General Conference

Monday, October 8, 2018

Good Morning All!

So happy to be able to write y'all. My thoughts and prayers have been with Nana and the recent surgery. Love you.

This week was a lot of work, a little sleep, and countless blessings. I am so thankful for a loving God who is willing and eager to bless us. One highlight from this last week was a lesson we had last Wednesday. We have been teaching a group of Harding students, and a little over a week ago we invited each of them to bring a friend to our next lesson. They all did! In total we had a lesson with 9 students. Each of them came from entirely different family and social backgrounds, however their combined faith in Christ really blew me away. They all want to follow Christ in the best way they know. We taught the plan of salvation, but due to the numerous questions we covered only our pre mortal life. It was a great discussion!

We also were able to watch general conference with a family of 7 that we are teaching! They loved it. The mother of the family and her 11 year old daughter attended the women's session and told us how special the talk given by the prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, was. I too enjoyed the talks and found a lot of wisdom and council in the themes I felt and saw in the conference.

Today we woke up at 4 am and did some grocery shopping before heading to Jacksonville! It was fun to be at Wal-Mart so early again! There was no one there! We have this month's zone pday today and it is going to be great! This last transfer we got 4 additional missionaries in the zone! One of the companionships is a senior couple that are serving on the little rock air force base! They are a delightful couple that really are excited to do the work here.

My prayers are going out to each of you and I look forward to hearing more from y'all about how life is and the wonderful blessings you have received. Talk to you soon.

Love,

Elder C.R. Anderson


- Wal-Mart at 4 am

- A Christian pizza buffet. They let people write scriptures and inspirational quotes on the wall. I chose a favorite of mine :) 3 Nephi 5:13

Fall is my favorite

Monday, October 1, 2018

Hello!

Fall really is my favorite. The heat is on its way out the back door and that's good news! It's been absolutely delightful most of the week. This next week should be pretty warm, but after that it should be over.

I've enjoyed hearing from each of you and love receiving the emails and pictures! Y'all look happy and healthy. This week was a long one full of so many events. We felt like it flew by. Most of the pictures are from today! However some are from earlier events in the week.

One miracle and cool story is that we have been regularly teaching a group of 4 college students. Last Wednesday we had a meeting with them and invited them all to bring a friend! (That's how most of them got there in the first place). They all said they would and as of now we have 8 college students coming to a lesson on Wednesday! They said that they would continue to invite friends. Should be a great night! We will have some members of the ward there as well, as we teach about the plan of salvation. We are excited.

Love y'all so so much! Hope you enjoy the pictures, and I will talk to y'all shortly.

Elder C.R Anderson

We are helping someone build a house. I've learned lots!
Watermelon from a members garden
Our apartment decorated! Thanks mom

Art alley (cool city art project down town)

On the road!

Monday, September 24, 2018

Hello :)

We spent more than 12 hours on the road this week! 8 of those were a day trip to Memphis. We were meeting in Bartlett Tennessee. We went there for a mission leadership council. The stake center that we met in is right behind the temple that is being completely renovated.

Other than that I spent time in various cities throughout eastern Arkansas and western Tennessee. This cities include Searcy, Memphis, Bartlett, Forrest city, lonoke, Beebe, Cabot, and little rock! Map those out and you'll see that we were running around quite a bit!

We got the transfer news this last weekend and both elder Webb and I will be spending another 6 weeks in Searcy! At the end of this transfer, I will have been in Searcy for 7 and 1/2 months. It is so exciting!

Elder Webb and I are working our hardest and the Lord is making miracles happen in our area. It is wonderful.

Fun story for this week! We got pulled over... no worries though we weren't the ones driving. We were in the back seat of a members car in Beebe. The mom was driving in the middle of the road on a country road, when she should have been on the right. So he let her off with a warning. It was pretty cool because as he was about to leave we had a talk with him about what we are doing as missionaries and we shared a copy of the Book of Mormon with him, promising that the message contained inside could change the life of him and his family.

