Miracles

Dear Family and Friends,

So we found out yesterday that they’re taking Magnolia 1^st ward (huge. Average attendance 300, 360 last week) and Magnolia 2^nd (my ward, fairly normal size ≤200 normally) and they’re going to redo boundary lines and make a Magnolia 3^rd ward! So we’re going to have 3 small wards after the split which happens next week. We were talking with our leaders about this and why the Lord works in this way. In smaller wards people have greater opportunities to serve and to grow and develop, so when a ward gets too big and there is less opportunity for growth, the Lord inspires His leaders to change something so that we can all continue to grow and serve in the way we need to. I’m interested to know where the missionaries are going with the split. There’s sisters and elders in both the 1^st and 2^nd so we’ll see I guess. I'm eager to work where the Lord needs me and for the new challenge that this ward split will be.

This week has been amazing. We’ve been working hard and the Lord has blessed us enormously. We found 5 new investigators this week, 4 of them are part of the same family! I am so excited to teach a family! I think the 5 new investigators we found this week is more than the past couple months of my mission put together, and given that, I've been trying to figure out what we did differently that brought such a miracle. The only thing I can think of was that we were really good with setting our goals before we planned and referencing our weekly goals every time we set daily goals. We worked to achieve all the other lessons we wanted to teach, and tried so hard to get more member presents, and as we were doing that we found so many new people to teach! It's funny because our goal this week was just 2 new investigators, but as we made the plans necessary to achieve our goals for the lessons we could teach everyday (something a little easier to plan specifically for) we were blessed enormously with new people to teach. It was incredible. In addition to planning we tried to really talk with everyone. We found the family tracting, but we’ve found a couple of other good people just by talking to our neighbors and others in our apartment complex. We even found an investigator for the ASL missionaries! It’s certainly built my testimony of planning and working to meet goals and that the Lord is preparing people for us to find.

I also had the opportunity to go to a baptism in my past area of Spring Branch on Saturday. A wonderful sister drove me down there (She reminds me more and more of Grandma Sessions as I’ve talked with her. Mission in New Zealand, sweet grandma, good stories…) We picked up my trainer Sister Allred on the way down and it was so good to see her! The trip was supposed to take us and hour, but ended up taking 2 ½ because of insane traffic. We barely made it in time, they stalled it as long as they could for us, and singing the extra verses of some of the songs really does make a difference! It was so sweet to be there at the baptism. The man getting baptized was a gentleman I’d talked to in a parking lot on the way to an appointment and he said we could come back. We taught him, and then I got transferred, but sisters helped him quit smoking and he’s been coming to church regularly and has been so great. It was so sweet to see him take that step forward and make those promises with God. It was also so nostalgic to see everyone in my past area. Not everyone was there, but a lot of the people I was close with were and it brought back so many memories. I really love all the people in that area. They are working so hard and doing so much in a little struggling ward. They are incredible examples of faithful, diligent service.

I am loving the work here. I love my companions, they are incredible examples to me and inspire me to be better. I am grateful for you and your love, letters and support. Keep up all the good things you're doing. Look for the good in others. Something I was talking about with my companions today was our nightly prayers. We have a personal accounting to the Lord every night when we pray before bed. As I've been doing that I've tried to ask for things I could have done better and listen for answers. But something I've done recently was to ask what I did well and what the Lord was pleased with in my efforts that day. I have felt His love and encouragement as I've done that and I'd encourage y'all to do the same. Listen for answers and write them down. I know the Lord will speak to your heart as you do that. Love you all!

Love,

Sister Andreason

Love

Wasn't General Conference Spectacular!?

For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a church conference that happens twice a year in Salt Lake City and is broadcast to the whole world! What a wonderful opportunity to learn from living prophets and apostles in our day.

I usually try to listen to conference with a few questions on my mind because when I do I get very specific answers from a couple of the talks that are given. I also find that the more time I've spent contemplating questions the more direct my answers are. 

So I was trying to prepare questions weeks before conference came around. As I was doing this, I'd write down a question and then go study about it during our study time in the morning. And guess what happened? I found answers. So then I didn't have a question to take to conference anymore! So I'd come up with another one and the same thing would happen. It was almost frustrating, but who complains about getting answers? I'm certain that that process was the Lord helping me understand how to continue to find answers when there's not General Conference in the near future and it was an enlightening way to study, and one I hope to continue.

I finally gave up on a question for conference and just went with a topic. I wanted to learn more about love. I've been trying to learn how to love the people around me more, how to love my companions, how to show that love to others and I think one of the big themes of Conference was love.

