Hello Everyone,
This week has been kind of slow, but it has been a good week :) It was pretty cold this week, so we had to layer up quite a bit. I of course had to take a picture. I'm fairly certain that the people here think that I am crazy. Minnesotans do not layer up nearly as much as I have to... I have Canadian blood in me, and yet I am ALWAYS cold! I was always cold in Utah, so I guess I should have assumed that would remain the same here in Minnesota haha. Things are good though :) At least I have a TON of winter gear to layer up with!
On Monday we had our P-Day. I love P-Days, but the time always flies by SUPER quickly! SO much to do, and so little time haha. I secretly love being busy all the time though. I remember in High School when I had a million things to do, I was generally super happy. Probably not a good thing that I enjoy stress, but it works for me ;) Holy cow, I spent a TON of money on P-Day. We only have a Target here in this area, and I had a million things that I needed. #NewAreaProblems I will have to be careful with my spending these next few months! In the evening we contacted a few potential investigators, and went over to a member’s home to submit our key indicators. The library here for some reason does not allow us to submit our numbers the normal way, so we just go over to their house to submit our numbers online.
On Tuesday we had District Meeting. I gave a training on goal setting, planning, and execution. This District is very different. We had a very quiet District Meeting. This transfer I will be focusing on having super fun over the top but also meaningful District Meetings. Usually District Meetings are super social and fun, but it was just kind of awkward. Partially I think it is because we have a small District, but we also have some.... "unique" individuals in the District. It was a Senior Couple’s last day in the mission, so we had a little testimony meeting with them. It was super cool! The Sister got really emotional, and I almost started crying with her. AHHH! Emotions. The next couple District Meetings will be really interesting. As missionaries we have a rule called the rule of 3. In order to be with someone of the opposite gender we must be have 3 people of either gender. This presents a problem when you have 2 Elders and 2 Sisters in a District. I talked with President Forbes about it, and he gave us special leaniancy on the rule. We can have District Meeting in the Church if someone else is at the Church, but they don't need to be in the same room. We can have District Meeting at an empty nesters home, or a familes home. Or we can have District Meeting in an open area. This next week we are going to have District Meeting in the community room at the Sisters apartment. Should be interesting! After District Meeting we drove up to the cities for a Minneapolis Zone Leadership Conference (MZLC). We talked about the key indicators for the past few transfers, District and Zone focuses, and potential trainings and district unity ideas for the transfer. It was super fun! Our companions all went out and worked for the day while we were at the meeting, so my companion got to experience working in the ghetto for a little while. In the evening we went joint teaching with Bishop, and had a great lesson with a part member family. The mom is a member, and her husband and children are not. We had a lesson with her kids. We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ (faith, repentance, baptism, Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end). We used a lot of object lessons to demonstrate the principles. For repentance I used a pencil FHE lesson that my Mom sent to me. For baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end we used a hard boiled egg and a calypso (super good drink) bottle. The egg as you sin is cracked, and then you repent and peel off the shell. Then you are baptized so you pour alcohol in the calypso bottle. Then you have a baptism by fire (receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost), so you light a match and put it in the bottle. You put the egg on top and as it squeezes into the bottle it endures to the end. It was a pretty fun lesson!
On Wednesday we went and did service at a charity in the morning. I bought these sweet bracelets made by African children, and all the money goes towards feeding starving children so that was kind of cool! In the afternoon we had a lesson with a less-active member on the Plan of Salvation and Family History. Before the senior couple left they did a bunch of family history for the less-active member, so we gave her a packet that they put together for her. In the evening we went out joint teaching. We had a lesson with a less-active and part member family on faith. He told us that he had been having a really tough week. His Mom was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer that was unoperable, and his wifes father was going in for a double valve replacement on his heart. It was a tough week for them! He asked us to keep them in our prayers. To finish off the evening we had a lesson with another family. We talked about faith and Church attendance. The wife got work off on Sunday, so she was excited to be able to go to Church with her husband.
On Thursday we did some mormon.org time in the morning and then I had an accountability call with the Sisters. I made a few phone calls, one of them being to the St. Paul Minnesota Temple. We scheduled a temple trip and got registered and everything. Later we got a call from the Mission Office informing us that the temple had called them and wanted them to relay to us that the temple would actually be closed on the day we scheduled. Sad day! So I did some rearranging of our schedule. In the afternoon we went out finding for a few hours. We were able to teach a few people, but we didn't get any new investigators. I realized this week that I am really going to need to take charge of this area. Right now it is kind of dying. My companion has been here for a LONG time, and nothing has really happened. Hopefully I can turn things around! In the evening we visited with a family from the ward and helped them move a few things. They are refinishing their house and then moving to Idaho. We shared a message with them from Mormon Channel called "Expressions of Love" and then we also watched a new video on family history. It was a really great ending to the day.
On Friday we had an accountability call with the Zone Leaders and then I had a call with the Sister Training Leaders. Afterward we went over to the Senior Center and played Yahtzee with some of the residents. I have never played Yahtzee before, but it was pretty fun :) Later we visited with a sister in the ward and shared a Bible Video with her called "John The Beloved's Witness". We also watched the old Mormon Message, "Because of Him." We talked about the infinite sacrifice of the Atonement and the blessing that it is in our lives. In the evening we did some Weekly Planning and got everything scheduled out!
