Rejecting Rejection

This week has been nuts!  It literally rained all week! We did a lot of finding and knocking doors with close to 0 success! After last week when we had 3 investigators to church our bishop called us to come over. So we did and he basically gave us a map of places we should be spending our time and it was all richer and nicer areas. Then we went to dinner that night and they said we should be knocking the other side of the river. Which is where it is nicer. I was kind of upset that we heard all that instead of hearing congratulations. But they were still a little proud and they fellowshipped our investigators.

So we started knocking rich areas, which we did all week in the wet and cold weather. We were drenched all day everyday! haha I love knocking the Super Rich areas because you meet a lot of awesome people but they are never down to hear about the Gospel. We find most of the success in the not so rich areas, still really cool people tho.

Well that's about it really. We did teach a few lessons, we taught Kenneth, Angela, and Tonya. Some investigators that we are trying to help progress and come to church. Kenneth came last week but wasn't able to make it this week because he was in Chicago for a wedding. We talked to Alique and he said he wasn't gonna make it this week because he was going to another church or something. Kind of a bummer. Someone showed him some Anti Mormon stuff and he showed it to us and it was nuts! It talked about how there's apparently Lizard creatures walking around by the Temples and how when we die we will be judged by Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and Joseph Smith! Hahaha There was a lot of other crazy stuff too, pretty funny. We tried to clear it all up as much as possible. We hope he will continue to want to come to church and meet with us.

Last night was like the light at the end of the tunnel for this week. We knocked on a potentials house that said to come back on a Sunday. And she is really cool, we think she is a single mom with two kids the ages of 6 and 2. The first thing she said was how she was sorry for not coming to church, and we had only talked to her once before. She said she had just gotten back from Chicago so she missed it. But she accepted baptism and said she will come to church next week, and to text her during the week to see if we could visit and teach her more. We left feeling sooo good. It made all the hard work worth it! I am so excited for her!

I hope you all have an awesome week! Oh ya and I hit my 6 month mark tomorrow! Soo crazy! Time is flying! I’m loving it though! Serving the Lord is the best and brings awesome joy!

Love,

Elder Anderson

Sunshine

Man it’s been a great week here!  

This week we worked with the investigators we have. Since we have gotten a lot in the past few weeks so we decided to slow down the finding and work hard on helping the investigators we have found. So we taught a lot of lessons. We have some awesome investigators right now.

One of the new investigators from this week is James and he is a hilarious African American. He is super funny and kept laughing at the things we were teaching but he was very curious about it all. Like when we said Joseph Smith he said "Oh shoot here we go again!" haha and same thing with the Book of Mormon. But he’s awesome and wants us to come back and he wants to come to church. We found him knocking some apartments, and most of the apartments here have a ton of Africans from Togo living in them and they are so awesome! Some of them don’t speak good english but there really cool and funny.

Thursday we Triple Blitzed another area with the Zone leaders. We showed up and they told us me and Elder Obray are staying together while we work on someone else's area. It was really weird why we didn't get to go with someone else, we didn't know the area at all. But we found 3 new investigators for them! And all together we found 15 new investigators for them! It was awesome!

Saturday we did a lot of driving by to try and get people to church. Sunday was awesome! Our church starts at 1 so it gives us time to round up our investigators and get them to church. We had one who could drive himself, his name is Kenneth he’s really cool. Then there is Alique the 19 year old who came last week and liked it, and Alique’s friend Kendrick too. We talked to Kendrick and Alique that morning and they said they would come. But when we came back with a ride for them we couldn’t find them. We were super bummed. But at least we had Kenneth there. Church started and me and Elder Obray were the only speakers so we were up front and I was

blessing the sacrament, so I was on the side. About 10 minutes in Alique and Kendrick walked in! I was so HAPPY, I looked at Elder Obray and we both smiled, haha it was so awesome! Then we gave our talks and I went first. We were told to take about 18 minutes each, and somehow I took 25 minutes. I don’t know how but I did. haha. It was on the Promised Blessings from the Book of Mormon and how to Access them. Our investigators said they liked it and are coming back next week, so thats awesome!

