Sunday, April 5, 2015

PATIENCE

Monday, March 30, 2015

"Patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something...even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!"

Man I love that quote. As I think about Easter, I think about the unending patience of our Savior. As a personal mission goal, I've been studying one attribute of Christ every month in an effort to really try to master it. For the month of April I've chosen patience. Patience to baptize. While I have been out almost 7 months I still have not baptized, but I have no doubt in the hundreds of seeds that I have planted. All of us know how seeds turn into trees right? That seed (we will call it faith) takes A LOT of time and patience to turn into a big and fruitful tree. Well the ultimate goal of missionary work is eventually making temple covenants with our family, the first step is Faith and then you add A LOT of patience and time and eventually you have a little tree; baptism. After that the tree grows, testimonies grow, conviction to the covenants we have already made and the doctrine we know and practice, and then the tree gives yield to fruit. And that is when the Lord looks down on the tree and says, "You did it! Welcome to my kingdom." That's my mission goal. I don't need a mission of baptisms if i know that I've at least spread a million seeds. And whats the magic ingredient to a big fruitful tree that comes from a tiny little seed? PATIENCE.

Remember that the Lord is ever patent with us when we doubt and try to rush things in our own time. The Lord knows the best time for everything and so ultimately we have no reason to despair with a constant knowledge of hope. Just as fruit comes with time, blessings come with a lot of patience applied to every growth in faith.

I love you and I love my Savior and how long-suffering and patient He is with me.

Sister Anderson

Sister Andersen (current companion) and my mom Sister Kelly

Guaraná Jesus!! From Maranhão 

View of Ribeirão from a members apartment

CONVIDAR SEM DUVIDAR

Monday, March 23, 2015

Invite without doubting! (it sounds way cooler in Portuguese) If you think you cant do something you are right. If you think you CAN do something, you are also right. A lot of missionary work is talking to complete strangers and starting off your conversation with "Hi I'm a missionary...." and a lot of times the conversations ends with "And?" or "Im evangelical" haha, so the point is that really there are a lot of opportunities to get discouraged and frustrated if you let the opinions of the world trump the doctrine of God. On Sunday we had a ward conference and the Bishop gave a talk and talked about the story of the "Little Engine that Could". I immediately thought of my older Brother Cam hahah at first I wasnt sure why but then I remembered all the times he encouraged me with these words "I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN".  I'd like to adapt that to missionary work. Not only for full time missionaries, but for everyone with a testimony of Christ and a burning desire to spread His light to illuminate the lives of others. If you think you can, you can. The best part about that statement isn't the "you" but it's the "can". It's the action that comes after your faithful desire to do something that may seem beyond your capacity. You put in 1 percent and the Lord does the rest. You have to think and act like that little engine though. You have to take the first little chug on the track which may be simply opening your mouth to invite someone to church, or writing a letter to your friend and including your testimony of the Savior. All the Savior asks is that we first do SOMETHING. That's what helps me as a missionary. Knowing that no matter how many people reject me or tell me no or even tell me that what I believe is wrong, it doesn't hurt because "I know I can, I know I can" through the power of the Lord!

JUST RELY! SÓ CONFIE!

all my love

Sister Anderson

it was "cold" like 75 degrees and so we HAD to wear sweaters haha

We had an amazing mission tour with Elder Grual of the 70 and I got presents from Sister Kelly´s family!
Her cute grandma made me a skirt owwwwwww
 
Sis andersen sis Kelly at mission tour

6 months!!!!!! 6 reais hahaha

6 MONTHS!!!

Monday, March 16, 2015

MY GOODNESS TIME FLYS WHEN YOU ARE PREACHING THE GOOD WORD!!! haha Seriously though, time is passing so fast and I want it to stop!!! One third of the way down and yet I have so very much to learn and to do!!

So this week was way good because the members are working with us and they gave us 7 references and then on top of that went with us to the lessons and then on top of THAT they talked to the investigators afterwards on their own time and shared more of their testimonies!!! Wow, how different the work of the Lord is when His children who have knowledge of the gospel are spreading it to those who have been prepared and are ready to hear it, being placed into their lives as coworkers or neighbors or random people in stores they always go to! way too cool! So me and my companion, Sister AndersEn (haha so funny), made a goal for the week to do 100 contacts. So it was Sunday and we needed 10 more to reach our goal (and then or course one more to overcome it hahah) so we were at a members house visiting with her and cooking because she just had surgery when we came up with an idea for our last ten contacts. She lives o the 2nd floor of an apartment building right across the street from a Japanese restaurant okay. She we go out on her balcony and sang in harmony "Nearer My God to Thee" in English, ya know, to capture even more attention, and than we went down and contacted all the 10 people that 'happened" to be outside of the restaurant eating!! Such a cool way to end the week and get ur goal! Plus I'm singing, in public, for other people. That's a miracle in itself. haha

Spiritual lesson:
Set your goals and then take them to the Lord. Then when he gives you a "how" for your goals run out of your comfort zone and just do it! In this case who knows how many of the ten people we sang to will get baptized, but it doesn't matter for us right now because we planted a seed! And seeds grow with just a tiny amount of faith!!! Such a cool spiritual experience and it was way fun!! Anyways, know that I have six months and sang from a balcony, I'M ON MY WAY!!!!!!

love you!!

Sister Anderson

Me and a baby turtle :)

Im a Fruitcake

Contact 101 with a piece of cake and pass along card for our neighbor :)