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
Showing posts with label Mall of America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mall of America. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2015
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
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