The Last Email

Hey you guys. Wow. It's over. I can't believe that these two years actually came and went. The mission has been full of ups and downs, and all kinds of in-betweens. 

I don't really have much to say. I'll see you guys super soon, I'm so excited to be together again, and to be able to talk, hug, laugh, and reminisce together. 

To answer your question mom, tomorrow, we'll go to the mission home and spend some time there. Wednesday, we'll go to the temple, and basically sit around all day, then Thursday, I'll come home. 

Wow, I just want to say thanks for all your love, your support, and your prayers. You guys really are the best family in the world, and I'm so lucky to have you! 

I love you all so much, and I hope that you have a great couple of days until I see you. 

See you on Thursday!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

Last full week!

Hey Mom! This week was great! Happy Independence day to you guys too! It's such a blessing that we are from in the greatest country on earth!

It will be really interesting to feel the temperature and humidity difference when I get back.

This week was good, Jan Carlos got baptized on Saturday, but he was actually super sick that night and so he didn't come to get confirmed yesterday, but hopefully he'll improve and we'll confirm him next Sunday.

My best experience of the week was probably interviews with President. We talked for a while about the mission and about life, and I'm just really glad I have the mission president I do. He's a great guy, and just so full of love.

I'm sorry my emails are always so short, I promise that I'll make this last week count, and that I'll take advantage of every moment. I love you mom. Thanks for everything you do for me! I can't wait to see you guys! 

#10 days

--

Love, Elder Anderson

July 2, 2018 ~ Week 99

Hey Mom! This week was great! Jan Carlos is going to be baptized on the 7th of July and we've started teaching a couple more of his friends. 

Thanks for answering my questions. I'll try to take anything home that I think that Hunter could use in his mission. Oh yeah. The pants I was wearing in that picture were some that bought in my first area. 

Lol.

My pants have held up fairly well, and I have one pair that ripped on the side, but it was on the seam, so it can be repaired fairly easily. 

I'll DEFINITELY be bringing my scriptures home, don't worry about that. 

Oh, fun fact about Yadhira, she's Sophia's twin. They share a birthday, and she's also nine!

That's great to hear about Jarrett's old area. I'm happy to see my area progress, and to be able to help out all of the recent coonverts here.

Thanks for everything mom! I guess I'll only email you 2 more times before I see you for real! I'm so excited to see all of you and to be together again. I love you guys so much!

I hope you have a great week!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

June 25, 2018 ~ Week 98

Hey Mom! My toe is doing well. It doesn't hurt anymore, so everything is good there. That was actually the first time I've had to go to the doctor in my mission, so yeah, I've been lucky to have had really good health.

Yadhira's baptism went really well. We always have our baptisms on Saturdays. My comp and I plan on having 1 more baptism together, Jan Carlos, and then all of the news we get we'll prepare them for baptism at the end of July or the beginning of August.

Things are good here. I'm trying to make the most of my time that I have left here. But I'm also SO excited to see you guys and to be home! Haha, 24 days!!!

Sounds like you guys have been pretty stinking busy back home! I hope that you're not all too stressed out and that you really enjoy all of the activites that you're involved in!

Hey, quick question, do you know how much money I have in my savings account back home? Also, I'm trying to figure out what I need to take back home as far as the stuff I got for my mission. What do you want me to bring? What does Hunter need for his mission? Should I bring all of my pants and stuff back? Bedsheets? the umbrella?

Yeah, I took some money out because my card's gonna expire at the end of the month. I think I should have enough though. Thanks for putting that in though.

Nah, I'm pretty much good! Thanks for always thinking of and praying for me! I love you so much, and you guys are always in my thoughts and prayers! Love you so much, I hope you have a great week!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

June 18, 2018 ~ Week 97

Hey Mom!

This week had its ups and downs. I got an ingrown toenail, so that wasn't super fun, but I went to the doctor on Tuesday and he was able to get some cotton underneath the nail, so it's fine now.

It's funny you should ask about me speaking in sacrament because I actually spoke yesterday in sacrament meeting, but I didn't know beforehand that I was going to be speaking, because I guess the speakers didn't show up to church, so the bishop asked me if I could speak about the plan of salvation. I was actually pretty excited because I like public speaking, so I decided to speak about the principle of agency and responsiblity. I felt like it went pretty well, and surprisingly, I got complimented a lot afterwards for my winged talk!

