P-day March 1

My dearly beloved family and friends!

Hellooo! This week was another long one! I swear, this is the longest cambio of my LIFE!! It has seriously crawwwleedd by, but it is almost over. One more week. Don't get me wrong, we are happy here and doing well. I'm just ready for a change. Hermana Zapata this week has been in better spirits. More determined to get better and be positive. So that has made this week better than recent ones. We also had a conference and those are always great! So this cambio has been so long, but the next one is going to be way short- only 4 weeks! I don't exactly know why, but something changed and we had to cut two weeks off the mission. Soooo, I have this next 4-week cambio and then my LAST one which will be the normal 6 weeks. So, yep, you guessed it- (if you don't already know) I will be coming home 2 weeks earlier than my anticipated May 21st return date. May 7th. Crazy how soon that is!

Next Monday, we DON'T have P-day. So, you're all gonna have to wait until next Friday, March 1st to hear what my cambio is! If I left, got a new companion, etc. We are having a huge activity with the WHOOLE mission Friday March 1st, we are all going to get together (all 200 of us, which hardly ever ever happens) and just have a day off to have fun. :) So instead of having P-day Monday and then another day off Friday, we're gonna have a normal day Monday the 25th, transfers Tuesday the 26th, and Friday the 1st the activity and also the P-day stuff like writing home and grocery shopping. And then the next Monday, March 4th, we will have P-day again. Just so ya know!

Wow, I have like little or nothing to say, how lame.

I can tell a story that's a few weeks old that I haven't shared yet...

There is this little shop that this couple has in their house, they sell like everything- jewelry, paper stuff, pens, school supplies, candy, etc, etc. With Hermana Barbosa we went by a couple times I think to make photocopies and buy little things we needed. We also got to know the owners a bit. They are named Jeannette and Rene. They are married and are super nice, they have two kids also. Well we passed by a few times and talked with them, they are religious and believe in God but don't go to any church. We always tried to get into their house to teach them, but they always said that they couldn't because the store and they were busy and stuff, but they always were really nice and talked to us in their store. Well one day I felt like I should give Rene (the husband) a pass along card with the family on it. There is a DVD that you can call to receive it's called ''Together Forever'' and it talks about the family, our purpoe on earth, that the families can be eternal, that we are children of God. Lots of stuff like that. Well I told him to call the phone number but I wasn't sure if it worked cause the cards are kinda old. :P So he said he was interested and would call. Well, a couple weeks went by and one day we were in their area with Hermana Zapata, and I saw Rene outside and I said hi and we kept walking to the appointment we were going to. But I felt impressed to ask him if he'd called for the DVD. So I turned around and asked him and he said he called but that no one picked up. So, I said okay I will get you your DVD and bring it by. So we went to the office, I got one, and we brought it by. Next time we passed by their store, he said they had watched it and really loved it. THEN finally they let us in! So we taught him and his wife and got to know them better. They are really great people. They've been having some marriage problems lately they told us, but watching the video really helped them! They watched it more than once and they loved it. While we were teaching them, they told us they were skeptical of us because they didn't know much about ''The Mormons'' and didn't know what to expect or if they should let us in their house. But that while we were there, they felt very comfortable, they felt like we've known each other for years and they felt something special (it's called the Spirit!). So, it was awesome. :) Rene said he prayed and feels like Heavenly Father told him to keep receiving us. Woo hoo! We haven't been able to teach them too much, because well you know, we don't leave that much because my companion is sick and also they are busy with the store. But we know that whenever we can put an appointment with them, they are willing to receive us. I LOVE it when the Spirit prompts me to do things and I don't even realize it! That has happened various times on my mission, and it is a great blessing. :)

Aileen is still out of town, and we saw Berny this week but someone in her family passed away so we only got to teach her one time because after that everything has been busy and such. Carla went out of town, but we are going to pass by tonight and we think everything should be fine for her baptism this weekend. :)

I'm super anxious for cambios, because if I leave, it will probably be my last sector!!! And if I stay, I'll probably stay til the end. We shall see!!

Love you all, mucho mucho!! Have a fabulous week. Thank you for all your love and support! :)

Un gran abrazo,

Hermana Danielle Anderton

Hey everyone,

I would love to be able to tell you I have lots of news. But, I don't. :( Hna. Zapata is still sick, if anything she's doing worse. Poor thing. We went to the Doc Friday but of course we have to go back again for them to tell her what the results are. We shall see if it really is a problem with her ears or if it is all mental, which is what we're thinking now more than anything... That she misses home and the mission isn't what she expected it would be, and so she's so stressed or something that she's causing her own health problems. :( I didn't really believe in that before, but now I am seeing the HUGE difference that our attitude makes on our lives. Our happiness, health, energy, everything. So, we'll see.. It's really a bummer. I feel sad for her. That I haven't been able to help her love the mission. But I am trying not to be too hard on myself, I need to remember that I can only do my best, but SHE needs to decide the attitude she's going to have and what she's going to make of her mission. I hope to be able to help her decide to stay and help her get better. We'll see how it goes.

