29 Junio, 2015

We had a pretty decent week this week, but it was quite busy. We were helping our zone leaders to get medical forms, so that they could marry people and running for all places. However, it ended up well.

We have been finding a lot of people to teach, and since we only have a week left and it is pretty sure that I am leaving this area, Elder Acosta will have a lot of work and success here next change. We have been trying to find families and also trying to strengthen our ward more and more. However, the highlight of the week was being able to have a baptism. His name is Marcelo, and it was great. We were finally able to get his trust back in the missionaries, and help him progress to this step. Before his baptism, he wife (who got baptized almost a year ago) bore her testimony and how happy she was that her husband was taking this step. She started crying, and then he cried and got baptized haha. It was a very spiritually rewarding moment. 

A scripture that I really like this week is in Doctrine and Covenants 84:75 and 76. In translation it says, "And this revelation and commandment given to you is in effect from this same hour in all the world; and the gospel is for all that have not received it. But I say unto all that have been given the kingdom. It is important that it is preached unto them from you, so that they repent of their wicked prior works." I love this scripture because it says that this gospel is for EVERYONE that has not yet received it. Not only for the people that are super ready, but rather for literally everyone. Everyone deserves to be in the Kingdom of God and not just us as we sometimes think. We were all sent here to return to our Father in Heaven. If we come up short, or if some of our fellow men come up short as well, we have not fulfilled the wishes of God. However, as we share the gospel with everyone, we will be able to save more and more of brothers and sisters that we knew before this life to make sure that we all return back to our God. 

I love you all, and I hope you are doing well.

Elder Andrews

22 Junio, 2015

We had a great week here in El Mirador, and it was quite a blessing with the success that we had. We first of all were able to talk to the husband of a recent convert, and at the end of the lesson he accepted baptism for this upcoming week. His name is Marcelo, and if you could pray for him, that would be great. It was a great lesson though because his wife basically said at the end that she wanted him to get baptized because she wants to be sealed with him in the Temple to live together forever. It was a great spiritual experience. 

We were also able to pass by with the family of a recent convert, and they should be getting baptized the 5th of July, so please pray for Ángeles and Irene. Irene is the wife and her daughter is Ángeles, and they are really great, so we will be helping them to meet that goal. We were also able to talk with the daughter of a member that just got reactivated, and she has been going to church frequently for some time now. And she will also be getting baptized at the end of this transfer in the mission. We had a good week. The ward also continued strong this week with over 100 people at church. 

As we all know, this past Sunday was Father´s Day, so I would like to share a little bit about how important fathers are in our lives. First of all, our fathers are always praying for us, and this can have a grand change in our lives. This made Alma change from a super bad kid to one of the best missionaries ever because it says in Mosiah 27:14 that "he had prayed with much faith so that he was brought to the truth." And our fathers do not just pray for us every once in a while, but always as it says in Moroni 8:2-3 that, "I always have you present in my prayers, pleading without fail to God the Father, in the name of His Holy Son Jesus Christ, that by his infinite goodness and grace that he convserves you in the faith in his name until the end."

 Our fathers love us.  We always need to know that because for that love, they are sometimes hard on us. My dad was hard on me, and I hated it haha. I did not know why he had to be so hard on me and expect so much. However in Proverbs 3:11 and 12 it says, "Do not reject my son, the discipline of the Lord, neither get tired of His corrections because the Lord corrects the one that He loves, like the father does to him that He loves." I realized a long time ago that what my dad did for me was the best thing he could do. And he had reason to do it because, "I knew that my father was a just man because he instructed me in his language and also raised my in discipline and warning of the Lord, and blesed be the named of my God for that. My dad could correct me because he was doing it for my own good, and because he had the right to do it because he is a good man and follows the Gospel.

 Everything that I do, and everything that I know is thanks to him and my mom. Because it says in John 5:19 and 20 that, "The Son cannot do anything by himself, only what he sees the Father do; because everything that the Father does, will also do the Son of the same way. Because the Father loves the son and shows him all the things that He does. And greater works than these He will show him." 

I am extremely greatful for my dad and for all that he has done for me. I would not replace him for the world, and I strive to be like him as much as I can. We need to learn from the examples that our fathers place for us, so that we one day can be as great as them. And as we do that, we will live how our Father in Heaven desires. Happy Father´s Day Dad! Te amo.

I love you all and hope you forgive my scripture translations because I only carry spanish ones haha! Have a great week.

Elder Andrews

The zone.

Mexican nights.