Our Prophet, President Monson talked specifically on that topic, but it was also covered by many other speakers. I learned to try to be more aware of the needs around me and respond to them. President Monson also taught that we are to love and serve this portion of mankind--those who are around us and with whom we interact with day to day. He emphasized love as the very essence of the gospel. 

As missionaries we get training from our mission leaders every so often, and this week we had training about the first principle we teach people. God is our loving Heavenly Father. Everything else in the gospel builds upon that understanding. As we understand God's love for us we learn to love Him and those around us. As we show our love to those around us and for God we feel His love more fully in our lives. It's an amazing cycle.

Also, in accordance with Elder Ballard's invitation for all of us to study Preach My Gospel, I want to share something from there and invite you to study the topic more, see what you can learn from Preach My Gospel. PMG pg 32 has many scriptures about the nature of God and His relationship to us, first and foremost that God is our loving Heavenly Father. I love 1 John 4:7-9 which says, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him."

I have felt that love more for the investigators I have the privilege of teaching as we've listened to their concerns and help them understand how to know truth for themselves and how to continue to come closer to Christ. In addition to my answer on the topic of love I also got answers for those we're teaching here in Magnolia. 

Truly the Lord is aware of us and our needs and the needs of others we may be able to help. I am grateful for you and all you do and your examples of love and service to others. Keep up the good work and continue to look for ways to add a little kindness to the world. I love you!

Love,

Sister Andreason

Spiritual and Social Conversion

This week's been an exciting one. And although my brain felt fried as I tried to help my 2 new companions learn the area that I don't know fully yet, (in my mere six weeks here) it wasn't too bad. The Lord definitely blessed me with increased strength and remembering things and perseverance. Anyone who knows me knows my planning skills were dismal, to say the least before the mission, but I've definitely improved in that area in the last 6 months. We were still productive this week even though I had to lead planning and think of everything we needed to do because my companions were brand new. We got where we needed to be, we found everything okay, and we didn't run out of car allotment of miles for the month. I've also been blessed with great companions that helped me adjust to everything and are loving and supportive and great teachers. They are Sister Pugh (say pew) and Sister Harrison. Sister Pugh was in the MTC with me, and Sister Harrison has been out for 9 months. It feels like they've been here longer than just a week, but it's flown by and we're learning and getting better at working together every day.

Some fun things this week:

We've gotten to do lots of service projects recently. We helped paint a couple people's houses, (practiced my contortion skills as I painted inside a closet with shelves), put down sand and bricks to make a sidewalk, filled flower beds with dirt, not to mention the roofing we did a couple weeks ago.

The last night my companion was here she requested crepes. We were at our WML's house for dinner. So I got to help his wife make crepes. Thankfully I've had lots of practice with that (thanks grandpa S!) and it was really fun and quite delicious with nutella. 

We had dinner with an older couple in the ward, the Bailey's, and come to find out they served a mission in New Zealand! They were on the South Island though, so they said they didn't know G&G Sessions, but they showed us a lot of cool NZ things that reminded me a lot of G&G. They had a noah's ark carved by an islander and all the different animals were out of a different wood native to NZ, it was interesting and beautiful.

The highlight of the week was Sunday. We had an amazing woman come and be a guest speaker in our ward. She was in my new companion's last area, and she's a missionary guru. She had amazing experiences to share and tons of amazing insight. The main principle she highlighted are the different roles of full time missionaries and member missionaries in hastening the work of salvation. When people join the church they have to go through 2 types of conversion, spiritual and social. Full time missionaries are responsible for the spiritual part. We know how to teach the lessons, what order to teach in, how to testify, invite and build testimonies. It's all we do, all day every day. You members on the other hand can do what we cannot on the social end of things. We're in an area for a few months, which makes it really difficult for us to do the job of building friendships. Missionary work is most effective if "You bring 'em, we ask 'em" If you invite your friends to activities, and make the missionaries aware that you have a friend with you! we'll do the hard stuff, we'll invite, we'll teach, but sometimes we don't know who's who yet, so let us know if you have a friend, and tell us what you need us to do. Remember, you succeed when you invite! And it usually takes 3 Nos to get a Yes. As both members and missionaries get to understand their roles better and we work together, the work can move forward more effectively. I'm excited to increase how well we work with members. 

As someone said in the women's meeting on Saturday to not only love more but love better. I'm excited to not only work more but work better and help the members see the joy that comes from missionary work.

Love you all!