I went out on divisions Tuesday. Two great sisters in the ward helped us out. We were able to find a new investigator and do a couple other visits, but nothing too exciting. It was good to get out and work a bit. My comp. doesn't really like it because she doesn't like to inconvenience the other members when she has to stay in their house. But she is a good sport. We went out together for a couple hours Friday, so that was nice! But she just gets really dizzy and her head hurts a lot so we only did a little bit. The Elders were great and came and worked in our sector for 2-3 hours Wednesday. They found lots of new investigators that we can go back and teach when we are able to. So that's good news! (For whenever it is that we can go out again!)

Some other good news is that I got 3 packages and 2 letters the other day! Woooo, thanks family and friends! Love y'all. :) One of my letters though... was... MY TRUNKY LETTER!! Noooooo!!! For those of you who don't know, ''trunky'' is a missionary word. Back in the day, people used big trunks for their stuff, instead of suitcases. So when a missionary was wanting to go home or missing home or anything like that, they called him or her ''trunky.'' Well, I'm not trunky, don't you worry. But they do send out a letter when you have only 3 months left in the mission and they call it ''The Trunky Letter.'' They have you confirm your home address, airport, Bishop's address, etc... And then... they make your flight plans. Boooooo. :(

All the other packages and letters, I enjoyed though! Thanks!

This week I wanted to close with a scripture from the Bible that I have been memorizing and applying to myself lately. It says, ''And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.'' -2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

So, here I am, with difficulties and distresses and trials. Grateful for the gospel in my life and grateful to have the help of the Lord to deal with the trials I face. When I pray, I feel the Spirit tell me it's going to be okay, help me be patient, and help me have more love for my companion.

2 weeks til cambios- we'll see what happens!

Have a great semana, and remember- Choose the right!

Love love love,

Hermana A.

Hello my lovely family and friends.

My MOMMY got a job and I am so happy!

My companion is still sick, not much new there. But she has an appointment this Friday (finally) with an ear doctor who is going to do some sort of study on her ears to see if its her inner ear that's causing all these problems. She's pretty sure it's not, that it's something with her head, but Hermana Martinez wants to make sure that it's not from her ears first before we go to other doctors. If it turns out that her ears are fine, we'll probably go to a neurologist next. Trying not to go crazy here in the hosue!

This week, various ladies from our ward are gonna go out to work with me! Woo! They are great, the members here. They are excited, and me too, but also kinda nervous. I don't like going out without my companion. But it will be okay. I am excited to be able to get out and visit some people and share the gospel! Woooo!! Tuesday and Thursday I'll be going out with them. The Elders from our District are also coming to our sector to do an ''attack'' Wednesday. Meaning: everyone's coming here to knock doors, find new investigators, visit people for us, etc. So, this week should be good!

Some good news this week: We put a fecha (baptism date) with little Carla! She's the one whose mom died a bit ago, and she's living with her grandparents here in our sector now... She is 8, so it will be a baptism for the ward, but we are still helping prepare her for her baptism, February 23rd. She is so cute. So that will be fun to finish the transfer with a baptism. :)

Alsoo, Aileen came to church yesterday!! Woooo!!! Wednesday morning we went to visit her, and asked her how work was going. She was like, ''Good, I quit.'' Haha. She didn't like it that much and her co-workers weren't that nice to her she said, so she's looking for a new job now. Right after she told us that she was like, ''So I'll be able to come to church on Sundays now!'' We were like ohhh yes you willl! Haha we were so happy. She came yesterday and it was really good. She liked it. We're gonna go see her tomorrow I think and see if she has any questions and find out more about what she thought. She is really good, and truly wants to follow the Lord. So, if she feels like this is the truth she will get baptized. Hoping she gets her answer and can keep progressing! :)

Berny didn't come this week, she's having some problems with her family but we did see her and she told us to come by this week so we will hopefully help her and motivate her to come to church again this Sunday.

In other news, I think I'm addicted to the Ensign (the Church magazine). Especially the General Conference talks. Ahhh, I read those all day practically! For those who are not members of the church, General Conference is a meeting for the whole world, that happens every 6 months (in April and October). The prophet and the 12 Apostles and other church leaders speak to us. Their remarks are broadcast to the whole world, and then printed in the magazine so we can re-read them and study them. And let me just tell you, they are amazing. I often find myself crying as I read them; their stories, experiences, and testimony and the way they apply the gospel to our lives today is just amazing. I highly recommend you look at this site, and read some of the talks! http://www.lds.org/general-conference/conferences?lang=eng

From President Monson at the end of October's conference, a quote I loved: ''Let us be of good cheer as we go about our lives. Although we live in increasingly perilous times, the Lord loves us and is mindful of us. He is always on our side as we do what is right. He will help us in time of need. Difficulties come into our lives, problems we do not anticipate and which we would never choose. None of us is immune. The purpose of mortality is to learn and to grow to be more like our Father, and it is often during the difficult times that we learn the most, as painful as the lessons may be. Our lives can also be filled with joy as we follow the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ.''

I am going to do my best to endure this trial well. To love and serve my companion and to learn more patience. To do the best I can and be cheerful! I hope you all will do the same this week, whatever your circumstances may be. Let us always be grateful for the blessings we have in our lives, and try our very best to be better people each day. :)

Love you all. Have a fabulous week!!

Hermana Danielle Marie Anderton