Heavenly Father heard all your prayers

Well I guess Heavenly Father heard all your prayers, cause after only a couple days of medicine, treatments, and lots of rest, I´m all better and back to working as normal! Sometimes we just have to experience sickness to appreciate health, to realize how dependent we really are on our Heavenly Father. Not an experience I want to live again, but I´m grateful for all these learning opportunities. 

Well, the bad news is is that this is my last week with Hna Vargas :( With nearly 5 months together, and so many adventures, we´ve become really close. But I´m also excited to have the opportunity to have one more companion before heading home. 12 companions. And I´ve learned so many different things from every single one. The mission is something so beautiful...all these young people come together from all around the world, from different circumstances, educational backgrounds, cultures, and families, but we all have the same purpose to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity to get to know so many distinct people. And I know that my Heavenly Father has placed them all in my path for something. There are no coincidences in the mission, or in life in general. 

This week we got to take a trip to Zamora for a follow-up meeting of all the missionaries in their training. It made me think back to when I was in my training, new country, unable to speak Spanish, scared out of my mind, but ready and excited to do the work of the Lord. I could see that same enthusiasm and energy in these new missionaries and they really motivated me to give all that I´ve got to this work. These last 12 weeks of my mission I want to serve with the same enthusiasm that I did in my first 12 weeks. There´s a whole lot of work to do between now and August. I was also able to do divisiones with Hna Mortensen and Hna Tupounuia. It was fun talking with them about the progress we´ve seen since we were in the MTC together. All that we´ve learned and how much we´ve changed. I knew that the mission would have it´s ups and downs, but I didn´t realize how much it would change me as a person. I´m just so grateful that I´m here. 

Yesterday I received a great surprise when I walked into the Sacrament meeting. One of my old investigators was there! She was one of my investigators when I was here in Prados Verdes the first time nearly one year ago! We stopped teaching her cause she didn´t really show any progress and never went to church, but yesterday she told me that she´s ready to change her life around. We´ll have to see what happens this next week when we go to visit her. Many of our other investigators are progressing as well. It´s not easy, but no one ever said salvation would be easy. So we just keep doing what we can to help these people really have this change of heart. I know that this is the work of the Lord, and it´s a marvelous work.

Thank you for your prayers and love. Especially this last week. I could feel an extra strength that I know came from all of you.

Les amo,

Hermana Anderson

One of the members literally lives in the middle of nowhere...this photo was taken in front of her house :) 

With Romi and Sofi :) 

Here´s a pic of Hna Tupounuia and I! Oh how I´ve come to love this girl these last 15 months! 

Trip to the Hospital

So besides the quick trip to the hospital this morning, it´s been a great week! Apparently I´ve got some sort of parasite in my stomach that´s been causing all sorts of problems, but thanks to modern medicine, by the end of this week I should be back to normal. I almost made it through my entire mission without visting the hospital...almost. But this week was an interesting one. We spent the majority of the week traveling with President, Hna Egginton, and the APs presenting a leadership training. It reminded me of our family road trips. Subway, McDonald´s, gas stations, talking, sleeping. Good stuff. And this upcoming week we´ll be taking another trip to Zamora for another meeting. But even with all these crazy meeting, Hna Vargas and I are working hard in our area. We have one family that was less active, that is now attending church and their 9 year old daughter will be baptized in these upcoming weeks. I just love these people so much that I want the best for them. We have a lot of work here. Sometimes I feel that there is so much to do and so little time, but we do what we can and the Lord does the rest. President informed Hna Vargas and I that Hna Vargas will be leaving me in two weeks to train :( It´s going to be hard after being with Hna Vargas 24/7 for 4 and a half months, to suddenly have her leave me. But it´ll be good to get to know one last companion too. 

Well, I realize that this letter´s kinda short and boring, but I´ll be sure to send pics to make it more excited. 

Thanks for your love and prayers,

con amor,

Hermana Anderson

Instead of traveling in the Magic School Bus, we like to travel in the Magic Mission Van

It was Hna Sutherland´s birthday this last week! Pobrecita spent her birthday in a meeting, but she was still all smiles

The Cosmes Family :) 

Just another week in the life

What a week. Between organizing emergency transfers, planning for a Leadership training, divisions, Mother´s Day, and everything else, we´ve been busy busy.  I have to say, I´m so very grateful for revelation, for prayer and a Heavenly Father that helps and guides us with His infinite wisdom. There were lots of things to do this week, and maybe number-wise it wasn´t the best week we´ve ever had, but I was amazed to see that the Lord´s plan isn´t always what we think we want to do. On Tuesday, which happened to be Mother´s Day here in Mexico, Hna Vargas and I felt the need to visit some sisters and let them know that they are loved.  We made little Mother´s day cards with scriptures and quotes and delivered them to various sisters in the ward. One sister latter told us that when she got home from work late that night, she was feeling discouraged and stressed as a single mother with 2 little girls. When she saw our card, she cried and cried. We heard similar things from all the sisters. One less active member, that has more than a year without going to church, went to church this last week with her four little kids and told us that it was because through us she was able to feel the love of her Heavenly Father again and decided she wanted her kids to receive the blessings of the gospel. Sometimes these people just need to know they are loved. Love, the pure love of Christ, works miracles. 

We´re also starting to experience the wonderful rain season. I still believe the best time to knock doors is when it´s raining, the people usually feel bad and let us in. Haha. And it just wouldn´t be a mission if we didn´t have to face extreme weather every once in a while. My companion and I realized today that we have 3 months and 3 weeks together...and we´ve only got 3 months and 3 weeks left in the mission. Craziness. I´ve honestly come to love Hna Vargas so much and I feel so grateful for everyday I have here in the mission to keep learning and growing along with my companion. This next week we will be traveling with President and the Assistants to give some training sessions. It should be fun. Everyday´s just an adventure. 

