Travel to Argentina

(This is written by Raquel's Dad.)

Raquel left the MTC on Monday, December 28. Her flight left Salt Lake City for Atlanta, Georgia just after 2:00 p.m.

She had a brief layover in Atlanta (made a little longer due to weather delays) and then took off for Buenos Aires at about 8:00 p.m. Mountain Time. She flew through the night and arrived in Buenos Aires at about 6:00 a.m. Mountain Time on December 29. She then then went to a different airport to fly to Mendoza -- where she arrived at about 1:00 p.m. Mountain Time.

When she arrived, her Mission President sent us this picture and said, "A picture is worth a thousand words..."

Hermana Anderson with Hermana Brown and Hermana Christensen in the background.

The following pictures were taken on Sunday, December 27 -- Raquel's last day in the MTC.

 Raquel and her roomates

Raquel and her roommates with Aunt Marilyn

Raquel and Jessica, her cousin

2 Days Left....What?!

Hola mi familia y mis amigos!

Is it just me or does it feel like I've only been here at the MTC for maybe 2 or 3 weeks tops?! It's so crazy to think that I'm leaving for a different country (a country where I don't know the language) in 2 days!!! AHHHH!!! I'm so excited! Yes I'm nervous, but like you always say dad "there are two types of people in the world, those who get nervous and those who are dead" thinking of that gives me comfort to know I'm normal;) I'm so excited to go, it's crazy and I still don't think it seems 'real' yet, but it's coming fast and I hope to be able to jump in and get all wet right away in Argentina!

This week has been incredible! (I realize I told Mom, Dad, and Raeli this part on the phone yesterday, but I want to give more details now and fill everyone else in). Okay here it is: So as you all know last week was a pretty scary week with Hermana Lee and on Friday after meeting with her counselor Hermana Lee was called to the doctors office where the doctor basically told her he wanted to send her home. For about the next hour and half Hermana Lee was talking to our branch president and one of the 'stake presidents' here at the MTC. They had basically decided to let her stay out her time here at the MTC (since there was only about a week left) and then send her either home or to a new mission. The next night (Saturday night) Hermana Lee came out of the shower like super excited about something. She gathered up myself, Hermana Christensen, and Hermana Brown and told us that while she was in the shower she started bleeding, she saw the blood and she didn't pass out!!! We were all so happy about this! Then the next amazing part is the next morning (Sunday morning) during a devotional she started having a nose bleed - yeah that made me nervous cause we were sitting in the middle of the room and we had to get out fast, but I had hope that she wouldn't pass out because she hadn't the night before - and she didn't! We were able to make it to the bathroom and stop the bleeding and she didn't pass out at all! She just got a little dizzy! She had maybe another one on Monday morning and the same thing happened! It was amazing! I felt so uplifted! It was incredible! Then... on Tuesday? Wednesday? maybe (I don't remember specifically) she got a package and was opening it and got a cut on her finger and she didn't pass out, but she started acting like she does when she is passed out, she was very loopy and not completely there. Finally we got her to be back to her normal self and she told us that she didn't want us to tell any of the presidents because she had actually poked her finger on purpose to see if she would pass out or not - that was a really dumb thing to do. She admitted that and then said she thinks the reason she lost it a bit is only because it was self-inflicted. I was reluctant but decided to honor her wishes and only tell her that I thought she should tell someone what happened. The next day she did, but I didn't get the feeling she was totally honest. Anyways, since then she has had nosebleeds, she hasn't passed out, but she has gone very loopy and not been all there and kind of 'lost it' and it has gotten progressively worse each time. Ugh... yeah this confuses me on what to do. Hermana Christensen and I have talked about it and we see it as a problem, but I don't think Hermana Lee really thinks it is, I think that she thinks that since she's not passing out she's fine. Which is good progress and if she would've stayed like she was on Saturday and Sunday and Monday, then I would agree, but seeing as she hasn't and it's been getting progressively worse, I'm not really sure. I'm hoping to be able to have a chance to at least make President Swenson aware of the situation somehow either by email today or in person tomorrow, but seeing as we leave on Monday, yeah....

Anyways, now to a more joyous topic! CHRISTMAS!!!! Everyone who said that Christmas at the MTC was incredible was lying - because there is absoluetly no way I could put into words just how incredible it was! If i were to try I would say, INCREDIBLE! AMAZING! MARVELOUS! FANTASTIC! yeah - I wish I could put it into words how amazing it was, but I simply can't so I will try to just explain the events of the day and let you pretend to know how I felt:) First: We went to our Chirstmas Morning Devotional - Elder Bednar and his wife came to speak! They brought with them one of their sons and his family - their kids sang a couple of songs and told some Christmas stories! It was so cute to see the excitement of Christmas from the point of view of children! Then His wife shared a short talk which was also incredible! Then he opened up the devotional to be a question answer session - it was really good! I really enjoyed it! Then we got to go back to our classrooms and our districts had some really good bonding time playing games and telling Christmas stories and all that! Then we had lunch (our Christmas Dinner meal!) It was really delicious! After that we went and watched a 'play' type thing of the Christmas Carol, but it was more like a two man show - one guy played scrooge, and then the other one played everyone else. He was very talented and it was good, but it was a little strange at the same time, but still good! After that I GOT TO CALL MY FAMILY!!!! YAY!!! That was so fun! I loved hearing all your [their] voices again! And the best part is I get to talk to you [them] in 2 days too!! Lucky me! After that we went back to our class and had more district time then had dinner. After dinner we went to an evening Christmas devotional, no one knew what to expect so after we were all seated and had sang some Christmas songs up on the screen pops a picture of David Archuleta, and then he walked into the room!!!!! WHAT?! yeah! That's right! David Archuleta came to the MTC and did a little Christmas concert for all of us! WooHoo! And what makes it even better?! LEXI WALKER WAS THERE TOO!! (I was more excited for her than for David) - for those of you who don't know who she is she's that little girl that sang 'Let it Go' for the piano guys! It was so great! It was also really cool because David Archuleta sang some of his Christmas songs in Spanish (because he served in Chili) and he also sang some original Spanish Christmas songs! WOW! What a day, huh?! Then to top it all off we watched 'Ephram's Rescue'. Now you may be able to understand why I say that I couldn't describe it in only one word. But just know that this Christmas was filled with joy and happiness all day long. There are no other words 'worthy' of describing my day other than joy and happiness!

