Monday, March 16, 2015

We went to the Mesa Temple last Tuesday, and wow, that temple is amazing. It is, by far, the most different temple I've been to. But that's probably because it was the 7th temple dedicated in the world so...it's a bit older.

Our zone had a meeting last week and we discussed our zone goal and what it should be. After an hour of discussion, we decided that we should focus on teaching members how to be missionaries (or at least do their home teaching). That decision we reached how? We kept running into the problem of having massive ward and branch records, but church attendance not matching. The number of investigators is fairly low right now across the mission, but the less active numbers are high. Therefore, that is our focus.

Our mission president is so supportive of the deaf work here. It's wonderful. He's given attention to our special needs, is very supportive of our leaders and is willing to change things and make them work. He really is wonderful. As for my MTC companion's mission president, I see now why my dad felt that he should write this in my last letter, "One more thought that just came to me and I’m not sure how this applies to you at the moment but I know if one feels impressed by the spirit to say or do something, you should always do it, so here it goes: some may find fault with the gospel, the church, its leaders, their actions and complain and even rebel against-this leaves them on unstable ground and often they are left unto themselves, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God (D&C 121)-be steadfast in sustaining the gospel in every way!"

His mission president just recently got rid of one of the ASL areas in his mission. So now for the whole of Seattle and beyond, his area was more than doubled, without any increase to mileage, there's less than half of the ASL missionaries now (the rest were sent to do English work), their pool of investigators/less-active doubled, and they have no way to teach all of those people.

I know that the mission president is called of God, and that he really does receive revelation for the missionaries. I am so grateful that President Sweeney is so supportive and meeting with our branch president and branch mission leader monthly to discuss how he can better help the missionaries and the branch grow according to their vision as well as his. I really am going to miss him.

I guess that brings me to the next point I have not told any of you about. A few years ago there was only one deaf branch for the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Mesa area until it got big enough for Mesa to be its own branch (some of the members were traveling for an hour and a half one way, just to go to church every week). Our building was centered to accommodate the center of the Phoenix/Scottsdale/Mesa area, it will soon be moved to be the center of the phoenix/Scottsdale area. Such a location will be outside of our mission boundaries and since we are tied to the branch, we will, in the next coming months, be moved to the Phoenix mission. So, I will be in a different mission, with different missionaries, and a different mission president, but it will be the exact same area. It will be quite interesting.

On Sunday, we had a couple high councilors speak (yes, 2 at one time) and one of them spoke about the temple in such a beautiful way. It really made them, and the spirit they possess really come to life. He reminded me of my dad in many ways. First, he was just a couple years older than my dad when he converted to the gospel. He was married soon after and his story really mirrors what my dad went through. I really saw that in him when he spoke and could feel the power of his testimony as he bore it to his family who he had invited to that Sunday service.

I know this church is true and that the Lord has put us down here to learn powerful, valuable lessons that will be for our benefit and good.

Elder Sands

Monday, March 9, 2015

This week we had a wonderful experience. This last Saturday was the Deafnation Expo. It’s an Expo where it’s only for those who are deaf, hard of hearing, CODA (Child of Deaf Adults), SODA (Spouse of Deaf Adult, or Sibling of Deaf Adult), or know sign language.

Our branch set up a booth for the event and for 9 hours, we walked around and talked with everyone. We met several members, less active members, and a lot of nonmembers. We’ll see how fruitful it was when we start contacting all of our referrals we got. We set up a TV that repeated the last chapter in “The Testaments” over and over, Made a couple posters, had a couple banners and had a counter top full of the missionary pamphlets, ASL and English Books of Mormon, and “My Family” pamphlets. Overall, I think it effected many people who came to stop by.

My receptive skills are improving rapidly, I can now understand a good 60% of what everyone in the deaf branch says. It used to be 20-ish. President Carpenter, the branch president who is the VP for Sorinson in Arizona (you can look it up), asked me to speak in Sacrament, 5 minutes before it started. They also needed someone to play the organ (don’t ask me why they need one when everyone’s deaf) so I got to do both. I actually really enjoyed it. I gave my talk, another two people spoke after me, and then the branch president spoke, and then we ended sacrament meeting 20 minutes early because he didn’t have anything more to say (that’s how effective sign language can be sometimes).

