Attitude of Gratitude

Hi fam :)

 

How's it? Things here are gooooood. More miracles this week :)

 

So we are teaching Lisa. She came to church with her fiancé last week. Her fiancé is in our ward but has been inactive for who knows how long. He actually just got out of prison… But she just randomly came to church and we were able to set up appointments with her. Our first lesson was really good… we taught her the Restoration. Every time i teach that lesson i gain a better knowledge and understanding for what Joseph Smith really did for us. Gosh i love him. I can't wait to get to Heaven and just thank him for everything. Anyway… we committed her to be baptized on December 21st and we told her to pray about it and everything. We went over a couple days later and asked if she had prayed and she said that after we left, that night she couldn't sleep, so she "opened up the word" and started reading and it was about baptism… so she opened up the bible and the same thing happened. Then she said that she prayed and asked Heavenly Father if this is what she is supposed to do and she fell asleep, and had a dream. She said in her dream all she saw was water and her going under the water. We were basically in tears when she told us this. She is truly elect and so ready to be baptized. Except she smokes and she is living with her fiancé. However, the second time we came over she told us that she stopped smoking! We hadn't even told her about the Word of Wisdom yet and she just said that she didn't feel good about being baptized if she was smoking. She is awesome. We have very high hopes for her and she is definitely a miracle from our Heavenly Father. She was greatly needed and seriously an answer to my prayers!

 

This week was freezing… it rained twice and i swear everyone went into hibernation because of it! There was NO ONE outside. So we would go to member's homes and they would barely open the door because they thought it was so cold outside haha. It was cold but only like 50. I have gotten so used to the hot weather here that it feels so much colder than that! But now it is back up to the 70s so it's all good :) I am excited for Thanksgiving! It's basically like another p-day.. so i might need some more money on my card cause we are gonna go SHOPPING! Yay :) haha seriously though. We are eating dinner with a member but that's all we have planned so i'm excited :)

 

Oh yeah, it's fine… just a month from today and we will be skypinnnnng! :)

 

Besides Lisa, we kinda had a rough week talking to people. I had someone literally shew me away… with her hands. She said " Ew no leave" and basically pushed me away. Another lady told us that we were brainwashed. She also told us she had the gift of tongues. It was just person after person that just rejected us hard core. it's kinda discouraging just because we can hardly get two words out without someone yelling at us.. but it's more sad than anything that they won't listen to the truth. it's interesting to me that we would dedicate this much of our time for something and people don't respect that and listen. someday they'll know, i just wish today was that day!

 

Sister Greenwood and i are doing better. Our companionship inventories are really great :) I have just had to be straight up with her about everything. She has been really nice and in our nightly prayers she always prays for me that i won't be stressed and that i will be able to be a good trainer and she always says how grateful she is for me and that she loves me. I do the same but it really has helped us both so much. just to openly love each other helps us love the work more and helps us be more in tune with each other and with the spirit. it's been good :) the only thing is that she used an entire roll of toilet paper in one day. by herself. so i asked her what the heck was going on and she said she would cut back.. and the next day she did the same thing. it is the weirdest thing i have ever seen hahaha.

 

We were saying things that we know/like about each other last night.. and she said.. well i know that you hate being messy and that you don't like hair in the bathroom! she also said i know i like your parents because your mom was miranda for halloween and your dad is really funny! i talk about you guys all the time and she always says she likes my family even though she doesn't know you. so i told her i know she likes toilet paper :) haha it was pretty funny. Anyway. We are doing good :)

 

I am so happy here. i love being a missionary more than anything. i can't believe how fast time has gone, this transfer is done this week!! totes cray. i'll be done before you know it! 

 

I love you all so much and hope you have a great Thanksgiving! Take advantage of being grateful. We are so blessed!

 

Sister Anderson :)  

Roller Coaster baby

Hola familia,

This week was an emotional roller coaster... LET ME TELL YA.

First of all, we had interviews with President Smart this week, which went really well. I passed :) Ha but really he is such an inspired man and he helps me so much. I was in there for a pretty solid time and we just talked about training and how to handle situations better. He is such a great leader.