15 June, 2015

Wow we had a lot of miracles this week here, and it is amazing how much the Lord is willing to give us. We were having kind of a hard week at the start of things, and we were worried about the people that we were going to bring to church on Sunday. It was also ward conference, so we knew that we had to bring people to church. We passed by for some people in the morning, but no one was there. When we got to church, the people that some members were going to bring were not there. However, almost the entire family of a recent convert went to church. It was amazing. There were 6 people there from that family. Later, a family that we had been teaching but could not go to church because the mom was really involved in the elections, went to church. From that, there were 3 people more. We also had 8 less active members come back to church, and brought 9 investigators to church. To say the least, the Lord blessed us extremely this week, and we know have even more people to teach.

Unfortunately, I did forget my scriptures again this week, but I kind of remember the one that I wanted to share. It is in 3 John I think and says something like, "I have no greater joy than hearing that my children walk in the truth." As many parents know, it is the best when their kids are choosing the right. However, the joy of God is even greater when He knows that we are walking in the truth. It is our choice to do so, and if we love our Father in Heaven, we will do it. And as we walk more and more in the light, we will help others to do so as well through our example. Always walk in the light of Christ because any other way will only be in darkness. 

I love you all and hope that as always all is well.

Elder Andrews 

8 Junio, 2015

Well this week was a rather rough one in the mission because of the crazy elections in Mexico. Sounds like a despressing first line haha but that is what happened! It made it difficult to work, and almost nobody went to church due to the votings being on Sunday. 

We were able to get the baptisms from last week confirmed, and they are now members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. It is always a great Sunday when people are confirmed. Besides that, we moved houses on Sunday because our old one was super gross. Our new house has a washer, a super nice bathroom, a super nice backyard, a never ending hot water heater, and the owners (part member rich family) gave me a double sized new mattress. Blessings came really come in all forms. However, I am really glad for the new things because we will sleep better to focus us more on the work.

I forgot my scriptures in the house again this week (sorry), but I would like to talk about valuing the Gospel. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we are in the true church without a doubt, but sometimes we do not always show te respect that we have for what we have in the Gospel. In Church this week, I saw various people on their phones in Church doing who knows what instead of what we really need to focus on: Jesus Christ. Frankly before the mission I did not value the Sabbath Day as I should have, but we can all change and should. We know that we are in the true church, so we should also act like we are in the true church. We should think about the Lord every day, but we are only asked for one day in particular to dedicate to the Lord. Especially at church, we need to remember the reason why we partake of the Sacrament: To renew our baptismal convenant and remember the Lord. If we can make the Sabbath Day a special day, we will enjoy it more and more until it becomes the highlight of our week.

I love you all very much and hope you enjoy these pictures. Have a great week!

Elder Andrews 

Elder Acosta (Elder Andrews' companero)

1 Junio, 2015

Today was a pretty solid week with my new companion, Elder Acosta. We are getting along really well, and he is quite a character to say the least. I am really working how I want to with him, but I am making him drop some weight haha and getting him used to running up and down all the hills in our area. I am really looking forward to this transfer with him, and it should be really great. 

To get down to the grit, we worked really harded and had about 11 less actives that were going to go back to church, but only 3 went. For that, if you are an active member, visit some less actives to make sure they always go to church to renew their covenants. We did not unfortunately bring anybody to church because people suddenly changed their minds and did not want to go or were not home in the morning to bring them to church. We did however get our baptism from last week confirmed a member of the church, and she will be doing great! We also were able to baptism Guadalupe and Margarita Olivares Hernandez this week. They were really excited to get baptized, and their mom was super excited too. Unfortunately she still cannot get baptized because she is not married, but we will see if her husband can change, so that she can be baptized. It was a great Sunday though. 

My message from this week comes from one simple scripture that describes perfectly the Church of Jesus Christ. In James 1:27 it says, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Sometimes we try to think that religion is this grand complicated thing that we have to try to decifer. On one hand, yes, the scriptures contain many mysteries that we need to search and study. But when we get down to it, all Christ did was help others. He suffered for us. He died for us. And sometimes we take that for granted, and it seems as common to us as the sun above us every day. However, Christ is unspotted from the world but does carry the marks of our sins. In order to also be unspotted from the world, we need to help all the fatherless and widows in their afflictions. Not just the fatherless in the world but also the fatherless who do not know their Heavenly Father. If we are always trying to help others and bring others into the true fold, we will be tired and carry marks with us. Although it will not be as great as what Christ did, our efforts will make the Atonement not be in vain and will remain clean of the sins of the world. 

