Cari amici. Do you know what is always a depressing thought? Those "last" moments. The last bite of a carmel apple. The last sip of your 7/11 hot chocolate. Your last year in highschool. Your last goodbyes to loved ones. And yes, your last week as  a full time missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

It feels as if it were just yesterday that I said goodbye to my family and I followed a missionary  who just arrived to the MTC only a couple weeks before I did. I never have laughed so hard in my life as when I was in the MTC. The numerous apostles that came and spoke was just incredible as well. It didn't take long until I found myself in Italy. Where I quickly learned to love the cobble stone streets I walked and listened to Italian farmers scream "UN EURO!!!" as they sold fruit from their little stands. The graffiti never seemed to go away, but I learned to enjoy it just as much as I enjoyed the historic art, ruins, and many other ruins, sometimes dating back 2,000 years before Christ. Don't even get me started on the incredible pasta, pizza, and dolci or getting to see the Amalfi Coast, Pompeii, the Colosseum, and many other breathtaking views! While I have grown to love all these things, I don't think it will ever compare to the love I have for the people that live in this beautiful counrty. 

As a missionary you have an incredible opportunity to forget yourself in the service of God. As you do so, you begin to grow a love for the people you are serving that is beyond any other feeling you have ever felt. You truley understand what it means when they say "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God". I will be forever grateful to My Heavenly Father for giving me this opportunity to experience this. You see, a mission doesn't take two years of your life, but instead, gives you a lifetime worth of experiences. You give your life over to God and He takes it and does some pretty incredible things with it. 

I know that God lives, that He sent His son to die for us. I know that through Christ we can one day live with our families and our Father in Heaven. I know Joseph Smith was called to restore the church in these latter days. I know that through Russel M. Nelson, Christ leads and guides this church today. I invite all, to come and listen to the message of the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Thank you for all of your support and love, I couldn't have done it with out you all! See you soon.

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

I'm sorry.... The wait has been a little bit too long. But hey, at least it wasn't as long as the great apostasy, am I right?

Wow, a lot has happened. Where should I start?  About 2 weeks ago we met  James. We had a stellar discussion with him, talking about how the Book of Mormon and Bible support each other and go hand in hand. The spirit was incredibly strong. We've many great lessons with him and he has steadily been making his ways towards the waters of baptism. It was on Saturday that he made the huge leap to accept and set a date for his baptism.  

On Friday we threw on our suits and headed to Napoli for my last Zone Conference. Man was that a weird experience....actually not so much.....it hasn't really resonated that I will no longer have any more Zone Conferences. It was a good one though, as always the spirit was present and we all learned how we can further this amazing work here in Italy.  

Sunday we celebrated my companions birthday! He is a whopping 19! I hope he had fun, I sure did. This nice sorella in the branch brought him some sweets and we all sang happy birthday to him. I also sang it to him at like 6:30 in the morning, but I don't think it had the same effect on him as the one from the branch. He is an awesome missionary and I am blessed to serve with him. 

Oh not to mention, IT FEALS LIKE FALL!!! Mamma mia, now we can walk around town and not feal like we just got out of a pool, while still wearing missionary attire. We pray that the weather, and James, continue on this incredible path. One towards winter, the other towards baptism. 

"Well it's that time of the year again....GENERAL CONFERENCE! Yes, it is still a big thing for missionaries and hopefully all of you. It is a time of reflection, a time in which we can receive revelation for our lives and answers to our questions, and most of all we get to listen to the voices of  living day prophets and apostles. What a blessing it is to live in these days. I encourage all of you to look back on the last general conference and prepare spiritually for the one coming up. I know as we do so we will be more sensitive to the spirit and we will know what we need to do to draw closer to Him."

 

Have a great week everyone! Love you all! 

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

The smell of salt water, a slight ocean breeze, and the beautiful view of the Amalfi coast. 

That's what we where able to experience as we ate a Napolitano pizza on the deck of a gentleman's apartment right on the coast in Salerno. As we talked about his beliefs, I couldn't help but reflect on how much I love this country and the people here. 

These past couple of weeks have been full of the normal missionary experiences. With homeless people screaming in Russian, multiple Moped accidents, along with the daily miracles of being in the right place at the right time. This week I've had the oppurtunity to do a scambio with another greenie in Castellemare. His name was also Anziano Anderson, the only difference was the "o". Now, it is important that you know Anziano Anderson is a very big, both in length and muscle. He may not seem like a strong kid at first, but trust me, he has got some power behind him! I realized this as he was completing in the "Pellone's challenge", which is to eat 3 Margherita pizza's. Now for those who have not had the divine oppurtunity to eat a Pellone pizza or even see one, let me tell ya, they are big juicy pizza's. The crazy thing about it is, is he ate them in 15 minutes! It was a sight to see. Anyway, as we introduced ourselves on the streets it was quite humorous to watch the look on people's faces as they thought we were somehow related. It was a fun  day.

Well, recently I have been studying the topic of grace, and have enjoyed it quite a bit. We learn in Titus and plenty of other scriptures that it is through the Christ's grace that we are saved. It is that literal power that helps us work towards erernal salvation, which is our end goal. As talked about in Hebrews 12 it helps us continue to serve God, and in other words His children. I am thankful for His grace and the oppurtunity I have to experience it, obtain it, and use it when the time is right. 

Anyways thanks for all your love and support! Hope everyone has a good week! 

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

It was at this time last year.....

