Elder Anderson 3.0

Trevor is off to the California Arcadia Mission. He went into the MTC on January 12th and has been serving in the Rowland Heights area for the last couple of months.

See-no tears--yet. They waited until he had walked through security. Well, almost until he had walked through security. I think it was more like until he said, "Bye, Mom. I love you."

No, We didn't sink in the Mississippi mud...

It's amazing how busy life gets when you have all six of your kids home at once. Even if it is just for a few days. Then vacations come, school starts, then the holidays and pretty soon it is embarrassing that you haven't written anything for so long. But in fairness to the "other" twin I am now putting up pictures of his homecoming. And then we will catch up very quickly on the past year and turn our attention to our current missionary--Elder Trevor Anderson.

So here it goes:

The Return of Elder Anderson, part 2

I am pretty sure these pictures are the reason I didn't post before now. I never did learn how to look glamorus when I cried.

Waiting for the Return of Elder Anderson- Part 1

What do you do to keep yourself busy while waiting for the return of a missionary? You redecorate your almost 13 year olds room! It was a surprise for her while she was away at YW's camp. Here is what we started with:



And this is what we ended with!







And it worked great because I was totally calm for this!!!

Morocco--The Desert!

From Fes we headed out to the desert. The Sahara desert. The landscape went from mountains covered in cedar forests with monkeys to brown and dry in a very short time. We made a bathroom stop in the middle of brown and our guide told us to walk towards the east. All of the sudden there was this beautiful, lush green valley. And then we saw only brown for a long, long time.

All of my pictures are from our morning camel trek back to "civilazation". Me, obviously, on a beautiful desert morning. And yes, I needed to wear my jacket. In the evening when we rode out to our camp the wind was really blowing. Sand was flying everywhere and we were very glad to be wrapped up. But the morning was calm and still and gorgeous.

Here is the sun coming up from Algeria.

Doesn't Allison look mysterious?

Cool shadow! I absolutely loved the colors of the desert in the morning. The browns and tans that went on for as far as you could see. The sky was perfectly clear and the most amazing blue. Almos as blue as it is in the mountains of Colorado:)

Morocco! Fes

One of my favorite places in Fes-the candy shop! How can all those colors not make you smile!
Beautiful, intricate doors were everywhere. In the mosques, down dark alleys, on the palace. I really, really wanted to bring a few home.

Here is the city wall around the medina (old town) in Fes. I could really picture Samuel standing on it. I know, wrong culture, wrong continent.


Camel meat anyone?

An example of the beautiful mosaic and plaster work that was everywhere. They aren't allowed to use pictures in the Islam culture so they use calligraphy to decorate everything. The plaster here says "joy".

No vehicles are allowed in the medina so donkeys are everywhere. They are all dressed up and treated like royalty. They definitely have the right of way.

This is the tannery seen from above. And this is as close as we wanted to get. We were given sprigs of mint to hold in front of our noses so the smell wouldn't over whelm us. See all those white vats? Pigeon poop.

This is a door in one of the mosques. We weren't able to go inside because we weren't

Muslim but we could stand in the doorway and look. The wood, plaster and mosaic craftsmanship was amazing everywhere we went. And the ones that were 9 centuries old looked just as amazing as the ones that were 100 years old.

Every once in awhile as we were walking around the medina we would see a tiny little door. We wondered what was behind them. It was a preschool! We were able to sneak in on a French counting lesson.

Apparently the counting lesson was just a little too long for this guy!

This is the alley where they make the wedding chairs. The silver one in front is what the bride is carried to her wedding on. The gold one in the back is where the couple will sit for the first night of their marriage. They will leave this chair every so often, anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour, to go and change their outfits. A Moroccan bride doesn't get just one dress she gets lots! This alley gave us all a glue high!

Yes, this is an actual alley to several homes. We were just wondering how you ever get new furniture. And I think it is safe to say that the families on this street don't have refrigerators.

This is a view of the medina in Fes. We walked from one end to the other. And if we hadn't had a guide we would still be wandering around.

This is one of the workshops where they make the mosaics. They actually use a chisel to cut the pieces of tile the right shape and size. And I thought they had some kind of mold that they made the tiles in.

From Fes we headed through the mountains and into the desert. More pictures coming!

