50

This week was great! Our investigators are great. We have a large teaching pool and we are constantly adding and dropping new investigators, but we have really been focusing on finding and helping people be baptized right now. It's a big commitment but we know that it will make people the most happy in the eternities. There are a few investigators coming to church and keeping commitments. The majority of our investigators keep commitments when it is convenient and are unsure about the commitment and covenant of being baptized. Some of them have concerns like "I'm in my 80's and probably don't have that much longer on this earth. How will not drinking alcohol and coffee and wine help my already decrepit body healthy?" One of the people we are teaching is Latino and has attended the Spanish ward and didn't like it, but doesn't understand very much of the doctrine terminology that we use in the English ward. Many have living problems and health problems and family issues. But, the work goes on and I love it.

Last Monday was Elder Gurr's birthday! He got a package from his family and we had dinner with the Ganoes, our bishop's family. It was awesome. I ordered a "Mormon Messages" DVD from Deseret Book for him. Those short videos are so inspiring when teaching principles like the Atonement or families or our purpose on earth. It was also Elder Hubbard's birthday this week, so we celebrated that. Our apartment is kinda "caked-out" with all the sugar foods that we have eaten.

Well, next week is transfers (already!). I hope that either I'll stay with Elder Gurr or get a new missionary. I think it would be fun to train, but Elder Gurr has been my favorite companion. The ward loves him too. We'll find out next Monday. A little more about E Gurr: he is going to Dixie State in St. George for graphic design. He is an amazing artist. He loves the outdoors and wants to work as a wildfire fighter. He worked at Brianhead as a trails manager. He loves motocross and is really good at freestyle. He is the oldest boy of seven. Yeah, he's a pretty fly guy. His family seems pretty cool too.

As a side-note we all cut our hair really short and buzzed in our parts. It makes it easy riding and sweating with a helmet on. I don't even have to use gel... it's nice.

Love ya!

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

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49

This has been a GREAT week. Elder Gurr and I have taught a lot of lessons and are helping our investigators progress. We were bummed yesterday though, because two of our investigators that have baptismal dates in August didn't show up in church. One has (had) a date for the 5th and the other is working towards the 25th. Hopefully they will progress and come to church before we have to drop them.

 

This week we had interviews with President Lewis. He is so great. In an interview he'll ask how you are doing, how your family is doing, how the work is going in your area, and how your companion is doing. He asked me how my testimony was and how I feel about my purpose as a missionary. It's great. I love it.

 

Our teaching pool is large, but I'll tell you about some of the people we are teaching right now. There is the Lemon family, which is a PMF (part-member family). The mother has been less-active since her teenage days, and now she has three kids that are all over the age of 8. She has returned to activity and is bringing her whole family (minus her husband, she's working on him) to church and the children have a baptismal date sometime next year. Sis. Lemon wants them to be baptized on the date she was baptized, but hopefully as they continue to come, they will decide to bump up their date to be sooner. We are also teaching Tom, and he is a veteran. He was fellowshipped by a family in the ward who just recently moved, but he loves the church and knows the gospel is true, so he's solid. He has chosen his date for October 4th. The reason being that that is his birthdate. He wants to be "re-born" the same day he was brought into this world. We are also teaching Ronnie, a 15 year old kid that is living with a less-active family. He is the one that has a date for Aug 5th, but he didn't come to church yesterday, so it will have to be pushed back. Janey is learning too, and she has been to church twice already and loves it. She was baptized when she was 10 into the Baptist chuch, but feels like it didn't mean very much to her, so she has expressed desire to be baptized again. We invited her this week to be baptized on August 25th, and she is praying about it! Hopefully these people can recognize the Spirit and desire to become truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Well, these are the main investigators in our teaching pool. Life is great! Love you all!

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

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47

This week has been awesome. All missions have "key indicators," or ways to measure the work we do as missionaries. For example, we count how many lessons we had with member fellowshippers present each week, and how many new investigators that we began teaching each week, and how many referrals received and contacted each week. There are also "standards of excellence," which are goals that are suggested by the mission president that help us set well-balanced goals each week. Now, just because your numbers are high each week doesn't mean you're a successful missionary, but it does say something. Anyways... our key indicator goals and actuals the past few weeks have been incredible. We have been over the standards of excellence consistently, and our teaching pool is very large. It feels awesome! I have never had so much success before on my mission. I sure love Elder Gurr and the Valley Oaks ward. I love my mission!

 

In our apartment we live with two other elders, Elder Turner and Elder Hubbard! It's pretty cool to live with my old MTC companion. Elder Forster is their zone leader too, so I see my trainer pretty often too. Elder Turner is pretty cool too. He is from WY and loves the outdoors. We went to REI last Pday (it's huge -- it has two floors of gear and stuff). We have a really fun apartment. I like living with another companionship. This week we bought chocolate and grahams and marshmallows and made smores over the stovetop. Good times.

 

Also this week a less-active family we are teaching decided to get their 8 year old daughter baptized. They're shooting for the 4th of August! My companion and I are very excited. There are a few other people we are working with and helping to progress that we hope and pray will choose to be baptized soon. The church is true! Love,

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

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46

Yes, preparation day was moved to today for Independence Day. We have an all-day P-day today, and we get to have dinner with Pres. and Sis Lewis and watch the movie "17 Miracles" tonight.

 

It's been a long but great week. On Wednesday morning I got a ride to my new area... the Valley Oaks ward in Stockton! My companion is Elder Gurr (pronounced just like it looks) from Parowan, UT. He is awesome! Definately one of my favorites. He has been out for about 3 months, and I am his follow-up trainer (doesn't really mean anything, I'm just his next companion after his trainer). He is dialed, man. He knows the people, the area, the work so well that he should be training a new missionary right now. I just love him. It's funny to tell people when they ask where we are from that we're both from Southern Utah. He is a big outdoors junkie and is really into motocross. He worked for Brianhead maintaining trails and patroling. He is a really good artist. Loves camping, hiking, everything outdoors. He loves the work and is very obedient. He has caught the vision of his mission.

 

We bike around North Stockton everyday. We've gotten a few flats, and it's really hot in the afternoons, but I enjoy it. We talk to lots of people. We have a large teaching pool and a few investigators are working towards baptism. We are trying to help them choose sooner dates, but the Lord knows what's best for them. My first Sunday in my new area was great; our ward mission leader is great and the members are very generous. All of our investigators that are "firm" (investigators with a baptismal date) attended.

 

Stockton. It just declared bankruptcy a few days ago and it is the largest city in the US to go bankrupt. I think it was rated something like the 10th worst city. I guess that's why we're here. From the hills of my old area you could see the smogg-y haze the overhangs the valley of Stockton and Sacramento. The air quality is terrible, my eyes don't react very well to it. The other day Elder Gurr and I picked up bullet shells from a drive-by. This place is awesome! The population is incredibly diverse, too. Lots of blacks, Cambodians, Europeans, Latinos... everybody. I love working here.

 

Life is good and the work is great! Love you all,

--

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.