When there is unity amazing things happen...

Well we had a really good week this week! Elder Gilliland and I started working a lot better together and it is amazing what will happen when there is unity in a companionship. When we started working better together we were able to get the work going a lot better in our area and we were able to pick up 7 new investigators in our area just in the last week. We were able to pick up five new investigators on Wednesday. Shelby Anderson and her four children. They are all really excited to get baptized, they all know that it is the right thing to do and know that it is something they need to do we just hope and pray that Shelby's ex-husband and the children's father doesn't get to them. (He is a non-denominational Christian preacher) somethin' or another. This last week I also realized how much I have a testimony of the power of prayer and the power of priesthood in my life. With the different health challenges I have had in my life and the stories I can tell about the brain tumor and such it can help strengthen other people's testimony's as well.
I know that this work that I am doing here in the Salt Lake City South mission is a great work and that it is very important! I know that it is a work that Heavenly Father wants me to do and that Satan does not want me to do. My new favorite scripture that I turn to almost every day is D&C 10:5 "Pray always, that you may come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work."
This scripture is so true. Satan and his angels are always out there trying to stop the work from progressing, but if we constantly pray and have a prayer in our hearts then we can come of conqueror and we can keep the work moving forward.
I hope that all of you are doing missionary work in your own lives! And that you pray for missionary opportunity's to happen in your lives daily.
I love all of you and pray for you daily!
I can't wait to hear from you all and hope to get letter's in the mail from you soon!
Love,
Elder Anderson

Hey There

Hey there! I'm emailing earlier than usual this week because we are cleaning the temple later. How are you all doing? What's going on in the outside world? Thanks so much for all of the letters and packages, I really love them! Oh mom, an elder in my district's mom decided not to send him his gym shoes. I was wondering if you can go buy some with some of my money. He'll pay me back. His limit is $40 and he wears size 12. Let me know if that is possible through dear elder. Thanks.
So this week has been an awesome week! My companion Hermana Lee has had lots of questions lately. Weird questions. One time she mentioned that she would love to see an apostle. I knew that if she saw one that she would know that Heavenly Father loves her. So I thought about that a lot. Well, last week Hermana Kang lost her temple recommend. Our branch president told us that we needed to go to the front desk to get it signed by the mtc president on Thursday. So we went and right in front of the doors was Elder Parry and Elder Bednar and their wives. They stopped us and we talked to them for awhile. Its amazing how normal they are. They're real people. From this experience I realized that when we live our lives right Heavenly Father answers the righteous desires of our hearts. It was amazing. On Friday we had our devotional. Elder Holland spoke. It was AMAZING!!!! He talked about how we are doing the work of angels. I know that this is true. Every day I can feel angels bear me up and help me do what I need to do. I love it. He also told us that it is important to have a "divine companionship." That means that the Holy Ghost is always our companion. It is divine because we have a member of the Godhead as our companion. I think that that is beautiful. I was in the choir and we sang "Joseph Smith's First Prayer." There was no denying that Joseph saw God the Father and His son Jesus Christ. It is so true. Everything I do is based on that fact. If it wasn't true I would be wasting my time.
So I've realized something this week. I am no longer just my easy going old self. I've developed quite a bit of a red personality. Its funny to me because I was never really like this before. I when the Lord calls you he qualifies you as well. I was talking to my branch president about it and he told me that he has always seen me as a leader and that he knows that that is what I'm supposed to do. I have a lot to work on. I need more charity. Every week we pick a Christ like quality found in chapter 6 of Preach My Gospel to work on. That is the quality I need most right now and have been working on it for quite some time. Like I said, I had an interview with my Branch President. I love him and his wife. They are like my parents here.
Oh, we got 3 new roommates this week! They are all American! When we found out that we were getting new roommates my companions weren't very happy. I told them that we had 2 options. Our options were to be happy and excited or to be miserable. I asked them which one they would rather have and they told me the first. I think thats how it is with everything in life. Its all in our attitude. One of them is actually really good friends with Mykel. So that is cool. We all get along really well.
Well, I don't have much time today. Will you forward this to Suzy and Dad? I forgot their emails and don't have time to write them individually. This email is for everyone. Thanks Suzy and Dad for your letters. Dad, I told the elders how hot it is in AZ and they are scared to death (2 are from Alaska and are already dying of heat here). Well I love you all! I hope that you have a great week. Thanks for praying for me! I need your prayers! Bye!
Love, Hermana Anderson