I'm so grateful for the MTC experience I had, although I'm sure it was very different from any other missionary who has ever spent time in the MTC. Although it was very difficult at times I have learned and grown so much. I have seen many miracles here, and I have seen the hand of God in my life here. I know He is aware of us and He loves us more than we can comprehend. Wow! I know the gift of tongues is real. I have made many great friends here and I have felt the Spirit helping me with my Spanish, in my lessons (I had an incredible lesson this week - the Spanish was there and the Spirit was leading me what to say in each moment), and in helping me with Hermana Lee. I will miss the MTC and will forever be grateful for I learned and experienced here, but I'm looking forward to Argentina! I want to hit the ground running! I love you all so much and am so grateful for the support I feel from each of you! I know the power of prayer is real!

Love and Like you all!

I'll write you next from Argentina!!

Con mucho Amor,

Hermana Anderson

 Walking Selfie

The Whole Zone

Temple Day 

The District 

Roommate Facials

Another Eventful Week

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow. I appreciate all of your love, concern, and prayers in behalf of Hermana Lee and myself. I wish that I could say that after last week the 'eventfulness' stopped... but it didn't, yeah it did the opposite. So lets talk about Saturday. Saturday was a wonderful day full of temple trips, good times with Hermana Rigby before she left for New Mexico, all that fun P-Day stuff. At the end of the day we went to bed, and yup you guessed it Hermana Lee's other side of her nose started bleeding (NOOOO!!!!) it took probably a half hour or so to clean up and get back to bed, but it wasn't all that scary because Hna's Christensen and Brown were there and they also recruited Hermana Rigby and her companion to help too. On Sunday, I really wanted to talk to President Swenson in private so I could freely voice my concerns and the worries that I have about Hermana Lee thankfully, I was granted my request - it would just be later in the day. About 10 minutes later Hermana Lee had another nose bleed. After we got the bleeding to stop President Swenson sent us back to the residence so she could get some rest because after her body passes out she needs to rest in order to get her brain and body back to 'normal'. We were planning on just staying at the residence until Sacrament Meeting and then going to Sacrament, but after we'd been there for maybe only 20 minutes I heard her say something. I went over to check on her and my heart dropped completely. She was covered in blood - her face, her arms, the pillow, the bed, her clothes, this was the worst nosebleed yet, and I was alone. My heart dropped immediately. I started praying with all the energy that I could that someone would come, but I knew that I couldn't just wait for someone to come. I was able to get Hermana Lee to sit up in bed and after trying for a couple of minutes to take care of the blood and stop the bleeding with a stash of toilet paper we keep in our room I had the crazy thought to take her to the bathroom. Yes, I had the thought to take a girl who faints when she sees her own blood to a room with multiple mirrors when she was covered in blood. Although it seemed completely illogical to me I knew that I had to do it. So I told Hermana Lee that we were going to go to the bathroom and her one job - all she needed to do was just keep her eyes shut. Somehow, but some amazing miracle Hermana Lee kept her eyes shut for the entire time! (usually she forgets what is going on and opens her eyes every 15 seconds). When we got to the bathroom I was scared, but somehow able to try to help. The problem was that her nose wouldn't stop bleeding. Instead of being able to focus on cleaning off her arms and face so she wouldn't see the blood I had to focus on stopping the blood and it wouldn't stop. I pinched her nose, I stuck toilet paper up her nose, I tried everything and nothing was working. About 20 minutes in Hermana Lee said to me "this is really bad, i'm scared, it's not stopping, you need to leave me and go get help" HA! Yeah that was the absolute last thing I was going to do in that moment. NO WAY was I going to leave her. So I said to her 'no, all we can do is pray' I'd been praying in my head this whole time, but i knew also that I needed to keep Hermana Lee focused on something other than the bleeding so she wouldn't forget what was happening and open her eyes. It was at that moment that I remembered the verse of scripture in D&C 25 "The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me" Immediately I asked Hermana Lee what her favorite hymn was she responded "There is Sunshine in My Soul" I sang it and it seemed to comfort her. Then I sang my favorite "How Firm a Foundation"  verse 3 that says: "Fear not, I am with Thee, oh be not dismayed. For I am Thy God and will still give Thee Aid. I'll Strengthen Thee, help Thee, and cause Thee to stand. Upheld by my righteous Omnipotent hand." As I sang those words the Spirit testified the truth of them unto me. I was scared, I was alone, there was so much blood and I couldn't stop it and was afraid that at any moment my companion would pass out on me. But as I sang those words I felt almost as if God himself were speaking them to me. They brought me so much comfort during that time of need. I sang about 2 more songs and the amazing this is by the end of the 3rd song the bleeding was slowing and by the end of the forth the bleeding had stopped and Hermana Rigby and her companion had come back to 'check on us'. Wow! The Spirit is so incredible! I was given the thought to sing, as I did Hermana Lee was comforted, I was comforted, the bleeding had stopped, and help had arrived. God is so aware of us. That was a scary 40 minutes of my life, but God was aware and He knew just was I needed in order to be helped. How indredible! After i had filled Hermana Rigby and Hermana Mitchell (her companion) in on the details Hermana Mitchell volunteered to stay with Hermana Lee so Hermana Rigby and I could run and find President Swenson and tell him what was going on and ask him what to do. Pres. Swenson lead us to the on call doctor who was able to talk to Hermana Lee on the phone and tell her that tomorrow (Monday) she could go back to the ear nose and throat doctor and cauterize the other side. President Swenson also reassured me at this point in time that I would be able to talk with him that afternoon and receive a Priesthood blessing. So that afternoon I talked to him and I was able to tell him my concerns and fears about not really the nose bleeds, but about what happens because of them (the passing out, the memory loss, the complete exhaustion, etc.) It felt good to be able to tell him exactly what was going on. He then gave me a Priesthood blessing of comfort - I am so grateful he did. I have been able to reflect on that blessing multiple times this week and recieve comfort and guidance in knowing that God is with me, aware of me, and thankful to me of how I am caring for Hermana Lee. It truly was an amazing blessing. President Swenson then talked to Hermana Lee and apparently told her that she needs to go to counseling to figure out this problem. So on Monday after going to 'the outside world' to see the doctor we went to the counselor. But first lets talk about the doctor, I don't know why the doctor on Sunday told us that we could have the other side of her nose cauterized because when we got to the ear nose and throat specialist the doctor told Hermana Lee that the one side of her nose that he did cauterize wasn't fully healed yet and so if he tried to cauterize the other side it would be some sort of a hazard and something about burning a hold in her nose - i didn't understand it, but moral of the story is we didn't get it cauterized (great! *sarcastic). Then we went back to class and waited to go to the counselor. About 15 minutes before we were going to leave for the counselor Hermana Lee started to get really panicked, and it escalated very quickly. One minute she was telling me she was nervous and the next she was dry heaving over the trash can and sprinting down the hall to the bathroom. She was having a full on panic attack. I don't know how long it lasted, but Hermnana Lee was dry heaving and struggling to breath for maybe 10 minutes, and I didn't know how to help her calm down. Thankfully, one of our Elder's must have told Hermana's brown and Christesnsen what was going on because they came and were able to help her too. Finally she was able to calm down and somehow she made it to the counseling office.

