Monday, April 28, 2014

Just a week.

well... this week was not too successful i'm not going to lie... but there will be weeks like that and i look forward to the next week. 

so... this week no one died, we didn't go to the hospital, there wasn't an earthquake, and we didn't baptize......  but yah. :D 

the coolest thing that happened this week would have to be the fact of us finally putting an appointment for this lady who has been coming to church for a heck of a long time. and really it possibly was one of the most powerful moments that i have had here in the mission. we finally go to the point of all the tingo and tango and then she told me that she wants a few more weeks so that she could really feel an answer but we had just prayed to our padre celestial and the power that was in that room  was making this lady just cry and cry and cry and man.... i really can not every explain to you guys how powerful this lesson was. i knew she knew it was true and i knew again because of how we felt:D

And.... yeah. we found a family of 3 and it's going to be rough because the mother does not believe in God.... but some thing that i have been working on for the past ages is really teaching with my eyes and my heart. i know that sounds cheesy but really it works. Because while we were in this message the mom of the family who does not believe in God told me.... "wow the things that you are telling me are completely contrary to the things that i believe and the things that i know are true. but really i can feel your passion Elder Anderson and more than your words i can really feel what you are saying and can see it in your eyes." So.... YES a missionary like me can make progress:D:D 

but yeah:D we are working and.... that's just about it:D have a great week Y'ALL :D

PHOTO OF THE WEEK...Monday, April 28, 2014

So... this photo is pretty sick.... we were having an interview for an investigator that you could say is an eternal investigator. because she has over 20 domingos and doesn't want to get baptized. but with a little bit of elbow grease and a whole lot of help from the Man above we made this interview happen. 

but her interview lasted for like 2 hours and after i had read alma 5, alma 30, 2 nephi 33, moroni 8. i thought to myself.... hey.... lets take some pictures. and yeah. this is what came out.... haters gonna hate . :D 

Monday, April 21, 2014

Terremoto
(Earthquake)

wellp... this week is going to be pretty short in the whole writing thing. . . . . but i'm just going to cover the unusual that happened this week and maybe some other things... ya know... if i feel like typing... :D:D but just a quick run down of the whole jammywham eh? so first the coolest thing that happened this week would have to be the earthquake that happened. and we got our first flash flood AND my comp had to go to hospital so yeah... that would have to be the unusual that passed this week. 

So.... i'm going to write about the flash flood that happened this week. So me and my comp were in the street just walkin (like always) and i had a feeling that i should stop to get my umbrella just in case it started to rain (it has not rained here in like. . . 4 months.) so i went and grabbed it. and not more than 15 minutes after that........it started to rain. . yes, it started to RAIN!!! and ya know when it starts to rain all the people are in their houses so... you really can't contact. and because that this week is Easter week a lot of the members are out for vacations. but luckily we found a member that was in their house and right as we entered their building the rain stopped and we entered their house and shared a message. and when we finished right as we left not more than 2 minutes later it started to rain.... yet again.... and so as me and my comp are just walking in the streets with the water up to our ankles. my comp was wondering what in the world i was doing as i am just singing "i'm singin in the rain" but yeah it was a pretty good time. and i learned that the water that falls from the sky here tastes just as horrible as you would imagine. and this story i believe ties into another story of how my comp was in the hospital. 

SO.. then as me and my comp were just studying in the morning until 12 like we do everyday but this friday was a bit different. because in the morning we were just studying personally and at first i thought that my comp was shaking my table and trying to get my attention. and then all of the sudden i felt like i was going to fall over out of my seat. so my first thoughts were: man i need to drink more water so that i don't faint. and when i stood up i felt the ground move beneath my feet and just thinking... AM I DRUGGED? i looked at my comp and asked him.... is the ground moving? and that is when the ground started to move more and more and more and the tables started to shake as my comp told me" get in the door way its more safe!!!!!" and i just had to say "bro we have to get into the street if its anything like the movies some freakin sick things are going to happen. " so as we were going for the door of our apartment it was hard to put the key in the hole because the door was shaking and my hand was shaking and those two really aren't a good combination. :D  and when we got into the street you could only see everyone filing out of their buildings and into the streets and people running all over the place screaming and crying and telephone poles falling and us trying to stay on our feet (it wasn't insanely

strong but it was sufficient:D) yeah.. i gotta say that it was probably one of the coolest things that i have experienced in my life.  :D I can't really explain it cuz it's a feeling that i have never felt before in my life. and in the end of all the chaos and craziness only a few light and telephone poles fell down and no one was hurt. so thats good. :D hahah yeah... 

