April 29th, 2013

Dearest Family.

 

How are you? I have really missed you this week. It's been a little bit of a tough week but I have learned so very much. That's the irony about life, right? We always want it to be easy but it's only in tough situations that we really learn. Haha, I"m making it sound awful. It actually wasn't bad. Just a definite difference than my last area.

 

We live with Sister Woerner (pronounced Warner). She is awesome. She lives on the upper corner of our area. She lives by herself right now but has 3 children who all live pretty close to her (I think). She actually just got back from serving a family history mission in salt lake. That was the 3rd mission she has served there. It's pretty amazing. She is so sweet and is always asking if there is anything more she can do to help us out. It is a whole lot smaller than our apt (I mean, our room is small and we pretty much stay in there when we're home) and I still feel a little awkward about using her kitchen and stuff. But it's good. I don't think I"ll be cooking much here but oh well.

 

I ran out of milk this week and thought I was going to die. Just kidding, but kind of haha. I have been eating so much peanut butter. Pretty much the best thing invented. And it is fast and easy haha. And I can't by ritz crackers anymore because I think I got addicted this last week :) Anyways, that's nonsense. On to real things.

 

We got here Tuesday and talked to the Elders in our area. They are awesome. Elders Larsen and Cicon. They have been super nice about areas (I always here about area wars between elders and sisters which is probably the most retarded thing ever and I've been dreading it) and working with members and letting us ask them a bazillion questions etc. We have mostly been going around trying to meet the members and trying to visit less active/part member families. Because we are currently walking it takes us a super long time to get to people's homes so I feel not very efficient. But it's okay because we have been able to contact lots of people along the way. Which is so important. It's been really good for me. My right heel on the right side has been hurting so dang bad! But it is finally getting better. I thought I had awesome shoes that were really comfortable always until we started walking for 4-5 miles every day. But I think from here on out it will be fine. We're still trying to get sister Thompson's bike! She let an elder use it last transfer and he just went home and now no one can find it. Lame. Elders, tsk tsk. ;) Elder Larsen lent her his but she doesn't really want to ride it. But I think I'm just going to have to ride it and let her use mine because I'm getting a little bit tired of walking :)

 

It's interesting because this is more of how I expected my mission to be-walking around lots and talking to everyone that you meet on the street. But it's not nearly as fulfilling as teaching someone. On tuesday we met a lady who was super mean. But it was in a veiled (sp?) way. She kept saying, sorry I don't want to offend you, and then saying the most offensive things. It was a little bit painful. She just kept telling us that we weren't christians and didn't know what we were talking about and that we were wrong and that her spirit was not witnessing with our spirits. At all. At all. So something must be wrong with us. And she told us that we weren't children of God. And we kept trying to just bear testimony and walk away but they she would interrupt and say something else about how were were wrong and then kept contradicting herself and it was frustrating. Anyways, I'm almost over it ;) Later that night we were walking along and I was telling sister thompson that I had yet to talk with a drunk person. And about 5 minutes later that no longer was true haha. Poor woman. It's almost comical but not because if you think about it it is so tragic.

 

Okay, I need to hurry and this letter is so rambly.

 

Here are some of the lessons that I have learned this week:

 

#1: My mission is totally not about me. I have realized this so much this week. The more I focus on me, the harder it is to be a good missionary. But the more I focus on God, and what He has asked me to do, the easier it is to share the gospel. to walk up to strangers and starting sharing gospel truths. I have realized a little more the sentence in my call letter that I am told to leave behind all other personal affairs while I am here serving the Lord. For a while I didnt' really understand why. I thought-It's not making me homesick (at least not much) or making me want to go home. But then I realized that it wasn't about that. It is about not allowing yourself to be distracted. If I let myself day dream about what I am going to do after I come home, if I think about things that happened before my mission, or situations and events I am missing while on my mission, if I think about non mission related things I get so much less effective because then it becomes more about me and not about God. I start feeling self conscious and worried about what others will think and more whining about how my feet are tired and we've been walking all day and how it's cold because it is always super hot in the day so we don't bring jackets and then it gets super windy and damp and chilly at night.... If I focus on serving with my whole heart those things don't matter. They just kind of sink away. And I get to experience the joy that comes from missionary work, even if we don't meet with any success that day. It is such an amazing thing. Sister thompson told me this this week and I absolutely love it. A mission can either be the most miserable part time job you will ever have, or it will be the most rewarding, joyful full time job you can ever hope to have. Because if we're in it full time, if we truly give our hearts to the Lord and serve Him with diligence and patience and unwearyingness He changes us. And allows us to feel His peace and joy. Okay, I feel like I just repeated myself like 8 times. But it's such an important lesson for me.

 

#2: Members are so vital to missionary work!! I never realized this until my mission because I always separated a full time missionary and member missionaries (aka everyone). But that is so not true. Full time missionaries need the help of members so badly! I always just assumed that missionaries always found their investigators through their own efforts-tracting, knocking, contacting, etc. And you can find people this way. But out of all the people we contacted this last few days (~70) only a few people said they would be interested in learning more, and only 3 gave us any contact info, and only one of those allowed us to set up an actual apt with them and then they weren't even there. We have 2 potential investigators from a week of tracting. And those are only potentials (keep praying that they will turn into progressing investigators!!). However, when we receive referrals from members and they come with us to teach their friends, then real missionary work can happen. Right now we are trying so hard to build relationships with with ward members quickly and inspire them to be missionaries.

 

#3: Personal study is my favorite thing in the world :) I don't know what I would do without that sacred hour every morning to study my scriptures. It is amazing what a difference it makes in my day. You wake up so sore and tired and you have to go run and then you come back and get ready and you start dreading walking all day... and then you get to do personal study! And be inspired. And then the day totally changes and your attitude changes and you don't have to make yourself smile because you just want to smile because the gospel is so true :) It's a miracle haha. Something I loved this week is how much I learned about diligence and patience and faith. I guess we notice things we particularly need to work on at that time. I was reading in Alma 33 and I loved these verses: "Behold, a type was raised up in the wilderness, that whosoever would look upon it might live. And many did look and live...But there were many who were so hardened that they would not look, therefore they perished. Now the reason they would not look is because they did not believe that it would heal them. O my brethren, if ye could be healed by merely casting about your eyes that ye might be healed, would ye not behold quickly?" How powerful these verses are. Why don't we look to the Savior and be healed? It is that simple. Even if we don't believe that He can heal us, why not try it? The blessings are so great, why not experiment and try? And then, when you do try, you'll gain that faith that you lack. You will realize that He can heal you, and He will as you turn to Him. It is so powerful. Just as Elder Holland said in his talk-focus on the faith that you do have, live like you believe, and then you will believe. Your testimony will grow because that is how we gain more faith.

 

So that is my challenge this week: Turn to the Savior and allow Him to heal you. Even if you don't know if He will. Turn to Him and do those things He has asked us to do-read, pray, and tell Him you need His help. I know that the blessings will be so worth it.

 

Okay, I need to write my letter to President. Thank you for being awesome. I love you!

 

Love,

Sister Andelin

 

p.s.

 

Brittany and Laura-are you graduated?! Tell me how it feels! I've been dying to hear all about it. I can't believe the whole class graduated without me. Just kidding. Congratulations!!!

 

Kyle-I don't know if you'll ever see this, but the other day someone was talking about how it was the anniversary of the day the one ring got destroyed. And I was laughing because I bet you totally knew that ;)