I am enjoying the missionary work in ASL, immensely. I’m really glad I get to spend 2 years in this sacred work.

Elder Sands

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

NOTE: 1 NEW PICTURE! CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO THE RIGHT TO VIEW THE PICTURE ALBUM.

So I’m at the library and I have about 1 minute to write you and I haven’t even read your letters yet. So I love you all and hopefully I’ll get more than 15 minutes next week. I will write on Monday.

Love you bye

Elder Sands

=================

So if you saw my last letter, that was a perfect example of me panicking because I had just about a minute to write (frankly I’m quite impressed I got that much down). The moment I pressed the send button, I was saying aloud, "Oh please send, send, send!" and as I’m seeing Google sending it, I see my time have about 2 seconds left. The INSTANT Google finally said, "Your message has been sent" my clock hit 0 and shut down, wow, that timing was incredibly close.

But anyways, on to the important stuff.

I can't believe I’m going to say this, but... I think... I...like Arizona.

Wow that hurt

Anyways, this place is actually quite cool (kind of cool, but mostly awesome). I do dread the arrival of summer though. I still hear it from many that it is a time to not be happy. We will see.

So I am currently at the library and wow, the library here is nice. The library card is really cool too, far better than the ones in Washington. But they work in 20 minute sessions for the computer and they said I would only get one session, but the computer's letting me do as many as I wish, so let's not complain about that. (This letter may come in a couple, or three so keep your eyes open)

So my area is all of Scottsdale, Phoenix, Glendale, some of Mesa, and several other areas around phoenix that I don't know the names of yet. So my area is really large, and most of my time (99%) is spent in Phoenix. I'll send pictures of my apartment, it's actually quite nice.

My companions when I first arrived were Elders Brose and Burr, but now it is Elders, Burr and Walker. Transfers were just yesterday, which is why I’m writing you on Wednesday, so don't worry, I’ll write you on Monday too (*cheers from crowd*).

The trippiest thing about this place is all the cactus. Wow this place has a ton of cactus. But the Temples here are BEAUTIFUL. Mesa with it's grounds make the temple really something to look at. The Fauna of Arizona is actually quite nice. The Phoenix Arizona Temple, which was dedicated in October, is the newest temple in the world and wow, is it the godliest thing I have ever seen. It is, by far, the best temple in the world (and has the coolest name, I mean, how cool is "Phoenix"? that is just an awesome sounding, and looking word).

So I just realized that Google has such a thing as drafts so...no multiple emails!! (*cheers from crowd*)

The way that the Friendship Park Branch works is very similar to how the deaf branch works. We meet in an old building, easily 60-70 years old and the branch has a combined youth program with the hearing ward right before it. I don't really know how that works, but it does somehow. There were about 20-30 people there on Sunday, and apparently, that was a decent number. I met several people there, and made a few friends. Some things about the deaf culture are that 1. They are too the point, and 2. Until they get to know you they might not completely trust you. They don't often take to strangers.

Probably the scariest thing that has happened so far is driving with Elder Brose. Wow, it's scary. So deaf people, for the most part, can't speak. If someone is signing, then they need to look. And if they're talking, they let go of the steering wheel. So if Elder Brose wants to talk, he lets go of the steering wheel and makes micro adjustments about every second, but even then, that's kind of concerning. When people respond back-that’s when it is really kind of...terrifying. They look away from the road while they're "listening" to someone. Granted, they're all really good drivers, and they never look away from the road longer than a second or two, but still...not fun.

Thanks for the sheet music. Actually, a few fun facts that I didn’t even know. I now have the record for the most special musical numbers played by a missionary in the history of the MTC. I preformed 9 times for the MTC in a variety of devotionals and firesides and for a few general authorities. I auditioned 27 times and played in sacrament meeting 4 times as well as being the branch pianist. Because of all of that, someone must have told my Mission President because the moment I landed, he had some music for me to play for our musical fireside and gave me 5 days to learn it. I thought I would be able to keep this a secret.

