Leaving Paracatu Pains...and Raw Birthday Cake Brazilian Tradition! Elder Hayden 21 yrs. old!

Hey friends, well some pretty bitter sweet feelings as I left my beloved Paracatu and the wonderful brothers and sisters with whom I worked and served with. I am so thankful for the opportunity I had to serve her in Brazil and I will certainly never forget these people or experiences. 

I'm in São Sebastião today visiting some members and so I will be brief, however I am well, I received my birthday package yesterday and I love it soooo much. We ate pizza on my birthday and then I was smothered with eggs, flour, and confetti as is custom her in Brazil! 

I love you all and will see you soon 

GOD SPEED

Bucket List Checkoffs!

Well folks, just a couple more weeks as a full time missionary as the Lord and my companion and I are making every second count! I've even been able to check a few things off of my bucket list this week: being bitten by a dog, getting stuck in an elevator with 7 people, learning how to use a lasso - ya that's right my companion is a cowboy. Anyway we are working really hard and the Lord is blessing us with spiritual experiences. God has a way of doing things in His own time, but we are hoping to have more investigatores at church this week and maybe even two baptisms! hoorah! 

Well, I'm soo happy to be able to invite people to come unto Christ and I'm thankful to be able to work with such awesome people. Elder Montes from Peru and Elder P. Rodrigues and Dos Anjos from Brazil. We are like brothers in the work and not to mention Sister I Silva and Sister Huff who complete our district. Such a blessing to be able to serve with them the People of this awesome city. Not to mention that we are going to make tacos today, alright! 

The Lord is at the Head of His work and if we trust in him we will see His hand. 

I am so greatful for the love I feel as I serve my fellow men. There is nothing better. 

LOVE YOU ALL AND SEE YA SOON!

èlder Anderson

Companions with 1st Generation Missionary 'Elder Rodrigues

Hello everyone Élder Anderson checking in here and I imagine that I will never again be checking in from such a long distance as my family is now in Alaska! wooooow look who's cool! alright, but really that is pretty cool. Well, I'm here in Paracatu with my new cowboy companion Èlder P. Rodrigues and man I'm I so happy to be on the mission. My companion is from Matto Grosso do sul and is a first generation missionary of six months. He is a really great friend and a great missionary. We are working super hard and I'm glad we are finding new people to help and baptize. 

I love the mission and all that I'm learning in Paracatu. It is the only group in the mission and I'm learning a bunch about the church and how to help my brother's and sisters towards salvation. 

I uploaded a few pictures for you to see of our district, lunch (we are pretty good cooks if you ask me) activities, and my companion. I'll show you the rest of the picture here in 3 weeks! :)

LOVE YOU ALL!

ÈLDER ANDERSON

Companions with Elder Patterson from St. George!

Hello my people! Sorry I didn't write you all yesterday because we had activity! it was sooo cool. Look on the "Brasil Brasília missao- Presidente Lundgren" facebook group to see the action. Soccer, dodge ball pizza- the works. I also went to the police station to renew my visa so that is good. I had an awesome experience yesterday night drumroll. .. I got to be èlder patterson's companion for a day! I sent a picture it was soo sweet. We taught the Restoration to some great investigatores at a family night it was sooooo cooool. I am loving the mission and I am super stoked for the last few weeks of work and we certainly have some people to baptize and reactivate and serve- I'm sooo stoked!

I love you all see you in a few!

We are going to have a celebration/activity on the 16th which just so happens to be my birthday- yah I'm in paradise! I LOOOOVE PARACATU! 

TCHAU!

Èlder Anderson

fotos: st.george power,. paracatu distict, my group, my companion Èlder P. Rodrigues!

Baptisms, Underwear and Bawling Babies!

