Week 26: Feliz Cumpleaños to Me!

Hola familia y amigos!!

Hit the 20 mark today!! Thanks for the birthday wishes and for all of your wonderful support. While I may be far away I feel your influence close always and I am so grateful for that.

Another week has passed here in Macuiltepetl 2 and maybe my last!! We have transfers coming up this week and so we will here if I get to stick around here a bit longer. I love it here and we have some great friends that are meeting with us. We will just have to wait and see!!

I think I have mentioned before that the ward here has a soccer activity every Friday night which always brings in a ton of members and their friends. Many of the members are inactives too which gives us a good chance to talk with them. We have really been pushing this activity with people we find as a way for them to get to know the church and the members a little bit. Sometimes we see kids playing in the street and we just go up to them and talk to them and tell them about it. This last week we were able to get a couple awesome families we met to come and they brought a ton of people. We were then able to casually talk about missionary work and the gospel with them and they were super interested. It was just a testament to me that it takes some creativity to find and teach people in missionary work. While knocking door to door works, there are many more effective ways in order to prove that we are not robots teaching lessons but real people who want to be their friends and want to make their lives better. Knocking doors and teaching lessons is an outdated way to do work. In this day and age it takes love and care and creativity in order to get people to develop a strong testimony of the gospel.

That´s all I got this week!!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

fotos!

1. the zone!

2. the district!!

3. heading home! (not really)

4. the endless pile of snacks the fam sent for christmas (we already finished it all)

Week 25: Ice Skating in Mexico

Hola familia y amigos!!!

Sorry I wasn't able to get an email out this last week and this email is going to be super short as well. A lot more to do down here in Xalapa than other areas of the mission haha. Here is a quick wrap up of the last couple weeks

- Last few weeks we have had a few challenges because many people have been leaving for the winter vacations. We have been doing a lot of contacting to try and find more people but a lot of people just aren't in their houses at the moment. We do have a couple friends that are progressing really well and will have some baptisms coming up in the next few weeks which is super exciting

-This monday we went ice skating which was super crazy. The rink wasn't great but I felt a little bit at home shredding it up on the ice like always. We also played a little bit of basketball with the other missionaries which also made me feel at home. We also went to a torta shop (tortas are like huge sandwich type things) and the guy told us that no one has ever finished his torta. He even said he'd them to us half off if we finished them. So us 4 poor missionaries with the superhuman ability to save money all downed our tortas and left. It was something else. 

Really nothing else to report on!! We are working really hard and making every day count out here! Hope everyone had a great New Years!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

Photos!

1. Ice Skating rink!

2. Ice Skating!

3. Veracruz!

4. the tortasssss

 

Week 24: Feliz Navidad!

Hola familia y amigos y FELIZ NAVIDAD!!

What a wonderful time of the year!!! Today our P Day got changed so that we can spend today resting and enjoying the Christmas Spirit. Here's what I have been up to!

Last Friday we had a Ward Christmas activity and invited a lot of people to take part in it. We sang some hymns, a couple people played awesome musical pieces, we talked about the meaning of Christmas and ate some delicious Pozole. It was a really fun event and it was nice that it was here nice and close and not super far in the Stake Center. We had a couple investigators come and check it out, which was nice to see as well.

Our ward Christmas program for Sunday was really cool too. We had three really awesome talks about Christmas and Jesus Christ and it was very spiritually uplifting. Afterwards we had some Ponche and Tortas and chatted a bit. Again a couple investigators showed up and looked like they had a really good time. We have seen some awesome progress recently and I think it's due to the spirit at this point in the year. 

Yesterday we spent the day giving a few Christmas gifts to members who have really helped us out and some investigators that we are really close with. It was really fun to give a little tiny bit back to those that are constantly helping us out with the Missionary Work and share a little bit with them. A few of them were super surprised and felt really good so that was really awesome to hear. With Light the World, giving gifts and Christmas activities there are so many awesome ways to invite people to hear more about the church in this time of the year. It has been pretty great.

Today we had a little Christmas activity with the rest of the missionaries in our Zone and hung out a little bit and ate some food and hot chocolate and had a good time! It was a pretty fun way to spend Christmas day especially because almost nothing is open haha. 

Well that was Christmas for ya!! Now gotta prep for New Years Eve!!!!

Love and miss you all!!

Elder Anderson

No pics this week :(

Week 23: Cold-Hearted Rejection

Hola familia y amigos!!!

First week of this transfer already down, it feels like it has been flying by I can't even believe it. I am coming up on the 6 month mark on the mission and can ́t even believe that I am about to finish a fourth of my mission. Makes me cherish every precious day here in the mission and never take for granted the opportunities I am given. 

