Kaitlin's Mission E-Mails

12/30/2015

Hey Family!
I got here safely. I love y'all. I have only been here 1 day but I was given time to e-mail my parents right now. So.... Here I am e-mailing you. I only have ten minutes to e-mail. So, it's been good so far. I have a companion named Sister Jones, just like Michael said I would! It was so funny. I told her about it and she thought it was funny. My other companion is named Sister Greenshraugh. Or something like that. It is so hard to remember her name so that is probably actually not how to spell it. I am pretty hungry here so thank you so much for packing that sandwich, I have not yet had time to eat it because there has literally been no time. And I will have no personal time at all. Like 24 hours 7 days a week I will be with a companion. At college, my roommate was like never there so I got really used to having a room to myself, I could read outloud or blast music but now I am always with the other two. So, I can only e-mail family right now and possibly only family my entire mission (I hope that is a rumor) but yeah, so if you could just tell anyone who needs to know, life is going good. Today has been good. I have already talked to practice companions. It was pretty good. I am learning the language of the Spirit and I do like it. I have felt the Spirit here and I am thankful for that. I like my companions and I am glad that they are both pretty cool and friendly. One companion is 21 and one is 19 but she graduated 2014. I got to go. I love you so much. I guess you could forward this or not, what ever you want. I love you and hopefully I can e-mail more people next time and e-mail for longer. Stay amazing. The entire family is in my prayers. I love you.
Love always,
Sister Anderson.

1/7/2015

Hey Y'all!!!
The first day I got here was 12/30/15
On the first day I came to the MTC and said good bye to my family for a year and a half. It was hard to say good bye but I was so excited to be at the MTC. I went to pick up all my books and stuff and then I dropped off all my belongings into my residence. When I was in the residence all I could do was put my stuff down (I couldn't even get a notebook out of my bags). And then I had to go to class. When I got to my classroom there were my teachers and one elder. I said hello and sat down and introduced myself. Then two other elders came and then two other sisters came. I got really excited because I was thinking one of the sisters was going to be my companion. One of them looked similar to me and one looked totally different but I was excited to have either of them as my companion. Then I found out they were both my companion. It was pretty cool. We had classes until dinner time and then we went to dinner and had pretty yummy food. There was even ice cream because it was out first day.
The second day was 12/31/15 (New years eve)
It was kind of sad because I knew I was missing out on the family celebrations but I was really happy. Today in class I learned about reading the scriptures horizontally instead of vertically. I loved that so much! It was so great. We spend a really long time in class but I am learning really interesting things so it has been really great. During my evening classes we were interviewed by a gentleman. It was a good interview and the man seemed super nice. His family liked running and he told me I looked like a runner which made my day. After we were all interviewed we were given assignments/calling. I am a Sister training leader, Senior Companion, Online Coordinator, Pianist, and Travel leader. It felt really awesome to have those callings. It made me feel really good but I was so surprised.
1/1/16 (New Years Day!)
I love when people say "Hello sisters" and I say "Happy New Years" and it totally makes the missionaries day because they forgot about it. It is the best they always said "wow! its a new year" like they were honestly surprised because it is like a normal day. Also today we did service. I was cleaning the bathrooms and it reminded me of working at Shakey's and cleaning the bathrooms. It made me miss it but it also made me feel really good about not just cleaning a restaurant but cleaning a building dedicated for the Lord and dedicated for learning.
1/2/16
Today was AMAZING! I felt the Spirit so strong today. One of the Elders in my district (Elder Sanders) bore his testimony and he was asking me questions about my life and how I am doing and feeling and it was just amazing. I know I have my questions about the gospel but I know that the gospel is not supposed to come all at once. We need to learn and grow and it is so great. Like we are continually learning about the gospel. The Bible and Book of Mormon are big books meant to be read over and over and over. And I love that. I was challenged to fast for the Wednesday (today) temple trip and Elder Sanders said he would fast for me and with me. I really loved that because the temple can be confusing and he feels like he understands it pretty well because he was a temple worker.
1/3/16
Today is fast sunday. I bore my testimony in sacrament meeting and I felt the Spirit while doing so. I also played three songs in sacrament meeting on the piano and it was really hard but I am glad I got to have that challenge. After sacrament meeting I taught the Relief Society lesson. It went really good and I was actually cut short, like there was not enough time for all the things I wanted to teach. I honestly really loved that lesson, I really hope that didn't sound prideful. I think I was just blessed to know what needed to be said, maybe no one else felt the Spirit but I really felt the Spirit. Also I watched a video that emphasized the darkness surrounding Joseph Smith, it was interesting. Like it was saying how hard it was for Joseph Smith and that Satan doesn't want us to succeed so he will actually be worse for the stronger people and he doesn't come as himself but as what we want. Satan comes as our own desires and I'm explaining that poorly but it was interesting. Like if we have doubt in the church he will emphasize what ever we are questioning. It was so interesting. I felt the Spirit and I know that Joseph Smith did really pray and received an answer and I know he really did translate the Book of Mormon.
1/4/16
Sister Jones has a hurt ankle so we had to leave the MTC, it was AWESOME. HAHA. We found out that she is totally okay and if she wasn't then it wouldn't have been awesome. but she is okay so it was great to leave the MTC even if it was to go to the clinic. It was fun.
Also, today we were walking into the cafeteria and the manager pulled us aside and asked us to come to the back room with him. We went with him and he gave us chocolate peppermint shakes from CHik-Fil-A. He only had ten and we were picked. It totally made my day. I also got to watch a little general conference video at the clinic and it was fun. It was about the importance of motherhood and I loved it so much!
1/5/16
Elder Sanders: "Rhonda Rousey is so hot and so awesome"
Me: "I love Rhonda Rousey"
Elder Crawford: "Rhonda Rousey is so hideous"
*ten seconds go by, Elder Crawford looks at me*
Elder Crawford: "You look like Rhonda Rousey"
So.... I can either take that one of two ways. I can take that as Elder Crawford thinks I am hideous or I can take that as Elder Sanders thinks I'm hot. Haha, I just laughed it off but it was like "wow" thanks elder. It was alright though. Afterwards Elder Crawford was like "no, I just dont like her so I said she was hideous but you actually look like a fighter and so thats why I saw the resemblance" He felt really bad and was like "no, no, no, thats not what I meant" but it was alright. Like, I really like her so I think it is a compliment. And if I'm not supposed to use the word "hot" because I am a missionary, well.... sorry I guess :P haha. Like, I was just quoting someone else, but I know that doesn't make it right.
1/6/16
I went to the temple today. I am so thankful I have a temple so close by and I am thankful that the temple is so beautiful. I am also thankful that my companions and district is so amazing. I hope life at home is amazing. Life here is good. We are in classes for hours and hours but it has been so good. We have about 9 hours of class time and 3ish hours of study scripture time. It is so busy but so crazy. Later today I have another appointment with an investigator and those are always fun. Being here really is fun. It is crazy and spiritual, and inspirational and fun.
Keep reading scriptures and praying. We pray so much here and I am so thankful for the power of prayer. When ever you have a question: pray. I have learned that we can pray at any time. We pray so much here and praying enables us to better teach the person and not just teach the lesson. I love that. Teach the person. Not the lesson. That is so important and my companionship has been working really hard to do that when we teach our many many investigators (many of them are our teachers) here at the MTC.
I love you,
Sister Anderson

1/18/2016

Louisiana is amazing!!!!
So the airplane here was kind of terrible and like it made me really nauseous and afterward I felt super dizzy and like when I tried to sleep I couldn't sleep very well because when ever I closed my eyes I felt like I was spinning. But while on the airplane I had a lot of fun. The airplane was way cool and my companion and I checked out the toilets to see if they were like the ones we saw in the movies. They were like that. Haha, where there isn't any water. It was interesting. Hahaha, but I flew to Georgia then Mississippi. Then I spent the night in Mississippi and I drove to Louisiana.
So on the 12th, I met Sister Nash (my trainer) she is like 6 feet 2 inches. She makes me look even smaller and younger but that is okay. I have learned that the people here talk a lot and slow but about nothing, so I am learning patients. I am used to people talking fast and not really being redundant. Its interesting here but it is good. And like I have a missionary in my district who was like overly explaining something and I just had to say "Elder, I understand you. Please continue." It was really funny but I am learning, I guess he knew that people here are used to hearing the same things multiple times. And my trainer says that they teach the same lessons over and over and over again. That is not what I was expecting at all, but we will see how that goes.
On the 13th I woke up in my bed, it was awesome to finally feel like I have a bed. Like a bed that is mine for the next 12 or so weeks. I am really loving tracting and just meeting everyone that is here. I also have been waking up and doing a Jillian Michaels workout and that has honestly been so fun.
On the 14th I went tracting and I met two cousins and they are super nice. They let us teach them the first lesson about the restoration and the spirit was so strong. And it has been cool practicing reciting the 1st vision because even though I would say it lots and lots of times I would feel the Spirit when I said it. It is a powerful vision. Sister Nash and I continued to tract when I saw a man in a car. I remembered when I went on splits with Sister Tuigamala and I was scared to approach someone in their car and I made Sister Tuigamala do most of the talking and I always looked back on that experience kind of with frustration with my own scared self so I was the one that approached this man in the car and I had to tell my trainer that we should talk to him. It was awesome. I am planning on going and visiting him again and seeing what he thinks of what we told him. It was great. It shows us that we learn and grow from our pasts and that makes me happy.
The 15th was awesome because it was my fist time saying the 1st vision in a lesson. Well, kind of my second but the first time was more for practice.
The 16th was crazy and a little funny. I said my morning prayer and in my morning prayer I decided to pray to be healthier (because I was feeling not as healthy as when I was home) so I prayed for health. So then I got ready for the day and went out to the kitchen area and in that area I saw a box with a bow and a card with someone from the wards name on it. It was interesting so I opened the box and inside was all the candy in the house (except for jolly ranchers which really aren't that great) and so that was pretty funny. My companion then said we were going to give it to a 93 year old lady. I have no clue why we would give all our candy to a 93 year old lady. Like literally 93 (I would capitalize it but its numbers so I cant) anyways, we gave it to her. Apparently my companion missed an appointment with her previously and they have like never missed an appointment with her so she felt bad. Haha. It was too perfect to be anything but a miracle.
On Sunday I bore my testimony (because I was asked to do so by the bishop even though it wasn't fast Sunday) and gave a woman a church tour. She came to church and wanted a tour so we showed her around and then we gave her a lesson after church. It was really good. She asked us to convince her that the church is true and we said she had to find out for herself and told her to read the Book of Mormon. Then we tracted for a while. It was so much fun. We kept getting doors slammed on our faces but we were like singing and quoting scripture and it was so fun and we were bothering people when they said "we want nothing to do with your church" and we would say "have a blessed day" it was pretty great. Anyways. At one house we knocked and we were going to leave but it was cold so my companion was going to give me her sweater (she had a sweater and a coat and I had nothing) so while she was doing so a kind lady drove up, she talked to us and she was amazing. Like super amazing. We gave her a Book of Mormon and the restoration pamphlet. And we have a return appointment. It has been a blessed week. I am realizing that God does work in mysterious ways. Like often when I read scriptures I have found that the scriptures I have read have gone perfectly with lessons I have taught and I have been able to use those scriptures. Like my companion and I were planning on studying the plan of salvation and in personal study I was on 2nd Nephi 2. And that is so perfect for the plan of salvation. God blesses those who are trying to do what is right.
1 Nephi 22:20. God numbers His sheep. When I first read that I didn't really love it, I don't want to just be some number. I thought about it and realized that shepherds would only count their sheep if they don't want to lose them. It makes me happy to know that God is looking out for me and want me to be safe and happy. I love y'all sooo much!
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

2/14/16

Happy Mardi Gras!
This week has been beyond amazing!
On Monday (2/1/16 I went to a Mardi Gras store and I bought a T-shirt. The t-shirt is pretty cool and it my companion got a matching shirt and our district leader got a shirt that was the same as ours except a tiny bit different. His had a pocket.
Then on Tuesday (2/2/16) I went to the bishops store house. We went with our investigator and her member family. It was such a good experience. We taught her about how much churches help the community. It is so true. I love how churches help communities because that is really what Christ would do. I loved talking about how sometimes our church gets together with other churches to do community service. I hope I get to do more of that on my mission. Also on Tuesday a recent convert was telling us about how hard her life was. She was saying that God needs to step in now and help her. She said she had been patient and that now God needed to help. Then something really terrible happened to her which ended up having her call the police on someone she loves. She thought it was terrible and it was just a terrible time for her. But now that person isnt in her life and we have been visiting her and her life has gotten back on track. It makes me think about how God answers our prayers in His way and not in ours. I have also heard the quote that rock bottom makes the best spring board. It is sad but it is so true. We have to always remember that God has a plan for us and that He loves us enough to let us suffer at times so we can receive even greater blessings.
On Wednesday (2/3/16) I had district meeting. At district meeting we learned that we cant just say, "The gospel is true, here is the Book of Mormon" we have to be personable. We have to teach from the heart. We need to show people that we love them and that we care about them because we are supposed to represent Christ and that is what He would do. We need to see people as God sees them. That is so true. I want to always do that. When I am talking to a member, nonmember, anyone. Strive to see people as God sees them.
At district meeting I heard a riddle, "I killed 1/4th of mankind, who am I?" and after district meeting we always go somewhere to eat. So on Wednesday we decided to go to a place called Tony's we ate alligator poboys. Alligator really does taste like chicken, slightly more chewy and more tough, but very similar in taste to chicken.
On Thursday (2/4/16) I learned that mental health is just as important as physical health, something I already knew but I liked learning that that is still true on my mission as well, obviously, but sometimes we need to learn the obvious. I am also learning that I am Sister Anderson not Sister Missionary. We have to show people that we are human. I can't put on a face everyday. I have to be Sister Anderson, not Sister Missionary. Also someone today that we were having a lesson with was bashing the law of tithing. They were saying that it isnt in the Bible and that it is a man made thing. So we kind of just listened, they wouldnt listen to anything we had to saw when we tried to teach them about tithing.
Friday (2/5/16) was AWESOME! In the morning I studied tithing and I read about it in the Bible and in the Doctrine and Covenants. I think the man that was telling us tithing is bad was reading scriptures about fast offering. Because it is true that we are told that we should give what we can. Fast offering is not a set amount. But tithing is a set amount just like it was in the Bible. I learned how the 10% wasnt a man made thing but that it came from revelation, just like many things from the Bible, like the 10 commandment. I am really excited to teach them again and maybe help clarify some things. I wish they had let us talk and then it would have been a discussion instead of him just getting all worked up. I am going to make sure my lessons are not just me throwing words out but that we can discuss them. I think that is why we are told to ask investigators questions.
And Friday we had a Mardi Gras Parade ward party. Everyone and their dog was at that parade! The missionaries went and we met a lot of people. We talked to ward members and ward members nonmember friends, it was just a really good time. It was casual and nice. I even caught beads from one of the flouts
Saturday (2/6/16) Today was like none other. Today Nina Cumbest was baptized. Wow oh wow, the feels are real. There were so many people there and the Spirit was so strong. The missions purpose is to teach repentance and baptize converts. When we do that, the Spirit is strong. Her brother baptized her and it was such a good experience. Her brother is less active and when he baptized Nina he started to cry because he felt the Spirit so strong and it was a really beautiful thing. I love Nina so much. It is crazy how fast I could just love these people here. They really really are God's children.
Sunday (2/7/16) Nina was confirmed. Nina's brother's wife's dad confirmed her. They are a close family :) And at ward council I learned that the women need to speak their minds more in ward council. And that the woman's voice is just as important as the mans.
And Monday was awesome!!!! I had zone conference all day and we learned that numbers are not what is most important. People are most important. We will no longer have our district leader call and ask if we woke up at 6:30 or if we had a certain number of lessons, or how many Book of Mormons we gave. We are accountable to God. Not our district leader. We need to be doing our best and not worrying about doing the average best or where ever those numbers came from. I am really happy about this because it shows that the Priesthood holders do not have dominance over us and the way the President was saying it was awesome. He was saying that we all report to God, and that the mission is changing and that we need to follow what we know and not follow blindly Priesthood holders. We have to recognize what is being said by the power of God and what is being said by man. I think that is why I love Elder Bednar so much, he has said, "I am saying this as my opinion" and opinions are great but they need to be taken with our own opinions. The Church is True. I love yall sooo much!
Love always,
Sister Anderson

12/30/2015

Hey Family!

I got here safely. I love y'all. I have only been here 1 day but I was given time to e-mail my parents right now. So.... Here I am e-mailing you. I only have ten minutes to e-mail. So, it's been good so far. I have a companion named Sister Jones, just like Michael said I would! It was so funny. I told her about it and she thought it was funny. My other companion is named Sister Greenshraugh. Or something like that. It is so hard to remember her name so that is probably actually not how to spell it. I am pretty hungry here so thank you so much for packing that sandwich, I have not yet had time to eat it because there has literally been no time. And I will have no personal time at all. Like 24 hours 7 days a week I will be with a companion. At college, my roommate was like never there so I got really used to having a room to myself, I could read outloud or blast music but now I am always with the other two. So, I can only e-mail family right now and possibly only family my entire mission (I hope that is a rumor) but yeah, so if you could just tell anyone who needs to know, life is going good. Today has been good. I have already talked to practice companions. It was pretty good. I am learning the language of the Spirit and I do like it. I have felt the Spirit here and I am thankful for that. I like my companions and I am glad that they are both pretty cool and friendly. One companion is 21 and one is 19 but she graduated 2014. I got to go. I love you so much. I guess you could forward this or not, what ever you want. I love you and hopefully I can e-mail more people next time and e-mail for longer. Stay amazing. The entire family is in my prayers. I love you.
Love always,
Sister Anderson.

1/6/2016

1/18/2016

2/1/2016

I cannot believe how amazing Louisiana is. The people here are so nice. Literally out of all the people who have gotten upset at us missionaries the one person who really let it all out and practically spat in our faced complimented us. After he got out all his frustrations and anger he said, "but yall are very enthusiastic" and my companion said that that type of thing is the worst type of insults she gets. Wow, I couldnt believe that. We do get a lot of hate and people who really believe that our religion goes against the bible where it says that nothing can be added to the bible. But people do it in such a loving way I cant help but love them. I feel like even if they didnt give us a compliment or water or a hug or anything I would still love them.
This week has been amazing.
On Tuesday I baked cookies for a new converts birthday. She is really great. And I committed an investigator to baptism :) It was just awesome. We tracted a lot on Tuesday and we tracted to a mobile home that was in the middle of no where so we knocked on the door and before anyone could come out we saw two dogs coming towards us. haha, it was great but we were safe. They ended up being nice. And then the man opened the door and we taught him the restoration. It was an awesome experience. We were all scared of these big evil looking dogs and then the man came out of his home and scared off the nice dogs.
On Wednesday I had District Meeting. Those are pretty nice because it is a time where we work hard but also have a fun time. We talk about our investigators and then we go out to eat as a district.
On Thursday I got to bike for the first time on my mission. It was great, a little hot and sweaty but nothing compared to the Summer I am sure. And while on bikes we met two sisters and they seemed really interested in the gospel. One was searching for a church and one had come to our church a couple of times with a friend. It sounds like their parents wouldnt let them come to church though, even though they are like 30 and 13. They are super sweet girls.
On Friday we went to a mans house and he was a sweet heart. He had a list of terrible things about the gospel and so we got to correct some of the false things he had heard and we got to explain some of the things he didnt understand. He was really old and his wife told him to stop and to let us leave. It was funny. I was fine with answering his questions but the wife felt like he was being mean and asked us to leave. So we gave her a hug and him a handshake and then we left.
On Saturday I saw a lizard outside my door. It was really cute and little (smaller than Conner's gecko Gerry) it was adorable but it definitely made me jump. I have seen a lot of things that I didn't think I would see. Like I have seen a raccoon just raccooning, haha. And a dead rat. It has just been interesting.
Sunday was amazing. On Sunday I baked cupcakes and we gave them to a woman in the ward. We didn't know if she was less active or a member but we knew that she recently moved so we brought her a house warming gift of cupcakes. Anyways, we went over there and we were talking and she said, "I dont know what yall have heard about my family...." and we all kept talking and we told her we hadnt heard anything. And then we left and my companion got mad that she thought we had heard something about her. Missionaries hear a lot about members so it seemed totally reasonable that she may be upset if we had heard anything about her family. She is a super nice lady. Also on Sunday I was really tired. I just wanted to change into pajamas and go to sleep. But we had lots to do and so I had to stay up for a while. When I finally got to going to sleep I was relieved because we had just had a really busy day. When my companion and I go to sleep I have to make sure I fall asleep before she does because she snores and so I can stay asleep but I cannot fall asleep while she sleeps. I woke up in the middle of the night and I was really trying to fall back asleep but I couldn't. I thought about sleeping on the couch but we are told to not sleep in a different room as our companion so I thought I would just get up and start cleaning because that is how we start our monday mornings but we are told to not arise early to have alone time. So i didnt know what to do. I thought about praying but I have been praying about peoples eternal salvation. Should I really pray for my companion to stop snoring? Yes. I decided to pray that my companion would stop snoring and as soon as I said, "please make sister Nash stop snoring" she stopped snoring. It was before I could say amen. It was a beautiful thing. I know that Heavenly Father cares about us individually. He cares about our little needs and desires. I was trying to do the right thing and I needed the Lord's help.
When we call on the Lord He will help us. Maybe not exactly the way we asked and maybe not in that exact moment, but He will bless us and help us. Heavenly Father loves us. He knows when we have done all we can do and He is waiting, ready to help.
I love you all.

Love Always,
Sister Anderson

2/9/2016

2/15/2016

This week has been so great. I have learned so much and I am so thankful that this gospel can't be learned all at once because I honestly love that I can continue to learn and grow in the gospel. How boring would it be to just say, "I know everything I can know sit here and experience no more of life" how terrible would that be? Super terrible.
Wednesday was amazing. There is a family who has two little girls. These little girls love my long hair and I think it is the cutest thing. They will run up to me and hug me and scream "Elsa" and it is adorable. One of them gave me a Mardi Gras mask and the other one gave me a Valentine's card. They are just so sweet. We are preparing their parents to go to the temple. I am so excited about them going to the temple. They want to be sealed and live with each other for time and all eternity. It is so cute. I am just so excited for that family.
Thursday was an amazing day. We were looking for Less Active members and we got to talk to so many people! So first we were looking for a woman and we knocked on her door and asked her if she was the Sister we were looking for. She told us she was not but we decided to get to know her anyways. She was super nice and she has been looking for a church. She wasnt sure what she believed in and wanted to know what religion to go to. She almost started crying and told us to come back when she wasnt sick. I am really excited for her. After talking with her we went to a less actives house and she let us right in. She said she still had a testimony but worked on sundays. She then said that her 15 year old son wasnt a member and that we could come back and teach him and that is really exciting. Then later that day we knocked on a woman's door and asked if it was the less active. She said it wasnt but asked us if we already had a dinner appointment, we said no, so she let us in and we had chicken nuggets. She told us that she used to be a member but that she wasnt interested. So we ate and just talked about work and her kids. It was really fun and she had peacock colored hair, I am getting lots of ideas for when I go home ;)
On Friday we were knocking on doors and a woman asked us about our believes and so we told her about the church but it is really hard to sum up the entire religion on the door step. So we told her about the restoration and she didnt care about that and wanted to hear about God, makes sense :) So we told her more about that and then we left her with a restoration pamphlet. We then walked away and before we could knock on the next houses door I looked at my companion and she said, "I should have given her a plan of salvation pamphlet." so I said, "Lets go" I dont think my companion loved the idea but it went so good. I am so glad we went back and when we went back she let us inside her house. It was great. Also, my companion got a Q-tip stuck in her ear, like some of the fuzz. Which was kind of funny but painful for her so I felt bad.
On Saturday we went to a doctor for Sister Nash's ear. It would have been easy to go home after going to the doctor and it would have just been easy to not work as hard this week because Sister Nash's ear and she was sick and it was just kind of a hard week. But we know that Satan works hard when something great is about to happen. So we kept working hard. And we met a man on the street and he wasnt interested so we kept knocking on doors and we knocked on his door (like an hour and a half after we just talked to him) we could have easily been like, welp, he isnt interested, but we tried again and this time he listened and asked questions and it was so great. God works in mysterious ways and we need to keep working hard with people and see people as God sees them.
Sunday was Valentine's day :) It was so great focusing on love. I learned three things in church.
1. you cant pray away someones agency. Agency is a person's second best gift from God. The first is only our bodies. We wouldnt pray for someone to lose their body.
2. would we be excited if Eve moved in next door? I would be. remember that next time a murderers mother moves in. Remember that we are responsible for our actions and that everyone sins.
3. Doctrine and Covenants 89 is revelation from God. Verses 3-4.
I love yall soooo much and I am loving my mission sooo much. Stay strong and always remember that God loves you.

2/23/2016

This week has been really great. Kind of crazy but so much fun.
On Monday (2/15/16) I went to a members house and she was asking so many questions. It was cool because she was a member and she still had lots and lots of questions. It made me think about how we are all still learning. If we could learn all the gospel then we wouldn't be able to learn and the plan of salvation is all about learning and progressing. Which is really cool! Prophets say that they are still learning, that makes me know that I can continue to learn and that means I don't have to know everything to be a good missionary.
On Tuesday(2/16/16) We played with a girl who has a baptismal date but she can no longer meet her baptismal date of March 5th. So we will have to continue getting to know her. She likes the lessons but she isn't really progressing which is always hard. And it seems like her mother does not want her to be baptized. But it wouldn't be good for her to be baptized if her mother did not really want it or wouldn't be supportive. She is only 12 but she is so nice. We played four square with her and her friends.
On Wednesday (2/17/16) Me&Nash were walking and she said, "Be yourself" so I started dancing while walking and then she said, "just don't do that." so then I started walking again. That was kind of sad but I kept smiling. I think she doesn't want to be embarrassed which is whatever. I am going to get a new companion today so maybe my new companion will be a little fun loving :D
On Thursday (2/18/16), we went to a recent converts house. She was baptized only a couple weeks ago so it was really cool to still have lessons with her. I also made a potato, corn, asparagus casserole. That was pretty delicious. Haha. I randomly cook meals and then I randomly just eat PB&Js. I guess it depends on how much time I have to eat. We are supposed to have an hour to eat but sometimes we get busy. Sharing the gospel is so amazing. And I am taking over the area this transfer and that makes me really excited. It makes me want to focus on the Lord's work even more.
Friday (2/19/16) was so awesome. A miracle happened. We went to Trinity's house (the 12 year old girl) and she wasn't there. We were pretty sad that we couldn't see her,we were really wanting to. So we prayed and asked what we should do. Sister Nash decided to drive around the neighborhood (which we never do because we have limited miles) but that is what we did and then we found her. She was just hanging out with her friends outside. That was so cool. The church is true.
Saturday I found out that I get to take over the area and that Sister Nash is leaving. I am really excited for that.
Then on Sunday one of the new converts came to church with a broken arm. She wanted to be at church (She is sooo beyond amazing!) and she came even though her arm was broken! A nurse from the ward looked at it and said it was probably broken. So someone from the ward took her to the hospital and it was in fact broken :( I hope everything goes well. She is the only source of income for her and her husband and she really needs to be able to work. It is just so hard. People here are so humble and it is so hard to see. I love everyone here so much. I know the church is true. I am so thankful for the atonement. The atonement is central to the gospel and central to everything we teach. I know the atonement really did take place because I have used the healing and comforting power of the atonement.
I love yall soooo much. Yall are so amazing and never forget that. Continue to teach people and love people. Love everyone you meet. See them as Jesus sees them. Not as sinners but as people who have the potential to be a King. Children of God. I love you.
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

2/29/2016

Happy Leap Year Day!
Is that a thing? Maybe, I'm not sure. Anyways, I hope yall are doing amazing and that you are loving this year. I get to be a missionary for 2016 and it gets to be an extra long year! :DDD
This week has been so great. On Monday I just cleaned and did the normal missionary stuff because P-day would be on Tuesday instead of Monday. Then on Tuesday we drove to a church kind of far away (Gulf Port) and spent P-day there. I said good bye to Sister Nash and then hung out at the church. We drove to get some food and while we were driving it started to rain like crazy. I had never driven in rain like that and it had been like 8 weeks. So that was kind of scary but we prayed at we were safe. Then we got back to the church and we checked the weather and it was supposed to be really bad and everyone that we had appointments with canceled because of the weather. Then my companion got to the church and we had to drive home. It is about an hour drive and by that time the rain had gotten really bad. Not only had I never driven in rain like that but I had never seen rain like that. We had to get home and so we kept driving. I thought about pulling over and maybe even spending the night in the car because neither of us knew what was happening. I decided to pray and less than a minute after I prayed the rain eased. It was still raining but I no longer felt like I was driving underwater. And I got to know Sister Bradshaw. She is very nice and I love being the "leader" because I have been here longer so I get to say which people we get to go and see and that is fun.
On Wednesday (2/24/16) we got to have a lesson with a man named Christian. He had a lot of questions about where we came from, where we are going, and why we are here. It was awesome. We got to teach him the plan of salvation and the lesson helped me realize how hand in hand the bible and the book of Mormon and doctrine and covenants are. I also tutored a young woman in the ward and it was super fun teaching her math. I honestly really enjoyed doing math. The education here is kind of sad and it makes me realize how important education really is.
On Thursday (2/25/16) I taught a lesson to an active member of the church who was feeding us dinner. The lesson was on prophets and I got to tell her the importance of gaining a testimony for herself about prophets. I could tell her until I am blue in the face that I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God but that it wouldn't mean anything to her until she prayed about it and gained that testimony for herself. Missionaries really are just facilitators for the Spirit.
On Friday (2/26/16) I talked to Trinity, one of our progressing investigators and we talked to her even more about baptism. She has been wanting to be baptized and she said her mom finally said she could be, she had to ask twice. And that is so exciting. I love Trinity so much. She is such a sweet heart. She still has a lot to learn about the gospel but she is just amazing. I also got a letter from a friend and it said, "Do as a cross country star... Hit the ground running." That is like my motto now :)
On Saturday we taught a man named Ken and he told us that he had lots of Mormon friends and that he was wondering about their religion but he never really asked. I wonder how many of my friends wondered but never asked. I bet people see us and wonder why we do what we do. We should just tell them.
Sunday was amazing. Church is always amazing. We taught the gospel principles class and I played piano for primary. I love partaking of the sacrament. Church is such a personal thing and I love that. I love yall so much and I hope everyone has a great week. Keep being awesome.

