Merry Christmas!!

December 21, 2014

Merry Christmas from the Philippines!!!
 
It is so crazy that this will be my first Christmas away from home, and my very first Christmas without snow!!!! Nooooo!!!!! It is all good though- it will definitely be a Christmas to remember!!!

This past week we had the chance to go to Aurora for our Christmas Conference it was full of music, games, food, fun, and a movie! And guess what movie... The Polar Express!! I literally died!!!!!!! Anyone who knows me well, knows that I watch that movie at least 5 or 6 times every Christmas, and I really was not expecting to watch it this year... That was definitely a fun Christmas Surprise!!!

On Wednesday, I got to go on exchanges with Sister Faka'osi which was super fun! She gave me some great insights and really praised our area. She was the missionary whose spot I took coming in here to Morong and she could not believe how much this area has changed. We have all new investigators and the area is not even close to being the same as it was before. Sister Valdez and I have been working really hard these past 2 transfers and miracles have happened. There is still so much more to be done, but I know that we are planting lots of seeds here! We are still waiting for the harvest, but we know it will come!

Want to hear some great news? We got permission for Nanay Norma and Tatay Jose to be baptized this upcoming Sunday!!!!!!! They of course need to be interviewed first, but if they pass, they will be baptized! Christmas Miracle! Please keep them in your prayers!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas filled with friends, family, and food. But most importantly, I hope your Christmas is centered on Jesus Christ. I love you!! Merry Christmas!!

Love,

Sister Anderson

QUICK!!!!!!!

December 15, 2014

Hello to you all!!

Sorry, this is going to be the most pathetic email you will have ever received from me... Just literally no time! We had zone training this morning and then were practicing some Christmas songs that we are performing tomorrow at our Christmas Conference, and Sister Wiradi passed out... Like completely and wasn't responding... SO we went to the hospital to get everything figured out. She is fine though, so don't worry!

It was yet another wonderful week in Morong! We had Zone Interviews on Wednesday which was awesome and we discussed the talk "Joseph Smith" given last conference by Elder Andersen. I recommend that you all read that talk and apply the challenge given at the end. It really has changed my life.

Update on Norma and Jose- They are still doing great, however Tatay is still struggling with Word of Wisdom. He received a Priesthood blessing on Sunday after church. They can't be baptized now this December, but I know Heavenly Father has His timing. Please keep Tatay Jose in your prayers!!

Love you all!! Take care!!

Sister Anderson

All is Well

Dear Families of our missionaries,

We wanted to inform you that due to many prayers and much faith, all is well in the Quezon City Mission.  The storm, typhoon Ruby, has passed.  All of our missionaries are safe and well, and back to work. 

Thank you so much for your support.  A very Merry Christmas to all of you.

 

President Revillo

Philippines Quezon City Mission

Survivor!!

 

Me and some of my cute Filipino friends!

 

                         Me and sis Valdez with our christmas tree. Thanks mom!

December 8, 2014

Hello to you all!!

Just survived yet another typhoon in the Philippines! Typhoon Ruby didn't hit us too hard- just a good amount of rain and we had to be in our apartments all day yesterday. We are safe and well though, so no need to worry!

Sister Valdez and I had a great week! On Monday night I did the unexpected.. I bought myself Balut out of my own free will... If you don't know what balut is, google it.. or maybe don't.. it might make you sick! Basically it is an egg with a REAL chicken inside.. and you eat it!! And I ATE IT!! Feathers, beak, and all!!! I survived it and it was actually pretty tasty.. ish!

OH and I also survived my first Filipino haircut! I asked for a trim, but the guy cut off about 4 inches. It was super uneven and hideous, but I guess that is understandable because he was dirty dancing while he was cutting my hair. Strangest experience of my life.

On a more spiritual note- Sunday was AMAZING! Norma, Jose, Lili Beth, and Michelle came to church! It was a miracle! I have never been so happy before! Norma, Jose, and Lili Beth all asked if they could pay tithing as well, and so they did! Their faith is AMAZING!! Please keep them in your prayers, especially Norma and Jose, that they will be baptized this month!

