. As we taught her more and more about this great plan of happiness, her face lit up. Her countenance changed, and you could see on her face and through her actions that she felt and recognized the spirit during the lesson. Afterwards, she said "I wish I would have known this sooner!" She is truly being prepared by the Lord.
On my birthday at 6:00 PM we will be going on exchange with the zone leaders! I know it is going to be a super weird birthday, but with our zone leaders here to celebrate, it is going to be awesome :) I will just have to find a way to make it an extra special day for myself haha, I can be fairly creative that way!
Glad to hear that everything is going well, and that Aimee has not been in any car accidents her first week driving! My new companion does not have driving privileges, so I am the designated driver. AWESOME! Don't think that I didn't notice your "sarcastic" comment about me not being home to use your Nordstrom Visa though. Haha!
Thank you all for your support and love! I know that God answers prayers, because he has slowly but surely been answering mine :)
Love,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Hello Everyone,
This week has been great! On Tuesday, I bid adieu to my first companion who finished serving his two year mission. For the rest of the day, and for part of Wednesday I was on exchange with our zone leaders. In the mission there is something called the "rule of three". You must have either three women, or three men to teach someone of the opposite gender. So for teaching someone of the opposite gender this often creates a problem! We are encouraged to involve members in the ward, but coordinating with their schedules can often be a challenge. While I was on exchange though, we were already a group of three! It was awesome, we could teach whoever, whenever :)
On Wednesday afternoon, I picked up my new companion. He is from a city near Tokyo, Japan and has got quite an accent. He is very quiet, but very kind. He is also very little, which is quite the contrast for my height. Because my companion is foreign, and speaks Japanese as his first language, we now have added language study to our schedule. We wake up at 6:30 AM, have personal study at 8:00 AM, companionship study at 9:00 AM, new missionary training at 10:00 AM, lunch at 11:00 AM, and language study at 12:00 PM. We don't get out of our apartment until about 1:00 PM. I have not had to sit for that long since high school! I know I only graduated a little over a year ago, but it is quite the adjustment for me. I get a little bit antsy, and probably a little annoying as well, but hopefully I will adjust to it soon!
My companion is no longer the district leader, which will also be a HUGE adjustment for me. As a district leader, you have to go on exchange with each elder in your district. I absolutely loved being able to visit every companionships area, and getting to know the elders on a really personal basis! It is going to be a very stark contrast now that I will pretty much always be serving in our area in North La Crosse with my companion, except for our exchange with our new district leader, and the zone leaders.
This week we had an amazing lesson with an investigator. We taught her about the law of chastity, and had three members from the ward present. The spirit was SO strong during the lesson, and she completely understood and agreed with everything we shared with her. She understands why this commandment is so important. She is moving right now, so we have had many opportunities to help her move and to give our service, but unfortunately she is moving out of our area. Luckily she is only moving to South La Crosse though, so the south side missionaries will be able to teach her. Sadly, that means we will no longer be teaching her. We have one last lesson with her though, on July 17th, my birthday!
This week we also had a really great lesson with another investigator. We taught her about the plan of salvation. At the beginning of the lesson, she shared a lot of her frustrations, and about the anger that she had towards God. She has had a very difficult life. As we taught her more and more about this great plan of happiness, her face lit up. Her countenance changed, and you could see on her face and through her actions that she felt and recognized the spirit during the lesson. Afterwards, she said "I wish I would have known this sooner!" She is truly being prepared by the Lord.
On my birthday at 6:00 PM we will be going on exchange with the zone leaders! I know it is going to be a super weird birthday, but with our zone leaders here to celebrate, it is going to be awesome :) I will just have to find a way to make it an extra special day for myself haha, I can be fairly creative that way!
Glad to hear that everything is going well, and that Aimee has not been in any car accidents her first week driving! My new companion does not have driving privileges, so I am the designated driver. AWESOME! Don't think that I didn't notice your "sarcastic" comment about me not being home to use your Nordstrom Visa though. Haha!
Thank you all for your support and love! I know that God answers prayers, because he has slowly but surely been answering mine :)
Love,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Thursday, July 4, 2013
A little late but here you are!
July 4th, 2013
Hello Everyone,
This week has been pretty crazy, but I have had a great time! I went on exchange with an Elder from Manti, Utah who is currently serving in South La Crosse. He was really fun to be around, and I think I learned a lot from him. For a while I actually though that he was going to complete my training, but today we found out that he is going to be training a new missionary.
Today we received our transfer emails from President Clements. I will be staying in North La Crosse, and will be serving with an Elder from Japan. While I was with the Assistants last week I actually met this Elder, because we all met together for dinner. He is a really a kind and loving missionary, and I am sure that we are going to get along great! His English is progressing, but it is very clear that he is from another country. It will be interesting to see how everything works out, but I am excited for what the future holds!
