Ponta Pora Week 43

Jan. 26, 2015

Family, 
It is getting harder and harder to fill you all in on what's going on down here. Over all life is so good! This week was a blur. We traveled 6 hours up to Campo Grande for our meeting with President and stayed another day for an exchange with the assistants. It was a good time but We got back to Ponta Porã late Wednesday night super tired. Thursday we prepared some awesome things for our zone. We organized an awesome english class for the elderes in ala 2 and got it put in the paper.  We planned on zone meeting, and began to clean our destroyed house for a move, which is a painful proccess, being so far away from the office. (we live in a sketchy location in respect to single women and prostitutes so we are getting out of here)

      We held an awesome party for our zone to get the elderes excited and our zone meeting went great. Our area is getting a little neglected but we are excited to manage the time better and get to work more in our area. Our recent convert got the priesthood on Sunday and I think we are going to baptize his cousin on Saturday!

-I love you all so much. I love this mission. Don´t stop believin!

Here is a picture of Elder Anderson with his companion and Sister Reber.

Ponta Pora Week 42

Jan. 15, 2015 - Life is good in Ponta Pora!

Ponta Pora Week 41

Another transfer has come and gone. Pretty wild. I will be staying here one more here in Ponta Porã! I couldn´t be happier. I really do love this area and the people. We have awesome plans for the area and the zone. Life is good.

    This week was a lot of work and I walked a TON. It was great. I actually don´t mind walking. The beginning of the week was spent teaching the families of some of the recent converts. We set up awesome family nights with members that speak spanish and guarani because a lot of the people we are teaching are more comfortable with it. We are getting this organization business down. Alot of times on the mission we convince ourselves that we have to sweat and knock doors (or in our case clap hands) all day to be a missionary who works hard, but the trick is working more with our heads and less with our feet. We baptized René, a super awesome guy who is one of our recent converts cousin. It is pretty awesome to see how all these young men who live in a rough part of town take care of each other and help us out with the missionary work. Its awesome.

       I did a 2 day exchange with a companionship that was having some troubles. We worked super in his area and talked a lot. It was a good time. The elderes in the mission are the best.

        I am missing you all like crazy. Everyone looks so grown up in the pictures. I can´t even handle it. I love you tons.

     -Elder Davis Anderson

Ponta Pora Week 40

January 5, 2015

Family. This week was great. The new year was brought in with a bang, we have stepped up our relationship with the members and folks that we are teaching, and I made some goals for the rest of my mission, 1, 3 and 5 years. I really don´t think I have been as excited about life as I am now.

   So the work was pretty thought out this week. We focused alot more on planning and really thinking what's going to help the people instead of just going through the motions. We had an exchange with the assistents and organized a sweet meeting with the stake president. They are going to redivide the wards! So this week we have to visit every priesthood holder in Ponta Porã. It will be a bunch of work but we are excited to get to know a bunch of people we don´t already know.

    Our recent convert, Giovane, has been inviting everyone he knows to church. His awesome friend René will be baptized this Saturday! 

   I will be out of area for two day this week doing exchanges.

      We welcomed in the new year with a bang! An awesome family, who I have come to love quite a bit, invited us to come have a churrasco with them. We ate a TON. I have never eaten that much meat and drank that much tereré in my life. It was a record for sure. The fireworks were CRAZY. Also a fun little cultural thing here in Ponta Porã; Guns are super illegal here in Brazil. For just about everyone. However Paraguay doesn´t have any enforced laws about it. So, here in Ponta, a bunch of people illegally are gun owners. And they have a fun tradition to get smashed drunk, and shooting off pistol rounds into the air. It´s actually super dangerous. We heard guns going off all night. It was one for the books for sure, Brazilians know how to party.

   I got super excited to make goals, I have got some rad things to achieve here in the future. I am the most blessed man in the world. The present is great and the future is going to be even better.

    Family be grateful, don´t just be impressed by the mountains, desert, weather, good people, and good moments. Be captivated, be blown away by the reality of the incredible oppertunity life is. Give thanks silently at all times. Keep a prayer of gratitude in your heart for sacrifice that was made for you and the ones you love. 

Just know that I love you all and that I am doing great!