I am so grateful to be a missionary and I know that all things are possible through the enabling power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He lives and He guides us today though living prophets and apostles. I know this church is true. 

I love you all!!

Sister Anderson

Grateful In Any Circumstance

November 30, 2014

Hello to all of you!! 

While you are still flat on your backs from all the turkey and pie you've eaten, I'm still chugging along here in Morong! This week went well, but I am not going to lie- I wish that Thanksgiving was a world-wide holiday! As the only American here in Morong, I was not expecting to get a Thanksgiving dinner... which is good, because I didn't get one! I guess I will have to wait until next year! The closest thing that I got to a Thanksgiving dinner was some squash that I heated up in the microwave with a little bit of brown sugar on top. I tried to imagine that it was Thanksgiving yams... All I can say is that I am sure you ate MUCH better than I did!

Thanksgiving was a really neat experience for me, as I wrote a list of what I was grateful for. I re-read the talk by Elder Uchtdorf from April 2014 Conference entitle, "Grateful in Any Circumstance." He talks about how sometimes we get too caught up being grateful FOR things instead of being grateful for the circumstances we are in. If you don't remember this talk, I highly recommend that you go read it!

We taught Norma and Jose 3 times this week and they are doing AMAZING! Especially Tatay Jose. He is already in Alma in the Book of Mormon and you can just see the change in him and the new light that has come into his life. We visited them Saturday evening in which they committed to come to church, but when sacrament meeting started the next day, they were no where in sight. I was devastated. Their baptism was scheduled for Christmas Day, but because they did not come to church, they cannot be baptized in the month of December... Now we have to wait until January. I sat during the sacrament so confused as to what I was doing wrong as a missionary and why things don't seem to be working out lately. And then I remembered the talk by Elder Uchtdorf. I pulled out my planner and made a list of what I was grateful for, despite the circumstance I was in. It is amazing how much Heavenly Father continues to bless us as we trust in His plan.

After church, Sister Valdez and I headed straight to the mountain to find Nanay and Tatay. When Tatay saw us, you could see that he just wanted to cry. They invited us in and Tatay began to tell us that he was about to get into the shower this morning so he could go to church and went to grab his clothes. To his surprise, his clothes were sopping wait from the rain the night before. He grabbed his work uniform, hoping he could wear that instead to church, but it smelled bad. He was devastated and did not think that he could go to church in just a t-shirt and shorts. He went on to to tell us that he feels so unworthy to be happy and have the gospel in his life because he is so imperfect. We shared with him Ether 12:27- how we all have weaknesses, and that is why we need to rely on the Lord. We helped him understand that all of those feelings he was having were not from Heavenly Father and he began to realize that Satan is working really hard on him because he is about to be baptized. As much as I wished that Norma and Jose were able to go to church today, I think that because of their experience, they will never ever miss church again. The Lord works in mysterious ways:) 

Sooo that is that for the week! Hope you all have a great one! Love you!!

Love,

Sister Anderson

Just Missionary Work

Hump Day

November 23, 2014

Happy Pday!!

Hope all is well with you and things are chugging along!

This week was a week! I honestly don't remember much of what we did this week other than work, work, work... But it was indeed good! We have really been fasting and praying to find new investigators and we were blessed enough to have found 7! I am so excited to start teaching them and helping them understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One of the people we found was a man named Randy. We had already taught his wife, Alma, twice before and then he decided to join. He told us that he never listens to missionaries from all of the other religions, but he had been looking forward to the day when we would come visit him. He and his wife live up in the mountains in quite humble circumstances and harvest rice as a living, and they are ready to make changes in their life to bring them closer to Jesus Christ. There is nothing more rewarding than helping others see the joy that comes from living the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The other day we got an odd text from one of our investigators, informing us that they other night she was really mad at God and was praying to Him and swearing at Him and then she said that a light came into her room brighter than she can even explain, calling her by name.... Umm...We had absolutely no idea how to respond to this.. She says that she thinks it is a sign that she needs to change... Yup... I think she does need to change... Life as a missionary is never a bore! Haha

Yesterday Sister Wiradi, Sister Apsay, Sister Valdez, and I all taught young womens! It made me miss all our cute young women in the 3rd ward.. Send them my love! We talked about rescuing the young women that have fallen from the path of activity and committed them to come up with a plan of rescue! Hopefully our 3rd ward girls are doing some rescuing too!!

