¿Dónde estoy?

Que tal pebes,

Okay so this place is insane and I’m probably gonna get robbed this week, so ya just wanted to prepare you for this letter.

So much has happened, so sorry if I can’t fit it all in.

Mendoza is like if LA and the entire state of Nevada had a child, super ghetto sometimes, but it also has some pretty cool safe spots. The food so far has been bomb, lots of pasta and bread, and the miemberos aqui are super nice. So far, my trainer and I have been walking an average of about five or six miles a day, which I guess isn’t that bad, but it ain’t no picnic either.

My trainer is Elder Mckeachine from Utah. Best missionary I’ve ever met, no duda, no duda.

We’re in an area called Guayllamen, and let me tell ya, dis place is sketchy.

Super humble people, and gangbangers on every street. Do I fear for my life everyday......maybe a little. Haha, its bad but we just need to be smart and we’ll be fine. Lol sorry momma. I’m okay. You’ll be happy to know my comp and I deep cleaned our house this morning, and we loved it.....hehe.

Yesterday, Elder Mckeachine and I were walking down the street and these chicas started cat calling us, and I guess I can’t blame them cuz we pretty good looking fellas lol, anyway one of them was like hey do you have a girlfriend, and I was like nah, and she was like you want one, and my comp said, nah we have better things to be up to, and inside I lost it, ooooohhhhhhhh roooooooaaaaaaassssstttedddddd. Sorry chica, you already know we’re about our Father’s business.

Okay so one thing that’s been super hard for me is understanding what people are saying to me, so if you could for just a moment, imagine me standing there listening to someone speaking to me in Spanish and me just smiling and nodding my head like a complete idiot, ya that’s how it’s been lol. Lord give me strength.

Looks like I’m running out of time so one last thing, we’re teaching this young nino named Nathan and it’s so amazing how quickly he understands the gospel. I know that the Lord has been preparing people for us to teach and bring to the fold. I’m quite confident that we’ll have a baptism date for him this coming week. He already said he would be baptized if he learned for himself that the gospel was true so I’m very hopeful.

Thanks for all your prayers, it’s been hard, but I know through Christ all things are possible.

Chioooooo,

Elder Anderson

Fotos- Mi entrenador y the view from our ventana

 

Elder Elvis and the Ice Rain

Holaaaa!!!

Ummm so I guess we’re heading out to Argentina this coming monday....so that’s insane. Time flew by, and I wish I would have learned more. But our district has been working hard, so with help from the Lord, we'll be ‘aight. This last week was super confusing with Spanish doe, subjunctives are the worrrrsssstttttt lol.

So y’all remember how Pres. Bennet destroyed us all last week because some Elders were at our house? Well just in case you were worried, we’re chilling now. He came over to Elder Gubernick and I and said that he loved us, and we talked for a little while. Super great man.

Okay, so the Elder that I told yall about last time, the one with the fantastic voice, his name is Elder Williams. He and I are like two peas in a pod, ugh love him so much. Anyway, so we tried to sing in a devo together with Creo in Cristo to the tune of Savior Redeemer Of My Soul. And let me tell ya, that song so awesome. I feel the spirit so strong whenever we sing that song. We ended up being able to sing in the devo on Tuesday, and we did pretty great. Sadly, I’ve been a sickling for the last two weeks, so it wasn't my best, but that don’t matter cuz we were singing praises to God, so we chillin. About the elder Elvis thing, there was this elder that wanted to sing with Elder Williams and I at a choir rehearsal that we had been selected to sing a little solo for, and it was the funniest thing ever because the rehearsal had just ended and everybody was leaving, and out of nowhere this new elder walks up and is like, "Yo yo Imma sing with y’all, right now, I want in." And Elder Williams and I were like, "Aight, let’s see what this kid’s got." So we then begin to sing with this elder, and he’s like, " Wait wait wait, I think we should sing this higher." And Elder Williams and I were like, uuuhhhh okay. And out of nowhere he just starts ripping it, full voice, just a powerhouse of a voice. And Elder Williams and I are just shocked, and I’m holding back a laugh because I look over at the choir lady, and she had the most appalled expression on her face lol. She marches up to him and begins to explain that we don’t sing like that at the CCM. Oh man, I felt really bad cuz he had a killer voice, but he didn’t really understand that when we sing about Jesus, at least at the CCM, it should be done with reverence. I swear the kid must have come from some Southern Baptist church, cuz dang haha. Also, there’s a recording of Elder Williams and I singing at the bottom of this email. Give it a listen.

