08-10-15 Email from Elder Anderson (Thunder Bay, Canada)

Hello everyone! I made it! I am in the mission field :) My first area is Thunder Bay Canada. The Mission President and his wife said that the last time a missionary got trained in Thunder Bay was over two years ago haha. So that made me a little bit nervous. The day that i flew to the Minneapolis Airport literally was the longest day of my
life. We woke up @ 2:30 and then got to the airport. Then we got the opportunity to call home which i was super excited about :) But also  it was really sad because i had to say goodbye again..  But our flight was about 2 and a half hours and i slept the entire time even though it was in the most uncomfortable position! Then we got there and we didn't hesitate to get started with training. We trained for a few hours and then we got the opportunity to meet our companions and we were all so excited. So we got introduced to all of the trainers.
When i found out I was going to Thunder Bay I didn't realize actually how far away it is from where we were it. So that night we drove 5 hours and oh my goodness it was sooooo long. I found out that the ward boundary here is bigger than the state of Utah  so crazy. Then the next day me and my companion had to drive 3 more hours.. But he is super cool so it was not that bad. He is from Aurora, Colorado. He is a very good missionary and has taught me a lot since i have been here.

I stay with two other missionaries. Elder Smith and Elder Johnson! All 3 of them that i stay with only have 2 or 3 months left in their mission. So to be honest it is really hard to know they are so close to going home. They always talk about what they are gonna first do when they get home and it makes me a little sad because i just left.
But it is okay, I am doing well. We have played some basketball and some soccer and that gets my mind off of things.

So the first day i got here, me and Elder Hawks went walking around trying to find people to talk to and wow was i nervous.  He had me try to talk to this one girl that was just standing on the corner walking back and forth. I accepted the challenge. But before we got to her, a random guy drove by and yelled " GOOD LUCK WITH THAT ONE " (Pointing to the girl) not knowing what that meant i just kept going and was about to talk her. So i said "hello, how are you?" She said good and just walked away. I found out later that night that that girl is a Hooker.. I felt so dumb hahaha. Here in Thunder Bay there are so many of them haha. It is a super ghetto town!

Saturday morning my Companion got a call from a ward member giving us a referral! He told me that we were meeting with him that night at  7:00. His name was John Paul. Elder Hawkes told me that i was going to commit him to be Baptized and to read the Book of Mormon.When he told me that i got super scared and was not confident in myself at all. Right before we went Elder Hawkes had to go back to the house and get his stuff for the lesson. So i got on my knees and a said a Prayer asking Heavenly Father for help in this lesson. One of the most
sincere Prayers that i have said. When we got to the apartment his door was already opened. So we knocked still and he came to the door with a cigarette and he said " COME ON IN BOYS" very loudly. We got in there and he told us his whole life story and what he has been through. He has been shot, stabbed, 3 strokes, 19 DUI's, He broke his right hand 43 times and his left 15, his dad did not treat him right as a kid and so on. He told us that he was wondering why he is still here and that he is looking for a church to join. We taught him the Restoration and then we showed him a Mormon Message called "Mountains to Climb" ( I recommend watching it ) and the Spirit was so strong there. I could tell he felt it. After that I invited him to be Baptized one of the days in September. He thought about it for a second and then said "Yes." That made me so happy. Then after talking about the Book of Mormon for a little bit i invited him to read it and Pray about it. He accepted the invitation. I bore my testimony right then and man the Spirit was just so strong. I felt the love of our Heavenly Father for John. It was so amazing!

Heavenly Father really does love all of his children! He loves each and every one of you guys I want you to know that! This work is hard. It really is the hardest thing i have done. But i know with the Lords help i can do this. I want to thank all of you for all the emails I really enjoy hearing from each and everyone of you. Please keep em
coming It seriously makes my week!  This is my Address: 840 McMillan St, Thunder Bay ON P7C 3M1, Canada. Again I love you all!

Love,
Elder Anderson

First Day in Minnesota 08-05-15

Hey everyone! I made it to Minnesota safely. I love it already! Its beautiful here and super humid. I love you all! Talk to you soon :)

08-05-15 Airport

08-03-15 Email from Elder Anderson

Hey everyone! I can't believe I have almost been out two weeks. It has flown by wow! Every tuesday night we have a devotional, and me and my roommates had a long day, so we get to the devotional all tired and we ended up all falling asleep.. for the entire devotional. Little did we know after that we had a devotional review right after with our district! Our branch President, President Brady asked us all to bare testimony on what thought of the devotional. We all looked at each other and thought "CRAP" and i had to go first. So we all told him the truth and said we fell asleep and it was really awkward. But i just learned I need to be focused the entire time, during every lesson and devotional while i am here.  

I have had a tough week! I missed home a lot and thought about everything that i could be doing at home and just missing all of you! I was losing confidence as a missionary because me and Elder Richins lessons were not going very well.. I then came across a scripture in book of Ether. It is Ether 12:27, It says - "And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if the humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them." I read that and immediately was comforted. Ever since then I have been much happier and my lessons have been awesome! I never realized until i got here that all the answers are in the Scriptures. Personal study is one of my favorite parts of the day. You can really get so much out of it.

