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 :) 

hello hello! 

another week in good ole Bolivia! This week was full of random experiences and typical Bolivian culture that I'm 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 can't
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 didn't 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 seriously 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 seriously such a horrible sight but I couldn't help but laugh as I was trying to comfort my crying companion and just kept thinking ´´I'm 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

April 27, 2015

hey everyone!!

Brinley and her new companion Hermana Fonseca from Colombia!

this week has been awesome! Big news - I have a new comp!! My trainer went to Sucre and dropping her off at the airport was seriously the worst!! I was so so sad to see her go because I have learned so much from her and have been through so much together! But my new comp is super super great! She is colombian and is HILARIOUS! Haha seriously I am companions with Gloria from Modern Family. she is keeping me laughing seriously all the time but is a super good worker as well and have already learned so much from her! 

this area is finally picking up! we are starting to see so much progress in our investigators which is so exciting! last week we hiked a waterfall with the flia Crespo and it was a blast! The whole family is progressing sooo good and we are so happy because finding a whole family here in Bolivia that is interested is seriously like finding a pot of gold! 

A family Brinley and Hermana Callata have been teaching

Not much else going on here - just loving the mission life and trying to live everyday to the fullest! I am super happy here and love being able to see how this gospel can change lives! I hope everyone is doing well at home and everything is going good! I pray for you all everyday!! :)

love, 

Hermana Andersen :)

#ducksarefriendsnotfood‏

What a crazy week! This week we had a ton of service projects, I have learned that service projects here are no small task haha we have a family in the ward that lives on a duck farm and he asked us to come help him - oh boy we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into! we walked in to seriously like 500 quacking ducks and a HORRIBLE smell, walked a little further to see more ducks hanging upside down with their necks slit open, walked even further to see cholitas gathered around a bin of water plucking every single feather off of the bloody ducks. that is where we came in. hahah oh my gosh never in my life did I imagine that I would ever be doing anything like that. I was super disgusted but took myself back to my CNA days and went to my happy place. hahah the worst part was that when we finished they served us duck to eat and they told me literally 4 times while we were eating ¨we hope this doesn't make you sick¨ - hahah ohh sick was an understatement. I literally was 98% sure that I was going to die. But thanks to Priesthood blessings and American medicine I am finally on the up and up! One thing is for sure - you could not pay me enough money in the whole world to ever ever own a duck farm. 

Big news of the week - tomorrow I will have a new comp! I have learned that just when you are comfortable in the mish and everything seems to be going smooth, you will have a transfer. we are pretty bummed because we have so many investigators that are progressing so good right now, but hopefully I can keep that going with my new comp! Last night was a night of laughing and lots of crying as we talked about all the memories we have together her in Tiquipaya and all the amazing people we have found and miracles we have seen! The emotions of the mission are so crazy haha but I am super happy here and learning everyday! This pic is with our ¨family of gold¨ we are teaching the whole family and almost all of them have baptism dates for May and have been assisting every Sunday! They make us feel seriously part of their family - its seriously the best to be able to find ¨homes away from home¨ here! 

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

love, 

Hermana Andersen

April 13, 2015

hello everyone! 

Another week in the mission field! This week has been super super good - we have seen lots of progress in lots of our investigators and are so happy! 

Elsa (our blind investigator) called us Saturday night in tears because her husband came home super drunk and her 3 little kids were terrified - we talked to the bishop on Sunday and we are going to find her a room to live in and the church is going to help pay until we hear back from this institution

about when she can move in there. The even better news - after tuesday she wont be living with this man anymore which means she can get baptized and she is SO excited! we are planning for May 2nd and are so happy for her! 

We are also working with Rosmery and also her husband Juan and his whole family now! They are SO good to us and have serious desires to learn more and told us that they want to be baptized but just want to learn a little bit more first! This week we were sound asleep (we literally fall asleep the second our heads hit the pillows no matter how much noise there is outside) and we got a call from Rosmery - we answered like 80 year old grandmas so confused hahah and she was literally SO excited to tell us that her and Juan had just prayed and ¨felt something they never felt before¨ we were so happy the next day when we were actually awake and could really think about it haha! 

Transfers are next week and we are praying for one more transfer together because everything here is finally moving forward and we are working really hard with the ward here in good ol´ tiquipaya! I love this work and loving seeing how this gospel can change lives! I hope you are all doing well at home! I love you all and pray for you everyday! 

love, 

Hermana Andersen