Week 12!!

Hello world!!!

   So this week was kinda slow... There was the annual Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend so everyone was over there and not home. That's all good though!! Saturday dinner got cancelled so we went to taco bell and watched the race for about 20 minutes. I wish it was on a P-Day so we could have gone to the real race!! People tell me i am kind of a redneck, It may or may not be true. Especially now that I have been introduced to the Indy races!! :) It was pretty cool.

 

Also, neither me or Elder Kasen were transferred We are still in the same apartment with the same address (so you can send me mail again :) ) I'm glad! We get along great and I love the people in our area!! It was slow at first, but we have found a few people to teach so it's okay :)

So, this week we were in church. It was about five minutes into the meeting and the Alvares Family wasn't there. Elder Kasen was getting super bummed because last week they were there like 15 minutes early. I told him that maybe they are just running a bit late and that they will be here. I mean stuff happens right? And they acted really excited to come again when we talked on Thursday last week!! So, we just sat and waited and they walked into the meeting right before the Sacrament. It made me happy :) and, the talk was really good to!! they were all on temples and the blessings we get from them! It was just what they need!! I'm not sure how much they got though. It was two youth speakers and a high council man. The high councilor speaks English (which is good for me :) ) but the translator was really quiet so i don't know how much the Alvarez family caught because they don't speak a lick of English.

So I was thinking a lot about temples. I haven't been in 6 weeks now which was different because I went regularly before my mission. So, I was thinking about it and I miss it a lot!! In Doctrine and Covenants Section 138:48 "the great work to be done in the temples of the Lord in the dispensation of the fullness of times, for the redemption of the dead, and the sealing of the children to their parents" This scripture is AWESOME!!! I mean, think about that... We are the only church on the planet that have the sealing power on earth that can allow us to be sealed to our parents for time and all eternity!! Its super neat! I really have noticed I kinda like my family and I wouldn't mind spending time with them for a little bit ;)

I love you all!!!

Elder Lloyd

Week 11- TRANSFERS!!!

Hey ya'll!!

I hope you all have a fantastic week this week! First things first, it is transfers this week. So, don't send any mail to my apartment this week. If I transferred, I may never see the mail that comes. Other missionaries aren't the most reliable mail carriers :) so feel free to send any letters to the mission offices, but not to my apartment. Next week I will let you know my apartment address. I really hope I don't get transferred. Yeah, It may be slow right now, but that is okay. It is giving me time to get used to mission life.

We may not have a ton of investigators right now, but the people we are talking to, I am growing ever close too. I LOVE the people in the Long Beach 16 ward! I can honestly say I LOVE it here. At times I have been kind of down about knocking door after door after door with no results. I have knocked a fair amount and I have yet to get into a single house. But we are out of options. But, a few weeks back, we stopped by the Estrada family right before they dropped us. They gave us three referrals. A feller that we can't find, A feller, Hermano Lopez, who was a bishop back in Guatemala 16 years ago but is inactive now, and the Familia Alvares, who are mid 20's with a little boy and a little girl ( It's always a boost to the self esteem when you say Hola, Como estas to a little feller who then says bien and rattles off something at a million miles an hour and looks at you waiting for a response and I have no idea what he says lol).

So we finally got into the familia Alvares home and we are talking. The parents have both been baptized but they have been inactive since then. We talked a few times and nothing. The Hermano likes to play soccer on Sundays. Finally we went in on Thursday and pretty much said look, what is better, soccer, or losing your kids to drugs and alcohol when they aren't raised up with good friends and standards. It was kind of a gutsy move on the part of Elder Kasen. Well, I do my role of baring my testimony about how the Gospel has blessed me and my family, and how coming from a loving family has blessed my life. I do this in my little broken Spanish in mostly English Grammar, then I let Elder Kasen clean up my mess and say it in proper grammar so they understand. Then we pray and leave. They enjoyed our message like they do. We ask if we can come back. This time was different though but I wasn't sure why.

Before church on Sunday we had to make copies so we weren't there to greet people. We walked in to the chapel five minutes early and see the cute little Alvares family sitting quietly on the back bench, and I just hit a wave of The Spirit testifying to me of the importance of the work I am doing and how I am touching lives. It is definitely one of the most happiest moments of my life to know I am sharing the source of my happiness with others.

So, this week I was reading in the Book of Mormon and I come across this verse, which my mother always says is her favorite. (now she is thinking "oh great... what did i say?" :) ) it is Jacob 6:12 and reads "Oh be wise, what can I say more?" This verse is shortly profound. There really isn't much you can say to that. Just be wise. Before you make your every day decisions, take a minute to think and decide if it is a good idea. Use the wisdom you have gained from your life experiences and from the Gospel.

I love you all so much! Thank you for all your support!

Love,
Elder Andrew B. Lloyd

Week 10!!!

Man... It has really been another week?!?! Time is going soooo fast!! It is super super crazy!Everyone says it goes fast after the first six months. If it starts speeding up, I don't even know how you have time to think!

