Thanksgiving in Brazil!

HEY MOM HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope you received my letter and you are well. I hope you had an excellent day and you had a awesome time. 

Thanksgiving surely was great for you all, but perhaps rivaling was my experience sticking my hands under the turkey's skin rubbing butter and seasoning all over that beautiful bird, when was the last time I had that experience- never! We even made pumpkin pie! Okay I sent dad some pictures, but I will include some for you all as well, the pictures will explain, better. 

We also had a baptism this week, Carol was baptized on Friday, she is super great and I'm really happy with her progress. She is super shy, but maybe that has to do with her life experience. She has 16 years and has been taking care of her grandma that last few since her mother died. They live in very humble circumstances, but they have such faith and hope and she will make a big difference in the branch that is growing to become a ward here and receive a chapel!!!!!! 

Man I'm officially 1 year and 4 months old on the mission. Weird right? But the work goes on. Yesterday we had a district conference which for those of you that don't know district is a small stake. I love the talks speaking of sacrifice, obedience, and the love and miracles of God for His children. I enjoyed a few comments about being called " to go" to zion, but to establish zion, that is our calling. Feel, I'm establishing zion as I work in HIS work. 

Love you all and HAPPY HOLIDAY'S

Sounds Like Brazil

 

Okay okay, so funny thing I want to tell you guys that happened this week. So I don't know if I told you, but Brazil just loves sound and there is always a car passing with blaring music or a bar with the volswagon bug in the front stacked with speakers blaring some strange music. However, my companion and i saw something this week that just made us both burst out laughing. Cars, Bicyles, homes, stacked with speakers okay, makes sense, but refrigeratores? Seriously, a personalized party machine in the form of a cooling device. . . sounds like Brazil. Other sounds of Brazil, oh "èlders, Guilherme ( recent convert of a few monthes, 14 years old.) wants you to eat lunch with him today." "Okay thanks Sister we'll go there now." We arrive at Guilhermes house today to find him on top the roof with his large fishing pole. He had prepared fried chicken, some slightly burnt rice and a salty salad- Thanks Guilherme. I was so happy to see him yesterday, because I thought he had moved and he went and made some lunch for us, he has got a good heart- I LOVE THE PEOPLE HERE. 

This week I was privileged to baptize Christina. He cousin was baptized last week and we are trying to help her family a lot. Her "dad" has a drinking problem and is not getting along with his wife. Serious Issues, but nothing the restored gospel of Jesus Christ can't fix. I realized the potent power of addiction, pride, and anger, but also I realized his desire for help, so we'll see if a little faith and repentance won't do the trick- there is nothing that our God cannot do. He is a Holy on of Israel, it is He that walked the path of pain, and death so that we might not if we would but repent. I feel the desire to help God in His Purpose and as my Mission President put it this week. God wants His kids back. We had a great meeting this week with the zone leaders and I learned great things about the Gospel and Leadership. The President also shared with me some thoughts about the "last days" and man I tell you what, we need to be prepared, it isn' getting easier. I got to see my buddies from the MTC talk with Élder Patterson a bit, man it is awesome to have some good buddies on the mission and to make some new ones. My companion from the MTC ÉLder Goodsell is a Zone leader now too and it was great to see him. THE MISSION IS AWESOME!!!!

I love you all, I know that is is the true church of Jesus Christ reestablished on the earth in preparation for the second coming of the Savior. I know that God has blessed us with inspired leaders today to help lead and guide us and we must follow their counsel to be saved from the dangers today. 

May we recognize the blessings of God in our lives this week and feast ourselves not only physically, but spiritually as well. 

LOVE 

ÉLDER ANDERSON

If Your Investigators Run...Run After Them...It Might Still Work Out!

Hey folks, checking in Élder Anderson and boy do I have news for you!

So my companion and I were walking down the street earlier this week and we bumped into some investigators who we thought didn't want our visits any more, because we say them run from us in the street one day. Any way we discovered that it wasn't the case and we visited them and remarked their baptismal dates, their drunken father when he arrived home was also pleased to meet us, which was strange as his woman explained to us as he normally ex pulses evangelists from his home, but instead offered us to stay and eat dinner and even "pray on his head" as he stated. I felt a strong desire to help that family and am pleased with the baptism on their niece this Sunday who took with her 2 cousins 1 of which will be baptized this Saturday. My companion and I witnessed many miracles this week, including 2 girls that went to church this Sunday that we ended up visiting the same day. It didn't take long for us to realize that  one of the girls was in need of the law on chastity and my companion and I shared with the two girls the importance of of sexual purity and its part in their preparation for baptism. Later we went up the street to visit an Èlderly man of Polish decent and His wife from which country I have no clue. I shared my testimony of the doctrines pure and perfect that are contained in the Book of Mormon and invited them to read it and pray to God to know if it is True. They accepted to be baptized at the receiving of a testimony and said they will go to church this Sunday. While returning home in the shadow if rain clouds, my companion and I stopped to talk with a young girl, her mother appeared and invited us to enter. We shared with them the Plan of Salvation and I could feel so much love for them as we were able to share answers to the doubts and questions they had about our pre-mortal, mortal and post-mortal life. We invited them to be baptized as well and they will go to church this week as well. My companion and I are hoping to baptize many this month. 

