Supuestame​​nte el fin del Mundo. No creo. Este año es la empieza bebé!!! Look out world! HERE WE COME!!!!- Jan. 2, 2012

Hey Everyone!!!

It's been a while since I wrote a general email!!! Sorry about that! It's been crazy here in Argentina! The week of Christmas I got transferred! That means I switched areas and companions! Now I am in San Vicente with an Elder named Elder Cayata! He is from Salta Argentina and is a Boss! He is really a great missionary! Doesn't speak a word of English! It is  a serious learning curve for me! Can't resort back to English when I'm tired or just can't think of the word! I've surprised myself though and can communicate pretty darn well. I'm really proud of the progress I've made.
San Vicente is this little town out in the country. There are about twenty square blocks of paved roads and then the dirt roads take over and you get a whole mix of country folk. It is kind of a funky town. There are still alot of ranchers and sheepherders here with their families, but it is also kind of  the cool place to have a summer home if you have a ton of money and live in Buenos Aires. So we'll be biking down a road and see a brick and tin hut with   8 people inside surrounded by cows and horses and then half a block more is literally a mansion with tennis courts and a pool and a BMW in the drive way. It is a town caught between two very different worlds. I really like it though. The Church here is small. About twenty to thirty people come every Sunday, but they love the gospel and have incredible faith. It is cool. We are kinda like pioneers here. We have seen alot of success too. It is really cool to talk to these people that are so humble and just love  to talk about the Gospel because it is all they know. It really is cool.
I've been studying alot of Talks from the General Conference of the church lately and I've realized how amazing it is to have living prophets. It is a concept that is really hard to grasp for some people. We know that we have a Prophet, a man called of God to hold all the priesthood keys to actualize all the ordnances of the gospel here on the earth. A man that talks with God like Abraham or Moses, that gives us guidance  for us, now, today. It is a huge blessing. I love the Scripture in Amos 3:7 that says "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."  God loves us so much that he is not going to leave us in this world without a guide. Another light in the darkness. God is so merciful to us.

Oh ya! FELIZ NAVIDAD Y AÑO NUEVO!!!!! Christmas here was great! We ate miga and meatballs and Alfahors and Milanesa and Bonbons and then we had Pomelo to "Brindar"! It was great. Honestly didn't feel like Christmas without my family but it was Christmas none the less! The greatest gift I got was to hear my family on Monday and talk to them for about an hour. It was a surreal amazing experience. While serving the mission you try so hard to stay focused on the work and what you are doing , but always in the back of your mind is your family, and the thought that all this is so short and will end and you'll see them soon. It was crazy to talk to them  and be reminded of that all over again. At the end of this month I'll be a fourth of the way through the mission. It is going really fast for me. Not for my dear mother, but for me it is. I loved talking to them and hearing that they are all doing amazing. Each and every one of them are such incredible people and are examples to me in every aspect of my life. It really was amazing talking to them. I pretty much just cried the whole time and everytime I heard the voice of one of my siblings or Mom or Dad it was just a wave of Happiness. I am so blessed to have such an incredible family. That is why, honestly, I am here so far away. Because I can see the blessings in our life from this gospel and I want that so badly for everyone else! I'm willing to give up being with them and talking to them for two years so that someone else can have the same thing I have. IT IS SO WORTH IT!!!! I love you all so much and am so grateful for all you do from me in my life. God  bless you in this new year with all you have planned. Always remember him. He doesn't like getting pushed to the bottom of your priority list!

Happy New Year and Merry Christmas,

Love,
Elder Anderson

Leaving Avellaneda

Holiday Treats

Holiday packages have arrived!

Christmas stockings from the Corneliuses

Festive Christmas tie

Corn nuts "manna from heaven"

Puppy!

Elders riding off into the sunset (who's taking the picture)?

Multitasking-riding and studying Spanish

Ya! San Vincente!

