August 17, 2015: Drum Roll Please.......... I AM STAYING!!!!

HELLO FAMILY!!! Can I just tell you guys something.....all I want is some sticky-finger quesadillas from Winger's and lemon bars. Strange...I am not sure why that started. But I've been fighting it for almost a week now. Please bring those to the airport when I get home.

Oh and before I forget: HAPPY 27th ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD ON THE 19th!!! :) You guys make a stellar couple if I do say so myself.  <3

TRANSFERS: drum roll please..............................................................I AM STAYING!!!! I'm the eternal missionary of Rio Nilo and will complete a year here in this next transfer. They just can’t get rid of me. I am sure a lot of the members will fall over when they see me here on Sunday or when we go to eat at their houses ha-ha. I AM SO HAPPY!!! I love Rio Nilo. I was so nervous yesterday, but nope!! I am staying!! Our district is staying the same too, so that will be fun :)

This week it has been super-hot, but with lots of blessings too. We set a baptismal date with Dulce. She seemed excited! Dulce is going to live in Denver; she is here in Juarez getting her papers ready. So, long story short, I will be taking a trip to Denver soon after I get home to visit her. We also found some less actives that haven’t been to church in years. We heard their names a few times last week, found out where they lived (a little far away) and decided to hunt them down. The first time we went, they weren't there. Then we were walking on Friday, not very close to their house, and I had the distinct impression that we should go there. We decided to give it a whack. When we got there, the youngest daughter and the mom were there. According to them, they are really never home, so we were lucky to find them. Turns out, the dad died 2 years ago and it was painful for them to talk about. The mom is stone cold now because of that experience, but the daughter was really softened by our message and wants to sign up for institute now. We are going to work a lot with her and help her revive the testimony she has lost. As for the mom, we will see. She was pleasant but did not want to be at the return appointment we made with her daughter. Hmmmm, we will just let the Spirit take care of that. We are going to have 2 activities this week in the church, a FHE with all the recent converts and less actives on Thursday, and then on Friday we are going to have a Noche de Barrio and watch "Meet the Mormons"....everyone is supposed to invite a non-member friend. Hopefully we can get a lot of references from that activity!!!! :) I love work! I'm excited to see what this week brings. This past week was good.

Well, my though for you guys is about the Spirit. I’ve been reading in PMG chapter 4 and really have loved it. I think sometimes we make following the Spirit harder than it needs to be. It is easy really; just follow your heart and what it invites you to do. 

15 For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night.

 

16 For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil: wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge: for everything which inviteth to do good, and to persuade men to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ: wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God.

17 But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.

So, just listen to Moroni. I know that if we follow the Spirit we will be blessed, and we can't mess up. I know that He guides us in our lives. Seriously, I don’t know how to describe it...but you just know in your heart!!!! So act on your impressions!!! And study PMG 4.

Well, I got to go! I love you guys so much and hope that you have a great week!!! Thanks for all your emails and love!!! I’m doing great, so don’t worry about me. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO until next week!

 

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

L to R:  Terre (Aurora's Daughter), Aurora (96 years young and RS President some time ago....), Hermana Anderton.  These sisters live next to Raegan.

Painting of Christ by Terre.

According to Hermana Estrada.....  This is what they look like!

August 10, 2015: Edmundo's Baptism

Hola familia!! Everything sounds great at home and everyone sounds happy....and really busy. I can't believe it's almost time for school to start again. Life just rolls on. I'm so glad that you guys have kept busy and are having a great time.

