The Rain in Spain falls mainly on the Philippines?

Mother, I appreciate the address for Shane. I was actually looking through the letters I have to write (now a very backed up qeue) and saw the returned one from about 7 months ago. And then I sighed with regret because the pictures, topics, and questions were all outdated and yet I still had no idea how to get it to him. So I’ll get that one sent. With a current events stickynote on the top.Speaking of current events…. We were mentioned in Conference!!!! Yeah. It wasn’t bad at all. We just trudged through impromptu rivers all day Thursday and finally got power back on. It was actually pretty fun at first, but you can only sing the one line of “singing in the rain” that you can still remember so many times before it gets a little old. Then your companion tells you about a friend who suddenly died one day because she had fed chickens and the feces got into an open wound in her foot. Then you think about the cuts you just got yesterday on your feet and the fact that the now submerged bridge two branches wide without handholds you are crossing used to have a couple pig pens next to it and you wonder what besides water is rushing past your feet. You would also figure people would have pity on us and let us in. The effect was opposite, as now they didn’t even want to come out and tell us to go away. They just kind of waved from the doorway. So when we got home my companion cooked us a big pot of sopas (soup for those of you who don’t speak Tagalog) which is an ethnic dish here in the Philippines, faithfully cooked from Filipino generation to Filipino generation since it was ethnically imposed into Filipino culture by the Spanish Rulers.Also, I had a good talk with the Pratts, senior couple here in Roxas Zone. After several corrections to call him Elder, and not sir, he suggested that I look into sorbathane inserts. I don’t know what they are, but they sound like a good idea. As well as cookie dough and apple cinnamon poptarts. Also I am supposed to ask you if you know brother John Erickson, their son in law that is studying at Memphis for optometry. Apparently he served in Baguio and is fluent in Illokano. So if you meet him tell him: napintas ti balasang ditoy. That’s if he looks like a fun guy. If he looks a little more serious tell him to lighten up, and then tell him that the girls here are pretty(see translation above).So I had a great time at General Conference. It was great. I especially liked Elder Hollands talk. (I originally had his whole name, but wasn’t sure of the spelling [two f’s or one?] and decided that wouldn’t be very missionary like if I spelled it wrong). But I know that everyone probably had that as their favorite, so I’ll choose another to be original.….…Ok, so I can’t get past it. That one really was my favorite. It was really great to hear so strongly seeing as we usually hear the opposite side just as strong. Also I can’t remember anyone else specifically by name. Yes, once again, not very missionary-like. But I really enjoyed the whole theme of being recognized as disciples by our love for others. I helped me think a lot. Also the parenting thing, because In my new responsibility I sometimes have to deal with child-like behavior. I’m trying to find a balance between the carrot and the stick. The thing is I don’t have that many carrots. Also, Filipino carrots are about the size of dad’s smoked weenies with barbeque sauce. So I don’t know how appealing that is. Also I liked the treatise on the attributes of the Godhead. Very smooth reasoning, flow, and presentation. I wish I was that good at explaining it.Also, I enjoy the fact that Filipinos are not shy about singing in public at all, especially if they’re watching music videos on the computer next to me while wearing headsets.I’m doing well with my companion, and his family owns an extremely cheap seaside hotel thing with free cooking for only 20 bucks a night. Possible vacation destinations…. I love you all. Take care. Also congratulations to Kyle Taylor on his mission call. He's grown up so fast. It seems like only a couple summers ago that we were hiding jugs of milk in bushes outside the primary room and seeing if we could get it to solidify over time.

The Latest from Bilbao

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I AM NOW LEGAL IN SPAIN!!!! I have for the last time(unless I go serve there) gone to the wonderful city of León and picked up my last residency card. No more will I be shackled by the chains of illegal residence and expired visas. I can now stay and live here for 3 more years if I wanted to. Feels good. That is one of the benefits of having a close relationship with your residency secretary....like being his companion. My card has been waiting at an office in León for 2 months but i haven´t been able to get there. A few missionaries went to try, but the people wouldn´t let them, even though they had a signed copy of my passport. So i finally got tired of waiting and I was like. Okay, Elder Strickland I´m going this Thursday to get it. And he was like, Alright. So wham! That´s that. It was a pretty good trip to. Right before i got on the 4 hour train ride we met some folk singers from California that are touring Spain and one lady grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana. She went to Captain Shreve high, so I was like, sweet. I am totally going to convert these people on the train ride. So I sit down in my seat and it is on the complete other end of the train than them. And I was getting ready to go over and sit in a seat by them, when i remembered that the train stops 1 hour into the trip and changes cars, where everybody gets out and stretches. So I was like, I will wait until then. Then a 32 year old spanish lady sat by me so I started talking to her and found out she just got married on Saturday. So I talked a lot with her then when we switched trains I talked to the folk singers. They really didn´t want to talk to me(I´m not taking it personally, it´s the badge) so I got back on the train and spent the next 3 hours talking to this spanish lady. She was really nice. It was cool, cause I could tell her a lot about myself and missionaries, but in a friendly way. It´s not like I just stopped her on the street and want a visit with her, but that I wanted to talk to her and create a friendship, then share what I knew with her. Because of who we are and what we are doing and how we dress, the topic will always eventually drift to the church. And so she started talking about bad stuff that happens in life and her friend who lost some children and I was able to then testify about the plan of Salvation. i didn´t teach the lesson, but as a friend, I let her know that there was a point to this life, that there is more than just working and living, and that knowing this purpose and being happy with it is only possible through following Heavenly Father. It was super tight. And super scary. i think i felt how Dad must feel a lot when he shares the gospel with everybody and i have to say, I give him major props. Especially knowing that it would be so easy if you weren´t a missionary to just let those opportunities go by. So she didn´t really want to talk to the missionaries or anything, but now she definately will know where to go that time in her life when she needs the gopsel. I had fun in León, cool visits, awesome elders there. Really good friends. Elder Nestvogel and I went and played basketball yesterday morning(I just shot around cause I knew he would cream me.) We started playing pig and then 3 cops come out of nowhere (7:30 in the morning and still dark) and two come from behind us. So we talk to them and they tell us it´s too early to be playing basketball and neighbors called to complain from the noise. So we tell them we´ll stop and they ask for our residency cards. I hadn´t brought mine so I told him and he looked really surprised and asked where I was from. So we told him, USA and Germany and he was like, oh. Then they let us go so we went home. But a Spanish Elder told us that it´s illegal to go somewhere without your residency card and he could have fined us a few hundred euros each for that. I thought it was stupid, but oh well. Weird laws in spain. The rest of the week has been pretty crazy. On Tuesday we got new missionaries and that was fun. They are excited. What else? I can´t really remember. I´m just having fun and this weekend is going to rock. And monday I will have to catch up from being out of the office for a few days : ( Alright. I hope you all have a great week and I love you all. General Conference was amazing. Study it. Especially Elder Scott´s first talk on following the spirit/receiving revelation. Good stuff. And halfway through he laid the ultimate smack down on pornography. They know what´s up, and exactly what we should avoid to be able to respond to the spirit. Well, i love you. -Elder Anderson

