Dad,
The work here is growing and it's
magnifying now that the temple has been completed. I'm lucky enough to be in
Rome as it happened and to meet several apostles and prophets in person inside
the temple as well as see everyone that I've heard about in the mission and to
see what people had heard about me. (I'm big Anderson by the way because I ate
three very large Pizzas in one sitting in my first transfer within fifteen
minutes on a dare.) it was also some of the missionaries last day in Italy and
I have to say that this was one heck of a way to go home and a story to
boot.
I'm not even worried about the language
anymore in the sense that I know I can be much better with the language and I
study whenever I have the time and also I practice every day with my companion,
but I'm able to translate for others in church with little difficulty now and
had to do so yesterday for a wonderful tourist families kids. It was harder to
translate in the classroom because the man spoke very fast and used some
dialect (of which there are many) so I just had to guess and I suppose that I
was right because h was ok with the answers that he received.
I still haven't been able to call the
kids in the morning because it's been hard to find wifi reliable enough and
fast enough to carry a call with voice, let alone video, that you don't have to
pay for. I am trying though, and I've been sending them emails so they have
something to chew on. Are Harmon and Gentrie engaged? I've heard bits and pieces
but your wording in your last email makes me think they are? If so, congrats to
him but hope he realizes that he could have a greater impact serving a mission
and growing himself instead of taking the easy road and being selfish. Feel if
you teach Harmon and Nolahn more about the priesthood, what it is, how it works
and then why we are strongly encouraged as men to serve, it'll get his gears
moving. Or maybe ask Jacob to do that because I know that Harmon and you do not
get along very well and he takes your opinion with a grain of salt if it's not
directly beneficial to him.
I pray for all of you daily and I'm
especially grateful for you sharing your missionary experiences with me. I've
actually shared those a lot more than I thought I would have and pulled from
them in more ways then one. Not a lt of what you've said has been applied
physically and by that I mean I haven't watched a cock fight, put a scorpion in
a jar and forgot about it for a month or raced lizards in the house with
numbers on their back or get banned from an all you can eat pizza hut, but the
characteristics that you showed and needed to have in all of them, the love for
your mission and the people, and the ability to get over oneself to embrace a
people that is not at first yours, that I have taken. Granted, the food was
easy to accept, and I was able to overcome my dislike of tomatoes with relative
ease but the rest of the development of my Christlike attributes I used your
mission as a guideline because you had the kind of experiences that I wanted to
experience in these two years. And, I've been able to. I've even seen some
miracles. Nothing as crazy as localized rainstorm, but things like spiritual
prompting turned into new friends or returning members, and once, guided home
by a stray animal.
I wish you all the best, and I thank you
for your love, even if I didn't realize that's what it was at the time. The
hard love, soft love, angry love, etc. The fact that when I came to you for
help with my addiction, you said "I love you, I'm sorry, I love you"
instead of condemning me. And the same thing when I was a rebellious little
tool later on that also took your opinion with a grain of salt unless it
benefitted me directly. I love you for that example, and even though I might not
love the way you taught me some things, you taught me nonetheless and the glory
of God is intelligence so you helped me take one more step in the right
direction to become a better me. Thank you.
Anziano Anderson
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