Hey family!

This week started out awesome! After I wrote you on monday last week I was reading in the scriptures in 2 Nephi 4:17-35 and I was just so pumped up. Nephi is feeling down and then he just throws down on his spirit and says AWAKE MY SOUL! No longer droop in sin! Read it, its really awesome! I just felt like that because I was super frustrated and it just pumped me up so much! Also I saw a vulture on the side of the road eating a deer. I never saw one before so it was cool. Another really great experience I had this week was we were helping a member move and it was super overcast and everything was pointing to rain. We were practically finished loading the van when it started to sprinkle and then it started to rain a little bit. Then out of the blue it stoped. I wont go too into detail for sacred reasons but lets jst say the power of the priesthood is very real and when used for good purposes miracles happen. Yes you are thinking correctly one of the Elders with us rebuked the rain. After we finally unloaded at the new house it poured and poured all night and it was a huge thunderstorm. The Lord really allows us to work in his name when we are helping others and trying to further his work. There were a few times when we were in a lesson after than the ground shook so hard I for sure thought it had been struck like only a short distance away. Thunderstorms here are so intense. Other than that this week has just been hard and steady. I talked to my comp about how to love and show your love for people and so hopefully things change. Transfers are here next week so. Anyways. I love you all! Talk to your friends about the gosepl! Tell Brother Eaton I think he was just a sealer, but he was super excited cuz I asked where he was a mission president cuz he spoke spanish and he told me Domican Republic and then I said my seminary teacher Tim Eaton served there and if he knew him and he said that was one of his elders! Mission life is good though I'll try to send the pics It looked like they didn't send when I tried last week.

Love ya!

Elder Anderson

What a week! I dont really even know where to begin. Well we had our zone and district meeting last monday after I emailed home and I got my shirts and contacts and so much mail!!! Thanks to everyone!!! It was like Christmas!! Woot! Okay so we decided as a Zone to fast again this week twice this time. Once for our investigators and once for this boy named Josh Pack. He is one of the assistants friends from back home. He broke his neck and really wants to serve a mission but cant so we fasted for his health. Okay so here is the miracles this week. One of the things our district leader wanted us to do this week was we each have a 10 sentabos coin in our shoe the whole week and every time we feel it to think of Christ. I have felt it a lot this week and it has been so cool because I know I have been blessed for keeping my thoughts more on Christ. One thing he told us was that we need to be perfectly obedient and when we choose to pull down the blessings from heaven. We choose...I love that. 

1. Susana. She is a miracle. I think I told you a little bit about her last week. She seriously is incredible. Every time we teach her I feel the spirit so strong. I know God wants her to be baptized so bad. I want her to be baptized so bad!! So we were teaching her about the Holy Ghost and Hna. Gutierrez looked at me and so I knew it was my turn to testify and teach. I really wanted to say what God wanted her to hear and so I just opened my mouth. I testified about the importance of the Holy Ghost in our lives and that without it we cannot have that peace and happiness that we desire etc. It seriously was amazing because spanish words just kept poping into my head and I just said them. God was directing me what to say in that moment I know he was and the spirit filled the room. So then we prayed because she is sick so Hna. Gutierrez of course looks at me and asked if I wanted to say it. I was like ok...if your sure. I am not that great at expressing myself still and so I wasnt really comfortable giving a special prayer for susanas health and progression. But I just bit my tounge and had faith that God would help me. So we knelt down and I began to pray. Woah. Only one other time have I been overcome by the spirit in a prayer in the mission. The first time was in the MTC what an incredilbe experience that was and the second was here. I felt the spirit so strong and started crying almost imediatley. I felt such a huge love for Susana and wanted her to be healed and to be baptized so bad. Thats really the only way I can explain what happened. After we stood up and Susana just breathed in deep and exhaled and said oh the spirit I can feel it. I was so humbled to see this woman change so much. She is so different from when we found her and she knows God is changing her. She knows the spirit and she knows it is with us when we come. I hope its enough for her to want to be baptized so she can have it for herself. 

