Love you all,
Elder Anderson
Pictures - Saying goodbye to Mason City Iowa:
Monday, May 28, 2018
Hello
Hey things are great, my b-day was great. I got transferred to Indianola and its great too! They called me to be a Zone Leader, so that is weird. I'm adjusting, super sad I left Mason City. I could have stayed there for a lot longer and loved it. Don't think I'm gonna be able to email much today because of Memorial Day, so know that things are good. I'll email next week.
Love you all,
Elder Anderson
Pictures - Saying goodbye to Mason City Iowa:
Love you all,
Elder Anderson
Pictures - Saying goodbye to Mason City Iowa:
Monday, May 21, 2018
Street Balling
This week was one of the best!
Tuesday we were on exchanges in Ft Dodge and we got the idea to get posters and write on them, "honk for Jesus" and "free Book of Mormons", "free Bibles", "Jesus loves you". We all went out to the road and started holding them out. And the people loved it! We got soooo many honks and gave away a lot of Book of Mormons and Bibles. Also got a lot of middle fingers and cuss words!
Wednesday we had a great District Meeting. I gave a training on being creative in our finding opportunities! Also had our traditional ice cream at Culvers night with Astrid and Evan. They invited a couple friends that we have met at the Y while playing racquetball. One of them brought his mom so we talked to them a little bit about the gospel.
Thursday we had Hampton over for exchanges! I was with Elder Christensen from Salt Lake. We had a blast, we all got the signs back out and went and stood in the median of a good highway and got TONS of honks. And we gave out more Bibles and Book of Mormons and pass along cards! Then someone called the cops on us, and he came out and talked to us. He thought that we were standing in the middle of the road stopping people but we weren’t so we were all good. He just took some info and left.
Friday we finished exchanges, then went to the Farmers market with Astrid and Evan!! The Farmers market was not as big as we thought so we walked through downtown and found an awesome place for some good food! I love spending time with Astrid and Evan!
Saturday was crazy, so earlier in the week we ran into a guy that said he needed some money for gas. I had 3 dollars on me so I gave it to him and made him promise he would be at church. Then Saturday we were going by to find him and make sure he was still good to come. We found him and he was a lil drunk with a lot of friends. I started talking to one of his friends about Basketball and he was talking trash like he was the best around. So I told him to meet me at the nearest park. So he did, we started playing, I won the first game. Then he won the second game, then I won the 3rd game. So he had to come to church for 4 weeks. But he was not sober, so he was getting very angry. Every point I got he would get more mad. He started cheating his way out of things. It was a super physical game, we were playing no fouls. I got a cut lip, his hand was bleeding. Eventually he ended up winning. But there was a few times we were arguing face to face. He was an african american, way bigger than me. His friend had to calm him down. Anyway after that he was calm and we talked to him. He said he had the chance to take scholarships for sports but he chose the streets for drug dealing. He showed us all his stab wounds, and his finger was being held on with stitches and he had like 12 staples in the back of his head. All from fights breaking out.
We also are undefeated in the pickle ball club here. We're hoping to play the Mayor soon! Crazy week, we have 4 investigators on date for baptism! 3 were there at church yesterday! I love this missionary lifestyle! Transfers are this week!
Love you all!
Elder Anderson
Tuesday we were on exchanges in Ft Dodge and we got the idea to get posters and write on them, "honk for Jesus" and "free Book of Mormons", "free Bibles", "Jesus loves you". We all went out to the road and started holding them out. And the people loved it! We got soooo many honks and gave away a lot of Book of Mormons and Bibles. Also got a lot of middle fingers and cuss words!
Wednesday we had a great District Meeting. I gave a training on being creative in our finding opportunities! Also had our traditional ice cream at Culvers night with Astrid and Evan. They invited a couple friends that we have met at the Y while playing racquetball. One of them brought his mom so we talked to them a little bit about the gospel.
