Season 9 Episode 6: Transfer Week: New Companion Elder Newbold in Medicine Lake, MN

Hello Family and Friends,

   We had a wonderful week! It was the last full week of the transfer. Lots of great things happened, let me tell you about it! :)

Monday: We biked quite a ways to our dinner appointment. That pretty much took up our whole night! We did some shopping during the day looking for clothes for some of the elders.

Tuesday: Well I have been having a difficult time breathing so I had an appointment at the Clinic, I was told that I have Asthma. So they gave me an Inhaler and I have been using it often. They said that it is from the Humidity because we have been biking in 95 Degrees with 90% Humidity.. So I think that is the cause of it. I will be fine though :) Then we biked round trip 23 miles going to dinner and stopping by lots of people.

Wednesday: I went on exchanges with Elder Beach who is a new missionary from Logan, UT. He knows Jason Money from football camps. he was the quarterback at SkyView High. We had a great day, we taught Moses The Gospel of Jesus Christ lesson and he received it very well! Then we had dinner but we got lost cause we were on bikes and I don't know how to get around just yet. We played basketball with a bunch of ballers. The guy I was guarding was a former Point Guard at St. John's University. He was super good haha!

Thursday: We had a lesson with Moses and a Prospective Elder in the morning. Then we did a bunch of Accounting calls. We had dinner with the Stake President. He was awesome, we had a wonderful visit and lesson. Then we had a first lesson with someone I had found a couple weeks ago on an exchange. Other than that we didn't have much go on the rest of the day.

Friday: We did service at a food bank with the whole zone. Then we had Moses's baptismal interview, he is good to go! He is getting baptized Saturday at 10:00 am and he asked me to baptize him. So I will be doing that! I can't believe this! He is an amazing person and I am excited for this new beginning and journey that he is taking! :)

Saturday: we had service with a less active. We had a couple of lessons. We had to do a lot of computer work that day for the zone. So that was okay..

Sunday: Great church service and we had a stake meeting with all the stake leaders talking about what we can do to improve the wards. Then we had mission presidents fireside. That was amazing! We stayed at the assistants for the night and it was fun!!

My new companion is Elder Newbold who went to Bingham High School. He is 6'8 and a baller! So I am so excited! :) Thanks for all y'all do! Have a good week!

Love, Elder Anderson

Season 9 Episode 5: Medicine Lake with Elder Long

Hello Everyone,

        Awesome week this week! We had 3 investigators at church which was so cool. It's amazing how when investigators come to church the speakers always say exactly what they need to hear, I just love it. :)

Monday: We went shopping in downtown Minneapolis with the Crystal Elders. It was fun! It is a really big city, wow! Then we played volleyball with the entire Zone at the Brooklyn Park Church. Later in the evening we had two active member lessons that both went well.

Tuesday: We went on exchanges with the Elm Creek Elders. I went with Elder Howe who goes home next week. I went to his area and we biked a lot. We tried to stop by lots of potentials and see some people but not a lot of success. We then went to a Vietnamese restaurant and it was really good. We had a couple lessons later that night that were good!

Wednesday: We had a multi-zone specialty training. It was in the Elk River Building. We combined with the St. Cloud Zone and it was a really good meeting. I conducted the meeting and that was good! We did lots of Role Plays which was really good, we talked about contacting people with the pamphlets and using them more in our daily missionary work. We then had a lesson with Bro Gbondo. We showed the Mormon message " Mountains to Climb " and then shared the scripture D&C 122:7-9.

Thursday: We went on exchanges with the Anoka Elders and I went with Elder Semadeni who also goes home next week haha. He came to my area and we had some cool opportunities. We found a couple new people. We also had a lesson with Moses and we taught him the Word of Wisdom and he liked it and committed to live it. Then we had a lesson with Bro Nunelly and that was good. He is super solid and a great guy! He will be going to the temple again in just acouple months.

Friday: we did service at a members home in the morning. For lunch Bro Stanich from my second area came and took us out to eat at smash burger. It was awesome, he brought the Watkins boys which was totally awesome, I love that man! We then had a lesson with Moses and taught him the Law of Chastity and committed to live it. What a golden
investigator! 

