It's a wonderful Tuesday morning! Today I studied a devotional given at BYU by Elder Holland called "remember Lot's wife". I learned a lot from his apostolic insights and his real-life application Ideas. From what I could pick out, we are to remember Lot's wife to remind us to "build upon the past, but never live in it". It was very insightful. The application for me will come in the form of forgiving and forgetting the things I have done in the past, even if they are in the recent past. I have a way of rationalizing doing something wrong by saying "Well, I did that two days ago, surely the LORD hasn't forgiven you yet, so you can just add this one on and ask for a bulk forgiveness" It sounds silly to hear it that way but hey, we never sound right when we lie to ourselves! I have made a decision just now to stop doing that.
The Zone is doing so well. I think I got impatient again waiting for the blessings of our hard work to come. The past two months the whole zone only baptized 5 people. As a leader, that is a discouraging number, but then we look at all of the potential and the fact that FIVE souls were brought to a knowledge of the gospel and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's 5 souls!!!!! We are so excited for those 5. In the month of September we will see the fruits of our labors. The missionaries in the zone have been working so hard, and they have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work. We now have 17 people set with a date, 11 in September. We are working our tails off to make sure they are each contacted daily and that the spirit is there to administer a dosage of hope. We have faith and know that the will of God will be carried out this month.
The investigators that are progressing are progressing and the ones that aren't, we're working through their problems and concerns, helping them to exercise faith unto repentance. The family that will be baptized this week (Mike, Carley, Kelsee, and Kaylee) are doing so well. They have been so fun to teach and so receptive. Mike and his wife have stopped smoking cold turkey and are surviving! They are also feeding us tonight and we have a lesson. What great faith! I am so excited, before this week, everyone that has been baptized has been pretty excited to go to the temple, but I always knew that when they were a member for a year I'd still be on my mission. This is a FAMILY that wants to be SEALED in a YEAR and I could possibly BE THERE!!!!! YES!!!! What a blessing. Mike is going to be baptized and then receive the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood and baptize his 3 daughters. WOW!!
There are some highlights I guess, things are going well. Yesterday, I didn't know what to study, so I asked the question "How could I be more lost in the work?" I felt to turn to the story of Alma and Amulek. Then I read in Alma 10 about Amulek. He was "journeying on his way to see a very near kindred" and the angel stopped him and told him to turn around and get to work. He did, but what of his "very near kindred?" He just forgot about his family and went to work. Then later on, maybe verse 10 or 11 it says that all of his family were blessed. I thought that was a good answer to my question! Just another witness that I can forget about everything and focus, knowing in my heart that everyone back home is ok. I love it!
The Zone is doing so well. I think I got impatient again waiting for the blessings of our hard work to come. The past two months the whole zone only baptized 5 people. As a leader, that is a discouraging number, but then we look at all of the potential and the fact that FIVE souls were brought to a knowledge of the gospel and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. That's 5 souls!!!!! We are so excited for those 5. In the month of September we will see the fruits of our labors. The missionaries in the zone have been working so hard, and they have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work. We now have 17 people set with a date, 11 in September. We are working our tails off to make sure they are each contacted daily and that the spirit is there to administer a dosage of hope. We have faith and know that the will of God will be carried out this month.
The investigators that are progressing are progressing and the ones that aren't, we're working through their problems and concerns, helping them to exercise faith unto repentance. The family that will be baptized this week (Mike, Carley, Kelsee, and Kaylee) are doing so well. They have been so fun to teach and so receptive. Mike and his wife have stopped smoking cold turkey and are surviving! They are also feeding us tonight and we have a lesson. What great faith! I am so excited, before this week, everyone that has been baptized has been pretty excited to go to the temple, but I always knew that when they were a member for a year I'd still be on my mission. This is a FAMILY that wants to be SEALED in a YEAR and I could possibly BE THERE!!!!! YES!!!! What a blessing. Mike is going to be baptized and then receive the Holy Ghost and the Priesthood and baptize his 3 daughters. WOW!!
There are some highlights I guess, things are going well. Yesterday, I didn't know what to study, so I asked the question "How could I be more lost in the work?" I felt to turn to the story of Alma and Amulek. Then I read in Alma 10 about Amulek. He was "journeying on his way to see a very near kindred" and the angel stopped him and told him to turn around and get to work. He did, but what of his "very near kindred?" He just forgot about his family and went to work. Then later on, maybe verse 10 or 11 it says that all of his family were blessed. I thought that was a good answer to my question! Just another witness that I can forget about everything and focus, knowing in my heart that everyone back home is ok. I love it!
My companion and I drove down to Norfolk to the apartment of the district leader there, and we exchanged with them, so I took Elder Dayton with me in the van back to VA Beach for the day and Elder Monibidor stayed there in Norfolk to do a baptismal interview and do some work. On the way back, Elder Dayton and I were on the freeway, going about 65, when we heard all sorts of screeching and smoke and cars flying up ahead. I slammed on the breaks and we slid a little but I let off and we stopped sliding and just slowed down really fast. There was a car ahead of us but he switched lanes rapidly and took off to the left. We saw a truck skid really close to the right side barrier and take off as well. When the dust settled and things slowed down, we were stopped behind a green suv in the middle lane of the freeway. The suv took the next opening and sped off to the right, opening our view to the wreckage of a white ford car that had run into another suv. Not too bad, but stopped nonetheless. We turned on the hazzards and jumped out of the van as the suv in front took off about a quarter mile down to the next exit and stopped. We talked to the lady in the white car (which was scrunched in the front) and offered to push her to the next exit, using our van to block the lane. We just started pushing and pushing down the middle of the freeway with cars whizzing past us, I even dropped my favorite pen!!!!!!! (I wasn't too scared, I was planning on getting it) so we push her all the way to the exit and onto the shoulder where things were calmed down a bit, and I turned around to see what? Our van, a quarter mile back, alone, in the middle lane of the freeway with the hazzards on. OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Haha Cars were changing lanes in front and behind it it was intense. We started our way running back up the freeway, on the shoulder, until I saw my pen........ I was STOKED!!! I was seriously planning my attack into the middle lane to play a game of capture the pen leap frog in my suit, I said "there it is!" and no sooner had the words left my mouth than a car changed lanes and smashed it!!!!!!!!! COME ON!!!!!!!! So we went back to where the van and got in and drove away. Very anti-climactic.
Yes I have been out a year, woot woot! Very fun, I ate some Nigerian food. Hump day was a slow one and I'm still trying to focus haha. Anyway, I'll be home in like 10 minutes if this year goes by as fast as the last year did. Seriously, I'm just trying to slow things down and use the year to the best of my abilities so it doesn't go by in auto-pilot "CLICK" Adam Sandler mode. I don't want to be fat sitting at home doing nothing!!!!! Leave me out here!!!!!
Haha thanks again for your support, all of you.
I love you! Have a good week!!!
I love you! Have a good week!!!
Love,
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Elder Skyler Mark Andreasen
p.s. I choose Christ
p.p.s. I'll send my cards home today if possible.
p.p.p.s I have to go to a doctor my ingrown toenail is swollen and ready to pop!
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