Thursday we had Hampton over for exchanges! I was with Elder Christensen from Salt Lake. We had a blast, we all got the signs back out and went and stood in the median of a good highway and got TONS of honks. And we gave out more Bibles and Book of Mormons and pass along cards! Then someone called the cops on us, and he came out and talked to us. He thought that we were standing in the middle of the road stopping people but we weren’t so we were all good. He just took some info and left.
Friday we finished exchanges, then went to the Farmers market with Astrid and Evan!! The Farmers market was not as big as we thought so we walked through downtown and found an awesome place for some good food! I love spending time with Astrid and Evan!
Saturday was crazy, so earlier in the week we ran into a guy that said he needed some money for gas. I had 3 dollars on me so I gave it to him and made him promise he would be at church. Then Saturday we were going by to find him and make sure he was still good to come. We found him and he was a lil drunk with a lot of friends. I started talking to one of his friends about Basketball and he was talking trash like he was the best around. So I told him to meet me at the nearest park. So he did, we started playing, I won the first game. Then he won the second game, then I won the 3rd game. So he had to come to church for 4 weeks. But he was not sober, so he was getting very angry. Every point I got he would get more mad. He started cheating his way out of things. It was a super physical game, we were playing no fouls. I got a cut lip, his hand was bleeding. Eventually he ended up winning. But there was a few times we were arguing face to face. He was an african american, way bigger than me. His friend had to calm him down. Anyway after that he was calm and we talked to him. He said he had the chance to take scholarships for sports but he chose the streets for drug dealing. He showed us all his stab wounds, and his finger was being held on with stitches and he had like 12 staples in the back of his head. All from fights breaking out.
We also are undefeated in the pickle ball club here. We're hoping to play the Mayor soon! Crazy week, we have 4 investigators on date for baptism! 3 were there at church yesterday! I love this missionary lifestyle! Transfers are this week!
Love you all!
Elder Anderson
Us out with the signs
Us in the street with the cop
Astrid and Evan and us at the Farmers market
Monday, May 14, 2018
Happy Mothers Day!
Hello,
This week we had,
Zone P day in Ames.
Zone Conference in Des Moines, we got trained on how to best use our Smartphones.
We did service at the Food Pantry.
We helped a member open her Restaurant and she gives us free food there once a week!
We knocked on a lot of doors.
Found 7 New Investigators.
3 Investigators at church.
Justin and his Cousin Shaundy Mae was there. Turns out Shaundy Mae is 9 so we're hoping to baptize her the same day as Justin!
Mary, one of our New Investigators was there too. Next week she is bringing her mom!
Skyping the Fam was awesome!
We played more Racquetball with the Escobars. Astrid and I keep going at it and it is back and forth. We also went to lunch with them. I love that fam!
Love you all!
Happy Mothers Day to all the women out there!
Follow me on Facebook and share my posts!
Love,
Elder Anderson
Monday, May 7, 2018
Escobars
Hello!
I'm gonna keep it short this week!
Tuesday we had Area book appreciation day so they told us to stay in all day and work on putting all the papers in the area book onto our Phones! Luckily Astrid took us to lunch! Glad we have her!
Wednesday morning we were on exchanges with the Hampton Elders. Elder Richardson and Elder Christensen. We were playing ball at the church and Elder Richardson rolled his ankle really bad so we spent some of the day in Urgent care! Wasn't very Urgent! He is good now tho. That night we continued our Wednesday night tradition with Astrid and Evan Escobar of getting Ice Cream! That is always fun!
Thursday we spent some time helping a member set up her restaurant that is opening soon. That was a lot of work. Just racking leaves and cleaning everything up! Then we had a lesson with Justin and we got Astrid to come and she was AWESOME. She brought tons of drinks and snacks for all the kids. They love her!
Friday we had interviews in Ft Dodge. Saturday we rounded up our investigators but then no one came on Sunday! Super sad! Next week tho!
We got out and played the Escobars in Racquetball again! Their a lot of fun! And I finally beat them all! Well I finally beat Astrid, she is good but I beat her 2 out of 3 times!
