No, I'm not from Utah

This week I got to go back to Hyderabad to finish my work at the FRRO (foreigner registration for the respective area where I live). After 2 days, I successfully got a transfer paper from the Hyderabad FRRO, so now I can go to the Bangalore FRRO, and hopefully after a day or two there I will be registered here in Bangalore! I was very blessed when I went to Hyderabad though. I think I worked with the one woman in all of India's FRRO's the was actually friendly and helpful! It was amazing! She actually TRIED to help us, instead of seeing how much she could torture us! We sincerely thanked her after we left. 

While I was in Hyderabad I also got to go see my little baby, Elder Bandi! Haha he was so ecstatic to see me... even though it's only been like 3 weeks! He even wore his nice Sunday shirt and tie because he knew I was coming... cute cute. 

This morning after I finally got home, Elder Penugula (an elder in my apartment) came up to me and said, "Elder Anderson, are you sick? You always look so tired after you get back from traveling and exchanges..." All I could say was "Yup. That's because I AM tired..." :P

As I travel around our mission, I've gotten to meet a lot of elders I didn't know before. Almost always I have a conversation that goes something like this: 

"Elder Anderson, where are you from??" 

"Well, I'm from..." "WAIT! Let me guess."

"No, I'm not from Utah." 

"Are you serious?! Man, you look totally like a Utah Mormon!" Haha apparently I just scream Utah boy!

This week was also really exciting because our office couple missionaries, Elder and Sister Loewer, finished their missions! :( We definitely had an exciting last night with them! First, they took Elder George and I bowling! That was pretty cool. Then they had us over for an AWESOME dinner! REAL beef burgers, mashed potatoes, AND blueberry pie and brownies and ice cream for dessert! The mother-load!! :D We stayed and chatted for a long time, but finally around 10:30 we (me, Elder George, and the other 4 elders in our apartment) all said a final good bye to the Loewers before they left in a few hours, and headed back to our apartment (their apartment is the apartment building right next to ours). 

Well, we had a fun surprise when we got back to our apartment... So, a month ago, Elder Pilli came to Bangalore for Mission Leadership Council. Well, he accidently took our key with him back to Hyderabad... :P So for the last month all 6 of us were sharing one key. The good news is, when I went to Hyderabad to do my FRRO stuff, I got our key from Elder Pilli! But then when we got back to Bangalore, we gave it to a guy named Shanker to make 2 duplicates of it (one for the other companionship, and one to have as an extra). Weeeeeell.... we didn't tell the other elders we gave it to Shanker to make duplicates. All they thought is that we had an extra key with us. SO, they decided they didn't need to bring their key with them, knowing that we had an extra... so, when we got back to the apartment, we learned that Shanker had one of our keys, and the other key was inside our apartment....... So we went back to the Loewers apartment, and asked if we could sleep at their place for the night... haha I'm sure just what they wanted, 6 elders coming and spending the night with them when their taxi comes to pick them up at 3:30 that morning... First time in my life I brushed my teeth with just toothpaste and my finger! 

All in all, a fun, memorable experience. Reminds me of the time I stayed out too late at BYU, forgot my key, and slept outside from 4-7 until my roommates woke up to let me inside... Did I ever tell you that story?? It's a good one! 

Also, we inherited all of the Loewers unused food when they left... We've been eating pretty well these last few days. :-)

This week I had a talk hit me so hard as I read it. It was "The 7 Deadly Heresies" by Bruce R. McConkie. As I read the second heresy about evolution all I could think was "That's me! That is exactly what I think!! =0" I've always tried to combine my knowledge of the Gospel with my knowledge on evolution, but as I read that talk, I quickly realized that an apostle of the Lord thinks I am making a VERY VERY big mistake in my logic... I've done quite a bit of research this week on evolution from a Gospel stand point, and I've realized... evolution does not fit in with the Gospel! But... all I've ever learned in school is how evolution is so true and correct... I was feeling quite frustrated at these contradictions, so I decided to talk to the smartest guy in our mission: Elder Larson (he goes to MIT!!) I was fortunate to talk with him, because he told me that he has done a LOT of research on this topic, and has learned a lot. He shared with me quite a few flaws (from a scientific point of view) with evolution. Actually, pretty substantial flaws with the theory of evolution. But what he said most that really hit me was this: ALL true sciences bring us closer to God as we learn about them. They testify of God so clearly (chemistry, sociology, history, math, etc.) Everything that is, EXCEPT evolution. Evolution has caused more people to become atheist than just about anything else in the world. Hmmm... Also, the strongest proponents of evolution strongly tell others that God is NOT there. Hmmmm... that's a red flag. So not only may evolution be incorrect, but it may very well be inspired of the devil! I still haven't learned everything yet that I want to know on this subject, but believe me, my view of evolution has changed dramatically in the past few days.

These weeks are flying by so fast... it feels like I'll be talking to you guys tomorrow! So... have a great day!