I also just had my last Zone Conference this week! Elder Raps and I talked about the importance of the informe de progreso (Record of progress?) It was good.

This week, Yadhira will be getting baptized, and on the 6th of July, a kid named Jan Carlos will get baptized. They're progressing pretty well!

Also, did you hear that they're starting to make a new hymnbook that will be the same in all languages? How cool is that?

I love you guys and I hope you have a great week and I hope that you and Dad had a great anniversary!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

June 11, 2018 ~ Week 96

Hey! This week was good! Everything is actually the same in our companionship and house. (We just say apartamento) But yeah, things are good!

You´re welcome for the pictures! You can thank my comp, haha. We were able to go on a ward temple trip recently, and some of our recent converts went to do baptisms for the dead, so that was cool.

Haha, it's super weird how close I'm now getting to the end of my mission. Almost just a month left! I´m so excited to see you guys and the rest of the family! 

Mom, I'm glad to hear that you're feeling better! I hope you all have a great week!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

Life is full of Adventure ~ Week 95

Hey Mom! Wow, I'm sorry to hear about Tuesday night. That sounds terrible! I'm glad that that's over now though! I hope that that's the end of the problem and that nothing else happens! 

That's great that McKay got his eagle scout project finished! Good for him!

Sadly, I wasn't able to see either of the broadcasts, but I'm downloading both of them right now so that I'll be able to watch them at home. 

This week was good. We've got a couple of kids that are going to get baptized this month, but we need to start looking for some news!

Tell Sophia happy birthday for me!

I hope that you have a great week!

Oh yeah! And I am staying for another transfer, so I'll be finishing up here in Cristo Rey!

Love, Elder Anderson

Santo Domingo Temple

May 28, 2018 ~ Week 94

Hey! I hope everything's going well back home. I'm sorry to hear about your health situation mom. I hope everything is resolved and that it isn't anything serious. Please keep me updated. I'll keep you in my prayers. 

I'm glad to see that school's out! That's always really exciting. That means I'll be home super soon! Aaaahhh! But for now, I'm just going to keep working hard. We had two baptisms this week! Steven and Miguelángel both got baptized, and they also both got the priesthood, and they're going on the ward temple trip this Thursday. We're also now teaching Jefry, Miguelángel, and Steven`s friend: Jan Carlos, and he has a fecha for June 16th, and he's really excited to get baptized.

I think/hope that I'll be staying here in Cristo Rey for my last transfer. I'll find out on Saturday! Being a Zone Leader is going well. Ours is the only Zone in the entire mission that reached the goal of 2 baptisms per companionship in the month of May! Haha, so things are going well!

Something really cool happened this week. We left with the Second Counselor in the bishopric: Ramón, and we didn't have any appointments, so we felt like we should go to Steven's house, but when we got there, Steven wasn't there, but his mom was. Her name is Blendy. She was baptized about a year ago, and her husband doesn't really like the church a ton, so it's been kind of rough for her sometimes. So we talked with her, and we asked if we could share something with her. So we prayed and I shared a scripture about prayer, and we started discussing the importance of prayer, and then Blendy started to cry, and she said that these past few days have been rough for her. And that just before we came she had prayed for God to send someone to help her. 

Wow. That was a cool moment. It's amazing too see God's hand in everything and to be able to be the answer to someone's prayer. 

This week, I'd like to invite the family to pray to be the answer to someones prayer, and if you ever find yourself in a difficult moment, don't be afraid to pray for help. God knows us, and will help us in any difficult moment. 

I love you all so much and I'm grateful for everything you do for me! I hope everything goes okay with your kidney stone mom, and I hope you feel better! You are always in my thoughts and prayers and I love you guys so much! Have a good week!!!!!! ​

--

Love, Elder Anderson

May 21, 2018 ~ Week 94

Hey Guys, how's it going? Sounds like school is winding down now. Is everyone pretty excited for summer vacation? I'm so excited for the weather to warm up... Just kidding. Haha, it's been way too hot recently. Lol. When is the last day of school for everyone?

This week was good! We baptized Dorianni! She's 9 years old and her parents were kind of less active, but her grandparents are active, so her mom started coming a lot more frequently and her dad came to her baptism! So that's good.

