Hello Dad,
Things are going great here in Clarksburg. We found two new investigators in the little town of Grafton. We have still been doing a lot of tracting but every once in awhile someone will let us in.
Yesterday was Zone Confrence. My first one as Zone Leader. I was really nervous at first but it went really well. One thing about leadership is it helps you find your weadnesses really fast. I feel so inadequate sometimes. There are so many great Elders in this mission that could do a much better job then me. For some reason the Lord thinks that I will do a good job. I have never prayed so much in my life!!
My studies in the morning are probably my favorite part of the day. I love the scriptures so much!! Everytime I study with a question, that question is always answered through the scriptures. I have really come to form a testimony in prayer and Heavenly Father hearing our prayers. Everyday he answers my prayers and helps me become a better person.
This work is so much fun. I have never come to love something so much. It is pretty amazing how quickly you can learn to love somebody because you are sharing the gospel with them. The Lord really does bless you with Charity if you pray for it. I am really going to miss the people of WV. They are all really friendly and so laid back. I can't wait to come back and show you all my mission. I think you are going to think it is great as well. I am so glad that I was called to the Charleston West Virginia Mission. The Lord really does know where we are supposed to go.
Well I hope that everything is going well at home. I love you so much!!
Love Elder Anderson

Hello Dad,
Clarksburg is great. My new companions name is Elder Houser. I have served around him on my mission so I feel like I already know him. It has been a great experience so far to serve with him. We are living in a big house looking over the city of Clarksburg. It is really strange being in a house. It feels like we really are coming home in the evenings.
We have had some great experiences this past week. Just yesterday we were tracting a little town the missionaries haven't tracted in awhile. We talked with a women that we supposedly talked with at somebody elses house. She was very nice but said she wasn't interested. We started walking away and there was a man working in a garage just down the road. It was her husband. We talked (bashed) with him for a few minutes and the the spirit softened his heart. It is amazing because we talked with him for over and hour and his attitude didn't change until we shared a scripture with him from the Bible. We asked him about what he thinks happens to people that die without knowing the gospel. He said that he didn't know. We read him a scripture from 1 Peter that talkes about Christ teaching the gospel to the dead. He thought that that was really cool. It answered a question that he had had for years. The gospel is true!!!!
We have been doing a lot of tracting this past week. People are really friendly but don't want to talk religion. We did get a new investigator but it wasn't from tracting. It was actually and investigator referral. We taught a man named Lee and he brought a friend named Ginger. We taught them the Plan of Salvation. The lesson was so amazing bacause we had a member there. He was able to teach them the gospel in a way that they both understood. The spirit was so strong!!
Everything has been going really great for us. We are working hard and having fun doing it. I love this gospel so much. I love that if we have questions we can ask and receive. I love the spirit and the direction it gives us as we live worthy of that amazing gift. God really does know us and care about us. My new address is 790 Locust Ave Clarksburg WV 26301
I love you very much!!!

Hey Dad,

Well, I found out where I will be going and what I will be doing. I have some big responsibility ahead of me. I was hoping that I could have gone through my mission without being in leadership positions, but I guess the Lord has different plans. I will be going to Clarksburg West Virginia. I actually will be working in the city of Bridgeport but living in Clarksburg. I will write to you and give you the address as soon as I get there. I am going to be a Zone Leader up there. I am really excited and really nervous.
I guess I should tell you what a Zone Leader is. Right now I am a District Leader which means that I am a leader over four other missionaries. As district leader you teach a district meeting once a week. As Zone Leader I am going to be a leader over about twenty missionaries. I will be teaching a Zone Conference once a transfer. Zone Conference is when President Thornock and the Assistants come a watch. I am really nervous about that. I hope that I can do everything that the lord needs me to do.
It has been a great transfer here in Blacksburg with Elder Hofheins, but I am ready to go. I am really tired of living out of a suitcase and sleeping on the floor in Dublin. It is going to be great to have one area that I am over and I know that I will be there at least two transfers. I will be able to see people progress towards baptism and come closer the Christ.
I love missionary work. It is really exhausting sometimes, but really rewarding all the time. I am so grateful for this chance that I have had to serve the Lord. And I can't wait to continue to serve him for the next five transfers.
I love you very much!!!
Love
Elder Anderson

Hello Dad,
It has been another crazy week. As I told you last week, we were told that we needed to pack everything up and move it Dublin. Well, guess what, things have changed again. We had President Interviews last Wednesday and everything that we were told was changed. We are back to our normal routine now. Blacksburg on weekends and Radford during the week. The only difference is all of our stuff is now in Dublin and we live out of suit cases when we come to Blacksburg. Talk about throwing a stone in the pond!!
This week was really hard for missionary work. We have still been spending a lot of time tracting and doing follow ups, but nothing is coming from it. In Radford people are very content with their lives and in Blacksburg, everybody says they are to busy to sit down and talk. I guess we will continue to press forward and hope for the best.
I wish I had some cool stories to tell you but I really don't. Oh, I take that back. We met the best banjo/mandaline player in the United States. We went to some members house for dinner and they have a family band called "Tossin' Possum". And this guy was over there helping them make a record. Hopefully I will be able to get one of their CD's so you all can listen. Good old bluegrass music.
We have been meeting some very interesting characters while we have been tracting. Yesterday we were tracting to finish out the day, around 8:30, and we had some people tell us that we were breaking the Sabbath and then one of them said "I guess that means we have to stone you now". Wow, some people are really special. I don't think that they think before they say something.
Well the bugs are starting to come out. We have been killing spider, earwigs and mosquitos like crazy. We even had some bug spray in the closet so we sprayed it around the house to try and keep the bugs out. You all know how much I love the little critters.
We have been having some really intense rain storms the past couple of weeks. One minute the sun will be out and then the next there is a huge black cloud rolling in with lightning and thunder. I have never seen it rain this hard in Utah. It floods the main roads and fills all the ditches. You can barely see when you are driving. It seems like we have a storm like that at least twice a week. Thank goodness you sent me out a rain coat!!
Well hopefully things will start to go back to normal. I love you very much. Have a great week!!!

Hello Dad,
What a week I have had. It has been very frustrating and things just seem to be getting worse. I don't know if you have noticed but I have spend a bit of money off of my home card. I'll tell you what, if something goes wrong everything goes wrong. I have five pair of pants for tracting and regular missionary work and every single one of those pants fell apart on me last week. I tryed to get patches and fix them but that didn't work so I had to just get new pants. Then on top of that, my shoes broke as well. Luckily I have a two year garuntee on them so I will take a picture of them and send it to you so I can get some new shoes.
As you know things have been really crazy with missionary work for me and Elder Hofheins. We have been covering Blacksburg University and Radford. We have been staying with the Dublin Elders during the week and driving back to Blacksburg on the weekends. Well, President Thornock has thrown another curve ball at us. We were eating lunch today and we got a call for the Assistants. That usually means bad news. They just informed us that they need our car and that they are shutting down Blacksburg. So we are going to have to pack everything up today and move to Dublin. We will not have our own area. We will be working in Dublin and Radford. Really what we will be doing is following the Dublin Elders around and tracting all the time.
It is going to be a huge change. Missionary work is so unpredictable. I don't really know how I feel about it but I guess if that is where the Lord wants us.
Thanks for sending me Katelyns talk. It was great to be able to hear what she had to say about the temple. I can't wait to be able to come home and go through the temple with the whole family. What a wonderful blessing!!!
I love you very much.
Love,
Elder Anderson