Ponta Pora Week 32

Nov. 10, 2014

Family. This week was great. Sometimes it is hard to express the value of all of the simple events that are happening here everyday. We have been trying to keep ourselves organized and look to complete the families. The weeks are flying by and the days are a blur.

   On Sunday I gave a talk. The topic was A Rocha de Nosso Redentor, the rock of our reedemer. I was happy about how it went. I always feel so strange giving talks but I like it. I am always reminded how much I love these folks. I mentioned Brecken and the situation with Britton and shared one of the earliest memories I have about when dad taught me how to swim. I remember being super super young at the green valley pool and he would hold me in the deep part and just let me go. I remember freaking out and flailing for my life and the relief of dad picking me up just when I thought that I was going to drown to death and repeating it until I learned. I know that I might have exposed the fact that dad waterboarded me as a child but that comparison of our life here on earth has came to me a few times on the mission. Our father never leaves for longer than we can handle, all though to us the short time that we spend on our own struggling helps us to learn.

    We are working with some really awesome families and helping some folks to get married. 

Life is good.

-Elder Anderson

Love yall

This is what an Elder in Davis's Zone said about the week!

Elder T

Elder T, new comp Elder Anderson, and their pile of tea

This week we have been so dang blessed! From Arabian food to car rides to awesome lessons we have been so blessed this week!
This week while at the store, we saw the Elders and sisters from Paraguay right on the other side of the street! We quickly called them over and talked with them. The 2 sisters were from california and one of the elders from utah and the other from Chile. They were all so warm and friendly and seemed like such great missionaries! It was really interesting how we were all able to understand each others spanish and portuguese. It's so amazing that no matter where you are in the world you see the missionaries! 
This week we have also been hitting it hard with our part member family. We have been making goals with them to get married and baptized and they said they want to before the new Year. We had such a spritual FHE with them I could just feel that this little family is going to have such an impact on the church here in Ponta Pora!
We have also been working with another part member family. The son is 15 and is an amazing young man that is so active and is so excited about serving a mission! When we first went over to teach his family they were hesitant, but as we explained about the church and the active role that their son has to pass the sacrament his parents were astonished! His mom even went to church on sunday and said she loved it more than the church she has been going too.
It seemed as though each time we were tired, worn out, frustrated, defeated, or exhausted, someone or something came out of nowhere to make us feel better. As we were walking down the street from a canceled appointment, a member showed up to give us a ride. As we were walking back home after a long day, another member showed up and took us out to eat at a sweet Arabian food restaurant. As we were praying for more success, phone calls out of no where came giving us references for more people to teach.

Ponta Pora Week 31

Nov. 3, 2014

Family,
Hearing about what happened with Brecken broke my heart. I really cannot imagine what it was like for him to have to see what he saw. One thing that I have learned not just on the mission but through out my life is that god loves and trusts us. That much of this life is meant to be braved alone. He is certainly ALWAYS mindful of us, crying when we cry and smiling when we smile, but we are on earth. We are here to fight a little bit. To cry and pass through moments of both darkness and light. Much of this life is straight up rough. But that has come to be one of my favorite parts. God knows us, he is our father. We accepted the oppertunity to come to this life and find out what we are made of. Brecken is incredibly blessed. He has always been such an example to me of independence and strength. This will pass. What he went through in Grass Valley will be something that will shape his life forever. It will be his witness to the inherrited power that god blessed him with.

 My prayers are with brecken and especially Britton and his family. But so is my confidence and faith in the strength that the lord blessed them with long before the accident happened. D&C 121:7-9.

