No puedo hablar Ingles...

Sorry if my writing a day late caused any stress...we had the change
of our Mission Presidents yesterday so our P-Day got switched just for
this week.
Sooo, this week we met a woman from Beaver, Utah! She was born there
and speaks perfect English, thus she started talking to me in
English...and that`s when I discovered I CAN`T SPEAK ENGLISH ANYMORE!
So I guess it`s a good thing I can at least kinda speak Spanish now.
But for reals, this week was super good! We found nearly 20 new
investigators including families and others that I believe are truly
prepared to hear the Gospel. I love seeing all the different ways the
Lord places these people in our path... in the bus, in the street, or
in the house of their aunt that was a wrong address given to us
through a reference (that probably doesn`t make any sense, but it
happened). The Lord is aware of each and everyone of us, and
everything happens for a reason!
One of my very favorite things in the mission is teaching children.
They have this tendency of understanding everything and are always so
excited to learn and participate. We have one investigator, Maria,
she`s 9 years old and the sweetest, happiest little girl I`ve ever
met. Earlier this week, she accompanied us to a lesson with her aunt,
where she shared with her testimony of the Book of Mormon and how The
Book of Mormon has changed her life. (Her words, not mine) When we
first met Maria, she could barely read. Since our first lesson, she
had diligently read the Book of Mormon every night by herself and has
improved her reading skills dramatically. Her testimony was powerful
as she told her aunt she needs to read the Book of Mormon cause it has
"all the answers to [her] problems". It`s no wonder Christ said we all
need to become as the little children.
This Gospel is so true and I`m so grateful to be an instrument in the
Lord`s hand to share this wonderful message with the people of Mexico!
Say your prayers, read your scriptures, and know that the Church is true!
Gracias por sus oraciones y amor!
Te amo,
Hermana Anderson

I love this work with all my heart!

These weeks are just going by faster and faster. This week we has
Companion Exchanges and I was with my sister training leader, Hermana
Mones, for 2 days in my area. I was sooooo nervous... because she was
coming to my area, that meant I had to do all the planning, calling,
and remember where all the houses are and what buses to take and
EVERYTHING! I was pleasently surprised when we only kinda got lost
once on the way to a new investigadors house in the middle of nowhere,
which we eventually found just fine, and everything else worked out
perfectly. I also had to do a lot more of the teaching during these
couple days, but I was able to gain a little more confidence in my
Spanish as I realized people can actually understand me! In just a
little over 2 months out here in the field, I`m able to understand
nearly everything and I can more or less say everything I want to say
too...The gift of tongues is so real, and there`s no doubt in my mind
that this is the Lord`s work.
Haha I feel like every week we have something wrong with the
house...no electricity, no hot water, and this week was no running
water on the first floor. Thank goodness we had water in the upstairs
part to wash our dishes and stuff, or else I don`t know what we
would`ve done. I`m convinced the Lord is preparing me week by week to
be transfered to some area in the middle of nowhere with no water or
electricity or something. Haha but it`s all good, these adventures
always make me grateful for the little things we have.
In our Zone Conference last week, President Camarillo challenged us to
always carry a Book of Mormon with us to give away. This week, as I
implimented this little challenge, I was amazed at how many people
were interested in the book I was holding. We were able to talk to
people about the importance of the Book of Mormon, and invite them to
learn more about our special message. On Tuesday, as we were walking
out the door, I quickly remembered to grab a Book of Mormon, we walked
to the bus stop just outside our apartment, and just as we approached
a man asked me what book I was holding. I explained to him that it was
The Book of Mormon, a book that contains the fullness of the Gospel
and testifies of Christ. The bus quickly arrived, but in those 2
minutes, we were able to share our testimonies of the Book of Mormon
and give him that same book I had nearly left in the apartment. As we
left on the bus I turned around to see him intently reading the
introduction. The Book of Mormon changes lives, and I have the
priviledge of seeing this change in people everyday.
I love this work with all my heart. There is nothing more rewarding
than sharing the message of Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel. We
are so blessed to have this light and hope in our lives that the
Gospel brings.
I hope you will all continue to strengthen your testimonies of our
Savior Jesus Christ and share this message with others.
Thank you for your prayers and love,
Hermana Anderson

Una otra carta de su misionera mexicana

What a week here in the beautiful Moroleòn. We had a lot of disappointments and even more miracles. After many many lessons on keeping the Sabbath Day Holy, we had 8 investigators in Sacrament Meeting, and nearly all the less actives that we taught this week! We had Zone Conference this week, and nearly the entire meeting was on Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy. The things we learned in the conference really helped in our lessons, and obviously all the work paid off yesterday as nearly all our progressing investigators got to enjoy the special Spirit in the house of the Lord. I don`t think I understood the importance of church attendance until my mission. There`s people here in this ward that travel an hour or more just to attend Church. They understand the importance of renewing their baptismal covenants and are willing to sacrifice just about anything to do so. 
Another exciting things from this week include teaching a lesson in the biggest, nicest house in all of Moroleòn, finding a McDonald`s in this mall place we went to today, getting drenched in the rain (that`s not anything new though), and getting locked INSIDE our house for a solid hour the other day. Yeah, surprise, locks here in Mèxico also have the ability to lock you inside your house. And here`s an experience from this week:
 We were walking along, and we passed some streets we had never passed before. I glanced at the street signs to try and learn some of the names to help me know the area better. We were trying to find new investigators, but were not having very much success. It was then I glanced at a street sign, and below, it read ¨fracc. Jardin¨ I instantly remembered a name we had recieved from the Elders of a man that lived in this fraccionamiento. We had searched for his street on the map before, but had been unable to find it. I found thia man`s name in my planner, and sure enough, we were right in front of his house. We taught him and his wife. They had had many other missionaries from other religions in their home, and were curious as to why we thought we had the true church. Well, that was easy to explain with a brief explination of the apostacy, restoration, and Book of Mormon. The Spanish became easy and clear as I bore sincere testimony of the restoration and the fullness of the Gospel that we have in our church. They both accepted dates for baptism. 

