Happy New Year to everyone at home!!! It was so great to talk to you on skype last week and to hear from you all this week and thanks for all the support. I´m glad Christmas was so wonderful and I hope New Years was as cool for you as it was for me.
We got to ring in the new year like true Spaniards (yes we got to stay up till midnight, that's just another reason I'm in the coolest MTC ever, haha, but we watched the Sound of Music and then after we turned on the tv and watched the countdown from Sol (downtown Madrid) and Spaniards truly know how to party. In the last minute or 30ish seconds they ring the bell in the square 4 times and then it gets dead silent and then they start to ring the bell every 3 seconds or so and on every ding you have to eat a grape and you end up shoving 12 of them down to ring in the new year. hahaha so we got to do the 12 grapes tradition (doce uvas pronounced: doe-thay oobas) and its also weird to say the first time I ever saw the Sound of Music was on my mission, and we also watched It's a Wonderful Life on Christmas Day so we truly are the party group. It's been an amazing experience here though.
The park was rough this week and literally no one would talk to us but that's okay, I was still happy knowing I was serving the Lord and rejection has gotten easier, but the spirit here is indescribable and the miracle of all of us picking up on the language has been a true witness of the gifts of the spirit. We go on `english fasts´ for a few hours at a time and surprisingly we talk quite a bit and can have very broken conversations. I have been called as Zone Leader and now I can say I was Zone Leader over the WHOLE MTC! hahaha! The whole 20 of us. I'm serving with Enziano (Elder) Porpurri from Italy. He doesn't speak English but we both speak Spanish so we can still communicate. It's been an amazing week and it just keeps getting better.
Something I learned this week was truly how going on a mission is a type and shadow of the saviors life and although we do not feel one ounce of what He went through He knows EXACTLY what we are going through and will be with us every step of the way. He knows what it's like to be sore after a day of tracting, as he carried the cross. He knows what it's like to have a frustrating companion as Judas betrayed him for money. He knows what it's like to be mocked and rejected as the people spit on Him and they crowned Him with a crown of thorns. He knows the lonely feeling of being away from home as He cried out on the cross why hast thou forsaken me? and He is there for every single missionary and every single person at home and is with us every step of the way because He knows what it is like to preach His gospel and see people change their lives and we get to represent Him. I am a witness of Jesus Christ. I don't have to see Him to know He lives. I know in a way that superceeds the 5 senses that Jesus is the Christ. Because I have had the Holy Ghost testify to me that He lives and I know He lives without a doubt.
I am a witness of Jesus Christ.
I love this work and I will be in the field in a few days and I am SO EXCITED!!!!! I love you all. Thanks for every thing!!
The park was rough this week and literally no one would talk to us but that's okay, I was still happy knowing I was serving the Lord and rejection has gotten easier, but the spirit here is indescribable and the miracle of all of us picking up on the language has been a true witness of the gifts of the spirit. We go on `english fasts´ for a few hours at a time and surprisingly we talk quite a bit and can have very broken conversations. I have been called as Zone Leader and now I can say I was Zone Leader over the WHOLE MTC! hahaha! The whole 20 of us. I'm serving with Enziano (Elder) Porpurri from Italy. He doesn't speak English but we both speak Spanish so we can still communicate. It's been an amazing week and it just keeps getting better.
Something I learned this week was truly how going on a mission is a type and shadow of the saviors life and although we do not feel one ounce of what He went through He knows EXACTLY what we are going through and will be with us every step of the way. He knows what it's like to be sore after a day of tracting, as he carried the cross. He knows what it's like to have a frustrating companion as Judas betrayed him for money. He knows what it's like to be mocked and rejected as the people spit on Him and they crowned Him with a crown of thorns. He knows the lonely feeling of being away from home as He cried out on the cross why hast thou forsaken me? and He is there for every single missionary and every single person at home and is with us every step of the way because He knows what it is like to preach His gospel and see people change their lives and we get to represent Him. I am a witness of Jesus Christ. I don't have to see Him to know He lives. I know in a way that superceeds the 5 senses that Jesus is the Christ. Because I have had the Holy Ghost testify to me that He lives and I know He lives without a doubt.
I am a witness of Jesus Christ.
I love this work and I will be in the field in a few days and I am SO EXCITED!!!!! I love you all. Thanks for every thing!!
Con Amor,
Elder Anderson
El Reino de dios o nada
