Hola mi familia!
How are all of you doing? I hope that everything is going well and that you had an amazing week! Our new apt is AMAZING! Feeling safe in your apt is awesome! Our last one was really old and run down and their had gotten to be some drug problems going on nearby. This new one, however is awesome. They do background checks on everyone before you move in and smoking is not allowed. Most of the families there are military families. It just opened up a few months ago. Transfers are this week and I'm 99.9% positive I won't be moving but I don't know. Sometimes the week before transfers they hold onto our mail at the mission office so that might be the reason I haven't received the package yet.
This week lots of crazy things have happened. Satan is really doing everything he can to stop the work from progressing. Seriously, almost any bad thing that could happen to our investigators did. But, like Joseph Smith said "no unhollowed hand can stop the work from progressing. Persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, columny may defame BUT the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent until it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear; until the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the Great Jehovah shall say 'the work is done.'"
Despite all of the bad things that happened I have continued to be happy. "Come what may and love it" right? I've seen the Lord's hand and guidance in my life. I know that this is His work. He never said that it would be easy, He just said that it would be worth it. I think sometimes my companion is a little confused why I am always happy and optimistic no matter what happens. It's because I have the Lord on my side. There is no way I can fail because I have him.
We have to keep things in perspective. I've met with lots of different kinds of people this week. They are all going through super hard things. The difference in them is the way they react to their situations. If they have faith they know that they will overcome and that the Lord is by their side guiding them and carrying them. The people without faith have no hope for life. They are barely making it day by day. Faith is SO important! We must have faith. It reminds me of Moroni 7. If we have faith we have hope. In church language we know that hope doesn't mean that we hope something will happen. Rather, it means that we EXPECT things because we know that Lord will help us. Our Heavenly Father is the same yesterday, today, and forever so of course He is going to help us. Just like he protected the children of Israel, He will protect us. We just need to have faith and hope.
Also, Moroni 7 teaches us that faith and hope lead to charity. Charity is something that I'm constantly working on. Without it we are nothing and I'm wasting my time and your money here. Anyway, those are just some of my thoughts for the week. We are trying to get more ward and branch involvement because we need them. Dad, in the pamphlet you sent me it talks about what happens if the members are involved. Instead of having 2 missionaries covering North East El Paso and tens of thousands of people we could have at least 500. We are going to try to get some ward mission plans going. I'm excited to see the thing you sent me!
Well, that is about it. I sure love all of you! The Church is so true! Trust in the Lord and lean on Him. He will direct you for good. Have faith and be believing.
Love, Hermana Anderson
ps GO COUGARS!!!!!!!
Monday, September 14, 2009
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
It's called Labor Day for a reason - Oh my goodness!!! Go Cougars!!
Oh my goodness!!! GO COUGARS!! Mom, thanks for the update I really loved it! Can you maybe print it out and send it to me? Dad, can you print out that thing you wanted me to look at and send it as well? That would be amazing. So unfortunately I was unable to watch the football game. The Bishops wife told me what time it was on so I could pray extra hard and cheer in my heart at that time. Like I always say, prayers are answered. I really think that my serving a mission has had a direct result on the team. You know, like how when we serve our families are blessed; well when the number one fan serves the team is blessed. I really believe it with everything in me. Wow, I'm so excited to hear how the rest of the season goes!
We finally moved yesterday. The elders and the wards were busy so Hermana Randall, our 26 year old friend Mary, and I moved everything. The Lord really blessed us because we were able to fit everything in Mary's van. There were so many things that shouldn't have fit in the van or around corners in the apt but they did. I know that the Lord made it so everything fit. Boy am I tired today though. Its so nice to have a place that is new, clean, wholesome, etc. They even have a no smoking rule! It's amazing!
This week has been really good. I've been trying to figure out how to have more success here. We decided that we need to have members out with us as much as possible. We didn't know exactly how to do this but we took a leap of faith and sent around a sign up sheet during church. And guess what happened... we are as busy as this area has ever been since at least March! Every night is as jam packed as it gets! I know that when we take a leap of faith the Lord will always bless us and help us to do His work. I know that it is also as a result of obedience. President Dean taught me in the MTC that we must be obedient with exactness and so I am. Blessings flow from this.
