http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbnfdi_720p

Great video of the grand-kids by Aubrie! Love it.

On December 7, Bill and I were able to pick up Elder Andrus in Pennsylvania at the Mission President's home.

My first hug from Tyson! It was hard to stop me from walking at a fast pace to finally reunite with my son!!

We got to meet many of his fellow missionary friends, his mission president, eat dinner and participate in a wonderful testimony meeting. It was a spiritual treat and one of the best nights of my life.

Tyson's last email as a Missionary. 12/3/09

Well Family just as most of you have noted, this is my final email to you as missionary.
First I will start with the sad note so then I can talk just about the good stuff. Sorry to hear about the Utes game. Sounds pretty rough.

Now on to the other things of life. As much as I have tried to avoid it this has been quite the time of reflection. I cannot believe that it is basically over. Our schedule is pretty packed so time will fly by. Mom made a reference in her emails to the question of, “what if I had not served a mission?” The funny thing is that I have been thinking about that. I know I would not be anywhere near who I am today, that is for sure. I might just be semi-active in church and have a very faint testimony. I cannot believe the difference in my head when I compare the two different versions of myself. The one that decided to serve a mission and the one who justified his way into not serving a mission. With the one that did not go, all I see is a kid that is full of missed opportunities, self centered, and to be honest no real idea about his purpose in life. A kid that fills his time with distractions and the unimportant things of life. May I just bear my testimony that Jesus truly is the Christ the Savior and Redeemer of the world. He truly did snatch me from the lost state that I was in. I am just blown away with what has taken place in my life over the past two years. Who I am today is nowhere near who I was two years ago. How I love this gospel and how it is mercifully given to us. I am grateful for the sacrifices of those that have walked my path before me to pave the way. Many have given their life to this message, including the Prophet that was chosen by God to restore the precious message of the restoring of Christ’s very church to the earth. But what I am most grateful for is the Atoning sacrifice of my Savior Jesus Christ. I cannot believe how much He has done for me - to allow me to overcome so many weaknesses and to be so patient with me. I have so much love for my Heavenly Father, My Savior Jesus Christ, and absolutely I am grateful for the Holy Ghost which testifies of their divinity. I am amazed at the things I have seen over the past two years. Someone asked me recently "so what do think your parents will think when they see you." I said "I hope they don’t recognize me" and after a pause I then was taught by the spirit and I said, "But I hope My Father in Heaven can recognize me more fully now." I was taught something very important by that comment. I am in the process of becoming the true potential of what my Heavenly Father knows I can and should be. I love this Gospel and I am so grateful for it. I will never be able to repay what I have been given. I will always be in debt, isn’t it wonderful?

I love you all.
May God recognize you more fully.

Love,
Elder Andrus

Elder Andrus Update November 19, 2009. TWO WEEKS LEFT!

Well hello family.
Yet another week has passed and time quite has not felt to real lately. it is a weird mix of emotions. This past Saturday we were able to have a conference with Elder Russell M. Nelson on Saturday morning. It was an incredible experience. For those of you that do not know Elder Nelson is part of the quorum of the twelve Apostles. Just like Jesus Christ's Apostles of old like Peter or John. It was great to shake his hand and to receive direct instruction from him. The spiritual strength of that man will be something that I will always remember. He went through such a string of things it is hard to relay. I will have to show you guys when I get home. So hopefully you remember to ask me about and I will be happy to discuss the notes. His knowledge of ancient scripture just amazed me. He was so easily led by the spirit, he answered a lot of questions that the missionaries did not even voice. It was great to learn from direct revelation. He is truly a man called of God, there is no doubt in my mind of his divine calling to be one of the Lord’s Apostles. What a great thing it is to have the Lord’s church restored on the earth! We also had the opportunity to hear from him again at a Sunday Stake Conference. The funny thing about that was that he came to visit the Reading Stake. If I had not been recently moved here I would have not been able to see him twice. So I consider that quite the blessing. In that session he spent a lot of time focusing on the children and some serious parenting tips. It was great I was heavily reminded of Jesus Christ and his desire to bless the children. 3 Nephi. I was also able to see a lot of the people I served with in Reading 1st ward and Reading 2nd. After a couple weeks of straight knocking doors we finally have some people we can teach on a regular basis so that has been great. I kinda ran myself into the ground though I think. I got pretty sick on Tuesday night, but luckily we were able to get back out the door by Wednesday afternoon. I can still feel a little bit of the garbage inside of me but it is going away so that is good. Well family I love you so much. I hope all is well at home.
Love,
Elder Andrus

November 12 - Letter from Tys. I cried all the way through it!

