He knows me.

This was an insane week. It has seemed so fast, yet so much has happened. I have never felt so spiritually high and low in such a short time...besides some other times previously in my life. But this one was pretty intense, don't get me wrong.

 

Elder Craig A. Cardon of the Seventy came for a Mission Tour on Friday and he shared some incredible things, including a pretty straightforward rebuke of a certain aspect of teaching as a missionary. It was sweetness though. I dig rebuking...I guess I need it a lot. He IS a special witness, E. Cardon. He told us some things about their meetings with the First Presidency, which revamped my testimony of them as well, especially as I was reading about following the prophet in PMG in my studies. He told us to think of up to three questions at the beginning of the day, and promised they would be answered throughout the day. So, naturally, I thought of three questions, being greedy with divine promises. Sue me. I felt kinda bad about choosing three pretty personal questions, but found later that my answers to them can help those around me too. The Lord's sneaky sometimes. Good sneaky. Anyways, all three of my questions got answered partially throughout the day, BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! In E. Cardon's final testimony, he shared an answer to each of my questions...in order. So, turns out, the Lord knows me. Pretty dang stinkin' well. Huge testimony builder, and it would be uncanny...if we weren't talking about the Lord. I don't know about y'all, but I love the Lord. He never ceases to amaze me and bless me, despite stupidity on my part.

 

That brings me to the rough part of the weekend...the muddy part. We got stuck in the mud on the way to an appointment, and we couldn't get the car out before we had to be at the church to go to the adult session of Stake Conference. We went with muddy feet and pants. The members were so loving and kind about it though. Many offered to help us out....of the mud. We ended up getting it out at about 12:30 am. Super freezing and tired, but we got it out. All six of the Seminole missionaries came that night to help. We all froze together, along with Bro. B. We definitely bonded. And I found out that staying up late is definitely not worth it. We get up way too early for that. I still got up at 6:30 though. Wildly sleepy.

 

We got grounded on Sunday cause of the cold and ice. It was/is SO cold. It's crazy. The humidity makes it super fun too... We spent the day at the K's house. They're so awesome. They fed us Lunch and Dinner. And S, their daughter, is the one that texted Tato. They are so good to us missionaries.

 

The Norman Stake got a new Stake Pres. yesterday...which brought back a flood of memories of Dad's getting called and released as Stake Pres. I felt an almost overwhelming sense of gratitude for his and all church leaders' service and sacrifice. They go through a lot. More than we know. I know they're called of God, including Dad.

 

Another miracle to go along with my stupidity with the car, showing the Lord's constant awareness. I was feeling down about the whole thing yesterday morning, when I noticed I was a few days behind on my Conference Calendar. The one from Sunday morning, if you remember, was about putting aside past guilt....that's what I struggle with probably the most. It's so hard to forgive myself. I know I've repented, but Satan, like the quote says, uses that to lure us back in and tries to drag us "carefully down to Hell." I don't know about y'all, but that's not so desirable to me. "I choose life [eternal]." (Sid, on Ice Age) I may have added that last word there...but you get the picture. This all showed me the Lord's remembrance of me. He will NEVER forsake us. He leaves us with peace. His peace. MUCH better than the world's short-lived peace.

 

Remind me to tell y'all about Remember the CHANGES. Something I made up at my last Clinton District Meeting. It's in relation to one of the greatest movies of all time, Remember the Titans. I find relations to that with missionary work rather often...sweetness, I know. "Attitude reflec' leadership" being on of them. Think about it.

 

We are one, y'all. That's what I got from Stake Conference. Heavenly Father said so Himself in General Conf. through Pres. Monson. Invite friends over for dinner, not even relating anything to the Gospel, unless it's brought up. Invite them to FHE alone or with the missionaries. It's powerful. We do that here a lot, FHE with members. We have one tonight with the K's. It works, and it brings the missionaries and members together.

