God shows us our weaknesses and miracles always follow

So this week was crazy like usual but it was great. I love my mission but there is one thing that is true, a mission is HARD!  And before my mission I knew I had weaknesses, but I never realized how many I actually had until I was on my mission, especially being in a totally different country with a new language.  Sometimes I feel like one giant weakness, but there is one scripture that I always keep in mind that is in Ether 12:27

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. 

And I just have to remember the lord is showing me all my weaknesses to make me strong. It’s hard but it’s good and I’m definitely learning a lot. At the beginning of the week I was feeling a little hum drum. I just feel like the work is a little dry right now and we didn’t get a baptism for this month. But the other day I was pleading with the lord for us to find SOMEONE who is ready. And on Thursday that is exactly what happen. 

My companion and I went to visit some people, but they weren’t home so we decided to do a little contacting. My companion chose the door and while we were waiting for someone to answer we heard a window open behind us. I looked and saw a little girl and started talking to her. Her name is Jennifer - who was such a little miracle for us, probably because her name is Jennifer (hehe).  We asked her what her name was and how old she was and if we could help her in some way. And she ran and brought someone to the door. She brought a young man and he opened the door and told us to come in and brought us chairs without us really saying anything. Me and my companion looked at each other like, what do we do this never happens. But we talked to him and found out he was recently married and asked him if we could share a message with him and his wife. He said yes so we talked with them and shared the plan of salvation and they loved it.  We invited them to noche de hermanamiento which was that night and they accepted. It’s a night where the ward gets together to share a small message, then have a snack after and they came with us. Oh by the way their names are Jesus and Antonia. They are so cute! And the person giving the message asked a question and Antonia answered! I couldn't believe it! Then afterwards we gave them a tour of the church and then walked them back to their house. They dated for 7 years and have been married for 6 months. The problem with them is Jesus works at megapaca on Sundays. So we are praying for a miracle to happen. We passed by on Saturday to see if Antonia could go to church with us the next day. She wasn't home, so we left a note. We passed by Sunday morning and she left a note on the door saying she left for the weekend but wants us to come visit this week and sorry she couldn't go to church. I couldn't believe it, an investigator from heaven! I’m just praying all will work out with them! It was so awesome!

So let me tell you about the RIDICULOUS part of the week. Last Sunday we were given grilled corn and part of the black grilled part of the corn was on my front tooth. I try to get it off and it went UNDER my gum. Yes…I know…only me.  And I couldn't get it out. I thought I got it out one day but it was still there.  It caused my gum to get all sore so I was like alright I will call the nurse at the mission home and get an appointment with the dentist because I don’t want any problems. So she made the appointment for Saturday because she said the office was closed until the 4th of Nov and I couldn’t put it off for another day. Ok bueno, we went to Xela on Saturday for the dentist. Before we left I verified it was on Saturday and she said yes. The nurse can be a little airheaded sometimes. Sorry rude but soooo true. Anyways, so we left HueHue at 12 and took a bus - that was so crazy!!! It usually takes 2.5 hours to get to Xela but it only took us 2 hours. It was the Indiana Jones ride for two hours, but with real dangers. Only in Guatemala do the buses drive faster and pass all of the cars. My companion and I had to hold on for dear life! Goodness, even the bus driver was holding on for dear life at times. Man it was crazy. And the person that yells out to where the bus is going and takes the money from the people was the son of the bus driver.  The bus driver got a kick out of us nearly sliding off our seats. Afterwards the guy that takes the money blew me a kiss, which was interesting more about that later. Anyways we got some lunch passed by the office for my permission slip, bought some Xela pan and went to the dentist. My appointment was at 4 and we got there at 3:30 to see if he could see me earlier. We got there and there were two giant locks on the door. So we thought maybe he is out to lunch still. So we walked about the park. Xela is gorgeous! Super different from HueHue. But I love my HueHue. Anyways we went back to the dentist and they were still closed. So we sat down in front of it and my companion saw someone working in the parking lot and she decided to ask him what’s up. He said the dentist is closed until Monday. Ooooh great! So I called the nurse to let her know and she decided to call the dentist. And she called me back and said oh they are closed. Oh really…you don’t say…it’s not like I’m in front of the office or anything looking at the door with 2 giant locks on it. She is a gringa and I don’t think she understood exactly when the appointment was. So we went to the terminal where all the buses are at and started our journey home. And guess who was there waiting for us? Yep, you got it, the same bus driver and his gang. And they were like…oh you’re back! Join our bus. But there was no way in the world we were going to go through that again. There is a bus we usually take on the way back that more comfortable than the others and it stops off exactly in front of our house. But the crazy bus driver talked to me and told me that his son thinks that I am cute…blah blah blah. And the guy that blew me a kiss and was super excited to see me too and they tried to convince us to change buses. There were two other sisters who joined the bus too. And if for anything we went to Xela for them. Because they didn’t have any money and there aren’t buses that time of night that go to their area so we helped them with a taxi.

