Week 91 - August 17, 2015

We only could meet with Lolo on Friday, and haven't seen him since.  Please, please, please pray for him!!  I'm a little worried, but not a ton because I know that the Lord is in charge.  He's got Lolo in His hands:)  We will be passing by today. Thanks for your prayers in his behalf these past week, but let's keep begging together and in the end, the results will be even sweeter, the happiness even more pure for all we have gone through to help him.

We are continuing to teach Elizabeth.  She has trouble understanding everything completely but has a lot of faith and feels good when we pass by:)  So little by little we will continue to help her. 

A lady from the ward came up to us and said, "My daughter wants to get baptized, what do we need to do?"  So we are going to start going over tomorrow to start teaching her!  We are really excited about that.

The miracle of the week is a man named Roberto.  He found us on the metro, he called out to us, "mormones!!" and started to tell us how he had been to all sorts of churches and he hasn't liked any of them yet.  He came to our appointment the next day. Had started to read in the Book of Mormon.  He began to explain to us that he has been an alchoholic for much of his life.  He isn't allowed in his parents house.  He doesn't have contact with his 20-year-old daughter and has hit absolute rock bottom but he says despite his depression, he knows God exists and he wants to find the Savior.  He is reading and praying and is really excited. We gave him a white shirt and a tie and he put it on and was almost in tears.  He is so happy to just come and speak with us and read in the Book of Mormon because it brings him peace.  Pray for his happiness.  He is struggling but I know he will find healing.  He has such sincerity and real intent! 

It's been a good week.  My companion is doing good!  He makes awesome Peruvian food and is a great kid:)  I've really enjoyed my time with him.  I'm learning so much!!  It's pretty cool to have a native companion.  It's a really neat experience!!  100% of my life in Spanish right now.  Like every bit.  It's super awesome.  I feel beyond fluent in Spanish at this point in my mission but don't worry if I come home and my English is a lot better than most foreign missionaries, (it won't be perfect I don't think, but it will be good, and I don't know if I'll have issues with remembering words!)  Thanks to my translating experience I've maintained my English pretty well:) 

Keep the faith!!  My spiritual challenge this week is simply that we strive to have daily scripure study, and as we go to the scriptures we need to take our problems and that which we are pleading with our Father to the scriptures and seek answers.  It's something simple, but that's the beauty of the restoration of the gospel, it's a gospel of beautiful simplicity.  I want to hear from everyone this week how they found answers to their questions, or trials, or problems in the scriptures.

May God bless every single one of you.  I love you all!  God lives.  Jesus is the Christ.  He is risen. 

Love,

Elder Jarrett Anderson

¡Hurah por Israel!

¡El reino de Dios o nada!

Week 90 - August 10, 2015

¡Hola familia mia!

Its been a good week! A scary one for the first few days, but then everything turned out okay.

We went to go meet with Lolo on Monday, wasn't there. Tuesday, wasn't there. Wednesday, wasn't there. We called him every single day and didn't pick up.  We were so worried, and was the main worry in our prayers for the first half of the week. We called him during weekly planning in a desperate try to get a hold of him, and he answered!!!! and he was so excited to hear us.  He told us he had been called to work down in Malaga for the week.  Holy cow, I had been scared to death all week that he took off!  But he told us he could possibly be back on Sunday.  We called him on Saturday to see and there were some complications, the man who was supposed to bring them back had never shown up.  But he said, "Our brothers are down here! There's a lot of them!" and told us he had found the Elders there and was going to be going to church down in Malaga.  WHAT A RELIEF!!!!  He said "Yes, go ahead and announce my baptism in our ward, of course I'm still going to get baptized next week."  After all that worry and prayer, all was well.  We should be meeting with him tonight, but will be finishing the preparations for the baptism this week.  So keep it in your prayers that all continues to go well! 

We had a POWERFUL lesson about eternal marriage with Will this week.  We testified of the hope we have because of the temple sealing.  Tears were shed and he was very grateful for the testimonies born but he is still hesitant on baptism.  We are going to back off a little bit but he is still doing well and progressing little by little. 

We went to go teach Elizabeth and Sol this week and it turned out that Daisy, Angelina, and Selina were also there. So we got to teach 3 more of their friends.  AN AMAZING LESSON and at the end Sol asked us to "pray for her" because her leg was hurt.  We were able to give her a priesthood blessing.  Right after, Elizabeth got up and asked for a blessing because "lately she hasn't been feeling good spiritually" and so we gave her a blessing as well.  The spirit of the lord was thick. You could feel it in the air. The power of godliness was truly manifest (D&C 84:20) 

Yesterday we went to a member's house. (They were from the Philippines) and we were talking about testimonies, and how they are our greatest tools when sharing the gospel.  Then two of their friends walked in and we started to talk to them and the members bore powerful testimony.  It started off with them saying, "We are Catholics sorry!" to them accepting a Book of Mormon, committed to reading and praying about it, and a return date (next Sunday at 6:00). Their names are Lornan and Ronel (if i wrote them down right).  I'll confirm that next week, Filipino accents are hard sometimes haha.  Keep them in your prayers!!

