Hermana Anderson's e-mail Aug 11th, 2011

Familia!!

Hola! Que fueron sus semanas? Bien, yo espero... Thanks again for all of your letters, packages, DearElders, stickers, cupcakes and prayers. They are VERY much appreicated by me, especially, but also by my elders, my companions and my compañeras de cuarto.

So.... this email may be a bit brief compared to my others for a reason I will get to in a moment. Because it's time for funny stories now. Claro. Alright. My companions and I had a very emotional companionship inventory outside one day last week. And we stole a whole box of tissues from the bathroom. And we can talk in English when we have companionship inventory, but afterward, we have to speak only in Spanish again. When we were speaking only in Spanish again, we decided we all needed to go to the bathroom and I saw Hna. Ahern picking up her stuff and I said, "Esta bien si no tiene sus cosas en el baño?" ("Is it ok if you don't have your things in the bathroom?") And she didn't understand what I meant, so I tried to phrase it differently. "Esta bien si solo usamos el baño afuera?" ("Is it ok if we only use the bathroom outside?"). This confused both of my companions greatly, and I was finally able to explain what I wanted in English and then we laughed at me for a while. :) And then.... During that same comp. inventory, we were talking about what our jr. high experiences were like, and I said, "Yeah... I was totally captain of the academic games team." And Hna. Martino had a really big smile on her face and practically yelled, "You're cool!!!!" (In a slightly sarcastic manner. Slightly) And guess who I ran into on Monday night!! The Eakins!!! Their going on a CES mission to Micronesia!! It was so happy to see them. We just happened to sit down across from each other in the cafeteria and we had a nice long talk. I'm going to try and find them again and get a picture taken with them. Oh, also, one of my elders broke his clavicle and has to wear a figure 8 just like Bella. But, his is much bigger.

Alright... So why this email isn't longer..... Remember how a few weeks ago I had a little upper resperatory infection? Apparently it didn't get all the way better, because I went to the clinic on Tues. with a fever and they sent me to get a chest x-ray and it turned out to be pneumonia. I got a shot of antiboitics that day and I've been taking pills for the past two days and I feel a lot better today than I have. I spent pretty much all of Tuesday asleep and ALL of Wednesday asleep. And my roommates and my companions and my coordinating sister and her companion have all taken really good care of me. They would take turns staying with me and I haven't had much of an appetite until today. But, every time I would eat something, they'd all get so excited! It was really a great opportutnity for me to help me to remember to be humble and grateful. Which I DEFINITELY am. :)

Tell Lauren, Noah, Jack, Bella, Addie, Terran and Will to be happy and to be obedient and to wear sunscreen (And to write me? Maybe?) ;)

Les amo MUCHISISISISISISIMO!

Hermana Anderson

P.S. (Mom/Dad/Megan:  Can you look up the TSA rules about personal items? I hear the backpacks don't count any more....)

Hermana Anderson's e-mail Aug 4th, 2011

Familia!!

Les amo mucho! Thank you all so, SO much for your letters, cakes, DearElders, packages and drawings! I can't even tell you how much they mean to me. Or how much my district teases me because I always have mail. It makes my experience here that much better to know that I have so many wonderful people behind me at home cheering me on.

Alright.... this week.... I still forgot the DearElder with the other Emails.... So, y'all will have to forward this. (Meggie..... ) ;)