   -Pass my love to all the cousins and aunts and uncles.

   -Tell Grandma and Grandpa Anderson thank you for the example and love, and that I am excited to serve alongside them.

    -Tell Grandpa Allen thank you for the support, and for teaching me how to apreciate and love the Latin culture and for letting me tag along on his trips down South. His conversation has always meant alot to me and that the man I am today was influence by those talks. Tell Grandma Allen that I think she is super pretty. And that I wish a Happy Happy Birthday! I don´t remember which day it is but I know its coming up.

      -Tell Holly and Roger that I love them and that I was praying for Frankie. Oh, and give Frankie a hug for me!

       -Tell Jessica and her husband congrats!

        -Richmond I love you! I am so proud of you. You are going to have the experience of a life time on the mish. Congrats!

         -Tell Breck, Bryn and John, Izze, and Austin that I love them like crazy and that we´ll be partying here soon.

-Mom and dad I love you guys tons! You gave me everything and I will forever be grateful for you two.

-Elder Davis Anderson

Ponta Pora Week 39

December 29, 2014

Family! Life is good! Talking with you all was awesome! I have never been so excited about the work in my life. It has hit me that I don´t have a ton of time so I am excited to go down swinging. There´s not a ton to say about this week. We did some exchanges with two young missionaries. I did an exchange with a new American Elder. It was funny to think about the days when I ran around with a little notebook writing every word that I didn´t know and asking my companion questions every 5 seconds. The mission has been incredible!

      Sunday we brought some awesome folks to church that we have been trying to get there for a while. I believe there will be a very special baptism Saturday. Good times. There is nothing as effective as teaching simply, and helping the people to see the small miracles that have already happened in there lives. My testimony of the Savior has never been so personal. The peace that I feel because of his sacrifice is something that every creature deserves.

   I love you all dearly.

-Elder Davis Anderson

Ponta Pora Week 38

December 22, 2014

This was taken From Sister Reber's bolg - Mission Mom

Our Christmas Zone Conferences
December 16, 18, 2015 

This is the only time of the year that we come together having 2 Zone Conferences.  We meet with the 4 Zones in the North of our Mission,

then we come together having the Conference with the 4 Zones in the South.

We celebrated in the Morning with President challenging all our Missionaries to be Consecrated Missionaries

We Consecrated a vial of Oil - Each Missionary went home with a personal vial of our Consecrated Oil

We then celebrated the 3 Gift's of Christmas.  It has become our tradition these past 3 years.

The 1st Gift is a gift the Missionaries give to the Savior - Each Missionary was challenged to give a Baptism, a true Convert.

The 2nd Gift was a gift that the Missionaries give to the Mission President - Each Missionary was asked to memorize a favorite Scripture - they all recited to President and Sister Reber 

The 3rd Gift was a gift to the Missionaries from President and Sister Reber -  This year we played the story of the Nativity

As a gift to all the Missionaries we gave them each a MissionTemple Recommend Holder, and Pop up Clothes Hamper 

After lunch we asked each Zone to share a Talent with us.  They shared music, skits and even a little Magic.  We have a talented group of Missionaries!

We closed the Conference talking about the Living Water

Aimee Anderson's Testimony- MOM

I want you to know that I have a testimony that Jesus Christ is our Savior.  I know he has taken upon him all my sins and died for me.  I know he rose from the tomb on the third day and that he lives.  I know that because he lives we all will be resurected and have the opportunity to live forever with our families.  A few weeks ago my son was with some friends and one of his friends was in a terrible accident.  They were all alone on a country road and his friend had serious head injuries and they didn't know if help could make it in time.  He prayed and had a peace come over him that his friend would be ok. He received a blessing from someone who came along that he would have the blessing of healing.  Help did come and he is now in the hospital in critical condition.  None of the emergency team thought he would survive the ride to the hospital, because he was in such bad shape.  Miracle are happening for this boy.  His family has bore a powerful witness that he knew he was going to come to earth and undergo this trial, but with the help of his family everything would be ok.  His mom told me if the Savior needs him more than they do right now, which she couldn't imagine, but if he does then she would accept his will.  I know our savior loves each and everyone of us no matter where we live in this big old world.  I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Season sharing the message of our Saviors birth.  I went on a mission and their isn't one day that I don't draw strength from it.  