2. So like our first week in this area we talked to this woman in a biblioteca (library). We hadnt been back to see her and we were passing by and I felt like we should go and talk to her so we were in there and it wasnt really going anywhere and then these 2 young girls came in looking for an English dictionary. So I look at my companion and I am like I know English and we smile. Then I asked the girls if they needed help with their English for school. They said yes. So we said we would come by one day to help them and they gave us their address. So the funny thing is that we passed this house already once before and they said they werent interested. But we passed on Tuesday night and they were excited to see us. So we went in and helped them. They have 5 kids and the mom. Andrea, Elianna, Macarena, Jimena, and Arnoldo. The mom is Adrianna. So we help them and these kids are just loving it and then Hermana Gutierrez being the awesome missionary that she is just whips out the Plan of Salvation on them. So we teach them about the Plan of Salvation and seriously they are were just so attentive. The youngest Arnoldo is 8 so they could all be baptized. We asked them if we could come back at the said yes. Jimena the nine year old little girl asked us if we would come to her birthday party so we are going to stop by wednesday. We left and they gave us a bunch of facturas and semitas....mmmmm..... So we saw them again this week but not the mom. We helped them again with English and then invited them to church and taught them about prayer. Elianna prayed and it was great. They cant come this week so we are hoping next week. But we feel really great about them. I love how the Lord helps us use our talents and abilities to share his gospel. Who knew English would come in handy!! 

3. We were walking one night and Hna. Gutierrez just looked at me and said okay I have to tell you. You are speaking so well in Spanish like you dont even know. I was like no Hermana please. I really dont feel like I am but whatever. She told me that when we teach sometimes she will pass it to me and I will say exactly what she was trying to say but really simply because I dont know a lot of words. She says I do not look like a newby and that I am really doing amazing. I felt so humbled. What did I do to deserve this blessing. I then though of Scotty and how he is struggling a little more with the language and imediatley prayed that God would bless him with sucess. But I was seriously so greatful to God to be able to be blessed to communicate what I am feeling and his gospel better with his children. This is a miracle. Please dont think I am boasting. I am not I am only showing you what is possible if we just trust God he can take a girl who cant speak nada in spanish and help her teach a lesson and testify with power in a language she has been speaking for 4 months. Just another tender mercy from the Lord? Not for me....a miracle. 

4. Hermano Lopez is going to be baptized this week!!!! WOOOTTTTT!! So exciting!! We are really hoping he can stay away from the coffee but we are praying and fasting for him so we know God will help him. 

5. Brian our other investigator came to church again. His family is so hard his dad doesnt like the people in any church because he has had bad experiences but he has never been to our church. We told him he just has to try it just like he wouldnt know the sweetness of a chocolate cake if he didnt try it. Then Brian was like Dad its like nice there I like it. But he didnt come We really feel like Brian is going to help his family come unto the gospel. He is studying the restoration pamphlet and is going to start reading the BOM we are so excited!!

6. I went on exchanges yesterday for the first time in the mission. All the missionaries were in the area Rawson we were cleaning their ward list so we all went out with members. So I went with a member he name is Noemi. She is seriously amazing she is 23 and is putting her papers in. She is exactly the kind of member I want to be when I come home. She takes an hour out of her day every day to go visit members and less actives in her ward. Every day!! Sometimes she takes the young womens so they can complete goals but mostly she does it herself she works and she is the primary president. He dad is inactive. I felt like she was a better missionary than me and she wasnt even wearing a tag. What an experience it was to work with her for the night. I really look up to her. Its so amazing how God puts certain people in our path everyday to help us learn and grow. Again though it is up to us to choose to learn what God has for us to learn. I just hope I am learning what God wants me to learn here. 

Thats just a little of Gods goodness here in the Mendoza mission. It amazes me to think that this happens everywhere in the world with every person. We can choose to see the miracles or we can choose to complain and look for solutions somewhere else. I love this work I love this Gospel. I love the Lord. I cannot wait to go to conference this weekend!! We are so excited!!!!!! 

Oh and just for some comic relief, you dont need to worry about me getting married because one of the members here everytime I see him (he is like 70) tells me he is looking for a boyfriend for me. We were in church and just about to leave and he come and grabs my arm and is like Hermana I have a contact for you. I am like ok bueno. He is like he is an ex missionary and really smart and serious. I of course go bright red and he is like my grandson and his grandson is walking towards us at this point. I am like oh my gosh are you serious!!! I am like Hermano we are Hermanas!! He just started smiling and laughing. Anyways we dodged a bullet cause I just told him I didnt understand and we left and Hna. Gutierrez just started laughing soooooo hard!!! I was laughing so hard too. Now like every five minutes in the street she is like oh your boyfriend etc. I am like HERMANA!!! Anyways so ya God likes to bless his missionaries sometimes in ways we wouldnt even expect. hahahahahaha. oh dear.

