"I just had a blessing. That's It!" (December 19, 2011)

Hi family!

It sounds like you have had a fun and eventful week.  The pictures at the ward Christmas party look funny.  Who put all those together?  My leg is about the same as it was except for the swelling has gone down a lot, but I am still on crutches and in a boot.  I find out the results of the MRI today around 1:00 so I will try and let you guys know what the doctor says.  Thanks for all the prayers and fasting, I know the Lord will bless me and He knows what needs to happen and what will be the best for me at this time. 

Teaching Loannva has gone great.  She is getting baptized on Christmas Eve!!!  We had two wonderful lessons with her one with the Kenley's where we talked about the three degrees of glory which went very well and the other lesson we were able to have a good discussion with her about the questions that she had for us.  Also, we invited her to our dinner appointment last night and she came.  We had the best dinner that I have had here on my mission.  We went to Sister Permansu's.  She is an interesting lady, her husband passed away two years ago and she became a member of the church a year ago.  She is probably in her sixties and she owns an antique store.  Everything in her house was old and worth a lot of money and she had the best Christmas village ever!  Brother and Sister Kenley couldn't get over the Christmas village.  Loannva wanted Sister Permansu's house to be hers and Loannva didn't want to leave.  The dinner reminded me of a dinner that you would do mom.  Everything was perfect.  The plates were all matching and Christmassy and the silverware was in a little stocking.  She even had candles burning.  I could tell she loves to entertain and has done lots of entertaining in her life time because she just knew how to make people feel right at home and to have fun.  The dinner was so delicious too.  We had Chicken and rice and steamed carrots and grapes.  I have never seen or heard of people putting grapes and carrots together but it was the best part of the dinner.  After dinner we went to the family room and visited.  She had the coolest Christmas tree.  It was white with old red hankies on it with a red top hat on top in the place of a star.  It was a really good night and I was glad Loannva was able to come because I feel Sister Permansu and Loannva could be good friends. 

One of our investigators is a little different.  She thinks she is always sick or going to die.  She is kind of a hypochondriac.  So, it’s hard to get her to come to church and teach her and she is really scared about being dunked in the water for baptism.  She is going to take some work.  We have two other great investigators, one named Chester and one named Lisa.  They both want to change their lives and they feel that this is the time.  We are excited to see the changes that they are willing to make in their lives in order to come unto Christ.  

This week we have also been finishing up some shopping for the family in our ward and I can't wait to see their faces when they open the presents on Christmas day and have no idea that we did it.  We got some sheets and a blanket for the mother and I know she will love it.  Shopping for all the kids makes me so happy and I wish I could do the same for every kid that won’t have a Christmas.  

The Sherlock Holmes movie is one that I can't wait to see!  I am glad you are going to buy it so I can see it when I get home.  

I got a letter from Kortney.  She said she would miss me at King/Mouritsen party this year.  I think that is what I have missed the most this Christmas is not going to those great family parties that we have and the way our house is decorated.  We have great Christmas traditions and lots of fun during the holidays.  That is why I liked Sister Permansu’s house so much last night because it reminded me of our house and the things that we do around Christmas.  I am truly thankful for you mom and dad for making Christmas such a special time of the year.  You guys are great.  This Christmas has already been one that I will never forget and will love and cherish.  It has been lots of fun to be here and I wouldn't change it for the world!

It sound like you guys are doing great and are having lots of fun this Christmas season!   I love you all and hope you have a very merry Christmas!!

Love Tanner

(A little later in the day)

Mom, I just had my doctor appointment and they said there is no stress fracture and that the ankle will take some time to recover but that I will be able to just use the boot and I can ease off the crutches.  It is a true blessing because I thought it was for sure a stress fracture and that I might have to go home and recover but it's not.  I am so happy.  I was stressing so much last night over it.  Thanks for all your prayers and for fasting it really made a difference.  The nurse asked if I had been icing and elevating it throughout the day and not walking as much but I said “no, not really, I have been doing pretty much the same thing I do every day”.  I thought to myself "I just had a blessing.  That’s it!"   I will call you at 1:30 on Christmas.

Love you

Three is a Good Number

Hi Mom and Dad!

I am glad that you liked the birthday card it was pretty funny.  I know it will be great to talk to you on Christmas!  I haven't really heard anything about calling yet but I think I will try and call at around 12 here and it will be about 10 there.  I hope I can call maybe more than once because we are going to lots of member’s houses, I think, and we will be talking to you on the member’s phones. 

I am still shopping for the family in our ward but I haven't gotten anything else for them yet.  None of the clothes are for the dad.  He is in Georgia looking for work so he won’t be here for Christmas?  I think we will wrap them all but I need to get some boxes because I forgot to get some at Kohl’s.   What do you guys want for Christmas?  Anything?

