Balom, the alarm clock of the devil, rang out in the early hours of February 6th. Elder Anderson rolled himself around. 2:00 Am. Time to get moving!

With all of his bags packed and everything ready to go, within an hour he found himself on a bus driving. Out of the MTC, out of Provo, past the mountains which had sourrounded him for his entire life. He waved as he passed his home town which he knew he wouldn't see for some time. After arriving at the airport, bags were checked, the missionaries in the group hurried over to the gate, and they awaited their flight. By 6:45, Elder Anderson was in the air, on his way to the next two years of his life.

We landed in good time and were greeted by the Assistants and the Mission President himself! President Topham is a fantasic person. He's the kind of person who you can tell cares very much about you from the very first time he lays eyes on you. As I came up to him, he called me by name without reading my nametag, and very sincerely said "Welcome to Pittsburgh."

The assistants were very friendly too. They were quick to inform us of a few important details about Pennsylvania. First and foremost: Everyone is crazy. Next, they all smoke. This, I soon found, was all too true. The first destination we were brought to was an overlook of the entire city of Pittsburgh. It was a beautiful view, but even up there, at the top of this hill, we could smell burnt tobacco wafting up from the city below. I knew then that, being an asthmatic, I have a treat ahead of me.

After spending the night in the mission home, we were giving some brief training and paired with our trainer. I watched as the other missionaries who came in with me were all paired with their new compainions. I was last of all. As you can imagine, my anxiety increased with every elder assigned. I finally found out my assignment: For the first 12 weeks of my mission, I will be serving in Lebanon (pronounced 'Leb-nun', no joke) with Elder Nelson.

Elder Nelson is a fantastic trainer. He's been out for about 6 months, and (thankfully) is a Spanish speaking missionary. He really knows his stuff and is very experienced with teaching and finding people to teach. He has a love for playing the piano, especially piano concertos, and has already demonstrated his skill many times to me. I am in awe every time I hear him play. He also is an excellent singer. He's from Colorado and has been a member his whole life, but you can tell that he has had his own personal conversion. He's also even more sarcastic than I am (really). I'm super excited to serve with him.

Lebanon itself is on the far east side of the mission, about as far east as you can get. As we were driving here, because of circumstances, I got to drive the car as our district leader, Elder Vallejo, rode with me. Elder Vallejo is from Guatemala and has been out for almost 2 years. He will be returning home after training Elder Rowzee. In fact, it was with Elder Vallejo that I realized that I was actually in Pennsylvania. We stopped for dinner at McDonalds, and he was telling me about my area. I thought to myself "I am sitting, halfway across the US, in McDonalds, with this Guatemalan dude." I'm telling you, that's a weird thing to think. Anyway, the first thing which Elder Vallejo told me is first that my area is pretty much the ghettos of the zone. The second thing he told me is best summarized by Isaiah. That's right! There are prophecies about my area! I'll let you look it up yourself: 2 Nephi 27:28. Enjoy!

I'm running out of time, so I'll have to summarize the rest of the week. We have three investigators with baptisimal dates already. One of them Angelica, is really progressing and has a fantastic testimony. It's easy to see how much she has changed her life already, and how willing she still is to repent. She should be baptized on the third of March, but we might do it sooner if she feels up to it.

Another, Victor, is supposed to be baptized on February 25th, but he is still having problems keeping some of his committments. He is super funny, though, and has a testimony. He just has a little issue with pride which needs to be resolved. I'll definitely have to talk more about him as his baptism comes up closer, but I actually know litte about him. I only met him yesterday.

Jamie is the final with a baptismal date, but I have yet to meet him. He is apparently progressing really well, but is really hard to get ahold of. We'll be seeing him sometime this week hopefully.

There is another investigator, John, who really has turned his life around since seeing the missionaries. He's been sober for two months now, and yesterday committed to stop smoking! We were shocked, considering that a few days before he was having a really hard time with everything and needed the smokes to keep him relaxed. If he can kick the smoking, though, he should be able to be baptized by March or April!

