Well another week has gone by and it's been awhile since i emailed last, but it still feels like it was only a week. this past week was awesome with the different confrences & meetings we had.

Tuesday we were able to go up to Frisco for a leadership training and i really enjoyed the confrence he trainned on how it important or crucial it is to have the spirit with us as we teach. it went from 9 to 2 so it was pretty lengthy but it was well worth going, having the opportunity to be trained by a member of the seventy. it was funny on the way up there we left at about 6:30 that morning and we met up with some other Elders in Glenwood so our companions could go on team ups while we were gone and so there were 5 of us in some sort of leader ship in the car and Elder Christensen was driving (he's the one from Walla Walla) and we figured we were going to be late and he did not want to speed so we pulled over and i jumped in the drivers seat and we were making good time until we came up behind a cop and so i didn't want to pass him speeding so i just stayed behind him and he was going faster than the speed limit as much as 15 mph above it so i just stayed behind up until about 5 miles out from Frisco he turns his lights on pulls over to the side of the road and so i go around him and then he turns his lights off and gets in right behind me and followed us the rest of the way 'til we exited of at Frisco! haha it was so scary i thought for sure i was going to get pulled over or get my first ticket! then on the way home that night we stopped by and had dinner at the Larsens in Glenwood, it was so awesome to see them again! i miss going over to there place and visiting with them.

Anyways then the next day we went to Grand Junction for our Zone Confrence and we were trainned by him again, so i got to spend 2 days being instructed by a General Authority it was really neat! i was able to jot down lots of notes and things on how to help me become a better missionary.

we're still working with trying to figure out who everyone is in Parachute and it really suprises me how many members there are down there. there are 124 house holds in Parachute that are on the ward roster but i dont even think 1/4 of them are active! i've noticed that there are lots of part member famlies, so that is a big focus we are tyring to make right now. but just think if on average those 124 house holds had 2 people in them that would be 248 people, that is plenty to make a ward! not only a branch but a full ward! we have been able to meet with lots of them throughout the past week and we are hoping that our next appt's will go through. Parachute is where lots of the workers that work in the oil/gas fields live and within the past year or so more than half the town has moved out because the work slowed down with some new deal they did in the government is what i heard. it's crazy walking or driving through town and seeing so may empty trailers and homes it looks like it should be on a movie or something.

i think once the branch opens we will see lots more of these families become active because they wont have to drive 20 minutes to get to church. i was talking with the stake President the other day and he said it probably wont be open for the next couple months at least that's what they're hoping for. i really hope i'll be here to see it open!

i need to get going, the other Elders are ready to leave and we are going to grab some lunch. i hope to hear from everyone again soo! i'm trying to write y'all back as i get the time i'm writng little by little so i'll send those out when i finish. i hope you got the sd card or you should be getting it soon, it's nothing special. i miss you and love you!
love Randy








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It seems weird to be emailing on Monday, i'm just so used to Wednesday and it being the mid week kind of spliting the week in half but i guess it's nice since i just heard from you 5 days ago, what stinks is that this upcoming week will be a week and a half before i hear from you or am able to email back. so real quick before i forget i have been meaning to tell you for the past 4 weeks, but i chipped my tooth!ha it's nothing huge but chipped my front big tooth. when i was back in Glenwood we would go run on the track at the high school in the mornings and i was pumping up my football to carry as i ran and the needle broke off in the ball so i tried pulling it out and couldn't get it so i tried using my teeth and the dang thing chipped my tooth! i was so mad because i always remember you saying "dont use your teeth to open that, you'll chip them or break them" and sure enough it happened! once again i should of listened to my parents. ha

We still haven't found a place to live closer to Parachute, we're still trying to find something but i think the mission office kind of gave up and put it in our hands. so in my opinion we'll probably be staying here in Rifle 'til at least this next transfer, we are going to get some dressers from the members of the ward so we dont have to keep living out of the suit cases! we could stay in an apartment but the church is not wanting to make a 6 month lease they only want like a month or 2 month lease so not many people are wanting to do that, and the ones that are will charge way more than they want to pay for...

we're still not sure when they plan on opening the branch up, i guess the building that they were going to rent fell through so they are still looking for a place to meet. there is so many different stories going around saying it will open in mid November and others say not till early next year, so i guess we'll wait and see what happens. but it will be really cool knowing that at some point it will become a ward and like you said to know that i was one of the first missionaries to be there when it started. we have been able to contact a bunch of people this past week,

we weren't able to meet with Erik on Friday so we re-scheduled with an appt on tuesday. We talk 3 different lessons to our spanish investigators and i just sat there the whole time! lol my comp taught the whole time and i tried not to fall asleep! ha it is so weird being in a spanglish companionship, i could understand the gist of what they were saying but couldn't participate, so i think i'm giong to try and learn some spanish so i will be able to communicate or help at least some! i got 4 months so i might give it a shot.ha

we had 1 investigator to church this past sunday so that was nice. i'm really looking forward to this week, tomorrow we have that leadership trainining and then wednesday we have zone confrence so it will be good! and that's when i'll talk to President Maynes about the whole schooling thing.