On Saturday we had a lesson with a man on the Prodigal Son. He is an interesting character. As we teach him, he talks to us A LOT about the Bible and asks relate the personal expereinces that he is sharing with us to the lesson. Sometimes it is a stretch, but it makes our lessons kind of fun! He always says, "relate it!" In the evening we stopped by a less-active member in our ward. I was super excited to see his name on the rolls. I served in the another ward for 9 months and heard quite a bit about him from his father! He was active up until he got married. He married a nice Jewish woman, and has not been active since. They have a few kids, and when they have come over to Grandma and Grandpas house they love to pray with them. Super cute family! I talked with him for a little while, but he asked us to come over another time a little bit earlier. Plus later I realized that it was Saturday... the Sabbath Day for Jews. Whoops!
On Sunday we had a pretty good service at Church. Our less-active family did not come however. No bueno! After Church we went finding for a little while and visited with the family in the ward. The Brother is going to take us to the temple on Wednesday, so that should be super fun! In the evening we had a Stake Mission Call with a Brother in the Bloomington Ward. He is awesome! When I was on exchange with the Assistants when I first came on my mission we had dinner with him. He is a Harvard graduate and is just a super effective business man. He is now the Minneapolis Stake High Councilman for Missionary Work! After the call we had correlation with the ward mission leader and shared a message with their family. To finish off the day we visited with the Player Development Coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings who is in the ward. He is a super awesome guy! We arranged to tour the Vikings Training facilities for one of our P-Days, so that should be way fun :)
All in all it was a pretty good week! Things are going well, and I am slowly starting to get a handle on things here in this area. I love this new area, and the challenges that it presents. Certainly keeps me busy :) Thank you all for all of your love and support. You are the best! Have a great week :)
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Showing posts with label Temple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Temple. Show all posts
Monday, March 2, 2015
Monday, October 6, 2014
General Conference
Hello Everyone,
It has been another crazy week here in Minnesota, but things are going great! On Monday we had our P-Day, and we went to Cabellas with the other Elders. Two of them have not been through a Minnesota winter yet, and so they were starting to get all of their winter supplies. The other elder and I both served in the area, so it was fun to go back there to go shopping at Cabellas. I didn't realize how relatively close it is in relation to our ward! We are only like 20-30 minutes away. Kind of fun! In the evening we went and visited with a less active member and invited him to watch General Conference. It was a pretty good meeting! Then Dancing With The Stars came on, so it was time for us to leave. I think it is funny that he is so into Dancing With The Stars, I love that show as well, but I would have never guessed that he would be a fan! Afterwards we visited with a member, and watched a movie with him called "Easter Dream". It is a story about a boy that lost his father, and he develops a greater testimony in the atonement. It is a really touching movie!
On Tuesday we had District Meeting. We talked a lot about working with Stake and Ward Leaders. After District Meeting, I went on exchange with an elder from Three Forks, Montana. He and I have been serving in the same District for a while now, probably about 6 months or so, but it wasn't until these last couple of months that we really have developed a great relationship! It was an awesome exchange though. We stayed in my area, and our greenies went to their area. We had a lesson with new member on the Book of Mormon and Prayer. He mentioned that he has had a hard time getting back into the swing of things since his trip to England. We talked to him about the importance of reading and praying, and that that is how he is going to get the answers to his questions. I think we made a lot of progress in that lesson! Afterwards we went over to go see an investigator. At first when we saw him he was kind of angry, and told us to go away. We went and knocked on probably 1 or 2 doors, and then he gave us a call. He apologized for being rude, and asked us if we could come back. We went on a walk with him and he vented to us. He has been having a really tough week! He is living in his daughters home with her husband and children. Her husband is not a big fan of him living there, and so he is making life rather difficult for him. He wants to move out, but he needs to have a stable job first. We talked to him about prayer and Church attendance and that if he will ask God, He will answer his prayers. We also talked to him about the upcoming General Conference, and he said that he would really like to attend that. It was cool to see the change that took place in him as we walked and talked with him! In the evening we went and visited with a member. He is still in a rehabilitation center. My heart really goes out to those people. He is in a hospital bed, and is not allowed to put weight on his legs yet. He reads and watches TV all day, and rarely does anyone come and visit him. He does, however, receive phone calls from his family members, so that is good! We talked to him about General Conference, and he said that he would like us to bring him some talks to read after General Conference. To finish off the evening we had a lesson with an investigator. We taught him the Law of Chastity, and he committed to live it! It was a jam packed day :)
On Wednesday we exchanged back, and my companion and I filled up the baptismal font for a baptism in a different ward. Afterwards we went and did some mormon.org time at the library. For the rest of the day we went out finding and preparing for General Conference. Unfortunately, nothing much happened.