Take care and God Be With You! 

Mom

Austin's Testimony- 13 years old

I remember a story my mom told me here it is.

This has a thought provoking message no matter how you believe. Does evil exist? The university professor challenged his students with this question. Did God create everything that exists?

A student bravely replied yes, he did!"

"God created everything?" The professor asked.

"Yes sir", the student replied.

The professor answered, "If God created everything, then God created evil since evil exists, and according to the principal that our works define who we are then God is evil".

The student became quiet before such an answer.

The professor was quite pleased with himself and boasted to the students that he had proven once more that the Christian faith was a myth.

Another student raised his hand and said, "Can I ask you a question professor?" "Of course", replied the professor. The student stood up and asked, "Professor, does cold exist?" "What kind of question is this? Of course it exists. Have you never been cold?" The students snickered at the young man's question. The young man replied, "In fact sir, cold does not exist. According to the laws of physics, what we consider cold is in reality the absence of heat. Everybody or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (- 460 degrees F) is the total absence of heat; all matter becomes inert and incapable of reaction at that temperature. Cold does not exist. We have created this word to describe how we feel if we have no heat.

The student continued. "Professor, does darkness exist?" The professor responded, "Of course it does".

The student replied, "Once again you are wrong sir, darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in reality the absence of light. Light we can study, but not darkness. In fact we can use Newton's prism to break white light into many colors and study the various wavelengths of each color. You cannot measure darkness. A simple ray of light can break into a world of
darkness and illuminate it. How can you know how dark a certain space is? You measure the amount of light present. Isn't this correct? Darkness is a term used by man to describe what happens when there is no light present."

Finally the young man asked the professor. "Sir, does evil exist?"

Now uncertain, the professor responded, "Of course as I have already said. We see it every day. It is in the daily example of man's inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. "These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is not like faith, or love that exist just as does light and heat. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

The young mans name --- Albert Einstein

I like this story because it shows great courage and faith to be able to stand up for our religon and our beliefs. I have a testimony that evil does not exist on this earth it is just an excuse that we humans made up when we shut god out or when he is not near. I also know that heavenly father has a plan for each and everyone of us and we can have the privilage to live with him once more. Don't shut god out don't let evil become your excuse for wrong chooses or bad things that happen to you just have that faith and courage like this student had to his professor.

The Church is true.

-Austin B. Anderson

 

Ponta Pora Week 37

December 15, 2014

Family, so this Internet cafe that I am at right now is probably the worst one, that I have ever used on my mission. It took and hour to get into the email. It was lame. This week was good but it was pretty slow. We left for a leader ship training at 1:00 a.m. on tuesday a few hours after we arived in Campo Grande the meeting started. It was awesome, but super long and I was fighting to stay awake. After the meeting we waited in the bus station until 1:00 am to catch another bus back to Ponta Porã. We got back Wednesday and were completely wiped out. We planned our zone meeting and passed out at 8. Zone Meeting went super well. We talked about working more with our minds then our legs, and the importance of teaching to the needs of the people. 

    The rest of the week we split our time between preparing a house for missionaries who will be opening a ward that closed a few months ago, and teaching our recent converts family and sharing Christmas messages with people. This Ele é o Presente video is super inspired. We have a family night marked for every night that we are in town next week we are super excited. Working with the members is the only way to go.

     This week will be cool. We are heading back to Campo Grande for christmas conference with everyone in the south. 

     I got that package with the Christmas Tree! thank you so much for all that rad stuff. I have been sharing the love and you have made a bunch of missionaries here in Ponta happy.

      This week was a bit spiceless to describe but the work is working. I am happier than ever. I love my mission. Life is a blessing. I miss you all a ton. Thank you for all the prayer and love. I am blessed becuase of it.

Ponta Pora Week 36

December 8, 2014

Let The Good Times Roll‏

Family of mine! I am a blessed man. Everything here in Ponta Porã is going smooth. It really does seem like everthing is coming together here. It´s going to be a banger year here in on the border.