This is Sister Nash, Nina, and I. She was baptized a couple weeks ago and we are now teaching her the new member lessons. She is amazing. I love her so much! :D

3/6/2016

Happy Leap Year to you too! (it's not that certain day anymore so I can't say Day sadly). I'm glad you are excited that you get to serve longer because of that!

That is so crazy to hear about all the rain! I'm sure that must have been really scary. I'm glad you prayed and it got better, that is really good! And I'm glad you guys made it safe and didn't end up having to sleep in the car, that would have been crazy! I'm glad you were at least able to get to know Sister Bradshaw better and everything went well for you guys. And it's exciting that you are the "leader" who gets to make more decisions, that's fun

I'm glad you were able to answer Christian's questions, that is really amazing. And that is really funny that you tutored a girl on math this last week! How is the education system different there than it is anywhere else? What type of math were you helping her with (I was just curious if it was someone pretty young or fairly old)?

I love hearing about Trinity, Ken, and seeing the picture of Nina, that is so exciting! I'm glad Trinity's mother is allowing her to be baptized, that is wonderful! And I completely agree with what you said about Ken and not asking about the gospel. I am sure were people who saw me growing up and didn't ask and I didn't tell. I wish I would have shared the gospel more growing up, and now I just live in an extremely Mormon town going to a Mormon school all the time. But I can still be an example to those that are around me.

In Rexburg, we vote this Tuesday. That 'll be pretty exciting. I don't know how much you hear or not, but so far Trump and Clinton appear to be ahead in the primaries. A little unfortunate, but we'll see how it all goes. This Tuesday and Wednesday, for one of my psychology classes, we are running our experiment. We will be testing to see if people who have been primed with status motives will be more green than those who weren't primed. We'll also be testing if those in a certain economic class or political affiliation will be more green. I'm excited to see the results! And get free pizza from this

Keep up the great work! I love your stories. You're amazing!

Love, Kylee

3/7/2016

The education system is wayyy different here than in Washington. Basically, there is an education system in Washington and a babysitting system in Louisiana. It is honestly really sad. I drew a picture of a box and asked her how much is colored in (I colored in half) and she could not figure it out. She is trying to take her GED test, I think that is what it is called. The one for people who didn't graduate. Anyways, she is probably 18. And she is smart but the education system here is just so sad it makes me sad. I want to come teach everyone here math and english and writing. But for now, I am on a more important mission of teaching people the gospel. I really love teaching people the gospel. It makes them happy and it makes me happy. I think it is really awesome that you are striving to be a good example for the people in Rexburg. They can use it. Everyone can use a good example. I don't think anyone is so good that they can't learn from someone else. I love you so much and I hope you are having a great time in college. It sounds like you are having a great time and I think that is awesome. Keep smiling :D

3/7/2016

This week has been amazing. My companion, Sister Bradshaw, told me that she had never worked so hard on her mission to receive such small numbers. That tells me that the church is true! We were told in the last Zone Conference that being a missionary would get harder, like that planning will take longer and will be more meaningful and will take more mental strength. Even though it is harder, we were told that the numbers would decrease. Sadly, our numbers did decrease. We didn't do as much tracting and we did not get as many other lessons. Sadly, no investigator was at church. Yet, we have the Spirit with us. We know that we must continue to work are hardest and be exactly obedient. I am excited for the days to come. We have been waking up on time every morning and following the missionary schedule and that helps me know that we are doing all that we can. And when we tract and people aren't interested in the gospel we ask for referrals, ask if they are interested in family history, or ask if they need any service. I love being a missionary. I love following the Spirit. One of my favorite songs is "I believe in Christ" I do believe in Christ. I not only believe in Christ but I believe Christ. I believe that His ways are greater than my ways. I believe that I need to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and that is how I receive success and receive the feeling that I have done all that I can do.

I have been giving people the commitments and that is fun because that means I get to promise them blessings too. We are here to teach repentance and baptize converts and giving people commitments is how people repent, change. So that is pretty cool.
On Tuesday (3/1/16) I got to be super close to a squirrel. A new member caught a baby squirrel and had it inside his house and it was sooo cute! I wanted to touch it but if it bites it can apparently do serious damage. So I didn't touch it. It was cool that he caught the squirrel on Tuesday because I caught a lizard that morning. I was exercising in the morning and saw a lizard on the wall!! So I climbed onto the washing machine and caught the lizard! Then we let her go because we decided we didn't want to have to catch crickets for it. It would have been cool to have a pet though.
On Wednesday (3/2/16) We went and did service for a family in the ward. It was pretty fun. We raked and it was good. We got to meet the family and kids. After we raked they took us out to Golden Dragon and while we were there I ate fish eggs and frog legs. The frog legs were green and just looked like a frogs legs. That was kind of gross. I took a bite and didn't eat any more than that.
On Thursday (3/3/16) We gave a less active family cookies. They haven't really been the nicest to us so we were unsure but thought, "what the hey, why not." so we gave them cookies.
Friday (3/4/16), we ate dinner at 10pm. That is how you know you are a missionary :P we had a really busy day and that is good :D haha, it was hard but so good.
On Saturday (3/5/16) we were going to a woman's house and we got stuck behind a train. We were there for a long time, like 30 minutes! The train had stopped on the tracks and there was no other way to get to her home besides going completely around the train which would have taken longer that 30 minutes because the way the roads were. Anyways, we waited there (eating our packed lunches) and then we finally got to go. The train came at an amazing time. We were needing to eat lunch somewhere AND on the other side of the train there was an accident. We could have been right were that accident was if it wasnt for that train. I honestly did the math and we should have been right there coming home from our appointment but instead it happened right after we passed. That sounds confusing but it was such a miracle. Anyways, we were happy. And then we went to Texas Road House with a family and it was super yummy and the Spirit was so strong even though we were at a restaurant. We got to know them and got to let them know they are loved.
On Sunday (3/6/16) we had a mission wide fast for missionary work. It was Awesome. I bore my testimony and I really felt the Spirit during the sacrament. I am so thankful that I can partake of the sacrament every week. I really need that and am so thankful for the Atonement. The church is true :) I am so thankful for the gospel. I am so thankful for the Atonement and the Resurrection. I love yall so much. Keep striving to be like Jesus Christ.

3/14/2016

Happy Pi Day!
I hope everyone has been having a very great day and I hope yall had a great week.
I have had an awesome week. This week I have gotten to meet some really awesome people and I have gotten to know people better.
I got to touch a squirrel this week, that was pretty cool.
Also, this week I have had some really spiritual experiences. I will only share some of them but this week has honestly been great. I want to share about Christian, Ann, and the Dean family.
I was teaching a 24 year old named Christian and he is a very smart young man. He knows so much about everything and is very understanding of everything we teach him. He doesn't know if what we are teaching him is true but he understands it all. He is very fun to teach because he has a lot of very knowledgeable questions. We got to teach him about the plan of salvation and he absorbs all of the information. It is really nice to teach him because we can teach him at a very fast pace.
Another person we taught this week was Ann. She is a member and she was at church and in the gospel principles class we were learning about prophets. She had many questions and we could not cover every question she had. We went to her house after church and tried to teach her in a way that she would understand. We werent sure exactly what we would say so we said a prayer and I knew that I needed to try to teach her the way Jesus often taught, using stories. I told multiple stories and parables to answer her different questions. It made me feel so good when she said "OH! See how simple that is? Why couldn't the gospel principles teacher just say that?" It was amazing and made me so happy that she was understanding more of the gospel.
We also taught the Dean family this week. We tracted into a man and taught him the restoration. Then we came back and taught the family the restoration. This setting was different because it was a mom and 3 kids ranging from like 18 to 9. We couldn't really focus our teachings on one age group because there were so many different ages so we taught the Restoration story and bore our testimony of the experience Joseph Smith had. It was the coolest thing because we couldn't talk to each person individually but the Spirit could. The Spirit was so strong in that home.
I feel like I have learned so much this week. I have learned that we need to know our stuff, we need to study because we will have people like Christian who have really hard good questions and we need to know scripture references. We need to use our personal study time to find out answers to hard questions. Go to the scriptures with questions.
I learned from Ann that we need to listen to the Spirit when we are teaching. We dont always know how a person learns, but the Spirit knows. We need to try to teach in ways people will learn.
And from the Dean family I learned that if we invite the Spirit into lessons that He will be the teacher. And that the Spirit can touch anyone's heart. It has been a good week. I know the church is true. I am so thankful that I can continue to read and pray and learn and teach. I love yall so much.

Love,
Sister Anderson

3/21/2016

Wowzers! This week has been crazy. My companion and I have been running around like crazy. We have had so many meetings and it just seems like our days are so packed with so much stuff. I used to think I haven't made a big difference while on my mission but now I think about how it would be nice to have more missionaries here because there are so many people that need to hear the gospel and that makes me realize that I am making a difference. I am also realizing that miracles happen when we are being the best missionaries we can be. If we are following the rules and praying, Miracles Will Happen. Wow, the Spirit is so strong at lessons!
We have been teaching these two young men and they are so amazing. One says he believes what we tell him but that he wants to stay Catholic and the other one is on the way to baptism. He is so amazing. We were teaching him and the Spirit was so strong. He has learned about Joseph Smith before so I asked him to tell me what happened so he said what happened. And he said it almost perfect and then I asked him if he believed it and he said he does. He was like, "its crazy to believe, but I do." and then I told him I believe it too. And the entire lesson was just great. I know the church is true.
We also got to go to a less actives house and teach a lesson and that lesson went really good. And we got to help a member move boxes from her house into a storage unit. And this week we moved apartments. I am no longer in a home but a nice apartment and that is pretty fun. It is on the 3rd floor so I will get some exercise every day.
Also, this P-day has been really fun. We got together with the Elders and ate crabs and I even caught a fish :D
I love you all so much. The Spirit is so strong and I want to be the best missionary I can be. I love yall. Keep being awesome.
Exodus 20:1-17
John 15:16

Love Always,
Sister Anderson

3/28/2016

I would like to first tell yall a very short story. "A man named Jim was arrested for robbing a bank, the judge charged him with 20 years in prison. The prison guard knew that Jim had not actually robbed the bank but he wasn't sure how to prove his innocence. So instead of trying to prove he was innocent he just never locked his prison cell. The prison guard could not tell Jim that the cell was unlocked without getting caught himself so instead he waited for Jim to try to open the cell on his own. The prison guard waited 30 years for Jim to try to escape. At the end of 30 years, Jim was told he could leave so he went over to the door of the cell and realized it was already unlocked. "

I love that story about the prisoner who didn't try to escape. It makes me think of a lesson I had in Sunday school a long time ago. I had the lesson when I was probably 15 years old and I really don't know what the lesson was on but what stuck with me was, "Never Fear Greatness." The story makes me think of that. We set barriers for ourselves and I sometimes think missionaries set more barriers for themselves the longer they have been on missions. Not always of course. Like, the new people will say, "they will be baptized" but the older companion will say "probably not". I think that enthusiasm is called Greeny fire and I think of when you said "Green things grow" and so that greeny fire can grow too. It made me think about how the longer we are serving the more we need to not fear greatness. I just love being a missionary. I really do. I love knowing that I can be great as long as I never fear greatness. We set barriers because we know that if we are mediocre we will be like the average person we wont cause attention to ourselves nor will we embarrass ourselves. But if we strive for mediocre lessons then we will get mediocre results. I love that we are focusing on the quality of lessons and not only the quantity of lessons. It is good to try to get a lot of lessons as long as the lessons are not poorly done with only half our hearts.

I learned this lesson the hard way just yesterday. We went to a family's house and we shared a scripture with them instead of doing an object lesson. They have a bunch of wild kids and no one really listened to the scripture. We could have done something a lot better if we had done that object lesson. I honestly apologized to them and asked them if we could have another Easter lesson with them and I told them it would be a lot better. I am excited to teach them again and I know it will be better.

Also, we are going to be teaching the stop smoking workshop and that is what I am learning in training so that is really exciting. I am excited to teach it and I know the man really needs this help and he has tried different things and does have the desire to quit smoking. He had a hard time telling us about his addiction because he is a member but thankfully he told us. Also, it was a really cool experience on how he learned about the workshop. We were teaching a lesson to the Relief Society and I had the strong prompting to talk about the workshop. Not knowing of anyone who needed to hear it. We decided to talk about it and then he heard about it from a woman who was there. Sometimes the Holy Ghost tells us promptings that we don't understand because they are for someone we aren't teaching but for their friends. So whenever we are planning a lesson we need to plan it for the person we are teaching and we need to listen to the Holy Ghost. This week has just been awesome. Easter is my favorite holiday and I know that my Redeemer lives.

This entire week has just been awesome. We have been helping with flooding and I was even in the news paper and on the news. That was pretty cool and fun. haha. I love yall so much! Continue working hard and doing service. There are only a few things that can bring us more happiness than serving our fellow man so continue doing God's work by loving everyone. One woman we were helping kept telling us that our church was so wrong and that we don't talk right and we just continued to help her. It was an eye opening experience and I am so thankful for that experience. I mean, Jesus Christ had so many people persecute Him and yet he continued to love them.

Love Always,
Sister Anderson

4/4/2016

On Tuesday we worked at the storehouse which was really fun. We sorted eggs. Haha! What a thrill! It was honestly funny finding all the broken eggs and trying to not make a mess everywhere.
On Wednesday we had district meeting and then we went to a restaurant called Kenny's and the restaurants here smell like fish, anyways. We ended up eating sea food and it was really good but I mostly are potatoes. The people here cook their sea food with potatoes and the potatoes suck up all the seasonings and deliciousness. And then we decided to try a referral. We knocked on the man's door and he comes out and asked us how we got there and why we were there. At first we thought he didnt want us there and was getting upset but then he said he had just been praying for us to come. It was the coolest thing. He then listened to our entire Restoration message and asked awesome questions and he was agreeing with all of it and he knew that God sent us to him. We then pulled out the Book of Mormon and he about yelled at us and said, "Why do you have that book!" and then we realized that he didnt know that we were Mormon. We havent seen him and are unsure of how to continue. We asked him what he knew about Mormons and he said he didnt know anything... but if he didnt know anything, he probably wouldnt have any ideas about the Book of Mormon. But we ended up leaving one with him and he said he would read it. I guess we kind of got through to him but it was really interesting. He loved everything we said until we got to the book. I will have to give yall an update on him when I next see him.
Then on Wednesday we taught the stop smoking workshop. That was really cool and I loved teaching that. I really love the family I taught it to and I just want the very best for them.
On Thursday I taught this really nice guy. He is super sweet and smart and awesome. The only problem is that he doesnt think it is important to go to the true church. We have taught him a bunch and we said, "what would it mean to you if you found out what we are teaching you is true?" he said, "that would be cool, I think it is." He is pretty adamant about being Catholic forever. But he wasnt as stubborn this time as many of the other times.
On Friday we were dropped by a nondenominational Christian family. They told us they no longer wanted us to come and teach them. I was fine with that because they are a happy Christian family. And then we got to their home and I almost started crying because I realized that they would miss so many blessings that I have had in my life because I have had the gospel. We are planning on going to their church though to see the kids in a skit which will be awesome.
On Saturday we watched conference and it was amazing! So good. The Spirit was so strong and I feel so uplifted. There were so many good talks. It is such a privilege that we can hear our prophets and apostles. Thank you for sharing your experiences with conference.
Sunday was a testimony building day.

I am excited to read conference and discover what I learn from conference the second time I hear it. This time I went to conference with a couple questions in mind. I prayed about the questions and I thought they were pretty good questions to have for conference. I really listened and a couple times I thought the Spirit was directing me and I thought I was getting a good answer from the Spirit. It wasn't anything amazing but it seemed like I could count it as an answer because the Spirit was testifying to me during conference. I was happy with that and was edified by conference. When conference was over I was ready to go back to proselyting and teaching people. We left conference and went to tract. We decided to go to the closest neighborhood and then pray. We prayed about where to tract and I knew we needed to go back to a different part of that neighborhood that we had already passed. We went back and then could not find a place to park the car so we had to drive away from that street and park at a park. We got out and started walking. Sister Bradshaw obviously said we could tract by the car, seemed smart enough, but I knew we needed to go back to that street. We went back and then realized there was only about 5 houses on the long street. We tracted it anyways and I kept saying, "we will find a golden investigator!" and we got to this house with the woman outside (totally ready for us to come) and so we talked to her. She really loved us talking to her and she kept asking us questions and she really has a desire to know the truth. We kept talking to her and she then asked us the question I had for General Conference. I was filled with the Spirit and answered her question. We got a return appointment, then left her home. When we left I yelled, "The Church is True" and I know that it is. And I know that I want to tell everyone that the Church of Jesus Christ is true. Because it is. I am glad I got my answer while teaching a lesson. I am a missionary so I am supposed to be teaching others. And as I focus on others, my life has been blessed and my understanding has grown and my love for my Savior has increased.
I love yall soooo much. Keep being awesome. Keep being happy. Choose the hard right. I promise you it is worth it. Not only me but the Prophet of God promises you it is worth it. I love you.

4/18/2016
How are yall doing? I hope everything is going swell. Everything here is going really good. My entire week has honestly been really amazing.
On Monday (4/11/16) I packed up my bags and got information on the members and investigators from Slidell and got ready to go to Shreveport. It was a long day of packing and preparing to leave. We also really had to prepare the Elders who will be teaching our awesome investigators. We don't want anyone getting lost. There were so many awesome people we were teaching that we had to say good bye to. That was really hard. It was cool having people cry because we are leaving though. Not that I like making people cry but it made me feel good.
Tuesday (4/12/16) was awesome. I got to travel to Shreveport and I got to see my MTC companion Sister Greenhalgh. That was so cool. She is so awesome. We saw each other and screamed and hugged each other and we just talked and talked about everything. She is so awesome and because I am in a trio that is right by her I will probably get to go on exchanges with her, which is when we get to tract and teach lessons in a different area and with different missionaries.
Wednesday (4/13/16) was a good day. We had a meeting and it went pretty good. I love my district and they are all super cool. My district leader is so funny.
Thursday (4/14/16) was one of my favorite days of this week. We gutted houses and that was cool. We worked on a mans house and then when we finished that we worked on this woman's house. She was really sad to see her house go and after we worked on her house all the missionaries we talking to each other and the Southern Baptists were talking to each other and so I went over and talked to the home owner. We talked and she cried and she said she was fighting skin cancer and so I told her I had some sun screen and so I gave her some and she cried and said she lost that exact same kind in the flood. So I gave her the whole can of it and she cried some more. Then we all came together and gave her a bible that the Southern Baptists provided and we all signed it and then we sang her I am a Child of God and that made her cry and the Southern Baptists cry and it was so cool. And she hugged me and said I had a beautiful heart. It was the sweetest thing ever. I had this amazing feeling in my heart and I am so thankful I can do service as a missionary. We really all are God's children. I know that when we are in the service of our fellow man we are in the service of our God.
Friday (4/15/16) was great. We taught Karrington and Emily and they are our most progressing investigators. They are super cool and Emily is planning on being baptized on the 30th. Which is awesome because my investigator Justin was planning on being baptized on the 30th in Slidell. That is pretty cool. I feel like I am needed where ever I go and so the work will progress no matter where I am at.
Saturday (4/16/16) was pretty legit. We got permission to go to our investigators soccer game and that was really fun. A lady got kicked out for yelling at the refs. Silly parents. Also, we got to tract and it went SOOO good today. Sometimes we tract and no one is interested and other times we tract and everyone is listening. Saturday was one sure good tracting day. People were eating up the gospel.
Then Sunday was awesome because I got to go to church and partake of the sacrament. And there were a bunch of investigators there. It went so well. And the talks and the lessons were so good. What did yall learn at church? How did yall feel while partaking of the sacrament? I hope everything is going swell. I love yall so much, and don't forget that :) Keep striving to be like our Savior and Redeemer. I know I have a long ways to go, but with the atonement I can get more like Him everyday. I love you.
Love Always,
Sister Anderson :)

4/25/2016
Monday (4/18/16) night was awesome, we had a lesson with an investigator at the Bishop's house. It went really well and the Spirit was so strong at that house, more so than just at the investigator's house. It was really cool to have a lesson where there were lots of people and so more people could share their experiences, thoughts, and testimonies. The lesson was on faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. It was cool and the investigator's mom told us how she saw a big difference in Karrington, her son, and when she was talking she started crying and that made me realize how much the gospel can change people's lives for the better.
Tuesday (4/19/16) was really cool. We got to do a lot of service and that always feels good. We got to rake leaves and plant grass. It was hot but really fun.
Wednesday (4/20/16) was a great day because we had district meeting. At that meeting we learn how to be better missionaries and that is always good to learn. We have district meetings every week and every week I learn how to be a better missionary. I think if we open our minds and open our hearts that we can continue to learn every day and continue to grow and develop and become more like God.
Thursday (4/21/16) we went on exchanges, so I got to teach with Sister Thompson. We had great lessons together and she is really spiritual. I love teaching with spiritual people because then the Spirit is at the lesson and the Spirit is literally the only one that can teach people to change. If we say, "read the Book Of Mormon." they wont do it. but if the Spirit tells them to read the book of Mormon then they might actually do it. Which is cool.
Friday (4/22/16). Today Karrington got set with a baptism date! He will be baptized next month.
Saturday (2/23/16) was really cool because we taught Emily and she will be baptized on Saturday. She is awesome and I love her. At that lesson she asked me to give the talk about the Holy Ghost at her baptism. Also, we had the lesson outside with her grandma and her grandma was walking without shoes on and she stepped on a pile of stickers so I helped her pull the stickers out of her foot. It made me realize that I need to be more like Christ. Before my mission, I wouldn't help a random old lady pull out stickers from her foot. But now I want to help all children of God in any way I can.
Sunday (2/24/16) was an awesome day. Sunday is always an awesome day. I got to give the closing prayer in Sacrament meeting and I got to listen to awesome talks on missionary work and after those talks, people were asking to come out with us and I loved that. Also, we got to visit this teenager in the hospital and it made me feel so good to talk to her about hope and the atonement. She was super awesome.
Monday (2/25/16) I read Alma 18 and Alma 20 and it was awesome. I love those chapters and it shows how important missionary work is.
I hope everything is going well at home. I hope yall are safe and reading your scriptures and praying. I know God has blessing for each and every one of you. I love you!
Love Always,
Sister Anderson
4/27/2016

Sister Anderson!!!!

That's so awesome that the lesson went so well at the Bishop's house. I completely agree that the gospel really can change people's lives for the better. I know it definitely has changed mine, even though I've been a part of the gospel my whole life. I don't even want to think about where I would be without it!

And after raking the leaves did you jump in the pile? Because if you didn't then I'm pretty sure you've got to go back to that house and jump into the pile of leaves and if you already bagged the pile then I guess you'll have to rake all over again and jump into that pile of leaves!

The Spirit really is the best teacher out there. I'm so happy to hear that Karrington will be baptized next month and that Emily will be baptized this Saturday (though by the time you read this she will already have been baptized). That is so neat that she asked you to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, I love it! How did it go? Were you nervous or exciting? Or were you super chill? How long was it?

I'm glad you helped Emily's grandma with pulling stickers out of her foot. And I'm glad you were able to visit the teenager at the hospital. You spend all of your time serving others! That is just really great! You serve them in the typical way of serving by raking, pulling stickers out of feet, and visiting people in the hospital, but you also serve by working so hard and teaching them about the gospel that can really changed their lives. You are so full of love and service right now, that is wonderful!

Quick story from over here... So we went to the temple today and I saw a woman taking out her own initiatory and endowments and stuff today. It was so exciting. We see that a lot at our temple just because it's a college town where everyone is going on missions and getting married. And whenever I see people doing that I get to exciting for them and I feel a little nervous because I'm sure they are nervous (at least they look like they are). And I just remember that day when I took my own endowments out. So I say a quick little prayer for them and I hope everything goes really well for them throughout the day. Today though was a little different. I have always seen those people doing their own ordinances and I just love it. But today I was thinking about all those ordinances that we perform in proxy. And then I just was like mind blown! I'm sure all those people on the other side of the veil are so excited and nervous and anxious and have waited hundreds of years for this work to be done for them! I just started to think about the women I was performing in proxy for and I just got this insane love and excitement for them back when I was receiving my own initiatory and endowment. It was really beautiful and amazing. We don't have to be only exciting for those that we physically see performing those ordinances, but we can be excited for everyone that we are doing their work for them too. I don't know if any of that really made much sense, but it made sense in my head and I figured I would share it will you. It was just a wonderful experience for me and I just love the temple so much.

Keep up the great work Kaitlin. I love you!

Love, Kylee

Oh, and random question for ya. But what are some of your favorite colors? Like what are the top 3-5 or maybe you like certain ones paired with other ones...

And, second random question for ya. If your lips were stuck tasting like a certain flavor for the rest of your life, what flavor would you choose?

5/2/2016
My favorite color is pink, I also like yellow, hmm... and I like green. And if my lips had to taste like one flavor for the rest of my life it would have to be the taste of hmm.... blue raspberry I think. Those were always the best flavors but I might just be saying that because they made my mouth blue and that was always super fun as a child. Like when we would eat those blue easter egg whoppers just because we wanted blue mouths. I bet you still do that. haha. and that is not a bad thing. I have to be careful of what I eat. Some kwlaid makes my mouth that color and that doesnt look super professional. But I am realizing that missionaries are human. If I am putting on sunscreen while talking to someone, that is okay. I am human and I dont need to be barbie. Ya know what I mean? So what are your favorite colors and what flavor would you make your lips if you had to have that flavor for the rest of your life? and another question, what condiment would you make come out of your belly button if you had to choose one? I love you so much. Keep up the good work. Thank you for telling me the story about the temple. I really am thankful for that, especially because I am not able to go to one right now. I am really close to the Dallas Texas temple but it is out of our mission and in my first area (Slidell Louisiana) I was really close to the Baton Rouse temple but that was also out of my mission. oh well, that will make going to the temple even more meaningful when I come home. I love you so much!

5/4/2016

Thanks for answering my random questions. Good choice with the blue raspberry :) Haha. And you know me to well, I most definitely still do that! Those candies are not very good at all, but I love the blue tongue so I suck on them anyways, haha. I'll never grow out of that, in fact I'm sure I will teach all my kids that too. And I'll teach yours as well! Haha. Unless you tell me not to, then I'll just do it when you're not looking, jkjk. And I totally didn't realize that missionaries were humans too until I saw videos from Chas' mission. Then I was like, "What?!?! That's what missionaries are like when people aren't around?" It was too funny to realize it! I had lived so long thinking that missionaries were always these serious people that never did anything fun and definitely never joked around, but man was I wrong! At least Chas and his companions did a lot of silly things And when I was asked that question I went with mint because it's good for kissing Haha, a little gross but that's okay. But if it was just me all the time then I think I would go with the blue raspberry pop rocks, because those are delicious and way fun!

