Week 80

Hi family!  :)

So today is transfer day!  I don't think I'm leaving because I'm training Elder Luebke, but there will be some changes in the district!  I haven't received word yet with who is leaving, but I have my guesses.  Today for preparation day, we are going to go to Mount Erie!  I'm super excited.  Looking out the window right now - it looks like it might clear up a little bit so we can actually see something when we get to the top. 

Elder Annand in the snow!!    December 20, 2013

Christmas definitely snuck up on me this year!  The Christmas devotional we had was really good.  There were a lot of musical performances, in the midst of telling the story of the birth of Christ.  Very spiritual, and very awesome.  :)   It was really nice to talk to all of you!  I can't believe how different you all look!  I guess I expected change while I'm here in Washington - it's just weird to see it.  :P  It's also weird to think that the new year is this Wednesday!  2014 already?!  That's neat with all of the projects that are going on in the house - another change!  Gah!

This week was really good.  It was strange to have gone inside at 6:00 pm twice last week, and tomorrow we need to do the same.  Gotta keep us safe!  Church was great yesterday.  Starting next Sunday, we are starting church at 1:00 pm - that's late!!!

I love you all so much.  Thank you for Skyping me on Christmas!  Have a great week!  :)

Love,

Elder Alexander J Annand

Week 79

Hiya!  Merry Christmas!

Are you excited?!  I get to see your faces soon!  Haha, woohoo!!  :)  I love you all so much!  I wonder how different you all look - or how I look to you guys!  Anyway, I will be able to Skype anywhere around 2-4pm, so I hope that you will be around the computer then!

Elder Annand  
December 23, 2013

This week was awesome and a bit hectic!  So last Sunday, Elder Thompson received a call that he was leaving, and I got a call to be a trainer.  My new companion is Elder Anthony Luebke from Ahwatukee, AZ!  He actually lived in Gilbert and Mesa for a while, so that's super cool to know that he lived so close!  He is a convert - just like me!  :)  He was baptized October 31st, 2010 -  I was baptized June 12th, 2010!  He was 19 when he got baptized, and is 23 now.  I'm so glad to have him as my companion!

This letter is going to be short, sorry!  I'm just so excited today!  We are going to the Christmas devotional today and are leaving in about 20 minutes.

I love you so much!  See you soon!  ;)

Love,

Elder Alexander J Annand

Week 78

Hello Annand family!

I'm doing really well.  :)  Before emailing this morning, Elder Thompson and I went to the thrift store, and I ended up buying some sweaters!  I bought a black one, brown one, and a dark blue one - they look really nice!  I'm excited to wear them.  :)

This week was much warmer than last.  Last week it hung around low to mid 20's - this week it was in the 40's!  Washington weather is so strange!  It hasn't rained too much this month, but I heard that we are going to get some rain this week - we'll see.  Surprisingly (aside from the week when the temperature was in the 20's), I haven't been freezing!

It has been harder to find people out on the streets to talk to, so we are doing a lot of knocking on doors.  We are being super blessed over here!  We picked up a couple new investigators this week - one is named "S" and the other is "C".  "S" is from New York and was raised Catholic.  He moved to Oak Harbor because his brother is in the Navy, and he came out to support him.  He stopped going to church a while ago and has lots of questions that he wants answered!  He is super sincere and really wants to check out and see what our church services are like!  A great find!  :)   "C" was a good find as well!  When Elder Thompson and I were walking on the street, the bus pulled out in front of us and dropped off this lady and her 2 year old son.  I ran up to her and gave her a picture of Jesus Christ, and we started talking about the Christmas season.  Turns out that she is trying to develop a belief in Jesus Christ and wanted to find someone to talk with about Him!  This time of year is the perfect time to invite friends and family to learn more about the gospel!  It can be as easy as giving them a plate of cookies with a card expressing your love for them while including an invitation to learn about what has brought so much happiness in your life!  Elder Thompson and I are doing "live Christmas cards" where we talk with a member family, and they give us a couple of people to go and visit, we go and carol for them, leave them with a card that expresses love and holiday cheer from the member family, and we tell them to have a very merry Christmas.  That's it!  A very nonchalant way of meeting the missionaries!  :)  Then, a couple weeks later, we will go and visit those people who we sang for, and see how their Christmas was!  It will be great!



I can't believe Christmas is so soon!  Only a week and a half away!  Yes, we will be able to Skype.  :)  Will you remember to include my Skype information in the next email so I can use it to talk with you next Wednesday?  I don't have a time set up yet, so I will let you know around what time I will be calling next Monday when I have a chance to email you.  We have a mission Christmas devotional next Monday, so I am excited to go to that!  I will be getting my package from you that day - can't wait!  :)  By the way, I haven't bought a camera cord yet.  Fortunately, the phone charger fits in perfectly to charge my camera!  However, I can't use that cable to plug it into the computer and upload pictures.  I am going to borrow my friend's camera cable so that I can upload some pictures today for you.

