Changes/Transfers

February 23, 2015

Wow, so I already have 7 months in the mission. Time is going fast and I want to make the most of it while I can.

So I don’t have much to write about this week. The big story of the week is changes. I got a new companion. His name is Elder Gomez. He is from Guatemala. He is a really good guy and we get along good. He wants to work!!! We are always so tired by the end of the day. By eight o'clock my feet hurt, but I am super happy. I am truly happy in the mission right now. Don’t get me wrong, its super hard, but I am happy. I am super excited for this change and what we can do. This month we have a lot of positive people to teach and hope to end the month with a high number of baptisms.

We have hopefully 3 baptisms this Saturday. One of these girls is a daughter of a less active member. The mom has been inactive for a long time, but as we visit them she clearly has a testimony of the gospel. She has raised her children to live the gospel standards even though she does not attend church or other church activities. The girl has a great understanding of the gospel and learns quickly.

The other possibility is a miracle. The missionaries here have been working for months to get permission to baptize this young man. His mom lives in the other area so we cannot contact her. This week I felt like we needed to pass by the grandparents house of this young man to ask for directions to one of our references. When we passed by the mom was there visiting. We sat down and had a discussion that lasted a long time, but in the end received the permission to baptize this young man. Wahoooo!!!!

We continue to find new people to teach everyday and this week had some really positive investigators come to church. We contacted on Monday a lady who we went and visited last night. She has family that is members and lives with her husband and in-laws.  She has a lot of questions for us and wants to know the truth. During the closing prayer yesterday she asked in her prayer to help her to feel that this was the right church! I was super pumped after that lesson. Her husband is also interested as well! I am super excited for this upcoming month and the work we can do.

It has been really hot this last week and it even rained a little tiny bit one day. That was super nice for a couple of hours. Elder Gomez likes to get up early and go running. I love that! We have plans tomorrow to run even further. I am still in pretty good shape while running even though I am heavier and haven’t ate very healthy. Haha.

This morning we went and bought a lot of fruit. I bought bananas, a pineapple, and a watermelon that's probably about as big as my head.....so pretty big.....haha. Its really great this time of year with a lot of the fruit being fresh. I have eaten a lot of mangos. All the mangos we eat are directly from the tree. They are super good. Sometimes I will save a mango and stick it in the fridge to eat for breakfast. I also bought a cantaloupe this past week that I still need to eat!

I hope all is well. I am doing really good.  I miss you guys but I am really happy and enjoying the work. I hope all is well and that you guys get healthy again. I sent a letter to you guys today as well.

I love you!

Your missionary,

Elder Morgan M. Anderson

First mango in Nicaragua

February 16, 2015              

        

Well this last week was a long week, but things went well. We ended up only having one baptism. The older of the two girls was baptized on Saturday. The younger of the two has some doubts that we are trying to work through with her and her family. The parents are a great support, but at the same time are sometimes hard to work with. This week we are going to focus more on the parents and see if we can set a baptismal date with them.

The baptism went really well. The Young Womens President here is great! She is also the one who washes our clothes. Her Husband is the 2nd counselor in the ward as well. They are a great help in the work here in Lezcano, Managua. The Young Womens President helped a lot in this baptism. She visited with them a lot and her daughter became good friends with the younger girl. It’s great to have such good members here that want to help. Almost all of our investigators that are progressing are references from members or are family of members in the ward.

On Tuesday we had an activity with the ward. They celebrated birthdays of everyone who had a birthday in January and February. We got 8 investigators to go to the activity! Including the parents of the girl who was baptized this week! It was a lot of fun to be with the members and help the investigators get to know the church a little bit more in a fun and relaxed atmosphere.

Changes once again are coming this week so we will see what happens there. I have learned that here in the mission that nothing is for sure with changes. Who knows I might be in another zone this change. This change has gone by really fast. It has been a hard change, but I have learned a lot about myself and how I can be a better missionary. My Spanish has also improved a lot. Even the members have commented on how much better my Spanish is.

So yesterday I ate my first Mango here in Nicaragua. It was so good! We were eating lunch and one fell from the tree in front of where we were eating. We eat outside in the shade to keep cool. There are 4 little boys that live in the house and they are always outside talking with us. When they saw that one fell from the tree they ran over and grabbed it as fast as they could, then they gave it to me to eat!! It was super good. I want to eat some more this week!

So this week we stopped by a members house to see if they could help set up a family home evening with a part member family tonight. We got talking with him and he gave us some advice for the mission. He talked about being more bold in our teachings. Be more up front and help them realize how important the work is. Teach with more power. I love reading the talk from Elder Holland that you guys have read about missions. We need to help people realize how important this gospel is, and without it they are missing out on true happiness and practically everything. I am sad when I leave a house or talking to someone who doesn't want to listen or talk with us, but I love it when we find someone ready to change their life to follow Jesus Christ.

I love this work and everything that it has in store for me and everyone I teach. I am uplifted and strengthened everyday by the scriptures and personal prayers. I know that this is the true church. As long as we keep the commandments and do our best to follow Jesus Christ and the promptings of the spirit we will be led where God wants us to go. I have learned more and more every week that it is not what I want it is what our Heavenly Father wants.

I love you guys and hope all is well. You are always in my prayers.  I love you! Thank you for all your support and prayers.

