First Transfer!

Hey,

By the way I'm getting transferred and I'm the District Leader it's crazy. My 3rd transfer out and already a DL. I'm really nervous, but i know Heavenly Father will help me and he has a plan for me. I'm so grateful for this gospel and I love my mission.

 

So how was your Christmas dinner? What did you eat?
Christmas was really fun and i loved talking to you. I miss you guys a lot. I know that the Lord is watching over us.

We went to the Hogner's and had some really good pasta and goodies.

Did any of your investigators come to church yesterday?
How are they doing?
Yeah 3 of our investigators came to church and I set a baptismal date on Thursday on splits with a priest in our ward. I did it all by myself and now I have to organize my new district and plan district meetings every week. The really cool thing about being a DL is that I get to do the Baptism interviews. But all of our investigators are doing really well. I'm going to miss this area a lot.

 

What was your favorite event that happened last week?

Prob when I committed Brother Maul to be baptized the spirit was so strong and overwhelming. It seriously just took over my body and everything went really well.

Most spiritual? 

Baptismal commitment like above.

Funniest?

Oh we did a prank on Elder Vaughan we took the box spring off his bed and put my mattress in and he is on the top bunk so when he jumped into to bed the whole bed fell through and it freaked him out. It was really funny.

What else can you tell me that we didn't talk about on the phone?
Yeah that was a very short phone call. I really don't know what to say. I'm so nervous and so many things are going through my head right now. I need to say a prayer.

Well I love you and I'll tell you about my new area on Monday and how I'm doing. As of right now I am doing great and I love it out here.

Elder Anderson

 

We were able to talk to Trent on Christmas! He sounds great and is really loving his mission.

More pictures are coming soon!

December 20th

How are the 3 golden contacts?

They are doing really well. Brother Maul is taking the lessons we had a lesson with him on Friday and he is doing really well. He pretty much committed himself to baptism.

Richard is awesome he came to church on sunday and we are going to teach him this week. We dropped in on him on Friday and he told us he had a vision it was crazy he described it as if he were at the temple. "A big white room with the women on the left and the men on the right and god was at the front" He is so awesome.

Then we taught Bilma and Jodi on Friday too and their lesson went really well and they will most likely be baptized in the next month. :) we are starting to spark up again. I love teaching people about the gospel.

Any new investigators?

Yeah we got a new investigator on Saturday, but we'll see how it turns out. He was a very nice guy and interested in learning more.

How's your ward's doing?

Kingswood park is awesome and the members are so nice to us. I love that ward.

Sun City west will most likely be dropped at transfers on the 28th. I really hope i won't get transferred but there is a very good chance that i will cause my training will be down.

I gave a talk in sun city west ward, it went really well and I cried. And the spirit was really strong.

 

Is the 55 and older ward really quiet? Do they involve you?

haha yeah it is the quietest ward i have ever been in. And the sacrament is served by 60 yr old men is pretty funny.

 

What else happened this week?

Funny story After dinner with one of the grandmas on weds night. She came in to hug us and she gave us a kiss on the cheek it was pretty weird and really funny at the time.

I went on exchanges with Elder Angelos he is an awesome missionary and we are very similar, so that was really fun and I got to spend the night at the Surprise house. 6 crazy elders in one house. A member donated their house for the missionaries. So, I never really got any sleep but it was so much fun. I also got to tract in the ghetto areas. E. Angelos is the zone leader and he is awesome. I'm also getting a lot better at contacts. this week has been really fun.

Love,
Elder Anderson

Trent's Zone. 

December 13th

How was your week?

This week has been really good. The highlight of this week was probably interviews with the President. I love President Beck he is such a good leader and he is so smart. Our mission is the best mission in the world because of him. We got 3 new awesome investigators. Two of them are 13 and 16 yr old sisters and there Navajo. They are so much fun to teach and we are going to extend a baptism date on Tuesday hopefully. What ever the spirit directs. This week was really fun. I fell on my bike finally but I'm fine :) I love it out here and the members are so awesome. 

