Elder Joseph Anderson's latest: "Yes, so the highlight of this week is that we had two people at church yesterday!"

Yes so the highlight of this week is that we had two people at church yesterday. WOOOOOOOO WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! Man it feels soo good. Elder Lee and I have been working our tales off to get some people to come to church and this week the Lord helped us overcome our obstacles and accomplish our goals. I want to take a little bit of time to talk about our two investagator that came two church.

Ivan is a 13 year old kid who lives with his mom and his stepdad. We found his stepdad just knocking doors one day and he told us that he got baptised in our church when he was about 8 years old with his mom. But his mom died of cancer shortly after her baptism and long story short he doesnt believe in God anymore and is definately not on the straight and narrow as far as the commandmants go. So we had a few lessons with him and Ivan´s mom but its is really hard to catch them because they work a lot and dont stay in the house very much. Well on Saturday night we passed by for an appointment that we had set up with Ivan´s mom and his stepdad, but his mom had to leave and his stepdad told us he was not going to go to church. It just so happened that Ivan walked in and started listening to us talk with his stepdad. We asked him if he would like to come to church with us in the morning and he said yes. Then his Stepdad laughed and told us there is no way he can wake up early enough to come with us. After teasing him a little but more Luis (His Stepdad) looked at him seriously and said we were serious and not to tell us he was going to come unless he meant it. Ivan said he was serious and we made plans to come and pick him up in the morning. Well all went well and Ivan came with us to church for all three hours and said he reallly liked it because he felt a lot of peace in church. We talked with him a lot on the way to and from chruch and he told us a lot about his life. He lives in a really rough area and just the other we two teenagers put and gun to his head and robbed him. It makes since why he seems like he is 17 or 18. He has grown up in a very different world.

Our other Investigator is a school teacher who told us at the door she wanted us to teach her english. Well we came back and started teaching her the gospel and got really interested. She came to church on sunday but couldnt stay the whole time. Wehn we went to visit her and her family after church she told us it was really really wierd for her to be in a place where everybone is so nice and kind. She said she has never been around people like that before and she wants to know why. She said there is something different about our church and the world she used on Sunday was raro which means wierd haha. We are helping her understand that it is the spirit she feels and the truth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his wonderful gospel that makes people so happy and kind in the church. I am super excited for her.

Well i am pretty much out of time but I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints is the only true and living church on the earth today and I know that this is the place to find eternal happiness.

Love Elder Anderson (Joe)

Elder Jacob Anderson's latest: "So this week I bought a freezer full of bananas for almost nothing..."

So this week I bought a freezer full of bananas for almost nothing..

My companion and the Zone Leaders thought I was crazy.. They are the bananas that no one wanted and in a day or 2 or maybe less would be bad. So i bought a ton! Went back to the house and spent a little bit of time unappealing all of them putting them into plastic bags and saving in the freezer for... every single meal i eat in the apartment.

The others made fun of me because i have enough bananas for the next 2 years and we don't have any more room in the freezer. No that we used it before. I pretty sure someone will be proud of me!

Me and Elder Banegas are pretty busy in our area.. We still dont have a house so we spent a lot of time using transportation's. Our District Leader had to come to our area firday night to do an interview for baptism. We gave him very exact directions. Which he decided not to follow. First i told him to leave at 545 at the latest because traffic can be bad and i didnt want him to arrive late for our 7 o'clock appointment... He left at 630.. Because he was already late he decided he didnt want to take the Bus that i told him to take, or he didnt want to wait for him becuase he was already late.. So he called someone in my ward and asked them for directions. But this member had no idea were our interview for baptism would be taking places soo these directions were not the most use full. The memeber gave him directions how to arrive at the church which is a little over 30 min walking very fast from were he actually needed to be. But I thought no problem we will walk there and walk back with them so we can still have the interview. After he had already paid for this bus and was headed to our chapel he informed us that his battery was almost dead so he didnt want to talk with on the phone. He ended up taking the bus wayyyyy to long and ended up no where near our church or appointment for the interview. So we tried to give him directions how to return but he wasnt really interested in listening to us and called a member again... So decided to wait for at the original point of destination..

after a little while a bus stopped a told us to come here. WEIRD. But i went to talk to him and he informed me that there was "two of

(missionaries) lost and they asked him for directions, he told them that he could would be passing this point but they were unsure so they didnt listen." At this point me and my companion decided to forget that night and reschedule. In short before our District Leader got home. He never arrived at the designed destination and his bus was assaulted and robbed.

