Making Miracles

Do coincidences really exist? What makes something a coincidence? Is it just our lack of understanding--the fact that we can't explain perfectly how something came about? Is a coincidence then not the same as a miracle? Miracles exist. But there is something different between a miracle and mere coincidence. Miracles are extraordinary accounts or occurrences brought about by the power of God. Is a coincidence not the same, just excluding any acknowledgement of Deity? To bring about a miracle, faith--action--is necessary; while a coincidence may be observed by any bystander you find along the way. So, do coincidences really exist? I would say that coincidences are observed miracles without the drive for an answer. If coincidences exist, so too exists a lack of knowledge and understanding. And how then do we fill the gap? This lack of knowledge? As with anything in this life, progression requires action. Without action there could never be a reaction. Can you really expect to receive answers to questions you never made? Even if an answer came, there would be no recognition because your eyes were not set on the matter at hand--the question. There is a process in making miracles, whereas coincidences come and go in an instant. There are miracles in our lives each day. But do we have the faith to act, to learn, to seek out, and see them as such? Or are we satisfied to sit back and view the world with its "coincidences"? Never be afraid to make a miracle.

The summer before my mission my parents moved to LaPlace, Louisiana--a suburbian city outside of New Orleans. As a college kid with no stable housing, I too was priveledges to move from Pennsylvania to Louisiana just a few short weeks after returning home. Here I found myself living in Louisiana for one month while waiting to leave for my mission. While there, my dad was called as the Ward Mission Leader, and since I had no acquaintances or friends or really anything better to do, we all worked closely with the missionaries in the ward. At this point in the story there is no coincidence, but the miracle is well on its way getting people in the right places.

To fully appreciate what is about to happen, you need to realize that this story is not about me. Go six years back to the life of Emiliano as he makes his way from Mexico to the United States. Many of the details in his story are not mine to share, but the point is that here falls a turning point in more lives than just his--and for even more than just the apparent reasons. While in the U.S., Emiliano ran into a few missionaries, and not too much later, found himself serving as a missionary as well.

How do missionaries get assigned to their areas? To start off simply, each person desiring to serve a mission fills out some paperwokr describing, well, who they are. These papers are then sent in to the Church Offices and reviewed by one of the 12 apostles--or First Presidency-- and are tere assigned to a specific part of the world to serve by the spirit of revelation. That is to say that these men consider what is in the papers you sent in, comments from Church leaders, and then pray to know where you should serve. Of all the places in the world, I was assigned to serve in the Villahermosa Mexico Mission--which is to say that I would be spending 2 years of my life in various parts of southern Mexico. Emiliano, or the now Elder Hernandez, on the other hand had been assigned to the Baton Rouge, Louisiana Mission. Still being unknown to one another, there is no coincidence. 

The two of us began our missions and we were assigned to various areas in our missions. After some time Elder Hernandez found himself serving in LaPlace, Louisiana where my father was still the Ward Mission Leader. For this, Elder Hernandez frequently found himself in the home of my parents. As all parents of a missionary, mine mentioned my service and Elder Hernandez soon realized that I was serving in the mission where his house was, and consequently where his family as well. Through my parents we established contact in December and began to see the possible "coincidences". But, I was in Ciudad del Carmen--one of the area of the mission farthest away from his house and it looked like I'd be there for over a year.

However, January 6th, 2013 I woke up without being able to walk. I could not stand. I had no strength in my leg at all. What had happened? I was walking fine and working hard just the day before. What had changed?

Now, could you call this a coincidence? I called it a month of suffering. I called it one of the worst times of my life. It was so bad, President made me call my mom. But now, I call it a necessary part of a miracle--and for that--one of the greatest blessings I could receive. Because of my many medical problems that followed, I found myself stuck in the ward of the Mission Doctor. Ironically the largest area in the mission for the missionary that could hardly walk. You might call that a coincidence. The area covering a large part of the state of Tabasco and even going into the neighboring state of Chiapas it is impossible for 2 missionaries on foot to ever dream about working the whole area. But while working and walking along highways for a few weeks it occurred to me that Tacotalpa--the hometown of Elder Hernandez was close. 

Upon asking many members, no one seemed to know how to get to Tacotalpa. But my communication with my parents, and consequently Elder Hernandez was not lost. Before long I got the phone numbers of his parents and set up an appointment to go see them.