Do you get to go to Christmas programs, ward party's, etc?

We only went to one which was pretty nice, because there kind of a waste of time. I would much rather be working on the street and going door to door. then sit through a Christmas program. But it was fun. The Kingswood Park ward has a really small youth program and no 16 and 17 year olds, its really weird.

 

Any cool spiritual events happen this week?

Yeah we gave one of the sisters a blessing of comfort. Because Elder Beard is DL, so she asked for a blessing. The spirit was super strong and I love to have the spirit with me all the time. Its such a Blessing.

 

Funniest experience?

haha Well i went on exchanges with Elder Bell we live with him and he is so funny. Such a good missionary and works super hard. He's 100% obedient which gets a little annoying, but he has some crazy ideas. We saw some little kids fighting in a park. Like completely fighting, punches to the face so we just stopped and watch them it was funny and then they saw us and ran up to us and sad some rude things and we gave them a pass along card.

 

Are you still giving lots of blessings?
Well not has much as i would like. But yeah kinda.

 

Any baptisms scheduled?

Nope:( not yet we have 3 golden investigators though soon to be schedlued.

 

Do you think you will be transferred soon?

Yeah Im most likely going to be transfered on the 28th. Cause my training is done. :(

We get trained for 2 transfers and then the trainee is usually transferred after. I really don't what to leave though.

 

Are you still buying that crappy food? I thought you had cooking class for a few semesters. You better be eating better...apple, bananas, oranges, cheese sticks, yogurt, carrots, granola bars, energy bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, subway, no soda and easy on the fried foods and frozen fried crap and you better be exercising a lot or your going to come back here 250lbs.

hahaha Im eating good. Ramen and frozen food is good for you :). Im kidding i eat fruit and juice but i do eat a lot of frozen foods.

Yes I exercise every morning.

Love you,
Elder Anderson

 

Past two letters...Happy Thanksgiving!

Before Thanksgiving:

How was your week?

This week has been a little stressful and hard. But the blessing are great. We had transfers this week on tuesday so that was fun I got to see all my  buddies from the Mtc and around the mission. I love my zone and the Missionaries in it. We got a new elder in the Apt. He's a little bit of a liar but Im starting to warm up to him. He kinda reminded me of my myself. He doesn't really Know why he is out here and that was one of the questions that went through my head the first week. I gave him some advise and now he's doing well. I'm out here cause the Lord has commanded us to and I love to do missionary work. My testimony has strengthened so much since the first day at the MTC and being out in the field. I love to see the changes in my Investigators lives. We have another solid Investigator Richard. He ran into us as we were riding bikes and now he wants his girlfriend and him to take the lessons and come to church I can't wait to meet up with them. This week has been Awesome with some stress cause of the baptisms. 

How were the Baptisms on Saturday? do you have photos?

The baptism were so awesome. The first one Brother Heeters was the most Spiritual baptism I have ever been to and took part in. The spirit was so strong. Brother Heeter is a Guy that doesn't show any emotion and to see him crying with his wife made me so happy that I helped him get to that point. I love that family so much. Elder Beard and I gave the Missionary Presentation and the spirit was so strong during the first Vision we both started to cry and a lot of people started to cry too. That baptism was awesome and that is why I am out here to Bring people closer to Christ.

Brother Warners was a lot different then Heeters. At Heeters there was like 90 people and brother Warner had about 11 people, but the spirit was still really strong. He was a former cop and has 2 younger sons and HE is such a good guy. Im so proud of him.

Yes I have pictures I'll send you them soon.

How's progress with the Mexican Lady? What's her name?
She's going good we are still trying to get her a ride to church and we'll prob drop by her house tomorrow. Her name is Salidia.

Funniest moment?

So Brother Heeter is like 450 pounds and the guy that was baptizing him wasn't very big. So during the baptism dunk the guy dropped him in the water, that was pretty funny.

Have you ate any other interesting foods?