Brett's Words--"Number Crunching"

Ok, so promise you won´t freak out. I swear I had no idea. I´m just kidding, I kind of knew, but wasn´t sure so I didn´t mention it before now. What am I talking about? let´s go back to last Thursday during weekly planning:

Elder Garcia and I were having a great time planning for all of our awesome investigators and chowing down on some homemade fruit salad, and we are just about to finish up when...We get a call from President Clegg. So we look at each other and Elder Garcia answers it "Hey, President. How are you?"
"oh I´m fine. Elder Garcia are you sick?"
"no" "oh, well is Elder Anderson sick?"
"no."
"oh...well you´re going to be sick when I tell you this!"

I have to say that our President is the coolest mission president ever. He then proceeded to tell Elder Garcia that he was going to have the opportunity to train a brand new Elder here in Pontevedra and how important it is. So after praising Elder Garcia immensely, he then let him know how serious and important this calling is. And then he passed the phone to me.
"hey, Elder Anderson, are you out of bed yet?" (it was 2:00)
"yeah, kind of president."
"really though?"
"well I actually have a hard time with that President."
"you should probably try a little harder with that"
"ok President"
"Well, I wanted to tell you that you will be leaving Pontevedra. And you will be getting a lot closer to us than you probably ever wanted to be."

I repeat, coolest man ever. He then proceeded to tell me that I am leaving Pontevedra on Wednesday and taking an 11 hour train ride to----------Bilbao! Actually a part of it called Las Arenas. And that I will be the new financial secretary for the Spain Bilbao mission. What!? Ok, so I know I´m good with numbers, but I really don´t want to be jumping on the Elder Gilmore bandwagon(I heard through the rumor mill that he was secretary or something, maybe you could send me a bit of his recent emails or whatever). But yeah, all joking aside, I am stoked. President Clegg told me that we are still missionaries first and that we are "teaching and baptizing missionaries" so I can still do the fun stuff. He also said we set the example in the mission and, "as the office goes, so goes the rest of the mission". He also told me what a big responsibility it is to be in charge of the church´s money and that I should avoid stealing all of it and escaping to France. I repeat he rocks and now I am going to be working with him and Hermana Clegg a lot.

I am super excited for this next step. But that brings me back to leaving Pontevedra. When I left Logroño I didn´t have too many ties, left my first area to go tear up my second one and be better. I also didn´t have too many cool investigators or close member friends to leave. But this is different. I think in a big way I grew up in Pontevedra. I love the members, I love the city, I love the investigators. I have seen the best examples of how people´s lives are better by following the Gospel than I have ever seen. I have met and worked with members who are some of the strongest, best people I have met.

This last transfer we have been throwing up the best numbers and best success that this city has seen in more than a year, and between that there was almost nothing. I don´t want to leave. I gave my farewell testimony in church yesterday and it was super sad. Christian, the man we baptized back in February got up and had Elder Garcia translate his testimony(Christian is from Ghana and doesn´t speak much spanish) and Christian thanked God for bringing the missionaries to me and thanked me personally.

This has been the happiest time of my mission, this last transfer. But I know I have done what I needed to do, I have left the area better than how I found it, I have left the Rama (branch) better than how I found it. And I worked my guts out here, and because of that I don´t want to leave.lol. But yeah. Asi es la vida. Or C´est la vi (I have know idea how to spell that, but it´s french) or é o que hai (Galego) or é o que temos(Portuguese) or that´s the way the cookie crumbles(American). So yeah, just wanted you all to know that.

We had an awesome week to cap it off, lots of cool progress in our investigators and lots of fun, a big Spanish fiesta Saturday night to celebrate the beginning of the bull fights. In the fiesta everyone got in teams with the same shirts and threw wine and coke and water all over everybody, mostly wine. Yeah, we stayed away from that one, with our white shirts and all.

I will get to Bilbao and be in a trio (3 missionaries) for a transfer (6 weeks) while I get trained up, then the old financial secretary leaves and I´m on my own. I will be with Elder Barber(the old one) and Elder Strickland(the travel secretary). They usually only train you for 3 weeks, but we are also getting a new senior couple to help us out and so they want a little more stability for a bit.

But yeah. I love you all, take it easy, trentin don´t die in band camp. Trevor, play some Call of Duty 4 for me while listening to the old Mayday Parade cd.(actually it seems like the cool one to me, but when I get back it will be really old). We are going to Vigo today to spend my last P-day with the district and eat at a chinese buffet. Oh yeah. Also, toma kyle( eat it), I am making bank eating at members houses cause I´m leaving.lol.

