THANKFUL : Week 15

Alright so this email might be a little longer than the others because a lot of stuff happened this week.

I went to Bahia Blanca from monday to friday for visa stuff. All the visa stuff went good and no there's problems there. The Bus ride to Bahia is 8 hours from Mar del Plata. I was fine because bahia is the last stop for the bus so i couldnt miss it haha. On the way there i took a red eye that left at 11:30pm and so i just slept the whole time. On the way back we left at 1pm so i slept a little and read a bunch of talks. (i re-read the 4th missionary which was super good. If you are going on a mission i highly recommend) While in bahia we got to explore a little bit too which was really fun.

I got put with a peruvian comp who came the same time as me. And the house we stayed at only had latinos as well. So it was spanish 24/7 (My head hurt so bad) It improved my spanish though so that's good. Me and my comp killed it in bahia. We just contacted for the other elders area. We got 15 new investigators for them and 3 baptism dates in one week! Im bummed we didn't get to teach them more and baptize them but it's all good.

Thanksgiving… Food wise, thanksgiving SUCKED. For those of you who know me, know i love to eat. It's kinda what i'm known for really. And all i had to eat was a big bowl of rice, and some oreos. (oreos are the best though so i guess i can't complain). Latinos don't know what thanksgiving is. Meanwhile, back in mar del plata the elders in my house were having a huge thanksgiving feast, with turkey, (it was chicken cuz they don't have turkey here) mashed potatoes, corn, salad, chori, and a bunch of pies they made. I was so bummed when i saw all the pics. Buuut they saved me 3 slices of pie so i was happy (super good pie). I love pie.

Saturday I got back to work in my area, and we contacted a really awesome family of 3. It was a reference from the hermanas down here. They are so ready for baptism already. The parents just need to get married (it's a huge problem down here). They basically said they know there is only one true church, and when we showed up they had already read the first 10 chapters of the Book of Mormon and they loved it. So we taught lesson one and the spirit was SOOOO Strong. We set baptism dates for the parents (the daughter wasn't home. Shes 10). Their date is in 2 months because they need to get married. And it's harder to get married here than the US because the bishop can't just do it. And they have no money. We got the relief society to bring them food because they were starving.

So even though thanksgiving wasn't the best, i still had an amazing week! I was able top make a big list of EVERYTHING i'm grateful for in my journal and when thought about it, there was a lot of stuff. I'm so thankful to be a missionary and have the gospel in my life. It's such a blessing to be able to share it with everyone! And I'm thankful for my awesome family, friends, and ward who love me, support me, and taught me how to live the gospel. But most of all im thankful for my Savior Jesus Christ. He is the reason i'm out here. I owe EVERYTHING to him. Because Even though i always fall short, hes always there to pick me up. I hope you all had a good thanksgiving! Love you!

• Elder Tanner

Elder Packer Wants My Autograph : Week 14

Whats up fam! Todo Tranqui? This week went by so fast. The days are long but the weeks fly by. Unfortunately we didn't get to work as much as we would have liked this week, but we still got another fecha! We had to go to Mar Del Plata North 5 times (i'm in south) which is like an hour away each way. We had to clean it twice, before and after the conference, and we went to hear elder packer speak one night and President Cifuentes.  President wants us at 10 baptism dates constantly and so we are trying to hit that number. We are at 7 right now! (which is pretty good for this mission).

Like i said in the last email, Elder Alan Packer came this week. It´s Elder Boyd K Packer's Son. He was so amazing! So before the meeting, we lined up and all shook his hand. When he shook my hand, and saw my name tag he said “Elder Tanner we need to take a picture together after the meeting. Elder Bragg told me to find you and take a picture with you”. This was super cool because 1 i wasn't expecting it, and 2 we weren't allowed to bring our cameras to take pics with him because it would take too long, and 3 its funny that Elder Bragg asked him to do that. And then at lunch time he came up to me again and said “Elder tanner don't forget we have to take that picture”. All the elders were like what the heck how do you know the Packers. It was sweet. Buuuuuut here's the bummer part. I didn't get the pic because he went in a super long meeting with president, and when I was waiting everyone was leaving because our taxi came. So i had to go. So me and Sister Packer were talking and she said “i guess i will just have to take a picture of you alone then”. I was bummed but it's alright. Let me know if you got the pic haha.

Elder packer challenged us to 1 baptism a week. He said it's going to be really hard, but he knows it's possible.  He said “what are you guys going to change, or improve to reach this goal”. I'm so excited to start working as hard as I can to accomplish this.

I'm going to bahia for a week (leaving today) to get my Argentine ID. I'm going on the 8 hour bus ride alone haha. i don't know if i know enough spanish to get by but i guess we'll find out. I'll keep you updated, it should be interesting.

Funny stories kinda. Me and Elder anderson (he's newer too) went to go buy some milanesas to cook. And the lady asked me something and i couldn't hear. So i had no idea what she said. And i look at him and he just turns around and acts like he didn't hear it because we both didn't understand. i was in a pickle. So we just went to another milanesa place. Also we tried to make brownies but it turned out to be a super good and thick chocolate cake. With a dulce de leche frosting we made.

Guys the church is so true. I know it. If it wasn't i wouldn't still be here. Working is only super fun because we know what we are teaching is true, and can bless people's lives. The Book of Mormon can bring so much happiness into someone's day, no matter how bad of a day they are having. Love you guys so much! Thank you for all ur prayers and support!

• Elder Tanner

cleaning the women's bathroom for service

cake we made. better than she looks

It's the Climb : Week 13

On monday night, Elder Lumsden left. We ordered pizza before he left and had a little party with him. It was sad for him to go but Elder Anderson replaced him and hes awesome. He is from Draper Utah and he has one more transfer in the mission than me.

As far as the missionary work goes this week it was pretty slow. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday were all rough. Appointments fell through, nobody would answer the door, I think we got 3 new investigators the whole time. that's it. But then friday came… Sweet sweet friday. Friday was one of the days you live for in the mission. We had amazing 5 lessons with investigators, and 2 lessons with menos activos. And we got 2 more baptismal dates! Oh it was just the best. Everyone was just super willing to learn, the spirit was super strong, and people we thought were getting uninterested, got a new spark. And just to top it off, one of the menos activos we visited works at my FAVORITE panaderia (bakery) (the bakery is called La Gruta), and he gave me a bag full of my favorite Facturas. And Let us try their new cookies and bread and other stuff.

Saturday and Sunday we had interviews with president, and stake conference. I love President so much. He's just so smart and always gives the best Charlas (lessons). He gave a talk about how the members need to be more involved in the missionary work so hopefully it inspired them to help us more. Members are key everyone so help your missionaries at home. Investigators feel so awkward at church if they don't have familiar faces.

This thursday Elder Packer is coming to speak to us. (Elder Packer's son) So we are all really excited for that. He asked us to study chapter 4 and 9 of PMG

My Testimony has strengthened so much this week! The hard times are worth is because after a trial of your faith the good comes. The Fridays of life come, you just have to be patient. Just keep working hard! “It's the climb”  (me and my comp sing that song every hill we have to walk up)

Funny moment. (Kinda not really) We were out at like 12am or 1am because we had to drop Elder Lumsden off at the terminal and he had a late bus, and we saw our bishop on the way home and he was super confused why we were out so late in normal clothes. But we still don't know why he was out so late. Sus.

Love you all!

• Elder Tanner