First week in the field!! - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hey everyone! Sorry this email is all out of whack, I ran out of time on my p day to write an email and respond to everyone (soo sorry if I wasn't able to shoot you a response) I was giving tours from 5-7 so I have an extra hour of time I would've been using for p day stuff that I can now use somewhere else in the week (actually super nice, highly recommend).

So here's a quick rundown of my first week in the field! I've given 14 tours and a few short tours in the last week, I have all of my half of the script down and I'm working on learning the other parts so I can switch or give solo tours! I've really loved giving tours so far. Every group has their own energy that is just so fun to bounce off of and as I've prayed for charity and Christlike love for those in my tours, as well as knowing what they need to hear from me, I've received it! I love what President Nelson said in our most recent conference about seeking and expecting miracles.

I've talked to people from Switzerland, Germany, China, Canada, and South Africa just this week, as well as a handful of different states. I feel like those coming from other countries have been the most curious about our church and I've been able to have some really cool conversations with some really cool people where I've been able to share my beliefs, share Books of Mormon, and refer them to the San Diego missionaries. I'm having way more typical missionary interactions than I thought I would, serving in an atypical mission. Sometimes it's sad that we don't get to see where their questions may lead them to down the road because we can't actually teach them the lessons or invite them to be baptized, but I love thinking that sharing the story of the Mormon Battalion and my testimony with people can be a building block in their conversion story somehow. 

We help out at a local food bank for another church sometimes as part of our service opportunities when we're not at the Mobat, and I really loved doing that this week. There were so many sweet people I got to meet and give food to, and it was so neat to see how big of a difference that food made for them and their families. One man was so grateful for the food we gave him, he talked about how happy it would make his girls, then drove away with tears in his eyes and said "I can't thank you enough" :,( so tender  

This week, Sister Kirkman and I gave a tour to a man who had a lot of church history artifacts. We got his contact info and ended up going over to his house with a senior couple on Sunday to see them! I was totally blown away at how many amazing things he owns. We were there for almost three hours as he just talked to us for a couple minutes each about all the things he had. He said he loves collecting these rare finds, not for himself but to share them, and help people to see that Christ really does live and direct His church today, that Joseph Smith was a true prophet who was led by the Lord, and that God's hand has been in His church on the earth all throughout the history of time. He had a really great perspective on all these amazing artifacts and let us see and hold almost all of them, because they were meant to be used! It really did strengthen my testimony of the restoration and I'm so glad that he came through for a tour that night. 

On Monday, we went on a walk with another senior couple here, the Nichols! (I miss having elders around but couples are the closest thing we've got haha I love them) They took us for a ride in their convertible to a few different cool places in the area I've never been and then to ocean beach. We walked all along the shore and then up and down the longest pier on the west coast. And then they took us out to froyo! It was a super fun night. 

I had some pretty great studies this week, one of my favorites was in Alma 32. I probably read this chapter three times in the MTC alone but it's a really good one, and I decided to read chapter 31 too to give me some background and make it more meaningful. I love how Alma starts preaching repentance to people and the first thing he talks about is developing faith, and the second is continuing to have and develop faith. I just love the importance that he places on continuing to nurture your testimony and feel it growing, because when it grows that's how you know it's true and good. I've noticed that when I make time to feast upon the words of God every day, I feel closer to Him, and that's something I want to teach people how to do too. 

Also I found out that they're trying to move away from creating differentiation between different kinds of missionaries, so they've stopped printing tags that say my historic site on them :(( I was really looking forward to that so that's kind of sad. Sorry this is a long one, but I have tons of good pictures from this week! Hopefully you can figure out which explanations go with what pictures because they always send out of order lol. 

Have a good week and I'll catch you next Tuesday! 

Pretty flowers + a free library :)

San Diego temple! 

Someone's front yard with a bunch of fun shaped bushes haha 

Fun at the beach with the Nichols

Fun at the beach with the Nichols

Fun at the beach with the Nichols

Fun at the beach with the Nichols

Walking suspension bridge

First edition King James bible - this thing was huge and heavy

A copy of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon,
start reading at the arrow and see if it sounds familiar 

Ticket to the Salt Lake Temple Dedication

This super cool bible looked normal from the outside but
if you bend the pages right a picture appears 

First edition book of Mormon, the owner had gotten a new
spine made for it so technically its the only one just like it!

Outfitting after hours 

Just enlisted in the US army of the west! - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

I made it!! This weekend has felt crazy long but only a few big things really happened lol 

First of all, I got to go to temple square on Saturday! All of the historic site sisters got to take the train down to Salt Lake and shadow some sisters there. It was super fun and I learned a lot from my awesome companion for the day, Sister Mortensen (I asked, she doesn't have any relatives in AZ lol). We had assignments on the roof of the conference center, in the tabernacle, and outside around temple square to just go up to people and make conversation. When they said they talk to everyone they see, they weren't joking haha. I'm super impressed with the sisters there, especially because they get a lot of people that come to argue with them and they have to know how to handle it cooly and be steadfast in their testimony. I have so much respect for all the Sisters that serve in that mission because I don't think I could do it haha. It was fun to get a "day in the life" of what it's like to be at a visitors center and I'm super glad I got to finally go to the conference center and feel the spirit that's in that room, even though there's no conference going on. There was a noticeable difference between the spirit we can constantly feel in the MTC and in holy places like the conference room, versus out in the real world. 