The next day when i gave him directions again he told him that he thought it would be a good idea to follow my directions.... In short our baptism happened!! His name is Joao (John) and he amazing... He is

16 years old. He family is not members or at least we thought before his baptism... When we first started teaching him he was very clear that his Mom (dad is gone) would not participate she would give permission but would not go to Church or watch the baptism.. Very sad but we ended up having a lesson before the baptism and inviting her to the baptism and the confirmation, she and the entire family came to both. In our lesson she explained why she didnt like church.. She had gone a few times to a church with her mother in law that she enjoyed very much, she wasnt sure about the name. After she was separated she started going to other Church's but because of how strange they were didnt stay active. Saturday after the baptim a member was at the house with Joao and his mother (Nia). Nia was talking about the church of her Mother in law and how she received a book.. The member of course asked if she could see this book. It was a very old Book of Mormon....

After our church on sunday Nia accepted to hear more about the message of the Restored Gospel of Christ and I apologize to Joao. Before his baptism i had given him congrats for probably being the first memeber in his family.. oh HOw i was wrong!

It cool to see how the Lord helps us found those who will accept the Gospel!

--

And they call me

Elder Anderson

For behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ

Latest letter from Elder Joseph Anderson: "I love Sundays!"

Alrighty so last week on Wednesday we had transfers and I found out that I will be staying in the Costanera with Elder Lee for and least another month and a half. Kinda crazy to think that by the end of this transfer I will have been in this area for 6 months!! Oh how time flies! Also crazy to believe that in four days I will complete 10 months out on the mission...wow I am old. 

As far as this week goes,it was pretty normal. For transfers on tuesday night Elder Lee and I made some Argentine style empenadas and they actually turned out really good. I´ll make some for the whole family when I get back. On Friday I went and did a baptismal interview for the zone leaders. As I said before, I love doing baptismal interviews because they are just so spiritual and uplifting to see how the gospel can change and help the lives of those who chose to accept it. Oh and last night I almost got robbed for the first time. This drunk guy came up to me and Elder Lee really quickly asking us for money and when we told him that we didnt have any, he tried searching through out pockets to find some. After a sort search he saw my watch and started taking it off when I had to grab both of his hands and push them away while I hopped backwards and starting trotting away backwards while my companion got away too. SO yeah that was fun.

This week we were able to find a lot of new investigators but for some reason or another none of them were able to come to church and we didnt have anybody at church with us. Man Sunday are really frustrating sometimes because its supposedly the day of rest but anybody who has or is serving a mission knows that its is just the opposite out on the mission. We wake up early to leave our apartment at 7 in the morning to go out and look for/wake up our investigators to bring them to church and then after about an hour and a half of walking around, avoiding all the drunk guys who have been out all night parting and drinking, we begin our 35 minute walk to church. And church attendance is probably the most important key indicator that misionaries have right behind baptisms and confirmations. So after church when your zone leaders call you to ask you how many of your investigators came to church and you have to tell them none, you are usually in for a nice long talk. And after you finish studying at three you have to go out, find your investigators and find out why they didnt come to church. Simply said, Sundays are just not quite the same on the mission, however the three hours that I am inside the church of the Lord ever Sunday make everything else that happens during the whole week and on Sunday worth it times ten.

Before the mission I viewed church as the longest, most boring, most hungaring three hours of the entire week. I felt good at church but I didnt really love going for three hours every Sunday. Well I can honestly say that the three hours I am at the church every week here on the mission are the three most glorious, reviving, relaxing, calming, comforting, peaceful, spiritual and NEEDED three in the entire week. Its just like all my worries are gone and I can just focus on my relation with my Heavenly Father and my Savior. And the harder I work during the week and the harder the week is on me, the better those three hours are inside the church, renewing my covenants with my Father in Heaven and remembering the perfect love that he and the Savior have for me. I would serve a 10 year mission to be able to feel this as powerfully as I do now every week on Sunday. I know this chruch is true and that this is the only way to eternal happiness. I love you all very much and I am grateful for all of your love and prayers.

Love Elder Anderson (Joe)

Elder Vejanr's latest: " Next up was the trip to the planetarium"

So this week the mission went on some fun expeditions. I guess a good place to start is at the beginning of the week so Sun day I went to church and ran into a person that I thought I would not see for at least two years! and her name was Alex Hadfield, turns out I am over the ward she is so They might move me out of that ward. 

     Next up was the trip to the planetarium, sometimes our mission president feels bad for us and tells us to go out and do something as a mission. Most time we tell him no we are fine and we would like to just continue working but this time he almost made us go so we went. The planetarium was a fun experience because I love that kind of stuff, meaning stars and astronomy, and so there was no way I was going to turn it down. When we got there there turned out to be a lot of little kids and the one I sat in front of was kicking me seat and having some kind of panic attack. But he did make it through so that was good, and we left with some good times, and good stories. 

