Hello Everyone,
Wow, I cannot believe this day is here already. This is my final email home. AHHH! So crazy. This past week was super good though, as always. Being a missionary great! Last Monday, Cinco de Cuatro, we had our District P-Day. We hung out with a recent-convert in the Ward, and went to Minneapolis. We hit up the sculpture gardens, the Basilica of St. Mary, and the Foshay Tower. It was awesome! I absolutely love Downtown Minneapolis, so it was a super satisfying District P-Day :) In the evening, our investigator was supposed to have his baptism interview with President Forbes, but he got stuck in Rochester, MN. We talked with him about our investigator, and President decided that he didn't actually need a second interview, so that was good news! We had a family home evening lesson with the a family'. I love that family, but lets be real... I kind of love everyone here in Minnesota. But they are super great! When he was in college, the dad wrote the Book of Lemuel, which I actually had a copy of, so I had him sign it. AWESOME! Then to finish off the day, we visited with the another family and said goodbye. Saying goodbye is weird. It reminds me of leaving for my mission. You say goodbye to people, and it doesn't even feel real. Your mind doesn't even comprehend what is going on. It makes saying goodbye a lot easier though! Plus, serving in America where it is easy to stay in contact and visit with people helps as well.
On Tuesday, Cinco de Mayo and Battle of Puebla Day (MX), we had a Missionary Leadership Council (MLC) so that was really cool! I have been wanting to go to an MLC my whole mission, so it was good to be able to finally go before I head home. We discussed Christ-like leadership, changes in policies for the mission, and a few other things. At the end of MLC, President Forbes asked me and the three other departing missionaries that attended MLC to bear our testimonies. It kind of threw me off at first, but I was super grateful that I got to bear my testimony before I peace out! I talked about the power of missionary work, and the principle of change. I am so grateful for my mission. I shared some advice with everyone that my Grandpa gave me before I left on my mission. He shared with me the three most important rules for your mission. "Obedience, obedience, obedience!" To be totally honest, I am totally a rule breaker by nature. Nothing severe, but I just have a little rebellious streak that keeps things fun and exciting at times. On your mission, however, it just causes problems. At the beginning, I wasn't exactly obedient, and when I was obedient I did it begrudgingly. As a result, the start of my mission was REALLY hard for me. Missions are hard enough, there is no reason to make them more difficult! As I turned to the Lord, and strove to be more obedient, however, it got better. Life is good now :) After MLC, I went on exchange with an elder from Kayesville, Utah. We had a rocking exchange! He goes home next transfer, so we were able to talk things through a little bit. I don't ever want to talk with my companion about going home because I don't want to distract him, so it was really helpful to be able to talk things out haha! For the remainder of the day, we visited with the a family and talked to them about the power of the Book of Mormon. We watched a YouTube video with them called "All About That Book". They loved it! Then to finish off the evening we visited with the another family. We taught the Law of Tithing with candy. We all got a bunch of Star-bursts currency, and had to go through life paying our bills and what not. When we payed our tithing, it was apparent that we received blessings, most of which were unseen. When we didn't we got in a car accident and had to go to the hospital, expenses and stresses that were unforeseen when we payed our tithing. We talked about the diversity of the blessings that God gives us. Often we overlook most of the things that God has blessed us with! All in all, it was a super good lesson.
On Wednesday, we exchanged back and had District Meeting. We talked about receiving revelation through prayer, and the importance of encouraging our investigators to pray as well as praying sincerely ourselves. For a handout, I gave out Hershey's nuggets and said "Here is an important nugget" and shared a scripture (Moroni 7:48) about prayer. It worked out really nicely. It felt really weird though that it was my last District Meeting, and for whatever reason I was possessed to assign myself the closing prayer. It was not fun. I didn't cry, but I was definitely holding back tears. After District Meeting, I went on exchange with an elder form Taiwan. We did some finding for a while and stopped by a few potentials. We met some interesting people to say the least haha! There was one woman that was trying to convert us to her Church, so that is always exciting. She wants us to come to Church with her sometime, but our Churches are at the same time. Kind of an unwritten rule, but when you are a Mormon Missionary, you should probably go to your own Church ;) In the evening we visited with a family and said goodbye, and then had a lesson with the our investigators and planned out his baptism.
On Thursday, National Day of Prayer, we exchanged back and did our weekly service at the library. In the afternoon I packed up a few boxes to ship home, and then I had my last appointment with the Chiropractor. Later we had accountability with the Elders, and then we shared a Mother's Day message with a family. Afterward we visited with another, and I shared the "Repencil" lesson with them. To finish off the day, we had Family Home Evening with a family. We played a vamped up verson of Uno that was super exciting, and then took a bunch of pictures of course!
On Friday we cleaned our apartment, had accountability with the Zone Leaders, and then did our weekly service at the senior center. Gotta love all the people there! For the remainder of the afternoon we had weekly planning. That was super weird for me! My companions that I have sent home in the past had a hard time with weekly planning. In fact, all of them just left it up to me. I told my companion that he would be leading out in the weekly planning, but I tried to participate as best as I could. It shook me up a little bit though to realized that I wouldn't be here for any of the plans that we were making. Kind of depressing. Needless to say, I drank A LOT of Diet Coke in those three hours! In the evening we visited with a part-member family. She recently went through the temple, and her husband is a very active Lutheran. They are a super great family! We shared with them the new Mother's Day video that the Church produced, #TimeForMom, and we talked about Mother's Day. We then visited with another family and said farewell. They are hilarious! To finish off the day, we visited with a woman. She wasn't feeling super good, but we shared a video called the "Emmet Smith Story". It is a true story about a guy who loved to run but had a brain tumor and had to re-learn how to walk and then to run. The doctors told him that he would never be able to walk on his own again, but he set goals and worked really hard to achieve them, and he did! We talked about the power that we have to reach our potential if we are willing to work at it. It was a really good last lesson!
On Saturday I had to wash all of my clothes and start packing in the morning. Yep... that was weird! It kind of feels like another transfer, but this transfer will be WAY different than all of the others. In the afternoon we did some mormon.org time and then we helped out at the senior center for a while. Every second Saturday the Ward has a Bingo day at the senior center. Good stuff! We had to head out a little bit early to start filling the baptismal font and start setting up for our investigator’s baptism. He got baptized, and it was awesome :) When we were planning his baptism service, his wife was pretty adamant about not speaking at his baptism. She does not like speaking in front of large groups of people. After he was baptized, she asked if she could say a few words and she bore her testimony and talked about the changes that he has undergone to become a member of the Church and the influence that the Church has had in their lives. It was awesome! You could feel the Spirit so strongly! In the evening we had a bunch of goodbye visits. We saw the three different families. There are so many great people in this ward! I don't know how missionaries do it when they don't have a week to say goodbye like I do. Crazy stuff!
On Sunday, Mother's Day, we of course had Church in the morning. So many good talks about Mothers :) Our investigator was confirmed a member of the Church, and then they announced that it was my last Sunday. That was tough. After Church we went over to the the ward mission leader’s house and Skyped home. This Skype call was very different, however. We made a few plans for my return home, discussed a few other things, and then we were off to other things haha ;) It was fun to see everyone, but if it weren't Mother's Day it would have been kind of pointless to Skype just a few days before you return home haha! My companion had a harder time with his Skype call. It was a VERY emotional time for him and his family. I don't think my Skype calls have ever been particularly distracting to me, but I think it was really tough for him. In the evening we visited with the a family, and then I had to start packing. Kind of bad planning on my part! I didn't think about the fact that it would present extra time for my companion to dwell on his Skype call with his family and think about things back home. I had him watch a movie and sign my testimony journal though, so I think he was good.
Today we drove to Sonic of course, and I had my exit interview with President Forbes. It was SUPER casual. We were chilling on the couch in the Mission Home discussing my plans for when I return home. He advised me to continue reading my scriptures, praying, and serving others. Inactivity is a big concern for Mission Presidents when they send their missionaries home. He told me to take my education seriously, and to take dating seriously as well. He told me not to get married in three months, which I appreciated haha! He told me to review the For The Strength of Youth pamphlet when I return home, and to attend the temple often. He advised me not to live in Utah for the rest of my life, and I very much so agreed. After my exit interview, we went to the Mall of America with the ward mission leader and our Zone Leaders. Oh my gosh! It was breathtaking! Definitely a spiritual experience :) I absolutely loved it. I took SO many pictures, but the pictures don't even do it justice. I will definitely be returning there one day soon :) AND, (my Mom will be proud of me for this part) I didn't actually buy anything while we were there! #I'mAwesome #I'mBroke #NextTime. The Forbes are flying out to Utah tomorrow morning at 6:00 AM, so we will be spending tomorrow with a senior missionary couple. It has been fun!
Thank you all for all of your love and support while I have been here in the MMM. I can't believe that my time here has come to a close, but it's been real. I truly have the best friends and family members in the world :) I will SEE you all soon!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Monday, May 11, 2015
Monday, May 4, 2015
Living Gospel Principles
Hello Everyone,
This week has been kind of crazy, but as always, it all came together in the end haha! On Monday we had our Zone P-Day. We went bowling and then we played some games in a park afterwards. It was super fun! The Minneapolis Zone is the best :) I wasn't half bad at bowling either, which is surprising, because bowling is NOT my thing! I was talking with the Assistants about scheduling my exit interview so not to conflict with our Mall of America trip, and they filled me in on some mission news. President Forbes will be in Salt Lake City when our group goes home for a Mission Presidents training. We will instead be spending our last day with Elder Rulon F. Stacey (former CEO of Fairfield hospitals) from our Mission Presidency who was just called as an Area Seventy. Because of all of this insanity, they are trying to schedule our exit interviews before President Forbes leaves for Salt Lake. Kind of insane! In the evening we had a Family Home Evening with the two families in the ward. One family just recently moved in to the ward, so it was good to be able to get to know them better. We had a lot of really great gospel discussions with them, but I think one thing that I learned the most about was living up to our marriage covenants. Just because you are sealed does not mean you can stop living gospel principles!
On Tuesday we had District Meeting, and the Zone Leaders were able to come. We had a really great discussion about member missionary work, and how we can assist the members in our wards to do this work. I was able to reference a book that my grandparents sent me, "The Highly Effective Missionary" which talks a LOT about member missionary work! It worked out really nicely. After District Meeting we did some finding and visited with our investigators. We discussed the baptismal interview questions with the husband, and reviewed a couple of commandments with him. We then contacted President Forbes and scheduled his baptismal interview. With President Forbes leaving here shortly, his schedule is SUPER busy, but luckily we were able to figure out a time that works for both of their schedules. In the evening we went out joint teaching with the bishop and had a lesson with an investigator family. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). For repentance we used a fun visual by filling a jar with water, and putting drops of food coloring in it to represent sin. Then as we repent, we poured bleach into the dark nasty water which cleansed it so that it was clean and pure again! They asked us a lot of questions about baptism, so we had a really great discussion about that as well.
