Week 11!

Family and Friends,

Another week down... its crazy to think I have only one more in this transfer. time has gone really fast. I´ve been learning and growing spiritually a lot. in free time, I have thought about things in the big picture and its been really great. Seeing this life as a tiny piece in our eternal perspective makes doing the right thing so much easier and encourages me to be better and do more. The highlight of this week has definitely been how red my calves are right now. It's hard to look at them without squinting my eyes... I got baked :I

The real highlight though was definitely confirming Gabbi as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ and giving her the gift of the Holy Ghost. It was all in Portuguese in front of the seemingly thousands (really about 100) of members in the chapel. It was really special and a great and nerve-wracking opportunity. I´m continuing to learn to replace my fear with faith. It's really great. I'm really glad to be here.

- Elder Anderson

No pictures this week...he said they wouldn't load...:(

Week 10 - Respostas e Batismo!

Friends and Family,

This week has been great and super fast. 

I went on splits with one of the Zone leaders here (Elder Jackson from California). We didn´t have any lessons but talked with lots of people and talked about how we can help the mission and obedience. Good stuff. We also had 5 Americans in one house one night which was cool. We all shared mission stories which was fun and funny haha.

I´ve grown a lot this week. I have learned a lot in the scriptures and from other people.

Elder Hoch baptized two of our friends this week, Cleide and Gabi. They are super great! I'm really happy for them. 

I'm about out of time so this email is shorter than the others. Emailing friends/family before the mass email wasn't a good idea, haha.

- Elder Anderson 

Pics: city on a hill, a bad panorama, Night skyline, and a pic with Cleide and Gabi

Week 9 - Kickboxing, Multi-zone meeting, and funny moments..

Friends and family,

This week has been great. This past p-day, we went to a martial arts place owned by a member and got to work out, learn some moves and spar with my companion in boxing, it was super fun.

Wednesday, we had a multi-zone meeting with 2 other zones, it was really good and the mission leadership talked a lot on obedience and purifying our lives. good stuff. I also got to bear my testimony in Portuguese which was neat

Fast and testimony meeting yesterday was great. I bore my testimony really simply but strongly. a lot of people after told me my Portuguese is really good which was great to hear.

Funny moments... 

1. We were leaving a members house after dinner, and Elder Hoch asked one of the sisters (around 50 years old, not 100% there mentally, and apparently likes me?) wanted to tell me something. she gave me a small smile and winked, we all died laughing haha. good times

2. We went my a less-active members house to see how they were doing. the dad was working on his car trying to fix a piece on the stick shift that broke. After 20 or so minutes of work, he tried to put it in reverse a couple times, it didn't work and a piece on it broke. He turned the car off, sat there for a sec then starting screaming and punching the steering wheel and threw the door open and went out in the road to cool down for a sec. wild times haha.

3. I was taking a shower at another missionaries house and noticed my arm felt weird and numb, i eventually found out that when you are standing in the water and adjust the water knob, you get electrocuted haha. good times.

My testimony and conversion has really grown here in the field. I'm starting to love the work and the scriptures and develop the crucial Christlike attributes described in Preach My Gospel. I´m really glad to be here.

Tchau!

- Elder Anderson

I made good use of the ripped shirt... (Alma 46), Some pics of the veiws, and Elder Hoch and I at the multi-zone conference.

Week 8! - Baptism, a Parrot and GC!

Friends and family,

This past week has been great. 

This past Tuesday we talked to a lady who had taken all the missionary lessons but was never baptized. We set a date for baptism with her and reviewed lessons and this past Saturday in between general conference sessions, I had the incredible opportunity to help her come unto Christ by baptizing her. It's something I'll never forget.

A funny experience from this week: I set a ´goal´ in the ctm to flex and bust a shirt by the end of my mission. 2 weeks in and... it already happened haha. In district meeting I tried just joking around (having my arms in front of me with my hands on my shoulders and pulling my elbows together to tighten my shirt on my back) and the left armpit of the shirt ripped open haha. We all laughed about it. Luckily it wasn't too noticeable for the bus ride back. I'll attach a pic.

A note about buses in Brazil: they're insane. They're all stick shifts and the drivers drive them like sports cars. Mix that with bumpy roads, tight turns and trying to give an American missionary his change for the bus ride at the same time and you've got an accurate picture of what they're like.

