I THINK WE NEED A BIGGER BIKE

WEEK 50 

Sunday, May 28, 2017

What's up Friends and Family:

Segieah this week's crazy story happened yesterday:

Yesterday was an absolute crazy day...we had church then we headed down to San Lorenzo for a Sacrament Service, then to Jordan for our District Presidency Meeting.  So here is Guimaras finding a ride is hard, and it is really hard to go from San Lorenzo to Jordan...there's only single motors that do the trip (about 30 min.) In the Philippines, it's not rare to see 5,6,7,or even 8 people on one motorcycle, but those are Filipinos...I'm not a Filipino haha.  So, putting a huge white guy and his companion on one motorcycle is not the easiest thing.  We hopped on the motorcycle and the driver hit the gas and BOOM...he popped a wheelie right off the start. Luckily... me and Elder Santos landed on our feet. So. on the second try... the driver was sitting on the gas tank, i was sitting where the driver should be, and Elder Santos  was somewhere behind me.  The driver tried to turn,  that didn't work very well because he almost laid the bike down.  The third time was kind of a charm...the way we had to sit was extremely uncomfortable and we were on the motorcycle for a half hour with my feet dragging on the ground almost the whole way.  The mission has been saying that we should only ride on a single motor if it's a last resort...it was for sure a last resort.  My feet, ankles, and legs STILL hurt. haha It was an experience i'll never forget though! 

The week:

This week was good.  We received a referral from a member last week, her name is "L".  We taught her last week and it went great. When we met her, we found out that he brother was super sick, he had no strength and for some reason his stomach was super bloated.  We could tell that he was in really bad shape., but the lesson was good.  We came back on Wednesday to teach her  and the lesson went really well again, but we could tell her brother was still not doing well at all.  Elder Santos and I gave her a blessing.  After the blessing we could tell his pain had left him...he wasn't moaning anymore from the pain and he was quiet and still.  When the blessing was done, he raised his right hand like he was saying good bye.  Elder Santos and I left and headed to our next appointment.  On Friday we found out that he passed away.  Elder Santos told me he felt he was going to die after the blessing and actually that was how I felt too.  "L's" brother told her after we left that he was ready to die.  I'm so glad that we were there to give that blessing and that the Lord took his pain away before he died.  I'm so thankful for the priesthood.  This week we struggled a bit with teaching.  So I prayed ant thought about what I needed to do and ended up studying diligence.  My focus right now is trying to be really diligent. 

This upcoming week:

This week is the Missionary Leadership Conference.  We are headed down there in a little bit.  I'm excited for it!

That is about all I have for this week, I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Halong kamo.

Love,

Elder Andersen

A jeepney ride this week..not the motorcycle ride from the blog post

Sitting on top of the jeepney

Elder Santos and me 

 

FOREVER FAMILIES

Week 49

Sunday, May 21, 2017

Family and Friends,

First I'd like to say,  "Happy Birthday" to the best "Ate" ever.  Happy Birthday, Ashley!   I hope you have a great day on Sunday!!

Also, I'd like to say how great Skype was last week.  It was so great to see my family and be able to talk to them.  

This week's highlight was the three baptisms we had on Friday.  Nay "R", Sis. "P", and Bro. "J" were all baptized...it was so great.  We had such a fun time and it was a great spiritual experience.  I love baptisms.  These last two weeks have been great though.  Elder Santos and I have been really working hard to try to teach more and find more investigators.  The Lord is really starting to bless us.  We have been getting lots of good referrals and members are getting excited for missionary work.  The two families we are focusing on right now are the "G" family, and the "N" family.  Both of them are referrals and are amazing families . They are ready for this gospel.  One of the "G" girls was able to come to church yesterday.  Hopefully the whole family will come next week.

This Sunday we also had the cool opportunity of attending our District Auxiliary Meeting.  It was really good and it was really cool to get the District Leaders of the Jordan District excited for missionary work, and give them our goals and vision. 

That's really about all I have this week, I hope you all have a great week, I love you all.

Halong Kamo,

Elder Andersen 

The Biggest Bug Ever

Jeepney Ride

The Wedding

#52 Days Shirts

The Baptism

With Elder Santos and Elder Neri

BEST MOTHER'S DAY PRESENT

Week 48
Sunday, May 14, 2017

We didn't get an email from Logan this week since we got to Skype with him on Mother's Day. (Sunday night for us...Monday morning for him.)  We only got to talk for about 40 minutes, but   he sounded SO good and SO happy.  The best part was hearing his voice and listening to him laugh.  He is fluent in Ilonggo and Kinaray-a and it was amazing listening to him talk.  He had a bit of an accent when he spoke English and forgot a few English words while speaking to us.  He loves his mission and the Filipino people so much and his love for our Savior is apparent.  We love him and miss him so much but know he is happy and changing lives.   He loves being a missionary.  

