40 weeks!! Gooooooooooollll!

GOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!! Maravilhoso e fantástico!!! Foi muito bonito!!! 

That's what we've been saying too! 

The World Cup is probably the greatest thing in the world. I am on cloud 9 down here! We've seen just about every game, but not because we're not working, it is because EVERYONE watches it! If they aren't watching it when you show up, they usually will have turned it on so you can watch it with them haha. We watched the opening game with Brazil and Croatia in the house of our Group Leader in Pimenta Bueno, then we went out and avoided downtown while trying to teach haha. It was a freaking party! Every time Brazil scored, fireworks, cars honking, and people shouting! We were shouting and jumping right along with them! No fireworks or alcohol though. =) 

We also made it onto Facebook this week! Not our mission, but me and Elder Housely. We were at lunch with a member, and she told us that members in Brazil were going to get as many people as possible to take a picture with the Book of Mormon and post is to their Facebook and to the Facebook Page "Eu Sou SUD" (I am LDS) and see all of the pictures from around the country in one place. The member took our picture with our Books of Mormon and posted it to the Facebook page lol. She said it got a few comments and that people thought it was pretty cool. You might be able to find us on there, just look for all of the pictures from June 11th. It might be a bit of a stretch, but you never know! 

Honestly not too much else going on, just the Cup and trying to keep things moving. We have transfers on Saturday, and I think I'll be headed out. Luckily, the mission doesn't have too much money for us to travel right now, so I think I won't be going to Manaus! Woo hoo! I'll go wherever the Lord wants me, but hopefully he doesn't want me in Manaus haha. I think I'm going to Rio Branco Zone in the state of Acre. I don't want to leave the area, but we'll see what happens.

Tell Haylee that her talk was freaking awesome and that I'm going to save it in a special folder on here. I completely spaced that it was Father's Day, it's a different day down here I think. My funny moment of the week was definitely when I was kind of frustrated with Housely because he doesn't talk very loudly. He'll say something, and all I hear is fmdkmfkmdk, it's not productive in the communication process. But as I was thinking about it, I thought, "Why can't I understand him?" And then it hit me, he mumbles. My next thought: MUMBLER! From Willie Wonka and the Chocolate factory haha! It made my week! (Besides the WORLD CUP! of course) Tell Sierra too that I'm praying for her and that Brother Gunnell was exactly right, the surgery will be just fine. Heavenly Father takes care of us, especially when we need Him the most. I have a personal testimony of that as a missionary. I'm also switching to reading my scriptures in all portuguese now. I finished the Book of Mormon for the third time on my mission this week, and now I want to read it in Portuguese while studying faith =) I'm excited to get started!

Love you all! I will try and get some pics to you all very soon!

Elder Sanderson

9 months! World Cup Time!

Hey there family of mine!

IT'S TIME FOR THE GREATEST EVENT IN THE WORLD!!!! The country is fired up for the cup! Our two cities have pretty much gotten a face lift with Brazil colors, flags, paint jobs, and so much more! The best part, the Cup is on the same day as Brazil's Valentine's Day! It's going to be quite the day for a good number of couples here. We will be right in front of the TV for the opening game haha. Speaking of sports, that freaking sucks that that horse didn't win the crown! I've been thinking of it all week!!!! We also have a new investigator here who likes to watch the NBA (that is pretty much nonexistent here) and he said he'd keep us updated on the Cup and the Finals haha! The members are already talking trash about the Cup to us haha. The other day, Elder Housley said something about wearing his US Soccer jersey, and one of our members said, "They have those? Does it have Mickey Mouse on it?" Haha I was cracking up!

The week was good, it seemed long, but not any longer than normal. We had missionary splits with Elder Johansen (my last comp.) and his current companion Elder Thompson. Elder Housely stayed with Johansen in Pimenta Bueno and I got put in Rolim de Moura for Saturday and Sunday. It was a pretty good few days with Elder Thompson, he has less time than me on his mission (7 months), so I was actually the senior companion for the first time in my mission. It was pretty fun! I'm really grateful to Heavenly Father because I didn't get lost or anything like that haha. It was kind of a bittersweet Saturday because we had really good lessons, but an investigator we have been teaching for 2 months said that if he doesn't receive a response to his prayers about the Church by the 11th, he's going to be baptized into another church. It was hard to hear because I know that he already has an answer. He has told us that he knows the Book of Mormon is true and is the coolest guy in the world. He did say we could still go and watch the Cup at his house though if we want. He has no problem being our friend, just wants to find the truth and hasn't realized that he's got it. I did my best to explain that he has received his answer and I think he liked it. He showed up to church for the first time in 5 weeks, so that's progress!