We were ecstatic. Elated. We ran across the street to tell the member lives in front of us everything that happened. He agreed and began to get excited with us as well for what was happening. He asked us how we were getting there. We responded that we had no idea. We had planned to get up early and get out to the highway quick so that we could wait for one of the 3 buses that go to Tacotalpa daily in hopes of getting there before lunch. The member, Hno. Lhimi said that that just wouldn't do and that he would adjust his plans and take us. He wanted to be a part of this. 

So we went. We all got to Tacotalpa, a first for the three of us, called the mother of the family and waited while Emiliano's brother came to find us. And so we waited. About 10 minutes later, the brother, Bolivar, turned the corner and quickened his pace towards us. He had the biggest smile on his face. We then made it to his house where we ate lunch and began to answer the many questions the family had. We found that they already had every pamphlet, a triple combination, and various DVD's of the church. Better yet, they had read them. But we quickly realized the need of our presence for their understanding. Things went well and we will be in their home again tomorrow.

Sunday, we met with the ward to enlist their help with this family along with the other 15 investigators we have with a baptismal date. The ward noticed that we had been working. Then they noticed they hadn't been as much as they could. This changed the meeting schedule. The third hour everyone met together to discuss what was going on in missionary work in the ward. I was asked to speak and enlist the help of the members.

"But, behold, faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow those that believe."  

D&C 63:9

Many of our investigators look for a sign before they can act. But if we believe, if we are true faithful members, if we are converted, these signs will follow us. Then, it is our responsibility as members to be this sign for them. Do not be afraid to make a miracle. Do not be afraid to act. This is a miracle in the making.

Elders Cabral and Andrews with the Hernandez Family.

Elders Cabral and Andrews with the Hernandez Family and Hermano Lhimi.

Hermano Lhimi.

The Touch of the Master's Hand

It is hot. And it is just starting. Apparently, everything--every aspect of Tabasco Mexico is condusive to disease. This week Elder Cabral and I got stomach infections. His didn't last quite as long since he has a healthier stomach, but it still got the both of us pretty good. The adversity always seems to come up on us as we have something important to do. 

Which brings us to the story of this week. Which is really the story of the last month--the story of Hna Zuleyma. 

Well, we can't even really call her Hermana Zuleyma, cause then she sounds like an old indigenous woman. When the fact of the matter is that she is the Bishop's 20 year old neighbor and family friend. She has known the family, and consequently the church, and consequently the missionaries for the past 13 years. The first day we passed by her house was over a month ago while Elder Deem and I were purging the old records from the Area Book of everyone that had ever progressed in the area for the last 5 years. We noticed she lived by the Bishop so we figured we'd stop by and see what the situation was like. We brought with us the Bishop's son which is when we found out that they were actually close friends--like brother and sister. 

She told us that she never could be conquered by the other missionaries because eventually they would stop coming. So, we continued with the lesson and at the end asked if there was anything that we could do for her. The room went silent. She slowly looked up and me and Elder Deem and just said softly, "Please come back." 

Well, as a missionary, upon hearing that you are happy, right? But, you couldn't help but wonder why so many pairs of missionaries had left her. A question that she, as well as I still don't know. But, in that moment, I let her in on a secret. The secret was simple. That she does the homework we leave and that she really tries to understand what we teach. So, she agreed she would do just that. We had to put her to the test, so we left a pamphlet, the Book of Mormon with some assigned reading and some other small things to do that really add up for a first visit and told her we would be back the next day to check up on her progress. For certain if she read it all then we could justify walking the hour to her house in the hot sun, if not, it would be easy to drop her. So, we went back the next day.

She forgot where we told her to stop, so she read even more to make sure. We asked her questions, and we couldn't believe what we were hearing. She explained every little detail to us! She retaught us the lesson we had taught from the previous day and then added more with what she had read. We were blown away.

According to the mission standards she could have gotten baptized the next day since in the past 13 years she had to for sure have gone to the church 4 times, and she didn't have any problems with any of the commandments that would keep her waiting, but something kept me and Elder Deem back and we committed her to be baptized 1 month later after that day (thus assisting 4 more times). It certainly wasn't necessary, and certainly wasn't wise if we were worried about reporting numbers or the fact that Elder Deem wouldn't be there, but we did what we felt was right. And there we went.

