Sister Anderson Mission Blog: It was the best of times . . .

Thursday we met the family Tacunan. Wow. Can I just say how much I love them already? Sorella Tacunan hasn't come to church in awhile but her daughters do every so often with their grandma. She has two daughters one is 13 and one is 9. The 9 year old wants to get baptized. Her name is Adrianna and she's absolutely adorable. She came and gave me a giant hug in church!

Friday there was a baptism for a 9 year old boy named Ryan. It was so sweet and even more amazing is that there was a woman there who came up to us and asked us if we could help her return to church! She used to be a member and so when we had our lesson with her it was pretty
easy because she already knew everything. She doesn't have any support from her family in the church. In fact, they're quite against it. She follows her answers that she gets though. We also saw Juana with Sorella Riva. It was such a good lesson. I'm going to take a moment just to explain Sorella Riva so you all can understand why I love her so much. She's about 5 feet tall and a little fashionista. She's super sweet and does anything for the sister missionaries. We call her every so often and she always asks about the work and what's new. On Friday she informed us that when she asks what's new she also means "what lessons can I come with you to?"

Not too much excitement happened on Saturday. Besides that fact that we were on fire calling everyone and getting plans for the next week. It's a miracle when EVERYONE answers their phones!

Sunday was amazing. We spent the whole day with members. The Castellani's had us over for lunch and they are an amazing couple. They served as the temple president in Bern, Switzerland and have both had so many cool callings in the church. Sorella Castellani is even good friends with President Uchtdorf. It was so fun to be able to talk to them and they are so strong. Sorella Castellani has had Parkinson's for 20 years and thanks to some surgeries it has slowed down but it hasn't stopped them from serving or talking about how kind God has been with them. We also met with some other families from the ward. One of them has two teenage daughters and they are adorable. They want to come do missionary work with us. Even if it's finding! Needless to say after this day we were stuffed to the brim and our faces hurt from smiling.

On Monday we saw Franny and we taught her about the temple. And we saw Sorella Mangano. She works for the church on building chapels in Italy. It was fun being able to talk to her and she's the sweetest thing.

On Tuesday we saw Sorella Huapaya. She's from Peru and served in Peru tanto tempo fa. But she secretly really wants her daughter to serve but knows she has to make her own decision about serving a mission.

Wednesday was new missionary training. It was awesome to hear the training and get pumped up. It was also nice to see all my homies again and catch up on news. But I think the best surprise of all is Sorella Visconti surprising me and walking into the church at the very end! I had pretty much accepted that I wouldn't ever see her until I finished my mission but can I just say that Heavenly Father does answer prayers. So I was able to introduce her to my baby and it was a grand old time. She will be going home next week so it's really exciting for her!

Then after we went and saw the family Tacunan. I taught the girls how to French braid while we waited for their mom to get home from work. We set up a baptismal date for Adrianna the 9 year old for the 10th of December. She was so excited! They're such a cute family!

To all you Scrooges who only listen to Christmas Music 25 days of the year (I have to admit, I myself was once one): "My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.

When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation, which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening--or not happening--in our lives. Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.” And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!" I have joy in Christ and in Him will I always rejoice. He's the source of all happiness and possibilities. He has conquered physical and spiritual death. Thanks to Him our possibilities are endless and we can have joy no matter what our circumstances might be!

I love you all!

La famiglia Tacunan. I love them! They're so adorable!