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

Rough Week

This week was pretty rough. No one was home, or wanted to listen to us...But that just made me appreciate the little daily tender mercies that much more. It rained...a lot. Oh, and I ate my first chicken foot (hopefully my last, but I doubt that). But I`ve decided you can smother just about anything in enough salsa and it`s not all that bad. Also, I`m pretty sure our house is invested with scorpians but it`s okay cause today we killed 3 scorpians, full on bleached the entire house, and covered the place in scorpian killer/ repelant stuff. So ALL IS WELL IN MEXICO! 

I think one of the hardest parts of the mission for me is when we have to let investigators go. It`s just so sad cause I know how much the Gospel can bless them, but they have their agency and we have to respect that. We had to say goodbye to 3 of our investigators this week, but I keep praying for them that one day they`ll recognize what their missing in their lives. And the good news is we have 6 new investigators from this week! 3 of them even already committed to baptism! It`s amazing to see how the Spirit can touch their hearts, even in the first lesson, to feel these things are true and they need to follow the example of our Savior in baptism. There`s definitely a lot of opposition in this work, but the work of the Lord is moving forward in Moroleòn.

During one of our lessons this week, I asked our investigator how she has felt the blessings of the Gospel in her life. She shared with us that before we started teaching her, she had little to no work and was struggling to provide for her family. We had promised her in the very first lesson (without knowing much about her situation) that if she would do the things we asked her and strive to grow Spiritually, God would bless her with all her needs temporally. Sure enough, ever since that first lesson, she has had plenty of work and has seen miracles in her home as all their temporal needs have been met. The Lord is so aware of each of us personally and wants to bless us. All we need to do is follow Him and He will bless us in ways we cannot even imagine. 

I love you all so much! La Iglesia es verdadera!

Te Amo!

Hermana Anderson

(P.S. sorry I don`t have any pictures from this week....that`s what happens when my camera doesn`t work)

Teaching and Traveling

This week I spent more than 20 hours on buses... so it`s a good thing the bus is a great place to share the Gospel! We taught quite a few lessons on our travels to Guadalajara, Morelia, Yuriria and back. We had intercambios (pretty sure they`re called exchanges in English) so I got to spend the day with Hermana Mones in Morelia. It was quite the adventure because half way through the day we had a nice little huricane come through. It was raining and hailing so hard that no one could hear our knocks on the doors, so we camped out in this little concrete car-port for a solid 45 minutes while I thought the world was going to end. We spent the rest of the day teaching a couple lessons and helping people clean out their flooded houses. And then we came home that night to find a solid 3 inches on the floor of our entire house. Needless to say, I`ll never forget my first exchanges.

We also had a super cool experience this week when we went to teach two of our investigators, a mom and her 9 year old daughter, Emma and Fer. When we showed up to teach, Cristina, another one of our investigators, who we met through street contacting was there. They`re apparently related somehow and convientently we had the same lesson planned for all of them. We taught them about the Restoration and then at the end we asked them if they would be baptized. Cristina, without hestitating exclamed YES, and that gave Emma and Fer the reassurance they needed to know this was the right thing to do. It`s interesting how the Lord puts certain people in certain places to move His work forward. 

Yesterday we went to Guadalajara, spent the night there, and then this morning we had a meeting with all the new missionaries. It was incredible to hear all the experiences we`ve had in just these past 6 weeks out in the field. This is truly the Lord`s work and we see miracles everyday.

I invite all of you this week to pray about someone you could potentially share the Gospel with, a friend, a coworker, a neighbor, whomever, and then invite them to a dinner with the missionaries, a family home evening, or to attend church with you. This work and these miracles aren`t for missionaries alone, and I know you will be blessed as you strive to share the Gospel with those around you. 

I know this Gospel is true, I know it with my whole heart. The Lord hears and answers prayers. In fact, this week as we were walking home, we had a little extra time and I told my companion we needed to find the Marios (a couple with the names Maria and Mario). She said it would be super hard to find them considering they`re always out at night and we`re kind of in a big city. I said a specific prayer right their that we would find them in 5 minutes as we walked in front of the park under the archways. Sure enough, 5 minutes later, there they were and we were able to share a short spiritual thought with them. God is aware of everyone of His children, including you.

