ok well im back. so yeah we just went and had a turkey lunch at the Seniors Center with Brother Stover and there are a couple other members that go there as well. anyways thing are going good here and i'll finish responding to your email and then i only have a couple things that i wrote down.
so the plans are for Christmas to call home and have a Christmas dinner out at President Clements house, he is the Elder Quorum President. Him and his wife are really nice people, well just like everyone else in the ward. so it will be good and i think that morning early morning we are going to go up to the Van Vleets house and hang out in the early morning, like Jonathon and his family.. i guess all of them go up there and have breakfast so it will be a good day, i just gotta keep busy and not have to much "alone" time cuz that is when i would start thinkin about home. So late last week we were talking with Mary-Ann on the phone and she told us that she wanted to be baptized! haha but in order for her to do that we have to be able to teach her and she keeps postponing our apts so it makes it kind of hard! ha but anyways so i think it was Saturday brother stover wanted a hair cut and so i borrowed some clippers from a member in the ward and gave him a hair cut and he went to church the next day and everyone was complimenting it and told me i did a good job so anyways today when we went to seniors luncheon a guy came up to me and asked if i was the one that cut Brother stovers hair and i said yeah and he asked me if i would do it! lol so i was like are you serious? and he said yeah so he just came over to Brother Stovers house and i gave him a hair cut! lol i didn't think it looked to well but he said thank you. Sara Westin had her baby last week i guess and we are gonna go over and see if there is anything we can do to help her out. Brian Peterson is still struggling with family problems so he hasn't been able to meet with us cuz every free minute he gets he goes down to Grand Junction to be with his family. like i said not too much has been going on, we have found that lots of people are out of town for the holiday.
well I'm excited for Friday so i can talk with all of you! :) thank you again for all the 12 days of Christmas gifts! :) and to everyone that follows my blog that sent me a Christmas card i thank you! it is so good to hear from everyone and to see pictures of y'all. i miss all of you so much and love you even more! thank you! and have a wonderful MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

love, Elder Randy Anderson

So yup Elder Hahne and i got the packages on monday and the pillow case doesn't fit my pillow completely cuz it is a huge pillow but i have it on there and i'll take pictures and send them to you. so yup im staying in Paonia for another transfer. i was so excited to hear we didn't get the call until like 10:30 last night and the suspense was killing me and everyone in the ward was telling me how they wish that i could stay and when i got the call and found out i was so so happy.So yeah things have been going pretty good i'll tell you abot a few thigns that i wrote down to talk about.

so you finally got rid of the cold weather huh? we did too for a little while haha but i think its in the mid 20's right now so it ain't bad.. it warmed up to like 43 over the weekend for one day and hten it cooled back down... i guess the mtns are gettin tons of snow but down in the valley we haven't had anymore since that big snow fall but it is still all over on the ground cuz it hasn't melted. i will forsure take pictures with the elf hats on and send them home haha tell dad thank you. people have been getting laughs from them.

so yeah i'll tell you about whats been going on lately, last week Elder Hahne and i got to help the Van Vleets set up there Christmas tree, it is a fake one so that sucks but it is huge i think it is like 8 or 9 ft tall haha and then we decorated it, i thoguht that was fun cuz i ain't at home to do our tree. but we have helped a few other people decorate and put up there trees also.

Saturday night Jonathon Van Vleet asked us if we would bring up the movie "Joseph Smith Prophet of the restoration" to his house so he could have some friends over and watch it, so we did and i was like who the heck does that as a 14 year old. i'll have to get pictures of him cuz he is only 14 but he is like 6' 3" he is such a great kid though. so we went up there saturday night. oh ond Friday we had the ward party and they watched the movie Joy to the World and i thought the party went really well.

my talk on sunday seemed to have went well everyone told me i did a good job i didn't look at my notes too much so i was able to look up at the people and everyone said it went well so i guess i'll take there word for it. i have always had the problem of talking to fast though, that is something i need to work on even when i am teaching. also later that day Jonathon was giving the lesson in young mens so he asked if i would come in and listen and help him out so i told him we would, he did a great job i think for doing it the first time.

later Sunday night brother Van Vleet (jonathons Grandpa,who we live with) came up to me while i was sitting there in the kitchen and asked how many conversions are you going to have by time you leave this area. and i was like umm well just one (Jenny Ross) and he said your forgetting one and i was like what? who? and he started to tear up and he said his Grandson and he went on to tell me that since i have come into the area he has started coming to church regularly and goes to seminary in the mornings and other things and he said that i have really helped Jonathon out and i didn't even think i had done anything. he mentioned how i probably have converted more people that i have no clue about, but it really touched me that he said that cuz i do really like Jonathon and i think he is a great kid and for him to say that definitely made my day! and i think of how people are always watching us and see what we're doing not only me as a missionary but everyone back home people recognize the things we do.

Tuesday we had a apt with Mary-Ann but she had to re-schedule to this friday so hopefully things go well there. last night we went over to the high school with the Van Vleets because the Paonia Elementary was having there Christmas concert and it was so cute to watch all of the little kids, they actually sang and dance and put on this whole show it was awesome i wish we could ahve done something like that in elementary. but the Van Vleets had 5 grandkids in it and then there were tons of other kids that i knew from church.

so yeah and then today we are going down to Montrose with the Delta elders to go bowling so it should be fun.

