January 20

Hey guys this last week was super cool! The family who got robbed were doing great wheni left and i'm sure that there still doing awesome becuase they are so strong in the faith. But ya anyways i had changes this last week!!! I was kinda bummed out toleave cañas but when i got to my new area i was totally chill with it! I am now currently in Tibás which is just a 15 minute bus ride out of downtown san josé. It's super awesome here because i'm not dying of heat everyday and the members and bishop are awesome and so helpful. It's like 60 to65 degrees here everyday and at night it's niceand cold!! So thanks mom so mu8ch for the blanket because i would be miserable with out it haha. But ya i got my packages and thank you so much for everything you guys are the best! It was so awesome to have to unwrap every single piece of candy haha it felt a lot like christmas just 2 weeks late haha:) But ya when i got here to Tibás i had an awesome surprise. This last weekend we got to baptize a family!!!! And i was so stoked to send you pictures but when i got here i tried to use this usb thing for the memory cards and when i put it in i found out that it doesn't work:( But i promise that i'll send you guys photos next week of it so now worries! But i'm loving it here so far i feel like i could just be here my whole mission! Our house is super nice the ward is awesome and we have a Mcdonalds, Subway, Burgerking, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Walmart, and Pricemart(which is Costa Rica's version of a Costco)! And everything here is so much cheaper than in cañas. The only thing that's not good is that we don't have a cook for lunch and we don't have someone to wash our clothes. So this week will be the first week i've ever washed my clothes by hand whooo!! But we're looking for someone to wash our clothes for us so hopefully this week we'll have someone. But ya my companion is Elder Funez from Honduras( 3 out of my first four companions are from Honduras now) and he is super awesome and chill. I feel like we're going to have a lot of success together. Ya but anyways that's pretty much it.... I love you guys and thanks so much for the packages and all the support and i look forward to talking to you guys next week!!
Love Drake

January 13

Hey guys! This week went by super fast for me as well. Wednesday we had a district meeting and our zone leaders said that we had to look for another house because 2 sister missionaries are going to come to cañas next week. then friday we had to leave at 12 to go to san jose for interviews with president which wass super cool. Then saturday we had our meeting with elder christoferson which wow was so awesome. First we had a photo taken as a whole mission(which i believe i'll have next week to send to you guys) then we took a photo with Elder cristoferson, elder maynes, elder martino, and another elder of the quorum of the 70 and all there wives. Elder Christoferson, Elder Maynes, and their wives all gave talks. It was really centered on faith and love in doing the work of the lord. Then we got to ask Elder Christoferson questions for a hour. But all in all it was an awesome week until yesterday night. When we went to Hermana Grace and Hermana Zeidy's house to visit them because they're my favorites and i wanted to see them before changes wednesday. But anyways we got to there house and were waiting outside for 5 minutes when they arrived in a taxi and they went to open the door and they noticed that something was wrong with there window so they were afraid to open the door so i opened for them and when we went in we found out that they had been robbed. It was the saddest and worst experience i've had in my life i didn't know what to do. They're the sweetest people and they're already super poor. But i know that God has a purpose in all things and that if theycan just push through this challenge that they will be blessed more than they were before. So tonight we're going to go over to their house and read some scriptures with them and give them a blessing of comfort because they're both a little shaken up.
But anyways i'm glad to hear that all is going well. It's awesome to hear about taylor. Can you ask his mom if he's recieved my letter yet. but ya everything is going great here i'll find out tomorrow morning if i have changes so next week i'll let you know where i'm at or if i'm still here in cañas.
Love Drake

January 7, 2013

Hey Guys!!!! This week has been Great!! New Years eve was fun!! We were with the family of Hermana Grace and Hermana Zeidy. These are some pictures of that night and the Rice Krispy treats i made. But new years day was like we were living in a Ghost Town. There was no one at all in the streets or in their houses. Because everyone goes to the river or the beach on new years here. 

 This week we had about 3 new investigators and we have 7 that are looking really good and are progressing awesome i just hope that they will continue to be strong and complete our challenges. we're getting a pretty good amount of lessons but we'd always like to have some more haha.

BUt ya i'm super jealous that you guys are freezing your buns off. I miss Idaho weather so much! Because everyday it's the same thing 80 degrees and super windy hahal. But oh well i guess i can live with it.;) 

Super stoked for the meeting that we have with Elder Christoferson this Saturday. I should also get my packages this day but we'll see what happens. Then next monday night i'll know if i have changes. which i hope i don't have because i really want to be here for our investigators that we have and ahh i don't want to leave some of the members here because there my family now and it will just be super sad when i have to leave them.

But ya i'll let you guys know how San José goes next week. I love you guys and i hope that you guys have a great week.