I love you all so much!! Thanks for your support and prayers.
 

Te Amo, Hermana Anderson

The Tres Amigas reunited once again.-- 12 Semanas Junta, Guadalajara, 18 de Mayo

Hermana Mortensen and I...I can`t expalin how happy we were to see each other!

I`m running out of subject lines

Where do I even start? This week has been absolutely fantastic. Well, besides the scorpion I found in my shoe, but the good news is I found it BEFORE I put my shoe on so all is well. I`ve had many amazing experiences this week and talking to my family was of course a plus. After talking to my family yesterday I had one cool experience I want to share.

So yesterday morning as we were walking out the door, I felt prompted to leave behind my umbrella. I know this sounds a little strange, but I`m learning to follow the Spirit without question, so I left my umbrella. Later that day, as we were walking, it started to rain. At this point I was seriously doubting this impression and in reality I just wanted to go home cause no one wanted to listed to us. We went to one family`s house that we`d tried to contact before, but they had always been too busy-- and as we stood on their doorstep, they gave us this same excuse. As soon as we turned around to walk away, God opened the heavens and it was like a giant bucket of water suddenly fell from the sky. It was then the mother opened the door again and called out to me asking if I had an umbrella. When I told her no, she quickly welcomed us into her home. All 7 members of their family joined us...mainly to find out why their was this strange, white, American girl in their home, and after we had introduced ourselves we asked if we could share a message. Being Mother`s Day, we sang Families Can Be Together Forever and taught about how the Gospel blesses families and God`s Plan for us and our families. About halfway through the lesson, the mother broke down in tears and explained to us the loss of her oldest daughter just over a year ago. She had been having a particularly hard time that day being Mother`s Day and all, and our message had been an answer to her prayers. We bore powerful testimony of the Plan of Salvation, Eternal Families, and God`s love for us. I was amazed to find in that moment as I opened my mouth, the Spirit told me exactly what to say, in perfect Spanish too! And all because God told me to leave behind my umbrella that day. (And if you were wondering, it didn`t rain at all the rest of the day)

Yep, God works in mysterious ways and I`m just so grateful to be a part of this work. Always trust in God. This Gospel is so so true and I know it with my whole heart.

I love you all, I feel your prayers everyday.

Con mucho amor y felicidades,

Hermana Anderson

Steinar and Hermana Anderson

Mother's Day 2015

And the Rain Came Tumbling Down

Guess what? I`ve been out two months today! Crazy, huh? 

This week was a bit of a roller coaster...weather wise as well as work wise. It rained like crazy. Walking in the street was like trying to walk upstream the Mississippi River. Okay, maybe not that bad, but it was still quite the experience. And then half an hour later it was sunny skies and 80 degree weather again. And it was like this everyday. What.

Also, we didn`t have hot water this week. That was a little rough. But hey, it reminded me of the times Mom would make us wash off with the hose in the backyard, or when we`d go camping in the motor-home and I was the last one to shower...yep, those were the days. But really, I never realized what a blessing hot water is.

We had Zone Conference, which was great, but our baptism fell through because she was unable to attend church the last two weeks and we haven`t been able to teach all the lessons. But soon, we will have a baptism soon, I know it. There was one day this week when every single one of our lessons fell through. I was a little discouraged that day. But I guess it was a trial of our faith because the next day all of our plans and lessons worked out perfectly and we found a bunch of new investigators. That day Luis even committed to baptism in June!

I love this work so much. I love these people with all my heart and I can see how the Lord has prepared many of them to hear the Gospel at this time. I`m beginning to see why the Lord sent me here specifically. There`s people I relate to on a special level, there`s people with experiences similar to mine, these people and places and experiences are all part of the Lord`s plan for me. I couldn`t be happier. I know this Church is true. I love seeing the effects this gospel has on people`s lives, the light that comes into their lives. I know this is where I`m supposed to be, and thus I`ll continue to labor diligently in the work of the Lord.

Jacob 1:7  

I love you all!! Thank you for your support and prayers.

Love,

Hermana Anderson

Zone Conference, May 2015