The MTA's

Where Has Time Gone?

2010-12-13T13:02:00.001-07:00

Well, I'm not sure where the time has gone. Somehow it's almost time for me to come home. In some ways I'm excited, but in others kind of heartbroken. I absolutely love being a missionary and plan to continue to be one for the rest of my life. Rather than talk about all that I've learned this past year and a half I think that I'll just talk about my week.

Missionary work is wonderful. It's amazing to see others change and accept Christ and the truth in their lives. This past week was way busy. We were able to go to the temple as a district on Wednesday. The temple is so amazing.  It is a place where I feel so much peace and learn so much about Heavenly Father's love. I think that they are great symbols of that love. I've been thinking a lot about how everything that He does for us, including the commandments are because He loves us and wants us to be happy. I find it interesting that prayer is a commandment but the whole object of prayer is to secure blessings for us that we need.


This week we haven't really had a chance to see much of our investigators. They've been so busy and it seems like they've kind of dropped off the face of the planet. So Sister Thomas and I decided that we were going to set high goals for yesterday and expect miracles. And you guessed it... miracles happened!  It seemed like it was one right after another.

There is a recent convert who is super nice, but the elders drove her husband off last year and he hasn't been interested in learning much. Well, each time we go by he seems a little more open to us. His wife says that he likes us because we have personality. She told us last week that this weekend was his birthday so we thought that we'd stop by and give him a card and dvd. We were pretty sure that he'd be gone or if he was home that his wife wouldn't give him a chance to talk. When we got to their house the wife was asleep and he was home! He invited us in because he wanted to talk. It was great! Even though a lesson wasn't taught, we are gaining back his trust little by little. To me, that is a miracle.

We also contacted a few teenagers and they were all like "yeah!  I want to learn more!" One was a referral. He said that his family used to go to church with his sister but she moved out and they stopped going.  Apparently, in the last little while, the dad has started talking more about church and how they need to go back. The dad works shift work so we won’t be able to teach the family until Thursday but we're way excited about this!  From the way Jesus was talking, it seems like this family has really been prepared. He was a little quiet at first but then he opened up about football and I told him that I love college football and BYU. Well, this just opened him right up! We found out so much information about his family from just talking for a minute about what he's interested in. I think that people need to feel important before we even begin to teach them things. They can feel God's love for them as we find out about their lives. One of his former teachers once told us that "he's a big loser." How sad. I think that sometimes we are too quick to judge. We don't know what is going on in their lives and why they are the way they are. When I find myself starting to judge I always try to remember who they really are. Everyone on this earth is a child of God who once chose to follow Him. They have testimonies of Him deep inside but they just need to be awakened. People rarely change without being invited to do so.

We also talked with this girl who has felt lost and alone for a long time but has started going to a church. She said that it must be true because people speak in tongues and that they're teaching her to do the same. They also chant and it's interesting. I've found that Satan twists and distorts things so easily. He makes people believe in false things and it just pulls them away from the truth. In the scriptures it talks about people being blinded by the subtle craftiness of men. That truly happens. Something looks interesting and it pulls people in.  So many people talk about speaking in tongues and what not and I've wondered what it is like when they do it but I don't want to get anywhere near it. We need to cling to the truth and not let go. I'm sure that satisfying curiosity is a lot of people's down fall. Curiosity killed the cat right?

Another thing that I've been thinking about is avoiding the appearance of sin. Often people are surrounded by sin but think that they're too strong and they wont ever fall into its traps. Well, that's wrong. After being surrounded by it people will fall. We've talked about this to our investigators. The key is Helaman 5:12. We must be built on Christ. If we are, we'll be safe. If we're built on Christ we wont feel the need to satisfy curiosity or look for happiness anywhere else.

Well, I love you all! I can't believe that I'll be seeing you all this week. Crazy! Have a great week! Be strong in immovable. The Lord loves us and wants to bless us. He is amazing. I love the scripture that says the Lord is my light. He truly is my light and my joy. I love my Savior. I'm so thankful that I've been able serve Him and invite others to come unto Him. My life is forever changed and blessed. I just love being a missionary. There is nothing like it. I feel like I have so much to say but I'll just end with this. Always remember that the Gospel is definitely true and is such a great blessing in our lives. When we follow it we will always be safe and blessed even if those around us are not.

Follow Christ and He will direct your paths. Well, adios!

Hasta luego!

Love,
Hermana Anderson

Hola coma esta

2010-12-06T14:48:00.003-07:00

(This morning we helped renovate a home from the 1800's)

Hey everyone! I know that I always say this but time is just flying bye. I can't even believe that I'll be home next week. It's so weird.

This week was really great. It's been a roller coaster to say the least. I feel like missionary life is always a roller coaster. Just when you think that you have everything figured out and everything is going perfectly something happens. That is whats happening to us.

On Thursday we had the baptismal interviews lined up for Candi and her 2 daughters and Rycca. Unfortunately, Candi is the only one that had an interview. Her daughters, Brianna and Alicia, still need to get permission from their dad. He is kind of under the impression that the Candi is forcing this on them. It's amazing to see what her 4 daughters learn at church though. Every time we see them they sing us songs that they learned at church. Their favorite is "If the Savior Stood Beside Me." It's funny because they'll be singing it while they're acting up and Candi says something like, "would you really be doing that if He was beside you?" and it gets them in line. Candi's interview went really well. She's so prepared and amazing.

Shortly before the interviews Rycca's grandma called us and said that Rycca doesn't want to get baptized yet. It's sad because she is ready but she feels pressure about it and what it involves from the whole ward. It's pretty sad. But the ward has realized that they need to make some changes in order to help her and others like her out. So all of that happened on Thursday and on Friday night Candi texted us and said that she didn't know if she was ready to make a covenant yet because she's afraid of breaking it. Great!

We haven't been able to see her since then because she's been out of town but Joshua 1:6-9 keep running through my head. I especially love verse 9 which says, "Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest."  To survive the test of life we must be strong and of a good courage. We can't let our fears get to us. Fear is from the adversary!  Joseph Smith once said, "I make this my rule, if God commands do it." Our Heavenly Father is loving and will not ask more of us than we are able to give. Yes, sometimes it does take us be strong and of a good courage but we were sent here to do hard things. We're not here to just sit idly by until our time comes. We're here to follow God to show Him that we will follow Him even if it is hard or scary. Life is a battle but if we want to make it we have to be strong. That's just how it is.
So we're praying that we'll be able to see Candi today and help her through some of her feelings. I keep thinking that I just don't have time for her to be doing this but it isn't about me. I just know that I'm supposed to be teaching her and that I need to do all that I can to get her baptized before I leave.  So please pray that everything will work out.

Our 11 year old investigator Wesley is getting himself into trouble as well. He's been getting in lots of fights lately. I've put a lot of thought into what's going on with him and have realized some things. His family has him reading an anger management book. Now, that's a good idea but I don't think that it is the best thing for him. As I've been studying and contemplating the scriptures I've come up with some things.  There are countless stories of people who changed their lives around. They went from being evil to the best people in the world. After hearing his address, King Benjamin's people "cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a might change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually." What made this might change of heart happen? They became truly converted. They learned for themselves who their Savior was and that He was mighty and able to save them.

So the conclusion that I had this week is that it is a good thing to study behavior but the best thing is to come unto Christ. As we come unto Him we naturally become like Him. His wants and desires become our wants and desires.  I know that as Wesley continues to come unto Christ he will have "no more disposition to do evil but to do good continually."  We are so blessed to have a Savior and to have the opportunity to become more like Him everyday.
The Gospel is such a great blessing. As we live it and let it really be who we are, it changes us. It makes us better people. It makes us more worthy to be called the sons and daughters of God.

The Gospel is definitely true.
Have a great week everyone! I love you all lots!

Love, Sister Anderson

I'm SO Thankful that I came on a mission!

2010-11-29T17:27:00.003-07:00

Hey there everyone! I hope that you all had a great thanksgiving! Sister Thomas and I had so much fun! Tons of people wanted us to join them for Thanksgiving so we just went from house to house. It was great! By the end we definitely had had our share of turkey and pie. I've been eating turkey everyday for over a week now. I can't believe that I still like it.

(we taught Candi's children the Plan of Salvation while building a gingerbread house)

This week I had a great lesson on faith. We were teaching Candi about a commandment that she doesn't keep. We had been waiting for the perfect time to teach it to her without anyone else around and the Lord answered our prayers and it all worked out. Often when people struggle with certain commandments they don't want to hear that they are doing things wrong. The scriptures are full of accounts of people who decided to not follow God because they liked their sin too much. We often read a line that says something to the affect of, "the wicked take the truth to be hard." It's true. When we teach many people the commandments (big or small) they decidedly choose not to live them. Well, Candi knows that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. She knows that the truth is back on the earth. As we taught her this commandment that to her might be pretty hard her answer wasn't "why" but "how." It was just like Nephi when he said, "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  Candi is just like Nephi. She knows that the Lord wouldn't ask her to do something if it was impossible. She also knows that there is a reason for each of the commandments. Isn't that amazing? We asked her how she thought that she could follow it and she said to "just say no." Exactly! Just say no to sin! The Lord is there to help us. He's on our side and everything that He asks us to do we can. There is a reason for everything, even little things like only having one piercing in each ear.  We need to decide to follow not only the big things but also the small things. Personally, I think that it is pretty easy not to kill someone but something like going to church might be a little bit harder. No matter what though, if we live the commandments and have them written on our hearts we cannot fail. There is no way.  Lets have attitudes of how and not why. I know that that attitude will forever bless us and when hard things come up we'll already know the answer.

We have had a hard time catching up with Sandra lately. She's so busy with work, family, and everything else that life throws at her. Well, we finally were able to catch up with her last night. I asked her if she had been reading and she responded that she decided to start the Bible from the beginning. It's better then nothing.  She had pages of notes/questions that she wanted answered from Genesis.  Among the questions were how many people were in Noah's family, etc. After going through a question and answer exercise for a bit I asked her what her intentions were. What did she want from reading the Bible? What was the end result that she wanted? It was interesting because she didn't really have an answer. I asked was it to find the true church, to come closer to Christ, etc and she didn't really know. She said that she just wanted to know and understand it.

As I've thought about that, I realized that so many people are desperate for the truth, for the thing that will make their lives better. Sometimes they even have it right in front of them but they don't want to focus their efforts in the right area. It's kind of like the good, better, best thing. It's good to understand the Bible. It's better to have a testimony that it is the word of God and will change your life. It is best to use it hand in hand with the Book of Mormon and to let its teachings take root in your heart.  Knowing the facts about the Bible can not and will not save you. We are only saved in and through Jesus Christ. We must live His Gospel and not be swayed by anything else, even if it seems like a good idea.

We receive salvation only after we have done our part. 2 Nephi 9 says, "And he cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice; for behold, he suffereth the pains of all men, yea, the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam." There has been a big push for us to understand 2 Nephi 31 because it is the Doctrine of Christ. I love this chapter because it lays everything out and ends with, "And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God..." If we want the answers to lives greatest questions, they can be answered in this chapter. If we follow this chapter we gain happiness, understanding, the information we need to live with our families forever, direction, and so much more. Everything is there!

This week I was asked to speak in Sacrament Meeting. I didn't really know what I was going to say but I prepared a few ideas on gratitude and knew that the Lord would fill my mouth for 15-20 minutes. Well, the youth speaker spoke for over a half hour.  Sister Thomas and I were also asked to sing a musical number and there was one more speaker. Basically I just stood up and spoke for 3 minutes about how we all have every reason to be grateful. The Lord has given us everything. We have way more than we lack. I told them about one of my very first investigators, David. David lived behind a car shop and had very few belongings.  Among those belongings was a couch and a large piece of cardboard to block himself from the sun and rain.  In the eyes of the world he had nothing but he thought that we was the luckiest man alive.  Happiness and gratitude do not come from monetary things. It comes from understanding your relationship with God and that everything comes from Him.

Like every week, this week was an awesome week in the mission field. I'm SO thankful that I came on a mission. It has blessed my life so much and I'll never regret this decision. Well, I hope that you all have a great week and enjoy the winter wonderland up there! The church is definitely true!

Love, Sister Anderson

Prayers Are Answered!

2010-11-24T10:29:00.003-07:00

Hey everyone! What a week! Thank you all for all of your prayers in my behalf. I've felt them and have gained a lot of strength from them. I know that prayers are answered! I know it. I just wish that everyone else in the world knew that. Prayers that are filled with faith and not empty words are powerful.

We had a zone conference like thing this week and President Walker spoke about having the faith to pray for people to find you. Everyone was just so surprised about this concept, they had never thought of it before. It was weird to me because that is how I find people. I think that we waste way too much time knocking on doors. If we pray that people find us, then they want to learn and are willing to make changes in their lives. I'm just so thankful for prayer. It makes my life so much easier.

In April's Priesthood Session of General Conference President Monson said, "Remember that prayer is the passport to spiritual power." So true! Prayer brings power. I've always loved the Bible Dictionary definition of prayer that says, "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." Prayers are answered all day every day. That isn't something that I believe, it's something that I know. There is power in just one prayer of faith, think about Joseph Smith. That one prayer changed the world. I love the personal study activity on PMG pg 95. I think that it is something that is helpful for all of us.

This week I've been thinking about how wonderful the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. So many people are confused about what they need to do in this life but it is all plain and simple. There is a direct path that we each need to take in order to live with those we love again. It is faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. That's it. Simple.

This week I was able to see it all in action. It was so great. We started teaching all of Candy's daughters. Only 2 of them are baptismal age but the other 2 want to learn as well. It is so great to see these little girls hungering and thirsting after righteousness. It's incredible. I love teaching kids because it reminds of how Christ says that we need to be like little children. They have so much faith. They believe all of our words, they know that what we say is true. We were talking to them about the Holy Ghost and they were all just sitting on the edge of their seats. They had so many questions and comments. After we talked to them about the first vision they all said things like they felt warm or God's love in their hearts. It was really sweet.
(Me, Devon, his cousin/brother, Sis. Thomas)

Repentance was demonstrated in Devon's baptismal interview he was asked what it means to repent and he said, "It's like when you're a football player... you're wearing all of those heavy, uncomfortable pads. Taking them off is like repentance. The weight is gone and you can feel comfortable again." Pretty good explanation if you ask me. I think that it's pretty funny actually. On Saturday Devon was baptized! It was incredible! Devon describes himself as "a pretty crazy guy." He's always trying new things out and hurting himself. He's pretty loud and hyper as well. Well, after he was baptized it was like there was a whole new Devon. He was mature and very contemplative. It was amazing. You could see a huge weight had been lifted off of him. I love to see the way that people look after they've started coming unto Christ. After he was confirmed yesterday it was like he was the happiest person alive. He glew. It was so cool. I loved it.

Seeing people change makes everything worth it. All of the hard times, all of the doors slammed in your face, everything is worth it. So yeah, I've definitely seen the Gospel in action this week. It's been so great!

Most of us are on the enduring to the end part and I think that the best way to describe that is in 2 Nephi 31:20 where it says, "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." So beautiful!

Let's press forward with hope and love! I just love the Gospel. It has brought so much purpose and joy to my life and the lives of people that I meet. The Gospel is definitely true and we are blessed to know that. I think that I sound like a broken record, I always say the same stuff but all of it is true. I hope that you all have a great week!

Thank you all for all that you're doing for my family! You're all the best! I love you all!
Love, Sister Anderson

The Atonement of our Savior

2010-11-15T11:36:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone. I feel like I should talk about the atonement of our Savior.  I just ask that each of you consider your relationship with Him and how He can help you overcome anything that you're feeling or going through right now.

Christ has a lot of different names. Here are some that I can think of: Lord, Savior, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, Redeemer, Advocate, Brother, and Friend.  Jesus Christ literally is all of those things and so much more. He knows us. He loves us. He wants the best for us and wants to help us. When we've done what we can, He makes up the rest. He truly is everything. Christ is our Rock and our Salvation. He is the beginning and the end. The way, the truth, and the life. Only in and through Him can we be saved.

One of my favorite scriptures is John 3:16-17 which says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." Beautiful huh? Our Heavenly Father loves us so much and wants us to be with Him again.  I can't imagine how it would be to give up your son but I do know that it takes so much love that we can't even imagine. Why did He do that? Because He loves us.

Our Heavenly Father knew that life would be hard, even overwhelming at times and that we would need help. So, He gave up his son.  I love 2nd Nephi 2:24. This chapter is all about the Plan of Salvation and particularly the Fall of Adam and Eve. In the world, people look down on Adam and Eve. They blame their problems on them and think that everything bad in the world is because of them. Well, that is not true. God has a plan and we are so lucky to be a part of it. Verse 24 says, "But behold, ALL THINGS have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things." The next verses go on to say, "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, they they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall..." I love it! Our Heavenly Father knows ALL THINGS. He knows the good things, the bad, the happy, the sad. Everything! How comforting!

Christ came to the earth for each one of us. I truly believe that the atonement is an individual thing, sure it all took place at the same time but it is very individual. Christ suffered for us individually. He suffered for you and He suffered for me. In Alma 7:11-12 we learn that Christ suffered for everything - not just our sins. It says, "And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." Christ knows it all. He knows each of our pains, our sicknesses, our problems and He will lift us all up to help us to overcome everything.

Remember when Peter was walking on water and started to sink? All he had to do was cry out to the Lord and IMMEDIATELY He was there pulling him out of the water. When we are drowning, we can trust that He will immediately pull us out of anything when we call out to Him. I love in the Bible when Christ tells those who are mocking him that the whole need no physician. He came for the sick, for the meek, and lowly of heart. I love Christ.

This week was pretty good. I truly love being a missionary.  I can't believe that I only have a month left but I sure am going to give it all that I've got. This week Devon should be getting baptized. We're really excited about that. Rycca is continuing to progress and is doing really good. We were kind of worried about Candy because we hadn't seen or heard from her since Monday. Well, this morning I was just studying in Ether and the phone rang. It was Candy! She informed me that she and her boyfriend broke up!  Obviously she was a bit upset and crying but through the tears she was able to say, "even though we broke up, I don't want to stop this.  I really want to continue with this." Amazing!  What a tender mercy!  The Lord really does look out for His people. He wont give us more than we can handle and He gives us tender mercies in the perfect timing to help us going. It's amazing.

Another note worthy thing that happened this week is that a lady told me that I was going strait to hell.  Honestly it was pretty funny. She was a referral. So we went by to meet her and she told us that our works are condemning us and that we are saved by grace. We brought up the fact that we are saved by grace after all that we can do. She was adamant that that was against the "doctrine of Paul." I thought that it was so funny and said something to the affect of, "well, I guess it's a good thing then that we believe in the doctrine of Christ." Don't worry, I said it very tactfully. It was just so interesting because she mentioned that sometimes she feels like doing nice things for people but then quickly realizes that that would be wrong and she needs to stay in her house, away from good works. I'm so thankful for the truth.  Pretty much the conversation ended with her crying and saying, "please understand... you're going to Hell and I know that you don't even believe in Hell but that is where you're going. I'm praying for you."  Basically, I ended it by thanking her for her concern and we went on our way.  Pretty funny.

Yesterday was the 90 Stake, Stake Conference in AZ. It was really neat. Sister Thompson talked about how the Book of Mormon gives us strength. Elder Cook talked about living in the world and not of it. President Monson talked about reaching down and lifting up those that are in need. This is something that we all need to do. We all need each other. Please help each other. Bishop H. David Burtain spoke about being grateful so I want to end this email with what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for my Savior, my family, temples, covenants, the scriptures, the opportunity to serve a mission, technology, love, life, BYU football, the Gospel, warm weather, mountains, friends, the sacrament, church, callings, a prophet, inspiration, the Holy Ghost, a loving/all-knowing Heavenly Father, prayer, patriarchal blessings, kindness, repentance, the atonement, investigators, people to talk to, and so much more.  I know that each day we can all find something to be grateful for. The Lord is on our side and we can not fail when he is our captain. Have a great week. Stand a little taller and be a little better. The Gospel is definitely true and because of it we can overcome EVERYTHING!  I love you all so much! Have a great week!
Love, Sister Anderson

I can't believe that this is my last transfer!

2010-11-09T18:53:00.004-07:00

(This ones for Heather. Home in our area).

Hey everyone! Like always I just have to say that I love being a missionary. Seriously, it is SO amazing! I love every part of it.

I can't believe that this is my last transfer. There is so much to do and so little time! I'll be ending here in San Manuel and I'm so excited about it! It is going to be an amazing transfer!

Well, we just had an amazing week. It was so great. For a few weeks I've been thinking about this lady that I contacted when I was in the North West this summer. I've tried to explain to the sisters how to get to her house but the couldn't figure it out so I went to the North West to be with Sister Bodily from Monday night to Wednesday morning so that we could find that lady. Well, it was easy for us to find this home. We knocked on the door and they woman's husband opened the door. I basically said, "Hi! We're missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We have a message for you that will bring you closer to Christ and will bless your family." He was like "really?!? I'm busy right now but can you please come back?" Isn't that cool! The Spirit is amazing because I talked to that lady in June for like 5 minutes but I knew that now was the time to go back. The Spirit just tells us what we need to do and when we need to do it. Our lives are so much easier when we are worthy to hear the promptings of the spirit and when we actually open up to hear it. It's like in 3rd Nephi 11. We need to open ourselves to hearing and understanding the words of the Lord.

This week we continued to work with Devon, Rycca, and Candy. It's amazing to see people who have truly been prepared and really want to follow the Lord. They are all doing so great and all came to church! Saturday night President Walker called us and told us that he and Sister Walker would be joining us for church on Sunday. He needed to talk to my companion about some family issues and so he said that Sister Walker would be coming to sunday school with me. Well, I never prepare my sunday school lessons but I read through it twice so that I would be prepared for them to be there. The lesson was on the spirit world and I was pretty sure that it would be a great class.

Well, It was so funny because this elderly less-active sister that hasn't ever been active came and she had all of these crazy comments. They were so funny and I just would smile and try to bring the class back on the subject. One of the comments was so funny that Sister Walker and I just lost it and started to laugh. I was so thankful that Sister Walker laughed with me. The whole time I was wondering what she was thinking. President came in for the end of the lesson and a less-active brother tried to argue with him because he said it doesn't matter what we do in this life because we'll have a second chance in the spirit world. President said, "don't procrastinate the day of your repentance!" That got the man fired up and I just had to end it by saying "thank goodness Christ knows best and He asks us to give Him our very best and then He'll make up the rest." It was really funny. After the crazy lesson Sister Walker hugged me for a long time and said, "Sister Anderson, I just love you. Keep smiling and laughing." I guess that they understood that I did the best that I could considering the comments. President said that we need to visit with the brother about Alma 34. Should be fun!

(District Meeting)

Despite all of that church really was amazing on Sunday. It was probably the best sacrament meeting we've had since I've been here. There wasn't a lull at all in the testimony bearing. When I got up, our investigator Devon gave me a rock on and punched the air in support. Lucky for us he was on the back row. He is so funny. He is probably our age, a redneck, plays Madden football all day, and has a curly mohawk. One lady got up and said, "I'm old and I'm slow but I still love the Gospel!" Amen! It doesn't matter how old we are, we can and should still love the Gospel!

We were so excited before church because Rycca, Devon, and tons of less-actives were there. During the opening song Candy walked in with her 4 little girls. I was so happy that I just lost it and started crying. I'm not a cryer but when I see people that want to come closer to Christ and are willing to put effort into it I'm so happy. It makes everything worth it.

After Sacrament Meeting everyone greeted the Walkers like they were celebrities. It was so funny. In his interview with Sister Thomas, President Walker told her that he could tell that we were being obedient because of the miracles that he is seeing in our area. This area was reopened to missionaries last year and it had been closed for 8 years because of some dumb things done by missionaries. When I first got here everyone (especially members) told me that they were sorry for me because this is the worst area but we are proving them wrong! At church on sunday everyone was saying that this area is changing and that they're so happy to be a part of it. It was so good to hear that. People are starting to want to be missionaries and to help those in the community. I love it!

Yesterday a lot of the missionaries in our zone were getting together for lunch. It was kind of one last hurrah before some went home. Sister Thomas and I really wanted to go but decided that it was a good thing but not the best so we stayed here and we saw so many miracles. When we got to Candy's house she had her daughter Alissia waiting to learn more. Alissia turns 8 two days before Candy's baptismal date so we plan on her getting baptized then as well. I have a strong testimony that when we give up our will and do what the Lord would have us do we are blessed. Sometimes it's hard because we want to do "good" things but they're not always the "best" things. We have to keep everything in perspective.

Last night we stopped by a ward FHE and the brother giving the lesson said, "You can't stand still in the Gospel. Either you're going forward or you're going backwards but you don't stand in place." So true. What are we doing to make sure that we are going forward?

I just really love the Gospel. It's so simple. When we do what Heavenly Father asks we are blessed. When we don't, we aren't. Strait is the gate and narrow is the way. Yesterday we visited with a sister who had lots of issues with going to church but it boiled down to tithing. I know that sometimes people just get overwhelmed and think that they aren't doing enough/can't do enough and just give up. All Heavenly Father asks is for us to do our best.

One of my favorite scriptures is 2nd Nephi 31:20. It says, "Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." I know that I want to live with Heavenly Father, Christ, and my family forever and all that Heavenly Father asks is for me to go forward. Heavenly Father is merciful as long as we are doing are part. We just need to take things step by step, little by little until those things that we used to think were so hard become easier.

The Gospel is definitely true and we are so lucky to be able to take part in it. I hope that you all have a great week and remember who you are. We're children of a king and entitled to so many blessings. Act the part.
I love you all! Bye!
Love, Sister Anderson
Remember, come what may and love it!

The Snake Slayer

2010-11-02T19:13:00.006-06:00

Hey everyone! I hope that you all are doing amazing and had a super happy Halloween! I can’t believe that it is already November! It’s crazy!

We had a really great week this week. It was like we saw one miracle after another. The Lord really blessed us.

On Tuesday night Rycca, Nick, and Dylan all went to the Primary/Mutual activity. It was awesome because we’ve had such a hard time getting them all to the church and they finally went. It was so easy. We simply just asked them if they wanted to go and they were like “of course!” It was so cool. The young men and young women put together lots of little games for the primary and everyone had a lot of fun. We were so excited about them actually coming and enjoying themselves.
(Sister Thomas and I, the Bishop and his wife prior to a competition. I told them it wasn't quiet dignity, but they still made me do it.)

This week Sister Thomas and I decided to really focus on finding. Not just tracting but doing smart finding. We decided that we needed to work more with members and part-member families. There are so many people in this area that need to be united with their families in the Gospel. I swear, a lot of these part-member families have been contacted by missionaries countless times but you never know if it will only take just one more time or just that certain missionary. You'll never know until you try. So many people say things like, "those people have been tried so many times. Visiting them might be pointless and a waste of your time." Well, we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father and we all chose to follow Him before this life so you never know if they will accept it again if you don't ask.

One of the people we decided to visit was this man named Jerry. I'd met Jerry before but it was during NASCAR so we didn't really get a chance to really talk. Like I always say, the Lord's timing is perfect and it definitely was perfect this week. We got to Jerry's house right as he was trying to kill a rattle snake.
His wife wasn't home and he said, "Sisters I have a rattle snake! Run and get your cameras!" He wanted us to take part in this experience with him. So basically after we took a lot of pictures he informed us that he had killed countless snakes during his life and that he thought that one of us should have a chance. I decided that I would do anything to win the trust of a potential investigator so you guessed it, I killed the snake with his garden hoe. The whole time he was saying "harder Sister, harder."
(After I killed the rattle snake with holding my weapon),
It was so funny. After that excitement he invited us to sit down on the porch and to talk with him. It was great! He totally just opened up and shared with us all about his life. At one point I said, "Jerry, I know that you've been asked this a lot but have you ever been interested in joining the church?" It was great because he was totally open and said that he had been thinking a lot about it lately and thinking about surprising his family by doing it. We told him that it was simple to get an answer if he should do it or not. All you have to do is pray. He was shocked for some reason.

So many people think that getting an answer to your questions is so hard and almost impossible but I know that we have a loving Heavenly Father who wants to answer us and guide and direct us. We just have to do our part by getting on our knees and praying. It's simple. God isn't complicated. We complicate things.

Shortly after that his wife pulled up and we ended the conversation. I'm just praying that he decides that now is the time to change and accept the Gospel fully into his life. It was funny because he said that his wife brings them good luck because she's living the Gospel. Jokingly we informed him that it's time that he starts to bring good luck into their lives as well. We'll see where things go with Jerry but I'm excited.

At church yesterday his wife, daughter, and son-in-law sat in front of us. They were calling me the snake slayer and said that Jerry has told everyone about it. He even showed them pictures. I know that the Lord really does give us courage as we're trying to bring others unto Him because there is no way that I would ever have done something like that back home.