Saturday: We had a coordination meeting and then played frisbee. Then we did some service for bro smith. We had dinner at bro toribios and that was pretty much that day, nothing else exciting happened!

Sunday: We had 3 investigators at church and it was an amazing sacrament meeting. I loved it! Trent, Moses, and Tom all came. Two of them stayed for all 3 hours. Then we had lots of stop by's and some phone calls. Good day!

Moses Yeker baptism will be moved until the 27th of August. Less than two weeks, I am so excited for him to be baptized! I am enjoying this area, can't believe that the transfer ends next week! I love you all, have a good week!

Love,

Elder Anderson

Season 9 Episode 4 Medicine Lake with Elder Long

Hello Family and Friends,

        We had a great week. We were on bikes everyday getting great exercise, it was really great!! Moses our investigator is amazing. August 20th is the day so just in a few days :) :) :)

Monday: We had a really great P day, almost all the elders in the zone went golfing at this super cheap course. It was a great time. I love the elders in the zone, it's really fun to all hang out on P days.

Tuesday: We went on exchanges with the Andover Elders. I went with Elder Foutz who is from Mapleton. We know a lot of the same people so that was cool! He is one of the new missionaries and he is super solid. I am excited to continue to serve around him. We biked around and talked to people and had a couple lessons. It was fun!

Wednesday: We did a lot of stop by's and going around trying to find people and we didn't have much success. We then went with a member in the evening to do more stop by's and taught a couple less actives. It as great. There is always a member in the Ward who knows everyone and he was that guy.

Thursday: It was a pretty slow day.. We helped a member get ready to move for a couple hours and then had dinner with them. That went well!! As we were riding back towards the church, Elder Long was like "hey elder anderson let's stop at this McDonald's I got to go to the bathroom." As soon as he said that the spirit told me that there was someone in their that I needed to talk to. I went and sat down somewhat next to thing Liberian family and started talking to them and shared the Book of Mormon with them and got their address and phone number it was awesome they seem super solid. They don't live in our area but we were able to give the address to the assigned missionaries. It was a wonderful experience. The spirit is so real and I am so grateful for the guidance it has as we come out and spread the gospel.

Friday: really long day.. Lots of planning and calling.. Not much happened honestly..

Saturday: This was such an amazing day! We had MLC in Bloomington. Elder Soares of the Presidency of the Seventy came and trained us for a couple of hours. It was incredible, let's just say there was not  any dry eyes in the room at the end. I have lots of notes and am grateful for his uplifting message. I loved the message so much that I thought I would go up to him afterwards and thank him, because how I felt that he was talking just to me. When I went up to him he said "Thank you Elder Anderson, I felt as if we were communicating throughout the meeting, I appreciate your spirit. Love you Brother." I will never forget that moment. He is from Brazil and President Forbes served his mission there. It was cool! Then later we had dinner at the Jones house, one of the members in the Ward. They invited Moses over and we had a wonderful dinner and lesson afterwards. During the lesson Moses was like " So once I am Baptized what to I have to do after that?" How awesome is that!! He is so prepared :) what a spiritual day!!

Sunday: We had church and we had 3 investigators at church which was great :) After church we had a lesson with Moses and before we had the lesson we asked him if his family in Liberia knew that he was getting baptized. This is what he said (in a African accent) "Right before you guys got here I was talking to my family and told them that I was getting baptized and they said " Ah man I wish we could be there to see you get baptized as well as all of us be baptized as well" We were so excited to hear that! We are going to send a referral to some missionaries in Liberia sometime this week! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he loved it! Later in the evening we had an interesting experience we were biking home at 9:00 and we met this guy at an intersection and he was from Vietnam and had been here 3 months and was wondering who we were. So we introduced ourselves and he said "Where is your church building? I want to go there now!! " so we rode to the church with him and he got way mad at us because we didn't give him water and treat him like a guest I guess. We told him there were drinking fountains but he said those were gross and that he needed a water bottle. Then he asked for the prophets address so he could write him about it. Then we told him we don't know his address and he again got way ticked off at us, it was very interesting. Hahah I was so confused with everything that happened with him!!! 

