Week 46: We back!

Hola familia y amigos!

We back! Who doesn't love a sequel amiright? And I hit my year mark this week so it's all just coming in nicely. Here's how my first week back went.

I arrived to San Antonio monday and had our little introduction. We got to walk around the San Antonio temple and spend some time with President. Then, because transfers were happening on thursday they put all of us in temporary trios. I got put with Elder Olea and Elder Densley.

Tuesday we had service with an older member of our ward. He wanted us to replace the water in his pond and river thing and also clear off this treehouse he had built a little while ago. It was about three stories and when we got to the top we saw this grey fox perched on the fence of the tree house like a cat. It was nuts. Then it jumped. I'm pretty sure it hurt itself because its not a cat but I guess we'll never know. 

Thursday was transfer day! I got put with an Elder named Elder Earl. Really cool guy from Orem, Utah with about 18 months in the mission. My area is Dripping Springs which is right near Austin. Really cool area with some great members I am super pumped about it. These transfers were also very significant because the San Antonio mission is splitting and making the Austin mission! So I am officially going to be in my third mission, as a member of the Texas Austin Mission. Our president comes this Wednesday it should be a great experience. 

Saturday we had another service project with a lady named Tina. She is not a member and is originally from Germany. Missionaries before us had given her a Book of Mormon and had been in contact with her. We laid a bunch of mulch for her and spread it out. We then were able to share a spiritual thought with her and testify of Christ. We had her read it in her German Book of Mormon to really take it in. We read Helaman 5:12 and discussed it. We hope to see some progress with her soon. 

Good first and last week in the Texas San Antonio mission and I'm excited for my first official week in the Texas Austin mission! 

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson 

 

 

 

 

Week 36: Yorley Baptism

Hola familia y amigos

We baptised our friend Yorley. It was a pretty cute service. The jumpsuit we brought for her didn't fit her so she wore my shirt. It was pretty funny.

I'm also coming home. We come home Wednesday and will be in 14 day quarantine. Then it looks like Ill be reassigned. We will see what the Lord has in store for me. 

Love and miss you all see you soon haha

Elder Anderson

Photos

Week 35: Coronavirus in Mexico

Hola familia y amigos,

Crazy week here in the mission! The Corona Virus is really messing everything good up but we are working through it! The good thing is that the Corona Virus can ́t handle the HEAT so we are chill here in Papantla. 

But yeah church is CANCELED so it was kind of a challenge because only like a HUGE part of the conversion process is going to church every Sunday hahaha. So what we did here in our mission (and will continue to do if it continues) is that on Sundays, in order to count like the people  ̈went to church ̈, we have to have an appointment with them, bring a member of the ward, and teach the chapter from Come, Follow Me that is assigned for this week. So yesterday we met with all of our friends and taught them a little bit from Come, Follow Me with members and it was honestly so awesome. 

This week I really gained a testimony of Come, Follow Me and home-centered learning because we had some pretty awesome appointments yesterday. The way we were able to teach through the study guide and share a lesson with them made a huge difference and gave them a chance to learn how to be spiritually self-sufficient which is one of the most important parts of a true conversion process. We need to learn how to study, learn, and apply the teachings of the scriptures daily so that we always stay close to the spirit and the word of God.

It was also really good to visit people with members of the church. They always say that we should do it but it always makes me super scared and with how busy we are I don't love wasting time to find someone to join us but I really think I am going to apply it from now on because it really helps in the teaching process as well. 

Also Papantla is like SUPER awesome and has a ton of history and tradition. They have something super crazy that are called Voladores (see photo at end of email). It's basically people like spin in circles upside down and the person in the middle plays some type of song. It freaked me out but was also really cool. They are some pretty awesome things here I am already really enjoying my time. 

Also shoutout to the Utah Family that found us in the street the other day walking. They were on vacation and were visiting Veracruz for some reason haha. They chatted a little bit with us and then gave us money to eat dinner (BLESSINGS). Never thought that would happen here in Papantla haha but we get a little bit of everything I guess.

Well that was the week! Crazy stuff! I hope everyone is healthy and happy!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson 

Photos!

1.VOLADORESSSSS 

2. VOLADORESSSSSSSSSS

 

Week 34: Tajin Ward

Hola familia y amigos,

Week 1 down out here in Papantla!! Honestly I am super hyped up about this new area we have a ton of good stuff going on already. 

In Papantla there are like a ridiculous amount of hills and so we are kind of dying but we are adjusting little by little. There are also a few really high flights of stairs which are also super scary. One day we were knocking doors and sometimes when people aren't interested we say ¨thank you for your time ̈  and we ask them if they know anyone that could benefit from our message. One of these people told us that there was someone at the top of this flight of stairs that was sick that we could visit. So like good missionaries we climbed this flight of stairs just to find out that no one there was sick haha. I don't know if they were just confused or that they wanted us to climb but it's totally fine haha.