I love you all hope you have all had a great week and a great one to come!

Elder Andrews

P.S We have to take the water out by hand with buckets. I actually enjoy it. 

25 Mayo, 2015

We were able to have a great last week here of the transfer in El Mirador. It was also stressful as we had to marry another part member family, but it turned out well. We got them married in a hurry because everyone seems to arrive an hour and a half late here, but with the faith that we had and the patience of the judge, they got married an hour and a half hour later than the marriage appointment was. And that Sunday, the husband was able to baptize his wife which was one of the greatest things that I have seen. Going on with that we brought 2 families of 4 to church, and two daughters of one family are going to get baptized this week. Their names are Guadalupe and Margarita Hernandez, so if you could pray for them that would be great. 

My companion, Elder Sanchez, left this area which was kind of sad because 3 months with someone makes you guys grow more together, but a change is always nice. My new companion, Elder Acosta, is from the Dominican Republic, and he has about 3 months in the mission. He has a lot of animo (it is like excitement or enthusiasm) which is really good. We are looking forward to a good transfer. 

My scripture for this week is from Hebrews 11: 32-40. Read it before reading the following. So with this scripture we obviously need to have faith but after all the trials that the people went through, in verse 39 it says that they did not even get to see the fulfilling of the promise. As we go through this life we are going to have trials of faith and pass through things that are very difficult. We have many promises from God, and many times we ask why we are not seeing very many of them right now. We make ask ourselves why we have some many trials, why we do not have a lot of money, why are others so cruel, and why do people have so much more than we do. We have to keep in focus the eternal promise that we have though and not give heed to the temptations that attack us. If we can do that, we will all be perfected together one day. 

I love you guys and hope everyone is doing well.

Elder Andrews

P.S Picture of the district and then of the best milkshakes ever

20 Mayo, 2015

This past week was a little rough, but we still were able to find a little bit of success. Starting on Wednesday, I started to feel sick with an achy body and a fever. On Thursday, it put me in bed. We left in the morning even though I knew that we should not have, and I sat down on a bench while my companion talked with the people passing by. I literally fell alseep in the street. When we went to the food, I literally fell asleep on the couch and when I woke up, the member said that we had to go home. She forced us back home even though I did not want to, and we later got permission from President´s wife to go home early. After that, I slept from 6 pm to 6:25 in the morning. I will admit I was pretty sick, but Friday I woke up better but was still weak until Monday due to not eating anything for 2 days. 

However the reason that we have p-day today instead of Monday is because we had a missionary training with an Area Seventy. Elder Nash, the Seventy, gave a bunch of great thoughts and explained 3 Nefi Ch 11 like I had never heard before. It was great because he also helped us to know how to help others keep their commitments better. Basically all we need to do is make sure that they understand the Plan Of Salvation and have an eternal perspective. As he said, "everyone in the street that is not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints does not and cannot see the eternal perspective. What we need to do as members and even more as missionaries is lift them up and put them on a mountain so that they can see everything. When they understand the Plan, they will not fail their commitments and will thrive in the Gospel." That is very important because unless we do that, our family and friends that are not members will never understand the reason why we do what we do. When they do understand though, they will want to gain a testimony and live the Gospel as we do.

I was actually able to talk to an Elder that had been in my first area in the mission, Camarones. He told me something that still has me happy until today. One of my converts, Miguel Angel, is currently ward missionary leader in Camarones and is preparing to enter the temple. Also, Fausta Carpio García is really partcipating in the ward and is also preparing to enter the temple. This news made me extremely happy because that is what missionary work is for. We do not just baptize people to baptize them. We baptize them so that they can one day go to the temple and make more covenants with God, so that they can reach eternal life with their family. I do not have my scriptures with me, but I think it is 2 Nephi Chapter 5 where Nephi speaks about edifying a temple similar to the one of Salomon and how it was beautiful. About 10 verses later it says, "And it came to pass that we lived happily." My translation is a little off I am sure, but the message is the same. We can be happy before entering the temple, but as we make more covenants with God we will live in such a way that we will have the greatest happiness and receive the greatest gift. And that gift is eternal life. 

I know that if we all live with an eternal perspective, we will live with greater happiness, we will understand why we do what we do, we will become closer to God, and we will have the surety that we will live with our families forever one day. 

Love you guys all a ton and hope you all have a great week!

Elder Andrews 

11 Mayo, 2015: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

Well this was one of the slower weeks that we have had here, but we have actually had some success with finding families that were investigating the church but stopped and for another reason want to investigate again. We have also been looking for less active members to bring them back to church which also leads to finding new people to teach as well, so we are looking to have some new finds this week.