oh so the day after the earth quake my comp woke up feeling a little bit sick. but waking up and feeling sick here in mexico is just like waking up and you hair is a mess. it just happens.. and often. so we really didn't thing very much of it. but as the day went on he started to tell me that it is starting to hurt more and more with every hour just to breath. and that is when i just thought to myself.... um... this is not good... it should not hurt to breath. and so i called my DL and he came to my house and at this point elder Ovalle was in bed and could not move and every breath that he took was killing him. and so my DL called the ZL's and they came to our house and called president and told him that we were going to take my comp to the hospital. and just so this whole story is not like 10 and a half hours long.... we finally made it to the hospital and the got us in after like 2 hours of waiting. and me and my DL and one of the ZL's we were waiting out side as the doctors were doing the tests on my comp. A QUICK SIDE STORY. and while we were waiting for my comp a man on a bike came by us and started asking for money to see if we and help him out and one thing that i have learned from my mom that you should always listen to the spirit when someone asks for money. because he is the one that is going to tell you if they really need this help or not. and in this moment i just felt like i should not give him money. so i told him"sorry man... i got nothing right now" (which was kinda true... i only had 18 pesos.) and after i told him that i turned my back to him and started talking to my DL again and all of the sudden the face of my DL just turned to stone and he stopped talking to me... and i was just thinking what the heck is going on with him... so i started talkin with my ZL at that point. and like 15 seconds later the guy on the bike went away. and that is when my DL asked me.  "did you know that the dude on the bike pulled out a pistol when you turned your back to him?" and with just complete shock i responded "um... no? i really just didn't notice." and my DL told me and my ZL "are you serious he had the gun pointed at you and elder (ZL) for like 10 seconds and then all of the sudden he just packed up and left." and i was just thinking... man.... we have to be in mexico where a man can pull out a gun in front of a hospital and not have a whole swarm of police on him. SO that was a small miracle that i was not in the stretcher next to my comp:D:D:D:D:D:D hahah kinda funny eh? YEAH THAT WAS THE OTHER SMALL SIDE STORY it makes me wonder what angel he saw that scared him off. i would like to read the letter he wrote home to his mother that night. then we might know what made hime leave without shooting me in the head.:DD....angels?  has to be there certainly werent any police to help.

when my comp left the hospital and they gave us a list of medication that he had to take and so we decided that we would call president so that he could send us more money so that we could afford this medication right? that sounds logical. right? so when we call him and tell him that we have no money because it didn't come 3 days ago like it should have and we asked him if he could send us more because no one has money. he told us "to go find money with the members or other missionaries because the money is not going to come before next thursday:" WHAT ARE YOU SERIOUS!!!!  my comp has an infections in his throat that extends down to almost his plumones and we are going to wait for a whole week for the money to come? so finally i was just thought man... i am just going to pay for this medication from my home funds because my comp cant wait a week for this so i was going to need to get to a bank. and so by the time we got home and got my comp into his bed all the banks were closed and all of the places that sold this medicine were closed and the doctors told us that he has to start his medication as soon as possible and so me and my ZL went looking for a place and we looked for like... 1 hour and we found nothin... and when we were walking back to the house wondering what we were going to do we found the Hermana Irma Morales (my investigator) and she asked me why i looked so worried. and so i explained what had just happened and what kind of medication that we needed  and we were not sure where we would find it because all the places are closed right now.... and this is where the miracle happened:D:D:D she looks at the paper and looks at me and looks at the paper and just started to chuckle a little bit. and then looks up from the paper and tells me . well... its kinda funny... but back about a month ago remember when i was sick? yeah... well i didn't have the same thing that your comp has but they gave me these two medications that you need. would you like me to give them to you? I was just thinking to my self... you have got to be kidding me! how is it that our investigator has the medicine that we need in this moment. angels are watching out for me. so clearly i said SI and asked how much i would need to give her for these medications and she just told me that its all good you have helped me enough with your words and i don't need these anymore. so she gave them to us and we headed back home and gave the medication to my comp and yeah... He lives happily ever still. :D