Probably the coolest experience of the week was on Sunday. Jefry passed the sacrament to the congregation, and it was just really cool to see one of my converts using the priesthood to help others. It was really rewarding and it made me reflect on the people who encouraged me in my life to make sacred covenants and to righteously excercise the priesthood (Mostly my parents, but also friends, and ward leaders) And I'm so grateful for that. Really the only way that I can pay that back is to pass it on. 

I had great parents, so to pay you guys back, I have to strive to be a good, loving parent, I've had great ward leaders, so I need to be willing to minister to the needs of others. That's really what our relationship is like with our Heavenly Father. We'll never be able to pay him back for his perfect love, or salvation, but he doesn't expect us to pay him back, he just expects us to be grateful, and keep the chain going by helping others and to strive for improvement. 

I love you guys, and I hope you have a great week!

Oh, and Steven and Miguelángel are getting baptized on Saturday!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

Oh! And I was wondering if when I get home you would be okay with making pork barbequoa with cilantro lime rice. That sounds sooooo delicious!

May 14, 2018 ~ Week 93

Hey Mom! It was great to be able to talk to you yesterday! It is an incredible feeling to talk to you guys and it reminds me of the love I have for each one of you!

Don't worry, I'm not too trunky. Just a little 😉 But I'll definitely keep working hard to the end! Haha, love you mom!

-Elder Anderson

-Love, Elder Anderson

Last Mother's Day call with Elder Anderson before he returns home.

The Fam - Mother's Day 2018

Love that Smile and the Thumbs Up!

d

21 Months - Week 92

Hey Mom! This week was good. It was pretty normal. We've been trying to encourage the relief society president and the elders quorum president in our ward to make assignment for ministering. Especially for our recent converts. But I think they'll do it eventually.

I'm sure Hunter is so ready to graduate. I know how he feels. 

I'll plan on calling you guys as soon as you get home from church. So 2:00 your time. I'm so excited to call you guys for the last time before I see you for real!

The Zone is doing great though! We've got some really good investigators and I'm really happy here. Things are good.

Anyway. I hope you have a great week this week! Love you mom!

See More from Paula Anderson

--

Love, Elder Anderson


May 8, 2018 ~ 

Hey Mom! Just wanted to let you know real quick that I'll actually be skyping at 5:00 your time or a little after on Sunday. We'll plan on doing it through FaceTime. Sorry for the change! Love you!

-- 

Love, Elder Anderson

April 30, 2018 ~ Week 91

Hey Mom! The rainy season I think is like, always I think. It hasn't been raining a lot recently though.

I heard that the Jazz have been doing pretty well. Most of the kids in this country LOVE basketball, so I've heard a little bit about the playoffs.

I'm so excited for Hunter and his mission call. I think that the whole family is going to have to learn Spanish now, haha, that's awesome that you've already started, and that you're learning portuguese.

That's also really exciting for Hannah! I'm glad that she was able to make elections! I'm so happy for her!

We are now making some progress with Jefry's Mom. She says she's going to come to church on Sunday to see Jefry recieve the priesthood, so that'll be great.

My comp was having some constipation problems, and he's had them for his whole mission, but he actually decided to stay, but it was after transfers, so they sent him to a diferent area to finish. 

My new comp is Elder Ellis from South Jordan, and I think he'll be my last companion. He's a chill guy and he'll be a good guy to end the mission with. The new Zone Leader here is Elder Raps, my comp from the MTC. So we're both pretty excited about that. Ending the mission like we started! 

My next transfer date is June 4th, and then The next tranfer I'll be going home! 

Things are super good though! Everyone in my house is cool, and we are doing good things here. 

I'm so excited to skype you guys in a couple of weeks. Our bishop is going to let us do it at his house, so we're all set! 

I love you Mom and I hope you have a great week! Sorry I can't write a whole lot. Today is a holiday here and the internet centers aren't open.

-- 

Love, Elder Anderson

April 23, 2018 ~ Week 90

Hey Mom! So I won't be able to call in, because it'll be too late, but can you send me a video tonight without saying where he's going, and tomorrow, I'll be able to log on and watch the video? Thank you so much Mom! I appreciate that and I'm so excited to find out where he's going!!!

