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-
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