We had the opportunity of meeting with Tad R. Callister, the Sunday School General President. He gave an outstanding lesson to us and about 70 other missionaries on the plan of salvation. Great time spent with him.

We also made it to another devotional that he did later that evening for the general public. We traveled there (little rock) with our elders quorum President and one of the people we are teaching.

Other than that it has been a lot of rain! This last Sunday we were waiting for members to arrive at church. We grabbed umbrellas and helped people from their cars to the church. Because of the nearly horizontal rain, we got soaked. But we were happy to help.

The work is such a pleasure to be a part of. I am amazed daily because of the trust that God has given me and my fellow missionaries. Love y'all and hope to hear good things are happening with each of you!

Love,

Elder C.R Anderson

Pictures:
- Rain over the river
- Pulled over
- In front of Memphis temple
- Bass pro shop pyramid
- Everyone was a little tired

Side Preparation day!

Monday, September 17, 2018

Hello family!

Today we spent the day in Jacksonville for a preparation day with all of the missionaries on the Arkansas side of the mission.

We had to get up super early to get all of our shopping and cleaning done for the day. We woke up at 4:30 and went to Wal-Mart. It's creepy to be there super early because no one else is there, no music is playing, and the shelves are completely full because no one else had gone shopping yet. Well, except on guy. We were going to get some bread, and this one man had cleared out every single type of sliced bread. The bread was stacked so high in his cart it was almost taller than him. Weird but cool. I guess bread freezes well. After our shopping we got a ride to Jacksonville with a member of our congregation who commutes to work in little rock every day. He's a back surgeon there.

Some of the activities we did today include frisbee golf, croquet, kickball, and other fun activities! The weather was definitely in the upper 90s and really humid. Everyone was super sweaty and gross. But it's okay because we were all sweaty together.

This last week was full of miracles. I will focus on one! We were able to meet and teach a family this last week. The father had gone to many churches in the past but never felt that welcome in any of them. He preferred to watch sermons on YouTube on Sunday. One Sunday he was watching a sermon (pretty sure general conference) when an add came on the screen for a free copy of the bible. He filled out his information and also said he would be interested in hearing a message about Jesus Christ when the missionaries came to deliver his bible. We were able to go and deliver the Bible and we talked with them about the gospel contained in it. We invited them (and their family of 7) to read from it as well as the book of Mormon, to pray every day, and to come to church. We took them on a tour of our building a few days later and they decided that they want to be baptized. They also came to church this Sunday which was so good to be with them there. There are so many other things like this happening and it's definitely the work of the Lord. He is truly hastening His work.

That's about all I've got this week but there will be more to come. This Saturday I will find out if I will stay in Searcy any longer! Most likely I will, but I hope I do!

Love Y'all so much!

Elder C.R. Anderson

1. Elder Giles and I (he was my first companion)
2. Playing croquet (I think that's how you spell it)
3. Wal-Mart @ 5 am.

Church History

Monday, September 10, 2018

Hello Family and friends,

I'd like to just start off and say how much I love and appreciate each of you. So many of you have had such a profound and lasting impact on me and my life. One person in particular is my sister Chloe. She had a birthday this last week so I thought it would be fitting to recognize her. Chloe is so kind. I have always admired her ability to love and be loved by others. Thanks for being such a kind and thoughtful sister and friend. Love you Chloe!

Life is much clearer when we look at it backwards. When I was in elementary school I read a mystery novel, in which a character found a note that was written backwards. By that I mean, the note could only be read by holding it up in the mirror. I remember that as a kid I found this to be fun and exciting; copying words down backwards on a paper, then rushing to the bathroom mirror to examine if I got it right.

