Letter # 83

Hey family,

This week we found out who is getting transferred and guess who is leaving..... NOT ME!!!!!! This will be my 9th transfer here in this area. I am a little disappointed, but I guess the Lord has better plans for me here! I guess we will see what this transfer has in store for me! 

But the coolest miracle just happened on Friday - Sunday! We had a miracle baptism this week! This is what I wrote in my letter to the Mission President this week:

This week was really good! We had a lot of success this week even though we had a lot of meetings and stuff happening. We had the coolest miracle with our baptism this week. He did not have a date set at the start of the week, and we saw him on Wednesday and set up an appointment with him on Saturday. We had happened to see him on Friday because he lives at a members house. The spirit told me to ask him what he was doing on Sunday! So, I did and he said "Nothing." Then the spirit told me to ask him if he wanted to get baptized on Sunday, so I asked and he said "Yeah!" and then he asked us what he needed to do to be able to be baptized. So we told him we would see him the next day to finish the lessons, and then ask him the interview questions to see if he was ready! So we went over and taught the rest of the lessons and asked him the baptismal questions and he knew them perfectly. He was so ready! We set up the time for the baptism and then the time for his interview. He told us he was going to get home late the night before and that he might need some help waking up. I asked him if we could call him to help and he said that would be fine. We called him about 5 times to help wake him up and he didn't answer. We decided that we should drive to his house to make sure he was awake. Luckily we did because when we got there we learned that he wasn't. We knocked on the door and the member opens it and told us that he wound not be baptized that day because he was still asleep, and that he had not heard our phone calls. In that moment I knew that he was going to get baptized that day, so I asked the member to go knock on his door. He did, and then he came back saying that he was still asleep and that the baptism isn't going to happen. We were then able to talk the investigators wife into going to try to wake him up... well she did it after awhile. And guess what?? He came down and said that he would get ready! We showed up to church late with all the waking up stuff, but he still got his interview done and passed and was ready to be baptized! After I heard in the Christmas Conference the part about "Our faith will be tried, and the storms will come in..." I knew I had just kept my faith in that moment and hoped for the best!

Needless to say it as a pretty cool miracle! It was amazing for me to see!

It was really nice to talk to the family on Google, it felt really weird to me. I don't know why but I think it is probably because I am coming home really soon to see y'all ... Man the mission really does go by fast!

This week we had the Christmas Conference, it was really cool and fun! We had a bunch of food all I ate was meat and man was it delicious! I have missed having meat, I am still not tired of beans and rice yet so I guess that is a good thing! Hahaha! 

Thanks for everything! I love y'all!

Elder Andersen

Letter #82

Hey Family!
I see those cars all the time! If a truck here does not say "Texas Edition" then there is something wrong! As the saying goes... Everything is bigger and better in Texas! Haha! I see at least 100 Texas Edition trucks daily! I am soooo going to buy one and bring it to Cali when I get enough money after the Mission!! :p Haha! (In response to my Dad asking: While driving the other day in Clovis, I noticed this car ahead of me at the traffic light.  I think I noticed the license plate first; but then I saw the "Texas edition Yukon" logo at the lower left side.  Do you ever see that kind in Houston?)

This week was pretty cool! Not too much going on to report, but we have been eating a lot of food! I guess that is the normal around here! Haha.

As for Skype: I sent you an e-mail with the member's phone numbers. We will put your "Spanish Skills" to the test to set up a time and talk to them! Actually the father does speaks English so you can communicate with him if you don't remember a couple of the Spanish words! Haha.

I can't believe that Nolan is engaged! -And to a Chilean girl! Does he know Spanish? Or  I guess does she know English well?!?! Neat.

But nothing really crazy happened this week! Oh, except that I was Santa's Elf at the Ward Christmas Party! Only because the Santa costume didn't fit me! Haha! It was a fun party!

Talk to you soon!

Love, Elder Andersen

~ fun district picture!

Letter #81

Hey Family,

This week was not as exciting and action packed as the last week! However, it was still pretty cool and fun! Honestly, I cant think of anything that has happened... Except there is a Member in our Ward that is a GENIUS!!!!!! Man, I asked him so many questions, and he was able to answer them all! They were all deep doctrine questions, I asked a lot about sealing's and how that works, and I asked him about wayward children. What I learned is pretty much that the kids can ride off of the parents merit to be exalted! How crazy is that! We shouldn't do bad things and then just rely on our parents because it will only be your family; not the family of the wayward child! So it is worth it to gain your own salvation! You will have to suffer to be able to be exalted from that, and it is just better if you earn it here! I thought that was pretty crazy to hear! He talked a lot about the Temple and the Egyptians and how paintings and symbols are similar so man I was so mind blown!

We had this really funny O.Y.M. with a Black guy that wanted to kill us... So, I tried to go and talk to him and what happened is that he started making fun of us. After he did that we started walking away and then he started saying things about Joseph Smith. I turned around and asked him if he knew who he was and he said yeah... l Joseph, Jesus' dad and Smith & Wesson! I heard that, and it got a little smile on my face, and then he started walking to us and said "I got 2 hands for a reason, come and see them." talking about he wanted to fight us now... So me being myself, I turned around and looked at him thinking he was going to try to fight us... to our amazement he has a sword in his hand! Haha! I nudged my companion and said that he has a sword, so we just started to walk away! As we were walking away he was cussing at us and calling us names. I told my companion that if he didn't have the sword I would have beat the crap out of him! Haha That was my funny story of the week!