Yeah, this week was a struggle, because those events I just described were only Sunday and Monday, and I could probably describe an event like that from each day, however I would like to touch on just one more - Thursday. On Thursday, Hermana Brown, Christensen, Lee and I were about to leave the residence to go to class after gym. Hermana Lee was using the bathroom and then we were going to go. We were just waiting in our room for her (because in the residence you don't always have to be with your companion if one is showering or in the bathroom) and so all of us but Hermana Lee were in the room. After a couple of minutes I saw a hand hitting the ground from outside the door. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but when we opened the door all the way I saw Hermana Lee on the ground and yup, you guessed it - having a nose bleed. with lots of blood. (why does there always have to be so much of it?!) we couldn't get this one to stop either, I was less scared this time because i wasn't the only one there, but I was more scared because the blood wasn't stopping and because these keep happening! (this was like number 11 i think) Anyways, this one wasn't stopping it probably had been going for 25 minutes when Hermana Brown and I decided she needed a blessing. We booked it - yes I left my companion, but we called it a sort of split cause Hermana Christensen was holding hermana Lee up so she couldn't really just drop her and switch me spots and it was an emergency - anyways we sprinted to the classroom got some elders and ran back. The elders had to run to their residence to grab the oil so while we were waiting I was talking to a semi conscious Hermana Lee and told her the elders were going to give her a blessing. I asked her if she believed it would stop the bleeding and help her and she said yes. The minute that she said yes the bleeding began to stop, and shortly after the elders had given the blessing the bleeding had completely stopped. Wow. I truly know the power of God is real. I know that He is aware of us, and He wants to help us. He has given us the means to be helped and will if we ask Him to - whether it be through song, prayer, a priesthood blessing, what ever it may be God will help us, because He is aware of us, and most importantly because He loves us. I know. I know this is true!

I don't have much more to write about this week because I've honestly been taking care of Hermana Lee all week (lots of my time has been spent in the counseling office waiting room cause she's been seeing a counselor almost consistently each day). Although I am going through scary times and I feel unrested at times and worried all the time, somehow I am still happy! And I know that it is because I am where God wants me to be. I know that there is something to be joyful about in each day. If we look for the joy in each day and strive to embrace it we will have happiness in our lives, even if we are going through hard times. God wants us to be happy. "Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured" - Pres. Hinckley.