Nos vemos,

Hermana Anderson

Here we were just writing away in the computer cafe, and then this happened... 

Here´s a pic of a family home evening with the Delgado/Rivera family and the other is the Amante family. July and Angelina are from Salvatierra, Araceli, Damian, and Cosme are from Prados Verdes

The Priesthood bretheren put together this awesome Mother´s Day activity in the ward. 

The Lord is hastening His work

Well, it was an absolute joy to see your beautiful faces and talk to you! Next time I see you will be in the airport...I can´t believe that. I still feel like I just got here, and I feel like I´ve got a whole lot more to do before I can even think about coming home. This last week was super motivating. Between leadership council, the family skype call, and our super mega ultra zone meeting, I´m ready to work. This work is SO amazing, and the Lord is hastening His work, now it´s just up to us to keep up. Yesterday we had our zone meeting with all the missionaries, ward councils, high council men, bishops, mission leaders, and future missionaries. We talked and set goals of how we are going to work together. Now there´s not just 4 missionaries here in Prados Verdes...there´s 124. The goal is 50 or more lessons a week and 20 investigators attending church every week. So will have our hands full for sure. But I´m super pumped. 

Also, yesterday was my companion´s birthday! In the morning before church, one of our investigator families invited us to breakfast. Mexicans are really weird cause they don´t eat waffles or french toast here. Instead it´s usually normal dinner-like food. So we all sat down to eat, and it was a red soup with pieces of meat in it. I wasn´t really sure what kind of meat it was, but I´ve learned it´s better not to ask until after. My companion on the other hand couldn´t wait. Luckily I was already half-way done when my companion asked. To our surprise, it was cow´s stomach...yum. It was a miracle that I finished it all. But the good news is that this family went to church with us after. It was their first time and they said they loved it. We also ate cake and I decorated the house a little to celebrate Hna. Vargas´ birthday. And today we kept the celebration going. We went to the center part of the city and did a little shopping, ate ice cream, and enjoyed our P-Day. We went to this cool market place called el mercado de los dulces. Wow. It´s nearly all hand-made traditional Mexican stuff. Dolls, clothes, shoes, candy, guitars and everything else you could possibly imagine. I couldn´t take any pics cause there´s a ton of people and if ya whip out your camera, it gets stolen, but just trust me, it´s super cool. 

Other than that, everything´s goin´ good. We´re just making the best of every second and trying to do what the Lord asks of us. 

Thanks for all your support and love, honestly, it makes a huge difference. I love you all and you´re always in my prayers.

Cuidense,

Hermana Anderson

Hna Vargas miraculously fixed our fan using an iron, a knife, tape, and an eye-lash curler. Don´t ask me how.

Here´s a pic of Hna Vargas and I rockin´ our matching outfits.  

Mango season! When we don´t eat cow´s stomach for breakfast, it´s almost always mangos :) 

Why isn't there a Kid's Day?

Remember when I was little and always asked ¨If there´s Father´s Day and Mother´s Day, why isn´t there a Kid´s Day?¨ Well here in Mexico, Kid´s Day is a thing, and so on Saturday everyone was walking around with there kids taking them to the park, the movies, buying them treats and everything for el día del niño. Nearly all our lessons that day were with old, lonely people that never leave their houses :) And so while I´m a little upset that I never got to enjoy kid´s day as a kid, I´m super excited for Mother´s Day this year! Last call home! 

But really, this last week was absolutely wonderful. 14 months in the mission and I feel like I´m finally figuring out how to be a missionary. We´ve been really focusing on helping our investigators to know how to pray and rocognize their answers. One of our investigators, Alicia, shared with us her incredible experience. Alicia prayed asking that if this really was the true church, the path she should follow, that her mom would be able to walk. Alicia´s mom has been sick for nearly six months. Her feet hurt and have become so swollen that she can´t walk, and the doctor´s can´t seem to find a solucion. Well, the other day, Aicia went to visit her mom, but when she got to the house, she wasn´t home--which is super strange considering she can´t walk, but when Aicia turned around, she saw her mom walking down the street. Alicia told us that she knows that that was her answer and that this church is true. We are now also teaching Alicia´s mom. 

I think one of the best feelings in the world is when someone tells you that you were an answer to their prayer. The Lord works in so many mysterious ways, and when we follow the promptings of the Spirit, it´s amazing to see how He uses us to complete His grand designs. It happened many times this week as we showed up to the homes of members, less actives, investigators, and even people we didn´t even know, and they answered the door with tears in their eyes, or sometimes complete shock as they recognized that the Lord had answered their prayers. One less active shared with us that the moment she said ¨Amen¨, we knocked. She had prayed to fell peace, to know that everything would be okay. She was worried because if she didn´t meet a required number of sells the next day, she was going to loose her job. We were able to share scriptures, pray with her, and we even felt impressed to promise her that she would meet her goal the next day. She came to church on Sunday and thanked us for being her ¨angels¨  and told us that sure enough, she had met her goal. There´s nothing quite like being on the Lord´s errand 24/7. 

I love this work so much. Every day my testimony grows stronger and stronger that this is truly the Church of Jesus Christ and we are doing His work.

Love you all so much!! 

Hermana Anderson

ignore the awful glare in my glasses, but here´s a photo with Hna Rita, Lucero, and the Elders!