And just throwing it out there, but the condiment coming out of my belly button thing, yeah that's really gross! Haha. How in the world did you come up with that question? Though I think I would go with ketchup, it's pretty traditional, but it's one of the only condiments that I actually like and I think I would eat. Well, actually, ranch is technically a condiment as well isn't it? I think I would go with that instead, because I eat that a lot, like not only is it good for veggies and salad, but it also works with chicken nuggets and chicken burgers and maybe a normal hamburger (I don't know about that one, I haven't had that before....). Though which one would you choose?

And I'm sorry to hear about you not being able to go to the temple while on your mission. That really is such a bummer. And out there I'm sure there aren't nearly as many temples so close to everyone like there are here in like WA, UT, and ID. We have a lot of different temples and I really love that. Though going to the temple is important and wonderful, it's hard to go sometimes when you live elsewhere. So it's just good to go when you can and to just have a temple recommend. Thanks for your great example! I love you!

5/2/2016
This week has been crazy and yet amazing.
Monday (4/25/16) was a crazy day. It was around 3pm and we got a call from President Olson and it said that I was being transferred to Texas tomorrow at 6am and that I needed to pack my bags. So I got really excited, I loved being in a trio in Shreveport but I was excited to serve in a duo in Texas. So we did our normal Monday night thing and we taught lessons and I said good bye to a couple people and then we went home and I packed my bags and we left. It was pretty quick and the elders in my district came over and said good bye to me and that was really sweet of them. But I packed, slept, then left for Texas.
Tuesday (4/26/16) I got to Texas pretty early in the morning and my companion didnt have anything planned, there arent many investigators here, at least not ones that know they are investigators yet, so we tracted. We tracted into this awesome family and we invited them to be baptized. One of them said yes. Her name is Breana and we are working with her and trying to get her to come to church and understand the importance of the restored gospel.
Wednesday (4/27/16) I met my district, they are all very apathetic and melocolly. I am working to change that.... haha, not really but kind of. We have the gospel and they didnt seem excited to share it. We know the truth, we know the power of God, we have so much knowledge and we get to share it with others. We have a prophet on the earth today and we get to proclaim it to the world. I once had an investigator say that if the Mormon church was the true church then people around the world would know about it... haha, that is exactly what we are trying to do :D
Thursday (4/28/16) was awesome! We took an investigator that a member introduced us to on Tuesday, on a church tour. When taking her on the tour she kept pointing out pictures and showing us the beauty of the church. We went all around the church and she started crying when we talked to her about baptism and Jesus being baptized and she kept crying and hugging me and the Spirit was so strong. When we finally entered the chapel. The Spirit was breathtaking. I had never felt the Spirit that strong just from being inside the chapel. My investigator really taught me how blessed we are to having a chapel and church and even how blessed we are to be able to pay tithing to be a part of the Spirit that is felt in the chapel.
Friday (4/29/16) It was raining a lot and we dont have a car so we were walking in the rain and this lady pulled over and handed us an umbrella. It was the nicest thing ever. And me and Sister Matealona were dancing and singing in the rain with the umbrella. It was so fun. And it was super windy so the umbrella kept flipping up which just made it super funny.
Saturday (4/30/16) we did service for 6 hours. We helped this woman clean her house. She is a super nice woman and she just needed some help. I think we will be helping her some more later this week too. And that is alright. Service is good and maybe she will trust us and then give us someone to teach.
Sunday (5/1/16) we put together a fireside for the ward and investigators. It was a church tour and it went really well. It was an awesome Sabbath. The book is blue. The church is true.
I love yall so much and hope yall the very best. I am really loving Texas and I am loving the people I am teaching. Also, I have been reading Jesus The Christ and it has been amazing. If yall want to understand the Bible, read Jesus the Christ. It has helped me understand the Old Testament. Keep being disiples of Jesus Christ. Keep serving others and trying to make others lives better. I love you.
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

5/9/2016

Happy Mother's Day Everyone! :D
I hope yall are having a great week. My week has been amazing.
On Monday (5/2/16) we were trying to get two lessons in the evening. We were trying to get them and no one would let us teach them. We prayed about it and we ended up tracting into this woman who let us right in. We taught her the restoration and it was an awesome lesson. It was great. And we ended up getting two lessons that night. It was a great monday.
Tuesday (5/3/16) was great, we have been helping this church make lunches for children who cant buy food and it is really cool to be able to bag lunches and help the church. I love when churches work together.
Wednesday (5/4/16) we had a district meeting, which is where a group of missionaries come together and learn how to be better missionaries. I got to teach the lesson and I taught it on finding people to teach and following up. It went really well I think and I know that I learned the most from the lesson. I guess the teacher always learns the most. I hope to get better at finding people to teach.
Thursday (5/5/16) We had a lesson with this amazing woman who is super excited to be baptized. We taught the lesson in the chapel with her 15 year old daughter. I am so stoked about them. They are both so awesome and the mom is really wanting to come closer to God.
Friday (5/6/16) we felt like we really needed to knock on this certain house. We were about to go to a different house when we felt like we needed to tract just this one house. So we knock on it and this guy opens the door. He seemed kind of confused but also excited. He asked a bunch of questions and when we taught him the restoration he wanted to know everything. It was so cool. Often, people will listen but not really care. He was listening and asking questions and trying to understand everything we were saying, it was cool. We are excited to teach him the gospel.
On Saturday (5/7/16) we met a recent convert. She is 18 and she didnt know where the church was or when it met. So we got to tell her about the church. She just moved here and she is thinking about really turning her life around and serving a mission. It would be really awesome if she did that.
Sunday (5/8/16) We had amazing talks and lessons at church today. One thing I learned that really stuck out to me was that we need to read the scriptures with a prayer in our hearts. We cant read inspired words without inspiration. Well, I really love yall so much! This week has been great and we have walked a lot so I have gotten tanner and that is fun :P Keep being awesome missionaries no matter if you wear the nametag or not. I love you :D
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

5/16/2016

Monday (5/9/16) there was a crazy storm. It was like fireworks in the sky. It was pretty bad though because it wasnt just a storm but a tornado. There has been a lot of damage. There are tons of trees here and many of them fell. It rains so much here that trees dont have to work hard at all to get there water. The trees do not have strong roots because they havent had to reach for water, it has just been given to them. Because of this, huge trees have fallen to the ground. It is really sad but I guess it is the trees that worked the hardest for their water that get to survive the storms and tornados.
Tuesday (5/10/16) we went to sonic for dinner and when the carhop came out I made casual conversation. I said, "do you like working at sonic?" and he said, "yeah, its alright. you used to work at a sonic right?" so I said, "what! yeah." and so I thought I must look like one of his old coworkers. but then he told me "you ran by my car" (like a week ago when we were trying to get somewhere super fast) and I guess I yelled, "Sonic! I used to work at sonic!" when I saw him wearing his sonic uniform. So that was funny. We gave him our card and he texted us. It was pretty funny.
Wednesday (5/11/16) we went to zone conference and then a member took us out to eat. He said he only takes the "top comp" out to eat in the ward and there are three companionships. It was pretty funny. We ended up eating burritos and talking and then at the end I gave a picture of Jesus to one of the workers. It was kind of weird giving it to him because he wasnt really our server, he was just kind of standing there. But miracles happen outside our comfort zone.
Thursday (5/12/16) we had interviews today! It was awesome. I love talking to President Olson. I love him. President Olson is so spiritual and he brings a light into the room. We talked about how members will trust us when we get investigators to church and so that need to be our goal. We also talked about how our life will be so much better if we read the scriptures more and he challenged us to read the Book of Mormon for 30 minutes a day and see how our lives change.
Friday (5/13/16) We saw Regina today and asked her to be baptized. She said she really wanted to be baptized and she had read a lot of the Book of Mormon. She is amazing and I love her! Also, today we saw the guy from Chipotle. He said he was so happy we gave him that picture of Jesus and that it was still in his car. He called us Saints and said he could tell there was something different about us and the men that he sees wearing suits and ties. It was really cool. I am so thankful that we can be baptized and be trying to be like our Savior.

Saturday (5/14/16) We went tracting and met an awesome man and an awesome family. Their houses were right next to each other too. That was so cool. After one good lesson we almost went home thinking we had success with tracting for that day but we decided to keep going and the next house we taught a family. I guess that shows we cant get prideful or think that all is done. We need to keep doing our very best no matter what.
Sunday (5/15/16) Church was amazing today. In Gospel Principles class we learned about the atonement and that is something I love learning about. Sunday is just such an awesome day. It is such a blessing to partake of the sacrament and renew our covenants. This mission is the best! I love it here so much.I hope yall the very best. Keep sharing the gospel with others and keep reading the Book of Mormon. 3 Nephi 11 is a good one to read :D I love you.

Love Always,
Sister Anderson

5/23/2016

This week has been awesome. Crazy. But awesome.
Monday (5/16/16) My companion and I got along really well today, we got to know each other super well and it was really awesome. We cut the small talk and just got to know the real companion. It was cool because I think some missionaries put on a fake face and that is really sad because I think investigators can tell if we arent being real.
Tuesday (5/17/16) Oh how I love the south.... one thing that is peculiar about the south is that they dont know what vegetables are. A member called and asked what we wanted for dinner and we said vegetables. So we went over and we were served nachos. It was so funny. There was tomatos and lettuce. It was just so funny. And we were asked by our district leader to talk about a miracle in our meeting on Wednesday. So we were looking for one on Tuesday. We knocked on this woman's door and no one answered but we were really hopeful for a miracle so we knocked a bit more and waited and were just hoping. And then a little boy ran to us and we looked up and saw the woman we were trying to see. She let us right in and we taught her about Jesus. She didn't know who he was and she started crying when we told her and she really loved knowing that someone has felt what she is feeling. It was a miracle and we may have left the house before she came home if we hadn't been looking for a miracle.
Wednesday (5/18/16) We went on splits, so I wasn't teaching with my companion. It was cool because there is a lot more responsibility because we are with members instead of missionaries. It was awesome though and I went with an 18 year old and it made me remember when I would go out with Sister T and that made me want to be a missionary so I tried to be super encouraging.
Thursday (5/19/16) We did service at a homeless shelter. It was pretty fun. And we taught a lot of investigators and that was pretty cool.
Friday (5/20/16)
me: why is this knife so small!?!?!!!!!?
Sister Matealona: thats an envelope opener.
Saturday (5/21/16) we helped at the homeless shelter for a little bit again and we taught this guy named Billy. He is awesome and he is really progressing. He loves the book of mormon.
Sunday (5/22/16) Partaking of the sacrament was amazing. And after church we went to a families house for lunch and we made a plan of action for them. Like a mission plan. We asked them to give us a commitment instead of us giving them a commitment. It worked really well and they gave us people to teach.
I love this place so much. Transfers are tomorrow and I am staying and I am really excited to be in Texas for another 6 weeks. I love yall. Stay safe. Be happy.

5/31/2016

This week has been really good.
Monday (5/23/16) we went alligator hunting. We didnt see any but we saw bubbles that someone said was probably an alligator because thats where they often are. Haha. But it was fun even though we didnt see an alligator for reals. It was funny because we were looking for them but if we saw one we would probably run away.
Tuesday (5/24/16) I found out who my new companion is. Her name is Sister Auesen. She is really great and I love her. She is a really hard worker. I am training her so we get to work on being better missionaries together for an hour every morning.
Wednesday (5/25/16) we had a district meeting so I met a bunch of new missionaries because we combined two districts.
Thurday (5/26/16) We took the Wade family on a church tour. It was one of the best church tours we have given. The Spirit was very strong and when we were showing the Wade family the picture of Jesus being baptized we invited them to be baptized and they said yes. Which has been really good. We love them a lot and they are so sweet. They are at very different points of their testimony though but they can both prepare for baptism. I think that is one of the cool things about the gospel. We don't have to know everything to be baptized. Baptism is one of the first steps and we don't have to be bible experts to start that process.
Friday (5/27/16) We saw a ton of people today. We tracted and it actually went pretty well today. We also went to a retirement home and that went well too. We saw some really nice and sweet people. We even sang to a couple of them which was really cool. I love sharing the gospel to everyone. Even if these older people aren't able to be baptized in this life, they will be more prepared in the next life.
Saturday (5/28/16) We worked with some less actives today. We were trying to find out their concerns and needs. It went pretty well and a couple people that we talked to were at church on Sunday (5/29/16) We tracted into a preacher. He was really funny because he was giving us tips on how to tract better. He was like, "you need to be more personable, less bold." it was really funny because the message we share is a bold one. It doesn't sit well with everyone, thats why we ask people to pray about it.. We don't want to be agreeable to everyone, we have a bold message and we want to share it. We gave him a Book of Mormon and he said he would read it. He seemed actually pretty excited to read it. So I think being bold is a good thing.
Monday (5/30/16) we were in Arkansas and we got a referral on Mary street. We are like never in Arkansas so we thought we would never get to see her but we looked to the right of us and we saw Mary street. It was the coolest thing. Somehow, we were at the exact right spot we needed to be. We got to meet the referral and she was so awesome. We got two referrals this week and they are both amazing.
I need to go. I love yall so much! keep reading the Book of Mormon. Keep being awesome member missionaries. Examples. And friends. I love you.
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

6/6/2016

Mission time is so weird. I feel like I have been here for a second but I also feel like I have been here for a year. It is so weird but I do love it.
Thursday (6/2/16) my companion and I are very different from each other, but we are making that a companion strength instead of a companion weakness. It is actually really good. So if she wants to eat healthy than we eat healthy or if I want to go running then we go running. It has been good health wise and it has also been good in lessons. My strength might be listening and understanding whereas her strength is talking. And we both love teaching the gospel. We both can talk for days about the gospel so we rely on that strength, which is pretty cool.
Friday (6/3/16) was a great day. It started off rough because one of our investigators told us he wouldnt be baptized, but it got better because then we went tracting and met a man named John. We were just walking and John was outside his house. We started talking to him about the Book of Mormon and he said he had read it. We were pretty surprised and so we asked him what he thought about it. He said he had some of the same types of miracles happen in his life. We were surprised but let him continue. He said he was at a very low point in his life when he fell in to a type of trance. I wanted to find a chapter about it but couldn't think of one off the top of my head. I decided to just open the Book of Mormon (one that was new and not even marked at all) so I thought I wouldn't be able to find a scripture about a trance. I ended up opening the Book of Mormon up and I was going to start flipping through the pages when I realized my thumb was on a chapter heading so I read it and it was about a trance. I would give yall the reference but I can't find it. haha. I guess its what John needed though. I know we are blessed as missionaries with the ability to help people come closer to Christ, even when it is in little ways.
Saturday (6/4/16) we were getting out of a lesson with a recent convert when we were at a stop sign and were trying to find out how to get to our next appointment. We couldn't find the directions so we were there for a couple minutes. We then saw a man in the rear view mirror. He was flailing his arms and running after us. He sort of looked like a scary man but we weren't sure and we didn't want to judge a book by the cover. So we waited in our car and when he got to our car (he had to run for about 200 meters) we rolled down our windows. He thought we were someone else so we told him we are missionaries and asked if we could come teach him. He said we could. It was interesting. It isn't very often that people come to us as missionaries. We usually have to go to them. His name is Mitchell and he is planning on coming to the ward activity tonight. He looked really rough but he is so sweet.
Sunday (6/5/16) we had to go to Arkansas this morning and then we were running late to church. we have a car monitor that yells at us if we are going over the speed limit....and... it was getting a little mad at us. I kept saying, "I just want to get to church" and "I just want to partake of the sacrament" and "I just want to hear the testimonies." the monitor didn't seem to notice or care. We finally got to church and we were a little late but we did get to partake of the sacrament. It was a great sacrament because I knew that I really wanted it. I bore my testimony on the importance of church and the importance of the priesthood and the sacrament. It was a really great Sabbath day.
This week has been awesome. We continue to try to teach people. Please befriend everyone. You might be thinking, "I wish someone would come talk to me." but I am sure that other people are thinking the same thing about you. People desire your love and attention. Why not give it to them? I love yall so much. Keep being awesome friends, missionaries, and examples.
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

6/13/2016

This week has been great. I am getting along really well with my companion which has been awesome. I cant believe I have only been with her for a couple weeks and I already love her so much. Also, this week, we got our first person to church together. It was pretty cool. It was a girl named Katie that had been praying for a church and us and the Jehovah Witnesses showed up. Haha. So she now believes that they or us are the true church because God wouldnt send the wrong church to her. It has been amazing studying with her. I already love her and I have only known her for a couple weeks. Also, I love working with the investigators that have families. They always want what is best for their families and I know that Heavenly Father wants to bring families together. I love you.
Love, sister a

6/21/2016

Dear Family and Friends,
This week has literally been amazing. I totally love all the people I am teaching. We have been teaching two investigators that are really getting ready to be baptized. They are so amazing. They are John and Katie. They are the coolest. They have both come to church once and they are both planning on coming much more often.
Yesterday John said, "when I get baptized I would have to come to church every week? And have a calling? and have the priesthood? and it would kind of be like a way of life?" those questions kind of scared us but we boldly said "yes" and then we like were waiting for him to freak out. He then said, "thats the way it should be. I like that." It was awesome! And we told him to open to Moroni and he said, "thats Mormon's son right?" and we were like, "yeah, where did you hear that." and he was like, "oh at church I think." It was great. John not only loves the church but he thinks that his daughter would enjoy it as well.
Katie is also great. She wants to join the correct church for her daughter. I hope all the fathers had a great fathers day. I love you all so much. Sorry its short.
Love always,
Sister Anderson.

6/27/2016

On Monday the 6/20/16 we had a zone conference and we learned a lot at the conference. We learned a lot about feeling the Spirit. Feeling the Spirit is so important for the missionaries and for the investigators. It has been really important to have the Spirit at all times. Do you have any ideas on how I can teach my investigators about the Spirit?? How do yall feel it? Because it seems like everyone feels it differently and it would be awesome to have more examples of how people can receive answers to prayers and feel the Spirit.
Tuesday (6.21.16) ended up being our pday and we got to have a district pday so it was a ton of missionaries all playing games and doing fun things together, it was pretty sweet.
Wednesday (6/22/16) was great. We went to a bunch of less actives homes and we taught them and we sometimes got to teach their nonmember family. That was really cool. It seems like most people who are less active in the church are also part member families. It seems like people really only stay active if they know people or have their family in church, shows how important it is to be friends to people. At one home this girl came out of her house and started to cry (before we could even knock on her door) and she said she had just been praying to hear from her sister and then she laughed and said something like "God must have heard Sisters" it was the funniest thing and she was so sweet. We taught her about God's love for her.
Thursday (6/23/16) We gave one of our investigators (John) a baptismal date. He is super cool and we want to baptize him on July 9th. He is pretty excited and we have taught him a lot and he agrees with a lot of the commandments that we tell him about. He continues to read and pray which is great.
Friday (6/24/16) We went and helped John in his yard, we helped him pull weeds and then we had a lesson with him. After that, Sister Bentley (our relief society president) came out with us. We went and saw an investigator named Katie. And we had an awesome lesson that got her pumped up for reading the Book of Mormon. Which is so important. I love the converting power of the Book of Mormon.
Saturday (6/25/16) we had some good lessons and we are trying to really get into more homes. We have an easy time teaching first lessons and teaching people who have been taught a bit. but we have been struggling to get 2nd lessons (new investigators) so we are working really hard with that. It seems like a lot of people arent home. We teach one lesson and then they go out of town for the summer. so its been interesting.
Sunday (6/26/16) Church was amazing. The Spirit was so strong. We even learned about the Spirit and how it is like a stop light (in Texas stoplights are horizontal, not vertical) and how the Spirit will tell us to go or stop, like if we are either doing something good or bad. But other times its yellow, where we need to make a choice. And how sometimes it doesnt matter if we go or stop but other times we have to make the right choice if its yellow (like if its about to turn red or if someone behind us is going really fast) we have to really think twice if the Spirit is giving us a yellow. It was awesome, and that was the youth speaker!! haha. Well. this week was great. I love you all so much!
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

7/4/2016

Happy Independence Day!!!! :DDD
Service is the most important thing ever! well, one of the most important things ever. Thank you to those who sent me the ways they feel the Spirit, I have been working on that this week and I have felt the Spirit so strong! I have been really feeling the Spirit tell me to do service, or like, do good. And then after doing good, I feel the Spirit give me peace.
One experience was on Sunday. We were in relief society and there was a member who doesn't often go to church and her daughter. We were sitting behind her and half way through relief society her daughter got loud and so she turned to us and said something like, "I got to go, this is embarrassing." The Spirit let me know that I needed to tell her to stay and that I needed to sit with her daughter. I stood up and sat by her daughter. I have no idea what happened, I guess the Spirit came into her heart and my heart. I just rubbed her back and told her everything was going to be alright and then she became quiet and not as stressed out. I know that the Spirit is real. I know that the Spirit guides us. I know that even when we do tiny little acts of service,like sitting next to someone in relief society, the Spirit will magnify that tenfold.
Also, this week we saw Katie. Our super amazing investigator. We watched a movie called the Testaments with her (its a movie that brings the book of mormon and bible story together) and the entire movie she let her daughter be really loud but when Christ came to the Americas she made sure her daughter was quiet, she could really feel the Spirit and she got really into the movie during that part. It was a testimony builder for me to see her be touched by the Spirit.
Another time this week that I was really touched by the Spirit was when we were teaching an RLDS person the restoration. It was an amazing lesson because he already believed it but hearing it come from us he realized how similar the two churches were. He was really amazed and he realized that the LDS church actually isnt a bad church. And I have become a lot more open minded and open hearted towards all different religions. And we have been told that where 2 or 3 are gathered in Christ's name, there will he be also. So it makes sense that all different churches feel the Spirit. Wow, this week has been amazing. The Spirit has been so strong and I know that when the Spirit is present in our lives that our lives go so much better. I love yall so much. Keep reading your scriptures and praying. I know that it is hard but I also know that it is worth it. I love having an hour where I can read the Book of Mormon and Bible and really learn and study. I love yall.
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

7/11/2016

Tuesday (7/5/16) We had the best lesson we have ever had with Katie. She is one of our investigators and we often have lessons with her but this lesson was so much better than all the rest. The reason it was so much better was because the Spirit was so strong during the lesson. We talked to her about baptism and told her about how her baptism was not enough and that she needed to be baptized in the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints. That is often a hard lesson for people in the south but because the spirit was present, the lesson went well.
Wednesday (7/6/16) We taught Donna about the gospel of Jesus Christ, faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. we committed Donna to be baptized in August. She started to cry and accepted. The Spirit was so strong and she is really excited to change her life. She loves the Spirit and the church.
On Thursday (7/7/16) we went over to a member's house with a less active. the member new the less active member and decided to invite her over but didnt really know her so she wanted us to come with. it was actually really cool because they had both been needing a friend and theactive member felt the spirit and it told her to invite this woman over, even though they didnt know each other at all. Thats a miracle, not just luck. They both told us they need a friend and then one just calls the other and asks if they can come over, even though they dont know each other. Also, when we were at the lunch we learned about the Fouke monster. it is kind of like big foot but way scarier and it eats black people and doesn't hurt white people. It's basically a racist big foot that lives in Fouke, Arkansas.
Friday (7/8/16) We were trying this former investigator named Roger. We were talking to him on his doorstep and I believed everything he said except he said that everyone has their own truth and I believe in an absolute truth. So that was like the one big difference. But other than that, he seemed similar to my beliefs about the world. He told me that he was really good at reading people and that he could tell that I have a strong testimony. That made me feel really good.
And Saturday (7/9/16) was amazing. I planned my talk for Sunday and it is on charity. I ended up talking about Jesus Christ and I think it went pretty well.
Sunday was so spiritual (7/9/16) I could feel the spirit so strong. When I gave my talk I prayed to not be nervous and as soon as I stood up and said my first word "Jesus" my nerves left me. That was amazing. I ended up giving a pretty long talk but I think it went pretty well.
I love yall so much. Please look for spiritual experiences in your lives. Feeling the Spirit is so amazing.

7/18/2016

This week has been really good. I cant email write much. But this week has been awesome. Church was amazing and I gave a talk on baptism. I had to leave the chapel before taking the sacrament because a less active that we have been working with was crying. I finally got back into the chapel and I thought the sacrament had already been passed and that I missed it. Then I found out I hadnt missed it and I was so happy. I dont know what announcements they were making or what but I got to partake of the sacrament. I hadnt realized how much I needed the sacrament until I thought I couldnt have it. Also, we were looking for a former named Marcus and ended up running into a Mario. He said that we were looking for him and that he was the person we were trying to teach. It was so funny. We dont think he has ever been taught by missionaries and yet he was Super open to having us teach him. We taught him a good lesson and he is awesome. We cant wait to teach him. We also finally got to teach this referral. Someone told us to go teach their neighbor and we tried them a ton of times and it was going to be our last try and then she let us in. She is really cool. I need to go but please look for the miracles in your life. Even if it is just seeing flowers :D Thats a miracle when its hot and humid and you need a pick me up while tracting :D I really love flowers, and honestly, I love tracting too. I love yall.

