They’re getting so old!! And Mom, you should have just gone to dental school. Haha, but good for Hannah!!!:)
That’s gonna be so much fun for McKay at
the Lion House!! I’m excited for him:)
I absolutely love the principle of "teaching people not
lessons" and it applies to missionary work, as well as primary, Sunday
school, everything. This church isn't about teaching lessons, its about
strengthening members. The Savior, during his earthly ministry, did not teach to
the masses but taught to the one. (I think I've said this in a previous email
but its like my favorite principle ever). Elder Bednar says the hallmark of the Savior's life is "one by one". He didn't teach one multitude but a
multitude of ones. My absolute favorite principle. One by one.
Oh Tanner!! Well
done bud. Haha, way to do what you know is right. Keep it up!! With the region
wide fast for rain, I know the Lord will answer your prayers and fasting
because he always answers the prayers of the righteous. California had a
similar fast last week and Elder Gentry got an email written last night by his
dad saying after all the prayers and fasting as he was writing the email last
night it was pouring. So I know the lord will answer the prayers in your region
as well.
The 12 week program is great!!! Learning lots and it's been amazing
to see my growth already. I finally feel like a real missionary! We start week
5 today. Well I would love to be picking up on the Galician language (Gallegan)
but sadly no Gallegans (Galicians) will talk to us. There tends to be an
attitude of don't talk to the Gallegans among the Galician missionaries but we had a lesson from the zone leader last Wednesday
about "el buen pastor y nuestras ovejas" (the good shepherd and our
sheep) and he gave an incredible talk about us being the shepherds of this part of
the Lord's pasture. The north of Spain and no matter how tough it is (and we need
to be in reality, this is a tough area when it comes to natives), we need to
realize everyone is God's child and we need to talk to everyone because they
are all his children, Su ovejas. His sheep. But no, I'm not learning Gallegan at
all.
Elder Gentry and I get along great!!!!! He's amazing and a great
missionary. He's a stud! and he's hilarious. We were making puns the other day
with the word Spain haha. Something fell and I was like that was dangerous and
he was like, "Did you just say that was Spaingerous?" hahaha. So we were making a
ton of puns. That's inspain! insane) and my favorite... Holy Toledo, that's inspain!
ha ha. 'Cause there's a city called Toledo in Spain ha get it? Dumb puns are
awesome hahaha! Elder gentry is a great trainer!! He pushes me with my Spanish and it's helped a ton!! I can understand people for the most part and I'm
speaking more and more every day! So that's been good!!
Our
district leader is in Lugo and I went on exchanges with his companion in Lugo
this week, so I've spent a few days in Lugo this transfer. That town is super
cool!!! It's a smaller city and in the center it's got this wall around the super
old part of town. It's sweet.
I know this is where I need to be right now!! This place is
amazing!!!! I love it here and I love this work more than anything. The lasting
happiness of sharing this message is a permanent peace I have never felt before
in my life and even though it's hard at times, it's comparable to having the
spirit we feel in the temple 24/7 and its incredible!!!! I love the feeling of
just getting lost in the work and just wanting to share this with everyone!! I love it.
Tell Sophie good job on her testimony!!!!:):):) that's amazing:) and good
job to Hannah too! My siblings are amazing examples:) We go to a locutorio and its a euro for two hours, and yeah, good price for a good amount of time! We have the smallest apartment
in the north but it's in the middle of the city so everything is easily
accessible including walking to appointments and getting home on time so the
size doesn't matter cause the location is prime. It's just Elder Gentry and I. The other two have an apartment on the south end of town and its quite the walk, so I'm
grateful!!
Well this week was another incredible week!!!! We have been teaching Andres and he's getting there. We're teaching him about diezmo (tithing) tonight
and going through the baptismal interview questions with him and helping him
with his dudas (doubts) so keep praying for him. We're still shooting for our
meta (goal) for the 15th so keep praying hard!!! We had a major rebuilding week
this week and we dropped a lot who weren't progressing. But we found some new
investigators this week and were excited!! We did a TON of street contacting
and we are working with the people we found and trying to get in with them so
it's been a good week for rebuilding!! This next week is going to be
incredible!! We're also working with Eliot, the one whose relatives are members. We taught him the Plan of Salvation last night and he accepted a "soft
commitment" to be baptized. He said he'll be baptized as he comes to
know this is true and he has been studying el libro de mormon A TON and he
loves it so things are going great with him. The parents of Leslie said she
cannot be baptized until she is 18, so that's tough since she's 11. But it's okay, eventually. She has a STRONG testimony and comes every week to church We've been working with Davy and Lorena. Other than that it's just been a good rebuilding week. Teaching English classes, going to Lugo, oh! and President and Hermana Jackson were in A Coruña this morning!! We had interviews and talked about some things for a
while! It was great!!:) It's always refreshing to get a visit from someone from Madrid 'cause were so lonely up here. As one elder said, "We've been exiled to
paradise. It's amazing up here but we're alone. Just clear up north, but I love
it!!!! That's my week!!! It's been amazing!!! Thanks for the prayers and
continued support:) Love you all!!!!:)
For the spiritual thought: read Moroni
10 and notice how many times he says I would exhort, or I exhort and as you go
through and read it, what he exhorts us to do is how he wants our experience
with the Book of Mormon to be. So, read through Moroni 10 and find out what Moroni wants us to do with the Book of Mormon.
Love you all!!! The church is true, and the book is blue. You're in
my prayers constantly!!
((hugs)) and kisses
Elder Anderson
El reino de Dios o nada