One last cool thing I found this week in my scripture studies - Alma 7:11-12 (I think that is the verse) talks about how Christ suffered for us so He would know how to succor His people. In Espanol the word succor = succorrer , which means 'to succor' or 'to help'. the cool part is that the word "correr" (which is in the word Succorrer) means "to run". Christ does know how to succor us and He not only will succor and help us, but he will "run to us" He will be by our sides the minute we need Him reaching out to help us - all we have to do is choose to take His hand.

I love and like you all! Happy wedding to Roxanne and Andre!!

Hermana Anderson

Nothing against Sisters having facial hair!

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Raquel and Sister Lee loving the snow.

Sisters going to the Temple.

Cleaning blood from the bed!

Scary Experiences

Dear Family and Friends,

Wow well this week was very different, you could say, I would probably call it scary... Yeah so here goes:

Last week I wrote you all about Hna Lee's bloody nose incident on Friday with Hna Richard's class, yeah well I wish I could say that was the only time it happened. Sadly, I cannot. 6 times in 5 days! 6 TIMES IN 5 DAYS! Yeah so Friday she passed out in class and then again in the bathroom she had a little scare when we were cleaning her up. On Saturday and on Sunday she was good, all clear! No problems, thankfully! Then on Monday she passed out twice? Three times? I don't remember completely. But then Monday night we turned out the lights and not a couple minutes later I hear Hna Lee say 'Hermana Anderson, I'm bleeding' - aw man! Yeah I told her to close her eyes cause we needed to turn out the lights to clean her up. We did and she opened her eyes to see a pool of blood that had formed in her hands from her nose - AHHHHH!!! Hermana Brown and Hermana Christensen had never been present for one of these nose bleeds before so they were a little shocked at first when she was passing out, but I quickly took charge and tried to tell them what to do so I could get Hermana Lee cleaned up and done bleeding as fast as possible. This nose bleed probably only lasted about 7 - 10 minutes - it was the longest and scariest one up to that point, but was nothing close to what was coming next. We got her cleaned up pretty well and in bed. The next day she was pretty exhasted from all that had been going on with her body so instead of going to gym she was just going to take a nap. Hermana Brown volenteered to go on a split so I could go to gym, but I said that I was fine I could just stay with Hna Lee and study. Before the other Hna's left (thankfully it was before they left) I heard Hna Lee mumble something from her top bunk, I wasn't quite sure what it was so I got closer to her and I heard her say "I see blood" - there was so much blood that had dripped from her nose! And just like that she was out. This time was the scariest though because Hna Lee had hardly any strength so she couldn't keep coming in and out of consiousness like she normally does, and if she could she was aware of how much blood there was and she was very scared. I tried my best to calm her, but eventually it got to the point where she was unresponsive. On top of that - her bloody nose that afternoon (tuesday) was the most blood that I have ever seen a person loose in a bloody nose. We were trying our best to stop her bleeding and keep her head up, but she was so limp that her head kept falling back and she was coughing up blood. I wasn't sure if she was even able to breath because there were tissues on her nose, her nose was bleeding profusely, and she was coughing up blood, and she was unresponsive. I know that the strenthening and enabling power of the Atonement is real. I have no idea how I was able to stay focused, know what to do, and not break down in fear during the about 20 minutes that this was going on. Thankfully, someone (i'm not quite sure who) but someone was aware enough to call a nurse. I also was aware enough to tell someone to run and go get Priesthood holders to administer a blessing. The nurse came and took over (thank goodness!) After the nurse got there it seemed to dawn on me all that was going on. The Priesthood holders came too, but for some reason they didn't give her a blessing - um hello?! That was their one job! - yeah I was kind of upset about that. Anyways, the nurse then took her to the clinic at the MTC and had her rest there for a couple of hours. At this point in time I was on "splits" with Hermana's Brown and Christensen. They were a great blessing to me during this time, because they told me how grateful they were that I was there. They said that they know that I was meant to be Hermana Lee's companion because in the moment I knew what to say, how to act, and how to hold myself together to help her - let me tell you this. I was led by the Spirit to know what to say and what to do. I know that God is aware of us, I know that He was aware of Hermana Lee and the situation, and He was aware and able to help me know what to do. If everything hadn't fallen exactly into place as it had - I'm not sure if Hermana Lee would be doing as well as she is now. So many things could've gone wrong (falling off the top bunk, not calling the nurse, so many things) I''m so grateful to God! Anyways after lunch they told me that I could go check on Hermana Lee, I did, but she was still out so they gave me a phone (A PHONE!!!!) to use and they said they would call me if they needed anything. Well they did call because they were sending her to a specialist to get her nose cauterized - THANK GOODNESS!! and yes I got to