I haven't heard from President Klein yet, but I also haven't read my email from him yet in the missionary website, so we'll see what happens. I was talking with Elder Thompson about it a little bit and he said, "yeah, we heard about it" Haha which is awesome because he serves up in the north of the mission and we are down here in the south. He was like, "If you din't mind me asking, what did you do?" Lol it was pretty funny to talk to him about it. 

We only get mail once per transfer, and that was 3 weeks ago (more or less), I only got two letters from Sarah, a letter from the Gunnels, and a letter from Marcus Norton in the ward. No packages, should get them this month or the first week of next month probably. We basically get mail once every 6 weeks if you're not in Manaus, so that's why I'm still waiting on them. I will let you all know as soon as I get them though! When you get my package sent, send me a USB too! Doesn't have to be very much gig, just want to have a back up just in case. =)

Tell the Merrill kids that they are awesome! That made me smile more than anything has in the last few weeks! They are pretty much the smartest kids ever, but to keep my humility in check, I'll say that the first one was better haha. It's definitely going into my journal!

Here's my list of stuff to write home for the week:

Please change my profile settings on FB, people cannot see so much about me. Brazil is going to be a little dangerous over the next month or so and some people are scared there might be times that are unsafe for us. Obviously, Heavenly Father will take care of us, but I can help him out a little bit with that too.

Other than that, no pics again, I have to buy a new converter because I don't know where mine went...that kinda sucks, but oh well! This week I'm going to buy an Indianna Jones hat too! They only sell them here, so I don't know if I'll have another chance! I also ate cow stomach on Saturday...my stomach still turns when I think about it...It wasn't bad, but I wouldn't recomend it to anyone. But to balance that out, I also had Pineapple and mint juice! It was so freaking good! 

Anyways, that's all she wrote for this week! Only a few more days until I hit 9 months, so crazy!

Love you all,

Elder Sanderson

38 weeks- chastened

****Hello, Tara here :)  Just needed to put a little bit of a backstory on this week's letter.  First let me say to read carefully, HD is doing great!  (I emailed him back and forth for a minute to confirm that lol) I also asked for his permission to share the whole letter and his response was "sure, maybe someone can learn something from it"  I also want to add that I know the things he is going through are all the Lord's way of refining him and teaching him to be more Christlike.  That said this letter was not easy for this mom to read.  :)  I told HD "I get he was correcting/teaching you/using you as an example but I was feeling defensive the whole time I read that because he sure didn't do it like your mommy would have" lol  HD reacted with the humility and maturity that many adults don't posses.  Once again I am taught by his example.********** 

I'm gonna type this response in a different email because then I can look at all of the questions that you sent me!

Hey everybody! 

Alright, I'll answer the questions first:

The week was crazy as usual and looks like this one will be too! Elder Johansen (my last comapnion who is the AP) is coming back to our area this Saturday to go on missionary splits with us, that's just when another companionship and your companionship divide your area in two for the day and have 4 missionaries instead of 2 in the area. But we have two cities, so I'll be leading the area in Rolim de Moura and Housley will go to Pimenta Bueno. I'm a little nervous about that, but that's just because I know Pimenta better. The week that has already passed was good too! 

I had somewhat of a meeting with President...during the Zone Conference. He burned me like I've never been burned before. In any year of ROTC or soccer or baseball or whatever, never has it been like that. He started by burning the whole zone because we've only had 2 baptisms in 3 weeks, and then proceeded to talk about how some missionaries just can't get used to this mission because they served elsewhere. He said that the missionaries say that the missions are different, but that really they aren't and that those missionaries just need to get over it. He then went on ranting about things of the same nature and saying that we were "sleeping through the Restoration" and through our missions because we can't leave our problems behind. This lasted for about 30 minutes. Throughout the burn/rant, he would stop periodically and say something like, "Isn't that right Elder Sanderson?" or "What do you think Elder Sanderson?" or "What do you have to say, Elder Sanderson?" I was put on spot in front of my entire Zone, 15 other missionaries who I get to work around for the next year and however many months. When I tried to explain or to comment on his questions, he would let me say about two words and then cut me off before ranting again. He finished after about 45 minutes and looked at me and said, "What do you think Elder Sanderson, you can speak up. Now is the time to talk." I looked straight at him and said, "President, I still have questions, but now is not the time. I would like to talk to you afterwards." Pretty sure every eye in the group was on me, but I really didn't care. 

