ONE YEAR, BABY!

Week 53

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Hello Friends and Family, 

First of all, I would like to say happy Father's Day to the best Dad ever!!! My Dad is sooo awesome... I love him soooo much!  I can honestly say that I haven't appreciated him enough in my life.  Dad, I love you and thank you for all you do and have done for me!

This week I'd like to say a little bit about my mission because this past Thursday, I hit my one year mark.  A year ago Thursday, I said goodbye to my family, friends, golf, music, and everything I knew and loved and headed into the Provo, Missionary Training Center.  When I arrived at the MTC, I received a bunch of books that said "Hiligaynon" on them.  I put my ridiculously giant suitcases in my room, then headed to my classroom where my teachers greeted me and didn't speak any English at all...it was so hard.  Fast forward six short weeks to when I arrived in the Philippines, broke the first chair that I sat on...and still had absolutely no clue what was going on.  Now, fast forward one year...here I am today.  I am in the best place in the world. I love the people more than anything, and I feel at home.  I can speak several different languages, and I actually eat something other than pizza and pasta.  This mission has changed my life... it really has. The biggest thing I have learned on my mission is that I can honestly say that I know Jesus Christ.  I know He lives, and I know He suffered for all my sins.  I have learned that He gives revelation to his prophets, and because He doesn't change, He has called prophets for our day.  I have seen soooo many lives change because of this gospel and because of this church.  The work I have done as a missionary in the past year is the best work ever.  I love being a missionary, I love being close to my Savior, and I especially love the Philippines and the people here.  I would just like to finish this letter off with my testimony in Ilonggo 

Kabalo ako nga matoud ang simbahan nga ini. Kabalo aklo nga si Joseph Smith matoud nga propeta kag subong may ara kita ang buhi nga propeta si Thomnas S. Monson, Kabalo ako nga paggi sa ebanhelo ni Jesus Critso pwede kita mangin malipayon, kag pwede kita magupod sa pamila naton hasta wala katupusan. Kabalo ko kig nga buhi si Jesus Cristo kag nagahatag sia mga bugay sa aton adlaw adlaw. 

Plangga ko kamo 

Halong kamo

Love,

Elder Andersen

A FEW QUESTIONS ANSWERED FROM OUR PERSONAL LETTERS:

Q:  How did the ties turn out and how did your zone like the matching ties?

A:  "The ties are awesome.  Everyone loved them.  During our Zone Conference, Sister Cruz (Mission President's Wife) said, "If you're not in the Guimaras Zone, you don't have a guapo tie."

Q:  Do you think Elder Santos will be transferred this next transfer?  (Elder Santos is Logan's companion.)

A:  "Yes, Elder Santos and I only have about two more weeks together.  It's gonna be sad to see him go.  He has been great and we have been the most unified companionship ever.  Elder Steiner will probably transfer too."

One year shirt burning!  

One year baby!

Multi Zone Conference

Multi-Zone conference

Guimaras Zone- matching mango ties

"I LOVE THIS WORK!"

Week 52

Sunday, June 11, 2017

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope you all had great week. Imma just dive into the happenings from this past week.

So, this week we had a super cool experience.  Last Monday, we came home and we got talking to a member who lives right next to us...his name is Willie.  Willie is like thirty now and he served in the Davao, Philippines Mission.  He was an extremely good missionary and baptized over 150 people.  He was also Assistant to the President for seven months.  Let's just say he knows what he's doing when it comes to missionary work.  Whenever we have a chance to chat with him, we take the opportunity.  One thing that's been on my mind is how we can find more investigators and teach more lessons.  He told us about the technique he used on his mission, and WOW!... it is amazing!  So, pretty much what we do, is we sneak into our lessons, kinda hard to explain, but it s amazing. (We open our mouths and get the conversation going and then talk about their interests, and eventually we are able to talk about the church.)  We tried it on Tuesday, the next day, and we taught like nine lessons and had seven new investigators...so amazing!   So, that's what we have been doing, and now we are just sifting through the people that are the most interested.  On Friday, we had a surprise visit from Elder Cobabe. He came to check our apartment, it passed! He told us that we, Elder Santos and I would be giving a training on Thursday at our combined Zone Conference.  Elder Santos and I turned to each other and we were like... OH YEAH..., so. we'll be sharing what Brother Willie taught us.  It's going to be... lit!  

That's really about all have for this week, finding finding and finding, I love it.  I hope you all have a great week, I love this work!

Halong kamo pierme

Paghidaet sa gwa! 

Love,

Elder Andersen

Dabbing with Sister Cruz (Mission President's Wife)

Mango Ties we had made for our Zone for Zone Conference

More dabbing with Elder Santos and Sister Cruz

FIND, FIND, FIND!

Week  51

Sunday, June 4, 2017

Hello Friends and Family,

I hope you all had a great week!

There isn't really a crazy story this week...so I'll just dive into my week!

So, the  MLC (Missionary Leadership Conference) was so lit!  It was amazing and it really got us pumped up for the work.  There were several different trainings given by the Assistants and President Cruz.  The trainings were so amazing and I feel like they were so inspired.  President Cruz said something that touched me.  He said, "This mission is so close to receiving miracles... I can feel it.   I just hope you are doing everything you can do be ready!"  This hit me really hard and it really made me want to work harder, be more obedient, and just be the best missionary I can be.  After the MLC, on Wednesday, we got to work... we have been literally talking to everybody we see, it has been so awesome.  On Thursday, we taught District Meeting to the Zone...it was great and Elder Santos and I talked about our goals and how we want to accomplish them.  I think we motivated the Zone, their work is going so well.  

This week we didn't have a lot of teaching success...it is alright though because we weren't able to work for about four days because of the MLC, P-day, etc.  We have been working hard though and have found a few new investigators and the work is going well with them.  We have three baptisms scheduled for July 1st that all look promising....so that's great!  Right now our main focus is to FIND, FIND, and then FIND some more! 

That is about all I have for this week. 

I love all you guys and I thank you for your prayers. Have a great week!

Halong kamo

Love,

Elder Andersen

Our Zone

Zone

Zone

Missionary Leadership Conference (MLC)

Elder Cobabe (at the MLC)

Elder Merrill (at the MLC)

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