Hola de Los Alcarrizos

Well Im really enjoying this transfer so far. My companion is Elder Russell and he is from Flordia. He is a really weird but fun person. We talk a lot about tons of stuff. He has 2 more transfers after this one so he is fairly old. I think he is alright but i have found out why the other missionaries think he is crazy and a tigre. But i wont go into that because that isnt important. All I can say is that im having a great time and i think he is my most favorite companio than any other companion I have had. The only problem is that he hasnt worked that hard for most of his mission. So Im changing that. Our first week was the hardest he has worked in 6 months he said. We have a huge area in Los Alcarrizos. My area is called, Los Alcarrizos 2. We are in a stake now adn we are working in the same ward as two other missionaries. Almost all of our zone is americans and I like that a little more. I have 3 other missionaries from my group here in the zone. It is aweosme. Also my former Zone leader has a son in the zone. he is a trainer. We call the companions of trainers, sons. It is the capital and there are tons of people. Practaclly living on each other. What is amazing is that it is quieter that Nizao.We have everything pretty much within 20 minutes away. Huge superstores adn tons of other stores. I can live very well here. hahah. And that is amazing. We live together in a 2 man house. It is huge. So we have our bedroom, a study room with 2 desks, A clothes room(litterally just for clothes and our shoes there is nothing in our bedroom but beds adn our fans), and then we have a kitcken, and also a little room for laundry, We also have a big open room in the front wear we eat. It is neat. Ill take pictures. It is actually very clean. I was surpized. The light is the same. off and on. but it usually comes back at 10 in the night. Well the water is differant. We take bucket showers here. And it is freezing cold. It is very cold in the mornings and I have been shivering in the night. This wont last long though. So in hte morning it is very cold with bucket showers. But it does help to wake us up and get ready for the day. Our area is huge. The first thing I did when i got to the house was go through the Area book. It wasnt good putting it in the least. It had stuff from 4 years ago adn most of the investigators sheets didnt have address. We dont have any baptismal dates here but this week we are going to put one with an investigator that was being taught by elderRussell and his old companion. I told Elder Russell that we were going to make miricles adn that we were going to work hard. I am slowly changing him and we are really picking up the work for what we were left with. Yesturday we had Zone Confrence with President Bair. It was awesome. I learned a lot and have a ton of excitment to go and preach this work. I learned that we are ¨salesman¨ of a product bigger and better then a mercades benz dealer or of tiffanies jewelry. SO we need to act and look like we are selling that. This gospel is without price but the benefits are worth eternal gladness. We need to raise the bar on baptisms. The president take about the confrence talk by Elder Perry about the high jumper. We have constantly been at about the same baptisms for a couple years, and now this is the year we are going to bust it out. So we are focusing on baptisms. But how do we get baptisms. The president spoke to us how the members are the key. The key to the sucess of the work. They need to be in the lessons, they need to help them come tochurch. They need to baptize the people. They need to help them go to the telmple and recive their endowment. I really belive this is true and i have been really trying to follow it. But this is the second time the president has said this so Im going to try adn have everyother day have lessons with members present. This will help the work grow faster and will also help with the retention of our investigators. Last night we spent the night at the zone leaders house because we played basketball in the morning at the stake center. It was fun. After we ater at PIZZA HUT!!!!!! haahah It was amazing. Well thats about it. Im as happy as I can be. Im a missionary.

Love,

Elder Spud

New Area

Hey,

Well I have been transfered form the awesome Nizao to Los Alcarricos in Santo Domingo. I dont know to much because I just got here an hour ago. But what i do know is that it is much bigger than Nizao, one of the barrios here is twice as big as Nizao. But Im really looking forward to that because that means more people to teach. My new companion is Elder Russell. He is from Flordia. Im going to work him to death adn also be super flecha, or obediente. I really have a good feeling about this place. The area is a little dead because of the missionaries here before but I think it was just because they were lazy. The goals here arent very big and for sure We are going to raise them adn make miricles happen. When i first got here I looked at the Area Book and said we are going to do great things here. I know I will miss Nizao and it was hard to say goodbye to everyone of our investigators. But one day I will return adn I can only pray that they will make teh big step and be Baptized. I have confidence in Elder Gonzalez my old companion and adn also in the members there. Im so grateful for this life I have and for this opportunity to be here in the Dominican Republic. I love my Savior Jesus Christ adn for his example to me. Im trying everyday to be a little better adn learn a little more from his adn his prophets. Well I need to go but I love you all and hope you all have a great week.

