Ocean front property

June 12, 2017

Hey Fam!

So the big news is I got changed! I moved to the coast! I am in Barrancas, a small town just off of San Antonio, one of the biggest shipping ports in Chile.  Here it is super cold! I am here with Elder Quipildor from Argentina  He has 6 months in the mission.  I am senor comp now.  The ward here is super small.  Only 50 people attend church, we will change that, but so far the sector seams good.  I can't wait to get to know the people here.

It was sad to leave El Monte. I truly loved it there, lots of memories and it truly is my kind of town. Elder Lazo is staying there and he will train again.  It was sad to say goodbye to my converts, but it was good.  I could never really see how big a part of there lives I was until I had to leave.  They are truly amazing people and I know they will continue in the gospel.  Some of them just got called into the Relief Society which will help them tons!

This past week we spent a lot of time helping A with his problems.  He fell a few times and let me tell you, you can't talk sense into a drunk dude.  I also learned how dangerous it is to be alone.  I am so grateful that I have the ability to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.  It was during lessons with A that I was able to see the importance of that.

I love you all and I can't wait to write you all about my new sector next week! 

Elder Anderson

Matthew 10:39 Sometimes you have to lose it all to gain what the Lord wants you to.

June 5, 2017

Hey family!

so to start off let me tell you a little about the weather.  Here it is cold, humid and cold. All day long I can see my breath and it gets really, really cold at nights.  We now sleep with electric blankets and with like 3 blankets on top.  This week we need to buy a heater for the house because we haven't had one! It is not that great when you can see your breath during personal study in the mornings. I am also looking in the next few weeks to buy a coat here.

So like I promised last week I will explain the picture of the little bear dressed up like a missionary. Well his name is Elder Donoso.  Elder Lazo and I made him.  He is a missionary that every week after sacrament meeting we send him home with a family and a backpack full of materials.  The family then has to share all the stuff in the backpack.  This activity is a good way we get the ward to be more involved and to get new references.

This past Monday we were walking down the street and on a small corner store I saw one of my contacts.  I decided to turn around and go talk to him.  After talking to him for a bit he told us about a friend of his that needs help.  We got to meet him that night and we have been working with him for the past week, his name is A.  He is 36, he has some big problems with drinking and the poor guys family left him and his mom died not to long ago.  He has some pretty bad depression. Almost every day this past week we have been visiting him and trying to help him. He is a really great guy who just hit rock bottom. We brought him and his friend, my other investigator to church yesterday. Throughout church he started to cry at times.  I could see how hard it was for him to sit there and think about all that he has lost. I just sat there with my arm around him all of church trying to give him some comfort.  He turned to me at one point and said he would love to bring his son here to the church, so we put that as our goal with him. His journey will be a hard one, and a lot of times I look at us, just 2 19 year old boys with ties.  How can we help this dude? In reality we are the only ones who can really help him. We were set apart and given many gifts for this exact reason. We are the only people who can help this guy get the exact kind of help that he really needs.

It was this week that I was really able to see the potential and the good that missionaries have.  I hope that I can use my full potential and be able to really help this guy the way he needs help. 

Well everything else here is good! Not much to say.  Changes are next week, so chances are I will be writing you from another sector.  I have been here in this zone for 3 changes.  It's not looking good for another change in El Monte, but you know where ever I go it will be where the Lord wants.

Love you all! Have a great week and enjoy the warmth!

Elder Anderson

 

 

Wedding rings and a baptism

May 29, 2017

Hey Fam,

Well to start off we had a conference with Elder Packer of the 70 this past week. It was really great. We talked a ton about missionaries having the spirit and the importance of the spirit in our lessons, as well as Sister Packer talked about exact obedience.  I had a second to talk to her after the conference, they are such great people.

So I guess the only other big thing this week is that I had another baptism. She is the lady that we have been working with for a while. Saturday at around 2 we had the wedding, just a small deal that she did at her house.  After that we all loaded up in cars and drove to the church. There were a lot of nonmembers at the baptism that were there for the wedding. A lot of people liked the baptism and had questions afterwards.  After her baptism P shared a few words with everyone about everything.  She was a lady that before her baptism you could see the grief and things that her life before had caused her.  As she talked she sobbed tears of joy about how this baptism was so important to her. One thing I forgot to mention was as I was in white and we were about to go take pictures she kept calling me her, "little angel", even though that for sure is not true.  I was touched by her comment, it really was cool to see how big of a difference I have made in her life.  I have helped her start her journey, her next step is to go to the temple with her husband who in the process of teaching P we reactivated. 

