Be Crisp

Hello :)

My companion and I have been trying an experiment. It started on Friday when Elder Monibidor got back from Richmond, you see, Elder Monibidor was invited to go to the Leadership conference for four days, leaving me on exchange with our district leader, Elder Van Wagoner. I learned a lot, including how to eat a pizza if it's for breakfast and what happens when you start cleaning the house of a hoarder. Anyway, about our experiment; In the missionary white handbook, it states, "Refined, dignified language will clearly identify you as a servant of the Lord". Elder Monibidor learned something profound at this conference in Richmond. I'll tell you the story as it was relayed to me by my companion, he said:

"There was a certain stake in zion, with a certain Stake President, that was having a Stake conference. At that stake conference, there was a certain visitor, named Elder David A. Bednar. After the Stake conference was held and all was said and done, this certain stake President was driving home, Elder Bednar in the back seat. The Stake President, intimidated as he was to have an apostle in the car, asked through the silence, "What could I have done better in my talk at the conference". The Stake President thought this was a good question, and was excited to hear a reply, but to his surprise, there was none. The passenger in the back seat was silent. The driver and his wife were awkwardly waiting for a while when they seemed to have given up on any response, and turned to their own thoughts, still sitting in silence. Elder Bednar asked "do you really want to know what I think?" There was silence and the Stake President respectfully uttered, "Yes, I'd love to" He sat in silence another 30 seconds and said "Be crisp"

"I know that the Stake President in that story has been crisp ever since, for every time I have heard him talk he has been crisp. That Stake President was and is President Perry, and we should do our best to be like him"

Haha as funny as that was, Elder Monibidor's story really struck me, so we did some research that night. We found some doctrine behind it like what is stated in the white handbook and the nature of parables. Jesus taught in a crisp manner, always getting to the point and teaching doctrine that would change behavior. We also looked at the difference between a conversation and just talking. We have been working ever since to refine our language. To refine is to remove all impurities. Elder Monibidor is so fun and I feel like I'm back with one of the Wazoo crew who aren't afraid to try anything new and make growing and learning fun. It makes me miss Jordan, Zach, and Tyler. This has truly been comparable to the owing circle or doing stuff backwards just so we don't have to do it forwards. Too much fun!!!!

The only reason I tell you this is because I really believe my life changed when my language changed. Talking just to talk is sometimes annoying and especially when you just say loud things out of no where. I don't know, the Elders in our apartment just walk in the apartment and yell things, and I was guilty as well until last Friday.We get rowdy too much and the spirit is there so much more when we are refined and dignified. There are no mis-communications and conversation is crisp and meaningful. We get a lot more done, it has been a meaningful experience. I think we found Elder Bednar's secret, because it seems as though his language is refined and dignified ALL the time.

Everything else this week has gone well also, Esmerelda and Margie are doing well, we found some new people this week, and Daniel still has a date, although he didn't come to church. We had a church tour with Fabiola (did I already tell you that?) and that went well too. She has a desire to be baptized and will come to church in mid august when she quits her second job. (we are keeping our fingers crossed) I studied unity this morning. If you ever want to study unity, the topical guide is a great place to start, but it will just take you to the ultimate story of unity in 3Nephi19 where Christ manifests himself to the multitude and they pray together and turn white through the sanctification of the spirit. WOW, that is an inspiring story. From what I can tell, they had or did seven things that contributed to their unity.1:Communication, in verse 1 and 2 they communicated to the whole people that he had come and that he would come again, they were on the same page because they communicated. 2:Labor. They all "labored exceedingly through the night" so that they could be where the savior would be. 3:Organization:The Desciples organized them into groups 4:Taught only the teachings of Christ 5:Prayer. Prayer was an essential part of the whole story, they prayed in faith, to the Father, in the name of the son. 6:Desire. They desired most the Holy Ghost and it's power to guide them. 7:baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then they were ready for Christ to come. He got there and commanded them to Pray, then he went and prayed. He said (paraphrasing) "Father, Thanks for giving them the holy ghost, so that they could come to me and be paired with me, and in turn we can be one, as you and I are one" As we do these things,  Communicate, Labor diligently, organize ourselves, teach only what christ taught, Pray continually together and apart, desire the holy ghost and sanctification, and are Baptized and receive the holy Ghost, we forget ourselves and become unified in a cause. It was a great study.

