Week 7

Familia y Amigos,                                                                                                                  8/27/2012

This past week has been pretty nuts but I have grown a lot as a Missionary. Transfers were this last Tuesday and so I finally got to meet my new companion Elder Ellsworth. He is a pretty cool kid but he and I are complete opposites. Our only thing in common is that we are missionaries. He is super quiet as well and so we always have this weird, awkward silence. I speak to him only in Spanish and he seems to open up a little more because he likes helping me with my grammar. I have been super stressed out though. I am only 7 weeks out and I am the Senior Companion in my area. I have no idea what to do because Ellsworth just kinda goes with the flow. So I lead off all the lessons and teach the majority of the time because he doesn't like to talk. At least my teaching skills have really improved. But yeah, I have been super stressed but the Lord has really helped me gain confidence and this next week I think I will be a lot more comfortable. All in all Elder Ellsworth is a great missionary that will hopefully teach me a lot. President thinks pretty highly of him so that helps as well.

This week, up in a small town called Alice, the gang "Latin Kings" and the drug cartel "Los Zetas" have declared war on each other. I guess that some Latin king got shot and so yeah its getting pretty crazy over there. There are a pair of Alice elders that have been moved and are now living with us while all of this is going on. Its been a lot of fun having them here. The Latin Kings are starting to move over into Kingsville. They like us though. One even bought us a Whataburger haha, but also one drove up and demanded my watch, idk why but yeah I am now watch-less haha. I was scared out of my mind, I was with Elder Hunt at the time and he tried teaching the dude while he was mugging me haha. But yeah we are pretty tight with the gang and they even offered us protection as long as we don't teach them haha.

The Brodnax family got baptized this week!!!! So awesome. It was cool to see an entire family get baptized. The lame thing was is that they moved across the street so they were in the other elders area so they counted as their baptisms. Anyways it was an awesome day for the ward and I think everyone is getting pretty excited about missionary work.

So about the broken wrist, Elder Porter and I were moving in a new family and we were carrying this huge dresser. It was crazy heavy and I thought some of the screws in my shoulder where going to pop out haha. Anyways Elder Porter tripped and dropped the dresser and it fell right on my wrist. Its not a bad fracture and so I wont be in a cast too long. Pues esta todo bien :)

Thank you for all your letters and letting me know what is going on in your lives :) Love you all so much

con amor

Elder Sanderson

McAllen Texas Mission

Pictures

Elder Porter and I with the Yuratis Family (Luke, Amanda, and Bella)

The Flores family that we have been working with. They all want to get baptized so bad so within the next few weeks : ) They all love coming to church too so its super awesome.

This is Cindy, she is one of our Recent Converts and loves doing missionary work. She has helped us get 3 of her nephews (Jack, Roel, and Lupito) and her mother (Isabella) and her aunt (Ofelia) to all accept baptism.

This is me dominating at RISK. I'm blue, Elder Porter is black, and Elder Hunt is Yellow.

Sorry we didn't have a pic of me and Luke in white. We totally forgot so we are going to stage one sometime haha. 

Week 6

Familia y todos que quiere leer,                                                                                         8/20/2012                                                                                                    

So a lot has been going on down here in the great Texas McAllen Mission! Its actually starting to cool off quite a bit so it makes being outside a lot more tolerable. Sounds like everyones' mission farewells went awesome! So wish that I could have been there to hear my buddies speak. They sound like they have changed a lot and I know they will all make great Missionaries.

So here in Santa Gertrudis I got to experience my first convert baptism! So legit! Ya we had other baptisms before that, but Lucas was the first one that I had found, taught, and eventually got to baptize so it was super amazing. A ton of the ward members even came so that was amazing and the family was super grateful for the support. After the baptism while Luke and I were changing back in to church clothes, there was a pretty long silence and then out of no where he yells, "Man I feel good!" haha coolest thing ever. He was so excited to get baptized. It was sorta sad though because his family was super against it and absolutely none of them even showed up to support him. He is so solid though and cannot wait till next Sunday so he can receive the Holy Ghost. Love this family so much!

The only damper on the day is that the Broadnax family did not get baptized. Parker and Paula had a huge fight which eventually led to Parker breaking the Word of Wisdom and he smoked. Super sad day to hear about that though because they are such an awesome family. So they are going to wait a few weeks maybe to get baptized. President Trayer called me and said that they need to read at least 30 pages in the Book of Mormon to get interviewed for baptism again. They have strong testimonies and are super dedicated to getting baptized. Hopefully every thing works out.