I had learned a lot from his speech, and was grateful to my Heavenly Father that I had been humble enough to listen. Many of my questions were resolved, not all, but many, and I felt confident that I had found my motivation to progress the Gospel here in Brazil. I did still want to talk with him, but that was just to assure him that I am not stuck in my last mission, and that I'm trying with all of my heart to find out what I can do to be the missionary that Heavenly Father wants me to be. 

We took a break for lunch sometime later and Sister Klein walked up to me. She noticed that I wasn't looking to happy and said something about President Klein. I didn't understand what she said, but I figured it was something good about him so I just said that I was good and that I was grateful for what he had said. Sister Klein then said, "I don't like it when he does that, but I do know one thing: He loves you." I already knew that, I've never thought that he didn't love me or care about me, but was grateful for her words and told her so.

A little while later, at another point in the Conference, it was my turn to bear my testimony because I've just arrived to the mission and haven''t had the chance to bear my testimony in a zone conference. As I was preparing to do so, President put his arm around me while walking up to the pulpit and said, "You can speak Elder" (it was just me and him), and the first thing to come out of my mouth was, "Thank you." I meant it too! He didn't really believe me, but I told him again and thanked him for his words. He said, "Sister Klein doesn't like when I do that" and I couldn't help but to laugh and say, "I know, she told me." 

In the end, the Conference was great. I have found my motivation to work harder. I won't do everything that I've seen these missionaries do or say, but I know how I'm going to work now. It will still progress the work here, and I think that President will be just happy with it. He told me later after the conference that he hoped I would still entrust in him my doubts, I said that I would, but I think I'll wait until I see what President Castro is all about haha. 

I'm really going to miss President and Sister Klein! Saying goodbye to them was tough, but I'm excited for President Castro too! He will be my mission President for the longest amount of time in my mission, so I'm excited to meet him! Sister and President's testimonies and final advice were great and I took lots of notes! Afterwards, Sister Klein shook all of our hands, what we didn't see coming was the hug. That was a very awkward moment haha, but it was great to see the missionaries' reactions! 

SORRY FOR THE BOOK! ON TO THE REST:

That's crazy that a snake almost bit that lady! I have only seen dead ones since I've been here. They are usually just flat (literally) because they got run over by a car. 

Here's a random note: Go to youtube and search for this: episodio 2 - visabr (there should be a commercial for visa with a dolphin, that's all I'll say)

That is great that the new family moved in and that they are exactly what Haylee needed!!!! I'm really glad to hear that! Sounds like those two can be two peas in a pod now at all the church stuff! That's freaking awesome too that Brad Paisley was with the plane! That would have been awesome to meet him! 

The Harry Potter name is cool too =) I wish I could pronounce it, but I agree with the career choice. I think Brazil has it's own magical creatures, I've probably seen a handful of them! 

I'm really happy to hear that so many of the people are reading the blog =) The adventures never stop, but the experiences are amazing! I'm really thankful to Heavenly Father too because I have the chance to help people or at least be a means of explaining what it is that missionaries do. I'm amazed by how our lives effect others' because if I wasn't serving, there would be so many things that have happened or been said or shared. I know it's not the "All about me" show, but I'm grateful to help Heavenly Father in whatever way I can =)

Another funny thing from the conference: During lunch, we got this really good dessert afterwards. It was this weird pink stuff that tasted really, really good, but I'd never had before. I looked at the Brazilian Elder across from me and asked, "What is this?" He looked right back at me and said, "I don't know, but it's good" Haha I usually don't ask what it is that I'm eating, but that was a highlight of the day. After the conference, another Elder and I were talking about my burn, he said, "Dude, I actually wrote down in my study notebook, 'Sanderson just got BURNED' and just kept thinking, 'somebody should just go give him a hug" Thanks to Sister Klein, I got that hug =)

WE GOT CLEARANCE TO WATCH THE CUP! If it's your home country or Brazil you can watch! We just have to be smart and, "Don't do anything stupid." CAN'T WAIT!!!! 

