December 27, 2011

Heyo!

I was so excited to talk to you on Christmas! It was so good to hear all of your voices! Thanks for all of your support and your love I can't get enough.

 

I love this gospel and I'm so excited now every day to fulfill my purpose. I wake up thinking of Christ and inviting others to come to him and I go to sleep thanking him for the opportunity to do so. But through all of this, I know that it is not my strength or spirit doing these things. Every trial Heavenly father has put us through has been in preparation to help others. In my first week in the mission, Elder Wheelock shared with me this quote and invited me to apply it.

"The most important thing we can do in preparing
individuals to recieve the full blessings of the
Atonement is to understand it and believe in it
ourselves. By understanding and believing in the
Atonement personally, you and I can teach with
greater gratitude, greater love, and greater power." -Neal L. Maxwell

I can now testify with greater grattitude, greater love, and greater power because of the things I have been through and overcome through the help of Jesus Christ's atonement. I have felt my testimony explode in size and spirit because I have applied my understanding of the Atonement and what the saviour has done for me into my missionary work. I can look anyone in the eye and tell them about the book of mormon, the gospel of Jesus Christ, or even just bare testimony of Christ's suffering in a way that brings the spirit into the room and will make them want to learn more. Not because of my own strength or because I'm so good, but because The Lord has put me through some trials that have required me to repent and move on, and because of that, I can help someone else. We go through trials in this life not only to learn and to grow personally, but so that we can bare stronger testimony to others. So that we aren't just floating around thinking it might be true. We can KNOW. In Preach My Gospel, it says "No one can know of spiritual truths without prayer" This is so true. I love the connections I can make with the prophets of old and the book of mormon stories. I do have weaknesses, I do have strengths. Nevertheless I know in whom I have trusted. I love 2 Nephi 4 18-23. The things we go through in this life, when overcome, do not help us at all if we don't use them to help someone else. 1Corrinthians 13 1-3 means so much to me now because I know why we need charity.  We need it to propel us to help others with their problems and we need it to fulfill the first and great commandment as well as the second in Mathew 22:36-40. This is why the Savior says "on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets" because without charity your strengths mean nothing.
I have learned so much so far being out here. I love it. I'm going to keep working hard and I know that the Lord will keep blessing us. I am so thankful for that.'

I'm sorry that this sounds so rushed, that's because it is. My E-mail to president Perry took forever because it wouldn't send then I had to re-write it so just so you know you got some parts of it in my e-mail to you.

 

This area is pretty fun. I love it. We see so many miracles every day and I guess I'm going to have to wait till next week to share some big things but I love you all so much and I know that this gospel is true. I want everyone to know about this gospel because I have lived it and I love it and I KNOW it will bless each one of us. In a lesson this week Angel asked us why in the he** we wanted her to read the book of mormon so bad and I bore testimony for about 20 min of it. I felt like ammon. I started from adam and recited all that I knew about the priesthood and the role of the book of mormon in the eternal scheme of things. I felt like a literal mouthpiece for God. I know that I am weak, but God calls us in our weakness to declare these things. He has never called a perfect missionary!

 

Read 2Nephi 2:16, John 7:17 and 2 Nephi 2:26+27, I have learned a lot about agency and the choice to chose God. Being on the fence, or not chosing God, is chosing satan because his purpose is to get us to not chose God. Have a good week and choose Christ in all you do!

love,

Elder Andreasen