Feliz año Nuevo!

Helloooooo everyone! Happy New Year 2013!

Wow, weird for me. It doesn't feel at all like new year's because it's hot here and well just, different! I will be making lots of goals and plans. The more I learn, the more I realize I have a lot to improve on haha. Sometimes, especially in the mission, I feel overwhelmed with all I need to do and with all the many weaknesses I have- How am I going to improve on so many things? But, I am going to make just a couple small goals, that I will be able to keep. So that way I can truly improve in a couple areas and then make more goals after that. 

This week, my little daughter has been sick! She's been having problems with her blood pressure it seems... On and off. But Thursday it got really bad and she was really dizzy and felt like she was going to pass out. So we went home for awhile to rest... Friday she was good and we were out working, but then later on she felt bad again so we had to go back. Same thing Sunday. Ohhh patience. It's not that fun being in the house! Some things are good, like I get to catch up on journal-writing. But after about an hour of that I want to go out! Hna. Zapata feels bad and she wants to be working too, but we can only do the best we can... We can't quite figure out why her blood pressure is going down so much, sometimes it's before lunch, but sometimes it's right after, and so we don't know if it's because of eating or what the problem is. But we have an appointment with the doctor Thursday so hopefully we can get that figured out! 

This past week, I think I have eaten more chocolate than I ever have in my life. Ew. Everyyonnee gave us chocolate for Christmas. Everyone! Needless to say, one of my new years resolutions is to not buy any more sweets ever. Ha.

So, we have a couple new investigators that are really great. One is Johnathan. He is 19 and the boyfriend of a member here. He is a marine, so he travels a lot and isn't always here, but he's been to church 4 times and he has a fecha for January 19th! The problem is he doesn't live in our sector :(  so he will probably get baptized in his sector, he'll have to start meeting with the Elders over there. But that's okay, the important is that he gets baptized. Hopefully we can go.  :) 

Another investigator that is great is Vivianna. I don't remember if I already talked about her, but she has an 11 year old son who is dying. He has a brain tumor and it's not looking good. :(  We know the Gospel will bless her and help her through this hard time and through all her life. 

We're also teaching a girl named Carla. She's 8, and her mom died recently. This year, I don't know how many months ago. She has an older brother who is like 12 or so. He is a member, but she hasn't been baptized yet. They live with their grandparents here, and their grandma is a member and she is coming back to church now. So, we will help them out too this month. :)

We are still trying to see Patricia and Anibal, we've heard from them a little bit but not much. Everything has been crazy with the holidays, so hopefully this week things will be a little more normal. 

This week, I am going to continue with my ''lesson'' about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  :) 

First, a question. Have you ever wondered why there are so many christian churches in the world? If Christ established one church, why do we have so many today? Today I am going to talk about something that's called the Apostasy. An apostasy is a time without a prophet, without the authority of God, and without his church on the earth. Apostasies happened various times in the history of the Bible, especially the Old Testament (see Amos 8:11-12), and one happened again after the life of Jesus Christ. Once Christ and his apostles were killed, there wasn't anyone left on the earth that had that Priesthood authority that is so important. Many people wanted to follow Christ, but through the passing of time, many of the doctrines that Christ established were lost or changed. Anyone who reads the Bible can see this is evident. Galatians 1:6-7 says, ''I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.''  While Paul, an apostle, was still alive, there was already this problem of people changing the gospel of Christ. Many people, years down the road, tried to reform the churches, because they knew it wasn't the way Christ established it. For that reason, there are so many churches today. People with good intentions trying to find the truth, trying to do their best. But we read in the Bible that there is ''One Lord, one faith, one baptism'' (Ephesians 4:5). That means, ONE church of Jesus Christ, like He established it more than 2,000 years ago. But this church, clearly, was lost over time, as the prophets had declared it would be. Sad, right? Confusing, right? But as I always say, God wants us to be HAPPY!  And He doesn't want us to be confused. Next week, I will continue with the Restoration and hopefully help answer some of these very important questions. :)  

Wellllll anyway, time to go! Have a fabulous day and fabulous new years eve!! Be safe everyone, remember 2012 and let's have a great 2013! 