the ward members here in the Rifle 1st ward are on top of missionary work it is so great! i think this ward has been the best one i've been in so far when it comes to member missionary work. not that the other wards i've been in weren't but they are great here! i have a good feeling that we will see lots of success here within the next few months! it still never ceases to amaze me how fast time goes by! i wish it would slow down some!

i cant wait to hear from you again even though it will be like 10 days, i hope all goes well with everyone between now and then. i look forward to getting a letter from EVERYONE soon! miss you so much! love you!!!

love Randy

It's Offical!

We received a letter from the mission office informing us that Elder Anderson's release date is February 11, 2011. More details will come about a month before his release date.

So as for my week, it has been pretty crazy. to start off i really miss Glenwood Springs and wish that i would have been able to stay there at least one more, i've been able to stay in touch with the Larsens and we went down to Glenwood yesterday for district meeting and i stopped and talked with Brother Larsen for a little while, it was weird being in Glenwood but not serving there ya know? i hope we'll be able to go through there when we come back through next year, i've told everyone that i am so i gotta keep my word! ha as Sister Larsen told you i got transferred into an area called Parachute, which is just down I-70 about 45 miles from Glenwood so it's not too bad.

i have only been able to work in the area for 3 days so far this transfer but we were able to teach a 14 year old boy named Erik and we invited him to be baptized, he has to talk with his parents to figure out a date that we can do it but they have given him permission to do it so we are way excited! his fellowship family is doing a great job, he is bestfriends with their boy. there is so much work that is going to be going on down there i am really looking forward to serving there.

the church is really making a push to do work with less active, inactive, and part member families so that is what we are going to be focusing on. we dont keep track of hours tracted anymore and when we teach lessons to active members they dont count as our numbers we report.

i have so much to say and i'm so scatter brained right now i apologize if none of this makes since. so my new companion is Elder Alcocer, he is from Midland, Texas which is where Nate Eppich is serving right now! But he goes home this transfer so i'm "killing" my 4th missionary, he is a spanish speaking missionary so we are a spanglish companionship. i'm the district leader in the district and have driving privileges so i'm happy because i hate not driving.

so the church is planning on opening up a branch in Parachute within the next few months, which is really exciting. it kind of gives us the motivation we need to get the work going so they can do that. but that's why they brought missionaries into this area is to get it going before the branch opens. right now the members that live in Parachute go to the Rifle 1st ward which is 15 miles away and that is actually where we are living now with 4 other missionaries! so everday we have to drive 30 miles round trip to just work in our area. they haven't found a place for us to live down there yet and have kind of left us on our own to find a place then they will pay for. i cant even un-pack my stuff, i'm literally living out of my suitcases and then i'm sleeping on the couch and my comp is on the ground with a matress! so that address you got of mine is just temporarily hopefully but i'll let you know if it changes, i look forward to getting mail from everyone.

i'm looking forward to serving here and i would imagine that this will be my last area, overall the people out this way are lots more humble then those in Glenwood. this next week our pday will be on monday so make sure to email me sunday night or monday, it's this way because Elder Richards of the Seventy is coming into our mission and we are having zone confrence with him on wednesday. i'm looking forward to meeting him and being trainned by him. tuesday the district leaders and zone leaders get to drive to frisco to be trainned by him in a leadership meeting so it will be more of a personal type basis. then on the way back from that we are going to stop and have dinner at the Larsens in Glenwood springs so i'm excited for that as well. i miss you and love you all so much, please continue to pray for me and pray that we'll find somewhere to live! ha i hope to hear back from you soon. tell everyone hello! thanks for all you do! :)
love Randy

Transferred to Parachute, Colorado!

Elder Anderson has been transferred to Parachute, Colorado without an address yet, as they are opening the area and do not even have a place to live! They will be staying with the Rifle,Colorado Elders until they find a place in Parachute.

