A transfer has come and gone here in Taranto, time has gone by so fast. Too fast!

Tonight we receive our transfer calls. The trio is probably not staying together, but you never know. It was fun while it lasted. Saturday our investigator was baptized and Sunday he was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. He was definetly prepared by the Lord for the Gospel. Then on Sunday we had the skype call! I was able to talk to my family! It was good. It feels like I haven't talked to them since Christmas 😉

My spritual thought is simple, but profound this week. The message is that families can be together forever. It is one of the most important things to our Heavenly Father, so it just makes sense that it is all apart of the plan. I challenge you guys to find ways to serve your family. It will make not only them happy but you also, and your love for them will increase! Love you guys! 

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

Talk about a week!

There has been quite a lot of interesting stuff that has happened. Lets start from the top. Thursday we had a lesson with one of our investigators. We went over the restoration again with him and made sure he understood everything. Not only did he understand everything but he actually agreed with it all. Haha can you believe it? All thanks to the spirit. We asked him to pray about it and ask God, for himself, if it was true. Then, if he receives an answer, we invited him to be baptized. He agreed willingly. 

Also our good man Eddy passed his baptismal interview and will prepare to be baptized on Saturday. Working with Eddy has been such a  blessing here in Taranto. His willingness and desire to follow the Lord has been cool to watch. He also has a big desire to share the gospel with others, which leads me to my next story. Saturday night we get a call from him and he says that he has a friend who needs the gospel. So Sunday evening we meet with his friend and immediately realized how much she really did. We shared a really good message about Jesus Christ, the spirit was really strong. her desire to follow Him is there.It's amazing to see people want to change their path and follow Him. 

As missionaries have the oppurtunity to really work close with the Holy Ghost. In fact, we rely completely on him if we don't know what to say or teach. He does all of the heavy lifting for us if we live worthy of his help and presence. 

John 14:26 says it perfectly:

 "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."

 We should all strive to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, not just as missionaries. We can all use him in our daily lives to have him guide us and help us through this journey of life. I hope you all have the desire to have Him in your daily activities like we should!

 Love you guys! Hope you all have a good week!

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

Fun week, Eddy and Mexican food!

I have great news this week! I don't even know where to start! So the first week I arrived in Taranto we met a guy named Eddy. We have been teaching him the past couple weeks and it's gone really well. He is so humble and willing to learn and pray about the things we teach him. He is so receptive to the spirit. We invited him to be baptized and he has accepted! So we will be working with him to get ready for baptism. He is so awesome and I have loved teaching him! 

Another fun thing that happened to us this week actually started  about two weeks ago. We were doing some finding and ran into a man from South America. He told us he was here for some carnival or something like that. We enjoyed our conversation with him, but didn't really think much more about it after we parted ways. Wednesday we were finding in the park again and there was a big South American food festival. Turns out that these guys travel all over the world and do this. Anyway, he saw us and told us come and get free food, so thats what we did! It was pretty good! We were really grateful.

This week I was listening to the song "He Sent His Son" and throughout the song it asks things like "What does the Father ask of us?" And "How could the Father show the world, the pathway we should go?" and after every question it says "He sent his son...". Jesus Christ came here and became the ultimate example of how we should live. We should all be striving to be like His Son. Thats how we can know Him. Then we can look to Him in everything. 

Thank you for all the love and support! You guys are great! 

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

Summer....

Hello everyone! I hope you're all well and enjoying thence weather. We are here in Italy, but Summer is just around the corner. Let me tell you guys, it literally gets so hot here. Think of a boiling desert with 1000000% humidity. Its pretty hot, but the work of the Lord will not cease. This week was quite interesting. On a quiet Thursday night we were walking out of the church when all of a sudden we see this car zooming past our church at about 40 mph. Now I know what your thinking right now, "what's the big deal?" Well, the big deal is that our church is on the corner of a dead end street. So with my own eyes I watched a car zoom past us and run right into the cement road block. It was a darn good thing my mom made me get my eagle scout, because I was prepared and I had my first aid merit badge. So we ran over to see how they were doing and luckily, I didn't have to use any of my skills, because they were all fine. Anyway, that was definetly the craziest thing that happened this week. 

This week I read in 2 Nephi 27:23 

"For behold, I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith."

God is a God of miracles and that will never change! Today is a day of miracles and the fact that we have the restored church on the earth today is an incredible miracle. How cool! Love you guys! 

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

First week in Taranto

After a week here in Taranto I am loving it! It is a lot like my first city, Brindisi, but on a bigger scale. We have our own church building, which isn't very common here in the south, so that is pretty nice. This week we had zone conference. Just when you think the mission couldn't change any more; it does! This zone conference they gave every companionship smart phones. Now this could seem pointless to some seeing how we have tablets. But over here in Italy the Italians (and practically all of Europe) use an app called "whatsapp" which allows people to text and call. The normal texting and calling here is a little expensive so that's why everyone uses the app. It will make getting numbers and staying in contact with investigators so much easier. 

Our topic in zone conference was by far one of my favorites. We talked about faith. Faith is the foundation of it all, it is so important. That's why it is the first principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ! We literally use it for every thing... the priesthood, miracles, and yes, the Atonement of Christ. Faith is pretty important!I was nice to be reminded of that and to focus more on strengthening my personal faith.

Well this week is a little bit more simple, but good non-the-less. I hope all of you guys have a good week. 

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

Taranto?

Well after transfer calls Monday night I found myself packing my bags getting ready to leave Palermo. 

Palermo

It was hard to leave, not just because it was a beautiful city and the ward was fantastic, but I had to say goodbye to Adriano. Saying goodbye never gets easy.... all I can say is its a good thing we have facebook in this day and age.

Kelvin and me

They ended up sending me to Taranto. The cool thing about this is I am about 45 minutes from my birth city. When I was there I came up to Taranto twice for baptisms, so I already knew some members. 

Because the branch in Brindisi was so small a member from Taranto was branch president. So on Sunday not only did I see the old branch president but, Kelvin came to church! He was my first baptism. It was so cool to see him again, he is such an awesome kid.

I am excited to see what we can do here. Although it was hard to leave Palermo I know that I am were I am supposed to be. 

Where going to go and try and find those who are ready for the gospel. D&C 29:7 states "And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect; for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts;". So thats what were gonna do here. Go get those who will listen to us and welcome them back home to a loving Heavenly Father. 

Thanks for all you guys do! Love you all!

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

Well another transfer has come and gone and this week we have our transfer calls once again. Atanasio and I came in at the same time and we have been here for 3 transfers, so one of us is gone for sure. I have really enjoyed Palermo and the work here, so I would love to stay. I guess we'll see what happens. Adriano is doing great, it's so cool to see how happy he is.

Of course all of us missionaries were just absolutely stoked for General Conference. We may not be able to watch the Olympics here but we sure can watch General Conference. Practically the same, right? 

Speaking of which one of my favorite talks was President Russell M. Nelson's talk at the end of Sunday Morning session. He talked about the importance of the Holy Ghost and receiving personal revelation. Even the disciples in 3 Nephi talk about the importance of having the Holy Ghost, "And they did pray for that which they most desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them." (3 Nephi 19:9). The constant companion of the Holy Ghost will allow us to receive personal revelation. Personal revelation allows us to sift through the junk of the world, helping us to know what we need to do to stay on the straight and narrow path.

Anziano Andersen 🚀

Romans 1: 15&16    🌍