Wow I tell you what my friends there isn't anything better than the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

This week was exciting we prepared two brothers to be baptized by their uncle (see photo beneath) and we enjoyed an elders quorum barbecue and a youth activity as well not to mention that most of the youth who attended the activity were baptized the following day. It was such a cool experience to walk with them to the church. Them with their families and parents. I had the opportunity to interview 6 of these young whippersnappers and it was an experience that I won't forget. One of the youngest even chose me to baptize him. It is amazing what the gospel can do in our lives the change for good that following Christ results. One of the neighbors of these kids was being is being taught by the missionaries and he has already taken a life and not to mention a bullet in his leg. His mother is a drug user and I imagine he never knew his father. I am certain if we will look at the promises written in the Proclamation to the World about the Family from 1995 we will see that because of the destruction of the family many a curse will plague the land. And that is what I love about the Gospel is that is blesses families! It is incredible and i am soo thankful for my family and that soon I will be able to see your lovely faces! hahah I'm very excited, but I admit it is strange to think that I will soon leave these people that I have grown to love so much. This week is we have transfers and I don't know if I will stay here or go to another area to finish. I guess we will see, but one thing is for certain I will never forget this place. 

Oh this week week Élder Montes and I went to go knock some doors and we knocked on this house that is super big like this guy is wealthy and to our surprise he came out to greet us. . . in his underwear hahaha, but he is super awesome, we visited them afterward and there house is soooo beautiful I mean the most wealthy house that I have seen on my mission, really nice and it is just the two of them they don't have kids. Well we are thinking to share a part of Meet the Mormons with them and invite them to church this week hahaha I'm soo excited for this last week of work WE ARE GOING TO ROCK!

oh one more story so we received this reference from our group mission leader of this lady who needed some help building her house and so we went to check it out. Her family is awesome and she has a little 1 year old called john luke and I made him cry in the first visit because took a dirty sock out of his mouth, but thankfully he forgave me and everything. man I'm going to have to work on my baby skills. I'm coming LINUS WESLEY

love you all

ÈLDER Anderson

When Disappointments Come Ask,"What does God Want Me to Do Right Now"?

Hey guys, I'm back in Paracatu and feeling good to finally have a p-day with more time to write you all ahhaha it has been pretty crazy the past few weeks, but they have been super fun, too. 

My companion and I are working a lot, but have been sad to see many of our investigators stop progressing. There have been times this week when I have thought after our plans had fallen through: What does God want me to do right now? I have witnessed many times this week that as I trusted in Him and His plans I was able to do His will and I could be an instrument in His hands. 

Saturday night my companion and i were seated near a park after one of our appointments had fallen through and even after knocking a few doors and not having success I remembered a lady we had met a while back who lived close by and we decided to go knock on her door. She began to tell us of her experiences with God and the miracles he has done in her life, but also of the longing to find a church were she feels good and where she belongs. We were able to share with her the book of mormon and I have never seen someone receive The Book with such gratitude and joy than her. She held it close to her as if it was the answer to her pains and daily trials of life yet even as we were reading from the book a crazy drug dealer with whom we had previously shared the book started yelling at us that the Book was a lie and the The Bible was enough and that there wasn't a need for more of the word of God. Thankfully he buzzed off, interesting how the enemy always shows up when the spirit is working. This was certainly a faith builder for me. 

Well I just can't tell you all how blessed I feel to be here in Brazil serving the lord with some of the most faithful people I have ever met. In our district of 6 missionaries 2 of us were raised in the church. These members in Paracatu are incredible and I know that I will never forget them. I was privileged to talk with President Lundgren last week in an interview and He told me he was really happy with me and what I have done to help my companions and the people in Brazil as a missionary. He said he was going to miss my group a lot and I feel really grateful that God gave me such a great mission President to take care of me for this 2 years, He has always been positive and helped me reach my potential as a missionary. We even talked a bit about post-mission life, but I won't get into to much of that hahah. But I'm thinking about following dad's Chiropractor track! haha

P.S. Look up "Brazil Brasilia Mission President Lundgren" on Facebook to see some stuff from the mission. I love you all and wish you all a very good week and remember to let your light shine!

Èlder Anderson