However, George and Mike both dropped us. UGH. George texted us last Sunday like i said last week… but we actually still went over to his house to talk about it, and we ended up leaving him a blessing. He got emotional during it and we just testified our hearts out that this can really help him. So he said that we could come back the next day, so we did. We talked about the sacrament and about the Atonement and read from Luke 22. The Spirit was super strong and i know that he could feel it, even though when we asked him how he was feeling he didn't say much. Anyway he said he was going to come to church and he was actually really excited about it! So then Sunday morning he said that he didn't have gas in his car and we couldn't find a ride or anything. So long story short he didn't come. He said he was feeling pushed to do it and he didn't like that… so he didn't text us back for a few hours, then later he texted us and said that he doesn't want to do this mormon thing :( We both got so frustrated because we know how much it can help him and he just keeps changing his mind about everything. We decided that we were going to take him some cookies or something this week and hope he wants us to come back :) Stupid Satan is just working so hard on us and on our investigators. Some days i get so discouraged and so frustrated that i think he has me wrapped around his dumb little finger. but this week i have prayed longer and harder than i have before. My district leader called one night and just asked how things were going and i broke down and was just crying to him over the phone hahaha he probably didnt know how to react haha but he did give me good advice. I just laid on our couch and had a little cry sesh before i went to bed. This is hard work. I know it's the Lord's work though and that he has a plan for me and for the people that i am teaching. Sometimes I just wish i could just take a sneak peek at that plan haha.

I had to sit Sister Greenwood down and tell her everything that was going on. How she doesn't listen to me or help with anything and how she is super messy. She agreed to all of it and i thought things would be better but they are pretty much the same. You would all be disgusted at how much hair is in our bathroom. You thought i was bad! But this even grosses me out haha. It's super nast.

We keep pulling pranks on each other to keep us all sane... one night the sisters came home before us and turned out all the lights but they had texted us and said they would be out late so we weren't expecting them to be home. So we came home and went in our room to do our nightly planning. we were just talking for a good 30 minutes before we even prayed.. but when we finally knelt down to pray, Sister Jenkins jumped out from under our bed and yelled and i basically threw myself against the wall, screaming louder than i ever had before. hahahaha i was terrified! I literally thought i was going to die, that someone was under our bed ready to jump us haha. Sister Jenkins said that my face had pure horror on it and she still is laughing about it. I was so scared that i didn't know if i should laugh or cry after i realized it was her haha. Aaand Sister Greenwood peed her pants (or peed her skirt?) hahahahahahah. It was such a good prank.. BUT we have to get them back! So if you guys have any good pranks that we can do.. please let me know! Another time sister todd was showering and she left the door unlocked, so we went in and poured a pitcher of cold water on her and she screamed soo loud hahaha. And i put a fake spider in sister jenkins bed and when she pulled her covers off, she dropped to the ground as she was screaming and was rocking back and forth on the ground hahahahaha. we do have some good times :)

We did pick up 2 new gators, Lisa and Christina, but they will take a lot of work.. So we will see if there is any progression with them this week. Praying for miracles.

I know that after the trials comes the miracles, so i am patiently waiting for those to happen :) In our comp inventory this week Sister Greenwood told me i need to work on my patience... so i have officially had every companion tell me i need to be more patient. You would think i would learn by now? The thing is i really do try! it's so stinkin' hard sometimes though. So i know that the Lord keeps giving me these trials and will continue to give them until i have learned how to be patient with myself and with others. patience is surely a virtue.

I'm glad that you are all safe and happy. I hope you have a great week. Thank you for your prayers and love and support. I love and miss you all very much!

Sister Anderson:)

Miracle Week.

suuup errybody.

 

Well. We've just been doin' missionary stuff this week and it's been great!

 

We finally have investigators!

