SO MANY DOGS- THEY ALL HATE US!

Week 11
Monday, August 29, 2016

Dear Family and Friends,

This week was great, it went by sooooo fast, probably the fastest week of my life.

Crazy story this week:

Dogs... there are soooooo many dogs here, especially where we live and for some reason most of them hate us.  But there is one dog in particular that really hates us.  The first time we saw her was one of our first days in the area.  We were riding home on a C-cad (a bike that has an attachment that we sit on)  and the dog came up  to us, barking at us and trying to bite us on the C-cad.  Elder Paxton did the only logical thing he could, and kicked her.  She developed even more hatred for us when she sent her little baby puppies after us...they were barking at us and Elder Paxton was trying to shoo them away and accidentally kicked one of them in the face..haha.  She really hates us now.  Recently, we were walking and she came running at us... we of course took off running too.  Luckily, we had picked up some rocks because right as she was about to bite Elder Paxton he nailed her with a rock!!!!  And..we thought she hated us before...  Now, we just run past where she lives, haha, it's really funny.  Luckily, we haven't been bit!  We're going to try to keep it that way.

Our investigators are doing really good.  "R" is progressing really well.  He has been reading his BOM a lot and praying every day.  He quit smoking which is great, and he has been coming to church.  If everything goes as planned, he will be baptized on September 17th.  Brother "M" is also doing really well.  He has been reading the BOM and he is starting to keep his commitments.  He hasn't been to church yet, but I think he will soon.  He is a way dope dude and I love teaching him.  The "B" family is doing alright.  They live so far away we so don't see them a ton, and they don't have a lot of time for us to teach them.  We went and visited them Saturday and they were all really sick so they weren't able to make it to church, such a bummer.  When one person in a household here gets sick, everyone gets sick because they live in such close quarters.  But they are doing good.  They are such a nice family, and since two of their daughters are members, they have some extra push at home.  

The area is awesome.  It is huge and we walk a lot.  It looks like we will be moving into a new apartment.  It's a brand new studio apartment (so it's just one room.) It has not been approved yet, but since it is literally the only apartment for rent that meets the requirements set by the mission, it should be approved.  It's so much nicer than the house we are in right now.  

The Philippines are great, and there's no where on earth I'd rather be than here right now. The people here are literally the best,  I have never met nicer people.  

Hope everyone has a great week!

Elder Andersen

My Area

My Area

Roads I walk on everyday

My Area

Beautiful sunset

A store in my area.  I had a high school teacher by this name. haha

Shrimp

Rambuaton (The best fruit I've ever had.)  They call it the Philippines Grape.

A rat caught in our apartment.

KNIVES, GUNS AND AN AWESOME STORY!

Week 10
Monday, August 22, 2016

Dear Friends and Family,

Crazy story of the week:

Last Monday (when our p-day was over), Elder Paxton and I decided to meet a less active family at their house.  We went to the area where the they live and were trying to find the family's home.  This super drunk guy helped us...it was pretty funny some of the stuff he did.  We found the family and were just talking with them and getting to know them.  The mom left the room to go grab something.  Suddenly, there was a lot of commotion outside and the commotion just kept getting louder and louder.  One of the little girls ran into the house screaming, and right behind her was the mom.  The mom said there were two drunk guys fighting outside, both of them had knives and apparently one had a gun.  When the dad heard this, he grabbed his wooden billy club and ran outside.  It was crazy and we immediately hit the floor and began praying. Everything ended up being okay and no one got hurt.  Isn't alcohol just awesome? Haha.  It was scary, but at least I have an cool story!

This week was really good.  We've been teaching a lot and finding a lot of new investigators.  One of our investigators, "R", is progressing really well.  He's been coming to church and keeping his commitments.  He's the only non-member in his family and so he has good influences around him.  Another awesome investigator we have is Brother "M".  He is really set on learning more about the gospel.  He asks really good questions and really wants to be baptized.  He struggles however, to keep his commitments.  It's hard for him to get to church because he just can't find the money to pay for a trike ride.  He is awesome though and he really loves learning about the true gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We had a cool experience this week...the Elders we live with had a baptism.  The Bishop baptized performed the baptism.  It was such a good and super spiritual experience. 

Some awesome news came this week.  It looks like Elder Paxton and I will be moving into a new apartment.  It's way nice...it's just a studio apartment that is so much closer to our area.  It will make us much more effective.  We are pumped to get out of that other house.  

The food is great and I am trying everything here.  (If any of you know Elder Andersen, you know this is huge!)  My favorite is the fruit here, it is sooooo unbelievably good.  I could live off of it. it honestly doesn't even compare to fruit in the U.S.  

The work is great here,  and I am loving it.  Even though at times it can be hard, it is all worth it when we meet people who want to learn about the gospel.  I love the Philippines, and the people here are so awesome. 