Super quick, check out D&C 25:12, it’s a cool scripture that I memorized in Spanish about how when we sing hymns, it’s like a prayer to God. Love it.

I gave Elder Thornton, an elder in my district, a blessing a few days ago. He was a little stressed out about leaving for Argentina, and asked me to. It was really special, and I’m getting better at listening to the Spirit. He’s a great missionary, and I honestly think that he’s one of the best dudes I’ve ever met. He’s from Morgan Utah, so mom if you want to look around on Facebook for Mendoza moms or something, maybe you could meet his fam. Also, what’s up mom, love you!!!! Thanks for teaching me how to clean, cuz nobody does here.

It rains a lot here, and it’s also kinda cold for some reason. I thought Mexico was supposed to be hot. Anyway, when it rains, it’s like total death because it’s cold, and my cough will not go away.

I’ve learned a lot here at the CCM, I don’t feel super ready to enter the field, but I think that’s every missionary, or maybe I’m wrong. I’m a little nervous, but way excited to leave this place. I’m tired of teaching fake investigators, give me some real people already haha. In closing, I just want to give a big ole shout out to my fam, love you guys, miss you like I miss cream cheese bagels in the morning. I miss you like the flowers miss the sun when it rains, but I know that by sacrificing my time in the "sun", the Lord is "showering" his blessings on all of us. Oooof that was a pretty great analogy lol I love the Lord, He lives, and I’m ready to tell it to everyone. Bless up kiddos.

Elder Anderson

Pics- Me and Jesus, haircut/ya boiii, the brethren, Elder Thornton is the one in the front, and Halliday is behind me, Gubernick on my right

Día de los Muertos!

Hola hola!

This last week was pretty sweet, so hopefully I can get it all on here.

The rain here is nuts! One second is all calm and peaceful, the next you’re soaked to the bone, and the street is flooded with like a foot and a half of water lol. It’s getting colder here so I was gonna buy a sweater or two, but my arms are too long. The worst.....but we ‘aight.

Elder Gubernick and I, along with some sisters from our district, sang a little musical number in one of our meetings, so that was sweet. Gubernick hasn’t done a whole lot of singing, but he did a wonderful job, super proud of him. There’s a file/recording of it that I’ll put on here.

Our district has been doing English fasts, so we can practice speaking only Spanish, and it’s been pretty hard for me. Mostly because it's hard for me not to talk, and I can't quite express myself in Spanish the way that I can in English, but I'm trying.

A bunch of amazing missionaries just got here from Haiti, and they all speak French........Dad.........hehe you'd love it. They have the coolest style, and are so so so happy and warm. So great.

For Dia de los Muertos, the elders in our room went and bought a bunch of junk food.......sorry momma.......and we told some cool/spooky mission stories that we had heard from other people. It was fun.

Being a zone leader is pretty hard because people look up to you. We had a bit of a difficult situation because one of our district leaders and his comp from our zone came over one night to talk with us, and Presidente Bennet got pretty upset because you're not supposed to have other elders in your casa at night. I didn't feel super great about it in the first place, but I didn't speak up because I feared man more than I feared God. Bennet ended up coming to our casa and ripped us a new one, I felt horrible, like I cried lol. I felt like I had let him, my family, and the Lord down. President Bennet was really disappointed. So as I layed in my bed, thinking about it all, I got thinking. Pres. Bennet was just trying to help us understand that we have rules for a reason and if we don't follow them we can't have the Spirit with us, and without the Spirit, we are just a bunch of 18 year old bums. So it wasn't like we were having a party or staying up late cuz the elders left at like 9 something, but we are zone leaders now so it's really important to be the best example that we can.

Other than that, this week was sweet, and I aprendo mucho hehe.

Also, there's an elder in our zone that has the coolest voice ever, and he's a baller at musical theatre. He was in Phantom and Fiddler on the Roof. It's like having my dad around, cuz whenever I see him I just burst out in song…”If I were a rich man!!!! Yabadubedube!!!” haha. He and I are trying out to sing in one of the devos. Gonna be sweet if we make it. But for real tho, he's sweet, and he's from Idaho so lets freaking go.

Also, they have these sweet green parrots that are so pretty, here's a pic of dem, and I bought this super cheap wallet that has the Mexico City temple on it....ya I know it’s legit.

Love you all so much, if yall want to write me a quick letter, look up Missionary Package and you can send me a quick email that they can print out for me whenever.

Con amor,

Elder Anderson