Hola everyone! How in the world are all of you? What's going on with all of you? It was so good to hear from some of you! I'm glad that it's been a good week.
Sorry this is a bit later than usual. The Tua'ones (the Sr couple) rented a van and took Hna Andersen, Sis Christensen, and Sis Maher and I on an "adventure." We went to the end of our areas/mission. Its crazy because our areas are about an hour and a half long. It was way fun.
Well, like always, this week has been crazy. This transfer sure has been interesting. We had zone training on Tuesday morning. I love zone training! It's always great to get to hear from our leaders and learn how to become better servants of the Lord. President talked to us about how the change in the mission is going to take place. What's going to happen is that whoever is in El Paso, Mt Franklin, and Las Cruces zones on July 1st will automatically become part of the other mission. I'm interested to see what happens and will be happy with either one. Probably the biggest reason that I love zone training is because it gives me the opportunity to talk one on one with President Walker and account for what is happening in my area. At the beginning of the interview he always has me pray in Spanish. After I prayed he told me that my Spanish had improved tons since last transfer. I was super excited because sometimes you can't tell if you are improving or not but it was great to hear from him. He gave me a few ideas of what to do to make the area and my Spanish better. I'm always so thankful for his advice, he definitely is inspired.
During interviews he also told me, Hna Andersen, Sis Christensen, and Sis Maher that we were going on a 3 day exchange. He wanted my companion to learn some things from Sister Christensen before she goes home next week. So for 3 days this week I was an English sister. It was way fun! Sister Maher and I are great friends and worked way hard together. I loved getting to know their investigators and learning from them.
One quick story, so Sister Christensen has been fasting and praying her whole mission to teach and baptize a family. Well about 3 weeks ago, on the very last day that it was possible they met a family. So her last Saturday in the mission she'll see that family baptized! Cool huh?! I'm amazed by her faith. It was awesome to get to help teach this family! Sister Maher and I also went out and met tons of people. One of my favorite things is when we go out tracting and people look at us and say "no hablo ingles" and I say "oh esta bien! Yo hablo en espanol tambien!" So funny. We had some great experiences by tracting with the Spirit. One day she drove around and then we both decided that we needed to stop. Well, the first person we saw used to be taught by the missionaries in Jaurez and believes a lot of our teachings! We're going to start teaching him! Another time this week we were driving and I felt like we needed to get out and knock. We started at one end of the street and when we reached the second to last house on the street we met this man who said that he had just decided that he needed to find a church. Amazing huh?
On Saturday we "blitzed" our area. 4 companionship's came in and we prayerfully chose streets to knock. We all found some potential investigators! Yes! I'm super excited! Things are really starting to look up in this area. I've found that if we don't do it the Lord's way we're not going to be successful.
Yesterday at church it was awesome because a few different people came up to us and said "you visited one of my friends! If you need anyone to go out with you call me." The ward is really starting to trust us! I love it!
Thanks for all of your love and support! I love you all! You're awesome examples to me. Also thanks to those of you who answered my question! I really appreciate it. I'm still wanting more answers so write me and let me know how you accept Christ in your life more. Ok? Thanks!
Have an amazing week! Keep the faith! The Church is definitely true!
Love,
Hermana Anderson
Monday, February 22, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Happy Valentines Day and Presidents Day!
Hey everyone! Happy Valentines Day and President Day! Thanks so much for all of the packages and valentines! I loved them! I'm so so so so lucky!
THEY'RE SPLITTING MY MISSION!?!?!?!?!? WHAT IN THE WORLD! Oh man, I'm kind of freaking out right now. As I was reading your email I was like "oh my goodness they're splitting our mission!" And the zone leaders were like "NO! No one is supposed to know! I guess that the cat is out of the bag." So apparently President is going to announce it tomorrow at zone training. I really want to stay in the Tucson Mission. I just love the Walkers, they're inspired people that I love. But I guess I wont have to worry about this until July.
Mom, you said that you hoped that I come home the early transfer because my 18 months end in the middle of the transfer. Well, as of right now I plan on staying the long transfer. What's 3 more weeks right? If I did that I would still make it home in time for Christmas. It would probably end up being on December 23rd. Merry Christmas huh?
