October 26, 2015: Heaven knows what it is exactly....

Hola familia!! Everyone sounds great!! So happy that everyone is doing well!! I can’t believe how fast time is flying either. I still am in shock that you guys have my travel plans. When they called on Thursday to ask me what airport I was planning on going to, I almost fell over. Either way, though, I’m going to keep working hard ha-ha. Thanks so much for your emails, they really are wonderful!

Well, this week was great! Elba came to church!! She is the woman from last week who was a reference that believed there was too much bad in the world to find God....I hope that rings a bell. Anyways, please pray for her. She is progressing really well. She is reading the Book of Mormon and is super excited to learn. She soaks everything in that we say. It’s awesome! Only problem, she’s in a unión-libre. Sooooooo we will have to make wedding plans ha-ha. But after church on Sunday, she was smiling and kept telling us thanks for inviting her. We are going back to visit her on Tuesday. We found a less active family; the son wants to prepare to go on a mission in a year or so. They are neighbors of another investigator we have named Paulina. We are going to activate the family, send the son on a mission, and get Paulina to go to church to prep her for baptism. Paulina doesn’t like getting up early but Nefertari (the daughter) got Paulina to church this week. So we were happy! We found a new investigator named Tomasa. She is Christian and was super shut down when we first went. She told us that maybe we were the ones who were wrong. Okay.....so we just testified. She softened right up after that and said she wanted to know more. (Good work Holy Ghost, pound it!) I’m excited to go back and teach her. She knows a lot from the Bible, hmmmmm that doesn’t scare me one bit. We are trying to get Jesus Carrassco to go to church too. He never answers the door on Sundays because he is scared to go. He is super shy. We have a member friend for him, and this week we took him to the chapel to see it. He seemed to like it.  I played the piano for him when we went into the sacrament room. He said he felt a special spirit....ándale, let’s go to church then!!!

Food stories, this week I ate meatloaf. It was the happiest day of my life!! I miss meatloaf so much!! The Relief Society President made it. When I saw it, I almost jumped for joy....and it was super good :) Other food I ate....it’s called: BUCHE. Heaven knows what it is exactly, but you put it in tacos. From what I understood, it is the part of the animal in the throat that is more or less associated with the esophagus and is some type of membrane. I don’t know, I didn’t understand some of the words they were using to describe it to me. And yes....it was gross. It was chewy and had no flavor. I was putting a salt and lime all over my tacos trying to give it something ha-ha. Hope I never have to eat that again, oh well...I can say I tried it now.

My thought for you guys comes from the Book of Mormon, this week we read King Benjamin’s talk and we ran into one of my favorite scriptures, Mosiah 4:9

Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

I really love this scripture because we really need to believe in God, His plans for us, His power, and that He loves us perfectly. Really, the scripture speaks for itself. However, I feel that before my mission, I believed in Him. But out here my belief has turned into a fervent trust...a true and firm belief in Him. I think if we all take a moment to reflect on our lives, we will realize just how much He has taken care of us, and will recognize His hand in every point in our lives....and then we can strengthen our trust and belief in Him. I know that God lives and loves us and is aware of each of us.

Well, that’s all for this week. I love you guys and miss you lots!!! You are all so wonderful, I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful family. Thanks for all the support and love. Have a fabulous week!!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO :)

Con TODO mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

Somewhere near Neuvo Casas Grandes.  Raegan was excited to see something "green" again!

October 19, 2015: This week was great!

HOLA FAMILIA!! MUCHAS GRACIAS POR SUS CORREOS!! I loved them!! I got my package and loved it too!! I loved the Hi Chews and feel so much better running in my new shoes. Thanks so much! Thanks so much for all of your sweet emails too!!! They made my day!! You all sound like you’re doing great and having a good time.

This week was great!! We got soaked on Saturday, there was a downpour!! The streets flooded and we had to walk through them....that’s the closest I will get to swimming out here ha-ha. But the good thing, when it really started to get heavy, we ran into a bike repair shop to wait it out. When we were there, we contacted a guy who was there waiting too. He told us he had read the Book of Mormon that a doctor gave him a few months ago. He really liked it and wanted us to visit him....but he lives 2 blocks outside of our area. Que lastima!! But we sent the Elders there from the other ward. His name is Jorge. We also contacted the woman cutting my hair this morning, she also loves the Book of Mormon and was wanting to go to church, but some idiot told her she couldn’t go unless she had a skirt, but she doesn’t have money to buy one. I would have given her the one I had on...but I’m pretty sure that’s against the missionary dress code ha-ha. Anyways, I told her not to worry about it and that she could go in her jeans, and when she finally had a skirt, she can wear it. She seemed excited after that. Her name is Blanca. We found a woman named Elba this week. We had a great first lesson with her! We were looking for her and went to the wrong house....but I had her phone number. So after a kind of awkward phone conversation, I convinced her that we weren’t terrorists and she gave us her real address. When we got there, she was stone-cold. But with my ponderizing scripture I had selected for the week, she opened up. I shared Jeremiah 29:13. She was telling us that God cannot be found because there is too much bad in the world. We told her, you find what you look for. The scripture says: And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. After sharing the scripture, we explained you find what you look for. We shared a lesson about prayer and asked if she would be willing to be baptized. She said after she gained some faith, she would be ready. Cool, we can take care of that. We haven’t found Karla, but we found her 17 year old daughter. We got her interested in mutual, and so I think we can jump in that family from there. So yeah, we are working hard and talking with everyone! We found Amada this week too and gave her a Book of Mormon. We are lifting the area, slowly and surely. I’m really stoked to get working this week!!

