Happy Easter

Monday, March 26, 2018

Hello Family,

I am so happy that Easter is coming. It is my favorite holiday. Also a very special time of the year.

This week has been filled with a lot of service. We have been focusing on it a lot and seen many blessings come as we try our hardest to help people in whatever they may need.

Cool story to illustrate what we were doing this week:

On Friday we took an hour and a half bus ride through downtown to get to an appointment. We had our bikes on the bus with us. The bus took us most of the way and then the member came and picked us up from the church near by his house. We went to his house and had lunch with him and two of his kids. The mom and their oldest daughter were both on a temple trip with the rest of the Relief Society from our branch. They had to go to Texas. They are the same family we had our fun birthday party with. Lunch was great and afterwards we were able to stay and clean up a lot of the house and yard, so that it would be nice when the girls got home. Then he took us back to the church. Once we were at the church we looked up bus information to find out when the next bus left going back towards where we live. It left in 3 minutes! We hurried and got on our bikes and were riding as fast as we could to the bus stop in order to make it in time. The next bus wouldn't come for another hour and a half. We were riding when I heard someone yell "Elderes!" We both turned and saw that the member who had given us a ride was pulled off into a car wash parking lot and his hood was up. We rode over, and were sad because we knew that we were missing the bus. But when we got to him we realized that his car had broken down. We found the problem and were trying to think about how we would get the parts. My companion and I rode all the way to the closest AutoZone on our bikes and tried to get the parts. We came back to find out we got all of them except that one of the pipes was the wrong shape. So, we took better pictures of the engine and rode the few miles back to the AutoZone. We got the right parts, came back and helped him get it fixed up and on his way back home. We were exhausted from the hot day and strenuous riding we had just done. Thinking we had missed the bus we looked up how we would make the over 10 mile bike ride back to our apartment. But we found the bus and were soon on our way back home! We got to the travel center in downtown just in time to connect the last connecting bus for the night.

Riding a bike in a shirt and tie down a hot Arkansas road is less than ideal. Close calls with cars and heavy packs would usually not be the type of Friday afternoon entertainment most would search for. I can say however that it was one of the funnest times I have had on my mission so far. There is a joy that only can come from serving others.

In Galatians 5:13-14 it states:

13 For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

It is my prayer that we can love our neighbors a little but more. Be a little bit more kind. Forgive a little bit more easily. Is it not what Christ has already done for us? The same is expected of us.

Another awesome week and I look forward to seeing more blessings as I work even harder in the service of my dearest Brothers and Sisters.

Love you all!

Elder C.R. Anderson

1. A rice dish from el Salvador
2. A Peruvian elder in my district. We had a fun exchange and he was really excited to take a picture in our matching PJs
3. We all built a trampoline for an older Peruvian couple in our branch. They bought it to surprise their grandkids.

¡Quinceañera!

Monday, March 19, 2018

Hello Everyone :)

This was a good week! Our mission President challenged us to accomplish 10 hours of service a week and it's going to be awesome. We have been doing it for a few weeks and it has been really good. When we are serving people they open up a lot to us.

The biggest thing though was that we helped a family we have been teaching set up for their daughters quinceañera! We helped them on Friday for 4 hours. It was so nice though, we were able to put all the tables together as well as put the curtains. We visited with all of them and their daughters the whole time and we lived being able to get to know all of them better.

Then on Saturday we were able to attend a baptism for the little rock ward. That was a super special experience. The couple was definitely prepared to be baptized and had a lot of faith. The couple wasn't married and so while preparing for their baptism, they committed to be married as well. And so they got married by the bishop at 3 in a small and beautiful service, and then baptized by the elders at 4. Woah! That's definitely a day that they will never forget. The part that made me smile the biggest though was that their wedding rings were really nice CTR (choose the right) rights. How cool!

Right after the baptism we hurried over to the quinceañera, because we had to put out some of the final touches. All the guests and family were in a church service they have before. We finished putting everything out but then it was just us two in this really nice room. So naturally we took some great pictures with our beautiful creation. We were laughing, hoping that no one came in while we took our silly pictures!