With love your missionary,

Elder Morgan M. Anderson

Elder Quesada, Me, the young women's President, The daughter of the Young women's president and the girl that was baptized on Saturday. 

Outside of the chapel. The Member who baptized the girl, the girl and her mom.

February 9th, 2015

Wow what an amazing yet difficult week! First off, I got my birthday package!  Finally!! Thank you for everything! It was great to get letters from everyone and see American candy! Haha! The only sad part was that the jerky got moldy....sorry Jaren. I was excited to eat some Jerky from Bridgerland

Finally, the package arrived!
One happy Elder!

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This past week we were blessed as a mission to have a mission conference with our Area Seventy, Elder Duncan. On Wednesday we got ready and went to the main chapel where for the day we were filled with pure revelation. President Russel commented that none of what he said was written down but that it was purely revelation for us and our mission. I truly felt as he was talking that this is what our Heavenly Father wants us to learn and apply in our teachings. 

So one of the things he spoke of was using more members in teaching our investigators. Help the members find people that we can teach. Then the miracles came! Thursday night we were walking from one appointment to another and one after another the members gave us referrals or invited us in their homes to meet a friend or family member. I think we received four referrals in just three hours.  All really positive investigators. Many are family members that have not yet had the opportunity to hear the restored gospel.

Another thing that Elder Duncan taught was teaching more of the Atonement of Christ and also the Sacrament. What a blessing it is to feel of these two things in my life everyday, especially the atonement. A person is fully converted when they repent and use the atonement in their everyday life. While teaching about the Sabbath day we have been trying to teach more about the Sacrament and that is why we go to church each Sunday. I love studying in the Bible, 3rd Nephi, and in Jesus Is The Christ about the Atonement and the Sacrament.

This lead me more to my own personal revelation that I received Wednesday. Elder Duncan spoke briefly on the love that we need to have and share with everyone. I need to be better at showing more love. I love the people of Nicaragua. They are all my brothers and sisters. I need to demonstrate my love and happiness more.

As we were walking home after a really good day I felt very much of my Saviors love for me. I thought of how this mission has helped me change and how I can let it change me even more. This area can teach me a lot if I let it. There are a lot of great members that realize how hard we work and want to help us more. I love this area and hope I can continue to grow and learn that which Heavenly father has planned for me. As long as I stay focused on His will, He will guide me where He needs me to go. This work is not about me or what I want. It is His work.

Something I have been reading in the Book of Mormon as of lately is about the 2000 Stripling Warriors. President gave a talk about this as well in the Multi Zone conference. I love how these young men were away from home in war, but were comforted because of what their parents taught them. Thank you for everything you have taught me. I use your teachings from when I was younger every day in my mission. I recieve so much strength and comfort in my daily studies in the Book Of Mormon. 

With Elder Quesada

We have baptisms this Saturday! They have been struggling with getting an answer to their prayers, but we stopped by their house yesterday after church and they said that they are ready for this Saturday!!!!  Wahoo!! After their baptism we will focus more on the parents and how to help them. Hopefully their daughter's baptisms will help them realize the importance of baptism. They are a really cool family and I like being able to go and visit them.. 

I am doing really good. Transfers are coming up again in another week. I love the mission. I want to be better and learn more and more each day. I love being able to be an instrument in Heavenly Fathers hand. I hope all is well and that Carter your arm is healing up good. I love you. Thank you for everything!

Your missionary,

Elder Morgan M. Anderson

February 2, 2015

Well this week the story has been about faith. I have been trying to focus more on having faith. I have read scriptures over and over again trying to learn more and more. I have been reading everything I can about faith. It is so interesting to me how much faith, and hope affect our lives. My investigators just need a small seed of faith to be planted then nurtured and cared for then let it grow. With this small seed that is planted a tall, standing tree can grow that can’t be affected very much by the winds of the adversary. We will always have these winds pushing against us. But as we plant our roots firm in the soil of scripture study, prayers, church attendance, and a desire to become more like our Savior we will always grow stronger and stronger.

One example of this faith is of two of our investigators. They are two young girls that the missionaries have been teaching forever. The parents don’t really want to go to church or anything but these two girls have been going to church, studying scriptures, are going to go to seminary and have stopped drinking coffee and tea. These two girls have the faith they need and are continuing to grow their faith in this church. They have a date to be baptised on valentines day.

This week was really rough in regards to appointments. A lot of our appointments fell through and we had to change plans and contact a lot more. We didn’t find a lot of positive people but we did find two new families that seem ready to receive our message. Our appointments with them are tomorrow. I am excited for that.

Elder Anderson with Elder Jensen
(from our stake in Hyrum)

I think about my investigators a lot and how I can help them. I often worry about our investigators and how we can help them go to church, read the Book of Mormon, and ultimately be baptised. But I can testify that through prayer, scripture study, and revelation I am blessed to receive answers to how to help them and how to feel comforted that I am not alone in the work. The first 35 chapters of Alma are such a help and guide in the mission.

I don’t have much time to write but I hope all is going well. I attached a photo of Elder Jensen and I from zone meeting this week. He is doing really good as he is working to open up a new area.

I hope all is well at home. I love you guys! Thank you for everything!

With much love,

Elder Morgan Anderson