Flacker's...a low carb snack!!

(I think I might do bullet points or at least numerical points, I got a lot of answers to them!!)

Mother and Father,

   I will delve right into your bullet points...well numerical points of information.

1. I got the CD and I love it, love it, love it!! Elder Pember loves it too. We play it in the car. I just wish I could play the full production on one CD, but it is great nonetheless.
2. I had no idea Al Fox Carraway moved to Arizona. She is back where I thought she was anyway. Regardless of her location, I still love her. Which she knows because I so tactfully told her on that fateful day. (He met her once and told her that he loved her. So funny!!)
3. I am sorry that I have no idea who Sister Vanover is. I wish her family the best and will keep them in my prayers. (She is a lady in our ward who passed away last Saturday.)
4. The truth is...you are both right! There are four wards in the city of Broomfield. Two are in the Fort Collins mission, and two in the Denver North Mission. (I posted that Elder Johnson was transferring to Broomfield and a lady informed me that it was in the Denver North Mission.
5. For this week's Bible Study...nobody came! Our flyers are up in more public places though! I pray that someone will come this week. (The members need to step up and support it!)
6. That is true. I have to remind myself that Psychology is a science, and I don't see myself excelling at or enjoying science classes for a long time.
7. I have gotten better at bowling. I am still nowhere near good. I think my best score was 98. My back has been performing well. Penetrex and Deep Blue treat it very well. (Yay!) I have been having fewer allergy days lately. When the congestion comes on, a hard a shot of Flonase clears it up quite fast. I graduated from therapy on Friday! My anxiety levels dropped from 97 when I first met Brother Jacobs to 50 on Friday. (Another YAY!) He says I have made an excellent turn around. He attributes it to my obedience and my willingness to apply what he recommends. Apparently most missionaries don't do what he asks them to do. He was actually really shocked when I had completed all of my "homework". (He doesn't know our Andrew very well.) What we talked about this week is continuing practices of mental health. His two main recommendations were first to get someone you are close to and report to them somewhat regularly on your mental status. A lot of people fear ending therapy because they will no longer have a boss to report to. (I wonder who he chose??) The other one is called a personal experiment. The
challenge is to apply what we learn in Alma 32 and try things that make us uncomfortable for a short period of time and analyze the fruits of them. Like a true experiment, we can't give up after one day because we didn't like it. We have to march on through the established period of time to get the results. As we do this we will see our mental capability improving and we will not stagnate, which stagnation makes us run the risk of losing what we have already gained.
8. (I wondered how his losing weight adventure was going.) I don't know quite yet. The past two days my shirts have been feeling looser around my neck. I don't have a scale so I can't really track it. Carbohydrates are easy energy, and that is why our body loves them so much. I found a really good snack cracker called Flackers at Esh's. They have one net gram of carbs per serving. They have a ton of fiber and protein. They are literally just flax seeds
stuck together with tasty stuff like basil and I think some garlic. (Sound yummy!)  They are pretty good. They're from the brand Doctor in the Kitchen if you want to check them out.
9. (Here's a rundown on his Book of Mormon studies....) This week I learned: We can receive our righteous desires through faithfulness, The Messiah will be born of a virgin. The Love of God is the most desirable thing of all, Christ's mortality is known as the condescension of God, Twelve others will follow him, He will perform miracles, He will die on a cross for the sins of the World, those who oppose the twelve apostles will be destroyed, Christ will come to the Land of Promise, and the Devil seeks to tempt, blind, and harden us.
10. (This was the one point I was really eager to find out about. That's why I waited to ask it until the end.) Elder Pember is great. In his own words, he hasn't done well so far on his mission, and wants to be better. He is so open to working hard and I love it. He is from La Verne, California, and he has I
think it's seven sisters and one brother. (WOW!) He entered the MTC in July.
He was involved in Western re-enactments before his mission. He also loves the Denver Broncos. After his mission he wants to start a private security firm. It was actually from learning about Porter Rockwell from a Western re-enactment friend of his that got him going back to church as a teenager. He wants to be a bodyguard for the Prophet one day. (There you go!) He really likes Mexican Food. I took him to Cafe Rio for the first time and he really liked it. His favorite color is pink, and he used to have a cocoa allergy so he doesn't really like candy. He does like stuff with toffee and peanuts, but no chocolate. (I guess I'll send even less candy in the Valentine's package.)
  Brother Ashby told us he had new neighbors, but he didn't think they were very promising. He said we could go talk to them if we wanted. We left his house a little after nine and saw the wife Dani outside, and Elder Pember said, "Let's go talk to her." I was more in the mood of going home and going to bed, but he walked over there anyway. We talked for a bit and she became a new investigator just like that! She said she is a Christian but fears that she isn't close enough to Christ, and when he comes again, which she knows is soon, she won't be ready. She is now reading the Book of Mormon and praying to know if this is the church she should join to follow Christ. (Awesome! Possum!) I am grateful for a strong companion.

