Hey Everyone,
Im doing great here in the Dominican Republic. This is such a sweet country. Well some new news i have is There will be no more maids in hte dominican republic. Our contract ends at the end of this month. The country passed a bill that says we have to pay insurance and benefits. So the church wont spend that much money. So it looks like ill have to be just like every other missionary. We usually each rice for lunch but they have so many differant things we can do. So it never gets old. I actually love it. Good thing i was pretty much born on rice in our family so i love it. For dinner we stop in little stores on the road called colmados and we eat breads and juices. Its awesome. This week elder Macy and I went and visited people in the hospital. It was way fun. We also talked to the director if we could do service in hte hospital every friday. It will be an awesome experiance. This month is their patrons day in the DR. so all they do is drink beer and alcohol all day. Literally. Even before this holiday I could see little kids getting beer for their parents and kids drinking. We also had an investigator leave the city because she was beat. She was really progressing too. Satan has got a huge hold upon this people, and i thinkj thealcohol is the main ingedient. They cant feel hte spirit when their under the influance. I have seen stuff here I never want to be apart of. We also had an investigator pass away on sunday. She died of cancer, she had been suffering for a long time but didnt have the money to pay for the help. Before she died she or her daughters called for us. We were at the church at this time and we took some motors over to her house. We put our hands on her head and gave her a blessing, a member gave the blessing and talked a lot about her next life. SO we left and then found out a couple hours later she passed away. It was said that that had to happen so maybe someday she will have the opportunity to get baptized. At her funreal that night we sang hymns and then shared some scriptures. It was sad but i know she is in a better place. I do have great news, we had 5 investigators in sacrament meeting. I was super pumped. We had an old lady 2 women and 2 teenage baseball players. One is going to sign a contract with the Cinncinati Reds. Today our zone went to the beach in nizao only a 10 minute walk. We cooked crab on the beach and al fried plantanos or plantation bananas. We also chopped off the tops of coconuts and drank the water in them. It was super fun we had 12 people there. It was very peaceful and quite. I found a huge star fish which ill bring home and I aslo found a huge head of an electric ell. That i wont bring home but i got a sweet pictures. I hope you all have a great time this week i love ya all.

Spud

My second week

I cant belive i finished my second week. It seems as if the days are going faster and faster. It goes faster when we have people to teach. right now we have tons of investigators. They look very promising. We still have 5 people for baptismal dates but we had to push them back becaue they must go 2 weeks to church in a row and show their desire. Elder Macy and i made this rulñe and really take seriously the people who are to be baptised in the church. we want to baptize leaders adn great strong families. We are in desperate need of priesthood holders here. Well in my time here we walk a lot but our area is very small. i´d say we walk 60% of the time and walk 40%. we ride almost always to Don gregorio. Well i did go through a hurricane here. but we werent hit very hard. Their was so wind and quite a bit of rain. but it looked like something that we could get back in idaho. Ut haiti and athe most south eastern part of the dr was hit pretty good. I also heard it was coming to texas. but im not sure. Well during the night of the hurricane my companion was awaked to the groaning of a cat under his bed. He ran of the bed and left me there alone. We were scared. we tried everytrhing to get it out form under the bed. but it wouldnt budge. Im never going to forget the hissing and growling of that thing. I hit it probably 20 mies so times in the face with a broom but nothing worked. We tried for 2 hours then we went to bet. This happened from 2:30am-4:30am. then we sleeped. But its was still there in the moring. we went to 9:00 church then came back and guess who was still there. yes, the cat. so one of my companions grabbed a spray bottle and shot it. He said cats loath water and cant stand it. so he sprayed it in the face and it took off. so our 2 hours was in vain and the 3 minutes fo finding a bottle and spraying a bottle worked. so let this be a life lesson. cats hate water. A couple days before we went to the beach elder macy and i. It weas so beautiful and quiet. we collected some rocks then went our way. Oh, Guess who lives in don gregorio. VLADMIR GUIERRO. he plays for the angels and is super good. he won the home run derby this year. We can see his super huge house. people said he only lives there for maybe a month in a year. Ill take a picture, but maybe he´ll be here after baseball is done. We had zone confrence on thursday. it was aweomse. It was a good one and he had all good things to say. We wants as a mission 100 baptisms a month, and 1 per comanionship per week. Its is a goal we hope we can meet. Yesturday and last night till toiday i went on a companion exchage with elder calvert, who is a zone leader. It was so cool. We did contacting by walking for 7 hours. it was great experiance. we contacted over 50 people and taught 7 lessons.

Well I hope you all have fun this week. I pray for you all.

