Noch einer!‏

"Another one!" 

So the results of this last transfer are in! I’m staying in Weisbaden another transfer with Elder Schmidt and continue serving as a Zone Leader. Haha, I’m really excited for it. This area is sweet and the other missionaries here are awesome. Have you guys noticed the pattern in my mission? I go 1 transfer with a companion and then 2 with the next. I went 1 with Elder Muller and then 2 with Elder McGinn and then 1 with Elder Brown and then 2 with Elder Ruff, etc. Haha it’s pretty funny. Everyone thought that when I was training Elder Brande my pattern would be broken. Nope, just kept on goin 1. 2. .. 

This last week was good, but tough. Elder Schmidt was sick for a few days and then on the second day I got the sickness too. So we just sat around throwing up for 4 days this week, haha. 

I started reading the Book of Mormon again a few days ago. That book is so amazing. I love it. It was really inspiring to see the prophecies of Lehi as he is talking to their sons about the Promised land and  all that will happen there. I love the Book of Mormon. I have gained such a deep respect for that Book since being a missionary. I have also gained such a huge respect for the Prophet Joseph Smith. He is the man. How amazing is his history? I always thought he was a really good and holy man. But this last week as I was sick I studied a ton about the life of Joseph Smith. What an inspiration, I love him and I can’t wait to see him on the other side and just thank him. And also, can’t forget the Savior Jesus Christ. I read a talk titled "His Grace is Sufficient" while I was sick. It just talked about how the grace of the Savior covers everything. I highly recommend it. 

It was no fun being sick, but it was really an awesome experience to just read and study the Gospel and the life of Joseph Smith. 

OOhh, tomorrow I get to go to the temple. I’m so excited. It has been since last September since I was able to go through. We are going with the Wiesbaden District. I am so excited!! 

The pictures you guys sent me are beautiful. Thank you ! And have fun and be safe in Yellow Stone. 

Thank you guys for all that you guys do! 

You guys should tell me about your testimonies and how you gained that testimony. I would like that :) 

I love you guys, 

Love, 

Elder Anderson

PS, I need to take more pictures! But my camera is out of memory. I need to buy a new SD card. Also, My shoes and the soles of my shoes got ripped apart, haha. I need to buy some new ones. I love you guys !

       

Richtig heiß‏

"Really HOT!" 

Its been nice and hot this last little while. I love it. The weather here can be so deceiving though. Today for example, we woke up and it was just pouring rain and it was pretty cold. So we take our jackets and then an hour later it’s boiling hot again, haha. 

This week was a pretty solid week. we were able to get a car from Frankfurt, so we spent most of the week just driving out to Less Actives that lived more than an hour away. It was seriously a blessing to be able to go out and just be with some of these people. Many of them were just older widows that couldn’t drive the 1 hour to church. We met with one lady in particular named Frau Kegel. Her story is a sad one. Her husband died and then all the kids moved away and so the only company she has is the occasional Visiting Teacher and our Missionary Visit. She was so happy to have us there. It really touched me, just seeing how happy she was to have us come and visit her. I wish we permanently had a car so we could visit her. But it is so hard to get out to where she lives with no car. 

I gave a talk yesterday in church, it was on Liebe und Nächstenliebe (love and charity). It went really well I think. Giving talks in German has now become second nature, so it’s pretty nice not get up there and be super nervous. It’s like second nature now. 

So last week I gave my first Zone Training. Its like District meeting, except for with the whole zone. It went really well. My portion I talked about making missionary work and finding fun and enjoying it. It lasted 45 minutes and we had fun. I was able to get everyone to participate and laugh and have fun. I started out and I just said "what do you like to do ?" And from there we incorporated this big list of things we like to do into missionary work and how they could use these things in their missionary life. I think it worked out really well. 

Also, We are meeting with this Romanian family now. Things are going really well there. They think that we are servants of god and so that is a really good start. Pray for them and for us. They have a ton of potential so we will see how things end up. 

Also, this week I met a man named Herr Rink. Turns out that Herr Rink studied at RWTH in Aachen which helped us start up a conversation. As it kept on going he asked me what I wanted to do after my 2 years and I said I want to be an Entrepreneur. It’s then that he told me that he owns the company that makes all of the laser disc readers for DVD and Blue Ray players around the world and that he holds the patent for that. So we talked business for a long time which was really fun! 

All in all this was a solid week. I love you all!  Thank you all for your continual support. I’m still happy and healthy and the work is going well. 

Spiritual thought for the week is Love. See how you can share love with those around you. No matter who they are, what they have done in the past, or what they believe in.. Show them some good ole Christ like love. Imagine the world if we all just loved one another! 

Love you guys !! 

- Elder Nikora Philip Anderson  

Just Snippets Today

Elder Anderson ran out of time and wasn't able to send an e-mail for the blog today.  

But he did send a quick pic!

Me and Elder Lindsey on our split. He is one of the APs 

In my e-mail to Nik I asked him how it's going as Zone Leader.  His Answer: "I love the opportunity that I have to serve the other missionaries here. We have an amazing group. I love them."  I love this Missionary's attitude.  Always positive, even in his e-mails meant for just the family.

Beschäftig‏

MLC with our MTC group. 

"Busy"

Wow this was a busy week. A busy week but a good week. Haha. 

So, started of this week with a pretty fun P-day. We went out and played some Fußball which was way fun. I’m pretty good, able to keep up with a German and a Brazilian. Haha! 

After that I went on a split with Elder VonWallwitz. He is an awesome guy. I’ve only known him for 3 weeks now, but I already consider him a really good friend. He is from Brazil but has a German name because his ancestors ran over to Brazil like 70 years ago. But seriously, he reminds me of like Teina. Love the kid. 

After that we went on a split with the American Ward Elders. I went with Elder Melanson to little America (the base). It was awesome. Got to eat Taco Bell on Base with Americans. It was really good. Loved it and Elder Melanson is so cool. He has pics of him before the mission just rocking the longest beard, Hahaha. Love it. 

Speaking of which, I can kinda grow a little more than my mustache now. Yay! 

After that we had our welcome ZOCO for President Stoddard. I got to sit by him during the meeting because we were conducting it. So that was cool. He is a truly inspired man and I love him already. He has a strong testimony and an amazing spirit about him. After just 1 minute with him you can feel that he is the man that God wants to lead this mission. 

We had MLC this week. That was really cool. We just met with Präsident and the other ZLs and STLs and just council about the mission. One thing that was brought up by Präs. was the fact that we are here not only to grow the church, but we are here to grow us. And that after the mission we will have our whole lives to give to the church and the building up of Zion, not just 2 years. It was a really cool spirit as he spoke and promised that the future of the church was us. 

I’m doing well and I’m Happy and Healthy. I love you guys so much. Thank you for everything!! Thanks for not killing Frodo… haha!

(Elder Nik’s dog, Frodo, had been hospitalized recently.  We waited till he was well before telling Nik.  Pancreatitis.  From sneaking into and eating chocolate, wrappers and all.  He survived.  We weren’t sure how we’d tell Nik if his dog died.  We’re just glad we didn’t have to!)

I love you all! 

Love, 

Elder Anderson