Here I am! Writing this time from Washington, Pa, a medium-sized community south of Pittsburgh. It's nice here. I'll be honest, I loved the city and especially the people there, but I'm glad to be out of it. It's much nicer out here.

Right before I left, we got to say goodbye to Brenda...again. Her husband, William, had hurt himself, so we went over to offer comfort to both of them. As usual, she seemed one step closer to baptism after our chat. It might interest all of you to know that a few days after I got here to Washington, I got a call from Elder Walker. He and his companion (who happens to be a brand new missionary, in case I didn't say so), had a question, and then he told me "Oh, yeah. Brenda. She's getting baptized on the 4th of November." I shouted out loud and punched my fist into the air. His trainee had the guts to invite her the first time he met her, and she accepted. I'll be sure to keep track of what's going on up there and let you all know.

So, Tuesday, I packed up, we hugged, said goodbye and went on our way. My two new companions are Elder Medina from Peru and Elder Colvin from Arizona. The idea behind having two companions is so I can go to the mission office, work on the mission video and hang out with the office senior missionaries while they go out and do work. Pretty clever, if you ask me. I was with Elder Medina before, and we got along great. Elder Colvin is the more quiet, sensitive type, but he has powerful testimony. With the three of us, we'll be unstoppable. Either that, or people will run away even faster. Three guys in white shirts and ties can be pretty imposing. And yes, we have had somebody run away from us already.

This area is so fantastic. I've been grinning from ear to ear ever since I got here. Since I was last here, one of the people the missionaries were teaching before has been getting ready for baptism on the 10th of November. His name is Isaiah, and it's obvious to see how his life has been changing. You can still see the remnants of his past life as a thug and gangster tattooed up and down his arms, but his spirituality makes it easy to look past them. He's been coming to church for the past three months and has been loving it - commenting in classes, being part of the ward, everything. The only thing that needs to be cleared up is a little court hearing in a few weeks, and then he'll be all clear.

The second person getting ready for baptism, Brian, was actually invited to be baptized by Elder Colvin just this past week. His wife, Katrina, served a mission, but then went less-active. She married her husband, was prompted to get back to church, got in contact with the missionaries, and it's been downhill from there. Her husband has been there for the lessons as the missionaries have been teaching his wife, and is really interested, especially in sealing. He knows that he needs to become a member to get sealed, so as soon as we mentioned it to him, he basically said, "Let's do it!" All three of us were very pleasantly surprised. When he came to church this Sunday, both he and his wife were telling everyone how excited he is to be joining the church. Man, I'm pretty sure I'm getting spoiled right now.

Here's a twist: Usually, it's the Mission President who interviews the missionaries. In fact, he did that this past week. But the day before, I got to interview the President! It was for the mission video I'm working on, but it was still kinda neat. We sat him down in front of the camera. It was obvious how nervous he was, which was kinda strange. I got to see a different side of the mission president. Anyway, the interview went smoothly, and all was well.

The interview the following day was very short, as most of my conversations and interviews with the Mission President are. I started talking before he could even ask me anything.

"President, I am so incredibly happy right now, you cannot even believe. I don't even know why, I've just been the most happy I've been all my mission ever since last Saturday, and it's still getting better. It's awesome."

"Well, Elder Anderson, That's great. So, do you have any questions for me?"

"Uhhh... President, I thought you were supposed to be asking the questions?"

I don't blame him, though. We had a good chat the day before. He had a lot of missionaries to interview. And by all means, I'm doing great, the best I've been my entire mission. I won't complain about that.

So, for you Google Maps stalkers, my new address is:

 

235 W. Chestnut St. Apt. #1

Washington, PA 15301

 

Or, if you want to send a letter, my mailbox is always welcome.

 

As for the Gospel, it's still true. So is the Church. So is the Book of Mormon. And so is Jesus Christ. He has the power to change us into better people. Once a week, we do something spectacular - we come into His house, partake of His sacrament, and remember Him. Wow. What an awesome thing. I'll close with an interesting story. This week was the primary program in the Washington ward. Church started unusually late, and after the announcements and business, the Bishop explained why - the bread for the sacrament was not there yet. In a very unorthodox move, he decided to postpone the sacrament until after the primary program.

The program was excellent and brought memories flooding back as I recalled when I did the exact same thing. I wonder if the things I sang about then meant as much to me as they do now? For example: "I feel my Savior's love in all the world around me. His Spirit warms my soul through everything I see. He knows I will follow him - Give all my life to him. I feel my Savior's love, the love he freely give me." I pondered that as I took of the sacrament and was grateful that I was able to experience that primary program right before the sacrament. It really made a big difference for me and made the entire experience all the more rewarding. I've decided that if I ever become a bishop (heaven forbid!), I would ponder on making that same decision in my Sunday meetings. Unorthodox as it is, it was really a tender mercy.

That's about all I have to say. Other than packing up all of my worldly possessions and moving, my week has been pretty chill. We'll see what the Lord has in store for me.

Take care!

Love,

Elder Alex Anderson, AKA Missionary Slim