I love you all!!
Hermana Anderson

Okay so some really really funny things happened this week and some amazing miracles too. So I will start with the funny. First off the other night we were walking back to the pench and just finishing up some abrir la boca and I needed like 1 more so I saw this pregnant looking woman across the street and I was like hey I am going to go talk to her! Hna. Gutierrez was like who?? I was like that lady over there! She started laughing so hard so then I started laughing and I was like what?! Whats so funny?! She was just able say because she was laughing so hard. That is a man Hermana Anderson!!! So I look closer and yep she was right a long haired big bellied man! So we both burst out laughing again and she always tells me I am so blind now! Good thing I didnt go talk to him and say Hola Senora! I have done that before and boy I wouldnt want to talk to some gringa if she just called me a man! Okay the other thing we had a noche de hogar (FHE) yesterday with a man we are trying to baptize (his wife is a member but inactive) He knows its true and wants to be baptized but just wont come to church. We are working on that and he said he is coming this next week so...hopefully he is telling the truth this time. So as we are sitting there about to start finding faith in christ I feel a tug on my skirt....like the middle of my skirt up by my thighs and I was like what the heck!! I look down and I see a claw in my skirt and I feel this sick mangy cat crawling up my skirt!!! I was like AHHHHHH!!! hahahahahaha. Then got him out and the Flia Lopez were like oh dont worry he wont hurt you! I was like oh okay! I will just let him make a little bed between my legs really great! So messed up and you know how much I dont like cats. Gross..Oh another funny thing this week. We did service at this ladies house again and cleaned and organized her sons room, Oh my word....so bad. So as we are cleaning and sorting things out I walk by the door and see this hole in the door and I was like what the.....and I see a cockroach just sitting there staring at me. So I was just staring back for a minute and then I was like alright...and just kept working hahahaha. He sat and watching us the whole time. His name is Fred. FYI. So another Cockroach incident. We were eating at a members house and I had a piece of bread and I was about to rip a piece off it and I looked down and this cockroach was sitting on it...I was like ohhhhhhhhhh lovely. So I just left the bread and when the little sick kid crawled towards me I just scooted him off the table with my hand fast hoping the fam did see...haha. The Lord is blessing me with tolorance and love for all his creatures. Cats cockroaches and dogs that try to attack me. :) Shoulder bags are not only for holding scripts and pamphelts...They are great defense weapons. Oh and this one fam. we had lunch with (oh the members feed us everyday..no joke they seriously do they love us!) The dad he was a guard to the pres. here a long time ago and was a guard when Evita died. The show Evita with Maddona (Andrew Lloyd Webber I think wrote the play or musical or something) She is so famous here she was the pres. wife kinda like a princess Dianna. Did great service to the people. Last funny thing. So after service we were fasting because as a zone we are fasting for baptisms and for our companionship for asistencias. So I am on my knees praying just talking to God and then all of a sudden I hear Hermana Gutierrez say CRAP!!! I lift up my head quick and realize that I fell asleep praying so I slept in this awkward kneeling position for like 30mins!! I have never fallen asleep praying it was so weird!! It just hit me like a wall! hahah. 

