Don't be a TROLL, LOVE the people!

Hello Everyone,

Things are going well here in Minnesnowta! It snowed today of course, but life is good :) It is Presidents Day, so we are emailing from the Junckers home. We got our transfer emails this morning, and I am being transferred to another area and will be serving with a different elder. Holy cow, I am not a fan of packing! If any of you would like, I would be totally okay with your flying out to Minnesota and helping me pack up all my stuff haha. It will all work out though.

Last Monday we had our P-Day, and then we had Family Home Evening with a family in the ward. Later we visited with Bishop and his family and shared a Valentines message with them about love and service. We shared the video "Because Of Him" and talked about the love that Jesus Christ has for each one of us. We finished off the evening by stopping by a less-active member that Bishop asked us to visit with. We talked to him briefly and shared a quick message with him. It was a really great evening!

On Tuesday we had accountability calls in the morning, and then we went on exchange with the Zone Leaders. I was with an elder from Idaho. We visited with a less-active member and shared a message with him about the importance of serving others. We talked about the service that is provided in Church, and invited him to come worship with us. He loves Church, but admitted that he was just lazy and didn't want to wake up early. Hopefully he will experience a mighty change of heart! Later we visited with an investigator family and set up a return appointment with them for next Wednesday. In the evening we went over to our new member family’s home and talked to them about the Plan of Salvation, which sparked some more interest in doing their family history. To finish off the evening we had a lesson with a part member family. We talked about Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. We shared one of the new Bible Videos with them, and committed them all to come to Church with us on Sunday. A few concerns were brought up, but we resolved their concerns and recommitted them to come to Church! Here is a funny story from our visit with them :) Their washing machine broke, and the son and a friend fixed it up earlier that day. They were SUPER behind on laundry, so in the middle of the lesson the mom had to move over a load of laundry, and put a new load in the washer. She was washing a load of jeans, and decided to check all the pockets before she put them in the wash. She started up the washer, and came upstairs with something in her hand. She then looked at her son and said, "What is this?" with a smirk on her face as she stretched out a red condom that she had found in his jeans pocket. Embarrased, he responded, "What?!?! I was playing with it. My friend gave it to me, and we inflate them like a balloon! It's fun!" It was pretty hilarious! Apparently we will need to recover the Law of Chastity ;)

On Wednesday we all got together for the last District Meeting of the transfer. I gave a training on Key Indicators for Conversion, using a lot of references from a book that I received from my Grandparents, "The Highly Effective Missionary." We talked about how numbers represent people, and so when we work towards numerical goals, they represent the lives of those whom we are inviting to come unto Christ. For our role play, we went through the past week in our planners and discussed with another missionary what went well, what needs improvement, and how we can make the necessary changes to become more effective missionaries. For Valentines Day I gave everyone some Trolli Gummy Worm candies, but I coloured in the "i" on Trolli and said "Don't be a TROLL, LOVE the people!" It was a pretty fun District Meeting :) Afterward we took District Pictures and went on our way. In the afternoon we stopped by one of our investigators, and he was not home. His roommates, however, invited us in and we had a lesson with them. A woman was there and told us that she is a Mormon and that she would like to come back to Church again! We got all of her information so that we can transfer her records into the ward, and she is super excited to come back to Church! It is super cool to see how God works things out sometimes! We had some extra time one day, and so were tracting in the investigator’s trailer park. We set up a return appointment, and although he wasn't there, we met someone that is a lost sheep! #Miracle In the evening we had a lesson with a part-member family on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We talked mainly about faith and repentance, and committed the dad to start reading the Book of Mormon again! Later we visited with the another part-member family and shared a Valentines Day message with them about love and made Valentines cards for them to give to their siblings and friends. The mom has 10 foster kids, so their house is a little bit crazy at times. To finish off the evening we stopped by a member family and shared a quick message with them about service. The mom is the Relief Society President, and so we discussed a few names of less-active sisters in the ward with her as well. All in all it was a great evening!

On Thursday, Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, we had accountability with our Zone Leaders and then we went over to the Family History Center and began filling out our "My Family" booklets that the Church gave us to talk to people about Family History. I am not very familiar with familysearch.org and family history in general, so it was an experience that's for sure! I got my booklet mostly filled out though :) Later we helped a member with some bulletin boards in the Church. She is recovering from pneumonia, yet she was working on the Relief Society bulletin board. Crazy lady! In the evening we had a lesson with one of the Sister's old investigators. We talked to him about the importance of faith. He told us basically that he was meeting with the missionaries because he is lonely because his wife passed away about a year ago. He isn't super interested in the gospel, but enjoys the company. It is too bad that he isn't willing to act on the things he has been taught, but as for right now it isn't super effective to meet with him on a regular basis. To finish off the evening we had a lesson with a family. We were going to have a lesson on the Plan of Salvation, but there was a big argument at dinner, lots of contention, and some hurt feelings in the home, so we had another Valentines message about loving one another. It worked out rather well, and things were good again when we left.

