Monday, January 29, 2018

NEW OPPORTUNITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

WEEK 85
Monday, January 29, 2018

Hello Friends and Family, 
I hope you all had a great week; I have some big news for this week...
On Saturday, I received a call from President Cruz telling me that I would be transferring...the funny thing is I don’t have an area (haha) because I will be a AP ( Traveling Assistant to the President.) I am super excited and humbled about this opportunity, and I am excited to drive around again. So I’m not too sure who my new companion will be, but there are four of us that will be traveling and doing things such as apartment checks, delivering supplies, and going on exchanges with missionaries. It should be a lot of fun, but I am honestly am not ready to leave Kalibo. I love it here and we have so many progressing investigators.

This week was amazing though.  The work is amazing and the work here has been sooo good.  We would have been having around ten baptisms in February, but that is alright! This week I had a great opportunity to go on Exchanges with Elder Geocadin, my companion in Jaro. It was so fun... I miss him so much, and it was just a blast. On Sunday, we had eight investigators at Sacrament Meeting.  Let’s just say, the Lord has been throwing blessings on the Kalibo 1st area.  It was good to see Elder Merrill going home too.  We really worked so hard until the very last minute of his mission.

I’m sorry I don’t have a lot to say. I am excited for this new calling, I will miss the work of a normal missionary though. I hope you all have a great week.  I love you all.

Love Your Favorite, 
Elder Andersen
Halong Kamo 


Family Home Evening

Kalib0

With Elder Geocadin







Monday, January 22, 2018

ATI-ATIHAN FESTIVAL

Week 84
Monday, January 2, 2018

Hello Friends and Family,
I hope you all had a great week...

Well... Let's just say Ati-Atihan was this week, so this was definitely a harder week...hahah. But, it was... interesting. Honestly, until now I wasn't quite sure what Ati-Atihan was haha.  So, an ATI is the native/indigenous people in the Philippines. They have super dark skin.  In the Ati-Atihan Festival, people paint themselves black, and celebrate El Santo Nino. So...people were drinking, dancing, drinking, dancing with El Santo Nino... drinking, drinking, drinking, and drinking, I'm pretty sure at one point all of Kalibo was drunk except for the members of the church... haha. 

Even with this crazy festival going on, we were able to visit a lot of members and become really close with them.

This week we also had our Zone Conference, it was really good, it was basically just an overview of the rules.  It was fun to be back with Elder Infante and Elder McAllister for a little bit...they slept over at our house. 

But, back to the members... A new rule in our mission is that we aren't allowed to tract. The new game plan is referrals, referrals, referrals. We've been visiting a lot of members and receiving a lot of referrals. It has been really good. We have become closer with the members and I am just so excited! It has been amazing! 

Other than that, this week was great and a lot of fun, I'm glad Ati-Atihan is over though and that we can get back to our normal.


Mahal ko kayo lahat 

Love, 
Elder Andersen 

Mang Inasal, with the boys...work!

When a seven year old knows how to drive a trike.


Zone T-Shirts

Zone T-Shirts







Zone T-Shirts

Thursday, January 18, 2018

MORE NEW EXPERIENCES

Week 83
Monday, January 15, 2018

Hello friends and family! 

I hope you all had a great week.  This week was very good!

After our p-day (preparation day)  last Wednesday, we did some more Zone Leader things.  We traveled around our zone on Thursday and Friday, teaching the missionaries in our zone about the new things that came out at MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference). It was a lot of fun, but unfortunately, it took time away from the work in our area.  However, we really saw some miracles this week. 

On Saturday, we taught one of the coolest lessons ever to a guy named "J".  "J" is a wealthy lawyer, is very good at English, and cool. We went to his house on Saturday morning and taught him for two hours.  It was amazing... he asked such great questions.  He and his family are interested...I am so excited for them. It is such a cool experience teaching someone who has a really strong background in the Bible, and showing him how the Book of Mormon goes hand in hand with it. It was so fun, and I can't wait to teach him again. We have also been having a lot of success with our two deaf investigators.  I'm lucky because Elder Merrill knows ASL, and he can teach them...I'm learning it as well. They are progressing so well, and we love them so much.  

