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.) ;)

My last week (.....month) at SUU

"At that moment, in the town of [Cedar City], events occurred that are not, were not, and should never be considered an ending. For endings, as it is known, are where we begin." ---Pushing Daisies

Hello dearest friends. I write you for the last time from SUU. For, you know, 20 months, or so. I'm sorry it has been so long since my last entry. April was CRAZY. There were recitals and concerts AHOY. (My aria at the student recital the day after my last entry went really well. For those of you who might be curious.) :) There were TWO choir concerts since I last wrote as well. I also finished my essay on Salome (8 pgs. and change), I got two new pieces in my voice lesson to play with before/after the mission (A Mozart art song and "What's the Use of Wondering?" from Carosel) and I had my theater make-up and educational psych. finals today. (The make-up final was pretty cool. I did Papagena from Die Zauberflote. Which also meant I walked around with Shirley Temple hair all day and bird make-up to the other final.)

My thought for this week is a combination of a few things. Well, really... it's more plans for the next few months and an explanation of the quote at the top of this entry, which is the thought.  *Ahem* Anyway... So, I'm going to be heading back up to Salt Lake on Saturday and I'm going to stop in Manti to do a session in the temple with a friend. An I look forward to going to the temple at least once a week until I report to the MTC on June 29. I'm attempting to read the Book of Mormon in Spanish in preparation for the whole mission thing. Piece of cake. "Los hijos de Lehi..." ;) I will also be spending lots of time with the fam. It's just what I do in Salt Lake. I yike he hat. Alright. Time to explain the quote. Which I also altered just slightly. I have never done well with endings. Ever. I'm not the biggest fan of change. I fight and fight and I worry and I think it's going to be awful and that I will never be happy again. And sometimes I'm resigned to it and sometimes I am really sad and grumpy about it. And I go into it thinking that it won't be as good or the same as what I just left. And then one little tiny good or amusing thing happens which starts an avalanche of happiness and joy. So it has always been and so it will always will be. That's why I love this quote. It rings very true to me. "For endings, as it as known, is where we begin." Amen. Pass the biscuits. :) 

Rectials, reports and concerts (oh my!!)

It is that time, once again. Another week (and change), another post. Since we last left our heros... Oh. Wait. Wrong show. Haha.

So, this week has been a mix of emotions for me. There has been a lot of really good and some times of..... not..... so.... good. Monday started on a fairly interesting note. I had a paper due in my English class comparing and contrasting three different works of art in three different mediums with the same theme. I chose to use the poster from the original 1875 production of Carmen, a picture taken from the final dress rehearsal of the production the Met did last January (with Roberto Alagna about to cut Elina Garanca. Oh, no he didn't!) and a sculpture entitled "Carmen Castanets" by Salvador Dali. It was pretty fun to write the paper and I got quite fired up about it. (For those of you keeping score at home, that is one project down I'm doing on an opera) And then I talked to my prof. about a final project involving a painting entitled Salome and the opera Salome by Strauss. (2) Tuesday brought the extreme old age final for my make-up class. And that was..... interesting. :] My model looked more like a zombie than an old man after the latex, but what can ya do? I also got to go on a relaxing late night walk with a good friend. We were honked at like 3 times. What the what, Cedar. Wednesday was... very Wednesday-ish. I got a call from my aunt at 7:30 a.m., who thought she had called my mom. We talked about opera for a minute and then I frickin' ROCKED my practice hour. I nailed my high As in "In Uomini, In Soldati" from Cosi. And later, I had a hard time paying attention in choir due to the hilarity of myself plus the two other altos who stand next to me. Good times, oh, boy. We also had a night rehearsal. For our concert next week. At St. Jude's Episcopal Church. At 7:30 p.m. Also on Wednesday. I have a solo. In Latin. <<<That was not a shameless plug. Today was pretty dang good. The make-up final today was to make ourselves look like celebrities. I chose Bryce Dallas Howard and decided not to take my make-up off only to put more, different make-up back on. A lot of people kept telling me how good I looked. Esp. from far away. Baha. I also talked to my make-up teacher about doing my final project on a character from The Magic Flute (3). Different than the Queen of the Night I already designed for that class. (4). 

