Slowly but surely

Wasssssup errybody:

This week was another goodie!

Actually.. The weekend made it a goodie. I went to Brother Hadley's baptism on Saturday, which was probably a highlight of my mission. So he got excommunicated when he was about 20.. now he is in his mid 40s. I began teaching him and visiting his family, and they came to church for the first time and then I got transferred! So I didn't know anything that was going on with him, until I ran into some members there and they told me he was getting baptized. He asked me if I would give the talk on baptism which was a privelege for me because I got to tell him what a miracle he was to me! At that time, Pyper and I were struggling for people to teach (sound familiar?) Anyways, the Hadley's were an answer to my prayers. He smoked, chewed and drank. And the first couple of times we went over he hid from us. Eventually he warmed up to us and then I got transfered! But to come back and see this man with tattoos and messed up teeth from chewing, who was deciding to turn his life back to Christ, was truly a miracle! When he came up out of the water, the biggest peace came over me, and Pyper and I couldn't help but to cry. He bore such a sweet testimony of the Savior and of His Atonement, and how we had helped him realize that. As he was talking I honestly didn't even recognize him because he was so different from when I had started to teach him. It was a huge confirmation to me that the Spirit can literally change someone's heart. He said that we were angels here on earth that were sent to find him and help him find Christ again in his life. He said some of the sweetest things to Pyper and I. I realized that it really doesn't matter how many baptisms I have in each area. As long as I am starting something with someone, thats what counts! The cool thing was that he didn't count for a convert baptism, but that will probably be the best baptism I will have on my whole mission. I am so grateful for that opportunity that I had to be a part of his life and to be able to go and witness the work that the Spirit helped me accomplish while I was in that area :)

There honestly wasn't too much else that happened this week. This week is the last one of the transfer, thank goodness! So next week we will know the results. Praying for a miracle :) Haha

Our investigators are progressing SLOWLY but surely. Brother Minton watched the full Restoration DVD and cried through it. He also said a prayer out lout which he has NEVER done. I know that we have helped him come closer to baptism, even though right now might not be his exact time, I am glad that I have been able to be a part of the process :)

We went to the Cuadra's in the morning before church and got the kids dressed and ready for church so they had no excuse, and they all came! So that was good. Sister Cuadra said she wants Matthew baptized on May 17th.... HAHA we'll see about that.

Everyone else is the same as always. Cho dog and I had a good week. I am trying really hard to not get so frustrated with her, but hopefully this is our last week together :)

We had dinner with the elders at the Preciado's (Our WML) that was pretty fun. I had never had dinner with the elders at someone's house before so it was as awkward as you are imagining it to be.... Haha but it was still pretty fun! So thats what the pictures are from.

Hope everything is good at home! Back in the snow! HAHA. There were a few earthquakes here this week — that was kinda scary. Hopefully nothing bad happens. But you are all in my prayers as always! Love you tons!

Sister Anderson

Doctrine and Covenants 25:12

This week was a goodie!

So if you haven't noticed from my past emails, our work is pretty slow right now. We were sick of driving from house to house and nobody answering. So we thought we needed some fresh air so we decided to go tracting! Yup, knocking from door to door. Old school right? Right. But it was actually super fun!

We switched things up a bit. We would go from house to house, offering a blessing from our Savior, which some people accepted, but most did not. When people would say no, we would just simply ask if we could sing them a song instead! So we would sing the first verse of I am a Child of God. It was actually pretty amazing the change that people had after we would sing. We could feel the Spirit come in and start to testify to these people. After we would sing, they were more receptive to us and what we had to say, so we had the chance to testify to them that God lives and that He loves them and is aware of them. Then we would pray with them. We didn't exactly find any new investigators from this, but we planted seeds! Sheesh, we planted these seeds all over the place this week! I have realized I'm really good at that. Maybe I needed to come on a mission simply to plant seeds haha. But those cases where we were able to do that were those small and simple miracles that I needed. We were able to have 31 lessons this week, mostly from tracting!

