january 30, 2012

Howdy,

 

I'm glad to hear about all the missionary oriented things that are happening in the valley! That makes me happy, we can all do more. The Lord works by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes, and we all play a part in this work! Just find someone quick, I don't want to hear that you went through withdrawals from your ice cream.

 

 Haha maybe if I stay out here for five years you'll find all of the CTR rings I've lost and the watches and the money, wallets, KEYS, all of my homework, mom's sanity.........

No just kidding but if you find any change in the couch it's mine.

 

President Perry came to speak to us in sacrament meeting yesterday. He spoke on his conversion and the reason the church makes sense. He tied it in perfectly with prophets and the restoration, which Sister Perry talked on. They also taught the third hour, and our investigators were able to be there too. WOW what a man. I wish you could meet him.

 

Teresa scared us last week. She didn't come to church and we hadn't met with her in a good 8 days and we kept calling but no answer. We went over there twice in 3 days and she was home but didn't answer. OH NO!!!! We had set up a lesson for tuesday and so we took President Pettaway with us and she wasn't home. There was a letter on the door labeled "To the missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints" I kept going back to all of the times my own mother had used my full name and what it always meant haha. I took it off the door and we were walking away, I was so scared to open it. So I didn't. Teresa pulled up as we were getting in the car and she looked embarassed to see us (she probably thought we read her letter). We talked to her and calmed her nerves, President Pettaway used the spirit and told her everything was going to be ok. She is back on track and when I asked her if she wanted us to read the letter she said no and I gave it to her. CRISIS AVERTED. whew. The devil is working on this woman, but she came to church yesterday, we taught her, and she keeps saying she is excited to be a member of this church. I am excited for her too :)  President Pettaway might have found her another place to live too, The Lord is opening up doors for this woman.

 

We found some new investigators this week too. I'll just give you an overview of what we're planning on doing this week. I have a hard time figuring out who to tell you about but I don't have time to tell you everything about everybody. I don't know, ok so Teresa is progressing well, praying, reading, set for Feb 4. Jose Mendez, part member family and another amazing story, is progressing, reading and praying about a date to be baptised. His real goal is to be sealed with his family in the temple so that helps. We asked HIM what the next step was, and HE said baptism. :) Tron has been investigating (yes, TRON, like the movie) for 3 years but we just barely got him. He reads and prays and wants to be baptized, he knows it's true. Said so himself, just won't make any changes. We'll see though. Jabena + Shawnell are our next door neighbors. Set for Feb 11, reading, praying, we taught them the Plan last night and Elder Richardson did such a good job. they haven't come to church yet though and we can't figure out why. Stacy is another that was found a couple weeks ago. Very spiritual first lesson and now she dissapeared. ARGHGH. Antonio baker is a member referral (best kind) and he has come to church twice with Sister Vagara. We taught him the Resto yesterday after he heard the Perrys speak and he said "there's no way I'm not coming back. I'm baptized, fellowshipped and paying my tithing" hahahahaha he is a funny guy but is serious. He wants to get baptised. CHEEAh!! So he will, also on the 11th of Feb. Mildred has only been taught About the Book of Mormon but hopefully we meet again this week. She's ready. Francis was taught the Resto and didn't come to church but we're working on it. She hasn't told us if she's reading and praying yet. Bobby and AJ are avoiding us. That's the way it goes in the hood, one spiritual expirience and then you never see them again. SAD. Kim is one we live right by, came to church and liked the book of mormon, haven't even taught her the Resto yet (she has adult add and we can't get a word in edgewise). William is an ex pastor who thinks he knows it all but his catch phrase is pretty cool, he seriously says it almost 30 times whenever we go over there "Why check in.........if you can't check out. Ya know what i'm sayin? Why check in to Hell, if you can't check out. It's like a hotel room you can't check out of. Why check in.... if you......." Good guy. Elizabeth is pregnant and told us to give her a couple weeks (again). Eshley, aka Rainbow, is not progressing but still wants to meet. Okey Dokey sure.. And Vicki told us that she is mad at us for telling her about the Plan of Salvation because she now knows where she's going and feels forced to accept Christ. That was a new take on the whole Eternal Plan situation I hadn't heard yet haha.

 

That's everyone we're working with so it's been busy and fun. I love you all! I Choose Christ!