This week has been GREAT!! I saw Geneil's sister Valerie! She's a teacher here and I saw her on my one month mark at the MTC! I was so happy I thought I was going to cry! We also had a little going away party for Hna. Peñailillo. Mom, your cake got there JUST in time! We picked it up right before class! It was such a happy coincidence because we knew we wanted to do something for her, just not exactly what! (I've sent some pics from the party home.) ;) And then.... I cried. A lot. It was sad to see her go! She is definitely a kindred spirit. And then..... they couldn't find a replacement for her, so she came back on Mon. Haha. I watched a discourse by Elder Holland on Sunday and he said, "Whatever I am going to be I owe to great teachers." I feel the exact same way. I have been blessed with great teachers in church, great teachers at school and now, great teachers at the MTC. Now, for the funny stories you have all come to expect and love. So, this week we were teaching each other (in Spanish) about the WoW, the law of the tithe and the law of chastity. And I was being the investigator and my missionary (Elder Kirkpatrick) asked me if I drank. And I said, "Pues...." ("Well....") and then he said, "Usted fumar?" ("Do you smoke?") and I thought he said, "Usted tomar?" ("Do you drink?") I said, "Si, solomente en Navidad." and he gave me a funny look. And I said (In English), "You asked if I drink, right?" and he said, "No, I said, 'do you smoke?'" And then we both laughed a little because only smoking on Christmas is kind of a weird tradition, right? And then I couldn't stop laughing for the next 20 mins. and he finally asked if he had a booger hanging out of his nose or something. And I said, "No, I'm still laughing about smoking on Christmas."

Alright. It's time to get Spiritual. Spiritual. (With Olivia Newton-John?? Get it??) Anyway.... So, I came up with an analogy this week. I was laying in bed during quiet time and thinking about how many of my needs have been fulfilled by people here at the MTC and at home. And I thought of a puzzle! I am a puzzle piece. I have been shaped and molded by my life expericence. I have strengths that stick out and I have weaknesses that are empty spaces. And in order to fulfill my purpose, I need to have my weaknesses filled by my companion's strenghts, my teacher's strengths, my district's strength's and my investigator's strength. And togehter, we will make one way awesome picture. But, if even one piece isn't there or doesn't fit, the picture isn't complete. I am so excited to continue finding my pieces and changing my shape with the Lord's help. Another thing that I have really appreciated is the change of TRC (ask returned missionaries for definition...). Now, instead of teaching a pretend investigator, we just talk with a volunteer who is being themself and invite them to come unto Christ. This week I think we're talking about personal revelation through church attendance and we got a new book specific to our time at the MTC! It's pretty dang sweet. I also learned in R.S. this week a cool acronym to help us remember to do the little things each day. PROS---Pray (morning and night), Read (scrpitures 5 mins. a day), Obedience, Smile! (A happy missionary will be a successful missionary.) The Church is true. I love Christ. I love Him more than anything else in my life. That's why I'm here. I want you all to know that I have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Gospel. It's true. I know it. I feel it everyday. :)

Tell Lauren, Noah, Jack, Bella, Addie, Terran and Will to be obedient and to be happy! (It's easy! Their the same thing!) I know I say that every week, but it really is the truth. :) I promise.

Les amo MUCHOS!!!

Hermana Anderson

P.S. (Where are the family pics we just took?)

P.P.S. (My elders are so nice to me. They've been writing me anonymous notes all week.)

Hermana Anderson's e-mail July 28th, 2011

On Thu, Jul 28, 2011 at 1:14 PM, Nellie Anderson <nellie.anderson@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hola familia!!!

Les amo mucho! :) Wellp... Here I am at the beginning of Week 5. It may as well be Week Gamillion and one. Haha. I will have been here at the MTC for a whole month tomorrow! I can't even believe it. And thanks so much for my packages!!! They were so appreciated!! We had an Hermana with a birthday last night, and I most definitely shared all of my "dulces." :D