We also stopped by a family's house this past week to say Hi and Elder Hoch and I were able to get their parrot to get on our shoulders, it was super cool haha. I fed it a cracker.

General conference was great! It's such a blessing to be able to hear from a living prophet of God. The stories and testimonies shared were incredible. A theme I noticed was repenting now and coming back to the fold, and helping others do the same. The changes to the church schedule and 12(!!) new temples was also incredible. I'm so glad to be part of God's church.

My testimony and conversion to the gospel is continually growing. I've a long way to go but I'm not doing it alone.

My Portuguese is slowly getting better. I can understand and talk about simple things, bear testimony, and share points in a lesson but I still am and for a while will be lost during lightning-fast Portuguese conversations between natives. I've got a lot to learn.

Love you all,

Elder Anderson

Week 6&7!

Friends and family,

The past two weeks have been wild. Elder Skinner returned home this past Tuesday, it was sad for everyone but he made his choice. I was with Elder Rhodes and Morrow who were in the same room as me. We had a good time, taught well, and finished the MTC experience well. 

We got a new MTC president the Sunday before I left. President Silva's wife has been in bad health for months and it was super tough for him to handle two huge jobs. The new mtc president is great. He is a man of God and will lead the mtc well.

President and sister Bangerter (leaders of my mission) are great and energetic. They do a great job. We got a warm welcome, great food and were assigned our first companions of the field. My companion is Elder Hoch (pronounced hawk) he's a convert and a super cool elder. We've been able to work hard and do well together. He speaks enough English to get his point across most of the time but nothing more than that. It's tough but he's patient with my Portuguese and I'm learning a lot.

During lessons, I don't understand much but I can testify that our message is true and share simple experiences or topics of lessons. The people here are great! You can ask anyone for water or to use their bathroom and they'll let you in and help you out. It's really cool.

I'm so happy to be here. I know I'm doing what God wants me to do and I know this is his work. Tchau!

-Elder Anderson

Pictures from the MTC:

From Tyler's mission office

This was received a few days after Tyler had entered his mission, met his mission president, and was assigned to his trainer and new area.

Dear Anderson Family,

Thank you so much for sending us such a wonderful missionary.

He met with President and Sister Bangerter, met his new companion and already started working hard in his new area.

We wanted to send you some pictures of his special first day in the mission.  We all love his beautiful smile.

Week 5!

Family and Friends,

This week has been great and tough. Our Brazilian roommates left this morning at 5:30 for their missions. Their three weeks here at the mtc flew by. They were super cool and funny haha. Elder Galvão is into video games and Metallica and learned almost fluent English from playing video games online/watching tv/movies. The other, Elder Lima, didn't speak any English upon arriving but started learning some during his time here. He is big into working out and ju jitsu/ufc. He showed me showed fighting form/technique this week which was super cool. He only weighs a little over 100 pounds but hes solid muscle and bone. It was fun to talk to him about working out and exercises.

Elder Skinner is still here at the mtc, its been a long process of meetings, leaders talking to him and arranging for a ticket but he will leave tonight at 5:30 for the airport. It's tough to see him lose his faith. He plans to return to BYU this winter semester. The mtc president said he would pray about who my new companions should be. He's an incredible man and I really look up to him. I'm grateful to have met him.

The temple this past week was great! We went to Campinas for the 3rd or 4th time, its really pretty and peaceful there. For the rest of p-day, we got pizzas from Mr. Cheneys (a cookie store that is connected to other food places around town so you can get almost anything there) and some hamburgers from a restaurant we found. They were super good but we didn't know exactly what we had ordered because the menu was in Portuguese haha. 

Lessons have been going well. In our last one, we only brought our Portuguese scriptures and a lesson pamphlet. it went well and we only had 10ish minutes to prepare for it. The gift of tongues is real, the language is still tough but I can always speak more than I think I can and words come to mind even easier during lessons.

I know that I am doing what God wants me to do and that I am where he wants me to be. I think I've said this before in an email, but this is such incredible knowledge to have. I know as I continue working hard and being obedient, I will continue to be helped with the language and have the spirit with me. I love you all! Eat some great American food for me!