Congratulations to Robby and Kurt! You're never going to regret your choice to serve. I have a strong testimony that we are called to the places where we're supposed to be. It is amazing to see the relationships that you build and the love you have for those you work with. So cool that you get to speak Spanish too! You're so lucky! It's such a blessing to serve! Yay!
So this week has definitely had its ups and downs. I really feel like this is the time where our faith is being tested. We can't find anyone, teach anyone, etc etc. Its lame because we'll meet people and they'll set up appointments and they're never home. Its the same for the Elders in our ward as well. I've really been thinking of what we can do to change this area and I think it comes down to accepting the Lord into the work more. After all, it is His work. He knows how to do the work more than all of us combined. So that's what I'm trying to do. I need to accept my Savior in the work and in my life. If I'm right with Him in my life than I'll be right with Him in the work.
So I would like to invite and ask all of you to think about how you accept the Savior into your lives and write me and let me know. If all of you could do that I would really really appreciate it. It can just be a sentence, I don't care, I just want to know. Thanks!
I've really found that I appreciate everything so much more now. Every lesson is a miracle to me. So far this transfer I've probably taught the same number of lessons as I would in my last area in one week. It really is a humbling experience. It reminds me of what Joseph Smith said, I can't remember the exact words but it is something to the affect of that sometimes the Lord brings us down so He can build us back up. I know that what He can do to me is even greater than what I can imagine. I just need to forget myself and lose some pride first. I think that I'll always look back on this area and time with great love and appreciation for what I'm learning here.
This week we've tried to really work with the members. We are trying to visit the members in our area and really get to know them. Everyone that we've met is so nice and want to help us. I really believe that members are so critical. Without members the work can't progress. I remember how Elder Bednar said that we're the teachers and the members are the finders. Its so true. The majority of my day is spent finding and we haven't really yielded any results. But since we've started visiting the members and gaining their trusts they are starting to give us referrals. I know that this area has so much potential but success wont come without the members help. I learn so much from the members and I love them.
On Wednesday one of the members from Columbia is going to teach us how to make some food from her country. I'm really excited. We're also trying to find ways to do acts of service. I really believe that as we do service we'll be blessed.
I went on a few exchanges this week. Its always good to work with other missionaries because they teach me so much. It's fun. I went on Tuesday with some other Spanish sisters (they're companion needed a break) and on Saturday with the one of the English Sisters. I really enjoyed it.
Well, that's about it from over here in the Arizona Tucson Mission. I love you all and am so thankful for all of you. Please continue to pray for this area that we'll see miracles and this area will catch on fire. I know that it will happen but we need all of the prayers we can get!
Always remember that the Church is true and that our Lord and Savior is the only true source of peace, happiness, and joy! Seek Him! Trust Him! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Anderson
THEY'RE SPLITTING MY MISSION!?!?!?!?!? WHAT IN THE WORLD! Oh man, I'm kind of freaking out right now. As I was reading your email I was like "oh my goodness they're splitting our mission!" And the zone leaders were like "NO! No one is supposed to know! I guess that the cat is out of the bag." So apparently President is going to announce it tomorrow at zone training. I really want to stay in the Tucson Mission. I just love the Walkers, they're inspired people that I love. But I guess I wont have to worry about this until July.
Mom, you said that you hoped that I come home the early transfer because my 18 months end in the middle of the transfer. Well, as of right now I plan on staying the long transfer. What's 3 more weeks right? If I did that I would still make it home in time for Christmas. It would probably end up being on December 23rd. Merry Christmas huh?
Congratulations to Robby and Kurt! You're never going to regret your choice to serve. I have a strong testimony that we are called to the places where we're supposed to be. It is amazing to see the relationships that you build and the love you have for those you work with. So cool that you get to speak Spanish too! You're so lucky! It's such a blessing to serve! Yay!
So this week has definitely had its ups and downs. I really feel like this is the time where our faith is being tested. We can't find anyone, teach anyone, etc etc. Its lame because we'll meet people and they'll set up appointments and they're never home. Its the same for the Elders in our ward as well. I've really been thinking of what we can do to change this area and I think it comes down to accepting the Lord into the work more. After all, it is His work. He knows how to do the work more than all of us combined. So that's what I'm trying to do. I need to accept my Savior in the work and in my life. If I'm right with Him in my life than I'll be right with Him in the work.
