E-Mail from Monday, January 26

G'day wow it sounds like you are really busy. Thank you for the email it was good to hear about all the blessings. And thank you for updating me on everyone. Sorry I didn't email yesterday. Yesterday was Australia day (that is like our 4th of July) we had a branch activity so that was fun. Oh the library was closed on the public holiday so that is why I am emailing today.
Hey I got the package that you sent me today, I didn't think I was going to get it for another 2 weeks but the mission office sent it to Dubbo for some reason. Thank you.
well I do not have much time but to answer some q's we don't do too much tracting in Dubbo because it is a small place and pres Scruggs does not want us to tract it out. We are struggling to find people to teach but we are working with some less active members and part member families to help them come to church.
Thanks again for the package and yeah next time you send something go ahead and send what is left of socks and garments.
Oh I am not sure what I will do with school yet weather I go so SLCC or not. I think I will just to get back into the swing of things.
Oh and about picking me up I am not sure how that would work because my release date is about Dec 22, 3 days before Christmas, but I think we get to call and organize the flight plans when I have 3 months left. But ask President Scruggs and see what he says about it.

Well thank you again and love ya heaps!!
Love Elder Andreasen

Email from January 18th

G'day
Hey sorry I didn't have much time last week. President Ryan had asked president Scruggs if I and Elder Tobiassen could go and watch the Steelers play the chargers and president Scruggs said that that was fine but he made sure that we knew that this was a special exception. That was pretty fun to see football again I was trying to teach Elder Tobiassen how to play, I think he got the hang of it but he thinks that aussie football they can kick farther but I said that the best aussie kickers play in the NFL. Its kinda fun just to pick at each other which stuff is better in our different countries.
Oh yeah I can't believe the Draper temple is up, well I guess I have been gone 13 months now , but anyway that is cool you got to go through it.
I still haven't got you package and it might take 3 more weeks or so before I get it just because that will be the next time I go to Sydney.
But any way I will have another memory card to send when I get it back.
This week the weather in Dubbo did get really hot about 42 degrees I am not sure what that is in Fahrenheit though.
Well we are going up to President Ryan’s again to play "axis and allies" the board game that we always play when we go up there on our preparation days.
Thank you!!
Love ya heaps!!
Love Elder Andreasen
Can you believe this is my 3rd Western Australian companion? I have had 3 from WA 1 from NZ and 2 from Utah, Crazy!
Well we got transfer calls last night Elder Tobiassen and I are both staying here in Dubbo. I think things here in Dubbo are really about to start picking up. Because of the transfer there are going to be closer missionaries instead of being 3 hours away they will only be 2 hours away. So I will be in Dubbo for at least 6 more weeks so that will give me another chance to go to Lightning Ridge were the opals are.
Elder Tobiassen and I had an interesting experience this week; part of our calling in Dubbo is we have to update the branch list. So we went to this place called Coolah (that is where Suzie used to live) to see get that date of death for this lady that on our records said she was dead. We got there and knocked on the door but no one answered, we decided that we were hungry so we found this little pie shop and got a pie and went back to the ladies house and knocked again. We expected to get the nonmember husband to answer the door but a lady answered the door, so we asked for "Vera” and she said that me, and we were shocked we were like you’re supposed to be dead. Anyways we started talking awhile and found out that she joined the church when she was 17 because the Elders were hot and she hasn't been back since she was 19. That was pretty fun.
Oh at sacrament meeting this week we only had 9 people but 1 of those people was this less active family that we are trying to get back to church. That was really good to see the mum there and hopefully we will be able to get the rest of the family back. This is the family that had us over for Christmas lunch and that own the boomerang shop. We are going over tomorrow to work out on their property to help them out. Because the last people that lived there didn't take care of it.

Email from January 11, 2008

G'day

Hey I don't Have much time, Elder Tobiassen and I are up here In Gilgandra where the Branch Pres Live and have to use the tiny library's 1 computer with slow Internet
Just wanted to say that I love y’all heaps, and I promise next week if I don't get transferred I will spend at least an hour emailing.
Oh we were not able to go to lightning ridge again because the family up there is on vacation.
Transfers are next week and I am pretty sure Elder Tobiassen and I will be together at least for one more transfer in Dubbo.
I just want to say before I go thank you for all your prayers and love. This is the lord’s work and I am so excited to be doing it here and now Love ya Heappss!!

