Week 21

Hello!

This week has been a blast! We had a lot of fun. I’m also a bit terrified of the future. However I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways! I can’t wait for what is in store! 

Monday: We flooded the apartment again! By we, I mean I…LOL We spent 3 hours bailing, mopping and sopping up water. There was 3 inches of water in the bedroom. It was SO bad. We cleaned it all up though. And now it smells really nice! Looking on the bright side. Lol

Tuesday: District Meeting. In the process of cleaning the apartment, we found our beloved comrade, Pete, dead…My God rest his little lizard soul. So we buried him in the back. But besides that we had 8 out of 8 awesome lessons! It was so good! Claron is such a boss she is gunna get baptized just now! We also had an awesome lesson about temples with Sheena. It was so good that we all cried! I miss the temple. Go when you have the chance! I have a firm testimony that the temple is God’s house on Earth.

Wednesday: Today was also a wonderful day. We had lots of teaching opportunities and took advantage of them. It was a pretty “normal” day. Nothing too out of place happened. A member did tell us that he caught a tiger with his bare hands. I believe him.

Thursday: We got stuck in Canje all day waiting for Pres Egbert. His flight was delayed an hour. Then he missed the bridge (it opens and closes so big ships can fit through) But it was good. Pres Egbert and I get along really well and we like each other. J So when we were done we waited for the other Elders, Cooper and Peterson. They had to stay with us because we had to be at the bus stop at 6am the next day. Kinda confusing, but it was fun!

Friday: Zone Conference. All the missionaries in Guyana got together in Georgetown to have an awesome meeting. We mostly talked about unity and a bunch of leadership stuff which was really good. It was fun to get our MTC district back together. District Alma for the win!

Saturday: Ok, today was the best! We had some powerful lessons. IT was awesome to see the great instructions working in action.

*ring ring* “Hello this is President Egbert. Elder Andrus you’re staying in Rosehall, and becoming a trainer.” “Is there another Elder Andrus?” “Nope. Will you do it?” “Yes.”

So that happened! Lol I don’t know what my comp name is or when he is getting here. The joy of having 6 countries in your mission all separate islands. I’m so excited though! Oh yeah, Claron is getting baptized on January 7!!

Sunday: I gave a talk on Missionary work. I took the highlights from Alma 9:10. It was good!

This week was an adventure for sure! I can’t wait to be a trainer. Elder Hardy said that I’m going to change this brother’s life. O.o I don’t know if I’m ready for that! Lol I did find a great quote. “A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame. A little less than his share of the credit.” Arnold H. Glasgow

Have a great week everyone! Look for the spirit and be thankful for the tender mercies and amazing blessings. I love you all so much! Read the BOM every day until God teaches you something. Wish my good luck training! Next week I’ll have more info!

Love,

Elder Andrus

Goodbye Pete.

Rest in Peace

Elder Andrus and Elder Hardy BFF

Week 20

Greetings from Guyana! 

Happy Halloween! This week has been a great one! One full of learning and great fun as well as some epic missionary work.

Monday: Happy Halloween! This Halloween I dressed up as the coolest thing ever! A missionary, yo! Today we had Sone sports, it was FUN. Elder Hardy and I are not the most basketball inclined, so we lost miserably…It was a blast! We did teach some amazing lessons! Claron is the best investigator ever! She read and prays more often than some active church members. Lol

Tuesday: District meeting. We totally didn’t budget our $ right so we don’t have a lot left for the rest of the week. So I’m praying like any good missionary for a way to get a little dough. As soon as I say “Amen” the phone goes off…I carefully remove the phone from my pocket. And it’s the Fry’s! *screams* So they took us to DM for free! Yay prayers can be answered if asked in faith. Or fate if you are Guyanese. Lol That’s how they talk here. I love them! I also got the package today! Thank you so much!! It was better than Christmas! I feel bad that I ate all the stuff before I took any pictures.

Wednesday: Today we took a member around with us all day. Kichal is the funniest person I’ve met in Guyana. Here is a quote, “Boi be dead from 1770, he done ash out.” Translation, “A man has been dead since 1770, he has turned to dust.” It was so funny. Also we took Marsha to Sati’s house because the power went out. Then come back on 5 minutes later. Marsha said, as the power came back on, “Praise Jesus!” We all lost it! We also had a spectacular lesson about the POS with Claron. When we said you can live with your family forever (she has a brand new baby) she lit up like I’ve never seen before. I love the POS. Never take it for granted. It is everything we have to offer.