I also decided that there needed to be a bit of a change in attitude in our companionship. Complacency is not ok with me. I expect miracles and to receive them we need to work hard and have faith. Now when we go tracting I say things like "Let's go save some souls" or "We are inviting people to come unto Christ and someone will listen!" I have received some weird looks from my companion but I don't care. We need to always remember our purpose! I'm not here to just go around town and tell people a great story. I'm here to bring people unto Christ, to save souls! I can't ever forget this. I repeat our purpose tons of times every day. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. I always try to remember Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 as well. I need to serve with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. Always! People need the truth.
A man called for a finding faith in Christ dvd on saturday. I asked him what prompted him to call and he said that he lost his job and doesn't have a whole lot going for him. He said he has faith in nothing. Isn't it sad that there are people like that? There are so many and it is all of our job - missionaries AND members - to reach out to them, to lift them from darkness.
One of the ladies we've been teaching, Gabby, is amazing. In the space of a few weeks her life has changed completely. She has given up spending nights with her boyfriend, drinking, smoking, viewing pornography and so much more. Lots of these things she did without us even teaching her about it. Her boyfriend and daughters are really mad at her because of this but she said that she doesn't care because she is happy.
Well we went over there the other day and her scriptures were missing. We searched the whole apt but couldn't find them. I knew immediately that her boyfriend had taken them and she did too. She was so upset because the scriptures make her happy and she kept saying "I need to read them every day!" So we gave her a new Book of Mormon. She had me go into her room with her and watch her hide it so he couldn't take it. Sometimes I think that we take the scriptures for granted. We all need to follow Gabby's example.
This morning I was reading Alma 49-50. It teaches us a lot about preparation and how to withstand the adversary. I recommend everyone reads it. We need to remember that preparation proceeds power.
Anyway, I love you all so much! I pray for you daily. I know that the Lord hears our prayers and is blessing you. I know that I've been blessed from your prayers as well. Keep them coming! I need the blessings! I know that the Lord loves each of us. He is the Savior of the world but also the Savior for each one of us. The atonement is a personal thing.
I hope that you all have a great week! Sorry, I couldn't email yesterday the college was closed. Never forget who to put your trust in. The Church is definitely true.
Love, Hermana Anderson
We finally moved yesterday. The elders and the wards were busy so Hermana Randall, our 26 year old friend Mary, and I moved everything. The Lord really blessed us because we were able to fit everything in Mary's van. There were so many things that shouldn't have fit in the van or around corners in the apt but they did. I know that the Lord made it so everything fit. Boy am I tired today though. Its so nice to have a place that is new, clean, wholesome, etc. They even have a no smoking rule! It's amazing!
This week has been really good. I've been trying to figure out how to have more success here. We decided that we need to have members out with us as much as possible. We didn't know exactly how to do this but we took a leap of faith and sent around a sign up sheet during church. And guess what happened... we are as busy as this area has ever been since at least March! Every night is as jam packed as it gets! I know that when we take a leap of faith the Lord will always bless us and help us to do His work. I know that it is also as a result of obedience. President Dean taught me in the MTC that we must be obedient with exactness and so I am. Blessings flow from this.
I also decided that there needed to be a bit of a change in attitude in our companionship. Complacency is not ok with me. I expect miracles and to receive them we need to work hard and have faith. Now when we go tracting I say things like "Let's go save some souls" or "We are inviting people to come unto Christ and someone will listen!" I have received some weird looks from my companion but I don't care. We need to always remember our purpose! I'm not here to just go around town and tell people a great story. I'm here to bring people unto Christ, to save souls! I can't ever forget this. I repeat our purpose tons of times every day. Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored Gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. I always try to remember Doctrine and Covenants Section 4 as well. I need to serve with all of my heart, might, mind, and strength. Always! People need the truth.
A man called for a finding faith in Christ dvd on saturday. I asked him what prompted him to call and he said that he lost his job and doesn't have a whole lot going for him. He said he has faith in nothing. Isn't it sad that there are people like that? There are so many and it is all of our job - missionaries AND members - to reach out to them, to lift them from darkness.