today for pday we didnt get invited to play soccer with the rest of the district because my comp likes to tell the president things that are not whole truths.  he seems to like attention from trying to share information about other missionaries and what they are doing in a twisted way. because of this we try to keep him from only reporting me to the president and not the whole district. it works better that way so he only thinks i break rules (which i dont-and that drives my comp crazy) but i have come to see that people who are insecure like to say things bad about those who are really successful. last week he must have said something about me because the president asked me if i was lying about my numbers....I AM A HARD WORKER and it seems to shock people we are having so much success but if you work hard the lord really blesses you.......i knew for sure satan was using my comp and my pres to discourage me from working so hard but i just couldnt let it get to me. i may not be baptizing millions but each street contact and each lesson i teach..... i know the people feel the spirit.... and that is why satan wants to stop my success. i know it is important to always know where you stand with the Lord as you may never know who will question your integrity 

and the two photos are of my version of "Singing in the Rain" Mexico style:D 

ps....the rain tasted terrible:D:D

wellp.. that's all.. yeah.. 

Monday, April 14, 2014

Slip n dip?

Hahaha ok.... so this week went pretty well. we found some new investigators and some new less actives and ya know some dunkin in the baptismal font, and..... yeah.... not to many cool things but ya know... whatever. 

Hahaha so i just want to write about an experience that was freakin cool this last week. so we are at this house of some new investigators and as we are teaching them about the 3 commandments first because they had a ton of questions and really we just felt like we should share the 3 commandments first so.... we did:D and one lady had a question of tithes and another had a question of the law of chastity and the other about why we don't drink. so ya know... teaching about the 3 commandments was just like... killing 3 birds with.... one stone? :D and as we were teaching the they accepted everything so well and the spirit was there and yeah the things that usually that go while we are sharing the things of God. so it turned out that this man was struggling with the word of wisdom and the same with one of the other ladies that was there. but the man told us that he would stop drinking if his mom would stop drinking coffee. and so they both agreed. but here is the catch. the lady well... has quite a bit of years here on the earth so... she was forgetting some of the things that we were saying to them. and so when we finished we gave them a commitment that they would not drink coffee or alcohol. and so we finished with a prayer and started to talk  a little bit just about life after the lesson and all of the sudden this man looked at me and my comp and gave us the be quite signal and then he went into the other part of the house and brought back a huge jar of coffee. and he put the jar of coffee in front of the sister and he asked her... hey mom do you want a cup of coffee. and she told him... well... no. (and then i was just thinking.... YEAH WHAT A CHAMP.) and then she continued... you know i dont drink coffee at night because i cant sleep. and so her son continued with the question... and so... would you like me to make you a cup of coffe tomorrow morning? and she told him "you would really do that for me son? yes that would be perfect". hahah and i just had to quickly jump in and ask the sister. "wait... hermana... i thought you just told us that you were going to stop drinking coffee so that you are more capable to receive the blessings that God has prepared for you?" and the look on her face was a look of surprise and meditation as she told me "yes i did just promise my God that i am not going to drink coffee now," then ya know i just had to follow up with "then why did you just tell your son that it would be perfect if he made you a cup of coffee tomorrow morning?" hahah and the shock that was on her face was priceless as she turned to her son and said "why would you trick me like that you know i want these blessings and that we are trying to stop drinking alcohol and coffee? get this coffee off of my table and out of my house!" haha we all had a pretty good laugh me and my comp and the children of the sister:D:D but yeah. she is pretty freakin cool sister.  