On Wednesday we had lunch with the other Elders at a pizza place which is probably one of my favorite restaurants in Minnesota, and then we volunteered at the charity. There were only 7 of us there in the session, so we didn't get us much done as we normally do when we go. We did, however, meet a really nice Indian couple that we were working with. They are Hindu, so I talked to them about my experience at the Holi Festival of Colors at the Holi Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah. They have been to the legit Holi Festival of Colors in India, and said that it is a definite must see! Next stop... India :) Funny how life experiences like getting covered in and in-hailing a bunch of colored chalk dust can help you to connect to other people! In the afternoon we stopped by a few new records that we received in the ward, and confirmed a few addresses for those people. In the evening we went out joint teaching with the ward mission leader, and he demonstrated a new initiative that the Minneapolis Stake is doing for record removals. Basically what we do with people that are not interested in the Church anymore is we talk about how when they are baptized, a record is created for them. That record will follow them for the rest of their life and will transfer with them whenever they move. With that record, members will always stop by from time to time to see how they are doing and to see if the Church can help them in any way. If they do not want contact with the Church anymore and they do not want to be a member anymore, then they must request to have their records removed. We visited with three people in the evening, and that was definitely the case with all three of them! So hopefully we will get some work done and clean up the records here. It is crazy how many people are inactive and super anti towards the Church that are on the Church records out in the mission field!
On Thursday we did our weekly service at the library. We put a bunch of books, movies, magazines, and audio books away. Always a party! Later we had accountability with the other Elders, and then I had a chiropractor appointment. I love all the people in the chiropractic office! Definitely will need to take a picture with all of them before I leave. My last appointment is next Thursday, so I will need to remember to do that! In the afternoon we did some finding and we met this super cool kid. He is 16 years old, and his family is Catholic, but they never go to Church. He is very curious about everything, and has a lot of questions that his Church has never been able to answer for him. He said that he wasn't interested in meeting with us, but then he kept talking with us and asking questions. We gave him a card and a pamphlet with all of our information on it, and then we said that we would stop by again in the future to see what he thought of it. We shall see where things go! We also met a guy who lives on a farm. He was vacuuming these purple things that look like rocks out of this big farm machine, and I started to talk with him. I asked if there was anything we could do to help, and inquired about the purple rocks. He laughed and said "You're not from around here are you!" Apparently those purple rocks are corn seeds, and the big farm machine is a seed planter. We talked a little bit, and shared a card with him. Unfortunately he wasn't super interested though. In the evening we did some finding, and set up a few appointments with a few people for before I go home.
On Friday, May Day and Labor Day in Mexico, we did some mormon.org time in the morning. Later we had an accountability call with our Zone Leaders. Good times! In the afternoon we visited with a member and shared the video with her "Only A Stonecutter". This video is awesome, and talks about the importance of consecration, service, and the power of one. For the remainder of the afternoon we did our Weekly Planning. In the evening we stopped by a few potential investigators and then had a lesson with a member. We shared the video "The Mountain Of The Lord" with her and talked to her about the temple. She had been having an AWFUL day, so it was good to be able to brighten it up a little bit. She had some questions in previous lessons about the temple, so it was good to be able to answer those for her.
On Saturday we did some Area Book work and then visited with an investigator family in the afternoon. We reviewed the commandments and talked to him about some baptism plans. Later in the afternoon we did some service for one of the member's friends. He bought these SUPER heavy rocks and so we helped him move them. It was a party, and I thought one of us were going to lose a finger or an arm for a while. In the evening we had the Adult Session of Stake Conference. We went with a member family, so that was super fun! Elder G. Lawrence Spackman from Calgary, Canada was presiding! Gotta love those Canadian's :) He was hilarious! He talked a lot about missionary work, as well as the work of the ministering of angels. He talked about the work that angels are doing on the other side, and I remember the whole time he spoke I was reminded about the aid that I have received from the other side while I have been on my mission. I remembered that in the first letter I received from my Mom on my mission she told me about the aid that I would be receiving from my Uncle Wayne, and he certainly has been there for me numerous times on my mission.
On Sunday we had Stake Conference in a ward building I served in, so that was super fun! It brought back a lot of memories from when I served in that ward. That Stake had Stake Conference that day as well so I wasn't able to see the members of that Ward, but I did see the bishop at the Church later in the day, so that was super fun! I learned a lot about the importance of reading the scriptures every day, and the importance of families joining together in the gospel. In the afternoon we did some finding and stopped by a few potentials. We had a visit with a family in the ward, and talked a lot about the missionary work going on here in the ward. The dad is in the Stake Presidency, so we don't see him a whole lot. We received a call from the bishop asking us to make some time to visit with the a specific family before I go home, and so when we had an appointment fall through in the evening we went and visited with them. That family lost their mom to cancer about three years ago. They have had a tough time with it, as expected, but his 14 year old son, is having an especially hard time with it. We talked with the dad for a while, and he shared with us his conversion story and many stories from his mission. We shared a Mormon message with him called "Mountains To Climb" and asked him to share it with his son. It was a really great visit!
Thank you all for all of your love and support! SEE you soon!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
This week has been kind of crazy, but as always, it all came together in the end haha! On Monday we had our Zone P-Day. We went bowling and then we played some games in a park afterwards. It was super fun! The Minneapolis Zone is the best :) I wasn't half bad at bowling either, which is surprising, because bowling is NOT my thing! I was talking with the Assistants about scheduling my exit interview so not to conflict with our Mall of America trip, and they filled me in on some mission news. President Forbes will be in Salt Lake City when our group goes home for a Mission Presidents training. We will instead be spending our last day with Elder Rulon F. Stacey (former CEO of Fairfield hospitals) from our Mission Presidency who was just called as an Area Seventy. Because of all of this insanity, they are trying to schedule our exit interviews before President Forbes leaves for Salt Lake. Kind of insane! In the evening we had a Family Home Evening with the two families in the ward. One family just recently moved in to the ward, so it was good to be able to get to know them better. We had a lot of really great gospel discussions with them, but I think one thing that I learned the most about was living up to our marriage covenants. Just because you are sealed does not mean you can stop living gospel principles!
On Tuesday we had District Meeting, and the Zone Leaders were able to come. We had a really great discussion about member missionary work, and how we can assist the members in our wards to do this work. I was able to reference a book that my grandparents sent me, "The Highly Effective Missionary" which talks a LOT about member missionary work! It worked out really nicely. After District Meeting we did some finding and visited with our investigators. We discussed the baptismal interview questions with the husband, and reviewed a couple of commandments with him. We then contacted President Forbes and scheduled his baptismal interview. With President Forbes leaving here shortly, his schedule is SUPER busy, but luckily we were able to figure out a time that works for both of their schedules. In the evening we went out joint teaching with the bishop and had a lesson with an investigator family. We talked about the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). For repentance we used a fun visual by filling a jar with water, and putting drops of food coloring in it to represent sin. Then as we repent, we poured bleach into the dark nasty water which cleansed it so that it was clean and pure again! They asked us a lot of questions about baptism, so we had a really great discussion about that as well.
On Wednesday we had lunch with the other Elders at a pizza place which is probably one of my favorite restaurants in Minnesota, and then we volunteered at the charity. There were only 7 of us there in the session, so we didn't get us much done as we normally do when we go. We did, however, meet a really nice Indian couple that we were working with. They are Hindu, so I talked to them about my experience at the Holi Festival of Colors at the Holi Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork, Utah. They have been to the legit Holi Festival of Colors in India, and said that it is a definite must see! Next stop... India :) Funny how life experiences like getting covered in and in-hailing a bunch of colored chalk dust can help you to connect to other people! In the afternoon we stopped by a few new records that we received in the ward, and confirmed a few addresses for those people. In the evening we went out joint teaching with the ward mission leader, and he demonstrated a new initiative that the Minneapolis Stake is doing for record removals. Basically what we do with people that are not interested in the Church anymore is we talk about how when they are baptized, a record is created for them. That record will follow them for the rest of their life and will transfer with them whenever they move. With that record, members will always stop by from time to time to see how they are doing and to see if the Church can help them in any way. If they do not want contact with the Church anymore and they do not want to be a member anymore, then they must request to have their records removed. We visited with three people in the evening, and that was definitely the case with all three of them! So hopefully we will get some work done and clean up the records here. It is crazy how many people are inactive and super anti towards the Church that are on the Church records out in the mission field!
On Thursday we did our weekly service at the library. We put a bunch of books, movies, magazines, and audio books away. Always a party! Later we had accountability with the other Elders, and then I had a chiropractor appointment. I love all the people in the chiropractic office! Definitely will need to take a picture with all of them before I leave. My last appointment is next Thursday, so I will need to remember to do that! In the afternoon we did some finding and we met this super cool kid. He is 16 years old, and his family is Catholic, but they never go to Church. He is very curious about everything, and has a lot of questions that his Church has never been able to answer for him. He said that he wasn't interested in meeting with us, but then he kept talking with us and asking questions. We gave him a card and a pamphlet with all of our information on it, and then we said that we would stop by again in the future to see what he thought of it. We shall see where things go! We also met a guy who lives on a farm. He was vacuuming these purple things that look like rocks out of this big farm machine, and I started to talk with him. I asked if there was anything we could do to help, and inquired about the purple rocks. He laughed and said "You're not from around here are you!" Apparently those purple rocks are corn seeds, and the big farm machine is a seed planter. We talked a little bit, and shared a card with him. Unfortunately he wasn't super interested though. In the evening we did some finding, and set up a few appointments with a few people for before I go home.
On Friday, May Day and Labor Day in Mexico, we did some mormon.org time in the morning. Later we had an accountability call with our Zone Leaders. Good times! In the afternoon we visited with a member and shared the video with her "Only A Stonecutter". This video is awesome, and talks about the importance of consecration, service, and the power of one. For the remainder of the afternoon we did our Weekly Planning. In the evening we stopped by a few potential investigators and then had a lesson with a member. We shared the video "The Mountain Of The Lord" with her and talked to her about the temple. She had been having an AWFUL day, so it was good to be able to brighten it up a little bit. She had some questions in previous lessons about the temple, so it was good to be able to answer those for her.