     On Friday we went to a place called J-Dawgs. The reason we went was because it is a tradition to go there when a missionary reaches the end of there two years, and this time it was Elder Eberle's turn so we went and said hi to our mission president, President Nally and President Whight, really great guys, and the food was good so I liked it, but I will miss Elder Eberle.

     Finally earlier today we decided to have a park day. When me and my companion where getting the food from Walmart I saw another person that I thought I would not see for at least two years and his name was Andrew Hadfield he is getting tall! anyway we got the food and headed out to the park. The food was great and I was most happy because we where eating like real food!! I have not had real food for about 3 months now because it is all made in the cafeteria in bulk it's not always the best. As a mission we also played a little football catch I got to run I was so pumped!! the elders in wheal chars would through it to me and one other elder that could run and we would fight for the ball it was great and I got to be in the sun so always a plus, and we will see if I cant get some pictures! 

     Now I will talk a little bit about the things that happened during the day to day grind. This week I got a lot of packages. I would like to send a special thank you to my grandma and to the Giffered family who sent me some really cool stuff to work out with like a giant ball to sit on and bounce on in my office!! also to my grandma Phillipps for sowing the blanket that I love and use every night!! I love all the food that was sent to me as well it is great! 

   

     This next week will be my first transfer it should be fun, but I do not want to loose any of my investigators because most of them are all so good and willing to learn! I guess however come what may and love it! and that is what I will do.

     Lastly this week I have come to know of the importance of sticking to the basics that is reading the scriptures praying every day and very importantly going to church. This week we had the opportunity to teach a lot of less active members. Without fail all of them had stopped reading the scriptures, praying, and going to church. I know that if we want to be able to make it though trials, we will need to remember to stick to the basics. The Basics help us grow so much and, help us keep the spiritual fire burning inside of us. When we stop feeding a fire it dies as we stop feeding the faith that we have it will also die.However the opposit is also true where as if we feed the fire it will grow and the more we feed it the more it grows our testimony's could be attributed to how much we feed the spirit. I know that these things are true, if I did not I would not be serving a mission right now. I love the scriptures and the truths they teach I love you all and wish you the best. 

Elder Vejnar

             

Joshua receives his Eagle Scout! It was a great night. With lot's of family and friends!

Joshua receives his Eagle Scout! It was a great night. With lot's of family and friends!

Joshua takes his pre-mission pictures

Elder Ray Vejnar's latest letter from his mission: "So this week I have learned that sometimes you just need to put your head down and work."

Well this week not much happened that was not out of the ordinary, The MTC is getting more full by the week I look forward to being able to see my cousin Elder Anderson on the 23rd! and transfers will be in about two weeks now so I am excited to get a new companion but I am not to fond of having to let go of some of my investigators, you see in my mission when we have transfers because there is not to many of us and no geographical boundaries we do not have to stop teaching certain individuals so we split our investigators between the companionship and we just fight for the people we want to teach. so this will not be fun but at the same time it will be. 

     So this week I have learned that sometimes you just need to put your head down and work because though we may feel like we are not doing anything important but we need to have faith that we are affecting others lives and though I have not had any of those stories I have heard them and I do have faith that some of the things I am doing are helping others. just something that I feel is important. to remember when life starts to feel dull. Anyway next week should be more interesting to read. love you all 

Elder Vejnar. 

Joe's latest letter from Argentina: "Crap!! Yesterday Argentina lost in the World Cup Finals to Germany."

Crap!! Yesterday Argentina lost in the World Cup Finals to Germany. It is really disappointing but life will move on. The only thing that I´m scared of is all the Argentinian who sometimes think we are Germans...Yikes. The world cup was pretty interesting here. We had to stay in the apartment all day yesterday after church but the whole city was pretty much silent at about 3. The game started at 4 and we could here everything that was happening because all of our neighbors had their TV´s turned up all the way. There were a lot of angry yells and a lot of swear words. But after Argentina lost pretty much the whole city just stayed silent for the rest of the night. SOOOO different from when they won the semifinals last week on Wednesday against Holland. That was way crazy and I am going to try to send a video that I took through a widow in our apartment when Argentina won.

Anyway it goes without saying that this week was a little hard to work do to the world cup, However there is something else that is happening around here that is an obstacle as well. There is a little town about an hour drive from Corrientes Capital Named Itati (I might have talked about it in a passed letter), but in this little town there is a Catholic cathedral called the Basilica that is literally about as big as the Salt Lake Temple and literally everyone in this little town is catholic and worship the Virgin de Itati (who I stilled haven't figured out is yet). Anyway, every year in July all the Catholics that can go up to Itati for a little bit for some celebration or something, and on the 16 of July that have an event where all the devoted Catholics from Corrientes WALK all the way to Itati. Yeah walk and I´m not sure exactly how far it is but it has to be somewhere around 50 miles I´m thinking. Anyway the Elders in my district that work in Itati can´t really do any work and we are trying to decide if they are going to stay there for a little bit or come down to Corrientes to work. 