Okay now for the miracles. So Tuesday this week we taught Susana and we taught her about the restoration. Things were going great and the spirit was there Hna. Gutierrez started to talk about Joseph Smith and then she just stopped and passed it to me I was like bueno....okay I can do this. (while I am praying for help seriously) Then I started to tell her about the First Vision. Then I told her the account. Vi una calumna de luz mas brillante que el sol.......êtc. And the spirit just flooded the room. I felt it so strong and there was a silence in the room. I finished and waited for a few seconds then looked her in the eyes and testified of the truthfulness of our message and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I started to get emotional and finished and she just stared at me. Hna. Gutierrez then took over and then we finished up. We asked her to pray and she prayed perfect!! Exactly the way we taught her!! It was incredible the spirit was there and after we left we both were just like FA!! (wow) seriously a miracle. Then later that day we were tracting and we passed an open door and a woman was in her house drinking Matte. So we always go for open doors cause you are already half way in. So I walked back and introduced ourselves and asked if we could come in a teach her for like 5 to 10 minutes. She was really nice and said yes. So we went in and I taught my first lesson!!! All Spanish!!! SOOOO COOL! Hna. Gutierrez just let me take the lead and she just simply testified after I taught a principle! It was so cool and a tender mercy from the Lord because later this week I was getting discouraged because of the language but I remembered these two experiences and was just like no....I am learning and I am doing this. Be Patient! Thats my motto. At least thats what I have to keep telling myself. Then for church we went and tried to pick up like 7 investigators and all of them stood us up. Satan seriously is working hard on these people (I just got in a fight last night with my husband and I have to make him empanadas to smooth things over, or someone just called me to work or oh I had to do this or that!) So we went to this family that we are teaching to get the son (our ward mission leader is incredible by the way! Seriously!) So we go to his house nothing then we drive to the next house with our WML (ward mission leader) and his family and he wasnt there either so we came back the way we came passing brians house again and who comes walking out the door as soon as we pass! BRIAN!!!! I was like ESPERA ESPERA BRIAN ESTA!! And Hermana Gutierrez is like Wait wait wait in English!!! SO Funny I am speaking spanish and she is speaking english hahaha. So we stopped picked him and and go to church and then we had Sacrament mtg and 3 other investigators were there that we hadnt passed for!! So that seriously was a miracle no lie. We were so happy! So the next couple weeks we are really hoping for some baptisms we have our fingers crossed and really want 3 this tranfers I would love to see Brians whole family baptized but we will see! Today for Pday we made Banana Bread and cookies. We have to bribe the dang sone leaders to bring our packages or they forget like last week.....so annoying. Dont worry I will send a pic next week!! I miss you all and I am glad to hear Ethan is healing well and doing great. 

Love you all!
Hna. Anderson

Hey Family.

This week has been so ridiculously hard with many things but its ok. It has been super nice out. Like 82-85 degrees so about 28 to 30 C So nice! I had exchanges with the other Elders since my companion is Distrcit Leader and so we did an exchange and I went on bike. Ya I biked 20 miles in one day. My butt hurt so bad! I got a nice sunburn from it though and its already into a tan so thats nice. There were lizards outside of the Church on sunday basking in the heat on the walls so that was cool I never knew they would be down here.  We had a Baptism on Sunday! There was a kid who lost his records and so we had to get him re-baptized so that was sweet! His brother got to baptize him so I think that was really cool for him! Funny news! We were out tracting and we saw this guy and my comps like hey hows it going? He just looked at us and said "Damn you!" I just started laughing and walked away it was so funny! hahahaha but yeah things are doing a little better we have gotten a couple new investigators and so its sweet. Honestly things this transfer have been super dull because my comp doesn't like to talk. He just does his own thing and if I dont follow him he just leaves me. So its super frustrating. He doesn't really tell me what were doing either so our planning sessions include me copying his planner! So fun! Our car rides to and from apointment include silence. Maybe my wife wont be able to speak? Who knows. All I know is I am learning more patience than I ever have before. You know I am pretty much A.D.D when it comes to that. I like to talk and not sit in silence. Its so frustrating! Anyways. I'll try to send some pictures of my sunburn and my haircut. Did I mention that? I cut my own hair? hahahha I know what your thinking and your right. It looks perfect.

Love ya!

Elder Anderson

Family,

Hey this week has been good. Its had its ups and downs but at the end of the week I was feeling good and not down which is good. A couple of things this week! First I ate with a tongan. We had exchanges with the Zone Leaders and I went with the Tongan zone leader to a tongan house and they eat so much. I honestly thought I was going to throw up on the table. The guy kept saying if you dont eat everything on the table then I will be so offeneded and he was so seriously I was like oh my goodness. Later I found out he was kidding but oh man I have never eaten so much. I wasn't hungry till the next day at lunch. Other news we have been dropping a ton of people because they just aren't progressing and aren't really interested. Also this week we went to an elementary school to help a teacher translate a paper into spanish for a book fair or somthing. Shes part of the english ward so we went to help her and we got to eat at the cafeteria. IT was wierd. All the little kids thought we were police or somthing and I felt like a giant seeing all the little kids look at us from their small tables hahahah. Other exciting news I spoke in Church yesterday. I was supposed to talk for 15 min in spanish which was ridiculous so I read like 20 versus on obediance which was my topic and that pretty much took the whole time hahahaha good times.  Anyways I love ya!

