tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51992624231286592102024-03-05T21:13:06.067-08:00Elder Caleb Anderson's Missionary BlogA blog of Caleb's victories and adventures serving the Lord in Sao Paulo, Brazil.Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-16891875432570813272014-06-24T08:15:00.000-07:002014-06-24T08:15:11.224-07:00Time to prepare transfers again!Dear Family,<br />
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Thanks again for your emails and support. This week was a little less busy here in the office so we were able to get out into the field a little bit more and work. We did some divisions with a few missionaries which was great. It is so great to teach the gospel. When we are sharing the gospel with other people who have never received it or when we are reactivating people we feel the Spirit in a completely different way than we normally would. This morning we were able to participate in a meeting that a zone had with their stake president and with President Ferrin. It was really really cool and the stake president pointed out something that I had never thought about. He was talking about the story of the Brother of Jared in Ether chapter 3. It was a long explanation but I will make it short. The Lord gave the brother of Jared the task to solve a problem. What was the problem? They were going to cross the ocean in boats that would be completely dark. So the Brother of Jared had the task of thinking up some kind of solution to the problem. And as we know, the Brother of Jared came back with the 16 stones and with the suggestion that the Lord touch the stones to make them light up. We can read in verse 4 that the Brother of Jared said "And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man; therefore touch these stones, O Lord, <b>with thy finger,</b> and prepare them that they may shine forth in darnkess". Sometimes I read this passage and don´t really realize how much preparation and thought probably went into that request. After all, the Brother of Jared was the prophet and I am sure quite a bit of thought into the things he did, especially if he was talking to God. And we can see that he took the stones, put them in front of him, and then asked the Lord to touch them with His finger. What do you think he was expecting from this? What was his real desire? Do you think that the thought never crossed his mind that if the Lord was going to touch the stones with his finger, and the stones were right in front of him, then he might see the Lord´s finger? Of course he did. What was his real desire? He wanted to see the Savior. The same desire that many prophets have had and many normal people have had. And because of his faith and worthiness he was able to see the Lord´s finger when the Lord touched the rocks. Anyways what is the lesson for us? If we are worthy and have the faith we may not see the Lord´s literal finger, but we will see his hand working in our lives, we will see this through the people around us, through the situations we are put into, and through the blessings that we receive. I know that I have seen His hand in my life here on the mission and know that He lives and loves all of us. All we need is the faith to believe and the desire to see Him! </div>
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That´s it for this week! </div>
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Love,</div>
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-Elder Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-82841402305851380502014-06-18T12:18:00.003-07:002014-06-18T12:18:44.994-07:00GO BRASIL!!Dear Family,<br />
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This week the big question that everyone had for me in their emails was "How was the world cup game?". Well it was AWESOME. Brasil won 3-1 however there was a call that the refs made that was really controversial. They gave Brasil a penalty kick that gave Brasil a 2-1 lead and pretty much changed the whole game. But it was still really fun to be here and to feel the excitement that the Brazilians have. The game started at 5 o´clock here however the noise-making started at noon haha. Everyone was blowing their vuvuzelas, airhorns, and car horns. It was really awesome. Every store, bar, or gas station has a million Brazil flags flying, the cars are all decorated, and on game day it was hard to find ANYONE on the street that wasn´t wearing a yellow Brazil shirt. We stayed here in the office until around 4:15ish when President picked us and the secretaries up to watch the game at his house. It was really fun and Sister Ferrin had prepared a lot of delicious foods , including bar-b-que pulled pork sandwhiches! So we watched the game together. Someone asked me if President gets into the games. Well President has a lot of Brazil spirit however I don´t think that soccer is really his sport haha. But all of us elders were at the edges of our seats. When Brazil scored the whole city went nuts!! Everyone was setting off fireworks, screaming, and making all different kinds of noises! It was really awesome. Tomorrow Brazil plays again against Mexico. Go Brazil! Also the U.S. is supposed to play today in a couple hours. </div>
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Also this week we had a meeting with Claudio M. Costa (the Brazil area president who came to our mission conference about a month ago and interviewed me). It was a meeting with all of the zone leaders and their companions and the sister leaders. It was great and he spoke a lot on the importance of faith and setting goals that are realistic. Really awesome. Well I`ve got to go! Tonight we are off to a zone meeting in Guarulhos! Love you all.</div>
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Love,</div>
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-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-70607043528010125612014-06-18T12:17:00.001-07:002014-06-18T12:17:29.902-07:00World Cup!!!Dear Family,<br />
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This week was a crazy week full of preparations for the world cup! This Thursday will be the opening ceremonies and the opening game will be played in Itaquera, which is one of the zones of our mission. The opening game with be Brazil vs. Croatia and Brazil is strongly favored to win. It is going to be super awesome and I am really excited about it. President Ferrin authorized the missionaries to watch the Brazil games in members´ houses. This past week we spent a lot of time going to around to the different zones of the mission and giving them trainings about what they should and shouldn´t do during the world cup. Everyone is saying that it will be really dangerous to walk around on the streets. Pretty much the whole country will be drunk and for some reason it seems like drunk people always like messing with the missionaries!! So anyways the missionaries can watch the Brazil games in members houses but the other games are not authorized to watch. And after watching the game the missionaries need a ride home, they can´t walk home or take the bus since being on the street will be very dangerous. President Ferrin invited my companion and I to watch the game at his house so that will be fun. Half of the people here are really excited for the world cup and half of them are outraged by it. There are a ton of protests and strikes because the government spent so much money on the stadiums whenever the country could have benefited from that money in other ways. Anyhow a lot of people, including members of the church are really upset with the government because of the world cup. I think it is really exciting to have the world cup here in Brazil but the soon it is over with the better. However, watching the games in the members´ houses will be a good opportunity to get references and build a friendship with the members and maybe even friends and family that the members will invite over. I am super excited to see the game on Thursday, go Brazil!! </div>
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Yesterday we had a cool experience because we were here in the office about to leave for stake conference when two men came up to the door. They came in because they didn´t know it was stake conference week and they wanted to watch sacrament meeting. One was a less active member that wants to return to activity in the church and the other one was his brother that has already been to church several times, has read the entire Book of Mormon, and wants to get baptized! We took them to the stake conference with us and introduced him to the missionaries that proselyte in this area. So hopefully he will be baptized next week! Miracles happen!</div>