It’s been a great week! I encourage you all to read the Book of Mormon everyday, just like our Prophet told us in his short but sweet talk! And always Quality over Quantity. You can read several chapters a day or several verses and get the same amount out of it. As we take small amounts and ponderize them for the rest of our day we can get a lot out of it! I love you all have a great week!

Elder Anderson

Me and Elder Obray after church

Worlds largest truck stop for lunch

Utah Ave

We dem bois

What a Week!

This week was great! We were very busy!

Monday night we had dinner with a recent convert and he always makes a ton of food, we always go over and he has like 3 plates full for each of us! I'm gonna get fat! haha But it’s always good.

Tuesday we triple blitzed an area so there were two companionships that came to one area and worked hard to find New Investigators. I was put in a trio so it was definitely different having 3 of us but it was fun. We taught a few lessons and out of the 3 companionships blitzing that area we found about 15 new investigators! It was awesome! Wednesday we were able to find a few new Investigators in our area.

We went by our Investigator Alique’s and someone from the house next door came out and we started talking to him and he said he had been wondering about where he’s going, why he’s here, and what church he should start going to. So it was awesome and we were able to teach him the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He seemed to like it!

Thursday we had interviews with our Mission President and they went good! It’s always good to see him and his wife, they are such great people! After that we stopped by two potentials and they became new investigators they seemed to like it. One was a referral from the Hermanas and he is super cool and seems to like it a lot! On Friday we were knocking and ran into an old guy doing yard work and we thought he was gonna be mean cause he shook his head and said I don’t want anything. But then we got talking and he is super funny and he likes us a lot and we told him we would come back and help him with his yard work, and he would just laugh haha. Super cool old guy! Then we went to a Methodist church that night because a recent convert was playing the piano there, it was really different. It only lasted about 45 minutes and they just had different people read some scripture and then put out a candle.

Yesterday Alique invited us to his church so we said we would come if he came to ours, and he said deal! So he goes to the Mt Zion Missionary baptist church, or something like that. Man it was an awesome experience! We were the only white people there and they were all dressed real fancy and the ladies had the big hats on.  They had a play of Jesus on the cross and dancers performing and the choir was super loud and there were only like 10 people in it. They also had an awesome dude playing the keyboard and another guy on the drums! They were all getting up singing along saying "Hallelujah!" and "Amen!!". The Pastors were getting up and dancing around, man I got up too and started singing and dancing! Haha it was so cool, I have never been to anything like that! Then the pastor got up and started talking about some miracles that have happened in his life and the keyboard and drums were still going and as the story built up so did the drums and keyboard and he started talking louder and everyone started standing up yelling "Amen!" Hallelujah". People were crying and man it was something else but I loved it haha

It’s been an awesome week here in Illinois and I'm excited for this week. We have some awesome lessons set up for tonight that I'm excited for! I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!

Love, Elder Anderson

PS: I'll send pictures next week.

Pretty Good Week Here in Moline!

On Mondays we have Zone P day so the whole zone gets together and plays games, so that's pretty cool. Nothing too exciting this week, we have been working hard to find new investigators. We have some cool investigators and they all said they would come to church but none of them showed up, so that was a bummer! We taught Ashish and Niqita at the church and showed them the finding faith in Jesus Christ video. They are Hindu so it’s different teaching them. They have been investigators for awhile now and either aren't progressing or progressing super slow. They told us they would come to church but didn't.

Another Investigator that they have had here for awhile is Ben Holmes. He’s about 30 years old and lives in a care center because he had a disease in his foot or something, so they cut off all of his toes and he can’t get in water until it heals. So we are waiting for it to heal so he can get baptized. But he still needs to start coming to church and gain a testimony.

The Hermanas found a nice lady and her son and they taught them the Restoration. Then they found out that they live in our area so they gave them to us. We had a great lesson on the Book of Mormon with the Hermanas there. We set up another appointment with them and it fell through and they were supposed to come to church but didn't make it.