We went on a missionary split in a different city on like Thursday, and it was a lot of fun! I almost got kissed by a girl.... I was with one of the Elders from that city and we were going to their different teaching appointments. We got to the one and it was a mom with her 20 year-old daughter. The mom shook my hand just like normal, but the girl tried to kiss me on the cheek when I shook her hand. That is part of the culture here, but only between friends, and usually just between girls. I didn't know what to do, and was kind of frozen in place. She apologized and sat down in one of the chairs nearby. I was so worried that I had offended her! I didn't now what to do, nobody has ever told me! But it turned out that everything was okay and she asked really good questions during the lesson. I told the other Elder from that area about it later and he said, "She didn't do that when I met her!" and I said, "I'm better looking than you" haha it was great! While in that city, we also painted a house (now I'm tan as a mexican-brazilian) and I ate a banana that smelled like an apple (nobody knows why they smell like that) and an apple-tomato hybrid that had the consistency of an apple, but tasted like a tomato! 

That's all folks! Elder Sanderson has just said EVERYTHING that happened this week. Don't ask for more, because there isn't!

Love you guys!

Elder Sanderson

******one more note as HD and I were emailing his mission president emailed him and apologized for being so direct.  I take that to mean he was frustrated with something as a whole but took it out more on HD as we have all done to someone at one time or another.  I am thankful for the president humbling himself and apoligizing even though it probably wasn't necessary. :)   ************

37 weeks -freezing!!

Hey guys! 

Do I start every email like that? If so, oh well!

Thank you for keeping me updated on home and especially for these pictures! I think I might actually print them out and keep them with my scriptures or something =D I might look like that guy when I get home, pretty sure my hair has receeded a little bit on the mission...and parts of it are starting to go a little bit blonde.... That story about Joe and Sierra made me actually laugh out loud in the internet cafe haha! I think you guys are all nuts and that's why Sarah wants to be a part of the family too, cuz she's nuts too. 

I didn't even realize that today was Memorial Day, but I did wear my Captain America shirt! So that counts too right? I also read a little bit about the founding of the USA and the importance of the Constitution in Jesus the Chist by James E. Talmage. I think my next study topic in the Book of Mormon is going to be about liberty and freedom and the principles behind them. Another crazy thing about today, it's been a year and a half that Sarah and I have been going out, that's freaking crazy! She hasn't left me yet, so fingers crossed! haha

The week was good, lots more new investigators and the Branch President and his wife visited both of our cities for the first time in over a month and a half. We were really needing people to come to church because they might actually shut our area down soon if we don't find more people to come. But the Lord really did bless us! We had over 30 people come to church between the two cities! I don't think they'll close it if we can keep that up. And yesterday, I drank milk for the first time in 2 months! It was awesome! 

We were also in that other city for a few days and we got to eat lunch at a members house there. They gave us chicken fried steak and mashed potatoes! It was just like at Cracker Barrel and is the closest thing to American food that I've had in a long time! 

And another reminder of home that I had in that city too was that I met the missionary version of Larry! He's from North Carolina and was telling me about another missionary that I know here in the mission. He was asking me about him and then said, "Ele é meu amigo melhor" Translation: He's my good buddy. I almost died laughing when I thought about it. Because after he said it, he was like, "You're my good buddy too, but he is also." And I couldn't help but think of Larry =)

This weekend was FREEZING for us. It was 60ish degrees and we almost died. We were in Pimenta Bueno ad not Rolim de Moura and so we didn't have any of our other clothes besides what we packed for PB...It was so freaking cold haha. I thought my companion was going to die and I was feeling pretty close to the same thing. Not a good sign for when I come home lol. 

Not too much else happening, I will try again to send pictures. 

Love you guys!

Elder Sanderson

*****once again no pictures.  He said his memory card had a virus?? Hope the computer was just goofy. *********

36 weeks -

Holy cow! Sounds like you guys are even busier than I am!

