JAWBREAKER BURGER IN UNDER FIVE MINUTES!!

Week 15

September 26, 2016

Hello!

Hope you all hope you had a great week.

Right after last week's email... I accomplished the "jawbreaker" challenge.  I ate a big burger and a boatload of fries under 5 minutes (I'll send a lot of pictures).  It was fun,  and now my picture is on the wall.  I felt pretty gross afterwards... but it was well worth it!

This week's story:

This week was a rough week because both Elder Paxton and I got pretty sick.  I started feeling sick on Thursday, but we were still able to work. When I woke up Friday Morning, I was running a fever and felt terrible.  I got worse Friday and Saturday and didn't start getting better until Sunday.  I feel pretty good now though.  Elder Paxton was pretty sick yesterday too, but is also doing better today. We weren't able to work Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

This week's biggest news is that we moved to our new apartment.  It's so much nicer than our last apartment.  It's super dope and much closer to the center of town.  We will be able to be much more effective living here.  I'll send some pictures that were taken before we moved in.  I'll send more pictures next week after we get totally moved in.  It's a mess right now.  Right now, all we have is our desks,  mattresses and suitcases.  Hopefully, we are going to be able to go buy everything else we need sometime this week.  The apartment has air conditioning.  It's so nice, we love it!  We have to be careful using it though and budget our time because it is expensive to use.  

Because we were so sick this week we weren't able to teach a whole lot, but we had one really cool lesson with a less active family.  We have been visiting this family for awhile now and this week they came out and told us why they are inactive.  It's a real bummer, and hopefully we can work through it with them.  The cool part of the experience was just knowing that the family trusts us and believes that we can help them...it's very comforting and reassuring.

Elder Paxton's birthday was this week.  it was also a lot of fun. We ate lunch at a member's house.  I now have a new favorite food... it's called bicol express.  It's a sudan which just means it goes on top of rice.  I don't even know whats in it, it's super spicy and so good!  After lunch, we worked  and then we had dinner and birthday cake at another member's house.  

Sorry about the short letter, this week.   We spent a lot of time sleeping and resting this week, but I feel a lot better.  Have a great week! 

Love, 

Elder Andersen

New Apartment...no rats!

New Apartment

New Apartment

The move to our new apartment

The Jawbreaker Challenge

A GREAT WEEK...MY FIRST BAPTISM AND GOLFING!

Week 14

September 19, 2016

Hello Everyone,

This week was so great... one of the best, if not the best so far on my mission.

Funny story of the week:

One night this week, we were on our way home and we decided to talk to a group of guys and a girl. We started talking to them and they were really nice.  While we were talking, two of the guys were trying to hold Elder Paxton's hand the entire time.  That's when we realized the guys were gay. Another guy who was probably five feet away from us just kept saying, "PAXTON, PAXTON" over and over again while waving at my comp.  It was pretty funny and I was laughing the whole time...This experience was one of my favorites.  I am still laughing at this every day! 

I had my first baptism this week!  It was great.  "R" is so happy, and so is his family.  After I baptized him,  he started walking up the stairs to the wrong bathroom.  So instead of just walking back through the water, he just jumped back in and swam around.  It was so funny!   The baptism was an amazing experience.  Teaching is going great.  Brother "M" is progressing really well.  He is doing better with his Word of Wisdom problems and his wife is starting to get interested in the church.  He still hasn't been to church, but we're working on that.  He committed to read the Book of Mormon this week. Also we recommitted the "B" family to baptism.  We found out the mom isn't interested, but the dad is super interested.  His boss just shut down his work for a little bit so they're struggling .  The gospel pertains directly to their life and will help them so much.  We also contacted a new family on Saturday, and we are excited about them. 

Today's P day has been great.  We went to the driving range!!!!!  I actually hit it pretty well.  It was great.  So much fun, I forgot how much I miss golfing!   We're spending the day in the city today because tomorrow Elder Paxton turns 21, so we re having a birthday bash.  We're going to Zarks,  a burger place and I'm gonna try to eat this burger in under 5 minutes.   If I do,  it's free and I get a picture on the wall.   Also, it looks like we are moving tomorrow!!!!!   We are WAY pumped.  

The language is coming along great. I pretty much understand everything  that is going on, now if I could just speak it better.  It'll come along though.  

The work is great and I have so much love for the Philippines and the people here.  I'm so happy and I am really starting to lose myself in the work!  I love being a missionary!

Have a great week,

Elder Andersen

My First Baptism

AHHHH...Driving Range!

