Just Keep Going!!!

February 22, 2015

Good Morning!!!
I am so sorry that all my emails from here on out are probably going to be pretty pathetic- I honestly have 15 minutes!!! So I am so sorry if this bores you to death or puts you to sleep.. Just don't read it if it does!

The time here just keeps going- and it is going FAST!! There is no time to stop and take a rest- The Lord is Hastening the work, so we have got to be running!!

A great miracle happened this week! Our investigator, Karen, who is the live-in of a returning member, John Rey, have decided to get married!! We were so excited about that but then they told us that they are really struggling financially and so they didn't know how they were going to get the money to pay for the documents that they needed. Sister Verdeflor and I had been fasting and praying in order for them to get the means to pay for the documents. We went and taught them on Saturday and as we followed up on their marriage plans, they told us that they had got the money and they had already began processing their papers!! Whaoooooo!!! I literally wanted to scream!!! We extended March 14th as her new baptismal and wedding date, to which she replied, "Oo naman!!!!" Yes!! And then John Rey told us that he was also baptized on March 14th 1995 or so. Coincidence? I think not! Sister Karen told us this was all destined!

I also got to go on exchanges in Pateros with Sister Ropati this past week which was great! I love missionary life!

Love you alll!!!

Sister Anderson

CHEESEEEE

Fhe with Ubas family

Sister Stotts

Sis Liguayan

Mission conference

 

Eat it all!!

February 15, 2015

Hello po!!

This week was a great one! First off, I have the cutest companion in the world which makes the work so much more fun! It has been weird because we were able to work in our area EVERYDAY last week which NEVER happens, so that was a true miracle!! Hopefully we will be able to keep taking care of our area this upcoming transfer, even though we are seldom there. I just know that as we do everything we can, the Lord will continue to nourish it.

Guess what I finally did this week?! I finally decided to eat the barbecued intestines and squares of blood that they sell on the side of the street. And guess what? It was good!!!! Mom, Dad, and Emma- get ready to eat it with me when you come!!!! I never was a picky eater before, and I definitely am not now! You just got to eat it all for the experience! Plus, anything is good barbecued, right? Haha  

Today Sister Verdeflor and I had the opportunity to give a workshop with the Zone Leaders about "Attitude" in our Zone Training. We have a goal this transfer to have 40 baptisms as a zone and so we really focused on how our attitude makes the difference. It really is so amazing about what a good attitude can do. Elder Ballard said in regards to missionary work and attitude, "A good attitude brings good results, a fair attitude- fair results, and a poor attitude- poor results." In all we do, let's look for the good!!

Things are going great with our investigators! We have a projection of 4 baptisms next month, and one wedding!!! Wahooooo!!! Karen, our investigator, and her live-in, John Ray, who is a returning member, are really progressing!! We taught LOC to them last week and they are already working to get their papers together so that they can get married right away so that Karen can be baptized!! Please pray that it will all come together quickly and smoothly!

I just LOVE missionary life!! Nowhere else I'd rather be! And Congrats to cute Becca who got her call to BOLIVIA!!!! I was really wishing you would be called to the Philippines, but you will do AMAZING things in Bolivia!!!!

Mahal na mahal ko kayo!!

Sister Anderson

A God of Miracles

February 9, 2015

Magandang Umaga!!!

This week was just awesome! Wow... I knew that the Lord was Hastening His Work, but now I am really experiencing it! Our area is finally flourishing and the ward is really getting on-board with missionary work. One miracle is happening after another!!!

Well, it's transfer week and yesterday my sweet companion, Sister Ramos, died.... Noooooo.... I hate killing missionaries! She served such a faithful 18 months though and I learned so much from her. And tomorrow I get my new companion- Sister Verdeflor!!! She is sooooo amazing!! She was an STL in Cainta and now we get to serve as STLs together! Wahooo!!! She's Filipina and super sweet, so I cannot wait!!

Because I had no companion yesterday, I got to go on splits with Eunice, one of our ward missionaries. Our afternoon was filled with 6 appointments and all of them accepted firm baptismal dates!

Our investigators are doing great! We are teaching a 29 yr old named Karen who is the live-in partner of a less active. She came to church two weeks in a row and she loves it. We have really been focusing with her on the Book of Mormon, but she finds it a bit difficult to understand because she has never read the Bible and is not familiar with anything like that. Yesterday I had the opportunity to teach her and we followed up on the assignment we'd given her in 3 Nephi 11. She didn't understand it, and so we decided to read it with her. There is nothing more powerful than reading the Book of Mormon with investigators. As we read verse by verse, stopping to discuss, Karen felt the Spirit so strongly and she even applied it to herself. The chapter went on talking about baptism. She looked up and told us sincerely that she felt that she needed to be baptized... And she accepted a baptismal date! Ahh, it was so powerful!!

We also had a lesson with Cattleya who we have been teaching for about a month. She still had not received an answer about Joseph Smith being a prophet, and so we read together from Joseph Smith history. She really saw herself in Joseph Smith because she is feeling so lost and confused right now. I asked her if we could all get down on our knees and ask Heavenly Father if he was a true prophet. As Cattleya prayed, she really felt the Spirit and was able to recognize that as her answer that this church really is true.

Those are just a few of the amazing things that are happening here in the field!!! Thanks for all of your fasts and prayers. I cannot wait to see what this transfer has in store!! Heavenly Father really is a God of miracles.

Love you all!!

Sister Anderson

1 Year

February 3, 2015

Hello to all yal!!

Whelp, it is officially... I have hit the 1 year mark since I left home for the mission!!! How insane is that?! It really just feels like a few months ago that I got set apart and headed to the MTC. I remember telling everyone that I felt like I was going to Disneyland... Turns out the Philippines is nothing like Disneyland, except for one thing- It is the HAPPIEST place on earth!!

It was great to finally be back in Pasig and work in our area the past few days! Even though we haven't been here to work, Heavenly Father is just POURING out blessings on our area. We got back from Mindoro on Friday and so we only had Saturday and part of Sunday to work, and he blessed us with 9 new investigators!! He led us to a family of 5 that said they want to be baptized and then 2 part-member couples randomly showed up at church and said that they want their spouses to be taught. SO we taught them, and they accepted baptismal dates!!

I LOVE Pasig 3rd ward! It honestly is great and the members are really starting to get excited about missionary work. We as a ward are doing something called "The 40 Day Fast", where each member/family signs up for a day within the next 40 days to fast for missionary work in our ward, missionary opportunities, and for the investigators who we are teaching. How neat is that? I know great miracles are on the way!!

Yesterday was a great treat as President Durrant from the General Sunday School Presidency visited us and we had a 2 hour special meeting with him. Man, I am so excited to become a better teacher and teach how the Savior taught. If you haven't read the General Sunday School Presidency's article in the January "Liahona", I really invite you to do it. It is so inspiring!! We also finally got to watch "Meet the Mormons" yesterday which was awesome! You cannot watch that movie and not feel so excited and blessed to be a member of the only true and living church!!

Well things are just amazing here in the field!! This is the last week of transfers and I am killing off Sister Ramos, so I am basically 100% sure that I am staying here in Pasig. We'll just have to wait and see who my new companion is!!

Love you all!

Keep Working Hard!!

Sister Anderson