Mountains, Monkeys, and Priests

Dear Family,

 

Thanks a lot for the emails.  I hope that you are all well.  Things here in Taubaté are going well.  We are still working hard and we know that soon we will recieve the blessings.  Things are already starting to get a little bit better.  This week was pretty fun.  Today we just got back from a really cool zone p-day.  The whole zone went to an area called Lorena.  In this area we had a member take us on a hike in the mountains.  It was REALLY awesome.  I took a ton of pictures and will try and send them in the email next week.  The computer that I am using right now is really slow.  It was a really fun p-day.  We hiked the mountain and then at the top had a picnic.  As this week was cool because Elder Zancheta and I were walking on the street and on the side of the road there was a baby monkey.  It was the first time in my life that I saw a wild monkey!  We heard the mom making noise in the trees on the other side of the street.  I think that the baby monkey had fallen out of the tree and crossed the street.  Another cool thing that happened this week is that during the week one of the members came up to us in the church and gave us a reference.  Just that when she gave us the reference she said, you will have to visit him at the university because teaching him at his house is complicated.  We asked if he studied in the university and she said ´´no he´s a professor´´ ´´what does he teach?´´ ´´um...he teaches theology and philosophy...hope you guys are prepared for this´´ hahaha.  At that point we were a little bit nervous however we called up the man and set an appointment with him to teach him at the university during the week.  On the phone he was very nice and said that his name was Cleber.  We showed up and the university for the appointment and noticed that the university was a catholic university.  We went to reception and told the woman that we had an appointment with Cleber the woman responded ´´oh you mean Padre Cleber?´´  That was when we realized that Cleber was not only a theology and philosophy professor but was also a Catholic Priest!!  The reason it was complicated for us to visit him in his house is because he lives in a convent!!  He received us very well and told us that he studied religion for 7 years in Germany, and that while he was in Germany the missionaries had visited him a few times.  He said that only reason he hadn´t been to our church yet is because he didn´t know that our church had a building in Taubaté.  He said that he often enters into the church website and that he reads the liahona every month.  He already new a TON about the church.  We taught him the restoration and he listened quietely the whole lesson.  At the end we said ´´do you have any questions?´´ he said ´´I have many questions but I will only ask a few´´ haha.  He asked us a couple basic questions and then said that this coming Sunday he will come to church with us.  Should be interesting! haha.  That´s all for this week.  I hope that you are all well!

 

Love you all!

 

-Elder Anderson

Taubaté

Dear Family,

This week was a good week.  Things are still a little tough as far as the work is concerned but Elder Zancheta and I have faith that things will soon improve.  We are learning ever day about things that we need to improve in order to work better and have more success.  We are trying our best to work hard every day and be obedient, but still find ways to have fun during the day.  Right now we have an elder living in our house from Argentina named Elder Martinez and he is SUPER funny.  He is a short, fat, guy from Argentina who speaks Portuguese with a really strong spanish accent.  He´s always messing around and it makes for a fun time in the house.  Other than that there´s not much new to report.  Here in Taubaté there is really good Açaí.  I don´t know if I´ve already written home about açaí but it´s a fruit that grows in the amazons.  Anyways this fruit is small and purple and here they make really good ice cream and juice out of it.  It is really, really good and it gives you a lot of energy when you eat it.  Here farther away from the city you can buy really good quality açaí for really cheap.  It is one more perk to serving far away from the city.  Love you all and hope that you are well!  Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

 

Love,

Elder Anderson

Halloween!

Dear Family,

 

This week was a good week.  Things are starting to improve here in the work and in the zone.  My new companion is Elder Zancheta from southern Brazil.  He is AWESOME!!  Ever since he got to the ward it seems like a spark hit our area.  And things are starting to go better.  Today we did a zone P-Day and I don´t have time to write a really detailed email.  Elder Zancheta and I got the whole zone together and we did a churrasco with basketball and volleyball and stuff.  It was really fun and it helps get the missionaries in the zone more excited and have more unity in the zones.  However things are going well here in Taubaté and I appreciate your emails that you guys sent me.  Sorry that I can´t write more!

 

Love you all,

 

Elder Caleb Anderson

Transfer Day

Dear Family,

Thank you so much for your emails and support.  This week past and without much new to report.  We are teaching some really elect investigators.  The members here in Taubate are awesome and are helping a ton.  This last week we received a new ward mission leader and he is really excited about the work.  He really wants to help and get this ward turned into a missionary ward. He's going to help us a ton.  Today is a transfer day so tonight we will get the phone call that will tell us if we are going to stay or go and also will tell us what will happen to the zone.  I just got here to Taubate so I doubt that I'll be leaving any time soon.  I sure hope not anyways.  If I could choose I would stay here for the rest of my mission!  