Well, have a good week, and pray for me to not get frustrated working with computers and numbers all day. -Elder Anderson

Kyle's Words--"I am Sparticus"

This has been a great week. With a new record. You will be impressed. We had a dinner appointment EVERY single night this week except (of course) Saturday (fasting). But we had two Sunday so it makes up for it. Yep. After a year in the Philippines I’ve figured things out. It was great. Monday was probably the best. I just mentioned to a member that in Mississippi we eat fried catfish and okra. We show up Monday and we have:Catfish Curry! It was actually really good. With lots of okra. Great dinner. It also had a dessert\soup with coconut milk and guavas (dulce or something?). Nice hot dessert on a rainy night. The second night it was just some hot dog imitations from a stand, but we got to ride in the sweet car of a rich member. We hopped into his 100% tinted car (no laws on window tint here. Life is sweet for the rich people) and then he asked my companion “Do you like the Eagles?” My companion says yes, and he pulls out a random DVD player and sets us up with the Eagles Live in Concert. We got him to switch eventually, but his playlist was only stuff like Nelly, Snoop Dog, and Akon. This guy’s like 40. Way cool though. He also told us he was going down to Manila on the 17th (right after transfers) and asked if we like Pizza Hut. AHHHHHHHH!!!!! I sooo hope I’m not transferred. I’ll probably slip him a thousand pesos and tell him to get as many krispy kreme as he can. It’s only 20 bucks, but here that lasts us a whole week with food and travel. And that’s eating well. So it seems a lot to me. But I’m still doing it. Don’t worry, I’ll work for four hours when I get back home to make up for it. That is, if I can find a job.

It’s way easy though. You just have to ask the right questions. What are you going to use that kamote for? Oh yeah? That’s funny, I haven’t ever seen it done that way. Yeah, I guess we could taste some but we have an appointment right now. Sure, we could come back later. Done. That simple. They love it when you know what ingredients are. So for this past year I have been asking like crazy, and now I just have to say random things I know about different ingredients or ways to cook it. Once they’re on the topic of food, its about a 95% chance they will offer you some. I also learned on my own how to cook torones this week Way good for breakfast with bananas picked fresh off of our tree.I promise we actually have done work.

A lot of let down’s this week. I want to work on my hope, but there is a point where it’s just foolish and you’ve got to drop them. Especially when they won’t be honest with you. On a plus though,Bubert decided to get baptized!. We’ve been teaching him forever. He’s always known, but has been worried about his nonmember aunt that basically raised him. We commit him almost every time we visit, but recently he’s said that HE will be the one to tell us. So we’ve been focusing on the importance of baptism. This week though, because of scheduling we haven’t been able to teach him. Then we went to a birthday party for some food yesterday and he was cooking the duck. We ate inside and then went out to talk to him, just check up on him because he didn’t come to church. I told him we missed him and he said “But I can still be baptized at the end of the month, right?” And I was like, “Really?” not wanting to get my hopes up, because he likes to joke. Then he asked “What’s the date of the last Saturday in August?” I whipped out my wallet like my life depended on it and checked my cool little pocket calendar I got from the smoothie shop in Santiago. “The 29th”“Ok, that’s when I’ll get baptized.” Holy Cow. I was so happy. It was awesome. I guess he just needed some time.

So let’s keep working, and make sure he doesn’t change his mind again. That’s all. I love you all. Bye.

Happy Birthday, Trevor!

Trevor turned 18 a couple of weeks ago. His friend, Ben, turned 18 a couple of days ago. So last night they had a big party. They wanted a dinosaur theme and Trevor asked for a dinosaur cake. So this is what I made for him. I haven't made a fun cake like this in several years. And it is probably the last one I will make for Trevor. Here's to little boys that never quite grow up! I love you Trevor.

What do you do with the world's largest cucumber?

You make pickles! One cucumber made 12 pints of relish and another 3 made 6 quarts of dill pickles. This was my first ever canning adventure. Thanks to Vanetta it was a great success. Aren't those jars just beautiful? :)

Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers...

Ever wonder what happens when you leave your garden for a month? Mine usually dries up and dies or gets eaten by the bugs. This year something different happened! Hagrid came and took care of it! I have giant sized cucumbers! Yes, that is a cucumber.

Trent practiced his self portrait techniques with the rest of the cucumbers and my very own cantaloupe. Thanks to all my great friends who watered when they came to swim!

Why I Love Colorado--part 4

The living room. At least the room where I want to live. Notice the great fence that my guys helped Grandpa build. And the cute little bridge that really goes over a river; at least when it rains.

Our dinner guests--we finally got a picture of them. I had no idea hummingbirds were so territorial. My parents had to put out a second feeder so they could all eat.

The dining room. We really did eat every single meal outside. And there wasn't a single fly or mosquito. We didn't even sweat.

Why I Love Colorado--Part 3

Clouds!

I can wear my sweatshirt in July.

Clouds!

Hummingbirds are the nightly dinner entertainment. (I tried to get a picture of them; they just wouldn't hold still:)
Clouds!

The mountain view is always only a turn of the head away. Did I mention clouds and rainbows?

My kids think that I am obsessed with clouds. In Colorado I am. The variety and beauty of them amazes me. We have seen no less than 10 rainbows in the month we have been here. At least two of them were complete and over half were double. On most of them you could clearly see every single color. I admit that I didn't take the pictures above. My camera just couldn't do them justice. But everyone of these pictures was taken by my parent's house and I have seen clouds just like them this month.

Why I love Colorado--part 2

No, the camera wasn't tilted!

Why I love Colorado--part 1

Some people are drawn to the sound of crashing waves and only feel complete when they are near the ocean. I am definitely drawn to the smell or pine trees, wild flowers blooming from the tiniest crack of a huge boulder and an ice cold glacier lake. In other words, Colorado. Some of the reasons that it soothes my soul--

Where else can you attend church in the middle of a forest? You can't really tell from the picture but the chapel sits in 5 acres of pine trees. The landscaping is beautiful, thanks to many Eagle projects and 25 years of hard work by the "tree people." There is a natural runoff that is filled with rocks to create a river bed. When they added the first addition to the chapel they made a glass walkway between the two parts of the building, which is behind the bushes in my picture. There is an ampitheater in the back and enough cover for an awsome game of capture the flag.