So... Here are some notable funny things from this week. We have a pretend investigator named "Boufanda," (which means "scarf") and she's a washer woman in Guatemala with 4 children from 4 different fathers. And she has a drinking problem. During a lesson with Boufanda (Hna. Ahern), we talked about the Atonement and God's love for all of His children. Boufanda said, "But I'm just a drunk washer woman!! How can God love me?" And I died. I couldn't stop laughing about it all day. Next, Hna. Hales (in my zone. she's great. All the hermanas in my zone are great, but I like her a lot.) wanted to weigh herself after the Sunday Fireside. So, she hopped on the scale and said, "What??!?!? How did I gain 7 lbs. in one day??!?!?!?!?" And I said, "Hna. Hales.... You are holding your scriptures." I think there were probably about 6 hnas. with us at that point, and we still won't let her live it down. I also got to play softball this week with some Elders and Hna. Ahern this week during gym. Hna. Ahern, bless her heart, doesn't have much skill, but she is out there working hard. So.... The Elders really like it when I'm on their team because I can kind of field and hit and kind of catch. Haha. And everytime I got a base or scored a run, they'd say, "Bien hecho, Hermana!" Which means, "Good job!" (..."Sister...") Haha. Anyway, I was talking with my Elders after gym one day, and I said, "Why do they do that? It surprises me a little. Because I'm a girl. Not a quadrapeligic...." And they thought it was true AND funny. Good times. Um... also, I got to sing in the choir this week! Sop I for the first time.... ever. Haha. at least in the last 7 years.... :) And I got to sing a high A flat at the end of "Come Come Ye Saints." Afterwards, my Elders told me that my face was on the screen pretty much the whole time and that the camera zoomed into MY face like 4 times! Just like I'm a MoTab soprano!! Needless to say, I was very excited. My awesome choir face efforts have finally been rewarded!! Also... this week was the death of English. It has been pretty hard, but since Tuesday night we have made it a district goal not to speak in English. Ever. We even had to write a "Querido Juan" letter to English! Mine was pretty good. But, when I was reading it out loud, I said, "Tengo un hambre nuevo" instead of "Tengo un hombre nuevo." (Which means "I have a new hunger" instead of "I have a new man." Take either of those how you will..... Haha) To me, the death of English is like Twilight. If Bella had picked Jacob. English is Edward. Creepy. Really old. Forever haunting me. But, appealing..... which is weird. And Spanish is Jacob. New. MUCH healthier realtionship and will be there for me for the rest of my life. Yep. Jacob it is.... Haha.

Anyway, here's for the Spiritual part. Three quick thoughts:  An Emeritus 70 spoke to us this week. I liked his talk, but I LOVED his wife's short testimony. The last thing she said was a quote from a Sister in one of their past missions. The Sister said, "I always try to do the hard thing." Me too, Sister. Me too. That's what the Gospel and Missionary work are ALL about. Trying to do the hard things. But, I know for a fact that's the only way we grow! Next, I have spent a lot of time lately thinking about how my companions could improve teaching-wise. Because it's one of my strengths, and I am always looking for ways to help. But, this week I realized that I have a GIANT beam in my eye. It says, "I DON'T KNOW SPANISH VERY WELL. HARDLY AT ALL, IN FACT" So, this week I spent more time worrying about myself and trying to make myself become better at the language. And it has made all the difference. We are more united as a companionship because I am working on me. Lastly, I want you all to read D & C 62: 3... I think. It talks about missionary work. And how everytime I bear my testimony, it's recorded in Heaven and the angels read it and rejoice. I found it in the temple today! (I was in a sealing when a baby with no first name was sealed to its parents. It was born 150 years ago.) It give me such comfort to know that Grandma Phyllis and all my dear, DEAR friends from the LH ward who've passed on can read my testimony and know that I'm here on my mission. I love the Gospel!!

Yo trato hacer la dura cosa SIEMPRE!

Hna. Anderson

P.S. Tell Lauren, Noah, Jack, Bella, Addie, Terran and Will to be obedient and be happy! (They're the same thing! It's easy!)

Hermana Anderson's e-mail July 21st, 2011

Hola Familia!!!

Quiero todos MUCHO!! Que pasa? I love getting all your letters and DearElders! I cannot tell you how much I appreciate them. Because it is A LOT. Suffice it to say, I am VERY grateful and if you hestitate because you think you only have mundane, every day things to say.... Please write me anyway because they are always very extraordinary to an Hermana who sits in a classroom for up to 10 hrs. a day. :) I love you all.