I did so much at the MTC that now I have more mail from the MTC than I do from everybody else. They just keet sending me so many letters for the different things I did. It was kind of crazy. The thank you letter from the Branch Presidency was very nice though :) I'm gonna miss them.

Ok, now I’ve really got to go, thanks for everything everyone and I will send pictures when I can!

Elder Sands

Monday, February 23, 2015

Hello to everyone for Arizona!

Just a quick update:

My new companions (yes, plural) are Elders Brose and Burr. Elder Brose is hard of hearing but knows sign language really well and is a really happy and upbeat Elder. Elder Burr is kind of like me except he's been out for a while so he knows more. Next week, Elder Brose will be transferred to another area to start proselyting in English so Elder Walker will be his replacement. I have only just met him, but he's a nice guy.

My mission president is nothing like I expected and really neither is his wife, but they're really nice people.

Surprisingly enough, my first day in Scottsdale is a cloudy one with a  decent amount of rain. I've seen several different Cacti that I've never seen before in my life and it is so strange down here with all of the sandstone colored buildings everywhere.

Less than an hour in the state and they had me take a driving test to see if I would be worthy enough to drive one of their cars. I have yet to meet any deaf investigators or to meeting any members in the branch, but I am so looking forward to it.

I'm going to be in a car for my entire mission (from what my Mission President told me) so I won't need to buy a bike, but I will be staying in Arizona, mostly hopping back and forth between Phoenix and Scottsdale.

Elder Sands

Monday, February 23, 2015

I just want to let you know Elder Sands has safely arrived. What a great missionary! We are so excited to have him. President and Sister Sweeney picked him up at the airport. He has already met his ASL companions, interviewed with President Sweeney, taken his driving test with our Vehicle Coordinator and received his MSF card from the Finance Secretary. He is glad to be getting into the swing of things! We have a large group of new missionaries arriving next Monday. At that time, pictures will be taken and I will send you copies. Monday is generally preparation day, but it will be Wednesday next week due to the transfer cycle. I don’t know if he will get to email today. If you don’t hear from him today, you will next Wednesday March 4th.

Thank you for raising such a fine young man to serve the Lord. We promise to keep him busy! And take good care of him.

From the Arizona Scottsdale Mission

Friday, February 13, 2015

So I got a letter from Levi/Julie last week and let me just share something I noticed:

Levi wrote 4 lines in 2 paragraphs and this was his reason why: “I have to go do taxes”

May I recall to your memory “Dating 911” by John Bytheway where he share the story about the top 10 things women do to avoid going on a date.

“Hey, Susie. Would you like to go out with me?”

“Umm....sorry, I would love to but I have to...um...wash my hair”

“Oh, well, how about next week?”

“Well you see, I can’t do it then either because...I think I’m going shopping.”

“Shucks, how about 2 weeks from now?”

“Sorry, but I think I have to do taxes then...”

Catch my drift?

But then I read Julie’s Letter, it is nice and long and detailed. Several paragraphs long and shares her testimony. Let me just say Levi: You are EXTREMELY lucky :)

Thank you Julie!!!

Oh yeah: HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE!!!

Sebring and Steph:

Thanks for writing me so consistently and nicely and sharing things about your life (*cough* Levi *cough*). I wish you both the best of luck as you bring a little terror...Soul, I mean, into the world. Just kidding, I hope you have fun though.

Sorry guys, I labored so hard to get the few pictures I did; by the sweat of my brow did I take those pictures, and there are not very many of them and they’re not the best, but I have a hard time getting good shots. You should see the pictures I have of my companion. They’re so much better than the ones he takes of me. I wish I could take a picture of myself, oh wait, that’s a selfie. I’ll keep trying, and I might want to wait till I get to Arizona and see if there’s any good opportunities for good pictures there.

Wow I have run out of time about 45 minutes ago, I just have so much I need to do.

Now all of you would be so surprised how much talent is here at the MTC. The Spirit of the lord is definitely part of it. There’s always just enough singers and piano players and all of them are very talented. I was able to find someone, practice with them for a half an hour and then audition the next, and perform the next after that and we sounded great. This singer, Sister Bell, was so good, she could hit the A-flat 2 octaves above middle C. For those musically inclined are probably going “oh wow” right now. 

