HAPPY EASTER!

I don´t think there´s a better way to celebrate Easter than to share this joyous message that He Lives! It was a wonderful week, sharing the new ¨Halleluja¨ video with people gathered in family and helping them understand the meaning of Easter. While we were in companion exchanges this week, I was able to go out tracting with Hna Luis. We knocked doors, talked to people in the street, and contacted those that we had previously talked to. One of my favorite experiences was while walking, I felt impressed to offer help to a man sweeping outside of his house. As we helped him sweep and water his garden, we started talking. We found out he had previously talked to missionaries, had gone to church a couple times, had read the entire Book of Mormon, and had even gone to a baptism. He didn´t know why the elders had stopped visiting him, but he was eager to learn more. We shared with him the video, sang a hymn, said a prayer, invited him to church and set an appointment for the next week. I was super surprised when he actually came to church the next day, and even more surprised when he stayed for the 3 hours and actively participated in every class. Miracles happen when we just follow those simple promptings of the Spirit.

 We also found another woman that had recently lost her mom. When we shared with her the video, she got super emotional and shared with us the hope and joy that she felt while hearing these people testify that thanks to Christ, we will all be resurrected. I think I watched that video like 100 times this week, and everytime, I learned something new. 

Our other investigator, Alicia, that has been going through a lot of super super dificult problems, but she was finally able to come to church yesterday. She told us that she felt like everything that was said was directed toward her, that it was exactly what she needed to hear. And now with General Conference coming up, I´m super excited to help all our investigators receive that revelation that their all looking for. It´s an amazing thing when someone can learn and feel for themselves that this is the true church. 

This week we´re hoping and praying that all the legal papers get here for one of out investigators, Ruben, to be able to get married to be able to get baptized this week! His girlfriend was less active for many years, but about a month ago, she started coming back to church and invited him to come too...and now we´re axiously awaiting the wedding and baptism! and then in another year will be their sealing! I love the gospel so much.

So while I didn´t have any easter egg hunts, or an extravagent dinner (but we did eat some super good chiles rellenos), I have to say it was one of the best Easter´s I´ve ever had, helping other´s to feel the love of Christ. And now we get to see General Conference. Doesn´t get much better than that. But I hope you all know that I love you and I pray for you everyday! Thank you for your examples and testimonies that strengthen me and help me to keep progressing.

Les amo,

Hermana Anderson

Hna Jovita

Eating tacos with Hna Rita and Marisol

We helped with the New Beginnings program for the Young Women :)

Semana Santa...

For whatever reason, Catholics don´t eat meat in the weeks leading up to Easter...and that means the rest of us suffer too. So we´ve gone on a vegetarian diet this week, but it´s all good. I love Easter. The new initiative from the church ¨Hallelujah¨ has been a great way to share the real meaning of Easter with others. It´s helped me appreciate the atonement of Christ a little bit more this week. Also the whole easter bunny, colored eggs, and easter dinner thing doesn´t exist in Mexico. And while I miss all those festivities, the real meaning of Easter will never change. Christ lives, He is our savior, and thanks to Him, we too will be made alive. What a blessing it is to have that knowledge and to be able to share it with others. 

This last week has been a great one. Lots of Conferences and meetings, but super good. We had Stake conference yesterday which means I got to see nearly all the members and converts from 3 of my previous areas. I was touched to see more than 20 men sustained to receive the Melchezidec Priesthood. 3 from a family I found and taught in Moroleón, 2 young men from Salvatierra that we helped bring back to church, and one of my converts from here in Prados. The church is growing and the power of God is spreading throughout the world. Also zone conference was this last week so we got to see President and his wife. They always help us to feel loved, inspired and excited to work harder and become better. 

Other exciting things from this week include finding a scorpion in the house, eating Kentucky Fried Chicken for the first time in more than a year, and helping a member to throw coconuts against a wall to open them. I love Mexico so much. And this work is amazing. While we have our dificulties, the miracles and joy found in seeing others come unto Christ is far greater than any challenge we could have. This week I had the opportunity to work with Hna Mortensen in exchanges. She was with me in the MTC and we were able to talk about all that has changed in this last year. We realized that as a missionary, you have to learn to forget about yourself and your problems. You´re always thinking in others. The mission has taught me to be grateful for what I have, to look for the good, to see others as God sees them and to trust in Him. It´s been an amazing process to see that as I´ve been trying to help others change and to become converted, I´ve been the one that´s changed the most. The mission has been the best decision I´ve ever made. And I hope to take advantage of every second I have here cause I realize it´s not going to last forever. But thank you for your support, your love and prayers. I love you all with all my heart. 

con amor, 

Hermana Anderson

Hermana Karla and Hermanito Ethan

A Windy Week

It was a very very windy week. One day we were walking in the street wet from the ice cold rain and with the wind practically blowing us over. We realized there was hardly anyone in the street and my companion asked me, ¨do you think there´s a storm coming?¨ Turns out it was one of the worst storms in the history of Morelia. When we finally got to a members house we found out there was a weather warning telling everyone to stay in there houses. I guess when you don´t have television or newspapers or internet you kinda miss out on important messages like that. But we made it home just fine :) And we don´t mind it all that much when it rains cause people seem to be a lot more receptive when they see two young girls, standing in the rain, shivering from the cold on their doorstep. It helps keeps things interesting. 

