July 15th, 2013

Dear Family,

 

I was so sorry to hear about Grandpa. Before I left on my mission he gave me my "Grandpa interview." He was giving me all this marriage advice and I jokingly told him that I still had to serve a mission first. He replied that he didn't know how long he would still be here with us so he wanted to tell me then. I'm so grateful that I got that last interview with him. Dad, thank you for your letter. How grateful I am for the knowledge of the Plan of Happiness. We know that we will still be able to see Grandpa again. And especially the knowledge that he can still be here with us, although we cannot see him. Without the gospel death would be so terrible. But I'm so grateful that our sorrow can be temporary because eventually we'll be with him again. What an amazing legacy he left all of us. I hope that I can live up to that.

 

This week has been good. Here is an excerpt out of my letter to President:

 

"This week has been a good week. We are still struggling finding new investigators, but we are working hard and have the faith that the Lord will bless us as we do our part. Our investigator committed to a baptismal date so that was really exciting. He is so ready and I'm so grateful I got to be here when he was prepared to hear the gospel.

 

Sister Henderson and I are getting along really well. I love her more every day and have been blessed with guidance as to how to increase that love and learn to work together. It amazes me always how present the Spirit is in this work. This is Heavenly Father's work and He wants us to succeed.

 

Yesterday at the departure fireside I learned several things. One in particular has been about my desires. I have continued to try to give my desires for what will happen when I get home to the Lord. But yesterday I realized that I also needed to give Him all of the desires that I have about what I want to get out of my mission. I need to give my heart and mind completely to Him and allow Him to guide me and then be content with the lessons I am learning and the happiness that I am feeling. I'm not sure if any of that makes sense. But basically I realized that I can't always be guaging how happy I am, how much I feel like I've learned, and how much I've grown since I came out. Instead, I just need to hand over my desires to my Savior and then lose myself in His service. That is when the blessings will come, the happiness will come, and the lessons will be learned."

 

I was able to play the piano at the fireside last night. I'm so grateful I know how to play. My skills are def not awesome, but there are very few people who play in the mission. So I get to play a lot and I'm so grateful :) But yes, I always get really reflective after the departure fireside. It's so weird to think that someday that will be me. And I always want to make sure I'm putting everything in to the work so that I won't have any regrets when I finally "die" ;)

 

But yes, Keith has a baptismal date! August 3 :) He is awesome. He was so worried that I was going to get transferred out but then he prayed about it and said he was confident that I wouldn't leave before he got baptized haha. We were a little worried at first that he was more converted to the missionaries that converted to the gospel, but he's super solid.  

 

Okedoke, I need to head out. We're going to go get hair cuts today! Sister Henderson is going to chop all of hers off. I'm not sure how much I'm going to get cut. Probably just a few inches. We shall see. When it gets super hot and sweaty bike riding, chopping off all my hair starts to sound really appealing. But I like long hair too much I think.

 

Thanks for being awesome. Sorry this letter is rather boring. I love you! Have a fabulous week. Don't forget what is most important. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. Do those things that allow us to always be strong in the gospel. They're worth it.

 

Love,
Sister Andelin