Another good week in Texas

So this week was a little different but it was good over all. 🙂 It kept us on our feet!!! 🙂

So Monday we had a good day with pday and then after we had dinner with the L family and then finalized the service we were going to be doing for them the next day. 🙂 Then we had lessons with S and R and then with R and C. 🙂 They were pretty good and we were able to start going over the Plan of Salvation with them. 🙂

Tuesday we had a fun day of service!!! And I missed doing service….I haven’t done service, like actual service, for like 3 transfers!!! So… 4 months. O.o yea…that’s a long time!! But we were able to help the Lunas paint the inside of the house and the Hewitt elders were able to help us out with that. 🙂 We didn’t think it’d take that long, but it took up all the time we had planned for and then they graciously fed us some dinner!!! 🙂 The Hewitt elders were LOVING having Puerto Rican food. 🙂 hahah I couldn’t stop laughing!!!!! Then after we had a few good random lessons with people. One that really stuck out to me though was with a less active family! She also told me that I apparently was the first missionary in 2 years that sent her a message/called her to see where she was when I didn’t see her at church on Sunday, and how she liked that because she felt important to God! And then apparently I’m the only missionary that has shared a personal story from my life that actually related to their lives and it helped them somehow I guess. It was just one of those days that I felt like I was being an instrument in the hands of the Lord without really noticing it or thinking about it. 🙂 So it was comforting.

Wednesday we had zone council down in Temple and it was good!! 🙂

Thursday we had a good planning day, kinda the norm, but we went over what we talked about in zone council and how we could apply it into our area and what not. 🙂 then we had a good dinner as well!! It was with the C family, who invited their daughter to church the first week that we were here in Waco! 🙂 We had tried to go over and visit them, but we hadn’t been able to get in touch. But right then and there, Hno C called his daughter and set up an appointment with us that night at 8! It was AWESOME!!! 😀 hahahaha so we went and taught her and her family!! we also had a lesson with R and it was AMAZING!!!!!! I basically just asked the question, ” do you believe that these things we are teaching you are true?” And this was also after she had kinda opened up to us and been talking about random things and her just being super happy about what she was learning. 🙂 And then…. word for word she said, “If I didn’t believe in these things, I wouldn’t keep inviting you over to share more with me.” I couldn’t stop smiling. 🙂 🙂 And so we talked about it and then we talked about the plan of salvation and all that she could say about it (because she read all about it in the pamphlet we gave her) “it’s so beautiful.” 🙂 It truly is though, the Plan of Salvation is Beautiful!!!

Friday we had a crazy day….like super crazy…..we were suppose to exchange with the zone leaders that afternoon at 3:30, I was gonna stay here and Elder L was gonna come be with me…but then their service that they were doing was going a little too long…..and so then it got pushed back to 5…then at 6:30 we finally exchanged…and I went down to Belton instead!! 🙂 hahah so EVERYTHING was turned upside down but it was good for Elder M because he had to learn how to adapt in circumstances that aren’t ideal, and he hadn’t really prepared for the lessons that we had that day because he didn’t think he’d be there. 🙂 So it was a good experience for him, I think. 🙂

I had a good long night with Elder L. We taught one of their investigators who is surprisingly progressing!!! He is a very confused soul but he is elect and it is awesome how he is accepting the gospel. 🙂 The gospel truly is for everyone!!! But anyway, after an interesting lesson and giving him a blessing, we forgot our car keys there….and so our exchange had to drive us back and forth to get the keys and what not so it was a long night. 🙂

Then we exchanged back on Saturday after the baptism that the Hewitt Sisters had. 🙂 Baptisms are awesome!! 🙂 and after we all got Freddy’s Frozen Custard for lunch and we had a really good council about our areas and the zone. 🙂 And we also had fun just as missionaries do when we are together. 🙂 Then we came home and planned for the day…… But it worked out!! That night we biked all around Waco again. 🙂 I like biking because we talk to more people!! And then we had our follow up appointment with Ml!! And she was there and was SUPER open to what we taught her. 🙂 She has been looking for a church and has good feelings about this one. 🙂 and she is super smart about the Bible as well!! Like the reason why she stopped going to the other churches is because she found stuff in the Bible that wasn’t coherent with what was going on in those churches. So pray for her that she’ll see how we are the true church!! 🙂

But that’s my week!!! 🙂

Love you to the moon and back forever and ever and always!!!! 🙂

Love you!

Elder Josh Andersen 🙂

It’s always darkest right before the dawn. :)

So this week was an eventful one, in a good way and a bad way. 🙂

So Tuesday we had a pretty good day. 🙂 We had a good lesson with a super active member whose husband goes to church EVERY Sunday but isn’t a member.

