Week 69!

Family and Friends,

João Victor came to Church this Sunday again and liked it a lot! He's a cool guy, and we've been teaching him a lot. He is progressing well. I'm excited for him! 

Two recent funny stories:

This past Tuesday, we had stopped by a store on our way home. As I had taken my money out of my wallet, I ended up leaving my drivers license and a picture I had in my wallet in the store! We returned the next morning and found them both!

I had a medical checkup this past Wednesday night. It was in the center of the town and we went there with an Uber. On the way back, we decided to walk to save money. We used a bridge over the big river in the city and we ended up behind a number of huge, old, and empty warehouses. We didn't see anyone for about 10 minutes as we walked and it was late at night but we made it out safe and I saw a wild (and live! I've only seen them dead on the road before) armadillo. It was cool haha.

We had transfers this past week but Elder Motta and I will stay here! In fact, our whole district of 8 missionaries stayed haha.

One thing that I've seen a lot lately is the difference in the lives of those who practice (yes, practice, not have) the Gospel and those who don't. There are many people and families I have known which are incredible, peaceful, and happy. There are also many which are the exact opposite. The main difference in the lives of these people seems to be the level of application of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who obey and keep His perfect principles are happier, kinder, and more successful in life.

Love you all!

-Elder Anderson

Week 68!

Family and Friends,

This past week was incredibly busy and flew by!

This past Monday night, we had a family home evening with a few families from the ward. Miltom and Lucia both came! They are a couple and have been investigating The Church for over a year now. It was great for them to get to know the members of the Church better.

We got to know a 36 year old man named Leo this week. He's brazilian but has lived in Germany, New Zealand, and has visited the USA twice! He speaks english and has a crazy accent! Haha, he says, "Mate" a ton when talking about friends.

I've been training for my mile time a lot lately and I ran a 5:58 Mile this past Wednesday! That was cool.

We had a zone conference with President Barros (Bah-hos in Portuguese) this Thursday. It was really great! He focused on positivity and elevating our teaching quality. 

Joâo Victor (a 20 year old) came to Church this Sunday! His family is against the Church and seems to have heard some stuff on the internet about it. Haha, but he liked it a lot and already knows a lot of the youth there!

Now it's P-day, we'll have some more "off-time" and get back at it tonight! We have another family home evening planned!

Love you all!

Week 67!

Family and Friends,

We had another incredible week this week, we talked to over 100 people and 22 accepted to hear our message! We will be going house to house like crazy this week teaching and testifying of what we know to be true. It'll be great.

One highlight this week was our lunch with Bishop! He took us (a group of 4 Elders) to a nearby Pizza Hut buffet. We all ate a ton and I don't regret it! haha, good stuff. 

Also, two weeks ago, we planned and held an activity at the church! We had almost 40 people there. I gave a spiritual thought on working together and love and we played some games and ate "esfihas" (mini pizzas). It was great! I've eaten a lot of pizza recently... haha.

This past Saturday, there was a baptism at the Church! Miguel (8 years old from a family of members) was baptized. It was really special and a lot of people went to see.

Love you all! Have a great week!

-Elder Anderson

Week 66!

Family and Friends,

This past week has flown by and it's been great!

We focused a lot on talking to more people in the road/knocking doors (which is really clapping hands in front of gates here in Brazil haha) and we talked to 95 people this week! It was great.

One night, we were wanting to talk to 3 more people to meet a goal that we had set. Before turning a corner, I said, "God, where are three people?" As we turned the corner, we saw a family of 3 sitting in front of their house, we also saw a family of 5 walking down the road, and another person walking down the same road! It was an incredible experience and blessing. We talked to all of them and invited them to hear our message and visit The Church of Jesus Christ. It was great.

Love you all!

-Elder Anderson

Week 65!

Family and Friends,

This past week flew by! It's been really good. My new companion is Elder Motta. He's a brazilian with 18 months on the mission and he can teach really well. His experience is well appreciated.

This past week Elder Aidukaitis (of the 70) came to visit the mission. He gave an incredible training on the difference between Nefi, and Laman and Lemuel. He spoke about how it applies to our lives and missions. Gratitude and obedience are two big differences in their different lives.

We had a great visit with Lucia and Milton this week. Lucia is willing to learn and study a lot. We read 3 Nephi 11 with her this week, and it was really spiritual and powerful. It was a great experience for all of us.

We decided to focus on a new road this week to find people to teach. After talking with a few families on the road, we found a great family who already knows the church and the missionaries. They are really great! The dad of the family is especially sincere. I'm excited to return.

The first week of this transfer was really good and I'm looking forward to the rest of it!

Love you all and thanks for everything,

Elder Anderson

Week 64!

Family and Friends,

This week was the last of this transfer. My companion, Elder Vasquez, will be leaving to my last area. My new companion will be Elder Motta! I've already gotten to know him. I'm excited for it!

This past week we had a great restoration lesson with Willian, a 25 or so year old guy we met in a park. He's super cool and is looking for the right Church. Good for him, he's gotten to know 2 representatives of it! This week we are going to visit the local chapel with him.

I had divisions this week and I worked with Elder Carrasco and Elder Bento. Elder Bento is from Rio de Janeiro (drug/crime capital of Brazil), he has some crazy stories and started conversations with tons of people! It was great.

My companion and I had a BBQ to celebrate the end of the transfer. He had found the grill in someones trash haha, but it worked for what we needed. Brazilian BBQ is great!

Love you all!

Pics:

Old Zone

BBQ

Brazilian Fast Food (X-Tudo!)

Week 63!

Family and Friends,

This past week was good. We had a meeting with our Mission President Wednesday about planning which was great. 