I find myself doing the same thing with my mission now. I will give it my all, and then afterwards find myself reflecting on and examining my efforts. That time of self inspection and evaluation helps me to find the errors or changes that I will need to make to do better in the future. As I pray to God, He helps me to find the errors, but also the solutions to any of my shortcomings. What I am trying to say, is that life becomes clearer when we look back and truly reflect upon our actions.

Looking back at the last year and more of my missionary service, I have seen so many ways in which I could improve. For a long time, and still now, I struggle with feeling like my past efforts were inadequate or I could have done more. However, I have a loving God that wants me to succeed. He often reminds me that my efforts were not everything that I could give, but they there are enough! That is the beauty of the atonement of Jesus Christ. Our efforts alone will always be incomplete and insufficient. However that does not mean we should stop trying all together. Christ walks with us and makes up the rest.

As you can see, it is difficult for me to put into words the feelings of my heart. Plainly spoken they are:

- I love Jesus Christ
- I know that He lives
- I know that there is a Plan for us
- I know that through Christ, I can do all things.

Love you all so much! Sorry for not many details about the week. It was a good one! More info will come in the next few weeks.

Elder C.R Anderson

PS - The branch for the small city of Beebe meets in the building here in Searcy. However they are in the process of renovating the second floor of a bank in Beebe! We got to help with that a little today! Here's some cool pictures. I thought it would be funny to look out of the window during class and see Sonic!

Another week in paradise!

Monday, September 3, 2018

Hey Family and Friends,

So good to be able to communicate with all of you each week. The technology we have to facilitate this communication is amazing. God has put amazing tools in each of our hands. I think he has done so to further his work, and to hasten it as well! Whether the work is happening in our own lives, or the lives of others, technology helps us to become better followers of Jesus Christ.

This last week we had 3 baptisms in the zone we are in! One of them was for an amazing person named Kathy. She and her daughter, Harlie, moved to Beebe where they were able to meet with the missionaries and learn about the amazing gospel! Kathy was baptised this last Saturday, and her daughter will be baptised this coming Saturday! So exciting!

Kathy's Baptism was unique because she is usually confined to a wheelchair. Elder Webb, Elder Cluff, Elder Riley and myself all participated in the baptism. The ordinance was only performed by one person of course, but we were there to lift her down the stairs and to help her go all the way under the water then back up. Really special experience!

We have an exciting event coming up! Elder Tad Callister, an emeritus Seventy and the General Sunday School President, will be visiting and meeting with a small group of missionaries. I really look forward to hearing from him. He has said he plans to speak for 3 hours about the power of the Book of Mormon. I look forward to the amazing instruction!

We are all so blessed to be living in the age we are. The blessings God has giving us are both grand and unique. I'm thankful for this restored gospel of Jesus Christ which has not only shaped my life, but changed my life.

Love y'all! Talk to you soon!

Elder C.R. Anderson

Hello!

Monday, August 28, 2018

Hey Family and friends!

Sorry for the short email today. We had a Zone Preparation Day! All the missionaries in Searcy and the surrounding area met in Jacksonville for a day of fun and sports. Everyone from the zone was able to make it and it turned out being a pretty good time.

That last week was a whirlwind of talking to people, working hard, and seeing the gospel in action. This truly is a living church. In that I mean that God is actively guiding and directing his saints. The future is exciting! We are so privileged to help prepare the world for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

It is my hope and prayer that when He comes we will be ready to meet him. Whether it is in this life or the next, it doesn't matter me.

The words in Jacob 6 sum up my feelings very well.

11 O then, my beloved brethren, repent ye, and enter in at the strait gate, and continue in the way which is narrow, until ye shall obtain eternal life.

12 O be wise; what can I say more?

13 Finally, I bid you farewell, until I shall meet you before the pleasing bar of God, which bar striketh the wicked with awful dread and fear. Amen.

With those powerful words, let's be wise! We should all be choosing to align our lives with the only perfect life. The life of Jesus Christ.

Love you all!

Elder C.R. Anderson

Sorry for not many pictures. Everyone's a little tired after a fun day!