LOVE YOU ALL.

Hermana Danielle Anderton

Hola!!! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

It doesn't really feel like Christmas down here, which is kind of a bummer but probably a good thing, because if it did, I would miss you all a lot more I think! Don't get me wrong, I do miss you, but, I'm just busy with a lot of things here so I don't have too much time to think about it. :) We are doing well, we had a good week. Christmas conference and singing in the school which was a really cool experience. I love the singing and the focus on the Savior... We really should remember Him all the time, not just at Christmastime.

Our investigators.. Have not been progressing so much lately. :( So that's been hard. But we are not giving up. We're praying for them and doing what we can to keep in contact with them. Also, we are continuing to find new investigators. One good one that we found a couple weeks ago is Felipe. He's 23 and more curious than anything else. He came to church yesterday, and really liked it. Then afterward he told us that his family is 7th Day Adventist and that he was going to keep going to that church with his family, and that he didn't want to dissappoint us but that he did like church. Well we talked for a bit and reminded him of the importance of following the direction he receives from God when he prays. We also invited him to invite his family to church, so they could experience it too! Of course we would love for everyone to see what it's like and be able to feel the Spirit and learn more. We'll be seeing him again this week so hopefully he keeps progressing! We saw Patricia for the first time in 2 weeks. We had called her a few times but she never answered, and we passed by her house once or twice too. I was getting really sad for a bit! But then we were out walking and she drove by! She was so excited to see us as we were to see her. Turns out we were calling the wrong number, and that's why she hadn't answered. She said she thought we had forgotten about her, and when were we going to come over? Yay! So we put a time to come by but then it didn't work out. Sooo, we are gonna wait until after the holiday because everyone is crazy busy, but we will try again with her. We are teaching this other great family and a few more people, this girl Carolina who is 15 and living with her grandma and uncle here. She went to church a couple weeks ago and really liked it, and said she wants to get baptized! We gave her a baptism date for January 12th and she accepted. The problem isss she went back to where her parents live and we don't know when she's coming back. Darn. She said she was going to live here for awhile, but she misses her family. So, who knows if she will come back. Hope so! So yeah, we have a few other investigators but I will update you more on them when they start progressing more...

I heard Holly Starr got engaged! Wooooo Holly! I miss you girl! Congratulations. Um, if you can wait til May to get married, I would really appreciate it! I want to be there!!!!!! But if not, I understand.... But really. May isn't that far away. :)

I MISS THE TEMPLE! My companion just went like 4 weeks ago, I am so jealous. She talks about the temple and I miss it so much! But, like I said, May isn't that far away and I will go again soon!!! But I am also freaking out a bit because people keep telling me things like I have no time left in the mission and it's almost over. And I'm just like ''nooooooooo!'' You could say I'm in denial.

Okay, this week: Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ Part 2.

So I talked about our Heavenly Father, about His plan, and about Prophets. This week will be focused on Jesus Christ, His ministry and Atonement. So we all know that Christ came to the world as the son of God, born unto Mary. He lived a truly perfect life, the only person in the history of the world who was able to do so. Everything He did, He did for us. He showed us His perfect example. He was baptized by someone with the authority of God (John the Baptist). He established His church- calling apostles and prophets and teachers (Ephesians 4:11-14), giving His apostles the Priesthood authority so they could teach the gospel and perform ordinances like baptism (Matthew 10:1). He healed the sick, loved, helped, served, taught, obeyed. Most importantly, He performed the Atonement, which I talked about in an email a couple weeks ago. He, miraculously, took upon Himself all of our sins, also our weaknesses, sicknesses, temptations, everything. He did this so we could be forgiven, so we could be happy, so we could live again after this life.