I know this church is true. Even in those moments at the end of the day when we`re walking down the street, drenched from head to toe and exhausted from walking all day in the rain, it`s in those moments I think to myself that I`ve honestly, truly never been happier. This work is the work of the Lord and I feel so blessed everyday to be a small part of this great and glorious work. 

I love you all! Stay strong!

Hermana Anderson
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I´m really bad at writing good subject lines

Well, another week has come and gone! We got a new cellphone, had another Zone Meeting, and I´m finally beginning to think and dream in Spanish! I just can´t even express how much I love being a missionary. Every day we have miracle after miracle and it´s just one great big spiritual party. 

One of my favorite experiences this week was with little 9 year old Angel. We were teaching a lesson with him and his mom about Faith, Repentance, Baptism and Confirmation. We asked them to be baptized and Angel was a little hesitant. We then began talking to his mom, and I turned to see Angel quietly bow his head, fold his arms, and offer a prayer. Once we had discussed some things with his mom, we turned back to Angel and he simply said, ¨Yes, I want to be baptized. The Holy Ghost told me that´s what I need to do.¨ When he didn´t know the answer, he simply offered a prayer. What a great example that was to me. It´s no wonder Christ commanded us to become as a little child...for truly such is the Kingdom of Heaven. After that great manifestation of faith, his mom also agreed to be baptized, and what a beautiful moment that was. And then to see them walk into the Chapel on Sunday was absolutely glorious. 

Okay, one more quick story. We had just finished up our last lesson of the night, and it was late. We knew it would be impossible to walk, or even run, to our appartment and make it on time. We decided to take a taxi, but then we realized we had used all our money on other transportation throughout the day and were left with nothing. In a desperate attempt to make it home on time, we began running as fast as we could. I said a little prayer in my heart that somehow we´d be able to make it home on time. It was then a taxi pulled up next to us and asked if we needed a ride. We explained we had no money. He asked where we were headed and when we told him, he said he was headed that way anyway and it was free of charge. Needless to say, we made it home just in time. MIRACLES ARE REAL PEOPLE, AND GOD ANSWERS PRAYERS!

I have a strong testimony of prayer. We are children of a loving Heavenly Father and He wants to help us. All we need to do is humble ourselves and ask with faith and He will answer. I love this Gospel so much and I know this is exactly where I need to be.

I love you all so much! 

Hermana Anderson

Summer Time

Summer time here in Mexico apparently just means more rain. We had quite the adventure this last week in Yuriria. We had finished all our lessons and were about to head back to Moroleòn. As we started walking to the bus central, suprise, it started raining. The rains came down and the floods came up, and none of the buses could make it to the central, so we ran (more like sloshed) through the rain until we found a taxi to take us to the other buses. Somewhere along this wonderful adventure, we lost our cellphone, and spent an additional 2 hours in the rain trying to find it. By the time we eventually gave up, we were soaked head to toe, had missed all of our appointments in Moroleòn, and the only thing we could do was laugh and press forward. 

The good news is we have a bunch of investigators preparing for baptism! The only problem is we can`t seem to get any of them to church... so we`ll keep inviting, and teaching, and preaching and doing all we can to help these people continue on this road to baptism, the temple, and Eternal Life. 

This week we tried to have a member in nearly every lesson. It was great to see the Spirit their testimonies brought and the power in their conversion stories. This work would not be the same without members. Yesterday we felt prompted to invite a particular member to our lesson with one of our newer investigators, Maria. She happily accepted and when we arrived at Maria`s home, her daughter was visiting. They both agreed to listen to our message. We taught about our purpose here in this Earth and The Atonement. During the lesson, Maria`s daughter shared with us her recent struggles with depression. The member that was with us had also struggled with depression and was able to share a powerful testimony on how through the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we can overcome these weaknesses, and even turn them into strengths. 

While on my mission, I feel my weaknesses have become that much more apparent. But I know that with Jesus Christ, these weaknesses will become strengths. Day to day, this work can be hard, exhausting, disappointing, and discouraging, but I know it is the work of God. While this work isn`t easy and we have different trials and difficulties, I wouldn`t want to be doing any other work. So I`ll keep pressing forward with a steadfastnesss in Christ. I know He lives, He loves us, and with Him, we can do all things. 

Thank you for all your prayers and love, 

The Church is true!

Te amo,

Hermana Anderson