Knock, Knock, Knocking...

We changed nametags - and went as each other!!

Hello everybody!

So the start of the week we had exchanges with the Zone Leaders! I went out with Elder Ovard and we went tracting all day! It really was not an eventful day, it was actually probably the most I've ever been rejected in a single day. Nobody even took a pamphlet, so it was tough, but I still feel like I learned a ton! The next morning we went back our into the streets, and it was mostly the same. 

So the temperature dropped this week so we started getting into the 30s and 40s, the nights have been getting in the teens. So pretty chilly, the wind is the worst part.

We've been doing a lot of tracting, but haven't seen much success. But just grinding away! 

So this week we had a dinner with our recent convert, Chris, he had a crazy experience this week. He was shopping at Family Dollar and it got robbed! But he also got a referral for us which was the cashier at the Family Dollar. He said she noticed a change in him and wanted to know what it was from, so he's like, "Oh let me tell you when we're not getting robbed." So we got that coming up in the future.

So when we were tracting we knocked into this super old guy. He invited us in, which was really nice cause it was cold, then preceded to talk to us nonstop for over an hour! There wasn't even a break in the conversation for us to cut in and excuse ourselves. I also have to admit that while he was talking I started to nod off, my only excuse is missionary work is tiring and I am tired almost all day every day! But it took us awhile to get out of there. Super nice guy, seems really lonely, really likes his dog.

So this week we have a possibility of a baptism! We have been working with Ashlynn for a long time now almost 10 weeks. It's been a slow process but if all goes well her baptism will be on Saturday!

Not a lot to update on, but things here are going well!

Love y'all!

Elder Andrasko

Rainy Days and Mondays

Hey Everyone!!

So this week was transfers. Nothing too exciting happened with that though. Almost the entire zone stayed the same, only a few minor changes. But when transfer day came they took our car down to Wichita!! :( :( so we were caught biking for just a little bit. Then when we got our car it had all the new spanish elders stuff in it. But that's ok!

So the day goes on and near the end of the night we decided to go through the recent move in list, so we go and knock on this guys door. So turns out he is a member, but doesn't associate himself with the church. He started verbally attacking us about our beliefs. So I excused ourselves and started walking away, and he started following us! it was pretty strange, so afterwards we decided to have dinner and get rid of those negative feelings we had. But it was memorable nonetheless. 

There isn't a whole lot of exciting things to talk about this week. We had a good lesson with Ashlynn and she is committed to a date for baptism! 

The Sisters also passed off one of their investigators to us. His name is Josh, well it's actually Josué but he goes by Josh. English isn't his first language, but he wants to learn english better so he wants to continue meeting with english missionaries. He's pretty cool, he has good fellowship, he just has to have a strong enough desire to continue on!

So when we have been biking we've run into every cold/rainy day. The temperature has been in like the 60s or 70s everyday except when we bike. And because of this I now have a cold. Maybe the 5th or 6th cold I've gotten on my mission ha...

Today for P-day we went to this place called prairie town, it's like a hidden town in the middle of Topeka with old timey shops and things. So we go into town and walk into a building, it was an old school, there was an old piano and we play on it and stuff, then a guy walks in and says "You're not supposed to be in here, this place is supposed to be locked". So then we had to leave, pretty disappointing haha.

Hope you are all having a great week, I love all y'all!!

Love, Elder Andrasko

I LOVE to See The Temple

Hello Everybody!!

So this was an eventful, memorable, week!

So Tuesday was a fantastic day because we were able to go on a temple trip with a bunch of recent converts from the ward!! So we were able to take our recent convert Chris for the first time to do baptisms for the dead!! Now that is something that I will remember forever, it was just such a sweet spirit there, while we were waiting to go to the font the Temple President came and spoke with us for a few minutes. He was able to answer some questions that people had, and it made the experience a lot more sweet. It was also the first time I was able to attend the temple on my mission, and the first time I have left mission boundaries. So a lot of firsts there. On the way back we stopped at Jack in the box and got some burgers. They don't have any in the mission, so that was pretty dope.

So every Thursday we do splits with the Elders quorum, and this week was especially great. It was actually the first time we went on splits. So Elder Fielding was left on his own from 7 to 9. We had one appointment for the night, so Elder Fielding went there and I went home teaching. So we go to see a family in the ward and the guy served with my cousin Kyle! So that's cool, so someone ask Kyle if he remembers Corey Gile. Then afterwards we went to see a Cliff Wright. So Cliff is a great guy who we have been seeing on a weekly basis since we got to Sherwood. We've built a good relationship, at least I hope so. The big goal is to have him come to church before I leave the area.

Speaking of leaving the area, transfers are this week! The news is....we are both staying. So the district is basically the same, besides the inclusion of the Kaw Valley Elders. They lost their district last transfer and are now officially part of the Sherwood district! Woot woot! So this is now the start of my 6th transfer in Topeka! Wow, that is a long time...and this is the third time I've been in an area for 3 transfers. But I feel I will leave after this transfer, but who knows..

Anyway back to splits on Thursday. Elder Fielding went to an appointment, and it went super awesome! He was really able to rely on the spirit to meet the needs of our investigator and she is super excited to be getting baptized! She will probably be baptized, if everything goes well, on the 28th!

