Hello again. Wasn't this an amazing week!? Transfers, M’s Baptism, Pinewood Derby, Easter. A fun filled and spiritually gigantic week, I am so grateful for all of these wonderful experiences and the many things that I have learned because of the Easter weekend. On Friday 4/18/14 I received three Christmas cards that were sent to the Manistique, Michigan apartment after I had already left. I'm really hoping that we all know by now that I haven't been living there since December and to help those who might be confused, here is my current mailing address:

Elder Andrew Luymes

529 Seminole Way
DeForest, WI 53532

DeForest is one word not two and the DeForest post office is a bit picky about what they deliver so please pay attention to detail to make it easier for them. Thank you J

This week is the start of a new transfer. Elder Pounds and I will continue to be working together seeing as he's still being trained. DeForest is a wonderful area to be serving in and the Sun Prairie ward is excellent. At the conclusion of this new transfer I will have served in DeForest for 6 months and will be one week shy of my one year mark. Transfer day is June 4th. I'm excited to be here with Elder Pounds. He is a great missionary and I'm very happy to be with him. I have high hopes for this new transfer and Elder Pounds and I are ready to make some amazing things happen. With the guidance of the Holy Ghost and God's blessings, we will continue to touch the hearts of the people and share Gods love to all who live here in DeForest.

On Saturday the 19th, Elder Pounds and I had one of our investigators step into the baptismal font and make that important step towards Exaltation. M is a 9 year old that my previous companion (Elder Ferney) and I had been working with since late January/early February. He comes from a part member less active family. So working with his family has been awesome to say the least. We were able to rejoice with them as we reactivated the mother, then we worked with M and now he's baptized and confirmed. M's grandpa did the actual performing of the both ordinances, but Elder Pounds and I were able to take part in the confirmation. Everything went well and M was a bit of a goofball after the baptism since he was with two of his cousins who are all very close in size and age. It was so much fun, and I'm so excited for the family as they continue to show great signs of spiritual improvement and progress.

Also on Saturday the 19th, was the Sun Prairie wards 5th annual Pinewood Derby races. A majority of the ward was there and we had about 35 cars. Dinner was provided so the three missionary companionships took part in the food and in the racing. Each companionship made a car. I had a great night and so much fun being with the members and talking, enjoying the evening. The winners were determined by the cars average time of 4 races, and they randomly paired up cars so that each car raced four times against four different competitors. We can thank one of the Young Men in the ward who developed the software himself for the race and to keep times and races organized. We had zero problems! Sadly the DeForest car was not in the top three overall, however we did win 3 of our four races. Of the three missionary cars, the DeForest car won! Hurray! After the "gravity" cars were done racing the ward had an "unlimited class" This is where there are no weight restrictions, or fans are attached on the car with batteries that can take anywhere from 15 seconds to a whole minute to charge. We had one car that looked like a semi compared to an average pinewood derby. Inside was a very large battery that powered an electric motor that then powered the wheels. This car flew down the track in 1.69 seconds. The second fasted car with a super fan attached to it ran a time of 1.96. This motored car was impressive until it fell off the track on its second run and kind of fell apart. It was a great night and we had many cool cars that were impressive at sight.

Notice the cheese wedge with mice coming out...this is Wisconsin.

Easter was spectacular too. The sacrament service speakers were more than what I was expecting. Not only was it really cool being able to participate in the confirmation but the atmosphere of the service was touching to the heart. There is true cause to rejoice at the Atonement. I am so grateful for the Savior and his consuming love. I am touched by his sacrifice for me, his guidance in my life and the overwhelming blessing of the Holy Ghost. Elder Pounds and I were blessed to have been able to teach an investigator about the Atonement on Saturday morning. In that lesson we told him that the Atonement is the most powerful and most important doctrine that could ever be taught. As we shared scriptures and shared our testimonies of the Atonement I was personally filled with the spirit and was so happy for the Savior and what he did for me in the garden and on the cross. The members took good care of us that night.

There is no scripture for the week, but I do have a video that I would very strongly encourage all to watch as well as my Mormon.org profile.

http://easter.mormon.org

http://www.mormon.org/me/CJCH/AndrewLuymes

Thank you all so much for your prayers, I am so grateful for them and for you J

Happy Easter

Elder Luymes