Week 39

Dear Family,

So this past week was AWESOME!  Elder DeTavis is the Elder I am training and he is doing a FANTASTIC job!  I am so surprised with how dedicated he is to the work so early into his mission.  All of the new missionaries that came out this past transfer really surprised me with their work ethic and how they are always wanting to work.  I love it!

This first week as a District Leader and as a trainer has been pretty amazing!  I am loving it so far!  It is a little more stressful at times because I have to look over some other missionaries, but I love being a part of their missionary experience.  I like giving them advice and helping them grow.  I want to share something from my patriarchal blessing (I don't think it would be appropriate to say it word for word), but it talks about how being in leadership will help others in many different ways.  I am so grateful to have the opportunity now as a fairly new missionary to be helping other missionaries progress and become better; it's great!  Elder DeTavis is doing  absolutely fantastic as a newer missionary in the field, I am still surprised with how well he speaks Spanish for being so new!  I for sure didn't know as much as he does, so whatever they are doing in the MTC now is working great!  He shares great insights during lessons and I love his willingness to continually serve.  I've never had to nudge him to try harder, walk faster, or keep his head up - he is doing terrific!  That's my boy!

MOM, YOU WENT TO THE MESA TEMPLE?!  THAT IS AWEEEEESOMEEEE!  I HAVE THE BIGGEST SMILE ON MY FACE RIGHT NOW!  Congratulations!  WOW!  It must have been so awesome!  I remember my first time at the temple when I went to do baptisms for the dead, it was such a spirit filled experience!  Some of the words you may be looking for is "proxy" or doing baptisms "vicariously".  Let me know if any of those two were the ones you are looking for... Mom, I seriously am so proud of you - the other covenants that you will make in the Temple are powerful and life-changing.  I LOVE the Temple, and am so happy that you were able to experience the baptistry.  I hope I'll be able to be there when you get endowed, but if not, I'll be there in spirit!

That is so awesome that you taught about baptism in your Primary Sunday School class!  It is one of my most favorite things to talk about when I am teaching about the gospel.  I love helping others learn more about the sacred ordinance and love sharing that I was in their shoes not even 3 years ago.  It really helps them realize that people can change and change for the better - I love it.

I was reading an article in the Ensign today during personal study and really loved a quote that I read given by President Spencer W. Kimball, "We must discover the scriptures for ourselves - and not just discover them once, but rediscover them again and again."  What a powerful quote!  It helped me understand why we don't just read the Book of Mormon once and say that we are good, but why we must continually study from the Book of Mormon and other scripture.  It helps us grow!  It helps us become better disciples of Jesus Christ!  As we diligently study the scriptures we are more converted to the gospel and are more prone to the promptings of the spirit.  How amazing the scriptures are!  I love how the Lord "works from the inside out" (President Ezra Taft Benson).  He helps us grow spiritually, which in turn helps us become better people and examples for those around us.  I really wish that I learned these important doctrines before I came out on a mission, but I am grateful to have learned it now!  I love being a missionary for the Lord's Church!!!

March 2013 - Snow Fall

That is CRAZY that it hit 95 degrees this past week over there!  It was SNOWING this past week; I'll be sure to send a picture.  The snow didn't stick, but it was still super awesome to see it fall.  I love Washington.  Surprisingly enough, it is very sunny out, which is great.  In a few more months we will be getting a lot more sun with very few rainy days - I'm ready!!!

Anyway, I love you all so much!  Thank you for being awesome examples to me and for helping me out when I need it!  Have a super awesome next week and don't get too sun burnt!

Love,

Elder Alexander J Annand

Week 38

How is everything going?  Tomorrow is transfers, and I figured out that I am going to stay in Lynnwood for at least 6 more weeks.  I have been called to be a trainer and a district leader!  I teach my first district meeting on Wednesday, and I get my "greenie" tomorrow!  I'm super excited to be the example for my "son" as I help him learn the ropes as a missionary in the field.  It'll be pretty intense, but I'm sure that with the help of the Lord, I'll be able to do a somewhat decent job.