So year they is a big obstacle that we have right now because Elder Lee and I were actually able to find a couple named Gonzalo and Valeria who have been reading and praying and feeling the Holy Ghost, but they had to go out of the city for two weeks to house sit for Valeria´s mom because her mom went to Itati for the grand celebration or whatever. SUPER FRUSTRATING!!!! But the only thing we can do now is call them every other day or so to make sure they keep reading and praying and wait or them to come back. 

And that is pretty much my week all wrapped up for you. I am learning more and more about the gospel everyday and I am so grateful to have the scriptures. I cant believe how much I have come to love the scriptures. Everyday I have to pull myself away from reading the Book of Mormon and the New Testament to study a little bit in  Preach my Gospel and practice for our investigators. If I could I would read the scriptures all day everyday!! crazy how the mission has changed me but I am soo grateful for it and I want to encourage every young man healthy and worthy to serve a full time mission. THERE IS NO BETTER THING THAN YOU CAN DO!! I love you all very much and look forward to writing you again next week.

Con amor, Elder Anderson (Joe)

Jacob's latest letter from Rio: "We will continue to working in the Branch of Piabeta."

So transfers have been changed to P-day. So yesterday we were informed. I will be staying with Elder Banegas. We will continue to working in the Branch of Piabeta. Working in Piabeta is very interesting as we better know the area and have more investigators to teach it requires that we plan much better. The area is the biggest in the mission and i had a little taste of that this week. We spend about

2 hours on bus going a members house for lunch.. I was pretty blow away I couldn't imagine our area being that big. Our area is the end of the mission and i just kept thinking that we would get of the bus and be in another mission. Later that day I was talking to our Branch President and he showed us a map of our area and were we where. We hadn't even passed half way through our area. Not to mention that we are still living with in another area because we are waiting for all the papers to be completed for our house. So spend a lot of time taking the bus.

So I have often had the thought if we wont accept our feelings, what do we need to happen in our life to choice to believe? I talk with so many people ever day that are not sure.. They don't know if the BoM is true... They don't know if the church is true... They are unsure.. Its very possible that is could be, but it also possible that it is not.

They do know have a evidence either way. This week I had a pretty deep conversion with a inactive who loves the church and everything about it. But he doesn't know if it is true so he doesn't follow the teachings that it provides. He was convinced that he has never received a witness of the church. So i asked, " What needs to happen in your life in order to believe?" He is unsure about the entire of nature of God and doesn't know if God exists but agreed to pray and read The Book of Mormon.. I pray that he can receive and ACCEPT the witness that he needs to change his life.

I think it is important to recognize that we a be ready to accept the things that the Lord will give us. Often times I think we ask questions but the answer will not change our opinion. I love how Lord will bless us and open our minds.

In church on Sunday I was asked to give a talk. It went well considering i was asked to give it min before sacrament meeting started. I was also asked to bless the sacrament which made preparing even more difficult. I only said the sacrament prayer twice... WHICH IS GOOD. I gave me talk about repenting. We had a investigator in church who does some word things with spirits. She speaks with spirits and they dwell inside her. She is scared to change because she doesn't want the people around her to have problems with this spirits. So i gave my talk about evil spirits dwelling cannot dwell in holy temples and how we accept an evil spirit enter our body when we commit sin. We all need to repent and come unto Christ because that same spirit that dwells our body when we die will dwell in our spirit after this life.

As you come closer to repent and come closer to Christ you will only come to recognize more imperfections in your life..

I pretty regularly read in my Preach My Gospel about Humility and Pride. Pride is always step before sin and humility always happens before repentance. Remember that pride is an attribute and spirit of the Devil. Humility is an attribute of Christ and a eternal key in this world and the world after for success.

A dill pickle recipe from www.simplycanning.com that I would like to try

From www.simplycanning.com web site

Crunchy Dill Pickle Recipe

Finally I'm getting Crunchy Dill Pickles! 

2K+

No matter what dill pickle recipe you use, I highly recommend you use fresh picked small pickling cucumbers. I try for no bigger than my thumb. Anything too much bigger gets made into relish or bread and butter pickles.

