Week 76!

Family and Friends,

We have transfers this week! Elder Costa will be transferred to Hortolandia, a nearby city, and I will stay here and train a new Elder! I'm excited for it, it'll be my third time training.

We've been teaching Taynan (I have recently called him Claudio but he prefers Taynan haha) a lot recently! We had a special lesson this past Saturday focused on Alma 34, the atonement, faith, and repentance. It was really great. He is feeling the positive difference that the Book of Mormon is making in his life.

We had a brazilian barbecue this Saturday night with the four Elders of the house and two RM's in the ward. It was super good. Grandpa West makes some great BBQ but I'll still miss the BBQ from Brazil.

I now have one year and 5 months on my mission, I will likely have just four more transfers (6-week period of the mission) on my mission. Time is flying by and I will finish strong!

Love you all!

Elder Anderson

Week 75!

Family and Friends,

     This past friday we helped a couple pop the clutch on their car (the battery had died). It was cool haha, they were grateful for the help. We also saw two horses fighting, one was running behind the other and the horse in front was kicking the other with its back legs. Crazy... those kicks looked super strong.

     We had a mission zone conference this past week. Those who gave trainings talked about the power of the Book of Mormon and about our personal motivations to be missionaries. It was really good.

     Two Sundays ago we had a stake conference, one of the 70s was there and talked about the importance of obedience, the stake president spoke on self-sufficiency. It was really great!

     We played soccer again today. I scored a couple goals. I also dunked a croc we found in the parking lot hahaha, I also threw a football with one of the American Elders. It's been a while.

Love you all!

Elder Anderson

Week 74!

Family and Friends,

Ever since I've been in my new area, we haven't been able to drink the tap water in the house. This past week, we went in the attic with a member to clean the water tanks and they were really dirty. But we cleaned it up good and now the water is a lot better!

We visited Yasmin this Friday with the Young Women's president of the ward. It went really well and Yasmin went to a young womens activity this saturday and stake conference this Sunday! She brought her younger sister too. They liked it a lot and will continue coming!

We taught the Restoration to Claudio this week! It went well and we found out that his best friend is a member of the Church! He seems sincerely interested in what we have to say. We will return this week!

We have had a great P-day so far! We played soccer and basketball with some other Elders, and I scored a goal in soccer  It's been a while since I've played haha.

Love you all!

Elder Anderson

Week 73!

Family and Friends,

This past week I stayed in Nova Odessa (another city) for a day. I worked with Elder Britez from Paraguay. We had a great visit with a lady who was baptized just two weeks ago, we read 1 Nephi 8 together and talked about the symbolism and what we can learn from it. It was really great!

In our area we've visited a family with an 11 year old daughter named Yasmin who hasn't gone to church in awhile. She's super cool and is mature for her age.

One day, we were walking on the sidewalk (surprise, surprise haha) and we saw two shirtless guys (+-20 years old) passing by on a motorcycle without helmets. They were shortly followed by a police van with 2 cops. The cop in the passenger seat had his pistol in hand hanging out the window. The guys stopped the motorcycle behind a semi-truck and the police whipped the van around, and both hopped out after them (One with the gun drawn and aimed at them). The guys put their hands up and relaxed, the cops grabbed them and threw them against a wall. One of the guys back talked and got punched a couple times. It was like a movie haha. I'm glad to have policemen and women that risk their lives to keep others safe. I honor and admire their sacrifice. 

One day, we were walking in a neighborhood and I started a conversation with two kids in front of a house. Ends up, a few people in the house are members of the church and there are many who aren't baptized! The kids called their grandma who was home and she said we could teach and baptize those who hadn't been taught! We will return there soon.

Love you all!

-Elder Anderson

Weeks 71 & 72!

Family and Friends,

These past two weeks have flown by! Here are the highlights:

Christmas Eve, Christmas, and New Years! We stayed Christmas Eve night with a family from the Church, we ate a ton, and hung out. It was really great! On Christmas we had a four hour lunch with Brazilian BBQ. It was really good haha. On New Years, we stayed home but watched all the fireworks in the city from our houses garage haha. It was really cool. It made me miss the 4th of July parties in the USA. 

I was recently transferred to a new area in the same city as my first area here in Brazil! It has been really cool to come back and remember experiences from over a year ago. Time has flown by. My new companion is Elder Costa. He's from Fortaleza and is the only member in his family. His parents disowned him when he left on the mission and he hasn't talked to them since. His faith and testimony are astounding. We don't yet have a week together but we've gotten a lot done. We've been able to meet the Bishop, plan how we will work in harmony with him, cleaned and organized the area book, meet some of the members, and also meet some of the people here who are investigating the church. It's been great!

I have nearly 1 year and 5 months on my mission now, it has been an incredible experience until now. I have changed, grown, and experienced so much. Only those who have served understand. I'm am excited to finish these last 6 months or so faithfully and proudly.

Until next week, love you all,

Elder Anderson

Week 70!

Family and Friends,

Wow, time sure has flown by. 70 weeks now in the mission. 490 days.

Speaking of time flying by, it seems like yesterday that I was last typing a letter haha.

This week had three miraculous events which will constitute this weeks letter.

The first being our mission Christmas Conference. There were a number of Hymns, Presentations, and special thoughts about Jesus Christ. My district (8 missionaries) sung a mixture of 3 hymns about Christs birth, death, and resurrection. It was really special. Before each hymn, I read a correlated scripture. Isaiah 9:6 was one of my favorites.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The second event was the baptism of Altair! The sisters have been teaching him and I did his baptismal interview. His baptism was really special and the gospel of Jesus Christ has made an incredible difference in his life.

The third being the special sacrament meeting this week. Like the mission conference, there were many hymns sung and the Elders all sang (a group of us 5) The First Noel. It was super great!

Love you all!

Elder Anderson

 (Sorry the above pic is up-side down!)

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 :/