Let us all remember Him this Christmas season, and always. ''I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life'' -John 8:12.

I love my Savior Jesus Christ, and I know he lives!

Have a WONDERFUL Christmas, I'll be there for the next one!!!!

Love and light,

Hermana Anderton

                            Hermana Zapata and I Thursday when we sang at the school :)

                                              Catalina's baptism  12/16/12

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Holaaa

Hi!!

This week was alright, not as good as the last one but not bad... Catalina got baptized!! Wooo!! She is so cute, and was sooo happy. I forgot my camera at home so I will have to send photos next week.

Hermana Zapata and I are doing well. Last week I realized she like didn't talk hardly at all when we were out in the streets. And it was hard for me, I would try to make conversation and she'd like answer the question and then silence. I would try again and then she would answer and then nothing else. I was like uhh do you hate me? Haha. So I was worried about that for like 2 days but trying not to worry too much. Then finally I brought it up and she apologized and said she is just like that, quiet. She told me lots of stuff about her family and her childhood, etc, that she never talked with her family much and never felt like they wanted to listen either. So she is really closed off and doesn't talk that much. But she assured me that she likes me haha. Buttttt just the next day she opened up to me a lot! We now talk and laugh and have conversations and enjoy our time more. Sooo, yay. I am happy for that. I was worried it was gonna be a long 10 more weeks with her without talking! But yeah she's opening up to me already and things are better.  :) 

We are singing in 3 different choirs this Christmas season! One with the ward (which we presented yesterday at a stake activity), one with the zone of missionaries in the Christmas conference we're having tomorrow, and another choir that President Martinez chose to go to sing at a school! That will be Thursday. So, needless to say, lots of practicing. But it is fun, I forgot how much I like singing in a choir. :)  Yay Christmas!!

The people here are funny.. They are convinced the world is going to end on the 21st. Ohh geez. Three days of darkness and no communications... Ha. We shall see, I GUESS, but we all know that when Christ comes no one is going to know! It will come as surprise, so, whenever someone tells you the world is going to end/ it's the second coming, don't worry because we won't know the date. But family, if the world does end... Sadly I gues I will not be skyping you for Christmas! But weee I am so excited to see you both!!! One more week!!!!!! :)

Okay, this week, I wanted to talk about the message that is so important to my calling as a missionary and to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is what makes our church different than all the rest, and it is super awesome! It's called the Restoration. It is pretty simple, really, but I am going to explain it in the next few weeks so that way everyone understands. :)  But basically, we teach (and testify) that Jesus Christ established His church when He was here on the earth, that it was lost for many years, but it has been ''restored,'' or brought back again in these days.

The Restoration: Part 1.
It all starts with the knowledge that God is our loving Heavenly Father. We are His children. We lived with Him before coming to earth. He has a great plan for us, which we all decided we would follow. He gave us the Gospel, or the teachings of Christ (what I spent 5 weeks explaining- faith, repentance, baptism, the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end) to help us in our earth life. Life is hard, we all know it! But with the Gospel we can have a better perspective, have hope, know our purpose in life, and have happiness. To teach us this gospel, or plan, God has always called prophets. A prophet is a man, called of God, with His authority, who communicates directly with God and then communicates with us, here on earth. Of course we have the Bible, of course we have prayer, but as well, Heavenly Father wanted us to have a Prophet. He helps us to know what we need to do and how we can find peace. They also testify of Christ. You are probably familiar with prophets in the Bible, such as Noah, Abraham, and Moses. There are many more in the Bible, and also in the Book of Mormon. But basically Prophets are really important and I am glad that Heavenly Father has given us one always to help us!

Well, this week will be full of events for me! Tomorrow conference, Thursday singing at the school, and of course working doing what I love, and looking forward to calling my two favorite people that I love so much next Monday. :)  Hope you all have a great week, and enjoy lots of crazy Christmas shopping for me and listen to the radio station that plays Christmas music 24/7 haha.

