HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!!

Hey All!

Another SUPER week! The highlight was of course speaking with my family on Mother's day. They are all doing so well and look so great! It was good to hear from them. I think they are about 20x more excited for me to go home than I am! :) Every time I think of leaving here I get kinda sick to my stomach. I just have to finish strong though and have no regrets! Colton is huge and such a stud, Chloe is a little princess, and mom and dad...they are the same! :) Just kidding! I can see how much they've changed as people too. They seem so converted and so conscious of the blessings in their lives. I see them as more grateful, in trials and blessings. As always they are my very best examples!

Other highlight would have to be getting smacked by a drunk guy on Saturday and having a big bruise along my cheek bone! SWEET! We were walking to go to teach a family and a man we taught a long time ago called us over. We could tell as soon as we got close and gave him the customary kiss on the cheek that he was REALLY drunk! He said he'd been partying for about two days now and that he finally was making his way home...wow. He gave us a huge hug and just kept telling us how much he loved us. I think that is something I've heard from just about every drunk person I've talked to here. At the end he gave us a loving "pat" on the cheek which turned out to be an open hand full on with-all-you-got slap to the face. He had a HUGE gold ring on his thumb and when that found it's way to my cheekbone it left a nice little mark! Really spiced up my day! :)

And something that we've seen as a miracle is that even though we have hard some difficulties this last week, someone always was there to keep our emotions and hope up. It reminded me so much of a talk by Jefferey R Holland, one of the twelve apostles  that says "Good things will come, don't you give up! Don't you look back! It will all be worth it in the end!" We are now seeing the fruits of our labors and feel grateful to have endured difficulties to receive miracles.

That is a lesson that I began to learn with my mother and am coming to really understand here on my own. Her mantra of "You can do hard things" always picks me up and keeps me on track because I can! I CAN do hard things! And I will have to if I ever want to become who I want to be and if I ever want to make a difference in my life and in the lives of others. The hard things are what give value to life and make it all worth living. Why do we worship Christ? Because he did the HARDEST things and never shrunk down, never backed out, and never looked behind. He did the hard things that we could never do alone, and THAT is why we worship Him. Because He is the one that showed us first,"You can do hard things" and "it will all be worth it in the end."

I love you all! Happy Mother's day Mommy! I love you so much,

Elder Anderson

The week in pictures

May 6, 2013

Some fun pictures this week!

Burgers

Avellaneda train Station sign on the platform (it is only a year old)

The view of where I call Home! 

Super Foggy afternoon!

The word KULTURA begins with a C. I'm not sure how cultured they really are! :)

And the view of our chapel from the top of our new house! 

Weekly News from ARGENTINA!!!!!

April 22, 2013

HOLA!!!!!

Today in Buenos Aires we have slightly overcast skies with a chance of showers. Cloudy with a chance of
Meatballs!

Everything this last little bit has been interesting. I have officially Murdered my first person in the mission! :) We as missionaries always have companions and we are with them 24 hours a day 7 days a week! Together 100% of the time. When a missionaries companion finishes their mission we say that they "die" and so that obviously makes the "living" companion or the Missionary who stays in the field, his murderer. I "killed" my companion today. He is off to California and I now have a Texan to kill me. His name is Elder Anaya and is a total stud! We are going to do WORK!

I'm recognizing now how very fast the time is going by. And yet how much I desire to still do. Yesterday we had the baptism of a young woman named Micaela. She is 16 and 9 months pregnant  She has obviously had a hard life and yet has such an optimism and love for life. Her baptism was amazing and she was the happiest girl alive in that moment! You could see it in her eyes! She really truly glowed! Something that amazes me about this gospel is the change that it effects in the lives of so many so rapidly. It is truly a miracle. Through powerful personal spiritual experiences hard hearts are softened and people reform their lives! IT is something that I have noticed as well in my life. Even though I struggle often with my weaknesses, I too have a rapid rate of change when I am apply the gospel to my life. Elder David A Bednar of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles once said,

"The grand objective of the Savior’s gospel was summarized succinctly by President David O. McKay (1873–1970): “The purpose of the gospel is … to make bad men good and good men better, and to change human nature.” Thus, the journey of mortality is to progress from bad to good to better and to experience the mighty change of heart—to have our fallen natures changed (see Mosiah 5:2)."

I testify that that is true. Alma the Prophet of the Book of Mormon said,

32 For behold, this life is the time for men to prepare to meet God; yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.
33 And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.

There is a danger in saying "someday" if someday is not "this day". If there are changes to be made in our lives, the time to start is now! We cannot wait, because whether we like it or not the clock gradually ticks away the years of our lives! I see how much the Lord helps me change and grow when I choose to act NOW and not LATER. It is a lesson that has been hard to learn but that has humbled me and formed me into who I am today. I have seen the principles of the gospel put into action by people of all walks of life and they have healed and changed EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM INCLUDING ME! I know that the gospel and the blessings thereof are extended freely to all. For this reason and this purpose came our beloved Savior Jesus Christ. He lives, He loves us, and His Sacrifice works for ALL!

This is what I have seen and felt in just a short weeks time. Amazing how time flies and yet the impact all these moments can have. I feel tremendously blessed.

I love you all,

Elder Anderson