So I am officially the only American here in my kabahay! 2 of the sisters are Filipina, and the other is from Indonesia. So I am the only English speaker! It is good for me to practice my Tagalog! I am also the only one who does not eat rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner! It sometimes makes me laugh how different we are, but when it comes down to it, we are all so much the same too.

 Well hopefully this did not bore you too much! Hope all is well! Ingat kayo palagi!!

 Sister Anderson

 

Another One Bites the Dust

Nov 17

Happy Day to all of you!

Whelp.. Sister Sanders has officially died.... Nooooo! Another one bites the dust! It can be so sad killing people, BUT it can be so fun too- putting together surprises and parties for a final goodbye! We made her a surprise breakfast on Sunday- Ube French Toast, fresh bananas, and had cute mugs made with our pictures and named printed on them for our hot chocolate. Too fun!!! And after church we tricked Sister Sanders into going up to Antipolo to the couple missionaries home, Elder and Sister Johnson, for a surprise lunch! SO fun!! And Sister Johnson made us a turkey dinner- so it was ALMOST like Thanksgiving!! We also had a little surprise farewell dinner for her at the Susa's, and they put together a video for her, and made a bunch of really great food. All in all, I think I gained like 8 kilos on Sunday alone. BUT it was soo worth it!

This past week we were able to go to Aurora for zone conference which was oh so fun. Man, I have sooo many ways in which I need to improve, it's insane.... Lots of weaknesses and faults I need to overcome, but I am just grateful that I still have more time here in the mission field to grow and become better.

Sunday was great!! Jose and Norma came to church once again and they loved it! They even participated in class and they are soo ready to be baptized! The big day is December 13th! Wahoo!! We also had another investigator at church, Michelle Savio. She is 28 and has two little boys and has been sooo prepared for the Lord for the gospel. Last Friday we taught her about the Restoration and then told her that there is a way for her to know if all of these things we are teaching her are true.I pulled out a Book of Mormon and began to explain to her what it was. I then bore my testimony about it and how it has been one of the biggest blessings in my life. As I did so, her eyes filled with tears and you could just see the Spirit working on her. I then told her that we wanted her to have this book, and that it would change her life. She then burst into tears, saying over and over again, "Thank you, thank you." I have never seen someone react with so much gratitude when giving them a Book of Mormon. Even though she really didn't not know exactly what this book was, she knew it was from God and she knew that she needed to read it. 

I feel so blessed to be able to be teaching these wonderful people who are exercising so much faith in their Savior. I know that as I do my best to help them understand the Atonement and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Spirit is able to take over and make bigger changes than one could imagine in others' lives. I love serving the Lord. I know He lives. His plan for us is perfect; It just takes faith.

I love you all! Take care and keep living the Gospel!

Sister Anderson

 

Hikin' to Heaven

Me and Sister Sanders

Me and Sister Valdez

Me at Daranak Falls

More hiking!

Got another infected bite.  Fun!

Part of my zone

"Stairway to Heaven"

We walk this road all the time here in Ampucao

Buenas.  The son of a recent convert here.  He's adorable and loves to shake my hand

November 9, 2014

Magandang Umaga sa lahat ng mga kaibigan, pamilya, and mga mahal sa buhay!!!

This week was a fun one and we started it off right by going hiking! Yay!!! We went to some pretty sweet waterfalls and I really wanted to jump in... but i just took pictures instead. And then we climbed up a giant mountain- "The Stairway to Heaven", and I think my little child almost died. Poor thing can't endure being out in the heat and she is really not a fan of exercise... I am such a mean Mommy and made her join me! 

