Elder Zachary Andrews: Still in the West Bank

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, January 27, 2014

Still in the West Bank

So I did get transferred but not really to a different place. I got double transferred into the West Bank with Elder Hale! He is one of my friends from the MTC! So I am still in the same branch but now I just have to relearn everything and spend a lot of time on the bike looking for former investigators. It is a huge task that I have in front of me! I am in the biggest Spanish area in the mission. I do have a car but we share it and don't have any miles so we can't really use it. All of this is crazy, I am getting an adrenaline rush from it all!

The only problem I have is the old elders only had one investigator and he has some serious problems with crack...kind of a stubbling block and I am at a complete loss. We will work on it. This area is really in the slums so we are in a lot of scary areas, but don't worry the black people love us. Many people here have some serious problems with drugs and other things. They want me to help but I don't know how to exactly. All I can see to do is keep being there for them and have faith, faith in them and faith in myself to be able do what is right! Faith is power; power is the ability to do the work! Anyway the best news is the Falcons (beloved family I taught with my first companion) are in my area again

I have already seen the miracles that come from hard work. We do the best we can and our Heavenly Father lets that meager action work miracles. This is all so crazy!

Love y'all and I'll probably have some crazy stuff next week.

Elder Andrews

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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.