Wednesday we had interviews and like always they were amazing!!!!! 🙂 It took forever though…..like they normally do. 🙂 Hahahaha when our zone was suppose to start the zone before us was like an hour and something behind already. So I was finally interviewed about 5ish. 🙂 hahaha instead of the 3:30 like originally planned. 🙂 But President and I talked about a lot of cool things!!! Oh and my 15 minute interview may have turned into a 30 minute interview…. but the first 15 minutes were just to talk about “logistics…” Which means that I talked about President about going to ASU and signing up for classes, etc, and then about when I am going home. So… I had a feeling I needed to talk to him about it and it was good that I did. Because he had in his notes that I was going home on January 9th, in the middle of the transfer. So… he looked at me and said, “Ok Elder Andersen what do you want to do?” So I had the awesome opportunity to have to make that choice right now. I could have extended my mission for another 6 weeks from what we were thinking, and then just go home like 3 weeks after the day I actually started my mission. But…obviously I couldn’t do that so I talked to President about it and we both decided that for school I need to go home on December 18th, so that is FOR SURE when I’m going home now. And now I feel bad for President because he has to do what he did with me with every Spanish speaking missionary in our mission because for us it’s a little different with the timing and transfers, etc. But I feel good about the decision and know that it is what God wants me to do. 🙂 So….just an FYI you’ll be getting my flight plans and what not sometime soonish…. don’t know when exactly, but I got “the trunky call” on Thursday morning asking which airport I was going to be flying in to.

But the rest of Wednesday was good! 🙂 we had good lessons with S and R and then C and R. 🙂 They are both progressing really well!! We started teaching about the Plan of Salvation with them both. The lesson with R and C was SO spirit filled too. Basically, the reason they wanted to start meeting with us was to find out a question of the soul, “why does God allow evil and suffering in the world?” And lets just say I was completely alone in the lesson because Elder M was lost with the Spanish and our member who was with us had NO idea what to say. She didn’t understand why God would even allow that to happen to her family. For a long time she gave up on God and now she’s trying to find out more about God and return to him because ever since she gave up on God life has been a lot harder, and she didn’t need it to be harder because that’s when she was going through everything .PLEASE KEEP THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS!!!! But lets just say that I am happy because I felt like an instrument in the hands of the Lord as I tried to answer her questions. I talked about how Zachy had brittle bone disease and how that was hard and not fair but how we learned from that experience and are stronger because of it. It was such a unique lesson, I’ve NEVER had to talk about things like that or have to share such intimate stories from my life and from my family to help them. But afterwards R and C both thanked us profusely for coming over and helping them understand more about God and understand him and his plan for them and what they need to do. 🙂 So I felt like a successful missionary after that lesson for sure! And my love for them just increased exponentially!!

Then the Thursday of bad luck came along. It started with my “trunky call” which wasn’t too bad, haha, and we actually had an AMAZING planning session for our investigators, and then we went out to bike…and that’s when the bad luck started. So I just took my GPS out of the protective pouch in my satchel, and it was cracked. Like bad cracked like I couldn’t see anything but white and black when I turned it on….so….we were lost. O.o Thankfully we made it to dinner….they kicked us out after 30 minutes though because they had other stuff to do so we couldn’t even share a message with them… but then we had a little extra time to go find a few pawn stores and I tried to get a GPS that would work so we could get home (still don’t know Waco that well, but it’s getting there) and all the ones we tried didn’t work….so….that was frustrating. Then on the way to an investigator, I got a 1 inch nail in my tire…. BUT 🙂 It didn’t make my tire go flat until we got home!! 😀 So God truly blessed me and helped make the best of the not so fun situation. 🙂 But yea…. my tire did go flat when we got home… 🙂 lol perfect timing right?? 🙂 I still need to fix that…haha 🙂 So it was a very humbling day and I learned a lot personally. 🙂 a LOT of prayers were said that day. And I felt like I was definitely guided by the spirit in every aspect of my life that day.

Friday we had to go buy a GPS from Best Buy because without it we wouldn’t be able to get ANYWHERE in Waco, at least not to the majority of the people we had appointments with that we’ve only visited like once. So…we had to do that. 😛 And that was pricy… but it’s for a good cause and it is to help the work of the Lord move forward! But…then that night was good. 🙂 We had a good lesson with S and R. KEEP THEM IN YOUR PRAYERS TOO!!!!! So we were able to testify about eternal families and keeping an eternal perspective. Which I actually had an AMAZING study on that this week too just random thought. 🙂 You should study that topic too if you get the chance. 🙂