The postman normally drops off mail anytime around 11am-1pm.  Normally we aren't home between those times, but we have really good neighbors.  In order to get to my apartment, you have to go through another door, so if you were to send a package directly to my apartment, it should be fine.  :)

The hastening of the work has begun!  It is so neat to be a part of it!  Wards will start to have multiple sets of missionaries, and the work is going to boom!  You can be a part of the hastening of this work by assisting the missionaries, inviting others, and being an example of all of those around you!

Unfortunately, we don't have tablets yet.  We weren't one of the missions chosen to be a "test" mission for the tablets.  I bet they are super effective, and I'm sure it makes the paperwork tons easier!  The only downside of using tablets would be the disobedient missionaries finding a way to play games or whatever and get distracted.  Don't want that!

Elder Thompson did send an email to Scotty - I'm glad he liked it. 

So last night we got a random call from the zone leaders - it's halfway through the transfer, and Elder Thompson is getting emergency transferred!  I was also called to be a trainer!  Gah!  I don't know who my new companion is, but I will be meeting him on Wednesday.  I'm excited, surprised, and still wondering why this is happening halfway through this transfer.  No idea what's going on, but I'll do what the Lord wants of me!

Hope you have a great week!  :)  I love you, family!  Talk to you soon!

Love,

Elder Alexander J Annand

Week 77

Hello, my awesome family!

Lookin' good in Hipster Glasses, eh?

Woohoo!  I saw little flakes of snow about an hour ago.  They were tiny little white dots falling from the sky, but I loved it!  The weather sits around mid 20's throughout the day.  Yes mom, I am staying warm.  My ears and nose get cold from time to time, but that's okay.  :)  We spend most of the day walking around.  The cold wind leaves our face too numb to ride bikes all the time.  Well, depending on how far where we are going, we will ride our bikes, but walking is fine with me.  :)

You can send the Christmas package to the mission office. We are having a Mission Christmas Devotional soon, and they'll bring packages there.  :)  Our ward had our Christmas party last Friday - it was good!  We sang carols and saw Santa!

Hope you enjoy Heather's chorus concert!  I'm sure it will be great.  :)   The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is already out?  Wow!  Have you read the books?  I've only read the first book of the series - it was really good.  The movie was nice - but as always, the book is better!  :)

This week was good as always!  Less than 3 weeks until Christmas!  Last night, Elder Thompson and I saw the Church's 2013 Christmas Devotional - it was so good!  I'd recommend you checking it out on lds.org if you haven't seen it already!

2013 Christmas Devotional

We had zone conference this past week.  I learned a lot about helping others keep commitments and being a good listener so that we can respond and teach according to our investigator's needs.  It was so great!

I love you all so much.  I love this work and am grateful for each and every one of you!  Hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Alexander J Annand

Week 76

Hi !!!

Oak Harbor is so beautiful!  It is getting super windy and rained super hard last night!  I had a rough time falling asleep because of the wind being so loud!  It's all good though - right now the sun is shining, and it is an incredible view...  I'd send you a picture, but I actually lost my black cord for my camera (the one that has the USB one end and the camera connector on the other), so I can't send pictures or charge my camera.  I think I forgot it at the library last Monday when I had a chance to email... must have forgot it in the USB slot, and the lost and found doesn't have it.  Bummer :\  

Dec 1, 2013  Walking back to the Apartment
in the Rain - I'm soaked!!!

As you probably guessed when I said the sun was shining and what not - no snow.  It's very chilly and windy out, so we have to bundle up pretty warm!  I have my scarf, gloves, heavy jacket, etc. and I still get cold sometimes!  The islanders here are thinking that it will snow this winter.  We'll have to wait and see!  I'm excited for it if it comes!  Going to make tons of snowballs and they will accidentally fall on my companion.  ;)   That's good to hear that Arizona is getting super nice temperature wise!

Thanksgiving was great!  We went to this place called the Elk's Club where they have a free meal and feed about 6,000 people Thanksgiving Day.  It was great food!  It was also nice to talk with other people that live in Oak Harbor and show them that us missionaries are somewhat normal people.  :)  We also went to a member's home and ate more food there.  There were tons of pies and deliciousness!  Boy, do I miss Nanny's eggrolls!!  So, as of a couple days ago, believe it or not, I have gained 50 lbs on my mission!  Woohoo??

I apologize for not writing a better email this week; we have a busy P-day in front of us!  Love you bunches! (something my mission president says, and I like it.  :D )

Love,

Elder Alexander J Annand