Love Elder Andreasen

G'day Mum
Just a quick note can you forward the first email to Dad and stuff I really don't have much time.
Oh, and by the way I do miss your cooking, I tried the other day because we had nothing else to eat to make pasta with a white sauce but I kinda failed at it.
Well love ya heaps
Love Elder Andreasen

Email from January 4th

G'day

Thanks for the email.
Hopefully everyone can start feeling better and get around safely. Is there still much snow there? Oh don't be worried that we play rugby, the real sport is pretty vicious but all we can play as missionaries is touch, so it’s like touch football. It is still really fun though. Wow Griff is going to Boston I am sure Brent flipped when he found out; he loves Boston because of the Red sox.
Hopefully everything goes well with that Dr function thing. I am sure it will be fine.
Ok this week was pretty crazy we didn't get much done because there was a funeral and new years in the way. oh and by the way the funeral went pretty well it was kinda weird because I think the only other funeral that I have been to was Great Grandpa Painter which I barely remember. I just talked about how She was always happy and that that happiness came from having Christ in her life, then I related it to the story of Lehi's vision and how when he took the fruit off the tree and ate it filled his soul with great joy and happiness.
I think it went for about 8 or 9 minutes.
Thanks for the Christmas package the rubix game came in use we have a record board for each of the 6 games I think Elder Tobiassen and I have the same amount of records, but really I don't want to make him feel too bad for not having any :) Well for some reason things that you can't have are always the things that you want, I guess that’s the natural man in us, but I really loved the Reeses pieces that I got for Christmas. So if you do send a package those would be nice.
Well sorry I don't have much time this week we are going to President Ryan’s again. OH he is a big San Diego Chargers fan and they are playing my Steelers next week, so that should be exciting for him to watch. This is the best time of the year for sports, and man am I missing it. Oh well it’s not better than doing the lords work.
Love ya heaps
Love Elder Andreasen

Email from December 28th

G'day

Hey it was great to be able to talk to every one on Christmas. After I had talked to everyone we went to help coordinate a Sister's funeral. I still have no clue what to say. She is about the only member in her family so maybe i will try to teach all of her family that are not members. I only have to talk for five minutes but that will still be hard to fill. Oh well.
Well not much else has happened since I just talked to you on Christmas, other than yesterday we were able to go to the family's house that had over for Christmas dinner and we started teaching the mom. She had a baby boy pass away about 18 years ago and she said that was the hardest thing for her to do in her life. Then we taught her and i think she really felt comfort in what we shared. That's what the gospel does though ehh!!
Oh thanks for the pictures I love to be able to see everyone. The branch Pres. has two boys that are 7 and 5 and the have a baby girl on the way so it is almost the same as Andrea and Rich's family.
Oh to answer about the food storage some people have food storage but not much. This one guy in Toukley had a huge fish tank in His garage and would raise and eat fish and he also used his swimming pool for a fish tank as well. He also had a bee farm thing that he would make honey and also candles from the wax.
We don't have much to do on new years but we are probably going to go bowling with some less active members new years eve, other than that all we have to do is deep clean our flats. President Scruggs has told us during the holidays that we have to get our flat clean because we can't really tract or anything during the holidays.
Well i better get going. it was good talking to everyone.
Love ya heaps!
Love Elder Andreasen

Email from December 21st

G'day
Wow that's crazy to here about all the snow and ice over there. It sounds so wierd to me right now because it is so hot here. I think I would rather have a white Christmas. It is hard for me to realize that it is Christmas because I am so used to it being cold.
This week we went down to Sydney for our Christmas Zone conference. That was really fun. we went down Thursday. Then friday we went to the temple had a little temple devotional then we went to a chapel had a big lunch then watched some MOVIES. That was way fun we watched Fred Clause and also Iron Man. Then we received all of our Christmas packages. And that took up the whole day it was great fun. Then on saturday we drove back to Dubbo.
For Christmas we we invited to a couple of different places for lunch we will only be able to make it to 2 of them for lunch. Then yesterday we went to visit an investigator and we were talking about christmas and then they invited us for dinner, and for lunch we are going to some non members house and also for the other lunch a less actives house. Ohhh yeah we also get to sleep in on christmas.
Oh just to answer the q's NO that was not my toe that was Elder Weston's. After about a few weeks of when I was with him he decided to go to the doctors about it so we went and they couldn't remove it till january so he decided to do it himself.
Well we decided to try a new place to email because it is free but this place only has one computer so we have to share . So I am going to let Elder Tobiassen email now, but everything is going really well here in the outback of hot Dubbo.
Love ya heaps
Love Elder Blake Andreasen

Email from December 14th

G'day

Hey we didn't end up going to Lightning Ridge this weekend but I will make it up there this next month. What kind of opal would you like Reddens was just a cheap boulder opal from Queensland. The opal that you can get from LR is black opal it can get very pretty.
just to answer some questions.
Dubbo is the farthest west the mission goes and the branch area is about the size of Utah so Lightning Ridge is part of the branch and there are about 8 members up there and we are to go and give them the sacrament every now and then, then just spend some time with them.
Elder Tobiassen and I are serving as the counselors in the branch presidency but within the next few months I think they will be able to fill the positions with members.
That hotel we stayed at with the dead mouse was in Brewarrina the hotel was right above the pub. So we had to walk into the pub to get our key. haha that was a good night.?
haha the pooping toys were funny I wasn't embarrassed you shouldn't either.
well I better get going thanks for the emails love ya heaps!!!
Love Elder Andreasen.
oh I think the last phone card you bought will still work and it has heaps of minutes