 

We're still teaching Bro. G...I think I told y'all about him. He's a member's husband. He's basically a member, coming to church and all. He just isn't baptized. He's awesome.

 

During this Holiday Season, it makes me so grateful for y'all. Beyond what I can say in mere words. In eternity, I'll be able to express it to y'all, I hope. Know that I love and pray daily for y'all. Thank you for everything.

 

Love,

Elder Tanner

-I Love the Lord-

Seminole to the Maximum

I'm in Seminole now. I'm with Elder H now. I like it now. I think I'll stay for a time. Elder H has 2 transfers left, but he doesn't seem too trunky...yet;) He's awesome though, no worries. He is just a li'l lazy with some things. Missionary work is repetitive...imagine that. It's also a pretty big deal. In one of my many studies over the past few days (scholarly of me, I know), I read in Jacob about how we're going to have to answer for the welfare of the souls around us that we did, should have, could have helped and tried to bring to the Gospel. It's up to us to share what we have with them. We best not blow it.

 

I love Seminole. A lot. The branch here is awesome, and there are 6 missionaries here. We have two other sets of Elders in Shawnee, in our District. One being the ZLs. Our District is Me and Elder H in Seminole Central, Elders M and B (fresh out of Provo) who live next door to us, they cover Seminole East, Sisters A and B (basically sisters by blood, it seems; also in Seminole, just down the road from our place) they cover Seminole West and just opened that area last transfer...first Sisters in Seminole, Elders B and W (in Shawnee South), and the ZLs, Elders M and C (also in Shawnee). The Seminole Missionaries have tons of fun together. We get up at 5:45 to play sports in the mornings (or do Hip Hop Abs, or Insanity which is like P90X...We did Hip Hop Abs this morning...it's fun/funny...or funn, as Jord and I used to say). I'm in Seminole Central with E. Hernandez, which is....wait for it...wait for iiiiit...A BIKE AREA. Woot. I like it though. And we get rides from the Elders next door a lot. We, the Sem. Miss. have dinner together most nights. Members actually feed us here...like every night. It's pretty awesome...I'm gonna be FAT by the end of this transfer/week/day...sometime soon. Except not as fat as the other missionaries with cars! ...suckers..;) I just kid.

"Posterity (mission families are weird)."

 I love this Branch. It's made up of mostly Choates. They're all super strong members, besides a child or two. They call it the Choate Branch. We have an investigator here that reminds me and Elder H a lot of F, back in Clinton! oh, p.s. Elder. H served in Clinton too! So we have a lot of similar stories:)

 

I'm excited to see what the Lord's errand is for me here in Seminole.

 

Pres. Walkenhorst gave us a goal. He calls it Vision 100, or 100 baptisms in a month. We're going for a "stepping stone" in December, trying for just 50. That'll still be a mission record though. We're gonna make 100. But first we have to work with our Recent Converts. The Lord isn't gonna give us more when we aren't even taking care of the ones we have. That's what our area authority told us. Elder H says he's been feeling like this is "the transfer". Whatever that means, i'm ready. And excited. We're already seeing miracles. We just need to work a li'l harder...that's our only real problem. We will though.

"tie I found for 25 cents"

Elder Cardon of the Seventy comes this Friday for the missionaries and then he'll be presiding at the Norman Stake Conference, that we're a part of. We've been asked to go to the Adult Session Saturday and the regular one Sunday. I'm so excited. I want a good rebuking. "I wanna know. Can you show me?" -Tarzan. I just thought of that...kinda just came out as I was typing. That's how I feel though. I wanna know what I can do to improve and progress. What I can do now. I'm willing to do it. I know the Lord will show me.

 

I love y'all so much. The Lord's work truly is hastening, and "We're all in this together", right? I know what y'all are thinking...."You're crazy, Wildcat!" But really, "what-e'er thou art, act well thy part". I'm trying my best to do so.

 

Love y'all,

Elder Tanner

-I Love the Lord-

 

p.s. the picture is of my signature on the Clinton board, in the Clinton apartment.

