Meanwhile in Retiro....

This week was probably one of the fastest weeks of my mission life. Such fun. I learned quite a bit and a lot happened. I also forgot to mention some stuff that happened last week so here it comes.

Last week we had service at a member´s house, his bakery. His bakery is way dope and we helped him make facturas and tortitas (you can look them up if youd like). It was like 10000 degrees in his bakery and I was a sweaty mess when we got done. But it was way fun nonetheless.

Also, last week, I forgot to mention that I had the best chicken I have ever eaten in my entire life. Hands down. Last name Chicken, first name Greatest. like seriously I have had some great meat and chicken here but this stuff was uncomparable. It was last saturday with a family close by. It was pollo asado with chimichurri sauce mixed with mostasa (mustard) fresh of the griller. We started eating it with forks and knives and then the dad was like K guys just eat it with your hands. And then we went way hard and ate like 3 or 4 large pieces each. yeah just needed to get that out.

Wednesday we had the worldwide training for missionaries broadcast. (I think everyone in the world was watching it at the same time.) there were a bunch of apostles and the advice was way great. Elder Oaks talked about the new mission culture that every mission should have, which is teach repentence and baptize converts. Also Elder Bednar had some great consejo about that and how to put it into practice.

This week we also had service with a less active family. We painted a large portion of their apartment. We were there from like 4 to 8:30 just going at it. So yeah, haha service.

We picked up 4 new investigators this week. We have one that is the cousin of a less active woman who just came out and said yeah he wants to make changes in his life and that baptism is something he should do. It was pretty awesome, and we have a cita with him tonight to get the ball rolling.

Saturday was supposed to be the best day. We had about 4 set citas and a bunch of members to come out with us. But literally everything fell through. But luckily we both had good attitudes and found other stuff to do instead of being sad. The character of Christ though.

The heat of san juan is real. It gets up to 42 degrees (which i think is around 108) quite a bit. But this week it should be better. Today especially looks nice and cloudy. It rained a few days ago which was a christmas miracle. But then our clothes outside got a little wet haha. What is funny is that our water heater broke. so the weather is hot, you wanna take a cold shower. well no, the water heater is outside too, so your shower is hot. you wanna take a hot shower because it´s not very hot... well. the water comes out cold. you just can´t win haha.

Consejo Semanal (weekly advice) hmmm. I´ve been thinking about prayers a lot. The other day I really wasn´t feeling good at all and I felt way frustrated. I said my prayers that night I pleaded to help with my sickness. I felt the spirit way strong during that prayer and then the next morning I felt great. Prayer is real.

Anyway yeah as I write this letter Bohemian Rhapsody is on heck yeah. Pday.

Have a great week and do something great this week!!!!!!!! I love you all!!!!!

Besitos....

Elder Anderson

post painting selfie.

Morty painting

cepita. the best juice on the block.

 

Solid Week

Well this week I hit my 6 month mark. According to Grandma time should start flying. this week was pretty normal and great work was done.

On Thursday we had interviews with president goates. My interview was really short, but great nonetheless. I really like talking to pres, he´s a way good guy. We also got some consejo from Hermana goates which was really great too. When we were done we went to mcdonalds in centro san juan and I dropped 133 pesos on a chicken nugget large meal. oh well haha I really needed that.

We have a few investigators but none of them are really progressing. But we still teach lots of lessons. It´s just a matter a getting the people to commit to things is what´s tough. But we had my all time high for lessons with a member present this week, which was 8. It was pretty great, and we also picked up 4 new investigators.

Haha the culture here is pretty interesting and awesome. (Just a culture update quickly for everyone to understand). Everyone is either working or sleeping so morning work is pretty hard. then lunchtime comes and they eat and eat. then siesta comes and they siesta until about 6. then they work or party or play soccer. then it all starts over. So there is limited time for missionaries... but we manage to find em when they are available somehow.

Our pench is right by a soccer field. in fact, the window to our bathroom has a pretty good view of the field. But they all smoke (insert type of cigarette) and the bathroom smells way bad haha. But they party and play soccer every sunday and it´s pretty funny haha.

Anyway I really don´t know what more to say. The mission life is awesome. I enjoy learning every day about the work and the church. We taught a lesson the other day about the plan of salvation and the woman said yeah, the celestial kingdom is for the ones who did good deeds. then I was like dang this mission is really a good thing haha 2 years of good deeds.

So me and elder mortensen were playing ´say a certain word during this abrir la boca´ and i gave him the word ´coca´ which is what they use for coke. It was pretty tough. but then out of nowhere he asked if we knew anyone friendly, maybe who likes coke, to teach the gospel. it was pretty clutch if you ask me.

Yeah pretty much a normal week. I was also a little sick. the san juan water is starting to get to me and i´ve been in and out of the bathroom. but i´m pretty much good now. So yeah.

Have a great week and you all are in my prayers!!

Love, Elder Anderson

RETIRO

So now that I´m pretty much settled in in Retiro, I can explain better stuff and the area and what not. This week has been pretty awesome.

So Retiro is in San Juan, a state in Argentina. It´s waaay hot. When I first showed up I never stopped sweating for about a week. But, lately, there has been quite a few clouds and wind. Last week the weather was pretty awesome, because San Juan is supposed to be unbearable hot. But it´s really not that bad.