Funny story of the week, as we were trying to get the water filled up in the baptism font the hot water didn't work. The water heaters here are on demand water heaters.  When the sense water passing through a batter clicks on and lights the flame. Well the batteries were dead and no one had keys, not even the Bishop to get into the door where the heater was. Long story short with a few papers clips I had the lock turned 4 out of the 5 turns. (All the doors here in Chile are like safe doors) Then the lock smith showed up and did that same thing I did and got it opened.  Ha ha! I just had to turn it one more time! The bishop afterward told me he is a little scared that anyone can get into his house now. Before the mission I was known a little for being able to crack bike locks and stuff. I guess that came in handy to help us baptize a lady in warm water!

These past few weeks I have been thinking a lot about faith, I actually felt inspired to write a quote, here it is in one of the pics!

Love you all! have a great week!

Ha ha!  I will explain the bear next week!

Visa run

May 23, 2017

hey fam!

well sorry this letter wont be long either, but not a lot happened! but i just want to give a shout out to everyone that emailed me for my birthday, it was so interesting to see 47 emails waiting for me! haha i love you all and i am so glad for all of your support!

so this past week it has gotten a lot colder and we are for sure using a lot of coats! this past week there has been a lot of rain storms and we can see our breath even inside our house! we have been talking to tons of people trying to get some heaters in the house and stuff like that along as electric blankets,

this past week we spent a lot of time contacting and trying to be very creative in how we are contacting, one of the ways that we contacted was that everyone here in chile has something they are selling out of there house, so we decided that we were going to talk to everyone about what they are selling and then turn the whole thing into a good contact,

so yesterday for my birthday i got the oppertunity to go do my visa! haha not the funniest thing i could of done! i had to wake up early to go into the big city, once i was there i stood in line for almost the whole day with a bunch of hatiano, haha had a little oppertunity to practice some french, 

sorry not much else to write, thankyou all for all that you do for me! 

elder anderson

Duck hunting hands

May 15, 2017

Hey Everyone,

My email this week will be pretty short, not a whole lot to write about, just the work.  I put the title duck hunting hands because that is the words that describe this week. If any of you know me, my life before the mission was all about duck hunting.  When you are duck hunting your hands take a hit and get super cold.  I remember days out in the marsh where I couldn't feel my hands because it was so cold, and then when I got home my hands would swell up because they got too cold. That is kinda what happened this past week, riding my bike with rain and really cold weather made my hands freeze! It took me back to the old days in the marsh.

This week we continued to work with people that we have been working with for a while, not a whole lot has changed.  We put in our fair share of work and then some.  There was a lot of rain and people really didn't want to open there doors and let the cold wet missionaries into their houses.

This past Saturday we had what is called a open chapel  It is where people can come in and take a tour of the church.  It is a super good program, all the missionaries and the ward participate.  It is really a big event.  Elder Lazo and I took the lead and were out front contacting people and dragging them into the church.  The Bishop of my ward here was making jokes in sacrament meeting about how Elder Anderson and Elder Lazo were crossing the street all day dragging people bag and forth like it was a big game of cat and mouse.  I had a really good time chasing down the people and talking them into taking 10 minutes out of their day to see our church.

This past week we continued to teach a lady that I have been working with a little over the past few weeks.  She has some pretty big smoking problems, but she has such a great desire to change her life. I love being able to see the changes and progress that she is making in her life.

I continue to be able to see the blessings and miracles that happen here in the mission.  I see many things happen that are direct blessings and results of the work Elder Lazo and I are doing.  I would invite all of you to look for the blessings in your lives that are results of your obedience and bein gin the church.

I love you all! Have a great week!

Elder Anderson

A week in the John Deere tractor

May 8, 2017

Hey Family!

I put the title of my email as it is because I was reminded of weeks at work and weeks working on the ranch with grandpa stacking hay and in the tractors all day long. I was reminded that the good old John Deere tractor is the hardest working machine that we got in America, and this past week Elder Lazo and I worked just like the good, old John Deere tractors. 

The week started out with just finding gold.  We honestly just found and started working with 3 people that I have high hopes for. Elder Lazo and I have found how to work with each other, and if I do say so myself, this week we did good. I can't wait to see what happens when we keep tilling up the sector.