On Saturday we did some Area Book work and then visited with an investigator family in the afternoon. We reviewed the commandments and talked to him about some baptism plans. Later in the afternoon we did some service for one of the member's friends. He bought these SUPER heavy rocks and so we helped him move them. It was a party, and I thought one of us were going to lose a finger or an arm for a while. In the evening we had the Adult Session of Stake Conference. We went with a member family, so that was super fun! Elder G. Lawrence Spackman from Calgary, Canada was presiding! Gotta love those Canadian's :) He was hilarious! He talked a lot about missionary work, as well as the work of the ministering of angels. He talked about the work that angels are doing on the other side, and I remember the whole time he spoke I was reminded about the aid that I have received from the other side while I have been on my mission. I remembered that in the first letter I received from my Mom on my mission she told me about the aid that I would be receiving from my Uncle Wayne, and he certainly has been there for me numerous times on my mission.
On Sunday we had Stake Conference in a ward building I served in, so that was super fun! It brought back a lot of memories from when I served in that ward. That Stake had Stake Conference that day as well so I wasn't able to see the members of that Ward, but I did see the bishop at the Church later in the day, so that was super fun! I learned a lot about the importance of reading the scriptures every day, and the importance of families joining together in the gospel. In the afternoon we did some finding and stopped by a few potentials. We had a visit with a family in the ward, and talked a lot about the missionary work going on here in the ward. The dad is in the Stake Presidency, so we don't see him a whole lot. We received a call from the bishop asking us to make some time to visit with the a specific family before I go home, and so when we had an appointment fall through in the evening we went and visited with them. That family lost their mom to cancer about three years ago. They have had a tough time with it, as expected, but his 14 year old son, is having an especially hard time with it. We talked with the dad for a while, and he shared with us his conversion story and many stories from his mission. We shared a Mormon message with him called "Mountains To Climb" and asked him to share it with his son. It was a really great visit!
Thank you all for all of your love and support! SEE you soon!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Monday, April 27, 2015
Missionaries Always Stop by at Just the Right Moments
Hello Everyone,
This week has been great :) The weather has been kinda wacky, but things are good! On Monday we had our P-Day, which is always fun. It was my last P-Day that isn't super scheduled out, so it was good to be able to enjoy some down time haha! In the coming weeks we have our Zone P-Day, our District P-Day, and our Mall of America trip. I am super stoked for the upcoming P-Days though :) In the evening we had Family Home Evening with a family. I love that family! I shared the "repencil" lesson with them, and it was a really fun evening. Their daughter shared her hedgehog with us, so that was super cool! I did have a dumb blonde moment though. I tried to pet her hedgehog. Ouch! I did it quickly before anyone could warn me of my "special moment" so I got poked. I kind of want a hedgehog now, but it is also kind of a boring pet. You can't do much with it. Dogs are still the best! To finish off the day we visited with another family. We talked to them about the blessings of the gospel in families, and had a really great discussion. All in all it was a good day!
On Tuesday we had District Meeting, which is always exciting! This week District Meeting was on the Doctrine of Christ and our Missionary Purpose. We did a scripture chase, I talked about our purpose for a little bit, one Elder gave a training on the principle of love in missionary work, and the other Elder gave a training on the baptismal invitation. For my handout I had a red ribbon that I cut out at the library on the dye cut machine that I wrote our missionary purpose on, and on the back it says "What is your RIESEN for serving a mission?" and I had the "riesen" candies of course ;) After District Meeting I went on exchange with one of the new Elders in the area. He is originally from San Diego, California but then his family moved to a small town of 600 people in Idaho. For our exchange we did a little bit of everything. We did some finding, stopped by a few potentials and less-actives, and had a few appointments. In the afternoon the weather was nuts! It was a beautiful day, and then all the sudden it started hailing, then snowing, then it melted and was fine again. Crazy Minnesota weather! We visited with a man, which was kind of fun. My temporary companion taught him before he moved here, so we had a fun little reunion haha! We talked about the Book of Mormon and faith. In the evening we had a lesson with a family on the Plan of Salvation. I bought a can of cheap shaving cream, and we turned their kitchen table into a whiteboard. As we taught the Plan of Salvation, we drew what was happening into the shaving cream. It is always fun to be able to get hands on and involved in a lesson, and I think it helped them to learn better. It was super fun!
On Wednesday, Earth Day #SaveTheWorld and Administrative Professionals Day, we had an interview in the morning, and then we exchanged back at the temple. We went to the St. Paul Minnesota Temple with some members. They are great! At the temple I saw a few people that I knew so that was awesome! Two families from previous areas were there! It was great, plus I am starting to get the hang of this whole temple thing haha! I feel like I make a fool of myself half of the time, but this time I didn't need as much help at the veil. After the temple we had lunch and I did a little bit of clean up at our apartment. One of my goals on my mission is to always have a Celestial Apartment. Some of my companions are not always super supportive of this goal, however, so it makes it a little bit difficult. Since I have been in this area I have had two rather messy companions, so I have been on my own on the cleaning. I was cleaning, and my companion did some studying. We did some scheduling and made a bunch of phone calls in the afternoon and then we went out and did some finding. In the evening our appointments fell through, so we were able to help out with the Ward Service Project. We are responsible for a section of the highway, so we were doing some clean up alongside the highway. It was a good time. I was hanging out with my crew. We were freezing, but we made it fun! Kind of a gross job, but it worked out ;)
On Thursday morning we helped move some furniture. One family in the ward got some new furniture and so they gave our investigator family their old furniture. I never know how we always manage to get furniture in and out of people's homes, but it always works. It's a miracle! I swear this couch was NOT going to fit. We squeezed it through the doors, did some rearranging, and somehow we got it in! We visited with our investigator for a little while and reset his baptismal date for May 9th. They have had a rough week! She got Influenza B and Pneumonia, and then he got Bronchitis and Influenza B a day later. Needless to say we did some major hand washing after we met with them! Later we did our weekly service at the library. This week we were working on cow dye cuts. My companion cut out the cows, and I hole punched them and did some minor assembly. #BarnyardBash In the afternoon we had accountability with the Elders, and it sounds like things are starting to pick up. They found a few new investigators, and things are looking good! In the evening we did a little bit of finding, and then we had Family Home Evening with a family. It was the son’s turn to choose the game, and he chose Clue and Life. The daughter dominated at Clue, and then we weren't able to finish Life.
On Friday we had our mormon.org time in the morning, and then we had accountability with the Zone Leaders. Good times! Now that we don't have Sisters in the District I don't have a gossip hour call with the Sister Training Leaders, so that was kind of weird. Later we did our weekly service at the Senior Center. Good ole' Yahtzee! This week only one person got a Yahtzee so it was a little bit slower. Still a good time though :) After the Senior Center we did some Weekly Planning. It kind of rocked my world a little bit. I realized that after this Weekly Planning session I will only have two more on my mission. Super weird! In the evening we stopped by a few people in another city and then we visited with an investigator. We shared the video, "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" with her and she loved it. She is interested in learning more about the Church and how it was established, so that video was perfect!
On Saturday we attended a baptism (8-year-old in the ward) and then we went to the library and made some music CD's. On Friday night recent convert from the other Elder’s ward was texting us and told us that she was having a tough time. She wasn't loving the new missionaries in their ward, and she felt like she was just in a little bit of a funk. She asked us if we knew of any upbeat and uplifting music that she could listen to to better surround herself with the gospel, and so we told her that we would make her a bunch of CD's to listen to with all kinds of uplifting music. In the afternoon we did some finding and met a couple cool people in the city. One of them has met with the missionaries before, and wants to come check out the Church sometime. The only problem is that he is a baseball coach for his son's team, and all of their games are on Saturdays and Sundays. Hopefully he will be able to come sometime soon though! In the evening we visited with a less-active member. We talked to her about Church, and she mentioned that she has really been meaning to get out and come to Church. They have been through some tough times recently, and she knows that Church can help them out.
On Sunday we attended Ward Council bright and early, and then we had Church. We have Stake Conference next week, so it was a Fast Sunday. Three of our investigators came to Church, so that was awesome! After Church we went and did some finding, and some stop by's. As the day progressed it felt like we were doing some records clean up haha! We stopped by a family, and they asked us how they could get their records removed. We told them, and then we stopped by another family. They also asked us how they could get their records removed. So then we stopped by yet another family. Same deal there. But to finish off our stop-by's, we visited with a family. One is a less-active member, and no one else in his family is a member. His Mom answered the door, and came out and talked with us for a while. She said they were busy and didn't have time to meet with us, but as we talked with her she began to open up more and more. She told us that her brother and his family were living with them and that he was a hardcore alcoholic, and was very controlling and verbally abusive. She said that she hates being in her home, and that she wants him to move out. Later her son came and joined us, and he told us that talking with us was kind of like a breath of fresh air. She told us that missionaries always come and stop by at just the right moments, and that they would like to meet with us again. We exchanged information and went on our way. It was a super cool moment! Later we had our weekly meeting with the Bishop after having dinner with his family, and then we had our weekly correlation meeting with the ward mission leader. We had an interesting finish to our evening, however. We got in the car to drive home, and I sat down on my seat (which was soaking wet) and our car smelled like alcohol. I looked over at my bag and noticed that my portable hand sanitizer had exploded, and so our car smelled like hand sanitizer haha! So we had a little clean up party to finish off the day.
Thank you all so much for all of your love and support! I have the best family and friends in the world :) It is crazy to think that in just 2 short weeks I will be home again. I found out this past week that my homecoming will be on May 17th, just a few days after my arrival home. You are all invited :)
Here are the details from the Facebook Invitation.
(Sunday, May 17 at 2:50pm
It's been a great two years serving in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission (MMM) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! My homecoming will be at the Grandview Stake Center. I would love to see you!
Please join us immediately afterward at our home (1675 N 1670 W Provo) for food and great company ;)
For my non-LDS friends: Find out more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by visiting www.mormon.org)
Have a great week!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
This week has been great :) The weather has been kinda wacky, but things are good! On Monday we had our P-Day, which is always fun. It was my last P-Day that isn't super scheduled out, so it was good to be able to enjoy some down time haha! In the coming weeks we have our Zone P-Day, our District P-Day, and our Mall of America trip. I am super stoked for the upcoming P-Days though :) In the evening we had Family Home Evening with a family. I love that family! I shared the "repencil" lesson with them, and it was a really fun evening. Their daughter shared her hedgehog with us, so that was super cool! I did have a dumb blonde moment though. I tried to pet her hedgehog. Ouch! I did it quickly before anyone could warn me of my "special moment" so I got poked. I kind of want a hedgehog now, but it is also kind of a boring pet. You can't do much with it. Dogs are still the best! To finish off the day we visited with another family. We talked to them about the blessings of the gospel in families, and had a really great discussion. All in all it was a good day!