This week we had a baptismal interview in Sparta, Wisconsin. We got there a little early, so we went tracting with the Sparta missionaries before the interview. We met a less-active member from their branch, and got to know her a little bit. As we were talking she mentioned that they got a trampoline for Christmas, but she hasn't been able to set it up for her kids yet. We asked her if we could set it up for her, and she respectfully declined. Missionaries are persistant though, and in the end we won! She showed us where the trampoline was, and we set it up for them. I love helping others, and wish we had more opportunities to serve out here. Maybe service opportunities will increase in the future though! When we finished, we took a picture together with all the missionaries on the tramp. We aren't allowed to jump on trampolines--but when we were taking the picture it was SUPER tempting! I guess too many injuries have occurred in the past because of it. Oh well!
On Saturday we went to Westby, Wisconsin to blitz the Viroqua Sisters area. I thought that La Crosse and Onalaska were small areas, but Westby is TINY! I guess before I left on my mission I had the perspective that I lived in a small city. Provo apparently isn't as small as I thought it was! People in Wisconsin talk about getting away from the big city life in La Crosse... Crazy! Hopefully throughout my mission I will be able to serve in some of the bigger cities, but it has been interesting adjusting to the small city lifestyle. I certainly would never choose to live in a city this small though haha!
Aside from that, things are going well. Tomorrow we are driving to Rochester, Minnesota and I will be with our Zone Leaders in a group of three, while my companion will drive up to Bloomington, Minnesota with a ward member to be with all of the departing missionaries. Things are definitely looking up, and I am excited to see what this next transfer will bring. I can't believe that I have been out on my mission for an entire transfer now, and soon there will be missionaries serving out here that are younger than I am! Of course, I will be turning the ripe old age of 19 a week after transfers so I guess I am getting up there in years. My birthday will be fun though, we have District Meetings on Wednesdays, and one of the Sisters (serving in Viroqua) has her birthday on the same day! I'm sure it will be AMAZING :) I love and miss you all, and hope you have an excellent week. Thanks for all of your letters and emails!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Hello Everyone,
This week has been pretty crazy, but I have had a great time! I went on exchange with an Elder from Manti, Utah who is currently serving in South La Crosse. He was really fun to be around, and I think I learned a lot from him. For a while I actually though that he was going to complete my training, but today we found out that he is going to be training a new missionary.
Today we received our transfer emails from President Clements. I will be staying in North La Crosse, and will be serving with an Elder from Japan. While I was with the Assistants last week I actually met this Elder, because we all met together for dinner. He is a really a kind and loving missionary, and I am sure that we are going to get along great! His English is progressing, but it is very clear that he is from another country. It will be interesting to see how everything works out, but I am excited for what the future holds!
This week we had a baptismal interview in Sparta, Wisconsin. We got there a little early, so we went tracting with the Sparta missionaries before the interview. We met a less-active member from their branch, and got to know her a little bit. As we were talking she mentioned that they got a trampoline for Christmas, but she hasn't been able to set it up for her kids yet. We asked her if we could set it up for her, and she respectfully declined. Missionaries are persistant though, and in the end we won! She showed us where the trampoline was, and we set it up for them. I love helping others, and wish we had more opportunities to serve out here. Maybe service opportunities will increase in the future though! When we finished, we took a picture together with all the missionaries on the tramp. We aren't allowed to jump on trampolines--but when we were taking the picture it was SUPER tempting! I guess too many injuries have occurred in the past because of it. Oh well!
On Saturday we went to Westby, Wisconsin to blitz the Viroqua Sisters area. I thought that La Crosse and Onalaska were small areas, but Westby is TINY! I guess before I left on my mission I had the perspective that I lived in a small city. Provo apparently isn't as small as I thought it was! People in Wisconsin talk about getting away from the big city life in La Crosse... Crazy! Hopefully throughout my mission I will be able to serve in some of the bigger cities, but it has been interesting adjusting to the small city lifestyle. I certainly would never choose to live in a city this small though haha!
Aside from that, things are going well. Tomorrow we are driving to Rochester, Minnesota and I will be with our Zone Leaders in a group of three, while my companion will drive up to Bloomington, Minnesota with a ward member to be with all of the departing missionaries. Things are definitely looking up, and I am excited to see what this next transfer will bring. I can't believe that I have been out on my mission for an entire transfer now, and soon there will be missionaries serving out here that are younger than I am! Of course, I will be turning the ripe old age of 19 a week after transfers so I guess I am getting up there in years. My birthday will be fun though, we have District Meetings on Wednesdays, and one of the Sisters (serving in Viroqua) has her birthday on the same day! I'm sure it will be AMAZING :) I love and miss you all, and hope you have an excellent week. Thanks for all of your letters and emails!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
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