Elder Anderson the Man

Saludos de La Republica Dominicana

Hello Everyone,
Im doing great here. Im on a mission. This week was awesome, we had 6 investigators in the church on sunday. Dani and Altemis a family came together. They loved it. Also Raudy and his Kid Raudito came for the 3rd time. We also had Daniel and a new investigator Wilson in teh church. We had an investigators class for the 2nd hour in church and they were all participating and learned much from the lesson. All of them are either family or friends. I think that will help them as they progress in the gospel. I love the family of Dani and Altemis, They have a baptismal date for February so im a little bummed that I wont be there but Im really excited for them. We had a great lesson on the Word of Wisdom. Dani drinks so we focused on him and his problem with Alcohol. He said he would fulfill his commitment and wants to change. Altemis drinks a little but what is really neat is that 6 months ago she quit drinking coffee on her own. She KNEW it was bad and so after a while through much pain she quit. Yesturday we found out that they were reading the new manual of Joseph Smith. I am really excited to see where they will go in the gospel. Raudy and his son Raudito are always in the church but the wife Lidi came the first time adn hasnt come back. This wek we are going to put a goal with the entire family to be baptized. The uncle of Raudy is Daniel. HE also has a baptismal date. We have a new Investigator we are teaching. His name is Wilson. He is in a wheel chair adn his body has been disabled for his whole life. His brother adn 2 sisters are very active members. He has been coming to church for years but noone has known that he wasnt a member. Ravel his brother asked us to teach him. We gladly accepted. Wilson is really neat and has a ton of excitement for the lessons and cant wait for the next one. I have also been through something new as the Sister of Perla one of our investigators died in a car crash and also The father of 2 of our investigators which is also the grandpa of a less active member passed away. This is something new for me to deal with but I really belive the lord works in mysterious ways and thta he is humbling them adn helping them to remember him. Today adn tommorow we will visit them repectivly and remind them about the plan of salvation. I have learned so much about this plan and how beautiful it is. It is a blessing to have this knowledge adn this plan at our fingertips. I am really seeing the importance of this work adn how we have much work to do. NOt only for the people in the world but for the people who have passed on. It really is neat how I am progressing in the gospel and am starting to figure this life out. Also one of our recent converts Morena is getting divorced from her husband. It is really hard for her and also for us. Im so grateful for this gospel and how we can be happier with it guiding our lives. Well This is my last week in the famous and awesoem Nizao. I will be transfered this next Wendsday the 23. I will deeply miss the little town of Nizao and all the friendly people and investigators. I did what I could do here and now I will have another test and opportunity to serve the Lord in another enviornment. SO my next e mail will be in a diffrent place and with a new companion. I loved having Elder Macy adn then Elder Gonzalez. They were really neat companions. Well I hope all goes well and dont frezzzzzze to much hahahha. Im postitive i will sweat tons for each of you today. hahah.
Oh ya I was pushed the other day. Im surprized I didnt beat the heck out of the drunk guy. So far I have been pushed, spit on and I have been called bad words billions of times in spanish and also in english. ( they know the bad words from movies).

I love ya.