Love,

Elder Andrew Campbell

 

From Johnson to Pember!

(Looks like our missionary is staying put for at least one more transfer. He's sad to have Elder Johnson leave. They have become very good friends. Hopefully he and Elder Pember will mesh nicely.)

Mother and Father,

   I don't remember Sister Taysom taking a picture. She must have snuck that one on us. (I've attached the picture. He has the Campbell curse...eyes are closed during picture taking time!!)

   Anywho, we had the transfer call, and I discovered that I...am staying! Elder Johnson is leaving to be a district leader in Broomfield. My new companion is Elder Pember. I know very little about him, other than that he is leaving his greenie area. We have actually lost several of our investigators, but I just don't tell you about that too regularly. (I try to pray for his investigators...so I hope the Lord is keeping tracks since I'm not!)  I was not too thrilled to stay, but it is clear that there is more for me here to do. I will miss Elder Johnson because he has become one of my best friends. Also, we will stay here at the Schmitz for a while longer.

   Our Bible Study was not as well attended as we would like, but it was great. Elder Johnson is really, really smart, and he prepared a lesson of the history of the Bible. Very interesting. This week we are covering references to Jesus Christ in the Old Testament. So, in other words, all of it! We should have some more people there this week. Elder Johnson made awesome fliers and we have handed out a lot more. (I guess he'll be in charge of this week's discussion. I hope things go well.)

   (I told him how much I love his psychologist!!) My psychologist is an incredible person. Seeing what he does and how he helps people makes me almost want to be a psychologist. I don't, however, want to study psychology, haha. I do not see me excelling in those classes. (He did take sociology and he did really well in that.) I will take his advice and apply it for the rest of my life. We are often told that happiness is a choice, and I decided long ago that I would choose to be happy. I soon discovered that I had absolutely no idea how to choose to be happy. It is harder than merely "making a choice", it requires sound psychological practices. I have begun those, and it is awesome! I have felt happier over an extended period of time than I have in a long time.

   (I love the things he learns in his studying of the Book of Mormon.) This week in my study of the Book of Mormon I learned that: God knows all things. He has the power to fulfill all of his words. A Messiah will come/came to the Jews. Many prophets have testified of him. The Messiah will save mankind from a lost and fallen state. A prophet will come to prepare the way for the Savior. He will baptize the Messiah (This is the first mention of baptism as an ordinance). The Savior will take away the sins of the world. He will be slain, and rise from the dead. The House of Israel will be scattered, and gathered after the Gentiles receive the gospel. The Holy Ghost is a gift from God, and is the medium, or at least one of them, through which revelation takes place.

   (Last week he mentioned wearing one of the shirts I gave him for Christmas. Peter mentioned that one white shirt looks like another white shirt. I thought maybe he wore one of the t-shirts I sent for preparation day. Nope...Peter was right!!) I wore my proselyting clothes bowling. So...I wore a white shirt! Elder Johnson is leaving me with instructions on how to lose weight. I am reducing my carbohydrate intake and increasing my proteins and fats. I am also supposed to eat 5 times a day to keep my metabolism active. I am also supposed to take about 20 grams of protein before bed because it will allow my body to enter ketosis. A member of the ward did a similar diet and he has lost a ton of weight in my time here. I also need to keep doing cardio. (Go, Andrew!)

    I don't have much to report on this week. We went around to a bunch of public places to get our fliers hung up on their community boards. It was a lot of fun and we met some interesting people. Have a good week!

Love,

Elder Andrew Campbell

Anyone who accepts Christ as their Savior will be saved, unless they're Mormon! WHAT???

Mother and Father,

   I will give you some highlights from the week! Our pastor friend took us out to a restaurant called the Pumphouse which was amazing. I had their macaroni and cheese which you know I love with a passion. We had a good conversation in which he explained that all Christian churches world-wide, even the ones he disagrees with, are part of the universal Christian church. For some reason my beliefs about Heavenly Father and the Plan of Salvation, though truly not fundamentally different, do not make the cut. He conceded that a Mormon could make it to Heaven, but the theological intricacies make it difficult. Needless to say it boggles my mind. The argument seems to be that anyone who accepts Christ as their Savior will be saved, unless they're Mormon. (I always wonder WHY???) He was very civil and very kind, though!