Some of these people stuck out in my mind. There was one lady named Gail who let us in because her best friend is Mormon. We sang the song and she just started to cry. After it was over she hugged us and said that we made her day and that we were representing our church well. Even though we may not have a ton of people to teach, moments like that is what make me happy. I knew that we planted that seed into Gail's heart and that somewhere down the road, she will remember that two Mormon missionaries came and sang for her, and she liked it! THAT was a miracle to me.

Also this week was a huge turn around for the Choster and I. We were having our lovely comp inventory, talking about our feelings and all that, and i apologized to her for my stinky attitude the last couple weeks. She was so sweet and forgave me, then stopped and said, "Sister, do you love me?" I paused and said "Of course I do! I am so grateful for you!" She looked at me with tears in her eyes. I hugged her as she cried and felt that guilt and shame come over me, that I had not expressed that fully or enough to her. I realized how selfish I had been and how unChristlike I have been. From that moment I promised myself that I wouldn't act like i have been anymore and this week has been probably the best week I have had with her. It's crazy how much your attitude can change things. I dont have a legit excuse for my stinky attitude, as you know I always have to learn the hard way. But I always learn my lesson, don't I?

We talked to a man this week in the parking lot who said he had just lost his 22 year old son and he was going to the store to buy some beer to hide the pain. We talked to him for almost an hour outside the store, testifying to him of the Plan of Salvation. By the end of our conversation he thanked us, agreed to let us come back over, gave us his information, and then he said "Ya know what? I'm not going to go get beer anymore." And he turned and got in his car and left. I thought that was the coolest thing. The spirit had literally changed his heart and his mind, and saved him from drinking that night. He lives in a different area than where we are, so I dont know what will ever happen to him, but I was so grateful that Heavenly Father led us to him to help him that night.

One last story … we knocked on one man's door and he was probably about 80 years old. He said "Oh girls i dont have time today, I need to get myself a new bladder!" As he said that, he lifted up his shirt to show us his little pee bag fuuuuull of urine. I think i started gagging, especially since he told us he had one in the back for his fecal matter..... Later sister cho asked me what was in that bag because she thought it was liquid to clean out his bladdar or something, and i quickly corrected her and she almost threw up haha. It was disgusting but it was pretty funny! It's so interesting what complete strangers choose to tell us when we meet them.

Well. I absolutely love being a missionary. Times are tough but I wouldn't ask for anything different. I have been able to grow so close to my Heavenly Father and gain such a good relationship with Him and my Savior. I am so grateful for this opportunity to serve here in California, especially during the winter months :) Thank you all for your support and love! Packages and letters are always welcome! :)

Love you all!

Sister Anderson :)

p.s. this is what happens when my investigators don't come to church 

(matthew and his family didn't come AGAIN) 

p.s.s. sister graves also made us a green dinner for st patricks day! 

p.s.s.s. we also had to sing in sacrament meeting again this week. i dont know why they keep asking us! but everyone said it was pretty good :)

Hellllllllo everybooody:

Well. I just want to start by rubbing it in your face that it was 96 degrees here yesterday :) I will probs melt in the summer.. But I would choose that over Utah weather right now anyday!

This week was good :) We had our multizone conference which is always good. It was all about being a conduit for the Spirit between you and Heavenly Father. They talked a lot about church attendence and getting our investigators to come to church, and also being unified as a companionship, which we really needed. Things with Sister Cho and I have been a lot better. We are not best friends but at least this week we got a long. We still have a lot to work on but that's okay. We are tolerating each other and talking more so that is good!

We picked up a new investigator this week. Her name is Amy Duke.. Her husband is an inactive member and they have 2 daughters that are 8 (golden) and 5. She is super sweet and she honestly is an answer to prayers. There is a lot of potential with her and we are hoping she will be able to be baptized this next month!

With Brother Minton... I feel like we are in some stupid high school relationship with him haha. So last week he was all offended and mad at us, then we went over a few times this week and he acted like nothing even happened! Of course we didn't say anything about it either... so we broke up for a hot second but now we're back together :) hahahaha

Yesterday, the elders had a baptism for a 17 year old girl named Destiny. It was pretty cool because she joined the church all from one of her friends asking her if she wanted to come to church. It was a very spiritual baptism and it just made it so clear to me that we have such an important work to do. We never know who is searching for truth in their lives, unless we simply ask. We invite. It's not that hard!! I know the Lord is coming SOON and we have to get things done before He does. How have you all been doing with missionary efforts? I need some success stories!