Nope just romen and freezer food hahah. But were going to that Mexican home on Thanksgiving so that should be fun.

After Thanksgiving:

How are you?

I'm doing really well, this week was a little slow. Not much work happened because of the holiday.


Did you survive the Thanksgiving feast?

Yeah we ended up not going to the spanish home. So we just had a traditional Thanksgiving with some members. It was way good I love the Browns. We played a lot of B-ball and games which was really fun. Oh i also took a 2 hr nap and that never happens.


Is it cooling down there?

Yeah its pretty cold here Like 56 right now. We have to wear Jackets now. But its not bad.

How was your week?

Pretty slow. Probably the best thing that happened this week was the random members giving us money I love it. This week has been really slow and we did a lot of walking cause we're low on miles with the car and elder Beards bike broke. We met a crazy lady that said she can see into the future so that was pretty interesting and now she's a potential Investigator. Slow week.


Any baptisms scheduled soon?

Nope hopefully Robert and Mike will be baptized soon


How's Brother Heeter doing?

He's doing great. We still visit him every once in a while but he's moving soon so were helping them pack.


Any progress with the mexican lady?

Its really hard to get her to church cause our church starts at 8 and she doesn't want to wake up that early. So im pretty bummed about that.

So what was the funniest event? Well we do a lot of biking and Elder Beard and I were going off some jumps and I got like 4 ft of air and Elder beard totally ate it right on his face, so that was really funny.

Spiritual event? Probably giving a blessing to Brother Stout in church yesterday. 

Happiest? Beard getting his bike on Saturday and biking all day.

Oh and we also got to ride in a sand rail on thanksgiving that was really fun.

Best and worst food?

We had some really good turkey hahah nothing really bad other then the freezer food i eat everyday. Greasy mess.

What your fav moment of the week?

Probably talking to that crazy lady about the future and meteors coming to Surprise, AZ  hahah it was really funny

Anything else interesting you want to share?

This week was really hard and tiring. I also gave a talk in Sacrament about honesty that went really well. The spirit was so strong during my talk.

I love you and I'm so thankful for everything Mom and Dad.

Elder Trent Anderson

He is Challenging Us.

How are you doing?

I'm doing Great. I honestly love it out here. Transfers were today, but im staying in Surprise and my Companion got called a DL district leader so that's exciting.

So how was your week?

My week has been really good. We got 2 new investigator's that I'm hoping will let us teach them the lessons and get baptized.

But I have a Question- How is your missionary work? 

Mom our missions never stop we are always an example and there are 3 things that you need to teach:

1. Faith in Jesus Christ

2. The Restoration

3. believing in the Book of Mormon 

We all have these things, so I challenge you to have someone take the lessons in our home by the missionaries.

What was the best thing that happened?
We had 2 Baptismal Interviews and they are getting baptized on Saturday.

I'm so excited. Mark and Bro. Heeter. I love them.

Funniest event?

Well my Comp. ate it on his bike which was really funny... showing off in front of some sisters.

You spent some time with your Pres and Sister Beck. How was that? Did you get to know them a little better?
Yeah we had a meeting that was fun and we had a badminton tournament . Yeah they love me.
Are they strict?
Yes they are strict but that's a good thing.

How are the baptisms coming along?

They are coming along great. There shouldn't be any problem.

What happened with the Mexican lady that was waiting for you to come pray with her? Did she have another discussion?

Yah we  taught her the 1st lesson and she wants to come to church this Sunday. She is so solid and way nice.

Have you gone golfing yet?

Nope:( we're always really busy. Golf takes up too much time.

Any other stories you want to share?

Well, I had the inside of a Cows milk system its called trepes. It was really gross and I got a little sick. The Milk was cooked in like this tub of meat. way dirty.
We had it at a Mexican house.
 

I love you and yeah I'll email Jeff if i get time.

Elder Trent Anderson

Write Elder Anderson

How was your week?

