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!!

May 25, 2015

Hey everyone!

The highs and lows of the mission are so real! haha this week was super good in a lot of aspects but hard in a lot of aspects too! we had a baptism programmed for saturday that fell through because she didn't come to church yesterday :( super frustrating and disappointing, we haven't been able to find her the last few days and are super confused because she was progressing so good! but we are praying that we will be able to figure it out in the next couple of days! 

Also super sad story - when I first got here we were teaching a young girl, she became uninterested but through her we found her sister and this week we went to visit her sister and she told us that her little sister has been missing for the last few weeks and nobody has any idea where she went. we are so sad for this family and praying that they will be able to find her soon! the police here are soo useless. they do absolutely nothing to help anyone! 

But other than that I am super good here and learning so much - especially on avoiding drunk men and also what food to dread when I see because I automatically know I will be on the toilet all night hahaha but there is no escaping anything the pensionistas make! But I am super happy here and know there is nowhere else I need to be! 

This picture is Elsa and her daughter Lisandra - this smile was the biggest we have seen in months from her! Her store is so sad but we are doing all we can to help her!

Also learned how to make empanadas this week!

Payday!!

holy cow SUCH a good week this week!! 

Rosemery and Juan got baptized on Saturday!! There seriously is no words to describe the happiness that I felt seeing them all in white and 100% clean. they have seriously made such big changes in their lives since they have gotten to know the gospel and are so happy! Everything went perfect minus a small font flood - haha our ward mission leader forgot to turn the water off and about 2 hours later we went to check on the temperature and literally walked into a swimming pool hahah luckily we had some members there to help us and finished cleaning up just in time to start the baptism! 

The spirit was amazing and we had invited an investigator and when we asked him after how he felt he told us ¨I hope the next one is mine!"  whoa so cool to hear!! 

we are working so hard this transfer and it is so so cool to see the miracles and blessings that come from hard work and after seeing Rosemery and Juan get baptized - there is no better payday or motivation than that! 

I love this work and am super happy here! Thank you all so much for all the love and support and prayers! I hope everyone is happy and doing well at home! see you soon!! 

love,

Hermana Andersen

May 11, 2015

hey everyone!!

Holy cow this week has been amazing! We got to go to the temple on Thursday as a mission and it is such a cool experience to go through together as missionaries! You remember how lucky you are to live in Utah and have a temple so close that you can go to whenever you want when you come to a different country that isn't quite so lucky! 

ALSO - Rosmeri and Juan are getting baptized on Saturday!!!! Ah there are absolutely no words to describe my excitement for them! It has been so amazing to see how much their lives and their relationship has changed since they have gotten to know the gospel - we found Rosmeri when she was super depressed and in a search for her biological parents, literally that is all she could think about and focus on - now she tells us that she is completely at peace with everything and knows that if God wants her to find them he will provide a way and she is just focused on her relationship with Juan and with Lucas her 3 year old son. The bishop told us yesterday that they are the first married couple to be baptized in this ward so that is super exciting as well!! Literally they are the best people - we spend almost all our P Days with them because they are so awesome! But lots and lots of prayers please that everything will go well with their baptism! 

I have never felt a happiness like I feel here when I see how the gospel truly changes lives. all of their stories are so so sad - but the gospel is so so happy. this week we contacted a young girl named Daniella in the street - she is 16 and has a little baby and wanted to receive us! when we went to her house the next day she came out bawling with bruises all over and told us that her boyfriend had just beat her and refused to give her money for diapers for the baby. we went on a wild goose chase to find diapers the baby´s size and lucky found enough to get her through the week and are hoping she can find somewhere else to live. the saddest part is that most of these people don't even know that there is a happier way to live because that kind of life is all they now! 

But all in all I am doing so good and am loving Bolivia! we are going into the fruit season and there is literally fruit that I have never seen or heard of that grows on the trees EVERYWHERE and it is so awesome because we are walking and eating fruit literally all day haha! 

I hope everyone is doing well at home!! Thank you all for all the support and prayers! They are definitely felt! Love you all!!

love, 

Hermana Andersen :)