Love,

Sister Anderson

7/25/2016

This week has been the best. Well one of the many bests.
We have been teaching three amazing people. Donna, Katie, and Willie. They are the best. For Donna this week we took a member to her lesson. There were two members there and one was not too loud but is Donna's friend and the other member that was there was loud and really bore her testimony and that was awesome. We taught her the word of wisdom. That is one of the hardest lessons for the people in the south. the lesson went really good though and Donna is really excited to get baptized, she does need to come to church more though because she is working on Sundays.
We are also teaching Willie and he is awesome. He is an older man that is super cool. He loves God (so typical southerner) and he is great. He wants to be baptized and wants to always come to church. We have taught him the word of wisdom and other lessons that we were wondering if he would not love, but he is really loving the lessons and he wants to be baptized. Willie is super sweet and he feels the Spirit a lot.
We are also teaching Katie and she doesnt know she wants to be baptized but she does want to be. She is soooo funny. She is the best. Every time I see her I just have to hug her, same with Donna. But with Katie, we told her we might leave so she told us that we have to convert her faster. It was really funny. This week has just been great. Katie knows the Bible like the back of her hand, which is pretty cool. I love her. I love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know God lives and loves each and every one of His children.
I love you,
Sister Anderson

8/1/2016

"And I sent messangers unto them, saying, I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down: why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come down to you?" ~Nehemiah 6:3
The work here is great! There is a story I heard and maybe I've told yall it before. But there were two sales associates sent to Africa to sell shoes. They both went for a week and then came back to tell the boss their experience. One came back and said, "the people in Africa do not wear shoes, there will be no success, we must go elsewhere." and the other associate came back and said, "the people in Africa do not wear shoes, everyone will need shoes, bring all the associates to Africa to sell shoes." and so the first man lost his job and the second man opened up a great shoe shop in Africa.
That is so true! There are so many people here in the South and they are ready to hear the gospel. Many of them want and need the gospel in their lives and all I need to do is boldly teach them it. And I just need to be exactly obedient in order for the Spirit to be with me as we teach. This week has been honestly amazing. I love the people I am teaching and I love that I know how to be a missionary. I study and study and now all I need to do is "be of good courage, and do it." (Ezra 10:4)
This week we have been working a lot with a couple different people.
On Monday (7/25/16) we saw Willie. We explained to him the importance of keeping the Sabbath day holy. It was a really good lesson and he loves coming to church. He really wants to be baptized and I have seen a mighty change in him. We haven't been teaching him for too long but the Lord is really blessing him with the ability to read better and his entire countenance has changed. It has been a really beautiful change to see. He is the best.
Tuesday (7/26/16) was a great day! We saw Lisa and Lashawn and they are funny. Lashawn is Lisa's mom and she just wanted to argue with us. She would say something and then we would agree with it and then she would change her mind so that we wouldn't agree with her. It was like she didn't know what she believed but she knew for sure she didn't believe what the Mormons believe. It was interesting and her daughter Lisa could even tell she was changing what she was saying. I think it is important to be open minded and open hearted. If missionaries from a different church ever come to my house in the future I think I will try to find commonalities with them. I mean, we are all humans trying to become better humans. Well I guess not everyone, but almost everyone.
Wednesday (7/27/16) we went on exchanges. It was interesting to go on exchanges because it was really unplanned. They basically called Tuesday night and asked if they could come over in the morning. So they came over and it worked out perfectly! We had more appointments than the one companionship could handle. So we double worked our area. My companion saw Roger (man that told us we could come over and said he will eventually come to church and he says our believes are very similar). And I saw Donna. Donna is working on the word of wisdom and she is doing great at it. It has been really hard and she isn't perfect at it. But thats what's so great about God. He gives us credit for trying! I know I am thankful for that. I am far from a perfect missionary but as long as I keep trying, God will keep giving me credit.
Thursday (7/28/16) we went on splits (Sister Ausen went with a member and I went with a different member) and I went to some really old people. Which isn't bad at all and they are super sweet and nice but we had to scream in order for them to be able to hear us. We were literally yelling inside their home and we still had to repeat ourselves many times. It was hard and they are also almost blind. Do yall have any suggestions? We wanted to do more visuals but them being pretty blind makes that hard too. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Friday (7/29/16) we basically had a party today. It was weird to have a party as a missionary. But it was with a group of nonmembers and we watched Meet the Mormons. It was really awesome and some of the girls were crying and one basically said that she wants to become Mormon. It was so cool. They could see how awesome these Mormons were and they realized that Mormons really aren't weird.
On Saturday (7/30/16) we helped one of our investigators move. It was really cool because there was us missionaries (we got a bunch of missionaries to come) and then there was Debra (our investigator) and two others that came (a Muslim and a man we used to teach) it was so cool seeing us all come together to help this older woman move out of her home. We got it done so quickly and she was extremely thankful. It was just cool to see people from all walks of life come together to help someone in need. We just need to all do that more. Also, we taught Katie the word of wisdom and she said she will also try to cut out caffeine because that is an addictive and harmful substance. I really can't complain that she wants to go over and beyond our expectations
SUNDAY!!!!! Katie and Erica and Willie were at church. Church was amazing!!!! Like, it was perfect. Well, Sunday was pretty normal, but church was amazing. There was a boy who was getting ready to serve a mission so he gave his farewell talk and the Spirit was strong and the sacrament is always amazing, I am so thankful for the Priesthood.
Well, I hope yall skimmed this because it would probably take forever to read. But I love yall so much!!!!! Keep being awesome and fun and happy. I know the church is true. I know God answers prayers. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God. I know God loves each and ever one of His children. I love you.
Love,
Sister Anderson

8/8/2016

By golly, this week has been interesting, well.... to me at least. It might not seem that interesting, but it has been awesome.
On Monday, the district went bowling all together. It was kind of weird but it was the district leaders idea and he wanted us all there for some "bonding". but we actually had a pretty good time. And after bowling. We went on exchanges. There are 3 elder companionships and 2 sister companionships. So we went on exchanges with the other sisters (obviously). And it was interesting because none of us are Sister Training Leaders so it was weird that we went on exchanges but it seemed more like fun than learning. And it was so much fun and we learned so much! I think I learned more that exchange than I had with some of the Sister Training Leader exchanges.
On Tuesday, Sister Keables and I (the girl I was on exchanges with) had a super good time. We just taught the same way so when we taught people the lessons were so good. I am not trying to be cocky. That is how the lessons should be all the time (so I am really just saying Sister Ausen and I dont have the best lessons) anyway. The lessons were so spiritual because it was as if one person was talking and yet it was two people testifying. I dont know. It was cool.
Then on Wednesday, I had a lesson in Atlanta Texas still with Sister Keables and it was to our (sister Ausen and my) investigator's sister. It was really cool. We went to her house and she started crying because she could really feel the Spirit.
Thursday was awesome! Donna was needing to get married before she could be baptized and now she is going to be married soon. Her man that she has been living with did not want to get married, but now he wants to. Donna was bold with him and I am so excited!!!! And she is even more excited!! The Lord id in the work.
Friday was good too! A man tried to bible bash with us but he wasnt really sure of where he stood on certain things. We asked him why Jesus was baptized and he didn't know. I think he just didn't want to be baptized. We try to not bible bash, but it seems like that is what people are trying to do often.
Saturday was good, we had so many people to teach that we needed to go on splits with ward members. So a girl named Nicole came with me and we were walking. We walked to Willy's house and it was good. We had a great lesson and then we were going to walk home. And it started down poring and thundering and lightning. The storm was crazy! Nicole said, "I'm not going out in that" so I said "if I asked you to go swimming with me. would you?" and she said. "umm...." and then we walked out in the rain. It was great. We trudged through the rain and we were crazy wet. It literally seemed like we had jumped in a pool and it was honestly so fun. We ended up going to a different appointment and the man was so impressed that we went and saw him even though we were walking through the storm. It was funny. The message we share is wayy more important than staying dry.
Sunday was great. I felt the Spirit really strong on Sunday. I had to give a lesson on the sacrament and so I felt really prepared to partake of the sacrament. That really is the most important part about church.
This week has been great. I love yall so much.

32 Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, anddeny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.

33 And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of theblood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.

8/15/2016

Monday (8/15/16) was a great day. We taught Katie about tithing. She said she would not live it. That made us sad but we realized we should have taught her better or something. Then the next time we came over she said she would live it :D yay! We got super excited. I guess we don't have to be perfect teachers in order for the Spirit to work his awesomeness. She felt the Spirit when she was studying on it and reflecting tithing. Yay. Katie is so amazing.
Tuesday (8/16/16) was awesome. We went tracting and we really only knocked on two doors. It was really funny because at one door we had an amazing lesson. There was a couple and they were listening to us talk about the restoration. When I was quoting the First Vision the man was shaking his head like that couldnt be possible. Usually I would ask if they had questions or like try to address their concern. But I felt like I needed to continue and then bare my testimony of it. So I did so and the woman looked like she was going to cry because she was feeling the Spirit so strongly. Then we committed them to pray about it and they agreed to pray about it and if they felt like it was the right church then they would be baptized. It was really good. The other door we knocked on though just tried to tear us to shreds. He did not like us at all. At all. But tracting was worth it because we found that other couple and they are awesome :D
Wednesday (8/17/16) we had zone training meeting. So we had to drive an hour and a half to go to a meeting and so we were in the car for a total time that was just as long as the meeting. But if we get more baptisms then they will have more members and people here and then the zones will become smaller and then there will be less driving like there is in other missions. So, we are working on that. We have also been trying to baptize so many people that they have to make a temple in the mission. That would be good too.
Thursday (8/18/16) we had the best lesson that we have ever had with Billy. I learned three major things at zone training meeting from wednesday. I learned about using members, follow the spirit in lessons, and family history. So we had a member there for Billy's lesson and she basically taught the lesson. We were really trying to follow the Spirit so we did not teach the lesson we were planning at all and instead taught about family history! He said he will come to the family history center and that is a HUGE step for him. He has told us in the past that he will never ever take a step into the church, but he will now :D yay! the driving was so worth it.
Friday (8/19/16) We were looking for a less active member of the church and so we knocked on what we thought was her door. It ended up being her moms home and her mom let us right in. We had an amazing lesson with her! We taught her about families because she really loves her family and she had a bunch of pictures of her family on the wall and she had some recent deaths in her family. It was great. The spirit was strong and Bennie really liked us and asked for us to keep coming.
Saturday!!!!!!!!! Willie had his baptismal interview and he is going to be baptized. We are so excited for him! He is so excited too. He has pneumonia right now though so we arent sure when he will actually be baptized.
Sunday!!!!!!!!! ELDER ANDERSEN! We had stake conference and I got to see Elder Andersen and Elder Cordon. Don't be too jealous. It was a wonderful Sunday. Here are my notes.
~I feel exceeding (cant hold it all in) joy. Like how I felt when Willie finished his baptismal interview. Exceeding=so much you have to give some
~My purpose=return to God
~humbly go about doing good
~Be one with God and Jesus, then daily be the one
~the future of your faith is not by chance but by choice
~sing in the rain
~my future is as bright as my faith
~FHE= forever have everyone
~God only has to keep promises He makes. Covenants He makes
~Fishers of men
~follow the prophet. Choose the HARDER right, not the easier wrong.
~be true to my testimony of the Book of Mormon
~Be not afraid, only believe
~Don't feel sorry for myself
~Desire God's will
I hope yall have had an amazing week. Mine has been awesome. Transfers were today. I am staying in Wake Village Texas and my companion is hitting the road. I find out who my new companion is tomorrow. I love yall.

8/22/2016

This week has been crazy. It is the first week of transfers so I have been getting used to taking over this area again and making sure that no one is lost in the process. I've also been getting used to my companion's teaching style. Sister Scott teaches kind of similarly to how I teach so that makes teaching lessons a little easier.
On Wednesday (8/17/16) we had some really amazing lessons. We got to teach a young man that I have taught before. It was funny. I taught him while at a different investigators house and so I didn't know where he lived but we were out tracting and we knocked on his door. It was awesome because he has a lot of great questions. His questions make me think he is more interested in the gospel but they make my companion think that he isn't actually interested and that he just wants to argue. So we arent sure what his end goal is. But if his end goal is to increase in knowledge then we are the perfect people to help him with that. I'm super excited.
Thursday (8/18/16) We brought a couple people to the family history center and that really helped some of our investigators open up about their own lives. The Spirit of Elijah was definitely felt and it was a neat experience.
Saturday (8/20/16). You always know that great things are going to follow hard trials. At least that is what I am hoping for. Willie still has pneumonia. It is hard to baptize someone who can't come to church. I just have to remember that Satan is not as strong as us, we have bodies so we definitely have the upper hand. But it is sad to see someone really interested in the gospel, have to wait to be baptized.
Sunday (8/21/16) was great. I could really feel the Spirit and I know that the investigators we had at the church could feel the Spirit too. There was also a potluck after church and that was really awesome. Katie came to that and she talked to a lot of different memebers of the church and she got some of her questions answered. It was cool to see her in a dress! She would always come to church in pants and she bought herself a dress! It makes me think she is more interested in becoming a member than she was before. She also fasted for answers and it really worked. It was awesome. She knows she really needs to try this church.
I hope yall are having an amazing week. I love yall so much!
Allison - How are you???? How is everything? I hope things are going really good? How has church been going? Golly, how is everything going? I love you!
Bethany- Hey! are you out of school now? are you about to go back to school? How is BYU Idaho going? is it really fun and are you taking any cool classes? I hope you are taking some cool religion classes? And what are you majoring in? Do you know? And are you working on mission papers? I love you Sis!
Conner - You are an old man! I love you so much! How are church dances? have you gone to any church dances yet? I hope you have. Church dances are so much fun, just make sure that you ask girls to dance :D
Courtney - I am so happy that you had the missionaries over! I love to hear that because it is always so fun to go to peoples houses to eat as a missionary. It can be a nice relaxing lesson and meal. And it sounds like you made a really yummy meal for them so that is great :D
Dad - How is work going? How is playing with Conner going? Have you gone on any fun dates with Conner or Mom? I really hope that you have. I love you.
David-Thank you so much for the pictures!!!! your kids are sooo stinken cute!! I love it! I cant wait to meet baby Jenny :D
Daniel - How are things going for you? are you doing anything fun? Are you working on your mission papers, if so, how is that going? I am sure you will love yout mission. I am really loving my mission.
Drake - How has your week been? I hope everything is going good. How is work and life and church? Man, I hope you are learning a lot at church. I am realizing that no matter how much Iearn, there is always more to learn. It is frustrating that I can't learn it all but it makes sense. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, we are supposed to always be learning and progressing.
Elder Cazier - Actually, the plans changed. We got called to be in a trio but one of the trio people I guess really couldnt stand the idea of a trio... not sure exactly. But one of them went home and so I am now still just in a companionship of two. And that is really cool that you have been doing service. I saw a bunch of trash on the side of the road and it made me think of how you would clean it where you are at, we could totally do that here because there is a lot of liter here!
Elder Vaughn - Thanks for the e-mail, but it sure was short. But that is awesome that you are teaching repentance and baptizing converts!!! YAY!!!!
Erin - How is Tessa and Jenny? I hope they are doing great. Are you having fun playing with them and getting to be with them? I am sure it is a lot of fun and I am sure it is a lot of work too. I guess babies are a lot of work but I know it is worth it. I love seeing babies here in the South, they are so cute and make me think of all the cute babies back home.
Kylee - I hope Mr. Andrews is married too. He deserves to be married because he was awesome and such a great teacher. I think his teaching influenced me in wanting to be a teacher. Also, I'm not in a trio but I am with Sister Scott and she is great! I love her!!! She is really funny but also pretty down to earth.
Michael - I am so glad you are finishing up college! That is awesome. I am sure you will be able to pass all your classes. AHHHH!!!!! You are awesome! And what Olympics have you been watching? anything really interesting? I always loved watching gymnastics and swimming and diving. Those are always really cool. Was the opening ceremony awesome? I remember right before my mission we rewatched the opening ceremony with the torch being lit. Do you remember that? We wanted to see if the arrow actually made it to where it was supposed to be, it would have been funny if it hadnt.
Mom - Thank you for your e-mail. It sounds like you are really seeing miracles in your life. I love that so much. I know that I have been seeing miracles in my mission. I have seen amazing miracles and I have seen daily miracles. I am so thankful that God is watching out for us and that He can see the big picture. He knows exactly what we need and when we need it. It is a really beautiful thing.
Richard - Thank you! that is sooo true! I think it is so important for missionaries to have fun and to not be too serious. I now have a new companion and she is so funny and fun. She makes being a missionary funny and interesting. She does good missionary work but she is often laughing. I find myself goofing off a lot more now. Haha, which I guess is a good thing even for missionaries to do sometimes. I do love being a missionary and I can imagine it would be hard to be a zone leader, it would especially be hard to have everyone think you are zombie like and then have to try to incorporate yourself and your own attitude and fun spirit into that role. Wowzers, that would be difficult but I am sure it could be fun too.
Sister Swank - How is everything going? I hope you are doing good. I hope you are feeling well and I hope your husband is feeling well too. Have you heard from Julia at all? I hope so. I love her and I love you :D
Zach - How is everything going? How is work? Do you have a car now? what are you up to? What has been the funnest thing so far that you have done this Summer? I hope it is something pretty stinken fun.

9/5/2016

This week has been awesome. Sister Scott and I have had so much fun here in Texas. I feel like I have been in Texas for a good minute but it really has been good. We have had some interesting things happen this week.
Sister Scott and I got to bike a lot. That has been really fun. We bike to Nash which is a little outside of Wake Village. It would be like biking to Kennewick from my house back home in Pasco, so it really is not far but it is really fun!
Sister Scott and I also went over to one of our investigators homes before church to make sure they were still coming to church and we got to play with his grankids. It was really fun. We tossed around a football while our investigator (Willy) was waiting for his ride. Sister Scott thinks she is better at football than me.... but she isnt :P
Also, this week we had an amazing lesson with our investigator Katie. We were all feeling the Spirit like crazy. She finished reading the entire Book of Mormon! And that promise in Moroni 10:3-6 is so true! If we read the Book of Mormon and pray about it, we will know it is true! She knows it is true because she has done that challenge. Even though it was her first time, it still worked. And even when I do it not for the first time, it still works, which is awesome.
I love yall! Thanks for all you do!
Love,
Sister Anderson

9/6/2016

Want to know something scary?
We have been trying to talk to everyone so we talked to this guy on the street and he told us to come to his house the next day. And he gave us his phone number so we called him. And we were excited to go and see him but when we called him he told us that only one of us could come. And it was like totally creepy. He lives really close to our house too! He was like trying to lure us into his house. It was so weird. He kept saying we needed to come over and he called us at late hours of the night. There are some interesting fellows in the south.
Also, while we were inside one of our investigators house we had the door open and there were two people that came up to the door and they honest to goodness looked like zombies. I was so confused. I was facing the door and Sister Scott and Katie were facing me so I freaked out and got ready to use Tae-Kwon Do and then Katie heard there interesting sounds and went to the door and made them leave. It was interesting. Don't mess with drugs!

9/13/2016

This week has been one of the best weeks of my mission. It really honestly has been one of the best weeks. I mean, there have been about 40 best weeks, of I don't know how many weeks, but this week was one of the many best weeks.
On Friday (9/9/16) my companion got to call my parents!!!!! We were having some insurance difficulties at the doctors office and so we got permission to have Sister Scott talk to my parents. I didn't get to hear the conversation but it was weird that she got to call them. It ended up being really good that we could get it all figured out because then I could go get my check up and get medicine that will kill the virus that is causing me to cough so much. And it is honestly a blessing that I got sick because then we got all the paperwork and insurance stuff figured out before an emergency happened. Now if an emergency happens we wont have to wait to see the doctor or anything like that :D

Sunday (9/11/16) was one of the best days. It started out with a stressful morning because we were trying to find rides for an investigator, Katie, and a less active, Sister Ross, and we had found them rides but their rides canceled that morning. And we were making sure a different investigator, Willy, had a ride. So it started out very stressful. But then we went to church and it was amazing! Everyone was there and the Spirit was so strong! And after church Katie went home and then she texted us saying, "I think I have been interpreting my Joseph dreams wrong. Don't let him drown me." That made me super hopeful that she was talking about baptism! She has been wanting to be baptized but not wanting to take the leap of faith. She was reading Doctrine and Covenants when she read Joseph and thought about her dreams that she calls her Joseph dreams which have been dreams where she feels like Cinderella and she feels so innocent and perfect. She has had these dreams for a long time and she did not know what they meant. Then she realized they were like perfect dreams and that is similar to how she feels at church which was restored by the help of Joseph Smith. She said she wanted to be baptized as soon as possible and that she has been coming to church for about two months now and that she needs to take the leap and that she knows she will gain even more knowledge after she is baptized. It was just awesome! She is so excited and I am so excited. Her baptism is on the 17th of September and she is really excited!

And then Monday (9/12/13) was an amazing zone conference. I received so much enlightenment and understanding and just revelation. I honestly loved that conference. When I started my mission, I would go home from zone conferences with a lot of ideas on how I can improve, I remember other sisters would tell me that once I am out longer I wont receive as much from zone conferences, but I disagree. I am not saying they were wrong, but I think for me I can always learn more and that I will never know how to be a perfect missionary. Although, I will keep working on it. At zone conference we were asked to write down a question. My first question was "How can I baptize more people?" and I wrote down the answer to that question right away. "teach more repentance" so I wrote down another question. "How can I teach more repentance?" and my answer came in a completely different way than I was expecting. During zone conference I was reminded that I do not know verbatim the how to begin teachings, which has been a struggle for me my entire mission. I was thinking about how frustrating that has been. I have taken the advice from my STLs and my trainers and my companions but none of it was helping. I have them up on posters around the apartment, I read them in the shower every morning, I use them in lessons but just the meaning and not verbatim I write them down with my right hand, I write them down with my left hand, I have filled an entire notebook with just how to begin teaching. So what was my problem. I was doing all the ways that I had been told. And I have prayed about it. I just could not remember them with using any way that I was told by anyone. I felt like it was a lost cause but I still tried it. But for some reason during zone conference I though about what I was known for in middle school, high school, and college. What can you guess. Flash cards. Everyone who knew me, knew I used flash cards all the time. People would always sit next to me before tests and even small quizzes because I always has flash cards. It didn't matter if it was a 5 point middle school quiz or a 200 point college midterm. I always used flashcards. I have to thank Heavenly Father for that reminder because for some reason I haven't thought about that my entire mission. I guess it was a pride thing. I was too prideful to think that I should use flash cards as a missionary. I'm honestly not sure. But I am so thankful for that inspiration. In the past two days I have seen more progress in how to begin teaching than I saw in the eight months of doing the other missionary things. And that made so much sense to me. That was mind blowing to me. I cannot do what the other missionaries are doing and expect the exact same results because my area is different and my investigators are different. Just like my study and memorization needs to be different from other peoples study and memorization. It just makes such a difference. And I have been teaching Katie and Willy differently than just any investigator. I have been really teaching them and not just teaching lessons. And it has made a huge difference. So to answer the question, "How can I teach more repentance?" I must be teaching people in a way that they will understand. I cannot just expect to teach everyone the same, just like how I cannot learn the same way as other people learn. And altering lessons to meet people needs has made a huge difference in Katie's and Willy's lives and they want to change and they want to be baptized.

This week has just been the best. I was reading 2 Nephi 8 and 9 this week and those are some of the best chapters! The book is blue. The church is true. I hope that yall have also had an amazing week. I love yall more than you know (:

Love,

Sister Anderson

9/19/2016

This week has been amazing. I have used what I have learned at zone conference. I have talked to so many people at random places. Where ever I am I want to be a missionary. I have set return appointments and given book of Mormons at random stores and that has been awesome. I love being a missionary. And I have been able to use my flash cards which has been awesome. I have been able to memorize anything I make a flash card for so I will continue to make new flash cards and I will continue to study the flash cards I have. I enjoy studying them too, which is awesome. (Thanks mom for making me make flashcards in high school)
Tuesday (9/13/16) ended up being our pday because we had zone conference on Monday. Because it was on Tuesday, we had a woman ask to come out with us (and that is pretty uncommon in this ward) so we told her of course (if you say no to one time, you might be saying no to all the rest of the times) so we told her she could come out with us and we would find people to teach. And we decided to pray together and I prayed that we would be able to have enough time for everything we needed to do. Before I could even say amen, the woman texted us and said she had to cancel. Such a miracle. God answers prayers.
Wednesday (9/14/16) was such a great day! A member in the ward took us out to eat because we were (top comp) he does this competition where if a companionship meets his requirements he takes them out. Kind of random but we got to go with him and it was pretty cool that we "won" out of three sets of missionaries. There are lots of missionaries in this ward because the ward boundaries are huge. Imagine all of the Tri-Cities and Burbank and Basin City all in the same ward. That is similar to what is going on here. But that is alright, it is pretty cool to see Arkansas and Texas. We just need lots of baptisms so we can split the ward into smaller boundaries. Also, we had an awesome lesson with a member who doesn't attend church, she said she still likes the word of wisdom and that she would come out with us and teach Katie about the Word of Wisdom with us, that would be really cool. I guess you really don't have to wait for your testimony to be complete before sharing the testimony you have. I mean, my testimony isnt complete, I hope it keeps growing and growing forever.
Thursday (9/15/16) we tracted into this amazing woman! We had an awesome lesson with her on the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Spirit was strong. Also, we had a ton of lessons today so between all these lessons I was trying to text people to find Katie a ride to the family history center which they have Thursday nights. Thankfully, someone said yes! And Katie fell in love with finding out about her family. She thought it was so cool! The Spirit of Elijah is so real!
Friday (9/16/16) Katie asked for us to make cheesecake for her baptism so we tried to make it today. At first I burn the crust so then Sister Scott tried to make it and then her cake just didnt work....lol. So i took her cake and mashed it all together and I added some milk and three cupcakes and that turned into the crust and then I added some filling. It was so funny. But everyone like the cheese cake :D At least they pretended to :P

We had a baptism on Saturday. But I felt like I was the only one that was working towards the baptism because my companion is still kind of new to this area and does not really know Katie. That was hard for me. But the ward ended up helping me. The ward members helped me set it up and find a baptismal suit and make treats and set up the treats. And it was awesome. And I know the Lord was helping me too. I love Katie and I am so thankful that she was able to make that amazing covenant with her Heavenly Father. The baptism was so good. The Spirit was so strong. I cried. I love Katie so much. And I would love her even if she didn't get baptized but it is because I love her so much that I want her to have the joy of baptism.

People have been telling me I will be transferred, I am not saying that is right or wrong.But I love this area so much and I love the people here. I love all of our investigators and I want them to continue to progress. Being a missionary is an amazing blessing. I knew being a missionary would be hard. And it is. But it is even more rewarding than hard. I love my Savior so much. I have had to rely on Him though out my entire mission and I am so thankful for His constant support. I love yall so much!

Love,

Sister Anderson

10/3/2016

This is my last weeks e-mail. It seems like only some people recieved it, the computers are not as good as they are in Washington. Right now I am using a dinosour :P So hopefully it will still send. So if you got this e-mail last week and you are getting it again, sorry. And if you didn't get an e-mail from me last week, also sorry. And sorry last weeks e-mail was not very long. Last week we e-mailed for a very short time because I was leaving an area I had been in for months so I had to go and see everyone. I love yall.

This week has been crazy but amazing :D
I found out that I am getting transferred, but I do not know to where until tomorrow. I am really excited about transfers. I am excited to work with new investigators and a new companion. It will be really hard to work with new investigators after falling in love with the investigators that are here. but it will be a good change. I am excited to meet a bunch of new faces and get to know a new ward or branch (there are a lot of small branches in this mission).
Also, this week we went on exchanges. It was pretty fun because my stl was my old companion. So I got to be companions with one of my first companions. It was really cool. We got to teach a couple lessons together and it was cool because we already knew each others teaching style and everything and I feel like we taught even better together because we have both grown and learned while being with other companions and just learned through practice. It has been really good.
Also, we had an amazing lesson with one of our investigators, Donna, it went so well and there were tears and hugs and it was awesome. She stopped wanting to meet with us for a while but we decided to go back and she was really happy that we did. She loves the church and she loves the feelings that she has there. She was just going through a lot. I know it can be hard to believe in God when life is so hard, but I know that He loves us even when we have opposition.
I love yall so much. Have a great week!
Love,
Sister Anderson

10/3/2016

Monday (9/26/16) I got a call saying I am being transferred. We don't know where we are going or who we will be with. The calls just let us know to say good bye to everyone and to pack our bags. Because we lived in Texas and that is like the way boarder of our mission, we got special permission to drive up Monday night instead of Tuesday really really early in the morning. But that meant that I had to say good bye to everyone and pack all super fast. It was really sad and a lot of tears with the people that I have been teaching, but all in all, it was a really amazing day. There was a woman, Donna, who I needed to say bye to and we were hugging and crying and her member friend was there and he said, "just think about how you have changed Donna's life." That made me cry even more. I really love everyone in this Texas area so much. And one of our investigators that was a guy even kissed me on the cheek. I was very surprised when that happened. I also had to say bye to Katie and Erica and that was so hard. I will miss everyone's hugs and smiles and laughs.

Tuesday (9/27/16) I arrived at the transfer point and found out I was headed to hattiesburg mississippi. I knew my last companion, sister scott, just came from there. And then I traveled almost all day until I arrived to my area, and I found out that my area is the same area that Sister Scott was in and that my companion now is Sister Scotts last companion (Sister Durtschi). When Sister Durtschi and I found that out we ran to each other and hugged each other and literally started screaming. We were so excited.

Wednesday(9/28/16) I had branch council today. I almost met the entire branch. This branch is really small and apparently I am going to be the branch pianist and apparently the missionaries get to give talks all the time in sacrament meeting. I am honestly really excited for this branch though. The mission president told me that this branch really needs a missionary who will get work done and I am excited to see what the Lord will have me do for this branch and this area.
Also, for district meeting our district leader asked for a volunteer and i was picked and apparently I had to balance six nails on one nail. I pretended I was my little brother Conner doing a Destination Imagination challenge :D It was really funny. The district leader said I was the first one to figure it out without his help (which kind of backfired on the lesson).

Thursday (9/29/16) this area is so different from all my other areas. We are breaking the city law when we tract (but its a federal law that we can tract) so this area is just very against tracting. Like people see us knocking on their door and they think we are breaking the law (which we kind of are) but that means that if they open the door then their impression of us needs to be really good because their initial thought about us usually isn't good.

Friday (9/30/16) We had to get our car fixed and while we were sitting at the shop we got to AI (always invite/ additional invitations) it was pretty fun because it was like tracting but we werent knocking on people doors so they really couldnt get annoyed that we were "breaking the law".

Saturday (10/1/16) Conference was so amazingly wonderful! We got to listen to the priesthood session too and that was really good. And I got to watch it with an investigator and that was really cool. He would always read my notes over my shoulder too so I used that as an advantage :D It was really fun. All the talks were so spiritual.

Sunday (10/2/16) I love conference so much. and President Monson is the best. I love him :D And M. Russell Ballard's talk was so good too!

