I don't want to say goodbye to my mission.

 

I cannot fully describe the torn emotion I am feeling as I type this email. This is harder than I ever thought it would be. I don't want to say goodbye to my mission. Transfers are hard, but this is impossible. I just want to tell you one thing that happened before I say goodbye til Friday. 

So this area has honestly been my hardest area. And Elder Kelly agrees with that for himself as well. I have never worked so hard for the work than in this area. We have fasted many days trying to get the work going. We have gotten a family in each ward throughout the whole stake fasting every day for 40 days. Tons of things have happened since I've been in this area. And just about all of them have petered out to amount to nothing really. 

I was prepared to leave this area holding on to the one lady we were able to help come back to church. And don't get me wrong, that was amazing and I will never forget that experience or lose touch with her. But after all the work we have done, I would have considered this a dead area until Sunday. We have less investigators than I have fingers on one hand. And none of them have shown any desire to progress. Until yesterday. 

We had one of our investigators come to church with his friend. He has been taught for over two years and has come to church many many times. Since I have been in the area nothing has happened with him. Well at the start of third hour at church yesterday, he and his friend, Corey, who's a member, asked to speak with us. We went into an empty classroom and sat down. Our investigator looked at us and said, "Corey is going to baptize me on January 1st." 

I have never been more shocked on my mission than at that moment. This came out of the blue! Completely blindsided me! Never in a million years did I think something this miraculous would happen. And the greatest thing of all was what the spirit told me at that moment. This was God's way of saying "Thank you." After four months of frustration, disappointment, and discouragement, God produced the miracle. 

We have fought and dug and prayed and fasted for something to happen. Never have I faced such opposition than I have in this area. And just before I go home, God shows me that what I have done was not in vain. The sweat and tears that went into this area were not wasted. God never left us. And he never stopped working alongside us. He has been here all along working behind the scenes. 

I cannot tell you what joy I have felt being able to work with the greatest being to ever live. I cannot tell you the pure happiness I have felt doing His work. And I cannot even begin to describe to you how grateful I am to have been called to this work. For it truly is the work of God. And there is no greater work to be done on this earth. You will never feel a more powerful love than that of God's. And you will still never know how much He truly loves you. I couldn't have asked for a greater ending. This truly will be happily ever after. Because I know that this happiness is unending. No one loves you more than God. And God will never love you less. 

I will be home in five days. And I'm not totally sure how I feel about that. I never thought this day would come. But it has. And I never thought it would be so hard to leave. But it is. I love you all and can't wait to see you again. Well I could wait a little longer, but I won't. I'm not allowed haha. 

Until we meet again.

Elder Anderson

I'm going to miss this place so much.

It's been insanely warm here which is the greatest news I have for you really. It's been around 7-10 degrees Celsius. There is still green grass here. It's insane! I'm loving it! It's the middle of December and we are wearing sweaters #joy. 

It's been a pretty quiet week though. Not too much has happened. We had two people we are working with come to church which is sweet. One lady who has been reactivated is doing amazing. She is the greatest person alive. We are so pumped for her. She is getting ready to go to the temple as soon as she can. I will be coming back up for that. 100%. 

Time is getting short though. I'm going to be home too soon. I'm going to miss this place so much. It's really hard to think about. I try not to dwell on it too much. But people love reminding me how much time I have left. haha I think they're trying to get rid of me. Probs. 

Anyway I don't really have anything to report on this week. 

I love you all and will see you soon!

Elder Anderson

We can choose to be happy.

It's been absolutely freezing here!!!! It's around -10 in the mornings and evenings and warming up to around 1 or 2 degrees during the day! Holy cow this country is cold!!!! I'm not sure I will miss that. Actually I'm pretty sure I won't, however it makes for fun stories. Like having to walk uphill both ways in a blizzard to church. You know, the usual stuff. 