 

SEMINOLE

I'm going to Seminole this Wednesday, and my new comp's name is Elder H! He's from Texas, 25 years old, and a convert of 3 yrs. It's gonna be a good transfer! I've heard interesting things about him, honestly. Mostly from members here, he served here too. But I've decided I'm gonna love the heck out of him and the people of Seminole! No matter how they feel about me. It's gonna be one of those awesome growing transfers...I LOVE them. But seriously, aren't they all? Seminole is the eastern-most area in the mission I believe. So it's as close as I'll get to Al's mission.

 

Elder W and I had a awesome week! Interesting, but great! On Tues, it rained harder than ever before here! It wasn't rainy at first, and we were in a truck with TA, who leaves for San Diego on a mission on Wednesday. Right after he left, it started to pour...hard core. So we walked around in the downpour for the rest of the day..from like 4 on. It was AWESOME! I felt super legit. Kinda like Ann dog talked about sweating like crazy and feeling legit for that, that's how i felt being wet literally to the core. It was a LOT of rain. One of the roads was literally a river...it was wild. I was skipping rocks in it. We had a lot of fun that day. We also saw red and blue lightning, which is super cool! It was wild, wild stuff.

 

I've really been trying to show my love for our investigators, LA's, and members here. I do love them a ton, and I need to show and say it more. I'm gonna miss them, but, like I said, I'm gonna love the heck out of Seminole! Maybe I'll be in a car...that'd be weird. And my super-solid biking muscles will go back to the gelatin state they used to be in...oh well. 

 

I'm at an interesting point in my mission. It's like the post-training, pre-leadership portion. I don't know what that'll mean exactly for me, but it feels like a kind of transitioning period. It'll be super good though, no worries. Everything about the mission is. I LOVE being a missionary! "Eees da beeest!" (Nacho)

 

Have you ever felt like you're not sure what to write in a letter home? That's kinda how I feel at this instant. I want to help y'all feel the joy I feel and "catch the wave" of missionary work and all...I just don't know. We talked about it in EQ yesterday. We, as the missionaries here, asked what the members expect of us. They gave us some things that were good, but only after we called on people specifically. They may not have many expectations for us here. I guess maybe I'm supposed to encourage y'all to set expectations for the missionaries in your ward. Even in Utah, where we don't see ours often. But have them over for dinner, and let them know that you want them to help you with your finding efforts. Study Preach My Gospel whenever you can. That's to everyone. There's a 10-yr-old girl member here who's studying it, so...just think about that;) I'm really not trying to sound forceful or mean or anything. I just love the proactiveness of a family or two here. It's so helpful to us. And really, we're here to help the members with their efforts, not the other way around.

 

Another thing mentioned was that scripture Mama shared with me a few weeks ago, about our divine errand. Pray for Heavenly Father to let you know what your divine errand is right now. He'll let you know. He wants to let us know what we can do. And when we obey commandments, He BLESSES us with more, so keep asking for more I guess you could say. Even if you feel you've found yours. Ask Him what else you can do. There's so much to do in this hastening of the work. That's something else each family could immensely benefit from, watching the video on LDS.org about Hastening the Work of Salvation. As an FHE thing or personally or both! It's really amazing, what's being done in these days. Just look at the annual reports in Gen. Conf. from past years compared to this year's. Even just 2011. It's amazing what's happened. Elder W and I were looking at that this morn. INCREDIBLE, really.

 

I love hearing from everyone! I'm SOOO blessed. Especially with my friends and fam. There are quite a few missionaries that go a month without hearing from family. That hasn't happened to me yet ever. Not that it won't in the future. It's okay, life is busy. But I really do gain so much from y'all. It's amazing. Especially thank y'all for all the bday wishes! I had an amazing birthday!

 

I love y'all bundles...BIG bundles.

 

Elder David (Bill) Tanner

-I Love the Lord-

 

ps. i'm thinking about going by Bill when i get home...;) But really...it would be cool, but we'll see!