Also on the bus there was a lady with her two kids and there weren’t any seats left so I gave her mine. So I was standing up in the bus and I’m just a giant person for this country. And I couldn’t stand up straight, but there was an emergency exit on the roof that I could put my head in. That was nice. But hey at least we have some Xela pan now. hahaha 

But get this I got the black thing out of my tooth yesterday with NO problem. You better believe I taped it in my journal. haha 

That’s about all I have to report this week. Well…the highlights anyways. We went zip lining today which was so fun! Pictures to follow 

Love and miss you guys hope you are having a great week. Thanks for the love and support. 

Remember God shows us our weaknesses and miracles always follow after. 

Love you all 

Hna Anderson 

We went to Scotland today!

So this p-day was pretty sweet. We had an activity with the hna's and we went up a mountain which has two abandoned houses and the most gorgeous view of all of huehue. It was so pretty! It was colder up in the mountains so it felt like Scotland and looked like Scotland with the green hills and the sheep. It was awesome. We were allowed to wear pants today and I felt super faaaaaaaaaaaat. Missing my skirt for the air and for the fact it hides my fat. Anyways enough of that. But yeah, today was super awesome. And afterwards we went to a Mexican restaurant which was super delish. But let me tell ya the bus ride up was horrible. I felt like I was going to puke and die.  My legs were smashed against the back of the seat. Sorry ranting about random stuff. 

On Tuesday for district meeting the AP´s came to talk to us about talking to 10 people every day. The new AP is so AWESOME  - future apostle right here! Seriously!! He gave an awesome talk. It was what I needed. Then after the AP’s finished the stake president (who lives in our ward) came and talked to us. It was what we call a machete. But it was a smooth and a much needed machete. He talked about the difference of casualidad and causalidad. Which is chance and reason (I think reason I don’t know the translation of the other word in English) but he talked about how this is a great reason and a purpose why we are here. There is no chance in the plan of God. It was so awesome. And he also told us that he if doesn’t think the missionaries are good. Like disobedient and other stuff. He calls our president of the mission and asks him to kick them out of the area if they are being lazy, which is a little intimidating. But he is such an awesome guy and doesn’t mess around when it comes to the work of the Lord.

I had the weirdest lesson of my life! There is a guy we are teaching named Leonel. Not the Leonel from the familia de Leon another Leonel. He lived in Missouri and he told us that he tried to kill himself 7 times and was in the prison for drugs and all sorts of stuff. But when he was in prison he found God. And now he is an evangelist. Love the evangelist’s, great people but a little crazy.  Anyways he knows the bible inside and out let me tell ya. And he looooooooooooves to talk. Anyways we taught him about the BOM. And one day we were trying to teach him the restoration. We were in the middle of the grand apostasy and he was going to ask Hna Lopez a question and asked "Hna Lopez.... wait why can’t I know your first name?" then we explained why. Then we were all, I understand and blah blah blah then he said, “oh do you guys have songs in your church?”   And we said yes. Then he asked, “will you sing me one?”  So we sang Teach me to Walk in the Light. Then he said, “Oh I want to sing you a song”. Then he sang for us it was super interesting. Then he told us there was something in his heart he wanted to tell us and he started praying really loudly and crying. Really weird. Really random. But he went to church on Sunday. Just for sacrament cause after he left to teach the people in prison. But yeah we will see how things go with him... 

The best lesson we had this week was with Sandra. A member of the familia de Leon. We have a goal of baptism for her this Saturday. Her thing is she wants to get baptized after she finishes school. But she had a very powerful dream and KNOWS that this church is true after that dream. The thing is, she just doesn’t feel prepared. But we talked to her and explained so much and how much the church with bless her family.  We talked about temples and also how Satan attacks us when we are trying to the right thing. It was awesome and I hope tonight or tomorrow this date with be a sure thing as well with her brother. They are so awesome and just so unbelievably intelligent and SO READY for this gospel it was amazing. 

