Jesus Christ

One thing that comes to mind as I think about this past week is the Savior and how I love testifying that He is the center of our message! He is the head of the church! This is the Church of Jesus Christ! We came across a guy this week while knocking and he didn't want to talk because he believed in Jesus Christ. We testified of Christ as quick as we could before he slammed the door.

We also had Mission Leadership Council this week. Everyone that didn't give training's at Zone Conference had to train there. So we didn't have to, but I loved all the training's that were given. They were all out of Preach My Gospel! I learned a lot, and the power went out during it because of a big rainstorm.

Wednesday we had District Leader Council where we get to meet with the District leader and discuss things. Then we had District Council up in Cedar Rapids. Afterwards I got to go interview someone they are teaching! She got baptized last Saturday! I love being able to do Baptism Interviews! It is so cool to see what they have learned so far, to hear their story, and get them pumped up for their baptism day! After that we had to go help move some furniture into a new apartment they are opening this next transfer.

Tuesday night we had dinner with our Ward Mission Leader and he invited his neighbor over and we had a great time! We had an awesome lesson with his neighbor and gave her a Book of Mormon! We excited to see her at church this Sunday.

Transfers are this week! I should be staying with my companion! We are really excited for this next transfer, we have a lot of fun things planned for the zone! This is my last transfer so I am hoping to make it the best!

Love,

Elder Anderson

pics are of both Districts in the Zone!

BUSY

Another non stop week. I'll try to keep this brief.

Tuesday we went to a members for dinner and he told us beforehand to prepare some deep doctrine questions. So we did and we had a deep doctrine conversation the whole night. He studied at BYU with Brad Wilcox and a lot of other BYU professors. So he is VERY smart. After that we had planned to play elders quorum ball at the church but no one showed. So we went back out and only had 10 minutes before nine, so we went walking around and had a small miracle of finding someone new to teach!

Wednesday we did some knocking and going by people, with a little bit of success. Also had a power hour where we went out with a couple members to do some work. This time it was service so we helped a lady move her piano.

Thursday we did a lot of running around. We prepared and got things for our zone conference training. Had lunch with Bro Simpson. We tried to get some of his friends to come but got no one. Then we went out with another member but our lesson fell through. So we cruised up to Cedar Rapids for stake council and that was great! Got to see some old members and the council was on their stake conference that is coming up. They have A TON of great ideas to get people of other faiths out to stake conference and it's all missionary minded. With a stake mission plan that is being pushed. So each family has it in their home and the missionaries are keeping them accountable. Great meeting.

Friday we had Zone Conference in Nauvoo! We gave a training on the Word of Wisdom, not just a health code. They also said, the higher law of the word of wisdom. We were trying hard to think of something to come up with. And recently I had bought a baby bottle to use as a water bottle because I saw a thug using one so I knew it was the new thing! So then everyone in our zone bought one! Lol so we decided to tie it into the training! So basically we had an analogy of the Doctrine and Covenant scripture of milk before meat in the Gospel and we compared it to the baby bottle because you don't get much out of the baby bottle until you put a bigger hole in it. So we titled the training. Get SIP'N. It's an acronym:

Sanctification
Inspiration
Protection
=
Nowledge with an N.

So we talked about teaching these things and helping them understand them and building up the people we teach from the beginning and preparing them for the word of wisdom. So as they do those things the spirit will be with them more which will help them get more out of the bottle. Or more of the spirit and gospel. I hope that makes sense, this is rushed. But it went really really well! I loved it! We all showed up to zone conference with our baby bottle and we had made stickers and put them on it. We also gave everyone there a few stickers so they could put them places and never forget! The crowd seemed to love it.

Saturday was game day so that's always crazy. Luckily we were able to weekly plan during the game and we got to go to a part member families BBQ that was fun.

Sunday we struck out again with no one being at church. Super sad. Lots of people told us right before that they would be there.

All is well out here! Love and miss you,

Elder Anderson

Pics
Zone fun at the temple.

Zone fun at the Nauvoo Temple

Herky

Quick update,

Tuesday was exchanges with the 4th ward Elders. I went with Elder Crookston and we had a good time knocking and got to go to the YSAs baptism for Didi she is really cool, I got to interview her for baptism. She is from China and is going to school here. She went to Nauvoo for the face to face event and we saw her on there a few times!

Wednesday we had interviews with the Badgers! They are Great! That took about the whole day. We had them in Iowa City, then us and the Badgers went to Cedar Rapids so they could interview that district also. Then we finished the night with T Roadhouse!

Thursday was Elder Householder’s Birthday and we went to B Dubs for lunch as a district. Then we found a ton of the Herkies in town and got pictures! Also had a power hour! That's where we have one member sign up to go out with us for 1 hour! We went with Bro Strathearn, he is from Australia! We had a great visit with someone he ministers to.

Friday we went to my old area in Cedar Rapids!!! Super cool visiting some great people! I got to visit with Cameron and Rosie! Then Mike and Reggie too! It was awesome seeing them again! Saturday morning we got to ball at the stake center there! We used to go play there when I served there and there are some great ballers and we had a blast! Super good ball! The rest of the week was great except we had a ton of people tell us they would be at church but none showed! Oh and we had a lesson with Hugh Lewis and he talked about how the church is the wealthiest church on earth but it doesn't do enough with poverty in the world. We corrected him on that and showed him all that we do. He said he is no longer a candidate for baptism and declined another visit. He is fasting and praying tho.

Love you all!
Elder Anderson

Cameron & Rosie

University of Iowa mascot Herky the Hawk

Don’t Let the Bed Bugs Bite

Hello everyone this week was another good one. So ever since I got here I have been getting eaten by bed bugs, so we moved into the YSA Elder apartment and we have been living there all week. It has been a lot of fun.

On Tuesday I got to go to the departing temple trip to Nauvoo. It was a lot of fun ,we all rode down in the transfer van. We had to go early because the temple closes soon and it will be closed for 3 months. So there was a lot of missionaries with us for the next few transfers that are going home. We got to go to Carthage also and take a tour and then we did some shopping around Nauvoo. On our way home we got stuck in a bad storm and there was a few tornadoes. It was raining crazy hard. So we turned around and stayed the night in Burlington, all 7 of us. The elders there had a projector setup on the wall and we had a movie night and watched the 12-step videos that are on lds.org it was a lot of fun.

Wednesday and Thursday we had district meetings in Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. We taught Huey Lewis with a member and things are going okay with him. He can't get baptized until he stops going to his other churches and stops wearing his white robes. He has been fasting and praying a lot to be able to receive an answer on whether or not to do so. We have been very bold with him we are hoping he finds an answer. On Wednesday we went and helped my brother Eric Stannard, our investigator, paint his house. We were with the Trailridge Elders on exchanges, it was awesome and he gave us all his tobacco. Pray for him that he can give up his addictions and be able to come to church soon. We had a good lesson with him and our Bishop at Village Inn on Saturday. Things are going good, we are crazy busy, and we are just hoping to find more time to go find new people. This week we should have more time.

The life is great, I love being a missionary. I'm trying to finish off as hard as I can. I know that this sounds weird, it's because I'm talking into my phone. Oh they also had Gameday and there was a ton of Tailgaters all around the stadium and tons of people everywhere all over town. We tried talking to a lot of them but religion was the last thing on their mind. But it was a lot of fun.

Love you,
Elder Anderson

Departing Temple Trip

Nauvoo Temple

Carthage

With Eric Stannard