On Thursday our District went to the 10:00 session at the St. Paul Minnesota Temple! It was awesome. I have not been to the temple in a few months, so it was really great to be able to go again! Unfortunately they did not play the newest video that I have not seen. Maybe next time! We went to the temple with a member. He is awesome! After going to the temple he took us to a really cool pizza place called Punch Pizza. I think it is original to Minnesota, but it was SUPER good :) I will have to open up a franchise in Utah when I get home, and then I will have to open up a Cafe Rio here in Minnesota! Pretty sure they both will be a huge hit :) In the evening we went joint teaching, but we kind of had a rough evening. We stopped by a bunch of mormon.org referrals that we received, but we found out that we had a lot of fake addresses. Not good! At least we made some headway on our list though ;) I have no clue why someone would waste their time creating a fake mormon.org referral though. Silly people!
On Friday we had Weekly Planning, which is always great! After Weekly Planning we went out and did some finding. While we were out, a member of the ward gave us a call and invited us to a Memorial Service that evening. I guess a member’s Mom passed away two weeks ago, and they were having a Memorial Service here in Minnesota. It was kind of a last minute ordeal, but it came together! It has been a while since I have been to a funeral, and I forgot about the overwhelming smell of flowers. Instantly I was reminded about past funerals and other things, not fun. We did have a really good experience though! Last minute they asked me to say the closing prayer, so that was interesting. We met a woman afterwards eho was fascinated by our Church. We were able to teach her a little bit about the restoration and the Plan of Salvation, but she did not want to take and pamphlets or anything from us. Gotta love when that happens! It was a good teaching opportunity though.
On Saturday we began the big General Conference weekend. I had a lot of talks on Saturday that I really enjoyed. I really liked D. Todd Christofferson's talk. It reminded me of a talk of his that I read a while ago called "Justification and Sanctification." I also really enjoyed Jorg Klebingat's talk on spiritual self-confidence. It was cool to put everything in perspective and to see what I can improve! I liked Quentin L. Cook's talk, it actually really reminded me of President Clements. He talked a lot about the importance of all of our decisions. I need to be a little bit better at prioritizing my decisions! And then in Priesthood Session I really liked President Uchtdorf's talk about introspection and asking ourselves the question, "Lord, Is It I?".
Sunday General Conference was really good as well. There were three talks in particular that stood out to me. The first was Russell M. Nelson's talk on sustaining Church Officers. I have never really thought about what a big deal it is to sustain someone! I also really enjoyed Carlos A. Godoy's talk on making decisions based on our Patriarchal Blessings! It was funny to hear him speaking in Portuguese. When he came to our mission I thought his English was really good! At least his translator was pretty good during General Conference. The guy who spoke in Cantonese had an AWFUL translator. His voice was super boring and just about put me to sleep. Elder Godoy's translator at least had some inflection! And then the last talk that I really liked was David A. Bednar's talk. It really put into perspective why missionary work is so important to our Church. He so eloquently broke everything down, and I think it will be a great resource to share with non-members and members alike! It was a great weekend of General Conference though :) In the evening we went out joint teaching. We were able to have a really good lesson with an investigator on the Law of Tithing, the Law of the Fast, and Donating Fast Offerings. He was really interested in all of those different elements, and committed to live them after his baptism. We switched up his baptismal date to October 25th, because he he just needs a little bit more time to soak everything in and to get a little bit more fellow-shipping from the ward members. It was a super good day though!
Thank you all for all of your love and support :) You are the best! Today we have a Zone P-Day at Andrews Park, so that should be super fun :) That is also why I am super rushed with emailing today, but it will all work out! Don't know why I added that on my email. BLAH!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
It has been another crazy week here in Minnesota, but things are going great! On Monday we had our P-Day, and we went to Cabellas with the other Elders. Two of them have not been through a Minnesota winter yet, and so they were starting to get all of their winter supplies. The other elder and I both served in the area, so it was fun to go back there to go shopping at Cabellas. I didn't realize how relatively close it is in relation to our ward! We are only like 20-30 minutes away. Kind of fun! In the evening we went and visited with a less active member and invited him to watch General Conference. It was a pretty good meeting! Then Dancing With The Stars came on, so it was time for us to leave. I think it is funny that he is so into Dancing With The Stars, I love that show as well, but I would have never guessed that he would be a fan! Afterwards we visited with a member, and watched a movie with him called "Easter Dream". It is a story about a boy that lost his father, and he develops a greater testimony in the atonement. It is a really touching movie!
On Tuesday we had District Meeting. We talked a lot about working with Stake and Ward Leaders. After District Meeting, I went on exchange with an elder from Three Forks, Montana. He and I have been serving in the same District for a while now, probably about 6 months or so, but it wasn't until these last couple of months that we really have developed a great relationship! It was an awesome exchange though. We stayed in my area, and our greenies went to their area. We had a lesson with new member on the Book of Mormon and Prayer. He mentioned that he has had a hard time getting back into the swing of things since his trip to England. We talked to him about the importance of reading and praying, and that that is how he is going to get the answers to his questions. I think we made a lot of progress in that lesson! Afterwards we went over to go see an investigator. At first when we saw him he was kind of angry, and told us to go away. We went and knocked on probably 1 or 2 doors, and then he gave us a call. He apologized for being rude, and asked us if we could come back. We went on a walk with him and he vented to us. He has been having a really tough week! He is living in his daughters home with her husband and children. Her husband is not a big fan of him living there, and so he is making life rather difficult for him. He wants to move out, but he needs to have a stable job first. We talked to him about prayer and Church attendance and that if he will ask God, He will answer his prayers. We also talked to him about the upcoming General Conference, and he said that he would really like to attend that. It was cool to see the change that took place in him as we walked and talked with him! In the evening we went and visited with a member. He is still in a rehabilitation center. My heart really goes out to those people. He is in a hospital bed, and is not allowed to put weight on his legs yet. He reads and watches TV all day, and rarely does anyone come and visit him. He does, however, receive phone calls from his family members, so that is good! We talked to him about General Conference, and he said that he would like us to bring him some talks to read after General Conference. To finish off the evening we had a lesson with an investigator. We taught him the Law of Chastity, and he committed to live it! It was a jam packed day :)
On Wednesday we exchanged back, and my companion and I filled up the baptismal font for a baptism in a different ward. Afterwards we went and did some mormon.org time at the library. For the rest of the day we went out finding and preparing for General Conference. Unfortunately, nothing much happened.