Thursday: Kiefah again went all around with us today. He’s a boss.

I traded a book for a pen with a little girl named Vashti in our branch.

I almost crashed into a trench and a car. I ate a spoonful of pepper. Not black pepper. Guyanese pepper. It is the hottest stuff on the block. It hurts to smell…That was a mistake. LOL

Friday: Was an awesome day! We didn’t have any fall throughs. That is why I love Manchester! Claron is such a boss too. She read and taught us the Gospel of Christ. She is going to be baptized but, she’ll have to get married. She’ll do it!

Saturday: Today was the International Day of Service! We cleaned the inside of a nursery school. It was awesome then we met with Sheena and had a great lesson. She is going to get baptized in March! I won’t be here though, most likely. Sad face.

Sunday: Slow Sunday. I mean fast! Bahahaha Today was awesome. A guy named Blue that was born and raised here came back to visit. He gave us a big bag of candy and snacks because he has a son in the Chile Santiago East mission. He is cool! I also learned that there is no possible way that this church in run by man. The paperwork alone would drown out ANY other company/man on the face of the Earth. Lol

I love the gospel. I know it is true. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior and Redeemer. I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God. Want to know how I found this all out? There is a little blue book. Read it, pray about it. It’s that easy. That’s what I did!

I love you all so much!  Keep reading, it will change your life!

-Elder Andrus

Week 19

Hello friends, family and far away companions!

This week has been one for the books. In good ways and bad. I’ve earned a lot this week! I do love it though; I love to teach people about Jesus Christ. It’s strange teaching people who don’t know anything about our Savior.

Monday: Mostly just cleaned and slept and ate. It was a good day.

Tuesday: Exchanges! Elder Cooper and I went to Skeldon. So I’ve been to like 4 funerals (since I’ve been here) And we were asked to conduct/lead a funeral for a stillborn baby…it was awful. We felt so bad…It was a son of an investigator in Elder Coopers area.

Anyways, we did have some great lessons about the BOM. It’s important to ask why? Why people keep the commandments? PS, it’s true!

Wednesday: Today was a scrap day, a little bit…Most of our plans fell through. Which is too bad but it was still a good day for the most part!

Always pack toilet paper. I got lucky this time, it was almost bad. :o

Thursday: Today was a much better day than yesterday. We had all 7 of our lessons, plus 1 extra one we managed to squeeze in. That’s why I love Manchester! Today we had a really cool lesson with Brother John, the old branch president. He just needs some encouragement.

Friday: Such a good day! I love when investigators read their Book of Mormon! We taught 3 investigators today. We are going to have some baptisms soon!

Saturday: We walked an endless amount of miles today…our bikes are still broken. But that is ok! We had some great lessons this week. Hopefully we can keep up this spirit! Last night, I got bit by something and the bite is growing! I love Guyana! I think it might have been a centipede? Nasty.

Sunday: Diwali. It is called the Festival of Lights. Everyone blows stuff up and makes big fires. It’s really cool! However, it is bad for teaching… We did get fed “Mix Up” or “7 Curry”. Its 5 curries mixed together. Don’t ask me why its called 7 curry. Anyways, it’s not too big of a holiday so I might be able to email on Monday. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to.

I know this gospel is true! I love all ya’ll! Have a great week!

-Elder Andrus  

Week 18

Welcome to the jungle!

Hello friends, family, freak-shows, former rebel spies and fire resistant humans! This week was so much fun! Don’t get me wrong, it’s super tiring and difficult work, but missions are some of the most fun you will ever have. I love it so much! I could definitely feel the spirit strong! Guyana is the best!

Monday: Monday was a blast! We had a bushcook. (It’s where we cook in the jungle) It was fun and delicious! Elder Cooper and Petersen were here too!

Tuesday:  Exchange! Elder Petersen was in Rosehall with me! It was fun and we talked about video games, wild Guyanese stories and STAR WARS. We also had a really good district meeting.

Wednesday: Today was legit! We finally fixed our bikes. I’m so glad to have our bikes back. My feet are finally starting to heal now. Yay! Bahahaha I’m just joking! Today we had 8/9 appointments. That’s some sort of record. Also we were voluntold to teach a choir class. So this has been interesting. We did however fix the old piano and thiefed it to the apartment. It’s been fun to play again. I’m getting really good! I also made potato curry and roti today. So good!

Thursday: We had a good day today. We went and saw Marsha’s son Sharwin and his wife Clarina. They are so cool and ready for us missionaries! The spirit was strong!