One of the recent convert families, the Galloways, have three daughters who have yet to be baptized. Their mom, Maria, is divorced and we still need approval from the dad. Her current husband, Darin, and she have been really trying hard to fix up their lives and stay on the strait and narrow path, and Maria really tries to teach correct principles to her daughters so they will want to do what's right too. It's been incredible, though, in the one week that I've been here, to see how much those kids have grown and progressed. The youngest, Ashanti, who is 9 years old really wants to be baptized and has a great desire to learn. The next, Ashley (11) is similar. Ashley isn't quite as hyperactive, but she pays attention to the lessons and retains what we teach. The oldest, Samanta (13) is having a harder time, mainly because of peer pressure at school and other things that come with being that age. We can tell that our message is helping them though. They should have a baptisimal date soon too.

The members are amazing too! We have yet to cook dinner for ourselves: the members are always willing to feed us and hear our messages. They are really excited about missionary work and are ready at all times to go out on splits to visit some of our investigators. In fact, one of the members gave us what seems to be a golden referral. The family they want us to teach is already reading the Book of Mormon and going to Mormon.org. They just need the lessons. The ward itself actually reminds me a lot of any other ward I've been in. The only difference is that most of the members are converts. I'm really excited to work with the entire ward more.

A few funny instances: The first day I was a real missionary (Wednesday), we went tracting. One of our appointments fell through, so we went to knock on some doors. We knock on this one door, and the guy who opened is started screaming at us without letting us get a word in edgewise. I was backing off, ready to move on when he told us to leave. My companion, though, insisted on asking him to hear our message. That's when he threatened to sic his dog on us. Fortunately, he was bluffing, but we got close to being chased by a dog!

We were able to meet a wonderful woman a few doors down, though. Her name is Jennifer, and she agreed to hear the first lesson. One problem: She really only speaks spanish. Elder Nelson was able to teach her the first lesson, though, and the member who was with us and I tried to bear testimony as simply as possible. But, at the end of the lesson, as she knelt down to pray, we could see her trying to hide the tears. She could already feel the truth of the message we were sharing. We have a return apointment this Friday. I'm excited to see where this goes.

We also had my first bible bash the day after. This guys name is Carl, and he believes he can go to heaven without being baptized. Sure he demonstrated great faith, but he failed to realize that when Christ says "Save a man is born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of Heaven", he means it. He thought that, like the thief crucified with Christ, he would "be with [him] in paradise" through his faith. That's when I explained the Plan of Salvation and the kingdoms of glory. He didn't like that and wouldn't hear it. We left on good terms though, when I complimented his testimony and he did likewise to us.

Another woman, Barbra, wasn't interested in our message, but was interested to tell us about all the times she healed someone or herself through Jesus. It was interesting to hear how through sheer faith, she was able to do so many incredible things. But as Christ said, "If you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you could move mountains." Despite her not being a member, I was encouraged my her testimony and faith. We might stop by some other time to give her our message. She probably will be willing to hear it.

If you've read this far, bless you for your efforts. Just one more story, which I think everyone should pay heed to. Last night, I went to the addiction recovery program. It was astounding to hear the stories of the people who had overcome addictions or were working to overcome them. In fact, it was because of the testimony of those at that meeting that John decided to quit smoking right away.

What I found most astounding, though, was the 12 step program which the church is using. These 12 steps really demonstrate true repentance. I suggest that everyone look up LDS Family Service's 12 step program to addiction recovery. Just look at the 12 steps and see what you think. You might be surprised how much we all can use those 12 steps in our lives.

Things are great out here. I'm loving it. It truly is a roller coaster, but already I can see the positive effects that I am having in other people's lives. I'm more excited than ever to serve.

As always, I love getting letters. If you want to send me a letter to my local address, or stalk me on Google Maps, use this:

 

Elder R. Alex Anderson

337 Cumberland St. Apt #3

Lebanon, Pa 17042

 

I know the Chruch and the gospel is true. I have to strengthen that testimony every day because of how many people tell me otherwise, but because of the effort I put in to strengthen it, I know more than ever that what I know is true. The Book of Mormon is the word of God, and as we follow it, we can eventually make it to the Tree of Life which can give us great happiness, just as Lehi and Nephi saw. I know that Christ lives, and loves me very much. He and my Father in Heaven are always willing to answer my prayers and are always willing to answer yours. And I know that we have a prophet who leads and guides this Church, and that he has called me to this work. May we all be qualified to serve in any capacity which we are called.

 

Love,

Elder Anderson