Wow, Dad thanks for sharing that spiritual experience-that was just really so cool that that happened-your right, Heavenly Father is always waiting to help us in His work. 

Also for all of you: here are 3 songs you really need to look up, they are amazing:

1. The Battle of Jericho - by MOTAB
2. Morning has Broken - by MOTAB
3. Homeward Bound - by MOTAB

They are so amazing and spiritual (well, the Jericho one a little less, but it’s still amazing)

Now for all of you:

Here at the MTC. Every meeting that involves more than 1 zone has to have a special musical number. Now why do you think that is? A little strange right? But let me tell you something. Music, something that I’ve just recently learned, brings something into a meeting that nothing else does. And to add to its wonder, the Lord is always with those to play and bring the spirit. We often have less than a week to prepare and song for the entire MTC and it always turns out great. After every SMN there’s a sweet feeling no speaker could bring. Please keep this in mind the next time you sing in a church meeting or listen to another’s performance, you will notice a difference when you start to pay attention to it.

As for my past week, everything is going great. The language is a little tough but I’m getting used to it fast. I recently found out that while our teachers are signing, they mouth the words, and some of them even whisper while they do so. I’ve found that instead of getting better at signing, I’ve been getting really good at reading mouths. So when we got another teacher this past week, and she started signing without mouthing I was thinking “That is not the language they have been teaching me these past few weeks.” Thankfully I’m still in the MTC and can fix that...hopefully. I’ve been talking with the teachers to see if we can find a more deaf-like way of teaching.

Thank you all for all your prayers and support. Until next week

-Elder Sands-

Friday, February 6, 2015

NOTE: 4 NEW PICTURES! CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO THE RIGHT TO VIEW THE PICTURE ALBUM.

May I first begin by giving a nice warm, friendly, nice, long, good, kindhearted, cheerful, wishful, well-wishing, comforting, funny, annoyingly-long, detailed, warm-hearted, happy, loving HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Uncle David, and Amber! I miss you guys and wish you a...well, you get the idea.

Happy Birthday!

Also, to all who read this letter, please read ALL the things I write, regardless of who it's addressed to. Things meant to apply to other people can still apply to others in unforeseen ways. I also like to think I make some pretty good jokes every now and then (or at least make you look down and shake your head thinking "my goodness").

Sebring and Steph:

OH WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously though, last week I really wanted to ask you guys...

Oh, "Jesu, joy of man's desiring". Nice.

Sorry, I’m listening to the MOTAB music stream. It's one of the few approved music sources at the MTC.

Anyways...I was about to ask you "is Stephanie pregnant yet?" but then I remembered Sebring getting super blushy and angry the last time I asked him that so I decided not to :) (Love you Sebring *thumbs up*)

I'm super excited for both of you. One of my teachers got married about the exact same time you guys did and they're going through similar things so don't sweat it too much.

But is vomiting out of a moving car considered littering...?

Levi + Julie (mostly Levi):

You remember when you said that a mission would be good for me why? It would help me become tactful, but let me tell you, it's doing almost the exact opposite. The deaf community is not one known for tact. I'm becoming more and more blunt, and the greatest part is that it makes learning and speaking the language so much easier, and it makes it easier for other people to understand you. (Oh wow, I just noticed my ASL grammar is seeping through to my writing [see the first line of this paragraph])

I remember just yesterday my companion and I were watching Br. Featherstone (our only deaf teacher [and the best]) teach one of us on a one on one basis. He was talking about attending church and how important it is and he was SO DIRECT it was kind of scary, but that's the way the language works and it turned out really well. I guess with the spirit, even the blunt can be sharpened into a sword to piercing even the hardest hearts.

Since I’m the only accompanist, I get special privileges of being able to request music from my personal archive (AKA: you dad) whenever I’m out of class.

I will send some pictures in some emails, to give you an idea of what my zone looks like. Ugh, English is difficult. I keep messing up my grammar. ASL is so different. It's also really bad when you're writing something and when you get to something like "first vision" or "for example", this is what my thought process is:

I don't want to write all of that! I’ll just sign it and write the rest of it"

"Wait, how to you write the sign for 'for example'?"