   During our ward mission coordination we discussed the possibility of starting a Bible Study of our own. (What a GREAT idea!!) We moved on the idea quickly, and we now have very nice fliers made (good boys!), and have invited several people. The first one takes place this Thursday. Our reasoning on this is that people always say that they will invite their friends to the next Trunk-or-Treat or Christmas party or the temple Open House, whenever that is As much as they should do that, there isn't much impetus to invite their friends, NOW! I've learned it is common among Christian people to invite their friends to Bible Studies, so now members of our ward can return the favor!

   I met with Brother Jacobs, my psychologist again this week. We had an incredible meeting. (Yay...Brother Jacobs!!) His homework assignment to journal my feelings to discover patterns worked! I made the discovery that I have regular daily patterns of tiredness and exhaustion, during which my anxiety skyrockets uncontrollably. We discussed accepting the reality of physical tiredness and how it weakens our performance, but does not have to stall it. Most of my companions have labeled me the most tired person they know, so this is clearly a big challenge I have been given to face. I can, however, take joy in working to fulfill my calling despite the physical demands on my body, and most of all, when I get tired, remind myself that I do not lead a miserable life, a common
thought that appears when my anxiety spikes, but that I am merely tired. It seems kind of self-explanatory, but as Brother Jacobs described it, what I am experiencing is "fatigue hijacking my thoughts." We discussed maintaining a proper analysis of reality, especially that of the joy of the gospel. He told me to look to Jesus Christ as the example of perfect emotional independence. (Great idea!) External and internal stimulus did not affect Him. His demeanor was always based on the truth that He was the Son of God. I hope that if someone were to spit on me, my response would be, "Forgive them, for they know not what they do." Apparently Mosiah 4:30 is the psychology scripture. Brother Jacobs has quoted it to me several times, telling me to "Watch my thoughts!" (I love Brother Jacobs!!)

    I haven't progressed on my scripture study project as well as I would have liked, but I really have enjoyed it. Here are a few fundamental gospel truths I have derived from the first few chapter of the Book of Mormon: There is a God. He has prophets who testify of repentance and warn of destruction. We can pray to God. A Messiah will come/was sent. God opposes "wickedness" and rewards the faithful. Faith is shown through obedience to commandments. The words of prophets are recorded as scripture and are very desirable. (What pure and simple truths he has learned.)

   That is just a few of them. It has been a lot of fun! To answer your questions, we had our exchange, but I slept for a lot of it. Now my district thinks I am a bum ("Watch your thoughts!"). It was one dollar to rent shoes at the bowling alley. We are planning on going again today because $5 for an hour of bowling was a lot of fun. I'm wearing one of the new shirts you sent for Christmas. Thank you! (Wish I'd gotten a picture!)

Love,

Elder Andrew Campbell

...Got the Flu!

Mother and Father,

   This week I...got the flu! At least I'm pretty sure that's what I had. I was even running a fever! Yep, that was sure fun. On Tuesday as we started our exchange I started feeling a sore throat, and woke up with it burning. I've not used the new back brace or cream because I did a lot of laying down this week. We kept all of our appointments, even when I really wanted to stay in and sleep, but all of our
unscheduled time was dedicated to resting.

   This week in my feverish brain, I was pondering the scriptures, and I thought about Joseph Smith and the early saints, and how they didn't have things like handy concordances and Preach My Gospel, they only had scriptures. I feel like if someone wants to understand points of the gospel, they are more likely to use the extended resources that are derived from the Book of Mormon. I have realized that the Book of Mormon is complex, and learning the fullness of the gospel and how to apply it directly from the Book of Mormon would be no easy task. To help me be better able to teach from the Book of Mormon, I am going to try to read the Book of Mormon like I am reading it the first time, and see what it tells me about the gospel. I will be reporting my studies weekly.

   I read the talk on the Book of Mormon as the Keystone of Our Religion. President Benson's reminder that the Lord wants us to take the Book of Mormon with utmost seriousness is what spurred my new study method mentioned earlier.

   We just got back from Esh's discount grocery. I got a ton of healthy food and my bill was $15. We had a meeting with our ward mission leader, and the topic was, "Why don't we have people to teach?" We do have some potentials that I am quite excited about. People just need to recognize that meeting with us is one of the most important things they could do. I am feeling a lot better and we
should do a lot of great things this week. Pray that we will keep the spirit with us. And the Saturday thing; if you could just email me a couple scriptures or quotes or testimonies to read in the morning that you feel would be useful, I would greatly appreciate it.