Sister Andreason

Fulfilling your Purpose and Roofing

There are some weeks where I'm better at being a missionary than others. There's days and weeks where its easy to talk to everyone, your companionship works in unity, you're working hard to achieve your goals and you see the hand of the Lord a lot in the work. There are other days and weeks (fewer and hopefully far between) where it's easy to get distracted, to loose the focus and be less and fall short of the highly effective servants of the Lord we're striving to be.

This week was one of the latter, unfortunately, and I feel like I've been stagnating a little. I'm not progressing and growing in the way I hope to, and I'm not helping others progress and come closer to Christ either. Looking back on the past week has caused me to reflect more on my purpose as a missionary and to rededicate myself as the full time missionary I'm trying to be. My purpose is to, "Invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end." It should be fairly simple, right? If something I'm doing helps me do that, keep doing it. If it doesn't, then stop! Preach My Gospel even gives us ways to judge if something fulfills that purpose or not by some of the goals we set. So why is it hard to do that sometimes?

In relation to fulfilling my missionary purpose, I've been thinking a lot about the purpose of our life on earth. We're here to learn and grow and become more like Christ. "This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God." However, how easy is it to get distracted from this clear purpose in the bustle of every day life? It's easy to just think about the next thing we have to do, or the next place we have to be instead of remembering the commandment given to love God and our neighbor. To forget to involve God and look for His influence in our lives.

We met this guy in Target earlier today and had a wonderful conversation with him about God and his role in our lives and the way we ought to live. We talked about church and missionary work, and he said, "Well, they're 2 different things. You go to church to fill yourself up, and missionary work is about pouring yourself out." I found his comment not only very poetic, but highly instructive. I haven't been pouring myself out as much as I ought to. My sacrifice and consecration has not been complete enough to merit all the help I want and need to succeed in this great work I'm supposed to be engaged in. So I'm trying to rededicate myself and renew my focus on sharing the message of the restoration and all the incredible blessings that come as we embrace that message.

There were a lot of good things that happened this week though. In addition to me refocusing on my missionary purpose, we got to talk to a couple wonderful couples more about the gospel and hopefully we'll continue meeting with them. And I learned how to roof houses on friday! It was super fun! One of the Elders in our ward did construction before his mission and had roofed a lot before, so we went and helped one of the members of our ward repair his roof and had a lot of fun clambering over the roof and ripping staples and nailing down shingles. I love you all! Take some time and think about the ways we can fulfill our purpose in life.

Love,

Sister Andreason

Spirit of Elijah

I can't remember everything I've written to y'all that's happened to me, but one very important thing I think I've neglected to write about is that I ate cow tongue from a taco truck a couple weeks ago. It's actually quite delicious, and made for a great, very cheap taco.

We got stuck in the mud last Tuesday and had a little miracle because a family stopped to help push us out right before it got dark and started dumping buckets. On Tuesdays, we also volunteer for a food pantry and I'm the official freezer packer because I can fit everything in the freezers better than others. I think it's a skill I picked up from watching dad pack the car for trips all growing up.

We had some exciting appointments this week. We had dinner with a nonmember family husband, wife, and 2 year old (the husband is actually studying to be a minister) and we had a great time with them. We taught them about Family Home Evening, and then had FHE with them. We had a wonderful discussion about the role of Christ in our life, our favorite passages of scripture in the Bible and Book of Mormon, and some other great topics. They are just the greatest people and wanted to give us a little taste of home because they know we're far away. We played dominion with them and just talked about God. It was wonderful! I hope we can continue to learn from each other.

We had another great lesson with another wonderful woman. We had our Ward Mission Leader's wife come with us, and she was just able to really see the needs this woman had as we were teaching her and connect and testify so much more powerfully than we were able to do. You members are so great! The missionaries need your help in this great work, whether it be teaching lessons, finding, fellowshipping... you do so much :)

This week we had Zone Conference where we got to listen to our mission President had been inspired to teach us. He talked specifically about the spirit of Elijah and how important it is in missionary work. When the angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith, the first thing he told him about was the Book of Mormon. The second thing he talked about was the prophecies in Malachi of Elijah turning the hearts of the children to their fathers. In missionary work the Book of Mormon is our most important tool, but Family History should be our second. There's a really amazing quote that was shared, " So often we think of our responsibility to do something for those who have gone before. We need to understand that probably one of the most important benefits of preserving our heritage is what is does for us today. If we want our problems to be solved, one of the surest ways of doing that is to search for our past, for therein we receive strength, guidance, and understanding. All of you here today are giving an added eternal dimension to your lives as you learn and study the past. We can receive strength and help from those who have gone on before. To raise our families today, we need to do family research and genealogy." (Elder John H. Goberg, Quorum of the Seventy).