 My week was pretty good and fun, we work super hard. Thanks for the package and the gifts. We tracked a lot this week and got 6 new Investigators and they are awesome. I feel like I'm getting a lot better at door approaches and teaching in lessons. But it is pretty scary. You would be amazed on how many poeple hate us.I just feel bad for those people. But my week has been good. Oh we got a new mission leader in my ward Kingswood Park, he's an FBI agent and does swat. So he has some pretty crazy stories.

What was your favorite spiritual experience?

Oh on Friday Elder B and i went on a walk and contacted and visited some poeple, then we came back to the apt. to go to the bathroom and we decided to pray to see what street to go tracking on, so we prayed in front of a map. Right after the prayer the sprirt was telling me to go to 160th st. so we went and the 2nd house we knocked on was an older Mexican lady super nice. She invited us in and we taught the first lesson at the end we asked if we could pray with her. Right then she said "I was praying on my knees out side asking God to bring me someone to pray with and then you guys came" that was one of the coolest moments i have had on my mission so far. We are going to teach her this week and I'm so pumped. We also got 2 other investigators on that street and a less active lady. So that was a really good day.

 

Do you have any interesting investigator stories?

Well Brother Heeter's baptism date is pretty much solid and he's one of my favorite people to teach. He jokes around a lot and the spirit is pretty strong when we start teaching.

One of the recent members got Kidney stones and we went over and gave him a blessing, the next day we went over he said the pain left right after we left and this guy is awesome and his faith is so strong.

 

What was the best and worst food you ate?
The best food would prob be Chicken and mashed potatoes they were way good.

Worst we don't really get bad food, but i would have to say spinach casserole.

When's your next Baptism?

Our next baptism is on the 20th we have two on that day. And they are solid.

Do you have a lot of discussions set up? Any interesting meeting or events during the discussions?

Yeah kinda but all we really do is practice teaching and the President tells us what to do. We can text now hahah.

We also had a badminton tournament today.

Sister Beck will prob add pictures of it on her blog.

 

Any other favorite event of the week?

I met 2 of the Cardinal Cheerleaders this week that was pretty awesome. haha

Oh we went to a MLB game AFL east vs AFL west it was pretty awesome.

 

I want girls to write me hahaha

I love you,
Elder Anderson

First Baptism!

My week was really good. I went up to Wickenburg on Tuesday for transfers which was pretty awesome and I got to teach some really poor families like they were living on the dirt with no air conditioning  and we got kicked out of a mobile home place haha. But the week has been good.

The old people feed us like pigs. I'm talking like 5 course meals its crazy, I love that Ward. Oh we had a trunk or treat on Saturdaywhich was way fun, I have some pictures i'll send them to you. Halloween was fun we weren't aloud out though, but we just hung out at a members and ate candy.


Did the Baptism happen on Friday?
Yes it was so cool. The spirit is so strong at baptisms. Elder Beard performed it and I got to teach the lesson in front of everyone and I got to witness. And i got a baptism on my record sheet. The baptism went really well. Carissa is an awesome girl. she's 23.


What was your best meal of the week?
Prob Halloween night we had burgers and potatoes at the Browns their awesome members and they take care of us all the time.

Best spiritual moment?
The baptism was pretty spiritual and giving the missionary lesson was pretty fun. But Giving blessings are prob the best, the spirit is so strong and there just awesome to give.

Best Elderly moment? (since more than half of the people you see are over 55)
Well at church the old people crack the stupidest jokes and its so funny.  

Anything else?

Borther Heeter is forsure going to be baptized on the 20th and i Love the man. He jokes a lot and never turns off the tv so we get to watch the football games while teaching him haha, but its way good and the lessons with him are awesome.

Love you,
Elder Anderson

Photos and Letter this Week!

Highlights from Elder Trent Anderson's letter:

The mission is so awesome and thats exciting.

I'm a little jealous you got to see all my friends, I miss those guys a lot.

What was your best experience of the week:

Probably giving this old man a blessing at the hospital. The spirit was so strong.  It was crazy and the man is alright now.