On Thursday our District went to the 10:00 session at the St. Paul Minnesota Temple! It was awesome. I have not been to the temple in a few months, so it was really great to be able to go again! Unfortunately they did not play the newest video that I have not seen. Maybe next time! We went to the temple with a member. He is awesome! After going to the temple he took us to a really cool pizza place called Punch Pizza. I think it is original to Minnesota, but it was SUPER good :) I will have to open up a franchise in Utah when I get home, and then I will have to open up a Cafe Rio here in Minnesota! Pretty sure they both will be a huge hit :) In the evening we went joint teaching, but we kind of had a rough evening. We stopped by a bunch of mormon.org referrals that we received, but we found out that we had a lot of fake addresses. Not good! At least we made some headway on our list though ;) I have no clue why someone would waste their time creating a fake mormon.org referral though. Silly people!
On Friday we had Weekly Planning, which is always great! After Weekly Planning we went out and did some finding. While we were out, a member of the ward gave us a call and invited us to a Memorial Service that evening. I guess a member’s Mom passed away two weeks ago, and they were having a Memorial Service here in Minnesota. It was kind of a last minute ordeal, but it came together! It has been a while since I have been to a funeral, and I forgot about the overwhelming smell of flowers. Instantly I was reminded about past funerals and other things, not fun. We did have a really good experience though! Last minute they asked me to say the closing prayer, so that was interesting. We met a woman afterwards eho was fascinated by our Church. We were able to teach her a little bit about the restoration and the Plan of Salvation, but she did not want to take and pamphlets or anything from us. Gotta love when that happens! It was a good teaching opportunity though.
On Saturday we began the big General Conference weekend. I had a lot of talks on Saturday that I really enjoyed. I really liked D. Todd Christofferson's talk. It reminded me of a talk of his that I read a while ago called "Justification and Sanctification." I also really enjoyed Jorg Klebingat's talk on spiritual self-confidence. It was cool to put everything in perspective and to see what I can improve! I liked Quentin L. Cook's talk, it actually really reminded me of President Clements. He talked a lot about the importance of all of our decisions. I need to be a little bit better at prioritizing my decisions! And then in Priesthood Session I really liked President Uchtdorf's talk about introspection and asking ourselves the question, "Lord, Is It I?".
Sunday General Conference was really good as well. There were three talks in particular that stood out to me. The first was Russell M. Nelson's talk on sustaining Church Officers. I have never really thought about what a big deal it is to sustain someone! I also really enjoyed Carlos A. Godoy's talk on making decisions based on our Patriarchal Blessings! It was funny to hear him speaking in Portuguese. When he came to our mission I thought his English was really good! At least his translator was pretty good during General Conference. The guy who spoke in Cantonese had an AWFUL translator. His voice was super boring and just about put me to sleep. Elder Godoy's translator at least had some inflection! And then the last talk that I really liked was David A. Bednar's talk. It really put into perspective why missionary work is so important to our Church. He so eloquently broke everything down, and I think it will be a great resource to share with non-members and members alike! It was a great weekend of General Conference though :) In the evening we went out joint teaching. We were able to have a really good lesson with an investigator on the Law of Tithing, the Law of the Fast, and Donating Fast Offerings. He was really interested in all of those different elements, and committed to live them after his baptism. We switched up his baptismal date to October 25th, because he he just needs a little bit more time to soak everything in and to get a little bit more fellow-shipping from the ward members. It was a super good day though!
Thank you all for all of your love and support :) You are the best! Today we have a Zone P-Day at Andrews Park, so that should be super fun :) That is also why I am super rushed with emailing today, but it will all work out! Don't know why I added that on my email. BLAH!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Monday, March 10, 2014
Everything I know... I learned in Primary!
Hello Everyone,
It has been kind of a different week, but still a very good one! On Tuesday we had our weekly District Meeting, and I was asked early Tuesday morning to give a Missionary Handbook training on housing and cleanliness. I love organization and cleaning, so it was not a big deal to put together this last minute training! I of course had handouts, because no training is a good training without them ;) I still am the only missionary that ever uses handouts, but maybe one day I will rub off on someone! This week I was able to use my favorite quote in the whole entire world as part of my handout, "If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney. It was great!