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Love you all, </div>
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-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-16305331722028748232014-06-05T09:13:00.001-07:002014-06-05T09:13:35.355-07:00Transfer WeekDear Family,<br />
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This week was an interesting week. There were some really big changes this transfer! The biggest change that happened is that in the past the zone leaders have always been companions. So generally there were zones of about 20-30 missionaries and there were 2 zone leaders who were companions to lead the zone. However President Ferrin saw that there were many problems with this situation. I won´t go into all of the problems, but one of the key problems was that two of the best, most experienced missionaries in the zone were companions and no one else was benefiting from all of their experience. So this transfer we split up the two zone leaders. Now the zone leaders all have junior companions. They all live in the same house and will now have juniors to work with during the day. This is a huge change that President made with the purpose of helping the zone leaders to work harder, be more obedient, baptize more, and pass on some of their knowledge and experience to the other missionaries. It will be exciting to see how this plan will work out but I think it is going to be really good. Other than that this week was pretty normal. We were really busy here in the office because of the transfers. There is always some kind of problem that needs to be resolved!</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-61054254832956409332014-05-27T10:10:00.000-07:002014-05-27T10:10:13.403-07:00Crazy WeekDear Family,<br />
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This week was crazy! The week started off rough because our conference with Elder Nelson was supposed to have a conference with the mission on Wednesday. However on Tuesday President went to a seminar for mission presidents where Elder Nelson and Elder Andersen were present and Elder Nelson announced that the conference the next day would be canceled. Why? Because on Wednesday the police in São Paulo and 12 other states of Brazil went on strike. Because of the strike it would not be safe to have thousands of missionaries using public transportation traveling through the middle of the city. There was a lot of crime predicted for Wednesday so all of the missionaries in São Paulo were instructed to stay in their houses. So on Wednesday the whole mission stayed at home for the first half of the day and then around 3 o´clock the apostles said that we could leave the house and work. It turned out that hardly any crime or protests at all happened here in São Paulo!! However in other states there were some violent protests. But here in São Paulo it was normal for the most part. All the missionaries were devastated that the conference didn´t happen but it goes to show how seriously the Quorum of the Twelve take the misisonaries´safety. So then on Thursday we started working on the transfer a little bit. This transfer is going to change a lot of things on the mission! We have some new ideas that will be put in practice that will change the structure of the mission. On Friday my companion Elder Pinheiro finished his mission and went back to his home in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte (northeastern brazil). We took him to the airport on Friday morning and he was pretty nervous haha. Actually all week he was nervous. But from Friday until Sunday I didn´t have a companion so I hung around with the Secretaries and helped President with the transfers. Yesterday morning President called my new companion Elder Passos. He is also from northeastern Brazil and is AWESOME! He is super obedient and is exactly the kind of companion that I wanted to finish my mission with. I am really excited for this transfer with him. Yesterday after picking him up we worked on the transfers which will happen tomorrow. Usually the transfers happen on Tuesdays but this time it was changed to Wednesday. So today we will be working hard on the transfers again to be prepared for tomorrow. There really will be a lot of changes on the mission and I won´t go into detail right now but next week I will be able to explain a little better about what the President is doing. </div>
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So that´s what happened during the week. Another cool event that happened was that on Saturday night President and I were working on the transfers when the Belém elders (the elders that work in the area of the mission office) came into the office because they were going to have a baptism. However the elders had already tried to baptize this woman last week but the baptism didn´t go through because the woman is terrified of water and even though the missionaries tried for over an hour to baptize her, she wasn´t able to do it. So on Saturday night the woman was ready to give it another shot. She REALLY wanted to be baptized but could hardly enter into the water, let alone let someone immerse her. So she came prepared with snorkel mask and all! hahahahaha. She came with a pink snorkel mask and even though the baptism took about an hour again she was finally did it. The first technique that the elders used was for her to sit down in shallow water (about up to her chest while sitting down) and just lean backward a little bit to be completely immersed. But every time that she leaned back she panicked and would jerk her head out of the water. After about 30 minutes of trying and giving her pep talks, the elder tried another technique where she was on all fours in the water, as if she was crawling. Then (while breathing through the snorkel) lowered herself to be completely immersed. After a few tries this way, she finally got her whole body under the water at the same time!!! All of us including President Ferrin were refraining ourselves from jumping up and down and yelling with joy haha. When she stood up and took the goggles off her eyes were full of tears. I try to imagine the feelings that she must have had in that moment. I think one reason was probably because of the huge sense of accomplishment that she must have felt. Knowing that by overcoming her biggest fear she was able to receive the blessing of baptism that she wanted so bad. And I am also sure that she felt the difference between that one try and between the other 30 times that she tried. It is a testimony that only a baptism by COMPLETE immersion can bring the remission of sins that we search for. It was a funny experience but for me was a really spiritual and humbling experience as well. I will forward a picture of the baptism, it is really funny. Anyhow, that´s it for this week!</div>
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Love you all,</div>
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Elder Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-33699496729222393922014-05-27T10:08:00.001-07:002014-05-27T10:08:06.892-07:00Fun WeekDear Family,<br />
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This week was a great week. We had a really great trip to the São Paulo Temple. We went there on Wednesday. When you are in the temple you don´t even feel like leaving. The Spirit is so strong and when I leave the temple I feel like I recharged a spiritual battery and received more strength. It really helps me remember the eternal prospective and focus on the task at hand without getting distracted. We are currently preparing for the devotional with Russell M. Nelson on Wednesday. It is going to be awesome! I have been waiting my whole mission to see an apostle and finally its going to happen. I am excited to see him. </div>