"Ugh, I guess you can't write sign language. That’s annoying"

"Okay, I guess I’ll have to write it all out..."

Even as I write I’ll hesitate on big words or phrases and will want to sign it, because it's like, 100x faster to sign than write it.

I bought a shoulder bag here, it has been recommended that I have it, and a CamelBak for my mission so I just bought it here at the MTC. I also purchased a card reader. Let’s see if it works.

As for all the music I’m doing, the Lord is totally incredible. He helps me learn all these things fast enough to play them perfectly in front of 1000 missionaries and General Authorities every Sunday with only an hour of practice. It's pretty awesome.

I apologize for the short letter last week, as I was short on time but I just wanted to share something with you all that I learned this week that I thought was really nifty, useful, powerful, and something I have seen work firsthand.

Close your eyes (well, I guess you have to read this, don't you...) and imagine yourselves in a lesson with an investigator. Just you, your companion, and the investigator. I want to discuss the 4th person there with you. As you all know, the spirit is a constant presence but you don't feel his presence constantly at one level, it fluctuates as your speed in a car in the city, it always going up and down.

When teaching a lesson, the spirit will touch their hearts, but there is always one point in a lesson (if the spirit is with you) where the spirit will be the strongest. This is called the Peak. The goal should be to quickly get the spirit into the room, teach the lesson, bear your testimony, and then get them to commit to something such as baptism or prayer or church. The spirit will fluctuate a bit, but when you bear your testimony, it will skyrocket, this is the time when the investigator will think and ponder, and most importantly, feel the spirit the strongest. Just a few seconds after this point is reached and a few seconds of silence have been observed, that is when you invite them to come closer to Christ (via commitments).

This happened in a lesson we had a few days ago. The spirit was there, and we felt the spirit, and we reached what we felt was a peak near the end of the lesson, but we decided not to act on it. We continued to teach for a bit, and then, when all 6 of us bore our testimonies, we reached the true pinnacle of the influence of the spirit far overpowering the feeling we had before. Using this power and feeling, we invited the investigator to be baptized, and he accepted.

The spirit then, was possibly the strongest I have ever felt in my life, in that moment erased any possibility of doubt that this work is the work of god. His work. This truly is his work.

I wish you all well in the week to come and you will hear from me next week.

Until then, God be with you.

-Elder Sands-

Friday, Janauary 30, 2015

I had a whole lot happen this week, but unfortunately I don't have a lot of time to do it in. Being a zone leader requires I write the branch president 2 letters, and help all the new missionaries on how to write the mission president and their families, and with only an hour, I’m already down to 10 minutes left, and have already used up 4 of them.

To Levi and Sebring, and Stephanie and Julie: How are things going with you two (4)...no wait, 5 :)

I really can't quite remember how things were when we left, but I would like to know what's going on. WARNING: I will read your letters, but I may not respond to you in a super timely manner, or in depth, that may have to wait for the mission field. 

Oh yeah...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SEBRING!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

It’s okay Levi, *digital hug* I haven't forgotten about you...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR LEVI!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

And of course, can't forget Ira...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR IRA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Whew, I’m tired now, so look forward to hearing from you!

To Mom and Dad: This is going to hurt...

I... miss... you... guys

OUCH! Wow that hurt. 

Well, I don't miss you too much dad, ("DO THIS" "DO THAT" "WE NEED TO CLEAN YOUR ROOM" "YOU NEED TO PACK") yeah...didn't miss that. But you mom *Virtual hug* *Virtual hug* *Virtual hug*

But kind of what I said earlier to my branch president, I really am not homesick. Right now, I feel like I’m gonna miss the MTC more than I miss home right now. Pictures are incoming as soon as I can figure out a way to turn on the computer without 7 clerks and 3 branch presidents making sure I did it correctly.

Also, don't worry about dividing this letter and sending it to all the people I wrote specific pieces to. I would like all of them to read each other's pieces, I don't know why, but that's just the way I feel. (That means you too Emmitt [I hope I spelt his name right])

I'm out of time now, so I have to go...

