Year 1 - Letter 38 - New Orleans, LA

D&C 112:10-11 

10 Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.

 11 I know thy heart, and have heard thy prayers concerning thy brethren. Be not partial towards them in love above many others, but let thy love be for them as for thyself; and let thy love abound unto all men, and unto all who love my name.

Hey everyone!

Well, this week was pretty crazy as you can imagine.  Transfers here are nuts, because everyone piles all their stuff into your car, and then it is a one and a half hour drive to the transfer meetings we have.  We had that to do, plus we had to get a car from the elders in the east because one of their areas is loosing a car, probably due to the fact that we have NINE new sisters and only one leaving.  So we went and got there a little late because the elders in the east where running late.  So I walked in to the training meeting, and President Wall said "Oh, Elder Andrews!  So glad you made it here safely all the way from New Orleans!  Elder Jones, your companion is here!"  That took me by surprise  I didn't think that I would get to meet my companion so soon!  Anyways, my companion is Elder Jones, from Gilbert Arizona!  Of all places!  We figured out he lives like 30 minutes from our home!  That is crazy!  Anyways, he is awesome!  Of course his Spanish isn't the best, but any foreign language missionary can relate to your first few weeks!  He is holding together really well though.  My goal for him has been to help him be a part of the lesson, in whatever way possible.  Out here in the field, for quite awhile, they have been using a program called the first 12 weeks, for infield training.  By the end of the first twelve weeks, and the end of this program, Elder Jones should be ready to train himself.  As you can imagine, that is going to take work!  I am so excited to watch him grow!  He has a desire to work, and we definitely have work to do!

  

Our mission right now has a goal to teach 20 lessons a week.  20 LESSONS!  Right now, our teaching pool is not that big, so definitely in the next few weeks we are going to be doing a lot of finding!  One really cool story.  So, we had plans to see one of our less actives, Robert, and he wasn't there, which never happens.  Ever.  Then we went to Daniel, and he wasn't home.  That was odd.  So, on the way back to our car, a thought entered my mind that we needed to go see Hoover, one of our investigators that usually is really busy and doesn't have time for us, well, most of the time at least.  He works like a horse!  So, we stopped by, and he was there!  So, we decided to teach the restoration, and right as we started, one of his friends came in, and I asked him if he wanted to listen, and he said he did.  So we taught the restoration, and Elder Jones shared the First Vision from memory and then shared Moroni 10:3-5 a little later.  He did a TERRIFIC job.  We then committed them to do it, and they said they would!  So Hoover already had a Libro de Mormon and we gave one to Edwin, who also told us we could stop buy his apartment any time we wanted even if Hoover wasn't there, so that was pretty much awesome.

  

Before Elder Jones came, and before I even had heard that I was training, I had fasted that everything would work out.  I fasted again when I figured out I was training for pretty much the same thing.  I know that I have received help and that the work is going to take off!  I love you all!  Thanks for all your support!

Love,

Elder Scott Turner Andrews

Year 1 - Letter 37 - New Orleans, LA

Alma 37:33 

Preach unto them repentance, and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ; teach them to humble themselves and to be meek and lowly in heart; teach them to withstand every temptation of the devil, with their faith on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Hey everyone!

Well, I have some interesting news! So, I am not getting transferred   Elder Larsen is.  That is kinda sad.  What is crazy is that I am going to train!  That is insane!  I did not think that I would!  at least not this soon!  I was in a lesson with one of our investigators, Hoover (yes, like the vacuum  and we know that calls for transfers come between four and six, so we knew we should check the phone if we get a call.  So, the phone rang, and we saw that it was President Wall.  When President Wall makes the call, we know crazy stuff is happening.  So I answered the phone, and he said that he was going to call me to be a trainer and that Elder Larsen would be packing his bags.  He then asked me if I could do that, and I said yes.  He then explained that the call to be a trainer is one of a lot of trust, and he asked me if I could handle that.  I said I don't know, do you think I can president?  He then said yeah, and said I would be successful if I was obedient, patient, and prayerful.  I will do all I can to help this new missionary have an awesome experience in New Orleans!

