August 19, 2013
Hello Everyone,
This week has been busy as usual, but there have been a few things in particular that have stood out. For starters, I broke a MAJOR rule that I set for myself. My companion and I spend a lot of time talking so last Monday when we were running out of time, I realized that I never got my hair cut! My companion told me that he cuts his own hair, and that he could cut mine if I would like. Yikes! I kindly refused, but soon realized that there was not enough time left on P-Day to get my hair cut. Practically shaking, I told him that I would let him cut my hair. Seriously this was one of the hardest decisions I have ever made in my life! My hair means a lot to me, and I cannot stand bad haircuts. I put a lot of trust in my companion’s hands, but he did a great job! Our hair is very similar, which is the ONLY reason I agreed to let him do my hair. It was for sure a trust building exercise in our companionship, but everything worked out in the end :) Phew!
On Tuesday, my companion had to conduct a baptismal interview in Viroqua, Wisconsin where the Sister Missionaries in our district are working. I swear every time we visit a new area, I find somewhere smaller and more rural. The Viroqua branch is in a remodeled dentists office, so it is absolutely tiny. The only thing they are missing is a baptismal font! What do you do if you are having an investigator baptized, and you do not have a baptismal font? RIVER BAPTISM! I thought this only happened in foreign countries, but it is going to happen here in Wisconsin in a few weeks. Crazy! We are trying to get a few of our investigators to attend the baptism, so we can go and see it all go down.
Aside from that, this week has been fairly typical. We taught a couple on Thursday, which was quite an experience! We taught the Law of Chastity, and the man of the house told us that people get married, and later divorced. He said that he didn't want to get divorced and have his wife take all of his money, so he just isn't going to get married until he is absolutely certain! The woman of the house (who is extremely quiet during our lessons mind you) went off, shouting about how all he ever talks about is divorce, and that she came to live with him to get married. It was... interesting to say the least! We smoothed things over, but we realized that for future lessons with a marriage focus, it would be best to have an actual married couple with us. Not that our marriage advice isn't fantastic ;)
I have been SUPER tired this week. I thought that with our daily schedule, and waking up at 6:30 AM every morning would make going to sleep at 10:30 PM a lot easier. That is not the case. I should have known that my body doesn't go to bed before 12:00 AM, just like when I was in high school! I make things work though, it just involves a lot of Diet Coke and Zip Fizz haha :) My companion and I are Diet Coke drinking buddies, but he hasn't acquired a taste for Zip Fizz. Baby steps ;)
The mosquitoes are in full force! When people say that mosquitoes are the Minnesota state bird, they aren't kidding :p Yesterday I got five new mosquito bites, not cool! Hopefully they will start to die out sometime soon. The worst is when they bite through your socks, and you get a mosquito bite on your ankle! I currently have got two of those babies.
All in all, it has been a fantastic week, and we got our transfer calls today, and I will be staying in Sparta, Wisconsin with my companion! I wasn't sure how things were going to work out, but I knew everything would be fine. I prayed anyways that I would stay with my current companion, and it looks like God agreed with me this time ;) We will see how everything works out in the transfers to come, but as for right now I am happy!
I hope everything is going well back home, and that you all have a great week. I love and miss you all, but I know that I am doing an important work here in the Minnesota Minneapolis Mission :) Thank you all for your love and support.
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Showing posts with label Viroqua. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Viroqua. Show all posts
Monday, August 19, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
A little late but here you are!
July 4th, 2013
Hello Everyone,
This week has been pretty crazy, but I have had a great time! I went on exchange with an Elder from Manti, Utah who is currently serving in South La Crosse. He was really fun to be around, and I think I learned a lot from him. For a while I actually though that he was going to complete my training, but today we found out that he is going to be training a new missionary.
Today we received our transfer emails from President Clements. I will be staying in North La Crosse, and will be serving with an Elder from Japan. While I was with the Assistants last week I actually met this Elder, because we all met together for dinner. He is a really a kind and loving missionary, and I am sure that we are going to get along great! His English is progressing, but it is very clear that he is from another country. It will be interesting to see how everything works out, but I am excited for what the future holds!