Well, another week has flown by and I have learned more and more. It is amazing that we have this opportunity. I love you all, every one of you, and I have a strong testimony of repentance. We are to have faith in Christ and repent always. It brings so much joy and our burdens are lifted when we just give our problems to the Lord.

Thanks for listening to me ramble, I am thankful for you all!!!!!!!!!

Love

Elder Skyler Mark Andreasen

p.s. I choose Christ

Happy Pioneer Day

Hey ya'all :)

I am just beaming today!!!!! This morning has been a great morning and I enjoyed a great personal study filled with the spirit. It makes the whole day great when the morning study is great.

 

I did get my eyes checked and no glasses yet. We are going today to a place in Chessapeake that said for first timers it's 2 pair for 90 dollars? Someone said that means just frames but we will see Josh thought it was the whole package deal. I guess the bulk of the blur is the astigmatism and my vision was like -.5 so not bad at all. I feel bad even making a fuss about this but I have had a continued headache for a while now and she said it should help. Trying on the glasses with the right prescription made my vision better so I'm gonna get some for sure.

  Thanks for telling me to breathe mom, did I ever tell you who else does that? You and Claire are pretty good at keeping me relaxed and telling me to breathe, I love that!!!!!!!!!!!

   Oh man Island park sounds fun, what does Tanner do when you go up there? You guys are lucky to go and do stuff like that!

   Haha that made me smile at what you said about that movie, the world is headed in a bad direction for sure. Read 1 nephi 13 and 14 and watch what will happen to those who hold silk and fine twined linnen and harlots above the things of God. "REPENT OR THEY WILL BE DESCROYED" -Elder Monibidor

  Dad, great job! I heard you did great! I knew you would! Elder Monibidor spoke yesterday in the YSA branch as well. I will also give Josh my card with a picture of my shoes that he can email you I'm sorry I spaced bringing my camera today.

  This week has been another really great one. As always, we felt the spirit testify to our investigators and we saw lives changed. Esmeralda was baptized!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a cool baptism the spirit was there and she was glowing. She was baptized by her husband who was less active but he has been back for like a couple months. He was a Teacher so he asked me to ordain him to the office of Priest in the Aaronic Priesthood. That happened like 10 min before the baptism so we ordained him, he baptized her and the night was just great. Yesterday she was confirmed and is on her way! She understands very well and she even confessed that she felt bad that she had a soda the other day haha funny. She was just kidding but she has seen so many blessings from repenting and changing her life.

 Daniel is a YSA who we have been struggling to convert. He feels the spirit but still wouldn't let go of apostolic succession right? (former Atheist, then Roman Catholic, now Byzantine Catholic) a tough cookie to crack. We took him to a members home who was Catholic and this member "lovingly tore apart the Catholic Church" as I explained it to other missionaries. HAHA! He went into their own books and showed how it's not possible, and in a loving way, using DandC 121 and the docrine of rights powers and authority. We set Daniel for August 4th! The spirit was so strong! I could feel it over the table like a mist. I choked up because it was so strong and we asked him how he felt and he told us the spirit was there. COOL!! Then Bro. Schoppaul said the kicker, (he's on the high counsel, a very very inspired man) "from the moment you walked into my house, I saw the bounce in your step and the genuine look in your eye, and I knew you would be a righteous priesthood holder in Christ's church" I believe that to be inspired, the spirit confirmed it. We are keeping daily contact and he's gonna be one stud of a Stake President someday!!!! :)

Well, there's some highlights. I love you guys!