We had a baptism on Saturday! Jefry got baptized and it was a great service. His mom and little siblings were able to come and they really enjoyed it. They also came to church on Sunday to see the confirmation. It was great!

Also, my comp is going home for some stomach problems he's been having. He only had one transfer left though. But my new companion will be Elder Castillo. He's dominican, but he's lived in the canary islands since he was 12. So that's pretty cool! What island did Jarrett serve on again? Tenerife right?

I love you mom! Thanks for all your love and support! I can't wait to talk to you on Mother's day!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

April 18, 2018 ~ Week 89

Hey Mom! I'm also glad that it didn't expire. I'm sorry to have scared you like that! Yeah, I'll just have to prepare ahead of time to be able to have the money I need when coming home, but no need to worry, I'll be alright. 

As far as the luggage situation, honestly my suitcases have worked great for me. The big one has been extremely useful, and I don't have any complaints about it. Everyone usually has a huge suitcase about the same size as well, so I would reccomend that Hunter use the same suitcase that I did. 

As far as when Hunter opens his call, maybe you could send me a text message the day he gets it telling me what time he'll be opening it so I can be ready. I can ask a member if I can use their phone or computer to Facetime you guys. The bishop has an iPad so that would probably work. 

The temple today was great, and it was so good to be in the house of the Lord. I ordered the garments and everything, so that's good. And my pants and shirts are good. My shoes are wearing out more than anything, but I think I can make them work for three more months!

Thank you for always thinking of me and for being such a great mom! I love you so much! I hope you have an incredible week this week! 

--

Love, Elder Anderson

April 9, 2018 ~ Week 88

Hey Mom! I'm sorry I thought that it expired, but when I double checked it, it says that it expires in June, and not in March. I hope you didn't already mail the debit card. 

We went bowling last week for our Zone Activity, and it was pretty fun! It's nice to be in the capital so that I can do things like that. We just had our Zone meeting this week, and it went well. We've got a pretty good Zone. Being a Zone Leader is going well. It's nothing too crazy. We just have to plan a lot of stuff and inform everyone about everything. 

I'm so excited to hear where Hunter gets called to! I had a dream the other night that he was called to Kazaghtan, so that was kind of funny. 

Things here are good. We're teaching a few youth and their friends. Steven is the son of a recent convert, Jefry is his friend, and Miguelangel is another of their friends. They all love baseball and Steven and Jefry have a fecha for the 21st. They're some great kids!

That's too bad to hear about Hunter and his frustration with Ray, but I hope that can all be solved. 

Oh! By the way, next week I will be writing on Wednesday, because our P-day is going to be changing because we're going to the temple. But I'm really excited to go to the temple again!

Anyway! Thanks for writing me! I hope you have a great week! I love you!

-Elder Anderson

Love, Elder Anderson

April 2, 2018 ~ Week 87

Hey Mom! Sorry I'm writing so early. We have a zone activity today, so I'm just poppìng in to let you know that I'm doing great and that I had another great week this week! Conference was great, and I'm so excited about all of the changes that were announced!

To answer your questions

1- I already deffered online. It was super easy, so that's taken care of. And yeah, I'm planning on living at home until I move up to Logan if that's okay. 

2. That sounds great! I want to work as much as I can, preferrably full-time so that I can save up for college.

3. It would be super fun to be able to go to someplace like Punta Cana. I just don't know how expensive it would be to go there. I guess I kind of imagined it as being more of a mission tour than a vacation. But that sounds like a lot of fun!

4. My debit card actually just expired and I can't order the garments... I don't know how you could get the card to me, or if it's even possible, but maybe you could just order the garments for me? I think that I'll have some room in my suitcase to bring you guys some if you want. 

Also, I got the go-ahead from my mission president to call you guys when Hunter gets his call, so keep me updated on that so that I can be listening when he opens it!

I'm sorry I don't have much time, but I love you Mom and I hope you have a great week!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

March 26, 2018 ~ Week 86

Hey Mom! Had another great week this week! Being a Zone Leader is going well. It's actually a bit easier than being a District Leader because I don't have to plan the weekly District Meeting. Only the monthly Zone meeting.

My new area is great though, and we have a lot of progressing investigators.

That's too bad to hear about McKay's elections, but it truly is the JR. High curse. 