Friday: We had lots of gun lessons and a great time riding our bikes all over Nothing super extraordinary happened today. We did see a lorry (giant cane cutting truck) almost hit a donkey. :) It was funny!

Saturday: Month #4! Today was awesome! We went to Elder Cooper/Petersen’s baptism. The spirit was so strong! This little girl named Rachel got baptized. She is so cool! And after we went and saw Sharwin and Clarina and we read the intro to the BOM!!! It’s so great when your investigators can read and keep their commitments.  The best part was that she understood everything!

Sunday: Church was pretty normal today. We had 37 in attendance. Not as many as I thought/hoped for. But that is ok! We’ll keep working hard! I was privileged to give Genesh Dass the Aaronic priesthood today! I felt so blessed to do so. He will be an amazing priesthood holder for the rest of eternity!

There is this member in our branch name Chinsing, he is the best member missionary ever! But he took lessons from the missionaries for 12 years! He tells us all the time that he can’t read well, and he can’t unless he is reading the BOM. It is so cool to literally watch miracle every time that he reads with us in lessons. Imagine a 3rd grader reading, its slow and it kinda rocky. But one faithful missionary promised him that he can read perfectly when he reads the BOM and he can! It’s SO awesome! I love it here!

I know the power of God is on the earth!
I know that it blesses us daily!
I know that my redeemer lives!
I know that the Book of Mormon is true!
I know that Joseph Smith was (is) a prophet.
I know that this church is TRUE!

I love you guys!
Elder Andrus

The piano!

Heading to the baptism! 

Shadows of everyone walking to the Baptism. 

Genesh Dass who received the Aaronic Priesthood!

Week 17

Greeting from Guyana!

Hello everyone! This week was amazing! I’m so happy to be in this crazy place! I love it so much. Missionary work is the best! Something exciting happens everyday. There is no such thing as a boring day of missionary work!

Here are some great quotes I collected this week: 

“If you put a name tag on a tree, Mormons would marry it.” -Kiafa 

“If a cat could name itself, it would name it Sexy.” -Elder Hardy

Monday: P-day! P-days are always interesting. We didn’t have a lot to do though. So that was nice. You could say it was “relaxing”. We did have a great lesson with the Dass family about Nephi choppin’ heads.

Tuesday: We went to Manchester today! I love Manchester! We also had a really good DM about how to be a successful missionary! It was awesome! In Manchester we taught Tanya, Marsha, Sati and Sister Vivian. Sister Vivian is the best! She has such faith in the truth of the BOM! I hope I can have that kind of faith like her.

Wednesday: Remember DM? We put that to the test! We had 9 lessons planned for today and all of them fell through! And since our bikes are broken we walked everywhere! We probably walked 14-15 miles. It was a good day!

Thursday: Back in Manchester! We had some awesome lessons today! We taught Atina and Tanya, Sheena, Marsha, Sati and Cynthia. It was a really fun day! We brought Kiafa around with us teaching and he is so funny!

Friday: The Fry’s are in town and came teaching with us. (The Fry’s are the Georgetown senior couple) We saw Vicky and Michelle, Sis Ragu, Bro Neville, and others and had correlation. It was a fun day! We had Chinsing come with us and he is a boss!

Saturday: We went to Manchester! And we also went to Elder Johnson (my MTC friend) and Elder Rigg’s baptism! It was really cool! Elder Johnson asked me to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. Be prepared for the unexpected!

Sunday: We had 55 people at church today!!! It was so awesome! It felt like a real branch! Also, Pres/Sis Hussain fed us! Fried rice! It was really good! They have a cat named Sexy! So funny! Sis Hussain walked in and Pres said, “Hey Sexy!” Elder Hardy and I were super confused. But he was talking to the cat! We all lost it for a few minutes!

This week was so much fun! Missionary work is had, but it’s so much fun, if you love it!

The book is blue, the church in true, and I love you!

Love, Elder Andrus

Week 16

Hello family!

I just want everyone to know that I am loving Guyana and the mission life so much! It is so satisfying and I would not trade it for the world!

This week was defiantly an adventure!   

Monday: Half way through emailing Elder Rueggar got a call. We were told the senior couple was finished and had to leave. As we left we saw one of our investigators. She was crying. We talk to her and find out Terry, another on of our investigators just passed away. Terry is her brother. It broke our hearts…this is the second time now. This week was kinda hard... I had another Investigator die...it hurts so bad. It bumbed me out bad. But at the same time I know that he is getting way better teaching then I can do! Through prayer and scripture study I found out that God’s will, will be done! I know that he has accepted the gospel and is just waiting for the rest of his family to get baptized and go to the temple for him!  