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I have been thinking recently about something I noticed when I was studying the Book of Mormon. The other day I was reading in 1 Nephi about Lehi´s family and I noticed a part that I had never noticed before. It was in verse 28 of chapter 3 when Lehi´s sons where trying to get the brass plates from Laban. And after their first and second attempts to retrieve the plates were unseccessful, it Nephi says "and it came to pass that Laman was angry with me, and also with my father; and also was Lemuel, <b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1401130457320_17820">for he hearkened unto the words of Laman</b>". I had never really thought about the last part of this verse before. But for some reason while I was reading this really struck me that we don´t know exactly what was going through the heads of Laman and Lemuel. But Nephi says that <b>Lemuel</b> was upset and was lead to making wrong decisions because he hearkened to the words of his older brother Laman! Or in other words Lemuel wasn´t the type of guy that had a strong personality, he certainly wasn´t firm enough to stick up for what was right in front of his older brother Laman. He was swayed too easily by his older brother and because of this, was lead to making wrong decisions. Another proof of what kind of personality Lemuel had is found in verse 10 of chapter 2 of first Nephi. "And [Lehi] also spake unto Lemuel: O that thou mightest be like unto this valley, firm and steadfast, and immovable in keeping the commandments of the Lord!". Lehi wanted desperately for Lemuel to be firm in keeping the commandments, especially in the face of the person who he most admired which was his older brother Lemuel. Unfortunately we know from the story that in the end Lemuel let himself be influenced and persuaded my Laman until it had huge consequences on his life and the lives of his posterity. How often are we like Lemuel? How often do we want to do the right things but let ourselves be influenced by those around us to do something we wouldn´t do otherwise? I know that all of us have been guilty of that at at least one point in our lives. I hope that we can always have the courage to stand up and do what is right! That´s it for this week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Anderson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-73321482514583298222014-05-02T18:06:00.001-07:002014-05-02T18:06:28.438-07:00Good WeekDear Family,<br />
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Good week. Lots of office work and Emergency Transfers. Hope you guys are doing well. Can´t wait to skype you guys on Mother´s Day. This week was a super busy week because President Ferrin has been busy doing interviews and we have been going with him giving trainings to the different zones. The trainings that we give are focused on a few common difficulties that missionaries encounter when they are teaching people and preparing them for baptism. It is interesting that 99 percent of investigators aren´t baptized almost always because of one of six or seven different problems. Some of the really common ones are that they can´t live the commandments, don´t want commitment, aren´t baptized because of influences from family, feel that they aren´t prepared even though they are, or feel that they have prayed but haven´t received a response about the gospel. The training that we are giving is to help missionaries know how to deal with these kinds of problems when they run into them. It is fun to give the training because we do A LOT of practices with the missionaries which really helps them learn how to teach better. I will put a picture of the chalkboard after one of our trainings. It is full of scriptures that the missionaries can use when they come across these common diffictulties. This next week will be super busy too because we will be doing more interviews and there will also be a small transfer tomorrow. Love you all and thanks so much for the emails and support.</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-68129370731230038122014-04-21T13:06:00.001-07:002014-04-21T13:06:11.064-07:00Happy Easter!Dear Family,<br />
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The transfers went smoothly once again, another miracle haha! I am still here in the office and my companion is still Elder Pinheiro. This week was awesome because my companion and I were able to baptize a man named Evanildo!! It was really an awesome story. He is the man that my companion and I found on the first day that we went to work in our area. We grabbed the list of members which had ove 500 names on it and we picked a couple of families to try and visit. We felt like we should visit them so we called them up and marked to pass by their house later that day. When we tried to find their house we spent 20 minutes walking around searching and could not find it! Finally we just sat on the curb and were ready to give up when the mother of the family showed up and led us to their house. The mother´s name was Josefa, the son´s name was Wellingtom, and the father´s name was Evanildo. Wellingtom and Josefa were both members of the church who go every week. But even though they had been members for 18 years Evanildo had never been to church and had never met the missionaries. So we taught him the first lesson and everything went perfectly. We have been preparing him ever since but the preparation took a lot longer than usual because we could only work in our area 1 or 2 days a week. But finally yesterday he was baptized and it was a really spiritual baptism. I felt a strong Spirit as I saw the father being baptized, now the entire family is in the church and their next goal is to be sealed in the temple. It made me really grateful for the family and I have and especially that everyone is a member of the church and that we are all sealed together. Although this family is a different size than mine, lives in a different country, have a different culture and a very different style of life, they will be able to enjoy the same blessing of an eternal family if they stick to their goal of entering into the temple together. Heavenly Father´s plan is all about famlies and as we share the gospel with others and see their progress, we develop more gratitude for their blessings that we have been given in our lives. </div>
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This week was also great because it was Easter Sunday and we were able to remember the ressurrection of Jesus Christ. Here in Brazil the tradition of eating fish on easter sunday is stronger than in the U.S.. Thank you all once again for your emails.</div>
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Love you all,</div>
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Elder Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-31093179940591653282014-04-14T13:47:00.003-07:002014-04-14T13:47:47.885-07:00Transfer Week AgainDear Family,<br />
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This week is transfer week again. This last transfer really flew by. This last week has been a hectic week since we have been working on the transfers. However now it is all done and tomorrow will be the transfer meeting. This week I have been focusing my studies on the general conference talks and one talk that I really liked was Elder Christofferson´s talk about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Another one that I really liked was Elder Perry´s talk about obedience. We don´t always know where the Lord is trying to steer our lives but if we our obedient we can have faith that he is the one that is in charge and that everything will work out for the best. I have seen this on my mission and I have seen examples of it in other people´s lives. Heavenly Father will let us do whatever we want, but if we humble ourselves and are obedient, he will give us a life that is much better than anything we could ever accomplish on our own. Jesus Christ lived, died, and is a resurrected being who loves us and has a plan for each one of us. Other than that there really wasn´t anything new that happened this week. We ate at Pizza Hut one day this week and it was awesome!! </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1397507487844_2965">
Love you all and thanks for the letters and emails!</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1397507487844_2966">
</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1397507487844_2971">
-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
</div>
Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-16048144371976045602014-04-07T20:12:00.004-07:002014-04-07T20:12:59.476-07:00General ConferenceDear Family,<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396926678908_2585">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396926678908_2583">