I'm so excited for conference, and I'm really excited to see who the new apostles are going to be. (Hopefully I've met one of them). Haha, we'll probably just watch it in the chapel with the members, so it'll be in Spanish so that's not a big deal. It's true that I've had a lot of spanish speaking companions. I speak spanish most of the time, and honestly, I'm pretty proud of the level of fluency that I've reached. In the MTC I was behind a lot of people in my spanish, and I didn't think I'd ever learn, but I've worked, studied, and practiced a lot, and I often recieve compliments on my accent (my spanish accent, not dominican accent. I've tried to avoid adopting their way of talking because it's the equivalent of inner city hood accents in english) Haha, but yeah, it's good! I do sometimes have a hard time thinking of english words.

Thanks for everything mom! Sorry this is a short letter, I had to spend some time deferring my USU admission until the Winter semester. 

I hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Anderson

I lied...

So, turns out my companion isn't Elder Hodson. Transfers were crazy and so they had to change a bunch of stuff last minute. So my companion is actually Elder Sarmiento from Bucaramanga, Colombia, and he's an awesome guy! Honestly, he's one of the hardest working and obedient missionaries I've met, and I'm so happy to be his companion!

But yeah! This week was great! We have some great investigators in this area, and we also were able to contact a bunch of good people this week. We even had 8 investigators at church! 

About the memory card, I had recently transferred most of my pictures to a usb drive, so I didn't really lose any photos. 

Oh, and the charge on my card was from some scriptures that I bought. I wanted to start studying and marking english scriptures for when I get home, so I got some, and those are the ones that basically I plan on using for the rest of my life. But, I do plan on buying some garments as well before I come home because I'm pretty sure they're way cheaper here, and mine are starting to wear out, but I'll keep you updated.

I am so grateful for you, mom, and for everything you've taught and done for me. I love you so much and I know that it was not by mere chance that I was sent to be your son, but it was by divine design. I think we both had stuff to learn from each other. Thank you mom. Your are the greatest and I can never pay you back for all of your love and service, but I can't wait to talk to you on mothers day and then see you in July and give you a big hug!

I also can't wait to find out where Hunter's going on his mission. That's so exciting! Keep me updated please!

I love You!!!!!!!!

-- 

Love, Elder Anderson

March 12, 2018 ~ Week 84

Hey Mom! This week actually went pretty well, and we got transfers AND we had a baptism! So that´s awesome! I don´t have any pictures, because something happened with my memory card, and it´s not working, but I´ll try to get them to you sometime. 

So, I'm pretty excited because being a Zone Leader means that another Zone Leader will be my comp, and he's going to want to work. I'm going back to Santo Domingo to the zone of Central, and I'll be in an area called Cristo Rey. And my companion is Elder Hodson, and we were in the MTC together, so that'll be cool!

So, Juan Valentín finally got baptized, and it was a good service, so I'm pretty happy about that. 

But yeah, I just want to say thanks for your love and support with everything. I love you mom, and I'm praying for you. 

I hope you have a great week!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

March 6, 2018 ~ Week 83

Hey Mom,

Thanks for your email. I love hearing from you and hearing about what's going on back home.

This was another kind of rough week. I am sick and tired of disobedient missionaries that don't understand why they came on the mission and have no sense of respect or reverence. 

I called President yesterday to inform him about the situation. President thanked me for my obedience and talked with my comp for a while. Afterwards, my companion and I talked, and he apologized and I apologized for any pride I might have had, or for offending him in any way, and we decided on doing a "Week of consecration" for his last week in the mission. So we're going to strive for perfect obedience for a week. 

Then I called President back to tell him what we talked about, and he told me that earlier in the week, he had recieved an impression about me, and that he was glad that I called him because that was an answer to his prayers, and he asked if I would be willing to serve as Zone Leader. So I said that I would be willing to, and he thanked me and he thanked me for what I did, and said to keep the tablet until the last day like I had decided.

So yeah! Kind of crazy, and the interesting thing is that sometimes when you do the right thing, you feel a little bad because other people want you to feel like it's not the right thing, but I don't care what others think. I care what God thinks and I'm glad that I chose him because I'm his disciple, and I fear no man! And that includes my companions.

But yeah, sometimes that happens. I hope that next transfer I'll get a good companion. We'll see. But I'm glad that the Lord and President trust me to be able to handle the tough ones. I didn't know that I would have to deal with this so much in my mission and it can definitely be frustrating, especially when you're forced to live with people who don't share your values, but hey, life is hard sometimes, and God will always help.

