Letter #78

Hey Family,

This week was pretty crazy! As you know we had transfers, and then add everything else normal going on... but it was a good week to say the least! I got a new companion! Don't laugh at his name... his name is Elder Balls! He presents himself as "Elder Pelotas" (which is balls in Spanish) and it was funny the first member we got to visit he presented himself and I started busting up laughing and the member looked at me and so I said "los chimes nunca van a acabar!" (the rumors will never stop) It was really funny because every house we went to he says his name they all laugh and he totally get smirks when he talks! Haha He is a funny guy, and he likes it when people make fun of his name! I.D.K. why but its funny! He is a newer missionary, he has been out for about 4 months! So he is a little baby!

The last couple of days has been really funny! Elder Balls always keeps me laughing, but he is serious when we need to be serious and we really enjoy our time! That is helping with my stress, I am learning to relax and have a good time! President told me that he is willing to take more responsibility so I am looking forward to having him do a lot and me relax more, than me doing everything!

I can't think of anything that happened this week except that Elder Jarvis and I took some cool videos and pictures on our last day together! There is a sweet picture at the church when Elder Jarvis was planking on my back! I will have to send that one!

One cool thing that happened is that we got home in 5 min from the Penillas house! They live about 10 minutes from our apartment with normal driving time, but we were needing to get home in time so I went full out trying to get home! Man it was crazy how we were able to get home, all you can here is TIWI saying check your speed like 40 times and me slamming on the brakes to get in the speed range then speeding up and man we made it home with 30 seconds to spare! It was a crazy miracle that all the lights happened to turn green as soon as we got to all them! 

But other than that I cant think of anything else to tell you!

Love y'all!

Elder Andersen

Letter #77

Hey Family,

This week is just full of crazy stuff! First, my companion is leaving the area which means that I am staying here for another transfer! I don't know what to think of that! I am kinda happy, but also kinda sad at the same time! I think I just want a new start out here! I am pretty sure the next transfer I will leave, but we will find out I guess!

It is starting to get a little cold out here in Houston! I will have to send a picture at the end of my letter! We visit the Cano's every day, and the husband is always working so we sit outside to give the lesson.  MAN it is cold being outside! They bring us out blankets as you can see in the picture I am sending! Today I bought some thermals, a beanie and a scarf to help keep me warm! For about 4 days I wore my PJ's under my clothes to keep me ward! It was still cold and they made my legs look huge! Haha! Luckily my pants are getting smaller because I was able to fit my PJ's so I am happy about that! Haha.

On Monday we had a Zone Activity. We played some games and it was a lot of fun! As some of you may know, as missionaries we like to buy the weirdest shirts and bring them to activity's. In fact I have a lot of weird shirts to bring home to show y'all! So recently on our p-day we went to Rue 21, it was just after Halloween and so all the stuff for Halloween was discounted! Most of the things were like $3.00! Of course I had to buy a costume at that price! I  bought a Robin costume... it comes with a cape and I think it is super cool! I will have to send a picture of that one too! It is funny how the missionaries like to dress at these activities! I have found some outrageously funny shirts... like today i saw this awesome shirt with Spongebob and Patrick riding on a cat through space. I wanted to get it, but it was too expensive! Haha! I love the activities we have! They are super fun! 

I cant think of anything else that happened this week!

Love Y'all!

Elder Andersen

 After our Lesson at The Cano's House...

The superhero Gang...

Letter #76

Hey Family!

First of all; if I did not reply to y'all this week then I am sorry! We have a Zone Activity and we are not able to be on for too long this morning. However, I hope you all can read this instead! :)
Man, I can't believe it already happened! I can remember just 6 months ago when Kevin and Crystal got engaged!! Now I will go home in less that 6 months! Time sure does fly! That is so cool of all that has happened for you all in the last weeks! Not too much has happened out here in the mission!