Over the past week it got colder, and when it gets cold, its super cold! In the mornings it gets cold and then around 12 or 1 it starts to heat up, but as soon as the sun is gone it gets cold again.

I well be skyping this week around 5:00  I would turn on the computer and wait as soon as you get home. I will email on Sunday right after church to let you know more.

Today for p-day we cleaned the house, and we cleaned and cleaned! ha ha! We still got some work to do.  I cleaned the sink too.

Sorry, not too much to write this week. I will tell ya more next week! Listen to the voice recording!

love you all! 

Elder Anderson

Giant empinadas and giant companions

May 2, 2017

Hey Fam!

So this week was pretty good. To start off though I want to share with you some of the scriptures I took to heart and some thoughts I had over the past week.

Alma 5 verses 13 14 15 16 and 57 58  60

Now I know when you think of Alma 5 you thing of some pretty big strong verses that tells everyone to repent. ha ha!  Ya it has that, but it also has a bunch of good things that we can look at and see how we are doing in life. Also, we can see where we need to go. It shows us a lot more clear the path that we can take to become more like Christ. It also shows us that it is possible and we all have the potential to become like Christ. I really love putting it all into perspective. at times it is scary, we don't think we are good enough or that we will ever get there.  I like to look at it as I have a lot to do, but Christ is there showing me what to do. I also like to look back and see what I have done. 

So this past week on Saturday we helped put some trusses up in a house for one of the members. It was pretty good. a little different. this house is made of of pure sheet metal, but it was a great experience to get back behind some tools. The only down side is that working like that showed me that in the mission I have lost all the calluses that I had on my hands! 

This past week El Monte had what they call catam.  It's basically a huge fair. All the people in the big city comes to this, so there are thousands and thousands of people! Us wanting to talk to that many people, we went to the catam and talked to some people.  When we had a minute we went and bought some empinadas, but these were huge! They were full of cheese and shrimp. For sure a good buy!

This past week we had changes. I am still in El Monte.  I hope to be in this small little town for a while, but I got a new companion Elder Lazo.  He is from the northern part of Chile and he is taller than me. I haven't seen a person taller than me in a while! And this guy is topping like 6 foot 6 inches. I am 6 foot 2 inches. It's going to be interesting getting used to being the short comp. Also Elder Lazo is the District Leader. He is really good and works really hard. We honestly work great together and I have a feeling that we are going to do a lot of great things together. He only has 9 months in the mission, but we both work great together. I hope to baptize a lot this change.

I have a great experience that I got to hear about from an Elder in my old area about an investigator. I will wait for Skype to tell you guys, because it is super long. 

I want you all to know, this is the Lord's work.  That I am in the Lord's hands. This truly is the most amazing opportunity in the world and I want you all to know that the Lord has a plan and everything happens for a reason. 

I love you all. 

Elder Anderson

Heaven must have some big windows

April 24, 2017

Hey Fam!

This past week was pretty good! Flew by really fast, but everything was really good. We had some good lessons, found some good people to teach and all.

This past week we had Stake Conference.  As we got into the church President Woodward was there with his family.  He and his wife both spoke in the conference as well as Elder Zapatta of the 70.  As I was listening to them all talk I had one of those big flashback moments. I looked back and saw all the things I have done in my mission. All the people I have been able to bless. All the lives I have been able to see changed, and I can honestly say that I have received way more blessings than I have given. I have been changed more than I have changed others. That's why I say the windows of heaven must be big. because I can see the huge blessings that are in my life. I can see how much God really loves and cares about me. One thing that I was also able to do is see how much more I need to change. I can see that I have a lot of work to do and I need to put my shoulder even more into the plow and not look back. So this past week I have put a bunch of goals and found a bunch of things that I can change to become a better member of the church, a better person, and a better missionary. I invite all of you to do the same thing. Take a minute and have a little self inventory, then make the changes necessary in your lives. 

After the conference I got the chance to talk to Hermana Woodward. She asked me if I have had a chance to meet her kids yet. And in my whole time in the mission I haven't. So I went out to the car where all the kids were and got to meet them all. They have 3 boys and 1 girl, but it was super great to meet them. I talked with Hermana Woodward and she explained a lot about her family and it sounds so much like my family.  ha ha! Kids fighting on car rides and all. I really loved talking to them. They are so cool! The more I get to know the Woodward's the more I love them.  They are such a great family!

So this past week we have had some earthquakes, haha!  We will see where it leads next week. People say the earth goes through this here every couple of months.