Love you all! Elder Anderson
Enjoy the vid of us balling on a bunch of guys! We challenged them all to meet us at the park, and they did! There were like 20 guys watching and placing bets on who would win! haha
I'm gonna keep it short this week!
Tuesday we had Area book appreciation day so they told us to stay in all day and work on putting all the papers in the area book onto our Phones! Luckily Astrid took us to lunch! Glad we have her!
Wednesday morning we were on exchanges with the Hampton Elders. Elder Richardson and Elder Christensen. We were playing ball at the church and Elder Richardson rolled his ankle really bad so we spent some of the day in Urgent care! Wasn't very Urgent! He is good now tho. That night we continued our Wednesday night tradition with Astrid and Evan Escobar of getting Ice Cream! That is always fun!
Thursday we spent some time helping a member set up her restaurant that is opening soon. That was a lot of work. Just racking leaves and cleaning everything up! Then we had a lesson with Justin and we got Astrid to come and she was AWESOME. She brought tons of drinks and snacks for all the kids. They love her!
Friday we had interviews in Ft Dodge. Saturday we rounded up our investigators but then no one came on Sunday! Super sad! Next week tho!
We got out and played the Escobars in Racquetball again! Their a lot of fun! And I finally beat them all! Well I finally beat Astrid, she is good but I beat her 2 out of 3 times!
Love you all! Elder Anderson
Enjoy the vid of us balling on a bunch of guys! We challenged them all to meet us at the park, and they did! There were like 20 guys watching and placing bets on who would win! haha
Monday, April 30, 2018
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
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!
Monday, April 23, 2018
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
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
Monday, April 16, 2018
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
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
Monday, April 9, 2018
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
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...
Monday, April 2, 2018
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
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
Monday, March 26, 2018
More Snow...
This week we found a sweet Food Pantry to do service at. We met a lot of people and one of the volunteers invited us over to watch her husband bottle feed the calves. Then they took us to their huge barn with all the huge tractors! That was really cool. We had a great lesson with our investigator Loriann. We had sis Whiltsie come with us because she is so great! She even brought Loriann cookies!
We had Exchanges with the Hampton Elders also, it was a great exchange and we got a lot of work done! We found 7 new investigators and one of them came to church! His name is Chuck Kostka, a really good guy and the Ward loved him. Chad Rugland came to church again also. Loriann was gonna come for the last hour but ended up not making it. She couldn't make the beginning because she promised her uncle she would go to his Baptist church!
Then just when we thought spring was here because all the snow was gone, it had to dump on us! Saturday morning we woke up to around 17 inches of snow! All in one night! And it was still a blizzard! The plows didn’t make it to our apartments until late that night so we had to dig a trail out for our car! But they grounded cars at the first of the day to wait until it got better. Luckily a member came and got us and we helped them. It was like we were at war with all the snow plows, tractors, bobcats, snowblowers, and people shoveling snow everywhere you looked.
Sunday morning after Ward Council we found out an older lady was snowed in. So us and a member flew over there and it was a way long drive way for the 25 minutes we had. But we went to town and got it done! Just barely made it to church before it started and they asked me to speak! They texted us Saturday night asking me to be the back up in case one person that was supposed to speak didn't show. So they didn't show and I didn't prepare anything. But I got up there and spoke about the Importance of Modern Day Prophets and how listening to the Prophets voice gives us greater knowledge and that gives us greater power, which gives us more confidence in all that we do! It turned out pretty well, I took about 15 minutes, they didn't give me a time frame.
Then after church we were going around visiting people and looking for people to help dig out of the snow. We went by one member and he wasn't home but I felt prompted to knock on his neighbors door so we did. She came out and we introduced ourselves and she slammed the door. Then we heard on the other side that she just wanted someone to dig her van out because she had left it on the street so the snow plow literally packed like 5 feet of snow all around it. So we did and right after we were done she came out and was almost in tears and kept telling us how grateful she was. Turns out she is a friend of our investigator Loriann! So she promised us she will be at the church this weekend to watch a session of General Conference! MIRACLE!