We also got an awesome referral from a member here. The ward here is a lot different than back in Hannibal. There's not as much love for the missionaries for some reason, we only have about 4 member dinners this month. So we are working on getting member trust. We both bore our testimonies yesterday and a few people came and talked to us after so I got to know some more people that way, so hopefully the ward will pick up here soon. One awesome member gave us a referral that he found while out doing home teaching. She is a young mom that has two kids. She just got out of the army and is super cool and super open and interested. We taught her about the Restoration and she liked it. She loved the fact that there's a prophet on the earth today. We have an appointment with her on Wednesday!

We also found an investigator who looks like Wiz Khalifa! haha Hopefully we can meet with him soon. We got to ball on the streets with some guys playing street ball! We beat them pretty bad! But it was tough in my church clothes haha!  We invited them all to come play with us on Tuesday nights because that’s when a bunch of the guys from the ward get together and ball! Hopefully they show! They said they need their revenge! haha

It’s been a great week here! Me and my new companion are doing great! We are trying our best to find ways to pick this area up. I love you all and hope you have an awesome week!

Love, Elder Anderson

Me & my new companion Elder Obray

5 Months Out Already!

This week was super busy, last Monday we went on exchanges so that I could be with Elder Anitok for a day haha. We both got transferred to different areas so we most likely will only see each other one more time before he goes home in June. So exchanges were fun. Then when we went back to Hannibal I said my goodbyes to as many people as possible, I think I said goodbye to everyone. It was hard saying goodbye I wish I could have stayed one more transfer but that’s ok I like it here in Moline. It’s gonna take some adjusting but hopefully I get used to it soon.  

Wednesday we went to the Temple and did a session and it was great! I love how peaceful it is in there, it is sooo beautiful. We also took a tour of Carthage Jail, it was awesome! An older Sister Missionary took us on the tour and it was sooo cool! The spirit was strong also! Then we went back to Hannibal and I packed up my stuff as fast as possible and went to Quincy to spend the night because I was leaving with a member in Quincy in the morning.  

So Thursday morning we went to Iowa City and I switched my luggage over to the other car with a member from Moline and we were on our way! My new Companion is Elder Obray, he is from Layton, Utah, he has been out for about 8 months. He also just finished serving with Elder Blau my old MTC companion haha. So we joke around about him sometimes. But it’s all going good out here, just trying to adjust! The area is doing alright but we’re gonna try and get a bunch of new investigators as soon as possible. So I hope we can see a lot of success this transfer.  

General Conference was great! There was a lot of good talks! The thing that stuck out to me was how we need to act on spiritual promptings the first time. I believe someone said that Joseph Smith said that 9 out of 10 times the first prompting is the spirit! So always act on your promptings the first time no matter how hard it is. We watched General Conference at the Stake Center on Saturday. Then Yesterday we watched the morning session at a nice old ladies house from the ward. Then the afternoon session at another members and they had a super nice house and they fed us an awesome meal after. Some Tri tip and some great mashed potatoes! That’s about it for this week! I love you all!  Have a great week!

Love, Elder Anderson

Carthage Jail

Saying Goodbye to Terry and Ethen

Goodbye to the Cooke family

Goodbye to the Shethis

Goodbye to the Voelkel's

Goodbye Hannibal

Hello everyone!

We had a great week this week! Did a lot of knocking. We got a few New Investigators! The first one was on Tuesday, Troy Porter. He is a media referral we got a week or two ago and we have been trying to meet with him for awhile. We finally met and taught him the Restoration and he loved it. He has some kind of disease in his brain that is incurable. It makes him black out every now and then and he can’t remember a lot. But he is really cool I hope they can keep teaching him! We also got another cool guy his name is Trevor, he has been a potential for a while and we were finally able to teach him, he is younger probably in his 20s, seems cool. He is interested and hopefully will come to church soon. Then when we were knocking there was a couple kids playing basketball, so I went over and started to talk to them. One was an older guy and he said he didn't believe in God but the other one is a 12 year old black kid, his name is Markel he is super cool. We taught him the Restoration and then I beat him in Horse haha!

