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This week was awesome. On Thursday we visited Steve and taught him about the Word of Wisdom. He told us he drinks a cup of coffee in the mornings, but he gave it up and handed his last can to us. Yay! We promised him that obeying this commandment from God will help him recognize the answers to his prayers. He is reading and praying to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Last week we challenged him to finish the Book of Mormon by June 2nd, and he's all the way into 3rd Nephi! Near the end of our meeting, we invited Steve to be baptized on the 9th of June. He said he'd pray about it. Isn't Steve awesome? We visited him again Saturday evening and taught him about fasting and how it can help him gain a testimony (Alma 5:45-46). I believe that he did fast on Sunday, and he really enjoyed church.

 

Our sacrament meeting on Sunday was amazing. A young woman's leader spoke on being steadfast and immovable. The knowledge of who we are, sons and daughters of God, will help us be steadfast and endure to the end. Her talk was amazing. Then our bishop spoke about the influence we have on other people. He is a teacher at a high school and this week they had a mock disaster, showing what can happened in a wreck with a drunk driver. They even life-flighted someone from the football field. A few days after the mock wreck, the people who "died" were asked to write a letter to their family as if they had died and read it in front of the school. What he wrote to his wife and young girls had a pretty powerful effect on the students, and he hopes that his knowledge of the Plan of Salvation will influence others for good. The talks and music in that sacrament meeting were amazing, and I felt the Spirit.

 

This week we have been busy with new investigators, teaching appointments, service opportunities, and strengthing the wards. I love being a missionary! It's just great. Last p-day we visited a gold museum with our district and slacklined at the park. It was so fun! (BTW, I can still walk a 20-30ft line) Elder Crager and I have been doing core workouts and running in the mornings. I love my companion. Write ya later!

 

Chris

 

PS we saw the Google Maps car this week! Cool, huh? Just driving around in little 'ol Plymouth. We drove up behind it in our silver corrolla, so soon we should be in streetview! Haha.

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

40

Elder Crager! He is awesome. He is definitely one of my favorites. A few things about him:

 

-He is from Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

-He has been on his mission for 20 months

-He likes to run

-A good teacher

-Works hard

-A great leader

 

I'm predicting that we will only be together for a transfer, and then I'll leave Jackson/Ione. We get along so well and have so many common interests that I wouldn't mind staying another six weeks with him. We are unified when we teach. He's amazing.

 

This week has been great. Bringing a missionary into a new area is fun. We've visited investigators and our ward leaders. Elder Crager loves this place. We are going to work hard and get a lot done and have fun. I love being a missionary! :-)

 

Steve came to church again this week! He really wants to know, for sure, that the church is true. It's humbling to have the experience of teaching and helping Steve come closer to Christ.

 

Yesterday late afternoon we walked out of Br Martinez's house and the light outside looked really weird. My first thought was "the world is ending!" The shadows were all split and everything looked kinda yellow. When we pulled into our apartment complex there were a few people outside checking it out. It was a solar ecplipse! I had no idea that it was supposed to happen. The guy that lives right across from us made a telescope-type thing to watch it. We could see the shadow of the moon over the sun through a pin-hole in the box. It was sweet.
--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

39

Well, the transfer is over and Elder Barrow is going home. I'm a missionary killer! This week our mission office called and asked if we could bring our '09 Corrolla in. It had about 50,000 miles on it, and that's when the church sells their vehicles. So, we "killed" our old car and got it replaced with a brand new Corrolla! My favorite feature is the Bluetooth. When someone calls and we're driving, the car answers with speaker phone. It's pretty cool. Anyways, I'm staying in Jackson/Ione and my new companion is Elder Crager! I have never met him or heard anything about him, so I'm stoked. Going on six months in this area! It's going to be a good transfer.

 

On Sunday I got to call home for Mother's Day! We called from our ward mission leader's house, Br Roberts. Hearing my family was great. I felt recharged and excited to continue working! My brother's voice changed, too. That was weird.

 

Sorry it's a short one. Love you guys!

 

Chris

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.

38

Our zone went to Big Trees today. It was fun.

 

This week was great. Steve was sick this week, so we didn't meet and he wasn't able to attend sacrament meeting. We are teaching other people, but Steve has been one of my most solid, steady investigators. I have seen him progress from four months ago to now. We have shared many spiritual experiences and discussions. I want so much for him to be a part of this gospel. Steve is awesome.

 

An insight from my personal study this week: 1 Nephi 19:23

 

"And I did read many things unto them which were written in the books of Moses; but that I might more fully persuade them to believe in the Lord their Redeemer I did read unto them that which was written by the prophet Isaiah; for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning."

 

Preach My Gospel states that to liken is to "create a mental bridge between understanding the doctrine and living the doctrine." Living the doctrine of the gospel comes from first understanding it, and then becoming personally committed, or converted. I love "likening" the scriptures to situations that I'm in and to my life. In my teaching I have been able to use specific stories and circumstances in the scriptures and apply them to the lives of others. It has been a joy. One of my greatest desires is to become a powerful and persuasive teacher, and to teach from the scriptures. I love teaching and guiding others to things that have made me happy.

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

NOTICE: This email message is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply email and destroy all copies of the original message.