10.11.15...

Hi everyone! We are back on our mission, arrived not quite a week ago! It was a long, long, flight, and we had a little jet lag, but nothing that kept us from doing the work! 

It is good to be back, but doesn't seem like we left! It was great to be home, and see everyone, and love everyone and be together, again! Thanks to all for spoiling us while we were home! 

Richard's hand is coming along, slow process, he is doing his own therapy, and is able to work somewhat with the hand, doesn't seem to need me to write for him any more, and still eats with his left hand at times! He is amazing to me, and I think the Lord has really blessed us, because of a beautiful blessing he was given! He still wears his brace when he is out and about, and only shakes hands with his left hand! He does therapy  every day! We pray it will continue to heal, and  he can have full use of his hand!

While we were home, we got to welcome Karma and Koyle home from their mission, and Marcia and Eldon came for a couple of hours, and the Winwards came and we had a great lunch and time together! we missed Glad and Kris, but they weren't in town! It is always good to get a letter from Elder and Sister Harrison, and hear about their mission! I wanted to get in touch with Kaye, but ran out of time! We are hoping to hear something from that family soon!

We were able to witness Brigham Shupe's baptism, which was so nice, and what a precious little boy! Also got to see  the Primary program in Shupes ward, and hear Ella, Brigham and Parleys talks and they all did so well!  James and Hanna Wagstaff delivered a beautiful baby girl Sept 24, Ivy Mae Wagstaff! That makes our 1st great granddaughter, and our 4 great grandchild! Gives Angie and Jim 4 grandchildren to love, and they are all adorable! Davis Anderson returned home from his mission to Brazil, got engaged to a darling little gal that waited for him, Alexia! They are getting married on January 30, 2016! Davis has ask Richard if he could seal them in the ST George Temple! We are thrilled for them! We will need to get permission to seal them, and come home one more time to do that! We got to see a lot of the grandchildren s talents as they played sports, and cheered, and etc.  I even got a traditional baby quilt made and finished with help, for Susie's January baby! We had so many get together's at different homes and love the delicious American food! The garden food was so amazing, and we loved the fresh air we breathed  while we were home! The cool down also felt great as we slept with our windows open, and covers on us! Thanks to all for a wonderful 3 weeks at home!

We are so grateful for a wonderful conference,  we watched while we were home, and then again here in the Philippines last Sunday! We are so grateful for all the blessings Heavenly Father has blessed our family with! Grateful for the wisdom we have heard at conference that we can pattern our life after! Loved Presidents Monson's talk on being a light to the world!

We pray for all of you, and hope all is well! Thanks for your love and prayers for us and all the missionaries as well!

We love you all!

Love, Mom and Dad

Grandpa and Grandma,

Elder and Sister Anderson

Back to the Philippines...10.4.2015

Hi everyone! 

We made it home, back to the Philippines! Thanks to Justin who took us to the airport at 4:00 A.M. We got on a plane at 6:00 and flew 1 1/2 hours to LA, then boarded a plane to Hong Kong that left at 9:40. 14 hours later, yes 14 hours, we arrived in Hong Kong! That was such a long flight, I would look at the map after we had been flying 4 hours, and the thought of 10 more hours ahh, I thought I'll never make it! 
The plane was full of Japanese people that talked Japanese, but were nice! The couple in front of us had a 11/2 year old boy, and the one behind us had a 2 year old girl, and there were a few other little children, and I thought that would be really hard to travel with out a break for 14 hours with a little toddler. They were actually pretty good little kids! The food was plane food, not good! Didn't get much sleep, watched one movie, and read! We were so happy to land on the ground! Then on another plane to Manila for 2 more hours! We flew in day light all  the way! Seems interesting to me, and it was the evening of Tuesday night when we got here, exactly 26 hours after we left Salt Lake! Our friends the Lacanientas picked us up and the traffic was so bad, it still took 11/2 hours to get home! !  We found our apartment just as we left it! A few more cockroaches, but not as bad as I had visioned in my mind! It was hot, but the air-cons cooled it off. A few bills stuck in the door, with warning to pay our water and power, or it would be turned off! We unpacked some, and went to bed! Dad has been at the computer pretty much ever since!

We can't tell you all how wonderful it was to have this unexpected visit! It was wonderful to see all of the people we love the most in the whole wide world! Wonderful to be home for so many occasions.

 Brigham baptism, what a sweet heart and the spirit was so strong,

 grandchildren games,

 BYU games, so fun to watch with so many of you!