leave the MTC, and yes it felt very strange! (in the waiting room the grinch was playing - it was difficult to stay strong, but we both just became super involved in the flashcards i'd brought) Anyways, she got her nose cauterized and almost all was well except for the fact that she was so exhasted and tired that honestly it seemed like she was on laughing gas - ha she started telling me about when she got her "word of wisdom teeth out" and how her favorite color was "skittles" ha yeah that was entertaining, but it was also the beginning of something that led to be scary, and that I'm still worried about. Anyways, 3 hours after leaving for the doctors we came back and got permission from the zone leaders for Hermana Lee to just sleep - thank goodness! - at this point in time she was getting mad at me because she thought that she was perfectly fine, but I could tell that she wasn't so it was a little bit difficult to convince her of what to do cause she'd fight back, but eventually I got her to the room and she crashed onto her bed (oh yeah, me and Hna Brown and Hna Christensen decided to move her to the bottom bunk because she lost her top bunk privelges when she tried to "get out of bed" during one of her 'coming in and out stages' in one of her nose bleeds). So for the rest of the night we stayed in - Thankfully Hermana Rigby's companion was sick so she was at the residence hall too and so she could distract me from my worries and laugh with me and study with me - what an odd tender mercy, but a beautiful tender mercy none the less! The next day Hermana Lee remembered a total of almost nothing from the day before and was still very exhasted and unable to do anything - this day (wednesday) was when the next stage of scary things started happening - Hermana Lee was completely exhasted again and needed to rest so we stayed in all day - thankfully, Hermana Rigby's compaion was sick again so she was my buddy! YAY! but anyways, back to the scary stuff - I'm going to try to explain this the best I can, but I might struggle. During her 'passing out' sessions Hermana Lee almost becomes a completely different person, and when she wakes up, she can't remember anything that happened when she was coming in and out. So what was scary about Wednesday was Hermana Lee was starting to become like that 'person' at random times, and without passing out. It is also scary because sometimes she would forget basic things. For example: One time she came out of the room after sleeping and was talking with Hermna Rigby and me and we were talking about some of the Elders and she was like "who?" - yeah I thought she was just joking, or maybe milking it for more than it was worth, but she wasn't. We then found out that she didn't remember any of the Elders names  at all, or Hermana Christensen or Hermana Browns names, she knew mine, but it took her a minute to get Hermana Rigbys and she was right there! Holy cow - what do i do?! It worried me because Hermana Lee thought that it was just cause she was exhasted, but she had just slept for like over 16 hours, I was worried that during her passing out her brain was deprived of oxygen and I wasn't sure (and still am not sure) if there was possibly a little bit of damage done to her brain - is that even possible? Anyways Hermana Rigby and I suggested that she get a Priesthood blessing and she wouldn't cause she thought she was fine, ugh I so was wishing that she would (but wait for it - that's the cool part!) So basically, all of Wednesday was like what I just described. Hermana Rigby and I got some pretty good studying in though! It was a good day for personal time (ha we stole a couch and put it outside our doors:)) The next day (Thursday) in the morning Hermana Lee was completley fine (YAY!!) but... then in class that afternoon, she completely slipped into her 'unaware and short term memory' self (NOOOO!!!) Yeah I quickly ushered the Elders out of the room (they would've made the situation more stressful for Hermana Lee) and asked her again if she would get a blessing, she wouldn't, so I asked her to pray with me (I needed to pray in a serious way - I needed guidance) - wow the power of prayer is real - I could feel immediate comfort and help. I then asked her if she wanted to go to the doctor or the residence, she said the residence so we tried to walk out of the hall but she was so wobbly, so couldn't barely hold herself up and I couldn't either, the Elders wanted to help, but again they would've made it worse for Hermana Lee so I got the other HNA's from next door to help us. Thankfully they came and we got her to the residence, and somehow along the way we (but mainly Hermana Christensen) convinced her to get a blessing. Wow. so powerful. The Elders came - the two that Hna Lee chose had never given a blessing before. It was amazing to feel the power of the Priesthood. Even though these two Elder's stumbled through the words and stumbled through the blessing, it didn't matter. The power of the Spirit that I felt during that blessing re-assured me that God is aware of all of us, He loves us, and He wants to bless us, we just need to have the faith to take the first step towards Him and ask Him for help. Immediately after the blessing Hermana Lee seemed better, we went back to the room for her to sleep it off and she couldn't even sleep, within minutes she was back to her 'normal' self and remember things! I know the Power of the Priesthood is the Power of God. Yesterday, there was only one tiny incident where Hermana Lee saw her blood and got a little dizzy and a little 'loopy' but, she didn't pass out! Wow! Es Marvilloso no?! (marvolous isn't it?)