We had a great week! Thank you guys for everything I appreciate the emails!

Elder Foutz from Mapleton:

Elder Richins is going home. Watch for him at shortstop at BYU!!

Mission Leadership Conference with Elder Soares:

Love, Elder Anderson

Season 9 Episode 3: Medicine Lake with Elder Long

Hello Family and Friends,

        Another great week with an amazing miracle. We committed someone to Baptism!! :) I am so excited for him. His name is Moses and I will talk more about him when I tell about the lesson.

Monday: We did a blitz exchange with the Andover Elders. I went with Elder Seng. They are both super new missionaries. Elder Foutz is from Mapleton and we know a lot of the same people. So that was cool! It was a good exchange we biked a lot and talked to quite a few people.

Tuesday: We had an amazing miracle. We taught Moses our new investigator who we just got referred to. He was so prepared for the Gospel! He got to Minnesota like 6 days ago. He is from Liberia and he told us he was praying that when he got here that he would go to the
church God wants him to. Of course Heavenly Father would lead him to us. The true church. We taught him the restoration and he loved it! We set a date for baptism for August 27th. I am so excited wow!!!

Wednesday: I went on exchanges with a new missionary. He came to medicine lake and we taught a few lessons. Nothing too amazing but it was a god exchange! I love new missionaries. He is from Cash Valley, UT. We played basketball that night and he was a baller it was a fun day.

Thursday: We had interviews with President Forbes. We had a lot to do. Every district had a district meeting and we had to set up a bunch of things for that! We did car inspections on every car in the Zone. I had a great interview with President. He is a great man and he gave lots of advice that I appreciate. Then I went on exchanges with the AP. Elder Morrow. He came to my area and all our appointments fell through. But something that was sweet, was we prayed with like 5 people on the street. We were just talking to everyone and I loved it!  He is a great missionary and I learned a lot from him. He played basketball at Wasatch High school and I figured out that we played each other so that was cool.

Friday: We accounted with all the district leaders and then did some weekly planning and then had another lesson with Moses. We had a great lesson, we went over the restoration again and showed him the short video of the first vision. He totally felt the spirit and I was so pumped about it! Great lesson. Then Elder Lowell and I the new missionary who is playing college ball went to a park where a bunch of Africans play every day Monday - Friday 6:00-9:00 and we played with them and it was so much fun. They talk so much trash it was so funny. 

Saturday: Really slow day.. Not a lot happened! We made a bunch of phone calls and it just was not the best day. At 4:00 I got a text asking if I could speak in church. The topic I got was "How Can I learn from Pioneers of the past to be a pioneer today" I was freaking out just cause I had so little time to prepare. But I was able to come up with something! We saw the man on the bench that I talked about a few weeks ago, I told him that I was speaking in church and I told him  it would mean a lot to me if he came.

Sunday: And he came to church for my talk. Tom, Moses, and a guy named Bob. All non members. It was awesome! I was super nervous for the talk, but it went well!! :) Then we had dinner at a recently returned mission presidents house. They invited Moses and we had an awesome dinner and short lesson with them. We had to bike a long way to get there so it was pretty much our whole night doing that.

Great week this week! Can't wait for the baptism!! I love you all, it means so much when I get emails and letters from you! Make this week awesome!!


Elder Morrow and Elder Anderson:

Mission Miracles:

Love, Elder Anderson

Season 9 Episode 2: Medicine Lake with Elder Long

Hi Family and Friends,

These past two weeks have been crazy. I left Red Wing two weeks ago and it was really sad. I love that place with all my heart! It's amazing how much you come to love the people that you serve. I have been transferred to an Area that covers bits of all these cities, Crystal, New Hope, Brooklyn Park and probably more. I am a zone leader with an Elder I served with in my first area of Thunder Bay Elder Long. He is from Alberta Canada. We have lots of fun together. I have loved being here so far! We have 11 companionship's in the zone and we also have 7 new missionaries. Which is the most in the mission. I have gotten to know them all a little bit in the short time that I have been here. Okay, now I will tell you a little bit about my week:

Monday: We had zone p day. We played Frisbee and Kickball for hours. It was very fun! It was just extremely hot outside. We also decided on our new Zone Focus for the transfer, which is Active Member Lessons/ Member Present lessons. So pretty much just working with the members to find new people to teach. I think that it will work very well in this zone and we will all work hard to accomplish this goal.