Tchau,

Elder Anderson

(and we got snickers again this week... 5 weeks of perfect room checks and counting...)

MTC Update

This past week has been wild and tough but great. The Sao Paulo Temple is really beautiful and the session was in English which was a definite plus.

The whole time here at the MTC my companion, Elder Skinner, has been quiet and reserved. I thought it was just his personality because we got along so I didn't think anything was up but we were talking a couple days ago and he has really been struggling with his testimony, feeling the spirit, and having faith. We have been talking with the mission president, teachers, and MTC leaders and he will go home either today or tomorrow. It has been really tough to seem him struggle. He has been trying hard to receive a testimony and do the right thing but he has no faith and I think he expects to be given a testimony instead of building his own. It has been tough for me to feel the spirit recently especially in lessons and I believe this is why. When he testifies, there is no spirit to carry the message and it becomes tough for the both of us.

This past Saturday we went proselyting for an hour and a half on a busy street in downtown Sao Paulo. It was a really neat but difficult experience. There is so much more Portuguese I need to learn haha. We got rejected and ignored a lot but were able to hand out a few pass-along cards about the Book of Mormon and got 1 good referral. One man talked with me for a while about how God is just positive energy all around us and I explained how we believe that God has a body just like us. It was a great experience and a great motivation to study the language harder.

I am still feeling sick, but a little bit better than I have been. I've been coughing and my nose is usually stuffed up... its no fun but its a small trouble for me.

The language is good but slow. What I know I can use well but it's hard to add the words I've been memorizing to my "in the moment" vocabulary. Practice is key and I can never get enough of it. I set a goal to memorize 50 words and 10 phrases every day Monday-Saturday this week and be exactly obedient and follow every commandment and rule. I want to be worthy and ready to do God's will.

My testimony has been growing a lot recently, I've studied about the life of Christ and attributes of Him and the lives of his apostles and disciples both in the Bible and Book of Mormon. They are incredible books. I have so much to learn and so many ways I need to grow. There is nothing I would rather be doing than this. Eu acredita que esta igreja e a verdade e que Deus ama todos pessoas da terra.

Tchau!

- Elder Anderson

Snickers, Sore Throat, and Haircut

This Sunday, the mtc president walked into our Sunday night devotional (in the auditorium) with a couple boxes of snickers. He talked about room checks and showed percentages for the elder and sister missionaries of what percent had perfect rooms, optimal rooms, good rooms etc... after showing these numbers he showed a list of the 15 or so rooms that had gotten `perfieto` (perfect) on all of the room checks for the past 3 weeks (6 room checks over 3 weeks). Room 621 (mine and my comps. two other elders and 2 new Brazilians) was up there. We all got snickers which was a simple recognition/reward for a small and simple effort. Those snickers tasted so great hahaha.

I've had a sore throat for the past 4 days now and my nose has also been all clogged up. I've been taking some medicine I brought, had a blessing, and got more medicine from a drug store across the street from the mtc. My throat is getting better and with time, my nose will too. Not being 100% is no fun but I'm still giving 100% the work is tough but what I know I need to be doing. I wouldn't rather be doing anything else right now.

After the hair-cutting incident last week, my companion and I went to a hair store within our walking boundaries and bought a new one that has the right outlet setup so now I don't have to worry about the voltage converters. I cut my companions hair and then mine and cut another missionaries hair who is in my district. That was my first and second time cutting someone else's hair but they were really happy with it and everyone was impressed haha. It's a small and simple talent but it will be a big blessing to me and my companions in the future. An update on my old clippers: it ends up there are two different outlets in the bathrooms, one for the hand dryers and one for normal use. I used the hand dryer outlet for my other clippers and the higher power overheated them. They probably still work but it doesn't matter now haha. The new ones were only 68 reais or 20ish USD so it wasn't too bad.

This week has been great. There's so much to learn and so much I want to learn. I'm so glad to be a part of this incredible work and so glad to be worthy to do it.

Some great stuff I read this week:

D&C 60 (part about missionaries)

parable of the talents (Matthew 25)

Alma 32 (faith)

esta igreja e a verdade e eu so grato por ele.

(ele being used as it and not he)

tchau!