So.... funny thing happened to me this week. It all started at the fireside Sunday night. Pres. Sonne and his wife spoke. He is a branch pres. here, I think. I didn't particularly care for his talk mostly because the main theme was human weakness makes you a bad missionary. REPENT!!!! REPENT BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!! (He did have a few good things, regardless.... He said to emulate good missionaries in the BoM. Will do, folks. Will do.) I've also been pretty sick the last few days (I was supposed to sing in Sac. Meeting, but I had NO voice!) and me and a few other peeps in my district had to leave campus and go to the BYU Student Health Center for drogas. And because I was sick, I missed some gym periods. During the last period, I was on exchange with Hna. Battaglia because she needed to pack to leave for the Guatemala MTC the next day. In our residence hall, a woman's voice came over the intercom asking, "Is there a Sister Anderson on this floor?" I said, "I am A Sister Anderson........." "Come to the front desk, please, Sister Anderson," she said. So.... Hna. Battaglia and I went to the front desk and the secratery directed us to a different room just down the hall to talk to Pres. Sonne. On the way, I jokingly said, "I hope they aren't going to tell me someone in my family died or something crazy!" And we sat down for a sec. and the receptionist said, "Are you Sister Anderson?" "I am A Sister Anderson," I said. Then Pres. Sonne came in and escorted me to his office. We sat down and he said, "Sister Anderson.... I'm afraid I have some bad news. Your Father's Father has passed away. It was very sudden. Your parents didn't give me a lot of details, but they would like to talk to you. They are on their way to Ogden." (Ok... really.... the Ogden thing should've been a read flag, but I was sobbing at this point so, it didn't really make an impression on me.) Pres. Sonne leads me to this room with a telephone and dials a number and hands it to me after confirming the woman on the other end was Sister Anderson. I pick up the phone and say, "Mom?" And all I hear are muffled sobs and then a woman who was DEFINITELY not my mom said, "Honey.... I'm afraid we have some bad news. Daddy's-----" And then I cut her off and I just said, "I am so sorry, but there has been a mistake. I am not your daughter, but I am so sorry for your loss." And she told me thank you and I put her on hold. And I went back to the waiting room and ran into Pres. Sonne and I said, "There has been a mix up. I am not the Sister Anderson you are looking for." And Pres. Sonne said, "You're not Jennica Anderson?" (That would've been a great question to ask, oh, about..... 10 mins. before then....) I grabbed Hna. Battaglia and we got outside the building before I could stop laughing and crying enough to tell her what had happened. WHO DOES THAT?!?!?!?!?!? WHO TELLS SOMEONE WITH A VERY COMMON LAST NAME THAT THEIR GRANDPA IS DEAD WITHOUT CONFIRMING FIRST NAMES?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Anyway.... It was really funny after it happened. I couldn't even tell it with a straight face later. I'm going to send a letter to Papa Bill today.... I can't decide If I should mention this or not..... Haha.

Hna. Battaglia left for the Guatemala MTC on Tuesday. I miss her a lot! She wasn't my companion, but the four of us Hermanas were pretty much a companionship, regardless. We helped her pack and clean and as she was leaving to get on the bus for the airport, me and Hnas. Ahern and Martino threw up our hands and shouted, "Hurrah for Israel!!!" It was so special. And she left me a craft that her 5 year-old sister made her and I didn't find it until that night. She hung it on my bed and I noticed it during companionship prayer. And I cried a little. She is such a great missionary. She is going to bring so many people the light of the Gospel and I can't wait to get to know her post-mish, too. We are very sympatico. ;)

So, for the spiritual side of the e-mail now.... We had a great time teaching in the TRC on Saturday. (Former missionaries, please explain this....) ;) We did our contacting and teaching in Spanish and our investigator cried about 3 times because the spirit was so strong and so sweet. I bore my testimony of how much God loves her and I also got to tell the story of the first vision. This gives me hope. It gives me hope because my Spanish is still pretty weak right now compared with where it needs to be in 6 weeks. But, I know that as I open my mouth it will be filled and that nothing will stop people from hearing the Gospel that the Lord has prepared to hear it. Even a slightly strange sister missionary from SL with barely any knowledge of Spanish. :D

I love you all so very, VERY much. Tell Lauren, Noah, Jack, Bella, Addie and Terran to be obedient and be happy. (It's easy! Because they're the same! And tell Will not to eat his boogers and that he needs to write/DearElder me! (Alma 60:6)

Te amo mucho!! La Iglesia es verdad!!