Hola

Oh my goodness! The Swine flu is taking over! We all knew that Reed would get it. Lets just be honest. Tell everyone that I hope that they get well soon! The MTCs problem with swine flu is getting much better. Last week there were over 50 people in quarantine and now there are less than 10. Its a miracle. I've been really good about not touching anyone (except I did hug my branch presidents wife last week). I love my branch presidency and their wives. Almost every night one of the wives comes and hangs out with us in our rooms before we go to bed. I'm really close to two of them. Its so nice to have English speaking women around!

So like I said at the beginning of last week I was wondering if I was happy. So I was praying about it and it was answered during the Devotional. One speaker (Bishop Edgleys wife) said that happiness is 1. a sense of joy from belonging and being loved 2. a sense of confidence 3. a sense of purpose 4. a sense of gratitude 5. a sense of satisfaction from serving and doing hard things 6. a sense of freedom. I realized that I am a very happy person and that i was looking for pleasure not happiness. So this week has been really great! the language is starting to come and I'm so so thankful. Its tough but if the Lord called me to do it I can. So in class we spotlight someone everyday.

Well Hermana Lee highlighted me last week. Usually people just get up and say things that just come to mind of the spot. Not her, she pulled out a paper. She had been taking notes on me without me even knowing it. So funny. Here is the list 1. she loves candies and chocolate 2. she is healthy 3. she plays basketball during gym sometimes 4. she loves ice cream 5. her mom is very gorgeous... (long pause) because she sends us packages 6. her sister is domestic (that's a tough word for them but we're working on it). Funny list huh. This week our teaching abilities have improved a ton. I love it! So here is what a day is like: 5:50 wake up. 6- exercise (it is just open for sisters). Sister Lindley has become my personal trainer and her run and lift weights. You would never believe it but i LOVE running now. 6:30 get ready. 7 breakfast. 7:30-11:30 class or personal or comp study. 11:30 lunch. 12:15 class or personal or comp study. 4:30 dinner (really early). 5:15 class or personal or comp study. 9:30 get ready for bed. 10:30 lights out. We also play sand volleyball most days for gym time and that time just changes everyday. I've seen Elder Lloyd a few times. He's doing great. So there are no new sisters coming any time soon. Hopefully one day. I'm sorry about the crafts specialists. Thats tough. Whats new with everyone? What did you do for Fathers Day? I'm glad dad liked the card! Why hasn't he written me yet? Just curious. I've been here for like 3 weeks now. So I really love it here. Its real tough but real good. I'm learning so so much. My testimony is strengthened so much every day. OH! This week is mission presidents week so its going to be amazing! The first presidency and lots of the apostles will be here! There is going to be a big devotional on Friday that I'm way excited about! Well I better go. I love you all! Have a great week! The church is true!

Love, Hermana Anderson

Swine Flu

What a week! This week has been a long week!!!!!! At the beginning of the week I got really really sick so I decided to go to the doctor. The first thing they tested me for actually came back positive. (That being a first) The Swine Flu! So they put me on some medicine and I am doing better now but those first few days it totally wiped me out!
But we did have a baptism this week. We had the baptism of Tye Jordan on Monday evening. A 9 year old boy. That was really good other then I was in the bathroom pretty much the whole time throwing up :) This week we also had some really good experiences with feeling that we needed to go somewhere and we would go there and they would be like Elders how did you know we needed you to come today? So it was pretty amazing!
I love you all and hope that you have a great week!
Love,
Elder Anderson

Hurrah for Israel!