We taught everything as Preach My Gospel tells to in the exact order as it comes.  Rarely ever happens like that because you always get side-tracked one way or another, but we decided to do it like that. Many missionaries can teach all the lessons in a week, hey, I did it all once in one day, but it really takes a good missionary to effectively teach and keep someone interested for 4 weeks. Something that amazingly Elder Deem, and eventually Elder Cabral and I were able to do for her. 

All the while Zuleyma found herself fighting a battle with her own family, which are the rest of her neighbors. Even the day of her baptism her mom sent her a text message saying she shouldn't get baptized. But, Zuleyma had already mentioned to us that she had felt what she had felt, and that she had to continue with what she knew was right.

She was then baptized last Thursday where we had the most spiritual baptismal program I have ever attended. She then asked me to also confirm her as a member of the Church--my first time ever doing so. I had imagined that my first time to do so would come with my own children, but that did not change the experience. While confirming someone you also give them a blessing. But the blessing is not from you. But, comes from your Father in Heaven. Once again I was allowed to feel as I would imagine a father would in this role, even though she is older than me and already has a child of her own. It is an odd feeling. A special feeling when you hope you've taught her well enough. You hope she will be able to go on. You are concerned for what will happen when the day comes that you aren't there to take care of her--because as a missionary that day will surely come. And nothing is more comforting than being able to leave the Holy Ghost at that time. There was nothing better I could do for her. 

True repentance is a real aspect of life made possible to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his Atonement. Our potential and children of God is unimagineable. Please, do not sell yourself short. 

And always watch for the "Touch of the Master's Hand"

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

With love,

Elder Andrews

Elder Cabral, Zuleyma, and Elder Andrews at Zuleyma's baptism.

Elder Andrews with a coconut drink and a churro!

Letter #27 from Mexico

It was a successful week. But, with your successes, come failures. Which, gives us more opportunities to have successes, again.

One battle that we were having with Delfina is getting some stability. With that, Julio and his brother Arnold have been some great help. With that, we are using our time to help all of them, which is nice since Julio just recently got baptized. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, he got a job where he was required to work Sundays. So, we went with him and had an awesome lesson. So awesome in fact that he went and was able to find a different job and attend with us last week with his mom. This week, he convinced his sister to come to Church with us which was nothing short of a miracle. We even got his interview all set up to get the Priesthood yesterday and he was going to go early. So, we passed by to check on them before we ourselves headed off and Julio was gone as we expected. But no one but his brother wanted to come anymore. Turns out Julio went to work! Still have to fingure out what is going on there.

We've also had a lot of success with Zuleyma who is going to be baptized this Thursday. We've had a lot of running around to do and we're doing the best we can to keep up. For that reason, don't have much time to say much of anything (sorry mom).

I hope that a few pictures can help animate this week for ya.

With love,
Elder Andrews

P.S. Don't be a pig.
P.P.S. Mom, we only hung it up to clean it, don't worry. It fell down.

Running Around

I had some really cool stuff to share with you this week, but I forgot most of it. Sorry.

To start off, I'm now with Elder Cabral. He is a good companion and we get along pretty well. His English is terrible. We're getting there. It's funny when his pronunciation is so bad that he starts saying profanities on accident. We're learning more carefully about when to pracitce English--not that anyone here would understand it. Elder Cabral surprisingly is still pretty shy even after a year and a half in the mission. I'm convinced that if I didn't look at him for a whole lesson he just wouldn't say a thing. He's not lost, just goes a little slower. But, the best thing is that we get along and are working well together.

As for my health, well, many keep asking me. My health is doing fine. Don't worry. In fact, we are finding out daily more ways to help what I have. Or, what I may actually have. Just putting my whole entire medical history in order. It's funny because since there is so much wrong with me, the Bishop, Elder Deem and I would just joke that I have cancer (which, yes, there is a real risk for, but not likely). Long story short, two Sundays ago as Elder Deem was saying goodbye to everyone he would occassionally mention to some members to make sure to take care of my cancer. The Stake President's wife overheard that and got scared for me. (The Stake President lives in my ward and we are already pretty tight). Long story short, she thought I really had cancer and had Stake President Jimenez take me for an ultrasound. I'm glad I will never be pregnant cause those things are cold. I don't have cancer. I do have some other cool problems and a picture of my stomach though. While we were there the Stake President figured why not and got one too. He also has some of my problems. So we're even closer now.