My companion, Elder Mortensen, has been in Retiro for 4 transfers. So most likely he´ll be gone after this one and I´ll show it to a new companion. Like I said before... me and Lybbert were waaaaay suprised when we got transfer calls. Hopefully I´ll stay here for a while, because there are some great people here. My comp is from Box Elder and hit 18 months last week. He still has desires to serve and we work really hard.

The members in Retiro are really awesome. I can tell that Elder Mortensen has gained their trust, because basically every lunch we get a reference. We still have a few uncontacted references. But something funny that happened last Sunday is I was waaay tired and totally fell asleep in sacrament meeting.... oops. this woman who had to go to the bathroom or something saw me and totally snapped in my face... haha but she´s cool and it was just a funny little thing that happened. Also, a member named Franco is leaving on his mission today. He left with us quite a bit, so he´s pretty ready I think. He´s going to Colombia and gets back in 2018.. haha weird.

We have a pretty big pool of investigators right now. San Juan is just so different. Before, we had like 2 if we were lucky, in Mendoza. But. You can explain the gospel and everything, it´s just when you get to committments it´s hard. We teach the message of the Restoration once or twice a day, but just getting people to do something about it is tough.

We had a really awesome investigator named Margarita. She was a former investigator that we decided to visit. She told us she had been reading the Book of Mormon  and praying and knew it was true and stuff. So the lesson was really easy... just inviting her to be baptized which she accepted, and coming to church. So we told her that we would come pick her up on Sunday. Sunday rolls around and we show up and her husband is watering some plants and tells us that we can´t come any more and that Margarita doesn´t like us and all this garbage. So she didn´t come to church. later in the week we passed by (luckily the husband wasn´t there) and she told us she can´t join the church without the support of her husband.. (who´s basically anti-everything except Catholics.) So yeah, we were close, but she still needs time.

So this week, Elder Perkins sprained his ankle. So he can´t work for two weeks. Then his comp, Elder Later, got special transfered to another part of San Juan. so they found a mini missionary who basically just babysits perkins in the pench all day... haha kinda funny.

This week I´ve been studying in chapter 2 of preach my gospel which is kinda boring... effective study. Studying can be pretty hard sometimes but also way great. It says how a lot of missionaries aren´t studying that great.. haha which includes me. But things I did learn is that you should always always always start with a prayer to have the spirit. the spirit is like a whole different thing. If you do anything by the power of the holy ghost, it makes sooo much of a difference.

I´ve also tried to make prayers a lot better. Like, we always pray about the same stuff and Jesus said not to do that.  We are literally communicating with our Father. That´s what he  wants. PMG says you should go through your day completely being grateful and asking for help. That´s way better than just going through the motions.. which almost everyone does. So i´ve been trying to make prayers better and I´ve noticed changes.

Well I´m 25% done.... such a big chunk. Entering the MTC feels like an eternity ago. But, before I know it, July 15 2016 will be here.

Have a super awesome week. haha yeah things are going good.

Love, Elder Anderson

me, franco, and morty.

eating ice cream on new years. perkins, mortensen, and me.

Palmira had some awesome grafitti...

 

Big Week!

The holidays have been great!!! Skyping was fun and the holidays were awesome. Tons happened in the course of these last two weeks. Being away from family was a little weird, but it´s all good.

So last Sunday comes around and me and Elder Lybbert were totally expecting to stay. So we got the call and Elder Lybbert stayed.... but I got transfered after 1 transfer in Palmira. How sad, I know. Fun fact, Elder Lybberts new comp was his mtc comp.

Anyway I got transfered to Retiro, Chimbas!!!!! It is in the state of San Juan. It is the most northern zone in the mission.... so it has been even hotter than Mendoza was. Chimbas is also called the promised land because the people are really humble. Which they are. They are super friendly and always accepting. Retiro is a great ward.

I had to take a 2 hr bus ride from Mendoza centro to San Juan centro, and then a taxi to Retiro. My new companion is Elder Mortensen, from Box Elder. He just hit 18 months on the mish a few days ago. This is his 4th transfer in Retiro so most likely at the end of the transfer he´ll leave and I´ll show the area. But yeah he´s way cool. He´s a sports fanatic and we never run out of sports talk. He´s a huge BYU fan but that´s okay. He also served as financiero in the offices for 6 months before coming to Retiro. What´s funny is that he was Elder Sivertsen´s trainer... So I´m living where Elder Sivertsen was for a while. He´s in San Juan zone now so he´s still close. Also, Elder Later lives 2 doors down and is in the area next to me.

Anyway yeah we´re working hard and we have a lot of investigators. Those are the main differences, it´s waay hotter and the people seem more receptive. It´s crazy though.... 4th transfer and 3 areas... that´s pretty rare. You never know what President Goates is gonna do though.

Things are going pretty good. I´m almost to 6 months!!! time´s flyin, and I´m super excited for what Retiro brings. so yeah!!! everyone stay cool, have fun, and enjoy the cold while you have it!!!

Sorry this is short. I don´t have much time but more will come next week!!

Love, Elder Anderson