On Tuesday we had District Meeting, which is always exciting! This week District Meeting was on the Doctrine of Christ and our Missionary Purpose. We did a scripture chase, I talked about our purpose for a little bit, one Elder gave a training on the principle of love in missionary work, and the other Elder gave a training on the baptismal invitation. For my handout I had a red ribbon that I cut out at the library on the dye cut machine that I wrote our missionary purpose on, and on the back it says "What is your RIESEN for serving a mission?" and I had the "riesen" candies of course ;) After District Meeting I went on exchange with one of the new Elders in the area. He is originally from San Diego, California but then his family moved to a small town of 600 people in Idaho. For our exchange we did a little bit of everything. We did some finding, stopped by a few potentials and less-actives, and had a few appointments. In the afternoon the weather was nuts! It was a beautiful day, and then all the sudden it started hailing, then snowing, then it melted and was fine again. Crazy Minnesota weather! We visited with a man, which was kind of fun. My temporary companion taught him before he moved here, so we had a fun little reunion haha! We talked about the Book of Mormon and faith. In the evening we had a lesson with a family on the Plan of Salvation. I bought a can of cheap shaving cream, and we turned their kitchen table into a whiteboard. As we taught the Plan of Salvation, we drew what was happening into the shaving cream. It is always fun to be able to get hands on and involved in a lesson, and I think it helped them to learn better. It was super fun!
On Wednesday, Earth Day #SaveTheWorld and Administrative Professionals Day, we had an interview in the morning, and then we exchanged back at the temple. We went to the St. Paul Minnesota Temple with some members. They are great! At the temple I saw a few people that I knew so that was awesome! Two families from previous areas were there! It was great, plus I am starting to get the hang of this whole temple thing haha! I feel like I make a fool of myself half of the time, but this time I didn't need as much help at the veil. After the temple we had lunch and I did a little bit of clean up at our apartment. One of my goals on my mission is to always have a Celestial Apartment. Some of my companions are not always super supportive of this goal, however, so it makes it a little bit difficult. Since I have been in this area I have had two rather messy companions, so I have been on my own on the cleaning. I was cleaning, and my companion did some studying. We did some scheduling and made a bunch of phone calls in the afternoon and then we went out and did some finding. In the evening our appointments fell through, so we were able to help out with the Ward Service Project. We are responsible for a section of the highway, so we were doing some clean up alongside the highway. It was a good time. I was hanging out with my crew. We were freezing, but we made it fun! Kind of a gross job, but it worked out ;)
On Thursday morning we helped move some furniture. One family in the ward got some new furniture and so they gave our investigator family their old furniture. I never know how we always manage to get furniture in and out of people's homes, but it always works. It's a miracle! I swear this couch was NOT going to fit. We squeezed it through the doors, did some rearranging, and somehow we got it in! We visited with our investigator for a little while and reset his baptismal date for May 9th. They have had a rough week! She got Influenza B and Pneumonia, and then he got Bronchitis and Influenza B a day later. Needless to say we did some major hand washing after we met with them! Later we did our weekly service at the library. This week we were working on cow dye cuts. My companion cut out the cows, and I hole punched them and did some minor assembly. #BarnyardBash In the afternoon we had accountability with the Elders, and it sounds like things are starting to pick up. They found a few new investigators, and things are looking good! In the evening we did a little bit of finding, and then we had Family Home Evening with a family. It was the son’s turn to choose the game, and he chose Clue and Life. The daughter dominated at Clue, and then we weren't able to finish Life.
On Friday we had our mormon.org time in the morning, and then we had accountability with the Zone Leaders. Good times! Now that we don't have Sisters in the District I don't have a gossip hour call with the Sister Training Leaders, so that was kind of weird. Later we did our weekly service at the Senior Center. Good ole' Yahtzee! This week only one person got a Yahtzee so it was a little bit slower. Still a good time though :) After the Senior Center we did some Weekly Planning. It kind of rocked my world a little bit. I realized that after this Weekly Planning session I will only have two more on my mission. Super weird! In the evening we stopped by a few people in another city and then we visited with an investigator. We shared the video, "Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration" with her and she loved it. She is interested in learning more about the Church and how it was established, so that video was perfect!
On Saturday we attended a baptism (8-year-old in the ward) and then we went to the library and made some music CD's. On Friday night recent convert from the other Elder’s ward was texting us and told us that she was having a tough time. She wasn't loving the new missionaries in their ward, and she felt like she was just in a little bit of a funk. She asked us if we knew of any upbeat and uplifting music that she could listen to to better surround herself with the gospel, and so we told her that we would make her a bunch of CD's to listen to with all kinds of uplifting music. In the afternoon we did some finding and met a couple cool people in the city. One of them has met with the missionaries before, and wants to come check out the Church sometime. The only problem is that he is a baseball coach for his son's team, and all of their games are on Saturdays and Sundays. Hopefully he will be able to come sometime soon though! In the evening we visited with a less-active member. We talked to her about Church, and she mentioned that she has really been meaning to get out and come to Church. They have been through some tough times recently, and she knows that Church can help them out.
On Sunday we attended Ward Council bright and early, and then we had Church. We have Stake Conference next week, so it was a Fast Sunday. Three of our investigators came to Church, so that was awesome! After Church we went and did some finding, and some stop by's. As the day progressed it felt like we were doing some records clean up haha! We stopped by a family, and they asked us how they could get their records removed. We told them, and then we stopped by another family. They also asked us how they could get their records removed. So then we stopped by yet another family. Same deal there. But to finish off our stop-by's, we visited with a family. One is a less-active member, and no one else in his family is a member. His Mom answered the door, and came out and talked with us for a while. She said they were busy and didn't have time to meet with us, but as we talked with her she began to open up more and more. She told us that her brother and his family were living with them and that he was a hardcore alcoholic, and was very controlling and verbally abusive. She said that she hates being in her home, and that she wants him to move out. Later her son came and joined us, and he told us that talking with us was kind of like a breath of fresh air. She told us that missionaries always come and stop by at just the right moments, and that they would like to meet with us again. We exchanged information and went on our way. It was a super cool moment! Later we had our weekly meeting with the Bishop after having dinner with his family, and then we had our weekly correlation meeting with the ward mission leader. We had an interesting finish to our evening, however. We got in the car to drive home, and I sat down on my seat (which was soaking wet) and our car smelled like alcohol. I looked over at my bag and noticed that my portable hand sanitizer had exploded, and so our car smelled like hand sanitizer haha! So we had a little clean up party to finish off the day.
Thank you all so much for all of your love and support! I have the best family and friends in the world :) It is crazy to think that in just 2 short weeks I will be home again. I found out this past week that my homecoming will be on May 17th, just a few days after my arrival home. You are all invited :)
Here are the details from the Facebook Invitation.
(Sunday, May 17 at 2:50pm
It's been a great two years serving in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission (MMM) for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints! My homecoming will be at the Grandview Stake Center. I would love to see you!
Please join us immediately afterward at our home (1675 N 1670 W Provo) for food and great company ;)
For my non-LDS friends: Find out more about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by visiting www.mormon.org)
Have a great week!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Monday, April 20, 2015
National Volunteer Week
Hello Everyone,
Sorry it took me so long today to send out my email haha! There was some drama this morning. If blood makes you queasy, skip this paragraph! So I was minding my own business, getting ready for the day, and I reached over to grab my toothbrush and brushed my razor with my finger. No big deal. I brushed my teeth, and continued getting ready for the day and then I realized my finger was gushing blood! I rinsed off my finger, and put a band-aid on, and went on my way. Later I realized my band-aid was overflowing and blood was getting all over my desk. So then I rewashed my hand, soaked up all the blood and put on a fresh new band-aid. A few minutes later, the same thing happened. So I got a paper towel, wrapped my finger in it, and waiting for the blood to die down. When my finger appeared to be done bleeding I got another band-aid and life was good again. Wait.... life wasn't good again! That band-aid started overflowing with blood as well! Good grief. So I wrapped my finger again, rinsed everything out, and waited for a while. Then I wrapped a new paper towel around my finger, put a band-aid over the paper towel, and that is how my finger will remain for the day haha! It still looks super nasty because blood has been seeping through the paper towel, but I needed to get on with my day haha. "Ain't nobody got time for that!"
It has been another great week! The sun has been out, the weather has been awesome, and spring has officially sprung :) On Monday we had our Zone Interviews with President Forbes. He drove out to our area to interview us and the Sister Missionaries, so that was fun. We were running late to our interviews however, and so I had the opportunity to meet this really nice man. We talked for a little while, and then he lowered my speeding ticket to the minimum fine. Officer... what a guy :p On the plus side, President Forbes did not take away my driving privileges! For the rest of the day we had our P-Day, so that is always fun. It was super rushed because of Zone Interviews, but we got it done. The evening was kind of a disaster, but it worked out haha! We had a dinner appointment, but the GPS took us the wrong way. So then we were SUPER late, and that was our day. Kind of a rough start to the week. Also on Monday the Sisters found out that one of them was going to work in the mission office while her leg heals, and the other Sister is going to a new area to be a Sister Training Leader. That area is going to be getting Elders again.
On Tuesday we did some finding in the morning and then I had a follow-up appointment with the chiropractor. I love going to the chiropractor! That Dr. is the best :) In the afternoon we had a lesson with a less-active member. He is definitely a talker, but it was good for him to get everything out. He has been through a lot lately! His Mom has an inoperable tumor, and his father-in-law just passed away. We talked a lot about that and talked about his recent vacation to Cancun. We shared Moroni 10:32 with him and talked about the importance of coming unto Christ. He is the only member in his family, but would like his family to join the Church. We talked about the importance of being a good example to his family. If he doesn't go to Church, then why would his family want to join the Church? In the evening we had the opportunity to visit with a couple. They are awesome! They used to work in the Mission Office. She was an office lady, and he was the car coordinator. They were in the office for my first transfer on my mission, and then they were released. We talked with them about missionary work, and they updated me on the previous mission president. Two daughters are both engaged, and they just had a mission reunion at their home this week. President Clements was called as a Bishop in a YSA Ward, and they are doing well. I can't wait to see them when I go home!