My thought this evening has to do with tomorrow. *Gulp* My first student recital. It may sound silly, but it's a big mile stone for me. I came here as a Freshman COMPLETELY TERRIFIED of all the talented voice majors. Knowing I wanted to sing in a choir in college, I had my voice teacher work with me on sight singing and aural skills for 2 or 3 months before I came down to school. Due to my involvement with On-Campus Housing, I had to be here a few weeks early. And the first thing I did after moving in was find out when choir auditions were. Or rather.... walk nervously into Prof. Guttenberg's office and ask if I'd already missed try-outs. And oh... the first day of choir. The first day of choir INDEED. (The music majors may skip this part, if they like. Because I've told this story a million and one times) :) I was so shocked that I had made it in to concert choir in the first place, terrified I didn't belong there and I knew not a single soul on top of that. Prof. Guttenberg recognized me and told me that I should be friends with a girl named Geneil, who hadn't come to class yet. A few minutes later brought the arrival of this Geneil-character. As is typical of Geneil walking into a room like that, everyone squealed her name as she went to sit down. (Don't even try to deny it.) I was so intimidated by this girl everyone loved and then we started warm-ups and I was downright petrified when I heard her sing. And not five minutes later did she ruin the whole charade by cracking some lame, ridiculous joke to the girl sitting next to her. That, ladies and germs, pretty accurately summarizes the way the rest of my experience has been in the music department. I try something new. I'm pretty ok at it. I get nervous. I psyche myself out. And then, I snap out of it because I realize that either a) everyone else is just as nervous as I am or 2) any variety of wonderful people help me realized not to take it too seriously. So, here's to...... consistency. :) Or, here's to hoping for it.

I hope they call me on a mission... :]

Ok. So I only have about 10 minutes to do this... therefore I will be brief

So I have been called on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will be serving in the California Arcadia Mission and I will prepare to teach the gospel in Spanish. (I was REALLY excited about that last part... haha). I cannot believe how blessed I have been. So many wonderful friends and church leaders have inspired me over the years and given me the desire to serve and to become a better person. My YW leaders in particular have been so amazing. By watching the way they truly live the gospel, I came to a greater and deeper understanding of what that phrase truly means. I am grateful for two loving parents who only want the best for me and who have been so supportive of my desire to serve. I am grateful for an AWESOME extended family. I am especially grateful for my cousins who served missions and the examples of faith and love that they have been to me throughout my life. And I am so, SO very grateful for the amazing friends I have made down here at SUU. They have taught me a lot about life and basically showed me how much God loves me. Because He loved me enough to send me a million and 0ne guardian angles in the form of roommates and friends. Especially. Those crazy music majors. What would I do without them? I am a very, VERY lucky girl. <3

The Flowers That Bloom in the Spring

Hello, dear readers. :) So, this entry will blur the lines a wee bit. The week summary and the thought melt into each other. I'm sleepy. Bear with me.

Tonight was closing night/strike of The Mikado. It was a lot of fun, but it was sure a lot of work. Here is a basic run down of what I did each night. 

5:35 p.m.: Get my little buns to the Heritage Theatre
6:05 p.m.: Supervise make-up application of the chorus girls. I.e., draw on eyebrows, smooth out streaky white patches, blush cheeks, ect.
6:45 p.m.: Begin putting on wig caps and wigs. Usually were ready in the same order each night, which was funny AND helpful.
7:30 p.m.: Top of show.
7:50 p.m.: Assist with wigging and dressing of principle girls. I.e., lacing cumberbund/corset things and pinning pillows and capes.
8:20 p.m.: Watch the last of "Big, Black Box."
9:15 p.m.: Act I finale, do chorus fan choreography.
9:25 p.m.: Move set during intermission.
9:40 p.m.: Fly out various things.
9:45 p.m.: Wander around and chat until Finale.
10:20 p.m.: De-wig/costume principle girls.
10:35 p.m.: End of night


This was a great experience. It was a big learning experience on many, many, many a vase and jar. I mean, different levels. (I'm still stuck in G & S mode!!) On the practical side of things, I got LOTS of wigging experience. I had only attempted it once before this, and it was in a classroom setting. Now, I'm a pro! :) It also taught me to be patient and that sometimes, even when you think you know the best, you have to go along with what other people want. I am also grateful for the friendships I was able to develop and create during this process. It's always interesting to see how relationships grow and evolve during the rehearsal/performance process. You may think you know a person, but when you are constantly pinning silk kimono-type things shut, that's when you REALLY know them.

I think my favorite parts of all of this, however, were all of the little moments that happened outside or backstage rather than the actual show itself. I loved running lines and songs with people. I loved the side conversations backstage and in the dressing rooms. I loved the Disney/90's music sing-a-longs with the chorus girls as they got ready. I loved being asked questions all the time. I loved the way the girls all looked like little porcelain dolls with their false eyelashes. I loved the accidental 3 car dance party at a stop light that happened last night. I loved quoting lyrics and lines off the top of my head to create statuses encouraging people to see the show. And, most of all, I loved spending crazy amounts of time with my favorite people. What a great way to end a fantastic school year and prepare to begin another chapter of my life. Again, I am so grateful for this experience. For my final G & S quote, I would simply like to say that it has definitely filled my life with merry sunshine.  

Pish-Tush, Katisha and Kjersti-Puck :)

Several Little Maids from School