We also talked about how important unity is in our ward, and the things we as missionaries can do to help increase unity (because it's a 2 way street). We also got some advice from Stake Presidents in the area on how we could be more unified and gain greater trust from the members. Some of the things they said were, "Live as representatives of Jesus Christ, people are always watching." "Members must see you as men and women of God. They need to feel the Spirit when you speak and when you are around them." "Bear witness of Christ frequently and let members know of your love for the Lord." So I've been trying to do more of that lately. I think that advice applies to missionaries, but it also applies to all members who are trying to bring others closer to Christ.

This morning I was reading in Alma 31, starting in verse 26 where Alma is praying for those he's teaching and serving with. He prays for comfort, strength, patience, wisdom and for all those he serves with individually, as well as the people they're trying to teach. It was a good lesson for me to remember the importance and powerful effect of prayers. The last verse says, "And the Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst; yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of afflictions save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith." 

Don't underestimate the power of prayer and the power of your example. The Lord can do miracles with you as you ask Him for it and as you're willing to sacrifice in His service. Love you lots!

Love,

Sister Andreason

Transfers and 6 MONTH MARK!

I have come to the realization that as of tomorrow I will have been on my mission for 6 months. 1/3 of my time here in Houston is gone. It's hard to comprehend. Didn't I just get here a week ago? Somehow tomorrow marks the beginning of my 5th transfer out here and I get a new companion and I'm taking over Magnolia 2 area, all in one day. And I feel like I still have so much I'm learning here in this area and on the mission in general. I'm excited for change and growth and the chance to reflect on the past transfer and look to the future and improve.

Some highlights from the week:

One of the very Texan older woman in the ward called us up asking if we had dinner that night because she wanted us to help her eat a pizza. We got to go eat and talk with her. She's got a heavy Texan accent and reminds me a little of the grandma in Hoodwinked. Not that she's doing extreme sports or anything, but just her energy and humor.

We had a Relief Society Birthday party event. Unfortunately none of our investigators made it, but Sister Hassell and I had a line in the skit talking about all the past RS General Presidents. I was Louise Yates Robison. She was a wonderful woman and my line was her motto, "Welcome the task that takes you beyond yourself." It's a good motto to have, and something I want to do better at, to be bolder to work harder, to search longer.

We had another wonderful visit with our neighbors. They're the young couple that lives in our complex with an adorable little boy. The father is studying to be a minister and we've had amazing conversations just understanding each other's point of view more and learning from the scriptures. I'd been thinking a lot about how I could teach better when we talk to them and what the Lord wanted me to do and the answer I got was, "use the Book of Mormon" "whenever you answer a question, use the Book of Mormon as much as you can." So I did!

Our last visit he had asked us what question we had for him or what differences we had that made our church unique or that maybe they believed that didn't make sense to us. So we talked about things and asked questions and they asked us questions and it was an amazing discussion. We talked about the trinity, prophets, authority, faith, works, salvation... all these typically controversial topics. And every time we talk to them it's always full of love and a mutual search for understanding. They are one of the best examples of Christ like love and devotion in their everyday lives I've ever met. Christ is an intimate part of everything they do and talking with them makes me want to be better.

So these conversations are wonderful. It's intimidating sometimes because he's studying to be a minister and knows the Bible reeaaally well and he asks really good questions. But at the same time, it has lead me to a deeper study and understanding of a lot of those topics as I've listened to his explanation and understanding, and as my companion and I teach from and expound the scriptures and rely on the Spirit to help bring things to our remembrance. Using the Book of Mormon in our last meeting with them I think was vital. The Book of Mormon teaches doctrine and explains principles in a powerful way, and as you learn from and gain a testimony of that book, everything else falls into place. So it's been wonderful to develop such a friendship and understanding with these incredible people. I've learned a lot about faith and works that I'll have to just spend and entire email on later.

We helped paint a room a couple days ago. It was super fun because we painted the entire room the same color--ceiling included (it's slightly domed) and it was this creamy color, but then we added wall crystals which are probably one of the coolest inventions known to man. You add a couple packs of them to pain and then when its dry its a really subtle sparkle that you only see when the light hits it right. Its so pretty!

We had dinner with a nonmember family who have been taking their kids to mutual activities for the past several years. The kids are more willing to move forward than the parents, and they've all listened to missionaries before, but we hope to be able to facilitate greater understanding there as well.

