Dear Family and friends – we had a 1 hour skype session with Andrew on Christmas Day and he is very well and very happy.  He said he lost 10lbs at the beginning of his mission and has finally gained it back.  Now that he is in an area with a real Ward we expect a few more dinner appointments will tip the scale further.  He says the weather is tolerable and with many layers he keeps warm.  He and his new companion seem to have a good camaraderie between them. Elder Ferney’s family lives in Nanjing China where his father is the director of quality control for a seat belt and airbag manufacturing company. Andrew further enjoyed bragging about the brand new, 2014 Subaru Legacy with All-Wheel drive that they have for transportation.  This not only consoled Ted’s nerves but made him jealous.  When asked what he remembers with fondness about his previous area he replied, “The people there are real characters”. Andrew’s improved maturity is greatly evident as is his commitment to doing the Lord’s work.  He has learned a great deal about what his priorities should be already on his mission thanks in part to the work and also from the companions/fellow missionaries that he has worked with.

-Annette

Merry Christmas,                                                                              Dec 23, 2013

So the Libraries in Wisconsin are up to date, which means fancy cards, login info and a lot of stuff that is not working. As of now, I have killed 30+ minutes trying to get mine and Elder Ferney's cards and stuff to work. Don't hate if this ends up not working out this week.

My new mailing address is:

529 Seminole Way
DeForest, WI 53532

Elder Ferney from Ogden UT, standing at 6'5", my new homie!

I'm in the Sun Prairie Ward, but we live in DeForest. The Ward here has 200 active members and has three sets of missionaries, 2 sets of Elders and 1 set of Sisters. Things here are nice and I am enjoying myself so far. My companion is Elder Ferney. He stands 6'5'' and has been out on his mission 3 months. He is from Ogden Utah and is 18 years old. He was "born" here in DeForest and was trained by one of my MTC friends. The weather here is a tad bit warmer than Manistique and has less snow, but you wouldn't know that because we just got hit with a massive storm that dumped approx. 10-14 inches. It was really crazy. So much so that we had to cancel church yesterday. So Elder Ferney and I had our own sacrament meeting and stuff, it was kind of nice. Later on that day we got fed by the Bishops family and enjoyed a very nice and large dinner. J

My transfer went all right. Things were mostly smooth, they just took forever. I haven't discovered anything missing so far.

Things in DeForest are pretty good. We have few investigators and a decent amount of potentials. So were in a finding mode right now. One thing that is really nice about DeForest is that the area got opened up earlier this year, so the town had not been tracted out yet. Unlike Manistique where the whole town had been tracted out 4 or 5 times already. This means that few people have had interaction with the missionaries, making them more open to talking to us.

Christmas is exciting. We will be having a few meals with members that day as well as Christmas Eve. As for doing anything special, not really for us, just enjoying a chill day.

Tracting shoe nailed to the wall of my new apartment,
this is a motivator to work hard. Notice the sole, but not
the soul, is missing.

A shirt nailed to the wall of my new apartment,
all the DeForest/Sun Prairie elders who serve
here started signing it when they transfer out.

Scripture for the week: 2 Nephi 26:24

 24 He doeth 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.

Love

Elder Luymes