week 105 There and back again

The mission flies by really fast, but they really are the best two years. It wasn´t the easiest thing I´ve done. I feel like I´ve completely changed these past two years, and I just want you all to know that I really appreciate the support and the love you´ve given me. I´ll see you all soon. 

So like this compu has a virus pretty sure and won´t let me put up pics and I don´t want to get all my stuff witha virus so I just won´t send anything today. 

LOVE YOU GUYS SEE YOU THURSDAY.

week 104: THE PENULTIMATE LETTER

Stop getting all baggy, jeez. THERE'S STILL TIME.

SO this Saturday was Olga's baptism and it went super well and there was a good turn out! She was super duper nervous for her interview and for the baptisms and everything. Even I was nervous, it was contagious, but everything went out well. I had a really special and baggy moment right after I exitted the baptismal font and enterred the men's bathroom. I walked into the bathroom and realized that that might be my last baptism in the mission, and I felt a really special feeling that God had really accepted my mission and was happy with me. I kind of just smiled, and then slipped on wet bathroom floor. Woops.

As most missionaries know, baptisms are a blessing, and always a hard thing. Because once you have your baptism, you have that problem of "uhh.. no one else is progressing." and you have to work harder. ALTHOUGH WE HAVE BEEN CONTACTING A BAGILLION PEOPLE. There aren't too many positive investigators right now. We have a young girl about 16, but we want to baptize her parents too so she doesn't inactivate.

That's actually one of the harder things in the mission. There is no rule saying that there has to be active family members or anything, but it's INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT TO THEIR CONVERSION. I share an area with sisters, who are kind of giving the ward a lot of work, because they have baptized several little kids without activating or baptizing the people around them or the ones who would take them to church. IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO NOT DO THAT.

But they're great, like all sister missionaries. Anyway. Here's to my last full week in the mish. Pic time.

Me with The Inestrozas, (whose baptism was a while ago, missing Alejandro, Javier, and William.) at the baptism of Olga, Olga and family and the ward, and then today in Ping Pong I didn't lose a single game and won both Tournaments we had and won around the world with the best record of only one strike.

week 103 Phat

Life moves pretty fast, if you don´t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it.

I have been fed so much food this week it is ridiculous. I am phat. Also have you guys stopped to think that if my mission hadn´t been extended, I´d be home by now? Weird huh. ANYWAY OLGA´S BAPTISM IS THIS WEEK. SO WOOHOO. Hopefully it´s not my last one, (optimistically it isn´t, but realistically it is since I don´t have any investigators with enough church attendance to be baptized soon.) SO, we´ll see. But WOOHOO. The baptism is on this Saturday and I´m excited. We´ve been really busy, and I think I´m going to leave this área with a ton of prepared investigators so that is GREAT. It´s just kind of stinky pants that I won´t be here to see it.

Elder Padilla, an Elder who went home a year ago, who was in my first zone a LONG TIME AGO. Came back to visit the mission and passed through the área and gave me some references of people to visit, so we found some coolish people. The only question is why they aren´t in the área book but I ain´t saying nuttin yaknow. He actually went to President Bowler´s Homecoming this month and told me that I´m now famous because President told my knife-fight-incident story in his talk. So that´s kind of funny.

Well besides knocking on a million doors a day,  everything is going really well. Francis´ mom passed away so now she can start receiving the mission lessons again. We came a few nights after she passed away and found like 10 members of her family there, and we shared a few parts from Alma 40, and they were incredibly interested and the uncle even cried. They said they´d come to church on Sunday so I´ll keep you all in TOUCH! I don´t have any photos this week, but I´ll try to be better with that...

... for the next 2 weeks. What up. Haha love you all hope you are all doing well.

Elder Anderson

week 102 Clifford the Big Yellow Mutt

So funny thing is that after Olga was not at all that positive and we dropped her, she starting coming to church and supposedly wants to get baptized so that is crazy. Also has anyone else noticed that I almost always start with "so" or "well"? Anyway.

We found a new investigator this week named Marisol. She is super positive, and super chatty. She is already starting to read the Book of Mormon, in the first week of taking the discussions! That's weird here in Honduras, cause no one ever even reads the pamphlets. We have a lesson with her tonight and with a member, Dilcia. Hope that goes well! The only problem is that her husband is a little bit posessive and doesn't want to let her go to church, (but they ARE married which is a first for my mission too.) Haha.

So a funny story happened the other day. My companion and I left the house of a family of investigators we have been teaching, (Kimberly, Adonis, Marcos, Yamilet, Sione) and we walking to our next appointment at about 7:30 two nights ago. We were walking when we noticed that Clifford, their dog, an aguacatero (mutt), was following us. He followed us across a pretty large space of our area, and we couldn't seem to shake him off. He just wouldn't stop following us! As we kept walking towards a busier street, we noticed we didn't see him anymore. While waiting for a good moment to cross the street, we forgot about Clifford completely. Once we had an opening we cross the street, and see Pope, a member in our ward. We head over to talk to Pope, and about 5 seconds after we start the conversation, we hear grinding metal on the street accompanied by sparks and some shouts. We turn back to the street to see a motorcycle accident caused by, GUESS WHO? CLIFFORD, WHO TRIED TO CROSS THE STREET TOO. We quickly ran over to help the mirrors and lights and the plastic neck covering of the motorcycle was pretty beat up. It was a man about 50 years old who just laid in the street groaning. I pulled his motorcycle out of the street and put up the kick stand and after a few minutes helped the man to the sidewalk. BUT DON'T WORRY EVERYONE, although it was a pretty bad accident... Clifford remained untouched and ran away. And the motor cyclist too. The motorcycle however did get beat up.