Other than that, this week was good. We should have a baptism on Saturday, so that'll be good! But I just found out that Nate Johansen and I have the same exact release date! July 19th!!! So that's super cool that we'll be getting home the same day! 

Also, that's crazy to hear about Hunter's friends getting their mission calls. That will be so good to have a good month or two together before he heads out on his mission. That means that he'll be getting his mission call when? At the end of April? I'm so excited to find out where he's going! 

It really is an eternal summer here. There's a joke that I like saying and it's that there are two seasons in the dominican republic. 1. Verano (Summer) and 2. Infierno (It's a play on words because Invierno with a v means winter, but infierno with an f means hell) So yes I'm still making puns even though I'm speaking Spanish!

That's great news about Hannah and Hunter making their teams, and about McKay getting his life scout! Tell them that I'm super proud of them!

I hope you're enjoying your calling even though I'm sure that it's keeping you really busy!  I know that the lord blesses us when we serve, and I've come to realize that sometimes the blessings that he gives us aren't always random blessings in other facets of our lives, but they are a direct and natural result of the attributes and habits that we're cultivationg. Nothing in life is about what we do, it's all about what we're becoming through what we do. We're not earning heaven, we're learning heaven step by step.

Sorry I don't have a lot of pictures but the four I'm sending are of my new buzz cut, some caves we visited on Pday today, and the view of San Cristóbal (My pueblo) and you can see the capital in the background. 

Anyway, I love you guys so much, and I'm sorry for ranting a little bit in this email, but I'm trying to work hard and make you guys proud. I love you so so much, and I'm so grateful to have you as a mom. 

I hope you have a great week, and that you have success in all that you do!

Love, Elder Anderson​

February 26, 2018 ~ Week 82

Hey Mom! Thank you for sharing your experience of service. It's so important to serve, and what goes around really comes around, and I know that we will be served it we find ways to do it as well.

This week was good. We are working hard here in canastica, and things are going great. I've recently been studying in Doctrine and Covenants, and I'm really enjoying it, because I've never really studied it in depth like I'm doing right now, so that's cool.

Also, thanks for sending me your DNA results. It's kind of crazy that both you AND dad have 7% from the Iberian Peninsula. That's a surprising amount! Kind of cool! 

I love you guys so much and I'm so grateful for your love and support. I hope that you all have a great week this week and that you all are successful in everything that you do.

Love, Elder Anderson

February 19, 2018 ~ Week 81

Hey Mom! This week went well. We might have a baptism in the next two weeks. We've been teaching an investigator named Juan Valentín for some time now and he's just about ready to get baptized! So that's exciting!

Oh. I actually have a request for you and Dad. I remember that a while ago you guys took a DNA test, where they track your genetics and tell you what part of the world your ancestors come from, and I was wondering if you guys could email me the results of that test. I'd be really interested in seeing it. 

But yeah. Things are great! Pretty normal, but great! This week we got some good references from the ward. The ward is actually getting better at giving us references.

But yeah! Everything's great here! We're working hard and I'm loving life! 

Love you guys, and I hope you have a great week!

Oh, and is Hunter already working on his mission papers? He'll be able to get his call either next month or in April, right? 

--

Love, Elder Anderson

February 12, 2018 ~ Week 80

Hey! I got the package that you guys sent me! Thanks so much for sending it to me! I really enjoyed the beef jerky, the juicy pear jelly bellies, the letters, and I actually needed a toothbrush, so it was perfect! Thank you so much for sending that to me!

This week was normal, but it was good. My area is half of Canastica. A little town west of San Cristobal. It's a good place. We live right next to the church, so that's super convienient. We email in one of the 3 internet centers in town. But they all have their difficulties. Especially when the power goes out. But, that's life. The mission actually changed some things. We used to have a mission temple trip every 6 months, but we don't do that anymore. So I haven't been in 4 or 5 months, and the next time I'll go will be when I go home, so that's too bad. 

It's crazy that McKay is now 13 years old! That is hard to comprehend!

Sorry I don't really have any news for you. Everything's just about the same! But it's good!  Sorry this Email is so short. There's been no electricity in the town all day, and now we have an FHE to go to.I hope you have a great week! I love you and I'm praying for you always!