The language is coming along every day and gets better.  I can’t believe I’m about to complete my 5 months in the mission and I can’t believe it’s so close to Nov! I’m excited for the 31st here. They don’t have tricking o treating. And in Huehue they only have a serenada. Where the men sing to their girlfriends. There is just a ton of music and everything. The members say it’s an awesome night. So I hope we will be able to see part of it. 

I love my mission so much. It’s such a wild experience. It can be so hard and so stressful but it’s so amazing! I love all these amazing people I get to meet. And I can’t believe if I never decided to go on my mission I never would have met these people. They are incredible! I have made so many amazing friends here and have learned a TON! And still have a lot to learn. I love this gospel and I love my Savior. It’s so incredible that he knows every single one of these people and he wants them to follow him. And I have the opportunity to help Him in this work. It’s awesome. It’s hard but it’s awesome. I love you all and miss you soooo much! Thanks for all the love and support. 

Lots of love from crazy huehue,

Hna Anderson   (See Pictures new pictures on blog picture page)
http://hermanalindsie.blogspot.com/p/lindsies-mission-photos.html

p.s. pretty sure my body is craving daylight savings time. I’m so stinking tired this week it’s ridiculous. So when you have the extra hour of sleep enjoy it for me. haha

Hoooooooooooooola from HueHue

So p-day last week roooocked! P-day in Xela! And it was so amazing to be part of my companion meeting her siblings for the first time. They are an amazing family. The language thing was so confusing because they are from Chicago and speak English and Spanish so everything was in both languages. We had lunch at the house of the friend of Hna Lopez’s dad who lived in Chicago at one point. It was such a fun lunch getting to know her family they are super cool. Lots of laughs. They are catholic and they did a blessing on the food - such a weird experience. After dinner we went to Xela pan (bread store) then the park. There was a festival that day and tons of people and music it was so hard to resist the urge to dance. Then at 5:30 we left for HueHue. It was such an amazing experience and i am so happy for my companion. 

This week was stressful but good, but not every eventful. We set a baptism date with the familia Deleon. Because they want to wait a year to be baptized they said they would pray about it. So I’m praying my guts out they accept. They are so awesome and need this gospel. We watched Finding Faith in Christ before the invitation to be baptized, so the spirit was super strong. The spirit is the strongest when we testify of Christ. I just hope and pray they accept. Also we set a date with Veronica one of the chicas (ladies) that worked with Sonia. But Sonia works somewhere else. And the people that owned the tortillaria decided to sell it to someone else. So Veronica is partly our investigator and partly the elders where she lives. One problem right now is our area is sooooooooooooooooo small. And all of investigators this week left our area. And all of our referrals live out of our area. So that’s a challenge. But yesterday I had a feeling we needed to visit someone we haven’t for a while. Her dad in less active and we taught her the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I asked her to be baptized if she knows that this church is true and she said ‘yes’ and my companion invited her for the end of this month. I hope and pray we can have this baptism. 

We had a super amazing experience this week with one investigator we always visit but they don’t let us in but are super nice. We asked her about her kids and she told us she has a special needs daughter. And we asked if we could come and visit her daughter and sing to her. And on Saturday we visited her. She is so beautiful and loves music. She has a little radio she always listens too. Singing to her was such an awesome experience. And now we know exactly what we need to teach them. It was awesome.

Sunday was fast Sunday and it was a great Sunday. We had four hours of church because Veronica showed up when we had like 10 minutes left of church. So we took her to Sunday school in the other ward. Lunch yesterday was with Hna Froley, the mom of Froley. She is such of love. But it was with a huge chunk of their extended family. There was a lot I didn’t understand that lunch but it was awesome. The little baby there had the first name Anderson. So they would say Anderson a lot. And I was like what did I do? It was so weird. 

But all is well. Loving the mission. Running out of time. Hope all is well. Miss you love you all. Thanks for the love and support always. Talk to you next week.

Hna Anderson 

This week was a little rough I have been beating myself up a little bit about the language. But I have just tried to remember the Lord called me here and needs me here for a reason even when sometimes I can’t see my purpose.  

Buenas DIAS from Xela!

Today is the day that my companion gets to meet her family. So I’m writing you from Xela. Feeling a little bus sick but I’m so excited for my companion and hope all goes well. 