So I would like to invite and ask all of you to think about how you accept the Savior into your lives and write me and let me know. If all of you could do that I would really really appreciate it. It can just be a sentence, I don't care, I just want to know. Thanks!
I've really found that I appreciate everything so much more now. Every lesson is a miracle to me. So far this transfer I've probably taught the same number of lessons as I would in my last area in one week. It really is a humbling experience. It reminds me of what Joseph Smith said, I can't remember the exact words but it is something to the affect of that sometimes the Lord brings us down so He can build us back up. I know that what He can do to me is even greater than what I can imagine. I just need to forget myself and lose some pride first. I think that I'll always look back on this area and time with great love and appreciation for what I'm learning here.
This week we've tried to really work with the members. We are trying to visit the members in our area and really get to know them. Everyone that we've met is so nice and want to help us. I really believe that members are so critical. Without members the work can't progress. I remember how Elder Bednar said that we're the teachers and the members are the finders. Its so true. The majority of my day is spent finding and we haven't really yielded any results. But since we've started visiting the members and gaining their trusts they are starting to give us referrals. I know that this area has so much potential but success wont come without the members help. I learn so much from the members and I love them.
On Wednesday one of the members from Columbia is going to teach us how to make some food from her country. I'm really excited. We're also trying to find ways to do acts of service. I really believe that as we do service we'll be blessed.
I went on a few exchanges this week. Its always good to work with other missionaries because they teach me so much. It's fun. I went on Tuesday with some other Spanish sisters (they're companion needed a break) and on Saturday with the one of the English Sisters. I really enjoyed it.
Well, that's about it from over here in the Arizona Tucson Mission. I love you all and am so thankful for all of you. Please continue to pray for this area that we'll see miracles and this area will catch on fire. I know that it will happen but we need all of the prayers we can get!
Always remember that the Church is true and that our Lord and Savior is the only true source of peace, happiness, and joy! Seek Him! Trust Him! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Anderson
Monday, February 8, 2010
Gas Leak
Hey there!
It was so good to hear from you all! It sounds like things are going great up there! I'm so glad!
Well we've had quite the week! It's funny how things can happen so much on missions. Sometimes it seems like that since we're only out for such a short amount of time we have to have all of life crunched into 18 months. This week was no different.
After Dad wrote me about those missionaries who died I decided that we needed to have our house checked to see if it had a gas leak. Since we moved there I could smell something and have just been putting it off because we had so much stuff going on. Well, Tuesday afternoon the Texas gas people came and sure enough we had a few leaks. Well, he fixed one on the stove and there is another on the furnace. He shut that off until someone comes to fix it.
Well, I called and told President Walker about it and he said that there was no way that we could stay there even though the gas man told me that it would be fine. So we have left our beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bath house for the one bedroom 1 bathroom apartment that the English sisters live in. That's right, there are 4 of us living there. And that's not all, it has mice! Don't worry, we caught a mouse. It was pretty disgusting. We had to call a recent convert to come take care of it because it was on a sticky trap and was still alive. The first night Sister Maher and I slept on the lazy boys but we've since got cot's. It's actually tons of fun. We love it! It's way funny because just the week before the English sisters asked President if we could have a sleep over and he said absolutely not. Well, we've now been having a sleep over on his orders for about a week. There's never a dull moment.
The owner of the house is coming tonight to look at it. She lives in Mexico and this is the first chance that she's had to come over so the sleep over will probably end soon unfortunately. But it will be nice to be back in the house where there is more than an inch between the beds. So crazy.
President asked us to do an exchange this past week and he wanted Sister Maher to come out with me. It was way fun! It was my first time that I was the person who knew the most Spanish. Sister Maher understands a lot of Spanish but can't really say anything. It was such a great experience! I was really surprised because everything went really well. We taught lots of lessons and it was completely fine. The Lord really blessed us. It was amazing because I often rely on others Spanish but my mouth was filled and I understood. It was such a blessing. It really helped me gain confidence that I can do anything with the Lord. Confidence is probably the thing that I lack the most with Spanish but slowly but surely its getting better.
