Monday, May 13, 2013
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
Sunday, April 21, 2013
General Conference
April 8, 2013
HOLA!!!!
Another week here in Buenos Aires and the theme lately fro me has been love. I've recognized how much I've truely come to love everything here. The amazing people, their language, their culture, and even the dirty nasty city I call home! This place is amazing, and I've been so blessed by all the accumulated experiences. Yesterday we had the opportunity to listen to our beloved Prophet and other leaders from the church. There were beautiful messages but what struck me most was that every single person that spoke expressed how much they LOVED the Savior Jesus Christ. When he is the focus of our love, our families succeed, our problems seem smaller and our opportunities seem greater. The legacy that our Loving Father in Heaven and His Son have left us is a legacy of LOVE. A legacy of mercy and forgiving. A legacy of Second chances and comfort every time we fall down and spiritually "get a scratched knee."
I think of how ungrateful sometimes we are and I think that God feels a deep sadness for that. But not a selfish sadness for him, but a sadness for us, because He knows that the only way to be truly happy, is to be grateful and USE the LOVE that he has left us.
In the beginning of my mission I can admit that I worked a lot out of a sense of Duty and the desire to make other "proud of me." But that motivating factor in my work has since changed. Every day, I wake up at 6:30 and head out to be ridiculed and rejected because I LOVE the people I serve, and all the ridicule and rejection is worth the one person that will open their heart and be filled with the Love that comes with repentance and service.
I know very little. If you ask me to memorize and recite I'm next to worthless. But I do know that God loves and that I love Him and that He has sent me here because he has MILLIONS of children that feel deserted depressed and unloved. And if we are supposedly the body of Christ, is it not our responsibility to Love?
I love you all, hope you and your families are healthy and united. Because at the end of the day, nothing else matters.
Love,
Elder Anderson
Monday, April 1, 2013
Not much
Hey Everyone!
An update here from the Acorn Grove (translation of Avellaneda)! Another hot week! Hot like fire!!! We have been doing really well and have been seeing a lot of miracles! This time of Pascua or Easter has been amazing. It is a time when the difference between believers and followers is apparent Those who believe in Christ recognize the purpose and maybe go to church for Easter and call it good. Those who follow Christ sanctify this holiday making it something special in family or within their congregations It is a time of thanksgiving and gratitude to the Savior for all he has done. The difference between believing and following has been on my mind a lot lately.
Everything is generally the same in my life. Working hard and growing and changing. I'm kinda mind dead right now. Me and my companion just ate 2 kilos of french fries together. The oil is getting to my head. Here are some great pics from the last little bit though!
Love,
Elder Anderson
Baptism of Branko
Us eating "Animal Fries" from in and out Argentina
My feet and SUD!!!!!
The cars at night in the downtown!
Fotos
March 25, 2013
This is me in front of Capital
This is me under a highway
Yup. I get kissed by girls on the mission
Me on our roof
Us and the Kids. Vero and David
Us and the kids again. Elder Alvarez is from Uruguay
Me on the rock
Us and the Paraguayo kids from the Familia Benitez
Kid robbed my camera and this is what happened. That is the face of "alright now give me back my camera!"
Baptism of Carlos Benitez by his cousin David
Us in the truck. Not legal but totally normal.
Tower and Little Benjamin Solorsa
Another Succesful pday of laundry
BK cuadruple stacker baby!!!! HELLO DELICIOUS!!!!
I am the Walrus! CUCUCACHU!!!!
Argentines LOVE tang. There is a whole aisle of it!
Just sitting here in the family history center writing you a note! Here is a live action foto for you! It is rainy and dreary outside and we're going to go to BURGER KING in a little bit to buy ourselves QUADRUPLE STACKERS!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!
Perspective
March 11, 2013
Hey all!
So this week we have time for letters and pictures! I sent a lot of pictures from last week of some of the parts of Avellaneda. It is interesting for me to see your pictures and see the difference between the world I live in and the world you all live in. We are blessed with such an abundance and economic security. Here that is just something that exists with an elite few. Inflation is constant. When I first got here a kilo of bread cost 4 pesos and now is 14. In just two years! The people here suffer greatly economically and spiritually but have an optimism and desire for better times to come. Just like everywhere, there are those that are destitute and hopeless and those that are destitute and hopeful I think what the Gospel does is provide the hopeless hope, and the hopeful the ability to make their hopes reality. Ezra Taft Benson in a discourse once said,
"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."
That is what I have seen every day for the last two years. Everyone falls down. Some fall further than others. Some start further down and so when they fall it seems even further! But Christ descended below all and through his grace and A LOT of hard work, we can be lifted and changed. God is so good. He will provide the way. He does provide the way. I love you all. We are so blessed and loved. More than many of us will ever come to realize.
Love,
Elder Anderson
View from the Torres Puerreydon towards capital. One on a foggy day and one on a clear day. When it is foggy a stench of rot and decay permeates the city. This part of Avellaneda is the most contaminated place in all of Argentina.
This is the Familia Molinas. They are the Loyal Saints of Avellaneda! We took this picture at our last supper with the Elders of Avellaneda 1B right before their area was closed.
A view towards capital at night!
Burning Tires on the Bridge in protest of who knows what! Someone is always burning something and protesting something here. You'll notice all the publicity vans are keeping a good distance! :)
This is a perfect example of the plan of Salvation....a nasty dead dog carcus. :)
And these are our water filters after a month....ya.
Me and lem and then me in front of my Futbol team's stadium! Aguante Racing!!!!!!
All the Elders on the roof of our Bishop's house
And me enjoying the view!
The reason for everything!
Monday, March 4, 2013
Fotos!
My comp Elder Lem walking under the highway as we go to one of our appointments.
Us painting a dog with oil to get rid of the "pulgas" or fleas. You paint them up real good and them leave the oil for 3 or 4 days! I feel like a medicine man when I do it!
This is a picture of what we joke around and call "Jedi Council" It is a meeting of all the Zone leaders from the 13 zones in the mission along with the Sister Missionaries that act as trainers. The Real name of the meeting is Zone Leader Conference.
The water is contaminated here so you have to go to a distributor and pick up bottled water twice a week. This is the one close by where we live.
These are a bunch of Kids from the Paraguayo villiage! They all speak a language called Gaurani and the older ones speak Castellano or Buenos Aires Spanish. They are amazing kids with amazing parents and we are so excited to see them learn and grow. (P.S. Mom the girl right in front is named Araseli)
Me and Elder lem in front of the huge dock container deposit! Ships come here from all over the world! Pretty cool!
Flooded Streets after a rainy night! Always happens without fail. This goes up half a tire and it only rained for 3 hours!
These are two little kids from our ward. The electricity has been out for about three days so we live by candle light. They were dancing and singing with their little candle so I took the opportunity to snap a picture of them.
Me in front of the Dock! The first time I have seen the ocean water since 2011!
Subway! Eat Fresh! So good to sit and speak english and eat a sub.Something you take for granted back in the states!
Last but not least! The contaminated swamp! This is right in the backyard of almost all of our investigators. There are alot of health problems in the children and animals around here from the contamination. Sad. It is amazing to live in the biggest city in Argentina and see places like this that have no running water or electricity or gas. Feels so out of place and yet here, it is very very common. Almost half of the area that Elder Lem and I work in is considered "Villa" or slums. It is the grand majority of the population that lives like this in our part of Avellaneda.
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