This chicken is another thing that calls me back to Colorado year after year. It is amazing!

My dad learned to cook this chicken years ago from a man who made his living traveling the fairs of the Midwest each summer. He made enough selling chicken that he didn't have to work in the winters. The ward here has had an annual chicken bbq for the past 28 years. My dad has done the chicken for 27 of those years. No one talks about the one year someone else decided to cook it. It is a labor intensive, many hour process. This year my dad and his crew cooked over 160 chicken halves. There wasn't one left.

Missionary Updates--

Brett and Kyle have both reached their 1 year point. Sometimes it seems like they just left and other times it seems like they have been gone forever. Here are the latest words from Spain and the Philippines.

Spain:

So this week has been super long and exhausting. I almost fell asleep sitting next to our investigator yesterday in church while my companion taught the Gospel Principles lesson. That was intense. Then we had a visit with a cool guy who plays guitar on the street for money and I almost fell asleep at the beginning. But don´t worry, when I start teaching I wake up....a bit... Yeah but I have been so tired just cause we have been having action packed weeks. I didn´t know that having success made you so tired. It was pretty tight though cause this transfer we have been exploding with success. Also the whole Zone is doing it too, just insane jumps in the numbers. Stuff is moving around. I really hope I can stay here another transfer with Elder Garcia after this one, but I kind of expect to leave. We´ll see in a few weeks. Elder Garcia asked if I would be bored being in such a small city(there are only 2 elders and few members, that´s why I call it the isolation chamber, cause we have almost no contact with the outside world) and I told him I would not mind at all cause this Pontevedra is different than the one I started in. I love it now, and we have some really good progressing investigators. Like we have the boyfriend of a member of the church who we have been teaching and he just got an answer that the book of mormon is true, so that is so amazing. Actually in the follow-up visit last night I was just giddy. We are supposed to really let it show that we are happy that they did it and I think I got the point across.lol. But yeah, it is tight. We also had cool visits with some good friends of some members and they are doing awesome. Also she invited her friend to be there and listen and before the visit she got locked in the bathroom and nobody could get her out so Elder Garcia kicked open the door and the lock went flying. It was awesome. Also, we had Brazilian day. Cause we hear how good it is being a missionary in Brazil and one night during planning we decided that the next day would be a good brazilian day and so in the morning we got ready and studied and went to a members house for breakfast(they invited us, don´t worry) and then did contacts on the street for a few hours(we had to work a bit, we are still in Spain), then we went to a pueblo(village) of a member and she stuffed us full of pork and fries and cake and then we worked in the baking hot sun carting sheep poop up a hill for fertilizer for a few hours. Then she took us home and we got showered and ready and ran to a great visit with those friends of the members then, taught the boyfriend of that member and went home. And successfully completed Brazilian day. I actually don´t think I could handle it every day. Good thing I am here. Also we met President and Hermana Clegg and they are awesome. They are so cool. It wasn´t an interview, but more like a get to know you thing with them both. And I loved it. Super nice people and they are so excited. They asked me to pray at the end and I had to stop multiple times cause I was so excited that they are here. I mentioned that they are here for the next half of my mission and are here to make a huge difference in my life. It rocks. So that is about it, a ton more happened, we have been doing great, and I am enjoying it. So yeah, don´t worry about me. Also mom, I don´t know when I am coming home, I will probably ask for an extension. I´m just kidding, they don´t really do that anymore. But It should be around July 7 or 8. Also, tell Trevor he should just go on and do the fall-winter semester with us when we come back and then leave at christmas. I´m jsut kidding, probably wouldn´t be the best thing, but it would be cool.lol. So yeah. I am still exhausted, but that´s nothing new. I have been exhausted for the past year and a week. I hope you are all enjoying up there in colorado and that you don´t die from having too much fun.

Philippines:

So, for that lovely mother of mine who insists on making me think about that painful, bittersweet day in the future where I will once again grace the abode of my earthly parents, and shower the rafters (from the inside.....upside down rain) with my incredible spirit, my handbook says that I have to stop sharing the gospel with people on June 02. 2010. I still haven't calculated the exact date I will get home what with 24 hours of travel, time zones, datelines, and a lost thursday, but yeah. Thanks for making me think about it for the first time since I've been here. I don't even know if I can go out and work this afternoon because my mind is opening up to all the possibilities (D'bos, taco bell, a new Hilary Duff album...). I guess those three families will just wait around for us until we can drop by another day and tell them we got “busy”. Ok, so that's a joke. It actually has crossed my mind once or twice. Today. And we will work tonight. I gotta set a good example for my son. It's so weird. I'm second guessing myself so much “Is this really the best way to do it? Is this really effective?” I guess that's a good thing though. My trainee is great though. He's really good at the language(like, making sentences and everything off the top of his head), and really just want to work, for the right reason. I'm getting more excited about the work just being with him, and re-thinking all these habits and techniques that I had gotten to think were procedure. I remember dad telling me about that once with flying. There are the rules, and then on top of that there are the commonly used techniques, which doesn't mean that you HAVE to do them. So I think we'll start experimenting a little. I want to change the way I look at fellowshippers and lessons with a member present. Also, at zone conference President Villanueva talked a lot about OYMs. Open Your Mouth. I have kindof gotten into a routine with tracting and opening lines, and he hit it on the head exactly. One thing he really focused on was finding the elect. They're prepared for the message right now, and they are the ones who will progress. And we find them by what we call Questions of the Soul. Deep questions that make you think, whose answers can be found in the restored gospel, specifically the Book of Mormon. Like “What do we really need to accomplish in this life?” and “What does our family really need?” So we're focusing on using those to find who's really interested, because a lot of people will let us in, but they're just being nice. He also mentioned that the elect will pick up on anything that will link back to the restored gospel. By that they will feel the spirit, and recognize us as God's messengers, with the answers they need. So sometimes we just ask people if they've ever heard the story about Alma (prophet in the Book of Mormon, not mentioned in the Bible). Then we tell them the story and talk about how it can help them. So it's kindof fun, and people probably think I'm weird.Also, a cool quote from General Conference about discouragement: “It comes from a lack of confidence in one's self or abilities. It is inconsistent with our identity as children of God.”Also, I did get to listen to brett's songs. I really like them. And sing them alot. I also wrote them down and taped it into my hymn book.