Well, I am going to tie in my spiritual thought with the ponderizing scripture I just shared that I had last week from Jeremiah. I know that there is a lot of bad in the world, but I really do know that if we look for the good and be good, we can find the joy and peace in this life that we all seek. I know that the way to search for God with all our heart is doing the little things...like reading the scriptures daily, studying the words of the living prophets, daily prayers, attending church, and serving others. I know that we can find His hand in our lives daily. We just have to look.

I love you all so much and hope that you all have a great week!! Thanks for all the love and support!! I have the best family!!! Well, until next week!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO DONT FORGET TO PICK A PONDERIZING SCRIPTURE!!!!

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

Hermana Anderton and Zepeda at Zone Conference.  Raegan Trained Hermana Zepeda last December.

Hemana's Ferrell, Clark, Reynoso and Anderton.  Hermana's Ferrell and Clark were spending the night on the way to Juarez.

Package has finally arrived!!!!

Agression!

Hi-Chews from Heaven

Other goodies...

Excited to get new running shoes!!!

Hermana's Reynoso and Anderton at Zone Conference

October 12, 2015: Chile-Eating Master!

Hola familia!! The pics from Grandma’s funeral were wonderful! Thanks so much for sending them. The program looked really nice. I loved the poem that they put in the program from Grandpa. That was super sweet. I really feel fine about the whole thing now, I know that Grandma is super happy, she really missed Grandpa. Thanks for the emails, I loved them.

Well, this week has been good. Big story first: I completed the Chile Challenge. We ate with the Bishop yesterday. There is something they call the Jalepeño/Chile Challenge. Basically, you eat an entire chile in one bite and see who can last the longest without drinking water. If nobody does, you eat another chile, etc. Let me just tell you that the first chile we had was super-hot!! The Elders and the Bishop were just going to do it, and then I told them I wanted in. I’m the first sister to have participated in 9 months; normally the Elders and the Bishop just do it. They laughed a bit and said they would see if the American sister could handle it, hmph....that was enough ammo to make me more than determined to not lose. Anyways, we got our chilis and ate them in one bite. MY MOUTH WAS ON FIRE!!!! I’ve learned to eat spicy here, but this was ridiculous! However, I refused to lose....all of us were crying and our faces were beat red. Even my ears started to burn. It was horrible. I felt like I was breathing fire, but I was not going to pick up my glass and drink my water and let the Elders win....so I cowboyed up. It settled down a bit, and then it was time to eat the other one. Luckily it wasn’t as hot as the first, so I survived. The Bishop called it quits. We had a good, long laugh after that because we were all dying. Long story short, I kept my title as a Chile-Eating Master. :)

As for the spiritual side of the week, we visited Angelica this week. She had read the entire pamphlet we left from our last visit and actually remembered what she had read! She told us, "They say that the Book of Mormon is true, but how do you guys know?" I was stoked, I love testifying of the Book of Mormon. We had a really great lesson with her. Hermana Mary accompanied us to another lesson. We went to seek out an old investigator, but he wasn’t there....his wife was there though. We talked to her for a bit and got to know her better, and then we invited her to church and to learn more with us. She said she wasn’t sure if she could change her Catholic traditions; Hermana Mary stepped in right there and bore a wonderful testimony! (Hermana Mary was Catholic before). After that, Berta accepted another visit. I really love the power a testimony can have. Really, nobody can deny when they feel the Spirit, and the true testimony that someone has really has the power to bring a special Spirit to touch the hearts of the people.

My spiritual thought for you guys comes from a song from EFY, "He Knows Me Better". I really have been thinking a lot about General Conference, and felt like one of the themes was definitely self-improvement. I got thinking about how much my plans have changed since I first left on the mission, probably because everyone is asking me what my plans are. They have changed a lot, especially since things have changed a ton for me at school. I thought, "Well, my plans were good. But He must have better ones." So, when life doesn’t go exactly as you planned, get on your knees and ask what the Lord really wants of you and to help you see what He sees. I know He has a wonderful plan for all of us!