-- 

Love, Elder Anderson

February 5, 2018 ~ Week 79

Hey Dad! Thank you guys for your prayers and fasting on my behalf. That's really touching and I'm grateful for all you guys do for me. I'm doing pretty well this week. Sadly, my companion was sent home this past week for transfers, but he'll have the opportunity to come back and finish his mission if he's ready in 6 months. The only communication I got from president about the whole thing was his reply to my email. 

Things are good though. My new comp is also from Guatemala and it's his last transfer in the mission. His name is Elder Zárate. He's a pretty cool dude so far, so hopefully things will continue to go well with him. 

I completely agree with you as far as having a vision and working to bring it to pass. I like what President Ballard said, that God is our perfect example of having a goal and a plan. His goal is Moses 1:39, and his plan to make that happen is the plan of salvation. I think that's why we focus so much as missionaries on our missionary purpose. I think it's a wonderful reminder though to remember my purpose and make sure to have it take effect in everything I do. I'm going to ponder that and apply it this week. 

Thanks for everything! Have a great week!
-- 

Thanks mom! Don't worry about it! Things here are good. I've got my 3rd guatemalan comp. His name is Zárate. Things are good here. Our investigators are progressing. Good things are happening in the zone, and I'm happy and doing well.

I can't believe I already have 18 months in the mission and that hunter will be getting his mission call in the next couple months! Crazy stuff. I'm happy though, and I'm working hard!

Thanks for being the best Mom ever. I'm so grateful for you and Dad and everything you guys have taught me. I know sometimes it might be tough raising kids when it doesn't seem like your effort pays off with all the encouraging and inviting you do, but I promise that you make a bigger impact on your kids than you realize. Thanks for everything you've done for me. I can never repay you for all your service and love, but I'm trying to be more of what you want me to be and to reach the potential that you see in me. I love you mom

Love, Elder Anderson

January 29, 2018 ~ Week 78

Hey Mom! 

This week went well! I finally got a baptism in my area! A couple of hours ago actually. That's why I'm writing so late. Dorka just got baptized. She's the mother of a recently returned missionary and she's absolutely golden except for the fact that she lives and works in the capital and she hardly ever has time to meet with us, but we were finally able to schedule the time for an interview and a baptism on a P-day! It was a great service though and it was really touching to see Freddy baptize his mom, and afterwards they just hugged and she said "Thank you, thank you so much" It was cool. She also gave an incredible testimony, so that's super awesome!

We don't usually spend a lot of time on reactivation because I haven't seen very much success with it at all. I've tried a few times, but for some reason it's harder to get members to come back than to get non-members to get baptized sometimes...

Sadly, neither Daniel nor his sister came to church this week. I don't know why, but we're going to go visit them to find out. 

Also, we just got transfers and I'm staying in Canastica for another transfer, and my comp is leaving. Kind of strange, but good. We still don't know who my new comp will be, but apparently I'll find out tonight. 

That's cool that you guys got to go listen to Elder Christofferson. I love his talks and it's cool because he speaks spanish, so he translates his own conference talks sometimes.

That's cool that Dad gets to work so closely to the Young Men and especially McKay!

I love you guys so much, and I'm so grateful for your example of hard work and devotion. Thank you!

I hope you have the best week ever.

Thank you for sharing your experience with me dad. I hope that your testimony helps him to be able to act and to make a decision that will absolutely change his life. I'm so grateful for a family who encouraged me to go on a mission and I'm so grateful for the blessing that it has been and that it will be for me. I have been blessed in ways that I absolutely could not have foreseen, and I think that obeying any commandment is like that. That's what faith is. It's not a business transaction where we know everything that's included in the deal. It's an act of love on both sides, and God will always give us so much for the small amount that we can offer him. 

--

Love, Elder Anderson

January 22, 2018 ~ Week 77

This week we once again had 5 people come to church, so that was awesome! The problem is, we postponed Daniel´s baptism because honestly, this mission is a big baptizing mission, but sometimes I feel like that's a bad thing. Because we baptize a lot, but the retention rate is so small. So I've made it my goal to only baptize people that are very prepared and not just baptizing someone because they´re willing to be baptized. So for Daniel, we told him that if he came to church 3 times on his own, then we would baptize him. Because he's been coming to church for a little over a month, but we have always gone to pick him up in the morning. So we figured he needed to learn some self-sufficiency and needed to be able to go on his own, but he didn't end up coming. 