The work keeps chugging along!!  I am so happy.  And nervous.  We went and visited the Buenos today (remember them? from b4?) and saying goodbye to them was so hard.  I had a sick feeling in my stomach knowing it may be the last time I see them.  It took every thing in me not to cry.  With only 13 weeks left I dread the day I have to say goodbye to everyone, and this amazing country of Spain.  This has become home and, I promise mom, I will enjoy every moment!!! 

If you promise to do the same? Enjoy every moment of this life.  There is so much to love, so much to enjoy.  This world is beautiful and our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy.  So smile, and love life!!!

I love you all!!!  Have an amazing week!  Never forget to smile because our Heavenly Father loves us!!!

Love,

Elder Anderson

¡el reino de dios o nada!

¡hurah por israel!

p.s. transfers are this weekend so we shall see what happens!!!! love ya!

Week 89 - August 3, 2015

So cool that you met sister Rodriguez!  Elder Esquen knows her!  Crazy
small world!!  I met a woman yesterday who knew Tyson Hadden from his
mission in Sweden.

It was a great week!!!  We are now teaching a lady named Roxana!  She is
friends with an older couple from the ward.  She is awesome!!  Lesson 1
was powerful and she loved it.  She wants to learn and we are going to
meet with her again sometime this week.

We also began to teach two women from the Dominican Republic.
Elizabeth and Sol.  We introduced the Book of Mormon on her door and
she asked a lot of questions and is super interested.  We meet with
them again tomorrow!!

The biggest miracle of the week was Lolo.  He came to church last week
and we discussed the 15th as a baptismal date.  He said I will think
about it this week and Sunday (the 2nd) we will talk.  We saw him every
day this week and we finished teaching him the commandments.
Yesterday we met and we started to ask him some things and he
said, "Okay, I'm 80% sure I should get baptized, just two things.  One,
if I decide to go back to Romania I don't know if the church is in my
town."  He told us his town and we looked it up.  It's there.  That made
him calm down a ton, and was really nervous for that!  He said, "If I
go back and I'm a member, what do I do if it's not there?  Do I just
cry?"  Haha!  And then he was a little concerned about daily life.  He
said what will it be like?  He he heard things from other churches
about how we can't watch tv and stuff but we calmed his fears. Then 
we went over the baptismal interview questions and he said "Yes,
I believe Joseph Smith was a prophet. Thomas S. Monson is a prophet.
And this is the true church."  He began to tear up at the end when he
said, "Yes, I will be baptized the 15th of August."  It was powerful!!  He
was so happy.  He knows it's the right decision and it is worth all the
pain of missionary work to feel that feeling there last night.  It
was incredible.

We haven't been able to meet with Will but we will be able to this
week!  Maybe!  Unless he goes on a trip to France.  He will be
studying another semester here in Spain so that gives us a little more
time to meet with him and work with him.

Thanks for everything!!!  I love you!!  So it was a crazy day.  We had to
get haircuts and we went to a barbecue in B9 and I've seen a bunch of
people I taught and it's been so cool!

Love you!!!!:)

Love,
Elder Jarrett Anderson

 The Leadership Council

(Elder Anderson is the 8th one from the left)

 Our Zone at the Zone Training

 Elder Esquen, Javier and Elder Anderson at a BBQ in B9

Us cooking a ton of meat for the party for the American family last week!!

Me celebrating my birthday on the 23rd of July. Haha

Steven our deer. He's a party animal.

Me and Elder Esquen at a members house eating "lomo Saltado" a dish

from Peru where my comp and the members are from.

Week 88 - July 27, 2015

This week we had the leadership council in Alcobendas with President and Sister pack and let me tell you, they are incredible!  They are ready to work and it was an incredible meeting!!  Lots of things were discussed in regards to the mission and what we can do to get better.  It was a great council and a lot was done.  The main focus of the meeting was working with members.  We have made a goal to work a lot better with members in the mission.  It may be a slow start, and not a lot of apparent success at first, but the fruits will come and we will truly be able to edify Zion and unify the church here.  The church is relatively young and so member work is exactly what we need to do.  President Pack is an inspired man! 