After District Meeting we went on exchange with our Zone Leaders. I stayed with an Elder from Mesa, Arizona. We had a really great exchange together! We had dinner with a family from the ward, and then did a teaching evaluation with them. Their kids are very young, but primary has trained them well! We taught the message of the restoration, and they were able to basically teach us the entire lesson :) One of their children talked to us about how "I Am A Child Of God" is her favorite primary song. We discussed the mission president’s wife’s training on how "Everything I know... I learned in Primary!" The songs the children sing in Primary are rather remarkable, and teach all of the doctrines that we need to know as members of the church. It was a really cool teaching moment for me, and I was able to learn how to better relate to and teach children. Later in the evening we stopped by an investigator with a ward member. He is married to a member, and has a relative interest in the church, but has not been baptized. He works on Sundays, but enjoys the community and family focused atmosphere of the church. His daughter sang the song "I Am A Child Of God" for us, which was amazing, and we had a lesson with him about families and that we are all God's children. It was amazing! He didn't have a lot of time, but with the impact that the Primary song that his daughter sang, that is all we needed :)
On Wednesday we concluded our exchange with a trip to the St. Paul Minnesota Temple! It was amazing :) I have now been to the temple three times in my life, twice in Provo and once in Minnesota. The temple was tiny haha! It is much smaller than any church even that I have been into. The Celestial room in the temple was quite small, and didn't have any pictures or anything in it, but the chandelier was pretty. While we were in the Celestial room, I was contemplating a lot of different things in my mind, and then all of the sudden I randomly started thinking about what the heck I am going to do with my life! As I was sitting, an idea popped into my head. I'm still not sure if it was my idea, or God's, but it definitely circulated my brain. Business Accounting. WHAT?!?!? I'm awful at math! So yeah, not really sure whats up with that. Maybe it was a practical joke, but who knows :)
On Wednesday we had dinner with a couple in the ward, and then we went out joint teaching with both of them! They are awesome :) Unfortunately our investigator who just got baptized kind of dropped off the face of the planet, so we weren't able to see her because she missed her appointment, and her family said they had not seen her in days. Kind of worrisome. The Sister came to the rescue though, and said that she wanted us to go meet her dad who is not a member. The Sister knows that I LOVE dogs, so she told her dad that we were coming over to meet their dog, and to introduce the new missionary. We talked for a little while, and then were able to have a quick message with him before we left. It was an awesome teaching opportunity, so hopefully we will be able to meet again with him soon! While in the car with the couple we talked a lot about sacrifice, and with it being Ash Wednesday, and the start of Lent, I committed to give up Diet Coke... haha just kidding! I committed to only drink one Diet Coke a day :) I would die if I completely gave up Diet Coke!
On Friday we had dinner with a family in the ward, and went joint teaching with the father. We stopped by a less-active member who is a recovering alcoholic. He was recently released from jail for driving while intoxicated, and has now been sober for four months! He attends AA meetings every day, and is recommitting to coming to church. His testimony is amazing! He knows that without God's help, he cannot do anything, and so he needs to rely on the Lord. Such an awesome example to me! Later, we had an appointment with our baptized investigator. We got a couple strange texts from her on Thursday night, and we set up an appointment to come see her. She told us that she had been to hell and back this past week. Her family reported her of child abuse, and she was sent to jail for three days. That is why she missed our appointments, and never got back to us! Kind of an odd situation. She has not seen her kids in several months, because her Mom has temporary custody because of her previous homelessness, so the claim sounds like it cannot be true. She made it clear that she is a loving and kind mother, and from what we have seen, we definitely don't think that she would do that to her youngest son. Hopefully everything will be worked out soon! She also told us that she was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disease and depression, so who knows. Kind of an interesting start to a lesson! Luckily we were able to salvage it by talking about family history and baptisms for the dead. She really enjoyed learning about doing baptisms for her family members that have passed away, and her countenance changed as she began to be filled with the spirit once again. It was awesome to see the literal change in her! We finished off the evening by visiting with a sister in the ward, or in other words, the woman with the devil cat, Sophie. Sophie HATES missionaries, and growls and hisses at us at every opportunity she gets. She shows her massive teeth, and tries to scare us away. My companion during the lesson decided that he wanted to pet Sophie. BAD IDEA! He never got to pet the cat though, because Sophie randomly started biting at the sister, so she was sent away. Luckily she didn't have any big injuries, but she did have a couple teeth marks on her arm. Why do people have cats? I will never know. Friday evening a brother in the ward called, and asked me to give a speech on Sunday. CRAZY! I basically had one day to prepare. Yikes :)
Church on Sunday was interesting. Daylight savings is rough! We had a 7:00 meeting before 9:00 church, so it was not the most pleasant morning in the world. To top it off, I have been getting sick these past couple weeks, and it decided to come on full throttle Sunday morning! I propped myself up with some pills, and went on my way. That totally sounds like I have drug problems, but that is the only way I can think to describe it haha! During the prelude music in Sacrament meeting, a sister played "Where Love Is". It was the only Primary song she has ever played in Sacrament meeting, and then she went right back to playing hymns. As she played, I instantly felt at peace, and the spirit came over me. I reflected on my great grandparents for a moment, and then sacrament meeting began. I knew they were watching over me, and helping me to get through my speech. It all worked out marvelously! I didn't even cough or get super sick while I was delivering my speech on Charity, and it turned out amazingly well for how little preparation time I was given. I was definitely blessed :)
Sunday evening we stopped by an old less-active member. He loves to fish, and to listen to his radio. He does not have a cell phone or a computer, and just recently inherited a color television. He is a bit old school, but it is kind of funny to watch! As we met with him, he told me that I look like Johnny Cash when he was younger. Not really sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or not, but whatever! I hardly even know who Johnny Cash is, so it all works out ;)
It has been a great week nonetheless, and we have seen some really great successes! Hopefully next week I won't be quite so sick, and all will be well :) Thank you all for all of your love and support! It truly means the world to me. This week I will hit my ten month mark on my mission on March 15th. Crazy stuff! Talk to you next week :)
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
It has been kind of a different week, but still a very good one! On Tuesday we had our weekly District Meeting, and I was asked early Tuesday morning to give a Missionary Handbook training on housing and cleanliness. I love organization and cleaning, so it was not a big deal to put together this last minute training! I of course had handouts, because no training is a good training without them ;) I still am the only missionary that ever uses handouts, but maybe one day I will rub off on someone! This week I was able to use my favorite quote in the whole entire world as part of my handout, "If you can dream it, you can do it." - Walt Disney. It was great!