Monday (10/3/16) It is finally Monday. I finally have time to kill all the bugs in our house. I have killed more bugs this week than I think I have killed in all the rest of my life. I am completely serious. I have killed so many little worms, bugs, spiders, flying things, and who knows what else. I feel like a total murderer. But it must be done. We are already having to put all our food in the fridge, or else bugs seem to some how get them. So it has been interesting. But it has also been really really good :D

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_9/5151870518001?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_3_talk_3/5151323884001?lang=eng

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/media/session_4_talk_3/5151849353001?lang=eng

I got to go. I love yall so much. Yall are amazing and thank you for all your hard work. Please keep this area (Sandhill Mississippi) in your prayers. We really need to find people to teach!
Love,
Sister Anderson

10/10/2016

How has yalls week been? I hope it has been great. I hope yall are turning up! (take that in two ways).This week has been well for me :D
Tuesday (10/4/16) we went to a retirement home. There are a bunch of retirement homes here and there really are not very many people here. So, there is a big percentage of the people here that are in retirement homes. There are some positives about that though, like we can meet and talk to a lot of the town in a very quick time. It has been interesting. One lady wanted us to sing for her and so I went over to her and started to sing her a hymn. I was singing solo... and I told the woman that I was singing to that she could sing along. When I got about half way through the song the woman started to sing with me, I think she felt bad for me singing alone. It was so funny and even another older woman joined in. It was interesting. (And I am going to be singing in front of my whole zone with 2 other girls tomorrow (10/12/16) and I did not sign myself up for that so that will also be interesting. It would be so funny if people in the crowd join in).
Wednesday (10/5/16) we had District Meeting. During District Meeting we all got to teach a little bit of what we learned in General Conference. So I taught about teaching boldly and really testifying and teaching about Jesus Christ. And my companion taught about just loving people and how we as missionaries are just supposed to hang out with people and be their friend. We ended up discussing what we talked about after the meeting and tried to somehow align the two ways of doing missionary work. We have decided that we will talk to people and "hang out" with them for a minute and then I will teach them a gospel lesson. We are still seeing how it works.
Thursday (10/6/16) we had interviews. President Olson told me that the Lord put me in this area and that he had a real wrestle with the Lord in deciding to put me here. President Olson told me that before the end of this transfer (4 more weeks) I have to tell him if we should close the area. So far, we don't have any investigators nor any potential investigators. The interview was really intense, I am not sure how I would decide that missionaries arent needed. It almost seems like the missionaries are needed the most here, but it also seems like they arent really needed either. If yall have any ideas on how to get people interested in the gospel, we would love the help :D People here dont have internet so we cant show videos and most people dont have transportation so we cant have something that isnt at peoples own homes. Ideas are welcome :D
Friday (10/7/16) we weekly planned today. We looked at the branch roster and made plans for every member on the list. We are hoping they can give us their friends as people who might be interested and then if they are the branch's friends then the branch will be really welcoming towards them.
Saturday (10/8/16) was by far the best day this week, other than Sunday of course. On Saturday a member of the branch took us out to a bunch of peoples homes! It was wonderful. People live really far apart so we cant go and see a lot of people because we dont have miles. So it was really cool having a member take us. And everyone knows everyone here because the town is so small so when we wouldnt be able to get into homes of less actives, those members could. Especially because everyone is related here and you cant not let in your relative. It was awesome!
Sunday (10/9/16) It was fast and testimony meeting at church and it was wonderful. A little girl got up and said, "the church is true and it always will be" It was great. I got up and talked about that. The church is true and it always will be. And it always will be because the church is so organized and so it cant drift. I love that we have the bible and book of mormon and that we have prophets to lead and guide us. I love yall!
Love,
Sister Anderson

10/24/2016

SLEEP OVER
On Tuesday (10/18/16) we got to go on exchanges. We got to be with a different missionary for two days. This exchange was different from all my other exchanges because I got to go to the other missionaries area and therefore she was the driver. We drove to a members house and she took us around all day and then when we got back to the members house to drive home, the keys were gone. It was dark by this time and we ended up walking in the dark, looking for the keys. We could not find them at all. we had our phone light and that was it. it was completely black besides our phone light (people dont keep their outside lights on and there arent street lights). Anyways, we had to take a couple steps and then we could see more and more. It made me think about the light of Christ and how we can only see a couple steps and then we have to take those steps and then we can see a couple more.
We ended up not finding the keys though and so we went back to the members house and we were going to have her drive us home. She said she would have to get some gas but the gas station was closed so she wouldnt be able to drive us home. It was really seeming to be a case of unfortunate events until the member said, "I was really scared to sleep by myself because my husband is gone for the night, I would really love if yall could stay the night" it was funny because staying the night at someones house is against the rules but it was the only option and it was something the member really needed. She was young and scared of sleeping alone. She said that God must really love her and she said, "dont worry, God just knows and loves me, your key will show up easily tomorrow morning" sure enough the next morning we got a phone call saying someone found our key. It was a miracle. The key costs like $200 so it was really good that it was found.

BESSY
On Thursday (10/20/16) we went to a lady's house who did not seem interested in us coming back the first time we came. I met her with a different woman and not my companion so when my companion asked if she would get to meet her I wasnt really sure if it was a good idea or not. She was not interested but I felt like we should try again. Second times the charm :P So we went and her husband had just passed away days ago and a couple days after I met them the first time. It was a miracle that we got to see them right at that time. We got to comfort her and teach her about eternal families and we gave her our phone number in case she has anything at all for us to do. We are sad for her loss but we are so happy that we have the plan of salvation and we know that families are forever.

CODY
We got to see Cody on Saturday and it was so good! He was excited to see us because we have only gotten in contact with him once so far. He is excited and his wife was really excited to! It has been really good. We are hoping that his whole family will stay interested.
Well, I got to go. I love yall sooo much. Thank you for everything yall are doing. Keep praying. Keep working. I know hard work pays off. I know that we just need to keep working hard and then miracles will keep having. The scriptures show so many miracles and the scriptures are for our day. They are awesome. I love yall so much.
Love,
Sister Anderson

10/31/2016

Teaching the Mannings and Touchstones
On Tuesday (10/25/16) we got to teach both of our most progressing families! I love days like these where we get to teach people who are really hungry for the gospel. In the morning we got to teach the Mannings, they are an awesome family that have so many questions. When we told them we have a prophet they were confused. They were partially excited and partially scared. We told them it was something they should really pray about and they said they would. They really are starting to like the gospel and now we just need to really help them want to come to church. In the evening we taught the Touchstones, they are a part member family so the parents are members and the kids arent. We ended up going to the park with them and teaching them the plan of salvation through basketball. It turned out well and I think it is a fun way to teach it.

1 Corinthians 15
We taught the Mannings about the plan of salvation on Thursday (10/27/16) and we taught them about the Celestial, Terrestrial, and Telestial Kingdoms. They ate that stuff up. We had to read a couple of the verses in 1 Corinthians 15 twice because they wanted to hear it again. And then their friend came over to their house and the Mannings had us read those verses to their friend. They thought it was the coolest thing and they were surprised that they didn't already believe in that because it is in the Bible.

Katlyn
On Friday (10/28/16) we were going less active hunting and we visited a woman named Reba Brewer. And she is a really cool woman. She let us right in. She had her member brother and her nonmember granddaughter with her. We got to know all of them and Katlyn did not seem interested. So my companion and I were trying to figure out how we could get her interested without being pushy. So we said a prayer and then we asked if we could practice teaching the restoration to them. We have taught the restoration a ton but we just asked if they could give us feed back. Katlyn thought that was a cool idea and because she is not around missionaries much she did not think we were trying to teach her. It worked. Katlyn was taught by the Spirit. She was crying and everything. The Spirit was so strong during that "practice lesson" she did not feel pressured and I think that made her open to the Spirit. She wants to learn more and we are really excited to teach her.

Halloween Party
On Saturday (10/29/16) we had a Halloween party and it was so much fun. A bunch of missionaries from different areas were there and we got to talk with them and we got to talk to so many different people. Also, our branch relief society president bought a nonmember family. We got to talk to her and become friends with her. The sad thing is that she lives outside our area, but the happy thing is that she agreed to meet with the missionaries that are over the area where she lives.

Primary Program
This Sunday (10/30/16) was the primary program. We only have four children in our branch so the primary president had her two nonmember grandchildren come and be a part and she had my companion and I have parts. It was honestly so fun. It reminded me of the good old days!

Little Friend
This morning (10/31/16) I woke up around 3:30am to some racket. It was too loud to be a cockroach so I was not sure what is was. The sound was coming from the garbage can in our bedroom so I turned on the light in the room close to our bedroom and looked inside the can. It was a mouse. Heavenly Father must have known I wanted to do something scary for Halloween. So I grabbed the lid from our kitchen garbage. I then closed the lid onto the garbage can in our room and grabbed it all and took it outside. I walked it to the highway and let it go. It ran off into the woods which were across the highway. It worked out pretty well. All in all, it has been a great Halloween so far :D
I love yall so much! Keep being awesome examples.And I have been loving the Book of Mormon so much! I could read it an infinite amount of times and keep learning from it.

“And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things.”

—1 Nephi 11:17

“For, behold, I have refined thee, I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.”

—1 Nephi 20:10

I love yall!
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

11/6/2016

Years and years ago I had a conversation with a girl. We were probably both in fourth grade and we were discussing our religious beliefs. She said, "We believe in different God's" and I said, "No, we believe in the same God, but we believe different things about Him. And that's okay." That experience has really helped me this last week. I guess because of the political debates and just politics in general, people have been really slamming each other. People will bash each other and say they are voting how God wants them to vote and that everyone else doesn't understand God and is terrible. It is crazy. I had one lady tell me that she hopes my ballot gets lost in the mail. I guess she knows I am from Washington and assumes I am democrat. It is just crazy. People are thinking they are right and that other people must not truly be Christian's it is crazy. We all believe in the same God, we just believe different things about Him, and that is okay.

Halloween (10/31/16)
Today was P-day and so my district all got together at a members house. We hung out there for a little bit and then my companion told me we needed to go to the gas station for a second to pick something up. So we went over to the gas station and then when we got back my entire district sang happy birthday to me and they had a cake and some ice cream. It was legit. Halloween was a great day and we got to see a lot of nonmembers and just talk to them which is usually a good way to get investigators. We are still working on making these nonmembers become investigators. We can't make them investigate the church so all we really got to do is ask them if they want to and then teach them if they do.

I'm An Old Lady (11/1/16)
I had the best birthday ever. I got to see a bunch of branch members and I got to teach a whole lot of lessons. It was really fun being able to share the thing that is most precious to me on my Birthday. I even got to have a frosting fight with my companion and that was super fun.

Funeral (11/2/16)
My companion is going home this transfer so we had a funeral for her at our district meeting. It was pretty funny. We also learned so much at the district meeting! I learned that we have to start by trying something new out, that leads to having a testimony of it if it works which then acting on the testimony leads to conversion and then if we have conversion for long enough and for enough different things and we start to act on our testimony in a second nature type of way, then we will have unshaken faith.
Also, today I got to do family history for one of our investigators. She was so excited about it all. She did some and we connected it with others. I am so glad that the Spirit of Elijah came like was prophesied in the Bible and that people all over the world are doing family history! It really is exciting and I love being able to connect families to more families so that all the peoples temple work can be done.

Finding (11/3/16)
We were at a members house and his daughter was home. The member kind of hates the church and but he likes the missionaries. His daughter came out of her room and came and talked with us. I was not sure how to ask her "the question" because her dad just did not seem interested but that didnt mean she wasnt. I really didn't want to ask her though because the whole situation was awkward. But I knew I would have the Holy Ghost's help if I just opened my moth.So I said, "would you like to learn more about what your dad believes?" (her dad still believes the church is true). And I was scared and my companion was glaring at me and the dad was glaring at me and then the girl said, "sure, that would be good. Just call my dad and we will set something up for next week." It was awesome! I opened my mouth and the Lord did the rest.

Mannings (11/4/16)
We got to teach the Mannings today. I love teaching them because they are so interested in the gospel. They love what we can teach them and they have so many questions that we have the answers to! Also, they are a super cute family and they could be sealed for time and all eternity if they were baptized and that is so cool.

Cleaning (11/5/16)
My companion has been packing and so I've been cleaning the apartment and there is roach droppings everywhere. Beds, bathrooms, freezers, anywhere you can think of. It is a good way to get us to be out for a long time. We don't take breaks in the middle of the day to come home. Haha. We are trying to cast our fishing line at all hours of the day and we are trying to be fishers of men.

Study (11/6/16)
We forgot about daylight savings and so I was doing my studies when I realized I did not get my extra hour of sleep. Instead of being annoyed I was glad that I got an extra hour to study the word of God. I love the Bible and Book of Mormon.

Party (11/7/16)
My companion is heading home so we are having a party for her today. It will hopefully be fun. I love yall so much. Please keep up all yalls great work.
Love,
Sister Anderson

11/14/2016

Happy Fall Yall!

I am so happy to be serving in Sandhill with Sister Alvey. We think of ourselves as AA Energizer Batteries. We just keep going and going and going. But we also both hit our bed really hard at night. It makes me really happy. we have so much fun while we are working. Sister Alvey tells me that she can really feel the Spirit and that she is honestly having fun as a missionary and that makes me so happy. She hasnt been out very long at all so it makes me happy that she can feel the Spirit while having fun.
I have also seen a huge improvement to the area. We talk to everyone and it seems like everyone in Richton and Sandhill knows us and likes us. I am so happy to be serving with Sister Alvey. She is still very new and acts very new in certain things, like spiders still scare her a lot and I think it is funny. I killed a spider with my hands and she thought that was so weird. It was honestly really funny.

We have seen so many miracles just from trying to do exactly what Heavenly Father wants us to do. We are tracting like we are supposed to be and we are seeing so many people. People who are really busy have been giving us their information and accepting return appointments and people have been letting us in and telling us to come back. we have been really blessed from the Lord. We have also been getting so many referrals. it seems like everyone we talk to has about three referrals for us. One woman gave us three and told us to come back after contacting them. It has been really cool to be able to gain peoples trust. We don't just have peoples trust from being missionaries, it is as they see us working hard that they start to trust us.

I am also really learning that loving people is a choice. I chose to love Sister Durtschi and I am choosing to love Sister Alvey and I choose to love everyone I come in contact with. I am learning that it really is a choice. I think it is really cool. I feel like we choose to get to know people and you cant really hate someone if you truly know them and truly know where they are coming from. I think there is a reason that God gave us two ears and only one mouth. We should talk enough to answer questions and then we should listen full heartedly and open minded to their answers.

We have been teaching the Mannings and the Touchstone and the Brewers and the Lanes and they are all families and they are all amazing. They have the desire to learn more about Jesus Christ and they all have amazing fellowshippers. We have been focusing on setting people with baptismal dates. Hopefully by the time yall read this we will have a bunch of people with baptismal dates. But as of right now, we dont have any with dates. Some are still praying about dates though and that is pretty good.
Also, I am really coming to understand what charity is. I keep learning what charity is and it is just something I dont think I will ever fully understand completely. I just feel like I keep learning more and more about it. It really is a choice and then it can become second nature.
Also, words of advice:
Don't go into the woods with small children who wont know the way out unless you enjoy creatures of the woods.
Don't teach a lesson to someone who made a blood oath against the Mormons unless you want to be really scared
Don't eat chicken spaghetti.
Don't pet dogs unless you want them to follow you

I love yall so much! Keep up your great work. I will keep praying for yall. Please pray for me too. I love yall.
Love,
Sister Anderson

ps.
this is a really great music video :D
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-01-001-something-divine-brooke-white?category=mormon-channel-music-videos&lang=eng

11/21/2016

The Spirit has really been helping me this week. I love the Holy Ghost and I am so thankful that I could be baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost because it has been such a blessing.

On Monday (11/14/16) we were not sure what to do with one of the hours we had. We were trying to decide who to see and how we could spend that hour. We wanted to do the best thing we could for that hour so we were really trying to follow the Spirit. I had the strong impression to go to Sister B's house. We had no idea why we needed to go there because she is an active member and didn't seem to need our help spiritually or physically. But we followed the Spirit and went over to her house. We had a fine lesson with her but we still weren't sure why we went over there. After Sister B's lesson we went to a set appointment with a man named Steve. When we got there, out of the blue, he told us that something really bad had happened to Sister B's son. He didn't have to tell us that but he did and that let us know that we had been listening to the Spirit. It made me think about how if Steve hadn't told us that Sister B probably needed our visit we would have never known why the Spirit directed us to her. I feel like that often happens, the Spirit directs us and we often never know why so we should just keep listening to the Spirit and eventually we or others will see the blessing that come from it.
Tuesday was amazing! (11/15/16) We went to a grocery store to see one of the workers named Beth. She was a referral from a member and we wanted to meet her. We weren't sure if we would have to just set up an appointment for a different time or if she would be able to talk with us. She was working but she stopped working to just talk to us about the gospel. It was great because she already realized that we wanted to talk to her about Christ and that's important. We taught her the Restoration of the Gospel and she loved it. The Spirit was so strong. It seems like every time we quote the First Vision though, something comes up and is a big distraction. (Satan knows that the Spirit will testify of truth). This time Satan tried to distract us by having Beth be called on the loud speaker thing in the store. Satan has been using the oldest trick in the book. We told Beth to wait one minute and let us finish the first vision. Beth really felt the Spirit and knew that if that event was true then she really needed to know about it. She then left to see what was needed and the person told her it wasn't anything at all, I guess there was a car accident and someone thought they should tell Beth just in case it was someone she knew. Wow, I am glad we knew Satans trick and kept Beth for one more minute.
Wednesday was awesome!!!! Use every minute! (11/16/16) We have branch council on Wednesday nights so we usually go home right after the meeting. The meeting ended around 8:30pm so if we went straight home we would have had an extra 10 minutes. We decided to try Josi (a potential investigator). She let us right into her home :DDD All we did was help her fold some clothes and we got to know her. It was really good and we were so happy that we got to meet with her :D
Thursday (11/17/16) we had a huge meeting for our zone in the mission. It was an awesome meeting and we are determined to make out Branch a Ward. We have about 20-40 people show up on Sundays so if we can double 40 and make 80 then we could be a ward... right? How many people does it take to be a ward? Anyways, everyone would just have to bring one less active or nonmember into the fold of God and then BAM we would be a ward.... they might have to bring 2 others depending on how many people makes a ward.
Friday (11/18/16) we went to see some members and they weren't home so we tried their neighbors. We had never seen their neighbors but they said "Its the sisters! Come on in!" and then we came in and had dinner with them and shared a lesson. It was so cool that they let us right in. Apparently, they are a part member family. So some of them are members and some are not. It was awesome being able to see them.
Saturday (11/19/16) we had a lesson with Mrs. Lane, an investigator, and we just read from the Book of Mormon with her and sang a song to her. It is amazing how much the Spirit can come from the Book of Mormon.
Sunday (11/20/16) I got to go to church and going to church is always the best. I learned about how important the family is and how much children learn from their parents. Often children seem like they aren't learning anything but they actually are. Investigators are sometimes like that too in the South. They act like they aren't learning from us but I honestly think they are. We taught a man named Jimmy and he was talking about how terrible it would be to have a prophet on the earth, but my companion and I could both tell that he wanted one but had just heard bad things about the Mormons. I am really thankful that we do have modern revelation.
I read in the ensign today and it was so good. I read about how important it is to make out stumbling blocks our stepping stones. And how we can do that by living the simple doctrine that we know and holding onto the simple doctrine tightly and then our stumbling stones of the deeper doctrine can become stepping stones. I have really seen that in my life regarding policies. Holding to doctrine and living it for a time had helped me understand policies.
I love yall so much. Keep up your great work. Yall are amazing children of God. Have an amazing Thanksgiving. Remember all the blessings that yall have.
Love,
Sister Anderson

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-11-23-thanksgiving-daily?category=topics/gratitude&lang=eng&cid=HP_WE_16-11-2016_dPFD_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-A_

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-01-1090-why-do-we-have-prophets?lang=eng

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/mormon-messages/shower-of-heavenly-blessings

11/28/2016

Dear Family,

This week has been wonderful. We have been seeing miracles and we have also been seeing people using their agency to not do the things we have committed them to do. I think that means that we need to get people more excited about keeping commitments by promising them more blessings and being more excited about the gospel. All in all though, things are going great. I am loving the investigators here.

We have been trying to make our branch a ward. There were 17 people at church yesterday and that is counting us and the members who live in Hattiesburg and have the calling to come down here. So there was 11 people who live in the branch boundaries who were at church. So making the branch a ward is kind of a hefty goal. Thankfully we have the Lord on our side. I have been studying Jacob chapter five and this morning a couple things stuck out to me. I love how the Lord will help his servants. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the Holy ghost will be on our side as we are striving to do what they ask. We cannot be doing things out of a desire to please our own pride but we have to be doing things on the Lord's errand. It is wonderful serving in Sandhill and I know that Sister Alvey and I are working hard to make a difference.

After Thanksgiving we have not been wanting to wake up at 6:30 and work out. That has strengthened my testimony of the word of wisdom. We have been working out though and it has been going okay. We are both trying to eat really healthy and that has been good. There are a lot of unhealthy meals that members give us so it seems extra important to eat healthy at our own home.

We have really high hopes for a couple of our investigators, the Mannings, Touchstones, Beth, and BJ. We are so excited and we have some awesome ideas for Christmas time. We are super hopeful and we really want to teach repentance and baptize converts. We are also super excited to use the 25 days til Christmas on Mormon.org with Investigators. Also, we had a baby Christmas tree in our house. It is about a good foot tall and we decorated it with ear rings and necklaces. It has been a blast! #workhardplayhard

Love,

Sister Anderson

https://www.mormon.org/christmas/in-25-ways-over-25-days/jesus-lifted-others-burdens

12/5/2016

There are so many trucks here that carry wood! It is crazy. I guess that is a huge business here because we are always driving behind huge trucks caring huge logs. It is pretty interesting. We are teaching a man who used to be a trucker and he says that being a wood trucker is not fun at all, I feel bad for the people here that have to truck is ALL THE TIME.

Goats (11/29/16)
We went to our investigators house and they werent home. We were a little early so we decided to wait a little bit to see if they were coming. While waiting in their front yard a goat came around their house. It was so funny. We just see a random goat and it walked straight up to me, it was like he knew I used to be a goat whisperer :D We helped him get back into his cage and it was so funny. That is probably about number 924 of things I didn't think I would do as a missionary.

Members (11/30/16)
We had a meeting and an elder told us some statistics. Apparently, statistically, if you ask 4 people to hear more about the gospel from the missionaries, three will say yes. So we asked a member family to write down three people that will say no to their offer. They wrote down those three people and then we told them to ask those people to learn more. Just ask them to get the nos out of the way so that the person after them that might say yes will say yes. It was pretty funny and they said they would do it. It was so cool because we has asked them "who do you know that could use this message" and they couldnt think of people. But they could think of people that would say no. And who knows, one could say yes.

Bible referral (12/1/16)
DECEMBER!!! :D I feel like I get so much more into Christmas as a missionary than I ever did before the mission. We got a bible referral so we went over to give this woman a bible. We walked into the house and right away her son ran up to me and gave me the biggest hug. I have no idea why and the mom was really confused by it too. He then kept giving me all his toys. It made me feel so good and it made me feel like he might recognize me from the Spirit world. I guess we have some work to do for them. We are going to be teaching the whole family and I am excited to get to know them better. They were excited about the restoration and the Book of Mormon

Body
We were watching the Christmas devotional with a man and his daughter and it went really well and the Spirit was so strong. And when we were planning on leaving I figured I would ask them if there was anything we could do for them. Here was the conversation
Him: "yall could help me move the body in my backyard"
Me: "well, we would but I dont want to get my skirt dirty."
Him: "Well, I was just wondering because it is about 800 pounds so it would take a lot of us."
Me: "Wow, that is a very big man."
Him: "what? I am talking about the body of a truck."
Me: *walks away in shame*
I thought he was joking about a body in his backyard. He was being serious though and talking about the body of the bed. He must have thought I was such a sissy when I said, "I don't want to get my skirt dirty."

Here is the part of the devotional that I could get

https://www.lds.org/broadcasts/archive/christmas-devotional/2016/12?lang=eng&cid=HP_SU_4-12-2016_dCN_fEVT_xLIDyL1-B_

2016 First Presidency's Christmas Devotional

www.lds.org

2016 First Presidency's Christmas Devotional

Church
I loved church so much today. The Spirit was so strong. I love the gospel so much. I love having the opportunity to worship together.

If all the sleeping folks will wake up,
And all the lukewarm folks will fire up,
And all the dishonest folks will confess up,
And all the disgruntled folks will sweeten up,
And all the discouraged folks will cheer up,
And all the depressed folks will look up,
And all the estranged folks will make up,
And all the dry bones will shake up,
And all the Christians will stand up,
Then we can have God's paradise upon this earth.

I really like this poem and it makes me think of the greeny fire. I want to always have a strong greeny fire and I never want to be lukewarm. Sometimes my companion says she likes lukewarm water and I always joke that she must not be Jesus because Jesus would spew it out. It is just a joke, but it reminds me to now be lukewarm.

We went on exchanges this week and it was really fun. I love going on exchanges and they went really well this week. Sister Alvey kind of had a hard exchange just because she felt like she didn't learn anything, which was really hard to hear, especially because I feel like I got to learn a lot. I am far from a perfect teacher, but I remember my mission president telling me to become a master teacher. This Sunday, after church, we has a master lesson. It was an amazing lesson, the best I have had in a long time. The person we were teaching is named Carolyn and she was really prepared and I know that the Lord is preparing others and has already prepared others. We just need to be obedient and in tune with the Spirit so we can find them.

I love yall so much!!! Please send me yalls addresses. Just like a simple e-mail with your mailing address would be wonderful. Thank you!!!

Love,
Sister Anderson

12/12/2016

This week has been absolutely wonderful. We gave talks on Christ and Christmas on Sunday. I would love to talk about my week but I feel like I could talk forever about it. So I will give yall the outline to my talk.

Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. We celebrate his birth during the Christmas season. But the only reason we celebrate His birth is because of his life. The prophet Isaiah talks not only about His birth but also His life.

6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

When Christ was born, wise men came to him.
7 Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, inquired of them diligently what time the star appeared.

8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also.

9 When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

11 ¶And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

We often think of the wise men and there is a quote that says, Wise men still follow Him.... But, do we bring gifts?
The wise men brought three different gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
What gifts do we bring?
13

And now abideth faith , hope , charity , these three; but the greatest of these is charity.
We need to give the gift of charity.
I then talked about charity and a couple different instances where Christ had charity.
If so, his faith and hope is vain, for none is acceptable before God, save the meek and lowly in heart; and if a man be meek and lowly in heart, and confesses by the power of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, he must needs have charity; for if he have not charity he is nothing; wherefore...

45And charity suffereth long, and is kind , and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked , thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

46Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—

47But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever ; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

And I talked about what charity really is and that loving people can mean crying with them. I have cried with people as a missionary and it has helped me feel love for them. I am thankful that I can cry for these people because that means that we really love each other and want the very best for each other.

Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

43¶Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour , and hate thine enemy.

44But I say unto you, Love your enemies , bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

And we cant just be nice to the people who are nice to us but we have to be nice to everyone.

They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.

5Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?

6This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.

7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.

8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.

9And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience , went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

10When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

That is one of my favorite scriptures and it really highlights Christ and His charity. He loves everyone. No matter what. And that is exactly how we all need to be. I love this gospel and I love that it teaches us to love everyone. Christ loves everyone, sinner and saint alike. He mourned with those that mourned. He even suffered the atonement for us. He really is the only way.

I then talked about my favorite scripture.
11And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.

12And he will take upon him death , that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their...

13Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.
Jesus Christ either did all this... or He did not. It is our job to find out which one it is. I know that by reading the scriptures and praying that we can find out that Christ really is our Savior. He is either all good, or all bad. There is no happy medium. He couldn't just be a good guy, he is either the Savior or a fraud. I am so happy to have taken the time to find out. It sure was time well spent. I then finished where I started. Talking about all the names Christ has been given.
We too have been given names, mother, father, aunt, child, sibling, child of God. I wish I had realized all these names before coming out on my mission. It shouldn't take a nametag to do missionary work. But I am so glad that I have the nametag and that it has Christ's name on it.
Anyways.... I feel like this has been a unique e-mail. But... this week has been amazing. The Spirit has been so strong. We have three people that really want to be baptized and we are so excited for them. Everything is going really good. I am excited to not be transferred. I am loving this area. We will be skyping at 7pm Christmas night :D
Have a great week. Thank you for all you do. I love yall more than I show (sorry about that) Love you!
Love,
Sister Anderson

12/19/2016

Merry Christmas!
I hope yall are having a wonderful Christmas season. I am loving being a missionary for Christmas. So many people are wanting to hear about Christ during the Christmas season, it is so great!
Everything is going well. Sister Alvey and I are getting along well and working hard. We have seven people with baptismal dates and we now just need to get them baptized. We also need to keep working with the part member families. It seems like the part member families are platinum investigators. It has honestly seemed that way since the first baptism, she was in a part member family. I am just really excited to keep working with these part member families. We had a lesson a couple days ago and we were teaching two boys in their twenties and their uncle was there who is a less active member. The member kept saying that he wished he has taught these boys the truth. It was really cool. We are really excited to continue teaching them. Also, the Touchstones and Savanna are part member families and they are all doing amazing. Both Destenee and Leland Touchstone are getting ready to be baptized and Savanna wants to be baptized and we just need to keep helping her keep commitments. I am really excited for this area. Everything is going really great and I am so excited for this Christmas, it seems like a lot of people have told us that they will come to church for Christmas, I love being in the south because they celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas. I am fine with people just enjoying their time with their family for Christmas. I am fine with people writing xmas... but, it makes it easier to get people to come to church on Christmas when they believe Christ is the reason for the season, so that is really cool here. It is so different than from Washington. Neither is better than the other, it is just different.
I really hope that yall have a wonderful Christmas. I love yall so much and I hope things are going really great over there. Keep working hard and playing hard :D Thank you so much for the support that comes from yall, you don't realize how much it helps me, thank you so much!
Love,
Sister Anderson

12/19/2016

Dear Family,
This week has been amazing. Our numbers were not great this week but we are seeing a huge change in our investigators. There is nothing better than getting to see the change the Atonement brings. I was reading in Preach My Gospel this morning and it talked about how when we understand the Atonement better, we will become more enthusiastic missionaries about teaching the Atonement. I am excited about that and really believe that to be true.
Also, this morning I read an amazing scripture about looking beyond the mark. Trying to understand things without taking the gospel line upon line and precept upon precept.