It was also great to talk to the family this week and see how they were doing. This Mother's Day reminded me again of how important my family is to me. We need to value our families more than anything because we enter with them in this world and will live with them after if we follow the Gospel how Jesus Christ taught. However, we need to have the right Gospel in our life to have the truth. We hear every day from people how all the churches are true and that we are all going to go back to the same God. That is true, but I do not want to just go back to meet Him but rather stay with Him. In 1 Corinthians 9:24 it says (I am translating so bear with me), "Do you not know that those that run in the stadium, all run to the truth, but one one will take the reward? Run in such a way that you obtain it." As we try to run to God, all the churches are trying to reach Him, but only one church will. We know that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is that church that will win the reward. For that, we all need to take part in this run with our families to make sure that we can win the reward. And this reward is eternal life with the ones we love.

I hope that all are still doing well and showing their aprreciation for their moms as much as they can because they are the best!

Elder Andrews

"The pic is of the past BYU students and the future BYU students.

 We have like 11 in a zone of 18."

"we also found some puppies in the street"

4 Mayo, 2015

This was a pretty decent week of work and also of miracles. 

We worked really hard this week and had quite a bit of new investigators, but we did not really find a whole lot of teachings appointments. We spent a lot of time talking to people in this street during the weekend because it was just one of those days. That made me kind of sad because we were not really finding anyone, and I was afraid that we would not bring too many people to church.

We did have some good lessons with the Hernandez Family, and the two daughters are preparing to get baptized this week. The mom will have to wait a while longer to find out what we will do with the whole not being married situation, but I know that she will get baptized as well. She often knows more than some of the recent converts and members in the ward, so she is great. We also finally brought the son Martin to church, who speaks English decently because he lived in the states for a while with his aunt and uncle, and he really liked it. He will be getting baptized at the end of this transfer if he goes to church every week.

The Martinez Family got confirmed at church, and everything is going really well. They are getting fellowshipped really well by the members, so I know they will keep progressing. 

I do not have my scriptures with me right now because we will be going back to the house, but speaking of that, the scriptures are really important. I am so grateful for them because they teach us so many life lessons and important doctrine that we cannot replace them with anything else. I thought a couple weeks ago that they are more interesting to me now because I need them now and they apply to me know, but that was untrue. We can find all the answers that we need in life in the scriptures. Whatever little thing we need will be found there, but we only have to put in the time to search for those small and little things. If we do not, we will never find the answers that God has already given us.

Hope everyone is doing well, and I love you all.

Elder Andrews 

P.S. Everybody say I love you to your mother! Te amo mamá! 

27 Abril, 2015

Well it was a crazy week here in El Mirador, but we will get to the happy ending. 

To start the week we had a zone conference which was pretty intimidating. Our zone leaders basically said if we do not baptize we are disobedient sinners and should pray until we cry for forgiveness. Sounds hard, but that is how it was. So that obviously ignited a fire to baptize this week.

We had been trying to get the Martinez Family married and baptized, and we had finally convinced them last Saturday to do it. We were scrambling a ton to go to Lerma, a place 3 hours away, to get the marriage papers to the judge and finalize everything. We had to go two days to get everything correct. We had been praying and trusting in the Lord that He would provide us the way to baptize this week. 

We were originally going to do the marriage at 2:30 on Saturday, but when we went to their house on Friday night, he said that he was not able to get that day of work off. So he could not leave work until 4. We immediately left and ran outside to find a payphone to call the judge to change the time, but I was nervous that he would not be able to do it. Luckily, he said sure, and prayers were answered. However, immediately my companion has an unbearable pain in his side where his appendix is and says that he has never felt such a bad pain. I was calling the doctor and he said if it does not go away in an hour that we should go to the hospital. Right as I was calling a taxi, he threw up a ton and felt a lot better. We immediately went with the Martinez Family and fixed everything, so that they could get married at 7. 

The next day we did interchanges with our district leader so that he could go with my companion and two other mexican elders to be witnesses of the marriage. The were supposed to be there at 7, and I got a call from them at 7 when I was with another Elder taking an hermana to the stake conference on Saturday night. They then tell me there in that call that they were 40 mintues away with the future wife and the kids while the future husband was at the civil marriage place (I do not know how to say registro civil in english) already with the two other elders. Luckily the judge waited, but I was scared that something had gone wrong until they called me at 9:30 that they had gotten married. 