This week we had a baptismal interview in Sparta, Wisconsin. We got there a little early, so we went tracting with the Sparta missionaries before the interview. We met a less-active member from their branch, and got to know her a little bit. As we were talking she mentioned that they got a trampoline for Christmas, but she hasn't been able to set it up for her kids yet. We asked her if we could set it up for her, and she respectfully declined. Missionaries are persistant though, and in the end we won! She showed us where the trampoline was, and we set it up for them. I love helping others, and wish we had more opportunities to serve out here. Maybe service opportunities will increase in the future though! When we finished, we took a picture together with all the missionaries on the tramp. We aren't allowed to jump on trampolines--but when we were taking the picture it was SUPER tempting! I guess too many injuries have occurred in the past because of it. Oh well!
On Saturday we went to Westby, Wisconsin to blitz the Viroqua Sisters area. I thought that La Crosse and Onalaska were small areas, but Westby is TINY! I guess before I left on my mission I had the perspective that I lived in a small city. Provo apparently isn't as small as I thought it was! People in Wisconsin talk about getting away from the big city life in La Crosse... Crazy! Hopefully throughout my mission I will be able to serve in some of the bigger cities, but it has been interesting adjusting to the small city lifestyle. I certainly would never choose to live in a city this small though haha!
Aside from that, things are going well. Tomorrow we are driving to Rochester, Minnesota and I will be with our Zone Leaders in a group of three, while my companion will drive up to Bloomington, Minnesota with a ward member to be with all of the departing missionaries. Things are definitely looking up, and I am excited to see what this next transfer will bring. I can't believe that I have been out on my mission for an entire transfer now, and soon there will be missionaries serving out here that are younger than I am! Of course, I will be turning the ripe old age of 19 a week after transfers so I guess I am getting up there in years. My birthday will be fun though, we have District Meetings on Wednesdays, and one of the Sisters (serving in Viroqua) has her birthday on the same day! I'm sure it will be AMAZING :) I love and miss you all, and hope you have an excellent week. Thanks for all of your letters and emails!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
Hello Everyone,
This week has been pretty crazy, but I have had a great time! I went on exchange with an Elder from Manti, Utah who is currently serving in South La Crosse. He was really fun to be around, and I think I learned a lot from him. For a while I actually though that he was going to complete my training, but today we found out that he is going to be training a new missionary.
Today we received our transfer emails from President Clements. I will be staying in North La Crosse, and will be serving with an Elder from Japan. While I was with the Assistants last week I actually met this Elder, because we all met together for dinner. He is a really a kind and loving missionary, and I am sure that we are going to get along great! His English is progressing, but it is very clear that he is from another country. It will be interesting to see how everything works out, but I am excited for what the future holds!
This week we had a baptismal interview in Sparta, Wisconsin. We got there a little early, so we went tracting with the Sparta missionaries before the interview. We met a less-active member from their branch, and got to know her a little bit. As we were talking she mentioned that they got a trampoline for Christmas, but she hasn't been able to set it up for her kids yet. We asked her if we could set it up for her, and she respectfully declined. Missionaries are persistant though, and in the end we won! She showed us where the trampoline was, and we set it up for them. I love helping others, and wish we had more opportunities to serve out here. Maybe service opportunities will increase in the future though! When we finished, we took a picture together with all the missionaries on the tramp. We aren't allowed to jump on trampolines--but when we were taking the picture it was SUPER tempting! I guess too many injuries have occurred in the past because of it. Oh well!
On Saturday we went to Westby, Wisconsin to blitz the Viroqua Sisters area. I thought that La Crosse and Onalaska were small areas, but Westby is TINY! I guess before I left on my mission I had the perspective that I lived in a small city. Provo apparently isn't as small as I thought it was! People in Wisconsin talk about getting away from the big city life in La Crosse... Crazy! Hopefully throughout my mission I will be able to serve in some of the bigger cities, but it has been interesting adjusting to the small city lifestyle. I certainly would never choose to live in a city this small though haha!
Aside from that, things are going well. Tomorrow we are driving to Rochester, Minnesota and I will be with our Zone Leaders in a group of three, while my companion will drive up to Bloomington, Minnesota with a ward member to be with all of the departing missionaries. Things are definitely looking up, and I am excited to see what this next transfer will bring. I can't believe that I have been out on my mission for an entire transfer now, and soon there will be missionaries serving out here that are younger than I am! Of course, I will be turning the ripe old age of 19 a week after transfers so I guess I am getting up there in years. My birthday will be fun though, we have District Meetings on Wednesdays, and one of the Sisters (serving in Viroqua) has her birthday on the same day! I'm sure it will be AMAZING :) I love and miss you all, and hope you have an excellent week. Thanks for all of your letters and emails!
Best Wishes,
Elder Kyle William Andrews
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