Week 34- welcome to anderson y nielsens bike school (6/19/17)

Yaaalllll wooooo this week has been SO AWESOME WOW. so awesome. To
start off the week, we went on a super awesome exchange! I got to go
to a super awesome area se llama El Camino jajaja. It really is el
camino tho. That area is poppin! I was with Hna Vazquez and we had a
bunch of awesome lessons set up. We got this dude on date who's like
super prepared and then also we had this BOMB restoration lesson. Like
super bomb. We were planning on teaching like 4 ppl, but then it ended
up being like 7 and we still had enough Book of mormons for everyone!
One of the dudes pulled a nice hardback off their book shelf which was
cool! So we had enough to give to everyone! They were all like super
into it tho. Like really into it. Asking questions and they were all
reading along when we read moronis promise! Ahh probs one of the best
restos I've ever been in. Rlly cool.

Then we had a super awesome district meeting this week too. We trained
on charity and then our DL trained on putting people on date, but then
if they say no what to do after that. We did a bunch of role plays and
it was super cool. I normally kinda hate roleplays but this one felt
so good and I really just loved it. And so he invited us to find a new
person this week that isn't in our teaching pool and put them on date!
So we were like super pumped up after that. Like on fire about to set
the world on date kinda pumped up jajaja. Anyway so that night we went
to dinner with this less active lady and come to find out, her 4 sons
age 8-14 aren't baptized!!,;¡¡ like omggggg! Miracles! So we had a
bomb lesson with them on baptism and confirmation and got those kiddos
on date for July 15th! We did this cool new object lesson with them
that Hna Nielsen taught me using ketchup! You squirt ketchup into
their hands and get them to rub it in like lotion. Then give them a
paper towel to wipe it off! But it doesn't come all the way off and
they're still sticky. So then you run it under water and explain that
baptism, or water, is the only way that we can become completely
clean! Cool huh!

Then on Saturday we had this super awesome ward party. Hispanics know
how to party lemme tell ya. We had a taco bar and sandia (watermelon)
and then a bunch of us played soccer afterwards! And we had 3 of our
investigators show up too which was awesome! 2 named Bruno and
Leonardo are really cool. They just barely moved here from Peru and
are probably the most prepared people I've ever met (since Olga jaja)
and they're so cool! We taught them on the Thursday before and covered
a bunch of commandments and they've literally been living the gospel
their whole lives without even knowing it! They're so open to learning
more and more and I love it. They've been having a hard time accepting
a baptismal date because they've felt like they haven't gotten a
specific answer and still want to keep learning more before they take
the first step. But in our lesson last night, our WML came with us who
has become really good friends with them the past few weeks. And we
were just talking with them and we talked about how we receive answers
from the spirit and how we don't have to know everything before we
decide to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ. They also accepted a
date for July 15th and it was so cool!

Then also this week we helped this sister learn how to ride a bike bc
she never actually learned as a kid! So we went and spent like 2 hours
with them in a stake center parking lot teaching her how and she did
super good! We had a fun time haha.

Also rodrigo, our dude that just walked up to us on the street the
other week is doing super great! He's progressing really well and has
read like almost everything we've given him. Gods been preparing him
and he knows it! Super cool dude.

Anyway have a great week errbody! Missionary work is the best, y'all
should try it!

Hna anderson


#bikesquad

cool sunset

made this cool sign over a bridge

Week 33- millracin' (6/12/17)

Heyyyy everyone! Im loving my new area! It's so fun and there's SO
MANY PEOPLE HERE seriously I haven't talked to so many people just out
on the street ever before. It's so cool. Our area has a lot of trailer
parks and apartment complexes so it's like super  perfect. My new
companion is hermana Nielsen! This is her last transfer so I will be
killing her wooooo jaja. But we've definitely had a good time this
week. We were probably the busiest I've ever been in my whole mission
with appointments stacked up and also a ton of meetings and helping
some sisters move in.