Then on Sunday, we had a big miracle happen that honestly we just realized this morning. We had nine investigators at Sacrament Meeting, and we received a bunch of referrals. It was amazing...most of the investigators that came to Sacrament Meeting were brought by a member or an investigator. It was amazing because we have been so busy and have had literally no time to work in our area.  But, we have been working hard and doing our best.  We know we have been blessed...I love how the Lord works.  The work is great and I love serving my Lord. 

This week was amazing and to make it even better, last Wednesday a member bought and brought us Subway from Boracy. I loved it. This week I also had the opportunity to try Durian, a fruit this week. It smelled so bad and tasted horrible!  It was terrible...especially for the next few days, every time I would burp, I would get the taste all over again!

Last night we also had our interviews with President Cruz which were really good. We as the Zone Leaders got to spend some time with him and his Assistants after the interviews were over.  It was a lot of fun! 
I love this work and I love being a missionary. It is the best thing ever!
Mahal ko kayo lahat 
Love,
Elder Andersen


Sorry I didn't take many pictures this week, kinda forgot, but here's the subway and Durian!


Subway

Durian

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

RAIN AND FLOODS


Week 82
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
(P-Day is Wednesday this week because of a Missionary Leadership Conference on Monday and Tuesday.)

Hello Friends and Family, 

I hope you all have had a great week!  

This week was great, we had some success! Unfortunately, we've had a lot of Zone Leader responsibilities that have taken up a lot of time, but we've been working hard and had some good success. 

So,  this week it rained... a lot!  There have been tons of floods, really UNREAL!   We were able to do some service projects that ended up being really good!   I was able to go on exchanges with an elder...Elder Rifareal.  It was s lot of fun.  We were on Exchanges when all the floods happened..so the work was hard, but it was still so much fun. I also learned some great things from this Exchange, so it was great. I honestly love having a Filipino companion! I love the Filipino people so much! 

We also had a great opportunity this week of meeting with the Stake Presidency and Bishoprics in our Stake and Zone. It was great and we got some great advice from all of them. We are exited to implement their advice into our Zone!  Monday and yesterday were a lot of fun because of our MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference).  I learned a lot, but let's say I'm happy to be back in Kalibo. The travel to Iloilo is five hours each way. 

Sorry about the short email, we are out of time.  I love you and hope you all have a great week!

Love, 
Elder Andersen

The floods 

bishop and his family and the sisters 




Missionary Leadership Conference

MLC

MLC

MLC

MLC

With President and Sister Cruz

Me with a couple of my Batch Mates

The Floods

Elder Rifareal

The Bishop and his family






Monday, January 1, 2018

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Week 82
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
(P-Day is Wednesday this week because of a Missionary Leadership Conference on Monday and Tuesday.)

Hello Friends and Family, 

I hope you all have had a great week!  

This week was great, we had some success! Unfortunately, we've had a lot of Zone Leader responsibilities that have taken up a lot of time, but we've been working hard and had some good success. 

So,  this week it rained... a lot!  There have been tons of floods, really UNREAL!   We were able to do some service projects that ended up being really good!   I was able to go on exchanges with an elder...Elder Rifareal.  It was s lot of fun.  We were on Exchanges when all the floods happened..so the work was hard, but it was still so much fun. I also learned some great things from this Exchange, so it was great. I honestly love having a Filipino companion! I love the Filipino people so much! 

We also had a great opportunity this week of meeting with the Stake Presidency and Bishoprics in our Stake and Zone. It was great and we got some great advice from all of them. We are exited to implement their advice into our Zone!  Monday and yesterday were a lot of fun because of our MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference).  I learned a lot, but let's say I'm happy to be back in Kalibo. The travel to Iloilo is five hours each way. 

Sorry about the short email, we are out of time.  I love you and hope you all have a great week!

Love, 
Elder Andersen




Missionary Leadership Conference

MLC

MLC

MLC

MLC

With President and Sister Cruz


Me with a couple of my Batch Mate

The Floods

The Bishop and his family