Thank you all as always for your prayers and letters. This week was awesome because of general conference!! I was able to watch all of the sessions, some in english and some in portuguese. I watched some of them here at the office and some of them at the stake center. It´s a little bit different to watch the sessions in portuguese, it lacks a little bit of emotion. But I really liked all of the sessions but my favorite by far was the preisthood session. Elder Oaks´s talk was incredible! I thought that he taught some really profound principles that are important for all of us to know. I especially liked when he said that in the priesthood their is now going up or down, but there is going forward or backward. If we are serving with more energy an faith, we are going forward. It was a great talk to hear and to keep in mind on the mission. It is great that if we go to general conference with questions on our mind that we have prayed about, we can almost always receive answers to those questions. This next week is transfer week again so we will be super busy. Other than that there isn´t too much new going on here! </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396926678908_2733">
Love you all,</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396926678908_2734">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396926678908_2735">
Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
</div>
Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-41699029660926083692014-04-06T18:39:00.001-07:002014-04-06T18:39:37.394-07:00Conference Week Again?!?Dear Family,<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396834231498_12991">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396834231498_12988">
This week was a busy week. Luckily we were able to get out of the office a little more. This week we went on a couple divisions which was good. On Wednesday we went on a division with some Elders in the zone Itaquera. That zone was having some difficulties with teaching and baptizing people so we went there to do a division and to give a training. Then on Friday I was able to go back to one of my old areas, Vila Industrial, and I did a division with the Elders there. It was cool to be in my old area again. The elder that is in that area has been there for seven and a half months so he is a little bit worn out haha, understandable. Other than that this week was pretty normal. I have been focusing my studies lately on the atonement. I have been learning about how the atonement of Christ applies in many different ways in our life. Not just to clean us from sin, but also to lift us up and strengthen us to be something greater that we normally are. When Christ suffered in the Garden he suffered all of the pains of all of our sins, he paid our debt in full and he set the conditions for us to one day return to him and gain eternal life. The conditions are a broken heart and a contrite spirit, always trying to obey the commandments and improve. I am grateful for the Savior´s mercy that has a daily role in my life. </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396834231498_12992">
Love you all and hope you all have a great week!</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1396834231498_13009">
-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
</div>
Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-1723535894668629652014-03-26T16:08:00.001-07:002014-03-26T16:08:16.829-07:00Finishing March AlreadyDear Family,<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395875216124_4946">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395875216124_4944">
Thanks again for the emails and support. This week was a good week. We were able to work a little bit more in the field which was great. We worked on Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday in our area and on Friday we did a division with some elders in another zone. We went to the zone Itaquaquecetuba and I worked with a new american missionary that got here on Tuesday. On Tuesday the 9 americans got here to the mission. Nowadays any missionary that is coming to Brazil that has been serving in a U.S. mission waiting for their visa, has to go to the São Paulo MTC for 2 weeks before coming to the field. At first I thought that this was a little bit ridiculous to have to go back to the MTC after serving in the field already, but these americans that got here on Tuesday are speaking really, really good portuguese. Just goes to show you that the missionary department knows what they´re doing. The 9 americans had been serving different missions in the U.S. so they already have a lot of experience, they just need to learn the language. So on Tuesday we were wrapped up in getting the new americans here, training them, and giving them their new companions. Then on Tuesday night at 11:30 three brazilian elders arrived coming to our mission. These three brazilian elders had been serving in Venezuela but due to political problems the church had to pull out all missionaries from Venezuela that aren´t natives. So these three brazilians came to our mission. Of the three, the one who has less time on the mission has a year and seven months haha so they are just coming here to finish it up their missions. </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395875216124_4949">
Then the rest of the week went fairly smoothly. We had two investigators at church on Sunday. they are both marked for baptism and we are really excited about it. The man that we found last week went to church yesterday so that was really cool. In the ward that we work in there are six missionaries. Us, the zone leaders, and a district leader and his companion. And last night we had a special fireside for the whole ward that was planned by the zone leaders. It was really cool. There was a workshop part at the beginning where us missionaries gave trainings to the members on how they can help us and how they can talk to their friends about the gospel. I gave my trianing on how to help investigators fulfill their commitments. Then after the training we did an activity with everyone. We had all of the members write down on a piece of paper the names of EVERYONE that they know who isn´t a member of the church. Then we had each member say a prayer and ask Heavenly Father to reveal the name of 6 people on the list that were ready to receive the gospel. It was a really great activity and at the end of the night we had over 300 referrals!! Other than that there isn´t much to report for this week!</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395875216124_4950">
</div>
<div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395875216124_4980">
Love you all,</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395875216124_4979">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395875216124_4978">
Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
</div>
Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-87953699009302154102014-03-23T13:04:00.001-07:002014-03-23T13:04:40.105-07:00Fun Times in the OfficeDear Family,<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395604805837_6079">
This last week was a good week. We actually had a lot of stuff to take care of in the office during the week so we didn´t get out into the field until Saturday. We were mostly preparing the leadership counsel that we had <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1395604832_0">on Friday</span>. The leadership counsel is a meeting that happens once a month for all of the zone leaders and sister leaders in the mission. We have a meeting about the most common problems that we are facing on the mission and then we give a training to the missionaries, and then President gives a training. Anyways after the leadership counsel on Friday we were able to go to our area and work on Saturday. We got there and neither one of us really knows the area. However the other companionship gave us a list of members that we could visit. On the list there were about 500 names. We looked at the list and called up 2 families, we set an appointment to visit the first Family at 6 o´clock and to visit the other Family at 7. The first Family was a pretty normal visit, nothing out of the ordinary. And then the second visit was awesome. First off we took forever to find the house. We looked and looked for about 20 minutes but couldn´t find the right address, finally we just sat down on the sidewalk and then out of no where the lady and her son walked up to us on the sidewalk and showed us where they lived! We went inside and met the lady´s husband who has been married to this member for 18 years but had never met the missionaries or been to church! So we taught him about the Book of Mormon and invited him for baptism and sure enough, he accepted! It was really awesome to have a teaching experience like that. We are really excited to go back next week and teach him again. </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395604805837_6080">