Oh and Elder Balls ripped his pants... he was jumping over this bayou and ripped his pants at the crotch! We were over a mile from the car too! It was a really funny walk back to the car needless to say! Hahaha!

Nothing else I can really think of! I hope all you are going good!

Love y'all,

Elder Andersen

check out my # I WILL SHARE the GIFT by... picture!

Letter #80

Hey Family,

Christmas is my favorite time of the year! It is the best to see members so happy! I hate to admit it, but some times they get a little too generous, and give us everything! They are especially generous in this area with food! We did not buy too much this week because our members fed us way to much! I am full every day and I have started to just ask them if we can take it to go when they offer more food! I have found a way to get around that! Haha!

It is funny Dad, because my companion is still having side effects from the Habenero Pepper! haha Yesterday a member came with us to a dinner appointment and I told them about the Habenero Pepper story. We were eating fajitas so the topic came up, everyone laughed! The member that came with us is from Guatemala and they don't have much spicy food, so he said he wanted to try one! The people searched in their fridge but they were not able to find one for him to try. So, sadly he did not get to get on the prank too! 

This week was really cool! One of my recent converts  daughter left for her mission! It was really cool to say goodbye to her. She told us a cool story about when she get her endowments! Her father had passed away about a year and a half ago and she wanted our bishop to go through for him, so he did. When we were in the Celestial Room. I  looked at Grisleda (the new sister missionary) and saw a man right next to her, but I did not think about it.  When I spoke with her about it on Tuesday she told me what had happened. In the celestial room the bishops wife was asking her what her father looked like, and she described him to her, and then the bishops wife told her that her father was right next to her! So I totally saw an ANGEL!!!!!! Man how crazy is that! When I heard the story from her I almost cried the spirit was strong in that moment!

We taught a lesson to a new investigator in front of Home Depot... (funny thing is he stands in front of Home Depot just waiting for people to come tell him they need work!) I guess it is funny to me because it is just stereotypical Hispanics! ahha It was a weird lesson outside., but it was cool because he came to church and really wants to get baptized.

On Saturday we went with the Canos to the temple. The whole family and Hermana Canos' sister all had to fit into a Camero! We were able to fit 6 in a 4 seater car! ahah It was really cool and funny! We laugh so much. The next day at church the family bore their testimonies of what had happened at the temple!

This week I was able to bear my testimony and I started off saying "Nobody knows when your last testimony will be..."  but according to this ward it will never be like that with me because I am never leaving! Haha  I was able to get one of the Cervantes' daughters to cry! She thinks that I am leaving soon! I guess we will see.

Casting out the demon went really well! I didn't feel anything dark when I walked into the room. We sang Nearer my God to Thee in Spanish, and then we read 3 Nephi, chapter 11. Then I dedicated the house and when we left I could definitely feel the spirit really strong! I really hope that what we did helps the family out!

Also the Canos' threw a surprise Birthday Party for Elder Balls! That was really fun!

Love y'all!

Elder Andersen

(I tried to turn the picture, but it won't work... sorry...)

Letter #79

Hey Family!

This week was pretty cool and really funny!

To start off the week, we had a lot of food! On Thanksgiving we had 2 and a half dinners! I was so full at the last dinner appointment that I had my pants un-buttend the whole time! Haha! I realized when I got home that I had them like that! For the dinners we had turkey that was super spicy! It was like a hot turkey, we also had tamales of course! And for dessert pecan pie! I was so upset that they did not have any Pumpkin Pie this whole week! I was a little sad because that is my favorite Thanksgiving treat! Hispanics know how to party, but not how to do the food for the party! Haha!

On Friday we received permission from our Mission President to go to the Temple because Griselda (recent converts daughter) was going to the temple to take out her endowments! it was an awesome experience to see her go through for the first time! She will be leaving for her mission to Tucson Arizona on Wednesday! I know she will be an amazing missionary!

On Saturday we went to our recent converts house to eat dinner, and OH MAN was it funny! One of the member's brought over a Habenero Pepper; which is one of the spiciest peppers in the world! Of course I dared my companion to eat it! He said OK, and the members were like... "Wow he is really going to eat it..." but they thought he was playing. I put it in his mouth and he chewed it and swallowed it and I busted up laughing because I knew in the next couple minutes he would be crying, and his face would turn red! I kept eating normally and was trying to hold in my laughter, then I looked over and saw that he was soooooo red and crying! The members started asking what was wrong and I told them "He really ate the pepper!" they all thought he was joking when he said he would it it! He was struggling the whole day! He told me he didn't know what the pepper was and so he ate it! Man... did he suffer that whole day for sure!

To top off the week we got a call from the Sister Missionaries, they asked us if we could go and cast out a demon from the house of a Ward Family Member. We called the phone number the Sister Missionaries gave us and they asked for us to come over the following Sunday at 5pm.  They offered to feed us dinner first, and then we could cast it out. When the member told me this, I was like... "Uhmm this is a little weird... but alright!" So this upcoming Sunday we will see what happens! Apparently there is a demon that haunts this family and the kid when they play with this ghost!??! The member tried doing a Dedicatory Prayer on the house and left a picture of Jesus Christ, and the next day the picture was all scratched up. I am a little scared to go in, but I have to do it! I am just really surprised that they want us to wait a whole week to come do it, but ok... Haha!

Other that that the week was good! I can't believe that I come home in about 5 months.. it goes so fast! Almost too fast!

Love y'all!
Elder Andersen