I also recommend canning these in pints. Quarts must be processed longer and tend to get mushy. (at least in my experience)

Easy Dill Pickle Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 lbs of 3-4 inch pickling cucumbers
• 2 gals water
• 1 1/4 cups canning or pickling salt
• 1 1/2 qts vinegar (5 percent)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 quarts water
• 2 T whole mixed pickling spice ( I use a homemade recipe - click here)
• whole mustard seed (2 tsp to 1 tsp per pint jar)
• fresh dill (1 1/2 heads per pint jar) or 4 1/2 T dill seed (1 1/2 tsp per pint jar)

Question from my inbox: 

Sharon, For the Dill Pickles, it doesn't mention slicing or halving or quartering the pickles, but in the picture it looks as if some of them have be sliced. Can you clarify? Thanks. Also, thanks for sharing with everyone!

---

Good question.   We prefer our pickles when they are small and whole.  And I usually process bigger pickles into relish.

Sometimes if I have room for just one more jar, I'll go ahead and quarter or halve some cucumbers that are just a little bigger than we like.  That way I'm running a full batch of jars. 

So either is fine, we prefer whole and small.  :) 

Wash your cucumbers and thinly slice off the blossom end. (the blossoms have an enzyme that will make your pickles soft)

Add 3/4 cup salt dissolved in 2 gallons water. Soak cucumbers in water for 12 hours. Drain and get your canning supplies together.

Gather your canning supplies

• water bath canner
• canning jars
• canning seals and rings
• jar lifter
• canning funnel
• large pot
• bowls
• large spoons
• sharp knife
• towels and dish cloths
• Pot or kettle for the brine
• ladle

Get the water in your canner heating while you prepare your pickles.

Combine vinegar, 1/2 cup salt, sugar, and 2 quarts of water. Place pickling spices in a cheesecloth and place in your vinegar brine. Heat to boiling.

Tip:  I use my stainless steel teapot to make my brine, it makes filling the jars super easy!

For more tips and canning safety instruction see Simply Canning... the book.

Fill jars with drained cucumbers. Add:

• 1 tsp mustard seed and 
• 1 head fresh dill or 1 tsp dill seed per pint.

Fill jars with hot pickling brine. Leave a 1/2 inch head space.

I've included directions below for both a regular hot water bath and the low temperature process. The timing for the two methods is different.

Be sure you are using the correct time with the correct method.

Hot Water Bath Processing

Processing time will vary according to your elevation.  Read why altitude adjustments here.

Altitude - processing time: 

0-1000 ft - 10 minutes

1000-6000 ft - 15 minutes

over 6000 ft - 20 minutes

Low Temperature Process

This recipe comes from the NCFHFP website and is safe for low temperature processing. If you are not familiar with low temperature pasteurization please read this and then come back.

Remember to use a thermometer and monitor your time carefully.

Have your canner ready and half full of warm water. About 120 to 140 degrees F. Also have a kettle or other pot of hot water ready.

Place your filled jars in the half full canner. Now add hot water to 1 inch above the tops of the jars. Turn on your heat and warm water to 180 to 185 degrees. Use your thermometer and be sure this is maintained for 30 minutes. This is longer than the time indicated in the regular waterbath processing.

When 30 minutes is done turn your heat off and remove your jars to a counter to cool. Check the seals after the jars are completely cooled off. I usually leave mine until the next day and check them, label and store them.

"4th of July in Brazil" Jacob's latest letter from Rio

Weeks are starting to feel like the same as last. They endure for ever and end very quickly. Nothing happened the 4th of July.. I think they dont celebrate.. I cannot seem to figure out why. The Zone Leader did sing the Brazilian National Anthem. Different.

This week I decided i would study Repentance. To better understand the importance of it, why it should be done now, and how we can accomplish true repentance?  I feel like I have more questions then when we started. We are put on this world as a test of our faith and devotion to God The Eternal Father. He know that would be perfect and we would mess up so he gave us his only Son, Jesus Christ. Christ, our Lord and Savior, he did more then just suffer from our sins but he atoned for them. I would encourage you to do your only study of atone. This atonement is perfect and infinite. So why is it important to repent now if the atonement of Christ is infinite.

This time on earth is special time that we will never be able to have again. Literally time will not exist after this life, its just eternity. This life is preparation for eternity. We have certain physically addiction and habits that, i think, we will only be able to change during this life. After the Resurrection it wont be the same. I dont think it will be as easy if possible for everyone to change or repent. Because when we repent we change. Repentance is accepting the will of God and changing our will to be the same. Changing our heart and mind until they completely agree with God.

I dont have time to share everything i studied, learned and know about repentance. Its something i will continue to study and even apply for the rest of my life.

What do you think about repentance and how it will occur after this life?

I am pretty grateful for my opportunity to serve the Lord. I count everyday as a blessing and hope that i am using it wisely. A mission has been the most devoted time of change through out my life. I look forward to the change to come. I hope you all changing for the better!