Well, our investigators are doing well!  I gave a blessing to Roberto, one of our older less actives.  He was feeling really sick, so he asked for a blessing.  I gave him the blessing, and right after he seemed filled with energy like he usually is.  That was a neat experience.  I am so grateful to be worthy of the Priesthood!  

Sorry this is going to be shorter than usual!  Things are going pretty fast here in New Orleans right now!  I love you all!  Thanks for helping and supporting me!  

love,

Elder Scott Turner Andrews

Year 1 - Letter 36 - New Orleans, LA

D&C 64:33 

Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Two words:

MARDI GRAS

It was a part of everything for the last two weeks, making our lives crazy.  A 10 minute drive home took one and a half hours.  It was difficult, and cut our proselyting time down, but we MADE IT TO THE END.  Today is the first normal day back!  It has been pretty stressful and crazy, but it is over. 

Well, Mardi Gras was crazy.  We where allowed to go to a parade with a member, and so we went on Mardi Gras to Zulu and Rex.  It was insane.  You are right up against the floats screaming as loud as you can, asking for beads, and in Zulu, the African American parade, for coconuts that have been hand decorated.  I got like two coconuts, and one Elder got like eight!  It was mayhem!  One thing a lot of people think is that Mardi Gras is super explicit.  False.  That is Bourbon Street.  Mardi Gras is really family oriented, as long as you stay out of the French Quarter.  Like us.

Well, the work is going well!  Not too many big things. Lately the lesson we have been really trying to teach our investigators is about priorities.   WE teach it by showing them an empty mason jar, and then explaining that this is the time they have in one day.  We then give them rice to put in as things that they have to do in the day, like eat, work, school, etc.  Then we have some ping-pong balls.  Those represent the big things, like church, scripture study, praying, etc.  when the rice is in first, the balls don't fit.  You can't close the jar with then all in.  But, when you do the big things first, like attend church, the rice and everything goes in just fine, and you can close the jar. I know that when we put God first, we have time to do everything else.

That is pretty much the problem with our investigators.  No one has time to come to church.  So, this lesson has been helping us out a lot!

Well, that is pretty much it here in New Orleans.  I love you all! Have a great week!  I will email again on Tuesday because it is transfers next week!  

Love

Elder Scott Turner Andrews 

King Zulu

Rex- King of Carnival

left to right: me Elder Larsen, Elder Miles (Kenner Spanish), Elder Richards (East Spanish).  Back, Elder Griffin (Kenner Spanish), Elder Odonnell (East Spanish)

Me and my Throws

Year 1 - Letter 35 - New Orleans, LA

Romans 14:8  

For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.

Hey everyone!

Boy o boy has it been crazy here!  the Superbowl has been crazy!  Dealing with that has been interesting.  Where we live, it has been alright, but in downtown, it is crazy!  It has actually been nice for us because we have a pause in the parades of Mardi Gras, so we have been able to park at our house.  That has been a plus.  Starting this Wednesday  the parades start here and it will be insane!

Well, that is enough about the world I live in.

The work has been hard the last week.  We weren't able to meet with any of our investigators and have a real lesson.  That can be really hard, but we know that we are doing all that we can to help these people, and we know that the Lord will help us with the rest!  We did have an awesome lesson with some of our members, the Barahona Family.  They are awesome, and live really close to some of our investigators, and want to help us, so I am so excited for their help! 

This week, one of the Elders got a handout from another church that was disguised to look like a Superbowl program.  That was interesting.  I am so glad our church is out in the open!  We offer the same thing to everyone, and we don't disguise it or hide it!  We are a candle on a hill, not hidden under a bushel!

Well, that is pretty much it for right now!  It is about to get crazy here!  Love you all!

Love, 

Elder Scott T. Andrews