We had one of our investigators come to church this week! Yay! She's been going through so many things and so seeing her at church was really incredible. We went to primary for the 2nd hour and got her 3 year old daughter adjusted and it took a little while, but she loved Sunbeams and hopefully future church attendance will be great for both her and her mom.

Things are going great here. I'm learning lots, looking to improve and grow in so many ways, and learning more and more how to rely on the Lord and do His will. I'd encourage all of you to look for ways to increase understanding between you and someone else. Whether it be about gospel subjects or other topics, feeling understood is so important in developing trust and friendship and working together. Love you lots! Thanks for all the great things you're doing.

Love,

Sister Andreason

Light, Baptisms, Transfers

So some big events happened this week. First of all, our investigator, Al, got baptized!!!! :D Huzzah! I've been to a couple baptisms in this area of investigators before, but this one was particularly special. 

My first companion and I found Al tracting way back in October. We kept stopping by and talking to him briefly for like a month, and then actually got to have a lesson with after a while of just stopping by and visiting. We began teaching him, helped him keep progressing, and then he got baptized Saturday and confirmed Sunday. There were a lot of little miracles leading up to his baptism too. Our building has a baptismal font, but no water heater. We'd been expecting pretty frigid water for the baptism, but just this past week, because of some other circumstances that worked out just right, they were able to install something that heated the water which was such a tender mercy from the Lord. It wasn't necessary, but it helped focus more on the spirit of the occasion. We had 19 people at the baptism, basically everyone who had a part in the program, and 6 of the 19 were missionaries. My trainer, Sister Allred got to come down for it. Although it was small Al was still so grateful for those who came and he bore his testimony at the end of the service. It was such a wonderful day.

Right this wonderful weekend where Al was able to get baptized, I got a call Sundaynight telling me I'm getting transfered! I can't say I wasn't expecting it. You get to a point in an area where you know in order to keep growing and progressing the Lord is going to make a change. I feel like the Lord needs me elsewhere and my companion, Sister Sievert, is going to keep growing best when she flies on her own. I love Spring Branch, and there are so many good things going on here. We've found a couple really good new investigators recently, we're working with some good progressing investigators, we've got a couple baptisms scheduled for the near future, but I'm excited to take the strength and momentum I have right now and bring it to my new area. I'll find out where that is and who my new companion is at transfer meeting tomorrow.

In addition to transfering to a new area tomorrow, we also moved apartments within our complex on Friday. Our new apartment is still really nice, but about $80 cheaper a month. So we spent some time last week packing, cleaning, and then the Elders came and moved all the hard stuff in less than an hour. As far as moving goes (and lets remember I grew up in an Air Force home--I've moved like 10 times in my life) it was pretty smooth. Although it definitely made me appreciate all the work that goes into moving, and we're just missionaries surviving with the bare essentials.

We've had a lot of other good things happening in our area lately. We found some great new investigators, taught some other good lessons to people we've been working with, and basically helped bring others closer to Christ which is the whole focus and purpose of being a missionary. As we remember that and as we focus on things that help us do that, life is great. I am never so happy as I am when I get to teach someone and help them make changes in their life for the better.

 

We also had a spectacular zone meeting on Friday. We talked about the principle of Light. We are beings of light, our bodies crave light. If you look at your pupil in a dark room, it dialates to allow more light in, and when there is light, it contracts to allow focus because of the available light. One of our zone leaders taught this principle in such a memberable way. He had vivid recurring nightmares as a child; in one of the nightmares he was chased by monsters and in the other he was being chased by pure darkness. I can't tell the story the way he told it, but I was scared at just the recounting of these nightmares. However, the last night of the dream where he was chased by darkness, he got to the end of the previously endless hallway and found a room with a light that the darkness couldn't overcome. He shared a scripture: 

 O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way for our escape from the grasp of this awful monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of the body, and also the death of the spirit. 2 Nephi9:10

It is so comforting to know that God created light: 

 And God said Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. He didn't create darkness, but separated the light from it. God created the light. Genesis 1:3-4

I found the study and combination of the following scriptures enlightening.

D&C 93:36-37 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth. Light and truth forsake that evil one.

Matt 6:22 The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!

D&C 4:5 And faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.

Resist the darkness. Satan is the bringer of darkness and you cannot be who God wants you to be if you allow darkness to stay in your life, if you allow Satan to have power over you. Let of go of the darkness and cling to the light. We were challenged, and I would challenge you to look for areas of darkness in your life and flood them with light. What darkness is there that you can change?

I know that Christ is the light of the world, as we draw closer to Him our lives will be filled with a greater measure of His light. I love you all!

Love,

Sister Andreason