Well, Edmundo got baptized as you can see from the photos. IT WAS WONDERFUL!!!!!!! I will quickly tell you guys his story. Back in May, we were knocking on the door next to his house, but they didn't come out. We saw Edmundo walking into his house and decided that we needed to talk to him. He accepted our invitation to listen to our message, but when we went back for the follow-up appointment, he wasn't there because his granddaughter was in the hospital. After about 2 weeks, we were walking down the street where his house was and we found him again. He explained to us why he wasn't there when we went back and then we set another appointment. This time he was there. We started teaching him about the Restoration, and when we mentioned a living prophet that leads us today, his eyes lit up and he got really excited. We kept on with the lessons. When we taught him about the Plan of Salvation, he said it made so much more sense than all the other things he had listened to. With that lesson, we set a baptismal date, which he readily accepted. When we taught him the Word of Wisdom, I swear I have never seen anyone so excited about that in my entire mission and doubt that I ever will again. He told us that about a year ago, if we would of told him to drop the beer, he would have told us to get out. He really liked his beer before, but in December...the Lord prepared him. He had a major surgery with his stomach and almost died. That is the reason he became so interested in religious things recently, and it cut off his rights to drink alcohol...doctors’ orders. Anyway, he explained that he really wanted to leave who he was behind and was ready to take a step of faith and endure to the end with the decision. He comes to church faithfully and early. We had a member in almost every single lesson with him, so he really connected well to the priesthood holders of the branch. He is a quiet and not so expressive person....but he has really started smiling a lot and seemed just as excited as I have ever seen him the day he got baptized. I think he was super anxious for it. When they got down in the water, he started leaning back to be baptized before Hermano Bendavides even said the prayer. I guess you could say he was a little excited to become a new person. He is a year older than Dad, and lives with his sister. He was divorced like 20 years ago and has 3 kids. His family didn't support his choice to be baptized, but he knew what he wanted to do and tells us that he is very content. When we gave him his baptismal certificate, he almost started to cry. I'm so proud of him and all the progress he has made. It is so cool to be a missionary and watch the light in the peoples' eyes change. He just has a different air about him now. On Sunday, he told us he was already seeing the blessings of being baptized because he woke up and his stomach wasn't as inflamed and didn't hurt as much. (He has had a lot of post-op complications.) Yeah, I was a happy camper on Saturday. Other than that, this week has been great! Dulce came to church and readily accepted to keep the Sabbath Day holy. She wasn't coming to church and was selling in the segundas on Sunday to get a little extra money because they are struggling with paying the bills. We promised that she would be blessed if she kept the Sabbath day and that everything would work out with the money. She didn’t even blink twice and said, "Okay, I will be at church." On Saturday, she came to the field day activity that the branch had with her kids. They love the primary. They even stuck around for the baptism, and a little bit before the service, I taught her 7 year old daughter a little bit of the piano. On Sunday when I went up there to go play, Allison followed me thinking I was going to teach her more piano ha-ha.

Well, that is how my week went in a nutshell. I am super happy here and am doing great. It is super-hot, but I figure it will start cooling down in a month and I have survived 3 months of heat so far. I am really happy in my area and am super nervous for transfers next week. I can't believe this is week 6 of this transfer. It is going by way too fast. I love the mission life!!!!!

Thought for the week is from Jeffery R Holland and his talk from the April 2013 conference:

In this Church, what we know will always trump what we do not know. And remember, in this world, everyone is to walk by faith.  

Everyone has questions and we all need to have a little faith. Hang on to what you do know and keep going.

Well, I love you all so much and hope that you all have a wonderful week! Thanks again for all your support and love and emails. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO Until next week....

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

Hermano Benavidias (Ward Mission Leader), Edmundo, Hermana's Anderton and Estrada

Hermana Anderton, Edmundo and Hermana Estrada

August 3, 2015: One Year in Juarez, Mexico!!!

ONE YEAR IN JUAREZ MEXICO!!!!!!!!!!!! I can’t believe it!!! Your little girl has survived Juarez Mexico 365 days. ;) I’m glad that you guys enjoyed the birthday photos. Hermana Cisneros was all over the place. She made me put on a party mask and everything ha-ha. When we got to her house for lunch she said, "Rodney’s birthday was the 30th. Let’s send him a pic!" More like 50...ha-ha. Sounds like everyone had a great week, which makes me happy!! I can’t believe it’s time to go school shopping, didn’t school just end? Oh well, that’s the way time goes...it just doesn’t stop for anything.