Elder Anderson

HOLA!!

Hey Family! This week has been so great we saw some great miracles! But first off. So Wednesday we get a call from the offices and they are like Hermana Anderson you need to come to Mendoza and get your visa stuff all figured out. I was like ok when. They were like tonight.....so I was like bueno...So we went and worked that morning and tryed to get some memebers to stay with hna Gutierrez while I was gone and finally got some. So then I went and got my bus ticket first class and with the other elders that were going and then off we went! It was so funny this my Zone leader was going to and he was sitting accross the isle from me and I was trying to relax and his head would pop around my little curtain thing and be like want an oreo?! I was like oh my word....hahahah yes of course! So after a 2.45 hour bus ride we get to mendoza I stay the night in the offices with another Hermana thats new She came out just 10 days ago. And the next morning got all of the technical stuff done. We got up at 5 so I was reallly tired. So then we got back on the buses at like 12 and arrived back to San Juan at 3. Long couple of days. Then yes we went out to work. hahah no rest for the missionaries. But its good. So we were talking with some lady and she asked me where I was from and I asked her where she thought I was from and she was like switzerland!!! I was like oh yeah baby!! I got germany another time. My goal is Buenos Aires by the end of my mission. Cross your fingers. So a side note for just the family. I had interviews with pres. and he was like hna. anderson I feel like you are going to be using your spanish a lot after your mission its going to be a big part of your life so I am going to do everything I can to help you with that. So I will probs. be getting lots of latins. Excellent. Also he told me he never puts new gringas with latins the second transfer he has done it once before almost 3 years ealier so he said you should be proud.....psh hahahaha. Anyways. We have had some great member lunches this week so yummy mmmmmmmm. We went and taught this man Hno. Lopez and his wife is a member. He has been getting the lessons for like years now and knows its all true and so we just were like ok so we committed him to be baptized and he was like I am ready now to be baptized so yes! We were like YEEEEEEEESSSSS!!! So excited! We also taught this family last night and showed them the movie finding faith in Christ. They spirit was there and it was really cool. He is a hard one the dad and we are really trying to go slow with him so cross your fingers. We also taught this woman who was enchanted with the fact that I am from Canada and have red hair I was laughing so hard....she just kept staring and smiling at me I was like oh dear......So this week it was cool I am starting to talk to people on the busses now and its so sweet I just sit down by someone and start talking and then share a little bit about what we teach and ask if we can come by. I met this really cool woman last night and so that was a great experience. Today we went to wait for it......WALMART!!! It was so weird. I felt like I was back at home! I walked in and was like woah! hahaha. I loved it we went and ate after at the little place they have there and it was so gross.....sick. Oh so the people we live behind the Familia Polo they love us and the husband is deaf and in church Hna. Gutierrez was like how is your wife cause she wasn't in sacrament meeting....oh by the way this is during sacrament meeting that she says this and then he basically yells back GOOD MY WIFE IS DOING GOOD!!! I was a few rows ahead sitting with a less acitve family and I look back and Hermana Gutierrez's face was so funny!! Her eyes were all big and she started laughed as we made eye contact it was sooooo funny! As for service this week we went and helped this less active woman clean her house.....yikes....we were exhausted after but we are going again this week.....pray for me. hahaha. Other than that this week has been great I am really loving it here and I cannot believe how fast the time is going I am almost half done this transfer! WHAT!!!???  Anyways I have to go now hope everyone is doing well glad to hear things with Ethan are better!! Miss you all and love you so much!!

Hermana Anderson

Wow wow wow this area is huge and a lot of it is centro but its great! I feel like I am in a fiery inferno everytime I walk out the door. I thought it was hot in San Rafael......ya.....that was a cake walk compared to here! They usually never send gringos here in the summer because it is so hot so I am not really sure what president was thinking!!! Especially since I am a red head!! Oh well I am looking more tan for me....haha so thats a plus. Sorry I wont have pics this week cause I can upload them on this comp.