The funny thing is that as we've taught Daniel, his older sister has been in a lot of the lessons since the beginning. The problem we always had with her though, is that she was content listening and participating in lessons, but when we would invite her to read and pray, she wouldn't. Then, we got her to read a little in the Book of Mormon, but she still refused to pray for some reason. So we were always wondering about why she wouldn't pray and we kept teaching Daniel, and then suddenly everything changed, and she decided that she would pray, and that she would come to church with us, so she even showed up to church without us coming to pick her up, so now she's progressing more than her brother! The goal now is to baptize them both once they're ready so that they can have support from each other.

But things here really are good. I'm happy in spite of the difficulties. Sometimes I feel pretty lonely, but sadness is temporary, and I really am happy most of the time. I love you guys, and I'm so grateful for your prayers and your love, and the trust that I have in you. 

I hope you have a great week!

Love, Elder Anderson

January 15, 2018 - Week 76

Hey Mom! I hope your week was great! Mine was! We had 5 investigators in church yesterday, which is the most we've ever had here in Canastica! Honestly, the trick is just to get 3x the amount of people that you want to come to promise that they'll come. So in the morning, we go and 10 of them either aren't awake, aren't home, or aren't willing to come, but we got five!!! So that's good. The bad news is that we're going to have to postpone Daniel's baptism a little more because we think that he needs to be able to come to church on his own a few times to show that he has the desire to, and that he'll be able to when we're not here anymore. 

We were able to watch the last part of President Monson's Funeral. We didn't see the whole thing because they were broadcasting it to the stake center, but the gua gua that goes from our house to there took an hour to pass by even though they usually pass by at least every 15 minutes. So that was too bad. I'm super excited about the broadcast tomorrow with President Nelson!

But yeah, this week was pretty normal. We found some new investigators. We've had to drop some others that weren't progressing. I'm trying to work really hard in these next couple weeks so that the next Elder that replaces me has a lot of people progressing here. I'll probably be going on to my next area in two weeks. Things are great though! Life is good, and I'm happy! One of my favorite quotes from President Monson is that the future is as bright as our faith. That is so true. The world can fall down around us "and we know it will in the last days" But we can have peace that only the gospel offers. 

I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

--

Love, Elder Anderson

January 8, 2018 ~ Week 75

Hey Mom! I got my package!!!! Thank you so much for sending it! I loved the letters from everyone and all of the goodies you sent. You guys know all my favorite things!!! Yeah, I guess I'm one of the older missionaries now. The sisters that came in at the same time as me are now leaving in 3 weeks. Crazy stuff! 

Yeah, we'll be able to watch the funeral, so that'll be good. We're all making guesses as to who Pres. Nelson is going to choose as his counselors. 

The council thing was pretty cool. Nothing super crazy. Hopefully it'll get better with more practice.

This week was normal. Daniel's getting baptized on the 20th. His sister refuses to pray about the book of mormon though, and we can't figure out why. 

Sorry I've been really bad at writing recently. I'm going to make an effort to send pictures and write better letters from now on! I love you guys and I hope you have the best week ever! 

--

Love, Elder Anderson

Bienvenidos a 2018

Hey! Happy New Year!!! I can't believe I just spent an entire calendar year away from home. Crazy stuff! 

Last night we had to be inside by 6:00, because obviously there was a lot of alcohol, a lot of loud music, and a lot of crazy people . And today the party continues. Haha, it actually never stops.

Church yesterday was just an hour long, and the members here went to someone's house to all eat together. We couldn't go, but we were brought food!

Things here are really good! Daniel and his sister came to church, and he's progressing again. Hopefully he'll get baptized this month. 

Things with my comp are going well. We're getting along just fine! And in the house we have Elder Ortiz from Mexico, and Elder Sitter from Wyoming.

I haven't gotten the packages yet, but hopefully I'll get them soon! I'll let you know as soon as they come.

I love you all, and I'm so grateful for my wonderful family and friends that motivate me to serve and to reach my potential. Thank you for your examples.

I hope you have a great week, and a prosperous 2018!

--

Love, Elder Anderson