Week 80: Burst Pipes and Rolling Blackouts

 Hey y'all!!

As y'all may have heard. This was a crazy week in the great state of Texas. We had record low numbers temperature-wise, and it did some pretty serious damage to the state. We also got lots of snow and ice, which kept us locked in for a few days. I don't think any of us out here were prepared for these incredibly cold days and it definitely showed. Here's a recap of some of the things that went down this week. 

Last Monday morning we woke up without power. Because of problems caused by the ice and an overwhelming need for electricity, the whole state was doing rolling blackouts, which basically meant on for a few hours, off for a few hours. This went on from Monday until about Thursday. It wasn't too big of an inconvenience, expect for when you'd be showering and all of a sudden it's pitch black. But we worked around it.

A huge problem in the state though were pipes bursting. Because they had never dealt with such freezing temperatures many of the pipes were not protected enough and many of them broke. Because of that our water got shut off for a little bit but we filled up our bathtubs and did the necessary preparations.

On Wednesday we got permission from our president to go and do some proselyting at our church building. However when we got there the alarm was going off, and the building as flooded. Apparently a fire sprinkler line broke and started flooding into some of the rooms. Luckily we caught it though before serious damages were made. We then left and had some other tasks to do. However at 7 or so at night my companion and I got the feeling to return to our church building to see if everything was alright. When we got there, we unfortunately saw more flooding, this time right over one of the offices onto a ton of technology, a huge fire hazard. Because we had already shut off the emergency system no one else would have come and no one else was planning on entering the building. I know that feeling to go back to the church was from God so that we could catch the burst before any serious damage was done to the church.

Well those are some of the many events that happened over this last week! We also spent some time shoveling snow and looking for ways to help out in the community. There are lots of people still struggling and we want to help them.

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson 

 

 

Week 79: Snow in TX

 

Hey y'all!!!

This weeks been cold!!! Snow, ice, and negative weather has kept us Inside most of the week. Who knew it would get like this in Texas haha. I sure didn't. However the greatness of this new age of technology is that we can do it from home without a problem! So we stayed just as busy as normal. Here are some of the highlights.

-Last Monday, one of the members took us up to this hill in our area. Hes an architect and has been working on a project there. But it was also the place where the stake President had came a few years earlier and blessed the area specifically for the preaching of the gospel to the Spanish speakers. As we went up there I couldn't help but think about how blessed I have been in Marble Falls and for all the miracles I have seen. This area is definitely an area that's extremely watched over and protected from the Lord. 

-Tuesdays we have recently started volunteering at a Food Bank in Granite Shoals. Its a fun time and they really appreciate our help. We push shopping carts of food for people and then help a lot with clean up. Its a good time and always good to give back.

-Because the weather started to get bad early Thursday we made a last minute decision to cancel our English Class. However a few people still showed up so we were able to get to know them better and have a little English Class with them. It ended up being a good experience for sure.

-Also Thursday we had a lesson with a lady named Martha. Elder Jenson reached out to her over Facebook and she accepted a visit over zoom. To start the visit we shared the "Good Things to Come" video. Because we were sharing our screen we couldn't see her reaction but when we dropped we could see she was crying. She said she really needed that and wanted to come closer to God because she was losing her faith. She said my companion reaching out to her was a sign that God was trying to help. It was a powerful lesson and we plan on meeting with her again.

Those are some of the highlights!!

Stay warm y'all!

Love and miss you all, 

Elder Anderson

 

 

Week 78: English Classes

 

Hey y'all!

I think I say this every week but this week FLEW BY. It's always crazy when it gets back around to Monday because I always feel like I just barely wrote one of these emails. Anyways here are the highlights!

We had our first English class this week! It was an awesome experience to begin the class. 11 people showed up ready to learn English and we have several more who plan on attending in the coming weeks. At the beginning of the class we started with a prayer and a scripture, and also mentioned that after the hour long class we would have a quick discussion about Jesus Christ for all those who wanted to stay. The class itself was a success, and then 7 of the 11 stayed for the spiritual thought afterward and loved it. We can't wait to see the future of the class and the opportunity it will give us to meet so many people as well as help so many people who need to learn english at this time. 

Other than that we have really been focusing on our friends that we have been teaching. We played some basketball with the Gayosso boys on Saturday and had a good time with them. We met twice with the Estradas and have been moving through the commandments. We met with Julio on Sunday and had a good discussion about 1 Nephi 11 (he LOVES the Book of Mormon). We have so many people we are teaching and have been so lucky to see their growth at this time. 

Love and miss you all! 

Elder Anderson

 

 

Week 77: English Classes

 Hey y'all!

This week blew by! So much going on, so many things to do, yet so little time haha. Its been a huge blessing that we have stayed so busy, recently, the Lord continues to bless us with so many opportunities to do things. Most of this week we haven't even really had to daily plan, we just wake up and our schedule is made for us. It's crazy that even as we continue to feel restricted every now and then with the pandemic and everything we still find a way to be some of the busiest I have been in my mission.

One new thing we are doing is starting an English class! Because we are trying to grow our Spanish group here in Marble Falls we have been looking for new ways to reach and target Spanish speakers in the area. Last week we decided to start preparing to make a Free English Class for those in the area as a way to serve those in the community, as well as get to meet new people. There are so many people here who come over from Latin America who know hardly any English and have a tough time getting around so we want to help give them the resources to be able to communicate better. Our first class starts this Thursday and we hope that a ton of people will come. 

To advertise the English class we have been asking to put flyers up at local restaurants and gas stations. As we were driving the other night my companion spotted a little Mexican food truck and we decided to ask. After chowing down on some yummy food we asked to put up a flyer and they said of course and asked when the classes were. They all said they were interested in coming and that they will be there. It was awesome to see that people actually really need this service and would jump on the chance to attend.

We also had MLC this week! It was a super powerful conference, with a lot of great training and teaching from our President. One big focus for the conference was repentance, and how we can better use repentance as well as teach it to our friends that we are teaching. We had some great discussion and were asked to study repentance this week and see how we can apply it better in our teaching. We also talked about some mission goals for the year 2021 and the optimism we have to be able to have lots of success teaching and finding people this year. Even after a rough 2020 our mission is optimistic because of the things we have learned in this last year in regards to technology and social media. I know 2021 will be an incredible year for missionary work.

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson