Transfer Numero Uno: Completed

As the sun is setting on my first transfer, here in beautiful Oklahoma, I would like to say, I love the Lord. I really, really do. More than I can express in words. The way I try to express my love for Him is through everything I do, especially, but not exclusively, as a missionary.

This has been an interesting week, full of wild events. I will try to tell most of them.

First off, I got a haircut on Monday! Kev...you'd dig this barber. Yeah, it was at a legit barber shop, here in Clintonian. There were a couple barbers. The one used a vacuum, like the MTC, but of course I got the other barber. It's all good though, cause they both give you a massage after they're done cutting your locks! They have these heated, vibrating machines and they rub your back and shoulders with them while you're sitting there in the chair, legit barber chairs. It was an incredible experience, and if I wasn't a missionary and being money careful, I would've gotten a hot shave...I really wanted to. I even forgot to shave that morn! So tempting. But he did a little bit of a hot shave when he trimmed the edges of my hair. He did it the same way they do the hot shave, with cream and a knife blade razor, or whatever those old-fashioned razors are called. It was dulce acciones.

Also, Al and Dad and Shelle and Mama, thanks for the amazing advice! Y'all's letters are so inspired, I can feel it. Everyone's.

Al, I'm sure you know and feel this already, but help your seminary students appreciate seminary and treat it as basically the MTC. It really is, esp. nowadays. It's crazy how short the MTC is, even though it feels long sometimes. I regret not taking seminary seriously enough, and paying more attention to the girls in my class, than on the lesson. I was a good seminary student, don't get me wrong. I just could've engaged myself more and learned a WHOLE LOT more. Tato, don't blow it, like I did. TAKE IT ALL IN! It's sooo important, esp. for your future missionary service and life. Also, all who do not already, STUDY Preach My Gospel. As a couple, a family, personally, etc. It is an incredible, inspired, and, unfortunately, under-appreciated/utilized resource. IT IS AMAZING. I was told all of this so many times before the mission, and even on the mission, at first...yet I did nothing, really. Not nearly enough. Learn the lessons, so you can focus on teaching people, not lessons when you get out here, rather than focusing on the lessons cause you're still learning them. It would really help a ton.

I had an incredible experience with teaching by the spirit on Tuesday, with a guy we tracted into in an apartment complex, named Jonathan. He's a religious guy and super nice. I felt a lot of love for him, as he told us his story. He's been through some rough things, but trusted God through it all. Pretty incredible. As we taught him, I felt like I was really teaching by the spirit! I even had something from Seminary come back to me, which doesn't happen much to me. It was so cool!

Random sidenotes:

 A guy in the ward here calls me Buddy Holly cause apparently I look like Buddy to him..:)

The RS Pres's kids were singing "I love the mountains" song we used to sing in the car! I didn't know anyone else knew that! At least not in that generation!

El bailarin Español antes conocido como el whisperer mariposa AKA muchacho joven ridículo (you know who you are).

Praying to see the bits of awesome has really helped me. There have been some rough times, and focusing on those has been super good!
 There was a picture of Anndog in the De Los Santos (members) house...yup, a unicorn! 

Had a huge bits of awesome Wednesday and Thursday. Wednesday: We were at the church, taking a survey Pres. Walkenhorst asked us to take (cause we're having a Gen. Authority come in November!), and a guy walked right in, saw us in the Family History Center, right inside the front door, and asked us if there was any service he could do. I immediately, after getting over the initial shock, stood up and told him I wasn't sure about any service he could do, then asked if he was a member of the church. He said he wasn't. (At this point I'm freaking out on the inside.) So I asked if he would like to learn more about the church, he said yes! So we set up an appointment with him and gave him a Book of Mormon, which he was super excited about and said he would study it. He seems super solid! Our appointment was for this past Friday, and he ended up not being able to have us come then, but he texted us and let us know, which is good. I was on exchanges in Elk City with Elder G at that time, but Elder P told me about it. We're gonna visit him tonight though!

Thursday: We went to see C and A and D (C's dad), cause we finally found them, after we tried their old apartment a lot. Finally found them at the Trade Winds Inn across the street from our apartments! A told us at the store on Monday, cause we saw her there! At our visit (only A and D were there), we found out all their things were stolen at the old place, even the Book of Mormon (that thief will feel bad if he reads and understands that book....), except for a few things. They found a job, through prayer, and it pays for them to live at that Inn. Pretty incredible. They told us that we had changed C's life, and that losing the BofM was devastating to him. They seem so sincere. They have trouble coming to church, and keeping some commitments. So sad. We visited them last night and C and A were fighting, so we're not sure what's gonna happen now...but hopefully things will work out. I want so much to help them.

Tato: read Galatians 5:7 and share it with the XC team, if you still are doing that. Unless you pansied out of it. Then just tell Scott to tell them:)

Exchanges were awesome in Elk City from Friday(after Dist. Meeting)-Sunday(before church)! Elder G and I walked around all day and it was pretty dang fun. It's crazy how much they get food and get fed there! Super awesome. But then I forgot my suitcase at their apartment...thankfully I got it this morning cause they came up for our last P day as a District.

I have a challenge for y'all...I know what you're thinking, cause i used to think the same back home..."OH NO! Not a missionary challenge!" Too bad, it'll bless you. Just do it. Here it is: Invite a nonmember/LA member to watch Conference with you. Make goals, plans, etc, and God will put people in your path for you to invite and bless. Then invite them, as they watch with y'all, to hear the missionary lessons, if nonmember, or to come to church, if LA. This can be individually, as a fam, or whatever you choose. It can also be just one total, or one per session, etc. Invite them to one or all of the sessions. Just do it, fam. Do it. Pray for questions to be answered during Conference and suggest these people you invite to do the same. Huge testimony-builder of answers to prayer, prophets, the restoration, this restored gospel, etc.

Thank you all for the incredible love and support!

Love y'all so muchly,

Elder Tanner

-I Love the Lord-

P.S. Elder G and Elder T are staying in Elk City, and Hermana L and Hermana O are staying in Weatherford. I'm leading out my area starting this Wednesday. The transfer is ending and Elder P is leaving. Hermana C is opening an area in Norman! I'm staying here in Clinton with a new comp, Elder W, who's huge and funny, or so i hear from Elder T. Also, a former ZL. Pretty excited...and nervous, since it's only my second transfer... But faith will get me through it. I will trust in the Lord and move forward in faith. Y'all please pray for me. Don't worry, I pray for y'all.

SUPAH BLESSED..."I'm so overwhelmed"

Holy cheeseburger macaroni Hamburger Helper! (We eat that a lot here.) We have been SO incredibly blessed this past week! God was so good to us! Despite our doubt and discouragement! We have quite a few new investigators, and lots have accepted baptism! Obviously, we'll see what happens from here, but they are super great people. Whatever happens, I've learned so much from the experiences of this week!

Goodness, I love the Lord! And all y'all! First of all, thank you for the package!! Came on Satuday, just to my door, not at the Post Office. It was there when we got home to go to the A's for dinner. But it was safe. It was such a blessing! Any mail is a huge boost to my day, and a package, esp. cause of this particular one's contents, is even more exciting! The Camelbak is great! Dare I say, perfect! Well...it's pretty close;) It really is a huge blessing though. I love getting new things, plus it is SO much more convenient! No more hauling around that huge-o backpack. It fit a lot of stuff, but this one can fit basically all of it too, but takes up very little space and AH! i love it. Also, Annie's CD is incredible! I told her this, but I listen to it all the time! It's amazing! I have such a talented, amazing family!! I can't believe how amazingly blessed I am sometimes. I didn't appreciate hardly at all, till I got here. It is such a huge blessing!

Also, thank y'all for your letters each week! Reading them lifts me more than almost anything else. Special shoutout to Shelle for her weekly letters, yeah...every week! It's amazing! Shelle, I think we have similar humor or your humor is just especially hilarious to me. I laugh out loud every time I read your letters. Tato, you should learn I am a Child of God on the uke, like it is played on the I am a Child of God Mormon Message. It's sweet action. And Mama, Consider the Lilies comes on the iPod all the time, and I think of you every time. I may have mentioned that before, but I guess I just keep thinking about it cause I hear it a lot:) Also, I love advice! And any and all you have to offer is happily accepted:) Speaking of...any advice, from anyone, about door approaches in wealthier areas? Especially faithful Church of Christ members/ any church's faithful members. And how do you address polygamy? Any tips, hints, etc? Also for people who stop you just to tell you the Church isn't true...silly people. We had this happen twice this week, on Tuesday. We've searched these things out and found some things, but just wondering if anyone had more insight. Also, any suggestions on how to be better at using scriptures and asking inspired questions while teaching? Teaching tips in general, really. I feel pretty inadequate with that. I know i'm not really the teacher, but I want to help our investigators be taught by the spirit. Also, with focusing completely during lessons...yeah, distracto-man strikes again..:/ But I just need to work on my focus. Again, i've searched these out for myself and have tried to apply what i've learned. I still am having trouble with them though. So, if anyone (siblings, parents, extended fam, missionaries, anyone!) has any suggestions/advice, i'd love to hear:)

Anyway, back to miracle week. Tuesday the 17th (the first one I've experienced and not watched that psych episode during, since my psych-hood began) was an incredible day for me! Not so great for Elder P though. I loved talking to people who bashed our church and tried to prove it wrong. It strengthened my testimony, as the Holy Ghost kept prompting me that what he was saying wasn't true, and I knew those aspects of the gospel were true. For Elder P, that made him start to doubt a little and made him think again about his testimony, though it didn't really shake it. But then it distracted him because he was preoccupied with thinking about how he could prove this man wrong. He overcame this the next day. I told him a lot of the things Mama says when we get discouraged:) We gave the silly man, Willie, our number and he said he may call in a week or two and have us come talk more about it. Good or bad idea? I asked, calmly and nicely, if he could give us examples of how the BofM goes against the Bible. That stumped him:) and he said he'd have to get back with me...he didn't know. But is it better to just leave it alone, or, if he calls, go talk calmly again? We didn't ever argue, cause we almost had a bad experience with that with a guy earlier that day. Which we believe the Lord had us experience, so that we would talk about it at dinner, and then when we ran into Willie, be able to handle it calmly. Crazy, how the Lord works. I like it though.

Also, we went tracting in Rolling Hills, the rich part of town. It was kinda intimidating, but not that bad...to me, at least. This was another really hard thing for Elder P. He said that after a few doors, that it was really hard for him. He's been out for over a year and he's never tracted in nice neighborhoods like that. He's been in the Spanish Branches before Clinton, but been in Clinton for almost 6 months now. He showed faith by doing it anyway though! Great example to me. I'm not trying to bash on Elder P at all! He did an incredible job of getting over it the next day, this doubt and discouragement. I was super blessed to be happy, outgoing, and confident in the Rolling Hills neighborhood. I've never been so excited about tracting, ever. I thought it was way cool, though we got rejected at like 5 out of 7 doors, with just one potential investigator, a member of the Church of Christ, whose husband is a minister there. But God blessed me to love it, a lot actually. It was so cool. Then we had an incredible lesson with a Native American guy (there are lots here),  and he loved that the BofM is about his ancestors. The Native Americans have VERY similar beliefs to us, just changed over time. It's really cool to see, actually. He accepted baptism, not a specific date, yet. We taught his fiance last night and hope to teach them both tonight! They're a young, almost-married (engaged) couple with a few kids. Pray for them, his grandpa is super into the Native American religion, so that could be a hold up. They didn't come to church, but I think they will soon, if not next week.

But then, the next morning, I had some of my own doubts. Quite a bit... I felt like I could never teach, esp. not by the spirit. I couldn't ask questions as I taught, and I definitely couldn't use scriptures! I don't know them well enough. Those were my thoughts. We, Elder P and I, struggled through these feelings together, and the Lord blessed us WAY more than we deserved, I think. We taught a guy we found at another investigator's house the week before for our first lesson that day, Wednesday. By the end of the lesson, he had a baptismal date! It was such a cool experience. I love lessons like that. We taught him again, on Saturday with Bishop, and had another amazing lesson. Bishop, a convert, rocks. He has an amazing testimony, esp. of the happiness this gospel brings. He's great. The investigator didn't come to church though. We're gonna visit him tomorrow though. I'm sure he has a good reason. We'll assume so, till we know for sure.

Another miracle was our investigators coming to church! We had 5 investigators at church, including C who always comes. C's son came too! First time since I've been here. And we usually only have C or no one at church, so this was huge, though two others didn't come. A guy we weren't sure about at all even came! V, who's 70-ish and lives alone. It was so cool to have him there. And it was the Primary Program, so they loved that! Such pure testimonies.

One more thought/cool experience this week: I tried praying really hard during a lesson to be able to teach by the spirit, cause C and A were upset with each other and I really wanted to help them. The Lord blessed me with the Spirit, and I was able to share some things that I think helped. I felt that it was really from God, and I was just grateful that He trusted me enough to be his mouthpiece at that time. It was really cool. Since then, I've fallen back a little in thinking I can't teach by the spirit, but I'm learning to get past those thoughts and just trust the Lord.

We've been blessed in so may ways in addition to these! I think it's partially cause we followed a prompting to go to wealthy areas, like Rolling Hills. We've been so blessed.

Random side notes, I got hit in the chest or face, can't remember which, by a grasshopper the other day while biking at high speeds (you know how i do)...yeah, weird experience. Didn't know what to think for a while there. Also, I found myself singing "Meteora" from The Christmas Toy movie the other day, as we were biking around. Don't know why, but i liked it. And Bro. S, the new 1st counselor in the Elders Quorum, came out with us on Friday. We got to ride in his Mustang Boss 320, or something like that...too bad I dislike Mustangs. But it was pretty cool to ride in. While we were with him, he got a text on his iPhone, and a flood of memories of texting on an iPhone flooded in, along with a flood of stress. I felt so grateful that I'm away from the worries and stresses of social life for two years. I realized that this is a really nice break from texting, etc. I love this work so much.

I love y'all. A lot. Thanks again for everything!

Love,

Elder Tanner

-I love the Lord-

I sure do love "ull"!

"Ull" is how one of our investigators spells y'all:) Cool story about her and Bro. P, the two happiest people I know, literally. I've seen her get a little upset before, but the happiness comes back immediately! It's incredible, esp. despite the MANY hardships of her life. Bro. P has been through a LOT too, but i've literally never seen him upset or not smiling. Literally. It's amazing. All of this changed, on Sunday. Bro. P was crying and looked pretty darn sad, and our investigator came into Sacrament Meeting and I waved to her and she barely waved back, no smile. This crushed me. The combo of the two people whose examples of happiness affected me for the better the most...I was allowing it to destroy my spirits. It was almost too much. I couldn't believe this. Then we sang some Hymns and I started to feel better and I realized I couldn't let this get me down. "Not today, Zurg!" (Name that movie, easy one, I know.) I waved at her again, after Sacrament Meeting was over, and tried to be super upbeat when I talked to her. It seemed to help. She talked to Elder T, and he cheered her up too. Good guy. She and Bro. P were in our Gospel Principles class, and they had both cheered up again, thank goulash. But I wouldn't have let it get me down, not any more. I have to choose to be happy myself, I can't just rely on others good examples.

Lunch at the W's after church helped a lot too. I love them. I told them about how they remind me of Grandma and Grandpa Twitchell, they liked that. They're so great. I had felt bad, not helping prepare the meal the past few weeks, while the Sisters went right in and asked how they could help. So this week, I suggested to Elder P that we go ask if we can help, before the Sisters got there, and he agreed. So we went in and helped a lot. The Sisters did too, when they got there, and we all had fun making lunch. (Awww, cute! Right?) It really was fun though. Brought me back to making sunday dinner with Mama...yeah, that one time I helped. You might not remember, Mama. I love our district. We had tons of fun at the Stafford Air and Space Museum in Weatherford last Pday! We were the only ones in the museum...:) And after, we got to go to WalMart!! Woot. Best day ever. So much better and cheaper than the stores in Clinton.

Elder Tanner with his zone at the museum

Oh, quick sidenote, I think Ryan Innes is on this "Nashville Tribute" missionary CD that Elder Gardner plays in the car all the time. It rocks! I couldn't believe I was hearing my man, Ryan Innes again! I'm almost positive it's him. Anyway...

I saw a Mormon Message with David Tanner in it!! Elder P was watching it, it's new, called Daily Bread. It's by E. Christofferson, who's in Elder P's home ward. David's in the first of 3 parts. It's an incredible message too! I love it. The concepts of it have helped and blessed me so much here.

So, we haven't been having much success at all recently...except with S, but even he has been m.i.a. the past few days. He may be with his family somewhere for his sister's Quinciñera(sp?) though. So we forgive.

We taught a guy last night about forgiveness. our lessons with him always get back to repentance somehow. So we purposely tied it in last night. We shared an awesome Mormon Message from my DVDs with him about forgiveness. And I felt that I should bear my testimony of repentance and forgiveness. Man...that was an incredible experience. I can't describe how it felt, but it was amazing. If it didn't help him, at least it strengthened my testimony and helped me realize that I truly am a worthy servant of God, and an instrument in His hands. There's no better feeling, than to be in His control. So liberating.

Here's a short testimony I shared with my friend for her "Missionary Book" her sister's making for her, before she leaves:

This gospel is everything, literally. You can't escape it, no matter how hard you try. That sounds restrictive and harsh, but it's really liberating and comforting, if you know of it's truthfulness.
Repentance works, God will forgive us, and we can all change. Christ made sure of that. We will never be given a trial that is too hard for us. God promises that.
Missions are the best thing ever, so far:) I love mine A LOT, even the hard times. Because in and through our weakness, the Lord shows His strength.
I love the Lord. He is always mindful of us and all we're going through.
This gospel ROCKS!

I don't know why, but I felt like I should share that with y'all. And I didn't think much about what I wrote, it just kind of came. So...take it or leave it, I guess. Probably not the right phrase for that situation, but whatevs, right?:)

Al, we're going to wealthy areas this week!! It's amazing how many times that's come up since you wrote last week. We know that's what we're supposed to do. I'm so excited! It'll be hard, but awesome. We are having almost no success, so we pray this will help.

Man...this has been a looooong week. Monday seems like forever ago, but it went really fast too...weirdness. We had a Veterans' Meeting for all the newbs, like me. We went to it with the Woodward Elders, so I got to be with Elder B a lot! They slept over Tuesday night, so we could leave early Wednesday morning. SUPER fun. The Vets meeting was amazing too. I loved it. So good to see all my MTC buds again. They're all doing so well! And Pres Walkenhorst is awesome. Super goofy, but very insightful and wise too. I love that guy.

One investigator, F, sends us some funny texts. At least to me:) One day, he randomly sent, "Where's Joseph Smith?", then later sent, "I'm at the casino, reading my Book of Mormon." I love that guy. He used to have a baptismal date, then he went to Utah, of all places, with his fam, and we haven't been able to catch him at home since he got back.

We had an amazing district meeting with the ZL's, Elders G and Z, on Friday. Elder G goes home in a couple weeks and is very wise, and Elder Z is too, just has 5 months:) They taught an incredible lesson on the promptings of the spirit, even though they planned to teach about finding. I guess they followed the spirit..:) It really was amazing. If you haven't before, or if you have too, ask yourself how you feel the promptings of the spirit. I never really had before Friday, and it really made me think. I'm still not 100% sure. But it helps to recognize promptings better. Just do it.

Elder P and I also did exchanges with the ZL's on Friday. All 4 of us stayed in clinton, so we doubled the area. Which is hard to plan for, trust me, but it's great. It opened my eyes to a couple of things. There are a lot of different door approaches, Elder P and I were mostly just using the Heavenly Gift (a Pres. Taylor, the prev. Pres., thing where you pray with the people at the door in a special way, it's cool and works), and I need to be better. Don't worry, i'm not depressed or anything, I just need to work harder on a couple things, and Elder Z and I made some goals to help me. It was a fun day. I love those elders a lot. Good men. Elder Z said the apartment's much cleaner since I got here..:)

In D&C 35:12-14, it talks about missionaries "manfully fighting for God", and that made me feel pretty sweet action, not gonna lie. I'm manfully fighting for God...booyah.

We had a miracle with the Heavenly Gift the other day, a lady who didn't seem very intersted, even after the prayer, was very interested when we went back another day. she said her life's been much better since we prayed with her! I was like, Booyah! We know why! It was cool. We're going over to her house tonight.

Read the grace article by Brad Wilcox in the Ensign for September. It's amazing. Great analogies.

Well, I gots to go. I love y'all tons. I can't thank you enough for your love, support, and prayers.

Thank you. The Lord blessed me with literally the BEST fam ever.

Love ull,

Elder Tanner

Y'all are so blessed, hearing from me every week

Really, I'M the one who's SUPER blessed because I hear from y'all every week! Thanks so much to those who email or write every week. I know I never did that, with friends, siblings, cousins, anyone. I was real bad at writing...still am, but I gotta share things somehow!:)

 

So, I read y'all's letters to me in that blue folder...man...amazing. I've gotten more guidance from those than from most other sources. Thank you all SO much. I loved them a lot. And thanks Mama, for putting them together. ANY advice is welcome and embraced, so please send any y'all have for me.

 

PS. i saw college football on at an investigator's house one night......I almost died. It was wild. Cool about BYU beating Texas, no? What was the score?

 

One thing I like that my mission pres. said in the stake conf. here was his version of the 49ers coach's saying. My mission pres says, "Who has it better than us, as we feel the spirit? NOBODY!" Something like that. I like it.

 

On Tuesday, Elder P and I committed to follow every prompting of the spirit we recieved, and it was an AWESOME day. We found a lot, not just that day, but this week. And we have a couple 18-yr-olds (so, my age), who are pretty solid investigators now!  Sweet, no?

 

The G's cancelled their appointment with us two Fridays ago, and we haven't heard from them since. And they haven't answered when we've stopped by. C and A (other investigators), and D (C's dad), disappeared the other day. They left their apartments, we think, cause they haven't been answering. And the last time we were there, we talked with D and he got pretty emotional when we read scriptures about not worrying about temporal things, and seeking the Kingdom of God first. He told us about how they were struggling with rent, and they were now supposed to pay for electric and other bills. I guess it was too much for them. I hope they're alright. We've seen A at some other apartments, near ours. We think it's her. So they may be laying low with some friends. Who knows... well, God does. We'll see.

 

Another investigator is SOO solid. She's been investigating since a while before I got here. She knows it all and is progressing a lot. There's just one thing, she is living with a man and they have kids together, some teenagers and a toddler. He, her boyfriend I guess, is not very interested in the Church. We taught him once and it went pretty well, but we haven't since then. Her son was baptized right before I got here. He's good, but has had some struggles with fighting other kids. He's 14, but a BIG 14-yr-old. We've been trying to help him, and he might start passing the Sacrament soon! If he comes to church. They didn't come yesterday, cause her job (walmart) worked her pretty hard and late Saturday night, so she was too tired. I hope she's alright. We're trying to help her a lot.

 

We found a really great family. The dad looks like Uncle Scott, just a little darker skin, cause he's Mexican. They're great, but are pretty comfortable with their beliefs...like lots of people here. 

 

I wanna try the more wealthy parts of town, but Elder P stays away from them. I asked him about it, and he said he guesses he just assumes they won't listen. (Al, he's like you said you were i think.) But he said he'd be willing to try some. I'm going to make sure we do. 

 

I hear Consider the Lilies on my iPod all the time, and I think of you, Mama! I love it. Also, I pulled a Mama the other day. One of the Elders from Elk City, Elder T, was really sick and eventually had to go to the ER. But I suggested that Elder P and I should pray as a companionship for him when we got their text...like our almost daily special family prayers for anyone who texted or called Mom about something hard in their life:) So, Mama, thanks for the great example. He's totally fine now! Elder T, that is.

 

There's a Guatemalan fam that comes to our English class every week, and they invited us over to their house for the dad's bday party last week. It was madness...I couldn't understand anyone, and there were tons of people in a pretty little home. The kids literally were running around screaming and no one did anything about it...so funny. I loved it though! Even if I couldn't understand. I just tried to understand, so I didn't fall asleep, like I kind of did at one of our appointments with another Spanish-speaking couple...oops:) (It wasn't bad though, Mom, no worries. Just for a couple seconds.) Elder P goes into Spanish mode every time after we talk with Spanish-speaking people...it's pretty funny. He's kind of an awkward Elder...but I love him. He and I both think I'll be taking over the area after just the first transfer, instead of 2. I could just get another spanish-speaker comp. But obviously, we don't speculate...kinda:) Elder P has the worst texting pause EVER. Worse than Ann Dog. Yeah, crazy.

 

I read from the BofM everyday, I'm in 2 Nephi, and I've gotten SO much more out of it than ever before. I love that book so much! Jacob's anxiety always reminds me of Mama:) And in Moroni 8 reminded me of Dad's letters to me. Read it and change it to our names, Papa. It's pretty amazing. And I need to thank you for your letters, Mom and Dad. They are so incredible. They've really changed my life. I mean that. Thank you so much for the support and prayers. From everyone. They are literally the only way I get through some mornings. Mornings are harder for me, but I love when we get to go out and share the Gospel and this happiness!!! I can't even explain it.

 

I've had some incredible answers to prayers recently. One was when we were visiting a LA, , and he had some friends over, nonmembers. We shared a Mormon Message with them about the BofM. (ps. EVERY missionary should have the Mormon Messages DVDs with them. They are such an incredible tool. We need iPads out here.) While we watched it, I prayed for his friends to really feel the spirit through it. and from the things they shared afterwards, they did! She even said she "felt actually pretty moved by it." Answers to prayers are real?? Sure thang. Tangent real quick, he came to church, which is awesome esp. cause he works a ton and usually can't, but he finally could. First time coming back, and the ward (amazing Clinton ward) were awesome at fellowshipping him. They showed a lot of love for him and his two little girls. They're VERY important to him, so that was a miracle. Then he suggested that he come out with Elder P and I later for visits, and he was essential in the meeting we had with a LA. Essential. 

 

The other specific answer to prayer was in my personal study. I prayed to learn something specific for a current or future investigator. I believe I did. I don't know who for yet. I had just happened to read the Proclamation to the World the night before and then that day I kept turning to scriptures about family and marriage, by chance. It was incredible. I hope to use it to help someone (or more than one) someday! 

 

Our district has grown pretty darn close lately, esp. at dinner at the W's yesterday. And today we're going to a museum together for P day! It'll be awesome. We got a third sister too! she's from Puerto Rico! So, that threesome, the Elk City Elders, and us (Clinton Elders) make up the District. It rocks. Elder T tried to convince one sister he was from Texas, then yesterday he tried to convince the new sister that he was from Peru. He always says little phrases of Español. Super funny.

 

I also still do perdiddle, and the yellow light thing on my bike. I do perdiddles on the left handle and the yellow light name spelling between the left handle and brake:) Only some will understand this, like Tato.

 

Elder P does play piano and sings too, Dad. He's pretty darn good at piano. He's playing right now, actually:) He's great. Amazing trainer. He was taught by his second comp. to pray for his future wife in the last comp. prayer of the week (sunday night, daily planning closing prayer). So we do that. I like it. I don't any other time, cause my "heart is locked". Look up the Lock Your Heart talk, if you don't know what i'm talking about:)

 

I love this so much, despite some REALLY hard times. Tomorrow night, Elder B and his comp. are sleeping over! Cause we have a meeting in the City on Wednesday morning. That'll be fun! some people don't get to see their MTC district much in the field, but i'm blessed:) And it just happens to be the Elder that went to my High School! Dulce accion. (Español for sweet action)

 

I love y'all so much and pray for ALL of you daily. Thanks for the prayers and support. It means a lot, esp. out here. Hope y'all had tons of fun for Scotty's bday!

 

Love y'all,

Elder Tanner

Y'all know I'm havin' a dandy out here, don't y'all?

Jk. I'm not that hick...yet. At least I don't say heaps, right Sis. Tanner?? ;)

 

Well, another week gone by. Good week. This letter may be kinda disorganized (like all of them, according to Shelle), but I write things in my planner I want to remember to tell you about...plus Shelle's right, I'm Elder Distracto, OH WELL, so here goes...

 

First of all, I am ALWAYS sweaty. Except right now, in the church it's nice. But I feel Shelle's sweaty pain, literally. It's wild. You notice I said Shelle's pain. I'm sure Kev feels it too, he just don't complain so much...at least to us..;) I tease Shelle, cause I love her. She's real good. And writes amazing letters to me. SOO helpful, although I don't get to reply much. I take all-the-way cold showers every day. Craziness. Apparently OK's been having a really mild summer...until I got here. Almost literally. It's insane. There's been one or two decent days, but mostly I'm crazy hot all the time. I've been blessed to embrace it though. I definitely have. We also have REALLY loud bugs in the trees in the evenings. Are those cycaydas or however you spell that? Or crickets? There were tons of crickets outside this mornin. We go running every Mon. Wed. and Fri. Also, an investigator showed Elder P and I some HUGE guns the other day, Kev. They were intense. And he modified them, of course, being a redneck, he painted them Camo, and he bought really nice scopes and parts for them. Incredible guns.