This week I taught two investigators. Ny is a girl and she is from Madagascar. She was super quiet during our lessons, so it was hard to teach her when we did not know if she was understanding what we were talking about. The second lesson went well until me and my Companion started baring testimony on the power of prayer and the Book of Mormon and she started laughing like super hard. We didn't really know how to act so we ended it quick and after that lesson I was actually super mad about the whole situation because she made us feel so stupid. The third lesson did not go well either because we both had a bad attitude from the last lesson. After that third lesson my companion had a thought that if we want to be successful missionaries we have to love our investigators. We have to make them feel of our love or else they won't want to hear our message. We hear here all the time that " We teach people, not lessons." So as soon as she felt of our love, our lessons went so well. The last lesson we committed her to Baptism. I felt so happy! I still will never understand why she was laughing at our testimonies because I felt the spirit so strong. 

This past week on wednesday I wanted to welcome one of my best friends Elder (Zak) Harrison. I saw him and his family pull up into the MTC and I could not stop smiling. It was so good to see him and his family! I see Elder Harrison around and we talk a little bit and it is just so fun to see someone from home :) Every Sunday night we have the opportunity to watch a movie (about Church obviously) Me and my roommates chose " Meet the Mormons" because none of them had seen it, and i told them how much i loved it. It got to the last story about the missionary leaving his family and his mom being a convert to the Church and we all just started crying and couldn't stop haha! We we are just saying how much we miss our Moms. It was the first time crying about home here in the MTC. But because all four of us were it wasn't as bad. 

I found out my Zone Leader is going to be a Dixie State baseball player. I also found out he brought his glove so that has been so much fun throwing the ball around the dorms. I will send a picture of me fielding a ground ball haha :) This morning i went through the Provo temple. It was such a good experience to go through another temple. Also it was nice to get outside the gates of the MTC. Because sometimes you feel like you are in prison here. The only difference between here, and prison is prison gets visitors ;) haha, I actually love it here! I thought i had a super strong testimony before i got here, but man has it grown each day. I leave Wednesday morning at 3:30am to Minnesota and i cannot wait! I would like to send handwritten letters and packages to you guys! So I would love for all of you to send me your Address. I will let you know what my mission home address is as soon as i know. I love you all! The Church is true.

Love, 

Elder Anderson

Pics from Elder Oldroyd's Mom

07-27-15 Email from Elder Taylor Anderson

Hi everyone! I have made it 5 days in the MTC. It has been incredible. I have learned so much just in a few days. The spirit is felt here almost all the time. My companion Elder Richins is awesome! He is from Hurricane UTAH. He played football there and is going to walk on at SUU when he gets home. I also stay with another companionship and we have been having so much fun together their names are Elder Oldroyd & Elder Glauser. Elder Oldroyd is from Fountain Green UT and Elder Glauser is from Mesa Arizona. Their testimonies and thoughts have helped me be a better missionary. 

 I have been teaching investigators everyday, and I will be honest at the first it was tough to get used to and i was a little bit down on myself. But I know that if i press forward and keep doing my best the Lord will bless me for it. Prayer has played such a big role here at the MTC. Heavenly Father really does answer our prayers, I know that he has answered mine. I have worked harder than I ever have in my life. We wake up at 6:30 everyday and by the time it gets to 10:30 we are all asleep. That really is a transition for me because before I got out here I would stay up every night until about 12:30 - 1:00 watching One Tree Hill haha. There are times I feel like I wanna go home and be with my family and friends cause I think it is too hard for me. But I have a good quote right next to my bed that a good friend Elder Benson Rhees gave me. It says "Forget Yourself and Get to Work." That seriously has been such motivation for me. We have learned here that what we are doing here is not for us at all. We are here to focus on our and investigators and like our purpose says " Invite others to come unto Christ." 

The food here is so good. But it is all you can eat and I love that. But when you only get 55 minutes to work out it kinda sucks because you think that you are getting fat haha. I played basketball the 3rd day and it was fun to finally get some exercise. You can only play half court so it does not get too competitive. Which is probably good for me, because I want to win in everything i do haha. I kinda got in trouble too. Because you are not supposed to touch the net, rim, or backboard and i smashed the backboard trying to make a Lebron James block and the supervisor got mad at me haha. I wasn't in trouble or anything but every other missionary that has been here for more than a week looked at me like i committed

a crime haha. I met this missionary who is from Chicago and his name is Elder Weaver III. He has this amazing story I wish i could tell you guys but I don't have enough time. But he is a convert and grew up without a Dad in his home. His testimony about the Gospel is just so cool to hear. He also is best friends with Jabari Parker the NBA player. So he told us all these stories about him and i even got to try on his warm up from a game. Elder Weaver III left today. It was actually sad even though i have known him for only 5 days i grew to love him, but i know he will be great.

I am running out of time, but i want you all to know that i am doing great and my love for this gospel is being strengthened each and everday. I have felt your prayers and support everyday. I love you all! I would love to hear back from each and every one of you. The Church is true. LESSGO

Love, 

Elder Anderson

Unexpected picture from Sarah Brandley

So, this morning I was looking at my phone wondering if I would hear from Taylor today. When a text came from Sarah Brandley, a sweet girl in our ward, with a picture of Taylor and some other elders. I was so excited to see my sweet boy's face. It was a tender mercy for me. I then found another one of the Elder's mom, who works with Taylor Aunt Beth and sent her the picture as well. We were both crying as we saw our sweet boys. I am so grateful for thoughtful people who knew exactly what I needed today. It was such a blessing to me and a testament that our Heavenly Father knows all of use personally and gives us what we need. My heart is full. The elder on the far right is Taylor's companion, Elder Richins.