Hello Everyone,
This week has been great! On Monday we had our Zone P-Day up in Minneapolis. We watched the Saratov Approach, which was AMAZING, and then we went on a selfie scavenger hunt. It was a super fun day :) After our Zone P-Day, I went on exchange with an elder from Utah (of course haha). On exchange we were able to visit with a family briefly, and then we had a lesson with a couple. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He wasn't feeling very well because he got all wet when he was ice fishing and was starting to come down with a cold, but he held it together and we had a pretty great lesson! To finish off the evening we went over and visited with another family and submitted our numbers online.
On Tuesday I had an interview with an elder which was really great, and then we had District Meeting afterwards. Because the Zone Leaders came, we were able to have District Meeting at the Church. Gotta love the rule of 3 ;) We talked about "Revelation Through Church Attendance". For District Meeting we went on a Church tour, and talked about the 3 main obstacles that prevent our investigators from coming to Church. 1) They don't know where the physical building is. (Solved by a Church tour.) 2) They don't know the procedures of a Church service. (Solved by a Church tour.) 3) They don't know anyone there. (Have a member accompany you on a Church tour.) Bam! Problems solved :) It was a really fun District Meeting! In the evenign we had a lesson with a family. We watched half of Johnny Lingo, and set up a time later in the week to finish it. The best part, is my companion and I both left our bags over at their house. #MissionaryProblems
On Wednesday morning we went back over to their house to pick up our bags. The Sister asked us to come in, and told us that she wanted to speak with us. She was explaining to us how her kids have been meeting with missionaries for more than 7 years now, and it wasn't until just recently that things started to click. She said that they look forward to meeting with us now, and are excited to learn more about the gospel. She joked that they haven't yet realized that they have been covering the same lesson material for 7 years! Good things are happening though. Afterward we went over to a charity and did some service. We were able to have a really great conversation with the people we were working with. They were very curious as to who we were and why we were so far away from home. They worked for a patent law firm, which sounds like a really cool career. Overall, we had a really great discussion while we were helping to feed starving children :) After our service, we blitzed the Sisters area. They have been struggling a little bit since they white washed the area, so I thought it would be good to give them a little bit of extra assistance. Since we can't go on exchange, this is the next best thing! After our blitz, we met with a recent-convert. She was taping up her living room to paint it, and we offered to help her out. She is awesome! It was good to be able to get to know her better, and to be able to help out a little bit.
On Thursday we did our Weekly Service at the library. I put away and organized the childrens books, so that was pretty fun. We also got to use a dye cut to cut out 350 school busses. Yep, our arms were SUPER sore! After our service, I had an accountability call with the Sisters. They had just gotten back from an exchange with the Sister Training Leaders, and they had a super great experience! Their spirits were high, and they sounded refreshed and more excited about the work. Exchanges are the best. In the evening we went back over to the family’s home and finished watching Johnny Lingo. We talked about our individual worth, and the importance of sharing our love and serving others. AND we didn't forget our bags this time, so that was a definite plus!
On Friday we had accountability with the Zone Leaders and what I call gossip hour... coordination with the Sister Training Leaders. Kind of a weird concept. It is a new thing that the Church is doing, but when you have Sisters in your District, you have a call with the Sister Training Leaders to discuss how things are going for the Sisters. Kind of different, but I think it is a good thing. Sometimes Elders just don't realize all the things Sisters are going through, so this is a great way to point those things out and to find out ways how to best help them. Afterward we went over to the Senior Center and played games with some elderly people. It is so cute! These old people look forward to playing games with us all week. We played Yahtzee again this week, and I am definitely getting a lot better at it. I even got a Yahtzee this week! (All the dice were the same number.) Yep, I was pretty impressed with myself! In the afternoon we did our Weekly Planning for the week, which is always great. Gotta love planning! In the evening we went up to the High School to attend the youth of the Stake perform "Journey With Joseph." It is a musical composed by member in the Plymouth Ward that walks you through the life of Joseph Smith. It was super good! For mutual for the past few months they have been practicing and preparing for this event, and it turned out awesome. Our investigators came and had a great time! All in all, it was a super good day!
On Saturday we did our mormon.org time at the library in the morning. I finished looking at classes and registration stuff for BYU, and I am pretty sure I am done now! I talked with President Forbes, and scheduled an interview with him for my ecclesiastical endorsement and to renew my temple recommend. We have Zone Training on March 25th, so I will get everything done then. I guess it is a good thing that I have a later registration date, because I wouldn't be able to get everything done before then... still though... my registration date totally sucks haha! Ironically I got an email from BYU this week informing me that registration is approaching and that I should speak with my Mission President about renewing my ecclesiastical endorsement. One step ahead ;) In the afternoon we had a lesson with a family. Their home teacher, came joint teaching with us. We talked about the restoration of the Church, and watched a quick video about the restoration. We talked about the importance of asking questions, reading the scriptures, and praying as well. All in all it was a super great lesson! In the evening we had a lesson with another family. We stopped by their home, and the wife told us that her husband was out on the lake ice fishing. So we went out on the lake and found him! We had a brief lesson with him, and he showed us a thing or two about ice fishing. The ice is starting to get fairly thin, so it was a little bit sketchy, but it all worked out! Just don't step in a hole ;)
On Sunday, the Ides of March and my 22 month mark, we had Church in the morning. We were kind of low on numbers on Sunday, but overall it was a good service. After Church we had correlation with the ward mission leader and then we went out finding for a little while. Sunday our plans kind of came crashing down, so we had to do some reevaluating. We were going to go to the Presidents Fireside with our investigators, but they had to cancel last minute. So we finished up some Weekly Planning, and walked out to the island in the middle of the lake. The lake was mostly frozen in some spots, but we were definitely risking it in a few other areas :p When we jumped off the ice on to the island, the section of ice that we were walking on broke off, so that was pretty eventful! The island is super cool. Forever ago it was a booming island with hotels and homes and restaurants, but then there was a big fire and everyone left it desolate. It is rumored that Al Capone was hiding on the island for a while. There are old cars and abandoned homes all over the island. It was super cool! You have to be super careful to not step into an abandoned well and you cannot walk into the homes because you have no clue how sturdy the cement is, but it was still cool to be able to see it all! We cannot get in boats, so our only opportunity to see it is when the lake is frozen over. It was definitely an experience!
All in all it was a pretty good week. Kind of slow in parts, but it all worked out. Thank you so much for all of your love and support. You are the best! Have a great week :)
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Showing posts with label Church Tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church Tour. Show all posts
Monday, March 16, 2015
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
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
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
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