I am getting transferred to Moline, Illinois! It is in the Davenport, Iowa stake! I’m super Excited, I hear it’s a great place! I leave on Thursday, I have loved my time here in Hannibal and wish I could have stayed one more transfer but the Lord has other plans for me.  

Well it was a great week! I don’t have a ton of time because today is not our P day, it’s on Wednesday this week because of transfers. I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Anderson

Me on a tank

At the Shethi's for lunch after district meeting

Yogurt at the Spoon Wave

A deadhead they found last Monday

Busy Week!

Hello Everyone,

This week was busy. We did a lot of finding and found some cool new potentials. We weren't able to meet with our main investigators due to Zone Conference. We had Zone Conference on Friday so we left here at like 3 on Thursday and drove to Quincy, then to Iowa City which is about a 2 and a half hour drive. We got there and stayed the night and then had Zone Conference all day long, it was rough but I learned a lot. We got back Saturday morning and went to the Shethi’s for another great breakfast. I love going there.

Nothing crazy happened just normal things, lots of service and finding. I’m short on time today, I hope you all have a great week! Love, Elder Anderson

Serving at the food pantry

Cops, Tornados, and Muscle Milk

Pretty great week this week! So last Monday I went to GNC to buy some protein powder, and when we were walking back to the car there was this box sitting in the middle of the parking lot and It says Muscle Milk. I ran up and kicked it just expecting it was empty, but it was clear full of protein shakes! I picked it up and ran to the car! Everyone was wanting one so I had to give a couple away but I still have a ton and now I'm gonna get huge! Haha

We have had a few tornado's, one night we were at Wal-mart and the tornado sirens started going off. You could hear the rain coming down super hard and the wind blowing. Then they came on the intercom and said there's a tornado, everyone get to the back of the store. Most people were running to get out before they got locked in haha. But we went to the back of the store and stayed there for about an hour, and then they let us go. It went right over Hannibal but never touched down! One other night we had a big storm but no tornado's.  

Then the other day we were driving out to a referrals house. I was kinda going fast and I came around a corner and Tiwi (the box in our car that yells at us when we go to fast or drive aggressively) was yelling at me. So I was trying to slow down. Anyways everything happened so fast but the cop pulled me over and came to my window and the first thing he said was " Hey that's a nice watch" hahaha. Then he told me I was going too fast and he gave me a warning. It's up on my fridge now it’s pretty sweet! Lol

We also had exchanges with the Zone Leaders and that went great. We found 4 new Investigators, a couple of them seem solid. We weren't able to meet with Reid and Shelby this week they were too busy but hopefully this week. One day we were out knocking and we knocked on our old first counselor's door haha. We didn't know where he lived and accidentally knocked on his house. He let us in for awhile and gave us $30 for dinner haha. We ate good that night! We knocked a lot this week and found a few people so hopefully we can get a lot of lessons this week.

Love, Elder Anderson

Exchanges

4 Months!

Hello everybody, four months down already!

This week was a good one, P day was good, Monday night we had Ethen's Baptism interview and it went great! Tuesday we had Interviews with our President and those went great, and I gave a training on why the LDS church doesn't have crosses. It's mainly because we believe in a living Christ and It says in the Bible "If ye love me Keep my Commandments" not if ye love me have a cross. And to not carry our cross physically but to carry it by living the atonement. But we don't have anything really against it, we pretty much choose not to, and we still respect it.

Wednesday we just stopped by some people and spent some time with them and did a little knocking. Thursday we made programs for the baptism. We also had a short lesson with Terry, Ethen, and his daughter that wants to take the lessons in the summertime when school is out. Friday we went running in the morning and weekly planned. Later we went to Reid and Shelby’s for a great dinner and we had a great discussion with them, it wasn't on anything specific, it was just talking about random things and trying to answer their questions the best we could, I love going over there because I learn so much about so many things and when I can’t answer them I write them down and go study and am able to text them the answers, It’s so cool because we aren't just teaching them they are teaching us and it’s awesome!