But really this week was fantastic. We were able to visit one family that we met in la combi (little bus/van like things that we use to get around the city) and they are PERFECT. They´ve been asisting a Christian church these last couple months just trying to find the true church and they were super excited when we went to visit them. As we taught about Joseph Smith and the Restaration, the mom just starting crying, and she couldn´t expain why. She said she just felt something happy in her heart and she wanted to learn more. I love seeing all the different ways the Spirit testifies of the truth to these people when they open up their hearts. And tonight we´ll be having a Family Home Evening with them and the Bishop´s family. 

And remember Ruben that I wrote about last week? This week he told his family that he´s getting married and will be getting baptized. They weren´t very happy with that. It was hard for Ruben cause he´s always looked for the support and approval of his family, but he knew what he had to do and he just shared his testimony and told them that with or without their support he´ll be getting baptized. I was so touched by that to see that even with opposition from his own family, he´s firm in his decision and testimony. It´s not always easy to live the gospel, but it´s worth it. 

And well, that´s about it for this week! I love you all and I know that this church is true! 

Les amo

Hermana Anderson

Another pic of the tiger from last week :)

A pic of the sisters of the Aeropuerto zone

Hna Audelia. We go to visit her every week to sing hymns. Possibly one of my favorite parts of the week

con mis hermanitas

From the city to the beach and a trip to the zoo too

I don´t think I´ve ever traveled so much or slept so little. But we sure had fun along the way. We started of the week spending a couple days in Guadalajara for the Leadership Counsel, which as always, was super great. It was a record-breaking 9 hours long, but we all left super ready to change the world. And then, with just a 5 hour lay over in Morelia to sleep, we were off to Lazaro Cardenas. The beach... just imagine Arizona heat with Georgia humidity and that´s about the weather in Lazaro. We showered with ice-cold water and we slept with fans on high. And my favorite was after a late night special assignment with President, he took us out to ice cream...at 11:30 at night. Just some things I never imagined would happen on the mission. But it keeps things interesting. And then today we enjoyed the day at the zoo. It´s HUGE and hardly anyone was there. We even got to pet a tiger. How cool is that? And we got a private tour in the jeep, train thing that passes through the whole zoo. So needless to say, it´s been a pretty successful week. But better than all of that is that one of our investigators, Ruben, is finally going to be able to get baptized! He´s been attending church for nearly 2 years, he pays tithing, and he really really wants to be baptized, but he hasn´t been able to because his wife/girlfriend hasn´t been able to get divorced to be able to marry him but yeah, this last week she finally got divorced and they´ll be getting married this month! And they´re already making plans to get sealed in the temple in a year with their 3 kids! It just makes me so happy to be able to help these people prepare to have eternal families! 

I love this work with my whole heart. It´s not always easy, but I know this is where I need to be.

Love you all,

Hermana Anderson

El consejo de liderazgo con Hna Sutherland

Lazaro Cardenas con Hna Hernandez (mi entranadora) y Hna Osorio

Buying some coconuts in Lazaro

Just hanging out with the snakes

Hna Vargas and I on our excursion to the ZOO!

I decided to jump in the cage with the tiger...

Selfie with Hna Galvan, Hna Egginton, Hna Vargas and I

Good-Bye February

February has flown by! And can you believe it...one year in the mission just like that. This past year has been the best, hardest, longest, fastest, most rewarding year of my life. And I can´t wait to keep learning more and to keep working even harder for the next 6 months. The mission is just something so special that I´ll never forget nor regret. I know that the Lord called me to serve here in Mexico, here in Morelia for a reason. There´s people here that have touched my life, that have changed my heart, and that´ve helped me understand a little bit better the love our Savior and Heavenly Father have for us. 

This last week we visited a family, the Calderon family, that has passed through every trial you could think of. She´s single, full time working mother with three kids surviving on the little they have... and someone broke in this last week taking everything they owned. The mom is sick but can´t pay for the treatment to get better. The oldest 18 year old son has a drug addiction and new born baby to take care of. The list goes on and my heart broke as I listened to their story. I wanted to take away their pain and all their problems but I couldn´t. The only thing I could do was testify of a loving Father that listens to our prayers, a Savior that has felt every pain and a hope that it will all be okay. At the end of the lesson, the mother sobbed as she offered the most heart-felt sincere prayer that I have ever heard. As I embraced that woman and her 14 year old daughter, I felt an overwhelming love for them, a love so pure that it could only be from Him on high. 