On Wednesday the transfer for the Sister occurred and we got an elder from Idaho and an elder from Taiwan. We were able to meet them as we did service in the morning. I am excited to get to know both of them better, and to be able to serve around them this transfer. In the afternoon we visited with an investigator. We discussed the Plan of Salvation with her and had a really good lesson. She has a fear of crowds and has her doubts about the Book of Mormon, but she still enjoys meeting with missionaries. Oddly enough one of her goals is to make it out to Salt Lake City, Utah and attend General Conference. I don't know how that would work out if she can't go to Church because of her fear of crowds, but hopefully she can make it happen. To finish off the day we visited with a couple. They are snow birds. They live here in Minnesota in the spring, summer, and fall and then peace out when it gets cold and snowy. They hang out in Arizona and places that are warm. I think it is a great idea! They are back now from their trip, so we were able to meet them and get to know them better. She has been a member for about six years. She is having a tough time with her health right now. She is in her 70's, and suffers from dementia. He is not a member. He is a Lutheran, but comes to Church with his wife each week. We shared the Easter "Because He Lives" video with them and talked to them about the Atonement referencing the Book of Mormon. They are a really cool couple!
On Thursday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we did our weekly service at the library. I cut out tennis shoe name tags, and my companion was trained on how to organize and put books away. Later we had accountability calls with the other Elders and our Zone Leaders. The new Elders had only been there for a day, so it was mostly a get to know you call. Good times! Later I had another check up with the Chiropractor said that things are improving! Later in the afternoon we did some finding and stopped by a few less-active members. We visited with a less-active member for a little bit. We caught him right before the Minnesota Wild play-off game, so we didn't have much time, but he said that we can visit with him again soon. We also stopped by a potential investigator. He was super busy, but he told us to try back later. To finish off the evening we had Family Home Evening with an investigator family. One of them was going through a really tough time, because the night before one of her friends overdosed on drugs and passed away. We made sure to make it a fun and exciting evening, and our lesson next week will be on the Plan of Salvation. We played Scrabble and Sorry for a little bit, and had a pretty good time :)
On Friday we had a Zone Service Project in Minneapolis. We were doing some gardening in the park. We did some weeding, and mulch spreading, and a bunch of other things in the community butterfly gardens. It was super fun! I always really like getting together with all the missionaries in our Zone. Later we had our weekly service at the Senior Center. We played Sweep Six this week. Sweep Six is a super simple, and kind of boring game. The residents much prefer Yahtzee, but they put out Sweep Six for us this week. You roll a dice, and try to be the first person to roll all the numbers. We had been out in the sun all morning, so I was exhausted haha! It all worked out though, and I didn't fall asleep :) for the rest of the afternoon we did our Weekly Planning and then drove up to another town. We visited with a member and shared the video, "Treasure In Heaven: The John Tanner Story" and talked about consecration. She really struggles with paying tithing and fast offerings. When we first came over she told us that she just got a bunch of bills from when her husband was in hospice, and that she was super overwhelmed. She told us that she wouldn't be able to come back to Church because she wouldn't be able to pay anything. She grew up Catholic, and she told us that when you enter in the Church you would be given an envelope and you were expected to fill it with money. We assured her that that was not the case, and that she could still come to Church. We encouraged her to pray about it and to visit with the Bishop, but I still think she is having a really hard time with it.
On Saturday we started off the day with a Senior Center volunteer breakfast. Apparently it is National Volunteer Week, so that was super fun! Later we went to the library and did some mormon.org time. Twas a party! In the afternoon we went and got our windshield wipers replaced, so that is always exciting. We did some finding in a new home development and found some cool new people that live near some members in our ward. The new Elders asked us to fill the baptismal font for them for an 8 year old's baptism, so we did. The font was filled perfectly, and people were supposed to arrive at 6:00. 6:00 came, and no one was there! We waited and waited and finally at 6:05 (yeah, I tried to make myself sound patient there... 5 whole minutes of waiting haha!) we called the new Elders, and they checked their phone to make sure the baptism was that night. Sure enough the baptism is next week. Usually when someone is baptized the person that baptizes empties the font while they are still wet... but because no one was baptized, draining the font was an issue. We ran home and I grabbed some clothes that I could get wet in, and I drained the font. #SwimmingParty Kind of exciting! We took pictures of course. No judging my white legs! They don't see much sunshine. To finish off the day, our investigator had his baptismal interview. Everything went well, but he will need to be interviewed by someone in the Mission Presidency for some past transgressions, so his baptism will be postponed a little bit to either the first or second week of May depending on how soon he can be interviewed. Kind of a crazy day!
On Sunday we had Church. Our investigators came which was awesome! In the afternoon we did some finding. We stopped by a less-active member and talked with him for a while. They had some people over, so it wasn't a good time, so we will have to try them again before I go home. We found a few cool people a woman and a Lutheran Pastor. Teaching Pastors is always interesting... usually it doesn't work out all that well though, but we will see. We stopped by someone on a list that the Bishop gave us, but they DO NOT want contact with the Church. They made that very clear to us :p We did some finding in their neighborhood for a bit, but the people there were all super grumpy. To finish off the day we had a lesson with a member. We talked about the Prodigal Son and repentance. It was a really good lesson. I feel like I learned a lot from him, so that was cool! All in all it was a really good day.
I got my "death packet" this week, so that was kind of strange. I have to start working on some post-mission goals, and write a report on my mission. It has been a while since I have written an essay, so this should be interesting! No flight plans yet to report on though.
I also have EXTREMELY IMPORTANT news to report. So I am going home super soon, if you didn't already know. I decided to push my luck a little bit, and I called up President Forbes and asked for permission to go somewhere that I have always wanted to go on my very last P-Day on my mission. He thought about it, and then gave me consent to got! So we are going to the Mall of America with the some members! OH MY GOSH I am SO excited :) We just can't go to Hooters like stupid missionaries in the past haha. He made that very clear to me over the phone! The Mall of America rule was instituted by the First Presidency because missionaries had lunch at Hooters forever ago and took a pictures with the servers which ended up on the wall in the restaurant. Apparently the Church had to pay big bucks to get it taken down, and then Mall of America privileges were revoked.
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
Sorry it took me so long today to send out my email haha! There was some drama this morning. If blood makes you queasy, skip this paragraph! So I was minding my own business, getting ready for the day, and I reached over to grab my toothbrush and brushed my razor with my finger. No big deal. I brushed my teeth, and continued getting ready for the day and then I realized my finger was gushing blood! I rinsed off my finger, and put a band-aid on, and went on my way. Later I realized my band-aid was overflowing and blood was getting all over my desk. So then I rewashed my hand, soaked up all the blood and put on a fresh new band-aid. A few minutes later, the same thing happened. So I got a paper towel, wrapped my finger in it, and waiting for the blood to die down. When my finger appeared to be done bleeding I got another band-aid and life was good again. Wait.... life wasn't good again! That band-aid started overflowing with blood as well! Good grief. So I wrapped my finger again, rinsed everything out, and waited for a while. Then I wrapped a new paper towel around my finger, put a band-aid over the paper towel, and that is how my finger will remain for the day haha! It still looks super nasty because blood has been seeping through the paper towel, but I needed to get on with my day haha. "Ain't nobody got time for that!"
It has been another great week! The sun has been out, the weather has been awesome, and spring has officially sprung :) On Monday we had our Zone Interviews with President Forbes. He drove out to our area to interview us and the Sister Missionaries, so that was fun. We were running late to our interviews however, and so I had the opportunity to meet this really nice man. We talked for a little while, and then he lowered my speeding ticket to the minimum fine. Officer... what a guy :p On the plus side, President Forbes did not take away my driving privileges! For the rest of the day we had our P-Day, so that is always fun. It was super rushed because of Zone Interviews, but we got it done. The evening was kind of a disaster, but it worked out haha! We had a dinner appointment, but the GPS took us the wrong way. So then we were SUPER late, and that was our day. Kind of a rough start to the week. Also on Monday the Sisters found out that one of them was going to work in the mission office while her leg heals, and the other Sister is going to a new area to be a Sister Training Leader. That area is going to be getting Elders again.
On Tuesday we did some finding in the morning and then I had a follow-up appointment with the chiropractor. I love going to the chiropractor! That Dr. is the best :) In the afternoon we had a lesson with a less-active member. He is definitely a talker, but it was good for him to get everything out. He has been through a lot lately! His Mom has an inoperable tumor, and his father-in-law just passed away. We talked a lot about that and talked about his recent vacation to Cancun. We shared Moroni 10:32 with him and talked about the importance of coming unto Christ. He is the only member in his family, but would like his family to join the Church. We talked about the importance of being a good example to his family. If he doesn't go to Church, then why would his family want to join the Church? In the evening we had the opportunity to visit with a couple. They are awesome! They used to work in the Mission Office. She was an office lady, and he was the car coordinator. They were in the office for my first transfer on my mission, and then they were released. We talked with them about missionary work, and they updated me on the previous mission president. Two daughters are both engaged, and they just had a mission reunion at their home this week. President Clements was called as a Bishop in a YSA Ward, and they are doing well. I can't wait to see them when I go home!
On Wednesday the transfer for the Sister occurred and we got an elder from Idaho and an elder from Taiwan. We were able to meet them as we did service in the morning. I am excited to get to know both of them better, and to be able to serve around them this transfer. In the afternoon we visited with an investigator. We discussed the Plan of Salvation with her and had a really good lesson. She has a fear of crowds and has her doubts about the Book of Mormon, but she still enjoys meeting with missionaries. Oddly enough one of her goals is to make it out to Salt Lake City, Utah and attend General Conference. I don't know how that would work out if she can't go to Church because of her fear of crowds, but hopefully she can make it happen. To finish off the day we visited with a couple. They are snow birds. They live here in Minnesota in the spring, summer, and fall and then peace out when it gets cold and snowy. They hang out in Arizona and places that are warm. I think it is a great idea! They are back now from their trip, so we were able to meet them and get to know them better. She has been a member for about six years. She is having a tough time with her health right now. She is in her 70's, and suffers from dementia. He is not a member. He is a Lutheran, but comes to Church with his wife each week. We shared the Easter "Because He Lives" video with them and talked to them about the Atonement referencing the Book of Mormon. They are a really cool couple!
