January 6, 2013

Dear Family and friends,

                Hello again from North Carolina.  We trust the new year is treating you all well and as we all get back in the routine following the holidays may this turn into a banner year for us all.  We have had a continued busy week but that is what we do and we are truly enjoying being part of the team in the North Carolina Charlotte Mission to bring all unto Christ.  We love the missionaries.  They are powerful young people who truly carry large responsibilities on their young shoulders, however they are so capable and do so well when they focus on simple obedience principles and proven Preach my Gospel procedure.  It is a marvelous experience to watch the process develop in them.  We see them at the beginning and watch and feel them grow and mature into effective tools.  We are saddened when they choose disobedience, however still love them and work with them to improve. 

                At President Craven’s invitation our entire mission, as part of our fasting this week end, are reading together at a specified time, the missionary prayer scripture in Alma 8:10 substituting our names in the place of Alma and placing the city or area of labor we are serving at in place of the city of Ammonihah.  We are praying in a unified effort for the Lord to bless us with more success in our labors.  All the Zone and District leaders in the mission were to an all day training meeting on New Year’s day at the mission offices.  Sister Andrus and I were asked to be a part of the group.  We were obviously mostly involved in the logistics and feeding arrangements, however we were able to sit in on some of the training.  We were part of some training facilitated by Elder Stanley, our lead Assistant regarding the teaching of the Plan of Salvation.  I all my years of service, I have not been better trained.  What a powerful example of youth leading youth.  The central thrust of his training was placing the responsibility of teaching on the Holy Ghost and, as missionaries getting out of the way so the Holy Ghost can be more noticeable in the eyes of investigators.  He blended personal righteousness and preparation of the missionaries as key ingredients in the process of conversion.  It was very well done.  It was during this day of training that the missionary prayer invitation mentioned above came into being. 

                During our 5^th Sunday combined Priesthood and Relief Society meeting last week, our Bishop invited President Baker, our Stake President, to present what he called Prophetic Priorities to the members of our ward.  I was interested whether this is being taught throughout the church.  Maybe some of you could help answer this.  My notes are a little sketchy, however what I wrote down are as follows:  1. Priority one is centered on Real Growth.  We are to track Melchizedek Priesthood advancement and Sacrament Meeting attendance as key indicators in this priority. I know this is being tracked by our mission.  2 Prepare for the missionary surge.  In our mission, each ward is to identify and facilitate the increase of one additional companionship.  This means, as a ward, we need to focus more on finding people for the missionaries to teach as well as feed and assist them with transportation needs. 3.  The third priority deals with preparing our young men and women to be a part of the missionary surge.  With the adjustment of age requirements, we need to assist our young people to be prepared to accept mission assignments when it is best for them within the new guidelines.  4.  This priority deals with submission of names to the temple for ordinance work.  We must be more involved in researching our own family histories and identifying names to take, rather than relying on the temple to supply names.  As an example, our Reedy Creek ward has three youth temple trips planned for baptisms for the dead—the temple will only supply 10 names for each trip.  Our youth need to be involved in finding names to take for baptisms. The 5^th priority is to implement the new youth curriculum into our wards.  This will help with the number 3 priority above. I have not really seen or read much regarding the new curriculum—only what is written in the Ensign and New Era.  President Baker challenged us as older members to go out of our way to help our young people learn to communicate.  We are to seek ways to involve them in conversation.

 Needless to say I think it is a great time to be alive and to be members of the true church who sustains Prophetic Counsel.  I feel a sense of urgency in preparing the world for the second coming of the Master.  It appears to me we are stepping it up a notch or two.

We certainly extend birthday wishes to Robert and Richard.  To Sister Andrus and I the years seem to fly by.  We clearly remember our little home in Burley, Idaho where we welcomed twins into our family.  Kelsy and Kappy were so grownup and were such good helpers.  I can still picture them sitting on each end of the sofa holding their brothers--stuffing bottles of formula into their mouths and handling them in ragdoll fashion.  It is amazing they did as well as they did.  We, as members of the Don and Ruth Andrus family, have been blessed having both of you in our lives.  Thanks to each member of our family and your lively wives and families for all you do for us.  We especially thank each of you for bringing into our family such special children—our grandchildren.  We love you all and pray for you every day. 

This week proves to be a great week for us as we continue our mission efforts.  We start our Book of Mormon class this Wednesday.  We are nervous but confident we can be tools in Heavenly Fathers hands in helping our new members continue and increase in love for this wonder book.  Please pray for us as we need all the help we can get.  Have a great week---and a great continued beginning of a banner New Year.

Elder and Sister Andrus, Dad and Mom, Grandpa and Grandma, Don and Ruth.