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!)