I hope that everyone is enjoying the week so far, and i also hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow. Things are going good out here and tomorrow we are having 2 thanksgiving dinners our mission President told us not to have more than 4 haha so we have two lined up and then we will just relax. that is way cool that Connell won there football game ha i knew they would and they totally kicked butt! well if Chelan beat Royal up pretty bad maybe this weekend will be a close game? you'll have to let me know. I'm so excited for them, i hope they take state this year! I'm so happy to hear that Daniel's talk went well, i am so excited for that guy and i wish him the best of luck. He is such a good kid, i think it would be so hard to go after just being a member for a little over a year. this past week has been a good one. My favorite part of the week was interviews with President. He is such a great guy, i didn't have a one on one interview this time cuz he was in a hurry so he just meets with the companionships and anyways he is always so inspiring. i asked him a few questions that i had and he answered them for me. That was on Saturday and then the next day we had Stake Confrence and Elder C. Scott Grow of the Seventy was there and he did a great job speaking, he and his wife are from Boise. Then President and Sister Christison spoke and they did a great job talking about missionary work. We had two investigators there from our ward. I got to go up and talk with Elder Grow afterwards and he gave me a big hug i was telling him how y'all got to hear from Elder holland the previous week and he said yeah i was just talking with him befre he left. I think that is so cool! :) Monday we had district meeting and then after district meeting we went on team ups, i stayed here in our area and Elder Hahne left and went with the district leader i really enjoyed going on team ups this time because the kid i served with is on his second transfer and has a bad stuttering problem and he is so humble i definitely learned a lot from him. i think it was on Saturday when we were on our way home we stopped by this ladies house Mary-Ann she is in her 50's but anyways we got there and her mother came to the door cuz its at her mothers house and she said that they both weren't feeling well so we probably wouldn't be able to visit so we left and then we got this phone call on our way home and it was marry-ann and so i pulled over and was talking to her (cuz we are not supposed to talk on the phone if we are driving) haha and she told me that she was reading the Book of Mormon when we came over to the house and she thought it was ironic. So i talked to her for a little bit and asked her if she needed help or had any questions to just call us and she said ok. Then like 10 minutes later she calls us back and asked how come God hasn't called disciples today like he did in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, and she was meaning Prophets and so i started telling her how he has and told him what his name was and then i told her i would take her a confrence issue of the Ensign and she was excited to hear that we had a Prophet on the Earth today. It was like perfect haha people dont ask questions like that too often. so that was a overall view of my week, it went really well. so i cannot believe that the month of November is almost over already and same with the year 2009. Time is flying by, but im not complaining haha. I hope that everything continues to go well for all of you and you enjoy your Thanksgiving Holiday! i love you all and miss you so much! thank you for all you do! Love, Elder Randy Anderson