I also received sad news this week that a man that I taught and baptized in Vila Galvão passed away. His name is Vilela and he was the man that use to be in a special division of the police here in São Paulo. When Elder Heiner and I taught him he was already fighting with cancer. This week he passed away. It was a really sad thing because what he most wanted was to be sealed to his wife and children. He was going to hit the year of membership mark in April and was already doing the temple prep. class to be sealed. However I know that his desire to be sealed continues on the other side of the veil. If his wife is faithful here then she will be able to be sealed to him and their marriage can be eternal. God has a plan for each one of us and for people like Vilela who have the desire to be sealed but for some reason weren´t able to do so in this life, we can trust in the love, mercy, and grace of our Savior Jesus Christ. I feel confident that on the other side of the veil Vilela was greeted by members of the church, we don´t know exactly how it Works but maybe he was greeted by a Bishop, or home teachers, or the elders quorum president. We don´t really know how it works but I know that he will be taken care of and that he will have people on the other side who will work and help him to achieve his goal of being sealed to his family.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395604805837_6084">
Other than that this week as pretty normal. Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, support and prayers! </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395604805837_6108">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395604805837_6109">
Love,</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395604805837_6126">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1395604805837_6127">
Elder Caleb Anderson </div>
</div>
Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-3915533818415765302014-03-10T18:54:00.004-07:002014-03-10T18:54:59.372-07:00Transfer AND Conference WeekDear Family,<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2623">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_1786">
This week was crazy! We were all super busy here in the office because we had the transfer meeting <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1394502001_0">on Tuesday</span>, and then <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1394502001_1">on Thursday</span> we had a mission conference with Elder Claudio M. Costa who is in the first quorum of the seventy and is the President of the Area Brazil. Tuesday was the transfer meeting and Elder Caetano and I were in charge of organizing everything and making sure that everything went smoothly. We got everything planned out and our transfer meeting on Tuesday was definitely the smoothest transfer that we have had ever since I got on the mission. On Tuesday all of the missionaries were called here to the office to recieve their new companions and go to their new areas. On Tuesday I received my new companion, his name is Elder Pinheiro. He is from Natal which is a city in northern Brazil. He is super cool and we are already really good friends. We got the transfer meeting down and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1394502001_2">Tuesday morning</span> and then <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1394502001_3">on Tuesday night</span> there was a testimony meeting with President Ferrin and all of the missionaries that are going home. It was a really spiritual experience and was really awesome to hear the testimonies of these missionaries that had served faithful missionaries and were returning home with honor. The spirit was very strong in the meeting as they shared what they had learned on their missions and how they had grown.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_1789">
Then on Wednesday my companion and I worked like crazy planning the mission conference the next day with Elder Costa. We spent a lot of the day planning and setting stuff up at the stake center. We were told that everything had to be extremely organized and that there needed to be military discipline haha. So we got everything planned out. We were up until 4:30 that morning preparing things! Then we woke up at 6 o´clock and headed over ot the stake center. We showed up and Elder Costa was already there waiting for us, he had arrived 2 hours early! He said it was because he was worried about the traffic but I actually think that it was to see how early we would get there and how prepared we would be haha. But anyways we got everything ready and at 9 o´clock we started the meeting with the zone leaders, district leaders, and sister leaders. He talked about a lot of different principles of leadership. Then at 10 o´clock the conference started with the whole mission. At 12 we had a lunch break, and at 1 the conference started up again. Then around 3 o´clock the conference ended and all of the zones took a picture with President Costa. Afterwards he interviewed 10 missionaries. The conference was really excellent and I am really glad that its over!</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_1794">
Then <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1394502001_4">on Friday</span> Elder Costa came here to the mission office in the morning and had a meeting with my companion and I, the secretaries, and President and Sister Ferrin. He talked about some ways to streamline our work in the office so that we can get out more and start working in the field. He stressed the importance of us assistants working as much as possible in the field. I was honestly really glad that he said that because now we will be able to get out more which I have been wanting to do for a while. After the meeting he had a personal interview with me, my companion, and the two secretaries. It was really cool. We talked a lot about the mission and about the importance of giving good ideas. After that <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1394502001_5">on Saturday</span> we went to our area and worked there on Saturday and Sunday.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2641">
Overall it was a really busy but great week! Thank you all so much for your support and prayers.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2656">
Love you all,</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2657">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2658">
Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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<span>Mon, Mar 3, 2014 at 4:51 PM</span></div>
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<span>Mar 3</span></div>
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<a class="subanchor" href="https://www.blogger.com/null" style="max-width: 70%; width: 84px;"><span class="txt">Carnaval!!</span><b class="msg-hdr-srch" data-action="hdr-sbj-srch" title="Search for messages with this subject"></b></a> </h3>
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<span class="lowercase">FROM</span> <span class="txt">Caleb Anderson</span> <span class="lowercase">TO You </span> + 4 <span class="lowercase norm">More</span> </div>
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Dear Family,<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2293">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2292">
This week is carnaval week again here in Brazil. There are a TON of people traveling and anywhere you go you see parties and EVERYONE watches the parades on TV. This week was a great week because we had the visit from Elder David Evans last monday. It was a really spiritual meeting and he taught everyone a lot about our purpose as missionaries. He said something really interesting too, he said that we are a peculiar people, and what has always set us apart in the past has been the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. However what will set us apart in the future is the fact that our church defends the family. Our church defends the truth that marriage is between a man and a woman and that children have the right to be born into a family with a mother and a father. It was interesting to think of it that way. This past week has been really busy because we have been preparing the transfers. President Ferrin is the one that does the transfers and we help him in the process. Tomorrow is the actual transfer meeting and it is the assistants responsiblity to make sure everything runs smoothly. Other than that there isn´t much news this week. This next week is going to be nuts because we have the transfer tomorrow and then <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1394502483_0">on Thursday</span> and Friday ANOTHER general authority is coming to visit the mission. It is really awesome but kind of crazy too haha. Anyways that´s about it for this week!</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2312">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2291">