I love this work! The Gospel is true! Love,
Elder Anderson
We had Exchanges with the Hampton Elders also, it was a great exchange and we got a lot of work done! We found 7 new investigators and one of them came to church! His name is Chuck Kostka, a really good guy and the Ward loved him. Chad Rugland came to church again also. Loriann was gonna come for the last hour but ended up not making it. She couldn't make the beginning because she promised her uncle she would go to his Baptist church!
Then just when we thought spring was here because all the snow was gone, it had to dump on us! Saturday morning we woke up to around 17 inches of snow! All in one night! And it was still a blizzard! The plows didn’t make it to our apartments until late that night so we had to dig a trail out for our car! But they grounded cars at the first of the day to wait until it got better. Luckily a member came and got us and we helped them. It was like we were at war with all the snow plows, tractors, bobcats, snowblowers, and people shoveling snow everywhere you looked.
Sunday morning after Ward Council we found out an older lady was snowed in. So us and a member flew over there and it was a way long drive way for the 25 minutes we had. But we went to town and got it done! Just barely made it to church before it started and they asked me to speak! They texted us Saturday night asking me to be the back up in case one person that was supposed to speak didn't show. So they didn't show and I didn't prepare anything. But I got up there and spoke about the Importance of Modern Day Prophets and how listening to the Prophets voice gives us greater knowledge and that gives us greater power, which gives us more confidence in all that we do! It turned out pretty well, I took about 15 minutes, they didn't give me a time frame.
Then after church we were going around visiting people and looking for people to help dig out of the snow. We went by one member and he wasn't home but I felt prompted to knock on his neighbors door so we did. She came out and we introduced ourselves and she slammed the door. Then we heard on the other side that she just wanted someone to dig her van out because she had left it on the street so the snow plow literally packed like 5 feet of snow all around it. So we did and right after we were done she came out and was almost in tears and kept telling us how grateful she was. Turns out she is a friend of our investigator Loriann! So she promised us she will be at the church this weekend to watch a session of General Conference! MIRACLE!
I love this work! The Gospel is true! Love,
Elder Anderson
At the church
SNOW!
With Mr Eggwards =)
Monday, March 19, 2018
Lunch With a 70
Man we had a great week! I love the work! Time is flying by. Last Monday we drove down to Ames for Preparation Day and had a ton of fun with the zone. Played some good ball, and volleyball!
Tuesday we were able to take one of the priests from the Ward out with us! He is 16, he is a stud! Super funny, we had a blast with him and he even gave out a Book of Mormon! That night we had dinner with the Wiltsies! An awesome couple from the Ward, they are so much fun! They are doing great things here for the Ward. We helped them with their Family History since my companion used to be a Family History consultant, so I am learning a lot from him too! All the Families here are great and want to share the Gospel but most struggle on knowing what to do, so we are helping them with that!
Wednesday we had a good meeting with the Ward Mission Leader! When I got here they didn't have any Ward missionaries or a Ward mission leader assistant so we talked to the Bishop and we should be getting them soon! That will be great for this ward. After that we did some knocking for a while and man ever since I have been here, when ever we go knocking I swear there is never anyone home! haha so thats been rough but it should get better as it warms up outside. Knocking is a lot of fun when there are a lot of people to talk to, we always get some funny stories. That night we drove to Ft Dodge, and right when we got there I went to a lesson with one of the Zone Leaders. We taught a solid family from Haiti! Super cool!
Thursday we drove to Des Moines and had Mission tour! Elder Costa of the 70 was there! We had a leadership meeting with him right before and that was awesome! I learned a ton from him! He is from Argentina and is really funny! When we went to have lunch I sat down at a table with some homies and Elder Costa came and sat right by me! Same with President and Sister Badger so we had a great time, it was really cool to be able to talk to him about the work here. Elder Costa was baptized at age 24, he was an active Catholic before that. After Mission Tour the Zone all went to T Roadhouse to celebrate!