This week was awesome. My companion carved a watermellon jack o lantern on halloween and our neighbors stole it thinking that it was black gringo magic. I am getting a hang handling more of the administrative responsiblities that come with leadership and not getting annoyed but some times it ticks me off. This week we had to burn a whole day cleaning two houses that were full of giant cockroches that the mission owned. It made me miss the days of just worrying about my area and thats it. I also had some super enlightening experiences this week. Our ward mission leader Éder, is the coolest man in the world. I have learned so much about how to organize and plan and carry out those plans. It has raised my vision of the mission quite a bit. I feel like missionaries get stuck in a rut quite often because of our own pride. We work and help the people in the form that seems to have worked for us our whole mission and keep doing it until the end. This transfer I am working on being humble and putting everything that I am learning in to pratica. I am learning how to more deeply love the people through being more proactive with our work. Visiting the court houses and learning exactly how marriage works(no one is married in Brasil), Organizing zone service projects at an orphinage, using all of our resources to help these folks come un to christ and just share the goodness that I have found in the gospel. Its powerful stuff.

     Everything is awesome here. I am happy and healthy. I love my mission.

-com amor,

Elder Davis Anderson



Aunt April goes to cross fit with Sister Reber's daughter and this is an email she sent her.

From: Stephanie Reber <ks.reber@gmail.com>
Date: October 26, 2014 at 5:18:10 PM MDT
To: Brock and Julie Rasmussen <brockandjulie@gmail.com>, Sam & Cherin <melessafamily@gmail.com>
Subject: Elder Anderson

Cherin and Julie,   Elder Anderson is doing great!  He just made a ZL.  Very proud of him.   He just transferred to Ponta Pora, so he is pretty excited.   Here's a picture of him from our last Training!
The 3rd picture is taking the Elder's to the Bus Stop.  How many Elder's can you fit in the the Backseat of Presidents car?  Answer: to get a ride to the Bus Station they will fit any and all + luggage!  We can always fit 'one more'!  hahaha.

This is what a missionary in Davis's zone said about Davis

As far as being a missionary goes, this week has been wonderful! President came down for interviews and they were great. He really is such a great mission president. He is so loving and makes you feel like you are making a difference in your life and in others. We were able to teach a lot of people with some members and really had some great lessons! Elder A (comp) is awesome. He is just hilarious and wants to work hard and we teach really well together.

I have a feeling that we are going to have a lot of success this transfer! We were able to set up some service projects with the government to help out at an orphanage. This week we are going to clean up the grounds and next week we are going to play games with all the kids. I really looking forward to doing this different type of missionary work. Sometimes it is nice to get out of the ole white shirt and tie.

Ponta Pora Week 30

Oct. 27, 2014

Opa! 
This week was awesome. I arrived here in Ponta Porã on Monday night and was greeted by the entire zone, which is 8 Elders in total.  Some of my good friends on the mission are here in my zone, so It is going to be an awesome transfer. Tuesday we worked in our area and my comp showed me around the area. It is super diverse. It has some wealthy spots and some SUPER poor areas. I am stoked about the work here. We have a solid group of folks and the people seem super receptive here. Wednesday I did a split with an an African elder in my zone which was awesome. Thursday after almoço we got on the bus to go to the leadership training six hours away in Campo Grande I slept in the amumbaí house and stayed up almost all night talking with the Elders there. Friday we had our training. It was actually pretty awesome. The theme seemed to be the importance of preparation and goals. I learned a bunch. It was cool to see this side of the mission. My mission president is an awesome man. He works so hard and really cares about all of us. I am stoked to put it all in to practice and serve Zona Ponta Porã.

    This week was a bit uneventful, because of the trip to Campo Grande and back but I feel incredibly blessed. I love you all very much.

  Enjoy being together as a family becuase there is nothing better

     2 nephi 5:27

Brynley was so excited that 2 different people face booked  her and sent her pictures of Davis!

This is What an Elder in Davis's Zone said about Davis

It was another awesome week here in Ponta Porã!

Elder A and I have been getting along great and working really hard. We have been getting into a lot of doors! We have just been on fire and I have a feeling that we are going to have an awesome transfer!

