March 25th

It has been another great week!

One of the highlights was a multizone conference we had with Elder Martinez of the 70. He spoke in the past general conference. He and his wife are both awesome and taught us a lot! Zone conferences are always really enlightening and fun, but this conference was especially wonderful.

We witnessed a ton of miracles this week, but I would say that the biggest would be that Junior is back on track. Its a really really long story, but basically we thought that he had developed an aversion t othe gospel and to us and that he had blocked our phone number, was avoiding us, and didn{t want anything to do with the churhc. Well, we saw him in the street and invited him to an activity and he came. THEN we met up with him a few days later and he was really mysterious and kept syaing he wanted to say things but didn{t know how (last time he gave us that speech it was to tell us that we shouldnt waste our time with him). So anyway we finally got him comfortable and do you know what he said? "What do I have to do if I want to be baptized?" Turns our he has a new class on Sundays anrd that his phone is legitimately ruined and basically he wasnt avoiding us at all and he wants to be baptized in 3 months when his class is over! After that evening I went home clapping my hands with joy and saying "i am in love, i am in love! with being a missionary!!!!!" 

Funny and adorable story from the week. Brett is 3. A few days ago he was really sick and so his dad laid his hands on his head and gave him a blessing. He got better. Last night Brett{s dad got sick. In the middle of the night his dad was miserable and Brett said, "Dad come here" and put his hands on his dad{s head and said a prayer. HIs dad got better.

This week has also been one of the best food weeks of my life. I love natural fruit and vegetables. And I love Hermana Funes and her Salvadoren{a cooking talents and inventions. I wish I had time to tell you all of the delicious things we have created this week but I think it would just cause lots of envy, so I shall refrain. 

I love you all very much!

HAve a great week

Here are pictures

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByRUZeow-VaVfjczem1WcUxlQTJ3LVA2YThod2wtYVRLMTRvV3N5SnlrLUYzRmlqbjEybUk&authuser=0

March 18th

Genesis made my week. She´s 4 years old and is my biggest fan. She´s a member of the church and her mom Magdeline goes with us to TONS of lessons and always brings Genesis, so of course Genesis wants to be a missionary! In Latin America everyone has two last names. One day Magdeline asked Genesis, "will you be Hermana Diaz or Hermana Rodriguez?" and Genesis said, "NEither! I will be Hermana Anderson!"

One highlight of the week was Jazmin, a young investigator, asking US what she needed to do to be baptized. (As opposed to us trying to help her understand the things and telling her why she should.) She is so eager and ready for this gospel.

Funny thing. We went to teach a less active member for the first time. She apparently talked to Joseph Smith and prayed to him to know that this was his church. Yup.

We had a super fun P Day today featuring a water fight. There are some pretty great photos of Hermana Funes and I right before some Elder decided it was a good idea to throw a bucket of water on us hahaha check it out

Also....I have reached the crest of the hill!!!! It is all downhill (time-wise) from here. NINE MONTHS down, nine months left. This half of my mission is going to be even more incredible than the first half :)

Love you all have a great week

HErmana Anderson

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByRUZeow-VaVeWF2bWk0bWR6MDA&usp=sharing

March 11th

The work rolls forth in Tierra Alta. Hermana Funes and I have been teaching lots of great lessons to great people. We have also had a lot of fun in the kitchen this week. Our inventures include:

-Pupusas. This is a typical Salvadorenan dish. Basically it is a small tortilla stuffed with cheese and refried beans. So delicious. 

 

-Guava-banana bread. I make banana bread like every week here because the members LOVE it and it's super fast and easy. But the other day someone gave us a bag of too-ripe guavas and I figured I would try to invent guava-banana bread. I was very pleased with the results and so were the members. My companion said that I need to go to culinary school to study baking...I'm assuming that it was a compliment and not an insult hahaha

 

-For P-Day Eve we made smores over the stove and they were delicious!

 

We had a fun ward activity playing a human version of chutes and ladders. Every time you landed on a "sin"you had to slide down and when you did things like read scriptures and bring friends to church you got to climbthe ladders!

 

A funny thingthat happened this week: so basically all day people try to speak english to us. They are usually teegs (tigres, aka punks) and so we usually ignore them. They other day someone walked past us saying things
like "hello how ah you baby"and when we didn't respond he said in spanish, "Hey! I'm bilingual! I speak every language!" Hermana Funes said to me, "I'm bilingual, but I only speak two"hahaha. 

Keep loving life and living the gospel. Start thinking about Easter and the anniversary of the Savior's miraculous resurrection. Share the message of His triumph over death with someone you love.

Have a great week!

Love Hermana Anderson

Here are pictures

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByRUZeow-VaVeDNlNnJiUm5Bd3c&usp=sharing

March 4th

It´s been a windy week! It has been interesting to have a transfer where my life stays the same. Same companion, same area, same members, SAME COMPANION. That´s a first. But I like it. I feel like the time actually goes faster when things remain more constant.

I actually don´t have that much to report this week. I´m learning to cook foods and we´re teaching lots of lessons and doing lots of service. I have spent a lot of time weeding and clearing fields and whatnot. Mangos and guayabas (guava) are in season again which is great. I´m still mindblown that it´s March! I´m getting really excited for General Conference and EASTER. 

My recommended reading for this week is Alma 5. Alma poses quite a lot of penetrating questions in this chapter and it is a really great time for self-reflection. After reading that chapter I would also recommend reading the General Conference talk from Elder Klebingat https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/approaching-the-throne-of-god-with-confidence?lang=eng

which gives inspired advice about how to confidently respond to the questions posed by Alma.

I would like to share with you all my testimony of the veracity of the Book of Mormon. No book has had so profound an influence on humanity nor can it have so profound an influence on every individual. It contains the complete gospel of Jesus Christ and a sincere study of the book brings with it the power to change you to become more like Him. It was written by inspired men who saw our day and is the key to preparing the kingdom of God on earth to receive the Lord in His not-too-distant Second Coming. The Book of Mormon is the word of God.

 

Have a wonderful week,

Hermana Anderson 

https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0ByRUZeow-VaVMlNxNHlsNEp4cVU&usp=sharing