Speaking of usual stuff! Here's a cool little message I've prepared over the past couple seconds. #bearwithme! One thing I learned this week is that there are things in this life that we cannot control. Other people are an example of this. We cannot control people or what they do. However we can control our reaction. Our feelings of love and peace and happiness and joy are not just nouns. But they are verbs as well. They are actions that we can choose to do or feel. We can choose to love someone. We can choose to be happy. We can choose to be peaceful. These things are principles. They are unchanging. We have the opportunity to choose them every time and never worry about something changing. Some things in this life change without our control. When we center our lives around those things, we will completely crumble and fall, because they might change. However if we make the unchanging principles the center of our lives, then we will never have to worry about something affecting us in the negative. because we chose to be happy. We chose to have fun. We chose to love. And nothing or no one has the power to change our feelings but ourselves. Some unchanging things that we have are the scriptures, the gospel, Jesus Christ. If we center our lives around things like these, then we will never be let down. As we think proactively rather than reactively, we will find more happiness and joy.

Hope this made sense and helped! Love you all! Take care of each other and love one another!

Elder Anderson

I will follow Christ til the day I die.

I'm running out of ideas here to write about. This week was ok. It's been rough with the work here though. There is not a whole lot going on. We have been working our tails off trying to get it going but it's slower than molasses in a Canadian winter. AKA dead stop. But we haven't given up. #onwardchristiansoldiers

There is just a quick scripture that I want to share with you before I go. In John chapter 6, Christ preaches some difficult doctrine that some of the people don't really like or agree with. In verse 66 it says, "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." Some of the people decided that they didn't want to follow Christ at that point. When He sees this he turns to his apostles and asks, "Will ye also go away?" 

Then Peter gives his response. "Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,the Son of the living God." I love Peter's response. 

Sometimes there are difficult things to believe or follow in this gospel. Sometimes we are asked to go outside our comfort bubble and accept something out of the ordinary. When this happens, we must turn to our fundamental beliefs and hold on to what we know. Christ is the Son of the living God. He has the keys to unlock our eternal salvation. This I know. So if I follow Him where He leads me, then I will live with God again. 

Some things may be hard to accept at first, but if they come from Christ and his authorized ministers, then they are true. And we are asked to follow. I will follow Christ til the day I die. I know He is my Savior. I know that He loves me. And I know that I can live with God again because of Him. 

I hope you all have a great week and stay safe and warm. I'll be seeing you soon enough! Love you!!!

Elder Anderson

We can choose to be happy.

I refuse to have a countdown. The other week we noticed a sign that someone had up on their roof that had a countdown for when Christmas was down to the very minute. Well I accidentally saw it and immediately knew how many days I had left on my mission then. Well that night I knelt down before my Maker and cried unto Him begging Him to let me forget how many days I had left. Well thanks to the great blessing He has given me of a forgetful memory, I have no idea what that number is anymore. #Blessed So things are going well.

This week has been full of ups and downs. I have noticed that the downs are much easier to focus on, and cause us to forget about the ups. This caused us some discouragement and adversity. One night after we got back to our apartment and were planning out our next day, we stopped and focused on what good had happened to us today. As we reviewed the day we noticed many different little miracles that we completely overlooked and ignored because we were too focused on the bad that had happened. We realized that we were missing out on all these good things in our lives because of our bad attitude and perspective. 

Since then we have been working on focusing on the good more than the bad and it has helped us a ton! We are much more enthused when going out to work. Canceled appointments don't get us down anymore. (And we had 7 this week, 6 being with an investigator). We have been much happier and have had tons of fun. 

When we focus on the bad, we feel bad. We allow ourselves to be affected and changed by the bad experiences that we have. But when we focus on the good things in life, we feel good. And we let those good things change us for the better. As we look each day for God's hand in our lives, we will have more joy in each step we take in this journey. We have not been sent down here to be miserable and hate everything. "Men are that they might have joy!" We can choose to be happy. Our agency starts in our thoughts. So choose to have good, uplifting thoughts! If you do, you will have a heart filled with gratitude and joy for what God has done for you. 

Don't worry, be happy!

Elder Anderson

I shall Endure to the End.

I've seen Christmas lights already. Man this is scary. Time is flying. The days are really short it seems. There is just no time left! I don't like it one bit! Nevertheless, there is still work to be done. And it has been promised that I will be given time to accomplish all that I am called to do. So there is time yet. Now bear with me and I will tell you of the wrestle I had with God this week.