 
We had the opportunity to go on exchanges with the Sister Training Leaders this week. I was able to go with Sister Lopez, my batch from the MTC. It was a BLAST!!! We worked so hard and Heavenly Father kept putting great people in our path to talk to, and we were even able to find a Part Member Family. Sister Lopez was able to give me some great advice with training Sister Valdez and confirmed with me that it is good to continue to give Sister Valdez opportunities to grow and learn, even though it is not always the most comfortable thing for her. Since then, I have been having Sister Valdez take the lead in all of our lessons, and she is just rocking it! It is so fun watching her progress! Ah, I am such a happy Mom!!!

Yesterday was Sunday and guess who came to church...? Jose and Norma and Lili Beth!!!!! Yay!!! And they all stayed for the full 3 hours! Jose and Norma were really fellowshipped and you could tell that they LOVED it! I asked Lili Beth how she liked it and she responded, "Natatakod ako dito," (I am scared here).. Uhhhhh Poor thing! She was really shy because some of the manuals and scriptures that people use are in English, and she doesn't speak a lick of English.. I sure hope she at least felt the Spirit!!! 

We are still searching and looking and contacting and OYMing doing our best to find those that the Lord has prepared for us. He definitely is blessing us in ways that I can't express and I hope that He is accepting the work I am trying to perform. I am so far from perfect, but I just feel so blessed that he continues to love and trust me.

Salamat talaga para sa lahat ng mga bagay na ginagawa po ninyo sa akin, lalo lao ang mga panalangin. Nagpapasalamat ako na maging misyonero dito sa Pilipinas. Totoo ang Simbahan ni Jesucristo ng mga Banal sa mga Huling Araw. Mahal na mahal kita!!

Sister Anderson

 

HUMP DAY

November 2, 2014

Whelp... I've made it over the HUMP! WHAT?!?! Yup, half way... I am not quite sure how I feel about this.... This means only 9 more months... And it is going to go by SUPER DUPER fast.... Man. BUT at least I still have 9 more months to keep improving and devote all my time and attention to serving the Lord!!

Last Wednesday, Elder and Sister Johnson, one of the senior couples, came and worked with Sister Valdez and I. They are from Utah and don't speak any Tagalog, but their testimonies were really felt by each person that we taught. We went and taught a new family of investigators- Teresita, Rochelle, and Samuel. Elder Johnson bore a beautiful testimony about families and the Spirit just filled the room. I then asked if they wanted they same thing for their family, in which they all assured me that they did. I went on to tell them that they could have an eternal family if they followed the example of Jesus Christ and are baptized. We then extended them a baptismal date for December, and they accepted! Now we just need to get them to church!!

Instead of walking or tricycling from appointment to appointment with the Johnson's, they took us around in their big truck. As we were driving along the small skinny streets, Elder Johnson totally smashed right into a parked tricycle and crunched it pretty good. He waited for about 15 seconds to make sure no one was hurt and just kept driving. Not even 7 seconds later, he thumped a kid pretty dang hard with his side view mirror... hahahaha and just kept driving!!! I am telling you, things are pretty dang different here in the Philippines!!

On Friday we had the chance to go to the city and have a devotional given by the one and only... ELDER OAKS!! Oh, it was soo amazing! And before the devotional began, we got to go up one by one and shake his hand... We got to shake the hand of an apostle of the Lord.... Ah, Sooo neat!! I cannot recall much what we shared in his talk, but the feelings that I had as I watched him shake each of our hands just reminded me of the Savior and how he responds to all of us as individuals. It was just such a testimony builder to me that the Lord really does guide his church through modern prophets and apostles.

Church was good yesterday, despite the fact that none of our investigators came. Man! Sister Valdez and I are working harder than we ever have and are OYMing at every opportunity, teaching the best we can, finding new investigators, but we can't get anyone to church. Our Zone has been given the goal for each companionship to have baptisms every single week in December. WE cannot do this though, if our investigators aren't coming to church. Please keep them in your prayers!

