People with houses like that live in the woods for a reason and have guns and stuff

Hey fam! I forgot my library card and so I'm on Elder Canova's, which means we each get half the time. Sorry :/ This week was great. I am going to spend time on one story that was cool because Elder Canova wants me to write it so he can copy paste it on over to his own email. EFFICIENCY. 

First, though, there are two books that I have read parts of on my mission and I would request them both. "However long and hard the road" by Elder Holland was amazing, I recommend it, and I was wondering if you can get it for me. The second is a book called "That all may be edified" by President Boyd K. Packer. Again, I recommend it, and it taught me a lot about the way the savior teaches. I only got halfway through it before I got transfered and I was wondering if you could find those two on amazon or deseret book and get some hard back copies. Paperback is cool too but I loved reading the hardback of president Packer's book. 

My knee brace doesn't fit me anymore and I have been playing without it (which feels like a sin). I really don't want to hurt my knee again so maybe just ask Larry what he thinks I should do. Can it be re-sized? IDK. My thigh is too big and it cuts the circulation off on my calf. Let me know. 

I got your card. Thanks :)

I am so thankful for a spontanious companion. This week we were in a country area off the side of Charlottesville called Crozet (said Crozay) and we had an appointment with an investigator fall through. As we walked back to the car, I looked to the end of the road and saw a dirt road going right up the mountain. (keep in mind I'm still in the honeymooner stage with these mountains up here and we drive a subaru with AWD) I was so curious to see if there was a view from the top or some campground or something, so up we went. :) 

About 1/4 mile up the dirt road it started to get really bumpy and it was kinda steep. It was like driving back behind SV hill in a car and going on top of the SV. Not that impressive but it was just a tree tunnel trail that had been kind of washed out in some spots and I was exhilarated. Elder Canova and I kept looking at each other like "Should we go back?" and we never did. A couple times there was a pull off and I just decided to keep going. Don't know why. I've always been the type to go to the top :) why stop half way up where the view is only half as good right? I made Claire climb plenty of Mountains ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP using that reasoning. Anyway..... so we kept driving. We saw an abandoned truck and some cool views but just kept going, to a point where we honestly had to keep going because the road was pretty steep and I don't know if I could have backed my way down it. Ok, I sound super disobedient right now in the mission vehicle but I want you to read Jerimiah 16:16 and then hear me out with this story.

As we came up over a ridge, I saw a house. WOW I was blown away. I looked at Elder Canova and said "well, we kind of have to knock now" haha and so we pulled onto the driveway and it wound up and to the left to the side of a big brown cabin with a smaller little cottage off to the side. Two mountain goats hopped away as we walked up. We're talking WOODS here. And it was steep on the side of the hill in the trees. I'll send you pictures I didn't bring my camera sorry. Anyway, I'm just thankful Elder Canova is spontaneous and likes to do scary random things because I have had companions who would not have knocked on that door with me. I'll admit, I was scared. People with houses like that live in the woods for a reason and have guns and stuff. EEGHGT. So we knocked. 

No one answered (see what I did there) and so we looked at the little cottage and there was smoke coming out of the chimney. We left a card on the door and walked over to the cottage. I could hear a tv on. Lots of wood stacked outside. These people keep to themselves. We knocked and a really young looking 85 yr old man opened the door, with a short beard and disheveled white hair. He was wearing white Hanes socks. I noticed because he stepped outside in them. He was pretty short but looked strong. He must chop and haul his own wood because he moved like he was 30 I swear. He looked up at us and said "hello boys" and we preceded to try my best to lighten the weirdness of us showing up at his door by praising the placement of his home and the uniqueness of the mountains and loving him up. He said "why don't you come on in" and we went in! Woah not what we expected but we sat down and some of the first things he said were "Where's the nearest Mormon building to here" and "I didn't know there was a ward this close" and some very careful statements that were telling about his background. We asked "have you ever met with missionaries before?" and he said "I've..........been exposed to the church." we asked how and he told us his son was a member. We asked if he was a member. He said yes. WHAT?!?!

Don Hansen (name changed), 85 (or so), from Minnesota, lifelong member, Endowed, not active, FOUND. He had pictures of NASA astronauts and the first shot that was ever downloaded from  an orbiting spacecraft on the wall. When he went to the other room Elder Canova read the caption "picture taken by Don Hansen" we just sat back and looked at each other and said "NO WAY" This man is a retired mission manager from the Appolo missions. He is so amazing. He is snowed in his house this week (it snowed last night) so we called this morning to see how he is doing and we are gaining a friendship with him. We will try to get him to come speak to some young men or the scouts or something to get him out of the cabin and back in the church. He said he will come back it will just take some work.

MIRACLES HAPPEN
  Love you gotta go bye

Elder Skyler Andreasen
P.S. I choose Christ