Feb 23, 2011

Hey Family

So this week was really cool actually. Jones and I went out to Subway for lunch... that was about it but it was good thanks. I’m almost positive Elder Jones will be transferred but we don’t know to where. My release date last time I heard was the 19th of May but that was over a year ago so I’ll have to look back into that. But anyway this week was really good.

Remember that man Roberto that I told you about? well I was doing a division with Elder Floyd, a district leader in our zone, in my area and we went to talk to old Roberto. He told us that he prayed about the Book of Mormon and about Joseph Smith and when he asked if it was true something told him to open the book and find out for himself. So he just grabbed it and opened it randomly to the Joseph Smith testimony part and read it and said that he felt the shivers and that the hairs on his arms stood on end... so he said that he knew it was all true... in that moment Elder Floyd challenged him to be baptized that same day. He accepted and said why wait? So Elder Floyd did the interview, and we called a member up who has a car because his knee is broken, and we took him to get baptized... But, the font at the church was empty so we went to a members house where they have a pool and asked if we could use it but they were renting out there guest house and said we couldn’t use it so we took old Roberto to the ocean and at 8:30 at night Roberto Luiz Santos was baptized. I have pictures, it’s just that I forgot my cable in the house, sorry! Next week I’ll send them. It was a really good experience and Roberto is really excited. He got confirmed and everything. It was so cool. And the baptisms that we had planned for this week switched to next week cause she wants to get baptized with her brother so now we have 4 for this week... but at the very least 2. So we’ll see but we are working really hard and having a great time.

We were also walking through the jungle cause it’s a short cut to get to our area and we saw a huge tarantula. It was the biggest thing I’ve ever seen. We also got pictures of it which I’ll send. They told us that when it feels endangered it fills up with air and can shoot poisonous spikes!!! I only found that out after I tried killing it with a stick. Luckily it just ran away ha. But look it up if you want. It’s called a Aranha Caranguejeira. I think that’s how you spell it, but that was cool too. So that was our week in a shell. Hope you’re all doing well. Sounds like you are. I sent off a letter for you guys today so look for it.

Love, Elder Anderson


February 16, 2011

Hey Family!

So, first off…about the money, I was just worried something had happened. But, I’m fine. Thanks for figuring that out and sorry about the 80 bones charge. (We have discovered an international banking charge occurs randomly to Tim’s debit account! Sometimes it takes us by surprise, Tim too!)

I made a voice clip to send you guys so I’ll send that with this email. Elder Jones and I are getting along just fine. He is and will be one of my “homeys” forever. Thanks for the b day wishes too... so I can’t lie. I already opened the stuff! Thanks so much for the book mom... I know how much work those puppys are! (Konni made a scrapbook of our reunion last summer with a count out of Tim involved in everything at the reunion). I loved it! It really made me
miss fishing though. But looks like you all had fun.

Justin thanks for the shirt, it’s sick! (Justin brought back a t-shirt from Italy for Tim that says Vespa.) I wore it today, actually. I’ll send this voice recording and then I’ll try and send some pictures if it sends fast. (Of course, we didn’t get any pictures from Tim.)

Love you all... oh and Dad when I get back we have to go scuba diving!! Living by the ocean for so long now has made me realize that the ocean is its own world... and I have a deep desire
to get to know it!

Well, thanks. I love you all. Take care.


Feb 9, 2011

Hey Everyone,

Sounds like this week sucked for you guys ... but if it makes you feel any better, our week wasn’t too bad ..actually, it hasn’t been the best just that we had a really cool baptism go through Saturday. Her name is Deise. She is 19 and really cool. When we first met her she was
a little bit “ify” to accept baptism but she said if she got an answer from God that she would do it... Well, when she sat down to and read 3 Nephi 11, she said that she felt really good. It comforted her and helped her realize that it was what she needed to do. So she went to church with us and loved it. She made friends really easy cause she is an outgoing person and everything was going fine. The day of her baptism arrived and we went and Elder do Nascimento went and did the interview. She was still excited and stuff. Well, we went back to her house during the day just to plan it all out with her. Well, when we went back we could tell that something was different about her and when we were talking to her she started to cry and said she didn’t know what she wanted to do.

She used to go the Seventh day Adventist church and her aunt is from Jehovas’ Witness and they went to her house and told them a bunch of garbage... literally terrible things. So we gave her a blessing and told her to pray about what she would do and we would wait for her at the church at 7 o’clock if that’s what she decided she wanted. So we left. 7 o’clock rolls around and she doesn’t show...7:30...7:45. So we leave to go to her house and see what was up... well, we took a short cut through the woods… when we got to her house, her mom said, “I don’t know where she is she left and I told her she can’t be baptized.” So we were super bummed cause she was really good... Well then out of nowhere we get a phone call from a member saying that Deise was at her house and that she was wanted to get baptized ... it was now almost 9 at night and Deise had never even met or seen this member. So we were trippin’ not really knowing what was going on. But we got there and this woman had seen a picture of Deise
once, saw her in the street and said, “wait, weren’t you going to get baptized today?” She said, “yeah, my mom wouldn’t let me but I decided I would.” She is over 18, so she can. She said that she went to the church but no one was there cause we had already left. So, anyways long story short, we all walked back to the church and had a really good baptism. It was really good and we challenged her to read the Book of Mormon in one month and she accepted, so that was cool.

Other than that, everything fell this week. But that’s life right! Just gotta go find more peeps to teach. Well I hope that you all are doing better!

Love you all,

Elder Anderson