Hermana Anderson

Hermana Anderson's e-mail July 14th, 2011

Hola, familia!!

Que tal? Thank you SO MUCH for the camera! I've sent pictures home today already! Eet's the best! I love eet! The MTC is still great pretty far. I really love playing soccer here! The other hermanas who I play with all speak Spanish, and whenever they see me on campus they yell, "oh, esta la jugardoa!" Apparenly, I'm REALLY good. Haha. News to me! I just love playing and my compañera de cuarto, Hermana Martino, plays too! She hasn´t played much before, but as with life in general, she is always determined to push herself to get better. She is a great example to me and I love her very much.

Ok. Time for funny stories with Hermana Anderson. On Tues., we had Ingles is Stupid Day. We had planned to go all day without speaking English, but we all kind of gave up after gym. I predicted our room would be VERY quiet. And I was right. Haha. So, when we were in clase, we were talking about ¨Los profetas antiguas en la biblia." Elder Ritchie was trying to get clarification on how to talk about them in a way to tie back in with the modern Gospel and he said, "Oh, si! Es el mismo de Noé y los diez manamientos!" (Oh, yeah! It's the same as Noah and the 10 commandments!!) Also, our maestra, Hermana Peñailillo, loves us, but thinks we are so strange. Elder Davidson was trying to ask her if her name meant "platypus" in Spanish, but just looked at her and said, "Hermana...........platypus?" And she looked confused and slightly concerned. And I laughed so hard I cried. So, from then on, every time she gives us that look or we give it to one another, we call it the "Hermana Platypus Look." (Platypus in Spanish is acutally "ornitovrinco," just in case anyone wondered...) One last funny story before I get down to brass tacks. One of the other teachers, Hermano Blazzard, told us a story from his mission about a greenie talking to investigators. This is what the greenie said, "Escalo los montagnes! Sin ropa! No tengo ropa! No ropa! Solo fuerte!" After a while, the companion took him outside and said, "Elder, you do know what 'ropa' means, don't you?" "Rope!!" "No, it means 'clothing.'" Needless to say, the greenie ran back inside and yelled, "Tengo ropas!! Tengo ropas!! Tengo MUCHAS ropas!! (The translation of the greenie's mistake:  "I climb the mountains. Without clothes! I don't have clothes! Only strength!")

This week I have been reading in a few different places in the scriptures, but I want to share a couple with you that are near and dear to my heart. I esp. love Ether 12:27. It talks about weaknesses and how God gives them to us that we may be humble. This first stint at the MTC has been one continuous humbling for me. I know that without the help of the Lord and the Holy Ghost, I'd totally be sunk. When I teach in Spanish or bear my testimony, the words come so easily. Because the Lord is preparing me to teach His children who need me. And I am trying to be exactly obedient so that I can continue to enjoy the blessing of the Lord's aid. Another scripture I found this week that I LOVE is Alma 43:46. The first three lines or so sum up exactly how I feel about being here. "And they were doing that which they felt was the duty which they owed to their God." Heavenly Father has truly blessed me with so many wonderful things and wonderful people. And I feel that it is an honor to serve Him in this way. I love the Gospel so much and I know that it changes lives and blesses families for eternity.

Tell Lauren, Noah, Jack, Bella, Addie, Terran and Will that I love them and to be good and eat their veggies!

Con muchas amor,

Hermana Anderson

P.S.So... Guess what. I can have my pink cardigan here.... Mommy? Would you mind washing it and sending it to me? And also, it think it has a small stain on it. :( On the right side. And I could also use a few more t-shirts (like 2...) and somemore socks. And, please send 4 of the Carenessa tops! So I can get rid of the GINORMOUS medium ones! (Which means Aunt Murn can have 1.) ;) And... can you send my purple DI shirt and my purple and grey skirt? Preease? Pretty Preease? 

