Free Food and Tow Trucks - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hey everyone! I feel like not a lot has happened the past two weeks but also so many things lol. Here are some highlights:

- we had two member meals!!! I finally had my first member meal four months into my mission and ya'll- I love them so much. The two families we had dinner with are so so nice and welcoming I just loved being in their homes and getting to talk to them. Makes me so excited for more member meals in Anaheim!!

- we also ate dinner with a senior couple here and they're from Louisiana so they made us gumbo! We lowkey almost got towed after but the nice man let us go. The Lord protects His missionaries! 

- I gave a short tour to a little family from Ukraine who didn't speak a lot of English but they did have a lot of good questions about the church and ended up taking a Book of Mormon in Ukrainian

- Sister Lawson did a solo tour after like 9 days here! #proudmommoment

- we went to the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier museum - pictures included

- we were invited to talk to the youth in the Chula Vista 1st ward we attend, and we talked all about missionary work and what they can do to prepare. It was so great! It was one of those rare moments where I got to stop and think: wow, I am a missionary right now. And that was cool haha 

Scriptural thought for this week:

Sister Lawson and I taught the Come follow me lesson this week, which was about the story of Esther. (It's a great read, highly recommend going through it if you haven't already) but one of my favorite parts of this story is just how much the Lord was involved in the details. When Esther was placed in just the right place at just the right time to save her people, she was asked this question: 

Esther 4:14 ...who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?

I know Esther was put there for such a time as that, and I know we've all been put here for such a time as this as well! I invite you all to look for ways that the Lord has been preparing you for the work He has for you, and what spiritual gifts He's given to you specifically to qualify you for that purpose. I promise this search will bless your life:)

I love you all have a good week!! 

Sister Anderson 

Pictures:

Wearing each others dresses to church haha 

Coronado Beach 

Balboa Park

Midway 

Celebrating Peru's independence day lol 

First week as a mom - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hey everyone! Not a lot to say today, this week was pretty chill. Training is pretty fun when you have a super cool trainee haha. We took sister Lawson to sunset cliffs on her first night here and ran into a guy who seemed interested in our church at first and started asking us all these questions, but it turns out he just wanted to bible bash. We ran into some of the other brand new sisters there too so it was pretty much 1 v 9 lol. Baptism by fire for them!!

The ward we're in now is super nice and they're trying to involve us more and even trying to set up member meals for us!! It's kind of sad to attend church as a missionary and not really even be part of the ward in any way, so it's made me really appreciate those small efforts :,) 

Today we took the old town trolley tour, so that was pretty fun to get out and see parts of San Diego I haven't really seen yet! 

That's pretty much it for me haha not a ton of exciting things happened but here are some cool pictures 

Love you all, Sister Anderson :) 

Sunset cliffs 

Cute little van that sells flowers, we pass it on the way home every day it's so cute 

Celebrating Shell's 21st birthday!! 

Sister Shell and I switched dresses hehe

Trolley tour!

Transfers! - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

I just finished my second transfer and I'm officially halfway through my time at the mobat!!! It's kind of bittersweet how the time is flying by :,) This was my last week with the trio and even though everyone says your second transfer here is the hardest, I can honestly say that my comps made it the best. I'll miss Sister Sedgwick and Sister Yin so much, but luckily I get to see them for another six weeks before they head off to their proselyting assignments! 

I got to see my family this week! I'm super blessed to be at a visitors center where I get to show my friends and family the kind of missionary work I get to do every day. They got to take a tour and have some lunch with me! It was so good to see them :))

I'm training a new sister!! We got five new sisters last night and I was lowkey stressin all day about who they would put me with, but all of the girls are super cool and I can already see how Heavenly Father has answered my prayers by putting me with Sister Lawson. She is so easy going and ready to get into serving here and I think I'll have such a good time training her!

A scripture for the week: as you read this verse, think about why it's important to pray always:

2 Nephi 32:9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. 

I love the way this scripture outlines how often to pray, and what to pray for. There are so many blessings that are in store for us if we ask and I know if we remember to pray about the little things all throughout our day, the Lord will bless us in big ways! 

Sister Anderson 

Scrubbing the floors like Cinderella lol 

We did some service at this little garden and they had
the cutest little corn and green beans

Last night we went to 7-11 to try and get free slurpees,
but we went too late and they were all out :(

Showing my family around the mobat!!

Showing my family around the mobat!!

You live to fight another day - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hey everyone!! I hope you're all having a good week :) My week was so good! 

About half of our sisters have been quarantined at some point this week, so we've had to do a little more than normal, at least while on shift at the mobat. We've had a busy weekend, but it's been good! I love when lots of people get to take tours 

Last night we had so much fun for the fourth of July! We closed the Battalion a little early and we had some food, played corn hole and frisbee, had a talent/untalent show, danced the Virginia Reel, and watched fireworks from the roof! I'm so lucky to be with so many fun people and to be in a place with such nice weather!!