 

Okay so first off I left San Rafael and was really sad it was hard to leave Hermana Pelton....she has become one of my best friends and I learned so much from her it was like leaving a sister! But after going to bed at 1 and waking up at 3 to get to the terminal I was exhausted to say the least. Hermana Crapse and I jumped on the bus headed for Mendoza and then we split up there she is going to San Luis and me to San Juan. So I was standing outside the terminal pulling my bags and this little peruvian Hermana runs out and all I hear is HERMANA ANDERSON!! hahahaha. I was like HOLA! Hermana Gutierrez is seriously hilarious and I love her to death we have already had a lot of fun and I can feel my spanish improving daily. So we ride the bus to San Juan and the first thing we do (keep in mind we both have had little to no sleep) is clean the pench. There were 2 hermanas in this pench before...yes just two..and they both died there. Hna. Burnett and Deem the two we did splits with a few weeks ago. So we get in and this pench is disgusting.....seriously. So nasty. So we go right to work skirts and all....I of course got the honor of cleaning the bathroom. I second what Scott said in his last letter Thanks mom for the slave labor! Also thanks to the Chinook Lodge I know the value a good bottle of bleach can have. So we clean for a hour or two getting all the dust cobwebs and grime off everything. I cleaned the fridge and freezer again.....I hate that job. And yes we found a rather large cockroach in our room which we killed quickly. You can smell them in our pench and its so gross but we have a good supply of raid and air freshener to help.. Its so funny the first thing we do every night when we come home is turn on the light and get the raid to kill all the little ones on the counter and in the sink. They like to come up the drains....Anyways now that you are all probably wanting to barf...this area is seriously so different than San Rafael! The people here are so much nicer! I was caught off guard when I was doing my ALB and the people are like yes come by! I was like wait....what?! hahaha So ya its pretty great. Hna Gutierrez is great and is very patient with me. She helps me with my spanish and I help her with her english. She speaks very well so I really am not helping her all that much. This week has been great. We worked really hard and we have some great goals for this week. We have a few people that we are really wanting to progress but it always the get them to church clincher!! Its so hard! But we have some great ideas about how we are going to do it so cross your fingers! So yesterday we had Pday and we went to McDonalds!! Now before you gasp in horror thinging that I finally succumed to the big M let me tell you. It tastes waaaaaaay better here and its the only thing that is similar to home so don´t judge me. It was so good. Especially since it took us like a hour to walk there! Here in Argentina people aren´t very good at giving directions! They are like go down there two blocks and then its more over there and like in this general area and ya...we are like what?! How is anyone supposed to find anything!! But after a lot of walking in the sun....we found it!!! So good. Then we went to email and I think it was a holiday yesterday was a holiday or something so add that to the fact that like everything closes down here in the siesta and you have San Juan in a nutshell. We couldn´t find a cyber anywhere!!! We walked for an hour and a half all over the place looking for one!! We were so mad because it was pday and it was a terrible one!! But the odds are it can only go up from here luckily! haha. So we had our zone and district meeting tonight and it was so great. My district leader is named Elder Jacobs and he is amazing! We had the sweetest district meeting and I felt the spirit really strong. I felt a fire inside me when I left and was so excited to go out and work. Very different than my last district. We set some great goals and Hna. Gutierrez have some really great ideas for success this week that we are going to try out! I am really excited to go out and work and just light this place up. It was so funny last night Hna. Gutierrez and I were walking back to the pench and she was like WAKE UP SAN JUAN!!! So of course I added THE HERMANAS ARE HERE!!! So we both have a lot of drive and animo this transfer so expect to hear about some miracles!! One Scripture Elder Jacobs shared with us was Moroni 7 26 and 33. Such great scriptures about faith and about asking god. I love in 33 how it talks about whatsoever is expedient in Christ. We talked about that for a little bit about how this work is expedient in christ its expedient that we baptize its expedient that we learn this language ect. That got me thinking about other things and especially when I was at home and what I will take home after my mission. What is expedient. Do we pray with that in mind? Do we pray with the spirit and let the spirit direct what we say to our father in heaven or our we just praying becuase we want certain things. Yes that is good but I think what I have learned about prayer is its important to ask for the things the Lord wants us to ask about whatsoever is expedient....just something to think about...I will get off my soapbox now. Anyways so its been great I have seen my spanish jump as I am not a afraid to speak in lessons and in the street and I have more confidence in speaking....trust me I still am terrible....but I am learning and I have found the importance of having that confidence in the spirit so that it can testify with power! I love this gospel it changes lives I have seen it in the people we teach but more inportantly in myself everyday I change and feel myself looking back and thanking Heavenly Father for the tender mercies and patience he has had with me....look for those in life and you will be surprise how much we have to be thankful for!