    This week was filled with good things. My comp, Elder Foster, from Wacilla, Alaska got here on Tuesday. He is a happy and interesting guy, who is stoked to be on the mission and has a rad  way of expecting good things to happen. Some changes were made in our zone and two new missionaries are be trained here in the zone, I don´t think they know how blessed they are to be starting out in the raddest part of the mission. My ex comps, Santana and Tolman stayed in the zone and are training. The zone is SOLID.  We organized and made some simple plans with solid goals for the zone and our area, and just went out to work. We found an awesome family walking through this big empty field. Since I got here in Ponta we would pass through the field and I would see the shacks off in the distance and think that maybe we should talk to them. This particular neck of the woods is full of people from Paraguay who come accross the border and build shacks in the fields to live for free or run from things on the other side of the border. Members always tell us to be careful when pass through these parts of the zone and we don´t work there a ton because they usually only speak Guarani and Spanish. Anyways we decided to head over there one night and ended up sitting by their fire and teaching the restoration in half spanish half português and playing games. One of the greatest family nights ever.

     Sunday morning we started at one end of the area and walked by everyones house to remind them about chuch. As we were cruising down the dirt road we saw five young men in white shirts and ties with there little brothers on the handlebars pedaling up the hill to church. I almost cried I saw all these young mens who live in rough neighborhoods surrounded by all kinds of crap, and being the only members in their families happy and strong in the gospel. After, we passed by that family in the favela and walked with them to church. I had the chance to confirm Giovani our recent convert. It was an awesome week.

 To top it off Mareni and Wagner are getting married Tuesday!!!!!!! I can´t tell you happy I am! ME and Elder Tolman worked and prayed super hard for them and to see it come together is a beautiful thing. They started temple prep Sunday and I told them I would meet them in Paraguay or São Paulo when their family gets sealed. (I sent a picture last week of their adorable daughter Bianca, who loves me). GOD IS GOOD.  

           We are using those Ele É O Presente cards and sharing messages about Christmas a bunch. I am super excited to skype you guys!!

      Tonight at midnight, Elder Foster and I are cruising 6 hours away to Campo Grande for the reunião de conselho with president. Its going to be an exhausting couple of days but I love it.

I am sure that I am forgetting about rad stuff that went down this week but thats the skinny.

     We ate tacos today with our zone and the new stake president because we beat the goal the attendance goal that we set with him just one week before, I can´t explain to you how much I love and missed Mexican food. 

         Life is Great!

John 3:16

I love you all very much, I miss you tons, I am sorry that I don´t have the time to hit you all up individually, Austin's email made me a proud brother. I feel super blessed to be apart of our family and even more gratefull that we will party for eternity together.

Ponta Pora Week 35

December 1, 2014

Mother! Sounds like everythings going well back home. I am super happy for Jessica and Jordon, that´s awesome that grandpa did the sealing. We got transfer news last night. I will be staying here in Ponta Porã! My next companion is one more american:( who is actually really cool. His name is Elder Foster and he is from Alaska. I don´t know him super well but I am excited. This area is incredible! Stake conference was this week and Elder Aidukaitis came. He was crazy! He woke the stake up and made tons of jokes. THE CHURCH IS MORE TRUE IN BRAZIL. They called a new stake president who lives in the ward. He is the man, he is 31! He is ready to light the stake on fire. It is going to be awesome. This stake has a a few branches and a group way in the interior of the state that are about 3 hours away from Ponta Porã. There was so many people that sacrificed to travel to stake conference and were just all so happy to be there. We had baptisms on saturday and sunday and this next transfer is going to be the best one I have ever had!

   On thanksgiving, Elder Tolman improvised an AWESOME apple pie and your package got here!! I am the happiest man alive.

     I miss the desert and the mountains! SNOW!

    Thank you so much for the packages. It means a ton but I don´t think you need to send anymore. Everything I want is her!

     I feel terrible that I am not able to write everyone individually I know there´s a bunch of friends and family that are wishing me the best and praying for me and it means a ton. Let everyone know that I love them and thinking about them.  Minha nossa! everyone looks so good. Dad is a fox,.

Ponta Pora Week 34

November 24, 2014

stealing coconuts and look what a member hooked us up with. He served his mission in the states so he knows what us gringos like. He works for a company that imports foreign things to Paraguay and dropped this by at our house just to be awesome.