Saturday we had DLC and that was good. 🙂 Ever since I’ve been having SO many thoughts come into my head about how to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ and how I can continue to develop Christ-like attributes and what not. 🙂 It was a good “take a step back and look in the mirror” moment. 🙂 Especially because this time it wasn’t all “you need to work on EVERYTHING” but instead I had this very calm feeling come over me and tell me, “look at what you’ve accomplished. You have improved and you can still improve, but don’t overlook your accomplishments.” 🙂 So yea, this was a SPIRIT FILLED week for me. 🙂 I felt like I got a LOT closer to the Lord. 🙂 The rest of the night was kinda up and down with visiting people…a lot of people punched on us…but we didn’t get discouraged. 🙂

Sunday was scary at first and a little discouraging. But I realized that I am a very hopeful person now. When things look gray and dim, I don’t give up and I try to see the brighter side of everything! This was something that dawned on me this week that I do this. 🙂 so I didn’t lose hope that none of our investigators that said they’d go to church didn’t show up. Then 15 minutes before Sacrament starts, we get a call from R!!! 🙂 She was outside!!! 😀 and she was even dressed in church clothes. 🙂 Remember how she said that she didn’t wanna go because she didn’t have the right clothes?? But she came!! And she had a great time and she got really close with a bunch of members!!! C couldn’t come because his family came into town last minute and he had to stay and entertain them, but next week he’ll come. 🙂 We were SO excited for her and it was well worth the patience and hope. 🙂 And then the rest of the day was just interesting contacting people and being handed Jehova’s Witness stuff to go pass out to more people because for some reason we looked like Jehova’s Witness. 🙂 yea, I don’t know! hahaha

But in the end it was an amazing week. 🙂

I did get the little package on Saturday. 🙂 They just left it by our door because the apartment complex is closed weekends. Thank you for it!! And I love the tie. 🙂 haha I was joking with Elder M that you were gonna put like $200 in the package because you are super in tune with the spirit and so the spirit was gonna tell you I’d need it for a new GPS. hahaha but thank you for what was in the package. 🙂 I love you!

Today we have just same ol same ol pday plans. 🙂 We are doing a pday activity and then going to dinner in Robinson with some members and then we have lessons with R and C and then S and R.

Laundry isn’t too bad. We do it in our complex and just have to wake up early. We put our load in the washer then go on our mile run, BTW I CAN RUN A MILE IN 7 MINUTES NOW, OH YEA!!!!!…. and then finish our workout and go back and change the laundry to the dryer, then go get ready and go back down and get our clothes. 🙂 It ain’t too bad. 🙂

And we do not do Noche de Hogar here or English classes. We did have a few members offer us their houses to start teaching the lessons to Rosa there. 🙂 So we’ll see how everything plays out this week!!! 🙂

But that’s my week!!!

I love you to the moon and back forever and ever and always!!! And I am SO SORRY THAT I HAD TO BUY A NEW GPS….YOU DON’T KNOW HOW BAD I FEEL…. 😦

Love you!!

Elder Josh Andersen 🙂

 

P.S. I know how many days I have…..and that’s weird that I am almost in the double digits again. O.o ……….. Sister N took my planner and wrote down on every page how many days I had left….so….I know for the rest of my mission now. Haha 🙂 love you!

Ice Bucket Challenge. You can cross that off of my missionary bucket list.

So maybe it is because I am whitewashing, but we are seeing SO many miracles here in Waco!!!!! 😀 I love it!!!!! 😀 Such an AMAZING time to be a missionary. 🙂

So this week. 🙂

On Monday we had a fun pday with the elders and sisters in Hewitt. We go down to Hewitt to help out the elders (because they are bike elders) with shopping and what not, then we go to the stake center and play basketball, volleyball, and scatterball. 🙂 It was fun and everything worked out for a first pday here. 🙂 Then that night we had a lesson with S and R. 🙂 At first things looked a little gloomy because our exchange cancelled and then there was bad traffic getting back into Waco, and a few other things, but a member that we called last minute came out with us and the lesson was amazing!!!! S and R are SO ready for the gospel right now. 🙂

Tuesday we had an exchange with the Temple elders, Elder Jand Elder T. Elder T and I stayed in our respective areas, so we just traded new missionaries. 🙂

Wednesday we had district meeting and it was very interesting since it’s only me, Elder M, Elder T, and Elder J…and this time Elder L (since we always have one of the Zone Leaders there). We did as much of it as possible in Spanish and then when I started getting blank stares….it was L’s turn to share his training in English. 🙂 haha and it was AWESOME to just watch him follow the spirit. 🙂 It was a very spiritual meeting as we tried to help these new missionaries understand the mission focus and the purpose behind district meeting and how we are there to help ourselves improve as missionaries so that we can help our investigators progress. 🙂 But district meeting overall was good. 🙂

