Aug 18th, 2014

The South is just wonderful! There are so many southern things here! I thought I would tell y'all a little bit about my mission.

 

Food: If it can be fried in butter, it will be! Butter is very popular here. So is pie, buscuits, and mac'n cheese. Macoroni and Cheese is baked in the oven/crock pot and eaten at every holiday/many family meals. Fried chicken is also very popular.

 

Bugs: The bug of the week is knats. Pronounced "nats." They are these little bugs that fly in the air and follow you around, literally from house to house, in your car to the house, etc." They don't bite, but they fly in your eyes and face constantly. They are attracted to sweat. (Today I saw a spider that was the size of my palm)

 

Hospitality: You can't beat it here! The Southern people just love to host. They are very kind to say hello and give you water.(Great to get invited inside when it is hot to share the message of the restoration)

 

Conversation: Today we went to the store. While we were at the cash register, we were talking to lady who was working there. I told her that I felt the Spirit when I watched the Becuase of Him video (www.mormon.org/becauseofhim) and invited her to watch it. She got excited and told us how she was going to share it with her co-workers. (We were at a christian frozen yogurt shop called FROG Yogurt: Fully Rely on God, for Sister Brown's birthday) When I told her about feeling the Spirit you would have thought that I brought up something like the weather, talking about our Savior and the Gospel is very natural here.

 

Rocking Chairs: Very popular in the south, they are everywhere! Everyone just loves outdoor furniture. You will often see rocking chairs, patio chairs, metal chairs, sofa's, reclines, any type of chair outside. They sit down and enjoy the weather and talk. (Great to sit in and share the gospel)

 

Heat: It is true, if you don't move fast, you won't get as hot. That is why some things are slower here. Even the cars drive slower. (Great to stop in the shade and talk to people about the Book of Mormon)

 

Sports: The only other religon more popular here than christianity, is sports. The biggest two are Clemson (orange and purple) and USC Gamecocks (Maroon, Black, and white). Stores will even have giant Gamecock logos in the middle of their store name. In walmart there is a gamecock shopping room, duck tape, rugs, clothes, ect. All of the pepsi cans were lined up to say USC Gamecock. It is very popular. I have had people tell me that the Gamecocks first Football game starst in 137 days before. (It is a great chance to talk to people. Great converstation starter.)

 

I love South Carolina, it is the best place to serve a mission on earth! I know that it is the best, becuase I think it is the best. There are a lot of hard things about serving here, but we don't focus on them. I know that it is the same with where ever y'all live. Every where is the best place to share the gospel. So go out and do it!

 

Quick Story: In the Book of Mormon (3 Nephi) the Savior was teaching the people, during that time the apostles taught them as well. At one point they were praying. They were to pray for that which they most desired. What do you think they prayed for? Knowledge? Help? Health? Understanding? They prayed, asking to have the Holy Ghost. I know that the Holy Ghost, the Spirit is somethign that we should most desire. The Spirit comes to our hearts very quickly from sharing the gospel. I know that as you share the gospel, you will feel the Spirit. So will you do it?

 

Love Ya!

Sister Anderson

110 Oak Park Dr. #B

Irmo, Sc 29063

anderson,susan@myldsmail.net

 

 

Aug 25th, 2014

Also, last week I neglected to say that Pvt. Porter was baptized at Fort Jackson! I didn't have the chance to teach him, but I talked to him for a moment and he was just so happy and over joyed to be there.

 

Here are some miracles for the week:

 

Miracle #1 The Food---------

So if anyone really knows me well, they know that I have had bad heartburn problems in the past. They have pretty much cleared up but I need to be careful with what I eat. Well this week, a wonderful senior missionary took us out to eat. Well we went to El Paso, a mexican restraunte. As we were waiting for our food, we were eating chips and salsa, after a few minutes, I got horribly sick. I went to the bathroom and ate a bunch of tums. Luckily I ordered a salad, nothing spicy. Well, I hurt bad then all the sudden, the pain went away. Just like that, miracle!