I know this work is hard... But it is so worth it. SO worth it. I have learned so much in the past 9 months that i wouldnt have if i didnt come on a mission. These missions are hard because we are representing Jesus Christ. Sure He was perfect, but His life wasn't easy either. If we are representing Him for 18 months, we shouldnt expect it to be easy. I know that He is controlling this work, and that He is standing side by side with me, and all the other thousands of missionaries serving right now. And I am so grateful for that!

Have a beautiful week! I know I will here in California!

Love you all!

Sister Anderson :)

p.s. I am working on a birthday list that i will send home soon! These are my last months as a teenager! Yikes.

9 months holllllla

Family:

 

This week seemed like foreeverrrr long!

 

However.. It turned out to be quite alright!

 

Some of this letter might seem a little dejavu..ish.. If thats a word. I feel like I have been going through the same things that I did in Eastvale with Pyper! Yikes, right? Well we went on exchanges this week with the STLs. I went with Sister Tucker, she is super cool. We got along great and she gave me some pretty solid advice. I realized, like I said last week, that my attitude was awful and I needed to change it. I did my best to do that this week and to completely focus on the work. And I did. Brother Minton took up a lot of my time this week. We had a lesson with him on Friday, and it was going to be a little ultimatum lesson. We talked about reading Mark 10 with him. Mark 10 tells the story of the rich man who asks Christ what to do to gain eternal life. Christ tells him to sell his things and follow Him. The man puts his possessions before Christ and walks away. So we asked Brother Minton if that was what he was going to do, or if he would put his worldly things aside, drinking, and follow Christ. It was a pretty spiritual lesson. Before we went over we prayed and fasted and prayed and fasted for this lesson because we were pretty anxious about it. We prayed that his heart would be softened and that we would say the right things and that a miracle would happen. Well.. It didn't happen. Brother Minton's response was that he already is following Jesus Christ. He is doing everything he needs to be doing and he doesnt need to stop drinking. He said that he doesnt believe that Christ cares if we drink alcohol or not and that we just need to be good people. We were SUPER disappointed. This lesson was a huge step of faith for me, and i completely believed that a miracle would happen with this stubborn man. And in all reality he just became more stubborn. I was torn. We got in the car and I just started crying. (I have become a huge softy. Even bigger than I was before!) I was so upset that he didn't want to believe what we were saying, and I honestly felt a little betrayed that Heavenly Father didn't have my back. I was thinking that since I prayed and fasted that everything would work out. Sometimes we think that right? All we have to do is have faith and things will work the way we want them to. Well.. Wrong. I wish it worked like that! But over the rest of the week I just realized and accepted that the Lord's will is going to go forth no matter what we do. We are given these trials of faith to strengthen us and to draw us closer to the Lord, and we can decide to do that, or to turn the other way and be offended or lose that faith. This trial made me grateful for the faith that I do have, and that even though Brother Minton is denying the gospel right now, that could change in the future. But we did everything in our power, and now we can stand blameless before God. Anyways, it helped me a lot and brought me to many hours on my knees this week, which I am grateful for.

 

Anyway.. back to my flashback with Pyper.. We went on exchanges and the advice that Sister Tucker gave me was similar to the advice I got when I was struggling with Sister Pyper. So I had to do another change of heart and mind and kind of start over with Sister Cho. We are completely starting over in our area this week, so I thought it would be a good time to start over with her. This is cheesy but we had to force it, we got pieces of paper and wrote questions on them, so when we dont have anything to talk about, we pull out a question and talk about that. That has forced us to talk more and to get to know each other better, which I am grateful for. I realized that missionary work is so so SO hard and companions that you dont get along with make it even harder, and I want to make this as easy as possible. So I am not letting anything get on my nerves, and I am going to act myself and laugh and force a smile until it comes natural.