The Sunday was the first baptism that I had had in a long time, but it was great. It is amazing how the Gospel can change a family like that that was searching for answers but did not know where to find them. My testimony is most strong in eternal families, and I know that all of us can find miracles like this (because this was nothing short of a miracle from God) if we share the Gospel with everyone.

I love you all very much, and I hope you all have a great rest of your week.

Elder Andrews 

Fun with the Martinez kids!

La familia Martinez

20 Abril, 2015

This week was a great turn out at the end because at the beginning of the week, I thought we were achieving absolutely nothing, but we will finally be seeing people starting their journey in the Gospel. 

The beginning of the week was hard because we were literally walking around all day because almost none of our teaching appointments ended up being at their house. However, the Hernandez Family turned out to be one of the only families that were there. And I am glad to say that they will be getting baptized on the 3rd of May. Besides that we were not really having any success and ended up almost getting in a huge debate with a bunch of drunk Catholics that really had no idea what they were saying. After that I had the feeling to go with the Martinez Family even though it was almost 8 and we had another lesson with the Hernandez Family at 8. The Martinez are great and want to get baptized, but the husband does not want to get married. We got there and I was thinking, "Why are we here? We are not going to be able to achieve anything." I had an extreme lack of faith. After we sang "Families Can Be Together Forever" the Spirit was there during the hymn and the prayer. I have no idea what happened but two scriptures came to my mind which we shared. Then we testified of Eternal Families and asked the husband what he thought he should do. He then said, "Get married and get baptized." They will now be getting married and baptized as soon as possible. 

One thing that I learned from this is that we can never ever lack faith. We cannot do anything without it. As is says in Moroni 7:39 "if we lack faith, we are not worthy to be counted in the church of Christ" (rough paraphrase). We need to have faith because without it, we will not be counted in His church. Not having faith as it says in Romans 14:23 is a sin. If we do anything without faith, it is in vain, so it is a sin. Although those scriptures are direct and a little bit painful, we cannot hope to achieve anything without faith. 

Something that I have always liked is that we need to arm ourselves with that faith. My family just received a few key chain rings that I sent from Mexico. Some of them had historic sites and the one for my brother was a bottle opener too. The one for my dad ended up being a plain one with a boot and just said Mexico. One might think, "wow you gave something really special to your dad" with a lot of sarcasm. However, it means a lot because whenever I worked in the yard or dug holes, my dad always said that I had to wear my boots. Why? Because if I wore regular shoes, I would hurt my feet. I usually wore them because he made me, but one time when he was not home and I had to dig a large trench, I did not. What happened? My feet hurt the whole next day. With this I learned a physical lesson and also spiritual. If we do not dress ourselves with the right "boots" for the job, we will be hurting later. Likewise, if we do not arm ourselves with the adequate spiritual armor, we will not be able to make it spiritually through the rest of our lives. I am grateful for everything that my dad taught me and for teaching my this. Just like it says in Ephesians chapter 6, we need to "arm ourselves with all the armor of God." If we put on the right boots, we will still be tired after putting up with "all the fiery darts of the Devil," but we be able to fight the next day and the day after until we are at the side of God in Heaven.

So please learn the lesson if you already have not, and like my dad always told me, put on your spiritual boots every day to be able to make it through the next. I love you guys all very much, and I hope you have a great week.

Elder Andrews

13 Abril, 2015

Well this was another great week in El Mirador in the Stake Chapultepec! We really had some great success this week finding new people and had 5 new people in church along with another family. We have been teaching lessons, finding a lot, and have been learning how to teach better. President actually left both of us here this change, and I am really grateful for it. Elder Sánchez is really helping get my spanish to becoming great, and I am grateful for it. We have a few people that we will be looking to getting baptized. Their names are Guadalupe Juarez and Marcelo, so I will let you know what happens next Monday!

Right now I have a little bit more thought out message about some of the talks in General Conference. Beginning with the talk by Ulisses Socres (I think), he talked about how the adversary really only has power over us if we let him, and that what we can justify sin when we fall. This is entirely true because just as we have to let Christ in (remember the picture of Him knocking with no door handle) we also have to let Satan in too. Although Satan will knock much harder and much more often, we have to decide to let Christ in and never do anything that causes Him to leave.

In the talk of Larry M. Gibson, we learn that we need to be good fathers because the son can only do things that he sees his father do. Just like this, we all need to be good examples to our fellow men. If they see us let Christ in our door and see our joy and happiness when we have Christ in our lives, they will let Him in as well. And just as Larry M. Gibson said, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words." Our actions of letting Christ in and living the Gospel will always speak louder than words. 