Life here in Morong is still great and I am loving every minute of it, and I hope all is well back on the home front! Love you all!!

 
Love,

Sister Anderson

                                            We Went Hiking!!!!!

                                                     Some birthday pics

       Saying goodbye to Denise before she leaves for her mission in Baguio

                                                 

Just me

The sky.  Who'da thought

 

We went to a wedding

Zid and Clark

                                     Walking through the bundok in Morong

October 26, 2014

 

Hello to all yal!!

Hope life where ever you are is almost as great as mine! This week has been a good one and little by little we are helping this area progress! It is definitely not an easy task and one that we cannot do alone, so we are really having to rely on Heavenly Father to help us get along each and every day.

On Saturday our branch held a "One Day Mission" where we went and contacted a bunch of the less actives in our branch. We met at the chapel in the morning and us sister missionaries gave a workshop. We then assigned everyone into companionships and assigned them a list of families to go visit. It was a HUGE success! The next day at church, the chapel was full as a large number of those we visited came! We have decided that we are going to hold a "One Day Mission" every third Saturday of each month to really help our branch progress and reactivate our brothers and sisters who have lost their way. 

We also had a miracle at church... Norma and Jose came!!! This was the first time we had investigators at church in 4 weeks and I think they enjoyed their experience. Tatay Jose has quite a problem when it comes to the Word of Wisdom and smokes two packs a day... yes, two packs. We challenged him to get down to one by the time we visited him next, and guess what?! He was down to only 2 sticks!!!! Ya, MIRACLE, right? We are definitely going to help them be baptized!!!

Heavenly Father blessed us with 5 new investigators this week! The first two were parents of a less active and the other three we were able to find yesterday- Teresita, Rochelle, and Mona Lisa. They were referrals from two members in our ward when they were out visiting less actives on Saturday. They gave them a pamphlet and they were super excited for us to visit them. Our recent convert, Sister Imelda, helped us find their house after church and we had a great lesson with them! Turns out they used to listen the the missionaries, and even still have the Book of Mormon that was given to them and still read it occasionally. We talked about baptism with them and then boldly invited them to be baptized. They were kind of shocked at first and the room was completely quiet for about 20 seconds... And then both Teresita and Rochelle accepted a baptismal date for December 6th!!! Now we just need to help them really begin their conversion process!

Our week was so great! And of course a week is not complete if you don't attend a wedding, right?! On Friday we went to a wedding reception for Jenny and Don Don, two members in our branch, complete with catered food and a chocolate fountain. YES. 

I love being a missionary and I love all the challenges, adventures, and experiences that I am having. No better way to spend 18 months of my life!!! Love you all!! Have a wondrous week!!

Sister Anderson

Being Bold

October 19, 2014

Magandang Tenghali po!

Well this week was so fun and I loved my first whole week with my anak, Sister Valdez! She is so cute and so shy and really lacks confidence, so it is my goal to get her comfortable and feeling like she can do this whole "missionary work" thing. She has been homesick a little bit lately, which I have assured her is normal. I just try to keep her mind off of it by working! That poor girl gets so tired, but there are places to go, investigators to teach, and people to find. The work never ends!!

On Wednesday it was my birthday. I was honestly expecting no one to know or remember.. but they did! Sister Valdez wrote me a sweet note and gave me a Spiderman water bottle that is awesome and cute Sister Sanders made me pancakes for breakfast. She and Sister Wiradi also took the decorations that Grandma sent me and decorated our study room with streamers and balloons. I am just so spoiled!! Duday and Sarah worked with us all afternoon and then we met up with Sister Sanders and Sister Wiradi at Mang Inasal for dinner and Sister Sanders had bought me a big ole chocolate cake to celebrate. I have just never felt so loved! And a great big shout out to all of you who sent your love to me to make this day so special!! Kayo po ang pinakamagaling tao sa buong mundo! Mahal na mahal ko kayo!

