Elder Zachary Andrews: Sharing the Gospel is Easy

THE VISION OF THE SOUTH

"Make no small plans: This is the vision I have for the South. I believe that one day the South will baptize more people into the church than all other English speaking missions in the world together....We will see the time when we will baptize hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands...In your day you will see a million members of the church in the South. There will be temples plural in the Southern States. What a great call you have to serve with these marvelous people." President Spencer W. Kimball

Monday, December 2, 2013

Sharing the Gospel is Easy

So, funny story. We got a call from Edson, a guy that we have been trying to teach for a while now and he wanted us to come over to teach him and his friends. That night we went over, thinking it is funny that he lives on the same street as the Gariffina (black people who live in HONDURAS-sorry not Brazil in last week's email.) It turns out he lives in the same house as the Gariffina we contacted and not only that, Edson has three friends that are all so awesome. They have all been searching for the true church! In our lesson Edson said something really cool. He said that what he likes about this church is that it is so easy; all you have to do is read this book and pray if it is true! They are Golden except they, like everyone else here, don't have a car so they can't drive to church. The problem is that everyone needs a ride and lots of the people in the branch already have to give people rides. So that is going to be a struggle but come on, still too easy!

Anyway have I told you about our neighbors? No? Oh man I have been holding out on you. So we have one neighbor, super nice lady, and her lady "Friend". They love to argue at three in the morning and wake up the Mormons in the next apartment up. They aren't even the Gold Medalist. We've got colorful people around here. Probably read the first paragragh again just to get the spirit back, whoops.

Love y'all. Hope you realize how easy it is to share the Gospel; it is just talking to people. You don't have to be a missionary. Actually we just have the keys to teaching not to finding. The members have to do almost everything for it to work. Trust me, in my 6 months here I have already seen so many people slip through the cracks because no one was there to say, "We love you. Sit and stay a while." It is that easy.

Love,

Elder Andrews

No comments:

Post a Comment

Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission

The first branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized in New Orleans with 334 members in 1841. The prophet Joseph Smith sent the first missionary to New Orleans in March of that year. After reaching 169 members in 1849, the New Orleans branch disbanded because of the threat of serious disease in the area. The Southern States Mission, which included Louisiana opened in 1878, but the first missionaries were not sent to the state until nearly 20 years later. Missionary work spread throughout the state during the early twentieth century and by 1930, there were 1500 members. The first ward was established in Shreveport in 1953 and the first stake in New Orleans in 1955.In 1975, the Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission was created and by 1980, there were over 12,500 members in the state of Louisiana. By 1989, Louisiana had 22,000 members in seven stakes. In 1998, the First Presidency announced the building of a temple in Baton Rouge. That temple was dedicated on 16 July, 2000.The Louisiana Baton Rouge Mission extends from Natchitoches South to the East and West borders through the state including the Gulf of New Orleans. The mission also includes the South West corner of Mississippi including Natchez, Liberty, and Macomb.