This week has been great!! Edmundo is getting ready for his baptism this Saturday, he is pretty excited!! And so are we...We had intercambios this week and I left Rio Nilo for a day. That is the 3rd time in almost 11 months that I have left the area to proselyte. I felt sooooooooooo lost. I love my area. I never want to leave it again. I hate not knowing where everything is. Seriously, I know my turf here better than I know my hometown now. But I had a good time and really got to know a great hermana named Hermana C. She is super sweet and doesn’t have a lot of self-confidence....so I spent most of the day complimenting her and trying to get her excited about the work and to realize how big of a blessing it is to be a missionary. She seemed a little more excited at the end of the intercambio. We have headed back to visit Maria de Jesus a few times, she broke my heart. We walked into the disaster we started with. She really took a turn back to where she was. Lluvia, her daughter, is the only one coming to church now. She’s 11. The ward takes good care of her and makes sure she gets to all the activities. Maria said she wants things to be the way they were before when she was going to church. We told her she had to put in her two cents. We are going to attempt to work with her again and help Lluvia with her Faith in God book. I just wish people would understand that the Gospel changes lives when you live it!!!!!! We are going to convert the boyfriend of a less active member and Ricardo’s sister.  They are our other priorities in investigators. We are having a blast and working hard. I really love my companion, she’s chill as a cucumber. Other than that, we have just been talking to a lot of strangers (ha-ha) and inviting everyone to come unto Christ. I love being a missionary and watching the people who are progressing change their lives. They get a new pep in their step. I’m so grateful for the chance that I have to help out my Heavenly Father in His work. This is the hardest thing I have ever done, but one of the most rewarding. I will never regret coming out here!!!!!! I have learned so much and met so many wonderful people. I love Mexico!!! I will come back to visit....that is an absolute must!!!! :) I’m doing great out here, so don’t worry about me. I’m so happy!

Thought for the week from my favorite author, Sheri Dew:

"When we turn our lives over to the Lord, the power behind us is always greater than the obstacles before us."

I know that if we turn our lives over to the Lord, He will make more of us than we ever can imagine!!! So keep calm, pray on, and go with the flow. He has a plan, and even though we may have one that is pretty good...He has a better one. :)

Well, I had better get going. I love you all so much and hope that you have a great week!! Keep up the great work and smiles. I’m so proud of you all. Thanks for all the love and support you give me. I love my family!!!!!!!! Well, until next time....XOXOXOXOXOXO

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

Happy Birthday to Dad!

I love cows.....

Hermana's Estrada and Anderton

Rio Nilo District with the Hernandez's

Hmmmmm....  Elder Raymond!

She says she did not start it!!

"Sunday Selfie"

One way to get Raegan to stop talking.....  put ice cream in front of her.. haha!

July 27, 2015: Ricardo Got Baptized!

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY TO MY WONDERFUL DADDY! I will be thinking of you on the 30th and sing "Las Mananitas" which is the classic song of celebration here. Of course, you won’t hear me...but it’s the thought that counts right? 52 never looked so good ;) So proud of Maddie for passing the NCLEX!!! You are an RN!!  I’m so excited for you. Kennedy is just a boy-magnet...stop being so cute. Mom, you sound as ponderous as usual...always thinking about the deep things of life. I love it. Dad, your emails rock! I always love knowing what is going on! Thanks everyone for your wonderful emails. I love you all so much! And the pics made my day! That new ride at Lagoon looks wicked....I will take a whack at it next summer. I might pass out first though ha-ha.

Well....RICARDO GOT BAPTIZED!!! Yay! I’ve never seen him smile as much as he did when he got baptized. His mom and sister came and his mom came to church yesterday. They really liked the baptismal service. Everything went really well and we got it done on the first dunk. We are going to prepare him for his priesthood interview next week and hopefully in 2 weeks he will be good to go. Turns out, his mom knows Hermana Luly Lievano. Small world. Speaking of small world, I met Hermana Clark yesterday. She’s from Colorado and Brady Anderton is in the bishopric in her ward! Anyways, we were really happy on Saturday with Ricardo’s baptism. We are moving along with Dulce really well too, except she’s heading off to Colorado too. So, we are going to figure out all the info to send the missionaries there to her house and get her into a Spanish-speaking ward. She is really receptive and really opened up after the primary activity. Her kids love the church and love singing songs when we come. I’ve learned a lot of primary songs in Spanish lately ha-ha. We have another investigator named Sergio who has problems with alcohol. We decided to crack down on him and talk about the Word of Wisdom. Normally, he has a hard time understanding the lessons, but I’m not sure what happened...but with the Word of Wisdom, he understood it perfectly and knew he had a problem to fix. That’s what happens when the Spirit teaches, miracles happen. We have been busy and hot, I love my mission and I never want to leave. I know that time will come, but for now I’m just going to soak in every minute I have and make the best of it. Time to serve the Lord like this is so limited. It is such a blessing and honor to be a missionary. I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! :) Everybody should go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, as the Spirit indicates...but seriously. I AM SO GLAD I CAME!!! I miss you guys, but I am super happy and doing great here.