So a quick update on the companion status. Elder Porter is the new Sinton Zone Leader so he is still in my zone so that is super awesome. He will have to come on splits with me a lot so I will still get to see him. My new companion is Elder Ellsworth. President called me and said that Elder Ellsworth is very quiet so I am going to have to lead off the lessons. Pretty nervous for that but it will really improve my teaching skills so that will be legit.

Thank you so much for all the love and support :) Please tell grandma and grandpa Walton that i love the ties. Ellos son tan bueno, y sombroso, no cierto? (they are so great and awesome). To answer the questions from Dad. Yes the members have just caught fire with missionary work. When I got here we had about 56 active members and now we are around 174! They chapel is super packed all the time now. I get fed a lot so don't worry about that. I haven't gained any weight here yet. Elder Hunt and I share food and we usually eat pretty healthy so all is well :) love you all so much!

con amor 

Elder Sanderson

Texas McAllen Mission

p.s. Sister Trayner might sent you an email or call you. I fractured my right wrist doing some service and so I am in a soft cast for a few weeks. Maybe she already told you, haha but anyways its all good.

Pictures

Not sure why I got some weird hip flare thingy going on here. The ship behind us is the Lexington which is a retired air craft carrier.

Elder Hunt and I

Some Dolphins

Me and lots of fishies

This Giant Hermit Crab

More Hermit Crab

 Elder Porter and I after doing some service for this woman whose house burnt down...sad day.

Pictures

My Pet Lizard 

More Lizard

My Future Car

A prime example of how Texas has to put its name on everything and anything.

Week 5

Familia y amigos,                                                                                                                       8/13/2012

Sorry that it has been a while since I last wrote. Last week a Recent Convert named Stan took us up to Corpus Christi on P-day so I never really got time to write an email, so hopefully this one does not disappoint.

Corpus Christi was super fun! Definitely want to go back and visit that place when I get the chance. We went to the Texas State Aquarium and it was pretty neat. They had a lot of areas where you could interact with the animals there. I got to pet sharks, sting rays, dolphins, and even build a home for this hermit crab. Corpus Christi is super humid so I almost died out in the sun. We then went souvenir shopping in this little shack that one of our members owns. She's awesome and gave us some sweet stuff. So once I get the chance I will be sure to send some of the things we got. We then went to the first ever Whataburger. Whataburger I think is the Southern impersonation of In-and-Out burger. Its pretty good but I'll take a double-double animal style any day. So I'll definitely send some pictures of my trip.

So more on the missionary side of things, Santa Gertrudis is on fire haha. This next Sunday we are baptizing 5 and I am so stoked. The Broadnax family just moved into the area a few weeks ago, they were super prepared and it will be nice to see them make this act of faith. The other is an investigator we have been working with since I have arrived here. His name is Lucas and is the coolest man ever! Luke is so faithful to the Gospel he even quit his job and found a new one so that he could have Monday nights off for FHE! What a saint haha. Usually we try to get members of the ward to baptize the new converts so they have a fellow shipper, but Luke really wants me to. So nervous but so stoked at the same time. I will definitely have some pictures for you next week.

Found out some bummer news though this week. Elder Porter has been called to be a Zone Leader and so can no longer be my trainer. It sucks because we finally were getting into a good rhythm, the members love us and trust us with their best friends, and we have some baptisms lined up that he wont be here for. He has been super down about it, there is a chance that he could get called to the Sinton Zone of Corpus Christi Zone so that he could still attend the baptisms. Hopefully it all works out and I don't get a lame companion haha. Most missionaries here are pretty awesome, but there is always a few that turn into robots because they forget to still be themselves.

So that's whats been going on here in good ol' South Texas. Hope everything is wonderful at home :) Love you all so much and thanks for the love and support you show me. Have a wonderful week!

¡Con un fuerte abrazo y mucho amor y éxito!

Elder Sanderson

Texas McAllen Mission

Week 4

Familia y amigos,                                                                                                                         8/6/2012

Sorry this is going to be a very brief letter. We had a recent convert named Stan take us up to Corpus Christi today to the aquarium up there. So I am a little short on time so next week I will have to give you an update on what has been goingon. Love you all so much : )

con amor,

Elder Sanderson
Texas McAllen Mission