Have a great week,

Elder Andersen

A few other comments from our family letters:
"This week has been great, I feel like I am adjusting well.  The language is coming along great.  I've had some really cool experiences with the language and being able to speak it without having to think about what I am saying."

Recent Converts

Eating corn on top of a trike...our main mode of transportation

My Area

Riding on a Trike...Love the Crocs for the rainy season!

My Area

 Sunset in my area

My Area

Batchoy...I Love it!

Baptism this week

"TASTES LIKE A CRUNCHY HARD BOILED EGG WITH FEATHERS!"

Week 9

August 15, 2016

Wow... What a week!  I am loving it here.  The culture is waaaaayyyy different, but awesome.  This week was very rewarding.  The best and most rewarding part of the week was Sunday.  On Sundays we have been teaching a part member family, the "B"family.   They have six kids and  only two of them are members (and only one of them lives here).  Yesterday, we taught the family for the second time and the lesson went great.  We committed all five of the non-members to be baptized.  We were so happy.  The best part was the daughter, "M", texted us after the lesson and said that "we were sent from heaven to baptize her family."  Our hearts were so full. not only will we baptize this whole family, but now they will be together forever....so awesome!  The work this week has been great and we now have eight people committed to baptism in only a week and a half.  

Okay, some experiences from this week...  On Sunday, we were walking home in the pouring rain.  It rains so much here...I think  it has rained 12 days straight.   We decided to get a motorcycle ride because we live quite far from our area.  Riding on the motorcycle was the driver, me, and Elder Paxon.   We started driving back home when all of the sudden the driver started going soooooooo fast... in the pouring rain!   We were coming up on the turn for our house and he was still flying, and even speeding up...we were like 300 yards from the turn to our house.  Elder Paxon and I were saying so many prayers!  Haha.  He continued to drive like this through our neighborhood until we got to our house.  This was seriously one of the scariest moments of my life!  

The Food

I have been really enjoying the food here.  (who is this kid and where is my son?)  Two new food items for me this week were,  first ...balut.  It was actually pretty good, it just tasted like a crunchy hard boiled egg with some feathers.  haha.   I'll definitely eat it again.  Second,  I ate fish a few times.  I had what's called "milkfish" last night and it was really good.  The fish is fried then you dip it in sowsow (no clue on the spelling of that... lol) but the sauce has vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, peppers, and some other spices.  It was SO good.  

The Language

The language is coming along.  I am still lost a lot of the time, but I'm starting to be able to get what people are saying and communicate a bit.  I've already improved quite a bit since the MTC.  I just cant wait until I'm fluent.  

The work is great and I love it here.  I know that I was sent to the Philippines for a reason and I know the Lord is preparing people for the true gospel of Jesus Christ.  Have a great week. I love you all.

Elder Andersen


Pictures from the week:  

Our House

Market

Our Church Building 

Soaking wet

Bathroom 

Bedroom

Ocean

Balut

Eating Balue

Carbao (Phillipines version of a Bison)

NO TOILET PAPER AND GOT HIT BY A DRUNK DRIVER...WOULDN'T HAVE IT ANY OTHER WAY!

WEEK 8
August 8, 2016

Iloilo, Philippines

(We finally heard from Elder Andersen about 11:30pm last night- he is 12 hours ahead of us.  What a relief to get his letter and know that he arrived in Iloilo safely and is doing great!)

Friends and Family,

Before I  get to the title of my letter, let me rewind a little.  

We left the Provo, MTC on the 27th of July and got to Manila on the 29th of July... we're time travelers!!!  The flights weren't all that bad.  I took the triple threat,  so I passed out for like 9 hours on the flight from LA to Hong Kong.  From Hong Kong, we flew to Manila.  When we got to the Philippines, we went to the Manila MTC.  It was actually a blast and I really liked it a lot.  The main reason we needed to go to Manila was for Visa processing.   While we were there  we had class and the highlight of the Manila MTC stay was the proselyting activity.  We went on splits with missionaries in the Manila Mission.  The Manila missionaries speak Tagalog, so I didn't understand a lot, but it great and so much fun!

The funniest thing happened during one of our lessons.   I was sitting on a plastic bar stool...it was pretty flimsy and as the lesson was over, I went to stand up,  and the bar stool broke.   I ended up on the ground!  It was so funny and everyone was laughing so hard.  I think I may be a little oversized for this country!  Haha 

We arrived in Iloilo on Wednesday.  After we arrived, we went to the Mission Home and had an orientation and met our trainers.  My trainer is Elder Paxton, he is from Detroit and I love him.  Our area is he Dumangus B area.  It is great here.  We are actually speaking Ilonggo so that is a relief!  (I get to start my mission speaking the language I learned in the MTC.)  This is Elder Paxton's first area speaking Ilonggo so we are both going to get comfortable with the language together.