On Thursday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, we did our weekly service at the library. I cut out tennis shoe name tags, and my companion was trained on how to organize and put books away. Later we had accountability calls with the other Elders and our Zone Leaders. The new Elders had only been there for a day, so it was mostly a get to know you call. Good times! Later I had another check up with the Chiropractor said that things are improving! Later in the afternoon we did some finding and stopped by a few less-active members. We visited with a less-active member for a little bit. We caught him right before the Minnesota Wild play-off game, so we didn't have much time, but he said that we can visit with him again soon. We also stopped by a potential investigator. He was super busy, but he told us to try back later. To finish off the evening we had Family Home Evening with an investigator family. One of them was going through a really tough time, because the night before one of her friends overdosed on drugs and passed away. We made sure to make it a fun and exciting evening, and our lesson next week will be on the Plan of Salvation. We played Scrabble and Sorry for a little bit, and had a pretty good time :)
On Friday we had a Zone Service Project in Minneapolis. We were doing some gardening in the park. We did some weeding, and mulch spreading, and a bunch of other things in the community butterfly gardens. It was super fun! I always really like getting together with all the missionaries in our Zone. Later we had our weekly service at the Senior Center. We played Sweep Six this week. Sweep Six is a super simple, and kind of boring game. The residents much prefer Yahtzee, but they put out Sweep Six for us this week. You roll a dice, and try to be the first person to roll all the numbers. We had been out in the sun all morning, so I was exhausted haha! It all worked out though, and I didn't fall asleep :) for the rest of the afternoon we did our Weekly Planning and then drove up to another town. We visited with a member and shared the video, "Treasure In Heaven: The John Tanner Story" and talked about consecration. She really struggles with paying tithing and fast offerings. When we first came over she told us that she just got a bunch of bills from when her husband was in hospice, and that she was super overwhelmed. She told us that she wouldn't be able to come back to Church because she wouldn't be able to pay anything. She grew up Catholic, and she told us that when you enter in the Church you would be given an envelope and you were expected to fill it with money. We assured her that that was not the case, and that she could still come to Church. We encouraged her to pray about it and to visit with the Bishop, but I still think she is having a really hard time with it.
On Saturday we started off the day with a Senior Center volunteer breakfast. Apparently it is National Volunteer Week, so that was super fun! Later we went to the library and did some mormon.org time. Twas a party! In the afternoon we went and got our windshield wipers replaced, so that is always exciting. We did some finding in a new home development and found some cool new people that live near some members in our ward. The new Elders asked us to fill the baptismal font for them for an 8 year old's baptism, so we did. The font was filled perfectly, and people were supposed to arrive at 6:00. 6:00 came, and no one was there! We waited and waited and finally at 6:05 (yeah, I tried to make myself sound patient there... 5 whole minutes of waiting haha!) we called the new Elders, and they checked their phone to make sure the baptism was that night. Sure enough the baptism is next week. Usually when someone is baptized the person that baptizes empties the font while they are still wet... but because no one was baptized, draining the font was an issue. We ran home and I grabbed some clothes that I could get wet in, and I drained the font. #SwimmingParty Kind of exciting! We took pictures of course. No judging my white legs! They don't see much sunshine. To finish off the day, our investigator had his baptismal interview. Everything went well, but he will need to be interviewed by someone in the Mission Presidency for some past transgressions, so his baptism will be postponed a little bit to either the first or second week of May depending on how soon he can be interviewed. Kind of a crazy day!
On Sunday we had Church. Our investigators came which was awesome! In the afternoon we did some finding. We stopped by a less-active member and talked with him for a while. They had some people over, so it wasn't a good time, so we will have to try them again before I go home. We found a few cool people a woman and a Lutheran Pastor. Teaching Pastors is always interesting... usually it doesn't work out all that well though, but we will see. We stopped by someone on a list that the Bishop gave us, but they DO NOT want contact with the Church. They made that very clear to us :p We did some finding in their neighborhood for a bit, but the people there were all super grumpy. To finish off the day we had a lesson with a member. We talked about the Prodigal Son and repentance. It was a really good lesson. I feel like I learned a lot from him, so that was cool! All in all it was a really good day.
I got my "death packet" this week, so that was kind of strange. I have to start working on some post-mission goals, and write a report on my mission. It has been a while since I have written an essay, so this should be interesting! No flight plans yet to report on though.
I also have EXTREMELY IMPORTANT news to report. So I am going home super soon, if you didn't already know. I decided to push my luck a little bit, and I called up President Forbes and asked for permission to go somewhere that I have always wanted to go on my very last P-Day on my mission. He thought about it, and then gave me consent to got! So we are going to the Mall of America with the some members! OH MY GOSH I am SO excited :) We just can't go to Hooters like stupid missionaries in the past haha. He made that very clear to me over the phone! The Mall of America rule was instituted by the First Presidency because missionaries had lunch at Hooters forever ago and took a pictures with the servers which ended up on the wall in the restaurant. Apparently the Church had to pay big bucks to get it taken down, and then Mall of America privileges were revoked.
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
Monday, April 13, 2015
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
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
Monday, April 6, 2015
Transfers
Hello Everyone,
This week has been absolutely incredible! On Monday we got our transfer email, and my companion got transferred. Most of our P-Day consisted of him packing up and getting ready to go. In the evening we had dinner with a family, and then husband took us to the Viking's Training Facilities for a tour. It was super cool! It reminded me of when Brother Holmoe took us on a tour of the BYU football training facilities! We were allowed to take pictures, but I can't really send them home or put them on Facebook... but I will have to show you all some sweet pictures when I get home :) I got a shot of the outside to send home though haha!
On Tuesday we mostly went around saying goodbye to people. We had a lesson with a family where we shared the new video, "Because He Lives". Then we visited with an investigator and shared a Bible Video called "John The Beloved's Witness." In the evening we visited with a family and participated in their Holy Week Family Home Evening. They went through all of the things that Christ did this week concluding in his death and resurrection. It was a super fun lesson :) Then we shared with them the new "Because He Lives" video, and they loved it!
On Wednesday, April Fools Day, we had our transfer meeting. It it always fun to be able to get together as a big group of missionaries and see all of your friends all over the mission! I found my new companion and we headed back to our area. My new companion is from San Diego, California. He has been on his mission for about 7 1/2 months now, and has served in two areas. He is a good kid! I really like serving with him. He just killed his last companion, so apparently he is going on a killing spree haha ;) For those of you that are not familiar with this terminology, killing your companion means that you are their last companion before they go home. My companion unpacked his belongings and got settled in the apartment, and then we went to work! Miracles followed. We stopped by a few people and then went finding around the area. We call it 10x10ing. Basically it just means that you go knocking the street of the person you stopped by. As we did that, a sweet elderly woman answered the door and invited us in. Apparently they have visited with missionaries in the past, and love learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have no intentions of joining our Church, but they love to learn. We talked to them a little bit about Easter and shared the video "Because He Lives." They are definitely talkers, but they loved discussing Easter and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They asked a lot of really great questions as well! We also invited them to General Conference this weekend, so we shall see what happens. Later we did a little more finding. We found three new investigators! We have return appointments with them all. It was an AMAZING day, let me tell ya! I am so glad that I have a companion who wants to work hard with me and get things done. In the evening we had a lesson with a family to finish off the day. Their home teacher had just visited with them and discussed the topic of apostasy with them. They had a few questions for us, and so we were able to teach them about the restoration. At the end of our lesson we invited our investigator to be baptized on April 18th, and he accepted! Good things are in the works :)
On Thursday we did our weekly service at the library. My companion cut out some things, and I was at the dye cut machine cutting out Easter eggs and red barns. It was awesome! As we were working, I was able to talk with and get to know one of the employees at the library. Later, she started asking a few questions about our Church. "Do you celebrate Easter? Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" etc... Classic questions! We were able to talk about Easter, Jesus Christ, Prophets, the works! I shared a "Because He Lives" mormon.org card with her, and she said that she would look up the video. She said that she has seen our Church's commercials on TV before, and that she absolutely loved them! Later I had an accountability call with the Sisters that went really well. One Sister stayed in the area, and got a new companion. The new companion had a bone splint in her knee and so she has to walk on crutches for the time being. They are waiting to find out if she needs surgery. We talked a little bit about creative finding ideas for cripples haha ;) It was a really good call though! Afterward we did our Weekly Planning and got things done. It was awesome! Later we stopped by two people that the Bishop has identified that we should reach out to. One is in Mexico with his wife, but we were able to talk with his non-member daughter at the door for a while and share a "Because He Lives" mormon.org card with her. The other answered the door, but they were in the middle of dinner, and he did not appear to be very interested. We have been trying to get in contact with him for a while now, so it was good to at least be able to see him and assess his situation. Now we can return and report :) To finish off the day, we had a lesson with a family. We shared the "Because He Lives" video with them and talked about Easter and General Conference. The Sister is not a big fan of "TV Church" but as we talked about it more with them, they opened up and agreed to give it a try! One of their missionaries from when they were in New York is visiting with them right now. Hopefully she will continue to be a good influence on them! Good things are happening here in the Ward!
On Friday, Good Friday (Passover Begins at Sundown), we went to the library and researched some new videos on mormon.org. Then we had accountability with the Zone Leaders, and then gossip hour with the Sister Training Leaders. All good things, all good things :) Later in the afternoon we went over to the the Senior Center, and played Yahtzee with the residents there. Not my day for Yahtzee haha, but it was really fun. We definitely work with quite a few characters! Afterward we went to go get our oil changed, which took FOREVER! Plus, the Church uses national accounts for most things, and the Goodyear that we went to was not really sure how to process a national account so that added some extra time as well. In the evening we visited with a sister and shared the video "Legacy" with her and talked a little bit about some Church history and helped to prepare her for General Conference.
On Holy Saturday, we basically just had General Conference all day haha! Here are a few of the highlights :) In the Saturday morning session I really enjoyed Sister Linda K. Burton's talk on marriage, which is kind of ironic. I have always had a goal that I am not even going to think about marriage and children and families until I am graduated, employed, experienced, etc... This topic was addressed many times during General Conference. Oddly enough, one of my questions going into General Conference was concerning what my goals should be when I return home from my mission. Apparently I need to add dating and marriage to my list of goals. Weird. I am nowhere near old enough to get married haha! I also liked Elder Dallin H. Oaks talk on the Parable of the Sower. In the afternoon I really enjoyed Elder WIlford W. Anderson's talk on the gospel dance where we not only need to learn the dance steps (gospel), but hear the music (the Spirit) as well. It reminded me of when I was on a ballroom team in high school. We would often rehearse without the music. It was rather difficult at times, and kind of awkward. I much preferred dancing to the music! I also really liked Elder David A. Bednar's talk on Godly fear. I have always somewhat questioned the topic of Godly fear. I didn't know why a loving Heavenly Father would want you to fear Him. His talk provided great insight for me! In the evening we attended the Priesthood Session of General Conference. I really enjoyed Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk. He gave a "one-on-one" Priesthood interview and asked a series of questions. He also talked about RM's. He reminded us that RM does not stand for Retired Mormon ;) He also told us to date and get married. Good grief! I also enjoyed Elder Larry M. Gibson's talk about materialism. I think my favorite talk though was by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf about Potemkin's Village. I think I have always been one to put on a show for other people. I have always been a perfectionist. He reminded us that while it is not completely a bad thing, we must not mask reality.