 

So now, its a few hours later, and we are heading into a member meal. I know that I need to be careful of what I eat, becuase when I get heartburn, it will often stay for a few days. Well we get there and the sweet famliy had cooked spicy enchaladas. The family explained that these enchiladas were very spicy and how wonderful they are. I thought, great! What I am going to do. I mean they looked great, I wanted to eat them but I didn't want to be sick. So, I did what every missionary does, I ate. During dinner she commented that these aren't spicy like normal. She wondered why. I just smiled internally, Heavenly Father was watching out for me. There were green chilies in the enchiladas, normally just one makes me sick and there were tons! It was such a blessing! I didn't get sick!

 

Miracle #2 The Cough----------

Well I have been coughing all week long for no apparent reason. I am not sick, my throat doesn't hurt, I just cough. In particular, every time I look down and move my head, I start coughing hard.

 

The funny part is that as missinoaries, we are always bowing our heads to pray, looking down to read scriptures, ect. You get the picture.

 

Well here we are at a returning members home to teach a lesson. We are going around the circle readning Alma 14 (go read it ) and talking about it.  I think once again, what am I going to do! To make it worse, he has multiple cats and they make breathing harder. Well, I start praying for help and sure enough I am coughing. Well it gets to my turn and MIRACLE, I read with very mininum coughing! But once it's not my turn, if I look down, I will start coughing. It  proceeded like this during the whole lesson. It was such a strong beautiful lesson!

 

Miracle #3 The Words------

Sister Brown and I were driving down a country road when we saw a sign in someone's yard that said, "Jesus Saves", we decided that since these people clearly believe in Jesus, that we should go and meet them. So we park meet a few of their neighbors first (aka knock) and then go to them.

 

It turns out that is was a spanish speaking man from Ohio. He was originally from Mexico. Well he speaks some english and we speak some spanish, so we start talking. It turns out that he has read some of the Book of Mormon before in Ohio, miracle!

 

Well Sister Brown and I haven't been speaking or practicing spanish for a while, so our spanish was very rusty. It was about 101 degrees outside and we just could not think in spanish very well.  As we are about to leave, I get voulenteered to pray.

 

I start praying (in spanish) and the prayer is going great, it can easily be understood. Towards the end of my prayer, I start asking for blessings on their family. I start to say something, during my prayer, when I realize that I don't know who to conjutgate a vital word. I realized that without it, it won't make much sense. Mini panic inside. Just like that, the word "estaba" comes into my mind, I say it and continue on.

 

That one word put everything together. Estaba was a word I have studied many times but have never been quite able to remember how to use it correctly, certainly not under pressure. Heavenly Father came through during my time of need.

 

How they Connect------

Heavenly Father helped me a lot, but it wasn't until I had done everything I could. In 2 Nephi 6:13, it reads "For the people of the Lord are they who wait for him." I know that is true. We must wait on the Lord, we must wait when we need help and try everything we can do in the meantime.

 

Waiting on the Lord means having trust in Him, having trust that he will fufill his promise to you. There is a scripture that talks about how God will give you the words that you need in the moment that you need them, I can testify that that is true. He could have divinly helped my spanish from the beining of the contact with the man, but he waited until the end.

 

During the waiting time, as we were speaking back in forth from spa to spa, then from eng to eng, the man was listening hard and so were we, to be able to understand each other. We were all carefully thinking things through. Had our communicate been perfect, that may have not happened.

 

I know that the Lord see's fit to help us when He feel it is best. So don't get too dismayed. One of my favorite hymn reads, "Fear not, I am with thee, Oh be not dismayed. For I am thy God and will still give thee aid." I know this is true!

 

Will y'all all read Alma 14 and study how the people waited on the Lord? It is a wonderful and short read. I know that as we look for God's hand, we will see it more.

 

I love y'all ! Also, I haven't had any problems, but my roommates has had all of her packages stollen these past few months. The other rommates and I don't have a problem but she does, so to be safe please don't put "sister" with my name for a while. Don't worry, I have gotten everything. Love ya!

