June 29, 2015

Hey Everyone!

The weeks seem to be flying by before I can even catch my breath! This week was a holiday week here - its called ´san Juan¨ and its supposedly ´´the coldest night of the year´´ here in Bolivia and everyone has a campfire on their porch and eats hot dogs! haha its actually kinda cute but holidays are always hard days here because everyone is busy and the number of drunks in the street triples! 

Yesterday we also got to go with the ward to a home for kids that are orphaned... its similar to the Christmas box house and I couldn't help but hold back tears as we talked to them and heard there stories.. it was also such a cool experience to see the ward interact and help them because even the members here have basically nothing but they are willing to give everything that they do have to help others.. thats what I love about this church! 

funny story this week.. somehow a gigantic cat entered our house (we have no idea how or how long it has been living with us because our house is completely closed off) but I was studying at my desk and my comp was in the room still and the cat literally jumped from the ceiling and scared me sooo bad. It was HUGE, I'm convinced it was a half cat half dog. I screamed and my companion came running out - she is about just as good or worse if thats possible with animals as me and started screaming ´´get it out, get it out!!¨ I screamed back ´´you get it out!¨ hahah the thing ran and hid and every time we got close it would hiss at us. we spent literally an hour trying to call it out, we even tried leaving it a trail of cheese, and eventually had to knock on the neighbor's door and ask her to come rescue us hahah how embarrassing. My hate for animals has only grown in the last 6 months! 

We are doing great here and have a lot of really promising people that we are teaching! As we were passing by a group of drunks this week the thought came to my mind ´´what does God think of them?´´ and then popped into my head a talk from a 70 in this last conference that ´´compared to God, none of us are all that different in our sins´´ we are all SO imperfect and God loves us all just the same even in our imperfections and cares a lot more about who we are and who we are trying to become than about who we once were. that helped me a lot because everyone can change and Heavenly Father loves the drunks in the street just as much as he loves me and he knows that they have the potential to change as well! ´´thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ we can look at our previous selves and say ´´Twas I, but Tis not I.´´ KEEP MOVING FORWARD!! 

love you all! thanks for all the support! 

Hermana Andersen :)

Another week in good ole Boliva!

I am finally adjusting to city life.. other than the fact that this city is not made for tall people. hahaha I hit my head on EVERYTHING. They sell everything in little tent things and if I had a dollar for every time I smacked my head on a pole sticking out of the tent I would be loaded. hahaha the goose eggs are so real. 

Also something that I am getting used to (good or bad?) is my comp talking literally every second haha from the time she wakes up to the time we go to bed she is talking - even when she is in the bathroom and I am starting to get so used to it that I forget to keep listening!

Saturday was a super frustrating day - Pablo's baptism was programmed for 6 pm and we were at the church cleaning and preparing at about 3... we got call from him at 5:15 telling us that his daughter had disappeared and he was with the police looking for her and wouldn't be able to get baptized. turns out she ran away with her boyfriend and they still haven't been able to find her. UGH I have never felt a disappointment like that! its amazing how satan even works through other people to do everything he can from keeping baptisms away. so lots of prayers for Pablo - the people here are super superstitious and if something bad happens on a big day its a sure sign that its the wrong decision.. :(

This week we had a ¨mini MTC¨ for the future missionaries in the stake - we taught some classes and even took them out in the street and taught them how to knock doors and contact people in the street. It brought back so many memories of me before the mission and made me realize how much I have learned and grown in these 6 months and made me SO grateful for this experience! 

This week I have been studying a lot about the importance of continually learning and growing in all aspects but especially in the gospel. when we take gaining knowledge in the gospel as something of importance it shapes our WHOLE life. ¨True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.¨ -Boyd K. Packer

When we truly understand what this gospel is all about, our desires change and our behavior and attitude is good not because we are being forced by our parents or our leaders, but because we understand what this life is really about! 

I love you all and hope all is well at home! 

love, 

Hermana Andersen  

June 15, 2015

Hey everyone!

Woah to say this week has been an adventure would be an understatement.. living in the city has opened my eyes to a whole new world!   A few adventures we ran into this week: 

#1: Got locked in the church. hahah we were in a meeting with the ward mission leader and someone came and locked us in (the doors lock from the outside) - we left the meeting just in time to watch her close the outside gate and get in the bus and drive away. Of course it was lunchtime and we had to wait for someone to come and rescue us - I seriously considered jumping from the window but decided legs are pretty important in the mish. 

#2: Found out the hard way that my companion has allergies and asthma and that the allergies trigger the asthma. we were in the middle of a lesson and she just started bawling! I know that the first vision is powerful but I sensed that something was super wrong so we ended the lesson super fast and left the poor confused investigators wondered what the heck was wrong with us hahaha but we got out and she was freaking out saying ¨get me oxygen, get me oxygen!¨ I had no idea what to do because we were at the top of the hill and 911 doesn't really exist, so I said a prayer and took off running and LUCKILY turned the corner to a pharmacy and here you don't have to have any kind of prescription for anything ha so she sold me an inhaler and everything was fine, but not an experience I would like to have again! 