On Easter Sunday, we watched more General Conference haha ;) In the morning session I really enjoyed Elder Brent H. Nielsen's talk on the Prodigal Son. I feel in many different ways that I can relate to several different characters in that parable. I also liked Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk on the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation. He always gives great talks! And then I liked Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk on grace. It reminded me of Brad Wilcox's talk, "His Grace Is Sufficient." In the afternoon session I really liked Elder Kevin W. Pearson's talk on Lehi's dream. He had a lot of really great points in his talk. I also enjoyed Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk on keeping the Sabbath day holy. In the evening we had a lesson with a family. We discussed General Conference with them and some of their favorite talks, and shared a few mission stories with them. It was great!
All in all, it was a super great week :) Things are going really well. Thank you all for all of your love and support. I hope you had a great Easter weekend! Talk to you soon :)
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
This week has been absolutely incredible! On Monday we got our transfer email, and my companion got transferred. Most of our P-Day consisted of him packing up and getting ready to go. In the evening we had dinner with a family, and then husband took us to the Viking's Training Facilities for a tour. It was super cool! It reminded me of when Brother Holmoe took us on a tour of the BYU football training facilities! We were allowed to take pictures, but I can't really send them home or put them on Facebook... but I will have to show you all some sweet pictures when I get home :) I got a shot of the outside to send home though haha!
On Tuesday we mostly went around saying goodbye to people. We had a lesson with a family where we shared the new video, "Because He Lives". Then we visited with an investigator and shared a Bible Video called "John The Beloved's Witness." In the evening we visited with a family and participated in their Holy Week Family Home Evening. They went through all of the things that Christ did this week concluding in his death and resurrection. It was a super fun lesson :) Then we shared with them the new "Because He Lives" video, and they loved it!
On Wednesday, April Fools Day, we had our transfer meeting. It it always fun to be able to get together as a big group of missionaries and see all of your friends all over the mission! I found my new companion and we headed back to our area. My new companion is from San Diego, California. He has been on his mission for about 7 1/2 months now, and has served in two areas. He is a good kid! I really like serving with him. He just killed his last companion, so apparently he is going on a killing spree haha ;) For those of you that are not familiar with this terminology, killing your companion means that you are their last companion before they go home. My companion unpacked his belongings and got settled in the apartment, and then we went to work! Miracles followed. We stopped by a few people and then went finding around the area. We call it 10x10ing. Basically it just means that you go knocking the street of the person you stopped by. As we did that, a sweet elderly woman answered the door and invited us in. Apparently they have visited with missionaries in the past, and love learning about the gospel of Jesus Christ. They have no intentions of joining our Church, but they love to learn. We talked to them a little bit about Easter and shared the video "Because He Lives." They are definitely talkers, but they loved discussing Easter and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They asked a lot of really great questions as well! We also invited them to General Conference this weekend, so we shall see what happens. Later we did a little more finding. We found three new investigators! We have return appointments with them all. It was an AMAZING day, let me tell ya! I am so glad that I have a companion who wants to work hard with me and get things done. In the evening we had a lesson with a family to finish off the day. Their home teacher had just visited with them and discussed the topic of apostasy with them. They had a few questions for us, and so we were able to teach them about the restoration. At the end of our lesson we invited our investigator to be baptized on April 18th, and he accepted! Good things are in the works :)
On Thursday we did our weekly service at the library. My companion cut out some things, and I was at the dye cut machine cutting out Easter eggs and red barns. It was awesome! As we were working, I was able to talk with and get to know one of the employees at the library. Later, she started asking a few questions about our Church. "Do you celebrate Easter? Do you believe in Jesus Christ?" etc... Classic questions! We were able to talk about Easter, Jesus Christ, Prophets, the works! I shared a "Because He Lives" mormon.org card with her, and she said that she would look up the video. She said that she has seen our Church's commercials on TV before, and that she absolutely loved them! Later I had an accountability call with the Sisters that went really well. One Sister stayed in the area, and got a new companion. The new companion had a bone splint in her knee and so she has to walk on crutches for the time being. They are waiting to find out if she needs surgery. We talked a little bit about creative finding ideas for cripples haha ;) It was a really good call though! Afterward we did our Weekly Planning and got things done. It was awesome! Later we stopped by two people that the Bishop has identified that we should reach out to. One is in Mexico with his wife, but we were able to talk with his non-member daughter at the door for a while and share a "Because He Lives" mormon.org card with her. The other answered the door, but they were in the middle of dinner, and he did not appear to be very interested. We have been trying to get in contact with him for a while now, so it was good to at least be able to see him and assess his situation. Now we can return and report :) To finish off the day, we had a lesson with a family. We shared the "Because He Lives" video with them and talked about Easter and General Conference. The Sister is not a big fan of "TV Church" but as we talked about it more with them, they opened up and agreed to give it a try! One of their missionaries from when they were in New York is visiting with them right now. Hopefully she will continue to be a good influence on them! Good things are happening here in the Ward!
On Friday, Good Friday (Passover Begins at Sundown), we went to the library and researched some new videos on mormon.org. Then we had accountability with the Zone Leaders, and then gossip hour with the Sister Training Leaders. All good things, all good things :) Later in the afternoon we went over to the the Senior Center, and played Yahtzee with the residents there. Not my day for Yahtzee haha, but it was really fun. We definitely work with quite a few characters! Afterward we went to go get our oil changed, which took FOREVER! Plus, the Church uses national accounts for most things, and the Goodyear that we went to was not really sure how to process a national account so that added some extra time as well. In the evening we visited with a sister and shared the video "Legacy" with her and talked a little bit about some Church history and helped to prepare her for General Conference.
On Holy Saturday, we basically just had General Conference all day haha! Here are a few of the highlights :) In the Saturday morning session I really enjoyed Sister Linda K. Burton's talk on marriage, which is kind of ironic. I have always had a goal that I am not even going to think about marriage and children and families until I am graduated, employed, experienced, etc... This topic was addressed many times during General Conference. Oddly enough, one of my questions going into General Conference was concerning what my goals should be when I return home from my mission. Apparently I need to add dating and marriage to my list of goals. Weird. I am nowhere near old enough to get married haha! I also liked Elder Dallin H. Oaks talk on the Parable of the Sower. In the afternoon I really enjoyed Elder WIlford W. Anderson's talk on the gospel dance where we not only need to learn the dance steps (gospel), but hear the music (the Spirit) as well. It reminded me of when I was on a ballroom team in high school. We would often rehearse without the music. It was rather difficult at times, and kind of awkward. I much preferred dancing to the music! I also really liked Elder David A. Bednar's talk on Godly fear. I have always somewhat questioned the topic of Godly fear. I didn't know why a loving Heavenly Father would want you to fear Him. His talk provided great insight for me! In the evening we attended the Priesthood Session of General Conference. I really enjoyed Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk. He gave a "one-on-one" Priesthood interview and asked a series of questions. He also talked about RM's. He reminded us that RM does not stand for Retired Mormon ;) He also told us to date and get married. Good grief! I also enjoyed Elder Larry M. Gibson's talk about materialism. I think my favorite talk though was by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf about Potemkin's Village. I think I have always been one to put on a show for other people. I have always been a perfectionist. He reminded us that while it is not completely a bad thing, we must not mask reality.
On Easter Sunday, we watched more General Conference haha ;) In the morning session I really enjoyed Elder Brent H. Nielsen's talk on the Prodigal Son. I feel in many different ways that I can relate to several different characters in that parable. I also liked Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's talk on the Atonement and the Plan of Salvation. He always gives great talks! And then I liked Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk on grace. It reminded me of Brad Wilcox's talk, "His Grace Is Sufficient." In the afternoon session I really liked Elder Kevin W. Pearson's talk on Lehi's dream. He had a lot of really great points in his talk. I also enjoyed Elder Russell M. Nelson's talk on keeping the Sabbath day holy. In the evening we had a lesson with a family. We discussed General Conference with them and some of their favorite talks, and shared a few mission stories with them. It was great!
All in all, it was a super great week :) Things are going really well. Thank you all for all of your love and support. I hope you had a great Easter weekend! Talk to you soon :)
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Monday, March 30, 2015
Easter Service
Hello Everyone,
This week has been great! On Monday a recent-convert took us to the Minnesota Zoo for our District P-Day. It was super fun :) I of course took a million pictures, and we had a super good time! I am not going to lie... I had my doubts about this District P-Day, but it all worked out. It snowed a ton on Sunday evening, so we weren't sure if we were going to be able to go, but they were open and the animals were alive and well! In the evening we had a lesson with a former investigator that the missionaries have visited with in the past. He is part of the Christian Alliance for Crown College. He knows A LOT about our Church. He made a diagram and compared our Church to the Roman Catholic Church that he was raised in, and pointed out a lot of similarities. We explained why so many Christian religions are so similar, and then talked about what sets us apart. He is definitely a talker, but we were able to set up a return appointment to talk with him in more detail.
On Tuesday we went over to the library and did our mormon.org time. The Church gave us early access to the new video, "Because He Lives" so we were able to preview it and start planning for the big Easter initiative. Later we did a little bit of Area Book Work. In the evening we went over to a family’s home and talked to them about Prophets. We watched the movie, "On The Lord's Errand" that talks about the life of President Thomas S. Monson. We had a really great lesson, and they told us that they wanted to come to the Minnesota Mormon Chorale performance of the Lamb of God on Sunday!