Jacob 4
14 But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked‍ people; and they despised‍ the words of plainness, and killed‍ the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness‍ came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot‍ understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.

15 And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling‍ of the Jews‍ they will reject‍ the stone‍ upon which they might build and have safe foundation.

We have the gospel and we have a strong foundation... but sometimes we try to get too much and then we end up hurting ourselves. But God lets us do that and He will sometimes give us enough so we can look past the mark, but it will hurt us. Why would he let us hurt ourselves? It reminds me of pole vaulting. Sometimes my couch would let me do a higher height then she knew I could handle, sometimes that would make me hurt myself but she would let me because we have free agency and it taught me. When I would try something to hard and get hurt, it would make me do one of two things, walk away from pole vaulting completely, or make me realize I need to take is line upon line precept upon precept and always rely on the little things that I have a testimony of.

This week we have been teaching the simple truths and testifying of them and helping people know the importance of the basics. It has been really good and the Spirit has been so strong. I know that the Spirit testifies of truth. I love yall. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
Love,
Sister Anderson

1/3/2017

Weather
The weather has been crazy here! There has been a whole lot of rain and thunder and lighting and even tornados! It has been crazy but kind of fun. We were walking because there wasn't too much rain and we ended up going to Mrs. Lane's home (a woman who loves the gospel and loves everything we have been teaching her). As soon as we got under her porch it started down poring. We had not even knocked yet when it started raining so much that we probably would have been breaking the no swimming rule if we had been out in it. We were so happy that she let us in! We got to read from the Book of Mormon with her and it was all going good. Then in the middle of the lesson we simultaneously see a flash of light and hear a BOOM! I literally thought I was dead for that millisecond. Thankfully, none of us were harmed. We do not know where the lightning hit but it seemed like it was on us. We all jumped. I'm surprised I don't have a bruise on my head from the ceiling! I was so scared. After that, I realized we would need to walk back to our car. I'm not sure if I was more scared of getting struck by lightning or if I was more scared that my scriptures would get wet, but either way, after that lesson and we stepped outside I was scared of the rain. We had to make one phone call so we were on the phone outside for about 3 minutes. In those three minutes, the rain cleared. It was amazing. We walked very quickly to our car and ended up not getting to wet. It was actually pretty cool. I think people realized how important the Lord's message is. Also, we say lighting inside a tornado. It looked far away and we have only heard of one lady being hurt by it, so it wasn't too bad. It did look pretty intense though,

Word of Wisdom
We have been teaching the Word of Wisdom to people and that is usually a lesson people do not enjoy. The people this week have really enjoyed it. It has made sense to them! The Spirit has been working in them and it has been wonderful! Our two most progressing investigators, Savanna and Destenee, totally understand that there is a prophet and that we should be excited about it and that we are basically getting on Noah's ark as we follow the prophet, we are being kept safe in this crazy world.

Trish
We went to do service at a thrift store and we ended up meeting this awesome woman named Trish! She is great. We asked her to read from the Book of Mormon and she was so excited to do that. We talked about how it is a record from the American people and she totally agrees that God loves all His children and he would come to anyone on the earth that needed to hear from Him.

Car Crash
We were inside a store doing service when customers walked in, we started talking to them and enjoyed getting to know them a little. They ended up leaving while we were inside and a couple minutes later we hear one of the workers yell, "they hit that car! they hit your car!" and then we run outside. These people had hit our car and were driving off as fast as they could. That worker must have been wearing his running shoes because he ran so fast after them and stopped them. They ended up coming back and we had to file a report. I wasn't mad that they hit our car, they probably didn't see it. I was frustrated that they drove off as fast as they could. I ma glad though that the worker was looking out for us and I am glad he could run really fast.

New Year
On New Years day we were both feeling a little under the weather. We just weren't pumped for the work. We decided to see Marc, a potential investigator, and he got us so pumped. He understood the importance of prayer and acting on those prayers and he loved the idea of coming to church and reading the scriptures. The church is true! I am so glad we went out and saw Marc.

Church
Savanna came to church, she was really scared that she wouldn't "look the part" and when she was there someone asked her if she was a new missionary! It was perfect! You don't have to look a certain way. Everyone is welcome to church! :D I really do love the gospel. I love the Book of Mormon. I finished the New Testament today and I know that it is true. I know that the people in the scriptures aren't perfect, they don't say they are, but that we can come nearer to God by reading the scriptures. I know that as we read and pray and ponder the scriptures, they do become delicious. I was sad when I finished it because I wanted it to continue, but then again, we have modern revelation so it really never ends and I love that.

Thank you for everything. Thank you for yalls amazing examples to me. I love yall.
Love,
Sister Anderson

1/9/2017

Dear Family And Friends,

It is often very hot in Mississippi. Everyday I have been here has been hot, at least hot in the middle of the day. But.... Saturday was unlike all the rest of the days. Saturday.... was very cold. On Saturday we went to the church and decided to tract around the church building. We went tracting for about thirty minutes and then we needed to get back to the church because we had a baptismal interview. We got back in the car and realized the keys were inside the car. Instead of freaking out because it was cold and the keys even to the church were in the car, we calmly walked over to the Dispatch station and asked them to help. They tried to help but couldnt do it. So we were outside for about 20 minutes and then they got called for an emergency and we were outside alone in the freezing cold and our phones dont work. We kept trying to use the tools they gave us but it wasnt really working. We were still trying to break into our car when our District leader and the baptismal candidate came driving up. We had to explain to them that we couldnt get into the church. We finally ended up getting the fire chief to call someone and they came and opened our car door. We ended up waiting outside for over an hour though and it was probably 13 degrees. It was hilarious! Destenee had her interview and is ready to be baptized. She is so excited and I am realizing that the baptismal interviews are more for the missionaries than for the person being baptized. The questions are making sure that us missionaries have taught our investigators everything they need to know about the gospel before they jump in. It wouldnt be fair to baptize someone without them knowing the things they are promising. I really love the gospel so much. I love seeing people change for the better. I love seeing peoples eyes light up when they recognize the spirit and when they see how much hope the gospel and grace gives to us. And how much repentance blesses our lives!

This whole week has been great. Savanna and Leland are getting really excited about their baptisms and I know that that is just the first step, but it is a big step and I am excited for them. Also, I am really excited about Marc. He has been reading and praying and he loves what we have been teaching him. I just want to help these people as much as I can. If yall have any tips on how to best help investigators gain a testimony of their own and not just rely on others testimonies, please send them my way. I love yall so much and thank you so much for all the prayers. I Know that they are helping this area.

Love,

Sister Anderson

1/17/2017

This week has been great. We have had some crazy encounters but all in all it has been a really wonderful week. Destenee was baptized on Saturday and then received the Holy Ghost on Sunday. The Spirit was so strong and I am so thankful that I can be witnessing the power of the Atonement in peoples lives. The Atonement means so much and I am so thankful for everything that Christ has done for each and every one of us. I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.

Here is a quote by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Recently, I watched a group of people practicing the art of archery. Just by watching, it became clear to me that if you really want to master the bow and arrow, it takes time and practice.

I don’t think you can develop a reputation for being an accomplished archer by shooting at an empty wall and then drawing targets around the arrows. You have to learn the art of finding the target and hitting the bull’s-eye.

Painting Targets

Shooting first and drawing the target afterward may seem a little absurd, but sometimes we ourselves mirror that very behavior in other circumstances of life.

As Church members, we sometimes have a tendency to attach ourselves to gospel programs, issues, and even doctrines that seem interesting, important, or enjoyable to us. We are tempted to draw targets around them, making us believe we are aiming at the center of the gospel.

This is easy to do.

Throughout the ages we have received excellent counsel and inspiration from prophets of God. We also receive direction and clarification from various publications, handbooks, and manuals of the Church. How easy it would be to select our favorite gospel topic, draw a bull’s-eye around it, and then make a case that we have identified the center of the gospel.

The Savior Clarifies

This is not a problem unique to our day. Anciently, religious leaders spent a great deal of time cataloging, ranking, and debating which of the hundreds of commandments was the most important.

One day a group of religious scholars attempted to draw the Savior into the controversy. They asked Him to weigh in on an issue upon which few could agree.

“Master,” they asked Him, “which is the great commandment in the law?”

We all know how Jesus answered: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

“This is the first and great commandment.

“And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

“On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”1

Please note the last sentence: “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

The Savior not only showed us the target, but He also identified the bull’s-eye.

Keep working hard. I know the work can be rough, but dont put your trust in man, put your trust in God. He wont lead you astray. I love yall.
Love,
Sister Anderson

1/23/2017

This is what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is all about. Lifting each other and in the process, being lifted ourselves.
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-05-003-lift?lang=eng

Lift

www.lds.org

Jesus Christ set the ultimate example of selfless service. In this original short film,we meet people discovering the power of living that simple principle.

I know that when we lose ourselves in the service of God that we find ourselves, and somehow, we find ourselves as a better version of ourselves. I know that Jesus is the Christ. I know that God loves each and every one of His children. I love the people here in Mississippi. I truly feel like a shepherd trying to help my sheep in this area. I don't feel that way because I am powerful or because I am better than these people, but I feel that way because I truly love these people and I want to help them. I love when people already have testimonies but they are just scared to live their testimonies and I get to just help them on their path. We are born with a bit of a testimony, we know good from bad, so I love just pointing out the truths that the people here already know and then helping them on their way to follow Christ. That is what the gospel is about, helping each other in all aspects of their lives.

We had a huge storm and I am excited to help with clean up and I am also excited to help share the gospel to those who are ready, if the people in need of clean up and the people ready for the gospel, are the same people then great, but if they are different people than that is great too. I don't know. I feel like I am rambling. I just feel kind of like a hippy, but it really doesn't matter about the numbers. Someone asked me the other day how many people I have baptized and I cant stand that question. I just love this gospel and I love love. I just want world peace. Let's coexist.

I love yall!

Love,

Sister Anderson

2/7/2017

I haven't really written an e-mail by my days in a long time... So don't feel like yall have to read everything that I write. This was just on request so I hope it isn't boring. I feel like a ton of awesome stuff has happened and I just don't know how to show my excitement for it all in an e-mail, but I will do my best. Some of this might be repeats from my last e-mails but I don't think there will be too much of that. With all that being said, I will start with a couple weeks ago.
1/7/17 (Saturday)
Destenee had her baptismal interview today and she was so excited about it. She is a super smart girl and she is such a sweet heart. She is only ten years old but her family is all coming to church and they all really have been loving the gospel. It has been really neat to see the gospel really bless their family.
Before the interview, we went outside to tract and our keys got stuck in the car and that was one of the very few cold days in Mississippi, it was so funny! Freezing! But funny. It always seems like something bad happens when we try to do the right. I guess God knows how much we can take. We ended up getting the keys to our car and to the church building and we had the interview. She is eligible for baptism and her date is the 14th of February.
1/8/17 (Sunday)
Today we didn't really have anything planned and it was just one of those days for some reason. We weren't sure what was in the air but it was just a weird day. We decided to try to see Marc, investigator that we have taught a couple times and he used to be taught by past sister missionaries) and it ended up being an awesome lesson! We committed him to be baptized and he seems super excited about it. The spirit was so strong in the lesson and it really lifted our spirits.
1/9/17 (Monday)
We received a referral named Stacy by a potential investigator. We went to see Stacy but it was really hard to find. In Mississippi, people tell us directions like "take the first dirt road until you hit a red brick house then take the third or fourth rocky road...." So it is hard to ask for people friends. Especially because I know directions like my dad knows directions (love you dad). Anyways, my companion knows directions like my mom knows directions so we find the house and we only had to knock on a couple doors asking for where she lives. We finally get there and she is not interested at all. She seemed pretty upset that we even knocked on her door. But she did give us a referral for another Stacy that lives down the road (possibly the Stacy we were actually looking for, which would be pretty funny) but we find this new Stacy and they start telling us about these angelic trumpets that were heard in Israel recently and they were showing us a video of it. We told them that our message was even cooler than that and we taught them the restoration and first vision. They loved it!
Me: When I quote this to you, think about how you feel.
Me: I saw a pillar of light, exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me, when the light rested upon me I saw two personages whose brightness and glory defy all description standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me calling me by name and said pointing to the other, this is my beloved son, hear him."
Stacy's husband: "WHAT DID HE SAY!!!"
It was awesome! People usually say, "Oh that is nice" or "wow, I wish I had that experience." but he just wanted to know what Jesus said. I feel like that is what we should all want to know. He wasn't satisfied with it just being a once in a life time experience but he knew there needed to be more. It really was a life changing, world changing experience.
1/10/17 (Tuesday)
We had interviews today with President Olson, those are always really nice. I love having someone who really cares about me and my missionary work. I also had a really strong feeling that we needed to go see a certain investigator. And it was amazing because we went and saw her and then a couple days later she told us why exactly we needed to go and see her. It was truly amazing,
1/11/17 (Wednesday)
We were teaching a young man who was super hyper. He was basically bouncing off the walls and running around and rolling on the floor. It was really interesting and it was hard to have the lesson. We did however teach him and we were asking him questions and he was understanding what we were saying. But when we got to the first vision, he just stopped. He stopped bouncing off the walls and just listened. It was the coolest thing. We were shocked that he stopped playing even for just a few minutes. He was completely enthralled in the lesson. Then a couple days later he had his friend hear the lesson and he told her the experience of the first vision. It was so neat hearing him teach what we had taught him and he was so excited about teaching it to his friend too. It was so precious!
1/12/17 (Thursday)
We saved a cow!!!! :D There was a random cow following us around while we were knocking on doors and it was so funny! It reminded me of home having to save goats and random other animals. It was legit. We ended up meeting a good number of people too because we had to ask people about the cow. It was a pretty good door approach, "hey! We are missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, is this your cow?" It was great! The cow loved me so much and I named it Betsy.
1/13/17 (Friday)
We went and taught Destenee. It was in preparation for her baptism tomorrow! She is so excited and it was great getting to see her talk about the Spirit. She said that she is most excited about receiving the Spirit. I am so excited for her to be baptized tomorrow and receive the Spirit on Sunday.
1/14/17
Destenee was baptized today :D Her great grandfather baptized her and it was so special and she was so excited about it all. She was so ready and her family was all there to support her. We have started talking to her about the temple and she knows that is her end goal for her family. It really is my favorite part of missionary work, not seeing baptisms, but seeing change. Seeing people come closer to Christ by following Him.
Savanna had her baptismal interview today and she will be baptized on the 21st of this month. She is so amazing and I know that she gospel has been blessing her life. I have really seen a change in her because of the hope that the gospel brings.
1/15/17 (Sunday)
Destenee received the Holy Ghost today. Savanna and her dad were at church and Marc was at church. It has really been a wonderful day. It was really cool too because Savanna and Marc didn't know each other until today and they were already having a really good time together. We were all laughing and smiling and joking around. I love when church is just a safe place to be ourselves.
1/16/17 (Monday)
We got in trouble today.... It was really funny. Its funny when people think they can tell the missionaries what they can and cannot do or what they should or shouldn't do. It was fine though. I feel like I have gotten a thicker skin while being a missionary and I don't mind so much getting yelled at, even when we didn't do anything wrong.
1/17/17 (Tuesday)
The man who yelled at us apologized! Not going to lie, I feel like the eight letters in "I am sorry" are just as important as the eight letters in "I love you" It made me feel really good.
1/18/17 (Wednesday)
We had a lesson with Billie Jean today. She is one of our most progressing investigators and she really doesn't like to read but she will read the Book of Mormon because she knows it is important. I think that is really cool. I love when people are willing to try things and are willing to get out of their comfort zone. The miracles happen outside our comfort zones!
1/19/17 (Thursday)
We went to zone conference and while we were there we were told that we would get to hear from Elder Holland in the next week or two! We were SOO excited. He is a really good speaker and I know that he is an apostle of the Lord.
1/20/17 (Friday)
I tried gizzards! Have yall ever eaten those? I think today was my first time trying to eat them and they were really interesting to say the least.
1/21/17 (Saturday)
There was a terrible storm in the morning but we still had Savanna's baptism today! There was a storm in the morning and at night but right in the middle of the day there was no storm. It was crazy. Heavenly Father knew we needed to not have a tornado when Savanna was to be baptized. It was such a neat experience and one of the ward members baptized her and that was really cool to see. I have seen a huge change in her. Not from bad to good but from good to even better. I just love the love we can feel from the gospel.
Also, we had to sleep on the floor so we could sleep in a hall way just incase things started to fall or get sucked into a tornado, anyways. We slept on the floor.
1/22/17 (Sunday)
Today was amazing because Savanna received the Holy Ghost. She said it was a really cool feeling. I like asking people how they feel because I honestly don't really remember how I felt the day I received the Holy Ghost. That was a long time ago. But I do having the Holy Ghost with me. I know that I would be a terrible missionary without the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Also, I was in a lot of pain and I thought it was just from sleeping on the floor.
1/23/17 (Monday)
We went and saw Savanna today and she showed me this really cool coexist symbol lettering. It is really cool. Yall should look it up. I wish the world did better at coexisting. I guess the best place for me to start would be with me. That is something I will keep working on. I definitely have realized that we can get more done when we are working together. Down here we have worked with the Holiness church, the Baptist church, and the Jewish church. I know that we can get more done together than apart. It is sad when a couple of churches haven't let us come help them because we are missionaries. I feel like that has happened a lot but its also happened a lot that we have been able to come together and help the community together and that has been awesome.
1/24/17 (Tuesday)
We had a lesson with Kayla and Mitchell and this was our first lesson with them but it went really well. They have been looking for a church but they haven't been able to find the right one. We are super hopefully with them and they ended up feeding us king cake. One thing about the south is that if someone offers you food you cannot decline. I am so serious it is crazy. We have said no thank you and that we aren't hungry but they literally get MAD if we don't take and eat their food. They just will not take no for an answer when we try to decline their food. It is really funny. But king cake is pretty delicious and is super common here around Mardi Gras.
1/25/17 (Wednesday)
We started the new member lessons with Savanna. We had her teach us the restoration of the gospel. It was pretty fun.
I was still in a lot of pain from sleeping on the floor and I asked my companion, Sister Alvey, if she stepped on me while I was asleep on the floor. She didn't.
1/26/17 (Thursday)
I went to the doctor today because I have been still in a lot of pain. I thought it was from sleeping on the floor or something. I just wasn't sure. But we went to the doctor and they did some blood work and looked over my body and it turned out that I have a cyst, so we are figuring that all out still, but it isn't bad. I did have to get a shot and I am taking some medicine.
1/27/17 (Friday)
I had to go back to the doctor and they told me I wasn't any better and that I would need to come back and they gave me another shot.
1/28/17 (Saturday)
I saw Elder Holland today! It was amazing! I wish I had time to tell yall everything he taught. I wish I could just scan my notes. But he told me that he interviewed us when he shook our hand and that was really cool. He also said, "its hard because its supposed to be." I found that really interesting. I am glad that missionary work is hard.
1/29/17
Church was amazing as always.
1/30/17 (Monday)
I found out that I am getting transferred. I also found out that I am going to become a Sister Training Leader. That basically means I will go on exchanges with other sisters and will teach at some of the missionary meetings.
1/31/17 (Tuesday)
I got to my new area and there was nothing really going on... I mean, there is some people that we are teaching but not really very much. I did however invite someone to be baptized today. The girl wants to be baptized and I think she will be, she just needs to get more determined about it and that will be something that is her choice.
This is my new address
9330 Baird road number 4222 Shreveport Louisiana 71118
If it seems familiar at all, it is because I used to live here! I am back in my second area! I was only in this area for 3 weeks or so! It is interesting to be back, I was here almost 11 months ago! I love being back though!
2/1/17 (Wed)
First District Meeting in my new district. I am loving the district I am in and the district I am in is very different from the one I used to be in when I was here. We even meet in a different church building, but that is a good thing because the church we meet at now is closer.
Also, did I tell you that I got transferred to a car share area! Yeah! So we will have the car every other week and its summer! hahaha! Oh boy this is going to be fun. It is so hot here and its only February.
2/2/17 (Thu)
A woman hard core dropped us today and I didnt even know the woman and yet it was still sad. I am glad it is sad though because that means it is important to me. I am thankful for agency though and I am glad she can have whatever believes she wants.
2/3/17 (Fri)
I went to my first Mission Leadership Council. It was pretty interesting and we learned about what we are to teach to our different zones. We learned about establishing the church.
2/4/17 (Sat)
We tracted a lot today. We are trying to find people to teach.
2/5/17 (Sun)
Church was great today! We had someone bring their friend to church and so we are going to try to jump at that opportunity. I hope we can start teaching more people.
2/6/17 (Mon)
We tracted a lot today and I am so glad that we did. I was kind of feeling like I was going to too many meeting and not meeting enough people. I really needed tracting time. It was funny because my companion kept saying she needed pday and that today was going to be rough but it was actually one of my favorite days in this new area.
2/7/17 (Tuesday and today)
Today is going to be great! I love yall so much! I really care about each and every one of you and I hope yall know that! I hope yall have a wonderful day and week and month and year and everything else! Party hard and work even harder.
Love,
Sister Anderson

2/13/2017

Tuesday (2/7/17)
We had a super fun Pday. We balled so hard it hurt. Sister Marble, my companion, and I were playing as if our lives depended on it. It was just such a blast and her and I were always on different teams and we just went at each other, it was the best. And there was so much trash talk towards each other it was hilarious. Especially because we love each other so the worst thing we could call each other is a muggle or a cottenheadedninnymuggen. It was a blast.
On Tuesday night we went to bed at 10:30pm and then on Wednesday morning I woke up at 1:30am. Long story short, I was vomiting all night/morning so I didn't sleep. We then had to teach Zone Training Meeting. It was really funny but I don't think people could tell that I was sleep deprived and I also had dehydration symptoms. It was so funny because Sister Marble got hurt while playing ball so we were strolling around the church all cool with her limping and me clutching my stomach. SO FUNNY! I wish yall could have seen it. We put on our cutest dresses and just acted like we were fine.
After the meeting we went on exchanges with the Bossier Sisters, sisters that live decently close to us. I didn't think I would get them sick because I thought it was food poisoning that I had, but by the end of the exchange, Sister Marble was sick so we were scared that it was contagious. But neither of them are sick so far :D
Also, the exchange went really well but it was really funny. On the exchange I was with Sister Doxey and she is getting trained so I felt like I needed to do a good job because this was only her second exchange ever. Little did I know that we would get the police called on us. We went to a lesson and the spirit was strong and I guess I must have been getting to arrogant because when we got to our car we weren't alone. We parked near the woman's house where we had the lesson and I guess it was too close to another person's house and they called the police on us. Therefore, we had to wait for the police to come. But we ended up being able to talk to the man that called the police on us, Aaron, and he ended up being a really cool guy. We started teaching him about the gospel but then the police came. We ended up not getting in trouble at all and we then went home.
It was funny having the police get called on us on Wednesday because that was the second time in two days, they were called on us on Tuesday because someone didn't want us to tract.
On Thursday (9/9/17) we finished the exchange and Sister Marble and I talked about how it all went. They also had an encounter with 911! They were tracting and one man opened the door and told them he needed to get help. He needed them to call an ambulance for him, so they did that but then he invited them in. Thankfully we have rules so they couldn't go inside a single man's home, turns out he is a sex offender and so obedience brings blessings.
On Friday we went and had a lesson with a part member family named the Vandines. They are so sweet and they have a super adorable little girl. It was fun being able to talk to them and they came to church on Sunday too! :D
Then on Saturday we walked and walked and walked..... and ..... walked :D
It turned out pretty fun and we talked and got to know each other a lot better. We had a good lesson with a man named Gary and he really is a good guy, we just know that the gospel could bring him even more happiness. We are excited for when it is our turn with the car because walking is fun but also not as sufficient as biking.
Sunday was amazing! Church was amazing and tracting was really good. We met a man named Jose and he was so open and he asked for a Book of Mormon. I love when people ask us for a Book of Mormon. That really makes my day :D We also had a member of the ward bring us supper so that was delicious! All in all, it has been a really good day. And we are working towards making the members like us :D Slowly but surely, they are coming to like the missionaries.

IMG_7047.JPG

I love this so much and so I wanted to send it yalls way because it is really cool.
One of the most beautiful sentiments in the world is to believe in God. But the other half of that sentiment is that God believes in us. There could be fewer honors greater than being trusted by God. And there could be nothing more tragic than if God does not trust us. We know that He dearly loves us and wants us to return to Him, but if we lack the integrity of character that enables Him to trust us, how could there be a greater disappointment?
So many in the world are not trustworthy. Many have to be forced to return what has been loaned or borrowed, some will misinterpret good faith attempts to help, others will misquote information given them or gossip about someone behind their back, betray, double-cross, give excuses, alibis, untruths and half-hearted support. We find many who express excitement about our message and then lack the courage to show up again or the courtesy to candidly say this is not for them.
Someone offered a compelling prayer when they said:
Great God, I ask thee for no meaner pelf
Than that I may not disappoint myself.
At least two people know all that we think, do and say -- God and ourselves. We can fool most others, but we can't hide from our own conscience or the unrepented actions that may one day condemn us. It all adds up, and one day we will stand before God and give an accounting. The cost of resolving our mistakes now may seem high but it pales in comparison to the cost that will be exacted in a future day.
Amulek said it well when he advised: "Now is the time and the day of your salvation; if ye will repent and harden not your hearts, immediately shall the great plan of redemption be brought about unto you." Alma 34:31. The word "immediately" is compelling. Now is the time to clear up any logjams from our past or present that hinder us from enjoying the full trust of God.
Alma understands how to be trusted with these words: "And also trust no one to be your teacher nor your minister, except he be a man of God, walking in his ways and keeping his commandments." Mosiah 23:14
May each of us act so that we are entitled to God's full trust in our labors. If something needs to be resolved, now is the time to take care of it.

I love yall so much!!!!!!! Keep being the studs yall are!
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

2/21/2017

Tuesday (2/14/17)
Valentine's Day. Last year on this day I had a really bad day. I guess I just thought Valentine's day as a missionary was not very fun. But this year was the opposite. This year I actually understand love and charity and there is no where I would have rather been. We were on exchanges so I was with Sister May instead of Sister Marble. We had a lot of fun together and in the morning we went tracting. We found some people that told us to come back a different day but it was still fun to tract. After that we went biking in the rain to find some former investigators. It was pretty cold and it was pouring down rain. It ended up being fun though and we talked to people who were outside who we wouldn't have been able to talk to if we had been in a car.
TIP: Don't bike in a puddle if you can't see the bottom of the puddle
I learned this the hard way. I almost biffed it on my bike but I caught myself before I completely fell over. Thankfully, the Lord was watching out for me and there were no cars on the busy road.
We also heart attacked people's doors and wrote scriptures on the hearts. That was really fun.

Wednesday (2/15/17)
We had a really awesome district meeting where we learned how to tell investigators our purpose as missionaries. We have been able to use that a lot this week and that has been really good. We have been focusing on not just doing missionary things but actually teaching repentance and baptizing converts. That makes me think of how Christians need to not just do Christian things but they need to actually love everyone and do the things that would be effective.

Thursday (2/16/17)
We had an awesome lesson with a girl named Sharita. She is really sweet and it was funny. She seemed like she didn't really care about what we were saying. Then by the end of the lesson she seemed excited and she seemed like she wanted to know more. It is really cool to see how the gospel, even just one message, can get us excited.

Friday (2/17/17)
We went to the William's home (members of the church) and Tiffany Williams opened her mission call. She is going to Atlanta Georgia! I am so excited for her! I love missionary work and I almost started crying because it just made me think about how excited I was to open my call. I am so excited for her!

Saturday (2/18/17)
Leland Touchstone was baptized! He is such an amazing young man and he is so excited and I am so excited for him! We are so excited for their whole family. We are so excited for them to be able to enter the temple and be sealed as a family for all time and eternity.
We also saw Karrington today, recent convert, and we talked to him about how amazing the scriptures are. We have a map and we sometimes don't even look at the map because we are so stubborn and think we know the way, but really, the map is what knows the way.