Happy Day!

Trevor graduated from Desoto Central High School on Saturday. We were very proud of him. And the graduation was amazing--302 graduates and from begining to end it was 1 hour and 5 minutes! Trevor was very selfless in going to his own graduation and walking across the stage. He only did it for his mom. He wanted to be at the Forever the Sickest Kids concert!!

From Pontevedra

So I am doing fine. i had a bunch of awesome emails this week-really good ones. I am sad that I won´t be able to write all I want to, but that´s alright. So this week was interesting. You all know how last week I had weird worries about kyle getting hurt and stuff? Well it got bad last monday night, to the point where I couldn´t concentrate and so Elder Pruitt gave me a blessing. It was an amazing experience. I will just say that I have no worries at all anymore. And I have been shown once again that God loves me and wants me to be happy.

So Good week, we thrust in our sickles with our might up till thursday. Then... we had our day of miracles. Let me explain, ever since I have gotten here we have been giving out tons of cards with our number on them. Also we have had countless people tell us that they would call us. Also we have had many investigators and members tell us that they would call us when they could meet. So with all of this amazing potential succes, we decided to excercise our faith and be ready to make the miracles. We stayed home thursday, friday, and most of Saturday waiting for them to call. If they did call, we would have been perfectly prepared to help lead them to salvation. We did our part, and that´s all anyone could ask. But don´t worry, I got a lot done for myself too. I took a few naps(we have a loud ringtone) And read a whole bunch. I received answers to a lot of questions I have been having and really just got a great spiritual boost. I love making miracles.

I´m just kidding, Elder Pruitt got pretty sick so we stayed in a lot. It was intensely frustrating, I think us being set apart as missionaries, we are extra blessed with an intense desire to be doing the work, and unfortunately when we are sick that doesn´t go away. But he is all better and we are ready to kick this week in the face. Also, we got another new investigator last week, which makes 2 weeks in a row of a new investigator. I think we are closing in on Argentine kind of success. But this new guy is awesome, his name is ramon, which now that that is kyles new area, makes it awfully portentious.(I think that´s a word, I´ve been using lots of eloquent words lately-I am getting carried away with my Spanish synonym dictionary(they don´t have a word for thesaurus))

So he is tight, has lots of problems, but wants answers. And he told us he is willing to follow every step we give him to change his life, as long as he sees results. That is awesome cause the one thing we can guarantee is if you follow the steps, you will get results. So that is exciting.

Interesting news,the Ap´s or Assistents to the President are coming to pontevedra to do exchanges with us this Saturday. It was kind of scary at first cause when you hear that you automatically think that they are coming to see what the heck you are screwing up. I mean, our numbers aren´t the greatest. But then I thought about it. I am super excited for them to come now, because I want to 1. Show that we have been doing our very best here for almost 3 transfers now 2. show my personal growth that I have done here, I have really gained a lot in my contacting skills, and courage to do them and 3. Learn as much as I can from whoever I am with. I am really stoked and can´t wait. Also, since my companion has 4 weeks left in his mission, we think I will be the real focus of this thing. A little scary, but I can handle it.lol.

So I love you all and have great stuff coming. Thank you for all of your prayers and support and I love you all. Last night we had an amazing lesson with A member, an investigator Luis, a strong member of the church and his less active family, and a returned missionary who served here and his new wife, and did a FHE with all of them there. It turned out amazing, a super fun, super spiritual thing. Also I got to know this returned missionary and am convinced that he was one of the best missionaries in the mission. And I saw the blessings that he had, and I really stepped up my desire to be like him, to know that you have made an impact, that people will remember you and thank you, and that you have internalized everything you taught. We taught the lesson and hijacked President Uchtdorf´s Nehemias lesson, but applied it to the family, how we are doing a great work, and can´t let anything stop or distract us. And I loved how it felt when I could add my living testimony to how important the family is. That is my favorite principle to teach, my favorite contact theme, everything. I love you all. And I love all my friends too. Thanks for everything.

Also Dad´s email for us about getting near the halfway point was awesome. I am totally printing it out. Also mom thanks for the pictures, they will be very useful.lol. -Elder Anderson

Just so you know--i don't edit these for spelling, capitalization or grammar. They are just the way I get them!

News from the Philippines!

Sorry I haven't put letters up from Brett and Kyle for a while. Here are the latest words--

So I am writing to you from a random internet shop in Ramon, Isabella. Yes, I got transferred. Yes, my companion is way nice, Elder Hernandez from Batanges (it’s still on Luzon). Yes, I have a really nice ward. It’s huge. They actually have organizations and things that function. Also the members are really nice. The first night we were here my companion took me to meet the loudest of them. Only he told me they were investigators. And they had some really hard questions. And then they all laughed at me and tried to make me feel welcome. Didn’t work. Jerks. No, that’s just a joke. I really like them. They’re way friendly and joke a lot, they just talk really fast and sometimes throw in Illokano so it’s hard to understand them. Then they ask me why I’m so quite. We also have dinner appointments scheduled for every Thursday through Sunday night, and that’s not including all the members who told me just to let them know and they would fix us dinner. It’s awesome. They’re super friendly.

Also, I would tell you that I’m a district leader now, but that might come across as me being proud. So I won’t mention it and strenghthen my humility skills even more.Yeah, I’m freaking out though. I have to interview someone for baptism tomorrow. So I would appreciate it if you could throw in a couple prayers.