That day I was still limping. Pretty bad. But, now, after a few adjustments, I don't limp. It is something else. In fact, to make sure Elder Cabral is awake and ready, while we are walking I just start to run. (He walks slower than me, and I have arthritis.) He just looks at me, decides he has nothing better to do I suppose and just chases after me until we get to wherever I decide to stop.

About that. It's nice that I'm healing such because there are certain times in missionary work when you need your health. This Sunday was one. We passed by with an investigator to take her to a member's house to get a ride to church. She informed us she wasn't going anymore. (This is Delfina, Julio's mom). She said she didn't want to go because she didn't have a dress. Lame excuse, right? There is always another underlying problem though. So, after questioning her even more she said that that really was her reason. At that point, I cut off our conversation and said we'd be right back. Then, Elder Cabral and I ran 20 minutes to a member's house her size (the best I could tell) to retrieve a dress. Guess what. She went to Church. All because I could run.

Also, with the new transfer starting up, new missionaries came. We had Zone Class and there are only 4 gringos in the Zone of 19. I think I have the most time in the mission of all the gringos too. Point is, there was a new Elder who came up to me and started talking to me like we knew each other for a while. Started asking about my foot and everything. It all seemed a little strange. Apparently he's been keeping up reading the blog. He said the mission seemed rough. Haha. The transition still hit him pretty hard even after knowing all of the details of my mission. So, just know that you don't get the full effect. And I'll try to be more careful about what I share with you kids.

So, for now, I'll just say, it's amazing.

Love you all,
Elder Andrews

Take a moment to watch it:
Padre Terrenal, Padre Celestial (Earthly Father, Heavenly Father)

Another Week of Change

So, this week another week of change. Elder Deem should be in Denver by now waiting on his way home. He finished his two (and two week) years of service and for that, is no longer with me. It was a good run for the last three weeks and he wasn't sure how to feel going home he may have developed Colitis himself with all those butterflies he had in his stomach. But, we'll see how he takes it later. 

My new companion I will be picking up tomorrow in Villahermosa. His name in Elder Cabral and he is from Elder Andrade's generation. So, he has got some experience, and I hope I'll be able to learn as much as I can from him. We'll see about his English. When Elder Nelson was here he told us about a missionary who came back to his ward and had forgotten English. I thought before, "How cool that must be to just forget". He then followed up by saying, "How selfish" of this missionary, "...he didn't teach any of his companions English." I would joke with Elder Deem when he tried to say something in English and failed by just calling him selfish.

In this last week we had a good time though. Elder Deem never had his green card, so there was a scare that he might not be allowed to go home. For that, we spent a whole day in Villa. He went to the airport to sign papers and I went out to work with Elder Alvarado, the missionary that stayed inside the house with me all day because he too was going home. Long story short, we are both still here! Sad story made longer, he still doesn't know his area so we spent the day walking around in the rain. Don't worry mother, I was prepared! But, I gave it away to another Elder who was going to be stuck in Villa with one set of clothes, which would be important to not get wet then, right? Remember when someone else got stuck in Villa and rained on right as they started up? That was me, so Iwas able to show  little mercy. Point is, I got really wet, but with my cool packpack, my books didn't. After walking around all day I got back to the offices to pick up Elder Deem, who of course was still perfectly dry. We said goodbye to President nd he came to give me a big hug because I m still live--which might be the biggest miracle of all. I gave him a big hug and he to me, but whispered in my ear in English, "Wet Bear". Elder Deem heard it and laughed the whole way home. 

So now I am known as Colitis Boy, Sharky, and Wet Bear. But, I guess not anymore since Elder Deem left. But Bishop will still call me Sharky because some pills I take are Shark cartilege. That's cool.