Saturday was Ethen’s baptism and it went great. It took three times but we got it done! haha I pretty much had to put the whole thing together and it was kind of stressful I had never done it before and my comp is the senior comp and should know how but he had no idea! That's how this whole transfer has been, I feel like I’m just pulling him and he doesn't really know or care about what’s going on he just goes with the flow. It’s ok though it has been a HUGE learning experience. Yesterday Ethen was confirmed and it went great!

It’s been a great week! We have a great week planned ahead of us!

Love, Elder Anderson

Terry & Ethen

A great day!

Another Week!

Monday: Balled hard at the YMCA. Then worked out at the zone leaders new place and I ran a few miles with a full sauna suit! I've never sweated so much in my life.

Tuesday: A normal Tuesday of doing service at the Food Pantry and having dinner with a member!

Wednesday: We tried by a lot of potentials and didn't get much luck. We then we had a lesson with Ethan and we went over the Baptismal Interview Questions and taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it went well. It's hard to get him to pay attention but it went good and he is getting baptized this Saturday, so we’re super pumped for that! Later on Wednesday night we went knocking and knocked on this old man’s door. He hates Mormons and we got into a somewhat heated discussion but not really. He said tons of false things about our church like he thought we worshipped Joseph Smith and he's mad that we don't have crosses on our churches. I thought I did a good job on explaining everything to him and he just thought I was lying. And then he said " Don’t ever come back!' and " you're not gonna be saved" over and over. I just kept smiling at him and walked away! I honestly love explaining our church to people like that because they just have so much false doctrine. My comp hates it and gets super mad so I have to calm him down haha.

Thursday: We went to Quincy and had Zone Training meeting and it was great! After we went to Buffalo Wild Wings like always! haha I love that place!

Friday: We went on Exchanges with Elder McGiven and Elder Miller, we had a lot of fun with them! That night we went to the Shethi’s for dinner and had some good curry!

Saturday morning we went to the Shethi’s again for breakfast and had our giant omelette. I don’t remember what else we did that day haha.

Sunday was good, it was great to go to church and re fuel on the spirit! Shawn came and after we taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we got Invited to go to dinner and a study with a bunch of college kids or newly weds and that was fun. Their all from some christian church. Hopefully we Baptize them all. lol

It’s been a great week, me and Elder Youngstrom are doing great! I hope you all have a great week!​

Love, Elder Anderson

The Zone

Transfers

This week has been awesome! We have been super busy!

Monday wasn't P day but we still emailed. Then on Tuesday we kinda went around and Elder Roskelley was saying goodbye to people because we got our transfer calls and I am staying in Hannibal. Elder Roskelley is going to Iowa City to serve in the YSA ward. He was way pumped! So on Wednesday we went to the Temple and did a session. It was awesome! I love going up to Nauvoo! Thursday we went to Quincy with our Branch mission leader. He dropped me off and Elder Roskelley went to Iowa City for transfers. So we went on exchanges for bit while we waited for our new companions! Then they rolled up around 1 and we all went to B-Dubs for lunch! I'm serving with Elder Youngstrom! He's different and kinda weird and awkward but we are gonna work hard together this transfer and learn a lot! I'm excited!  

We had to stay the night in Quincy because we went back to Hannibal but I forgot the keys to the car, so we went back to Quincy and helped the Zone leaders move to there new apartment. We stayed all day Friday helping them and stayed the night again. We got back to Hannibal early Saturday morning and went straight to the Shethi’s for a big breakfast! That's how we break in the new guys! My first day we went straight to the Shethi’s for Thanksgiving dinner. haha They make great food! Then I showed him all around Hannibal.

We also met with Reid and Shelby again! We had dinner with them and went over the Plan of Salvation. They have so many questions and I think we answered them pretty good, but it's awesome because I learn so much from going over there too!

Yesterday was Stake Conference, we are in the Nauvoo Stake so they had it up in Nauvoo, but they broadcast it to our church. President Badger spoke and Elder Joseph Satoti from the 70! It was great! Our Investigator Shawn was there and we taught him the Plan of Salvation and it was awesome!