This week was a pretty tough one. We focused almost 100% on finding new people with very little luck. My companion Elder Ramos has spent his whole mission in the north so he kind of got caught off guard with the cold-hearted rejection we receive so much here haha. He's learning quick though which is good. Here in the city we find some of the most open, receptive people and we also find some of the meanest, closed off people we can find. It's all worth it though because people are listening and are making changes in their lives which is awesome to see. 

This week was also the stake christmas activity and we were able to go and celebrate a little bit of Christ's birth. Such a powerful time here in the mission and it is crazy how many people soften their hearts in this season of the year. It doesn't feel like December here but it sure does feel like Christmas haha. Lots of Christmas lights and lots of joy as well. 

That's really all I got for ya this week! Hope all is well back home and only 9 days till Christmas!!!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

Pictures!

1. A while back in the Christmas Conference with President and Sister Equihuas

2. Tortas we made and ate

3. Making the Tortas with Hermana Lulu

4. The DISTRICT

Week 22: Christmas Conference!

Hola familia y amigos!!

This week was super fun and had a lot of great highlights. 

This week we had our Christmas Conference, where the five southern zones of the mission came together to play games, sing Christmas songs, eat lots of food, and do some skits as well.  It was a super great experience and I think really helped the missionaries in this time of the year with Christmas coming up and everything. It is crazy the family feel that we have in the mission and I am so grateful for all the missionaries here in Xalapa. 

Also, this week is the week of transfers!! I will be staying here as senior companion and will be joined by Elder Ramos, from the other side of Veracruz. He arrived one transfer after me so it will be fun to have two newbies out here in the city together with lots of energy and spirit. I am grateful for this past transfer with Elder Gonzalez and have learned an incredible amount from him. We have a lot of great things happening here and I am so pumped to stay here for the Christmas season and help more people find this joy!

Other than that not a ton to update on!! Just doing the Lord's work day after day!!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

Pic!

 With President and Sister Esquihuas at the Christmas Conference

Week 21: Baptism!

Hola familia y amigos!

This week was a great week! This transfer is coming to a close and we have seen more and more miracles as we get closer and closer to the end. We found some more great people to teach and we actually able to give more and more meaningful lessons which has been something we have been struggling with. 

We also had a baptism this week! This weekend our friend Karla made the decision to be baptised and confirmed a member of the church. We first met her and her family our second day in this transfer and we could see that they needed the gospel in their lives. They were stressed, overwhelmed and had been having issues in their family. But after just a couple visits with them we saw a complete 180 degree turn. They were happy and energetic, and I know it was only through the healing power of the gospel and The Atonement of Jesus Christ that they were able to make this change in their lives. 

Other than that not much to report on! We have a fun Christmas Conference coming up which will make the last week of this transfer extra exciting. I love this work and I love this gospel!

Miss and love you all!

Elder Anderson

1. Baptism of Karla! 

Week 20: Thanksgiving in Macuiltepetl

Hola Familia y Amigos!

Another week here in Macuiltepetl and an early Thanksgiving to everyone back home! It is crazy to be spending my first Thanksgiving away from home. Good thing the people don't celebrate it here so it'll be just a normal week here preaching the gospel! Here are some highlights from the past week.

Unlike the last couple weeks we had a full week of work which was super nice. We were able to find a ton of new people to teach and we have huge aspirations for them. Finding people in the mission can be done in many ways. Of course there is the normal door approach but many times it ends with a fat door in our face. However, since my companion and I both love dogs we have found a ton of success in stopping dog walkers and asking to pet their dogs. After a short conversation and a lot of help from the spirit we are normally able to get a return appointment with them. After hours and hours of contacting you gotta get a little creative. Everyone needs the gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives so whichever way can get you in the door works.

Each Friday night we host a sports activity for the members in our ward and ask them to invite their friends to play with us. We always get a good amount of people and it has been a good opportunity to introduce some of our investigators to our members if they are too shy to go to church. We always play a little bit of basketball and then some soccer. And I don't mean to brag but us 4 missionaries here are almost unstoppable when its time to play some soccer. And our team includes two Americans who hardly know how to play. I guess our missionary calling is enough to lead us to victory haha.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving I would like to thank everyone for all they have done for me. I am so grateful for the time I have to serve here and I can't imagine what I would be without it. I am grateful for everyone that helped me get here and for everyone that continues to support and pray for me in my work here. More than anything else though I am thankful for the restored church of Jesus Christ and for the blessings and happiness that it brings. I am grateful for The Book of Mormon and for closeness I feel to my Heavenly Father when I get the opportunity to read it. I am grateful for our living prophet Russell M Nelson and for the revelation he receives for us. And more than anything I am grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and that through Him I can be saved. I am grateful for His Atonement and for the strength He gives me everyday. I do it all for Him.

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

Photos!

1. Macuiltepetl!!!