 

Dad, you were spot on with your advise about using the priesthood with Teresa. SHE asked Pres. Perry to give her a blessing yesterday, and because of her faith, she's healed. I kid you not. She was teary eyed because of the pain in sacrament meeting. She had polio as a child and she looked at least one billion times better after that blessing. WOW what an expirience. I was privileged to be able to stand in on it. Good call Pops.

 

Ok I gotta go shopping but I love you again! Have a great week. Stay humble so the Lord doesn't have to humble you. I promise it's better.

Elder Andreasen.

Wazoo!

 

January 23, 2012

WOOF!
That was for Dakota!
I hope he pulls through, he's a champ.
Sounds like mom did a great job in her talk! Yayah! And a diet coke on the pulpit, haha I love you mom you're hillarious. Keep that green tie safe, I'm already scared to come home.
I love getting the E-mails from Elder Green, Elder Anderson, Elder Lemon, and Elder Richardson. Elder Case that I'm serving with now is a lot like Clayton. Someone tell Clayton I miss him and I love him. And his family. Also, someone tell Bob Beutler I love him too.

Not much to say about this week. Teresa is progressing! We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she seriously re-defined the Celestial Kingdom. WHAT A WOMAN!!! She has been living with such adversity and was very sick yesterday so she didn't come to church but our Branch President wants to go out with us again and go to her house because he wants to discern wether or not we can give her a boost out of that mess. I'm so excited for that. She has a lot of faith.

We taught 5 lessons this week, less than last week but still a huge blessing to have 4 out of 5 be with a member. Agency is tough still, same old story. It's ok though. Elder Case is such an inspired missionary. He asks inspired questions all day long that make people tell themselves why they should be progressing. Cool thing to witness. I'm learning and striving to be like both of my companions.

Elder Richardson has progressed so much in 6 weeks it's amazing to see what stalwartly living the Gospel can do for a person.

I don't have much time but I love each and every one of you!!! Keep chosing Christ. If you are at all able to, get out there with the missionaries. It might be scary or whatever but they'll take care of you and you will have a chance to spread the gospel. You're gonna love it.

Thank you so much for all of the love and support. I really couldn't do this without all of you! I love you! Wazoo!

I choose Christ

Elder Andreasen

January 17, 2012

WOW What a week.

Hi:):)

Things with Bobby are looking up! He has read half of the Book of Mormon. WOW. so cool. His only concern is Joseph Smith. He is a sign seeker, "how are you gonna prove to me that Joseph Smith is a prophet." The spirit has already told him. God will tell him again, he just needs to put in the work.

 

ThaT'S pretty cool about missionaries in their homeland and stuff I like that.

 

In answer to your question Dad, yeah, we do. The baptismal invite, as scary and as much as it seems to want to scare people away, is our best way of inviting people to REALLY commit. It gives them that vision, "Where there is no vision, the people perish" they understand by the end of the lesson that we are messengers from God and that we aren't here just to be friends. We are here on account of their salvation and we will do all we can to get them closer to Christ. We set a date for people here in Newport News in the first lesson because if they don't have a goal to work towards, they perish, every single time. The people we meet with and we don't really commit them to do anything, they are the ones who we never get back in touch with. I love it now, because we have learned if we will teach with the spirit, with great faith and understanding, they have a hard time disbelieving on our words. It's a blessing to be able to give them the Baptismal invite in the first lesson.