 Family get together's, BBQ's, parties with all the family, many of them, hosted by so many of you!

 Womens conference, being with all the amazing girls in my life!

 Getting to see the recently returned missionary Davis, and meet our future grand daughter-in-law Alexa, even before we knew that! Brynley and John came to our house as well! Fun to see them.

 Meeting a beautiful new Great Granddaughter Ivy Mae Wagstaff.

 Being there when my Sister and her husband returned from their mission, and had a fun luncheon with them and Marcia and Eldon,

 enjoyed sharing our home with the busy  newly weds, Jessica and Jordan, and they  still had time for us!

Loved hearing news from our missionaries, Julia and Richmond! So proud of them!

 Drove the best car while we were there, thanks to Jim and Angie who gave us their best for 3 weeks plus! Thanks so much!

 Went to Dr's and therapy almost daily,

 had darling little Brown girls knock on our door everyday, and we loved that!

 Made a baby quilt for Susie, got it all quilted with Emily's help! Thanks so much!

Dad loved Priesthood session with the boys, and the fun they had at Joy Luck after! 

unexpected visit from Brad and Izzy, so good to see them and hear about their trip to Brazil, missed the rest of the family!

Most delicious food, corn on the cob, and fresh tomatoes! I couldn't get enough of the tomatoes, and I found them in Emily's, Susie, Heidi, and Karma's garden! yum, so good! I just kind of helped myself! All the meals were delicious that everyone fed us! We are so grateful!

Watching conference was a high light, thanks to Browns for sharing their home and TV. 

The wonderful family night at Shupes the night before we left and the beautiful lesson on being a light, and the delicious food! Thanks to everyone making that so nice! 

Finding little love letters hidden in our suitcases from the Brown family, were a treat, brought a few tears to our eyes!

Thanks to Emily coming to help us pack at 4:00 AM, and Justin driving us to the airport at that time as well! 

I know I have missed some things, like Lilly, Livie, and Isabel's birthdays! That was great to see them on their birthdays! Which reminds me of so many Birthdays in Oct. 

We had a fantastic time with all of you, and we love our family so much! Families are what life is all about, and we love ours so very much! You are all wonderful, and you bring so much joy and happiness into our lives! We can't thank you all enough!

Dad is able to do his work, and is using his right hand quite a bit, and he also does therapy with it. We have yet to see a hand therapist! We are trying to get over jet lag, and trying to function!

It was good to get back to our mission, and everyone seemed happy to have us back! Big cheers went up when we walked in our office, and Mission Presidents have called and expressed to Dad how much they missed him! We love our mission, and love serving the Lord, and helping the work move forward! We love you all and pray for your happiness! We have been blessed so much, and we pray to live worthy of all these blessings!

Thanks again for making our trip home so fun! You are what keeps us going!!!

Love, Mom and Dad, 

Grandpa and Grandma

Hand surgery pictures...

This is Richards hand 10 days after surgery! Pretty intense!

The wrist inside incision! We are praying for full recovery of his hand!



Best patient ever, sure glad we came home to have this surgery done! Answer to prayers! Love you all!

9.23.15... Home to Utah for a bit...

Hi Family,

How are all of you? We haven't heard from Karma for a week or two, and we are so anxious to hear from Elma and their mission! Would love to hear about Marcia and Eldon's trip to Canada, also love to hear from Kaye and Glade!

We had a fantastic time in Hong Kong! Beautiful city, so clean, organized, and friendly! Loved the Mission Presidents we met. They are really great! We met Richmond's President, who had been with Richmond in Indonesia just 5 days prior to coming to the Seminar.It was great to talk to him, and his wife thought Richmond looked like me! That was a complement! We also met Elma and Rex's Mission President, who had just met and spent some time with Elma and Rex! They are thrilled to have the Harrisons in their mission, and were so impressed with their knowledge of their assignment and language! Great people also! One of the mission Presidents was from Preston, Idaho, and knew the Titensors, and the wife was good friends with Sharron, and she thought Sharron looked like me through the eyes and smile! So fun Hodges was their name! 2 of the Presidents were friends with Jim and had played ball with him! It was a great time, and we stayed over a day, to celebrate early our 50th wedding anniversary! It was a great time! We got home Sat. night Sept 5th!