My thought for you guys comes from the O.T.....since that is where I’m reading right now to complete my goal. It’s from Psalms 27:4-5:

 4 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.

 5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.

The temple is such a blessing to have close. I miss it so much!! We should always have a current temple recommend and be worthy to enter into the house of our Lord. There are so many questions answered and peace that can be found there. I know that the temples are the House of God and that many blessings will be enjoyed if we attend regularly. We live near a bajillion temples, there is no reason we cannot attend at least once a month, if not once a week. One thing that I will always seek after my mission is to go to the temple!!! I LOVE THE TEMPLE!!!! Enjoy the blessings of one nearby! Read Pres. Monsons talk from General Conference April 2015. Here is the link.

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/blessings-of-the-temple?lang=eng

Well, I love you all dearly and I hope that you all have a great week! Thanks so much for all your support and love. I have the #1 family in the universe. So proud of you all!!! Have a great week!!!!!!! BESOS!!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO until next time.....

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

 

Ricardo's Baptism!  L to R:  Hermano Benavidas, Ricardo, Hermana's Anderton and Estrada

Ricardo, Hermana's Anderton and Estrada

Fist Pump for her dad...  Pepsi!!!!!

Must be a Lion King thing?????

July 20, 2015: "Hermana, why is there no Taco Bell here?"

HI TO MY BEAUTIFUL FAMILY!!! Everyone looks great and sounds like they are having a great time!! Kennedy, your EFY C.O.W.s are really cute. Good pick. Good luck Maddie with your NCLEX. You will do great, don’t sweat. Mom and Dad, your emails kill me. I am still laughing about the purse. I really miss you two people. But anyways, I’m glad all is well at home. As for the USU Nursing school change, everything will work out. I will figure it out when I get home. For now, we will just keep swimming.

This week was good! We had a few problems with Ricardo´s work and his baptism, long story short - THIS WEEK!!!!! It is a done deal now. He has the day off ha-ha. He was so worried about it; I thought he was going to cry. But we are ready to roll now. Mundo is progressing really well and seems super happy at church. This week´s cool experience was with the primary and their activity of a "Day in the Mission." We took them out to visit families with kids and sing that one primary song that goes, "How could the Father show the world...." who knows what it is in English, I can’t remember. In Spanish it’s Mandó a Su Hijo. So..."He Sent His Son"??? I think that’s what it is called. Anyways, and they cited the 4th article of faith. We have an investigator who has 3 kids; she never really got excited about coming to church on Sundays and always canceled on coming. We decided to take advantage of the activity and visit her. SHE CAME TO CHURCH!! She was really impressed with the primary, so....that was super cool and sweet. The primary kids were excited that "their" investigator came to church. She really liked it and her kids liked the primary. Her name is Dulce. Funny quote from my comp: Why is there no Taco Bell here? We are in Chihuahua Mexico and they don’t have a Taco Bell. Taco Bell has the little Chihuahua dog...Chihuahua...taco...Mexico. So deceiving!!!!!! We had a good laugh. We are starting the 40 hottest days in Juarez today...here we go!!!! It is bearable! We also have found a great new investigator that was a member reference. She has a lot of potential and is really excited that we are visiting her. Her name is Elizabeth. Well, I’m kind of at a blank right now of what happened in our week now. I really enjoyed the primary activity, so that’s about all I got. We are working hard!

I found a quote, surprise. It’s from this month’s Ensign...I really enjoyed this month’s because it talked about covenants and pioneers a lot. Really, they were such great examples of sacrifice and obedience and love for God. Anyways, the quote is from Elder Nelson:

As we follow Jesus Christ, He will lead us to live with Him and our Heavenly Father, with our families. Through our many challenges of mortality, if we remain faithful to covenants made, if we endure to the end, we will qualify for that greatest of all the gifts of God, eternal life.

