Hermana Kirsten Anderson: Happy New Year

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! We spent New Year´s Eve locked up in our cute little house making tacos. It was quite enjoyable really. We all fell asleep in the living room before it was even 10:30, so we missed out on the whole 12 o´clock countdown thing, but it´s all good, we needed the sleep. It was really a great and busy week this week. Monday we had all the new missionaries in our house for a training meeting thing, and then as soon as they left on Tuesday, all the Sister Training Leaders came for the Leadership Counsel, and then a bunch of them stayed to be able to go to the temple the next day and then we were left with an empty house for New Year´s Eve and New year´s day. The Leadership Counsel was super great. We have some amazing leaders in this mission and President Egginton is so inspired. I think it was one of the most inspiring meetings I´ve ever been to. It was only 8 and a half hours long. Haha but really I didn´t even want it to end. There´s so many great things happening in this mission and the work is hastening on.

Due to the holidays this week, a lot of people weren´t home and we ended up knocking on a lot of unopened doors, but in the end it´s all worth it! For example, there was one day we had been searching for many hours and we were tired and somewhat frustrated. I prayed in that moment that we would at least find someone that would accept us. As we walked down the stairs of an apartment, I felt prompted to knock on a door. Before I even got to the door, Hermana Zapata was in front of me and turned around to ask, ¨should we knock on this door?¨ Well that was enough confirmation that we needed to knock, so we did, and a young mother with her three kids answered. She was getting ready to leave, but we were able to share a 5 minute lesson of the Restauration before setting another appointment to come back. She was so receptivive and excited for us to return. I know that God answers our prayers and sometimes we just have to show our faith by knocking doors for a couple hours before Heavenly Father leads us to the perfect door.

We´ve also been working a ton with the less active members. There are some missionaries that feel it´s pointless to work with the less-actives, but I´ve really been able to see the fruits of working with them. There´s just such a great joy that comes when you see someone enter the chapel that hasn´t been there for a long time. And sometimes in those moments, I feel like the dad of the Prodigal son watching his son finally come home. Right now we´re working with an entire family, of more than 10 people, including less actives, investigators, and recent converts. We´ve been inviting them and inviting them and doing everything possible to help them to come to church and finally this week they all came. So happy.

Well, that´s all I really have for this week. Thanks for all your love and prayers! I hope you all enjoyed your holiday festivities and I wish you all un prospero año

Les amo,

Hermana Anderson