#crazyweek

We had a great, but crazy week this week! We helped two families move three different days, taught some solid lessons to solid investigators, built a smarties pyramid (over 1100 smarties, and we had tons left over), found out I'm probably leaving soon, and had a Birthday! It was kinda insane!

So pray for M and K, B, C still, and A, D, and C still. They really need some prayer power. They're so solid but a little non-committal. They are SUPER awesome, kind, loving, accepting people too! I really, really love the people here a ton. Especially in Clinton.

Which brings me to transfers coming up...Elder W found out he's training next transfer, so I'll most likely be leaving Clinton. There's been a threesome here before, but I'm thinking it probably won't happen. I completely trust the Lord though. He will direct my paths for good! There's no way I won't be put in the perfect place for me to be for the next 6 weeks. Working on my faith, especially by following Elder T's example. He has SO much faith, it's crazy. He's training for the first time next transfer and he told us he's not nervous because he "came here to serve, so [he's] gonna serve." I say to that, "Wow. I tell you what, wow!"

Thank y'all again SO much for the incredible package!! I can't describe what that meant to me! Everything in there was perfect! Plus Megee sent me one and it was amazing too! She gave me fox socks..:) If you're reading this Megs, thank you:) You knew just what I needed! Y'all did too, family!

We had a Trunk-or-Treat in the Ward here on Wednesday! It was SO fun! I love this ward so much! I'm gonna miss it, whenever I leave..:) We had an investigator come too!

 I also had a moth fly into my eyeball the other night...right into it. Luckily, my reflexes are still more than lightning fast and I blinked just in time! 

 I was listening to I Love the Lord, sung by the Big4 the other day and my iPod was on shuffle. The next thing that came on was 2 Nephi 4, the chapter that song comes from! Uncanny, I know! Turns out I needed to read that chapter that day, so I did and it was super beneficial. Plus a verse in a chapter nearby that I saw while reading it was just what an investigator needed to hear later that day! The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Ice Age was on in the car next to us, on the way home from the Trunk-or-Treat...I've never been so tempted in my entire life...Okay, maybe that's a little exaggerated...but it was rough, let me tell you.

Elder W and I have been trying out new ways to ride our bikes (pretty safe, don't worry, Mom). Our recent favorite is side-saddle. It's not all that comfortable, but it looks real good.

I heard that one song "Cantando Llores" or whatever it's called at a Mexican Restaurant the other day and I couldn't help but sing my lyrics, which include something about enchiladas. I know my Español pretty well, needless to say.

I'm 19, they say. Word on the street. The Hermanas made me cookies in the shape of "Happy Bday!" for District Meeting, and bought me a bag of goodies (Butterfinger, splat ball, and Batman toy).Elder G  got me a candy bar too. Yeah, I have an awesome District. Plus we had the ZLs there that day. Elder T, my favorite Elder ever probably, stayed here in Clinton with Elder W and I, while Elder Z went to Elk City. It was so fun being with both Elder W and Elder T! The really are some of the coolest people ever. 

 

Halloween "Costumes"

Turns out, the Lord really knows me...so well. He has shown that in even little ways every day out here. I know He lives and loves us. He wants us to come to Him. Why would we ever do otherwise? It's crazy and insulting to His Atonement if we don't. So, shall we? Yes, let's. I know He knows all of us more individually than we may even know ourselves. Isn't that amazing. Think about that for a while. It blows my mind, maybe that's just me though. I hope not. I've been thinking, what can I do to show my love for Him more today? There are so many opportunities to do so. I love that.

I'm old. "It's time to begin, isn't it? I get a little bit bigger, but then I'll admit, I'm just the same as I was. Don't you understand? I'm never changing who I am." Unless the Lord and I feel it necessary.

I love y'all so dang much. Can't even explain it. Pray for y'all daily, by name.

Love,

Elder Tanner

-I Love the Lord-

 

Elder Tanner by his apartment