Which brings us to the next story. This ward is awesome. When they invite you to share your testimonies, if you don't go up the first time, you don't go up. Literally they don't let you. There are that many people that go up. I thought they were evacuating the building. It was insane. Since it was Elder Deem's last week, they invited us to go first. As the Counselor in the Bishopric invited us he said, "...and now we'll hear from Elder...ehh...Elder...(silence)...Elder Deem and his companion." Obviously I was supposed to go first since the occasion wasn't really "for me" but the counselor just didn't know my name. So, I started off my testimony, "Good afternoon. My name is Elder Andrews. Many of you know me as 'other Elder'..." Sad story, but true, because many people have called me "otro Elder". It doesn't help that Andrews is practically impossible to pronounce in Spanish and so many just don't try. But, now that Elder Deem is gone and after my testimony (introduction, don't worry mom, I shared stuff that actually mattered), many people assured me that I was now Elder Andrews and my new companion would be 'other Elder'. How nice.

So, how's the work? It's going great. We have so much to do, we just have to remember it all so it doesn't die down. We have one investigator  in particular that is awesome. She is a single mother in her 20's. Family friend of the Bishop (lives two houses down) and the first time I went to visit her she told us how many missionaries had been to visit her but none could conquer her and convince her. Long story short, maybe we were in the right place at the right time? Because she is getting baptized this 21st of March. It is cool to work with her and have the Bishop's family so closely involved in everything. Zuleyma has already been scolded by her family for hearing so frequently from the Mormons. She was backed up to the wall of her faith. She didn't know what to do. So she prayed. She sked for help from her friend and neighbor--the Bishop's son, who happens to be our Ward Mission Leader. He gave her advice, that was surprisingly unbiased. She made her decision for herself. She decided she could not deny what she had learned, and she could not deny she desired to learn more.

I hope that all of us could evaluate our own conversions and I would suggest what President Monson did this last conference about testimony, "I believe that everyone here has a conversion. If you do not have the depth of conversion you would like, I would suggest you work towards the one you would like." (More or less).

Remeber, "The path is simple, but not easy to follow"

With love,

Elder Caleb O. Andrews

Is It Any Surprise?

Dear friends and family,

A lot has happened, and if you don't look carefully, well, you'd say it was just another week.

So, to clear a few things up from last week. About two hours after I told you that I would soon be training Elder Sanchez we got a call. Special Transfers. Elder Sanchez was getting sent to Palenque. So, we got him the the Mission Offices early Tuesday morning and then we were off. Elder Deem and I alone. And it's weird just having one companion now. But this all means that here in Las Mercedes, well, its all mine come this next week when Elder Deem goes home. Who knonws what will happen when the time comes, but when it does, I've got to be ready.

So, we've been working really hard this last week. Working hard to cover our area and working hard to really know where we are, who we are with, what is going on, along with a lot of other random fun facts. But, I'll just tell a few of our adventures this week.

To start out, our area is the largest in the mission. Which means travel is difficult. But, when things are difficult, you tend to learn to count your blessings. Since we don't have much money to travel, we find ourselves walking. With that, we find ourselves getting free rides from random people. Whether it is the Pochi driver (kinda like a gold-cart) who wants to practice his English, or some random inactive member from who knows where, they tend to find us. That, or the Bishop just happens to drive by. This last week we went to Teapa. It's really not ridiculously far away, but it does take an hour in one of those ghetto Nacho Libre school buses. Yes, they do exist, and they go to Teapa. (It's amazing how real Nacho Libre is. Everything is real.) So, we got to Teapa, where there haven't been missionaries for over a year. Elder Deem had only been there once in the last 4 months. So, we didn't have much to go on. But, we found some people and had a productive time there. But, the test comes when you try to get home. Don't push your luck too late, or you may just find yourself sleeping somewhere in Teapa. Because how do you find these Nacho Libre buses to take you back? Well, you wait on the street and signal you want on when one passes by. Supposedly one leaves every hour. But, what time in that hour? Who knows. So, we found ourselves waiting in Teapa for a Nacho Libre bus to pass by and pick us up. Thankfully one of the member kids decided to hang out with us while we waited. That consisted of him telling us to just speak in English and he would sit in the dirt and listen to how cool it was. That was fun. But, after a half hour of waiting, there was still no bus in sight. But, we were waiting right on the bridge, so if you were leaving Teapa, well, you'd pass right by us. All of a sudden, a large charter bus stopped right in front of us, right in front of the bridge. The doors opened and the conductor yelled at us to hop on in. It was odd because these buses never stopped. They were known for their reputation of never stopping--always direct. So, I hopped on up and Elder Deem followed me (he kind of had to). Upon getting on the bus I looked back to try and find a seat in the darkness. But to my surprise, the bus was empty. We were dead for sure. Maybe. But, it turned out that the conductor was a member who had been ordered to take the bus back to Villa to help with who knows what. He figured he'd help us out and get a little company. I have never gone faster on a two lane highway. It was awesome. And it even came with air conditioning. There are some perks to missionary work.