The Guillen family just got the machine that they needed for their son, and they will be flying out to El Salvador to give it to him! The cool thing is that they were able to come to church this week!! It was awesome! It just happened to be the Sunday for the ward Primary Program! Everyone loved it! The theme was "Families can be Together Forever"... it was a little sad to listen to what the kids were saying because it made me "trunky" (wanting to go home) but it was still really good! We had a lot of people go to support and watch the kids! There were a couple of English speaking people there too, and they watched it and they seemed to like it even though they did not understand what was being said!
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Our trip to the Temple was super cool! I learned a lot; and surprisingly. I didn't fall asleep! Hahah I sat right next to President Ashton in the session and I think that helped make it very spiritual for me! I learned a lot about my identity, and what my goals are and what I need to be doing in my life! We talked about different things like~ Why does God direct Jehovah and Micheal to create everything in the creation! It was cool to learn about that part! It is very simple but very powerful to learn about! Next, we learned about the Atonement and the symbolism of that! I never knew that the Atonement works in everything! In every single thing the atonement is used! I have heard that before, but it never really actually impacted me like it did  hearing it this time at the Temple! We have everything because of the atonement of Jesus Christ!

Like I said before, not much happened this week for us! I did get to talk with the president, and he is having me talk to the specialist about everything going on! After I am done with the interview with him I will be all clear! I don't know exactly what is going on, but I hope to find out soon!

Love y'all!
Elder Andersen

My Zone in front of the Temple!

Letter #75

Hey Family,

This week was pretty good! Going to the see the Doctor added a little stress. I am going to talk with the mission President today to see what we are going to do with all that is going on! ahhh. This week was just full of what I would consider "a bunch on unnecessary stuff that we needed to do"! However, next week I am so excited for! Do you remember the last time that I told y'all we went to the Temple as a Mission?? Well... we are doing it again this week! We are going on Thursday and the thing the Mission President has asked us to focusing on is this:

1.       What does the endowment teach us about Jesus Christ and the Atonement?

2.       What is our true identity?

I am excited to learn more about this stuff!

So the Christ-like story is: The Guillen Family.

I believe that I told y'all last week that the family has a son that is still living in El Salvador. He has "Cystic Fibrosis". The machine that he was using to help him broke, and we were trying to help get it fixed, or find somewhere that would be able fix it. Last week we had NO luck. But this week, we had success. A member on the board is actually a Senior Missionary serving here with his wife. He has been helping us out a- ton! He has been on the phone all week as well as speaking with the members on the board, owners of the corporation, and doctors too. Through it all we found a new machine to send down to the families son in El Salvador! It is a refurbished machine, that was only used a couple of hrs. We have been on the phone getting all the legal stuff figured out too. We had to help get a prescription for him in the United States, and in El Salvador. Luckily to get to him the machine in El Salvador there is actually no need for a prescription. It is only a legal term enforced in the United States for patients. He lives in a different country so the legal part is not enforced. But he needs a prescription for the medication that is taken while using the machine. So that is the part that we are working on.

This has been the "Biggest Christ- Like Attibute" of Christlike love I have seen here on the mission! They are calling day and night to get this kid a machine and the thing I am telling y'all is he is paying for most of it... These machines are not cheap at all! We have been in constant contact with him trying to get this all figured out! It has been a big burden but it will all be worth it in the end!

This week was Halloween, I wore the same costume as last year of course~ the number one choice was the Duck Dynasty Beard (picture at the bottom) It was a fun ward party! Every one loved the beard... well that is what they told me! It was a really fun! There was a bunch of candy there but I did not dare touch it because I know it would do a lot of damage to my stomach~ so I left those alone! ahaha

But other than that I can't think of anything else to tell y'all!

I hope y'all had a good week and a fun Halloween!

Oh and this week a member bought all our food! this week we filled up our cart with food! so SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hahah and we bought a big fat turkey because it was on sale!

Love y'all! 
Elder Andersen