Sunday (2/18/17)
Church was amazing as always. We sang two sacrament songs in sacrament meeting and to me that made it extra special.

Monday (2/19/17)
It has been one of the best days we have had here. We talked to so many different people and it was great! We talked to this amazing man named Jonathon and he brought out a piece of paper. usually that means they have anti and we are going to end up just bearing our testimonies and leaving. Instead, it was questions! We love questions! We ended up having an amazing lesson and discussion with him. He asked for a book of Mormon and that is another great question.

All in all, it has been a splendid week. I love you all so much.
Love,
Sister Anderson

2/27/2017

Wednesday (2/22/17)
There are two sets of missionaries in our ward. There is us and there is a set of elders. The elders ended up bringing us over some food from a member. Guess what it was? they handed us a container of soup and a box and then they drove away. Guess what it was!!! It was a dead rooster! It was so gross but funny!

Monday (2/27/17)
Sister Marble, my companion, cut my hair. It was just a little trim but it was pretty funny. This is the second time I have trimmed it on my mission. I just want to make sure it isn't distracting while we are teaching.

Everything here is going well. We are still in the finding stages of the work and we have been trying to get people excited about the gospel.
I love yall so much!
Love,
Sister Anderson

3/6/2017

This week has been great. Sister Marble and I have been talking a lot about demanding improvement from ourselves. I truly believe that everyone can improve. No matter how many times I hear, "I am saved, I am set." I will keep believing that we can improve. I also love that we don't demand perfection from ourselves. We can demand exact obedience and wholeness, but we really need to demand improvement more than anything.
This week has been alright, it has been hard not having anyone in sacrament meeting for a bit. I know that we can see people there though soon. We have seen Karrington and Emily at church and that has been really good. I remember working with them before they were baptized so I love seeing them now at church.
We did not go on an exchange this week but we are going to go on an exchange with the Shreveport Sisters this week. We are pretty excited about it. I remember some of my first exchanges where I felt like I was being judged harshly or condemned by the Sister Training Leaders. Not because of the Sisters but because of my own pride I assume. We are going to work hard with them and I am really excited.
We also had a really good sacrament meeting on Sunday. I loved being able to partake of the sacrament and feel the Spirit. If we believed in speaking in tongues, I would have been doing that this fast and testimony meeting. Obviously we don't believe in speaking in tongues in that way, but I was just feeling the Spirit so strong I wanted to burst.
This week has been really great though, Sister Marble and I had a really good companionship inventory on Friday and that helped us. We both really loved our last companions and we are learning to love each others' corks. We make each other laugh a lot and I think that is a really good thing.
We are also working with the ward to have a volleyball night. We are excited about that and we have a couple investigators that will hopefully be there (Hope and Ryan, Jose, and Sunny)
Sunny is a young woman we haven't taught an official lesson to but she is a part of a part member family and we are hoping to activate her grandma and baptize her and her dad.
We have also had a couple really neat experiences with the Spirit. We have followed some odd promptings and it has led to a lot of blessings. When you follow the Spirit, you feel the Spirit. It was a little thing but it built my testimony. I felt like we needed to grab a restoration DVD for some reason and then we ended up watching it with a less active and it brought him to tears. I feel like that was a testimony builder for him, but truly more for me. I love this work and I love the Stonewall ward and area. I am super excited to see improvement. If we are demanding improvement of ourselves, we will see it in our area and the sisters of the zone.
We finished the "Increase of Heart" project we did with the sisters in the zone for Valentines day and they seemed to really like it and it seemed to make them use their area book more and to use How To Begin Teaching more. Now we just need to do those things more. Haha. But really though.
But we have been talking to everyone more and that has been helping us a lot. Southern people can talk so if we can get them talking, we can usually move the conversation into a gospel related topic. That has been going well.
I hope everything is going really well for yall. I love yall so much!!!
Love,
Sister Anderson

3/13/2017

In church yesterday we learned about the importance of returning and reporting and it talks so much about it in Preach My Gospel and I love that as missionaries we get to do that everyday to our loving Heavenly Father. It amazes me as to how much revelation we can receive just by telling our Heavenly Father about the day we have had and about how we want to improve. I feel like when we say, "I tried my best today but I will try better tomorrow." then Heavenly Father blesses us with the knowledge of how to improve the day tomorrow and how to help the investigators so much more. I do not know everything our investigators are going through but Heavenly Father knows and honestly there would be no reason for Him to tell me unless I ask him and tell Him that I am asking with real intent to act on what ever He says. My mission just continues to amaze me honestly. I learn more than I teach on exchanges. I pray fervently for the sisters and I love them so much and I want to teach them everything and I want to be a perfect example for them, but they still are the ones teaching me.This week we went on two exchanges and I am getting transferred so I will have a new companion. I feel like I am having four different companions in the matter of a couple days. It is great though because each person teaches the gospel differently so I am so glad I get to see all the different ways it can be done. Also, I love being able to meet so many investigators! I love being able to teach the gospel to so many different new faces.Also, Sister Marble and I have been getting along wonderfully this week! I love her so much! We felt like one of us would be transferred because we finally worked out our kinks and now the Lord needs us to learn something different. I love this gospel. I love my mission so much. I love being a Sister Missionary and a Child of God.
Love,
Sister Anderson

3/20/2017

I am loving it here in Richland, Mississippi. I am loving the people here and I am loving the ward. It is all going really great. I am loving my companion. The only thing left to do to make this area better is to get some investigators :D haha. But I am not scared. I know we will get some investigators soon. We sort of have some investigators but we will see. I have faith that they will become members of the church at some time, I am just not sure how long from now. One of them said she will be baptized when she is 40. She is 13 now.
Anyways. Finding for days. Do yall have ideas on how to find? I don't have too much to talk about, but tracting is awesome and there are always funny experiences. One lady told us what we believe.... it was not what we believe. I frankly told her that what she was saying is false and then asked her to read from the Book of Mormon and pray about it because God wouldn't give her false information. It was an interesting experience. We all had smiles on our faces but I don't think any of us were actually happy. Honestly, nothing really spiritual happened while tracting and that has been a huge chunk of my week. I could tell you funny stories but I feel like they would come across bashy over e-mail towards the baptists or Jehovah Witnesses and I really don't want that at all. Almost everyone has been pretty nice.
I love yall!
Love,
Sister Anderson

260 low circle apt. 26 E
Richland MS. 39218

3/27/2017

This is the e-mail from President Olson. It was perfect.
In a modern day revelation, the Savior commanded: "Take up your cross, follow me, and feed my sheep." D&C 112:14. Similarly, he told his ancient disciples "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross, and follow me." Matt. 16:24. Have we ever pondered what it means to "take up his cross?" Although applicable to all, it must have special meaning and weight for we who are acting in his name.

On that terrible day, after the Savior had been falsely accused, spat on, whipped, adorned with a crown of sharp thorns, presented to the rabble for a vote and sentenced to death, he was required to carry his own cross up the path to Calvary. Imagine his exhaustion, after spending those intense hours suffering for the world in Gethsemane and bleeding from every pore, being kept up all night, and now having to carry his own cross. Even the Son of God at this point stumbled and fell under the burden.

The Roman soldiers likely became impatient and selected someone from the crowd to come forward and help carry the cross. That person was one Simon, a Jew from Cyrene, a settlement in North Africa. He may have first abhorred his compelled duty, but over time he likely came to realize what a privilege it was to bear the Master's cross and likely taught his two sons well, as Paul refers to them as "chosen of the Lord."

The cross is a symbol of Christianity, and it has been pointed out that it also represents the two most important commandments. The vertical points toward God (the first and greatest commandment) and the horizontal reaches out to his sons and daughters (the second commandment to love others). Thus, when we take up his cross, deny ourselves and follow him, we can be seen as worshipping God with our whole souls, further exemplified by our extending compassion and kindness to our fellow men by serving them.

We have opportunities and challenges every day to, even like Simon, carry the Savior's cross. It starts by getting up on time with a good attitude, following the schedule with purpose and then going out the door with passion and prayer to find every possible candidate who will receive us. We get tired and that cross may seem heavy at times, but paradoxically, he himself is there to help us carry his cross! We will never experience its full weight but even the smallest taste of the burden he assumed will help us appreciate his sacrifice and increase our desire to serve him as his missionaries.

This week has been pretty good!

On Tuesday we met a really cool family. We met the mom and the son and we are hopefully going to teach the whole family. The son is really into firefighting which is cool because we have a different potential investigator who is interesting in firefighting. So if we could get them both to an activity, then they would really like each other. I am actually pretty sure they already know each other so we are hopefully going to have them come to an event and then they can fellowship each other even though neither one of them will be baptized member of the church. We will have to plan a third person with them who is a member too so they can all get along but will be fellowshipped by a member of the church.

We also had exchanges with the Greenwood Sisters. I was with Sister Miller and she is an amazing missionary. We had about 10 minutes before it was time to be inside for the night, so we just threw their bags inside and we went to Walmart to find people. It went really well and we found a really cool guy named Antonio. He gave us his phone number and address and said he was pretty interested. The miracles really do happen in the minutes. The miracle wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for us being exactly obedient but it also wouldn't have happened if the rules hadn't been put into place by inspired people telling us to stay out until 9pm. (obviously we will see more success the longer we are out) God doesn't have to do crazy things in order for them to be miracles :D
Then on Wednesday we had Zone Training Meeting and it went alright. We did not have as much participation as we wished. We have come up with a couple ideas though on how we will get more participation. We plan on calling on people instead of just asking the question to the entire audience. I think that will work better and people who don't feel like they have "good enough" answers will see that they do have good answers.
Then on Thursday we did a church tour for the ward mission leaders wife and she took notes and made a pamphlet we can give to investigators who take church tours. We are pretty excited about that and we will hopefully be giving more people tours.
We also had interviews with President Olson, that wasn't fun but oh well. I learned a thing or two.
Friday was great, we weekly planned outside and we had super nice weather... until it started raining and we had to run inside :D
Also, on Friday we watched Seventeen Miracles. We had to get special permission to watch that movie because it isn't produced by the church. It was great that we went though because we had an investigator there and it was great to be able to do something more casual with her and get to know her. She is SUPER cool.
Then on Saturday we met a mom and daughter who had taken all the church lessons and was about to be baptized but then she changed her mind. She is someone I really want to work with. She is amazing. I think the adversary just knows that she is super awesome.

Also, Sunday was wonderful. We invited everyone to church and we followed the Spirit in our finding efforts. We had five investigators come to church and we are so excited for all of them. We are pretty sure that Jacob and Nicole and Kevin will have baptismal dates soon. We are not so sure about Kevin Jr. and Kristy, but we are pretty sure Kevin Jr. enjoyed church.

All in all, this week has been great.
I love yall so much. Keep doing what ever you can to be the best at what ever you want in order to become who ever you should be.
Love,
Sister Anderson

4/3/2017

General Conference was so amazing! Please let me know yalls thoughts about conference. I would love to hear it all :D I decided to read The Living Christ after General Conference and with those two things in mind, I wrote a poem. Here is the poem.
Live For Him
by Sister Anderson :)
For me, He had pain in every limb
The least I can do is live for Him
He suffered and died for me
My love is what I want Him to see
Jesus did more than I can say
Jesus is my needed sun ray
He died for me
I will live for Him
Life quickly rushes by
in a blink of an eye.
I don't have time to sit on my bum
If I cannot walk, I will just run.
I won't just let life happen to me
I must be the change I want to see
I must be different from the rest
if I want to pass the final test
Jesus went about doing good
It was on the inside He stood
He did good though He was despised
Evil can't be rationalized
His gospel was a message of goodwill
That is what I want to do and teach still
He walked the roads of Palestine
with the sinners He chose to dine
Jesus healed the sick, blind, and dead
Don't hate, choose charity instead.
Jesus sees everyone as sons and daughters of God
That's how I'll see yall if I'm holding onto the rod.
He died for me
I will live for Him.
Christ was sentenced to die on Calvary's cross
The worlds biggest gain, came from it's biggest loss
He rose from the grave to become the first fruits of them that slept
As I look at my body, I'll remember that's what Christ kept.
His eyes are as fire light
His hair is like pure snow white
Jesus created the world for His brothers and sisters
I must show charity to all the ladies and misters
We have a prophet but Christ is the chief cornerstone
We have direction and we also won't ever be alone.

Christ will come again and every knee will bend.
It is Jesus, my Savior, who I will defend.
He died for me
I will live for Him.

Not much has happened compared to conference. I feel like I feel that way after every General Conference. Nothing really compares to the spirit at conference. We did get to see Zee and Tia this week though. We have been seeing them a bit recently and they are both reading the Book of Mormon. They are so cool. We actually baked cupcakes with this week and that was super fun. We may or may not have gotten into a cupcake batter fight with the extra batter. It was so fun!
We also have been doing service at this place called Big Thrift. I think the place was made for me :D It is a place where all the money (after paying the worker and other bills) goes to help animals!!! :D It is a really cool place and the workers are prisoners so it is really cool to get to talk to them and show that Mormons arent weird and creepy and judgmental. It has been a really good week. It stormed a lot, but that has actually been fun. I love the rain and slashing in the rain puddles :D We didn't get to watch all of conference due to the thunder storm, but I think there was only one or two talks left. It was all really good that I heard.
I am so thankful for the scriptures and for the gospel and for my Savior Jesus Christ. I am thankful for Prophet Thomas S. Monson and for the words ho spoke about the Book of Mormon. I know the Book of Mormon is the word of God and that the Bible is too, as far as it is translated correctly. I am so thankful to be serving a mission. I know that there is no better place to be. I love yall more than ya know.
Love,
Sister Anderson

4/17/2017

I haven't talked about my days for awhile so here it is :P
Monday (4/3/17)
We tracted in South Jackson. We probably won't tract in South Jackson again because literally everyone told us to leave. We even had two little boys (probably 4 and 5) tell us to be careful and then they followed us around the streets, we think to make sure that nothing happened to us. It was the cutest thing ever. Everyone there is so nice though. They are so humble and kind and no that Jesus is the only way. We ended up meeting a really cool family. They lived in a small shack and it seemed as if 17 people lived there. We taught them a little bit and prayed with them and it was a pretty cool experience. We will hopefully be going back and talking to them more. We also played hood ball with a teenage boy. While we were playing, a bunch of little boys came up to us and stared at us. It was so funny. They probably hadn't seen too many people who looked like us before.
Tuesday (4/4/17)
We made bags for homeless people that we keep in our car. I highly recommend this to everyone! They have socks, toothpaste, toothbrush, hard candy, hand sanitizer, comb, and some other stuff that I cannot remember in them. It was really cool to make the bags.
Wednesday (4/5/17)
We taught mutual. It was so much fun. We taught about missionary work and how fun they can have by being missionaries now. We gave them a couple suggestions on how they can be missionaries now
1. hang up church pictures
2. have the missionaries and your friends come over for dinner
3. bring your friends to church, mutual, and firesides
4. pray with your friends
5. read the scriptures with your friends
6. invite your friends to take the missionary discussions
7. text the missionaries to just stop by if you have a friend over and the missionaries can ask them if they want to learn more (then if they don't you wouldn't feel weird, it would be on us)
We made it really fun but I can't ever tell with youth when they are actually listening, I am sure I was that way too when I was a youth.
Thursday (4/6/17)
We went to Missionary Leadership Training today. I really felt the spirit while we were there. I love that meeting because honestly, the people in that meeting have to learn the things there and then teach it. Therefore, we all listen super carefully and ask questions because we know that other people might ask us questions. I feel like that is how our church is set up. God knows that we will pay more attention and learn more if we are the ones teaching. We might not teach everything right or be as charismatic as other preachers but we learn more by teaching.
Friday (4/7/17)
We decided to weekly plan (its literally exactly what it sounds like) outside. While we were outside we realized that one of the geese in the water had plastic netting or something wrapped around its beak. We didn't really know what to do or if it was able to eat. We ran inside and got some bread and through it at the goose and it would try to eat it but it couldn't. We decided to climb a tree that looked over the water to try to get over it. My companion gave me a boost and I tried to help it from above but that didn't really work either. We also put the bread on the ground so the goose would have to get out of the water but he wouldnt. We decided to say a prayer. After we closed our prayer we looked up and saw the Goose Lady. She is the lady that takes care of the geese. She was outside! We ran over to her and told her about the goose and she said that she will try to help it. She has helped other geese before and she has a net she can try to catch it with. It was a huge answer to our prayers because it was so so so sad to see the goose struggle in the plastic. Please don't just dump stuff in the water.
Saturday (4/8/17)
We went on exchanges today and they were the bomb.com. We ended up meeting an AMAZING family. We met this little girl who loves her church and said that she will start coming to both churches. It was adorable. And the little girls mom used to come to our church and so she knows some stuff about our religion. And the sister who was my companion for the day taught me so much. She is so cool. She is from New Zealand and her and I ended up just helping the family pick up leaves and we got to know them. It was just a really good time and made me feel like I was just part of their family helping them out and talking to them about our Savior :D
Sunday (4/9/17)
Today we taught Zee and Tia (Zee is going to be baptized soon and we are super excited for her) the word of wisdom. The word of wisdom made sense to them and they are committed to living it even though it is hard. I guess the best blessings come from the hardest work.
Monday (4/10/17)
Today we picked up our 3rd sister. We are now in a trio for the rest of the transfer. It is now Sister Coleman, Sister Greenhalgh (my MTC companion) and I. We are covering Sister Greenhalgh's area (Jackson) and Sister Coleman's and my area (Richland). Sister Greenhalgh's companion had to go home so we are making this trio work.
Tuesday (4/11/17)
We taught tithing to Zee and Tia. We taught it with a member who has had some neat experiences with tithing and she is also one of the young women's leaders and Zee and Tia are in Young Womens so that was really cool. It ended up going really well. They told us that they don't have very much money to give (no young woman does) and so when we told them that it is done confidentially they were really happy about that. They then went off about other churches they have been to that made them feel uncomfortable. I hadn't thought too much about the way our church does tithing but it is pretty cool that we do it confidentially. No one really needs to know who is paying tithing or not nor how much they are paying. So that was pretty cool.
Wednesday (4/12/17)
We taught at Zone Conference today and that was so fun. We taught about getting people to church and about the Book of Mormon. We taught about the Book of Mormon by reading from it for 15 minutes and just stopping at certain spots and asking questions. Everyone said that was the best part of the meeting. It was not from us at all it was all from the Book of Mormon. I am so thankful for the Book of Mormon and for the power in it. I am so thankful for the gospel and how much it blesses lives. I feel like the gospel is intense and is a lot but it really does help us if we let it, I mean, I can understand why people say it is a lot. The people down here just want to believe in Jesus and think that means they are saved. I think they receive blessings for that but not as many blessings as thy would if they truly lived the word. There is nothing better than doing our best and so many people think that our actions don't matter at all. It is our actions and reactions that make us happy.
Thursday (4/13/17)
We worked in Jackson today and it was really cool to meet all the Jackson people and to meet new people from tracting. It was a really good day and we were in Jackson but it wasn't south Jackson so it was probably pretty safe :D
Friday (4/14/17)
We got to see Cindy today. She is the coolest. She has read the entire Book of Mormon and she knows that it is true. We just need to get her ready to be baptized and take that next step.
Saturday (4/15/17)
We went to a ward Easter Party today and that was a lot of fun and we got to hide the Easter Eggs and talk to the people who we usually don't get to see. That was pretty cool. We also saw that there was a wedding reception happening. Mom always said to go to wedding receptions when we are hungry, obviously as a joke, but what is even better is going to the church after the reception. We went and helped them clean up so we got some service hours and then we got so much food. It was good wedding food too. Like strawberries. Yum :D
Sunday (4/16/17)
We sang at church today. It was our trio and the elders. It ended up really well. I don't have the best voice in the world but people were crying so I think they were feeling the spirit. That was pretty cool. It was a great Easter. I know Jesus is the Christ. I know that He lives.
I love yall so much. Have a wonderful week.
Love Always,
Sister Anderson

4/25/2017

My companion is the coolest.

DSCN1900.MOV

This week has been wonderful!!! :D
Monday (4/17/17) I learned about putting everything on the sacrifice table. I learned about giving God everything, even the things we don't really think He wants. I learned about giving God the big things and the little things and then He will make of me whatever He wants me to become. Whatever He needs me to become. I love the story of Cane and Abel in Genesis 4. It talks about how Cane and Abel both gave sacrifices. They both offered God something, what made the difference though wasn't that the sacrifices were different things. The difference was the effort. If Cane had to plant the trees and water them and then he accidently let them fall to the ground before he could sacrifice them, then that would be just as good of a sacrifice. Monday was an interesting day. We learned a lot.
Tuesday (4/18/17) was a hard day. We taught a really good lesson to Zee and Tia and they were both excited to keep meeting with us and be baptized. It all seemed really good. Then two hours after the lesson we receive a text from Zee saying that she no longer wants to have us come over. This happens a lot but it still brings me to tears every time. We call her, no answer. We text her, no answer. These two girls are 13 and 16, we did not know what could have happened within 2 hours. We decide to say a prayer for them and then we head to bed because it was around 10:30pm.
Wednesday (4/18/17) was kind of a somber day because of the night we had before that. We get up and work out but its just somber. We then get a text from Zee saying that there was a miscommunication and that she still wanted to meet with us. We were so scared but in all reality it was just a miscommunication, not even between Zee and Tia and us but with their mom. I guess their mom thought their grades were decreasing because we were taking their time, we are now going to help them with their schooling when they need it. I am excited about that because I really like teaching kids math and English and whatever else.
We also had District Meeting today and I was asked to give my testimony at the end of the meeting. When I got to the meeting I forgot what I was supposed to bring so I said, "What do I have?" and then I remembered and said, "oh, yeah, my testimony. Yep, I have that." It made me feel really good.
Thursday (4/19/17) we went on splits. I was left "alone" in my area and Sister Greenhalgh and Sister Coleman went to Jackson. It was a really neat to be a "lone" missionary and jumping from member to member. I am glad that we got to work both areas though because that meant I got to meet Charity in my area. She is the coolest! I taught her the restoration and then two members that were with me (a grandma and granddaughter) testified of the restoration and then we invited her to be baptized. She said that she would and she said that she has been looking and is excited to keep learning more from us. We are super excited about her. Charity never faileth.
Friday (4/20/17) we weekly planned and that went pretty well. We talked about our investigators and how we can help them. I am excited to see more of our investigators progress. I know that there will be change seen this transfer in this area.
Saturday (4/22/17) was weird. Sister Coleman got really sick and I was asked to give a talk in sacrament meeting. So most of the day was decorating cupcakes for Gilton's baptism (Gilton is the neighboring sister's investigator) and I planned my talk. My talk was on faith and I put it into an equation. looking up + getting up = cheering up. We cannot just have praise God and think that will make us happy. And we can't just think we can do good works and that will make us be happy. We need both. We need to look up and get up. I think the talk helped me the most but doesn't everyone say that after writing a talk?
Also, today has been really good. I found out that Sister Coleman and I are staying in Richland. This is going to be a really awesome transfer!
I Keep being lighthouses to others. I love yall.
Love,
Sister Anderson

5/1/2017

This week I have learned a whole lot about always inviting everyone no matter what.
On Monday (4/24/17) my companion really wanted to teach me how to play a game called nerts. The name of the game was so weird that I thought it would be a really boring game. Nonetheless, I agreed to play the game with her. This was when we were still in the trio and so Sister Grennhalgh and I both dragged our feet but let Sister Coleman teach us how to play nerts. As soon as she started teaching us the game I fell in love (the game is a mix of speed, skipo, and hearts). I thought it was so much fun and as soon as I leared how to even just play it a little bit, I ran with it. Sister Coleman and I ended up tying and being determined to play it again to see who would be the ultimate winner. Sister Greenhalgh's experience was very different. She did not like the game and even once we had been taught all the rules and regulations, she did not like it. This made me think about the gospel and how if we don't invite others, then we aren't giving them the opportunity. I am really glad I had the opportunity and Sister Greenhalgh at least knows she does't want to play nerts. I just thought it was pretty cool. I am glad I get to be a missionary and get to invite people to learn something they may not already know.
Tuesday (4/25/17) we had transfers and we got to meet the new sisters that came into the mission. There are three of them and they are awesome. My companion and I got to send them letters and e-mail them before they came into the mission so they would know someone in the mission. They were just adorable and I love them already!
Wednesday (4/26/17) we got to go to Big Thrift and do community service. We also got to go to District Meeting and Book of Mormon study group. It was a pretty fun day. I learned about working with the members and always inviting the members to do missionary work. Even when they have a lot on the their plate, it is important to invite them to do missionary work. I feel like missionary work has really blessed my life and has made me happier so when we invite others to do missionary work, we aren't burdening them with our problems. We are blessing them with the Spirit that we get to feel daily. We get to invite and it's up to them what they do.
Thursday (4/26/17) we invited Cindy to be baptized. She is so cool, she has read the entire Book of Mormon and we are so excited for her. We have been meeting with her for a really long time and we are so excited for her and she is excited to. We were scared to invite her again and again and again to baptism. But for some reason, the Spirit, this time worked. If we hadn't invited, there would be no one she would have accepted.
Friday (4/27/17) We met a really sweet family! We were trying potentials and one seemed very interested. We taught them the restoration and the Spirit was so strong in their home. I love when people have so much love in their home that we can just feel it.
Saturday (4/28/17) was a pretty good day. We tracted for days and it seemed like every single house had someone nice in it. Even though everyone was super nice, by the end of the day I was really tired. I remember thinking, "I am so excited for the sacrament tomorrow"
Sunday (4/29/17) a storm hit, it was a pretty bad storm and many churches were cancelled. I was scared that ours would be cancelled but it wasn't. We were told instead that who ever came to church would partake of the sacrament and then leave. My companion and I prayed about whether or not it was safe to get to church. We decided it was safe and that we were going to go. On the way to church we listened to Mater The Tempest Is Raging. We got to the church safely and we got to partake of the sacrament. I am so thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I am so thankful that when times are hard, we can remember our Savior and remember that He has felt everything and more.
I love yall so much. Invite one person to change this week. That can be as simple as inviting one person to smile or as hard as inviting someone to come to church with you. I promise it will be worth it. Whether they take the opportunity to change or not, it will be worth it to just invite them to do something that will bring them closer to Christ. I love yall. Keep up your happy attitudes and positive vibes.
Love,
Sister Anderson

5/8/2017

Dear Family and Friends,

This week we had interviews with President Olson. Afterwards, I decided to do my "now what?" list. I decided upon a couple different things that I will do, if you think of anything I should add, just let me know. Here is my list:

1. Never settle for average

2. Never fear greatness

3. Every night, think of an investigator while falling asleep

I am really excited about these changes. One that has been helping a lot is thinking about investigators while I fall asleep. I keep a pen and paper by my bed and I can just write down any inspiration I have on them. That has helped us find fellowshippers we might not have been able to think of.

Also, we have been teaching Nicole and she is the best. She is literally so amazing! Today we are going to play cards with her for a little while during p-day. Tomorrow we are reading the Book of Mormon with her and a member and on Wednesday we are teaching her the second half of the plan of salvation and she is coming to mutual. Probably on Thursday we will do another Book of Mormon read.
We also found an amazing investigator named Crystal and we also met her neighbors Dee and Jasmine, they all seem excited about meeting with us and taking our material. We are really hopefully and will see how that comes along.
Also, this week I discovered a quote that basically said, "the adversary can imitate all the gifts of the Spirit except peace." It was in the talk, Self Worth, by Hyrum W. Smith, yall should look it up if you ever want to question your belief system or want to just have more self worth.
I feel like the adversary really can mimic the Spirit and that is why we have to be so careful. It is so sad to see people get tricked by the adversary, I think that is the saddest part of being a missionary, having to see people tricked by Satan. I'm not saying I have never been tricked by his games either, but I feel like I need to watch out for the people here and sometimes the wolf still gets in. But I am so thankful for the peace that the gospel brings and I know that I can have peace at all times, not just the easy times. I don't think that God makes the bad things happen or wants the bad things in life to happen. I think when people say, "it was his time to die" or things like that, they aren't saying God made them die or God wanted them to die. I think it just means that He knew it would happen because He is all knowing and I think it means that He is waiting on the other side with open arms. That has been a big discussion recently, if anyone has ideas or thoughts, please let me know.
Also, church was amazing last Sunday. The Spirit was so strong and I am so thankful that we can go to church and worship God there. I am so thankful for the sacrament and being able to renew the promises we make with our Heavenly Father. This week has been amazing and I can feel that this upcoming week will be even better.
Hope yall have a great week. Love you!

