The Hood!

This last week was great. On Thursday night we went on splits with the zone leaders in Oak Cliff (south of Dallas) and it was awesome! It was totally the hood of Dallas but I love being around black people because I love the way they talk and just who they are. So it was a really fun exchange. We went to a bible study in Oak Cliff and it was perfect because we got the contact information for one of the ladies there and so the missionaries will start meeting with her soon. Oh and when I was on Exchanges I got to drive a car. It was the first time in months (literally) but I enjoyed it. 

So here in Richardson and the Dallas YSA things have gone great. Samantha, our investigator in the YSA, is getting baptized on the 30th so next Saturday and we are so excited for her. She asked me to give a talk at her baptism so I'm excited for that too. She is really awesome. We taught a lesson to her this week and all we did was read in Ether 12 because we felt like that was what we should do and I really felt the Spirit in the lesson. Also Ana, another one of our Golden investigators, told us this week that she is going to get baptized here instead of in Georgia. So we will be able to be there when she gets baptized! Also her daughter Natalie is going to get baptized with her on April 6th. I am so excited for their family! Also we are possibly going to start teaching Ana's mom! Teach when you find, Find when you teach! I'm so glad we are a preach my gospel mission! 

Today Elder Weatherford and I are going to be teaching a family that Elder Harden and I knocked into and we are hoping that they will start investigating the church and that we will be able to teach them again. Also Elder Weatherford and I are going to a baptism for one of his old investigators. And at this baptism there is estimated to be approximately 140 of her non-member friends there so we are really excited for the missionaries in Copell.

Oh and yesterday I was on Exchanges with my district leader and we knocked into a really awesome black guy and we got to talk to him for a while and we got his contact information so that they can start teaching him soon. It was awesome.

Well it's been a great week for me! I hope it's been the same for Y'all back home! I'll be sure to tell y'all about the baptisms next week! Love y'all!!

 

Love your missionary, 

Drew

 

(Comment by the Mommy - 3 y'alls in row, really?  He will be talking like a full-blooded Texan by the time he gets home at this rate!!  So funny!  You've got to love Drew!!)

The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways!

This last week has been awesome! I apologize for never sending any letters this last week. I went to the Dallas zoo on preparation day with other missionaries in the zone so I didn't have any time to write. But the zoo was fun. Also this last week we had a meeting with all the missionaries that came in the same week as myself and talked with President Durrant and the Assistants just to make sure everyone's doing okay and to cover some more on missionary work and things we should keep in mind about the work.

This week Elder Weatherford asked me to lead the lesson with one of our investigators, Veronica. I said that I could do it and his reasoning for this was so that we could teach on more of a 50/50 scale. And the lesson went down hill from there... I'm teasing. It was one of the best lessons ever! We had our ward mission leader go out with us and I started us off and Elder Weatherford and I taught by the spirit the Restoration. It was amazing. The spirit was there and Veronica felt it. And our unity as a Companionship was perfect.

We also taught Ana 2 lessons this week. and they both were great lessons. But the day of the Second lesson we did not have a member to go teach it with us and so we called some people and no one answered. Then we said a prayer. And that changed everything. Right after the prayer Elder Weatherford thought of a family's name in the ward. It was a family that we were scheduled to have dinner with but then their family was sick so they just dropped us off some food instead. The thing is that we both had only met them once and very briefly for that. But we called him and we answered and said he would need to ask his wife and call us back and he did and said that he would be there. The lesson that night was really amazing. The brother we took out with us taught most of it and he did something for Ana that we as missionaries hadn't been able to do before. He knew what her concern was that was holding her back from baptism. He then helped her over come it. That night the Lord had a member receive revelation. It was amazing! Her concern was that after baptism she would still make mistakes she couldn't perfectly keep that promise with the Lord. He related her concern to how kids will make promises to their parents and then try as hard as possible to keep them but still slip up. He answered her concern so perfectly. After the lesson we told him how we prayed and he was an answer to our prayer and how he did what we couldn't. He said that as soon as we started talking to Ana he knew what she was thinking about he just knew that that's what was going on in her life at that time. It was amazing. And from it she has now committed to being baptized on the 6th of April. She now has a solid date.

Also yesterday Elder Harden and I were contacting people in a near by park and we were talking to a man there called Dave and a young man came up to us and said hey what y'all preaching? and we told him that we are sharing a message about Christ and families and he had some questions but then we had to leave to an appointment but he said that he would come to church this Sunday so I really hope he does so that we can come in contact with him and get more information so that we can meet with him more. His name was Ruben so I'm going to try to keep an eye out for him.

I loved hearing that y'all wrote your testimony in Books of Mormon for family night. I think that was a great idea. Well I love y'all and hope y'all take care.

Love your missionary, 

Drew

Finally - Pictures!!

Drew with his MTC Companion Elder Kershaw (either he's a really big guy or Drew is tiny!)

Drew's MTC District

The guys in Drew's MTC District.

Elder Chapelle & Elder Harden 

Elder Chapelle is the other AP, so when the AP's need to work in the office, Drew and Elder Harden team up and go to work!  They all share an apartment.

Drew with his companion and Trainer, Elder Weatherford.  Looks like he's training him well! :)

My Week

This last week has been great! It has flown by! I got Nicole Bushman's wedding announcement and wanted to say congrats! 