LOVE!!
Hna. Anderton

Proud Mommy

Well, I have my lovely little hija (daughter), and her name is Hermana Zapata! She is 23 and from Buenos Aires, Argentina. And she is great! She's not afraid to talk to the people and to teach and everything. She is already a great missionary and I am happy to be training her! We had a good week this past week. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we got into lots of houses and found lots of new investigators. Friday and Saturday were a little slower, but at least it wasn't like that the whole week. I would've felt bad. Some days or weeks are just slower than others, but you keep working regardless! So yep, we are doing well.  :)

We saw Anibal the other day, and he told us why he didn't like church that much the last week... He went to church on a fast and testimony sunday for the second time. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying but doesn't feel like he's gotten his answer yet. So to go to church and hear everyone talk about how they know this is true, and he still doesn't.. is kinda frustrating for him. Patricia didn't come to church and so her fecha for December 22nd fell through.  :(  Sad. She says she feels the Spirit more when we teach her in her house than she does when she goes to church. Grr. But, that is okay. When she goes more she will start liking it more, I am sure. It can be different the first time, maybe not what she was used to or expecting. But, we have an appointment with her tonight so we will see how she is doing!  Like I said we have found a bunch of new investigators, so we are going to start working more with them and hopefully this will be another great week!

Oh yeah, and I checked up on Dalila, the daughter of Domitila in Caupolican my first sector, and she is doing well also.  :)

ANNIE!! Is getting married on Saturday. That. Is. Crazy!! Anns, Love you tons. So sad I can't be there, but so happy for you and Russ. I hope you have a wonderful day and that you don't forget about your honorary bridesmaid down here in Chile.  :)

Catalina is getting baptized on Sunday!! She is so cute and WAY excited. Pictures next week!!  :)

Well this week I wanted to talk about the thing that is the most important in EVERYTHING that we teach, live, do, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Atonement. Joseph Smith said that every other doctrine or practice in the church is only ''an appendage'' to it. The word atone means to reconcile or restore to harmony. The Atonement is the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. He paid the price for all our sins, and only through His perfect sacrifice can we be forgiven of our sins and one day dwell in the presence of God. There are maaaannny scriptures and many things I could share. A study of the Atonement should be a study of our whole lives... But there is one scripture that I love that I would love to share today. It is found in the Book of Mormon. ''Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise'' -2 Nephi 2:8. 

I know that this is true, that the Atonement is real, that we can be forgiven of our mistakes and we can be HAPPY! God loves us, every one of us! 

I love you all, I hope you have a wonderful week. Family- SKYPE 2 weeks!!

Hermana Anderton

Two quotes that spiced up my week.

1. ''Hermana... I think there's something in our room.'' 

2. ''Hermana Anderton, the Lord has called you to be a trainer.''

!!!!

Okay, #1. Thursday, 6:02am. Obviously, sleeping. I wake up hearing something that sounds like paper crinkling, wasn't quite sure what it was but I didn't want to acknowledge the fact that it was probably not gonna be fun. So, I thought in my half-asleep state, ''maybe it's Hermana Barbosa... or maybe it's me...''  And then the quote by my companion, ''Hermana, I think there's something in our room!'' I said, ''I think you're right!'' We turned on the light, freaking out. There was DEFINITELY something in our room. Under my bed. A rat, most likely. Ew!!!! We never actually saw it, we were too scared to look haha, but we are basically positive it was a rat. We could hear it. Ew ew ew ew ew. Ew. So, of course at 6:10am we called our district leader, who didn't do much, but told us to call back if we needed more help. Then we called our zone leaders who live close to us, and the Elder told us we could pray. Yeah. I hung up on him. Haha, to give him the benefit of the doubt, he was sleeping and probably had no idea what we were talking about as we were like hysterically laughing and crying and standing on our beds wondering what to do. Haha. Well district leader called back and told us they were coming. Thank youuu. So they came and we went out to meet them, when we came back to the house the thing under my bed was gone, they couldn't find anything. UGH. Well, we talked to the assistants and they told us to look for a new house, because well, ours was super lame. And also they told us that in February they are putting 2 more Hermanas in our sector so we would need a bigger house anyway. Soooooo starting the house search for the third time in my mission... Didn't take long though. Bishop told us about Hermana Beatrice, who is this really sweet hermana in the ward. The missionaries lived in the house behind hers a few years ago, but they moved out when Elders came because her husband didn't want them to live there. She accepted immediately and went to work right away to clean up the house and paint and prepare it for us. So, we are there now. We have been soo tired this week, from moving and trying to organize and trying to work also, needless to say, I've been a little stressed. Especially because, as you all read from quote #2... I am going to train this cambio!!

