Dear Family and Friends

     I think I've missed a few weeks. Oops, sorry 'bout that.  Anyway, I've been transferred to Huntington Beach, well Fountain Valley to be specific.  It's great here.  The church is way strong and the members are very willing to help move the work along.  We have a family that we've been teaching.  They are awesome and last Sunday (June 21) they came to church!  They had a great time and I can tell that they loved being there.  The kids had fun hanging out in Primary, which is usually a tough part about coming to church for investigators with kids.  The best part was the members.  They were so cool about it!  Everyone was greeting them and welcoming them and all this awesome stuff.  It was so cool to see the members be so nice and welcoming.  It makes a huge impact on the investigators when they show so much love.  The influence of members is really what helps investigators the most.  Going to church can be hard at first, but it gets a lot easier when you have constant love and support.  

     You all are awesome.  I am so thankful for all your love and suppoer.  This is a great time to be able to watch the Lord hastening His work.  Keep on being the great people that you all are.  Remember that I love and pray for you all.

Love,

Elder Sanderson

Week of July 15th, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

I found out that I'm going to be transferred to Huntington Beach! I'll be serving in the Fountain Valley 3rd ward. I'm super excited and I've heard that that's a great ward. I've also heard that HB can be pretty tough sometimes. My companion is named Elder Roothof and he's from Utah. He's another spanish speaking missionary (my third in a row) and so I'm going to have him teach me Spanish. I figured that if I've had this many Spanish companions then I might as well just ask one of them to teach me. I'll be leaving tomorrow morning and it should be a great time.

That's so crazy that Paul's leaving so fast! It seems like just yesterday he got his call. I've heard a lot from Elder Jones. He's sent me a ton of pictures already and it seems like he's having a good ol time.

Our baptism went really well! One and done baby! ***** was really excited and we had a great turn out from the ward. His dad has agreed to drive me to HB tomorrow so that'll be tight. I'm excited to see what HB is like. I'll let you know when I get there!

Love you!

Elder Sanderson

Week of July 8th, 2013

Dear Family and Friends,

      It's been a while since I've written.  Things are going well!  We will be having a baptismal service this Saturday.  The first of my mission!  Wow!  He's a 12 year old named ***** ******.  His family are members but have been less active for a number of years.  I am convinced that our success with ***** has been greatly powered by the love and fellowship of our ward.  For that I am truly grateful.  

      We have also been able to have what's called a "blitz"  All the missionaries in our district came together and we all worked in the same ward boundary to try and find more people to teach.  We have already been able to see some of the fruits of our labor and many other will come soon.  

      I'm very grateful for all your love and support.  Remember that I keep you all in my thought and prayers.  Continue to be the  awesome people that I know you all are!

Love, 

Elder Sanderson

June 24th.2013

Dear Family and Friends,

All is well in this part of the Lord's vineyard.  The work is beginning to go forward.  The Worldwide Leadership broadcast was this last Sunday and it was a great reminder of the importance of member missionary work.  since I have the blessing of serving as a full-time missionary I can testify of the importance of missionary work.  The members of the ward help to ensure that investigators are comfortable at church, they provide investigators or recent converts with a friend and they can help the missionaries find and teach investigators.  

In Doctrine and Covenants we are given a promise.  We learn that if we bring one of the souls our Heavenly Father has created, great shall be our joy.  Furthermore we learn that, "If your joy will be great with one soul...How great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me." (D&C 18:15-16)  I cannot think of any more joyous an occasion than that of a baptism of someone who has accepted the gospel.  I cannot even imagine the joy of seeing that person, as Doctrine and Covenants states, "In the kingdom of my Father".

Through embracing member missionary work we can all work towards our goal of having true joy.  May we all have a fullness of joy.  Remember that it was Jesus Christ himself who said "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15)

Elder Sanderson

Dear Friends and Family

Today (6-10-13) I hit my two month mark!  It's gone by so fast I can't even comprehend it!  The past few weeks have been crazy.  Transfers were this last week.  My trainer, Elder Wahlen, was transferred, which is very rare.  Usually trainers stay for 12 weeks.  Since he's gone and my new companion, Elder Burns, has never been here in Whittier, I now am a lot more responsible for things like planning and getting where we need to go.  It's sort of tough since I've only been here for 7 weeks now and it's my first area.  At first it was a little scary, not going to lie.  It's not too scary anymore though.  I know that I'm being led by the Lord and I know that as long as I'm doing His work, I'll know where to go, what to do and what to say.  The Lord provides a way.  Who can forget the courageous words of Nephi?  "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."  (1 Nephi 3:7)  How often are we asked to risk our possessions, or even our lives?  How often are the Lord's commandments things such as "Love one another"?  (John 13:34) How often does he ask us to simply show our love for someone who overcame the world for us?  King Benjamin basically lays out all that our Heavenly Father requires of us.  "And behold, all that he requires of you is to keep his commandments; and he has promise you that... ye should prosper in the land... therefore, if ye do keep his commandments he doth bless you and prosper you".  (Mosiah 2:22)  Our Father in Heaven loves us all individually.  He has a plan for all of us.  If we will "Go and do" as Nephi, we are promised blessings.  May we all "Go and do". 

I'm very grateful for all your love and support.  I appreciate everything that has been sent, mailed, etc. I pray for you all each day and I love you all.  Remember that your Father in Heaven loves you as well.

Elder Sanderson

Week of June 10th

The internet is a pretty powerful resource when used correctly. We have the opportunity to have an hour a week to visit the Mormon.org website. They want to make sure that we are all used to the layout and what not so we can help investigators and members use it. We've also had the chance to share some Mormon messages with people. Mormon messages are a great way to invite the spirit into someone's home. I would highly recommend using them if you ever have the chance to share the gospel with someone.

Sorry for not saying anything about the package, I tend to forget to mention a lot of things when I write so sorry about that. The package was great! I loved the Book of Mormon especially! The talks were also awesome. If I didn't love you so much I would rebuke you for sending me an Elane S. Dalton talk. I'm sure you love her a ton but I have trouble relating to her because I'm not a woman. Just in case you cannot tell, I am just being goofy. It can be hard to display jokes in emails. But I digress. The package was great. I haven't had candy in a really long time to be honest. It doesn't really seem worth it to buy anymore.

The work is going pretty well. Some days are tough but that's just part of life. Especially missionary life. It seems like the hardest days are the days that end up being the most rewarding in the end.

I'll probably be sending that SD card home this week so I hope that gets home safely. I hope that everyone is doing well. I love you guys and I pray for you all every day.

Love,

Elder Sanderson

Weekly Leter 5/27/13

Dear Family and Friends,

The last week has been pretty good.  We finally had our first real lesson!  We taught a couple named Maria and George.  The are a perfect example of how the Lord prepares people for us to teach.  Maria and George were raised Catholic (Just like EVERYONE in California) but don't go to church (just like EVERYONE in California - just kidding, a ton of people go to church here).  Even though they have stopped going they feel like church is important and they can feel something missing because they do not attend church.  If that isn't the Lord preparing someone to receive the gospel then I don't know what is!

I feel like this has become sort of a Mormon cliche, the example of Nephi is perfect!  "I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandth them"  The Lord does provide a way.  There is ALWAYS a way.  I know that the Lord provides a way.  He knows us perfectly.  I would like to challenge everyone reading this to look for a way to do  something you thought to be impossible.  Share the gospel with a friend, go to church even if your schedule is tough or take time to read the scriptures for at least a little bit every day.  I know that the Lord will prepare a way.

Elder Sanderson