Oh wait!

Last Words: The mission's going great, love the MTC. Love and miss all of you guys, remember, the Lord's always there for you when he asks. I do enjoy packages (kidding). I'm always thinking and praying for all of you.

Elder Sands

Friday, January 23, 2015

So a few interesting things happened this last week, and I don't get much time to type a whole lot so I’m typing as fast as I can so I can get most of it (if not all of it) down on paper. Since I have to write two separate letters to my branch president, my time is cut quite short to write to all of you back at home (or in Utah). 

So as you who have been on missions may have already figured out by the double letter thing to my president is that I have been called to be Zone Leader. It's quite exciting but really crowds my schedule. I get to welcome the new missionaries that come every Wednesday, teach them how to do a lot of things, and if they have problems or questions, they can come talk to me and discuss them. I also hold weekly meetings with my District Leaders (DL's) and also with the branch presidency.

Since the MTC wants special musical numbers at almost every meeting that has more than one zone attending, they are in desperate need of accompanists so when I was playing with a small group of Elders from my district, I heard them saying that if they didn't get an accompanist soon, they wouldn't have enough to play for all of the meetings. So, I volunteered, and the moment I did, they had me play a song to audition (I played Remembrance from the album), play the song with my district, and then they had me accompany a singing duet who were right after that. Then they told me that I was their most talented accompanist, and then told me to find a solo church song or arrangement and audition it for next week (I can hear you groaning and thinking...dad..."I hope he knows what he's getting himself into"). The first song (with my district) did well enough to be assigned to play at the departure devotional Sunday afternoon and the Duet one got assigned to play at the Sunday Evening Devotional. I'm pretty excited to play 'cause those are both pretty big meetings where the majority, if not all of the MTC occupants attend.

Getting pictures to all of you while I’m at the MTC is probably going to be impossible as the computers here are very restricted, I’m surprised they let you move the mouse around.

My p-days are Friday at the MTC but if anyone wants to write me a letter,

Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please Please (he had 1228 more pleases)

write me between that Same Friday and the next Monday. The MTC gives me your letters in printed format no matter what and I don't have time to read your letters and respond to them in the small window of time I have to respond to them. So PLEASE write them between Friday and Monday (Tuesday's okay, but any later starts becoming difficult).

If any of you have any questions for me, please ask them, I’m happy to respond.

So let’s see...what's something all of you would like to know?

I Know! How about my average day at the MTC? First we wake up, then we eat breakfast, then we go to class for several hours. After class, we get to eat lunch. After lunch, we go back to class. After several more hours there, we get to have Dinner. After dinner, we go back to class until 9:30 when we get to go back to our residences, do whatever until 10:30, then go to bed. It's all pretty simple.

On P-days, it is so unstructured, that we almost always have nothing to do. We do laundry and get to write letters while that's going on, go to the temple in the afternoon, and then after dinner, we go to class for 3 more hours and then go back to our residences.

Sunday is the day where we have meetings, followed by meetings, followed by meetings, followed by meetings, followed by meetings, followed by lunch, followed by meetings, followed by meetings, followed by meetings, followed by Dinner, followed by meetings, followed by meetings, followed by meetings, followed by bed time.

And then the week starts over again, and well...not much different happens.

I just want to thank you all for your support and wish you all the very best, and remember: if you have questions, ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and MTC security will remove you from the campus (so I wouldn't recommend doing that)

I love you all!

Elder Sands

Friday, January 16, 2015

Wow, let me just start off by saying that...

Wow...

Wow!

The MTC is AMAZING!

Here's a brief list on what exactly is amazing about it.

1: The food is amazing

2: The language is wonderful

3: My companion is perfect. We get along so well

4: My teachers are effective and understanding

5: The weather is quite refreshing

6: The Elders I'm living with are now my wonderful friends

7: My district is really close and my zone is very friendly. Our branch also has some of the best presidents

8: Am I making you jealous yet?

My schedule mostly consists of going to class a lot and doing quite a bit of studying but it's quite enjoyable.

Here are the people in my district divided by companionships:

Elder Sands

Elder Taylor (my companion. He's serving in Seattle, Washington)

Elder Montieth (he's serving in Mesa, Arizona!)