This last week has gone great here in Dallas. Yesterday Elder Weatherford and I went on exchanges so we got to do some work in Elder Hernandez's area. Elder Hernandez is awesome! He was in my MTC District and I learned so much from him all in just one day! I also had the opportunity to go to Sister's Conference this last week because the Assistants were speaking at it and we needed to study, so Elder Harden and I got to sit in on it. It was totally awesome! Sisters are pretty blessed to be able to have an awesome meeting like that. I learned so much from it and it wasn't even directed to me directly. But President Durrant gave an awesome talk on how we should share the gospel with a smile and how even when we get tired that's okay. He then shared a story about Christ being tired so he sat down by a well and then spoke to the woman by the well. I thought that was so important to know. Even Christ got tired! We get tired to but we keep going and we don't get discouraged. Then Elder Weatherford gave a talk about willing obedience. It too was awesome. He spoke about how Nephi and Laman and Lemuel all did the same thing. Laman and Lemuel left Jerusalem and they went back and obtained the plates but they were never willingly obedient. Willing obedience is what changes us. We can be obedient and go about it murmuring, but it won't change our hearts. When we are willingly obedient then obedience is in our hearts.  It has become a part of us and leads us to self mastery making us a little more like God. Elder Chapelle then spoke on how trials of faith are really just trials of obedience. I loved that. 

Our investigators are doing awesome. Samantha went to a CES fireside here in Dallas that Elder, I want to say, Erying spoke at. She loved it. She went with her boyfriend who is a member and she has a testimony of prophets now! It is so exciting for her to have that guidance in her life now! We then spoke about general conference and about how all the 12 speak and it got me really excited for watching general conference out here in Dallas! I can't wait until Conference Sunday now! Ana our other investigator has been progressing great as well. She is going to be baptized by her husband the next time she visits him up in Georgia because he is in the military. Elder Weatherford and I got to go with the Ward Missionaries to teach Veronica, another one of our investigators, and they were totally awesome. They get what they are supposed to do. So our lesson went great with them.

Also last night I saw an Armadillo! It was dead on the side of the road but I was really excited because I have wanted to see one ever sense I got my call. Y'all know what that is right? The small animal that I think can curl up in a ball and is tan. I can't describe it any better than that.

Today it rained! I loved it! It was the best kind of rain ever because it was a warm rain where you want to just dance in it! It made my morning!

Well that's about it for this week. Love Y'all!

Your Missionary,

Drew

The Work!

I have loved getting ya'll's letters and reading your emails today! 

So I had a really awesome experience last night. Elder Weatherford and I were driving to stop by one of our investigators house's who we haven't seen in a while. As we were driving I got a random thought in my head that we should go to Eddie's house first. It was weird. We were planing on going after but I really felt we needed to go their first. My first thought after this was, "Oh that's weird." Then I thought,  "Should we really? Is this me or the spirit."  Well, I turned to my companion and asked, "How far are we from Eddies?" He replied, "Not too far, but it's in the other direction. Why?" I replied, "I just got this weird thought that we should go there first." So we went there instead and then I started praying that that really was the spirit prompting me and that I wasn't crazy. Well we got to Eddies apt. and no one was home so my companion said we should check on the Andrews family (recent convert family of 2 adults).  So we went down 2 doors in the apartment complex and they were home and let us in. And they had some friends over so we visited with them all and prayed at the end and then left. I think we really needed to be there. I don't know if we will start teaching their friends but I think it is a possibility especially because they seemed to like us. 

 

This last Sunday was my first Sunday in the actual Mission field and it was so awesome! It felt like home being in a family ward again! So the members here in Richardson are Awesome! The Hail family had us over for dinner on Sunday night and I had the most amazing 20 oz. steak ever! The members love missionaries and especially feeding us. Its great!

 

Wednesday night I realized that I am now in the shoes of the missionary we had over for dinner where we fed a missionary from England and I offered him more sticky rice (the food that night at our house just wasn't all there so the rice was on the sticky side) and the missionary said yes because he couldn't say no. Well, I am now that missionary, but I have eaten really good food that I like (on most occasions but I can always find something I do like on the table) but you just can't say no to the amazing families here! So when they bring out a full 1/2 chicken breast for seconds I have the hardest time saying no even when I'm almost full. 

 

I have seen miracles this last week! We have an investigator named Samantha and she has been taking the lessons for a few months and we have recently challenged her to be baptized on March 30th, but recently she was feeling uncertain about it and the Spirit came as we were teaching and carried the lesson away! It was awesome! We shared some scriptures that we were inspired to share as we were teaching and they both applied so perfectly to her! They were 1 Nephi 4:6 and Mosiah 18:8-10. At the end of the lesson we asked her, "What do you have against being baptized on the 30th?" and she said, "Nothing!"  It was amazing! 

 

Also Ana came to church and is totally awesome! She is really nice and is totally ready to be baptized on the 16th! I have loved being able to teach her about the gospel and help answer her questions! 

I'm so blessed everyone! 

 

I'm so excited to hear about my friends who are leaving to Serve the Lord! And that Kyle Stewart is coming to Dallas - the mission of miracles! I love ya'll!

 

Love your Missionary, 

Drew

 

Now for the Mommy commentary - Is he just the best or what!!  It's so awesome to hear his excitement for the gospel and his excitement for sharing it!  He said that he'll be emailing on Saturday's as long as he's a companion to one of the AP's.  Apparently they take 1/2 of their P-day on Monday and half on Saturday.  So even more reason to look forward to the weekend!  I also love that he gives me scriptures to read each week in his emails.  It's awesome to get to share in his missionary spirit!  He still hasn't emailed any pictures.  I'm hoping that he'll send some soon.  Once he does I'll be sure to post them!  Have a great week!