Love,

Elder Skyler Mark Andreasen

P.S. I choose Christ

Quote, Close Quote

Hey FAM!! :)

     This week has been killer! We are loving Virginia Beach and having a blast! Like I told you before, my companion is Elder Monibidor. From Nigeria. We like to walk around and talk like Elder Bednar and say things like "Paul, when talking to the Corinthians, told us a little bit about this subject. He said, quote 'there is a more excellent way' Close quote. Now, what Paul was talking about was...." Haha Idk it's just super funny and I already promised to use Quote, Close Quote in my next talk. We are getting along really well. He teaches with power and authority AND a Nigerian accent so the Virginians can't resist him. He is a spiritually steadfast man and I have already learned so much from him. I can tell this transfer is going to be fun! We have been trying to work harder than either of us have worked yet and we set a goal to be like the Sons of Mosiah, to fast and pray and help other missionaries and serve our hardest in the area. What a fun companion and the unity is superb! We could not have done this ourselves it is a blessing from on high.
     This week was a good one. We set goals and accomplished them, that is always uplifting.One of my personal goals this week was to teach more simply, I have been getting away from that, and Elder Monibidor is excellent at it so I am just trying to keep up and take notes. I'm just a little guy amongst all these spiritual giants ;)

So Esmerelda actually surprised us and set a date for next Saturday! We are Stoked! Elder Narramore is coming back for it too, should be a good time! We taught her again at Sister Justesens house and with Josh Debres. Great lesson! She is great we love her.

We also taught Margie yesterday and it was so good.

     OK last sunday, we were supposed to sing with the ward choir. Elder Narramore and I were the only men there haha, so we went recruiting. We got Bro. Schoppaul from the High Council, the Kempville Elders, and then we saw Josh Martin walk in. (investigator) so we asked him too. He came up and sang in the ward choir on his 2nd sunday haha and the Choir director jokingly said Quote "practice is tonight at 4:30" close quote. She called us later that day and told us that Bruce, Margie, Felicia, and Josh all came and sang for practice. Haha I guess we need to start using that more as a finding activity. Josh came to church yesterday to the Salem ward with Felicia AND to the YSA branch. They were supposed to be at the lesson last night, but we are going to set up a lesson with him in the next two days, he is so ready to be baptized. Felicia even said he's been talking about it. The cool thing was at her baptism D&C 84:20 was so apparent. The "power of Godliness was manifest" and Josh felt it. He is going to make a great member and this will bless both of their lives forever. They are talking about getting married but we're gonna get Josh to serve a mission ;)

     There is a YSA member named Ross who is such a great missionary. He served in Japan. I wish I could tell you of the love I have for him and his generous genuine attitude. I had the opportunity to teach with him yesterday and it was cool to see that he hasn't lost his teaching style or his power even 8 or 9 months after the mission. His friend, Eric, had never heard of Joseph Smith but Ross invited him to church and we taught him during gospel principals and set him for August 4th. The spirit was strong and he said he felt drawn to come with Ross to church. That was such a good example to me as I know one day I'll be back in school in a YSA ward and I can bring my friends and bless their lives. I love that, it was a bright ray of hope.

I was a little bit nervous about the responsibility of Elder Narramore leaving but hey, just like Mom said, Quote "Just take a deep breath and be yourself. Remember to rely on the Lord, He will bless you with the knowledge and help you need." close quote.  Thanks MOM :)

     What else....... as far as me personally, I have an ingrown toenail. haha Also, pretty much all of my shoe laces are thrashed and the toes of my shoes are hamburger from biking for 6 months. I have been getting headaches lately like a low rumble in the front of my head and it feels like it's because of my vision. I couldn't really focus on the pulpit yesterday in church so I just had to look down. I think I should have kept wearing glasses when I was like 13 or whatever but what do you think I should do? I'm fine for another week just let me know in your next email. As far as the shoes, was there a warranty on those as well? I feel bad asking so much of Mike I still wear them it's just almost to the point where I can't polish them any more.  

