Monday May 27th 

Holy Cow! This week has been somewhat interesting. I have learned for myself now that things can be a little rough and different after changes. I love Elder Castillo, and he is a great missionary. But he sees things a little bit differently than we had seen them before, and we have had to make several compromises. But I think it is a great opportunity to learn and grow and gain some experience. I have been stressing a little bit lately about what is going to happen to me at the end of this change. I could literally go anywhere. I could be a junior companion, I could be a senior companion, I could be a trainer...The list goes on. OH YEAH, and I could be any of those things in either this mission or the new mission, because I will be changed just days before the mission splits. I have no idea what to expect. So I have decided to trust in the Lord's will and the revelation given to President Glazier and 'go and do' wherever I am needed. I am just excited to be a missionary. This week we picked up our zone uniforms (see the attached picture)! Elder Martin designed them himself, and we had them custom made, and for really cheap too. It has been raining a bunch lately. But don't worry, I have a cheapy little umbrella that has been doing alright and will do the job just fine for now. I put all of my scriptures and stuff in ziploc bags in my backpack, and the work goes on! I have come home with dry feet every night, so no worries there. It really isnt so bad because we have appointments pretty much all of the time and we are only outside in the rain in between. But lately we have been contacting new references, and sometimes they arent there (as in not home, or just that the address doesnt exist...), and in those cases we are in the rain for a bit longer. I have been super hungry all of the time lately. But I can't complain because I am back to what I would say is perfect health, and we have investigators that we are working with and there are many blessings that we receive every day. And I get to eat pupusas every now and then, which is awesome. It seems I am always craving them. We have a bunch of baptismal dates coming up on the 22nd of June, and a few between now and then that we need to work on. I think the ones in between will have to be delayed or dropped; they have not been progressing lately, which is a little bit disheartening. But we are doing everything we can so that they can receive the blessings of the gospel in their homes. I have a little thought I want to share this week. In 1 Nephi 7 when Nefi and his brothers are coming back through the wilderness with the family of Ishmael, his brothers start to murmur and rebel, and Nephi starts asking them what we call in the mission 'inspired questions'. I only have my spanish copy on hand, so I'll cite the references in Spanish and do my best to translate. Nefi asks in verse 11: ¿Como es que habeis olvidado cuan grandes cosas el Senor ha hecho por nosotros? which means, 'How is it that you have forgotten what great things the Lord has done for us?' He continues in verse 12: ¿y como es que habeis olvidado que el Senor tiene poder de hacer todas las cosas segun su voluntad, para los hijos de los hombres, si es que ejercen la fe en el? which means, 'and how is it that you have forgotten that the Lord has power to do all things according to His will for the children of men, if it is that they exercise faith in Him?' I think sometimes we forget the great things that the Lord has done for us, and that we forget that he has all power to do help us in our trials if we would just exercise a little bit of faith. At the end of verse 12 he says, seamosle fieles, which means 'lets be faithful to Him.' Lets take this suggestion to heart this week, and be faithful to the Lord, remembering the great things that he has done for us. I promise that as you remember the wonderful things that He has done for you, you will feel inspired to seek and do His will for you in your life, and that you will find greater happiness and a more appreciative attitude as you continue forward in faith. Esta semana, seamosle fieles. Love you guys.

Elder Andreasen