Love,

Sister Anderson

5/15/2017

Dear Family and Friends,

I heard a story the other day and the story pretty much says that if you are out hiking and the trail leader says, "stay in the middle of the path so the snakes wont bite you," you wouldn't ask how close to the side of the path you can get. You would just do your best to stay in the middle of the path. Yet we ask how close to the edge we can get in morals and standards. I think its especially easy to go to the side of the path when it seems really harmless. It is hard to explain to people that they can't drink coffee or tea because so many people here think those things are so harmless. I think part of it has to do with staying in the middle of the path and not going to the edge.

Monday was one of the best P-days. Nicole, Brooke, the Florence Elders, and us went to the church. We played a bunch of different card games and after playing games and getting to know our investigators on a more personal level, we gave them a church tour. The church tour went well except it was difficult to think of inspired questions to ask them. We weren't sure why the inspired questions weren't coming to us, we had done a practice church tour with a member and questions seemed to flow, we will probably just have to practice more. We also went tracting and met a really cool woman named LeighAnne, she is so nice and she started to cry when we taught her the first vision, we then asked her why she was crying and she explained to us that it was happy tears and that it was probably the Spirit. It was a pretty neat experience.

On Tuesday we taught Zee and Tia and they are doing really good. They are finishing up school so that will be good. We are hoping that once school ends that their desire will increase, that is one thing we can't give to them, desire to become members of the church. We have told them how awesome it is and how it will bless them, and mostly the rest is up to them but we will be walking with them.

Wednesday was super good because we had a really good district meeting! We all got super pumped about getting a lot of people to sacrament meeting. I think we all felt extra motivated to reach our goals. We also had a really good member lesson where we talked to Sister Harris about the date she set to have someone meet to us. She is pretty excited about it but she is also pretty nervous to invite her friends. I think it is outside of her comfort zone to ask her friends to take the lesson so that is why we are extra excited for her to do it. If you want there to be a difference in your life, bad or good, you have to get out of your comfort zone.

Thursday we got to see Anita, she is one our most excited investigators. She is super excited to start the stop smoking work shop today and she is excited about the Book of Mormon and the gospel. We are also really excited to start the stop smoking workshop because that will be an easy way to have daily contact with her.

Friday was one of my favorite days this week because we found a family! This family is awesome! Kesha is the mom and she is super sweet and her kids really liked the message that we shared. The 15 year old son started tearing up when we talked about the restoration of the gospel and when we talked about families. It was so amazing, usually it is the moms or grandmas, it was great to see the Spirit hit a teenage boy who was reluctant about hearing our message when we first started it.

Saturday was also really great because we found out that one of our investigators, Kristine, has a member sister! We don't know the member because she is less active but we are going to find out who she is and we will be able to help both of them and then they will be able to help and support each other.

Sunday was Mother's Day and we got to teach the primary class. We talked to them about baptism and we also talked to them about their mothers. It was pretty fun. We also skyped our family. That was so awesome being able to wish my mom a Happy Mother's Day. After the call, we taught the Pierces, the member family who let us come over, about how important a mother's testimony is and how important sharing our testimonies to others is.

On Mother's day we also got to deliver our investigators flowers and that was really cool. We also talked to a random man on the side of the road and we ended up giving him a flower for his wife. That was pretty funny.

All in all, this week has been great and all the sister are doing pretty well.

#HappyMothersDay
#shoutouttomymom
#everyonepleasewatch
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2014-05-01-to-every-mother?category=topics/mothers&lang=eng&cid=HP_FR_12-5-2017_dOCS_fMLIB_xLIDyL1-A_

Love,

Sister Anderson

5/22/2017

Dearest Family and Friends,

I really hope that yall have had a wonderful week. I hope that everything is going well for yall and that yall are learning and growing and becoming. I hope yall are becoming whoever it is that you desire to be. And honestly, I hope yall desire to be whatever it is that God needs you to be.

Sister Coleman and I often pray that we will be the type of missionary that Jesus would be if he was here right now. Whenever I say that I always think about how big of a task that is. It takes an immense amount of effort to even try to have one day be the way that Jesus would have it. I probably wont get there but I will keep having a stewardship call with my Heavenly Father every night and try to become more and more like my Savior. The Christlike attributes that I am really working on are humility and patience. I have been given opportunities to work on those things recently. On Saturday we had one of our most spiritual and bold lessons with our new investigators. Sister Coleman and I both went away from that lesson feeling like the Spirit was really doing His part during that lesson. Then on Sunday they told us that they no longer want to meet with us. It was really sad and hard to hear and it was a humbling experience.

Thankfully though, God provides a way. On Sunday we also got an amazing investigator. Her name is Amanda and I am stoked to teach her. We are not going to let Satan win with her. She is so sweet and she wants to find a church that will accept her and her husband and their mixed baby. She will find that at our church and she will find the truth! The fullness of the truth! It was actually a really cool experience in how we found her. We went to an apartment complex and we thought we would start at building 1 and then work our way up. Instead though, we decided to pray about it. We prayed and I felt like we should start at 11. It was funny because while we were praying or walking around the apartment complex, Amanda's husband was walking around the complex and saw us and he texted his wife and said, "the Mormons are here. If they knock on your door, let them in." Even just talking about this experience makes me feel so happy. I am so thankful for God's will. It surely was not my will to get dropped by investigators, but I know that God sees the bigger picture.

This week we also taught at zone conference and that was really fun. We talked about how we need to work hard even if we might not be able to see the fruits of our labors. We taught that the pioneers would plant seeds and then they would leave that land and continue on their trek. They did not have to plant seeds but they knew it would help those who came after them. That is kind of like missionary work. We often don't see the blessings of our work and that is okay. If we are relying on the Lord and doing what He wants us to do then it wont really matter what we see happen.

This week we also had stake conference and Zee and Tia came and they both enjoyed it. They are so awesome! They are both on the younger side and I really want to teach them correct principles before they are even more faced with the world. It is easier to stay on the path than it is to get back on the path... but in the long run both of those things are easier than just staying off the path. It is kind of like what my dad would always yell at me when I was running cross country. When I was next to a girl he would yell, "it is easier to keep up than catch up." We aren't racing anyone in this life but it is easier to stay on the path than wander off.

Also, we went on exchanges with the Greenwood sisters.We had a lot of fun on exchanges and we did some service at the Mississippi Food Network. I really love doing service there because we get to make food boxes for people who otherwise might not have a way to eat. Its amazing how good service can make you feel. If yall are having a bad day, stop what you are doing and look up a service opportunity, justserve.org may be able to help.

This week has been really good. I felt the Spirit very strongly. I feel like I learn a lot by teaching. I think I learn more from teaching and preparing to teach than by just hearing others teach. It has been going really well. Also, Sister Coleman and I are getting along really well. I love her death! I love all of the people I am teaching so much! I feel like it is the Spirit that enables missionaries or anyone to love people so quickly and deeply. I just want everyone to be happy for eternity. I love yall so much.

Love,
Sister Anderson

5/30/2017

Gratitude
I used to believe that forgiveness was the key to a prison we make for ourselves and now I think gratitude and forgiveness are. Honestly, those two things go hand in hand. I feel like if we are truly thankful for what we have then we will not hold grudges against people because we will just recognize that we are too blessed to be stressed. I really love this area so much.

Friends

This week has been amazing. We went on exchanges with Sister May and Sister Greenhalgh. Sister May has picked up on some of Sister Greenhalgh's attributes. When I went on exchanges with Sister May in Stonewall, she was pretty different from how she is now. It is amazing how much we pick up on other peoples traits. I don't realize how much I have picked up from other companions but I am sure it is a lot. I guess we really have to be careful about who we spend time with. We really do become who are friends are. President Gordon B. Hinckley's quote says that pretty well."We are the product of the lives who have touched ours."

The Gospel Blesses Lives

This week has been so good. We are working with Anita and her family and they really need the gospel. Anita needs the hope and love that the gospel brings. She has gone through so much in her life and she deserves so much better. She is so thankful for the gospel and has told us that it has really changed her life. That makes me so happy about being a missionary. Seeing her happy to see us, makes me really happy.

Nicole
We have also been working with Nicole and she is doing really good. She is such a sweetheart. She really wants to be baptized on June 17thand we are working with her to hit that date. She loves everything we have taught her so far, the first three lessons and some of the commandments. She knows a lot of Mormons so she knows some of the weird things we do, which is good because then it wont come by surprise. She has been hard to meet with but we are trying to see her much more often, we want to see her everyday but we have been seeing her about twice a week.

Spirit

This week we have also been really trying to follow the spirit. We want to help and serve as much as we can and the Spirit is needed for that and we know that we will hear the spirit the more we listen to the spirit. So that is something we are working on.

We also tried to go to cemeteries during memorial day but no one was there, we tried to go to three different ones and we checked on them at different times of the day but there was not a single person at any of them. I guess I will just have to try next year.

Is there anything I can do for yall? I love you <3

Love,

Sister Anderson

6/12/2017

There is not much new here in Richland, we have dropped most of our investigators and are still working on replacing them. Sister Penrod is a really great missionary and I am happy to be with her. We still are teaching Anita and her family who are set to be baptized on July 29th and we have Adre'Yonna who is set to be baptized on June 22nd, other than that we are knocking on doors and just trying to talk to everyone we see. If yall were walking your dog or just sitting outside, what is it that you would like to hear to start the conversation? Or what is it about the unique message of the gospel that would interest yall most?

I also wanted to share a cool story about individual worth :)

A great King without heirs was aging and needed to determine who would succeed him. He brought all of his knights together, any of whom had potential to be the next King, and individually asked them the following question. If you had the power to be anyone, who would you be? The first answered that he would choose to be the King because of the King's wisdom and nobility. The second stated he would prefer being the King's father, who had been a strong statesman and warrior. The third made it known that he would have been the king in a friendly Kingdom because of how much that king respected the King. And so it went through the knights, as they tried to impress the King and win his favor with their answers. Finally, the last knight questioned said, "King, I respect many people, including you, but if I could be anyone, I would choose to be myself. I am not perfect but I am proud to be who I am."

The King selected the last knight to succeed him on the throne, stating "I choose you because I need someone to rule this Kingdom who has confidence in himself and is aware of his gifts and inner strengths. You are comfortable being who you are and so you will likewise honor and respect your subjects for who they are."

I really do believe that when we truly recognize our individual worth that we will be able to help others more and we will want to help others so that everyone can see how amazing this life is and how amazing God made each and every one of us.

Last Monday we picked up the new sisters from the air port. It was so much fun to pick them up and answer their questions and just try to help them in any way we could, it was so great and I already love the new sisters in this mission and I cannot wait to get to know them even more. Two of the new sisters weren't in the picture just because they did't fit in our car but them two are really sweet too!

Then on Tuesday I met my new companion. She is so cool! Her name is Sister Penrod and she has a couple ideas for this area, I am always excited to try new things so we will see how it all turns out.

On Wednesday we had district meeting and we talked about finding more people and talking to everyone so that was really good. Again, if yall have any ideas, please let me know :D

Also, we have talked to people recently who seem to say the church is too perfect, it is kind of funny. People say things like, "wow, that is convenient" and I just think we are so surprised when things are perfect because we live in such an imperfect world. Perfect seems unbelievable but I know that God is perfect and I am so thankful that we have a perfect God who loves us and knows us and wants us to be the happiest we can be. I am so thankful for The Book of Mormon which testifies of our Savior Jesus Christ. Here is one of my favorite talks that talks about the Book of Mormon.
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/safety-for-the-soul?lang=eng

Love,
Sister Anderson

260 Lowe Circle Apt 26E
Richland MS. 39218

6/19/2017

This week has been amazing. The Spirit has been amazing this week!
First off, I have a question, how has the Spirit spoken to you or how has the Spirit felt to you? We have been teaching lots of different people who all describe the Spirit differently, I think the Spirit does whisper differently because we all hear differently. I would love to know how is speaks to you. I would also really love to know when it has spoken to you because I do not want to just tell the investigators that they will feel the Spirit while praying because it is felt at different times for different people. All ideas are appreciated.

On Monday, we went and taught a potential investigator names Alana. We taught her the message of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was a really interesting lesson. Alana seemed very interested and she would ask questions and it seemed like the lesson was going well. It was one of the strongest lessons I have had where the Spirit was just filling my body. Afterwards, Alana was not interested in the message, she shot it down and she pretty much has not wanted to talk to us sense. It was really eye opening. It was cool to see how much the message of the restored gospel means to Sister Penrod and I. I mean, we share it everyday and yet, it still gives me peace. Even when other people don't accept it, it still strengthens my testimony, just by sharing it.

Tuesday was a really great day too. We went on exchanges with the Jackson Sisters and I went with Sister Sorensen and she is an amazing missionary. She really knows the scriptures and she has such an amazing testimony. I learn so much when I go on exchanges! She also has some similar struggles as me and we talked about them and just talked about how the Spirit will help us both be better missionaries and people.

Also on Tuesday, but after the exchange, Sister Penrod and I went and saw Anita, she wants to be baptized on July 29th, but she is a little scared about coming to church because there are so many people, we are going to try to bring lots of people to her home and get her familiar with the members so that will hopefully help. All in all, it was a really good day and the Jackson sisters are really dedicated missionaries.
Wednesday was also a really good day. We taught the Book of Mormon class and it was really great to have a lot of members, nonmembers, and recent converts. I love hearing everyone's opinions and not having to talk at people but just be able to talk with people and discuss the Book of Mormon and how it has blessed their lives in different ways.
Thursday was amazing. We has a big meeting with a bunch of other missionaries. We all got together and the Spirit was so strong and we just learned how to better the zones we are serving in. We learned about having positive attitudes. What are some ways yall keep a positive outlook on life?
Also on Thursday, we got lost and because we were lost a lady came up to our car and asked us if she could help us. She walked right up to our car! We didn't find her. She found us! We asked her if we could teach her and her family and she said that she just moved here and was looking for a church! YES!! Her name is Ashley and she is the coolest. Because we still couldnt find the investigators house and we didn't have our address book with us. So I silently prayed and felt like we should go and see Crystal (who would be at work at that time) but we went over there anyways and Crystal had moved! Why would the Spirit tell me to go to a a woman's home who had moved? Because the people who moved in were awesome! We talked to them and asked them some inspired questions and really got them thinking. Questions that yall can ask yourself.
1. What does Jesus Christ expect of you?
2. What do you think the purpose of life is?
3. Do you feel like God answers your prayers?
4. How does the Holy Spirit speak to you?
5. How can your family be happier and more united?
6. How can you and your family avoid the evils that threaten yall?
7. How can your family avoid sin?
We are super pumped to teach both of these families and they are both super sweet and have a desire to learn more.
Saturday was legit because a familiar sound saved the day. We knocked on a ladies door and she just peaked her head out and didn't seem interested. She seemed to want us to leave but then I heard a faint sound that sounded a little bit like "neeeehhhhhh" and I knew exactly what it was, it was a goat! I asked if she had a goat and she got excited that I could tell from the sound.She showed us her goat and I talked about my goat and then she let us in and we have a return appointment. I knew there was a reason I had a pet goat :)
All in all, this week has been great. At church we learned about the Spirit and about charity. Both wonderful things. I love yall. Please pray for the spirit and pray to be brave enough to obey the councils given from the spirit. I love yall dearly.
Love,
Sister Anderson

6/26/2017

This week has been amazing! We have had a couple of really hard days, but even the hard days were wonderful days.

Unfortunate Tuesday
On Tuesday we had a super unfortunate day. It was so unfortunate it was funny. I couldn't help but laugh at how unfortunate it was. I think Sister Penrod and I both cried that day but we also both laughed a whole lot. None of our appointments worked all day and even the people we talked to while we were biking were uninterested. We tried soft approaches and we tried bold approaches and it just seemed like no one wanted anything to do with us all day. It was terrible and yet Sister Penrod and I had a good day. We told each other good stories and we sang as we biked. I am so glad that I have the Spirit with me because I am not sure I could have gotten through Tuesday without the Spirit. After all the super random mishaps that happened on Tuesday, we were about to turn in for the night. But we decided to go and see one more family, Brad and Charlotte, and we hoped and prayed that they would want to see us.We ended up having the most amazing lesson with them. We shared the Restoration with them and they loved it. The spirit filled the room and they were so excited that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored. That really showed me that no matter what happens, our message, God's message, is worth it. It was honestly such a great day. God knows that sometimes we need unfortunate days to truly appreciate the wonderful experiences that we get to have as His children.

Wednesday we planned zone conference and we have a couple of really cool object lessons planned, we think that people will understand a lot better if we have object lessons and stories and videos. We are going to try to not talk a whole lot which makes my job pretty easy and I honestly think it will go a lot better than just us preaching to those who already are super amazing missionaries. Here are the video we are going to show.

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-04-001-bearing-our-burdens-with-hope?lang=eng

Bearing Our Burdens with Hope

www.lds.org

Being happy does not always mean being without hardship. Sometimes it means just the opposite. That principle is brought to life in this story of a young husband who ...

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/lift?lang=eng

Lift

www.lds.org

Ever get tired of helping someone? Check out how these men learn to love service by serving a woman in their ward every day for seven years.

https://www.mormonchannel.org/watch/series/two-brothers-two-1/two-brothers-two-saving-lives-and-reaching-dreams

Two Brothers Two: Saving Lives and Reaching Dreams ...

www.mormonchannel.org

In the unique new documentary series Two Brothers Two, director Rick Stevenson takes us on a journey through the lives of the Nelson brothers, Sam, Luke, Tommy, and ...

https://www.lds.org/youth/video/lift-us-up?lang=eng

God Will Lift Us Up

www.lds.org

Rather than focus on her medical condition,Brittany has found comfort in serving others and trusting in the Lord.

Friday
On Friday we got to watch the restoration video with brad and Charlotte.
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2008-06-01-the-restoration?lang=eng

The Restoration

www.lds.org

Joseph Smith's search for truth led to the First Vision and the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

It was so great watching that video with them. They loved the video and they said the only thing more they wanted from it was for it to be longer. Funny enough, we have a longer video we are planning on showing them as well. We are so excited for them. They do not understand everything yet, I mean none of us understand everything. But Brad also said something I will never forget. "If I understood everything God understands, then God doesn't understand anything more than I understand, and that would not be a God I would want to worship."
I feel like that is something I have always known, but it finally hit me. I cannot understand everything. I will always have questions. I have to choose to believe because it would be easy to throw my hand up and say, "I don't get why God does that so I won't worship Him." I don't have to understand everything. I can choose to trust that God sees what I cannot see.

Saturday
Blessings from biking. We biked today and because we biked we got to meet this amazing guy named William. He was just hanging out outside and he let us talk to him. We probably would have just drove by if we had been in a car so I am glad that we chose to bike. Saturday is also always a great day because we get to invite EVERYONE to church. Even in normal conversations we can just say what we are doing tomorrow and we can always say we are going to church and invite them. I challenge all of you to invite someone to church next Saturday. You have an entire week to think about it and pray about it. It will be a success whether they say yes or no as long as you ask.

Sunday
One of my investigators who I can honestly call my friend told us that she doesn't really want anything to do with us. She was told a lot of cruel things about the gospel of Jesus Christ and it was hard to say good bye to her. I cried and bore my testimony and then I left. I am not here to convince anyone or force anyone to do anything. I am here to invite others to come unto Christ and I am here to love everyone and let everyone know that God loves them. I really love that responsibility.
Also, Christopher came to church on Sunday :) He has had a really tough life. I am so thankful that he could come to church and feel the comfort and peace that the Spirit brings. I am so thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Though I do not understand it, I can feel it, and I can rely on those feelings of joy and peace that the Savior brings.

I love yall so much. If there is anything I can do for you, please let me know, I know I am far away but I could help yall in any way I can. Keep being the amazing people that you are.

Love,
Sister Anderson

7/5/2017

When I first read the story below I did not like it very much but after really thinking about it, I decided I love the story. This is a story from my mission president, President Olson.

An old English folk tale from the days of King Arthur talks about how a giant living on an island close to England would wade across the sea to the fields of the village farmers and steal their cattle and sheep. A young resourceful farmer boy named Jack asked his father why nothing was done to stop the giant. His father advised that even the King’s knights did not pick fights with giants. Jack said a teacher had taught him that there is a solution to every problem and he intended to find it.

A few nights later Jack rowed in his boat to the giant’s island, armed with an ax, pick and shovel. While the giant slept, Jack dug a pit in front of the giant’s cave, and just before dawn sent a loud blast from his horn through the cave. The angry giant stumbled out from the cave into the darkness and fell into the hole. Jack then employed his ax on the giant’s head to end for good the problem of the giant.

The people in the next county heard about Jack’s success and asked him to help them with the giant troubling them. Their giant had two heads, requiring Jack to come up with a different solution, which he did, because he knew there is a solution to every problem. Pretty soon, Jack received requests from all over to defeat other different giants – some with eyes in the back of their heads, another with a magic coat making him invisible, one with a magic cap allowing him to learn things no one else knew, etc. Jack combined his courage, skill and hard work to defeat every giant and eventually earned the name JACK, THE GIANT KILLER.

We all have pretty hefty loads on our backs, whether it is facing a giant or a big american heritage final exam or a race for districts in cross country or a health challenge or a difficulty at work or a big temptation or having to ride your bike for hours. What ever it might be that is a challenge, there is a solution, sometimes it seems like are giants are bigger than us... they just might be, but they are not bigger than God.

With one of our investigators named Lorine, we have been reading from the Book of Mormon with her and we are at the first few chapters. We really talked about the end of chapter 3 and the beginning of chapter four:

31 And after the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began to murmur, saying: How is it possible that the Lord will deliver Laban into our hands? Behold, he is a mighty man, and he can command fifty, yea, even he can slay fifty; then why not us?
1 And it came to pass that I spake unto my brethren, saying: Let us go up again unto Jerusalem, and let us be faithful in keeping the commandments of the Lord; for behold he is mightier than all the earth, then why not mightier than Laban and his fifty, yea, or even than his tens of thousands?

I love these verses because they just show that we all have giants, even the great Nephi had a giant, but that didn't stop him because he knew he had Jesus on his side. And Lorine has been facing her giant, just like Nephi. She has been asking for Sunday's off so she can come to church. That is a really big thing to ask for here in the south because she works for a restaurant and Sunays are by far the busiest days for restaurants here. She is still facing her giant but she knows she has the Lord on her side and it is really cool how much the Book of Mormon has been applying to her life.

Another cool thing about Lorine is remember how we had that pretty unfortunate day last week? Where we worked really hard on Tuesday but just nothing was working out for us? Well, Lorine was a referral that we got that night. It was really cool. We had been one street down from her and might have driven right by her house on Tuesday but it took some divine intervention and her clicking on a little "free Bible" add for us to discover her on that day. I really know that the Lord blesses us when we work hard.

All in all, this week has been amazing. Independence day was amazing!!! I was the chairman for the party and it was really cool. I am so glad that we got to have a ward event on the fourth of July. I am so glad that God prepared this nation. I know that without a free nation, the gospel of Jesus Christ could not have been restored. I know this church has the fullness of the truth. I love yall so much!
Love,
Sister Anderson

7/10/2017

This week we seemed to have really good desires, we tried to work really hard but it seemed like our actions were not really getting us what we desired, but because we had righteous desires, God did the rest. Our actions are human actions but we can have godly desires and then God will make a miracle out of our little human actions:

Baking cookies for members:
We have some really awesome people that we are teaching and they are so great that we really need to members to help us. We need the members to fellowship our investigators so that once they are baptized they will have people to still be their friends, missionaries come and go but the ward members usually stay pretty constant. We thought we would bake cookies for the ward members and ask them to come out with us or just fellowship our investigators. We thought it would be a good way to get into members homes (who can say no to cookies?) So we had a pretty good desire and then we had a pretty human action. I don't know what exactly happened but the cookies turned our TERRIBLE. (Dad, do you remember when I made kool aid cookies, well these were worse)
We tried to kneed the dough and that made it even more sticky. So we tried to put flour in it and that still didn't make it a doughy texture..... we ended up cooking them anyway and they tasted like pancakes! Anyways.... long story short... we trashed the cookies and we were trying to figure out how we could get a member to fellowship Lorine and then we hear the phone go off. It was a family from the ward asking if they could come see Lorine with us that night! They came and shared their experiences and testimonies and invited Lorine to come have dinner with them! I am so thankful that God can see our desires when it sometimes doesn't seem like we can do much. He really is the best.

My Mission President asked me to give some advice to future missionaries and our desires and actions is what I chose to give it on, this is what I gave him:
There is so much advice I wish I could give to all future missionaries. I wish I had the words to describe what my mission has meant for me. I have learned many things here and it is hard to fit it all into a few paragraphs. There are many types of pamphlets, papers, and cards that missionaries give to others. One sentence I would really like to focus on comes from the Plan of Salvation pamphlet. It states, “Because everyone’s works and desires vary, heaven includes different kingdoms, or degrees of glory.” That sentence is just as applicable to the missionary as it is to the investigator. I want all future missionaries to know that our desires and our works must be congruent to God’s desires and works. That is the only way we can feel comfortable in God’s presence for eternity.
I want all future missionaries to desire to teach repentance and baptize converts. I know that if that is truly their desire then that is what God will help them accomplish. I love Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” As missionaries, our treasure must be to help others receive the restored gospel through faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. Our goal must be to help them receive eternal life. That must be the desires of our hearts and minds. We must put thoughts of family and friends on the sacrifice table and think about “God’s work and glory” and not our own.
I also want all future missionaries to know that they must try their very hardest to be exactly obedient. As missionaries, we are trying to help others receive the Celestial Kingdom and we would be hypocrites if we were not ready to reside there. Doctrine and Covenants 78:7 says, “For if you will that I give unto you a place in the Celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you.” Obey the Holy Spirit, obey your mission president, and obey the white handbook and the scriptures. That will prepare you to be in God’s presence and be there to stay for eternity. Give every minute of yourself to God, trust Him. If He can make this beautiful earth out of dust and dirt, imagine what He can make out of you. Hand your whole self over to Him. Give Him your desires, actions, everything. It will surprise you what He can make out of you.

Finding:
Sister Penrod and I really felt like we needed to go and find a new investigator. We did not have much time and we were not totally sure the best way to find a new person to teach. We thought of using the part member family list and the potential investigators list and none of that stuff was really working. It was hot but we needed to find a new investigator. We ended up getting out of our car and walking and that was how we found the new investigator, that was our desire but our actions was using the lists. But God just gave us that new investigator. We tried a potential and he wasn't interested so we just walked over to his neighbor who was outside and he said he was super interested and wanted to hear more and that he had "looked up the Mormons" but that he "wanted to talk to real Mormons." I love that he didn't just believe what he read on the internet! :) God is so good.
I love yall so much! I wish I could put my testimony into words. The church is true, The book is blue. I love you. God loves you.
Love,
Sister Anderson (I literally started typing "in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.")

7/17/2017
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2007/10/o-remember-remember?lang=eng

This video is amazing. It just talks about always remembering God's kindness. This week has been amazing. Is seems like when we weren't out teaching people or finding though that my mind kept wandering back to reflecting on my entire mission. I was reflecting a lot this week and I am so thankful for all the blessings that God has bestowed upon me. When I decided to come out on a mission, I thought I was doing the Lord a favor. Silly Sister Anderson. The Lord has been blessing me beyond anything I could have imagined. I am thankful that I have been able to write the blessings down. I am sure I would have forgotten a lot of things if it wasn't for my journals, planners, and my happy book.

We got transfer calls this morning, and I am officially getting transferred. Coming home is really bitter sweet. I am excited to see yall but so sad to leave the amazing families I have met here. This area has been amazing. We are leaving the area to elders and we had a really good transition. We actually went and taught people with the elders and then the investigators got to really know them. It was really great but also really sad. This transfers has flown by and I cannot believe it is over. It is over, but not really. I mean, there will surely be some things that I wont be able to do, but I will still being trying my best to be a representative of Jesus Christ. Just now, a woman walked up to us and handed us a piece of paper, she said, "I know that yall are Christian." and then she walked away. The paper asked us to pray for her. I want people to be able to say that no matter if I have the name tag on or not.

I really have loved my mission more than I could have imagined. I cannot wait to tell yall all about it. That will take one hot minute though! But it has all been full of good times. It has been real. It has been good. And it sure has been real good. Don't worry, I am still not trunky. I will shortly not be a missionary member but I will be a member missionary and that will hopefully be just as amazing. Life is what we make it. The mission has been wonderful and I wish I had words to describe it. This week has been great, I can't wait to tell yall in person about Lorine and Charlotte and Brad and Merry and Deboria and Janiyah and all the other amazing investigators from all my other areas. Washington is home but Mississippi is family. I am so blessed to be able to help my brothers and sisters come closer to Christ.
I Love Yall,
Sister Anderson

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