Another great thing that happened this week is that a brother in the ward called us and said that he had gone and visited with a different part-member family and invited them to take the lessons. They accepted, went to church, and we had a lesson with them yesterday. It was so simple. Candy, the girlfriend, now has a baptismal date and is excited to have her questions answered. It's amazing because it was all so simple. A man was in tune with the spirit, followed its promptings, and now someone is drawing closer to Christ. I love it!

I always think about the quote from President Hinckley in PMG. It says "So many of us look upon missionary work as simply tracting. Everyone who is familiar with this work knows that there is a better way. That way is through the members of the church..." We can go out and knock on every door in town and have zero new investigators. But when members are involved, we get so much more done.

I read talks from Elder Bednar and Elder Ballard today about "becoming a missionary" and having gospel sharing homes. Both talks taught that when we truly know who we are, missionary work is not a burden. It's one of the greatest desires in our hearts. It becomes instinctive and who we are. Missionary work is not a program but it truly is a way of life. I love being a missionary because it brings me so much joy. I know that the lessons taught in D&C 15, 16, and 18 are so true. How great will be our joy if we bring just ONE soul unto Christ. It makes everything worth it when you help others. I just love it. Missionary work needs to run through our bloods because it truly brings salvation.

Yesterday was amazing because Rycca and Candy both came to church. They're now progressing and seeing more blessings in their lives. It's so great! We are so blessed to be a part of the TRUE church of Jesus Christ. He is the only way. He is everything. As we truly come to know that our lives become easier and more meaningful. I love the Gospel. It is definitely true and makes me so happy. I hope that you all have a great week and look for the blessings that come from the Gospel. You'll find them. Look to God and Live!

Love, Sister Anderson

Who Is Your Master?

2010-10-25T14:17:00.005-06:00

Hey everyone! I can't believe that another week has come and gone. Time is just going by so quickly! It's crazy that next week it will be November.

So this week of course was another great week. No matter what happens throughout the week it is a great week because I am serving the Lord. Nothing brings greater happiness than helping others come unto Christ. I just love it!

I had quite a few realizations this week. Sometimes when I realize things I feel so dumb, like why didn't I think of that before. Oh well, if we knew everything already there would be no point to life. Well after last weeks emails, I was a bit concerned about Reed and his health situation but I realized that if we don't have trails there is no way that we can demonstrate our faith. Everyone can be faithful if they want to when life is just a walk in the park but it's when we're tried that our true faith and character are shown. If we just spend life all worried about every little thing, we won't learn and we definitely wont grow. The Lord lets us struggle so that we can become something, so that we can become better than we could ever imagine. I'm thankful for trials.

For the past few months, there has been a media campaign going on in our mission. Basically there are tons of commercials on tv about people's lives and they always end with "my name is .... and I'm a Mormon." They're pretty neat and are on mormon.org. So we've been hearing a lot of different things about these commercials and what not. Either people love them or they hate them, but they really have caused quite the stir. Even all of our pass-a-long cards go along with the commercials. They just direct everyone to the website. Well, a few weeks ago (I don't think I've told you all this) we were at the grocery store and I gave a card to our cashier. He looked at it and thanked us and said, "you know, I love those commercials! They tell me that you're normal." I thought that that was great. It's time for us to stand up and be proud of who we are. We're Mormons! There is so much that always goes around about us, but until we stand up for who we are, people will continue to ignorantly make assumptions about us.

As we were out tracting this week these men pulled up and said, "are you Mormons?" I was like "of course! are you?!?"  They said no and I was like "well why not?!" They just laughed and said that they were Jehovah's Witnesses and weren't interested in changing.  It's just great to be able to boldly tell people who you are and help change their perception on Mormons.

While tracting we met this man named Jay. He knows all about the bible and religion and everything, or so he thinks. He kept trying to convince us that we are blind to the truth and need to change. I think that it's so funny because people always try to out smart us and show us that we are wrong.  It would be easy to prove to people like Jay that the church is true through bible bashing but what good would that do? Our most powerful tools are the Book of Mormon and our testimonies because that is was brings the spirit and we all know that the spirit is what teaches and convinces of truth. Not us. If people are open to the truth than they'll hear it and understand it.

So all week we did all that we could to have powerful lessons with our investigators so that they would come to church and progress towards baptism. We created environments that the spirit can be in. To do this we went to members homes and helped investigators clean their own homes. We had members involved. We tried so hard.  Unfortunately no one came to church.  It's sad because people are missing out on so many blessings. Heavenly Father is just waiting to prove His love and honesty, but if we don't do our part, we can't receive His part of the bargain.

I've been thinking a lot about this this morning.  What can we do more? It really just comes down to us all having agency. Unfortunately we don't always pick the right side. In general conference President Packer said, "The Lord is voting for me, and Lucifer is voting against me, but is is my vote that counts." So true! What or who are we going to vote for? In 2nd Nephi 2 it says that we can chose eternal life or captivity and misery. It's pretty obvious what we all would rather, but why do we chose to disobey God? I think that it all comes down to what it says in Matthew 6:24 "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." Who is our master? Is it our video games? sleep? nfl football? etc, etc.  I've heard about every excuse for not being able to go to church. My favorite excuse came yesterday. A less-active sister called and us and said, "I can't come to church because I've been sneezing and sometimes when I sneeze I have an accident." I couldn't believe that she was telling me this over the phone and felt like telling her to get a diaper, but I decided that that wasn't very compassionate of me.
If we really understood the first commandment and what Christ said when He said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." All of our choices wouldn't really be all that difficult. We would understand where true happiness comes from and do all that we can to achieve that. Christ needs to be our master. Nothing and No one else can save us. Do we want eternal life or eternal captivity?

So yeah, that is basically what I've been thinking about lately. The Gospel is so true and if we just cling to it and our covenants we'll be safe and happy. It's simple. Satan is the author of complexity.

Anyway, I love you all. I love being a missionary. It's so much fun and so rewarding. Even if nothing goes are way at times we can still be happy because we are confidant that we are following the Lord.

I hope that you all have a great week! The Church is definitely true!

Love, Sister Anderson

(Halloween in San Manuel)

Hola Como Esta?

2010-10-18T17:32:00.006-06:00

(Sister Thomas did a fabulous job cutting Melissa's hair today. She cut off 2 inches and then layered it with some layers up to 10 inches off.)

Hey hey! It was so good to hear from some of you this week! Like always, this week was a good one. I just love being a missionary so much!

I came to learn something really important yesterday during Sacrament Meeting... I was just sitting there writing something in my planner and I heard this elderly woman sitting probably 5 feet behind me whisper to her husband, "I didn't know that Sister Anderson is left handed." Of course this wasn't meant for anyone but her husband to hear but since she was elderly all of us could hear her. I was just so thankful that I wasn't doing something inappropriate (not that I would be). But what I learned from dear Sister Kincaid is that everyone really is watching and it is up to us to make sure that we are doing what's right. We need to follow the direction in Matthew and in 3rd Nephi 12:14-16 which ends by stating, "Therefore let your light so shine before this people, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven." Now, I wasn't doing anything that is worthy of glorifying Heavenly Father for but hopefully one day someone will catch me doing something good and be thankful for seeing it.

Yesterday we saw a huge miracle, someone that is confused about church just showed up to church. Before church I saw this girl that I just knew wasn't of our faith. So after sacrament meeting I went and introduced myself. This girl is 20 years old and going from church to church looking for the right one. Apparently she noticed the example of a teacher at her high school and decided to see what our church is all about. This teacher wasn't even her teacher but she noticed that she was different. It was amazing as she shared with us her desires. She sounds just like Joseph Smith. Unfortunately she lives in Phoenix during the week and comes home on the weekends so we have to wait until next Sunday to talk to her again. Another miracle is that the ward mission leader's wife recognized her as one of the girls in her kindergarten class and was able to talk to her. There is no such things as coincidences with the Lord. I'm so excited to talk with Gabrielle again on Sunday!

Things are continuing to go well with Sandra and her family. Some people you can find, teach, and baptize in 3 or 4 weeks but this family just isn't one of those. They're going to take a lot of time and I'm ok with that. I don't think that it matters how long it takes for someone to make it to the waters of baptism as long as they're progressing every day and putting forth their best effort. Don't get me wrong, I know that it's important to do it with urgency and as fast as possible but sometimes there are just some obstacles too big to overcome in 3 or 4 weeks. Since the missionaries met Sandra back in June she has refused to pray with us. Well, since we've started getting her sons involved she has started to make some great changes. She's realized that she needs to be a better example because they really know nothing about Heavenly Father and Christ. At the beginning of last week both boys had prayed and they really put some pressure on her to pray. It was amazing because she gave up her desires to be an example for her family. At the end of her prayer I think that I must have yelled "amen" out of happiness and I jumped in the air and gave her a high-5. I was so happy because I knew that she was one step closer to Heavenly Father and making commitments with him. Every little thing counts. Just thinking about how she prayed makes me want to cry. I was and am so happy. I can't even explain to you in words how amazing it was.

Grant an 8 year old from aninactive fam that got baptized.)
I love the Gospel so much and I just know that our Heavenly Father is so happy every time we talk with Him and show Him our faith. It's incredible. I think that I've really started to come to understand our Heavenly Father's love. I can't comprehend how amazing it is but when I feel something for someone that I don't even know and just want them to be happy I know that Heavenly Father is teaching me something. I'm so thankful that He's letting me serve a mission so that I can learn these things.

After church yesterday the yw president approached me because none of our investigators came to church. She was so worried because she knew that I must be discouraged. I thought a lot about that and how I wasn't discouraged. I think that as we come to understand agency and that it is a blessing not a hindrance, we don't get discouraged. We may be disappointed because we know that people are missing out on blessings but we don't get discouraged. Discouragement is one of Satan's tactics. He wants us to feel down but we can always feel uplifted. We have a Savior and as we follow Him we can not and will not fall. There's not a chance. We will be safe and we will be happy. We have to remember the promise in Helaman 5:12.
This morning we got a phone call from a faithful brother in the ward. He stated that he thought that we needed to go visit this part member family because we left an impact on the wife. A few weeks ago we went to their house and the wife said that she had a testimony of the Book of Mormon but just didn't see how the church could be true. We just looked at her for a second and then I read to her the last 2 paragraphs of the introduction to the Book of Mormon. After pausing for a second I just looked at her and boldly stated that I knew that she had a testimony that the church was true and it's up to her to follow that testimony. Afterwards I was a bit concerned that maybe it came out too harsh but I'm excited to go back and to see what she has to say. Sometimes we have to be really bold to put the point across.

(Best of friends after volleyball)
Lastly, I've been thinking a lot about Ether 12:27 lately. It talks about making weak things become strong. My whole mission I feel like talking to everyone has been one of my weak things. I've really prayed and put forth effort to change that. Well, I'm starting to see this weak thing become a strength. I'm so thankful for the prayer because it is only through prayer that I've been able to work at overcoming this weakness. I still have a long way to go but I know that as we truly apply the scriptures to our lives we can and will see miracles.

Well, I hope that you all have a great week! The church is definitely true. There is no doubt about it. There is nothing more liberating then the Gospel. Live worthy of the blessings that come from it and don't let Satan subtly pull you down into discouragement and sin. I love you all lots!

Love, Sister Anderson

Time Sure Is Flying!

2010-10-11T20:54:00.005-06:00

(Doing a little service this morning)

Well, another week has come and gone. I just can't believe how fast time flies by. It's incredible. San Manuel is all decorated for Halloween. I've never seen a place with more Halloween decorations. It's crazy, especially since there are hardly any kids in this town. It's fun though to see all of the decorations.

This week was definitely a miracle week. We just saw miracle after miracle. I really believe that you receive a lot of blessings when there is a new missionary in an area. It was like new investigators were just falling into our laps. It was such a fun week!

We picked up 3 more of Sandra's kids. This family is so disfunctional and the Gospel is what will bring it together. It's the only thing that will bring it together. Yesterday we ran into one of her daughters and just flat out asked her if she wanted to get along with her family and if so what was she willing to do. Well, the thing that she is willing to do is to start meeting with us and come to know our Savior. I'm really excited to work with this family. The biggest struggle is finding them all at home, but when there is a will there is a way.

Some other people that we found were this couple named Billie Anna and Raynoldo. Apparently Billie Anna's mom is a member of the church, but super inactive. The ward mission leader took us to her house to find her mom and she mentioned that she had been meaning to meet with us. So we met with her and she informed us that she's been wanting to get baptized for over a year and a half now! There are some issues that we'll need to overcome with her, but nothing is too out of reach or impossible. It was so funny because during the lesson her 9 month old baby just sat back and put her arms behind her head like she was just relaxing, like the message and feeling were so familiar to her. It was pretty cool.

In San Man there is this really great trailer park. I've come to love trailer parks. It's in them that miracles happen. Well, last night my companion was kind of sick so we went to the house for an hour for her to rest. After an hour she decided to show her faith by going out even though she didn't feel well. Well, I was just one contact away from my goal so we decided to drive around the park and talk to whoever was out. Well, we saw this man that we met over a week ago and decided to go visit. In front of his house is this floating device from a boat and on it is painted the words "Party Marty." Marty obviously likes to party. Well we got out to talk to him because he was outside and he just poured out his heart to us how he felt like something is missing and that he's so confused. He then told us that when we walked up that we were the answer to his confusion and that we had what was missing in his life. We got there just in time because he had just got himself a beer, but hadn't drank from it yet. He said that he just drinks to fill the gaps that he feels.

(I Love Power Tools)
The Lord's timing is always perfect. It's incredible to me.  So often we want things to happen on our timetable, but the Lord's is always right. He knows what needs to happen and when. We just have to trust in Him and know that His ways are not always are ways. Thank goodness! We just need to remember Proverbs 3:5-6

I've been thinking a lot about the atonement lately and how it affects every aspect of our lives if we let it. Christ is just waiting to bless us and to help us, but we have to do our part. We have to accept Him. I've really come to know that I can't do anything on my own. If I try to do things on my own, it's just a waist. He knows how to help us. Why don't we let Him? What's holding us back from receiving His blessings? The only thing holding us back is ourselves. The Savior is who can make us better.  He makes us stronger. He gives us confidence. He gives us peace.  We all need to find ways to strengthen our relationship with Him. It's amazing because things with the Lord are simple.  We just need to do the simple things:  pray with real intent, read and ponder about the scriptures, take time to be holy, etc. I'm convinced that as we take a little more time each day to worship the Lord he will gives us so much more in return.

I love in Malachi where it says, "Prove me now herewith if I will not open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing and there will not be room enough to receive it."  Prove Him! Make Him show you that He is always faithful!  When our investigators have issues with the commandments I always say "Prove Him!" He wont leave us hanging.

Well, I hope that you all have a great week! Remember to trust in Him who is mighty to save. Prove Him. The Gospel is definitely true! Live it!

Love, Sister Anderson
Alma 26:16

There Not Just Old Men

2010-10-04T16:42:00.001-06:00

Hey there everyone! Didn't you all just love conference?! It was so good! It is amazing to see how every talk seems directed towards you. It doesn't matter what stage you are at life, each talk can be applied to all of our lives.

I loved how President Monson started the conference by talking about the new temples and missionaries! 2 subjects that I hold very near to my heart. There really is so much power found in making and keeping temple covenants. I love this months Ensign about temples. They truly are the house of the Lord. And missionaries... I love being a missionary! I want to be a missionary for the rest of my life!

Something that I've really come to know is that you can't prepare for a mission by just going to the MTC. It is something that needs to be prepared for throughout your whole life. You can't fake a testimony and a love for the Lord. You need to be a missionary before you even put on the name tag. Being a missionary is so great! It truly is the best thing that I've ever done.

So I want to talk more about conference, but first, I want to share part of a lesson that we had yesterday. Sister Thomas and I were teaching Hunter and BJ Parry. They're 8 and 11 yrs old. Well, we were talking about conference and I said, "The speakers aren't just old men." Hunter (the 8 yr old) quickly cut me off and said, "You're right. They're men that want to say something before they die. We have to be mature about this." So funny! I was trying so hard not to laugh. But, Hunter does have a point. Our church leaders are men who have so much wisdom and are full of the spirit. They know what we need to hear. They know what will bring us happiness and joy. They know our Savior and how we can draw closer to Him. This really is something that we need to be mature about. I love D&C 1: 38 which says, "What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my voice shall not pass away, but shall be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." We can feel confidant that as we study the words of our living prophets that it is the voice of the Lord and that we will hear what He wants us to hear. It's up to us to listen, internalize, and heed their words.

I think that it is so sad because there are so many people who are searching for the truth and they have no idea that our loving Heavenly Father has called another prophet to lead and guide us.

We tried to tell everyone about conference because we knew that it would give people answers to the questions that they've been searching for. Unfortunately, some people chose not to listen. We have to make a conscious effort to listen to the prophets. We were really excited though because some people did come. During the Saturday afternoon session, 3 of the Parry boys (ages 8, 6, and 5) showed up. They knew that it was important to listen to the prophet so the 3 of them rode their bikes to the church to watch it with us. Thank goodness that Aunt Jolene sent me conference games last conference time. Those games kept them occupied.  It was so funny to hear what they had to say about all of the speakers. They really liked it. Yesterday we went to their house and their parents had turned on conference for them to watch at home.  For just learning who the prophet is, they sure do have a great love for him.

Yesterday, we were so excited because Rycca came to the morning session. We made her breakfast to make sure that she would come. It was really cool because we had asked her to pray about some of her questions and promised her that they would be answered as she watched conference. She was a little hesitant but took the challenge and said that President Monson answered her questions. She loved it and was so glad that she woke up early to watch it.

Things are going great with Sister Thomas! I love being her companion! We get along really well and she definitely has been preparing to serve a mission her whole life. She is just so excited to go out and help others come unto Christ. It's been way fun because we've made it a goal to get out of the truck and walk and talk to everyone we see everyday. I love talking to everyone. For the most part, people are always nice and if anything, we can have a nice conversation with them. We've talked to tons of people and have seen many miracles. I feel like talking to everyone is a demonstration of our faith. As we show Heavenly Father that we want all of His children to come unto Him, He'll put them in our paths.

An example of this came while we were doing service for our investigator, Sandra. We were waiting outside of her trailer for her and her 19 year old, drug using son, showed up and told us that he really wants to change his life and wanted our help. Sandra told us that he is now reading the Book of Mormon and she is so happy because she knows that this can be what makes this difference in him. The Gospel changes lives as we let it. But, it wont change someone if they don't know about it. We've talked to Chris so many times and he's never showed interest. This just showed me that we have to keep inviting people even if they don't really respond to the invitation at first. The Gospel is true, and we need to be continuously inviting others to take part in it.

Well, that's about it for the week! I hope that you're all doing great and make this the best week ever! Come unto Christ and invite your friends to come along with you! The Church is definitely true!

Love, Sister Anderson
Moroni 10: 30-33

Hola

2010-10-01T19:09:00.007-06:00

Hey there everyone! Another transfer has come and gone. I can't believe how fast time flies. It is absolutely crazy! Sister Rust went to Thatcher and I'm training a really great sister named Sister Thomas. She's from Kaysville, Ut and seems really great. I'm really excited to work with her! I think that she will teach me a lot!

Well this week has been really good! I love being a missionary! On Saturday Roy got baptized! Woohoo! He is such a smart kid and was so prepared. It is amazing how the Lord prepares people and then directs us to them. If you don't remember, Roy is the kid that we just felt like we needed to go talk to his less-active mom and she asked us if he could be baptized. There is definitely no such things as coincidences. Roy was prepared and we were directed to him. It was amazing! The spirit was so strong at the baptismal service. There was no denying that Christ's church is back on the earth and that the authority to perform saving ordinances is back as well. I'm so thankful for the spirit. I would be so lost without it and have no idea of what is and isn't true and what direction to take in my life.
The Gospel is so incredible. I've been thinking a lot this week about how we are so blessed to have the gospel. It just makes life easier. It brings purpose and direction to our lives. It's so sad to think that there are people searching for the truth but just don't know where to find it.

I think a lot about Doctrine and Covenants 123. We need to "waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherin we know them..." I know that nothing brings more joy than wasting and wearing out our lives for the Lord." Nothing! I feel like my body and mind has aged so much since I came on a mission but that's ok because I know that I'm doing the right thing. Being a missionary makes me so happy. There is nothing like seeing others come unto Christ and feel of His love in their lives. I love to it!

We had a really neat experience this week while teaching Rycca. Rycca is 15 and we felt strongly that we needed to teach her the Law of Chastity. As we taught she was very contemplative and thought a lot about what we were saying. As she prayed she promised the Lord that she would live this commandment. Well, the next few days we weren't able to see her because she was really upset about something. Finally, we were able to talk to her yesterday. She informed us that she had broken up with her boyfriend because the prophets have taught that we don't date until we're 16. How neat is that! She really took it to heart! Even though she was fighting back the tears (she really liked this boy), there was a new light in her eyes and she knew that she was following the Lord. I'm so proud of her! We read with her one of my favorite scriptures, Mosiah 2:41. It says: "And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in ALL things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it." It was so great to be able to testify to Rycca that she will be blessed with "never ending happiness" as she continues to follow the commandments. The Lord doesn't lie.

Oh, I really loved the Relief Society broadcast! It was so great! I loved how President Monson talked about not judging. This is SO important! There is one lady that has said to me multiple times, "we would fellowship the new members if they were more normal." Can you believe that? We all are God's children, brothers and sisters and all deserve to be fellowshiped. I often think about how President Monson reaches out to the one. I think that we can and should do the same!

Well, that's about all from here! I hope that you all have a great week and find ways that you can be better missionaries. It truly brings the greatest joy. The Gospel is definitely true and we all need it in our lives!
Love,
Hermana Anderson

Be diligent and heed the word of the Lord

2010-09-20T14:48:00.006-06:00

hey there everyone! I can't believe that another Monday is here. Time goes by so quickly when you're working hard! Thanks everyone for the letters this week! I love mail so much!

This week has been really good! We taught quite a bit and saw miracles! Thursday was really neat because Elder Paul V. Johnson on the 70 and his wife here for a mission tour. They were so nice! Before it even started they took the time to meet us all.  They had 2 conferences, one for the Tucson side of the mission and one for the other. I always love being with huge groups of missionaries. It's always so neat and the spirit is always so strong.

Elder Johnson taught us about the importance of being diligent and "heeding" the word of the Lord. He talked about how we can have a super powerful lesson but that that wont do anything until our investigators act. If we don't act, we're not going to get anywhere. None of us can progress in the Gospel without acting.

We've really seen that here. I can't remember if I told you last week, if I did please forgive me. Well, our investigator Sondra just didn't seem to want to progress.  She would never "heed" the word but we just have felt like we couldn't drop her. Well, about a week and a half ago we decided that we needed to do all that we could to help her read the Book of Mormon. So every day we would go over there and read with her. Well, things are really starting to change. There is a new light in her life and she is now reading it on her own and has gotten her sons to join her. I know that that Book of Mormon is the word of God and that it truly does save lives. She was struggling with a lot of issues but it seems like since she's started making reading more of a priority those issues seem smaller. Sometimes when we get to her trailer she's out smoking and we've really come to know that there is no point in sharing the Gospel when that is going on. It's amazing because as she's smoking we never know what to say to her but when she's done, our mouths are filled and we're able to have great lessons. It's too bad that everyone doesn't see the way we do. Sometimes I just want to shake people because the truth is so apparent but they can't see it. They're not "heeding" to the word.

During the lunch break of the zone conference we were eating and having a pleasant time and then the assistants came and told me and Sister Aquino that Elder Johnson wanted to meet with us individually.
Well, needless to say, we got a little bit nervous. It turns out that we picked a few missionaries that he wanted to have interviews with and we were some of them. It was really neat to be able to have a one on one conversation with a member of the 70. Pretty much he wanted to get to know me. One question that he asked me was how I felt about serving a mission. For a few seconds I just stared at him. I have no idea how to put into words how I feel about being a missionary. I started to cry and shared with him how it has changed me.  I'll always be grateful for what serving a mission has done for me. I don't even know how to express it but to say that it has made me better.  It's made me know who I am and be confidant in that. I've come to trust more and to love more. It's amazing how being gone and serving the Lord for a few months can do so much to someone. I'm so thankful. I'm so glad that I'm here in the heat rather than in a classroom.

Well, we saw some great miracles yesterday! 2 investigators, 2 less-active families, and 2 less-active sisters that we've been working with came to church! Woo! Ben, one of our investigators is 11 years old. Well, he decided that he was going to come to church no matter what. His family is a part-member family and very very less-active.  Yesterday morning came around and none of them wanted to come to church. Instead of using that as an excuse, Ben got up and ready and rode his bike to church by himself. He was even there a half hour early. He is such a good example. We have to do the right things even if they are hard. Roy (10 years old) came along with his mom. He had his baptismal interview yesterday and is going to get baptized on Saturday! Woo! I'm so excited! I love working with part-member families because I'm helping them become closer to becoming eternal families. Eternal families is what it's all about. The whole reason that we're here on the earth to be tried and tested so that we can live with our families forever.

Yesterday in church I also got to teach Gospel Principals. The lesson was on obedience. Part of the lesson talks about being obedient even though things seem meaningless or small. It reminded me of Elder Bednar's talk last October about how the small things make the biggest difference. He talks about how testimonies are grown one scripture study, one prayer, and one family night at a time. Those things all seem pretty minor and small but when you add them up they become big things and make all of the difference in the world.
A few days ago we met these 13 year old alter boys from the Catholic church. They were so nice and really want to know that truth and live it. Well, we taught them the first lesson. After sharing the first vision we of course asked how they felt. I really liked their answer. They said that they felt "free." It reminds me of the scripture that says that the truth will make us free. People often are worried about accepting the Gospel because they say that there are too many "restrictions" but this really isn't the case. The Gospel liberates us.  It makes us free. It brings light, joy, and meaning into our lives. We all desperately need to Gospel! It is definitely true.

Well, I hope that you all have a great week! Look to God and Live!
Love, Sister Anderson

FYI ~ Melissa will be released December 18th and will be speaking in Sacrament Meeting December 19th at 10:50 A.M.

Do some good in the world today!

2010-09-13T20:42:00.007-06:00

Hey everyone! Sounds like you're all doing great! Thanks so much for the emails and letters in the mail! I love hearing from home. I'm sorry to hear about our cougars. Hopefully they'll be able to pick things up this week.

So this week has been really really good! We taught a lot! It was amazing, I don't think that I've taught that many lessons since I was in El Paso. It was so much fun! I love teaching the Gospel. Every time I teach and have the opportunity to bear my testimony I feel so much stronger and happier. It is amazing how the Lord blesses us for doing the things that we should be doing. From Tuesday night to Thursday morning I had an exchange with Sister Howard. She came up here to San Manuel with me and we had so much fun together! She and I teach really well together. She's been training (for the 3rd transfer in a row) and kind of needed a break so she came on up. Also, our companions don't talk much in the lessons so we thought that it would be good for them to be together and be forced to talk. I think that it did them a lot of good and us a lot of good. Sister Howard goes home in 2 weeks so it was good for her to come up and refocus for her last few weeks. While on that exchange we made it a goal to talk to everyone we saw and it was so fun to do that. We even pulled over the truck a few times to talk to people. I love talking to everyone. Sometimes it's kind of awkward but that's ok because every time I talk to someone I know that Heavenly Father is happy with me.

(Last week I had over 27 bites on my right ankle and foot)

Sister Rust and I had a really neat experience on Saturday. We were out and about and I felt really prompted that we needed to visit a sister that came to our Gospel Principals class on Sunday. So we immediately we went to her home. She invited us in to talk for a bit. Well, after about 20 mins of us talking to her she said, "I have a 10 year old son who isn't baptized. Do you think that he should be baptized?" Of course! He must be baptized! So Roy, her son, comes out and she asked him if he wanted to be baptized. He asked us what that meant so we taught him what it meant to be baptized. He then said, "can I be baptized on October 9th?" Seriously?!?! So cool! We told him that we would be happy to oblige with that. It was amazing how it all happened. What a miracle! When we follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost miracles happen. It was amazing also because the 9th was the day that we had been setting baptisms for and he just picked that date out of the air. It was incredible. He and his mom came to church again yesterday so that was really neat. We're excited because not only will Roy be baptized but his mom will be reactivated. I have a dream of the primary being full in this ward (right now there are about 5 kids that go) and we're well on our way to that. We're also working with the Parry family. Just like with Roy's family, we wont only be baptizing kids, we'll be reactivating a family.

Last night we had dinner with this wonderful elderly couple. After dinner, the sister took us to show us where her friend lives. She didn't have any intention of getting out and talking but Bobbi, the friend, saw us and came out to talk. Well, in the middle of their conversation the friend said, "My husband and I have been talking and we think that it's about time that we get baptized..." Crazy cool! I was smiling so big but trying not to look too goofy. The member invited them and us over for dinner and a lesson on Wednesday. We're way excited! The member said that Bobbi has said this before and not to get our hopes up yet. We're choosing to believe that this will be the time that Bobbi and Jon really go through with this desire. I'm so excited to be a part of it!