For the past week we have been working pretty hard to pick up the work in this area. And for the past week it seem as if we have been spinning our wheels. We fasted twice this past week for help. And nothing came from it. At least not the things we had in mind. We have been stopping by a ton of people trying to meet them and see if they are interested in us coming by and teaching them. No luck. We have prayed harder than ever for those we are working with. No change. It's been so tough. Probably the toughest week of my mission.

That being said, we have a stake wide 40 day fast coming up for missionary work. What we think is happening is the same thing that happened to Joseph Smith when he was praying in the grove of trees. A dark force came over him trying to stop him from praying. Right before his revelatory experience of seeing God and Jesus Christ, Satan worked hard on trying to stop him. Satan knew what was about to happen. And he didn't want it to. He went to all lengths to hedge up the way. 

We think the same thing is happening here. Satan knows that we are going to have a 40 day fast in Med Hat and he knows what that will do for the work here. He has attacked our faith and hopes of anything happening. We have been worried this past week as to what is going on but we are now understanding of the situation. We know that this is the work of the Lord. And we know that no matter how hard Satan may try to stop us, we will win in the end. 

Even if we have to cross through the most trivial times of our lives, we are confident in saying that there will be rest on the other side of our trials. There will be joy and success as we are faithful to the bitter end. I am so grateful for the knowledge I have been blessed with. If I didn't know that God existed, then I would have given up long ago. But I know that He has a plan for us. And all things are done in His wisdom. 

That is why the last point of the gospel of Jesus Christ is Endure to the End. Because that is what we have to do sometimes. Endure. Which means to make everlasting and omnipotent. Relentless and unstoppable. All powerful and unconquerable. I shall Endure to the End. I pray you all will too. 

I love you all and hope you have a great week. Remember God loves you!

Elder Anderson

A note from Pam:  Most of you know that Jake has Type 1 Diabetes, which means he really isn't supposed to fast.  To me, this shows that he really is doing everything he can to bring forth the blessings of heaven.  Before he left on his mission, I really worried about him fasting.  Now I know better than to worry, for I have seen God watch over him every step of this journey.

This is where I belong. This is where God wants me.

Elder Jake's zone. He has expressed his love for these missionaries over and over again.

Man this is not real. I can't believe it. This is my last transfer as a missionary. I hate it haha. My new Companion is Elder Kelly. He is the greatest! He is from England right by the London temple. But he's not from London. Make it clear. Hahaha. He has been out 18 months.

He is probably one of the best missionaries in the mission right now. For sure. I am so pumped to be serving with him! And to be back in the 2nd ward and the YSA branch. There are some miracles in store for this area. 

We currently have one girl on date to be baptized in 2nd ward for November 27th. She is solid. Then we are working with a sweet family who has been making big progress and reading the Book of Mormon. We have a guy in the YSA branch taking the lessons right now and he is a great guy. We are excited for him. We hopefully found another lady to start teaching who lives next door to members. There is a lot of work going on in this area right now and it will only keep building. We are going to be busy for the next long while. 

This is truly what pure joy is like. I have found it here on my mission. There is nowhere else I would rather be than right here in the Crescent Heights area of Medicine Hat in Canada. This is where I belong. This is where God wants me. And this is where the blessings lie for me and my family. As I continue to work here, I continue to uncover those blessings and my joy simply increases. 

God is with us. We are walking along side Him. His work is great and marvelous. I cannot express my gratitude for all that He has done for me. I love you all a ton, but I am in love with my mission right now more than anything else. I have been called by God. I have been set apart by His ministers. I represent His Apostles. And I will go forth and "teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost" (Matthew 28:19). 

I am now coming to the end of the greatest journey of my life and I want to let you know that I have never seen God more in my life than I have being in His service. Know that He loves each and every one of you. And know that I do to. Peace, be still!

Elder Anderson

If you are trying to find happiness or peace, then the best place to start is on God's doorstep.

Well we had a call come in today from a guy we are working with. For the entire time I've been in the area and more he has been convinced he will never join the church. He told us it's a great organization but it's not what he believes. Well he called us this morning and told us he started reading the Book of Mormon and realized that it is what he believes. He said that he has accepted all that he has read so far and now wants to be a part of the whole picture. 