But one night this week when one of our appointments fell though, we
were just walking down the street of majestic oaks, one of the trailer
parks here. There's a ton of latinos here. A ton. So we were just
walking down the street and this guy walks by and he's on the phone so
we just said hi and started to walk by him, but then he hangs up and
comes over to us real fast and starts talking to us! We tell him we
are missionaries and then he just tells us his whole life story and
everything he's been through and how now he has this condition with
his nervous system that makes things hard for him. And he was just
asking things like why is God making these things happen to me? And
where can I find some peace? And we were like OKKKKK Jesus gotchu
homie! And we shared the video gracias a el with him and talked about
the plan of salvation with him as we were walking around the trailer
park with him haha. Then at the end after we had set up an appointment
and got his address and stuff, he was like you know I don't think it
was a coincidence that I met you guys. And we were like 😱😛😌 nope
definitely wasn't! He's super cool we're pumped to start teaching him.

Then this week we also had MLC which was really cool! We watched this
Mormon message about a gold panner in the California gold rush and how
he was expecting to find huge gold nuggets every day, but he wasn't!
Then this older gold panner gives him advice and tells him to look for
the little small flecks of gold because those are worth just as much.
President applied it to our missions and our areas and how when we
come out we expect to find a bunch of people that are super prepared
to hear the gospel and we just dunk em real quick. But he said most of
the time the people we teach are just little golf flecks. They're
still just as valuable but just take more time to understand and come
to know that it's true. And that is so true! I've heard so many
missionaries complaining about a "dead" area but honestly there's no
such thing. We need to pick up every rock and look under every stone
to see those gold flecks and sometimes God might decide to throw a
nuggets in there. But it all depends on our attitude and our
perspective. Also we read D&C 59 which I highly suggest. Super good.

Millrace is super awesome and I'm pumped to be here. I'm so grateful
to be a missionary! Seriously there's no better work than the lords
work.

Hurs some pics. Love y'all.
Hna anderson


Last selfie as comps with warden 😭

Said goodbye to sephanie and fam 

MLC

Hna Nielsen y yo

a cute little girl we are teaching

went to a quinceańera woooo

in one of the trailer parks lol

Week 32- "newness is the way of the lord" (6/5/17)

Hey yall! This week has been crazy and it's about to get crazier. Our
basement flooded again this weekend and also Our area is getting
whitewashed (we are both leaving). Our mission president whitewashed
like half the areas this transfer just because he likes to do that a
lot. He says newness is the way of the Lord. So there's that. But I'll
be going to millrace in Taylorsville and warden is going to magna, my
greenie área. Don't have too much time to write anything else but
here's some pics. Love y'all!



saying goodbye to Maritza and Abraham

Saying goodbye to Angelo and fam

went and did baptisms for the dead w Maritza and Abraham on Friday😭😇💖

Classic warden y anderson selfie

Last district meeting

Rainbow!

Saying goodbye to Sonia one of our favs

Week 31- "espero que comes hormigas y pican aquí" (5/29/17)

Hola familiares y amigos! Está semana pasada estaba tan buena. Me
encanta esta área mucho y estoy tan agradecida que yo tengo la
oportunidad servir aquí.

We've had some pretty funny things happen this week along with some
awesome miracles. The beginning of this week, there was a mouse stuck
in our window well and it was like making these loud squeaky noises
and being super annoying. So we decided that we were done and went
outside with buckets and shovels and bread in attempt to try to get it
out of there. It took us like a solid hour. In the mean time I stepped
in an ant pile and freaked out and fell over this pot right behind me.
Warden said it looked like it could have been on americas funniest
home videos hahaha. But eventually we got the mouse out using a
bucket, a shovel to block it from running, and a piece of bread! Then
later that night we helped out at the English class and opened up the
nursery for the kids who's parents were in the class. One of the kids
was destroying someone else's lego tower and warden told him he had to
say sorry. He then proceeded to get super angry and scream and cry.
She kept telling him that he needed to go say sorry bc it wasn't nice
and he finally said to her with all of the anger in his body " espero
que comes hormigas y te pican aquí! (Violently pointing to his neck)"
hahaha it was probably the funniest thing ever. He told her that he
hopes she eats ants and they bite her throat. So that's been our
little inside joke for the past couple days hahaha.