I think I told you on Aug. 21, the tendon in the ring finger on  Richards right hand frayed away, and his finger went limp, and he couldn't lift it. I taped the ring finger and the middle finger together, so he could do his work! We went to a Dr. in the Philippines, that said he could fix it, but we were leaving for Hong Kong the next day. When we got home from Hong Kong, the Area Presidency said they wanted us to go to Utah to fix it! Richard  finally got a hold of his Dr. that fixed the tendon on his baby finger, and he said if we could be to Utah by Friday, he would fit us in his schedule for surgery! Richard called Salt Lake and booked us a flight to Utah leaving Thursday morning! that was Wed. After work at the office, we went home, packed and Richard worked late to finish some cases up, and we left at 6:30 Thursday morning and arrived 24 hours later in Salt Lake at 4:30 P.M. Ted and Ben met us at the airport, so good to see them. They drove us to Angie's home, and they were having a friends wedding reception in their yard! Everything looked so beautiful! Wonderful to see the Wagstaffs, and they gave us Angie's Car to drive while we were home! That was so nice! We drove to Susie's home, who didn't know we were coming, and Travis and Parley were so surprised to see us! That was a fun surprise, so we decided we wouldn't tell Susie and just show up at Ella's soccer game! that was so much fun, to see her and the girls surprised faces as well! We stopped by Doug and Katie's and loved them. Stopped at Jason and Heidi's , and loved them, Rich gave Jason a blessing as he had some problems with diverticulitis,    and finally got home to our home where Ted and his family, and Emily and her family were all here, plus Jessica and Jordan who live in our home! Every thing looked so perfect, the house was spotless, and the yard didn't have a weed in it and it was so good to be home, after being away 6 1/2 months! Doug came over  and the guys gave Richard a blessing! So grateful for the Priesthood in our family, that we can call down the powers of Heaven to guide us and bless us in our time of need, and a great opportunity to exercise our faith! So good to be home with our wonderful family that we love so much!

I have got to cut this short, or I will never finish what has been going on! Richard and I went to the Surgeon on Friday morning on 9/11! He checked him and decided on surgery, and scheduled us for 2:30 the same day! By 6:00 we were home! The surgeon found 3 tendons in his right hand that needed repair, and had to use some flexer tendons from his wrist to repair him. He said this shouldn't be happening, and took some blood and tissue and told us to see a rheumatologist, to see if he had rheumatoid arthritis! He also said the therapy would be more intense, because of the flexer tendons he used from the wrist! We got back home Friday night about 5:30! It was a big day! It was so fun to be with family and see them, and love them!

Sat. We were blessed to witness the baptism of Brigham Shupe! that was really special, especially, since we had no clue we would be home for that! What a precious little boy, and so happy to get baptized!  All our family met at Susie's afterwards, and it was like being in a little bit of Heaven to be together again!

We had fun Sat. night night watching the BYU game with some of our family! This was but a dream as we are in the Philippines, and never get to watch those  games! Brynley and John drove here after the game, and spent Sunday with us and Jessica and Jordan! It makes us feel real young to hang out with these newly wed grandchildren!

Sunday, we enjoyed going to our Kaysville ward, and then we went to Angie and Jims for a delicious dinner, and the whole family came again and we celebrated being together again, so much fun! We got to see Davis, our recent returned missionary! So great to see all the cousins and brothers and Sisters having so much fun together!

On Monday, we went to therapy, and then in to the Church offices to meet up with the Mission department! Richard's IFR Job has been turned over to an IFR in Salt Lake while we are here! However, when we arrived home there were several e-mails form Presidents that want Rich to help him with different problems, so he still spends a lot of time doing his work! We have gone to therapy everyday, and everyday see improvements! Dr. or Elder Schwitzer got an appointment with a rheumatologist for last Monday in Springfield, Utah! We made our way there, and met with the Dr.,and he found No rheumatoid arthritis in Richard! It is a miracle, and prayers answered! We were thrilled, and so grateful for that good news!

We continue to see the therapist, and tomorrow, Thursday he will get his stitches out, and we will talk to the Dr., more therapy and when the therapist  feels like we can go back to the Philippines, we will go!  Having the use of his right hand is the most important thing, and is what we need to concentrate on right now! We have another year of our Mission left, and are anxious to get back and continue our service, and see all the wonderful people we work with there!

We count our blessings everyday, and we are so aware of the Lords hand in our lives! We give Thanks every day! We love the Gospel, and the opportunities it affords us and the tests that help us grow, and exercise our faith! We are grateful for prayers and the answers to them! So grateful for an amazing family, that has bent over backwards to help us, and support us and feed us good American food,and love us and we cherish the moments we have together!