My only big thing now, is it has been difficult for me to transition back to 'normal' missionary life. It's difficult for me to think about my investigators when I'm worried that my companion will passout or not be well or bleed - so yeah - I've been praying though that I will be able to focus on whatever need is most pressing in the moment that I need to and it has been helping - I'm so grateful for that! I'm also still a little traumatized from that tuesday afternoon when I held my companion in my arms unconcious with so much blood for 20 minutes, so please pray that that moment won't 'haunt' me. So far, I've been okay and doing alright with it, but it was very scary and because that was so scary I think that I am fearing and having worries for the future. But like I've been taught here at the MTC Faith is the opposite of Fear. Now is the time for me to say "It is well" and trust that if something does happen again, God will be my strength again - And I know He will.

Sorry it's been a wierd week - not many "missionary" stories, but please know this: God loves us, He is aware of us, He will help us in our times of need, and the Preisthood power is a blessing for us.

Con mucho amor,
Hermana Anderson

 Missionaries in the District trying to act cool!

 Hermana Anderson's Nametag

 Sister Missionaries from the District

 Sisters from the District at the Temple

 Sister Anderson and Sister Rigby with their Stolen Couch

Couch Party crashed by other sisters

Almost Half-Way Through the CCM

Hola!!! Mi Familia y Mis Amigos!

Wow! Crazy to think that I've been here for 2 1/2 weeks?? Crazier to think that I'm almost halfway done with my time here at the CCM - When I think of it that way it really motivates me, because I feel like I still have so much to learn here before I am prepared to preach the gospel in the spanish language! AhHH! But at the same time I am so amazed with how much I have learned here in as little as 2 1/2 weeks!

To think that Hermana Lee and I are teaching an investigator almost everyday of the week and truth be told usually we are teaching multiple lessons each week! Wow! This week we had some pretty amazing experiences with one of our "investigators", David. Actually he is our teacher, Hermano Woodbury - I love him! I just learn so well the way he teaches - Anyways, even though he isn't a "real" investigator, the experiences that we have with him and the Spirit and testimonies that we share with him durante (during) our lessons are real. Entonces, (so), David's situation is he is catolic (Catholic) and he and his wife had a baby last month that was basicamente (basically) a still birth child. So we've been teaching him and it was so incredible because The Spirit has just been so strong when we've shared with him the truths we know about God's plan for us and when we combine our testimonies with the words of the scriptures the Spirit is so real, the Spirit is so strong when we do that. Anyways on our second lesson with him when at the end of the lesson we asked him "Seguira' al ejemplo de JesuCristo..." (or will you follow the example of Jesus Christ) and be baptized by someone holding the proper authority.... HE SAID YES!!!! I know that he is really not David, that he is actually Hermano Woodbury, but like I said even though David isn't "real" The Spirit still is. I can only imagine the joy that I felt in that moment, but imagine the joy with an actual investigator!

Same with another experience this week: Hermana Richards was teaching us "toca las puertas" (literally translated touch the doors - but it means tracting) anyway she shared with us an incredible experience from her mission about when she was tracting and just how ready a mother and her daughter were to receive the message of the Gospel - you know, although toca las puertas is not always fun and isn't always what everyone wants to do, from the experience Hermana Richards shared with us, I have a testimony of tracting too, and in Argentina when the times come that all we have to do is tracting, I will put my faith in God and try my best to listen to the Spirit to know where to go.

An encouraging thought that I have had since being at the CCM, but its been really prevalent in my mind this week is I'm here on a mission, and yes it is difficult at times, but I want to do my best and I want to help God's children know the joys of the Gospel that we all have enjoyed knowing everyday of our lives - but the best part is this: God wants me to be successful too! These are His children, If I only humble myself and ask Him for help, He will bless me with the comfort, espanol, or knowledge that I need, because this is 'His work, and His glory' (Moses 1:39) I know that God is with me and that God wants to bless His children, we need only ask - it is simply that simple.

Ha another first from this week: My companion passed out on me during class. What?! Yeah that did happen. Ha okay so like the first day here Hermana Lee gave me a disclaimer that she passes out when she sees her own blood, she's not scared of bleeding, it just happens when she sees her blood. So we are sitting there in class with Hermana Richards - I love her too - and Hermana Lee just says, pretty normal, oh i have a bloody nose - so naturally I think, 'oh okay lets get a tissue' (yeah I forgot for a minute that she passes out when she sees her own blood) then she's like, in a tone of voice that is plain as day 'I'm gonna pass out'. Ha and Hermana Richards kinda looks at her and me like, is she serious? Then Hermana Lee got wobbly and I caught her on the way down and moved her head to my shoulder. Yeah at this point in time we're all like a little bit in shock cause we don't know what to do. Then Hermana Lee wakes up all frantic like and starts to stand up - yeah BAD IDEA!!! She basically was passing out like every 3 seconds then coming to for 1 then passing out for another 10 seconds then coming to for a couple of seconds - anyways at this point in time Hermana Richards and I are trying our best to hold her up, but it's difficult and none of the Elders wanted to touch her cause it's against mission rules - finally, thankfully, one of the Elders (Elder Atwood) grabbed her and held her up until we could get her to lay down, but she was pretty frantic so it was difficult to get her to lay down - anyways eventually she was laying down in the hallway and Hermana Richards and I are looking at each other like "what do we do now" Ha then Hermana Richards strongly told two boys to run to the health center. While they were gone Hermana Lee woke up again (She was out for about 30 - 60 seconds that time maybe) and when she woke up it was really sad cause she was asking Hermana Richards and I for her mom and for her brothers and where she was and all we could tell her was that her mom wasn't there and that her brothers weren't there. Then she sort of blacked out for just like a 2 seconds and when she came to she was her normal self again and was like 'yeah I know where I am, I'm in the MTC' - and she didn't remember anything that had happened like 2 minutes before she had passed out or during her frantic passing out spill. Woah - that was freaky for me and Hermana Richards, pero, (but,) Hermana Lee was all cool about it and was like "yeah this just happens when I see my own blood" "it's not a big deal" "you didn't have to run to the doctors" all this stuff - anyways! Woah! That was definitely a new experience!