Tajin is also a super awesome ward. We have been working with a ton of members and seeing who they know that we can teach. They are so willing to help us out and are also so willing to really get involved in missionary work. Honestly a huge blessing in the mission when you have that kind of support. 

That's all from this week! Loving the start of this new transfer and hope to have lots of success!!!
Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

Photos!

1. the flight of stairssss

2. PAPANTLA

 

Week 33: Transfer to Zona Papantla

Hola familia y amigos,

After 4 and a half months here in the comfortable confines of Xalapa I will be heading back up north! I will be heading to Zone Papantla and am EXTREMELY excited to head back up in the HEAT just in time for Veracruz to start to heat up for the SpringTime. I will serve as District Leader another transfer and my ward is Tajin. I will be arriving in Whitewash (when two missionaries arrive to the area at the same time) with an elder named Elder Caceres. Arriving in Whitewash is definitely going to be a huge challenge for my companion and I but I am super excited for this new challenge. Every transfer the Lord continues to push me to see if I can unlock my potential and this is just another one of those opportunities. I am sad to leave Macuiltepetl but I am grateful for all the memories I have there and for all of the success I was able to have preaching the gospel. 

Not much to update from my last week in Macuil. We had the opportunity to go on splits two days this week. The first I was able to accompany an Elder Martinez in his area and see how his friends are doing. I was able to get to know one of them that has been assisting a few times with them and we were able to teach a really awesome lesson. After that I was joined by Elder Godfrey one of our Zone Leaders in my area and was able to learn a bit from him. We also bought a 65 peso pizza that just opened up next door and it was pretty bomb. Splits are a great opportunity for us to receive feedback on our missionary work as well as help other missionaries learn a little bit about what they can do better.

Other than that really nothing else to report on. Love this work so much and I know my Savior lives. 

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

Photos!

1. Zona Macuil

2. goobye pic

3. goodbye pic

4. oxxo

5. goodbye pic

 

 

Week 32: Fasting

Hola familia y amigos,

Good week here in Macuiltepetl but fairly uneventful. We have a ton of people coming to church with us right now which is super awesome and we were able to confirm Soemi a member of the church which made us super happy. 

We were also able to do a fast with one of our friends in relation to her baptismal date which was a really cool experience for us. We fast pretty often but It was my first time doing a fast with one of our friends and it's something really special and different. I think she really saw our love and developed her own testimony of fasting, and we know the Lord will bless us in our sacrifice. 

I feel like I say this every 6 weeks but this may be my last week in Macuiltepetl as transfers are this upcoming weekend. This is the longest I have ever been in an area and it has been really cool to see the growth of the ward in my 4 and a half months serving here. The work has really progressed recently and I am grateful to have seen success in my time here. 

Love this work so much and testify of the truthfulness of it!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

Photos!

1. Elder McCollum and I rocking our painted ties

 

Week 31: Miracles in Macuiltepetl

Hola familia y amigos,

Another great week in Macuiltepetl! We saw so many miracles and are seeing so much success right now. The sad thing is that I am most likely out of here in the next two weeks but there are so many people that are progressing so rapidly almost makes me wanna stay another 6 weeks haha. Here's a wrap up:

To start we had a baptism! Soemi, a good friend of ours for a while, made the decision to be baptised this weekend and we couldn't be happier for her. In her testimony during the baptismal service she shared that on the way to the service her son asked her what she was hoping to get out of being baptised in the church. She got emotional as she told us that she was looking for a guide and that she knows she found it here within the church. She is so awesome and has a ton of faith. The other elders in the ward also had a baptism and so a ton of people came to support. It was a pretty awesome day for us. 

On Sunday we saw more miracles as we had a couple more friends of ours attend church with us. It is always an awesome feeling when you see some of the people you've been teaching walk through the chapel doors for the first time. Especially here in Macuil, where when you walk through the doors of the church you walk right into the sacrament meeting haha. And we don't have enough chairs to seat all the members and so we always scramble to find a chair for them. It's a lot of fun. 

Also the greatest miracle is that people are reading the Book of Mormon like crazy here. We gave one to a lady that we started teaching without a huge explanation because we didn't have a lot of time and she's already in 2 Nephi haha. Another girl we have been teaching is already like a 4th through the Book. They say that conversion is easiest when they take the time to read the book that holds everything we teach together and we are 100% seeing that right now haha. Miracles after miracles here in Macuiltepetl!

The work is going STRONG here and I am loving it. The worst weeks and days in the mission are always followed by the best weeks and days. I love this gospel and this work!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Anderson

Photos!

1. Baptism with Soemi!

2. Everyone who came to the baptismal service!