The quinceañera was actually really nice and centered around God. In the Hispanic culture, the quinceañera represents when a 15 year old girl turns from a girl into a woman. It was beautiful to see that the main message her parents wanted to share with her as she grew up is that she should always walk with God. We also were able to meet some awesome people and hopefully we will be meeting with them soon!

I know that when we are serving other people, it is one of the best ways to show them We love them. I hope that you apply this on your family, work, church, and school. The scripture rings in my ears from Mosiah 2:17

17 And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.

How true! May we all serve God a little bit more this week as we search opportunities to serve those around us.

Today we went to the little rock Arkansas state capitol! That was really cool. It's a super nice and old building. We went as a whole district too which was fun.

So that's how the weeks gone! Got some fun pictures though and I hope you enjoy them.

Sending my love,

Elder C.R. Anderson

Matthew 22:36-39

Monday, March 12, 2018

Hello Family and friends!

We had a long and hard week! Don't know if I mentioned it last week but we got bus passes because it is very rarely that we get to use a car. It's super nice though because we can put our bikes on the front of the bus and it can take us all the way across town. I really get excited every time I get on the bus. My companion says I act like a little kid about the bus, I just love it so much! Every time I ride it it's another adventure and I enjoy the ride a lot! Plus we've met a lot of friendly and interesting people on the bus.

One of the coolest things we were able to do last week was do service for a different small church. They're church is more out in the field, or like the country side. They are small and not very many members but they are Christian based and do a lot of good work! This last week we went over there and helped them unload and put down hundreds of hay bales. They use them as garden beds for a community garden right next to the church. Super cool!

Afterwards we were eating some pizza they had made for us and had an amazing conversation with some men that had worked with us that day. Every one of them were recently released from jail, and they all wanted to change their lives and do good. They all had super strong testimonies and were really blown away by the work that we are doing as missionaries. It was just an amazing example to me of the atonement. The savior of our world has truly payed the price of our sins. All of it. He asks us that we do the best we can and put forth our best effort. He walks along side of us and puts in the rest. Eventually one day each of us have the opportunity of arriving before the Lord and truly saying, "I have done my best, and HE has done the rest."

How grateful I am for my Savior, Jesus Christ, this Easter season. He is the light and life of the world. His earthly ministry changed human life as we know it. And I have seen him change my life forever.

Hope you all have an action packed and positive week. I pray and ask God to watch over and guide you daily.

Love,

Elder C.R. Anderson

A stranger got us cold stone

Hello :)

Monday, March 5, 2018

Welcome to March! Time is flying by!

The days feel long and the weeks feel short. But they whole entire time I feel happy! This is such an exciting time to be a missionary. The Lord is truly hastening the work and we are seeing the results.

An exciting story that illustrates this concept happened last Thursday. We met some English speaking Elders down town, and walked around the streets talking to people and trying to get them some more people to teach. We also took a really cool picture on a bridge that used to be for trains but now is a walking path over the Arkansas river! (attached below). After being downtown we headed into the neighborhoods just west of down town to do some more finding of new people to teach. We split up to walk the streets. Elder Merrill and I were hoping to find Spanish speakers but they rarely live in this part of the city. We did however find an 18 year old named Darwin that spoke English. He was waiting outside for his parents to get home and we had a great conversation with him. We ended up teaching him a lesson about the restoration of the gospel, then left. We saw the other elders as we were walking away and we were able to introduce them right then! They are planning to continue teaching him and we are excited to see what happens.

But other than that it was a long week of walking the streets of Little Rock and talking to everyone! I can understand why my brother Cameron says he has a dislike for dogs after his mission. Here there are a lot of stray dogs and for some reason they don't like us! Some are big and scary, others are small and harmless. There is one stray that lives in a trailer park near us. It is a tiny little thing and it likes to try and bite your heels. The only problem is the dog is blind so it has a hard time navigating.

Love you all and hope you have an amazing week! I will catch you all in one more week!

Elder C.R. Anderson

- Blind crazy dog
- Playing soccer with some other missionaries!
- Doing service at a food bank
- Walking down a bridge with the other elders
- Picture in downtown little rock
- First time trying chicken and waffles