So yeah, that was kind of this week in a nut shell. Lately I've been listening to General Conference talks from last October and I really love Sister Dibb's and President Monson's from the Sunday morning session. President Monson talks about doing good and serving others. At the end of his talk, he quoted the song "Have I done any Good in the World Today." I LOVE this song! I think that it is one of my new favorites. I love the words!
"Have I done any good in the world today? Have I helped anyone in need? Have I cheered up the sad? Or made someone feel glad? If not I have failed in deed. Then wake up! And do something good..." Read the words to the song. They're powerful. Everyday I think about this song and ask myself if I've done any good in the world today. It's made me really think. I love how it says to wake up. I feel like so many times, we're just going through our routines and forget what is really important. Lets all wake up and do some good in the world today and everyday!

I love you all and hope that you have a great day! The Gospel is definitely true! Do good and be happy!

Love, Sister Anderson

Hey!

2010-09-07T14:35:00.006-06:00

(we heart attacked a sister who had her knee replaced)

Hey everyone! I'm happy to hear that our cougars were victorious!

I realized this weekend that I've come a far way. Last year at this time I was dying to know how the football team was doing. There were members who would even call me and let me know if the cougars won or not. Well, I'm happy to report that this year it hasn't really even phased me. Of course I wore blue and white to show my support, but I didn't even feel a twinge of wanting to be there. What a difference a year makes. Of course, things will be back to normal again next season.

So this week has been really great. Sister Rust and I saw a lot of miracles. About 2 weeks ago we were out looking for this less-active man and found this 15 year old girl named Rycca. She said that we could come back and talk to her. Well, it turns out that her grandma who she lives with is a member of the church! I love part-member families! So we started teaching Rycca. She is an awesome girl who is super busy. It's so funny because her friends aren't interested in changing religions, but they sit in on all of the appointments to hear what we have to say.

On Tuesday we taught the first lesson (the Restoration) and really focused every part of it on baptism. At the end we shared in 2nd Nephi where it talks about Christ being baptized and that in order to follow Him we too must be baptized. Well that kind of hit Rycca. Her friends were like "I've been baptized!" and she sheepishly said that she hadn't. We informed her that that was ok because it is our job to help people come unto Christ through making covenants like baptism. We invited her to be baptized and without hesitation she accepted! Woohoo! We're so excited about Rycca. The only issue is that she's so busy and it is hard to see her every day but we're working.

We also started to teach these 2 boys this week. Their names are Hunter and Benjamin and they're 8 and 11. Their parents are members of the Church and the boys have been wanting to go to church. It's amazing, they're spiritually super mature for their ages. They've really been prepared. Well, we talked with their dad and set up an appointment to teach the boys. We got to the appointment and the 2 boys came out and both said, "I want to be baptized!" What a miracle! And the dad is super supportive of it.  We gave them both Books of Mormon and every day when we go over we are amazed about how much they've read. They truly want to learn everything.  They're like sponges just soaking everything in. Unfortunately their mom is also less-active and lives in a different town so they wont be able to come to church with us every Sunday, but one of the great members here is friends with her so we're going talk to her about the situation.

I love working with members and part-member families.

In PMG there is a a quote from President Hinckley that says that so many of us see missionary work as simply tracting but all involved know that there is a better way and that is through the members. I tract when other plans fall through, but I agree with President Hinckley, there are so many better and more effective ways to do missionary work.

As I was reading the Book of Mormon this morning I came across something that I thought was really interesting. It is 1st Nephi 15. Well at this point, Nephi had just come down from the mountain after learning the interpretation of his father's vision of the tree of life. He comes down and everyone is all upset because they don't understand the vision. Nephi asks his brothers if they asked the Lord for the meaning of it all and they said that they hadn't (too bad, ask and ye shall find...). So Nephi began to explain it all to his brothers. Well in verse 24 speaking of the iron rod it says, "And I said unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction." What a great promise! If we hold fast and cling to the word of God we'll be safe and Satan wont be able to get us. It reminds me of Helaman 5:12. As we hold on to the word of God we are building on our Rock, Christ. This is why daily scripture study is so important. It's not just a nice thing to do, it's something that we need to do!

He said that he exhorted his brothers with "all the energies of my soul, and with all the faculty which I possessed, that they would give heed to the word of God and remember to keep his commandments always in all things (vs 25)". It made me think about if I do that. Do I exhort everyone with all that I have to study the word of God, to feast upon the Book of Mormon? I mean, we're talking about salvation here. So I think that I finally am starting to understand why our leaders keep saying that the Book of Mormon is salvation in our hands.

Elder Holland says that if people don't read the Book of Mormon we need to be "devastated" and read with them. But in PMG it says that if people fall back into old habits we need to be understanding and help them get back onto the right path. I wondered about this and have realized that this is because the Book of Mormon helps us to overcome those old habits, to overcome the "natural man."

Elder Ballard said, "In a world ever more dangerous... the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ has the nourishing power to heal starving spirits of the world." What an amazing promise! The world is full of starving souls and we have what will give them nourishment.

I love the Book of Mormon!  And I have one more quote about it. This is from President Hinckley. "Each time we encourage others to read the Book of Mormon we do them a favor. If they read it prayerfully and with a sincere desire to know the truth, they will know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the book is true. From that knowledge there will flow the conviction of the truth of many other things. for if the Book of Mormon is true, then God lives. If the Book of Mormon is true then Jesus is verily our Redeemer, the Savior of the world. The great purpose of it's preservation in coming forth according to it's own statement is to the convincing of the Jew and gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations. If the Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith was a prophet of God... for he was the instrument in the hands of God in bringing to light this testimony of the divinity of our Lord. If the Book of Mormon is true then the Church is true... for the same authority by which this sacred record came to light is present and manifest among us today." He also promised that if we read the book, "There will come into your hearts an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord. There will come a strength and resolution to walk in obedience to his commandments and there will come a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God." Wow! What great promises!

So what is stopping us from reading, studying, and loving this book?

I'm doing you all a "favor" today and I'm encouraging you all to feast upon the words of Christ. I promise you that as you do so you will be changed and you will see miracles in your lives. Prophets don't lie.

I hope that you're all doing wonderfully and made it down to the end of this long letter.

Remember that true happiness only comes from Christ. He is the only way. Accept Him into your lives and feast upon His words. I love you all lots!

Love, Sister Anderson

2010-08-30T18:22:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! How goes it? Sorry if this letter is a bit all of the place, I don't have much time to write.

It sounds like the open house and everything was quite fun! Well, while you were all enjoying the open house I was at a rocking ward party and didn't want to be anywhere else. It was so funny! The ward (mostly really old people) had a swimming party! It was great! Sister Rust and I went so that we could show support and I could get to know everyone. I really feel like the temple open house really blessed me with skills in talking to everyone in situations like that. We were even able to get some referrals!

We're starting to get the ward's support and I'm way excited about it. Nothing will happen without their support. So basically to gain trust we just went out and talked to tons of people this week. It was so fun. We visited a lot of inactive members and had some good experiences with that. It was great because in ward welfare meeting yesterday they brought up a lot of the people that we had visited. They asked us to go visit them and we were able to report back that we had already done so and were able to report on how they were doing. It was great!

We also had some great miracles this week. The church has changed some of the missionary curriculum to make it more simple and to help our purpose to really come into our hearts. So we've been studying this the past few weeks and trying to implement it into our lives and it's making a world of a difference. On Wednesday at district meeting we learned about how to make church more of a priority and to help people understand that. No one can progress without going to church. Well we role played how to help our investigators understand this and a miracle happened. Since the missionaries came back to this area in end of May they've been teaching lady named Sondra. She never went to church and was full of tons of excuses. I honestly don't know why they were still teaching her. Well, as of late we've been able to meet with her every day and she was beginning to progress. After district meeting we went to her house and taught what we had role played and a miracle happened. She came out with what her real concern was about going to church. We were able to resolve it and she came to church yesterday! It was the first time that an investigator had come to church here in months that hadn't already been coming for a long time. We were so excited and the ward was too! Some people came and talked to her and that made her feel really good. It was a huge miracle! The stake presidents councilors came to our ward yesterday as well to do some ward business and after sacrament meeting they came to me and said, "Sister Anderson, stir things up here. Make these members uncomfortable." Well, basically they want me to make this a missionary minded ward and Sister Rust and I plan on doing that. We got a new ward mission leader who is excited about the work. We'll see miracles because of that.

Also this week we had interviews with President. They were a bit different this time because we did them as companionships and talked about our areas rather than ourselves. It was really great. We were able to find things that we can work on to make this area the best area in the mission. I have confidence that it will become the best as we show our faith and as the members show their faith as well.  President shared something with us that is so true. He said, "it's better to shoot for the stars and miss than to shoot for manure and make it." So true! I think about this all of the time now and ask myself what am I shooting for.

As we were talking to a member yesterday she said something that I thought was interesting.  She said, "the Gospel is not something that you can tread lightly on or tip toe around. The Gospel is true. Jesus is the Christ. The Book of Mormon is the word of God. We have a prophet on the earth today. Nothing else matters. This isn't something that we can be sorry about." Amen! It's so true!  I love the Gospel and everyone needs it.  We can't be afraid of offending someone by giving them the truth, by giving them what they need to live with their families forever.  I love it!

Well, I hope that you all have a great day! The Gospel is true! Christ is the way the truth and the life. Never forget it! I love you all!
Love, Sister Anderson

What a week!

2010-08-23T17:30:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! It was really good to hear from some of you! It seems like things are going really well! I'm glad that all of the wedding festivities went well!

Well, this has been quite the week. Tuesday was quite the day what with transfers and the wedding taking place. It was interesting because I thought that I would be upset all day but I guess that everyone must have been praying for me because I was completely fine. Like seriously, I was just excited for Reed and Jen. I don't know if I believe that my little brother is married yet but I guess only time will tell. Thanks for the pictures. I especially like the ones with you all holding up my picture. I thought that that was pretty funny. So thanks everyone for praying for me and what not.

On Tuesday after I emailed I got on the wonderful transfer van and rode to Tucson with a couple of different missionaries who were going home. It was fun to get to Tucson and to be greeted by good friends. Sister Rust is a great missionary and I'm learning a lot from her. I'm also way happy because Sister Howard is in my district! Woohoo! She and I are great friends. This is her last transfer so we're going to definitely make it the best. She and I are the oldest sisters in the mission. It's so weird to think that. It seems like just yesterday when I came out. Sister Aquino and I were talking about how long we'd been out and I started to cry because time is going too fast.

I'm now in San Manuel and I'll tell you what, it's quite the place. It used to be a booming mining town, but it's not so booming now that the mine is closed. Most of the people are really old. I've met 5 kids since I've been here. 5! Crazy!  The ward list is like 21 pages long and it is full of people who are less-active Like, a huge huge huge percentage of the members are less-active. I'm not ok with that. We are all here to help each other and the numbers of less-active is just way too high. Even one less-active person is one too many. I plan on working a lot with the ward members to change this characteristic of this ward. The Ward Mission Leader isn't too keen on missionary work because it is "hard" in this area. We're going to help him come around and see the beauty of missionary work and the necessity of it. Missionary work is not something that we can be passive about. People need us! It's up to us to help them come unto Christ. I'm excited for the potential of this area but I know that in order to have success we must change some things. It's going to be a challenging area, but I'm up for that challenge! Oh, it is SO far away! We are an hour away from other missionaries and real stores. It sure is interesting. We spend a lot of our time in our truck. Our area covers the towns of San Manuel, Oracle, and Mammoth. We're kind of on the side of the mountain. It's really pretty.

So we had an AMAZING mission conference on Saturday! Unfortunately it only lasted 2 hours but we were all just soaking it all up. It was so so good! It was amazing to see all of the missionaries together. I was so happy to see Sister Mackay again. She's doing great in Thatcher but has been pretty sick. Hopefully that will change soon.

Well, at our conference Elder Pickett of the 70, Elder Keeron (sp?) of the 70, Elder Rasband of the presidency of the 70, and Elder Christofferson of the 12 were in attendance. Can you imagine? It was AMAZING! It was really neat because before it even started we all got to shake all of their hands and meet them personally. Elder Christofferson told me that he's been to Bluffdale before so I was pretty excited about that. During all of their talks I felt like they were talking directly to me. One of the themes of it seemed to be that the Book of Mormon is the most powerful tool that we have. D&C 4 was referenced and they said that our "sickle" is the Book of Mormon. It is the only way to have lasting conversion. They talked about how we need to make the study of this book a life long pursuit and that it is salvation in our hands. Pretty cool! They also talked about how we have to be the message. People need to see us and recognize that we are representatives of Christ by our appearance. We have to smile!

Elder Rasband talked about how literally the worth of souls is great in the sight of God. We must remember this in all that we do! Elder Christofferson spoke a lot about the Book of Mormon but also about how missions and life are hard. He said not to look too far into the future during the hard times but to take everything one step and one day at a time. Great advice! He said that as we do this the sun will soon come through the clouds and we'll be able to see the Lord's hands in our lives. I saw this very literally just a few hours after the meeting.

As we were driving back I noticed that the St. David sisters had given me their car keys on accident. Well, this turned into an hour and a half detour. By the time we finally made it back to our area it was much later than we anticipated, but because we were held up we were able to see people that we otherwise wouldn't have seen. I think that often things happen and we are frustrated, but often it is the Lord intervening in our lives. He certainly does work in mysterious ways.

Elder Christofferson also testified strongly that Christ is the head of the church. There is no doubt about it. He said that He is not an absentee leader, but that He is involved more than we can ever imagine. How comforting! Yesterday in the stake meeting Elder Christofferson spoke about how we need to hold up our light to the world. I know that as we do so we will see miracles. We will see others come unto Christ and we will come along with them. What a blessing! After the conference Elder Christofferson invited all of the youth and children to come shake his hand. It was amazing to see his love. I've realized that the closer people are to Christ, the more they become like Him. I want to be more like Him and for others to be able to see it in me. I was thinking that it was amazing because so many people were doing their own things yesterday and didn't even realize that one of Christ's special witnesses was in town. How sad. We are so blessed to know what we know. It was really neat because I was able to see people yesterday that I worked with while I was with Sister Howard for those 2 weeks. I was told that because of those 2 weeks that we had together, 5 people were baptized. What a miracle. I'm convinced that often we don't see the impact of our work, but there is a great impact that we each have.

Well, this is a really long letter but it's been such a good week and so many great things happened. I know that Christ lives and that His Church has been restored! It's true! If you don't know it's true, read the Book of Mormon and pray. You will get an answer and be happier than you can ever imagine. The Gospel is definitely true! Live true!

Love, Sister Anderson

All Good Things Must Come To An End...

2010-08-18T18:14:00.010-06:00

Well hello everyone! I hope that you're all doing well and that all of the wedding festivities are going well. Congratulations Reed and Jen!

Things have been good here this week. We were able to go to the temple! It was amazing! The spirit was so strong and it brought so much peace to me. It was amazing to be able to walk into the Celestial Room and be greeted by President and Sister Walker. It is something that I'll never forget. I just loved it.

(Hermana Curlee & Anderson)

So this is the last email that you'll be getting from St. David. Like my subject says, I guess that all good things must come to an end. I'll be going to an area called San Manuel. It is the very tip of the mission on the Tucson side. I have a lot of mixed feelings about it. I'm excited for a change but I sure love St. David. It has been very good to me and I realized this morning that I had been there for almost half a year. That's crazy! Time goes by so fast!
(the person who first translated the Book of Mormon in Spanish)

I've learned a lot here in St. David. Here are some of the things that I've learned:

* Exact obedience brings forth the blessings of heaven. I've always considered myself to be a very obedient missionary but Sister Mackay and I found ways to be even more obedient and it made all of the difference. We even made the goal of never speeding and we saw so many blessings even when it meant that we were going to be late. I truly think that this area has been successful as a result of our exact obedience. Elder Holland once said, "Selective obedience is not obedience." Amen! If we're not willing to follow all of the rules than we're not being obedient.
* How to work well with members. I feel like the people in St. David are my family. I've loved working with them and learning to a greater degree that missionary work is most effective when members are involved. I truly love the people in this town. They've changed my life and made me a better person. From them I've also learned how to do a lot of manual labor. Here are some of the things that we did with members: built brick walls, cleaned out horse stables, tiled floors, dug trenches, put in drip sprinkling systems, set up class rooms, alphabetized hundreds of books in the school library, and the list goes on and on. I really would do anything for the people here. I feel like one of the reasons that we have such great relationships with the members is because we have a relationship of service. We help them and they help us. It's amazing!
* I've learned that time can not be wasted. When we meet someone we need to immediately start teaching. The spirit can't testify of something not being said.
* The temple is where we all must be. We need to do all that we can in order to be able to go to the temple. It isn't just a pretty structure that we see as we drive down the street. It really is the House of the Lord. It is where we make essential covenants with God. We need the temples in order to live with Heavenly Father, Christ, and our families again. What's stopping us from going? We can't afford to take our eyes off of the temple. But just like when Peter was walking on water, if we lose sight of Christ and begin to sink we can call out to Him and He'll immediately pull us up and bring us back to where we belong.
* I've learned to love. I love people for who they are and where they are going. It doesn't matter where we've been in the past, what matters is where we're going. We're all children of our Heavenly Father and we all have the same divine potential. We can't lose sight of that. As we see people for who they really are, it is impossible not to love them. "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." D&C 18:10(David P Kimball's Headstone)

So these are just a few of the things that I've learned since arriving in St. David on March 3. I have truly loved this area but feel peace about going to this new area with Sister Rust. Sister Rust has had her struggles since coming out in January and when the Assistants called they said that they just new that I was right for the job. We'll see what that means. I've heard a lot of different things about San Manuel (mostly bad) but I'm confidant that it will be a good area and it will teach me so much. I'm excited for a new challenge.

This week is going to be a great week because we'll have the opportunity to hear from Elder Christofferson. It will be great to be with all of the missionaries and be strengthened together. I'm excited!

Well, I hope that you all have a great week! Cling to the truth and you'll always be safe and happy! I love you all! The Church is definitely true!
Love, Sister Anderson

(A Giant moth at there house)

(The biggest risk in St. David)

What a week it has been!

2010-08-09T15:40:00.001-06:00

What a week it has been! Thank you all for your letters and packages! I just love mail and it really gives me boosts.

Missions are so crazy. I swear that they're like roller-coasters. On Monday one of our very few investigators dropped us. It was unfortunate but didn't get us down. We're serving the Lord and doing our best so nothing else matters. I've really thought a lot about how if we were always teaching and baptizing like crazy I would be so happy but I don't think that I would appreciate each of them as much. Plus, sometimes we need to be stretched so that we can become who the Lord sees fit for us to become. I think that if it was up to us none of us would have any trials or hard times and where is the good in that? What would we learn?  How would we progress? There's no way that we would ever get anywhere. I'm just so thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who lets us go through hard times and even puts us in hard times.

Sister Mackay's companion joined us Monday night-Wednesday night while Sister Mackay went to Tucson. It was fun to have her around but just reminded me of how lucky I am to be companions with Sister Curlee. She's a great missionary but I feel like I have so much to learn from Sister Curlee and we work well together.

On Tuesday night we had an appointment with Heather and Mikayla. They're the 16 and 12 year old girls that we're teaching. They told us that they've been coming to church off and on for about 4 years and that their mom is now letting them get baptized! Yay! The only condition is that they have a testimony. I personally think that this is a great condition. We asked them if they thought that they had testimonies and they both said no. So we asked them if they believed in our Heavenly Father. They both said that they definitely believed in Him. After that we asked if they believed in Joseph Smith and they both said yes. I was happy to inform them that they both had testimonies and that they needed to be baptized. So as of right now they are going to be baptized on September 4th! I'm way excited! They're so nice and truly just want to do what is right.  Heather and Mikayla definitely are a bright spot in our lives right now.

Another bright spot is that Bishop Bryce of the Patton Ward has put missionary work as a top priority in his ward right now. He had us speak yesterday in church. Sister Curlee spoke about testimonies and I spoke about missionary work. I shared the story of David P Kimball and how he carried the people across the Sweet Water River and really saved their lives. I told the ward that our job is the same, it's up to us to save souls. I referenced D&C 15 and 18. Every soul is great in the sight of God and it is our duty to help them come unto Him. It was amazing because I didn't really have any idea of what I was going to talk about and I got up and spoke for about 10 mins. Things sure have changed since I left home.  It is amazing how the spirit works with us when we put our trust and faith in the Lord.   After we spoke the bishop stood and announced that next Sunday we'll be having a ward fast to find new investigators. I'm so thankful for his desire to help us and the desire of the ward mission leader as well.

We saw a miracle in the San Pedro ward yesterday. An hermana from Tombstone showed up to church. She doesn't understand a word of English so Bishop Trejo called a brother and myself out of the audience to bare our testimonies in Spanish. Before calling us up he was talking about how he was going to surprise some people and call them up. I was laughing to myself and wondering who the unfortunate person would be but it turned out that it was me. I was nervous because I haven't spoken in Spanish in church for months but it all worked out. The Lord put words into my mouth. It definitely wasn't the greatest Spanish but the spirit was there and that's all that matters. It was really neat to be able to share my testimony in Spanish again in church.
They also had someone interpret for her and had a Spanish Sunday school class. I really think that she may be the key to finding Hispanics in Tombstone.

So yeah, things are really starting to move forward and I'm so thankful. I'm so excited for this week and the potential that it has. We're going to see miracles! Also, we get to go to the temple on Wednesday! I'm SO excited! It's been over a year since I've had the opportunity to go. I'm excited to just go, feel the peace and love there, and get a spiritual boost. It will be so amazing! The temple really is the house of the Lord. We are so blessed to have them!

I hope that you all have a great week! The Church is definitely true!  Look for the small miracles that happen every day. They're there!  I love you all lots!

Love,
Hermana Anderson

Hey There Everyone!

2010-08-02T14:06:00.003-06:00

Hey there everyone! How's it going? Things are going well here in St. David. I've had a lot of realizations this week. It's kind of been a rough week.

The work is just not progressing like I would like it to. We picked up a few new investigators who are kind of luke-warm right now. I'm excited to teach them this week and see what happens.

So this week they had this big leadership meeting for all of the leaders in the mission and the people that will be leading next transfer. It seemed like everyone went. Sister Mackay went because she is training and all of the sisters, but one other companionship went. At first I was a little bugged because I've been out for 14 months and sisters who have been out for 3 weeks went. There are a lot of new english sisters coming in so all of the english sisters will be training next transfer. It's crazy because all but one of them have been out for less than 2 full transfers. It's crazy. Anyway, I was feeling like everyone was progressing but me, you know, just feeling sorry for myself but than I realized something... it doesn't matter where you are serving or in what position, it just matters HOW you serve. Nothing else matters. I know that I'm where I'm at for a reason. There's no doubt about it. The Lord has placed me in this position for a reason and I'm excited to find out what that is.

I've really come to realize the need to lift where you stand. We all have so much potential and it's up to us to build the area that we are in. There are people that we all need to touch. People that need lifting. There is a quote that I love from President Hinckley. It's in PMG Chapter 9 and I can't remember it word for word but it talks about how we need to reach down and pull up the helpless hands and the feeble knees. It says that as we do so we will be happy. It is so true, as we pull up those around us and dust the dirt off of their knees everyone will be able to feel the love of our Heavenly Father. I love it! Isn't it amazing that Heavenly Father trusts us to be His instruments? It is amazing. Every time I testify or help someone out I just feel so good.

There is a part-member family here. The husband is the member and pretty anti. Well Sister Curlee and I went to visit him and his wife and he told us that they couldn't visit because she wasn't feeling well. We decided that we needed to do something nice for them so we made some cookies and took them over with a note. It was amazing to see the change in this brother's eyes. Nothing was said about the Gospel but he could recognize that we were there because we loved them and wanted to help them. It was pretty neat. It's amazing what a little card or quick visit can do.

So this week was crazy because Sister Mackay's companion showed up unexpectedly on Thursday so she had an hour to pack and was gone. It was pretty crazy. Even though it's different without her, I think that it will be a good change. She and I did a lot together and it was time for her to go to a new area and I'm way happy that Sister Curlee is here with me. It's crazy because at church everyone was just shocked that she was gone and kept assuring me that the church is still true. Of course it is! There is no doubt about it! The Gospel will always be true.

This week I've really come to feel that trials are here to help us. There is no way that we can progress without them. No way. We need them. So I've decided to just be happy and smile about any trial put in my way. I know that I will be blessed and become the missionary that the Lord needs me to be. I think that our attitudes often affect our altitude. If we chose to be happy we will progress more than we could ever imagine.

I'm so thankful that I'm a missionary. Every day I think about how much my life has been blessed because of my being here. I hope that I'm a better person because of it. The Gospel is definitely true and it is up to us to chose to be happy and to lift where we stand. I know that as we do so we will see miracles. Look for the Lord's hands in your lives and you will find them. I know it! Have a great week! Love you all lots!

Love, Sister Anderson

you know you've been in the Arizonia Tucson mission awhile when...

2010-07-26T15:28:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone! It sounds like you're all doing really well! Anderson clan, thanks so much for all of the letters! I loved reading them! Also, thanks to everyone that has been writing me. Sorry if I haven't written back yet, I'm really behind in writing. You may be wondering what my subject is referring to. Well, I've decided that you know that you've been in the Arizona Tucson Mission awhile when you have to put on your winter coat for 70 degree weather. Monsoon season has arrived and I love it! I just love the downpours. Don't worry, I learned last year the proper safety procedures for monsoons. I just love watching a downpour and seeing the streets flooded. It's great!
So this week was another awesome week! We had zone conference and it turns out that there will be a lot of changes in missionary work. The missionary department has changed a lot of things up. We're now only having zone conferences and interviews once a quarter. This leaves room for a lot of other things such as leadership meetings, sister conferences, etc. They're changing things up so things are done more on a month to month bases rather than a 6 week to 6 week basis. We'll still have 6 week transfers but everything will be more monthly. I'm really excited about this because it seems like it will help us focus on our purpose more. Also, we'll be seeing a lot more of President and Sister Walker because they'll be coming to district meetings and showing up to go to lessons with us and what not. It's pretty exciting! They also informed us that we'll be going to the temple in a few weeks as a zone! I can't wait! It will have been over a year since I've been to the temple and I'm so excited about feeling the peace and joy that comes from being in the house of the Lord. Also, next month we'll be having our first ever mission conference! Since the mission is now smaller we can all get together and meet! Having a mission conference is so cool but even cooler is that a member of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles, Elder Christofferson and quite a few members of the 70 will be there teaching us! I'm so excited! The missionary department has also decided to start a media campaign in our mission. It will be such a blessing to our mission and we'll see so many miracles from it. So yeah, as you can see, there are a lot of really awesome things going on in this mission! I'm so excited to be a part of it and to see the miracles that will be coming. We've been working so hard to be obedient and diligent missionaries and we're starting to see quite a few miracles. We didn't have a whole lot of success numbers wise this week but we definitely did in other aspects of the work and we have so much potential this week. Here is a list of some of the miracles that we saw:
• we had our first successful coordination meeting with one of our ward mission leaders
• There is a girl that has been very disinterested in joining the church. She comes every week and knows that it is true but hasn't wanted to meet with us. Well, she's agreed to start meeting with us!
• There are 2 teenage girls who's mom hasn't allowed them to join the church. They've been coming every week for years and their mom has finally taken away the rule of not being able to be baptized! We talked with the mom and she said that we can meet with her daughters on Tuesday!
• One ward who has kept missionary work on the back burner since before we got here has had a mighty change of heart. They've decided that it is their turn to have success with missionary work and the bishop is lighting a fire underneath the ward council. He's realized that missionary work must be a priority and he's willing to do all that it takes to have success.
So as you can see there are a lot of really good things going on in this area and I'm excited to be a part of it! This town had an awesome 24th of July celebration! There was a parade with 14 entries from the different wards in it. It was pretty funny. Before it started the 3 of us were walking down the street talking to people and it was so funny because people were clapping for us. It was so funny. It is way cool to serve in an area that has so much pioneer history. I always try to think of David P. Kimball, the person that the town got its name from and one of the 3 boys who carried the pioneers across the Sweet Water River. He left an amazing legacy and I wonder what kind of legacy I'm leaving. We can learn so much as we look to the past at our ancestors. The pioneers were so amazing. They left everything for the Gospel. Are we willing to do the same? I know that as we are willing to do the same we will see the Lord's hands in our lives more than we could ever imagine. He's waiting to bless us, we just need to do our part. I hope that you all have a great week and think about the legacies that you're leaving. The Church is definitely true and I'm so thankful to be a part of it. One of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 2: 41. It talks about the blessed and happy state of those that stay true to the Gospel. The Gospel really is the source of happiness. Wickedness never was happiness but Christ is. Find ways that you can be happier. Look to God and live! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Anderson

Why Hello

2010-07-20T00:33:00.004-06:00

Hey hey! It sounds like you all had a great week! This week has been really good. We didn't have a whole lot of success numbers wise but I know that we did our best and that that is all that matters. Sometimes I worry that people get so wrapped up in numbers that that is all that matters. Oh well.

