Monday, December 14, 2015

December 14, 2015: The Golden Seal To The End Of My Mission!



Hola Familia!! Surprise!! Change of travel plans, I leave tomorrow morning really early, so I have time to write today!!! Well, I cant believe how fast this week flew by. It really went by in a dream. Everyone keeps telling me goodbye and I feel like its a lie and that I will see them in this upcoming week, but I wont. I just am going with the flow and trying to keep my nerves under control. I'm really excited to see you guys, but Im nervous to leave the mission and I don't know why haha. But I will be okay. I just might cry a little bit, so don't judge me haha.

Monday we had my last zone conference and I just felt strange saying goodbye to the missionaries of my zone. Ive made some great friends on the mission, and the majority are Mexican, so I will be traveling here a lot haha. Anyways, the sisters (Hermana Zepeda, Callahan, Teisina, Mercado, and Minalla) bought me a cake and a few sweaters to wear when I get home....and lots of Starbursts haha. They came around the corner during the break singing a hymn that only comes in Spanish (Placentero Nos Es Trabajar Number 88 of the Spanish hymnbook), and I almost cried. The third verse is the one they sang. Its really a great hymn, look it up and put in google translate haha. I will send pics. I went to Juarez on Thursday and came back late Friday. I went for a meeting of the missionaries that are going home. They told us about how much luggage we can bring, a few tips for going home, and stuff like that. I heard about half of it because the only thing I could think the entire time was, "Oh my gosh!! I'm really going home!!!! This is happening." But the most important event of the week: EVELYN GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!! She was so excited!!!! But first I must share the experience of getting permission from her mother. We went to her house on Wednesday to have her sign papers. We had had verbal approval from her at the beginning, she told us that she could care less and that we could teach her daughter. So we did, but we needed to make it official and explain to her why Evelyn wanted to be baptized. When we got to the house, her mom was screaming at someone in the phone and was obviously very upset. I think she said a lot of not so nice words because I didn't understand everything. We sat down in the other room to wait for her, and once she got off the phone, she yelled at Evelyn to put her shoes away. I was starting to feel a little nervous, but I just prayed in my heart that we could change the feeling of the house and help her mom to feel the Spirit before we asked her to sign. She sat down and introduced herself briefly, then started listing off all the reasons she doesn't like religions because everyone is a hypocrite, etc. I thought, "Okay, this might be a little more tricky than we hoped." But, we just listened for a bit....then we asked her to tell us about herself. She shared when of the most difficult stories Ive heard in my mission, I understood a bit more after why she was so cold and didn't like religions. She has had it rough and is now a single mother trying to raise 2 teenagers on a low salary, and shes been burned a few times by people who were religious. After listening and making a few comments, we invited her to sit on the lesson we were going to give to Evelyn. She said okay and then offered us soda. We taught Evelyn the 10 commandments, and her mom participated and everything. We were winding up.....so it was time to ask her. I prayed again, then cleared my throat and started to speak with her. I explained that we wanted to respect her role as a mother and that we wanted permission to baptize her daughter on Saturday. I explained what the form was that we wanted her to sign and then we sat and awaited her reply. I'm so convinced that the Spirit really softened her heart, because she said, "Okay, where do I sign then?" She then asked what time our services were on Sundays because she was interested in coming. I about dropped dead. About 30 minutes before she told us she didn't ever want to step foot in church again. So yeah, I'm so grateful that the Spirit takes care of all the hard work, I know that if we wouldn't have had the Spirits help, there is no way we could have pulled that off. When Evelyn arrived to her baptism on Saturday, she was smiling and shining. She had taken out her extra ear ring, and when we went to go change her to her white dress, she started crying. But she was glowing!! She was so excited and almost ran to the font when it was her turn. She was so happy after. It was so wonderful!!! She is a great girl with lots of great things ahead of her!

