Sister Whitney Anderson: First week in the field!!

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!