It feels like

I've only got

A piece of the picture

I'm trying to figure out

Just where I fit here

But there is

One who sees

All I'm meant to be

In a world of voices

That say they have the answer

I escape the noises

Close my eyes and I turn

To the One who sees

All the pieces put together

He knows me better

Sometimes I can't see past

What's on the surface

But He helps me understand

The depth of my purpose

He gives me faith to hold

As my path unfolds

In a world of voices

That say they have the answer

I escape the noises

Close my eyes and I turn

To the One who sees

All the pieces put together

He knows me better

He knows every one of us

Is learning as we go

His love is the compass

That guides us home

In a world of voices

That say they have the answer

I escape the noises

Close my eyes and I turn

To the One who sees

All the pieces put together

He knows me better

Have a great week you guys!! I love you all soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much! Thanks for all the love and support you guys give me!! I have the best family!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXO until next week!!

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

 

Hermana Reynoso and Anderton

October 5, 2015: Grandma's are Forever!

Hi family!!! It was good to hear your voices on Friday. I was planning on comforting you guys, and ended up being the one that got comforted. Thanks so much for being such examples to me of faith and courage. Thank you so much, I love you all. The President really helped me out, too. He told me I have some stories to write down when I get home ha-ha.

Well, this week, we have been working hard trying to lift the area. The area is a little sleepy, so we are going to try to wake it up. I have had a little bit of a difficult time focusing this week, but General Conference really helped me to sort it out. Tender mercies were abundant as well. When we passed a shop, there was a T-shirt with the words, "Cowboy Up!" and I thought of Mom right after. I was feeling a little down when we were walking past that shop, and those words knocked me out of it. Even though it wasn’t Monday, I decided I wanted that shirt right then...so I bought it. We found a great new investigator that has a lot of potential. Her name is Karla. She is a single mother with 5 kids; her husband left her when she was 3 months pregnant with her 5th child. When her child was born at only 7 months, he was very sick. After many operations and prayers, she said her son, Angel, pulled through. It was a tender and sweet story. I feel like she is really ready to accept the gospel. Please pray for her.

Well, I will just write it out here. I really am going to miss Grandma Anderton dearly. I didn’t expect it to knock me off my rocker quite like it did. I really loved her with all I am. She was an amazing example and was always smiling and laughing. Even when she was in pain, she never complained. I remember when I was living with her and going to my microbiology class at Weber State before the mission, she kept getting out of bed. At first, I was getting frustrated because I needed to help her back in every time. She didn’t tell me she was hurting, she just kept getting up to walk. She had already taken her meds, so she couldn’t take more. I figured she was having pain in her legs, so I straight up asked her. "Oh yes, they won’t settle down." she said. I decided to get some hot towels and wrap them around her legs; she slept like a baby after that. I’m grateful for the past 5+ years I’ve spent going down to take care of her and Grandpa, I have many precious memories I will always keep dear to my heart. Grandma always looked stunning, and I will always love my memories of taking her to the salon to get her hair done, and then sneaking in a shake from the hamburger place. I loved when we would lie in her bed and she would scratch my head and tell me her love story with grandpa, or funny things that happened to her. I will always cherish sitting with her and listening to her testimony and her comfort and wisdom when I shared with her what I believed to be the trials of my life. She was a shining star of faith in my life. I will always remember sitting out on the porch with her and listening to some of the same stories last summer before I left on my mission. I remember putting up her tree that wouldn’t stand up straight for Christmas, that thing gave me a headache!!!!! I will always remember her mission stories she shared with me and listening to her old music on YouTube. But more than anything, I will never forget getting ready for bed and scuttling down the hall behind her and her walker. She would always stop at the photo of Grandpa and tell him, "I love you!!!!!" They are finally together again. I love you Grandma Anderton!!! As Winnie the Pooh says, "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." 

I found a lot of comfort in General Conference. I hope that you guys enjoyed it too!!! "Nobody really ever dies!" was what I loved the most. (Niell F Marriott said that.) I also enjoyed the PONDERIZE challenge. I hope we all will take it!!!!

My thought for you guys comes from a quote from Russell M Nelson from April 2005 that I found in my scriptures this week. "We live to die, and we die to live....in another realm. If we are well prepared, death brings no terror. From an eternal perspective, death is premature only for those who are not prepared to meet God. Now is the time to prepare. Then, when death comes, we can move forward to the celestial glory that Heavenly Father has prepared for His faithful children Meanwhile, for sorrowing loved ones left behind...the sting of death is soothed by a steadfast faith in Christ, a perfect brightness of hope, a love of God and of all men, and a deep desire to serve them.”

Well, that is all I have for the week. Thanks so much for all of your examples of hope to me. I love you all so much. I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful family! Have a great week!!! XOXOXOXO until next time!!!

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton (and so proud of that name)

Raegan and Grandma....  Learning about Skype, taking selfies and dad sleeping through it all!