 

Love,

Sister Susan Anderson

110 Oak Park Dr. #B

Irmo, SC 29063

anderson.susan@myldsmail.net

Sept 2, 2014

Dear Family and Friends,

Thank you so much for all of your thoughts and prayers, I know that they help a lot. I was just released from the hospital today! I was there for almost five days, I share this because those five days were such a blessing and learning experience, so many people to talk about the gospel with. I will share more about that in a minute and jump to the part y'all are dying to hear about.

I don't know if y'all are aware, but I got a blood clot in my leg in June. I have been on blood thinners for 3 months, but they didn't work. So the clot in my knee broke off and went to my lung and a new one formed under my knee in the same place. I am going to be coming home next week, but I know that it is all in the Lord's hands.

This past Thursday, I was not feeling well. I was having a hard time breathing and just felt sick. I tried taking benydril but nothing seemed to help or get it under control. I just contributed it to some other medical problems that I have been having and pushed on. Well the night came and it was worse, so we felt very prompted to go to urgent care. We got there and it was closed, but the thought kept coming very very strong to both me and my companion to go. We stopped in a pharmacy to get medicine and asked some strangers for directions, they urged us to go to a new hospital, one we had never been too or really knew where it was. We didn't know where it was, but it just felt right, so we found out and left.

When we arrived it was empty in the ER, there was only one other person coming in for treatment, so they saw me very quickly. They immediately knew what the problem was and did many tests. I then found myself in the ICU for a couple of days.

These days were just filled with the most peace and love. I felt total peace, a peace that did not come from this world. During my stay at the hospital, many missionaries came to help me and switch staying with me, many friends and members came, and even some recent converts. I was able to give out two Books of Mormon and have many lessons and contacts. We tried so very hard to smile at everyone we met, compliment them, and thank them for their service in helping me. By the end of the stay, everyone knew who the missionaries were and were willing to help them in any way. 

The hospital that I stayed at is actually straight down the street from my mission office and very close to the home of many missionaries. It was the perfect location. I know that we were prompted to come here, even though it was much farther than the other hospital that I have gone to in the past.

We found out how to get here, because one time I took a wrong turn on my way to a meeting and found it. At the time, it seemed like a silly mistake, but now I know it was Heavenly Father helping me.

The whole ride to the hospital I felt some of the most peace I have ever felt in my life which continued through the whole night; my companion felt it as well. During out car ride to the ER, the Spirit told me that my mission was over. I felt total peace and could feel this truth without a doubt. This spiritual confirmation helped so much before the Doctor officially said it, my companion could feel it as well. To those who wonder if I will be heading back out, the answer is no for now. I love my mission dearly, but I cannot deny the feeling that I have completed my mission here. I have been having some other medical problems for a while now and I need time to heal.

I can testify that when you truly try your best, not matter the outcome, you feel good and at peace. As we try our best to follow the commandments we can feel approved in the eyes of the Lord. I love my mission with all my heart. I am so grateful for my time here.

Thank you, thank you for your prayers, I have felt them and they have given me the courage to do hard things while in the hospital, so thank you. I love ya!

Love,

Sister Susan Ashley Anderson

110 Oak Park Dr Ste.B

Irmo, SC 29063

anderson.susan@myldsmail.net 

Sept 9, 2014

Hello Y'all from South Carolina!

 

Update-------------

I'm still here for a few more days. First, I want to thank y'all for all of your prayers on my behalf, I could truly feel them. When I wasn't feeling well, I would remember that there were others praying for me and that gave me more strength. Thank you, thank you. I am very grateful.

 

Baptism-----------------

Well, this past week Zoe was baptized! She is a darling ten year old girl whom we have been teaching. I wasn't able to personally attend the baptism, but my companion went and she said it was wonderful. The whole entire ward came together to help her.