Tuesday: We had a district meeting with the Crystal district. We talked a lot about change. Change in ourselves, and change in our investigators. I was very uplifted by that! Then I went on exchanges with Elder Roberts. He is the district leader who also served in red wing. So we talked about a lot of the people there and it was really fun! Crystals area is downtown Minneapolis so that was fun. There was a lot of cops around to say the least. Something interesting that happened while we were on exchanges was we pulled up to a stop light and this guy was entering the intersection from our left and he was going like 55 MPH and he tried to make a turn right and smashed the pole you press to cross the road and it came flying in the air and smashed our car.. The dude just drives off as fast as he could so we couldn't get his license plate. But we get out of the car to see what happened. We didn't even have one dent on the car. It hit out bike rack. It could have gone right through our windshield if we were just a second or two later. SO our car was fine. But the car next to us got the side of her car smashed. So we stayed as witnesses of the accident. It was insane! We had a good amount of lessons and it was a very fun exchange! I got to see the Vikings new stadium which is freaking cool. I will send pictures once I download them off my camera. We also saw Target Field and Target Center. Downtown Minneapolis is super cool!!

Wednesday: We had another district meeting but to save miles we just went to the church and face-timed into the meeting. Then we mowed a members lawn and it was so hot and humid that day. This whole week was insane. We were on bikes this whole week too!! Later in the evening we played basketball at the church, a bunch of guys from Minneapolis came and a former Utah State basketball player was on my team. He was such a baller! 

Thursday: We had a 3rd district meeting but we just face timed in to save miles. Then we had a bunch of accounting calls. Then we did stuff on the computer about miles for the zone. Later in the evening we were biking around stopping by a bunch of people and no one was home. So just as we were leaving an apartment building this lady stopped us and told us that she had just moved here from Liberia and is a member of the church. We gave her the address to the church and she was so excited to come. It's crazy how the Lord puts us places for a reason. We might not have talked to anyone the whole night, but that was a huge success finding her.

Friday: We did zone service at FMSC (Feed my starving children) That was super fun. Then we did our weekly planning which was actually good. Then found this guy on a bench and taught him briefly and he wants us to come back. It was so sick! Then right after that we had a lesson with Bro Quay. Little did we know he was going to have a non member in the home. So Bro Quay taught the restoration to her with such power and conviction. It was amazing! I love that man! 

Saturday: It was raining very hard.. So we didn't do much! We made some phone calls earlier in the day. Then at night it was good weather. Our WML bro Gruber told us he would drive us around to see people so that was really nice. We drove by that man who we talked to the day before who is always on the bench. and guess what? He was reading the Book of Mormon. It was so amazing! We were so excited about that!! 

Sunday: We had a great service. A recently returned mission president and his wife spoke in our Ward. It was amazing! The spirit was so strong as they talked about their mission. Later we got a call from that lady that we had seen on Thursday that just moved here from Liberia. She told us she has two friends who want to be baptized. How amazing is that? We were so excited to hear that! We are meeting with them on Tuesday :)

Elder Long and I decided that every week we are going to make a video telling about a miracle that we saw this week and we can share it through ICloud on the Photos app. So if you want to be on the list for that let me know sometime this week and I will put you on there. I love being a missionary. I cant believe I hit my year mark this week! Time flies so fast. I hope you all are doing well! Love you all!!

Love, Elder Anderson

Season 9 Episode 1: Transfer to Medicine Lake, Anoka Zone with Elder Long

Hi Everyone, 

We have no time today to email. We have Zone P day and we have had to do a bunch of stuff this morning. This week was so crazy. We have 7 new missionaries in the zone, the most in the mission. They are all great, I am excited to get to know them! I am sorry that this is not a long email. I will update you on everything next week, love you all!

-Elder Anderson

Transfer Day July 13, 2016 p/c Sister Cupkie