Friday we had some good lessons and finally caught a Less active family and they are super cool. We invited them to the Ward BBQ on Saturday night and they came! And we’re going back for dinner with them this week! The Ward BBQ was awesome! Lots of non members and Less actives we got to meet!
Sunday right before church I was flipping through the area book calling every teaching record that had a phone number and the last one I called answered and was down to come to church! And he Did! It was awesome! Hopefully we can start teaching him!
Also had Lorianne come to church! The missionaries here just haven't really strived to teach her yet for some reason. But we are and she is solid, we set a baptism date with her. Awesome week I am loving it here in Mason City! Love you all so much!
Elder Anderson
Elder Gardner and I at Clear lake, in the ice cream thing there is a fish that our investigator gave to us. But since we cant have pets we dumped him in the lake to be free. But there lake was freezing and we watched him die! lol
Tuesday we were able to take one of the priests from the Ward out with us! He is 16, he is a stud! Super funny, we had a blast with him and he even gave out a Book of Mormon! That night we had dinner with the Wiltsies! An awesome couple from the Ward, they are so much fun! They are doing great things here for the Ward. We helped them with their Family History since my companion used to be a Family History consultant, so I am learning a lot from him too! All the Families here are great and want to share the Gospel but most struggle on knowing what to do, so we are helping them with that!
Wednesday we had a good meeting with the Ward Mission Leader! When I got here they didn't have any Ward missionaries or a Ward mission leader assistant so we talked to the Bishop and we should be getting them soon! That will be great for this ward. After that we did some knocking for a while and man ever since I have been here, when ever we go knocking I swear there is never anyone home! haha so thats been rough but it should get better as it warms up outside. Knocking is a lot of fun when there are a lot of people to talk to, we always get some funny stories. That night we drove to Ft Dodge, and right when we got there I went to a lesson with one of the Zone Leaders. We taught a solid family from Haiti! Super cool!
Thursday we drove to Des Moines and had Mission tour! Elder Costa of the 70 was there! We had a leadership meeting with him right before and that was awesome! I learned a ton from him! He is from Argentina and is really funny! When we went to have lunch I sat down at a table with some homies and Elder Costa came and sat right by me! Same with President and Sister Badger so we had a great time, it was really cool to be able to talk to him about the work here. Elder Costa was baptized at age 24, he was an active Catholic before that. After Mission Tour the Zone all went to T Roadhouse to celebrate!
Friday we had some good lessons and finally caught a Less active family and they are super cool. We invited them to the Ward BBQ on Saturday night and they came! And we’re going back for dinner with them this week! The Ward BBQ was awesome! Lots of non members and Less actives we got to meet!
Sunday right before church I was flipping through the area book calling every teaching record that had a phone number and the last one I called answered and was down to come to church! And he Did! It was awesome! Hopefully we can start teaching him!
Also had Lorianne come to church! The missionaries here just haven't really strived to teach her yet for some reason. But we are and she is solid, we set a baptism date with her. Awesome week I am loving it here in Mason City! Love you all so much!
Elder Anderson
Monday, March 12, 2018
Hello FAM
Another week in this 2 year journey!
So last week for P day we just shopped and cleaned the apartment. The Apartment was nasty when I got here so we got some cleaning supplies and some good candles and wax stuff. So it is real nice now!
Tuesday we had a lesson with one of our investigators. We’re pretty sure he has some mental problems, but the Gospel is for everyone! Then the AP's came over and we had lunch at B-dubs and then went to the other apartment here in town and the AP's took all the furniture out of it because they closed that area. Then they left us to clean it completely and get it ready to sale! That place was disgusting!! The Elders left so much trash and a full sink of dishes! So we spent almost all day cleaning!
Wednesday we did some more cleaning in their apartment and then got to work! I love the Ward here we get fed quite a bit so we have had dinner with a few really cool families.
