Week 5

I'm one-month old! My birthday was on Saturday. This week has been great. On Wednesday we had exchanges (when you work with a different elder for a day), and I had to drive and keep the cell phone in my pocket. Man, that was weird. If any of you are familiar with my driving and sense of direction, you can bet I got lost a few times.

 

When we plan, we set goals on how many people we're going to contact, teach lessons to, get referrals from, etc. It was hard for me to have a number, you know... they're people, not a personal goal to make your zone leaders happy. I felt like I wasn't doing it for the right reasons. After a while I realized that we should have names of specific people to back up our goals and numbers. It's much better to think about it that way; helps you see the importance of each person. The gospel is all about the individual--all about the one.

 

There are a couple quotes that are gems from this week--we where talking to a few young adults one evening and out of the blue one of the guys asked, "You guys get all the ladies, right?" We weren't quite sure how to answer that one...

Then there was the woman who said, as she was closing her door on us, "I don't believe in missionaries." Ouch, an elder was just struch dead somewhere. I felt like saying, "I do believe in missionaries, I do, I do!"

 

There are wild packs of turkeys that roam the streets here. It's so random. There's a flock next to our apartment. I'll get a picture sometime. And on most houses that have stucco, there are tiny little frogs that cling to the walls. They're cool too.

 

The other night E. Forster and I knocked on the door of Muhammad, a Muslim. We got into a deep discussion about the Quar'an and the Book of Mormon. Actually, he didn't give us much time to talk at all, and he mostly talked about the Quar'an. We asked him how he know the Quar'an is true. He told us about all the doctors and scientists and smart people who believe in the Quar'an and are Islam. He told us about how much the book makes sense and is true because it agrees with the Bible. He gave us a lot of history about the book as well. It is revelation through Muhammad, and he wrote it exactly how he heard it... such as, "Tell the people such and such..." Muslims believe that God can't appear to anyone, and that's why Joseph Smith's account isn't true. I wanted to share the scripture mastery that says Moses talked with God face to face, but I couldn't get a chance. We tried to ask him a few other questions, but his testimony in his religion was just as strong as ours is in the Book of Mormon. He is a very educated man and he has studied many religions. He was very kind, and gave us watermelon while he did his prayers, you know how they wear the white cap and stand up and down on the rug? That was cool. When we had to leave, he told us how much he loved us and hugged us. Great man. Just a little misled... and he thought the same about us.

My favorite part of every day is dinner. It's always at a member's home and it's refreshing to talk to people who like you. The other night we had dinner at the Santero's. Sister Santero likes to rock climb and mountain bike. We talked a lot about where she has been, what levels and styles we climb, and stuff like that. It was awesome. A few of the members cook food that they have grown in their gardens... fresh! One fact that has been hard for me to deal with is that most people don't want to talk to me. They see the ties and name tags and don't make eye contact. People even tell us through their doors, "Go away!" I like being liked, but that's just the way life goes.

 

Well, I hope life is just great for you all. Life is good for me. I love you all and have a great week!

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

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