SOAKING WET IN RAIN UP TO OUR KNEES

Week 13

Monday, September 12, 2016

Hello!

This week was great, and we had a lot of cool experiences. 

This week's crazy-ish story:

We struggled with a lot of rain this week.  Twice this week we had some super long walks in the pouring rain.  The first time we got completely soaked was after we  taught "R".  His house is about four miles back to the plaza.  So after we taught him, we waked that long way back in the pouring rain.  Then, again after we taught Brother "M", it started just absolutely pouring,  it came down so hard...it was rough!  We were literally walking through puddles that came up to our knees.  It was fun though, we were just splashing each other haha. 

Teaching experiences: 

Sooooo, "R" is getting baptized on Saturday!!!  He had his interview last Saturday... he passed and everything is set for Saturday.  We are so happy and  so is his family.  On Tuesday we taught Bro. "M" the Word of Wisdom.  We knew it would be hard because he was smoking 2-3 packs of cigarettes a day.  At the end of the lesson we gave him a priesthood blessing, and it was awesome.  After the blessing, he said as soon as we put our hands on his head he had this feeling that went throughout his body that he just couldn't describe.  (That is called the spirit.)  When we came back on Friday, he had some great news...he is down to smoking 10 cigarettes a day.  We are so happy...what a big improvement.  He is progressing so well and we are super excited for him.

This week we also had a mission tour.  We had an awesome lunch and Elder Haynie, an Area Seventy came and spoke to us.  He was great, and we really learned a lot.  

The language is really coming along.  This week I feel like I made some great strides.  I am understanding a lot more, and I am able to speak a lot better.  The grammar is coming along great and I feel like I am very close to getting it.

The work here is so good.   I love the Philippines and all that comes with it.  I know this church is true and I love serving my Lord.  Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Andersen

Vinegar for dipping that a member made us in a Jack Daniel's bottle..haha

The "Big Boys" Elder Andersen, Elder Simpson and Elder Crighton...all over 6'2"

Playing basketball on p-day

SNAKES, OYSTERS AND HOSPITALS

Week 12

Monday, September 5, 2016

Hi Everyone,  Hope you all had a great week!

Crazy story of the week:

This just happened literally an hour ago...we had a zone activity today.  It was quite far away, so we left this morning at 4am to catch a few jeeps to a member's house where the activity was.  We had what's called a Budo-fight, (you'll see in the pictures) it's where there's a bunch of food on some banana leaves, and you just eat!   Elder Paxton was cracking open some oysters and he cut his finger. pretty deep.  When we got back to Dumangas we went to the hospital to get it checked out.  While we were there, an ambulance pulled up really fast and rushed in a guy that was super bloody.  Since the hospital is so small, he was put into the room we were in,and were kicked out.  From what we could understand from the conversations, (and by we, I mean Elder Paxton) the guy was transporting a pig, and somehow the pig got on top of him and started stomping on him.  Apparently, his skull was fractured, and his jaw was broken.  It was super sad to see, but they were saying he's going to be okay.  Oh, and Elder Paxton is okay.  I think I'm gonna stay away from pigs tho.  

Our Investigators:

So the best news of the week, is "R" is going to be baptized on the 17th!!!!  We are so excited for him and he is so happy.  I have really seen a change in his heart since the time we first met him.  He now has a desire to read the Book of Mormon, pray, and attend church.  It is so awesome to see the Lord's light in his eyes.  We also started teaching a former investigator, his name is "R".  We started the lesson by talking about families, and how they are so important.  As we we talking, he really opened up to us.  His wife died recently, and he was really upset about it.  Out message literally pertains directly to his life.  We know that families can be together forever.  Once we told him about eternal families,  he became really excited.  I'm very excited about "R".  All of our investigators are doing well. They are awesome, and I love teaching them.

The food:

I am really enjoying the food.  I've been trying everything.  I had some oysters today and they were alright, not my favorite, but not the worst thing I've ever tasted.  I also had the classic Iloilo dish on Sunday...it's dried fish.  It's like fish jerky that you dip in vinegar, it was actually pretty good.   

We also went to the beach on Saturday, it was cool.  The "B" family lives right next to the beach, but it has always been dark when we've gone to visit them.  Saturday, we went when it was light, and the two sons, "A" and "A" took us there.  It was so beautiful! 

The work is great and there's no place I'd rather be!  Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Andersen

Budo-fight

Budo-fight

Budo-fight

Sunburn