On Tuesday we had an AMAZING zone conference in which we learned all about being bold.. and so that day we put or boldness to the test! Sister Valdez and I visited our investigators, Norma and Jose, who live up in the mountains and are in their 50s. We had a great lesson about the Restoration and at the end Sister Valdez invited them to be baptized. They did the usual, "Umm, we will think about it," type of thing. That was not good enough for me. The Spirit just took over and I felt a love that I had never experienced before. I asked them if they knew if our message was true, in which they assured me they did. I am not quite sure what happened next, but I know that Heavenly Father used me as His mouthpiece. I bore the strongest testimony I think I have ever born and told them in the most bold way that I could that they could not return back to their Heavenly Father if they did not take this step. I paused and then after a moment invited them to be baptized. The room was absolutely silent and the Spirit was really working in them. The silence broke when both Jose and Norma accepted the invitation to follow their Savior through baptism.

I am so grateful for this opportunity to be serving. I know that I am still so far from perfect, but I am grateful that Heavenly Father trusts me enough to be a representative of His son. I know that sometimes we need to be bold with those we love because the day will come when they will stand worthy of their actions. I know that if we are bold out of love, great things can happen. Sure, some may take the truth to be hard, but we all have to sound the warning voice. I love you and am so grateful for you!!!

Go find someone today to share this glorious gospel with!!

Sister Anderson

It's a BOY.. That's it's tail.. It's a GIRL!!

October 12, 2014

Hello!!

Whelp, for all you who didn't guess it right, it's a girl!! She was born on Wednesday, October 8th at 3:12pm. She's about 4" 11' and weighs about 80lbs. She has dark brown hair and came out speaking fluent Tagalog! Her name is Sister Valdez and is an adorable Filipina!! It feels great to be a mom!

Training is so fun, especially when you have the cutest anak in the world! Sister Valdez already came to so prepared to the mission and she is just ready to work! As soon as we dropped off her luggage on transfer day, we went straight out to work! No time to unpack or anything... Work work work! That is what we do when we are on the Lord's time!! She doesn't speak too much English. So we basically talk in Tagalog! Hopefully I will get pretty fluent during these next few transfers! 

So it was Christmas this week as we got to watch General Conference! I know that you all already got to watch it, but boy am I grateful for modern-day prophets and apostles who lead Christ's church. The talks were so inspired and I received lots and lots of revelation. I really enjoyed the talks about sustaining our leaders because that is a HUGE problem that we face here. Last night as we taught one less active family, they just went on and on complaining about the leaders. I simply bore testimony to them that our leaders were called of God. There is nothing more to it. They are not perfect but they have been called of God. If we don't sustain and support our leaders, we are creating our own sort of personal apostasy and are turning our backs on our Savior. 

Thanks to everyone who has so graciously helped my cute fam back on the home-front with that giant disaster! I seriously just felt so much love for each of you as my parents expressed how everyone came together so quickly and without question to battle that giant flood. No other organization in the world could gather so many hands in the matter of minutes. How blessed we are to be members of the true church of Jesus Christ!

I love you all sooo sooo much! Have a fantastic week and remember that the most important part of conference is when it is over- when we go home to live it! So go review your favorite talks and follow the counsel of our inspired leaders!!

 Love, 

Sister Anderson

 

Buntis na Ako!!

October 5, 2014

 Magandang umago sa inyong lahat!!
 
Thanks for all the prayers that you have sent my way. I am feeling sooo much better and I know that Heavenly Father has been keenly aware of me and my needs at this time. It was awful being so sick for such a long time- not only for me, but for my sweet companion, and especially our area! I felt awful not being able to go and visit them all the time and because of that, they aren't progressing as they could be. I do know however, that this all happened for a reason and that I really have learned more during the past 2 weeks than at any other time.
 