After District Meeting we went on exchange with our Zone Leaders. I stayed with an Elder from Mesa, Arizona. We had a really great exchange together! We had dinner with a family from the ward, and then did a teaching evaluation with them. Their kids are very young, but primary has trained them well! We taught the message of the restoration, and they were able to basically teach us the entire lesson :) One of their children talked to us about how "I Am A Child Of God" is her favorite primary song. We discussed the mission president’s wife’s training on how "Everything I know... I learned in Primary!" The songs the children sing in Primary are rather remarkable, and teach all of the doctrines that we need to know as members of the church. It was a really cool teaching moment for me, and I was able to learn how to better relate to and teach children. Later in the evening we stopped by an investigator with a ward member. He is married to a member, and has a relative interest in the church, but has not been baptized. He works on Sundays, but enjoys the community and family focused atmosphere of the church. His daughter sang the song "I Am A Child Of God" for us, which was amazing, and we had a lesson with him about families and that we are all God's children. It was amazing! He didn't have a lot of time, but with the impact that the Primary song that his daughter sang, that is all we needed :)
On Wednesday we concluded our exchange with a trip to the St. Paul Minnesota Temple! It was amazing :) I have now been to the temple three times in my life, twice in Provo and once in Minnesota. The temple was tiny haha! It is much smaller than any church even that I have been into. The Celestial room in the temple was quite small, and didn't have any pictures or anything in it, but the chandelier was pretty. While we were in the Celestial room, I was contemplating a lot of different things in my mind, and then all of the sudden I randomly started thinking about what the heck I am going to do with my life! As I was sitting, an idea popped into my head. I'm still not sure if it was my idea, or God's, but it definitely circulated my brain. Business Accounting. WHAT?!?!? I'm awful at math! So yeah, not really sure whats up with that. Maybe it was a practical joke, but who knows :)
On Wednesday we had dinner with a couple in the ward, and then we went out joint teaching with both of them! They are awesome :) Unfortunately our investigator who just got baptized kind of dropped off the face of the planet, so we weren't able to see her because she missed her appointment, and her family said they had not seen her in days. Kind of worrisome. The Sister came to the rescue though, and said that she wanted us to go meet her dad who is not a member. The Sister knows that I LOVE dogs, so she told her dad that we were coming over to meet their dog, and to introduce the new missionary. We talked for a little while, and then were able to have a quick message with him before we left. It was an awesome teaching opportunity, so hopefully we will be able to meet again with him soon! While in the car with the couple we talked a lot about sacrifice, and with it being Ash Wednesday, and the start of Lent, I committed to give up Diet Coke... haha just kidding! I committed to only drink one Diet Coke a day :) I would die if I completely gave up Diet Coke!