We had some great lessons this week. We're teaching these women from Peru named Ana and Flor. They're SO funny! Ana is in her 60s and is Flor's mom. Well, she is always saying such funny things. She calls me her angel and they just love us. She keeps saying "baptize me" but wont really accept a date. We're praying that they'll be baptized this month.
We've found a few more investigators that are great. We're just trying to find find find.
Anyway, I hope that you all have a great week! Have fun and do good! Remember who you are and act accordingly :). Trust in the Lord and take those steps of faith. After we show our faith miracles happen. It's true, I know it. The Church is definately true! Love you lots!
Love, Hermana Anderson
It was so good to hear from you all! It sounds like things are going great up there! I'm so glad!
Well we've had quite the week! It's funny how things can happen so much on missions. Sometimes it seems like that since we're only out for such a short amount of time we have to have all of life crunched into 18 months. This week was no different.
After Dad wrote me about those missionaries who died I decided that we needed to have our house checked to see if it had a gas leak. Since we moved there I could smell something and have just been putting it off because we had so much stuff going on. Well, Tuesday afternoon the Texas gas people came and sure enough we had a few leaks. Well, he fixed one on the stove and there is another on the furnace. He shut that off until someone comes to fix it.
Well, I called and told President Walker about it and he said that there was no way that we could stay there even though the gas man told me that it would be fine. So we have left our beautiful 3 bedroom 2 bath house for the one bedroom 1 bathroom apartment that the English sisters live in. That's right, there are 4 of us living there. And that's not all, it has mice! Don't worry, we caught a mouse. It was pretty disgusting. We had to call a recent convert to come take care of it because it was on a sticky trap and was still alive. The first night Sister Maher and I slept on the lazy boys but we've since got cot's. It's actually tons of fun. We love it! It's way funny because just the week before the English sisters asked President if we could have a sleep over and he said absolutely not. Well, we've now been having a sleep over on his orders for about a week. There's never a dull moment.
The owner of the house is coming tonight to look at it. She lives in Mexico and this is the first chance that she's had to come over so the sleep over will probably end soon unfortunately. But it will be nice to be back in the house where there is more than an inch between the beds. So crazy.
President asked us to do an exchange this past week and he wanted Sister Maher to come out with me. It was way fun! It was my first time that I was the person who knew the most Spanish. Sister Maher understands a lot of Spanish but can't really say anything. It was such a great experience! I was really surprised because everything went really well. We taught lots of lessons and it was completely fine. The Lord really blessed us. It was amazing because I often rely on others Spanish but my mouth was filled and I understood. It was such a blessing. It really helped me gain confidence that I can do anything with the Lord. Confidence is probably the thing that I lack the most with Spanish but slowly but surely its getting better.
We had some great lessons this week. We're teaching these women from Peru named Ana and Flor. They're SO funny! Ana is in her 60s and is Flor's mom. Well, she is always saying such funny things. She calls me her angel and they just love us. She keeps saying "baptize me" but wont really accept a date. We're praying that they'll be baptized this month.
We've found a few more investigators that are great. We're just trying to find find find.
Anyway, I hope that you all have a great week! Have fun and do good! Remember who you are and act accordingly :). Trust in the Lord and take those steps of faith. After we show our faith miracles happen. It's true, I know it. The Church is definately true! Love you lots!
Love, Hermana Anderson
Monday, February 1, 2010
The Standard of Truth HAS Been Erected!
Hola everyone! Como estan?
Another week has flown by. I can't believe how fast time goes! Can you believe that in two days I will have been out for 8 months? I can't! It's crazy how fast time goes. So crazy.
So this week has been quite the week. It's been full of adventures, miracles, difficulties, and everything else you can think of. On Tuesday night we were driving to contact a referral. I was driving and stopped at a stop sign. Well, a car failed to yield to oncoming traffic and sped through the intersection. Another car that was going about 50 mph hit him. That car spun and his car came through the intersection right for us. Well, we had quite the miracle. So he was coming right for my door, I could see him and he was so scared. Well, right before he got to us his car practically stopped and he barely bumped us. It could have been really bad but all that happened was we got a few little bumps on the door. Our cars were like a "t." So yeah, we were super blessed because we could have been really hurt but instead we were just fine. We barely even felt it. It turned out that the man was a bit intoxicated. His car and the other car are totaled but no body was hurt.
