A great week!!! Oct 22, 2012

Hi Yall

Well this week was great! Monday we went on an exchange and I went with one of the zoneleaders to their area in Cahaba Heights.   I was there. Tuesday was my birthday! Thank you to all of yall that sent me a letter and/or a package! Your awsome!!! :) We went to lunch and after we were almost  done eating,  this lady and her son came up to us and said,  hey we are members too and just wanted to say hello and we hope yall have a good day. So we thought  that was nice of her to come say hello! The waitress came back  10 mins later and said didn't that lady tell you she paid for yalls meals? That was so nice of her!!!! Later that night we went  to a members for dinner and help decorate their house with Halloween stuff (P man I was thinking of you) We then exchanged back that morning! Wednesday we had some great lessons with some recent converts and investigators.  Thursday we were BLESSED! We had district meeting in the morning and that was great! We then went to an appointment that fell through :( (keep in mind we are on bikes!) then from there we went to so service and help a lady move.  That also fell threw.   So we thought man,  this day is not working out!  We felt a bit down and not sure what to do. So we decided to get on the bus to ride around and I was getting so motion sick because they are so bad at driving! I I then had a thought come to my mind and we were right where we needed to be to make it happen,  so we got off the bus and walked to this guys house that we had talked to and his mom answered the door.   We talked to her for a little bit and I got another thought.   I know it was the holy ghost working through us! I asked her,  well since your son isn't here,  could we read something with you? She accepted. We sat down with her and at first we just talked a little.   She then opened up and said,  I have had a very rough week.... and so Elder Larsen and I both went to the Book of Mormon.   I went to Ether 12:27 he went to Mosiah 24:13-14.   She teared up and said those are so powerful.... I know yall were sent by God I was thinking about taking my life and yall showed up.   Thank you so much.. It was so great to follow the spirit! Then as we left we decided to start walking towards home because it was a pretty far walk.   We wondered which way to go on the road and  felt  the need to CHOOSE THE RIGHT haha so we went right and we ended up running into the investigators that appointment fell through, so we were able to see them and talk with them.   After we were finished talking with them,  some lady came up to us crying and said we need you in our lives please! She was from a part member family.   We had received a text earlier that day from our zone leaders that said we would  will find someone to set a baptism date with today.  Just have faith and let the Lord guide you. So as we were talking with her,  I felt the need to ask her why she wasn't a member.  After talking to her for a bit we ask her to be baptized on Nov 18th and she said yes! Then we started on our way home again and some guy came up to us said he always wanted a Book of Mormon.   It was great!

 Well love yall and have a good week!

Elder Gentry Anderson

seriously... 18 years old to serve

Family and friends! are you SERIOUS 18 for the youngmen to serve! That’s AWSOME! This week went well we didn’t find new people to teach but we have been trying to get use to the bus! (man, it’s tough when they don’t come on time and break down) (they are trying to cut back, so they took some of our cars away and gave us a bus pass) but we do get to talk to a lot of people. We were on the bus one day and a lady looked at us as we were jamed packed in the bus and said, have y’all ever done anything bad before? and we were like umm.. bad as in what? and she said like do drugs or drink or anything? and at this time like everyone in the back of the bus was staring at us! so what did we do? we taught the word of wisdom to people on the bus! haha it was great! and after we gave them all mormon.org cards! We took the bus to where we have district meeting and it took about 30 mins in a car and by bus it took about 1 hour 25 mins! so that will be different but at least we are being seen and get to talk with Heavenly Fathers children. This weekend was amazing! I love General Conference so much! and hearing from a prophet? nothing better! It started on Saturday with the great news of 18 for men and 19 for women to serve missions. That just shows that Heavenly Father trusts his children at such a young age! It’s amazing how much trust he puts in us, so why don’t we put more trust in him? :) There was such a strong spirit before conference even started! then when it did everyone seemed to be glowing! Before the priesthood session, one of the senior missionaries took us out to dinner. We were going to get it for him but he ended up buying dinner for us. I love our senior couples, they are so nice! President Holzapfel showed up where we were watching the priesthood session, it was great to see him. Sunday was awesome too. I could go on forever if time would allow! Today we went back to the science center. Some missionaries got us some free passes so we went with them. It was way fun! Congrats Rhett on the TD!! That’s awesome! I’m glad you got to meet the Reeds! they are so great! Well sorry not much crazy stuff this week! I’m not getting transferred and will be staying in Vestavia, so that’s good. We have a date for baptism set for the 21^st of October set with Jordan. (he is Trevor and Haley’s other brother) Pretty cool!

Love y’all!

Elder Anderso

What’s up family! What a busy week! Last Tuesday we got a text saying we needed to meet at the mission home where President and Sister Holzapfel live. It was a text to all of us including the Spanish missionaries, so we all were wondering what was going on! I was nervous and the other missionaries said they were not,  but you could tell that all of us were ha ha.  It was just so random! When we arrived to the mission home, the President sat us down with the assistance and all of the Birmingham Elders  and  told us we will be losing our cars,  so we no longer have a car starting next week.   They have bought us a bus pass and we now have to learn the bus routes when we can't ride our bikes.  It should be fun, hard,  but it will be a great finding tool to meet people we are hoping! That night we met with Erika and went over a few of the commandments. We then saw a couple other people on Wednesday.   We we able to go out with Sister Reed to lunch! It was so great to see her! She brought a non-member friend that we got to talk to about the church and she also told me she is coming out to Utah for conference and has already made plans with yall! That’s awesome! After lunch we went on exchanges.   I went to Center Point and was with Elder Thurston.   Elder Tolman trained him. We just tracted and contacted. I forgot a pair of pants so I bought a pair for 3 dollars at a thrift store! Great buy J Friday we met back up in Homewood and had district meeting.   After that,  Elder Larsen and I had the two Elders drop us off down town to see if we could make it home! And we did!  Man its going to be rough riding a bus with how motion sick I get because  they are crazy drivers! Friday night we had a couple recent converts go and do baptisms for the dead.   That was so great! Saturday we prepared for Sunday! (Saturday is a special day it’s the day we get ready for Sunday we clean our rooms and we brush our teeth, clean the font and see Erika, Trevor and Haley! We also helped a member move that morning! Sunday! Wow what a busy day! We got up at 6 am and hurried to get ready, and then got picked up a little late so we were rushing!  When you rush,  you always forget something right! Dad? J So we get to the church  and start to get the font filling and was getting everything ready.  We took pictures then went to get in white and guess what I forgot! My baptism clothes!!! Are you kidding me...  what is wrong with me! So I scrambled to find something to wear and just ended up wearing a jump suit haha. The baptisms went great! Everything went good. After church it poured rain the rest of the day.    Today we got our bus pass we are in for a ride!J hope all is going well! Thank you for the letters Mark and Mallory! Hope yall have a great week!!

Much love! Elder anderso