    Dad, about your talk, Preach my Gospel has a great section on accountability that can be tied in well with 2 nephi 2 where it talks about the agency we have. Do you think it would be a good Idea to take it from an eternal perspective? The plan of salvation is the one common denominator between agency and accountability eternally. We have had agency from the beginning and in 2nephi2 it says Adam fell that men might be and men are that they might have joy. Then Christ rose to save us from our fallen state. I love that, Adam fell then Christ rose, putting us RIGHT in the middle. We are suspended in between good and evil, in the perfect environment to exercise our agency. I think it's verse 27 that says now man is FREE. Agency to me is the Freedom to choose that is given to us by Heavenly father, but only because of Jesus Christ. Adam fell, Christ rose, now we are FREE to choose Immortality and eternal life through Christ OR we can choose death through disobedience. It's the perfect plan and it's all our choice where we will go. Accountability ties in well in Preach My Gospel in chapter 8 under accountability there is a paragraph that says accountability doesn't only affect us at the end of our goal, it influences how we begin, how we think and feel about out responsibility, and how we report to our leaders and to heavenly father. In the eternal scheme, accountability started when our heavenly Father told us the plan. We chose to accept it, and now we are accountable for that choice. An accountable person feels that the responsibilities they have been given are very important, no matter where they are called or what they are called to do. An accountable child will Pray to the Father and let him know how they are doing. The center of our accountability to our Father though, should be in Christ. We have each received ordinances by covenant, and we should be accountable everytime we make a mistake by repenting of our sins and coming closer to him. The path that we are to be accountable to is the Gospel, faith repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost, enduring to the end. We account through the sacrament as well. I don't know if you can process any of that and I certainly commend you if you can put it simply and in a talk, but hope that helps :)

Well, I am on my way to Zion, I am on my way to Zion, I am on my way to Zion, through Jesus Christ our LORD.

Love you :)

 

 

Elder Skyler Mark Andreasen

p.s. I choose Christ

WAY SHORT

Hey! I got the suits and the cherries. Thanks :):) Everything was perfect I ate them all.

Elder Narramore is getting transferred to stanton, va

I am getting another African companion, SO SWEET, his name is Elder Monibador, from Nigeria. I'm stoked

I WILL WRITE YOU A LETTER, I wrote a struggling friend today and Elder Narramore is right over my shoulder wanting to leave to go to the aquarium. Sorry :( I know God lives, I had a cool expirience praying and recieving an answer right there on my knees. Like a voice. It wasn't anything big or anything, just an answer. I know Christ suffered for us. Felicia got baptized :) We actually re invited Margie the day of and she told us no haha but I have come to realize that's ok, at least she knows we want to baptize her, and she said in a couple weeks. We have to go

Wazoo

bonjour

 --

Elder Skyler Mark Andreasen

p.s. I choose Christ

Happy July 4th

Great week :)

Esmerelda is now being baptized on the 14th, if not, then the 28th. She travels a lot........

Margie dropped off too :( but Felicia is all set! We went on splits last night and I went to Felicias to set up for the baptism. Bruce (father) actually gave me a nook. I was like "what?!?!?!" haha. He got a new one so he is taking all of the books off of it right now and he is going to give it to me. I still have to find out if it's allowed, if not I'll send it home. It will still have the standard works and Jesus The Christ and the Miracle of forgiveness on it.

We didn't teach too much this week, everyone is gone. Sad story!!!! We aren't crying though it's all good the spirit has been strong and we helped two people move.

I just know you are going to be dissapointed in me but there is not too much more to say. I feel bad, but it's inevitable that right when I walk out of the library I'll think of 5 things I should of said..... I am just having a blast. I have enjoyed being with Elder Narramore this week, and I think he'd say the same. We have had our rough patches but he's a good kid and one that I would hang out with at home.

I know the church is true mi amigos, and nothing else matters right now. I am tired and feel like I'm getting burned out sometimes, but ya know what? The LORD strengthens me again and again as I pray to him. I know Heavenly Father hears our prayers and is willing to answer them. I know the Book of Mormon is true and is here to gather again the house of Israel. I am ever greatful for the Atonement and I LOVE repentance. I love teaching about it, doing it, I love the joy that comes from change. Every friday we sit down as an appartment and talk about what went well and what we could do be better. I ask each missionary what I can do to improve. There comes a serious power as you humble yourself to those around you and ask what things you can improve on. It creates an environment where un-contentious betterment can happen. I love improvement and change and would invite you all to do that often. Ask your spouse, brother, sister, mother, father, child, dog, cat, fish, "what can I do to improve?" you will get good answers and then you can work on those things and improve! It's fun! You will see growth.

Love you all
--

Elder Skyler Mark Andreasen

p.s. I choose Christ