One of the ladies we've been teaching, Gabby, is amazing. In the space of a few weeks her life has changed completely. She has given up spending nights with her boyfriend, drinking, smoking, viewing pornography and so much more. Lots of these things she did without us even teaching her about it. Her boyfriend and daughters are really mad at her because of this but she said that she doesn't care because she is happy.
Well we went over there the other day and her scriptures were missing. We searched the whole apt but couldn't find them. I knew immediately that her boyfriend had taken them and she did too. She was so upset because the scriptures make her happy and she kept saying "I need to read them every day!" So we gave her a new Book of Mormon. She had me go into her room with her and watch her hide it so he couldn't take it. Sometimes I think that we take the scriptures for granted. We all need to follow Gabby's example.
This morning I was reading Alma 49-50. It teaches us a lot about preparation and how to withstand the adversary. I recommend everyone reads it. We need to remember that preparation proceeds power.
Anyway, I love you all so much! I pray for you daily. I know that the Lord hears our prayers and is blessing you. I know that I've been blessed from your prayers as well. Keep them coming! I need the blessings! I know that the Lord loves each of us. He is the Savior of the world but also the Savior for each one of us. The atonement is a personal thing.
I hope that you all have a great week! Sorry, I couldn't email yesterday the college was closed. Never forget who to put your trust in. The Church is definitely true.
Love, Hermana Anderson
Monday, September 7, 2009
Rise and Shout!!!
Well first of all, HOW ABOUT THEM COUGARS!!! What an amazing win for the Cougars! And to answer all of your questions. No, I did not watch one play of the game. I was planning on watching some of the game, but got a call on Thursday night saying that somebody that I taught in my old area was going to be getting baptized at 6pm in West Jordan so we left at 5. The baptism got over at 6:30pm and we tried finding a ride. Nobody could give us a ride because they were all watching the dang game. So we just decided to start walking home and figured hey it's Utah somebody will ask if we need a ride. No, that was not the case We got lot's of people honking and waving at us but nobody asking if we needed a ride. We walked from Copper Hills High School which is 7800 South and about 5100 West all of the way to 9000 South and 1300 West. That is the point when the BYU game got over and one of the ward mission leader's called asking if we still needed a ride and he came and picked us up. So we walked for two and a half hours. But I was calling somebody every ten minutes getting updates so I knew what was going on. I wore my BYU tie all day on Saturday and I only offended a couple of people when I rung their door bell so it was pretty good. I am going to wear that tie every game day this year! But bravo to the cougars way to go out and show BCS that we really can play with the top teams in the country.
This week was a pretty good week. We were able to get a lot done. And I was able to learn a lot about myself. We were able to start teaching a couple of people and that is always a good thing, but it kind of stinks because the people that we started teaching are going to take a long time to get worthy so they can get baptized. But that is okay we will continue working with them so that they can have the spirit in their homes and that they can work towards baptism.
Now as many of you know when you are on a mission you tend to gain a little bit of weight. And being in a car I am really getting out of shape. So one day this week I told my companion that we were going to ride bikes. He did not like that idea one bit! I had to pretty much trick him into the whole thing. So after pretty much tricking him into it I finally got him on a bike on Tuesday morning and we were off. (I found out that I am really out of shape) But it was such a great experience. I really want to ride bikes every day now. We were able to talk to so many more people and were actually able to get a couple of referrals because of it. So I am going to try to make him ride bikes a lot more. 1. so that I can get in better shape. 2. so that we can talk to a lot more people and talk to everyone in our path.
So my companion has been out for 19 month's, he is a great missionary but is one of those missionaries that makes things really awkward sometimes. Although he has been out for a lot longer then me I am actually the senior companion in the companionship. So over the last 4 weeks I have learned a lot and have been really thankful for the experience because I have been able to increase my teaching skills a lot!
I also learned something else this week that was really cool. We were teaching a joint young women's class yesterday and I was starting out by introducing myself and I started out by saying, "I am Elder Anderson and I am from Bluffdale Utah," when a girl rose her hand and said, "my brother heard you speak in another ward and told me all about you." I was like oh okay that is weird. But yeah so my story is kind of like making it's way around the mission which is kind of cool in a way. I know that I am making an impact.