It's amazing to me when I hear people who think that we are not christian or we worship the devil. Our church is the Church of Christ. It's the original church that was on the earth since the beginning. One thing that I love that our investigator said to us was "Whether or not Joseph Smith really talked with God, I know that he created a beautiful message." 

Whether or not the church is true, the message that we have is one that will bless you life incredibly. The lifestyle will bring more happiness and joy into your life than anything else. Even success is often a result of the teachings in this church. These things are facts. 

I don't know about you but it sounds like this is exactly what God would give us if He were real. And I know that it is exactly what He gives us BECAUSE He is real. The church is true. If you are trying to find happiness or peace, then the best place to start is on God's doorstep. 

Elder Anderson

Because of Christ, we have all the hope we need to move us forward.

I just have a really quick thought for you. And it's from a talk I read called the Donaldson Papers. It's incredible. Here's the thought. 

When Christ suffered for us in the garden of Gethsemane, he unlocked our path to repentance and to be forgiven. When he was scourged, he unlocked the enabling power of the atonement. This is referred to as Grace in the scriptures. And lastly when Christ was lifted up on the cross he unlocked our path to exaltation. So what does this all mean. Well we have access to all of these things through ordinances. Our path to be forgiven starts with baptism. As we are baptized, we start down a path that follows Christ. We become cleansed from all our sins when we are baptized. That is the first ordinance. The second is the sacrament. As we take the sacrament each week, we renew the covenant we made at baptism and that enables us to continue to be forgiven. The last one is the temple. The path we are now on leads to the temple. At the temple, we can become exalted. We make more covenants, or promises, with God that allow us to return to live with him again. The Atonement of Jesus Christ has given us the opportunity to live with God again. But we must partake in these ordinances in order to receive the blessings that come with them. And we must hold true and faithful to the promises we have made with out Heavenly Father in order to secure our blessings not only in this life but in the life to come. Without Jesus Christ, we have no hope for a better life. But because of Christ, we have all the hope we need to move us forward. 

I hope this is enlightening to you all. It was to me. I love you all and pray always for your welfare. I know you do the same for me for I feel it. Thank you for all you do.

Elder Anderson

I am a witness of God's miracles

   

Well this week we had an In-Zone ET (Emergency Transfer). So I swapped places with an Elder in the zone. This means that I am back with Elder Peci! I'm so pumped! He is so much fun! We now just cover one ward. They seem pretty cool from what I've seen.

I am sad to leave the other ward and branch. There were some incredible miracles happening in that area like I have never seen on my mission so far. One investigator we were teaching had a softening of the heart like I have never seen. It was incredible. The Spirit is absolutely amazing. Another kid moved into the area and after four years of not being active in the church decided he wanted to start coming back. We met him last week. He is now preparing himself to serve a mission.

The miracles were truly amazing and faith promoting for me. I want you all to know that God is a god of miracles. Miracles are not a thing of the past. They are not fairy tales or fantasies. They are real. Miracles happen every day. And I know that they have happened without you even know it.

A miracle doesn't have to be someone coming back from the dead. Or being cured of cancer. Or surviving a plane crash. It can be as simple as having just enough money to pay the bills. Or having just enough gas to get you home. Or even receiving a call from a friend who was simply thinking of you.

We should never underestimate how involved God is in our lives. A coincidence is a lot more rare than a miracle. Miracles happen a lot more than you think. Never forget God loves you, and never think he doesn't care about you. He's in your life a lot more than you can ever imagine. I have a testimony of it. I am a witness of God's miracles. You can be too if you open your eyes.

Elder Anderson

I am a child of God.

 

Elder Jake and Elder Gonzales with Sister Miles, the mission president's wife

I am a child of God. I want you to say that in your mind. This thought can do many things for us. What I want to focus on is the power it gives us over our adversary, Satan. In the book of Moses, Satan tempts Moses to worship him. This is how Moses overcomes Satan:

"13 And it came to pass that Moses looked upon Satan and said: Who art thou? For behold, I am a son of God, in the similitude of his Only Begotten; and where is thy glory, that I should worship thee?"

"I am a son of God" That phrase helped Moses remember which way he faced. He faced God and Jesus Christ. He remembered that he wasn't just a nobody. He was a son of God. Just like we are sons and daughters of God. If God is our Dad, what does that mean? Moses goes on to say:

"16 Get thee hence, Satan; deceive me not; for God said unto me: Thou art after the similitude of mine Only Begotten."