Hey Fam,

Its so good to hear from all of you! I miss you all tons. All of last week and the week before I was thinking that I was really lucky because I wasn't homesick or anything. And then Saturday it hit me. I realized that serving a mission is probably the hardest thing I've ever done but also the best thing I've ever done. I'm trying to look at being home sick in perspective and I don't think that I would want my mission to be easy. I want to work for it. So I guess I'm glad to have it. I don't know if that makes sense. So thanks so much for all of your letters. I just love reading and getting them. So this past week has been a really good one! On Tuesday we had a special devotional. Elder Bednar came! He told us that the number one question he gets is if we are really feeling the spirit or if it is just us making up decisions on our own. He said that the closer we come to Christ the less major spiritual experiences we need because Christ trusts us and knows that we will do the right thing. He also said that we can't be paralyzed from waiting for the Spirit. That is so true. He said that if we are "good boys and good girls" we will have the Spirit with us and our steps will be guided and when we open our mouths words will come out. This is so true. I know it is. My companion was talking to a man who wanted a Book of Mormon and he wanted us to call back and talk to him. He is our first investigator and we just talk to him on the phone. The first day we called him I had no idea what we were going to say. But, I just opened my mouth and words came out. Pretty much I think he is just a lonely guy who wants to talk but he seems to like what we say. Also, we've been doing a lot of practice teaching this week. Its hard stuff especially since my companions don't speak English as their first language. I was thinking about the need for the gift of tongues. I need it so so so much. I think I have it because I can understand my companions better than anyone else and sometimes translate what they want to say to people. Spanish is way hard but I know that if the Lord asked me to speak Spanish than I can. I am just trusting in him and not letting myself get worried about it.
So when I got your letter about Reed doing better I almost started to cry. I had been worried about him and my prayers were answered. Its the same for with grandma. That is so great that she can be by herself at night and that she had that special experience. I think that our family is very blessed I can see blessings from Reed and I serving missions. Also, that is so great that Ruth got to ride the helecopter. Oh, I shared the wonderful treat you sent me with my district. They LOVED it. The elders said to tell you that they love you in an "elderly kind of way." Not because you are old, but because they are elders. Oh, I saw Uncle Norman at the temple today. It was great seeing him. I love the temple because it is so peaceful. I could just sit in there for hours. That is crazy about the angel Moroni. Oh, the other night I woke up to thunder and my bed shook and I thought it was an earthquake. My companions were awake and I asked them if they felt it and they said no but one had a hard time sleeping the rest of the night because she was sure we had one and was nervous. So funny. Oh, they have recently aquired a lot of Korean food and our room smells so so bad. Its a good thing I sleep by the window. Thanks so much for finding my drivers license! I sent the pictures last week so you should get them soon. My projected departure date is August 5th! Well, I love you all! Write me back soon. I am like Reed and LOVE letters. Have a great week! The church is so true! Hurrah for Israel!

Love,

Hermana Anderson

D&C 10:5-6

Wow this week was a really good week! To start the week out on Monday evening on was really feeling down on myself again about serving so close to home. Sometimes I don't know if people realize how hard it really is to serve so close to Bluffdale just like ten minutes away. So I decided that I was going to work towards trying to go on my mission somewhere else again. But something about that just did not feel right. I decided that I would pray about it and go to the temple the next morning and pray about it there and see how I felt about it at the temple. So the next morning we went to the Jordan River Temple and as we were sitting in the chapel I pulled out a Book of Mormon and I just flipped through it and closed my eyes and randomly turned to a scripture that really helped me out. The scripture that I randomly turned to was D&C 10:5-6 which reads, "Do not run faster or labor more than you have strength and means provided but be diligent unto the end. Pray always, that you may come off conqueror: yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work." Wow! That scripture really hit me and really told me that I just needed to stay here. It doesn't matter where you serve your mission or where you serve the lord, but how you serve!So that was my really neat spiritual experience I had this week.
This week we had the baptism of Karina Clinton. She was a twenty-eight year lady who we have been working with for about a month. She was so golden! She knew that baptism was a very important step that she needed to make and a very important step to get back towards her heavenly father. The baptism was great and the spirit was very strong at the baptism. I am really looking forward to the next couple of weeks. We have 5 more people on date for baptism for the rest of this month. We have 3 people on date for June 27th so that should be an awesome day! I hope all is well with all of you and that you are all doing just fine and dandy!