 

Big miracles happened this week :) We seriously picked up 4 new gators and have been very blessed. George we found in the Area Book.. that blessed book. We just visited him and he let us come back and we taught him about the Plan of Salvation because he said he is terrified of death.. But he seemed like he really wanted to learn more and have that faith in Christ. We invited him to be baptized and he said yes! He has been taught before and actually had a baptism date and it fell through.. But when we walked out of his house, we both looked at each other and just started crying. I was kinda in shock that that actually just happened.. We were so happy :) Then Sunday rolls around and George said that he was coming so we waited for him until church started then texted him and asked him if he was coming.. and he replied and said "I want to but i am nervous. I don't think i can commit to this.. Im sorry for wasting your time,  I dont think i am ready." Yes i lost it. I broke down dang it! I got my hopes up so high that we finally had someone to teach and that we were going to baptize him and everything would be fine. But no, of course thats not how it works and i was very upset the whole time at church. We talked about sacrifices in Sunday School and we all shared something that we have sacrificed. I said that this is the biggest sacrifice i have ever made, leaving my family and doing this 24/7. I was very emotional and said that this is the hardest thing i have ever done. I sacrifice all my time and effort on behalf of these people that i want to save and then they dont come to church. Gosh its so frustrating! Then in Relief Society, there was a lady who was visiting our ward and she has a daughter on a mission, and she turned to us and said "As a parent of a missionary, i just want to tell you that your parents love you so much. That they pray for you in every prayer and that you are all that they think about and that they are so proud of you." It was such a tender mercy from the Lord for this complete stranger to tell me that. I was so grateful for that sweet sister that I dont even know. I know that this work isn't easy..  I didnt expect it to be easy. The Savior's life wasn't easy by any means and I am representing Him so there is no reason that it will be easy for me. He had hard discouraging days just like i and every missionary out there do. But thats what we signed up for and thats what im going to take responsibility for. I am so glad that i do get to represent my Savior.

 

Anyways.... then we taught Mike the Restoration and he loved it, but has been out of town since :( But we have high hopes for another one, Taray, who did come to church! We think we can hopefully baptize her by the end of the month :) The other one, Jason, is part of a part member family and we cant tell if he is actually interested or not. So we'll see how things play out this week!

 

We got to go to the temple this week! Gosh i love that place. We had to watch the old one though because they didnt have chinese translation for the new one and there were chinese people there. But regardless, it was great :)

 

So from now on, we basically will have no contact with the elders.. haha. We used to have pday activities with our zone and go out to lunch after meetings and stuff... but we all got a text this week that said sisters and elders can no longer have pday activities together, or go out to lunch or do anything! Super lame cause we have fun with the elders.. So something big must have happened. But that was pretty crazy.

 

Things have been hard with Sister Greenwood.. I had to tell her that she needs to be more obedient. She was writing letters all week (we are only allowed to write letters on pday) and i had told her twice before that we cant do that and she still did.. so i confronted her about it and i think it made her feel bad but i had to do it. I also had to tell her the importance of waking up on time and having a full hour of personal study. That those hours are crucial to how your day is going to turn out. I told her that Elder Holland even said the hours between 6:30 and 10:00 in the morning can make or break  your mission. I have always remembered that and tried to have them "make" my mission. Anyway, I feel like i am babysitting sometimes which is really difficult. But i know that the Lord is forcing me to have more patience hahaha. I am working so hard on it! Sometimes i wish i could just snap my fingers and automatically have more patience :) But this transfer is really making me excersize that and helping me to have more charity.

 

I think thats about it for this week! It was a good one overall, we finally have people to teach! they just need to keep their appointments so we can teach them :) Haha i know that the Lord has big plans for this area. I am praying harder than i ever have before to find these precious souls. Thank you for all your prayers on their behalf and on mine. I love and appreciate you all so much! Just over a month and we can skype! So exciting!!

 

Hope you all have a great week! Dont be afraid to open your mouth to people you meet who need to hear the gospel. Every member a missionary ;) Read Elder Ballard's talk from this last conference, then do what he says :)

 

Love you all!

 

Sister Anderson :) 

 

p.s. while you are all cold and being snowed on.. im still gettin my tan on in 90 degree weather :) just thought i would rub that in your face :)

5 MONTHS :)

Heeeeellllllllllloooooo.

 

Well i am currently crying from laughing so hard at the Halloween pictures hahahaha. I honestly about died when i saw the picture of mom! That is HILARIOUS.