And just as the picture of new agenda below, we need to hold onto the bar after we let Christ in as Kevin W. Pearson said. We cannot let ourselves be fooled by the constant knocks that might sound pleasing to our ears but are really there to fool us. We know how the "knock" of Jesus Christ sounds, and we need to hear it. Because after choosing the right path, we are "part of the house of Israel" and we need to constantly choose the right and repent every day.

When we recognize the knock of the Savior, open the door for Him (which really is opening the doors of the Heavens for ourselves, and preach the Gospel, we will be clinging to the word of God and never let go. If we do that we will be so firm that "nothing will apart us from the word of God" (Romans 8:38-39; look it up because I probably translated it bad). That should be the goal of our lives, and I know that if we do these steps, we will find ourselves "at the right hand of God."

I love you all very much, and I hope you all have a great week.

Elder Andrews

6 Abril, 2015: GENERAL CONFERENCE

General Conference weekend was a great experience, and I really loved it. This week started off good, but it was one of the slower weeks here. We had interviews with President, and they went really well. With what he said at the end, I feel like I will be staying here in El Mirador for at least another change. I feel like talking immediately about Conference because nothing real big happened this week. Sorry I do not have quotes and names for what I will talk about because we decided to play soccer almost all day today, but I will prepare something more thought out next week.

The main message that stood out to me this week was about letting other people repent. As followers of Jesus Christ, we are not perfect because we are trying to follow Him. No matter how hard we try, we will always fail. In the Bible the Scribes and Pharisees mock Jesus for eating with the sinners. Jesus says that He came here to save the sinners which He did do with His eternal sacrifice. However, when we judge people, when we think we are better than people, when we decide to forget those that are sinning because we feel to prideful in our own ignorance, we are those Scribes and Pharisees. The one quote I do remember is that "if we do not allow people to repent, we are the hipocrites of the Latter Days." We are here not to just help bring people to repentance, but we are also here to help them THROUGH it. People can change, and they do want to do it. However, they do not know where to find it. We know where it is. Whether we help people that do not know about Christ, are trying to help people from other religions find the truth, or are helping a struggling member to live the Gospel to the fullest, we need to have 2 things: Patience and Humility. We are trying to be like Christ, and for that, we need to allow all to repent.

I love you guys so very much, and I hope that the Conference talks all inspired you to more fully live the Gospel, help others to find it, and to follow Jesus Christ.

Love, 

Elder Andrews

30 Marzo. 2015

This week really flew by! I do not know why but the weeks are seeming to pass by faster and faster in the mission, but I am really loving it.

We had a killer week finding people to bring to church this week. As of Saturday night, we had 17 people committed to go to church. Unfortunately, we had a lot of problems come up in the morning when we passed by for everyone, and only 5 people ended up going. I was a little disappointed, however, the new family that we had in church is amazing, and I think that if they go to both sessions of general conference, they will be baptized by the end of the change. I am grateful for all the blessings that God has given us. 

The Martinez Family also went to church again, and we are helping them to build their testimonies more before baptism. I know that they will be baptized before the end of this transfer though. We also have a young girl named Guadalupe Juarez that is looking to get baptized this week, so please pray for them. 

A scripture that I liked this week was from Acts 20:31. It basically is the testimony of Paul where he says that for 3 years he has not ceased to preach the gospel and crying for every single one of the people. As members of the Church, we need to have this kind of desire. But most of all we need to act. What I have seen here more than anything is that people and members say a lot, but they rarely complete. As members, we need to love our fellow man so much that we would be horrified until shedding tears for each and every one of them. 

I love you all very much, and I hope you guys have a great week.

Elder Andrews

Just a funny little sign that we found.

23 Marzo, 2015

This week went by really really fast, so we are working hard here in El Mirador. We are now starting to work really effectively with all the members, so we should see a lot more success. Looking forward to it.

Well guess what happened this week? We did exchanges with the zone leaders and I got put with....Elder Huber! It was pretty cool, and he is honestly a really great missionary. Learned a lot from him on how to contact better, and how to work with the ward which actually inspired me to do the plan that we presented to the ward on Sunday. But the exchange went really well, and I learned a lot from him. Kind of weird that miles away from Loomis we get put together for a morning. Small world. 