Four parties? I tried to get my companion to go to a birthday party yesterday (maybe a family reunion) instead of going to church, but he wouldn't allow it. I even used logical arguments, mainly that there were more people at that party than we've had at church in 2 weeks between our cities combined. It's hard right now because he is so used to people saying yes, and right now, nobody is saying yes. I'm used to that, that's how most missions in the States are, I had 6 months of no and know how to handle it, he doesn't. He's got almost two years of yes. It's not a good combination when we end up trying to talk about it. However, I'm learning about how important the Pure Love of Christ is! We don't necessarilly have to love everybody, but we have to try. Because if we don't, we just look for ways that we don't like the person or the ways that they annoy you. After that revelation hit me in the face today, I am going to try and look for the good in my companion and not the stuff we don't agree on.

Haha tell Haylee that after Brazil, I might be okay if I never have a summer break again. It's just hot all of the time. Today, I sweat enough to fill a kiddie pool and that was just during lunch. I seriously can't figure out why the Brazilians like to eat hot food. That to me just isn't the smartest thing in the world haha. "It's about 100 degrees today, we should probably cook our food over an open fire in this small room with no windows. Great idea! Then maybe we can serve it right out of the pan into their mouths!" Re-evaluate. Haha, but it's still going good down here =) 

Not too much going on, but right now we're in a different city because we have a zone meeting tomorrow with all of the missionaries in the zone. I'm excited for that because it's really nice to see other missionaries and be able to talk to them instead of my companion 24/7. With other missionaries, we can swap stories, share experiences, etc. But with your companion, you can't do that. You can't even ask how their day was because you know exactly how it was haha. I did here Willie Nelson getting blasted by some guy's radio the other day in his car haha. It was the song where he says, "You were always on my mind" haha my companion didn't even know who Willie Nelson is.  

Please make sure to tell EVERYONE that I said thank you! I can't even express how much it means to me that they are willing to help me out. I won't get mail for another 4 weeks or so, but whether their packages are here or not, I really appreciate even the thought! Always send the letters or packages to the mission office, we aren't allowed to receive them directly, and I honestly don't want to because that is just too much work and too much to chance. But I am definitely excited for the packages! When you send me your guys', send me this stuff too: sun screen! (It's like $25 american dollars a bottle here), bug spray (also really expensive)

Love you guys, think I will definitely send pictures this week!

Elder Sanderson

******He tried to send pictures but once again the computer was a no go. He was frustrated with that.  Prayers he gets a good computer next week!!********

35 weeks & Mothers Day Call :)

It was great to talk to you guys too! We (the missionaries) were on a spiritual high after talking to our families =) we couldn't fall asleep and I promise you that when a missionary talks with his family, it gets him fired up to go back to work! I feel refreshed and ready to keep on keepin' on! I pretty much said evrything I would usually have written in the email haha, but forgive me if this isn't a super long one this week. 

So, my companion and I are going to stay together this transfer. If we stay together for the next six weeks, it will be the longest that I've spent with a companion in 8 months haha, and it will only have been 2 months! Other missionaries stay together for 3 or even 4.5 months sometimes haha. I will definitely learn a lot this transfer and am going to need the blessings of the Lord, but I know that all things are possible with Him!

If you send me a box, there is one more thing I want that I forgot to tell you! I want a Nats hat! It doesn't have to be anything fancy, just one of the normal ones with the W on it. I've really been wanting one since I got here haha and Brazil just so happens to be in short supply. 

Sierra will love BYUI and then realize that BYU is where it's at =p you can tell her I said that! Just like Constance will someday realize that BYUH isn't as good as BYU either! But, I have a lot of friends who have gone to BYUI and they all loved it! 

I agree completely that it was the Spirit that was in my heart and mind when I was speaking with that guy. I was trying to say that, but just decided to agree with you when you said passionate because I don't know if I would've been able to get it out haha. But yes, I will alwys remember that, even wrote it down in my journal that night! I hope to be able to use that experience for many, many years to come. And I'm sure I'll pick some new ones up along the way!

Not too much else going on today, just chillin! I'll see if this computer will let me send you pictues so that everyone can see those black power cookies haha! Randi and Dad got a kick out of those too! 

Love you all!

Elder Sanderson

*******he is not having any luck with pictures the last couple of weeks.  We had a great chat with him.  He looks great. He is great.  He had "the most amazing experience of [his] whole mission" the day before and was able to share it with us.   I don't have time to add it now but I will add it soon.  Here are the pics we took during our phone  call Sunday.******

His tan line from his CTR ring 

Watch tan. Can't see that one as well. 