oh and i just wanted to share our experience with our baptism this week. so his name is miguel. and everything was flowin freakin awesome with him and he was progressing really well. but... we had a small problem.... we were teaching him with his aunt and his mom didn't really know that he was listening to us. its not that we were trying to hide the fact that we were teaching him but his mom is never home and miguel nor his aunt told his mom that they were listening to us. . . . yeah... since that miguel is a minor, we had to ask permission from his mom so that he could baptize himself. and so ya know it just to happened that we found ourself... or.. excuse me... i found myself in front of miguels door because my comp nor miguel wanted to talk to his mom... and i was just like... yeah this is cool guys you push the dude who cant talk this language to try and convince this lady to let you get baptized. so i knocked on the door and his mom came out and i just asked her... hello i'm elder anderson and we have been sharing our messages with your son and he has decided that he wants to get baptized. but since his is a minor we have to make sure that it is all good for you if he baptizes himself. and then she looked at me... waited for a few moments and.... her response was quite a shocker. she told me... "NO. absolutely not. i will not even consider it for one moment. " and ya know.... usually i would be a little freaked like... we are going to loose all of the work that we have just done but this time it really hit me. that this church is so true for the fact that this lady is not going to allow him to be baptized and its not the work that we have done but its the work of the Lord. and so after like 3 minutes of spirit filled talk the mom of miguel invited us into her house because as she told me "we really cant be talking about this kind of thing in the door." so we passed into her house and we got talking again and she was still very against him getting baptized. and thats when i just decided it was all or nothing right? I just told the mom of miguel that the message that we share is true and i'm and 100 percent sure that miguel has seen changes in his life for the better and the fact that i am here i'm mexico is a sure fact that what i am saying is what i know is true because if i was just spitting crap i would most definitely not be here in mexico and that i know that this date for this saturday is the date that God has chosen for miguel. and then she asked me " this saturday... miguel has to be baptized this saturday?" and i just told her  "hermana... it's not my choice of what day that miguel can be baptized. me and my comp have prayed and meditated, and we have fasted for miguel so that we can find the date that he should be baptized. hermana this date is not a date of man. it is a date directly from God." (and as i was saying this her facial expression changed from a hard direct look to really interested in what i was saying) (( and i just felt that i should directly jump into talking about the book of mormon.)) and i know that of what that we share is true because of the miracles that i have seen in my life. and hermana as a representative of Jesus Christ i promise you that you could find the same type of joy that your son has found through this message that we share. and all of this starts with the wants and desires that you have in your life hermana. and here in my hands i have a record of what we share and while you read it (yeah notice that i use while ;D) you will feel something that you have never felt before in your life. and i would like to give you a copy of this book of mormon along with a brochure of the Restoration..... (i explained a little more).... but hermana will you read this book if i leave it here with you? and she told me "yes i really will". and just to make sure that she really had the desires to read it... "well.. hermana i want to leave these things here with you but if you don't read this book its going to really kill me because i know of the blessings that come in this book and this brochure. but i don't want to force you to receive these blessings... i'm just here as a representative of Christ to tell you the truth but hermana. do you really have the desire to read this book and this brochure?" (and her response was so sincere it almost shocked me....) "yeah i would really like to read this book so that i can really find out how i can find this eternal family that you talked about and what do i need to do so that miguel can be baptized this saturday?" and yeah... that was a pretty cool time with the power of the spirit. my spanish is horrible but the spirit is powerful... :D:D 

have a great week :D

PHOTO OF THE WEEK...Monday, April 14, 2014

Foto de la semana (mas como.. foto del mes) (Photo of the week (more like .. photo of the month))

P E R S P E C T I V E

Here I have this photo of the month: D

hopefully you like this picture ...: D and do not judge me by my Spanish: D

Monday, April 7, 2014

COOKED CHICKEN?