 

Here is a little bit about Zoe. She is amazing! Well back in February, we went and met her Grandmother who is a member of the church. Over the next few months we became their friends. One day, after Zoe had been coming to church for months, we found out that she had not been baptized yet. So, we taught her the lessons and prepared her for baptism. Zoe is a bright girl and just retained so much of what we taught. The ward all chipped in to help, whether by hosting a lesson or dinner at their home, or even just an encouraging word and now she is  happy member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

 

Happiness------------

Happiness is a funny thing, everyone seems to want it but not everyone knows where to find it. We often spend a huge part of our lives working to be able to have happiness. I have found that true happiness lies in following the example of Jesus Christ. I know that is why we have the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as a road map to eternal lasting happiness; happiness that will come from living in God's presense with our families.

 

There is a story in the Book of Mormon where a  missionary named Aaron is teaching a King (Alma 22). Aaron had just taught him about God's plan for us to be saved through Jesus Christ. Upon hearing this, "the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken?...I wil give up all that I possess,... that I may recieve this great joy.." (*eternal life: living forever in God's presense.)

 

The King clearly understood the truth of this message. He understood its importance and thus was willing to do what ever it took to receive the fullness of the blessings which would come from it.

 

Aaron invited him to "repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and call on his name in faith, believe that ye shall receive". In response, the King prayed and said, "I will give away all my sins to know thee."

 

I know that we too must give away our sins to know God more and thus to be more happy. Our life is dearly short, I know that deciding to be happy today is very important. I can promise you as a representative of Jesus Christ, that as you repent, you will feel closer to God. I strongly encourage you to do so. (*Repent: stopping doing things that distance us from God and try to go things that would right the wrongs we have caused and bring us closer to God. Repentance is possible through our Savior Jesus Christ.)

 

For more info: http://www.mormon.org/beliefs/jesus-christ ,

https://www.lds.org/topics/repentance?lang=eng

 

My Mission----------

Hands down, the greatest honor of my life. I love it with all my heart and I am grateful to have been able to share some of it with you. I am very grateful for this privledge to have been able to serve my Savior Jesus Christ and the people of South Carolina. I love them both.

 

My Plans--------------

In a few days, my Dad is going to fly out here to accompany me home on the plane.  I would love to see many of you, but before I do, I need to rest for a little while. I am still not very mobile; so I love you, but I will see you in person in a week or two. I promise to let y'all know!

 

I love y'all dearly!!

 

Love Ya,

Sister Susan Anderson

June 30th, 2014

Good Morning! Sorry for not sending an email last week!

 

I wanted to make up for it by telling you all about Ft. Jackson this week. ----------------

 

1) Well first off, I didn't get transfered! Yay! I am still with Sister Brown in Lexington/Ft. Jackson Military base!

 

2) Pvt. Applebaum is a young lady in her early 20's. She joined the church about two years ago and is amazing! She is always smiling when I see her, which says a lot being in basic training. She is such a good example and always brings friends to church, the last friend that she, Carr, and Lancaster brought was Pvt. Mainville who was baptized two weeks ago!

 

So Pvt. Applebaum has 4 sets of uniforms that she wears for 10 weeks. One Sunday she proudly smiles and tells me that she is wearing her Sunday clothes. I look a little confused. She asks if hers looks cleaner and then explains that she only wear these ones on Sunday. She just wear the other 3 instead. She is amazing. She finds ways to honor the honor the sabath day even in basic training.

 

3) We were sitting in benches right outside the chapel doors waiting for the sacerment to be passed. Just then 3 soilders come running up, out of breath, sweating to the doors. They calmly open them and stand revently still waiting for the sacerment.

 

When you are in basic training they give you a bus ride to church, but when you are in AIT (Advanced Individual Training 10 weeks) you don't get a ride, you have to walk and go to church during your breakfast hour. So usually the soilders have to walk about 1 1/2 minimum one way. They ran to church to make it for the sacerment. Dedication!

 

4) I turn to one of my friends at the base and say, next week bring some friends! He looks at me with this confused face and then points to a group of soilders. He had already brought 5 friends that weeks! I love member missionary work at Ft. Jackson!