Thursday we went on Exchanges with the Zone Leaders in Fort Dodge, IA. We had a good time there! I went with Elder McCain from Washington. We drove a ways out to go to a media referral they got. When we got there, we knocked and someone said "who is it?" we said "the missionaries" then she came and looked through the curtain on the door and said "tell me why I shouldn't call the cops right now!" and we were like we’re just missionaries, we showed her our name tag. Then she opened the door and was calling the cops! lol turns out the guy that we where there for, actually held this woman captive a couple weeks ago and he is wanted for leaving the country while on parole. So when she heard his name she freaked out. So the cops showed up and got it all figured out. Apparently the guy we wanted just goes from Church to church asking for money!
Friday we had interviews in Fort Dodge and that lasted about all day, it was great tho always good seeing the Badgers.
Saturday we finally had a full day to work. So in the morning we had an awesome member from Utah and her son come pick us up and take us to a lesson with a Less Active family that has a 7 yr old and a 9 yr old. Their pretty strong good members, but their excuse is that they work too much. The 9 yr olds name is Allen and he is super smart! We had a lesson on the Restoration and just asked a bunch of questions and whenever they got it right we gave them candy! It worked super well! They payed attention the whole time! The thing is his mom for some reason doesn't think he is ready for Baptism. Which is tough because he really is! He knows way more about the church than I did when I was 8. After that we got back to Mason City and had a lesson at the church with a media referral we got! We still had Sis Woods and her 16 yr old son with us for that too! Her name is Gracie and she is a media referral from a while back, but she was uncontacted so the mission re sent it! We called her and set it up. She lives 45 minutes from the church and drove all the way there! She is 18 and has had a tough life with her family not supporting her. So a friend of hers adopted her, and her family turned on her even harder. She is a super good wrestler and goes to the community college in Forest City. It was an awesome lesson, if we didn't have Sis woods there it would have been sooo different because she adopted her son and they had so much in common! So Sis woods is inviting her over for dinner this week with us! Super excited!
That is about it for this week! I’m loving the mission and am so thankful to be out here!
Love,
Elder Anderson
So last week for P day we just shopped and cleaned the apartment. The Apartment was nasty when I got here so we got some cleaning supplies and some good candles and wax stuff. So it is real nice now!
Tuesday we had a lesson with one of our investigators. We’re pretty sure he has some mental problems, but the Gospel is for everyone! Then the AP's came over and we had lunch at B-dubs and then went to the other apartment here in town and the AP's took all the furniture out of it because they closed that area. Then they left us to clean it completely and get it ready to sale! That place was disgusting!! The Elders left so much trash and a full sink of dishes! So we spent almost all day cleaning!
Wednesday we did some more cleaning in their apartment and then got to work! I love the Ward here we get fed quite a bit so we have had dinner with a few really cool families.
Thursday we went on Exchanges with the Zone Leaders in Fort Dodge, IA. We had a good time there! I went with Elder McCain from Washington. We drove a ways out to go to a media referral they got. When we got there, we knocked and someone said "who is it?" we said "the missionaries" then she came and looked through the curtain on the door and said "tell me why I shouldn't call the cops right now!" and we were like we’re just missionaries, we showed her our name tag. Then she opened the door and was calling the cops! lol turns out the guy that we where there for, actually held this woman captive a couple weeks ago and he is wanted for leaving the country while on parole. So when she heard his name she freaked out. So the cops showed up and got it all figured out. Apparently the guy we wanted just goes from Church to church asking for money!
Friday we had interviews in Fort Dodge and that lasted about all day, it was great tho always good seeing the Badgers.
