Pneumonia!

Note from Mom:  Elder Anderson's letter came much, much later in the day than I was used to.  So - tongue in cheek - I wrote this little tidbit about what it was like waiting for his email today:

3:03 p.m. Monday, April 8th - Come home from work, give snack to Tess, sprint up stairs... almost trip, open email, waited with baited breath... no email from Chase. Oh. Well, that's okay. His last email was a little later too.

3:30 p.m. - Trey comes home, say hi, sprint up stairs again, gleam in my eye, open email... no email from Chase. Mmm. He must have had a full day. I'll check later.

3:45 p.m. - Go to bank to get Chase new debit card, wait impatiently in line, taking too long, must get home to check email, finally get new card, go home, jog up the stairs, open email... no email from Chase. I'm not panicked. I'm not panicked. I'm not panicked.

4:45 p.m. - Check mail, go through mail, do not check email yet... you can wait, no I can't, power walk up stairs, check email... no email from Chase. Oh no! Has the time come? Is this the day when we don't hear from Chase because he's so busy?? Should I call the mission office?? Should I call the SWAT team?? Should I walk to Mexico, find Chase, and tell him that he's grounded?? No, just give me a paper bag to breath in. Besides, I need to make dinner.

6:22 p.m. - Crawl on my hands and knees up stairs. Must. Get. To. Computer. Breathing is shallow. Sweat beads on my forehead. No Tess, I can't get you your 60th snack of the day, I'm too busy trying to get to the office. I reach the threshold. Trey wonders what I'm doing. Not now Trey!!! My LIFE is on the line!! Tess thinks I'm playing horsey. She climbs on. I fall flat. Tess, no horsey right now. Get back up. A-L-M-O-S-T there! Climb into chair. With shaking hands I open email... THERE'S AN EMAIL FROM CHASE!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything goes into slow motion. Mom is doing ballet moves in the air. Roses are falling from the sky. Angels are singing! Can you hear them? Aaaaaaaaaah! Tears come from the shear joy and rapture of the moment. Reality sets in. Time to read. WHAT?? My son has pneumonia!?!?!?!?! How DARE he get pneumonia so that his letter is late. Must remember to tell Chase to time his serious illnesses better. Heart softens. All is well. Calm down. Enjoy letter. Walk around the rest of the evening with a goofy grin on my face.

Now on to what ya'll are REALLY reading this blog for:

Hola!

This week was very, very good, and very, very crazy! First I will talk about General Conference:

I watched most of conference in English, with the only other 3 people in my zone that speak English. We went to the stake center and watched it in a separate room. On Sunday morning, however, I watched it in Spanish because we had no TV and we could not watch it on the Internet. And Ben, to answer your question, I could not understand very well!! I am still not very good at understanding Spanish...yes, sometimes I think I asked something like OH MY GLOSH (Note from mom... again:  "Glosh" is an Anderson Family word.  It's a variation of "gosh"), WHAT DID THAT GUY SAY!!!!??????? The prophet told a funny story but I did not understand it...my companion explained it to me later. :)

Conference was crazy because we kept having to run back and forth from the stake center, to the house, to lunch, and stuff...it was so tiring!!!

Here are some updates on other people:

Ian is not progressing. He went to conference, and I think my companion said that he was a little drunk. He went to a party right after conference, and texted the entire time at conference. He is not going anywhere good right now, or at least not progressing very quickly. I don't know what to do. But God does, so I will seek His wisdom. Please pray for Ian.

Luis is a less active member. He is relatively young and a return missionary. I love Luis! He has become such an amazing friend. He is progressing incredibly well. He is going to church and he watched conference on the Internet. He has a great desire to be obedient and to change. I have felt the Spirit work through me as I have taught him.

Julio y Vania: Less active. Oh boy, this situation is quite the complication. Julio used to be the ward secretary. He no longer is. He is living with Vania, who is not his wife...so he is breaking the Law of Chastity and needs to be excommunicated....but you know what? He still has the keys to the offices at the chapel....and yet he is not the ward secretary....What The!!! This is MaMaMaMaMaMaMa Madness! We taught Julio about the Plan of Salvation. We talked to him about how the Second Coming is very close, and we need to repent...I think we scared him a bit! Hopefully, he will have the desire to change.

Junue: Investigator. We are still teaching her. Oh my gosh, I absolutely love teaching the Plan of Salvation. It is amazing to be able to tell her that her sister, who passed away, is being taught the gospel in the Spirit World. This is probably my favorite of all the lessons.

Fernandez Family: Remember this family? The Potipher's Wife family? Well, we taught the Law of Chastity here...awkward!!!! But it was okay. I felt the Spirit. We were clearly targeting the Potipher's Wife woman - haha.

Alvaro: No lessons since our first one :(

Rosio: Investigator. Haven't had a lesson with her for awhile.

Victor: He is not progressing much. We might need to give up on him. I know this sounds terrible, but when someone is not progressing, we cannot waste our time. We need to find someone else who has been prepared. He is doubting his answers and has many doubts that, in reality, are not important for baptism. We will have to ease off if we don't see any signs of progression. He did not go to General Conference...few of our less actives went. I think none of our investigators went. But we are still happy and still trying!

There are many other people that we are working with, but I can't write about them all.

Okay, a little bad news now:

I have not been feeling well. I have had headaches, sore eyes, and I have been throwing up for the past two nights. I also have a cough and a weird pressure in my chest. This pain climaxed today when we were playing basketball with the elders in our district...my breathing was heavy and I had to sit down. I went to the doctor and he gave me a check-up. He says that there is a rattling sound inside my chest when I breathe, and I have a fever of 102.8. The pressure in my chest is an infection in my lungs, and probably means I have pneumonia. He is not certain. It is not very serious. What is more concerning is the fever, because it is a result of the infection, as is all the other sickness symptoms I have been having. So, I am stuck in the apartment, with the exception of sending this email and shopping and a class tomorrow, until I get better. No missionary work. I have antibiotics, and will get better soon. But I just need to wait! Don't worry. All will be well!

Language:

Still learning! Understanding is still difficult. But, speaking English is so weird now!!!! I am not used to it!!! We speak English in the apartment and Spanish outside, so that my companion and I have opportunities to learn the languages. Oh my gosh, I cannot get into the English mindset. There are just some things that come to my mind in Spanish first than in English! It is so weird! hahahaha! Once, I taught a lesson and they wanted me to say the prayer in English....man, I had a hard time! I had to pause and think sometimes because I didn't know what to say! Spanish is just becoming a part of me I guess!

What is going on with Korea? People are telling me about a war? What is this all about?
Food:   Mole. Mole. Mole. Mole. Mole is this very gross sauce stuff that I hate. Ah! It is nasty! I have had that twice. I love tortas!!! Tortas are basically sandwiches, and they are really good! Daylight savings time is throwing me off - haha!! 

My companion is so funny. He says that the answer to many of my questions is "IT'S MEXICO"...for example...

Why are there dogs everywhere?
Why do people sometimes park their cars on the sidewalks?
Why are the roads so crazy?
Why this, why that?

The answer? It is Mexico!

I am loving it here! I am very happy and doing very well in general. Yes, I can Skype on Mother's Day.

Mail. I get it every week, or at least I should. The timing is kinda weird.

I can print emails. I do that because I have little time to read them all!

I want to do spiritual thoughts like those I sent last time every week.
Until next time, 

Elder Anderson