March 25th, 2013

Dear family,

How is everyone? I hope everyone is healthy finally! Maybe once the weather gets warm people will stop getting sick.

So--This week has been awesome. It has been super interesting. On Tuesday we got a call from Pres. Bubert and he told Sister Jessop that I was going to go on splits with another comp in the Cyprus area. So we went in a little early that night and I packed a bag for that night and the next day and then we met up with Sister Shaver and Youngberg and I swapped places with Sister Youngberg. We just went home and did more personal study so I got in like 4 hours of personal study that day :) Then we went to bed and woke up the next morning and had 2 more hours of personal study and then went to do service at an Assisted Living Center. It was good. But it took up 3 hours. Then we went home and did more personal study time and then did mormon.org time and then we switched back. So I was able to get lots of studying in :) 

Anyways. Then on Thursday night we got another call from President and he told Sister Wasden that she was getting transferred  The next morning. At 7:30. So we went home (it was already 9) and she had to pack up all her stuff super fast. So we went to bed a little late. And got up and helped her finish packing. And then she switched places with Sister Youngberg. SO. In my first 2 weeks I have already had 3 comps and went on splits with another. Rather exciting, yeah? So now my companions are Sister Jessop (who is my trainer) and Sister Youngberg (who has been out for about 5 weeks). President Bubert told us that this is only the 4th emergency transfer he has ever done in the 3 years. Pretty crazy, huh? Don't worry, I promise I'm not the one causing the emergency transfer ;)

I know there are lessons I need to learn from this experience and I am trying to be open to those.

Guess what? Melvin came to Church yesterday! I was so happy! It is amazing how happy it makes me to have someone that I hardly even know come to church. It was so great. Melvin was a potential investigator when I came and turned into a progressing investigator this last week. Sister Wasden and Jessop found him after they tried to visit a less active member and she told them to never come back. So they were walking away and they saw Melvin. He had a cane and was carrying several grocery bags so they asked if they could help and he said yes. Then he asked what they were doing and they were able to talk to him for about an hour about the church. I thought that was so cool. So when I got here we went back to visit him and try to set up an apt. And he was just leaving, but we set up a time to come back. We were able to get Brother Jones from the ward to come with us to the lesson and it went pretty well. Melvin is probably in his 50's. He is Phillipino I believe. He coaches tennis. And apparently he was super good. He's really nice. And super funny :) He has kept his commitments and reads the chapters in the BoM that we give him. But he is very involved in his church-it's a non denominational church-and so he told us that he doesn't want to pray and ask if the Book of Mormon is true. We've had 2 lessons with him and he came to church and we have another lesson scheduled with him on Wednesday. So pray for him to have the desire to pray and find out for himself. And that we can help him get that real intent and teach in the way that we need to.

Dan is our other investigator. But he also doesn't want to pray about the BoM. He has been investigating the church for a long time but he says he needs to read the whole BoM before he decides if it's true. So that's been frustrating. He's also from the Phillipines. So pray for him as well. He has a super hard family situation right now. He and his wife are here working and all his kids are back in the Philippines-I think he has 6-but he hasn't seen them for 10 years. Crazy. It is so hard to see how sad people's situations are. It def gives me perspective and so much more gratitude for how blessed I am to have such an amazing family.

Yesterday was kind of frustrating. We tried to go by several potential investigators and they all were not at all happy with us. It's hard getting rejection, but the hardest part about it is knowing that they need it in their lives, they really do, they just haven't realized it yet. We went by Marina's house and she told us she was busy, they were about to eat dinner. And then her little daughter was like-"we already ate dinner!" And it was so funny :) I am trying to get better at presenting our message in a way that makes people want to learn, to be interested. It is so frustrating when people say- I already know Christ is my Savior, I'm good in that area. And we're just like-no you're not! We're just trying to give you something that will bring you the greatest joy you can ever get! There are so many things that I get to learn as a missionary :)

I learned an awesome lesson this week about the importance of re activation. In our mission the goal is to bring one in and bring one back. I never really viewed reactivation as something very important but this week I have realized how wrong I was. Reactivation is just as important as bringing non members into the Church. They all need help to come closer to Christ. That has helped me understand why we spend so much time visiting less actives. I think we can work on having a more specific goal for everyone we visit. So I am working on that. I wish I would have been better at this at home. It is so important for people to feel needed and welcomed in the ward. Help someone this week who isn't active. Write them a note, give them cookies, or even just pray for them. I'm so grateful I was able to learn a little more about how important this is. It is something I'm still working on.

For the past 3 weeks I have really been trying to learn what it means to serve God with all my heart. We are told that this is a requirement for missionaries over and over again. It is in our white handbook, in PMG, in our call letter, in the scriptures, etc. It obviously also applies to everyone who has made a commitment to serve God. But I was trying to figure out what that meant for me, specifically as a missionary. I was reading in 2 Nephi 4:27-"Why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul?" All the sudden that verse made sense in a way it never had before. As we give in to temptation we are giving satan place in our heart and thus taking that part away from God. We can't serve God with our whole heart if we are giving satan a part of it. Obviously we all give in to temptation and no one is perfect, but it was amazing to me how much more motivation that gives me knowing that if I resist temptation I have more of my heart to give to God. And then I love verse 34. Read it ;) I love studying the scriptures. My studying hasn't been very effective the past few days so I am trying to do better at that. But I'm so glad I have the next 18 months to learn how to study haha :) 

General Conference is so soon! I have never been so excited for Conference in my life. I am so excited to invite Melvin and Dan to conference. I hope that they will be able to come. We have a recent convert that joined the church because she saw a session of conference and then wanted to learn more. And she watched all the sessions without even being told to. It's an amazing story and I just don't have time to write it.

We are teaching after baptism lessons to a recent convert Elise. She is 17. And her family situation is so very sad. She had leukemia when she was really little and both her parents just kind of decided they didn't care about her after that. So got baptized in December I think. She is super sweet and has so many challenges. I hope she'll open up to me while I'm here. Will you pray for her? Specifically about her ear infection and her fractured finger this week, but also just for her to feel love from someone, to feel wanted. I can't imagine coming from that home environment. 

Anyways, I need to finish up. I love you!

This is my challenge for you this week: Learn about the importance of Church-about being together as saints, about fulfilling your callings and commitments. I never realized how important that is.

Thank you for your love and support. I am so glad I am here on a mission. What an amazing privilege it is to be able to serve the Lord full time. The Gospel is so true-it can bring the greatest happiness and joy. And the Atonement is central to it all.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Andelin