I love you all!

Love,
Elder Anderson

The headaches are doing so much better! These glasses do wonders! It is crazy!!!!!!!!! I can't believe what they do!

Buenos Dias

Buenos Dias mi familia! How in the world are you? What's going on with all of you? Thanks for the letters and packages Mom and Dad. 2 of you have yet to write. Maybe tomorrow? So I'm loving it here! Seriously, the decision to serve a mission is one of the best decisions of my life. I'm so happy here and am so thankful for this opportunity. My district is great! The Elders are like brothers to me. One is actually from Riverton and is friends with Reed. His name is Elder Ryan Smith. My companions are great! Like I said, my original companion didn't show up so I'm in a threesom with two hermanas from Korea. Its crazy, they barely know English and are learning Spanish now. Its way cool. It takes a lot of patience on my part though because there are a lot of questions and what not. I hope this isn't bad but last night I heard a lot of questions and so at dinner I told them an important american saying. "I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!" I told them that in America you have to say that really loud whenever you see ice cream and that its just part of our culture. I hope thats not bad. I love the way they talk too. Last night we got locked out of our room while brushing our teeth so we all had to go to the front desk of the MTC to get a key. We had nothing. I had to borrow Sister Lindley's key to the building and shoes. We didn't even have our name tags. Hermana Lee kept saying "I'm so embarrass-ed" (emphasis on the "ed"). Its kind of like I'm learning Spanish, Korean, and Chinese (from Sister Lindley). It is such a blessing to have Sister Lindley so close. She's like a piece of home for me. The only rule I've broken is that I've hugged her. I hope I don't get the swine flu. I also saw Elder Lloyd yesterday (I didn't hug him) at dinner. It was great! The swine flu is such a big deal here. I know people that have had it. Like I said, I'm so so happy that I'm here. Its tough but its worth it. The spirit is so strong and it is great to be a part of something so wonderful. I've learned so so much. Its hard for me to sleep at night because I just lay in bed amazed at everything I've learned. The Church is so true! I love you all! Have a great week!
Love, Hermana Anderson

Headaches Seem To Be Getting Better

Wow this week went by quick! But it was a good week. We didn't have a baptism, but that is okay. We were able to pick up three new investigators this week which was good. We had a good zone conference where we received a lot of good training from President Laney. Sorry my letter is so short this week but we're really short on time! I love you all and pray for you daily!

Please continue to keep Reed in your prayers that his body will sustain him and that his headaches will decrease. I am happy to report that Reed's headaches seem to be getting better.

Sister Melissa Anderson

Sister Melissa Anderson has entered into full time service as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Earlier today we had the privilege of delivering Melissa to the MTC where she will stay for approximately 9 weeks and will be taught the Spanish language in preparation of her service in the Arizona Tucson Mission.



I'm sure that you have heard that the policy for dropping off your missionaries has changed. Today was the first day of the new policy.
When they say DROP OFF your missionaries they mean it!
We were pushing it to be able to take these few photos. From the point we pulled up to the curb got out of the car, got Melissa's luggage out and took 5 pictures it may have been 7 minutes before they had us back in the car and on the road.


As we were driving home we decided that we liked the quick drop off verses the long sad goodbye.


Last night Mark had the privilege of setting apart our daughter as a full time missionary. It was a beautiful blessing. We are so proud of her and know that she will be a fabulous missionary.

A Great Day

What a great day! Melissa spoke in sacrament meeting prior to her full time service in the Arizona Tuscan Mission. Her talk was amazing! The message that she gave and her ability to deliver it seemed more like she was returning from her mission not just entering. We are so proud of her and the decision that she has made to serve the Lord as a full time missionary. This was the last time our family will be together for the next 18 months. Elder Reed was able to join us that day and are grateful that he was able to catch up on much needed rest while the new medication was getting into his system. He returned to his companionship later Sunday evening.

Please keep our missionaries in your prayers.