 

President Smart emailed me this week and said that the Lord loves and trusts me and that I am doing great work in my area and with the people that I am serving. That was so simple but that helped so much just to know that he know that Heavenly Father trusts me. Side note: President leaves in June and I'll probably cry like a little baby.

 

Well. I am ready to work hard this week. I am so sick of not having anyone to teach, so if nothing else that will motivate me! You'll see, by next week we will have a whole new teaching pool. PLEASE pray for us to find those people. There is a beautiful power in prayer.

 

Thanks for all your support and love. I love you all very much!

 

Sister Anderson

 

p.s. 9 months? Half way done! These pictures we took are to die for haha. Missons do weird things to you.. The other picture is a little girl who wears a "future missionary" badge to school everyday and she wanted a picture with us. Cutest thing.

 

Either You Can or You Can't

Famdamily:

 

This week... Geez where to I even begin. This week has been a rolllllercoasterrrrr.

 

Well let's start with some good stuff. Last Pday… I was talking about how I wanted to wax my lip… Ya know, just for fun. So Sister Graves bought a waxing kit! So thinking we knew what we were doing, we rubbed the little waxing strips together and stuck 'em on. Well.. it worked! But either me or Sister Graves pulled mine off too hard and ripped my skin off hahaha. And it made the rest of my lip all dry. It was super weird so I have been loadin' moisturizer on my face to clear it up. But it made for a good laugh :) We looked like the Lorax with the strips on our face :)

 

Also one night we were at the Graves again, and I asked Brother Graves to break dance. That was probably one of the best choices I have made :) It was sooo good haha I was laughing pretty hard :)

 

LAST the Cuadra's came to church! Even Matthew's dad! And he even bore his testimony :) Hopefully that means that the ball is rolling to be able to get Matthew baptized :)

 

Okay seriously though. This week was a toughy. It all kinda started when Brother Minton said that there is 0% chance of him quitting drinking. That was a major bummer. We set a goal to baptize 2 this month, which means I am expecting some big time miracles to happen. We were at the Graves for lunch after Brother Minton had said that, and I totally broke. I just started crying and unloading my feelings like a 19 year old girl does. Gosh I was like a blubbering idiot. I just let everything out, how I have struggled my whole mission, and everyone always says that it will get better and expect miracles and things like that, and then those miracles don't happen. And when they don't happen or things go wrong I start blaming myself. I start thinking what is wrong with me and why things aren't working like I want them to. I know it is not my fault but sometimes I can't help but think it is. Anyways, that night we had chinese take out for dinner. And this is SUPER cheesey but my fortune said "either you can or you can't." It kinda hit me. I realized that I can do anything, it's just up to my attitude. Like dad used to tell me all the time, (I'm totally throwing myself under the bus with this one) "Your attitude totally sucks right now." I realized that my attitude has indeed totally sucked. I have been this debbie downer and not been myself lately. A lot of it I think has been with Sister Cho and how we don't exactly get along, and our cultures are totally different.. But I can def change my attitude about that and find the good in her and in our companionship. Anyway, that night, I prayed. I prayed hard. I felt like Enos, wrestling with the Lord. I prayed for almost an hour apologizing, begging for help, and giving thanks for the things that I do have in my life. When I was done I felt SO good. I felt like my Savior was right there with me. It was a huge blessing to me. Sure things are still hard and we are still struggling to find people to teach, but I know that the Lord is here with me. That I am not alone! That's such a blessing that we all have! We will never be alone. Never.

 

Well, enough of my preaching. I know things will get better. I am grateful for these hard times to help me grow stronger and closer to my Heavenly Father. I have learned a lot about myself and just about life, and it's all thanks to the mish. Oh yeah. I'm half way done this week. Totes cray. Like seriously where did the time go?!

 

Well I miss you all to say the least. I may or may not have gotten a little homesick this week. I cried it all out and I'm fine.. I just miss you :) Be happy and have a great week! LOVE YOU!

 

Sister Anderson

 

p.s. it rained really hard this week......