Hello family,
Well this week has been full of miracles yet again. We were out knocking doors and something we have to pay close attention to when we are tracting is the presence of the holy ghost. So when we were out tracting and after a couple of doors we could feel a serious vacancy in the spirit. So we then bowed our heads and said a quick prayer. The whisper of a street name came into mind and so of course we went to that street even though we had knocked most of the doors around there last night. As we started to knock doors. Someone was going up and down the street on a BMX bike doing tricks around the neighborhood. As we were knocking the guy yelled across the way, "hey what are you guys doing?" We yelled back "we're missionaries man, sharing the gospel with people" So he started to ride over to us. To make a long story short we ended up talking with this guy for about an hour. He ended up explaining how he has read the bible two times through and he has been to almost every church in Lehighton and has not found one that has fit what he has read. We went on to explain the message of the restoration with the falling away from Christ's church after he and his apostles were taken from the earth and how a prophet was called to restore that truth back to the earth. The lesson went great and you could tell he was absolutely prepared by God. He went on to explain how he is not from that that town and he gave us his address. His address is in a place I know - we would have never knocked on his door. If this is not proof that God exists than honestly I do not know what does. We were again sent to a place at a certain time because that was the only way we could find this person; that has happened time and time again on my mission. GOD IS REAL, please know that. We also were led to a cool family as well that night.
So I guess I have alot to write about this week. Yesterday was my last Zone Conference. Of course it did not really feel like it but I guess it had to happen some time. It was a powerful meeting that I was glad to be a part of. Near the end they asked the couple of us that were leaving that transfer to give a testimony at the end (a testimony is bearing our witness of Christ and the truths that we know). I will miss the opportunity to do that in that kind of setting in front of a room full of missionaries. The spirit is so strong during those meetings. You can truly feel the dedication of all those wonderful people. It is a true opportunity to be a part of that. Afterwards I had a small one on one talk with President Murray. He is an incredible man and I have been grateful to learn from someone like him over the past two years. I know that a huge part of why God sent me here was of course for the people I would meet and the missionaries I have been with, but also the opportunity to learn from a man truly called of God.
Well Family that is enough of my ramblings for the week. I love ya and I hope all is going well for this week. I pray for you all.


Love,
Elder Andrus

Elder Andrus Update November 5 2009

So I just finished writing my mission president, so I will include a portion of what I wrote him about this week.

This week in Lehighton has been one of polar opposites. On Monday we had a great meeting with the Branch President, President Keller. We were really able to connect with him and build a trust very quickly. He has great desires to build his branch but as of late he has felt like he has been a failure in that department. We were able to bear testimony one to another and the Spirit was able to give him some revelation of new angle he could take on helping the Branch up here invite more people to Christ. After that meeting though it seems as though Satan is working overtime, we have had a rough time finding and teaching so far this week. I don’t know what the deal is but experience has shown me that when things like this happen that means that something fantastic is around the corner whether I see it while I am still here or not it does not matter, but as long as it comes for this area that’s what matters. I hope I can help move it around the corner faster.

So that’s the portion that I sent this week. I don’t know what I really have left after that. E. Santos is doing great his English is coming along. Life has been a little crazy every time we see any branch member they ask me if I am "trunky"(meaning am I getting a little restless about the thought of home) yet. So that kinda bugs but I just smile and say, nope too much to do to get trunky. They are a group of really good people I just pray that we can help them while I am still here.
Well family I love you dearly.
Love,
Elder Andrus

Fun Halloween Pics - Thanks to Aubrie!

Must see halloween pictures of my darling Grandkids!

I think they are the most beautiful children in the whole world -- Very objective on my part :)