It is interesting to me how God works to bring about he salvation of His children. Even though my companion and I are imperfect, inexperienced, foreigners, He uses us to be the instrument in proclaming the Gospel. Truly He uses each and everyone of us, according to our desires and worthiness to share the love of the Gospel with Those whom are without the comforting truths of the Restored Gospel. I love my call  to serve in Brasil!

LOVE 

ÉLder Anerson

"When We Crash and Burn We Can use the Experience as a Learning Opportunity"

Oi tudo mundo! Élder Anderson here. All the way from Planaltina de Goiás. Sorry about the mix up last week my p-day has returned to monday- rookie mistake, should have let you all know about the change.

But the past is in the past. . . WHaCK that is when Rafiki smacks you on the head with is witch doctor stick! I tell you what that monkey has got some great advice (Watch the Lion King again if you didn't get that reference). 

Any way, today we went to a members "Chácara" which means basically cabin as a understand it, but as you may imagine, Brasil's cabin may be a bit different from what you may understand. I attached som fotos for you all to see. Man I just feel like I'm in heaven when I visit the Chácara. Wow that was a really pleasurable visit for me today, I tell you. The members treated us so well, we ate mango, galinhada ( chicken and rice), beans, spaghetti, and afterwards a cake with Goiaba juice- so good. 

I'm so thankful to be in this beautiful country and serving this wonderful and blessed people. There are many challenges that are part of the mission, but really that is part of our lives, livin and learnin, crashin and burnin, okay Jack Johnson may have said that, but I really know that because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, when we crash and burn sometimes in our lives we can use the experience as a learning opportunity. For example, my companion and I didn't have any investigators in the church this week and I really reflected on our week and thought about what we could do better. Thanks to Jesus Christ this is possible. I'm so thankful to have this knowledge. Thanks mom for the little message you sent me last week about this subject, really helpful. 

Cool Experience this week, my companion and i were working in an area in which we weren't very familiar and stopped to ask some people for directions. I felt the desire to speak with them and mentioned we were missionaries and asked them if they had once asked themselves, "What is our purpose in life?" and "Where do we go after death." There response was, "You know we were just talking about that right before you walked up." I know that God lives and he may do miracles in our lives if we just demonstrate our faith in him, our lives are difficult, but if do as nephi said in 2 nephi 31:20 and endure to the end, we will have eternal life. 

I love you all, 

Élder Anderson  

Well I tell you one thing this week was quite the experience and not just on the edible scale, but there are some good stories to tell there as well. 

I'm livin with an American! It is awesome!, we made cookies and the other day we made pancakes with the recipe mom sent me and this awesome syrup recipe that he had. Our hispanic companions where going bonkers, you can imagine. We also had some fun Saturday morning when we went to clean the swimming pool in which we baptize people and discovered that along with our house and the rest of the city- no water. So what do you do when you don't got water in the spicket? YOU PULL IN DOWN FROM THE TREES! That is right my friend we are in Brasil and there are coconut trees here and just so happens there is a giant one on the church property! Yes I did try to climb it like that guy on "The Other Side of Heaven", but you can imagine that I felt a bit like Sid the sloth when he trys to climb the mountain and return the baby to the tribal people- ya i didn't get anywhere (my brothers will understand the "Ice Age" reference). At one point I ended up on the shoulders of my American buddy with a large pole in efforts to obtain the tasty fluid that is found in these plentiful fruits. That was fun. Shortly afterwards I found myself still unbathed and in the house of an awesome member chewing on the hoof of a thouroughly cooked cow leg. I have to admit I was doing great eating the rest of the leg, but when she plopped the hoof on my plate. . . ya, but it's Brazil man, put it in the pressure pan and we'll eat it!!!! YAAA, no but it was actually really tasty and I ate more than all the other Élders, it is a dish called Mocotó.

Okay so that is enough about my cultural life and eating habits. Really I'm so thankful to be a missionary and I felt so excited this week to work with my companion in the vineyard of the Lord, sharing our testimonies with others and the light we have received in our live through the Gospel of Christ. I felt so happy to have been an instrument in bringing a family to church this week who has a baptisimal date for this Saturday. We arrived at their home with Sunday morning and the mother said that they wouldn't be going because they were without water and needed to bath. My response was. . . "There´s water in the church!" Long story short we ended up going hand in hand with the little eight year old who was so excited to see Jesus in His church. . . "Will I see Him for Real? with a beard and long hair?" I was touched by His faith and desire to be in the presance of our Savior and asked him if he would draw a picture of Jesus to help him be reverent at church- it was going really well, but ended up a Tucan. . . okay that's cool too. Hold still lets get you some crackers. That was fun. Well I learned this experience taking this family to church that as Élder Scott said we should make the exercise of our faith our priority. We can focus on the negatives and the empty water tanks or we may focus on the Savior and His fullness and His power. I'm so thankful for the daily opportunties I have to exercise my faith and know that without my Savior I am nothing. He is the worker of miracles and He is the master in whom we must trust and we must be molded. That we may be "instruments in the hands of God". "We are His Hands"

I love you all Sorry about the adress thing I mentioned last week I was confused there was no change, it is the same adress that is written beneath. 

Go with God, "Vai com Deus" common Brazilian phrase. 

Élder Anderson