Happenings Across the Sea

First to the East:

So here I am, this is me, there´s nowhere else on earth I´d rather be. Here I am so young and strong, right here in the place where I belong YEAAAAAAAAH IT´s a NEW WORLD, IT´S A NEW START, IT´S ALIVE WITH THE BEATING OF A YOUNG HEART........

sorry, I got carried away. Thank you bryan adams and the soundtrack from the movie "spirit, stallion of the cimarron". I just wanted to let you know I´m doing great, having a blast. Yesterday I was super happy, cause we had some really progressing investigators come to church. Erika, the Ecuatorian is awesome. This week we taught her about the book of mormon. We have been teaching her for more than a month, but she can only meet once a week so we are just still in the basics, but I like it cause she has had a ton of time to digest the information and think about it. On Saturday night the branch president invited us to eat and anyone else we wanted to invite, so of course erika was the guest of honor. President Silvestre fed us a seafood soup(he is asturiano-born and raised here in the asturias) and then some good chicken and vegetable rolls. And him and his wife told their conversion stories, which are about the coolest stories I have ever heard. His wife was a nun in a convent until she was 22, then left and found the church and after a while, got baptized, served a mission, and met Silvestre who was in that moment a recent convert of 1 year in the church. They need to write a book cause it´s awesome, full of miracles. And Erika loved it. She asked them both how long they took to join the church and silvestre said 1 month. I was like, yeah! and Erika was a little surprised. Then she asked his wife and she said 5 months, and erika was like, yeah, you have to be sure of what you are doing, and I was like, "but really, that´s a long long time. It´s usually shorter than that." She knew I was joking, but not really. hahaha.

So yesterday in church she came alone, we were picking up another investigator and she promised us she would come and she came alone. That´s a big step. Then we were talking after the gospel principles class and she was like, what´s nife...a group of people or a person? And I was like, "nife.....nife...ohhh nefi!" and she told me that she´d been reading the book of mormon. I asked her how she felt and she said good. and I asked her if she prayed. She said the typical answer, "I pray every night." and so i was like, "no...did you pray to ask if the book was true, and about josé smith?" and she was like, yeah. And so I was like how did you feel? She told me that she felt good, that she feels good when we meet and at church, when she sings the hymns and then she says, "I feel really good, but Í won´t get baptized yet." So I told her, "yeah, for sure, you won´t get baptized tomorrow." And she sat and thought, and said....."when do you go home?"

DANGIT!!!!!!!! EVEN MY INVESTIGATORS ARE TRUNKY!!!!!!!!!!!

I told her I was going home next week.....no just kidding, I told her at the end of june and she said, "I´ll get baptized before you go home." I didn´t know what to say, but it made me happy. Then last night at a member´s house the member told me that erika had talked to her and told her the same thing, that she would get baptized before I leave. So now I know I´m riding out on a baptism. I can just quit working, stay inside the piso, buy a nintendo wii and a guitar and coast all the way home. Yes!

That was a joke- to all of you who don´t know me.

So yeah, the work of the Lord is going on. We are working hard, seeing miracles, seeing quite a few failures too. We´re caught right in the middle of a family feud and it really ticks me off. We went to a members house one night, just passing by, we had left something there and she lets it all out that we´re liars and that we like this other family more and that we aren´t the Lord´s representatives by how we are acting. It kind of stunned us, so we talked for a long time and it finally came out that they have a long going emnity with the missionaries cause there was one stupid stupid missionary a year ago. So now everything we do they read into, and now every little thing is read into. I almost started crying. I was so mad and sad. I finally just blew up a little bit and told the mom that I don´t care what missionaries did in the past, she needs to forgive and forget, leave it behind, because it has nothing to do with us and is destroying our work here. She is a recent convert and it´s sad to see that because of a few missionaries and their bad decisions, it throws poison in the water and contaminates everything for a while. Things are a lot better now, but I´ve never really talked back to a member like that. I usually just walk away from problems, but with this one something needs to be done. I think it´s good, they fed us dinner later on in the week. peace offering?