We visited Gabriel (a 19 year old youth from the Church) and his family this week. His parents aren't members. His grandma recently passed away and we taught them the Plan of Salvation. It was really great and they accepted it really well. 

We also taught the plan of Salvation to Neusa and Arde (an older couple) this week. They liked it a lot. We will return there later this week.

Sorry for the short letter, I'm out of time :/

Week 62!

Family and Friends,

An update on my R$25 watch: the battery already died. haha, I'll be looking for a new battery this week. My companion and I continued being sick but we are slowly recovering with the medicine we have.

One night this week, Elder Vasquez and I were deciding on where to work. We prayed, looked at the map, and deciding on two roads to visit. In the time we had, we talked with 2 families. They both received us well and we marked another day to return. One of the families gave us  bread and chocolate milk. 

This past Thursday, we ate lunch with the Bishop here. It was really great. This past Sunday, he gave a talk and talked about us and the blessing to have us here in the ward and visiting the members homes. It was great.

Love you all,

Elder Anderson

Week 60 and 61!

Family and Friends,

These past two weeks have been really great! 

One highlight was stake conference two Sundays ago. Elder Audukaitis of the 70 was there as well as the Mission President, President Barros. Before it started, I meet Elder Audukaitis in the bathroom which was super cool! I got to talk to him for 30 seconds or so haha. In the conference, a new stake was created. It was great.

Recently, my companion and I both got sick. We've had stomach aches and food hasn't been digesting super well. I think we drank bad water, but it'll pass.

One funny experience recently: We had taught an older man named Lairsio and we returned a few times to his house but he was never home. This past Sunday, we passed by and he was home. He apologized for not being home because he had married that Saturday! Haha, I told my companion that it is a super good excuse haha.

Love you all!

Elder Anderson

Week 58 and 59!

Family and Friends,

This past week I was transferred from São Carlos to Piracicaba, which is the central city of the mission. I'm serving in the stake center here which is super cool. I've already meet a couple of members and they're great. My new companion is Elder Vasquez! He's from Peru and has 10 months here in Brazil. He's one of the funniest people I've met here and we've already laughed a ton haha.

General Conference this past weekend was incredible! Many of the talks seemed to focus on increased personal responsibility and on staying far from sin. I felt that many talks were especially for me. After President Nelsons announcement, I'm excited for the conference in April! It'll be incredible. 

I also bought a new watch here for 25 Reais, which is about 7 bucks haha. It might only last a few months but at least it looks nice! haha.

This new city is super hot but super great! We've meet some incredible people and had some incredible lessons and visits. This next Sunday is Stake Conference and the Piracicaba Stake will split! It'll be cool to see what happens.

Love you all!

Elder Anderson

Week 57!

Family and Friends,

This past week was incredible! Here are the highlights:

- Multi-Zone activity (60 missionaries together) was great! We had trainings focused on not giving excuses for failure or lack of effort, self-improvement, and serving others. It was super great. I got to see a lot of friends from other areas which was good.

- Divisions! I stayed with Elder Stohel for 2 days this week. We were able to get a lot done and teach more lessons than normal which was awesome. One highlight was buying Bread from 2 ladies in the street (people here who sit on the sidewalk and sell food etc...) and eating it with Djalma. It was cool.

- I took a physical fitness test for the Air Force Academy today! Results are as follows:

     . 18 Pull ups

     . 95 Sit ups in 2 minutes

     . 75 Push ups in 2 minutes

     . 6:00 1 Mile run

It about killed me haha, but I did better than I expected!

Love you guys! Thanks for the continuous support!

Elder Anderson

One Year + One Month

Family and Friends,

This past month has been fast and eventful. I returned to one of my past areas in the city of São Carlos. It's been neat to see how it has changed while I was gone. My companion right now is Elder Ferreira, he's from Fortaleza (north part of Brazil) and lived super close to the beach there. We have recently been teaching Adriana, Silvia, and Djalma. 

Adriana is super great. I knew her when I was here before. At the beginning of this year, she had been praying to find a church and help in her life, and 2 missionaries knocked on her door. She willingly invited them in and accepted the Gospel. We are continuing to teach and help her. She comes to church every week. 

Silvia I also knew when I was here before. She is open to learn and came to church with us this past week. She has been investigating the church for 20 years and still hasn't decided to be baptized. She is slowly learning more.

Djalma (My companion and I call him DJ Alma haha) is super cool. He's 84 years old and open to learn and improve. He started a conversion with missionaries on the road and now we're teaching him. Super great. 

Two Sundays ago, while my companion and I were walking to church, we saw a drunk man fall in the road. He got up and continued walking but was stumbling into traffic and in front of a truck! Elder Ferreira and I ran out and grabbed him and walked him to the curb. He was totally out of it. He laid down and went to sleep on the curb. Crazy! It was almost super bad.

I've been learning a lot recently about Christlike leadership. I'm trying to focus on having and showing love and patience with the people I am with. It's been really great. 

I love you all! Hope you all have a great week!

Elder Anderson

Month 11!

Friends and Family,

Today is my 11 month mark on my mission! The time has truly flown by.

I will be staying in this city, São João da Boa Vista for another transfer (6 weeks) and will continue as District Leader here. 3 of the missionaries in the district left and we received 5 new sisters in the district. 

We had a multi-zone meeting and got to meet our new mission president here, President Barros. He´s from northern Brazil and I think he´ll do great here.

I´ve refocused my studies to ´´the basics´´ and have started a thorough study of Preach My Gospel Chapter 3. I'm starting with lesson 3, The Gospel of Jesus Christ and its been really incredible. Studying the simple basics of the Church and doctrine has been great.

Love you all,

Elder Anderson