Trio life!! - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hey everyone! This week was honestly pretty average but here are a couple cool things that happened: 

- Sister Kirkman and I got asked to make hardtack (a hard biscuit-like cracker that's made out of just flour, water, and sometimes a little bit of salt, if you're lucky ;)) and it was actually super fun and didn't taste too bad either haha 

- Went to chick fil a and for the first time in a couple months so that was nice  

- I find so many cool things on the gospel library app every day; this week I found an hour long documentary-style video about President Monson's life and service in the church (10/10), as well as a gospel library app for kids that has coloring pages! I've been spending too much time on it lol 

- We went to Balboa park for comp study, and now it's my new favorite place. It's so pretty and there are tons of cool things to see! Pictures included ofc 

- Two of my aunts came in this week with their families! I got to see my aunt Monique, and my great aunt Lorie, which was so fun. I love getting to show people I know the kind of missionary work I do every day :)

- Fun fact: today is Brigham Young's birthday, so of course we had a birthday party for him! He was the prophet at the time of the Mormon Battalion and convinced the men to enlist so he's like an extra celebrity around here haha 

- and most importantly: 

We had transfers yesterday!! I'm officially out of training and got put in a trio with Sister Sedgwick and Hermana Yin, which no one saw coming lol but it's super lit. Sedgwick is super fun and outgoing, and Yin is the sweetest person you'll ever meet. I think it's going to be a really fun transfer!! I think all three of us are a little ditsy and/or slow so it's a good thing we've got three of us lol. We already got locked out of our apartment last night hahaha so hopefully we survive out here. 

Things are starting to pick up over here now that everyone is getting out of school for the summer! It gets crazyyy when we're busy but I'm also so happy that so many people are getting to come in to take the tour! Have a good week everyone! 

Sister Anderson 

Balboa!!

Hardtackkkk

Las Chicas Poderosas <3

Brother Brigham's Birthday Bash

Halfway through my first transfer! - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hey everyone! I hope you all have had a good week. We were able to meet so many cool people this week!

This man in the ward we go to, named Steve, is super enthusiastic about missionary work and he has just made bringing people to Christ his goal in life, it's so awesome. We ran into him a couple times this week and he actually came through the tour with his little granddaughter who isn't a member. When the tour was over she asked if she could do it again haha. So cute. 

On Saturday we got to sit outside the temple all day! It's honestly so sad to tell people that they can't go inside. They just come to the temple because it looks cool and they know nothing about it but then they ask if they can see the inside and we have to tell them no. Kinda breaks my heart tbh because I wish they could. But it meant we got to explain why temples are so special and sacred to us and show them some pictures of the inside. There were a few weddings in the morning so we got to see all the pretty brides and their fun bridal parties and everything, which made me so happy. Then the McCartneys took us out to Canes (this ones for you elder santana) and to their sealing session. We were able to help them with some of their daughter names and it was awesome because I love doing proxy sealings and it's something I thought I wasn't going to be able to do for a year and a half. I <3 the temple. 

I've been reading the Book of Mormon a lot this week, mostly in the end of 1 Nephi and beginning of 2 Nephi. I love reading the scriptures and I'm convinced I could read the Book of Mormon 1000 times and still find more things to love or understand better.

That's about it for my week! I'm headed to the beach for beach day  (isn't my mission just the coolest?? I'm so lucky) 

Have a good week everyone!

My mobat besties Sister Newman and Sister Shell :)

With Sister Kirkman at the San Diego Temple

Cane's with the Mccartneys!

Making mothers day cookies for the senior sisters 

Transfer pics

Transfer pics

Sister Kirkman and Sister Anderson

Talking to my lovely mom on Sunday 

Cinco de Mayo in Old Town San Diego! - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hey everyone! This was a super fast week but it was pretty good 

On Thursday we had a temple shift, basically where we sit outside the San Diego temple and talk to people on the grounds and offer to take their picture. The San Diego temple has a lot of visitors who have no idea what it is, because it's just so grand and interesting from the outside. The temple was actually closed that day and they had some pretty loud construction going on, but we were still able to talk to some really cool people! One younger guy from Brazil came and we ended up setting him up with the missionaries in his area, as well as helping him download the book of mormon app and hopefully instilling in him a desire to read it. We gave out 3 other books of Mormon that afternoon! That's a lot considering how many people we actually got to talk to hahaha. That evening, the Allens (a senior couple here) invited us over for dinner. We played games and they took us up to Mount Soledad, which has a pretty cool lookout over the San Diego Valley! 

On Saturday and Sunday there was a Cinco de Mayo celebration going on in Old Town San Diego and some of the living history missionaries in the area put up a fun family area with lots of little games and crafts for kids and we got to help out down there when we weren't on shift. It made the days feel longer but it was really fun and we got to tell tons of new people about the Mobat! 

This week I continued to add new little parts every time we gave a tour and on Saturday I did all of Sister 2, the other half of the script! So I was able to practice just doing that part for a couple of days and then yesterday Sister Kirkman pushed me to do a solo tour where I say both parts all by myself! She's a really good trainer and she knew I was ready even though I didn't think I was haha. It ended up being a really fun group of kids that came in so it was perfect for my first solo tour and even though it was kind of stressful, it was a good tour and I'm proud of myself! I have never ever been good at remembering or memorizing and so I can say with confidence that the Lord is answering my many prayers and making my weak things strong :) 

On Saturday, Sister Kirkman and I taught the Come, Follow Me lesson for our mission (we get to meet together as a mission like three times a week it's so awesome) and it was super interesting to read the chapters of Exodus for this week. A lot of the Come, Follow Me lessons for this year so far have been stories I've always heard but never read and I've really enjoyed actually reading them. I think another way I've been blessed as a missionary is being able to understand scriptures I absolutely never would have understood before haha. We didn't get to talk about a lot of the things we had planned because everyone had so many good comments about the first slide we just ran out of time lol. But one of my favorite parts of this story with the Israelites making the golden calf is when Moses asks in Exodus 32:26, "Who is on the Lord's side?" And then in verse 29 he tells those who answered to "consecrate yourselves today to the Lord". I love the idea that consecration is dedicating what you have to the Lord and His purposes, and that what you have and bring to the table is special and has value to God. Consecration doesn't mean to give anything up, but to put it to use for the Lord's work. And everyone's unique personalities and experiences are needed to really progress His work. I encourage you to answer this call and to find ways that you can further consecrate yourself to the Lord today. 

This Sunday we went to a Spanish ward! No I do not speak any Spanish haha  but one of the sisters we share a car with does and she wanted to go so we just went with her lol. I didn't understand anything anyone said but everyone there was so kind and welcoming and happy :)

Anyways that's about it for my week but I hope you all have had a great week and give your moms all some big hugs :)

 Sister Anderson 

Celebratory picture after my first solo tour!!

Views from Mount Soledad (you can see the beach
and the temple in the same picture it's awesome!)

Day with the Allens 

Spanish ward (the Hermana in the middle is the
only Spanish speaker and our translator lol)

Dancing down at the Cinco de Mayo celebration 

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