Well i'm getting transferred! :( i honestly think this is the most upset/bummed/frustrated i've been in all of my transfers so far! i really wanted to stay here in this area for awhile longer but i guess it goes to show it's not my will but the Fathers. i must be needed somewhere else, i just hope that my next area has members are great as this area... so last night around 8:30 i got a call from President Maynes and he told me and i was like you're kidding, and he was like nope we need you some where else and i was like well that sucks! ha and he said that my new area will be just as awesome as this one, (cant wait to see what he means) but then he called me to be a district leader again. ha totally not excited for that ethier! but come what may and love it! right?? so make sure to keep me in your prayers that i'll be positive and have a good attitude towards this please. all night last night when i was packing i was so frustrated i just wanted to go nuts, i dont know why but i guess it's because i have come to love the people in this area and i see lots of potential in this area. but on a brighter note i absolutely loved General Confrence, i think it was up there as one of my favorites on my mission, i know i've only had four so technically they're all up there lol but still this was the top 1 or 2. especially the priesthood session it was amazing. like you mentioned mom every talk given was great, i loved Elder Hollands talk about sacrifice from his parents for him to go out on his mission, that one really hit home for me because i know that my parents are doing the same thing, i'm so grateful for you and everything that you do for me and for the family. you've always put us first and worried about you after us, which is amazing i hope to do the same for my kids someday (if i ever have any ha).. i also loved Elder Larry R. Lawrence's talk, i think it was his he talked about parenting as well. i cant for the Ensign to come out so i can read it and catch some of the stuff i missed while watching confrence. i had a blast though, we went out to the Larsens home and watched it we got spoiled while we were out there. Sister Larsen made tons of snacks so we could munch during confrence and then made a meal in between every session! ha i love that family and am going to miss them a bunch! Saturday afternoon between sessions we went down on the river right next to their house and fished then went back up and watched the afternoon session. for priesthood we rode up with brother Larsen to Aspen but we went a little early and a few brethern from the ward met us up there and we had dinner at a bbq joint up there. so i had a awesome weekend, one that will be hard to beat! ha crazy to think that next confrence we'll be watching it together in the same place, not just watching it together many miles away! :) we weren't able to meet with any of our investigators this week, so i hope that Elder Crunkleton will be able to keep the ball rolling here in this area or get the ball rolling i guess.i feel bad because this is my first area that i've been in that i haven't been able to see someone be baptized, and i know it's not all about baptizing but bringing people closer to Christ and i feel like i have done that with the people that we have worked with so i guess i can say that i've accomplished my purpose. i definitely want to come back through Glenwood with you mom and dad so you can meet the people here and see how gorgeous the area is! Elder Richards of the Seventy is coming through our mission sometime this month so it will be good to hear from him.

love Randy

Hello family,

sounds like the weather up your way is similar to the weather we are having here. this whole past week has been really hot and sunny, although it still gets kind of chilly in the late nights and early mornings.

This weekend is General Confrence! i'm so excited for it! :) our church building is still being worked on and the satelite feed in the building is still being worked on so it wont be ready for this weekend, so instead of watching it at the church we are going to go out to the Larsen's home and watch it which is way cool because i love that family! they remind me a lot of our family. they have a son out on his mission in Guatamala. so i think G.C. will be the high light of this up coming week for me!

last night we met with Bishop Warren and our Ward Mission Leader to try and figure out what the missionary efforts are in the ward, and how we can better help the ward and how the ward can better help us. i thought it went really well, and Bishop said he was glad to have us in his ward and hopes that we stay another transfer. which reminds me that next week is transfers holy cow! next week when i email i'll know if i'm leaving or staying, any guesses from y'all? my guess is that we both stay, or i stay and my comp leaves.

well i started the Doctrine and Covenants countdown on Monday and i just read section 136 today so i think you know what that means? ha that's how many days i have left! so crazy!!! monday we went on team up's, i stayed in Glenwood and my comp went to Eagle and the Eagle Elders did the same one came here and the other stayed there. but i went with Elder Graff who is actually from Richland ha, there are 4 missionaries out of the 10 in our district that are from Eastern Washington, Royal City, Richland, Me, and Walla Walla! but anyways i was with him and he is a spanish speaking missionary (he's white, but called spanish) lol and it was cool being able to tract with him and listen to him talk such great spanish with the people like he's being doing it forever. i could understand just a couple things that he was saying like certain words.

we were able to meet with David (who i mentioned last week) and we were able to teach his girlfriend and it was a combination of spanish and english, it was the first lesson i had taught that way. it was a neat experience, because even when i wasn't talking i could still feel the spirit while Elder Graff was talking in spanish.

On Saturday we helped Jeff move one of his friends, i really see great potenial with Jeff, it might not be right away but i know something will happen down the road.

we're hoping to get a group of missionaries together today to go play football and or soccer so i hope it works out because i want to get some exersice.

i cannot believe that September is over in 2 days! i'm going to be 21 in 40 days! holy moly that is weird! ha


thanks for the email! :) i love hearing from everyone! have a great week and give Raegan a hug & kiss for me! :) ha i miss you and love you so much! let me know if i can do anything for you. make sure to watch General Confrence.
love Randy