Week 6

Happy fall! The past few days have been lovely out here. Cool, a little breezy, just nice. I rode my bike for the first time this week. It's a lot heavier than my mountain bike, but it was fun.

I'm pretty stoked for Conference. My companion and I will probably go over to member's houses and watch it with our investigators. Speaking of Conference, guess who's on page 41 of the General Conference Ensign May 2011? Kyle Cannon with a family on his mission. Cool, huh?

Every P-day our zone gets with another nearby zone and plays a sport. Last week was football, and this week was ultimate frisbee. I've seen a few of my buddies from the MTC district! It's been great to talk to them and see how mission life is going. We have all grown and learned so much.

Well, I don't have much to say this week, so I'll just talk a little bit about my area. In Folsom and El Dorado Hills there are many gated communities with very nice houses. The members there are very nice, but others are rude. We try to tract in normal neighborhoods and apartment complexes. I've have seen SO many BMWs. On the drive from Folsom to El Dorado there is a long road over these beautiful golden rolling hills, and at one point, you can see the Sierra Nevadas... waaaay off in the distance. It's really pretty. Then we're back in the city. The American River is SO pretty. I just want to jump in so bad. I hear it has really good rafting, too. Some moments I wish I wasn't a missionary... I guess I'll just have to come back after my mission. The wards and the members are very similar to our wards back in Utah, even most the women dress the same. Our bishops and ward mission leaders are so great, they're such a help.

Quote I like from this week: "One filled with joy preaches without preaching." Mother Theresa

Well... the Church is true. I love you. Byahh.

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

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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

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.

Week #4

This week has been awesome. I flew into Sacramento on Tuesday, spent the night at the Assistants to the President's home, and then was assigned an area and companion the next day. My companion is awesome! His name is Elder Forster, from Salt Lake City. He likes to ride motocross and he hunts, too. He's really chill, and we work well together. My first observation of Sacramento is that it's really flat. There's one area north in the mission that is hill-y and you can see the mountains: El Dorado Hills. I was praying, "please, I wanna go there!" I was assigned the El Dorado Hills ward! We also cover another ward, Folsom 4th. They are both great wards. All the members ask us if we already have dinner set up, and every night we always have dinner at a member's house. Most of the members I've talked to visit Utah frequently, and most of them have been to Moab at least once. I talked with one guy yesterday about the White Rim Trail for a while. It's awesome. The people in this town are somewhat better-off, so the investigators are harder to come by, but the work is great. We have a baptismal date! Jody is getting baptized on the 24th. Exciting stuff! I'm still learning about what we do and how we do it, so I don't think I'm all that effective yet, but I'm working on it.

ALL the roads here have medians dividing the lanes. And I've only seen one Arizona and one Missouri licence plate. That's kinda weird to a kid who grew up in Moab, seeing plates from all over every day. But the weather here is just like southeastern Utah! Hot and dry, feels like home :) The water tastes gross, nothing like Moab water. Cherish it.

So out in the mission field, we have a special way of keeping track of our lives. I was "born" here in Folsom, and Elder Forster is my "dad." Every month I have a birthday, until I turn 24. Then I "die." I remember my "pre-existence" well, and my friends and family there love me and are cheering for me :)

Funny, huh? Anyways, if I had done anything to prepare myself better for a mission, I would've been more involved with the missionaries in Moab and inviting my friends to meet with them. I understand better now how much the members help in missionary work.

I just got a message saying that my camera won't be here for another couple weeks. As soon as I get it, I promise to include pictures every week!

Life is good.

Love you all!

--

Elder Chris Andrew

California Sacramento Mission

8267 Deseret Ave

Fair Oaks, CA 95628

PS you can mail me at the address above. The mission office just forwards it to my apartment.

Sterling Holden and Kerri Fife, if you read these letters, you should mail me and tell how you're doing. I want your addresses.

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Week #3

Tomorrow I fly to Sacramento! I'm so excited to leave. I'm going to miss learning and being with my district everyday though. We'll see each other every now and then in the field. Yesterday I was able to participate in a blessing for Elder Ricks, an elder in my district and roommate. The blessing made me realize how important it is to worthily hold the priesthood. It was a pretty cool experience. He had sprained his ankle pretty badly playing soccer and now he has to stay at the MTC at least another week.

 

Elder Jeffery R. Holland came and spoke at the Tuesday devotional last week! That was neat. His message was mostly about always remembering (even after our missions) who we are--representatives of Jesus Christ. He became pretty heated about it, which was a little intimidating. I kinda wished that Elder Richard G. Scott had spoken instead :) At one point Elder Holland spoke of the people who have sacrificed everything, including their lives, for the work, "most recent of which was only four hours ago." Nobody knew or could find out what he meant by that until yesterday, in our Sunday devotional. The MTC President, Pres. Brown, informed us that it was a sister missionary in New York who was driving and was hit by another car, and died. Sad. In the same devotional Pres. Brown said, "You never know what tomorrow will bring, but you control your destiny by what you do today."

 

One funny thing about these devotionals: every missionary in the MTC attends these, and they ALL bring their notepads and pens. When the speaker seems like he's about to say something important, you see every missionary bend over their papers and click 3,000 pens. Crazy, huh?

 

A simple pleasure every day: peeing clear because I'm hydrated. That's one habit that I can take from home and keep my whole mission :) I've already lost my summer tan, calluses, and bleached leg hairs! I love talking to people about Moab. Almost every missionary is from Utah or Idaho here, so most of them have visited Moab at least once in their lives. "Oh, you went on a river trip for youth conference? That's my company!" :)

 

I don't have any more time, but I wanted to include one more funny thing: when ever an elder walks out of the room or goes to the bathroom, my companion says, "Don't die. That's one piece of advice that will last you a lifetime." Haha, what an odd duck. Anyways, I 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.