 

5) Pvt. Jones was baptized! He is a young soilder for Tennessee. I was able to teach him a couple of times and he is so humble! When I was teaching the commandments this is what happened:

 

"Well the next commandment that we want to talk about is called the Law of Chasitity. It involves keeping our physical bodies clean because our bodies are temples...". I get that far when he cuts in. "CAN I STILL EAT PIZZA?!" I look so confused, like where did that come from? He has this earnest look on his face. Then I realized that he is talking about the word of wisdom, so I teach that one next then go back to the Law of Chastity. He accepts all the commandments and gets baptized.

 

6) So Pvt. Jones was interviewed and ready to be baptized, but he needed someone to do it. So Sister Brown and walk into sacerment, point to two soilders and have them come out: Pvt. Hill (his fellowshipper who I went to college with) and Pvt. Ashby. We explain that Jones is being baptized right now and that we would like them to baptized and confirm. They look momentarily shocked, and say yes and follow us to change and get interviewd to be able to baptize. I just love that we can pull soilders out of church (towards the end of serivce) and they are worthy, able, and willing to baptize.

 

Fort Jackson is an amazing place! I love it!----------

 

"...therefore endure harness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." 2 Timothy 2:3

 

Even though we are not in basic training, I know that we are all soilders of Jesus Christ. He is our commander and chief and we are here on earth to do his will, to follow his example and every command. We can greater follow him in the fight for truth by following the example of these amazing soilders today by:

 

[ in order of the stories]

 

1) Staying active in the church

2) Respecting the sabbath day

3) Coming to church, not matter the cost to take the sacerment

4) Sharing the gospel

5) Asking questions for understanding and accepting the commandments

6) Being ready and willing to serve

 

I know that Jesus Christ lives and that we are children of God. I know that Heavenly Father answers prayers becuase He certainly answered mine this week. I also know that this cause of spreading the gospel is so imporant, it is vital. We need this truth to return home to live with God again forever, so go out and share it! Will you do that? I know that if you do, lives will be changed and testimonies strengthened. Be a good soilder!

 

Love Ya'll

Sister Anderson

 

 (reminder: the mail is just fine now )

P.S. Thank you so much for all of the love and support y'all give me!

July 7th, 2014

Our New Mission Preident------

This week we met our new Mission President  (President Turner ) and his wife (Sister Turner). They are amazing! They are so down to earth and very easy to talk toI was blessed to have gotten to spend a lot of time with them this week, they even came to Ft. Jackson. I am so grateful to have them here in South Carolina to guide us. When I was talking to them, I was trying to think what I could share with them that would help them with this new transition from living in SLC to now living in South Carolina. I decided to gently warn them of the danger of going outside with out bug spray or hand sanitizer, so I feel like I have done my duty now.

 

Happy Days!-------

I just love it when our investigators give us their coffee and coffee pots. It always makes me so happy to be able to throw them away. This week, Floyd commited to keep the word of wisdom and gave us his coffee. I am so proud of him, he is 80 and has been drinking coffee his whole life! It was so hard for him to give it up! He came to church again on Sunday (this is his 4 or 5th time) and said while leaving "I'll be back!" quoting Arnold Schwendaduer. We just smiled. Yes he will. He also comes with his wife Clara. We just love them. She is so funny!

 

More Prayers Answered-----

I had been praying all week to have a certain number of people prepare to be baptized by a specific date. I knew that we could do it, we could find these souls. As the week progressed, we found more and more people who wanted to be baptized. Finally, I shared my goal with my companion that I had secretly been praying for. She was exited, but it was the night before the deadline I had set and we only had 20 minutes left to work and still one more person to find. We said and earnest prayer and went to check on a refferal, and met a lady along the way. She wasn't super inerested. Then we went to the refferal's house, and she wasn't feeling good and could talk. Time was ticking by, but our faith was only increasing. We had a few minutes left and we were surrounded by houses. Which house to knock on? We decided on one and que pasa (guess what) ? That was the house!!