--

And they call me

Elder Anderson

For behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ

"New Mission President" Joe's latest letter from Argentina

Yep this week on tuesday our new president came in and President Heyman flew home with his wife. Our new president´s name is President Franco. He and his wife are from Buenos Aires but have been living in Utah since they were about 20 years old. He was a bishop, stake president, and area 70 in Utah and has three kids. He is a very nice and loving man. On Saturday we had interviews with him and it was our first time seeing him. Also my first interview in spanish haha, President Heyman always did them in english with me but luckily I have been here long enough to learn spanish sufficiently. Man I can only imagine how hard and stressfull it must be to have the calling of Mission President. ESPECIALLY for the first few weeks!!! But he is an amazing man and he will be an amazing mission president aswell.

My companion and I continue working hard and doing everything possible to find some new investigators. This last week we were able to find a few but most of them havent been there for the return appointments that we made. And on saturday we had interviews all day to we couldnt go by and visiting any of them to make plans to go to church so none of them came. My district is really struggling right now with church attendance and it is something I am going to focus on a lot tomorrow in our district meeting. 

Something funny that happened just last night was a man we contacted who was determined to insult us and tell us that we were spies for the united states without knowing it. He told us that the U.S. government created our religion to trick us into spying on other countries and getting information. Supposedly our church leaders are really government officials who are pretending to be prophets and apostles just as a cover up. So I got a little frustrated with him but ended up just having to tell him thanks and to have a nice day. 

My companion and I fasted yesterday to be able to find a prepared family that we can teach and help recieve the blessing of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. We we be focusing all of our efforts on finding this family this week and we are praying and doing everything possible to be ready for the propmtings of the Spirit to help us.´

I am so grateful for the Book of Mormon and I know from reading and praying about it that it is indeed the word of God and that JOspeh Smith was the Prophet of GOd called and ordained to translate it for our earthly and eternal benefit. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ and am grateful for the opportunity I have to share it.

Love All of YOU CHAU CHAU!!!!

Elder Anderson

"Merica day" Elder Vejnar's latest latter

So this last Friday was the 4th of July, or as I have come to know it in the referral center as Merica Day!! The day started off like any other day, I woke up got ready and went to work teaching the gospel to anyone that would listen after lunch me and my companion got a referral, so we called him and turns out that all he wanted to do is yell at us over the phone and tell me and my companion how the Book of Mormon is wrong because there is no archaeological evidence supporting the book, so because this guy had no interest in listening to what we had to say we told him to have a nice day and hung up. me feeling a little angry because this guy just wanted to yell at us and insult us decided that I needed to calm down for the lesson that we where about to have, with this really nice girl who really wants to know more about the church and if it is true. So I said a silent prayer in my head and felt better, the lesson went great, and right after that where the Independence day (Merica Day!!) celebrations! it was nice to hear the musical talents of some of the Elders and Sisters in the MTC at this time. following that we watched the movie 17 Miracles. This movie really strengthens my testimony of the truthfulness of the church, because there is no way anyone would go through all that if they did not know for absolute sirten that this church is true! and that is how I feel today I am 110% sure that this church is true, that Jesus Christ is at the head of it and that the prophet leads and guides the church today! anyway after the movie we went outside to watch the fireworks we could only see about half of them and so it was not a very good show from at least where I was standing but at least it was a show! and I am grateful for that. I am glad I have the privlege to live in this great country. that was the highlight of my week I love you all and wish you all peach love and wellness!

Elder Vejnar        

Zucchini Pickles. Re-posted from: Mommy's Kitchen Blog

A great idea I want to remember. Re-posted from: Mommy's Kitchen Blog

Zucchini Pickles {Perfect for Zucchini Overload}

Are you in zucchini overload? This is the time of year that you probably have more zucchini then you know what to do with. Well, today I want to share a recipe that will help you use all that extra zucchini from your garden.

I don't know what happened with our garden this year. It just didn't do as well as it has in the past. All we got was 3 little zucchinis and that was it. I sure miss the days of having more than I know what to do with. Usually we end up sharing with our neighbors because we have so much.

Any zucchini that we used this year was either bought at the grocery store or the farmers market. We don't have any friends that we know of that have a vegetable garden, so we couldn't bum any from them. I wanted to get a jump on some holiday gifts so I ended up purchasing some from Kroger last week. 

Kroger had zucchini bundles in the clearance bin so the price was a steal to say the least. I wanted to get started on some Zucchini Pickles and share the recipe with everyone because they are the perfect gift especially around the holidays.

These pickles are so delicious and very easy to make. I did run into one problem and that was that I didn't have any turmeric on hand. So I just substituted with pickling spice and the flavor was really good.

