Sister Whitney Anderson: President & Sister Nelson

Hey everyone!! I apologize for no email last week, my phone broke and I couldn't get it fixed until Wednesday haha. But the last two weeks have been great! We had a Battalion beach day (our whole mission goes to the beach and eats pizza), zone conference (aka Battalion field trip, where we all go and visit some sites that have significance to the Mormon Battalion's march), and a Battalion temple trip! I love how much we all get to spend time together:)

Last week we had exchanges, so I got to hang out with Sister Gordon for the day! She's super cool and it was fun to see how she gives tours because everyone does it just a little bit differently. We went to La Jolla together and met some super cool people who we convinced to come into the Mobat! Our own way of street contacting at it's finest lol

We got to watch President and Sister Nelson's young adult devotional last week, which was so awesome! They are truly inspired and have so much love for us that is so evident in the caring advice they give us.

On our field trip we went to a couple different catholic missions, where the Mormon Battalion stayed for a short period toward the very end of their march. I love learning more about their story, because it is always so evident that God was with them and always provided a way for them. It was super interesting to walk around these historic buildings as well, they have some very beautiful architecture and I love seeing the similarities and differences between the Catholic faith and ours. I really admire the devotion with which they worship. Our trip sparked a lot of questions about this topic, so we had a whole enrichment training this week focused on different religions and how they were formed during the great apostasy. What a great time to have a byu religions professor for a mission president haha.

Because we have quite a bit of free time here, it's sometimes hard for me to feel like a missionary all of the time. I love how relaxed my mission is, but it's not always a blessing. Sometimes it feels more like a job, where we go to shift and then come home and just chill in our apartment for the rest of the night or go out and sight see instead of doing regular missionary things, like teaching or finding or eating at members houses. We aren't allowed to teach any lessons and sometimes it feels like we're shied away from talking to people about the gospel at all unless they come to us with questions. I'm still figuring out the dynamic and what I'm allowed to do without stepping on the San Diego missionaries toes too much, but that's been a challenge I've run into so far. It's just part of the gig I guess. But I am very grateful for all the time I get to study here, I've already learned an incredible amount just from how much I'm able to read the scriptures and other resources in my free time. I'm definitely soaking that up while I can because I know I'll have a lot less time in Anaheim.

I hit my two month mark as a missionary this last week as well as my one month mark being here in San Diego! Time is truly so warped as a missionary lol. It'll be over before I know it! I hope you all have a good week, let me know if there is anything or anyone you'd like me to keep in my prayers:)

Love you all! Sister Anderson