That's it for this week.  Sorry the letter this week is so short but we've got to get going soon!  

 

Love you all and hope that you are all well!

-Elder Caleb Anderson

Trabalhando até o Pó

Dear Family,

´´Trabalhando até o Pó´´ (working until the dust) is an expression that the missionaries use here and it basically means ´´´working super hard´´ haha.  That pretty much explains this last week.  We have been working super hard.  Things improved quite a bit last week.  The zone went better but things in my area are still a little bit slow.  We got a lot more investigators to teach and they are all investigators of really good quality.  We didn´t get a baptism this last week however we are working with a really great investigator for this week.  I am really hoping that he will be baptized this week.  Last week we had our interviews with President Ferrin and they went pretty well.  Today we had a zone p-day and it was pretty fun.  We got together at one of the church buildings and played soccer, volleyball, basketball and afterwards we ate some stroganoff that the sisters made.  Overall it was a pretty succesful P-Day.

I have been thinking recently about the Pride Cycle that we learn about in the Book of Mormon.  In Helaman 11 we can see the Nephites go all the way around the pride cycle in one chapter.  It is always the same cycle of Prosperity/Happiness to Pride/Iniquity to Punishment/Unhappiness to Humility/Repentance.  In the Book of Mormon we see that the people go through this cycle many times.  This cycle can apply to nations as a whole, to the church, to a ward, and especially to our personal lives.  Sometimes in our lives we go around this cycle pretty quickly.  I know that this cycle happens in our lives.   However it is our decision if we want to stay in the Prosperity/Happiness spot or not.  For us to stay in this spot we need to be always aware and alert to stop ourselves from sliding into the second spot which is Pride/Iniquity.  In Helaman 11 we learn some of the warning signs of this part of the cycle.  If we can identify the warning signs in our lives, we can catch ourselves before we ever completely leave the Properity/Happiness spot.  And through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can make the necessary changes for us to get back on the right path and continue receiving the blessings.  

I love you all and thank you for your emails and support!

-Elder Caleb Anderson

     

Dear Family,

This week was another tough week as far as the work is concerned.  Things in the area are a little tough and things in the zone aren´t much better.  However we are working hard and I am sure that the blessings will come soon.  I am learning a ton here in the new area and am trying to figure out how to be a good leader.  Elder Caetano is awesome and we are getting along well.  

I have been thinking lately about how each person is different and has different strengths, weaknesses, gifts, and personalities.  And God is aware of all of our differences and He will put us through experiences in our lives that will mold us into better people.  He puts us around different people and in different situations, all with the intent of helping us become better people.  However, in order for us to take advantage of these opportunities, we need to be watching out for them.  We need to always be looking for ways we can improve ourselves every day.  And we need to have goals for our improvement.  We need to determine where we are right now, and where we want to be in the future.  Once we determine these two things we can know what parts of ourselves we need to improve.  And how do we get from point A to point B?  We make a concious effort every day to improve those weak parts of ourselves.  Until we finally turn our weaknesses into strengths.  And when we finally get to point B we will regognize other weaknesses that we have and we will try and get from point B to point C.  And we will keep going like this for our intire lives, always trying to improve our weaknesses and maintain our strengths.  It is all part of God´s plan for us and if we are humble enough, one day we will be able to turn all of our weaknesses into strengths and be as God is.  

Ether 12:27  And if men come unto me I will show unto them their^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.

That´s it for this week!

 

Love you all and thank you for your prayers and fasting, I know it makes a difference.

-Elder Caleb Anderson   

General Conference

Dear Family,

This week was a little bit tough as far as the work goes but hopefully this next week will be better.  I enjoyed watching General Conference and am excited to study the talks more in the future.  I think I learn more by reading and studying the talks than by watching them for the first time.  Not a whole lot happened this past week that is worth writing about.  On Thursday night Elder Caetano and I made the three hour trip to São Paulo and spent the night there.  On Friday we went to our leardership counsel at the mission office.  It was a good meeting and we learned a lot from President Ferrin.  He talked about the importance of being an example to be a leader.  If we aren´t showing the example by working the hardest and being the most obedient.  then we would be a hypocrite to ask someone else to work hard or to be obedient.  I also really liked one of the conference talks in the Priesthood sessions that talked about how if we want to have success as a missionary we have to be humble, obedient, and we have to be able to feel and follow the Spirit.  I know that this is true and I am trying ever day to improve in each one of these three things.  That´s about it for this week!

 

Thanks for the emails, packages, and letters!  Hope you are all doing well!

-Elder Caleb Anderson