I'm here in Clinton, OK!!! And
my comp. is Elder P from Sandy, UT I believe. He went to Brighton
High, so wherever that is. He's great! He's a really good teacher and
trainer. He definitely gives me a lot of growing opportunities, which is
good. We've already had some incredible experiences together! It's
gonna be a good transfer.
So, I don't have tons of time, but I'm gonna try to say as much as I can.
We got here on Tuesday,
and we had orientation, our bikes were at the stake center, and we went
tracting a little. I told you about that and how cool that was. Then on Wednesday
morning, after sleeping at the AP's apartment, cause the mission home
was full and we had some missionaries with a senior couple and more with
the ZL's there. There were like 30-something new missionaries, mostly
Elders. And according to Pres. Walkenhorst, as he said in Stake Conf.
for the OKC Stake yesterday (he spoke in it and we watched it
broadcasted in the church here in Clinton), there's gonna be a lot more
coming. Our mission is growing a lot.
I
love it here. I feel the foreign country feeling. Makes me so grateful
for how we live and all that we have. People here live in messes all the
time. I've only been in a few really clean homes. And they were members
homes. But they live in it, and they're still SO happy. I love the
people here so much. It was hard my first night, teaching a couple who
have a lot of challenges, a cigarette-smelling home (like almost all
homes here), and not many teeth (most people are missing at least a few
here). But now I embrace it and love it. They're so humble. Why should I
be so proud? Silly Elder Tanner.
We had a really cool experience with the G family on Friday or Saturday,
I can't remember. The dad, L, was baptized in Arizona or somewhere,
and the rest of the fam aren't members. The wife, M, went to some
other church until she saw them turn away a beggar man. When she told us
about that, she started crying, it hurt her so much. I felt so sad for
her. Anyway, Elder P and Elder T (we call him Elder T, he's
from an island near Vanuatu and he knows people from there! Plus he and
I might go on exchanges together on Friday...yeah,
I'd be leading out our area...scary, but exciting) found L on the
street one day and told him to call them...and HE DID! That doesn't
really happen, but it did then. He called us twice! When we got to his
house for the appointment, he wasn't there though. The mother, two
daughters, and one of their boyfriends were though. We started talking
to them and I thought L must've ditched out on us (O me of little
faith), but then the son S walked in and shortly after, L came
in too! We actually taught the entire family that live there, their
daughter is at college or something, and the boyfriend!! On a Saturday afternoon too! (I guess it was Saturday...hehehe.)
They were almost all very receptive, except one of the daughters, K, but she was just being a teenager, texting, etc. They all,
except the boyfriend, came to Stake Conf. too!! The ward really welcomed
them, which was a huge blessing since they expressed concern about that
to us. (Sorry for jumping around, I just wanna tell as much as
possible). We taught the restoration. After, we gave them each a BofM to
read personally and as a family. They all committed to that. Then they
all committed to baptism, which you're supposed to have them do first
lesson!! But not a set date yet. We'll see how things go, but I'm being
optimistic. One thing that scares me is M's mother, who i guess is
pretty against the church. I pray for them to be strong despite that
every day. Another positive thing though is that L, in the opening
prayer of the lesson, asked Heavenly Father for an eternal family, in
different words, but that's what he essentially prayed for. He asked for
his family to be closer and not argue so much, which is where he and
his son were when we got there, i think. I hope things keep going well.
Elder T and I, assuming he's the one I go with, will be teaching them on Friday again! Woot. Pray for them.
We
also teach Hispanics a lot and some of them only speak Español...but
Elder P speaks it too. Me though...no habla Español. I understand a
lot of their conversations though, surprisingly. I can usually get the
gist of it. Elder P wants me to learn...but yo no se..? is that how
you say it?
There
are SO many dogs, and they jump all over us as we teach sometimes, but
they're usually pretty nice. I love petting them while we teach, cause I
love dogs. There are some SUPER cute puppies too! If there are this
many dogs in Georgia...Sister Barrett's, or I guess Brittany :), gonna
have a fuuuuun time..;) She doesn't like dogs at all. But I love it.
They chase us on our bikes sometimes, it's funny. Yeah, no car, just
bikes. The other two areas in our district have them though, the Elders
and the Sisters.
There
are also SO many classic accents here, I love it. Like red neck, Okie
red neck, Indian, Mexican, etc. And guess what...when i leave the house
of someone with an accent, I accidentally speak in that accent, like I
did with the lady in NYC who sold me sunglasses ("ten dolla?"). Kinda
embarrassing, but mostly just really hilarious. I thingk it is, at
least. I LOVE the people SO much!! And the members here are awesome too.
Y'all need to go out with the missionaries sometime! It's helpful for
them, for you, and for the investigators/inactives/etc. Especially Tato!
Call the Elders there. They may not be able to have you go, but you can
try. It'll be good experience for you!
We
had dinner at some members' house last night, the Wolfs, and they
remind me of Gma and Gpa Twitchell a lot! And we ate with some other
members, the A's, on Saturday and they are hilarious and SO nice. We get fed pretty often here, I believe.
The
Bishop came out with us one day and we met with this
couple and their dad, or dad-in-law, or something...their relative. It
was awesome. It made me realize that I judge so harshly by how people
look. They had tattooes and smoked and were very rough looking, but they
loved our message and were going to come to Stk Conf, but didn't answer
when we went with Bro. P (in the bishopric) to pick them up. Which
was too bad, but I still have faith in them. He said he didn't want to be judged for his tattooes at
church, so he was nervous, but Elder P offered him a white shirt,
and he seemed more comfortable with that. They seemed excited to go, but
I dunno...we'll see. All in the Lord's time, of course. Everything is.
One
cool thing I realized, and then I saw that papa kinda mentioned this in
his letter to me, is that people aren't always gonna be baptized. We
can only bring them what we have to offer, then it's up to them to find
out for themselves. We're just here to guide. Now that i think about it,
that's been a big theme this week.
Also,
Annie, we met this CRAZY Aussie lady!! She
was married to a Mormon, inactive till he died. She's had missionaries
over there forEVER! She has more pass-along cards than we do! She said
she's read the BofM, but we "won't dunk her", or get her baptized, in
american english. She was so funny! She is mostly blind and says she
pretty much stopped cooking, but she had just happened to have made an
apple pie recently, like that day or the day before. So she gave us some
of that, and it was amazing! Not like yours, mom, but good;) she showed
us pictures of elders who had been there and Elder Manumaleuna, who
played for BYU, and blocked that field goal against Cal, served here in
Clinton!!!!! He wrote his name on this huge wood board in our apartment
too, where everyone writes their names. Pretty sweet, eh?
also,
Elder P's not a very clean guy, like he doesn't clean things, like
the apartment. but i'm actually doing okay with that. He wasn't very
outgoing or anything in High School and I can tell. But he's great and i
love him! We get along really well. He did xc and choir and
lifeguarding, so that's sweet! I prayed to have similar interests as my
comp. and the Lord blessed me.
Sorry
I can't write more, but i love you all a TON! your love and support
mean everything. Sorry to those i couldn't respond to this weeek, like
Shelle. I loved your letter so much though and i love the pictures!!
Elder
P doesn't know the address of our apartment...but you can send
them to the office. That's what he does. Strict obedience i guess;)
I love it here, a lot. Wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. I know I'm supposed to be here in li'l Clinton, OK.
-I Love the Lord-
Love y'all,