I want to try something new, so bear with me. Something we talk about a lot in preach my gospel is reading scriptures with the people we teach. Since I'm not teaching anyone right now, I wanted to try reading scriptures with you all! If this works I might make it a regular thing haha we'll see. 

So for some context for this verse; Alma the younger, in his youth, went about tearing down the church and leading people away, but he had a humbling experience and he turned his life around. He became a great missionary and leader, and toward the end of his faithful life, he gave this counsel to his son, Helaman:

Alma 36:27 And I have been supported under trials and troubles of every kind, yea, and in all manner of afflictions; yea, God has delivered me from prison, and from bonds, and from death; yea, and I do put my trust in him, and he will still deliver me.

I love Alma's testimony of God's hand in his life. He has total confidence and trust in God, because He's been supporting him all his life. How have you seen God's hand supporting you and delivering you? How can you trust in Him more fully moving forward? I have seen personally how much God cares about what I care about, and it's so comforting to know that whenever I need His help, He is just a prayer away. TRUST IN HIM!! 

Have a good week everyone, remember the Lord is on your side and He has so many blessings in store for you if you just ask :)

Sister Anderson 

Pictures 

Mis compas 

O apartments after our near death experience 

Battalion temple trip

Fireworks from the roof of the mobat 

week 13 - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hey everyone! Sending this out a little late because we had a field trip on our p day so now I get p day time instead! We went to a few different places the Battalion went at the end of their march, including Presidio and Fort Stockton, Cabrillo national monument, the Old Town courthouse replica,  and a couple of cool cemeteries where some members of the Mormon Battalion are buried.

I gave my 100th tour this week!! I didn't realize it until after but it was a young men's group that was super fun!

This week we had our first referral!! We don't get to teach lessons or visit people in this mission, BUT we got to visit a lady who is within our ward boundaries because she wanted a visit from sisters and we're the only ones in that ward right now! We had a whole message prepared to share with her and we were so excited, but basically what she really wanted was a friend. So we just listened to her talk about her life story and her crazy relationship haha. I was super impressed by her faith in Christ, even though it isn't within the bounds of our church's faith anymore. We didn't really share a message with her like we had planned, but I think we brought some light to her and we hope that she can find peace in her life. 

I dyed my hair back to brown this week shout out to Sister Sermon for helping me, she's the bomb

We made a comp goal to talk to people more after our tours and we've been praying for people who will be receptive to our message to come in. We've had a ton of super cool conversations this past week with people from our tours and we got to give out 4 copies of the Book of Mormon, including one in Greek and one in German! The Lord cares about what we care about :)

I love seeing how much my missionary service is changing me and teaching me. I still have a lot to figure out but I know that the Lord will provide me with exactly the experiences I need to help me become the person He needs me to be. 

Have a good week! Love you all!

Sister Anderson

Comp study: arts and crafts edition 

Back To Brunette

Zone conference #2

Action Shots!

#champions - Mormon Battalion Historic Site

Hello everyone! It has been a fun couple of weeks for me here!! Being in the trio has been so much fun because even though we're not always out going to fun places, we have tons of fun just hanging out with each other at home. Giving trio tours has a bit of a different dynamic, so it took a little while to figure out haha but it's honestly the best. I'm learning a lot from sister sedgwick and sister yin and becoming great friends with both of them!! 

We've been giving some extra food we made to our apartment's maintenance guy, he's a hard worker and he's super nice, but he always seems a little hesitant when we talk to him because he doesn't know much English. But now that we have a Spanish sister with us, we can communicate with him easier! 

The Allens took us out to mission bay to fly their kites! They have bougee two-string kites and it was fun to figure out how to fly them. The weather here is so perfect for fun outdoor things like that

We had a flag day celebration at the Mobat this week and we helped set up and take down the stage and chairs and everything, which was actually pretty fun. We got out there with shovels and dug out space for a ramp, raked up pine needles, and carried these big heavy stage panels to put together. It sounds weird, but I feel more like a missionary when I'm working hard like that, so it was awesome. We didn't get to be a part of the celebration because we ended up being on shift giving tours, but it looked really cool! 

I started learning some Spanish on duolingo a few weeks ago just for fun, and being with a comp who's fluent in Spanish has been so good in helping me learn it. She's probably so sick of us asking her how to say random things lol but we have fun with it

I think that's about it for now! San Diego is a beautiful place to be and I'm definitely blessed to be spending part of my mission here :) I hope you all have a great week! 

Love, Sister Anderson:)

Kites with the Allens 

Las chicas poderosas take on church

Tried Handel's ice cream 

The view from our balcony 

We got to meet Sister Sedgwick's mom on our temple
shift because she was there for a family wedding!