I love President Reber! He is so inspired and such a spiritual man. In his leadership training this week he talked about how planning and goal setting is so important not only for the mission, but for life. He shared how he was not a really bright student, but he made a plan to study and get good grades and then accomplished the plan and eventually became the man and Doctor that he is. I have also seen how much planning has helped me. I also want to be a doctor, so that gave me some motivation to step up and learn to master goals and planning.

We have already found some new investigators all ready for baptism! One of them came to church and got very emotional and loved the spirit that she felt and our other 2 possibilities are grandchildren of a super active and wonderful member. I thought that they were already members because they both bore their testimonies in the primary program yesterday. 

Next month our stake presidency will be reorganized and Elder Aidukaitis from the first quorum of the 70 is coming!

Campo Grande Week 29

Oct. 20, 1014

Family! 

Life could not be better. I am heading off to PONTA PORÃ! On the border of Paraguay! I will be Zone Leader in a tiny zone. I will be with Elder Tolman. Who is super cool but unfortunately, AMERICAN. My first American comp! I am a little bummed that I will be with a gringo, but it should be awesome.

     My last week with my filho here in Campo Grande was incredible! We tore it up and brought 20 people to church! It was a mix of less active and investigators it was rad. I gave everything I had to this area and went through some super rough times here, but through it all I made friends with the greatest people in the world, and developed a love I didn´t know existed. We had a family night like every night this week and exchanged information to meet up after the mish. Don´t be surprised when we have some awesome folks sleeping at our house here in a year or two. Last night we had a family night in a neighborhood that the ward forgot. It is way out in the middle of nowhere. We spent it with some families that I worked super hard with. I am happy to say that they all are firm and adding an excitement to the ward that everyone needs. I cried sweet tears to leave them all. A guy who I helped reactivate said to me as we were leaving, Thanks a ton, you helped me and my family more than you could know. It was one of the coolest moments of my mish.

   -We played the Anderson spray bottle game!

   -It is Mango season here and there is a million mango trees on every street. Free Mangos! There are tons of different types and they are all so tasty. Me and Laskoski stop to snatch mangos like ever 20 minutes.

  - There is a fruit that grows in the forest here that doesn´t exist anywhere else in the world and it is super tasty.

Campo Grande Week 28

Oct. 13, 2014

Campo Grande Week 27

Oct. 6, 2014

This week was awesome. It passed super fast and I was exhausted and happy at the end of every day. It is interesting because summer is starting but it also rains alot during this time of the year. It is super cool. Rain that cools the day off and the next day is super hot and humid. It keeps you on your toes for sure.

      We are teaching some awesome folks. Josué is the man! We found him on a street. We walk a ton. I stopped and asked him for water and in the average amazing Brazilian way, he was stoked to grab three chairs and sit with us and talk over some tereré. He is super jazzed to learn more. The election was Sunday and in Brasil you have to vote. So none of the folks we are teaching made it out, which bummed us out. But I know they´ll make it out this week for sure. It will be awesome. We are teaching the other families that are in some tought situations but really have desires to be good people and do what is right.

    One of those families is the family of Régis. They work so much, but are the coolest folks around. He is the guy that is building the super cool house. We helped him rough and trim and I must admit that I love trade work. I feel super comfortable and happy bustin out a construction project. It is a shame that you can make so much more money studying for four years and hustling buisness neh?

Anyways it was awesome working on his house in our Sunday best and then sitting down with the whole fam for family night. 

        I had one of the most fulfilling experiences of my entire mission on Friday and Saturday of this week. The bispo of our ward is one of the most amazing people I have ever met. He doesn´t know how to read very well and his hands are permanantely marked with greese becuase he works as a mechanic. And the man WORKS. I love the guy. Anways we always pass by his house and give him a hard time while he is working. Our ward had planned a temple trip for Sunday. It is a super big sacrifice for a lot of the members because they have to ride the bus to São Paulo and work in the temple for a week straight. We visited bispo thursday and I could tell he was super stressed to finish everything before the temple trip, we finished saying hello and left. We had walked quite a ways down the street when I had a feeling to go back. I turned around and ran back to his place and said we will be here tomorow after lunch in normal clothes to help you out, beleza? We worked our tails off the next day taking a super old fuska (volkswagen beetle) and tractor apart to sand and clean. That night we got home to plan and my comp and I knew we had to show up the next morning to help him out if he was going to make it to the temple. We showed up at 6:30 and worked until 3:00, missing the first session of conference. I have never seen a humbler man in my life. He hugged us nearly crying and said that no one has ever helped him the way we did.

