Good Morning!

This week has been somewhat of an odd one. Firstly, it has been cold here... HOW WEIRD IS THAT!? I had honestly assumed that cold was something that I was going to go two years without. But apparently every year there is a cold front and for a few days it is pretty cold. I even had to get a blanket so that I could sleep without being cold. Secondly, we received news that a missionary ran away. President called Elder Soza early one morning to say that if a certain elder asked for his passport (to pull out money or any other excuse) that he should tell this elder to pass by the office to get it and that he should call him immediately. Apparently the elder called President to set up a time to meet, but he didn't show and he is still missing. Today is day 4.

In brighter news, Elder Soza and I found a new family this week! WOOHOO!!! We had received a reference from a gentleman, and he told us to pass by his house. 3 days of looking and we still have not found the house. I personally think it doesn't exist. HOWEVER, in looking for his house, I asked a man sitting outside his house if he knew the guy or if he knew where the house was. He did not, but I asked him if we could come by and visit him sometime and we set an appointment. He let us in, and he asked his wife and fourteen year-old daughter to come in and listen to us. The first thing they said was that they were surprised to have us in their home because never in their lives have they let someone in to talk about religion. Not the evangelicos, not the testigos, NO ONE. They told us up front that they are catholic, but that they were willing to listen to what we had to say. We taught the restoration, and Elder Soza asked them if they would pray about what we had taught. Silence. Then, the daughter said that she would, and she told us about how never before had she heard someone tell her about religion without criticizing catholicism. She said that she honestly really liked what we had to say, and that she would pray about it. Her parents agreed as well, and they committed themselves to come to church next sunday(they have some commitment this week). We have only met with them once, but we have already established complete trust. It is amazing how that happens sometimes. Anyway, we have SUPER HIGH HOPES for them, and we are going to do EVERYTHING that we can to make sure that they accept the gospel. So this week, pray for the Sanchez family. I have already been praying hard for them. We have a few other investigators still, but we need to focus on familia Sanchez right now because from what we have seen, they don't have anything holding them back (like probation sentences or drinking problems, etc.). 

 Mom, I will try to repent and start taking more pictures. I normally don't keep my camera in my backpack, but I can start now. We haven't had any problems, and I know that I need to take more pictures. It sounds like things are fun around the house right now. Keep helping the missionaries! Give them references, visit with them, talk to their investigators. Ask the missionaries how you can help them. Pray for them and for their investigators *by name*. I love you guys. I hop you are having fun and having success. Today we are going to play soccer with the youth of the ward, so that should be fun. I'll try to get some pictures. No promises though. Love you! Have a great week! See you in two!

Elder Andreasen

NOVEMBER 22ns


Good Morning!

Another week gone. This one was quick because we started prepping for changes. Yesterday was Elder Soza's birthday. It was a crazy day. We had the truck yesterday, and on the way to the office we got in a wreck! Just a little fender-bender. Elder Albrechtsen rear-ended some guy in a truck while we were in a roundabout. He was looking back to merge, and a police officer walked in front of the other truck to stop it and we hit right into the back of it. Our license plate was a bit bent, and the other truck had a little bit of damage. But the first thing the cop said was 'don't be nervous' to Elder Albrechtsen, and he just told us to figure it out with the other guy. He said that $20 would be sufficient. We thought it was too much, so I said that I had 5 and Elder Albrechtsen said that he had $10, so we gave him $15 and it was over. Yesterday, we also went to a place called Price Smart to buy a few things for changes. We got memberships, and it is EXACTLY like Costco. So now that we have memberships, we might do a little shopping there every now and again when we are there. The craziest thing by far that happened this week was that we found a snake in our house... Elder Silva saw it first, and it hid itself before anyone else saw it. He just kept saying how "enormous" it was and he was freaking out. It was just a little guy, maybe 20 inches long, but we did NOT want to go to bed with a snake in the house. I was in the shower when they got it out of its hiding place,and I just heard screams and shouting. By the time I got down there, they had it trapped. From a picture Elder Soza took, it looked like it could be venomous, so we killed it. It still took me a while to get to sleep, which is weird because I usually am not afraid of snakes... So thanksgiving is coming up! I'm sure you guys are going to be staying in the same house up in Deer Valley, and that everyone will be coming to visit. Should be fun! Take pictures! We are going to spend thanksgiving with President and Hermana Glazier. So that should be fun too. This week was a little bit...frustrating. Gilma came to church on Sunday! Woohoo! We were walking up to her house to go get her, but she was already walking down! Anyway, she chose to sit in the back by the door. We now know that that is not a great idea. It was crazy. I didn't even know how crazy it is back there because we always sit up towards the front. People were coming in and out, there were kids running all over the place (and there moms running around after them). And in the middle of the meeting, Gilma leans over and asks me, "do you think it is okay what they are doing?" I looked to where she was looking and there was a couple in the ward cuddling with each other. I tried to defend them and I told her that they are recently married and that he was only trying to show that he loved her. She quickly told me that those are things that are to be done in your house and not in the church. Later in the meeting, he kissed her a few times, and I was just so frustrated. I had to pray for forgiveness a few times in that meeting because of how mad I was at him. But on top of all that, she said she will come again this week. So we will make sure to sit on the other side in the front to get away from all of that. We also found another family this week. Familia Lopez. It sounds like they are a lot like the family that is going to be baptized there in Redlands. Hermano Lopez is a single father (his wife ran off with some other guy, which is depressingly common here...) with 7 children. SEVEN. He doesn't have a job, so he spends his days searching for scrap iron and other things to sell so that he can feed his kids. It was so sad when he told us that, becuase he said that he could go 3 or 4 days without eating and he wouldn't mind, but he has to do everything he can to feed each of his 7 kids. We have taught him one time, and we are going to continue. They NEED the gospel in their home. And 5 of the 7 kids are older than 8, so that family would be 6 baptisms, which is what our ward needs because members are a little bit discouraged because the ward hasn't baptized in a while. Well dudes, my time is running out, so I guess I´ll chat with you next week! Love you dudes! Say hi to the Matt's for me. See you in two!