Drake

December 30, 2012

Hey everyone was super great to be able to talk to you guys this week. Christmas here was definately different here. It was actually super boring because nobody was in there houses they had all gone to the beaches and stuff like that. We only went to some farm for lunch and then walked around Cañas for 3 hours until our next appointment. And there was no one in the streets and when we tried contacting houses no one would open there door. So ya it was pretty boring but its chill. Christmas eve was cool tho we went to a members house and we had cake and chilled out and they had presents for us which had a new tie and a bunch of candy and a mug but it was super sweet of them to do that for us. But wow i can't believe how many people are leaving for missions now its just so crazy. I'm so glad that you guys got some PMG manuals and that you guys are going to use that every FHE it will prepare her so much for a mission. I'm glad to hear that Blake is doing well i hope that BYUI will help him out. Ah i don't really have much to say other that that really sucks about the eagles ahh that's so horrible but oh well at least i wasn't there for this season. But Thank you so much for sending me that book. I actually have an idea on packages because what this one Elder's family does i super awesome i thought. Every 2 changes or every 12 weeks they send him a package for of heygine( wow i don't remember how to spell heygine haha how scary.) stuff with like shaving cream tooth brush tooth paste deodorant body wash shampoo stuff like that because all that stuff here is super expensive. Also i thought you weren't going to send the package right now but no worries just that there were some other books i wanted. The Doctrine of salvation edited by Bruce R Mconkie the three volumes and Believing in Christ by a professor from BYU i believe his last name is Stephenson but i'm not sure. But anyways sorry i don't have pictures this week because i forgot my connecter thing but i promis i'll have like double next week. I love you guys tons and miss you and the Snow so much.

December 2, 2012

Hey guys how's it going. This week was great as usual a little boring but great. We didn't really do much because we were in San Jose for two days. But the temple was awesome we got to do baptisms and confirm everyone then we went through a session. I thought for sure that i wouldn't understand any of it but i actually understood almost all of it. It was such a spiritual experience. How many missionaries do we have out now in our ward? It feels like there is a ton. We always have to go to San Jose for changes so i'm headed there tomorrow but we have changes on Wednesday this week for some reason. But i don't believe that i have a change because then there would be no one to teach the area to the new missionaries here. But we'll find out tomorrow morning. But ya everything is going great and i love you guys tons. Here are some photos of our zone at the temple and me eating pizza, at a river with some member and a log that i carrie for a kilometer for a service project. Love you guys. Talk to you next week.

December 16, 2012

Hey guys! How's it going? This week was super uneventful except for the talent show that we had in the 2 branches and being a little sick this week. But ya the talent show was super funny. The people here are so awesome and so funny i love it! But ya we didn't even know if we were going to do something, because one of the elders in our house didn't want to, until we got to the church and they said that we would be the last act. So we were like dang cause we didn't know what to do but we finally decided we were going to sing a christmas hymn and so as we were about to go and practice they told us that another act wasn't ready and that we had to go right now. So ya lets just say it was a little embarrasing singing Joy to the World to everyone haha. But ya we had christmas hats on and everything. So everyone thought it was pretty funny so that's good i guess. But anyways ya christmas eve anywhere between 2 and 4 we're going to an internet café to talk to our families on skype. And about the group calls on skype only 1 person in the group needs to have the premium account or the group call option. If on person has that up to ten people can participate in the call. Then christmas day we'll be working like normal but most of the day we're going to be with a bunch of members eating a ton of tamales because that's what they eat here for christmas. But ya that's the plan for next week. um I'm glad everything is going well back at home. Things are going great here. Tell Courtnee thank you so much for the camera. And who is cassandra mallet in our ward i've never heard that name. But ya here are some pictures of us ate the talent show. But ya Love youguys tons and talk to you next week!

Love Elder Anderson

December 11, 2012

Hola Familia

This week has been a super awesome week. And i'm just going to start off this letter by saying that President Wilkinson announced that we will be having an Apostle visit us again January 12th. But i'm not telling you who until the end of the letter. 

But ya recieved my new companion this week and his name is Elder Brindis and he's been out for almost 9 months. He is from Mexico. But the thing that's really strange is something happened that usually never happens. Elder Brindis served here in Cañas for his first 4 and a half months of his mission then i came and replaced him. And now we're companions! But ya it's super cool because he already knows the area so i don't have to teach him the area or take him around to get to know all the members. And besto of all he has a bunch of old investigators that we've been going around visiting. And we are working super hard which is awesome because with elder Garcia he was in his last change so he was a little unmotivated to go out and work hard. But that's all good. But ya we only had thursday, friday, and saturday to work together last week but we found 10 new investigators. But none of them came to church so we're planning on trying to really teach the importance of recieving an answer through church attendence. That's awesome to hear about the new curriculum the church has planned for the next year. The youth are going to be so much more prepared now to go out and serve. About the baptisms thing we're hoping to have one at the beginning of january but we'll see what happens. That's our goal and i believe we can accomplish it. We just need to work harder with the members so that our investigators have friends in the church and don't feel awkward to go. Oh ya another announcement President Wilkinson changed another rule saying that we may use skype to talk to our family this Christmas! So ya i'm super stoked. So I'm going to make an accout this today and give you some more info next week. But anyways here are some photos of the money here in Costa Rica and the landscape of  San Jose at night. Me with Elder Varela in the house and the four of us at the changes meeting.(Elder Garcia is the second one from the right) And me and my companion looking out the window of a bus. But ya i love you guys tons and can't wait to talk to you next week.

