Hello Everyone!
This week has been great! Elder Fiala and I have really felt blessed and are excited for all of our investigators that are progressing in the gospel. We had 5 investigators at church this past week! We were varying from 1-2, sometimes 0 a week, but something must have touched our investigators hearts and motivated them to come. Hope for more this next week! Also, it is crazy - once an investigator comes to church, they seem to jump on the progressing scale. Yay for them!
We met a man from Uruguay this past week and has a very humbling story. The only thing that I think could be stopping him from progressing in the gospel is that he is homeless. He is trying to find a job, but his situation reminds me of what the stake president of Shoreline said (the stake under Lynnwood, which is my area), "You cannot teach someone spiritually if their temporal needs are greater than their spiritual needs." We have taught him 3 times now, and he is accepting the gospel, reading, etc., but I don't know if now is the time for him to have the gospel in his life, or if I am here to just plant the seed. We'll see what happens.
Elder Fiala and I have set a goal to make mini goals each day. Depending on what is happening that day, we vary what our goal is. It has really helped us with the work! For example, one day we had a goal to "Share the commitment, pray, and LEAVE!" Since then, instead of continuing to talk to our investigator and drive the spirit away, we leave while the spirit is still strong in their home - it's great! The mini goal idea has been helping us become more effective missionaries in our eyes, and I think that it will help us progress even more.
Elder Henson (my district leader) and I went on exchanges this past Friday and it went great. I can't remember if I have explained what an exchange is, but it is when I go out with the district leader or his companion for the day. It's a great day to learn and grow. I learned a lot from him and I can see him progressing and becoming a more effective missionary each day. He is becoming a great district leader!
Love you all, keep being awesome!
Love,
Elder Alexander J Annand
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Week 30
Hello!
Cottage Meeting was great last night, I don't know if I've explained it before but it is when we have a meeting at our mission president's home and there are some recent convert speakers who share their stories with investigators of the church. The testimonies of the three that spoke were absolutely amazing. It was wonderful for me to see how different each of the speaker's backgrounds were, but how similar they had become when each of them found the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Definitely motivation for me to continue to try and work hard so I can be the best missionary I can be!
This week just flew by, I can't really remember too much what happened. Looking back in my planner doesn't bring back too many bells. We had many lessons this week and are going to try and focus on getting more fellowship for our investigators in this upcoming week. Elder Fiala and I are trying our best to be as obedient as we can. During our most recent companionship inventory (which is when we talk about our companionship, positives, negatives, etc), we discussed about our acts that could be disobedient and are going to try to fix them throughout this week. Hopefully, it will all go well as we continue to try our best to become more effective disciples of Jesus Christ. Sometimes, however, it is tough to be obedient all the time. I'm not saying that I suddenly choose to not follow a rule, but it truly is tough to continue to do what is right every single day. It may lead me to slip up every so often, but I'm glad that our Heavenly Father is willing to forgive and help me become better so I won't make the same mistake again.
It feels like it has been FOREVER since I have written a letter home - I feel too busy and sometimes don't have the want (sorry!) to write a letter, haha... I'll try and sit down for an hour and write! Love you all, keep being YOU!
Love,
Elder Alexander J Annand
Cottage Meeting was great last night, I don't know if I've explained it before but it is when we have a meeting at our mission president's home and there are some recent convert speakers who share their stories with investigators of the church. The testimonies of the three that spoke were absolutely amazing. It was wonderful for me to see how different each of the speaker's backgrounds were, but how similar they had become when each of them found the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Definitely motivation for me to continue to try and work hard so I can be the best missionary I can be!
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| Sharing the Gospel... Elder Fiala and Elder Annand |
It feels like it has been FOREVER since I have written a letter home - I feel too busy and sometimes don't have the want (sorry!) to write a letter, haha... I'll try and sit down for an hour and write! Love you all, keep being YOU!
Love,
Elder Alexander J Annand
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Week 29
Another great week out here in Lynnwood! I can't believe how amazing this area is... Elder Fiala and I met many different people, hispanic or not, and we tried to share at least one truth before asking them if they would be interested to learn more. Many of them declined, but we did get several new investigators this week! This week we are going to try and ask if we can sit down with someone and share with them a quick message of the Restoration, we'll see how that goes!
We had two member referrals this week - it was weird because people in their family suddenly became interested in the gospel! How lucky we are to have that!?! Both of the referrals are very excited to learn and progress in the gospel, I just hope I can do my part and be an effective missionary!
I've been wondering about a book - whether I am allowed to read it or not. It is titled "The Infinite Atonement" by Tad R. Callister. I've heard several amazing different things about the book, and I'm hoping that President will give me permission to read it. I'm hoping so because apparently this book has helped a few of the returned missionaries that I've met - they learned a bunch about becoming a more effective missionary, and also about the Atonement.
This past district meeting was super great for me. I LOVE "How to Begin Teaching". It is what we use when we first meet someone; it's a few different bullet points that can be found in Preach My Gospel chapter 10. ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! It is amazing how it can work every time, if we listen to the spirit and apply it to the needs of the investigator. Something that someone mentioned during district meeting is to ask "Are you willing to do what it takes to understand and know if these things are true?" ie. church, read, and pray. I found that to be a very great question to ask potential investigators from now on because as missionaries we are called to baptized those that are prepared for the gospel at this time. I think that would really narrow down who the prepared investigators are. With that, I think it would still help us plant seeds for future investigators for other missionaries down the road.
I hope the Skype connection will be better on Mother's Day, too. We'll see! And it was so great to see ALL of you! Even Choma!! Please be sure to thank them all for me for coming! I love you all! Keep being a great example to me, I'll hear from you soon!!
Love,
Elder Alexander J Annand
We had two member referrals this week - it was weird because people in their family suddenly became interested in the gospel! How lucky we are to have that!?! Both of the referrals are very excited to learn and progress in the gospel, I just hope I can do my part and be an effective missionary!
I've been wondering about a book - whether I am allowed to read it or not. It is titled "The Infinite Atonement" by Tad R. Callister. I've heard several amazing different things about the book, and I'm hoping that President will give me permission to read it. I'm hoping so because apparently this book has helped a few of the returned missionaries that I've met - they learned a bunch about becoming a more effective missionary, and also about the Atonement.
This past district meeting was super great for me. I LOVE "How to Begin Teaching". It is what we use when we first meet someone; it's a few different bullet points that can be found in Preach My Gospel chapter 10. ABSOLUTELY AWESOME! It is amazing how it can work every time, if we listen to the spirit and apply it to the needs of the investigator. Something that someone mentioned during district meeting is to ask "Are you willing to do what it takes to understand and know if these things are true?" ie. church, read, and pray. I found that to be a very great question to ask potential investigators from now on because as missionaries we are called to baptized those that are prepared for the gospel at this time. I think that would really narrow down who the prepared investigators are. With that, I think it would still help us plant seeds for future investigators for other missionaries down the road.
I hope the Skype connection will be better on Mother's Day, too. We'll see! And it was so great to see ALL of you! Even Choma!! Please be sure to thank them all for me for coming! I love you all! Keep being a great example to me, I'll hear from you soon!!
Love,
Elder Alexander J Annand
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