It's been an awesome week! I am loving the change and I have already learned so much!! I have been in the lead with pretty much everything lately and I am learning so much from it! My comp is kinda quiet in lessons so I am the main talker. I am learning sooo much and can’t wait to learn so much more this transfer!

Love,

Elder Anderson

New Comp Elder Youngstrom from Idaho Falls, Idaho

Dope Hannibal sign

Mark Twain

The Beautiful Nauvoo Temple

100 Days on the Mission

Pretty good week this week. We had some fun, and had a lot of success. I don't remember much tho so idk how long this will be haha.

We had a great District meeting this week about being Sanctified and Developing your Vision. It was great! We went on a short Exchange with the Zone Leaders and I learned a lot. On Saturday we went knocking on a street a lady told us not to go to because it was to dangerous, but we actually found some awesome people. We were knocking and a guy from across the street came out and asked us if we had had dinner yet, and we said no. So we went to his apartment and him and his wife had just gotten married back in July and they are both in their early 20's. At first I thought it was a joke and he was a Returned Missionary and everything, cause they looked like a young couple at BYU, haha but it wasn't a joke. They're just super cool and they go to a small Christian Church, they both Minored in Bible study at the college here. They had a lot of questions and they might be a hard sell but it will be fun working with them. And he invited us to go play ball at the college so we did. He has a ton of cool friends and some were interested, so we got some potentials from that.

Yesterday I finally gave my talk in church and I think it went pretty well! I spoke on the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They asked me to speak for 15 minutes and I think I spoke for exactly 15 minutes haha. I had been praying a lot to have the spirit with me when I speak and I definitely did, it went great.

Things are going good out here, we find out about transfers on Tuesday. My comp totally thinks he is leaving and he most likely will and I will probably stay. I really want to stay too, I'm praying hard that I get a good companion! I hope you all have a great week this week!

Love,

Elder Anderson

Serving at the food pantry with Elder Roskelly

3 Months

Hello everyone!

Another week in the mission field! I hit my 3 month mark! Time flies out here.  Kinda a normal week.

Monday: Balled at the YMCA and went to FHE at our Recent Converts house and had a good time there.  

Tuesday:  We got a media referral so we went and taught him the Restoration, he accepted to be baptized. Then we taught Shawn about the BOM. It went well and his mom was there at the beginning and she had a lot of questions because she was curious about what her son was getting into. She had heard a lot of false things about our church so we cleared all that up. Then we went to the Food Pantry and did service and got some food. We had a dinner and after that we went to Quincy to start our exchanges with Elder Fox and McGiven.

Wednesday: We had exchanges and I went with Elder McGiven and had a good time. He is from Orem and went to Utah state for a year and played football. He's really cool. We had to end exchanges early because we were leaving to Burlington, Iowa to stay the night because we had Zone Conference the next day in Iowa City so we needed to be closer. There was 21 elders that stayed there that night in a little apartment! It was nuts! We all balled that night and that was way fun!

Thursday: Zone conference was alright. After zone conference we went to Texas Roadhouse! We had to stay in Burlington again.

Friday: We left early and when we got back we went to village inn! Then we studied together in Quincy and went to Golden Corral then bounced back to Hannibal! So pretty much I spent all my money this week haha

Saturday: Was kinda a rough and long day. We ate our huge egg omelets like we do every Saturday and the Shethis. We went to our Investigator Chads house and pretty much told him we aren't coming anymore, because my comp has been teaching him since August and he hasn't really progressed much at all, and he drinks coffee while we talk to him! haha

Sunday was great! I had a great fast and a great time at church! I LOVE CHURCH! haha The spirit is always so sweet! And being able to partake of the sacrament always makes me feel good! I got to ordain Terry to the Priesthood! It was my first blessing and I was pretty nervous but it went great! The spirit just took over. Plus Shawn came to Church! He walked to church even tho he was way sick!

Well it was a pretty good week!

Transfers are next week, so I am senior Companion all week. So I have been driving and our little box thing called Tiwi that yells at us when we speed or drive aggressively is soooo annoying! I'm gonna rip it out one of these times haha! Well I hope you all have a great week!

Love,

Elder Anderson

The Mississippi River

Squad