I have truly felt like an instrument in the hands of The LORD this week. The one thing that we have worked on this past transfer is being exactly obedient and we have applied the promise in Alma 26:22. This promise has always intrigued me. Thousands?! Really?! And it states it plainly in the verse what you need to do. Repent, exercise faith, bring forth good works with that faith, and pray continually without ceasing and unto such it is given to bring THOUSANDS unto repentance. That sounds nice to me! As Elder Wheelock so perfectly states, Jesus Christ is the point guard of this work. His job is to get the ball to the hoop by passing it to whoever is ready. If you aren't personally ready and prepared, he won't pass you the ball. As Elder Case, Elder Richardson and I have prepared ourselves and asked for prepared investigators who would cherish the gospel, he has ruly passed into our care people whom he himself has prepared. One example: Teresa Sneed. (name changed) Tuesday night we prayed as a companionship after planning, and in this prayer we told The LORD "Wr know you direct this work. Without your hand we are un-profitable servants. Please place us in the path of one of your children who has been prepared by thee. We are prepared to do what you would have us do." He had already blessed us with an amazing weekend, we found Bobby and A.J. and we had another lesson with Stacy, who now wants to be baptised. His hand has truly blessed this area beyond measure. We have been struggling to get members to lessons and tuesday we had 3 lessons with members. So we went to bed. Wednesday morning we woke up with a media referal text message. Someone (Teresa) had called and asked for a Book of Mormon, a Bible, and a visit. We didn't really think too much of it but as we were on the phone with her the phone kept beeping. We set up a lesson for later that day, hung up, and the referal system had sent us the same name ten more times. Ok..... Didn't really mean much we thought it was just an annoying glitch. So we go to meet Teresa. She canceled. OK SWEET. Haha No biggie, we just rescheduled and went on with our day. We had a great day wednesday with our Branch President, President Pettaway. We took him with us and even though some things canceled we had some good expiriences. Thursday yeilded a very good District meeting and an exchange with Elder Clawson from Hampton.
   We got to Teresa's house and it was a beautiful lesson. The spirit was so strong. She cried and thanked the LORD that he had restored his church. The spirit had already told her it was true. God and prepared this woman her whole life for this message. I have met no one like her, but there was something wrong. We could sense that she felt sad and a little reserved. We asked her what was wrong and through her tears she asked a scary question. "could I have had a vision in a dream?"     I was slow to reply   "Yes...."  She proceeded to tell us that she is the last remaining sibling of thirteen. All of her family has passed away. That alone is heart breaking, but listen to this; one of her brothers came back to her in a vision one night and told her she needed to repent of all of her family's sins.... can you imagine the weight that she felt? She looked at me with the eyes of a child, a submissive meek child, that wanted so badly to do the will of the Father but was so overwhelmed and scared. She asked me with all of her soul pouring out, "Can I even do that?" I was taken aback. I told her that there was only one person that could do that and that he had already suffered for their sins. This didn't help. She had hinted at some point to the fact that there were two visions, so I asked her what her other vision was. She described to us The LORD standing over the tabernacle saying "Come unto me" with his arms outstretched. Her description of the "tabernacle" was no doubt the temple. I'm telling you, this woman is amazing. I realized at that moment that The LORD had something to tell her, so I let go of what I wanted to do, interperate the dreams or tell her whatever she needed, and I opened my mouth. I heard the LORD telling her through me that her family was in heaven shouting for joy that she had found and was accepting the gospel. What they wanted her to do was not to repent of their sins, but to come unto The LORD in his holy temple and to be baptised for them that they could be washed clean and also choose to accept the gospel. We told her that she was alive for a reason, that God needed her. I then pulled out the phone and said "Teresa, do you know how many times The LORD told us to come see you?" I opened up our text messages and read, one after the other, the messages that we had recieved to go see her "Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed, Teresa Sneed....." By the time I was done, not only was she crying(she was crying the whole time) but Brother Willis, the member with us, was crying and Elder Eager and Elder Richardson were crying. kneeling beside her chair that day, I wept. I realized a part of what Moses had seen on the mount. I realized that as missionaries, as members of the church, and as individuals, we are nothing. My time, my talents, my resources, my people skills, they are nothing if I'm not using them in harmony with what God wants for others. What my companions and I realized in that moment is that this is God's work. Like Ammon in Alma 26:2+3, I saw that my blessings on a mission and as a disciple of Christ come not from using my time and talents for myself, but I'll let Ammon tell you the real answer. "I ask, what great blessings has he bestowed uppon us? Can ye tell? I answer for you, for our brethren, the lamanites, were in darkness. Yeah, even in the darkest abyss. But behold, how many of them are brought to behold the marvelous light of God! And THIS IS THE BLESSING WHICH HAS BEEN BESTOWED UPPON US, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work"
I had to just sit back and thank God for this realization through my tears. She is working towards baptism on the fourth of February.

 

Now here is the real reason why I feel like we have fulfilled the promise of Ammon in 26:22. We didn't get in the James river and baptise a thousand people, but Teresa was just one of NINE investigators that were truly prepared this week. The Lord is truly blessing this area with 4 people who are set with a date and 5 more who want to be baptised but who have yet to set a date. We had four people at church this week. AMAZING. I am so excited and thankful that I could be a part of The LORD's army and to work in this area. I have never ever in my whole entire life felt so blessed. And all for the salvation of others.... it blows my mind. 