So.... namatay na si Sister Taufa... She died! It was so hard to say goodbye to her and send her back to the 801, but she really had finished everything that the Lord had sent her here to do. I have learned more from her, than anyone else since being here and I am just so blessed that Heavenly Father allowed me to serve right alongside her. She really has blessed my life in ways that I cannot even begin to express and although we were only together for 6 weeks, I really know we will stay in contact forever. She is just that great! We had a great last day on Sunday, and then that night we went over to the Susa Family's for dinner and they made a little movie for Sister Taufa to say goodbye. I'll have to get a copy of it and send it to you!!
 
I have a surprise.. Buntis na ako! I am having a child!! What?! Ya, I know! Ever since I got here in Morong, I just had this undeniable feeling that I was going to train after Sister Taufa left.. And then in my last interview with President, he confirmed it with me! So I leave tomorrow morning at 5:30 to head to the mission home and pick up my anak! I will update you all next week as to how it goes!

This week has been crazy trying to get Sister Taufa all packed and ready to go! After she left yesterday morning, I was put in a three some with Sister Sanders and Sister Fewster and we had a great time! I got to work in their area which was great, and they helped work in mine. We found an awesome new investigator named Susan that is super prepared. We also went to the hospital here in Morong to visit the investigators of some elders in our zone, whose baby is really sick. It made me sick to my stomach seeing how awful the healthcare here is. The hospital was just plain with white walls with a sour smell, and who knows how many people crammed into one room. All of the patients lied helpless in these crib like things, just taking care of themselves. Oh how grateful I am for the medical care in the states! It was a neat experience meeting these investigators though, Jeanette and Lisa, and Jeanette's baby, Ramjan. He was so cute and has  downs-syndrome and just was as sick as could be. We brought them a snack and visited for a little while, and then left a prayer before we left. I have no doubt they will be baptized.
 
Speaking of health...Poor Sister Fewster is just so kawawa! She gets these giant allergic reactions to some insects here, which have just left here with these HUGE volcanoes on her legs and hips. Poor thing is ALWAYS in pain, and I have had to do surgery on her multiple times, trying to get these things to drain. Dad, you really would be sooo proud of me!!
 
So all in all this week was great! Cannot wait to see what this transfer has in store for me! I can need all the prayers I can get so I can train my anak well!! I love you all!
 
Sister Anderson

Sorry, It's Just a Little

Good Morning po sa inyong lahat!

Sorry, this email is not going to be anything exciting!! Didn't have much work this week because of the typhoon that hit and also the fact that I got hit pretty hard with some nasty bacterial infection that left  me on deaths doorstep. I am just so grateful for the power of the Priesthood and the blessing that it can be to each an every one of us. On Saturday night I received a beautiful blessing from the second counselor in our branch, Brother Susa, in which he told me that I would be healed according to my faith. I know that Heavenly Father was speaking directly to me through Brother Susa and my heart just overflowed with gratitude as I felt the reality of the power of the priesthood in my life. How blessed we are to be able to call on the power of God to help us in whatever circumstance we are placed in. 

I know that Heavenly Father is so aware each and every one of us, no matter what stage of life we are placed in. I am grateful for His trust in me as His servant and for the strength that He gives me to press forward.

I love you all and I promise to write a better email next week!! 

Sister Anderson

Letter and Pictures From Sister Faasavalu

September 21, 2014

Hello, I am Sister Faasavalu and I'm from Hawaii. I was with Sister Anderson just for one week because i got ET over and be triosom with them. Sister Anderson is AMAZING. I love her so much. She's just one transfer ahead of me. She is doing AWESOME. I learned so much from you, and It felt like we've been together for so long. She's so sweet, and we enjoyed our week together. We became super closed, and she's my SISTER here in the mission and FOREVER. I cried when she was transferred to Morong, so we're hoping to see each other again SOON. She is a greatest example here in the mission. Just wanted to let you know that she is doing GREAT! She is fluent in tagalog too. I LOVE SISTER ANDERSON so much.

p.s: Here are some pics that she wanted, and we're not allowed to email each other. So she told me to send it to you, and you can send it to her. Thank you:)

Sister Faasavalu