Funniest moment:
Well there's a bunch since my comapnion is like 300 pounds, this old man we were contacting called him fat that was pretty funny.  He also broke his wheel on his bike when he went off a jump, so that was pretty funny too.

Spiritual moment:

Well I pretty much already told you. We have a hospital in our area, so we give a lot of blessings. And commiting brother Heeter to baptism was pretty spiritual. So I have 5 baptisms in the next 30 days.To answer the question about what to say? I just follow the spirit.

 

Best companion moment:

Well we have a mini b-ball hoop in our apartment so we play horse all the time and he never beats me. so when he won yesterday and did a little dance and totally tripped and fell over, it was way funny. But we get along very well and work hard.

 

Anything else happen?

I have 5 baptisms. One is this friday.

I bore my testimony in zone conference in front of all the missionaries.

The members here are so awesome . I love them. The Smith family is so nice and their just awesome.

That's it, I love you!

Elder Trent Anderson 

Trent sent me his memory card, so enjoy the pictures! He is having a great time!

Be sure to write him! He is getting lonely!

Trent's First Week in Sun City West

How was your 1st week in Az?

The first week was really hard and we worked super hard, the hardest my Companion has ever worked on his mission, but im getting use to it now. We have 4 baptisms coming up one on the 30th and two Nov. 7th and one Nov.20. Im so pumped. I love doing this work and the blessings are great. Every lesson we have now the spirit is so strong. But the first week was hard and fun at the same time.




Favorite experience?

Probably teaching this Black kid trey. He has some crazy ideas and not that interested but were still teaching him. And I love riding my bike. The members take us to the Golden Corral which is like an all you can eat buffet and its awesome so I've gained 8 pounds, Im 160 now oh yeah.




Any interesting contacts?

Contacting is so awesome and yeah we run into some of the craziest people. Like this Irish guy that looks like he's killed people and does a bunch of drugs, but he respected us for doing the Lords work which was awesome. And this mexican man Robert, the missionaries in the area right next to us ran into him and he lives in our area so we dropped by and knocked. I looked through the window and he was on his knee's praying with the Bible and the BOOK OF MORMON right next to him. It was so awesome and the lesson we taught was even better the spirit was strong. And we have a lesson this week and he's coming to church, so I'm pumped. We go to this huge park to contact and run into some really awsome poeple and i love it.




How are your wards and the meals?

The meals are so good. The old poeple feed us so well. But were cutting down on dinners cause that time is the best to contact so we either eat at 4 or 7 for dinner, but its way worth it cause we get so many investigators like this past week we got 7 new investigators which is supper good.

Thank you and I love you!


Elder Trenton Anderson

He is loving it!

2 Letter from Elder ANderson! Enjoy!

Hey Family,
I'm doing pretty good the work is super hard but the weather is way nice right now. Arizona is full of great people and we get fed Almost every night. The members are great here. Its pretty hard to get use to the schedule but that will come. Teaching is also pretty hard but I'm studying hard.


Tell me about :


Your companion:

My Companion is from Blackfoot ID,He is a great guy and a very good trainer. He's very obedient and way good at teaching the poeple. He's a big guy probably around 300 pounds but he is a very hard worker.

Pres and Sister Beck:

Well I only met with them for one day but they seem like very nice people.


Are you gaining weight?

I've gained 6 pounds, but i work out every morning and work hard so its pretty hard to gain weight. But I am trying haha

Where are you living? apartment? house?

We live in an apartment with 2 other elders. I love my room mates there the funniest guys / pretty weird, but i love them. And our apartment is pretty nice. We have a nice car too.

Is it really all elderly people?

One of the wards we are in charge of is all elderly people 55 and older, but its pretty fun church, it is a lot different with out all the yelling and stuff. But yeah the missionary work is hard in that ward.

How's was your first Sunday in your new ward?

The first sunday was pretty fun they made me bare my testimony and talk about myself so that was pretty fun, but the members are super nice in both wards. We have 8 hrs of church and its super long.