 

We met a family and the father, Richard, had never been baptized before. We taught him about Jesus Christ and what we do as missionaries, what we teach. He loved it and committed to work towards baptism in three weeks. It was amazing! We left with excitment and gratitude in our hearts. We knew that we would find someone, we just knew. We were so grateful to Heavenly Father, for him answering our earnest plea.

 

I set this goal internally to stretch us, becuase I knew that we could do more. We could help more people to come unto Christ, if only we could find them. I am grateful we did

 

The Miracles Keep Coming------------

Pvt. Green and Stewart were baptized this week at Ft. Jackson! It was such a miracle. We had about 5 people who were very excited to and ready to be baptized this week, but they had an issue with the bus schedule and they all missed church. It was so sad becuase they graduated this week, but we were still blessed regardless.

 

So I have taught Pvt. Green for 3 week now. The first time I taught him, he sat in on a lesson where I was focusing on teaching a few other investigators. The second time, he sat in a class of 15-20 or so of people, of which I was was teaching. So both times, he kind of flew under the radar. I knew he was there, but I knew he was graudating soon and there were other people who were more excited and ready to move forward.

 

Well this week sat down at a table to teach 3 soilders, all of whom needed different lessons, so I decided to just teach Lesson One and Three together to best help them. As I was teaching, I felt like I needed to ask Pvt. Green to be baptized. When I did, he explained to me that he had been reading the BOM (Book of Mormon)  all week and praying to know if he should be baptzied and join this church. He wasn't quite sure, but he felt it was what God wanted him to do. I invited him to say a prayer on the spot and ask God. He did and felt "something different" then he explained to me how excited he always was to read the BOM. I then bodly testified that this is truly Christ's church and that it would bless him immensly. He said yes I want to be baptized. Then knowing that he graudated on Thursday, I invited him to be baptized today and took a moment to think and said yes! It was so amazing. The baptism was beautiful. Pvt. Hill and Ashby, who had been teaching him through out the week, were the ones to baptized and confir the Holy Ghost on him.

 

I share this story becuase no one, I mean no one expected Green to be baptized today. He flew under the radar, he never expressed much interest. He actually was invited in a group to be baptized last week and never really responded. BUT, Heavenly Father knew he was ready. Green had done the work, he had prayed and read the Book of Mormon and when the time came that I asked him if it was true, Heavenly Father confirmed the answer to him.

 

I know that there are many peole whom y'all have shared the gospel with, who may have not responded much the first or second time, but don't give up! Heavenly Father doesn't ever give up on us or others, so we should not give up on others also. Sometimes, we just need time. I know that this gospel is meant for everyone and that if we just share it that it will make a difference. We never know when someone will be ready to accept it, so we must never give up.

 

My weekly committment, is to rethink the people you have shared the gospel with, who didn't respond as desired. Or to rethink the people you tried to be kind and befriend, who didn't respond super friendly and give them another chance. Jesus Christ was the ultimate example of that. So we as his followers, should be good examples too. I can promise you that if you do that, that miracles will happen as hearts are changed. "Courage, not compersmise , brings the smile of God's approval." -President Monson.

 

Yo se que es la verdad. I know that is the truth.

 

Love Ya!

Sister Susan Anderson

110 Oak Park Dr #B

Irmo, SC 29063

 

July 14th, 2014

Dear Friends and Family, Hello ! Or should I say Hola? Becuase we spoke a LOT of spanish these week!

Baptisms-----------

 

This week Pvt. Harland was baptized! (See photo) It was great. She was SO excited for her baptism. When I first invited her to be baptized three weeks ago, she practically volunteered as tears ran down her face. She had been meeting with missionaries off and on back home becuase her boyfriend is LDS. She came to basic training and after coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon, she just wanted to be baptized! She was just so happy on her baptism day! She said, "I woke up and thought, yay it's baptism day!"

 

She reminds me of the scripture in Mosiah 18:11, where Alma teaches the people what it means to be baptized. "And now when the people had heard these words, they clapped their hands for joy, and exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts." When we follow Jesus Christ we have joy!