We also had a baptism this week of a teenager, Julio, 19, who found the church through his somewhat less-active brother. We haven't really been preparing Julio for his baptism, but to serve a mission since that is what he has told us already that he wants to do. He said from the beginning that he wanted to make these changes in his life so that others might be able to see that it is possilbe, and do the same for themselves. He even has been praying for the last three weeks that his mother might be able to feel what he has felt. Needless to say, God answers prayers. God touches hearts. And for that, Julio's mother practically begged us to begin teaching her.

This family has problems. But like any family with problems, they have potential. I'll add my witness to that of President Monson. That people can change. I've seen it many times. It's not something new, and it's not something that is going to stop.

Here in Mercedes the work is going great. There is a lot to be done. And we are going on a good path. I really am blessed to be here. Maybe having Colitis is worth it--even though I wouldn't recommend it. There are miracles coming, and I hope you can see the ones that have already passed.

Until next week, take care,

Elder Andrews

Modern-Day Revelation: Words of Wisdom

If anything, I am learning how true the Word of Wisdom is. If only everyone had Colitis they would have to obey it--to the last word. All of the "bad" stuff that people normally think of--drugs, alcohol, coffee, tea--forget about it. If you tried to take those with Colitis you'd be done. Then the red meat and all. Pretty much, mother, you would not recognize me. I eat a bran cereal here called "Fitness", its pretty much Raisin Bran without the Raisins. Best part? I get to use soy milk. Weird right? Well, after a week it is pretty normal. I'm also only allowed to eat toasted bread--which they sell pre-toasted bread here, no one has a toaster. Who knows why, its not the same. Its as hard as a rock. But, lucky for me, one of my friends (Elders) from Carmen decided to leave me his toaster when he went home in January and when Elder Pack heard about it he brought me my toaster! (I left it there cause I was going home, remember?) But yeah, funny story about that is that Elder Pack found that out because he himself got sick again--the same throat thing. And he happened to call Doctor Chablè while I was eating at his house.

So, about all this no that you already know the great details. I am here in an area called "Mercedes y Teapa". That is to say that we cover two areas. This area is also known to be the largest in the mission. I could walk for a whole week and not leave my area. It is a little different from being on an island where there were 5 different "areas" and I could walk to all parts in about 40 minutes. I am here helping to train Elder Sanchez who is from Peru with his first companion, or "dad" as they say, Elder Deem. Elder Deem is going home in two weeks and so it is most likely that Elder Sanchez will soon be my son--not step-son because I would finish his training. Who knows how that all goes. Elder Sanchez has never seen the Emperor's New Groove. I was devistated to hear that as well. Elder Deem is from North Dakota, so, that's kind of weird. But it is what it is.

Things here are going really well for us. Since you really have not heard much from me, two General Authorities of the Church have visited the mission. Elder Russell M. Nelson came and if I could share one thing that he said it would be this quote, often recited by Obispo Chablè:

"We have trials to learn to use our agency". 

Or, in other words, we get to suffer a little to see how we choose to handle it. From a talk I love, "The Lord Requireth the Heart" it says that out experiences don't make us who we are, but rather how we choose to react to them.

Elder Johnson, President of Area Mexico also said that we have got to study your scriptures and pray daily in order to not be left behind in this great work. Please make sure you are in good standing with that.

As for random other things, well, life is good. I learned where there is a churro stand and I'm allowed to eat them once a week. Bishop even gave me one of his today. :P So, I can't eat the hamburgers or pizzas or tacos I would want to, but its all good, cause at least I have churros once in a while. Well, sometime soon. We keep getting too busy I haven't had time to go buy some even though its on the way to the house...

Stay strong family and friends,

God Bless You All,

Elder Andrews

Elder Andrews, Elder Deem, and Elder Sanchez.