Elder Zachary Andrews: FROM PH: Happy People

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

Sunday, November 2, 2014

FROM PH: Happy People

Happy People
Sent Date: Sunday, November 2, 2014
Author: President Hansen
Dear Elders and Sisters,
This is something that Elder Ruesch found on lds.org that I thought was helpful. It's 10 things that Supremely Happy People Do:
1. Happy people surround themselves with other happy people. Joy is contagious. People are four times more likely to be happy in the future with happy people around them.
2. Happy people try to be happy. When happy people don’t feel happy, they cultivate a happy thought and smile about it.
3. Happy people spend money more on others than they spend on themselves. Givers experience what scientists call the “helper’s high.”
4. Happy people have deep in-person conversations. Sitting down to talk about what makes a person tick is a good practice for feeling good about life.
5. Happy people use laughter as a medicine. A good old-fashioned chuckle releases lots of good neurotransmitters. A study showed that children on average laugh 300 times a day versus adults who laugh 15 times a day.
6. Happy people use the power of music. Researchers found that music can match the anxiety-reducing effects of massage therapy. (mission approved music only)
7. Happy people exercise and eat a healthful diet. Eating a poor diet can contribute to depression.
8. Happy people take the time to unplug and go outside. Uninterrupted screen time brings on depression and anxiety.
9. Happy people get enough sleep. When people run low on sleep, they are prone to feel a lack of clarity, bad moods, and poor judgment.
10. Happy people are spiritual.

Lets have a happy mission. Here are some ideas from letters that I received this week:
-----I love Elder _____ and his love for time. Even if we have 45 min before we have something we have to do or somewhere we have to be he always has the desire to go out and try to see more people and to use every minute that we have to doing missionary work. Yes I am tired and yes some days I just want to fall over dead but we have found more investigators in those sort 15-45 minutes of crunch time than we have in one whole day of seeking referrals and finding Ideas. I can truly say the Lord blesses us so much more if we are using His resources to the fullest.

-----We had a really productive week we hit 19 lessons and managed to get a less active to come to church. We are working towards be more exactly obedient. We have been seeing the fruits.

------The commitment I left her was to read the intro of the book of Mormon and the first chapter of Nephi. We asked her if she was able to do that and she said yes. She said she actually read the first page of the Book of Mormon all the way until Chapter 5 in First Nephi. She then told us she took notes on each chapter. She showed us the notes and they were the thoughts she had on the chapter and the questions she had.... Then after that she told us she knows this book is true and that Joseph Smith really saw God the Father and his Son and translated the BOM….We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and she loved the repentance and baptism part and how she can be clean. She started tearing up when we told her she can be baptized and her sins can be washed away and then receive the Holy Ghost. Riley her husband worked things out with the Bishop and can baptize her on November 22.

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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.