Dad- I had never thought about how Ben will be going into BYU at one of the most competitive times! I think I´ll be reapplying during one of the easiest times. Thanks for the notes that you sent me last week.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2314">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2290">
Mom- Yeah I talked to Elder Bangerter once since he went home but I think he´s pretty busy these days. I talked to Elder Heiner a couple times too. Are you guys going to adopt Jupiter? So is Kendall´s house empty right now waiting for Grame to get back? Do you think you could send me some more deoderant sometime soon? </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2218">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2332">
Ariel- That´s going to be cool to have you guys in Austin when I get back. I can´t believe there are four months left!! I´ll try and shoot an email to Trenton. Elder Heiner wrote me a couple days ago and it seems like he´s feeling the same thing.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2331">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2330">
Lauren- The name of the song is Bless the Broken Road haha. How was Frozen?? You should try and live with Kira.</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2329">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2318">
Ben- Sounds like a fun week. Wow you scored 20 points in the church game? haha. how is school going? What is your favorite class?</div>
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Love you all and hope that you have a great week!</div>
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-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-35747118841784943922014-03-10T18:50:00.000-07:002014-03-10T18:50:08.629-07:00CarnivalDear Family,<br />
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This week is carnaval week again here in Brazil. There are a TON of people traveling and anywhere you go you see parties and EVERYONE watches the parades on TV. This week was a great week because we had the visit from Elder David Evans last monday. It was a really spiritual meeting and he taught everyone a lot about our purpose as missionaries. He said something really interesting too, he said that we are a peculiar people, and what has always set us apart in the past has been the word of wisdom and the law of chastity. However what will set us apart in the future is the fact that our church defends the family. Our church defends the truth that marriage is between a man and a woman and that children have the right to be born into a family with a mother and a father. It was interesting to think of it that way. This past week has been really busy because we have been preparing the transfers. President Ferrin is the one that does the transfers and we help him in the process. Tomorrow is the actual transfer meeting and it is the assistants responsiblity to make sure everything runs smoothly. Other than that there isn´t much news this week. This next week is going to be nuts because we have the transfer tomorrow and then <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1394502483_0">on Thursday</span> and Friday ANOTHER general authority is coming to visit the mission. It is really awesome but kind of crazy too haha. Anyways that´s about it for this week!</div>
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Love you all and hope that you have a great week!</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2333">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1394502009791_2320">
-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-32958336348818114312014-02-24T18:11:00.001-08:002014-02-24T18:11:09.793-08:00Conference with Elder EvansDear Family,<br />
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This week two awesome things happened; Elder Evans came to our mission and gave some trainings, and I played the piano at a wedding hahaha. Yeah last night we were here in the office and there was a wedding that was going to happen upstairs (above the mission office is a chapel where a ward meets <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1393293642_0">on sundays</span>). Anyways there was going to be a wedding but they didn´t have anyone to play the piano! So they came down stairs and asked if anyone played the piano. I said that I didn´t know how to play very well but that one of my old companions had taught me a rascal flatts song on the piano. The lady said, well Elder at this point we´ll take just about anything we can get hahaha. So I went up there and played the piano while the bride and the groom walked in hahaha. I think that is going to be my last performance as a pianist haha. </div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1393293645074_1951">
The second awesome thing was that Elder Evans came and visited our mission. <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1393293642_1">On Saturday</span> he did a special training in the stake center near the São Paulo temple. This training was for the Zone Leaders, Sister Leaders, Assistants, and Mission Presidents from the mission São Paulo East, North, West, South, and Interlagos. It was a really cool training and Elder Evans stressed the importance of baptizing quality people who are planning on staying firm in the church. He explained that our purpose is to help people to endure to the end. And that for us the "end" is when they pass through the temple and especially when they are sealed as a family. This is the end for which we work, not just baptism in the church but for eternal life. Then this morning he had a meeting with our whole mission. It was a really great meeting and I learned a lot of things. Sister Evans talked about importance of families and then Elder Evans spoke on our purpose as missionaries. One thing that I really liked was that he said our goal is to help seal families. We don´t teach just for baptism but also for faith, repentance, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. It was a really great conference. Other than that it was a pretty normal week. We spent quite a bit of time preparing for the visit from Elder Evans. This next week we are going to start preparing the transfers so its going to be a full week!</div>
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Love you all! The church is true!!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1393293645074_2136">
-Elder Caleb Anderson </div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-38010093761507076852014-02-18T10:56:00.001-08:002014-02-18T10:56:21.681-08:00Visit to Vila GalvãoDear Family,<br />
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This week was a good week. We did a lot more interviews and gave a few more trainings. The highlight of this week though was on Sunday. President Ferrin decided to visit the ward Vila Galvão to watch sacrament meeting and then watch a baptism afterward and I was able to go with him. It was AWESOME to see my first area again. It felt like I was back home again. All the members are doing super well. And when I walked in I saw one of the young men that I baptized, Yago, passing the sacrament. It was really great to see some of the recent converts and see how much the ward has changed but is still the same. Vila Galvão has a special spirit and I really enjoyed being there to see sacrament meeting and watch the baptism as well. I am really grateful for the opportunity that I have had to meet so many different people here and the mission and make friendships that will last for eternity. It was really awesome to see the change that took place in the lives of some of the recent converts. I was really glad to be able to go back and see some of the fruits of my labor. I don´t have much time because in about 10 minutes President Ferrin is going to pass by here to pick up Elder Caetano and I and then we are off to do more interviews! So I am going to wrap it up for this week! I love you all and thank you once more for the prayers, letters, and support!</div>