But the plan that we presented to the ward really inspired them. However, we realized this week that we need to give members some goals to meet, so that they can complete them. These goals we should also try to make for ourselves as members in the States because we also need to grow our wards there even though it is a little harder. But the blessings will come. When we presented the plan to the Relief Society, we asked how many of them would be able to attend training sessions that we are going to give on Saturdays on how to do missionary work. One hermana got up and said, "I think we should all be going to them!" We got all excited, so we should see a good turn out.

One scripture that I liked this week was in Acts 17:2-3. It talks about how the Apostle Paul talked with others about the Gospel for 3 days "using the scriptures" and "announcing the name of Christ." That is what we are trying to help the members do, and it is what we need to do. We need to announce the name of Christ to all people using the scriptures. The scriptures testify of Christ, and our testimony will become more and more edified through studying them. I know that in the mission, the scriptures have really strengthened my testimony more than anything. Because through them, I know that Jesus is the Christ, and will be able to testify that to all people.

I hope everyone is doing amazing in the United States, and I love you all very much.

Elder Andrews

"I finally found it!"

16 Marzo, 2015

Well this was a really exhausting, busy, but successful week. 

Exhausting: This week, we were being pressured a lot to have good numbers and people at church by the zone leaders. They were calling me like twice a day to check numbers which has never happened in the mission yet. However, I was just thinking they were trying to beat other zones in numbers. Until on Saturday, I saw on the phone that AP 1 was calling me and I freaked out. Because if an assistant calls you it is for two reasons: 1. We are going to have emergency transfers or 2. I am in trouble (which every missionary thinks when an AP calls.) However, I found out that mission wide the APs were calling every companionship to check how many people were going to go to church. So it was a pretty crazy week. And of course in Spanish as missionaries we cannot talk in the tú (you form) because it is informal however completely normal. At the end of the call, I of course say to the assistant absentmindely "Te amo mi amigo" and I hung up. It was all good when he sent back a text saying "Te amo también mi amigo...no se preocupe. hahaha" So for that it was an exhuasting week. 

Busy: Basically has to do with the exhuasting but we were running all over the place to find people to bring to church, and we were normally getting home late which throws everyhing off. However, the week went by super fast, so I hope all weeks are like this.

Successful: Although we only had a family of 4 (The Martinez Torres Family) with two kids under 8, it was a successful week. We are finally starting to get the members to work which is really the key in missionary work. In my past ward the members were not working, and we did not have success. In this ward, I am going to force them to do it. Really missionary work may start with the missionaries, but Salvation is only found with help from the members. So.....work hard as members!

A scripture that I really liked this week is found in 3 Nephi 5:13. To start off, as missionaries we may be set apart to be missionaries, but I believe that everyone is called to declare the word. However, we need to have the end in mind that these people reach eternal life. Many missionaries want numbers, and I know every number is a soul. However, the number means nothing if they are not at the right hand of God with us. The work will have been in vain. Despite this, I know that each and every person that is baptized can make it to eternal life because that is the reason that God sent us here. I know that we are in the only church that has the entirety of that plan, and we only need to help our brothers and sisters in this world find themselves in that path. The path to eternal life becomes straighter and narrower making it more difficult to follow, but if we hold tight to the word of God, we will all be participating of the fruit of the tree of life, eternal life. 

I love each and every one of you, and I hope you have a great week! Share the Gospel with as many people as you can because seeing them in the Celestial Kingdom will make it all worth it.

Elder Andrews

P.S. Finally found nature

9 Marzo, 2015

I am really glad to finally be out of the huge city to say the least. I really do love this area. You can actually see the stars out here at night, and there is not as much polution. However, you can still see a ton of it when you look at the city. Really am loving this area so far. 

The first week with Elder Sánchez went well, and we are focusing a lot on getting the least active people to church. There are a lot of them in this ward, and there are beginning to be more and more because of problems with the bishop. What do we learn from this? We need to be self sufficent in our own testimony, and we need to trust in the Lord and not in the people in church. So we are really working with them, and there are a few people that can get baptized right away here. We are going to start with them, and then we will be filling our area full of new families that can go to church. 

A scripture that I really liked this week was in Acts 5:41-42. After having been persecuted the apostles were glad for having been "found worthy to suffer for the Name." Sorry if that translation is bad, but I only know the scripture in Spanish haha. However, after doing that, they did not cease to teach. As members of the Church, we are not persecuted in the way that they were. Despite this, we need to be willing to go through whatever the Lord has planned for us. Jesus suffered and so must we because the servant is not greater than his master as we read in John 15. The opportunity that we have to share the Gospel is great, and we should feel grateful for the opportunity that we have to give others what we have. Like a disciple of Christ did not think Saul was worth visiting because of his history, sometimes we too feel like we can make a difference. However, in Acts 9:15-16. we read that Saul was chosen because he was a "chosen instrument to bring the name of Christ to gentiles, kings and the sons of Israel." I believe that we are all "chosen instruments", and we only need to realize our potential. And after we realize that, the Lord will decide how much suffering is neccesary in order to bring His name to everyone.