So, I was extra stressed because my poor hija (daughter) was gonna come to the sector and we're like in the middle of moving because our house is infested. Haha but yeah we are basically all moved in. But yeah!! The assistants called me on Friday and Elder Tavernier asked me, ''Has President called you about your cambio yet?'' I said no, and then started freaking out because I was like, oh my gosh what am I going to do that President is going to call me!!?  And then he said no don't worry... ''Hermana Anderton, the Lord has called you to be a trainer in Independencia.'' Wooo!!  Ahhh I'm excited! But nervous!! There are 5 Hermanas coming this transfer, all are Latinas! Yay, another Latin comp it's about time! I've only had one! There are 2 from Peru, 2 from Argentina, and 1 from El Salvador. One, I found out, is like 37 ha! That would definitely be a different experience, if I were to train her. It would probably be weird! But I don't even care, I will love her no matter what. Tomorrow, I will be going to the Mission Home and picking her up! :)  Next week I shall let you know all about her!

I am super excited to stay in Independencia. It's a GREAT sector and ward. Happy also because the weather here is super mild, since it's close to the beach. It's not gonna be super hot this summer which is awesome. Oh yeah, with training, it is 2 cambios long so I basically know my next two cambios. Obviously things can always change but more likely than not I will be staying here until the end of February. :)  

In other news, my mom, Hermana Hamblin, has been called to be a Hermana that travels to teach and train and do exchanges with the other hermanas in the mission! She is like an Assistant of sorts. She is so great. This is her last transfer, she leaves in January and she will be finishing strong with her companion from the MTC, Hermana Oliver. They are great!

This week is the last ''step'' of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: endure to the end. This is probably the hardest and most involved step, as it really involves lots of things. Basically, once we have faith and repent, are baptized and receive the Holy Ghost, we need to continue doing those things for the rest of our lives. Preach my Gospel says, ''These are not just steps we experience once in our lives; rather, when repeated throughout life these principles become and incredibly rewarding pattern of living.'' This is true. I have seen that in my own life, that as I continue faithful in the Gospel it just gets better and better! There is a quote I found by President Monson, it says, ''We live in a troubled world, a world of many challenges. We are here on this earth to deal with our individual challenges to the best of our ability, to learn from them, and to overcome them. Endure to the end we must, for our goal is eternal life in the presence of our Father in Heaven. He loves us and wants nothing more than for us to succeed in this goal. He will help us and bless us as we call upon Him in our prayers, as we study His words, and as we obey His commandments. Therein is found safety; therein is found peace.''  If we don't endure to the end, what we have done in the beginning and middle don't mean much. I want to close with one of my favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon. It says, ''Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: ye shall have eternal life'' (2 Nephi 31:20).  I love this Gospel. I know it is true. As we live it, we can be truly happy. Endure to the end, friends and family. Remember our trials are to help us grow and learn. Keep going, don't give up! 

Love you all. Please pray for me this week as I bring a little baby missionary into the world!! Haha!

Un abrazo,

Hermana Anderton  :)