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Love,</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1392749293924_3250">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1392749293924_3249">
Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-61923478898546631152014-02-10T16:52:00.004-08:002014-02-10T16:52:43.337-08:00Week of Interviews<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1392079358110_2944">
Dear Family,</div>
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<br /></div>
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This week was a good week full of interviews!! President Ferrin did interviews from Tuesday through Friday in different zones. He is a man of steel!! He starts interviewing every day at 9 and doesn´t stop until around 6ish, sometimes later! During that time we give our trainings. I am giving a training about conversion and repentance. How to help investigators truly repent and be converted before baptism. I have definitely seen that being a mission president is NOT an easy job. I am working really hard to be a good assistant. Lately I have been focusing my studies in a few topics. The atonement and the power of faith. Everything starts with faith and everything in the end comes down to faith. I came across a quote by Boyd K. Packer on faith that I really like. </div>
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"Faith, to be faith, must center around somthing that is not known. Faith, to be faith, must go beyond that for which there is confirming evidence. Faith, to be faith, must go into the unknown. Faith, to be faith, must walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness. If everything has to be known, if everything has to be explained, if everything has to be certified, then tehre is no need for faith. Indeed, there is no room for it." </div>
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Faith is believing in things that we cannot see but that are true. However in order for us to have faith we do need to take a few steps into the dark and then God will turn on the lights. This applies to investigators in a huge way but also to us as members. Whenever we have callings or trials in life we need to move forward with faith even if it feels like we are walking in the dark. However we can trust that God will turn the lights on and give us the help that we need. Love you guys and hope that you all have a great week!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-5627490466171278822014-02-03T21:01:00.002-08:002014-02-03T21:01:41.501-08:00Life in the OfficeDear Family,<br />
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This week was a great week. We did a couple days of interviews. Today was super crazy though and I didn´t really get a P-day. It is just now that I am able to write the email. Today we had an emergency transfer which messed with around 16 or 17 missionaries. So we were busy with that all day and now is the first time that things have kind of slowed down. However here in the office there is no rest for the weary, tomorrow morning we are all heading out early so that President can interview the missionaries in the zone Itaquera. So tomorrow we will be really busy too. I have been studying this week the importance of the atonement. I have been stunned by how INFINITE Christ´s atonement for us is. As human beings we can´t comprehend infinity. There is no way for us to imagine an infinite sacrifice which involved an infinite number of people, infinite number of sins, that would last for infinity, and which required infinite pain. The atonement serves to heal us, clean us, and lift us up. I am very grateful for the Savior´s atonement and for the opportunity that I have to learn about it more and understand if better here on the mission. I love you guys and hope that you all have a great week!! Thanks as always for the emails, support, and prayers.</div>
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Love you all!</div>
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1391489851785_10793">
-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-39733167884766216362014-02-03T21:00:00.002-08:002014-02-03T21:00:54.916-08:00First Week in the OfficeDear Family,<br />
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Thanks again for all of the emails and letters. This week was my first week working in the mission office. Working here in the office is a lot different than working in the field. This past week we just worked here in the office, we didn´t get the chance to work in the field. However I´m getting used to being here in the office and am really learning a lot. I am really enjoying the chance to work closer with President Ferrin, he is inspired and REALLY smart. I have already learned a lot here and am looking forward to learning even more. Some people asked me what my responsiblities are and basically I am here to do whatever President tells me to do haha. But some standard things are to give trainings to the mission, give trainings to the zone leaders, help resolve problems that the missionaries have, and help with the transfers. This last week we stayed pretty busy because of the transfers <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1391489962_0">on Tuesday</span>. And also we had to prepare for the interviews that are coming up. For at least the next three weeks President Ferrin will be going around the mission interviewing every single missionary and we are responsible for going with him and giving trainings to the missionaries. So that will keep us busy for a little while haha. My companion is Elder Caetano!! We were already companions once when we were zone leaders in Taubaté and now we´re companions again haha. It´s pretty cool since I already know him well. Well that´s about all I have for this week. I know that the church is true and that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet. The Book of Mormon is the word of God and this church is the only church that has the priesthood authority to perform God´s ordinances. As we continue learning about and follow our Savior Jesus Christ, we can qualify for the redemption that comes through His atoning sacrifice for us. Love you guys and hope you have a good week!!</div>
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-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-16326262113013947622014-01-22T17:04:00.001-08:002014-01-22T17:04:22.149-08:00Transfers AgainDear Family,<br />
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1390439015564_1936">
<br /></div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1390439015564_1937">
Thank you so much for your emails, letters, and prayers. They really do help a lot. This week was a good week. We worked super hard and tomorrow is transfer day again. I am really excited for the transfers and have a big challenge coming my way. President Ferrin said that next transfer I will take Elder Bangerter´s place as his assistant. Elder Bangerter is going home this week. His parents are actually here in Brazil right now to pick him up and yesterday they came to my ward. It was super cool. It was kind of funny because they didn´t understand anything! Anyways this email is going to have to be short because now I have to run pack my stuff and head to the mission office to help President with the transfers tonight and tomorrow. Thanks again for the emails and prayers!</div>
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Love,</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1390439015564_1999">
Elder Anderson</div>
Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-44997904559572179932014-01-15T18:53:00.002-08:002014-01-15T18:53:45.137-08:00Temple Trip and Leadership CouncilDear Family,<br />