Saturday we finally had a full day to work. So in the morning we had an awesome member from Utah and her son come pick us up and take us to a lesson with a Less Active family that has a 7 yr old and a 9 yr old. Their pretty strong good members, but their excuse is that they work too much. The 9 yr olds name is Allen and he is super smart! We had a lesson on the Restoration and just asked a bunch of questions and whenever they got it right we gave them candy! It worked super well! They payed attention the whole time! The thing is his mom for some reason doesn't think he is ready for Baptism. Which is tough because he really is! He knows way more about the church than I did when I was 8. After that we got back to Mason City and had a lesson at the church with a media referral we got! We still had Sis Woods and her 16 yr old son with us for that too! Her name is Gracie and she is a media referral from a while back, but she was uncontacted so the mission re sent it! We called her and set it up. She lives 45 minutes from the church and drove all the way there! She is 18 and has had a tough life with her family not supporting her. So a friend of hers adopted her, and her family turned on her even harder. She is a super good wrestler and goes to the community college in Forest City. It was an awesome lesson, if we didn't have Sis woods there it would have been sooo different because she adopted her son and they had so much in common! So Sis woods is inviting her over for dinner this week with us! Super excited!
That is about it for this week! I’m loving the mission and am so thankful to be out here!
Love,
Elder Anderson
Monday, March 5, 2018
Mason City
They Transferred me to Mason City.
It is a big town and we have a ton of ground to cover! Normally there are a lot of missionaries serving in this area but since our mission is down sizing so we can add the Peoria stake into our mission and all the missionaries that will be joining us from the Chicago West mission when it gets dissolved.
So our hands are full! We met with the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader yesterday and had a awesome meeting. We went over things about the Ward and what we want to be doing. I learned a lot from Bishop, he is super smart! My new Companion is Elder Gardner and he is from Arizona, Sun tan valley. He just got done being trained so he has been out for 4 months. This is the 3rd person in a row I have broken! Crazy!
It was really bittersweet leaving Lenox, it was a really tough area. But the people I got really close to the Steeles and the Ralstons, so it was hard saying good bye! They were like family! But President Ralston said he will take me Turkey Hunting out here when I come back! DJ Steele said we will go deer hunting when I come back too! So that's awesome! Last P day in Lenox we went to the YMCA one last time and I was able to play with some of the guys from the College team. That was fun! I also talked to them about the church afterwards so that was awesome!
Tuesday night we went to the Steeles to say goodbye, and they fed us some really good roast! Then they remembered that DJ promised me his famous Ribs, so they invited us over Wednesday night too so I could have some of his famous RIbs and play games and we had an awesome Gospel Discussion! They are slowly being prepared. But they will get there soon! And boy were those some awesome Ribs!!!
Short on time today! I Love you all!
Elder, Anderson
It is a big town and we have a ton of ground to cover! Normally there are a lot of missionaries serving in this area but since our mission is down sizing so we can add the Peoria stake into our mission and all the missionaries that will be joining us from the Chicago West mission when it gets dissolved.
So our hands are full! We met with the Bishop and Ward Mission Leader yesterday and had a awesome meeting. We went over things about the Ward and what we want to be doing. I learned a lot from Bishop, he is super smart! My new Companion is Elder Gardner and he is from Arizona, Sun tan valley. He just got done being trained so he has been out for 4 months. This is the 3rd person in a row I have broken! Crazy!
It was really bittersweet leaving Lenox, it was a really tough area. But the people I got really close to the Steeles and the Ralstons, so it was hard saying good bye! They were like family! But President Ralston said he will take me Turkey Hunting out here when I come back! DJ Steele said we will go deer hunting when I come back too! So that's awesome! Last P day in Lenox we went to the YMCA one last time and I was able to play with some of the guys from the College team. That was fun! I also talked to them about the church afterwards so that was awesome!
Tuesday night we went to the Steeles to say goodbye, and they fed us some really good roast! Then they remembered that DJ promised me his famous Ribs, so they invited us over Wednesday night too so I could have some of his famous RIbs and play games and we had an awesome Gospel Discussion! They are slowly being prepared. But they will get there soon! And boy were those some awesome Ribs!!!
Short on time today! I Love you all!
Elder, Anderson
Elder Gardner and I
The Ralstons. He was the Branch President in Lenox.
My Man DJ Steele!! Love this guy!
The Austins (the old couple) and the Bloyds! Austin is the young one and he is the one we would ball with at the Y every week!
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