We have been created after the image of God. We are after the similitude of Jesus Christ. We are more powerful that we imagine because of who we were created to resemble. And finally Moses says:

"21 And now Satan began to tremble, and the earth shook; and Moses received strength, and called upon God, saying: In the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence, Satan."

Moses received strength. From who? Where did he get his strength? It was becasue of his knowledge. He was able to use the power of God to receive strength and overcome Satan. Moses knew he was a son of God. And becasue of that, he knew the God would strengthen him when he was in need of it. And the power of God has no limit. As we see in the next verse:

"22 And it came to pass that Satan cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and he departed hence, even from the presence of Moses, that he beheld him not."

God removed Satan from the presence of Moses because Moses remembered that he, being a son of God, could call on him and receive strength and power. We were created to become greater than who we currently are. But in order to do this, we need God's help along with our Savior's help. 

The last scripture I want to share with you and I want you to remember is Phillipians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." All things. Not just some things. You are a son or daughter of the most powerful being in the universe. Never forget that. And never forget that He has promised to give you power when you need it. Even if that means every day. Especially if that means every day.

Elder Anderson

Jake wrote this about this picture: "We volunteered at a breast cancer run and they gave us this free stuff. It was pretty funny. They had bras hanging up on the building like Christmas lights. hahahahahahaha it was hilarious!"

Knitting class with the YSA ward

Pride leads us to failure and frustration

Oh what an adventure. It was 9:00 pm as we rolled in to our parking spot at our apartment on a crisp fall evening. The night had cast a dark blanket in the sky, only allowing small sparks of light from the stars and street lights to illuminate the world. As we exit the vehicle, we glance out at the grassy field across the street and recognize a familiar shape in the distance. Our friend roger rabbit. A stark white bunny which has eluded us for some time. But not this time. This time, we will prevail.

Swiftly, we run inside to arm ourselves with a basket and blanket. Ready for war, we enter the dark atmosphere and embark on our journey that will take us to the next level of missionaries. Gonzo leads us, basket in arms, on our course to secure the pet bunny. He circles around the target hoping to corner it and chase it towards me. It moves under a tree. Perfect. We converge. But it suspects this and takes off!!! The chase is on!!!!

We take of after the little bullet at a dead sprint. He bobs and weaves around and under the cars in the parking lot. It's a hot pursuit! But we don't give in! Back and forth, up and down, left and right we go in a desperate attempt to capture the package. As the chase drags on, we find that the little fella is slowing down! Victory is imminent!

He tires! And we have him cornered! But our mistake came when we let pride enter into our hearts. We had already started the celebratory party in our minds knowing we have finally won. As we converged for what seemed to be the last time, the little bunny's pre-workout kicked in! How could it be?! He took off like bat out of outer darkness!

Moving with inhuman speed he shot for the alley! Not the alley!!! Away he went and we followed in furious and determined pursuit! He cannot escape us this time! But alas, he did. He found all too quickly a gate that led him to the safety of someone's backyard. Too afraid to let the hot pursuit take us into an unknown land, we forfeited the effort and accepted defeat. Until next time.

The moral of the story I would like to point out real quick, is that pride leads us to failure and frustration. When we boast in ourselves, we are left in our own strength and will quickly find out that as to our strength, we are nothing.

Helaman 4:13
"And because of this their great wickedness, and their boastings in their own strength, they were left in their own strength; therefore they did not prosper, but were afflicted and smitten, and driven before the Lamanites, until they had lost possession of almost all their lands."

Alma 26:12
"Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things; yea, behold, many mighty miracles we have wrought in this land, for which we will praise his name forever."

Love you lots!

Elder Anderson

I love the Temple! It is God's house.

Elder Jake with his zone at a zone conference with the mission president

Transfers come and we don't go! Hahaha Elder Gonzales and I are staying together!!!! Halleluhjah! That means Gonzo will die here and then my new companion will kill me after that. (When missionaries end their mission, they say they are "killed" or they "die".  That is what Jake is referring to.)