But right after the English class, we were gonna head home bc it was
getting kinda late. But then we were walking and just talking about
the really good arepas we had for dinner, and warden was like let's go
stop by and see if natalie is home. Earlier we had an awesome miracle
of finally finding natalie after like a month. She was a self referral
because of some cool stuff in her life and she wanted to learn more
about the church and get baptized. But unfortunately her life is crazy
and she had court on may 9th and would possibly get deported and her
husbands job just moved him to Milwaukee for his job, and she had 3
kids and also had school full time and worked full time. We had been
praying for her every day, multiple times a day that she would be able
to stay in the country if it was gods will, and also that her husband
would be able to get moved back to salt lake or find a different job
here so they could be together as a family when we teach them. So we
haven't been able to be in contact with her and we were kinda
frustrated that we could never find her. So when we got to her house
her car wasn't in her driveway. So we called her, just like all of the
20 times before, and as we were leaving her a message they pulled in
the driveway! So cool! So we ran up to them super excited and they
were excited too. Apparently their phone has been broken and they
haven't been able to contact anyone for a while now. But we found out
that in Natalie's court, all went well and she is now able to apply
for citizenship which is HUGE! So many people are dealing with
immigration problems right now. And even people that have lived her
for like over 20 years are getting deported. A little sad. So she's
super happy bc she's from Venezuela and it's so bad there right now so
she absolutely didn't wanna go back. Then also we found out that her
husband, David, was able to get moved back to salt lake and he is
working here now and it's better than ever! Ahhhh! God is so cool
y'all. He truly hears us and answers our prayers. It may not be
immediately but in his own time he surely does. We were able to set an
appointment with them for a few days after but sadly they weren't
there when we went by. So we left some sticky notes and hopefully we
will find them again this week. But we're super happy that they are
all good and nothing happened to them! They're so good and the lord
truly has been preparing them to hear the gospel.

Then on Sunday for sacrament meeting, we have been planning to have a
sacrament about obra misional. So all of the ward missionaries and us
would give talks/bare our testimonies about the gospel. So me and
warden, 2 other hermanas, and Maritza y Abraham gave our testimonies.
And ahhhh the spirit was so strong in that room. This is probably the
most powerful sacrament meeting I've ever been in. The ward
missionaries shared their conversion stories and how the gospel has
changed their life and Maritza specifically talked about how she was
so excited to be able to be with her family forever and how they are
really excited to go to the temple next year. Then Hno Arango, our
gospel principles teacher/ward missionary gave an AWESOME talk and
pumped everyone up for doing missionary work. It was seriously the
perfect sacrament meeting. We had some new people at church and we
hope that it helped them feel the spirit and that it confirmed some
things for them. Then afterwards we had some dinner and had carne
asada tacos with some of the best frijoles I've her had. Seriously so
good. And their 2 boys reminded me of my brother Cody so it was a fun
time.

Overall this week was great. Realmente estoy tan agradecida que estoy
sirviendo una mission. Yo he visto la mano de Dios tantas veces y el
señor está bendiciendo la gente mucho. Obra misional es el mejora! Les
invito a orar sobre las personas en sus vidas y cómo pueden compartir
el evangelio con ellos. El evangelio es para todos y es un gran
bendición!

^^i invite y'all to pray about the people in yalls lives and how you
can share the gospel for the. Because really it's for everyone and
it's a huge blessing. Missionary work is the best and the joy that
comes from sharing the gospel is incomparable with anything else.

Have a great week! Love y'all!

Hna anderson

Week 30- when it snows in the middle of may (5/22/17)

That's right everyone, it snowed on Wednesday. Literally how does that
happen!? Idk. Literally Utah weather is the craziest thing I've ever
experienced.

Anyway this week was another great one for the books. We found a bunch
of new people to teach last week and also this week so we're pumped
about it. We've made it a goal to talk to everyone and it's working
out so well. You never know whose looking for the gospel! We found
this lady and taught her the restoration outside on her doorstep last
week and had set up another appointment to come back by the following
Tuesday. I honestly wasn't expecting her to be there because she
wasn't really paying too much attention and she kept saying she was
catholic over and over. But Tuesday morning when we showed up she was
there and ready for us! So awesome! And we taught her the plan of
salvation and she really liked it. She's this cute older lady named
Alicia. So we will see what happens!

