New Area...Laureles!

¡Hola!

OK, I have very limited time right now. Here are some of the highlights and answers to your questions.

1. My area is Laureles, in the Anáhuac Stake. My companion is Elder Somerville. He is Mexican, and yes, I understand that it is a weird Mexican name that he has! He loves to work and be obedient. My area is in Ecatepec. It is in the State of Mexico.

2. We can almost never go to the temple. As far as I know, we can go on Christmas...sometimes. And if we have recent converts entering, we can accompany them. It is very weird though because soon this temple will close for 18 months. That will cover the rest of my mission.

3. I have not received the package yet.

By the way, I am not secretary anymore. I am just a normal missionary, trying to teach every day like I did with Elder Cardona. I love it. We have a great number of lessons every day so I am happy.

Sorry, I do not have a lot of time. I am doing very great. I am happy and working hard. We have a goal to baptize 8 people in September and I am determined to do it. Also, we will work in 2 wards! Laureles and Olivos. We will be extremely busy. I am so excited!

Sorry this isn't much, but I want to work!

Spíritual thought:

I have learned something about faith. My other companion, Elder Loveland, taught me something. In lessons with other people, we take an object. It could be a pencil. We place it in front of the people and ask them to move the pencil with their faith. Of course, this surprises them. They often smile, laugh, and say that they dont have the faith to do it. We often ask them why not. And they often say that they simply can't. I love this example because of what happens next. My companion or I say that we can move the pencil by faith. We then stretch forth our hand, touch the pencil, and move it a few inches with our hand. The people we teach often laugh when we do this. And then we explain the purpose of the example.

FE ES ACCIÓN. Faith is action. If we want to move a pencil, then move it. If we want solutions to our problems, work. If we want to move our spiritual mountains, then move them. We too often think that faith is a passive belief. But rather, it is a belief AND an action. We must work. If we don't have the grades we want in school, we don't pray for help and then hope everything improves. We pray, and then we do everything we can to improve. Sometimes, I think, we don't need to wait for God while sitting in our chairs waiting for inspiration (I highly encourage all of you to read Elder Oaks talk on revelation in this month's Ensign). We need to ACT. We need to get up and get to work, and then God will provide the way. In 2nd Nephi, I think, we read that God's grace comes after ALL THAT WE CAN DO. I love this. I invite you all to work, to act. Many people feel that to move the pencil, they need mind control. Well, that would be incredible, I will admit. But we don't have that. But we do have hands. We do have legs. We have Spirits. We have hearts. Let's use them.

I am learning SO MUCH that we are here to LIVE THE GOSPEL. Everything else we do must be of lesser importance. The Gospel is everything. We often are blinded by the things of this world, but if we open our eyes, we will realize why we are really here.

I testify this is true. I know it.

I love you all BASTANTE (Bastante is my favorite word..it means A LOT!!). Be happy.

DIOS VIVE

Love, Elder Anderson