Welcome to the WEM! (Washington Everett Mission)

HEY HEY HEY!

What a CRAZY 1st week in WA it has been! 

I left on Tuesday and honestly cried almost the whole way to the airport lol. After I said my final goodbyes to my fam I luckily ran into an elder that's going to the same mission! He's from Mapleton and I actually don't remember his name haha. 15 of us missionaries flew out to WA! 

Once we landed we were supposed to meet the mission President at baggage claim but we couldn't find them or our baggage :/ Then out of the blue we hear "ALOHA!" It was Sister Auna!! She came running to us with a cute sign that said "Aloha Washington Everett Missionaries!" SO CUTE! I love the Auna's! They are the best! We had to wait for 2 other planes to land and on one of those planes was my MTC companion Sister Bertasso! So cool to meet her in person!! She's the best! 

Once we got to Everett we had dinner and orientation at mission headquarters. Then we met our TRAINERS! My trainer's name is Sister Roderer and she is the best!! She is from Wellsville UT and she is the sweetest ever! And the best part is....while some missionaries are in hotels we have... A HOUSE! 3 bedroom 2 baths! and ITS JUST FOR US! We are so spoiled lol. It's the cutest lil thing :) We are in Marysville! In the Lakewood ward in the ARMAR zone in North Snohomish county.... I probably got something in there wrong so I'm sorry lol. There's a lot of new information! 

My FIRST night there we taught a lesson.... SO NERVOUS lol. Luckily I found out later that they were members so I didn't ruin anyone's salvation haha. 

In the mornings we go jogging to a gorgeous lake! It's called twin lakes and I'll have to take a picture one day to show yalls:) After that we have personal study for an hour then comp study for an hour and we pray ALL THE TIME! I kinda love it tho :) 

The next day we went to visit Sister S and her husband! they are the sweetest! They are lowkey hoarders so their house is hard to get around in but... We did some service for them but taking out a lot of trash and cleaning out the food in the RV that the rats ate. Awesome. Then, we shared a quick and sweet message. 

Since we can't go tracting we do a lot of Zoom calls and share messages that way. Usually just with members tho. My favorite zoom call so far has been with Brother Orange. He is pretty much the funniest person I have ever met. I honestly hope I will get to meet him in person one day and tell yalls all about it lol. We also try to connect with people through facebook but so far no success. BUT we do get to meet with a lot of members at their houses! We can't eat with them because that would require taking off our mask BUT it's still super nice to get to know the ward. They have all been so sweet!

Did I mention that we are spoiled??? At sister Schweigert's house she had a beautiful bush of hydrangeas and she asked if we wanted some.... ummm YES! 

Then we went to the church to get some better wifi to set up my phone and our ward was there carving pumpkins! We got to meet a lot of the leaders and the youth and they even gave us pumpkins and a carving kit! So nice! ALSO we went to visit another sister (we seriously visit like 3 families a day!) and they gave us a TOASTER OVEN and some Halloween decorations! like...what?? mission blessings! Not to mention that they bring us THEE BEST dinners ever! We seriously don't deserve this amazing ward! They are the best! 

Last thing! I invite all of you to read 1 Nephi 3:7 and to be strong and courageous like Nephi. This year has been hard for seriously everyone! But we can have comfort in knowing that God has prepared a way. We can go and do the things which the Lord commands with confidence because we know that God's got our backs. I love you all and SO DOES GOD!

Love,

Sister Anderson

MTC district! 

John Bytheway devotional!

Meeting Sister Roderer!

Fall in WA!

In front of our house with the flowers from Sister Schweigert!

Teaching the fam a lesson! 

The District!

Sister Bertasso!

Lake Ky! 

Courageously Following Gods Promptings

ALOHA!

This week went by WAY too fast! So sad that it was my last full week in the at home MTC :( I'm going to miss my district and my teachers so much. Tomorrow is the very last day that we will all be together as a district before people head out to the field:((

On Sunday I gave my farewell! I was so nervous! There was hardly anyone in the chapel but I was still lightheaded almost the whole time haha. For those who didn't get a chance to watch it, we have it recorded! I'll link it at the bottom. 