There are things more important in this life than anything else. Keeping covenants and being diligent in doing the little things leads us back home and gives us "peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come." I know that our Heavenly Father loves us and He showed that love through His Son. I know that He has a plan for each of our lives and that everything always works out the way it’s supposed to if we keep walking with faith and carry our load with Christ´s help. He is leading us.

I love you all so much and miss you all! Thanks so much for all the love and support you guys give me. I’m so thankful for my wonderful family!! Thanks for your examples, keep up the missionary work. I love you all more than you will ever know. Have a great week!!! Until next time....XOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

Hermana Estrada and Anderton

Rio Nilo Branch Primary on "Day in the Mission" Activity.   They Primary went with the missionaries and visited families.

Hermana Anderton and Estrada with their "Primary Companions"

Caught in the rain!  Hermana's Diaz, Anderton and Ferrell. 

July 13, 2015: That's the Plan!!!

Hola familia! Everyone sounds like they’re doing great and are having a good time. Happy Birthday to my wonderful mommy on the 15th!!! Don’t worry Mom; you are one of the best looking 29 year olds out there ;) Seriously, how do you do it?

This week has been great! A little bit about my comp: Her name is Hermana Estrada and she’s from Guatemala, Guatemala. She is 24 years old and is super sweet. She likes to cook....and she’s really good at it too. I have a notebook now dedicated to writing down her recipes ha-ha. But the thing that makes her cool is this: SHE IS A BACKSTREET BOYS fan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost died when she told me....with happiness. Sometimes we sing their songs to "practice" English. Did you know that they sang some of their songs in Spanish? Yeah, I will be downloading those on my IPod when I get home. It’s a blast being her comp. The Elders didn’t have changes either, so Elder Beck and Raymond stayed. They remind me of Kip and Napoleon from Napoleon Dynamite. They kind of look like them! Anyways, we are in for a good 6 weeks :) We are preparing Ricardo for his baptism this weekend and set a baptismal date with Edmundo this week for the 8th of August. He’s progressing really well and is super happy at church. We taught him the Word of Wisdom yesterday, and he was super excited about it. I’ve never seen somebody so pumped about it in my entire mission. He had problems before with it but stopped and so he was happy he was prepared to accept it. So sweet! He is a cool dude. He is older and so whenever we teach him something, he always says, "Well, better late than never." ha-ha. We are also teaching the mom of a recent inactive convert and a less active of our ward. She is super cool and really loves the missionaries. We haven’t been let into that house in months, and now they are super excited to see us and it’s super hard to get out of there. They won’t let us leave! We have to excuse ourselves to leave like 50 times. Talk about a change of heart. So, we are going to activate both of her children and send the son off on a mission and baptize her. That’s the plan! We have had a lot of work to do. We got drenched the other day in a downpour. There was so much rain the streets were flooding. So fun :) I love the mission!

Well, this morning in my personal study I found something interesting. I was reading in 1 Nephi 17 and really got thinking about remembering and points of view that people have in life. In verses 1-3 and then 20-27, you see the different points of view from Nephi and Laman and Lemuel about their life in the wilderness. And then in verses 23-46, Nephi explains to his brothers that their problem is that they don’t remember who God is. Really, if you can remember all the wonderful miracles that God has done for his children throughout the history of forever, your point of view will completely change. Your point of view will be more positive and clear. God does have a plan for us and that plan leads us to happiness, no matter how hard the road. This I know for sure to be true. So read your scriptures to remember and also reflect on all your blessings. Remembering is key to gratitude. WE ARE BLESSED!!!! 

Well, I love you all so much and hope that everyone has a great week! Hope Mom’s birthday is fabulous! I LOVE YOU ALL SOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH and am so grateful for the rock solid support system I have from my family. Thanks for everything you guys do for me and your sweet emails. I am doing great and having a blast and working hard. So proud of you all and all that you’re doing. I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO until next week......

Con todo mi amor,

HERMANA ANDERTON

 PS Tell Tai congrats on receiving the priesthood! That made my week!!! :)

Hermana Estrada and Anderton..... Down by the river!

Last District Photo:  Hermana Diaz, Anderton, Ferrell.  Elders Beck and Raymond

Rainbow over Juarez after heavy rain. 

It does rain after all.........

Raegan knows her dad loves Star Wars!!!