Then I HAVE to tell you about Wednesday night!!! 😀 So, remember how I told you about how R’s sister and brother in law were in the lesson on Sunday night? Well the follow up appointment that we had with them was for Wednesday night. And they were there waiting for us and expecting us!!! 😀 It was an amazing miracle!!! 😀 They accepted everything that we said well just like S and R, but they question things a little more because they want to know FOR SURE that these things are true. 🙂 It was an AWESOME lesson though!!! And then afterwards we actually had a lesson with S and R again. 🙂 hahaha

Thursday we had a very good and productive weekly planning session!!! I felt like “I got planning” as we were doing it. 🙂 That was a good feeling because I really felt like the plans that we were making were going to truly bless our investigators!!! And it was actually cool, so we made plans that we were going to having set appointments with C and R every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then do the same with S and R, same days, just at a different time. Well, that’s what we planned to do, and we proposed the idea to them and they accepted and were actually thankful that we proposed the idea because they wanted to know so that they can start planning to do other things on the other nights of the week. 🙂 So that was COOL!!! 🙂

Thursday night we had a pretty good night trying to find new people to teach, other than that I don’t remember it. 🙂 hahaha

Friday we had an exchange with the Zone Leaders and I went with Elder P to Belton with him and Elder L stayed here with Elder M. It was an AWESOME exchange. 🙂 We learned a ton!! And it was really good for Elder M help him build up his confidence in the right places. That make sense? He was all alone in his new area and the only Spanish speaker. I remember my first exchange like that and I was nervous!!! But he did really well from what I heard. He was able to go by R and C, and then by S and R, with Elder L. 🙂 Elder L loves them!!! hahahah 🙂

Saturday we finished off the exchange and I had a good time in Belton. Then that night when I got back to Waco we went by all of the people who told us they’d go to church and we were able to get ahold of all of them. 🙂 and a lot of them said they’d be going to church!!!

Sunday was a good day too. 🙂 We called people before church and had a few people tell us that they were DEFINITELY going to church. 🙂 And then 10:30 goes by, then 11….then 12….then 1:30 and whoa…church is over. 😦 and no one came…..so what does that mean?? We go find them and figure out why they didn’t come!!! We would’ve left during church to find them but we were part of the classes and then I also had to give a talk during sacrament meeting…yea it was 25 minutes long!! hahahahaha 🙂 It was good though, at least that’s what the members told me. 🙂

But so anyway, we went out to go find our investigators!!! S and R were in the hospital with breathing problems….so they had a pretty good excuse for not going to church…..and then we went by C and R and they told us they were sorry but 5 minutes before they left they read the pamphlet that we left them and how it talked about wearing “sunday best” to church….and they didn’t have that….so they didn’t go because they thought they HAD to go to church dressed like that and they don’t have that kind of clothing. So…we had the logistics talk with them and how they can come however they want, but how we try to show respect for God, so they should try to wear the best that they have. 🙂 And they are coming this week for sure!!! 🙂 They are awesome. 🙂 And S and R should be coming too, but she just got a job and doesn’t know her schedule so….we’re not sure. But we talked about changing their baptismal date to sometime in October and they were like, “yea of course!” And!!!! S got an answer!!!!!! She told us that as she prayed she got goose bumps all over her body and that hasn’t happened to her in forever and she knew God was answering her prayer!!! I love God and how he does everything he’s promised he’ll do as long as we do our part. 🙂

Then we had a good pday yesterday too. 🙂 We had a few fun activities that we had pre planned to do. Then for dinner we went to Waco lake with a family in the branch. They were there with a bunch of non members and the Sister introduced us to one of the non members that she had met that day and already become friends with and we started teaching her and now we are going to start teaching her and her husband with the family that we ate with yesterday!!! 😀 Member work is AWESOME!!!!! 😀

And that was my week. :

And yea…so now that you have seen the pictures, one of the pday activities was the ice bucket challenge!!! 😀 I, Elder O’Brien, Elder Smith, Sister Nelson and Sister Johnson did it. 🙂 It was SO fun!!! I have videos and pictures of ALL of them. 🙂 Mine was basically like 2 challenges because I had my feet in one bucket while the other bucket was poured onto my head and then the bucket that my feet were in was poured onto me. 🙂 It was FREEZING!!!!

But you have NO IDEA HOW COLD IT WAS!!!! There was over 100 pounds of ice in those buckets!!!

But it was totally worth it and we all loved doing it afterwards!!! 🙂 haha 🙂

Thank you for the package btw!!! 🙂

Pray for the people I mentioned that they will be able to go to church this next week!!! 🙂 They are amazing!!! 🙂

And the whole week was a miracle. 🙂

I love you to the moon and back forever and ever and always!!! 🙂

 

Elder Josh Andersen 🙂