Beso!
Hermana Anderson

Hey!

This week has been crazy. one day I just didn't ever wanna talk to my comp and then yesterday we had a long talk and everything is perfect now and great! So this week I have had some humbling experiences and things that make me feel more grateful! I sat in amazment as a man in front of us cried because he didn't understand about how his sister has died. He just cried as we taught him about Alma 40 and where we go after this life. I am just so grateful that I know what happens and that death isn't a sad thing. Its just another part in the Plan of Salvation.Another humbling experience was this week we taught a man with no electricty. We sat in the doorway of his trailer and talked to him as cockroaches scurried around us and crawled up the walls of the apartment. It just made me so grateful for what I have and I never realized how much I take electricity for granted!   Also this week it was fast and testimony meeting and it was so sad watching like 4 families ( half of the small branch) get up and leave right after sacrament. I just was like wow. I am so greatful for my ward that people stayed to bear and hear testimonies. Also it was super wierd to see little kids get up there and bear theirs in spanish? for some wierd reason I just assumed it would be in english even though they always speak spanish. Wierd. but other than that things are going good. I dont really know what else to write this week. things sounds good back home and its good ethan is doing better. Plus this keyboard I am using this week is terrible and annoying. Anyways. I love you and am excited to here more news for next week.

Love ya!

Elder Anderson

Hey family

Wow this week has been crazy!! I think for a moment I was going to go insane!!! I feel like my emotions on the mission are like a rollercoaster!! Its so not convenient! haha. But thats life right? So ya after having some down days and some stressful times I had a sweet experience where I was able to teach a little part of the lesson all in spanish and it just came easyish for me!! I was so happy after! But like all things that was short lived and the next time I stumbled over even the words in my testimony! haha. The Lord is blessing me though. Talk about killer though. So yesterday we went to the cave of the brujas!! the witches but on our way there we went and saw some fossils and a little waterfall thingy it was pretty sweet! The cave was way cool and it reminded me of going through the cave back home when we went for young womens ahhhhh I love it! So we went through this cave and it was pretty sweet and then we came back out and we were walking down this path and I rolled my ankle of this loose rock and totally ate it like hard core. So I bashed my knee on a rock and my ankle and let me just tell you that kind of pain sort of just paralyzes you. I couldn´t even cry I was just trying really hard not to hyperventilate whilst my comp. and the other hns. and trying to help me in some form! I was just like oh my word oh my word oh my word ahhhhhhh.......so that kinda sucked and for the rest of the day my knee and ankle hurt soooo bad. So the Zone Leaders came over and gave me a blessing that night and my knee is feeling soo good today which is a miracle. In all seriousness. I just remember praying right after I fell in my head please don´t let it be broken please don´t let there be any damage! Any because God loves me I am okay!! So miracle for the week is that I am currently not a cripple!!! Lets party!

So transfers are tommorow and drumroll please...........I am going to........San Juan!!!!!! WHOOOO! With a new comp. and in an area that is on fire! We are washing the area so this is my second area and we are washing again!! SWEET! So I am excited and scared and everyother emotion you can think of yes I am feeling it! I leaving tommorow morning probably at like 3 or 4 in the morning and its like a 7 hours bus ride or more so its going to be lovely. I am going from the most southern area in the mission for hermanas and going to the most northern which is also the hottest I might add! So just a little tidbit the Hermanas that came and did splits with us a couple weeks ago were in San Juan and they were like oh my word our pench has an infestation of cocroaches!!! They come up out of the sink!!!! SICK!!!!! So  I am going to be in the roach pench for the next six weeks or more so pray that I don´t get eaten!! Don´t worry I will document! Oh and I am getting a Latin!!! Woooo. So my spanish is going to jump a ton this next transfer! Am a freaking out right now yes mam! So please keep me in your prayers. She will be great though She speaks really good English so I am lucky! So I am glad to hear baby Ethan is doing better and I will keep praying for him. I think I starting laughing outloud here in the Cyber when I read scotty´s email that sick beast ate through five loaves!! hahahahahahaha. I miss that kid! So this next week there are going to be a lot of changes and I am really going to miss Hna. Pelton! She is all I know here and she has become one of my best friends! It will be hard to leave but hey thats the mission and life so you just take a deep breath and just into the deep end and know the Lord is going to bless you. I can´t believe in a couple weeks I will have been here in Argetina for 2 months!! Where has the time gone!! Wow....its crazy. I am loving it here and working hard to be happy everyday!! I love you all and hope your all doing well!!