But yeah, Evelyn's baptism was the golden seal to the end of my mission. So grateful I could end with that. I'm so grateful I came on my mission. Ive never felt happiness quiet like I've felt here. Ive learned so much about myself and have changed a lot. Sooooooo I'm still me, just improved haha. I cant believe this is over....but really I will never forget all the wonderful experiences Ive had and the amazing people Ive met. Thank you so much for supporting me and helping me out every step of the way. Thanks for the prayers especially. I know that the work of salvation is the best work to be involved in, and there is sooooooooooo much to do!!!! But everything else I will tell you guys when I get back....Okay....well see you all on Wednesday at 1030pm...be there or be square!!!! I love you guys!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXO until next time....

Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Anderton


Evelyn's Baptism

Evelyn and Hermana Anderton

Quebec's Baptism

Surprise!




Cutting the cake......

"Hermana's"

Evelyn and Raegan

"going away party"

Going away cake!

Hermana Anderton and Zepeda
Christmas Spirit

Internet Cafe' signature on the wall
Elders!

Monday, December 7, 2015

December 7, 2015: Becuase It's Home!



HOLA FAMILIA!!! Como estan? First off, happy birthday Kennedy on Friday!!!! 17....you’re getting old! Well, this is my last letter....CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?! I can’t.....time went by so fast. I’m pretty sure this is my last letter since I will be traveling to Juarez next Monday.  I doubt I will have the chance to write. Everyone is asking me how I feel. I honestly feel like my life is passing in a dream right now, kind of like my last week at home before I went to the MTC. It’s strange. Anyways, a few ideas for the airport....I’m really dying to eat Sticky Finger Quesadillas from Wingers...could someone please bring them? Thanks.

I hope you guys have enjoyed the posts for Facebook. We put them in a program so they post automatically...I’m not in internet all day ha-ha. Evelyn will be baptized this week on Saturday....she is super excited and so am I. She said the funniest thing when we asked her who she wanted to perform the ordinance, she said, "I really want the prophet to baptize me." We told her his schedule was pretty full. She loves the idea of a living prophet. I went to Juarez on Thursday and Friday for leadership meetings and the bus ride gave me some time to think about my plans when I get home. Could someone find the Lion King in Spanish? Watching that is on my to-do list...and sledding, too. As for school, I’m still just rolling with the punches ha-ha. But this week flew by. I was only in my area 2 days the entire week. On Tuesday, I went on intercambios with Hermana Zepeda, we had fun. It was a companionship reunion!!! She is really a great missionary. It was fun to see her progress from when she first got here and didn’t say anything, to a missionary that testifies and invites people to make commitments with power. I love her so much!! I hope you guys will have the chance one day to meet her. We committed one of their investigators who battles with an addiction to tobacco to fast. Hermana Zepeda told me he did fast and sounds a lot more motivated. So, yeah, that’s my week super-fast. I’m going to keep busy this week and work hard until the end. I can rest in one week. I’M SO EXCITED TO SEE YOU ALL!!!!

Well, my thought comes from what I learned in Relief Society this Sunday. The RS president, Lily Gonzalez, shared the Tale of the Three Trees (check the linkhttp://www.inver.org/ceantar/Learning_Circle/folkflorida.htm ) Anyways, I loved the familiar story, I’ve read it before. But it meant a lot more to me this time. As I’ve been wondering about what the heck I’m going to do when I get home, I’ve really not worried too much. Because in the end, I can make plans and have hopes...but Heavenly Father has His own purposes in mind. Really what I hope is that He will help me fulfill my mission in life, even if it wasn’t what I exactly had planned. Here in the mission, I’ve learned to trust Him more than anything. So, I hope we can all make the choice to prayerfully make goals and plans, then hand it all over to the One who knows exactly what we need.

Well, I guess that will be all. I love you all so much and will see you all soon!! December 16th at 10:30pm....don’t forget!!! Thank you all so much for the love and support, I couldn’t have done it without your support, love, and prayers. UNTIL NEXT TIME IN THE AIRPORT.....XOXOXOXOXOXOXO   #livedthedream

Con todo mi amor,
Hermana Anderton

Why? because it's home......

Christmas spirit in Casas Grandes!

Raegan with Hermana Marino.  You always pray their is a mission mom in every area!

Intercambios with Hermana Zepeda

Who knows?

Hermana Zepeda and Anderton