       This week I followed the spirit and focused on how I could just help someone have a better day. I loved the talk of the prophet on Sunday. He was like hey, lets be better people and relax. Service is the essence of love. Just work. Do it for the right reasons. It was refreshing. 

     \\\\\\P day was rad!! this super cool indian in our ward, Salamão, led us to a waterfall in the middle of no where and we made a rad churrasco, drank tereré, played a rad Brazilian card game called truco, played guitar and hiked around the waterfalls. I don´t know why American culture has trouble with simplicity. Here life is so simple. Conversation with strangers is easy and comfortable and there is a light in everyones eyes. 

   I love my mission. Everyday I thank god for one more day of life and for the blessing that come with it. I love you all so much. God loves us and trusts us. Man is that he might have joy. Have joy! 

I love you all to death. I got one more package!!!! thank you so much! It was one for my birthday! Send me peanutbutter. brazilians dig it.

Campo Grande Week 26

Sep. 29, 2014

Family, 

I don´t really know what to say. The work is going great. We had a really good week. Nothing really sticks out. We had some cool family nights and that family we are teaching came to church! Every day my love for the people here grows. Getting transfered from here will be super bittersweet. I have to figure out a way to make enough money after the mission to make a biyearly trip to brazil. Everything is quite alright here.

      Tina was the greatest friend that I every had. She loved unconditionally and was always there for everyone, She is a part of my youth and our family. I can´t help but cry. I love you all so much and want you all to know how gratefull I am for all of you. I have got your back. You are the greatest family in the world. 

I love and miss you all very much.

-Elder Davis Anderson

P.S. They opened that group that me and my comp worked so hard to open! check out sister rebers blog. SÃO MATEUS BABY.

Campo Grande Week 25

Sep. 22, 2014

Family,

 this week flew by. We have been walking SO MUCH. around 22 kilometers every day it can be rough sometimes, our area is massive and the bus system that runs through the rural areas we work every day is super slow. We want to move to a bairro closer to where we work but the stake president told our mission president that he wants us to strengthen the city, so for now we will keep on walkin.

      We found some awesome folks this week. This lady stopped us in the street and asked if we were from the Mormon Church. We ended up teaching her that day, I have never taught a more elect person, she accepts everything, reads everything, went to church, e vai ser batizado em duas semanas! 

   We are working in a super cool bairro that is at the end of our area, the members that live there are super rad we have become good friends and they have been hooking us up with references, we are working with an awesome family. We found this family while we were walking though the neighborhood. There was a guy working on his house we stopped and started talking to him. His house is super rad. He hasn´t done anything on paper, just built it buy eye. It is super modern, has an awesome glass table, it is hard to explain, but I will send pictures next week, it is awesome. And he has done it all himself. Anyways we found out that a few years ago the elders came through and baptized a few of his kids, but after they were confirmed they never went back. We started teaching the parents and it has been an awesome time. We are working on his house with him and every time we go there his wife makes us tasty food, she is a vegetarian chef. We are super stoked for this fam.

    We had a rad family night last night with a fire.

I feel super disconnected from you guys, it is weird.

I love you all so much the gospel is true! hook the missionaries in our ward up with a tasty treat, or someone to visit. It will mean a ton to them.

    P.S. Another thing I have noticed is how rich we are. Like financially. We are so blessed, we have so much! Never feel like you are going with out. The people here have so much less and they work super hard, count yo blessins!