On Friday the 13th #FreakyFriday, we did service at a thrift store. We moved some things around and helped organize a few projects. Later we did our Weekly Planning and prepared for the upcoming week. It is always super weird planning for the week of transfers. It was super stressful actually, because that is when I started to realize that I could very possibly be leaving. I hate surprises! In the evening we had a lesson with the our new member family on Family History. We opened up Family Search, started filling out My Family booklets, and got to work on their family history. Holy cow, that website gave me a killer headache! By the time we left I was about to hire out professional help! A genealogist would be super useful. It worked out though, and we at least got a start on some of their family history. They are just working on collecting some names and dates and things.

On Saturday, Valentines Day, we finished up some Weekly Planning in the morning and got to work on making a bunch of cookies. We made cookies for the Junckers, the Andersons, the Mowers, the Zunigas, the Larsons, the Johnsons, the Akemans, the Pinkes, etc... we just went to town baking cookies. After lunch we went and distributed our Valentines cookies. It was super fun! Later we did some service for a family in the ward. They have a corn furnace, and so we helped them fill up bags of corn for their furnace. It was freezing cold outside, someone said it was one of the colder Valentines Days that they can remember. In the evening we had Family Home Evening with a part member family. We watched Johnny Lingo and talked about how we are all children of God and have a divine potential. We played some card games and had a great time! #HappyValentinesDay #LoveWeek #AllYouNeedIsLove

On Sunday we had Church. The part member family came to Church which was awesome! After Church we had correlation and then we went and visited an investigator. We talked to him about Christlike love, and we had a super cool experience with him. He has been waiting for months and months for his sister to call him back. He has been calling her several times a week, and has had no response. Finally, while we were over at his home, his sister called! He was astonished, and told us later that he realized that God was trying to tell him something. It was great! In the evening we went up to another town and had a lesson with an investigator family on the Plan of Salvation. We whipped out some shaving cream and drew the whole Plan of Salvation on their dining room table. It was awesome!
It was a great week, and I know that good things are in the works for this week. It will be hard (as always) to say goodbye to all my friends in this area, but I know that the Lord needs me elsewhere at this time. Wish me luck in my new area!

Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews

Another AWESOME Week! (Kyle has been serving two months today!)

July 15th, 2013

Hello Everyone,

This week has been great! On Tuesday, I bid adieu to my first companion who finished serving his two year mission. For the rest of the day, and for part of Wednesday I was on exchange with our zone leaders. In the mission there is something called the "rule of three". You must have either three women, or three men to teach someone of the opposite gender. So for teaching someone of the opposite gender this often creates a problem! We are encouraged to involve members in the ward, but coordinating with their schedules can often be a challenge. While I was on exchange though, we were already a group of three! It was awesome, we could teach whoever, whenever :)

On Wednesday afternoon, I picked up my new companion. He is from a city near Tokyo, Japan and has got quite an accent. He is very quiet, but very kind. He is also very little, which is quite the contrast for my height. Because my companion is foreign, and speaks Japanese as his first language, we now have added language study to our schedule. We wake up at 6:30 AM, have personal study at 8:00 AM, companionship study at 9:00 AM, new missionary training at 10:00 AM, lunch at 11:00 AM, and language study at 12:00 PM. We don't get out of our apartment until about 1:00 PM. I have not had to sit for that long since high school! I know I only graduated a little over a year ago, but it is quite the adjustment for me. I get a little bit antsy, and probably a little annoying as well, but hopefully I will adjust to it soon!

My companion is no longer the district leader, which will also be a HUGE adjustment for me. As a district leader, you have to go on exchange with each elder in your district. I absolutely loved being able to visit every companionships area, and getting to know the elders on a really personal basis! It is going to be a very stark contrast now that I will pretty much always be serving in our area in North La Crosse with my companion, except for our exchange with our new district leader, and the zone leaders.

This week we had an amazing lesson with an investigator. We taught her about the law of chastity, and had three members from the ward present. The spirit was SO strong during the lesson, and she completely understood and agreed with everything we shared with her. She understands why this commandment is so important. She is moving right now, so we have had many opportunities to help her move and to give our service, but unfortunately she is moving out of our area. Luckily she is only moving to South La Crosse though, so the south side missionaries will be able to teach her. Sadly, that means we will no longer be teaching her. We have one last lesson with her though, on July 17th, my birthday!

This week we also had a really great lesson with another investigator. We taught her about the plan of salvation. At the beginning of the lesson, she shared a lot of her frustrations, and about the anger that she had towards God. She has had a very difficult life. As we taught her more and more about this great plan of happiness, her face lit up. Her countenance changed, and you could see on her face and through her actions that she felt and recognized the spirit during the lesson. Afterwards, she said "I wish I would have known this sooner!" She is truly being prepared by the Lord.

On my birthday at 6:00 PM we will be going on exchange with the zone leaders! I know it is going to be a super weird birthday, but with our zone leaders here to celebrate, it is going to be awesome :) I will just have to find a way to make it an extra special day for myself haha, I can be fairly creative that way!

Glad to hear that everything is going well, and that Aimee has not been in any car accidents her first week driving! My new companion does not have driving privileges, so I am the designated driver. AWESOME! Don't think that I didn't notice your "sarcastic" comment about me not being home to use your Nordstrom Visa though. Haha!

Thank you all for your support and love! I know that God answers prayers, because he has slowly but surely been answering mine :)

Love,

Elder Kyle William Andrews