On Friday we had dinner with a family in the ward, and went joint teaching with the father. We stopped by a less-active member who is a recovering alcoholic. He was recently released from jail for driving while intoxicated, and has now been sober for four months! He attends AA meetings every day, and is recommitting to coming to church. His testimony is amazing! He knows that without God's help, he cannot do anything, and so he needs to rely on the Lord. Such an awesome example to me! Later, we had an appointment with our baptized investigator. We got a couple strange texts from her on Thursday night, and we set up an appointment to come see her. She told us that she had been to hell and back this past week. Her family reported her of child abuse, and she was sent to jail for three days. That is why she missed our appointments, and never got back to us! Kind of an odd situation. She has not seen her kids in several months, because her Mom has temporary custody because of her previous homelessness, so the claim sounds like it cannot be true. She made it clear that she is a loving and kind mother, and from what we have seen, we definitely don't think that she would do that to her youngest son. Hopefully everything will be worked out soon! She also told us that she was diagnosed with Bi-Polar disease and depression, so who knows. Kind of an interesting start to a lesson! Luckily we were able to salvage it by talking about family history and baptisms for the dead. She really enjoyed learning about doing baptisms for her family members that have passed away, and her countenance changed as she began to be filled with the spirit once again. It was awesome to see the literal change in her! We finished off the evening by visiting with a sister in the ward, or in other words, the woman with the devil cat, Sophie. Sophie HATES missionaries, and growls and hisses at us at every opportunity she gets. She shows her massive teeth, and tries to scare us away. My companion during the lesson decided that he wanted to pet Sophie. BAD IDEA! He never got to pet the cat though, because Sophie randomly started biting at the sister, so she was sent away. Luckily she didn't have any big injuries, but she did have a couple teeth marks on her arm. Why do people have cats? I will never know. Friday evening a brother in the ward called, and asked me to give a speech on Sunday. CRAZY! I basically had one day to prepare. Yikes :)
Church on Sunday was interesting. Daylight savings is rough! We had a 7:00 meeting before 9:00 church, so it was not the most pleasant morning in the world. To top it off, I have been getting sick these past couple weeks, and it decided to come on full throttle Sunday morning! I propped myself up with some pills, and went on my way. That totally sounds like I have drug problems, but that is the only way I can think to describe it haha! During the prelude music in Sacrament meeting, a sister played "Where Love Is". It was the only Primary song she has ever played in Sacrament meeting, and then she went right back to playing hymns. As she played, I instantly felt at peace, and the spirit came over me. I reflected on my great grandparents for a moment, and then sacrament meeting began. I knew they were watching over me, and helping me to get through my speech. It all worked out marvelously! I didn't even cough or get super sick while I was delivering my speech on Charity, and it turned out amazingly well for how little preparation time I was given. I was definitely blessed :)
Sunday evening we stopped by an old less-active member. He loves to fish, and to listen to his radio. He does not have a cell phone or a computer, and just recently inherited a color television. He is a bit old school, but it is kind of funny to watch! As we met with him, he told me that I look like Johnny Cash when he was younger. Not really sure whether or not to take that as a compliment or not, but whatever! I hardly even know who Johnny Cash is, so it all works out ;)
It has been a great week nonetheless, and we have seen some really great successes! Hopefully next week I won't be quite so sick, and all will be well :) Thank you all for all of your love and support! It truly means the world to me. This week I will hit my ten month mark on my mission on March 15th. Crazy stuff! Talk to you next week :)
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Monday, August 5, 2013
A Baptism!
August 5, 2013
Hello Everyone,
This week has been absolute madness, but all is well! On Monday I was in Rochester, Minnesota and went on exchange with one of our zone leaders. We had a really great time together, and had the opportunity to a Somalian man from the Noobian tribe (not sure how to spell that.) It was amazing being able to teach him, and to get to know more about him and his family. They are so very accepting to the gospel, something that Americans are not always the best at. They were incredibly humble, and prepared by the Lord. Apparently the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission (MMM) is one of the most diverse missions, but I haven't been able to serve in any of those areas just yet. La Crosse and Sparta are mainly made up of Caucasians (yep... trying not to sound like a racist here haha!)
The next day my companion and all of the missionaries with leadership positions went to Mission Leadership Conference in Oakdale, Minnesota. They were able to go to the temple with President and Sister Clements! Maybe one day I will be able to do the same. As for me, I went on exchange with an elder. His companion is a district leader as well. We spent the day in Rochester, Minnesota. It was an interesting experience. I had a great time on exchange. Afterwards, we spent the night with the zone leaders, and drove back to Sparta in the morning.
On Thursday I went on exchange with an elder from Utah after district meeting. We had some really cool experiences tracting oddly enough! We went to Riverside Park in South La Crosse, and met a man. He was sitting on a bench by himself, so we asked if we could come sit by him. We talked for a bit, and he completely opened up to us, and talked about his past. He told us that he isn't a social person at all, but for whatever reason felt like he needed to share this with us. We talked to him about how the gospel blesses individuals and families and taught him the restoration. It was a really cool experience! Maybe one day he might even get baptized ;) We also met a girl with bright blue colored hair. She said that she had seen the Book of Mormon Musical in NYC, and that she had always wanted to meet missionaries! We gave her the actual Book of Mormon, and talked to her for a while. It just goes to show that some not so good publicity can turn out to be good publicity! After the exchange, my companion and I went back to Sparta, Wisconsin. We then got a call from South La Crosse informing us that we had their keys, and they had my suitcase. Some things will never change ;) At least I have never locked the keys in our car though!
The other day we did service for a disabled woman in the branch. During a wind storm, her tree was blown apart, and a big portion broke off and fell to the ground. We borrowed some tools, and helped her out. I have never used an axe or a hatchet in my life, so this was an experience for sure! I was terrible at chopping the tree, so eventually I was on saw duty haha! Pretty much our hands are destroyed, but we got everything taken care of. Our blisters will be a reminder throughout the week to give service to others!
Yesterday, Fast Sunday was pretty remarkable! Our investigator was baptized after church, and everything worked out really well. I almost said it worked out perfectly, but there were a few funny moments to remember ;) First of all, in order to have a baptism, you must fill up the baptismal font with water. Yep, we forgot! It filled up right in time though, and the baptism wasn't postponed. Also, the plumbing in the building is made of copper. You must run the water for a few minutes before filling up the baptismal font, otherwise the water will be green. Yep, we had a green baptism! All in all, it was amazing though, definitely a day to remember! Our investigator even made brownies, which was kind of funny as well. We might need to cover the law of the fast lesson with her again in the future ;) Next week in church she will be confirmed, and will officially become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!