We've only had 2 investigators since I got back and it looks like neither of them really have a whole lot of interest in the Gospel so we're going to give them a break. One, Jose Salinas (one of the few Spanish speaking people in town) is interested in finding a wife... which none of us can help him with. He's in his 60s and has cancer. He's just so lonely so I hope that he'll be able to find a wife here in town. It's funny because his fellowshipper Hermano De La Cruz told him that talking about his desire for a wife is not respecting us as missionaries so we'll see if he decides to learn more about the Gospel or not. (Our neighbor that greats us every night when we come home.)

The other investigator, Edith is avoiding us and her fellowshipper so that's fun. This week we mostly spent all of our time doing finding activities. We went to Tombstone and met a lot of people who haven't been to church in years. For the most part, Tombstone is a place where people run to to get away from reality so the people there are really interesting. The people in that town just have different desires than those in St. David and you can definitely feel it as you go from one town to the next.

In St. David pretty much the only way to find is through the members. It's just not realistic or time efficient to go knock on doors. So pretty much we've started to do what we did when we first got here, we're serving everyone. We've seen a lot of blessings from it already. People are giving us referrals and the members know that they have a large role in the success in this area.

Another thing that we've started doing is going into the homes of the members and doing this thing called "The President Monson Approach." Pretty much what it entails is that we go into their homes, share the first lesson, and invite them to pray and create a family mission plan. It's pretty powerful. If nothing else, it helps the members to become more missionary minded. I really like it.

We're really focusing on the Patton ward because we've done the least amount of work in that ward. It's starting to pay off because yesterday in church a man passed us a note that said that as members we often forget our duty for missionary work but so much of the responsibility lies on the shoulders of the members. I know that as other members of that ward come to have his same attitude, miracles will happen in the Patton ward. Yesterday it was really neat because Jesse Ingram was the youth speaker in the San Pedro ward. It was so neat to see someone that we taught get up and teach the ward in Sacrament Meeting! He said that he had been reading the New Era and a article about patriarchal blessings caught his eye and that he couldn't stop thinking about it. So Jesse got up and taught the ward about patriarchal blessings for probably 7-10 minutes. It was amazing! He said that the way he sees them is that we are all walking through fog but our blessings are a flashlight given to us to illuminate our paths and to keep us safe. I really liked that analogy. It's so cool to see how Jesse has changed. He went from barely being able to look us in the eye to speaking in Sacrament Meeting calmly without notes. The spirit was way strong as he testified of the scripture that says "by their fruits ye shall know them." He says he knew that the church was true because we believe in forever families and because we have patriarchal blessings. Jesse is 17 right now and I just know that if he goes on a mission that he'll be powerful. He and his family are so great! (On our way to email)

So yeah, that's kind of where things are at now. We're looking forward to this upcoming week and know that we'll see so many miracles. I love being a missionary! It is the best thing ever and makes me so happy!

Find ways that you all can be missionaries. I know that it will bless you. There is no doubt about it and no doubt that the church is true. Christ is the head of the chruch and we are so blessed to have the truth. We need to share it! Have a great week! The Gospel is definitely true!
Love, Sister Anderson

You know that you've been on a mission for awhile when...

2010-07-12T15:14:00.008-06:00

Well hey there everyone! How are things going? Things are going great here! I'm back in St. David!!!! I'm so glad to be back and there is A LOT of work to be done. I loved being in Tucson. It was so hard, but so so good. I learned so much while I was there and really grew to love the people there. (right before Sister Rodriguez left)

One of the people that Sister Howard and I were teaching got baptized on Saturday! Yes! I got permission to call Sister Howard on Saturday and get the down low about it all. She said that after he was baptized he got up and bore his testimony about how everything is possible through Christ and how the Church is true. I guess that it really touched our other investigator Jennifer and now she is so excited to get baptized and her kids are going to join her as well! Testimonies of recent converts are so powerful!

I can't remember if I told you last week or not, but when I had my interview with President he told me that I didn't belong in Tucson, but that I belonged in St. David. I quickly agreed and am glad to be back. St. David just seems like home. I love small towns!

So as my subject says, I came to a realization that I'd been out for awhile this week. Sister Mackay and I were talking to our new companion Sister Curlee and she mentioned something about an "I-Pad." Well naturally Sister Mackay and I just assumed that since Sister Curlee is from New Hampshire she had an accent and meant to say "I-Pod." I guess that we were wrong. Oh well.

So yeah, I'm in a threesome again for a bit. We don't know when Sister Mackay's companion is going to be able to come out so she's with us for a while. It is so fun! Sister Curlee is a hoot! She is 4' 10'' and so funny. We're having a lot of fun together. She's only been out for one transfer so it's fun to learn from her and for her to learn from us. It's kind of refreshing to have someone new with us. New missionaries just seem so fresh and excited about everything. I love it! She's also really really good at Spanish so I'm thankful for that.

(Rattle Snake in Tucson at our house! After they cut off it's head I got to hold it, but it started squirting blood all over me and Sister Howard didn't have time for a picture. I got to keep it's rattle!)

We're working really hard at filling up the teaching pool right now. We've run into a problem that isn't really a bad thing... all of our investigators have gotten baptized. While we were teaching them we were trying to find new investigators but had little success so now we are doing all that we can to find new ones. (When we met our friend Damon he would drink at least 16 beers a day and now he's sober. His favorite thing to tell us is that he's "too blessed to be stressed".

We're going back to what we did when we got here: service. We're going to do all that we can to boost the members and than they'll find for us. Member involvement is everything! We're also excited because this week is girls camp and there are at least 4 potential investigators going up so we're praying that they have really spiritual experiences while at camp and come back ready to be taught! I'm sure that it will happen! We have so much potential here in St. David and in Tombstone and I'm I'm excited for the miracles that we'll see this transfer! We have a lot of work in front of us, but we're ready to get it done and to see the miracles! I completely expect them to come. I always think of that movie "Field of Dreams." If we build this area people will come and our teaching pool will fill. Kind of lame analogy, but I think about it all of the time.

Anyway, that is about all that is going on here. I love serving a mission! I've never been so happy! It was amazing yesterday to hear 2 of our recent converts bless the Sacrament and for another to pass it. When I see things like that it makes everything worth it and makes me so happy. The Gospel is a gospel of happiness. I know it! When we live it and do what is right we can be confident that we will be happy. I love you all! The Gospel is definitely true! Have a great week!
Love Hermana Anderson

We thought you'd find some humor in Melissa's response to our cat Mitzi's death. I'm sorry about Mitzi, but I know that she is in a better place and is teaching her brother about the gospel and helping to call him to repentance. That cat needs all the help he can get! (As you recall there was no love loss between Melissa and Rusty)

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

2010-07-06T20:06:00.007-06:00

Happy 4th of July everyone! It's so good to hear from you. It seems like you're all doing great! We had a great 4th! At the end of the day Sister Howard and I were able to watch all of the fireworks from Tucson on our neighbors balcony. It was really cool!

This past week has been really good. Honestly, it's been hard to be here in Tucson but it has also been so good. I've really enjoyed my experience here and know that I've been here for a reason. So last night we got transfer calls... and I'm going back to St. David! There is a really sad part though, Sister Mackay is getting transferred to the Gila Valley. She'll be opening up a new area and training. We're both pretty bummed because we were both assured that we'd be staying together for at least one more but I guess that the Lord has other things in mind. My companion will be Sister Curley. It will be her 2nd transfer out in the field. This transfer she's been with Sister Aquino so I'm sure that she's been taught well. It turns out that Sister Mackay's companion is still in the MTC today and wasn't able to come out yet because she's sick so we'll have a few more days together. Sister Howard will be training again and is terrified but she'll be great. She's a great missionary. I've really enjoyed serving with her for the past little bit. It's funny because it seems like we're practically the same person. We are a lot a like and have really helped each other out a lot.

So yeah, we've had a bunch of great experiences these past few days. We've been teaching this woman named Jennifer who has been through a lot in her life. Because of her experiences she has a lot of lasting issues. It is amazing to see the transformation that has taken place over the past week with her. At the beginning of the week she was in hysterics and out of control. We were able to calm her down and told her that now is the time for her to take over her life. To look forward and never look back and to let Christ become her foundation. As we told her these things it kind of seemed like it was all going over her head or in one ear and out the other but we said what we knew needed to be said boldly. Well, every day since than she has progressively gotten better and better. It is nothing less than a miracle. She has now taken control and is focused on Christ. It was amazing because yesterday morning she called us to tell us that she was going out of town for a few days and asked us to come over before hand. So we went over and some of her fellow shippers that live in her apartment complex were fighting. As she found out she calmly had her son go get their son and bring him over to her apartment and asked us to pray with her for them. This may not seem like a big deal but it was huge. In less than a week she has gone from a woman in hysterics to having great control over herself and her family. It's all because of the atonement. She's taken Helaman 5:12 to heart and is strong. It is so amazing.
Melissa, Grandpa Anderson's sister Annette & Sister Howard

We've also been teaching this man named David. He approached the elders at Taco Bell and gave him his info and said that he wanted to be baptized. Needless to say, he's getting baptized! Last night he told us that he had been a smoker for over 10 years but could never quit. On the day that we taught him the Word of Wisdom he knew that he had to change. So he went home and got on his knees and plead with the Lord that He would take away his addiction. Well, apparently later on that night he went to smoke. He had the cigarette in his mouth and every time that he would put the lighter next to it the flame would go out. He tried over and over again but nothing worked. Well, since that day he hasn't touched a cigarette! He has no cravings and no problem. We asked him how it happened and he said that it was because he had put it all on the Lord. He knew that as he asked for help that the Lord would provide. He also said that the Book of Mormon has helped him to stay strong.

These aren't just nice stories, they're real life. I know that as we put our complete trust in the Lord that we can overcome all and that the Book of Mormon is a tool to help us. The Book of Mormon is powerful and miracles come from consistent reading. It is amazing! I think that often we don't think that we can receive the miracles but we can. We're the only person stopping ourselves.

Since I've been here, Sister Howard and I have been super diligent in our search for new investigators but hadn't had much success. This means that we've been knocking on doors in 110 degree weather. As a companionship yesterday we prayed and plead with the Lord to give us a miracle and to have someone find us. Well, we had our miracle. About a minute after we ended the prayer we received a text referral saying that this woman wanted a Book of Mormon. We called her and she said that she is a former investigator and that now is the time to join the Church and to change her life. No one can tell me that prayers aren't answered and that miracles don't happen. I've seen too many answered prayers and too many miracles to say that. It reminds me of Moroni 7. Miracles aren't what bring us faith. Faith brings the miracles. It is true. Our lack of faith is what holds us back from receiving the miracles.
(Look close and you can see that Melissa is pointing at her name on the family tree hanging in The Stricklands home)

The Gospel is definitely true. There is no doubt about it. I hope that we can all stay true to it. I hope that you all have a great week! Love you lots!
Love,
Sister Anderson

What A Difference A Day Makes...

2010-06-28T13:45:00.005-06:00

Hey there everyone!
So as most of you heard, I was emergency transferred on Thursday to Northwest Tucson. A sister decided that a mission wasn't for her after being out for just a few weeks and went home. I feel bad for her because she's going to miss out on so many great opportunities now that she's gone home.
I guess that President really struggled with whether or not to just close the area but then decided to leave it open and for Sister Mackay or myself to come here for 2 weeks. When he called he didn't initially tell us where and I was just praying that it wasn't to El Paso. Well, even though he said that either of us could go, it was me that he wanted to send. It was funny because on the phone he kept saying, "Sister Anderson, I'm so sorry but this is just for 2 weeks. In 2 weeks you'll be back in St. David with Sister Mackay." We were both so so excited to hear that. I'll be honest, this transfer has been difficult. It's hard because I'm only here for 2 weeks and it isn't really my area, but Sister Howard and I are working really hard and seeing miracles.
Speaking of miracles, on Friday President Walker interviewed our investigator Matt in St. David. Matt has had a bit of a rough past so one of the bishops asked that President would interview him. I guess at the end of the interview he called Sister Mackay and Sister Rodriguez into the interview. Matt was sobbing and President told my companions that he didn't want Matt waiting any longer to be baptized and so he got baptized Saturday and confirmed and given the priesthood yesterday. He also got his temple recommend and will be going to the temple on Saturday. I've been talking with my companions everyday and they were telling me about how amazing it's all been. Matt's friend Paul baptized him and I guess that there wasn't a dry eye in sight. After the baptism I talked to Matt, Paul, and Nat on the phone. It was really neat because it was like I was almost there. Thank goodness for phones.
Also yesterday, Terry, Ian, and Conner were given the priesthood. It's hard not to be there for those things, but I know that I'm needed here in Tucson. (The night before transfer)

This weekend Dorothy will be baptized. I've realized that it doesn't matter if I'm not there for baptisms, what matters is that they are doing what is right. It was funny because before this transfer I was just praying to be able to stay focused on my mission and not on anything else and this transfer has really helped me to focus. It feels like St. David is my home and that it's where I belong. I just love that place.

Everyday being here in Tucson it gets better and better. I guess that the sisters didn't really have a whole lot of chances to work hard before I got here so Sister Howard and I are working hard to fill of the teaching pool. There are a few investigators but not nearly enough. We're covering 2 English wards. The members here are really willing to help out so that's super nice.

Like you know, I sat next to Kimmy's roommate yesterday in RS and that was really cool. After the 2nd ward Sister Howard and I were talking to some people. They asked me where I was from and I told them and they said something to the fact that I was there cousin. Well it turned out that it is Uncle Norman's daughter Sister Strickland (I don't know her first name). Apparently we have lessons in there home often so that's neat.

Last night we went to an appointment and the people weren't there. As we were walking away Sister Howard saw this man and approached him, gave him a Book of Mormon pass-along card and said, "call this number for a free book." We walked away and a few minutes later he approached us and said, "what if I need something more than just a book?" So cool!  He invited us into his home and we taught him the first lesson and now he'll be baptized at the end of July! It was amazing because he said that he always closes himself off to religion, but he was out and felt like he needed to go home so he did and we showed up right as he pulled up. It truly was a miracle that we needed.
I know that the Lord really is preparing people and it's up to us to be bold and open our mouths. I know that there are no such things as coincidences. It was no coincidence that I saw the people I saw yesterday and that we met Jaime just outside of his car. (My New Companion Sister Howard)
Someone else that we're teaching here is named David. Last week he saw the elders at Taco Bell and approached them and told them that he wanted to be baptized.  He is hungry for the truth and it is so amazing to see how he has been prepared as well. Something that I've noticed is that it is often the people that we least expect that are the most prepared. It is so amazing. The Lord's hands really are in all that we do. I know it.

A scripture that I've had as my motto this week is Proverbs 3:5-6. It says, "trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and he shall direct they paths." In all of life we need to trust in the Lord. As we do so He will direct our paths and lead us to peace and joy. I see this everyday.  He loves us and really does want the best for us. It's up to us to do our part. I know that as we do so we will see the blessings that we so desperately need. Trust Him!

I love you all and hope that you all have an amazing week!
The Gospel is definitely true.
Love, Sister Anderson

Hey hey! How are you all doing?

2010-06-21T17:24:00.006-06:00

This week has been so amazing! We've seen the Lord's hands here in St. David so much. It truly is amazing. I also have some bad news... I'm starting to go gray. I was worried all week because who wants to get gray hair before their parents, but I was pleasantly surprised to see in some of the pictures that you sent that Dad has some gray hair too. But really, who wants gray hair at my age. There are these two sisters here in town. They are about 2 years apart, the older one has zero gray hair (and doesn't dye it) and the younger has completely gray hair. I have a feeling that this is how it will be for Suzy and I. Oh well. If a few gray hairs are the worst thing that is happening to me than I'll be ok. Anyway, that was just a side note.

Like I said, this week, like every week was so great! We saw so many miracles. On Wednesday our district had a fast to find new investigators. My companionship had just fasted a few days earlier, but we knew that if we sacrificed again that the Lord would pour out blessings on us. And He did!

Since we got to town in March we've been trying to work with this part-member family. Nothing had really come of it but we still went by a few times a week. Well on Wednesday we went by. The mom let us in and told us that her son wanted to be baptized!  It was so amazing! When we showed the Lord even more effort, He blessed us so much. This kid's name is Patrick and he's 10 years old. He's super smart and wants to do what is right. He's really cool.

We had a really cool experience with Dorothy this week as well. We were teaching her and she wouldn't accept a baptismal date. She said that she needed to know "the rules" first. So we decided to teach her one of the commandments. She already knew it and asked for another and then another and then another. After hearing the Big 4 (tithing, law of chastity, word of wisdom, and sabbath day) in a space of about 40 mins she said, "you know, this baptism thing is something that I can really do." So we set a date with her for the 4th of July! The only problem is that she's temporarily care taking land in the next town over but is trying to find land here in St. David. She gets along great with the ward here so we're hoping that she'll be able to find some land here in the next few weeks. She's so cool and loves learning about the Gospel.

Also this week we had a really neat experience with Terry. He had lost something really important and called us to see if we knew where it was. We said no but to pray and that we could come over in a few hours. Well, when we got there he still had no idea where it was at and hadn't prayed yet. We used this time to teach him about the power of prayer. We all knelt down and prayed to find the item. I knew that as we prayed that we would find it. After praying we got up and Sister Mackay and I walked right to it and found it. It all happened in less than a minute and was so simple. It all happened because of prayer. We were then able to talk to Terry about how Heavenly Father really wants to talk to us about everything. We shared Alma 37: 36-37 with him and then prayed to thank Heavenly Father. It was amazing and a really neat lesson for all of us.

The climax of the week was Ian and Connor's baptisms and confirmations! This family is so amazing. In just a months time they went to the temple and came back and got baptized. They knew what they needed to do and wouldn't let anything get in the way of them doing that. It is so cool. Something neat about it is that Shannon's brother came in from Albuquerque to perform the baptisms and confirmations. They hadn't seen each other in over 5 years and the temple brought them together again. The spirit was so strong at the baptism and in Sacrament Meeting. It was incredible. I'm so excited for a year from now when we'll come back and go to the temple together. The ward was also so supportive. There were more people than chairs because so many people came out to share in the joy of their baptisms. Something that I've really come to know is that the members are SO important. If there is little or no support from the members than the work is so hard and almost nonexistent.  But when the members are excited and involved the work is on fire.

There is a huge correlation between member involvement and success. An example of this was a member (Brother Davis) invited his neighbor (Asher) to go to the temple open house with him. Because of his sharing our beliefs with this friend, the friend was more open to the Gospel. Brother Davis was then able to invite Asher to his home to hear a message from us.  We taught him yesterday and set a baptismal date with Asher for July 24th! None of this would have ever happened without Brother Davis and him being brave and sharing what he knows is true. Member involvement is pivotal. I'm so thankful to be in an area where the members know that. Because of the change in the members we've already reached the yearly baptismal goals for 2 of the 3 wards. It has everything to do with the Lord and member involvement.

Oh, after the Kirkwood's baptism Bishop Jones shared some really neat thoughts. He was quoting Paul about when we join the Church we are no longer strangers but fellow-citizens in Christ. I love that! The Gospel really is what binds us together. I love the Church because no matter where you go you have brothers and sisters there to buoy you up and to be there for you.

I just love the Church. It is so true and really is the only true source to happiness and joy. There's no doubt about it.  I've seen it so many times, when someone is living the Gospel - truly living it and making an earnest effort to live it - they are always happy. That doesn't mean that they don't have hard times but they are able to see the good amongst the bad.

Well, I hope that you all have an amazing week! Happy Father's day! The Church is definitely true!

Love, Sister Anderson

We're Seeing So Many Blessings!

2010-06-18T09:54:00.004-06:00

Well hey there! I hope that you're all doing well and enjoying the summer! Things are going really really well here in St. David. We're seeing so many blessings! It's incredible!

This past week was amazing! We were able to see the Lord's hands in our lives and the lives of the people here so much! It’s amazing to look back on events that happen throughout the week and to be able to see how the Lord really does play a huge role in our lives. I know that the role he plays is even bigger than what we can even imagine or comprehend.

I love the scripture in Moses where it says, "this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." Our Heavenly Father and Savior are all about helping us to have eternal life. Based on that truth, I know that they play a huge role in everything that I do.

We saw so many miracles this week and I'm so thankful for them! Thursday we had zone conference. The all-around theme of it was faith. We need to get back to the basics and faith is where it all begins.  Faith is an abiding trust that we can do anything with the help of the Lord. Anything that he asks us can be done because of our faith. When we have faith we know that Christ is who He says He is and the He did what He said He did.  Faith in Christ needs to be a foundation for our lives.  I believe that faith is a principle of power. If we have faith we act and see miracles.  Miracles don't bring faith, they come from faith. President Walker told us that as we gain for faith that we will be more bold and more powerful missionaries. My companions and I are all working to increase our faith. We also talked about how Christ isn't complicated. He makes things as easy and straight forward as possible. It's us who makes them complicated. So I'm now trying to uncomplicated things. I always love zone conference! It is so great to be able to talk about what we can do to become better missionaries.

Thursday night was the Terry's baptism! He is so amazing! He ended up being grateful that we pushed back his baptism because it ended up meaning more to him and he was more ready. It was so cool because we had 6 investigators come to the baptism and they were able to see it and it calmed their nerves. One investigator, Carol Linda, told us that she like it a lot because it just seemed like home. I like that, when we are following our Savior it just feels right. Afterwards Terry said that he couldn't ever imagine being any happier. I'm so proud of him! He's really changed so much. Yesterday we were talking to him about receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and he said that since he was confirmed in church yesterday he can now understand the scriptures. Before he couldn't but now he can. So cool!

Also at Terry's baptism, a teenager from one of the wards brought his friend Matt.  Sister Rodgriguez and I decided to show the Lord our faith and went up, introduced ourselves, and invited him to be baptized on July 3rd. He accepted! We hadn't taught him anything but the spirit was there and we decided that there was no better opportunity to invite him to come unto Christ. After setting the date we had a lesson with Matt, Nat (the one from Thailand), and their friend Paul. Paul and Nat bore powerful testimony of the reality of Christ and the importance of His Gospel. It was probably one of the most amazing lessons that I've ever been a part of.  At one point Paul started crying and told Matt that the reason that he wanted him to be baptized was so that Matt could be happy. All of the boys and us were crying as Matt realized that this was the only true source of happiness. It is true.  It was so cool to see Nat share his favorite scriptures and how he found out that the Gospel is true. I think that Thursday was probably one of the best days of my life.

Saturday Rainee was baptized and it was such a neat experience.  She has changed so much and really come to realize that happiness doesn't come from breaking the commandments but from following Christ. She is trying to find ways to draw closer to Christ and to help her family to do so as well. It was cool because Matt came to Rainee's baptism as well. They used to hang out with the same group and he told us that if she could change then so could he.

On Saturday night one of the prominent families in town had a wedding reception.  They invited us to come and it was just like our glory days back at the temple open house. It was so fun because I just walked around and talked to everyone for a little over an hour and got tons of referrals! I love referrals and am so excited to contact them and fill up our teaching pool. Even President and Sister Walker came to the reception. It was quite the party.

Yesterday I had a really neat experience. As I was praying I prayed that someone would come to church and ask us to teach them. Throughout the day I was on the lookout for this person and at the very last hour of church - hour number 8 - we found that person! A woman named Dorothy showed up at the church wanting to learn more. The members helped her into Relief Society and we found her sitting between two ward missionaries who were already sharing the Gospel! It was so neat! My prayers were answered! She doesn't quite live in our area so we don't know if we'll teach her or the elders, but it was still an answer to my prayer and a great miracle!

Well, as you can see it's been a great week! I love serving the Lord and so many miracles come showing Him our faith.

This week the Kirkwoods are getting baptized. Please pray that everything will go as planned with that. I love you all! The Church is definitely true!

Love, Sister Anderson

Things are going great here in toasty Arizona!

2010-06-08T08:06:00.004-06:00

Hey everyone! how's it going? Things are going great here in toasty Arizona! The past few days it's been quite hot (around 105)! This morning around 10:30 it was already 95 degrees. It's going to be a warm warm summer but I'm excited. I've been blessed so much because it hasn't been too bad yet. I think that Heavenly Father is blessing me a lot! So this past week has been really good. it's been full of lots of ups and downs. Like I said last week, we were planning on having the baptismal service of Terry this week. Unfortunately we needed to postpone it a week so he should be getting baptized this week instead. He thought that it would be a good idea to prove to his friends that he had quit smoking by taking a few puffs and then putting it down. It is amazing how the adversary makes things like that seem like no big deal when in fact it is a big deal. When we told him that he couldn't be baptized last we he was not happy at all. Not in the least bit. He got really mad. It was so hard to see him so upset but we all knew that we had done the right thing.

I had been praying to understand the Lord better and I think that this experience helped me in a way.  The Lord is merciful and just and that is how we had to be.  Luckily we have an amazing ward mission leader. After we talked to Terry we called him and told him what happened. He and his family got in the car and went to visit Terry. It helped a ton. Terry was able to share with him how he felt and the next morning he called us and apologized for how he acted. Unfortunately I was the one that shared the bad news with him so he's still not super happy with me, but he's happy with my companions and so that's good.

As I've thought about that experience, I've thought that things like that are what make missions hard. It's seeing people you love make bad choices and then having to deal with them.  So we're praying that Terry will stay strong and that he'll be baptized on Thursday. Satan is working really hard against him, but he can handle it.  The ward is also stepping it up quite a bit to make sure that he is nourished daily by ward members as well.

President Walker often says, "The adversary is getting in his daily nourishment. Are you?" It is so true. We need to build each other up in order to off-set the adversary.

We had some really amazing experiences this week. Nat, our investigator from Thailand is AMAZING! Every time we visit him he teaches us.  Here are some of the things that he said to us this week:  1. He read 2 Nephi 1:6. It says, "There shall none come into this land save they shall be brought by the hand of the Lord." My companions and I have talked about this scripture among ourselves and how the Lord prepared him and brought him here so that he could have the Gospel. It was so cool because in Nat's daily scripture study he came upon this verse and knew that it was talking about him. He kept saying that it wasn't coincidence that he came to St. David, Arizona to hear about the Gospel and that it was the same year as the temple open house and TCC. This kid is so amazing. He always talks about how he'll go back to Thailand and be a missionary to everyone there.  #2. We were talking about Christ and all that he did for us. Nat stopped and said, "I think that Christ is so happy. Just think about when you give people you love great gifts how it makes you feel. If Christ did that for each one of us he must be so happy." I had never really thought about that before but it is so so true. #3.  He prayed after one of our lessons and we all told him that he did a great job. He told us that with each time you pray, you really come to know God better.  He said that he's gone from not knowing our Heavenly Father to becoming very close to Him in the past few months. So cool! #4.   Nat bore his testimony in church yesterday. He got up and said, "I'm not a member of your church... yet" and proceeded to bear one of the strongest testimonies that I've ever heard about our Heavenly Father and His love for us.  The spirit was so strong.  So those are a few stories from Nat this week. He is such an amazing kid who has more faith than anyone I know. Just 3 months ago he was Buddhist and knew nothing about God but now he is so strong. He is so humble and I think that that is one of the reasons that he is so teachable. So yeah, there's a bit about Nat.

Since about the time we got here we've been teaching a girl named Rainee. She's 20 and the only person in her family not baptized. Her parents are under the impression that everyone just needs to get baptized and then they'll be saved.  So we've been teaching her for the past few months and nothing was really happening. They would only let us come once a week if we were lucky and her parents would talk the whole time. We got back from the temple we decided to have a lesson with just her and just see what she wanted in life. From that lesson we decided to continue teaching her. We started teaching just her (minus the parents) at the church everyday. With each new lesson she changed a little. Now, she is a completely different person. On Thursday she was telling us about how at first she wanted nothing to do with us but because of our persistence and the Lord she is different and wants to be better. Rainee is getting baptized on Saturday! We're so excited and so is she! It was so cool because during our lesson on Thursday the stake president walked in and just started to tell her about his conversion story. He was about her age and he plead with her to keep moving forward. It was perfect! The spirit was so strong and she knew what she needed to do. We're so so happy!

As you can see, last week definitely had its ups and downs but it sure was amazing. I swear a mission is like a roller coaster but I wouldn't have it any other way. It's like in 2 Nephi 2. If we don't have hard times we wont have the good times or appreciate them. I'm thankful for everything that has happened to me on my mission, the good and the bad. It really has made me the missionary/person that I am today and I'm so thankful.