#3: We were in the cancha (a HUGE market - look it up on youtube) buying our breakfast and the next thing I new I was SOAKED in milk. I looked down and realized my bag had been slashed completely open! luckily the only thing I had in there was a bag of milk and the knife punctured the bag too - haha I was SO annoyed but grateful that it just punctured the bag and not my body! the thieves here are unreal and so fast! 

Everyday here is such an adventure, its sketchy at times but I always know that Heavenly Father is protecting us and I'm super grateful for that! We have a baptism programmed for Saturday - so lots of prayers that everything will go as planned with that :) I love this work and know that it truly is the Lord´s work and he truly prepares these people in HIS way. Love you all!! 

love, 

Hermana Andersen

photo: we found this girl that is SUPER interested but her parents locked her in hahah so we had our lesson through this little hole in the door! 

May 4, 2015

hello hello!

another week in good ole Bolivia! This week was full of random experiences and typical Bolivian culture that Im not sure I will ever get fully used to haha! a couple stories of the week:

1. we found a teenager that was interested in the church on saturday and yesterday we invited him to come to church with us... he came and even stayed for the whole 3 hours! But last night as we were getting ready for bed we got a call from the Bishop saying ¨umm your new investigator that you brought to church today? he´s in the chapel drunk and we cant get him to leave!¨ it turns out he went drinking after church and felt so at home he returned there to sleep and it literally took a whole army to get him out! haha not exactly what we were hoping for when we said ¨we hope you feel comfortable and welcome in the church¨ next lesson for him: word of wisdom! 

2. some of our investigators brought home 2 baby kittens that didnt have names, so Hna Fonseca and I named them after some food specialties (nasty) here in Bolivia and fell in love with the little things. so cute!! a couple days later we went back and Hna Fonseca walked through the door first and serioulsy started shrieking I thought for sure somebody had died - as I got closer I saw poor Chicharron beheaded and completely torn apart lying on the ground! it was seriuolsy such a horrible sight but I couldnt help but laugh as I was trying to comfort my crying companion and just kept thinking ´´im so glad my sister isnt here´´ haha the poor cats dont stand a chance here with the crazy dogs. the worst part was that for the family it was completely normal hahah ew. 

I am doing great here in Bolivia and am so happy! I love seeing our investigators progress and being able to see them find true happiness in their lives brings me a happiness that I have never felt before! there are definitely hard days but I have learned that the hardest days in the mission are when you learn the most! 

I love you all and hope everyone is doing well at home!! see you all soon! :)

love, 

Hna Andersen

city central!

hey everyone!!

the new area could not be more different from my last area, I am in the heart of Cochabamba so I am coming from all fields to all city - such a big change but I am adjusting just fine! the cars here are CRAZY - red lights mean absolutely nothing haha so we are always always dodging cars and darting across the street as fast as possible! also the city is a lot more dangerous so we don't carry hardly anything with us because thefts are super super common and white people are an automatic target! also this area has hills like I have never seen before! they are so steep that the cars can't climb them and they KILL us hahaha everyday my legs feel like I have been in Disneyland for a week! But there are amazing people here and I am super happy! the houses aren't quite as humble as Tiquipaya which is good and bad - good because my heart doesn't hurt as much but bad because in the mission I have learned that more money = less receptive. so sad but true! My new comp is from Nicaragua and is the sweetest as long as you are on her good side haha! 

I got to go back to Tiquipaya Saturday to see Eduardo get baptized which was SO awesome - like going home after a vacation haha! Its so so amazing to see the changes these people make in their lives when they accept the gospel!

I love you all and hope everything is going good at home! see you soon! 

love, 

Hermana Andersen :)

photo: we found cholita clothes in our house last night and couldn't help but play dress up haha!

Chau Tiquipaya :(‏

Hey everyone!

what a week, what a week! Tomorrow I will be leaving Tiquipaya and there are no words to describe how sad I am :( It is so so hard to leave these people that I have come to love so much. I was 99.9% sure that it was coming, but I was holding onto that .1% with everything that I had! But I know that there are other people to meet and experiences to have. I am going to an area called ´´las cuadras´´ with an hermana cuardra haha super ironic. It will be an adventure for sure but I know that the Lord is in charge! we have a baptism here in tiquipaya on Saturday which is super sad to be leaving behind as well but I am just so grateful for all the people I have gotten to know here - they truly are amazing! 

Highlights of the week:

-got charged by 2 sheep. those things look innocent but when they come from behind at full speed to attack you there are freaking vicious. hahaha it was actually really hilarious after I got back up

- saw my house on Google Maps! haha we had to go to the mission offices and the secretaries said ´want to go for a walk around your block?´ I forgot how beautiful paved roads and lawns and america in general is! it turned out to actually be torture haha

- Mothers day! this week was mothers day here in Bolivia and we tried to make ´´brownies´´ in an oven of one of our investigators for our ´´moms´´ here... hahaha the brownies were in the oven for about 5 minutes and literally turned into charcoal, not quite sure what happened there.

- The ward mission activity this month was ´´bring your friends and family to a movie night´´ we showed Fast and Furious 7... our job was to sit outside and pass popcorn and write down the addresses of the new investigators that came. haha TORTURE. sounds like a pretty legit movie from the outside! 

I am super happy and more and more grateful for this opportunity everyday! I hope everyone is doing well and all is well at home :) love you all!!