P.P.S. Please, please, PLEASE keep the DearElders coming! They make my whole day! And then, I write you back A LOT on P day. I promise. ;)

Finally!!

Hello all!  

This is Lizzy's cousin Megan :)  I finally got access to Lizzy's blog so I can post all of her e-mails, just like she wanted.  So here goes!

If anyone is interested, her e-mail address is: nellie.anderson@myldsmail.net

This one is from her first week in the MTC.  July 7th, 2011:

Hola otra vez, mi familia!

How are all of you? How was fireworks? What is going on in the outside world?? Haha.

Things here are pretty dang good. I get to learn so much about the Gospel and on Monday, we did our first Teaching Resource Lab, which is where you "meet an investigator" and teach them the first lesson. It went pretty well for the first one, I think. But, my favorite part by far was testifying at the beginning of the lesson that there is a God and that He loves his children. I know the person I was testifying to was another missionary, but the Spirit was so poweful during that part of the lesson. It kinda went away in the middle because it was long, but it did come back in the end. :) 


So, I have a few funny stories for y'all.... So, my compañera, Hermana Ahern, was trying to bear her testimony en español and she said, "Yo se que Jesucristo suffrío por nuestro pescados." Which means, "I know Jesus Christ died for our fishes." (Pecados=sins, pescados=fishes. VERY important distinction. Haha) So, mis compañeras y mi were walking back to the room from clase and Hermana Ahern said, "Geez, I don't know how I'm going to go 18 months without even holding hands with a boy!" and Hermana Martino said, "Um........... blessings from the Lord?" Maybe that last one won't be so funny to you guys because you weren't there, but I thought it was HILARIOUS. So, we have to memorize The First Vision in Spanish and the last line is, "Este es me hijo amorado, escuchalo!" Which means, "This is my beloved son, hear him!" Elder Ritchie wrote it on the board to practice it and had misspelled "amorado," so Hma Ahern went to correct it. And then, Hma Battaglia changed "amorado" to "armando." When Elder Ritchie got back, he looked at the board and said, "I am so stupid! How did I write Armando instead of amorado??" And we laughed really hard because it was pretty obvious it wasn't his handwriting. So, now we talk about Armando a lot. Haha. Apparently, he's a guy we should listen to. We also have "investigadores" named "Bofonda" (Scarf) "Brujúla" (Compass) and "Pepe."

So.. Mom and Dad. I got to take one picture with my camera before it went kaputz. Is there any way I could get another camera? (This is also the one that ate all the pictures I had taken/needed for my grade for my make-up class...) I kind of need it soon because I'd love a few pictures of Hma. Battaglia before she goes to Guatemala in 12 days! eep! If you are going to give an answer and no camera, just DearElder.com me (all you need is my name and my box #, which is 358) so I can make other arrangements.

I hope you are all so grateful for the Gospel in your life. I know I really appreciate it, especially now. And I am so grateful that Heavenly Father thought me worthy enough to bring His Gospel to His Children. This is not a calling I take lightly and I assure you that I am working so hard. I love you all so very much. And I know that each and everyone of you have a personal Savior in Jesus Christ. He loves you so much. Much more that I do, which is REALLY crazy to me because I love you all so, so, SO much. Tell Lauren, Noah, Jack, Bella, Addie, Terran and Will to be good! ;) And the raptor lives again at the MTC! We have raptor fights sometimes before we go to bed. ;) Way before 10:15, however. WAY before. ;) Because obedience brings blessing and EXACT obedience brings miracles.

Te quierros muchas!!

Hermana Anderson

P.S. (SHAMELESS PLUG FOR DearElder.com----Please, please, PLEASE use it!! You can write it like and email and they give it to me the same day and it's FREE!! Gratis!! All you need is my box # (358) and my name (Hermana Anderson) You will be happy and I will be happy and we will both be blessed.) ;)