Not All Switches Turn On The Lights

Week 18:

Me and my companion were going our normal studies on the 2nd floor of a 7-11. I needed to pee so I went to the bathroom and all the lights were off. I saw a red button with surrounded by Chinese characters that I was unable to read. It must be the light switch right? Nope. I pushed the button and a loud alarm went off. It pierced My ears and left them bleeding. I walked out the bathroom to my confused looking companion and told him that I may have set the fire alarm off. We walked downstairs where the alarm notice was originating from and my companion had to explain everything that happened. I was so embarrassed.

Other then that experience, my week was normal. We recently found a new investigator named Aaron and he is so cool. He works in China and occasionally comes to Taiwan. His English is really good and every time we meet, he tells us how handsome we are haha. He thinks we look so good because we are both half blood.

Right now I'm at Costco and I just ate normal pizza. Forever grateful for this creation. 

I forgot to take pictures this week, so I'll post a picture from last week. Email me for an uncensored picture. 

How The Advice From A Nice Stranger Almost Got Us Killed And How We Survived

Week 17: 

OK so this experience may not have been as extreme as I said it was in the header, but its still pretty funny. Me and my companion were lost and at a stoplight. We asked for directions back to the street our house was on. The man told us to turn left on this street.  The road had no sidewalk and we asked him if bikes were allowed on the road. He said that he rode his bike there before and that he didn't get pulled over and that we should be fine. Following his advice we turned left and cars were passing very close to us at high speeds. It didn't take long for us to figure out that we were riding our bike on the freeway. Luckily the road had no shoulder and I was biking with a constant prayer in my heart that I wouldn't get hit. Then, while the streets were empty for a couple minutes, decided to go into the middle of the road and see how long I could ride my bike without holding the handlebars. (a long time). Let this email be proof that I survived and that God protects the not as smart missionaries. He was able to make this dangerous situation into a once in a lifetime opportunity. I even took a selfie.

Back to a normal note.

One of our most progressing investigators set a baptismal date. Roger is the most perfect investigator ever. He has been reading his scriptures and praying everyday and recently has had an experience with feeling the spirit. He really enjoyed coming to church the past couple times and learning more about Jesus. 

My Chinese is still struggling as usual. Not struggling as bad as the first couple days in Taiwan. I'm now able to teach the full first lesson in Chinese. I'm improving. My listening comprehension still isn't that good. I'm able to understand My companions Chinese, but native speakers talk really fast with a thick accent that throws me off. 

My companion also stepped this lizard on our apartment by accident.

I've been on a forced diet because I'm out of money. I've been relying on members to keep me alive haha. 

Right now we are about to leave for this hike that leads to a waterfall. Pictures coming later today.

Elder Andersen

Until next week 

Addendum from Elder Andersen's Mom:  
1.  Growing up we did teach him about safety and making safe, wise choices.  Riding on the freeway with no hands?  I don't even know where to begin.......
2.  We do give him money, Him saying he does not have money for food, it's more about him learning to budget.  He is a little slower at grasping this concept.   We definitely will not let this kid starve and whither away.  :)  

Great Start To The New Year With Many Spiritual Moments and New Experiences.

Week 15:

This week flew by and so many things happened, so I'll start with today.

We fit 14 people inside a Toyota Wish.

Me and 12 other missionaries drove 2 hours to yilan and we were able to put our feet in hotsprings and eat some SUPER spicy ice cream. The idea of spicy ice cream sounds bad. Deciding to taste the ice cream was an even worse idea. We got the spiciest ice cream they had. The ice cream was really sweet at first and a couple seconds later my throat and my stomach started BURNING. I started sweating and I lost feeling in my cheeks. Then my eyes started twitching and my face looked like a cherry. Hours later my stomach still feels kinda funny. This was defiantly the spices thing I've ever tried and only one missionary has eaten a whole bowl. Im going to be the second person to finish it. We are now eating this awesome mango shaved ice hoping it will make our tummys feel better.

Super Spicy Ice Cream

Mango Shaved Ice, Yummy!

My English class went well and I had a couple new students. This super cool guy named Eric came in and the first thing he said was how handsome I am haha. He is super awesome and his English is almost perfect. He has a masters in computer science and is trying to become a lawyer. Afterwards Miru and Anne asked us to walk them home. There is one thing I've learned in Taiwan. White fever is real and I get a lot of weird looks.

We were able to go to the beach and that was super fun. The sand was black and we all played a super fun game of ultimate Frisbee.

Zhuanwei Beach

As fun as today was there have been many spiritual moments too. Recently there has been this college that we have been contacting at and we have been getting so many setups. One night we were able to get 5, and we were able to fill up our whole week with teaching appointments.

Sorry about my messy hair. I'm getting a haircut today. I'm going to ask for an Asian haircut Yaya.

Elder Andersen

All you can eat barbecue.

Out and About, Selfie Time

Tis the Season....Happy New Year!

Week 14:

This week was filled with so many awesome experiences and I don't even know where to start.  Christmas was a blast.  We went caroling at the entrance of a big mall and a big crowd formed, probably because they were curious to why there were a bunch of white buys singing English Christmas songs.  A couple missionaries were able to meet with the people in the crowd and we were able to contact a good amount of people.  

I had money left over from my allowance and me and my companion decided to go get nicer food for Christmas dinner.... We each got 2 large pizzas, a huge bucket for fried chicken and 2 liters of soda. (4 pizzas, 2 buckets, 4 sodas in all). It was a great night. I was able to finish all my leftovers in the next 2 days. Later that day our district went to a trampoline park and me and my companion went to uniclo and they were having a big Disney sale and I got a super 帥 mickey mouse shirt. 

Our c02 detector also went off and my companion was freaking out and made us run out of our apartment and he locked us out without the keys. We ended up walking to a lock store and someone had someone picked the lock on our door. 

Sunday was interesting too. Elder Bradshaw forgot to put money on his card so we weren't able to take the bus. It was raining and we had to wear our suits every Sunday. Instead of paying 50 cents to take the bus, he made us bike for almost half an hour to get to church and we were both soaking wet. It was also impossible to see because of the rain. We also got some weird looks by the locals. Elder Bradshaws black tie also bled on his white shirt so that was kinda funny. While street contacting later that day, we contacted someone that saw us and had a picture of us at at the Christmas caroling, which was crazy because the mall we Carole at was a 30 minute drive from where we live! I've been noticing all these small miracles and they are such a blessing. For example, Yesterday we were able to set a baptismal date with Sister Shu. She has been coming to church every week and reads the book of Mormon and loves the church. She's definitely getting baptized. 

新年快樂! 

Elder Andersen 

Addendum from Elder Andersen's Mom:  On Christmas Eve we got to Skype Elder Andersen.  A general letter for that week was not written for that week.  Here are a couple pictures from the Skype session Christmas week.  Yes, that is his bed hair and yes he is wearing his robe since he just woke up.  :)