It’s actually not bad. I don’t even have to teach a district meeting for another week because we have Zone Conference this one. The only problem is the missionary who was before me. He served in Ramon a long time ago, and then got called to be AP. Then for his last cycle he got to pick where he would be assigned. He chose Ramon. The thing is, he’s got skills. I looked up to him. All of the members basically worship him. And I have to fill his shoes. Kind of got shafted on that one. They threw him a party Saturday night (he came back and toured the mission with his parents after he picked them up from Manila). It was ridiculous. They had games, and dances, and performances from every organization. All for him. They were basically singing his praises. Even our investigators love him. When I go to them and introduce myself they all just asked “Where’s Tevi?” Then they sounded really sad when I told them he went home. But then we invited them to his party on Saturday, and (lucky for us) he went to church on Sunday as well. So we got a lot of investigators to show up. It was crazy though. They were all outside after sacrament, taking pictures, getting autographs, like he was a movie star. I was just thinking “he was with you every day for the past three months. He’s only been gone three days. Am I that bad a replacement?” It’s fun though, cause I found one of his fellowshippers that is a young man who didn’t get a chance to talk to him (he didn’t even look at me either). So we stood at the back and scoffed. I’ve got a friend.

I’m doing well though, and glad you appreciated the package. Also, trentin got called harry potter when I showed some members pictures. I laughed. Then they said trevor looks like Jesus. I didn’t laugh.

Also, we taught a guy who just got back from Saudi. His job there was a taga-templa. In tagalong, taga means one who does the verb that follows for a living. Templa means to mix. Yes, his entire purpose in Saudi was to mix tea for the king, and all the random presidents and diplomats that went there. He’s a cool investigator. And the juice he gave us at the end was mixed very well, if I do say so myself.

Sorry it’s short, I’m running late. I love you all. Bye.

Music!

Brett wrote these songs before he left on his mission. He asked me to put them on his Facebook but I could never get it to work. My amazing daughter, Allison, finally helped me upload them this week. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoydeg_7PTA&feature=email
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GJ0_BzIaTQ&feature=email

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Mine grows in hay bales this year!Basically you get the bales to start to decompose and that creates the base for your garden. No tilling, no loads of top soil, no digging on your knees! After about two weeks of getting the bales ready it was time to plant.

I planted several varieties of tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, parlsey, oregano and basil from plants. And cucumbers, cantalope and cilantro from seeds. The cucumbers came up in less than two days! The cantalope came up in three and I am still waiting for the cilantro seeds to come up.

Now I just need some sunshine! I have plenty of water:) I'll let you know how things progress throughout the summer. I have great hopes for this small little garden of mine.

What's for dinner, Mom?

I haven't posted a recipe for a while. This was last night's dinner. And since everyone always takes seconds, I know it is a winner.

Chicken Bog

1 (3-pound) chicken, quartered
1 pound smoked link sausage
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 teaspoons Seasoned Salt (recommended: Lawry's)
2 teaspoons House Seasoning, recipe follows
1 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 bay leaves
8 cups water
3 cups raw white rice

Slice the sausage into 1/2-inch pieces. In a stockpot, combine the chicken, sausage, onion, butter, seasonings and bay leaves. Add the water, bring to a boil, cover, and cook at a low boil for 40 minutes. Remove the chicken from the pot and let cool slightly. Pick the meat from the bones, discarding the bones and skin. Add the rice to the pot and bring to a boil, stirring well. Boil for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the rice is done. Remove the bay leaves, and return the chicken to the pot.

House Seasoning:
1 cup salt
1/4 cup black pepper
1/4 cup garlic powder
Mix ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Sad Day

Our littlest kitty was hit by a car on Wednesday night. Despite a valiant attempt at keeping her alive by our wonderful neighbors, she didn't make it. She was a stray that Trevor had brought home last fall and the sweetest little thing. We will miss you Callie.

Pictures!

Kyle enjoying some tropical beauty!

Brett's most successful contact of the day!

Miss Olive Branch 2009

Isn't she beautiful? Katie won the Miss Olive Branch 2009 Pageant last night. And she had such a handsome escort! She also won Most Photogenic. Look at those silver plates--we are in the South for sure.

Beauty and the Beast

Last Sunday night was the Desoto Central High School Beauty Review. Trevor was voted one of the 10 Most Handsome Guys so he got the honor of being an escort for the evening. He really isn't a beast at all. Katie was in the Review. (We can't really call it a pagent because all the judges do is look at you.) She made the top 10 finalists. She looked very pretty! The guys all decided ahead of time that they would get to escort their girlfriends so that is Trevor looking on adoringly as Katie takes her turn.

Here is the real beast. This picture is actually several months old but I wasn't allowed to post it for a while. The family of one of Trevor's friends house the University of Memphis Tiger. The previous tiger was retired and a new one was found. He needed some socializing and Trevor was happy to oblige. For those of you who don't know, this was a dream come true for Trevor. He has had a love affair with tigers for about, oh, 17 years now!

Missionary Updates!

From Spain:

Me Voy! Que lastima, pero adios--

So those are the lyrics to a hit song here that plays all the time. I actually like it a lot, but probably shouldn´t. It means, I´m leaving, what a shame, but goodbye. And yes, it does have something to do with transfer news! I am leaving Logroño today actually. I am going to go to León first, take care of residency stuff, spend the night, then head off to my new city- Pontevedra. That is where Elder Larson, my companion now, just came from, so I have been pumping tons of info from him. It is exciting. So also about boxes, Grandad I got yours and thanks a lot. You did an amazing job selecting those things. I really hadn´t asked for anything and you sent some really key things(peanut butter, oatmeal, jelly, and peanuts). About the package from home, it probably is in Bilbao right now if you sent it to the mission office. I will get in in a couple more weeks during our zone conference. If you sent it to Logroño it is probably now in the hands of a Jitan(gypsie race that are all over Europe) and we won´t get it back. If you send letters or anything to the mission office we only get those during 1. interviews or 2.Zone conference, the only 2 times during a transfer that we see the president. They have to travel all over northern spain to get to the different cities so they only come and bring stuff twice every six weeks. That being in mind, you can send anything to either the mission office or my city, the mission office takes longer, but if it gets to the city after i have gone Elders aren´t so good at forwarding stuff. Elder Lawson(other in piso) had a box in his old area for 5 months and finally the Presidents wife made them mail it themselves and pay the postage. But me moving won´t be a problem for another 4 or 5 months, and you usually stay in an area for 6 so yeah-food for thought.

