June 18, 2012

Missionary Slim is riding a whirlwind (Week 19 in Pennsylvania, Week .5 in Washington, PA Week .5 in Pittsburgh, PA)

This has been the craziest week of my mission yet. I have to do a day-by-day play-by-play just to have it make any sense whatsoever.

Monday I spent my last day in Lebanon. It was incredible how many members we ran into as we were going about our day - one at the supermarket, one at the gas station, one on the street - the seemed to be coming out of nowhere to say goodbye one last time! We also managed to visit the Galloway's again and got them hopefully back on track for coming back out to church. Time will tell if that family stays strong.

Tuesday I drove back to Pittsburgh. Like I expected, I was transferred somewhere on the west side of the mission. We sat down in the transfer meeting in Pittsburgh, President Topham stood up and started assigning companionship's, and then he got to me:

"Elder Anderson will be serving in Washington with Elder Medina and Elder Clark."

Yep. It's a threesome.

Washington is right on the border of Pennsylvania. It's in the same district as areas in West Virgina and Ohio, so I can tick those off of states which I've visited. Elder Medina has been on his mission for 17 months, so he really knows his stuff. Elder Clark has been out for only 9 months, but still has a lot to teach me. In fact, I learned a ton from them already. The apartment is nice. Since they weren't really prepared for another missionary, I slept on the floor on a mat. Man, that brought back memories (you Space Center-ites know exactly what I'm talking about.)

The ward in Washington is fantastic too. We first visited the Ward Mission Leader, Brother Anderson (Elder Medina said "Brother Anderson, it's your son!"). He warmly welcomed me into the ward and got me up to speed on some of the things that go on in Washington. He himself is a convert of 8 years, but has a powerful testimony of the Church and an even greater love of Jesus. His baseball cap says "Jesus is my boss," and one of the things he told me right off - "You should never have pride for anything. All the glory should go to the father."

Wednesday I got 'initiated.' Apparently, in this district, when you first get here you get to box one of the elders with giant boxing gloves. I figured with gloves that big, it wouldn't hurt too much. Yep. I was wrong. It hurt. I'm sure a video of that will pop up here one of these days.

While we were walking down the street, a guy in an SUV pulled up and started talking to us. "How does somebody join your church?" he asked. We told him you have to start with faith in Christ, repent, be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, and then endure to the end. He got caught up on the Holy Ghost though. "I've already been baptized by the Holy Spirit." he said, "I have that manifest to me by my works. I can speak in tongues." He then proceeded to spew out some nonsense which I'm sure if we asked him, he couldn't tell us what it even means. We kept talking to him for a bit, and then he got out of his car. "Lets say a prayer." 

He grabbed our hands, and then in his most booming, powerful, 'spirit-filled' voice pronounced upon us the Holy Ghost and called down miracles from heaven... Nothing happened. He seemed satisfied though, and walked back to his car saying "You'll be thanking me later." I was determined to get him to at least hear about the Book of Mormon or something so I called out and asked for his name He walked back to me and said "Young man, because you have stepped forward, I will give you even greater power." He placed his hand on my shoulder and his other hand on my chest and then started saying more stuff like "Lord, make this mans life change forever. His life will never be the same because of his desire to seek after you." He jumped in the car and drove off. Elder Medina turned to me and said "Do you feel any different?" I thought about it for a moment, and then said, "No." Needless to say, I'm so grateful for the Priesthood and the true authority. That experience only gave me a greater testimony of that.

Friday is the day we plan out the coming week. Elder Medina, Elder Clark and I were into it pretty well when the phone rings. Elder Medina looks at it. "It's the President." He answers. "Hello President Topham! How are you doing today? .... Oh, Elder Anderson? He's not here right now. He went for a morning swim. ... Okay, He's back now." He handed the phone to me. Here is exactly how the conversation went:

"Elder Anderson, did you wear sunscreen?"

"No, actually, I'm working on my tan."

"Oh, good. Well, I have some news for you."

"Okay, go ahead."

"You're being transferred."

I thought *Already? I was just starting to like this place!*, but said "........Okay."

"Alright, now I have some more news for you."

"Shoot."

"You're going to be training."

*You're kidding.*  ".....Alright."

"I have some more news for you."

"Okay, President. Hit me with your best shot."

"Because you're training, neither you nor your new companion know the area, so you'll be doubling in" (another term for white washing)

"Oh. Okay." *Uh............*

Another missionary had to return home for some personal reasons, but was just called to be a trainer. President Topham told me he was going to be picking me up the very next morning, giving me a crash course on training, and taking me to my new area. The whole time I was talking to him, my head was confused and nervous, but my heart was peaceful and calm - I knew this was the way things were supposed to be. The whole time I was in Washington, it felt like a very long exchange. I didn't even unpack all the way when I got the call, and as soon as it was over I just started packing everything up again!

So, Saturday, Brother Anderson came by with breakfast, left some parting words, and took my picture. Even though I only served in Washington for 4 days, I was still placed in their book of missionaries which they keep to remember their missionaries by. I didn't even mention any of the investigators or members who we taught, mainly because I don't have the time, but in those few short days, I continued to see miracles.

President Topham arrived right on time and we piled everything in the back of his car and started back for Pittsburgh. When he said crash course training, he meant it - Whereas normal trainers get an hour of training with the President and the Assistants, I got 30 minutes in the car driving down the road. Granted, it was 1-on-1 with the Mission President, which, hello, any missionary would die for. But it felt like hardly enough to prepare me for the next 12 weeks.

My trainee is name Elder Walker, from Bountiful Utah. He went to the U of U for a year before coming out, is really sharp, really confident,and really dedicated. He's got a lot to learn still, but he's already well on the way to being a great missionary. Also, they've got a baptism scheduled for two weeks from now, and have a bunch of really great investigators, with a ton of potential. Needless to say, I'm pretty much being spoiled here.

Oh, and I'd better mention, my area is called Morningside. It's in downtown Pittsburgh, and covers a pretty good area. It's a walking area, so we don't have a car, but I'm super excited about that - I've been wanting a walk area for the longest time.

Sunday was pretty interesting. Being fathers day, we had a lot of talks on just that - fathers. The first speaker who came up was a converted Pentecostal minister. If any of you know anything about Pentecostals, they love their Spirit, they love pulpit pounding, they love praising Jesus. And old habits die hard. This guy had Elder Walker and I bent over ourselves with laughter, it was so funny. The family right in front of us turned around and said "Welcome to the Pitt 1st ward." Yep, this should be fun.

We've got a lot of work ahead of us. This area is probably one of the more sketchy areas in the mission. The ward has had a run of less-than-super missionaries, but they loved the two which Elder Walker and I replaced, so we have some big shoes to fill. But both of us are dedicated to working hard and learning as much as we can. This will probably be one of my most memorable areas on my mission.

So, to recap, I went from Lebanon, to Harrisburg, to Pittsburgh, to Washington, to West Virginia and Ohio, and back to Pittsburgh. I served with Elder Blake, Elder Medina, Elder Clark, and Elder Walker. I was in Lebanon ward, Washington ward, and Pitt 1st ward. And all of that in one week. Yep. My life's pretty much been spun around, twisted, turned upside-down, blended, diced, shredded, and shaken, not stirred.

But, I finally ended up where I needed to be. I'm excited. This willbe fun.

The Church is true wherever you go. Christ lives, and the priesthood is real. Very real. Take care everyone!

Love,
Elder Anderson

PS. For those of you wanting to contact me via letter and/or stalk me on Google Maps, my address is:

Elder R. Alex Anderson
400 North Negley Av #306
Pittsburgh, PA 15206

Send me a letter! 

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