July 6, 2015: "I'm Sticking Around"

Hola familia! Everyone sounds really good! It sounds like this week was interesting at home. We did see the fireworks! They were far off in the distance and it was raining....so they weren’t all that big. But I was still stoked. Hermana Ferrell and I sang some of the classic songs that are always on when the fireworks go...Hermana Diaz liked her first July 4th experience with the Americans ha-ha. We assured her that the songs are much better than the way that we sang them and that when you are closer to the fireworks and it’s not raining...it’s a whole different ball game.

Ricardo didn’t get baptized this week, but will be baptized the 19th. And guess what...I will be here for the baptism...because I’M STAYING ANOTHER TRANSFER IN RIO NILO!!!!! I can’t believe it!! I was so shocked when Elder Raymond called and said I was staying and that both of my companions were leaving. They have only been here half the time I have been here. Hermana Ferrell is off to Del Valle and Hermana Diaz is off to Casas Grandes. We had a good laugh. I won’t lie, it was a secret relief. I really love my area and love the members. And we have a lot of investigators. Some are progressing faster than others...but allá vamos. Edmundo is progressing really well. He came to church this week for the first time and had a great experience! Hermano Garcia was really happy about that. He’s been accompanying us to our lessons. It was so funny when we went last time because Hermano Garcia is super formal and said, "Edmundo, you may officially consider me your friend. I can stop by on Sunday to pick you up if you’d like." I guess I’ve just never thought about name calling for a friend. Don’t you just make those without having to talk about it? ha-ha. We are going to make a baptismal date with him this week. :) We found a young man outside of his work reading a book and then we started talking to him about books and eventually it turned into the classic missionary conversation about beliefs. He said he wasn’t very familiar with God or who He is. I whipped out a Book of Mormon and said that we had the perfect book for him. He laughed and said it was fine and that he liked to read. Turns out, he lives in the area of the Elders. (Seriously, almost everyone we contact lives there....ha-ha we work hard so they don’t have to.) We have talked to a lot of people this week. Sometimes we start repeating people...that’s always a bit awkward. They say, "I remember you blondie. You talked to me last week remember?" Unfortunately, not until you remind me I don’t. The members are wonderful and are taking good care of us. Don’t worry, I’m eating well and drinking a lot of water :) The heat hasn’t been all that bad this week. Sometimes I’m convinced that there’s power against heat being a missionary. Everyone always asks us if we are melting because it’s super-hot...but we are fine. I quit praying for it to cool down and started praying for the ability to bear it better. Heavenly Father is listening.

Well, I heard Boyd K Packer died this week. I was super sad; I always really loved his talks. I wrote down all my favorite lessons I remember from him. He had a great way of explaining things. There was one about mercy and justice, but I can’t find it. I also remember one about spiritual crocodiles. That’s the one I will share today. He said we needed to be aware of the spiritual crocodiles lurking and waiting to destroy us. We won’t see them from afar and we need to obey our leaders to be safe, and the Spirit will always lead us in the right direction. We just need to learn how to listen to the still, small voice. Here is the link:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1976/04/spiritual-crocodiles?lang=eng

“The basic exercise for you to perform in your youth to become spiritually strong and to become independent lies in obedience to your guides. If you will follow them and do it willingly, you can learn to trust those delicate, sensitive, spiritual promptings. You will learn that they always, invariably, lead you to do that which is righteous.” – Boyd K Packer

Well, I love you all and hope that you all have a great week! Keep having fun and loving life! I’m so proud of you all and all you’re doing! Thanks for all the love and support. I’m so blessed to have such a great family. Until next week!!! XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Con todo mi amor,

Hermana Anderton

4th of July Fireworks in El Paso....  

Hermana's Ferrell, Hernandez, Anderton

Hermana Hernandez and Husband with Raegan

Hermana and Hermano Lievano with Raegan.

Hermana's Diaz, Anderton and Ferrell with the Ward Mission Leader Hermano Beavides

Hermana Lily Olivas and Raegan (Rio Nilo Ward Member)

Hermana Luly Olivas and Raegan (Rio Nilo Ward Member)

Dad's Note:  Raegan has been in the Rio Nilo area now for 10 months and has just found out she will be there for another transfer period.  She loves Rio Nilo and by judging the pictures she sent home with all the ward members I'm sure she thought it would be her last Sunday in that area....... I think it will be hard for her to leave when the time comes!