My companion and I have had some really great experiences this week! We had a companionship inventory session, where we just talked about ourselves and our lives, and how we got to where we are today. It was awesome, and we became a lot closer because of it. My companion is like my best friend, it is the best! I hope that all of my companionships are able to be this close. We work long and hard together, and have a great time together doing it. He is the best!
Because we are not close enough to the cities in Minnesota, next week we have our own zone activity planned instead of going to a Minnesota Twins game with the mission! You might not have known, but in Austin, Minnesota there is a Spam Factory. Sick! For our zone activity, we will be touring the factory and doing other fun things together as the Rochester zone!
This week has been amazing though, and has flown by SO quickly! I can't believe that we are already on week 4/6 in this transfer. Hopefully I will be able to stay in Sparta, Wisconsin with my companion this next transfer, but we will have to just wait and see. I love and miss you all, and hope you have a great week!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Hello Everyone,
This week has been absolute madness, but all is well! On Monday I was in Rochester, Minnesota and went on exchange with one of our zone leaders. We had a really great time together, and had the opportunity to a Somalian man from the Noobian tribe (not sure how to spell that.) It was amazing being able to teach him, and to get to know more about him and his family. They are so very accepting to the gospel, something that Americans are not always the best at. They were incredibly humble, and prepared by the Lord. Apparently the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission (MMM) is one of the most diverse missions, but I haven't been able to serve in any of those areas just yet. La Crosse and Sparta are mainly made up of Caucasians (yep... trying not to sound like a racist here haha!)
The next day my companion and all of the missionaries with leadership positions went to Mission Leadership Conference in Oakdale, Minnesota. They were able to go to the temple with President and Sister Clements! Maybe one day I will be able to do the same. As for me, I went on exchange with an elder. His companion is a district leader as well. We spent the day in Rochester, Minnesota. It was an interesting experience. I had a great time on exchange. Afterwards, we spent the night with the zone leaders, and drove back to Sparta in the morning.
On Thursday I went on exchange with an elder from Utah after district meeting. We had some really cool experiences tracting oddly enough! We went to Riverside Park in South La Crosse, and met a man. He was sitting on a bench by himself, so we asked if we could come sit by him. We talked for a bit, and he completely opened up to us, and talked about his past. He told us that he isn't a social person at all, but for whatever reason felt like he needed to share this with us. We talked to him about how the gospel blesses individuals and families and taught him the restoration. It was a really cool experience! Maybe one day he might even get baptized ;) We also met a girl with bright blue colored hair. She said that she had seen the Book of Mormon Musical in NYC, and that she had always wanted to meet missionaries! We gave her the actual Book of Mormon, and talked to her for a while. It just goes to show that some not so good publicity can turn out to be good publicity! After the exchange, my companion and I went back to Sparta, Wisconsin. We then got a call from South La Crosse informing us that we had their keys, and they had my suitcase. Some things will never change ;) At least I have never locked the keys in our car though!
The other day we did service for a disabled woman in the branch. During a wind storm, her tree was blown apart, and a big portion broke off and fell to the ground. We borrowed some tools, and helped her out. I have never used an axe or a hatchet in my life, so this was an experience for sure! I was terrible at chopping the tree, so eventually I was on saw duty haha! Pretty much our hands are destroyed, but we got everything taken care of. Our blisters will be a reminder throughout the week to give service to others!
Yesterday, Fast Sunday was pretty remarkable! Our investigator was baptized after church, and everything worked out really well. I almost said it worked out perfectly, but there were a few funny moments to remember ;) First of all, in order to have a baptism, you must fill up the baptismal font with water. Yep, we forgot! It filled up right in time though, and the baptism wasn't postponed. Also, the plumbing in the building is made of copper. You must run the water for a few minutes before filling up the baptismal font, otherwise the water will be green. Yep, we had a green baptism! All in all, it was amazing though, definitely a day to remember! Our investigator even made brownies, which was kind of funny as well. We might need to cover the law of the fast lesson with her again in the future ;) Next week in church she will be confirmed, and will officially become a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!
My companion and I have had some really great experiences this week! We had a companionship inventory session, where we just talked about ourselves and our lives, and how we got to where we are today. It was awesome, and we became a lot closer because of it. My companion is like my best friend, it is the best! I hope that all of my companionships are able to be this close. We work long and hard together, and have a great time together doing it. He is the best!
Because we are not close enough to the cities in Minnesota, next week we have our own zone activity planned instead of going to a Minnesota Twins game with the mission! You might not have known, but in Austin, Minnesota there is a Spam Factory. Sick! For our zone activity, we will be touring the factory and doing other fun things together as the Rochester zone!
This week has been amazing though, and has flown by SO quickly! I can't believe that we are already on week 4/6 in this transfer. Hopefully I will be able to stay in Sparta, Wisconsin with my companion this next transfer, but we will have to just wait and see. I love and miss you all, and hope you have a great week!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
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