 

Spanish---------------

 

This week we met a whole bunch of new spanish speakers! It was a blast! In preperation for a lesson with the spanish Elders, Sister Brown and I made the committment to only speak in spanish when possible for a day or so, wow did it help us! We went to teach a lesson with the Spanish Elders, becuase we were introducing Adela and Lupe to them, during the lesson (the restoration) I was able to understand 85% of it. It was amazing! I studied spanish during my meals this week and made a big effort to pray in spanish as well. It made a huge difference. Heavenly Father blessed us so much with increased communciation skills! It seemed like everywhere we went, we just ran into spanish speakers. We also made flan for Adela, it was fun!

 

I can do tough things! Conquering the Hill---------

 

This week, Sister Brown and I took our bikes out for a ride. In my last area, we went biking a lot more than we do here. We haven't spent time biking recently, because we have just been so busy with appointments and mainly with my asthma and the pollen, we haven't been able to-so we decided this week to just set time aside and go.

 

At first it was really fun, but then we realized that her bike didn't shift gear, so we had to do it manully using the chains. A small set back, but we kept going. At one point we were riding and we went down a hill and this came into my mind, I thought "wow, I have never gone this fast before on a bike on my mission...." then I thought, "wow,....this is going to be really tough to bike back up." And it was! At one point, I realized that I could walk faster than I was biking, that's when I knew I had a problem. I had made the mistake of shifting up instead of shifting down for the hill. I learned a vaulable lesson!

 

It was such a blessing to ride our bikes. We were able to meet so many more people. I know that when we go a little bit out of our way, that Heavenly Father will put people in our path for us to help.

 

Random Acts of Service------

 

Recently, we have been able to do random acts of service. We have helped pick of pruned leaves, mowed a couple lawns, help empty the trash, you name it. If we see it, we will try and help! The hardest part isn't the actual service, it's convincing someone to let us help! It is amazing to see the light change in other's eyes when they get help. I know that part of the reason that people loved Jesus Christ was becuase he was always serving.

 

By Small and Simple Things------

 

We have been teaching Floyd and Clara since March. Floyd is 80 and has been married to Clara for 8 years. Clara is a returning member. We love them so much, we have tried our absolute hardest to help them  to come closer to the gospel. Last week Floyd gave us his coffee maker and this week he decided to be baptized! On Thursday, he told us that he would give us an answer about baptism on Sunday at church. That was such a long wait, but we had faith, we knew he would say yes! He was already talking about possible dates to be baptized on and now he is getting baptized this Saturday.

 

We asked Floyd how he reiceved his answer and he said: The Book of Mormon, us teaching him, coming to church, the members, the Lorenzo Snow:Prophets of the Church book, praying, and so on. It was a lot of little things. I know that it is the same way with our testimonies. That is is all the small little things put together that makes a difference.

 

"By small and simple things, are great things brought to pass." It is the small every day things that we do that makes a difference. You build a foundation, one brick at a time. I know that the small things we do add up. They really do! That is what it took with Floyd to know that this church is true and I know that it what it takes for us to be able to know as well.

 

When teaching, we always invite people to do these three things: church, pray, and read. Together they spell CPR, something that saves lives. I know that these three things are the foundation for a strong testimony, one that will stay firm when the hard winds of life come. (Read Helaman 5:12)

 

Will y'all focus on the small things this week that you do? I can promise you that if you do, you will be able to better discern if those small choices are building or breaking your testimony and you will be able to better fortify your foundation with good ones.

 

Love Ya!

Sister Susan Anderson

110 Oak Park Dr. #B

Irmo, SC 29063

 

P.S. President Holm always said something along these lines: "Your life is made up of a bunch of days. If you want to have a great life, have a great day!"

I haven't sent many photos recently, so this week I am making up for it and sending a lot!

 

1 Pvt. Harland right before her baptism

2 Sister Roundy and I with a helicopter from WW2 or Vietnam

3 Sister Brown and I infront of tanks