No Week 20 letter

Tyler only responded to a few emails and didn't write a main letter this week. Computer time was limited for him because it was New Year's Eve. :0

Week 19

Feliz Natal!

Bom dia meu amado amigos e família!

This new area is really great. I like it a lot. We live really close to the center of town so most everything is really close and accessible. The house here for the missionaries is huge, probably 2 to 2.5 times bigger than my first house on the mission. It´s great.

My new companion, Elder Villagomez is awesome. He's super funny, good at talking to people, wants to work, and is helping teach me Muay Thai. Super cool and fun haha. We´ve also played a ton of chess and... I still haven´t lost haha.

We had a Mission wide reunion the 20th that was awesome. I got to see a ton of people that I hadn´t seen in a while, hear great counsel from President Bangerter, and also play the part of President Bangerter in a skit that we presented (all the zones prepared and showed a skit/play) it was super fun and funny. On the way home, we saw a small semi truck that was flipped on its side. No clue how it happened but it was cool haha. The rest of the week was great. We contacted a ton, taught a ton, and had 2 new friends of ours who we are teaching come to church. I also gave a talk it was probably 8-10 minutes. It was a quick intro about me, my mission so far, and about faith. I related faith in Christ to faith in Santa Claus. we have to believe and have a good year to receive presents and in the gospel we have to believe and have a good year to receive blessings. It was super fun and a neat experience.

Below I´ve got a ton of pics from the Mission Conference and with friends in the mission.

Merry Christmas! Love ya all,

- Elder Anderson

My new companion, Elder Villagomez.

(Sorry about many of the below pics being the wrong angle...for some reason I'm having trouble with our computer and our pictures...very strange but it's not working like normal and I can't figure it out! :) - Kristy)

Week 18

Family and Friends,

I found out this past Saturday that I will be transferred to Hortolandia Zone, Guanabara area. I already forgot the name of my new companion but everyone has said he's cool. I will be in my new area Tuesday night of this week.

This past transfer has been incredible tough, but I have learned and grown a ton. It´s been an incredible opportunity to really stretch and push myself and become better. 

This past week was good. One of the young men in the ward left to the MTC (I´ve seen 3 youth leave on their missions and a 4th will leave in January), I got to sit on not one, but two(!) Honda CBR600´s, and I got to say good-bye to many of the people I have come to love here in Portal Bordon, Brazil. This area has been really great. 

Just one picture this week, please take a minute to try to appreciate the beauty of this machine hahaha,

Elder Anderson

Week 17!

Family and Friends,

This email will be quick, the computer I'm using isn´t working all that great and I don't have much time. 

The highlight of this week was definitely a direct answer in response to a prayer. It's a long story so I can't describe it all, but God absolutely answers prayers and helps us out when we need it. We have to have faith both to ask for help or a miracle but also have faith enough to continue to without receiving what we want. Sometimes, what we want for us is not what God wants for us and we need the faith to trust in Him and continue on.

I ate chicken heart for the first time ever this week and it was surprisingly good. We had Zone P-day today, and played soccer together and planned an activity we will do during our mission conference in December.

Love you all!

- Elder Anderson

Week 16!

Family and Friends,

Another incredible week in Portal Bordon, Sumaré, São Paulo, Brazil! Tuesday this week was especially great and for only 1 reason: I saw a Porsche Panamera 4S. Some of the views here are incredible but that car up close... man, it was incredible haha.

I had the incredible opportunity to give two blessings this week, one of comfort and counsel and the other for the sick and afflicted. They were really special, humbling, and spiritual. Blessings are incredible for the recipient and just as special for the person who is able to give it. Really great stuff (and they were in Portuguese). 

This week I experienced yet another miracle. Elder Reynolds (American with about 4 weeks in Brazil) and I were on divisions again this week and stopped by the house of Ioni (ee-o-knee) to say hi. She is not a member of the church and is a great friend and person. She invited us to come over later in the day to eat some bread she was making. We said we would return at 7 that night. After leaving, we remembered that we were fasting and shouldn´t eat the bread that she was making for us. We both sat down on the side of the road and prayed that we could explain to her about fasting and that we wouldn't eat her bread. We also prayed that she wouldn't take offense about us not eating it. We returned to her house a little before 7, planning to explain that we were fasting and wouldn't eat the bread. Her daughter came to the door and before we could try to explain the situation, she told us that the bread wasn´t ready and that another day would be better. We marked another time and left without ever having to talk about fasting. A Miracle. Truly incredible. A direct answer to a direct prayer. Man, the mission is great.