Saturday...oh boy that was a wet day. We had a torrential downpour, and we were on bikes. After a few hours we decided to ditch the bikes. So we went home, changed, grabbed umbrellas, and started to walk. It was a pretty rough day to be honest. Nobody wanted to talk to us, appointments fell through. But I guess it's those days that build character.

Oh almost forgot, we had interviews with our mission president this week! It was a super cool experience, we were able to talk and he gave me good mission advice, as well as advice for when I get home.

It was a great week with lots of learning and growth. I love every second of serving a mission!

Have a great week!!

Love, Elder Andrasko

We'll Bring the World His Truth

Hey everyone! 

So crazy week, and I’m starting my email late, only got a few minutes before we have to leave for dinner.

One cool thing that happened is that Chris got the priesthood this week! Elder Fielding ordained him too! So that was cool, he baptized, confirmed, and ordained him. And something even cooler, we are going to the temple to do baptisms tomorrow! First time at the temple my entire mission! I’ll make sure to get good pictures from that.

So someone I knew from Junction City was in the hospital here in Topeka. So we stopped in to see them yesterday. It was super cool to see some people I haven’t seen in months, that’s one amazing thing about the mission you get to see and get to know a lot of amazing people. A few people who were in my district were there at the hospital too, so it was just a JC party!

Sorry for the lame email, but not too many exciting things. We got a few new people on date this week, but they weren’t able to come to church, they haven’t really been keeping any commitments, so I dont think now is their time. We’ll save them for another set of missionaries :)

Everything is good, it’s the last week of the transfer, so that’s pretty crazy!

Love y’all have a great week!

- Elder Andrasko

Because I'm HAPPY...

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had the chance to watch General Conference, it's always super awesome and revelatory. This conference was bittersweet though, because it is the last conference I will watch on my mission! 

Anyway we had full time car this week, but it was lost cause I guess for some reason there were cars in Wichita that were unusable. So the 2nd car in 2 transfers I lost :( so back to biking every other day. And oh boy we had a pretty big biking day. It was long and hard, but saw some good stuff come from it.

So this week we were teaching Chris his new member lessons and we were talking about the priesthood, temples, and family history! And we can go to the temple with recent converts to do baptisms! So we are going on the 10th!! Yay I haven't been to the temple my entire mission! But it's finally happening!

Finding has been tough for us, so not a whole lot of new people that we are working with, just the same old. Progression has also been a little stagnant, hopefully this week things will pick up a little bit. 

Not a whole lot to write about, but I do love all y'f

all and hope you have a good week!

- Elder Andrasko

I Love Technology

Hey Everyone!!

So we had a really really crazy week! Involving zone conference, a car accident, exchanges a wedding, and a baptism!

So Tuesday we had zone conference, and something really really big happened...WE GOT SMARTPHONES!! It is really strange to have a smartphone again, it's basically the same as our tablets but just smaller. But most of zone conference was just talking about how to effectively use technology. Facebook, smartphones, etc. It was pretty nice, and now I feel more comfortable using technology!

So Wednesday also pretty crazy, we were biking down the road and I look up and I see another bicyclist flying, legit flying, through the air. He had just been hit by a car!! So Elder Fielding and I were first on scene and called 911 and stuff. The guy wasn't hurt too bad just had some cuts and bruises. But the lady who hit him was very distraught. I felt really bad, she was weeping and wailing. 

Ok, so the wedding. The sisters have been working with this family for a very very long time, and all the children have been baptized. But the parents were waiting to get married so they can have family and stuff in town for it. But as it turned out their family couldn't come, but they were committed to get married and baptized. So they are from Micronesia, so at their wedding was a feast! They had filled four entire long tables of food. Awesome.

So right at the end of the wedding we started our exchange. I went with Elder Ortmann, which was a hoot and a holler.  Then we went out and mostly tracted. So lots of knocking and talking to everyone on the street. Had some good times and met some good people, not in our area but people in their area need the gospel too.

Last but definitely not least baptism!!! The sisters had 3 baptisms and we had 1! It was pretty nerve-racking, it was supposed to start at 11 but people were late, including Chris (our recent convert). So we started like 20-30 minutes late, but it was such an amazing service! Many tears were shed. Then the next day, yesterday, was the confirmation. Which Chris was also late to haha. But it happened! Then after he just goes and talks to basically every member. The ward is super accepting of him, then after the High Priest group leader talks to Chris about going on teamups with us and he is super down.

Oh yeah today we went to the dojo with some MMA fighter members. Pretty tiring but super fun.

Anyway, I love all y'all

Have a great week!!

Elder Andrasko

A "Purrfect" Day

Hey y'all!

Not too much time to email today, but this week was really good!

Chris has a good possibility of getting baptized this week!
So we'll just keep praying that he can , but if not no big deal,
life goes on. Hopefully it will happen soon.

Man I've just been exhausted all week, but that's the life of a
missionary. Training is really fun, but stressful at the same time. I
guess you just get used to having missionaries with experience and
stuff, but it's fun with new missionaries cause you get a fresh look
at things.

We've really been working at finding new investigators, and for the
most part it's been good. But we just need to find a new place to
work, the areas we've been in have been worked over by previous
missionaries.

Sorry for the shorter email, but I love ya and hope you have a good week.

- Elder Andrasko