Ya Argentina!

Hey all!

Great news here from Argentina!  I'm still alive and kicking and everything is awesome!  I don't know if that is great news for everyone but It is all the news I got so you are gonna have to live with it!  We've had a really good week here in San Vicente but really hard too.  The weather has been really crappy with cold and rain and muddy streets and frowny people.  But we've trudged through it all and come out alright!

Some cool things from this week would be the awesome Stake Conference we had yesterday.  A stake Conference is when all the congregations in 5 or 6 cities get together and have a big old meeting together!  It is really cool, especially for us in San Vicente to see so many Mormons and that we are not alone!  We are a really small branch and sometimes you get down on yourself for that, but we saw so much support and love in the Conference that helped us realize we may be small but we are very important.  They spoke alot of the final step in the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is endure to the end.  It was humbling.  They asked the question from the question that says more or less, "Christ has descended below all, art thou greater than he?"  It made me reflect on a thought from Elder Holland of the Twelve Apostles that said, "Salvation was never easy! It is not a cheap experience!  It made Jesus Christ, even the son of God, suffer and bleed from every pour and ultimately give up his life.  If it was that hard for him, what makes you think it will be easy for you?"  Life will always be hard.  There will always be difficulties and challenges even if we keep all the commandments of God and do the best we can.  But God has given us the promise, that if we will do our part and live how he asks, he will bless us with the capabilities, faith and strength to bear the weight of the burdens we must carry.

I have gained a huge testimony of that.  Here in Argentina I have felt more lonely than any other time of my life.  I have felt more tired than any other time of my life.  I have felt more sick, than any other time of my life.  And yet more than ever before, I have tried my best to follow Christ.  Do as he would do and live as he would have me live.  And I have noticed, that even though this experience has been the hardest of my blessed and easy life, it has also been the experience of most worth.  I have grown so much and am so much stronger then I was before.  I am truly a better person.  I'm turning into a man.  It is weird to think.  I'm still childish and immature, no worries, but I see the world and my life a little different now.  I realize I am so blessed and that God loves me so much.  It is a reality that is hitting me over and over again.  I love and miss you so much, but i know I need to be here right now more than any other place in the world.  For me, for my family, and for all the families that I talk to everyday.

I love you guys and think about you a bunch.

Love,

Elder Anderson

P.S. Here are some sweet pics.