The priesthood of God is simply the channel and authority by which God does his work on earth, and letting Virtue garnish my thoughts unceasingly is the way to cleanse that channel. I have never been so tired and so invigorated.

 

I love you and I choose CHRIST!

Elder Skyler Andreasen

WAZOO!!!!!!!!! (you know I dint ferget)

January 9, 2012

Top of the Temple......Moroni speaking

 

OH MAN I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY! This week was our best yet. Not number-wise, but spirit filled and purpose driven! We found some very solid people this week that recognized the power of this gospel. I love finding people that you can tell are prepared. We set two in the same day on the first lesson, and I am so excited about them!

Mon, Preparation day. two appointments canceled, got some letters written, played some basketball, (made like 3 layups, good average)

Tuesday- E-mailed, Had 3 appointments drop and nobody answered the door that day. No referrals to see, NOTHIN. Killer. We did get a call for an un-expected dinner appointment and we had the best southern bbq sandwhiches on planet earth. Did you know in the south they put coleslaw ON sandwhiches? Maybe I just missed that fact I don't know. We shot straight zero's this day and that is hard on Elder Richardson. He still feels like we aren't being successful because no-one chooses to listen. on this day we felt much like Nacho Libre "it SUCKS to be me right now!!!"

Wednesday-more failed appointments, until 4 or so we taught Elizabeth and helped her start the Book Of Mormon. She loved 1Nephi 1 and hopefully will read some more! She doesn't have a phone so daily contact is hard. This night we talked to some youth and I cooked pancakes for them, SCARY I KNOW! haha

 

I don't have time to do all week sorry, I'm just gonna get to the good part! Saturday was a better day. We were able to contact some referrals and set up lessons with members for them. Met a lady who used to be an addict and has changed her life around. She loved Ether 12:27 and said she already felt the truthfulness of it. We have her tonight. :) We passed buy this big guy with a gold grill and just kinda said hi but really didn't say much. On the way back, the same thing. Said Hi, but for some reason didn't say much. Then we got to our door (this was right by our appartment) and I told Elder Richardson he needed some finding practice so we needed to go back and talk to him. Elder Richardson made first contact, this guy was huge and scary at first and he was like "why do ya'all keep walking by and not talking to me? Don't you like black people?" Elder Richardson just goes "Look at me......" He said "I see you...." After the sagebrush rolled by in between them and I heard a whistle in the wind, I asked him if he had a stereo in his car and got him talking about his sub in the back and told him how I used to be a gangster and now I'm a missionary, you know, the regular. Haha he really opened up and we told him a bit about what we do, he said "Come back tomorrow, I like you guys"

Sunday- Yesterday- What a good day. Church was awesome and We taught two lessons. Bobby (gangsta grizzills) was home and appreciated the fact that we brought an even bigger and equally black member of our church named Brother Day. Has hands like bear paws. Anyway, the spirit was there. He told us that the spirit was there. We taught about faith, repentence, baptism, then the spirit tought through us the first vision, restoration of priesthood, and why priesthood is important. I say that because there was a point in the lesson when we weren't teaching anymore. He was just teaching himself throught the spirit. Not to mention his friend that was there also loved it. At one point in the lesson, after talking about the priesthood, he said these sweet and all-telling words "I was baptised once, but I didn't feel any different. I didn't feel the spirit of God like I do right now. Maybe that's because it wasn't by the priesthood" YESSS!!!!!! YESSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was music to our ears. We asked him if he would like to follow the example of Jesus Christ and be baptised by the proper authority. We showed him how our priesthood traces back to Jesus Christ himself and he was sold. The most amazing thing though, was this. I saw Enos in this man. Not one second ofter he told us he wanted to repent of his sins and be baptised he started naming off friends and family that he wanted us to go see. What a fountain of righteousness.

The spirit changes people. It changes 19 year old young men into true desciples of Jesus Christ. It changes a potential investigator into the honest diligent seeker of truth. It can change the world, and it will.

My study this week has been centered on Jesus Christ. I've taken the challenge of our Branch President to read the New Testament and I am loving it. My favorite part so far is the parable. I've learned a lot about who I need to be now and in the future through the parables tought by Jesus.