I am so thankful for trials I know that without the trials that I have had in my life up to this point I would not be where I am today! I am so thankful to Heavenly Father and for all that He does for us and for everything that he puts within our path and for the lessons that we can learn from it.
I also saw a quote this week that I really liked it says: "In the strength of the Lord we can do and endure and overcome all things." -Elder David A. Bednar-
That quote is so true. We truly can overcome and endure everything with the strength of the Lord. He can help us with all of our trials and everything that we go through.
It was never meant to be easy, Just worth it! This life is not meant to just be a walk in the park we are supposed to struggle through it we are supposed to have our ups and down's.
Our Father in Heaven is yearning for us to return home to Him, we just need to do our part. We have to do our part so that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father.
I know that as we do our part. As we live the commandments of our Heavenly Father, as we repent, as we go to church, and as we partake of the sacrament worthily we will be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. What a great homecoming that will be.
I love you all and can't wait for that wonderful homecoming when we will all be able to be with our Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father loves us all so much!
I love each and everyone of you so much!
I Pray for you daily!
Have a great week!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Love, Elder Anderson
This week was a pretty good week. We were able to get a lot done. And I was able to learn a lot about myself. We were able to start teaching a couple of people and that is always a good thing, but it kind of stinks because the people that we started teaching are going to take a long time to get worthy so they can get baptized. But that is okay we will continue working with them so that they can have the spirit in their homes and that they can work towards baptism.
Now as many of you know when you are on a mission you tend to gain a little bit of weight. And being in a car I am really getting out of shape. So one day this week I told my companion that we were going to ride bikes. He did not like that idea one bit! I had to pretty much trick him into the whole thing. So after pretty much tricking him into it I finally got him on a bike on Tuesday morning and we were off. (I found out that I am really out of shape) But it was such a great experience. I really want to ride bikes every day now. We were able to talk to so many more people and were actually able to get a couple of referrals because of it. So I am going to try to make him ride bikes a lot more. 1. so that I can get in better shape. 2. so that we can talk to a lot more people and talk to everyone in our path.
So my companion has been out for 19 month's, he is a great missionary but is one of those missionaries that makes things really awkward sometimes. Although he has been out for a lot longer then me I am actually the senior companion in the companionship. So over the last 4 weeks I have learned a lot and have been really thankful for the experience because I have been able to increase my teaching skills a lot!
I also learned something else this week that was really cool. We were teaching a joint young women's class yesterday and I was starting out by introducing myself and I started out by saying, "I am Elder Anderson and I am from Bluffdale Utah," when a girl rose her hand and said, "my brother heard you speak in another ward and told me all about you." I was like oh okay that is weird. But yeah so my story is kind of like making it's way around the mission which is kind of cool in a way. I know that I am making an impact.
I am so thankful for trials I know that without the trials that I have had in my life up to this point I would not be where I am today! I am so thankful to Heavenly Father and for all that He does for us and for everything that he puts within our path and for the lessons that we can learn from it.
I also saw a quote this week that I really liked it says: "In the strength of the Lord we can do and endure and overcome all things." -Elder David A. Bednar-
That quote is so true. We truly can overcome and endure everything with the strength of the Lord. He can help us with all of our trials and everything that we go through.
It was never meant to be easy, Just worth it! This life is not meant to just be a walk in the park we are supposed to struggle through it we are supposed to have our ups and down's.
Our Father in Heaven is yearning for us to return home to Him, we just need to do our part. We have to do our part so that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father.
I know that as we do our part. As we live the commandments of our Heavenly Father, as we repent, as we go to church, and as we partake of the sacrament worthily we will be able to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. What a great homecoming that will be.
I love you all and can't wait for that wonderful homecoming when we will all be able to be with our Heavenly Father, Heavenly Father loves us all so much!
I love each and everyone of you so much!
I Pray for you daily!
Have a great week!
Hope to hear from you soon!
Love, Elder Anderson
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