I Sound Like An Amway Salesman

-Fellow citizens-

I regret to inform you that I don't have a whole bushel of time today but I'll do my best!

First, a shout out to Chantel Baker, she emailed me and I saw that was good. Thanks!!! Their family is looking so Eternal!

Second, we are going to Brother Thomas's house with the zone today at 1 and I am taking a pen and paper there and I'm going to try and write some letters and send an sd card home. I have been so worthless on Preparation day! Writing letters is mental work and I just want to either lay down and sleep or go base jumping, but never sit and write. It's horrible.

Third, I got your package, thank you :) I too am glad my pen sacrificed for me I don't want to end up with my ink on the freeway and my shell smashed.

Fourth, Mom, I am SO sorry that you have to go back to ye-old way of texting. Who are you anyway? Swipe texting? I barely had a touch screen!!!!!

Fifth, No we do not get to go to the temple. It's outside the mission and Pres. Monson has said not to go. Says President Perry.

Sixth, Huey and June Called me they are so cool. Haha did Huey act like a grumpy old man? He's my favorite I love them. I told June she needed to come back to VA and make us a deep dish pizza. MMMMMMM!!

Seventh, Happy 29th Anniversary!

Eighth, The Davis family got baptized!!!!! Oh man I got to baptize Mike on saturday, then Mike got to baptize his 3 girls on sunday. HOW AMAZING IS THAT!!!! He quit smoking recently and is not turning back and they all felt the spirit as we were singing families can be together forever and it was just perfect.

Ninth, this week has been good, we had zone leader counsel on Wednesday and it was super duper good. I love those meetings. We were trained on "how to begin teaching" and Christian Courage. If you feel the need, read "Christian Courage" by Robert D. Hales. It is a great talk about how desciples are supposed to act. So on Thursday we prepared for zone meeting and on Friday we had zone meeting. I am really trying to better the way I give trainings and this one got better! Imagine that, I just tried to be myself and it worked out!

I love being a desciple of Jesus Christ and I am thankful for the opportunity we have to live at this time, today, on earth. The Church is coming out of obscurity and being established in every land, Israel is never to flee into the wilderness again, but Zion is being established EVERYWHERE and ANYWHERE there is a righteous Latter Day Saint to share some light. I am ever so grateful that we can each play a part in bringing this to pass. I am going to copy and paste something I emailed to Chantel ok? Forgive me I don't have time to write it again.

We had the opportunity last night to go with the YSA branch here to the stake center and watch a CES fireside talk by Elder Holland. WOW! He talked a lot about Israel and Babylon, how Israel always fell away and into Babylonian captivity, then humbled themselves and left to go establish Zion again. This has been the pattern of God's chosen people from the beginning. Fall into captivity, humble themselves, flee to establish zion, live as a covenant people, get prideful and fall again, and the pattern goes on. Elder Holland said that even the pioneers were the same way, they would be in captivity and flee, then overcome again by Babylon "the world" and flee again, all the way to Utah. Now, the Lord's covenant people will NEVER flee AGAIN. Zion is not WHERE we will live anymore, but HOW. By following the Lords call "Israel, Israel God is calling!" and leaving Babylon "Oh Babylon oh Babylon we bid thee farewell" to flee to Zion, or to live the way we should, we can live in the world and not of the world. We can truly salt the earth and gather Israel by doing missionary work. This church will never Flee again, we will live in Babylon and bring others out of Babylon....Does that make sense? 

So we don't have anyone on the horizon with a baptismal date, but some are definately progressing. Margie is still moving forward, Kim, Josh, and others but we are really trying to find the ELECT. Don't get me wrong, we teach all of the investigators I told you about, but truly our goal is to weed out the tares and find the wheat. "we'll gather the wheat from the midst of the tares, and bring them to Zion, from sorrows and snares" Usually it comes in the form of Member referrals :) People who's lives have been touched by a member of the church who lives in Zion in the midst of Babylon. The non-members and Gentiles among you see how you act. YOU can be the one who asks them to join in this great family. Just listen to the spirit and do what it says and you will be guided as his instrument. It is a FACT. The gospel is spread most effectively as members of the church FIND people so that the missionaries can be full time TEACHERS. Imagine how fast Babylon would fall around the world if each of the 14 million members of the church just found one friend out of all of their friends and helped them receive the restored gospel. Then missionaries could teach them all. Well, now we have 28 million members and the growth is exponential from there. I sound like an Amway salesman or something! It won't happen perfectly like that, and we can't do EVERYTHING, but we can do SOMETHING. Seek to "Establish Zion" and "strengthen her stakes" (somewhere in D+C) wherever you are. Just be a good boy or a good girl and God will use you!
Love,

Elder Skyler Mark Andreasen

p.s. I choose Christ