I am so pumped he is staying! This is such a fun area. We are having so much fun. The YSA branch is so sweet! We have FHE every week and we host a knitting night every week too! It's so swell! And 2nd ward is such a solid ward. We have such great families there too. We are finding more work each day. Life is bliss right now.

We had the opportunity to go to the Cardston Temple this past Saturday. It was amazing! I love the Temple! It is God's house. He lives there. And we have the opportunity to be guests in His home. To go and learn from him. To receive answers and revelation that we are in need of. How blessed are we!

God is forever. We are forever. Why wouldn't our families be forever too? They are. I know it. We can be sealed together as a family and be a family in heaven. Moms and Dads. Brothers and sisters. Sons and daughters. Friends and family.

Make the House of God your goal. Go there as often and you can. I promise you will feel God's love greater than ever before. Prepare yourself each day for the next time you can go to the temple. Whether it's the first time or the thousandth time. Prepare yourselves.

I love you and hope you have a great week. Take care!

Elder Anderson

"If it is to be, it is up to me."

Elder Jake and Elder Gonzales studying at the mission President's house when they went to Calgary for a conference and stayed there overnight

So this week Elder Martino of the Seventy visited the mission. He taught us how we need to work more with members. It was amazing. He is my favorite General Authority who has come to the mission so far. There is one thing he told us that I absolutely love. It's a ten word phrase and each word is only two letters so it's easy to remember. "If it is to be, it is up to me." I love it. 

When we are struggling in our relationship with other people, we have to stop and remind ourselves this. If this is to be, if my sister or brother, my mom or dad, my son or daughter, my friend or neighbor, have been placed in my life for a reason, then it is up to me to get along with them. It is up to me to help them in any way possible. I need to do what I can to strengthen our relationship. 

But the most important relationship of all, is the one we have with our Heavenly Father and Savior. They will never be the problem causing the relationship to not work. If we are to grow closer to Jesus Christ, if we are to feel and understand our Heavenly Father more deeply, then it is up to us. We must change what we are doing and who we are in order to fix that relationship. It is up to us to bring them into our lives. It is up to us to acknowledge that we need them, and that we are nothing without them. 

As we do our best to reach toward them, they will move closer than they ever have been before. Your fate depends on your willingness to work. It depends on your desire to do all you can to clean up your life and get it in order so that when you are reunited with your Father in Heaven, you will be ready to embrace him. You will be ready to enter into his kingdom. And you will feel worthy to dwell among God's greatest children. "If it is to be, it is up to me."

I know this gospel is true. And I know that we can feel our Father's love for us whenever we need it. We can receive strength from our Savior when we are weak. But it is up to us. Always press forward. Continually move toward our Savior. Rest is ahead. Refuge is awaiting you. And endless peace and joy will fill your should for all eternity, after all we can do.

Elder Anderson

Elder Jake and his BFF, a pound of bacon!

Jake said we have to try these, they are his new obsession.

Probably not diabetic friendly!  (Naughty missionary)

Driving from Medicine Hat to Lethbridge

Jake has learned so much on his mission, including how to knit, and apparently drive at the same time.  I pray this is just a joke and that he's not really multitasking!

Jake has learned how to knit ties.  Yes, ties.  I have no words.

I don't think you could search the world over and find a happier missionary!
Elder Jake is having the experience of a lifetime!

Miracles do happen!

Slower week. But fun nevertheless. Here's a sweet miracle that happened though. We tracted into this lady a couple weeks ago and she said that she didn't live there but that we could stop by sometime at her place and share a message. Well we stopped by this week and talked with her and her boyfriend. They are #Gold! We taught them bits and pieces of all the lessons. They are interested in the Mormon church and had a ton of genuine questions. So we literally taught them about the restoration, plan of salvation, gospel of Jesus Christ, and even talked about temples and callings in the church. They are so sweet! They live in 3rd ward so we passed them off to those elders and they told us that the lesson they had with them went amazing! Oh man it was so cool. They are so ready it's sweet! I'm so pumped we were blessed with being able to find them. I have no doubt that God set that whole thing up. We are hoping that this week will be full of miracles like that. 

Miracles do happen! God is watching over every one of us. I know it. And you can too.

I love you all!

Elder Anderson

I love the mission so much it's ridiculous!