Hey Family,

Today (Dec. 19th) was translados or transfers. We found out on Saturday and I have left the gran ciudad of Avellaneda and am now in the....Campo. I'm in a town called San Vicente with an Argentine companion named Elder Cayata. He is incredible. A really really nice guy, and from what I've heard, a really hard worker. He doesn't speak a word of English. It is going to be the language learning experience I was looking for I think. The only down side to all this is that....there is no skype capabilities here like there were in Avellanda. BUT I CAN STILL CALL!!!!!! I get 40 minutes max to call and can call from the house of a member, the chapel, or a cyber. So I'll have to ask one of the other gringos how it all works to call out of country but I'm going to call Monday in the Afternoon between 2 and 6pm our time. So ya. Sorry for the let down, but trust me, it is all part of the plan that I am here right now. I keep getting this overwhelming feeling of excitement to be here. I don't know where it is coming from either which means it is coming from the Spirit! I'm just so excited to be here in San Vicente. I think I'll be here for a while. Elder Cayata has been here almost 10 months! We have a Rama or a branch here of 40 or so members. We have a brand new Capilla though! It is HUGE!!!! Almost the size of the Green Mountain Building which for Argentina is Massive! We are in the Campo too. Fields and clean air and grass and everything is clean. 100% different from Avellaneda and the big city life. It is crazy the difference. At first I was nervous to have a Latin Companion, but now, even after a few hours with him I feel comfortable and ready to work. It is really a huge blessing. Me and Elder Hope had a great last week in Avellaneda. We prepared 4 people with baptismal dates to be baptized one each the next four weeks. One of these choice people is named Isaac. He is about 65 and is one of the wisest most humble men I have ever met. He met other Elders on the Collectivo and they gave us the reference. He had met with missionaries before and I don't know what happened but they never went back. In the past three weeks we have taught him every other day. He has read almost half the Book of Mormon AND half of the Bible AND 5 pamflets we left AND two Liahona Magazines. The guy is on fire!!! He is truly feasting on the words of Christ and is chosen and prepared to be baptized right now. All he needs to do is get married to his almost 80 year old wife who he has been living with for 45 years and never married. She is really close to passing to the other side and very fragile but they are gonna do it. The last time I asked him how it was all going, he just said "Fine. I'm still just trying to convince the witch." Totally straight face. Here people use nicknames we would never use in the states endearingly, like witch or gordita(fatty) or fea(ugly) or grandota(huge). It is pretty funny- couldn't help but laugh. I really have learned alot form him though. In Preach My Gospel it says something along the lines of "You can know when you have taught with the Holy Spirit as your guide when you leave the discussion having learned something yourself." It is very true. Everytime we teach or learn by the Spirit we learn aun màs (that much more)! I have a testimony of that. That when we learn with the Spirit and have an open heart and mind, it can and will be filled with truths. I've had so many beautiful experiences with that already in the mission. God is so merciful to me. It is amazing. My Spiritual thought for you all this week is simple. It is found in Revelations 3:20.

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

I think I've shared it before, but it is that good and that important! God is at the door (our hearts) knocking. He will not force his way in. If he did so it would be contrary to his plan that all of us have agency or the ability to choose. But he is there, knocking. If we open the door I can promise you that he will be standing there with his hand extended. This door could be our hearts, or it could be more literal. Maybe this door is your front door, and maybe the hands of Christ are extended in the form of two young men in shirts and ties. Missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The next time they pass by or if you see them in the streets, call them over. What they have to say might just change your life...it has changed mine! :) I love my Savior Jesus Christ. I know that through the ordinance of baptism in this church, that I have a promise. He has promised me that when I keep his commandments he will ALWAYS have his Spirit walk with me. And I've promised him that I will never forget that. Now I get to help other people make that same promise with God! There is no greater cause in Heaven or Earth! I love you all, and I challenge each of you to go outside your comfort zone and ask to talk to the missionaries. It'll be awesome!!!

Love,
Elder Anderson

Pictures!!!

Hey All!!!

This week has been a real week of miracles. The greatest lesson I learned this week would have to be that God is love, and that it is never too late to come back and change your life!  I've seen a ton of people change. It has been so hard for every single one of them, but they did it!!!

This week I'm short on time so I'm gonna send a bunch of pictures and call it good! I love you all so much! Hope none of these are duplicates!

A car. 

