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
March 21
Tuesday, March 22, 2016
Happy Pi Day
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
March 14
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
March 14
March 7
|
Mar 7
 | | ||
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.
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.
You Gotta Have Fun
Feb. 29
If you look really close you can see my uvula! From left to right thats Sister Uffens (Sister Training Leader) Sister Ali-Savery (Sister Training Leader) Sister Anderson (Sister in my zone) and Me :D
Leap Year!
| February 29 |
Feb 29
| | ||
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
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
Hello!!!
February 23
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
Happy Valentine's Day
On Feb 15, 2016 10:58 AM, "Kaitlin Anderson" <anderson.kaitlin@myldsmail.
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.
Happy Mardi Gras!
February 9
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
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
February 1
| Feb 1 | | ||
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
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
JanuaRY 25
|
Jan 25
| | ||
I went on exchanges this week. The exchanges changed my outlook of missions. Missions are about love. Before I went to the MTC I had decided that my goal was to make sure people know that they are loved but then I went to the MTC and then to the field and my outlook changed. I was teaching lessons instead of people. No one will care how much I know until they know how much I care. I need to show people that I love them. Going on exchanges helped me recognize that. The sister I went on exchanges with was awesome, she had the biggest heart. That is my goal. I need to be determined, bold, loving, genuine, and I need to testify. I just love all of God's children. And the Sister that I was with for exchanges kept telling me that her and I are so similar and so I need to just realize that and not focus so much on numbers or teaching lessons. I need to focus on one of my strong points which I feel like is loving others. I will work on that I am honestly excited to work on that because I do really love all of God's children. And I love the quote, "Don't judge me because I sin differently than you." that is soo true. No one is perfect. That is okay. We didn't come to earth to be perfect.
When I was tracting we went to a house and three children answered the door. We asked if their parents were home and the two oldest ones said no but the littlest one said yes. It was so funny. We just told them to give our card to their parents and then before they could shut the door we heard their parents. It was a funny experience. Sister Nash and I like to laugh at all of our funny experiences. Another time this man asked us who the creator of the church was so I said innocently "Jesus" and then he was like "no, no, you know, the creator of your church." so Sister Nash looked at him and said, "OHHHH!! Jesus" all innocently again. It was the funniest thing. Then she said, "I think you are thinking about Joseph Smith" and then he was like "Yeah! Him." Sister Nash and I like teaching true doctrine, and sometimes that means making people a little upset. But hey, I think it is great that we can have fun while talking about our religion. "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy."
This week I also tried a pickled carrot. That was not too bad. The food here is honestly really good. Really fatty but that is alright and sometimes really spicy, but it is all really good. And I have been cooking which has been fun. I've made some casseroles and some spaghetti squash. There are also some yummy pizza places around here.
On Thursday Sister Nash and I received a text at about 2 that said there was a tornado warning later on this evening. We continued to tracked and then we were knocking on someones door and she pulled up and ran inside and said she didnt have time to talk with us because she had to grab money and go to the store because she needed to buy water. She told us to go home and to come back some other time but that we needed to go home. So Sister Nash and I went into our car and prayed about it (the weather was sunny and no breeze) but we knew we needed to go home. On our way home the rain started coming down like no bodies business! It was crazy! And there were puddles everywhere and the wind started picking up. We went inside our house and we were texting a women from the ward for weather updates. She told us the tornado warning was no longer a warning but a watch. I thought that was a good thing but then my companion said that the watch was worse than the warning so we put on our shoes and bike helmets and sat inside a closet. It was pretty funny. The storm pretty much ended at 10 and so we went to sleep but we slept with water and flashlights. It was honestly pretty cool. The next morning we went outside and there were big tree branches on the ground right outside our house but our house was fine which is great.
We are all totally safe. I love you all sooo much :)
Love Always,
Sister Anderson
When I was tracting we went to a house and three children answered the door. We asked if their parents were home and the two oldest ones said no but the littlest one said yes. It was so funny. We just told them to give our card to their parents and then before they could shut the door we heard their parents. It was a funny experience. Sister Nash and I like to laugh at all of our funny experiences. Another time this man asked us who the creator of the church was so I said innocently "Jesus" and then he was like "no, no, you know, the creator of your church." so Sister Nash looked at him and said, "OHHHH!! Jesus" all innocently again. It was the funniest thing. Then she said, "I think you are thinking about Joseph Smith" and then he was like "Yeah! Him." Sister Nash and I like teaching true doctrine, and sometimes that means making people a little upset. But hey, I think it is great that we can have fun while talking about our religion. "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy."
This week I also tried a pickled carrot. That was not too bad. The food here is honestly really good. Really fatty but that is alright and sometimes really spicy, but it is all really good. And I have been cooking which has been fun. I've made some casseroles and some spaghetti squash. There are also some yummy pizza places around here.
On Thursday Sister Nash and I received a text at about 2 that said there was a tornado warning later on this evening. We continued to tracked and then we were knocking on someones door and she pulled up and ran inside and said she didnt have time to talk with us because she had to grab money and go to the store because she needed to buy water. She told us to go home and to come back some other time but that we needed to go home. So Sister Nash and I went into our car and prayed about it (the weather was sunny and no breeze) but we knew we needed to go home. On our way home the rain started coming down like no bodies business! It was crazy! And there were puddles everywhere and the wind started picking up. We went inside our house and we were texting a women from the ward for weather updates. She told us the tornado warning was no longer a warning but a watch. I thought that was a good thing but then my companion said that the watch was worse than the warning so we put on our shoes and bike helmets and sat inside a closet. It was pretty funny. The storm pretty much ended at 10 and so we went to sleep but we slept with water and flashlights. It was honestly pretty cool. The next morning we went outside and there were big tree branches on the ground right outside our house but our house was fine which is great.
We are all totally safe. I love you all sooo much :)
Love Always,
Sister Anderson
This is when I went on exchanges and this is the Sister who kept saying that her and I are so so similar. She is awesome so I would be happy to be like her :)
Address
|
12/29/15
| | ||
This email I am using is the email for my entire mission and this address below is mine for while I am in the MTC
JAN11 MS-JAC
2005 N 900 E Unit 57
Provo UT 84602
Week 1
|
Jan 6
| | ||
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
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)