Sister Cruz (Logan's Mission President's Wife) sent me these pictures of Logan last week.  It's the best thing in the world getting unexpected pictures!

With President and Sister Cruz

With Elder Steiner and Elder Neri

With Sister Cruz, Elder Santos, Elder Steiner, Elder Neri and Elder Cobabe

Matching Ties

#52DAYS

Week 47

Monday, May 8, 2017

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope you all had a great week! 

This week I don't have a super crazy story, but I had something really cool happen to me...but I'll get to that later.

So... this week was great we were able to do a lot of good this week.  One great thing that happened was we got a referral from our Branch President's family.  They are so awesome and really help our work.  The referral they gave us was for the "N" Family.  Actually, President Fernandez is a cop and his co-worker was a cop too... but he actually just passed away a few months ago, leaving his wife and four children.  They are so prepared for this gospel we were able to talk with them for a few minutes and it was sooooo good.  Another cool thing that happened this week, was that we went to San Lorenzo again.  It turns out that we have some really good investigators, and the area might be opened up again!  We have been  holding Sacrament Service over there every Sunday too!  Other than that, we are working hard to find new investigators and teach more.  Our baptisms are looking good for May 20th... hopefully the "M" family will be married this week, then their baptism will be on the 20th of May!

The Cool Story of the Week:

In our mission right now we are doing this thing called #52days.  President Cruz was reading in the Old Testament, in Nehemiah, where the walls of Jerusalem are broken but the people "rise up and build" the walls and it only took 52 days.  So... right now we are trying our best to be obedient diligent, and really be good missionaries for 52 days so we can purify the mission.  Right now we have like 30ish days left.  This week in my personal study I prayed and asked God to tell me how to find more investigators. I was reading in 3rd Nephi, chapter 19 and in verse 28 Jesus says " Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou hast given me out of the world, because of their faith, that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them."   On the word purify there's a footnote, and guess where it led... back to Nehemiah and the wall.  When I read this verse I was like WOAH.  And I continued reading, later in verse 35 Jesus says "And it came to pass that when Jesus had made an end of praying he came again to the disciples, and said unto them: So great faith have I never seen among all the Jews; wherefore I could not show unto them so great miracles, because of their unbelief." When I read this verse I wept. This was the first time I have ever cried when reading the Book of Mormon.  I really came to know that this 52 days challenge is real and if I stick true to it we're going to have a lot of success and the Philippines, Iloilo Mission is going to baptize so many families.  I know the Book of Mormon is true and I cannot deny that.  The Book of Mormon has been attacked since it was translated by Joseph Smith and here more than 170 years later it still stands. That's not a coincidence.   I love that book so much and it helps me daily.  I call it "The Book of Answers" because it has all answers to all questions.  Modern day revelation is real and I have a huge testimony of that. 

I love the Book of Mormon, and I love serving Jesus Christ.

Have a great week!

Halong kamo, 

Love, 

Elder Andersen

I Love Buenavista!

The "T" Family.  They're Dope!

Dabbing Pandas!

ALL YOU CAN EAT MANGOES!

Week 46
Monday, May 1, 2017

Hello Friends and family,
I hope you all had a great week!

This week's crazy story isn't too crazy...but it's delicious!!!
This week in Buensvista was the mini opening for the big Mangahhan Festival in Guimaras.  So we had all you can eat mangoes... it wasn't the big contest, but just a practice I guess.  Holy cow, those mangoes may have been the best things I've ever put in my mouth!!! They were soooo SARAP TELEGA.  I loved them...I ate 13 mangoes which is about 8 pounds worth... haha.  Lets just say my stomach and apartment mates suffered... if you know what I mean.  But totally worth it!!!! It was awesome and I cant wait to eat more!!

This week was honestly a little bit of a down week because we didn't have a ton of opportunities to teach, but it was still a good week.  The "M" family, Nay "R", and "M" are all progressing really well, and should, if everything goes as planned be baptized on May 20!!!  It should be a great day!  This Saturday I had the great opportunity to go on splits with My batch, Elder Steiner. It was a lot of fun, we found a ton of new investigators for his area and we had a lot of fun together.  I learned a lot from him and I hope he learned from me as well.

This week we also went to a place called San Lorenzo. The area used to have missionaries but It was closed down about nine months ago.  Members from our branch go up there pretty often to work, so we went with them. It is a great the area, and it is super prepared.  We're trying to get it open again because I think it will progress really well.  San Lorenzo is a very cool place with lots of windmills. It  was a great day...super effective and fun!

That's really all I have today.  I love this work, I love the Philippines, and I love being a missionary!

Halong Kamo dito
Love,
Elder Andersen

San Lorenzo windmills

San Lorenzo

All you can eat mangoes

"Maybe the best thing I've ever put in my mouth!"

Aftermath

The aftermath of the feast.

When your Branch President is a police officer.

Church yesterday