We had a fun P-Day today! The whole zone came to our ward building and played soccer and ate a ton of food. Great Stuff.

Love you all!

- Elder Anderson

(no pics this week)

Week 15!

Family and Friends,

This week was good. we had a multi-zone meeting this Wednesday and it was really great. Great testimonies, counsel, and ideas/techniques to try for teaching. 

This Friday and Saturday I was on divisions with elder Reynolds (an American with 3 weeks in the field) it was super cool. We had a great lesson with 4 people after asking for water and we both spoke incredibly well. The Gift of Tongues is real for sure. I also had a prompting to take a different road when we were walking to the bus station (to end divisions) and we found 8 kids playing soccer in the street. We talked to them about why two Americans are in Brazil haha and prayed with them and their parents (4 parents of 2 families) and we will return to teach them soon. Miracle.

I´m doing well here! Portuguese is coming along, I'm studying a ton and trying to work a ton too. I don't want to be ´´weary in well doing´´. Tchau!

- Elder Anderson

Week 14!

Family and friends,

Our email time got changed to 1 hour so this email will be short again. My companion has been given a 3rd chance to stay on the mission and still be a part of the greatest work on the face of the world. Its tough with him and we don´t see eye to eye on a lot of things but I'm going to learn a lot about Christlike attributes this transfer. 

We had some good lessons this week and meet some cool people. Attached are pics of me and my companion, Elder Corrêa, with Cleide and Gabi, and also me with Sumaré in the background.

Elder Anderson

Week 13!

Family and Friends,

This week has been wild. My new trainer, Elder Corrêa, is emailing his family right now that he will be coming home soon. I won´t go into details about why but he is still worthy. 

This week we found some great people and will be returning to teach them this week. I´m having fun, working hard, and doing great things. I really love it here. 

My testimony has really grown in the short time I've had here. I know I´m doing the will of God and becoming the man He needs me to be. I wouldn´t want to do anything else right now.

Sorry this email is short! I´m going to email more people individually this week.

Tchau,

Elder Anderson

 Shoe Polishing time!

Some of my socks were hung up to dry and blew onto the roof, away from our porch...

Week 12!

Family and Friends,

This past transfer has been really great and really flown by. Time flies when you´re having fun and staying super-freaking busy haha! I´ve learned a ton about teaching and communicating with people, a ton more Portuguese, and my testimony has grown a lot too. I really like it here.

If you all want to see my area, my zone is Sumaré, and my area is Portal Bordon (the name of the neighborhood where I live). If you put both (and Brazil) in google maps, it should pull up my area.

I went on 3 divisions this week which is a ton haha. the first with Elder Ruiz. He´s from Honduras and is super cool. this transfer is his last, so he´ll be flying home tomorrow. He served a good mission but he´s super excited to return home. My second division was with elder Motta, hes super cool and has an incredible testimony. He is also nearly fluent in English from video games and reading the Book of Mormon. We had a contest to see who could get the most contacts one day and I won with 10 (I think he had 8) haha, it was fun and great practice with talking with people in Portuguese and helping bless their lives. Now, I´m on a transfer with Elder Christensen. He is an American with one more transfer than me. Not the best setup to teach people haha, but just how the logistics of transfers worked out for today.

I´ve had some really incredible experiences here, especially with the Book of Mormon. It holds the answers to all of our problems, it is the Word of God, and it is another testament that Jesus is The Christ.

Love you all!

- Elder Anderson

 Zone P-day last week! 

 a crazy car we saw

 Elder Christensen playing the piano in the ward building

 p-day adventures. sumaré is in the background

 cool quotes i put on the wall

totally fried :\ 2 1 hour walks to and from the zone leaders area, and many hours of soccer and volleyball

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