So I gave my leaving testimony in Sacrament meeting yesterday and it was awesome to look at at the faces of all the members I have gotten close to. There are so many good people here that are so willing to help. Also, Javier was there! Yeah, so I jumped on that and got a picture with him. he is such a stud. I said goodbye to Carmina too and did like a flashback thing. It is so amazing to see the gospel change people. You usually hear that about people becoming nicer or stopping smoking or stuff, but the Gospel and influence of the spirit also helps us in so many other ways. We had a visit with her this week(we tried 3, but the members jacked us twice-not a normal thing though) and she was soooo different then when we first met her. Our first visit was ridiculous, but she has been made capable. In this visit last week she didn´t just tell random stories, but she shared personal experiences that actually had to do with the subject. She read scriptures and commented on them and what she understands from them. She answered our questions. It was a miracle. I was so happy after that visit. Last week we gave her Ether 12 to read and when we checked up on her she told us she had actually read that and then finished the whole Book of Mormon. We didn´t really believe her, cause she tells stories that sometimes seem made up, but then in the visit I asked her one way God speaks to her and she talked about how she was reading Moroni 8 and God told her we shouldn´t baptize children. And I was like...she did read the whole thing. We continually underestimate her, and the miracles that God works on people. It was awesome. We are starting to think her stories might all be true, maybe she does host the prince of Spain in her mansion hotel with 17 rooms in her village. Who knows?

But yeah, we also had a great lesson this week that made me understand even more the principle of-we need to experience sorrow so we can appreciate joy more. We were knocking and told a man we had a message about the purpose of life and he was like, come in. And we were like, "huh? This isn´t how it goes. You are supposed to slam the door." And then we went in and taught him. He is a was awesome Spanish man with a little baby, he got married a year ago and he has a bunch of faith in God. He has many ideas similar to ours also. It was the most amazing lesson ever, we taught more personably than I had ever before. We only taught about God and families cause he only had 15 minutes, but we testified to him a bunch and brought out random scriptures to read. It was like the perfect lesson, and the spirit was so strong. Only hitch was at the end he told us that he would call us when he had more time, which usually means never, but we know his address so they are going to pass by in a week or so. And after I was just so happy. I felt so good, that after a long trying few weeks, we had an amazing lesson. This is our purpose and it makes us happier. I then thought that if we had been having a ton of lessons, that probably wouldn´t have seemed so special, So I was stoked.

SO congrats to Trevor for getting into BYU. Alright! The legacy continues. Unless you are going to Ole Miss instead? So that is about it, I love you all, am excited for Pontevedra. -Elder Anderson

From The Philippines:

Agyaman Ti Adobo--

So I have a little announcement. Happy Birthday Mom! You’ll probably receive this after your birthday, because mail here is really slow. It’s not in any way because I forgot to mention it in the last e-mail. Anyways, I had a thought. I was reading 3 Nephi 5:20 and I was likening it to myself.“I am [Kyle], and a pure descendent of [Adam]. I have reason to bless my God and Savior Jesus Christ, that he brought our fathers out of the land of [Britain], (and no one knew save it [was everyone who has read a textbook]) and that he hath given me and my people so much knowledge unto the salvation of our souls.”So aside from the sweet knowledge that I am a PURE descendent of Adam (which actually only excludes one person), I was thinking about how blessed I am to have had the gospel in my life growing up. I have reason to thank my Lord and Savior, and one more person I added was my mother. I teach a lot of part member families, and have even taught two guys whose girlfriends made them listen. I’ve noticed it’s really hard in the lessons when the guy doesn’t really want to know, because we all have to have the desire to know first. So I’m glad mom pushed. And I thank you, mom. I thank you for all the opportunities you have allowed our family. For all the love and growth that wouldn’t have come as abundantly if not through the practices of the gospel in our home. I’m thankful that you loved us enough to insure those blessings, even before we were born. So I thank my God, and I thank you, mom.

P.S. –I love you too dad, don’t feel left out. Thanks for taking the time to listen to the message, and acting on it.Business: I have received the package Dad and enjoy it thoroughly. I totally love the Nearer My God To Me Rendition. It’s awesome. The coat is really overkill though, especially as it has just started to warm up again. But thanks for the thought. I have not been able to watch the videos because of a software program at this computer shop, but right now I am burning a DVD I can put in my DVD player and listen to (we don’t have a screen in the apartment).

So this week we had a Service project. It was just like any other service project, except for the fact that within two minutes of choosing our selective swords in our quest to vanquish the grass, our 19 year old fellowshipper cut his leg due to excessive follow through. Yeah. I’m a foreigner, and even I didn’t cut my own leg. He didn’t say anything. He just walked inside. Then his 20 year old brother got tired after fifteen minutes and joined him, where they sang karaoke until we came in after a couple hours. It wasn’t deep, but it did need stitches. It was kind of funny though. He took first year college to be a nurses assistant, and ran into the house to ask the lady who washes clothes for a living what he should do. She was like “You’re the nurses assistant!” He dropped out though because “It was too hard.” So now he sits at home all day with with his brother with no plans to work, study, or go on a mission. It kind of works out well though, because they’re free to work all the time when we need a male.

So yeah, time’s a little short, and not a whole lot happened this week, except for the less active priest we taught preparing himself and blessing the sacrament. That made me happy. We also cooked chicken curry at our Branch President’s house earlier that was really good, and of which I also ate way too much. We’re still finding new people to teach. Two of which we saw on the street earlier and they were the ones who reminded us we had lessons with them later. That was cool. It’s usually us reminding them. They seem excited, so we’ll see what happens.I love you all. Take care.

