Visit to Vila Galvão

Dear Family,

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!

 

Love,

Elder Caleb Anderson

Week of Interviews

Dear Family,

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.  

"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." 

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!

 

Love,

Elder Caleb Anderson

Life in the Office

Dear Family,

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.

 

Love you all!

-Elder Caleb Anderson

First Week in the Office

Dear Family,

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 on Tuesday.  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!!

 

-Elder Caleb Anderson

Transfers Again

Dear Family,

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!

Love,

Elder Anderson

Temple Trip and Leadership Council

Dear Family,

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.   On Tuesday 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.  On Thursday night my companion and I went to São Paulo and slept in the missionaries house close to the mission office.  Then on Friday 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!

 

Love you all,

-Elder Anderson

First Week of 2014

Dear Family,

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 5:30 in the morning to go to the training.  Tonight we will have to do something similar because tomorrow at 4:30 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!!

 

Love you all and thanks for the emails,

-Elder Caleb Anderson