The fab five 

The three amigos! 

The ipad didn't photograph as well as the laptop.  We will use the laptop again at Christmas. 

He bought these knock off Oreos this week we were cracking up at the name "black power" so odd!  

Fingers crossed his pics work next week! 

34 weeks, transferred

Hey there everybody! 

Another week has passed and i continue to realize how fast the mission is going by. In 6 months it will be November, and in like a year and 3 or 4 months I'll be finishing up my mission. CRAZY! I'm having way too much fun in the sun to even imagine being home. 

One thing I think you all need to be grateful for is internet and a good computer. Every week that we're down here, we have to pay for our internet and you really have to pray to get a good computer. Right now, this keyboard really sucks, so sorry if I don't write too much, it's really hard to type.

So, adventures of Elder Sanderson: I got transferred. What else is new? And it was an emergency transfer, so we have transfers again next week, and I might get transferred again then too. The good news about this one though, is that I got to stay in the same area! I count it as a transfer though because I have a new companion (Elder Housley) and a new city added to my old one. Elder Housley was in the new city before, and I was in Pimenta Bueno (my city), so when we're in his city (Rolim de Moura), he's the boss, but in my city, I'm the boss. Which is hard, because I only had 8 days in that city anyways haha. I don't like the new city as much as Pimenta Bueno, but it's starting to grow on me. We just have to walk a lot farther and don't usually have shade. It's hard here too, because the people we are teaching just don't seem that excited about the Gospel. 

I'm excited to Skype too! We are going to use a member's house, which will be nice, and we'll be able to use the webcam. I make no promises as to how well it will work, but anything is better than nothing right? 

It was a lot of fun being on that last special assignment! Being comp with an AP is hard, but we had fun, and I got to hang out with President a lot more last week. We were in the car with him for about 6 hours on Tuesday and just got to talk about whatever. Mostly, Elder Johansen was talking about deep doctrine, so I couldn't really understand, but Sister Klein made sure to talk to me and bring me into the conversations which was nice! We ate lunch at a really nice restaurant and President paid for us and then some! We were living the good life haha because we ate a ton of food and then he bought us ice cream and candy haha. The restaurant was cowboy themed because that's a big part of the culture in this part of the mission, and they had a couple pictures of Clint Eastwood on the wall haha. 

I found out yesterday, that Pimenta Bueno has had the Church in it's city for only 2 months now, I've been there for a month of that. It's so weird to think about how new the Church is! Most people don't have a clue who we are, but every once in a while, someody will ask, "Vocês são os Mórmons?" (You guys are the Mormons?) and we always answer that we're with the Church of Jesus Christ. 

Not too much else happening, I have a few pics for you guys, but not too many. Three things I need from you though mom:

1. Pin number (make up a code for it before you send it)

2. Change my profile picture on FB. I saw it yesterday at the member's house who we are going to Skype from. He added me as a friend and that's how I saw the pic lol.

3. Change my security settings on there. He was able to look at all of my old profile pics and one of them is me in an ROTC uniform at BYU, don't need people seeing that here. He's a cop, so no worries with him, but the others I don't need seeing that.

Thanks! Have a great week and I'll send some pictures as usual!

Love, 

Elder Sanderson  

Part of our later conversation:

Elder S:

I think I'm gonna train this tranfer to come, I'll find out on Sunday, maybe before we talk. I don't know for sure, but the time is definitely getting close for me to train I think

Me:

That will be exciting and interesting.  I assume you will be training someone newer than you and neither of you will speak fantastic Portuguese :) I am praying for you and know you will have the gift of tongues when you need it most.  Sis Martin shared a quote with me this week.  "There is nothing more powerful than the prayers of a righteous mother." Bam. I have superpowers!  I always knew it!  :) 

Elder S:

Haha of course they'll be newer than me, that's what training is haha. The missionary will be straight out of the MTC (i hope a brazilian) and my job would be to show him how to be a missionary for his first 12 weeks in the field! I really hope he's a brazilian haha

Me: 

We'll pray for that.  

----no pics this week becuase the computer wasn't working well.  He said there wasn't anything too important.  Guess we'll find out next week.  :)