hmmmm...... not much to say about this last week but... ya know some powerful stuff. not a lot of cool things but sufficient to write about:D:D:D

so..... i would just like to start out with telling a story that just about killed me with laughter (laughter is with a t right?) so me and my comp were passing by this ladies house and after we got done teaching her she asked us to give her a blessing and clearly because i am training my son i am going to give him the chance to anoint this lady with the oil right? so my son takes his oil and parts the hair of this lady and starts to pour the oil so slowly and so care fully so that so little will leave and so that so very little will leave the aceitero and right as just one little drop is going to leave i don't know if he had a small hand spasm or... who knows, but right as a small drop was going to come out his hand twitched and he dumped the WHOLE ACEITERO ON THIS LADY!!!! i wish someone had a camera in this moment because if someone took a picture of my face i would have probably won the award of the most shocked and disbelief face in this world in this moment because i just have never heard of someone dumping the whole aceitero on someone.... and then after 5 seconds (the time it took me to process what in the world just happened) i looked up at the face of my comp and hahah i just can't explain how fantastically unique that this moment was:D:D:D and after he had anointed this lady it was my turn to give her the blessing. and as i put my hands on her head that was just drenched with oil i gave her a blessing that was to her needs and then she thanked us for the blessing (and for the extra oil that my comp gave her that she was now going to use to cook her dinner after she rung out all of the oil from her hair) and we left. and when we got out side i just had to ask my comp what in the world happened in there:D and as he explained to me.... that as he was preparing himself to pour the oil he had such a strong feeling of the spirit that his hand went numb and the spirit took hold of his body and dumped the entire bottle of oil on this lady. hahah i just had to give this moment a good laugh and tell my comp that i don't think that the oil works in amount. hahah i told him that the one drop is just as powerful at the whole bottle and that it's probably a bit more comfortable for the person if they don't have a head full of oil:D:D and then i just told him not to worry that these are the things that he is going to remember after his mission:D:D:D and that he is doing great and not to worry :D:D but yeah..... it was a pretty good moment that i honestly have not seen yet in my mission:D:D but yeah... :D 

hahah and another good story that happened back a couple of days.:D:D so we were going to this house of an investigator to eat because she invited us:D:D and when we get there she gave us some of the most delicious taquitos that i have eaten here in mexico and then she comes up to me and says "elder anderson you HAVE to try this food. it's one of my favorites and i'm sure that you will like it." Do you want me to tell you what it is now or after you have eaten it? ( i have learned if the people tell me that it is better that they tell me afterwards what i am eating just so that i am not imagining this pig intestines or stomach or heart or brains or... who knows what it could be.) and so she puts this piece of chicken looking lump cooked in bread crumbs or something and tells me to eat up. and as i took a bite into this lump (i really can't describe it any other way...) i got a mouth full of bread crumbs and crumbled up bone with a whole lot of pig fat. and as i am trying to eat this with a smile on my face this lady looks at me and asks... "how is it?" and having this thing work its way down my throat i told the lady... "this probably hast to be one of the most delicious things that i have ever eating in my whole mission. it is just so rich i have never tried anything like it before. what is in it exactly?" and she explained to me that she really loves the fat of the pig so she just buys that and cooked it with the bone because there is more flavor. and i'm not saying that i just lied to her. but i was just trying to compliment her with something that she has made and that she enjoys. :D but yeah... that was an interesting moment. i have never eaten straight up pig fat before:D:D:D

well yeah... that's really all that happened this week. but probably the coolest thing that happened would have to be general conference. because after 6 months in the mission i finally understood a little bit more of conference than the last time:D:D:D so it was more of a spiritual uplifter than just a session of six hours of learning spanish words. i really enjoyed conference. Because when you teach the gospel all day everyday to be able to watch conference is like... six hours at the movies:D:D ps i loved the movies as you know:D:D

and... things are moving pretty well here. we have quite a few people that are listening to us and are progressing pretty well:D:D:D  i especially love the two people we found on the street while we were out doing our "contacting" the one lady is an older woman who has turned missionaries down many times over the years as I approached her she told me that she wasnt sure why, after all these year, she was going to let us come and teach her. she has come to church three times now and loves it :D:D street contacting is the greatest:D:D i wish I could let all the other elders know she is coming to church that she turned down so many times before.  they would be thrilled to know:D:D so we will see how things go this week and the weeks to come:D:D:D well... that is all. yeah...