On Sunday we got to watch Lamb of God by Rob Gardner! A local choir came and performed the oratorio for us and it was beautiful. What a great way to celebrate Easter!! I forgot to say this last week but we also got to have a concert by BYU vocal point at the MTC that was super cool as well! 

Yesterday, we left the MTC at about 4 in the morning and flew from Salt Lake to Dallas (don't ask me why) and then finally to San Diego! After almost a full day of traveling, we finally landed with palm trees and the ocean in view. It was kind of a surreal feeling, but I love this place and I'm so excited that I get to live here! President and Sister Top and our STLs were waiting for us right away to give us all hugs :,) Everyone here is so sweet and fun and I'm so excited to get to know them all! My MTC comp Sister Newman and I were split up :,( but my trainer, Sister Kirkman is super nice and I'm excited to learn from her! I picked out my pioneer dresses and did my first tour tonight!! I only know a few lines right now but luckily I didn't forget anything in the moment so I feel good about it! My comp is super awesome and has everything down so she made up for where I lacked hahah. 

Being in the field after being in the mtc for so long is definitely an adjustment but I know the Lord is on my side and I'll feel right at home in a week or two. Love you all, have a good week! 

Pretty Utah mountains 

Temple square! The temple is under so much construction,
I didn't recognize it at first honestly but I learned
a lot of cool facts about what they're doing to it! 

Being out in the real world again ~ spooky

Ran into Elder Mortensen a few times at the Provo mtc!
Everyone pray for his visa to come before he leaves for England 

Leaving the sisters in my district was the worst but they'll do amazing things 

Pretty Utah mountains 

Arriving at the Mobat!!
President and Sister Top

My cute dress!! 

Sister Kirkman and I 

And then there were three... - Provo Utah MTC

Hey guys!! I hope everyone has had a good week 

We lost many loved ones this week. We had our last classes on Saturday and had to say goodbye to our 8 beloved elders over the past three days, which really sucked because we have become like a little family over the past few weeks. They'll all be amazing missionaries though and I wish them the best of luck out in the real world. We also lost one of our hermanas, she got the flu and is now in isolation so we adopted her companion and we're now a trio. Pretty much everyone else in the MTC left this week and it felt eerily empty for a couple days. Even the weather was sad! Pretty much as soon as they left it started snowing (which was actually really exciting for me lol) but it was gloomy and it started affecting our mood haha 

We started our historic site training this week! All the sisters in our class are either going to the Mormon Trail historic sites in Iowa/Nebraska or the Mormon Battalion with us. It's been kind of hard actually. A lot of the information we've been learning about for giving tours doesn't really pertain to us because our site is so scripted, so we don't have the creative liberty of adjusting our tours. But, we've been giving tours of the gorgeous murals in our building and that's been okay. We're learning the script slowly but surely and we're getting excited to get out there and learn how to do it for real.

We were feeling super down for a couple days and it was just hard, but we realized that we hadn't opened our scriptures at all this week! We just don't ever talk about doctrine in our historic site classes and it has definitely made a difference in how we feel. So, we decided to read a couple chapters of the Book of Mormon together as a trio and it instantly made everything better. We read in 2 Nephi 4 about how God is the rock of our salvation and it's so true! The scriptures have been my constant with everything changing and I'm learning how to rely on the word of God when life gets hard. 

2 Nephi 4:20 - My God hath been my support; he hath led me in the wilderness; and he hath preserved me upon the waters of the great deep. 

I forget what day this happened because all the days blend together but we heard fireworks from BYU one night and ran to go see them! We had a perfect view through the trees from where we were at and we watched them for about 10 minutes. Definitely a highlight of my week. 

Anyway sorry this was a long one and also kind of boring lol but I hope you all had a good week and have an amazing sabbath celebrating our Savior this week! 

Sister Anderson

Snow!

how learning our script is going 

how learning our script is going 

last classes with our amazing teachers, Sister Taylor and Sister Vorwaller 

last picture of district 3-G all together :,(

last classes with our amazing teachers, Sister Taylor and Sister Vorwaller 

Feels like I'm drinking out of a spiritual fire hydrant - Provo Utah MTC

This week was so good!!! We got to hear from our prophets and apostles in general conference this weekend, I don't think there's ever been a better time to be a missionary in the MTC. They talked a lot about missionary work and it was so cool to be surrounded by hundreds of other missionaries as we heard their council and felt the spirit. 

A lot happened this week but it's all kind of a blur, the days are so long but time also flies by it's crazy. It's been a super fun week though. We had a devotional on Sunday from the MTC presidency and one on Tuesday night with Sister Bonnie H. Cordon of the general young women's presidency. Both were super powerful! My whole district sang in the choir for that devotional which was super fun. There are actually more sisters than elders at the MTC right now fun fact. Sister Cordon shared a lot about how we can be directed in the work when we trust in the Lord. Proverbs 3:5-6 so good!!

I'm running out of time but I love you all and so does God! We sang a bunch of veggie tales songs this week and that kind of sounds like one of them but it's true hahaha

Sister Anderson