Con Amor!

Hna. Anderson

Hey family.

Thats awesome that Ethan is doing so much better! First off I wanna ask before I forget, I need a GPS. I know you dont think I do but I do. Every single Elder here has told me I do. They all get one because we need them to find our ways around in the big cities especially when we go into a new area so if you could get me one with the money in my account and send it to me or something please do it would be a life saver. This week was interesting so far. So we had transfers on Wednesday and as I have already told you I am now in Douglasville in the Sweetwater spanish branch. Things seem really cool here although my first day or two I was sure this way going to be the longest 6 weeks of my life. Elder Perez says hello back and yes he is from Dominican Republic and so yeah I am learning alot of spanish but he speaks so fast that often I have no idea of whats going on. I think I am going to learn spanish very well he because already he has just turned to me after going into someones house and been like ok your teaching and I am like wha.... Yeah its hard because I am still learning and so I feel like I have no idea what to say sometimes. I guess thats with life though, sometimes we dont feel ready or we feel inadequate but the Lord calls us in our weaknesses so that we can because strong. Look at Moses, he wasn't really even able to speak and he was called as a prophet but the Lord made a way possible that allowed him to fufill his calling. So on sunday we had a meeting with the Branch President to tell him about our investigators and whatnot and then Elder Perez was just like oh I have to go and get a investigator so he left with the Elders quorum President and so I was stuck with the Branch President and had to tell him about our investigator pool that I have no idea about anyone cuz I just had got to the area like 3 days previous. Luckily I recognized like 2 or 3 names of the 10 or so that were on the sheet so it wasn't a complete failure, and also luckily the Branch President could speak English. So yeah thats been my first week and at the moment I was super frustrated and just like uhh this is going to be the longest 6 weeks of my life but then I just tried to think positive and the day got better and now I am super excited to be here and hoenstly dont think I am going to want to leave. Isn't it amazing what change attitude can play in your life? If you really think about it anytime we have a trial it feels like the whole world stops and we are going to be in the miserable abyss of sorrow and frustration for an eternity but when we try to think positive and have the attitude that ok by tomorrow I am going to look back and realize how silly this really is its alot easier to push forward. We always need to have a viewpoint from Heavenly Fathers eyes. I have the perfect example. Mom, remember you wanted us to pull out the carrots before I left and I didn't wanna do it by myself and no one really wanted to do it because it would seriosuly take forever (a couple hours) hahah how silly is that. Looking back yeah in the moment I felt like I was in that abyss but now its like ok wow I was silly I couldn't sacrifice 3 or 4 hours if that or even 1 hour everyday? I guess thats one of the greatest things I love about my mission so far is how different our perspective changes, in everything. Cool. Now that I have rambled on for a while I feel the need to change topics. So the funny thing this week was I saw this guy painting his lawn green! haha like literally it was a crew of people like a business and they had this hose that was spraying a nice green liquid on the grass and it actually looked decent! haha I just thought it was one of the funniest things I had ever seen. Other funny story? So I am so grateful for the slavelabour you put us through doing chores and cleaning the bathrooms. I never thought I would actually say that but so far the 2 areas I have been in there has been mold in the showers and like the bathrooms are just disgusting. Like I was grossed out. Some people just live it that stuff! Like they hadn't cleaned the shower in probalby 4 months! I dunno I was just grossed out so we bought this drain cleaner that just is ruthless and we put it in a spray bottle and I went crazy with it in the bathroom! I just sprayed it everywhere and boy did it dissolve all that crap. All I have to say is when I get my own house it is going to be clean. So ya. Thanks for the childlabor mom :).

Love

Elder Anderson

xx