Pues (well), I'm simply loving life here on the mission! Every day of it is something new and I'm amazed at how much I grow each day - and how fast the time flies! In about a week the district above us is leaving (NOOOOOO!!!! but YEEESSSSS! at the same time!) We've all become great friends, but I'm excited for them and excited for the people they'll teach!

Con Mucho Amor,

Hermana Anderson

Raquel with her District President and his Wife

Raquel with Hermana Rigby

Elders Photo Bombing

Some of Raquel's MTC District

Raquel with her Roommates and Uncle Michael

Hermana Christensen's Birthday!

(The banner was made from flashcards and dental floss!)

Poco a Poco

Hola!!!!

Friends and Family!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!

This week was so incredible! I say it every night in my journal - I'm so surprised with how much I am learning and growing each day and I wish that I had time to write everything I'm feeling in my journal at night, but no matter how much time I have words simply cannot describe it. My experience at la CCM has been such a blessing to me so far! This week we had our first Sunday and um Sunday is my favorite day here at the CCM - Devotional is incredible and we also get to watch a "film." Last Sunday Hermana Lee and I decided to watch the Devotional address that Elder Bednar gave a couple of years ago when he visited the CCM on Christmas. Wow. I wish that it was accessable outside of the CCM because it is such an amazing talk - He talked about developing the Characteristics of Christ and how to use them in missionary work, but also just in life to continually strive to become better people. I wish I could write it all and remember it all, but it wouldn't do it justice.

Hermana Lee and I taught Angela again this week and we also got a new "investigator" named Ivette! Our lessons are improving poco a poco as we are learning more and more. The biggest lesson I learned this week through teaching investigators was that when we teach The Spirit is more important than the espanol. I had some amazing spiritual experiences and lessons when I remembered that. After teaching "Angela" four times, Hermana Richards (the teacher who was pretending to be Angela) came and talked to all of us as a class. She went around asking us what we learned from teaching Angela so I shared what I just told you about the Spirit. And right then and there in front of my whole district she told me that she knows that is true and is very important. Then she told me that she could feel the power of my testimony and told everyone that  "Hermana Anderson has a testimony that is muy podoroso (very powerful)." That meant so much to me because during the lessons I knew that my espanol wasn't perfect, but as I went in and tried, and listened to the Spirit, and then testified with all my heart she, the 'investigator' could feel the Spirit. That was an amazing lesson to learn - even though I used very basic words, the Spirit could still testify to her. She told our class that her being able to play Angela was a blessing in her life because she could feel the power of all of our testimonies. What a great learning experience it was to teach her.

Thanksgiving!!! Wow! Thanksgiving was an incredible day! Elder Oaks came and talked to us in the morning for the devotional. It was such a great devotional. My favorite part though was the music. Why? you may ask... Um cause he brought his family to perform musical numbers for all of us - and by his family, yes! Yes! I do mean Jenny Oaks Baker!!!!!! - Yes Raeli I know that you are jealous, but don't worry I really did try to enjoy it 'doubly' - so enough for the both of us. It was such a great devotional, but the music really made my day! Then we got to watch a movie - 17 Miracles!!! (It's almost like a real movie!!!!) I know that movie is so sad, but for some reason I was able to watch it with a different perspective this time. It is so amazing to me how many things here testify of missionary work to me. During the movie I felt the Spirit so present and so strong in testifying to me that I am where God wants me to be and I am helping to do His work. I already love this work! I wish so much that I could express to all of you the amazing Spirit I am able to feel here everyday. I know the Gospel is true. I know it. I am so grateful for the blessing of that knowledge. Later in the day we were able to help with a service project - on Thanksgiving day everyone in the CCM helped package over 380,000 meals for starving children! It was so great to be able to help in that work:) Service brings a joy! My table didn't know each other at all really (except our compaionships of course) but we were able to just have fun!! But I think Thanksgiving night was my most favorite part of the day. We had a "gratitude devotional" where we watched Mormon Messages, sang some hymns, had some funny talents, had some spiritual talents, and then they ended by talking about The Savior and how grateful we all are for Him and His Atonement and love for all of us. Right after that we were going to sing "I Believe in Christ", now throughout the whole meeting whenever they had us as missionaries sing a song, they had us stand. But for some reason, for this particular song they never signaled us to stand. But the Spirit was so strong in the room, I think every missionary wanted to stand. Stand to sing praises to Christ our Lord, and stand to share our witnesses and testimonies of Christ. So about halfway through the second verse a ripple effect seemed to be created in the meeting hall. All of us missionaries stood. We stood to sing our testimonies of Christ and to stand by Him. It was amazing. The CCM President and his wife stood too. The Spirit in that room was unforgettable. I know Christ is my Savior. He is all of ours Savior. I know He loves us and He wants to help us and He will, if we only ask Him.

Wow! I could write for days and I still wouldn't be able to tell you everything that I have learned. I am incredibly grateful for this opportunity I have to serve God on a mission. I am very grateful to take this joyful gospel message to the people of Argentina! I pray for all of you and I pray for the people that I will meet daily. I love this work! I love mi Padre Celestial! And yes, I even love Espanol. I can see how the gift of tongues works daily in my life - poco a poco - as I try and am patient, the language is coming:)

Love and Like you all!!