Thanks for all of your love and support! I love you all! The Gospel is definitely true! Stay true to it!

Love, Hermana Anderson

Happy June Everyone!

2010-06-01T21:17:00.003-06:00

I survived the mission split and am so happy that I'm staying in the Arizona Tucson Mission and that I'm still in St. David. I can't believe that as of this week I will have been gone for a whole year. It's so crazy! This year has been the best year of my life. I've learned more during this year than any other year. I would like to think that I've changed a bit as well.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how as missionaries we ask people to completely change their lives and turn to our Savior. I hope that I'm doing the same. I don't want to come home the same person that I was when I left. I just love serving a mission! I've also been thinking a lot about Doctrine and Covenants 123. It talks about how there are so many people longing for the truth but just don't know where to find it. It also says that we need to "waste and wear out our lives in bringing to light all the hidden things of darkness, wherein we know them." I wonder if I'm doing that. If I'm doing my very best to bring to light the truth. On days where I come home exhausted I know that I've been doing this. I really do feel like my body has aged quite a bit in this last year but I wouldn't have it any other way. I love the Gospel because it is true and it gives us the light and knowledge that we all desperately need.

Yesterday we had a great zone bonding experience. Our zone leaders asked us all to meet in Sierra Vista yesterday morning and didn't tell us what we would be doing.  They just said that we needed to wear PDay clothes. So we drove over an hour to get there.  After we all had arrived at the church the zone leaders led us to the bottom of the mountain. We all got out and hiked a bit of it. We would stop along the way and they would share different thoughts with us. For the last bit of the hike they asked us to be reverent and to think about the Savior and the miracles that we have seen. At the top they talked about how our perspective of the valley below us was different from the top. We talked about how as we become celestial missionaries we see things differently.  The zone leaders had an old shirt that we made our zone's own title of liberty on. We all wrote what we would do to become celestial missionaries on it. It was powerful!

I want to be completely different now. I'm not a bad missionary but I can give so much more. We've all committed to give this transfer everything we've got and then some. It really will be the best transfer ever.

If everything goes according to planned, Terry will be getting baptized on Saturday! It is amazing to see how the Gospel changes lives. He went from being a hard-hearted old man to one of the softest men I know.  He said that he would never quite smoking but he has. Satan has really been tempting him this past week but he is amazing. He says that he knows that he's doing the right thing when he's tempted and tried and when that happen he just laughs at Satan and says, "you can't get me." Isn't that amazing? He recognizes what Mormon talks about in Moroni 7:12 -13: "Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually. but behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God."

I think that we can all follow the council of Mormon and Terry and to evaluate where everything comes from. If it's good we can see that it is from Heavenly Father and follow it.  I know that if we make a pattern of evaluating our lives we will end up happier and better.

Also, Terry is a great example of people that have been wanting the truth but didn't know where to find it.  A good number of the people he associates with are members of the church and the missionaries actually used to go over to his house all of the time but no one ever taught him anything. He was looking for light and truth but didn't recognize it. We can't give up on people if they don't want to learn right away because with time, they will.

We also had a great time teaching the Kirkwoods this week. They are amazing and prepared! They went from being a super inactive/part-member family to being on fire. I love it! Ian's parents are super anti-mormon. On Saturday they were going to be visiting the Kirkwoods and they told us that if their parents started bashing the church they would stand up for it. Shannon, the mom, said that she isn't ashamed of the church and she will stand up for what she knows is true. So cool! What a difference and it's because they went to the temple and the spirit testified to them of the truth. When we're at the right place at the right time the spirit will testify of truth.

I'm so thankful for the Holy Ghost and the difference that it makes in my life. Find ways that you can have the promptings of the spirit in your life more. Giving up things that we initially don't want to really do make all of the difference. I know it.

I hope that you all have a great week! I love you all! The Gospel is definitely true!
Love, Hermana Anderson

Getting St. David Back Into The Missionary Swing

2010-05-24T20:09:00.006-06:00

Congratulations Reed and Jenn!

Ok, wow well this week has been really great. We've been working hard to get the town back into the missionary swing of things. Before we left each of the wards committed to find us 5 people ready to be taught by the time that we got back. Well, one of the wards pulled through. We're really excited because this ward has been the ward that had been struggling the most in the missionary department, but the bishop decided that it was up to him to find people and he did! (Hazel, our investigator from Germany got to shake President Eyring and Elder Holland's hand at the Temple Celebration! She was way excited about that.)

St. David has really had some huge blessings as a result of the the temple open house. I guess that tons of people that hadn't been to church in years have come back and this includes a lot of part member families! Last Sunday a family showed up to church that no one knew. Their names are the Kirkwoods. Sister Kirkwood is a member of the Church but has been inactive for about 10 yrs.  Her husband and 14 yr old son have not been baptized.  Some of their neighbors that they didn't even really know invited this family to the open house.  As they walked through the temple, the spirit testified to them that that was where they were supposed to be. As they sat in the Sealing Room they knew that they needed to become an eternal family so when they got home they looked up who was their bishop and gave him a call. That night Bishop Jones and his wife walked over to their house and got to know them.  The next day they went to church and have met with Bishop Jones a few times since then. He told us about them and so we stopped by their home. They were so excited to see us and had us over for dinner and a lesson on Saturday. They are so cool!  Both Ian (the dad) and Conner (the son) accepted dates to be baptized on June 19th!  We're all so excited! (With our investigator Nat)

Yesterday was the temple dedication as you know. It was so neat! Our temple here has been such a great blessing and it will only continue to bless this area. In the dedication Elder Holland talked about how the temple is a place of forgiveness and healing. It's true! Everything we do in the temple points to the atonement and being purified. I just love the temple and am so thankful for the blessings that come from it. We are so blessed to have temples.

Because there wasn't church yesterday, we had a special fireside about temple for our investigators. It was really neat to be able to teach and testify about temples. As I was preparing for it I thought a lot about what temples are. They're so much more than beautiful buildings, they're the house of the Lord.  They are a demonstration of Heavenly Father's love for us and also a demonstration of our love towards Him. For me, the temples are a refuge from life's storms. They're houses of faith, peace, comfort, learning, and so much more. I just love them!

We've had another miracle this week, our investigator Terry has quite smoking!  His doctors told him never to do it because he would have a nervous break down, but he knew that the Lord would provide a way. He's been blessed with so much strength and now doesn't even have the desire to smoke!  I know that as we trust in the Lord, He does provide a way for us to accomplish the things that He's commanded us to do. Well, I hope that you're all doing wonderful. I love you all so much! Have a great week! The Church is definitely true!
Love,
Hermana Anderson

P.S. I'm super nervous about transfer calls tonight!
(In Tombstone with a Bison)

Exciting News!!

2010-05-23T20:12:00.004-06:00

We are so HAPPY that Reed and Jennifer have chosen August 17, 2010 to be married for Eternity in the Salt Lake Temple.

Back To St. David All Safe And Sound

2010-05-17T20:15:00.007-06:00

Well hey there!

We made it back to St. David this morning all safe and sound. Dad you were right, it was bitter sweet leaving. I can't think of a better thing to do than to have a temple open house right before our mission splits. FYI transfers are next week and it is this transfer that will determine everything. We'll see where I end up because there is a sister in El Paso going home next week and so there will be an open spot there. I don't know what will happen but I'm just praying that I'll be able to accept whatever happens with excitement. (My companions in the field)

Ok, so the open house is over. I was thinking about it and this past month that we've had in the valley has probably been one of the best months of my life. I saw so many miracles and was blessed more than I could have ever imagined. The temple truly is the house of our Lord.

It was wonderful to be with all of the sisters. Really, it was so much fun!  We saw a lot of miracles this week. On Thursday Sister Mackay and I saw a huge one.  To preface it, I have a quick story. Well Sister Mackay and I have been having a friendly competition/tournament with Sister Cope and Sister Cosgrove. Among the events in this tournament were volleyball and badminton. Well Thursday morning while running backwards to hit the birdy, Sister Mackay slipped on some rocks and sprained her ankle really bad. It was huge and bruised and just nasty. We both knew that even though it hurt way bad she still needed to go to the temple and we would see miracles for her faith.  Usually when we're at the temple we do video rooms but since she couldn't really walk, we stayed in the cultural hall to answer questions and to just talk to people.

Well I was walking around and this woman named Linda approached me. She wanted to know if she could go on another tour because she was "looking for something." I said sure and then she proceeded to tell me about her life. She's been through a lot of hard hard things. Well, we had been talking to her for awhile and this man from the temple committee approached us. He told her that her friend had just told him about her and he wanted to talk to her. He asked me to go get my companion because we were going to teach Linda. So we went to an empty room in the church and he shared with her some personal feelings and he said, "now Linda, you came here today looking for an answer. You've received it and need to follow it. Please share with the sisters the experience that you had in the the temple." She proceeded to tell us that while in the sealing room she could see everything behind her in the mirrors but the mirror in front of her was just like a normal mirror and that it stopped with her. The man left and we talked to her. Pretty much we listened to her and then we taught the first lesson.  Apparently she is a former investigator but hasn't been meeting with the missionaries in the past few years because her husband wouldn't allow her to anymore. She is currently going through a divorce and is coming back to church.  Linda's friend drove her to the temple (it took 5 hrs) because she knew that she was get direction in her life. While teaching her, the spirit was so strong and I don't think that Sister Mackay and I have ever been so bold with a person. At the end of it, she said "On Sunday I'm going to talk to the Bishop so that I can get baptized!" Yes! She then asked us to go with her through the temple again. We found 2 tour guides to take Linda, her friend, and the 2 of us through the temple. While in the temple the Spirit was even stronger. The best part was while we were in the celestial room and sealing room. We asked the ushers to give us a bit of time alone in the Celestial Room so that she could pray and receive an answer. It was really neat to be able to be in that room with just the 6 of us. After a few minutes in there, we went to the sealing room where our tour guides bore powerful powerful witness of the reality of the Gospel. Linda took the time to look in the mirrors again and this time it didn't just end with her. It went on and on and on for eternity. What a miracle! Something that I thought was interesting though, is that Linda didn't see the miracle until she showed her faith.  It reminds me so much of Ether 12 and Moroni 7 when it talks about how we receive the miracles after the trials of our faith. It is true for both Linda and for Sister Mackay and I. If she hadn't have hurt herself and shown the Lord her faith and dedication, we wouldn't have had this experience.

Another really cool thing happened this week. The monastery from St. David came up. (Our Nun, Sister Corrin) It really was an interesting experience. Each person that came up got what they wanted from their trip. Those that wanted to have more understanding got it. Those that wanted to find faults didn't have a good experience.  It's pretty much like all of life, whatever we put into it we get. Overall it was a really neat and positive experience to have them come up and to see what we believe in and find commonality in our faiths. (Paul and Ruth, Paul is our investigator.)

On Saturday night, the couple that we've worked with the most at the temple took us sisters on the last tour of the open house. They decided to give the tour different then the other tours that they had given.  In each room, they bore testimony. It was so powerful and really was something that I'll never forget. None of us sisters wanted to leave the celestial room. The power of the temple is so real. (We all worked together in with the Temple Open House.)


Like I said, my time at the open house really did change my life. I know have a stronger conviction to attend the temple as much as possible so that I can have the blessings that come from the temple. Also, so that I can help others receive those blessings. The Plan of Happiness and our lives would have no purpose without the temple and the covenants we make in them. I just love the temple so much. This temple has become my temple and I can't wait to go through and do sessions in it. I'm so excited for the day that I can go into the temple with my investigators and recent converts and to be with them as they make sacred promises with our Heavenly Father. My job doesn't end as soon as our investigators walk out of the baptismal font. It's much deeper than that. I need to see them all at the temple and doing what they can to keep going and enduring to the end. The temple really is what brings me the most happiness and joy and I'm so thankful for the covenants that I've made there.

The Church is definitely true and it is up to us to share the truth and joy with everyone! Have a great week! I love you all!

Love, Hermana Anderson

Happy Late Mother's Day To Everyone

2010-05-12T16:02:00.003-06:00

Hello again from Thatcher, AZ!
(Mother's Day On The Farm)
Happy late Mother's Day to everyone! It was so fun to talk to the fam on Sunday!

Things are continuing to go really well here at the temple. I love the temple and the opportunity that I've had for the past few weeks to work here. Like I've said before, there is something amazing about being able to greet people before and after their tours.  In most of the people there is a dramatic change in their countenances. It really is amazing! I love it! Often people come in and when we welcome them they seem a bit skeptical and distant, but afterwards it is really different. They are open and friendly and really happy. Isn't it amazing that the temple can do that even before it has been dedicated? It's powerful. There is no doubt that it is the house of the Lord. Every time I walk through it I can feel the Spirit so strongly and it testifies to me of the truthfulness of the Gospel.  I love this temple!  It really feels like my temple! I can't wait to finally be able to do sessions in the temple again.

We had quite a few miracles in the temple this week. First, there is a girl from St. David named Valerie who came up. Valerie is 12 and is a foster child in the home of one of the member families in St. David.  I don't know where her father is but about a year ago her mom died. Growing up she was taught that our Church was evil and that she needed to stay away from it. Needless to say, she hasn't been interested at all in the church. Despite her age she is really smart and mature; she's been forced to grow up quickly. Well last week she came up with the Young Women and just LOVED the temple! She couldn't stop smiling and talking about how she felt something special that she couldn't quite describe while she was in the temple. She came up again a few days later with her host family and loved it! She had a list of questions about the temple that we were able to answer. It was way cool.  At some point in the conversation we asked her if she would like us to go to her house and teach her when we get back and she said that she would really like that! This is huge because she didn't want to talk to us at all before!

Another miracle involves a lady named Edith. Edith lives behind some members and seems quite lost. So the wonderful members brought her up to the temple and after her tour they approached us and she asked us to teach her! Also, one day Sister Mackay and I were standing in the cultural hall and these 2 women came running to us. In their hands were lists of questions that they had had from the temple. They came a second time to learn more and to get answers. It was so cool to be able to answer their questions and hear them say things like "yeah, that makes so much sense." I loved it! Yay! Miracles!

I'm pretty sure that I've talked about this before but I've noticed that the best days here and the days that we see the most miracles are the days that I pray the hardest. There is a direct correlation between miracles and prayers. I love the Bible Dictionary definition of prayer. At one part it says, "The object of prayer is not to change the will of God, but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant, but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings." Isn't that amazing? As we really pray to our Heavenly Father and seek to have communication with Him we see miracles. Not only do we see miracles for ourselves, but we also see them for others.
Something that I've noticed since we've been here is that once people come to the temple they come again and again because they love the way that they feel when they're in it. It's such a beautiful place, but the most beautiful thing is the spirit that is in there. It is so amazing being able to serve here. I love it here!

This week is going to be crazy because it's the last week of the open house but I know that we'll see so many miracles. It really will be so much fun! I'm way excited! I'm also way excited to go back to St. David. I just love it there. Everyone there is so nice! Last week Terry's (our investigator) barn thing blew down. Well we talked to him yesterday and he said that members of the ward were going over yesterday to fix it all up. The members are really taking care of our investigators. It's so cool to see the ward members involved in the missionary effort. Something I've noticed is that the ward that has the most success (the San Pedro Ward) is the ward where the members are the most involved. They all love missionary work so much because they understand the fact that we are all brothers and sisters and need to look out for each other. It is so cool. It's made me decide to be the best missionary/fellowshiper ever when I go home because it makes all of the difference.

Well, I sure love you all! I hope that you have a great week and that you will all be able to see the Lord's hands in your lives. I know that as you look for them you will see them.

I always try to remember the Children of Israel and that as they looked, they lived. Look to Christ and live! He is the ONLY way. He is the truth and the light. Seek Him and you will find Him and be blessed forever. The Gospel is definitely true!

Love, Hermana Anderson

Baptisim Isn't The End, Rather It's The Beginning

2010-05-03T17:38:00.002-06:00

Hey there everyone!

Thanks for all of your wonderful letters and emails! I love receiving them! Sorry that I haven't been very good at responding to them, things are super busy here and writing is at the bottom of my priority list. Sorry. Please know that even if I don't respond to all of your letters, I'm so thankful for them and that I am thinking about you.

This week was another amazing week! We were blessed with many miracles here at the temple. Everyday my testimony is strengthened in the fact that the temple really is the House of the Lord. There is so much peace and joy that comes from the temple. I love it!

One of the highlights of the week and actually of my mission was on Wednesday night. The youth from the San Pedro ward in St. David came up and it was amazing! Among them were our investigators Jesse, Nat, and Hazel. It was so so so cool! I loved it! The expressions on their faces were priceless as we walked through the temple. They were so happy and in awe. They really knew that they were walking on sacred ground. It was beautiful!

As we were walking through, I thought a lot about the video that we watch before going into the temple. In it, Elder Holland says something to the effect of "Heaven wouldn't be heaven without my family." That is definitely true but I was also thinking that heaven wouldn't be heaven without my investigators. The experiences of being able to walk through the Lord's house with our investigators and afterwards talking about their goals of going into the temple again is priceless. It has really put things into perspective for me. We all know that baptism isn't the end, rather it is the beginning. These experiences here have really solidified that truth to me. Everyone needs the blessings of the temple and it is our job to make sure that they have the chance.

After we walked through the temple with the youth we all went to the reception room to eat cookies and talk. My companions and I split up so that we could talk to as many kids as possible. I was sitting at a table with some of the youth and I noticed that there was a kid that I didn't know so I started to talk to him. He proceeded to tell me that he almost got baptized last year but at the last minute his grandma said he couldn't be and so he was waiting until he turned 18. I asked when that would be and he said May 13th! I said something like "well Matt, now is the time" and it was so cool because all of the kids at the table were so excited and agreed! So when we get back to St. David we'll teach him and get him baptized so that he can come back to the temple and receive those blessings that he needs!

Also on Wednesday, the De La Cruz family came to the temple. They're the inactive family that we've been working closely with and they just came to church for the first time in 5 or 6 years! It was so cool to see them there. Afterwords we went to speak with the family. Hermano De La Cruz was just crying because he recognized the blessings that he's been missing out on the past few years. He's committed to changing and coming back to the temple! There are so many wonderful blessings that are coming from the open house!

On Saturday we had a tender mercy. We found out that Jesse would be coming to the temple again that day so we raced to the temple but we thought that we had missed him. Sister Mackay and I were pretty bummed because we wanted to see him one last time before his baptism. Well he showed up about 8 hrs after we expected him! We didn't miss him and got to see him one last time before the baptism! It was cool because we were able to help calm his nerves. So yesterday Jesse, his mom Angela, and his brother Dillon were all baptized!!!!!! We're so so happy!

The ward really has rallied around them and helped them to make this transition. Afterwards we were talking to lots of people on the phone about it and they said that it was amazing. So many people came! All but 5 pews in the chapel were full of people that attended that baptismal service! So cool! Apparently lots of people took pictures so we're really excited to see them. I just love this family and am so happy for them. It doesn't matter if we were there or not, it just mattered that they were able to make that covenant with our Heavenly Father. After they were baptized we were talking to Angela on the phone and she said that we need to plan a date for her to go to the temple a year from now. She said that the only excuse for Sister Mackay and I not going is if we're in labor which will definitely not be the case. I love how she has a vision of how baptism is not the end. Sometime this week she will also be bringing up some of her nonmember friends to go to the open house! This family is amazing!

Yesterday we also had another amazing experience. President planned a special Sacrament Meeting for us sisters. We've all been pretty warn out and this was just the boost we needed. We started out by having questions answered. After that we sang a hymn and he and the man over the open house blessed and passed the sacrament to us. We were then able to have a testimony meeting which really boosted all of us. We all were able to bear our testimonies and get the strength from the spirit and each other that we all have desperately needed. It was amazing! Oh, speaking of testimonies... on Thursday at zone conference President called 2 elders and myself up to bear our testimonies. He said now we would like to hear testimonies from "Elder..., Elder... (I can't remember who), and Sister Anderson - the younger." Some things never die. It was a great experience to be able to bear pure testimony from my heart of what I know is true.

Well, I hope that you all have a great week! Thanks for all of your love, support, letters, and prayers! I love you all! The Church is definitely true!

Love, Hermana Anderson - the younger
ps I'll talk to you on Sunday!

Best Birthday Ever!

2010-04-27T19:13:00.011-06:00

Hey Everyone!
How's it going?

This week has been awesome and crazy. I have such a new found respect for visitors center sisters. It's tough tough work.

Last Wednesday we had an amazing experience.   All of us sisters went on a tour of the temple with President and Sister Walker and Elder Walker. It was so cool! Elder Walker works closely with President Monson and so he was able to give us a lot of interesting information and insight about the temple. It was a really spiritual experience to be in the temple together, especially after such a long time away. Let me tell you, this temple is beautiful! It is really small and so so nice!  It turns out that our mission is one of only 5 in the world that will be having a temple open house this year so we are very blessed.

Elder Walker also gave us instruction on what we are to do while here. Basically, we're to look nice. We're not aloud to proselyte or anything like that. We welcome everyone to the temple and introduce the movie and then we greet the guests when they come back. We're not aloud to really talk about church topics unless it is brought up by the guests. For the most part, people that come are members so I've met a lot of members. (Chantell Martin: Donna Butler - Dallace and Utahna Butler's daughter says hello). We work 7 hour shifts and just smile, walk around, and talk the whole time. In the off time we're assigned wards to do work in. It's been neat to see lots of people come to the temple and to hear their reactions to it. A lot of people from St. David came up so that was really fun.

(One of my favorite gifts was this picture of Tommy)
My birthday was the best birthday ever because Angela and Dillon Ingram came up with one of our wonderful member missionaries. It was such an amazing experience to be able to walk through the temple with our investigators and to feel of the power and strength of the temple together.
It was fun to be able to talk about how we'll all come back to the temple in a year for Angela to go through. It was so cool! Speaking of the Ingram family, President informed us that we wont be able to go back to St. David for their baptism on Sunday. We're pretty bummed. It's especially sad for Sister Mackay because she always gets transferred right before baptisms and has yet to see any of her investigators get baptized. We keep telling ourselves that it will be ok and it will make it even better when we go to the temple with Angela.  It was the best birthday present ever and it really was the best birthday. Friday morning I woke up and all of us in our apt were so excited and I opened up gifts from you all. Thank you all so much! You are all amazing! All of the sisters came over and sang to me and it was super nice. The day was awesome at the temple and then we got home and Sister Mackay and Sister Aquino had planned a surprise birthday party. It was so fun!
Most of the sisters were there are we ate strawberry short cake and just had so much fun. All of the sisters are amazing!

Like I said earlier, most of the people that come to the temple are members. This morning I decided to pray for a missionary experience. Boy did I have it! I noticed some people in the reception area that I thought I needed to talk to. It turned out that it was a couple from one of the local wards and their 2 nonmember friends that they brought. Well their friends just loved the temple! For about 45 minutes I got to talk with them and answer their questions. It was an awesome experience. Someone else asked for a Book of Mormon! It was so cool and an answered prayer!

Sister Rodriguez and I just got a way cool phone call from Sister Walker. To preface it, we were teaching this person in the North East of El Paso that is our age. He is a Marines Recon man and has been to war quite a few times. Well, we almost got Tony baptized when we were there but he decided that Joseph Smith was "a con man." It was way sad and a few weeks later he got sent to Afghanistan. Well apparently he got seriously wounded while there and he had to make a split second decision to either have his leg amputated immediately or die. He decided to get it amputated and said that if he lived that he would join our church. Well he lived! But that's not all, I don't know how much later but he is now able to stand up. One day as he was getting up he was shot 3 times in the chest. But guess what?!?! He had his Book of Mormon under his clothes against his chest and the bullets grazed the Book and didn't harm him at all!!!! CRAZY!!!!! So so so so cool! When I found out I just started to cry because we knew that he had so much potential and now the Book of Mormon has saved his life and he's getting baptized May 23rd! I can't believe it, this is so so cool!

Anyway, I hope that you all are doing amazing! The Church is definitely true! The temple is the House of the Lord. There is no doubt about it! Go to it and feel of the strength of it!  The Book of Mormon is the word of God!  Read it and let it save you!

I love you all lots! Have a great week!
Love, Sister Anderson

Greetings from Thatcher, AZ!

2010-04-20T17:09:00.015-06:00

THE Gila Valley Temple

HOLA FAMILIA!!!!! Congratulations on SBO Tommy! I hope that you'll still have time to write your favorite sister next year! Also, Dad that's great that you have time to rest now! Think of all that you can do! Thanks for always being a good example to me!

Greetings from Thatcher, AZ! Oh my goodness, this is like a dream come true! All of us sisters got here around 1 yesterday. We're all sharing one apt building with 4 apts in it. It's a little cramped but sooo much fun! It feels a bit like college because there are 5 of us in each apt and we all just go from apt to apt to visit each other. There are 21 of us here! It's like an amazing reunion for all of us! Last night they had a quick planning meeting for us and then we had the rest of the time to ourselves. All of us sisters went up to the temple. I don't think that I've ever been so happy to see a temple.  There were few dry eyes as we walked around our temple and could feel the strength found there, a strength that we've all been aching for. It is amazing what just standing on the sacred grounds of the temple can do. We all sat in front of it and sang hymns. The spirit was so strong and powerful. We're all so so blessed to be here. It's such a rare opportunity to be able to take place at a temple open house as a full-time missionary.  We're so so happy!  The temple is BEAUTIFUL!

(The traveling trio, Sister Aquino, Mackay & I. The 3 of us are super close.)
Hopefully today or tomorrow we'll be able to walk inside. I think that I told you this before but in a prophesy made around a hundred years ago they said that this temple would be one of the most beautiful in the rocky mountains and at least from the outside, it is true. It's amazing! While we're here we'll all work at the temple answering questions/mingling with guests for 6 hrs a day.  The rest of the time we're not quite positive what we're doing but we believe that it will involve working with less actives and part member families. It will all be so much fun!

This past week has been amazing as all ways! I think that I much have accidentally told you wrong last week. We didn't have a baptism. We do have 3 scheduled for May 2nd though! I'm super excited! Unless Elder Walker of the 70 tells us otherwise, we'll be able to go back to St. David for it. (Things you find on the road in St. David.)
So as you know, last week was transfers. Sister Mackay and I were so scared that we'd be transferred. It was funny because all of the members were so worried and one of the bishops even wrote President Walker to ask for us to stay. Despite all of that we were really scared. Well, Monday night we were in an appointment and got the phone call. The first thing that we were told is that we were staying together! We were screaming because we were so happy! But then they said that we'd become a threesome and that our third companion would be... Sister Rodriguez! Honestly, I thought that after being companions with her for over 4 months I wouldn't be her companion again but I am. It's been really fun so far. We're just trying to help her end her mission with a bang!

So last week was pretty busy because we got a new companion and we also had to prepare our area for us to be gone for 4 weeks. We made lots of plans with the elders who are taking care of our area and took them around to meet everyone. It was a little scary to leave but I know that they'll do a great job because they are obedient elders who love to work hard and follow the Lord.
(My Companionship)

We had a great turn out at church again on Sunday. It has EVERYTHING to do with the members. The members in our area have really stepped it up and shown their faith in the Lord. Because of it, miracles have happened.  I really have a strong testimony that when we show the Lord our faith by acting on it we see miracles. I love the members in St. David because they do their job and make our job easy. It's such a great area. All of the good things that have happened in that area are from the Lord and the desire of the people to do the right thing.

I often think about how the Lord leads the way for us. He goes before us and prepares/softens the hearts of the people for His message and even after we leave, He's still there working on them.  It's beautiful. It makes me so so happy!

Well, I hope that you all have a fantastic week!

Friends, good luck with finals! I can't believe that some of you are graduating this week (I'm guessing that it's this week)! Weird! Mom and Grandpa, Happy Birthday on Friday! If you all have time, go to the temple this week! It's powerful and true! It's where we all need to be!

The Church is DEFINITELY true! It's up to us to stay true too!

Love,
Hermana Anderson

I invite you to read D&C 123

2010-04-12T14:42:00.002-06:00

Hey there everyone!

How's it going? Reed, if you continue to scare everyone I will beat you up when I come home. Man alive! Well, it's good to hear that Suzy and Tommy had great trips to California! That's so cool about the award Tommy! It sounds like Reed had a great trip to the hospital... again.

Anyway I'm glad that you're all doing well and that the boy is doing better. This week was another awesome week! I love serving a mission and seeing the little miracles every day! This week was a little different because Hermana Mackay was sick and couldn't really breath so we took her to the local family Drs. office (the Drs. and employees are all in our wards and the receptionist is our investigator Angela). Well they told us that we had to go to the hospital to get tests. It was pretty funny because we were there for 4 hours and the DR at the hospital diagnosed her with "shortness of breath." Really? I could have diagnosed that and I don't have any medical background. It was pretty funny. It turns out that she just has allergies. So that was an adventure.