Anyway, but Marisol is super cool, she shares what she feels, and says that God has been preparing her to meet with the missionaries. She is right! She also relates the Book of Mormon everytime we talk with her, to her life. 

Have a great week

for those interested in what my area looks like:

week 101 T-Minus 1 Month

This last Wednesday the Zone had interviews, and it was a nice feel-good-moment, because I was commended by my M.P. for still working hard and not being 100% baggy/trunky, tomato/tomato. So that was nice.

This week we had 4 investigators in church AGAIN. Trying hard to get those last month/minute baptisms. 

We dropped Olga this week. We felt she wasn't progressing and then she showed up to church for the first time in forever on Sunday. WHAT? So we'll see where that goes. 

It was a long week, and this was probably the most I've walked in this area... NO idea what to write so... Well I love you guys, thought I would just make a list of things I miss back at home.

Not in any specific order:

1. Reese's Puffs.

2. Clam Chowder.

3. Most foods.

4. Accessibility of potable water.

5. HOT WATER.

6. Naps.

7. Family.

8. Hugs.

9. Free Time.

10. Movies.

There's probably more stuff, but whatever.

Picture with my companion, Elder Marcellino in one of the higher parts of our area, and picture of Hermana Posso and I on a bus, we shared an area back in Danli and she's going home next week so she sent me this pic from a few weeks ago.

week 100: Every Day When You're Walkin' Down The Street

I just realized that a lot of my emails start with "SO" or "WELL" so....

SO, WELL ANYWAY, this has been a pretty good week! We met our new mission President and he's great. He was actually pretty funny and sarcastic and knows the scriptures SUPER WELL. Like it was crazy, and his spanish is actually pretty good! In our Zone Conference this week we kind of just got to know him, and his kids made short little 5 minute videos talking about him and his wife, it was cool. He also got engaged to his wife 8 days after his mission, when she was already engaged to another mission. He actually proposed by taking off the other missionary's right, and then placing it back on her hand, asking her if Gary, the other missionary, would be ok if he used the ring. Savage.

On Saturday morning we invited some of the Elders from the zone to come to our area to cut some grass (with Machetes) in the house of some of our investigators. In total we were  8, and my companion and I made chocolate chip pancakes with bacon for breakfast for all of us. It was a good way to start the day!

Also on Saturday Afternoon there was a primary activity and my companion and I were in charge of the games and we rocked it, (cops and robbers, sharks and minnows, tag, hide and seek, etc. It was actually super fun.

After the activity, we were heading towards our dinner appointment and had two options. Take the main road or take a back way, the main road lately has had a TON of construction. Due to all the construction, we decided to take the back road and avoid the cars, dirt and dust everywhere. A few blocks into our way, a woman friendly yelled hello! at us. We immediately turned around so we could go talk to here. We began talking and she immediately invited us into her home! SHE INVITED US! She is very kind and her husband too! I hope good things will come from them! SO we'll see. Their names are Ely and Rolando. They are an older couple, and they invited US I still can't believe it.

Anyway hope you all had a great 4th of July, Tia Angenette sent me a sweet 4th of July package so I was able to celebrate in style. So see you all soon.

week 99 You Are All Going to Hate Me For Not Writing Much

This was another super busy week. So I really have no idea what to write! While we were working the other day, we took a little bit of time to just drop by one of our new families we teach, the Cerritos Family. We casually drop by and walk in, and a few minutes later, the aunt of the family walks in and we meet her for the first time. Her name is Francis, and let me tell you guys. Francis is like twice as positive as the whole Cerritos family put together, so I`m pumped about visiting Francis, and Francis actually lives pretty far away from the Cerritos family. She actually lives like a 5 minute walk from the chapel. SO THAT IS COOL.

We had a really fun ward activity on Friday, where my companion and I were put in charge of a game. We had an apple bob with lemons (cause apples are really expensive in Honduras, and biting a bitter lemon is more fun.) It was actually a really fun activity. Every time you won a game you would earn tickets to buy stuff and prizes. At the end they had a half court contest to win the grand prize, a masage in the Marriott Hotel. TO EVERYONE`S SURPRISE. THE INESTROZA FAMILY WON THE MASAGE. (If you don`t remember the Inestrozas, looks back on past emails.) Also, William Inestroza was ordained to the priesthood last week and this week passed me the sacrament on Sunday. That was the best part of my week. ALSO the Inestroza family is going to the temple this week to do baptisms.

SO OVERALL it`s been an awesome week.

pics.

at our booth. Soaked cause I tried out our game haha. Supposedly it was super hard cause I bought big lemons... isn`t that the point though?