 As you all know yesterday was conference. How amazing was conference?! I only had to watch one session in Spanish. Which was funny because I didn’t get a whole lot out of it. And then President Monson says this is one of the most spiritual conferences of his life. Oops, I will have to download and listen to the talks later. One thing that was super amazing was when they were praying and talking about the missionaries. It was like wow that’s me! I have received so much help when I have needed it. And I loved how President Monson and everyone is trying to get the members to work with the missionaries more. Yes my ward is great and they support us, but we need their help finding the souls that are ready for the gospel. But conference was so great and I have so much more to work on. I never knew how many weaknesses and faults I had until I went on a mission. It’s hard to be so aware of them because sometimes they are not helpful but at the same time it’s so great to know them because now I know how to change them. I absolutely bawled my eyes out with Elder Holland’s talk. It was so amazing. And I could just picture everyone in our family one day feeling absolutely happy. We had one of our investigators come to conference. I hope it will help her make the decision to be baptized. 

 Another amazing thing happened this week. Sonia got a new job. Something went down at her work but it’s exactly what she needed. Now she works from 7- 4:30 and doesn’t work on Sundays. So now she can go to all of the meetings and go to mutual. This was such an answer to my prayers. And we promised her that Heavenly Father would make things possible for her if she got baptized. But I had no idea how, but God is a God of Miracles and a loving Father. I am so happy about this. 

This week we had an awesome zone meeting. Our theme this month is Sacrifices. And we all are on a 40 day fast of little things that we do wrong. To be more obedient and receive more blessings. I have a lot to sacrifice. One of which is just my little fears. I hope to receive so much help for these 40 days from Heavenly Father and I hope we as a zone can get the baptisms. For two months in a row we have been the highest baptizing zone. Our goal this month is for 25 baptisms. If we do this we get to go to the temple. Which is so awesome! So bring on the baptisms! 

So the best thing that happened to me material wise this past week was on last Monday. As a zone we ate at McDonalds. Let me tell ya that hamburger was delish! But we had to eat it in the parking lot, (haha) but that wasn’t important to me as I was stoked to have a hamburger. Anyways after that we went to Mega Paca! Let me tell ya I looooooove Pacas especially Mega Paca because everyone here is super short and there are a ton of long dresses and skirts. I bought 5 skirts. 5 shirts and a night gown for 148 quetz or 21 dollars. Flipping rocked! 

Right now the work is a little dry, we don’t have a lot of investigators but I know there are souls that need us - we just have to find them some way or another. For conference we basically invited everyone. People here are super oriented in God. When you ask someone how they are they always say thanks to God I’m good. So one problem is people are super evangélico (evangelical) or católico (catholic). 

Oh yeah, on Friday we had an activity to get more investigators. We had a night at the movies and we gave tickets to our ward and told them to bring a friend. And the tickets had the name of the person and who invited them. But nobody brought anyone. And a lot didn’t show up. And we had a million problems with the movie. We watched “17 Miracles”. That movie is so awesome. It was in English with Spanish subtitles so it rocked for me. Their sacrifices were amazing. But after that I was super homesick. Because of the fake Scottish accents and one lady in it said wee bonnie lass. But now it’s all good. Sometimes it’s just sooooooo good to listen to English. The language is coming along every day, gets a little better. 

Oh yeah, because it was the last Monday before changes Froley invited us to FHE and I had to give the lesson. I was so flipping nervous because one it was my first lesson for FHE and two it was in Spanish, but it all turned out ok. The best part about it was we got to see what Froleys house looks like. Their house is huge and square and on the first floor as you enter it is just open space with mottos and a car and a bench and two pilas. And me and my companion have been dying to know what their house looks like upstairs. Oh my heck it is such an AWESOME house! Probably the coolest house in huehue. And they had couches and big couches. I miss couches. 

But that’s about all I remember right now. I love my mission. It’s ridiculously hard. But so amazing. I’m learning so much. Especially about our Savior Jesus Christ and his atonement. Never forget his atonement is there to use. It’s healing. It makes the darkest times brighter. I love this gospel and I know it’s true. Thanks for all your love and support. Miss you guys like crazy! When I was watching conference I just wanted them to show the audience so by some chance I could see someone I know. I only know one person in Mo-Tab and let me tell you it was awesome to see him. Anyways I’m all over the place.

But I love you. Seguir adelante

Much Love

Hna Anderson 

p.s. I wish you all were here just to try Xela pan. que bueno pan. Best bread and pastries in the world.