Some of our Washington-Everett Missionaries

Troubles, trials, and tribulations covered this week.  Overall, it was amazing as always!  We had a baptism scheduled for Maria this past Saturday, but it fell through.  She is going through a pretty rough situation and is putting gospel related things on hold for now.  I've been thinking about how I can handle the problems she is going through, but I think some of them might just have to play out...  We'll see.  Our friend, Jadid, has accepted a baptismal date for the 20th of April!  He is going to be attending General Conference in a few weeks and is excited to hear and listen to the prophets.  I'm jealous!

President Thomas S. Monson

I read a talk this past week given by President Monson, titled "Be Thou an Example".  It was such an awesome read!  The talk was originally given to the Relief Society, but as I changed it around and applied it to missionary work, it really had a huge effect on me!  Something I love the most from that talk is that he emphasized that we need to fill our minds with truth, fill our hearts with love, and fill our lives with service.  How true that statement is!  I'm excited to apply these principles that I learned for this upcoming week and see how this next week will play out differently - we will see!

Anyways, sorry that this letter is a little bit short.  I hope that each of you have an awesome week and hope that everything is going great!  I love each of you so much and thank you daily for the blessing that I have to have a family like you all!  Now if only I could get more letters from the kids... ;) !

Love you all!

Elder Alexander J Annand

Week 36

Hello!

Cool lookin' mushrooms...

Is it p-day again already?!  Seriously, this past week FLEW by!  I can't believe that I am writing another e-mail haha...  Well I had another amazing week out in the mission.  I forgot my planner so I can't remember too much about it...  But, I remember that it was awesome!

I have been doing absolutely great, as always!  I can't believe that the end of February is already here, time to jump into March and celebrate my parents becoming older!  The weather is starting to warm up - I think last P-day it was super sunny out and the temperature got to around 55...  It was HOT!  Makes me think...  HOW AM I GOING TO COOPERATE WITH ARIZONA HEAT AGAIN?!  I'll just be a missionary here for the rest of my life!

Thanks, Mom, for praying for my investigators and I.  It really does help, even in the smallest of ways.  All of our investigators are doing great.  Something I've come to realize is that the time of the Lord is especially sacred in this short period I have to serve Him.  Sometimes, planting the seed is all I need to do, but there are those special occasions when there are people who follow the example of Jesus Christ and become baptized.


Baptisms!


We have about 20 different investigators, but I'll write about just a couple:

Elder Fiala and I have a baptism coming up in two weeks!  The 9th of March - I'm excited!  Her name is Maria, she has been going through MANY sorts of different struggles during her time that she has been meeting with us, but she sees that prayer and the gospel is helping her out in many different ways.  I'm so proud of her change and her willingness to see the different blessings of the gospel.  Hip hip HOORAY!

We have another amazing investigator named Jadid.  He is from the Dominican Republic and was a media referral we received from Salt Lake.  He is wanting to go to General Conference to see the prophets speak live... THAT'S CRAZY!  I can't believe he wants to do that!  I had no idea there were living prophets until I met with the missionaries, and now that he knows that there are - he wants to go and see them, AWESOME!!  The first lesson we had with him we were talking about different sorts of topics, why he was interested, what brought him to this point in his life, etc.  We were talking about the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and he pulled out a talk that he was reading by him.  I am seriously stunned by this investigator.  I know that I am blessed to meet him because of my obedience to the Lord.  I love Mosiah 2:24 that says something along the lines of "When ye are obedient to the commandments of the Lord, he doth immediately bless you."  How incredible and true!  What a promise!  Sometimes we don't see the blessings in our lives, but once we sit back and ponder about the different things the Lord has given us - for example, a family, good uplifting friends, a home, food, the gospel, etc. is when we know we are being watched over by someone up above.  He is there; He is always there, and I love Him for that!

Have a great day!

