Records Broken

We had 5 Investigators at church! Which is huge! haha I have never had that many there before! We saw so many miracles out here this week and we are having so much fun! I’ll just go through and tell you about our investigators.

Justin Sehna and his Family.
So last transfer we knocked into them. The mom and the step dad and the 15 year old daughter are members. They moved here from Wisconsin last summer. We transferred their records. They have about 10 kids all under the age of 8 besides one! haha And the mom is due this month! So Justin is 10 he is a stud, Christina is awesome too, we can tell she was active where they lived last. The mom also has 2 of her brothers living there, one of them is a new investigator that was supposed to come to church, but he didn't for some reason. Justin is getting Baptized on the 19th!

Peter and Lihne Artui.
They are from Pohnpei just like Justin and his family. They are related some how too but are not on speaking terms for some reason. We found out Peter is next in line to be king of an island in Pohnpei! We read 3rd Nephi 11 with him and he was almost in tears! He said it really hit home for him and his people. He even is giving us address's for more families in town that are from Pohnpei because he wants them all to have this message! So we’re teaching several families from there now. Him and his wife lihne were out of town this past week so they didn't make church. He also said when he goes back to Pohnpei he is going to preach the Book of Mormon to his people!!

Jennifer and Matt Olsen.
So Matt is a Less active recent convert, but we got him and his Girlfriend to church! We have taught them several times now and she is on date to be Baptized on June 16th!

Barry and Jackie Huff.
So they are our neighbors right across the hall, we have taught them a lot. They even have us over for dinner! Pretty stubborn with the church, but they love us a ton cause they never get visitors. We finally got them to come to church tho, it took a lot of convincing haha. They even dressed up for it. It was awesome to see Barry in a shirt and tie! We sat right by them, there were a lot of people at church cause it was ward conference. That evening we went over to chat about church and when we walked in Jackie was shaking her head and she said she didn't like it! She said she just didn't get a good feeling like she normally does. hahaha She also told us how stubborn she is. hahaa We’re working on getting her to church with a good attitude instead of going just to say she doesnt like it. haha

Also teaching Ryan Baker.
We were shoveling snow for a widow in the ward when he walked up and said "have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?" We said yes. haha Then we talked and he chilled out and we have taught him a little bit. But turns out the widow we were shoveling snow for is really good friends with him and his dad! So she gave him a ride to church and he is on date to be Baptized June 23rd!

I love sharing the Gospel! Everything changes with Missionary work when the sun is shining and its warm outside, so we’re lovin life! People are out and about and so are we! People are a lot happier too! Oh and we sang karaoke at the old folks home! They loved us there, I sang supercalifragilisticexpealidoshish. idk how to spell that but it was fun!

The church is true! Love,

Elder Anderson

Hola Amigo's!

Elder Fox and I on exchanges in fort dodge wrote this on a court!

60s and Miracles!

It is finally hitting the 60's here! There is still giant snow banks everywhere but they are melting fast! It feels like the 90's because I'm not used to warm weather haha. I feel like it has been winter forever!

So we went to the Sister's Circle. It was actually at Charlene's house. We went over and had some good breakfast. We got in there and there was a giant Book of Mormon sitting on the table, she had found it at her Church's Rummage sale! haha Super cool. It is a super large print one, I guess cause it is huge! Then we all sat down in the living room and there were about 8 ladies and they asked us a lot of questions. Then Charlene was kinda thanking us for coming and sorta saying we need to go now because they had another meeting after, that we didn't need to be there for. But one of the other Ladies said well we have time we can hear more of what they have to say! So we shared the whole Restoration with them! It was great! They said it definitely gives them something to think about, which is good enough for me!

Then one day we called up an investigator to see if we could meet and he said ya, just meet me at the community kitchen. So we did, and him and about 8 of his friends were there eating. Lots of people were asking us who we were and lots of other questions. So we decided to teach them all the Restoration! It went great, they had lots of good questions. I felt kinda like Jesus. haha We were just going around preaching to large groups of people.

We also met a man while knocking who had lots of Questions and was really cool! He told us he was just Spiritual. We got talking and shared the Restoration, and he had some deep questions we answered. Then right before we left he told us he was a pastor and invited us to his church. Also said he would have to take us out for a cup of coffee some time! ;) haha We made him a new investigator also!

Idk if you guys remember me talking about Gracie Clark, but my first week here we got a media referral for her. She drove 40 minutes to the church to meet with us and some members. Long story short it was an awesome lesson and the member was perfect for her. But we haven't been able to meet with her since because she has been so busy, I guess haha. But one night this week we went out for Ice Cream with Astrid and Evan Escobar and Evan said he was bringing a friend from class and it just so happened to be GRACIE! haha I was shocked when she walked in! But now she has 2 perfect fellow shippers! We are so excited for her! Astrid and Evan Escobar are killing it, their the best!

What a week! And to top it off we had stake conference this weekend in Ames! I even got to see a lot of members from the Marshalltown ward! That was awesome seeing them again! Our Bishop also got called to be in the Stake Presidency so that was cool! We are excited to see who the new Bishop will be!

Love you all!

Elder Anderson

Pic is of Elder Fox and I at Stake Conference!
Good to be back in the same District as him, this will be 9 months in the same District!