And Trevor stop showing me up in everything, I can’t do anything to counter it right now.

P.S. The title is an Illokano joke. It's supposed to be Agyaman Ti Adu (many thanks) but instead of Adu I said Adobo(the Philippines national dish). Hahahahaha.

Babies Make Me Smile!

How could they not? They are just so cute. And stuff for babies makes me smile too. So here are may latest tributes to babies. (And if there are any typos, I apologize now to Andy who said I couldn't post anything with his name attached to it that had typos! I love you. Enjoy China!)

These were for my friend, Alayna. She is doing her nursery in pale pink, black and white. I haven't seen it yet but if it is like anything else she does it will be amazing. She has the greatest sense of style. This is the first little girl in her husband's family in generations. And she's not telling what the "G" stands for!

These were for Reiko. She is also having a girl. She and her husband are big volleyball fans, players, coaches, etc... so of course we had to put a volleyball somewhere.

These are some of the blankets that I sent to the NICU at LeBonheur this month. I broke with my normal MO and went with white and pastelly colors. Is that a word? And they were just so darn sweet.

Trent helped me with color and pattern choices. He really enjoys going through my fabric stacks. Here is a sampling of the fun things we came up with. His favorite-the jungle. My favorite- the bears.

This last one was a special request from my friend. She is a nurse in the NICU and every once in a while there is a baby that she just really becomes attached to. Of course, they then need a special blanket. This little guys parents were big Ole Miss fans so we made him an appropriate blanket. He was full of laughs and smiles in the short time he spent on earth. My thoughts and prayers are with his parents.

Kyle in Pictures

Elder "The Rock" Bato and Elder Kyle Anderson eating pancit, and with friends at a recent baptism. Way to go Kyle! :-)

Christmas-Here and Gone

I thought about updating this blog for a few weeks now. I just haven't been able to get any great inspiration. That is about how my life is right now. We had such a wonderful Christmas. Allison and Matt were here, the day was calm and relaxing. I got all the things I asked for (amazing how well that works when you send your husband an email with links to exactly what you want). We had a great phone call with Brett and Kyle. We were able to talk to both of them and they were able to talk to each other thanks to Skype. We only had a few technical difficulties. And I think that is where the problem lies. If someone had told me 20 years ago how hard it would be to send my boys out on missions I might have opted to only have girls. I looked forward to that phone call for so long and then it was over. And I can't remember anything we talked about or said. I just know how great it was to hear their voices. But I'm back to crying everytime I think about them now. And then I do silly things like buy a 2009 calendar called Unto All the World. It is old pictures of missionaries with appropriate scriptures and quotes. And I cry everytime I look at it. So, enough with my pity party. We are so blessed to have two worthy, hard working young men serving missions. And I wouldn't want them doing anything else right now. I am so amazed at the men they are becoming and the testimonies that they are developing. What a wonderful way to grow boys into men.





Here is Elder Anderson singing with Hermana Griggs at the Christmas Zone Conference. This is an excerpt from a letter we recieved from Sister Duvall, the Mission President's wife:


I just wanted to take a minute to tell you what a pleasure it is to serve with your son. He is doing such a great job and I love feeling of his special spirit whenever we are with him. Every missionary comes into the mission field with different talents, skills and abilities and it is so fun to watch them grow, develop and share those wonderful talents. During our Christmas Zone Conferences, we have every district in each zone perform a musical number. We also ask for additional musical numbers from anyone who would like to sing or play the piano. Most of the Elders would rather have their teeth pulled than perform in front of their peers, but not your son. I had never heard Elder Anderson really sing before, but I was pleasantly surprised by his willingness to volunteer to sing a duet with one of the sisters in his district. The music was incredible and I was so amazed at how well he could harmonize and blend with her voice. I asked him afterwards if he had sung in school or show choirs, but he said no that he has always just enjoyed singing for fun. Their song brought such a special spirit into the meeting and it was a pleasure to watch him share his talents.

He has been working so hard on learning Spanish and is really doing well. In this same meeting we had given each missionary a question and they were to find the answer to the question in the Book of Mormon and then present it. When it was his turn, he did a superb job in sharing his scripture and his answer in Spanish and expressed himself very well. What a great thing it is to watch these young men grow and become powerful representatives of Jesus Christ. He is a very sweet and humble young man, yet very impressive.

Brett's Caption: Santa himself getting a present on Christmas(we stayed up till he came down the chimney and I jumped on his lap. And as you know, when you are on Santa´s lap you can´t lose. We set up a return visit next year Same time)

Warning! The following picture could cause a seriously turned stomach

Kyle's Caption: So dad, the picture I sent you of the Balot is good, but the other Elder actually got a better one on his camera. Hopefully I can send a copy, but his memory card is a different model, so I might just have him develop it. It actually didn’t taste bad, you just don’t want to play with it first, or poke it, or smell it, or open the beak and make quacking sounds…not that I did that, you taught me well not to play with my food.

On that happy and appetizing note-- here is the best recipe from our annual New Year's Day Favorites Dinner. (Everyone in the family chooses a favorite dish and Mom cooks them all, no restrictions) Of course this was my favorite. It is not only seriously good but the first time I made it was right after Kyle went to the MTC and Brett and I double handedly devoured the entire thing!

Connie's Chocolate Cobbler
2 sticks butter or margarine
1¼ cups sugar
1½ cups self-rising flour
1 tsp. vanilla
¾ cup milk
For the chocolate layer:
1 cup sugar
6 tbsp. cocoa
2 cups boiling water

Preheat the oven to 350. In a 9x13 glass baking dish, melt the 2 sticks of butter in the oven. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix together the 1¼ cups sugar, flour, vanilla and milk. Once the butter is melted, pour the batter over the butter, but don't stir. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix the cocoa and sugar together and sprinkle on top of the batter (don't stir). Pour the 2 cups of boiling water on top of that (don't stir) and bake for 30-45 minutes.
Yield: 9x13 pan, Serves: 8