Elder VanderWurken (He's serving in Tucson, Arizona!)

Elder Brown (He has yet to arrive from Tonga because a volcano eruption delayed his flight by a few days. He is also Deaf)

Sis. Rice

Sis. Reynolds (She is the other deaf missionary)

Sis. Peutau (peu- [like what you sit on in church] tow [as in the first part of TOWEL])

Sis. Tullier

I am actually the least experienced person in my district and I know the least amount of sign but my companion is really helping out in that regard.

I'm running out of time so let's get some of the important stuff out of the way.

I am still alive :) (You can exhale dad, and you can stop crying from worry mom)

I will be leaving the MTC Feb. 23rd and due to a few weird things happening, I may not be able to write every week, and I may not be able to read your letters to me every week. So don't think I was brutally murdered in a dark alley somewhere if I miss a week or two.

I do have an address here at the MTC, but I don't have it with me, I’ll have to get that to you next week.

My teachers are hearing (though I've never heard them say a word, total immersion and all of that) and I would give you their names, but I only know them by their name signs and it's a little difficult to put those names into a written language.

Again, I thank you all so much for supporting me on my mission and will miss all of you so much. I know this church is the true church of God, and that I am exactly where I’m supposed to be.

And let me sign that for you:

...

Hope you all understood that.

Elder Sands

Thursday, January 15, 2015

NOTE: 2 NEW PICTURES! CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO THE RIGHT TO VIEW THE PICTURE ALBUM.

Elder Sands spending some time with the Carmen's and at the MTC.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

NOTE: 2 NEW PICTURES! CLICK ON THE PICTURES TO THE RIGHT TO VIEW THE PICTURE ALBUM.

Acea being set-apart and leaving for MTC.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Well, I opened my mission call yesterday. I have been called to labor (love that word) in the Arizona Scottsdale Mission. Further, I will preach the gospel in American Sign Language. I report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, January 14, 2015.

Acea

Thursday, October 23, 2014

I got home from work last night and found something waiting for me I have been waiting for all my life, MY MISSION CALL!!!

I'm going to do something a little different, with the bishop's permission. I'm going to wait until Sunday and open my mission call and share that moment with the ward. It is a way of expressing gratitude for all they have done in helping me get to this point and a way to inspire the young men and even the young women to serve as well.

I'll let you know where and when my call is in a few days.

Acea

Monday, March 11, 2013

Well I have to say that the hardest part of the mission is finishing it, to go to the end. I will work this week and finish off strong.

Well the mission was more than words can describe, it was hard, fun, sad, and joyful and thou I am not perfect and still have a lot of things to work at I know that I have worked hard to help my fellow brothers and sisters have the chance to change their lives through baptism and receive all the ordinances of salvation.

Tchau love you all

Até logo

Elder Sands

Monday, March 4, 2013

Well it has been a wonderful almost two years where a lot of great things have happened. Thank you dad for almost making my head swell up, but I think it will spring when I steep into the cooler weather of Spokane.

This week has been great, yesterday was the confirmation of Anderson who was baptized last week and his is just so excited and will progress a lot and in a short amount of time. We are trying to mark the baptism of a young man of 10 years who is the son of returning less active members, but it has been hard trying to mark a time to meet them at their house, but we are praying that this week we can mark this baptism for a quick as possible. I wouldn't lie and say it is easy not to be trunky but, I will work and work and do some good and end with honor and with a bang so that this time will not be wasted and maybe who knows in this time will be a first step for many to be prepared to be baptize and join the church.

Thank you so much for your support love and encouragement, you don't know how much it has helped.

Love Elder Sands

Monday, February, 25, 2013

This week a lot of things have happened. First Anderson the husband of the less active member decided to be baptised this week so we marked his interview and he was baptised yesterday it was very special, he will help out a lot in the church and in one year my companion will watch them getting sealed. He was tricky it took almost 2 months for him to get baptised, he was the kind of people that questioned everything and that is helping his family to have an interest in learning more about the church. Another notice is that in June Campinas Brazil mission will divide in two and 7 new missions will be created in Brazil, I would see that change but this is great because many cities that never had missionaries will get missionaries to grow the church a lot.