So apparently the world around us has been on fire causing Medicine Hat to be really smoky. The sun is just a red ball in the sky. You can look directly at it because of the smoke. We have been sleeping out on our balcony lately too. The other day I woke up and my throat was destroyed because of the smoke. However this morning, the skies are blue and beautiful. We could see some stars last night too. It was sweet. The Smoke Has Cleared! Blue Skies Ahead! But this week was a good one regardless.

We taught a man for the first time. He has tons of spiritual experiences throughout his life and he has recognized the adversary working hard at him in his life. But he is strong and a great guy. We taught him the first lesson and he agreed that if he came to know it was true, he would be baptized. It was sweet! He's gold. We also found a guy who we started teaching who is interesting.

So we tracted into him and set up a return appointment. He gave us a book called The Great Waves of Change. When we went back and started talking. It became clear that he was 100% convinced that aliens were on the earth right now. It was... different. Hahahaha he is loco! But it was sweet. He actually accepted a lot of our message and believed it. But I don't think it's to hard to convince him of things. He seems pretty accepting of a lot of stuff. hahahah Every day's a new day out here.

Other than that, not much else is new. This is such a sweet area though. And my comp Elder Gonzales is so sick. This transfer will probably be my favorite transfer. I pray we do 2 together. I would kill him then haha. Then I would die the next transfer. It's insane how long I've been out. I'm getting nervous for the end. I feel like a transfer is coming and I am going to leave. But It will be a permanent one. It's pretty sketch. I love the mission so much it's ridiculous! I want it to never end. But what goes up must come down. I hope you are all doing swell back home. I pray for you every night. And I feel your prayers every day! Thank you! Take care!!!

Elder Anderson

Sometimes things don't go as well as you would hope them to, but when we put it in the Lord's hands, then you can be rest assured that things will work out.

Elder Jake said, "The Greatest Crew of Missionaries to Ever Walk the Earth!"

So this August is what we call Walk and Talk August. It means that the clicks that we are given on our car are reduced by 75% and we are asked to start walking everywhere. And talk to everyone. So that's what we've been doing this month. And this past week we had a pretty cool miracle happen. 

We were walking (obviously) and saw a lady who looked to be in her 20's pushing a stroller and walking with her son who seemed to be about 2. So we talked with her (obviously). As we were talking with her we got to know her a bit. She brought up how she had moved to Med Hat 15 days prior. So we asked her what brought her here. Then the story came out. So one day the cops showed up to her house and arrested her husband. He had been charged with bigamy. He was married to to women. And had two families. And lived two lives. Well this lady we were talking with had no idea. Her "husband" was taken to jail, and all of their stuff was confiscated by the police. After getting her side of the story figured out, she packed two suitcases and flew to Calgary. Unable to find a place to stay there, she took the bus down to Med Hat where her brother lived and found a little apartment here. Her brother stopped by once to drop off a couch for her place and that's it. She has no friends here, virtually no family, and no possessions other than some clothes. Her life one day got flipped upside down and she was left with nothing. She then asks us if we knew of a Christian church in the city. We didn't so we just said bye and walked away... hahahaha jokes! We told her about her church and invited her to come. Then we set up a time we could come by and share a message with her. She agreed and we got her info and told her we would give her a call to remind her. Then we said bye and left.

Well we went by and taught the restoration. It went well. However we found out that she was very involved in her church in Manitoba. As we talked, we realized that it was almost like trying to convert someone like us to another religion. She was super nice and agreed with a lot of what we had to say, but seemed a little unwilling to accept it. Well when we finished, we left her with the Book of Mormon and asked her if she believed in the prophets in the Bible. She said yes. Then Elder Gonzales asked her to think about the question, "If God called prophets then, do you think he would call them today?" That really got her thinking. I think something clicked when she thought about that. We told her that we would be in touch and check in on her if she needed anything. Then we set up a return appointment and left. We told her that if nothing else, we just wanted to be her friend. So she had someone to turn to if she needed anything. Especially since she didn't really have anyone she knew in Med Hat. When we left, I felt like we left it on a great note. The lesson was a little difficult and she seemed doubtful, but I think in the end, she felt more open and trusting in us.