Love Elder Anderson

November 25, 2012

Hey Guys, This week went by so fast! I hope that thanksgiving was as awesome for you guys as it was for me. We had a zone activity with ping pong, basketball, and soccer then we ate after. Oh by the way there was 14 missionaries and then the the couple missionary. They are the sweetest people and made a ton of delicious food for us. And we go to the temple in two days on wednesday i'm super stoked. I will get a new companion next tuesday at the changes meeting. We found 8 new investigators this week which felt really nice. Tell the Young women of the ward thanks so much for the package and the support that they're giving the missionaries. Here are some photos of the dinner and the grill like thing we made for p day and also some marking pencils that i wanted you guys to look for at deseret book because they are awesome and if you could by me like 2 packages and send them to me that would be even more awesome. Oh ya and also my camera is being awful right now and is dying about every minute because it says it's overheating or it just randomly turns off and half the pictures i take don't work for some reason so ya i was about to buy a new camera on black friday but then i decided that it would probably be better to talk to you guys first so just get back to me next week thanks. This last tuesday we had a Zone conference with President Wilkinson and wow he is such an amazing man. I learn so much from him every opputunity i have to be with him. He knows so much and is such an inspired man. I wish you guys could`ve been there because wow i can't even explain how special this meeting was. He changed everything in the mission and gave us new goals for the mission. Then this sunday we had another oppurtunity to hear him in the Liberia District conference. And we everyone in central america recieved a challenge from the Area Presidency to read the Book of Mormon before the next General Conference. And he promised us that if we sincerely do this we would see miracles here in Costa Rica. Then he turned to 1st nefi where lehi has the vision of the tree of life and how after he had tasted of the fruit how he had wanted to share it and the blessings of eternal life with his family. And that's what we need to do also. The first thing we need to do once we have felt these blessings is share them with those that havn't had the oppurtunity to recieve them. And i just wanted to extend that same challenge to all of you guys Everyone in the family. That you guys can read the Book of Mormon and search for oppurtunities to share the gospel with others. And i also promise that you will also see miracles in your lives and feel closer to the Savior. I love you guys and i want you guys to know that i'm so grateful for you guys and all the support that you guys give me and for the help that you guys were and are to get me out here in Costa Rica. I couldn't have done it with out you. I love you.

Elder Drake Anderson

November 11, 2012

Hey guys not much happened this week again just trying to survive with no money haha. We forgot how much we had to pay the lunch lady and we had spent a bunch of money before hand so when we paid her we had to use almost all of our money haha but oh well it's all good. That's awesome to hear about ashton making it to the championship game! You better send me a bunch of pictures of it. I can't believe that Jace is in the same ward as Doug that's so sick haha. I'm glad to hear the Carol is doing better i hope that her vision continues to improve. Oh ya so that video you sent last week didn't work i don't know why either is just says theres some error. I can't believe that it's winter. I miss the snow so much. It's hard to believe how fast the time goes out here. That's funny that you guys saw Tamarindo on HGTV we went there last month at a zone it's pretty chill. This next week i won't be writing you guys until thanksgiving because the senor missionaries in our zone are having a thanksgiving dinner for us. But ya i can't send pictures this week because i forgot my cord so sorry guys next week though, Well sorry i haven't had much to tell you guys about. My companion is super trunkie because he only has 3 weeks left so we don't do much. Which sucks but oh well i hope this week we can actually do some work. But anyways love you guys and can't wait to talk to you guys next week.

October 28, 2012

Hey guys! I can't believe that theres snow already! I miss the snow a ton. Thanks for checking about the Pres. Reece thing. Um for the boy scout patches just some collectable patches and there's six of them so just stuff for six people. And for the kids for christmas i think just like candy and stickers would be awesome for them. And when you say that you would just put money on my card you mean my card from Chase right? Ya i got my other package and thank you so much for the stuff you sent it is so much nicer to shave with shaving cream haha. My new companion is Elder Garcia and he is also from Honduras. He's a pretty cool guy but this is his last change in the mission then he goes home so he's pretty trunkie but he's cool. And Elder Ramirez went to San Ramon he is the Zone Leader of Naranjo. And i did not change areas i'm still in cañas. I can't believe Whit is pregnant that seems so crazy to me! President Wilkinson didn't say much it was just a little 5 minute interview but it was cool and all. We had the same lesson this week in Sunday school( which was the first time i have been able to go since i've been in Costa Rica). It was a really interesting lesson. This week we didn't do much just went around to a lot of the members so my companion could get to know them and also the area. Um but ya i love you guys and i can't wait to talk to you next week! These are some pictures of some people here in the mish. the one where there is three of us with the same shirts is me my dad(left) and my grandpa(right). They do this funny thing out here in the mission where whoever trains you is your dad so the guy who trained my dad is my grandpa haha.

Con Amor 

Elder Anderson