Today my companion and I got to watch a video from our very first TRC (teaching someone, usually an actor, over zoom) and it was so cringey!! ew! We have improved so much! The craziest part is... that video was only from 9 days ago! We have learned a lot and have WAY more effective teaching skills now (thank heavens!) I finally get to meet my companion in person in WA on Tuesday! I am so excited!!

The biggest take away I got from this week was to courageously follow God's promptings. There have been multiple times this week where I have felt prompted to do something and it ended up being a huge blessing and testimony builder! It has helped in many TRC lessons, district discussions, and even with friends. It is so amazing to be an instrument in God's hands! I would highly encourage you to pray to God for an experience where you too can be an instrument in his hands. 

I fly out on Tuesday so the next time you hear from me I'll be in WASHINGTON! So crazy that the day is almost here! I'm super nervous but also excited to start this new journey! I'll be having a little get together at my house this Sunday at 3 for those who would like to come say goodbye and wish me luck on this new chapter of life. 

Lastly, for those who haven't heard it in a while... God loves you! He cares so much about you and what you're going through! Reach out to him in prayer and pray for ways that you can better see his hand in your life! 

Love you all & I'll write to you again from WA!

Sister Anderson

Farewell Talk

Pday service project sanding & painting cabinet

Pday service project sanding & painting cabinet

The District! 

One Week in the At Home MTC!

 Hey y'all!

My first week of being a missionary has been so fun, new, exciting, and FUN. On Tuesday I was set apart as a full time missionary. It's so crazy that I'm finally a missionary! I've wanted to go on a mission since my older sister Jessica went on hers like five years ago! I had no idea I'd be serving in such a strange time but I'm so thankful that I can still have this opportunity. Wednesday I started the at home MTC. I was so nervous! To make things worse, right as I was about to introduce myself to the class my wifi went out! About 10 or 15 minutes later I was able to rejoin the class but everyone was gone! Luckily my teacher got back on and said that everyone was just on a break lol. 

My companion's name is Sister Bertasso! She is the best ever!! She is from Frisco Texas and I just love her! Her testimony is so strong, she is so smart, and is the sweetest person ever! It has been so fun getting to know her. 

COOL STORY. So in the MTC we have TRC's. Basically you just get to teach people (actors usually) about the gospel! Our first TRC didn't quite go to plan... We were both so nervous and the conversation wasn't at all going where we thought it would. Which is fine but we are so new at this and we weren't prepared to answer the questions she was asking lol. However, it was a really good learning experience! When we started to prepare for our second TRC we wanted to have back up plans. About 20 minutes before we started I had a feeling to look into the 2nd lesson, The Plan of Salvation. I hadn't even glanced at that chapter yet! But, I just pushed the thought aside and was ready to stick to mine and Sister Bertasso's original plan. Then, 5 minutes before we were supposed to sign into the zoom call, Sister Bertasso texted me "Quick thought: we might talk about the plan of salvation" right after I read that I opened my book and started going over that chapter. Here's the best part. She had questions about the plan of salvation!!! It was just what she needed to hear:) I'm 90% sure she was just an actor but it was so awesome that the spirit told both me and Sister Bertasso what we needed to teach her. The spirit was so strong and I really think the person we taught got a lot out of our lesson. Teaching is actually a lot of fun when you know what you're doing haha. 

Sorry to the other missionaries on this email list that are also in the MTC but.... I totally have the best district EVER! They are so funny and outgoing and just the sweetest people in the world! I, however, am the only one from Utah haha just about all of them are out by the East coast. One of the Elders in my district is from Oklahoma but he actually went to my high school for a semester! Totally weird that we would end up in the same MTC district! It's so amazing how the spirit can be felt even through virtual meetings. This experience has strengthened my testimony so much already. I learn about a million new things everyday and it's AWESOME! I love it!!! I love this gospel and all of you so much! I know that God loves each of you as well:) 

Love,

Sister Anderson

Lunch and church movie night with Hermana Snow and Hermana Fausett!

Grandma & Grandpa Beutler

With family after being set apart as a missionary

Virtual lunch with only some of the district :) 

Lunch and church movie night with Hermana Snow and Hermana Fausett!

 Sister Bertasso and I!