Also about 2 weeks ago when we were on exchanges, we had an
appointment with this girl Gabriela that we have been teaching. We've
never met her husband because he's always working but he was there
that day and had quit his job like minutes before we came. We had a
suupppeeerrr bomb lesson with them and the husband really wanted to
start going to church. So that Sunday went by and he didn't come and
he didn't reply to any of our texts. Gabriela even wasn't home this
past week when we had our lesson scheduled. But this Sunday,
apparently he had gone over to the next door neighbors sad asked them
for help and said that he really wanted to go to church with them
because he knew they were members. So right as church is starting, him
and his 2 older kids walk into sacrament meeting along with la familia
Zárate! Woooo! We totally weren't expecting it so that was super
great. And in gospel principles we have this super good teacher and he
was asking questions left and right and you could just tell that he
was learning so much and feeling the spirit. So after class we set up
a time to come see them Sunday right after church at 7. But when we
got there he was a sleep, so we just taught Gabriela instead! But it
was actually great that he wasn't there. They definitely both have
different needs and with her she's really quiet and we feel like her
husband can be a little mean to her sometimes. So we had this super
good Jesus/restoration lesson and how she's stoked to read the Book of
Mormon. It was so cool to see the spirit just working on her during
that lesson and that she was finally understanding the gospel. So we
will see what happens!

We are also teaching someone right now that has cancer and is
currently going through chemo. We've had some bad luck stopping by the
past few times and have caught her when she's super weak and sick. But
this past weekend it was her sons birthday and she was feeling really
good! So we talked to her and her fam for a little bit but they were
kinda busy so we were just gonna head out and try to catch them
another time when we could share a message. But she wanted us to share
something even though they were busy and doing stuff, so she got
everyone in the room and let us share something with the whole family
send her sons girlfriend. She's so good. She always wants to read with
us and talk about God but it's hard for her because of her health so
we haven't had too many lessons with her. But hopefully soon we can!

We also had interviews with president this week and he told me and
warden that the likely hood of us staying together for a 4th transfer
was slim. ☹️ sad. But we're just gonna live it up the next 3 weeks
that we have left. It's the best to have a companion that works hard
but you can also have fun with.

Well eso es todo! Recuerden que Dios se ama y lean las escrituras!

Hna anderson



Some cool pink mountains

When it snows in May

 Chillin w bb isaac

Found ma girl Alexa!

Week 29: Feliz dia de las madres!

Hola todos! Espero que cada una de las madres tuvieron un buen día ayer! Estoy tan agradecía por mi mama. This week was so good! First of all we had zone conference on Tuesday and they focused lots on charity. It was something warden and I had been thinking about a little before so it was perfect. But we learned lots about charity and how we can better apply it in our missionary lives and how we can love our investigadores more fully. Really cool. So we have been working on that all week and have been praying for charity a lot. Moroni 7:48 Then we were able to go to a wedding in wardens old area this week as well. They had it in a stake center and were so pumped for them. One of them is getting baptized this next week which is really cool too! Then I was able to go to a baptism in my old area in magna. She was so excited to be getting baptized and it was so cute. The first lesson that I ever taught in the mission field was this little girl named Stephanie. She was like 9 almost 10, it was really cool to see how far their family has come in the past 4 months. I feel so lucky that I was able to have just a small part in knowing them and talking about the gospel with them. Then the best part of the week was olgas baptism! She got baptized on Saturday and a bunch of the ward came and also her daughter and her daughters husbands family. Literally we are so excited for her. She has SO MUCH FAITH YALL, and she's been so prepared. The lords hand has been in her life so much and everything that has happened to bring her here to the United States has been so that she can learn to the gospel! Seriously it's so cool. The part that she was most excited about was to receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. She's been talking about it for weeks and she finally got it on Sunday! In her blessing it talked about her being able to share the gospel with the rest of the family. She's already so good too. She tells her daughter everything she learns with us and shes such a good little missionary. I seriously feel so lucky to be able to know her and to have been able to see the change in her from the beginning. It's so cool how much happiness the gospel can bring to someone's life! Love y'all! Tengan una buena semana! Hurs some pics Hna anderson Zone conference Stephanie! After her baptism haha Olgas baptism! We're looking rough but we're so happy wit the fam and Hno Arango takin pics with our roses from mother's day even though we arent moms