Elder Paxon is dope!  These last two transfers are actually his last two.  After he is done training me he goes home.  We are super similar and we both enjoy working hard.  As you could probably guess we "white washed" the Dumangus B area. (That means we are both new to the area.)  Because we are both new to the area, the work has been a little slow, but it is really starting to pick up now.  We already have two investigators with baptismal dates and we recently started teaching a family (two of the daughters in this family are members.)  

Our area is so cool.  There is a big city in our area, but also a lot of country-side.  We walk...a lot! Our apartment isn't in our area so we have to walk 20-30 minutes just to get to the city.  I'm gonna lose a lot of weight.  

Our apartment is pretty rough... definitely not what i was expecting.  It's awesome though and so much fun. There isn't any toilet paper (This was Logan's biggest worry.  He had heard that there wasn't a lot of toilet paper in the Philippines.) It's not that bad, not even close to as bad as i thought it would be.  I actually kind of like it. (Wait...what??? Seriously???)  We live with two other Elders who are in Dumangus A  area...Elder Hallmark who is from Oregon and Elder Mirasol.  Elder Mirasol lives in the Bacold mission so he has spoken Ilonggo his whole life.

I actually love the food here,  it is so good!   I really haven't tried anything I don't like, but my favorite is Batchoy.   It is wayyyyyyyy good.  I'm going to try balut tonight so that'll be an experience and a half.  (Balut is a developing bird embryo that is boiled and eaten from the shell... I can't believe he is actually going to try it.  Everyone tells him that he has to try it...at least once.  I don't think I could do it.)

The people here are awesome.  They are the nicest people on this earth.  People are willing to do anything for us and most people will listen to us.  It's great!  

I'm sure you are wondering about the drunk driver.

So, last night we were walking home from a dinner appointment in  a complete down pour.  It was kind of fun actually.  We were on the side of the road and just as we were getting close to our apartment, we heard a motorcycle.  We didn't think much of it until we heard whoever was on the motorcycle hit the breaks, the the tires screeched!  We turned and the motorcycle was right there.  Luckily he swerved at the last second and just barely grazed my side.  I didn't really get hurt and neither did anyone else including the driver.  It was pretty funny because he was drunk and was mad at us even though we didn't do anything.  What a great first Sunday.  

This first week has been awesome.  The language is a little tough but I can tell I've already learned a lot in these past five days.  I love these people and can't wait to keep serving them.

Much Love,

Elder Andersen

Logan didn't have wifi and had a hard time getting pictures to send...these are a few we got. Hopefully we'll get more next week.

Arriving in Iloilo...

My New Home.  Iloilo

Amazing

He made it!  Arriving in Iloilo, Philippines.  His Mission President and Wife are on the far right side of the picture.  I don't think we will have any problems finding him in pictures for the next two years.

Driving in the streets of Iloilo

My Trainer, Elder Paxon.

PROOF THAT HE MADE IT...MANILA MTC

Week 7
July 30, 2016

Manila, Philippines
Manila MTC

We didn't get a letter from Logan this week, just a few pictures and a picture of a journal entry.  In his journal entry he talked about how much he loves the Philippines.  He said that the Manila MTC is so nice and that he is already eating a lot of rice.  He talked about some of his experiences.  One funny experience he talked about was playing basketball during his exercise time with the Filipino Elders...Keep in mind that Logan is 6'4".  (That's pretty tall in the U.S...but really tall in the Philippines.)  Every time he would get the ball, they would chant..., "dunk, dunk, dunk!"   I think he took advantage of his size and felt like a superstar!

 His favorite part of being in Manila was proselyting.  He was paired up with an Elder from Australia that he loved and one of the teachers from the Manila MTC.  He loved walking down the streets and talking to everyone they saw.  He had some great moments as he taught several people and really felt the Spirit.  He said at the end of his journal entry...

"I am really starting to gain an appreciation for the things I have.  These people have literally nothing, but they are so happy.  My struggles in life are nothing compared to what they go through.  I already love these people so much, and I can't wait to spend the next two years here."

He is happy and we can almost hear his smile and laugh in his letters.  He's loving the Philippines. 
He arrived in Iloilo on Tuesday,  August 2nd.  We can't wait to hear from him, hear who is companion is, what area he is serving in and all the experiences he is having.  We are so proud of him!

Pictures from Manila...

Logan met his Aunt Elsa's brother and sister-in-law at church in Manila.  He was recently put in the MTC Presidency.  He gave Logan a bad time about balut and joked with him.  Best day ever when Elsa sent this picture to me on Sunday.  I hadn't seen any pictures of him since he left the United States.  He made it!

Driving through the streets of Manila.  It looks crazy...people everywhere!

The Elder from Australia and Manila MTC teacher that Logan had the opportunity to proselyte with.  He loved these two.  They had a great day!

Who is that giant white guy in the back?  Church in Manila

Manila Temple.  I think these are the missionaries going to Iloilo

Manila Temple...Ummm....is he's dabbing???