Despite her being sick for a day or two we had an amazing week! We taught more lessons than ever and saw so many miracles! We've been working a lot with the Ward Mission Leader’s, Ward Councils, and Bishops to prepare the area for while we're gone. I've never seen wards that care so much about the missionary work. It is beautiful.

Yesterday we had so many people come to church. Wow! It was amazing! 7 of our investigators came and a lot of inactive people that we've been working with. It was awesome! One of the inactive families hadn't come for years because of an issue about some of the members getting their son deported. They only speak Spanish and have just been so hurt that they haven't come. Well, yesterday they came and it was so great! They love the Gospel and know that it is true and despite being hurt deeply by some members and not understanding a word of the meeting they came to show their Heavenly Father that they wanted to follow Him. I was so happy!

The San Pedro Ward really was amazing yesterday! They saw Angela, Jesse, and Dillon and really made them feel welcome. Jesse is 17 and so all of the priests and the young mens president bore their testimonies. They were all scared but they knew that they needed to do it. It was so awesome. I've never seen a ward/community reach out to a family like this ward has to this one. They had their baptismal interviews yesterday and everything is looking good for them getting baptized on May 2nd. The ward is prepared to contact them daily while we're gone and to visit them at least every other day. The ward missionaries and the ym are taking them up to the temple open house so we're pretty excited. The ward is doing amazing!

I think that I told you about Hazel last week. She's the one from Germany. Well, she went from not believing in God to having stronger faith than almost anyone I know in the past 2 weeks. It's amazing! She is seeking and receiving personal revelation every day and is truly seeing miracles. She is just hungering and thirsting after righteousness. It's amazing! To bad we can't baptize her but the ward is gearing up to have everything ready and in place for her when she gets back to Germany. It's so funny because she wants to meet the prophet SO bad and is trying to figure out what she can do to have it happen at the Temple Cultural Celebration. Some of her ideas are so funny. Her plan right now is to wear a shirt that has the German flag on it that says "Hey, I'm German." We'll see what happens.

I was so grateful for the opportunity to fast yesterday. I know that miracles come from fasting. It really is amazing. Fasting and praying together is powerful. It reminds me of the Bible Dictionary definition of prayer that says that Heavenly Father wants to bless us but it is conditional on our asking for the blessings. I know that as we fast and pray we can see those blessings and see the Lord's hands in our lives. I see it every time.

Hermana Mackay and I have been so blessed this transfer and it has a lot to do with fasting and prayer. I would just like to invite you all to read Doctrine and Covenants Section 123. It is awesome! It is our imperative duty to share the Gospel. People need the truth and every little thing that we do counts! This section has an awesome promise at the end. If we do this "duty" we can "see the salvation of God" and His arm will be revealed to us. That's powerful and true! What a great promise! Fulfill this duty and you will see these blessings in your lives!

Well, I hope that you all have an amazing week! The Church is DEFINITELY true! It's up to us to stay true to it and the Lord! Love you all lots!

Love, Hermana Anderson

ps tonight is transfer call night. We're really nervous because we love this area and these calls determine whether or not we'll be coming here after the open house. It might be a good idea to mail everything to the mission office. Also, next Monday we'll be traveling to the Gila so I'm not sure how it is going to work out with emails. If I find out I'll write you a letter.

Happy Day After Easter and Conference!

2010-04-05T14:52:00.006-06:00

(Wearing the sunglasses the Easter Bunny brought.)
Hey hey! Happy Day After Easter and Conference!

Wasn't conference amazing?! It's made me want to be a better person and to serve better. I love conference! Sister Mackay and I were talking about it and it seems like we're sponges and we soak everything up during conference, but after 6 months we kind of get dry and conference makes us full again. I don't know if that makes sense over email but yeah.

So it sounds like you had a great weekend! Snow?!? That's crazy! When we were watching conference Sister Mackay and I both commented that we were so glad that we weren't in Utah because it looked so cold. On Monday it was like 88 degrees here but than dropped to around 50 and we about died because it was so cold. It was pretty funny.

We watched conference at the church and we just loved it. The talks were all so powerful! I especially liked Sister Beck's, Elder Scott's, and President Uchtdorf's. I loved in Sister Beck's how she quoted Eliza R. Snow for saying something like, "Women need to be women, not babies!" So true! I'm trying to be less like a baby and more like a woman. One thing I liked from Elder Scott was how he counseled us to make a plan to get to know our Savior better. It is so true. Often we need plans in order to get anywhere. I loved how President Uchtdorf counseled us to be Christ's hands. I love what Elder McConkie once said that we are here to act as the Lord would if He were here. When I think of that I feel a lot of excitement, responsibility, and love. It helps me realize my divine nature, worth, and potential. I feel like we all have so much potential and the only thing really stopping us from achieving it is ourselves. The Lord and our Heavenly Father know that we can.

So all and all I loved conference! I wish that I had cd's of them all already, but I guess that I'll just have to wait.

This week has been awesome! Every week is awesome! The Lord has really blessed Sister Mackay and I so much. We're seeing His hands in our lives so much. It really is amazing. First off, we had zone training this past week. I love zone training because we get to have individual interviews with President and account for the work that is being done.  He told me that Sister Mackay and I are "tearing it up in St. David." Truely, it has everything to do with the Lord. We've seen that if we are obedient we are entitled to the windows of heaven being opened up and blessings poured out to us. He said that unless the Lord tells him otherwise we'll stay together! I hope that we do! I just love working with her!

We got a bit of info about the Gila. We'll be there from April 19 - May 15! A member is donating his apartment complex for that time so it will be just sister missionaries staying there! So cool! It will be so much fun! AND... unless authorized by the presiding authority, Sister Mackay and I will get to come back to St. David for the baptisms of the Ingram family! We're so so so excited! Yay!  We're so blessed!  I can't wait to see all of the sisters, it will be so much fun and such an amazing experience!

This week I've learned a lot about how we can't force anyone to do anything. We have an investigator who's had a lot of spiritual experiences, but isn't willing to change. It seems like even though he hears what we tell him, he's not really listening to us or to the spirit. It's sad because he's missing out on so many amazing blessings that he could have if he did what he knew was true.  So we'll see what happens there.

We've continued to teach the foreign exchange students. They're amazing! On Wednesday Hazel was talking about how people always say that they prayed and then opened up their scriptures and got an answer. She thought that it was so weird so we told her to do it. So right there Hazel (the atheist) said "is there a God?" and she opened up right to a scripture testifying of our Heavenly Father! Amazing! Now she can't put the Book of Mormon down!

We were talking to Nat about conference and he said that he could relate to the member of the 70 from Japan. He thought that it was so cool! Yesterday he realized that he could one day get the priesthood and he is so excited because that means that he can bless the sacrament and baptize his family. It's amazing to see the excitement that people have for the Gospel. We should have the same! I feel like sometimes the church is so common to us we forget how amazing it is and the blessing that it is to each of us. We were talking about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and when we talked about repentance he said "that reminds me of a scripture in the Book of Mormon" and opened up to a scripture about it!  He is so prepared!  The Lord really did put these 3 kids in St. David for a reason!

This truely is the work of the Lord. I love serving Him and serving in this area. Every good thing in my life comes from the Lord and I am so thankful.  I just hope that I can serve Him to the best that I can.

I hope that you all have a great week and find ways to be His hands more. The Church is definitely true and we're so lucky to know it! Christ is alive! I love you all!

Love, Sister Anderson

(The Hermana's Mission Vehicle)

Germany, Thailand, Africa & a NUN!

2010-03-29T13:07:00.002-06:00

Wow, sounds like you all are doing great! I'm so glad! We moved into our new apartment it was freezing, we had to layer to keep warm.

Yet again, we had an amazing week! The Lord is blessing us more than I could have ever imagined.

We picked up quite a few new investigators and are really seeing the Lord's hands in our lives and in His work in this part of the vineyard. It is amazing how He prepares people for His Gospel. Every day my testimony is strengthened so much. We set super high goals for the week and the Lord blessed us so much!

So this week our new investigators are from about every place and walk of life.  Among them is a person from Germany, one from Thailand, 2 from Africa, and a nun! Crazy huh? So I'll give a little background on all of them and some of the others.

On Monday night we went to the home of Angela (the lady who was Lutheran but wants to change), well when we got there she had her 2 sons there because she wanted them to get baptized as well. Now we're just working on her husband who wants nothing to do with religion.  We just need to get the husband on board. I'm so excited for them because each day they make one step closer to going to the temple and becoming sealed one day.

The next day we taught Patrick and Crescencia from Africa. They're super nice but we don't know how receptive right now.  On Tuesday night we were talking to the Bishops daughter and she said that her friend, Nat, wanted to learn more about the Gospel and be baptized.  He's a foreign exchange student from Thailand and is Buddhist. So we went and talked to him and he is awesome! One of his biggest concerns is that when he goes back to Thailand there won’t be any temples close by. Yesterday he asked us if it would be ok if he served a mission one day too! Crazy huh?  He's going to talk to his dad and see if he can be baptized because he's only 16. It was amazing because as we taught him about Christ, a new light came into his eyes. He couldn't stop smiling.  He wanted us to teach him yesterday after Sacrament Mtg. When he came up to us he brought another foreign exchange student with him.  Her name is Hazel and she's from Germany. Well, at the beginning of the lesson she was atheist but not anymore. She was asking great questions and is just like a sponge soaking up everything. It is awesome! It is not by chance that they both ended up here in St. David with great families.

And the nun... I never really had met a nun before coming to St. David. There is a monastery here and one of the 2 nuns asked for us to come visit her awhile back. We've become friends and whatnot. Well, awhile back we asked her to read 3 Nephi 11. When we went by this week she hadn't read it so we decided to just read it then and there with her. She LOVED it! She thought that it was beautiful and kept wanting to read more and more. While we were there we read 3 chapters and she skimmed the next 15 or so. She kept saying things like, "this is just like my Mother's Bible." She later went on to tell us that the Bible has been translated so many times it's lost some of the beauty. A nun said this! We're excited to go and talk more with her. Everyone here in town loves her. I realized that I had a lot of misconceptions about nuns because all of my information came from the movie Sister Act.

As for our other investigators they're doing good. We're so excited for General Conference and know that we'll be so blessed when we are able to hear the Prophet's voice.

I've thought a lot about this coming weekend. We're so lucky to have the truth, to have a Prophet. Also I'm so excited for Easter. Christ is risen and we have the opportunity to share this message with everyone! What a blessing!

Well, I hope that you all have a great conference and Easter. This is definitely the Church of Jesus Christ and definitely is true! Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Anderson

This Week Was AMAZING!

2010-03-22T12:34:00.000-06:00

Hola!

So this week was AMAZING! We had so many great experiences and really saw the hand of the Lord here in St. David. We truly had many miracles this week. FYI I now know how to build brick walls, tile floors, and clean stables. We're really focusing on serving and we're receiving so many blessings from it.

This week we had zone conference. I LOVE zone conferences! Our leaders are so inspired and there is always such a special spirit at them. Sister Walker asked Sister MacKay and I to sing a song at it. We picked a Sally DeFord song about the temple that is really simple and pretty. Well, the few days leading up to the conference our allergies really started to act up and we had really raspy voices but we trusted that the Lord would provide. Even up until the time it was to sing our voices were raspy but we got up and could do it just fine. Afterward, President came and talked to us. He was crying and told us that it was perfect because even though we couldn't be at the temple it felt like we were there. He said it was the clost So it was a really special experience.

At zone conferences different wards always provide lunch and the sisters always sit with President and Sister Walker. Well, it was only us and the Gila Valley sisters so we all got to talk quite a bit and President informed us that we'll be going to the Gila for the temple open house! We're so excited! Plus, he's bringing in all of the sisters in the mission so it's going to be like a huge reunion/party! We'll be there for the open house, cultural celebration, and dedication! We may even get to meet the Prophet!!! They're expecting around 150 thousand be there and that we'll teach a couple thousand first lessons! Cool huh! This is the experience of a life time. The open house begins on our birthday. It's the best birthday present ever because we'll be at the temple and all of the sisters that I love will be there!

When I left El Paso it was pretty sad because I thought that I wouldn't see some of those sisters again but I will now! A member of the 70 will be coming out to train us and we're all so excited! Another part that I'm so excited about is that we will still get to keep our areas! We'll be spending a lot of time on the phones with investigators and members. Hopefully since the Gila Valley isn't super far away we'll be able to come back a few times. The elders in the area next to ours will probably just take over teaching our investigators for a bit. Oh man, I'm so excited! We're going to work it out so that we'll be the ones to teach our investigators when they come get tours. Its funny because Salt Lake asked for only sister missionaries. They said that if they couldn't have sisters they didn't want any of the elders. They would just go without missionaries. So we have a lot to do in the next month in our area to get it prepared for this.

This week a member took us out and told us about every person that lives in her area. Because of this, we've seen miracles! So far we've visited 4. One isn't interested. One said that he thinks that the Gospel will heal his broken heart. Another said that she's very lonely and that she thinks that we have the cure and wants to be baptized on April 17th. Another opened her door and the first thing she said was "I'm Lutheran, and no one can change me." Well come April 17th she won't be Lutheran anymore! By the end of the lesson she was crying and wanted to join the church! When we got out of the lesson with the last one we had a message on our phone from a member. He said that he has some friends that need the Gospel and that he's been waiting for the right missionaries and now they're here! He even went and set up an appointment with them! They're from Africa and he was in the Olympics awhile back for running. Cool huh? We're teaching them tomorrow! We're super excited!

Also, we've been teaching this man who's fiancee is a member of the church.  He was always kind of a rough man but last year he became really sick and humbled by the Lord. He's now ready for the Gospel. He's in a wheel chair and can't really do a whole lot but we've promised him that if he follows this path he will be completely healed. As of right now he's getting baptized on April 10th. We're super excited because today Ruth and Paul are going to go get their marriage license so that they are one step closer to Paul getting baptized. His major concern right now is that her mersa (that stuff Reed had) has come back and he doesn't want to spread it when he gets baptized. Please pray for him that he'll be well enough to be baptized on the 10th.

So yeah, that's where we're at here in St David. We received about 20 referrals in the past few days that need to be contacted and baptized so we're expecting to see miracles. The Lord is truly blessing us here and I'm so thankful to be here.  We're praying that we'll be able to find the elect and see them baptized.

Thanks for all that you all do for me. I'm so blessed. The Church is definitely true and we're so lucky to know it!

Love,
Hermana Anderson

Tucson, AZ Is The Best Mission In The World

2010-03-15T20:01:00.001-06:00

Well hey there! How's everyone doing? I'm sorry to hear that BYU didn't do too hot in the tournament and that the fans were crazy. I'm definitely not a fan of that city.

That's so cool that Jordan got his call to this mission! This definitely is the best mission in the world and definitely the perfect mission for me! Oh man, I love it so much. I remember when I first came out how I was just not happy and so I took President Hinckley's fathers advice and just went to work. It's made a huge difference. I've never been happier and just want to serve forever. This has been the best thing that I've ever done. I just love it!

This week we worked so hard. I love that Sister Mackay has such a great work ethic. We have so much fun together. The elders were teaching a few people hear before they left and we've found that they just aren't willing to progress so we've had to drop them and pretty much start from scratch. We've found that the only way to really find people in this area is through members. We can't go tract or anything so we're really focusing on the members and we know that their friends will come along.

Most of the referrals haven't yielded much results yet but I'm sure that we will continue to see miracles. I'm excited for this week because we have a lot of service projects lined up with members and inactives. The members said that they would invite nonmembers too so we're excited! We really feel like serving the members is the key.

I love our bishops! I'm not sure if I told you but we're currently living with one of the Bishops and his family. It is awesome because a few nights a week we get to talk to him and get his advice and what not. I love it! Missionary work is so important to all of the Bishops also! They've called great ward mission leaders and ward missionaries to help us out.

Last night we started going on splits. Every night but Mondays the wards have the responsibility to find people to go on splits with us and people for us to visit. We're going to get so much work done! Yesterday was a busy day for us because we spoke in one Sacrament Meeting. Sister Mackay taught the first lesson and I spoke about the blessings that come from the Restoration. I made a list of the blessings that first popped into my mind and it's huge. Some of the things I thought of were: the Book of Mormon, temples, emptiness that we may have is filled, peace, direction, guidance, purpose, authority, we can come to know Christ in a very real sense, our families are blessed, lives are saved, basic plain and precious truths are back, we know the Plan of Salvation, etc, etc. Just think about all of the blessings that have come to your lives from the Restoration. They're huge! There is no end to the list. It really is amazing. I hope that our talks helped people to get even more excited about the work. We'll see what happens!

We also got to teach Sunday School to the 16-18 year olds in a different ward. It was way fun. The other ward asked us to do Sharing Time in Primary but that overlapped with the other wards Sacrament Mtg so maybe we'll be able to this week. So as you can see, we're staying busy and we wouldn't have it any other way. I love being busy. Please pray that we'll be able to find the elect and bring them unto Christ.

One of my favorite scriptures is 3 Nephi 11:14. It says "Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye many know that I am the God of Israel, and God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world." Because of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we can do this in a very real sense. We are so blessed because every week we have the opportunity to partake of the Sacrament. That's huge! I love this scripture because it gives us things to do. We need to physically arise and come forth unto Him. We can do this in many ways. Some ways may be to have a more meaningful study of the scriptures, to pray with more faith, to serve with more heart. There are so many ways to arise and come unto Him. I know that as we do so He will come unto us as well. It's not like we have to do it all on our own. He's there to help us. Isn't that amazing?

On a different note, in Relief Society yesterday a sister said something that really stuck out to me, she said that this earth isn't just a testing grounds but its also a sanctuary. It's so true. Heavenly Father created this beautiful earth for us because He loves us. I thought that it was a really cool idea.

Well, I love you all and hope that you have a fantastic week! The Church is definitely true!

Love, Hermana Anderson

I'm In The Best Area In The World!

2010-03-08T14:31:00.008-07:00

Hey there!

So you're right, I was transferred again. I had a lot of mixed feelings about this transfer and was kind of surprised about what happened. As you know, we just barely started having a lot of success in my last area. Things were really picking up there and we were really blessed.

(Picture Taken Transfer Morning)

Well Monday night the Assistants called and said "Sister Andersen the older, we have a transfer for you to Anthony." I was sad because she would be leaving, but happy to be staying and then they said "can we speak to Sister Anderson the younger?" I was thinking that they would be telling me about my new companion. Nope. They said, "We have a transfer for you as well, you'll be going to St. David, AZ with Sister Mackay" (Ashley's friend). So that was about all of the info that we got.

Wednesday we rode a van over here and found out that we were reopening an area that got shut down probably 6 months ago because the work wasn't progressing. The members weren't involved and the missionaries weren't the most obedient so it got shut down. Well, they put us back in! We're the first sister missionaries here in over 10 years and it is AMAZING! We have 3 English wards that we cover here. Our area is St. David and... Tombstone! On a side note we went to Tombstone on Saturday and it is one of the oddest places I've ever been to in my life but I sure love it. Anyway, I don't know if they've ever had Spanish missionaries here. We talked to President on Friday and he said that he's asked every ward to make a list of every person that speaks Spanish in the area. Some people think it's racial profiling but they've never had a chance to really learn about the Gospel. We're teaching everyone though. He also mentioned that one of the issues is that there are tons of border patrol people in this town and they're worried that it will cause a conflict if we bring Mexicans. But President told the leaders of this area and us that everyone just needs to have an increase in faith. Amen!

(Hermana Anderson and companion singing and dancing in rain when Melissa realized she really did know Spanish!)

So this is a super small town that founded by one of the men who carried the pioneers across the Sweet Water River and also by the Mormon Battalion. There is a ton of Church history here. 60-70% of the people here are members of the Church. They have zero stop lights in town and one school K-12. I guess on Wednesday kids were making announcements at school that we were coming. They announced it in church on Sunday so everyone knew. Oh man, it is crazy because we are like celebrities. Every where we go people stop us and tell us how thankful they are for us and that we are answers to the prayers of the saints here.

When we pulled up to where we're living, one of the Bishops was outside waiting for us. Yesterday in church member after member got up and bore their testimonies and committed over the pulpit to give us referrals. In 4 days we received 23 member referrals. That's more than I have gotten my whole mission up to this point. One man who was a former mission president got up and bore his testimony about how members are critical. People call us and ask us to come to their homes to teach their friends. We've heard so many prayers where people asked that they would be worthy to have missionaries in their town again. I think that it's the other way around, we need to be worthy to have this area.

Sister Mackay and I are trying to be the most obedient, hard working missionaries in the Church to be worthy of all of this. The Lord has truly blessed us and this area. I don't know why we were so lucky to be here but we are blessed more than I could ever ever imagine. This is all like a dream. It's true that when one door closes another one opens. I just can't get over all of this.

Oh, I forgot to mention that we had 2 baptisms on Saturday as well. Can you believe this? I can't! Anyway, as you can see I'm so excited! I'm in the best area in the world! I have the best companion ever! Sister Mackay loves to work hard, just like me! We have really high goals set for this transfer and with the help of the Lord we will be able to achieve them. We are blessed so much and I'm so thankful. This is just amazing. It really is a dream.

(Melissa made her own Strawberry Pie for Valentines.)

Oh, I forgot to tell you... most of the Elders in our zone have never served with sisters and it is so funny. oh man, I just love it here!

Thank you for all of your prayers! Please pray for us to find the Latinos, for the faith of the members here, and for us to help families become united and ultimately be sealed in the temple! We are focusing on Latinos and families here and I know that as we continue to work hard and work with the members we will see miracles! Have a fantastic week! The Church is definitely true! Stay true to the Lord!

Love, Hermana Anderson

I Can't Believe Wednesday Is My Half Way Point

2010-03-01T13:16:00.003-07:00

Hola everyone!

How's it going? Things are going great over here!
Ok, I just can't believe that Wednesday is my half way point. In some ways it seems like just yesterday that I got dropped off at the curb of the MTC but in other ways it seems like a life time ago. I've had so many amazing experiences in these past 9 months that I wouldn't trade for anything. I've really been blessed so much. It is amazing. I love serving the Lord! This is the happiest I have ever been!

This week has been great! We've really had some miracles this week! We have been led by the Spirit to find some elect people! On Wednesday we felt prompted to go to an area that neither of us had even known it existed. So we went to this area and apparently it is brand new because there are only 10 house on it. It was super windy and there were tumbleweeds and dust blowing all around us. It was crazy, we really thought that we would blow over but 10 houses isn't that many so we decided to knock them all. At the second house we met a teenager who told us to come back later and talk to his mom, Ana Laura. We did and it was awesome! We shared the first vision with her and asked to pray. She said that she didn't need to pray because she knew that it was true! Awesome huh? She wouldn't accept a date but maybe this week she will. At house number 10, the very last house, this man opened the door and then went and got his wife. She invited us in and informed us that she used to go to church every week in San Antonio the missionaries were teaching her and she loved it. Well, she moved away and lost contact with the church until Wednesday! She's super busy but asked us to come back because she really wants to talk to us! I'm way excited! I feel really good about her.

We also picked up an amazing investigator the week before last, her name is Gabby. I don't think that I told you all about her. She's been thinking a lot about the church because her sister joined last year and she works with lots of members. So she decided that she was ready to learn more and her coworker gave us her information. The week before last she said that she wasn't ready to step foot into a church yet but this week was different. We gave her a tour of the church and she LOVED it! The spirit was so strong when we were in the chapel. She has so many questions and just wants to learn more! In her own words she's "thirsty" to learn more! It reminds me of the scriptures about "hungering and thirsting after righteousness." Those scriptures completely explain what she's like. It's beautiful to me. Seriously, one of the most beautiful things in the world to me is when people are thirsty for the truth and they just want to learn more and more. It is amazing. She really testifies to me that Heavenly Father is preparing people for us. She is just amazing. She's a single mom and has a 7 year old daughter who will turn 8 in July I think. When we asked her daughter how she felt about what we're teaching them she said "thankful." When we were at the church she said that she didn't want to leave and she just wanted to hang out with us forever. I love it when people feel like that!

Yesterday was stake conference, it was awesome! The Stake President, President Anderson, talked about the olympics and how if the athletes turn around or stop they lose. He compared it to us, if we turn around we often fall behind. It's so true. We have to stay focused on what's in front of us, the finish line, Jesus Christ. If we do so we will be safe and we will win.
Stake Conference was awesome, we had 4 investigators at Stake Conference! Amazing! It was amazing to see.  I love it when people come to church.
This week I've decided to try to read the Book of Mormon all of the way through before Easter and to highlight every time it mentions our Savior. It's amazing how often it mentions Him. It really is another Testament of Jesus Christ. I love the Book of Mormon and I know that it is the word of God. It really brings us closer to our Savior. I just love it!

Well, I hope that you all have a fantastic week! I love you lots! The Church is DEFINITELY True! Don't forget it! Stay true!

Love Hermana Anderson

ps This week is transfers. Apparently there are "big changes" in store for the whole mission so it may be a good idea just to send everything to the mission office.

BYE!!

Hola Everyone!

2010-02-22T15:46:00.002-07:00

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

Happy Valentines Day and Presidents Day!

2010-02-15T12:15:00.000-07:00

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

Gas Leak

2010-02-08T13:20:00.001-07:00

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

The Standard of Truth HAS Been Erected!

2010-02-01T14:23:00.003-07:00

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

Transfered To The Edge Of The Mission

2010-01-25T13:57:00.002-07:00

Hey hey hey!!!!

Good morning from the edge of the mission! So I was transferred to the very edge of the mission. And my companion is... Sister Andersen! I love her! She and I are a lot alike. We always are thinking the same thing and it's just so much fun. She's also helping me out a ton with my Spanish. And guess what else... our ward has us and one other set of missionaries. They're names are Elder... Anderson and Elder Powell. So funny huh? In church they said we'd like to welcome "las Hermanas Anderson." That's what everyone calls us. Everyone also asks us if we're all related. I love it!

The ward is amazing! I came from a small Spanish branch that averaged maybe 40-50 people each week to this HUGE ward that averages 300-350 each week! The ward's goal for baptisms this year is 70 people! The members are AMAZING!

On Wednesday night (our first night) we went to the church and met some people and some men came up to us and said "how many times a week do you need members out with you?" We said "6 nights a week" and they said that they would work it out! I'm used to having to call for hours every day to find someone to come out and here they arrange it all for us! So cool!

This area is super nice. And guess what... we have our very own house! Someone moved back to Mexico and wanted the missionaries to live in their house for free. So based on everything I've said, you can imagine it is a way nice area and I'm super excited! I can definitely tell that President Walker loves me and is rewarding me.

We are also opening up this area so right now the work is really really slow. We are going through all of the former investigators trying to find the elect, or anyone who will listen to us for that matter. We have 3 investigators right now and need lots more. This week we're really going to focus on the members because members have friends who need the truth.

So please pray for Sister Andersen and I to be able to find the elect. I'm so excited for this opportunity and for a change! This area is going to be awesome! We're going to work so hard and find the elect. Even though I was sad to leave the people that I love in the North East, I'm way excited to be here and get a fresh start!

Well, I love you all lots! Have a fantastic week! Pray for missionary opportunities! Remember who you are and act accordingly!

Love, Hermana Anderson

Amazing Week

2010-01-18T16:04:00.006-07:00

Hey there! It sounds like you all are doing pretty good! Thanks for telling me about the temple fireside you had last night. It sounds like it was awesome! I love the temple and am so excited for the Gilla Valley Temple to open! I hope that Aunt Georgann gets feeling better. She'll be in my prayers for sure.

This past week has been amazing! We've seen so many miracles! This week Eddy and Ricardo were baptized! I've never seen such a turn around and mighty change of heart as I have in these two. Both of them had major issues before with gangs and everything that comes with that. They've seen crazy things that I hope no one ever has to see. But, they now have a new light in their eyes. They know their Savior and what he did for them. They've learned how to turn to the Lord and trust in Him always. No one could ever cause this change to come into their lives besides the Savior. It was amazing. The baptismal services were awesome.
Eddy's whole family came to his. None of them are really interested in changing their lives right now but I think some might in the future. They're so proud of him and say that it is a miracle from God that he's made the changes he has. I agree.

We're emailing at the family history library today. Sorry my letter is kind of scattered. I'm surrounded by missionaries and its kind of hard to concentrate. (My District)

So like I said last week, I'll be getting transferred this week. We find out tonight about transfers. We'll see where I go. It will be sad to leave this area. I've learned so much here and have really come to know my Savior better. My testimony has grown so much. North East El Paso is very special to me. With that being said, I'm excited for a change. I know that the upcoming change will bring a lot of new experiences, difficulties, and opportunities to grow. It should be great!

I hope that you all have a great week! I love you lots! The Church is definitely true!

Love,
Hermana Anderson

1,015 Miracles

2010-01-11T13:25:00.007-07:00

Hey there! How are all of you doing? Thanks for the letters, I sure love them!