We gave a zone training on Thursday and it was amazing.  We asked the missionaries for their ideas of what we can do to get better as a mission and as missionaries.  We got a lot of participation and it went extremely well! 

We had to get up early every single morning though and I am exhausted.  It was a crazy week for me as well but I gotta keep working hard! 

But it was an amazing week.  The things are going great in the companionship, we are unified, we are working hard, and things are going well in the area.  We are trying so hard to continue to find new people to teach.  It's been difficult lately, but we are continuing to chug along with those we have. 

Lolo is considering another baptismal date, the 15th of August!  He is still wanting to know better, so pray he can get a spiritual confirmation that this is the true church.  We have been talking to him about Thomas S. Monson and the church organization this week and he asked us where he could find information on President Monson and he spent a couple days listening to his talks in a locotorio.  He says, "I love his words."  They make him emotional and he loves it.  Things are going good with him.

Will is finishing up school so he hasn't really been able to meet but he and Lolo both came to church on Sunday. 

Honestly with the trainings and everything there wasn't a ton that happened this week.  Just know I'm happy, doing well and the work is moving along. I still love every second of this work. 

I love you so much!  You guys are the best!!! 

I love you!

Love,

Elder Jarrett Anderson

Week 87 - July 20, 2015

Going to be honest my fast didn't turn out to great.  We went to visit a family from the ward and she had bought a lot of supplies to make us a traditional food from her country.  I went to the bathroom and prayed and asked what to do and the answer I got was "eat her food".  Sometimes we need to sacrifice our wants for His wants.  It was a great meal and we discussed their friends and they are going to start to talk with 3 families they know and we're going to try to have a noche de hogar with them!!!:) and the family was so grateful for our visit.  They were so happy to have us over.  

It was a good week. We continue to work with Talia, the new one from Peru.  She can't come to church but is progressing. In September she will be able to start coming to church.

Will wasn't baptized this weekend.  He is struggling to make the decisions.  Doctrinally he knows it's true but he doesn't have family nor friend support.  I'm praying really hard to know what we should do to help him.

We found Juan again in the park!!!  He is really sad he can't meet with us and we talked about the faith the come to church. (He is working a lot) and he is actually going to try to find another job so he can come to church!!  He has such faith and we are really excited for him.  Keep praying that he can find a way to come to church!! 

We had zone conference this week!  It was an introduction the Pack family and Elder Peterson and I were asked to conduct the meeting.  It was an amazing meeting and the Packs are amazing!!!  I am so excited to work with them for the next couple months!!  They are so inspired and are going to do amazing things here in Spain.  Now I didn't really get to the notes because I was asked to translate the meeting.  So I was the Spanish to English and English to Spanish translator for 4 straight hours.  The night before and all morning I was praying for the gift of tongues, interpretation of tongues, translation and whatever other gift I might need to be able to do it.  It was an amazing experience.  Absolutely amazing. Whenever we prepare (in prayer and study) and then come humbly seeking the Lord's help, He can bless us.  I translated for 4 straight hours without stopping once, without getting lost, and without forgetting words.  It was an unforgettable experience.  I just want to testify that the gifts of the spirit are real.  I couldn't have done that alone.  So seek ye earnestly the best gifts!  Bless the lives of others through your gifts! They are real! 

Love you all!! Have an amazing week!:)

Elder Anderson 

¡El reino de dios o nada! 

¡Hurah por Israel!

Love you!!!:)

Week 86 - July 13, 2015

So cool you got to see my companions!  That's just really weird to me.  I feel like they are just in different parts of Spain. 

To answer your questions i should be getting the package this week!  We shall see:) and I bought a really cool leather bag:) It matches my scripture cases.  It's really cool!!! 

It was a good week.  Getting used to a new companion is always fun:)  He doesn't really talk too terribly much and so I'm trying to get him out of his shell.  I told president pack, "I hope I'm not talking his ear off with all my small talk!"  He's a great missionary though and I'm excited to serve with him.

Still have yet to meet President Pack.  We will be going to the temple on Wednesday and then going to a zone conference with him so I'll finally get to meet him!  I'm really excited:)  I did get to talk to Sister Pack on the phone, she accidentally called me and she has the coolest accent ever! haha:)  She's a true Louisianan. 

We started to teach one of the investigators of a companionship that got shut down during the transfer and she is awesome!  Her name is Talia and is from Peru. (from Trujillo. the same city and part of the city as Elder Esquen!) So that's cool:)  She is doing really well.  We have had some very powerful lessons with her and although she has some doubts about one of the commandments we are helping her gain her own testimony of these things.  She's great and is progressing well.  The only bummer is that she has to work sundays (during the summer) so for a while she won't be able to come to church. 