Love,

Elder Andrew Campbell

$1 bowling in Estes Park!

   

Mastery of Thought

(It was wonderful talking to our missionary on Christmas. I'll attach the picture we took off of Skype for those who haven't seen it on Facebook.)

Mother and Father,

   This week was about as slow as molasses. Shortly after talking to you, we had Christmas dinner, and midway through I got very nauseous and almost threw up in the middle of the Newton's home. (Thank goodness he didn't do that!) So, I went and laid down for the rest of Christmas. The members of the ward were very kind. We received a variety of gifts. (Which shall remain nameless, I guess. I want to know what they gave them!!)

   On Saturday we had our stake president's breakfast. This one was different in that we had a dodgeball tournament. President Richards doesn't like that we aren't allowed to do stuff together so he used his executive power to make it happen. Anywho, it was a lot of fun, and we had the challenge of senior companions versus junior companions, we tied six games to six. I was still feeling sick but I knew Elder Johnson wanted to go so we made it work. (I'm glad he "manned up" and did it. Sounds fun!)

    Brother Jacobs and I discussed mastery of thought this week at my counseling session. His challenge to me has been to create a journal of my negative thoughts and my reactions to them. He guarantees me that I will see a pattern to them. Those are the negative and incorrect thought patterns that cause the psychological side of anxiety. As we identify them, we will work on modifying and correcting them. (Sounds like something we should all do!)

   I will comment again on how slow this week was. The missionary handbook tells us that holidays are the best times for finding people, but the neighborhoods get so quiet and sleepy that it is hard to get motivated to go out and find anyone who is left. We did have one incredible miracle, however. We were driving to deliver an ornament to a relief society sister who is unknown, (whatever that means??!!) when I saw a guy putting stuff in some big trash bins. I told Elder Johnson we should stop and see if he needed help. I went up and asked him what he was doing and he said something like, "I'm remodeling my basement, do you guys want to see it?" What followed was an awesome experience of us working on installing doors while discussing our faith. His pastor was there helping, and he was the nicest guy. We're supposed to meet up with his pastor for burgers in Longmont pretty soon. His family even made us Papa Murphy's pizza, which we ate with them for lunch. He works for Google, and he told me to ask BJ if he had ever worked using the "trigger" for developing third-party apps for Google, and that he was the one who invented it. He said that Lucid is a big deal at Google and they like it a lot. (Any comment, BJ??)

    I got the Mito2Max package. Thank you! Taking these should turn me into  superhuman or something. One I am excited about is one that Sister Hendrix gave me. It's a multivitamin made for people with anxiety. (Sure hope it helps! If so, I better get a bottle!) I will send a picture of the specs.

  It was great seeing you on Christmas!

Love,

Elder Andrew Campbell

Tillamook Ice Cream!!

(So excited to Skype on Friday!! We got an audio recording of Elder Campbell and his companion singing in Sacrament Meeting. His companion also played the violin. That was a fun surprise!)

Mother and Father,

   (WE GET TO SKYPE!!!) The 11 am time slot should work out great. The big event of the week was our Christmas Devotional in Boulder. A big theme of the event was how proud President Brown is of the mission and the spiritual improvement he has seen since he became the mission president. I actually kind of feel like I'm in a mission, serving with other missionaries. I have been really impressed with the newer missionaries I have met. I remember my first devotional was last year's Christmas Devotional in Greely. Everyone is calling me a seasoned veteran now. What is up with that? (He's been out 13 months now!)

   I got another box with granola bars, but this one had no invoice. It contained three boxes, and the last one contained one. How many did Brother Mariana send? (I don't know....so, Bro. Mariana, if you read this...how many granola bars did you send???)

   We did do a musical number for Sacrament meeting yesterday. Elder Johnson's mother's comment on the video was "I heard someone singing, but it wasn't you because some of the notes were off." Haha! Elder Johnson has perfect pitch, so it's not even fair. 

   We found an awesome investigator named Tabitha this week. We were doing a scripture study with a less-active member, when Tabitha, who is renting a room in his house came in and started asking us questions. She said she doesn't understand Jesus Christ's sacrifice for her, so we promised to come back and share more. (Awesome!)

   We had a powerful lesson with Sierra last night. I just want to comment on how elect she is. Talk about prepared for the last days. She has more faith than I do, I will say that much. I challenged her to be baptized on her eighteenth birthday, and she agreed. So, as of now, we have investigator on date to be baptized in 2017. I personally believe it will happen much earlier. We pray for a softening of hearts. (I will pray that that happens!)