On Wednesday we had Zone Training. We talked a lot about the Easter Initiative, and how we can reach out to as many people as possible in the week that we have for the Easter Initiative. Kind of a crazy week, because it is also our transfer week! It will all work out though :) After Zone Training I had an interview with President Forbes where I discovered that he signed all the missionaries ecclesiastical endorsements a while ago. I renewed my temple recommend and then petitioned him for an extension. He told me that the Church only grants extensions for special circumstances now, and because I am an English missionary it wasn't going to happen. Oh well. It kind of rocked my world though to realize that I for sure am going home on May 13th. He also told me that the Church has probably already bought my plane ticket home. Crazy! We helped Sister Forbes drop a few things off at the Mission Home, and she gave us a little tour of the Mission Home. I have never been in the Mission Home before, so it was kind of fun :) Occasionally you go in the Mission Home on your first day as a missionary if you are a smaller group, but because I came out with 35 other people, they just did everything at the Church. On our way home, we hit up restaurant and had a Juicy Lucy (a hamburger with cheese on the inside). It is a Minnesota specialty, so I had to get one before I went home haha! We drove through Downtown Minneapolis, which is my favorite, and then headed for our area. Usually I don't write about dinner appointments... but we had an interesting experience at our dinner appointment with a member family. Let me preface this by saying that I usually tell people that I am allergic to seafood, but I haven't done that in this ward. Sure enough, we show up for dinner, and we are having salmon. These were HUGE fillets of fish. I remember one time that I was in the cities and a sweet African woman fed us a whole fish with the eyes and scales on and everything, and it just brought back some... unique memories haha ;) NASTY! I have discovered that if you do not chew food, you cannot taste it as much, so I broke up my fish and swallowed it whole. Definitely an experience haha! To finish off the evening we had a lesson with a family. They had just finished watching Evan Almighty, an updated version of Noah's Ark. The dad had a lot of questions about Noah and Prophets, so we had a lesson on Noah's Ark and on Prophets haha :) It was a really good lesson, and you could tell that he was SUPER interested in what we had to say. Hopefully we were able to answer all of his questions!
On Thursday we did our weekly service at the library. We were making these passports for reading time. My companion was using the dye cut to cut up barns and eggs, and I stapled them together and bundled them up. It was a process, but it was kind of fun. Projects are always an adventure :) In the afternoon I had accountability with the Sisters. Things are starting to pick up in their area, so that is super exciting! To finish off the evening we had Family Home Evening with a family. We talked a little bit more about the Lamb of God and we played Phase 10. I totally dominated, but who is counting haha ;)
On Friday we had accountability with the Zone Leaders and then gossip hour with the Sister Training Leaders. Afterward we went over to the the Senior Center and played Yahtzee with the residents. Haha old people crack me up ;) In the evening we had a lesson with an investigator. We watched the movie "Finding Faith In Christ" and talked to her a little bit more about tithing and fast offerings. We brought a tithing slip and showed her how to fill it out. On Sunday she came and paid fast offerings, but she just put some cash in an envelope and gave it to the Bishop. So we got everything straightened up :) I heard that One Direction split up... my heart broke a little bit, but I think I can be strong. #OneDirectionForever
On Saturday we went finding for a good chunk of time. Later in the afternoon we visited with a family in the ward. To finish off the day, we had a lesson with another family. The mom was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease a while ago, and she visited with a doctor and he told her that she had about 10 years left to live. She was NOT doing well when we stopped by. We talked with the husband for a while, and then he invited us into their home. She was on the phone and was yelling and crying, and was very upset. We talked with him for a while, and then she came out to visit with us. Luckily we were able to get her to laugh and to improve her mood. We talked about how coming to Church would help, and that she would be able to visit with the Bishop and talk things through. All in all it was a really good lesson.
On Sunday, Palm Sunday, we had our Easter Service at Church. It was super good! We had a few musical numbers, and some really great talks. AND... our investigators came to church! It was awesome. The ward mission leader and his family are on vacation right now, so I was put in charge of teaching Gospel Essentials. I taught a lesson on the Priesthood and different quorums and auxiliaries. It went pretty well, and then at the end of the lesson I shared the new #BecauseOfHim video that the Church produced. On Sunday evening we attended the Minnesota Mormon Chorale & Orchestra's performance of the Lamb of God with a family. It was really good. Last years performance was a little bit better, but it was still super good :) While we were there I was able to talk with quite a few missionaries that I know, and I heard some good news, and some not so good news. The ward is doing great! On the other hand, my replacement in my last area made that ward hate missionaries. So that was super sad to hear. Not good! It looks like he was transferred though, so hopefully they will be able to rebuild that trust.
Today we got our transfer emails, and I am staying here and my companion is getting transferred to North Branch. I am excited to see what exciting things are to come this transfer! It is super weird to think that this will be my last transfer.
Thank you all for all of your love and support. I hope you have a great week and that all is well back home. Talk to you soon!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
This week has been great! On Monday a recent-convert took us to the Minnesota Zoo for our District P-Day. It was super fun :) I of course took a million pictures, and we had a super good time! I am not going to lie... I had my doubts about this District P-Day, but it all worked out. It snowed a ton on Sunday evening, so we weren't sure if we were going to be able to go, but they were open and the animals were alive and well! In the evening we had a lesson with a former investigator that the missionaries have visited with in the past. He is part of the Christian Alliance for Crown College. He knows A LOT about our Church. He made a diagram and compared our Church to the Roman Catholic Church that he was raised in, and pointed out a lot of similarities. We explained why so many Christian religions are so similar, and then talked about what sets us apart. He is definitely a talker, but we were able to set up a return appointment to talk with him in more detail.
On Tuesday we went over to the library and did our mormon.org time. The Church gave us early access to the new video, "Because He Lives" so we were able to preview it and start planning for the big Easter initiative. Later we did a little bit of Area Book Work. In the evening we went over to a family’s home and talked to them about Prophets. We watched the movie, "On The Lord's Errand" that talks about the life of President Thomas S. Monson. We had a really great lesson, and they told us that they wanted to come to the Minnesota Mormon Chorale performance of the Lamb of God on Sunday!
On Wednesday we had Zone Training. We talked a lot about the Easter Initiative, and how we can reach out to as many people as possible in the week that we have for the Easter Initiative. Kind of a crazy week, because it is also our transfer week! It will all work out though :) After Zone Training I had an interview with President Forbes where I discovered that he signed all the missionaries ecclesiastical endorsements a while ago. I renewed my temple recommend and then petitioned him for an extension. He told me that the Church only grants extensions for special circumstances now, and because I am an English missionary it wasn't going to happen. Oh well. It kind of rocked my world though to realize that I for sure am going home on May 13th. He also told me that the Church has probably already bought my plane ticket home. Crazy! We helped Sister Forbes drop a few things off at the Mission Home, and she gave us a little tour of the Mission Home. I have never been in the Mission Home before, so it was kind of fun :) Occasionally you go in the Mission Home on your first day as a missionary if you are a smaller group, but because I came out with 35 other people, they just did everything at the Church. On our way home, we hit up restaurant and had a Juicy Lucy (a hamburger with cheese on the inside). It is a Minnesota specialty, so I had to get one before I went home haha! We drove through Downtown Minneapolis, which is my favorite, and then headed for our area. Usually I don't write about dinner appointments... but we had an interesting experience at our dinner appointment with a member family. Let me preface this by saying that I usually tell people that I am allergic to seafood, but I haven't done that in this ward. Sure enough, we show up for dinner, and we are having salmon. These were HUGE fillets of fish. I remember one time that I was in the cities and a sweet African woman fed us a whole fish with the eyes and scales on and everything, and it just brought back some... unique memories haha ;) NASTY! I have discovered that if you do not chew food, you cannot taste it as much, so I broke up my fish and swallowed it whole. Definitely an experience haha! To finish off the evening we had a lesson with a family. They had just finished watching Evan Almighty, an updated version of Noah's Ark. The dad had a lot of questions about Noah and Prophets, so we had a lesson on Noah's Ark and on Prophets haha :) It was a really good lesson, and you could tell that he was SUPER interested in what we had to say. Hopefully we were able to answer all of his questions!
On Thursday we did our weekly service at the library. We were making these passports for reading time. My companion was using the dye cut to cut up barns and eggs, and I stapled them together and bundled them up. It was a process, but it was kind of fun. Projects are always an adventure :) In the afternoon I had accountability with the Sisters. Things are starting to pick up in their area, so that is super exciting! To finish off the evening we had Family Home Evening with a family. We talked a little bit more about the Lamb of God and we played Phase 10. I totally dominated, but who is counting haha ;)
On Friday we had accountability with the Zone Leaders and then gossip hour with the Sister Training Leaders. Afterward we went over to the the Senior Center and played Yahtzee with the residents. Haha old people crack me up ;) In the evening we had a lesson with an investigator. We watched the movie "Finding Faith In Christ" and talked to her a little bit more about tithing and fast offerings. We brought a tithing slip and showed her how to fill it out. On Sunday she came and paid fast offerings, but she just put some cash in an envelope and gave it to the Bishop. So we got everything straightened up :) I heard that One Direction split up... my heart broke a little bit, but I think I can be strong. #OneDirectionForever
On Saturday we went finding for a good chunk of time. Later in the afternoon we visited with a family in the ward. To finish off the day, we had a lesson with another family. The mom was diagnosed with Huntington's Disease a while ago, and she visited with a doctor and he told her that she had about 10 years left to live. She was NOT doing well when we stopped by. We talked with the husband for a while, and then he invited us into their home. She was on the phone and was yelling and crying, and was very upset. We talked with him for a while, and then she came out to visit with us. Luckily we were able to get her to laugh and to improve her mood. We talked about how coming to Church would help, and that she would be able to visit with the Bishop and talk things through. All in all it was a really good lesson.
On Sunday, Palm Sunday, we had our Easter Service at Church. It was super good! We had a few musical numbers, and some really great talks. AND... our investigators came to church! It was awesome. The ward mission leader and his family are on vacation right now, so I was put in charge of teaching Gospel Essentials. I taught a lesson on the Priesthood and different quorums and auxiliaries. It went pretty well, and then at the end of the lesson I shared the new #BecauseOfHim video that the Church produced. On Sunday evening we attended the Minnesota Mormon Chorale & Orchestra's performance of the Lamb of God with a family. It was really good. Last years performance was a little bit better, but it was still super good :) While we were there I was able to talk with quite a few missionaries that I know, and I heard some good news, and some not so good news. The ward is doing great! On the other hand, my replacement in my last area made that ward hate missionaries. So that was super sad to hear. Not good! It looks like he was transferred though, so hopefully they will be able to rebuild that trust.
Today we got our transfer emails, and I am staying here and my companion is getting transferred to North Branch. I am excited to see what exciting things are to come this transfer! It is super weird to think that this will be my last transfer.
Thank you all for all of your love and support. I hope you have a great week and that all is well back home. Talk to you soon!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
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