Wow!  It sounds like Sydnee is pretty dang sick!  I hope she gets better soon.  I remember when I threw up in my English class in front of everyone.  It was horrible but luckily we moved so I didn’t have to see those people again.

The mission mom Christmas party sounds like it will be fun and I am sure they will all comment on the big round table.  Are you going to play white elephant?  Elder Stewart has three brothers and one sister and the sister is the youngest.  Her name is Esty.  They all have unique names. 

I can’t believe that Max Firth is coming home this week.  That is really crazy.  I bet he is way good at Spanish.  I’m sure he is sad to come home.  It is true, you come to love the people you serve.  I still need my heart to soften so I can love the people I serve.  Some people just make me mad and I don't understand why they are so rude to us sometimes. 

I am sad to hear that Grandpa hasn’t been able to eat very much.  I keep praying for him. 

The lessons with our investigators are going well.  We had Jim’s baptism this week which was the coolest experience.   He asked me to perform the baptism.  I have never baptized anyone before so it was really exciting for me.  His hand kept coming out of the water so I had to dunk him three times but three is a good number.   It was very spiritual.  Jim was full of the Spirit and started crying and I could also feel the Spirit in me.  He is already doing family history for his son who was murdered so he can go and do baptisms for the dead for his son.  He is becoming a whole new person right in front of my eyes.  It is a miracle to see. 

The other investigators are coming along too slowly but surely.  They have all said that they would be baptized.  We just need to set them with dates and work towards that. 

We also had zone conference this week in Harrisburg which was my first zone conference so I didn't know what to expect but it was good and I learned a lot.  President and sister Topham are great and I love having them as mission presidents.

Well family this week was a really good and I hope to have a lot more like them.  I miss you and love you all very much!!

Love Tanner.

P.S. I am excited for my package.  I am sending some pictures of the baptism.

My new companion Elder Don Key (December 5, 2011)

Hi Family!!

Ok!  What the heck?!  Why do you guys go all out on the gingerbread house making when I am not home?  It looks way cool and huge! Does it take up the whole dining room table?

I was way happy to see all the pictures you sent me.  You guys all look great!  Grandma looks great and even grandpa looked pretty good but I does look like he lost a lot of weight. 

Mom, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I am sorry I haven't sent your card yet.  I have been so busy this week and I don't even know where the time went.  Mom, you would be so proud of me.  This week we went shopping at Kohl's for clothes for a family in the ward and we spent all the money you and Bonnie sent but we got quite a bit and it said on my receipt that I saved $500.  You taught me how to bargain shop so well and I think this Christmas is going to be great for their family.  Elder Stewart was sent some money from his parents so he is going to buy pots and pans for the mother in the family but he can't make up his mind to save his life.  We were in the kitchen area of Kohl's for about an hour and half and in the end he didn't even buy anything.  I told him to get the cheaper set but he wanted to get the more expensive set so he couldn't decide because he wants the family to have the best. 

Jim’s baptism didn't happen this week.  We had to reschedule it for this week because Jim is having a hard time giving up his old addictions and so we have to start the stop smoking program again.  Last night we were able to watch the Christmas devotional with Jim, I don't know if he got much out of it because the kids and the whole family we were with were so loud.  After the devotional I was able to talk to Jim.  He said he has been having a stressful week and couldn't take it anymore so he had to smoke.  It was one of the coolest experiences that I have had.  I was in the back of the car sitting next to Jim while Elder Stewart was in the passenger seat and Brother Reyes was driving.  We were taking Jim home and while we were on the drive back I was able to give Jim a pep talk guided by the Spirit.  Words just started flowing out of me.  I don't even know how to explain it but no one else spoke, it was just Jim and me and I was able to give Jim some hope and inspiration through the Spirit.  His life needs to change or he will never progress in anything and will end up back in trouble.  He needs the gospel and the help of his Heavenly Father and I know he will be blessed when he makes these changes. 

Bert’s baptism will probably have to be pushed back too because she doesn't feel that she is ready yet.  Loannva is great.  We asked her if she would be baptized and she said yes but we didn't set a date so that will be the next thing we do.  She was supposed to come to church yesterday but didn't end up coming because her car tire was flat so, after church we went and changed it for her.  She loved that we did that for her and wants to make us dinner soon:).

This week I went on an exchange as a threesome with Elder Leavitt and Elder Ika, the newest elder who is from Tonga, while Elder Stewart went to zone council in Pittsburgh.  I think he will become a zone leader because he is not a zone leader and he got invited to the zone council.  On Friday night I helped Ika and Leavitt with a live nativity that they were doing in their ward.  It was really fun but a lot of standing around.  I will send some pictures. 