Something funny that happened this last week was evaded a lot of young women. There was a group of girls giving free hugs in the center and by the time we realized what it was it was too late and there was 5 or 6 girls on us; we told them we couldn't they were saying your religion doesn't permit it and then we were explaining to them our rules and then we managed to escape.

Well see you later and in a few weeks and don't worry we are working hard and we will baptize a few more people yet.

Love Elder Sands

Monday, February, 18, 2013

Oi familia

How are you all doing? Before I forget Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear mother, mommy, mom, mae, Happy Birthday to you. I forgot to tell you last week before so I am a day late, but I hope you can find some pies and have a wonderful festinha. That is pretty crazy how Acea's date responded to him, that should be a pretty fun date.

That is crazy that Shane is back and I am close behind, I am feeling a little sad leaving behind the mission life which I have loved for two years, but at the same time I am anxious to start a family see you all again and apply the mission to my life.

This last week we have had a surprise, the other area in our city was closed for this transfer so we have been bestowed with two big wards to take care of, we have been running around to visit our progressing investigators and start working in the other area. This week we are going to be really busy teaching, finding and following up with investigators so they can be baptised. This is great I have been hoping for a busy last transfer.

We are waiting to move to our new house but I don't know when that will be, we are wanting for the contract for the house we live in right now to close so that we can start living in the new house.

Love

Elder Sands

Monday, February, 11, 2013

This week was great we were able to find more people to teach, we found out this week that we have been invited to teach in a rehab clinic which will be great to help people overcome drug problems and a member in our Ward has his son in the rehab center so that will be great to see him on a regular basis.

On Sunday Walter was confirmed and I was able to confirm him, it was my first time confirming someone but it was great to help with the spiritual progress of some one. We were able to go to the temple with Anderson and Carol, the couple we have been teaching, it was great; the spirit was powerful and we went into the waiting area to enjoy the sweet spirit and explain a few things about the temple, and Carol, she always says next year we are going to get sealed, giving indirect signals to Anderson. We also had and great family home evening with Walter our recent convert and Anderson and Carol, it was celestial and now Walter is planning to do a family home evening at his house this week.

We found out about transfers and I will stay in Valinhos with Elder Ribeiro which is what I was wanting, to end the mission in a place where you have a great friendship with the members. Don't worry we are going to work very hard this transfer and go out with a bang baptizing several more people and doing the most good we can.

Tchau

Love you

Elder Sands

Monday, February 4, 2013

Well Acea I am glad you are ok and liking your classes, so you should be able to do better this next quarter. And about your questions well the way we indicated our key indicators have change to work with more quality, before all of the leaders have said that a lesson could be in a contact on the street where you teach several principles but that wasn't bringing very good results so president said that it is only a lesson when we teach in their houses, so we have been averaging 20-30 lessons a week this last week. We only were able to teach 15 lesson because we have had several days were we couldn't work because of a move we helped with, doctor appointment for my companion, and other service we were able to provide, but all is very well.

I am in a ward of about 150 active which is a good size ward and the biggest ward in the Stake and Nova Suiça is the only ward we take care of.

Well this week we were able to baptize Walter, we found him on the street doing contacts with people and was really receptive and we went to his house and started teaching him, he went to church last week and loved it and this last week his was asking what he needed to do to get baptised and he choose me do to the honors of baptizing him. It was really a miracle.

Yesterday at Church two members brought a friend to church and they seemed really receptive and we will start teaching them on Tuesday, this week we need to send a lot of our time finding people to teach, to expand our teaching pool that is starting to shrink. We went through the list of inactive and came up with the great result of Anderson that is progressing well and we are going to the temple with them this Wednesday. The rest of the inactive didn't turn out so well but that is ok. We had a great ward council yesterday and we were taking about the people we are teaching, Walter the recent convert, and the ward is really excited and this week is packed with member visits with us to help our investigators progress to the waters of baptism.

P.S can you please do me a favor when Elder Lee gets home give him a hug for me and tell him that Elder Sands says parabens

Love Elder Sands