Adios

Elder Anderson

Saludos

HOlA!!!! Well my time in Nizao is coming to an end, but the work is exploding now. I really dont want to leave but i cant spend anymore time here. This week we put baptismal dates with the Family of Dani and Altemis. They are awesome. We found them because their daughter was a reference. She isnt really progressing but her mom and dad are. They are awesome. They are reading and understanding the Book of Mormon. We had a great lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and put a goal for a bauptism on February 9th. They are really excited about the Church and want to know much more about the Gospel. We also put a baptismal date with Adrianni. She was a referance of a man in our ward. She is always reading the Book of mormon adn following her commitments. She has gone 2 church 2 time in a row.But we did have a little bad news. We were going to have a baptism this last saturday with Daniel but he came to us all dressed up in sunday clothes and told us he was realñly sick. Its pretty cold here now( For Dominicans!!!! hahaha) He has athsma and it was really bad for him. We gave him a blessing and said everything was okay adn that we would talk about another date for him to be baptized. That night he said he wanted to cry and could sleep because we wanted to be baptized that night. We are working hard with another family here Raudy and Lidi. We were going to put a baptismal date with them this week but they didnt go to church adn we didnt feel right to ask it. We think they need more time. We also had 2 inactive members come back to church. The other Elders in our house are working with the less actives too and had 6 of them in the church. I really feel that something big is happening in Nizao and will happen very soon. We also had a new reference that lives really far away it is 20 minutes from our house walking. That is a huge distance in Nizao . They are awesome. They are a family and have 6 little girls and 1 Boy. The mom, Belky, went to church but the husband Rademes couldnt because the people who own the land they live on was in town to check on things. I really have a great feeling with them. They read the Book of Mormon together and that is a great sign. It sure is worth the trip. We are going to put all the appoinments with them in the morning because we then can use the bikes of the other missionaries. We have been so blessed in this area with great investigators and recent baptisms. Im so grateful for the help and refenences of the branch here. God has helped us such much to find a place for us in the hearts of our investigators. I have grown so close to them and feel that I am a part of their families. I can honestly say that I love this work adn the people. It is wonderful. Im learning so many secrets about life and about being a diciple of Christ. I have learned so much in my little time as a missionary adn that will bless me for my whole life. The things I have seen adn felt in my life I cannot deny that this is the Church of Christ adn that it was restored. I can only describe it as Perfect. Again I love this Area and I wish I could have more time. I dont feel that my work is done. But one thing I have learned is that we need to trust in the lord. I know that a Tesamony goes a long way and that I can still be with the people who I love throughout the eternities. I can only do so much but God does the majority of everything. I can only dream about what lies ahead of me and who else I can help bring in the the Fold. I love my Savior and we are working hard here adn being as obedient as we can. Obedience brings about Miricles.

Elder Spencer Anderson

Ps. I saw something sweet the other day. I saw Chickens get their throuts slashed adn prepared for selling them. HAHHAHAH It was disgusting. An 8 year old was doing all the slashing to. Have a great week.

Hello!!!

Hey Family, Im doing awesome here in Nizao. It was really neat talking to my parents and family. It was really hard to speak English because I dont speak that much English any more. Im losing it. hahaah. Well Im doing great. We ate Christmas Dinner at Morenas house a recent convert. Then For New Years Dinner. We ate at an Investigators house. We are going to put a date for baptism with their family this week. Also we are going to to put a date with a lady adn one other family. I really have a feeling that my work here wont end when I leave but Nizao with grow very rapidly. I know that IN a matter of time Nizao will flurish with members of the church. We didnt get to work as much as I wanted this week because of rules adn of Christmas and New Years but we finished very strong. I love this Gospel so much. Right now Im reading Jesus The Christ by James E. Talmage. It is amazing. Im learning so much about my Savior adn his ways adn teachings. It has helped me tons to apply those principles to my life. Im so blessed and I want to give gratitude to everyone of you. I love you all so much And hope that we can all enjoy the blessings we have recived. I am so impressed with my family adn my friends for the example they are to me. I pray for everyone of you everyday adn I hope that together we can spread this great message of joy adn love. I hope you have a great week, I know I will,hahahaha. I love you all adn try to stay warm, I know I sure will. It is a never ending summer of heat here. Adios

Elder Spud