That's awesome that the Church News had an article about the Mexico temples. It is true, when the members go straight to the temple and straight back they are completely safe. Unfortunately not everyone has followed this council and I've heard some sad stories. It reminds me of how the Children of Israel just needed to look and they would live. Unfortunately, that was too easy for some people and they didn't heed the council. Often, we'll be protected as long as we just do the small things. It's cool that they quoted the stake president. He's a great man. We actually have stake conference this weekend and there are rumors of a general authority coming. We'll see if those rumors are true. I'm excited for conference.

On Tuesday we had zone training. It was great! I love to get together with the other missionaries and learn how to become the type of missionaries the Lord needs. They went over some of the things that had happened in the past year and we had 1,015 baptisms! To me, that is 1,015 miracles. Every baptism is a miracle. We've been promised by General Authorities that as we are obedient with exactness that we will double and even triple the number of baptisms in this mission. Amazing huh? Thousands of souls will come unto Jesus Christ this year.

I also had an interview with President Walker on Tuesday. He and I had a really good conversation about what had happened in this area since I've been here. We were both crying because of the miracles here and he told me that it's my time and that I'll be getting transferred next week. Transfers are a week from Wednesday. Only time will tell where I get sent. I'm excited for a change and the opportunity to learn, grow, and invite more souls to come unto Christ.
(Where we teach Eddy Rain or Shine)
We had a lot of success last week. We were able to find some new investigators and help people make and keep commitments. It was great. I found that members are key. Members are so so important. Last night some of the Elders that live on the other side of the mountain called us to let us know that one of their investigators moved into our area so we'll be teaching him AND he's getting baptized on Saturday! Miracle! Also, Eddy is doing amazing so he'll be getting baptized on Saturday as well! I'm so excited! It's going to be an amazing week!
(Eddy telling us he wants to go to the Celestial Kingdom!)

Thanks for all that you do for me! Thanks for praying for our investigators and please continue to do so. I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Anderson

Happy New Year / Reed Happy 4 Year Mark!

2010-01-04T13:50:00.004-07:00

(Maria Elena's Baptism)

Hey everyone! Happy New Year! I'm glad to hear that you are doing well!

Reed, happy 4 year mark! I can't believe that it's been 4 years! Way to go!

This week was really good! I can't believe that it's a new year. Crazy! I was thinking about this past year and what happened in my life. Pretty much the whole year was spent getting ready for a mission and actually serving. It was a year where lots of the things I had been planning on in my life actually happened.

For my whole life and especially since I started Young Women's I have been preparing to go to the temple. My whole life I thought about and prepared to serve a mission and now I'm a fulltime representative of the Lord. The things that happened in the past year are things that were always goals of mine. It's not like I just woke up and decided to go to the temple or to serve a mission. I've been preparing for my whole life. I think that one of the biggest reasons I was prepared was because I always tried to live the Young Women theme. I would like to invite everyone male or female, young or old to live this theme. It applies to everyone and I know that as we live it we will be prepared to do whatever the Lord asks of us. "We are daughters (or sons) of our Heavenly Father, who loves us and we love Him. We will stand as witnesses of God at ALL times, in ALL things, and in ALL places as we strive to live the young women values which are: faith, divine nature, individual worth, knowledge, choice and accountability, good works, integrity, and virtue. We believe that as we come to accept and act upon these values we'll be prepared to strengthen home and family, make and keep sacred covenants, receive the ordinances of the temple, and enjoy the blessings of exhalation." I love that theme and recite it every day.
(Hermana Anderson, Hna Miranda, Maria, Hermana Rodriguez)
Anyway, like I said this week has been really good. We've been focusing on part member families and are seeing some great results. We picked up some new investigators! The first is a family where the mom got offended. The first time we went to her house she told us that she got offended and told us this big long story about it. Well, all of the sudden my mouth was filled with Spanish words and I flat out told her that salvation isn't about other people, it's about us and the Lord. Lets just say that I'm not her favorite person right now but she is letting us teach her 2 sons. The boys are excited about the Gospel and want to be baptized. Unfortunately the parents don't really have faith in the boys and their desire to follow the Lord. Hopefully that will change and we'll be able to get this family sealed. The other family we're working with have a 14 year old son who isn't baptized. Pretty much this family got lazy and stopped coming to church and the boy was never baptized. I don't think people realize that it's not about going under water, its about salvation. All of these boys have baptism dates set for February! We're really excited!

Eddy is doing well! He hasn't smoked for 3 days and the first 3 days are the hardest! We pushed up his baptism date for the 16th! It's amazing to see the change in him!

So that's about it for here. We spent New Years in our apt and I fell asleep at 9. Nothing to grand. Anyway, I love you all and hope that everything is going well! The Church is definitely true and the Lord is in control. Let Him into your lives and make this year the best year ever!
Love, Hermana Anderson

Hey Hey!

2009-12-28T12:52:00.005-07:00

Hey hey! It was awesome talking to the fam on the phone on Christmas! I was so thankful that I didn't break the rules and talk any longer because I'm seeing blessings from it. I've noticed that the missionaries who talked on the phone longer ended up really home sick and I'm not at all (I keep praying that I won't).

I'm sure that most of you have heard about my Christmas from the family but if not, here is what we did. Christmas Eve we spent teaching and visiting people. We had 2 dinners, one with Hermana Ughetto and the other with our new friends Liz and Fotu. We went back to our apt at 9 and took a quick nap and then went to St Peter's Cathedral for Midnight Mass. It was quite the experience. We got there like an hour early and they had a choir performing. It was really pretty. Also, it was packed so Sister Rodrigues, Liz, Fotu, and I had to sit on the front row. We were right up there where all of the action was. It was really a cultural experience. It was good to see what everyone here believes in. I think that it is more of a traditional/cultural thing than a belief. It really strengthened my testimony in the apostasy. So many pure, simple, and precious truths were lost after the deaths of Christ and his apostles. It was a beautiful production but that was it. It was like a play in a way. I thought that it was great that there were so many people with faith in Christ but I also felt like they were missing something integral, they were missing the Spirit. Like I said, my testimony of the apostasy really grew. After that we went home and went to sleep.

(Christmas Day with Mary's daughter Celeste)
Christmas day was spent studying, opening up gifts (thanks everyone for the wonderful gifts and cards), and visiting people. We ate tamales (it's the Christmas dish here) for dinner. We were able to go Christmas caroling to investigators with our District. It was really fun! I loved being able to spend Christmas by serving the Lord. As much as I love Christmas I'm a bit glad that it is over because maybe people will talk to us now.

So we've started teaching Eddy again. He has given up drugs and now we're working on smoking. This week he has made some huge improvements. He decided to fast for strength to overcome this addiction. I'm really excited about the changes that he is making and we have reset (for the hundredth time) his baptismal date for the 23rd. I really think that this is going to be the one that he keeps!

Well, thanks for everything that you all do for me! I hope that you had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Year! I love you all!

Bye!
Love, Hermana Anderson

(On Exchanges with Hermana Aquino & Hermana Mackay)

Feliz Navidad!

2009-12-21T17:27:00.000-07:00

Hey there! Merry Christmas!!!! Feliz Navidad!

Thank you everyone for the Christmas greetings and packages! You all are the best!

Things here are going great! We had the baptism of Maria Elena Pacheco on Friday! We've been teaching her for a few months and she finally got baptized! It was a little crazy. The person that baptized her was late so needless to say the water got cold. Oh well, at least she got baptized. That's all that I care about.

We were supposed to have the baptism of Robert tomorrow but unfortunately his wife doesn't want him to be baptized. We're praying for a miracle and that it actually happens. I guess we'll see what happens.

Last week we had zone conference a week early because this week is Christmas. It was awesome! It was a huge Christmas celebration. President Walker talked to us about what we are giving Christ for Christmas this year and how we need to let him into our hearts not just for the next week but forever. Sister Walker told us a few of her favorite Christmas stories and you'll never believe what story she included. It was crazy because she had told a few stories and then she was like "the next story is about a missionary in Michigan, Mark Anderson." So yeah, I was really surprised and kept thinking "thats my dad." Afterwards during a snack break I told her and some of the sisters that that missionary was my dad and everyone started congratulating me and telling me that it made them cry and what not. I became a celebrity based on association. It was way funny. I don't know how she got the story but you're now a celebrity throughout the mission. Congratulations!

So yesterday I was thinking about all of the different titles that our Savior has. He has so many. I think that one of my favorites is Prince of Peace. When nothing else can bring us peace, He does. He calms the troubled heart, heals the wounded soul, unites families, and on and on. In order to find peace in our lives, families, and the world we just need to turn to Him. Of course that is easier said than done sometimes but I know that as we turn to Him we find the peace we need. I've seen this in my life and the lives of so many people. Whenever I feel down, stressed, or anything, I feel peace as I turn to Him. I know people who's lives are completely messed up in every way but as they turn to Him they are healed. This doesn't mean that their problems are all taken away but it does mean that they are given the strength to endure those troubles.

Well, Merry Christmas everyone! Thank you for all that each of you do for me. I'm so lucky to have such amazing family and friends! As you go about celebrating Christmas this year take a bit of time to stop and think about our Savior and what He did for you individually. What are you going to give Him this year? Like the scriptures say, "What are you going to do with this man called Jesus?" I hope that you all can feel the true meaning of Christmas. Remember that because of a baby born in a stable we all have the greatest gift of all. We have a Savior, a brother, a friend, a confidant, a Redeemer, and so much more! I love you all! Have the most Merry Christmas of all! I know that I will! We'll be studying and visiting people all day!

Love, Hermana Anderson

Still in El Paso

2009-12-14T18:38:00.005-07:00

Hey there! So it was good to hear from all of you! It sounds like things are quite busy at home. Things are really busy here as well. As most of you know, I actually didn't get transferred. My companionship is the only Spanish sister missionary companionship that didn't change in the mission. All of the other companionship's are threesomes now. I'm glad that I didn't get transferred right before Christmas. So you can just send things to my apt if you like. Grandma and Grandpa Apostol, thanks so much for the package! I'm excited to see what you sent!

This week has been really good. We did a lot and saw a lot of miracles. Last Sunday was kind of rough because we tried so hard to get our investigators to church and not one came. This week, however, was different. We had 5 come to church! That's huge for us. Also, 2 part member families who we had never met came to church and asked us to teach them! Talk about miracles! So we've been teaching this man named Robert since I got here. He's about 60 and lives alone even though he's married. He and his wife each have their own house and they visit each other once or twice a week. Well, he was going to get baptized last month but his wife said that she controlled the check book and didn't think that it was a good idea. We were upset but we decided that when there is a will there is a way. So we've still kept in touch with him but hadn't gone to visit. This week we decided to stop by and see how he was doing. We planned on watching the Joy to the World video but while there both Sister Rodriguez and I felt like we should extend a new baptismal date. So we did and he confessed that he didn't know if he could give up coffee. Of course he can! He accepted a new date and we're really excited. Hopefully everything goes according to planned! We are having the baptism of Maria Elena Pacheco on Friday! We've been teaching her for almost two months. She's in her 60s and has a very strong personality. She's always telling us weird ultimatums that she gives people (mostly her family). She takes everything very seriously and sometimes we have to be careful not to laugh because everything is so dramatic. We've really come to love her and her funny personality.
Well, yesterday she absolutely had to come to church in order to be baptized this week. Every Sunday Satan keeps throwing things at her so that she can't come. For instance, last week her sister had a heart attack. Well yesterday she called us a few hours before church to inform us that she cut her foot really bad. I was thinking that it probably was a small scratch and nothing to worry about. We were just worried about her not coming. Well, church started and there was no Maria Elena. I was getting a bit nervous but then she came in! I went and sat with her and she showed me her foot and it was covered in blood. She cut it way bad. Afterwords she said "Satan is trying to stop me. I'm not going to let him win! I'm going to win and I told him so! I'm the boss!" She showed him. We're just praying that it doesn't get infected before the baptism. Oh Suzy, I showed her our family picture. She kindly said that we all are very nice looking but you got an extra compliment... she said that you are "a different breed, just beautiful." You're dark hair and pale skin is just exquisite.
This week we decided to go visit this lady with cancer that we taught once a few months ago. She knew that the church was true and I believe wanted to be baptized. We hadn't seen her since the first time because she was so sick. Well, we went to her house and her husband was out front crying. He informed us that she died a two weeks ago. He was a wreck and told us that we can come visit him this week. This experience has taught me that we need more urgency. You never know when your time will end. I'm going to write down all of her information and her husbands and make sure that her temple work gets done in a year.

All in all this week has been really good. As I was reading in Alma I thought about all of the great missionaries in the Book of Mormon. They didn't see the miracle until after the trial of their faith. This is what happened to us. We didn't see these miracles until after we were tried the week before. A mission is just like a roller coaster. There are so many ups and downs but the ups always out weigh the downs. There is always something to be thankful for and always experiences that change your life forever. I love you all and pray for you daily! Thanks for your prayers for me! Please pray that everything will go well with our investigators and that the baptisms will happen and that we'll see more miracles. Thanks for everything! I love you all so much! Make sure to make this Christmas season the best one ever! Remember who it is all about!
Love, Hermana Melissa Anderson

It has been freezing cold

2009-12-07T14:11:00.007-07:00

Picture taken on my 6th month day of my mission...I don't know if I look older, but I feel older.

Well hey there! It seems like you all had a great week! I'm sure that you missed the life of the party at the cabin this week. Just kidding. We find out tonight about transfers. At my last interview President told me that he was keeping me here unless I told him that I couldn't handle it anymore or the Lord told him otherwise. Well, I have this gut feeling that I may be leaving. I could be completely wrong but just to be safe it might be a good idea to send things to the mission home this week. I'll write you a quick letter and let you know as soon as I find out.

So I was kind of surprised to hear that El Paso weather has been all over the news. It is true, it has been freezing cold. I did not expect to get this cold on my mission but boy was I wrong. It's started to warm up and is about 60 today. I'm very happy about that! It's funny because people here don't know how to react to this weather. No one left their houses and they didn't want us to come into their houses, you never know what the missionaries will drag in. Needless to say, the work was nearly as effective this week than it has been in the past.

This week has been a bit frustrating to me. I know where discouragement comes from but it seems like everything that we've worked towards this week failed. Hopefully we'll be able to turn everything around this week.

On Saturday our English ward Relief Society had a Christmas activity. We were "filling our buckets with the spirit of Christmas." It was really special. When we got there everyone was given a cute little Christmas bucket. They had 7 short Christmas stories that were read and with each story we got a little representation of it to put in our bucket. The Spirit was really strong and it just made me even more excited for Christmas! I'm going to do my best to make this years Christmas the best. Our recent convert Mary inspired me on Saturday. As you know, she is blind. She really wanted to come to the activity and instead of asking anyone for a ride she walked. That's right, it was freezing cold and she walked like 5 miles to get to the church. She had never walked to the church before but she just pictured in her mind how to get there and an hour later she was there without any problem. Amazing huh?

It got me thinking, often we become complacent about being members of the Church. We take everything for granted but she doesn't. She does whatever she can to take part in the Church because she can see the blessings that it gives her. I want to be more like her.

I really enjoyed the Christmas devotional last night! We watched it in Spanish so I didn't quite get as much out of it as I would have liked but that's ok. I still understood some and was still able to feel the spirit. No matter if you understand the language or not, the prophet is the prophet and you can still feel that. And the choir was beautiful!

Thanks Renee the traveling pants made it to El Paso...

Well, I sure love you all! Thanks for all of your love and support! I really appreciate it and need it! Have a great day and remember the true reason for this season! Let Christ come into your hearts!
Love you lots! Hermana Melissa Anderson

GOOOOOOOOOOO COUGARS!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-30T16:08:00.009-07:00

Hey everyone! How about them cougars!!!!! I wore blue on both Friday and Saturday and you better believe I was praying for them. Saturday night I couldn't handle not knowing and so I called a member who always shares with me the scores. He is a huge Utah fan and his wife is a huge BYU fan. So when I called I heard his wife scream "noooooo" and he said "guess who just won! I'll be wearing my Utah tie tomorrow." He told me that it was overtime and I informed him that BYU still had a chance but that I had to go into a lesson. Well, yesterday at church I noticed that he wasn't wearing his tie and he and his wife mouthed to me who was victorious. I'm so proud. I just wanted to rise and shout but decided it wasn't appropriate because Sacrament Meeting was just about to begin.
Thanksgiving definitely was different this year. I was reminded of all of my many many blessings. We first went to dinner at Mary's. It was her first Thanksgiving as a single mom and kind of rough. It was us, her 3 kids, her mom, her aunt, and cousin. We ate the normal Thanksgiving food and stayed for a few hours. After that we went to the home of some recent converts. We just love this family. They're really struggling financially (it's a mom and 3 kids 18, 19, 21). They're going to lose their home so it wasn't the happiest Thanksgiving for them. After that we went to Hermana Ughetto's. Her son is on house arrest and so the police told her that she can't leave her house either. It's pretty sad. Her husband is in Iraq too. From these three houses you can imagine how I just kept thinking of all of my many blessings. I'm so lucky to have an intact family who loves the Lord and serves him. It really didn't feel like Thanksgiving but it was really nice.
On Saturday this lady called us and told us that she was inactive. She asked us to come over to her house for dinner. So we went yesterday and she just wanted company. She's divorced and all of her kids are grown and live in different states. We had a really good time and she didn't want us to leave. Hopefully she'll come back to church because she needs the spirit with her more than when we are there.

When we were there I was thinking, that in some ways I sure have changed. Before I was way shy about going to people's houses and now I go over to complete strangers homes and eat their food without even thinking twice. Another way I've changed is that I'm not nearly as naive as before. I've heard about everything you could imagine that could happen to someone. This has just shown me that the world is crying for help and the source of healing and comfort is Jesus Christ. Because of my testimony in Jesus Christ and all of yours I haven't been subject to terrible things. I've been really really lucky.

We had an awesome experience this week. We were just walking through our parking lot and there were these 2 guys in their early 20s. One was super friendly and we were thinking that he must be LDS. Well it turns out that he is a returned missionary and was married in the temple! Also, his friend's girlfriend is LDS. So we started talking to them and we're now teaching this friend. He even came to church yesterday! This just shows me that when we're doing what is right the Lord puts people in our path, even when we lease expect it.

I hope that you all have an awesome week! Find ways to serve. Service brings so much real happiness. Let others see your good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. Also, there is a line in the Restoration movie that I love and think about a lot it says, "Do you have faith and are you willing to show the Lord the evidence of your faith?" Think about it. I know that when we show the Lord the evidence of our faith blessings are poured out to us. I love you all so much and am so thankful for all of you! It's snowing today in El Paso, crazy!
Love, Hermana Melissa Anderson

Have Your Own Sacred Grove Experience

2009-11-24T15:21:00.010-07:00

Hola familia!

I hope that you got my letter in the mail before today letting you know that pday is today instead of yesterday just this week. Since this week is Thanksgiving they pushed up zone training from Tuesday to Monday.

Zone training was awesome! I always love the opportunities I have to talk one on with President Walker. He interviewed Sister Rodriguez right before me and when I came in the room he said "Sister Anderson, you have been doing amazing work. The difference between Sister Rodriguez before you and now is night and day." That felt really really good sometimes I wonder if there is a difference but I know deep down it's there. We discussed the possibilities for next transfer and I told him that I'm good for one more here. So unless the Lord or I tell him otherwise in the next two weeks, I'm staying.

It was really good to be able to just talk to him. During the interview we talked about how I need to step up my Spanish. I've been thinking about this a lot lately and am now trying to only speak in Spanish for most of the day. Its hard but fun and I know that this is the only way to progress.

This week was really good. We had a record number of 5 investigators at church! I've really come to see that commitments are the way to see who is the elect and who is not. If people aren't willing to make and keep commitments then they are not willing to progress. Elder Kikuchi asked us all to pray to double and triple the number of baptisms in our mission. Well, it looks like we'll be having a white christmas out here because so many people are progressing!

Oh, my exchange to Anthony was just what I needed. It got me refocused and was really fun. President said that he's going to arrange more for me.

So we have this investigator named Maria Elena Pechaco. She is amazing! She is scheduled to get baptized next week but we'll see if she can be done smoking first. This lady is so funny. She's so dramatic. I've heard her say more than once to her 30 year old son "Who's more important, God or your friends!?!" She almost became a nuns when she was young but she wouldn't conform to what the priests and other nuns expected.

Speaking of nuns, we went to an investigators house the other day and there was a nunn there. This investigator, Maria Guadeloupe (90% of women are named Maria) was being really secretive and we haven't been able to talk to her since. I think it was the first time I've seen a real nun.

One of my new favorite scriptures is Alma 37: 36-37. I've tried to follow the council of this scripture and council with the Lord in everything. I've seen a lot of amazing results. Elder Kikuchi asked us all to have a sacred grove experience every day after reading the Book of Mormon for a half hour. I've found that this is an amazing time to be still and know that He is God. This time is spent in prayer, meditating, revelation and inspiration. I love it!

I would just like to invite everyone to find a quiet place every morning and to have your own sacred grove experience every day. I know that it will bless your lives a ton. Well, I better go. I hope that you all have an amazing week and Thanksgiving. Eat a lot! Have fun! Thanks everyone for your love support, and prayers! I love you all!
Love, Hermana Anderson

Hey Everyone

2009-11-16T16:56:00.004-07:00

(Spanish Sisters in El Paso)

Hey everyone! Thanks for the letters and what not! I really love letters. I think that I'm so lucky to have such amazing family and friends that support me.

This week has been great! We had zone conference with Elder Kikuchi from the 70 on Wednesday. Talk about intense. This man is powerful. For 3 hours we talked about the morning schedule. He went around and asked every district leader what percentage of the time their district follows the morning schedule. We heard a lot of numbers between 75-100%. After each number he had a comment like "do you only want to be resurrected 85%?" or "if you pay 95% tithing can you go to the temple?" It was pretty intense.

Unfortunately, one of things we're working on in my companionship is time. So sadly, we were late. I tried and tried but we were late. So a lot of the comments were directed at us. I got "do you want your husband to only give 95%?" It was intense. It was sad because he went around and personally met every missionary but we missed it because we were late. I've tried to use this experience as an example of why we need to be on time. We'll see if it helps.

I learned a lot from this zone conference. We talked about the morning schedule for so long because it is like the tithing in Malachi 3. When we give the Lord what He asks the windows of heaven will be opened and we won't even have room for the blessings that will flow from it. If the Lord promises we can be sure that we will receive.

Another thing I learned is that I don't teach the first vision with the reverence it deserves. He taught us to recite it really, really, really slowly. He then had some missionaries do an example of it for us. It was powerful. When we say it slow with a lot of pauses the Spirit has time to work and testify of the truth. There wasn't a dry eye in the chapel as it was being recited.

So whenever any missionary teaches the 1st vision, something always happens. Always. Usually it's an ice cream truck, baby crying, phone ringing, or something like that. Well this week we had something new... someone fainted. I'm serious. We just got done sharing the experience and we asked this lady how she felt and then she started moaning and fainted. Luckily she was sitting on a couch so she didn't fall or anything. I ran and got her water and that helped a bit I think. It turns out that she is pregnant and didn't eat anything. When she got better she answered that she really hoped that it was true and that it really happened. She said that she feels like Joseph Smith and really wants to find the truth. So we proceeded to invite her to be baptized (we always do this on the first lesson). She said "yeah, thats what I really think i need." Yay!

Well, I love you all. I hope that you have a fantastic week and don't freeze to death over there! It's 50 degrees here and I'm freezing! I can't imagine how you all feel. Anyway, have fun, do good! Always trust and believe.

Love, Hermana Anderson

Well Done

2009-11-09T16:14:00.003-07:00

Well as many of you may know or may not know I was released as a full time missionary Sunday.

My mission has been the most amazing experience of my life! I have learned so much from my mission and have gained so many experiences that I will never forget! I have also matured more then I ever thought possible. I have loved every single minute of my mission, I have loved serving the Lord and serving my fellow men and helping those people around me and those people in my different areas come unto Jesus Christ.

I have given it all that I have had, and Heavenly Father has blessed me for 10 great months! But at this time my health has deteriorated and it is time for me to come home and start something new.

I would like to thank each and every one of you that have helped me with every thing, whether that be prayers, letters, or just thinking about me and my family or whatever it may be. THANK YOU!

I Love You All So Much!!!

My "Full-Time" mission may be over. But that certainly does not mean that I am going to stop being a missionary! And I hope and pray that each and every one of you continue to be missionary's as well!

Love, Elder Reed M. Anderson

Elder Reed will be reporting on his mission Sunday the 22nd at 2:50 pm.

Trust In The Lord!

2009-11-09T15:26:00.004-07:00

Well hey there,

I'm glad to hear that you all are doing well. Reed, you better get feeling better or I'm going to beat you up first thing when I get home in a year. I'm kind of surprised that you are home but I know that you did your very best and what was expected of you. I look forward to hearing what you decide to do with your life. I know that you have great things in store for you.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and love towards me. I really appreciate all that you all do for me. Just like any missionary, I need all of the prayers I can get.

This week sure has been a good one. I've really thought a lot about the definition of prayer that Dad shared with me and have changed the way that I pray. And boy, it sure has made all of the difference. The Lord is helping me fulfill my goals and become a better missionary.

On Wednesday we had a goal to get 3 new investigators. It was already like 6 or 7 and we hadn't found any. Then we got a phone call from a man and he said "Is this the companionship with Sister Anderson from Bluffdale, Utah in it." My companion told him that it was and he proceeded to tell us that he and his family had just moved here and his sons needed to be baptized. Apparently he served his mission in Riverton 20 years ago and when he went to the church and saw my info and picture he knew that he needed to call us right away. His two sons will be baptized the first week of December!

After that we went to visit a in active who was anything but nice to us a few weeks ago. Her parents asked us to go back. I wasn't super excited but we went and this lady came out and was like "Sisters I'm so happy to see you! Sister Anderson, I really like you skirt." She proceeded to tell us her life story (it's amazing how people just tell you their life stories without you even asking) and then said "one of my daughters isn't baptized. She really needs to get baptized." Talk about a mighty change of heart! The first time we talked to her (probably 3 weeks ago) she just told us to go away and now she's the warmest, friendliest person. I really like the new her. You know, sometimes we just have to get under the rough exterior and when we do we find something amazing.

One of our investigators Fernny is a good example of this.
When we first met him he wanted nothing to do with us so we started to teach his brother who just is not progressing. So one day when his brother wasn't home we started teaching Fernny again. This man is 30 yrs old, has lots of tattoos, a former gang member, grew up on the streets, has spent 1/2 of his life in and out of prison, and the list goes on and on. Well he came to the branch activity on Friday and church yesterday. He said that he just feels "good." He loves this and in the past week has healed some wounds with his family. Yesterday we were like "Fernny, you know that you need to get baptized" he said that he did so we set a date for the 12th of December! Another mighty change of heart! His mom told us that the whole family has tried to get God into his life but it never worked before. In the past 3 weeks and the past week especially he's become brand new. It's amazing! I love it!

Trust in the Lord! He's the ultimate source of comfort, healing, peace, etc etc. Sometimes I feel like we are too proud to let Him help us but now is the time to change that attitude. We need to let Him help us!

This morning I felt prompted to read Mosiah 3 and 4. After reading your emails I know why. Mosiah 4:11 is the key to happiness. Read it! The promise is in verse 12. It's true! As long as we have the Lord we will always have reason to rejoice.

Well, I better go. I love you lots! Have a fantastic week! Choose to be happy no matter what!

Love, Hermana Anderson

Roller Coaster of Emotions and Events

2009-11-02T15:53:00.001-07:00

Well this week has kind of been a roller coaster of emotions and events.

It has also been a great week! I would like to thank everyone who has helped me this week and who has counseled with me in my decision to stay on my mission and to make the right decision as to whether or not this is where I am supposed to be.

I know that I am supposed to be on a mission at this time. I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ both have a purpose for me here. I know that I am supposed to be serving here in this mission, the Salt Lake City South mission. I know that there is nothing greater then serving a mission and seeing the Light of Christ come into people's lives. The last 9 month's of my life have been some of the hardest times of my life but have also been some of the best times of my life! I hope and pray that each of you will be able to accept the gospel into your lives and be able to have missionary opportunity's in your own lives.