If you like sweet pickles and you love zucchini then this recipe is the best of both worlds. Before I go I would love to know what home canned items you give as gifts during the holiday season? This is just a small start for me but I also love to give jams, apple butter, preserves, squash relish, spiced tea and these wonderful pickles.

Cut off the ends of the zucchini and slice along with the onion. Combine in a large nonreactive bowl. Cover with cool water and stir in kosher salt. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours. Prepare boiling water bath for canning.  

Sterilize jars and prepare lids and rings. After the 2 hours is up drain the zucchini - onion mixture and discard the liquid.

In a medium size saucepan combine vinegar, sugar,mustard seed and turmeric or pickling spice. I only used pickling spice because I was out of tumeric. I highly recommend the tumeric to make these pickles. Bring mixture to a boil.

Add zucchini and onions and simmer for 5 minutes. I did mine backwards and added the zucchini first and then all the ingredients. Don't ask me why but that is how it ended up.

Pack pickle mixture into hot jars leaving a 1/2 inch head space. Discard any excess liquid. Remove air bubbles from jars. Wipe the rims of the jars and then center the lids.

Screw on the rings until tight but not to tight. Process jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars to a kitchen cloth and let cool. Check lids as the cool to make sure they have sealed.

Keep in a cool place for up to one year.

Pickles are ready to eat after one week.

Zucchini Pickles

Ingredients:
1 lb - zucchini, thinly sliced
1 - small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 - tablespoons kosher salt
1 1/2 - cups white vinegar
1 - cup sugar
1 - teaspoon mustard seed
1/2 teaspoon turmeric, preferred

Combine zucchini and onion in a larger nonreactive bowl. Cover with cool water and stir in kosher salt. Let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

Prepare boiling water canner. Sterilize jars and prepare lids and rings.

After the 2 hours is up drain the zucchini - onion mixture and toss the liquid. In a medium size saucepan combine vinegar, sugar, mustard seed and turmeric.

Bring to a boil. Add zucchini and onions and simmer for 5 minutes. Pack pickle mixture into hot jars leaving a 1/2 inch head space. Discard any excess liquid.

Remove air bubbles from jars. Wipe the rims of the jars and then center the lids. Screw on the rings until tight but not to tight.

Process jars in boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Remove jars to a kitchen cloth and let cool.

Check lids as the cool to make sure they have sealed. Pickles are ready to eat after one week.

Keep in a cool place for up to one year.

Recipe yields: 5 half pints
 

For a step by step tutorial on how to can in a hot water bath click here.

First fruits from my first Greenville garden

The fist picking is always the funnest. The tomatoes are the Better Boy variety. I planted one Better Boy plant because their hardy, come one fast, and Lowe's had big plants. I put it in the ground buried all the way up to the very last left. The very next night Greenville had a late freeze, one of the latest on record. The next day when I went to check on my Better Boy it was dead and withered, but remembering that I had buried most of the plant--as I always do when transplanting tomatoes, I dug around it to discover that the buried portions of the plant did not freeze. The plant survived and has produced it's first fruits.
The zucchini are great. I usually like to pick them when they're a little smaller, but I was out of town for a week and zucchini fruit grows fast. It was great to finally have fresh garden grown zucchini again. I was never able to overcome the blossom root when living in Charlottesville, VA. I could never get the soil right.
I didn't plan much this year because I'm in a rental until the family comes out at the end of summer, but next summer I plan to have a very big garden. Besides zucchini and the Better Boy I planted four Brandywine and four Cherokee tomatoes plants. I'm looking forward to see how they do.

Elder Ray Vejnar's latest letter, "New Mission President's Seminar."

So to start the week of it was mission president seminar there where lots of apostles and important people like that I even saw elder Tay I don't think he remembered me or he just had things to do because he did not stop when we walked past him. So I thought that we would see a lot of apostles but turns out security did not want that to happen every time we would go through the main building the guard would stop us one day we asked why we could not go through right away and they told us " We do not want you to see the apostles..." now this did not stop us from at least seeing some of them. I had the pleasure of walking by elder Dallin H. Oaks, M. Russell Ballard, and  Boyd K. Packer and there wives however I did not get to talk to any of them still it was a really cool experience

also this week me and my comp got another baptism her name is Catlyn she will be my second from the beginning of my mission and she is going to be a great member!!  and though we did not get to skype into the baptism she said she would send pictures and if I get them by next week I will be sure to send them my first baptism was a kid named Jack from England and he has already given us a referral he is super cool and also we are trying to get pictures without being to forward. to sum up the rest of the week because I am running out of time I learned a lot about chess In fact I am not to bad anymore went bowling and I am out of time talk to you later the church is true and the book is blue love you all I will write you all next week 

Elder Vejnar

Joe's latest letter from Argentina, "The Crazy Colombian"

He who Joe calls, "The Crazy Colombian." 