So grateful for the Gospel and for each other! We love you all

We are excited to see Karma and Koyle this week-end, and go to their homecoming! Good to hear from the Harrisons, and Paynes!

Thanks everyone for your prayers they are felt, and we can feel the blessings and Heavenly Fathers love in all of  our lives! 

Love to all, 

Mom and Dad, Grandpa and Grandma, Richard and Nada, Elder and Sister Anderson

august pictures 2015

This is the Island of Puerta Galara! that was our first day, and it was sunny!



Sister Arner, sister Lacuenita and I, leaving for the Island!


Our fun little get away!



Elder Arner is the AMA, or Dr. and Elder Lacanienta is the Executive Secretary to the Area President, all very busy Elders, and all needed a change of scenery!

8.17.15

Dear Family,

Mabuhay from the warm Philippines! Can you believe it is time to start thinking and planning for school, and finishing up vacations? What a busy month already, full of Birthdays and homecomings and last minute events!

We are so excited to have Davis home from his mission, and  have heard how tremendous his homecoming was, and what a beautiful and humble report given by Davis who is full of the love of missionary work and love for the Brazilian people! Oh how we would loved to have been there! It was great to talk to him on the phone, and feel of the spirit he radiates! We hope he had a wonderful Birthday as well! Thanks to all those of you that made it to his homecoming!

We have a new member of our area Presidency,Elder Haynie! what a great Elder, his wife is a sweet heart, and they have an 18 year old daughter here with them! We had a beautiful devotional for them, where we all met them and heard from them! That was what the choir was practicing for, and I enjoyed singing in that, even tho- the leader, always talks in Tagalog, and I never know if I should be fast or slow or quite or loud! So fun, and I have to admit we sound so good! Then on Sat. night Aug.8, the area presidency brought in all of the Philippine 70's and we had a nice dinner with them! We felt honored to be invited, and we pretty much know all of the seventy's, because we served together as mission presidents, or they came to our home for conferences or what ever! It was like a reunion! Don't mean to complain, but the food was cold, and very Filipino, and even Elder Ardern said we will not have them cater ever again! Great to see our friends tho-!

Earlier that day we had a couple activity, and we went to an old Chinese cemetery  where the shrines and covers over the tombs, are much nicer than the places people live in today! They even hire caretakers to keep up their shrines! It was quite interesting, but dad said we wont do that activity again!! It took over an hour and a half to get there, and it was probably 7 or 8 miles away! Dad drove and maneuvers around in this traffic and gets us where we need to go, and we even arrive there first! No one understands the traffic, and the challenge it is to go anywhere! It is amazing!

Last week-end we hosted a couple going to Cebu temple mission, and they have 3 days in Manila, and don't know where to go or what to do, so they ask us couples  to take turns making sure their needs are met! Elder and Sister Lacanienta had a couple as well, so for Sunday, we packed a picnic, and took them to one of the Stakes in our Mission, because of a Stake Conference and getting a new Stake President! It was great to be in Cabuyao Stake again, and see all the familiar people, and welcome in a new Stake President! We found a room in the church, and ate our chicken and potato salad picnic on our laps! we stopped by the American Cemetery on our way back to Manila to let them see that beautiful place! It was a fun day, and very hot, and we were exhausted  at the end! We were so hot and tired, and fell asleep on our bed in our garments, and I had a dream that we were walking around the lobby of our building in our garments with our name tags on! I woke up with a start, and was so glad to see we were still laying on the bed! Funny Hu!

It is Holiday here on Wed.and Friday, and no one will be in the office, so we are taking a couple of days away , with the computer and phone, at a little resort on the Island of Puerto Galera! We took Angie and Jim to this Island when they were here 6 years ago, we didn't get much time there because we just got to the Island in our boat, and the kids got their swim suits on, and they announced that the last boat of the day was leaving, and we didn't want to get stuck on that Island for the night! Do you remember that Wagstaffs? Anyway it should be a quite break! We are going with 2 other couples!

We are doing great, and we are blessed with good health, as we do this work here in the Philippines! We are happy and busy! We love the letters from Richmond and Julia, and pray for them in our every prayer! Missions are hard, and they take so much faith, and endurance, but the Lord is always on our side, and is so aware of us, as it is manifested to us every single day!

We love all of you and appreciate your prayers, and the support you give us and each other! We pray everyone will be happy as school starts, and summer ends, and life carries on!

Let your light shine in all you do! We love you!

