Our Father in Heaven Loves Us Dearly

Hello all!

Man it has been crazy as always. We are being taught so much and teaching so much that I can't keep track of what I taught who. We do these things called role play. We pretend we are teaching investigators, but we are really teaching our teachers who are acting like an investigator from their mission. We will have six hours of class in a day, along with a few hours of personal study (which is basically class) then at least an hour of zone teaching (which is basically class). The information we are given is almost overwhelming. There is no time for anything else. Luckily today we have several hours of just doing whatever we want. We might start some fires and rebel a little. 

Yesterday we had something called In-Field training. That is where we go from classroom to classroom learning how to apply what we have learned about teaching. We learn how to work with the members of the church, how to find investigators, how to approach investigators, and stuff like that. The whole class is nine hours long. It was exhausting! Oh man we were tired for about the last three hours. And then after that we had some personal study, then zone teaching where we taught an investigator. After almost falling asleep the whole day, we got back to the room and had more energy than ever before. Sleep seemed crazy. We just hung out and shot each other with nerf guns. We also found a basketball hoop you can hang on the door in one of the vents in our room. We found that a week ago. We will probably break that out soon and do some dunk contests. 

We had a role play a couple days ago that was amazing. I was the investigator and Elder Lybe was the missionary. I didn't know who the person I was going to be was. Brother Crendall (my teacher with the brother going to Sierra Leone who has been reading off of Cody's blog) told us a little about an investigator from his mission. We had to become him. I prayed for the ability to feel and think what Rafa (the investigator) felt and thought. During the lesson I became this kid and was able to see exactly what he saw. When Elder Lybe was teaching, the spirit was so strong. His words were guided by it and spoke to Rafa deeply. He said exactly what needed to be said. What happened was that Rafa was about to be baptized when all of the sudden he decided he didn't want anything to do with the church. We found out that a week before his baptism he went to his mom with a Book of Mormon telling her he was going to be baptized and that he wanted her to read it. She told him he would be disowned if he made that choice. When Elder Lybe was teaching me, he talked about Nephi saying I will go and do the things the Lord commands. He talked about how the Lord will provide a way for us. That spoke deeply to me. It was exactly what Rafa needed to hear. I know that the Spirit is what does the true conversions. We only help the investigators recognize it and feel it. 

So I know you had a few questions. My companion Elder Pitts is from about twenty minutes away. He is from Cedar Hills Utah. I see Sister Howells here fairly often and say hi. Other than that I haven’t seen anyone else. The food is good but nowhere near as good as your food mom. Doesn't even come close. I am eating well though. My blood sugar is great. I have lows all the time, so I know it's under control. So you can see how I don't have the need to actually check my blood sugar. And obviously I am using my insulin all the time. I was able to rent a fridge for ten bucks and have it put in my room. All my roommates are using it haha. When I'm done with it, I can get my money back. As far as my flight, It's really early. Like I think maybe around 5 in the morning. Although all of the others from my district have it written as 2 in the morning. So I'm not sure what's going on with that. I'll have to check with the travel desk. 

The mission is great so far. We have already almost finished the trail mix. That is heavenly. The sun has been out the last few days. It's good to know it's still there. That's one thing I miss is the weather in SoCal. Although the cold hasn’t bothered me at all yet. Then again Calgary has been about twenty to thirty degrees colder compared to here so we'll see. 

Well I should wrap this up. I just want to finish by saying I know that we all have a purpose here on this earth. We all go through trials for a reason. Whether it's to help make us stronger, or to help humble us, they are always for a reason. Our Father in Heaven loves us dearly. And Jesus loves us too. He wouldn't have gone through what he went through if he didn't love us. Think about someone you love. Would you be willing to feel all the pain and suffering and sin they will feel in their life in order to save them? Jesus would. Except He did it for billions upon billions of his siblings. Don't you ever forget it. I don't want you to ever think that you are not loved by anyone. I love you all. But more importantly, your Father and eldest brother love you. More than you will ever know. More than you will ever be able to comprehend. If you ever feel alone. Pray. Talk to our Dad. He wants to hear from you. Then when you want to hear from him. Read the scriptures. He wants to talk to you. Always. He has blessings that he is dying to give you, but he can't unless we earn them. Be worthy of these blessings, for they will be tenfold what you deserve if you just seek Christ. Follow Him and you will have eternal live and eternal glory. It is worth it. I bear you these things and do so in the name of my Brother, Jesus Christ, Amen.

With lots of love

Elder Anderson

Merry Christmas from Elder Anderson

This is the best Christmas gift we will receive this year, maybe ever. Enjoy!

I only have 20 minutes so I have to make it quick. First of all, thank you so much for the gifts! You seriously didn't have to do that. I love them as does my district haha. They say thank you! It is so cool to be here for Christmas. We are going to be hearing from Elder Bednar today it sounds like. I'm super excited. We saw a video of him speaking a couple of days ago from a few years back. It was amazing. He talked about turning our hearts to Christ. Becoming selfless. I hope we can all remember Christ every day and recognize his role in our lives.