I hope this week continues to go well for you, thanks for everything that you have done. i cant wait to talk to you all :) miss you and love you!!

Love, Randy

How is everyone doing this week? i hope that the cold weather isn't too harsh on everyone but i got it down here too so i guess we can relate that way! ha this morning when i got up at 5 it was -3 degrees and when we left Paonia it was still -1 degree and all of last week it didn't get over freezing and then i think it was Monday it started snowing like crazy and then all day tuesday and so we got about 5" of snow here. so yeah winter has finally come to Colorado! :)
So yeah i'll give you a run down on what has been happening since last week when i emailed. That night we got to go to mutual and teach the young women about service and there were only 4 of them so i was like wow this is weird compared to our youth back home. But it went well i thought. Then on Thursday we went over and taugh Brian Peterson who is investigating the church and i guess he is having family troubles that i dont really need to mention, but he is going through a hard time and the lesson went really well and he is a very humble guy and knows he needs to change. Yesterday we got to go to Grand Junction for a Christmas Devotional with President Christison and i really enjoyed it, i got to give him and Sister Christison big hugs and they let me know that they love me and are proud of me. i always love to go to zone confrence because we get to learn more but also cuz we get to see tons of other missionaries and it is good to see old friends from previous areas. Oh Mary-Ann this lady that we tracted into last transfer, well we still haven't been able to meet with her but we talked to her and dropped of a confrence issue of the Ensign and she read through the whole thing twice in 1 week! i was like WHAT!? haha that is awesome! but she seems so solid if we could only sit down and teach her, but i guess she is really sick right now and thinks it might be the swineflu. So earlier today we went and help taught the seminary lesson that is why i got up so early, but it still amazes me at how big our youth is back home. There were only 4 kids there today and they dont ever have more than 9. i was like haha we had 5 periods a day with at least 12 in it. I dont know though, ha but this week has been a good one overall. Elder Hahne and i have been trying to teach more lessons to members and investigators lately so we dont have to go out and knock on doors in the cold haha :) ...
so yeah my talk only has to be 10 minutes this time not 20 so i'm sure it will go ok. at least i hope ha, but i could just stand up there and bare testimony for that long, although im not going to. Good luck with your lesson mom! once again thank you for all that you do. i hope that everything continues to go well for everyone. i miss you like crazy and love you! take care and keep in touch!

Love,
Elder Anderson

How is everything going for the family this week? things are going good for me here. we are in Delta right now emailing because we are gonna get a ride with the Delta elder's to montrose which is another 30 minutes away. we get to bowl for free down there so we are gonna go bowling today and have lunch down there with the other missionaries down that way, so i hope it will be fun. things are going good for me though, i have had a few ruff days but overall things are going well for me. what is new back home? so last week went really well i enjoyed my thanksgiving.. Wednesday afternoon we went to a seniors lunch with some elderly people in the ward, they have a community thing where a lot of the seniors from the area go and have lunch on monday wednesday and friday but on Wednesday they had a thanksgiving lunch so a member invited us. it was funny they had flowers that they give away (well as you come in you sign a paper and there is a number next your name and then they draw a number and i won the flowers) lol i thought it was pretty funny. but i was glad they invited us to go. On Thanksgiving day we came down here to Delta to play in a turkey bowl with some other missionaries and ward members, it was a blast i miss playing football so much! then we went back home and got changed and then went to dinner we went over a bit early to help with things the meal was really well. when we went around the table and said what we were thankful for i said for the love and support they show us missionaries to make us feel welcome and then for my family back home! then that night we went and played basketball with brother Van Vleet and his grand kids it was good to get some excercise haha. So i found out that we have to talk to sacrament again on the 13th of this month! haha i just spoke not even 6 weeks ago and here i am again talking in sacrament but its ok i guess. Our topic is the Greatest Christmas Gift. so yeah... haha pray for me.. we haven't had too much success this past week with things it has just kind of been a blah week, we are still getting out and doing things but not too much has happened. which is alright i guess i mean im sure we'll see something come up sooner than later. i cannot believe that Christmas is just around the corner is honestly seems like less than a year ago we had Christmas. Bishop Bayles told us that he was grateful for us and for the great work we are doing in the ward, so i thought that was nice of him to give us a compliment. i haven't heard of anyone in this area that doesn't like me yet so lets hope it stays that way! haha.. but yeah not too much sorry if this email isn't exciting but things are going good. just trying to stay positive and make the most of the time i have. I am only in 3 Nephi also mom and im gonna finish it, you'll just have to read like 4 chapters a day or so. haha just keep trying and like you said its quality not quanity. we should read the Book of Mormon FOR Christmas not BEFORE if that makes since. but i am really excited to be able to call andtalk to everyone. The next transfer is December 17th and i think that i will stay here another transfer at least with Elder Hahne but im not sure and i guess i'll hvae to wait and see what the Lord wants. i love this area and the people here. well thank you for everything you do. i hope things get more exciting back home i miss you and love you all so very much! :) love you!love Elder ANderson

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!!!