June 3, 2013

JUNE!! I cant believe its already June! It is so hot here, this summer is going to be a doozy. I am already grateful I only serve one summer. Earlier this week it was 104 degrees, plus humitidy! I ALMOST DIED! I am never not sweating, which is already grossing me out. I have to shower at night because its so hot that's a good way to cool down and I get so sweaty during the day, I am too gross to get into my bed. But the second, not kidding, I turn the shower off I start sweating again. Our apartment doesn't have AC, so personal fans have become a new best friend. Its an encouraging thing to get out the door though. Well the best news of the week is that WE MOVED!! Thursday night was our last night in our grody, old apartment! Cleaning that place was a joke. There was no way to clean somethings because of the mold. We found out that the church started renting the apartment in 1994, aka almost as old as I am. So there was 19 years of filth in that place. The attic had some interesting items we found, including old Christmas trees, broken furniture, nerf guns, and sleeping bags. I think Elders used to have slumber parties in the attic! The furniture was all so old the mission just had us throw it away and they gave us all new stuff. Friday night the moving Elders from the mission came and brought us our new stuff! It was a glorious sight to see a couch that you could sit on and more than 1 fork to share. Saturday we finished our move and left the keys to our old place there!! I have seriously never sweat like I did moving. With the heat and the humidity, it was an adventure. Our new apartment, like I was saying earlier, doesn't have AC though. So we are a little pathetic at night trying to sleep. Its so hot, we sleep without sheets, in front of fans, and try to just lay absolutely still so we don't make it hotter. Its hard to fall asleep its so hot. But the weather is supposed to cool down this coming week, so pray for that. And rain. We could use some rain to help cool things down. Friday, amid all our craziness moving, we taught an amazing lesson to a referral from our ward. We ate lunch at the church, gave her a tour, then taught the first lesson. The Spirit was so strong!! When I started sharing Joseph Smith's First Vision, the whole room changed. I got a lump in my throat, I got tears in my eyeballs, and I felt like I was going to woof! You could feel the Spirit so strong, you could have cut it with a knife! I knew what I was sharing was true, and so did everyone else in the room. It was a really amazing experience. When we got back in the car, Sister Roberts turned to me and said "When you were reciting the first vision, I felt the spirit stronger than I have felt my whole mission!" I was needing to feel like a successful missionary, and Heavenly Father totally gave me that experience as a tender mercy. I am so grateful for the Spirit, especially the times that Heavenly Father lets the Spirit work through us! Linda committed to be baptized, but let us know that she is afraid of water. We told her that we could work with that :) We have our second appointment with her tomorrow, so we will see how her reading has been going and her prayers about baptism. This coming week we have a lot of teaching appointments and on Saturday we get to go to Harrisburg and hear Elder Bednar speak to our mission! President Topham said its just a normal visit, but we think something is up. Sunday, our stake is having a "Special Stake Conference" and Elder Bednar will be there too, so something is up. But we will see soon enough. This week was full of great learning experiences for me and helped me realize how grateful I am for the little things in life. Like warm showers, cold air, and not having to tract outside in 104 degree weather :) But I am grateful that I get an opportunity to learn to be grateful for these thing the hard way. Heavenly Father knows what we need and how we need to learn. I know that His timing is way better than ours, even when it doesn't seem like that. I am excited for the week ahead of us. Happy last week of school to the girls! Finish strong!! I'll be there next year to cheer you on at the finish line!! :) I love you all so much, thank you for your continued love, support and prayers. I can feel them.

Sister Andresen

Ill send a few emails of pictures. This silly email system only lets us send 1 or 2 at a time!