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This week was a super busy week but it was really good. Yesterday we had the baptism of a lady named Vera. She has known the church for 20 years! Her husband has been a faithful member of the church for many years and is currently on of the leaders of the High Priest Group. It was a lot of work from a lot of people to help here get baptized. Yesterday she was baptized and her husband was extremely happy. I think he barely believed what was happening! It was a really great baptism. <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1389840740_0">On Tuesday</span> we all woke up around 4 to take the van that we rented to the temple in Campinas. It was really awesome. It was nice to be able to enter into the temple again. The Campinas temple is really big and really beautiful, especially the view outside the temple is awesome. It is much bigger than São Paulo or San Antonio. So we went to the 9 o´clock session, ate at the cafeteria, took some pictures, and then took the van back to Taubaté. It was a great trip but we got back a little bit late on Tuesday. Then we worked hard on Wednesday and the first half of Thursday. <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1389840740_1">On Thursday night</span> my companion and I went to São Paulo and slept in the missionaries house close to the mission office. Then <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1389840740_2">on Friday</span> we participated in the leadership counsel. This leadership counsel was interesting because President Ferrin gave us new baptismal rules. The rules in the past have been that a person needed to watch 2 sacrament meetings before they could be baptized. Now the rule is that they need to watch at least 3 and that kids under the age of 16 who don´t have family in the church need to go to church for 3 months before the can be baptized! I think this will help the mission to baptize more people who really have the desire to stay firm and strengthen the church. However you would be suprised at how hard it was for some of the missionaries to accept these new rules. However I think it will help the mission. That´s the biggest news that I have for this week!</div>
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Love you all,</div>
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-Elder Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-55648923914947892492014-01-15T18:52:00.000-08:002014-01-15T18:52:05.747-08:00First Week of 2014Dear Family,<br />
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This week was a good week. We worked super hard. I can´t believe that it is 2014 already!! I hope that this next year is even better than the last one! This past week we had a special training with the President in another city so we rented a van and on Monday night all of the elders in the zone slept together. It was pretty fun but with 14 elders in the same house it was kind of hard to manage the sleeping arragements haha. But we all got to sleep at least a little before getting up at heading out of the house at <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1389840670_0">5:30</span> in the morning to go to the training. Tonight we will have to do something similar because tomorrow at <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1389840670_1">4:30</span> we will take the can to the temple in Campinas!! There are 2 temples in the state of São Paulo, one is in the city of São Paulo and the other is in the city of Campinas. Tomorrow we will be going to the Campinas temple which is going to be awesome! I am looking forward to going into the temple again, it has been a while since the last time I went. Elder Zancheta and I, along with the rest of the zone, have high hopes for this week. I hope that you are all well and that the New Years celebrations went well. Thank you so much for your prayers and support and I think that this next year will be awesome!!</div>
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Love you all and thanks for the emails,</div>
<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1389840621829_5906">
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<div id="yui_3_7_2_1_1389840621829_5907">
-Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-90830326679877183712013-12-30T12:42:00.006-08:002013-12-30T12:42:47.480-08:00Happy New Years!!!<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Dear Family,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="color: black;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">It was great to be able to talk on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1388435936_0">skype</span> this week. Christmas was awesome!! I don´t have a ton of time to write, but this past week was awesome. Here in Brazil Christmas is celebrated mostly on Christmas Eve. It is on the 24th that they open presents and it is tradition to have a really big meal on the night of the 24th. We were invited to a members house so we participated in the meal there. We also had a fun gift exchange. The gift exchange that we did was a little bit different. A couple days beforehand, each of us drew the name of a person and then we were responsible for buying a gift that this person would never want and then giving it to them. It was called ´´secret enemy´´. It was SUPER funny. Then on wednesday we went to the bishop´s house and called home on skype. It was great to be able to talk to the family again and I am grateful for the great family I have and for all of the support that they give me. I hope that you are all well and thank you very much for the emails and suport. I will include a part of my letter to President here about the week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /><span style="color: black;"></span></span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1388435936273_13218" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">This weeks was truly one of the best weeks of my mission because this last week I saw one of the biggest miracles that has happened so far on my mission. This miracle was that this past week 15 people were baptized here in the zone Guaratinguetá!! For many people this number seems like an impossible number for this zone. In fact when I got here to the zone, I never thought that I would be able to see the zone baptize 15 in a week. However, through obedience, hard work, and a lot of help from the Lord we were able to have 15 QUALITY baptisms here in Guaratinguetá yesterday, finishing the month with 24 baptisms, 25% of the baptisms being men. I was talking to Elder Bangerter and he said that this month we, as a zone, baptized the most that this zone has baptized for at least a year and a half. This week was really a miracle and taught me a lot. </span></span></div>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1388435936273_13232" style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><span style="color: black; font-family: inherit;">Elder Caleb Anderson</span></span></div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5199262423128659210.post-29039831686555018652013-12-30T12:41:00.001-08:002013-12-30T12:41:13.975-08:00FELIZ NATAL!!Dear Family,<br />
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MERRY CHRISTMAS!! This week is going to be awesome! Today I am in a rush again because we are going to do another bar-b-que today with the zone. We are also doing a gift exchange in the zone which should be fun. This past week we had the mission christmas conference, it was really cool. On tuesday morning we woke up at 4:30 and walked to the bus station to get in the van that we rented. We got into the van and took the 3 hour ride to São Paulo. Once we got to São Paulo we listened to the guest speaker who was President Deign from the Brazil MTC! His talk was awesome! He talked about the power of music. During the talk he paused several times to play different songs on the piano for us and talked about how music has a real power. He said that when we hear a music that uplifts us and brings the Spirit, we are hearing the voice of God. He said that when he hears an uplifting song he feels that he is hearing the voice of the Savior. It was an awesome talk. Then Sister Ferrin gave a talk and read The Tale of the Three Trees to the whole mission. It sure did remind me of home. Then President Ferrin gave his talk as well. Afterwards there was a testimony meeting and also every zone was in charge of singing a christmas hymn for the mission. My zone sang Oh Come all Ye Faithful. We then had lunch and had a gift exchange in the mission. I received a little machine that gives back massages hahaha. It was a really great mission conference. This next week will be awesome too. Christmas here isn´t the same as in the U.S. but at least between the church members, during Christmas we think more about our Savior Jesus Christ. I am grateful for his birth, life, and especially his atoning sacrifice for us. I am grateful for the testimony and knowledge that I have gained of the Savior here on the mission. Can´t wait to do Skype and wish all of you a very merry Christmas!!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Elder Caleb Anderson</div>
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Laurenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11131757956455535364noreply@blogger.com1