I hope everyone is doing great, and I love you all very much. Know that God is always with you when we are chosing the right, serving others, and spreading Christ's name to all those that we meet.

Love you all a ton,

Elder Andrews

Beautiful scenery of Mexico City.

Pineapple Chili freeze. How does that go together?

 "It does not when you get to Mexico. After 7 months it does haha"

The lavandería is a rip off so they are "doing the hard work now" 

and washing their own clothes by hand.

2 March, 2015

Well apparently many wards do not like me because now I am in El Mirador in Chaputapec! It is my first area that is kind of like a pueblo! I already love it, and I can tell that we are going to have a great change. My new companion is named Elder Sanchez from Monterrey, Mexico, and he has two transfers in the mission. He seems to be pretty cool, and I think we are going to have a great change. 

Apparently in this ward the bishop has only been a member for four years and all of the members have a grudge in the ward against him. Their pride is all growing, and lots of people are going inactive. What my main goal of this change is going to be is to help to members of the ward and the bishop get along, so that we can create an atmosphere where the investigators feel at home in the ward. 

This past week I memorized a scripture in Juan 15: 3-5. The message is plain and simple: In order to do anything, we have to remain in Christ. We have to always seek His guidance and ask what he would do if he was in our place. Because to the person that does that, they will be given the power to bring forth a lot of fruit. While this is important as missionaries, it is also important as members. If we are not trying our best to be like Christ, we will never be able to do anything. So my message for this week is that we always try our best to do what Christ would do. He showed us what to do, and we need to follow it as members. By doing that, we will be able to find eternal life. 

Hopefully everyone is doing well at home, and I love you guys.

Elder Andrews

P.S. Yes that is a huge cotton candy. In Mexico it is called algodón. 10 pesos.

"My new amazing scripture cases, and a typical Mexican tiangis"

23 Febrero, 2015

Love the Mission! Although we are having a difficult time here finding new people to teach, the mission is still a great experience every day. Would not trade it for anything.

We are still working hard with the Hernandez Vega family and trying to help them to baptism. We are really focusing on authority since they were recently baptized in the Christian church and do not want to be changing religions since it is not a game. I totally agree with them, and I really want them to have a firm testimony of the church before baptism because many really do not and just get baptized for the missionaries. It happens a lot. People only need to get baptized for one reason. And that is themselves. Why themselves? Because they want to be saved. Because they want to follow Christ. Because they want to be with their family forever. When you are truly converted, you are in the church for yourself and because you want to do what you know is right. After true conversion, the blessings come not only upon you but upon others as well. 

We also found a new family when we did special interchanges with my dad in the mission, Elder Goodrich. He saw a guy with dreads, so he was like, "I want to contact a guy with dreads." Little did we know that he has a wife and two kids. And in the first lesson, he said, "I have just not really ever found a church where I have felt how I think I should feel in the real church." So we are looking forward to teaching him. God works in mysterious ways haha.

A scripture that I really liked this week is when Jesus is talking to the pharisees and they ask why they "cannot follow him to where he is going." I only remember the scripture in spanish so I will translate it as best I can after. But Jesus responds to them in John 8:23, "Y les dijo: Vosotros sois de abajo; yo soy de arriba; vosotros sois de este mundo; yo no soy de este mundo." Which is something like, "And he said unto them: you are from below; I am from above; you are from this world; I am not from this world." However what I want to point out from this is that we cannot be from this world. We need to be from a higher world. Although we do live here, and it is a requirement to live here to be "from above", we need to follow Christ as much as we can. Jesus Christ did not teach us how to live in this world. He taught us how we will live in Heaven. However, if we cannot accomplish living here how we will live in Heaven, we will always be from this earthly world. To count ourselves as a disciple as Christ, we need to do now what we will be doing forever with God. 

The church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the only way we can live with our families forever and is the only true church in the world that can promise us eternal life. I hope that everyone is doing well, and que les vaya bien. 

Elder Andrews

Zone Meeting

Playing at the park

The wonderful Gorditas from the Gordita Lady.

Elder McCrory had a box of cake mix so an hermana made the cupcakes for them.

El mercado.

Just a little home decor.