 

 "Parables:The parable conveys to the hearer religious truth exactly in proportion to his faith and intelligence; to the dull and uninspired it is a mere story, "seeing they see not," while to the instructed and spiritual it receals the mysteries or secrets of the kingdom of heaven. Thus it is that the parable exhibits the condition of all true knowledge. Only he who seeks finds." I love this insight because when I am spiritually in tune and well rested, my studies truly do open up the windows of heaven for inspired revelation, while if I'm just reading the lines, it's a mere story or less. If you truly seek to know the mysteries of god, you just have to look hard enough. They are all there!
I choose Christ,
Elder Skyler Andreasen

 

January 3, 2012

Exerpts from our emailing back and forth today.  Weekly letter follows.

Mark:: hey there, you on yet today?

Skyler: Hey I couldn't e-mail till today sorry. I'm on now though!

Mark: Thats what we thought.  Mom is here and says hi, hope your doing great!!

Skyler: Oh you know, I'm just livin my life on the edge. I got my head shaved this week. 

Mark: You silly boy.  Make sure you send pics.  How come you did that?

Skyler: I asked for the real barbershop expirience and I got it. the guy was drunk as a skunk and I didn't realize it untill half way through my hair cut. What can I say? He was a good drunk. He then told my my hair cut was going to be 40 dollars. I gave him ten just so he wouldn't be mad and I told him my companion wanted a hair cut too. HAHAHAHA Elder Richardson refused and that made Elder Case feel like he had to say yes so he got his head shaved too. SO FUNNY

and a happy new year it has been,

 

HOly CATS!!!!

 

        I have already heard so much good news today. It makes biking to the library in the bitter cold after a dropped appointment seem very distant.

        This week has taught me a lot, as they all do. I think the lack of people making REAL growth has made me evaluate my teaching and finding efforts more than anything. This week has made me realize some important things.

        We could get 15 baptisms a week, if we wanted to just open the font and let people come. People say yes to being baptised left and right out here. What they don't do is keep their commitments to read and pray, to come to church, and to repent. By extending the invitation to change their ways and to start following Christ, we invite people to repent every day. A lot of them accept, they just won't put forth the effort. We as missionaries tend to take this upon ourselves and to say "if only I had testified more or taught it better maybe they would have actually done it" but I am learning more and more that it is the agency of others, not the missionary's weakness, that causes investigators to fall short. Since being in Virginia, I have set a total of 7 people for baptism. In the last two weeks We have set 2. None have taken the challenge yet to find out for themselves if this is true. We teach and testify with power and with the spirit to lay out the eternaly important decision they are to make right before their eyes, and for whatever reason, they chose not to do it. I don't know what more can be done. I feel like my brothers and sisters in Newport News are just rejecting Christ and that hurts.

       Angel is a lady who we were teaching the day we got into Newport News. She sees the importance, she just doesn't want to change. But she did come to church and that was great. She asked me in a lesson, "why do ya'all think I need the Book of Mormon so bad?" I blew up. Not in a bad way, but I heard myself start at Adam and tell her about the priesthood and gospel that has been on the earth with every prophet since then. The spirit testified through my companions and I that the Book of Mormon is not just a good book, It has eternal importance and a purpose that goes way deeper than the simple doctrine it restored. Finding out that the book of Mormon is True is so simple, but it caries with it an assurance that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that This church is true. It means personally that God is reaching out to each one of us through modern revelation. It means our Heavenly Father has not forgotten about the world. She read this week. :) YESSS!

      Angel is the only real investigator that we have, when you look at an investigator as someone trying to find out everything they can about this gospel. I only have 15 min left but I want to type a quote. Perhaps the quote that converted me.

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature...

"May we be convinced that Jesus is the Christ, choose to follow Him, be changed for Him, Captained by him, consumed in Him, and born again" President Ezra Taft Benson

 

Christ will change you if you simply let him. Do all you can to let go who you are and find out who Christ is, so that you can be like him. You will not lose your soul, you'll lose the natural man tagging along.

I love this work, I love the gospel, I know that the Holy Ghost is ever so real and will tell you the truthfulness of this divine work and of the Book of Mormon if you will just ask.

I choose Christ,

Elder Andreasen