That´s about it, I look forward to talking to you. Don´t worry if I am really awkward now. I was talking to two ex-missionaries from utah yesterday that are studying here and I realized just how weird and strange it would be to be in a group talking about stuff that doesn´t have a purpose behind it. I don´t enjoy it that much. But whatever.
Thanks for all of you help and support. I hope you have a great week.
-Elder Anderson

Now to the West:

So a couple of weeks ago the office couples sent me an email and in it they told me that I was a "fine young man". This reminded me of dad's rule that I wasn't officially a man until I came back from my mission and realized that before that happens there are a couple of things I have to do. So this week I bought 1.7 liters of ice cream and ate ice cream every single morning for breakfast. It was great. I think I might make a habit of it. This week looks like cookies and cream.
Also, when I say ice cream realize that it is the Philippines equivalent of ice cream. Which is made up mostly of hydrogenetized milk solids (whatever that is).

Also, we walked by a house the other day tracting and a lady called me over in english. She was just by the fence, standing with her daughter. She said "wow, you're so cute" "those blue eyes are beautiful" and "have you ever seen any half Filipino half American kids? They're sooo cute" So I was pretty sure what she was getting at. Then she introduces her daughter (pretty cute by the way) and tells me that she's already a registered nurse and is practicing at a local hospital. And then comes the question "how old are you?" so I told her 21. Then she kindof sighs and says "too young...." So I ask her "I'm sorry...?" Then she says" you are only 21 and my daughter is already 25" And then the daughter hits her on the arm and walks inside. And then I said really quickly "but I turn 22 this september..." hahaha. No, I didn't really say that. I just set up a return appointment that we got punted at on sunday. So I guess she really doesn't want me for an inlaw that bad.

I forgot to tell you about this. We were invited to speak at a citywide health seminar two weeks ago. It was cool. There were all these booths and everything, and we went and shared a short message to all the senior citizens. They came in in groups of 5 to 14. So we talked to a lot of people. Then the relief society explained 72 hour kits. It was fun. And we got free lunch. And a cool tag that says EXHIBITOR. It was almost like E3, but instead of the next generation of consols it got vitamin c supplements and ampalaya pills (a really really really bitter fruit here that is supposed to be good for diabetes. It's probably because it sucks all the sweetness out of you and makes you hate your life .It's really bitter.)
Also, President says thanks for the cards and everything. He said it's really apparent that dad's a pilot, and that you are the only parents who send cards and keep up thanking him and stuff. So he said he's sorry he hasn't been able to reply, but he'll try to find a way. My interview was really good. His first question was: so what are your plans after the mission? I told him I was going to study at BYU and enter the air Force and hopefully become an international affairs officer some day (not sure if that's actually a job in the air force). So then he asked me more questions and said he could tell I was going to go really far. Then I told him I hope I go far, because that's what it'll take if I want to get home. I'm almost on the other side of the world here. And then he started to ask another question. I think he was starting to say what, or where, or how, or maybe just tell me that I'm probably the best looking missionary(Elder of course) he's ever seen or probably something like that. It really doesn't matter that much what he didn't say. whatever he was supposed to say he stopped himself and said "well, this is too much like an exit interview. We'll save that for a couple more weeks."
It was a good interview. I realized that everything that's normal weakness or problems is being attributed to trunkiness even if that would have happened anyways. So I don't worry about it anymore. He told me some good stuff. Made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. So I really want to have that same feeling in three weeks when I get interviewed again. So I'll give my all. In his closing prayer he thanked God for my parents who have such a thankful manner and are offering up prayers constantly for me and those I serve. So good job. Keep up the good work.
The whole zone experienced success this week, and hopefully we can keep the excitement up.
We got some people to church. I was really happy about it. And the branch president's wife was a pro at being a fellowshipper. She's the bomb.
Also, we planned a film showing (pirated copy of Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration) for the 28 and the Branch President told us we should make it into a farewell party for me. And that makes me shy. So I told him no, it could just be a film showing to get referrals. And then realized I'm not looking forward to that part of going home, everyone making a big deal and me being the center of attention. So I figure Brett should just go home at the same time as me, so at least it will be split and I won't feel so awkward. But then again, if Trevor's going to be my companion there's no way I can escape feeling awkward. Cause let's face it, he's just an awkward guy.

Oh yeah, by the way,
Happy Mother's Day mom!!!!!! Don't get spit on by a camel. I've heard they're worse spitters than a big leaguer with a fresh new can of dip.

Slacker

That is the word that my family has used when referring to my blogging of late. I am way overdue with Brett and Kyle updates. So I will put several excerpts from their letters of the past month. You know, they will be home very soon. Then what will I put on the blog? Oh, and Morocco pictures will follow shortly.