I think I'm in Emery now...

     Why hello there one and all! I am currently here in Pueblo West, Colorado writing this letter to you. I hope you have all had a great week that has been filled with many wonderful wonderful Gospel studies. This week has been great out here! It really looks like Emery out here, dry, dirt, and wind. It is actually quite exciting stuff here! We were white washed into this area (meaning Elder Rowland and myself are both new to the area and the people that were here before are now gone). So that has been quite an interesting experience trying to get everything all figured out. It was a very nice surprise to see that we have a baptism this Saturday that is very solid. It is actually a mother of one of the member families in the ward. We are hoping to get in and talk to her husband this week.

      From what we have been able to tell, this is a very successful area and they have been getting a lot of baptisms. We hope that we can get out there and do what we need to so that we can help more come unto Christ. So far, the biggest difficulty we have is that it is all biking here in this area and of course, we live at the top of a very large hill and of course our whole area is below our apartment. I am alright with it, but companion (who is from Hawaii by the way) has never really had any biking experiences so needless to say, it takes a very long time to get places. But I am definitely looking forward to the bit of exercise, and hopefully some sun, cause I have been sooo white! Oh well.

     So last night for dinner we ate at a member family named the Marbles, they were really great! And apparently, she used to play piano for Rebeca during all of her voice lessons. Small world out there!

    Well since this was a white washed area, we just had a few notes left by the old missionaries about just kinda who they were talking to and that was pretty much it. We came across a name of some guy that we figured we should go visit. The only info that they really left about the guy is that he is an eternal investigator who has  cancer and was in Vietnam and apparently did a few too many things with a gun than he should have... So... we went over and I don't know what I was expecting out of this man, but it definitely was not what I thought it was going to be! We knock on the door and we see him coming through the glass and all five foot of him is yelling, "my friends!" and then opens the door and gives us both big hugs. I was having such a hard time not laughing! He was hilarious and just talked so much! But I think we got the point across of what we wanted to. So hopefully we can get him to start doing some stuff.

    Well once again, the biggest thing that has hit me this week is the absolute need and importance of member missionary work. It is absolutely vital. Last week, I was sitting in a ward council where they were talking about Emergency Preparedness and they spent a good 45 minutes of the meeting on that. The whole time everybody was saying how important it will be and is to help out their family, their kids, and the friends in case anything happens. But the whole meeting I was thinking, why is there not this same push and feel of need to help our friends and family through the gospel. It is just as important, if not more important that we are preparing ourselves for what is to come in the gospel. We need to help all those around us to prepare themselves.

   Although I love tracting with all of my heart, it is not effective. At all. Statistics have shown that it is almost incomparable of what happens if a member approaches a friend and invites them to learn more and what happens if a missionary just shows up at there door. I really hope that all of you will make a more conscious effort to be missionaries in your own lives, to help the full time missionaries in their work and to help them bring your friends unto the gospel.

    Hope everything is going great and you are having the times of your lives out there! Love ya!

Elder Anderson