Hermana Anderson

 Raquel and her roommates -- taken Day 2 in the MTC

 Ruth and Raeli traced their arms and sent Raquel a "hug" to wrap around herself

 Hairnet -- getting ready for the Thanksgiving Day service project

 Fashionable harinets

Raquel's Black Nametag

First Email from the MTC . . . or CCM

Hola friends and family!

Holy cow! The first four days here honestly have felt like a lifetime to me! Not because they've been that long of days, but because I've already learned and grown so much since being here! Honestly I if I've grown this much the past 4 days I can't wait to see what it's like in 6 weeks at la CCM (the MTC) or in 18 months! 

I honestly love it so much here! I think my companion, Hermana Lee, explained it best. After we'd only been here for a couple of hours she turned to me and said 'It's so strange, I know we've only been here for like 3 hours, but it already feels like home.' So True! Muy verdadad! I am so happy here and I know that I'm doing what God wants me to do! We learn so fast here! Hermana Lee and I taught our first lesson yesterday.... IN ESPANOL!!! What? Yeah I know! It was so nerve racking. It was definitely rough, and we definitely learned a lot from it! But I felt the Spirit there, and that is what is most important. As we were leaving I turned to our 'investigator' (this one is an employee of la CCM, but others we teach here could be real investigators - that's a scary thought!) anyway, I turned to our investigator, Angela, and said in the best espanol I could come up with "Lo sieto para epanol" (Sorry for the spanish). And she said to me, "No! No! Es bueno" - I felt like she sincerely meant it too. I really appreciated that! Afterwards one of the Elders in my district said something that helped me realize how real the gift of tongues is. He said that two days ago, we wouldn't have even been able to have a conversation remotely close to the ones we had (even though they were muy rough) but it is so true! I can feel the gift of tongues! It's helping me learn and retain - like my language teachers always say "poco a poco" - little by little. So true! I have learned so much! It is incredible to me that Hermana Lee and I were able to pray, attempt to teach a lesson, answer Angela's questions, and bear testimony all en espanol after only 2 1/2 dias en la classe! Incrediblé! I know God is with me! I can feel Him assisting me and blessing me with so much happiness! I love it! However, I am nervous, because we have another "appointment" with Angela tonight and she was super sort of stand off-ish the first time, but I'm grateful for that because it gives us a somewhat "real" experience - oh yeah and she talks muy rapido!

I love my "roommates" and my companera! The other set of hermanas that live in our same room are so cute and funny! Their names are Hermana Brown ý Hermana Christensen (Raeli - Hermana Christensen looks just like Genesie!) Haha they make me laugh so much! Ha Hermana Lee is great too! Her mom was a convert so it's really kind of cool! However, I do have some getting used to to do. I can tell already that her numero uno love language is touch - That's like my least!!! I have told her that I am not as comfortable with touch as she is, but I am also trying to be understanding because I don't want to take away from her the way that she gives love - but I have told her not to be offended if I don't seem to receive it well or don't give it like hardly at all just cause well I don't like it very much, but I'm trying to be patient with it:) I love her though! Ha in the mornings there is a early morning workout class for the sisters that starts at 6:00, since we're all super ambitious - and by that I mean Hermana Christensen and I drag our companions out of bed to go - We go! Ha it's great! So far we have done yoga, kickboxing, and pilates! My favorite was probably kickboxing because it is the closest thing that I get to dancing - Oh! I miss dancing so much! But I know that dancing will still be there when I come home:)

I love my district! Hermana brown and I are the only Hermanas in the district and lets face it - those Elders really know how to get off task. So sometimes it's stressful because they distract us from learning the things we are here to learn, but our teachers have discovered this as well and are doing a pretty good job at keeping them in line. The Elders in our district are so funny! So I guess it's good that they keep us laughing - just as long as they don't distract us from learning the things that we came to the CCM to learn.

Well I think that's all for now!! I love you all so much! I miss you, but don't worry because I'm happy! Since the moment I stepped onto the drop-off curb, I felt peace and joy! So although I miss you, here is where my heart is right now:) I love and like you all! I love this work! I love this Gospel! I know it is true! 

con mucho amor, 

Hermana Anderson

p.s.

I'm sorry there are no pictures today, we did take a couple, but we've been so busy! And I guess the computers here require a card reader to read the SD card and I haven't had time to make it to the store to buy one - but i'll try for next week! 

Dad - you can post the pictures that Marylin sent (it was so great to see her and Micheal!! Made me even happier than I already was!) and put them on the blog for this week if you so desire:)

Suuuure love ya!

Editors Note --

Ruth's sister and her husband (Raquel's Aunt and Uncle -- Marilyn and Michael) serve in Church callings at the MTC. As such, they tracked her down on Thursday night and sent us some pictures of her and her companion and her roommates. Here are those pictures:

 I am assuming this is Raquel and her roommates.

 Raquel and Sister Lee

 Raquel and Sister Lee

Sister Lee, Raquel and Aunt Marilyn

(This post is not a letter from Raquel, but an entry written by her father.)

We dropped Raquel off at the MTC in Provo, Utah, today at about 12:30. As a family, we had parked the car in the lower parking lot of the Provo Temple -- took some pictures, shed some tears, and then said our "Goodbyes". We then got back in the car, drove across the street, and dropped her off, where she was greeted by a Sister missionary who was preparing to serve a mission in Japan.

Anyway -- here are some pictures that we took today. Let the adventure begin!