Well what a week it has been... a lot of good things and a lot of dissapointing things aswell. One of the fun things that happened is that I went on divisions with a crazy columbian and we had a really good time working in my area. While we were tracting we knocked this house with two guys about 25 years old. When I tried to introduce myself they refused to shake my hand and asked me where I was from. I responed "the united states"...and thats where the trouble began. They started telling me about how terrible me and my country is. Long story short, they told me to go back I wasnt welcomed here and they really tried to instigate a fight. When my companion came in and told them that he was from columbia they didnt have anything to say. So before things got too heated I told them I didnt have control over where I was born or who my parents where... and then I told them to have a nice day and I walked away. So yeah that was fun and exciting. Oh and after we left my columbian companion for the day asked me why I cut it short, because he wanted to see if they were really brave enough to fight him. He his crazy by the way and loves MMA, would have killed them in a fight. But I just laughed and told him I didnt want them to get hurt.

We were able to find many new investigators this week but when we went back for the return appointment they were nowhere to be found. It is really hard sometimes when you plan and study literally for hours a day to help an investigator come closer to Christ, and then they arent there. But it is something that happens to every missionary in the world and something that we have to learn and grow from. I am grateful for the things I have been able to learn this week and the progress I have made as a missionary. When I first started my mission I was so excited and happy for the investigators and lessons that we had planned for the day that I didnt really even think about them not being there. So when I went to appointments and they werent there, I was crushed and it really brought my excitement and enthusiasm down. It made me kind of depressed and brought thoughts like "whats the point of working if people are just going to dissapoint all the time". It was something that I had to learn and grow from and I am glad to say that that is exactly what I have done. This week when we planned and made appointments for people and they werent there for the lesson. My companion and I kept our enthusiasm, knocked on the houses near by and then went to our "back up plan". And if the backup plan didnt work out (Which they more that often dont). We quickly looked for areas to contact and people to talk to. My companion and I kept working hard thorugh the daily trials of mission work and when we came back to the apartment tired and worn out, we considered our day "successful" because of our effort hard work that we had done. This week made me think of a quote that my mom gave me a while ago and I dont remember who it was from but it said something like "real success is going from failure to failrue without any loss of enthusiasm"

Trials are part of everday life. We have to have them in order to learn and grow. Things happen all the time in life that really stink and are hard, but our success is measured by how well we come out of our trials. I know that the mission life isnt easy, and the life after the mission is even harder, but I am grateful for the opportunities everyday to learn and grow and experience dificulties.

Well thats all I have to say this week. I hope all is well over there and everybody is watching and rooting for the United States and Argentina!!!!!!!

Love Elder Anderson

Jacob's latest letter from Rio "Mission work is always happening and it never stops. "

Mission work is always happening and it never stops. It just sometimes we will decided to be apart of it. I still have 3 companions which makes this quite interesting. I spend very little time in my own area since we are still waiting on actually for the contract to be signed for our apartment. This means I am almost always with one of the Zone Leaders. Its like learning with 3 people at once. I am pretty grateful for this opportunity. Its pretty difficult not to be my own area helping our ward progress because they havnt had missionarys forever and the entire so badly wants to help with the missionary work. But if this area is anything like my last area i imagine that i will be stay here for quite awhile so I am trying to have patience.  I dont remember if i have sent a picture of our church but here it is...

Probably the most exciting thing that happenedthis week. After Church on Sunday we talked with member who has been bring her almost husband to church, almost becuase its not legal yet. We decided that we would visit them around 5-6. It was a little weird when i told them that we could visit them that day. Long storyshort we spend 2 hours walking there becuase we only had enough money to get back home when the day ended. When we finally got there. The ENTIRE FAMILY was ready to hear our message. It was really cool to see the blessing of the Lord in this moment of need. The message of the restaurent never has made more sense then during this lesson. Me and my companion companion taught lesson with and becuase of the companionship of the Spirit of God WONDERFULLY. I was very very happy afterwords. Teaching the lessons clearly and correctly is something i have been praying praying for dilligently!

Also have been studying a bunch about prophets and the authority of God. PMG helps us understand that prophets are called when world is ready to accept them. We know so every little about God and we know even little about his servants. I pray that we can all be more faithful and obedient when following the council of the prophets of God. They are inspired messengers of God. They hold the power and authority to give the church of God Direction. Follow them. I heard a quite the other night when listening to talk. It said"We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see."

The "rules" or commandments of God are not limits. He knows how to help us be happy and reach our full potential this is done through following the council of the Lord. The Holy Prophets of God are ordained to deliver this council to us.

 they call me

Elder Anderson

For behold I am a disciple of Jesus Christ