Another Slow Week...

Well this week was yet another slow week. The last two weeks have been two really hard and really slow weeks! We have been working really hard to find some new investigators this week but to no avail.

The last two weeks we have found 0 new investigators so it is really frustrating!

We taught a family this week that we were hoping to pick up as new investigators. This is probably the very first complete non-member family that I have taught on my mission. (Mom this is the family that your friend knows). But anyways we taught them, and the lesson went really well and we were able to answer lots of questions. They have been investigating a couple of different religions. The Methodist, Catholic, and the LDS church. So we tried to put them on date for baptism and they totally shot it down. They don't believe that God can answer their prayer's. We asked them how long they thought it would take for God to answer their prayer's as to which religion was true. Their answer was 9 months. I was like wow that is a long time! So hopefully they will pray and they will actually find out that God does answer our prayer's and that it doesn't take 9 month's.

Transfers are this week and I am 98% positive that I will be transferred, but you never know.

So this week I also came upon a quote that I really liked as well that I would like to share with all of you. The quote is from Elder David A. Bednar and it says, "In The Strength of The Lord We Can Do And Endure And Overcome All Things." That quote is so true! That through the power and strength of our lord and savior Jesus Christ we can overcome anything.

I love you all and hope that you all have a great week!
Love Elder Anderson!

(Elder Anderson touring some tourist sites in his mission.)

Well this week was a pretty slow week. We were not able to pick up any new investigators so that was kind of lame. But all three of our investigators that are on date for baptism came to church yesterday so that was good.

We had a pretty cool experience this week. We have been teaching this guy named John. He is a 62 year old guy. He is an interesting guy. He is a really smart guy, he was a scientist for a profession and used to work for the national government making vaccinations. About five years ago he got in a really bad car accident and lost lots of his memory. He is still a fairly normal guy but pretty much does not remember too much of his life history before the car accident.

So before the car accident he joined the LDS church and was baptized and was also an endowed member of the church. He was a very faithful and very active member of the church. But now John has no memory of ever being a member of the church. So we have been teaching him and he tells people that he is "investigating" the church. It is hard to teach him because it is not like he can get re-baptized but we are just trying to get him to remember.

So on Wednesday we had a lesson with him. And the spirit was so strong. We talked about baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. He stopped me and said now wait a minute, I was baptized wasn't I? And I said yeah John you were. It is so true in the scriptures where it says. The gift of the holy ghost will bring back to our remembrance all things. This was an event that testified to me that, that scripture was true.

Just thought I would share that cool story with all of you.

But other then that nothing really exciting this week. We went to four sacrament meetings yesterday so it was a very long day! We spoke in two of them, And I can tell that my story is really having an impact on people.

I love serving a mission and serving the Lord daily! This is the best thing I could possibly be doing with my life at this time! The last 8 months of my life have been the hardest 8 months, but have also been the best 8 months of my life and the most fulfilling eight months of my life!

I love all of you and hope and pray that all of you will be able to have the joy of the gospel in your lives. And also will be able to have missionary opportunity's in your daily lives.

Have a great week and I hope to hear from you all soon!

Love, Elder Anderson

No Unhollowed Hand...

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!!!!!!!