It has been crazy every day here. We are learning so much. The MTC is truly a great place and the spirit is amazing. I realize that I really didn't know anything about being a missionary. Jesus Christ is the reason we do what we do. Our only purpose is to bring others unto Him. We are here to make people become like Christ. I would like you to think about Christ as a baby. Just after he was born. Picture Him in your arms with his beautiful eyes looking up at you. Feel the love that this baby has for you. Now imagine what the future will hold for this baby boy. As you hold him, think of all he will do for you. Think of the Atonement and how he felt every pain, suffering, and misery in all the world. Think of the sin he had to experience because of us. Think of how his disciples fell asleep when he asked them to stay awake with him while he had to endure that. Three times! Think of how one of them even betrayed them. Think of how this baby boy you are holding will one day be whipped, stabbed, then nailed to a cross and left for dead. The baby boy you hold in your arms will do all of this. Why? I'll tell you. It's because he wants to spend the rest of eternity living with you in the Celestial Kingdom. He loves you so much that he is willing to go through all of this suffering so he can be with you forever. Now I want you to think about this throughout Christmas and the rest of your lives. What are you doing for him? How are you living your life? Your eldest brother gave away his life for you. All he asks is for you to follow him. We do not deserve any of this. We will owe Christ for the rest of eternity no matter what. The least we could do is to give him his one wish. That we will live with him for eternity. The only way to do this is to turn your hearts toward others. Become Christlike. I know if we do this, we will be blessed beyond measure. Our lives will be better. Our attitudes will be better. We will be happier. We will feel more peace and joy in our lives. But best of all. We will get to spend the rest of eternity with Jesus Christ. We will get to thank him personally and know he is proud of us. We had eternity to prepare for this, and we will have eternity to remember this. Don't spend Eternity regretting what we did on this earth. I know this is what God wants for us. This gospel is his way of showing his love for us. Don't forget that. If you want to show your love for him, then serve him.

I have to go now. I love you all and will write Saturday. Probably sometime in the morning. Maybe seven or eightish.

With love,

Elder Anderson

If all else fails, trust in the Lord.

We were beyond THRILLED to receive our very first email from Elder Anderson.  ENJOY!!!



Well it is my p-day today for about half the day. (P-day is a day off for the missionaries where they can write home, shop and see the local sites.)  The temple is closed and won't be open until after we leave, so we won't be able to go to that unfortunately. It has been absolutely amazing here! When I was serving in the temple, I always thought to myself how there is nothing better than serving in the temple. I know now I was wrong. Serving in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) is truly the greatest feeling in the world! The spirit here is so strong and can be felt all the time. It is amazing how much I have learned while here. I have learned more in the past three days about being a missionary than I have in my entire life! As we learn about our purpose as missionaries, the spirit helps us understand things we never thought of before. Our mental capacities have expanded beyond what they have ever been. The amount of work they give us would be overwhelming in any other situation, but here at the MTC where the spirit is so strong, we are able to manage. But only just, haha. My companion is Elder Pitts. He is great. He is 18 years old and has a very great testimony and is very in tune with the spirit. There are eight of us total in our district and eighteen in our zone/branch. We are all getting along well with each other. The Elders in my district are super funny and we have a great time messing with each other. 

So far I have learned that being a missionary is not just going out and baptizing people. It's not even teaching people about the gospel. Our goal and purpose is to bring others unto Christ. That is our one focus. We don't focus on improving our relationship with the Lord. We don't focus on improving our relationship with our investigators. We only focus on the relationship between our investigator and the Lord. We are here to change the hearts of everyone and bring them closer to Christ. When this happens, everything else falls into place. They learn to recognize the spirit and follow its prompting. They start to have the desire to live the gospel. We have learned that baptism is not as big or scary as sometimes we make it out to be. They are teaching us to ask our investigators in the FIRST lesson to be baptized. We try to teach them that they should follow the example of Christ and be baptized like he was. Being baptized doesn't mean they are making a commitment to become like Christ. It means they are WILLING to make that commitment. In the sacrament prayer it says that we are WILLING to take upon us the name of Christ. When we look at it this way, we can see that baptism is just our way of branding someone a Mormon or being able to boost our numbers. It is the first step on their path to following in Christ's footsteps. We have also learned a lot about prayer and the power of it. Lamoni's father was being taught by Aaron about prayer. The king finally fell down on his knees and told the Lord he was willing to give up all of his sins to follow him. He had so much desire, sincerity and real-intent that he was struck down as if dead for three days! When is the last we have prayed with that much power? Being sincere means honestly wanting and meaning what you say. However, having real-intent means being willing to follow any answers or commandments the Lord gives us. I learned that all too often we pray seeking a particular answer. When we do this, we will most likely not hear the Lord if he gives us a different answer that we weren't expecting. When we pray, we must be open to any answers that the Lord gives us and willing to follow his direction and guidance. 

I have gotten your letters and Joan's package. I love reading them and hearing from you. I love the scarf and tie that Joan got me too. I will have to add her to my thank you letters. I have written two letters that I sent yesterday in the mail. The first was from day one, and the second was from day two. Although I was feeling a little homesick  the first day, I was able to pray to my Heavenly Father and ask for comfort. I immediately felt better and thought of President Hinkley's dad saying to forget himself and serve the Lord. That is what I have done. I have given myself to the Lord 100% just like all the people in the scriptures did. It especially makes me think of Sister Cazanave's testimony about Shakrack, Meeshak, and Abendago (or however you spell it) and how they asked the Lord for help and said, but if not we will still love thee. That is how I feel about my mission. I am willing to give myself completely to the Lord and love him no matter what happens. I love you all and hope to continue to hear from you often. The scripture that comforts me most is D&C 100:1. I know the Lord will look out for you and bless you all without measure as he does to me every living minute. I testify to these things and bear witness that this is the true church and that we are all brothers and sisters of our Heavenly Father. He loves us and knows us better than we know ourselves. If we just trust in him 100%, I know that he will take care of us and always watch over us. Never forget that. If all else fails, trust in the Lord.

With lots of love,

Elder Anderson