We have hardly been able to use any Spanish which stinks because if you never get to use it you lose what you had and don't progress at all.  Other than learning the language,everything is going well. 

I love you guys and pray for you!

Send my Philly hat

It's All About The Food (November 28, 2011)

Hi family,

It sounds like everything is going really well and it sounds like Thanksgiving was a blast.  I really missed the thanksgiving food that grandma makes and being with the family.  It is kind of weird here at least for me, people here have Thanksgiving only with their immediate family so it was quiet and once we ate we didn't do much.  Grandma's food is so much better than anything I had here.  They had some good stuff but nothing compared to grandmas she is pro at Thanksgiving dinners.  We started Thanksgiving by going and playing in the turkey bowl which was way fun but Stewart didn't like it to much he doesn't like sports at all.  He's never watched sports on TV not even the super bowl.  After the turkey bowl we went to our first dinner at the Petersons where Burt lives.  So we had dinner there and then we taught Burt which was a great lesson.  We taught her the plan of salvation.  We left the Petersons at 5pm and had to be to our next dinner at 5pm haha so we drove quickly to the next house which was the Lawyers.  The Lawyers live in the middle of nowhere; the location of their house is comparable to the cabin in bear hollow, far, dirt roads, no cell service, and on a mountain.  It was a fun drive though but took a long time to get there.  We got there at about 5:45pm and had dinner there shortly after. The dinner was good and then we played a fun game.  That was pretty much my Thanksgiving, lots of driving and eating. 

I think I have gained weight. I can feel it in my face and I need to get rid of it.  I just need to say no to the desserts that people try and give us.  Everyone gives us desserts it’s crazy after every dinner there is always a dessert and I feel bad if I don't eat it but I need to stop because it is really endangering my physique haha. 

Ya, our investigator Jim is getting baptized this week!!!  I love Jim he has had a really hard life he is 51 and has spent a lot of time in jail but it’s not all his fault his family situation was horrible growing up and it messed him up.  He is a smoker and so we had to teach him the stop smoking program on Saturday.  It was a way cool lesson he crushed his box of cigarettes right in front of us.  Then we taught him the 15 steps to quit smoking and after that brother Reyes gave him a beautiful blessing in Spanish.  The Spirit was so strong that night in Jims 20 foot trailer that it made Jim cry and it made my heart want to jump out of my chest.  After our lesson we took all his clothes home with us and washed them for him so they wouldn't smell like smoke.  He doesn't have running water in his trailer so we helped him out.  I think I am going to buy him a few clothes for Christmas because his clothes made me want to cry.  They were in horrible shape but it's all he has.  He is a bell ringer in front of stores.  Also that Saturday before the lesson we did a service project with Jim.  We had to tear down a barn.  It was way fun.  He said it would take a few days but we did it in five hours haha.  For one of the walls, I hooked a chain up to it and then ripped the wall down with the car we were using.  It was really fun and Jim was very happy that we were there with him.  He is a pretty scary looking man but I love him and can't wait for his baptism.

On Saturday morning before helping Jim tear down the barn we went to the Plessengers for waffles.  The best waffles I have ever had!  She put apple pie into one of the waffles and then she made coconut syrup for me and everyone loved it.  Thanks for the recipe Karalee!   The Plessenger family is way awesome and they are so nice to missionaries.  They always have the best food and they give us food to take home too.  I am trying to eat better though I promise, I eat well all day except for dinner with members and that is out of my control really. 

Dinner with President Hurley was great!  The Hurley family is awesome and they always help us in any way we need.  Loannva, who is one of our investigators, also came to the dinner.  We are planning to set her with a baptism date the next lesson we have with her.  She is so funny.  She is about 70 something but looks like she is about 40.  She has that nice Oprah skin that keeps her looking young.  She always makes us laugh. 

It sounds like Whitney had a great thanksgiving and all her food turned out.  She is going to be having a baby here before we know it.  It’s crazy!  Time is flying out here in the mission field.  The days sometimes drag on but before I know it the week is over. 

Elder Stewart and I are going to start working really hard on the Spanish again so we can become fluent for next transfer.  We haven't been able to use Spanish lately because we have been so busy getting our investigators ready for baptism. 

Mom, we already have a fake Christmas tree in the apartment from the last missionaries so that is nice.  We just need to decorate it sometime.  Have you decorated the house for Christmas yet? Send me a picture of the tree when it is all up with you guys in front of it. 

This week has been way busy and hard not to get home sick.  I have been sick the last few days and we had to miss church yesterday because I was feeling pretty bad but I am starting to feel better today.  I have been using a lot of Nyquil and Sudafed.  There is nothing like your mom when you are sick haha.  Love you mom. 

I have to go now but I love you all.  Tell everyone thanks for the Thanksgiving cards. 

Love Tanner