Elder Andreasen


NOVEMBER 15th
Good morning!!

Today we are in writing early so that we can have some time today to do something different. I think we are going to play soccer with some of the jovenes in the ward. Should be fun. This week was pretty busy... Saturday and Sunda we had killer days in the area. We had a very powerful lesson with Gilma, whose baptismal date is in December. She is weighed down by her past, and she really needed to hear about baptism and repentance. We taught and testified, and the Spirit was there so strong it was incredible. The difference in her was amazing, and we testified and promised her that she could feel the way she felt in that moment all of the time if she is baptized and receives the Holy Ghost. For once, I noticed how stong the Spanish language can be (usually I find myself complaining about its inability to express things that I want to express). But subjunctive was the winner in that lesson. There's just something powerful about saying "cuando usted reciba el Espiritu Santo..." instead of just "recibe". Dad can explain the difference there. Elder Soza and I left that lesson walking tall and feeling great. The week, however, was not so fruitful. We had a multizone meeting this week, which was great. But the preparation that we had to do for that meeting and the other multizone meetings that took place this week was extensive. Wednesday night we didn't even get home until 8:40ish, and it is not even changes week! But changes week is coming, so it looks like the next few weeks could be a little bit rough as well. Last night we met with Mauricio. We haven't taught the word of wisdom yet, but he told us that he fell again this week and drank again. It is sad how trapped he is by his addiction, and how much it robs him of his self worth. He still believes that God doesn't listen to him because he was cast out. That makes me want to hit whoever told him that. Well, I wouldn't hit them, but I would give them a nice little machete (of words of course, we use that word a lot here...it means to chew someone out) and let them know how the Lord feels when they exercise that kind of assumed authority over good people like Mauricio. We stayed and chatted with him after the lesson for 5 minutes or so before we left becuase it was raining so hard. Water was coming into his house like crazy, but he wanted us to stay until it passed. We told him we had to be home by 9, and we left. Umbrellas did not help us at all... In other news, this week we had Noche de Hogar (FHE) with our ward mission leader and his family, and it was humbling to see the conditions that they live in. It makes my heart hurt that people have to live like that. But it always amazes me how they are so happy. It just goes to show the happiness that living the gospel brings. I wish people would just accept it and be happy! But they have the power to make that choice, not me. I love you guys. I hope you are praying to have missionary opportunities and that you are praying for the missionaries there in our ward. I am going to work with them like crazy when I get back. At least until I have to go back to school. Have a great week, and I'll see you in two!

Elder Andreasen

NOVEMBER 8TH

Good morning!!

Today we are in writing early so that we can have some time today to do something different. I think we are going to play soccer with some of the jovenes in the ward. Should be fun. This week was pretty busy... Saturday and Sunda we had killer days in the area. We had a very powerful lesson with Gilma, whose baptismal date is in December. She is weighed down by her past, and she really needed to hear about baptism and repentance. We taught and testified, and the Spirit was there so strong it was incredible. The difference in her was amazing, and we testified and promised her that she could feel the way she felt in that moment all of the time if she is baptized and receives the Holy Ghost. For once, I noticed how stong the Spanish language can be (usually I find myself complaining about its inability to express things that I want to express). But subjunctive was the winner in that lesson. There's just something powerful about saying "cuando usted reciba el Espiritu Santo..." instead of just "recibe". Dad can explain the difference there. Elder Soza and I left that lesson walking tall and feeling great. The week, however, was not so fruitful. We had a multizone meeting this week, which was great. But the preparation that we had to do for that meeting and the other multizone meetings that took place this week was extensive. Wednesday night we didn't even get home until 8:40ish, and it is not even changes week! But changes week is coming, so it looks like the next few weeks could be a little bit rough as well. Last night we met with Mauricio. We haven't taught the word of wisdom yet, but he told us that he fell again this week and drank again. It is sad how trapped he is by his addiction, and how much it robs him of his self worth. He still believes that God doesn't listen to him because he was cast out. That makes me want to hit whoever told him that. Well, I wouldn't hit them, but I would give them a nice little machete (of words of course, we use that word a lot here...it means to chew someone out) and let them know how the Lord feels when they exercise that kind of assumed authority over good people like Mauricio. We stayed and chatted with him after the lesson for 5 minutes or so before we left becuase it was raining so hard. Water was coming into his house like crazy, but he wanted us to stay until it passed. We told him we had to be home by 9, and we left. Umbrellas did not help us at all... In other news, this week we had Noche de Hogar (FHE) with our ward mission leader and his family, and it was humbling to see the conditions that they live in. It makes my heart hurt that people have to live like that. But it always amazes me how they are so happy. It just goes to show the happiness that living the gospel brings. I wish people would just accept it and be happy! But they have the power to make that choice, not me. I love you guys. I hope you are praying to have missionary opportunities and that you are praying for the missionaries there in our ward. I am going to work with them like crazy when I get back. At least until I have to go back to school. Have a great week, and I'll see you in two!

Elder Andreasen