I hope all of you were able to get out to General Conference this weekend (and by get out, I mean turn on the T.V. I'd put my money on I'm one of the very few people who had to get up and drive to the Stake Center by nine, not 10, for conference :) ). It was definitely a GREAT conference this weekend! Maybe its just the missionary in me, but I got something out of every talk! It was great!   Cool fact, in the Stake Center, there were 4 different languages of Conference. English, Samoan, Tongan, and Spanish.

This week was kinda slow. We got dropped by the Estrada family. It was really bumming. but, they did refer us to a feller who was bishop in Guatemala before he moved here. He was super excited to see us. He hasn't gone to church in over ten years, but once we went over there we came to general conference. Hopefully if he is willing to go to Conference he will come to church :)

This week we spent a whole lot of time biking. There is a new rule that only 4 elders can be at a dinner at one time. Sounds reasonable, but there are 16 of us in my ward making dinners kinda hard to come by.  There are 6 Spanish Elders in my district so we take turns eating with the Somoan elders in our district, this week was our turn. So, everyday at 4 we would bike halfway to dinner where they would pick us up in their car.  It took us about an hour. Then we eat and bike back for an hour. That is two hours every day of our proselyting time down the tubes. It makes for a slow week. That is okay though.

So I was doing my personal study the other day and I came across this verse and I liked it A LOT. it is 2 Nephi 26:24 and it reads " he doth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation" I just really, really like this verse. It has so much in so little words about Jesus's love for each and every one of us. His love for us is incomprehensible. There is not one person anywhere that He will not let come unto Him and partake of the eternal joy that comes from a life lived in Christ. No matter your circumstances, Christ can help you find more peace and happiness and no matter what you have done or how you may feel, He will love you and He will welcome you into his fold.

Love
Elder Andrew B. Lloyd

Week 9

Hello everybody!!

Happy Easter to all of you yesterday and happy April Fools Day today!!!! I hope all of you are doing well and are healthy and strong!!

This week was great!! We did not really have a ton of work again. It is really, really slow right now. We do spend a lot of time trying to find though. But, most people don't answer their doors because they are afraid of who it will be. Me and Elder Kasen are still getting along great!! He leaves in two months so he is starting to get ready for that. This week we had to go to the library a few times so he can register for school and stuff. Its kinda weird!!

I rolled over into two months this week!! Time is flying by!! Its really weird how one day can be so long and tiring that at the end of it I am asleep almost before i hit the pillow, but then it feels like
no time has passed by and I am sitting down at the computer writing about the last week. Fun fact, week 9 this week. If I left a week earlier then I did, then I would be leaving the MTC tomorrow!!  That's crazy!! I absolutely loved the MTC but I am so glad the time got shortened!!

This week we have done a lot of work on a Noche De Hogar ( Night of Home, it is somewhere between Family Home Evening and home teaching). The ward we are in isn't the most unified and they don't do their home teaching so we are initiating this program. This week was a few meetings and stuff with another companionship to work out the details so this week we can polish up and go for it!1 I hope it works out!!!

So it is General Conference this weekend. In Amos 3:7, it says " surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets" basically, watch general conference because God tells the Prophets what to say. One thing I have picked up on in the past nine weeks is the importance of note taking. As you watch General Conference, take notes of your thoughts and impressions. even things not necessarily said from the speakers. You will learn a lot more. Also, re read these notes once in awhile.

I Love you all!! Thanks you so much for your support!!

Elder Andrew B. Lloyd

Week 8

Hello everybody!!!

How are all of you doing these days? Once again thanks a ton for all the support you have shown me!

This week has been great! So far, in the past few weeks, I have noticed that they are all good weeks! This week was kinda slow though which is kind of lame. 36 missionaries came out with me which is kinda hurting the work here a bit because that makes 36 companionships here stay in an extra two hours every day for language and/or companion study. Then, while they are out, they are less effective because the greenies aren't as used to the program here and how things operate. That added with the meetings and stuff that we have had, has made me be on a bike more this week then actually out working. That's okay though, sometimes we need to do this to find others and such. I LOVE it here!! Sometimes it gets kinda intense here. I have seen some interesting things, but I love it here and I love serving the people here!! I cant understand them sometimes, but I try a lot and they understand me... ish... right now we are working a lot with two families and one other dude!! They are coming along great!!

So, this week, as we go up to Easter Weekend, I encourage you all to keep in mind what Easter really is, and beyond that, what it means. Luke 24:1-10 and 36-40 states "1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is arisen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8 And they remembered his words, 9 And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles. May we all keep this in mind. These few verses simply state that through the resurrection, and the completion of the Atonement of Christ, we can all have eternal life if we choose to accept it. We ALL will be resurrected and live again. And if we so choose to accept the atonement into our lives, we can live with joy eternal together with our families." " 36 And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 37 But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. 38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet."

Thanks to all you do and have done for me and my family!!! I absolutely LOVE hearing from you guys and reading your letters!!

Love
Elder Lloyd