I am going to share a quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that I really like in his own words he said: "Now, to anyone within the sound of my voice who has wondered regarding our Christianity, I bear this witness. I testify that Jesus Christ is the literal, living Son of our literal, living God. This Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer who, under the guidance of the Father, was the Creator of heaven and earth and all things that in them are. I bear witness that He was born of a virgin mother, that in His lifetime He performed mighty miracles observed by legions of His disciples and by His enemies as well. I testify that He had power over death because He was divine but that He willingly subjected Himself to death for our sake because for a period of time He was also mortal. I declare that in His willing submission to death He took upon Himself the sins of the world, paying an infinite price for every sorrow and sickness, every heartache and unhappiness from Adam to the end of the world. In doing so He conquered both the grave physically and hell spiritually and set the human family free. I bear witness that He was literally resurrected from the tomb and, after ascending to His Father to complete the process of that Resurrection, He appeared, repeatedly, to hundreds of disciples in the Old World and in the New. I know He is the Holy One of Israel, the Messiah who will one day come again in final glory, to reign on earth as Lord of lords and King of kings. I know that there is no other name given under heaven whereby a man can be saved and that only by relying wholly upon His merits, mercy, and everlasting grace can we gain eternal life.

My additional testimony regarding this resplendent doctrine is that in preparation for His millennial latter-day reign, Jesus has already come, more than once, in embodied majestic glory. In the spring of 1820, a 14-year-old boy, confused by many of these very doctrines that still confuse much of Christendom, went into a grove of trees to pray. In answer to that earnest prayer offered at such a tender age, the Father and the Son appeared as embodied, glorified beings to the boy prophet Joseph Smith. That day marked the beginning of the return of the true, New Testament gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ and the restoration of other prophetic truths offered from Adam down to the present day.

I testify that my witness of these things is true and that the heavens are open to all who seek the same confirmation. Through the Holy Spirit of Truth, may we all know “the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [He has] sent.” Then may we live Their teachings and be true Christians in deed, as well as in word, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

May I also add my testimony that I know that what Elder Holland said is true! I know that Jesus Christ was and is the literal son of God. I know that Jesus Christ was born to a virgin mother and that he did perform many miracles while he was on this earth. I also know that while he was here on this earth that he set up his church, The Church of Jesus Christ. I know that he gave the Priesthood authority to his twelve apostles, or twelve disciples and that they were to go teach all nations. Teaching them the things that Jesus Christ had taught while he was here. I also know that later those twelve apostles were rejected and that the priesthood authority was lost.
But I have a testimony and I know without a shadow of a doubt that in the Spring of 1820 in upstate New York a young boy named Joseph Smith saw God the Father and his son Jesus Christ and that this church that Jesus Christ had set up when he was here on the earth was brought back to the earth. That priesthood authority was also brought back to the earth. We now have that same church that Jesus Christ once set up on the earth. Christ is the cornerstone of our religion.
I know that Jesus is the Christ!

As it says in 2 Nephi 22:2 "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also has become my salvation."

For I trust Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father. I know that through them anything is possible and that I and you can conquer anything!

I hope that each of you will have the strength to do anything that stands in your way, for God and Jesus Christ can and will be your Strength!

I love you all! And pray for you daily!
Have a great week!!!

Love Elder Anderson

What a week!

2009-11-02T15:39:00.005-07:00

What a week! I think like all of you I've been on a roller coaster ride.

You know, the Lord has really blessed me. You know me, usually when Reed has problems I get really upset and think of how I can solve them. Well, this week was different. I thought a lot about it and the Lord just calmed and comforted me. I knew that everything would work and that as long as I put my trust in Him everything would work out. It was amazing. The Lord really is looking out for us. I know that I've said this before, but I don't know how people survive without Him.

Thanks everyone for the packages and letters. I LOVE packages and letters and am so thankful for a great family and friends. I really am SO blessed. So I've only opened up the first picture from Halloween (the one of Tommy and Grandma Anderson). It is so awesome! I swear Tommy's hair gets curlier every day and if I didn't know better I would think that he permed it. Grandma, in your letter to me you said that you didn't think that I would recognize you when I get back. Well if I don't its because you'll look so much better! You look a hundred times better than when I left. I'm serious! Thanks for your letter too! I loved it. It sounds like everything is doing well at home and I'm so so thankful for that!

This week was awesome! Every week is! Mary got baptized!
Something crazy happened though. When it was time for her to get baptized we opened up the font and all but an inch and a half of the water had drained. So we all went back to the RS room and had a talk about the Holy Ghost. The talk lasted probably 10 mins and when it was over the font was full! It really was a miracle, it usually takes a half hour to fill. But like always, the Lord has a purpose for everything. Another investigator was supposed to come and wasn't there. He got there right after we discovered the lack of water. So if the water had not drained he would have missed it all! The Lord sure does work in mysterious ways.

This week we met an awesome lady. Her name is Kim and of course she is from Korea! There is a huge Korean population here. Well, I'm pretty sure there is because there are tons of Korean churches. Anyway, this woman just wanted to sing to us. She has a deep operatic voice and knows 3 songs: America the Beautiful, The Lord's Prayer, and How Great Thou Art. She's actually pretty good. It was really interesting.

For Halloween we had to be in our apt by 6. We just did weekly planning.

So it turns out that everyone in the English ward here is struggling. Lately I've been praying to be more Christlike and be able to mourn with those who mourn and what not. Well yesterday we were teaching Sunday School and I just started crying while I was teaching. The Lord sure does answer prayers. This morning a recent convert called me up and told me that she just "felt for me." She wanted to know how I was doing and I told her great. She then said "You know honey, I may not have been in the church for very long but I've been a mother for a very long time and if you ever need a mom in El Paso I'm here for you." I thought that that was so sweet. This lady is just trying to serve everyone the best way she knows how and she is blessing so many lives. I'm trying to be more like her and to not let opportunities to serve pass me by.

My new favorite scripture this week is found in Moroni 9:25 ~ My son (or daughter), be faithful in Christ; and may not the things which I have written grieve thee, to weigh thee down unto death; but may Christ lift thee up, and may his sufferings and death, and the showing his body unto our fathers, and his mercy and long-suffering, and the hope of his glory and of eternal life, rest in your mind forever.

Well I love you all! Trust in the Lord, He is everything! Have a great week!

Love, Hermana Anderson

Tommy Singing Tell My Father

2009-10-26T15:43:00.002-06:00

Many of you have asked if we had a recording of Tommy Singing at Young Ambassador Camp this past summer and because of legal issues we could not record.
Here is a link to the video of him singing Tell My Father on BYU's website.

This week was awesome!

2009-10-26T15:28:00.004-06:00

Hey there! How is everyone doing? I hope that everything is going well back home in Utah. Snow sounds crazy! Today is the first cold day that we've had. Its the upper 50s right now. I was so excited this morning to finally be able to wear a jacket! I haven't worn any since the MTC and I can tell that I've gained weight. Oh well. It's probably good for me.

This week was awesome! Dede got baptized!
It is so amazing to see the light of Christ really come into people's lives. The change that I've seen in Dede has been amazing. Just last year she was in rehab and now she is so so strong in the Gospel. She knows that it is true and wont ever deny it. And I'll tell you what, baptism changes the way people look. Forget about those extreme makeover shows. Baptism and Christ do way better work than any dr or fancy technology. I'm serious. It's amazing!

It was awesome because her parents and son came and could really feel the Spirit. Afterwords her mom just thanked me for helping her daughter. I just kept thinking "well you're next!" Her main issue is that she isn't willing to give up smoking. Hopefully we can change that soon.

We have another baptism scheduled for Friday! This ladies name is Mary. She is in her mid 40s and is blind. Even though she is completely blind she can still read. It's really quite amazing. We'll give her a pamphlet and she'll rub her fingers on it and can tell you exactly what it says and what the picture is of. I really don't understand it. Sometimes I close my eyes and try to do it but it definitely doesn't work. She also works as a seamstress.

Amazing huh! I don't know if any of you remember how wonderful my sewing skills were in high school (Christina and Ash). It's amazing to me that this blind woman sews as a profession and I can't even sew in a strait line. She really is super talented. Mary also has more faith than almost anyone I know. She has taken her weaknesses and made them into strengths with the help of the Lord.

So this week is transfers. We find out tonight what's going to happen. Something for sure is going to happen to my companionship because we are the only threesome and we're getting one new hermana in the mission. I'm 95% sure that I'll stay. I'll write you a letter if I do get transferred.

Well, I love you all so so much! I'm so lucky to have the most amazing friends and family in the world! Have a great week and always trust in the Lord. This is the only safe way to life.

Also, always remember to look to the good side of things - it makes all of the difference.
Love,
Hermana Anderson

ps Aunt Marsha, you are the BEST!

Takin' A Break

2009-10-26T15:21:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone Reed has come home for a few days to try and rest his body and regain his health and strength. This has been the longest period of time that he has been able to serve without needing to come home and sleep for a few days.
Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers that the decisions that need to be made will be the will of our Fathers.

U.S. Marshall's, Police, Bomb Squad

2009-10-19T15:39:00.008-06:00

Well this week has been a pretty good week. We were able to get a lot more done this week.

We were able to pick up a new investigator this week. His name is Brad. Brad is probably about 30 years old and has investigated the church off and on for about 5 years. His big hold up has been that he has been living with his girl friend for 12 years, but not wanted to get married. Well they are finally getting married this saturday and he also now wants to get baptized. We were able to put Brad on date for baptism for November 14. He is a really fun guy to teach, He is an African American guy and is just full of a lot of energy and really energetic and lot's of fun.

We also have lot's of other people that we are teaching that are progressing very nicely that we should be able to put back on date for baptism this week. And we also have some referrals that we hope and pray that will pan out and that we will be able to start teaching this week.

So yesterday we had the Regional Stake conference. We had the opportunity to be able to take some of our investigator's down town to the conference center and to be able to watch it there. We got there about an hour and a half early so that we could get some good seats. We were really close. And they thought that it was so close that they could see and hear the prophet speak to them in person. It was neat to go downtown sense that is out of our mission President Laney gave all of us missionary's special permission that if we had investigator's we could go. It was crazy to see all of the construction going on down there but a great experience.

So on Thursday I was able to go on exchanges in the Mt. Jordan Stake. Now many of you may be familiar with this stake because this is where my father's family grew up. Well I have a story to tell all of you.

On Thursday evening at about 8:15pm we were walking North on a sidewalk in a neighborhood just off of 9000 S. It was fairly dark outside and we were walking back towards the apartment. From about 75 yards away I saw a group of about 10 people wearing all black walking towards us on the same sidewalk. I was thinking it was a group of high schoolers up to no good so I told my companion let's just walk on the road. So we got off of the sidewalk and started walking on the road. As the group started getting closer to us I started to realize that they were a little bit older then high schoolers, I also started to realize that they were all wearing the exact same thing. When they were about ten feet away from us one of them said, "hello Elder's." And then they all started running towards this one house! And on the back of their kevlar vests (bullet proof vests) They said one of the following three things, U.S. Marshall's, Police, or Bomb Squad. At this point they all had their gun's drawn and were rushing towards this house and pounding on the door. So me and my companion ran to the other side of the road and got behind the car and were watching threw the window's. When nobody came to the door they pounded again and yelled, "Come out!" And then there was a gun shot at which point we decided it was time to get in a house! So we knocked on the closest door explained the situation and they let us in. As we were all watching threw the window we were trying to see what was happening but couldn't really see. When all of a sudden they all just were gone as if nothing ever happened. So my companion and I were like we gotta go find out what happened. So we started walking down the road when we saw all of the U.S. Marshall's getting in their car's and one of them called us over. He said Elder's do you have an extra Book of Mormon on you? And he pointed who to give it to. So we started talking to this guy that he pointed to and he was the main U.S. Marshall guy. He was the boss! He explained to us what they do and that they go around in group's of fifteen people to serve warrant's on people that will be the really dangerous or the people that will put up fight's. As we were talking to him I was looking at him and at all of the different stuff he was wearing. He had on first of all his bullet proof vest. And then what we could see, 5 different guns. So needless to say this was a pretty interesting experience.

Who says crazy thing's can't happen in the Salt Lake City South Mission? But we did place a Book of Mormon through this! So last week I asked a question, Who is Jesus Christ in your life, and what has he done for you? Now this is a question that the answer can be very different or very much the same for every person. But today I am going to try to tell you just a little bit (the cliff notes version) of who Jesus Christ is in my life and what he has done for me.

First of all and most importantly Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior. None of us would be where we are at or who we are today without the atoning sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for each of us. I would not be who I am or where I am today without that most wonderful atoning sacrifice he performed. Jesus Christ is a comforter in my life. Just like big soft blanket can keep us warm and comfort us in those times of sickness or cold. Jesus Christ is ALWAYS there in our times of need and in our times of discouragement or pain. Jesus Christ has always been there during the times of my life that I just can't do it on my own. He has given me LIFE! Without Jesus Christ I can honestly say, I would not still be here today. I would not have had the strength to make it through the health challenges that I have had in my life. Jesus Christ has always been there and WILL always be there for each and every one of us through our lives.

On my mission I have grown a lot closer to Christ. in 2 Nephi 25 there is a scripture that kind of tells it all it says, And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we Preach of Christ!
That is what I am doing every single day as a missionary! I am talking of Christ, I am rejoicing in Christ, and I am definitely Preaching of Christ! What better then that!

I love Jesus Christ and the example that he was to each and every single one of us. May we each strive to be more like him in every thing that we do! Let us strive to do all that we can to be more "Christlike" in our daily lives.

I love each and every one of you and pray for your success and your safety daily!
Thank you for your support and love!
I love you guys!

Love, Elder Anderson

One of the most amazing things I have ever seen!

2009-10-19T15:22:00.014-06:00

Well hey there! I love reading all of your letters! Powerhouse!

Mom, can you print off yours, dads, and reed's letters and send them to me? I would love to have copies of all of them. I don't know why I am so lucky to have such an amazing family but I'm so thankful. Seriously, I'm the luckiest person. Thanks for the package as well! The cookies are amazing! I love receiving packages and letters!

This week has been really good!The Lord is blessing us tremendously.I'm so thankful for all of the blessings that we are receiving. This week was pretty tough. I'll just put it this way, my companions are both looking forward to transfers next week. I'm pretty sure that Sister Randall will leave and it will just be me and Sister Rodriguez here.

I had an interview with President Walker this week and he told me that I'm making huge progress with Sister Rodriguez. I don't really see it too much but he assures me that she is doing a lot better here than she was in Tucson. She is a really good teacher and really good and tracting. We're just working on some life skills that should have learned years ago. The goal is that she'll have some of these skills by the time she goes home. But hey, with the Lord on our side I think that this is definitely possible.

This week I was really able to see the healing power of the atonement. One of our investigators made a big mistake over 35 years ago. She's been carrying this mistake since then. We didn't even know about it until we were going over the baptismal interview questions. So she had to talk to President Walker about it. Since he is in Tucson she had to call him rather than meet with him in person. After the ward halloween party we went into a classroom in the church to make the call. She was way nervous and wanted us to stay in the room with her while she made the call. We could hear both ends of the conversation. President asked her a few yes or no questions and you could just see the pain in her eyes. Then President said some words that I'll never forget "On behalf of the Church and more importantly on behalf of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I want you to know that you are forgiven. Move on with your life and don't look back."

This was one of the most amazing things that I have ever seen. From the moment he said that (keep in mind she's been searching for comfort and forgiveness for this since it happened) she was changed. With those few words he said she became completely different. Her eyes brightened. She could now stand tall and with confidence. She loved herself again. Honestly, she looked 10 years younger. This is what the atonement is all about. Through Jesus Christ we can overcome our past and look to the future with a perfect brightness of hope because we know that our actions in the past are gone.

So now to answer Reed's question... Who is Jesus Christ in your life, and what has he done for you? President Walker asked me this week "How do you feel about Jesus Christ in your life right now?" So I'll try to answer these questions as best as I can but no words can describe the way I feel. Jesus Christ is EVERYTHING to me. EVERYTHING! He is my brother, Redeemer, Savior, friend, person with me when it feels like no one else is. He is the person that keeps me together. He is the person that keeps my companionship together. Christ is the reason I get out of bed on time with a smile on my face every day. Christ is the ultimate source of comfort and joy. We can't have joy without Christ. Sure we can have a little short lived pleasure but we can not have real joy. He is who keeps me going. Who keeps me happy. He is who understands me best no matter the circumstances. If we say that we can live our lives without the Savior we are lying to ourselves. We need Him. Life without Christ is meaningless. I love Jesus Christ. He is absolutely everything.
I hope that you all have an amazing week! Remember to put Christ first. When you do this everything else will take care of itself! I love you all!

Love,
Hermana Anderson

Hola! Como esta?

2009-10-12T15:09:00.001-06:00

Hola! Como esta?

Well, I hope that you all are doing wonderful and have had an awesome week! Thanks for all of you who wrote me! I LOVE receiving letters!

This week has been an amazing week! We have done more work in the past week than any other week since I've been out here! It's been amazing! Reed sent me this thing about the importance of making specific goals about baptism. So I really thought it through and with the Lord's help came up with a goal that will definitely push me, but it is definitely do able with the help of the Lord. And I'll tell you what, since I made that goal we are on fire! We know have 10 people on date for baptism! I'm so excited! The Lord has blessed us so so much! I keep thinking that I need to up my goal because even though it is a huge number of people, it is not high enough.

I've found that goals give us added determination and that when we council with the Lord while making them He will do everything to help us accomplish them as long as we are doing what we are supposed to be doing.

We taught so much this week! Usually we spend a lot of hours out knocking but we didn't do that at all this week, we didn't have time! We've had people tell their friends and they want to meet with us and one of the first things that they say is "when can I be baptized?" AMAZING! The Lord is definitely on our side!

This week I've also come to understand more about my calling. I think it was Elder McConkie who said that we are called to do, say, act, etc the way the Savior would if He was here.

Well this week we got a phone call from a member of the ward informing us that a member had a stillbirth and wanted to see us. She is probably 25 or 26 and is a returned missionary. I had never seen her before because she was inactive. It also turned out that the babies father wasn't in the picture at all. So we went to the hospital and everyone was so thankful to see us. They knew who we were and who we represent. Well when we went into her room I just became full of compassion. I can't explain it. It reminded me of when Mary and Martha told Christ that their brother had died. Even though Christ knew that it would be ok he wept with them. This is how I felt. We shared some scriptures and cried together and then we sang some hymns. With each new hymn we sang, the Spirit became stronger and stronger. Each song was acting as a healing agent. Of course there will be lots of hard times- this morning was one of them, it was the funeral- but through Jesus Christ there can be joy once again and peace. This experience has really stuck to me. I need to be the missionary that the Lord needs and expects me to be. As I become this missionary I will have more opportunities to do good and bring the peace that people need.

I love you all and am so thankful for all of you in my life! Have a great week! Find ways that you can go out and do more good and change someone's life for the better! Also, I want to know all of your answers to Reed's question! Have a great week! Love you all!

Love,
Hermana Anderson

I have a question...

2009-10-12T15:01:00.005-06:00

Elder Anderson with President and Sister Laney the day he was made District Leader.

Well this week has kind of been a slow week. It has been a tough week because I was sick for three of the days and it was hard to get too much work done. But I am starting to feel better now and things are picking up.

On Saturday we had the baptism of a 14 year old girl named Alexus. She has been meeting with the missionary's for about six month's now. She has been fun to teach the last couple of weeks and it was a really great baptism. She is a really strong girl, she has no parental support at all but has a really strong testimony and is going to be really strong in the church.

We also had zone conference this last Friday which was really great. It was all on chapter 9 of Preach My Gospel, (Finding People) Elder Erekson and I were able to get some great ideas of how we can further the missionary effort's in our area and how we can better find some new people to start teaching.

We are both really excited to get out this week and hit the pavement and really find those who are ready to hear the gospel and are waiting to hear the truth in their own lives.

So in one of the sacrament meetings that we attended yesterday one of the speaker's asked a question that I have really been thinking about for the last two day's, and it is a question that I am going to ask all of you. It is a question that I want all of you to think about over the next week and then I will give you my answer next Monday.

So the question is;"Who is Jesus Christ in your life, and what has he done for you?"

Just ponder that question and think about it.

Well I hope that all of you have a great week and that you will all strive to do what is right.
I hope that you all know that I love you and pray for you daily!

Have a great week!

Love, Elder Anderson

(Please keep Reed in your prayers he has had hit a rough patch again with his migraines and has been trying to pass a few Kidney Stones.)

Conference was absolutely amazing!

2009-10-05T13:45:00.001-06:00

Well this week was a pretty good week. My companion and I were able to learn a lot more about each other which in turn helped us get along better and then helped us work in unity and helped us teach better as well.

The week was kind of a bummer in teaching lessons, We had 13 lessons cancel on us which really stunk. But I guess what can you do? We were able to teach 6 lessons all together though.

So I don't think that I really told you about my new area too much last week, so I will tell you more about it now. So my companion and I are over two stakes. We cover the Sandy Midvalley Stake and also the Sandy Cottonwood Creek Stake. And then we also cover the Tongan Singles Ward which covers pretty much the whole mission but meets at the South Jordan Institute building.

Now you may be asking, wow Elder Anderson is your companion Tongan? Nope, for some odd reason they have two white white missionary's covering the Tongan singles ward. It is pretty fun to go to the Tongan activity's and ward though because they are so loving and so warm towards the missionary's and you feel so welcome.

So things in our area are going really well right now. We currently have 6 people on date for baptism. Two of which are scheduled to get baptized this coming Saturday. We also have potential of putting another 4 to 5 on date for baptism within the next couple of weeks. It is really exciting to see the work progress in this part of the Lord's vineyard.

So this weekend has been one of my favorite weekend's this far in my mission. Conference was absolutely amazing! Conference never meant so much to me until I was serving a mission. It was so amazing to be able to hear the Prophets, Seers, and Revelators speak to us and to hear them bear their testimony's with such power and with such an amazing spirit. We were able to watch conference at a member's house on Saturday and Sunday. It was nice to be able to kind of relax for a couple of day's but at the same time once it was all over we were like dangit we have got nothing done in the last two days. So over the next week we are going to make up for what we lost over the last couple of days. So there were many of talks that I really liked this weekend but there was definitely one that really stood out to me and that one would have to be Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's. His talk was so amazing, he spoke with such amazing power and the spirit was so amazing.

So ever sense I have been serving here in the Salt Lake City South mission I have realized how important member missionary work is. I also realize how little missionary work I did before my mission and wish that I would have done more.

I have come across a quote from Elder Bednar that I really love that I would like to share with all of you that I really believe to be true and that I hope all of you will take into your own lives the quote says, "My beloved brethren and sisters, you and I, today and always, are to bless all peoples in all the nations of the earth. You and I, today and always, are to bear witness of Jesus Christ and declare the message of the Restoration. You and I, today and always, are to invite all to receive the ordinances of salvation. Proclaiming the gospel is not a part-time obligation. It is not simply an activity in which we engage for a limited time or an assignment we must complete as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Rather, missionary work is a manifestation of our spiritual identity and heritage. We were foreordained in the premortal existence and born into mortality to fulfill the covenant and promise God made to Abraham. We are here upon the earth at this time to magnify our calling and to preach the gospel. That is who we are, and that is why we are here today and always!" -Elder Bednar-

Today and Always we are all to bear testimony of the church, of the restoration of the gospel and to do missionary work. I hope and I pray that all of you will be missionary's in your own life and will be able to have missionary opportunity's in your own life because I know that it will bring
great joys into your life!

I hope that all of you have a great week and that I get lot's of letters from all of you next week :)

Love, Elder Anderson

Answered Prayers

2009-10-05T13:38:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone! It sounds like you are all doing well and enjoyed conference! I LOVED conference! I always do. Mom and Dad, thanks for making conference such a big deal. Thanks for the conference package! Conference wouldn't be the same without popcorn and other treats! It makes me feel bad when people don't watch conference. They have no idea what they're missing!

We watched it at the church house. On Saturday the man in charge of getting all of the tv's hooked up couldn't find the satellite cord to hook the tv in for the spanish. He had looked everywhere and couldn't find it. Conference was starting in 15 mins so I just started searching everywhere. We decided that we needed to pray about it. So we did and I felt prompted to look in the Library. When in there I saw a box and thought that maybe I should look in there. So I did and I found a cord. It wasn't the one that they usually use but I thought that I should just give it a try. So I ran to the Relief Society room, plugged it all in, and it worked! Talk about answered prayers! I didn't want people who only speak Spanish to have to watch it in English!

By the time I got it all plugged in and what not there was one and a half minutes left until conference started. It was crazy! The Holy Ghost led me to where to find it.

So yeah, I loved all of the talks! I watched it in English because our investigators that came all are English. The Spirit during Conference was so strong! When President Monson got up I felt overwhelmed because he is my prophet. From conference I hope to have "a mighty change of heart" and be a better person.

There is an amazing family who brought us lunch and dinner on Saturday and made us and 4 other missionaries a turkey dinner yesterday (just like home!). It was amazing! People are so kind and such good examples to me.

We also had zone conference this week. It was awesome! The leaders here are so amazing and inspired. Ever since zone conference I've been trying to put more effort into the work. People need this message!

I love the quote that Reed put in his letter. Missionary work is vital to all of our lives! Everyone needs the Gospel and everyone needs the opportunity to share it! We can't let the blessings of sharing the Gospel just pass us by.

Dad, thanks for the sample ward mission plans. I've read over everything and hope to implement it into the ward and branch here.

The work is "going forth boldly, nobly, and independent" here. We have been blessed a lot this week. Our investigator Dede is amazing. She is thirsty for the Gospel. Every time we go she has a note pad and paper and is taking notes and asking great questions. I love it. I've tried to take her example and thirst after righteousness.

As I was reading the book of Matthew this week I thought of something interesting. I was reading the chapter about Christ walking on water. As you know, Peter went out to join him and walked on water as well. Them walking on water is amazing and a huge miracle. But I think that there is a greater miracle in this story. Peter got scared and began to sink and cried "Lord, save me." "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him..." (Matthew 14). The biggest miracle to me is that when Peter called to Christ to save him, Christ was there IMMEDIATELY. This is how it is for all of us. As we call out to Christ because we are beginning to sink he will reach out to us immediately. This is so true. In no matter what situation we are in.

Well, I love you all so so much! I've been blessed with the best family and friends in the world! I'm serious! Thanks for all of the packages and letters. They mean so much to me! Have a great week. Remember who you are and act accordingly! The Church is definitely true!

Love, Hermana Anderson

(Photo: sitting outside man's apartment while he played piano for us)

Minding the Gap

2009-09-28T12:49:00.011-06:00

Hey Family!

From your letters and emails it sounds like you are all doing awesome! It sounds like you all are having great experiences and opportunities to be missionaries. Keep up the great missionary work!

Anderson cousins, can I just say that you are all amazing?! I loved the package with all of your letters! Thanks so much for you love, support, and prayers. I always tell everyone that I have the best family in the world and this week my companions finally agreed with me.

Things are going great here in El Paso. I have definitely learned why I was in a threesome with 2 Koreans in the MTC. I needed to learn a lot about myself, charity, and to love others no matter our differences. This companionship sure is a roller coaster. At one point we'll be super high and teaching amazing lessons and 5 mins later my companions will be so frustrated with each other and will ignore each other. It sure is interesting. Never a dull moment.

We've made a lot of head way this week though. By the end of these 6 weeks I hope that we'll be able to go a day without the two of them arguing. I think it's possible.

I loved General Relief Society Meeting. It was just what I needed. The stake here makes a huge deal out of it. It starts at 4 with service projects, they have dinner at 5, and then watch the meeting at 6. Its way fun! We were able to get around 5 inactive sisters to come and one of our investigators. After the meeting our investigator, Dede, just sat in awe. She was like "did you feel that? I feel like that man was just speaking to me, like he was looking deep into my soul. It feels so weird but I like it." It was awesome!

We've had some really great lessons this week. We have been trying to get a hold of Dede and her son Jon for a few weeks now and we were finally able to teach them on Monday. She was just so excited and kept saying "I must feel the Spirit through excitement! I love this!" Jon is 20 and has had a rough past few years (they both have) and isn't quite sure what he wants but feels a lot of peace. This is huge because just last year he didn't even believe in God. They both have a baptismal date for the 24th! I'm so so so excited! We taught them 3 times this week and would have more but they live on the border of our area. Its a town called Chaparral, New Mexico.

The Lord is really blessing us for our desire to serve him and for our charity and patience. On Friday we went to an appointment with someone we had met on the street. He wasn't home but his 17 year old daughter was. She invited us in and we taught her the first lesson. After the Joseph Smith story I asked her how she felt and she said "He's here right now. Jesus Christ is in this room. I can feel Him. I love this." It was amazing! She also accepted a baptismal date for the 24th. We asked if it would be ok with her parents and she said that it would.
So yeah, I'm really excited. When I have experiences like this I know that everything is worth it and that as long as we're doing our very best the Lord will bless us.

Well, I hope that you all of an amazing week! I love you all so much! Remember who you are and act accordingly.
Love, Hermana Anderson

The first picture is with a member, Hna Ughetto. She is awesome and feeds us tons of food. This week she fed us cactus. It was actually really good. It tastes a lot like peppers. I love this lady. The next one is of Chaperral. They have the most beautiful sunsets. This town is just dirt, dogs, and trailers but it is awesome.