Love, Mom and Dad

Grandpa and Grandma,

Elder and Sister Anderson

pictures from July 2015..

7.30.15

Dear Family,

I should try to at least get 2 letters off to you in July! Where has the month gone? It has been an interesting month, with it being vacation month for the General Authorities! We did have our Area President here, because he takes his summer Vacation in December, because he lives in New Zealand, and it is winter there now! His Counselor, Elder Bowen, has been gone the whole month. Plus so many families from our American ward have gone home for the summer, and our good friends the Lacanienta's got to go home for 3 weeks, because they have extended a few months! So we have been missing everyone! They are all coming back this week-end, plus another counselor to Elder Ardern, and we are getting a new DTA. It certainly hasn't been dull around here, but things will pick up, when everyone is back in place! We are excited to have Elder Haynie join our area Presidency.

 We are having a devotional on Monday morning to welcome the new DTA, and Bishop Davies will be speaking to us.Bishop Davies is one of the counselors in the Presiding Bishopric. They have been asking me to join the choir , so finally I went to a practice, and got hooked! The choir is beautiful, and I feel it an honor to get to sing with them! I am the only white face in it though, but we are singing on Monday morning at devotional, and then again the next week devotional, when Elder Haynie will be introduced, and speak! What an experience that is for me! I can't sing like I use too, and can't reach the high alto notes, so I kind of drop down into the tenor notes, I'm sure the lady standing by me thinks I am strange! It is fun to go to practices, even though every one talks tagalog, and laughs, I just join in with the laughs! Filipinos know how to have fun!

We had an earthquake drill today! We had to tuck and duck under our desks, and then when the second bell rang we followed the traveling team as we ran out the office, and stayed together as we were accounted for out side, they had some of the people fake problems, and the emergency team came back and took care of them! It was a good practice!

We have had some beautiful amazing storms lately. The sky turns so dark gray, and lightning, and thunder that almost shakes the buildings, then the wind and the rain come so fast and so powerful! It is like sheets of rain, and it is amazing, it puddles up every where, and then when it is over, you think it is going to be cold, and you step outside and it feels like a sauna! However, last night Richard and I went on a walk and there was a little breeze, and it was a little cooler, but not for long. We were pretty hot by the time we got back to our tower!

Richard gave a great lesson in Gospel Doctrine class last week, we have a challenge in our ward to finish the Book of Mormon by August 31, and we were way behind with where we are in it, so we decided to join the challenge and figured how many pages we needed to read each day to finish it by August 31, and we are right on target! I love to study with dad, and I always learn so much, and together we discover things we have read so many times, but finally read it for the first time! It is amazing the inspiration and love and comfort we get from reading that wonderful book! We are so grateful for the Book of Mormon, and the teachings in it, and the help it gives us!

Every day is a new experience for us, or we see something we have never seen before, it is just an adventure! I love serving in the Temple, and the people I am blessed to work with are wonderful! Yesterday as I was assisting at the veil, a sweet Filipino Sister come through the veil, and how hard it was for her to say some of the words, and I thought how well would I repeat back the words in Tagalog, if the situation were reversed! The temple is closing for 6 weeks on sat. night! We are going to miss it!

I have probably rattled on enough! It is always good to talk to all of you, so glad  Emily and Susie have their girls camp behind them! It is hard to believe Davis gets released in 4 days! Thanks to Jessica for posting his last beautiful letter on Julia's blog! Love getting Julia's letters and feeling her sweet spirit! Richmonds letters are wonderful too, and we pray for him as he masters learning the language! We pray for Brad and Aimee to have a safe trip to Brazil, and can't help but think about how exciting they must feel to get to see Davis, and visa versa! We hope and pray all of you will be safe and careful as you continue to celebrate the summer, and activities, and vacations!  Thanks to Emily and Angie for getting packages and things together to send back with people that are coming to the Philippines! We really appreciate it!

Elma and Rex leave for the MTC on Aug.10, their daughter Jill just had their 48th grand child, a little boy. So happy for them. Karma and Koyle are through with their mission in Sept. or Oct. I guess time passes! We continue to pray for Scott, for a full recovery, and  for Karlin with the challenges she has right now! Griffin comes home in August too.

 We love you all so much, and appreciate all you do for us! Thanks for your support and prayers and love! Always let your light shine! Feel free to write us any time, we love the letters and news from home!

Love to all,

 Mom and Dad

Grandpa and Grandma

Elder and Sister Anderson