So how are things going? Everything has been going good for me this week about for everyone back home? so yeah the Van Vleets got home last night and we talked to them this morning and she gave me a big hug and was telling me all about it. She was thrilled that you called her back, anyways yeah they are good people and today was the first time that Elder Hahne met them haha and he's been here for dang near 2 weeks now. yes kade can use my turf cleats but tell him only if they win state cuz if not then im gonna beat him up when i get home! no but tell him he can use them only if writes me a letter after the game and lets me know how it went. haha but tell him and Kraymer good luck for me and to make the most of it, i cant believe they play Riverview haha they will blow over them. I cant believe Royal lost out already i guess they definitely aren't the same program as they normaly have. of course i remember playing up in Cascade as a Sophomore and i got to go in and play quaterback and i threw a touchdown pass to Austin Higuera haha that was my first touchdown on varsity. great memories! that is awesome that Stephanie Ririe got her mission call, i cant imagine going to south america that would be different. So this past 6 days since i last emailed have been going pretty good i have used the Priesthood a bunch. Saturday we went over to the Wallaces and they fed us a big breakfast and it was delicous and then afterwards they both wanted a blessing so i gave one to brother wallace and Elder Hahne gave one to sister wallace, they had been having some health problems well we had dinner there last night and they thanked us again for giving them blessings and they said how it helped cuz the next they felt better. Then on Sunday i had the chance to ordain Johnathon Van Vleet into the office of a teacher and then give him a blessing, his dad isn't the most active and just didn't feel comfortable doing it and his grandpa was up in washington so he asked me if i would do it. They are a way cool family and that was such a great experience, im glad that they asked me to do it. oh and also just on monday night a family wanted us to come over and dedicate there home and so we went over there with the thought that we were gonna leave a blessing on the home and then we ended up giving the Dad a blessing and two of the daughters so it is great to see the Power of the Priesthood in action and how it can bless peoples lives. On last monday i gave that girl Sara Weston a call and talked to her a little bit about the church and i asked her how come she didn't make it to church and she told me, well she was affraid that people would judge her cuz she is pregnant and so i explained to her how some people may judge (even though they shouldn't) but we cant be offended by that cuz going to church is for our own salvation and we dont need to worry about judging others. It's like the parable in John 8:1-11.. read through that and you'll know what i mean. but anyways i also talked to her about the repentance process and just tried to comfort her, well anyways she came to church with her friend on sunday and i guess in Relief Society the teacher made a comment that helped answer some of her concerns and i just love how the spirit can guide people with what to say. Sunday night Elder Hahne and i went over to the Duncans (Sarah's friend) and talked with her to see how Sarah enjoyed church and she said that she loved it and my phone call to her is what made her decide to come to church. it was pretty neat to hear that. They also said that Sarah is wanting to go to Stake Confrence with them this weekend, so hopefully all goes well there. Other than that we have been knocking on lots of doors and trying to visit people, but not too much has come of it but we just keep doing it cuz we know that we will be blessed for it later down the road. i hope that things keep going good for the family, i will make sure to keep in touch as best as i can with letters. thank you for all the love and support you give me it means so much! i miss you and love you! until next week, take care and be safe! bye byeLove, Randy

Elder Randy Anderson on his 20th Birthday. We Love you and we are all so proud of you!!!

Harlen comes to Paoina thanks to Elder Matt Andersen

With all of his Birthday gifts. Randy will be warm in Paonia this winter.

Well it's been 8 days since i last emailed home because the library was closed. I want to thank everyone that follows my blog and also the family thank you so much for the Birthday wishes it meant a lot to know that so many people are thinking of me. My day went well i woke early in the morning and i went down stairs (where i put the gifts the night before) and i opened up just as if i was at home haha i took some pictures and send them home so maybe mom will put some on the blog. The best part of the day was definitely the church service, during sacrament it was the Primary Program and the little kids did such a good job it made my day to watch them up there, and i thought how it seems like it was just the other day i was up there myself doing that. Also Jenny was confirmed into the church so that was good. The rest of the day was just a normal day in the mission and then that night we had dinner at the Holyoaks and they cooked pork chops and potatoes and had a delicous chocolate pie afterwards, it wasn't as good as momma cooks it but it was a great dinner. so my birthday went well and i thank everyone once again for all you did! :) So the new Elder in the area is Elder Hahne and you pronounce his name like this (hah) (knee) so its like your laughing and then your knee, if that makes since at all? lol anyways he has been out on his mission just over 3 months and this is his second area so im doing what they call a follow up trainer cuz im the next comp of his besides his trainer. He is from Carson City, Nevada he turned 19 back in june and then came out a month or so later. He was home school all through high school cuz i guess the high school he would have went to was a ghetto school, but not being mean but you can see some of the things he missed out on not going to a public school. With being social and little things like that but there are a few obvious things that i can see why he is with me. One being that he absolutely stinks at directions and remembering peoples names and for all of you that know me those are two of my strengths! ha so i guess i help him with that lots. Another thing is that he is not the neatest person in the world, seriously though like leaves everything right where he gets done with it and you know me i have OCD so i have to clean up after him and help him out. haha but he is definitely a great missionary and i know i will learn from him as well. i didn't get a picture of him on that last SD card but i will get one with this next one so you can all see him. So Elder Hahne and i have been trying to help him get familiar with the area and the people, so i have been doing all of the planning at night time cuz he doesn't know anything. I had a pretty neat experience with that though cuz i think it was Friday i was planning and felt like we needed to tract this street called "German Crk" and so we were up there tracting and tracted into this girl that was at Jenny's baptism 2 sundays ago. Earlier in the week when Elder Jensen was still here we talked to her to ask who she was and she told us and she said that the girl was wanting to be baptized but her mother wouldn't let her until she was 18 years old so we were like alrighty. But when we were tracting we ran into her and i asked the mom if we could come back and share more with her sometime and she said that it was up to the daughter (Jenny's friend) and i thought she was joking and then we talked for a little while longer and so i asked again right before we left and she said "no really it's up to my daughter" so i asked the daughter and she told us to come back in 2 weeks cuz she has been really busy with school things so i thought it was pretty neat that the spirit guided us up that way. The rest of my week has gone well, nothing else cool like that has happened but it has been a good overall week. We have a few apts tonight with a couple people who are looking into the church so hopefully it will go good. It was hard at times on Sunday because it was my birthday and i wasn't by the family or loved ones so it made it hard but it was good overall. For thanksgiving i think we take the whole day off and then email either the day before or after, but there is a family in the ward actually the same family that fed us on halloween is gonna feed us Thanksgiving, it will be so weird to have all of these holidays away from home. but i'll just have to do my best to make the most of them. yes the ward members are great to us here! So i guess until next time... farewell and enjoy the weekend coming up and be safe. i want to thank you all once again for the things you do for me and for staying in touch with me! i miss you and love you all so much! let me know if there is anything i can do to help anyone out. GO EAGLES!!!! THE CHURCH IS TRUE!!! :) weird combination i know lol but yeah...love,Elder Anderson