I'll be sure to send the SD card home today.  I have been withholding it so I can get as much things on one SD card.  It is about full, so don't worry about sending it back.  Just look at all the pictures and have a fun time doing it!  Thank you for sending me a new SD card, I don't know when it will come, but I'm sure soon!  I'm excited to look at all the different photos and videos that have accumulated over the time of my mission...  how many pictures and videos do I have now?  Just curious...  By the way, I don't go to the post office to mail.  I just slip it into the "letter box" at our apartment complex - I'll just add an extra stamp before I send it home.

Love you all... Hope you have an awesome and uplifting next week!

Love,
Elder Alexander J Annand

Week 35

Hello mama and family!

Things are absolutely great!  The mission life is where it's at!  It is seriously so awesome to be dedicating my life for two years to share something I love so much.  I can't believe how many awesome experiences are unfolding right before my eyes - it's truly incredible!  There is something about the giving of yourself that helps you see blessings in different ways.  I love the scripture in Matthew that says, "He that findeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it."  What a true scripture!  The words of Matthew couldn't have been phrased any better.  When we give of ourselves for the Lord - we truly find who we are.  It took me a little while to realize that, but I am glad that I have early on in the mission.  Blessings come time after time and I know it is because of obedience, charity, and being diligent in the things that I am doing.  But don't get me wrong, the mission has its difficult moments!  The key is to keep your head up and put a smile on your face - keep that positive attitude.  I learned that from an Ensign article I recently read by Gordon B. Hinckley titled "The Work Goes On." Read it!!!

Anyway, a little bit about my week...

One of our investigators, Maria, has been having trouble with a situation and is keeping her from repenting to the fullest.  This past week, she realized what she had to do - restitution!  I've come to realize that restitution is often the most important part of repentance, but it is often the hardest as well.  She has devoted herself to keep staying on the right track towards baptism in just a few weeks - March 9!  With that goal in mind, she is preparing by the three most important ways - church, reading, and praying.  I'm so happy for her and for her desire to suddenly change and decide to fully repent, forgive, read, pray, etc.  THIS is why the mission is so amazing.  To be apart of someone's conversion and watch them change right before your eyes is absolute incredible.

I went on exchanges this past week, and it was great!  I can't remember if I have explained exchanges before, but it is when I go to a different area, or stay in my own with a different missionary for a day.  I went to the English area, and we did a lot of recent convert/less active work.  It was nice to teach in my native language for a change, but Spanish is SO much more fun!  Maybe it is because I was specifically called to be a Spanish speaking missionary, but when I speak with people in their native tongue, I feel a stronger connection with them as I help them realize the blessings of the gospel.  What an opportunity it is to serve!  We also taught an excommunicated member who is wanting to come back to the church.  I loved something he said, "You don't realize the blessings of the church until you aren't a part of it anymore."  It made me think that I need to be more aware of the blessings that I have been given and to be grateful for them.  Sometimes I don't even understand that a trial I went through was actually a blessing in the making.  Time to try it out this next week, and we'll see how it goes!

Service rocks!

I can't remember whether or not I shared this experience in my last e-mail, but I had a huge testimony builder for me this past week.  One of our less active members in the branch called us a few weeks ago and asked us to help him move some stuff for his friend.  We obviously accepted and helped him move things out of the storage complex to his friends apartment.  It took a little bit of time, but the result was fantastic!  Arturo and Adriana were extremely grateful for the things that we did and asked us to share a quick message with them before we left.  We shared Mosiah 2:17 and emphasized on the importance of serving God, and left while the spirit was strong.  We were invited by them the following Sunday to have dinner, and when we arrived we were a bit confused to see about 10 people there.  While we were eating, Arturo was saying how thankful he is for the missionaries and the help they are always willing to give.  While everyone was finishing up eating, having their own conversations, he stopped everyone and asked us to share some more scripture from the Book of Mormon.  We did once more, and he was absolutely stunned by the Promise of Moroni.  I am VERY excited to continue teaching this young family and help them progress in the gospel!

I'm motivated to have a great next week!  I hope you all are too - stay strong and keep your head up.  Realize who we are - children of God!!  I love you all so much and hope that you have an amazing week!

Love,

Elder Alexander J Annand