Elder Anderson

Portuguese and Hair Clippers

This past week has been as tough as the first but I'm more adjusted to it now. The temple last Wednesday was incredible! I hardly understood anything but it was great haha. The temple in Campinas in really beautiful, its on a hill next to the city so we could see the whole city and another one in the distance. I'll send pics once I'm out of the CTM! We've had devotionals recently by Elder Bednar, Christofferson, President Ballard, and Soares. They haven't been in person but they've been great. I'm so glad to have the true priesthood authority on the earth today and hear so easily from those incredible men. 

Portuguese is coming along... I can teach lessons with my companion with a 3x5 cards worth of notes and hold a small talk conversation fairly easily. Everyone in my district can also pray in Portuguese without any notes. It's really cool. The language is tough but it's coming along and every small improvement is great. I've set a goal to memorize 50 words and 10 phrases a day and be functionally fluent 2 months from now (lessons without notes and can small talk well).

This past Sunday night I went to cut my hair but my power converter wasn't working so I used my companions but it just converted the outlet, not power so my hair cutters got super hot and started smoking after a minute... luckily I wasn't too far into my haircut hahaha. Hopefully they sell power converters here or have hair cutters I can buy here for cheap. The CTM is tough but great. I love you all! esta igreja e a verdade e eu sei que Deus ama todos pessoas da terra. eu acredito que o livro de mormon e a verdade e ajuda voces vida. tchau! (Translation by Scott: This church is the truth and I know that God loves all people on the earth. I believe that The Book of Mormon is true and can help your life. Bye!)
-Elder Anderson

These pictures were sent to me (Tyler's mom) by another missionary mom on FB. Her son is in Tyler's district and has a wifi camera so the pictures download instantly to her computer. Tyler has a regular camera and they can't sent pictures from the Brazil MTC (called CTM in Portuguese). Anyway, these are the first and only pictures I have of Tyler so far! He looks great!

First full week in the MTC (or CTM as it's called in Brazil)

Family and friends,

I thought football was hard. I thought working 40 hour weeks was hard. I thought waking up at 4:45 for work was hard. The mtc trumps them all. The constant busyness, tons of things to remember and memorize, constant pressure on yourself to keep up and do better and having no free time is killer. Every minute of the day is spent studying the gospel, language, or eating. There's not much else that happens  here. its been a lot to handle but at the same time its great. The people and instructors are incredible. Devotionals are great and church in Portuguese is cool. We have been given so much to do over the past few days. There are around...

120 words

50 phrases

4 scriptures or passages

to memorize in our first ten days. On top of that, we have to be learning the lessons in Portuguese, be having conversations with Brazilians when possible, and setting our own additional goals on top of that. Sunday we were supposed to have completed a survey about how we were handling stress etc. and none of the 20 people in our arrival group had completed it! The leader (from the branch presidency) told us to repent and do better. It was not fun to hear. There is a lot to stay on top of but you have to be able to handle it and stay in control of it all. 

My companion is elder Skinner. He's 20 and did 2 years at byu before coming out. He said he needed to work on his testimony so he waited before leaving. He's done a ton of duo lingo and his vocab is incredible. He can speak and understand better than anyone in our group. We're getting along well. An elder in my district was in a car wreck 2 days before reporting to the mtc and had a concussion but still came. He hadn't been doing well and felt pretty bad so all the elders in the district gave him a blessing which was great and fasted yesterday\today for him. He seems to be doing better.

Reading pmg and the bom a couple times along with going out with the elders helped give me a good head start. Tchau!

-Elder Anderson

CTM!

The airport and everything went well! I expected 5-6 missionaries but there were 22 in ATL! It was really cool. The flight was delayed cause of mechanical stuff but we didnt wreck so we were good haha. Mom, I met Elder Rhodes! He´s cool and we`re rooming together but not companions. Elder Marrow (From EFY) is also in my room but not my companion. I havent met my comp yet. Brazil is cool! the roads are packed and theres a ton of motorcycles haha. I am good! If you want to see a pic of everyone, search `centro de trinamento missionario - brasil´ into facebook and you should find one! I Love you guys! Ill be able to email again Tuesday but im not sure at what time. 

No falo portuguese (yet!)

- Elder Anderson