The Book of Mormon!  The Elders and young men from the ward

A Jacobson phrase on the Wall.

How they parked this car I have no idea! 

Front of the Independientes Stadium 

Us out proselyting at night

Dock Sud! I saw an american flag flying off the back of a ship here!!! Me and Elder Hope sang "My Country Tis of Thee" and kept going. Way cool!  Didn't have my camera though!

Love you! Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Love,

Elder Anderson

Acorn Grove Cont.

Dec. 5, 2011

Hey Capos!

Another pretty great week here in the Acorn Grove (Avellaneda). This week was pretty darn awesome. We had a Gira Misional this week with Presidente Aiduikitus of the First Quorom of the Seventy. He's a great leader from our South America South Area Presidency. He is from Brazil and had the funniest accent. It was awesome to listen to him speak. He talked to us a lot about faith and what it really means to have faith. I loved what he said. "Faith is doing everything you possibly can to make your goals become reality.” As missionaries we are always setting goals. Everyday we set goals for that day, and then we have weekly goals, and goals for the month and goals for the year and goals for the mission! We have a TON of goals. And they are all worthy and achievable. But as it says in James 2 "Faith without works is dead."

If I only have faith that God is going to provide a way to find someone ready to hear this message of the gospel of Jesus Christ and I never leave the Pension then my faith is dead and serves no one. But if I have faith that God will help me find someone and I leave the Pension right on time, talking to every person I can, inviting every person I meet to hear the gospel and I find that one person. Well then my faith proved to be a true faith. Faith always precedes the miracle, but if we don't work for the miracle, it will never come.

I've learned here that God is a God that expects a lot of us. He expects our very best. But when we give that, he blesses us and makes everything we do that much better, that much more effective, it reaches farther and has more power. God is willing to work through me, not for me. Every great example we see in the Book of Mormon and Bible, labored hard in the vineyard. Not one person was ever rewarded for their laziness and they never will be. That is not the program. So if you’re like me and you expect to see miracles in your life, work for them. When you do that, I promise they will come. I've seen it work in my life, and especially this week.

We have found an incredible lady that is ready to change her life. That is what being a disciple of Jesus Christ requires us to do, change our lives and be better. And not just to change one time, but every day until forever. "If your life is comfortable, you aren't doing something right." I'm not sure who told me that but it has been stuck in my mind lately and it is true.

I love you all and hope you are doing well. I'm doing GREAT!!!! Getting into the Christmas Spirit! This Christmas is gonna be way different! That is for sure!

Love you all,

Elder Anderson  

Best Week EVER!!!

Nov. 28, 2011

Hi Everybody!

Sounds like you all had an AWESOME thanksgiving! We actually forgot it was Thanksgiving here and were reminded by one of our investigators that said, "Isn't it that Turkey festival today in the US?" So we went home and made some....honey and bread! And of course commented on how grateful we were for it. By the end of that one slice I could hardly eat any more. Went to bed early (not) right at 10:30 and slept in till 6:17 in the morning!!! We were out of control! So ya. Thanksgiving was a big hit here. Needless to say our Argentine companion doesn´t think it is a very good Holiday. He said, "So Thanksgiving is just like every other day?" We said yes and just left it at that.

We've seen some real miracles here this week in Avellaneda. We had a BAPTISM!!!! Three people, Abby (33), Chris (11), and Jane (8) were baptized. It was incredible to see them all making such an awesome decision in their lives. Chris before his baptism came up to us and asked if he would have to live the commandments forever after his Baptism. We said "Well ya. Of course you do!" He smiled this big

old smile and said "Oh good! I like that!" Abby has quit smoking and drinking in order to be baptized and she is really changing her entire life. It is amazing to see how HAPPY people are when they come unto Christ. In Matthew 11:28-30 it talks about how Christ will make our burdens light.

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

You can see that when people make the choice to be baptized and live the commandments,  the burden of sin leaves and they look happier, brighter and less "cargado" as they say in Castillano. I

love it.

