Elder Neil L. Andersen

 

Our family was blessed with an amazing opportunity to meet with Elder Neil L. Andersen in his office in the Administration Building in SLC.  His secretary told us to park underground next to the Salt Lake Temple.  As we pulled in, they asked for our name and they had a card already printed out for us with our name to put on our dashboard.  After we parked our car in the underground, we walked into the main lobby area for the Administration Building (still underground).  We gave the security guard our information and told him we had an appointment with Elder Andersen.  As he began calling to his office on the 4th floor, we all decided that we better visit the restroom before meeting with him.  The restroom was just outside the lobby doors.  Chad and the boys were waiting in the hall outside the restrooms for us girls (slowpokes).  As they were waiting, Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Quentin L. Cook of the 12 were walking down the same hall and stopped to talk with them.  They asked the boys if they were going on missions and Chad said they were absolutely darling to the boys-I am sorry we missed them.  :)

Our names were called and the security guard informed us that Elder Andersen was ready to see us.  We walked through the double doors and pushed the elevator button to the 4th floor.  We were all a little nervous-and excited! The kids each wrote Elder Andersen a cute little note to give to him (pictured above) and we gave him a framed quote that said, "FAITH-HOPE-LOVE. But the greatest of these is love."  As we stepped off the elevators, Elder Andersen's secretary (Alisa Gale) was waiting for us.  She was so nice to us and had us wait outside Elder Andersen's door.  All of a sudden, Elder Andersen walked out of his door and said, "Well, here are the famous Carnesecca's."  He walked over to Anthony, shook his hand and asked for his name.  He continued on down the line with Brady, Brynn, Cate, Chad, Ethan and me.  He invited us into his office and asked us to sit down.  He offered the couch to the girls and he asked the boys to pull up chairs.  He sat at his desk and went around and talked to each child by name (yes, he remembered all of them).  He spoke with them one by one and asked them what they liked to do.  When it was Ethan's turn, Elder Andersen said, "What does Ethan like to do?"  Cate quickly replied, "He likes to cry." :)  Then Elder Andersen asked the kids what they like about their mom.  They said some nice things and then Elder Andersen bore his testimony to our kids about the importance of mothers on the earth.  He said there is not a greater calling than that of a mother--he is right.  Bless him.  

He said to the kids, "Do you know where I have been all morning?  I have been in the temple with President Monson and all of the Quorum of the 12.  Do you know what we do after we go to the temple together?  We eat.  We go into a big room with a long table to sit at.  President Monson sits at the head of the table, Elder Uchtdorf sits at one side and Elder Eyring sits on the other.  Then, we each sit in order around the table in the order that we were called to be an apostle.  Do you know who has the last seat at the table?  Me........because I was the last one called.  Do you know the only way that I will ever leave that table?  Only if I die.  Kind of a morbid thought isn't it?  :)  It was Elder Christopherson's birthday today so President Monson told him to take the rest of the cookies for his birthday."

After he got to know us a little better, he gave us a tour of his office and showed us the things that were special to him.  He pointed to a painting behind his desk of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus (the one that we always see the church use).  He said, "This is the original painting.  It was downstairs in the basement and I said that I would like to have that--so I took it--with their blessing of course."  I said, "Well, when you are in your position, you can do that I guess." :)  He showed us a carved wood statue of Jesus that an African man named "Wisdom" gave to him.  He then showed the kids a rock that was cut down the middle.  He held the two pieces together and said, "Kids, can you see that this rock on the outside is very ugly, but on the inside it is beautiful."  He opened up the sandy shelled rock and the interior was a stunning purple geode-looking rock.  He used it as a teaching moment and asked the kids what that could mean.  Brady said, "Don't judge a book by its cover."  Elder Andersen replied, "Exactly.  Some people may look ugly and unattractive on the outside, but on the inside, they are beautiful."  He then moved to a blue globe that was made of different precious stones.  

He was so thrilled to show us a picture of his entire family and of his lovely wife.  He couldn't say enough about her.  Next, Elder Andersen handed the kids a big block of wood with a leather strap and old fashioned nail hooked to it.  He told us of how the Tabernacle needed remodeling, so they took out the old beam to replace it with a steel one.  They cut a piece of the beam for each of the twelve apostles with a strip of leather that they used to bind it and also a nail.  It was really neat.  He showed us a beautiful wooden box made out of mahogany.  It is the finest mahogany in the world and a man in Brazil saved this mahogany and put it in a special place for him to use one day.  Well, he did use it--on the temple in Brazil.  He showed us a football in a glass case signed by Steve Young and a master's flag from a famous mormon golfer.