Anziano Blanchard and I

 

I was listening to car horns honk every 3 seconds as sweat dripped down my face and I guarantee that I was eating what is known as the best pizza in the world. Now, you might ask, "Why are you writing about what you where doing last year"? It is because, with sweat dripping from my face and the sound of car horns in the background, I'm again eating the best pizza in the world! Yes, I am back in the bella zone of Napoli!

Monday night I got the call that I would be heading down to Battipaglia with a Anziano Blanchard, a great new missionary fresh out of America. Battipaglia is right below Napoli. It's good to be back in what is, according to many missionaries, the best zone in the mission. I am very excited to see the work we can do here in Battipaglia. It is a smaller branch with about 15-20 people. Anziano Blanchard and I are going to be working hard to make that number grow. 

Well I wanted to switch it up on my spiritual thought this week. I want to start out with the invite. Some time this week find time to read the account of the first vision. I would then ask you to ponder it and ask God if Joseph Smith really did See God the Father and Jesus Christ. I want to let you guys know, that I know Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, and that they actually did speak to him. I know he was called to be a prophet to restore Christs original church. I hope everyone has a chance to do that this week. It will bless you as you do so. Thank you for all the love and support! Have a great week everyone! 

Anziano Andersen 🚀
Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

Soaring high heats, tourists from Germany, oh yea, and a baptism.... That about sums up the week. Every once in a while missionaries, because of the heat, will dream about swimming and going to the beach. Especially here in Sardegna, because it is known around the world for having beautiful beaches, but luckily for me it hasn't crossed my mind once. I think I sweat so much it just feels like I am swimming! 

The work here in Cagliari has just exploded. Anziano Findlay and I have seen miracles fall from the heavens. We have been very fortunate to talk to people who want to listen to our message! Even a couple families if you can believe it. The biggest miracle of all, however, was when Sandro was baptized! Man was it a good baptism! He had the biggest smile on his face the whole time. It was great to see, and hopefully more coming. 

Well ladies and gentlemen that’s a wrap for me.  I’ll leave you guys with a scripture that is one of my favorites. 

Moroni 7:47

"But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him."

If you continue reading the chapter Moroni encourages us to pray for Charity. In the scriptures it is expressed that charity is one of the most important things we have. So, if you haven't lately, pray for it and be willing to work for it. I LOVE you guys. Thank you for all the support you give me, trust me it does not go unnoticed! Have a great week everyone!

Anziano Andersen 🚀

Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

Imagine this….hot dogs, hamburgers, an ‘Italianized’ grill, the colors red, white, and blue decorationing the space and a couple of awesome Italians trying to figure out how to toss the old pig skin (also known as a football) with the American anthem playing in the background. That was our 4th of July. It was a blast! We organized a 4th of July party for our English Course. Then when the ward heard about it, they wanted to join in, so we had a big party for our 4th of July. They all absolutley loved it! Even though we didn't end the day watching the fireworks, it felt just like the 4th. 

So last week we had transfers and I found out that I was staying and I would receive a new companion. Anziano Christensen made his way to Napoli and Anziano Findlay took his place. Then last Friday we girded our loins for zone conference. It was really good, President talked about Preach My Gospel and the importance of it, then we talked about examining ourselves and seeing what we can do to better ourselves as missionaries. It was really good. 

For pday we made our way up to a place called Barumini. Now at first glance you might say "Looks like some more ruins from 2,000 years ago, what's so special?". Well, these ruins are dated back to about 2,000 to 1,500 years BEFORE Christ. Yea, thats a long time. That would be around the time that Abraham was walking around. 

Well, I ran across a cool quote this week in my studies. Dilbert L. Stapley said "No man is free who is not master of himself.". Self mastery is ability to tell yourself "no" when needs be and "yes" when the time is correct.  Self mastery is truly the path to freedom and overcoming the natural man.

Well, hope you guys have a good week!

Anziano Andersen 🚀

Romans 1: 15&16    🌍

Snow. It's truly a beautiful thing.... Well, actually weather that isn't over 100 degrees is beautiful. Now, I do not want to sound like I am complaining, because there’s no place I’d rather be or do, but for just a minute imagine your self standing on the sun, then put on a tie. 

The rock (that's what the missionaries call Sardegna) is doing great. Despite the incredible heat, the past two weeks, and a transfer actually, have just flown by. We have been doing a lot of finding because the work is a little slow, but it should pick up pretty soon. We have some potentials who we are hoping to baptize next transfer. We'll see what happens and if it's in the Lord’s plans. Sometimes you forget that your ways are not always His ways. 

Sunday couldn't have started out better with such beautiful weather; blue skies, light breeze, birds chirping, the whole package. Well after a great sacrament meeting we headed home to eat and do our studies. The time for us to get back out on the streets rolls around and within just moments we notice, at first what  seems like a big giant wall of death coming towards us. Guys, I am not kidding, these where some of the darkest clouds I have ever seen! They were about as dark as the black crayola crayon. I kid you not. Well within 10 minutes of being on the streets we find our selves sprinting full tail back to the car. The rain was coming down about as fast and thick as it does from your shower head. It was incredible! We ended up going and seeing a member after that, because it would have been easier to convert a kangaroo than find some one on the streets. 

So as of late I have been studying a lot about self-mastery. What an incredible topic…Well I came across this quote and really liked it. Ralph Waldo Emerson said this “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do; not that the nature of the thing itself is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” Oh how have I noticed that on my mission; talking to people on the streets or doing long hours of finding doesn't ever really become easy, but the fact that our desire to serve our Father in Heaven grows and that's why we continue to obey Him. I hope everyone has a good couple of weeks!! Love you guys. 

Anziano Andersen 🚀

Romans 1: 15&16    🌍