Other than that it has been a slow week. A lot of walking and knocking on doors and talking to whoever we can and getting told over and over again, "I don't need God" or "I don't have to do anything more, I've already been saved." It is so frustrating to see people wanting to remain ignorant. They tell us they don't need God but you can see in their faces and their eyes that they are sad and suffering. Everyone has their ability to choose or their agency though. That is why we are here. To choose. The only thing we can't choose are the consequences. Think about that for a minute!

Funny thing that happened this week. We have a young woman in our Ward who is putting in her  application to be a misionera! We are really excited for her! But to pay for the visa she has to send $40 US money, which right now in Argentina is really hard to buy.  She was telling us all this, and I remembered that I have $40 from when I was in the airport! I told her this and she almost shouted,  she looked so happy! So we are going to trade my US money for some pesos later this week and all her papers will be complete! Super cool! Funny experience! Glad I could help her out!

Well I love you all so much and am getting excited for December! Right now it is about 34 degrees Celsius. They tell me it will get all the way up to 39! With almost 100% humidity! Crazy! Christmas is

coming and it feels like July! Another Christmas in the heat!

Love you all,

Elder Anderson

Photo 1 the baptism!

OH YA!!!

Nov. 21, 2011

Hey Family!!!

So happy to hear you are all doing pretty great and stuff. I'm doing really great here! Life is good and the work is even better! This coming week is really big too because it is my MOM'S BIRTHDAY!!!! ¡¡¡Feliz cumpleaños mamá!!! I love you so much and am sending you good vibes and a big Kiss!! The mission is where I need  to be and my Gift to you this year is my faithful service and honoring the great legacy of Spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ that we have in our family. We have a pretty cool tradition of that. We are all missionaries in our own sense and always can be examples to others.

This week has been crazy. I did three intercambios which means I leave my area for the day and trade companions with someone else and work in their area for the Day. So in the past week I have had the pleasure to work in the areas of Thomas Flores, Piñyero, and Wilde. It has been awesome! I learned a lot from some great Elders. In Thomas Flores, me and Elder Cowan were working together. It was really interesting because we got here at the same time which means our Spanish is at a level that is less than awesome. So we went out to go talk to people about the Gospel and stuff because that is the best thing you could possible talk about, and we found this one guy. OH MAN! We could not understand a word he said. He said something about Soldando la Vigen en una caja y cosas como asi. Pero no entendí nada. Pienso que él estaba boracho o algo. But ya. He was talking about welding the Virgin Mary in a Box or something and me and Elder Cowan just kinda stared at him blankly. It was great! We smiled and acted like we knew what he was saying and when we walked away around the corner both of us died laughing. That was a way good experience. Classic.

The other two intercambios were with Latin Elders so a little less of a disaster, but still way fun. We did some good work.

This week I've really been thinking about my calling as a Missionary. In the Manual that we use to study called "Preach My Gospel" it says that one of our purposes is to tell people and remind them that God loves them. I don't know why it surprised me so much. We do that everyday anyway, but when I really made a point to tell every person I talked with that God is our loving Heavenly Father and we are His children and he loves us, I saw people soften and change. I think deep down inside every single one of us realizes that we are special. But maybe we don't realize how much. We are literal spirit Children of God. As such we are able to inherit all that is his. Think about that. In the scriptures God says, "This is my work and my Glory, to bring to pass the immortality and Eternal life of man." He wants us to have all he has, to be all he is. Are we living up to our potential? We have a woman we know here that is physically and mentally abused. We told her one day, "Do you realize that you are a Daughter of God? No one has the right to treat you like that!" And it was like all of a sudden she remembered! The light bulb went off and she said, "YA! That's right!! I am a daughter of God! I don't have to take crap from anyone! I'm special!" I hope we can all look deep and really realize how special we are. Each and every one of us has the potential to one day become like our Heavenly Father. To become like God and have all that he has. YOU ARE MORE SPECIAL THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!!!!! DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU DIFFERENT!!!! I love you all so much. I wish I could sit down and tell you this face to face but this will have to do for now. God exists. He is Heavenly Father and he loves us more than we know.

 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Revelations 3and 20

He stands at the door and knocks. Are we willing to let him in?