   Yesterday we only had 15 minutes to tract, so we called it 15 minutes to find a new investigator. We found a potential investigator and a referral for the Spanish sisters, so that is fun. I have been feeling really great this week. For some reason I feel really depressed on Saturdays, though. Maybe you could send me a Saturday uplifting thought. (I can certainly try!)  Elder Johnson says he feels it too, and doesn't understand why, but Saturday's are our least effective day, and I don't like it! Could you send me more of the mito2max supplements and the Energy Vitamin B12 supplements? I just started taking them faithfully again when Elder Johnson described to me how good they are for my metabolism. (Thank you, Amazon Prime!)

  Oh gosh, I almost forgot. We moved this week to the Schmitz family. You would like Sister Schmitz very much, Mom. They found out that we liked Tillamook ice cream and suddenly five containers of Tillamook ice cream in our favorite flavors appeared in our freezer. Hence my need for a metabolism boost. (The people of Colorado have been SOOOO kind!!) Here is our new address: Saddleback Ave.

Firestone, Colorado 80504

Oh yeah! They also announced our new Mission President. He will be President McMurray from Virginia. (I didn't realize he was getting a new one. That will be exciting.)

Love,

Elder Andrew Campbell

"Three Buckets" Technique

Mother and Father,

   (I received some pictures and videos from a Brother John in Firestone, CO! It made me SOOO happy!) You are correct, Brother John is a very kind man. He has two sons o missions, one in one of the Buenos Aires missions and one in
Nagoya, Japan.  For work he and his father do some sort of oil and gas business. In his words it is really boring. They have five kids, altogether. His wife is a stay-at-home Mom, and they live in...Firestone? I don't know how else to describe it.
   My psychologist is Brother Jacobs, and he is awesome! (It's always good to think your psychologist is AWESOME!! HA!) He says I have textbook anxiety, and the only abnormality is that I sleep well. In fact, I am exhausted every night, and sleep the whole night through. He says that is very rare, but it is a sign that I am working hard enough to out-exhaust my anxiety. (Wish I could sleep all the way through the night!!)
   This week, Brother Ashby, our ward mission leader, challenged us to teach everyone we meet, especially the ones who don't want to be taught, and to set goals on how many people we WILL teach. Which, of course, is what we are supposed to do, but don't always do well. So, tracting has become a fun experience of how many people will be taught by us, not how many people will accept our invitation to teach. We've gained several potential investigators, and have taught more lessons. The people of Firestone are being taught for as long as they keep their doors open. This too, is what Preach My Gospel tells us to do, but we have always shied away from doing it.
  Our mission has had a focus on the "Three Buckets" technique, which is the three different forms of finding. They are finding through working with less-active's and part-member families, finding through referrals, and finding through personal contacting (tracting, etc.). Right now I am on a personal contacting drive, and need to humble myself and rely on all three buckets to find success. You have to be an excellent missionary in order to utilize all three. Saddleback has about a 70% activity rate, which means you have to work even harder to
get in with less-actives. (Wow, that's a high rate!) Anyway, Brother Ashby has been trying to get me to invite ALL to come unto Christ, not just the ones I want to. I am grateful for repentance.
   You are right about Sierra, she is a minor and her parents are not fans of religion. It is situations like these where I would choose to sit back and let things play out. Brother Ashby wants us to be aware 100% of the time of what we can do RIGHT NOW to bring people closer to Christ. This is not a gospel of sitting back. We taught a lesson last night about trusting Jesus Christ. Not jus believing in him, but really trusting that he is at the helm. It is a lesson that I need to
learn, just as well as teach.
   President Brown announced a rule change this week. He says we are now allowed to listen to any music where we can feel the spirit while listening to it. This is just me speaking, but there wasn't any music I would listen to before my mission that I felt would not be inviting to the spirit. I am still unsure how I would like to go about changing my listening habits. (He always listened to uplifting music. He was an easy teenager to have around!)
    I just downloaded the Skype app on my iPad. My username is________.  I think the morning will be good. Just tell me when and where. I will let you know next week if your time works out, and if there is a better one. (Now that's specific....NOT! I am so excited about our Skype visit. YEAH!!) Oh yeah, last week's picture was a zone picture. We are on a new transfer now. It is weird that most of the missionaries in the zone have been out less time than I. I'm getting old! (Ancient!) I am really grateful for your support of my mission experience and helping me significantly in being out here. (Couldn't be any more proud!!)

Love,

Elder Andrew Campbell

(I'm attaching his gingerbread house creating pictures from the sweet John Family!)