Also please pray that my hair grows back fast! haha

Transfers

I'm staying in Mason City for at least another 6 weeks! I'm Happy about that! Elder Gardner got transferred to Ankeny with my old companion Elder Olson! My new Companion is Elder Schoeneman, he is from Washington, and was trained by my old Companion Elder Olson in Hannibal! haha He just finished being broke, so he came straight from Hannibal! So he went from the farthest south in the mission to the farthest north! He started from the bottom now he’s here! Since we both started our missions in Hannibal we always talk about it and the people there! Good times! He is a great missionary and works hard so I'm super excited! He also balls so that is real good!

This week we got TONS more snow! It just keeps coming, there is another storm coming this week! One night it was a crazy thunder storm with tons of rain and rained all night and we lost power. Then in the morning it turned into hail, then snow, then a blizzard! We were out and about in it, cause weather cant stop us! We were knocking and then we started shoveling snow for random people and going around helping people. We always have our shovels in the back of the car, so we’re always ready!

We did service at the food bank again with Charlene, the lady that showed us her farm. Then we talked with her and her husband for a little bit. She invited us to come to her Methodist church to speak at what I think she called a Women's circle! SO that's AWESOME! Then last night our Bishop told us an awesome story at dinner. He served in El Salvador, and he had just started training a new missionary, and he was about 6 months out. They went to another church cause they felt prompted to. And when they did the pastor found them and told them to come sit in the front. Then after the pastor grabbed them and asked if they could talk for a little while and they said yes. The pastor said he had been reading the Book of Mormon and had used parts of it in his sermons. He even told the people that Jesus Christ visited the American Continent and they all thought it was awesome. So they started teaching him, it didn't take long to baptize him! Then they baptized his whole congregation!!!! Crazy story! It just made me think we are going to talk and answer questions at the Methodist church this week! Apparently the Methodist church is struggling here, they have a ton of money from the farmers but only about 70 old people come to church and they have like 1200 members in the books for this area. Our Bishop knows one of the leaders there.

Stay tuned for next weeks email and I will let you know how it goes! We also went out to dinner at an awesome Italian restaurant this week with a dope member here, Astrid Escobar! She's sweet and we are playing Racquetball with her today, I haven't beat her yet but today is my day!

Anyways it has been a great week! I'm loving the mission life! We have a brand new District this transfer, everyone got transferred but me! Its an awesome District so I'm super excited for that!

I love you all! Do something epic today!
TODAY IS YOUR DAY!
Elder Anderson

A welding dude and I

Elder Schoeneman and I with a big pile of snow

Where is Spring??

This week we had 2 more snow storms hit us! One last Tuesday that put about 8 inches on the ground and one yesterday that did the same thing! So I am just patiently waiting for Spring to come! We had a good week! Last Monday we played Racquetball with the Escobars again and then went to lunch! They are the best!

Tuesday we did some planning, knocking, shoveling snow, and dinner with some great members the Fox’s! Wednesday we had a great District meeting, I trained on how to not settle in life. It is natural to settle and get into a routine of missionary work. When that happens we are not being as effective as we can be. So I came up with the Dillicycle! The Diligence cycle! haha I will send a picture of it. A way to get back on track and never settle and always look for ways to do more and more! Starts with Obedience, then a very effective planning session, then following through, then having the Faith to see success. In the pic it talks more about it. I think it refers to all different kinds of lifestyles. After that we shoveled more snow for people, then did some knocking out in Britt, IA.

Thursday we went on exchanges here in Mason City, I went with Elder Espinoza he is a spanish missionary. We did a lot of knocking. We had a lot of lessons scheduled but they all fell through so tough stuff. That night we all played ball with the Elders quorum and some non members they invited. Super fun.

Friday, Astrid Escobar told us to go to Subway to meet her and her non member friend. She said to just randomly show up and then talk to her friend about the church haha. So, we went to Subway but we went to the wrong one. But someone bought our lunch there. Then we went to the right one and Astrid bought our lunch and we talked to her friend and she is awesome! Then they went back to work, and we had a sick lesson with a couple from Pohnpei, then Astrid said her friend wanted to talk to us more, so we met them at Starbucks and answered her questions about the church! Super cool we’re excited for her, and the couple from pohnpei! Tough time at church tho, no investigators showed. Great week with those miracles!

Love you all! Choose the right!

Elder Anderson

The DilliCycle

With Elder Lewis

The District...

17 Months Ago...

Well 17 months ago today I left home. Crazy to think! So much has happened since then! Our Mission is finally getting Smartphones! So that is exciting, the Lord's work is pressing forward.

General Conference was awesome! I love the new changes, Russell M Nelson is a Prophet of God! He truly see’s the needs of the Church and God works through him. My favorite talk was probably Russell M Nelson’s. He covered so many great things and told us more of his life! Wow God has truly prepared him for this calling! All the talks had small things that spoke to me! I loved the one on Forgiveness, the Atonement is the Sin eraser! Sometimes we are the ones that need to forgive ourselves! Also loved how the Prophet talked about receiving our own personal revelation! Which is very important in our lives.

Well we had about 6 Investigators tell us they would be at General Conference but not one made it! Super sad, it's hard to trust these people. We ended up dropping a few of them so this week we get to start over. Our Investigator Chuck, we taught him and we brought up the Word of Wisdom and I asked if I could take some of his Cigarettes to help him stop smoking. But he kept saying no and now we haven't seen him since.

We have an open week to work hard tho and find new people! This work is tough with a tough audience, but everyday is worth it. Every door we knock on is a seed planted. It is hard to see that sometimes but I know it is. General Conference was a real testimony builder. The spirit was so strong with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and the announcement of more temples! Gave me chills! I encourage you all to pray and ask God for a stronger testimony and he will guide you!

I love you all! Elder Anderson