He then motioned to a wall with six framed pictures on it.  Each one of the pictures had a significant meaning to him.  I will try to remember the different pictures on the wall.  Here is a small list and what they meant to him:

1.  There was a picture of Elder Andersen and his wife standing next to President Monson when he was first called as a 70.  He looked so young.

2.  He took a picture in the temple in Brazil with a woman who was 113 years old.  Can you believe she was still going to the temple?  Not only that, she was baptized when she was 101.  So cool!

3.  He had a picture on the wall of him, Elder Holland and Elder Eyring in Calgary, Canada.  They each were wearing a white cowboy hat in the picture.  Elder Andersen laughed and said, "Doesn't Elder Eyring look like a mean, tough cowboy?"  We all chuckled.

4.  My favorite picture on the wall was taken at the construction site of the Conference Center.  Elder Andersen was standing with President Hinckley, President Monson and Elder Faust.  They each were sporting a white construction hat while listening to Elder Andersen.  The funniest thing about the picture was that they had the maddest looks on their faces.  Elder Andersen explained to us that someone far away with a zoomed-in lens took a picture of them and sent it to Elder Andersen.  He said, "They weren't very happy with me that day because something was going wrong with the construction.  They don't know I have this picture, but I hang it up on my wall to remind me that if someone is mad they usually get over it.  They like me now."  :)

5.  He had a picture of Pele (the famous soccer player from Brazil) and him.  He said that he read the Book of Mormon with him.  Brady asked if he was a member and Elder Andersen said, "No, but he should be.  He is a great guy."

Elder Andersen asked if we had any questions for him.  We asked how much he traveled and I can't even remember how many places he said he had to travel to this month.  I remember he said he had to go to the Caribbean (but not on the beach) and to Brazil.  Whew!  I don't know how they do it.  I asked him what the hardest part of his calling was.  He said, "Pretending like I am good at it even though I don't feel like I am."  Can you believe that an apostle even feels inadequate.  He continued, "When I was first called as an apostle, President Monson told me that I always needed to be two things as an apostle.  I need to always be right and I need to always be nice.  Sometimes it is hard to do both."  :)

Our whole experience was amazing, but it was nothing compared to what happened next.  Elder Andersen stood with my children, looked them in the eyes and said, "I want you to know that I have a special relationship with Jesus and I want to tell you that I feel he is very proud of you and very happy with each of you."  Words cannot express how much that sentence meant to my children-to have an apostle of the Lord tell you that the Lord is happy with you.  Elder Andersen then went on to say, "As an apostle of the Lord I have a responsibility to testify of Jesus and the truthfulness of his gospel.  I know that Jesus lives and he is the Savior of the world.  Everything that your parents are teaching you about the gospel is true."  As we stood there listening to an apostle bear his apostolic witness of the Savior, tears ran down my cheeks and my children's eyes were teary.  You could not deny the spirit there and I truly believe that as we stood there, you could not deny that what he was saying was true.  There are no words to express that moment.......no words.

After spending about 30 minutes with us, he said that he had a meeting with Elder Holland, but he had something to give each of the kids.  He pulled a bag from his desk with a 5x7 picture for each of the kids of John the Baptist baptizing the Savior-just like the painting he had behind his desk.  He wrote on the back of each of the pictures and wrote, "To_____, WE are so proud of you.  Neil L. Andersen".  It was so neat that he wrote "WE." He gave each of the kids his personal card and information.  He made each of the kids promise him that they would write to him when they were ready to serve a mission.  He said he would keep track of them on their missions.  Again, so cool.

We asked if we could take a picture with him and he said, "I would like to take a picture with each one of you individually."  Yeah, just like the Savior would do.  One by one.  You can see the pictures we took with him above.

We each thanked him for his time and expressed our sincere gratitude for all that he does for us and the church.  He escorted us out of his office where his secretary had a jelly bean candy dispenser and offered some to each of the kids.

As we walked to the elevator, we tried to act cool and calm like it is just another day meeting with an apostle.  As we got on the elevator, we let out miniature screams of how awesome that was.  We thanked the security guard and walked back into the parking garage.  As we were walking to our car, guess who was getting out of theirs?  Elder Boyd K. Packer-he was getting into a wheel chair.  He sure looked frail.  

What did I learn from this experience?  I learned that the apostles are just men trying to do the Lord's work the best they can.  I learned that the spirit is so strong when a member of the 12 shares their testimony.  It was almost as though Peter, James or John was speaking with us.  I learned the importance of kindness and recognizing "the one."  I learned that spiritual experiences like this will be a memory that my kids or I will never forget.  I hope they can have many spiritual experiences like this in the future to help them through rough times.