The next day I was super sick. I don't remember the last time I was that sick. I couldn't keep anything down. After district meeting and what not we talked to Sister Walker and she told Sister Andersen that I couldn't work.
So yeah, we had lots of crazy things happen to us this week but we came out on top. Like the Standard of Truth says "The Standard of Truth Has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing..." I feel like Satan is doing all that he can to stop us but since the Standard of Truth has been erected nothing is going to stop it. When things happen I just say "nice try Satan, but you can't stop us."
You know, this week more than ever I've felt the urgency of the work. I am so happy that I get to be a part of the work. I love the work. When I think of all that the Lord has done for me I just want to talk to everyone because everyone needs the blessings from the Gospel. I can't help but be happy all of the time because of the truth that I know. We had some great miracles this week. We've been going through our area book and pretty much contacting all of the formers. Well somehow we had missed one and than all of the sudden we flipped open to one of the pages. It was for this teenager named Joel. Well, we went over and visited him and he said that he's been looking for the truth. The next day when we came back he had been reading from the Book of Mormon and loving it. He committed to be baptized! Slowly but surely the work will be on fire here. We were also able to contact lots of people so it was just an awesome week. We've been blessed with so much. I love this new area! Our house is awesome! The members are amazing! To answer your question Dad, this area is a lot better well off than my last. My last area is kind of the ghetto of El Paso but this place is super nice. They both provide different pros and cons but I love learning how to work in a new area with new challenges. Its awesome.
Well, I probably should head but I hope that you all have a great week. Be happy! Do good! Remember our Savior and what He has done for you. When we remember our Savior we have every reason to be happy! Well, I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Anderson
Another week has flown by. I can't believe how fast time goes! Can you believe that in two days I will have been out for 8 months? I can't! It's crazy how fast time goes. So crazy.
So this week has been quite the week. It's been full of adventures, miracles, difficulties, and everything else you can think of. On Tuesday night we were driving to contact a referral. I was driving and stopped at a stop sign. Well, a car failed to yield to oncoming traffic and sped through the intersection. Another car that was going about 50 mph hit him. That car spun and his car came through the intersection right for us. Well, we had quite the miracle. So he was coming right for my door, I could see him and he was so scared. Well, right before he got to us his car practically stopped and he barely bumped us. It could have been really bad but all that happened was we got a few little bumps on the door. Our cars were like a "t." So yeah, we were super blessed because we could have been really hurt but instead we were just fine. We barely even felt it. It turned out that the man was a bit intoxicated. His car and the other car are totaled but no body was hurt.
The next day I was super sick. I don't remember the last time I was that sick. I couldn't keep anything down. After district meeting and what not we talked to Sister Walker and she told Sister Andersen that I couldn't work.
So yeah, we had lots of crazy things happen to us this week but we came out on top. Like the Standard of Truth says "The Standard of Truth Has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing..." I feel like Satan is doing all that he can to stop us but since the Standard of Truth has been erected nothing is going to stop it. When things happen I just say "nice try Satan, but you can't stop us."
You know, this week more than ever I've felt the urgency of the work. I am so happy that I get to be a part of the work. I love the work. When I think of all that the Lord has done for me I just want to talk to everyone because everyone needs the blessings from the Gospel. I can't help but be happy all of the time because of the truth that I know. We had some great miracles this week. We've been going through our area book and pretty much contacting all of the formers. Well somehow we had missed one and than all of the sudden we flipped open to one of the pages. It was for this teenager named Joel. Well, we went over and visited him and he said that he's been looking for the truth. The next day when we came back he had been reading from the Book of Mormon and loving it. He committed to be baptized! Slowly but surely the work will be on fire here. We were also able to contact lots of people so it was just an awesome week. We've been blessed with so much. I love this new area! Our house is awesome! The members are amazing! To answer your question Dad, this area is a lot better well off than my last. My last area is kind of the ghetto of El Paso but this place is super nice. They both provide different pros and cons but I love learning how to work in a new area with new challenges. Its awesome.
Well, I probably should head but I hope that you all have a great week. Be happy! Do good! Remember our Savior and what He has done for you. When we remember our Savior we have every reason to be happy! Well, I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Anderson
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