 

I got my first flat tire today, woot. Apparently Elder P gets them all the time, and he's already gotten two since I've been here...crazy, but crazy funny too. And ps. shelle, Elder P and I were singing the Edge of Glory the other day and I told him about tha time at fireworks, if you remember..:)

 

A terrible thing happened the other night...a dog was hit by a car, right in front of us as we rode down the street. Scarring event, really. I think it lived, but it was awful. It was worse when the kid saw it...but we rode away, or else I would've lost it. Man...poor creature, and poor kid! So sad. I'm still trying to think of what I can learn from that...i got nothin.

 

I feel what Ann felt, about our fam. It's hard being away from y'all...really hard sometimes. On tuesday or thursday I was having a real hard time in the morning, missing the fam. The only time I was really sad about missing y'all. It was just hard...BUT then (pay attention Al and Lex)..."wait for it, wait for it, wait for iiiiiit"...You Can Change came on my iPod!! Changed me, really. It was amazing. Then a couple other songs came on that really helped a lot. Cool how the Lord works sometimes. I love it.

 

Yesterday, we were at the W's, members, again for dinner, instead of lunch/dinner, like normal Sundays. And it was just Elder P and I, instead of the whole District (Elk City Elders, Weatherford Sisters, and us). We were sharing a spiritual thought with them, which led to a conversation, which led to Bro. W telling us about a Q&A with E. Bednar where someone asked how it was to be an apostle and he said every minute of his life is guided by the spirit. That made me realize, that's basically how it is to be a missionary. It's not even our time, it's the Lord's. Amazing reminder.

 

Big event this week, we had exchanges with the Elk City Elders on Friday, cause Elder P, our DL, got to go to Elk City to interview a 9-yr-old for baptism the next day, Saturday (which was awesome, Powley and I got to be the witnesses). So i led out the area, here in good ol' Clinton, with Elder T, who had only done transfers in Clinton once, but that helped...after only being here for a 1 1/2 weeks...pretty scary at first. But Elder T taught me a TON about faith. He's from an island north of Fiji, called Kirapate, or something like that. He learned English in the Provo MTC, and he knows it pretty darn well. He's been out for about 9 months, I think. He has more faith than almost anyone i've ever met. It's incredible. When he prays, he says, "Bless us with the miracles." So simple, probably partially cause English isn't his first language, but also cause of his faith. I wanna develop faith like that, and i pray for it often.

 

Tato, we were talking about the scripture where it says "straight is the way", etc. Like from Facing the Giants (aka cheesiest movie ever..."I'm so overwhelmed"). That made me think of when the funny coach is saying that about the field goal. And then I thought of "Bobby Lee Duke and his 85 players." THEN I kept thinking of all our inside jokes...like "HE TRIED TO KILL ME!", and I almost fell off my bike, I was laughing so hard. It was awesome. Made me miss the Netflix and cereal nights though.

 

Elder P and I bonded the other night, telling about our love lives. Amazing what that does...jk. But really, it did help us come closer. This was after exchanges too, and that helped me be more outgoing too. I had to, leading out the area. BTW, our district is Elk City, Weatherford, and good ol' Clinton. They are also the areas that make up our ward, which meets here in good ol' Clinton. The ward here is awesome and made me super escited for my future family. I love it here. Man... Bro. P especially rocks. He's in the Bishopric, and actually just got here to the church. We're gonna hang with him today for p-day.

 

Had a rough time with the G's this week...our appointment fell through on Friday and we haven't had contact with them since. Super sad, and a huge trial of our faith. We're not gonna give up, but we may give them a break, to not seem too pushy, since they've had bad experiences before with missionaries doing that.

 

I clean up our apartment sometimes, and I think of Mama. Hard job, but helps me relax. Hurrah for Israel song came on the other day and i thought of that story you told me, Mom. Super awesome.

 

Look up 3 Nephi 5:13, it's the definition of a missionary. It rocks.

 

I have been to Montana Mike's again on Friday with Bro. C and Elder T. It was real good. And I drank a TON of lemonade. they have bigger cups here and endless refills. I also ate french bread with PB&J...the things you eat when you're out of food. I have hunger confusion too. Super weird.

 

Mormon Messages are an incredible tool!! Every missionary should have them! I love it.

 

Well, I gotta go. I love y'all a ton. I'll send some pics next week hopefully. I pray and fast for you LOTS, escept fasting...just once for that.

 

Love,

your Elder Tanner

 

-I Love the Lord-