Vilma and Vanesa are both now on vacation but they are still both super excited for their baptism the 12th of September.  I just hope I don't get transferred before that day gets here! 

Lolo is starting to disappear and it's really sad.  We are going to keep trying with him. 

Will is just the greatest.  In the lesson the other day baptisms for the dead was mentioned and he told us, "Yeah, I've already been doing my family history.  I just can't find a few things on my mom's side but I'm looking!"  He is the greatest investigator I've ever had. and he's a great friend.  He's the nicest guy and I love meeting with him. 

It's been a good week and it was just another week of getting lost in the work.  It flew by.  We've also got another assignment from the Bishop.  He was sent a list of 20 families from the European area offices and so he asked us to find these people.  The relationship is great and we are continuing to work hard with the ward. 

Cool experience.  In sacrament meeting (and the Bishop had told us what the program was before because my companion was speaking).  Some people didn't take the alloted time and there was going to be a lot of time left.  So I sent a text to the Bishop that said, "If you need someone to talk to fill time, I can" and so they announced that I would speak and I walked up there having no clue what I was going to say.  So I walked up with a prayer in my heart and the thought came, talk of the hope of the atonement.  So I began to speak, and the words came.  It was incredible.  I testified of the love of Christ and how we can find hope in Him. 

I wanted to share that because I want to simply testify of the promise found in Doctrine and Covenants 100:4-6.  Trust in the promises of the Lord.  Every time I have opened my mouth as a missionary, it has been filled.  Not once has the spirit left me with no words in my mouth.  Not once.  My mouth has always been filled. and they aren't my words, rather those of the spirit.  I've learned of my true nothingness as a missionary.  I am a weak servant.  Alone I cannot do this but with His help, we can be instruments in His hands.  I have learned to gain a true trust in his promises because he never fails us. 

I love you all!!! Have an amazing week!! 

Love,

Elder Anderson

¡el reino de dios o nada!

¡hurah por israel!

Week 85 - July 6, 2015

Well another transfer has come and gone!!  I cannot believe our two transfers together are over.  It's been amazing and I'm so grateful to have served with Elder Cahoon.  He was an amazing missionary and was an incredible example of obedience.  I learned so much fun with him.

I will continue here in barrio 5 but my new companion will be Elder Esquen from Peru, but he lives in Sevilla (in the south of Spain).  He is an awesome missionary!  He was in my district in Torrejon and I'm super excited to be with him.  Yes, he is a native so my Spanish will improve a ton! 

This week was an interesting one.  The last week with your companion is always an interesting one.  But it was great!!  We had an amazing companionship.  Just absolutely loved each other.  So much fun!!  But we finished strong!  Will is now praying about the 18th for a baptismal date.  PRAY FOR HIM!!!  He is SOO close!  All he needs is a little push from the spirit and he will be there.  He is awesome!  Just a great friend, and he will be an amazing member! 

Vilma and Vanesa are still doing well.  Vilma left this morning to go get married in the Philippines and she will be back in August.  Vanesa is doing well but she will be going on vacations and so she will not be baptized until August. We just need to have patience.

Pray a lot for Lolo, and Juan.  We haven't been able to meet with them very much.  Just pray that we can meet more with them. 

I have been able to have some incredible experiences on intercambios.  I have learned on my mission what it truly means to minister to people and how we are the hands of the Lord on the earth.  As I am acting in the name of the Lord, I have been able to truly bless other missionaries, lift them up, help them improve, and help them feel the love of the Lord.  It's kinda like my "home teaching" to the other missionaries haha:)  I love blessing the lives of others and helping them receive the blessings of the atonement.  I went on two intercambios this week.

We had a lesson with a woman named Rosa, she's met with missionaries for 3 years.  She was very shut off at first but we went in on Saturday very humbly and simply testified, followed the spirit and asked some very inspired questions that allowed her to reflect, and the spirit hit her so hard!  She said, "I understand now, I'm changing what I think now" keep her in your prayers.  We meet with her on Wednesday!! 

I love you all!!  Have an absolutely amazing week!!  Thanks for everything.  You're the greatest family of all time!  I've been so blessed to be born into our family.  Thanks for your examples. 

Invitation for the week!  Say a prayer of all gratitude.  Asking nothing, just thanking our Father for all he has given us.  I did it last night and it was a very tender experience.  Count your many blessings!  And name them one by one :)

Love you!

Elder Jarrett Anderson

¡El reino de dios o nada!