 

This week was a liiiittle better, We have been trying to go to all of the part member families in our ward and less actives to get referrals. The only things is that hardly anyone has answered! Sheesh this is the longest and biggest test of patience i have ever had! But clearly i am still not patient enough :)

 

This week at our zone meeting.. we all set our monthly baptism goals. We don't have any investigators that we could even talk about baptizing so it was pretty rough. We were all talking about miracles and how we need to set our goals high so that its a goal and not something comfortable. So after a good 15 minutes of trying to push the promptings away that i was getting.. we raised our companionship goal to 2 baptisms this month. This is a complete and total act of faith. I feel like i am walking in the dark right now. But the day before, a ward member texted us and told us that she has a friend that wants to take the lessons, and we have a few other potentials that we could hopefully count on to be baptized. It was a super spiritual meeting with our zone and i am totally counting on the Lord with this one. We have been praying harder than i ever have before for people to be put in our path that actually want to hear the gospel. It seems like everyone we talk to "already has Jesus" or has been "saved". Its pretty annoying because they dont even give us a chance. We did talk to this one guy, Mike, outside his house and we talked about the restoration a little bit and he said he was interested. We kept in contact with him and have tried to set up appointments with him. He even almost came to church but he was afraid because he is black and he didnt think there are black mormons.... hahaha. Anyway, we fasted all day Sunday for more investigators. For just someone to teach! After church was over, Mike texted us and said he was talking to his brother about being a mormon and they both want to learn more! Mike said he even wants to become a member :) I think that is the first time that i have really seen the effects of fasting so quickly. It was really an answer to our prayers and we are still praying that we actually get to meet with him this week!

 

Other than that there is not too much to report. OH okay so we have a set of elders in our ward too, right? One of them is going home the end of this transfer and he is super creepy. I told my district leader, the one who is a good friend from my last area, and he told one of the APs and he had to talk to him about it. Super awkward. This elder would always just text me and ask what we were doing or weird things like that that he shouldnt be asking. Hahaha as im saying all this you are probably thinking that is no big deal and i would never complain about someone texting me before.... but now that i am a missionary its all different! im a freaking weirdo now with boys and i hate it. its so awkward to be around them! (hope you're happy dad)

 

We had a breakfast devotional at President Plocher's home. He is in the mission presidency and his home is suuuper nice. they are in our ward and i love them! His friend spoke to us that was actually the former mission president in Jaden's mission, Lima Peru Central? Maybe im wrong but he was awesome. He told us there are three simple things we need to do to be better missionaries. 1. Know the Book of Mormon is true. 2. Pray for your desires 3. Have a firm testimony. I loved those. They are obvious but it is good to be reminded. It was really good and fun to be with everyone :)

 

Oh i also got to go on exchanges with Sister  Pack! She is a Sister Training Leader now so they go on exchanges with all the sisters. it was THE BEST day ever. I miss her so much and i laughed so hard. Harder than i had in a long time so that was really good :)

 

I am going on my 11th week without a solid investigator. Talk about rough sauce. It has been super super hard but i just know that i am here for a reason. President Smart emailed me back from last week and told me he was very inspired to put me here so i know that there is a reason. I just have to find it. I am again walking in the dark and looking toward the Lord for my light. I know that He will take care of me and that everything will be okay. I need you all to stop praying for me, but to start praying for the people here that i will talk to. They need your prayers more than i do. Pray that their hearts will be softened. Thank you all so much for the letters! I loved all the letters from all my homies and from  the cute girls in primary! That made my week! I was so happy to get that and now it is hanging on my wall :)

 

I miss you all so much but in about a month we will be able to skype! Thats so exciting! Be ready for a lot of tears :)

 

Love you all and have a good safe week!

 

Sister Anderson :)

 

p.s. Dont kill me, i forgot my camera cord again.. I even took a bunch of pictures! But i will for sure bring it next week! :)

 

p.s.s. but the pictures that i sent are from another sister, Sister Todd. She is a life saver :)

 

p.s.s.s. i forgot to tell you.. the car we have is a brand new 2014 chevy cruz. i LOVE it. its super nice!  But i do miss being on my bike! I dont like getting in and out and in and out all the time!