I love being out here in the fields of El Monte, and I love testifying of Christ to all of the people. I hope that you all take every chance you have to share your testimonies of Christ.

Have a great week everyone!

Elder Anderson

Pinguinos, vineyards, bike breakdowns

April 17, 2017

So here in Chile there are these little things that are almost just like hostess cupcakes, but way, way better. They are called pinguinos and any time we get a chance to go buy some we do. This morning we all decide we wanted to go hike to the top of the mountain, so we got up, rode our bikes to the base of a pretty big mountain. We spent a few hours climbing to the top, it was pretty steep, but we all had a blast and enjoyed hiking to the top of a mountain and eating pinguinos. As we got to the top the clouds were starting to clear up and we got to overlook into the valleys of El Monte and Talagante and Milipilla. As we hiked back down to the bottom, got on our bikes and were riding them through the vineyards back to the main road the chain on my bike broke. So I had to use it like a scooter the rest of the miles back to the house. It was a good workout! 

These past few days we have gone into some areas that we haven't been in and boy here in my sector there is the most beautiful farming land I have ever seen in my life! I don't have a picture because I forgot my camera when we went into this area, but I have a lesson there this week so I will remember to bring it next time!

This past week I lost 2 days of work. Elder Reese and I were blessed to be sick, and we sure were sick. There were several times where we Elder Reese told me he was going to die. Good times. Luckily we both recovered just fine. The first day was really rough, but the second day we could sit up, so we used a little bit of time and dyed some Easter eggs!

So the highlight investigator of the week is a lady named P. She is in her late 50s.  Her husband is a member. She is a very strong lady with a rough past, but she is willing to do whatever it takes to get baptized! We have a date with her for the 27th of May because that is the day that she is getting married. She needs to be married before she can be baptized.

This past week I stopped by the house where 2 of my retention's live. I love talking to my retention's but sometimes just like all of us they make mistakes, so this week we will be working more with them.

I love you all! I hope you all had a great Easter week. What a great day Sunday was, the opportunity we had to look back on our relationship with our Savior and all the amazing things he did for us.

Love,

Elder Anderson

What dreams are made of

April 10, 2017

Hey Fam!

This past week was a pretty, darn good week if i do say so myself! To start off this past Wednesday we had divisions.  I got to go with an elder that was super good. He is the comp of Elder Andras Anderson. Then on Thursday we had interviews with President. All went well. It was good to see him and get to know him a little better.  Friday passed by like a normal day of work, but Saturday was a great day! It started out with some good yard work. ha ha! A nonmember needed to clean out there huge yard and we are talking huge! We were cutting trees, trimming bushes and taking out the trash! It was a great day. After that we went and filled the baptism font. Then we baptized! It was so much fun to see the smiles on there faces. Especially on Sunday after they were confirmed.. You could see the difference and I knew they felt it because the mom L was crying. I truly love this family and I fully intend to baptize the rest of their family as well! It is all about family for them.

After the baptism on Saturday there was a ward talent show activity and there was some culture shock there! Chileans know how to party! ha ha! But the good part about that activity is that we had 7 of our 9 retention's there. We had all of our investigators there and we had a less active family also. Everyone was at church the next day too.

The weather continues to get colder. We now sleep with electric blankets. This week all of us in the house decided to go on a diet, to the best we can. For all the other guys they are trying to drop in weight. ha ha! For me, I'm still trying to go up! I got some protein powder and the diet has begun. My mornings are filled with tons of exercises as well as my days are spent trying to stay completely full. So far it is working. I have gone up 3 kilos. 

Sorry, can't write more.  This computer is super hard to type on. I love you all!  

Elder Anderson

Going Coastal

April 3, 2017

Hey Everyone!

Well this past week has been one heck of an adventure! To start out last Thursday we had a conference with President.  This time he decided to have it at a stake center that is out on the coast, so we got up at 5 in the morning on Thursday to hit the buses! After a very crazy 3 hour bus ride and changing between a few different buses we finally arrived on the coast.  The conference was good, but the highlight was President allowed us all to take an hour and walk down to the beach.  We got to take some pictures and just enjoy the ocean air.  It was such a nice experience to get to go look at the ocean.  It was the first time I had seen the coast since I have gotten here.  The conference was good, President talked about how we can work better with the members,

This week we all had the wonderful opportunity to listen to our prophet and his apostles and we were truly spiritually fed, and might I say, listening to these guys with a mission plaque on your chest brings a whole new meaning to everything they say.  There were many things that I for sure will apply to my mission as well as I hope that all of you will apply in your lives. There were several talks that just blew me away, as well as it was amazing to be able to listen to many people talk that I have met in person, including a few of the apostles and a number of the members of the 70's.  It was great to hear the story from Elder Rasband about those missionaries in New York.  I heard that story once from him in person when he came to Chile while I was in the CCM. I for sure think there are tons of things we need to take from this conference, including 2 times we were commanded to read the family proclamation to the world. I invite you all to do that as well!