Elder Anderson

Hola from Nizao

Hey Everyone. Im officially have 1 week on the field. It is amazing. Ever since i got my mesqito net I have thought about nothing else than the work here. Nizao is a small city that has about 3000 people. We do lots of teaching their also right next and I mean no change in teh houses, is Don Gregorio. We teach a lot their. Most and probably all the people here have been contacted or at least know the church. Wed have about 100 active members in our branch. Plus tons of non active members. We find them all the time. OUr Branch Young Mens President lives in Don Gregoriop and gives us very good and promising refrences. We need refrences to find pepole who really care. So right now we have 5 baptismal dates. One is a 50 yr old lady and the 4 others are 4 baseball players who are staying at a scouts house. The scout is a member and talks to the MLB teams. He is their trainer too. Its sweet. They are your though. One is 15 another is 16 and two are 18 years old. But we have some really interested people who really want to know the gospèl. I can see the miricles the lord gives us with helping the finding of this people. He is amazing. The people here love their alcohol and its really bad. They are drunk all the time. But on the weekends the whole town goes to the center and has a huge drinking party and other bad things. We only live 4 houses from it. So their is constantly noise. The people here litterally blare their music in cars and in their houses and stores. Plus their are millions of little motercycles and scooters. They rev up their engines like no other. So most people live by the strets and we teach outside so every minute we have to stop teaching and wait for them to pass. So its really hard to feel the spirit. But i have faith that all will be well. The girñls are crazy here and always stare at us. in a trans. they think we are gods or something. THey really like white boys. They say stuff to us and hiss at us. Hissing means they want you. Its really strange. But Im fine and I hope you all have a awesome. week. My time is short so ill tell you more next week.

Love

Elder Spud

Hey

Hey Everyone,
 
Well i´m officially in my first area. >Im in the Bani Area or city. But i´´m serving in a little city called Nizao. OUr apartment is pretty small which we have 4 people in. Our room is litterly the size of a large closet. The p`lace is super dirty. When <I got their I really wanted to leave. But i can adapt. It was horrible. They had all the doors and windows opened. Even at night when you shut them they still have cracks in them they look more like blinds than window. OUr heads are also right next to it. We sleep will the doors open to cool the house off. >So pretty much were living in in the outside. Anything and >I mean anything can get in. Last night was my first night and I didn't have a mosquito net. So I was freaked out of my mind of what things were going to crawl on me and live with me in the night. But We have fans so they keep us cool and the bugs off. Supposeivly. hahah. Last night around 4 in the morning I heard something scratching and trying to get the though the öpen window next to my head. It turns out it was a rat trying to get in. but My companion and >I hit the window a couple times so it went away. After that i couldnt go to bed 1st because i was scared and 2nd the fan shut off so it was boiling in our room. This is because the power works only half the time here. Its horrible for hours without electricity. ´We do have a shower but its purely cold water and their is no shower curtain because their isnt even a rod. We cant put toilet paper in he toilet either so we put it in the trash. The kitchen I wont go into but Mom you probably would cry. Lets just say their is more stuff then the 4 humans... hahhaha but all is well. My companion is so cool the best so far we will do great. His name is Elder Macy, he is from Cincinnati ohio. He is a blast. He just got done being a zone leader for 6 months and now  has 3 months left He comes home when Drew does. So here in my second day in the field or campo en espanol I really will appreciate everything in the future. I hope each of you can think of everything and be grateful. Its sad to see the things i do here but now I can be a more patient and thankful person. Sorry if this sounds gloomy but dont get me wrong. I bought a mosquito net and now my first night is done and after tons of cleaning. I think ill enjoy it here. I was also told i will most likely be in hte same place for 6 months. thaats a 4th of my mision. This is awesome and >I love the work. I love my lord Jesus Christ and Im glad to here everyone is fine. I pray for you everynight. I love you. I cant wait to here form you.
 
P.S. My pday was swithced to tuesdays so I will read and email back on tuesday.
Adios
 
Elder Anderson

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See what you're getting into…before you go there See it!

Hola, Im so thankful for your support. Things are great here. Im having the time of my life. Today we went to the Temple and I went through a session in Spanish. It was really hard to understand. But the language is getting better. I can say tons of things in spanish but it takes me time in my mind to develop them. I love learning it though. Its a beautiful language. Also very fast. They chop off the ends and beginings here in the D.R. so its even more difficult to understand. Mexican Spanish is a breeze compared to here. I would already be fluent.ahhaha. J/K it would be hard though. I love going to the university and teaching peopel. My companion and I litterally ran down a guy to teach him. We had a feeling to teach him. We work well together and can give pretty good lessons in Spanish. We leave Tuesday morning for the actual missionfield. No more training. In a little time more I will be in the battle front in God's army. Ill be fighting in the front line. Im really excited. Im surprised I'm not even scared. Im seeing with new eyes here and appreciate everything I have. Im thankful for my Family and my friends. I love you guys. I love this Gospel and the Blessings it has given me. Im super blessed and I hope you all can look at the world and for what we have. I love the people here. They are the best. I have really gained a deep love for them already. Im super excited to gelp them come unto christ and share with them what I know to be true. Im thankful for my tesimony of this work adn for my Savior, Jesus Christ. I love you all and wish you the Best Luck. I hope I can be able to write to you all and can awnser all your questions. I'm praying for you every night.

Elder Anderson