Then Elder Rueggar got transferred. I stayed in Canje with Elders Rose/Alatasia.

Tuesday: “I no no want Tues.” Translation “I don’t know what happened on Tuesday.”

Wednesday: Elder Hardy finally made it to Rosehall with me!! Elder Hardy Is so awesome! He is from Las Vegas and Broomfield, Colorado. He is so COOL! He loves STAR WARS almost as much as I do!  I’ve had lots of companions, but is nice to have a friend! We got home late so no teaching. 

Thursday: We went to Manchester! We saw Tanya and Sheena and Marsha. Sheena did not get baptized. She moved in with a man that she is not married to. They are doing their best to get married. After all they pretty much are, they have 4 Kids together and are totally loyal. It was a great day! When I’m in Manchester I’m happy! 

Guyana is funny. When I’m in some places, I’m in Africa. When I’m in other places, I’m in India. When in certain places, I’m in Asia or the Philippines. When I’m in other places, I’m in the Caribbean. However, everywhere I am, I’m in Paradise!

Friday: A crazy day! I’ll just say that I’ve had some interesting experiences with drunk people! However, I am safe and sound! 

Saturday: Another great day in Manchester with great lessons, taught by amazingly prepared people. Had dinner with Pres. Hussain and his wife Melinie. (Branch Pres) The church is true!

Sunday: A fun day of training Pres. Hussain on MLS and some other great stuff! (Elder/Sister Rasmussen asked us to have stuff to talk about) We also got fed by the Swambers!

This week was interesting. I know that my redeemer lives. I know that he Loves us! I know that the Priesthood is truly his power! I know that the BOM is the best!

I know that thru his grace we are saved. Let’s do all that we can to share the word! I love you, the Lord loves you, and Satan hates your face. 

Let’s go get ‘em!

Love,

Elder Andrus

Elder Hardy

This Coconut fell from the tree and split itself on the fence below!  Crazy town.

Elder Hardy, Elder Andrus and President Hussain (Branch President)

Elder Hardy and Elder Andrus

Elder Hardy, Malinie (Branch President's wife) Elder Andrus

Bougainvillea! So pretty!!

Week 15

Hello Everyone!

This week has been so so crazy! First thing’s first. This week was transfers! So people are waiting on us so I’m going to be quick... Elder Ruegger is going to Suriname and he is super excited! I am staying in Rosehall with my new companion named Elder Hardy. I only meet him once and he seemed super funny! Hopefully everything works out great! I’m sure it will! I am so happy to be staying in Rosehall. I love it here and I love the work so so so much!

The next thing that I want to talk about is the Baccahs family. They are progressing super well! I can’t wait to have them closer to Jesus Christ! They are so amazing and have been reading the BOM every day!!! So exciting. It makes me so happy!

Conference is the last thing that I want to talk about. The simplicity of the Gospel is so powerful. Christ lives, he loves us. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, Joseph Smith is a prophet! I know all these things are true! I love them and Love to share them with everyone that I meet!!! Please do the same! It will change your life and the life of everyone around you! I am so happy to serve the Lord! 

Love,

Elder Andrus

(I thought I’d share some of our letters this week)

Mom,

I love you so much! Sorry last week’s email was shewps. I don’t know wagwon. Holy Cow! I’m turning Guyanese! I am not sad that Gma is moving. We watched all the sections besides Priesthood. It was 8-10 so we had a lesson instead. (we needed to be in by 9) It was awesome! We moved the computer downstairs so we all watched it in the chapel. It was so good! These are some things that I learned:

I am eternally grateful for my angel Mother! 

-K. Brett Nattress AND William Stone Andrus!

I truly know that Christ lives! I know this because I have felt his infinite Atonement! I love you mom!!! 

God is only a prayer away!

-Carol F. McConkie

Be a witness of God

-Neil L. Anderson (I think he might be Jehovah Witness :P ;) )

Dad,

It’s so good to hear that you are keeping up the great tradition of going to Tucanos! It doesn’t make me 

homesick, just hungry. We don’t eat a lot here. :) that’s ok! I’ve had to go down a belt loop. HAHAHA I thought I was skinny before! Its ok though, I honestly wouldn’t trade it for the world! I love the work with all of my heart! 

Elder Andrus and Elder Ruegger