Love,

Elder Anderson

Pic 1 The "Cami" Carneceria

Pic 2 Me, Brother Emiliano Perez (old) and Quique (Young) after the service project in the community version of Jeffco Action Center in Colorado- called El Quincho

Pic 3 Check out Quique's shirt

Pic 4 Putting my name on the wall for all the stuff we did. What did I do?.....

Pic 5 I burned stuff. We cleaned up a community Parque and painted the Homeless Shelter. Way awesome.

Pic 6 Elder Guzman from Tucuman. Found this street sign in Piñyero

Acorn Grove

Nov. 14, 2011

Hey all!

Another great week here in the Acorn Grove (that is what Avellaneda means. Ironic, there are very few trees...). I heard that the reception for Grandpa Great Miller was really good. He is an incredible man. I love my family so much and realize more than ever how blessed we are. I have the most incredible family in the world!

This week we have been preparing to baptize dos little chicos. One is named Jill (name changed). She has 8 years and the other is named Craig (name changed). He has 11 years. They are both really great and so excited to get baptized. I love teaching them because the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ are so basic that even a child can understand them. Things like "God is our loving Heavenly Father. I am literally a Child of God. That means I am special and can become perfect just like him." And, "When I make bad choices I feel bad, but I can pray for Jesus to take away those bad feelings, and he will if I ask him and really want it and promise not to make the same bad choice again!" They are just so awesome and innocent and just amazing! I love it! Craig's mom is also preparing to get baptized. She is working on getting married and giving up smoking right now in order to be prepared for this. She is doing really well! Both of those things are REALLY hard to do! We are very proud of her and helping her all the way!

This week we also had a great Noche de Hogar or Family Home Evening with a family where some are members of the Church and others are not. We taught from Mosiah 2:21 and 22.

 21 I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.

 22 And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promised you that if ye would keep his commandments ye should prosper in the land; and he never doth vary from that which he hath said; therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you.

It is an interesting idea to think that no matter how hard we work we can never pay back our debt to God for all he has done for us. However, Christ can and will pay that debt IF we follow ALL his commandments! We can't pick and choose!! We have to follow ALL of them! And then we can have the assurance and joy that everything is taken care of. I don't know about you, but I don't want to meet God's debt collector! He's probably a pretty intense dude! So as it says in Joshua 24:15 "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Think about ALL the commandments you know, and identify one that you have a hard time with. Maybe this is keeping the Sabbath day holy or not telling 100% of the truth. Think about it and make a commitment to improve this week. Say to yourself, “You know what, my soul is worth keeping the Sabbath day holy." Or maybe before you tell a half truth think "Is this lie worth more than my soul? Is it worth more than me?" How much are you worth. I think our identity of self worth can be directly related in how we keep the commandments. IF we really think highly of ourselves, than we are not willing to degrade our worth by lying or stealing. Just think on that. And more than think, DO IT!!! YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE!!!!! YOU ARE WORTH IT!!!! But you have to want it and you have to work for it. How much are you worth?

I love you all. I love being a missionary. I love the people here. I love my Savior.

-Elder Anderson

P.S. Here is a montón de fotos to make up for last week!!

Foto 1 ¡Esta bebé tiene razon! (This baby knows what it is talking about!)

Foto 2 You can find something beautiful EVERYWHERE!!

Foto 3 HALLOWEEN!!! Great Moms think alike!

Foto 4 Elder Guzman

Foto 5 Cool mural right outside our pension

Foto 6 Wow! That’s like 150 kilos!!!!

Foto 7 Municipal building

Foto 8 Zombie!!!!

P.P.S. We saw an entire row of cars on fire this week. And by a row I mean just one and one starting to catch on fire next to it! BUT IT WAS A WHOLE CAR ON FIRE!!!! People were acting like it was no big deal too!! I was flippin out!!! Oh well. I guess it is normal here to just LIGHT YOUR AUTOMOBILE ON FIRE IN THE PARKING LOT OF YOUR APARTMANT COMPLEX IN THE MIDDLE OF A HUGE CITY when you don't want it anymore. No. I'm not freaking out at all. There's just a CAR ON FIRE OVER THERE!!!!!