What's your favorite experience of the 1st week in the field?

I would have to say tracking and buying food. We meet some pretty mean people contacting and they think their fine. But oh well. Buying food at walmart is always fun and exciting though. And meeting the members and playing with them. We play a ton of b-ball.

 

I looked on the map and noticed all of the golf courses...
do you get to golf on your pday and or with your investigators and members?

Yeah we are probably going to golf next pday with some members so I'm pumped.


Do they know that you were on the golf team?

Yes they do:) and all the old people were excited.

Love,
Elder Anderson

Hey becs,
The mission field is crazy, there is so much work and tons of tracking but i enjoy itArizona is a beautiful place and all the members here are super nice. We get fed like every night and i went shopping for my own food it was kinda weird hahah but i love it here and im learning so much. Its only been a week and i feel like i have been gone for ever. But i love doing to the lords work and hopefully i will become a better missionary cause im pretty rusty haha we contacted 41 people in one day which is really good. My companion and i work super hard and i get so tired. HArdest Work Ever. But i love it. I live with 2 others Elders and there the funniest guys ever i love them. Ones like 5'5 and 250 pounds and has the perfect baby face i love him hahaha. but the mission is good to far and im sure I'll have more to talk about next week .

I love you,

Elder Anderson

p.s When you mail address it with my full name and mail through priority mail and first class through the u.s postal. Thanks i love you 

Elder Anderson's Mission Presidents Blog

Elder Anderson's mission presidents have a blog check it out and look for pictures of Trent! 

Here are a few of him arriving in AZ!

Don't forgot to write him and pray for him!

Click here to view the blog! 

Phoenix Bond!

We spoke to Trent today, he was on his way to Phoenix. He is doing great!!! He sounded so happy!! He loved the Missionary Training Center, he said he learned so much and is ready to get out there and work!

He loves getting letters so if you want to write him his new address is:

Elder Trenton Anderson

Arizona Phoenix Mission

18001 N. 79th Ave

Building C Suite 50

Glendale, AZ 85308

Write hime!!

Check back for an update soon. 

Eat Sleep Teach and Study

 We received Trent's first email this week! His p-days are on Thursdays so we should be receiving emails then. Enjoy! 

Hey mom,

Just wanted tosay im having blast at the MTC and today is my first P-day. Its so awesome and im working on the thank you notes. but i really dont have that much time to do anything. All we do is eat sleep teach and study. Its crazy but i love it.

Tell every one i love them and ill have those thank you cards done by the end of the day. The gospel is true im a true believer in it all. And i know that our family is eternal. I taught a lesson to an investigator on tuesday it was so amazing seeing there faces and what they have been missing out on. I love teaching the gospel and i plan on getting better. I love you and thank you so much for all the packages all the other elders are jealous. . well the time is running low on the computer. But i love you. Tell chad to keep his head high and kenzie that the party life isn't good and she shouldnt get into that stuff. I love all you.

love,

Elder Anderson

Elder Anderson's Last Days

Elder Anderson entered in the MTC this past Wednesday, September 15. Leading up to the 15th he filled his days with everything he enjoys doing. He is blessed to have so many family and friends that love and care for him that were kind of enough to make the trip to La Canada from various locations. He will forever be grateful for that. He gave a great farewell address on September 12th and then headed up to Utah on the morning of the 14th. Once in Utah he feasted on the last supper with his closet friends and then had family and friends over for cupcakes for his last goodbye. The morning of the 15th he finished packing and then we headed to In n Out for his last meal. We got to the MTC early so we could take a picture by the sign before we dropped him on the curb. Sadly the MTC has taken the signs down so we took some pictures across the street. It was sad to see him go but he is in the right place and would love to hear from everyone! He will be in the MTC til October 5th then  off to Arizona! Send him a letter!

p.s you can write Elder Anderson on dearelder.com

his mailbox number is 142 and he departs 10/05