I have never really had a lesson like this. But I think it was sweet. I am pumped to follow up and see what happens next time. She should also be coming to church next week as well. Sometimes things don't go as well as you would hope them to, but when we put it in the Lord's hands, then you can be rest assured that things will work out. And that is how I feel right now. 

I hope you have a great week and that you feel God's love for you! 

Elder Anderson

Jake's 21st birthday in the mish...he is one very spoiled missionary!

Oh man what a transfer. I literally got hooked up.

Oh man what a transfer. I literally got hooked up. My new companion is Elder Gonzales. I was praying for him. Literally. As soon as I found out his companion was leaving I wanted to go with him. And the Lord answers prayers! This is gonna be the greatest transfer ever! We have already has so much fun it should be illegal! Medicine hat is a small city of about 60,000 people. Just a little smaller than Lethbridge. We cover a family ward (2nd ward) and a YSA branch. The ward is pretty small though. The average attendance is about 110 or 120. And the branch is 20-30 people. But they are both awesome. I felt right at home on Sunday. I gave a real quick 5 min talk in 2nd ward to introduce myself and people came up after and introduced themselves to me and welcomed me to the area. It's great! I have never been this amped going into and area.

And this past Saturday there was a baptism in the ward, he's 15. Haha it was sweet. We are hoping to start working more with the family. The mom is trying to quit smoking right now and doing great. And the dad is super nice. He's a homie for sure. And there are other investigators in the area we are working with now. It's looking rather swell.

And what's more! Elder Peci is in the zone as well!! haha he's still close by!!! I was so pumped about that at transfers! I ran up and gave him a hug before his new companion got a chance to. Oh man it was stack after stack. The zone is gucci. 

Well hope your week was as good as mine. Probably not but maybe it was close ;) I love you all and pray for you constantly. Take care and keep moving forward! 

Elder Anderson

Well I'm getting transferred south.

We had the craziest rain storm I have ever seen in my life this week. The streets were flooding. People were driving through over six inches of water in some places!!! haha it was sweet!!! Downtown got hail like crazy too. It was insane. The streets were white with hail. Cars were plowing their way through it to try and get out. It was over the bumper of most of the cars. I have never seen anything like that. It was so cool! 

Well I'm getting transferred south. I'm pumped to go south but bummed to leave the area and Elder Peci. It's been a blast serving here. The wards are amazing and the work is just picking up now. But I'm sure the new area will be great. I'm super excited to move around and see new places. 

Oh my!!!! The highlight of the week! No doubt! We went on exchanges on Saturday. I went with Elder Todd from Lehi Utah, go figure. It was a ton of fun though. But the best part was that he got hit by a truck!!!! Hahahahahaha it was amazing!!! He went across this crosswalk as this Ford Ranger pulled up to the stop sign. Well the guy didn't see Todd and just rolled through it and gunned it to get out in front of traffic and slammed into Todd. It scooped Elder Todd up on the hood and then the guy slammed on the brakes when he realized what he had done. Then Elder Todd slid off the hood and fell down on the ground. It was the smoothest fall I have ever seen. He didn't even have a scrape on him. I think he had some angels looking out for him. It was a miracle. But it was also hilarious following him and watching it all play out on the bike. What a day! 

Anyway. That's what my week has been like. It's been really fun. I'll let you know where I end up next week! I love you! Talk to you next time!!!

Elder Anderson

It's been a blast.

So this has been a pretty fruitful week. We found 3 new people to start teaching! The area is now picking up a bit. Which is weird because summer is usually the slow times. Everyone leaves for the summer and goes on holiday. But we've been trying to find people, and the Lord has blessed us. But transfers are next week and I am probably going to leave. Which is kinda lame. The area is great, the members are sweet, and we now have people to teach. I hope I stay.

Well the weather is crazy here. It's really hot one second, then the next second, it's raining. Then the next second, it's dry and blue skies. Haha I never know what to think. Definitely not a drought here. But it keeps us on our toes. 

Other than that not much else is new. We've been busy with finding and teaching and always service. It's been a blast. This has been a great summer and I hope winter holds off until January ;) but I doubt it. It's just around the corner now. I hope you are all doing well back home!

Take care of each other! Love you!!!

Elder Anderson