So this week will be a week of white! One of my investigators is getting baptized, as well as her daughter that I told you about last week. I am so excited for them! It should be a great week!

One of my favorite quotes from this week is, you can know the Savior, not just learn of Him. I truly know that to be true.  Our relationship with Him is so important, and it truly is a relationship and not a history class way of learning of someone. I love to see my relationship as well as others with our Savior grow closer. I love to see the change and the light of our Savior grow in people's eyes as Elder Neto and I help these people find the true path of our Savior.

So I am still working on that bike. ha ha! It's pretty far down the hill. Hopefully I will have it done by tomorrow.

Love you all! Have a great week!

If you build it, they will come...

March 27, 2017

well......

This sector is dope! I don't know if you guys can understand this movie quote, but this past week I spent time in the fields, right in the middle of all these fields, in the middle of nowhere, there was this huge soccer field, a very beautiful field. ha ha! So that's my interesting quote of the day.

So this sector has a little bit of the city in it.  Some apartments and houses, but the main part of it is people's houses out in the middle of nowhere and there are these beautiful mountains as well, the best thing that I can relate it to is Grace Idaho.

This past week the weather has cooled down and we have been wearing sweaters and such.  It hasn't really rained yet, on Thursday it kinda sprinkled.

So you guys have asked a little bit about my investigators, well they changed this past week, but the 2 main ones right now that will get baptized in 2 weeks are J and L.  L is the mom and J is the daughter, she is 9.  These people are amazing and I can see the potential they have.  Just yesterday I was talking to J about her baptism and helping to clarify some questions she had. She then went on talking about how she wanted her older sister to be baptized as well so that they could live with God together. 

I found myself this week talking a ton about eternal families and about the purpose of the family and marriage.  I won't go into detail, but some of our investigators don't understand.  As I was explaining this to some of my investigators I could feel the spirit testifying of the truth of what I was saying. I am so grateful for my eternal family and for the opportunities that we have to make covenants with our Father in Heaven and be able to live with him and our families again.

So I am working on trying to get these bikes fixed.  I am basically stripping them all down to the frames and buying new stuff  and rebuilding them. haha!  Elders in the past sure wrecked them!

Well that's all I got for this week! Let me know if you have any specific questions!

Love you all! 

elder Anderson

Transfers, El Monte

March 20, 2017

Hey Fam!

So first thing transfers, haha! I got moved to El Monte, just down the road from my old sector.  My new comp is Elder Neto, he is from Brazil.  I know him well for the fact that he was in my zone last change.

My last sector was left in a whitewash, Elder Clark left for Ochagavilla, it was a little sad to leave my sector especially since I had only been there for one change,  but El Monte is my kind of town.  This is the country, tons and tons of fields.  We have bikes coming for us this week as well.  I am super excited for this change.  We also already have some baptisms that we are walking into,  so that will be great! 

This past week we had tons of lessons with non active members, they are always so happy to receive us.  It is great to see that they still have love for our Savior, its just a matter of getting them to get to church! 

This past week on Thursday we had to go to the church because the hermanas had interviews with President and they can't be alone with President for rules of the mission.  As we were there President asked me and Clark if we had any appointments, we responded yes. He said, great, you mind if I come along? Yep we had President come with us! The person ended up not being home, so we went contacting with President.  The area we were in is pretty hard to contact because its super rich, but with President working with us we were able to arrange a few appointments that now the new elders will have to take care of. It was a way cool experience to contact with President.

So I gave Elder Clark the rest of my spare Nike socks.  I will be needing some of those in the next package! His feet were in the gull, he needed them worse than I did!

So I don't know much about El Monte yet.  I have only been here for a few hours, but in the house we live with 2 other elders, one of them is a gringo, the other is from Peru.  We all get along great, this change will be really fun.  I am going to miss my old sector and my old district, we were all really close, but this all will be super good for me.

Love you all! 

Elder Anderson