I came on the mission to help others, but I´ve found that in turn they have helped me to learn, to grow, to develop Christ-like attributes, and to truly become the person that God knows I can become. I feel incredibly grateful to be here. I know it´s where I need to be.

Well this next week should be a good one as we head to Guadalajara (again) for Leadership council and then 8 hours to Lazaro Cardenas for some special assignments. I´m excited cause that´s where the beach is :) But really, I love this work with my whole heart and I also love all of you! Thanks for your prayers and support. Keep up the good work.

Te amo,

Hermana Anderson

We got bored in the office one day and made flower crowns...

My companion that looks like a flying squirrel with her poncho 

When you mix american, mexican, and dominican food together....

The elders even decided to participate in our flower fiesta

Almost-one year mark

Well to celebrate my almost-one.year-mark we got to come to Guadalajara (again) to sign visas. I spent the whole morning with Hna Tupounuia and Hna Mortensen in the city center of Guadalajara. Of course we couldn´t help but tour around a little and obviously we had to eat tacos to celebrate the occasion. And the rest of the week was absolutely wonderful as well. The work is quickly hastening in Prados Verdes. 

We´ve been working with one part-member family that is really progressing together. The mom and son are members of many years, but the spouse and other sons haven´t been willing to listen to the missionaries until now. One of the sons has been in jail for a long time, but we´ve been teaching his wife who has faithfully attended church and completed her commitments. She was about to get baptized, but decided it would be better to wait for her husband to get out of jail. They weren´t sure how long he´d be there, in fact they were expecting many years more, but after many promised blessings, fasting and prayer, he got out this week. We didn´t know he had been released, but one morning while working close-by, we felt prompted to pass by. We found him and his wife there waiting for us. They had no way to call us or anything, but the wife had prayed asking for us to pass by and poof, there we were. While in jail, this hermano had an alma the younger experiences. He had read the entire Book of Mormon, cross-referencing it with the Bible, and I´m pretty sure he knows more about the Book of Mormon than most members! He truly has a desire to change. He was also shocked to hear that we´re also teaching his dad. 20 years with his wife as a member of the church and he has never wanted anything to do with the church. I don´t know how it happened, but the Lord has softened his heart and he too is changing little by little. We´ll see how they progress over these next couple weeks, but I think together as a family they will really be supporting and helping one other in these changes. 

We´ve been working a ton with the members and it´s making all the difference. With the members it makes it so that there´s not only two or four missionaries in a ward, but there´s one or two-hundred. There´s days where we don´t even walk in the street. It´s just one appointment after the other in the houses of members with their friends and neighbors. There´s so much work to do and I feel like sometimes there´s just so little time. I´m trying to make everyday count cause I´m starting to recognize that these days are limited and these experiences are priceless. I love this gospel and I love seeing the way it changes peoples lives.

Let us all press on,

Hermana Anderson

Miguel´s baptism with his son Miguel Angel (recent convert) that baptized him

Divisions with Hna Mortensen and Hna Aleman

My beloved Prados Verdes

Guadalajara! Hna Mortensen, Hna Tupounuia, Hna. Largarda

Some cool lookin' cathedral in Guadalajara

Cuando hay amor

Valentine´s day was barely mentioned here in Morelia due to all the excitement of the Pope. But there were a few creative people that decided to mix the two together by selling giant stuffed hearts with the Pope´s face on it and stuff like that. We had to go to Guadalajara this last week to sign my comapnion´s visa, and it wasn´t the easiest thing in the world trying to travel with the Pope in Mexico, but we made it. Today nearly all the main roads are closed, there´s a million parked cars and no people. Everyone parked as close as they could and walked the rest to find a spot to camp and wait for the Pope. Craziness. But don´t worry, the work of the Lord continues. We even had one of our new investigators attend church with us yesterday. He´s absolutely golden. His name´s Carlos. And tonight we´ll be having a Family Home Evening with him and some of our recent converts. It should be fun. Today for P-day we played some basketball and soccer with the youth. You´d think after a year in Mexico I would have gotten at least a little better at soccer, but the reality is, I´m still not very good. But there´s still 6 months to pick up some skills from these kids. 

Well, there´s not much more to tell ya. Everything´s going super well and I´m just trying to enjoy every minute. I feel so privileged to be able to be here, to be able to serve as a representative of Jesus Christ. I love these people so much. Even if not everyone wants to accept our message, we´re all children of God and He is helping me to see His children through His eyes. While this valentine´s day I didn´t receive any flowers or heart shaped chocolates, I was able to share the greatest message of love there is. ¨For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son...¨ 

Les amo tanto,

Hermana Anderson