Thanksgiving!!!

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving this week:) It was a great day up here in North Dakota:) Our week went pretty good this last week! We got to have our thanksgiving with a family that lives about 30 minutes out of Minot. The members from our ward are newlyweds who were throwing the family party this year so we got to meet their whole family too! They were so fun! I love family gatherings:) we got to all share what we are grateful for and we all had a good time getting to catch up and meet new people:) 

Aimee was out of town this week for Thanksgiving so we didn't get to see her, but once she got home we were seeing when she was going to be back and she responded :

"I am back, and ready to be baptized!" so I am pretty sure she is still really excited for this weekend and to get baptized. She is probably the most solid investigator I have ever met in my life:) We are all looking forward to that this coming weekend! 

Our Sunday was so good yesterday! We had some really amazing  talks on how we all can become converted to the Lord and how its a process not so much an event. Our speakers were converts to the church so that was super cool to hear their perspectives. Brother Wagner taught us about how its important that we don't cut our selves off from progression by saying "that's just the way I am" but that we can change and we have to leave those doors open so that when we are ready we can step through them. Because what good is a door that you wont ever go through? I loved his story and how he came to be a member. We also learned a lot about Unity in our ward here even though its a really transient ward. We all need to come together so that we can all be strengthened and in essence become Zion! Which went super perfectly with my scripture studies the last couple days!

I was studying Jacob 5! It is probably my favorite chapter in the Book Of Mormon right now. I read it a couple times with different Ideas in mind. The first time was with a focus on how the olive tree could be ourselves and the branches our qualities (Thanks to Sister Caitlyn Clegg for that idea). The second time I was trying to just focus on the timeline aspect of it. It WAS AWESOME! It talks about the past and how the Lord has worked with his people and how He will prune his vineyard one last time with the help of his servants (missionaries) and then how the good with be gathered together and trimmed so that any bad is taken away and the vineyard will be burned...which is just a really scary way to say that we will then be finished with all of this earthly stuff and finally get to be with our Father again. But the point of telling you all of this is because it puts a lot of emphasis on the whole " being "one" or "Zion" idea of the good in the vineyard, before He comes and divides the good and the bad. I really think that we all need to come together as the church so that we can be strong "for [His] Purposes" I am so excited to see how this will unfold in our lives. 

Its just a great idea...   I mean the Nephites would also gather to Zarahemla when the Lamanites were being crazy and mean and because they were together in one body they not only withstood the attacks, but overtook the Lamanites. Imagine what we could do in our churches and our faith if we all  banded together against the evils of the world! Not only would we withstand and overtake the devil and his evilness (excuse my great grammar)  but we could save so many of our brothers and sisters who are looking for protection "but know not where to find it"! 

I love you all and I hope that we all can look for more ways to be unified in our families and wards all around. Have a wonderful beginning to your Christmas Season:) 

If you haven't seen this video, Watch it! It is so good and maybe you could brighten someone else's days by sharing it:) 

https://www.mormon.org/christmas?cid=HP_SU_11-29-2015_dMIS_fSPC_xLIDyL1-A_

Love Tay Sister A

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Sister Taylor Andrus

Eric and I were so lucky to meet this fabulous couple this weekend as they traveled from Hurricane back to North Dakota. These amazing folks take such good care of all the missionaries that come their way and Taylor has been especially blessed to get to know them and get spoiled by them. Maren and Caden Elwess you are the BEST!!!!!!                          Misty:)

Faith and Obedience

This week was great! We had Zone Conference here in Minot with President Hess. We learned a lot about making and setting goals which was really nice because my goals were lacking so some guidance was good:) But what I learned most was about Faith and Obedience. We learned about how our obedience shows our faith. I was a little bothered because I was getting the impression that if I wasn't being exactly obedient all of the time then that must mean that I don't have faith.

Later when we were on exchanges I was with Sister Clark. I asked her what she thinks the smallest act of faith is that would even make a difference. She opened up the Alma 32:27 where we learn that even having a desire to believe is having faith. and once we act on that desire we begin the exercise that faith until we can give place for a portion of his words, or we gain our own testimony! Thinking I was satisfied with the answer I forgot about it all.

Last night when we were at dinner I was sharing what sister Clark had taught me and realized that I still had more to learn. I was taught that the desire isn't enough to change us, but that God does acknowledge our desire. I became very grateful for the acknowledgment that he has for us and what we can become through our desires. I know that we cant change without our own actions because that would take away our agency. But I love that He notices our desires and then gives us the drive to change ourselves that we might become more faithful on our own.

I know that was kind of a stretch but that is what I learned today and if I could go on about it for hours I would...

We got to teach Aimee this week about Family History! I loved it she gets way excited about things like that! and she is bound and determined to find 10 names to take to the temple for after she is baptized. The amazing part is that she has to add her entire family onto Family Tree before she can request ordinances and she is even excited about all of that:) She has such a special testimony! I have learned so much from her:)

Godwin also got baptized this week! He was in my old Minot area and It was incredible to be here to see him finally get the opportunity to be baptized:) It was great! Such a strong testimony was added to our church and I am grateful for it:)

We got to teach The creation in Gospel Principles yesterday and it made me actually stop and think about all that God has given us and how we have so much to be grateful for! I am grateful I had that opportunity to learn so much while preparing the lesson and also to learn from the members while we talked. I love that He loved us enough to put detail into our world to ensure that we could ALL have joy here:)

Well I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and use the time we have to be grateful not only to one another to our God. We are blessed beyond belief:) I love you all and hope that you are all doing well:)

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Sister Taylor Andrus

Houses For Dayzzzzz

Wow this week was great! We tracted all the week long! It was crazy! I have never knocked so many doors in my life. But As you can tell after a long days work of knocking doors I got to rest a little. We met a super cool older couple named the Kramers. we met them because we asked him about his piece of petrified wood on the front porch. He knows a lot about different religions and initially invited us in to just learn more and let us take a break from tracting. But as we continued to teach He seemed more and more interested and more and more uneasy about this actually changing some of him Lutheran beliefs. We asked them to read the Book of Mormon and to pray. He said that He will call us and we can come back another time to talk some more. After our lesson they gave us some "Lefse" which is potatoe based tortillas and some butter and sugar on top. they were super bland but not a bad snack:) I have yet to have a meal that I cannot get down. But at least we know that the Kramers liked us enough to feed us;)

We also had a lesson with our investigator Aimee. She is going to be baptized on Dec 5th and is doing so well. We taught her the Law of Chastity and we got to resolve some of her concerns and help her commit to repentance and understanding that once we repent we are brand new and there is no leftover scars or baggage. She felt much better after we all shared our testimonies and experiences with her. It was great. She is so prepared and I am so excited to see her make this covenant and make it to the temple:)

Our Less Active this week was with Shelby Robinson. She is the one who owns the rat. That rats name is Lilith. But we talked about our divine nature with her and how even though we all have own divine natures that Christ gospel and our own personalities are what we use here on earth and how we help others and our selves get back to our Father. We had one other lesson this week where we talked a lot about the spirit world and how important it is to have that time to learn and accept the promises that we didn't make here on our own. It was great to not only learn so much this week but also to teach some people who are willing to listen and learn about God.

I hope you all have a wonderful week and take time to think about those around you that could used the blessings of the Gospel in their lives. As thanksgiving is right around the corners our neighbors and friends will be in the spirit to receive our Savior. Thank you for all the love and support:)

Sister Taylor Andrus