Hello Family! So you guessed it right, im staying here in Paonia for at least another transfer. Elder Jensen found out last night that he is getting transfered and is becoming a zone leader so its gonna stink to see him go cuz he is a good missionary and keeps me inline for the most part but at the same time its gonna be a relief to get someone new. so im excited/nervous to find out who comes into the area. but transfers are tomorrow so we will head up to Grand Junction and be there about noon and then i guess we'll find out. Matt sent me a package and it didn't say dont open until the 8th so i opened yesterday and it was a " I Love Harlem" shirt! haha its pretty sweet. but this sunday in church is the primary program so that will be a great sacrament meeting on my birthday. It's gonna be so weird having a birthday away from family/loved ones! but we'll see how it goes i guess. So the baptism went through and i thought that the service went really well. Stewy the boyfriend doesn't have a white shirt or tie so i gave him one of my shirts and ties just cuz he said he didn't have one and i thought i had plenty and he could use it more than me so i let him keep them. Her parents came to the bapstism and i thought that the spirit was really strong and her mother was crying so she had to feel something. But there is a statistic that 3 out of 4 people that attend a baptism end up converting as well, so maybe we will see something with her mother here soon? we haven't had too much happen since last week really, we've done lots and lots of tracting and tried visiting tons of in-active members cuz there are lots of them here, ha but there hasn't been too much going on. But im sure we will see some blessings from working hard later on down the road. we have done lots of service this past week, which reminds me! LOL so the couple that we helped build the pig fence for a couple weeks back, well we went back over there to help them extend it out further and help them with some other things. well they have one pig that is about the size of the pigs at fair time and then a few smaller ones, well anyhoo they have that same tape thing to measure the pigs and they wanted the big pig measured cuz they are gonna take it to the slaughter house well i got in there and was trying to measure it and the dumb thing kept running around and wouldn't stay still so i sat there and tried to let it get familar with me but it just ran around in circles so i finally gave up on that and grabbed the back leg and was trying to wrestle it down to the ground but he was a BIG PIG ha and it wasn't happening but he was squealing like crazy and so i let it go and was about to give up on the whole deal and i was walkin back to the fence to get out and the pig walked over to me and just stopped like right next to me and so they threw me the tape and i measured it and then the pig stayed there and i was petting it and i got out and was walking on the fence and the pig kept following me everywhere i went! lol it was funny they all were like what did you do. ha so yeah my week has consisted of lots of service work which i love to do! and missionary work wasn't the best this past week, we tried but no one was too receptive. miss you all so much! Keep in touch with me and let everyone know that i say hello! i hope that things continue to go well for you. LOVE YOU!!! Love, Randy

After the recent snow storm in Paonia. Randy traded in his pedal bike for this ride!!!!
LOL